Hong Kong: CE conveys concern over JPEX case
Chief Executive John Lee stressed that the incident regarding JPEX reflects the necessity for a proper regulatory system for virtual assets trading and made it clear that the Government will do more to educate investors.
Mr Lee made the statement ahead of todays Executive Council meeting, saying that the incident highlighted the importance that investors must invest in virtual assets on platforms that are licensed and regulated by the Securities & Futures Commission (SFC).
The licensing regime that has been introduced is exactly for that purpose (and) that is to protect investors so that they can invest under (a) very effective regulatory system to ensure that their assets and their investments are protected (and) to ensure that there will be (a) good risk control system that ensures that the money they put into the investment will not be abused by the platform.
The Chief Executive emphasised that the SFC will monitor the situation very closely and ensure that investors are sufficiently protected.
He added that investors should thoroughly understand the operation mode of virtual assets trading and know that platforms that are not regulated by the SFC are considered risky.
We will be doing more public education (on the risks of virtual assets trading) for investors to know about the risks.
Mr Lee said that he has instructed the SFC and Police to hold a media session to explain the JPEX case and what they are doing to protect investors.
This story has been published on: 2023-09-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
ASEAN leaders sustain positive outlook on Chinese economy
Xinhua) 08:28, September 19, 2023
People visit the 20th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)
NANNING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- ASEAN leaders attending the ongoing 20th China-ASEAN Expo highlighted the achievements of China-ASEAN cooperation and expressed optimism about China's economic development prospects.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that China's sustained high-speed growth over the past decades has contributed significantly to global economic growth and stability, making it an important driving force for the world economy.
Pham Minh Chinh made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the expo in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China.
"ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, have always appreciated and highly valued China's important contribution to cooperation and common prosperity in the region," he said. He also noted that China has consistently played the role of a responsible major country, acting as a stabilizer of regional economic stability.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 20th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Expo. Official data shows that the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN had increased from about 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 975.34 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. China has been the ASEAN bloc's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for three consecutive years.
At the expo, multiple leaders voiced their commitment to further strengthening cooperation with China to promote their own countries' development and regional economic integration.
Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone noted that Laos-China infrastructure cooperation has yielded tangible results, adding that the China-Laos Railway, in particular, has not only strengthened connectivity between Laos and China but also facilitated economic, trade, investment, and tourism development in the region.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim emphasized the strong and dynamic economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN. He noted that China has long been Malaysia's major export destination, and he anticipates that practical cooperation between Malaysia and China will only strengthen in the future.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet noted that the close relationship between ASEAN and China demonstrates the benefits of enhanced multilateral cooperation.
In the future, ASEAN and China need to deepen cooperation through greater market openness, strengthened connectivity, and enhanced supply chain resilience, Hun Manet said, adding that increased investment and technical cooperation are needed to enable developing countries to benefit from free and multilateral trade.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
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RUTHERFORD COLLEGE The town of Rutherford College will again be swamped with the masters of barbecue on Thursday as they prepare for the annual Pigmasters BBQ Challenge.
The competition will take place on Friday and Saturday at Rutherford College Town Hall, located at 980 Malcolm Blvd., Connelly Springs.
The Pigmasters BBQ Challenge is a Kansas City Barbecue Society-sanctioned competition. The event will be a Master Series sanctioned contest that requires the teams to cook four types of meat chicken, pork ribs, pork butt and pork brisket, according to the towns Pigmasters BBQ Challenge Facebook page.
The Facebook page says KCBS sanctions barbecue and grilling competitions across the US and promotes barbecue as Americas cuisine. KCBS has an extensive certified barbecue judging program and is the largest society of barbecue enthusiasts in the world with more than 20,000 members worldwide.
Rutherford College Town Clerk Terra Brieno said 34 teams from across the southeast will arrive Thursday afternoon to set up for a whole weekend of food and fun.
She said teams will compete on Friday afternoon in the Dessert War, Burger Battle and Turkey Smoke Series. On Saturday, official Kansas City BBQ judges will arrive to sample and score pork, brisket, ribs and chicken.
The awards ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Rutherford College Community Room, where one lucky team will leave with a personalized metal art, a check for $3,000 and the title of Grand Champion, Brieno said.
Brieno said Foothills Service Project will be selling barbecue plates from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. that will include a sandwich, slaw, pickles, chips and water for $10. All proceeds will go directly to the Foothills Service Project, she said.
She said Pig on Fire from Woodruff, S.C., will be set up to sell its food for lunch and dinner on Thursday and Friday at the town hall.
Brieno thanked the sponsors of the event, including College Pines Health & Rehabilitation, Farris Insurance, Paramount Ford and Hyundai, Kellex Furniture, Castle Bridge Marina, Foothills Service Project, UNC Health Blue Ridge, Kathys Clean Sweep, Truist, Highlands Family Farm, Connelly Springs Electric INC, Chick-fil-A and Damark Screen Printing & Embroidery. The Facebook page said no parking will be available on-site. It said parking areas within walking distance include:
Abernathy Memorial United Methodist Church: 960 Malcolm Blvd., Connelly Springs.
RC Municipal Park: 950 Malcolm Blvd., Connelly Springs.
Grassy Lot at 1000 Malcolm Blvd., Connelly Springs.
Find the towns Pigmasters BBQ Challenge Facebook page at www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057406151122.
CVB to meet Thursday
The Butte Convention and Visitors Bureau will be meeting Sept. 21 at 12 noon at the Butte Chamber of Commerce, 1000 George St. A link to Zoom will be available for those unable to attend in person. Questions and/or comments prior to the meeting can be directed to Maria Pochervina via email mariap@buttecvb.com or by calling the Chamber of Commerce at 406-723-3177.
Town hall to focus on women vets
A virtual town hall for women veterans will take place at 5 p.m. Sept. 21.
Veterans can livestream or dial in to see and meet their Montana VA team, hear updates and ask questions. To join the conversation, veterans can call 833-560-2071 or livestream the townhall at www.access.live/MontanaVAWomenVets or from the Montana VAs Facebook page (www.facebook.com/VAMontana).
Some of the services available to women Veteran through the Montana VA include ultrasounds, mammograms, Pap and HPV tests, mental health care and counseling, lifestyle wellness services, menopause treatment (including hormonal therapy), pelvic floor support, pharmacy, and reproductive care (family planning, contraceptive care, and infertility evaluation). Each pregnant veteran also has an interdisciplinary care team to support them through pregnancy and after, with post-partum 12-month management. The Montana VA serves over 4,000 women veterans.
All veterans questions will be addressed in the second part of the town hall. Representatives from Montana VA Health Care System and Veterans Benefits Administration will be available to provide answers.
American Legion dinner set
The American Legion Post #1 and the Auxiliary will hold its monthly dinner Sept. 20 at the Legion Hall, 3201 Wynne in Butte. On the menu will be roast pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, California vegetables, rolls, salads and desserts. The cost will be $10.00. The hall opens at 5:30 p.m., dinner will be served at 6 p.m. The post will hold a short meeting after the dinner.
Whitehall to hold fall festival
WHITEHALL The Whitehall Chamber of Commerce will host its annual fall festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23.
The day includes vendors, pie auction, carnival games on Main Street, business scarecrow contest, costume swap, pumpkin patch and more.
Dance classes begin Oct. 3
Starting Oct. 3, the Fine Line Dancers will be offering weekly classes at the Knights of Columbus, 224 W. Park St. The Tuesday classes will be $5 each.
For more details, call Francie Reed at 406-560-1934.
After years of concerted efforts to address Gender-Based Violence, the government has announced its inaugural national plan to address the issue and provide safety to those affected.
Gender and Public Service Cabinet Secretary Aisha Jumwa, speaking at the unveiling of the Protection Against Domestic Violence Rules on Monday, affirmed the governments commitment to a zero-tolerance policy regarding GBV.
CS Jumwa said the new rules will create transparent procedures for obtaining protection orders, guaranteeing that survivors can access prompt and efficient legal remedies.
The government has zero tolerance on GBV so today I want to declare total war on GBV and as a Cabinet Secretary, I want to assure you I will be at the forefront because am a survivor/victim of this, but I have healed and I want the society to be free from GBV, she said.
The rules emphasize the importance of prevention and early intervention, underlining the need and responsibility by legal duty bearers to handle survivors with compassion, while ensuring the perpetrators are held accountable for their actions.
CS Jumwa also revealed that the government is actively working on setting up a GBV survivors fund. This fund will operate on a co-financing model in collaboration with the private sector, civil society, and other stakeholders to promote the economic empowerment of GBV survivors.
She pointed out that GBV survivors have faced difficulties in obtaining a P3 form, primarily due to the associated costs, which can lead to further victimization when survivors seek assistance.
Justice to survivors is at the police and it is very sad that today a survivor is required to pay between Sh1000- 3000 to acquire a P3 form, and since acquiring P3 is the first step to acquiring justice then I request this service be rendered free of charge, added the CS.
Jumwa emphasized that the Protection Rules against GBV highlight the significance of public awareness and community engagement. She noted that these efforts will help challenge the social norms and attitudes that sustain domestic violence, even as the rule of law is implemented.
Through targeted awareness campaigns, education initiatives, and community dialogues, we aim to foster a society that embraces equality, respect, and non-violence, she said.
CS Jumwa urged all stakeholders, including the government, development partners, civil society, community leaders, and every Kenyan citizen, to collectively contribute to the successful implementation of these rules.
According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey of 2022, 34 percent of women in Kenya have encountered physical violence since the age of 15.
The data further reveals that 20 percent of women aged 1519 have experienced physical violence since the age of 15, in contrast to 42 percent of women aged 4549.
Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary (CS), Kipchumba Murkomen, has announced the governments unwavering commitment to extending the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network.
Mr. Murkomen said that the expansion aims to encompass key destinations, including Kisumu and the Malaba border, with the ambitious vision of connecting Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through this vital infrastructure.
Speaking during the Dutch Trade Mission on Port Development at a Nairobi hotel, the CS emphasised that the SGRs development would welcome private investment.
He further outlined that the expansion initiative would be seamlessly integrated with the establishment of logistics hubs and industrial parks, amplifying the economic impact of the project.
The CS said the State Department for Transport has outlined an extensive plan, backed by a budget of Sh2.1 trillion, to extend the SGR to Kisumu, Malaba, and Isiolo by June 2027.
This strategic move is a pivotal component of the broader Sh3.42 trillion Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) project, designed to rejuvenate the northern corridor and bolster economic activity within Kenya, South Sudan, and Ethiopia, he stated.
He at the same time noted that the partnership with Uganda, solidified through a recent agreement, is a major milestone in the extension of the SGR line.
This collaborative effort is set to secure the necessary funds for the construction of the rail, breathing new life into the initial vision of a seamless rail network connecting Mombasa to Kigali, Rwanda, he said.
President William Ruto has also played a decisive role in expediting the upgrading of the Lamu-Garissa-Isiolo Road section of the LAPSSET Highway, ensuring a comprehensive, modern road network linking the Port of Lamu to Ethiopia.
Despite previous setbacks, such as the cessation of Chinese financing for the final leg of the SGR, the governments renewed commitment and strategic collaborations signal a promising future for this critical infrastructure project. With construction in progress and partnerships flourishing, the extension of the SGR promises to be a transformative force in regional transportation and economic development.
The Ministry of Information, Communications, and The Digital Economy, with support from the Belgian government, has rolled out internet connectivity to Sub-Counties across the country.
Through phase IV of the County Connectivity Project (CCP), some 753 new sites have been mapped in 46 counties as the government moves to enhance access to the Internet at the grassroots.
The contractor, SOULCO Kenya Limited, has embarked on the project, which is among the last-mile initiatives by the ministry to connect the internet across the country.
SOULCO Managing Director (MD) Kris Verspecht said the designs for all 753 new sites have been approved, adding that installation works are expected to start in October.
Verspecht said the project, which is a buildup of phases 13, which mainly targeted county headquarters and Sub-County headquarters, aims to scale up connectivity to benefit as many people as possible.
The project, he added, targets key government offices and installations to enhance communication and, at the same time, enable members of the public to access government services online.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting in Kisumu, Verspecht said the support from the Belgian government may not reach all the offices, especially the county governments, adding that the devolved units were free to come up with budgets to extend the connectivity to their establishments in far-flung areas.
The county governments are free to come up with small budgets to extend connectivity to some of their establishments near the sites we are building, as long as the connection does not interfere with the security of the network, he said.
Director of Administration in the ministry, Jeremiah Munayi, said they have onboarded additional services online, adding that the project targets to support Kenyans at the grassroots to access the services at the click of a button.
Munayi said the project targets to support the governments Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), with millions of Kenyans set to have access to the internet and do business.
Kisumu County Commissioner (CC) Hussein Alassow Hussein said the project was instrumental in enhancing communication within government.
The government, he said, has spent billions of shillings to lay the infrastructure, asking all the departments at the national and county levels to utilise the resource prudently.
ICT Authority Acting Nyanza Regional Officer Seif Jowi said the project has recorded tremendous success in the area, cutting down on government communication expenditure.
Before CCP was rolled out, most of the government departments were using modems, spending millions of shillings on data bundles, he said.
In Kisumu so far, he said over 1, 000 users have been connected at the New Nyanza regional headquarters building, with more set to be onboarded in the sub-counties as phase IV kicks off.
Some of the offices to be connected include Kondele Police Station, Kisumu City Hall, Ardhi House, Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC), Haki House, and the National Employment Authority (NEA).
-Kenya News Agency(KNA)
Kenya Wildlife Wardens and Commanders from Ijara Sub County Security Committees in Garissa County will carry out wildlife surveillance and security patrols for three days.
The team led by KWS Masalani warden Adan Alio Saif, the Northern Rangelands Trust NRT protection team, and Ishaqbin Hirola community conservancy rangers will carry out the operation jointly beginning Monday, September 18.
The patrols are aimed at assessing the status of the Hilora antelope, which is the most endangered antelope species in the world and is only found in the Ijara constituency. The Hirola antelope is also known as the Hunters hartebeest or Hunters antelope.
Alio said the team will patrol Shabele and Turkuta areas within Masalani division and areas around Walkon Dam, Arururey, Dasheg Oman, and Borodeth in Ijara sub-county.
The warden added that they also planned to conduct the Hirola aerial census in the first week of September, after which he would share information with the sub-county steering group.
The last global census estimated the hilora population at 400, but following the creation of the Ishaqbini Conservancy Hirola Antelope Sanctuary, its numbers have increased despite drought and killing by other wildlife like lions and cheetahs.
The Hirola antelope is easily scared, and sometimes it aborts when its scared by other animals, hence the low numbers and the need for conservation.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature warns that the loss of the hirola would be the first extinction of a mammalian genus on mainland Africa in modern human history.
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria has declared that Kenya will cease shoe imports from next year, claiming that the country will achieve self-sufficiency to fulfill domestic footwear needs.
Speaking when he presided over the groundbreaking ceremony of an industrial park in Rumuruti, Kuria announced the governments plans to establish a leather factory in Laikipia County.
CS Kuria said President Rutos administration is planning to prohibit shoe imports and, instead, establish a domestic shoe production industry in the country.
Kuanzia mwaka ujao hakuna kuimport tena viatu kutoka nje viatu itakuwa inatoka hapa Laikipia na yule hataki kuvaa kiatu ya Laikipia sii atembee bila viatu basi, said Kuria.
Loosely translated: (Starting from next year, there will be no more importing of shoes from abroad shoes will be produced right here in Laikipia, and anyone who doesnt want to wear Laikipia shoes can walk barefoot)
According to the Trade minister, livestock in Laikipia alone have the potential to produce a sufficient quantity of shoes for export.
Mnyama mmoja, viatu 20, 60k animals will give us 1.2million pairs of shoes every month, he said.
(One animal, 20 shoes. Sixty thousand animals will give us 1.2 million pairs of shoes every month)
CS Kuria also mentioned that his office would advocate for the implementation of a 50% tax on all imported shoes as a means to encourage local production.
Laikipia county will be able to generate more than 6 Billion annually from the sale of products derived from animal skins and hides, Kuria said.
Adding: Value addition for the produce in the county from Soya beans, to Livestock products,to maize and avocado among others will be of great importance to the Laikipia population.
The Atheists in Kenya Society (AIK) has challenged President William Ruto to implement a one-child policy.
In a statement dated Monday, September 18, AIK President Harrison Mumia says implementing such a policy as a means of population control would yield both social and economic benefits for future generations.
Implementing a one-child policy will also promote family planning, hold population growth under control and raise the life quality of the Kenyan population, Mumia argues.
The society also mentions that a reduction in the population would result in decreased competition among citizens for jobs, ultimately leading to a reduction in unemployment rates.
AIK expresses concern about Kenya experiencing a youth bulge, where the age group below 35 years constitutes 75% of the countrys population.
Youth unemployment in Kenya is currently as high as 35%. Studies also indicate that Kenya has one of the highest levels of children born out of wedlock in Africa, Mumia writes.
According to AIK, many births in Kenya is one of the reasons why citizens are experiencing economic hardships and cultural backwardness.
The population should be controlled to combat poverty in Kenya, Mumia concludes.
Robin Rocha said she first realized the finance industry was her calling after completing internships at brokerage houses during college.
After graduating from Wheaton College, Rocha moved to San Diego and looked into working at (then) Merrill Lynch, but was advised that she needed more experience first.
She accepted that challenge, and exactly one year later to the day I was hired, wrote Rocha.
I was 22 years old and the only female in that position in the entire office of men. My office was the very tiny microwave room I didn't have to go far to heat my food.
I am glad to report that I've come a long way since then, with a beautiful office in Napa on the riverfront watching all of the daily activities on the water.
Rocha has been a financial advisor for 38 years.
1. What was your childhood ambition?
I was a very enthusiastic child who was curious about a variety of professions. After I said goodbye to being a professional performer, athlete, firefighter and doctor, I settled nicely into working as a financial advisor.
2. What was your first job?
My first job was in Barrington, Rhode Island where I would ride my scooter to my 6 a.m. shift at Dunkin Donuts before I went to school and filled the donuts with jelly. It was a very messy job!
3. Whats the worst job you ever had?
Working at the Veterans Home in Bristol, Rhode Island as a nursing attendant was tough. It was difficult to watch over people who were ill and suffering at such a young age. I did truly enjoy listening to the veterans stories, however, and I was glad to help them.
4. What job would you like to try/not try?
Try: I still want to be a professional entertainer dancing would be my first choice. The ship may have sailed on that one!
Not try: I would struggle to be a truck driver because I would just get drowsy with all that driving and potentially fall asleep at the wheel during my shift.
5. What is the biggest challenge your industry has faced?
Wow, there are many challenges. Being in a heavily male-dominated industry is a challenge. Thats why I was so honored to recently be named to the 2023 Forbes Top Women Wealth Advisors Best-in-State list, which is in perfect alignment with my desire to guide, educate, and empower women at all stages of their financial well-being.
Another challenge is keeping clients steady for the long run and positive when investors face uncertainty in the markets. Also, helping people understand that any investment they can make at any stage of their life no matter how small will be impactful for their future independence. Having a disciplined approach will pay dividends in their future lifestyle.
6. Who do you most admire in the business world?
There is not one; I admire all of the spirited women trailblazers who came before me and were instrumental in making incredible strides for women.
7. If you could change one thing about the financial industry, what would it be?
I would like to see more actual planning and education provided prior to investing. Having a strong financial literacy base can really help when a client is navigating the investment planning process and exploring the financial products available.
My planning process approach takes the guesswork out of the necessary actions needed to have financial freedom. Instead of hoping that your financial future will look a certain way, I use tools to determine with a high level of certainty the path to achieving your desired financial goals and lifestyle.
I always tell my clients Make your money work as hard for you as you work for your money.
8. Whats your favorite charity or nonprofit?
Charities that focus on helping women become independent and empowered.
9. Whats something people might be surprised to know about you?
I am a tap dancer.
10. What is one thing you hope to accomplish in your lifetime that you havent yet?
I want to help make financial education standard in all classrooms so that more kids have the building blocks toward creating a successful financial life. Many kids don't understand the basics of money beyond a credit card or Venmo. I think this would be a life skill that would help them immeasurably. Also, I want to dramatically improve my pickleball game!
Rocha can be reached at 707-287-6188, robin.rocha@ml.com or 700 Main St. in downtown Napa.
Napa County has responded to the 2022-23 grand jurys advice on topics ranging from firefighting to water supplies.
The grand jury acts as a watchdog over local government. It issued six reports this year on county operations, which required the county to respond. County officials, while not always agreeing with the jury, expressed appreciation for the effort.
The county would like to acknowledge the work of the grand jury, one county response said.
In recent weeks, the Board of Supervisors approved the countys answers. The latest was the groundwater replies that supervisors approved on Sept. 12. Heres a sampling of what the grand jury and county had to say to each other:
Groundwater A grand jury said that Napa County doesnt know the number, location or capacity of groundwater wells.
Napa County responded that its unknown exactly how many wells were installed before the county began requiring permits in 1970. But the county recently completed a 500-hour-plus effort to verify the existence of wells for which records exist.
That effort included working with the state and finding some wells using hand-drawn sketches.
The grand total came out to 9,645 wells. Of those, 3,882 are in the Napa Valley sub-basin beneath the valley floor.
It should be noted that while the estimate of the number of wells presented here is believed to be accurate within the practical limits of time and staff resources, the exact number can never be absolutely ascertained, the response added.
Volunteer firefighters The grand jury looked into the issue of volunteer firefighters who serve rural areas outside of cities. The county had more than 200 volunteers in 2001, but only about 100 active volunteers in 2022.
According to the volunteer fire chiefs, Napas rural communities no longer retain the younger generation, the grand jury said. Furthermore, some of the new homeowners in the rural areas use their property as a second home and only occupy it for part of the year.
About 80% of dispatched calls are for medical assistance. The full-time, paid fire stations can respond to those emergencies much faster than the volunteers, the report said.
Emphasize having volunteers respond to large fires in a surge capacity and de-emphasize medical calls, the report suggested. Napa County Fire would no longer use volunteers as backup support for all emergencies, it said.
Under the new operational model, the volunteers could be designated as reserve firefighters and be organized under a single command when deployed to fight a large fire, the grand jury report said.
The county responded that this idea needs more analyses that will take several months to complete. Issues include ensuring volunteer companies and equipment are used in an effective, coordinated manner.
Jail and re-entry issues The grand jury urged the county to find a way to use its unused $23.4 million re-entry facility along Highway 221 near the Syar quarry in south Napa.
This 72-bed, minimum-security building was completed four years ago to house low-risk inmates and prepare them to return to society. Napa County says shifts in the criminal justice system mean the facility is no longer needed for its original purpose.
However, California officials have maintained that state funding used to help build the facility restricts it to that use. The grand jury recommended the county work with the state to find a solution.
Napa County responded it is doing just that and will keep the public updated.
In fact, the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 12 approved a temporary use for the re-entry center. The state will allow the county to provide services there for probation and homeless clients for six months. Whether those uses can continue beyond that time remains to be seen.
Mental health The grand jury found that local mental health crisis needs are not being fully met, despite the county having a mobile response team and a crisis stabilization unit.
For example, it found the mobile response team is often unavailable outside of normal business hours. That results in the overuse of law enforcement, the crisis stabilization unit and Providence Queen of the Valley Medical Centers emergency department.
The county partially agreed. The mobile response team launched in 2022 operates 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. But the county, with more staffing, expects to expand hours by the end of October and have round-the-clock coverage by next year.
The mobile response team of mental health counselors and workers goes into the community to provide crisis intervention, de-escalation and stabilization. Its phone number is 707-299-2111.
It allows the county to meet people where theyre at, county Board of Supervisors Chair Belia Ramos said at the Aug. 22 meeting.
California is facing an unprecedented behavioral health workforce shortage, the countys response said.
Juvenile Hall A prior grand jury found the juvenile hall to be overstaffed. The county expected staffing reductions of 25%.
The 2022-23 grand jury found that staffing levels from 2019 to 2023 fell 14%, rather than 25%. The county said the current staffing level satisfies state requirements.
The Juvenile Hall anticipates opening a new camp program in January 2024, which requires vacant positions to be filled to provide intensive services to youth, the response added.
Information technology Napa County should have a common data management system to share information across departments and applications, the grand jury recommended.
The jury learned of several instances where sharing data between departments would lead to increased value for the county, its report said, citing such things as faster client response and increased employee efficiency.
Napa County described a plan to select a vendor this fall and start three to four years of work over multiple phases. Phase one is to be completed by the spring of 2025.
Photos: Napa Valley College's viticulture program NVC Viticulture 4 NVC Viticulture 1 NVC Viticulture 5 NVC Viticulture 6 NVC Viticulture 7 NVC Viticulture 8 NVC Viticulture 9 NVC Viticulture 10 NVC Viticulture 11 NVC Viticulture 12 NVC Viticulture 13 NVC Viticulture 14 NVC Viticulture 16 NVC Viticulture 17 NVC Viticulture 18 NVC Viticulture 19 NVC Viticulture 15 NVC Viticulture 2 NVC Viticulture 3
I have come here to visit the Italian members of KFOR and I could not leave without meeting our friends the Kosovo institutional representatives, said the Italian Deputy Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto. He thanked the people of Kosovo for welcoming the Italian KFOR representatives and making them feel like in their homes. Crosetto said that Italy will continue its support for Kosovo.
We are carefully following the first steps of EULEX mission. The Italian support in this direction will not be missing; therefore, we will always be your ally. We will also financially support the creation of the Kosovo Security Force, Minister Guido Crusetto stressed.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday met with Elina Valtonen, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. The meeting took place within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
As a continuation of the phone call between the two FMs held at the end of August, Mirzoyan and Valtonen discussed in more detail the issues of expanding the bilateral agenda based on democratic values and priorities aimed at strengthening the rule of law. In this context, the willingness of both sides to form a more ambitious political agenda was emphasized.
The interlocutors touched also upon Armenia-EU cooperation. FM Mirzoyan commended the participation of Finland in the EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia.
The issues of regional security and stability were touched upon, too. Ararat Mirzoyan emphasized the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from Azerbaijan's nine-months-long illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and the violations of all fundamental rights of the 120,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The urgency of restoring unimpeded movement through the Lachin corridor in two directions in accordance with the legally binding Orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6 was emphasized. Stressing the messages delivered by the EU and its member states so far, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia stressed the need for clear steps to stop Azerbaijan's unconstructive pattern of behavior.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday met with Margus Tsahkna, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. The meeting took place within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
The interlocutors commended the active political dialogue formed through the 31-year cooperation since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and expressed readiness to expand the bilateral agenda in new directions.
Both sides emphasized the active implementation of the Armenia-EU partnership agenda, the functioning of the EU civilian monitoring mission in Armenia, in which Estonia has direct participation.
As a continuation of the telephone conversation held between the two FMs in August, regional stability and security issues were touched upon. Minister Mirzoyan emphasized that the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan violates not only the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 signed also by the president of Azerbaijan, but also the international humanitarian and human rights norms and two Orders of the International Court of Justice. The importance of lifting the blockade of the Lachin corridor, which connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, and addressing the rights and security issues of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the context of the effectiveness of the general peace process were stressed.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday met with Ivica Dacic, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, within the framework of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, informs the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
The interlocutors discussed matters of bilateral agenda. Both sides noted the importance of high-level mutual visits, continued discussion of issues of mutual interest aimed at strengthening political dialogue and developing mutually beneficial ties.
Also, Mirzoyan and Dacic discussed issues of regional stability.
The FM Armenia briefed his Serbian counterpart on the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, touching upon the nine-month-long illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan. Mirzoyan noted that Azerbaijan's blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, the buildup of Azerbaijani troops along the line of contact with Nagorno-Karabakh and near the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, are also aimed at obstructing the efforts of the Armenian side to establish peace and stability in the region.
Touching upon Azerbaijan's encroachments on the territorial integrity of Armenia, the need for the withdrawal of the Azerbaijani armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia and the introduction of de-escalation mechanisms was emphasized.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Armenia on Tuesday released a statement on the false narratives of Azerbaijan. The statement reads as follows:
On September 18, during the meeting with representatives of the diplomatic corps at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani side presented narratives which sound like diplomatic preparation to start concrete actions aimed at ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and for a new military escalation in the region.
The narrative of the Azerbaijani officials voiced at the meeting with the foreign diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan is aimed at making the international community "complicit" in the implementation of the policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and aggression against Armenia, and such an approach is unacceptable.
During the above-mentioned meeting, the representatives of Azerbaijan claimed that the Republic of Armenia rejects all proposals aimed at reducing tensions. It is unclear what proposals Azerbaijan is talking about, and it was not clarified in the communication about the meeting either. We consider it necessary to mention that the proposal for the mirror distancing of troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border remains relevant and the Republic of Armenia is ready to engage in discussions on its implementation with utmost priority.
Azerbaijan's claims that the Republic of Armenia has established a regime on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh have nothing to do with reality. The support of the Republic of Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh has humanitarian nature, the necessity of which is further emphasized by the humanitarian crisis resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor. The Republic of Armenia welcomes the entry of the first humanitarian supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh after a long break and hopes that it will be ongoing and stable.
At the same time, we consider it necessary to emphasize that the 9-month-long blockade of the Lachin corridor is a gross violation of the Trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 and the legally binding Orders of the International Court of Justice of February 22 and July 6, 2023.
There would be no statements by Armenia, international partners, or even Azerbaijan on the readiness to provide humanitarian support to Nagorno-Karabakh, if Azerbaijan itself, with its illegal actions, did not create a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and did not hinder the access of the UN structures and other international partners to Nagorno-Karabakh. In parallel with the blockade of the Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan has disrupted gas and electricity supplies to Nagorno-Karabakh, which makes it obvious that the Azerbaijans narrative about blockade is false: if Azerbaijan explains the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor with false claims about the transportation of weapons and ammunition through the corridor to Nagorno-Karabakh, then it is unclear what else can be transported through the power lines, except electricity, and what else can be transported through the gas pipeline, except natural gas. As for the Azerbaijani claims about the presence of the Armenian army in Nagorno-Karabakh, we once again emphasize that the Republic of Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the false claims about Armenian mining on the territory of Azerbaijan were rejected by the Order of the International Court of Justice of February 22.
We consider it necessary to emphasize once again that the Republic of Armenia reaffirms its commitment to the peace agenda, as well as to the agreements reached in Prague on October 6, 2022 and in Brussels on May 14, 2023. We note with concern that the official Baku has not yet publicly confirmed its commitment, in particular to the Brussels agreements of May 14, 2023, and such an approach constitutes a key factor of the tension in the region.
We do not understand Azerbaijan's considerations regarding the development of Armenia's military capabilities either. The Republic of Armenia has repeatedly stated that it has no intention to take aggressive actions against its neighbours, and the reforms in the military sector are aimed at ensuring its own territorial security.
Regarding the situation created around Nagorno-Karabakh, we see the Baku-Stepanakert dialogue as the path to reduce tensions, and we hope that international partners interested in regional stability will take additional steps to establish reliable mechanisms for such dialogue.
Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) President Samvel Shahramanyan sent a letter of gratitude to President Alberto Fernandez of Argentina, informs the Office of the Artsakh President.
The letter reads as follows:
Dear Mr. President,
On behalf of the people and authorities of the Republic of Artsakh and on my own behalf, allow me to extend a warm greeting and express our profound gratitude for addressing the issue of the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor in your speech at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India, and for standing by and supporting our people in this difficult time.
We attach great significance to garnering the attention of the international community and the global progressive humanity towards our people's just and enduring struggle for their right to live freely and independently in their own homeland, for the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms, and upholding universal norms and principles of democracy.
We deeply value your support for the people of Artsakh, which serves as a shining testament to your commitment to humanitarian principles, and exemplifies the Argentine state's approach towards its Armenian community. It stands as an exemplary demonstration of tolerance and fraternity.
Dear Mr. President,
Once again, please, accept the assurances of my profound respect and my best wishes to you and the fraternal people of Argentina.
Recently, the Azerbaijani side has been carrying out daily troop transfers and stockpiling of various weapons, which were accompanied by intensive information and propaganda activities, preparing the ground for large-scale aggression against Artsakh. by Sergey Ghazaryan, Foreign Minister of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) noted this in a commentary. He added as follows:
The Artsakh side constantly warned all actors in 2020 about the indisputable fact of Azerbaijans unprecedented accumulation of military power after the war and possible provocations, including in the hope of preventing large-scale military actions.
As you know, over the past 24 hours, the Azerbaijani side has spread misinformation that the Artsakh side allegedly carried out sabotage operations and fired at Azerbaijani positions.
And later they spread information that they had launched a so-called anti-terrorist operation, which proves that all these steps were planned in advance. This fits perfectly with reports of genocidal actions by Azerbaijan against Artsakh and its people by the Armenian side in recent months.
Now we are witnessing how Azerbaijan, in order to implement its policy of genocide, is moving towards the physical destruction of the civilian population and the destruction of civilian objects.
We have repeatedly informed international actors that calls only will not stop Azerbaijan from its belligerent and criminal acts. We demand from the international community must take effective steps very quickly to stop Azerbaijan's aggression.
The Foreign Ministry of Armenia issued a statement, saying that Azerbaijan has unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing. The ministry also called on international partners to take immediate steps to stop Azerbaijans aggression.
The statement reads as follows:
On September 19, Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing.
Guided by the feeling of impunity, Azerbaijan has openly assumed responsibility for the aggression. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has announced that it is starting "anti-terrorist measures" in Nagorno-Karabakh, in the area under the responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops, about which, according to the official statement of the Azerbaijani side, the command of the Russian peacekeeping troops, as well as the Russian-Turkish monitoring center, have been informed.
We strongly condemn Azerbaijan's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and mass crime, which happened exactly three years ago, in 2020. It is the continuation of the large-scale use of force unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh in September. Civilian settlements, the city of Stepanakert, other cities and villages are subjected to shelling by Azerbaijan under the empty pretext of "destruction of military objects".
The Armenian side has repeatedly warned that the continuous aggressive actions of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, the unconcealed belligerent rhetoric, the absolutely false and reprehensible propaganda of calling the population of Nagorno-Karabakh "terrorists" pursues one goal: to subject the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing through the use of force, to deprive them of the right to live freely and with dignity and to create in its homeland. The illegal blocking of the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, the Lachin Corridor, and the complete blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh have been pursuing the same goal since December 2020.
Among other things, the attack was preceded by the dissemination of false information by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about mine laying and sabotage operations, which indicates the planning of the attack and the provision of the information field. We declare once again that the Armed Forces and military equipment of the Republic of Armenia are not stationed in Nagorno Karabakh, and all the news about mine laying and sabotage operations are false and fabricated.
We call on the international partners, members of the UN Security Council with primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, including the 2020 agreement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on the basis of the tripartite declaration of November 9, to the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh to take clear and unequivocal steps in order to put an end to Azerbaijan's aggression."
At around 1 p.m., the armed forces of Azerbaijan started shelling the entire territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and after some time they started an operation to break the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and take control of positions and, according to some reports, of settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a live streaming on his Facebook page.
Of course, we are in contact with Nagorno-Karabakh, but there are certain communication problems. The general information is that from the beginning, the Nagorno-Karabakh region was attacked with various weapons, including jet artillery, and then a ground operation was launched against Nagorno-Karabakh from several directions.
During this period, Azerbaijan also carries out informational support for operations, and the information that Azerbaijan officially informed Russia about the start of these operations was also puzzling to us. We have not received any information from our partners.
Of course, it cannot be said that this was unforeseen. We could see the tension of the situation and today in the statement of the Foreign Ministry, it was emphasized that the meeting held yesterday at the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan with diplomatic representatives accredited in Azerbaijan was a diplomatic preparation for military operations against Nagorno-Karabakh. And it was justified," he said.
Nikol Pashinyan added that they immediately convened an extended session of the Security Council with the participation of the President of the Republic of Armenia and the Speaker of the National Assembly and discussed the situation.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
The Armed Forces of Armenia are not participating in the military operations in Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh, Ani Bandalyan, press secretary of Armenias Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response to a statement of Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In response to the call of the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Armenia and Azerbaijan to immediately stop military operations, and return to the path of political-diplomatic settlement, we would like to inform that the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia are not participating in the military operations.
The Republic of Armenia has always been committed to resolving all existing issues exclusively through political and diplomatic means, with appropriate proposals, she said.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
The European Union condemns the military escalation along the contact line and other locations in Karabakh, EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell said in a statement.
The European Union condemns the military escalation along the Line of Contact and in other locations in Karabakh. The EU deplores the loss of lives brought by the escalation. We call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and for Azerbaijan to stop the current military activities.
There is an urgent need to return to dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians. This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population.
Violence needs to stop in order to provide a conducive environment for peace and normalisation talks. Genuine commitment by all sides is required to work towards negotiated outcomes. The EU remains fully engaged to facilitate the dialogue, reads the statement.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
The main aim of Azerbaijans military aggression in Nagorno Karabakh is to get Armenia involved in it, Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a Facebook live broadcast, adding that as of now, the situation along the borders of Armenia is relatively stable.
"Look, today a number of Azerbaijani mass media, including official media or media related to the authorities, are spreading information that they are attacking the units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia, referring to Nagorno-Karabakh. Unfortunately, this information is repeated by a number of our partners who say that we call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to stop military operations. I want to mention again that Armenia is not involved in military operations. I want to mention once again that Armenia does not have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.
Pashinyan drew the public's attention to a number of internal and external forces that want to get involved Armenia in large-scale military operations.
"It is visible and we state with our position that attempts to involve the Republic of Armenia in military escalation are unacceptable, we will manage this process. As much as we understand the many other emotional issues, we all feel in this situation. But we should not allow some external and internal forces to put Armenia's statehood under attack."
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
France has strongly condemned Azerbaijans military operations in Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh with the use of heavy weapons, including against populated areas. A statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry called on UN to convene an urgent meeting of the Security Council over Azerbaijans military aggression against Artsakh.
"No excuse can justify such a unilateral action that threatens thousands of civilians who have already been suffering months of illegal siege and which goes against the efforts by the international community to reach a negotiated settlement.
France calls on Azerbaijan to immediately cease its offensive and return to respect for international law. It will hold Azerbaijan solely responsible for the fate of the civilian populations of Nagorno-Karabakh, reads the statement.
France also called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council. "France is working closely with its European and American partners to respond decisively to this unacceptable attack, commensurate with the threats it poses to the security of the region," the French Foreign Ministry said in the statement.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President, commented on reports from Azerbaijan that the Russian authorities were informed in advance of the start of a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Moskovsky Komsomolets reports.
I cannot confirm that we were notified in advance, he said.
Peskov also mentioned that, thanks to the efforts of the Russian side, the Lachin corridor was unblocked the day before: the first shipments of humanitarian cargo went in both directions yesterday. However, then hostilities began, and the delivery of goods was stopped.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children
Member of the European Parliament Viola von Cramon has called for sanctions against Azerbaijan's political elite over its military aggression in Nagorno Karabakh.
The Aliyev's "anti-terrorist operation" in NK is a code-word for ethnic cleansing of Armenians. Putin gave Aliyev a green light to topple the democratic government of Nikol Pashinyan.
EU must urgently impose sanctions on political elite and provide Government with all the help they need, the politician wrote in her X account.
Azerbaijans Armed Forces unleashed a military aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, use artillery and other heavy weapons as of 1 p.m. on September 19. They attempted to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, have come under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
The Kremlin is concerned about the outbreak of military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the Russian President, has said, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported.
According to him, the main thing now is to ensure the safety of the people in the region and "convince Azerbaijan and Armenia to refrain from forceful methods and start negotiations."
"The main thing is to convince Yerevan and Baku to refrain from forceful methods and sit at the negotiating table. We are in contact with both the Armenian and Azerbaijani parties. Our military is working to return the settlement process to the political and diplomatic track," he said.
Peskov emphasized that Moscow considers the tripartite documents signed in November 2020 to be the best basis for settlement. "We call on everyone to follow the provisions of those documents, naturally, taking into account the new realities, bearing in mind the fact that the Armenian side recognized the territory of Azerbaijan as of 1991," added Peskov.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy selling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
Representative of the UN Secretary General Stephane Dujarric has called to end the hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and start a sustainable and deep dialogue.
Dujarric told Al Jazeera that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will meet with the delegations of Armenia and Azerbaijan, who are currently in New York for the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
According to Dujarric, there is no doubt that sooner or later this issue will be raised.
Earlier NEWS.am reported that Azerbaijans Armed Forces started to use artillery along the entire line of contact in Nagorno Karabakh as of 1 p.m. on September 19, attempting to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, as well as other settlements are under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
Kremlin has confirmed that last week Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sent a letter to the Russian President, in which he presented Yerevan's position on the situation in the region. After this, there have been no other contacts between Vladimir Putin and Nikol Pashinyan, "Interfax" reports.
"President Putin himself said in Vladivostok that there was indeed a detailed letter in which the Armenian side's point of view on what is happening is stated," Putins press secretary Dmitry Peskov said.
According to him, "at that time we were working to resume the flow of humanitarian aid to Karabakh, and to our satisfaction, as of yesterday, the efforts were crowned with success. The first batch (of humanitarian aid) went in two directions, along the roads of Aghdam and Lachin."
"However, unfortunately, it did not save us from the resumption of military operations," Peskov emphasized.
An unnamed US official has reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will engage in urgent talks with all relevant parties in an effort to halt Azerbaijan's 'egregious' 'operation' in Nagorno-Karabakh, AFP reported.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed concern over the situation: With the aid route open, we were hopeful that we could adapt to the long-term challenges, which makes this incident particularly egregious and dangerous overnight.
The official further noted, that 'it is concerning that this happened overnight, especially because yesterday we did see some progress in the movement of cargo through the Lachin corridor,' as quoted by Reuters.
Blinken is expected to participate in ongoing diplomatic discussions regarding tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan within the next 24 hours.
Azerbaijans Armed Forces unleashed military aggression against Nagorno Karabakh, using artillery and other heavy weapons as of 1 p.m. on September 19. They attempted to penetrate into the depth of the defense line of the Defense Forces of Nagorno Karabakh.
Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno Karabakh, has come under heavy shelling now. The Human Rights Defender of Nagorno Karabakh, Gegham Stepanyan, reported that there are multiple casualties and injuries among civilians, including children.
Azerbaijan moves to physical annihilation of civilian population and destruction of civilian objects, NKR Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan has stated.
The statement, in particular, reads: Recently, the Azerbaijani side has carried out army movements and stockpiles of various weapons on a daily basis, which were accompanied by intensive information and propaganda activities, preparing a ground for a large-scale aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).
The Artsakh side has continuously warned all actors in 2020 about the undeniable fact of Azerbaijan's unprecedented accumulation of military power after the war and possible provocations, including in the hope of preventing large-scale military operations.
As you know, during the last 24 hours, the Azerbaijani side has spread misinformation, that the Artsakh side has allegedly carried out sabotage operations and shelled the Azerbaijani positions.
And a little later, they spread information that they started a so-called "anti-terrorist operation", which proves that all these steps were planned in advance. This completely fits the reports by the Armenian side in recent months about the genocidal actions of Azerbaijan against Artsakh and its people.
Now we are witnessing how Azerbaijan, in the implementation of its genocidal policy, moves to the physical annihilation of the civilian population and the destruction of civilian objects.
We have repeatedly informed the international actors that it is impossible to restrain such bellicose and criminal attitude of Azerbaijan with appeals. We demand that the international community take effective steps in a very short period of time to stop Azerbaijan's aggression.
A new study finds that a natural compound found in many plants inhibits the growth of drug-resistant Candida fungi including its most virulent species, Candida auris, an emerging global health threat. The journal ACS Infectious Diseases published the discovery led by scientists at Emory University.
Laboratory-dish experiments showed that the natural compound, a water-soluble tannin known as PGG, blocks 90% of the growth in four different species of Candida fungi. The researchers also discovered how PGG inhibits the growth: It grabs up iron molecules, essentially starving the fungi of an essential nutrient.
By starving the fungi rather than attacking it, the PGG mechanism does not promote the development of further drug resistance, unlike existing antifungal medications. Laboratory-dish experiments also showed minimal toxicity of PGG to human cells.
Drug-resistant fungal infections are a growing health care problem but there are few new antifungals in the drug-development pipeline, says Cassandra Quave, senior author of the study and associate professor in Emory School of Medicines Department of Dermatology and the Center for the Study of Human Health. Our findings open a new potential approach to deal with these infections, including those caused by deadly Candida auris.
C. auris is often multidrug-resistant and has a high mortality rate, leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to label it a serious global health threat.
Its a really bad bug, says Lewis Marquez, first author of the study and a graduate student in Emorys molecular systems and pharmacology program. Between 30 to 60% of the people who get infected with C. auris end up dying.
An emerging threat
Candida is a yeast often found on the skin and in the digestive tract of healthy people. Some species, such as Candida albicans, occasionally grow out of control and cause mild infections in people.
In more serious cases, Candida can invade deep into the body and cause infections in the bloodstream or organs such as the kidney, heart or brain. Immunocompromised people, including many hospital patients, are most at risk for invasive Candida infections, which are rapidly evolving drug resistance.
In 2007, the new Candida species, C. auris, emerged in a hospital patient in Japan. Since then, C. auris has caused health care-associated outbreaks in more than a dozen countries around the world with more than 3,000 clinical cases reported in the United States alone.
A natural approach to drug discovery
Quave is an ethnobotanist, studying how traditional people have used plants for medicine to search for promising new candidates for modern-day drugs. Her lab curates the Quave Natural Product Library, which contains 2,500 botanical and fungal natural products extracted from 750 species collected at sites around the world.
Were not taking a random approach to identify potential new antimicrobials, Quave says. Focusing on plants used in traditional medicines allows us to hone in quickly on bioactive molecules.
Previously, the Quave lab had found that the berries of the Brazilian peppertree, a plant used by traditional healers in the Amazon for centuries to treat skin infections and some other ailments, contains a flavone-rich compound that disarms drug-resistant staph bacteria.
Screens by the Quave lab had also found that the leaves of the Brazilian peppertree contain PGG, a compound that has shown antibacterial, anticancer and antiviral activities in previous research.
A 2020 study by the Quave lab, for instance, found that PGG inhibited growth of Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, a bacterium that infects humans and is categorized as one of five urgent threats by the CDC.
The Brazilian peppertree, an invasive weed in Florida, is a member of the poison ivy family.
PGG has popped up repeatedly in our laboratory screens of plant compounds from members of this plant family, Quave says. It makes sense that these plants, which thrive in really wet environments, would contain molecules to fight a range of pathogens.
Experimental results
The Quave lab decided to test whether PGG would show antifungal activity against Candida.
Laboratory-dish experiments demonstrated that PGG blocked around 90% of the growth in 12 strains from four species of Candida: C. albicans, multidrug-resistant C. auris and two other multidrug-resistant non-albicans Candida species.
PGG is a large molecule known for its iron-binding properties. The researchers tested the role of this characteristic in the antifungal activity.
Each PGG molecule can bind up to five iron molecules, Marquez explains. When we added more iron to a dish, beyond the sequestering capacity of the PGG molecules, the fungi once again grew normally.
Dish experiments also showed that PGG was well-tolerated by human kidney, liver and epithelial cells.
Iron in human cells is generally not free iron, Marquez says. It is usually bound to a protein or is sequestered inside enzymes.
A potential topical treatment
Previous animal studies on PGG have found that the molecule is metabolized quickly and removed from the body. Instead of an internal therapy, the researchers are investigating its potential efficacy as a topical antifungal.
If a Candida infection breaks out on the skin of a patient where a catheter or other medical instrument is implanted, a topical antifungal might prevent the infection from spreading and entering into the body, Marquez says.
As a next step, the researchers will test PGG as a topical treatment for fungal skin infections in mice.
Meanwhile, Quave and Marquez have applied for a provisional patent for the use of PGG for the mitigation of fungal infections.
These are still early days in the research, but another idea that were interested in pursuing is the potential use of PGG as a broad-spectrum microbial, Quave says. Many infections from acute injuries, such as battlefield wounds, tend to be polymicrobial so PGG could perhaps make a useful topical treatment in these cases.
Scientists from the University of Toronto are co-authors of the paper, including Yunjin Lee, Dustin Duncan, Luke Whitesell and Leah Cowen. Whitesell and Cowen are co-founders and shareholders in Bright Angel Therapeutics, a platform company for development of antifungal therapeutics, and Cowen is a science advisor for Kapoose Creek, a company that harnesses the therapeutic potential of fungi.
The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health; the Jones Center at Ichauway, the CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation.
01:22
A total of 2,729 'sarvajanik Ganeshotsav mandals' have been given permission for organising public Ganesh festivities from Tuesday by erecting 'pandals'.
These are from the 3,767 applications its had received from various outfits till September 18, a release from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation informed on Monday.
Of these, 373 were rejected after inspection, comprising 330 at the level of assistant engineers, 26 by the traffic police, 11 by the local police stations and six by assistant commissioners, it said.
Apart from these, 665 applications were found to be duplicate, it added.
The release said preparations for the festival have been completed by conducting a special drive that included checking pandal premises, idol immersion routes and spots.
Every pandal has been given two bins for segregation of wet and dry waste, while 191 artificial and 69 natural lakes have been earmarked for immersion, it added.
Work on filling potholes, pruning of trees, cleaning of areas, as well as deployment of medical, 'nirmalya' and life guard teams have been completed, the civic body said.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation further said a special cleanliness drive was undertaken in Mumbai on Sunday as a part of the Union government's 'Indian Cleanliness League 2.0', an intercity cleanliness competition.
Ganesh festivities are the most patronised in Mumbai, with thousands of people visiting pandals and also keeping idols at home.
From the launch of Chandrayaan-3 to Ayodhya's Ram Mandir, Ganesh mandals in Mumbai have gone all out with the themes for their pandals for the Ganpati festival, which begins on September 19 and culminates on September 28.
Mumbaikars have been thronging the popular shopping spots of the city at Dadar, Crawford Market, and Lohar Chawl, to buy decor items, flowers, and puja materials among other festival paraphernalia.
People are in for a visual treat this year, as the city's Ganpati mandals have come up with fascinating thematic decorations for their pandals.
Pandal-hoppers will get to see themes of the Chandrayaan-3 launch, Ayodhya Ram Temple, and the 350th anniversary of the coronation of warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, showcased by big mandals in the city.
While a majority of the big mandals have already brought their idols to the pandals in grand processions over the last few weeks, household 'bappas' will make their way home to the beat of drums and happy chants on Tuesday.
A large number of devotees are expected to visit Lalbaug in central Mumbai to catch a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the most celebrated Ganeshas of the city, followed by GSB Seva Mandal's Ganpati in Matunga, which is considered the richest and known for its grandeur.
Other famous Ganesh mandals are in Chinchpokli, Ganesh Gully and Tejukaya.
Apart from these, people will also get to see the city's tallest Ganesha at 45 feet in the Khetwadi area of Girgaum. -- PTI
IMAGE: An idol of Lord Ganesha is placed on the Mumbaicha Raja pandal for the upcoming 11 day celebration of the 'Ganesh Chaturthi' festival, in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo
National Highways Logistics Management, a fully owned company of NHAI signed an agreement for the development of a multi-modal logistics park in Bengaluru, proposed to be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 1,770 crore, an official release from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said. The agreement has been signed between the government special purpose vehicle, Bengaluru MMLP Pvt Ltd and Concessionaire SPV M/s. PATH Bengaluru Logistics Park Pvt Ltd. The logistics park is being developed in an area of 400 acres at Muddelinganahalli in Bengaluru rural district in Karnataka. The project is poised to become the first and largest ever implemented in the country under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. To facilitate seamless logistics movement, the site is strategically located adjacent to the upcoming KIADB industrial area on East side, abutting the NH 648, Dabbaspet to Hosur as well as Satellite Town Ring Road on the North side and Bengaluru Hubli Mumbai rail line on South side. Bengaluru multi-modal logistics park is located at a distance of 58 km from Bengaluru Airport and 48 km from Bengaluru city railway station. The park will be developed in three phases. The first phase is expected to be completed in two years. MMLP will cater to about 30 million metric tonnes (MMT) cargo by the end of the concession period of 45 years and will give a huge boost to the industrial zones in the catchment region such as Bengaluru and Tumkur. Development of MMLP is a key initiative of the Government of India to improve the country's freight logistics sector by enabling efficient inter-modal freight movement to lower overall freight costs and time, provide efficient warehousing, improve tracking and traceability of consignments thereby enhancing the efficiency of the Indian logistics sector, said the release. (ANI)
PRNewswire Tianjin [China] September 19: The Second Vocational Skills Competition of the People's Republic of China opened inTianjin on September 16. The theme of this year's competition is "Skills making talents, Repatriation with skills". A total of 4045 participants from 36 delegations across the country took part in the competition for 109 project medals. Competitors such as 58-year-old "experienced masters", 16-year-old "beginning craftsman", students and corporate employees competed on the same stage. Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, recently gave important instructions on the work of skilled talents. He instructed that the skilled talent is a valuable resource for employment-first and innovation-driven development strategies. The Vocational Skills Competition of the People's Republic of China is held to build a platform for the majority of skilled talents to show their and exchange skills, which is conducive to promote the formation of a new era of employment with skills, becoming talents with skill, and repatriation with skills. The State Councillor Shen Yiqin attended the opening ceremony to announce the opening and researched on the related working progress of skilled talents. After the opening ceremony, Shen Yiqin visited the skill display exchange area of the competition as well as the manufacturing and transportation competitions; then she came to the Tianjin University of Technology and Education affiliated Advanced Technical School and the Worldskills Competition China (Tianjin) Research Center to research on and understand the cultivation of technical talents in technical colleges as well as the research and promotion of the World Skills Competition, etc. Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, introduced at the opening ceremony that the Second Vocational Skills Competition of the People's Republic of China is a comprehensive national vocational skills competition with the highest specifications, the most projects, the largest scale, the highest level and the most extensive influence in China. The purpose of the competition is to promote training, education, and construction with the competition, and constantly improve the training, utilization, evaluation, and incentive mechanisms for skilled talents. Compared with the previous competition, the scale and expansion of this competition are closely related to the development situation. Competitors have gone through various of selection in corporate or academic skill competitions, industry skill competitions, and provincial skill competitions, and stand out from hundreds of thousands of competitors, representing the highest level of skill competition in China in related projects. The event setup of this competition is completely new. Compared with the first competition, this one has added 20 new contests on professional and digital technology skills, such as all media operations, internet marketing, etc. These competitions are of great significance to enhance not only the social identity of new career practitioners, but also to promote employment and entrepreneurship. At the same time, five new professional technology contests such as intelligent manufacturing engineering technology and artificial intelligence engineering technology have been added, which are more in line with the trend of technological skills integration and development. According to reports, the competition will last for four days, and the closing ceremony will be held on September 19. Not only the winners will be rewarded by then, Tianjin City will also hand over the flag to Henan Province, where the third competition will be held. Contact: Liu HejiangTel: 0086-22-83218408Email:jnds_2023@163.com Photo -https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213517/Vocational_Skills_Competition_1.jpgPhoto -https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213518/Vocational_Skills_Competition_2.jpgLogo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213520/The_2nd_Vocational_Skills_Competition_Logo.jpg (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PRNewswire. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
BusinessWire India Warren (New Jersey) [US]/ Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 19: LTIMindtree[NSE: LTIM, BSE: 540005], a global technology consulting and digital solutions company, announces the launch of Testing as a Service for Oracle SaaS. Following the success of RELY - a comprehensive suite of assurance and compliance services platform for enterprise applications, this new offering sets a new standard for Oracle SaaS testing.LTIMindtrees Testing as a Service for Oracle SaaS on the RELY platform was created to resolve various challenges that the Oracle Cloud testing and validation pose. Some of the common challenges faced by the testing teams are the manual and time-consuming nature of the testing processes leaving relatively lesser time for analysing and deploying updates. The teams currently work with outdated test scripts that cause accuracy concerns during test result reconciliations. They also face frequent system integration failures, security and compliance issues that limit the SMEs bandwidth, and requires frequent independent third-party testing to ensure optimal performance.The RELY platform is equipped with a powerful set of features to resolve the challenges of the existing testing processes, like the out-of-the-box tests, interactive dashboards for real-time visibility, seamless support for all Oracle versions, end-to-end automation, tighter audit control, and 5X faster testing.Oracle Cloud testing and validation is a critical activity in the overall cloud deployment process, but it often becomes tedious and time consuming with suboptimal outcomes, saidNachiket Deshpande, Whole-Time Director, and Chief Operating Officer, LTIMindtree. "The complexity of the deployment of IT systems & architectures with inadequate testing and process can hinder and delay the realization of full business benefits for the organizations. With our experience with Oracle Cloud, and our state-of-the-art platform RELY, we are in a superior position to help customers embark on their Oracle Cloud transformation journey reliably and effectively.RELY was created by LTIMindtree, powered by Tricentis, to further strengthen the enterprise applications test automation services for SAP, Oracle, and other service lines. LTIMindtree aims at empowering clients across industries to navigate the challenges of the dynamic global business landscape and meet the growing demand for environmentally responsible products. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by BusinessWire India. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Jindal Steel & Power Limited Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], September 19: Chairperson of JSP Foundation Shallu Jindal has been conferred with the International Women of the Year Award at the Swadeshi Mela Indian American Trade Fair organized by the DTribals Foundation in collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Chicago. She was conferred with this Award for her outstanding contribution to social change, impacting 10 million lives in rural and tribal areas of Odisha, Chhattisgarh Jharkhand and across India. India Embassy Consul General Chicago Somnath Ghosh joined the programme's opening ceremony as the Chief Guest. In receiving this prestigious accolade, Jindal expressed her gratitude and reiterated her commitment to furthering the quality of life of People in India. "I am deeply honoured to receive this honour, which is a testament to the collective efforts of the Team JSP Foundation. We remain committed to creating a brighter and more inclusive future of the underprivileged and socially vulnerable people of our Country and across the Globe. This recognition strengthens our resolve to continue to work tirelessly for those deprived and disadvantaged. As the Chairperson of JSP Foundation, Jindal has consistently championed various initiatives and programs that span across various social causes, including quality education, healthcare, skill development and women's empowerment and social inclusion, mainly in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, and other various parts of India. Her social endeavours have touched the lives of millions and continue to serve as an inspiration to many. In addition to her humanitarian efforts, Jindal has made a name for herself as a world-class Kuchipudi danseuse, helping to spread global awareness on Indian dance and culture throughout the world. She has also served as the chairperson of National Bal Bhavan and the founder president of Young FICCI. Presently, she also serves as the Chancellor of OP Jindal University in Chhattisgarh. She has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CSR Times Lifetime Achievement Award, the Golden Peacock Award in London, the Mahatma Gandhi Award, and the Ekalavya Award from CMO Asia in Singapore. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by Jindal Steel & Power Limited. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
PNN New Delhi [India], September 19: The Highway Heroes+ program was introduced on September 14, 2023, at the Indian Habitat Centre on Lodhi Road, New Delhi, as a result of a historic partnership between Lawyered and the All-India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA). The unprecedented effort to recognize and honor our truck drivers, the hidden heroes of India's economy, kicked off with the event, which took place from 3 to 6 p.m. The Highway Heroes+ Initiative promotes truck drivers as national heroes to change how society views them. This program is based on five main pillars, each with a thorough approach: 1. Recognize and Reward: Recognise the important contribution truck drivers make to the Indian economy and society. 2. Welfare and Well-being: Due to their occupations' mobility, give truck drivers access to essential benefits and services that they frequently lack. 3. Education and Awareness: The necessity to appreciate truck drivers' profession and the important role they play in society. 4. Policy Influence: Work with the government to pass laws that enhance the working conditions and dignity of truck drivers. 5. Sustainable Future: Address the dwindling number of truck drivers and make sure the industry is still interesting to the next generation. "Salute to Jawan, Kisan, Saarthi, and Bharti," the program's amended slogan, highlights the crucial role of truck drivers alongside our troops and farmers and captures the spirit of modern India. The specifically created Highway Heroes+ card, which truck drivers may purchase for a small fee, is the program's focal point. The card offers the following salient characteristics and advantages: * Up to 5 lakhs in personal accident insurance. * Hospitalisation for personal injuries up to 1.5 lakhs. * TTD up to a maximum of 100 weeks, at 1% of SI every week. * A 24-hour hotline to help stop workplace harassment, offer legal assistance on the side of the road and speed up access to emergency services. * Through the partner mobile app, you may receive financial aid with a credit limit of up to $25,000 and ZERO% interest and ZERO processing fees. * Access to nationwide driver-focused camps, promotions, and events funded by AITWA. Distinguished dignitaries attended the launch event, including Smt. Sumita Dawra, IAS, Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, Government of India, Guest of Honour Shri Madhusudan Agrawal, Honorary Consul General of The Republic of Uganda, Vice Chairman of Ajanta Pharma Limited, and Chairman of Mamta Madhusudan Foundation. An interesting keynote speech was given by Shri Susheel Gupta, CA, General Secretary, Sewa Bharti, Delhi. Yogita Raghuvanshi, the nation's first female truck driver, was recognized for her outstanding accomplishments and opened up about her difficulties and roadblocks. To assist her future endeavors, a kind donation of 5 lakhs was announced. The HH+ card and its perks will be provided free of charge to all Indian women truck drivers, according to AITWA. With 100 daughters already enrolled as of the debut date, IDFC First Bank teamed up with Highway Heroes+ to assist in the education of truck driver's daughters from grade 9 to 12. AITWA and Lawyered's Highway Heroes+ Project, which will change our dedicated truck drivers from workers to national heroes, is set to have a significant effect on their lives. To honor their selfless commitment, sacrifices, and dangers they take to improve our country, we cordially welcome everyone to join us. The All India Transporters Welfare Association (AITWA) is a not-for-profit dedicated to the welfare of transporters and truck drivers in India. AITWA has been at the forefront of positive change in the transport industry and recognized by various Govt agencies including MoRTH, BIS, GST, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Commerce, and many more for policy recommendations. www.aitwa.org Lawyered is a legal tech platform that aims to provide accessible and affordable legal solutions to individuals and businesses. Through its innovative approach to legal services, Lawyered has partnered with AITWA to support the Highway Heroes+ Initiative in achieving its objectives. www.lawyered.in For Media Queries:- Name:- Sukriti Phone:- 8860678987 Email:-sukriti@rockmysales.com (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Actor Kangana Ranaut, who was among the special women invitees at the Parliament, on Tuesday extended support to the Women's Reservation Bill, which was introduced today in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Talking to the media Kangana said, This is a wonderful idea, this is all because of our honourable PM Modi and this govt and his (PM Modi) thoughtfulness towards the upliftment of women." Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The bill has been named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. Introducing the bill in the house the minister said "This bill is in relation to women empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A reservations of seats for SC/ST in the House of the People. "Arjun Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on Wednesday, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said. The Women's Reservation Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday. Kangana also said, The first session of the new Parliament has been dedicated to women empowerment and upliftment...PM Modi has kept women as the priority...This is fantastic..." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the government is bringing a new Bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies and that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment. While talking exclusively to ANI, actor Esha Gupta also extended her support to the new reservation bill and said, It's a beautiful thing that PM Modi has taken this step during the first session in the new Parliament. It's a very progressive thought...I had thought of joining politics since childhood...Let's see if this bill is passed, you will see me in 2026..." Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. Union Minister Anurag Thakur distributed sweets to special women invitees, at the Parliament on Tuesday. Talking exclusively to ANI, Haryanvi dancer and 'Bigg Boss 10' fame Sapna Choudhary said, This is just the beginning, many bills are yet to be passed. I would like to thank PM Modi for understanding and supporting women so much. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. (ANI)
Kangana, who was among the special invitees at the new Parliament building, shared her thoughts on the bill.
She said, "This is a historic day...this (new Parliament building) is symbolic of Amritkaal...such an important day, BJP could speak about anything point or any bill... but they chose women empowerment. This shows their thoughts and mindset. Our country is in capable hands..."
On Tuesday, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The bill has been named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Introducing the bill in the house the minister said "This bill is in relation to women empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A reservations of seats for SC/ST in the House of People."
Actor Esha Gupta also extended her support to the Women's Reservation Bill.
It's a beautiful thing that PM Modi has taken this step during the first session in the new Parliament. It's a very progressive thought."
Esha was also present at the new parliament today. (ANI)
Members of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the ruling party in Telangana, held a protest near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Parliament compound on Monday, demanding a Women's Reservation Bill. The BRS members held up placards and raised slogans demanding that the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) table the Women's Reservation Bill in the ongoing Special Session of Parliament. Earlier, on Sunday, an all-party meeting was held in the national capital with various political parties demanding the passage of a Women's Reservation Bill in the five-day special session of Parliament. The special session of the Parliament started on Monday and will continue till Friday. "We are very happy that the Centre called this short session and has inaugurated the new Parliament building. We have put forward the demand for a Women's Reservation Bill to be tabled and passed in the ongoing Special Session. The representation of women must increase not just in Parliament but in other legislative bodies as well,"BJD MP Pinaki Misra said after the all-party meeting on Sunday. Noting that the demand for a Women's Reservation Bill had been raised in earlier all-party meetings as well, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government will proceed in line with its own legislative agenda. "This demand had been raised in earlier (all-party) meetings as well. However, the government will follow its own legislative agenda.The right decision will be taken at the right time," he said. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. (ANI)
India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat. The move comes after India rejected as "absurd and motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge that India played a role in the June killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay was summoned today to the South Block, the headquarters of Ministry of External Affairs. "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said today. "The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it said. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in Canada had been expelled, Joly said the Canadian government had expelled the Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today, Joly said at a news conference. Meanwhile, India rejected allegations made by Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEA in an official statement.Allegations of the Indian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated a statement said. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected, said the official release. The statement said India is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the MEA statement said. The release states that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements and that remain a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new read the release. India has strongly rejected any attempts to connect the government to such developments.We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, CBC News reported. Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added. He informed further that he was coordinating with Canadian allies on this issue. "As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he said. (ANI)
Amidst the commencement of the ten-day-long festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi, devotees were observed reverently transporting idols of Lord Ganesha aboard a local train at Mumbai's Dadar railway station. Visuals showed people chanting in chorus 'Ganpati Bappa Morya'. "My family has been celebrating this festival for 48 years. Here, at the Dadar Railway Station, they sell different kinds of idols of Lord Ganesha. That is why we come here to buy them. People from different areas come here and purchase the idols," said a local, Gaurav Chouhan while speaking to ANI. Another local, Ganesh Patil, also expressed excitement for the 10-day-long festival. Speaking to ANI, he said, "I have been coming here at the Dadar Railway Station for 35 years. Today, I came here with my son to buy the idols of Lord Ganesha." "We all are very excited and happy. We celebrate this festival with huge excitement," the devotee added. Meanwhile, on Tuesday morning, a huge gathering of devotees thronged Shri Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai to attend Aarti at the two-centuries-old shrine dedicated to Lord Ganesha. Even as a festive cheer was palpable in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, people were busy decorating their homes with flowers and rangolis and bringing idols of Lord Ganesha into their homes. Markets and streets bustled with people trying to make last-minute purchases for the festival. Shopowners made robust sales of decorative materials, lights, lamps, crockery and clothes while vendors sold flower garlands, fruits, sweets and 'Matoli' items such as betel nuts, local citrus fruits, coconuts and incense. Exquisitely carved Ganesh idols by artisans and students were awaiting arrival at pandals. Ganesh Chaturthi festival is celebrated every year with great fervour, with thousands of devotees thronging temples and pandals for darshan of the Lord Ganesha. The 10-day festival ends with elaborate immersion processions on Anant Chaturdashi. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde took to 'X' and extended greetings to the people of the state on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. In Chhattisgarh's Raipur, a Pandal bearing a close resemblance to India's successful lunar mission, Chandrayaan-3 aircraft, is to be on public display. A theme-based pandal depicting the Chandrayaan-3 mission has been erected at Kali Bari in West Bengal's Kolkata. The replica of the PSLV rocket at the pandal stands at a height of 120 feet and a width of 70 feet. Another Ganesh pandal themed on Ayodhya's Ram Temple has been put together in Maharashtras Pune by the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Sarvajanik Ganpati Trust. The organisers said they worked on the pandal for the past two months and the installation of the idol of Lord Ganesha in it will be presided over by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, said an official of the organising committee. Also, at Mumbai's famous Pandal, known as 'Lalbaugcha Raja', an aarti was performed amid a huge gathering. In Tamil Nadu's Dindigul, devotees gathered at Vinaynagar temple to get a glimpse of 'Bappa'. In Maharashtra's Nagpur, an aarti was performed at Shree Ganesh Mandir Tekdi. (ANI)
The women's Reservation Bill is likelt to be introduced in the Lok Sabha today during the ongoing special session of the Parliament and in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources said. This comes as the Cabinet on Monday approved the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said. The meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Parliament House Annexe in Delhi The sources further informed that the Bill will be introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. "Women's Reservation Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha today, by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up tomorrow, 20th September. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on 21st September," informed the govt sources. Telangana chief minister KC Rao's daughter and Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC, K Kavitha on Tuesday said that the Union government should reach out to all parties and "build a consensus" on the Women's Reservation Bill. "Happy, we are hearing from the sources that Cabinet has cleared the introduction of Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament. And I hope the bill will be introduced very soon" Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said "This is Congress's Bill. This was brought by Congress. In March 2010, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha. It has been 9 and half years since BJP came to power. Why did they think of Women's Reservation Bill right before the election? You want to have power but we will welcome the Bill if it comes before the House..." Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "This Bill should have been brought long ago. It was in the BJP's manifesto in 2014, but this is taking place after 9.5 years of Modi Govt. I hope that this will empower women in the right way. "I expect that the Bill will be passed as early as possible. I hope this Bill to be implemented in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 33 per cent of women get elected and take part in the development of the country." Earlier, on Sunday, an all-party meeting was held in the national capital with various political parties demanding the passage of a Women's Reservation Bill in the five-day special session of Parliament. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. Meanwhile, the parliament session is underway at the new parliament building today, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this year. Both Houses were adjourned on Monday after a discussion on Parliamentary democracy in the last 75 years with the presiding officers stating that the proceedings will commence on Tuesday afternoon in the new Parliament building. Speaking about the old Parliament building, Prime Minister Modi on Monday mentioned that it served as the Imperial Legislative Council before Indias independence and was recognised as the Parliament of India post-independence. (ANI)
The Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Temple is said to be 130 years old.
According to the temple authorities, the deity of Lord Ganesha was incepted by Shri Dagdusheth Halwai and his wife Lakshmibai way back when they lost their only son to the plague epidemic and hence it is called Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended greetings to the people on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The ten-day-long celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi began today.
Taking to 'X', PM Modi wrote, "Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to the countrymen! Ganpati Bappa Morya!"
In another 'X' post, he wrote, "Greetings to my family members across the country on Ganesh Chaturthi. May this holy festival associated with the worship of Vighnaharta-Vinayak bring good luck, success and prosperity in the lives of all of you. Ganpati Bappa Morya!".
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also took to 'X and extended greetings on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
"Heartfelt greetings to all the countrymen on the holy festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. I pray to 'Vighnaharta- Shri Ganpati Bappa' for your good luck", Shah wrote in an 'X' post.
Meanwhile, a morning Aarti was performed at Shri Siddhivinayak Temple in Maharashtra's Mumbai as the celebration of Ganeshotsava began today.
Even as a festive cheer was palpable in Maharashtra and elsewhere in the country, people were busy decorating their homes with flowers and rangolis and bringing idols of Lord Ganesha into their homes.
Markets and streets bustled with people trying to make last-minute purchases for the festival.
Shopowners made robust sales of decorative materials, lights, lamps, crockery and clothes while vendors sold flower garlands, fruits, sweets and 'Matoli' items such as betel nuts, local citrus fruits, coconuts and incense. (ANI)
The Disaster Management Department in Kerala's Kozhikode has relaxed the restrictions in the district as no new cases of Nipah virus infection were reported in the state, the officials informed on Tuesday. The relaxations have been announced in the containment zones of nine panchayats. Restrictions have been eased in 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15 wards of Ayancherry Grama Panchayat, 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14 wards of Maruthonkara Grama Panchayat, 1,2,7,8 wards of Tiruvallur Grama Panchayat, 9,20 wards, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 wards of Kuttyadi Grama Panchayat, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 wards of Kayakodi Grama Panchayat, 2,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 wards of Kavil Para Grama Panchayat, 3,4,5,6 wards of Vilyapally, 13th ward of Pumari and Thannirpanthal town of 4th ward, 1,2 and 19 wards of Changaroth panchayat. The district collector A Geetha informed that shops and establishments in the above containment zones can operate till 8 pm, while all banks can function till 2 pm as per the Nipah protocol. Masks and sanitisers must be used, social distancing must be followed and gatherings must be strictly controlled, the district collector said. As per the officials, other restrictions will continue till further order. The District Collector also informed that those who are on the contact list and under observation should follow strict restrictions and remain in quarantine till the period prescribed by the Health Department. Health Minister Veena George and Public Affairs Minister PA Muhammad Riyas will hold a meeting today with the representatives of wards where restrictions are not relaxed. Health Minister Veena George on Monday said no fresh cases of the Nipah virus were reported in the state as 61 samples taken of high-risk contacts including healthcare workers tested negative. She further said that the Nipah strain found in Kerala has been identified as the Indian Genotype, or I Genotype, which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. Six cases of the Nipah virus have been so far found in the state of which two persons died while four others, including a nine-year-old boy, are under treatment. The health minister said that ICMR and WHO had conducted studies and found that Kerala and eight other states in India have the probability of Nipah occurrence. Also after 2018, we conducted surveillance and we found that the source of Nipah infection is bats. The virus we found in Kerala is identified as Indian Genotype or I Genotype which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. We have two strains of Nipah Virus one is Malaysian and the other from Bangladesh," the Kerala health minister told ANI. (ANI)
Nuh Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Tuesday sent Congress Member of Legislative Assembly Mamman Khan to 14 days judicial custody in connection with the Nuh violence case. Earlier, Nuh district court on Sunday sent Congress MLA to a further two days of police remand after completion of previous two-day remand. Mamman Khan's lawyer Tahir Hussain Devla said, "Mamman Khan was presented in the court after 2 days of police remand. Police presented Mamman Khan in four cases. Three more new cases have been imposed on Mamman Khan. In all four new cases, 149,137,148,150 have been imposed on him. He has been produced today in case number 149 after two days of remand. In case number 137, the police had sought a remand of five days, on which the court has given a remand of 2 days to the police." Mamman Khan's lawyer said that Mamman Khan is being implicated in this whole matter under a political conspiracy and Mamman Khan has nothing to do with this whole matter. MLA Mamman Khan who was arrested in connection with the recent communal clashes in Nuh and adjoining areas of the state on September 15, was sent to a two-day police remand by the district court. Khan was reported to have been arrested from the house of one of his relatives on the Jaipur-Ajmer road and was brought to Nuh on Friday. Khan, who was arrested by a special investigation team of the Haryana police was produced in a local district court in Nuh later on September 15. The police then sought his custody from the court for interrogation. Khan was arrested by Haryana police in the early hours of Friday, a day after the state government told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it had named him as an accused in an FIR in a case pertaining to the Nuh violence. Khan was arrested by a special investigation team (SIT) of the Haryana police. Violence broke out in Nuh during a procession by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on July 31 this year. Six people were killed and a cleric died in an attack on a mosque in adjoining Gurugram. The Ferozepur Jhirka MLA had moved the court on September 12, seeking protection from arrest while claiming that he was being framed in the case, since he was not present in Nuh the day the violence broke out. (ANI)
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Tuesday welcomed the Women's Reservation Bill and said, more clarity is needed on the bill. "Once the bill is presented in the Parliament, we will get to know in which form it has been brought up. For now, there is only source-based information. I hope that this bill is passed as soon as possible. I hope that this bill will empower all the women out there," she told ANI. "Being a woman, I would say that the biggest problem women face is that of 'character assassination'. I hope that this bill will wipe away such a mentality. The male-dominated society should remember that women too are a part of it," she said, adding, "I believe that this bill should be implemented soon. Women should be elected in the 2024 general assembly election, and they should play roles in the development of the country." Speaking to ANI, "Chaturvedi said, "I will welcome this. Once the bill is presented on the tables, we will get to know in which form it has been brought up. For now, there is only source-based information. I hope that this bill be passed as soon as possible. I hope that this bill will empower all the women out there". "Being a woman, I would say that the biggest problem women face is that of 'Character assassination'. I hope that with this bill such a mentality is wiped out. The male-dominated society should remember that women too are a part of it. I believe that this bill should be implemented soon. Women should be elected in the 2024 general assembly election and they should play roles in the development of the country", she added. Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said on Monday. The meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Parliament House Annexe in Delhi. After the bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday it is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on the second day of the special session in the new Parliament building. Meanwhile, welcoming the Women's Reservation Bill, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji said that they have been demanding the implementation of the women's reservation for a long time and now that the Centre is introducing this bill, the government should take in account the rights of Schedule Tribe and Scheduled Castes too. "I welcome the bill, We have been demanding it for a long time. But it should take into account women belonging to Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Caste (SC) categories too, or the benefits of it will completely be derived by the women from the elite class", Maji said. Launching an attack on the BJP-led Centre, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Dola Sen said this bill was a compulsion for the government as General elections are near. "It is a compulsion of the election, nothing else. In the last 9.5 years, the 'achche din wali sarkar' has done nothing. Since the election is around the corner, they needed to do something," Sen said. "But if they bring the Women's Reservation Bil, we will support it. Better late than never", Sen added while speaking to ANI. Meanwhile, after the bill was cleared by the union cabinet, there erupted a war of words between the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party and the Congress with the latter claiming that the bill was 'theirs'. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has said that demand for the Women Reservation Bill was initiated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Sonia Gandhi. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told ANI We want the Women's Reservation Bill to be brought and passed as soon as possible. The demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by UPA and our leader Sonia Gandhi. It took so long, but we will be happy if this is introduced." Earlier today BJP IT Cell in-charge Amit Malviya took a jibe at the Congress for its claims that it was the prime mover behind the women's reservation bill. In a post on X where he reacted to a 2018 Post by Rahul Gandhi Malviya said " Where was the Congresss unconditional support when the Bill was first introduced in 1996 (as the 81st Amendment Bill) by PM HD Deve Gowda led Govt? In 1998 when Atal Bihari Vajpayee Govt introduced it, and then later in 1999, 2002 and then 2003? The Congress didnt rise to the occasion, ever" he said. "In 2008, when Congress-led UPA was in power, Dr Manmohan Singh introduced the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, but never tabled it in the Lok Sabha What did you do then, other than capitulate to allies RJD, JDU and the Samajwadi Party, who opposed the move vehemently? And today you are lecturing and offering unconditional support? Laughable" he added in the post. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. (ANI)
CM Chouhan along with his family reached a market located near Platinum Plaza here in Bhopal to get the idol of Lord Ganesha. After that, he was seen bringing the idol home along with the family.
During this, CM Chouhan told reporters, Today Ganesh Ji will come and his kindness will be showered on all. May he take away all the pain from everyones life and shower happiness and peace. May all be happy, healthy, and blessed. Our country and state continuously walk forward on the path of development, this is only my prayer to him.
The ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi celebration began on Tuesday. A festive cheer was palpable across the country as people were busy decorating their homes with flowers and rangolis and bringing idols of Lord Ganesha into their homes.
Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated every year with great fervour with thousands of devotees thronging temples and pandals for a darshan of the Lord.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati. Also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav, the festival is characterized by the installation of Ganesha idols at home and in gilded pandals (make-shift stage).
The 10-day festival ends with elaborate immersion processions on Anant Chaturdashi. (ANI)
Lok Sabha has been adjourned till September 20 after Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the new Women's Reservation Bill. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The bill has been named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. Introducing the bill in the house the minister said "This bill is in relation to women empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33% of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A reservations of seats for SC/ST in the House of people." Arjun Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on Wednesday, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government is bringing a new Bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies and that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment. Members of Parliament on Tuesday proceeded to the new Parliament building after bidding farewell to the old building. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed members of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at the Central Hall of the Old Parliament building after which he proceeded outside. Making his first speech in the new building of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the government has decided to bring the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses," PM Modi said in Lok Sabha. He said the Bill will strengthen democracy and appealed to members to pass it unanimously. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a bail plea moved by one Amir Javed booked under stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) for allegedly planning terror activities in the country. He was arrested on September 14, 2021, by the special cell of Delhi Police. The bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anish Dayal on September 18, 2023, while dismissing the appeal challenging the denial of bail by the trial Court stated, "Having considered the charge-sheet, the totality of the material based on broad probability regarding the involvement of the accused, the documents put forward by the investigating agency, as they were, and in addition pursuant to a surface analysis of probative value, this Court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the appellant is prima facie true." Consequently, the conditions in Section 43D (5) UAPA stand satisfied. The appeal is accordingly dismissed, said the Court. According to the Investigation Agency, FIR was registered based on a reliable input received regarding a terror module planning a serial Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Blasts. As per the input, a group of entities were planning to undertake serial IED Blasts in India for which these multiple IEDs were arranged from unknown sources and apparently at an advance stage of preparation. "It was suspected that an Okhla, Delhi based entity was an important part of this module having associates in various parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. This input was verified and corroborated through different sources and it emerged that a deep rooted conspiracy had been hatched by the terror module with its operatives in India to carry out the blasts," stated Delhi Police. As per the State, a multi-pronged operation was launched, several teams were stationed at Mumbai and Lucknow, Prayagraj, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh in U.P. simultaneously. On September 14, 2021, on the basis of intelligence gathered, simultaneous raids were carried out in different States. "Initially, Jan Mohammed Sheikh @ Sameer Kalia was apprehended in the Golden Temple Train by a team from Kota, Rajasthan while on way to Delhi, thereafter, Osama @ Sami was apprehended from Okhla, Delhi, Mohammad Abu Bakar was apprehended from Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi, Zeeshan Qamar was apprehended from Prayagraj, U.P. and the appellant was apprehended from Lucknow, U.P. Consignment of two IEDs, two hand-grenades and two pistols along with rounds were recovered after the arrest of accused Zeeshan, at his instance. Another team apprehended Moolchandra @ Saaju @ Lala from Rae Bareilly, U.P. and later, accused Humaidur Rehman was arrested on September 18, 2021. On the disclosure of accused Humaidur Rehman, two pistols were recovered from a small trench in a village area of Prayagraj at his instance," noted the court. Charge-sheet dated February 8, 2022, was filed in the said matter against the appellant Amir Javed along with Jan Mohammad, Osama, Mohammad Abu Bakar, Moolchandra, Zeeshan Qamar, Humaidur Rehman under Section 120B IPC, Section 18, 20 of the UAPA, Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 4, 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, the court further noted. (ANI)
Amidst the introduction of the much awaited Women Reservation bill in Parliament today, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has said that a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections in the reservation should be ensured in the bill. Mayawati said Along with BSP, most of the parties will give their vote in the favour of Women's Reservation Bill. We expect that after the discussion this bill will get passed this time as it was pending for a long. I said earlier on behalf of my party in the Parliament that women get 50% reservation instead of the proposed 33% in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, keeping in mind the population of women. I hope the Government will think about it. Also, a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections should be ensured in the reservation for women or it will be unfair to them. Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said on Monday. After the bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal on the second day of the special session in the new Parliament building. Titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhinyam the bill aims at 33% reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Earlier in his address to the Lok Sabha Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on MPs to come together and pass this bill unanimously. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses" PM Modi said. (ANI)
Expressing strong condemnation over the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) general secretary Vaiko said Naidu's arrest was an act of political vendetta. Vaiko, who is an MP from Rajya Sabha in a statement released on Monday said, "If someone is at fault, an investigation should have been conducted, a summon should have been issued and then a formal arrest should have been made. Instead, arresting the former Chief Minister and Leader of the Opposition like a terrorist is highly condemnable. The arrest of N Chandrababu Naidu was indicative of ruling YSRCP's vindictive politics." Quoting Naidu's son Nara Lokesh's statement, Vaiko said, "N Chandrababu Naidu's son and Telugu Desam Party's General Secretary Nara Lokesh had said that there was no evidence in this case and the CID had not told where the money went and to whom it was given," he said. "The Skill Development Corporation is working in 7 states including Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, it was started during Chandrababu Naidu's regime. We have trained 2.13 lakh people. More than one lakh people have been given employment. 38 cases are pending against Chief Minister Jaganmohan. He was arrested in the cases of wealth accumulation of around Rs 42 lakh crores and financial misappropriation. He is facing trial in connection with these cases, Vaiko added quoting Nara Lokesh. Vaiko further added that for political reasons, Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy could rejoice with the arrest of the TDP leader but Chandrababu Naidu, who has been selflessly serving the people of Andhra Pradesh for the past forty years of public life will overcome all these and rise again. Earlier on Sunday, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Naidu of orchestrating the multi-crore AP Skill Development Corporation scam. While addressing a public meeting in East Godavari, Reddy alleged that Naidu was involved in corruption even in the past and was caught with audio and video tapes in the 'Cash for Vote' scam during the Telangana MLC elections. "Former CM and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu was caught with audio and video tapes in cash for the Telangana MLC elections. No one is ready to fearlessly tell the truth because they are stakeholders in what he has stolen. When the guilt in the skill development project scam is evident, the one who said he would question is now silent and has negotiated a deal for himself," said Andhra Pradesh CM Reddy. Notably, Naidu was sent to judicial custody on September 10 for 14 days, till September 23, by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court in Vijayawada in connection with an alleged Skill Development Corporation scam. (ANI)
Delhi Minister Atishi on Tuesday extended support to the Women's Reservation Bill, which was cleared by the union cabinet a day earlier. "We welcome it. We extend our full support to this bill. There is a very limited representative of women in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha as well, so definitely we welcome the bill", Atishi said while speaking to ANI. "But I would like to say that there is already reservation in the municipality or Panchayats. Despite this, no major change occurs in the life of a common woman. We would want the government to provide reservations in government jobs too. This also should be introduced in the parliament", she added. The Women's Reservation Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the government is bringing a new Bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies and that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment. Making his first speech in the new building of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the government has decided to bring Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses," PM Modi said in Lok Sabha. He said the Bill will strengthen democracy and appealed to members to pass it unanimously. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. (ANI)
The latest Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks in Pakistans Chitral suggest that the terrorist group could be trying to open a new front in their war against Islamabad, according to Al Arabiya. Chital, located in the remote north of Pakistan, has been a relatively stable area that has not witnessed major militant activity, except for the 2011 attack. The district has recently been in the headlines due to the September 6 deadly cross-border incursion in which a large band of TTP militants crossed over and attacked Pakistani Army positions before being pushed back into Afghanistan. Though the army has not given any numbers, the TTP raiders were reported to be in 'hundreds'! A few days later a bomb explosion killed at least one soldier and wounded several people, including civilians in an attack that targeted a Frontier Corps convoy in Peshawar, the capital of KPK province, as per Al Arabiya. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it ambushed the convoy with an improvised explosive device. While the September 6 attack was brought under control after five days, the capacity of the Pakistan Army to keep the region under check is going to be tested from time to time by the TTP. Pakistan has said the country has warned the Taliban that TTP militants were massing near the border in northeastern Afghanistan, but the Afghan Taliban did not prevent the TTP from carrying out the attacks. The Afghan Talibans continued failure to destroy TTP safe havens will enable the TTP to conduct future attacks in Pakistan. The difficult mountainous terrain and lack of Pakistani military manpower and infrastructure in Chitral will hinder Pakistan's ability to secure the border with Afghanistan. The TTP has used its freedom of movement in Afghanistan to move forces from havens in the Kunar Province and massed them in Barg-e Matal, Nuristan Province, before attacking Chital. The leader of TTP commanded the operation from Barg-e Matal. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ostai security check-post and Janjeerat Koh check-post in Chitral district. Jalil Abbas Jilani, the Interim Foreign Minister insisted that the September 6 attack was an "isolated incident" and the Afghan Taliban rulers did not sanction the attack, while the Foreign Office has repeated the mantra that Pakistan's concerns have been communicated to the relevant quarters in Kabul, as per Al Arabiya. Jilani said Pakistan had registered a strong protest with Afghanistan by handing over a demarche to the Afghan Charge d' Affaires, following the attack on two military posts in the country's northwestern Chitral district that borders Afghanistan. (ANI)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that Encephalitis (a disease that causes inflammation of the brain), which has killed around 50,000 children in the last 50 years has now been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at the inaugural event of Anganwadi centres in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, CM Yogi said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inspired the whole country to conduct a massive campaign against malnutrition in 2018. I remember, that in the east region of Uttar Pradesh, there were deaths due to encephalitis. From 1977-2017, around 50,000 children in Uttar Pradesh suffered from encephalitis that reduced after 2018 onwards. The situation today is that encephalitis has been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh with the help of intra-departmental convergence". Anganwadi centres are known as childcare centres based in rural areas. They were established to tackle malnutrition and child hunger across the nation. "It wasn't just a fight against a disease but we also addressed several other issues attached to it, like the reason behind malnutrition. Uttar Pradesh saw success in safeguarding the future of children and the nation with the fight against encephalitis", he added. "It was a fight against encephalitis but along with this, it was a step towards shielding childhood and embellishing the future of the country and the Uttar Pradesh government has succeeded in it. The result is in front of us", added the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Speaking about the Anganwadi centres, CM Yogi further said, "Anganwadi centres are an effort to shield children from the diseases occurring due to weak immunity. Prime Minister Modiji, in his address, once said that they do the same thing that was done by Maa Yashoda (Lord Krishna's mother). Yashoda Maa raised lord Krishna with all dedication. The central government and the state government have handed over the same role to the Anganwadi centres. If a child is healthy, he can fight any disease. They are doing work to strengthen the foundation of the country". Speaking about the 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' campaign, he said, "By 2027, Bharat will be recognised as the third largest economy of the world. Prime Minister Modiji has dreamt of a developed nation by 2047. In order to fulfil that goal, a campaign named 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' has been launched". Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched 'Amrit Kalash Yatra' under the 'Meri Mati-Mera Desh' campaign, saying "It is not just a programme, but a medium to connect oneself with the future of the country". Under the event, every household, ward, and village will collect the Mitti (soil) or grains in a pot from September 1-30, following it up from October 1-13th at the block and later from October 22-27th at the state level, and finally, from October 28-30th these 7,500 pots will reach New Delhi. Launching the 'Amrit Kalash Yatra', Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will put soil from these Amrit Kalash in the Amrit Vatika created in Delhi in honour of our great "veers", which will keep on reminding every citizen that we must make India great during the period of Amritkal. (ANI)
The accused, identified as 31-year-old Juned Khan alias Juber, hailing from Bairam Nagar of Uttar Pradeshs Bilaspur was arrested from Ghazipur Shamshan Ghat with 1.541 kilograms of heroin, valued at over Rs 1.5 crore, police said on Tuesday.
Additionally, the vehicle used in the commission of the crime has been impounded.
The arrest was made based on a tip-off received by Sub-Inspector Sukhraj, indicating that Juned Khan alias Juber, a drug supplier from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, would be delivering a substantial consignment of heroin in the national capital.
Acting swiftly, police set up a trap at the specified location and apprehended Juned Khan.
A case has been registered in this regard under Section 21/25 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
During interrogation, Juned Khan confessed that he became involved in the illegal drug trade in 2016 when he came into contact with a person named Ishrat, residing in Aliganj, Uttar Pradesh. Ishrat further introduced him to the business of heroin trafficking. The duo then began operating in the drug trade, supplying heroin to various areas in Bareilly.
Khan got in touch two other individuals from Manipur involved in heroin distribution in Bareilly, who procured the contraband from Manipur. Following Ishrat's instructions, Khan travelled to Delhi to deliver the heroin in his vehicle.
Khan who studied till Class 12 previously worked as a construction labourer and said he ventured into the illegal drug trade around one and a half years ago, driven by the allure of quick financial gains. (ANI)
The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF), Delhi has arrested a drug trafficker and recovered 1.541 kg of heroin from his possession. In this case, an FIR has also been registered. The accused Juned Khan belonging to Bilaspur used a vehicle to commit the crime. "A team of ANTF, Crime Branch has arrested an accused Juned Khan @ Juber, 31 years, R/o Bairam Nagar, Bilaspur, Uttar Pradesh. 1.541 kgs of heroin was recovered from his possession. In this regard, a case FIR No. 218/2023, U/s 21/25 NDPS, PS Crime Branch was registered," read an official release. According to Delhi Police, secret information was received by SI Sukhraj that a drug supplier Juned Khan from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh in his vehicle would be coming to Ghazipur Shamshan Ghat, Delhi with a huge consignment of heroin to deliver someone. If a raid is conducted, he could be apprehended along with the contraband. Delhi Police said, "A trap was laid at the place of information and the accused Juned Khan (31 years) was successfully apprehended. 1.541 kgs of heroin was recovered from his possession." Delhi Police said that during the course of interrogation, accused Juned Khan disclosed that in 2016, he came in contact with one Ishrat, who told him about the illegal business of heroin. "Finding it a lucrative business, he along with Ishrat involved in the business of drugs and supplied heroin in various areas in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, he came in contact with two other persons both from Manipur, who were also involved in the supply of heroin in the area of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, after procuring it from Manipur. On the direction of Ishrat, he came to Delhi to deliver the recovered contraband in his vehicle," Delhi police added. Delhi police also said that the accused Juned Khan studied up to 12th class. "In order to earn quick money, he was involved in the business of illegal drugs. He was involved in this business for the last one and a half years," Delhi Police said. (ANI)
In a fierce attack against the Opposition, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhwinder Sukhu said that the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has sold the rights of the state by signing an MoU in the energy sector during the investors meet. "The previous government has sold the rights of Himachal by signing an MoU in the energy sector during the investor's meet. The future generations were not going to get anything from the MOUs that were signed. The royalty clause in the contract signed with the public sector undertaking SJVNL (Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam) was removed," the Chief Minister said during the second day of the Monsoon Session in the assembly. Taking the names of Sainj, Luhri and Dhaula Siddh, Sunni projects, Sukhu said, "The condition for getting the project back to Himachal after 40 years was also removed." "By changing the energy policy, provision of four per cent free electricity was made for the first 10 years of the construction of the project. Eight per cent free electricity will be available for 10 to 25 years. Provision of 12 per cent free power for 25 to 40 years," Sukhu said adding that the previous government tried to play with the interests of the people of the state. On the Opposition's question about closing the institutes, the Chief Minister said, "The previous Jai Ram government opened institutes without thinking and without staff and basic infrastructure." Sukhu added that the present government will open the institute after making all the provisions as per the need. Discussion on disaster continued under Rule 102 on the second day of the assembly session. Meanwhile, a round of questions and answers went on in the House between the ruling party and the opposition. There were heated arguments in the House ranging from compassionate employee issues to the closure of institutions and energy policy. In the session, a question was raised on behalf of Paonta Sahib MLA Sukhram Chaudhary as to how many new MoUs for hydel projects have been signed from January 1 to August 31. In response to the Chief Minister's verbal attack on energy policy, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said, "The language used by the Chief Minister in the House was not correct. The opposition will answer this. Jai Ram Thakur countered saying that it was not the BJP but the Congress which has sold the interests of Himachal Pradesh. "It is not BJP but Congress which has sold the interests of Himachal Pradesh. The Congress government which calls the BJP a 'thug' is a bigger 'thug'," the former Chief Minister said. Hitting back at the Congress on 'institutions' opened by the BJP, Thakur said. "The institutions which were opened were done on the demand of public representatives." "There are many such institutions which were opened by the government during your time but were not started. Many institutions in Himachal were functional for only eight months and officers were sitting in those offices," Thakur said. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' and said that the PM has shown that 'women's empowerment' is not a slogan but a resolution of the Central Government. "Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has shown the realization of Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devata in the democracy of the country in accordance with the eternal culture of India. The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' introduced in the Lok Sabha today is a decision that will give our women power and their rights in the true sense," Amit Shah posted on X (Formerly Twitter). "Modi ji has shown that 'Women-led Empowerment' is not a slogan but a resolution for the Modi government. On behalf of crores of countrymen, I heartily congratulate Modi ji for this historic decision," he added. Earlier in the day, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The bill has been named "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam." Introducing the bill in the house the minister said "This bill is in relation to women empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A reservations of seats for SC/ST in the House of People." Arjun Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on Wednesday, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the government is bringing a new Bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies and that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment. Members of Parliament on Tuesday proceeded to the new Parliament building after bidding farewell to the old building. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. (ANI)
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday slammed the Centre on the second day of the Special Session in Parliament and said that the federal structure is getting weakened under the Central government. Addressing the Rajya Sabha in the new Parliament building, Mallikarjun Kharge said," Under your rule (Centre), the federal structure is getting weakened day by day. You talk about strengthening the federal structure but look at what happened in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Madhya Pradesh. States are not getting GST, MGNREGA funds, agriculture and irrigation departments are not getting grants. You work in uprooting governments in the states. Countering the remarks made by Mallikarjun Kharge, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "This is absolutely wrong. I even borrowed the money and paid GST to the States three times in advance. There is no GST pending on any state." Mallikarjun Kharge further continued attacking the Centre on weakening the federal structure and said," You ask any state be it West Bengal, Maharastra, Punjab, Karnataka Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh every state is suffering." With Kharge's concluding remarks, the Upper House was adjourned till September 20. In his first speech in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the grandeur of the new Parliament building glorifies modern India and the sweat of engineers and workers is invested in it. The new Parliament building reflects the aspirations of 140 crore Indians and it is time to accomplish the resolves and begin the new journey with renewed enthusiasm and energy, the Prime Minister said on Tuesday. He conveyed his best wishes on the historic first session in the new building of Parliament and extended a warm welcome to the Members of the House. (ANI)
During the investigation, police checked CCTV footage from over 50 cameras installed in different areas of Madangir, Dakshinpuri, Devli Village, and Khanpur. Based on the CCTV footage and secret information, police apprehended two suspects within 15 hours of the firing incident, according to Delhi Police.
"On receiving the call police reached on the spot where complainant, Rajbala resident of Dakshinpuri stated that at the time about 11.40 PM when she along with her husband was present in their living room and watching TV suddenly they heard a cracker-like sound. And they found a bullet was shot on their TV but no one got any injury. And she has no knowledge about any alleged person and Nor did see anyone firing," further added the police.
Police said that on September 16, the first information report under section 336 Indian Penal Code & 25/27/54/59 Arms Act was registered.
Both the alleged confessed to firing a gunshot on Sunday night at the time about 11.45 PM. One illegal pistol with 2 live cartridges was also recovered from them.
"A separate action under the Arms Act will also be taken against the alleged persons. Police found that it was a case of accidental firing," said the police
Further information is awaited. Investigations are underway. (ANI)
The Border Security Force (BSF) achieved a major success on Monday after it thwarted a big attempt at smuggling gold along the India-Bangladesh border areas in the state of West Bengal. The 68 Battalion of South Bengal Frontier at the border post at Ranghat apprehended a smuggler with a substantial cache of gold. "Based on concrete information, the troops caught a smuggler with 50 gold biscuits and 16 gold bars. The weight of the seized gold is 23 kg and its estimated value is Rs 14 crore. The smuggler was trying to bring this gold from Bangladesh to India," read an official press release. AK Arya, DIG, Public Relation Officer of BSF, South Bengal Frontier expressed happiness over this achievement of the jawans. He stated that notorious smugglers trap poor and innocent people by luring them with small amounts of money. The gang of notorious smugglers are not directly involved in crimes like smuggling, hence they target poor people. He appealed to people living on the border to report any information related to gold smuggling through their Seema Saathi helpline no. 14419 or through WhatsApp messages or voice messages on 9903472227 and said that a suitable reward will be given to the person providing concrete information, and their identity will be kept confidential. The operation unfolded at 6:50 pm on September 18 when Border Outpost Ranghat received intelligence about a significant gold smuggling attempt near the Van Turn in their area. Responding swiftly, a squad of troops led by their commander reached the location and set up an ambush along the roadside. Shortly thereafter, they noticed a suspicious motorcycle rider approaching the Van Turn. The troops halted and interrogated the individual, who appeared nervous and attempted to flee, leaving the motorcycle behind. The vigilant jawans apprehended him and brought both the suspect and the motorcycle to Border Post Ranghat. A thorough search of the motorcycle revealed the concealed gold hidden in the air filter. The apprehended smuggler was identified as Indrajit Patra, 23 years old, son of Pradeep Patra, from Kulia village, District North 24 Parganas. During questioning, the smuggler disclosed that his brother operates a jewellery shop in Oldanga village, where they both engage in jewellery work. He revealed that he had been approached by a man named Sameer, aged 50 and a resident of Ranghat village, who offered him Rs 15,000 per month to transport gold from Ranghat to Bangaon. The arrested smuggler, along with the confiscated gold, will be handed over to the Customs Office in Bagdah for further legal proceedings. Last year, South Bengal Frontier, BSF, seized 114 kg of gold along the India-Bangladesh border. This year, they have already seized 120 kg of gold, indicating the ongoing vigilance and efforts to curb smuggling activities in the region, added the release. (ANI)
Slamming former Congress president Sonia Gandhi for not being present in the House when the historic Women's Reservation Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that the Gandhi family is only interested in empowering women in their family. "Gandhi Family is only interested in empowering the women in their family. They are not interested in empowering the women in poor or Adivasi or Dalit women, Smriti Irani said while speaking to ANI on Tuesday. The Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the women's reservation bill "is ours", as the bill was about to be tabled in Parliament.The Congress on Monday said it welcomed the reported move as the party has been raising the demand for long. Asked about the bill when she was entering Parliament on Tuesday, Mrs Gandhi said, "It is ours, apna hai." In a post on 'X' a day back, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "We welcome the reported decision of the Union Cabinet and await the details of the Bill." "This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy," he said. Irani hit out at Rahul Gandhi for leaving the House when the discussion on the bill was underway and the Congress party for not supporting the introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill. "It is unfortunate that Sonia Gandhi was absent today. Her son also left when the discussion on the bill was underway. It is even more unfortunate that when the Speaker asked who supported the bill when it was introduced, BJP and NDA supported it but the Congress party did not," the Union Minister said. Pointing out the 'hypocrisy' in Congress, Irani asked, Why is this hypocrisy? Even if you do not answer me, you are answerable to the public. The Narendra Modi government introduced the new Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building here on Tuesday. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Arjun Ram Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up tomorrow, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said. Earlier in his address in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, PM Modi said that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will ensure more women become members of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies. The Women Reservation Bill that seeks to guarantee 33 per quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced as the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill by Union law minister. This was the first agenda of the day taken up by the Lower House in the new Parliament building. The five-day special session of the Parliament began on Monday. (ANI)
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday said that nobody should try to create an unnecessary rift between India and 'Bharat' as there is no difference between the two as per the Constitution of India. While speaking in the Lok Sabha at the new Parliament complex on the second day of the five-day special session, Chowdhury read the Preamble in the new Parliament building. "This Constitution is no less than the Gita, Quran and Bible for us. Article 1 says, "India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States..." It means that there is no difference between India and Bharat. It will be better if nobody tries to unnecessarily create a rift between the two," he said. The controversy was triggered after the invitation for the G20 dinner was sent out in the name of the President of 'Bharat' and not India. The debate started after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan shared on X, formerly Twitter, a G20 dinner invite in which Droupadi Murmu was described as 'President of Bharat'. After the Cabinet approved the Women's Reservation Bill, Congress leader said that demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Sonia Gandhi. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury told ANI, We want the Women's Reservation Bill to be brought and passed as soon as possible. The demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by UPA and our leader Sonia Gandhi. It took so long, but we will be happy if this is introduced." See, this is Congress's bill. We introduced it on March 9, 2010. BJP has been in power for more than 9 years, why did you remember the Women's Reservation Bill just before the elections? If this bill comes on the table today, we will welcome it because everybody agrees that the participation of women in the House and the Legislative Assembly should increase, Ranjeet Ranjan told ANI. The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. (ANI)
Former Punjab Chief Minister and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed the claims made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey Gurdwara in June this year. He said that the murder was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey in Canada. The former Punjab Chief Minister said that Canadian PM Trudeau had unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada. "It was highly irresponsible for the Prime Minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote bank gallery. It was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration in Canada had given a free hand to anti-India forces in that country," former Punjab CM said. He said that there was no corrective action taken by the Canadian government Indian missions were attacked and diplomats were intimidated on their soil. "Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there? he asked while adding, that Canadian PM Trudeau by leveling such allegations was only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in that country. Amarinder Singh said that he had brought it to Trudeaus notice as to how Canadian land was being used against India. He said, when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018, in an Amritsar hotel, he had shared all the information with him. "Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country," he said. The former Chief Minister appreciated the government of Indias decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities. Trudeau triggered a diplomatic storm on Monday by saying there was credible evidence India was responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep SinghNijjar. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of theIndian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government ofIndiaand the killing of a Canadian citizen,Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen inCanada was unacceptable. Najjar, who was wanted inIndia, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area inCanada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Notably, India rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauearlier today, regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting ofKhalistanTiger Force chief and a designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. "We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," said the MEA in an official statement. India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat. (ANI)
Karnataka Ministers are slated to meet in the national capital to discuss the Cauvery River water-sharing dispute on Wednesday morning. Apart from the Cauvery dispute, state projects pending before the central government and drought relief issues will also be discussed. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar will be attending the crucial meeting. Shivakumar will leave for New Delhi on Tuesday evening. Karnataka Government's Delhi Special Representative TB Jayachandra has already reached New Delhi and is holding preliminary discussions at Karnataka Bhavan for the important meeting to be held tomorrow. The meeting will be attended by Union ministers representing Karnataka, Lok Sabha members and Rajya Sabha members of the state. Earlier last week Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that the state is not in a position to release water to its adjacent state, Tamil Nadu as per the Supreme Court order. "We have faced a severe deficit of rain in August compared to the previous 100 years. We don't have water, that's why we are not in a position to release water as per the SC order," Siddaramaiah said speaking to reporters after an All-Party Meeting on the Cauvery water dispute. Following the All-Party meeting, Siddaramaiah added that it has been decided in the All-Party Meeting to write a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and meet all Karnataka MPs and Ministers in Delhi. "We have also decided to write a letter to the Prime Minister of India and also the Water Resources Minister that we are coming in a delegation, please give us a date. We are thinking of going to Delhi to meet all the MPs there and ministers who are from Karnataka...," he said. (ANI)
Recent conflicts especially the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict have brought certain key indicators that enable us to appreciate the contemporary character of war and also the relevance of firepower in accruing a decisive advantage on the battlefield, said Army Chief General Manoj Pande said on Tuesday in the national capital. He was speaking during on "General SF Rodrigues Memorial Lecture in Manekshaw Centre today, in memory of Late General Sunith Francis Rodrigues, the former Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and Governor of Punjab on the occasion of his 90th birthday. The event was attended by senior Army officers and veterans. He said that the subject of the talk today is the 'changing character of war and a very relevant one.' Taking a cue from some of the key lessons that continue to emerge from this conflict. Another important issue is the primacy of technology in the modern battlefield, which has been amply demonstrated in this conflict or natural fallout. Therefore, points towards infusing leaf technologies into our warfighting systems, he said. "Our current inventory is not an ideal mix of the vintage, current, and the state of the art system or the ratio between the three. Modernization or replacement of all is neither feasible nor desired at once. So we need to space out or upgrade new procurements as far as evolving indigenous capacities while retaining a fine balance between the old and the new," said Gen Pande. "We have seen how long-range precision fires have proved that distance does not necessarily guarantee safety. This also has created a dilemma of massing formations," he added. "We've also witnessed the use of low-cost options to neutralise high-value platforms. The proliferation of airspace by manned and unmanned systems further lends avenues for precision targeting. In our context, as I mentioned, we are procuring lighter munition and drones to give affect precision targeting in the tactical battle area" he added. (ANI) Speaking on the occasion, the Army Chief reminded the audience of the major initiatives undertaken by Gen Rodrigues as the Army Chief. He highlighted that the induction of Women Officers in streams other than the Medical Corps, commenced for the first time in 1992 when General Rodrigues was the COAS. "Last but not the least, in the aspect of support from our strategic partners. The support for the war effort that Ukraine has received has indeed been a game changer as we have seen. However, in our context, we need to be clear The strategic partnership with nations notwithstanding their core interests, in some cases may inhibit active military support to us during our conflict with adversaries. And this necessitates India to be self-reliant in our needs to protect our national interests are capable capability development endeavours stand committed to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant)," he said. (ANI)
Export controls targeting China doomed to fail
08:31, September 19, 2023 By China Daily editorial ( Chinadaily.com.cn
Bloomberg reported that almost 20 defense technology executives plan meetings on Monday with Biden administration officials, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other lawmakers to push for speedier military procurement and more investment in pioneering technologies, steps they say are necessary to ensure the United States maintains its innovating edge over China.
In another development, in an open letter to US Congress, leaders of defense technology companies, including Palantir, Anduril, Epirus, and 16 others, expressed deep concern about the rapid technological advancements made by China and what they view as its increased aggressiveness.
The letter, issued by Jacob Helberg, commissioner of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, emphasizes the importance of the US maintaining technological superiority and innovation in order to deter potential conflicts and expresses support for government actions to accelerate the development and adoption of advanced military technology.
It is the China threat peddled by some China hawks in Washington that has stoked the systemic China paranoia in the industry, military and economic circles in the US. These moves come in the wake of the launch of Huawei's new smartphone, whose release early this month caught attention of the world. The 7-nanometer Kirin 9000s chips used in the phones have been confirmed to be manufactured by China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. That has obviously dumbfounded those who believed that the US' technology sanctions against Chinese tech companies, especially Huawei, would exert a stranglehold on the development of the country's technology, the development of advanced chips in particular.
It is believed that China has the technology to produce at least a limited quantity of chips five years behind the cutting-edge ones, indicating that it is inching closer to its objective of semiconductor self-sufficiency. The message is clear that Washington's tech export controls targeting China are not that successful. Given the considerable profits US semiconductor companies have suffered because of the export control measures, the sanctions the Joe Biden administration has imposed against China have achieved much less than expected.
If Washington continues to have the export controls in place or even tightens them as some have suggested, US semiconductor companies will continue to suffer heavy losses, and their reduced returns from sales will make it less possible for them to invest in the further development of their technologies. That might prove to be a vicious cycle impeding their future development, to say nothing of the disruption the controls do to the global supply chains.
Washington's attempted controls on exports of technologies to China will only function as a spur to the determination and enthusiasm of China to develop the core technologies on its own. Engagement would better benefit the US, and China, as well as the world at large.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Noting that the new Parliament is not just a new building but also a symbol of a new beginning, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged members of Rajya Sabha to support the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam unanimously. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha in its first sitting in the new Parliament building, Prime Minister remarked that the occasion is historic and memorable. He underlined the intentions of the makers of the Constitution that the upper House of Parliament becomes a centre for serious intellectual discussions rising above the ebb and flow of political discourse. The Prime Minister quoted former President Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan that the Parliament is not just a legislative body but a deliberative body. He said that it is always a pleasure to hear quality debates in Rajya Sabha. At the dawn of Amrit Kaal, this new building will infuse a new energy in 140 crore Indians, he said. The Prime Minister stressed the need to achieve goals in a set time frame as the nation is no longer ready to wait. He said that the time has come to move with new thinking and style to meet the aspirations of the people and that will require expanding the scope of work and thought process. The Prime Minister said that the House can be a source of inspiration for the legislative bodies all over the country with regard to parliamentary probity. He spoke of some of the decisions taken in the last nine years. Touching upon such issues was considered a huge mistake from the political standpoint, the Prime Minister said and noted that the government took major strides even though it did not have the required numbers in the Rajya Sabha. He expressed satisfaction that the issues were taken up and resolved for the betterment of the nation and credited the maturity and intellect of the members for the same. The dignity of the Rajya Sabha was upheld not because of sheer numbers in the house but due to the dexterity and understanding, he said. The Prime Minister said despite the changes in governments in a democratic setup, the effort has been to keep the national interest supreme. He underlined Rajya Sabhas role as House of the States and mentioned the coronavirus pandemic as an example of Centre-state cooperation. He said the diversity of the country was showcased during G20 events in more than 60 cities and the summit in Delhi. This is the power of cooperative federalism, he said. He also mentioned that the new Parliament building also represents the spirit of federalism as artefacts from states have found a place of prominence in the scheme of the new building. Highlighting the growing impact of technology in daily life, the Prime Minister mentioned that advancements that took more than 50 years to accomplish can be witnessed within a few weeks now. He stressed the need to mould oneself in a dynamic way to adapt to the growing technological advancements. The Prime Minister said that in the Samvidhan Sadan, the country celebrated 75 years of Independence and when the country celebrates the centenary of Independence in the new parliament building in 2047, it will be a celebration of a developed country. I am confident that in the New Parliament, we will be part of the top three economies of the world. While we undertook many measures for the welfare of the poor, in the new Parliament we will achieve saturation of coverage of those schemes. The Prime Minister emphasized the need to adopt new technologies and urged the members to support each other in getting accustomed to the new technology support available in the House. In this Digital Age, the Prime Minister said, we must make technology a part of our lives. Referring to Make in India, the Prime Minister said that the nation is making the most out of this initiative with new energy and enthusiasm. He said that the participation of women is being ensured in many sectors. Potential of women should get opportunities. Time of ifs and buts in their lives is over. He said the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme became a peoples programme. He also mentioned womens participation in Jan Dhan and Mudra Yojana, Ujjwala scheme and the law against triple talaq. He said women-led development was the biggest topic of discussion in G20. The Prime Minister mentioned that the issue of reservation for women in the Parliament has been pending for decades and everyone has contributed towards it in their capacity. Pointing out that the bill was first introduced in 1996, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the bill for the reservation of women in Lok Sabha and assemblies will finally become law. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was introduced as a Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha today and will be up for debate tomorrow. (ANI)
A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to acquit Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a criminal defamation complaint lodged by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, holding his request was without any merit. The application was moved under section 256 of the Cr.PC Gehlot seeking acquittal in the matter at hand, citing the absence of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat who is the complaint on August 7 and August 21 before the court. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal stated that this court finds no merits in the said arguments put forth by the counsel for Ashok Gehlot. In fact, of the 5 judgments which counsel has placed on record, in two, the 'hearing' is being referred to the day of evidence. The 'hearing' cannot be read to have a definitive meaning for want of clarity on the 'stage of proceedings' otherwise too they are distinguishable. In the light of the aforesaid discussion, the application at handstands dismissed, said the Court. Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, appearing for Gehlot had argued that the law under section 256 of the Cr.PC is absolutely clear and warrants that in the absence of the respondent or complainant on any date, without a justifiable cause, which is admitted by the court in the form of an order on exemption application of the complainant, the accused ought to be acquitted in a complaint case. Appearing for Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa submitted that Section 256 Cr.PC is applicable only when the matter is pending for evidence of the complainant and not prior thereto. The stage of Section 256 Cr.PC commences only after the framing of the notice and not before. Since in the matter at hand no notice has yet been framed, no question of application of Section 256 Cr.PC arises argued Advocate Pahwa. Union Minister Gajendra Singh Sekhawat has recently moved Delhi Court and filed a defamation case against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot alleging that Gehlot has made speeches against him saying that the allegations regarding the Sanjeevani Scam are proven against him. On July 6, 2023, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harpreet Singh Jaspal said, having considered the facts and circumstances, the testimonies of the complainant witnesses, and the evidence placed on record, it prima facie appears that the accused (Ashok Gehlot) has made specific defamatory statements, against the complainant. Further, it prima facie appears that the defamatory statements of the accused have been sufficiently published in the newspaper/electronic media/social media, which may make the right-thinking members of the society shun the complainant, said the ACMM. It appears that the accused by his spoken words and by words which were intended to be read, have made defamatory imputations against the complainant, knowing and intending to harm the reputation of the complainant. At the cost of brevity, it is again specified here that the discussion here cannot be said to be a comment on the final merits of the case, as the same is a matter of trial, the ACMM observed. (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday informed that his party Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) is extending support to the Women's Reservation Bill which was introduced in the Lok Sabha today. Taking to X (Former Twitter), Jagan Reddy said, "I am proud to extend YSRC Partys support to the Women Reservation Bill. Empowering our women is of utmost importance to us." "We achieved this in Andhra Pradesh not only through the schemes and initiatives introduced in the past 4 years but also by ensuring equitable representation. Together, lets create a brighter and more equitable future!" he added. Earlier in the day, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Women Reservation Bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The Bill has been named "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam." "Introducing the Bill in the House, the Minister said "This Bill is in relation to women empowerment. By amending Article 239AA of the Constitution, 33 per cent of seats will be reserved for women in the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi. Article 330A reservations of seats for SC/ST in the House of People." Arjun Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181. Urging Rajya Sabha members to pass the Bill - Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam unanimously when it comes to the House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that it is imperative that women should have a role in policy-making, ensuring women that the Centre is committed to make this bill a law. "Today a bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. After discussion, it will come here also. Today we are taking an important step towards women's empowerment," PM Modi said in Rajya Sabha. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. (ANI)
This training workshop is scheduled to take place from September 21 to 22 at the headquarters of the UPSRTC and will be conducted by Innovader Infotech Private Limited, the executing agency for Uttar Pradesh Development Systems Corporation Ltd (UPDESCO).
According to officials, various government and private institutions in the state are actively engaged in conducting comprehensive cyber security audits to assess the level of cyber security and provide the right direction.
Earlier this year, a foreign cyber hacker targeted the UPSRTC website in which the data of several individuals were compromised. To prevent such incidents in the future and equip employees and officials with the knowledge and tools to address cyber threats effectively, this workshop will be conducted.
While the workshop will be held at the UPSRTC headquarters, officials from all districts of the state will also be able to participate through video conferencing.
Apart from cybersecurity, this workshop will also provide information about the operation of all IT infrastructure applications and online portals under the ticketing system, said officials. (ANI)
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry dismissed a report claiming that the country sold its weapons to Ukraine to secure an emergency bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Responding to media queries on the Intercept story alleging the sale of Pakistani weapons to Ukraine, the spokesperson for the country's Foreign Ministry said the report was "baseless and fabricated". Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said the IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan has been successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF. "The IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan was successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF to implement difficult but essential economic reforms. Giving any other colour to these negotiations is disingenuous," she added. The statement noted that Pakistan maintains a policy of staying neutral in the Ukraine and Russia dispute. "Pakistan maintains a policy of strict neutrality in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia and in that context, does not provide any arms and ammunition to them. Pakistans defence exports are always accompanied with strict end-user requirements," the statement by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry read. Secret Pakistani arms sales to the United States helped facilitate a controversial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this year, according to sources aware of the arrangement, The Intercept reported earlier on Monday, adding that Pakistani and American government documents confirm the same. The Intercept is an online American non-profit news organisation. The arms sales were made for the purpose of supplying them to the Ukrainian military, the report claimed, adding that it signals Pakistani involvement in the conflict in the face of pressure from the US to take sides. Further, according to the report, the revelation is a window into the kind of behind-the-scenes manoeuvring between financial and political elites in Pakistan that is rarely exposed to the public. Further, according to The Intercept, Pakistan is known as a production hub for all types of basic munitions needed for grinding warfare. As Ukraine grappled with chronic shortages of munitions and hardware, the presence of Pakistani-produced shells and other ordinances by the Ukrainian military has surfaced in open-source news reports about the conflict, though neither the US nor the Pakistanis have acknowledged the arrangement, it noted. A source within Pakistan's military leaked records detailing the arms transactions earlier this year. The documents describe munition sales agreed between the US and Pakistan from the summer of 2022 to the spring of 2023. The authentication process was done by matching the signature of an American brigadier general with his signature on publicly available mortgage records in the United States; by matching the Pakistani documents with corresponding American documents; and by reviewing publicly available but previously unreported Pakistani disclosures of arms sales to the US posted by the State Bank of Pakistan. (ANI)
India on Tuesday rejected Canada's allegations of being involved in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar the Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and a designated terrorist. In a statement the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said " We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister." "Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated" the statement said. "Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law" the statement further said. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) a Sikh extremist organisation banned by India and a designated terrorist was killed in a targeted shooting in Canada's Surrey in June 2018. His death under suspicious circumstances led to speculation in Canadian media that he had been allegedly eliminated at the hands of his erstwhile comrades who had turned against him. He was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020. The extremist organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) was also banned by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The ministry stated that KTF aims to revive terrorism in Punjab, challenging the territorial integrity, unity, national security and sovereignty of India and promotes various acts of terrorism, including targeted killings in Punjab, as per the Ministry. In addition to this, an Interpol Red Corner Notice was issued against Nijjar in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later. Nijjar, a native of village Bhar Singh Pura in Jalandhar, Punjab, had long been involved with Khalistan militancy since migrating to Canada in 1995. Initially, an operative of Babbar Khalsa, he was involved in some of the most high-profile terror cases of the first decade of the millennium including the Shingar Cinema bomb blast in Ludhiana in 2007 and the assassination of Rashtriya Sikh Sangat President Rulda Singh in Patiala in 2009. He was introduced to Pakistan-based fugitive Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) supremo Jagtar Singh Tara, now incarcerated in India, in 2011 and switched to the newly formed KTF. He kept on meeting Tara in Pakistan in the annual jathas, during which he was allegedly trained in the fabrication of IEDs and handling of high-end guns. Nijjar also funded Tara handsomely from Canada and financed his shifting of the base from Pakistan to Thailand in 2014, according to sources. When Tara was facing deportation from Thailand in late 2014, Nijjar made frantic efforts to stop it, making multiple rounds of Thailand and Pakistan. The next year, Nijjar allegedly trained three Sikh youths in handling AK-47 and Russian sniper guns in the hilly terrain of Mission City, British Columbia before sending them to India to target some senior police officials and popular Dera leaders. Nijjar also formed an alliance with fellow Surrey-based Punjabi gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dala and off late delved into organised financial crimes both in Punjab and in Canada in order to finance his terror plans. This latest venture had also reportedly made Nijjar a target of the warring criminal gangs operating in the Surrey-Delta area. Nijjar also led an intimidatory campaign against the then Jathedar Akal Takht, Giani Harpreet Singh who was to visit Canada on Malik's invitation last year forcing Jathedar to cancel his visit. Nijjar's name was also figured as a suspect in Ripudaman Malik's assassination. Wanted in several violent terrorist incidents in India and Canada, 45-year-old Nijjar carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakhs on his head. There have been frequent allegations that funds from the Surrey shrine were being embezzled for funding terror activities in Punjab. (ANI)
Director of South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre, Michael Kugelman has said Canadas claims regarding an Indian hand in the killing of Khalistani Hardeep Singh Nijjar and the expulsion of an Indian diplomat was a surprising move. I am very surprised by this development (expulsion of Indian Diplomat). That coming after a very dramatic allegation that President Trudeau made against India's Government. It's very surprising, something like this rarely happens. This is a key Western partner - a really big deal. These types of things do not happen so often. So, I was very surprised by this development, Kugelman said Canadian PM Justin Trudeaus actions suggests a view that he believed what he was talking about. Clearly, for the PM of Canada to come out and speak before the House of Commons and make this allegation so publically in the way that he did, that would suggest that he feels he has very strong reasons to believe that what he is saying is accurate he said. Would he really want to jeopardise such an important relationship with India? For me, the fact that he went public suggests a view that he believed what he was talking about" he added. Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Kugelman said that when Trudeau was in India and met with PM Modi, he brought up the assassination and his concerns about Indian involvement. It may have been that Trudeau thought he could deliver a strong message by going to India and meeting face-to-face with PM Modi and bringing these issues up. I understand that PM Modi also brought to Trudeau's attention his concerns about what has been happening with Sikh leaders in Canada he said But we saw that he really did not have a very good visit to India, there were tensions in his meeting with Modi, he had problems with his aircraft, and he was stranded there for a few days. It became a bit of a mess. But keep in mind that he did not go to India, simply to meet PM Modi. He went there to participate in the G20 Summit, Kugelman added. Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday (USlocal time) claimed that his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of theIndian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government ofIndiaand the killing of a Canadian citizen,Hardeep SinghNijjar," Trudeau said. Meanwhile, signalling a further souring of bilateral ties, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in the country had been expelled. We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today, Joly said at a news conference. India has, however, rejected the allegations by Canadian PM Trudeau regarding the governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEA in an official statement. Allegations of theIndian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated the release added. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected, said the official release. The release said India is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law. (ANI)
Canada-based professor of Carleton University and foreign policy expert Vivek Dehejia on Tuesday said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made an unprecedented sort of allegation against India and that it is hard to judge the credibility or the quality of the information. It's hard to judge the credibility or the quality of the information until we see more information. This is an unprecedented sort of allegation that in the history of independent India, I can't think of any previous case where the leader of a sort of so-called Western advanced country, democracy has said India is interfering in our internal affairs by plotting an assassination. It's absolutely unheard of. So it's extraordinarily peculiar, the Canadian professor said on Tuesday. He said the Canadian public or the public of the world, has not been given any information on the claims made by the Prime Minister. So all we know is that Trudeau alleges this based on what he says he's been told by the Canadian security intelligence agency, he said. Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Najjar, who was wanted inIndia, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area inCanada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar,Nijjarwas based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Trudeau on Monday (US local time) claimed that his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government ofIndiaand the killing of a Canadian citizen,Hardeep SinghNijjar," Trudeau said. Meanwhile, signalling a further souring of bilateral ties, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said anIndian diplomat in the country had been expelled. Vivek Dehejia said he was absolutely flabbergasted and shocked by the news of Canada expelling an Indian diplomat. He said the expulsion was a bombshell thrown by Trudeau on the first day of the Parliamentary session in Canada. Indiahas, however, rejected the allegations by Canadian PM Trudeau regarding the governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the MEA in an official statement. In a reciprocal move to the expulsion of its diplomat by Canada, India today summoned the Canadian High Commissioner Cameron MacKay and informed him that it was expelling a senior Canadian diplomat. "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said "The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it said. (ANI)
Senior journalist based in Toronto, Tahir Gora has termed as shocking the allegations made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India played a role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Chief of Khalistan Tiger Force and adesignated terrorist. Gora described the current situation as a very "tough phase" for ties between the two countries. He also said that the Canadian government has not been able to distinguish between freedom of expression and propagation of hatred. This comes after Trudeau on Monday, accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of the wanted Khalistani leader, CBC News reported. This was followed by an Indian diplomat being expelled from the country and a reciprocal move of a Canadian diplomat being expelled from India, signalling a further souring of ties between the two countries. Speaking to ANI, Tahir Gora said, Exactly three months after the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, PM Justin Trudeau said in the Parliament that the Indian government is behind the killing of Nijjar. This was followed by Canada's Foreign Minister announcing that they had expelled an Indian diplomat. This is a bombshell announcement. Gora has also called the timing of the revelation particularly shocking it happened just after PM Trudeaus visit to India for the G20 Summit. As Canadians, we all know that Trudeaus visit was not very good. The statement from the Indian side after the meeting between the two leaders also showed the tensions between the two countries. Both the Indian media and Canadian media have termed the visit of Trudeau as a humiliating visit, Gora said. He added, The timing is very shocking for the Indian-Canadians. This revelation could have been made earlier or maybe later, after the investigation was completed. PM Trudeau also said in the Parliament that he had talks regarding this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi while he was in India. There are a lot of questions if there are political ambitions or vote bank politics behind this. Notably, multiple incidents of Khalistan extremism have been reported in Canada over the past few years. Even when Trudeau was in India for G20 Summit, a so-called Referendum was held by Khalistani secessionists in Surrey in British Columbia. On being asked about the pro-Khalistani incidents, and the Trudeau governments alleged inaction in the matter, the senior journalist said that the Canadian government has not been able to distinguish between freedom of expression and propagation of hatred. The rules in India and Canada are very different. Here, PM Trudeau talks about freedom of expressionas Canadians, we feel that whether it is Khalistani or someone else, no one can talk about violence. We clearly believe that it is not right to propagate hatred, violence and gun culture. The Canadian government does not understand that freedom of expression is something else and promoting hatred is something else. I believe that the government should differentiate between the two, or else it is not good for Canada, Gora said. In June this year, a tableau parade was organised in Canada celebrating the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi, which drew severe criticism from New Delhi. In March this year, Khalistan supporters held a protest outside the Indian Embassy in Canada. They raised pro-Khalistan slogans and allegedly assaulted Indian-origin journalists present on the spot. Multiple temples have also been vandalised in Canada by pro-Khalistani protestors, with anti-India graffiti. He further said that the issue is of concern for the large Indian diaspora living in Canada, adding that this is a very tough phase for India-Canada ties. Indian-Canadians are a very large diaspora of around two million have this question in mind that India never had ill wishes or ill intentions for Canada and the same is true from Canada's side. India is a well-wisher of Canada and Canada is a well-wisher of India. Despite some pro-Khalistani incidents, the two countries have enjoyed very warm ties. This level of ill-intention was never seen before, neither from the Indian side nor from the Canadian side. So much so, that the Indian diplomat was expelled from the country. This is a very tough phase in the ties between India and Canada, Gora added. Air India bombing that took place some 30-32 years ago. Even that investigation has not been completed till now. So, how come in this case, the investigation was completed in three months, and the PM made the announcement in the Parliament? he further stated. Notably, the recent pro-Khalistani incidents have led to the souring of India-Canada ties. This has led to the stalling of negotiations for a free trade agreement between the two countries. Ottawa also announced that it would postpone an October trade-mission to India. Usually, in diplomatic ties, tit-for-tat happens, if one side takes action, the other side also takes it. We Canadians also expect that some action might be taken from the Indian side. We as Canadians want good ties between the two countries, and we hope that the common sense prevails, Gora said. Earlier on Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said an Indian diplomat in the country had been expelled. Joly said the Canadian government had expelled the Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader. She called the possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable. On Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of the wanted Khalistani leader, CBC News reported. Nijjar was gunned down outside a gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, BC on June 18. According to CBC News, Canada, PM Trudeau said his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. Meanwhile, in response to the Canadian claims, the Indian side issued a strong rejection and termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the MEA in an official statement. It added, Allegations of the Indian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. The MEA said that similar allegations were made by the Canadian PM Trudeau to PM Modi also, and were completely rejected, said the official release. A statement said India is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law, adding that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements and that remains a matter of deep concern. (ANI)
US President Joe Biden came with a very positive and optimistic feeling after the G20 Summit in India and a lot of great work was done in those couple of productive days, White House official John Kirbysaid on Monday. He further said that everyone is grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the G20 presidency and for executing the agenda. US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby was addressing a briefing ahead of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He (Biden) came away from the G20 feeling very positive and optimistic about the direction. I mean, there was an awful lot of great work done at the G20 and were all grateful to Prime Minister Modi for his presidency, for Indias presidency of it, but also for the way the agenda was executed. It was a very, very productive couple of days, Kirby said at the briefing. On being asked if any bilateral discussion can be expected between India and the US during the forum, Kirby said there is no bilateral discussion on President Bidens agenda with the Indian delegation. Im not aware of any specific India-focused meetings on his agenda while hes here in New York., Kirby added. At the recently concluded G20 summit in New Delhi leaders managed to agree on a joint statement laying out shared views on climate change and economic development and called on all states to refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition. There was also an announcement on a new infrastructure and economic corridor that will connect India, the Middle East and Europe which the US President dubbed a "A really big deal." US President Joe Biden recently was in New Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit under Indias presidency. On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, President Biden and PM Modi held a bilateral meeting, during which they reiterated working for a stronger India-US strategic partnership, and reviewed various areas of cooperation between the two nations. (ANI)
Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Sanjay Verma on Monday discussed the G20 Delhi Declaration, victims of terrorism and capacity building in counter-terrorism with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov in New York. The MEA Secretary (West) appreciated the UNs counterterrorism efforts and Voronkov's leadership and assured of Indias continued support to UNOCT. Good to meet Mr Vladimir Voronkov, USG #UNOCT in New York. Appreciated the UNs #counterterrorism efforts and his leadership. #DelhiDeclaration, Victims of Terrorism and capacity building in CT discussed. Assured Indias continued support to UNOCT, Sanjay Verma wrote on X . Sanjay Verma recently highlighted that challenges like international terrorism, transnational crimes, and illicit drugs are concerning the international community. He made the remarks at the 51st Annual Conference of the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), according to the Ministry of External Affairs press release. Sanjay Verma underscored the increasing importance of international law in changing world scenarios. He said, Challenges like international terrorism, transnational crimes, illicit drug and human trafficking, money laundering, climate change, cyber-crime, corruption, and health are other new mainstream concerns for the international community. Verma also said thatIndiahad a busy diplomatic schedule at G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Brazil, Russia,India, China and South Africa (BRICS) or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which were held his year. "Indias diplomatic calendar has never been busier. G20, SCO, BRICS or BIMSTEC, to name a few of our engagements, which capture our concurrent and diverse interests," said Verma. He underscoredIndias changing diplomatic priorities to meet fast-morphing global challenges and said, Atma-nirbharta or strategic autonomy, multi-polarity oriented, a net security provider, first responder, a force for international good and future-oriented are expressions that capture the spirit ofIndias changing diplomatic priorities to meet fast morphing global challenges. Secretary Verma also stressed thatIndiahas made notable contributions to various aspects of international law, including international humanitarian law, the law of treaties, diplomatic and foreign relations, foreign trade and shipping, as well as human rights for substantial changes that have positively impacted lives of our citizens, as well as people across the world. He said that India strongly advocates the process of reform and restructuring of the UN for it to be relevant to the needs of its membership. (ANI)
Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Atul Malhari Gotsurve has been appointed as Indias next Ambassador to Mongolia, as per a release issued by the MEA. He replaces MP Singh as Ambassador. Gotsurve is expected to take up the assignment shortly. Atul M.Gotsurve joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 2004. After completing his Bachelor's and Masters Degrees in Engineering from Pune, he initially worked as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering in Pune and later as Assistant Director at Central Water Commission, New Delhi, where he was responsible for the design of various dam projects, including in Bhutan. In his career as a diplomat, he has served in the Indian Embassy in Mexico and in Cuba, handling a number of portfolios including political, commercial, trade and investment promotion, culture and consular affairs. In the Ministry of External Affairs, he has worked in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) Division from 2010-2014 in various capacities. From 2014 to 2017, he worked as the Regional Passport Officer of Pune in the State of Maharashtra. In 2018, he was conferred with the Special Recognition Award by Sarkaritel.com for being one of the Youngest Ambassadors of India. Gotsurve has represented India at several International Conferences. (ANI)
After the recent unfounded accusations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the relationship between India and Canada, two great democracies stand on thin ice, author Dr Jasneet Bhatti wrote in Khalsa Vox. According to the author, the abrupt declaration that India could have had a hand in the killing of a Sikh extremist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, is not only bewildering but might also signify a new low in the bilateral relations of these countries. At its core, this accusation seems to be rooted more in prejudice and less in fact. Indias outrage is hardly surprising for a nation that has always championed the fight against terrorism on a global stage. For Canada, however, such a hasty judgment might prove costly. Instead of basing relationships on mutual respect and understanding, Canadas unwarranted support for extremist groups, notably the Khalistan movement, poses a real threat to international collaboration. To draw an analogy, Canadas stance feels eerily similar to Pakistans known interference in Indias domestic matters. The consistent efforts to undermine and misrepresent Indias intentions have been a characteristic feature of Pakistans approach. By making these baseless allegations, Canada seems to be mirroring that kind of behaviour. Labelling Canada as another Pakistan to India might seem strong, but if Canada continues on this trajectory, it risks being seen in the same light, Khalsa Vox reported. Notably, India-Canada ties are delicate and have faced tensions in recent years. While nations will undoubtedly have differences in perspectives and policies, making public accusations without substantive proof only serves to exacerbate an already fragile relationship. In a situation like this, such unfounded claims not only strain political and diplomatic ties but also create unwarranted fear and anxiety among the Indian-Canadian community. Its distressing to see such divisions being fuelled further by unsubstantiated statements from the top echelons of the Canadian government, Khalsa Vox reported. According to the author, the allegations made by Trudeau indeed raise concerns, but not about Indias role in Nijjars assassination. Instead, it raises questions about Canadas intentions and the direction of its foreign policy. It is imperative to ask why Canada is inclined to support extremist narratives without concrete evidence. Also, the image of Canada as a neutral, fair, and principled nation on the international stage is at stake. Isolating India based on shaky ground might lead Canada down a perilous path where it stands alone, having traded a trusted democratic partner for extremist ideologies. According to the author, it is crucial for Canada to reassess its stance and base its actions and statements on clear evidence, rather than unfounded allegations. Solidarity, mutual respect, and evidence-based decision-making should be the pillars of Canada-India ties. Only by embracing these principles can both nations move towards a better future together, Khalsa Vox reported. (ANI)
World leaders have expressed 'deep concerns' after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The White House is "deeply concerned" about the accusations, said a spokesman for the National Security Council, Adrienne Watson, according to CNN. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Watson said. No one has been arrested by Canadian authorities in relation to Nijjar's killing. However, in an update in August, police said they were looking into three individuals and provided a description of a potential getaway car while pleading with the public for assistance, CNN reported. The claims have "deeply concerned" Australia as well, according to a spokesperson for Penny Wong, the foreign minister of Australia. We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India, a statement shared with CNN said. We understand these reports will be particularly concerning to some Australian communities. The Indian diaspora is a valued and important contributor to our vibrant and resilient multicultural society, where all Australians can peacefully and safely express their views. On the other hand, Canada signalled a further souring of bilateral ties with India after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in the country had been expelled. The expulsion came in light of PM Justin Trudeau's statement alleging an Indian hand in the killing of wanted Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Joly said the Canadian government had expelled an Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader, according to Al Jazeera. In a tit-for-tat move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India. Canadian High Commissioner to India,Cameron MacKaywas summoned today to the South Block, the headquarters of the Ministry of External Affairs. "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said today. It added, The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities. Amid the tensions between India and Canada, the security of the Canada High Commission here was also beefed up today. Several personnel of the Central Reserve Police and Delhi Police were deployed outside the Canadian High Commission. Notably, India rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier today, regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEAin an official statement. Allegations of theIndian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated the release added. The Indian response came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government on Monday (September 18) of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Najjar, who was wanted inIndia, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament earlier, Canadian PM Trudeau had also claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. (ANI)
Javed Beigh, a social activist from Kashmir Valley intervened in an Interactive dialogue with the Working Group (WG) on arbitrary detention during the 54th UNHRC session in Geneva. Javed highlighted the rise of extremist Sunni religious organisations which frequently target the minority Shias.
He said, Pakistan is notorious for arbitrary detentions of its citizens including those from ethnic minority communities like Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis and Urdu-speaking Mohajirs. Since the last few decades with the rise of extremist Sunni religious organisations, there has been an exponential increase in arbitrary detention cases of Pakistans Shia minority which comprises about 15-20 per cent of the total Muslim population of Pakistan.
The Kashmiri social activist also expressed concern about Pakistans Shia community including educational professionals being targeted by authorities.
Beigh further added that Shias have now replaced Christians and Ahmadiyas as the largest victims of fabricated Blasphemy cases arbitrarily imposed against them.
He stated that between 2001 to 2018, approximately 4847 Shias were killed in various incidents of sectarian violence as per Pakistans records.
However, independent databases have estimated that some 10,000 Shias lost their lives in Pakistan from 2001 to 2018. Muslim Vibe has further quoted that almost 23000 Shias have been murdered in Pakistan since 1963. Ahle-Sunnat -Wal Jamaat", an anti-Shia front, has been responsible for this act against Shias.
Beigh has brought to the notice of the Human Rights Council that this slow genocide of Shias in Pakistan should be ended. (ANI)
In his address at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden lauded the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor and said the project will spur opportunities for investment across two continents. Biden said that the rail port project is part of an effort to build a more sustainable integrated Middle East. Similarly, groundbreaking efforts were announced at the G20. Connect India to Europe through the UAE, Saudi Arabia Jordan and Israel will spur opportunities for investment across two continents. This is part of our effort to build a more sustainable integrated Middle East," Biden said at the 78th session of UNGA today. While highlighting US efforts to maximize collective investment to deliver consequential results across multiple countries and multiple sectors, Biden made reference to the rail port project and added, "It demonstrates how Israel's greater normalization and economic connection with his neighbours is delivering positive practical impacts even as we continue to work tirelessly to support just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians." At the G20 Summit which took place in India on September 9-10; India, the US, UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Biden called it a "game-changing" regional investment. The corridor will encourage and provide impetus to economic development through enhanced connectivity and economic integration between Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe, as per sources. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will consist of two separate corridors, the East corridor connecting India to West Asia/Middle East and the Northern corridor connecting West Asia/Middle East to Europe. It will include a rail line, which upon completion, will provide a reliable and cost-effective cross-border ship-to-rail transit network to supplement the existing multi-modal transport routes enhancing transhipment of goods and services between South East Asia through India to West Asia/Middle East Europe. Biden also highlighted the issue of expanding the UN Security Council and said the US would continue to push for reforms. "In my address in this body last year, I announced the United States would support expanding the Security Council, increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members. The United States has undertaken serious consultation with many member states we'll continue to do our part to push more reform efforts forward. Look for points of common ground and make progress in the year ahead. We need to be able to break the gridlock too often," Biden said. "United Nations must continue to preserve peace, prevent conflict and alleviate human suffering. And we embrace nations stepping up to lead in new ways and to seek new breakthroughs on hard issues," he added. Speaking on the inclusion of the African Union as a permanent member in the G20, the US President said, This month, we strengthen the G20. As a vital forum welcoming the African Union as a permanent member to upgrade and strengthen our institutions." In his opening remarks at the 18th G20 Leaders Summit on September 9,PM Modiinvited theAfrican Union, represented by Assoumani, to take a seat at the table of G20 leaders as a permanent member. TheAfrican Unionchairperson expressed his gratitude to the G20 member countries for the historic inclusion of the bloc in the G20 family. Assoumani took to his official handle on 'X' to post, "The G20 has just ratified, through the voice of the Prime Minister of India, @narendramodi, the admission of the @_AfricanUnion into its fold. On behalf of the African continent, I sincerely thank all the member countries of @g20org for this historic admission." The move to include theAfrican Unionin the G20 grouping was proposed byPM Modi earlier this June. The first day of the high-level general debate is taking place at the 78thUnited Nations General Assembly. More than 140 world leaders are meeting to discuss the pressing world issues at the 78th session of the ongoingUnited NationsGeneral Assembly (UNGA) in New York City. Notably,US President Joe Bidenis the only representative among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council who is attending the UNGA. (ANI)
The US Department of State has expressed concern over the allegations levelled by Canadas Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India over the killing of Khalistani leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. "We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice," a US State Department spokesperson told ANI. A day after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levelled 'allegations' on India being linked to the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force Chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said on Tuesday that Ottawa wants New Delhi to address the issue properly, CBC News reported. Trudeau said that Canada is not trying to provoke India by any means. "We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them," the Canadian Prime Minister told reporters, according to CBC news. "The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that," he said. "As for Canada, I said yesterday...we are going to remain calm, we are going to remain grounded in our democratic principles and values.... and we are going to follow the evidence and make sure the work is done...," he added. CBC News is a Canada-based media company, a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday alleged the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Trudeau on Monday (US local time) claimed that his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. India has, however, rejected the allegations by Canadian PM Trudeau regarding the governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the MEA in an official statement. (ANI)
The team assisted the Moroccan people in areas hit by the recent earthquake by conducting SAR operations.
Its work testifies to the strong and lasting bonds between the two countries, their leaderships and peoples, which are further strengthened by the support of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed and His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of Morocco.
The teams leader, Major General Ali Al Matrooshi, said that they worked non-stop since they reached the disaster zones and cooperated with Moroccan authorities in carrying out SAR operations.
The team, which comprised skilled staff specialised in handling natural disasters, also used cutting-edge vehicles, equipment, and tools to search for and rescue people buried under the rubble, he added.
He then commended the Moroccan Armed Forces rescue operations, their aid delivery to affected areas, and their logistical support for the Emirati SAR team, facilitating the successful carrying out of its mission.
Al Matrooshi stressed that the teams mission was to stand by Moroccans and offer assistance, utilising the skills of the team's globally certified members.
The team has joined many humanitarian missions around the world, reflecting the UAEs values of giving, compassion, and aiding those in need, he affirmed.
The Emirati team comprised over 135 members who provided psychological support, medical care, and rescue operations. It also had 28 specialist vehicles, such as ambulances, command unit vehicles, security inspection patrol vehicles, K9 transport units, and emergency response trucks. (ANI/WAM)
With still no signs of a truce amid the raging armed conflict with Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, while accusing Moscow of being the aggressor and perpetrating "genocide" in his homeland, proposed a "peace formula" at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday. Addressing the UNGA session, Zelenskyy claimed that Ukrainian children in Russia were being taught to "hate" their homeland, adding that all ties that Ukraine nationals have with their family members back home were being snapped. Were trying to get (Ukrainian) children back home, but time goes by. What will happen to them? Those children in Russia are told to hate Ukraine and all ties with their families are broken. This is clearly a genocide, Zelenskyy said at the UNGA session. Putting forward a peace plan amid the continuing hostilities with Russia,Zelenksyy said, "For the first time in modern history, we have a real chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked." Last month, during the peace talks hosted by Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy said Ukraine had proposed a "peace formula" to "restore" the international rules-based order that had been "violated" by the Russian aggression. According to experts, Zelenskyy's participation in the ongoing General Assembly session will boost worldwide support for Ukraine amid the continuing armed conflict with Russia. Further, during his address at the UNGA session, Zelenksyy said "unity" alone can make sure that such aggressions do not happen again. It takes our unity to make sure that aggression will not [happen] again, the Ukrainian President said. The visit this year marks the first by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to the General Assembly since Russia launched a "full-scale invasion" of his nation in February 2022. More than 140 world leaders are meeting to discuss the pressing world issues at the 78th session of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City. After the UNGA session, Zelenskyy is likely to visit Washington DC, for his second wartime appearance before the US Congress. The theme for the 78th UNGA session calls on world leaders to evaluate the UN's 2030 agenda, which includes a deadline for its 17 Sustainable Development Goals. It urges "accelerating action" towards those aims in order to promote "peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all", according to Al Jazeera. The 78th UN General Debate began on Tuesday, kicking off a period of high-level discussions that will continue till September 26. However, while the event is billed as a "debate," it is actually a series of 15-minute statements delivered by world leaders on issues of their choosing. On February 24, 2022, Russia allegedly invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. The 'invasion' has killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been accused of mass civilian casualties and of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers. (ANI)
A man accused of murdering someone in Franklin County has been labeled Bluegrass Crime Stoppers Most Wanted Person of the Week, officials announced Tuesday.
Simeyon Johnson, 36, is wanted in connection to the murder of 50-year-old Thomas Wideman. Kristyn Klingshirn, a liaison for Bluegrass Crime Stoppers, said during a news conference that Johnson has known ties to Lexington and federal law enforcement partners are looking for him.
Johnson, who also goes by Sim, is described as being about 6 feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds, Bluegrass Crime Stoppers said. He has brown eyes and long black hair.
A cash reward up to $1,500 is being offered for information about Johnsons location and case. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers or P3 Tips.
The killing happened in July at Hickory Mills Manor apartment complex on Marlowe Court, according to the Frankfort Police Department. Wideman was declared dead on scene and Johnson was last seen fleeing the scene with a gun.
Police previously said Johnson should be considered armed and dangerous. He also has two warrants out for his arrest in Franklin County
Two people were injured, one critically, in a wrong-way crash Monday evening on U.S. 71 in Kansas City, according to police.
Officers were dispatched to the crash site around 5:15 p.m. in the northbound lanes of the highway at East 39th Street, Kansas City police said in a written statement. Two vehicles a Dodge van and a blue Chevrolet sedan were involved.
The driver of the van told police that vehicles in front of him began taking evasive action as he was in the center lane. He then saw the blue Chevrolet going the wrong way toward him and collided with the car head-on, according to police.
The driver of the van was taken to the hospital for minor injuries. Police said the other driver was taken away by ambulance with critical injuries.
The investigation remained ongoing Monday night. Police were still working to determine where the blue sedan got on the wrong side of the divided highway.
Students at South Plantation High School were on lockdown Tuesday morning after a written threat was made against the school, police said.
Plantation Police and Broward County Public School officials have released few details. The department said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after 10:30 a.m. that officers were at the school investigating the threat.
Det. Robert Rettig, a police department spokesperson, said Tuesday afternoon he did not have information about the nature of the threat or when it was made. WPLG-Ch. 10 reported that a teacher received the threat.
Nadine Drew, a Broward County Public Schools spokesperson, said the threat was unfounded, and the school was cleared to dismiss students as normal. Drew referred questions for information about the threat to police.
Shortly before noon, Plantation Police said on social media that officers had identified and detained a suspect. Rettig did not say whether the person who was detained was a student.
No one had been arrested as of 2 p.m., Rettig said, and their investigation is ongoing.
Making a written or electronic threat to kill, do bodily injury or conduct a mass shooting or an act of terrorism is a second-degree felony in Florida, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
PARENTS: please speak to your children about the seriousness of making threats, the police department said on X. ALL threats will be thoroughly investigated by detectives & perpetrators will be charged accordingly.
The 150-year-old banyan tree in Lahaina, Hawaii, is showing signs of recovery after devastating wildfires ripped through parts of the historic landmark last month.
A video posted by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources showed the tree growing a few sprouts, providing hope of its eventual recovery.
The historic Lahaina town on Maui was devastated when wildfires burned at least 2,170 acres of land, including the banyan tree, which is considered a landmark throughout the state. Planted in April 1873, the tree now covers an entire acre on the towns historic Front Street.
Last month, Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) said she was optimistic the tree would bloom again. Hirono met with arborists shortly after the wildfires, who worked to determine how the tree could be supported.
Experts told Nexstar Media Groups KHON television station last month that crews were able to create a batch of compost that would help the soil and generate new roots for the tree. Arborists said when they applied the compost, they observed some live roots that appeared to be in good condition.
Experts said it could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few years to determine whether the banyan tree will soak up the nutrients.
The tree was a gift from India in 1873 and was only 8 feet tall when Sheriff William Owen planted it to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina, according to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation. The tree grew to stand more than 60 feet high, with 48 trunks that shade more than two-thirds of an acre.
The Maui wildfires are considered the deadliest in modern U.S. history, with the death toll believed to be 97 as of this week. The blaze burned through thousands of acres, damaging or destroying thousands of structures.
Some residents in Lahaina, which took the brunt of the wildfires, are still not able to return to their homes in the disaster area. Maui County officials said the area is currently impacted by ash with potentially toxic, cancer-causing chemicals, broken glass and exposed electrical wire.
The Red Cross is providing temporary housing across 40 locations in Maui, island officials said. As of Sunday, officials estimated around 7,669 people were being housed overnight at these locations.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Shortly after someone called 911 and reported seeing someone shoot into a car, a 19-year-old pregnant woman arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound to her stomach, according to police in Oklahoma.
Officers with the Tulsa Police Department responded to the 911 call at about 6:45 p.m. Monday, Sept. 18. The caller said someone in a SUV had shot into a maroon Ford car, then the SUV drove off.
An area hospital told officers the shooting victim had arrived and been rushed into surgery, according to a Facebook post from the police department. A man and a child were in the car with her when she was shot, but they were not hurt.
The woman and her unborn baby are in stable condition, KRMG reported.
An investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
Anyone with additional information is asked to call Tulsa Crime Stoppers at 918-596-2677 and mention case 2023-045886.
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Editors note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.
A pair of buildings that are less than a quarter of a mile apart in downtown Orlando will hit the market in the coming days, Orlando Business Journal has learned including one home to a popular bar concept and another located prominently at one of Orange Avenues busy intersections.
Jere Matheny, vice president of brokerage services for Orlando-based First Capital Property Group, is the listing agent taking 14 E. Washington St. and 39 W. Pine St. to market for sale.
The former is a six-story mid-rise at the southeast corner of Washington Street and Orange Avenue, with ground floor tenants including Sly Fox Pub and Jam-Eng Caribbean & English Cuisine. The latter is a two-story building next to Orlandos Fire Station No. 1 and home to Cocktails & Screams, a popular themed bar.
Read: Ambitious, turbocharged: Disney plans to spend $60B on parks, cruise line over next 10 years
Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journals website.
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A liberal womens rights group is asking senators to question two key nominees to the Federal Trade Commission at a confirmation hearing Wednesday about their ties to an influential conservative law professor accused of sexual harassment.
Joshua Wright, himself a former Federal Trade Commission member who became a professor at George Mason Universitys law school, is facing accusations of sexual harassment from at least eight women who say he pressured them to have sex with him in order to advance their careers. Wright resigned as a professor late last month and filed a $108 million defamation lawsuit against two of his accusers.
George Mason has long been considered one of the nations more conservative law schools and bears the name of Antonin Scalia, the right-wing Supreme Court justice who died in 2016. Its administration faces allegations it failed to properly investigate what Bloomberg News called the open secret of Wrights misconduct because of his influence in conservative and libertarian legal circles, where he has been at the center of a network of scholars and corporate interests working to push back against the revolution in antitrust thinking advanced by FTC Chair Lina Khan and other progressives.
Now UltraViolet, a liberal womens rights nonprofit, has sent a letter to Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and ranking member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) asking the senators to question the two Republican nominees to the commission Utah Solicitor General Melissa Holyoak and Virginia Solicitor General Andrew Ferguson about whether Wright played any role in securing their nominations.
The group wants senators to ask whether either Ferguson or Holyoak were in touch with Wright before or after their nominations, whether they were aware of the alleged open secret of Wrights behavior before it was publicly reported in August and whether they believed George Mason University acted properly in handling Wrights case.
Shauna Thomas, the co-founder of UltraViolet, said it was important to uphold a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment at government agencies like the FTC.
Two Republican nominees to the Federal Trade Commission could face questions about their ties to a conservative legal leader accused of sexual harassment by several women.
Two Republican nominees to the Federal Trade Commission could face questions about their ties to a conservative legal leader accused of sexual harassment by several women.
The reason sexual harassment and abuse has flourished, has been an epidemic in this country is precisely because bystanders and enablers have prioritized their own careers, their own reputations to protect people who have repeatedly sexually harassed or abused people, Thomas told HuffPost. If people ignored Josh Wrights behavior to advance their own careers, that could compromise the FTCs commitment to that policy.
The five-member FTC is now controlled by supporters of Khans antitrust agenda, but by law the commission can have no more than three members of any one party. Traditionally, the Senate leader of the party out of power in this case, Mitch McConnell gets to pick the nominees for his party. McConnell selected Ferguson, a former aide, and Holyoak, and both are expected to largely oppose Khans agenda.
So far, Holyoaks nomination has generated more opposition than Fergusons. A coalition of conservative groups sent a letter to Republican senators on the Commerce Committee suggesting she was too close to Big Tech, and liberal groups have made similar accusations.
The FTC is expected to file a major lawsuit against Amazon later this month, alleging antitrust law violations. It is also developing a rule to ban non-compete agreements, which restrict the prospects of former employees. The proposed rule has generated significant opposition from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups.
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If a diabetic goes to the drug store to pick store insulin, only to find the pharmacy closed, it can be a health emergency.
There has even been a case of someone dying because of an unscheduled closing of a pharmacy, according to Rod Marriott, director of drug control for the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.
Thats why there are rules governing pharmacies opening hours and fines for when they close without notice, Marriott said.
And so far this year, the state Pharmacy Commission has found 21 cases of Walgreens and Rite Aid pharmacies that closed, usually for a day or more, without proper notice. Both companies said they have policies in place to address informing both the state and patients of closures, as well as for minimum disruptions.
There were no other chain or independent pharmacies in the commissions minutes for this year, through June 28.
Lets just consider diabetes medicine, Marriott said. If you cant take your insulin and you dont have it, you cant get it that easily. It could be life or death for you. Not every medicine is that dire. But many are, depending on your condition.
Thats why Connecticut has made it so that pharmacists can prescribe insulin. For the purpose of this law, they can do it one time, Marriott said. It was designed, really, to help patients who were out of refills and maybe the doctor was unreachable. That was the story that happened where a patient died because they didnt have any refills left.
But that law wont help if the pharmacy is closed and there isnt another close by. Thats why the state takes pharmacy closings seriously, he said.
I think it really starts with this premise that when you have a pharmacy, theres a declaration of the number of hours that youre going to be open, Marriott said. And theres a minimum in our rules of 35 hours per week unless you have a waiver. And its really for public health and safety, the idea that patients need to pick up their medications. Their medications are a critical part of their treatment.
According to state regulations, pharmacies can only close if the pharmacist cannot work and cannot find a replacement. It can only be for one day, can happen no more than 18 times a year and no more than twice in a 30-day period. Any closing must be reported within 72 hours.
Patients also must be notified of the closure and told where they can pick up their prescriptions. However, that doesnt always solve the problem, Marriott said.
The next complication really becomes your insurance company, he said.
Lets just say the CVS was open and the Walgreens was one of these ones that were closed, he said. If you had the prescription filled at Walgreens and you went to the CVS that was open to your insurance, the Walgreens store would have told the insurance company that they filled this prescription. And so you go to CVS and CVS may not be able to reverse that claim from that other store and they cant necessarily fill the prescription through your insurance at that time.
A chain like Walgreens is on a computer system and any Walgreens can fill the prescription. However, Marriott said, The hard part is how convenient are they to you? he said. If you go to a pharmacy in your town today, if theres not another one for 15 miles, if you have an issue where you dont have transportation, or the other pharmacy is not on a convenient bus route thats an extra burden on the patient.
While the Department of Consumer Protection regulates pharmacies and investigates reports of those that violate regulations, Kaitlyn Krasselt, spokeswoman for the department, said, In general, our licensees want to do the right thing. They want to help consumers. They run a business. Theyre very good licensees. They want to follow the laws. Sometimes things happen because theyre all people with families and other things going on.
She added that consumers should report instances of violations of the regulations.
Karen May, spokeswoman for Walgreen Co., issued a statement saying, Whenever there is a temporary closure, our policies call for us to make every effort possible to notify the Department of Consumer Protection and to proactively communicate the closure to our patients. We have also taken action to reinforce our compliance requirements with our team members.
Catherine Carter, spokeswoman for Rite Aid, issued a statement: We have procedures that we enact in the event of an emergency when a pharmacy or store is unable to open. These include notifying customers through a number of channels and ensuring minimal interruption in meeting customers health and wellness needs.
Following are the cases adjudicated by the Pharmacy Commission this year, with all information from the commission records and public meeting minutes. In some cases there were violations in addition to unscheduled closings.
Rite Aid, 3680 Main St., Stratford
Four unscheduled closings in a short period, resolved when the location was able to address a staffing shortage. The location failed to timely report the closures to the Commission of Pharmacy within 72 hours as required.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 436 Whalley Ave., New Haven
Failure to remain open at least 35 hours per week, failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements, failure to be managed by a pharmacy manager on a full-time basis, failure to notify the commission of Pharmacy of a change of pharmacy manager, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 16 consecutive days, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 42 consecutive days, and failure to appropriately enroll a new pharmacy manager with the required information.
Voluntary settlement: $12,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1697 Whitney Ave., Hamden
Unscheduled closings and related reporting failures and failure to enroll approved pharmacy manager with the Commission of Pharmacy.
Voluntary settlement: $2,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 825 E. Main St., Meriden
Failure to remain open at least 35 hours per week and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $3,500.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1203 High Ridge Road, Stamford
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $10,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 28 E. Elm St., Torrington
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $4,000.
Community, A Walgreens Pharmacy, 300 Fairfield Ave., Bridgeport
During a routine inspection, violations found: unscheduled closings and related reporting; controlled substance record keeping; failure to report diabetic/diabetic ketoacidosis devices to the Prescription Monitoring Database Program.
Voluntary settlement: $6,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 275 Monroe Turnpike, Monroe
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $4,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 54 West Ave., Norwalk
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens, 700 Bridgeport Ave., Shelton
Unscheduled closings, failure to notify the Commission of Pharmacy of a change of pharmacy manager, failure to notify the commission of the absence of a pharmacy manager for more than 16 consecutive days and failure to appropriately enroll a new pharmacy manager with the required information.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 331 West St., Litchfield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 46A Danbury Road, Ridgefield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $6,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 1606 Barnum Ave., Stratford
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 414 Kings Highway East, Fairfield
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $3,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 4083 Main St., Bridgeport
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, Terryville
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $1,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 11 Meriden Road, Waterbury
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,000.
Walgreens Pharmacy, 960 North Ave., Bridgeport
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $5,000.
Rite Aid, 605 N. Colony Road, Wallingford
Investigated after complaints of closures. This is respondents first investigation for unscheduled closings or failure to give notice to the commission of such closings.
Voluntary settlement: $1,500.
Walgreens, 157 Main St., East Haven
Investigated following a report of unscheduled closures. It was determined that there were several partial or complete closures. For some of the closures, the Commission of Pharmacy was not timely notified. Additionally, due to some early closures, the pharmacy operated below 35 hours of operation at times.
Unscheduled closings and failure to comply with unscheduled pharmacy closing requirements.
Voluntary settlement: $2,500.
Walgreens, 1471 Whalley Ave., New Haven
Investigated following a report of unscheduled closures. It was determined that there were several partial or complete closures. For some of the closures, the Commission of Pharmacy was not timely notified. Due to some early closures, the pharmacy operated below 35 hours of operation. Additionally, there was a period with no active pharmacy manager and a related failure to timely notify the Commission of Pharmacy.
Voluntary settlement: $3,000.
Ed Stannard can be reached at estannard@courant.com.
Over 210 Russian occupiers surrendered voluntarily to Ukrainian captivity during the year of Khochu Zhyty (I Want to Live) project operation.
Source: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
Details: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that this month the state project marks its one-year anniversary.
In total, over 48 million people from the Russian Federation and the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine have visited the project site.
The Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) blocked 256 domains of the project site.
Over 25,000 requests for surrender were received this year. And 216 people surrendered physically.
At the same time, 21 operations were conducted to bring groups of those (more than two people) who surrendered across the front. There have also been successful cases of Russian Armed Forces soldiers defecting to the side of Ukraine with equipment.
Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War noted that another 1,072 people are waiting. They keep in contact with the project, waiting for their turn to be transferred through the front.
Quote: "For sure, the project does not limit its operation on this. After the successful implementation of the Synytsia (Tit) special operation, the number of requests from the Russians continues to grow. Every day, through all our channels, we receive dozens of applications from active Russian servicemen and others.
We want to emphasise that applying to the I Want to Live project is the only real opportunity for a serviceman of the occupation forces to return home alive.
Reference: I Want to Live is a government project designed to help the military of the Russian Federation and Belarus safely surrender. The project was launched in September 2022 by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which operates with the support of the Ukraines Defence Ministry and Ukraines Defence Intelligence.
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Three men were found guilty of mail fraud after committing a prize-notification scheme that stole more than $10 million from elderly and vulnerable victims, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Mario Castro, 55, of Las Vegas, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Miguel Castro, 58, of Las Vegas, was sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.
Jose Luis Mendez, 49, Henderson, was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
A jury found the three men guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and multiple individual counts of mail fraud.
The men operated the scheme from 2010 to 2018, according to court documents.
The men and other co-conspirators were found guilty of printing and mailing millions of fraudulent prize notices that led victims to believe that they could claim a large cash prize if they paid a fee of about $20 to $25.
When one of the victims fell for the scheme, the men were said to have bombarded the victim with more fraudulent prize notices.
The men produced the fake prize notices at a warehouse in Las Vegas and received millions of dollars from victims, according to court documents.
Postal inspectors eventually executed multiple search warrants and the Department of Justice obtained a court order which shut down the fraudulent mail operation.
The men and their co-conspirators ignored multiple cease and desist orders from the United States Postal Service. The men responded to the cease and desist orders by changing the names of their companies and using straw owners to hide their continuing fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Four other people previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with this prize notice scheme: Patti Kern, 65, of Henderson; Andrea Burrow, 43, of Las Vegas; Edgar Del Rio, 45, of Las Vegas; and Sean OConnor, 54, of Las Vegas.
Those who believe they have been a victim of financial fraud can call the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday, then meet with President Biden and members of Congress in Washington, D.C., in what will be his second trip to the United States since Russia launched an invasion of his homeland in early 2022.
As during his first visit, his message will be straightforward: To support Ukraine is to support democracy, stability and peace. But with the war now well into its second year, he also needs to address worries about the potential length, and extent, of the conflict.
Ahead of Zelenskys visit, Yahoo News spoke with Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat and combat veteran who represents the suburbs south of Boston. An ally of President Biden who has steadfastly supported Ukraine, in contrast to former President Trump and some in the Republican Party Auchincloss has emerged as one of Washingtons most consistent, and articulate, supporters of Ukraine.
The following conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Read more on Yahoo News: Rep. Jake Auchincloss urges U.S. to keep supporting Ukraine: Its sending a message
Yahoo News: Id love your assessment of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, a Democrat from Massachusetts, speaks during the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington, D.C., in April. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)
Auchincloss: Let's remember that Ukraine is launching this counteroffensive without adequate airpower. No Western military would send infantry into two, three, lines of well-fortified entrenchments without close air support. Would never happen. And that's what we're asking Ukraine to do.
But even without airpower, they have broken through the first line of defense in the southeast. So it's doable, it's just slower and tougher than it needs to be.
Read more on Yahoo News: Deputy defense minister reports Ukrainian troops now securing newly captured areas near Robotyne following recent advances, from the New Voice of Ukraine
Yahoo News: What do you say to Americans who argue, Listen, you know, I'm no fan of Vladimir Putin, but we have given Ukraine billions of dollars. We are not appeasing anybody, but now we just have to tend to our own store, and Ukraine has to defend itself.
An assault unit commander raises the Ukrainian flag as a symbol of liberation of the frontline village of Andriivka, Ukraine, on Saturday. (Alex Babenko/AP)
Auchincloss: Donald Trump says that.
Ukraine is a battleground. It's not just a battleground for Ukraine's territorial sovereignty. It's a battleground for the Wests resolution to stand for freedom and democracy the world over. And that message is just as important, if not more so, in Beijing as it is in the Kremlin. I say this openly to every politician in Washington: If you are soft on Russia, you are soft on China.
And MAGA is soft on Russia.
Read more on Yahoo News: War in Ukraine is a warning to China of the risks in attacking Taiwan, from the Conversation
Yahoo News: Whats your message to Zelensky?
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 6. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Auchincloss: That the American people stand with him and with his cause, and that he should not allow Donald Trump's dangerous and cowardly fixation on Vladimir Putin dissuade him from keeping up the fight on the frontlines of the free world.
Read more on Yahoo News: Zelensky says US support to Ukraine is bigger than war: If Ukraine falls, Putin will surely go further, from The Hill
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced the arrests of three women after investigating the sale of fentanyl pills in Fannin County.
According to the GBI, Megan Lowery, Laura Kilgo, and Amanda Lang were arrested on Sept. 7.
GBI said the three women were pulled over for a traffic violation on Highway 5 in McCaysville, where police found more than 300 suspected fentanyl pills between Kilgo and Lang, as well as suspected methamphetamine, also on Kilgo.
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GBI said their investigation into the three women showed that they had driven to a home in Tennessee to pick up the pills.
Tennessee law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the home where they seized more than 500 suspected fentanyl pills, cash, and two firearms.
They also arrested 10 people for drug-related charges.
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According to officials, all three women were charged as a result of their investigation.
They face the following charges:
Lowery, 36 of Morganton, Ga. - charged with Possession of Drug Related Objects
Kilgo, 55 of Ooltewah, Tenn. - charged with Trafficking Fentanyl, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of Drug Related Objects
Lang, 41 of Blue Ridge, Ga. - charged with Trafficking Fentanyl and Possession of Drug Related Objects.
All three women were taken into custody and booked at the Fannin County Adult Detention Center.
Officials say the investigation is ongoing.
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OTHER NEWS:
Just less than half of registered voters in a new survey said they support the House GOPs impeachment inquiry into President Biden but they are split on whether the investigations has the right motivations.
The Morning Consult poll found 48 percent of voters support the inquiry. Of the people surveyed, 10 percent have no opinion on the matter and 42 percent oppose the investigation.
Democrats were more likely to oppose the inquiry than Republicans with 63 percent of registered Republican voters saying they supported the impeachment probe. Only 36 percent of Democrats said the same, according to the poll.
More than 3 in 5 Republicans, almost half of independents, and perhaps surprisingly 36 percent of Democrats approve the inquiry, researchers said of the survey results. That figure among Democrats at the nascent stage of this impeachment probe is three times the size of the Republican support for House Democrats 2019 Ukraine-related query into then-President Donald Trump in October 2019.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last week directed three House committees to launch the impeachment inquiry into the foreign business dealings of Biden and his son, Hunter Biden , who was recently indicted on federal gun charges.
The House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing Sept. 28. The panel also has plans to subpoena Hunter Bidens bank records soon.
Voters are split on whether they think the investigation has proper motivations, the survey found. Roughly 74 percent of Republicans said they think the investigation is caused by evidence of wrongdoing by Biden, while 66 percent of Democrats said the investigations inventions are rooted in damage to his career.
Independent voters, however, were evenly split. The poll shows that 40 percent of independents believe there is evidence of wrongdoing, 39 percent think there is motivation to damage Bidens career and 21 percent said they dont know or have no opinion.
The figures among independents, a group that already dislikes Biden, may offer some solace for the President when it comes to the impeachment proceedings impact on his 2024 standing, the pollster said.
However, the surveys findings, particularly the views among Democratic voters, should alarm Biden and his party, Morning Consult added. More immediately, [the investigation] does appear to be giving a public boost to McCarthy, the embattled House speaker who is struggling to manage his unruly GOP caucus and may not even have the requisite votes to impeach the president.
Following McCarthys announcement of the impeachment probe, the Speakers popularity increased to 49 percent up from 42 percent among Republican voters, the poll found.
The Morning Consult survey was conducted Sept. 15-17 among a sample of 1,933 registered voters. The polls margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Voters in Allegheny County, Pa., will head to the polls Tuesday in a special election that will determine which party controls the Pennsylvania state House.
Pennsylvanians in the states 21st House District are choosing between Republican Erin Connolly Autenreith and Democrat Lindsay Powell, who are both running to fill the remainder of former state Rep. Sara Innamoratos (D) term after Innamorato stepped down to run for Allegheny County executive.
Innamoratos resignation evenly split control of the state House, 101 to 101. Though the 21st District is Democratically friendly, Tuesdays special election will decide whether Democrats retain their narrow edge in the state House.
Here are five things to know about the Tuesday special election:
Its between a real estate agent and nonprofit director
Autenreith, a real estate agent and the chair of the Shaler Township Republican Committee, is running against Powell, who is the director of workforce strategies at nonprofit InnovatePGH. Powell has previously worked for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Autenreith was at former President Trumps rally Jan. 6, 2021, but left before the attack on the Capitol, according to PoliticsPA.
Several prominent Democrats in the state have waded into the race to back Powell, including Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) a former state representative herself who became the first Black woman to win a House seat in Pennsylvania last cycle and Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.). The Pittsburgh Fraternal Order of Police has backed Autenreith, according to Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Campaign filings show Powell has had a clear fundraising advantage over Autenreith: Autenreiths campaign raised just more than $6,000 between near the end of July and early September while Powells campaign has raised close to $53,000.
Allegheny County went largely for Biden in 2020
Allegheny County voted for Biden by 20 points in 2020 a higher margin than Hillary Clintons 16.5-point win in 2016.
Innamorato won the state House District last cycle with roughly 64 percent of the vote while Republican challenger Frank Perman received 36 percent. The district includes part of Pittsburgh in addition to Shaler, Reserve, Etna and Millvale.
Its the third special election in less than a year thats determining state House control
The Tuesday election marks the third time in less than a year in which Pennsylvanians have voted in a special election that determined partisan control of the state House.
While Democrats won the state House majority last November, several retirements and the death of a member prompted several special elections in February. Democrats prevailed in all three races.
But some Pennsylvanians were forced to head back to the polls in May following the resignation of former state Rep. Michael Zabel (D), who stepped down amid sexual harassment allegations. Democratic state Rep. Heather Boyd (D) won the Delaware County seat, keeping state House control in Democratic hands.
Innamorato announced in July after winning the Democratic nomination for Allegheny County executive that she was stepping down, prompting a third special election. She goes head-to-head with Republican Joe Rockey this fall.
One variable that has added some uncertainty to the race, however, is the timing of the election. Voters may be less tuned in to races in September, compared to attention around November elections.
Election will determine if Gov. Shapiro has at least one chamber he can work with
Despite the expectation that Democrats will keep the 21st House District seat Tuesday, the election is critical for the party given it will offer Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) at least one legislative chamber he can work with.
Republicans control the state Senate by a 28-22 margin while state House Democrats retained a narrow 102-101 margin of control before Innamoratos resignation.
Race underscores the importance of Pennsylvania as one of a handful of swing states
Though the election has immediate local implications, the state House race is also important nationally given state legislatures decisive roles on issues like certifying the 2020 election and the battle over abortion access.
The issue of abortion access loomed over the May special election between Boyd and Republican Katie Ford. That race came close to a year after the GOP-led state Legislature passed a proposed constitutional amendment that taxpayer-funded abortion rights were not granted under the states Constitution.
Republicans would have needed to pass the amendment again in the state Legislatures current session before it could have made its way in front of voters on the ballot, but Democrats win in May halted the effort.
The issue of contesting the 2020 election results was also a salient one in Pennsylvania. Several GOP state legislators were a part of an effort to try to get the 2020 election results overturned in the state following President Bidens win, though the effort did not succeed, according to NBC10 Philadelphia.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Congress has less than two weeks to strike a deal on spending or risk a government shutdown, and House Republicans opening offer is already hitting roadblocks.
The GOP over the weekend unveiled a 160-plus page proposal to keep the government funded, along with a number of wish-list items to fetch conservative support that would have a hard time passing the Democratic-led Senate.
But questions are already rising about its chances in the GOP-led House, where more than a dozen hard-line conservatives have come out against the partisan bill less than a day after the text became public.
Here are five things to watch for this week.
Do conservatives derail proposed CR?
House GOP leadership is setting its sights on a vote on the short-term funding bill, also known as continuing resolution (CR), this week.
But the measure has already seen pushback from the partys right flank, threatening its chances of making it past the House, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of GOP votes to pass legislation without any Democratic support.
More than a dozen Republicans said Monday they plan to vote no on the measure, unveiled Sunday night, or are leaning that way.
While CRs passed in recent years have been used to freeze spending at current levels to buy time for dealmakers in both chambers to negotiate updated levels for the coming fiscal year, the bill proposed by Republicans seeks cuts to discretionary spending.
In its current form, the proposed bill would trim the spending by roughly 8 percent, while shielding funds for the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and disaster relief from cuts.
The bill also includes policies from H.R. 2, Republicans signature border bill, which would restart construction of the southern border wall, restrict access to asylum, and boost hiring of border agents, among other measures.
The deal worked out between the hard-line House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus comes as GOP leadership has had difficulty unifying the partys various factions amid pressure from conservatives for aggressive spending cuts and policy changes in areas like the border and at the Department of Justice.
It remains to be seen whether leadership can find the votes to pass the proposed CR, because the current opposition, if it holds, is enough to sink the measure.
Will conservatives allow funding bills on the floor?
House Republicans hit a roadblock last week in trying to tee up floor action on an annual Defense funding bill.
Opposition from conservatives forced leaders to punt on a rules vote, a procedural step that traditionally gets the support of the majority party even if some members oppose the underlying legislation.
But its not the first time hard-line Republicans have used rule votes to derail bills this year. Over the summer, they stalled floor activity for a week after they refused to support any rules over opposition to spending levels McCarthy worked out with President Biden.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) indicated in an interview Sunday with Fox News that the lower chamber will shoot for floor action on the measure this week, win or lose.
Im trying to get that to move forward to make sure that the Republicans arent stopping us from being able to get our work done before the 30th, McCarthy said then.
I gave them an opportunity this weekend to try to work through this, and well bring it to the floor, win or lose and show the American public whos for the Department of Defense, he said.
With Democrats unlikely to vote for the legislation and conservatives continuing to demand a full plan on spending levels for all the Houses appropriations bills before moving forward on any single spending bill, its unclear whether McCarthy will have the votes to advance the measure.
The annual defense funding bill is just one of the 12 annual funding bills Congress is working to pass in the weeks that will lay out how the government will be funded for most of next year.
If passed in the day ahead, the House would still have 10 more bills to approve as part of the annual spending process, while the Senate has yet to pass any of its funding bills for fiscal 2024.
Does the Senate move forward on funding?
Senators on both sides were hopeful the chamber could pass its first package of annual funding bills this month, but the legislation was held up last week after opposition from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.).
Johnson took issue with the legislation being considered as a package, demanding the minibus be split into three separate bills prompting pushback from some GOP negotiators who said the proposal would take much longer to pass the bills in the upper chamber.
The fact is, well take plenty of time on the three bills, and were going to have a robust amendment process. So what difference does it make? Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said at the time.
We dont have time to take each bill individually to the floor or were going to end up with either an omnibus, a government shutdown or a yearlong continuing resolution, which would fund programs that shouldnt be funded anymore and prevent new programs from starting up, she added.
Senate Democrats on Monday moved to suspend the chamers rules to advance the bill, though that would require the support of two-thirds of senators.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Monday discussions will continue between leadership and appropriators to get the appropriations process back on track.
What do House Democrats do?
Its all but certain that the CR the House Republicans proposed Sunday gets no Democratic votes.
The open question is whether Democrats step in at any point to help pass some sort of funding bill and what that help could look like.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) last week said Democrats will not help Republicans overcome procedural hurdles to bring spending bills to the floor.
The New Democrat Coalition sent McCarthy a letter urging him to bring to the floor bipartisan bills similar to those making their way through the Senate.
We urge you to reject the hyperpartisan approach and focus on passing government funding legislation that can actually become law. In the absence of viable appropriations bills from the House Appropriations Committee, we urge you to, at the very least, bring bills similar to the bipartisan bills that have already passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee for a vote on the House Floor, the 95 Democrats led by Reps. Brad Schneider (Ill.), Annie Kuster (N.H.) and Derek Kilmer (Wash.) wrote.
While relations have continued to sour between both sides in light of the recent impeachment inquiry into the president, Democrats of various stripes say both parties should work together to avoid a shutdown.
I think its irresponsible to shut the government down, period. It impacts our national security; it impacts a whole lot of things; it impacts peoples daily life, so I think we should keep the government running, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) said.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) also told The Hill recently he sees the two issues as separate, saying Democrats will continue to call out Republicans on all the nonsense as it relates to impeachment but at the end of the day, we got to keep the government open.
Do other funding deadlines get met?
As lawmakers stare down the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline, both chambers face several other key deadlines the same day.
That includes the coming deadlines for authorizations for the National Flood Insurance Program and the Federal Aviation Administration.
A group of Democrats has also introduced legislation, dubbed the Child Care Stabilization Act, to extend pandemic-era funding for child care that is set to run out later this month.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The popular Southern chicken chain Chick-fil-A is investing $58.3 million to open a distribution center that will create more than 110 jobs in Kannapolis.
Chick-fil-A Supply, a subsidiary of Chick-fil-A Inc. and distribution service provider of the Atlanta-based chains restaurants, will open a 120,000-square-foot distribution center in Rowan County to serve about 100 restaurants in the Charlotte region, Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement Tuesday.
The facility is expected to open in the third quarter of next year.
The Chik-fil-A Supply project will create 112 over five years, with 85 of those jobs coming in the first two years of operation, according to the city of Kannapolis.
The center will be in Lakeshore Corporate Park. The park, developed by Fortius Capital Partners, stands on the property that was once home to the former Kannapolis Intimidators minor league baseball team.
A new Chick-fil-A Supply and distribution center in Kannapolis to help fast-food chicken restaurant chain grow its supply chain operation.
About Chick-fil-A plans in Kannapolis
New jobs will include drivers, managers, office staff and warehouse personnel.
The average annual wage is about $58,574, which exceeds the Rowan County average of $50,138, according to the governors office release. Kannapolis is in parts of Cabarrus and Rowan counties.
Chick-fil-A Supply is committed to investing in local communities like Kannapolis to create jobs and grow our supply chain operation, Josh Grote, executive director of Chick-fil-A Supply, said in a statement. Kannapolis Mayor Darrell Hinnant, in welcoming the company to the city, said he expected the move would have an immediate positive impact.
For its investment, Chick-fil-A will receive a cash-grant of $200,000 from the One North Carolina Fund. Chick-fil-A Supply must create 82 jobs to receive the grant payments.
Chick-fil-A Supply operates four distribution centers, including a 180,000-square-foot distribution center in Mebane.
Known for its chicken sandwiches, Chick-fil-A has grown to be one of the nations highest-volume quick service restaurants since opening in 1967. Chick-fil-A Supply ensures restaurants have the food and products they need.
A rendering of the Chick-fil-A Supply distribution center in Kannapolis that is expected to open in the third quarter of 2024.
Chicken competition in Charlotte
Chick-fil-As latest move is in the backyard of the iconic chicken-and-biscuit chain Bojangles, based in Charlotte.
Bojangles recently moved its headquarters to a larger space at 500 Forest Point Circle. Bojangles, which opened in 1977 in Charlotte, has opened or plans to open nearly 130 stores with debuts in Ohio, New York, Texas, Illinois and Arkansas.
And both chains are seeing heated competition from other
Arkansas-based Slim Chickens has opened two stores this year in Fort Mill, S.C., and Monroe/Indian Trail area. The fast-casual chain debuted in North Carolina in March 2022 at 5535 Prosperity Ridge Road in Charlotte.
Los Angeles-based chicken chain Daves Hot Chicken opened its second Charlotte store in February at 8932 J.M. Keynes Drive in University City. The fast-casual chain opened its first Charlotte store in September at 1300 The Plaza in Plaza Midwood.
Harolds Chicken & Ice Bar opened on East McCullough Drive in February in the former Total Wine & More spot. The first Harolds Chicken Shack restaurant opened 72 years ago on Chicagos South side.
Former NASCAR CEO Brian France opened Summerbird in South End in August 2022.
7 of the most challenging airports around the world for airline pilots to take off and land at
Passengers boarding a plane. Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Flying is the safest mode of transportation, but some airports are more dangerous than others.
Mountains, unpredictable weather, short runways, and poor infrastructure can make flying more difficult.
A few airports are so challenging that they restrict flying to only a select number of skilled pilots.
Sometimes, it's okay to clap when a plane lands.
Despite the common fear of flying, air travel is the safest mode of transportation with tens of thousands of planes journeying across the globe every day, and the odds of being in a major commercial accident are extremely low about one in six million, according to the International Air Transport Association's 2022 safety report.
In fact, the report revealed there were just five fatal accidents among 32.2 million commercial flights in 2022. The impressive record is thanks to a heightened focus on aviation safety over the decades.
Airport design and geography, in particular, are major factors in how risky an aircraft operation is. Most passenger airports have robust infrastructure like visual aids and alerts that keep pilots aware of what's going on in and around the airfield.
Runways are usually paved with clear taxi and hold instructions albeit recent near-misses in the US suggest there is still work to be done when it comes to airport safety.
However, there are some places that have such minimal technology and are so dangerous to take off and land at that only a handful of aviators are trusted to fly in the rough conditions and their skill may deserve a round of applause.
Here are eight of the most challenging airports in the world to operate an airplane.
Barra Airport in Scotland
A Loganair plane on Barra Airport's sand airfield. A caution sign warning of sand storms from aircraft blasts is beside the runway. FedevPhoto/iStock
Barra Airport is located on a tiny island off the west coast of Scotland in an area known as The Isles of Barra and Vatersay. Due to the remote territory and low demand, the airport only has a control tower and a small terminal but there is no space for an actual runway.
Instead, airplanes land on three triangle sand strips located along the water at Traigh Mhor, allowing planes to land in any direction depending on the winds.
Barra Airport is actually the only airport with scheduled flights where planes land on sand but it makes flying there extremely difficult.
According to Forbes, the runways are only five feet above sea level and completely vanish at high tide, so pilots must be alert to unexpected weather and changing tide conditions.
Fortunately for pilots and passengers, the airport has safety procedures to help tackle the unusual terrain.
In July, Barra Airport flight information officer Joyce Beverstock told CNN that there are "beach inspections" before every flight and security patrols that keep people from venturing out onto the runways.
Loganair is the only airline that regularly serves Barra, with flights from Glasgow, Scotland, using the rugged de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter, a Canadian-made aircraft specially designed for challenging terrain and short runways.
Paro International Airport in Bhutan
A plane landing at Paro airport looking down at the runway from above. fotofritz16/iStock
Bhutan's Paro International Airport is one of the most geographically complicated airports in the world.
Located in a valley between 18,000-foot peaks and dense forest trees, only a few dozen pilots have been specially trained to fly in and out, and flights are only allowed during daytime hours.
According to Forbes, a few factors make the approach particularly dangerous, including the steep 45-degree turn into the runway which the pilots can't even see until moments before dropping onto the airfield.
The runway is also very short at just 6,500 feet, meaning the narrowbody planes flying to and from the airport must operate within very strict speed and altitude parameters.
Moreover, the airport lacks helpful radar systems that could help guide the planes in, so aviators must rely on their eyes and training.
Currently, only two carriers fly to Paro Airport: state-owned flag carrier Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines and privately-owned Bhutan Airlines, both flying Airbus A319s.
Juancho E Yrausquin Airport in the Dutch Caribbean
A top-down view of Saba island with the airport in the top left of the picture with the blue ocean in the background. iStock
The world's shortest commercial runway is on the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba, which is located east of the US Virgin Islands and south of Anguilla.
With just five square miles of space to work with and few flat areas, the airport's asphalt landing strip only stretches about one-fourth of a mile at a mere 1,300 feet long.
The short runway paired with mountain cliffs means the margin for error is extremely narrow, and pilot precision is key to preventing the aircraft from nose-diving off the end of the runway and into the ocean.
Similar to Paro Airport, just a select number of aviators are trained to fly in and out of Saba. The only airline with scheduled flights is Sint Maarten-based Winair using a de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter.
Winair fleet instructor Captain Roger Hodge told CNN in July 2022 that flying into Saba is extremely challenging, and "adrenaline" can kick in.
"Flying into Saba gets kind of hairy sometimes, but by knowing what to do, we make it look simple and calm," he said.
Courchevel International Airport in the French Alps
A plane landing at Courchevel Airport in the French Alps. PaulVinten/iStock
Courchevel International Airport in the French Alps provides access to one of the world's most luxurious ski destinations, but only specially trained pilots can tackle the airport's awkward downhill slope and short 1,700-foot runway.
The strip's 18.5% downward gradient is a particularly challenging factor, according to Forbes, meaning pilots must maneuver perfectly.
Plus, the unforgiving landscape paired with the airport's lack of lights or guidance systems means flights are only possible in clear weather conditions wind and storms would make flying in or out too risky.
The only scheduled air carrier flying to the airport is France's Alpine Airlines, which uses a Vulcanair P68 Turbo Observer aircraft built for short-field performance. However, private jets and helicopters also use the risky landing strip.
Toncontin International Airport in Honduras
A plane landing at Toncontin International Airport. Orlando Sierra/AFP via Getty Images
To reach Honduras' capital city of Tegucigalpa, pilots must first maneuver through mountainous terrain before making a sharp turn and steep descent into the Toncontin International Airport similar to the conditions in Bhutan.
The treacherous conditions are made even more difficult by the short 7,100-foot runway, with the biggest concern being the risk of jets overshooting the runway.
This actually happened in 2008 when a TACA Airlines Airbus A320 skidded off the runway and into a street, killing three people onboard including the captain and two people on the ground.
However, some concerns at the airport have been remedied with the opening of the new Palmerola International Airport in 2021. Only domestic flights now operate at Toncontin with all international flights going through the safer Palmerola, which has a 9,200-foot runway.
Princess Juliana International Airport in St. Maarten
Beachgoers enjoying a Delta airliner fly overhead at Maho Beach. Picture alliance/Getty Images
Probably the most famous airport on this list is Princess Juliana International Airport on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten, mostly due to its scenic approach that flies directly over a public beach.
Tourists and planespotters alike are known to line the airport fence waiting for huge jetliners to take off and land overhead, though the activity can be dangerous with people being knocked off their feet and even killed due to the jet engine blasts.
Aircraft landing at Princess Juliana are not only dangerous for those on the ground, but the 7,100-foot runway and low approach push larger commercial aircraft to their operating limit.
But, airlines seem to be managing as planes as big as the massive Boeing 747 have visited Sint Maartan's airport.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla Airport) in Nepal
A plane getting to takeoff from runway 24 at Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Nepal with clouds, mountains, and greenery in the background. Solovyova/iStock
Officially named Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla is the gateway to Mt. Everest with hundreds of climbers traveling through the airport on their way to and from base camp.
Lukla is like the Rainbow Road of flying, but pilots have to zig-zag between peaks one of them being the world's tallest mountain while simultaneously trying to navigate down to a mere 1,700-foot, one-way airstrip. And, the airport has minimal infrastructure to assist.
Maintaining speed and altitude is key to safety, and there is little to no room for error due to the steep incline required for takeoff and the unpredictable weather that could see sunny skies turn to zero visibility in a matter of minutes meaning it's hit-or-miss if the flight will actually depart as scheduled.
Plus, the airport is situated at an altitude of about 10,000 feet where air is less dense. This can impact aircraft performance and it make it more difficult for pilots to control their plane.
The airport is no stranger to disaster, either. According to the Aviation Safety Network, 56 people have died on flights arriving, departing, or near Lukla since 2004.
"Most runways are quite flat and are quite long, whereas [Lukla] is on a hillside," former Lukla pilot Jimbo Burgess told CNN in August, noting the incline is a 30 or 40-degree slope. "The mountain is literally right at the other end of the airport, and the weather can change so quickly."
Read the original article on Insider
The modern U.S. Navy strongly embraces its roots in maritime combat of centuries past. With heroes like John Paul Jones and Oliver Hazard Perry, sailors of all ranks and rates carry on the traditions of their saber-wielding forebearers. Even in the world of Naval Aviation, flying above the seas, the legacy of seafaring warriors was carried on. Aiming to inspire confidence in the pilots who flew them and fear in the enemies they attacked.
Here are 7 pirate-themed planes that flew for the U.S. Navy
1. Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer
The Privateer isn't a well-known WWII plane (U.S. Navy)
Didn't expect to see a modified B-24 Liberator on a list of Navy planes, did you? The B-24 entered Navy service as the PB4Y-1 Liberator with only minor modifications. In 1943, the PB4Y-2 entered service as a fully Navalised and received a new name: Privateer. The aircraft served as a maritime long-range patrol bomber. To support that mission, the Privateer's fuselage was lengthened to accommodate a flight engineer's station, which helped reduce pilot fatigue during long missions. The twin tail of the B-24 and PB4Y-1 was replaced with a single vertical tail that increased stability at low to medium altitudes. 739 Privateers were delivered, mostly after the end of WWII. Those who did see action during the war did so in the Pacific, conducting search & rescue, reconnaissance, electronic countermeasure, communication relay and anti-shipping missions. The Privateer, designated the P4Y-2 in 1951, was retired from Navy service in 1954 but was flown by the Coast Guard for another four years.
2. Brewster SB2A Buccaneer
The Buccaneer was an infamously bad aircraft (U.S. Navy)
Considered by pilots and historians as one of the worst planes of WWII, the Buccaneer was an early-war scout bomber. With its heavy weight and poor maneuverability, the SB2A was not flown in combat . Instead, the Navy used the aircraft as a target tug. First flown in 1941, the SB2A order was canceled by the Navy in 1943 with just 771 built. Many Buccaneers never entered service; they were scrapped upon completion to build newer and better planes. The Truman Committee, which identified waste, inefficiency and war profiteering during WWII, noted that the Buccaneer "turned in a miserable performance." The Brewster Corporation shut down in 1946.
3. Vought F4U Corsair
The Corsair is an iconic WWII fighter (U.S. Navy)
On the opposite end of the spectrum from the Buccaneer, the Corsair was one of the most successful naval aircraft of all time. With a kill ratio of 11:1, Japanese pilots feared the inverted gullwing fighter. However, difficulty with carrier landings and logistical support allowed the F6F Hellcat to become the Navy's dominant carrier-based fighter of the war. Still, the Corsair found great success and popularity with Marine aviators flying close air support missions from land-based airfields in the Pacific. After WWII, upgrades to the engine and guns allowed the Corsair to fight in the Korean War.
4. Vought O2U Corsair
The first Corsair was a 1920s biplane (U.S. Navy)
Yes, the Corsair name first flew as a biplane. Introduced in 1926, a total of 580 variants of the O2U were built. Designed as a scout and observation plane, the original Corsair saw service with the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. With maritime operations in mind, many Corsairs were seaplanes fitted with floats instead of wheels. Advanced for its time, some Corsairs even had enclosed cockpits. With the evolution of aerial warfare, Corsairs were used as light bombers and even casualty evacuation aircraft. Some O2Us were reportedly still in service when the U.S. entered WWII in 1941.
5. Vought SBU Corsair
The SBU Corsair is a hidden bit of naval history (U.S. Navy)
Almost done; this is another Corsair biplane. Evolving the O2U, the SBU was an all-metal dive bomber. Equipped with an enclosed cockpit, the second Corsair first flew in 1933. Awarded a Navy contract two years later, 125 SBUs were built. Famously, it was the first scout bomber to fly faster than 200 mph.
6. LTV A-7 Corsair II
The A-7 was the last Navy plane to be called a Corsair (U.S. Navy)
The final Navy plane to bear the Corsair name, the A-7 was a subsonic light attack jet aircraft that first flew in 1965. Designed to replace the A-4 Skyhawk, the Corsair II boasted improved fuel consumption over the larger (but much faster) F-4 Phantom II . Flown heavily on ground-attack missions during the Vietnam War, the Corsair II received engine upgrades to improve its performance in the hot and humid air of Southeast Asia. After the war, the A-7 saw combat in Grenada, Lebanon, Libya, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. While the Navy retired the Corsair II in 1991, the aircraft remained in service with the Air National Guard for another two years.
7. Vought F6U Pirate
One example of the Pirate remains at Pensacola (U.S. Navy)
With its first jet fighter, Vought ditched the Corsair name and went straight to Pirate. The first turbojet Navy fighter with an afterburner and a composite material construction, the F6U was still underpowered and unsuitable for combat. First flown in 1946, only 33 examples were built by the time the Pirate was canceled in 1950. The Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics told Vought, "The F6U-1 had proven so sub-marginal in performance that combat utilization is not feasible." Not flown in combat, the aircraft that were delivered were used or development, training and testing.
78-year-old arrested after man trimming trees for neighbor was shot and killed in Florida
A Florida man accused of fatally shooting a man who was trimming trees along his mother's property line has been arrested on a murder charge, authorities said Monday.
Edward S. Druzolowski, 78, threatened to shoot Brian J. Ford, 42, who he said was on his property Sunday in DeLeon Springs, Fla., while trimming tree limbs along the fence line," the Volusia Sheriffs Office's said in a statement posted on social media.
"Druzolowski told detectives he threatened to shoot Ford, and when Ford didnt leave, he shot him," the statement said.
Volusia County deputies said a 42-year-old man was shot by his neighbor around 7:13 p.m. while he was trimming trees near his property line. (WESH)
Ford died at the scene, the sheriffs office said.
Officials said deputies responded to two 911 calls reporting the shooting about 7:15 p.m. Sunday, according to an arrest affidavit obtained Monday.
"One of the 911 calls came from the wife of the shooter, in which she stated her husband went outside to scare the neighbor with a gun and shot him," the affidavit said. "The caller further stated her husband did not mean to do this and he just meant to scare him."
Druzolowski told a Volusia deputy in a recorded interview, that he retrieved a 357 Magnum revolver and confronted Ford after his wife told him Ford was on his property and that a gate was open, the affidavit said.
Druzolowski told officials that when he told Ford to get off his property, Ford allegedly told him to mind his own business and cursed, the affidavit said.
Ford also asked Druzolowski if he was going to shoot him, the affidavit said. Druzolowski said that he warned Ford to stop walking toward him or he would shoot, the document states.
Druzolowski also told the deputy, the affidavit said, he feared for his life, but acknowledged Ford had not threatened him.
Druzolowski was appointed a public defender, but no specific lawyer had been assigned to the case by Monday afternoon, the Office of the Public Defender 7th Judicial Circuit,
Brian Fords mother, Linda Ford, 76, said that her 8-year-old grandson witnessed the fatal shooting as he stood next to his father.
"The neighbor came out and said get off my lawn and point-blank shot him," Ford said.
She said her grandson told her that the suspect "put the gun right up to his heart and pulled the trigger."
She said her son was helping her cut down tree limbs that were falling and breaking a chain-linked fence near her property line.
Ford said her son never set foot on her neighbors property because its against the law to put up a fence directly along the property line. Instead, a fence can be put up within two feet of the property line, she said.
Ford said her grandson became hysterical after the shooting. She said the neighbor allegedly pointed the gun at the child after fatally shooting her son.
My little grandson was going berserk out there. He wanted to be with his daddy, he wanted to lay with his daddy," she said. "I wanted to get him in the house for safety reasons.
Ford said her son worked as a handyman, doing whatever odd jobs needed to be done to provide for his family. He had three sons, 20, 18 and 8 years old.
He was wonderful, she said. He was wonderful to his children. He was wonderful to me all the time. He was handy. He would help anybody at any time. He would drop everything
Ford continued, His boys were his world, and now they dont have a daddy.
Ford said she called 911 after hearing gunfire.
Druzolowski was booked into Volusia County Branch Jail and being held without bond Monday night, according to jail records. Earlier Monday, he made an initial appearance in court and was ordered not to possess any guns, court records indicate.
DeLeon Springs is about 55 miles north of Orlando.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A significant crash in Meridian affected Interstate 84 traffic Tuesday afternoon and evening for four hours, according to a news release from Idaho State Police, with all eastbound lanes blocked near Meridian Road, which is Exit 44.
Traffic was diverted at Exit 42, on Ten Mile Road, but the eastbound lanes still were backed up all the way to the west side of Nampa.
Police said Wednesday that a 28-year-old man from Bonney Lake, Washington, was driving east in a Ford truck towing a 15-foot trailer full of gravel. The trailer jackknifed when the man hit his brakes, police said. A jackknife accident occurs when a trailer moves out in front of a truck to form a 90-degree angle at the tow hitch, which serves as the point of connection for the two parts, according to FVF Law.
A 56-year-old man from Pasco, Washington, driving a semitrailer collided with the Ford truck at about 2 p.m., according to police. This caused diesel to spill on the road, the Ada County Highway District said on social media, and all of the lanes were closed for cleanup of the accident and spill.
Idaho State Police said both drivers were wearing seat belts and did not report any injuries.
Floridas Division of Hotels and Restaurants routinely inspects restaurants, food trucks and other food service establishments for public health and cleanliness issues.
The reports are public information.
Here are restaurants that failed to meet requirements during recent inspections:
5th Season Diner & Steak, 6515 14th St. W., Bradenton Inspected Sept. 15
High priority: Raw beef steak was stored over Alfredo sauce in a reach-in cooler. Corrective action was taken.
High priority: Raw animal foods (ground beef and beef steak) were not properly separated from each other in a walk-in cooler based upon minimum required cooking temperature. Corrective action was taken.
High priority: An employee cracked raw shell eggs and then failed to change gloves/wash hands before buttering toast. Corrective action was taken. A stop sale was issued for the toast and it was discarded. The employee washed hands and put on new gloves.
High priority: Wiping cloth sanitizer solution exceeded the maximum concentration allowed. Corrective action was taken.
Basic: Six violations, including soiled gaskets, hood vents and filters and a food employee with no hair restraint.
The Bamboozer Food Truck, 5897 Whitfield Ave., Sarasota Inspected Sept. 11
Intermediate: A manager or person in charge lacked proof of food manager certification.
Intermediate: There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report to the person in charge information about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.
Basic: Three violations, including an open employee drink on a food prep table.
The Club at River Wilderness, 2250 Wilderness Blvd. W., Parrish Inspected Sept. 14
High priority: One can of marinara and one can of olives were dented at the seams. Corrective action was taken. The cans were removed from service.
Intermediate: A food managers certification was expired.
Intermediate: There was a wet towel underneath a cutting board in a prep area.
Basic: Eight violations, including foam cups stored on the floor, no employee handwashing signs and a damaged cutting board.
Cremesh Coffee and Bakery, 1822 59th St. W., Bradenton Inspected Sept. 15
High priority: Swiss cheese, blue cheese, feta cheese, provolone cheese, ham, cooked potatoes, anchovies, butter chips, raw bacon, chicken stock, quiche, coleslaw, mushroom soup, cooked chicken and mozzarella were cold held at temperatures greater than 41 degrees in a reach-in cooler. The items had been held overnight. A stop sale was issued due to temperature abuse and the items were discarded.
High priority: An employee cracked raw shell eggs and then handled ready-to-eat food and/or clean equipment or utensils without first washing hands. Corrective action was taken.
High priority: An employee washed hands with no soap. Corrective action was taken.
High priority: Raw bacon was stored on shelf directly over cooked quiche in a reach-in cooler. Corrective action was taken.
Intermediate: An employee washed hands in a prep sink. Corrective action was taken.
Basic: Two violations, including soiled surfaces and equipment.
Marias Pupuseria & Taqueria, 4832 Cortez Road W., Bradenton Inspected Sept. 14
High priority: Frijoles, cooked rice, carne asada, shredded chicken, pico de gallo, chicken wings, cooked corn, queso, cooked potato, sliced ham, pork, butter and cooked yuka were cold held at temperatures greater than 41 degrees. A stop sale was issued due to temperature abuse and the items were discarded.
High priority: An employee picked up a plastic bottle off the floor and then failed to wash hands/change gloves. Corrective action was taken.
High priority: Bread was stored in a non-food-grade container.
High priority: A medication bottle was stored on a shelf over a prep table.
High priority: Wiping cloth sanitizer solution exceeded the maximum concentration allowed. Corrective action was taken.
Intermediate: A certified food manager or person in charge lacked knowledge of foodborne illnesses and symptoms of illness that would prevent an employee from working with food, clean equipment and utensils and/or single-service items. Corrective action was taken.
Intermediate: The establishment had no written procedures for employees to follow in response to a vomiting or diarrheal event where the vomit or diarrhea is discharged onto surfaces in the establishment.
Intermediate: There was no proof provided that food employees were informed of their responsibility to report to the person in charge information about their health and activities related to foodborne illnesses.
Basic: An employee beverage was stored on the food prep line.
The restaurant met inspection standards during a follow-up visit on Sept. 15.
Mi Finca Cafetera Colombian Coffee, 5108 15th St. E., Bradenton (inside Oneco Farmers Market) Inspected Sept. 13
Intermediate: During a follow-up visit for previous violations, there was still no proof of required food safety training for any employees.
Basic: The business current Hotel and Restaurant license was not displayed.
Super 8, 6516 14th St. W., Bradenton Inspected Sept. 15
Intermediate: During a follow-up visit for previous violations, an inspector found unresolved issues, including no proof of required food safety training for any employees.
Intermediate: No chemical test kit was at hand to measure the strength of sanitizer in use at a three-compartment sink/warewashing machine or for wiping cloths.
Tamiami Tacos, 6513 14th St. W., Bradenton Inspected Sept. 15
Intermediate: There was no proof of required food safety training for any employees.
Basic: Chicken was stored uncovered in a reach-in cooler. Corrective action was taken.
Basic: There was an accumulation of black/green mold-like substance in the interior of an ice machine/bin in the back kitchen area.
Mr. Tequila Mexican Restaurant, 491 Cortez Road, Bradenton Inspected Sept. 11
Cooked chicken and cooked beef were cold held at temperatures greater than 41 degrees. A stop sale was issued due to temperature abuse and the items were discarded.
Basic: Four basic violations, including soiled kitchen floors.
Editors Note: According to the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation, these reports are a snapshot of the conditions present at the time of the inspection and are public record. The agency is required to inspect every licensed restaurant at least once per year, but new and high-risk establishments tend to be inspected more frequently.
When an emergency shutdown order is given by an inspector, it must first be reviewed and approved by agency supervisors. In order for a business to reopen, an inspector will continue visiting the establishment daily until compliance is met. Some citations may include a financial penalty. Inspectors may also respond to complaints, which can be filed at www.myfloridalicense.com.
Jay Ashcroft and David Becker
Jay Ashcroft and David Becker
After abandoning a bipartisan coalition designed to encourage clean voter rolls, several Republican states are learning the hard way that doing the work on their own isnt so easy.
For years, ERIC, or the Electronic Registration Information Center, worked in relative obscurity. Member states, which at ERICs peak last year reached 34, including key presidential battlegrounds, shared information about their voter rolls in a central exchange. The program revealed voters who were registered in two states, unregistered citizens who were nonetheless eligible to vote, and, occasionally, evidence of illegal double voting.
The system appealed to both Republicans and Democrats, offering data to help keep voter rolls up-to-date and also ease the process of registering eligible voters. Then, the far-right attacks came.
In January last year, Gateway Pundit, a site thats pushed anti-vaccine and election lies in the past, falsely accused ERIC of being a George Soros-funded effort to help Democrats.
Within days, Louisianas secretary of state announced he would withdraw his state from ERIC, citing media reports about potential questionable funding sources among other reasons, and becoming the first ex-member in ERICs decade-long history. Then, this January, Alabama followed suit. In March, Donald Trump called ERIC a terrible Voter Registration System that pumps the rolls for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up. That same day, Missouri, Florida and West Virginia announced their departures. By July, Texas joined what had become an exodus, following Ohio, Iowa and Virginia in announcing its departure. (Texas resignation goes into effect next month.)
As the 2024 presidential election approaches, the former ERIC members are now struggling to replace the organization.
On Thursday, Ohio announced individual data-sharing agreements with Florida, Virginia and West Virginia, and West Virginia announced similar deals Friday with the same states. But several of those agreements, reviewed by HuffPost, fell well short of ERICs capabilities.
Some secretaries have acknowledged the difficulty of trying to replace a multi-state organization on their own.
There are still some limitations because were not getting other states data, Jay Ashcroft (R), Missouris secretary of state who pulled his state from ERIC in March, told HuffPost in an interview, referring to the fact that non-ERIC-members cant automatically check their voter rolls against ERICs remaining 25 member states.
Ashcroft, now running for the Republican nomination for governor of Missouri, pointed out that certain data-sharing was optional even within ERIC namely, data concerning voters participation in elections, which can help uncover double-voting. But overall, there is no comparable collective help or resources for the states that left, which has drawn criticism from observers concerned about election integrity.
Its disappointing that states are leaving a tool that helped them better secure elections, said David Becker, who created ERIC and was a non-voting board member in the group until March. And I think this is consistent with a larger theme that Ive seen, which is that a lot of the anti-democratic forces out there are dismantling the infrastructure of election security while claiming to secure elections.
Aetry Jones, left, and Caerry Rigbon tape up a voter registration sign on Dallas City Hall before a Juneteenth 2020 celebration in Dallas on June 19, 2020.
Aetry Jones, left, and Caerry Rigbon tape up a voter registration sign on Dallas City Hall before a Juneteenth 2020 celebration in Dallas on June 19, 2020.
The trouble comes mostly in the type of information ERIC works with including, crucially, state-by-state drivers license records and other sensitive information. In contrast, replacement efforts are mostly dealing in more accessible data like the Postal Services change-of-address database, which can lead to numerous false positives that can bog election offices down just imagine two voters named John Smith who happen to have the same birthday, then project that across more than 150 million voters nationwide.
The irony of the nine states departure from ERIC was their enthusiasm and praise for the organization while they were members. DeSantis, in 2019, called ERIC the right thing to do for our state, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (R) told NPR ERIC was a godsend a month before he announced Iowas departure from the group.
As The Bulwark observed in May, To the GOP of yore of, say, the Tea Party era this all sounded like a dream: a privately funded nonprofit getting states to cooperate in an effective way for a de minimis amount of money to cut down on voter fraud before it even happens.
In Florida, a man was arrested for double voting on the same day DeSantis-appointed Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) announced that Florida had lost confidence in ERIC and would be leaving the organization. Pinellas Countys supervisor of elections said the alleged crime was uncovered because of Floridas relationship with ERIC. The defendant, Phillip French, has pleaded not guilty.
Virginia, a founding ERIC member state and the other location French is alleged to have voted, announced its departure from ERIC a few months after the arrest.
Similarly, five months after Ohio announced its departure from ERIC, a judge found a Trump donor, James Saunders, guilty of double-voting in that state and Florida in 2020 and 2022. State officials caught Saunders using ERIC data, the Ohio Capital-Journal reported.
The exodus from ERIC began last January with the false claim from Gateway Pundit that money from conservative bogeyman George Soros was used to fund ERIC and that Soros had founded the group. Both Becker and ERICs executive director, Shane Hamlin, have refuted the claims. ERIC started more than a decade ago with help from Pew Charitable Trusts, where Becker once led the elections program, and since then has been funded by member states dues.
Nonetheless, Gateway Pundit is influential it was the most cited source found in menacing messages sent to election officials, Reuters reported in 2021 and the attacks spread. As NPR, VoteBeat and other outlets have detailed, Republican secretaries of state started to feel the heat.
You can see where somebody whos out there trying to prove their conservative bona fides in a primary, which is what you do, would read this [Gateway Pundit] article and say, OK, that thing is bad, lets get our state out of it, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) told NPR in February. But hopefully, over time, the noise about this starts to die down, and other states look to get back into it.
A month later, LaRose who in July announced a bid for the states 2024 Senate nomination announced Ohios departure from ERIC.
Frank LaRose, Ohio secretary of state, speaks on the third day of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Washington, D.C., conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention.
Frank LaRose, Ohio secretary of state, speaks on the third day of the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Washington, D.C., conference at Gaylord National Harbor Resort & Convention.
Though Republican secretaries of state and, in Texas case, Republican legislators decided for the nine former ERIC states to leave the compact, the departures largely impacted officials a rung lower on the political ladder county officials, who are largely tasked with maintaining voter rolls.
Weve just gone back to the dark ages without ERIC, commented Polk County Supervisor of Elections Lori Edwards, a nonpartisan election officer first elected to the post in 2000, after Florida announced its ERIC departure in March. The state joined ERIC under Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2019, after much urging from county officials trying to keep track of people moving in and out of the state, and those same officials were blindsided by the departure, the Sun Sentinel editorial board reported.
Several election officials who removed their states from ERIC said they could do the job independently.
A spokesperson for Louisianas Secretary of State, Kyle Ardoin (R), told HuffPost, We have developed our own interim process using Louisiana-based, as well as national, data sources to achieve many of the report-based elements of ERIC.
We are internally going through data ourselves, Ashcroft said of Missouri. Frankly, were finding that we can do more than we maybe could have done five or six years ago in-house.
Some states are working on piecemeal agreements with each other, though so far, state-to-state agreements dont measure up to ERIC.
For example, a five-page memorandum of understanding between Ohio and West Virginia, signed by both secretaries of state offices on Wednesday, says only that the states will provide each other with lists of registered voters on an agreed upon frequency; ERIC members provide such data at least every 60 days.
The agreement also includes only general data, such as voters addresses, registration dates, and jurisdictions, whereas ERIC states also share DMV records, allowing for more exact matching and fewer false positives.
West Virginia has struck similar agreements with Florida and Virginia, according to copies shared with HuffPost by West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warners (R) office, and another deal is said to be nearing with Tennessee. Landon Palmer, a spokesperson for the office, said West Virginia would eventually use DMV data from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators State-to-State Verification Service, which he asserted provided the same data as ERIC does to its member states.
Palmer also stressed the agreements were meant to identify illegal voting not replace ERICs list maintenance work. For that, he said, the state has shifted its focus to ultimately finding a 50-state solution using other tools and reliable data sources.
On Monday, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen (R), whod announced his states ERIC withdrawal just after being sworn into office, heralded the creation of the Alabama Voter Integrity Database, or AVID, and said the state had signed memorandums of understanding with Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia the latter of which is still an ERIC member. A press release from Allens office referred to AVID as a replacement for ERIC.
Virginias Department of Elections spokesperson told HuffPost it was pursuing data sharing agreements with other states, supplementing internal list maintenance processes with more data, and successfully updating more voters information than ever before.
For state-by-state records, Becker pointed out that even if every non-ERIC state participates in individual agreements with each other, the result will be a mass of potentially hundreds of data transmission points, providing more opportunity for data breaches than with ERICs model.
And while states can buy certain data, like the Postal Services change of address file and Social Security death records, those resources can be expensive, and the cost of the lists is built into ERICs membership dues. Before ERIC, similar efforts at creating an inter-state election integrity system ran into data quality issues and privacy lawsuits, and none survived.
States whove remained in ERIC maintain its the best option available for keeping voter rolls clean and identifying eligible but unregistered voters.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), a rare Republican whos forcefully pushed back against Trumps election lies, told HuffPost in a statement, Georgias membership in ERIC, which began in 2019, has provided data to cancel over 125,000 outdated voter records, has moved more than 300,000 records to Inactive status, and ERIC is still the best available tool for effective voter list maintenance.
I just think its going to be extremely difficult to stand up anything that has the reach, quality or security of ERIC, said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (D). Its a very expensive thing to do, its a complex thing to do, so there are a lot of barriers facing anyone else trying to do it in a meaningful way.
And Ellen Lyon, deputy communications director of the Pennsylvania Department of State, told HuffPost in an email that despite baseless conspiracy theories and disinformation, the department believes strongly in the value of the data we receive and remains committed to ERIC.
I just think its going to be extremely difficult to stand up anything that has the reach, quality or security of ERIC.Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon
After the Gateway Pundit attacks, multiple Republican secretaries of state whod later leave ERIC began pushing for changes to ERICs rules, like eliminating non-voting board member seats like Beckers, making the sharing of election participation information compulsory, and most importantly, loosening the requirement for states to contact eligible-but-unregistered voters what Gateway Pundit had referred to as essentially a left-wing voter registration drive.
Ashcroft, in particular, had switched sides on the latter issue since he oversaw Missouris joining ERIC in 2018. At the time, Ashcroft praised ERICs ability to identify unregistered voters so we can help them get registered. But five years later, leaving ERIC, he faulted the compacts focus on adding names to voter rolls by requiring a solicitation to individuals who already had an opportunity to register to vote and made the conscious decision not to be registered.
Explaining the change, Ashcroft said he believed state election officials had put their thumb down on the scale of registration drives, intending to help Democrats, he said. He noted that Beckers current organization, the Center for Election Innovation & Research, had distributed grant money from Mark Zuckerbergs foundation to election officials in 2020. Though the money was distributed to states and election offices run by both parties as well as non-partisan administrators, Republican critics allege the so-called Zuckerbucks had both a partisan intent and effect.
And though he and others have maintained they werent influenced by the Gateway Pundit stories, Ashcroft defended the central falsehood in the articles.
Are you saying Soros money never was a part of ERIC? he said, before adding of the Soros funding claim, Its a lot closer than the Russian collusion hoax was.
Becker who announced he wouldnt accept a renomination to the ERIC board the week after Missouri, West Virginia and Florida announced they would leave the group objected to Ashcrofts accusations of partisanship.
He pointed to a letter of support from Republican election officials and noted that, during his time in the George W. Bush Justice Departments voting rights section, he was awarded a commendation for a fight against Democrats gerrymandered districts in Georgia. The commendation, he said, was signed by none other than the U.S. attorney general at the time, Ashcrofts father, John Ashcroft.
As for ERIC, the organizations founder said he thinks its survived the loss of nearly one-third of its members.
But the future of ERIC isnt whats important here, Becker said. The quality of election administration and voter list maintenance is whats important, and the states who are still using ERIC are still getting that value.
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In a span of five months this year, former President Donald Trump was indicted on a total of 91 felony counts across four separate criminal cases: the Manhattan hush money case, the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, the Jan. 6 election fraud case and the Georgia election conspiracy case.
With Trump and others facing the possibility of standing trial, the first half of 2024 is shaping up to be an extremely busy election year for the Republican Partys presidential frontrunner.
In the most recent case, it has been over a month since Trump and 18 of his allies were indicted on criminal charges stemming from an investigation into their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Five of Trumps co-defendants, including former chief of staff Mark Meadows, have since requested that their case be moved from a Georgia court to a federal court. Meadowss bid was denied. This week, four others have evidentiary hearings to see if their cases will be moved to a federal court: former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, Coffee County GOP Chair Cathleen Latham, Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer and Georgia Republican state Sen. Shawn Still.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee set an expedited trial schedule for two of Trumps co-defendants, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, in response to their request for a speedy trial. Jury selection will begin on Oct. 23 and McAfee hopes to have a jury seated by Nov. 3, according to a Sept. 14 order.
As for Trump and his remaining 16 co-defendants, McAfee hasnt set a trial date for the Georgia election fraud case yet and this is just one of four criminal cases. As hearings and trial dates in each of them come and go, below is an accompanying glossary of legal terms that might be helpful as we navigate through Trumps legal woes.
Trump, flanked by attorneys, at his arraignment in criminal court in New York City on April 4. (Seth Wenig-Pool/Getty Images)
Affidavit: A written or printed statement that someone makes after promising to tell the truth under oath. This document can be used as evidence in court.
Arraignment: The first time a defendant goes to court in front of a judge in a case. The judge informs the defendant of the charges against them and what rights they have. The defendant answers the charges this is called a plea as either not guilty or guilty.
Continuance: A court order to delay a court appearance, hearing or trial until a later date for a legitimate reason. For a variety of reasons, a party may need more time before a proceeding, whether new evidence is discovered or a witness needs to be found. A continuance can be requested by either side in a dispute, or by the presiding judge.
Evidentiary hearing: A legal court proceeding where only evidence which can include witness testimony under oath is presented to the court before the presiding judge. In criminal cases, its used to determine whether certain evidence can be presented at trial.
Felony: A serious crime, usually punishable by at least one year in prison for a Class E felony typically an offense like theft or assault while a Class A felony, such as murder, can be punishable by life in prison or the death penalty.
Grand jury: A panel made up of members of the public chosen at random. A grand jury consists of between 16 and 23 people, who determine whether to bring criminal charges against a person. Grand juries are typically used in criminal cases, especially when felony charges are at stake. A trial jury is different and is tasked with deciding whether a person is guilty of a crime. All juries are expected to be fair and impartial.
Hearing: A formal proceeding before a court, which usually consists of a brief session to address any specific questions before a full trial occurs.
Indictment: A formal, documented accusation that a person committed a crime; it includes the basic information of the charges they face. Indictments are handed down by a grand jury, which requires a simple majority to issue one, and can be issued at the federal or state level.
Insurrection: The act of an organized and usually violent uprising against an established government. A person convicted of insurrection under federal law faces a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and is disqualified from holding federal office.
Misdemeanor: A type of criminal offense thats typically punishable by less than a year in prison. Its considered a lesser crime than a felony, which has harsher penalties.
Motion to suppress: In a criminal case, a request made by a defendant before a trial to exclude certain evidence the prosecutor would use against the defendant.
Perjury: A crime someone commits when they knowingly and intentionally make false statements under oath, or they sign a legal document that they know to be false or that has false statements. While penalties can vary under different state jurisdictions, perjury is considered a felony under federal law that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison.
Pleading not guilty: A defendant who is accused of a crime denies the criminal charges against them and asserts their innocence.
Pleading the Fifth: The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects a person from being compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, among other rights related to legal proceedings. A person pleads the Fifth when they want to avoid answering questions to avoid incriminating themselves.
RICO: Short for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, this is a 1970 federal law designed to help fight organized crime. It essentially made it easier to charge mob bosses, who were several layers above the people actually carrying out the crimes. Georgias RICO statute is much broader than the federal version, and its what Trump and his 18 co-defendants are charged under for their alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state. A Georgia RICO conviction would mean Trump and his allies could face a minimum prison sentence of five years.
Sedition: A form of communication or an act used to encourage people to use violent action against the government, whether by force to overthrow the state or by preventing it from implementing its authority to enforce the law. Seditious conspiracy a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison occurs when two or more people plot to overthrow the U.S. government or prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of U.S. law by force.
Subpoena: A legal document that requires a person to appear before a court or in another legal proceeding (such as a congressional hearing) and testify as a witness or produce documents related to the case.
Treason: Narrowly defined in the U.S. Constitution, it reads: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. As a matter of federal law, a person found guilty of treason against the U.S. faces stiff penalties of at least five years in prison or death.
Voir dire: Pertaining to jury selection, this French phrase means to speak the truth. Its the process through which lawyers, a judge or both ask potential jurors questions to determine whether they are fit to serve on the panel of jurors during a trial.
These legal glossary terms were compiled using the following sources: justice.gov, Merriam-Webster and Cornell Law Schools Legal Information Institute.
FRAMINGHAM A Framingham man has been found not guilty of first-degree murder in a 2021 case in which he and his late brother were accused of robbing and fatally shooting another man inside a rooming house on Hayes Street.
Last Thursday, a Middlesex Superior Court jury found Aaron Sutton, 51, not guilty of both first-degree murder and armed robbery. Sutton, who had been jailed since his November 2021 arrest, was set free.
"He's just thrilled he had a chance to clear his name," Sutton's attorney, Derenge B. Demissie, told the Daily News on Friday. "He's looking forward to resuming his life and getting back to his family."
Sutton was charged in the Oct. 30, 2021, death of Eric Hargrett at a rooming house at 23 Hayes St. Had Sutton been convicted of first-degree murder, he would have been sentenced to a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Police investigate the scene on Oct. 30, 2021, after a Framingham man was fatally shot on Hayes Street. Aaron Sutton, who was charged with murder in the case, was found not guilty last week in Middlesex Superior Court.
Authorities alleged the Sutton brothers arranged to rob victim
Authorities alleged that Sutton and his brother, Eugene Sutton Jr., had arranged to meet Hargrett, 34, at 23 Hayes St. with the intention of robbing him. But during the alleged robbery, Hargrett was shot in the head and killed, and also suffered "slashing" wounds.
Police allege witnesses saw the Sutton brothers running from the room after the shooting occurred. Aaron Sutton was arrested three days later. Eugene fled to California, where he died in January 2022 before police could find him.
Hargrett was a father of two, as well as a father figure to two other young children, his family had said.
Aaron Sutton's co-defense attorney, Catherine Harvey, said her client has maintained his innocence since he was arrested, and that his story has been consistent ever since.
Earlier: Jury selection set to begin in Framingham man's murder trial
"They (the jury) had the benefit of our seeing our client's statement, where he steadfastly maintained his innocence from the beginning," said Harvey. "It was corroborated by the state's own witnesses."
The trial started Sept. 5 with jury selection and the trial continued until last Wednesday, when the jury began deliberating.
Earlier: One man charged in fatal Framingham shooting; police seek second suspect.
On Thursday, one juror was dismissed due to an illness and replaced by an alternate. The jury then restarted its deliberations and found Sutton not guilty later that day.
"All of the scientific evidence excluded him," said Demissie. "There was no evidence against him."
The Middlesex County District Attorney's Office did not comment on the verdict.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Framingham man found not guilty in October 2021 fatal shooting
Lloyd Austin, Head of the Pentagon, said on Tuesday, 19 September, that Ukraine will receive M1 Abrams tanks from the US soon.
Source: Austin at the opening of the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, known as the Ramstein format, as reported by European Pravda
Quote: "Since our last meeting, the United States has committed additional security-assistance packages totaling more than $2 billion. Those packages include urgently needed air defense, ammunition, and mine-clearing equipment
Im also pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that the United States had previously committed will be entering Ukraine soon," Austin said.
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!
On Monday morning, nearly half of Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom was closed due to a black bear sighting in the park.
Adventureland, Liberty Square and Frontierland were delayed opening until 2 p.m., when Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials and local law enforcement officers removed the bear, according to The Associated Press.
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A representative of FWC said, In most cases, it is best for bears to be given space and to move along on their own, but given this situation, staff are working on capturing and relocating the bear.
As bears prepare for winter hibernation during the fall, they become much more active when searching for food. He said, This particular bear was likely moving through the area searching for food, per WESH.
FWC staff safely captured the bear and are relocating it out of the park to an area in or around the Ocala National Forest, which is north of Disney World by roughly an hour and a half, according to NBC.
Aerial video footage of this mornings bear removal process can be watched here.
Since 2016, when an alligator killed a 2 year-old on the beach of the Seven Seas Lagoon, Disney has removed over 200 alligators from its parks, per The Mirror. Prior to the incident, Disney removed roughly 23 alligators per year.
This number has jumped to over 33 removals a year since 2016, providing evidence that Disney is now more conscious of the potential danger wild animals pose to visitors in the parks.
Affordable Towing owner Dennis Cleveland will serve two years in federal prison after pleading guilty in March to illegally tampering with the emissions controls of his companys diesel tow trucks.
Cleveland, 73, was sentenced to a pair of two-year sentences Tuesday, one for each violation of the Clean Air Act that was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Judge Stephen R. Bough will allow Cleveland serve the sentences concurrently. He was also ordered to pay a $255,000 fine.
According to EPA investigators, Cleveland had 12 illegally altered vehicles that were responsible for releasing the equivalent pollution of 1,140 legally operating tow trucks. Court records note that he admitted to directing employees to physically disable emissions control components on multiple heavy-duty diesel tow trucks.
After being initially contacted by law enforcement last year, investigators said Cleveland continued to use the trucks illegally.
This business owner intentionally polluted the air in southwest Missouri for more than a decade with massive amounts of cancer-causing toxins in violation of federal law, said U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore in a news release. He pursued personal profit at the expense of the environment and the health of his neighbors. And he brazenly continued dumping dangerous pollutants into the air, and ultimately into the lungs of everyone in the community, even after pleading guilty and being admonished by the court.
Robert Dyche, the owner and operator of Full Flash Tuning in Springfield a business investigators said specializes in illegally tampering with diagnostic systems pleaded guilty to conspiring with Cleveland.
Cleveland's arrest is one three incidents involving Affordable Towing in three years that have garnered attention from several local news oulets.
Last month, since-fired Affordable Towing driver William Sipple was charged with driving while intoxicated and fleeing Springfield Police while driving his tow truck. Police needed spike strips to disable his vehicle, which dangerously barreled down busy Springfield roads during the chase.
In May 2020, Affordable Towing faced a wrongful death lawsuit after one of its drivers inadvertently backed up its truck and hit Matt Canovi, a 63-year-old safety expert and host of The Gun Show on KSGF. Canovi called for a tow after he got a flat tire on Highway 65 near Chestnut Expressway in Springfield.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Affordable Towing owner sentenced to two years in federal prison
Afghan burqa-clad women along with school girls walk along a road in Fayzabad district of Badakhshan province (AFP via Getty Images)
The UN General Assembly is set to hold key debates on the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan this week, two years after they were stopped from receiving education in schools and universities.
The Talibans move to ban girls aged 11 and over from attending school came on 17 September 2021 just a few weeks after they stormed to power, driving Western allied forces and a democratically elected government out of Kabul. A decree stopping women from going to universities followed soon after.
In their initial edict, the Taliban claimed they would open high schools for girls, only to later say such a move would not comply with their interpretation of Islamic or Sharia law.
Afghanistan has become the only country in the world not to allow the education of girls in schools, as well as in colleges and universities.
For 15-year-old Adeela, the overriding emotion is not so much fear towards the armed Taliban fighters who have taken control of her school, but rather sadness at watching her books gather dust for two years and having nothing to fall back on.
I am not afraid of the Taliban but in the last two years, I have been tied up inside the house without any schooling, she tells The Independent.
I am not aware of my other batchmates, how they are doing, but I think they are hopeless and broken like me.
Asked what her biggest dream would be, the teenager in Afghanistans Wardak province said that it was for the Taliban to open her school again so every girl there can believe again in their future.
Her friend Damsa, who was barely 12 when the Taliban came to power, also remembers seeing her classroom for the last time in 2021.
The now 14-year-old says the closure of schools has severed important personal connections for an entire generation of girls.
I have not heard from any other girls in my school. I hope the Taliban will open their doors again and give us the same right to education they have given to the boys, she says.
Despite initial promises, the Taliban has shown no signs of progress on this front. Having said they would allow girls back into classrooms once unspecified conditions were met, the militant group has not so much as mentioned any initiatives to change those conditions since.
Regional expert Hassan Abbas says the Talibans perspective on girls education partly comes from a specific school of 19th century Islamic thought and partly from rural areas where tribalism is entrenched.
The ones who went on to develop the [Taliban] movement opted for ideas that are restrictive, orthodox to the extreme, and tribal, Mr Abbas, who writes extensively about the militants, told the Associated Press.
The Taliban leadership believes women should not participate in anything social or public and should especially be kept away from education, he adds.
This is eerily similar to the Talibans previous rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s when girls and women were kept away from any form of education a rule the groups current rulers had earlier vowed to step away from. Several signs, however, show moves towards a more moderate rule are near impossible.
The effects that will trickle down on Afghan society are dangerous, top UN officials have warned.
One of the obvious impacts of an education ban is the lack of training for aspiring healthcare professionals. The pipeline of qualified people like women medical students, who had their studies blocked by the Taliban, will dry up for the countrys already dysfunctional medical infrastructure.
Healthcare is one of the last remaining few sectors open to Afghan women who can work in hospitals and clinics. And due to the Talibans laws, Afghan women cannot see male doctors, so children will also lose out on medical attention.
Looking into the future and a scenario where nothing changes, where will the female doctors, midwives, gynaecologists, or nurses come from? questioned Roza Otunbayeva, the UN secretary special representative to Afghanistan, in an email to The Associated Press.
In a strictly gender segregated society, how will Afghan women be able to get the most basic healthcare services if there are no female professionals to treat them?
UN data shows birth rates are higher among Afghan girls aged 15-19 who dont have secondary or higher education.
A womans education can also determine if her children have basic immunisation and if her daughters are married by the age of 18. The lack of womens education is among the major drivers of deprivation, says the UN.
Girls in Afghanistan are at an increased risk of child labour and child marriage as well because they are not at school in another growing crisis faced by millions of the countrys families.
The News
LAGOS A new Lagos train service will need to buck the trend of poor maintenance that has blighted other Chinese-funded mass transit projects in Africa in order to provide a long-term solution to the Nigerian megacitys infamous transport problems.
The Blue Line, built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, has been used by 20,000 passengers since launch on Sept. 4, according to Lagos states transport agency, LAMATA. It runs between two terminals that link a busy suburb on the citys mainland to a marina district notable for its cluster of highrise bank offices and proximity to affluent neighborhoods.
Lagos bustles with the energy of 20 million residents, thousands of small businesses and big corporations that power Africas biggest economy, itself being one of the continents largest by gross domestic product ($75 billion in 2021). But despite bridges built to connect both sides of the lagoon that splits the city, the city is typically congested at peak hours, stifling easy movement and limiting its and Nigerias development.
A full ride across the new trains eight-mile stretch costs 750 naira ($1) and lasts 28 minutes including 90-second stops at three stations in between. Oluwabusola, 25, a physiotherapist, hopes to travel to work each day using the train because it more than halves her journey time by road and is also cheaper. It will pain me if it suddenly becomes unavailable, she said. That anxiety was reflected by other passengers who recounted a familiar arc of big money infrastructure projects in Nigeria: from enthusiasm to disappointment. We are good at copying Western innovation but not their maintenance, said Damian Olisa, a 49-year-old shoe vendor taking his first ride.
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The Lagos train launch comes at a time when transport fares have risen sharply nationwide after President Bola Tinubu ended a longstanding fuel subsidy scheme in June. Higher fuel prices have meant fewer cars and reduced traffic, but the need for intra-city trains has been part of the states plans since the early 1980s.
The Blue Line is the first phase of a rail network that authorities hope will cover the breadth of the city. It is expected to bypass potholed expressways and inadequate road networks to improve access to key areas located far from the city center, like the Lekki Deep Sea Port a $1.5 billion, 90-hectare processing facility that Nigeria expects will generate $360 billion in 45 years. The port, which is owned by China Harbour Engineering Company and Singapores Tolaram Group, opened in April.
Alexanders view
The broad subtext to concerns over Lagoss new train service is that attempts elsewhere did not live up to initial hype and cost. Maintenance is going to be critically important and its something many African governments have struggled with after Chinese-built infrastructure is handed over, Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of the China-Global South project, told Semafor Africa.
Many of those projects have been built by companies affiliated to Beijings state owned China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) whose projects in Africa include a rail line connecting Tanzania and Zambia.
In Nigerias capital, Abuja, a 17-mile light rail service that cost $823 million has not moved any passengers since March 2020. Such misadventures put the spotlight on the Lagos line which, despite significant adoption in its first weeks, has underwhelmed in at least one respect. After several delays that have seen it open more than 10 years later than originally planned, the supposedly electric-powered trains have so far been powered by a diesel system.
Authorities say the diesel operation is temporary and that tests are ongoing to potentially energize the tracks with electricity within a month. A spokesman for LAMATA declined to discuss maintenance plans for the train service citing confidentiality and security implications. He said an operating arm of the Chinese contractor that built the trains will be in charge of maintaining it to international standards.
While the prospects of electric-powered trains are positive in terms of being much more carbon-friendly than diesel powered, it does raise concerns about the ability to maintain electric power in a city known for regular and widespread power outages.
Alexander Onukwue/Semafor
Room for Disagreement
John Ashbourne, an emerging markets economist at London-based firm Fitch Solutions, said a difference between the train service in Lagos and the neglected one in Abuja is that the latest line seems to have a huge demand for it.
How much Lagos will have to depend on China for spare parts will become clearer in two or three years but this company builds a lot of high quality infrastructure in China and other countries so I dont think we should assume that because they are involved, these projects will necessarily run into obstacles, Ashbourne said of the contractor behind the Lagos rail. I would hope that part of the contract for this project would include building up local capacity to maintain it.
The View From Addis Ababa
A 20-mile line in Ethiopias capital Addis Ababa that was partly funded by Chinas Export Import bank and hailed as Africas first electrified light rail system is now a cautionary tale. Having opened in 2015, only a fifth of its 41 trains are still operational requiring a $60 million makeover. It switched to running on alternate days last year.
One factor that led to the problems in Addis Ababa is the fact that maintenance is only carried out by Chinese engineers, which means locals have not developed the expertise needed to fix problems, one economist told Semafor Africa. Another factor is that Ethiopia lacks the spare parts needed for maintenance and does not have the foreign exchange to import them.
Notable
A standard gauge railway that connects Kenyas largest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa, was built in 2017 by China. It has become a fiasco, the target of lawsuits, criminal investigations over corruption and resentment by environmentalists, reports the New York Times.
Creating crops that'll endure climate change think worse droughts, heat waves and pests is a time-consuming and costly feat. Avalo is betting its machine learning models can speed that process up and make it a whole lot cheaper too.
The Durham, North Carolinabased startup, which pitched onstage at the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield competition, doesn't edit plant genes or breed crop varieties the traditional way. Instead, the AI company aims to supercharge crop breeding by quickly identifying the genetic basis of complex traits, such as heat tolerance.
In doing so, Avalo avoids much of the guesswork and waiting typically involved in crop breeding. CEO Brendan Collins explained in a call with TechCrunch, "We actually don't care about the plant expressing the [desired] trait in the field, because we just genotype all the seedlings, and we know which ones are going to be the winners and which ones are going to be the losers already."
Instead of testing crosses annually, Avalo "can bring seedlings into growth chambers and greenhouses and breed them under accelerated conditions," said Collins. For most row crops, that translates to "four development cycles" in a single year versus just one, the CEO added.
The process is based on Avalo science chief Mariano Alvarez's post-doctoral studies at Duke. TechCrunch did a deep dive into it two years ago, when Avalo had only secured a $3 million seed round. The startup has since raised another $3 million and today announced its intent to raise a $10 million Series A this fall.
According to Collins, Avalo proved its process recently when it created a fast-maturing broccoli variety for a vertical-farming startup called Iron Ox. Collins says Avalo succeeded, only you can't try it yet, because the effort collapsed as the vertical-farming bubble popped earlier this year.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OykTc7X31Tg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]
Avalo is still working with greenhouses to get the advanced broccoli on the market, but the CEO said he is now more focused on the startup's other efforts. They include aiding in the cultivation of a latex-producing dandelion; finding and licensing valuable traits, such as pest-resistance, in soy and corn; and a just-launched effort to cultivate drought-tolerant cotton.
(Avalo's co-founder and COO, Rebecca White, grew up on a cotton farm in Texas, Collins told TechCrunch. It happens that Collins and White were en route to the COO's family farm when they pulled over to take my call.)
Ultimately, Collins sees Avalo as a company that will democratize access to world-class genomics.
"Since the 1950s, corn has had a 300% yield increase, and that's because so much effort and money has been put into corn," the CEO said before posing a question: "What could agriculture look like if we're able to give that same level of resources for a fraction of the cost to all the other crops in the world?"
Evolving staples to withstand heat and drought isn't agriculture's (nor agtech's) sole response to climate change.
Resilient crops overlooked or even previously outlawed by colonizers, such as amaranth, are getting renewed attention. Rising temps mean famers are also putting money toward crops that would not have previously thrived in their respective growing regions. That's why you'll see more mangos and avocados in Northern California and more grapevines in the U.K.
On the tech side, numerous companies are exploring ways to re-create beloved flavors with fewer resources. Berkeley Yeast modifies yeast to taste hoppy, giving brewers the option to ditch water- and energy-intensive hops altogether. Atomo, a "beanless coffee" startup, takes a less academic route; it combines roasted date seeds and chicory to make its oat lattes, and in doing so it avoids the cultivation of water-intensive coffee beans.
There are also plenty of tech firms exploring new ways to limit water and fertilizer waste, such as Verdi, SupPlant, Pivot Bio and Carbonwave. Avalo has some comparably more-direct competitors in crop discovery, too, including Keygene and Benson Hill.
Air defense systems shot down 27 Russian attack drones overnight in southern, central, and western regions of Ukraine, the Air Force reported on Sept. 19.
In total, Russian forces sent 30 Shahed "kamikaze" drones toward Ukraine, as well as one Iskander-M ballistic missile.
The Iskander-M missile was launched from Russian-occupied Crimea in the direction of Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
Damage and at least one casualty from a drone strike in the western city of Lviv has been reported by the local authorities.
While attacks on Ukraine's western oblasts are less common, a massive missile strike on Lviv Oblast on Aug. 15 injured 19 people.
Read also: Russia attacks Sumy Oblast 37 times
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Original Caption) Washington: Iranian born businessman Albert Hakim takes the oath before testifying before the House and Senate Iran-Contra committees 6/3. Hakim said he set up a $200,000 secret Swiss bank account for the benefit of Lt. Col. Oliver North 's family in case anything happened to North in the Iran-Arms Contra Aid Affair.
Albert Hakim may not be a household name, but he's a figure who should command your attention. Born in 1932 and rising from modest origins, he played a role in shaping the trajectory of American history. His life story embodies the complex interplay of ambition, geopolitics, and ethical dilemmas. Albert Hakim had a finger on the pulse of some of America's most critical covert operations , and his actions had far-reaching implications.
A Role in Cold War America
Albert Hakim's contributions to American history were immense. Amidst the chill of the Cold War , when the USA and the Soviet Union were at an ideological standoff, he emerged as a significant player in covert operations. Recruited by the CIA in the early phases of this frosty period, Hakim was instrumental in operations that targeted the spread of Soviet influence.
He specialized in gathering intelligence, particularly from Soviet defectors, and decoding secret messages. In South America and the Middle East, two regions crucial to American interests, he helped to counteract the Soviet agenda through well-crafted espionage. This wasn't just spy games; this was about safeguarding democracy and maintaining a world order favorable to American interests.
Operation Gladio and the Afghan Frontier
One of Albert Hakim's standout roles was in Operation Gladio , a top-secret NATO campaign designed to fight Communist influence in Europe. He helped arm and organize secret armies as a precaution against potential Communist invasions. It was a classic Cold War cloak-and-dagger operation where the stakes were sky-high.
Another theater where Hakim made his mark was Afghanistan. In a land known as the "graveyard of empires," the Soviet Union was caught in a quagmire. Albert Hakim was instrumental in channeling covert American support to the Mujahideen , the freedom fighters challenging the Soviet occupation. His activities helped weaken the Soviet resolve, leading them to pull out eventually. Many argue this operation accelerated the end of the Cold War, and Albert Hakim was right there in the thick of it.
Controversial arms deals
Albert Hakim also dabbled in controversial arms deals. In the pursuit of American objectives during the 1980s, he became part of operations that had shaky legal grounds. One of these was supplying arms to the Contras in Nicaragua, a group fighting against the Communist Sandinista government. It was a move to prevent the spread of Communism in America's backyard.
The operation was complex and fraught with moral quandaries. It led to the infamous Iran-Contra affair , which put the covert activities of the CIA under a harsh spotlight. While this episode cast a shadow over Hakim's career, it also led to a broader public discussion on oversight and sparked changes in how covert operations gained approval.
Playing both sides: the Iran-Iraq War
Albert Hakim was also deeply involved in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, another complex chapter of Cold War geopolitics. He was in the unique position of facilitating arms shipments to both warring sides, Iran and Iraq. For Iraq, his efforts were geared towards procuring advanced weaponry. In contrast, for Iran, he worked to level the playing field against Iraq's better-equipped forces.
Balancing on a tightrope between two enemies required skill and an extraordinary network of contacts. Albert Hakim proved that he could navigate through the thickest webs of international relations, even when the ethical dimensions were murky at best.
Legacy and Impact
Albert Hakim left a mixed legacy. On one hand, his role in covert CIA operations during the Cold War had a direct impact on American foreign policy. His strategic insight helped counterbalance Soviet influence in several key regions of the world. His work in Operation Gladio and in Afghanistan helped protect democracy and undercut Communist agendas.
However, the ethical dilemmas surrounding his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal and the Iran-Iraq War leave a more complicated picture. These episodes led to a nationwide conversation on the necessity for governmental oversight and the ethics of covert operations. They also led to reforms in how such operations are conducted and approved, making Hakim's story a touchstone for conversations about the balance between national security and ethical responsibility.
Albert Hakim's life story is a complex tapestry filled with moments of strategic brilliance and ethical challenges. His involvement in the Cold War, the Iran-Iraq War, and various covert operations illustrates the lengths individuals and governments will go to protect and advance their interests. Albert Hakim serves as a potent reminder that individual actions can have far-reaching consequences, for better or worse, and that understanding our history is essential for navigating the future.
A warning to Floridians with Citizens Property Insurance coverage: Check your mailbox.
About 300,000 customers of the state-run insurer of last resort are receiving letters in the mail this month with an offer to switch to a private insurance company.
If customers dont respond by Oct. 5, the letters state, customers will be forced to go with the private company at a potentially far higher cost.
A Citizens spokesperson said Tuesday that the vendor hired to print the letters has been inundated by the volume, meaning some policyholders are getting less than the customary 30 days to respond. Although the letters are typically dated Aug. 28, as many as a third of customers received them much later. A notice sent to a Miami Herald editor was postmarked Sept. 13, for example.
Some customers still havent been notified. Between 10,000 and 15,000 letters were sent out Tuesday, but everyone should receive the letters by Friday, Citizens spokesperson Michael Peltier said.
Because of the problem, Citizens is extending the deadline to respond to Oct. 10. Insurance agents have been alerted to the delays, he said.
The goal is always to give policyholders at least 30 days, but vendor issues prevented that from happening, Peltier said. Worst-case scenario is folks are going to have a couple weeks.
If customers dont respond in time, they could be in for an expensive surprise.
Eunic Epstein-Ortiz said she received a letter at her St. Petersburg home on Monday with an offer from Tampa-based Slide Insurance, a new startup company that has increased its footprint in Floridas ailing property insurance market.
The offer from Slide was for a premium of $7,484 77% higher than the $4,227 if she stayed with Citizens, according to the notice she received.
The envelope bore no indications that an urgent deadline was inside, said Epstein-Ortiz, who ran for the state Senate last year as a Democrat representing St. Petersburg but lost.
I am completely aware, our insurance system currently is not where it needs to be, Epstein-Ortiz said. But offloading 300,000 people, seemingly in the dead of night, with almost no notice, with no urgency to it, is not the way to do it.
As insurance companies have folded or reduced their exposure in Florida in recent years, Citizens has seen its policy count grow to about 1.4 million, making it the largest insurer in the state.
To reduce Citizens policy count, state regulators this year have approved several companies, including Slide, to assume some of the state-run insurers policies. Customers dont have to accept the private companies offers. But if the offer is within 20% of Citizens rate, customers can still decline the offer, but they cant renew their policy with Citizens.
Policyholders who receive offers can make their choice through their agent or online at citizensfla.com/online-choice.
Asked whether she and her wife would take up Slides offer, Epstein-Ortizs response was an immediate no.
Why would we go to another insurer with worse coverage for twice the price? she said. It makes absolutely no sense.
Alex Murdaugh, the disgraced South Carolina former lawyer convicted of murdering his wife and son to distract from massive fraud, has agreed to plead guilty to nearly two dozen federal charges alleging he bilked millions from his clients.
In a Monday night plea agreement filed in federal court, Murdaugh indicated that he will plead guilty to crimes including money laundering, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If a federal judge approves the deal at a hearing Thursday in Charleston, the 54-year-old would face more than 30 years in prison.
Murdaugh agreed to tell investigators anything he knows about other criminal activities, submit to polygraph examinations, and forfeit assets related to at least $9 million stolen from victims.
Inside the Weirdest Twist in the Alex Murdaugh Case
Murdaugh is serving two life sentences in state prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and son at the familys hunting estate in June 2021. Federal prosecutors can recommend that he serve any new prison sentence concurrently with his state sentence as part of the plea bargain.
Murdaugh is also set to stand trial in November on state charges that he stole insurance settlement funds from the family of his late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield, and still faces more than 100 state charges, ranging from drug trafficking to staging his own suicide in order for his eldest son to acquire his $10 million life insurance policy.
The federal charges mirror financial crimes that he is already facing at the state levelsome of which he admitted to during his murder trial. Testifying in his own defense, Murdaugh admitted that he stole money from his familys law firm and his clients for years.
I misled them. I did them wrong, and I stole their money, he said.
Prosecutors allege that Murdaugh engaged in three schemes to steal from his clients: defrauding them by directing personal injury settlements into his personal accounts; conspiring with a former bank teller to divert funds from client settlements; and establishing a bank account with a similar name as a legitimate insurance settlement corporation to hide his fraud. The indictment states that Murdaugh used the funds for his personal benefit, including using the proceeds to pay off personal loans and for personal expenses and cash withdrawals.
Trust in our legal system begins with trust in its lawyers, U.S. Attorney Adair F. Boroughs said after the indictment in May. South Carolinians turn to lawyers when they are at their most vulnerable, and in our state, those who abuse the publics trust and enrich themselves by fraud, theft, and self-dealing will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Convicted killer and disgraced legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges admitting that he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients for his own personal benefit.
In the agreement, signed and filed in South Carolina US District Court on Monday, the double murderer confirmed he will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
While Murdaugh admitted to stealing millions from clients during bombshell courtroom testimony at his murder trial, this marks the first time that he has ever pleaded guilty to committing a crime.
Now, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison on some of the charges.
Under the agreement, federal prosecutors have agreed that the sentence would be served concurrently with any state conviction on the same charges.
The plea deal must be approved by a federal judge before it can go into effect.
If approved, it means that Murdaugh will likely remain behind bars for a long time even if he wins his fight to be granted a new trial on murder charges.
In total, Murdaugh is facing more than 100 state and federal charges over his vast multi-million-dollar fraud scheme which went on for more than a decade.
According to prosecutors, Murdaugh worked with co-conspirators and friends ex-attorney Cory Fleming and ex-Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte to swindle clients out of millions of dollars.
Among the victims was the family of Murdaughs dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who died in a mystery trip and fall at the family estate in 2018.
Murdaugh allegedly stole more than $4m in a wrongful death suit payout from the family.
Fleming and Laffitte have already been convicted in federal court for their parts in the convicted killers white collar fraud scheme, with the former sentenced to four years and the latter to seven years.
Alex Murdaugh at a hearing on state financial charges last week (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
While Murdaugh has reached a deal on the federal charges, he is heading to trial on the state charges in November.
The convicted killer appeared in court last week for a hearing on the state charges in what marked the first time that he was seen in court since the sentencing at his murder trial.
Fleming was also in court that day where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges. Meanwhile, Laffitte is also awaiting trial on the state charges.
The latest development in the federal financial cases comes as yet another dramatic twist emerged in the murder case with a random Georgia man thrust into the centre of the convicted killers bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wifes aunt.
Earlier this month, Murdaugh filed a motion requesting a new trial on the basis that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case to return a guilty verdict against him.
Central to the bombshell motion was the circumstances surrounding juror number 785 who became infamous as the egg juror when she prompted some light-hearted relief by asking to pick up her dozen eggs from the jury room as she was dismissed from the case hours before deliberations began.
Murdaughs attorneys claim the juror was dismissed from the case after Ms Hill told Judge Clifton Newman about the posts from Timothy Stone, claiming that they were made by jurors ex-husband as evidence that she was speaking about the case outside of the courtroom.
Now, in a new court document filed by Murdaughs attorneys on Monday, Murdaughs attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin state that this was a case of mistaken identity.
They say that the Timothy Stone behind the posts is simply someone with a similar name to the jurors ex-husband and that the post had nothing to do with anyone associated with this case.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for hearing on state financial crimes charges (AP)
The Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts has given a sworn affidavit to Murdaughs legal team.
In it, he said that on 15 February he took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been sticking her nose in my business, according to court documents.
Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt terrible about it and deleted it the next day.
He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by Satan.
Mr. Stone is a resident of Georgia who has a name similar to the name of Juror #785s ex-husband. Mr. Stone was the author of the apology Facebook post, previously submitted as Exhibit E to Exhibit 1, which Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill represented was evidence Juror #785 had discussed the evidence presented at trial with her ex-husband before deliberations began, the document states.
In his affidavit, Mr. Stone avers that he has never been married to Juror #785 and that he has never posted anything to the Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth. He did post what Ms. Hill identified as the apology post by Juror #785s ex-husband but it was posted to his personal Facebook page and not the Walterboro Word of Mouth group.
According to the motion filed earlier this month, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February the day after Murdaugh testified at his trial claiming that she had seen a post in local Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth from juror 785s former husband Tim Stone.
The Facebook post which was said to have been posted by a jurors ex-husband (THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In the Court of Appeals)
The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty.
A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by Satan.
When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadnt seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriffs Office personnel had gone to Mr Stones house and that he had confirmed he made the post.
She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty to which she said she had not made up her mind.
Murdaughs attorneys claim that the original post was fictitous and that a download of Mr Stones Facebook shows he did not make either post.
After the prosecutions closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again.
The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury just hours before jury deliberations began.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill swears in witness at Murdaugh trial (AP)
During her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case.
Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the jurors tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property.
The motion from Murdaughs attorneys included affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who denied ever making the posts.
Disgraced legal scion Murdaugh made several other damning accusations against Ms Hill as he accused her of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilsons office responded to the allegations on Friday, saying that investigators probing the accusations had already found significant factual disputes with the claims.
The prosecutors did not outline what the factual disputes may be but pointed to the number of media interviews made by Mr Griffin and Mr Harpootlian about the motion.
Convicted murdered and confessed fraudster Alex Murdaugh has signed a plea agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice pleading guilty to all federal charges,.
But there is a catch.
The disbarred South Carolina attorney accused of stealing more than $8.7 million dollars and facing a dozen civil suits seeking monetary damages may have to discuss his knowledge of criminal activity and disclose any hidden assets over a federal polygraph test.
Murdaugh, who took the stand during his own double murder trial in the June 2021 shootings of his wife and younger son and admitted to a pattern of lying and manipulation during a decade-long crime spree and was later accused of lying on the stand by state prosecutors signed the plea agreement with polygraph requirements put forth by federal prosecutors on Monday, Sept. 18. Here are the terms of that agreement.
Defense attorney Jim Griffin asks Alex Murdaugh if he killed his wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul Murdaugh with the 12-gauge shotgun that is in evidence in Murdaughs murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.
Alex Murdaugh pleads guilty to 22 federal crimes
In United States District Court of South Carolina, Murdaugh pleaded to a total of 22 federal charges, including:
One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud;
One count of bank fraud;
Five counts of wire fraud;
One count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud;
14 counts of money laundering.
The plea agreement states that Murdaugh's pattern of criminal activity dates back to July of 2011.
Disbarred attorney Alex Murdaugh arrives in court in Beaufort, South Carolina on Sept. 14, 2023. Murdaugh appeared publicly as a convicted murderer for the first time at the state court hearing regarding the slew of financial crimes allegedly committed by the disbarred South Carolina attorney.
How much prison time could Murdaugh get; when will he be sentenced?
Murdaugh was convicted March 2 for the June 7, 2021, murders of his wife, Maggie, and younger son, Paul, and is currently serving two consecutive life sentences. Although Murdaugh is officially in protective custody in an undisclosed maximum security prison, it has been widely reported that he is serving those sentences at the McCormick Correctional Institute.
However, Murdaugh's attorneys have appealed that conviction and sentence, and more recently have leveled jury tampering allegations against an elected official who served during the trial, Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill.
Murdaugh is seeking a new trial, which, if it comes to pass, could have an impact on where and how he serves his prison time. Under state law, if Murdaugh's state conviction is tossed out, he may be required to serve his federal prison sentence prior to serving any time in state prison.
As his state sentence remains uncertain, his federal punishment, should he live to serve it, is more clear. Most of the federal conspiracy charges and bank fraud charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison, with five years supervised releases, and a $1 million fine.
Most of the wire fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The money laundering charges carry a maximum of 20 years and a fine of $500,000, or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater.
The plea agreement does not include any recommendations for light sentencing for Murdaugh; instead, it states clearly the the government will argue for the maximum sentences. However, the feds have agreed to sentence Murdaugh concurrently with any state prison time given for the same offenses.
Murdaugh has a plea hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court in Charleston, where federal court Judge Richard Gergel is expected to approve the plea agreement. Sentencing for Murdaugh may not happen for months, said Assistant United States Attorney Emily Limehouse.
Murdaugh is also scheduled to stand trial for the first of his state financial crimes the week of Nov. 27 in Beaufort County.
Feds impose other stipulations on Murdaugh, including polygraph test
Once sentenced, the plea agreement mandates that Murdaugh pay restitution for his crimes to "each and every identifiable victim, who may have been harmed by his scheme or pattern of criminal activity," and if he can not do so immediately he must enter the U.S. Bureau of Prisons Inmate Financial Repayment Program.
In the agreement, the feds are requesting that Murdaugh forfeit a total of $9 million in assets.
However, in light of his dozen civil suits and more than 100 still-pending state court criminal charges, Murdaugh's assets have been frozen and placed under control of court-appointed receivers who say that they have managed to locate and liquidate roughly $2 million for Murdaugh's victims -- which is much less than the $8-plus million he reportedly stole since 2011.
Murdaugh will also be required to fully cooperate with the investigations into him and his associates, and into his personal finances, and will be required to submit to polygraph testing if federal prosecutors request it.
The case was being prosecuted by United States Attorney Adair F. Boroughs and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Emily Limehouse, Kathleen Stoughton and Winston Holliday.
Murdaugh is represented by S.C. attorneys Richard Harpootlian, Jim Griffin and Phil Barber.
Hampton County Guardian Editor Michael DeWitt, the Greenville News and USA TODAY Network will continue to follow the ongoing criminal and civil cases surrounding the Murdaugh crime saga. Follow DeWitt on Twitter at @mmdewittjr and support his local and national journalism with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Murdaugh pleads guilty to a total of 22 federal charges in DOJ agreement
An Alexandria man accused of rape has been found not capable of standing trial.
An Alexandria man accused of rape has been found not capable of standing trial.
Israel Jermaine Williams, 40, was ordered sent to the East Feliciana State Hospital on Monday by 9th Judicial District Court Judge Mary Lauve Doggett after receiving a report from doctors.
Williams was arrested on 100 counts of first-degree rape in March 2022 by the Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office. The investigation that led to his arrest started after a tip from the Pensacola (Florida) Police Department about the possible sex trafficking of a juvenile.
Israel Jermaine Williams case: Alexandria man arrested on 100 counts of 1st-degree rape
Alexandria murder cases: 2 Alexandria men take pleas in fatal shooting cases, sentenced to prison
He was indicted in August 2022 on one count of first-degree rape. In May, his defense attorney filed a motion to have Williams evaluated, and it was granted.
Two doctors appointed to evaluate him split on their decisions, so a third doctor evaluated Williams. That report was received by the court before Doggett made her decision on Monday.
With Williams moving to East Feliciana Parish for treatment, all action in his case will put on hold.
This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Court finds Israel Williams not capable to stand trial in rape case
[Source]
A video of alleged Chinese migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is making rounds on Instagram.
What the video shows: In the video posted by user @gopaaron14, several Asian people including children from what appears to be a group are seen walking next to a steel border. The apparent entry lies at one edge of the fence on a small hill of giant rocks. It is unclear where exactly this supposed access point is.
The facts: Chinese nationals are able to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. More than 6,500 of them were apprehended between October 2022 and March 2023, Reuters reported in April. By July the latest month on tally the number had ballooned to more than 17,600, the largest on record by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
More from NextShark: NBA champion Jeremy Lin signs with CBA's Guangzhou Loong Lions
How they are doing it: The Chinese migrants typically start their journey in Ecuador, which is visa-free for Chinese citizens, as per The Diplomat. From there, they head to Necocli, a town in Colombias northern coast, which then leads to the Darien Gap, a 66-mile dense jungle reportedly filled with armed guerillas, drug traffickers and deadly biodiversity. Some who undertake the treacherous journey allegedly pay smugglers up to $35,000 for help.
Why they are doing it: The migrants cite various reasons for going the illegal route. One common excuse is the difficulty of obtaining a U.S. visa. Pandemic travel restrictions have also exacerbated the demand.
Security concerns: This week, U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, told the Daily Mail that there has been a massive increase of Chinese nationals tied to Chinas military who had crossed the southern border.
More from NextShark: Toronto police officer, auto repair shop owner killed in Canada shootings
Earlier this month, the FBI and the Department of Defense reported that there are more than 100 incidents involving Chinese nationals who pose as tourists before attempting to breach U.S. military bases.
Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark!
Chinese man accused of killing Nigerian ex-girlfriend says he spent $132,000 on her
Online retailer Amazon is responsible for a massive amount of pollution, accounting for more planet-overheating gas pollution per year than many entire countries. And a new report in Business Insider details how the company produces an astonishing amount of pollution from an often-overlooked source: its data centers.
What are data centers?
Data centers are physical locations that store the computer hardware that much of our society relies on, including data storage and network equipment that power e-commerce, video streaming, and, more recently, artificial intelligence.
Amazon is in the process of developing $87 billion worth of data centers, Business Insider reported: The featureless, warehouse-like structures are easy to miss on the sides of highways or tucked unassumingly amid suburban neighborhoods.
Why do data centers cause so much pollution?
[Data centers] consume quantities of power so vast that they have begun to tax entire energy grids and could exacerbate the climate crisis, Business Insider wrote.
The report found that Amazon operates or is in the process of planning and building 102 data centers in northern Virginia alone. Together, the data centers require more energy to keep running than the entire city of Seattle.
Even worse, the need for all of this power is forcing energy companies to turn away from clean energy solutions such as wind and solar, as the infrastructure needed for those sources to operate cannot be scaled up quickly enough to meet the massive energy demands. Dominion Energy recently proposed canceling the retirement of dirty energy infrastructure and even building new gas-burning plants to meet the demand.
Is Amazon really trying to mitigate its pollution?
Although Amazon often touts itself as an environmentally responsible company, the facts tell a different story. Recently, the company backed out of a promise to make half of its shipments carbon neutral by 2030, drawing the ire of internet commenters but little reaction from governments and regulators that continue to allow the company to do whatever it wants.
As far as the data centers go, Business Insider detailed how Amazon uses Renewable Energy Certificates to fudge its own environmental impact reports that it releases.
RECs have a mixed track record and they have certainly been misused, and there has been greenwashing, Ben Hertz-Shargel, an executive at the energy-research and consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie, told Business Insider. Retiring a REC from two states over from two years ago and calling it offsetting my power consumption from yesterday is not an accurate representation of sustainability.
While Amazon continues to make some gestures toward environmentalism with one hand such as reducing the amount of plastic in its packaging and electrifying a small portion of its delivery fleet on the other hand, it simultaneously destroys millions of unsold products, consumes entire cities worth of energy every day, and produces entire countries worth of planet-overheating gases every year.
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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva put inequality and the climate crisis at the center of a speech Tuesday that opened the annual UN General Debate in New York, lamenting that the international community has numbed to its responsibility to care for the worlds poor.
We must overcome resignation, which makes us accept such unfairness as a natural phenomenon, said the popular leftist, often referred to as Lula. Theres a lack of political will from those who govern the world to overcome inequality.
In his first appearance at the global summit since resuming office earlier this year after more than a decade out of power Lula also touted a new geopolitical order that could challenge the Wests global economic sway, and pushed for greater dialogue around the war in Ukraine.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the UN on Sept. 19, 2023. - Richard Drew/AP
Since taking back the Brazilian presidency, Lula has worked quickly to position himself as a climate progressive and global leader on the issue, bringing Amazon deforestation levels this summer to the lowest rate in six years a remarkable reversal after the environmentally damaging policies of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
The whole world has always talked about the Amazon. Now the Amazon is speaking for itself, he said Tuesday.
Lula urged rich countries to complete their clean energy and international climate funding goals, arguing that a $100 billion funding plan had already become an insufficient sum.
Rich countries grew based on a model with high rates of climate damaging gas emissions, he said. We, developing countries, do not want to repeat this model. In Brazil we have already proven once and will prove again that a socially fair and environmentally sustainable model is possible.
Still, Lula has faced criticism for his administrations investments in fossil fuels, including plans for a possible off-shore drilling project.
In remarks earlier Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres noted that G20 countries, among them Brazil, are responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse emissions.
They must break their addiction to fossil fuels, Guterres said.
The UN gathering comes less than a month after the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, where Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa agreed to open their coalition to new entrants, expanding an alternative geopolitical and economic vision to the West.
The recent expansion of the group at the Johannesburg summit meeting strengthens the fight for an order which accommodates the economic geographic and political plurality of the 21st century, Lula said. We are a force that works towards fairer global trade in a context of a serious crisis in multilateralism.
Lula has tried to fashion himself as a potential broker for peace amid Russias war in Ukraine, putting forward earlier this year a controversial plan for negotiations. While not clearly defined, the proposal involved forming a coalition of other similarly unaligned countries to mediate.
Lula has also suggested that Ukraine cede Crimea, which Russia had annexed in 2014, in pursuit of a peace deal. The notion has been rejected by Kyiv and condemned by Washington.
We do not underestimate the difficulties of achieving peace, but no solution will be lasting if it is not based on dialogue, Lula said Tuesday. I have reiterated that work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.
Lula is set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday in New York, according to his spokesperson Cynthia Ribeiro.
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Sometime midway through the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it still wasn't clear if vaccines would arrive or even work, I found a page in an old reporting notebook that stopped me cold. It was a scribbled-down idea from 2017, a pitch that never came to fruition, but I hoped to write up for a national outlet. I wanted to ask the question: Why don't Americans wear masks during flu season?
Flu is something I never took seriously growing up, despite some of the worst illnesses I've ever had being flu-related. I'm quite certain that without medical treatment, H1N1 would have killed me in 2013. Every year, thousands of Americans aren't so lucky. An estimated 12,000 to 52,000 people die from flu each year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those who die tend to be society's most vulnerable: children, the elderly and immunocompromised people.
Many of these deaths could be prevented through vaccinations and masking, but before COVID came along, such an ask from society was simply too much. In a pre-pandemic world, even if flu cases were high, masking in public may have prompted a stranger to treat you like a mentally ill hypochondriac. Because of a lack of paid sick leave in this country, folks are expected to go to work sick, even though this actually puts more drain on the economy by spreading more illness and putting more people out of work, with one recent estimate pegging the cost at more than $273 billion annually in lost productivity.
We were willing to accept a certain level of suffering and death to not impact the comfort of healthy, able-bodied people. Now, we are being asked to do the same with COVID, though it kills and maims far more people than flu. Helen Branswell, a reporter at STAT News whom I deeply respect, recently framed the ongoing surges and mutations of variants as a "new normal." I think she attempted to balance the truth of the matter COVID is endemic and we have to realize that with how this disease still regularly disables and kills people.
But I feel like the article pays service to the larger tendency in American culture to simply accept a certain level of death, step over the bodies and keep going to work and the movies. According to the CDC's mortality estimates for 2022, COVID is still the fourth leading cause of death in this country after heart disease and cancer. Just because we've gotten used to it doesn't make it "normal."
We see this attitude deeply echoed in the drug overdose crisis, now apparently in its "fourth wave," which preliminary stats suggest broke another record with more than 110,000 dead in the past year. It's also exemplified in the suicide epidemic, which is only worsening, with nearly 50,000 deaths by suicide in 2022.
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How much pointless death this country is willing to tolerate? The answer, it would seem, is a lot. It's led me to believe that America is some sort of a death cult and I don't just mean the population of people who worship a man raised from the grave. Americans have formed a cult around Mammon, the demon of wealth. Does that mean we invoke his unholy name every time we use an ATM? Not exactly, but when the overall cultural attitude is to put profits above people, it doesn't matter what rituals we perform. The result is the same: a sacrifice in the name of a dollar.
Other countries like Sweden, South Korea, Singapore and Finland demand much more from their governments, resulting in a higher and longer standard of living. The government is supposed to protect your life, according to some very basic understandings of the Constitution. I don't know why this topic is controversial to some it's really the most basic function of having a democracy. The military protects us from invaders, roads are maintained to prevent accidents, regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency allegedly prevent you from being poisoned. There's no reason why government can't effectively pay for health care.
Over the centuries, the social contract with government has evolved. Kings and lords largely protected plots of land from barbarian raiders. Now, we also expect the government to prevent large factories from poisoning rivers and biotech companies from selling us snake oil. Sure, our institutions could be doing a lot more in those departments, but we can and should be demanding much more. Universal healthcare isn't a nice-to-have, it's literally an investment in our people that multiple peer-reviewed studies indicate would save American taxpayers trillions not even counting the lives saved. Yes, it's actually cheaper to provide preventive medicine than to pay for the fallout when someone gets much, much more sick and can't work.
But I don't see us getting to a point in the Overton window to make such policies a reality when many of us see our fellow citizens, such as those who are chronically ill or drug users, as disposable. Our reaction after reading of more death shouldn't be one of resignation, but that's the cost of living under capitalism. Until we find it within ourselves to produce a little more empathy and take basic precautions like masking in public, I doubt we will escape the cycle of useless, unnecessary death in America. I think about how my attitude has changed since 2017 and want to believe in a future where even common viruses aren't a death sentence.
An earlier version of this article originally appeared in Salon's Lab Notes, a weekly newsletter from our Science & Health team.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that COVID was still the third leading cause of death in the U.S. It was the fourth leading cause of death in 2022, according to provisional mortality data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Even if you dont listen to Bluegrass music regularly, chances are good youve heard the song Rocky Top and probably sang along (even if you didnt know all the words). The somewhat magical voice singing those words belongs to Bobby Osborne of the Bluegrass group The Osborne Brothers.
Osborne was a lot of things over the course of his lifetime. He was a fiddler at nine years old, before he became a Bluegrass pioneer. But before he and his brother Sonny could put out their first album, Bobby took a break from music to join the Marine Corps and fight in the Korean War. His return home was nothing short of a miracle: he was shot in the head while on a nighttime patrol.
Bobby Osborne was born on December 7, 1931, in Leslie County, Kentucky. He spent most of his youth helping his granddad run a general store, but he would drop out of high school to pursue his passion: Music. He grew up listening to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio and knew he wanted to make that kind of music, too.
So he did. By then, his family had moved to Ohio, but he and his brother left home for West Virginia, where they founded the Lonesome Pine Fiddlers . The same year the Osborne brothers headed east, something was happening very far away from the mountains of West Virginia. North Korea invaded South Korea.
In June 1950, North Korea launched a full-scale invasion of its southern neighbor. President Harry S. Truman decided the United States would head the resistance to the global spread of Communism and was determined that Korea would be the line in the sand. As American forces were fighting for their lives against the Communists, Americans were drafted to train and fight. Bobby Osborne was drafted.
He had a choice between the Army and the Marine Corps. Since the Army trained in Maryland and the Marines trained in California, he decided to join the Corps, hoping to avoid the cold. It was the cold that would later save his life during the war. In 1951, he joined the Marines and shipped out to Korea.
By the winter of 1951, the war had devolved into a stalemate. Both sides jockeyed for any advantage they could get in the face of the enemy, both strategically and tactically. Jockeying for an advantage is what led Pvt. Bobby Osborne to be sent out on a night mission. He was sent out to no mans land to capture a North Korean or Chinese prisoner.
In the dead black of night, he and some fellow Marines left the safety of their own lines and began silently infiltrating an enemy-held hill. They made it all the way to the top of the hill before the shooting started. With bullets and mortars coming at them, the jumped into the enemys trenches and cleared it of defenders. But they still needed to either get a prisoner or get back to their own lines.
Osborne began climbing out of the trench and was hit almost immediately, later describing it as someone pouring warm water down his face. Hed been hit in the head and soon passed out. But the cold he hated so much must have kept the bleeding from being too bad because he woke up to complete silence. The fight was over and daylight was on the horizon.
He helped a fellow Marine who had survived get up, and together, the two men did a quick hobble back to where they thought theyd be safe. A spotlight from a nearby tank guided them back. That was how his Korean War experience ended. He returned home to the U.S. and finished his tour before going home to West Virginia and resuming his music career.
Bobby Osborne died on June 27, 2023, at age 91, outliving his brother by two years. Bobby played the Grand Ole Opry until he died.
By Andrew Mills, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi
DOHA/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Five Americans freed from Iran made an emotional return to the United States on Tuesday ending their imprisonment "nightmare", a day after they were swapped for five Iranians held in the U.S. and the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds.
Coming off the plane, the returning Americans were embraced by family and friends with smiles, laughs, and visible emotion, video footage from the airport showed. One of the returnees briefly waved a small Stars and Stripes handed to him.
"The nightmare is finally over," said Babak Namazi, speaking with his arm around his returning brother Siamak at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The welcome ceremony followed a carefully choreographed exchange, agreed after months of Qatar-mediated talks, that was triggered on Monday when the funds that had been blocked in South Korea were wired, via Switzerland, to banks in Doha.
After the transfer was confirmed, the five U.S. prisoners plus two relatives took off on a Qatari plane from Tehran, at the same time as two of the five Iranian detainees landed in Doha on their way home. Three Iranians chose not to go to Iran.
The deal removes a point of friction between the United States, which brands Tehran a sponsor of terrorism, and Iran, which calls Washington the "Great Satan".
But it is unclear whether it will bring the two adversaries, which have been at odds for 40 years, closer on any other issues, such as Iran's nuclear program and its backing for regional militias or the U.S. military presence in the Gulf and U.S. sanctions.
The freed Americans include U.S.-Iranian dual citizens Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. Two of them have not been publicly identified.
'HUMANITARIAN ACTION'
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the return of the prisoners home in a statement on Monday but his administration also announced fresh U.S. sanctions.
"We will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region," he said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, called the swap a humanitarian action. "It can certainly be a step based upon which in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken," he added.
Biden, a Democrat, has faced criticism from Republicans over the deal. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a prominent Republican, said the transfer of the $6 billion could encourage Iran to detain more U.S. citizens.
Biden aides say the money belongs to Iran and is being transferred from restricted South Korean accounts to restricted accounts in Qatar, which will monitor the cash to ensure it is spent on humanitarian goods not items under U.S. sanctions.
Relations between the United States and Iran have been especially bitter since 2018 when then-President Donald Trump pulled out of a deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions and toughened U.S. sanctions.
Washington suspects Iran's nuclear program may be aimed at developing nuclear arms, a charge Iran denies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the door open to nuclear diplomacy, but suggested nothing was imminent.
U.S. analysts were sceptical about prospects for progress, particularly with a U.S. election looming in 2024.
"The prisoner swap does likely pave the way for additional diplomacy around the nuclear program this fall, although the prospect for actually reaching a deal is very remote," said Henry Rome of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha; Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi in New York; Writing by Edmund Blair and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Gareth Jones, Jon Boyle, Alexandra Hudson)
WASHINGTON President Joe Biden is facing heat over his decision to go through with a controversial prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Iran.
The deal could pave the way for better relations with the bitter adversary. But it's also put Biden at further odds with congressional Republicans and provided new fodder for his presidential rivals.
At issue: the release of $6 billion in frozen assets.
Republicans have equated the swap with Iran to the administration paying out a ransom for the freed Americans.
America has a policy of not paying ransoms, and they say Biden's administration cannot guarantee that the money will not be used to fund Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Russia's war against Ukraine, or terrorism. Biden's critics are also warning the policy could lead to the unjust arrest and detention of more Americans.
U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi, second from left, and Morad Tahbaz, right, are welcomed by people upon disembarking from a Qatari jet upon their arrival at the Doha International Airport in Doha on Monday. Five US detainees, three previously identified as Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharqi and two who wish to remain anonymous, released by Iran landed in Doha in a prisoner swap on Monday after $6 billion in frozen funds were transferred to Iranian accounts in Qatar.
Prisoner exchange rewards Tehran for imprisoning Americans, Biden's critics say
The number of Americans who are being held hostage or are wrongfully detained abroad is unknown. The James W. Foley Legacy Foundation is tracking 55 publicly disclosed cases. While terrorist kidnappings have declined in recent years, the organization found foreign governments have been increasingly wrongfully detaining U.S. citizens for more than a decade.
House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul , R-Texas, said he was very concerned the $6 billion will incentivize hostage-taking in the future.
"Even though the Administration claims these funds are limited to humanitarian transactions, we all know that transactions are difficult to monitor and that money is fungible," McCaul said in a Monday statement. "There is no question this deal will free up funds for Irans malign activities."
The Biden administration is insisting that the funds, which came from Iranian oil revenues parked in overseas bank accounts, can only be used for humanitarian purposes.
Nevertheless, Republicans are not confident the money will be used for purchasing food and medicines. Critics were further incensed after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government would determine what constituted humanitarian aid.
"Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need," Raisi told NBC News.
In an interview with USA TODAY ahead of the prisoner swap, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the U.S. has been categoric that it will control how the funds are used. They will be for humanitarian purposes. I have no doubt, Thomas-Greenfield said.
Republicans push for 'maximum pressure'
President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal that the Obama administration entered into with Europe in 2015. The former president also reimposed stiff sanctions on Iran.
Republicans generally support the use of sticks rather than carrots when it comes to Iran and argue that deals like the one Biden brokered project weakness.
In social media posts, parts of which were in all caps, Trump argued Monday that Biden was setting a "terrible precedent" and "once you pay, you always pay, & many more hostages will be taken."
Backers of Biden's deal see the return this week of the five Americans as evidence that the previous administration's maximum pressure campaign on Iran was not constructive and that Biden's policy of pairing of diplomatic negotiations with sanctions is more likely to produce better cooperation from Tehran.
Seyed Mohammad Marandi, an adviser to Iran's government on nuclear and foreign policy issues, said in a brief WhatsApp message that the prisoner exchange represented an "opportunity for the U.S." to cooperate further with Iran in other areas. However, Marandi said that from Iran's perspective "it's unclear if team Biden has the political will to use this opportunity."
Biden's foreign policy toward America's enemies hinges on establishing open lines of communication to avoid misunderstandings. But he is running for reelection and cannot afford to lose support from swing voters who cast their ballots for him and against Trump in the last election.
Siamak Namazi, one of the Americans released, encouraged Biden on Monday to use the bully pulpit from the United Nations this week to prevent hostage-taking from happening in the first place.
"It is only if the free world finally agrees to collectively impose draconian consequences on those who use human lives as mere bargaining chips, that the Iranian regime and its ilk will be compelled to make different choices," Namazi said in a statement. "Sadly, until then, we can anticipate more Americans and others falling victim to state hostage-taking a horror that, thanks to you, my family and I will strive to put behind us starting today.
New source of Biden criticism
Biden was already clashing with congressional Republicans over Ukraine and the slow pace of the counteroffensive.
The administration is in a standoff with Republicans in the House over $20.6 billion in funding for Ukraine it asked for over the summer. The money is intended to support Ukraine's military and humanitarian efforts through the end of the calendar year. With the fiscal year coming to a close at the end of September, however, the U.S. government could be headed for a shutdown fueled in part by disputes over the request.
Republicans in Congress are divided over whether it is a vital U.S. interest to keep funding the war. And even among those who do support the aid, Biden has come under criticism for refusing to provide Kyiv with long-range weapons sooner.
In a United Nations speech on Tuesday, the U.S. president will again press for global support for the war before returning to Washington to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House on Thursday.
Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Americans are freed from Iran. Why Biden prisoner swap draws criticism.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) Americans detained for years in Iran arrived home Tuesday, tearfully hugged their loved ones and declared Freedom! after being let go as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The prisoners landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with clapping and cheers heard in the predawn hours. Siamak Namazi, the first off the jet, paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane. Loved ones, some holding small American flags, enveloped them in hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, the main language of Iran.
The nightmare is finally over, Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
We havent had this moment in over eight years, he added, his arm around his brother and his formerly detained father, Baquer, who had been earlier released by Iran. Its unbelievable.
One of the other freed Americans, Emad Sharghi, received from his sister, Neda, a U.S. flag and a stuffed animal that she had given to their father 30 years ago when he had bypass surgery, a family representative said.
The former prisoners, who flew on the Gulfstream 5 that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner home after her detention in Russia, later posed for a group photograph with their families, calling out: Freedom!
The successful negotiations for the Americans' freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of America's top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, the Democratic president said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran initially landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi , on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
Iran aired footage of the two prisoners who returned to the Islamic Republic as part of the swap, while two will remain in the U.S. and a fifth will go to a third country. The two who returned hugged their families and criticized the U.S. for their sentences.
The U.S government accused me of having the will to jeopardize U.S interests through disregarding the sanctions. I wonder how the U.S government can accuse someone of a crime by reading his mind? Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani told Iranian state television.
Kafrani was indicted in 2021. charged with unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran and money laundering, though his case had not yet moved to trial.
Also released, according to Nour News, was Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear.
Tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
When the Americans initially stopped in Doha after their release from Iran, three of them Namazi, Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz emerged. They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others. The three then threw their arms over one another's shoulders and walked off toward the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans. All were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans' family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of rewarding and incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior.
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
___
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Jo from Doha, Qatar. Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Matthew Lee, Paul Haven, Aamer Madhani and Michelle Phillips in New York; and Eric Tucker and Farnoush Amiri in Washington contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (AP) Americans detained for years in Iran arrived home Tuesday after being freed as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The prisoners landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with clapping and cheers heard in the predawn hours. Siamak Namazi, the first off the jet, paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane.
The successful negotiations for the Americans freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of Americas top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, the Democratic president said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a plane carrying the Americans landed in the United States, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi , on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
However, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
After the plane slowed to a stop in Doha, three of the prisoners Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz emerged.
They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others. The three then threw their arms over one anothers shoulders and walked off toward the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans. All were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Irans security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap.
Nour News identified the two in Doha as: Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, currently the lead Republican challenger in that race, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of rewarding and incentivizing Tehrans bad behavior.
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
In a statement, Sharghis sister, Neda, said she cant wait to hug my brother and never let him go.
This is my brother, not an abstract policy, she added. We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
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The five Americans freed in a prisoner swap with Iran arrived in the U.S. early Tuesday after the Biden administration agreed to unfreeze $6 billion in funds in exchange for their freedom.
The wrongfully detained American citizens landed in Fort Belvoir, Va., before dawn Tuesday and were greeted by loved ones who clapped, cheered and cried for their arrival.
The five prisoners, along with two of their family members who were unable to leave Iran, left Tehran early Monday on a Qatari plane to Doha.
Once in Doha, three of the prisoners could be seen hugging the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, and others, according to The Associated Press. They walked toward the airport with arms around one another and later departed on the plane for the U.S.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, President Biden wrote in a statement Monday.
Siamak Namazi , a 51-year-old Iranian-American businessman, was the first off the plane in Virginia, the AP reported.
The nightmare is finally over, Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
We havent had this moment in over eight years, Babak added. Its unbelievable.
The other released prisoners include Moran Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent; Emad Shargi, an Iranian-American; and two other unidentified individuals.
In exchange for their release, the White Houses agreement granted clemency to five Iranians and issued a blanket waiver for international banks to allow the transfer of $6 billion of Iranian oil sale proceeds, frozen in South Korea, to a bank in Qatar.
The funds were proceeds from Irans oil sales that were frozen by the U.S. when relations between the two countries faltered.
U.S. officials said the funds were to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian goods, though Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi claimed the money will be spent wherever we need it.
Some Republican lawmakers have argued the move would free up resources for Irans military spending and support of terrorism. Those from both sides of the aisle also expressed concerns it will encourage hostile nations to take more Americans traveling abroad as hostages in the future.
Biden touched upon the concerns in his Monday statement.
And as we welcome home our fellow citizens, I once more remind all Americans of the serious risks of traveling to Iran, he said. American passport holders should not travel there.
The U.S. State Department has a longstanding travel warning that states: Do not travel to Iran due to the risk of kidnapping and the arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, Biden continued. All Americans should heed those words and have no expectation that their release can be secured if they do not.
Talks surrounding the deal began last month after Iran moved four of the detainees out of a prison in Tehran to house arrest, where the fifth prisoner was already located.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Five Americans who were released after being wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for years made an emotional return to U.S. soil on Tuesday.
A plane carrying the five Americans and two of their relatives touched down at 5.25 a.m. ET at a military airfield near Washington, D.C. They had flown from the Gulf state of Qatar, which helped facilitate the transfer.
The group were freed as part of a prisoner exchange agreement that allowed Tehran to access $6 billion in oil revenues frozen under U.S. sanctions and also saw five Iranian nationals released from U.S. custody.
The rare, high-stakes deal comes despite heightened tensions between the two countries over a range of issues including Iran's uranium enrichment program and crackdown on internal dissent the weekend marked a year since Mahsa Amini's death sparked a wave of domestic unrest.
NBC News first reported on the prisoner swap negotiations in February.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., on Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst / Pool via AP)
There were emotional scenes on the tarmac when the freed Americans left the jet to be reunited with family and friends, many waving small U.S. flags as they tearfully embraced.
The former prisoners then posed for a group photograph alongside their families, calling out: Freedom!
"Weve all looked forward to this day," said Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. He said the group would "maintain the fight" in helping to bring back other detained Americans.
Siamak Namazi, 51, was imprisoned for almost eight years, the longest stretch of the five American prisoners. He was arrested in 2015 on charges of espionage and convicted in a trial that lasted a few hours.
Dulles, Virginia, on September 19, 2023. The United States and Iran on September 18, 2023, swapped five prisoners each in one of the arch-foes' first deals in years as Tehran gained access to $6 billion in frozen funds. (Jonathan Ernst / Pool via AFP - Getty Images)
Emad Shargi, 59, an Iranian-born businessman who moved to the U.S. as a young man, was arrested in 2018. Despite being released and cleared of all charges in 2019, Iranian authorities retained his passport, before he was charged again in 2020 and convicted of espionage charges without a trial.
A third former prisoner, Morad Tahbaz , 67, is an Iranian-American who also has British citizenship. Part of a group of environmental activists carrying out research on Irans endangered cheetah population, he was arrested in 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2019.
The families of the two other former prisoners have requested that their identities remain private, U.S. officials said.
Two unnamed family members were also on the flight from Qatar.
We are still absorbing the enormity of coming back home and to freedom, Tahbaz said in a statement. He said his thoughts were with eight Iranian conservationists who were arrested and imprisoned along with him.
"Unfortunately, my friend and colleague, Kavous Seyed Emami, did not survive. Ever since, I have been left with a void in my heart," he said. "My pain remains as my dear friends and colleagues still remain in Evin Prison. I cannot express how much I long to see them free, back in the deserts and mountains."
Human rights groups accuse Iran of charging the prisoners with espionage without any foundation but Iran says they were treated in accordance with the law.
The deal comes as President Joe Biden and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were due to attend the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Biden has come under criticism from Republicans for agreeing to a deal they say amounts to a ransom payment that will likely only encourage Tehran to imprison more foreigners.
The administration has maintained that Iran will only be permitted to use the funds unblocked by the U.S. for medicine, food or other humanitarian purchases.
But Raisi told NBC News Lester Holt in an exclusive interview that Tehran will decide how to spend the $6 billion. The money will be spent wherever we need it, he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Five Americans imprisoned in Iran are back on U.S. soil after they were released as part of a prisoner exchange the Biden administration negotiated with Tehran.
A plane carrying the five prisoners and two of their family members landed around 5:30 am ET Tuesday at a Virginia military facility, just outside of Washington, a U.S. official said.
Only three of the five prisoners who were freed have been identified: Siamak Namazi , Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz . All three are dual-Iranian citizens. A senior Biden administration official said those two Americans wish to keep their identities private.
Americans freed from Iran: Here are their stories
Businessman Namazi, 51, was arrested in 2015 while visiting his family in Tehran. Sharghi, 59, was detained in 2018 a year after moving to Iran from the U.S. to work for a tech investment company. Environmentalist Tahbaz, 67, who also holds British citizenship, was arrested in 2018 while working on a conservation project in Iran.
Namazi was the first off the jet at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
He paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane.
"The nightmare is finally over," Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
As the former prisoners exited the plane they were greeted by American flags and loved ones who gave them hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, Iran's main language. Sharghi received from his sister, Neda, a stuffed animal that she had given to their father 30 years ago when he had bypass surgery, a family representative said.
The Americans were held in Iran's Evin Prison, known for chronic overcrowding, severely limited hot water, poor ventilation, and infestations of cockroaches and mice.
After 2,898 days of captivity, Namazi said he was was desperate to feel the warm sun on his face, lay back in the grass, and look up at the blue sky.
For almost eight years I have been dreaming of this day, Namazi said in a statement after he and four other Americans were freed Monday. I want to see foliage instead of walls and wardens.
Also arriving with the prisoners are Namazis and Tahbaz's wife, both of whom were previously unable to leave Iran. The group of Americans arrived from Doha, Qatar, where they arrived Monday after leaving Tehran.
More: Iran releases five Americans in prisoner swap deal negotiated by Joe Biden
U.S. citizens Siamak Namazi (R-back), Emad Sharqi (L) and Morad Tahbaz (C) disembark from a Qatari jet upon their arrival at the Doha International Airport in Doha on Sept. 18, 2023. Five US detainees, three previously identified as Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharqi and two who wish to remain anonymous, released by Iran landed in Doha in a prisoner swap on Sept. 18 after $6 billion in frozen funds were transferred to Iranian accounts in Qatar.
As part of the deal, $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues was released by the Biden administration and five Iranians charged or convicted of non-violent crimes were freed by the United States, according to U.S. officials.
Iran releases five Americans: In the backdrop, nuclear tensions
Two of the five Iranians who were freed had been convicted of non-violent crimes while three others were awaiting trial and had not been convicted, two senior Biden administration officials said.
The exchange came together after months of indirect negotiations between U.S. and Iranian officials. It's not clear whether the swap will ultimately ease long-fraught U.S.-Iran relations. It's not, for example, formally linked to stalled nuclear talks between the foes.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week, suggested the exchange could be "a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America."
"It can definitely help in building trust," Raisi told journalists.
However, the swap also appears to put President Joe Biden at further odds with congressional Republicans, who have criticized the exchange and said it amounts to paying a ransom to terrorists. It provides new fodder for his presidential rivals.
Americans are coming home: So, why is the prisoner swap with Iran controversial for Biden?
Contributing: Maureen Groppe, Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 5 American prisoners released from Iran have safely returned to US
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between the U.S. and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at Fort Belvoir, Va. | Jonathan Ernst/Pool via Associated Press
A plane carrying five American citizens who had been imprisoned for years in Iran landed in the United States Tuesday morning in a prisoner swap deal between Iran and the U.S.
The five U.S. citizens who were detained in Iran were freed after President Joe Biden agreed to the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to Iran and the release of five Iranians in U.S. custody, the Deseret News previously reported.
The plane carrying the five U.S. citizens landed in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, early Tuesday morning, where they were met by friends and family on the tarmac, according to The Associated Press.
Related
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, President Joe Biden stated in a press release.
We will not stop working until we bring home every American held hostage or wrongfully detained, he continued.
Who are the prisoners who were freed?
The five American citizens who returned to the United States include:
Two unidentified Americans, one of which is a female former U.N. worker, per CBS News.
Siamak Namazi, an Iranian-American businessman who was sentenced in 2016 to 10 years in prison in Iran for allegedly spying and cooperating with the U.S. government, per Reuters.
Morad Tahbaz, an Iranian-American environmentalist who was sentenced in 2019 to 10 years in prison in Iran for allegedly colluding against Irans national security.
Emad Shargi, an Iranian-American businessman who was sentenced in 2020 to 10 years in prison in Iran on espionage charges.
The five Iranian prisoners that the U.S. will release include:
Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian who in 2021 was charged with charged with acting as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government.
Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian who in 2021 was sentenced to 63 months in prison for illegally exporting military sensitive items.
Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and U.S. resident who in 2019 was charged with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran, per AP.
Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian who was charged in 2021 for illegally exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced at the beginning of this year to 30 months in prison for conspiring to provide electronic equipment and technology to the government of Iran.
Americans support for the United Auto Workers (UAW) unions strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis has ticked upward since workers walked out Friday, according to a new survey.
The new poll from Morning Consult found that 54 percent of U.S. adults said they support the strike against the so-called Big Three automakers, up from 51 percent in a poll conducted prior to the strike last week.
The share of Americans who said they were unsure about the strike also rose slightly from 26 percent to 28 percent, while the portion who said they oppose the strike fell from 23 percent to 18 percent.
Americans also reported being more aware of and more concerned about the UAW strike in the latest survey. Fifty-four percent said they had heard a lot or some about the strike, and 49 percent said they were concerned about the standoff between the union and the auto giants.
Both numbers represent a significant jump from last weeks poll, in which 42 percent said they had heard about the strike and 39 percent said they were concerned.
However, despite a boost in support for the strike overall, support for UAWs various demands has fallen.
Forty-nine percent of U.S. adults in the new poll said they support the unions request for a 40 percent pay raise over the next four years, down from 53 percent a week earlier. Support for UAWs demand for a shortened workweek similarly fell from 46 percent to 41 percent between the two surveys.
The union launched its strike against the Big Three automakers early last Friday, calling on workers at plants near St. Louis, Mo., outside Detroit, Mich., and in Toledo, Ohio, to walk out.
UAW President Shawn Fain warned on Tuesday that more workers would be directed to walk out this Friday at noon if no serious progress has been made on negotiating a contract.
The latest Morning Consult survey was conducted Sept. 16-17 with 2,200 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (Nexstar) The U.S. government will shut down at the end of the month unless Congress can strike a deal in the next 12 days.
Theres now a group of Republicans proposing a short term funding extension to avoid a shutdown but the proposal may be dead on arrival. Not just because Democrats will oppose it, but also because Republicans cant agree with each other.
What most of America doesnt know, the majority of the government will be operating, will be working, says Congresswoman Nancy Mace (R-South Carolina), who expects a government shutdown.
Despite this, Mace played down the consequences of Congress failing to fund the government in time stating, Ive talked to some federal employees that dont really mind it, because theyre going to get a vacation.
But if funding lapses, critical government services to the public could be impacted. Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-New York), a member of House Republican leadership, says Republicans are working to avoid a shutdown noting, Were in a very good place.
Six Republicans hashed out a short term deal over the weekend to fund the government through October 31.
That includes the DOD appropriations bill, adds Stefanik.
The proposal would keep the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs funding at current levels. But other government agencies could have their budgets slashed by as much as 8%. However, this doesnt include any funding for recent natural disasters or for Ukraine aid.
As House Democrats, were going to continue to try to find common ground with the other side of the aisle, emphasizes Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York).
Its unlikely the short term funding proposal will provide the common ground needed as Democrats in the Senate are likely to reject it. Even some Republicans in the House have already expressed opposition.
House Republicans are in the middle of a civil war, adds Jeffries, Civil war has the following attributes: Chaos, dysfunction and extremism in the House.
Because of Speaker Kevin McCarthys inability so far to unite his own party, there are now discussions on Capitol Hill among Republicans about possibly ousting McCarthy as the partys leader.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A 73-year-old who was riding passenger in an Amish buggy was killed in a crash Tuesday morning in Mercer County.
The crash happened along Mercer-New Wilmington Road in East Lackawannock Township.
According to Mercer County Coroner John A. Libonati, another car driving along the same road struck the Amish Buggy that Mary Blyer was riding in.
Blyer was pronounced dead on the scene at 9 a.m.
The circumstances surrounding the crash are being investigated by Pennsylvania State Police.
No other information was immediately available.
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FILE PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives U.S. President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah
FILE PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman receives U.S. President Joe Biden at Al Salman Palace upon his arrival in Jeddah
By Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration is pressing ahead with a concerted effort to strike a grand bargain in the Middle East that includes normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, calculating that the U.S. could reap big rewards if it can overcome steep obstacles.
President Joe Biden s aides have made this diplomatic push a foreign policy priority despite varying degrees of skepticism by experts on whether the timing, conditions and current regional leadership are right for a mega-deal that could reshape the geopolitics of the Middle East.
This marks a dramatic reversal for a president who had spent much of his term shying away from deeper diplomatic involvement in the regions troubles, raising questions about why he has committed to such a challenging goal, what he stands to gain and whether he might end up paying too high a price.
A bid to broker relations between longtime foes Israel and Saudi Arabia is the centerpiece of complex negotiations that involve discussions of U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear help sought by Riyadh as well as Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, according to people familiar with matter.
While U.S. officials insist any breakthrough is far away, they privately tout the potential benefits, including removing a possible flashpoint in the Arab-Israeli conflict, strengthening the regional bulwark against Iran and countering Chinas inroads in the Gulf. Biden would also score a foreign policy win as he seeks re-election in November 2024.
Theres a lot that could go wrong, but if it happens it could be a crowning foreign policy achievement, said Jonathan Panikoff, the U.S. governments former deputy national intelligence officer on the Middle East, now at the Atlantic Council.
WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY?
Though the timetable remains uncertain, Bidens aides believe there may be a critical window to craft a deal before the presidential campaign consumes his agenda, sources say.
But U.S. officials acknowledge there are so many stumbling blocks that they have no guarantee of success. Israel-Saudi negotiations have been conducted with Bidens emissaries as go-betweens.
We are actively talking, one U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. "But there's not even a set of principles on what an agreement would look like right now.
Even so, Bidens aides have begun briefing key lawmakers, say people familiar with the discussions. The focus is on Bidens fellow Democrats who have condemned Saudi Arabia over human rights but whose support would be needed if any agreement requires congressional approval.
The confluence of elements driving the administration includes a sense of urgency over Chinas effort to gain a strategic foothold in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states and a U.S. desire to heal ties with Riyadh, which Biden once vowed to make a pariah.
Bringing together military powerhouses Israel and Saudi Arabia could help formalize cooperation against Iran, a mutual foe Washington wants to contain.
The administration is also looking to reassert regional leadership to keep Saudi Arabia and other Gulf oil states from drifting further away from efforts to isolate energy-producing Russia over the war in Ukraine, according to people familiar with the matter.
In addition, normalization would appeal to pro-Israel voters in the election and make it harder for Republicans to attack him over fraught relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
Though foreign policy rarely sways U.S. elections, Biden, facing a re-election fight against Republican former president Donald Trump, may be thinking of his legacy.
It would be a big deal but the question is how much Biden is willing to pay for it, said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
SAUDI DEMANDS
Among the challenges would be satisfying Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi de-facto ruler known as MbS.
He is reported to be seeking a NATO-style treaty requiring the U.S. to defend the kingdom if attacked, and also wants advanced weapons and assistance for a civilian nuclear program.
From the Israelis, the Saudis demand significant concessions to the Palestinians to keep alive prospects for statehood, something Biden is also pushing for but which Netanyahus far-right government has shown little willingness to grant.
An upgraded U.S.-Saudi relationship would face resistance in Congress, where many are critical of MbS over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Riyadh's intervention in Yemen.
I am certainly very wary of a defense treaty that binds the United States to come to the defense of a Saudi government that has proved to act incredibly irresponsibly in the region, Senator Chris Murphy told Reuters.
Murphy, a Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he favors Israeli-Saudi normalization and is open to reviewing any broader agreement but would not be easily convinced.
However, Jared Kushner, who under Trump spearheaded three Arab-Israeli deals known as the Abraham Accords, has urged his father-in-law to consider supporting Bidens effort as vindication for Trumps Middle East record, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
For Netanyahu, diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, custodian of Islams two holiest shrines, would be a long-sought prize that could encourage other Muslim states to follow suit and also pave the way for expanding Israel's economic integration in the broader Middle East.
But Netanyahu's coalition would likely resist anything more than modest gestures to Palestinians, which could trip up any normalization deal.
Bidens talks with Netanyahu at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday could provide an indication of how far he is prepared to go.
Like MbS, Netanyahu has done little to dispel the impression he might prefer to deal with a second Trump presidency, raising the possibility they could wait for the election outcome.
If the clock runs out, the administration may have to settle for a more limited deal or else try to agree on the outlines of a future accord, experts say.
The idea would then be to iron out details later if Biden wins a second term.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland, additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle in Washington and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
TechCrunch
Apple has warned over a half dozen Indian lawmakers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's main opposition of their iPhones being targets of state-sponsored attacks, these people said Tuesday, in a serious digital espionage charge just months ahead of next year's general elections. Rahul Gandhi, Indian opposition leader, said in a media briefing Tuesday that his team had received the said alert from Apple. Shashi Tharoor, a key figure from the Congress party; Akhilesh Yadav, the head of the Samajwadi Party; Mahua Moitra, a national representative from the All India Trinamool Congress; and Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena, a party with notable influence in Maharashtra reported that they too had been notified by Apple regarding a potential security attack on their iPhones.
Last week, Louisiana finally agreed to transfer youth detainees from the states largest maximum-security adult prison only to move them to another adult facility.
After attempting an appeal to Chief Judge Shelly Dicks order to release 15 boys incarcerated at Louisiana State Penitentiary, the state moved the youth to the Jackson Parish Jaila detention center for adults but also with a youth division.
Both the Office of Juvenile Justice and a spokesperson for Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards have maintained that the location is a juvenile facility but it also houses as many as 400 adult prisoners.
However, in an interview with The Daily Beast, Jackson Parish Sheriff Andy Brown vowed the detainees would have no contact whatsoever with adults held at the facility.
As long as theyre out of sight, sound, and touch, its within the guidelines. So, they dont have any communication with the adult population, Brown said. Their rec yard and where theyre being housed was designed to where that would not take place.
On Sept. 8, Dick ordered the state by Sept. 15 to move youth detainees, mostly Black boys, from the state prison, which is commonly referred to as Angola and a former plantation for enslaved Black laborers.
The boys had been held at Angola for 10 months, including being placed in former death row cells, subjected to solitary confinement, exposure to excessive heat, and with a lack of education and mental health resources.
The Court finds that the conditions of confinement of the youth incarcerated at Angola constitute cruel and unusual punishment, and the punitive atmosphere and systemic programming failures violate the Fourteenth Amendment, Dick said in the written order.
But the state appealed the judges decision on Sept. 13, according to Verite News, claiming that the kids needed to be detained there for security and safety concerns.
This stay order will allow [the Office of Juvenile Justice] to continue to consider the options available to the state to ensure the safety of staff, community members, and youth in our care, Office of Juvenile Justice Deputy Secretary Otha Curtis Nelson told the outlet in an email.
The Office of Juvenile Justice issued in a press release on Sept. 15 that all youth detainees at Angola had been transferred to a new juvenile justice facility.
The office said the detention center would temporarily house the transfers from Angola until the Swanson Correctional Facility has been updated to accommodate more residents.
OJJ continues to disagree with the courts ruling, which we believe contained several findings about the conditions at the West Feliciana Center for Youth that are at odds with the facts, the press release read. The West Feliciana Center for Youth (Angola) was a necessary, but temporary solution to address serious security issues at OJJ facilities across the state that threatened the safety of staff, community members, and youth in our care. The youth who were temporarily housed there received targeted rehabilitative services and care from hardworking OJJ staff, who took extraordinary measures to ensure the facility could successfully serve the youth.
Brown, who said he had not visited Angola in some time and was not certain of the conditions the youth may have experienced, told The Daily Beast that he hopes the transfers at Jackson Parish Jail will not be there very long.
[The state is] making some arrangements right now to do some different things, Brown said. Maybe by the end of the year, [Swanson] will be up and the work will be finished and [the youth detainees] will be there.
The facility where the youth are being held at Jackson Parish Jail was designed to be a juvenile center, Brown said, but has never been utilized.
That was the purpose in its design and the location of it, he said. We really havent been using it until now.
Until the move to a solely juvenile detention center, Brown said he will have educators and mental health care specialists evaluate the kids, place them in a large dormitory-style room where they can be housed together, and will provide a variety of recreational activities of their choosing.
Ive talked to every one of the kids, and were trying to adapt to some of their needs right now, Brown said. We can treat them as fair and as good as anyone else can, and were going to do that. But its short-term.
Brown added that he was initially reluctant to take the youth transfers. But he ensured he would give them their rehabilitation experience, even promising that if they were still at his facility after the new year that they wouldnt want to be transferred to another.
We dont have any desire to create an injustice for anybody. Im going to give them what were required to give them, Brown said. No one wants to be in jail.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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The anti-affirmative action group whose Supreme Court case struck down race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard is now going after West Point.
Lawyers on behalf of Students for Fair Admissions on Tuesday sued the military academy over its alleged use of race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Also listed as defendants are: the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Steven Gilland and West Point Admissions Director Rance Lee.
Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race, the lawsuit said. In fact, it openly publishes its racial composition goals, and its director of admissions brags that race is wholly determinative for hundreds if not thousands of applicants.
While the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it exempted military schools. A footnote in the high courts June opinion acknowledged that the United States government contended that race-based admissions programs further compelling interests at our Nations military academies.
The justices said that because no military academy was a party, the opinion did not address the admissions issue at these schools in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.
SFFA, however, argues that the school has no justification for using race-based admissions and that because it is illegal at other universities, West Point is not exempt from the Constitution. SFFA President Edward Blum also launched a website titled West Point Not Fair, which asks students whether they were rejected from West Point, the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy.
Over the years, courts have been mindful of the militarys unique role in our nations life and the distinctive considerations that come with it, Blum said in a statement. However, no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies.
Whats in the lawsuit: The 29-page lawsuit was filed in the White Plains Division of the Southern District Court of New York. The lawsuit dives into the admissions process at West Point, which trains future military officers and is highly selective. The New York academy enrolls about 1,200 to 1,300 cadets in each class, according to the court filing, and admits less than 10 percent of applicants.
Applicants are asked to pass medical exams and a physical fitness test, and earn a nomination from a member of Congress, the vice president or the president. Then, prospective students who have been officially nominated must be accepted by West Points admissions office.
SFFAs lawsuit takes issue with racial preferences used by the admissions office, and the schools nondiscrimination policy on its website that says the United States Military Academy is fully committed to affirmative action.
West Point uses racial balancing for incoming classes and sets benchmarks for how many students who are African American, Hispanic or Asian American will be admitted, SFFAs lawsuit contends. The court filing included the schools class composition chart that breaks down enrollment by race and total class size.
West Point goes to great lengths to achieve these racial-balancing goals, the lawsuit said, adding that the former admissions director once said, [a] couple of years ago, every qualified African-American applicant were [sic] offered admission into West Point, yet the class composition goal was still lacking.
What SFFA wants: SFFA argues that West Points admissions practices are violating the Fifth Amendment, which contains an equal-protection principle that binds the federal government. It also lists two unnamed white members who are ready and able to apply to West Point once it stops using race as a determinative factor.
The group has asked the court to declare that the institution's use of race is unconstitutional and to put in place a preliminary injunction to stop West Point from considering or knowing an applicants race when making admissions decisions.
For most of its history, West Point has evaluated cadets based on merit and achievement, the lawsuit said. Americas enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, soldiers must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin.
Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticised Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene over her complaint against the relaxing of the dress code in the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer quietly told the Senate Sergeant at Arms to no longer enforce the dress code in the upper chamber, allowing Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman to be on the floor in his trademark outfit of gym shorts and a hoodie.
The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful. Dress code is one of societys standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar! the Georgia far-right Republican wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Arent you the one who did revenge porn in a hearing, Ms Ocasio-Cortez responded.
Ms Greene shared nude images of Hunter Biden , the son of President Joe Biden , during a hearing in July. The images were first published by a rightwing site that obtained a copy of the younger Mr Bidens laptop.
The Georgia representative showed the images to argue that Mr Biden had taken part in crimes with sex workers but didnt provide any proof of those claims.
Republicans have pushed conspiracy theories regarding Mr Biden, claiming that his alleged crimes were either financed or greenlit by his father, but they have so far not been able to back up their claims with evidence.
Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin wrote a letter to the chair of the Oversight Committee, James Comer of Kentucky, arguing that Ms Greene must be disciplined for her actions.
These pictures were displayed across America for purely voyeuristic, sensationalistic, and sadistic purposes, he wrote. Our Committee, which was once chaired by heroes of the public interest like Henry Waxman and Elijah Cummings, is rapidly being reduced to the level of a 1970s-era dime store peep show.
If this was acceptable for Rep Greene, you are establishing it as acceptable for all Members, he added.
Mr Raskin urged Mr Comer to declare that explicit pornographic images of people engaging in sex acts like the ones displayed on Wednesday will not be allowed to be displayed in future Committee proceedings absent clear legislative relevance, prior approval from both the Majority and Minority, and written consent from any individual featured in the exhibit.
Also in late July, Ms Greene asked that members be reminded of the rules of decorum after California Democrat Robert Garcia showed one of her tweets in which she compared Covid-19 safety measures to what Jews experienced during the Holocaust.
Marjorie needs to remember she showed us a dick pic last week, Mr Garcia quipped on 27 July.
The Miami County Sheriffs Office is warning residents of a recent phone scam.
According to a social media post from the sheriffs office, a man calling himself Brian Lewis is calling residents and telling them they missed a court date.
>> It is crucial; Homeowners urged to check heating systems as temperatures fall
He is trying to get money out of people in lieu of an arrest warrant, the sheriffs office said. This is a common scam that keeps coming back periodically.
The sheriffs office is reminding residents that law enforcement agencies will never solicit funds for any reason.
If you receive such a call, you can report it to your local law enforcement agency.
SCAM ALERT Male calling himself Brian Lewis is calling Miami County residents telling them he is a Deputy and they... Posted by Miami County Sheriff's Office Troy, Ohio on Tuesday, September 19, 2023
An argument between two brothers over a cellphone charger turned deadly, Mississippi deputies say.
Copiah County deputies responded to a reports of a shooting in Hazlehurst at around 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 17, according to information shared with McClatchy News from the Copiah County Sheriffs Office.
Deputies located 21-year-old Larry Thrasher near the scene. His older brother had sustained multiple gunshot wounds, deputies said.
Kawalarius Thrasher, 25, was taken to Copiah County Medical Center, where he died of his injuries, according to the report.
Witnesses told deputies that the brothers were arguing over the cellphone charger before the shooting.
The 21-year-old was taken to Copiah County Jail and faces a murder charge, officials told McClatchy News.
Hazlehurst is about 35 miles southwest of Jackson.
14-year-old fatally shoots mom and injures her boyfriend in argument, Florida cops say
Teen used move he learned in video game to fatally stab uncle in neck, Florida cops say
Mom chauffeured her 17-year-old son before and after fatal shooting, Kentucky cops say
Kayaker faked his drowning on day he faced rape charges in North Carolina, cops say
Ariana Grande, Mark Ruffalo and director Guillermo del Toro are among a list of nearly 175 actors, comedians, musicians, reality stars, models, authors and activists who have signed an open letter denouncing book banning laws being passed in the US.
On Tuesday (19 September), public advocacy organisation MoveOn published the letter defending the freedom to read, spearheaded by PBSs Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.
As the former host of Reading Rainbow, I spent over 20 years inspiring millions of people of all ages to discover their love of reading. Now Im seeing the books we once celebrated being challenged, restricted, and banned, Burtons note reads.
The open letter calls on everyone to join us in pushing back against these book bans, support free speech and open creative industries regardless of personal or ideological disagreements and use their voice at the local level to stop these bans in their school districts.
This restrictive behaviour is not just antithetical to free speech and expression but has a chilling effect on the broader creative field, it adds.
We cannot stress enough how these censorious efforts will not end with book bans. Its only a matter of time before regressive, suppressive ideologues will shift their focus toward other forms of art, expression, and entertainment, to further their attacks and efforts to scapegoat marginalised communities, particularly BIPOC and LGBTQ+ folks.
We refuse to allow draconian politicians to take that away from us.
Ariana Grande, Gabrielle Union and Guillermo del Toro (Getty Images)
Natasha Lyonne, Bill Nye, Gabrielle Union, Constance Wu, John Leguizamo, Emma Roberts, Sarah Paulson, Andy Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Zooey Deschanel, Zoe Lister-Jones, Busy Philipps, and Christie Brinkley are also among the high-profile names to have supported the letter, which began collecting signatures this summer.
Within the first half of the 2022-2023 school year, according to PEN America, there were at least 1,4777 attempts to ban 874 individual book titles.
At least 30 per cent of the impacted titles are books about race, racism, or feature characters of colour, and more than a quarter of all titles include LGBT+ characters or themes.
This new wave of book bans sweeping across the US has largely been fuelled by Republican lawmakers, religious groups, politically motivated school boards and right-wing activists, all under the auspices of a parental rights campaign.
Among the recent targets was a 1989 title in the Arthur book series, which was the subject of a complaint in a Florida school district after a parent claimed the book would damage souls.
An Arizona man at the center of conspiracy theories over how the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol ensued was charged Tuesday in connection with the riot.
Ray Epps, 62, faces one count of disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds. He will be arraigned Wednesday afternoon, where a plea agreement with government prosecutors is expected to be discussed, according to court filings.
Epps has said he believed the 2020 election was stolen and traveled to Washington days before the Capitol attack to protest.
Conspiracy theories have since swirled around the Arizona man, most of them alleging he was a federal agent who instigated violence that day to tarnish those involved. The theories largely originated from a video from the night of Jan. 5, 2021, in which Epps is seen talking with another individual about heading to the Capitol the next day.
I dont even want to say it because I will probably be arrested: Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol, Epps says in the video.
In other videos from Jan. 6, Epps can be seen whispering into the ear of Ryan Samsel, who is accused of being the first rioter to breach police barricades.
The claims were quickly latched onto and amplified by right-wing media. Epps has since sued Fox News for allegedly spreading destructive conspiracy theories about him and his actions on Jan. 6.
Epps says in his lawsuit against Fox News that the Justice Department told him in May he would face criminal charges, an outcome he claimed was caused by the relentless attacks by Fox and Mr. Carlson and the resulting political pressure.
In the aftermath of the events of January 6th, Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party, the lawsuit says. Eventually, they turned on one of their own.
During a July hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Christopher Wray refuted claims the FBI played any role in instigating the riot.
This notion that somehow the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources and agents is ludicrous and is a disservice to our brave, hardworking, dedicated men and women, Wray said.
Some 1,100 rioters have been charged in connection with the Capitol attack.
Dominick Mastrangelo contributed.
This story was updated at 1:08 p.m.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A century after beverage corporate giant Nestle began bottling and selling water in the San Bernardino Mountains as Arrowhead Spring Water, Californias water regulator said the company lacks a valid legal right to the water and must stop taking it under a cease-and-desist order.
The unanimous decision was a culmination of the highest-profile water rights dispute undertaken by the State Water Resources and Control Board. In an era of more frequent and extreme droughts, the boards decision is a show of force to water users across California who may stand on shaky legal grounds.
These last few years weve been administering water rights for the first time in California history, said Joaquin Esquivel, chair of the water board. This is about who gets to accrue benefits of this public good and it has to be rooted in a system that doesnt just allow you to do whatever you want.
BlueTriton Brands the company that took over bottling from Nestle in 2021 has been diverting and bottling water from eight springs called Strawberry Creek in public lands of the San Bernardino National Forest for more than a century. The springs are the namesake source of Arrowhead brand bottled water, a household brand whose label reads Since 1894.
Environmental activist Amanda Frye hikes through the San Bernardino National Forest in 2021 to see the water pipelines that the company BlueTriton uses to take water for the bottled water brand Arrowhead.
The board began investigating the companys activities in those public lands in Southern California in response to complaints by local activists, and after an investigation by the Desert Sun newspaper sparked public outcry. It showed that the companys permit from the Forest Service to divert water had long expired.
In 2021, the water board concluded that BlueTriton lacked valid rights there and issued a draft cease-and-desist order. The company challenged it and requested a hearing, leading to a series of complicated and expensive virtual hearings with lawyers calling witnesses and presenting data, maps and historical documents.
Todays cease-and-desist order began with a letter by Amanda Frye, a Redlands resident and of the leading local activists who brought state and federal attention to the case. All told, she spent nine years of digging into public records and assisting the state water board in further investigation.
This case shows the public has a voice and can make a difference, and its saying to corporations that you cant steal our water. It belongs to the people, said Frye. All the documentation was there. The truth is people just hadnt asked the questions. Even during the drought, no one told them to stop. I think maybe this is a sign of change.
Up until this hearing, BlueTritons lawyers argued that the cease-and-desist order went beyond the water boards authority. They said water taken from Strawberry Creek is not surface water, which the water board has clear authority to regulate, but rather groundwater.
This ruling creates water rights uncertainty and negatively impacts every water agency and farmer in California, and in doing so, indirectly harms every Californian. BTB will vigorously defend our water rights through the available legal process, said BlueTriton Brands spokesperson Laura Krueger, calling the order a radical departure from statutory limitations.
The water board ordered BlueTriton to immediately stop taking water for bottling from most of its water-collection tunnels and boreholes at 10 sites by Nov. 1. The company, which said it sources Arrowhead bottled water from 11 sites across California, has 30 days to appeal.
Since 2015, California has attempted to confront water scarcity challenges that come with a changing climate by solidifying the states often fuzzy and notoriously complex system of water rights through the state water board. Just last year, it began an effort to digitize its records room of paper water rights.
Analyst Matthew Jay, left, and Erik Ekdahl, deputy director of water rights in the State Water Resources Control Board records room. The room holds the history of Californias water rights, and is so heavy with paper that the floor needed to be reinforced.
This is a symptom of how understaffed the water board has been to enforce the water rights code as is and and a reflection of how little enforcement has happened over the decades, said former board chair Felicia Marcus during Jerry Browns governorship.
But one of the good things about this administration is they have given the water rights division a lot of money to modernize, both by digitizing the water rights system which is 100 years behind the times, but also staffing enforcement so theyre not a joke.
Across California, there are some 10,000 holders of a water right the legal underpinning to use water some of which date back to the 1800s. Not only is the system notoriously complex and opaque, but many Native American Tribes and environmental justice organizations allege it fundamentally favors early white settlers at the expense of indigenous people and the environment.
While many of those water users have strong legal underpinnings for their water rights, such as large agricultural or municipal distributors, others may not have strong documentation particularly the longest-standing rights called pre-1914 and riparian rights.
Now new technologies such as satellite evapo-transpiration measurement systems will allow more members of the public to see how much water is being used on particular plots of land and investigate their right to use it, said Michael George, the water boards former Delta Watermaster.
There are individual farmers who put a pump or a siphon on the river, or create modest diversion dams, to back water up so it can flow into their pipes. George said. Thats where theres a lot of uncertainty and lost documentation, and I do think those kinds of diversions are destined to get more focus. .
Curiosity and countless hours of unpaid research went into Amanda Fryes devotion to this issue. She encourages others take up the mantle and dig into who and what uses the water in their communities.
This went way beyond what I could have ever imagined, she said. Everything I used sat in public records of San Bernardino County. So I tell people put together a case, find the documents.
An artist who turned in empty frames titled 'Take the Money and Run' has been ordered to pay back $75,000. Kunsten Museum
In 2021, a Danish artist gave empty frames to a museum that paid 532,000 kroner for his art.
On Monday, a Copenhagen court ordered him to return the amount to the museum, the Guardian reported.
"I am shocked, but at the same time, it is exactly what I have imagined," he told the broadcaster DR.
Jens Haaning , a Danish conceptual artist, was paid 532,000 kroner or about $75,000 at today's conversion rate for his artwork in 2021, only to turn in two empty frames titled "Take the Money and Run."
The artist has now been ordered by a Copenhagen court to pay back the sum to the museum that commissioned the artwork, various media outlets reported on Monday.
"I am shocked, but at the same time, it is exactly what I have imagined," Haaning told the Danish broadcaster DR on Monday, according to NPR's translation.
The artist added that he didn't have enough money to pay back the museum: "It has been good for my work, but it also puts me in an unmanageable situation where I don't really know what to do."
In 2021, Haaning was paid about $75,000 by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark, to recreate two of his famous artworks "An Average Danish Annual Income" and "An Average Austrian Annual Income," featuring krone and euro banknotes stuck to a canvas, which aimed to depict the average annual income of a person in these countries.
He instead turned in two empty frames which the museum exhibited that same year.
The Kungsten Museum then asked the artist to return the sum paid. Haaning refused, and the museum consequently took him to court, the Guardian reported.
"There have been a lot of people saying that I'm a naive director and it's a misuse of public and private money," Lasse Andersson, the director of the Kunsten Museum, told Insider at the time.
Andersson also said his museum was "not wealthy," and Haaning's actions left the museum's curators deeply upset.
The artist told DR in 2021 that "Take the Money and Run" was inspired by what he saw as insufficient payment he said recreating the pieces as intended would have required him to fork out about 3,300 euros, or about $3,500 today, from his own pocket.
"I encourage other people who have working conditions as miserable as mine to do the same. If they're sitting in some shitty job and not getting paid and are actually being asked to pay money to go to work, then grab what you can and beat it," he added.
The art world is no stranger to controversy over high-concept pieces that satirize money.
The English artist Banksy made headlines in 2018 for creating a painting that shredded itself after being sold at an auction for $1.4 million. The artwork was again sold for about $25 million in 2021.
And the Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan once sold an artwork featuring fresh bananas he taped onto a wall for $120,000. When the piece was displayed in Seoul in 2023, a student filmed himself peeling it off the wall and eating it before telling a local news outlet his act could be considered art in itself.
Haaning and the Kunsten Museum did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, sent outside regular business hours.
Read the original article on Business Insider
By Yuddy Cahya Budiman
BATAM, Indonesia (Reuters) - Units from the countries of ASEAN began their first ever joint military drills in Indonesia's South Natuna Sea amid rising geopolitical tensions between major powers and protests against China's activities in the South China Sea.
The five-day non-combat operation is aimed at developing military skills, including maritime security and patrols, and the distribution of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, the Indonesian military said in a statement.
All 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will join the exercise, including prospective member East Timor.
"This is not a combat operation because ASEAN is more focused on economics. The training is more about social activities," Yudo Margono, Indonesia's military chief, told reporters after the opening ceremony on the Indonesian island of Batam on Tuesday.
The drills, which were relocated because of the sensitivities of the initial location, are being held amid diplomatic protests over China's release last month of its "10-dash line" map, which expands its claims to cover about 90% of the South China Sea. More than $3 trillion in trade passes through the strategic maritime area each year.
The exercises were originally set to take place in the southernmost waters of the South China Sea, which are also claimed by Beijing.
The Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam rejected China's map, describing it as baseless. Malaysia also filed a related diplomatic protest.
During the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta earlier this month, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos said his country did not
seek conflict in the South China Sea, but had a duty to "meet any challenge to our sovereignty".
Earlier this month, the Philippines condemned China's coast guard for harassing boats resupplying Philippine troops on an uninhabited atoll in the disputed Spratley Islands in the South China Sea.
ASEAN has been discussing a Code of Conduct on the South China Sea for more than twenty years with little progress to date.
The Philippines and some other ASEAN members have grown frustrated over a lack of progress on the code.
Asked about rising geopolitical tensions, Indonesia's Margono reiterated that the drills this week were non-combat in nature.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia, Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
In August, Ted Daniels lost his job teaching journalism at Ashland University in Ohio. Why? According to a university official, he was encouraging student journalists to be "overly persistent." The university's paper also reported that officials told Daniels he was allowing the paper to do "too much investigative journalism."
Soon after refusing to renew Daniels' contract, administrators began demanding that students submit issues of The Collegian, the student-run outlet Daniels had advised, for prior review. However, university officials claimed this "decision was predicated on some recent, rather glaring grammatical errors."
Earlier this month, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a First Amendment nonprofit, wrote a letter to the university, reminding officials that, while Ashland University is a private institution free to construct its own rules around student speech, it has also consistently promised students and faculty free expression rights.
"As a private institution that explicitly guarantees students and faculty the right to freedom of expression, Ashland may not violate academic freedom or chill student journalism by dismissing a journalism instructor for encouraging students to gather the news," FIRE attorney Lindsie Rank wrote in a September 8 letter to the university. "There can be no question that administrative actions against student media in response to what they report or based on disagreement with their newsgathering practices violate any notion of free expression."
Last week, the university's president responded to FIRE's letter, insisting that the university protects and supports student journalism while also defending its required prior review of the student paper. The letter also stated that "Mr. Daniels' transition did not result from the Collegian's reporting."
However, FIRE says the timing of Daniels' ouster suggests his firing was directly related to student press activities, contrary to university officials' statements. The group says that Daniels' ouster was directly related to student press activities, contrary to university officials' statements. "Administrators first suggested nonrenewal mere hours after a meeting between Collegian editors and Ashland Provost Amiel Jarstfer. In the meeting, Jarstfer reportedly criticized the newspaper for its headlines and for not being 'respectful' of 'confidential meetings,' apparently referencing Collegian reporters' attendance at a campus town hall last spring," Rank wrote in a Monday press release. "Daniels' dismissal also came within days of Collegian editor Katelyn Meeks' unsuccessful month-long effort to schedule a back-to-school interview with Campo," the university president.
Even though Ashland University is a private college, there's still good reason to think it has violated student rights.
"Essentially, when a [private] institution has those kinds of policies, courts have found that those kinds of policies create a binding legal contract and that those institutions are then required by law to stick to those commitments of ensuring expressive freedom," Rank told Reason. "Ashland, for example, has been out in the media, touting themselves as this really fantastic place for expressive freedom.Well, it's really dishonest of them to make those kinds of claims and hold themselves out as this bastion of free expression if they're not going to back that up with action."
The post Ashland Professor Allegedly Ousted for Allowing 'Too Much Investigative Journalism' appeared first on Reason.com.
Donald Trump acknowledged that lawyers and members of his campaign staff told him that he had lost the 2020 presidential election and advised him not to push election fraud cases. It was entirely his decision, the former president said, to push false claims that the election was rigged and he had been cheated of victory.
"In many cases, I didn't respect them," Trump said of his advisers and attorneys during an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC's "Meet the Press," which aired Sunday. "But I did respect others. I respected many others that said the election was rigged."
Trump has been indicted both on state and federal charges for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. In federal court, he faces four felony counts filed in August by special counsel Jack Smith, including obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to defraud the United States. He pleaded not guilty last month.
Prosecutors in the federal case have pointed out that Trump received advice from legal counsel that his electoral defeat was legitimate, and his campaign faced dozens of legal defeats in courtrooms across the country numerous while attempting to contest the outcome during the weeks after the 2020 election. Despite all that, Trump continued to push out falsehoods.
"The federal and state cases against Trump get stronger nearly every time he does an interview," James Sample, a professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University, told Salon. "One of the key premises of those cases," he continued, is that "numerous aides, allies and attorneys told him that he had lost the election, but he nonetheless pressed ahead with the false claims." Trump's comments on "Meet the Press" only "reinforce that key premise," Sample said. "Speaking to the press may well be politically astute, but legally, it's the gift that he keeps on giving to prosecutors."
As Sample suggests, Jack Smith's case against Trump is predicated on the idea that Trump knowingly spread false election claims, even after being repeatedly told by close aides that he had lost the election.
Trump told Welker during the interview that he listened to people outside his inner circle of advisers, and that when he "added it all up," he came to the conclusion that "the election was rigged."
Speaking of the many lawyers he has employed in recent years, Trump said, "You hire them, you've never met these people, you get a recommendation, they turn out to be RINOs or they turn out to be not so good. In many cases, I didn't respect them."
After his electoral defeat, Trump pursued various strategies to challenge the election outcome. He exerted pressure on Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" enough votes to overturn his narrow 2020 loss in the state.
Despite criminal indictments in three different states and the District of Columbia, Trump has continued to do TV interviews in which he talks about the cases and defends his alleged criminal actions, an approach that legal experts do not generally consider sound.
"The more Trump talks, the more jeopardy he puts himself in," Michigan attorney Jamie White, who handles criminal defense and civil rights cases, told Salon. "It's been one crazy statement after another since he first began campaigning for president, but now the stakes are higher because he faces criminal liability in both federal and state court, and all the charges risk potential jail time."
White added that by continuing to speak about the cases publicly, the former president is making it more difficult for his lawyers to defend him: "The idea that he's ever going to subject himself to cross-examination in light of these statements to the media it's a defense counsel's nightmare."
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Earlier this summer, Trump appeared in a Fox News interview discussing the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, telling the host he wasn't able to hand over government records to federal officials because he had been "very busy" and hadn't had time to sort through dozens of boxes of material taken from the White House.
His recent comments on "Meet the Press," in which the ex-president admitted that he was told the election was fair but bought into alternative theories, could similarly impact his criminal defense, White pointed out.
It's precisely the type of statement "known as an admission against interest," White said, meaning "a statement made outside of court that is against a party's own interest and it is admissible in court."
Such a statement could be used in "more than one capacity," White added, but is most likely to come into play as an example of "inconsistencies between statements Trump has made in the media or on the campaign trail, versus statements he has made in sworn or deposition testimony. It could be an effective tool in undermining Trump's credibility before a jury.
"Counsel could use these statements to question how reliable his testimony is, given these inconsistencies," White said. "And Trump has left a lot of breadcrumbs in terms of inconsistent statements. I suspect his attorneys are begging him to stop."
Lloyd Austin , Secretary of Defence of the US, refused to express his opinion about Ukraines request to supply it with long-range ATACMS missiles.
Source: Austin at the press conference following the results of the Ramstein format meeting in Germany, as reported by a European Pravda correspondent
Austin stated that he "wont endeavor to evaluate Ukraines request, if they requested it they believe that they need it", and refused to say whether they are legitimate or not.
"What we have been focused on and what we remain focused on is what Ukraines most urgent needs are," he added, explaining that he means first and foremost air defence means and artillery armament.
He stated that air defence means and artillery systems "[continue] to be a pressing need for the Ukrainian forces, and we are committed to doing everything that we possibly can to make sure that they can be successful in this current fight".
"I think weve done a credible job of getting some air defense capabilities, but there is much more work to be done, and thats the message that we conveyed to our colleagues earlier today," Austin remarked.
As it is known, Kyiv has long been asking the US to provide it with the ATACMS missiles which would allow Ukraine to launch attacks deeper into the Russian rear. These needs have been partially covered with British-French Storm Shadow/SCALP systems, but the US did not follow the example of the UK and France.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the US are close to supplying Ukraine with the ATACMS missiles and are considering the option of supplying a limited number of the missiles.
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Ukraine will "soon" receive M1 Abrams tanks committed by the U.S., Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said while delivering opening remarks at the 15th Ramstein summit.
Austin didn't specify how many vehicles would be delivered in the first batch. Earlier, Politico reported that the first 10 out of 31 promised tanks were scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in mid-September.
The tanks, which offer greater mobility and firepower than Soviet battle tanks, are expected to support Ukraine's defensive and offensive efforts. The shipments may add momentum to the counteroffensive, which has begun to break through Russian lines of defense.
On Sept. 19, defense leaders of some 50 nations gathered for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein NATO base in Germany. The format coordinates the efforts of the U.S. and its allies to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Read also: What will it take for Ukraine to maintain and operate the M1 Abrams?
In his opening remarks, Austin urged allies to step up the provision of ground-based air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine.
"Ukraine's counteroffensive continues to make steady forward progress. And brave Ukrainian troops are breaking through the heavily fortified lines of Russia's army of aggression," the U.S. official said.
"But Ukraine's recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group. And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battlesand for the long road ahead."
According to Austin, Washington and other international partners have committed more than $76 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine since the first Contact Group meeting in April 2022.
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
FILE PHOTO: A U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft takes off from Perth International Airport
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia will spend A$1.5 billion ($966 million) to boost maritime surveillance of its northern approaches, buying more long range drone aircraft and upgrading Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
The fleet of 14 Boeing P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft will have anti-submarine warfare, maritime strike and intelligence collection capabilities upgraded, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said in a statement on Tuesday.
A fourth Northrop Grumman manufactured MQ-4C Triton drone aircraft, developed with the United States Navy, will be based in Australia's Northern Territory, closest to Asia, and operated by a newly formed squadron in South Australia state.
The Triton will provide long-range surveillance of Australia's maritime region, the statement said.
"The purchase of an additional Triton will enhance operations from Australia's northern bases, a priority under the Defence Strategic Review," said Conroy.
The review in April said United States was no longer the "unipolar leader of the Indo Pacific", that intense competition between the U.S. and China was defining the region, and that the major power competition had "potential for conflict".
It recommended the country's northern bases become a focal point for deterring adversaries, and protecting trade routes and communications.
Australian Poseidon aircraft have conducted patrols in the South China Sea, and have also operated out of a Japanese airbase to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
Conroy said the Poseidon aircraft upgrades will strengthen the protection of Australian "maritime interests".
($1 = 1.5523 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
A study found that Australia's tectonic plates stretched, creating large deposits of pink diamonds.
Pink diamonds are made under extreme pressure when two continents collide.
The scientists hope that understanding this will help them find new hotspots for colorful diamonds.
The world's largest source of natural pink diamonds, Australia's Argyle mine, closed in 2020. However, researchers think they have an idea of where to find more rich sources of pink diamonds.
Turns out, pink diamonds form under even more intense conditions than traditional clear diamonds. And understanding those conditions could help diamond miners identify new sites.
Normally, diamonds turn up in a type of volcanic rock called kimberlite deep underground. For kimberlite to reach the surface usually requires the tearing apart of continental plates.
But that's not the case for the colorful diamonds that came out of Argyle, according to a new study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.
How pink diamonds form
The Argyle diamond mine is in the Kimberley region of Australia. Murray Rayner
For the study, researchers from the University of Curtin suggest that it wasn't continental separation but rather a continental collision that turned the diamonds pink, followed by continental stretching that transported them from deep underground in Earth's mantle to the surface.
"As long as these three ingredients are present - deep carbon, continental collision, and then stretching then we think it will be possible to find the 'next Argyle'," Hugo Olierook, lead researcher of the study, said in the University's press release.
The researchers used lasers thinner than the width of a human hair to analyze rocks from Argyle, per the press release. Using this information, they discovered when the diamonds turned pink and how they got to the surface.
Australia, as we know it, formed about 1,800 million years ago when two subcontinents smashed into each other, per the study. The pressure from this event twisted the internal structure of the diamonds, turning them pink and brown.
"That sort of collision creates a damaged area or 'scar' in the land that will never fully heal," Olierook said in the press release.
Some 500 million years later, that scar was stretched as the ancient continent Nuna broke up. This stretching broke holes open in the Earth's crust, which allowed the pink diamonds to rise up to Earth's surface, where a group of geologists would eventually discover them in 1979.
How to find more pink diamonds
Fancy colored diamonds from the Argyle diamond mine. Murray Rayner
The Argyle mine closed in 2020 when its costs began to outpace its diamond output. "Argyle has run dry. Every mine has what's called its mine life after which it is no longer economically viable," Anna Cisecki from the Australian Diamond Portfolio told Stockhead in 2021.
Though pink diamonds have been found in Angola and India, Argyle was by far the most prolific site 90% of the world's pink diamonds came from it.
The researchers told Nature that understanding the sort of goldilocks conditions that created Argyle may help in the search for other areas rich with the precious gems.
After all, there is financial incentive behind finding a second Argyle pink diamonds have sold for as much as $71 million dollars, according to Forbes.
Even with these new parameters, the search for a pink diamond hotspot isn't a sure thing, and will likely require a lot of luck, Olierook told LiveScience.
Read the original article on Business Insider
In this photo taken from video and released by Official Twitter account of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Artsakh Republic in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, a damaged residential apartment building following shelling is seen in Stepanakert in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan on Tuesday declared that it started what it called an "anti-terrorist operation" targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in that region said there was heavy artillery firing around its capital. (Gegham Stepanyan, Ombudsman Human Rights of the Artsakh Republic in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan in his Twitter account via AP)
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) Azerbaijans forces rained artillery fire on Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, and local officials reported that scores of people both civilians and troops were killed and wounded in the fighting.
Ethnic Armenian authorities in the Caucasus Mountains region urged Azerbaijan to sit down for talks, but Azerbaijan's presidential administration said what it described as an anti-terrorist operation will continue until illegal Armenian military formations surrender and the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself.
The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have faced off for more than three decades in a conflict over the mountainous territory. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred for six weeks in 2020.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry announced the start of the operation hours after it reported that four soldiers and two civilians died in land mine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ministry did not immediately give details but said front-line positions and military assets of Armenia's armed forces were being incapacitated using high-precision weapons, and that only legitimate military targets were attacked.
Armenia's Foreign Ministry, however, denied its weapons or troops were in Nagorno-Karabakh and called reported sabotage and land mines in the region a lie." Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashiyan alleged that Azerbaijan's main goal is to draw Armenia into hostilities.
Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the region's capital of Stepanakert and other villages were under intense shelling. The region's military said Azerbaijan was using aircraft, artillery and missile systems and drones in the fighting.
Video from the city showed a damaged residential building with shattered windows and damaged cars nearby.
Residents of Stepanakert moved to basements and bomb shelters, and the fighting cut off electricity. Food shortages persisted in the area, with the limited amount limited of humanitarian aid delivered Monday not distributed due to the shelling, which resumed in the evening after halting briefly in the afternoon.
Nagorno-Karabakh human rights ombudsman Geghan Stepanyan said 27 people, including two civilians, were killed and more than 200 others were wounded. According to Stepanyan's earlier statements, one child was among those killed, and 11 children were among those injured.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office said Armenian forces fired at Shusha, a city in Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijan's control, from large-caliber weapons, killing one civilian.
Neither claim could be independently verified.
Although Azerbaijan said the operation was limited to military targets, the Defense Ministry said humanitarian corridors had been created to evacuate the population.
Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, said the military operation could be part of a plan by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to get ethnic Armenians to leave the area.
Although he said it was still early to assess, it could be "a kind of limited military action which will try to coerce thousands of Armenians to flee to Armenia. And then Aliyev can achieve his objective of taking over Karabakh with not so much bloodshed," de Waal told The Associated Press.
Earlier Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region that is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijan's Interior Ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two highway department workers died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Nagorno-Karabakh and sizable surrounding territories were under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh during the 2020 fighting. That ended with an armistice placing Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing food and medicine shortages.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, but local officials said roads to the region were not fully open.
The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has complained repeatedly that the 2,000-member Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open, even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Armenia also angered Russia, which has a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied Tuesday that Russia was told in advance of Azerbaijan's intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only a few minutes before it began.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was concerned by a drastic escalation of tensions and the beginning of hostilities in the region, and that the Russian military was in touch with their Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, trying to bring back the process of settling (the conflict) back onto political-diplomatic track.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the use of force to resolve disputes is unacceptable and runs counter to efforts to create conditions for a just and dignified peace in the region. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Azeribaijani government must immediately stop the attacks and return to diplomacy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country supports Azerbaijan, condemned the latest negative developments.
De Waal said the Russian peacekeeping force has lost probably its best officers to the war in Ukraine but that this breakdown in Armenia-Russian relations is a factor here.
I think it encourages Azerbaijan to be bolder and it makes the Russians more ambiguous and less willing to to intervene. And, you know, its quite possible indeed, that the Russians want to use a crisis to instigate regime change in Armenia, he said.
Thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday in central Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, blocking streets and demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some clashed with police, who reportedly used stun grenades. A total of 34 people 16 policemen and 18 civilians were injured in the clashes, Armenia's Health Ministry said. About half of them continue to receive medical assistance, the ministry said.
Others rallied at the Russian Embassy, demanding action. The Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing an unidentified source in the diplomatic mission, that the building was blocked by protesters.
Pashinyan said attempts to draw Armenia into the military escalation are unacceptable and said that Russian peacekeepers should act, along with the U.N. Security Council.
___
Associated Press writers Jim Heintz and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Aida Sultanova in London and Siranush Sargsyan in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, contributed.
Azerbaijan launched a military campaign Tuesday in what the country called an anti-terrorist operation in the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region, the site of two previous wars with Armenia.
The Azerbaijan military operation is stoking fears that a major war is on the horizon and could complicate geopolitical tensions for Russia, which has played a peacekeeping role between the two nations.
Azerbaijans Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that forces had entered Karabakh, a region that is internationally recognized in Azerbaijan but is home to thousands of ethnic Armenians, in a mission to restore order.
Azerbaijani forces are targeting military installations and infrastructure but are also moving to confront Armenian armed groups near residential areas. At least two civilians have reportedly died. The Azerbaijan Ministry said armed forces are not targeting civilian areas.
Azerbaijan is calling for Armenian armed forces to immediately withdraw from the region, which is home to around 120,000 people.
Armenia, which on Tuesday said its borders are stable, claims it does not host any military forces in the region and accused Baku of ethnic cleansing.
We strongly condemn this aggression & mass atrocity crime & call on international partners to undertake clear & unequivocal steps to put end to Azerbaijans aggression, wrote Armenias Foreign Ministry on X, formerly Twitter.
Hikmet Hajiyev, an assistant of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, said Yerevan was hosting an Illegal separatist puppet regime in Karabakh.
The armenian armed forces stationed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan must be disarmed, he wrote on X.
Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous region in the eastern Europe and West Asia geographic area, known as the South Caucasus.
The region has long been contested by Armenia and Azerbaijan but was recognized as part of Azerbaijan in the Soviet Union. When the communist bloc began to collapse, both countries fought a war in the late 80s and early 90s, which led to Armenia seizing control of most of the region.
A brokered end to the conflict created an independent region with close ties to Armenia. This led to years of continued clashes and a 44-day war in 2020, in which Azerbaijan reclaimed most of the territory in the region.
Tensions and spats have continued to build up in the past few years between both nations despite Russia acting as a mediator to reach a peace solution.
Russia has kept thousands of peacekeepers in the region. Armenia is now asking for Moscow to step in to resolve the current military crisis.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russias goal was to try and convince Yerevan and Baku to come to the table, though he admitted the situation for peacekeepers remained uneasy, reported Russian state-run media outlet TASS.
The conflict is also likely to come up during a United Nations Security Council meeting Wednesday.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
At least 200 people have been killed and over 400 others wounded in a military operation by Azerbaijan in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region, according to an official in Armenian-controlled territory there.
Azerbaijans defense ministry said Tuesday it had begun an anti-terrorist campaign in the region, an ethnic Armenian enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan and which has been the cause of two wars between the neighbors in the past three decades, most recently in 2020.
The office of the ombudsman in Nagorno-Karabakh said at least 200 people had died, including ten confirmed civilian deaths and five children, in a statement online late on Wednesday, after Armenian media and local authorities reported heavy bombardment of the regional capital of Stepanakert.
Tensions have been simmering around the region for months, after Azerbaijani troops blockaded the Lachin corridor in December, cutting off the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and preventing the import of food to its roughly 120,000 inhabitants.
Russian peacekeepers, who deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh under the terms of the 2020 ceasefire, have been tasked with preventing a fresh conflict breaking out. But Moscow has been accused of being unable or unwilling to intervene to protect Armenia, its long-term ally, in the face of continuing aggression from Azerbaijan.
Karabakh authorities said they have asked for immediate talks with Azerbaijan, amid continued shelling of the region.
In response, the Azerbaijani Presidency said it is willing to meet with Karabakh Armenians, but added in a statement: To stop anti-terrorist measures, illegal Armenian armed groups must raise the white flag, surrender all weapons, and the illegal regime must dissolve itself. Otherwise, anti-terrorist measures will be continued until the end.
CNN has been unable to verify the claims of either side in the conflict.
A girl embraces her relative sitting in a shelter during shelling in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh. - Siranush Sargsyan/AP
Systematic shelling
An Azerbaijani presidential adviser on Tuesday played down reports of civilian casualties inside Nagorno-Karabakh, but said collateral damage is a possibility in any military operation.
Confronted with reports of civilian casualties during Azerbaijans military operation in the disputed region on Tuesday, Hikmet Hajiyev, a political adviser to the president of Azerbaijan, told CNNs Matthew Chance in an exclusive interview that he doubted their accuracy.
Hajiyev also said that Azerbaijans counterterrorism action against Nagorno-Karabakhs Defense Army was triggered by the death of six people in landmine explosions inside Azerbaijan, including two civilians and four police officers.
The Azerbaijani government has made a decision to start with an unlimited, but local counterterrorism actions and measures on the ground to neutralize finally the military installations of military infrastructure that illegally exists on our territory, Hajiyev said.
He stressed that the military action would not stop until military forces inside the Nagorno-Karabakh disarm and raise a white flag.
Azerbaijans defense ministry demanded in a statement Tuesday the complete withdrawal of ethnic Armenian troops and the dissolution of the government in Stepanakert and said only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the puppet regime, it said.
The ministry claimed its army had come under systematic shelling from Armenias armed forces, and that Armenia had fortified its positions, bringing units to a high level of combat readiness. It also alleged that mines had been planted in previously de-mined areas, and had already caused the death of two civilians.
Armenia denies claims that its army is in Nagorno-Karabakh
Armenias foreign ministry has rejected claims that the Armenian army was in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenias assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh is of a humanitarian nature, the need for which is further confirmed by the humanitarian crisis caused by the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, it said in a statement.
Armenian news agency Armenpress reported that Nagorno-Karabakhs army, which is not part of Armenias armed forces, is displaying resolute resistance to the Azeri militarys attempts to advance.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has convened a meeting of the Armenian Security Council against the backdrop of the situation in Karabakh.
Armenian news agency Armenpress said the city of Stepanakert City was under heavy Azerbaijani bombardment, and that mobile and internet connection had been disrupted.
Recently, the Azerbaijani side has been carrying out daily troop transfers and stockpiling of various weapons, which were accompanied by intensive information and propaganda activities, preparing the ground for large-scale aggression against Artsakh, the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh the local term for Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement.
Now we are witnessing how Azerbaijan, in order to implement its policy of genocide, is moving towards the physical destruction of the civilian population and the destruction of civilian objects.
People run as gunfire and explosions are heard in Stepanakert, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. - Artsakh Public TV/Handout/Reuters
The previous war, which ended in a crushing defeat for the de-facto Nagorno-Karabakh state backed by Armenias government, lasted 44 days, before a Moscow-brokered ceasefire ended the conflict.
The deal provided for around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to deploy to Nagorno-Karabakh to guard the Lachin corridor. But Russias peacekeepers did not prevent Azerbaijani troops from establishing a military checkpoint along the corridor, stopping the import of food to the enclave.
Earlier this month, Pashinyan said Azerbaijan had concentrated troops on the border with Armenia and the dividing line with Nagorno-Karabakh, and warned of a possible escalation.
Over the past week, the military-political situation in our region has deteriorated significantly, Pashinyan said. The reason is that Azerbaijan has been accumulating troops along the contact line of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenian-Azerbaijani border for several days now.
Military escalation should not be used as a pretext
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Tuesday described the sudden escalation of conflict as Russia at play, telling CNNs Isa Soares that its no coincidence that the tensions escalated as world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
The European reaction is absolutely clear. Full condemnation of the actions that we saw earlier today in Karabakh, complete request for cessation of activities, he said a position echoed by the French foreign ministry and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.
The European Unions High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell also condemned the attack, saying military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for called for Azerbaijan to immediately cease its military actions, saying in a statement Tuesday that the United States is deeply concerned.
Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan, however, defended Bakus actions, saying Azerbaijans government found itself compelled to take necessary measures on its sovereign territory.
Continuation of negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is only way to establish peace, security, prosperity and permanent stability in the region, the Turkish ministry stressed in its statement, according to Turkish state media TRT.
Russias inaction?
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was deeply alarmed by the sharp escalation in the region, and urged parties to stop the bloodshed.
(The) Russian side urges the conflicting parties to stop the bloodshed, immediately cease hostilities and return to the path of political and diplomatic settlement, foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Tuesday, claiming the Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to fulfill its tasks.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also expressed concern about the sharp escalation of tensions and the outbreak of hostilities, and called for Armenia and Azerbaijan to adhere to the tripartite agreements signed after the war in 2020.
Russian peacekeepers evacuated more than 2,000 civilians, including 1,049 children, and provided them with temporary shelter and medical assistance overnight Tuesday, Russias defense ministry said on Telegram. We inform you that there is no need for movements at this moment, and we urge everyone to maintain safety rules and remain in bomb shelters, it said.
Russian state media TASS also reported that Russian peacekeepers had recorded numerous ceasefire violations on Tuesday by Azerbaijan, citing information from Russias defense ministry.
But Pashinyan criticized Russia for not alerting his government about Azerbaijans plans to launch military action.
We havent received any information from our partners in Russia about that operation, Pashinyan was quoted by Armenpress as saying, describing this as strange and perplexing.
Azerbaijan has essentially launched the ground operation to subject the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing, Pashinyan said. We believe that the Russian peacekeeping forces should first of all take measures, and second of all we expect the UN Security Council to take measures as well.
Azerbaijans aggression comes amid what analysts have said may be fraying ties between Russia and Armenia, which have long been the closest of allies.
Armenia has for decades trusted Russia as the sole guarantor of its security, which Russia purports to provide through the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a military alliance of post-Soviet states that includes Armenia but not Azerbaijan.
But Armenia has grown frustrated by Russias unwillingness or inability to defend it against Azeri aggression, as ties between Moscow and Baku have grown.
With Russia failing to deliver on its commitments, Armenia has recently started to attempt to explore new international partnerships, from hosting joint military exercises with the United States to sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine in a series of actions the Russian foreign ministry described as unfriendly.
CNNs Mariya Knight, Chris Liakos, Maya Szaniecki and Alex Hardie contributed reporting.
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Tensions in the disputed Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh appear to be spiraling out of control once again, bringing it the closest its been to all-out war since the 2020 conflict fought over it between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now, Azerbaijan has announced the launch of an anti-terrorist campaign in the region and there are multiple reports of artillery fire and drone attacks.
While Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, a portion of it is controlled by breakaway ethnic Armenian authorities who claim it as their ancestral homeland. To those Armenians, the breakaway part of Nagorno-Karabakh is known as the Republic of Artsakh.
A screen grab captured from a video shows smoke rising from a targeted position after Azerbaijan started anti-terrorist in Nagorno-Karabakh, on September 19, 2023. Photo by Azerbaijani Defense Ministry/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Of the anti-terrorist campaign, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense said in a statement: As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
https://www.twitter.com/NeilPHauer/status/1704074437975331119?s=20
The statement added that Azerbaijan intended to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories [and] neutralize their military infrastructure.
The ministry has said that it isnt targeting civilian areas and that its only engaging legitimate military objectives using high-precision weapons. It has also said that civilians are free to leave the region by humanitarian corridors, including one to Armenia.
https://www.twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1704100641616843176?s=20
Its meanwhile evident that Azerbaijani strikes are taking place at least very close to population centers and major cities. These include Stepanakert, the regional capital of Artsakh, which is known as Khankendi by Azerbaijan.
Videos posted to social media purportedly taken in Stepanakert include the sound of repeated artillery fire as well as air-raid warnings.
https://www.twitter.com/YWNReporter/status/1704089590187835468?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/MarkUrban01/status/1704091518598820323?s=20
We have heard lots of explosions in Stepanakert; it was both artillery shelling and UAV strikes, drone strikes, said Artak Beglaryan, a former adviser to the self-declared government of Artsakh, speaking to The Guardian newspaper. Beglaryan added that he had heard dozens or hundreds of explosions today.
They targeted both military objects and civilian objects Beglaryan," he said. They attacked along the entire contact line, not only near Stepanakert but in all the regions.
https://www.twitter.com/Aeternum7/status/1704103636165435462?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/mjluxmoore/status/1704074685892182223?s=20
Said to be taken in the outskirts of the city of Askeran, other videos apparently reveal the use of rocket artillery, likely Russian-made Grad multiple rocket launcher systems.
https://www.twitter.com/cavidaga/status/1704084133763264970?s=20
Elsewhere in the region, videos appear to show Azerbaijani drone strikes against Armenian air defense positions in Nagorno-Karabakh. Drones and loitering munitions became signature weapons of the 44-day war fought here in 2020, now known as the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (the first was fought between Azerbaijan and Armenia from 1988 to 1994). These kamikaze drones played a key role, being widely used to take down air defenses and other battlefield targets, in scenes since repeated in Ukraine and elsewhere.
https://www.twitter.com/cavidaga/status/1704069907262869782?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/michaelh992/status/1704069561799131199?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/clashreport/status/1704157822714364399?s=20
Since the 2020 conflict, Azerbaijan has also further reinforced its military capabilities, including with Israeli-made precision-guided weapons. Among the videos to emerge today was footage that purportedly showed the launch of Azerbaijani LORA (LOng Range Artillery) quasi-ballistic missiles developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), although this cannot be verified at present.
https://www.twitter.com/301arm/status/1704078202405011782?s=20
Reuters reports that Gegham Stepanyan, the Karabakh separatist human rights ombudsman, has stated that there have been multiple casualties among the civilian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, due to Azerbaijani strikes.
Earlier today, it was reported that six Azerbaijani citizens four soldiers and two civilians were killed in two separate landmine explosions in parts of Nagorno-Karabakh that were captured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war. Authorities in Azerbaijan blamed these incidents on illegal Armenian armed groups, which Armenia denied.
As well as invoking the landmine incidents, Azerbaijan has justified the latest strikes in Nagorno-Karabakh on the grounds that it seeks to remove Armenian-backed fighters from the region as well as to restore the constitutional order.
For their part, ethnic Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh have said that they are continuing to hold the line, for now, in the face of Azerbaijani forces attempting to break through their defenses after heavy shelling.
Armenias official position is that none of its own forces are active in Nagorno-Karabakh and the countrys foreign ministry has condemned Azerbaijans actions, accusing it of full-scale aggression and of shelling towns and villages.
https://www.twitter.com/ArmeniaMODTeam/status/1704088525539303472?s=20
Background
Together with some surrounding territories, Nagorno-Karabakh has been under ethnic Armenian control since the First Nagorno-Karabakh War ended in 1994. However, after the defeat of the Armenian-backed Republic of Artsakh during the war in 2020, those surrounding territories came under Azerbaijani control, together with some parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself.
Before todays developments, it was clear that there was a possibility of further violence, with an escalating crisis due to an Azerbaijani blockade on the Lachin corridor. Just 3.1 miles wide, this is the only overland access route between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Between 2020 and 2022 the corridor was controlled by Russian peacekeepers, but Azerbaijan then launched a blockade of the region and installed a military checkpoint, claiming the route was being used for arms smuggling.
The blockade has led to shortages of foodstuffs, medicine, and other goods in Artsakh, while large parts of Stepanakert have been deprived of water and electricity. In an effort to defuse the situation, food and medicine were delivered to Nagorno-Karabakh yesterday.
Members of the Red Crescent Society face-to-face with Russian peacekeepers at the Agdam-Khankendi border on August 30, 2023 in Aghdam, Azerbaijan. Photo by Aziz Karimov/Getty Images
As of 2:00 pm local time today, Armenia was seeking to reduce fears around the situation, with a tweet from the countrys ministry of defense stating that the situation on the borders of the Republic of Armenia is relatively stable.
Former adviser to Artsakhs self-declared government, Artak Beglaryan, warned that the breakaway republic was poorly equipped to face the military might of Azerbaijan.
We dont have enough military strength in order to stop their offensive, Beglaryan told The Guardian. U.S. military intervention should happen in order to stop the genocide here. Otherwise, hundreds of thousands of people could die.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has called upon Russian peacekeeping forces that are already in the region to stabilize the situation.
We think that Russian peacekeeping forces should take measures first, and then we expect the U.N. Security Council too, to take steps [to de-escalate the situation], Pashinyan said, although with Russias foreign policy objectives very much focused on Ukraine, its unclear whether Moscow would be willing to commit additional forces here, too, even on a peacekeeping basis, or whether it would keep its current forces in Nagorno-Karabakh if they are under imminent threat.
https://www.twitter.com/AvetissianAn/status/1704113915292995961?s=20 https://www.twitter.com/clashreport/status/1704109147074007060?s=20
That point also hasnt been lost on Armenia, where officials have accused Russia of being too preoccupied with the war in Ukraine to ensure their security. At the same time, Armenia has criticized Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh for failing to do their job.
https://www.twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/1704091653248561643?s=20
Prime Minister Pashinyan is himself in a difficult position, however, facing increasing criticism from within Armenia, including protests now about his handling of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenians protest to urge the government to respond to the Azerbaijani military operation launched against the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region outside the government building in central Yerevan on September 19, 2023. Photo by KAREN MINASYAN/AFP via Getty Images
https://www.twitter.com/clashreport/status/1704112181002805750?s=20
The situation is also made more complicated by the presence of U.S. troops in Armenia, where they have been taking part in pre-planned maneuvers, the announcement of which was a cause of alarm in Moscow. With the U.S.-Armenia Eagle Partner 2023 exercise not scheduled to end until tomorrow, there should still be U.S. troops in the country at least until then.
https://www.twitter.com/ShabanianAram/status/1704076599405240713?s=20
Clearly, there are fears that Azerbaijans so-called anti-terrorist campaign will escalate into another full-blown conflict and we will watch further developments here closely.
Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
Azerbaijan's Presidential Office said on Sept. 19 that it would continue the military operation against Nagorno-Karabakh until "the illegal Armenian military formations" surrender.
Earlier, Armenia denounced the offensive and claimed that Armenian forces are not stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh and do not participate in hostilities.
Baku also claimed it's ready to meet with representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population in the Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
Earlier on Sept. 19, Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh with the claimed "goal of restoring the constitutional order."
According to the latest information published by the Ombudsman of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 25 people have been killed as a result of the hostilities and another 138 have been injured.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as Azerbaijan's territory under international law. Its population of 120,000 is predominantly Armenian.
The territory declared independence in 1991 with Yerevan's military support. Until 2020, Armenia de facto controlled Nagorno-Karabakh together with the surrounding regions.
In 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military operation establishing control over parts of Nagorno Karabakh.
In November 2020, Russia brokered an armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moscow sent forces to patrol the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
In 2022, Yerevan accused Russia of failing its peacekeeping mission when Moscow began withdrawing its troops in 2022 and allowed Azerbaijan to blockade Nagorno-Karabakh, preventing basic supplies from reaching the population.
Read also: Azerbaijan strikes targets in Nagorno-Karabakh, launches military operation
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Interview: Chinese-built Senj Wind Farm benefits local people, company manager says
Xinhua) 08:43, September 19, 2023
SENJ, Croatia, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Senj Wind Farm in Croatia, a project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has promoted local economic development and brought numerous job opportunities, Josip Tosic, manager of the local Toska Company, told Xinhua in an interview on Monday.
More than 40 companies from across Croatia participated in the construction of the Senj Wind Farm. At one point, there were about 500 people on the site per day, and more than half of them were from Croatia, he said.
"It certainly encourages the development of Croatian companies, because working on the country's largest wind farm is a great reference and a great experience for everyone," Tosic said, adding that China's Norinco International, the main contractor of the farm, has focused on the engagement of as many local companies as possible and "I think they did a great thing for the project but also for the local people."
The wind farm, located on the Adriatic coast of western Croatia, was inaugurated in December 2021. It produces about 530 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green electricity each year and reduces Croatia's carbon dioxide emissions by about 460,000 tonnes per year.
The farm has been hailed as a flagship project of the BRI, which envisions trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road routes.
According to Tosic, whose consulting company is still working at the Senj Wind Farm, the project has brought a lot of benefits to the local people, including the annual fees paid to the local community and government, the engagement of local companies and the employment of local people.
The farm also provides cheaper and stable energy supply for the locals, as the green electricity it produces each year is enough to satisfy the electricity demand of over 100,000 households in Croatia, Tosic noted.
"The local population will have a stable and clean source of energy, as well as various financial benefits from the operation of the wind farm," he said.
Tosic said he believed that the Chinese investments, such as the Senj Wind Farm, will greatly stimulate the growth of the economy in Croatia.
"I believe that Croatia, as part of the European Union (EU), has proved to be an excellent partner for Chinese investors. So new Chinese investments in Croatia are welcome," he said.
Tosic said he was impressed by the excellent cooperation between the Chinese and Croatian companies and people during the construction process and hailed the hard work of the Chinese team.
"Regardless of the language and cultural differences, the personal relationships and cooperation between Chinese and Croatian workers are excellent," he said, adding that he had to commend Norinco International's management for their "exceptional" efforts and understanding of the requirements of the project.
"Each country has its own specifics, but here the leading management and engineers of Norinco International have shown great knowledge, understanding and willingness to cooperate," he said.
While Croatia has excellent potentials for the construction of wind and solar power plants, China has superb technology and big companies that can make such investments, Tosic noted, adding that Croatia represents a great opportunity for Chinese companies to enter the very demanding EU market.
"Croatia can learn a lot from China in terms of the development and application of renewable energy technologies. In my opinion, the Senj Wind Farm is just the beginning of successful green cooperation between China and Croatia," he said.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Azerbaijan has launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh with the claimed "goal of restoring the constitutional order," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan announced on Sept. 19.
Azerbaijan has called it "local anti-terrorist measures." Baku also claimed that Yerevan has been attacking Azerbaijan's soldiers and building additional fortifications in the region.
The news comes after Azerbaijan claimed on Sept. 18 that Armenian forces fired on Azerbaijani outposts on the border between the two countries.
There's no evidence backing these claims at this time.
Armenian Defense Ministry said that the claims do not correspond to reality.
In Stepanakert or Khankendi, the de-facto capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, air raid sounded and there are reports of gunfire and explosions.
Attacks on communications infrastructure have led to a lack of internet and telephone connectivity in the territory, Andranik Shirinyan, Armenia Representative to Freedom House, said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as Azerbaijan's territory under international law, but its population of 120,000 is predominantly Armenian.
The territory declared independence in 1991 with Yerevan's military support. Until 2020, Armenia de facto controlled Nagorno-Karabakh together with the surrounding regions.
In 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military operation establishing control over parts of Nagorno Karabakh.
In November 2020, Russia brokered an armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moscow sent forces to patrol the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
In 2022, Yerevan accused Russia of failing its peacekeeping mission when Moscow began withdrawing its troops in 2022 and allowed Azerbaijan blockade Nagorno-Karabakh, preventing basic supplies from reaching the population.
The U.S. and EU have called on Azerbaijan to end the blockade.
In February 2023, he International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of Yerevan's appeal to lift the blockade Nagorno-Karabakh.
Baku denied imposing a blockade.
Commenting on the issue, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said that "Armenians living in the Karabakh must either accept Azerbaijani citizenship or look for another place to live."
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which begins this year on Sunday evening (Sept. 25), is a solemn 25 hours of fasting and atonement.
But when it's over, fast turns to feast.
The spread at a break fast gathering (not to be confused with breakfast) traditionally consists of foods that are made ahead, served either at room temperature or reheated right before serving. Observant Jews don't cook on Yom Kippur, and even if you're less observant, its pretty hard to stand in the kitchen cooking while youre fasting.
BAGELS, LOX, THE FIXINGS
Perhaps the most common foods used to break the fast are bagels and lox (or smoked salmon) with all the fixings. Those typically involve dairy and fish dishes, such as smoked fish, whitefish salad, flavored cream cheeses (schmears or shmears), pickled herring, capers and cucumber salad.
The break fast meal is usually meat-free, since meat and dairy don't mix in kosher foods.
I always include a noodle kugel in my break fast menu, another traditional offering that can be made ahead and reheated (or served cool, as you like). That, plus egg salad, are substantial vegetarian options for the non-fish eaters.
Jake Cohen, author of the just published I Could Nosh: Jew-ish recipes Revamped for Everyday (Harper Collins), mostly adheres to traditional foods for his break fast, but has some firm opinions about the components. Quality counts, he says, and he has dedicated time looking for the best bagels, the best smoked fish, and so on.
Its like the difference between a charcuterie board from a high-end cheese shop versus one from a grocery store, he says.
Cohen is particular about his bagels. Since bagels are usually bought the day before the break fast, they are never at their freshest. Cohen compensates by keeping them whole, placing them on a wire rack on a baking sheet, and heating them for 5 to 7 minutes in a preheated 400 degree oven. This warms them through and crisps the outer crust, bringing them as close as possible to just baked.
Slice them after they come out of the oven, he says, and you get a short window of the memory of a fresh bagel.
ORDERING IN
Joe Ariel is the founder and CEO of Goldbelly, an online company that ships foods from restaurants, delis, bakeries and so on across the country.
This is a busy time for many of our most iconic New York bagel shops and bakeries like Ess-a-Bagels, Russ & Daughters, Breads Bakery babkas, Kossars Bialys, Juniors Cheesecakes, Yonah Schimmels knishes, and more, Ariel says. This year, Goldbelly also starts shipping from another famous New York deli, the 2nd Ave Deli.
Since many people are ordering for a crowd, Ariel says he ships a lot of meal kits for eight to 12 people.
Beyond bagels and salmon, he says, some customers take their break-the-fast meals to a new level with full meal kits from some of the most famous Jewish chefs. For example, one of my favorite chefs, Mike Solomonov, from Zahav in Philadelphia, does a showstopping braised pomegranate lamb shoulder feast with all of the classic Israeli salatim (salads) and sides to go with it.
EXPECT BIG APPETITES
How much food should you have for a very hungry crowd? Cohen recommends allowing for two bagels per person.
For smoked fish, I suggest buying pound per person; for cream cheese 2 ounces per person; and have a generous amount of other sides like tuna, whitefish salad, and egg salad, about 4 ounces per person.
Many people take a bit of this, and a bit of that, so better safe than sorry.
Dont forget to put out a beautiful platter of sliced tomatoes, onions, and maybe cucumbers, with some capers for sprinkling and lemon wedges for squeezing.
DESSERT
Cohen feels strongly about including dessert in the break fast meal, preferably a cake that can be made ahead and will stay moist for a few days. In his book, the dessert chapter is called Who doesnt serve cake after a meal?, a memorable line from "Seinfeld.
Honey cake is the traditional cake served at Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, with the honey symbolizing sweetness for the year to come.
Ariel says desserts like babka and cheesecake are popular too.
I feel like were in the middle of a babka renaissance this year, as its having a moment," he says. "Weve been seeing some really fun twists on it to make it a little more creative and fun. Breads Bakery is one of my favorites, they are doing this gorgeous apple and honey babka.
This year, his family is opting for a Brooklyn Blackout cake to wrap up their meal.
___
Katie Workman writes regularly about food for The Associated Press. She has written two cookbooks focused on family-friendly cooking, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook. She blogs at https://themom100.com/. She can be reached at Katie@themom100.com.
___
For more AP food stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/recipes
Blac Chyna , who has been on a mental and physical wellness journey, appeared on Tamron Hall to open up about her challenging effort.
Blac Chyna has officially been sober for one year.
On Monday, the former reality TV star appeared on Tamron Hall to celebrate her year of sobriety. While chatting with Hall, the makeup-free guest opened up about her challenging journey, received a purple Congratulations cake and the show host surprised her with her mother, Tokyo Toni.
Angela Blac Chyna White attends the red-carpet premiere of Foxs Special Forces: Worlds Toughest Test at Fox Studio Lot on Sept. 12 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Before her mom was brought out, the 35-year-old who has dropped her stage name for her real name, Angela White said she stayed the course, despite her journey not at all being easy.
Not even a little shot, a little wine, a little this, nothing. Like, No, Im good. No, Im straight. Ill take a Red Bull, White said.
When Hall asked the mother of two what helped her stay on the path to sobriety, White said she realized she could have a more meaningful role in the lives of those around her while sober.
What helped me was bringing myself down to reality and then realizing, like, OK, am I hurting or helping other people around me? And helping not with money or things like that, but I didnt want to continue hurting the people around me or even have my kids grow up, seeing me doing this stuff, she said.
White shares a daughter, Dream Renee, 6, with Rob Kardashian, and son, King Cairo, 10, with Tyga.
After presenting White with the cake, Hall said she had another surprise since White and her mother had recently reconciled. Then Hall introduced Tokyo Toni, who came out carrying a balloon bouquet that included a silver 1 in honor of her daughters milestone.
The two embraced before sitting back down with Hall.
White broke down in tears of joy and said she was crying because she never thought shed get to this point. Toni comforted her daughter by quietly telling her, Its OK, and dabbed at her tears with a tissue. She jokingly told the show audience: This is what mothers are for.
Hall asked Toni, given how much she has evolved as a parent, how this all felt. She said it was surreal.
First of all, being a young girl, being a young lady those times were different than these times. Raising her, it was very difficult because I was single; her dad wasnt around, she said. What it does for me to see her growth, because Hollywood, it does things to people.
Toni noted that it changed her daughter in a bad way, and then as an aside to the audience, she added that shes known for going in, but that it comes from a good place.
I had to go in to pull her out, she explained.
Whites wellness journey isnt just about sobriety. Earlier this year, she began detailing the process for having her breast and butt implants and her facial fillers dissolved. She also adopted a fitness regime she shares on social media. White will appear in Season Two of Foxs Special Forces, which puts celebrities through grueling military-level challenges.
Seeing her sober, no makeup, fillers gone, this is who I birthed. Angela, Toni said. This is who I birthed. And she has, for everyone in the world to know, she has the biggest heart in the world. She has a very big heart.
White said she didnt wear makeup because This is my day-to-day. I get dressed, and I do the makeup and the glam and everything, and I feel like thats more of the Blac Chyna-brand side. This is just me; this is Angela.
White also marked her sobriety in a recent Instagram post in which she shared an image of her and her mom embracing backstage at Tamron Hall, along with pictures of a cake that featured the logo of an Alcoholics Anonymous chip.
September 14, 2023 marks my one-year of sobriety, she began in the caption. This year taught me a lot about myself. I made up my mind on September 14, 2022 that I was done with the alcohol. This process is not easy, but I did it, I plan on continuing practicing sobriety.
She thanked everybody that has been supporting her along her journey and added, Angela White is unstoppable, smart, beautiful, brave, a great mother, and a great friend.
For others who are struggling, White said, Im hoping that when you see this, this will inspire you if you are struggling with any addiction, just know that you can do it and you are worth it. God loves you.
She noted the myriad resources out there, including apps and groups, and said, Youre not alone.
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A battalion fire chief has filed a civil lawsuit against Cobb County. John Graham says he has not been compensated for three years worth of overtime hes worked.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell obtained a copy of the lawsuit that was filed on Sept. 15th and learned the county is expected to be served with it later this week.
The complaint alleges the county failed to provide the battalion chief overtime compensation beginning in 2017 up until now.
According to John Grahams work history on LinkedIn, hes been with the county fire department for nearly 30 years. His role as battalion chief, a salary-based position, is fairly recent.
Essentially what we are alleging is that he is not an exempt employee, and he should be paid for overtime he works and that time should be recorded, attorney Camille Mashman said.
TRENDING STORIES:
Its concerning that if somebody is having this position as a battalion chief and not being paid for the work that they put in. Thats so crucial to lives, said Allison Duarte, who lives in Cobb County.
Mashman told Newell that the suit is part of a much larger issue regarding fire chiefs in general and the overtime they should be compensated for.
Theres a growing body of case law essentially showing that fire chiefs are entitled to overtime compensation, and we believe the evidence will show is our clients primary duty is responding to and fighting fires, so that would fall within that, Mashman said.
Graham is still employed with the Cobb County Fire Department.
Cobb County officials said because they havent been served with the lawsuit yet, they dont have a comment on this story.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The U.S. Department of Education named Beauforts Coosa Elementary School a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School today.
This is the third time a Beaufort County school has won a NBRS award, according to the historic database of over 9,000 schools nationally. Okatie Elementary School was named in 2013, and Beaufort Elementary in 1999.
Five of the 353 schools named nationwide were in South Carolina. Two were private and three were public. They are:
Coosa Elementary School in Beaufort (Pubic)
Ben Lippen School in Columbia (Public)
Sterling School in Greenville (Private)
Christ Our King-Stella Maris School in Mount Pleasant (Private)
Wren Elementary in Piedmont (Public)
Five of the 353 schools named nationwide were in South Carolina. Two were private and three were public.
The program began in 1982 and the first awards were given out in 1983. It recognizes schools in one of two categories: Exemplary High-Performing Schools, and Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools. Coosa Elementary was recognized for the former category, measured by state assessments. The school at minimum had to have top 15% math and reading scores in the state.
The National Blue Ribbon School status doesnt expire and once awarded a school remains a National Blue Ribbon School.
We are honored to be recognized nationally for this prestigious award, Principal Melissa Pender said in a statement. This award is reflective of the dedication put forth by all stakeholders- our faculty, staff, students, parents, and community members.
2023-2024 Coosa Elementary School faculty and staff.
Coosa Elementary School has about 450 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, and about 1 in 3 students are from military families. The school opened in 1998 and is named after the Coosaw American Indian tribe.
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The schools demographics are:
Black/African American: 18%
Hispanic: 11%
White: 63%
Two or more races: 8%
This is a huge honor, not only for Coosa Elementary but for our entire school district, Superintendent Frank Rodriguez said in a statement.
[Source]
A beloved Vietnamese restaurant in Oakland, California, is closing its doors due to the rise in crime in the city over the past few years.
Announcing the closure: Le Cheval, which is located at the corner of Clay and 10th Streets in Oakland, has been in business for 38 years, serving Vietnamese dishes influenced by French cuisine. On Saturday, the restaurant announced on Facebook that it plans to close its current branch on Sept. 30 and hopes to continue business elsewhere.
While this chapter of Le Cheval comes to a close, the Tran Family thank you for your support and will be looking for ANOTHER location to continue to serve you their famous dishes, Le Cheval wrote.
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What happened: Speaking to KPIX, the restaurant's owner, Son Tran, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic did not push them to close the restaurant. Rather, the city's rising crime rate is to blame.
The lack of office workers did not kill us. The crime, the criminals killed us, Tran said. "Even with free rent right now, we still cannot survive."
Tran also told KPIX that business these days is around a quarter of what it was pre-pandemic. Some of his customers have allegedly been robbed at gunpoint, while others have had their cars broken into.
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"And they told me, 'Son, I love your restaurant. I love your food. I love your family, but I cannot come back to Oakland. A $30 meal becomes $500 something," a few customers have said, according to Tran.
Crime in the city: Oakland reportedly saw a 46% increase in auto burglary compared to last years reported cases from the same period, KPIX reported, citing the Oakland Police Department. Robbery has gone up by 30%, the department stated.
There was also one report of a burglary at Le Cheval in the past year.
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Canadian Premier Sparks Outrage for Linking South Asian Family Gatherings to COVID-19
The Bernie Sanders-backed group Our Revolution has cast its endorsement behind Barbara Lee in Californias Senate primary, which has grown more contentious in recent months as a number of House Democrats vie for the top spot.
Our Revolution president Joseph Geevarghese is set to make the announcement Tuesday evening on a livestream.
Mr Sanders himself has not officially endorsed Ms Lees candidacy, though that can now be expected before the nonpartisan primary election next year. The congresswoman is running in the primary against two of her colleagues in the lower chamber, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.
California uses a unique primary system wherein the top two candidates, regardless of affiliation, advance to the November general election.
BREAKING: Tonight, Our Revolution will endorse Barbara Lee, swinging its network of grassroots activists and a list of more than 1.1 m CA supporters behind the campaign that the congresswoman identifies as a march for justice for all.- @NicholsUprising https://t.co/kNrcFHhpRn Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) September 19, 2023
She has gone on the offensive against her opponents as the three have become the likely frontrunners for the seat, which is currently held by retiring Sen Dianne Feinstein . In a recent tweet, she criticised Mr Schiff by name for support of what she has called George W Bushs endless war resolution the Authorisation for Use of Military Force (AUMF). That resolution, against which Ms Lee was the lone dissenter in the House of Representatives, began the USs post-9/11 crusade against terrorism in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
22 years ago, while the nation was mourning 9/11, President Bush put forward a 60-word resolution allowing any president to go to war at any time, in any place, for any reason. I voted against itknowing it would lead to endless war. @AdamSchiff voted for it, she wrote.
On this day, 22 years ago, while the nation was mourning 9/11, President Bush put forward a 60-word resolution allowing any president to go to war at any time, in any place, for any reason.
I voted against itknowing it would lead to endless war.@AdamSchiff voted for it. pic.twitter.com/kdZuFGtaWL Barbara Lee (@BarbaraLeeForCA) September 14, 2023
The intent of the message was clear: Ms Lee plans to stake out her progressive bona fides and consolidate support on the partys left flank, leaving her two opponents fighting for what remains. That journey could be successful with the backing of the Sanders wing of the party, which remains a resilient force in many Democratic races.
While Mr Sanders was not a participant in the Tuesday evening livestream event hosted by the group he founded after his 2016 battle with Hillary Clinton, several of his allies in the House of Representatives were Ayanna Pressley, Mark Pocan and Ro Khanna. The backing of the three prominent progressives in a primary against two of their own is not an insignificant pickup for Ms Lees candidacy.
Adding to the national attention around the race are the continued concerns regarding the health of Ms Feinstein, the incumbent. At 90, the senator and Judiciary Committee chair has raised serious questions regarding her ability to carry out her duties in the upper chamber over the past year after she was out for several weeks due to an illness and was unable to preside over her panels efforts to press the Supreme Court on ethical concerns. In numerous instances she has also appeared confused about her surroundings or what she was doing while in view of reporters in the Capitol.
The issue has led to Ms Lee sparring with Californias governor, Gavin Newsom, over who should be appointed to the seat should Ms Feinstein retire early.
A version of this story appears in CNNs What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations Tuesday and urged the world to stand by Ukraine. At times, it felt like he was also imploring the countries to stick with the United Nations.
If we abandon the core principles of the UN charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? Biden asked.
Read the UN charter here. It was agreed to in a very different world in San Francisco in 1945 with different global powers, different threats and different economies. Ukraine, at the time a member of the Soviet Union, was also a founding member of the UN.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made his first in-person address to the UN General Assembly since Russia invaded his country. He wanted to drive home that negotiating with Russia would equal failure.
The aggressor is weaponizing many other things, and those things are used not only against our country, but against all of yours as well, fellow leaders, Zelensky said.
Multiple top world leaders skipped the meeting this year, including President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which is a villain for invading Ukraine, but also a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power over any resolutions it opposes.
Of the five permanent Security Council members the US, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom Biden is the only leader to attend. CNNs senior UN correspondent Richard Roth noted this may not be unprecedented but also could weaken the impact of the event this year.
The bedrock needs updating
While Biden called international institutions created at the end of World War II the UN, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and others an enduring bedrock of our progress, he also acknowledged the need to reorient them toward a changing world.
He reiterated support for expanding the UN Security Council, although its hard to see how countries like Russia, China or the US, for that matter, would give up the permanent veto power that affords them so much power.
Speaking before Biden, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who wants to turn his country into a leader of the southern hemisphere, said the Security Council has been progressively losing its credibility precisely because a few countries wield so much power.
This frailty is the specific result of actions from its permanent members who wage unauthorized wars or regime change. Its paralysis is the most eloquent proof of the urgent need to reform it, which will bring it greater representation and efficacy, he said.
And by using the words regime change, a term more associated with the US, he cant have been only referring to Russia.
Forum shopping by world leaders
Asked on CNN how the absence of key world leaders hangs over the conference, CNNs senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche explained, in dizzying detail, just how many opportunities these world leaders have to meet up. Her words are in italics below and my notes are in parentheses:
Many of those world leaders were just in India together for the G20 (earlier this month, although Chinas Xi Jinping skipped that one too).
And then, of course, there was the BRICS summit of emerging market nations in South Africa that took place in August. (Xi did attend, but the US is not a BRICS member. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, although other countries have been invited to join.)
Later this fall, you have APEC, which is an Indo-Pacific focused economic summit that is going to be taking place in San Francisco. Thats really where administration officials are expecting President Biden and President Xi of China to possibly meet on the sidelines of that visit in a bilateral format. (Biden skipped last years APEC summit, but Xi attended).
And then you have COP-28, which is the climate-focused summit, which is taking place in Dubai. (COP stands for Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. So it is a UN-sponsored event).
So there are all of these various fora for leaders to be meeting, and when you talk to foreign policy experts, they say that some leaders go forum shopping. If they feel like they cant get from the UN or the G20 what theyre trying to get, then they will go somewhere else.
CNNs Jim Sciutto noted that some of the meetings and fora for world leaders are directly competitive to the UN and also the US view of the world.
BRICS is expanding because you have a meeting of the minds quite a disparate group of nations there but a meeting of the minds at what they perceive as an overbearing US power, he said.
The whole point of the UN charter was not to strategically foster alliances but rather to create an open forum and head off conflicts.
Convincing countries the UN has helped them
Most of Bidens address did not actually focus on Ukraine. Instead, he talked about how climate change, inequality and other cross-border issues require the structure of an inclusive international order.
The UN is an organization whose efficacy has been questioned for years; whose influence has waned due to bureaucracy and deadlock; and whose charter was inarguably violated by Russia. But Russia has tried to build support among developing nations.
The president was making the pitch for the rules-based international order, which has underscored relative stability and prosperity over the past 70 years, said John Herbst, the former US ambassador to Ukraine, speaking to CNNs John Berman after Bidens speech.
In 1950, 70% of the worlds population lived in absolute poverty. Because of the absence of major war, today that number is under 10%. People need to understand the relationship between these rules and the benefits they enjoy, Herbst said.
The CNN contributor and Russia expert Jill Dougherty noted the Chinese foreign minister also skipped the UN General Assembly and was instead attending meetings in Russia.
Developing countries, she argued, may see more value in more focused organizations.
What we have right now is a lack of faith in international institutions, most of which were started by the United States after World War II, she said.
Issues cut across borders
Anthony Banbury is a former UN assistant secretary general for field support who resigned back in 2016 after working for many years both at the UN in New York and in the field. While he supported the mission of the UN, he said the organization had lost its way.
If you locked a team of evil geniuses in a laboratory, they could not design a bureaucracy so maddeningly complex, requiring so much effort but in the end incapable of delivering the intended result, he wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times back then.
I asked Banbury, who now works for a nonprofit that tries to help democracies abroad, how the intervening years have changed his opinion.
UN-backed aid organizations that help children, refugees and the hungry UNICEF, UNHCR and the World Food Programme can do important work, he said. But in the area of peacekeeping and conflict resolution, the UN has become less and less impactful, Banbury argued, pointing specifically to Haiti, where the UN used to keep peacekeepers, but the country is now overrun by gangs.
Banbury argued the Covid-19 pandemic should have been a moment for the UN to show leadership, but it did not.
The UN has to show that they can help countries help the population of countries on issues that are really critical, particularly those that cut across borders, he said.
Bidens new tone on democracy in the US
Bidens address to the UN was beamed worldwide, but he gave another notable talk this week that only some donors in New York saw Monday night.
At a campaign fundraiser in which he spoke from the stage of the Broadway theater currently staging the musical Sweeney Todd, Biden seemed to be trying out material for the coming presidential campaign, according to CNNs Kevin Liptak and Betsy Klein.
Speaking off camera, he named former President Donald Trump and argued democracy is again on the ballot in 2024.
Let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy, and I will always defend, protect and fight for our democracy, Biden said. Thats why Im running.
He also directly answered the nagging questions about his age.
A lot of people seem focused on my age. Believe me, I know better than anyone, Biden said, attempting to turn his long experience into an asset.
When this nation was flat on its back, I knew what to do, he said.
On Ukraine, he said, I knew what to do, to rebuild alliances.
When democracy was at stake, I knew what to do, he concluded.
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The Biden administration has requested a federal judge to dismiss Floridas lawsuit against the accreditation requirements for colleges and universities, citing constitutional challenges.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
Attorneys for U.S. Department of Education officials filed a 40-page motion Friday disputing Floridas arguments that the decades-old accreditation system gives too much power to private accrediting agencies.
Accreditation plays a vital role in the higher education system, in part, because schools must be accredited for students to receive federal financial aid. As part of that, Fridays motion to dismiss the lawsuit said the federal government relies on accrediting agencies to help ensure that colleges and universities meet standards.
The departments reliance on private accreditors evaluations to ensure the quality of educational programs does not transform their role into a governmental one, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys wrote in the motion. Accreditors may serve a gatekeeping function, but they certainly are not vested with final decision-making authority regarding the eligibility of institutions. And the fact remains that there are numerous accreditors through which schools can seek accreditation, and each of those accreditors must submit to a stringent recognition process by the department.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moodys office filed the federal lawsuit in June after clashes between state officials and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the longtime accrediting agency for colleges and universities in Florida.
The lawsuit, for example, cited a dispute involving the accrediting agencys president, Belle Wheelan, in 2021 taking issue with the possibility of then-state Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran becoming president of Florida State University. Corcoran did not get the FSU job but is now interim president at New College of Florida.
In 2022, the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a bill requiring public universities and colleges to periodically change accreditors.
The lawsuit raised a series of issues, including that the system unconstitutionally delegates too much authority to the accrediting agencies. The lawsuit said Congress has ceded unchecked power to private accrediting agencies to dictate education standards to colleges and universities, and it has forbidden the U.S. Department of Education from meaningfully reviewing, approving or rejecting those standards.
Congress desire that federal funds flow to legitimate institutions is understandable, the lawsuit said. But it must rely on government actors both state and federal to provide those assurances. It cannot lend the power of the purse to private entities by giving them the keys to billions in federal education dollars.
But in the motion Friday, the Biden administration attorneys wrote that the accreditation system was created by colleges before the federal financial aid system existed.
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No accreditor receives congressional appropriations; rather, all are funded through dues paid from member institutions, the motion said. Far from the authoritarian-like entities that Florida portrays, accreditors substantive standards are developed with the participation of member schools, and those standards are enforced by decision-making bodies comprised of peers. Moreover, accreditation standards determine the metrics by which schools and educational programs are evaluated for quality control they do not operate directly to regulate state conduct, even if the state chooses to operate public colleges and universities.
Also, the motion said that if Florida were correct that accreditors unlawfully exercise delegated regulatory authority, the upshot would be that that power originates with and should revert to the federal government. But nowhere in its complaint does Florida suggest that its goal is to ensure that, instead of private accreditors, the department takes on the mantle of determining educational standards for doctors, lawyers, teachers, electricians and beauticians. Such a role for the federal government would be unimaginable because the authority accreditors exercise is not a federal function.
The motion said five Florida schools have sought federal approval to change accreditors after the 2022 law passed. Two of those requests have been approved, while none have been denied, the motion said.
The lawsuit, filed in South Florida, is assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith.
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U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19.
The U.S. head of state emphasized that no nation wants to end the war more than Ukraine, stressing that Washington will support Kyiv in its effort to bring about a diplomatic resolution and a lasting peace.
"Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately and Russia alone stands in the way of peace," Biden said at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
The president affirmed the commitment of the U.S. and its allies to supporting Ukraine in its fight for freedom.
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said.
"If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
The U.N. General Assembly has convened this week with Russian aggression against Ukraine as one of the points on the agenda. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky , who is also present in New York for the Assembly, is expected to deliver a speech later during the day.
Read also: Ana Palacio: Rule-making in a divided world
Presidents of Ukraine and the U.S. are also scheduled to attend the U.N. Security Council meeting on Sept. 20 to discuss the principles of the U.N. Charter.
After his New York trip, Zelensky will head to Washington, D.C. to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden, senior members of Congress, and other American political and military leaders.
Zelensky's visit comes just as the White House seeks approval from U.S. lawmakers for $24 billion in additional funds to bolster Kyiv's struggle against Russia.
Some members of Congress grow increasingly critical of the level of support that Washington provides to Ukraine.
Zelensky has previously visited the U.S. in December 2022, meeting Biden and addressing Congress members.
Read also: Zelensky arrives in US to attend UN meeting, meet Biden
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The world must avoid making any concessions to Russia that would dismember Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden said during his address at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19.
Read also: Ukraine to demand reparations from Russia at ICJ
He emphasized that the United States supports Ukraine's efforts for a diplomatic settlement that will result in fair and enduring peace. He added that only Russia is responsible for the war and only Russia can end this war immediately.
Russia alone bears responsibility for this war, said Biden.
Russia alone stands in the way of peace because Russias price for peace is Ukraines capitulation, Ukraines territory, and Ukraines children.
He added that no UN member state can feel secure if the world allows the "dismemberment of Ukraine" and abandons the key principles of the UN Charter to appease the aggressor.
Read also: US Republican senators pressure Biden to speed up shipment of ATACMS missiles to bolster Ukraine's counter-offensive
We have to stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, the U.S. president continues.
Read also: Zelenskyy tells G7 principle of preventive security will protect democracies from aggressor states
Thats why the United States, together with our allies and partners in the world, will continue to stand with t he brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty, territorial integrity, and their freedom.
Read also: Zelenskyy questions UN on why Russia still has seat on Security Council
Biden underscored that this kind of support is an investment not only in the future of Ukraine but in the future of every country, reasserting that sovereignty and territorial integrity are fixed foundations of the UN and cannot be sacrificed.
On Sept. 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accompanied by First Lady Olena Zelenska, arrived in New York to attend the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. The Ukrainian president is also due to meet with Biden in Washington.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
President Biden heads to the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday facing a litany of challenges at home and abroad.
The president will be walking a difficult tightrope as he seeks to maintain support for Ukraine among war-weary international allies and address global challenges like post-pandemic economies and climate change, all while facing the possibility of a looming government shutdown back home in Washington.
Biden will deliver his annual address to the global body Tuesday morning, during which he is expected to discuss the war in Ukraine and other issues where the White House believes U.S. leadership is in demand on the world stage.
That speech comes against the backdrop of Moscow fostering a new partnership with North Korea and leader Kim Jong Uns recent six-day trip to Russia. During the unprecedented visit, Kim vowed to support what he described as Russias just fight and vowed that North Korea will always stand with Russia against the anti-imperialist West.
In addition to Ukraine, senior administration officials told reporters Bidens speech will address issues including climate and global infrastructure, food and energy insecurity and the post-pandemic economic recovery of developing countries, acknowledging the many hurdles that exist.
The president recognizes the world faces enormous challenges that no one country can solve alone. But he has a vision of how American leadership, based on principles, working in partnership with others can help tackle these challenges, officials said. We remain clear-eyed and humble about the scale and scope of the global challenges we face.
One of Bidens most highly anticipated engagements will be with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, marking their first face-to-face meeting since Netanyahu retook office last December and coming amid tense relations between the U.S. and Israel over judicial reforms backed by the prime minister that critics say would erase important checks and balances in Israels democracy.
Biden will also be in New York with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while notable leaders skipping the U.S. visit include Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping , who also skipped the Group of 20 summit in India earlier this month.
Aides and experts cited Bidens G20 trip as giving him some leverage heading into the United Nations so soon after.
I think he is going in with some momentum from those relationships and those conversations that he built. There are absolutely always going to be issues that the U.S. is going to be criticized for, climate being one of them, said Marti Flacks, director of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
One thing Biden wont do is attend a U.N. climate summit scheduled for Wednesday, though special envoy for climate John Kerry is expected to attend. That comes days after thousands of protesters descended on New York City to demand more action to address climate change.
Biden is set to participate in the first ever C5+1 presidential summit during the United Nations General Assembly, which includes presidents of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Bidens trip ultimately though could be overshadowed by the challenges awaiting him in Washington when he returns Wednesday night namely in the form of a potential government shutdown at the end of September.
Two factions of the House Republican Conference, the Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus, reached an agreement late Sunday to avoid a government shutdown for another month ahead of a looming Oct. 1 deadline.
But the parameters of the agreement are unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled House or get Bidens signature because it doesnt include funding for Ukraine. The spending levels are also set at levels lower than what was agreed upon between Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) when they reached a debt limit deal earlier this year.
Zelensky for his part will also make a stop in Washington as the Biden administration pushes for Congress to approve $24 billion in additional funding for Ukraine in its war effort against Russia.
Zelensky is expected to meet with Democrats and Republicans, seeking to convince skeptical lawmakers that they should back additional humanitarian and military aide, even as some leading GOP voices have pushed back on continued support for Ukraine.
At the U.N., Biden will also meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and labor leaders Wednesday to focus on workers rights in both countries. That comes on the heels of another domestic issue for Biden as the United Auto Workers began its strike Thursday evening against the Big Three automakers when the two sides failed to successfully negotiate a new contract.
I think that the administration and the president can at this time use this particular moment in history to lean into leadership and humility, said Noam Unger, a senior fellow at Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Recent history in the U.S. has shown that we too have our challenges, especially with democracy, Unger continued. And so for President Biden to basically lean into that narrative, while also leaning into the point that he is actually of the mold of a sort of, you know, statesman long on the scene and in international affairs, I think he can balance both.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a dire warning Tuesday, telling global leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly that Russia's invasion is a threat that extends beyond the war zone as he seeks continued support for his besieged country.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you against the international rules-based order," Zelensky said.
His comments echoed a plea by President Biden, who urged his foreign counterparts earlier in the day to strengthen their resolve in supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, two "core tenets" of the U.N. Charter.
The two leaders, who will meet at the White House on Thursday, have sought to convince allies to maintain their military support despite a Ukrainian counteroffensive that has fallen short of expectations, and to persuade unconvinced nations to turn their back on Russia. Some developing nations that have been hardest hit by the economic turmoil wrought by the war have urged global leaders to shift their attention away from Ukraine and refocus on other challenges including poverty and inequality.
During his speech in New York, Biden laid out a U.S.-led vision to confront the world's most pressing challenges, including tackling the climate crisis, addressing artificial intelligence and investing in developing nations of the Global South. Last year, Biden opened his remarks with a forceful condemnation of Russia's invasion. On Tuesday, he spent most of his speech highlighting progress made on global infrastructure partnerships and investment in low- and middle-income countries.
"The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound to yours," Biden said before the U.N. chamber. "Let me repeat that again: We know our future is bound to yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone."
The president reiterated his unwavering support for Kyiv and urged others to do so, casting Russia's aggression as a threat to all nations.
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said. "But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
"We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow," he added.
Zelensky, too, tried to connect the conflict to some of the issues developing nations are grappling with as a result of the war, including food shortages and rising energy prices. He condemned Russia, accusing it of weaponizing food, energy and artificial intelligence and abducting Ukrainian children.
He acknowledged that the war comes at a moment when much of the world is enduring the effects of the climate crisis, including recent flooding in Libya that has left thousands dead.
"When all of this is happening, one unnatural disaster in Moscow decided to launch a big war and kill tens of thousands of people. We have to stop it," Zelensky implored. "We must act united to defeat the aggressor and focus all our capabilities and energy on addressing these challenges."
Zelenskys visit coincides with a difficult juncture in the war. A much-vaunted Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June has made only incremental progress in contrast to dramatic battlefield gains at this time last year, when Ukrainian forces retook thousands of square miles of territory in the countrys northeast.
The recent fighting has largely devolved into a bloody war of attrition, as Ukrainian troops seek to punch through formidable fortifications Russian troops have created over a period of months, including dense minefields, trenches and tank traps.
Some incremental progress has been reported in recent days, with Ukraine saying it captured a strategic eastern hamlet over the weekend. In the countrys south, Ukraine also reported gains, but its troops have not yet managed to mount a serious challenge to Russias grip on a vital land bridge connecting mainland Russia to the occupied Crimean peninsula.
Ukrainian forces, however, have scored a string of recent successes in attacks against Russias Black Sea fleet, a feat that is particularly notable as Ukraine has no navy, but instead relies on drones and long-distance missile strikes.
Over the course of the summer, some tensions have emerged between Zelenskys government and Western backers. As it has since the start of the war, Ukraine has repeatedly pleaded for more weaponry, as some U.S. officials have let it be known that they disagree with its battlefield strategy.
Many Western military analysts, though, say the picture is a nuanced one.
Ukraines got to be really careful, because theyre losing a lot of troops and equipment that they cant afford to, said Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a visiting professor in the war studies department at Kings College London. But theyve got Russia really rattled over Crimea these attacks on the Black Sea fleet have been amazingly successful.
Zelensky has also presided over what is generally an unwelcome development for any wartime leader in the thick of battle: a shake-up at his Defense Ministry, primarily in response to concerns about corruption in military procurement.
All six Ukrainian deputy defense ministers were dismissed from their posts Monday, two weeks after the president replaced Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who had been on the job throughout the 19-month-old war.
In addition to his White House visit, Zelensky will also meet Thursday with congressional leaders as he tries to secure more support. A CNN poll released last month found that 51% of respondents said that the U.S. "has done enough" to aid Ukraine in the war, compared with 48% who said they want America to do more.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), who is set to meet with Zelensky on Wednesday, told reporters Tuesday he had "questions" for the Ukrainian leader.
"Where's the accountability on the money we already spent?" McCarthy said. "What is the plan for victory?"
Congress has already approved $113 billion in total aid for security and humanitarian assistance. Biden is asking Congress for more than $13 billion in additional military support for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian aid. Though there is broad bipartisan support for Kyiv, some hard-right Republican lawmakers have opposed sending more aid to Ukraine as part of a government funding deal.
Though much of Biden's U.N. speech was intended for an international audience, his remarks were also aimed at convincing voters that he's restored American leadership on the world stage at a critical moment for the international rules-based order. A glimpse of that argument came during a political fundraiser Monday, when Biden told Democratic donors he would not "side with dictators like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin."
"Maybe [former President Donald] Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down, but I wont," said Biden, who is attending four political fundraisers during his New York stay as the 2024 campaign ramps up.
Later on Tuesday, Biden met with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and leaders of five Central Asian nations Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan which includes countries that border Russia and China. The meeting was the first of its kind at the leaders level, administration officials said.
The president also sought to rebuff any notion that the U.S. is ratcheting up tensions with China, despite recent U.S.-led efforts to counter China's international investment program and to shore up relationships in Beijing's backyard.
When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent, Biden said. We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict."
Biden was the only member among the U.N. Security Council's permanent members in attendance. China's Xi Jinping and Russia's Putin, who has a warrant for his arrest by the International Criminal Court, were absent from this year's General Assembly. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron also skipped the meeting.
On Wednesday, Biden will meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before traveling back to Washington.
Subramanian reported from Washington, Wilkinson from the United Nations and King from Kyiv.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
US President Joe Biden is looking forward to meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House to discuss Ukraine's counteroffensive.
Source: John Kirby, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, during a briefing in New York, as reported by Ukrinform
Details: Kirby said the US president wants to assure his Ukrainian counterpart that when the United States says it will stay with Ukraine as long as necessary, Kyiv should understand that support will continue.
"The Presidents looking forward to hearing from President Zelenskyy about their counteroffensive and about the progress theyre making, his assessment of what the battlefield looks like," Kirby said.
Kirby added that the two presidents will be meeting at the White House at a critical time, as Ukrainian Armed Forces gain ground in their counteroffensive and Russia is seeking military assistance from rogue regimes, including North Korea.
He added that President Zelenskyy has consistently, publicly and privately, expressed gratitude for the United States' support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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UNITED NATIONS President Joe Biden called Tuesday on world leaders to stand firm against naked aggression, casting solidarity with Ukraine in its war with Russia as a necessary step to deter other would-be aggressors.
In wide-ranging remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, Biden warned that Russia believes the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. But if member nations abandon the core principles of the U.N. charter and appease an antagonist, no member nation can feel safe, he said.
If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? Biden asked. I respectfully suggest the answer is no.
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy listened from the audience, Biden condemned Russias attack against its neighbor as an illegal war of conquest and said the U.S. and its coalition of allies support Ukraines efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that will deliver lasting peace. Russias price for peace, he said, is Ukraines capitulation, its territory and its children.
Russia alone bears the responsibility for this war, Biden said. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it is Russia alone that stands in the way of peace.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 19: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 19, 2023 in New York City. Heads of states and governments from at least 145 countries are gathered for the 78th UNGA session amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods and fires around the globe.
Home at last: 5 American prisoners released in prison swap with Iran have safely returned to US
Bidens remarks to the high-profile gathering of world leaders come as American support for the war in Ukraine has softened and congressional Republicans are resisting his request for $24 billion in military and humanitarian aid for the war-torn nation.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to address the assembly later Tuesday. Later, he will travel to Washington and meet with Biden and the White House on Thursday.
Notably absent for Bidens remarks was Russian President Vladimir Putin, who skipped the U.N. gathering.
Bidens speech to the U.N., the third of his presidency, came just hours after five Americans imprisoned in Iran landed on U.S. soil after they were freed as part of a prisoner swap the Biden administration negotiated with Tehran. The swap is not formally linked to stalled nuclear talks between the two rivals, but Biden pledged in his U.N. remarks that the U.S. would continue to pursue good-faith efforts to reduce the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
The U.S. remains committed to diplomacy that will bring about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and addressing Irans destabilizing activities that threaten regional and global security, he said. That includes a steadfast commitment that Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon, he said.
Crunch time: Why the Ukrainian counteroffensive is making little progress against Russian defense.
Turning to tensions between the U.S. and China, Biden said the U.S. seeks to responsibly manage competition between the two countries so that it does not tip into conflict. The U.S. will continue to push back on Chinese aggression and intimidation and will work to level the economic playing field between worlds two largest economies, Biden said.
But we also stand ready to work together with China on issues, he said, adding that progress hinges on our common efforts.
Nowhere is that more critical accelerating the fight against the climate crisis, Biden said.
Record-breaking heatwaves in the U.S. and China, wildfires in North America and southern Europe, a fifth year of drought in the Horn of Africa and recent flooding in Libya are snapshots of what awaits the world if nations fail to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and begin climate-proof measures, Biden said.
Biden cited partnerships the U.S. is fostering around the globe in places like Africa, Latin America and southeast Asia and stressed that none of them are about containing any country but are focused on developing a vision for a shared future.
Recalling his visit to Vietnam last week, Biden said just a few years ago it would have been unimaginable to think that a U.S. president would stand in Hanoi alongside a Vietnamese leader and announce a mutual partnership.
"It's a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future, he said. With concerned leadership, careful effort, adversaries can become partners. Overwhelming challenges can be resolved, and deep wounds can heal. So let us never forget that."
On Wednesday, Biden will hold bilateral meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in New York.
Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @mcollinsNEWS.
Prisoner swap: Americans freed from Iran survived the infamous Evin prison. Here are their stories.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden talks more Ukraine support, China tensions at United Nations
President Biden cast the United Nations General Assembly gathering Tuesday as darkened by the shadow of the war in Ukraine for the second year, blaming Russia for its brutalization and lack of a resolution in the war torn country.
Biden reiterated his call to rally the international community in support of Ukraine as his administration urges Congress to provide additional support for Kyiv as it fends off invading Russian forces while warning other nations of their security.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said in remarks from New York. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected?
If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? he said. I respectfully suggest the answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was looking on from the audience during the remarks.
That is why the United States together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom, Biden said, drawing applause from those inside the room.
Biden will host Zelensky at the White House Thursday. The Ukrainian presidents stop in Washington comes as the Biden administration pushes for Congress to approve $24 billion in additional funding for Ukraine in its war effort against Russia.
The U.S. has provided billions of dollars in military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022, and the Biden administration has requested billions more as part of its latest supplemental funding package.
While there is still bipartisan support for Ukraine aid, some Republicans have pushed back on continued assistance for the country. And leading Republican presidential candidates, including former President Trump, have expressed skepticism about providing ongoing assistance to Ukraine.
The president, in his remarks Tuesday, also made clear that his approach to China is for de-risking, not decoupling and that the United Nations needs to work with China on issues like the climate crisis.
He highlighted impacts of the climate crisis, including drought in Africa, flooding in Libya, and heatwaves and wildfires in North America.
Biden also called for some reforms to the United Nations, including breaking gridlock in decision-making and bringing in more voices to improve the group.
Simply put, the 21st century results are badly needed, theyre needed to move us along. That starts with the United Nations, starts right here in this room, the president said.
His speech opened with a message of unity and the U.S. commitment to the United Nations.
The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound up with yours, he said. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
UNITED NATIONS President Joe Biden urged world leaders not to abandon Ukraine in its grinding war with Russia, warning that Russia is pinning its hopes on other nations growing "weary" of the fight.
In a speech Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly, Biden suggested that if the U.S. and other nations that have been supplying Ukraine with weapons and money were to withhold support, every nation would feel vulnerable and isolated in the face of an attack.
"If you allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?" Biden said. "I respectfully suggest the answer is no."
Biden's stark condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and his call for continued aid to the beleaguered nation on Russia's border drew the only round of applause during his half-hour address.
His remarks come at a time when polls shows that U.S. support for Ukraine's defense is beginning to wane. Having pledged to support Ukraine for "as long as it takes," Biden needs to stiffen Americans' resolve in the face of economic pressures they're feeling at home.
He is getting some help on this front. Making a cameo in the U.S. this week is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has emerged as the charismatic face of Ukraine's resistance to Russia's invasion. Biden and Zelenskyy are scheduled to meet Thursday at the White House.
Last year, Zelenskyy addressed the General Assembly by video not in person.
During the U.N. meetings unfolding this week, there is no shortage of colorful characters who show up a senior Biden administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss Zelenskyys attendance. But he is a truly inspirational figure and someone who can personalize the costs of the war. Its only a net positive.
Biden's speech at the U.N. is the centerpiece of a trip to Manhattan this week that includes a series of private meetings with world leaders and, separately, fundraising events for his 2024 re-election campaign. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose plan to overhaul the judicial system in his country has sparked fears that the courts will no longer be able to act as a check on executive power.
The meeting could prove to be tense: Biden has advised that Netanyahu "walk away" from the plan, which has spawned mass protests in Israel.
In his address, Biden also discussed the dangers of climate change and the importance of nations acting collectively to solve the worlds most pressing problems an implicit rebuke of the America First approach taken by former President Donald Trump , his chief rival in the presidential race. (In a speech to the general assembly in 2018, Trump drew a laugh from the audience when he boasted that his achievements as president were virtually without parallel.)
"In every region of the world, the United States is mobilizing strong alliances, versatile partnerships, common purpose, collective action, to bring new approaches to our shared challenges," Biden said.
Robert Rae, the Canadian ambassador to the U.N., said in an interview with NBC News after Biden's address that the president's message was an important one and well-received.
"It's true that foreign policy was very different under the previous incumbent [Trump] and it did pose a real challenge to the United Nations as an institution and to all the treaties and understands which relate to it the whole group of institutions which we've created by working solidly together," Rae said.
It is getting harder by the day for Biden to sell the American public on the war's ongoing importance. A CNN poll last month showed that 51% of the people surveyed believed the U.S. has done enough to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia, compared to 48% who want America to do more. At the outset of Russias invasion last year, by contrast, 62% believed the U.S. should do more to assist Ukraine.
Ultimately, Biden understands that time is short, said a former Biden administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the presidents view of the war. I dont think he can sustain the level of funding for much longer. Thats why youre seeing Zelenskyy [coming to] the White House. Its all about keeping the pressure up.
Theres not a blank check here, the former official added.
In a sign of growing impatience with the wars costs, House Republicans put forward a bill this week to avert a government shutdown that included no reference to aid to Ukraine. It is uncertain whether the GOP proposal carries enough support to pass the House.
A Ukrainian victory in the war would be a devastating setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his territorial ambitions. It would also help Biden further isolate an autocratic leader whose actions have unnerved neighboring countries that are part of the NATO alliance.
I will not side with dictators like Putin, Biden said at a fundraising event Monday. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down, but I wont.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
President Joe Biden pleaded with members of the U.N. General Assembly to continue to assist Ukraine against Russia. Americans who were imprisoned in Iran have safely returned to United States soil. And debris from a missing F-35 fighter jet has been found, but questions persist about its disappearance.
Hi there! It's Julius tagging in for Laura today. Let's get into Tuesday's news.
But first: A bad luck ball? One number has uniquely poor luck in recent Powerball and Mega Millions drawings.
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At UN, Biden calls for sustained Ukraine support
Biden urged world leaders Tuesday to stand firm against Russia, casting solidarity with Ukraine as a necessary step to deter other would-be aggressors. In remarks to the U.N. General Assembly, Biden warned that Russia believes the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. But if U.N. members appease an antagonist, no nation can feel safe, he said. Bidens remarks come as American support for the war in Ukraine has softened and congressional Republicans are resisting his request for $24 billion in aid. Read more about the U.N. gathering.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday in New York City.
Prisoners released in swap with Iran return to US
Five Americans imprisoned in Iran are back on U.S. soil after they were released as part of a prisoner exchange the Biden administration negotiated with Tehran. A plane carrying the five prisoners and two of their family members landed early Tuesday at a Virginia military facility, a U.S. official said. Only three of the five prisoners who were freed have been identified: Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz. All three are dual-Iranian citizens. A senior Biden administration official said the other two Americans wish to keep their identities private. Continue reading about the prisoner swap.
Americans are freed from Iran. So, why is the prisoner swap controversial for Biden?
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after disembarking from an airplane at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., on Tuesday.
What everyone's talking about
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Debris of a fighter jet found, but questions linger
Debris from a missing F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter jet was located Monday in South Carolina about two hours north of where a pilot ejected and parachuted to safety. But many questions remain amid an ongoing investigation into the incident. The Marine Corps is handling the investigation, now documented as a "Class-A mishap," according to the defense agency. However, details about how the jet went missing haven't yet been released. The military located debris from the jet nearly 80 miles north of Joint Base Charleston, which houses military operations and wings for the Air Force and Navy. Here's what we know.
Why the UAW strike has come at the perfect time for labor
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden UN speech, missing F-35, UAW strike, prisoner swap. Tuesday's news.
President Joe Biden will use his third annual address to the United Nations General Assembly to call for a renewed vision for what the UN and other multilateral organisations can do to solve the worlds most intractable and pressing problems, according to senior administration officials.
According to excerpts of his remarks released by the White House, the president will tell attendees at UN Headquarters in New York that the US seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound up with yours, and will say that no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.
The president will also reference climate-related disasters across the world, including record-breaking heatwaves in the United States and China, wildfires in North America and Europe, five years of drought in Africa, and the recent floods in Libya as parts of an urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof our world.
He will also call on the UN to continue to support Ukraines defence against Russia, and will warn attendees against allowing the world to grow weary and letting Moscow brutalise Ukraine without consequence.
He will ask the gathered diplomats and leaders: If we abandon the core principles of the UN Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? The answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, he will say.
That is why the United States together with our Allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.
Mr Biden, who is the only one of the five UN Security Council permanent member heads of state to attend the general assembly this year, is slated to speak at the annual gathering at 10am ET on Tuesday an event that a senior White House official described as one of the worlds preeminent venues for diplomacy with leaders and senior officials from all over the world convening in just a few square blocks in New York City.
The official said Mr Biden sees the massive diplomatic confab as an outstanding opportunity for him and his leadership to advance US interests and values on a range of issues.
This will include mobilising resources for sustainable development and infrastructure, galvanising cooperation on the climate crisis and strengthening global support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The official added: The headquarters of the UN is an ideal location for the president to reaffirm our country's commitment to the foundational principles of the United Nations, particularly those laid out in the documents such as the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This is an essential forum to demonstrate the President's commitment to inclusive and effective international cooperation to solve big problems.
The official also said the president would use his address the text of which was still under review as of late Monday evening to lay out to the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to work with others to solve the world's most serious challenge and outline his vision for how countries working within reformed and modernised international institutions can harness their efforts to end conflict, defend human rights and the rule of law and help countries develop their economies.
Mr Bidens first day at the general assembly will include a bilateral meeting with Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General.
During the meeting, the two leaders will discuss ways to strengthen the US-UN partnership to tackle global issues, including mobilising resources for development, combating climate change, ending conflicts and working together to uphold the UN's foundational principles.
Additionally, a senior official said the president will convene the first-ever C Five + One summit with the heads of state from a quintet of Central Asian countries: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The six leaders will discuss a range of issues related to regional security, trading conductivity, climate and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law, the official said.
On Wednesday, the president will hold bilateral meetings with two other leaders: President Lula Da Silva of Brazil and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Joe Biden arrives into New York City ahead of UN General Assembly (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Following his meeting with the Brazilian leader their second sit-down this year a US official said the president would join him in meeting Brazilian labour movement leaders to highlight the role that workers play in building a sustainable, democratic, equitable and peaceful world.
Mr Bidens meeting with Mr Netanyahu will be the first since the controversial Israeli leader regained his prior office as prime minister, and will be notable due to the venue.
Mr Netanyahu and his right-wing government are currently engaged in an effort to reshape Israels judiciary to make it more compliant with the whims of parliamentary majorities. That effort has drawn months of massive protests across a wide swath of the Israeli public, and many opposition leaders and American Jewish groups had urged Mr Biden to deny his Israeli counterpart a meeting at the White House.
But a White House official said Mr Biden intends for his focus at this years general assembly to be on how the nearly century-old global body can still be a force for good even in the face of efforts to weaken multilateral organisations by antidemocratic forces.
This is a time of geopolitical tension. Russia is brutal and illegal war has greatly violated the UN Charter and we have indisputable disagreements with China. You will also hear about the great challenges facing poor countries with developing nations demanding more action to solve the problems affecting them such as deaths, health development, the climate crisis, the official said.
President Biden is going into this year's general assembly with the United States confidence. We have strong allies and new partners. We have a vision for institutional reform at the UN at the World Bank and elsewhere, and we have initiatives to deliver on infrastructure, unhealth on climate and other global public goods.
The president recognises the world faces enormous challenges that no one country can solve alone. But he has a vision of how American leadership based on principles, working in partnership with others can help tackle these challenges. So here at the UN the one place where the world comes together the President will lift up that vision and rally countries to do more to make our world safer, more just and more prosperous.
President Biden on Monday evening talked about his age and Russian President Vladimir Putin while fundraising in New York City.
The president raised money for his reelection bid at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway in an event called Broadway for Biden. Theatrical producer Jeffrey Seller , known for his work on Rent and Hamilton, introduced the president.
A lot of people seem focused on my age, Biden said at the fundraiser. I get it, believe me; I know it more than anyone.
He added, I knew what to do when COVID-19 hit, when Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and when democracy was at stake.
Biden, 80, has faced dismal approval ratings and a lack of enthusiasm from voters going into 2024, largely because of his age and questions over whether hes up for another four years on the job.
Thats why Im running, Biden said, adding that former President Trump could bow down to Russian President Vladimir Putin but he wouldnt.
I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down, but I wont, he said.
If he is reelected, he said, we will have saved American democracy.
I am more optimistic about the future of this country than in the 800 years Ive served, the president added, taking a jab at his age to laughs from the room.
The president is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, which he will speak at Tuesday in an address largely focused on the war in Ukraine.
Trump is the current front-runner in the GOP presidential primary, setting up for a likely Biden-Trump rematch in the 2024 general election.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Biden emphasized unity and global cooperation Tuesday as he addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Mr. Biden reiterated that Ukraine's interests are the United Nations' interests, and said the global body must "continue to preserve peace, prevent conflict and alleviate human suffering."
"The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound to yours," the president said at UNGA. "Let me repeat that again: We know our future is bound to yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone."
The president touted efforts to connect India and Europe, normalize relations between Israel and its neighbors, and strengthen African nations' infrastructure, and insisted he wants to "seek to responsibly manage" competition with China, not decouple from China.
"Now let me be clear: None of these partnerships are about containing any country," the president said. "They're about a positive vision for our shared future. When it comes to China, I want to be clear and consistent we seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict."
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. / Credit: MIKE SEGAR / REUTERS
Where there is commonality on pressing global issues, the president said the U.S. needs to work with China.
"We see it everywhere," Mr. Biden said. "Record breaking heatwaves in the United States and China," Mr.Biden said. "Wildfires ravaging North America and Southern Europe. A fifth-year of drought in the Horn of Africa. Tragic, tragic flooding in Libya ... Together, these snapshots tell an urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world."
The president's address comes after five U.S. citizens detained by Iran touched down on U.S. soil. They were freed Monday in a complicated diplomatic deal that included the transfer of $6 billion in unfrozen Iranian oil assets and the release of five Iranians facing charges in the U.S.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak at UNGA Tuesday in his first in-person address to the assembly since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked assault on his country. Zelenskyy and Mr. Biden are also scheduled to meet at the White House on Thursday.
"We strongly support Ukraine in its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that delivers just and lasting peace," Mr. Biden said Tuesday. "But Russia alone, Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it's Russia alone that stands in the way of peace because the Russians' price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children."
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feeling confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
Zelenskyy, too, has warned that world order is what's at stake in the war in Ukraine.
"If Ukraine falls, what will happen in 10 years? Just think about it. If [the Russians] reach Poland, what's next? A Third World War?" Zelenskyy said a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday.
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Watch: Biden addresses U.N. General Assembly
House Democrats send McCarthy letter asking to honor earlier deals in spending bill
UNITED NATIONS President Joe Biden made his case before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, warning that no nation can be secure if we allow Ukraine to be carved up as he tries to rally support for Kyivs effort to repel a nearly 19-month-old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.
The U.S. president called on world leaders to not let support for Ukraine diminish, arguing that Russia is counting on countries to grow tired of prolonged conflict in Kyiv which will allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. Russia alone is standing in the way of a resolution, Biden argued, saying that Moscows price for peace was Ukraines capitulation, Ukraines territory and Ukraines children.
I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? Biden said in his address. If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
He continued: Id respectfully suggest the answer is no.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as President Joe Biden addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (Susan Walsh/AP)
The presidents forceful rhetoric on Ukraine appeared aimed not just for a global audience but for Washington, where an increasingly isolationist strain of the Republican Party is jeopardizing the prospects of the U.S. successfully replenishing the steady flow of aid that has gone to Kyiv since the war began in February 2022.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to greenlight an additional $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but Republicans who control the House have all but ignored that request as lawmakers scramble to ensure government funding remains flowing beyond the end of September. Animated by the views of former President Donald Trump, a vocal faction of House Republicans remain steadfastly opposed to more Ukraine aid, even as other GOP lawmakers, primarily in the Senate, continue to advocate support for Kyiv to dissuade Russia from spreading its attacks beyond Ukraines borders.
We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, Biden said in his U.N. address. Thats why the United States - together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.
Other senior members of the Biden administration were making their case on Tuesday, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed allied defense leaders in remarks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to dig deep and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine to help the country wage its counteroffensive.
Indeed, the broader message is intended to resonate beyond Moscow and even Capitol Hill. Washington remains on guard against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims have caused tension in the region. Beijing also wants to reunite the mainland with the self-governing island of Taiwan, a goal that raises the prospect of another war.
During his address, Biden described the partnerships that the U.S. government was fostering around the globe from Africa to the Indo-Pacific that he said were creating economic, security and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about containing any country a clear reference to Beijing.
When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent, Biden said. We seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict. Ive said we are for de-risking not decoupling with China.
Biden emphasized that Beijing and Washington need to cooperate on climate, and referenced recent natural disasters devastating heat waves, droughts and floods around the globe as part of a snapshot that tells the urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world.
Despite his own emphasis on climate as a priority, Biden does not plan to attend a special summit on climate that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will host on Wednesday, where countries are encouraged to bring new ideas and proposals on how to further cut emissions and combat climate change. Officials played down Bidens absence at the climate summit, and said John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, will attend in Bidens place.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens as President Joe Biden addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (Susan Walsh/AP)
In his 30-minute address, Biden also repeatedly emphasized the value of institutions such as the United Nations and international coalitions that has helped the world confront significant challenges such as poverty and disease, as well as echoing his defense of democracy, a common theme of his presidency.
We will not retreat from the values that make us strong, Biden said. We will defend democracy our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. And were working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to peoples lives.
The annual forum was a chance for Biden to showcase to other world leaders and the 2024 U.S. electorate that hes reestablished U.S. leadership on the world stage that he says was diminished under Trump.
There were some notable absences as Biden addressed the General Assembly: British Prime Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin the leaders of the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are all skipping the gathering. U.S. officials downplayed that fact and instead emphasized the importance that Biden attaches to showing up at the annual diplomatic forum.
For Biden, the more important audience for Tuesdays speech could be closer to home as he looks to make the case to voters that hes skillfully handled a complicated foreign policy agenda and that the experience that comes with age has proved to be an asset. Its an argument that the 80-year-old Biden is likely to continue to make to counter skepticism even in his own Democratic Party among voters who are concerned about his age.
After the speech, Biden sat down with Guterres, and later Tuesday met with leaders from the so-called C5 group of Central Asian nations, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Saying the cooperation among the nations is at new heights, Biden outlined several areas of collaboration including on critical minerals and disability rights.
Xi has stepped up his own courting of those countries. During his own summit in May with the Central Asian leaders, Xi promised to build more railway and other trade links with the region and proposed jointly developing oil and gas sources.
We are stronger, and I genuinely believe the world is safer, when we stand together, our five nations, Biden said following the closed-door meeting with the leaders.
Biden is scheduled to host talks Thursday at the White House with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Kim reported from Washington.
President Biden told world leaders at the United Nations Tuesday that he is not seeking conflict with China but that the U.S. will push back on aggression and intimidation as his administration seeks to walk a careful line in its relationship with Beijing.
When it comes to China, I want to be clear and consistent: We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict, Biden said in remarks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
I have said we are for de-risking, not decoupling with China. We will push back on aggression and intimidation and defend the rules of the road, Biden added, saying the U.S. would enforce freedom of navigation and ensure there is an even economic playing field.
We also stand ready to work with China on issues where progress hinges on our common efforts. Nowhere is that more critical than the accelerating climate crisis, Biden added.
Bidens comments come as his administration has increased outreach to China, even as Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have gone nearly a year without having a face-to-face meeting. He and his administration have also sought to counter Chinas influence in the Indo-Pacific.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan met over the weekend with Chinas foreign minister, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in New York this week with Chinas vice president. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo have both made recent trips to China for meetings with government and business officials.
But at the same time, the Biden administration has prioritized strengthening relationships and alliances in the Indo-Pacific in an effort to counter Chinese influence in the region and ensure that other countries are not reliant on Beijing for financial support. The latter point was a major focus for Biden last week when he traveled to India for the Group of 20 Summit.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing spiked this year after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had floated over the United States for several days. Biden later described Xi as a dictator, though he downplayed that the comment had any impact on relations with China.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly inside the U.N. General Assembly Hall in New York City on Tuesday. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden on Tuesday told the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday that the United States continues to stand firmly behind Ukraine as it continues to fight off an invasion from Russia.
In front of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other world leaders in New York, Biden called Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine an "illegal war of conquest" brought on by Moscow.
"No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine," Biden said. "We strongly support Ukraine in its effort to bring about a diplomatic resolution that is just and lasting peace. Russia alone bears responsibility. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. Russia alone stands in the way of peace."
Biden said Russia and its President Vladimir Putin believe that the "world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence" but the United States and its allies will remain steadfast in their commitment to Ukraine.
In his speech, Biden said he is willing to work with other countries on the growing technology of artificial intelligence, which he said holds "enormous potential and enormous peril."
Biden plans to use his U.N. General Assembly speech to tout recent U.S. foreign policy successes and to promote actions his administration has taken to tackle world challenges like climate change, Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine and escalating tensions in Asia. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
"We need to be sure it is used as tools of opportunity and not weapons of oppression," Biden said, adding that he wanted to make sure AI was safe for the public and for tech leaders to have a hold on the technology where "we govern this technology and not the other way around, it governing us."
Biden also expressed concern about democracies being toppled around the world, particularly in Africa, where elected leaders are being overthrown.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky (L) listens to speakers inside the U.N. General Assembly Hall. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
"This work is as urgent and important as ever," Biden said supporting democratic governments. "We will not retreat from the values that make us strong. We will defend democracy, the best tool to face challenges around the world."
Zelensky was also scheduled to speak Tuesday in his first appearance at U.N. headquarters, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov would be among the 40 world leaders in attendance.
Zelensky (R) is expected to use the speech and other face-to-face meetings to try to persuade more fence-sitting countries to back Kyiv in its continuing struggle against Russia. Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI
During the meeting of world leaders, Biden was expected to sit down with the presidents of five Central Asian nations -- Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan -- as part of the so-called C5+1 presidential summit, with talks focused on climate, trade, regional security, digital connectivity and political reforms.
Workers prepare the U.N. General Assembly Hall. The session kicks off Tuesday and will include speeches from U.S. President Joe Biden. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
Biden was also scheduled to meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss strengthening the U.S. partnership with the global body, which was created after World War II to promote unity among nations.
Later Tuesday, Biden will host the traditional reception, where he'll rub elbows with government leaders from around the world before returning to the White House for the night.
On Wednesday, Biden will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva before joining a rally hosted by U.S. and Brazilian labor leaders to highlight rights for workers.
He will also sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss regional security issues and compare notes on ways to counter an increasingly aggressive Iran.
The U.N. conference takes place as 32 countries across four continents adopted the Declaration on Atlantic Cooperation pact, in which Atlantic coastal nations across Africa, Europe, North America, South America and the Caribbean agreed to work together on economic development, environmental protection and science and technology.
Imagine a future where youre being interviewed by antagonistic police officers in a foreign country, but an artificially intelligent agent on your mobile device is able to keep you from saying anything locals would consider abnormal or suspicious, and prevent your arrest. That same day, your agent attends a post-op appointment with your mothers neurosurgeon, and helps her ask substantive questions about the risks of each treatment path. The next day, your agent notices subtle signs of developmental trouble in your infant child, and advises that you seek out an aggressive regimen of therapy years earlier than you might have otherwise.
If situations like thesein which artificial intelligence materially improves a normal persons life in tangible waysstill feel well out of reach, thats because the tech industry seems to want it that way. And if the whole topic of AI makes you cringe, thats just as well for the companies poised to profit from it, because a public with high expectations about their lives being improved by the technology could become a liability.
It may be all the better for the tech titans if the public expects everything to actively get worse as AI spreads. Just listen to the industrys leaders own words. I try to be up-front, Sam Altman , CEO of OpenAI, the firm behind the phenomenon ChatGPT, told The New York Times in 2019. Am I doing something good? Or really bad? Demis Hassabis, a pioneer who co-founded Google DeepMind, one of the tech giants AI projects, has attempted a similar routine, telling Time, When it comes to very powerful technologiesand obviously AI is going to be one of the most powerful everwe need to be careful. He added that many people working with it dont realize theyre holding dangerous material.
In theory, anyone with a functioning imagination should find it at least a little exhilarating that the latest supposed technological revolution is something called artificial intelligence, despite its current status as a business buzzword. After all, even the most enervating, corporatized definition of the term holds immense promise. On that front, McKinsey, that lodestar of anodyne corporatespeak, is actually somewhat helpful. According to its 2020 white paper titled An executives guide to AI, it is not an individual technology, but an attribute of many: the ability of a machine to perform cognitive functions we associate with human minds, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, and problem solving.
The word cognitive is still a little presumptuous, but its a useful definition. You can apply it to what Wired called the uncanny, addictive AI of the social-media app TikToks recommendation algorithm. Or to the creepily humanif factually compromisedtext outputs of the so-called chatbot ChatGPT, which takes text requests (or prompts) and offers a synthesis of whatever it can scrape (true or otherwise) from the internet, accompanied by the product of the models fine-tuning by human beings, back at you.
But its long been a bit of an afterthought in AI literatureand attendant mythologythat these machines might have some kind of practical purpose that average people can benefit from.
For instance, the most influential mass market AI book is probably 1999s The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, by computer scientist and futurist Ray Kurzweil . Its mostly about the creation of a superior kind of artificial consciousness, and humanitys eventual assimilation into this enhanced state of being. However, along the way, Kurzweil predicts that machines will take care of the basic necessities of food, shelter, and security, and that there will soon be almost no human employment in production, agriculture, and transportation. To Kurzweil, these revelations seem to be a mere detour from humans cognitive ascent to a kind of digital nirvana, rather than, you know, the point of the whole thing.
The problem, as contemporary AI proliferates in the real world and our collective imagination, is that to most people outside of Silicon Valley, digital nirvana isnt at all tempting. We have more practical needs, like jobs and health care. But also: We already live in a world dominated by tech companiesand we hate it.
Despite the publics fascination with chatbots, image generator applications, and other eye-popping AI tools and toys that have come along in the past year, many of us are anxious about the future theyll create. Americans in particular are hyperaware of what AI may do to employment. Weve already seen examples of these systems being horrifically racist: A Facebook AI system once mistook videos of Black men for videos about Primates, and several Black people have been wrongfully arrested after facial recognition software misidentified them as suspects in crimes. We know social-media and other tech companies and the bosses who own them cant be trusted; the very damning The Social Network won Oscars all the way back in 2011. And yet, in response to our worries about the Next Big Thing in tech, were fed either Kurzweil-style sermons about the ascendancy of our species, or fresh prophecies of doom.
But its not too much to ask that the people who stand to gain enormously from the proliferation of these technologiesthe rich people who own or control thembe both enthusiastic about them and able to explain, in convincing and granular terms, why the rest of the people of Earth should be, too. By not painting normal people a clear picture of a better world and promising us that theyll get us there, tech impresarios are only protecting themselves. They seem to be planning their defense at their eventual tribunals, and thats far from good enough.
The ChatGPT Smoke Screen
AI didnt come along in the past year, but the hysteria around it did reach comical new heights. That hysteria has largely centered on ChatGPT. This focus is obscuring AIs real potential and the fact that ordinary people standor at least should standto benefit from that potential in ways that go far beyond sending emails more quickly, populating their website with SEO-friendly content, or patching up code.
What chatbots do is basically a magic trick. Something called a large language model reduces language to numerical tokens, and puts them in order based on the probability that a given token will come next in a sequence. Then, the modelfed by the content of the internet and trained by low-wage workers across the planetspits language back at you. The concept is older than you might think.
In 1726, Jonathan Swift more or less predicted, and preemptively satirized, ChatGPT in Gullivers Travels. When the naive Gulliver visits the grand academy of Lagado, he meetsand is greatly impressed bya professor who has invented an engine full of words arrayed on moving die-size cubes, calibrated to the strictest computation of the general proportion there is in books between the numbers of particles, nouns, and verbs, and other parts of speech. When put to usean operation that requires a team of humans to crank its many knobsthe engine churns out snippets of text, and the harebrained professor claims that one day his machine will allow the most ignorant person to write books in philosophy, poetry, politics, laws, mathematics, and theology, without the least assistance from genius or study.
This may sound familiar to Americans who have read about ChatGPT users asking the tech to write them barbed essays with the wit of Voltaire, or a short story in the trademark register of Hemingway. But somewhat more quietly in the background, applications like HyperWrites Personal Assistant have cropped up, which can theoretically do almost anything for you, as long as it can be done in a web browser, including complex tasks that combine the communication skills of a large language model with the ability to plan, and then execute that plan. These are among the first plausible AI agents, and more will follow.
If things keep progressing at the current pace, a much more powerful sort of intelligenceno more sentient than ChatGPT, but powered by capacities approaching what computer scientists call strong AI, or artificial general intelligence (AGI)could come along soon. It may run on something like the language models that power the chatbots we already have. But where ChatGPT needs to be fed text inputs, a system with AGI could take information in any format, and its model would be able to analyze, learn, and modify itself based on that information.
Such a machine could, in theory, make our dreams come true.
The Bizarre Expectations Game of the AI Hypemen
Tools of unprecedented power in the hands of ordinary people should be an easy concept to sell, but the salespeople for these technologies are decidedly not making that pitch. Thats probably because theyre the wrong people to make that pitchand we likely wouldnt believe them if they did.
On one hand, people like Altman can, when the situation calls for it, wax downright messianic about the utopia theyre allegedly taking us to. Altman has said in no uncertain terms that building AGI is OpenAIs overarching goal, and suggests therell one day be an AI-based tool that can cure all diseases, whatever that means. Altman is more famous, however, for his grim forecasts, as when he appeared before the U.S. Senate in May, and said his worst fears are that wethe field, the technology, the industrycause significant harm to the world, and that, if this technology goes wrong, it can go quite wrong. This came after Altman had said in March, I think people should be happy that we are a little bit scared of this.
Implicit in this argument, the Los Angeles Times Brian Merchant pointed out in a column, is the notion that we should simply trust him and his newly cloistered company with how best to [release this technology], even as they work to meet revenue projections of $1 billion next year.
Tech leaders probably think theyre describing something promising for normies. Altman, for his part, generally stops at saying AI will massively increase productivity. I reached out to Altman and asked him to make the case for AI being beneficial to normal people, but a representative said he was unavailable for an interview. Bill Gates gamed out what consumers will do with AI during a Q&A session way back in 2019, describing the so-called personal agent that is permissioned in to see all your information and helps you instead of you running 20 applications. He said Microsofts potential product of this sort would likely be available as a paid subscription. Billionaire venture capitalist Marc Andreessens now-notorious blog post Why AI Will Save the World includes a litany of areas he thinks AI may positively impact, a few of which might interest a non-billionaire, like understanding others perspectives, creative arts, parenting outcomes, and life satisfaction. But its not exactly crystal clear how.
The collective inabilityor refusalto be specific about why we should be excited about AI defines the tech elite of our time.
Reid Hoffman , the co-founder of LinkedIn and a billionaire supporter of AI, claimed in a YouTube video earlier this year that the rise of AI marked a Promethean moment. I asked him to clarify what, exactly, made AI Promethean. It was, after all, something of a disturbing analogy: In Greek mythology, learning to make fire wasnt all gravy for the humans, who started fighting wars and were driven away from the godsnor for Prometheus, who was sentenced to have his liver chewed on by an eagle for eternity.
To his credit, Hoffman did elaborate, but it was another rather fuzzy prophecy. Fire, Hoffman told me, gives humanity self-determination, the power to pursue its own destiny and make its own meaning. He said that it is self-definition through innovation that I think defines us as human beings. Thats what I mean when I talk about Homo Techne as a better name for us than Homo Sapiens. Humanity will put AI in countless contexts and complementary technologies, he said, and then we will attain new heights of civilization and human flourishing.
If youre still having a difficult time pinning down where tech thought leaders are on AI, you should be. In March came the alarmed open letter titled Pause Giant AI Experiments, which was signed by such luminaries as Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and social critic Yuval Noah Harari. Powerful AI systems should be developed only once we are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable, the letter said, calling for a six-month pause on large-scale AI development. Less than four months later, signatory Musk announced that he had founded an AI company.
Oren Etzioni, a computer scientist and the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, the research nonprofit started by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, offered a bit more detail on what this crowd thinks is coming. Specifically, he linked me to a story about a brain-spine interface that relied on what The New York Times Oliver Whang called an artificial intelligence thought decoder, which had helped a patient with a spine injury regain the ability to walk. Etzioni is a great conversationalist, and was in a much less dreamy and more direct mode than Hoffman. He was uncompromising in his optimism, and told me he disagreed with the idea of a six-month pause. (I worked briefly last year on a since-scuttled collaboration between the Allen Institute and The Seattle Times.)
But as for what normal people should imagine for the future? Im not going to promise anything too specific, Etzioni told me. Referring to technology companies in general, he added, People can look at our track record.
The track record of tech entrepreneurs, though, is a troubled one at best. And they seem to know it.
One can debate whether, for instance, the Ludditestextile workers who smashed the machines that some of the earliest tech entrepreneurs had used to annihilate many of their livelihoods at the kickoff of the Industrial Revolutionwere unfairly maligned (answer: yes). But its more useful to look just at techs track record since the rise of the iPhone in 2007, perhaps the last moment of unbridled, widely shared optimism in modern technology.
Sixteen years later, smartphones are an obligatory biannual money-dumping ritual. Social media is all fever swamps, hellsites, and addictive, mental healthdegrading apps that the government wants (not unreasonably) to regulate or outright ban. Democrats and Republicans alike distrust social mediaand they should. Spotify has nuked musicians livelihoods. Airbnb kicked fuel on the fire of our housing crisis. And the gig economy further disempowered Americas already precarious workers.
These days, new tech seems to smash into our lives and reshape them every few years. Then it becomes crucial. Then it starts to suck. The phenomenon is called enshittification, a term coined by author Cory Doctorow thats spread like wildfire this year. Tech services begin their lives as promising and user-focused, then become advertiser-focused and start to enshittify. After this, Doctorows theory goes, they tend to exclusively prioritize the needs of shareholders and their demands for increased revenue. At this point, beloved features cease to exist or become paywalled, the user experience degrades, and the enshittification is complete.
Is it possible to avoid such a future with AI? It should be. But the government would need to do a hell of a lot more than its done to rein in Big Tech monopolies to make it plausible.
The Wrong Way to Do AI
Altman and other AI wisemen expressing fear about the technology have done what might seem logical, and announced interest in erecting safeguards. The regulation of AI is essential, he told Congress in May. But its abundantly clear that OpenAI and the other AI-focused companies want to be the driving force behind the regulatory apparatus. We cant let that happen.
OpenAI lobbied heavily to soften the European Unions AI Act, the most meaningful set of regulations on the technology passed so far by any lawmaking body in the world, Time reported. The company did this by arguing successfully that its language model is not a high-risk system, and that it shouldnt be regulated as inherently high-risk. According to the version of the law that passed, it wont be. Then, in late July, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft, operating as a sort of bloc, formed a group called the Frontier Model Forum, membership in which is exclusive to large-scale machine-learning models that exceed the capabilities currently present in the most advanced existing models, according to the forums criteria. In other words, big kids only. The aim of the forum is ostensibly to promote safety research within the companies themselves, and foster communications between the AI industry and lawmakers. But it appears to be a lobby that exists to sculpt government action to fit its own vision.
An eerily familiar juggernaut is on the horizon: Government and Big Tech seem to be unifying in pursuit of economic growth. The Biden administrations restrictions on Chinas access to the advanced GPUs that power AI development suggest the United States senses an advantage in its economic knock-down, drag-out with its rival, and isnt about to let off the gas.
Certainly, tech has sometimes powered the economy in ways that benefited the masses. Workers made real gains during the early days of the increasingly unionized automotive industry, for instance. But around the midtwentieth century came trends toward deregulation and the decline of organized labor. Then, as Daron Acemoglu, an MIT economist and his co-author, Simon Johnson, write in this years Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity, digital technologies became the graveyard of shared prosperity.
According to them, A new, more inclusive vision of technology can emerge only if the basis of social power changes. The authors call for the rise of counterarguments and organizations that can stand up to the conventional wisdom. Confronting the prevailing vision and wresting the direction of technology away from the control of a narrow elite may even be more difficult today than it was in nineteenth-century Britain and America. But it is no less essential.
This, in turn, would require individuals who arent Big Tech TED Talkers or CEOs to discern what AIs capabilities are and demand specific, beneficial things from it. Insisting on a beneficial rollout of this technologynot just one that steers clear of the apocalypseis reasonable. Crouching in revulsion, and hoping we survive when the tech steamroller inevitably rolls over us once again, is not.
A Path Toward Something Good
When Stony Brook University art professor Stephanie Dinkins met Hanson Robotics Bina48, a talking robot whose AI model was trained on the actual words of a Black woman named Bina Aspen, she was dazzled. Then she was irked by the things she didnt like about it. She was glad the tech world was putting in the effort to represent Black women like her, but not won over by its accuracy.
If were making these technologies, and even the folks who are trying to do so well are doing it in a way thats PC, and flattens us as humans, what does that mean going forward? she recalled wondering. It didnt make her want to write off AI as a technology. It made her want to steer it.
And so the question became, Can I make something like that?
Dinkins, who emphasized repeatedly that she is not a coder, told me she ultimately found useful code on a platform called Hugging Face, a database of open-source models. Since then, shes been using her own chatbot, and other AI tools, to help her students push past the assumptions consumer-facing AI technology makes about them.
Dinkinss software is not polished. My chatbot is stupid, she said. It doesnt work well. It actually doesnt have enough data to be expansive, but it does a good enough job to get us thinking about what we want from these systems. It is also, she suggested, a little edgier than whats available to consumers, in part because she encourages students to ask, How far can you push it?
Relying on open-source software has the advantage of making collaboration easy, and rendering your work transparent and flexible. Anyone, anywhere, can be your collaboratorand if your project is popular online, people can come out of the woodwork with fixes and new ideas. In May, an internal memo by an anonymous Google engineer leaked, which Googles head of AI later confirmed to be genuine. The tone was panicked, and it described the open-source community as a threat to software dominance that the big AI companies like Google and OpenAI have no hope of quelling.
I do think that open-source development is more likely to produce AI that empowers individuals than the tech giants, sci-fi author and AI commentator Ted Chiang told me when I asked him about a positive vision for the technology. Obviously, there are dangers with open-source, as seen with deepfake porn, but the tech giants pose major threats, too, just of a different sort.
Dinkinss approach to building generative AI is promising not just because its anarchic and leans on open-source technology, but also because its almost uncomfortably personal and intimate. Training her chatbot required a large corpus of text just to reach baseline functionality. Suggestions from others included Reddita famously contentious place that has hosted its share of white supremacy, and a source she dismissed outrightand the Cornell Movie-Dialogs Corpus, a collection of conversations from hundreds of movies. (That didnt sit right with her either, because movies, she said, have not been too friendly, or very supportive, to Blackness.)
Instead of one of these datasets, she said, I made oral histories with my family. With those, along with some other carefully curated materials, she told me she had a big enough dataset to make something sort of viable.
The idea of some future ChatGPT trained on the text of your family narrating the details of their lives in natural speech might sound downright alarming. But Dinkinss chatbot is not ChatGPT. She is in charge of her language model. She chooses who has access to it, and she puts it to her own uses. Its hers, and its guided by her own vision.
There are two ways in which the public can benefit from any technology: They can own it, or the technology goes in a direction that then generates high wages and high employment. Daron Acemoglu
There are two ways in which the public can benefit from any technology: They can own it, or the technology goes in a direction that then generates high wages and high employment, Acemoglu, the economist, told me. He stressed that the public owning the whole AI sectorturning it into a state-owned enterprise like one you might see in Chinaisnt his first choice, though it may be for some on the left.
In any case, Acemoglu said, the key questions should be the same no matter how far to the left someone is: Can we use this technology to empower people? Because if you do that, it pushes up wages for diverse skills, and thats the best way of serving the public.
The theoretical possibilities that kicked off this essay may have creeped you out, or sounded more thorny than they did utopian. I proposed a rudimentary concept along those lines to Chiang, and shared similar ideas with another sci-fi author, Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, since theyre much better storytellers than I, and the fictional scenarios were ultimately shaped by what they said. Chiang, for instance, told me he certainly wondered about the possibility of a personal AI agent which works on your behalf rather than on a companys behalf, and whether theres a viable business model for such a thing.
I have my own ideas about how or even whether an AI agent that purports to advocate for older people seeking medical carewhich, to be clear, does not yet existshould be a profit-making enterprise. Thats just one of the subjects that ought to be active topics for discussion among people who dont work in Big Tech. Currently, these questions are being mulled over in the corridors of power, well before the rest of us have the chance to form our own answers.
Dont get me wrong: Im not saying we all need to (or should) think happy thoughts about AI and hope against hope that our dreams will come true. But if ordinary people have a reasonable, shared vision for what AI can do for us, then even if it doesnt materialize, well be able to articulate exactly what Big Tech stole away.
Tech bosses hold a monopoly on visions for the AI future. It should be smashed as soon as possible.
The U.S. House was set to vote on a proposal aimed at making it easier for people to know their healthcare costs upfront on Monday evening, but the proposal was pulled from the calendar late Monday afternoon.
Its unclear if or when the proposal will be scheduled again for a vote.
The bill focuses on the problem that many people dont know the true cost of their healthcare services until after they have already received the care and they get stuck with the bill.
The bipartisan bill dubbed the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act would require hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers and diagnostic laboratories to publicly list the prices of their services.
This legislation is a critical step forward in the fight to make sure that all Americans can afford their healthcare, said Sophia Tripoli, Senior Director of Health Policy for Families USA. This is about making sure families have financial security and that the squeeze theyre starting to feel between their family budget month after month, that they have more insight into being able to plan.
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The legislation is the result of House Republicans and Democrats working on the issue in several committees.
Earlier this year, lawmakers held a hearing to discuss the proposal and efforts by the federal government to address rising healthcare costs.
Its nearly impossible for people to plan ahead and budget for their healthcare costs, said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), the sponsor of the bill.
The lack of transparency makes it difficult to compare across providers in advance of receiving care, said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), a co-sponsor of the bill.
The measure also adds new rules for the so-called middlemen, known as Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs).
It requires PBMs to give employers detailed information on prescription drug spending.
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While there is bipartisan support, the bill is still facing some opposition from the healthcare industry and from some Democrats.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent a letter to House leadership last week expressing concerns about new regulations.
The AHA supports the suspension of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) reductions for two years and appreciates your work to include this provision, however hospitals and health systems strongly oppose efforts to include permanent site-neutral payment cuts, the AHA wrote. In addition, the AHA has serious concerns about the added regulatory burdens on hospitals and health systems from the provisions to codify the Hospital Price Transparency Rule and to establish unique identifiers for off-campus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs).
Some House Democrats also say the proposal falls short and is missing elements to improve transparency with private Medicare plans and private ownership of healthcare facilities.
The bill needs a two-thirds majority in the House to pass.
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Billy Chemirmir would pose as a healthcare aid or maintenance worker man in order to force his way into the homes and senior living centres of the unsuspecting, elderly women he preyed on in the Dallas area over a two-year span, smothering them with a pillow and stealing their valuables.
Time after time, their deaths were initially determined to be from natural causes, even as family members raised the alarm about missing jewelry.
It wasnt until a 91-year-old woman survived an attack in 2018 that Chemirmir was ultimately caught. The woman told police he had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took off with her jewelry.
The next day, police found Chemirmir clutching jewelry and money, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box. The attack and the findings inside the jewelry box opened a door to a disturbing pattern of suspicious deaths of elderly women in the area.
In October 2022, Chemirmir learned he would be living the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted in two of the killings, with one ending in a mistrial. The prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Chemirmir was also accused of killing dozens of other women and later indicted on 22 capital murder charges: 13 in Dallas County and nine in Collin County. But he escaped death once again last month when prosecutors in Collin County said that after the two convictions, they would not seek the death penalty in their cases.
Some of the victims family members who previously faced an expressionless Chemirmir at his sentencing, told him that the ultimate crime did not receive the ultimate punishment.
On Monday, Chemirmir was found dead in his prison cell, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Hannah Haney. He was 50 years old.
Ms Haney said that Chemirmirs cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant, but said she couldnt release the cellmates identity or how Chemirmir was killed.
Billy Chemirmir ( 2022 Shafkat Anowar // The Dallas Morning News)
Chemirmir, who had always maintained his innocence, was serving two sentences of life without the possibility of parole at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, located about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
Last week, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it was implementing lockdown measures in response to a rise in dangerous contraband and drug-related inmate homicides, The Associated Press reported.
At the time of that announcement last Wednesday, the department said there had been 16 inmate-on-inmate homicides so far this year.
With the lockdown, the prisons were limiting the movement of inmates and their contact with outsiders. In addition, inmates and staff were undergoing intensified searches. A heightened drug testing protocol was also implemented.
Ms Haney said that the Office of Inspector General is investigating his death.
How a jewelry box led to Chemirmirs arrest
Chemirmir was caught when Mary Annis Bartel, 91, survived an attack in 2018 and told police that the man had forced his way into her home at Parkview Elderly Assisted Living facility in Frisco, a community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took her jewelry.
Ms Bartel, who died in 2020, described in a taped police interview that Chemirmir had appeared suddenly at her door and was wearing green rubber gloves as he forced her to the ground and held a pillow over her face.
Police said they found Chemirmir the following day in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box.
Documents in the jewelry box led them to the home of Lu Thi Harris, 81, who was found dead in her bedroom.
After Chemirmirs arrest, police across the Dallas area re-examined deaths, and the charges against him grew. Many of the victims children have said they were left perplexed by the deaths at the time, as their mothers, though older, were still healthy and active.
Chemirmir was convicted in the killing of 87-year-old Mary Brooks
Chemirmirs first capital murder trial was for the slaying of Lu Thi Harris, but it ended in a mistrial in Dallas County.
He was later convicted in a retrial for Harris death and was then convicted of a second killing in the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
Authorities initially believed Brooks had died of natural causes, though family raised the alarm that many of her favourite pieces of jewelry was missing.
Her shopping bags were left on the counter, and a coral necklace and several diamond rings were gone, prosecutors said.
In affidavits, police have said that surveillance footage placed Chemirmir at a Walmart store at the same time that Mary Brooks had been shopping there, a day before her body was found.
Portraits of the victims of Billy Chemirmir are displayed on chairs ahead of victim impact statements in Chemirmirs trial in October ( 2022 Shafkat Anowar // The Dallas Morning News)
What did the victims families say to Chemirmir?
Fifteen of the victims families faced Chemirmir in court after he was convicted and sentenced in Dallas County in October.
Some of the families offered forgiveness while others said they felt like the full extent of justice wasnt served.
We are choosing to forgive you, Lu Thi Harris granddaughter, Karen Vuong, said in a prerecorded video. That doesnt mean that we dont think you deserve to feel and experience the consequences of your actions. We still think that you do.
But Cheryl Bixler Pangburn, whose mother Marilyn Bixler was killed at Parkview Frisco in 2017, told Chemirmir the ultimate crime did not receive the ultimate punishment.
And therefore, ultimately, some of us will never feel like you got the justice that you deserved, she said.
In Ellen French Houses victim impact statement, she told Chemirmir that she wanted him to see two photos of her mother: one of Norma French alive, the other after the 85-year-old was killed.
This is my beautiful mother, House said as she displayed the first photo. This is my mother after you pried her wedding ring off of her finger that she couldnt even get off.
Who was Billy Chemirmir?
Chemirmir told police during interviews that he had worked as a caregiver and security guard, and made money buying and selling jewelry.
During a phone interview from jail in 2021, Chemirmir denied all the charges against him and told The Dallas Morning News that he was 100 per cent sure I will not go to prison.
I am not a killer, Chemirmir told the newspaper at the time. Im not at all what theyre saying I am. I am a very innocent person. I was not brought (up) that way. I was brought (up) in a good family. I didnt have any problems all my life.
Chemirmir previously told the media he was born and raised in Kenyas Rift Valley and that hes the son of a wealthy farmer. Chemirmir said he began working as a caregiver in Kenya and he moved in 2003 to the US, where he sold cars and began working as a senior caregiver in Dallas.
According to The Associated Press, he had worked as a nurse in his native country of Kenya, but appears to not have been legally working in healthcare in the US.
Shared micromobility company Bird has acquired competitor Spin from Tier for $19 million, including $10 million in cash, $6 million in a vendor take back and $3 million as a hold back.
Tier had purchased Spin from Ford back in March 2022 to expand its presence in the U.S., but Tier has struggled to maintain its lead and reach profitability. The company raised a convertible note round in May as it searched for a buyer. There have been reports that Voi, a micromobility operator out of Sweden, is in talks to buy Tier.
Tier will remain a separate entity with its own app, according to a company-wide email sent to Tier employees and viewed by TechCrunch. The email described the change as similar to when Tier purchased Spin from Ford, "the main change is that Spin is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bird Rides Inc."
The news that Bird, another operator struggling to reach profitability or even sustainability, is buying Spin is surprising. Bird closed out its second quarter with negative free cash flow of -$1.8 million, but that gap is starting to close as the company slashes costs.
Bird says the transaction is expected to have upwards of $20 million in synergies and will add immediate growth to its earnings, in part due to recent operational restructuring. In August, Bird replaced its CEO Shane Torchiana with Michael Washinushi, formerly CFO, as interim CEO.
Spin delivered about $45 million in net revenue in the 12 months ending in June 30, 2023, which brings Bird and Spin's combined net revenue to $265 million for that period.
Spin has operations in more than 50 cities and university campuses, and Bird says the overlap is minimal. The acquisition gives Bird a larger geographic footprint. Another puzzling outcome, considering Bird in October 2022 exited several dozen U.S. cities in order to downsize.
Bird says it will use the acquisition to expand in cities like Baltimore, Salt Lake City and Washington D.C.
"Spin is a great financial and strategic acquisition for Bird and we expect this acquisition will enable us to achieve long term sustainable profitability. In addition to our overall market leadership in North America, the company now holds a leading market share position in key markets, more new vehicles, cutting-edge technology and a significantly stronger financial position, said Washinushi in a statement. Bird and Spin have many strategic synergies, which we believe will have an immediate impact in the third quarter.
The buy adds Spin's fleet of over 60,000 vehicles under Bird's purview, including many newer models with battery swapping capabilities -- something Bird has lagged on that has had an effect on its efficiency and bottom line. Many of Spin's fleet also use Drover AI's sidewalk detection technologies.
Most of Bird's fleet in the U.S. is run by contractors, or "fleet managers." Part of Bird's previous strategic mission to become more sustainable was to bring more fleet managers in-house. Bird says it does not plan to change Spin's operating model at all. The company-wide email sent to Tier employees said that with the exception of a small number of employees, no personnel decisions are being taken and no market closures are happening in the immediate term.
This story has been updated to include information from a Tier company-wide email.
A Black Texas high school student who was suspended because his loc hairstyle violated the districts dress code was suspended again upon his return to school Monday, an attorney for the family told CNN.
Darryl George has been suspended for more than two weeks because his loc hairstyle violates the Barbers Hill Independent School District dress and grooming code, according to his family.
The code states that male students hair will not extend, at any time, below the eyebrows or below the ear lobes, CNN previously reported.
Allie Booker, an attorney representing the family, told CNN Tuesday that school officials have asked George and his mother to meet to discuss the continued disciplinary action over his hairstyle violations.
The family has been given a Wednesday deadline to meet with school officials, the lawyer said.
Darryl George, left, a 17-year-old junior, and his mother Darresha George, right, speak to reporters before school starts at Barbers Hill High School. - Michael Wyke/AP
What I expect for them to try to do is to put him out of school, Booker told CNN. But they wont do it with our consent.
The family was previously told the teen would be placed in a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program, also known as alternative school, if he didnt cut his hair, Booker said.
In a statement shared with CNN, David Bloom, director of communications for the Barbers Hill Independent School District, said the district is unable to provide any comment with respect to disciplinary matters involving a student.
George, a junior at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, received multiple disciplinary action notes and was placed on in-school suspension for wearing his locs hairstyle in a ponytail, his mother, Darresha George, previously told CNN.
She said Darryl was suspended the same week the states CROWN Act, a law prohibiting discrimination based on ones hair texture or protective hairstyle such as locs and braids, went into effect.
His mother told CNN the family is considering legal action.
She also said school officials told George his loc hairstyle violated the district dress code which also states, Male students hair must not extend below the top of a t-shirt collar or be gathered or worn in a style that would allow the hair to extend below the top of a t-shirt collar, below the eyebrows, or below the ear lobes when let down.
George was initially reprimanded by a school official for his locs and for wearing frayed jeans, which are also prohibited.
His mother previously told CNN the school said the 17-year-old he could change his clothes but he would also have to cut his hair.
When the teen did not cut his hair, he was put on in-school suspension.
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By Humeyra Pamuk
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States is engaging in diplomatic outreach after Azerbaijan launched "anti-terrorist activities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday, U.S. officials said, adding that the incident was particularly dangerous.
A senior U.S. State Department official said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was likely to get involved in the next 24 hours in the diplomatic engagement already under way on the tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Blinken discussed the situation and stated the need for de-escalation, Interfax reported, citing the Armenian government.
Azerbaijan launched military action in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, a step that could presage a new war in the volatile area but which Baku said was necessary to restore constitutional order and drive out Armenian military formations.
A second senior State Department official said the incident overnight was "particularly egregious and particularly dangerous, so we'll obviously be in touch with all sides."
Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory but part of it is run by breakaway ethnic Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland. It has been at the center of two wars - the latest in 2020 - since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
This week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was able to make simultaneous aid deliveries via the Lachin corridor and a separate road linking Karabakh to the Azerbaijani city of Aghdam.
Despite that, tensions have risen sharply this month, with Armenia and Azerbaijan accusing each other of building up troops.
"It's concerning that this happened overnight, especially because we did see some progress yesterday with shipments moving through the Lachin corridor," the first official said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have already fought two wars over Karabakh in the three decades since the Soviet Union collapsed. Both had been part of the Soviet Union.
Analysts say successive rounds of talks, mediated variously by the European Union, the United States and Russia, have brought the two sides closer to a permanent peace treaty than they have been for years, but a final settlement remains elusive.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Howard Goller)
(Bloomberg) -- Chinas Vice President Han Zheng told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that both sides need to meet each other halfway in a meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.
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China-US relations face a lot of difficulties and challenges, Han, the No. 2 official in the Chinese government, told Blinken as the two men sat across from each other at long tables in a conference room at Chinas UN mission. It needs us both to display more sincerity, more efforts, and meet each other halfway.
Mondays was the latest in a series of meetings between senior officials from both sides in recent months ahead of a potential visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to San Francisco for an economic summit in November.
Its a good thing that we have this opportunity to build on the recent high level engagements that our countries have had, to make sure that were maintaining open communications, and demonstrate that we are responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries, Blinken told Han.
The meeting in New York comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations, with geopolitical tensions persisting over issues from the future of Taiwan to trade, human rights and the global impact of Chinas economic slowdown.
Read More: How China Aims to Counter US Efforts at Containment: QuickTake
Adding to uncertainty about Chinas direction, Xi has recently made abrupt changes to his cabinet-level officials. That includes the surprise ousting of the countrys foreign minister, Qin Gang, after just seven months in his new job. That was followed by the disappearance of Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who US officials believe has also been removed from his post.
Han, who told Blinken he hoped the US would follow through with pragmatic measures to pursue the healthy and stable development of US-China relations, was a surprise replacement at the UN meetings for Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who has been a familiar face at the top of Chinas foreign policy system for years and met with Blinken on the sidelines of last years UN General Assembly. Over the weekend, Wang met with President Joe Bidens National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan for talks in Malta that centered on Xis potential attendance at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
The Biden administration has attempted to calm tensions by sending numerous cabinet officials to Beijing recently, including Blinken in June and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in late August.
Read More: Huaweis Surprise Phone Gives Ammo to Biden Doubters on China
The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing just that, Blinken told the Chinese delegation on Monday before the two sides began talks.
While US officials say that keeping channels of communication open is important, these visits have achieved little in terms of concrete diplomatic or geopolitical gains. In early September, shortly after Raimondos visit, Chinas top spy agency in a relatively rare interjection into foreign policy said the Biden administrations strategy toward Beijing was doomed to fail.
--With assistance from Jacob Gu and Lin Cheng.
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Rep. Lauren Boebert s (R-Colo.) estranged husband is defending the Colorado lawmaker amid blowback after her behavior during a performance of Beetlejuice last week led to her being removed from the theater.
I am asking for you all to show grace and mercy towards Lauren in this troubling season, Jayson Boebert wrote in a Facebook post Monday. She deserves a chance to earn your forgiveness and regain trust. I have broke her down in so many ways, but she will come out stronger as she always does, and so will I.
Lauren Boebert, along with a male companion, were escorted out of a Denver theater in the middle of the performance last week for causing a disturbance, including vaping, singing and taking flash photography. The theater said she and the man initially refused to leave the venue, even after an employee threatened to get the police, according to The Associated Press. While being escorted out of the theater, the lawmaker appeared to give the finger to security guards.
The incident was first reported by The Denver Post. A spokesperson for Lauren Boebert initially denied that she had been vaping, but video has since surfaced showing her doing so.
The lawmaker, who married Jayson Boebert in 2006, filed for divorce in May, citing irreconcilable differences.
In his post Monday, Jayson Boebert complimented her as an exceptional wife, mother and now grandmother. He said he takes full responsibility for his actions and deeply regrets the choices he made during their marriage.
This has been a devastating divorce that I hold all responsibility for, he wrote. It upsets me that everyone believes she left me over fame or new lifestyle. That is far from the truth.
I stand behind you. You are the hardest working person I know, selfless and overflowing with love, he continued, addressing his estranged wife. I hate the attacks that are coming your way. In part, this is my fault and you dont deserve this.
Facing backlash over the incident, Lauren Boebert has apologized for her behavior and for falsely denying she had vaped.
The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and Im truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community, she said in a Facebook post Friday. While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that.
In an interview with TMZ on Monday, the lawmaker said she is canceling all future date nights.
Its always hard whenever theres gravity put on the voters. Im here to provide levity, and lift burdens off of people, she told TMZ. So anytime that theyre carrying mine, its something that you kind of feel deep inside.
But ultimately, all future date nights have been canceled. And I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date, she added, an apparent reference to reports that her date at the performance is a Democrat.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Photo: Contributed Kelowna-Mission MLA Renee Merrifield
Over the summer, I have met with hundreds of you, and talked about your concerns.
In those coffee conversations, community gatherings, meetings, and even at the local grocery store, issues about safety and crime echoed loud and clear.
And there are things being done about it.
Recent news celebrated the fact that open drug use is no longer legal within 15 meters of playgrounds, skate parks or splash parks. This was something I and my BC United colleagues had asked for since decriminalization was brought in by the B.C. government in January.
The Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas has initiated a task force on community crime and is trying to find practical solutions for the crime we see on our streets. This task force is a group of uniquely equipped concerned citizens, like former RCMP officers, retired justice employees and non-profit executive directors.
Last week was a bad one for crime on the streets of B.C., as we heard about three people who were stabbed at the Light Up Chinatown Festival (in Vancouver).
The system has failed us, and something has to change.
The premier announced a retired police chief, Bob Rich, has been hired to conduct a study to see why this happened. While we await yet another report to tell us what we already know, B.C. United, led by Kevin Falcon, released our action plan to restore public safety in B.C.
Falcon calls the plan, United for a Safer B.C. He made the following comment, which rings true because I have heard similar sentiments from the people I met with this summer.
Under the NDP, the system is not working for anyone except criminals, while law-abiding citizens are no longer able to enjoy public parks and amenities or, in many cases, even walk in the streets without fear. Enough is enough. It is time for decisive change that balances compassion and consequences, and puts community safety ahead of a criminals right to re-offend. Together with our Better is Possible mental health and addictions plan announced earlier this year, BC Uniteds public safety plan will deliver that change.
So here are a few of the key initiatives found in the BC United Safer B.C. plan:
Aggressively fill the vacancies
The most resonant note in our plan is bolstering our local police force. This ambitious proposal seeks to recruit 500 new officers across the province. Breaking that down, for Kelowna, that translates to more trained eyes ensuring safety in our favourite spots: our parks, lakefront, and local businesses.
But it's not just about numbers. Its about efficacy, dedication, and community understanding. We propose attractive incentives such as hiring bonuses and housing allowances to ensure were not just getting more police, but were attracting dedicated, community-minded individuals.
End the governments decriminalization pilot
Our vision reflects a two-pronged approach to drugsfirmness coupled with empathy. We suggest moving away from the governments broader decriminalization framework. The objective is to ensure beloved public spaces, from our City Park to the serene stretches of Waterfront Park, remain family-friendly and free from open drug use.
However, and this is crucial, theres a deep vein of compassion running through this proposal. Instead of a simplistic jail-or-nothing approach, there's a strong emphasis on rehabilitation. The idea is to provide those battling addiction with pathways to healing and recovery. Such an approach not only addresses the immediate issue but ensures that, long term, were nurturing a community where individuals can overcome their battles and find their place constructively within our city's tapestry.
Craft a plan of accountability, while fostering community
Our plan resonates with the ethos that every action has consequences. Whether it's an unfortunate bike theft or an act of vandalism, these aren't mere statistics; they impact real lives, our lives. The drive is towards ensuring that no offence, however minor, slips through the cracks. The proposal emphasizes community service and other restorative actions that, in my belief, could further galvanize the bond of our Kelowna community.
In conclusion, the roadmap Falcon laid out is both comprehensive and attuned to local needs. While policies and plans will always have their mix of supporters and detractors, the overarching aim here is undeniablea safer, united and thriving Kelowna.
The residents of Kelowna deserve to feel safe. And just like the Mayors Task Force on Crime Reduction, its time to try new initiatives.
My question to you is this:
What do you want the provincial government to do to restore public safety?
I love hearing from you and read every email. Please email me at [email protected] or call my office at 250-712-3620.
Renee Merrifield is the BC United MLA for Kelowna-Mission.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
A Gaston County judge increased the bond for John Alexander, who is accused of breaking into a Belmont Abbey College dorm and sexually assaulting a student.
Alexander is now being held under a $500,000 bond.
The judge called the case, frightening and egregious.
PAST COVERAGE:
Police said the suspect sexually assaulted a student on Sept. 3 while she was sleeping.
Officials at Belmont Abbey said he got into the dorm after someone used a chair to prop open a door.
Higher bond
Alexander first turned himself into the Mecklenburg County Jail where a judge gave him a $50,000 bond. So, the suspect got out of jail.
The Gaston County judge denied that amount to apply a much higher bond.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Gaston County district attorney asked for the bond to be increased to $500,000 and the judge agreed. Alexander was back in jail.
I am very happy the DA, Travis Page, took the steps to get the bond changed but also to add additional precautions if he were to get out, said Andy Leonard, the chief of Belmont Abbey College Campus Police.
Those precautions include a GPS tracker, house arrest, and regular checks with the court. If Alexander gets out of jail, the only place he would be allowed to go is work.
I think that adds a sense of relief not only to the victims of this particular case but all of the people who live on campus, Leonard said.
Junior Cassie Bumgardner said the increased bond is a relief.
It gives me a very comfortable feeling knowing that he is not going to be able to come back on campus and disturb other students, Bumgardner said.
She praised Belmont Abbeys handling of the situation and hopes it never happens again
I think they have handled it amazingly overall just starting from the videotapes and identifying him very fast, Bumgardner said.
More victims
In court, Channel 9 learned three more women have come forward with allegations against Alexander.
Investigators didnt say if those claims are related to Belmont Abbey.
VIDEO: Man accused of sexual assault, break-in at Belmont Abbey dorm turns himself in
The United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain defended worker demands for a 40% pay increase.
He appeared on CBS on Sunday saying a pay rise won't stop automakers from making "billions in profits."
He also criticized Tesla CEO Elon Musk , calling him "greedy."
The United Auto Workers union boss defended worker demands for higher wages by slamming "greedy people like Elon Musk" for what he called "pitiful" pay at Tesla.
Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union which represents workers at the Detroit 3 automakers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis appeared on CBS' Face the Nation program on Sunday to defend the union's proposals for a 40% pay rise, shorter work weeks, and cost of living adjustments.
The union went on strike just after midnight on September 15 after failing to reach an agreement with the companies before its deadline.
A Ford statement said it rejected the proposals because it "would more than double Ford's current UAW-related labor costs, which are already significantly higher than the labor costs of Tesla, Toyota, and other foreign-owned automakers in the United States that utilize non-union-represented labor."
Fain responded to the criticism by claiming that increasing wages significantly shouldn't necessarily lead to an increase in the cost of cars.
"They could double our wages and not raise the price of the vehicles and still make billions in profits. It's a choice. And the fact that they want to compare it to how pitiful Tesla pays their workers and other companies pay their workers, that's what this whole argument's about," Fain said on the program.
"Most of these workers in those companies are scraping to get by so that greedy CEOs and greedy people like Elon Musk can build more rocket ships and shoot their self into outer space. And that's unacceptable."
He added: "Workers in this country have got to decide if they want a better life for themselves, instead of scraping to get by paycheck to paycheck, while everybody else walks away with the loot."
Musk chimed in on the ongoing negotiations between the Detroit 3 automakers and the UAW.
"We pay more than the UAW btw, but performance expectations are also higher," he wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Quite a few of our factory techs who work on the line have become millionaires over the years from company stock grants," he added.
Contrary to the Tesla CEO's claims, analysts found that Tesla spends about $45 an hour on labor costs but Ford, GM, and Stellantis are spending roughly $20 more at about $66 an hour on their labor, per previous Insider reporting .
If the UAW wins on its demands for higher pay, the Detroit 3's hourly labor costs could more than double to $136 an hour, according to Wells Fargo estimates.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Ukrainian and Russian forces are battling each other for islands in the Dnipro River, UK intel said.
Both sides have "launched raids with teams in small boats," said the UK's Ministry of Defense.
The troops are using the opportunity to distract from combat on the front lines, the intel said.
Ukrainian and Russian forces fighting in Moscow's war against Kyiv are battling each other for small islands in the sprawling Dnipro River as a way to distract from the fierce combat on the front lines, British intelligence said on Tuesday.
The UK's Ministry of Defense said in a daily intelligence update that "heavy fighting" has continued in September around the islands in the lower Dnipro River of Ukraine's Kherson Oblast region, which it says "currently marks the front line" of the war.
Ukrainian and Russian troops have "launched raids with teams in small boats against the islands and against the opposite riverbanks," the UK's Ministry of Defense said.
According to the UK intel, the amount of forces involved is smaller compared to other fronts, but "both sides see the area as strategically important."
"It also provides the opportunity to draw their adversary's units away from the intense combat in Zaporishshia and Donetsk oblasts," the British intelligence said.
In June, Ukraine launched its counteroffensive to reclaim Russian-occupied territory in the east and south of the country, but it's been largely slow-moving.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Two years ago, the Supreme Court set the stage for its 202122 term through a wild abuse of the shadow docket after lawmakers in Texas passed a deliberately unconstitutional abortion ban in the form of a vigilante law called S.B. 8. Texas jammed the court into deciding the future of Roe v. Wade in an unsigned order in the dark of night, an incomprehensible decision that presaged the formal end of Roe nine months later. Last year, the term opened under the cloud of the unprecedented leak of the Dobbs opinion and the halfhearted in-house investigation that followed, as well as unusually public sparring between the justices. By last November, the court was hit with a revelation that conservative donors used pay-to-play schemes to influence the justicesa story that snowballed into a full-on corruption crisis after the revelation that justices were accepting exorbitant gifts from the same group of millionaires and billionaires with a vested interest in court decisions about money in politics, hobbling labor, and strangling the administrative state. Both of the past two terms, in short, opened with a self-inflicted face punch to the courts legitimacy.
The third full term in thrall to the 63 supermajority is now upon us, and it brings yet another crisis of the courts own making: The Alabama Legislature has defied meticulous instructions to create a second congressional district in the state where Black residents could effectuate their voting power. In last Junes Allen v. Milligan, the court explicitly upheld a lower court ruling ordering that a second such district be created. Alabamaled by Republicans in the statehousespent the last few months declining the courts explicit instructions. The new maps were drawn with a single majority-Black district. The district court issued a furious rebuke. Now Alabama has come back to the Supreme Court in an emergency posture requesting a green light to use their still-illegal maps, claiming that the decision in Milligan didnt in fact mean what it said it meant.
Why? Because in his concurrence in Milligan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the determinative fifth vote in the case, signaled to the lawmakers that hed be open to deciding the matter in their favor on a different theory that was neither briefed nor argued: Things might come out differently, he wrote, winkingly, if they came back armed with the argument that even if Congress in 1982 could constitutionally authorize race-based redistricting under the Voting Rights Act for some period of time, the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future. (He called the Voting Rights Act a form of race-conscious redistricting because it forbids states from diluting the votes of racial minorities, and measuring dilution requires consideration of race.) Alabama legislators reasonably think Kavanaughs in the bag based on intelligence thats either an inside source or a straightforward reading of his Milligan concurrence. So they refused to follow the directives of the court in the hopes that in this go-round, they win.
Theres a lot to hate about starting off a third term of the Supreme Court under the shadow of both ethical scandals and a states decision to simply ignore an express opinion of the court while the ink on that decision is still wet. It calls to mind the era in which Southern states disregarded the holding of Brown v. Board of Education because, well, who was gonna make them do otherwise? And indeed, even if one was on the losing side of Milligan, its hard to imagine that to any justice on the current court the fact of state nullification feels awesome. No matter where you come down on the issue of judicial legitimacy, states flipping the bird at the highest court of the land is a bad look.
But theres something else happening here, and its worth a mention. Its not just that state legislators and lower court judges have become so certain that they have six justices to rubber stamp anything that they are now prepared to try anything. Its also that they no longer believe in the legal process at all; as the Nations Elie Mystal noted, drug dealers display more transactional deftness than Alabama lawmakers. Years ago, there was an elaborate ritual dance: Justice Clarence Thomas would drop a line in an opinion or a dissent that someone should bring a challenge to X or Y, and in the fullness of time, some group would bring the challenge. It would take a few years, sure, but the case would be tried, a record would be developed, an appeal would be filed, and the case would duly arrive at the court, awaiting its resolution. The nondelegation doctrine. The individual right to bear arms. The end of preclearance under the Voting Rights Act. The return of state-sponsored prayer. The gutting of the Eighth Amendment. Thomas precipitated all of these developments by putting out a call for a case that was answered by conservative litigators plotting their next challenge.
But Kavanaugh finds himself at this unfortunate moment in Supreme Court history in which nobody cares to do any of those steps anymore: He sends his smoke signal to the litigants, and they just straight up defy the courts orders. Its not just that the dog has caught the car with the conservative legal movements capture of the Supreme Court. Its that the dog has eaten the car and spits it out anytime its honks are not to the dogs liking. Kavanaughs concurrence in Milligan does not read as a road map for Alabama to disobey this very ruling; rather, it appears to be a warning that the justice may not enforce the Voting Rights Act in future rounds of redistricting over the coming years. In the old days, litigants wouldve grasped this distinction. When Thomas mused that the Second Amendment might protect a personal right to own firearms in 1997, he was not encouraging gun owners to start ignoring state gun regulations, but planting the seeds for a someday in the future ruling (which came with 2008s D.C. v. Heller).
With characteristic ineptitude, Kavanaugh tried and failed to pull off this same trick, vastly overestimating the patience of the modern conservative legal movement. It has not been three decades or three years since Milligan, but three months; its the same exact case with the identical damn facts. And yet, here we are, waiting to see if the outcome will flip just because Alabama lawyers copied and pasted Kavanaughs concurrence into their new briefs. And while we all wait to find out, Alabama voters find themselves in the same posture they were in for the months and years they waited for judicial relief. As Sherrilyn Ifill would remind us: Is this how we do law now?
In fairness, its easy to see why Kavanaugh thought that slipping a time bomb into his Milligan concurrence was a good idea. When the court handed down that decision, it was still putting the finishing touches on its ruling against affirmative action. There, the majority stressed that a previous Supreme Court ruling had demanded that race-conscious admissions programs have a termination point, with durational limits and sunset provisions. Time was now up. Never one for subtlety, Kavanaugh wrote a whole concurrence highlighting this alleged constitutional bar on long-term racial classification. You can imagine him hard at work in his chambers, trying to square his votes in these cases and landing on this temporal limit as a harmonizing principle. You can also envision his satisfaction at having it both ways: He got to rule against Alabama (which litigated the case with arrogant certainty that it had the court in its pocket) without giving up the weapon he may want to use in the future to kill whats left of the Voting Rights Act.
But, again, the key words in Kavanaughs Alabama concurrence: in the future. We are not here to overestimate Kavanaughs capacity for strategic thinking. But it is nearly impossible to imagine that he would fault Alabama for failing to raise this temporal argument not as a clue for future litigants, but as a weird trick the state could pull out to nullify his own decision. The justice is already touting his vote in Milligan as proof of the Supreme Courts integrity and nonpartisanship. Does he really want to reverse course so quickly? More to the point, did he despise his own vote about the importance of the VRA so deeply, and hand it out so cheaply, that he put a three-month expiration date on it? The justice craves public admiration and surely adored the liberal acclaim that greeted his surprise position in Milligan.
We are still skeptical that, all along, Kavanaugh was planning to squander that goodwill at the very first chance he got. But, again, the dog has caught the car. And were about to find out how the car intends to manage that.
Marion Post releases OVI checkpoint results
The Ohio State Highway Patrol, in conjunction with the Marion City Police Department and Marion County Sheriffs Office, held an OVI checkpoint Friday on Mount Vernon Avenue near Forest Lawn Boulevard in Marion.
Officers made contact with 694 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint. Nine vehicles were diverted for further investigation and three impaired drivers were arrested for OVI.
MARMET wins major award
The Marion Metro Drug Task Force (MARMET) has been named the 2023 Task Force of the Year by the Ohio Narcotics Association of Regional Coordinating Officers or Ohio NARCO.
The six-officer unit is responsible for almost 2,200 grams of heroin/fentanyl seized, 419 indictments, 145 search warrants and 236 illegally possessed guns seized in 2022. It also recently concluded a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation that resulted in 3 kilograms of fentanyl, 2 kilograms of cocaine, 1 kilogram of methamphetamine; 15 firearms; and $25,546 being seized by investigators. Thirty-two people were arrested out of this large scale investigation.
The Marion Metro Drug Task Force has been named as the 2023 Task Force of the Year by the Ohio Narcotics Association of Regional Coordinating Officers..
I could not be more proud of the men and women who work in the MARMET Drug Task Force. They are so deserving this award, and I know that their work is saving lives in Marion County," said Marion County Sheriff Matt Bayles.
I have seen time and time again the great work the MARMET Drug Task Force does, both detectives and support staff. I was not surprised that they were recognized by their peers as being one of the best task forces combatting drug trafficking in the entire state, stated Ray Grogan, Marion County prosecutor.
These detectives and all of the deputies, officers and prosecutors who work with the MARMET Drug Task Force certainly make an #MPACT in our community. I am proud of all the work that led to this great recognition," Marion Police Chief Jay McDonald said.
Chamber hosts ribbon cutting for High Road School of Marion County
The Marion Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors hosted a ribbon cutting Sept. 13 to celebrate the grand opening of the High Road School of Marion County at 1101 Owens Road West.
The High Road School of Marion County is a non-public school for students in grades K-12 (ages 5-22) who can benefit from a placement in a structured and therapeutic program. The school supports students with a variety of exceptionalities including emotional disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and intellectual developmental delays.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the opening of High Road School of Marion County, a non-public school for students ages 5-22 that supports students with emotional disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and intellectual developmental delays.
The school serves several local districts, including Marion City, Pleasant Local, River Valley and Delaware City Schools. It's the result of a collaborative effort between Marion City, Pleasant and River Valley school districts to provide a more localized program for students with the greatest needs. The High Road School supports districts with addressing enrollment growth, need increase, and supports neighboring counties with limited resources for specialized education services.
Upcoming meeting:
Marion County Park Board, 6 p.m., Wednesday, outdoor pavilion at Marion Community Foundation Lake, Tallgrass Trail, 650 Herr Road, Marion
Marion Star
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: OVI checkpoint results, MARMET wins Ohio NARCO award, ribbon cutting
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a meeting at United Nations headquarters
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, shakes hands with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres during a meeting at United Nations headquarters
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain's Prince William met with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday and discussed "efforts required to accelerate the fight against climate change and protect the environment," a U.N. spokesperson said.
"They also discussed efforts to enhance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as financing for development," the spokesperson said.
William visited the 193-member world body where world leaders have gathered for the annual high-level meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. Guterres will host a "no-nonsense" climate ambition summit on Wednesday.
Leaders are also meeting at the United Nations on Monday and Tuesday on the Sustainable Development Goals, a 2015 "to-do" list that includes wiping out hunger and extreme poverty, battling climate change and achieving gender equality.
Guterres warned that the goals "need a global rescue plan."
William is visiting New York for the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit where he will unveil this year's finalists for the award he launched in 2020 to help find solutions to major environmental problems.
"Eighty years ago, the world came together in this great city to find a new way, through the U.N., to solve our shared challenges," William said after arriving in New York. "I know our generation can take the bold action we need to make changes towards a healthy and sustainable world."
On Tuesday he will host business leaders, climate activists and policymakers, with those present including U.N. Special Climate Envoy Michael Bloomberg, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The trip is William's first to New York since 2014. He visited Boston last December for the Earthshot Prize award ceremony, when he also met President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols and Michael Holden; Editing by Leslie Adler)
The owner of the New York City day care center caring for a 1-year-old boy who died after apparent opioid exposure says she had no idea drugs were in the Bronx facility.
Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were charged with murder with depraved indifference, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a controlled substance. The charges come after four children became sick, and one later died, from apparent fentanyl exposure Friday at Divino Nino day care.
An attorney for Mendez, Andres Manual Aranda, said Monday, My client had no knowledge that [drugs] were there. Shes the one that called the police. She called 911 and 311.
Officials found a 1-kilogram package containing a "white powdery substance" that was identified as fentanyl inside a hallway closet at the day care, the criminal complaint said.
Authorities also recovered two kilogram press devices inside that hallway closet and another inside the bedroom where Brito resided, the complaint said. New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Friday that such devices are commonly used by drug dealers when packaging large quantities of drugs.
Brito, the cousin of Mendezs husband, had been renting a bedroom in the day care for two to three months, Aranda said.
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a fatal fentanyl poisoning at a daycare center in the Bronx. (NBC New York)
My client feels terrible for what happened. She feels awful for the children, Aranda said, noting Mendez never noticed other children having symptoms of drug poisoning before.
A plea of not guilty was entered for Mendez and Brito at their arraignment Sunday in Bronx criminal court, and both were remanded without bail.
An attorney for Brito could not be immediately reached for comment Monday.
The New York City Police Department said on Friday officers responded to a 911 call at around 2:45 p.m. and found a 1-year-old boy, a 2-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl "unconscious and unresponsive" inside the day care.
All three children were administered Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote.
The 1-year-old, Nicholas Dominici, was pronounced dead at a Montefiore Medical Center. His cause and manner of death remain under investigation.
The 2-year-old is listed in critical condition and the 8-month-old in stable condition.
Police said a fourth child, a 2-year-old boy, was taken to BronxCare Health System by his mother after she picked him up from the day care center around 12:15 p.m. that day. The mother noticed he was acting "lethargic and unresponsive" once they returned home. At the hospital, he was also administered Narcan to save his life. He is in stable condition.
The criminal complaint said that the three surviving children suffered from acute opioid intoxication.
It further revealed that a urine sample from the 8-month-old girl revealed the presence of fentanyl. Additional toxicology tests on biological samples from the other children were done and are pending results, the complaint said.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Authorities have not said how the children came into contact with the drug. A 2019 study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found that in cases of children opioid-exposure, nearly all cases involved kids who orally ingested the substance, rather than touching or inhaling it, The Associated Press reported.
The FDNY detected no carbon monoxide nor other environmental toxins in the day care and the day care employees present did not experience "symptoms of poisoning or exposure to environmental toxins," the complaint said.
The home-based day care center had opened in January and passed two routine inspections to secure its license. On Sept. 9, it underwent a surprise inspection by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and no violations were found, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Ashwin Vasan said Friday.
The New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) said in a statement: OCFSs top priority is the health and safety of all children in child care programs and we are deeply saddened by this tragedy. At Governor Hochuls direction, we are investigating this horrific incident and we cannot comment further on an active agency and law enforcement investigation.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducts inspections for family day cares and school-age child care programs.
Such assessments include background checks on care providers, health and safety inspections of the space, and operators must disclose if there are any other individuals regularly present on the premises. Its not clear if in the Sept. 9 check whether Brito was disclosed as living in the day care space.
NBC News has reached out to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for comment.
Mendez is due back in court on Sept. 21 and Brito on Sept. 22.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
An El Paso man arrested by federal agents in a firearms trafficking sting claimed he was following the instructions of his brother, who is a Juarez police officer, court documents stated.
A federal grand jury last week handed up an eight-count indictment against four alleged members of a border smuggling group that was transporting drugs to the U.S. and firearms to Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said.
Crime: FBI arrests 'El Alaska' after kidnapped migrant found at El Paso area stash house
Earlier this summer, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives learned of a deal to purchase 20 AK-47 type rifles and two .50-caliber Barrett rifles that would be taken to Mexico, officials said.
AK-47, .50-caliber rifles were to go to Mexico
While under surveillance by ATF agents, Rene Hernandez Cordero, 51, of Juarez, and Jesus Gerardo Ramos, 52, of El Paso, arrived in separate vehicles for a meeting with someone at a Circle K gas station on Dyer Street.
ATF agents would later learn that Hernandez was in possession of about $63,000 to pay for the weapons that Ramos would then be tasked with transporting to Mexico, stated a complaint affidavit filed by an ATF agent.
The men were shown photos of the rifles they were to receive and then drove to a nearby storage unit, where they received some of the firearms and were arrested by ATF agents.
An AK-47 style rifle. File art.
When questioned by agents, Hernandez said he was coming from Juarez to pay for the firearms for an unknown person. He refused to provide information about the unknown subject, the complaint stated.
Archives: Sinaloa cartel member, corrupt Juarez cop gets life in US prison
According to the complaint, Ramos told the ATF that he was sent by his brother, a current Juarez police officer, to pick up the firearms to transport them in his pickup to Mexico. Ramos also showed agents text messages from his brother showing the location of the Circle K and the storage facility. The name of Ramos' brother was not disclosed.
Ramos and Hernandez each face federal straw purchasing and trafficking in firearms charges, each punishable by up to 15 years in prison, authorities said. Hernandez also faces charges of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute and bulk cash smuggling, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Meth, fentanyl smuggled into El Paso
A woman and a young man were also indicted in connection with drug smuggling tied to the gun trafficking case, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.
Maria del Rosario Navarro Sanchez, 37, of Mexico, is accused of coordinating the delivery of methamphetamine and fentanyl pills from Mexico into the U.S. through El Paso border ports of entry, officials said.
FBI agents raided the El Paso home of Bryan Alexis Munoz Castro, 20, who was allegedly a courier for Navarro Sanchez, involved in smuggling drugs over the border.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid more potent than morphine that has become one the largest drug threats in the El Paso border region. File art.
FBI agents seized more than 5 pounds of meth (about 2.5 kilos), more than a half pound of fentanyl (300 grams), more than $6,400 in drug money and two cellphones, authorities said.
More: Filmmaker visits El Paso to share stories of fentanyl's deadly impact on area families
Navarro Sanchez is charged with two counts of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one count of straw purchasing firearms, and one count of trafficking in firearms.
Munoz Castro is charged with three counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, two counts of conspiracy to possess a controlled substance with intent to distribute, one count of straw purchasing firearms and one count of trafficking in firearms.
If convicted, they each face up to 10 years to life in prison for each drug charge and a maximum of 15 years for each firearm charge, officials said. Munoz Castro also faces five to 40 years in prison on another drug case.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: ATF, FBI arrest alleged members of El Paso gun, drug trafficking ring
A memorial of balloons, flowers, signs and candles was erected outside Double D's Pub, 1501 S. High St., after two women were fatally shot and a man was critically wounded Sept. 13 following an altercation there. The brother of one of the two women killed is being sought by police on a warrant for murder.
The brother of one of two women fatally shot last week outside a bar in Columbus' Merion Village has been identified by city police homicide detectives as the suspect wanted in connection with the shooting.
Joseph Bryan Howard, 19, of the Scioto-Southland neighborhood on the Far South Side, is wanted on an arrest warrant for murder obtained by detectives.
The shooting was reported around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 outside Double D's Pub at 1501 S. High St.
An affidavit filed by detectives in Franklin County Municipal Court Clerk's Office alleges that a physical altercation occurred outside the Doublc D bar involving Tavia Copley and Taya Mollette. Howard, who is the brother of Mollette, then started firing a handgun, striking Copley, Mollette and a third person, identified in the affidavit as Daniel Brumfield.
As Copley was on the ground, Howard shot Copley in the head and then fled, the affidavit alleges. Copley was pronounced dead at the scene by Columbus Division of Fire medics at 11:46 p.m.
Mollette and Brumfield were transported in critical condition to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center, Downtown.
Mollette died about an hour after the shooting at 12:29 a.m., the affidavit states.
The murder warrant issued for Howard is for the death of Copley. Additional charges are expected in the death of Mollette and for wounding Brumfield.
Howard is described as a 5-foot-8 white male weighing about 220 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information on Howard's whereabouts is asked to call 911, contact Columbus police homicide detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All tips to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.
tmoorman@dispatch.com
@taijuannichole
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Suspect named in triple shooting at Double D's Pub in Merion Village
The opposition among Bulgarians to Ukrainian grain has been incited by Russian propaganda, the country's Transport Minister Georgi Gvozdeikov told the local TV channel bTV on Sept. 18, as local farmers launched protests against grain shipments from Ukraine.
The Bulgarian parliament voted last week not to unilaterally prolong the EU ban on domestic sales of Ukrainian agricultural products, which expired on Sept. 15.
However, the Bulgarian government asked Kyiv to withhold its grain shipments until the goods, quantities, and mechanisms for licensing regimes are fully specified, the Sofia Globe reported.
Fearing the influx of cheaper Ukrainian grain, Bulgarian farmers launched a nationwide protest against the decision, blocking the roads across the country.
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According to Gvozdeikov, the profits of Bulgarian farmers actually rose in 2022 compared to the previous year even though the import of Ukrainian grain was allowed at the time.
The minister said that the opposition to agricultural imports from Ukraine has a political purpose and is meant to "destabilize the clear (political) direction that Bulgaria took."
Gvozdeikov added that Bulgaria has nothing to lose by importing Ukrainian produce and can even benefit from the resulting value-added tax (VAT).
The Euroactiv news outlet said that disinformation on Ukrainian grain has been widely spread on Bulgarian social media. According to some of the false claims, the products from Ukraine contain heavy metals, such as uranium.
The Bulgarian authorities carried out inspections and found no such issues, Euractiv reported.
In May, the Commission imposed a ban on sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed in five EU countries: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria. The nations requested the measure due to fears from local farmers that cheap Ukrainian imports would drive down agriculture prices.
While the Commission decided not to extend the ban after Sept. 15, citing data indicating that Ukrainian imports would no longer negatively impact local markets, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary decided to continue to restrict imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Romania said it will also extend the restriction by 30 days until Kyiv and Bucharest can work out a precise import licensing plan.
Read also: Media: Kyiv denies grain proposal rejected by 5 EU members
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Photo: IHIT A police crime scene photo shows police tape marking the location of a wallet and cell phone belonging to a 13-year-old girl found dead in Burnaby's Central Park on July 19, 2017.
Advisory: This story includes disturbing details about a murder trial.
A sexual assault expert will have to wait till Tuesday to find out if shell be allowed to give her opinion on whether injuries to a girl found dead in a Burnaby park six years ago appeared to be more consistent with consensual or non-consensual sexual activity.
Dr. Tracy Pickett, the director of B.C. Women's Hospital sexual assault service, took the witness stand at the trial of Ibrahim Ali in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Monday.
Ali has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 13-year-old girl, whose body was found in Central Park on July 19, 2017, less than two hours after her family reported her missing at about 11 a.m. on July 18, 2017.
Ali has pleaded not guilty.
The girl cannot be identified because of a publication ban.
Pickett testified she had been asked by Crown counsel in January 2021 to give an expert opinion on the injuries found on the body of the young teen, including tearing within the vagina and anus and bruising within the walls of the rectum.
She said she had formed a number of opinions based on photos of the body at the crime scene, autopsy photos, an autopsy report, a report by a neuropathologist and a toxicology report.
"Did that include forming an opinion with respect to whether the constellation of findings, including injuries, appeared to be more consistent with consensual or non-consensual sexual activity?" Crown prosecutor Isobel Keeley asked.
Before Pickett could answer, defence lawyer Ben Lynskey objected.
Justice Lance Bernard told the jury he would deal with the objection in their absence on Tuesday, and Keeley skipped over the question.
She went on to ask Pickett her opinion on the likely cause of the injuries to the girl's genital area.
Pickett said the injuries were "highly indicative" of blunt force trauma inflicted during penetration with a relatively large object, such as a penis.
She said it was "highly unlikely" that a smaller object, such as a tampon, could have caused the injuries.
Pickett's testimony is expected to continue on Tuesday.
The Crown's theory is that Ali and the girl were strangers to one another and that he attacked her on a trail in Central Park, dragged her into the forest and strangled her to death while sexually assaulting her.
The defence has not outlined its theory but has suggested the killer and whoever had sex with the young teen "either forced sex or sex" are not the same people.
A 7-year-old boy who suffered burns over nearly half of his body in a Russian air strike on Vinnytsia has returned home after over a year of treatment in Germany, according to the First Medical Association of Lviv on Sept. 19.
At the time of the attack, doctors could give no guarantee that Roman Oleksiv would survive his injuries.
Read also: Deadly Russian missile strike at Vinnytsia kills 23, wounds more than 117 (UPDATED)
Roman's mother was killed in the attack, and his father was torn between organizing his wife's funeral and saving his son. Roman could not get the necessary medical help in Vinnytsia, so he was taken to Lviv, but even there, doctors were not sure he would survive.
"He arrived in a very serious condition. In fact, he was critical. We did everything we could, especially our ICU and anesthesiologists. We hoped he would survive. But we thought that most likely he would not even survive to be transported abroad," recalls Lesya Strylka, a resident burns specialist.
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
Doctors had to stabilize his condition and prepare him for transport abroad for specialist treatment. After a week, they were successful, and Roman was subsequently cleared to travel to Dresden.
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
Read also: Young Ukrainian gymnast wins gold medal after losing leg in Russian missile strike
"In Germany, Roman underwent surgery three times a week. They removed non-viable tissue, glass, and muscle fragments from his leg, replaced his eardrum, and performed numerous skin grafts. Every day, they tried to save him. Then a miracle happened a second time," the First Medical Association of Lviv said in a press release.
"The boy, whose chances of survival were minimal, recovered. In Dresden, for the first time since his injury, he opened his eyes and took his first stepsin front of his father, who had already lost his wife and could not lose his son."
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
Now, a year later, Roman and his father have returned to Ukraine where the boy is undergoing rehabilitation. His life is no longer in danger, but the child will have to wear a special compression mask to minimize scarring.
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
' (The first medical association of Lviv)
Read also: Six-year-old boy killed, brother seriously injured in Russian artillery attack
The First Medical Association of Lviv has launched a fundraising campaign to purchase specialist machinery to ensure that Ukrainian hospitals can help patients during rehabilitation, including Roman.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A bus from Texas carrying dozens of migrants arrived at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday. They were taken to St. Anthony's Croatian Catholic Church, shown here on July 1. (Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times)
The 14th bus of migrants shipped from Texas since mid-June arrived in Union Station in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, according to city officials and advocacy groups.
A member of the L.A. Welcomes Collective, a group of nonprofits, religious organizations and government agencies that share resources to aid migrants, tweeted that the bus carried 40 asylum seekers from Venezuela and El Salvador.
Of that total, 12 families, including 14 children, disembarked at 9:15 a.m.
We focus on people, not drama or politics, the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles, an L.A. Welcomes Collective member, said in a tweet Tuesday. Together, the city, county, & non-profits will continue to coordinate and support each other until our new neighbors feel they have an opportunity to start again.
About 580 migrants have reached Los Angeles since the first bus departed Texas on June 14 , said Jorge-Mario Cabrera, CHIRLA's director of communications. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott put the number at "over 480 migrants" before Tuesday's arrival.
In June, Abbot explained his reason for sending them. L.A. is "a major city that migrants seek to go to, particularly now that its city leaders approved its self-declared sanctuary city status," he said. "Our border communities are on the front lines of President Biden's border crisis, and Texas will continue providing this much-needed relief until he steps up to do his job and secure the border."
Read more: Thirteenth bus of migrants arrives at Union Station from Texas
City staff became aware of the impending bus arrival a day earlier, said Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Mayor Karen Bass.
The city has continued to work with city departments, the county, and a coalition of nonprofit organizations, in addition to our faith partners, to execute a plan set in place earlier this year, Seidl wrote in a statement.
The bus left Brownsville, Texas, on Monday at 7:18 a.m., Cabrera said.
With previous buses, weve had situations where families have told us they havent had a meal in 25 hours and were only given chips and water, if that, Cabrera said.
This bus was unique, given that 90% of the migrants are from Venezuela and only one family was from El Salvador, Cabrera said. Previous buses have included families from Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Russia and other countries.
Read more: L.A. City Council pushes for legal action against Texas governor over migrant buses
After reaching Union Station, the families were sent to nearby St. Anthony Croatian Catholic Church, which borders Chinatown.
There, families were fed and children provided toys, Cabrera said. Families often engage with faith leaders, mental health counselors and health department personnel for medical evaluations and vaccines, Cabrera said.
Eventually families meet with case managers, while some are transported to relatives in other parts of the state or country.
Cabrera said that 80% of asylum seekers have family in the Los Angeles area and stay.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
For the first time, Cal Poly has been named the best overall regional university in the western United States in U.S. News & World Reports 2024 college rankings, while continuing its now 31-year streak as the best public university in the region.
It moved up to the top overall spot, which includes 120 masters-level public and private universities in the western United States (those that do not offer doctorate degrees), after ranking No. 3 in 2021 and No. 2 in 2022 and 2023, taking the the No. 1 spot from University of Portland. The private Oregon university came in second to Cal Poly this year.
Cal Polys rise in the rankings was part of a wider trend among large public universities after U.S. News adjusted its methodology, dropping or downplaying some measures that long favored private schools.
We appreciate this recognition of the quality and dedication of our faculty and the reputation of Cal Polys Learn by Doing approach to education, which continues to attract the best and brightest students to our San Luis Obispo campus, Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong said in a news release. Our consecutive ranking streak is especially exciting for our current students as they ready to begin classes, and to their families and supporters. It also burnishes our reputation among employers who value a Cal Poly graduate as an individual who can be counted on to produce on their first day on the job.
Cal Polys College of Engineering continues to shine in the rankings, as well.
Among universities without an engineering doctorate program, the undergraduate engineering program at Cal Poly moved up two spots from No. 7 last year to No. 5 in 2024. Cal Poly shares the fifth spot with the United States Naval Academy, according to the report.
The rankings for the undergrad engineering programs were based entirely on peer assessments, and Cal Poly ranked No. 1 in computer engineering and No. 2 in civil engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.
Cal Poly was also ranked best for veterans and the most innovative among western regional universities, according to the report.
The U.S. News & World Report ranks institutes of higher education based on data reported from participating colleges and universities and, in lieu of complete information from the schools, drawn from third-party sources, according to the college ranking methodology.
The magazine weighs a number of factors when determining how to rank a particular school, such as student outcomes (graduation, student retention, debt), faculty resources (student-faculty ratio, financial resources), peer assessment and more.
Heres how Cal Poly ranked, according to the report:
No. 1 out of 120 universities for best university in the West which includes public and private schools. Cal Poly is followed by the University of Portland in Oregon in second, Cal Poly Pomona in third, and St. Marys College of California in Moraga and San Jose State University tied for fourth.
No. 1 out of 58 universities for best public university in the West. Cal Poly was followed by Cal Poly Pomona in second, San Jose State University in third, CSU Stanislaus in fourth and University of Washington in Tacoma in fifth.
No. 1 out of 29 universities for best college for veterans in the West, followed by Cal Poly Pomona, San Jose State University, St. Edwards University in Austin and Whitworth University in Spokane.
No. 1 of four universities for most innovative schools in the West.
No. 17 out of 38 for best value universities, moving up one spot from last year. Cal Poly is in the middle of the pack, with Westminster University in Salt Lake City in first, St. Marys University of San Antonio in second and Whitworth University in Spokane in third.
No. 5 out of of 273 universities for best undergraduate engineering program (no doctorate). This list pulled from a national pool, with Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana in first, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in Massacusetts and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont tied for second, United States Military Academy West Point in fourth and Cal Poly in fifth place.
No. 75 out of 115 schools as top performer for social mobility in the western region. First place went to Mount Saint Marys University in Los Angeles, followed by CSU Monterey Bay in second, CSU Stanislaus in third, and Cal Poly Pomona, Fresno Pacific University, La Sierra University all tied for fourth.
U.S. News & World Report evaluated 1,840 schools to rank top colleges and universities on a national level as well as within four regions: North, South, Midwest and West. The western United States region includes 120 universities and colleges in California, Colorado, Texas and other western states.
Princeton University ranked No. 1 nationwide for national universities, followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Stanford and Yale.
The 17th annual California Capital Airshow is returning to Sacramento County at Mather Airport this weekend.
Known for its thrilling aircraft, the two-day event will take flight Sept. 23 and Sept. 24, according to a news release. The displays include the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds jet demonstration team, civilian aerobatic performances and exhibits.
This year, the festival is debuting The Hangar. If you get an upgraded ticket for $135, you can experience a tasting from four local breweries, as well as a hard kombucha, mead and a distillery pour.
When is the airshow?
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.
Performances with the aircraft run from noon to 4 p.m.
How much are tickets?
Tickets are on sale now and you can only get them online. Admission is good for one day.
Discounted tickets with up to 15% off are also available until Friday if you sign up to be an Air Show Insider.
General admission for those 16 years old and up is $50, but with the Insider discount, it starts at $42.50. Kids 15 years old and under enter free.
There are VIP tickets called the Capital Club. Theyre $300, but with the discount, $250 for people 16 years old and up, and $125 for kids 2 to 15 years old. This admission includes prime, open-air seating, a catered buffet lunch and bar.
Other packages include:
Flight Line Club Chalet: $300 for people 16 and up $175 with the discount; $150 for kids 2 to 15 years old $85 with the discount. It comes with free parking, prime viewing, tent area, buffet lunch and unlimited beverages.
Hanger Chalet: $150 for those 16 and up $135 with the discount; $75 for kids 2 to 15 years old. Amenities include alcoholic tastings at the Hangar, free parking and seating.
Mather Club Chalet: $100 for those 16 and up $90 with discount; $75 for kids 2 to 15 years old $65 with discount. This includes free parking and seating.
Whats free?
For the first time this year, there will be a free kick-off event on Sept. 22.
From 6 to 8 p.m., at Village Green Park in Rancho Cordova, you can meet airshow performers and the Thunderbirds. There will be live music, food trucks, activities and a chance to win free airshow tickets.
What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
Water pours from a pipe in the San Bernardino Mountains, where BlueTriton Brands collects water for bottling. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
For decades, water has been siphoned from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains and piped downhill to be bottled and sold as Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water. After a years-long fight over the bottled water operation in the San Bernardino National Forest, California water regulators ruled Tuesday that the company must stop taking millions of gallons through its pipelines.
The State Water Resources Control Board voted unanimously to order the company BlueTriton Brands to cease and desist taking much of the water it has been piping from tunnels and boreholes in the mountains near San Bernardino.
Environmentalists, who have campaigned for years against bottling water from the forest, praised the decision.
Were incredibly pleased this unlawful removal of the publics water from public lands will finally end, said Michael OHeaney, executive director of the nonprofit Story of Stuff Project.
Read more: A bitter feud centers on source of Arrowhead bottled water
The boards members adopted the order after the agencys staff determined the company has been unlawfully diverting water from springs without valid water rights.
The controversy erupted after a 2015 investigation by the Desert Sun revealed that the U.S. Forest Service was allowing Nestle to continue siphoning water from the national forest using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date.
The Forest Service subsequently began a review of Nestles permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestle piping water out of the national forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the companys water rights claims, which led to the states investigation.
BlueTriton Brands took over the bottled water business from Nestle in 2021. Lawyers for the company argued during the hearing that the board's process was rife with problems, and that they are entitled to continue using the water.
The proposed order is inconsistent with existing rights, said Robert Donlan, an attorney for the company. The board simply has no authority to ignore the law.
But the board disagreed and said the order upholds state law.
The reality is that you see the interception of what is otherwise water that would be naturally flowing, said board Chair E. Joaquin Esquivel. "This order not only protects these resources but helps maintain faith in the larger water rights system."
Local environmentalists have argued the companys pipeline removes precious water that would otherwise flow in Strawberry Creek and nourish the ecosystem. The system of 4-inch steel pipes collects water that flows with gravity from various sites on the steep mountainside above the creek.
Its sick. They sucked it dry and now fish cant even live there, said Amanda Frye, an activist who campaigned for years against the water-bottling. Frye, who lives in Redlands, spent long hours combing through historical archives researching the case, and repeatedly told the board the company lacked valid water rights.
Records show about 143 acre-feet (46.5 million gallons) flowed through the companys network of pipes in 2021, filling a roadside tank where trucks pick up water and haul it to a bottling plant.
State officials ordered the company to immediately stop taking water for bottling from most of its water-collection tunnels and boreholes at 10 sites, but the order doesnt cover three other boreholes that capture water.
Read more: Lawmakers approve plan to strengthen oversight of California water rights
A spokesperson for BlueTriton Brands said in an email that the company and its predecessors have collected water from Arrowhead Springs in Strawberry Canyon in an environmentally responsible and sustainable way for more than 125 years.
BlueTriton, based in Stamford, Conn., took over the operation when Nestle Waters North America was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co.
The boards order marks a radical departure from express statutory limitations and legal precedents concerning the agencys water-rights permitting authority, the company said.
BlueTriton said the ruling creates water rights uncertainty and negatively affects other water users that rely on groundwater. The company said it will vigorously defend our water rights through the available legal process.
The State Water Board ordered BlueTriton to comply with the order by Nov. 1. The company has 30 days to appeal to the board.
The springs are the original source of Arrowhead brand bottled water, named after an arrowhead-shaped natural rock formation on the mountainside.
The company has said Arrowhead bottled water is sourced from 11 spring sites across California, as well as one spring in Colorado and another in British Columbia. The source north of San Bernardino is the only one located in a national forest.
Although the states order calls for halting unauthorized diversions of water, it doesnt prevent BlueTriton from continuing to divert water in the same pipeline under other rights to the long-vacant Arrowhead Springs hotel property, which is owned by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians.
The company has for years had a federal "special-use" permit allowing it to use its pipeline and other water infrastructure in the national forest, paying an annual fee that as of last year was $1,950. There has been no fee for using the water.
Dave Anderson, the national forests special uses and lands program manager, said the agency will respond once the ruling is officially in print. Based on the decision, Anderson said he expects we will not be able to issue them a permit because the agency requires applicants to present proof of water rights.
State officials said the order effectively restricts 80% of BlueTritons diversions from the watershed.
Jule Rizzardo, assistant deputy director of the agency's water rights division, served as the lead prosecutor and said the case is the most important she has worked on in her 25-year career.
This enforcement action illustrates the power of public participation, the impacts of unauthorized diversion and the need for accountability, Rizzardo said.
Roberto Cervantes, the boards supervising engineer, said the public involvement in the case, which included thousands of comments submitted, proves that when the community unites, even giants can be held accountable."
Frye, who filed one of the complaints that prompted the states investigation, said she thinks the result shows that the public does have a voice.
It's California's water, so it goes for the people of California and for the forest, Frye said. I'm hoping that we can see Strawberry Creek flow again, the springs back to their natural state, and the forest ecosystem return to what it was before the diversions.
Rachel Doughty, a lawyer for Story of Stuff Project, said the involvement of Frye and other local people over the last several years was instrumental in leading to the boards decision. She said the conclusions of the states investigation were clear, and that while public resources were taken and depleted over the last century, the company and its predecessors "were raking in profits and misrepresenting their right to the water."
Lisa Belenky, senior counsel for the Center for Biological Diversity, said by adopting the order, the state has taken a critical first step toward protecting this creek and Strawberry Canyons springs, as well as the fish, wildlife and riparian vegetation that depend on these waters.
Steve Loe, a retired Forest Service biologist who has called for shutting down the pipeline, said he was thrilled about the decision.
Getting the water back into the stream and creeks will allow them and surrounding habitat to recover, benefiting all plants and wildlife, Loe said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (L) said he informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month of allegations that India was involved in the June assassination of a Sikh leader on Canadian soil. Photo by Press Information Bureau/UPI
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat Tuesday, one day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the South Asian nation of being involved in the June assassination of a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia.
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying it informed Canada's High Commissioner Cameron MacKay of its decision to banish the official, who was not named in the statement but was identified by media outlets as Olivier Sylvestere, who serves as the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India.
India's government gave the official five days to leave the country -- marking a new low point in relations following Ottawa's Monday ejection of an Indian official in connection with the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18.
In India's statement, which is circulating on social media, the ministry accused Canadian diplomats of meddling in India's domestic affairs and working to undermine the country's standing on the world stage.
"The decision reflects government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement said, providing no details.
Trudeau announced the allegations Monday from the floor of the House of Commons, stating that he had "personally and directly" informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the charges during the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month.
During his remarks, Trudeau said there were "credible allegations of a potential link" between the Indian government and Nijjar's killers, while calling on Modi's government to fully cooperate with the investigation.
"In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter," he said.
Nijjar was shot to death inside a vehicle in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sikh temple, where he served as president in Surrey, B.C.
Police said the 45-year-old was shot multiple times.
U.S. officials have not commented on Canada's accusation, which comes as the United States was shoring up its relations with India. U.S. President Joe Biden announced an extensive package of defense and technology agreements during Modi's state visit to the White House in June.
Despite human rights challenges, the U.S. considers India a key ally amid rising tensions in Southeast Asia, where China was becoming more aggressive toward its neighbors.
Nijjar, meanwhile, was an outspoken supporter of Khalistan, a movement that seeks to create a separatist homeland for Sikhs in India's Punjab region and led peaceful protests against human rights violations committed by India against believers of his minority religion, according to the World Sikh Organization.
The Indian government has labeled Nijjar a terrorist on accusations of being the leader of a Khalistan militant separatist group.
Though no specifics were offered, Trudeau on Monday said Canadian security agencies have for weeks been pursuing "credible allegations" linking agents of the Indian government with Nijjar's killing.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
"As you would expect, we've been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
After Trudeau spoke, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly told reporters during a press conference that they had expelled the head of the Research and Analysis Wing, which is India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada.
"Today, we're acting by expelling a key diplomat, but we will get to the bottom of this," she said, reiterating that she expects India's full collaboration.
India's foreign ministry has rejected Canada's accusations as "absurd" and said the allegations Trudeau made to Modi at the G7 "were completely rejected."
The ministry accused Canada in a statement of sheltering "Khalistani terrorists and extremists" and said Ottawa's inaction has been "a longstanding and continuing concern." It urged Canada to take legal action against "all anti-India elements operating from their soil."
"The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organized crime is not new," it said. "We reject any attempts to connect government of India to such developments."
The World Sikh Organization said that for months prior to Nijjar's death, he had spoken publicly about the threat to his life and that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies.
The organization said the significance of Trudeau's announcement for the Sikh community "cannot be understated."
"It should now be clear to all Canadians that the government of India is a terrorist state that has brazenly engaged in extrajudicial killings not only on its own soil, but also on Canadian soil," WSO President Tejinder Singh Sidhu said in a statement.
Nijjar is one of several Sikh leaders to be killed in the past few months in countries such as Pakistan and Britain.
Tensions escalated between Canada and India on Tuesday over Ottawas accusation that New Delhi may have been behind the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil, with both sides expelling senior diplomats as India rejected the allegation as absurd.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that his government was investigating credible allegations that Indian government agents had been involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India had branded a terrorist over his advocacy of an independent Sikh state. Nijjar, 45, was shot and killed in June outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver.
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, Trudeau told Parliament on Monday. In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
Hours later on Monday, Ottawa announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
New Delhi responded Tuesday by saying a senior Canadian diplomat had been asked to leave India within the next five days. The Indian foreign ministry said the expulsion reflected the governments growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
India has long accused Canada, where about 2% of the population is Sikh, of supporting a movement to establish an independent Sikh nation known as Khalistan in the northern Indian state of Punjab, where most of Indias Sikhs live. The separatist movement is outlawed in India but has supporters among the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada and Britain.
The Indian foreign ministry had earlier dismissed the Canadian allegations regarding Nijjars killing as absurd and motivated.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, it said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey (Chris Helgren / Reuters)
The ministry said the allegations had also been rejected when Trudeau raised them with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted Trudeau and other world leaders in New Delhi this month at the annual summit of the Group of 20 economies.
The White House said it was deeply concerned by Trudeaus allegations.
We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Relations between Canada and India were already tense, and unlike other world leaders Trudeau did not have a formal bilateral meeting with Modi during the G20 summit. The two countries have paused talks on an initial trade agreement that they said in May they hoped to seal by the end of this year, and Canada has also postponed a trade mission to India that was planned for next month.
During a brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Modi raised concerns with Trudeau over recent protests in Canada by pro-independence Sikhs.
They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship, the Indian foreign ministry said in a readout of the meeting.
The protests in Canada flared up again this summer after Nijjars death.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada, a nonprofit group, described Nijjar as an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.
Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies, it said in a statement on Monday.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 9. Credit - Evan VucciPOOL/AFP/Getty Images
Signs that fraught relations between Canada and India were heading further south became clear during the G-20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , unlike other Western leaders, did not hold formal bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . Instead, the two leaders raised serious concerns with each other on the sidelines of the summit, where Modi brought up continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada, according to his office.
Experts say India-Canada tieshistorically driven by trade and the presence of a large Indian diaspora in Canadahave slowly deteriorated in recent years over claims from India that Canada has fostered sympathy toward a Sikh separatist movement, and counter-claims from Canada accusing Indian officials of interfering in its domestic politics.
That relationship hit rock bottom on Monday when Trudeau made an explosive statement before the Canadian Parliament that Ottawa was pursuing credible allegations from Canadian intelligence against New Delhi for playing a role in the assassination of a prominent Sikh Canadian leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil in June. The Canadian government expelled a senior Indian diplomat shortly after Trudeaus comments; India swiftly retaliated by issuing a statement Tuesday that denied any involvement in Nijjars death and expelled an unnamed senior Canadian diplomat.
Read More: What to Know About Canada and Indias Dispute Over the Killing of a Sikh Leader
Today's allegation has dealt a major blow to the relationship; the damage to the relationship will not be easily repaired, says Brahma Chellaney, a former adviser to India's National Security Council, based in New Delhi.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center think-tank, says the combination of increasing Sikh activism in Canada, growing Indian pressure on Ottawa, and Ottawa's unwillingness to address Indian concerns has plunged bilateral relations into a deep crisis today. He adds, The knives are out.
How did Indias relationship with Canada fare historically?
Canada is home to the worlds largest Sikh population outside India, who number nearly 770,000 people, or 2.1% of the countrys population.
Tensions among Indian and Canadian officials first simmered in 2015, when Trudeau came into power and appointed four Sikh ministers to his then 30-member cabinet. In the past, Indian diplomats have also raised issues over Sikh Canadians who express support for the Khalistan movement, which calls for a separatist Sikh homeland in India. One Hindu temple in Canada was vandalized last year with graffiti that read death to India in Urdu and Khalistan, and Sikh Canadians have organized local referendums over Sikh independence from India.
In 2018, Trudeaus trip to India was criticized when his delegation, which included a Sikh contingent, met Jaspal Atwal, a Sikh man convicted of the attempted murder of a visiting Indian cabinet minister. (Canada later rescinded Atwals invitation to a dinner reception in New Delhi.)
But these issues appeared to have taken a backseat when the two countries began to boost ties to counter Beijing. Until recent months, India-Canada relations were in a relatively good place, says Kugelman. Commercial ties were robust and strategic convergences, especially shared concerns about China, were strengthening cooperation, he says.
Seeking to diversify the Canadian economy, Trudeau saw India as a critical partner under its Indo-Pacific strategy, given the countrys growing economic and demographic importance in the region. As recently as May, both sides appeared optimistic that an early-progress trade agreement on automobiles, agriculture, and information technology would be signed.
How have India-Canada relations deteriorated in recent months?
In early June, Indias Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, warned during a press conference that Canada giving space to Sikh separatists was not good for the relationship between the two countries. The comments came in response to a question over a social media clip of a parade held by Khalistani separatists in Brampton, Ontario, on June 4. For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern because, very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote-bank politics, Jaishankar said, a reference to Sikh Canadians, who form a plurality of Indian Canadian voters.
Ten days after Jaishankars warnings, Nijjar was shot dead at a Sikh temple in Vancouver.
In a surprise move on Sept. 1, Canada paused trade negotiations with India. Last week, ahead of Trudeau's accusation, Canada canceled a trade mission to India planned for early October. Trade appears to have become a casualty of deepening tensions, Kugelman says.
Kugelman adds that rising tensions have coincided with growing Sikh activism, not only in Canada but also in the U.K., U.S., and Australia, including widespread protests held in March over the manhunt for another Sikh separatist leader, Amritpal Singh. "The stepped-up activism has sharpened New Delhi's concerns while Canada, citing freedom of speech, has held back," he adds.
What do Trudeaus accusations mean for wider diplomatic ties?
The spat will have ramifications for Canadas position globally. In the past, Canada, a middling Western power, has seen strained relations with other rising nations like China when, in 2019, Trudeau accused Beijing of "pressure tactics" to secure the release of a senior Huawei executive being held in Canada on charges of fraud linked to alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. In 2018, it had another spat with Saudi Arabia when Canadas foreign minister expressed support for several human rights activists detained by Saudi officials.
The latest turn of events in India came after Canada reportedly held weeks of behind-the-scenes discussions leading up to the G-20 summit with its closest alliesincluding Five Eyes intelligence-sharing countriesto publicly condemn Nijjars murder. But they avoided raising Trudeaus concerns with Modi publicly at the G-20, according to a Western official who spoke to the Washington Post.
On Tuesday, U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the White House was deeply concerned about the Canadian allegations. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Watson said in a statement.
Derek J. Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation, says it will be interesting to see how the Biden Administration handles the situation. Taking a stand either wayfor India or for Canadawould anger the other, he says. Regardless, I think the Biden Administration wants to keep India at its side at all costs to help counter China through the Indo-Pacific strategy. This is the top goal.
On Indias part, Kugelman says the country may go further in its response by demanding the allegations be retracted, by downgrading relations, by reducing security at the Canadian embassy, and so on, he says. Neither capital wants that, but let's be clear, this may be the lowest level to which this relationship has sunk. It won't be easy to return to the old normal anytime soon, he adds.
Write to Astha Rajvanshi at astha.rajvanshi@time.com.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Harkirat Kaur said she had a relationship with Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar that was like father and daughter before his killing in Surrey in June.
The 19-year-old Sikh activist said she was initially relieved to hear Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tell Parliament on Monday that "credible" intelligence linked India's government to the shooting death of Nijjar, who supported an independent Sikh homeland in India's Punjab province.
But that soon turned to resentment about why it took months to acknowledge what the community had been saying since Nijjar was shot dead in the parking lot of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara where he was president.
Why did it take so long? Why did it take someone to be killed for us to have a little bit of acknowledgment of what is happening? Kaur said outside the gurdwara.
Trudeau's announcement is spurring calls from B.C.'s Sikh community to better protect its members.
British Columbia Premier David Eby is also among those expressing concern. He said Monday he had received a briefing from Canada's spy agency about the "assassination" of Nijjar and was "deeply disturbed" by what he was told.
He called on the federal government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and "transnational organized crime threats."
"Canadians across the country must be safe from the interference of foreign governments, including being targeted for threats or physical harm, including murder," he said.
"Our democracy depends on it."
Eby said he needed more information from the federal government so the province could protect people at risk.
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement on Monday, rejecting allegations of a link between the Indian government and any act of violence in Canada.
Nijjar was shot dead as he sat in his pickup truck on June 18, in what police say was a targeted attack.
"I join with those in the Sikh and Punjabi community, and the broader province, demanding justice and answers," Eby said in his statement.
Surrey's mayor said she would monitor the situation.
"I am confident that law enforcement agencies will ensure that the integrity of Canadian democracy and the safety of our citizens are protected," Brenda Locke said in a statement Monday evening. "I hope that this investigation provides Mr. Nijjars family with the closure I am sure they seek."
Nijjar had been organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of his death.
Moninder Singh, spokesman for the B.C. Sikh Gurdwara Council, said a public inquiry into Indian interference in Canada "needs to happen immediately."
Singh, speaking at a press conference and subsequent interview at the Surrey gurdwara, said intelligence sharing with India put Sikh activists in Canada at risk.
In 2018, a framework for co-operating on anti-terrorism activities was established between Canada and India.
It commits both sides to co-operate in finance, justice and law enforcement, including at the operational level.
Singh said those intelligence-sharing agreements to us have always been problematic.
They've always placed Sikh activists at risk. We don't know what type of information is being shared. We don't know what type of monitoring goes on social media, Singh said. All of those things are very risky to us.
He said rallies would be held outside Indian diplomatic missions on Sept. 25.
Police in B.C. said in a statement late Monday that they were aware of Trudeau's comments but were not in a position to discuss specifics about their investigation.
Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of the province's Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said in the statement that investigators were working closely with "local, provincial and national police agencies and partners" in order to advance what he called a "priority investigation."
In June, IHIT said it had not linked the shooting to foreign interference and there was no reason to believe the Sikh community in Canada was at risk.
IHIT has said it is seeking two "heavy-set" gunmen who killed Nijjar. They are also seeking the driver of the suspected getaway car, a silver 2008 Toyota Camry.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the U.S.-based lawyer for the advocacy group Sikhs For Justice, said in a statement Monday that Nijjar had been killed for his leading role in organizing the unofficial referendum to establish a Sikh homeland that supporters call Khalistan.
The group, which has been staging a series of non-binding votes in several countries on the independence issue, said last week that the first stage of balloting in B.C. on Sept. 10 attracted more than 135,000 voters.
It said the second stage would be held on Oct. 29 and would add a second question about whether Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Verma was responsible for Nijjar's killing.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday she had deemed a different Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, as persona non grata. Joly said Rai is the Canadian head of New Delhi's Research and Analysis Wing, an intelligence agency.
In July, Joly had denounced posters accusing senior Indian diplomats of being "killers," saying they were "unacceptable."
India announced Tuesday that they were expelling a senior Canadian diplomat themselves, accusing Canada of interfering in "internal matters."
Kaur said that reflecting on the events since the death of Nijjar makes her "want to cry."
"The fact that it's been three months, and the fact that someone who was a prominent leader was killed. This is the first martyr from our community to be killed on Canadian soil. And the fact that it's taken three months (to blame India) this is insane."
Nearly 700 cancer patients, survivors and volunteers from every state are urging Congress to make cancer research and prevention a priority.
They met directly with federal lawmakers Tuesday during a series of meetings on Capitol Hill.
One of those survivors is Flecia Brown from Georgia. She was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer known as triple-negative in 2005.
My doctors were just trying to save my life, she said.
Brown said she went through chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation to survive.
I never had a doubt that I wasnt going to make it. I never had a doubt, she said.
Tuesday, Brown shared her story with lawmakers from her state while making the push for increased funding for research and prevention.
Flecia Brown is a breast cancer survivor from Georgia. Today she was one of hundreds from the @AmericanCancer Society who met w/lawmakers about increased cancer research funding plus bipartisan bills to improve prevention. We share her story & message to Congress tonight. pic.twitter.com/ohquswslnd Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) September 19, 2023
In the last 17 years that Ive been cancer free, Ive lost many, many friends and family members to different types of cancer, said Brown.
This comes as the American Cancer Society estimates nearly two million new cancer cases may be diagnosed this year alone.
During these meeting, volunteers also advocated for new bipartisan proposals like the Multi-cancer Early Detection Act. It aims to improve access to new cancer screenings for Medicare beneficiaries.
Weve had innovations through research on new ways to potentially detect cancers early and find cancers that are right now that may be unscreenable, said Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)
Another bill known as the Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening for High-risk Insured Men Act would waive out-of-pocket costs for individuals with the highest risk of prostate cancer. This includes black men and those with a family history of this disease.
If its caught early we can determine who needs to be treated and cure them, said Dr. Knudsen.
For cancer survivors like Brown, she believes this funding is more than just dollars in a budget.
Look at it as lives saved. Look at it as birthdays being had. Look at it as these people get to see their kids graduate from high school or college, they get to see their grandbabies be born, she said.
Dr. Knudsen said the ACS CAN is pushing for additional money for cancer research and early detection as part of this latest budget package.
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Nearly 700 cancer patients, survivors and volunteers from every state are urging Congress to make cancer research and prevention a priority.
They met directly with federal lawmakers Tuesday during a series of meetings on Capitol Hill.
One of those survivors is Flecia Brown from Georgia. She was diagnosed with a rare type of breast cancer known as triple-negative in 2005.
My doctors were just trying to save my life, she said.
Brown said she went through chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation to survive.
I never had a doubt that I wasnt going to make it. I never had a doubt, she said.
On Tuesday, Brown shared her story with lawmakers from her state while making the push for increased funding for research and prevention.
In the last 17 years that Ive been cancer-free, Ive lost many, many friends and family members to different types of cancer, said Brown.
Flecia Brown is a breast cancer survivor from Georgia. Today she was one of hundreds from the @AmericanCancer Society who met w/lawmakers about increased cancer research funding plus bipartisan bills to improve prevention. We share her story & message to Congress tonight. pic.twitter.com/ohquswslnd Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) September 19, 2023
This comes as the American Cancer Society estimates nearly two million new cancer cases may be diagnosed this year alone.
During these meetings, volunteers also advocated for new bipartisan proposals like the Multi-cancer Early Detection Act. It aims to improve access to new cancer screenings for Medicare beneficiaries.
Weve had innovations through research on new ways to potentially detect cancers early and find cancers that right now, may be unscreenable, said Dr. Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).
Another bill, known as the Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening for High-risk Insured Men Act, would waive out-of-pocket costs for individuals with the highest risk of prostate cancer. This includes Black men and those with a family history of this disease.
If its caught early we can determine who needs to be treated and cure them, said Dr. Knudsen.
For cancer survivors like Brown, she believes this funding is more than just dollars in a budget.
Look at it as lives saved. Look at it as birthdays being had. Look at it as these people get to see their kids graduate from high school or college, they get to see their grandbabies be born, she said.
Dr. Knudsen said the ACS CAN is pushing for additional money for cancer research and early detection as part of this latest budget package.
WASHINGTON Congress is struggling to perform its most foundational duties this year, and experts say its starting to take its toll on national security. Lawmakers are at an impasse as a government shutdown looms, theres plenty of uncertainty about the budget and one senator is blocking the promotions of hundreds of high-profile military officers.
The Pentagon is bracing for a government shutdown at the end of the month that would threaten troop pay while furloughing most of its civilian workers. The only hope to avoid it is a short-term funding bill that would still limit its ability to procure big-ticket weapons systems and start other new initiatives.
The Senate is also unlikely to confirm the presidents top military adviser, even as Gen. Mark Milley is required to step down as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the end of the month. His departure comes amid a logjam of more than 300 general and flag officer confirmations held up by Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., over the Pentagons new abortion travel leave policy. And hundreds more senior military nominees are on the way.
When youre dealing with a shutdown situation and the double whammy of Sen. Tubervilles hold, youre not going to have our sons and daughters the best trained, equipped or led, Arnold Punaro, a former Democratic staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Defense News. Were in the worst situation I think Ive ever seen when it comes to putting our fundamental national security at risk.
The looming failure of Congress to complete some of its most basic tasks has put additional pressure on the Defense Department, which has already become accustomed to operating under months-long stopgap funding bills for the past 25 years.
The issues on the Hill this month and this year are an extension of longer-term dysfunction, Elaine McCusker, a former Pentagon comptroller in the Trump administration who is now a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told Defense News.
Congress has a fundamental responsibility to pass budgets, and it almost never does it on time, she said.
Looming shutdown
House Republican leaders pulled their fiscal 2024 defense spending bill from the floor last week after they failed to whip enough votes from the right-wing Freedom Caucus to advance the $826 billion legislation. Democrats oppose the Houses FY24 defense spending bill because of Republican provisions that roll back the Pentagons abortion leave policy, medical care for transgender troops, diversity initiatives and climate provisions.
Republicans introduced a short-term spending measure on Sunday, but it includes an immigration bill opposed by the White House and Democrats. The partisan measure would extend government funding to Oct. 31. It would increase funding for the Defense Department and Veterans Affairs to the FY24 levels stipulated in the pending House appropriations bills, while cutting spending at other agencies 8% below FY23 levels.
The Freedom Caucus explicitly demanded Republican leaders add the immigration bill and spending cuts to the short-term funding bill last week, but many of its members nonetheless say theyll still vote against it.
The Defense Department, preparing for the worst, released shutdown implementation guidance last week.
Shutdowns, say current and former Pentagon officials, are a self-imposed quagmire. Almost all of the departments civilian staff across the country, not only in Washington is furloughed. Military personnel must go without pay until it ends. Ordinary work across the military goes from routine to taxing.
Even the most basic things, like moving trainees or deploying troops, need to be approved by exception, said John Ferarri, a retired Army general now with the American Enterprise Institute.
House Defense Appropriations Chairman Ken Calvert, R-Calif., said last week maintenance and repairs to hardware infrastructure would not be permitted under a shutdown.
And Mira Resnick, the deputy assistant secretary of state who oversees arms transfers at the State Department, noted on Tuesday that under past shutdowns her agency was unable to approve foreign military sales requests made by other countries.
If Congress fails to fund the Defense Department, it cant place contracts to begin construction on major weapons platforms. For instance, the Navy will not be able to start work on constructing four ships: a frigate, a submarine tender, the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine and a Virginia-class attack submarine.
Even under a stopgap funding bill, procurement on many platforms wont be able to start. The Navy has requested an exemption to continue construction on the Columbia-class submarine in a short-term funding bill if Congress can pass one but that would not apply to other ships or Pentagon programs like the B-21 stealth bomber.
The Air Force's first B-21 Raider is shown at Plant 42 in Palmdale, California, where Northrop Grumman is building the service's new stealth bomber fleet. The Air Force still expects the bomber's first flight to occur later this year, and ground tests that will pave the way are continuing. (Air Force)
Republicans proposed stopgap funding bill would also prohibit the Defense Department from spending money on multiyear munitions procurement funding, which the Pentagon requested in its budget this year to expand the strained industrial base.
A succession of continuing resolutions, or CRs, over the past two decades has prevented the Pentagon from ramping up munitions production, including many now important to Ukraine like the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, Pentagon acquisition chief Bill LaPlante said last week.
If Congress does not pass FY24 appropriations legislation by the end of the year, the debt ceiling agreement mandates all federal agencies including the Defense Department operate on a one-year continuing resolution with a 1% cut from FY23 levels.
Andrew Hunter, the assistant secretary for acquisition, technology and logistics, told Defense News this scenario could hamper the Air Forces plan to field the next-generation refueling tanker by the mid-2030s.
The Tuberville blockade
Rep. Mike Garcia of California, a defense appropriator, is taking on his fellow Republicans in both the House and the Senate. Even as he lobbies his Freedom Caucus colleagues to avoid a shutdown and fund the Pentagon, hes requested a meeting with Tuberville to discuss the impact of his six-month-long hold on senior military promotions.
While I understand what hes trying to do, what hes actually doing is hurting our military readiness levels right now, Garcia told reporters last week.
The blockade has already halted more than 300 military confirmations, and will create five joint chiefs vacancies once Milley steps down at the end of the month.
There are military officials now serving in those roles in an acting capacity. But the holds have also created uncertainty for troops down the ranks trying to plan for their futures, forced senior military officials to perform two jobs at once and raised questions about what authorities acting officers do and dont have absent Senate confirmation.
Garcia noted the officers up for promotion cant get reimbursed for their moving costs or see their pay increases until the Senate confirms them.
An August report from the Congressional Research Service found it would take the Senate some 700 hours of floor time to confirm the 301 outstanding nominees. And the Armed Services Committee expects to receive roughly 300 more military promotions by the end of the year, meaning it would take more than a year for the Senate to confirm all of them even if it neglected its other duties like funding the government.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks with reporters as he leaves a luncheon with Senate Republicans in the U.S. Capitol on September 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Tuberville acknowledged to Defense News last week that it would take a long time to confirm the hundreds of military nominees, but nonetheless called on Democrats to start stand-alone votes on the most senior nominees, beginning with the Joint Chiefs members. Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee have argued doing this will forfeit lower-level confirmations in favor of the Joint Chiefs while incentivizing other senators to hold military promotions hostage in the future.
Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the vice chief of naval operations, already finds herself performing two roles and is one of the nominees behind Tubervilles wall.
At her confirmation hearing last week to serve as chief of naval operations, a position she now fills in an acting capacity, she noted it would take years to recover from Tubervilles promotion delays, even if the Senate eventually confirms them.
Just at the three-star level, it would take about three to four months just to move all the people around, she said.
She testified that performing two jobs at once has stretched her bandwidth thin, noting the dual hats she wears meant she didnt have enough time to get briefed on a new Pentagon study regarding the submarine-industrial base before her confirmation hearing.
Franchetti noted that if the Senate confirms her, she would seek to set up a disruptive capabilities office as a successor to the Navys Unmanned Task Force. But as an acting official, its unclear whether she has the authority to do so without congressional confirmation.
The holds have also prevented more junior officers from moving up the chain of command since the nominees held up by Tuberville remain in their posts absent Senate confirmation.
Uniformed officials, usually hesitant to weigh in on congressional matters, have become in recent weeks more vocal about criticizing Tubervilles holds.
Gen. Mark Kelly, the head of Air Combat Command who would have retired by now if not for the holds, warned last week at the Air Force Association conference the blockade could create retention issues among the top brass.
For his part, Ferrari said Congress inability to confirm uncontroversial military leaders and get funding bills on the floor points to a failure of governance that hurts national security.
Weve taken our own security hostage, and were threatening to shoot the hostage, he said.
A much-loved Boise restaurant that survived an unusual, difficult stretch has found a new home.
Tarbush Kitchen, which closed for nearly 10 months after a car plowed into it in early 2022, reopened Sept. 15 at 2757 S. Broadway Ave.
Thats the former Pizza Pie Cafe space, and a location that Tarbush husband-and-wife owners Salam and Aseel Bunyan are excited to show off. Our new spot is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat with friends and family, Tarbush promised in a note addressed to foodies earlier this year on social media.
Specializing in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern food, Tarbush debuted in 2019 at 5749 W. Overland Road. After the shocking, late-night car incident, the restaurant closed to remodel and eventually reopened in the same building. But months later, Tarbush announced that it planned to move to the new strip mall spot on Broadway.
Thanks to authentic Iraqi cuisine and friendly service, Tarbush has a loyal customer base that helped it ride out the tough times. The restaurant rates an impressive 4.8 out of 5 stars from more than 250 Google reviews. On Yelp, its 4.7 out of 5.
A recent reviewer who claimed to be visiting Boise from Dallas couldnt say enough good things.
One of the best Mediterranean restaurants just about anywhere I have been. Everything was fantastic. Great healthy meal with a good deal of vegetables, he wrote, highlighting lamb arayes, falafel and muhammara as top items. I cannot recommend Tarbush Kitchen enough. Boise has a true hidden gem!
Interested in checking out the new, reincarnated Tarbush Kitchen? Its open from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Online: tarbushkitchenidaho.com.
(Bloomberg) -- The Confederation of British Industry has postponed its annual meeting at the last minute amid concerns about cash flow.
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The UKs best-known lobby group was hit by sexual assault and rape allegations in April, which led to a string of businesses withdrawing sponsorship and leaving the organization entirely.
Since then, the business group has faced financial difficulties, telling staff its wage bill would be cut by a third.
In a message sent to members explaining the postponement of Wednesdays AGM, the group said it had experienced some short term cashflow challenges.
It added that it is in positive dialogue over finalising financing options and are confident that we will be able to resolve this short-term issue. The organization said it remained in a strong position in the medium to long term.
The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that the CBI was asking its remaining members for 3 million ($3.72 million) to tide it over while it considered a potential merger with Make UK, a lobbying group for manufacturing.
Read More: Ex-Tesco Chair Allan Says Hes Innocent of Misconduct Claims
The British Chambers of Commerce has sought to plug a gap left by a slimmed-down CBI. The rival lobby group started a business council which last week held its inaugural meeting alongside Housing Secretary Michael Gove and the Labour partys shadow chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves.
Rain Newton-Smith, who returned to the CBI earlier this year as director general in an attempt to save the group, has been battling to maintain its political influence. She spoke with Labours shadow business secretary in June, and has arranged a meeting with Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt in the coming weeks, according to Sky News.
(Adds further detail from seventh paragraph.)
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Chef and TV presenter Andrew Zimmern discusses the topic of hunger with Edward Felsenthal in New York City on Sep. 18, 2023. Credit - TIME
On the eve of the United Nations General Assembly, as 50 guests gathered for the latest TIME100 Talk to wine and dine at Aretskys Patroon in New York City, the topic of the night was hunger.
Its an issue that affects more than 33 million people in the United States and as many as 1 in 10 people globallyand its personal to James Beard Award-winning chef and TV presenter Andrew Zimmern , the featured speaker for the event, Embracing Progress: The Challenges and Impact of Disruption, presented by TIME in partnership with Philip Morris International.
Zimmern, who says his own past struggles with addiction and alcoholism once led him to eat Thanksgiving meals provided by the Salvation Army, now uses his celebrity status to advocate for the fight against hungera problem he believes remains unsolved by lack of will more than lack of ability.
We have the food, Zimmern emphasizes, as well as the systems for distribution. Solving hunger in the U.S. is estimated to cost anywhere from $23 to $40 billion.
The fact that we can do it and yet some people are making the choice not to prioritize that is an embarrassment, he says. Ive used the word genocidal. And Ive taken some flack for that. But when you look at the dictionary definition, if you actually are able to do it, but youre making a choice not toI think at a certain point, you have to start facing the fact that hunger is not something that anyone should have to deal with in this country in 2023, and frankly in any country in 2023.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when impacts to supply chains saw food prices skyrocket and millions were unemployed, Congress increased funding for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs, or SNAP, and other relief programs, which helped the U.S. achieve in 2021 the lowest share of households with children experiencing food insecurity on record. But that funding was temporary and has come to an end, affecting some 41 million Americans.
While its incumbent on Congress to act, Zimmern told guests on Monday night that everyone can play a part. He encouraged seeing hunger firsthand by volunteering at shelters and talking about it to keep the issue at the forefront as a matter of moral urgency.
Its getting more people aware of whats really going on, Zimmern said. If we use the word hungry all the time, it would increase the amount of shame that we have over not solving itor the criminality over not solving it.
And those kinds of conversations can happen simply over a shared meal, he added.
I have never sat down to eat a meal with someone and got up understanding them less.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
As revelers across the city this weekend waved flags and honked horns in honor of Mexican Independence Day, a chaotic undertone tarnished the celebration with the sudden downtown road closures that trapped drivers Friday and Saturday nights and bouts of mischief among the mostly peaceful street parties that sometimes escalated to violence.
The weekend came with lessons learned, Mayor Brandon Johnsons deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told the Tribune.
The mayors office wants to be able to lift up and ensure that celebration is able to happen, and that we are lifting up culture and peoples right to celebrate independence, she said.
She and other city leaders told the Tribune they are considering new efforts to better manage the weekend, including possible organized events downtown, where thousands came together for unofficial gatherings.
Unplanned road closures block drivers
The city planned no street closures before the weekends celebrations started, Office of Emergency Management and Communications spokesperson Mary May told the Tribune then.
But as cars and revelers on foot filled downtown streets Friday many waving flags, some launching fireworks and even one intrepid chef spotted grilling atop a truck bed in traffic the OEMC announced shortly after 8 p.m. it would block roads into Chicagos downtown area. Intersections from Halsted Street to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and from Division Street to 18th Street were blocked, with residents and workers allowed through at 10 access points.
Meghan McDonough learned of the closures the hard way.
The River North resident was driving onto an I-90 southbound express lane when she suddenly noticed cars ahead of her reversing. Police had just blocked the exit, she realized. She had to reverse back onto the interstates main lane.
Back on the interstate, she quickly realized she couldnt get off: her Ohio Street exit was also closed.
And the next one was closed. And the next one was closed, she said. And no signage either.
Cars on the northbound lane were stopped like a parking lot, she said.
It was just like somebodys backyard, McDonough said. Completely parked, bumper to bumper. They just stopped and were having a party.
She took I-290 and got off at Ashland Avenue, slowly making her way back to her neighborhood. The closures cost her two hours of driving, she said.
Police didnt check her ID when she passed through the intersection into downtown. She imagines she wouldnt have dealt with them if they had, she said.
I was so angry. I was tired, she said.
The 47-year-old supports people celebrating, she said.
If you say youre going to close off the streets because theres going to be a lot of people, great, fine, she said.
But what resulted Friday night was scary, she added.
In order to be safe, they created a lot of unsafe situations. And they werent transparent, she said.
On Saturday morning, the OEMC reiterated on X, formerly Twitter, that there were no planned street closures for the second day of celebrations. But before 7 p.m., the office had again announced downtown streets were closed to cars.
The downtown street closures meant Seth Blumenthals commute from West Town to his Streeterville home took over three hours.
I personally support the celebration, he said. Obviously the city needs to do something to control traffic during this, but it just seems like a lot of people werent prepared for the amount of area that they cordoned off and how severely they cordoned it off. I think it left a lot of people unprepared.
It typically takes Blumenthal, 48, about 20 minutes with traffic to drive home from the bar he is working to open near Ashland and Grand avenues. But Saturday, attempts to get through the closures downtown took him down to 18th Street, back up to the West Loop and through streets jammed to a standstill. He finally talked his way through a closure before having to show ID at another checkpoint.
Now Im back in Berlin, he recalled texting his wife.
He should have taken the L, he said, but he drove to the bar so he could pick up a friend and some tools to work on the space. When he left around 7:15 p.m. to head home, he didnt realize the restrictions to get downtown would be so strict. Public transit is no longer his default mode of getting around because he feels he doesnt have time to wait for buses and trains while working a full-time job and trying to open a bar, he said.
Blumenthal said he had never experienced such closures and traffic around downtown, even when access to much of the downtown area was restricted during 2020 unrest following the death of George Floyd. The closures Saturday limited access to the central business district on a busy weekend night in good weather, he said.
This culture that we can just shut down access to downtown, it has consequences, and it feels like a more authoritarian thing, he said. I feel like it created something that was a lot worse than had they done nothing.
The closures were put into effect to restore traffic flow and ensure emergency vehicles could pass through the area, said May, the OEMC spokesperson.
All closures were put into effect only when it was deemed necessary due to large car caravans creating gridlocked traffic in the central business district, she said.
Pacione-Zayas said the closures were primarily managed by the OEMC and police. They were not planned, but were ultimately deemed necessary to ensure first responders could move throughout the city, she said.
The mayors office is considering downtown Mexican Independence Day celebration options, she said.
You want to be able to have a central event that people can rally around and be a part of, Pacione-Zayas said, adding that accessible neighborhood celebrations are also important.
Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the Mexican Independence Day weekend as an amazing celebration at a news conference Monday.
Red, white and green. The flags, the culture, the outfits, the creativity, the vibrancy that Mexican Americans bring to the city of Chicago, really around the globe, he said. Its just remarkable what a beautiful display of culture.
The city has a responsibility to create safe spaces for celebration, he said. Ideas for how to improve the celebrations are already rushing in, Johnson said.
I didnt realize how many people have my cellphone number, and people have strong recommendations, he said.
Any turmoil from the celebrations should compel city leaders to be proactive next year rather than finger point, said Teresa Fraga, president of the Mexican Cultural Committee.
The citys attempts to stop people celebrating downtown exacerbated chaos, angering some revelers who felt undermined by the new mayoral administration, but also those who were affected by the traffic, Fraga added.
It put people against each other, she said. City leaders need to meet the young people and come up with a plan. We need a celebration that is respectful and regulated, but we need people to stand up to recognize that.
The flag-waving car cruising is nothing new, dating back to the 1970s. Chicagos Mexican community has grown significantly since then, Fraga said.
Its important for people to recognize our presence in the city. We also work, we also pay taxes here, she said.
Its concerning that the mayor and the Chicago police considered it appropriate to close access to downtown and request identification from those who live or work there, Fraga said.
Massive celebrations 99.9% peaceful despite police attacks, Little Village alderman says
Ald. Silvana Tabares, 23rd, worked with emergency response authorities to prepare for gatherings in her Southwest Side ward near Midway Airport. She also persuaded some Pulaski Road businesses to block off their parking lots to prevent meetups and car stunts, she said.
But as she listened to police scanners, the chaos she heard unfold prompted her to call the holiday a black eye for Chicagos Mexican community filled with vile, ignorant and embarrassing behavior.
People in crowds in her ward threw bottles, rocks and fireworks at police, she said. On Sunday morning, sanitation workers cleaned away anti-police graffiti, she added. She pinned the actions on people who came from outside her community.
Im not going to tolerate that, not in my ward, she said. Our local community is not the Wild West.
Tabares, who praised the courage and professionalism of police, called on other elected officials to share opposition to such attacks on officers. The city should better organize celebrations next year, she said.
Something new has to be done, because we cant repeat this next year, Tabares said. The new administration needs to look at ways families can celebrate safely together. If we invest in that, were going to cut down on lawlessness.
Just north of Tabares ward up Pulaski Road, a young regional Mexican band, El Malo, was performing at the 49th Street intersection Friday surrounded by a group of people dancing when police abruptly approached them with shields and sticks in hand to stop them from playing, said the bands manager Pedro Marroquin.
We were just playing and people were dancing peacefully when the police attacked us, said Marroquin. Police did not ask the group to stop or the people to disperse before walking into the crowd, he said.
Video of the incident shared widely on social media prompted some viewers to demand the city pay for the $10,000 of instruments and equipment reportedly broken. According to police, there is an internal investigation about the allegations.
Other attacks targeting police led to arrests across the city. Police body camera footage captured Esmeralda Aguilar, 24, of Cicero pepper spraying officers in the 200 block of North Wabash Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Cook County prosecutors alleged Monday.
Three officers were taken to the hospital. Prosecutors charged Aguilar with four felony counts of aggravated battery of a peace officer during an initial court appearance Monday. Judge Mary Marubio ordered she be released while awaiting trial.
This is a violent offense. The allegations are that you caused physical harm to police officers, Marubio said, admonishing her that the release order would be revoked if she commits another offense. Im balancing that with the presumption of innocence, ties to the community, employment history, that you are a caregiver to a minor.
On Sunday, prosecutors charged Arturo Rodriguez, 46, with a felony count of aggravated battery of a peace officer. They alleged the Cicero man hit a police officer lying on the ground in Little Village early Saturday morning in the back of the head with a wooden flagpole.
In a related attack, someone hit another police officer in the head with a flagpole, severely cutting the officers ear, according to a police report.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, called the attacks that happened on the border of his Little Village ward an atrocious experience. A police commander told him the officers were doing better, he added.
But as he labeled the attacks egregious, he said attention should be focused on the huge crowds that did not become violent during the neighborhoods sprawling celebrations. An estimated 400,000 people attended the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade, making it one of the biggest parades in the country, he said.
I am sure 99.9% of the people who came to that were celebrating the culture, our beautiful impact of the Mexican community, he said. Im very, very proud we were able to facilitate joy in Little Village.
Rodriguez recalled visiting the parade, an annual highlight, as a child. He is open to working with city officials to organize other gatherings, including downtown celebrations, he said.
We need to double down on that joy, he said.
The people who committed crimes should be held accountable, Rodriguez added.
But we need to continue to facilitate the joy of our people, and celebrate our greatest strength as our city, which is our diversity and our migrant spirit, he said.
Chicago Tribunes Alice Yin and Madeline Buckley contributed.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
Attorneys on Tuesday argued in Placer Superior Court over the July escape of a man who faces charges of murder and attempted murder in a standoff earlier this year with law enforcement at a Roseville park, and whether the criminal cases for the escape and standoff should be combined.
A judge ultimately ruled to combine them, and also granted the filing of two new attempted murder charges to the defendants case, with prosecutors alleging Eric James Abril fired shots at two more law enforcement officers than had previously been reported.
Abril, a 35-year-old Roseville resident, is accused of taking two hostages during a shootout with police after California Highway Patrol officers tried to serve a search warrant April 6 at Mahany Park. He was taken into custody shortly after the shootout at the park, during which he allegedly shot both hostages, one of whom died.
Abril also faces an additional felony charge of escaping from law enforcement custody. Abril had been in Placer County Sheriffs Office custody until July 9, when he escaped from Sutter Roseville Medical Center.
Sheriffs officials said he was being guarded by a deputy but managed to defeat his restraints and slip out of the hospital shortly after 3 a.m. while the deputy was on a bathroom break. Abril was captured after a 33-hour manhunt.
On Tuesday morning, the Placer County District Attorneys Office asked the court to combine Abrils case in the park shooting with the separate case stemming from his reported escape.
Eric James Abril appears for his arraignment on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 in Placer Superior Court. He is accused of shooting a California Highway Patrol officer and two hostages during a standoff April 6, 2023, at Mahany Park in Roseville. One of the hostages died, and the other hostage and a CHP officer were wounded by gunfire. Hector Amezcua/hamezcua@sacbee.com
Abrils attorney, assistant public defender Brandon Bob, firmly objected against the prosecutions request. He argued that the escape charge is not in the same class of crime as the charges in the shooting case.
The defense attorney told the judge that the prosecution only wants to combine the cases so they can use evidence in the escape case to establish a consciousness of guilt in the park shooting case. Bob argued thats a decision to be made in a trial phase, and its too early to combine the cases now.
The cases will not have any shared witnesses, Bob said, and it will not create an undue burden on the prosecution to have two preliminary hearings to determine whether the cases have enough evidence to move to trial.
Deputy District Attorney David Tellman said it is appropriate to combine Abrils cases now, and evidence in each chase will be admissible in the other. He said this can be done at any point before trial, and its done all the time in California.
This is not a controversial proposition, the prosecutor argued in court. It would prejudice (the prosecution) to have two preliminary hearings. It would waste the courts time every time we come to court on two separate cases.
The judges decision
Judge Sharon Lueras granted the prosecutions request, considering the fact that evidence in each case will be admissible in the other. She also said a consciousness of guilt theory presented by the prosecution will be left for a jury to decide.
Police officials have said Abril shot a CHP officer at the park before he took two hostages and shot them both during the standoff with law enforcement. James MacEgan of Roseville and his wife, Patricia MacEgan, were taken hostage at the park. James MacEgan, 72, died from his injuries. His wife and the CHP officer were wounded by gunfire.
Abril was wounded in an exchange of gunfire with officers, police said. He was hospitalized until the following evening, when he was booked at the Placer County Jail.
Abril is accused of murder in MacEgans death along with special allegations of using a 10 mm handgun to kidnap the victim while committing the crime. Prosecutors also have charged Abril with aggravated kidnapping causing bodily harm in holding MacEgans wife at gunpoint, along with special allegations of using the handgun in the crime.
The District Attorneys Office also charged Abril with attempted murder of a peace officer, CHP Officer Matthew Hiatt, with special allegations that Abril used the handgun and was wearing a body armor vest in the crime. He also faces a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a gun.
New attempted murder charges
Lueras also granted the prosecutions request to file additional felony charges against Abril stemming from the Mahany Park shootout.
On Tuesday morning, Tellman filed two more counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, alleging that Abril also fired gunshots at two other officers during the April 6 standoff with police.
In a motion filed Aug. 18, Tellman wrote that reports prosecutors have received since the park shooting provide a legal basis to file the additional attempted murder charges against Abril.
Its unclear what new information was in those reports. Only Hiatt and the woman taken hostage were wounded. No other injuries in the park shooting have been reported.
Police respond to a scene of a shooting incident at Mahany Park in Roseville that left a hostage dead and another hostage and a California Highway Patrol officer injured Thursday, April 6, 2023. A suspect was taken into custody. Hector Amezcua/hamezcua@sacbee.com
Prosecutors allege Abril fired the handgun at peace officers Tyson Becker and Leo Smith. The additional attempted murder charges include the same special allegations for using the handgun and body armor vest.
Becker is a Sacramento County deputy probation officer and Smith is a CHP officer, according to compensation records provided by the county and state to Transparent California. Numerous law enforcement officials from agencies in the surrounding area were called to Mahany Park that afternoon to assist, but its unclear what roles Becker and Smith played in the park shootout.
The defense attorney on Tuesday entered not guilty pleas to the charges on behalf of his client and denied the special allegations against Abril.
The judge scheduled Abril, who remains in custody at the jail, to return to court Oct. 10 for a status hearing. His preliminary hearing remains scheduled to start Nov. 6.
There was no discussion in court Tuesday on whether combining the cases will delay that start date.
Shalom Yehudiel, the former Teaneck chef made famous by appearing on "Chopped," has been charged again with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child, authorities said Tuesday.
The original charges against Yehudiel were dismissed without prejudice over the summer after a judge ruled that the FBI had violated his rights by not turning over a disputed video.
Yehudiel, who now lives in Florida, was charged on Aug. 31 with first- and second-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He surrendered to Paramus police on Monday and was being held in the Bergen County Jail pending his first court appearance.
"Mr. Yehudiel beat these wrongful charges once and will do it again," his attorneys, Lee Vartan and Zach Intrater, said in a statement. "The state has just recycled the same flawed indictment with the same factual and legal holes. This case, like the first, will be dismissed."
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office initially filed charges in 2021 after the FBI contacted the prosecutor's Special Victims Unit about allegations of sexual crimes involving a child younger than 16 in Teaneck on more than one occasion.
Shalom Yehudiel
Vartan and Intrater argued that prosecutors omitted exculpatory information during the grand jury hearing. In the motion, Vartan said the timeline of the sexual assault, which allegedly occurred in November 2021, was not possible and that a potential eyewitness who disputed the allegations was never interviewed.
Before Bergen's charges, the FBI investigated the claims and gained access to surveillance video. Two clips from the video were provided to the defense and the Prosecutor's Office by the FBI, but the federal authorities had access to the full video, which covered the alleged victim's employment at Yehudiel's Teaneck restaurant Humble Toast.
Both the prosecution and the defense were unable to access the encrypted video. When Yehudiel was released from monitoring after the dismissal of the first set of charges, he was arrested the next day at John F. Kennedy International Airport, trying to fly to Bangkok on a one-way ticket.
He was attacked by another inmate in the Rikers Island jail, suffering an arm injury.
Yehudiel is facing similar charges in Union County as well, stemming from accusations of sexual assault from another woman, Elisheva Akselrod, who says Yehudiel sexually assaulted her at their synagogue when she was a teenager.
The Bergen County prosecutor declined to press charges in Akselrod's case, and she sued Yehudiel. The Union County prosecutor is handling the criminal case after the Attorney General's Office transferred it for independent review. Akselrod's lawsuit was dropped after the criminal charges were filed in Union County.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Teaneck NJ 'Chopped' chef charged in Bergen County
A Charlotte middle school is among the best in the United States along with seven others in North Carolina named National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Jay M Robinson Middle School earned the honor in Charlotte, the second time its earned the honor since 2016. Principal Rebecca Thompson told The Charlotte Observer the school reflects and honors a diverse group of students who uplift the entire community.
Our staff and families work together and push students to exceed their expectations of themselves during such a sensitive time in their development, said Thompson, who was named the schools principal Aug. 15 after serving as the assistant principal for six years. Our community celebrates this achievement but also looks forward to future success for many years to come.
The schools current enrollment is 1,347 for grades 6-8 in South Charlotte. It serves a diverse population of students, including 30% Asian, 11% Hispanic, 9% African American, 3% two or more races and 47% white, according to its application to the U.S. Department of Education.
Michael Miliote, who served as the principal at Jay M. Robinson from August 2014 until this summer, says everyone holds each other to high standard and nurture a peer culture of high accountability.
The staff has developed a mindset that rising tides rise all ships, said Miliote, now principal of a yet-to-be-named South Charlotte relief high school. They embody the idea that kids can! This mindset is truly what makes JMR one of a kind, their unwavering beliefs in each other and in what kids can do.
The Department of Education recognized 353 schools for 2023, it announced Tuesday. The recognition is based on a schools overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups on assessments, the release said.
Last year, five schools in North Carolina garnered the coveted honor.
What other schools in NC were recognized this year?
W. R. Odell Elementary School, Concord, Cabarrus County Schools.
Fairview Elementary School, Fairview, Buncombe County Schools.
Highland School of Technology, Gastonia, Gaston County Schools.
Greensboro Academy, Greensboro.
Lucama Elementary School, Wilson County Schools.
Beaufort County Early College High School, Washington, Beaufort County Schools.
Heyward C Bellamy Elementary School, Wilmington, New Hanover County Schools.
The honorees have set a national example for what it means to raise the bar in education, said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.
The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, Cardona said.
What is the Blue Ribbon award?
Since its inception in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon Schools program has bestowed some 10,000 awards to more than 9,700 schools. As many as 420 schools may be nominated each year.
The department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:
Exemplary high-performing schools are among their states highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally standardized tests.
Exemplary achievement gap-closing Schools are among their states highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a schools student groups and all students.
Nominated schools also complete an application describing their culture and philosophy, curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership structures and parent and community involvement.
Photo: The Canadian Press
A pair of lawsuits have been filed in connection with a fire in an Old Montreal heritage building that killed seven people in March, including a suit by the owner of the property who is demanding $7.6 million from the city.
Emile Benamor's lawyers say city regulations for heritage properties made it impossible for him to carry out modifications or repairs to the building, which was built in 1890. The lawyers filed the lawsuit last Thursday, a few weeks after Montreal police said they had found traces of accelerant at the site of the fire and that the case had turned into a criminal investigation.
"Due to its heritage status, the building is strongly regulated, as well as the work authorized on it, including the fact that certain work is completely impossible to carry out, in particular due to the city, which refuses any modification or alteration that is visible in relation to the original heritage construction," the lawsuit says.
The door to the building, the lawsuit alleges, did not meet fire safety regulations. But the door, which is more than 100 years old and made of wood several inches thick, had heritage value and could not be modified or replaced, the suit alleges.
Traces of accelerants were found in the entrance corridor, the filing says, citing expert reports. Police said in late August they had found traces of accelerant at the site, but did not specify where.
The lawsuit also alleges an emergency stairwell leading to the roof and allowing people access to the building next door was ordered dismantled. "Once again, it was impossible for the plaintiff to modify the staircase in such a way as to satisfy the city and the only solution presented to him was to remove the part giving access to the roof."
Benamor's lawsuit says city safety inspections had not been conducted since February 2019.
The suit also alleges firefighters did not deploy adequate resources to the March 16 fire and dismissed him when he told them minutes after the fire started that there were very likely people inside the building.
The owner is also suing city officials including the mayor for defamation for comments they made in the aftermath of the blaze. Mayor Valerie Plante's alleged attempt to link the case to illegal short-term rentals triggered a "witch hunt" against Benamor, the lawsuit says.
"Several of the statements reported by the city's employees, representatives or agents were false, inaccurate and aimed to hold the plaintiff responsible for the events, including the injuries and deaths that resulted from them," the filing reads.
Meanwhile, the parents and younger brother of Charlie Lacroix, an 18-year-old victim of the fire, filed a $1.5-million lawsuit Friday against Benamor, the City of Montreal and a man operating rentals out of the building. The lawsuit argues that the death occurred because of gross negligence on the parties all named.
"The fire and Charlie's death will leave an indelible mark on everyone's heart of the claimants, who will have to live everyday with the sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one," the filing reads.
For it's part, the City of Montreal declined to comment on either lawsuit.
In addition to Lacroix, the other victims were Camille Maheux, 76; An Wu, 31; Dania Zafar, 31; Saniya Khan, 31; Nathan Sears, 35; and Walid Belkahla, 18. Maheux was a long-term resident of the building; the others were staying in short-term rentals.
In March, the father of Sears filed an application for a $22-million class-action lawsuit against Benamor, short-term rental platform Airbnb, and the man who had been operating rentals out of the building. The class-action lawsuit, which is on behalf of the families and estates of all the fires victims, has not been approved, and one of the lawyers in the case said an authorization wouldn't be likely before the summer of 2024.
A coroners inquest ordered into the fire is on hold until the conclusion of the police investigation and any potential criminal trials.
In 1998, six-time James Beard-nominated chef Dana Loca Rodriguez immigrated to Denver from Chihuahua, Mexico. There, she grew up on a farm that didnt have running water or electricity, and she and her family cooked food that was grown on the farm. In the past 25 years, shes helmed Latin restaurants Work & Class, Super Mega Bien, and Cantina Loca; co-founded Dona Loca Mezcal and Tequila; and recently came on as culinary partner and executive chef at Casa Bonita, owned by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Rodriguez garnered the nickname loca (Spanish for crazy woman) because of her strong work ethic. In this edition of Voices In Food, Rodriguez talked to Garin Pirnia about mentorship, how Latin food shouldnt be cheap, and how not only Latin people can make good Latin food.
On Misconceptions About Mexican Food
Its hard because people think Mexican food should be cheap. People are like, Why cant we find $2 tacos anymore? Well, I have a lady making the tortillas by hand every day, from 6 in the morning to 4 p.m. Thats all she does. Three thousand tortillas a day, one at a time, and I have to pay that lady really good so she has a good life. So that tortilla, its not going to cost you 20 cents like when you go to the store and buy the bag. We try to use good ingredients, and thats another thing people dont realize until they go to the store and they buy beef cheeks for the barbacoa that we use in Mexico. Theyre like, This is so expensive. People dont realize those things until they really see and comprehend that if they want to do that, its going to cost more money and more time.
I see different people who try to do the food that I grew up with and its impressive. ... At the end of the day, I love when other people try to do the food that I grew up with, and sometimes, guess what? They make it better.Dana Rodriguez
On Cooking Other Peoples Cultural Foods
I started at the Italian restaurant Panzano. I fell in love with Italian food. Im a really badass Mexican lady cooking a lot of French food and Italian food because thats where I started my career with Jen Jasinski.
I see different people who try to do the food that I grew up with and its impressive. We all have different palates, but I think we all go out enough to understand what the other culture is, and then you can just start creating your own way. What do you want to represent out of yourself? It doesnt matter if its Mexican or Latin. I always say we around the world use the same kind of ingredients and we name it in a different way based on where we came from. At the end of the day, I love when other people try to do the food that I grew up with, and sometimes, guess what? They make it better.
On Work Ethic
I try to do things the best way that I can. If I dont know how to do it, I will find a way. I read, I ask, I engage. I go and work in different places to learn more and more. At one point, one of my business partners at my restaurant said, You will never stop. You will never say no. And I say, No, why should I?
Every opportunity is to learn. Even if its not successful, you learn something out of everything. I think thats why everybody says, Youre crazy. You dont have a limit. You dont get afraid. When people ask me, Are you afraid when you walk into Casa [Bonita]? I say, Absolutely. I dont have all the answers, but I know what Im committed to and I make shit happen. Sometimes I think about my life, and its a very slow-motion movie where I started and where Im going to go. And everything that happened in between is like a dream.
Running a farm, you learn the basics of living the water, the grains. We take care of our chickens so we eat. We provide corn so we can make our own tortillas. You dont think about those things when youre born into that until you move here and then you think back like, Oh, my God, now I can go to the store and buy a bag of tortillas for $2 and I dont have to do all the work that we used to do to grow the corn, to dry it, to cook it, to mix it, to grind it, to make the tortilla, to have one piece of tortilla in your mouth.
Its your work ethic and its the values that you have in life about doing the right thing. And if you dont know how to do it right, then dont fuck with it. We are committed to what we do for a living, whether its cooking or just doing the dishes.
On Mentoring
One of my favorite things to do is hire people and watch them when they work, and youre instantly thinking like a mom, or youre instantly thinking as a mentor, like, Oh, that person is really good at this. Im going to grab this person and start training them to do this. Thats one of the things I like the most: Start almost like a mentor thing for other people. Its a unique thing. Most of the people these days want to hire people with all the experience. To me, its the opposite. I want to teach people because I can learn more. I love the chaos.
I always tell everybody to work hard and have a goal in life. What happens in between is a lot of good and bad things. But if you just keep your eyes there, youll eventually get there.
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Major security upgrades are planned for Chester County Prison after Danilo Cavalcantes escape led to an intense 14-day manhunt, authorities pledged at a town hall meeting Monday.
We are planning to do numerous safety enhancements, most of which come from technology, personnel movement, including drones, detection methods, Howard Holland, the acting warden of the Pennsylvania prison, told CNN affiliate WPVI. We are going to take this facility and make it state of the art, Holland said.
County Commissioner Josh Maxwell didnt say how much the improvements would cost, but said he expects the upgraded security measures to be a record investment in the prison. Hopefully 10 years from now folks will look back and feel safe, that no ones gotten out of this prison, Maxwell told WPVI.
Cavalcante was convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of his former girlfriend in 2021. On August 31, just days after receiving a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole, the 34-year-old escaped by crab-walking up the walls of a narrow exterior hallway in the exercise yard.
And he wasnt the first to do that at the Pennsylvania facility.
Igor Vidra Bolte, 30, also escaped the prison using the same crab-walk method in May. Bolte was caught within 5 minutes of his breakout.
Danilo Cavalcante begins his crab-walk up a wall before esc aping from Chester County Prison. - Chester County DA
We take responsibility for what happened here. We take it seriously. Everybody was put in harms way, said Holland.
During Cavalcantes two-week run, he broke into multiple homes and stole a vehicle and a rifle before being captured by law enforcement officers. His prison break set entire communities on edge.
Authorities said Mondays meeting was held to offer support, information on counseling and to provide a formal opportunity for locals to speak face-to-face to officials.
Chester County officials showed photos of upgrades made to a hallway in an exercise yard at Chester County Prison following an inmate escape. - Chester County
Some Chester County residents voiced their expectations to CNN affiliate WPVI before the meeting.
(Im) hoping to hear the plan of changes taking place locally and statewide to ensure something of this nature is not going to happen again, said Brooke Sarkar of Malvern.
Cameras were prohibited during the meeting while county officials showed a presentation featuring a few of the security elements theyve already implemented.
Razor wire was installed around the top of the exercise yards hallway after Boltes breakout, but Cavalcante still managed get past it.
Officials said Monday theyve since added a metal screen to prevent that from happening again along with military-grade mesh in other areas that Cavalcante slipped through during his escape.
Authorities are also exploring the use of K-9s and the fitting of ankle monitors on high-risk inmates, they said.
Holland said the bulk of the remaining security upgrades would be installed within six months to a year.
Theyre on the right track in getting this problem fixed so we wont have to deal with it ever again, said Kevin Breen, a county resident.
The next Chester County Prison Board meeting will be livestreamed Wednesday at 2:30 p.m., a county spokesperson said.
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(KTLA) Chick-fil-A is planning to open restaurants in the United Kingdom by 2025, officials announced.
The planned expansion comes four years after the company opened a temporary storefront in Reading, a town west of London, in 2019.
LGBTQ activists and supporters protested the companys arrival due to comments made by former Chick-fil-A CEO Dan T. Cathy regarding same-sex marriage in 2012.
McDonalds to phase out self-serve soft drink fountains
In the past, Chick-fil-A has also faced criticism for its donations to Christian organizations, such as the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, which have expressed opposition to gay rights.
In 2019, the company announced it would give money to charities that focused on education, homelessness and hunger and expanded its partnerships with Junior Achievement, Covenant House and local food banks, USA Today reported.
The company no longer donates money to the Salvation Army and Fellowship of Christian Athletes but still received backlash online for making those donations at all.
The mall hosting the temporary store announced that the shops lease wont be expended beyond six months, shortly after it opened, Berkshire Live reported.
In-N-Out Burger poised for major expansion
As part of its new expansion plan, Chick-fil-A plans to invest $100 million in the U.K. over the next decade and plans to open restaurants in Asia by 2026.
The company currently has more than 2,800 restaurants across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada, a news release said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Chinas Foreign Ministry on Tuesday declined to address a report its former foreign minister Qin Gang was ousted from his position over an alleged extramarital affair.
Earlier that day, the Wall Street Journal reported that Qin, who was abruptly removed from his position this summer, was found by a Communist Party investigation to have been engaged in an extramarital affair while serving as Chinas envoy to Washington, citing people familiar with the matter.
Qin, a career diplomat and trusted aide of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, was replaced without explanation in July after only seven months in the role in a highly unusual shake-up of the countrys foreign policy leadership.
The sudden move, approved by the top decision-making body of Chinas rubber-stamp parliament on July 25, followed weeks of speculation and rumor about the fate of Qin, who had been absent from public view over the month prior.
His removal has since been followed by other high-level personnel shake-ups in Chinas military Rocket Force, as well as on-going questions about the status of Chinas Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who has now been absent from public view for more than two weeks.
Beijing has never issued an explanation for Qins removal nor said that the former minister was under investigation.
Prior to his ouster, the Foreign Ministry in July briefly cited health reasons when Qin missed a diplomatic gathering, but that response was later missing from an official briefing transcript and when asked about it, a spokesperson said she had no information to provide.
According to the Wall Street Journal, senior Chinese officials were briefed last month on the Communist Partys investigation into Qin and were told that the formal reason for Qins dismissal was lifestyle issues, a term commonly used to refer to sexual misconduct, people familiar with the matter said.
The officials were told that the investigation found that Qin had engaged in an extramarital affair that led to the birth of a child in the US, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people. The names of the woman and child were not disclosed to officials, the report said.
According to the Wall Street Journal, an investigation is still underway and Qin is cooperating. According to the sources, the probe is looking into whether the alleged affair and any other actions Qin might have taken, could have affected Chinas national security, the report said.
CNN has not been able to independently verify the reporting. CNN has reached out to Chinas State Council Information Office, which handles press inquiries for the central government but did not receive a reply.
When asked about the report during a regular press briefing Tuesday, a spokesperson for Chinas Foreign Ministry said she was not aware of the information.
As for the appointment and removal of the Chinese Foreign Minister, the Chinese side has released information before, spokesperson Mao Ning said in an apparent reference to the July announcement of his replacement.
Qin was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, but remains listed as one of Chinas five State Councilors a high-ranking role in Chinas top administrative body.
Qins removal earlier this summer came as national security has taken on an enhanced importance under Xi, who sees significant threats for China within strained tensions with the United States and its allies and is widely seen to have bolstered Chinas counter-espionage and intelligence gathering apparatuses.
Qin served as Chinese Ambassador to the US from July 2021 until early 2023 when he assumed his short-lived role as foreign minister.
During his tenure, he played a key role in efforts by the US and China to restore communication, including meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in mid-June during the American diplomats visit to Beijing.
According to a biographical information page on Chinas Foreign Ministry website, Qin is married with a son.
The page, which gives Qins qualifications up until 2021, is part of a listing of former vice and assistant ministers. Qins name is not included in the list of former foreign ministers nor in the Chinese language version of the former vice and assistant minister page.
CNNs Beijing bureau contributed to this report.
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In the first eight months of 2023, the share of Chinese cars in Russian imports reached 92%.
Source: The Moscow Times, citing a statement by Ruslan Davydov, the acting head of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.
He says trade with China has "grown very strongly", while the EU's share of trade with Russia continues to decline.
For example, in the first six months of 2023, the volume of passenger car exports from China to Russia amounted to US$4.6 billion, which is 543% higher than in the same period in 2022.
After the outbreak of the full-scale war in Ukraine, all global car makers stopped production in Russia. Subsequently, most of them sold their assets and left the country. In addition, official deliveries of new cars stopped.
Background:
In the first five months of 2023, Chinese automakers exported more cars to Russia than anywhere else, filling the void left by global manufacturers who left the Russian market due to its invasion of Ukraine.
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(Bloomberg) -- Chinas top diplomat pledged to strengthen his countrys strategic coordination with Russia, as the two nations lay the groundwork for a meeting of their leaders in Beijing next month.
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Foreign Minister Wang Yi is making a three-day trip to Moscow for security and foreign policy talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as the two sides continue to deepen ties.
China and Russia should demonstrate their responsibilities as major powers, fulfill their due international obligations, and continue to strengthen strategic coordination, Wang said on Monday, according to a statement from Chinas Foreign Ministry. He added that neither side should be influenced by third parties, in a veiled reference to the US.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China next month for the Belt and Road Initiative forum and meet with President Xi Jinping , Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev confirmed Tuesday, according to state-run Tass news service. That will be the Russian leaders first foreign trip since the warrant for his arrest on alleged war crimes was issued by the International Criminal Court.
Russias Foreign Minister said both nations should strengthen coordination and collaboration within multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to the statement.
Their meeting takes place at the same time as the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. China has sent Vice President Han Zheng a largely ceremonial figure to that huddle this year. In previous years, Xi or Wang have attended.
China has been Russias biggest supporter since Putin last year ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing offering both economic and diplomatic shelter.
At the same time, China has tried to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war, unveiling a vague 12-point peace blueprint in February. That plan has been rejected by Kyiv and the US, as it calls for a cease-fire would freeze Russian forces in place in Ukraine.
(Updates with comments on Putins planned visit to China in fourth paragraph.)
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[Source]
Chinas former Foreign Minister Qin Gang was reported to have been removed from his position in July after allegedly having an extramarital affair while serving as China's ambassador to the United States.
Internal investigation: According to an internal Communist Party investigation, Qin, 57, was removed from his role following a mysterious one-month absence, reported the Wall Street Journal.
"Lifestyle issues": The formal reason given for his dismissal was lifestyle issues, which is often a euphemism for sexual misconduct. The investigation also revealed that the affair occurred throughout Qin's tenure as ambassador and led to the birth of a child in the U.S.
Qin, who was replaced by diplomat Wang Yi in July, is said to be cooperating with an investigation that is now focused on whether the affair or his conduct compromised China's national security.
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Foreign ministry comment: When asked about the WSJ article, China's current foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that they were not aware of the information about Qin.
Broader crackdown: The incident is part of a broader crackdown on Chinese officials' dealings with foreigners and top military brass in China. It is seen as a challenge to President Xi Jinpings efforts to maintain stability and control in the face of economic challenges and tensions with Western countries. The Chinese government has tightened restrictions on officials with overseas connections to minimize geopolitical risks. Xi has also repeatedly targeted alleged corruption and extravagant lifestyles within the partys leadership.
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Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a press conference after talks with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra in Beijing
(Reuters) -China's former Foreign Minister Qin Gang , who was ousted from his position in July, had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with a briefing.
The report said Qin was cooperating with the investigation, which was now focused on whether the affair or Qin's conduct had compromised China's national security.
Senior Chinese officials were told that an internal Communist Party investigation found Qin engaged in the affair throughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the United States, the report said. Two sources told the newspaper the affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the U.S.
During a regular press briefing on Tuesday, China foreign ministry spokeperson Mao Ning was asked about the article and said: "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned".
Qin was replaced by veteran diplomat Wang Yi in July as the foreign minister after a mysterious one-month absence from duties barely half a year into the job.
He was China's top envoy in Washington from July 2021 until January this year.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Neil Fullick and Michael Perry)
More than 60 years after the debacle happened, documents explaining the cancellation of the C105 Avro Arrow project are finally being released.
The assumption at the time was the requirement of jet fighters/interceptors was waning in light of revelations the (then) USSR switched priorities from long-distance strategic bombers to inter-continental ballistic missiles.
A number of pertinent questions remain. If the requirement of high-speed military jet aircraft was waning, why did/does the U.S. continue developing and deploying this type of aircraft? How could Canadian intelligence get this so wrong? If the reasons given were true, why were they kept secret for so many years unnecessarily? Why were the completed aircraft destroyed in a botched display of attempted secrecy? Why was the excellent, ground-breaking Avro Iroquois engine, mutilated to the point they couldnt be tested further and test documentation disappeared?
Its amazing how quickly the American defence industry snapped up all those Canadian engineers who worked on the Arrow program. What did we get in return for these innovative, talented people? The useless BOMARC missile, which never worked as advertised.
Now its deja-vu with our water bomber situation. Again, Canadian aircraft designers/engineers build a ground-breaking aircraft. The Canadair CL215/415 water-bombers The best aircraft of its type in the world.
Like the Arrow, it was designed and built from the ground-up for its specific purpose. And, like the Arrow, the federal government dropped the ball. It allowed/gifted production of this plane to Bombardier.
In 2010, Bombardier decided there was not enough demand to continue production of this aircraft. Executive jets were a more important priority for Canadas biggest corporate welfare recipient.
When will we learn?
Andrew Kiesewetter, West Kelowna
The Chinese national flag is seen in front of the financial district Central on the Chinese National Day in Hong Kong
By Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) -China's foreign ministry in Hong Kong said it has asked consulates in the financial hub to provide job titles, home addresses and identification details of all locally employed staff, confirming a letter to consulates seen by Reuters.
The Hong Kong Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note on Sept 18 to foreign consulates in Hong Kong requesting the submission of relevant information on local employees of the consulate, the ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
"This measure is in line with international customary practice. It is understood that Chinese consulates stationed abroad also provide local employee information to the host country according to local government requirements," it said.
The letter stated that consulates must comply with the request by Oct. 18.
Under Hong Kong's mini constitution, Beijing is in charge of foreign affairs relating to the special administrative region. The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing has ratcheted up control over the densely packed city of 7 million people since a sweeping national security law imposed in 2020. China's national security office has extensive investigative and surveillance powers under the law.
In line with the "Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Consulates General and the Office of the European Union ... are requested to provide information on all locally engaged who have entered into employment contract," the letter said.
The EU office, the U.S. and British consulates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The move comes as some Hong Kong-based diplomats have been closely monitoring the implementation of the tougher national security laws imposed after sometimes violent anti-government protests rocked the city in 2019.
While some Western governments have criticised the laws as curbing social and political freedoms in the city, both Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said they were vital to restoring stability.
(Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing and Greg Torode in Hong Kong; writing by Farah Master; editing by Michael Perry and Mark Heinrich)
[Source]
The Chinese government appears to have halted its surveillance balloon program in the wake of its diplomatic standoff with the U.S. earlier this year.
A source of tension: In February, one of the Chinese high-altitude balloons strayed into U.S. airspace and was subsequently shot down by American fighter jets. While the incident has since been a source of tension between the two countries, U.S. officials noted that no balloon launches have been detected since.
Balloons purpose: The U.S. has deemed the balloons part of a spy program that aims to collect information about its military bases and operations. Meanwhile, China has maintained that the balloon was used for civilian research purposes.
Intelligence assessment: On Sept. 18, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed to CBS that the balloon did not collect any intelligence during its flight across the country, noting that it "didn't transmit any intelligence back to China."
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Diplomatic gesture: Sources from U.S. intelligence told CNN they believe Chinese leaders intentionally suspended further balloon launches as a gesture to ease tensions with the U.S. This decision coincides with the two nations' recent opening of other discussions aimed at mending strained relations.
President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are also potentially set to meet in November at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco.
Bound to return: Officials say China has continued other espionage tactics, including alleged recruitments and hacking incidents targeting American officials. They also believe China is likely to restart the program at a yet-undetermined time.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would likely fail and a direct military invasion of the self-ruled island would be extremely difficult for Beijing to carry out successfully, senior Pentagon officials told Congress on Tuesday.
China's military in recent years has stepped up activity around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. U.S. CIA Director William Burns has said Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed his country's armed forces to be ready to invade by 2027.
However, whether Xi would order taking Taiwan by force, either through military options like a blockade or an invasion is unclear.
Ely Ratner, U.S. assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security Affairs, said a blockade would give Taiwan's allies time to mobilize resources for Taiwan. A blockade's economic impact would be so devastating that it would harden international resolve against Beijing, he said.
"It would likely not succeed, and it would be a huge risk of escalation for the PRC, where it would likely have to consider whether or not it was willing to ultimately start attacking commercial maritime vessels," Ratner told the House Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for the People's Republic of China.
Army Major General Joseph McGee, vice director for strategy, plans and policy of the Pentagon's Joint Staff, said a blockade was also not very likely given the challenges involved.
"I think it is an option but probably not a highly likely option, when you start looking at the military options - much easier to talk about a blockade than actually do a blockade," McGee told lawmakers.
China staged war games around Taiwan in August of last year and again in April, and its forces operate around the island almost daily.
Taiwan's defense ministry said last week in its biennial report that China was bolstering its air power along the coast facing Taiwan with a permanent deployment of new fighters and drones at expanded air bases.
Still, McGee also said China's military, the People's Liberation Army (PLA), would be hard pressed to carry out frontal, amphibious invasion of the island. That is not something it could do in a surprise attack either, he said.
"They would have to mass tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of troops on the eastern coast and that would be a clear signal," McGee said.
He added flatly: "There is absolutely nothing easy about a PLA invasion of Taiwan."
"They would also encounter an island that has very few beaches, where you could land craft on mountainous terrain, and a population that we believe that would be willing to fight so there is absolutely nothing easy about a PLA invasion of Taiwan," he said.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Michael Martina and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
Chris Evans has addressed Quentin Tarantinos controversial assessment of the Marvel-isation of Hollywood, saying that the esteemed director is right.
Last November, the Pulp Fiction director, 60, made headlines when he critiqued the Marvel Universe and the actors that inhabit those roles.
Part of the Marvel-isation of Hollywood is, you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters, but theyre not movie stars. Captain America is the star, Tarantino said at the time.
Now, nearly a year later, Captain America himself Evans, 42, who has starred as the honourable superhero in 11 movies has agreed with the directors critical take.
You know, hes right. The character is the star. Youre there, but you dont feel the burden of it, the Gray Man actor told GQ in a recent interview.
That was the beauty of working on Marvel films. You never really had to be front and centre. Even in your own films sometimes, he added. I would run away from the leading man role every time if I could.
Referencing Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr, who he says walks in the room and owns the oxygen, Evans willingly conceded: Let him be the lead. Let him have the mic. Let him say the lines.
Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War ( Marvel 2016)
Im not trying to fit into that box. So if a good supporting role comes along, Im jumping at it. Just like Knives Out. Im happy to be in an ensemble. I dont need to carve out some sort of leading man niche for myself, he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, Evans discussed his potential future in the industry, revealing that he hasnt worked all year and I dont plan to.
I dont want to occupy too much space in an industry that Ive already poured 20 years into, he admitted. Sometimes reading a script is the last thing I want to do.
Evans can next be seen starring alongside Emily Blunt in the Netflix original Pain Hustlers, which releases on 20 October, followed by Red One a Christmas action-adventure, which is expected to release on Prime Video later this year.
Explaining why he chose to star in his latest two films, Evans said that the former was a no-brainer.
It was a role that I was excited to play because it was a real character, he told GQ. And then Red One: Ive just been looking for a Christmas movie my whole career.
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie ripped President Biden on his prisoner exchange deal with Iran, arguing you cannot give $6 billion to a terrorist state.
I wouldnt have made this deal, Christie said Monday in an interview on CNNs The Source with Kaitlan Collins . As much as I wouldve liked those Americans to be home, you cannot give $6 billion to a terrorist state.
In exchange for the release of five wrongfully detained American prisoners, the White Houses agreement granted clemency to five Iranians and issued a blanket waiver for international banks to allow the transfer of $6 billion of Iranian oil sail proceeds, frozen in South Korea, to a bank in Qatar.
When asked how he would have handled the deal, Christie said, You do the very best you can, you continue to work as hard as you can to get them returned home, but you dont get them returned home to make matters worse.
Americans are now more of a target for Iran than they were before, he continued. Because they took five this time, maybe theyll take 10 next time, and then theyll be looking for $12 billion of $15 billion this never ends.
Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said he would not have had a problem with the prisoner swap but would not have issued the release of funds.
This empowers that regime to support terror and encourages them to take more Americans in order to try to get more money from assets that are frozen because of their own terrorist conduct, he said.
His criticism joins that of some of his fellow GOP candidates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have expressed concerns the deal will encourage hostile nations to take more Americans traveling abroad as hostages in the future.
The funds were proceeds from Irans oil sales to South Korea that were previously frozen by the U.S. when relations between the two countries faltered. U.S. officials said the funds were to be used only for food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.
The idea that Iran would use this money for only humanitarian efforts, Christie said. Let me tell you what humanitarian is in Iran, Kaitlan that means they cut your hands off before they kill you. Thats humanitarian in Iran. This is one of the most barbaric regimes in the world.
When asked how the country will use the funds in an interview earlier this month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the money will be spent wherever we need it.
The five Americans freed in the prisoner swap arrived in Fort Belvoir, Va., on Tuesday morning, where they were greeted by loved ones who clapped, cheered and cried for their arrival.
All of the released Americans were sentenced in Iran to 10 years in prison on spying charges.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools says its record-setting bond package for 30 projects across the district will require property tax increases in 2025, 2028 and 2029.
Those increases of 1 cent per $100 in valuation each will help pay for debt associated with the $2.5 billion package on Mecklenburg ballots in November, Superintendent Crystal Hill said Tuesday during a presentation to the Hood Hargett Breakfast Club.
It will be the largest bond referendum of its kind in North Carolina history, and the district is pitching the increases as being just $10 in extra property taxes per month by 2029 for people who own homes valued at $400,000. Thats slightly less than the median home list price in the county, according to the Federal Reserve, which used Realtor.com data to place the median price at $475,375 in August.
Hill says the referendum isnt about a victory for the CMS Board of Education or Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners.
Its about making a difference in the lives of children, she said Tuesday during the presentation shes also giving during a series of five town hall meetings.
CMS projections dont include any tax increases that could be required for Mecklenburg County government projects like parks or public safety.
Projects stretch across a broad range of the districts schools from replacing a Montessori school in south Charlotte to a new magnet high school in Charlottes Second Ward. The largest portion of projects sits in the CMS Board of Educations District 2, which is mostly contained within west Charlotte. Thats a reflection of where needs for new schools and buildings exist, Hill said.
A full list of projects is available at charmeckschools.org/bond.
Early voting for the Nov. 7 general election starts Oct. 19.
During a Q&A session after her presentation, Hill said she expects the referendum to pass by a wide margin. To help ensure that happens, the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance hired Raleigh-based Republican and Democratic firms, including Jim Blaine, former chief of staff for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, and Morgan Jackson, whose firm has worked for Gov. Roy Coopers campaign, WFAE reported.
In recent history, their efforts have worked. The last referendum, for a then-historic $947 million in 2017, won with 73% of the vote. The last time bonds failed was in 2005, with 57% saying no to a $427 million package.
CNN anchor Dana Bash blasted former President Trump on Tuesday over a social media post in which he criticized liberal jews who did not support him.
There is nothing, nothing even close to appropriate about what he said. In fact, this is classic Trump trying to divide subsets of America, divide people who are already he sees that there are not just embers, but there are flames of division within the Jewish community and within American culture when it comes to Israel, Bash said while appearing the networks morning news and talk program.
It is so incredibly dangerous, she continued. I did a whole hour on antisemitism growing in America, and a big part of it was, according to expert after expert who looked at the research and looked at the at the threats and the timelines, Donald Trump saying things like this, pushing the door open a little bit, and white supremacists and people who have been feeling this way for a long time, shoving the door open.
Trump in a Truth Social post over the weekend attacked liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Lets hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year!
Bash, who is Jewish, said Trump knows full well that this kind of rhetoric is incredibly dangerous, and he just thinks that its advantageous to him. And he does it.
The former president, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2024, previously came under fire for comments in 2022 in which he urged American Jews to get their act together to show appreciation for Israel before it is too late.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's government and the Estado Mayor Central (EMC), the largest FARC dissident group, on Tuesday said in a joint statement they would begin peace talks on Oct. 8 and start a 10-month bilateral, national ceasefire on the same day.
The EMC was founded by dissident former members of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, who reject a 2016 peace deal signed by that group.
Talks between Colombia's government and the EMC are part of leftist President Gustavo Petro's attempt to end the country's armed conflict, which has run for almost six decades and killed almost half a million people.
Oct. 8 will see the "installation of peace talks and the declaration of the agreement to respect civilians and the (ceasefire), and a cessation of offensive operations," the parties said in the statement.
From Nov. 11 to Aug. 8, 2024 the parties will evaluate the implementation of both the agreement to respect civilians and the ceasefire, the statement added.
Colombia's government in May suspended a national ceasefire with the EMC in some areas of the Andean country following the murder of four Indigenous teenagers. The four minors were forcibly recruited by the group and then shot dead when they attempted to escape, Indigenous groups have said.
Colombia's attorney general suspended arrest warrants for more than 20 members of the EMC earlier in March to allow them to participate in the dialogue.
The members of EMC outright rejected the talks that led to the 2016 FARC deal, while the founders of a second group of dissidents, Segunda Marquetalia, rejected the accord three years after it was signed, alleging the state had not upheld its promises.
The government is also in peace talks with the National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels and the two sides have also agreed a bilateral ceasefire.
(Reporting by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Police walk on a bridge above a mangrove-cloaked river as they patrol a neighborhood abandoned by residents due to the presence of criminal gangs in Buenaventura, Colombia, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. The river is one of the key channels used by gangs to move drugs and weapons through this long-neglected swath of Colombias Pacific coast. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
BUENAVENTURA, Colombia (AP) Officers wade through rows of abandoned wooden homes teetering above a mangrove-cloaked river one of the key channels used by gangs to move drugs and weapons through this long-neglected swath of Colombias Pacific coast.
Each step for them is a reminder: Control here remains not with the law, but with those whose names are spoken in whispers in their city. Los Shottas and Los Espartanos.
The two gangs are the latest to lay siege to Buenaventura, Colombias busiest port and the crown jewel of narcotrafficking routes, the jump point from which drugs pour out to the rest of the world.
Now, theyre among a growing set of armed groups lining up to negotiate peace deals with Colombias new government.
Upon his historic election last year, Colombias rebel-turned-president Gustavo Petro promised to cement total peace and end one of the worlds longest-running conflicts. But as his government moves to fulfill that bold promise, Buenaventura has grown to exemplify the tangled mess the ex-rebel leader must unravel.
Petro aims to rewire how the South American nation addresses endemic violence, replacing military operations with social programs tackling the conflicts roots, including poverty in violence-torn areas like Buenaventura. Hes also negotiating with the most powerful of Colombias mutating armed groups from leftist guerrillas to smaller trafficking mafias in an effort to get them to demobilize simultaneously.
More than a year since Petro took office, his total peace plan has inched forward. More than 31,000 armed fighters make up the militias that have come forward to begin peace talks, according to government estimates. Programs for the young people that gangs recruit are planned in Buenaventura and other cities. But the countrys most powerful armed groups have grown stronger, according to experts, and bloodshed between rival groups has skyrocketed.
Critics say the criminal groups are only taking advantage of ceasefires with the government. They describe strong criminal economies and law enforcement officials unable to pursue perpetrators. And many people, from victims to the armed groups seeking a deal, view Petros plan with distrust begot by decades of violence and failed promises.
The idea behind total peace is right on the money. You know, lets look at the social issues behind these conflicts, said Jeremy McDermott, co-founder of InSight Crime, a Colombia-based think tank. The great challenge Petro faces is: How do you talk peace without strengthening these groups?
No group is yet close to signing a full peace agreement. In Buenaventura, Los Shottas refuses to demobilize until every armed group in Colombia sets down arms, too, a delegate for the gang told The Associated Press.
Do you know how many groups want to take control of Buenaventura? Tons, said the man, who declined to give his name and spoke on condition that he be identified by his nom de guerre, Jeronimo. And if they hand over their power, what will happen? Those groups are going to come and exterminate us.
________
Across Colombia, decades of war between leftist guerrillas, rightwing paramilitaries, trafficking groups and the government have left more than 9.5 million people nearly 20% of the population as victims of forced displacement, homicide, sexual violence and more.
In Buenaventura, turf wars have bred a particularly brutal conflict, making the city one of the worlds most violent. Homicide, kidnapping, torture and sexual abuse are commonplace. So are mass graves and chop houses, where gangs dismember enemies, letting their screams echo through neighborhoods.
The names and faces of victims are painted on city walls, and along the main throughway, a sign surrounded by white crosses reads: Death cant be our only hope. Young men perch on motorcycles on street corners, watching the territories their gangs control. On Buenaventuras jungled fringes, rival groups wait to seize their part of the city - police say theres so many, theyve lost count.
Residents are quick to say bloodshed has touched every soul in the city of 450,000 most of all, young people.
Lupe, a 57-year-old lifelong Buenaventura resident, knows this all too well. She lost her son and granddaughter to the gangs first.
Cristian was 25, working as an inspector of coffee, bananas and avocados in the citys port when he refused to let one of Los Shottas drug shipment through he feared losing one of the legal jobs available to young people here, Lupe said.
She watched as threats to kill him and kidnap his daughter piled in. Over three years, they grew so grisly that Cristian knew they had to leave. He fled to the United States by night, carrying only small backpacks for him and his daughter, now 5.
Lupe, who tried for the better part of two decades to shield her son from the citys criminal underworld, hasnt seen them since last year, but takes solace in knowing theyre safe.
Here, young people have no peace, they have no harmony or calm, said Lupe, who spoke to AP on condition that only her first name be used, for fear of gang retribution. This here, our territory, its a time bomb.
The young people who lack opportunities and are forcibly recruited into gangs are equal parts victims and victimizers, many here say.
They dont choose it, theyre forced into it, said Ruben Dario Jaramillo Montoya, bishop of Buenaventura. Theyre poor, theyve never known another reality. Violence envelops them and then they cant leave.
As part of the total peace plan, programs geared toward recruitment will be rolled out in cities with the highest rates of violence and poverty, including Buenaventura, government adviser Carolina Hoyos told AP. She described them as fundamental to the overall picture.
Young People in Peace will give a monthly stipend of a million pesos, around $250, to 100,000 Colombians ages of 14 to 28 linked or at the risk of being linked to criminal groups, Hoyos said. Theyll be required to seek education and carry out some form of social work.
In May, Petro said: There will be thousands of young people we will pay not to kill, for not participating in violence, for studying.
But some question whether the programs timeline lasting between six and 18 months is enough to be effective.
______
The Colombian government has long worked to get criminal groups to set down arms, and in 2016 was hailed for signing a peace pact with the countrys most powerful guerrilla force, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Much of the accords centered on similar social programs and reintegration opportunities for rebels.
It earned then-President Juan Manuel Santos a Nobel Peace Prize for bringing the worlds longest running civil war to an end.
But the calm that followed was short-lived.
As authorities failed to carry out the agreement and seize control of territories where FARC rebels once roamed, a slew of mutating mafias warred to take their place. Bloodshed roared back.
When Petro entered office last year, the government restarted peace talks with the countrys final remaining guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), which has been in armed political resistance since 1964. Last month, ELN and Colombia began a six-month cease-fire as part of the process toward a longer peace deal.
The populists past may be helping things along Petro was once a member of the now-defunct urban M-19 guerrilla group, which demobilized and formed a leftist political party in the 90s, his entrance into politics. But some believe his role in the rebel group, charges of ties to drug traffickers and other scandals are hurdles in getting his historically conservative government onboard.
Still, his message has rippled out to armed groups that are less political and more interested solely in Colombias drug and other illegal trades. For a year, Los Shottas and Los Espartanos have held dialogues brokered by the Catholic Church and the government, and have had on-and-off cease-fires.
The Los Shottas delegate who spoke to AP said its leaders are open to peace. Jeronimo would not say whether they would be willing to end all illegal activities, only that theyd reduce extortion, looting and clashes.
Buenaventura is tired of so much violence, tired of so much bloodshed, he said.
Jeronimo would not detail what Los Shottas would get out of demobilizing other than the tranquility of the people. But those brokering the talks told AP that gang leaders want reduced prison sentences for their crimes.
Jeronimo said they hope to generate trust not with words, but through actions.
But in Buenaventura, trust is in short supply.
Three months ago, Lupe was still reeling from seeing her son and granddaughter fleeing when she said armed men from rival gang Los Espartanos tried to poach her 16-year-old nephews for their ranks.
She described them waiting outside the young mens home and beating them. Now, shes scrambling to get them out of the city.
We cant sleep at night, she said. When there are these truces, they dont kill with bullets, but they do disappear people.
Some, like Nora Castillo, worry the groups arent negotiating in earnest, saying they see cease-fires and peace programs as a convenience to grow in strength.
If were just talking about logistics, about the reality, no group is going to stop extorting because theyre earning a million pesos, Castillo said of the planned stipend for young people.
Castillo is a leader of Buenaventuras humanitarian space, a former red zone transformed with the help of human rights groups as a place for community, safety and activism. But Castillo said she often receives death threats and leaves home with government bodyguards the gangs presence is still felt there.
Data show thats true not only in Buenaventura but across Colombia: In the past year, armed groups have expanded territorial control, sources of income and recruitment, according to a report by the think tank Ideas for Peace Foundation. While fights with law enforcement have dipped, warring between rival groups has risen. Kidnappings have risen by 77% and extortion by 15%.
One of the great advantages of sitting down and talking with the government is that the security forces find themselves handcuffed in pursuing you, said McDermott, of InSight Crime.
Government adviser Hoyos would not respond to APs questions about whether the administration trusts the armed groups in negotiations. She emphasized instead that officials trust the process.
For Lupe, the prospect for peace however slim is all she has left.
Every day, she walks past a clothesline where her son and granddaughters shirts still hang without a wrinkle, one year after they fled. She hopes to see them again, in a different Buenaventura.
Our dream is that one day things will change, this conflict we have will end, she said. I try to survive, try to keep going for the next generation.
A Columbus man who was part of a hybrid criminal street gang was recently convicted for firing at an FBI agent.
Joshuia Johnathon Luke Brown, 25, was found guilty of one count of forcible assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon, according to a press release from the justice department.
Brown is a member of the gang known as US World, which is affiliated with other national criminal gangs, the DOJ said.
Brown was also found guilty of the following:
One count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence
One count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances
One count of distribution of methamphetamine
One count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine
Three counts of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances
One count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
Brown is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the DOJ.
The DOJ said co-defendant Jarvis Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to the following charges on Aug. 8:
One count of forcible assault on a federal law enforcement officer
One count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
One count of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
Smith is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to the release.
Smith is a confirmed member of the Bloods criminal street gang and has a prior conviction of aggravated assault, burglary and robbery in Muscogee County, the release read.
These charges stem from a July 2022 incident when an FBI agent surveilling Brown and Smith as part of an ongoing investigation witnessed a drug deal involving the two defendants, the release read.
The DOJ said an FBI agent was performing mobile surveillance when Smith stepped out of the car he was driving along with Brown and began shooting at the FBI agents vehicle, striking the vehicle several times.
The FBI agent was unharmed, the release says.
The DOJ says Brown and Smith eluded the FBI and the Muscogee County Sheriffs office after a car and foot pursuit. However, Smith was later caught and Brown turned himself in after a several day manhunt, according to the release.
A bag dropped by Brown during the pursuit contained a fully loaded handgun that matched two bullets recovered from the FBI agents vehicle, the DOJ said.
Anyone who assaults a law enforcement officer is dangerous and an extreme threat to public safety. Stopping violent criminals, like Brown, is one of the most important things we can do to protect our communities, said Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, in a statement.
The Columbus Department of the Inspector General is investigating two city police officers over their response to a call for service regarding sexual misconduct involving a child after a video of the incident went viral.
The doorbell camera video, which began circulating on social media on Sunday, is captioned: "My daughter was a victim [of] a online predator. She's 11 he's a grown man. He manipulated her into sending pictures of herself. This was the police response at midnight we called at 6."
More: Columbus police owe father, public apology for shockingly botched sex grooming investigation
On Monday, the Columbus Division of Police confirmed the video was of city police officers with a statement released on social media.
The Columbus Division of Police acknowledges a video being shared on social media involving two officers responding to a call for service. The Department of the Inspector General, which investigates complaints of misconduct and/or excessive use of force by sworn personnel, has opened an inquiry into this incident," according to the statement. "The Division of Police regards all allegations of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. Incidents involving minors are handled with the highest degree of concern. Sexual Assault Unit detectives were immediately notified of the incident and have since initiated an investigation."
In the video, a male and female officer are shown walking up to the front porch of a residence and knocking on the door. The officers wait for someone to answer the door on the porch. About a minute in, a man exits the house and speaks to the officers.
"She's in bed now," the man said. The audio is briefly inaudible as he opens the door.
"It still happened, though, right?" the female officer said.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, the whole point, I just wanted you guys to come over and talk to her," the man said. "I just want her to realize what this was. I mean, reality is not much I probably can do about it, is there?"
"I mean, she can probably get charged with child porn," the female officer replied.
"Who, she can?" the man said. "She's 11 years old."
"She's creating it, right?" the female officer said.
The man repeats himself: "She's 11 years old."
"Doesn't matter. She's still making porn."
"No, she's not," the man said. "She's being manipulated by a grown (explitive) adult on the internet."
"Is she taking pictures, though?"
The man dismisses the officers: "You guys have a nice evening," and starts to head inside the house. "Thank you for coming."
He turns to say something else. "Are you serious? Have a nice evening."
The two officers then leave the residence.
The video has nearly 700,000 views on TikTok as of Monday afternoon.
Users online at first incorrectly believed the officers in the video were from the Marysville Division of Police, and police in that Union County city came under heavy criticism on social media.
Marysville Police Chief Tony Brooks provided the following statement to the Dispatch:
"We are aware of the TikTok video, but the officers seen in the video are not Marysville (Ohio) PD officers. We do not know where this took place, but are certain it was not in Marysville, Ohio."
The city Department of the Inspector General is currently investigating the incident.
"Columbus Department of Inspector General is aware of the video being shared with social media and did receive several citizen complaints involving this incident," read a statement provided to the Dispatch. "The purpose of the Columbus DIG is to ensure the actions of sworn personnel of the CPD are constitutional and in compliance with the City of Columbus and CPD's policies and procedures and all applicable laws.
"When evidence suggests a violation of policies and procedures occurred, recommendations of accountability will be made in order to restore, build and maintain public trust between the community and CPD."
The process for any disciplinary action, if taken, will involve the Inspector General's Office reviewing the complaint and doing an investigation, which will then be reviewed by the Columbus Civilian Police Review Board.
The Civilian Police Review Board can then offer disciplinary suggestions, but those decisions are ultimately left up to Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant.
More: How to file a complaint against Columbus police officers with Inspector General's office
Dispatch reporter Bethany Bruner contributed to this story.
tmoorman@dispatch.com
@taijuannichole
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus police receive backlash from video of sexual misconduct call
A TikTok video shows Columbus police interaction with a father who reported that his daughter was groomed by an online predator.
Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch's opinion and community engagement editor. She is a life-long Ohioan.
The Columbus Division of Police should issue an immediate public apology to an 11-year-old girl, her father and this city for its shockingly inhumane mishandling of an online sex groomer investigation.
More than that, the department must show that it actually investigated the reported crime and demonstrate that this sort of interaction is not the norm.
Instead of doing any of that, the department issued a half-baked and fully insulting statement that is not nearly enough to quench public outrage.
More: Columbus police being investigated after online backlash from sexual misconduct call
The TikTok video and Columbus police response
The doorbell camera video posted to TikTok Sunday is captioned: "My daughter was a victim [of] a online predator. She's 11 he's a grown man. He manipulated her into sending pictures of herself. This was the police response at midnight we called at 6."
The man says his daughter was victimized by an online predator.
She was also victimized by the two officers who responded to the call.
In the most outlandish moments in the video, one told the father before asking probing questions about the crime he called about that his kid could be the one who ends up behind bars.
The not-so-veiled threat went like this:
Female officer: "I mean, she can probably get charged with child porn."
The dad: "Who, she can? She's 11 years old."
Female officer: "She's creating it, right?"
The dad: "She's 11 years old."
The brief interaction is offensive and shows that the officers lack compassion, proper training or both. It is victim blaming and callous.
More than that, the interaction was a slap against the trust police are supposed to have with the public.
Let's break down what we know from the video:
A dad in our city reports that his innocent child is victimized by an online creep who asks her to send illicit photos.
Police arrive hours later after the victim is asleep.
One of the officers a female is short, insensitive and dismissive if not rude to the victim's father and brings up punitive actions that can be taken against the child victim.
No question is asked about the actual perpetrator.
The disgusted dad ends the interaction with no help for his child.
More: Opinion: Is 911 becoming a joke in Columbus? Slower police response time alarming
This family needed help, not agression
This is egregious and betrays the words written in the police division statement posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
The Columbus Division of Police acknowledges a video being shared on social media involving two officers responding to a call for service. The Department of the Inspector General, which investigates complaints of misconduct and/or excessive use of force by sworn personnel, has opened an inquiry into this incident," according to the statement. "The Division of Police regards all allegations of sexual misconduct with the utmost seriousness. Incidents involving minors are handled with the highest degree of concern. Sexual Assault Unit detectives were immediately notified of the incident and have since initiated an investigation."
No one who reports a crime in this city should be treated in such an outrageous way. The incident is particularly disturbing because a child was victimized. She and her dad needed help, to be protected and served.
The police division betrayed them.
The befuddled dad ended the interaction with the police officers on his porch with a question the division should be asking itself.
"Are you serious?"
A public apology and public action are necessary immediately.
More than that, swift action must be taken to make these officers are corrected or removed from the force and this sort of behavior is not perpetrated by others who swore and oath to protect and serve.
Amelia Robinson is the Columbus Dispatch's opinion and community engagement editor. She is a life-long Ohioan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Video shows Columbus police mishandle sex investigation, blame girl
Bev Lazo-Gonzalez, second from left, trains students in the kitchen of the Arc Center Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Downey. The nonprofit launched a new catering program this summer in hopes of getting developmentally disabled adults ready for jobs. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Shin rolled out the cookie dough. Asia sauteed the onions. Christopher fried the tortilla chips. Richard cooked the pinto beans.
The kitchen at the Arc Los Angeles and Orange Counties in Downey was hopping.
For the past two weeks, the nonprofit's culinary students seven men ranging in age from 22 to 41, decked out in black chefs coats with metal tags that included their first names and Future Chef had catered breakfast and lunch for a human resources conference. This was the final day, and lunch would be a feast for 50 of chicken tinga, cochinita pibil and bean-and-potato tacos.
The students are all on the autism spectrum. Christopher largely kept to himself. Richard monitored the pinto beans with a timer he assiduously reset every time it went off. Sean mashed the guacamole while an Arc staffer held the bowl. Kristian, the most talkative of the group, needed gentle prodding from the Arc executive chef Bev Lazo-Gonzalez to focus on his job.
Otherwise, they were like any other line chefs in any restaurant kitchen except they weren't allowed to handle knives.
"I love being able to show their families that they're capable of handling big projects like what we're now doing, said sous chef Virginia Reynosa, 37, who has worked with the Arc since 2013. Theyre surprised at what their [autistic family members] can do.
Fried chili peppers prepared by trainees at the Arc Culinary Training Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Im tough on them because, I tell them, I want you to be ready, and they take it, said Lazo-Gonzalez, 53. Her son Josef is on the autism spectrum and was helping her on this day. Usually, he attends classes at Cerritos College, where he's majoring in music.
Gas stoves roared. Pots clanged. Industrial-sized mixers purred. People yelled out restaurant lingo Behind! Corner! Coming through, hot! as Maroon 5 and Selena played loudly from a Pandora station.
Lazo-Gonzalez roamed around to check on everyones progress. Sometimes, she jumped in to demonstrate techniques: Use regular salt instead of kosher salt on the cookie dough. Knead the pork for the cochinita pibil so it soaks up the citrus marinade better. To cook rice the best way the Filipino way, according to her fill a rice cooker with water just below the second knuckle of your middle finger.
Mostly, she offered words of encouragement peppered with hon and love.
All week, you were prepping for this, she told her crew before they took a short break. And she had some news: The conference wanted to add to its order.
Its kind of late, but well make it work," she said. Then she smiled. Who needs coffee like I do?
Everyone raised their hands and cheered.
Since 1956, the Arc has provided services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including art classes, field trips and job training, from a small complex of buildings in the industrial part of Downey. Six years ago, the nonprofit began a free culinary arts program that prepares clients to work in the restaurant industry as cooks and dishwashers.
Trainees prepare Mexican food at the Arc Culinary Training Center. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
This summer, the Arc launched an ambitious project to provide real world experience, refurbishing a banquet hall so it could be rented, with catering provided by the students. The two-week conference was their first big test.
A previous administration had upgraded the Arc's kitchen to an industrial-sized spot, but CEO Emilio Sosa whos also president of the Los Nietos School District Board of Trustees felt that participants weren't getting the most out of it.
The banquet hall look like it was from the 1980s, Sosa said in an interview from his office. They were making only sandwiches and salads for our other participants. If our goal is to provide them real-life experience, then we needed to turn the kitchen into a place to do that.
Sosa's idea was also born out of necessity. In the fall of 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that prohibited paying workers with disabilities less than the minimum wage, which had been allowed under a 1938 federal statute meant to make hiring them easier. Advocates for the bill argued that allowed workers with disabilities to be exploited.
Many of the Arc's clients who held jobs lost them soon afterward, as businesses balked at paying minimum wage. Because of the increased labor costs, the Arc's on-site packing warehouse, which employed former clients, had to close. It then relaunched as a thrift store with a vastly reduced staff before shuttering because of lack of sales.
Employers dont want to take the jump for our participants catering is a way to show them off, said Sosa.
"They keep telling me they miss working," Lazo-Gonzalez said. Under her, everyone trains seven hours a day, five days a week, with a mix of hands-on workshops and lectures. They still cook lunch every day for other Arc participants but have upped their game with weekly specials based on Lazo-Gonzalezs recipes or their own suggestions. They can also do off-site catering.
Executive chef Beverly Lazo-Gonzalez teaches Ricardo, left, and Kristian how to prepare a dish. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
If I ever did open a restaurant, they would be my first hire," said Lazo-Gonzalez, a veteran of upscale restaurant chains like Border Grill and Slapfish. "A lot of people in restaurants start off thinking theyre a rock star. Here, everyone is grateful just for the chance.
She tries to arrange field trips but gets few responses from restaurants and grocery stores.
I know theyre busy, Lazo-Gonzalez said with a disappointed look on her face, but we want the guys to see whats out there.
Right before lunchtime, I asked some of the Arc's aspiring chefs how they felt.
It helps me improve my future and fulfill my dreams, said Asia, who started a couple of months ago. (The Arc doesn't disclose the last names of clients, citing privacy concerns.)
I'm learning a lot, Christopher said.
Richard had worked for a while at a warehouse but didn't like it "because they weren't nice." He and Sean were moonlighting for the day, and while he doesn't want to work in the restaurant industry, "I like to work and want to work."
Its fun, what we do, Kristian said. He's about to transition out of the program after four years to enter the Arc's career development track and hopes to be the first of his peers to land a job in the culinary world. Im getting skills and friends.
"OK," he then cracked, "let me get my groove back on!"
By the time the conference was ready for lunch, the energy in the kitchen had ratcheted up. A couple of the guys went out to serve at the buffet line, while the others cleaned up what was left not much, since everyone wiped down their work stations before moving to another task.
Near the center of the banquet hall, conference organizers raved about their experience.
The quality of the food and the professionalism was amazing, said Elsa Leal of Monrovia. I think I want to hold my daughter's quinceanera here."
Its a great way for them to showcase what they do, added Whittier resident Laura Ramirez.
A lot of times, you go to somewhere for a conference, and they dont have everything, said Yvette Martin. Here, its all pros.
As the conference attendees ate, the Arc team retired to a private room so Lazo-Gonzalez and Reynosa could serve them lunch. Someone had written Good Luck on a whiteboard. I joined them for a delicious meal with a bonus: grilled chile gueritos.
The next day, they would enjoy a day off with pizza and karaoke. Soon after, they would begin to plan a Harry Potter-themed dinner for October that will be their first try at serving the general public, something Lazo-Gonzalez wants to do once a month. Right now, they gossiped as in any other break room.
Kristian asked Josef about a Blink 182 concert he had attended. That turned the talk to their favorite bassists. Asia showed me YouTube videos. Richard, Sean and Christopher silently ate, until someone began thinking out loud about what Lazo-Gonzalez should teach them to make next.
Trainee Shin, 41, prepares to bake cookies at the Arc Culinary Training Center in Downey. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Ricardo, who had largely been silent that morning, suggested enchiladas. Shin countered with kimchi rice.
Pasta carbonara, Asia responded.
A whole lechon! Kristian blurted out, which drew an impressed laugh from Lazo-Gonzalez.
You all have to be here at five in the morning for that! You all ready?
They are.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Sept. 12 (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthys decision to move ahead with impeachment proceedings and the Democrats response reminded me of something Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser reportedly once said, The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves, which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing. Nasser was talking about foreign policy, but cleverly stupid politics doesnt end at the waters edge.
Lets start with McCarthy. He unilaterally announced an impeachment inquiry without putting it up for a vote into what some call the Biden crime family, but no new committee will be created. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), chair of the Oversight Committee, will keep doing exactly what theyve been doing.
Read more: Abcarian: Shed no tears for Hunter Biden, who exploited the family name but also broke the law
Thats not the point, Republicans say. This is necessary to get the expanded subpoena power that impeachments provide.
Or not. During Donald Trumps first impeachment, McCarthy insisted that a similar unilateral move by then Speaker Nancy Pelosi was illegitimate. Of course, hypocrisy is no hurdle for McCarthy. The real problem is that Trumps Justice Department penned a memo arguing that the White House didnt have to comply with subpoenas from an improperly formed impeachment inquiry. Bidens lawyers can invoke not just the memo, but also a 54-page ruling affirming it from a Trump-appointed judge.
The upshot: McCarthys impeachment-lite will likely make it easier for the White House to stonewall, legally. Though it might make it harder politically.
And that gets at one of the reasons McCarthy did this. Its great politics for most Republicans. But while fundraising and friendly coverage from conservative media is assured, McCarthys primary motivations have to do with the fragility of his speakership, which is sustained by a mere four Republican votes.
Read more: Calmes: Hunter Biden's problems are legitimately his dad's problems too
McCarthy simply didnt have the votes for a proper impeachment. But pro-Trump members demanded something. Some sincerely believe Biden was complicit in his son Hunters influence peddling schemes. Others want it because Trump wants it as payback, or to take some of the stigma out of his impeachments, or for 2024 campaign messaging.
And McCarthy wants to avoid a government shutdown. He apparently hoped that pro-Trump forces concentrated in the House Freedom Caucus would agree to keep the governments lights on, if only to conduct their impeachment-ish hearings. So far, theyre not buying it. Impeachment and budget fights are on different tracks. We can do both in the words of Rep. Bob Good (R-Va).
But Democrats and much of the media are missing a few things, too. Its no surprise that the White House would insist that theres nothing connecting Hunter Biden s obvious efforts at influence peddling and his then vice-president father. But it is remarkable how many in the press repeat the no evidence claim.
Impeachment fights invariably invite the misuse of legal concepts, none more so than evidence. Trumps defenders would dismiss any fact as circumstantial evidence. But as virtually any criminal lawyer will tell you, most convictions at trial are won with circumstantial evidence i.e., facts that push toward an inference of guilt. Most cases with lots of direct evidence never mind cases with outright proof dont usually go to trial because defense attorneys know thats their cue to cop a plea.
Read more: Editorial: Kevin McCarthy is pushing a Biden impeachment inquiry so thin you can see right through it
So, when people say theres no evidence that Biden was a knowing participant in his sons shady dealings, what they mean is that theres no ironclad proof. And there isnt, at least not yet.
But there is plenty of evidence: testimony from Hunter Bidens partners, accounts from various whistleblowers, and bank records showing some unusual efforts to park funds in opaque LLCs. Bidens own falsehoods about having no knowledge of his sons overseas business dealings despite giving him rides to foreign meetings on Air Force Two as vice president are evidence he lied, but not proof he was involved.
The risk for Republicans is that this may be all the evidence theyve got. Impeachment hearings are supposed to begin with solid evidence that leads to proof of misconduct. But McCarthy & Co. have other priorities.
The big risk for Democrats is that a majority of Americans (61%) already think Biden had some involvement in Hunter Bidens business dealings. Simply insisting theres no evidence wont help Biden. Thats why this impeachment-lite effort may just be stupid enough to work.
@JonahDispatch
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Comedian Larry David confronted Elon Musk at a wedding about voting Republican: 'Do you just want to murder kids in schools?'
Larry David (right) confronted Elon Musk (left) at a wedding, according to Walter Isaacson. JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images and Charley Gallay/FilmMagic for HBO
Larry David had harsh words for Elon Musk for supporting the Republican Party, a new biography said.
The "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator asked Musk: "Do you want to just murder kids in schools?"
David made the comments at a wedding that took place days after the Uvalde school shooting.
Comedian Larry David once confronted Elon Musk at a wedding about his support for the Republican Party, and had some harsh words for the Tesla CEO.
The exchange was first detailed in Walter Isaacson 's new biography on the billionaire.
Isaacson wrote that the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator "seemed to be fuming" when he sat down at a table with Musk at the wedding reception for Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel in May 2022.
"Do you want to just murder kids in schools?" David said.
Isaacson wrote that Musk was "baffled and annoyed" by the question, and said he's "anti-kid murder."
"Then how could you vote Republican?" David said. The comedian later told Isaacson that Musk's negative posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, about the Democratic Party were "sticking in my craw."
The wedding took place only a few short days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers died.
"Even if Uvalde never happened, I probably would have brought it up, because I was angry and offended," David told Isaacson.
Representatives for David confirmed to Insider that he made the comments to Musk. Emanuel and Musk did not respond to a request for comment ahead of publication.
The comedian's dig came after Musk said in a May 2022 social media post that the Democratic Party has "become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican."
Musk had told Tucker Carlson that he voted for Biden in the 2020 presidential election, but Isaacson said in the biography that Musk didn't vote because he didn't believe his vote would matter in California. While Musk originally said he was excited for Biden to become president, his relationship with the president has soured over the years as the two men have repeatedly taken digs at each other.
Outside of his feud with Biden, Musk has expressed conservative views on Twitter, including reposting conspiracy theories and anti-transgender content on X. Musk also helped Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida announce his plans to run for president on X.
Meanwhile, David has expressed his support for the Democratic Party in the past and even got into an argument with former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz over his connection to former President Donald Trump in 2021, Page Six reported at the time.
David officiated Emanuel's wedding, which took place in Saint-Tropez, Isaacson wrote. Musk and the talent agent famously known as the basis for the character of Ari Gold on the HBO show "Entourage" have been friends since Emanuel bought a Tesla Roadster in 2008, according to the biography on Musk.
Read the original article on Business Insider
United States Steel Corp., the owner of the steel mill in Granite City, said Monday in a quarterly report that a blast furnace in the plant would be temporarily idled in response to the United Auto Workers strike that began Friday.
But the president of United Steelworkers Local 1899, the union that represents the Granite City workers, rejected the blame for the furnaces idling on the auto workers strike, according to a report by KSDK-Channel 5.
Our order book here was solid, Dan Simmons told the television station. It kind of caught us all off guard. Theyre looking at disruptions down the road. They had this planned for a while.
Simmons also told KSDK the layoffs could affect 300 to 350 of the plants 1,300 workers.
The company statement did not say how many workers would be laid off, and a company representative could not be reached for comment Monday.
Todays guidance also reflects the expected impact on third quarter financial results from the United Autoworkers union strike announced earlier this month, U.S. Steel said in its statement. Consistent with actions taken in 2022 to balance our melt capacity with our order book, we will temporarily idle blast furnace B at Granite City Works and are reallocating volumes to other domestic facilities to efficiently meet customer demand.
Simmons said in a statement on the unions Facebook page that the B furnace is the primary operation of the Granite City plant.
His statement also said the union was meeting with the company to put together a layoff minimization plan per the contract.
Last year, Granite City steel workers were concerned about jobs being lost when U.S. Steel announced a plan to sell two blast furnaces to SunCoke Energy Inc., a raw materials handling company.
The Associated Press reported that about 13,000 of the UAWs 146,000 workers went on strike at assembly plants in Wentzville, Missouri; Wayne, Michigan; and Toledo, Ohio.
The auto workers demands include wage increases and a 32-hour week with 40 hours of pay while the automakers are earning profits but the leaders of Ford, GM and Chrysler are concerned about labor costs while they build electric vehicles at the same time as making gas-powered cars, according to The AP.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appealed his pretrial detention on espionage charges in Russian court Tuesday, but contradictory statements from the court and Russian state media caused confusion on the result of the appeal.
The Moscow City Court said it sent the appeal back to a lower court on procedural grounds, while state media TASS reported the appeal was denied, meaning the journalist would have to remain in jail until at least Nov. 30.
Gershkovich was arrested in April on espionage charges, which have been denounced by the U.S. and the Journal as baseless and politically motivated. His appeal against his pre-trial detention was denied. He is now appealing that denial.
Gershkovich was arrested while on a work trip in Yekaterinburg, in Russias interior. He is the first American journalist jailed on espionage charges in the country since the Soviet era.
The Journal said in a statement that Gershkovichs detention was improper and for doing his job as a journalist.
The baseless accusations against him are categorically false, and we continue to push for his immediate release, the statement reads. Journalism is not a crime.
Russian prosecutors allege Gershkovich, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.
President Biden previously said he is serious about freeing Gershkovich via a prisoner swap. Russian officials have said a prisoner swap will not be considered until his trial is over, a process which could take up to a year.
Gershkovichs legal counsel appealed to the United Nations for assistance last week, calling on the body to act on the journalists behalf.
Russia is not imprisoning Gershkovich because it legitimately believes its absurd claim that he is an American spy, attorneys wrote. Instead, Russian President Vladimir Putin is using Gershkovich as a pawn, holding him hostage in order to gain leverage over and extract a ransom from the United States, just as he has done with other American citizens whom he has wrongfully detained.
The Associated Press contributed.
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Interview: Egypt's space agency chief hails "strategic" cooperation with China as "fruitful"
Xinhua) 08:48, September 19, 2023
CAIRO, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's assistance in establishing Egypt's satellite assembly center as well as building a remote sensing satellite helps the country become Africa's pioneer in the space field, said Egypt's space agency chief in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Sherif Sedky, CEO of the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA), described Egypt's cooperation with China in the field of space technologies as "strategic" and "fruitful."
"Egypt's cooperation with China in the field of space is long-standing, the most important part of which is the establishment of the Satellite Assembly, Integration and Test Center (AITC), the largest of its kind in the Middle East and Africa, in addition to the design and manufacture of the MisrSat II satellite," said the EgSA CEO.
In June, two China-funded prototype satellites of the MisrSat II satellite project were delivered to the Egyptian side, making Egypt the first African country with the capacity to assemble, integrate, and test satellites.
Sedky pointed out that the AITC and the MisrSat II satellite were established via a full grant from China.
MisrSat II, the first satellite Egypt owns through a partnership with China, has been tested in the Arab country by Egyptian and Chinese engineers and will be sent later to China for launch, according to the head of EgSA.
"There are seven basic tests, including those related to the space environment, the simulation of the launching process itself, the electromagnetic coverage, and the payload, all of which have been fully and successfully completed," he told Xinhua, adding that the satellite is currently ready for launch in December.
"The space technology is a large and significant area of cooperation with China, and it has proven very successful," Sedky said.
He explained that MisrSat II is a low-orbit imaging satellite that is meant to serve Egypt's sustainable development goals by photographing agricultural areas, urban development, changes in beaches, water resources, and existing mineral wealth.
The Egyptian-Chinese cooperation in the space field is "very promising," and it has proven successful over the past years, said the Egyptian official.
"We are very happy with our strategic cooperation with China, and we're looking forward to deepening it," Sedky added.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Photo: Kristen Holliday Kevin Falcon, leader of BC United, announces his party's wildfire policy reforms at a Vancouver hotel on Tuesday.
Opposition leader Kevin Falcon says wildfire policy reforms unveiled by BC United includes plans to leverage local expertise a strategy informed by the experiences of North Shuswap residents who stayed behind to fight the Bush Creek East fire despite evacuation orders.
The set of policy reforms was announced on Tuesday.
We heard there is a lot of skill sets that local communities have, Falcon said.
We have to make sure that we are utilizing those skill sets, we're utilizing local contractors, we're utilizing those forestry contractors, for example, that often will see a small fire begin.
In a news conference outside a Vancouver hotel, Falcon told reporters the BC United policy will include securing more frontline firefighting personnel, new fire suppression technology and an expanded a fleet of aircraft.
The reforms also include a pledge to offer automatic financial support for evacuees within the first 72 hours of leaving their homes.
Falcon said the party would also look to overhaul forest management practices, emphasizing swift responses to fires and reducing wildfire risks through selective harvesting, interface firebreaks expedited permits, regulatory changes and financial incentives.
The partys policy reforms suggest using local contractors for rapid fire suppression, and equipping local volunteer fire response teams. Falcon said if there are people with local knowledge and expertise near a wildfire start who are capable and willing to respond to respond, they should be empowered to act.
That's feedback that certainly the MLAs have heard from not just the Shuswap, but right across the province, he said.
After tensions rose between officials and North Shuswap residents who defied evacuation orders to fight wildfires, training was provided for locals who wanted to help on the fire line.
At the time, the BC Wildfire Service noted there have been multiple examples of collaborative efforts where wildland firefighters have battled fires alongside community groups, including Knutsford ranchers battling the Rossmoore Lake wildfire, south of Kamloops.
Todd Stone, MLA for Kamloops-South Thompson, said ranchers, farmers, loggers and other multi-generational residents know the geography and wind patterns of the region, and many of them have firefighter training.
Stone said instead of blaming locals for endangering their lives by disobeying orders, that knowledge needs to be leveraged.
What we're saying is, this whole system needs to be turned upside down, and we need to actually equip and train and supply those locals ahead of fire seasons, Stone said.
Stone said during this years wildfire season, evacuees have also experienced delays and backlogs in receiving supports.
There's a lot of red tape requirements that are wrapped around evacuees having to prove their financial status and a whole bunch of other details, he said.
What we're saying is in that initial 72 hours, when a family presents at an ESS, they will be automatically approved for the basic food supports accommodation supports for that initial 72 hour period so that they can begin to kind of take stock of what's going on.
Falcon said there isnt a budget or detailed costing attached to the policy at this time, noting obtaining this information as an opposition party is difficult, but pointed to the massive costs of this years historic wildfire season.
That's part of what climate resiliency should be be all about, making these productive investments upfront so that we don't have those huge costs down the road, he said.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) reportedly took a bow after admonishing a group of Senate pages in late July who were lying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis) said Monday after reviewing surveillance footage.
When describing the surveillance footage to local news outlets, Pocan said Van Orden stopped the tour he was giving to about 15 people in order to confront the six Senate pages. He appeared, according to the Wisconsin Democrat, very belligerently animated, I would say, with his hands.
After chasing the Senate pages off, Van Orden returned to his tour and took a bow to his group, he added about his colleague.
It seemed like it was more of showing off than actual concern about dead soldiers from the Civil War, which I think was the excuse, Pocan said in a video posted by a Spectrum News reporter to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Bottom line is he screwed up. You know, he had a few too many drinks in his office with a bunch of people, took them over for a tour, tried to show off, and he should have just said, Look, I made a mistake. I shouldnt have yelled at them,' Pocan continued, speculating about the congressmans alcohol intake, without any direct evidence.
And now hes, like, double-downing on this other lie, essentially, he said.
Pocan also called on Van Orden to apologize to the pages and to his constituents.
He owes the pages an apology. He owes his constituents apology, he said. And I think thats what he should have done in the first place.
The Wisconsin lawmaker made similar comments to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after reviewing the footage, describing the bow as something from an opera.
When he walked back to his group, he was like a show-off, Pocan told the local outlet. He took a bow for them Arms out, did the bow like hes singing an opera.
It just shows boorish behavior by a member of Congress, he added. Instead of being big enough to apologize, hes made up this whole story. Because clearly when you bow at the end, I dont really think the answer he gave of what happened is probably true.
Pocan requested to review the video after reports of the incident in late July prompted immediate backlash from members of Congress.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that some families of the Senate pages who were likely all in high-school took issue with the footage being released publicly, so Pocan reviewed the footage behind closed doors.
When asked for comment on the matter, Van Ordens office did not address Pocans remarks directly. Instead, a spokesperson said the Wisconsin Republican was focused on meeting legislative deadlines.
Derrick Van Orden came to Congress to work for the people of Wisconsins Third Congressional District, the spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. Right now, he is laser-focused on making sure the government doesnt shut down.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Humans come and go. Long live Khalistan, were the words of Avtar Singh Khanda before he took his final breaths on a ventilator in Birmingham City Hospital.
If he were not linked to radical separatists in India, the 35-year-olds passing on June 15 would have been treated by the community as a tragic sudden death. But his support for Khalistan, a movement for a breakaway Sikh state which is causing alarm among extremism experts in the UK, has led to lurid claims his death was intentional.
Despite police and doctors assurances that he died of natural causes, his death has prompted feverish speculation he was poisoned and one of a number of Khalistan supporters allegedly assassinated by India.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, has accused India of involvement in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was shot dead outside a temple in British Columbia in June, three days after Mr Khandas death.
The Khalistan insurgency led to bloodshed in Punjab in the 1980s when thousands died but in more recent years non-violent protests have spread across the Sikh diaspora.
Intimidated by the Indian government
Activists say they are being intimidated by the Indian government on UK soil but counter-extremism experts have described radical support for the movement as divisive and potentially dangerous.
Mr Khanda, originally from Moga district in Punjab, lived in Oldbury not far from one of Europes countrys largest gurdwaras in Smethwick. Indian media have claimed Mr Khanda was head of the Khalistan Liberation Force - which friends in the UK dispute - but he was an aide to Amritpal Singh, a radical separatist preacher.
A copy of his death certificate seen by the Telegraph shows he died of acute myeloid leukaemia and a blood clot in his lungs with the findings signed off by a registrar.
However, his family have refused to accept the explanation and claim there has been a cover-up.
My son was killed by poisoning, his mother Charanjeet Kaur, said. I mean, who develops and succumbs to cancer within just four days? Cancer doesnt manifest within such a short span.
She spoke to him two days before his death and he had a mere bout of physical pain and claimed no one in the family had ever had cancer.
I am telling you he was poisoned. You should ask the hospital authorities. They would know who the doctors and other people involved in his murder.
Fears for their personal safety
Others have complained of threats with Pat McFadden, the MP for Wolverhampton South East, writing to the Home and Foreign secretaries that one of his constituents fears for their personal safety after being named on an Indian government appeal.
The letter, which referenced the murder of Mr Nijjar, asked ministers to raise the issue with their counterparts in Delhi, adding: I imagine the government position is this is a matter for India. However, it is also the case that the holding of opinions alone should not lead anyone to fear they may be killed.
Experts have said that concerns over Indians governments crackdown on support for Khalistan were being exploited by extremists in the UK. The Shawcross report into the governments Prevent strategy said that there was a false narrative being peddled by a tiny number of pro-Khalistan groups operating in the UK that the government is colluding with its counterpart in India to persecute Sikhs.
Such groups narratives glorify violence carried out by the pro-Khalistan movement in India. While the current threat is low, praise for violence overseas and a simultaneous belief in a state-led campaign of repression domestically is a potentially toxic combination for the future.
Protests at the Indian High Commission in London in March saw two security guards injured and supporters smash windows before the flag was removed from the first floor balcony in place of yellow banners.
It was later claimed Mr Khanda pulled down the flag and his face was published in a wanted list by the Indian National Investigation Authority about the disorder.
Sikh groups have claimed Mr Khanda, who was never arrested or charged over the flag incident, died in a targeted assassination. Jas Singh, of Sikh Federation UK, claimed he had been falsely identified as the mastermind and perpetrator of that act.
They made him enemy number one
They made him enemy number one, he said. They basically put out a callout for any Indian patriot to deal with him.
He said that soon after Mr Khanda appeared on the NIAs hitlist he received a call saying we have your sister and you mother here, we know what you are capable of after they were arrested in India.
They are harassing him, intimidating him and threatening him. This is somebody really fit, 6ft 2in, hes absolutely fine, then a week later he is admitted to hospital seriously ill. Within 72 hours he died. Doctors had said his condition was treatable.
It is claimed that requests for a full autopsy were denied and the family were blackmailed into accepting the death certificate in a row over visas for the funeral which were blocked.
Activists have been unable to provide evidence to back up the poisoning claim but say their working theory is that he was poisoned with clotting agents either before or after he was admitted to hospital.
He was young and healthy, He was on a hit list, he is now dead, Mr Singh said.
The dispute comes amid years of simmering tensions between police and some Sikhs who have accused officers of spying for India and falsely branding people terrorists.
A community source said they did not believe Mr Khanda had been poisoned but officers had not done enough to quash speculation.
There is a lot of disinformation. No one has provided a credible theory on poisoning. But the police have failed to address concerns and how explain they have investigated thoroughly, he added.
It is likely this was just illness, but there is a real fear among some people that something like a poisoning could happen.
A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said: Following speculation surrounding the death of Avtar Singh Khanda, a thorough review was undertaken by West Midlands Police which concluded that there were no suspicious circumstances.
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Families of the victims of Billy Chemirmir spoke after his death in press conference above.
DALLAS COUNTY (CBSNewsTexas.com) Convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir was killed in prison this morning, a spokesperson for the Dallas County District Attorney's Office told CBS News Texas's Andrea Lucia.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said he was found dead in his cell at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony.
TDCJ says his cellmate, who is also serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the person who killed him.
Chemirmir was suspected of killing more than two dozen elderly victims across Dallas and Collin counties. He would also take the jewelry of his victims and sell it for cash.
In October 2022, a Dallas jury found Chemirmir guilty of capital murder in the death of 87-year-old Mary Brooks.
He was sentenced to life in prison without parole in April 2022 after a jury found him guilty in the smothering death of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris.
Last month, Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis decided not to pursue the death penalty in 11 of the cases there.
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Convicted killer Billy Chemirmir, who was serving a life sentence without parole, was killed in a Texas prison Tuesday morning.
No specific information has been released about how Chemirmir, 50, died. But his cellmate, who also was sentenced on a murder charge, is accused of killing him, officials said.
Hannah Haney, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said in an email that Chemirmir was found deceased in his cell early Tuesday morning.
He had been imprisoned at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, about two hours southeast of Dallas, since May 2022, she said.
The victims cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder out of Harris County, was identified as the assailant. The Office of Inspector General is investigating, Haney said in an email to the Star-Telegram.
The cellmate was not identified.
Chemirmirs attorney Phillip Hayes said in a statement to WFAA-TV that, Despite how you feel about him, no one deserves to be murdered in prison.
Chemirmir was charged with killing 22 women in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He had been convicted in two of the cases and was sentenced to life without parole. He was found guilty in April 2022 of capital murder for smothering 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris and he was also convicted in October for killing Mary Brooks, who was 87.
Investigators have said that he preyed on women who were older many of whom lived in senior apartment communities in Dallas and Collin counties and stole their jewelry after killing them.
According to documents obtained by theGrio, Whitmer has already held a fundraiser event in New York for her sister, Liz Whitmer Gereghty, and asked donors to contribute to her campaign.
After losing his congressional seat in a bumpy midterm election last year that included being bucked by leadership in his own party, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones is seeking to reclaim New Yorks 17th Congressional District in the 2024 election.
The 36-year-old former progressive lawmaker made history in 2020 when he was elected the first openly gay Black person to Congress, along with fellow New York U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres.
Jones hopes to make a triumphant return to Capitol Hill. However, hell have to overcome a Democratic primary contest against businesswoman Liz Whitmer Gereghty and, by proxy, her older sister, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Left to right: Former Congressman Mondaire Jones and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. (Photo: Getty Images)
The House race in NY-17 is an unlikely two-state tale of dizzying Democratic and racial politics that sees a young, popular Black and gay lawmaker on one side, and on the other, a little-known former school board official and her powerful sister.
Gov. Whitmer, a surrogate for President Joe Biden and presumptive 2028 presidential candidate, has already used her political muscle to aid her sisters campaign.
According to documents and communications obtained by theGrio, Gov. Whitmer has already held a fundraiser event in New York for her younger sister and asked donors to contribute to Gereghtys campaign. In at least one instance, theGrio learned that a donor who previously pledged to contribute to Jones campaign later retracted due to their strong support and loyalty to Whitmer.
Additionally, the New York Times reported that of the more than $400,000 Gereghtys campaign raised in the most recent quarterly filing, almost half came from residents from Whitmers state of Michigan and not New York.
A rising Democratic star, Governor Whitmer has proven to be a fundraising machine in Michigan and is so popular that a Detroit rapper nicknamed her Big Gretch a moniker that Michiganders and political circles have embraced. While it remains to be seen how much of a force Whitmer will be in her sisters campaign, her influence may already be felt in the race.
According to Federal Election Commission records, Gereghty received thousands in campaign donations from Emilys List, which endorsed her and Gov. Whitmers 2022 reelection campaign.
Theres also a contribution to Gereghtys campaign from Wade Rakes, board chair of the Victory Fund, a campaign and fundraising organization for LGBTQ+ candidates. The Victory Fund endorsed Jones in the NY-17 race. However, Rakes contributed to Gov. Whitmers Fight Like Hell PAC and Emilys List. Rakes did not reply to a request for comment when theGrio asked in an email if he planned to contribute to Jones campaign.
But where Gereghty has the influence of her powerful sister, Jones has a hometown advantage. He was born and raised in the district and served its constituents in Congress for two years.
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) speaks during a House Judiciary Committee markup hearing in the Rayburn House Office Building on June 2, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Mondaire Jones grew up in this community and understands it, William Trotman, president of the NAACP chapter in Spring Valley, New York, said in a statement to theGrio. He served us well when he became the first person of color to represent our district in Congress, and I know he will serve us well again.
Trotman added, The Democratic nominee in this district will need to excite and inspire Black and brown voters in this community voters who watched very closely how national Democrats treated our Congressman in redistricting last year.
Jones lost his seat last year after former Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chairman, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, challenged him in his upstate district following a chaotic court-ordered redrawing of New Yorks congressional map.
Rather than go against party leadership, Jones ran in another district in New York City and later lost in a crowded Democratic primary. Ironically, Maloney lost in an upset race against Mike Lawler , handing the slightly more conservative district to a Republican for the first time since 1983.
Whether Jones or Gereghty win the primary contest, Democrats are looking to NY-17 as one of the current seats held by Republicans that could be flipped in the 2024 elections and help the party reclaim the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told theGrio that Rep. Lawler is arguably the most vulnerable Republican in the entire country, citing the likelihood of blowback due to recent court decisions by the conservative-majority Supreme Court and Lawlers vote record with MAGA Republicans.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks during a news conference at the AFL-CIO building in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Besides the fact that Lawler is uniquely vulnerable, Mondaire is also uniquely more qualified than the average to take out an incumbent, Crockett said.
As for Whitmers seemingly outsized influence in the New York primary race, Crockett, who admits she has been a fan of Big Gretch, said if she were advising the Michigan governor, I probably would have advised her differently.
If the governor is looking to ascend, she cant be seen as kind of being a part of tearing down another Democrat, but also a Black male member of the LGBTQIA community, said the freshman congresswoman.
Whitmer is going to have to kind of really rely on her advisers, and theyre gonna have to work closely with her sister to make sure that this doesnt end up being a misstep that causes a problem for her if she is looking at running in four years.
Kevin Olasanoye, national political and organizing director at The Collective PAC, told theGrio that Whitmer would have to be incredibly prudent in her involvement in the NY-17 race on behalf of her sister.
Potentially offending members of the [Congressional Black Caucus] in a congressional district that is not in your state might not be something you want to do, Olasanoye said.
The Collective PAC, a political fundraising organization dedicated to electing Black candidates to public office, has endorsed Jones in the primary election. The Congressional Black Caucus PAC also endorsed Jones.
Olasanoye said that while Whitmer using her political influence to help her sister is expected and her right, it could suggest an inconsistency in her record and reputation as governor for advancing racial equity and opportunity. Whitmer chose a Black running mate, Garlin Gilchrist, who became the states first Black lieutenant governor and appointed the states first Black female Supreme Court justice.
(Left to right) Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II gesture during a Get Out the Vote Rally ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. (Photo by Dominick Sokotoff/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Is it the person whos gone out of her way to help advance the causes of more diverse voices? Or is it kind of the political machine type, family business type thing that people are cynical about when they talk about politics? Olasanoye asked.
While there is usually not much mudslinging in primary elections, Gereghty has already hit Jones for comments he made in 2020 about defunding the police. She argued that it makes him a weaker candidate in a hypothetical general election against Lawler.
Crockett said Gereghty should instead run on her own principles, adding, The only person thats ever barking and attacking is the person thats running from behind, and it very rarely gets you ahead, unless you have something that is truly of substance.
Calling out Jones for his comments, which the former congressman described as emotional and facile in the wake of the 2020 uprising against police brutality and racial profiling, is more a playbook for Republicans, Crockett said.
I hate for primaries to start breaking down that way and sending kind of the tropes that weve seen the Republicans use, she explained.
Antjuan Seawright, a political strategist who has advised several national Democratic campaigns, told theGrio that ultimately, Jones has the advantage over Gereghty, regardless of her high-profile family connection.
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on Sept. 29, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)
Mondaire wasnt the candidate who lost and went away. He was very visible on the scene. People know him, Seawright said.
He described Jones as a skilled politician, adding, You cant underestimate a skillful politician when its a contested battle and someone whos been battle-tested before.
Seawright said Jones returning to Congress would send a strong message about the diversity of the Congressional Black Caucus, and [its] continued growing influence.
He added, The Congressional Black Caucus is the conscience of the Congress, the country, and the Constitution.
More broadly, he said Democrats must absolutely win back the NY-17, telling theGrio, The world is depending on Democrats to win in November 2024.
He added, I think it will send a strong message to the perceived moderate wing of the Republican Party, this modern-day extremist party, that we are running everywhere to win anywhere.
Gerren Keith Gaynor
Gerren Keith Gaynor is a White House Correspondent and the Managing Editor of Politics at theGrio. He is based in Washington, D.C.
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The post Could Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmers ties to NY House race cost her politically? appeared first on TheGrio.
The UAW has amassed enough money to pay all of its members to stay out on strike against Detroits Big Three automakers for as long as 11 weeks.
But the unions decision to target just a few plants at a time is one of its biggest tactical ploys and could allow it to keep the strike going far longer.
Past UAW strikes have ranged from 40 days in 2019, to 113 in the 1940s. In each, every member walked off the job at the same time and needed to be paid from the strike fund simultaneously. This time around, the targeted work stoppages are just one of several X factors that make it difficult to predict just how long they could last.
There really isnt anything to compare it to, said Kate Bronfenbrenner, who has studied organized labor in the U.S. since the 1980s and now helms research at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Other unknowns include the blend of employers involved and the short track record of Shawn Fain as the unions president.
The strike enters its fifth day Tuesday as talks continue between the UAW and General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. For now, under 13,000 workers out of the Big Threes 150,000 are off the job. The longer the work stoppage lasts and whether it expands to other plants will determine whether it is a minor blip or a more festering problem for the economy and President Joe Bidens political fortunes.
Here are five reasons the UAW strike is in uncharted territory:
The union is pioneering a novel approach to walking off the job.
Initial work stoppages took place Friday at a General Motors plant in Wentzville, Mo., a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio; and a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich. Other local unions, meanwhile, have said they are on standby to walk off the job at any minute, any hour, any day.
The staggered, cross-employer approach is much less common and much harder to execute than a traditional strike, experts said, making the outcome difficult to predict.
Striking all three companies at the same time and then doing the kind of rolling strike is really, really smart, said Steve Rosenthal, a former political director at the AFL-CIO, who served in the Labor Department during the Clinton administration. The amount of discipline that it takes to organize something like this is quite extraordinary, and they seem to be ready for the fight.
The strategy also has the benefit of stretching the unions $825 million strike fund. The UAW is paying striking workers $500 a week, which means it could cover its nearly 150,000 members at the Big Three for about 11 weeks if they went on the picket line at the same time.
The initial work stoppage included less than a tenth of that total, though the union is also promising to extend aid to workers laid off by companies as a byproduct of the strikes as Ford did not long after the limited strike was announced.
Europe-based Stellantis is not subject to the same public opinion pressures as GM and Ford.
Ford and GM are both headquartered in the U.S., where the president has publicly sided with union members and a recent poll found that adults back them 2 to 1.
Political support within the progressive community and the labor movement is really solid, Rosenthal said. And the public numbers have been through the roof.
Stellantis, however, is based in the Netherlands making it less likely to cave to pressure created by Americans perceptions.
Everybody pretty much agrees they're not as subject to public influence because they're a foreign corporation, Bronfenbrenner said. On the other hand, Ford and GM are truly invested in U.S. consumers in a way that they care more about public opinion. They care more about what the president is saying.
Current law doesnt require White House involvement as in some other strikes.
Federal labor law empowers the White House to force a resolution when contract negotiations affect airlines, railroads, or the flow of commerce pretty much anything where the food supply chain of the nation would be in jeopardy, Bronfenbrenner said.
But these three companies dont have a monopoly, so there are other places people can go, she said. I just cant envision a national emergency from this.
It's Fain's first big test as UAW president after winning office by a narrow margin.
Fain beat out incumbent chief Ray Curry earlier this year by only a couple hundred votes. The narrow margin and short runway to the work stoppage make it unclear whether he can inspire the kind of solidarity required to pull off the ambitious strike.
So far, the reviews seem to be going in his favor.
I think hes winning over the people, Jody Calemine, director of labor and employment policy at the Century Foundation and a former chief of staff at the Communications Workers of America, said. Hes been transparent, explained whats happening, and why hes doing what hes doing.
But the strike is less than a week old. A resounding win could cement Fains place at the top of the union for years to come, whereas contract terms that fall short of members expectations may prompt them to turn elsewhere.
Theres still a big gap between the union and the Big Three.
The companies have offered raises in the neighborhood of 20 percent, while the UAW is calling for double that. Talks between the parties have been ongoing in the days since the strike began, a person familiar with the situation, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly, said Monday.
Beyond wages, there are many other issues that will be difficult to bridge.
The union has said it seeks to wipe away concessions made when the industry was on the brink of collapse following the Great Recession namely, a new tiered compensation structure that afforded newer employees a lower rate and skimpier benefits.
Tiering is an issue that causes a lot of division within the workforce itself, Calemine said. A contract that doesnt address tiers may not get ratified.
The UAW also wants the ability to strike in protest of plant closures, which the car companies believe would only further disrupt their operations as they navigate a complicated transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles.
They're going to have to address ending tiers," Fain said Monday on MSNBC. "They're going to have to address the pay rates, cost of living allowance. The majority of our workers now do not have any retirement security. That's a big issue. And then you have our retirees There's a lot of concerns with this.
The companies contend that the UAWs proposals are unworkable. They say implementing them would put them at a disadvantage against foreign automakers and non-union competitors specifically, Tesla.
Stellantis officials met with the UAW on Monday, and afterward the company reiterated its belief in the "compelling and strong package" it put on the table last week.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) On Monday, The Covenant School and Covenant Presbyterian Church launched a campaign to express the communitys gratitude for the outpouring of support it has received.
Following the deadly mass shooting that claimed the lives of three adults and three children, students, families, teachers, and staff were left shattered and in desperate need of care, embrace, and most of all, love. In this time of immense pain and darkness, they needed a light, according to a release.
Covenant families create 2 nonprofits to make schools a safer place
(Courtesy: The Covenant Community)
As part of their 1,000 Thank Yous campaign, the Covenant community will use thank you stencils to temporarily spray-paint some sidewalks across Nashville. Then, more thank you messages will be installed on billboards and online in the coming weeks as the campaign gets fully underway.
According to a release, the hope is when fellow Nashvillians cross paths with a stencil or a thank you note, they know their support for the Covenant community is recognized and the gratitude is sincere.
In more ways than one, the Nashville community made that light shine brighter than the Covenant community could have ever imagined. In the hours, days, weeks, and months following that horrific day, the people and businesses of Nashville provided that care. They embraced Covenant unconditionally, and they showed an abundance of love. The people of Nashville were there when most needed, and now Covenant wants to say thank you. The Covenant Community
Click here for complete coverage of the mass shooting at The Covenant School.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A quick way to gauge whether theres a COVID surge in your area is to do what Dr. David Wohl calls the sniff test.
Do you have a family member who has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week or so? What about a neighbor or coworker?
If the answer is yes, there are likely rising cases, said Wohl, a UNC infectious disease expert.
Heres what you need to know about COVID-19 in NC:
Is there a surge in COVID right now?
Sort of.
Wohl prefers to call it a surge-let.
Hospital admissions for COVID-19 have increased in the past few weeks. During the first full week of September, 638 patients were admitted for COVID-19 in North Carolina, nearly six times the number of hospitalized patients during the summers low in June.
Still, that number is small in comparison to 2022s fall surge, which hospitalized more than 1,000 people in one week at its peak.
And this winter will likely bring an even bigger spike in hospitalizations, Wohl said.
Theres no reason why we wouldnt unless everyone reading this goes out and gets their new booster, he said.
(New and improved boosters are now available at pharmacies).
Dr. Cameron Wolfe, a Duke infectious disease expert, said in a recent media briefing that most patients now being admitted to the hospital either have comorbidities that put them at high risk of severe illness or have a suppressed immune system that prevents them from building defenses against COVID-19.
What is causing this rise in cases?
For epidemiologists, this surge was not a surprise. Cases have consistently ticked up in the late summer since the start of the pandemic.
Wohl said summer activities, like traveling and gathering with friends and family, could partly contribute to the rise. He also said hotter weather often forces people indoors, where the virus spreads more readily.
Though a new variant, BA.2.86, has made headlines for its concerning mutations, its not responsible for this uptick in cases, Wohl said there are only a handful of cases confirmed in the United States.
Omicron subvariants, like XBB and the more recent EG.5, make up most of the cases circulating right now.
What to do if you have COVID
The first step is to confirm you have COVID-19 with an at-home test.
Even if you have symptoms, it may take a few days before the tests turn positive, Wohl said. Immunity from past infections or vaccines lowers the amount of virus in the body, which makes it less detectable on these tests.
If you do test positive, Wohl said its smart to talk to a health care provider about getting a prescription for an antiviral like Paxlovid.
These medications lower the risk of hospitalization, shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the likelihood of developing long COVID, he said.
There are very few people who dont qualify for Paxlovid, he said.
Teddy Rosenbluth covers science and health care for The News & Observer in a position funded by Duke Health and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.
A new omicron variant makes up 16% of cases in the Southeast. What you need to know.
The newest COVID vaccine will be available very soon. Heres when you can get it
Gareth Edwards has directed one of the best films of the year, according to initial reactions to his new movie.
The filmmaker, whose previous credits include Monsters and Godzilla, is on the cusp of releasing The Creator, a science-fiction thriller starring Tenet actor John David Washington and Gemma Chan.
Its Edwardss first film since his Star Wars prequel, Rogue One, was released in 2016.
The Creator, which also stars Ken Watanabe and Allison Janney, is set in a dystopian world in which the human race is in a war against artifical intelligence.
It follows Washingtons ex-special forces agent, Joshua, who is recruited to kill the creator of a mysterious weapon that has the power to end the war by destroying mankind.
On Monday (18 September), the film had its first screening for critics, who swiflty shared ther verdicts on X/Twitter.
That Hashtag Show's Hunter Bolding compared the film to sci-fi heavyweights Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Alien and Star Wars, stating: Gareth Edwards doesnt miss with The Creator. Its easily among the best films of the year.
Critic Courtney Howard called The Creator "profound on every level" and "one of the best original sci-fi epics in years", while Film Speak host Griffin Schiller described Edwards's film as "a masterful piece of original sc-fi".
Screen Rant writer Joseph Deckelmeier concurred that The Creator is "one of the year's best movies", also branding it "a masterpiece".
Find more reactions to the film below.
Visually #TheCreator is PHENOMENAL. If you want a cinematographer on the rise to keep your eye on, its Oren Soffer. This movie is one stunning frame after the next. pic.twitter.com/s1swupvGfN Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) September 19, 2023
#TheCreator is a massive feat for the sci-fi genre and the all-too-rare original blockbuster.
It's the culmination of Gareth Edwards' career so far, and it's the ultimate version of the type of movie he's been making since 2010's 'Monsters.'
More of this, please. pic.twitter.com/9gOnEpPa4K Brian Davids (@PickYourBrian) September 19, 2023
Gareth Edwards shows that he is BACK and better than ever. #TheCreator is a jaw-dropping, remarkable cinematic experience. A touching story with incredible visuals and a great cast. Definitely one of the best surprises of the year.
Full review coming next week. pic.twitter.com/AzCMoxzrgf The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) September 19, 2023
The Creator, which Edwards co-wrote with Chris Weitz, is in cinemas on 29 September.
Edwardss Rogue One is considered by many to be one of the best Star Wars spin-offs since Disney relaunched the franchise with JJ Abramss The Force Awakens in 2015.
Rogue One starred Felicity Jones and Diegu Luna, and grossed over $1bn in 2016.
Luna reprised his role of Cassian Andor for an standalone series, which was released to acclaim on Disney+ in 2022.
Photo: The Canadian Press Canada is helping finance two new nuclear reactors in Romania which that country's energy minister says will help diminish the ability of Russia to use its energy exports as a weapon. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson answers a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Canada is helping to finance two new nuclear reactors in Romania, which that country's energy minister says will help diminish Russia's ability to use its energy exports as a weapon.
Canadian Energy Minister Jonathan Wilkinson signed the $3-billion deal with his Romanian counterpart, Sebastian Burduja, in Ottawa today.
The Canadian financing is limited to what Romania's nuclear operator spends to buy equipment and expertise from Canadian companies.
Burduja says the deal is partly about climate change, because it will help ease Romania's need to burn coal to make electricity.
But he says it is first and foremost about adding new non-Russian energy sources, and Romania is in talks to share with other countries in the region to ease their reliance on Russia, too.
Two Canadian-made Candu reactors already account for one-quarter of Romania's electricity supply and the two additional reactors will increase that to almost one-third.
Firefighters battled a blaze late Monday that spread from an apartment building to two homes in Kansas City.
Crews responded around 10:40 p.m. to the 4400 block of Virginia Avenue, where there was heavy fire from a two-story four unit apartment building, said Michael Hopkins, a spokesman for the Kansas City Fire Department.
The fire spread to houses to the north and south of the apartment building, and the incident was upgraded to a two-alarm fire.
A partial collapse forced firefighters to evacuate from the apartment building. Crews used hoses on the exterior of the building and were eventually able to re-enter one of the houses.
No injuries have been reported. The apartment building and home to the south are vacant structures.
KCFD is investigating the cause of the fire.
The Ohio Department of Commerce and State Fire Marshal are urging people to have their heating systems checked as temperatures begin to fall.
Heating equipment is responsible for about one in six house fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The Ohio Department of Commerces Divisions of Industrial Compliance says regular inspections are critical for homes and buildings that use boilers as their heating systems.
>> Child hospitalized following school bus crash in Montgomery County this morning
Boilers are very effective heating systems, but can pose risks if not properly maintained, DIC Superintendent Robb Coventry said. That is why it is crucial for business and homeowners alike to have their boilers regularly inspected by a qualified contractor.
Business and homeowners should check their boilers for the following indications that there could be an issue:
Water leaking from pipers or boiler itself, signs of leakage can be in the form of a white calcium build up.
Abnormal smells such as a bad egg or metallic smell, this is a sign of a possible gas leak.
Strange noises coming from boiler or pipes such as whistling, vibrating, gurgling, or banging.
Pilot light keeps going out or is yellow.
Discoloring or peeling paint on the boiler, this can be a sign of overheating.
Boiler repeatedly comes right back on after just shutting off.
If the boiler wont start on its own and the reset button is pushed, this should only be done once before calling a contractor.
Business owners can schedule an inspection by calling the Division at 614-644-3532. If youre a homeowner, you can call any contractor qualified to service a boiler or burner system to have their system inspected.
A little prevention goes a long way when it comes to heating safety, State Fire Marshal Kevin Reardon said. Were here to remind everyone that a well-maintained heating system is a safer one.
The parents of Matt Jackson are waiting and worrying about their 41-year-old son who remains in an intensive care unit in a French hospital after being diagnosed with botulism poisoning. The toxin is produced by different forms of the botulinum bacteria and can grow in low oxygen environments like home canned or jarred goods.
Matt Jackson is in the hospital in France. / Credit: CBS
"It's like riding a roller coaster," said his father Tom Jackson.
"But today was a bad day," said Lynne Jackson.
Matt has now developed pneumonia, which French doctors are attempting to treat with three antibiotics.
Matt and his girlfriend of 19 years, Kristy Benner, both University of Colorado graduates working in a lighting design industry in California, each got ill after eating at a wine bar in Bordeaux, France. They are among as many as 25 people who are believed to have eaten sardines preserved and prepared by the restaurant. Matt and Kristy were on a vacation that began at the start of September. About five days into it, they sought out a destination wine bar before dinner.
"Tchin Tchin had been kind of on the top of our list to go visit. And it came highly regarded from multiple sources that we know and trust," explained Benner.
/ Credit: CBS
The restaurant's operator opened the sardines and some smelled bad, so threw them out. Others, though, were served to patrons over a six day period, according to an investigation by French authorities. One woman, a 31 year old, has died. The restaurant's operator may now face charges of involuntary manslaughter as a French prosecutor is investigating.
For some it took days before symptoms came on. Matt, however, began to experience the symptoms more quickly.
"And then he just became very disoriented and very ... it's hard for him to speak. His mouth was super dry. I thought he was having a stroke," said Benner.
She had to summon an ambulance to take him to a hospital. Doctors were initially baffled. Botulism is not common. In Colorado there are a handful or so of reported illnesses a year. Clostridium botulinum are rod-shaped bacteria which are present in soil and marine sediments around the world. They are anaerobic, meaning they live and grow in low oxygen. When survival conditions are poor the bacteria form protective spores, which have a hard protective coating. In such a state they can survive essentially dormant for years. The neurotoxin is produced during the growth phase of the bacteria and is among the most toxic substances known, potent in microscopic amounts.
"Many cases of foodborne botulism have happened after people ate home-canned, preserved or fermented foods that were contaminated with toxin. The foods might have become contaminated if they were not canned (processed) correctly," states the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Initially there were thoughts Matt might have Guillain Barre Syndrome. But as time passed and others began showing illness, including Benner, and doctors focused on botulism.
"I started feeling pretty unwell, like my extremities. And I just felt so tired, like I actually thought I might have COVID. It's just that the swallowing thing was kind of weird. So I didn't have COVID," said Benner.
In France the anti-toxin is kept with the French military and had to be brought to the hospital. In the U.S. physicians go to the CDC to obtain the anti-toxin according to Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety.
Matt Jackson and Kristy Benner / Credit: CBS
As botulism's effect spread through Matt's body he became immobile.
"His whole face is like a frozen face. And it went down into his shoulders and his arms and his legs," said his mother.
He has since regained some movement, but only in limited amounts. The pneumonia is a setback
"All I want to do is just touch him and hug him and hold him," said Lynne Jackson.
UPDATE: Colorado native makes progress after falling severely ill in France botulism outbreak
Matt's brother and sister, both Coloradans as well, rushed to France to be with him and Kristy. Friends have stepped forward to help and raise money with a social media campaign. The family is not alone in the crisis, but there's no indication of how or when Matt may be able to the return to the United States. While Kristy said she felt there was a lag time in the testing, Matt's parents say his brother tells them the care has been very good.
"In a lot of ways it's been an incredible learning experience for us showing how many friends and loved ones we actually have out there," said Tom Jackson.
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You may have a harder time getting Clorox wipes and it has nothing to do with COVID-19.
The Clorox Company disclosed this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that a cyberattack has disrupted its business operations.
The August cybersecurity incident targeted the companys information technology systems. Clorox took immediate steps to stop it and brought some of its systems offline.
Ground beef recalled due to possible E. coli contamination
As a result, the company instituted a manual ordering and processing procedure at a reduced rate of operations. Its started to affect the supply of products, including disinfecting wipes, available to customers.
The Company is operating at a lower rate of order processing and has recently begun to experience an elevated level of consumer product availability issues, according to the SEC filing.
Clorox believes any unauthorized activity has been contained and is investigating the incident. The company will bring some of its automated ordering systems online starting next week.
Clorox has resumed production at the vast majority of its manufacturing sites and will soon ramp up to full production. The company couldnt say when it would be able to return to normal operations.
Johnson & Johnson is ditching its script logo for all-new design after 136 years
Clorox wipes were in high demand at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, when cleaning products flew off the shelves. While the company ramped up production in August 2020 to meet demand, shortages stretched into 2021.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
The author and her dad, Rocco, at his memory care facility on Father's Day 2023.
If your parents were poor, I would say dont worry about this. And if your parents had 2 to 3 million in their IRA accounts, I would say dont worry about this. But your parents are middle-class, and in this case, thats a problem.
An elder care lawyer said this to me when my father was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia. While navigating his care needs over the past six years and contending with the emotions of watching him slowly deteriorate, worrying about paying for care is a constant.
My parents are middle-class thanks to my fathers union job, which provided a decent wage and a modest pension. When my mother went back to work, the company matched her 401(k) contributions. She put in as much as possible, scrimping in the short term to plan for the long. It would be by no means a lavish retirement, but enough for peace of mind.
Three years ago, at 72, they started taking their 401(k) Required Minimum Distributions. The money provided an added cushion to their social security and pension income, and they seemed secure. What they didnt plan for was a catastrophic illness not covered by Medicare.
Like the majority of Americans, they dont have long-term care insurance because they could not afford the premiums. The cost of my fathers memory care is rapidly depleting their nest egg. It is not clear what will happen to them when the money runs out none of the options are good, which is a terrifying feeling.
If my father had cancer or heart disease, he would probably live at home with some home care covered by Medicare. But with dementia, an umbrella term used to describe everything from Lewy body dementia to Alzheimers and much more, Medicare deems the needed care as custodial or companionship and says this care can be provided for by family members.
We dont consider dementia a medical issue, a Medicare rep told me, to my great disbelief. But my dads brain which can no longer translate commands to his muscles is not working properly, which certainly seems like a medical issue. He cannot take a shower, use the bathroom, take his pills, get dressed or walk unaided. He cannot be left alone. He cannot put together logical sentences.
The author and her dad in 1978.
The author and her dad in 1978.
My mother cared for him at home for as long as she could, but by mid-January, when we moved him to a memory care facility, her physical and mental health were giving out. I balanced helping them with my demanding career, which was exceptionally challenging.
Families are in crisis, and no one is talking about it, said a friend who lives in New York and flies frequently to Michigan to manage her mothers dementia care.
Im not a policy wonk or elected official. Im not a medical doctor or a social worker. Im simply a daughter who cares about her parents. And Im a citizen looking around at our irrational health care system and feeling helpless, enraged and scared.
Here are some suggestions for how we might begin to talk about this crisis.
First, neurologists should mention financial planning at the onset of disease especially when dementia can hit people in their 50s, 60s and 70s. My father saw two doctors, and neither mentioned long-term care or offered the help of a social worker. When I asked the second doctor about the prognosis, he brushed me off, saying, My advice is to go home and live each day. Your father seems like a happy guy. When I later asked about home care, he told me to Google Visiting Angels.
Because brain diseases are mysterious, doctors will not predict how long my father will live (and therefore, how much money is necessary). But doctors should warn families of the financial challenges particular to dementia care, especially when there is a spouse. There is living to plan for, even if that feels perverse while dying is taking place.
We dont consider dementia a medical issue, a Medicare rep told me, to my great disbelief. But my dads brain which can no longer translate commands to his muscles is not working properly.
Second, policymakers should reconsider how Medicare can better support dementia patients. Classifying the care needs as non-medical companionship, especially in the later stages of the disease, is terribly misguided.
Recently, my father lost his ability to walk and feed himself; we are told the next phase could be forgetting how to swallow.
The brain is our most vital organ if it doesnt work, that is a medical issue affecting the whole body. My father is in a memory care facility where nurses and other staff trained in dementia provide treatment 24 hours a day. Families can provide assistance, but only to a certain degree.
Finally, middle-class families should plan for aging, sickness and death, even though its hard to discuss. Having some basics in place wills, powers of attorney, health care proxies, a trust for a home before a disease is too far along is a good first step and way of starting a conversation.
Further, families should understand what long-term care covers and costs. The average cost of memory care in New Jersey, where my parents live, is an astounding $8,150 a month. Those of us in middle age should start to plan for ourselves, especially since long-term care insurance is no longer viable for most people due to outrageously high premiums and caps on coverage.
The author's dad in Milan, Italy, picking up spritzes at the hotel bar in 2019.
The author's dad in Milan, Italy, picking up spritzes at the hotel bar in 2019. "This was his last big vacation about two years after his diagnosis," she writes.
My father is a gem of a human being, beloved by all who meet him. He and I are extremely close. He taught me how to swim, to hike, to ride a bike, to drive a car. He taught me to be curious, to delight in the ocean, to appreciate nature and fresh air, to love to eat, to devour chocolate in all forms, to laugh at the silliest things, to give others the benefit of the doubt, to believe that most people in the world are good and kind, to be confident in myself and trust my decisions, and to be loving and grateful.
He is the most mentally healthy person I know, and to lose him this way with his compassionate, calm, beautiful brain failing feels particularly unjust.
Still, I cannot simply sit in this grief and just be present with him in whatever time we have left because there is always more research to do, more Medicaid planning to try to understand, more numbers to crunch, more lawyers to call, more anxiety to manage, more hoops to jump through while navigating a disjointed health care system.
To couple this slow loss, this long goodbye, with extreme worry and uncertainty about my parents finances How many months or years will he live? Can we afford that? Will my mother be able to stay in her house? Where will she go if we have to sell it? is brutal and draining and tiring.
Every time I visit my dad, our beginning is the same. He takes one look at me, registers who I am, and says, I love you so much. This sentence is usually the only clear one I get. During those precious moments, I get to be simply a daughter. But the moments are fleeting, for the financial problems and stress are never far away. It should not be this way for me or my family, or for anyone. If illness can lead to bankruptcy, Id say our system is broken.
Kate Ferranti has nearly 25 years of experience in labor organizations, small business, and now higher education, with roles in executive leadership and management, operations and communications. She lives with her partner in Brooklyn, New York.
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A Dallas County public defender accused of having a personal relationship with an inmate she did not represent has been arrested, authorities said.
Dallas County sheriffs deputies arrested public defender Ragan Sierra Moreno on Sept. 14 after an investigation , according to a news release.
Moreno came under suspicion when an sheriffs office employee noticed her spending a lot of time with the inmate, according to the release.
The investigation also found Moreno used her county I.D. to get access to the inmate along with the criminal records of another inmate, the release said.
Moreno was charged with abuse of official capacity, and posted $5,000 bond. Moreno had been a county employee for eight months, according to her LinkedIn profile.
With roughly a month to go until jury selection, a new judge has been assigned to preside over the murder trial of Charlie Adelson, the accused ringleader in the plot to kill Florida State law professor Dan Markel.
On Friday, Chief Judge Frank Allman of the 2nd Judicial Circuit assigned the high-profile case to Leon Circuit Judge Stephen Everett, who replaces Leon Circuit Judge Robert Wheeler. The one-page order, entered in chambers, did not offer any explanation.
From what I understand, its because Judge Wheeler is no longer assigned to criminal court, said Elizabeth Garber, trial court administrator for the 2nd Circuit. Hes assigned to Family Court.
Leon County Circuit Judge Stephen Everett
Garber said an administrative order signed more than a year ago in June 2022 by then-Chief Judge Jonathan Sjostrom moved Wheeler to the Family Division, where he now is assigned full time.
Wheeler was handed the Adelson case shortly after the South Florida dentists arrest in April 2022. During a February hearing, Wheeler agreed to continue the trial from April until October after one of Adelsons attorneys, Daniel Rashbaum of Miami, asked for more time. He set a trial date then of Oct. 23, which remains unchanged.
Adelson is accused of orchestrating the murder-for-hire plot that led to Markels execution-style shooting in 2014 in the garage of his Betton Hills home. The killing happened amid a bitter custody battle between Adelsons sister, Wendi Adelson, and Markel over their two sons.
Leon County Circuit Judge Robert Wheeler talks to the prosecution and defense teams before proceeding with the case management hearing for Charlie Adelson, the accused ringleader in the 2014 murder-for-hire of Florida State law professor Dan Markel, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2023.
The hit men, Sigredo Garcia and Luis Rivera, along with Katherine Magbanua, the mother of Garcias children who also dated Charlie Adelson, were all previously convicted on murder charges. Wheeler presided over Magbanuas second trial in May 2022.
On Thursday, Wheeler ordered Magbanua, a potential witness for the state, transported from the Lowell Annex state prison in Ocala to the Leon County Detention Facility by Oct. 9. In August, Wheeler ordered Rivera, another potential state witness who testified against Magbanua last year, transported from FCI Marianna to the county jail by the same date.
Katherine Magbanua leaves the courtroom in shackles after the jury finds her guilty on all counts on Friday, May 27, 2022 in her retrial for the 2014 murder of Dan Markel in Tallahassee, Fla.
Neither Assistant State Attorney Georgia Cappleman nor Rashbaum had any comment on the change in judges.
Everett, a former assistant state attorney and assistant public defender, was appointed Leon County judge in 2016 by then-Gov. Rick Scott to fill a vacancy created by the appointment of Wheeler to the circuit bench.
In 2018, Everett was elected without opposition; he was appointed to the circuit bench in 2019 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. In July, Everett began serving as administrative judge for the circuit courts criminal division.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Dan Markel case: New judge to oversee Charlie Adelson murder trial
A day-old otter was left crying out for her mother following a fatal orca attack in Alaska, wildlife officials said.
Natalie Hunter, a wildlife response member with the Alaska SeaLife Center, was on a fishing trip with friends in Homer on Sept. 9 when she saw two wild orcas, according to a Sept. 18 news release by the center.
The group was excited to have spotted the creatures, and the captain shut the motor off to observe from afar, officials said.
Thats when a ruckus under an otter in the water started. Hunter then realized the whales were from a transient pod and the otter was their prey, wildlife officials said.
After hearing calls from a pup, the group noticed the otter was carrying her baby, the release said.
Then, multiple orca attacks began.
The mama and her pup were flung out of the water after a tail slap from an orca, and the two were separated, officials said.
The orcas zeroed in on the mother otter, and eventually she didnt resurface, the release said.
Hunter called the Alaska SeaLife Center Wildlife Response Hotline after making sure the orcas didnt return for the newborn.
Hunter and her friends heard the pups persistent cries for her mother, officials said.
It was weird to be on the other side of the wildlife response hotline. It wasnt someone calling me to report an animal in need. It was the other way around, Hunter said in the release. My brain was in wildlife response mode during the entire incident, thinking we, unfortunately, may have an otter pup rescue on our hands. It wasnt until the entire event ended, the wild orcas had left the area, and the pup started crying out for its mother that I knew we had to think about the next move.
After getting permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the group pulled the otter, with umbilical cord still attached, out of the water and onto the boat, officials said.
Her cries were gurgly, and when we got her out of the water, she was soaked, Hunter said in the release. Her coat wasnt repelling water and keeping her buoyant like it should have been.
Even though tired and hungry, the pup is in good health and is receiving 24/7 care because pups of this age get constant attention from their mothers, the release said.
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The hearse carrying the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth drives into Windsor Castle ahead of the committal service held at St George's Chapel, in Windsor, England, on September 19, 2022. File Photo by Cpl. Nicholas Egan/Royal Air Force
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- On this date in history:
In 1777, British soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War, but the Americans would go on to win the second battle less than a month later.
In 1881, U.S. President James Garfield, 49, who had been shot in July by a disgruntled office-seeker, died of his wounds. Vice President Chester Arthur was sworn in as the successor to Garfield, who had been president for 6 1/2 months. His assassin was executed in 1882.
In 1893, with the signing of the Electoral Bill by Gov. David Boyle, New Zealand became the first country to grant national voting rights to women.
In 1955, after a decade of rule, Argentine President Juan Domingo Peron was deposed in a military coup.
Thousands of people remain on the streets following a 7.1-magnitude earthquake, in Mexico City on September 19, 2017. File Photo by Sashenka Gutierrez/EPA-EFE
File Photo courtesy Wikipedia
In 1957, the United States conducted its first fully contained underground nuclear weapon test in Nevada. Scientists at the time theorized the heat and pressure from the blast could've turned rocks into rubies, sapphires or even diamonds under the rubble.
The Unabomber's manifesto is on display at the Newseum's exhibit, "G-Men and Journalists: Top News Stories of the FBI's First Century" in Washington, D.C., on June 17, 2008. On September 19, 1995, The Washington Post published a manifesto by Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, who carried out 16 bombings across the United States from 1978-95, killing three people. File Photo by Jack Hohman/UPI
In 1985, an earthquake collapsed hundreds of buildings, killed at least 7,000 people and injured thousands of others in Mexico City.
In 1988, U.S. swimmer Greg Louganis took the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the Seoul Olympics after hitting his head on the board during preliminary competition.
Diving Olympiad Greg Louganis is introduced during the "Road to London" ceremony where the 100-day countdown to the start of the 2012 London Olympics is celebrated in Times Square on April 18, 2012, in New York City. On September 19, 1988, Louganis took the gold medal in 3-meter springboard diving at the Seoul Olympics after hitting his head on the board during preliminary competition. File Photo by Monika Graff/UPI
File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
In 1995, The Washington Post published a manifesto by Theodore Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, who carried out 16 bombings across the United States from 1978-95, killing three people. Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 and was sentenced to eight life sentences in prison.
A man portraying a Revolutionary War soldier describes his garb to guests during a ceremony for the reopening of the National Museum of American History in Washington on November 21, 2008. On September 19, 1777, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga in the Revolutionary War. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
In 2006, Thailand Premier Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in a bloodless military coup.
In 2010, 42-year-old Frenchman Philippe Croizon, a quadruple amputee, swam across the English Channel in 13 1/2 hours. Croizon covered the 21 miles with flippers attached to the stumps of his legs and special steering attachments in the arm areas.
Sen. Jesse Helms views a bust of former President James Garfield. On September 19, 1881, Garfield, 49, who had been shot in July by a disgruntled office-seeker, died of his wounds. File Photo by Leighton Mark/UPI
In 2017, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake shook central Mexico, killing more than 350 people, including dozens of children in the rubble of a school.
In 2021, Cumbre Vieja in Spain's Canary Islands erupted, setting off the longest-known eruption period for the volcano at 85 days. The disaster killed one person and destroyed more than 3,000 structures.
In 2022, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest next to her husband, Prince Philip, in a private funeral at Windsor Castle in London. The queen died Sept. 8 at the age of 96, Britain's oldest and longest-serving monarch.
File Photo by Cpl. Rob Kane/UK Ministry of Defense
Open letter to Public Jean-Yves Duclos, Canadas public services minister,
I understand you are proposing to build a newor rebuild the oldresidence of the prime minister (24 Sussex Drive) at a cost of between $40 million and $100 million.
In 1868, the Government of Canada bought Rideau Hall and its grounds for $82,000. This historic (building) is, apparently, in excellent condition.
I suggest:
1. The Government of Canada change the tenancy of this beautiful and historic building to become, in part, the official residence of the prime minister.
2. It could continue as the site of government state dinners and other formal events.
3. The governor general could easily reside in Rideau Cottage (the home of the current prime minister, which is on the grounds Rideau Hall.)
4. The heightened security necessary today would be much simpler with one site to secure rather than two.
5. Demolish 24 Sussex Drive and erect an affordable housing project on the site, or build a public park there, but dont waste any money on a new home for the prime minister.
Treat the $40 million to $100 million saved as part of the Treasury Boards $15 billion cost reduction plan.
Doug Waines, West Kelowna
Loved ones are distraught after Nichole Coats was found dead inside her apartment in downtown Los Angeles, marking the second time a similar incident has occurred within a week. (KTLA)
The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday there appears to be "no evidence" of a connection between the deaths of two models found inside separate luxury apartments in downtown L.A. within the last week.
On Sept. 10, 32-year-old Nichole Coats was found dead inside her apartment in the 700 block of South Grand Avenue, according to a LAPD news release. Her death is not being investigated as a homicide, according to the LAPD and the L.A. County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. No further information about her death was available Tuesday.
About a mile away, a second model, 31-year-old Maleesa Clooney, was found two days later in her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street while officers were responding to a radio call for a welfare check, according to the LAPD. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.
Read more: Two models found dead in downtown L.A. apartments in last week
The LAPD said in a statement Tuesday that "there is no evidence to suggest that the deaths of Ms. Coats and Ms. Mooney are related to one another." The LAPD is still investigating the cause of death for both women; no further details about the case will be released during the active investigation.
Still, LAPD Officer Tony Im said Tuesday the circumstances of Coats' death showed nothing "that stood out to us that would make it a homicide so we need the coroner to do an examination of the body to see what caused the death."
But Coats' aunt, May Stephen, told KTLA that she believes her niece, who went by Nikki, was murdered.
I couldnt recognize her, Steven said, describing Coats' body. I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. Thats not somebody who just laid in their bed and died.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Relatives of Nichole Coats, who was found dead in her downtown L.A. apartment on Sept. 10. Coats' aunt told KTLA she believed her niece was murdered. (KTLA)
The Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday there appeared to be no connection between the deaths of two models found in separate luxury apartments in downtown L.A. within the same week.
On Sept. 10, 32-year-old Nichole Coats was found dead inside her apartment in the 700 block of South Grand Avenue, according to an LAPD news release. Her death is not being investigated as a homicide, according to the LAPD and the L.A. County medical examiner's department. No further information about her death was available Tuesday.
About a mile away, a second model, 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney, was found two days later in her apartment in the 200 block of South Figueroa Street while officers were responding to a radio call for a welfare check, according to the LAPD. Her death is being investigated as a homicide.
Read more: Two models found dead in downtown L.A. apartments in last week
The LAPD said in a statement Tuesday there was "no evidence to suggest that the deaths of Ms. Coats and Ms. Mooney are related to one another." The LAPD is still investigating the cause of death for both women; no further details about the case will be released during the active investigation.
Still, LAPD Officer Tony Im said Tuesday the circumstances of Coats' death showed nothing "that stood out to us that would make it a homicide, so we need the coroner to do an examination of the body to see what caused the death."
Coats mother, Sharon Coats, told The Times on Tuesday afternoon that she believed her daughter was killed because of how her daughter's bedroom looked when she was found.
The bed was covered up and I went over there and I pulled the sheets back and I started screaming because there was blood everywhere, she said. I think it was foul play, and Im not going to rest until I find the killer.
Sharon Coats last saw her daughter, who was known as Nikki, about two weeks ago when she visited her for four days in Los Angeles. The Lake Forest resident said her daughter had tried to contact her a few days before her death, but she missed her calls. She said Nikki had been getting ready for a trip to Cancun, Mexico.
She was supposed to go ... with four other friends, and she didnt make it, Sharon Coats said. This is senseless. Im just glad I was able to see her.
Coats' aunt, May Stevens, told KTLA that she also believed her niece was murdered.
I couldnt recognize her, Stevens said, describing Coats' body. I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. Thats not somebody who just laid in their bed and died.
Mooney is the sister of Guyanese pop star Jourdin Pauline, who mourned Mooney on social media.
"I keep waking up crying thinking Im in a bad dream we will get justice for you my sister I promise you wont be gone in vain!!!" Pauline wrote on Instagram last week. "The people you touched and loved will carry on for you and keep your name alive in the most beautiful and loving light. You did not deserve this at all."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A debris field has been found in South Carolina during the search for an F-35B fighter jet that disappeared over the state, officials in Charleston confirmed.
Joint Base Charleston officials said Monday that teams have located a debris field in Williamsburg County, around two hours northeast of the joint base.
Base officials did not confirm if the debris is from the missing jet, but they added in a follow-up post that teams have been working to locate the U.S. Marine Corp fighter jet and are transitioning to a recovery phase.
We would like to thank all of our mission partners, as well as local, country, and state authorities, for their dedication and support throughout the search and as we transition to the recovery phase, the base wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Base officials asked members of the community to avoid the area as recovery teams work to secure the field.
The advanced $80 million jet disappeared after its pilot safety ejected for unknown reasons over North Charleston. The pilot was taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition while the incident is under investigation, base officials said.
Both local authorities and the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, S.C., are assisting with the recovery process.
Earlier Monday, the Marine Corps issued a service-wide stand-down order for all aviation units inside and outside of the country. In a service-wide email, the Marine Corps said the stand-down includes discussions led by aviation commanders focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness.
Neither the Pentagon nor Marine Corps immediately responded to a request for comment.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A US Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II jet was lost yesterday after a training mishap.
The pilot, who landed safely, ejected from the jet and was found Sunday in North Charleston.
A debris field from the jet's crash landing was located Monday 80 miles away from the base.
The debris field from the missing F-35B Lightning II jet was located this afternoon about 80 miles away from where its pilot was found after ejecting during a training mishap yesterday.
"The debris was discovered two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston," officials from the base said in a statement emailed to Insider. "Members of the community should avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field."
Local news outlet WMBF reported parts of the aircraft were found near Bartells Road in Indiantown, South Carolina. Though US Marine Corps officials initially requested the public's help locating the missing jet, it remains unclear whether civilians guided the USMC search-and-rescue team to the debris field. Officials have not released any additional information about the condition of the jet or whether any injuries were reported as a result of the crash.
A single F-35B jet costs about $80 million, depending on its weapons configuration, The Washington Post reported. The US Government Accountability Office estimates it will cost American taxpayers about $1.7 trillion to "buy, operate, and sustain the aircraft and systems" over the 60-year program lifetime, making the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program the most expensive weapons program in US history.
While the incident that prompted the costly F-35 mishap remains under investigation, the US Marine Corps has grounded all flights for two days to ensure its pilots are briefed on "the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance, and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness," the Marine Corps said in the Monday statement.
The decision to ground all flights comes after three mishaps over the last six weeks, including the F-35B that was found crashed on Monday. On August 24, an F/A-18 fighter jet crashed in San Diego, California, killing its pilot. Three more Marines were killed and 20 injured three days later when a MV-22B Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Australia.
The F-35B is not the first fighter jet to fly pilotless after its crew ejected, Insider previously reported. In July 1989, a Soviet MiG-23 fighter jet flew 500 miles into NATO territory without a pilot before it crashed into a Belgian man's home, killing him.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Delphi murders suspect Richard Allen has made the bombshell claim that teenage best friends Libby German and Abby Williams were killed as part of a ritualistic sacrifice at the hands of a white nationalist cult.
In sensational court documents, filed on Monday, attorneys for the 50-year-old accused killer claim that the brutal 2017 murders were carried out by members of a pagan Norse religion and white nationalist group called Odinists.
Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists,ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German, state the documents, seen by The Independent.
The nature of the crime scene pointed to the work of a cult from the get-go, according to the bombshell 135-page document.
Libby and Abbys bodies had both been staged with tree branches and sticks across their bodies in the shape of pagan symbols, the documents state which resembled possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene.
While his defence attorneys claim Mr Allen has no connection to any pagan cult, the bombshell documents take the extraordinary step of naming four apparent Odinites as potential suspects in the killings.
The Independent is not naming these individuals none of whom have ever been named by law enforcement as suspects or persons of interest in the case.
According to Mr Allens attorneys, law enforcement officials had explored possible links between the killings early on in the investigation but then quickly abandoned the theory after speaking to an unidentified professor who refuted any possible link.
But despite this, at least three law enforcement officers former Rushville assistant police chief Todd Click and detectives Kevin Murphy and Greg Ferency continued to investigate a possible connection.
By February 2018, Mr Allens attorneys say that the evidence establishing the names of the likely murdering members of this Odinite cult became known to the Delphi investigative leadership.
The possible link between the murders that rocked the close-knit community of Delphi and Odinism have never been publicly revealed before now.
On 13 February 2017, Libby and Abby set off on a hike along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi.
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge.
Flowers are placed at the Monon High Bridge Trail in Delphi in October 2022 (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man known as bridge guy dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In the footage found on Libbys phone following their murders the man tells the two girls: Guys, down the hill.
Later that day, the teenagers were reported missing when they failed to return to a spot where a family member was picking them up.
The next day Valentines Day 2017 their bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek.
In the new court documents, Mr Allens attorneys claim that there were possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene including the staging of the bodies and branches displayed on the victims to create pagan symbols and shapes.
Describing the scene as ghoulish, the documents also reveal never-before-known details about how Libby and Abby died.
The teenage best friends both had their necks slashed, the documents reveal.
Libby was found at the base of a tree with four tree branches of varying sizes intentionally placed in a very specific and arranged pattern on her naked body and blood spots and drippings all over her body.
Abby meanwhile was fully clothed, including in Libbys sweatshirt and jeans, the documents state.
There was no blood on her clothing, indicating that she was likely murdered while naked and then dressed after she was killed. Tree branches and sticks had also been arranged on her body, the documents state.
Both victims appeared to have been moved and positioned after they were murdered.
A makeshift memorial to Liberty German and Abigail Williams is pictured near where they were last seen (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Libbys blood had also been used as paint to mark a tree with a rune that looks similar to the letter F a rune known to be associated with the pagan religious cult Odinism.
During the initial investigation, authorities had connected two separate groups of men who practiced Odinism one in Delphi and the other in Rushville to each other and then connected both groups of men to the murders, the new court documents state.
According to Mr Allens attorneys, the teenage son of one of these Odinites was dating Abby at the time of her murder.
As well as openly showcasing his beliefs in Odinism on social media, in the days and weeks after the murders the man had posted images which mimicked the runes found at the crime scene, the documents state.
One of the images allegedly shows two women either dead, or posed as if they were dead, on the ground in what appeared to be a forest with tree limbs and sticks arranged on their bodies, the documents state.
Other images on his social media are said to show runes matching the F symbol drawn in Libbys blood on the tree at the crime scene.
But, according to the defence, this individual was interviewed on 17 February 2017 and cleared by that March even as more tips continued to come in from the public naming him as a potential suspect.
This man was also linked to at least four other Odinites named by the defence as suspects one of whom lived a seven-minute drive from the crime scene and another who allegedly confessed to his two sisters that he was involved in the murders.
This man allegedly told one sister that he was on a trail and a bridge with two girls that were killed and that he was going away for a long time.
Richard Allen appears in court in Delphi (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
He was interviewed by police in early 2018 and asked officers if they would be able to trace him if he had spat on one of the victims, the defence states.
As well as the claims that Odinism could be linked to the killings, Mr Allens attorneys have accused the prosecution of withholding this information from the defence and that the possible ties only came to light because former police chief Mr Click reached out to the state in the wake of Mr Allens arrest.
The documents state that Mr Click was concerned that the probable cause affidavit laying out the case against Mr Allen was far less compelling than the totality of the information that they had gathered about the Odinism angle.
He decided to send a letter to prosecutor Nick McCleland in May to ensure he was aware of that information, the documents state.
The state did not hand over this information or the letter until September, the defence states.
The defence is also claiming that Odinites are working as corrections officers at Westville Correctional Facility where Mr Allen is being held awaiting trial and where they claim he has suffered ill-treatment.
Now, the defence is seeking a Franks hearing in the case and to have Mr Allen moved to another facility as they claim that he is innocent of any involvement in the murders.
Richard Allen has zero connections to any pagan cult or pagan cultists, and furthermoreno forensic evidence (such as DNA) or electronic evidence links Richard Allen to the girls or to the crime scene i.e., he is a completely innocent man, the defence attorneys write.
The bombshell claims laid out in the new court documents mark the latest twist to the tragic case which began when the two teenage best friends set off on a walk together one spring day in 2017.
For more than five years, the girls devastated families waited for answers in the case as no arrests were made.
Then, in late October 2022, Mr Allen a local man who served the victims families in his job at the Delphi CVS store was finally arrested and charged with their murders.
According to investigators, Mr Allen is the so-called bridge guy captured on camera by the victims.
The suspect forced the two victims down the hill and led them to the location where they were murdered, according to his probable cause affidavit.
The criminal affidavit, which was partially redacted and released in November, previously revealed that the local man was finally tied to the February 2017 murders through a bullet found at the bloody crime scene.
Ballistics confirmed that an unspent .40 caliber round found close to the bodies of the teenage victims came from Mr Allens Sig Sauer Model P226.
Libby German and Abby Williams together (Facebook)
The firearm which he owned since 2011 was found during a search of his home last October and both he and his wife Kathy told police he was the only person with access to it, the documents state.
The documents also revealed that, in Libbys cellphone footage, one of the victims mentions the word gun suggesting that their attacker was armed with a firearm and was using it to coerce the victims.
In a police interview on 13 October, Mr Allen told investigators he had no explanation as to how the spent bullet ended up near the bodies of the two teenage victims, the document states.
The accused killer said he had not been on the property where the unspent round was found, that he did not know the property owner, and that he had no explanation as to why a round cycled through his firearm would be at that location, it says. The property owner Ron Logan was also previously tied to the case. He died in 2020.
As well as the ballistics evidence, Mr Allen was also tied to the killings after his vehicle was spotted parked close to the trail in an odd manner as if to conceal the license plate, the affidavit previously revealed.
Several witnesses also reported seeing a creepy man matching the description of bridge guy around the time of the murders while one person said they saw a muddy and bloody man leaving the trail around two hours after Libby and Abby were last seen alive. The witnesses did not see anyone other than bridge guy on the trail at the time, the affidavit reads.
The married father to a daughter had been on law enforcements radar back in 2017 after he admitted to being on the trail the day the girls were killed.
During a 2017 interview with police, Mr Allen confessed to being on the Monon High Bridge Trail that afternoon but denied any involvement in the murders and insisted he had never seen the two girls that day.
Despite placing himself at the scene of the crime at the time of the murders, he slipped through the net due to a clerical error.
Since his arrest, Mr Allen has confessed to the 2017 murders multiple times behind bars including in a jailhouse phone call with his wife, dramatic court documents revealed back in June.
Libby German posted a Snapchat as the girls walked along the trail (Snapchat)
While prosecutors say that the accused killer admitted several times that he carried out the brutal murders, Mr Allens attorneys claim that his confession cannot be believed due to his current mental state.
The sudden arrest of the local man almost six years on from the murders marked a major break in the case.
But the investigation is far from over with officials saying that they believe Mr Allen may not have acted alone.
Prior to Mr Allens arrest, investigators had been searching for information about a catfishing account which was in contact with Libby on the day she was killed.
The man behind the account Kegan Anthony Kline was tied to the 2017 murders in December 2021 when investigators urged the public to come forward with information about a bogus online profile named @anthony_shots.
Kline, 28, confessed to using the fake profile to groom underage girls, get them to send him nude photos and their addresses, and try to get them to meet him in person.
In a 2020 police interview, a transcript of which has been seen by The Independent, Kline admitted that he had communicated with 14-year-old Libby on Instagram and Snapchat through the catfishing profile before she died.
The transcript revealed that he had exchanged photos with the teenage girl and that Libby had communicated with the fake profile on the very day that she and Abby were murdered.
On 25 February 2017 - less than two weeks after the two girls were brutally killed police carried out a search of Klines home in Peru.
Kline has never been charged in connection to the murders.
However, he told The Murder Sheet podcast in a jailhouse interview that he has information about the murders but that police dont want to hear anything I have to say.
In July, he was sentenced to more than four decades in prison on a string of child sexual abuse and child exploitation charges.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Nevada Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro announced Monday she will seek a third term.
Its been an honor to serve the people of Nevada as both a prosecutor and a state senator, and I am excited to continue the fight to build stronger communities and a fairer, more equitable state, Cannizzaro said.
She opened the session with her son, Case, in one arm and a microphone in the other. Four months later, she was leading the Senate through two special sessions and her newborn son, Cole, was there with her as she leveled criticism at Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo for politics over policy. She railed against Republican criticisms that suggested the Legislature had failed to consider Lombardos priorities, delivering a speech on the duty to thoroughly vet legislation.
In announcing her reelection bid, Cannizzaro put health care, education and economic issues at the top of her to-do list.
Nevadans deserve health care options that dont break the bank, a qualified teacher in every classroom, and an economy that works for our working families, not just the wealthy and well-connected. I am excited to launch my campaign for re-election and look forward to continuing to serve my neighbors in Senate District 6, she said.
Cannizzaro has led efforts to expand protections for reproductive health and freedom, pass a Public Option that will lead to greater health care access at lower costs, protect workers rights on the job, and invest in record increases to public K-12 education funding, according to a news release.
She became the first woman elected to the position of majority leader in 2019. She holds a law degree from UNLVs Boyd School of Law and she attended the University of Nevada, Reno. Before that, she graduated from Chaparral High School.
She lives in Summerlin with her husband, Nate Ring, and their two sons.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
The Danish Minister of Defence has announced that Denmark, together with other countries, is purchasing additional 45 tanks for Ukraine.
Source: Troels Lund Poulsen , Danish Minister of Defence, as reported by European Pravda with reference to Politiken
Details: The party will include 30 Leopard 1 tanks and 15 T-72 tanks. Poulsen said Denmark buys tanks in cooperation with other countries.
"This [purchase of tanks ed.] is happening in cooperation with other countries with access to their existing tanks," the minister said after arriving at the meeting of Ukraine Defence Contact Group taking place at the Ramstein base in Germany.
Background:
Earlier, Denmark purchased and decided to transfer to Ukraine 100 Leopard 1 tanks in cooperation with Germany and the Netherlands. In early September, the first 10 out of the 100 donated Leopard 1 tanks arrived in Ukraine after months of delay.
This is the first time that Denmark is handing over T-72 tanks, the advantage of which is that the Ukrainian military knows how to operate them, so they do not need to undergo training.
The tank transfer is being financed by the Ukraine fund, or rather by a package worth 5.8 billion Danish crowns [almost 800 million euros], as was announced last week.
Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen explained that this package opens a "new phase" in Danish aid to Ukraine. The country gave away most of what it could give directly from its weapons stockpiles, so in the future Copenhagen plans to focus on purchases in accordance with the current needs of Ukraine together with other allies.
Troels Lund Poulsen, Danish Minister of Defence, did not reveal which countries the purchases are planned to be made in cooperation with.
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Images of the woman who is suspected to have fired the gun at the five victims have been released by police (Denver Police Department )
Police in Denver are looking for a female suspect in connection with a mass shooting that injured five people at a bar in the citys Lower Downtown district.
The shooting happened at Dierks Bentley s Whiskey Row at around 11.14pm on Saturday.
Surveillance cameras caught images of a woman pointing a gun in the direction of five people standing outside of the bar.
According to police, the woman was denied entry into the bar, then started to walk away, but quickly returned to talk again with security staff. After she started to walk away from the bar for a second time, she took out a gun and fired it in the direction of the bar several times, injuring five victims who are presumed by police to not be the intended targets.
Officers in the area quickly rushed to the scene along with paramedics who took the victims to the hospital. The injuries they sustained are believed to be non-life-threatening.
Lissa Druss, a spokesperson for Dierks Bentleys Whiskey Row told Scripps News, We are disheartened by the events of last evening. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those that were injured, she said. We are grateful for the swift actions of DPD, but we are very concerned about the activity in LoDo and have been engaged with city officials and neighbourhood leaders on how to make positive improvements in the area. The safety of our staff and our patrons is paramount to our company."
There has yet to be an arrest made in connection with the shooting.
Dierks Bentleys Whiskey Row in Denver, where the mass shooting happened (Denver 7)
This particular shooting has been recorded as the 500th mass shooting this year in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The bar where the shooting took place opened in 2021 and is part of a chain of bars across the United States owned by American country music star Dierks Bentley.
Another shooting also happened in the past few in Denver on 17th Avenue between Gilpin Street and Williams Street, where three people were shot, two of them hospitalised, Denver police say. The incident happened on Monday night, with a possible suspect in custody.
A man was shot late Monday in south Sacramento, the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office said.
Deputies responded at 10:15 p.m. to the 3900 block of 48th Avenue after receiving reports of a shooting. When they arrived, deputies found a man with a gunshot wound to the leg, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, spokesman for the Sheriffs Office.
The victim was transported to a hospital by fire personnel.
No suspect information has been released.
A Texas deputy is accused of leaving his 2-month-old child alone inside a vehicle for three hours in the summer heat, investigators say.
The infant, who is in critical condition, was taken to a San Antonio hospital by ambulance shortly after 1 p.m. Sept. 18, the Bexar County Sheriffs Office said in a news release.
Deputies began investigating the incident after receiving a call from the hospital and quickly learned that the babys father was one of their own, now-former deputy Antonio Almaraz, according to the release.
When deputies initially spoke to Almaraz, he gave conflicting statements, the sheriffs office said. However, investigators were able to determine the events that had actually taken place.
Almaraz had taken the child to a routine pediatrics appointment and arrived back home at 10 a.m., then turned the vehicle off and went inside without the baby, the sheriffs office said.
It wasnt until 1 p.m., roughly three hours later, when someone noticed the baby was inside the vehicle and unresponsive, according to the release.
Temperatures reached 96 degrees in the San Antonio area that afternoon, according to Weather.com.
Given the amount of awareness in the community regarding leaving children unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no valid excuse for this to have occurred, Sheriff Javier Salazar said. My family and I are praying for the best possible outcome for this precious baby.
Almaraz, 31, was arrested on charges of injury to a child, abandoning a child with intent to return, and endangering a child, according to investigators, and his bond was set at $80,000.
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As of this week, Northlake Malls website lists American Eagle as temporarily closed. But that doesnt tell the whole story.
The clothing retail chain shuttered its store in the north Charlotte mall back in the spring.
In response, financially struggling Northlake Mall sued the national apparel chain in federal court, claiming the departure led to fewer shoppers, more stores leaving and a decrease in the malls value. The mall also is suing four other national retailers who left in recent months, claiming they still owe rent.
But American Eagle countersued Northlake, citing safety concerns and calling the mall a warzone thats a hotbed for crime following several high-profile shootings there over the past two years.
Spinoso Real Estate Group of Syracuse, New York, maintains and operates the mall, which is in receivership.
American Eagle said the complex is not operated as a first-class mall as promised. The retailer said its lease allowed the store to leave due to emergency events beyond the stores control, including rampant violence and a draconian mall policy that forbids teens from shopping unattended during certain hours.
Between the lawsuits, the violence and the ongoing financial troubles of the mall, one retail expert at Queens University of Charlotte said the shopping center is in a death spiral.
Its going to be extremely difficult for Northlake to come out of this, marketing professor Steven Cox said.
American Eagle Outfitters, which left Northlake Mall in the spring, was sued by mall operator Spinoso Real Estate Group. The retailer countersued, calling the north Charlotte mall a warzone. Seen here in this file photo is an American Eagle store in Kansas.
Its do-or-die for (Northlake) mall
Perhaps the most high-profile of store exits happened on March 1, when Apple store abruptly closed for good in the middle of the day following a spate of three shootings in as many months at Northlake. The same month, mens, womens and childrens apparel chain Buckle closed.
Since then, four other stores left the mall apparel and accessories retailers Michael Kors, Chicos, Soma and White House Black Market. Spinoso is suing those retailers in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, Observer news partner WSOC-TV reported.
Spinoso has to sue those stores to keep others from leaving, said Cox, at the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte. Its do-or-die for the mall. They need the revenue and no one else is moving in, he said.
The two-story, 1.1-million-square-foot mall that opened in 2005 has been in receivership since 2021. The lawsuits show how dire the situation is for the mall.
Most civil cases reach resolution outside of the courtroom, said Ronnie Crisco, partner at Arnold & Smith law firm based in Charlotte.
In my experience, litigation is not the first preference of the landlord in a situation like this. Its not good business under most circumstances. But these are not normal circumstances, said Crisco, who has 18 years of experience in civil litigation including commercial-tenant disputes. I dont expect to see these fights unless its serious.
Claims in the Northlake Mall lawsuits
Spinoso sued American Eagle Outfitters, claiming the apparel chain broke its lease after renewing it in January then abandoning the premises in the spring.
Since the chain left, the mall has had fewer shoppers, resulting in more store closures, Spinoso said in court documents in July. The value of the shopping center has decreased, Spinoso claimed, and is seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
American Eagle closed its 7,000-square-foot store on April 29 after 20 years at the shopping center, according to court documents.
On Sept. 12, American Eagle responded with a 19-page countersuit, claiming rampant violence at Northlake Mall jeopardized the safety of its employees and customers, causing a significant drop in sales.
Spinoso failed to uphold the standards of first-class shopping as promised, instead allowing the mall to become a known hotbed for violent crime, American Eagle claimed in its lawsuit. Spinoso allowed the shopping center Northlake Mall to deteriorate into an atmosphere reminiscent of a warzone, replete with violent criminals, multiple shootings, terrorized tenants and customers, and diminished business.
American Eagle cited two shooting incidents in 2021 including one that led to attempted murder charges that caused the store to lose a significant amount of business and income.
American Eagle Outfitters, based in Pittsburgh, is suing Northlake Mall saying its a hotbed for violent crime. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer in this file photo prepares to enter the mall following a shooting on Dec. 15, 2022.
Also that year, the mall extended its chaperon policy requiring youths 17 and younger to be accompanied by an adult on Fridays and Saturdays starting at 3 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. American Eagle said the malls expanded youth supervision policy restricted the stores customer base from shopping there.
From December 2022 to February of this year there were three more shootings, all involving disputes between people that ended in non-life-threatening or no injuries.
In March, after Apples departure, Northlake announced new security measures, including more officer patrols, gun-sniffing dogs and vehicle recognition technology. American Eagle, in its lawsuit, said they were security moves one might expect at a prison, not at a first-class shopping center.
American Eagle is seeking damages in excess of $75,000.
Spinoso did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Charlotte Observer about claims in the lawsuits or its own legal action against former tenants.
What the litigation signals
Litigation over lease disputes is not uncommon. But American Eagles case has special circumstances, including documented crimes associated with the mall and bad publicity, attorney Crisco said.
This is a little bit different because youve got a lot of different tenants all deciding to leave, Crisco said, referring to Northlake Malls tenant lawsuits.
For Spinoso, its not just about lease payments but each stores obligation to operate at the mall, too. Thats part of how the mall will continue to be viable, Crisco said.
A mall can fix lighting and parking lot problems, Queens professor Cox said, but it cant stop people from coming to the complex with guns. The lawsuit is not the problem. Its the perception of people that theyre unsafe if they go to that mall, Cox said, and theyll stop coming.
A judge will have to determine whether the landlord effectively held up its responsibility under the lease agreement to run a commercially viable mall, Crisco said.
Its been two years since the mall went into receivership. Meanwhile, plans to sell the mall have been delayed. In June, A Spinoso attorney told North Carolina Business Court that Northlake wont be listed for sale until next year, in part, over security incidents that have impacted the market perception and the malls stability.
The impact of crimes at the mall could be a legal defense excusing tenants from their obligations to pay rent or continue operating at the mall, Crisco said. I dont think anyone would argue its not going to have an effect on the foot traffic to the mall, Crisco said. That makes it a very interesting fight.
Northlake Mall isnt the only shopping center America Eagle is suing. On Sept. 12, American Eagle also filed a lawsuit against Westfield Mall in San Francisco to get out of its lease over rampant criminal activity, including physical attacks and assaults on employees from May 2022 to this past May.
Legal analyst Steven Clark told ABC7 Bay Area news If American Eagle is allowed out of its lease based on the crime, the violence, the shoplifting and the other problems at the mall, I think youll see a lot of other retailers looking at this as a tool to say we want out as well.
That could happen in Charlotte, too.
If American Eagle wins its countersuit against Northlake, other tenants will have a way out, Cox said, so youll see a rush to the door.
Spinoso Real Estate Group, which maintains and operates Northlake Mall, is suing five national retailers after they closed and left the mall in as many months.
Northlake Mall death spiral or right direction?
Back in March after Apple closed, retail industry expert Greg Buzek told the Observer that losing such a big name would create an avalanche of closings.
Whats next for Northlake Mall after Apple stores hasty exit and trio of shootings
Northlake also has lost other national retailers, including anchor store Dicks Sporting Goods in 2021, and Starbucks the same year. Other national chains this year announced plans to close stores, too, including Bath & Body Works and Footlocker. Neither retailer responded for comment about plans at Northlake.
Still, not all tenants want to leave the mall, which is anchored by department stores Belk, Dillards and Macys. We have a base of customers and we have new customers coming in, said Paul Self, assistant manager at Vilanto Fine Mens Wear, which has sold suits and mens accessories at Northlake for eight years.
The malls website directory also lists several stores that are opening, including Custom Place, a customized T-shirt, hoodies and hats shop, and D. Williams Suits.
Theyve really upped security with police officers and the gun-sniffing dogs, Self said. It seems like its headed in the right direction.
In August, Northlake was 85% occupied, Spinoso said in a status update in North Carolina Business Court. But that includes temporary stores like Spirit Halloween and small stores. Thats below the national mall occupancy average rate of 89%, according to Moodys Analytics REIS data.
With fewer national stores, Northlake wont have the revenue to afford or maintain additional safety measures, and it will be harder for the smaller stores to operate successfully, Cox said.
Its in a death spiral, Cox said. It is going to be extremely difficult for Northlake to come out of this.
Northlake Mall sale pushed back to next year. Safety concerns part of reason for delay
Troubled Northlake Mall adds new stores, lowering tenant vacancy rate to 15%
Daylight saving time for 2023 will end on Nov. 5 with most Americans having to "fall back" for the biannual time change and turn their clocks back an hour and it looks likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
Two Florida Republicans introduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023 in March to make daylight saving time permanent after the proposal faltered in the last Congress, but so far the bill hasn't made any significant inroads, all but guaranteeing that most Americans will have another year of changing their clocks.
Howie Brown adjusts the time on a clock back one hour for the end of daylight saving time at Brown's Old Time Clock Shop, Nov. 2, 2007, in Plantation, Florida. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Before this latest attempt to alter the biannual ritual started on Capitol Hill, "falling back" and "springing forward" caused considerable consternation amongst Americans. Parents who want their children to head to school in the daylight can appreciate "falling back" to standard time, but those who want the sun to shine long enough to play in the park after classes may want to keep daylight saving time year-round. Permanently keeping one over the other means people won't have their sleeping schedules disrupted twice a year.
In 2022, a CBS News/YouGov poll found 46% of Americans supported having daylight saving time year-round while 33% wanted to make standard time permanent. Just over a fifth of Americans, 21%, preferred keeping things the way they are.
Nineteen states have already passed legislation to stay on daylight saving time permanently if Congress would let them.
In Europe, the countries that observe "summer time" change their clocks on the last Sunday of October. Most countries around the world don't participate in the twice-yearly time change, according to the Pew Research Center.
Before the clocks "fall back" in the U.S., here's what Americans need to know:
Will we "fall back" in 2023?
Yes. Americans in most states will have to turn their clocks back an hour on Sunday, Nov. 5, when standard time resumes. It will last until the second Sunday of March 2024, when daylight saving time starts again.
While daylight saving time shifts an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening in late winter, spring, summer and early fall, that hour of daylight goes back to the morning during standard time, when the days are shorter in fall and winter.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida who introduced the Sunshine Protection Act in the Senate and a similar version of the bill last year, has emphasized that less daylight in the evening can mean fewer after-school activities for kids.
"One of the big problems we have in a lot of parts of this country is kids can't do anything after school because if you don't have a park with lights, then, you know, you're out of business by 4, 4:30, 5 o'clock," he said on "CBS Mornings" in March. "It's a huge problem, it's a huge issue in many parts of the country."
When will the time change?
In each of the nation's time zones where daylight saving time is observed, the time changes at 2 a.m. local time with most Americans turning their clocks forward an hour on the second Sunday of March and back an hour on the first Sunday of November.
Why do we have daylight saving time in the first place?
During World War I, Germany started observing daylight saving time in 1916 to try to conserve fuel with the extra hour of daylight in the evening, according to the Congressional Research Service. Other European nations followed suit as the war dragged on, and the U.S. started using daylight saving time in 1918.
Congress repealed daylight saving time over President Woodrow Wilson's veto in 1919 but gave states the option to continue observing it. It was brought back during World War II with the country observing it year-round and then again in 1966 with a twice-yearly changing of the clocks similar to what happens today.
Congress tried keeping the country on daylight saving time year-round again in 1974 in response to the 1973 oil embargo, but brought back the biannual switch to standard time before the year was over. In 2022, Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey who was then chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said public opinion in the '70s had turned against the idea.
The most recent change to daylight saving time took effect in 2007, when the start and end dates were changed to make it longer.
What states have gotten rid of daylight saving time?
Hawaii and most of Arizona don't observe daylight saving time. In the northeastern corner of Arizona, the Navajo Nation does observe daylight saving time, keeping the time the same year-round in the country's largest Native American reservation, which extends into New Mexico and Utah.
The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific also don't observe daylight saving time, along with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean.
According to the U.S. Transportation Department, which oversees the observance of daylight saving time for the country, states can pass legislation to opt out of it. However, states don't have the authority to be on daylight saving time year-round.
Which ones are trying to get rid of daylight saving time?
Several other states have considered adopting standard time year-round, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislation moving through state capitols across the country.
In five states this year Arkansas, Connecticut, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming measures to eliminate daylight saving time have failed, according to the group.
Similar proposals are being considered in 10 states: Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Vermont. In Oklahoma, lawmakers are weighing letting voters decide whether the state should adopt year-round standard time in a referendum.
In Idaho, a proposal was rejected to keep the southern part of the state, which is in the Mountain time zone, on standard time while residents in the northern part of the state, in the Pacific time zone, would continue changing their clocks twice a year.
Will daylight saving time go away permanently across the U.S. anytime soon?
It's not likely. Rubio's 2022 proposal would have delayed making daylight saving time permanent until this November to let airlines and other industries that make plans far in advance adjust to the change. Any new legislation without a similar delay would risk disrupting those businesses.
As for Rubio's current proposal to make daylight saving time permanent, the senator said in March he wasn't going to give up.
"This is Washington, someone always has a reason to be against something, you know?" Rubio said. "The answer is we'll see. I mean, it doesn't look right now like we have the votes to pass it, but we'll keep trying."
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In 1964, only 568 people lived in one legislative district in Nevada, while approximately 127,000 lived in another. Idaho had a similar gap in voting power, with 969 people in the smallest district and 93,400 in the largest.
These types of differences in the power to choose state legislators led to the United Supreme Court decision in Reynold v. Sims, explaining that such unfair voting power violated the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The Court held that the effect of each vote should be nearly the same and ordered states to redistrict so that the number of people allowed to vote for each office was roughly equal.
In his majority opinion, Chief Justice Warren wrote, the right of suffrage can be denied by a debasement or dilution of the weight of a citizens vote just as effectively as by wholly prohibiting the free exercise of the franchise. This means that when one persons vote counts for less than another persons, it is as bad for democracy as just blocking a person from voting. In common talk, the rule that each persons vote should carry equal weight is called: one person, one vote.
Today, in Idaho, every persons vote does not carry equal weight. Idaho is a very Republican state. In every statewide election, whoever wins the Republican primary wins the general election. The Republican primary is closed to all but the party faithful. As former long-time Idaho Secretary of State Ben Ysursa put it, the whole ballgames in the primary.
In the 2022 primary, only 32.4% of the Idahos voters turned out to vote. When it takes only about a third of the Republican party primary voters to guarantee a win for a candidate in the general election, its clear that the votes of others do not count as much as that one-third of the Republican Party.
This unfair difference in the worth of each vote is becoming worse because the Republican party recently adopted a rule to limit party crossover from Democrats and Independents who try to join the Republican primary to make their votes count.
There is a new move afoot in Idaho to restore the equal worth of each voters ballot in line with one person, one vote. That is a voter initiative for an open election process called top-four, ranked-choice voting. Anyone, regardless of party, can run in the primary election and every voter can select among them. The top 4 go on the general election ballot, where each voter ranks his or her choices in order of preference 1,2,3,4.
The candidate who gets a majority in the general is elected. If no one gets a majority, the candidate receiving the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and the votes of those who made that candidate their first choice then go to their second-choice candidate in a second count. If a candidate gets a majority in the second count, they win. If not, the process repeats until a candidate gets a majority.
If a voters first choice does not win, their second choice might.
What would ranked-choice voting mean for Idaho? It would require candidates to temper extremist positions because 32.4% of the Republican Party can no longer guarantee a win and control who is in office.
A candidate must appeal to other voters to capture number 1 and number 2 positions on ballots and reach a 50% majority vote. To appeal to these needed voters requires a moderation of extremist positions that now appeal to only the Republican Primary voters. It requires an outreach to most voters in Idaho.
The ultimate result will be more tempered and moderate politics. We will be electing candidates less focused on the cultural issues driving doctors out of state, harassing librarians, and losing expensive lawsuits. Instead, candidates will focus on residential property tax relief, economic development, roads and bridges, and education.
Beneficiaries of the Republican Partys lock on Idaho offices frantically oppose ranked-choice voting, arguing it is a recount of votes, it will detract from a voters first choice, or it offers too many candidates. Not hardly.
Every vote is counted only once. No one has a first-choice guarantee in any election of any type. And in the 2022 Idaho primaries, Republican and Democrat combined, there were 9 candidates. We seemed to have survived.
Perhaps the dizziest argument against ranked-choice voting comes from Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon, who opines ranked-choice voting violates the one man, one vote rule. As the Reynolds case guides us to know, the Equal Protection Clause and the one man, one vote rule require equal voting power.
What ranked-choice voting will do is rebalance and make equal the weight of each citizens vote as Chief Justice Warren put it, and as one man, one vote requires.
Tom Arkoosh is a lawyer. He was the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2022.
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump 's campaign confirmed Monday he will skip next week's Republican presidential debate and plans instead to visit the Detroit area to speak with striking auto workers.
Trump had long hinted that he would not attend the Sept. 27 debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, Calif., citing his large lead in a series of Republican polls.
The Trump campaign confirmed a schedule showing that he will instead fly to Michigan a week from Wednesday. Details are still being worked out, but Trump is expected to give a speech to members of various unions, including auto workers.
Michigan will be a key battleground in next year's general election.
Next week's Republican debate will not include Donald Trump, just like last month's event in Milwaukee.
Trump also refused to attend the Aug. 23 Republican debate in Milwaukee, though he did not schedule a competing event. He instead taped an interview with commentator Tucker Carlson that aired on social media as his rivals debated.
Trump, seeking to build support with union members, has expressed support for the striking auto workers, saying that President Joe Biden 's insistence on developing electric cars is putting their careers at risk.
"The United Autoworkers are being sold down the 'drain' with this all Electric Car SCAM," Trump said on the Truth Social media site.
Democrats said Trump's new-found support for unions is strictly political, and that he did nothing for auto workers during his time in the White House.
Donald Trump is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn," said Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Biden's re-election campaign.
United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who has warned that another Trump presidency would be a "disaster," said that the strike has nothing to do with the 2024 presidential election.
"This battle is not about the President, it's not about the former president, or any other person prior to that," he said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' "This battle is about the workers standing up for economic and social justice and getting their fair share."
On Tuesday morning, Fain issued a statement against Trump's presidential candidacy: "We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump to skip next GOP debate, will meet with auto workers
Donald Trump is testing the resilience of his evangelical support in Iowa, a key constituency that could solidify or slow his march to the Republican presidential nomination.
The former presidents latest comments on abortion, in which he called Floridas six-week ban a terrible mistake and declined to offer a clear view on a federal ban, are being closely scrutinized by his rivals and Christian conservatives, a crucial GOP voting bloc in Iowa.
For evangelicals, there are probably four issues that matter. Life is usually right at the top, said Mike Demastus, pastor of the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ. Most people, the way they evaluate presidential elections, is what the gas price is. But for an evangelical? No.
Less than four months before the Iowa caucuses open the Republican nominating contest, nuances on abortion policy will be at the center of conversation here among faith leaders like Demastus, who has met with most of the GOP candidates.
He expressed concern over Trumps remarks on abortion since the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. But he also acknowledged that Trumps key role in the decision appointing three of the six justices who voted with the majority helps the former president keep evangelical voters in his corner, at least for now.
The fact that Trump is leading in polls he is but you cant take it for granted. Theres so many unknowns with Trump right now, Demastus said in an interview. Theres a loyalty with Trump, and people that follow him. You cant just peel that away from some, but I think many people in the evangelical community right now are willing to hear from other people.
Whether Iowa Republicans are willing to hear from or actually vote for one of Trumps many challengers is an open question. The answer could rest inside Iowa churches, where candidates are going to great lengths to win over evangelicals, who in 2016 comprised nearly two-thirds of all GOP caucus attendees.
They are very appreciative of the former president, but they are exhausted as well, said Bob Vander Plaats, president of influential Christian group The Family Leader. Iowa is tailor-made to upend Trump. If he loses Iowa, theres a competitive nomination process. If he wins Iowa, I think its over.
The Iowa caucuses, in effect, have become a furious race for second place.
While Vander Plaats has been a leading Trump critic, his assessment of the Iowa caucuses is shared by allies of the former president, who plans to step up his Iowa appearances for the rest of the year. Starting with a visit to Dubuque on Wednesday, the Trump campaign is intensifying its focus here in hopes of squeezing off the oxygen for other rivals, a Trump adviser told CNN.
The pursuit of evangelical voters is a top priority for most candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who bowed his head as he stood at the center of a prayer circle during a weekend stop at the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ.
Our rights are endowed by God, DeSantis told those assembled in the sanctuary. They do not come from the government.
The Florida governor leaned into the abortion debate Monday, seizing on Trumps comments and offering a warning to voters during an interview with Radio Iowa: I think all pro-lifers should know that hes preparing to sell you out.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott called out his rivals by name Monday night at a town hall in Mason City, Iowa, telling voters which GOP contenders did not support a federal abortion ban. I will use my entire presidency fighting for a 15-week limit, he said.
Scott also has long been highlighting his faith, often weaving in Bible verses on the campaign trail and in his television ads. Former Vice President Mike Pence frequently talks about his religious awakening and his support for a federal abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, as a minimum.
Very highly supported
Trump was the only major presidential candidate to bypass the annual Faith and Freedom Coalitions fall banquet this past weekend in Des Moines, but Rebekah Gerling proudly wore a Trump sticker as she walked through the convention center. She said she supports the former president as strongly as she ever has.
I love everything that he stands for, Gerling said. Hes willing to stand up for other people who do love God and believe.
When Gerling was asked whether she was troubled by the criminal indictments the former president is facing, her friend, Theresa Gibson, also wearing a Trump sticker, jumped in before she could answer, calling the charges false accusations.
Theyre just going after him because hes the front-runner, Gibson said, and hes very highly supported.
Sally Hofmann, a Republican voter who said faith drives many of her decisions, credits Trump for his appointments to the Supreme Court. But she said she is open to supporting another candidate when she walks into her neighborhood caucus in January.
I like a lot of what Trump has done in office, but his personality concerns me a little bit, Hofmann said. I like what Nikki Haley is doing. I like DeSantis too. Im in that range.
She said some of her friends and her daughter are concerned about Trumps rhetoric and conduct. She said it bothers her too, but shes willing to look beyond it if necessary.
Like I told my daughter, if I go to a doctor, and that doctor is such a good doctor to evaluate and treat my issue but doesnt have the personality that Im most comfortable with, Ill still go to that doctor, Hofmann said. So thats the way I look at Trump.
Inside the Fort Des Moines Church of Christ, where Demastus has preached for more than two decades, he explained how he came around to Trump in the first place. He supported Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 and was suspicious of Trumps intentions before he took office.
He started to do what he said he would do, Demastus said. I said some pretty harsh things about him at the time, but let me be clear: He won me over. He won me over because he was consistent.
For now, Demastus echoes the sentiment of many other faith leaders, saying he is undecided, waiting and watching as the Republican presidential primary unfolds. He believes the indictments against Trump are politically motivated but worries they could weaken his chances in the general election.
With all the litigation thats going on, whats going to happen? Is he going to receive a felony conviction or not? Demastus said, ticking through a list of uncertainties hanging over the race. I think thats why a lot of these candidates are still in it.
This story has been updated with additional reaction.
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Lab specialists Gabriele Rava, left, and Martha Lemus arrange a display of products in Ferreros new innovation center and R&D lab in the Marshall Field building on State Street, now anchored by Macys, on Sept. 15, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
For nearly 70 years, workers minted Frango chocolates on the 13th floor of the Marshall Field & Co. building on State Street.
Frango production moved out of state in 1999 to the dismay of civic leaders and local mint chocolate aficionados. The Frangos are long gone, but more than two decades later, chocolate has made its return to the upper floors of the building now anchored by the Macys department store, where candy giant Ferrero is opening its first North American research and development lab and innovation center.
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The Tribune visited Ferreros labs, located on the buildings ninth floor, prior to a grand opening planned for Tuesday. Here, research teams will develop new product recipes, though sweets will not be manufactured on-site.
Candy-makers in Marshall Field's State Street store in Chicago make Frango chocolate in Field's kitchen, circa 1900s. (Chicago Tribune archive)
Details of the new operation are closely guarded. The Tribune was allowed to enter the labs where food scientists will research the development of new cookie products, but not its chocolate labs or the innovation center, where a team will conduct long-term research in support of products that could hit shelves a decade from now. Nor was the Tribune permitted to view the sensorial or analytical facilities, where workers will participate in blind taste tests of new products and evaluate their properties down to the gram.
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[ Read about how Chicago once was dubbed the 'Candy Capital of the United States' ]
The new space will support Ferreros scientific approach to the experience of eating and selling sweets.
You need brains and you need machines, said Laurent Cremona, senior vice president of research and development in North America and innovation center head.
When the Tribune observed Frango production at Marshall Fields in 1976, it viewed an assembly line in full, tumultuous gear stamping out endless rows of creamy, mint-scented chocolates at a rate of up to 300 pounds an hour. A conveyor belt vibrated excess chocolate to ensure each chocolate was uniform in weight; upon the mints emergence from a drying tunnel, workers inserted them into paper liners and then into boxes.
It is slow, exacting work, a vanishing art from another era, the Tribune wrote.
Frango products are on display at Macy's on State Street in 2017. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
This century, the sweets labs at the historic Marshall Field building are an expansive white space full of shiny ovens, refrigerators and mixers used for testing but not production.
Ferreros local production is spread out across several facilities. In Illinois, Butterfinger and Baby Ruth chocolate bars are manufactured in Franklin Park and Keebler brand products are produced in a plant on 110th Street in Pullman. Ferrero makes Crunch bars, 100 Grand and Raisinets products at a facility in downstate Bloomington, where a $214.4 million expansion that will allow the production of Kinder products in North America for the first time is on track for completion next year.
Based in Luxembourg, the candy-maker has expanded in recent years, acquiring Chicago-based Ferrara Candy, the maker of Lemonheads, and chocolatier Fannie May. In 2018 and 2019 it bought Nestles U.S. candy business and a portion of Kelloggs North American snacks business, acquisitions that added the Butterfinger, Nerds and Famous Amos brands to its portfolio. Close to 500 Ferrara employees continue to work from the Old Post Office, confirmed spokesperson Blair Klein.
The Chicago labs will be a hub for development of North American products.
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It isnt easy to capture all the needs, all the trends, when you are in (another) continent, said Joao Paulo Andorinha, senior vice president and head of the research and development lab.
Its why its important to be here, Andorinha said.
Lab specialists Martha Lemus, from left, Maria Rubio and Riccardo Federico Loi bake cookies in Ferreros new innovation center and R&D lab in the Marshall Field building, now anchored by Macys, on Sept. 15, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Legacy products like Nutella and Ferrero Rocher chocolates are made with the same recipe the world over, Andorinha said.
After that we have some more, I will say, specific products, like all the Keebler ones, Famous Amos, where there was designing for (the) North American market: in terms of the sweetener, in terms of the texture, he said.
One U.S.-specific brand that will be studied at the new R&D facility is Girl Scout cookies, acquired as part of Ferreros Kellogg purchase. Andorinha said the company sees the brand as a way to introduce younger consumers to Ferrero products.
About 30 to 40 workers will staff the labs and innovation center, with Ferreros total head count in the building topping 150 employees. Office staff on the eighth floor include brand teams for banners such as Keebler and Fannie May, as well as other corporate employees working in areas including finance and procurement.
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The company is not adding to its head count in order to run the facility.
Ferrero said it has more than 1,500 employees in the state, including at its manufacturing facilities, downtown offices and Fannie May retail locations.
In a statement, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the investment at the Marshall Field building as one that would cement Chicagos reputation as a prime destination for the worlds best talent and businesses.
The upper floors of the Marshall Field building, which occupies an entire Loop block, were purchased by developer Brookfield Asset Management from Macys in 2018. Brookfield then converted those floors, which include the former Frango production space, into offices. Companies with leases in the building include online ticket broker Vivid Seats and Chicago-based market research firm Numerator.
Construction continues July 12, 2019, on the 13th floor of Macy's, where a kitchen was used to produce Frango chocolates at Marshall Field's flagship store on State Street for decades. (Zbigniew Bzdak/Chicago Tribune)
Brookfield has leased 133,000 square feet of office space in the building so far this year, said spokesperson Laura Montross. New tenants include agribusiness company Olam International and logistics company Spot.
Privately held Ferrero reveals little about its finances, but said its U.S. sales grew more than 12% over the last year.
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In an interview, Ferrero North America President and chief business officer Alanna Cotton said consumers are looking for products that are extra sensorial.
Cotton declined to describe potential future creations in detail, but said the company will continue to experiment with products that have a bit of texture, crunch, but also the goodness of chocolate, the goodness of fudge.
You can think about the idea of really combining our know-how in the chocolate, combining what were learning on the bakery side, and really making sure that we can create that experience that consumers love, she said.
Products that can be consumed on-the-go are also in demand post-pandemic, Cotton said, citing Ferreros Nutella & Go offering as one example.
Ferrero declined to share what percentage of its business is comprised of U.S. sales.
Former President Donald Trump s federal trial concerning his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election is scheduled to begin March 4. The very next day March 5 California voters head to the polls for the states Republican presidential primary.
Trumps trial certainly could have an impact on the outcome of the primary, the biggest single haul of Republican convention delegates in one state. But whether the back-to-back dates will be a boost or a bust for Trump is anybodys guess.
Trumps trial date right before the California GOP primary will reverberate, said Christian Grose, academic director at the University of Southern California Schwarzenegger Institute
A big reason: Turnout is usually stoked when people see an immediate link between big news and a vote.
Its something going on that makes people think voting is very important, said Mark Baldassare, survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California. PPIC regularly studies voter participation trends..Thats when you see turnout increase.
Dave Gilliard, a Rocklin-based Republican consultant, noted that only registered Republicans can vote in the primary, and Trump has gained momentum in recent months despite a constant drumbeat of fresh news about his legal trouble.
The Trump trial date, if it sticks, he predicted, will have little impact on the March primary.
Trump is far ahead in the latest Berkeley-IGS poll of Republicans. His 55% California support last month put him 39 percentage points ahead of nearest rival Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor. Despite a summer of indictments, Trump was up from 44% in May.
A Super Tuesday for Trump?
California is one of 15 states or territories scheduled to vote on March 5, Super Tuesday.
The state is the days biggest prize. Its 169 delegates are 14% of the 1,234 needed for nomination, and the California GOP adopted rules that allow any candidate who earns a majority of votes statewide to win all those delegates.
If no one receives 50% plus one, the delegates are divided up according to candidates vote percentages.
Trump is scheduled to be tried in Washington starting March 4 on federal charges connected with alleged efforts to change the 2020 presidential election.
Trial dates often change, though U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan has shown shes determined to hold the trial before the 2024 general election
Trump could stumble March 5 in two ways. For one, it is possible that by March 5 with early states already having voted that a clear alternative to Trump may have emerged. If California becomes a head-to-head matchup, an opponent could use the trial as a political weapon.
Having a trial start the day before Super Tuesday perfectly captures what this whole nomination is about, said GOP strategist Alex Conant.
If its competitive, its because a challenger has consolidated the non-Trump vote. Having negative info about Trump in the news could tip a competitive contest.
Grose agreed.
If the race is extremely competitive coming into California because one of the early states boosted a Republican not named Trump the trial date will be a problem for Trump, he said. It could cause voters to think about Trumps relative lack of general election electability compared to other candidates.
Trumps other vulnerability is that despite Californias heavy early voting, some of the electorate still votes on Election Day, possibly enough to tip a close contest.
But if Trump has the sort of momentum he now does, that could dilute the impact of any trial.
The election should basically be over by March 4, said Yolo County-based Republican consultant Matt Rexroad., and it is hard to imagine jury selection or pre-trial motions making any difference in the election the next day.
Trump easily won the 2016 and 2020 California primaries and had no active opposition. He received 1.6 million primary votes in 2016 and 2.28 million in 2020.
Donald Trump used classified documents to write out to-do lists after leaving the White House, a former aide claims, according to ABC News.
Molly Michael, a former assistant to Mr Trump, said on multiple occasions she was given lists of tasks on documents she later realised had markings as classified material, ABC reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with her testimony to federal investigators.
A Trump spokesperson told the network that the claims were illegal leaks that lacked "proper context and relevant information.
"President Trump did nothing wrong, has always insisted on truth and transparency, and acted in a proper manner, according to the law, the spokesperson said.
Ms Michael began working for Mr Trump in 2018 in the White House, and continued to serve the former president after office, before resigning last year.
In June, Donald Trump was hit with 37 different federal counts related to his alleged hoarding and concealing of high-level White House documents at his various estates after finishing his presidency.
He has pleaded not guilty and accused federal officials of conducting a political witch hunt.
A former Donald Trump aide claims the former president wrote to-do lists on classified documents
According to the special counsels office, Mr Trump carelessly stored important documents in areas including a ballroom and a bathroom at Mar-a-Lago.
Federal prosecutors also have audio of a 2021 exchange in which Mr Trump acknowledges holding onto a classified Pentagon document related to Iran, which the former president has denied possessing.
Despite the growing claims against him, Mr Trump has said he isnt concerned he could go to prison.
The former president, who has been indicted four times this year alone, told NBC Newss Meet the Press on Sunday he doesnt think its likely hell need to pardon himself if hes re-elected, and added that he decided against such an unprecedented use of power once in the days after the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol.
I think its very unlikely, Mr Trump said. What, what did I do wrong? I didnt do anything wrong. You mean because I challenge an election, they want to put me in jail?
The former president also claimed he doesnt even think about the possibility that the criminal charges against him in New York, Georgia, Florida, and Washington could result in consequences.
Im built a little differently I guess, because I have had people come up to me and say, How do you do it, sir? How do you do it? he said. I dont even think about it.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said Tuesday that this week is not a good time for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit to Capitol Hill.
The first thing Ill tell you is theres no money in the House right now for Ukraine. Its not there, he told reporters in a video posted by The Recount on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Zelensky is expected to meet with congressional leadership and a limited number of lawmakers Thursday during a visit to Washington. The wartime leader delivered a speech to the United Nations in New York City on Tuesday warning the Russia would expand its fight if its not stopped in Ukraine.
Donalds is part of a Republican minority wing that has consistently opposed Ukraine funding. On Tuesday, he pointed to the U.S. deficit as reason for not wanting to send additional aid to Ukraine, and blamed President Biden for the war.
To be blunt, were running a $2 trillion deficit. Any money we give to Ukraine, were borrowing from our future. Thats the facts, he said.
This will be Zelenskys second time visiting Washington since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. During his first visit, in December 2022, he delivered a speech to a joint session of Congress, when Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate.
His visit this week comes amid growing skepticism among Republican lawmakers over additional aid to Ukraine, and as the House GOP struggles to agree on a stopgap measure to keep the government funded amid ongoing spending negotiations.
The White House asked Congress to attach supplemental funding for Ukraine, along with disaster relief and border security spending, to a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government. A GOP-backed proposal was put forward Sunday night but did not include additional funding for Ukraine.
Whats happened with Ukraine is frankly the fault of leadership of Joe Biden, Donalds said. Lets be very clear of that. So dont put that on the backs of the American people. Now, if we had a commander in chief who knew how to lead as opposed to take naps, then we will be in a much better situation when it comes to Ukraine and global security for that matter.
Biden delivered his own speech at the U.N. on Tuesday, offering a call to action for the U.S. and its allies to stick with Ukraine for the long haul.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected?
If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? he added. I respectfully suggest the answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Drakes offensive lyrics from his appearance on Migoss 2013 track Versace (Remix) have resurfaced after he used an image of Halle Berry without her permission.
The Canadian artist, 36, rapped about trying to give [Berry] a baby in the controversial collaboration with the Georgia-based hip-hop group.
On 13 September, while teasing his newest single Slime You Out on Instagram, Drake shared a photo of the Catwoman actor, 57, covered in green gunk after being slimed at the 2012 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.
Days later, Berry responded to an Instagram follower who had asked what her thoughts were regarding Drake using the picture for his single.
Didnt get my permission. Thats not cool, I thought better of him! she wrote on Friday (15 September), adding in a follow-up comment: Hence my post today. When people you admire disappoint you, you have to be the bigger person and move on!
Drake did not immediately respond to The Independents request for comment.
Amid the drama, several commenters reacted to the grim situation on X/Twitter, with one pointing out that Drakes verse in the former hip-hop trio Migoss Versace (Remix), comes to mind because he just said f*** her consent for REAL in real life.
Grim. Drake, who in 2013 rapped on Migos Versace remix that Im tryna give Halle Berry a baby and no-one can stop me. https://t.co/4y42D5hf7t Musa Okwonga (@Okwonga) September 17, 2023
In the middle of the 2013 song, Drake rapped the lines: Take a famous girl out where there's no paparazzi (flash!) / I'm tryna give Halle Berry a baby and no one can stop me (smash!).
Fingers crossed that this is the beginning of the end for him. Hes very consistent in not respecting consent let him keep digging himself into a hole so it all eventually comes out, someone wrote.
Hey Guys please learn this, NO MEANS NO!!!!!!! a third said.
The Independent has contacted Drake and Berrys respective representatives for comment.
Another defended Berry, arguing that regardless of if Getty Images owns the image or not, its still a PICTURE OF HER?? She has the right to be upset.
The truth is Drake shouldnt have asked if he was going to use it regardless of her saying no. Thats spitting on her face, one added.
While the photo of Berry shared by Drake featured a Parental Advisory Explicit Content logo, suggesting it was the album art for the single, Slime You Out was released on Friday (15 September) with the same hand-drawn cover as his forthcoming album, For All the Dogs.
The image was created by the rappers five-year-old son, Adonis, and features a drawing of a white dog with red eyes on a black square background.
Drakes latest album release, Her Loss a joint project with 21 Savage came in November. Before then, in June 2022, he released the house-inspired album Honestly, Nevermind, which critics described as a departure from his usual hip-hop sound.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. At least five people are displaced from their homes Tuesday morning, after a fire at an apartment complex in Overland Park.
Around 4 a.m. crews from Overland Park and Leawood Fire Departments were called to an apartment fire at Whispering Hills Apartments near 124th Street, just west of Antioch.
Kansas City apartment fire spreads to neighboring house and duplex
The fire spread to the attic of the interior apartment unit. OPFD reports the fire took 45 minutes to put out.
The fire damaged two apartments, and there is smoke and water damage in three others.
Property managers are working with residents to help them find places to stay. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Eberhardt Landscaping in Barberton recently received a Community Reinvestment Area tax break from the city to go along with its facility and staff expansion.
Eberthardt Landscaping & Lawn Services is planning a 4,300-square-foot addition to house the company's equipment at its Barberton headquarters.
In its request for a Community Reinvestment Area abatement, the company said it currently has 15 full-time and 16 seasonal employees. It's expected to add three full-time and 15 seasonal employees in the next three years as part of the agreement.
The company estimated the cost of the addition at about $200,000.
City Council on Sept. 11 voted unanimously to authorize Mayor William Judge to apply to the state for the CRA, which would provide a 100%, 15-year tax abatement for the improvements.
Ohio CRAs are designed to stimulate property investments in communities where investment has been discouraged, according to the Ohio Department of Development. The property tax abatements require the consent of the school district in which they're located.
The company did not respond to requests for comment on the expansion.
Eberhardt Landscaping is located on New Haven Circle on the southwest side of Barberton and is surrounded to the north, west and south by the city's boundary with Norton.
The company was founded in 1987 by Bill Eberhardt and specializes in lawn maintenance and commercial snowplowing for commercial properties, according to its web page.
Leave a message for Alan Ashworth at 330-996-3859 or email him at aashworth@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @newsalanbeaconj.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Eberhardt Landscaping plans expansion, secures tax deal with Barberton
Los Angeles City Hall (Frederic J. Brown / AFP/Getty Images)
Perhaps at another time the nomination of Alex Johnson to the Los Angeles Ethics Commission wouldnt have raised eyebrows.
In general, political appointments to Los Angeles commissions are rarely controversial and confirmations are routine. That includes the nominations to the five-member Ethics Commission, which is the watchdog over the citys elected officials and enforces campaign finance, contracting, lobbying and conflict of interest laws.
But last month, the City Council balked at City Controller Kenneth Mejias pick for the Ethics Commission, ostensibly because she previously worked as a fundraiser for political campaigns. That was cited by several council members as problematic because the commission regulates campaign finance. The nominee, Jamie York, was voted down 14-0 in a rare rejection of an appointment. Mejia hasn't said whether he will renominate her or pick someone else.
Read more: Editorial: Why is the ethically challenged L.A. City Council obstructing the Ethics Commission?
Then, last week, Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson nominated Johnson, who is a vice president at Bryson Gillette, a political consulting and public affairs firm that works with candidates running for city and school board offices. Filings show the firm has handled more than $2 million worth of work for various political campaigns since May 2020, including an independent expenditure committee for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Times reporters Dakota Smith and Julia Wick wrote.
There is nothing in the City Charter that would bar Johnson from serving. To his credit, he said he's already consulted with the city attorney's office and commission staff about how to address conflicts that might arise with his firm and its clients, and would "exercise all due diligence and recuse myself as necessary.
Still, when his nomination comes to the council for a confirmation vote it ought to raise just as much scrutiny as the last nominee because of the larger questions about the independence of the citys political watchdog and how to restore public trust in government after a series of public corruption scandals.
Read more: Fixing City Hall
Should a person employed by a firm that works on campaigns regulated by the Ethics Commission be serving on the Ethics Commission? Ideally, no.
In a city of 4 million people, surely there are more than a few people who can make wise judgments on ethics policies and enforcement and who do not have a potential conflict of interest. The problem isnt that such people dont exist its that they dont get nominated. Elected officials are generally looking for like-minded allies who have experience with and perhaps sympathy for those navigating ethics regulations, and who may not seek the toughest reforms. (More than her past fundraising work, York's rejection was probably driven by her push for stronger lobbying and campaign finance rules.)
The Ethics Commission's size and composition are essential to reform and should be on the agenda in City Hall. Other cities, including Oakland and Long Beach, reserve some ethics commission seats for nonpolitical appointments who are not chosen or confirmed by the people they regulate. And some have set qualifications for political appointees, such as experience working in local governance, public policy, campaign finance or the protection of whistleblowers. Those appointees then pick the remaining members from citizen applications. That creates a broader pool of candidates from outside the City Hall network, and potentially a more independent commission.
As of now, the Ethics Commission remains unable to conduct its business. The commission canceled its August meeting and cannot decide enforcement cases or move forward policy proposals because of three vacancies on the five-member board. If Johnson is appointed, the commission can finally begin to meet again. Whatever the council decides on Johnson, the bigger problem remains L.A. needs a stronger, more independent Ethics Commission, and it's going to take political will and voter approval to make it happen.
If its in the news right now, the L.A. Times Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to rescind its controversial American Christian Heritage Month designation for the month of July.
Supervisor John Hidahl, whose district encompasses El Dorado Hills and who initially brought the proclamation to the board on July 18, brought the motion to rescind Tuesday morning.
The intent of the proclamation was to recognize the importance of some of our religious heritage associated with July 4, 1776, he said. But despite his good intentions, he said, the threat of litigation and public response caused him to walk the proclamation back.
The intent wasnt accomplished, and when that doesnt happen, electeds have a responsibility to reconsider.
Three fellow board members approved Hidahls proclamation in July, and Lori Parlin, whose district covers Shingle Springs and Coloma, was the sole dissenter. All voted in support of the rescission Tuesday morning.
Brooke Lane, who represents Pollock Pines and South Lake Tahoe, said the board clearly crossed the line separating church and state.
Theres a reason why we separate our religions and the work we do in leading our communities, Lane said. My not understanding the depth of that (in July) was my mistake.
She and board chair Wendy Thomas, who represents Placerville and Camino, both credited Hidahl for rescinding his own proclamation.
The learning opportunity of the moment is that, as elected representatives, this role is not about any one of us individually, Thomas said. Its about staying true to our core function of providing essential services to the residents of El Dorado County.
Many El Dorado County residents spoke out against the proclamation at the July meeting, saying it doesnt represent the countys diversity, and that it blurs the lines between church and state. Those same residents were pleased with Hidahls proposed rescission.
Leo Bennett-Cauchon, an activist from Shingle Springs who identified as Catholic, thanked Supervisor Hidahl for walking the proposal back.
Whatever the vote is, to bring it back, to have the conversation, is wonderful, Bennett-Cauchon said.
Rabbi Evon Yakar, from South Lake Tahoe, said he was disheartened to see this proclamation back in July.
I felt that my seat at the table at this county was removed from me, he told the board Tuesday. He felt that it undermined the 10 years of service that Ive given to this county, but looks forward to working with the board in the future to create a more inclusive, interfaith culture.
Its not anti-Christian to rescind the proclamation, said Ruth Michaelson, an El Dorado County resident. Practice (religion) in your church, practice in your home, thats great. This is about the government doing something that I think the government should stay away from.
A small number of supporters showed their support of the proclamation also.
Kelly Nalewaja, who serves as secretary for the El Dorado County GOP, said there is nothing unconstitutional about recognizing the Christian heritage that helped form this country.
She called the rescission discrimination.
The proclamation also made waves outside of El Dorado County, and elicited a strong response from civil rights groups.
The Freedom from Religion Foundation, a legal advocacy nonprofit that supports the separation of church and state, sent a letter to board members to tell them theyd received multiple complaints about the designation, and explain why it ought to be rescinded.
This proclamation is a clear breach of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, wrote Freedom from Religion Foundation staff attorney Chris Line in the July 28 letter.
By issuing this proclamation advancing Christian nationalism and the debunked myth that we are a Christian nation, El Dorado County is ironically violating the countrys true heritage of religious liberty based on a secular government ... FFRF asks that you rescind the American Christian History Month proclamation and refrain from issuing similar proclamations in the future.
Board members never responded to the Freedom from Religion Foundation letter, Line told The Sacramento Bee on Monday, but that Hidahls recommended to walk back the proclamation is the best case scenario.
Most of our victories are just informing people of the law, Line said. The best case scenario here is the supervisor seeing the error of his ways. Hopefully this will serve as an example to other counties that might consider this.
ACLU: Proclamation violated state Constitution
The American Civil Liberties Union also wrote to the El Dorado County board, in August.
We are concerned that the Resolution conveys that the County supports, promotes and endorses specific religious beliefs and, as such, violates the California Constitution, the civil rights group wrote.
Our state Constitution protects the rights of individuals to practice and promote their religion as they see fit and, at the same time, prevents the government from promoting a specific religion or religion in general.
El Dorado County Counsel David Livingston responded to the ACLU last week, informing the civil rights group that the board would be voting to rescind the designation.
In light of the communitys concerns and the unintended effect of the Proclamation, the Board of Supervisors intends to consider rescission of the Proclamation, Livingston wrote.
Its pretty simple, Hidahl told The Bee on Monday evening.
Proclamations in El Dorado County are meant to be ceremonial and celebrational (sic) ... when anything that is meant to be strictly ceremonial or celebrational creates more divisiveness within our communities in El Dorado County, then its appropriate to remove it.
El Paso is on the cusp of a third wave of migrant arrivals as local shelters are over capacity, a local nonprofit official told CNN Monday.
The three shelters operated by the nonprofit Opportunity Center for the Homeless have been over capacity for the last three weeks, the organizations deputy director, John Martin, told CNN, and US Customs and Border Protection are increasing the amount of people released on the streets.
On Friday we saw 700 street releases. The El Paso Office of Emergency Management had to step in and help with sheltering migrants in hotels, Martin said.
The street releases are also causing a bottleneck situation: Migrants are staying longer in El Paso because of a lack of resources to get to their destination, Martin said.
The reasons why people immigrate to the US are widely varied, experts say, with some fleeing violence, while others are looking for economic opportunities or to reunite with family members who are already here.
The region has seen a spike in migrants at the border, averaging 1,200 encounters per day, said El Paso Strategic Communications Director Laura Cruz-Acosta. NGOs, city and county officials are seeing over 1,100 people released to the community per day, she added.
The city has provided shelter through hotels for more than 4,200 migrants over the last seven days, Cruz-Acosta said.
The City of El Paso and Office of Emergency Management (OEM) continue to provide overflow emergency sheltering to support local NGOs, the Countys Migrant Services Support Center and receiving direct releases from CBP, Cruz-Acosta said. OEM is currently operating hotels with over 900 migrants being provided food and shelter as they secure and await their travel.
When asked about migrants being released into US cities, CBP said in a statement to CNN the agency is working according to plan and as part of our standard processes to quickly decompress the areas along the Southwest border, and safely and efficiently screen and process migrants to place them in immigration enforcement proceedings consistent with our laws.
Southern California has also seen an influx of migrants in recent days.
About 2,000 migrants have arrived in San Diego County over the last several days as aid groups are working to provide them with additional resources, the Immigrant Defenders Law Center a law firm focused on immigrant communities based in Los Angeles told CNN.
The number is being reported through intake and aid efforts, spokesperson Alicia Vargas said. There was no pre-planning or notification about the migrants arriving, and most of the migrants need additional aid, she added.
We have been meeting with federal officials to ensure a safe and coordinated process for the migrants as well as our residents, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement. As Congress deliberates a government funding package, it is imperative that they include the Biden Administrations southwest border supplemental appropriations request, which includes $600 million to help our nonprofits with ongoing sheltering and support operations.
In the city of El Cajon, about 17 miles east of San Diego, mayor Bill Wells called the surge a disaster.
Every emergency room is at capacity in SD County. Our homeless shelters are full. Resources are stretched thin, Wells said in a post on social media.
CNNs Conor Powell and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
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People listen to city officials at an informational public meeting in the Union Park gym in Chicago Sept. 18, 2023. Officials gave updates on plans to deal with the migrant crisis in the city and some community residents voiced their concerns about shelters in their neighborhood. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
West Loop residents at a community meeting Monday night voiced public safety concerns and irritation about the amount of notice theyd received regarding a pair of migrant shelters opening in their area. Others said they were ready to help the new arrivals.
One of the shelters, located at the former Cook County Adult Probation facility on the 1600 block of West Walnut Street, began housing migrant families Friday, city officials said. A shelter on the 300 block of North Ogden Avenue will open later this month, city officials said.
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Mondays gathering in the Union Park gymnasium in the West Loop was the most recent in a string of community meetings to inform residents about soon-to-open migrant shelters across Chicago as the city scrambles to house an increasing number of asylum-seekers arriving from border states. Currently, more than 2,000 migrants are sleeping on the floors of police stations and the citys airports.
Some meetings have been contentious, with residents expressing fears that new arrivals will pose a threat to public safety in their neighborhoods. But some neighbors have used their time in front of public officials to inquire about ways to aid migrants.
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[ Strain of handling migrant crisis in city persists, this time as tempers flare at community meeting on migrant shelter opening in East Hyde Park hotel ]
West Loop residents asked city officials how long migrants would stay in the shelters, how the city would address waste generated at the sites, enforce noise ordinances and curfews at the shelters, deal with migrants who break laws, and balance city resources for other populations in need.
Some were unhappy about the influx of new arrivals: One resident asked if there was a way to roll back Chicagos status as a sanctuary city. Others said they were worried about logistics and their quality of life.
Jake Setlak, 48, was frustrated about the lack of advance warning from the city about the plans to open the shelters.
We have always gotten 48 hours notice for street cleaning and we have gotten no notice whatsoever from the city about whats going on, he said, adding he was concerned about loitering and his driveway being blocked by activity at the shelter on Walnut Street.
Christina Pacione-Zayas, first deputy chief of staff to Mayor Brandon Johnson, apologized to Setlak for the short notice.
I wish we got that notice from Texas (about incoming migrants), she said. She went on to warn that the city is expecting more buses and planes of migrants to arrive ahead of next years Democratic National Convention and that the challenge of administering to asylum-seekers is the new reality for Chicago.
Julie Fitzgerald, who owns a catering company next door to the Walnut Street shelter, said she was already seeing disruptions to her business and asked how the city would enforce its rules on migrants staying at the shelter.
During an informational public meeting in the Union Park gym in Chicago, Sept. 18, 2023, Julie Fitzgerald voices concerns about the handling of migrant housing in her neighborhood. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th, said his office would make sure local business owners like Fitzgerald were able to operate smoothly alongside the new neighbors.
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Well work with you to try to make sure that they respect you over there, he said.
Fitzgerald was one of a number of attendees to ask how the city would handle migrants who broke shelter rules or acted violently.
Department of Family Support Services representative Danny Castaneda said migrants go through an orientation that includes expectations around behavior. A two strike system gives those who break the rules an opportunity to change their behavior before being transferred to a different shelter, he said.
Beth Giltmier, commander of the 12th district, said those who commit crimes are held to the legal standard and reminded residents that they should call 911 if they see any illegal activity.
Castaneda added that most of the migrants who are living in the shelters are exactly where we expected them to be.
Theyre here to live their lives, to take advantage of the resources that are available so that they can care for themselves and their families, he said.
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A handful of residents told city representatives they were ready to assist asylum-seekers and called on their neighbors to join volunteer efforts already underway.
Im here to see what I can do to help, Mary Beth Hughes, 68, said. We are here to solve a problem, not to come (complain) about other issues and how it affects us.
Becky Keeler, 46, said shes been volunteering with migrants at the 12th District Police station since May and invited anybody who wanted to get involved to speak with her after the meeting.
Pacione-Zayas said the city has opened 16 shelters since the middle of May. There are still about 2,200 people waiting to be moved from emergency accommodations like police stations and airports into a shelter, she said.
The figure underscores the citys scramble to house asylum-seekers being sent to Chicago from the southern border. Chicagos deputy mayor for immigrant and refugee rights is currently meeting with federal officials in Washington, D.C., about expediting work authorization for new arrivals, Pacione-Zayas said.
Johnson recently joined state leaders and members of the Illinois congressional delegation to call on the federal government to speed up processing for asylum-seekers work permits and open new channels to aid the response to arriving migrants. He cautioned that Chicagos capacity to welcome asylum-seekers is limited.
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Johnson most recently floated the idea of transferring migrants to tent encampments to relieve pressure on police stations and airports, though there are few specifics attached to the plan so far.
Weve identified multiple locations around the city that can be suitable to treat the families of individuals, who by law are seeking asylum constitutionally, legally, to have a place that recognizes their dignity, he said.
Johnson also warned that every level of government would feel the strain of responding to the humanitarian crisis.
Sacrifices that will be required in this moment will be necessary from all of us, he said at an unrelated news conference earlier this month.
The price tag for assisting migrants is about $150 million more than the $51 million that former Mayor Lori Lightfoots administration had earmarked.
One Reddit user recently shared a post on the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit that started a heated debate about the efficacy of electric vehicles.
[I] work for a green elementary school powered by solar with a parking lot with parking spots designated for green vehicles, the original poster wrote. Was told I cant park my electric vehicle in those spots because they were raffled to random ppl. Now a gas guzzler parks in the hybrid/low emissions spot.
Photo Credit: Reddit
They shared a picture that shows a sign reading RESERVED FOR LOW EMISSION HYBRID VEHICLES along with a gas-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee parked in the spot.
Unfortunately, the comments section quickly devolved into people overwhelmingly sharing disinformation and inaccurate negative perceptions of electric vehicles.
Although many of the comments in the thread imply or state outright that electric vehicles are no better for the environment than traditional cars, that is simply not the case EVs and hybrids produce significantly less air and climate pollution overall than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts.
According to the International Council on Clean Transportation, a medium-sized EV produces 60 percent to 68 percent less planet-heating pollution over its lifetime than an equivalent gas-powered car.
Although the electricity used to power EVs is not always generated cleanly (and depending on the area in which you live, that may be rapidly changing) that does not mean that EVs are just as harmful to the environment as ICE cars.
Im aware that electricity generation is not very green in this country, however it is still better than driving a gas powered car that pollutes the atmosphere with exhaust fumes, the original poster wrote. Also a majority of my electricity thats delivered to my home derives from solar and wind, so most of it is clean.
I mean my BEV produces less CO2 than I breathe out in operation in a year and likely has a 80-85% smaller lifetime footprint then a comparable gas powered car, another frustrated commenter wrote. But sure they dont do anything. As I tell people over and over. Do the math. The numbers dont lie and you can easily crunch the numbers yourself.
One person suggested the OP take further action, saying, Take this to a local news outlet, the public uproar will probably cause them to change tune.
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Elon Musk said Monday that X, the company formerly known as Twitter, could soon mandate that all users pay a small amount of money to continue using the service, the latest cataclysmic shift for the social media giant.
Musk made the comments during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who asked the billionaire to better combat antisemitism on the platform. Musk went on to unveil the paywall proposal as a means to cut down on bots that can be used to amplify hateful speech.
Its the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots, Musk said, describing the fee as a small monthly payment of a few dollars. Instituting the proposal would make the effective cost of bots very high, Musk added. Plus, every time a bot creator wanted to make another bot, they would need another new payment method.
X has undergone vast changes under Musks leadership, including the rollout of the Twitter Blue verification system, which has put many previously free features behind a paywall already. Free users can now only see a limited number of posts a day, and the popular TweetDeck service is now exclusively available to paid accounts.
Musk said X had about 550 million monthly users on Monday. Twitter Blue costs about $8 a month in the U.S., but its unclear if any notable portion of the platforms total users have signed up for the service, which is part of Musks effort to see the site bring in cash.
Musks conversation with Netanyahu comes just weeks after he threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League which works to combat hate against Jewish people. Musk claimed the organization had falsely accused X and Musk himself of being antisemitic.
Based on what weve heard from advertisers, ADL seems to be responsible for most of our revenue loss, Musk tweeted earlier this month. Giving them maximum benefit of the doubt, I dont see any scenario where theyre responsible for less than 10% of the value destruction, so ~$4 billion.
The billionaire said Monday that there were 100 to 200 million posts a day on X and that some of those were going to be bad. But he told Netanyahu he was against antisemitism and against anything that promotes hatred and conflict.
Related...
Elon Musk says X, formerly known as Twitter, is considering having its users pay a "small monthly payment" to use the social media platform.
On Monday, Musk made the remarks during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about artificial intelligence, saying the fee would be meant to keep bots off X.
"It's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots," he said.
Elon Musk in New York City on Sept. 17, 2023. / Credit: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
He also added that X has 550 million monthly users that generate 100 million to 200 million posts a day. However, he didn't indicate whether he was factoring bots into that figure.
The meeting with Netanyahu comes weeks after Musk said he may sue the Anti-Defamation League for purportedly accusing X and him of antisemitism, and fueling advertisers' exodus from the social network. The ADL flagged a surge in bullying and antisemitic posts on X following the billionaire's acquisition of the social network last year. On Monday, Musk said he's against "attacking any group."
"Obviously, I'm against antisemitism," he said. "I'm against anti-really anything that promotes hate and conflict."
Is Elon Musk charging for Twitter?
Musk did not elaborate on how much payment would be to use X, but said it would be a "small amount of money."
"We're actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing ... This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defense against vast armies of bots," he said.
Currently, X has a premium subscription service where it charges users for certain features, including being able to edit a post and having prioritized rankings in conversations and search. Pricing for the service starts at $8 a month.
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Dog whistle virtuoso Elon Musk is at it again, setting loose the bigots, blowhards, and antisemites of his X social media platform (formerly known as Twitter) with a misleading post reaching millions of his frothing followers.
Prior to this weeks widely publicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a conversation which includedsurprise!a call for Musk to roll back the antisemitism on X, Musk weighed in on a strange Las Vegas homicide case. He characteristically got his facts wrong, but didnt bother to clarify or call off his dogs even as they smeared and threatened a good young reporter and her employer, the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
It's nothing new for Musk, just the latest instance which finds him exercising his Freedom of Speech on his personal platform, and offering opening lines for those who cant wait to wave their anti-woke and antisemitic flags.
Ben Shapiro Is Helping Elon Musk Fight a War on Freedom of Speech
This time, the sleight-of-hand played a heinous homicide for political sport.
On the morning of Aug. 14, 64-year-old Andreas Probst suffered fatal injuries after being struck by a car while riding his bicycle. The newspaper reported that police suspected a hit-and-run driver speeding in a stolen vehicle. As the investigation continued, reporter Sabrina Schnur published a follow-up article on Aug. 18 that included an interview with Probsts widow and daughter who described the victim as a loving family man and retired police chief from Bell, California.
On Aug. 31, the Review-Journal reported that police investigators had found an incriminating video taken by one of the suspects indicating the hit-and-run had been an intentional homicide. The 17-year-old suspect, his name withheld because of his age, is being held on a murder charge as police continue their search for the passenger in the vehicle who shot the graphic video accurately described as a snuff film. The video has since gone viral.
On its website, the Review-Journal updated the headline on the Aug. 18 article to reflect the changed status of the case.
But that didnt stop Musk, who, on Sept. 17 reposted to 157.2 million followers a misleading graphic from @Libbyemmons (editor of the far-right website, The Post Millennial) that raised the specter of a media manipulation.
An innocent man was murdered in cold blood while riding his bicycle, Musk wrote. The killers joked about it on social media. Yet, wheres the media outrage? Now you begin to understand the lie.
Thanks in part to Musks irresponsible mischief and catcalls from loony conspiracy stoker Laura Loomer, the accurate Review-Journal news coverage morphed into an attempt to downplay a homicide of a retired white cop. Toxic posts accused the newspaper of purposefully tanking elements of the story after it did the journalistically responsible thing and changed an online headline to reflect a new status in the evolving case.
Most of the refrains from Musk followers were familiar to veteran reporters who waded hip-deep through the media-bashing Trump era: It turns out the press is the cause of 100 percent of societal problems. Had this been a minority hate crime murder, businesses and cities would have been torched by now, as one post put it.
Elon Musk, Worst Free Speech Hero Ever
When a self-identified Tesla shareholder (whose X feed is filled with Musk retweets and other pro-Musk posts) determined, The media seems to under report wrong to white males. They seem more likely to express outrage if a marginalized group is targeted. I dont think its my imagination, Musk responded, 1000%.
Theres palpable irony in posts that imagined the Review-Journalowned by the family of the late billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson (a devoted supporter of Israel who regularly funded pro-Israel political candidates and initiatives)is a woke newspaper given its longstanding conservative editorial views and early endorsement in 2016 of presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Musk loves his speech rights, but those who push back find their free speech doesnt always sit well with the X man.
When the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) pointed out Musks high tolerance for purveyors of hate speech, bigotry, and antisemitism on Musks own site, he accused the ADL of damaging his advertising base with false accusations and threatened to sue the organization that has been calling out haters since 1913. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt accused Musk of engaging with a highly toxic, antisemitic campaign on his platforma campaign started by an unrepentant bigot that then was heavily promoted by individuals such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes, Christian nationalist Andrew Torba, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and others.
Outgunned on Musks home field, the Las Vegas newspaper fought back with a front-page story and a terse editorial.
Why Clown Pundits Are Defending a Racist to Own the Libs
The social media outrage machine never had it so wrong, executive editor Glenn Cook said. Sabrina Schnur and the Review-Journal are the target of vicious cyber harassment because a prodded digital audience never noticed the story that infuriated them was published almost a month ago, before new facts ever came to light. He added that the newspapers social media and email accounts had been inundated with obscenities, racial hatred and wishes of personal suffering, and death.
Not everyone fell for Musks misdirection, and one X observer, @scottsantens, was particularly cogent: The headline was written weeks before it was known that this guy was murdered. So why would you share it as if the media somehow knew the truth? Because you want people angrily clicking You want pissed off people to spend more time here.
Schnurs colleagues stuck up for her, but their best efforts fall far short of being heard by the legions Musk reaches with every keystroke. Fortunately, most of the time the trolls have short attention spans.
With help from the man with the biggest dog whistle on the internet, Im sure theyll soon find someone new to pick on.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he trusts Russia as much as he does the West.
Source: Erdogan said this during an interview with American TV channel PBS in New York, where he is participating in the UN General Assembly, European Pravda reports.
Details: Explaining his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin , Erdogan said he had failed to get Putin to restore the Black Sea Grain Initiative but that he had secured a commitment from Russia to send 1 million tonnes of grain to Africa.
"I have no reason not to trust them," Erdogan said.
"To the extent the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable. For the last 50 years, we have been waiting at the doorstep of the EU, and, at this moment in time, I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West," the Turkish president added.
Shortly before his visit to New York, Erdogan had said that Ankara could "part ways" with the European Union if necessary. However, speaking at an event on Monday, the Turkish leader appeared to backtrack on his earlier comments.
"We see that a window of opportunity has opened for revitalising relations between Turkiye and the European Union in a critical period... We continue to emphasise the importance of revitalising the process of Turkiyes accession to the EU," Erdogan said.
Last week, Turkiye criticised a European Parliament report that insisted on Ankara cooperating with the EU in imposing sanctions against Russia.
Earlier, Austrian Chancellor Karl Neghammer said that he could not imagine Turkiye as a member of the European Union and called for a permanent end to the frozen accession negotiations.
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An Erie lawyer's career is at risk after he appeared at a court hearing high on cocaine.
The lawyer, Nathaniel Strasser, is facing suspension, disbarment or other disciplinary action for being under the influence of cocaine at preliminary hearing for a client on Nov. 2, 2022, when Strasser was working as a part-time assistant public defender for Erie County.
A Pennsylvania State Police trooper reported the suspected cocaine use and Strasser admitted to it, according to disciplinary records and Strasser's statements at a disciplinary hearing on Monday.
At the hearing, a three-lawyer panel of the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that Strasser's use of cocaine violated two rules of professional conduct for lawyers in Pennsylvania.
The panel said that Strasser represented a client despite being mentally or physically unable to do so, and said he had committed a criminal act "that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects."
Erie lawyer Nathaniel Strasser is facing disciplinary action for being high on cocaine at a preliminary hearing in November 2022.
Strasser, 44, a lawyer since 2007, was not charged with a crime for his cocaine use, but he acknowledged at the hearing that charges do not need to be filed for a crime to occur. He also unsuccessfully argued that the panel had no evidence that his use of cocaine on the day of the hearing hurt his ability to represent the client.
Strasser likened cocaine to "caffeine on steroids" and told the disciplinary panel that, in small doses, cocaine can make the user more alert and attentive and "have a positive effect on someone's cognitive ability."
"I admit I had cocaine in my system that day. I admit that having cocaine in my system is not good," Strasser, who represented himself on Monday, told the disciplinary panel at the 50-minute hearing, which was livestreamed from Pittsburgh. "I am not proud of having cocaine in my system. It is not good. But it does not rise to the level of a violation."
Strasser's argument led the disciplinary counsel who is prosecuting the case, Daniel S. White, to remark to the panel that Strasser's primary defense was to tell the panel that "cocaine makes him a better lawyer."
The next job for the hearing panel is to recommend a penalty for Strasser to the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court, a process that will take months to complete. The recommendations can include disbarment, a suspension or a public or private reprimand.
The panelists are Jason A. Medure, of New Castle, and Pittsburgh lawyers Ashley Ardoin Piovesana and Michael T. Della Vecchia.
The hearing panel will send its proposed sanctions to the Disciplinary Board after the panel gets a transcript of Monday's hearing and after it reviews post-hearing briefs from Strasser and White. The Disciplinary Board's will then decide the any punishment. The board's rulings can be appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Lawyer pleads for leniency over his cocaine use
Though Strasser spent most of Monday's hearing contending that his cocaine use did not run afoul of professional standards for lawyers, he argued for leniency after the hearing panel announced that it had found him in violation of the two rules. He said he did not deserve a suspension or disbarment, that he was no longer using cocaine and that he would enter whatever drug-monitoring program the panel might suggest.
"I am not an addict," Strasser said at the hearing. "I don't drink. I don't do drugs anymore."
Strasser's use of cocaine has already cost him his $37,000-a-year job as a part-time assistant public defender for Erie County, a post he had held for two years and five months, according to county records. The Public Defender's Office fired him after he tested positive cocaine following the preliminary hearing for the client on Nov. 2, 2022, according to records filed in the disciplinary case.
The records show that Strasser submitted to the drug test at the request of Erie County Public Defender Nicole Sloane Kondrlik. She learned of Strasser's suspected cocaine use from the Pennsylvania state trooper who was at the preliminary hearing, according to the disciplinary records.
Sloane Kondrlik declined to comment for this story, citing the confidentiality of personnel issues. Strasser did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Before he was an assistant public defender, Strasser was an assistant district attorney for Erie County from 2007 to 2016. He unsuccessfully ran for a district magistrate post in Erie County in 2015. Strasser maintains a private practice in Erie.
State trooper says lawyer's behavior made him suspicious
On Nov. 2, 2022, the day he was reported to be under the influence of cocaine, Strasser was assigned to represent an indigent client in a DUI case, according to the disciplinary records. The hearing was before District Judge Lisa Ferrick in Harborcreek Township.
Strasser drove to the hearing, according to the records and testimony at Monday's hearing. Upon his arrival, Strasser drew the attention of the state trooper who had made the arrest in the DUI case, Christopher Weber, a specialist in the recognition of illegal drugs. Weber appeared as a witness for the Office of Disciplinary Counsel on Monday and was the only witness to testify.
Lawyer Nathaniel Strasser, formerly a part-time assistant public defender for Erie County, is facing disciplinary sanctions because he was under the influence of cocaine at a hearing at a magistrate's office.
Weber told the hearing panel that he suspected Strasser was on drugs at the preliminary hearing because he was wearing sunglasses inside the courtroom, had blood but no hair in his right nostril and was behaving in a nervous manner. Strasser was constantly checking his brief case and was sweating profusely, Weber testified.
"He was very hyperactive, fidgety," Weber testified. "He couldn't sit still. He was going all over the place. It was like he was bouncing off the walls."
When Strasser took off his sunglasses, "His pupils were so large I could not tell you what color his eyes were," Weber testified. He said the blood in Strasser's nostril was "a clear indication of someone who snorts narcotics."
Weber testified that he told Strasser he could not let Strasser drive because Weber believed he was under the influence of cocaine. Weber said he did not search Strasser and did not charge him with possession of a controlled substance. He said he does not file possession charges based only on a suspect having a controlled substance in their system.
Weber said he telephoned the Public Defender's Office about Strasser, and that two lawyers arrived at the district's judge's office to drive Strasser and his car back to Erie. Back at the Public Defender's Office, Strasser submitted to the drug test at the request of Sloane Kondrlik, his boss. He tested positive and was fired several days later.
Strasser at the hearing did not dispute that he failed the drug test and was fired, just as he did not dispute that he used cocaine leading up to preliminary hearing on Nov. 2, 2022. He repeatedly challenged the view that his use of cocaine or any use of cocaine, in low doses could be considered harmful. He said his dosage level on that day was not established through the drug test, but he said cocaine in some respects could be considered "like caffeine on steroids."
Weber commented on cross-examination that cocaine is on the schedule of controlled substance for a reason.
"The negative side effects of cocaine that is why it is scheduled as it is and is illegal to obtain," Weber testified.
Strasser continued with the line of argument that cocaine could be considered a beneficial enhancement for some tasks. In an apparent attempt to put his argument in a historical perspective, Strasser asked Weber, "Do you know how cocaine was first introduced to western civilization?"
White, the prosecutor, objected that the question was not relevant.
The panelists agreed, and Strasser was forced to move on.
Another disciplinary matter: Erie lawyer gets public reprimand over handling of $6,000 fee in criminal case
Contact Ed Palattella at epalattella@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNpalattella.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie lawyer faces discipline for showing up at hearing high on cocaine
An Erie man was sentenced to two years of probation in September 2021 after pleading guilty to charges of confronting his ex-girlfriend with a gun and forcing her from her East 28th Street residence.
Gordon D. Kirkland was finishing up his term of probation when, on Tuesday, Erie police accused him of killing the woman.
Kirkland, 45, was arraigned Wednesday morning on criminal homicide, first-degree murder and other charges in the death of the 48-year-old woman, whose body was found in the back yard of a residence in the 1100 block of East 28th Street late Tuesday morning as police were investigating a missing person report concerning her.
The woman, whose name has not been released by the Erie County Coroner's Office pending the completion of an autopsy on Thursday, suffered lacerations to her back and neck and had numerous defensive wounds to her hands and arms, city police detectives wrote in Kirkland's criminal complaint.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Coroner's Office.
Kirkland was placed in the Erie County Prison without bond following his arraignment by Erie 1st Ward District Judge Sue Mack.
Erie police have charged the ex-boyfriend of an Erie woman found dead behind her home in the 1100 block of East 28th Street on Sept. 19, 2023, with killing her.
Missing woman and body discovery
The woman was found dead after Erie police were called to the 1100 block of East 28th Street on Tuesday at about 11 a.m., city police Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said Tuesday afternoon. Detectives wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed with Kirkland's complaint that officers went to the residence to take a missing persons report concerning the woman, and learned from the woman's adult son that he had seen Kirkland outside of the residence at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
The son also told police he heard a female screaming outside of the residence at about the same time, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Detectives wrote that they learned from a friend of the woman that one of the woman's children had texted the friend at 2:48 a.m. Tuesday and reported that the woman was gone. The friend followed up with the child later that morning and learned that the woman still had not returned home, according to the affidavit.
A 911 call was made at 9:41 a.m. Tuesday reporting the woman missing and possibly kidnapped. The person who made the call told Erie police officers who responded to the East 28th Street residence that he was concerned because of a prior incident where Kirkland kidnapped the woman, an incident that investigators confirmed through police documents, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Police checked the residence but did not locate the woman, then went to Kirkland's residence in the 3000 block of State Street in an attempt to locate him. While at the State Street address, officers were advised that a local lawyer had contacted Erie police and stated that Kirkland wanted to turn himself in due to being involved in an incident. Officers met with the lawyer and Kirkland, and Kirkland was taken to UPMC Hamot for treatment of a laceration to his right palm, according to information in the affidavit.
As police processed the East 28th Street residence for evidence and continued to search the area, the woman's body was found in the back yard. Police also found a blood trail leading away from the residence and on two nearby streets, a trail that investigators wrote was consistent with an injury to the suspect's right extremity.
Investigators learned from witnesses that at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, Kirkland was attempting to enter the East 28th Street residence by removing screens and trying to pry open windows. Members of the Erie police Identification Unit found fingerprints on a screen frame. The prints were examined and were determined to be Kirkland's prints, according to information in the affidavit.
Police additionally searched the woman's cell phone and found messages to family and friends indicating an ongoing domestic dispute between her and Kirkland. The woman indicated Kirkland made multiple attempts to break into her house over the last 48 hours, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Earlier incident
According to police and court records, the woman was also the victim in a February 2021 incident involving Kirkland in which police accused him of pulling a gun on her and forcing her from the East 28th Street residence.
According to information in the affidavit of probable cause in that case, the woman told police she was awakened by Kirkland, who was her ex-boyfriend, and had a gun pointed at her. She said Kirkland told her to be quiet and ordered her to her car, where Kirkland then drove them to another part of the city, investigators wrote.
The woman said that after they arrived at the other location, Kirkland went into a house and she got out of the car and ran to a nearby intersection, where she flagged down a motorist and stayed with the motorist until police arrived.
While police were with the woman, Kirkland called her and asked if she called the police and if she was going to send him to jail, investigators wrote in the affidavit.
Police charged Kirkland with first-degree misdemeanor counts of unlawful restraint and possession of a weapon in the incident. He pleaded guilty to the charges on Sept. 29, 2021, and was sentenced to two years of probation, according to court records.
According to other court records, the woman obtained a protection from abuse order against Kirkland in April 2019. That PFA expired in October of that year.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man charged with homicide in death of ex-girlfriend on east side
(Bloomberg) -- Estonias central bank chief slammed a government budget deal, saying that a plan to generate additional tax revenue from banks amounted to a boon for shareholders rather than the public.
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In an unusually candid condemnation, Bank of Estonia Governor Madis Muller criticized Prime Minister Kaja Kallass budget plan, which includes an agreement with banks to increase dividend payments and thereby taxes on dividends rather than imposing a direct levy.
Banks are in solidarity (with clients or the state budget?) by distributing an even greater share of their profits and capital in dividends to their shareholders, the central bank governor, who sits on the European Central Bank Governing Council, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Tuesday.
Kallas secured the compromise agreement on Tuesday evening in Tallinn. With governments in the region turning to taxes on banks as a revenue-raising measure as ECB interest-rate increases boost profits, the Estonian prime minister said that banks agreed to contribute to state coffers in solidarity.
Kallas and her fiscally conservative Reform party resisted a windfall tax, which was supported by her Social Democrat coalition partner a move they said would generate an additional 951 million ($1 billion) over three years. The bank-dividend plan would raise 120 million in two years. In Estonia, profits arent taxed until they are paid out.
Muller took a dim view of the arrangement, saying a dividend payout would fall before banks see their tax rate climb to 18% from 14% in 2025 part of a budget deal made earlier this year.
If I were a shareholder, I would pay bank executives a respectable bonus for such successful negotiations, Muller said in a second X post.
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Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., stops for reporters' questions about passing a funding bill and avoiding a government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. McCarthy is trying to win support from right-wing Republicans by including spending cuts and conservative proposals for border security and immigration. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
WASHINGTON Speaker Kevin McCarthy was running out of options Monday as he pushed ahead with a plan to keep the federal government from shutting down, but even including hardline border security provisions wasnt enough to appease the far-right flank in his Republican House majority.
The speaker is trying to convince his Republican conference that there will heavy political fallout from a shutdown as he plows toward a vote to pass a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open past the Sept. 30 deadline. GOP leadership is preparing for a vote by Thursday, but McCarthy is warning hell keep House lawmakers in Washington into the weekend. Regardless, many are already bracing for a weeks-long shutdown.
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Ive told all of Congress youre not going to go home. Were going to continue to work through this, McCarthy said Monday at the Capitol. Things that are tough sometimes are worth it.
He also suggested that time is still on his side and panned the idea of compromising with Democrats as he tries to pass the annual spending measures on his own, saying there were a lot of good ideas still coming from Republicans.
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This isnt the 30th weve got a long ways to go, he said.
There is also no hope of passing all of the appropriations bills on Congress agenda before then. Even a Defense appropriations bill usually an easy lift with Republicans has stalled in the House as they resist more money for Ukraine.
The speaker on a Sunday night call with House Republicans pitched the one-month funding bill that was negotiated between the hard-right House Freedom Caucus and a group of pragmatic-minded conservatives known as the Main Street Caucus, according to those with knowledge of the call.
McCarthy called the package a bottom-up approach. It was intended to win support from the conservative wing of the Republican Conference by cutting last years overall spending levels by 1%, and including a slew of Republican proposals for border security and immigration. But in order to protect current spending levels for Republican priorities of defense, veterans and disaster relief, it slashes other spending by more than 8%.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a floor speech said the proposal from the House can be boiled down to two words: slapdash, reckless.
Slapdash, because its not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown, and reckless because if passed would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people, he said.
With the Senate controlled by Democrats who, along with some Republicans, will not accept the conservative options, the best hope McCarthy has at this point is to simply pass a measure to kickstart debate with the other chamber. But even that route is doubtful with time dwindling and McCarthy struggling to push his conference to avert a shutdown.
Theres quite a few people that are against it right now, said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., leader of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative faction in the House, about the latest proposal, adding that he was still considering it. He said a lot of work was happening behind the scenes to get the votes to pass it.
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Leadership, as well as members of some of the so-called five families the various conservative factions that make up the House Republican majority convened later Monday behind closed doors in the speakers office.
McCarthy, staring down just eight working days in session before funding runs out, appeared ready to press towards votes this week on both a continuing resolution and the Defense appropriations bill, even if they cant pass.
The best path forward to get conservative solutions, to reduce spending, to hold this administration accountable, to get solutions on the border is by moving forward with what these guys have put together, said Rep. Garrett Graves, a Louisiana Republican who is one of McCarthys top lieutenants.
Though McCarthy still contends he has days to maneuver before the governments fiscal year ends, he has also tried to warn his party that a government shutdown is likely to backfire on Republicans politically.
Ive been through shutdowns and Ive never seen somebody win a shutdown because when you shut down, you give all your power to the administration, McCarthy said in a Fox News interview on Sunday.
How are you going to win your arguments to secure the border if the border agents dont get paid? How are you going to win the arguments to get wokeism out of the Department of Defense? If even our own troops arent being paid? You have no strength there.
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But McCarthy is facing a cadre of Republicans who are prepared to endure a prolonged shutdown. A handful of GOP lawmakers swiftly took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the Sunday call to criticize the proposed package, even with spending cuts and border measures, as woefully insufficient.
One of the Freedom Caucus lawmakers who helped craft the proposal, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said he answered phone calls coming into his office Monday and he heard frustration from people critical of the package, pushing him to hold out for more conservative cuts.
He was also unbothered by the prospect of a shutdown.
People can live without our government for a period of time, he said. The sun comes up every day. People live their lives. Life goes on.
But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce issued a memo Monday to the business community warning that a prolonged shutdown could cause disruptions across the country.
Individuals and businesses rely on the discretionary functions of government on a daily basis, the Chamber wrote. From passports and permits to clinical trials and contractors, a well-functioning economy requires a functioning government.
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The Biden administration is also highlighting the potential damage from a funding stoppage. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on CNBC Monday, Weve got a good, strong economy and creating a situation that could cause a loss of momentum is something we dont need.
McCarthy could potentially turn to House Democrats to pass a stopgap measure if he was willing to strip the conservative policy wins out of a funding bill.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with McCarthy on Monday, but several right-wing members are threatening to try to oust the speaker if they forge a partnership to pass a continuing resolution.
Jeffries said he would only support a clean funding bill without the Republican extras, and particularly slammed the GOP idea of funding an ineffective, medieval border wall as part of the funding stopgap.
He said, Its all on Republicans at this moment.
Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed reporting.
WARSAW (Reuters) - The European Union should deal with a surge in migrants by sealing its borders and rejecting any idea of relocating them within the bloc, Poland's ruling party said on Tuesday as it takes a tough stance on migration before an election.
The ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, facing a challenge from a far-right party, said that Poland risks being overwhelmed by migrants like the Italian island of Lampedusa, where migrant boats often land after crossing the Mediterranean from the coast of North Africa, if they are not returned to power in elections on Oct. 15.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told a news conference, "Lampedusa is only a kind of symbol of a situation that threatens the whole of Europe, including Poland."
"The only way to fight this kind of - it must be called this - invasion - is to actually, realistically seal the borders and make decisions to return those who crossed the borders to their home countries, or some other solution, but always related to getting rid of them."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday visited the Italian island of Lampedusa, which is struggling with a surge in migrant arrivals, and promised a 10-point EU action plan to help Italy deal with the situation.
Kaczynski said that any announcement of the relocation of illegal migrants is an "encouragement to traffic people."
His comments come as the government faces opposition accusations that it was complicit in a system in which migrants received visas at an accelerated pace without proper checks after paying intermediaries.
They also come amidst a growing weariness with refugees from neighbouring Ukraine among some Poles who feel the government has gone too far in extending social benefits and other aid to those fleeing the war as well as anger among farmers who say Ukrainian grain imports hurt their prices.
Poland last week banned Ukrainian grain imports.
Poland is some 1 million Ukrainian refugees. While Poles' overall attitudes to them remain positive and support for Kyiv's war effort is almost unanimous, research shows that critical views are becoming more widespread.
(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
The Relentless Pursuit
1971 was quite a year for America. Nixon was President and the streets were filled with protestors demonstrating against the Vietnam War. The Weather Underground detonated a homemade bomb in the mens room of the United States Capitol and the 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified lowering the voting age to 18.
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They came together because, after the progress of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Pay Act and more, President Nixons Southern Strategy was stoking a white backlash across the country, not only to stop equalitys march in its tracks, but turn back the clock on those historic gains.
Photo: hoto by Drew Angerer/Getty Images (Getty Images)
They came together because they refused to let that happen. They came together because they knew there was work left to be done. They came together because they were stronger together than they could be apart.
More than half a century later, as we look towards their upcoming 52nd Annual Legislative Conference, we see a CBC that has come into its own, larger and stronger than its ever been, with key leaders in key roles like Chairman Rep. Steven Horsford , House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee (DPCC) Chair and Co-Chair Rep. Joe Neguse and Rep. Lauren Underwood . We see Rep. Jasmine Crockett serving as this sessions Freshman Class Representative, Rep. Barbara Lee serving as the House Steering and Policy Committee Co-Chair. Rep. Jim Clyburn serving as House Assistant Democratic Leader and the Peoples Republic of Brooklyns own Congressman Hakeem Jeffries serving not only as Democratic leader, but the first African-American to lead any caucus in our nations 247-year history.
Led by Rep. Horsford, this CBC is building on the landmark leadership established by Rep. Joyce Beatty,extending her playbook and embracing our diversity, engaging men and women, old and young, voices from every geography, spirituality and economic background. Like the folks used to say, weve got Hip-Hop and R&Band were stronger for it.
Yes, things certainly have changed.
The Constant Struggle
But the more things change, the more they stay the same because we know, for every ounce of progress we make in this country, especially when it comes to issues impacting marginalized communities, theres a backlash from folks who want things to go back to the good ole days when we knew our place and they were the only ones who mattered. They long for simpler times when you could treat black folks, women, LGBTQ Americans and working families like garbage. They want to Make America Great Again.
And, lets be honest, their mission is deliberate, intentional, disciplined and absolutely relentless. But thats always been the case, hasnt it?
What happened when a new generation of freedmen emerged from the crucible of the Civil War with the hope and promise of Reconstruction backed by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to our Constitution?
They were met with newly instituted Black codes and Jim Crow ordinances. They faced armed resistance from lynch mobs like former Confederate General Martin Garys Red Shirts and the Ku Klux Klanboth determined to reestablish the old order of Black subservience and fear. They bled the ground at the New Orleans Massacre, the Wilmington Insurrection, the Jackson County War and more as their dreams were met with violence and death.
What happened when the Great Migration and Progressive Era spurred cultural and economic opportunities for Black families across America and new manifestations of possibility made headlines with the founding of the NAACP and the Urban League, the Harlem Renaissance, and the emergence of Black Wall Street?
Simply, the good ole boys buttressed a new segregation era with new legislation like Virginias Racial Integrity Laws, used the filibuster to block federal antilynching laws, and launched a new wave of violence, like the Red Summer of 1919, the Tulsa Massacre and the assassination of Marcus Garvey.
We saw the violent opposition to desegregation and voting rights that pretended to be a defense of statesrights during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. We saw a repeat of history with Voter ID and Tea Party extremism after historic Black turnout elected the first African-American Presidentand were seeing the same thing now.
Its the same fight our parents faced and our grandparents, our great-grandparents on down the line. But its not up to them to keep this country moving forward despite the reactionary forces and their relentless pursuit to turn back the clock. This fight is ours.
Redistricting and Voting Rights
While potentially the clearest struggle in the tug of war, the MAGA veto on voting rights is also the most insidious. The GOP pretends its trying to protect the integrity of our elections. Meanwhile, what began as slow erosion has kicked into overdrive from gutting the Voting Rights Act in 2013, to states like Alabama refusing to redraw racist district lines even after the Supreme Court ordered them too.
The fact is that, between January 1, 2022, and September 12, 2022 alone, at least seven states enacted 10 laws making it harder to vote and, since the beginning of 2021, lawmakers have passed at least 42 laws to restrict your right to vote in 21 states. Thats almost half the country and its just some of the hundreds of bills weve seen aimed at restricting our most basic democratic right to vote since Black Americans came out in droves to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Healthcare and Reproductive Freedom
Its the same story with reproductive freedoms, the relentless MAGA assault against a womans right to choose started on January 22, 1973 and kept pushing until they installed activist judges that not only overturned nearly 50 years of legal precedent putting their political agenda between American women and their doctors, but put millions of lives at risk by denying free screenings for preeclampsia and gestational diabetes, free counseling for perinatal and postpartum depression and more.
This is from the party that pretends to care about the sanctity of life...but not those lives.
Of course, this GOP backlash has a backlash of its own. Just look at Montana where voters soundly defeated a GOP-led referendum to criminalize abortion, Wisconsin where pro-Roe v Wade women elected Judge Janet Protasiewicz giving Pro-Choice voices the majority on that court for the first time in 15 years. Look at Michigan, Kansas, or even Ohio where the GOP-controlled state legislature, an extremist Secretary of State, MAGA Senate hopeful Frank LaRose and more still couldnt hijack the peoples voice and voters are set to protect abortion access with a constitutional amendment.
Gun Violence
Lets talk about gun safety. Beginning in 1934 when Congress passed The National Firearms Act in a reaction to gangland criminals like Bonnie and Clyde and Al Capone, we seemed to be on the right road when it came to stemming gun violence in America.
The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 required gun dealers and manufacturers to have a license. The Gun Control Act of 1968 banned firearms that had no sporting purpose, imposed age restrictions and prohibited convicted felons and the mentally ill from owning a gun. In 1993 the Brady Law imposed waiting periods, expanded background checks and kept guns away from domestic abusers and 1994s Assault Weapons Ban did just thatit banned assault weapons.
But since the GOP failed to renew the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004, the radical right has continued to push an irresponsible and violent war against common sense gun safety until, as of April, at least 26 states will let anyone carry a concealed firearm with no permit, no training and no idea who theyre going to hurt. As a result, at least 327 Americans are the victims of gun violence every single day and our children are practicing active shooter drills in their schools because its only a matter of time before they need it.
Affirmative Action
In June, the MAGA activist court didnt turn the clock back 50 years. However, they were satisfied with bypassing 40 years of legal precedent and gutting race-based affirmative action. Oh, and they got the disturbingly misnamed Students for Fair Admissions, Inc to do it. Then again, these are the same guys who hamstrung the unions claiming the Right to Work.
Of course, this is just a natural escalation of the school choice tactic theyve been using since the 80s claiming, somehow, white students are being discriminated against because theyre forced to share the classroom with Black and Brown students. Its the reverse racism dog whistle at its best.
LGBTQ
Finally, we have the LGBTQ+ community who found themselves squarely in the conservative crosshairs when this conservative Court leveraged the most ridiculous set of circumstances that I can remember in order to say bigots dont have to serve gay clientskind of. I mean, the plaintiff in this case isnt even gay, never has been gay, and appears to have had his identity used without his knowledge or consent. And the Supreme Court was so set on ruling against the LGBTQ+ community, they didnt even notice the whole thing appears to be manufactured.
But none of that matters to the MAGA reactionaries who have been waiting to wipe out any bit of equal protection they can. After all, as far as they see it, the LGBTQ+ community isnt really Americanand neither am Iand neither are you.
Lets be clear, whether were talking about voting rights or reproductive rights, equal rights or our most basic rights as Americans, the MAGA mobs mission to turn back the clock until we dont have any rights at all is disciplined, deliberate and absolutely relentless. So our pursuit for justice and progress must be just as relentless if not more so.
Americas pursuit toward that more perfect union doesnt have time for pauses and pit stops. They will turn this car around if we let them. So we cant afford to let them.
Like the CBC, its time to come together because we refuse to let that happen, because we know theres too much work left to be done and because were stronger together than we ever could be apart.
Antjuan Seawright is a Democratic strategist and CBC political consultant
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With just 12 days until its planned rollout of time-based electricity rates in Missouri, utility giant Evergy has withdrawn most of its recent requests to state regulators to modify the program.
The company is now only requesting that the Peak Reward Saver plan, which it has touted as the closest to its current flat rate, be adopted as the default for customers when the program officially launches in just a few weeks.
Evergy filed with state regulators Monday night to withdraw its other requests, which included adding a flat rate option next spring and making it more difficult for customers to switch between plans.
The Missouri Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utility monopolies in the state, now has to decide how to handle the companys amended request. Other parties like commission staff, customer advocacy groups and nonprofits have until Monday, Sept. 25 to weigh in.
What does this mean for Evergy customers in Missouri?
As of Tuesday afternoon, nothing about Evergys upcoming time-of-use rate plan has officially changed. However, if state regulators give the company its way in the coming weeks, two main details of the rollout will change:
Evergy will start switching its Missouri customers onto mandatory time-of-use rates on Oct. 14, instead of Oct. 1. Customers who havent already chosen a plan will be assigned to the Peak Reward Saver Plan, which is closer to Evergys flat rate, instead of the Standard Peak Saver plan, which has larger premiums and discounts throughout the day.
Well learn more about what the Public Service Commission plans to do with the new modified request at their Thursday morning agenda meeting.
Why is Evergy changing its requests at the last minute?
Evergy claims its withdrawing most of its requests because of the strong reactions from groups like state regulatory staff, Renew Missouri and the Office of Public Counsel (OPC), a small group of lawyers tasked with representing utility customers before the commission.
Evergy did not anticipate the significant amount of response from other parties that the Commission has received, the company wrote in its Monday night filing.
Geoff Marke, the OPCs chief economist, put it more bluntly in a conversation with The Star Monday.
There was an immediate pushback from all parties, Marke said. This is just not how things are done, typically.
Usually, he said, rate change requests from large utilities like Evergy take upward of nine months for state regulators to process. But the companys Sept. 8 request for four major changes came just 22 days before the Oct. 1 rollout date. And Evergys filing Monday night suggested a new rollout date of Oct. 14 just 24 days away.
Regardless of how the ongoing case turns out, Evergy customers in Missouri can soon expect to see new time-based electricity rates.
The basics havent changed: all four of the new rate plans will charge a premium price for electricity from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. And all four will offer customers a discount on electricity used between midnight and 6 a.m. every day.
Do you have more questions about Evergys upcoming time-of-use rate plans? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
KYIV (Reuters) -Evidence suggests a deadly explosion at a busy market in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka this month was caused by an errant missile fired by Ukraine, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Ukraine has said the Sept. 6 blast, which killed at least 16 people, was caused by a Russian missile.
"Evidence collected and analyzed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system," the newspaper reported.
Reuters could not independently verify the report.
The press service of Ukraine's SBU security service, asked about the report, said that according to an investigation still underway, the Russians were responsible for the strike, which it said had involved a Russian S-300 missile system.
"This is evidenced, in particular, by the identified missile fragments recovered at the scene of the tragedy," it said, adding that the investigation was also examining other materials that pointed to Russian involvement in the shelling.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the circumstances were being studied by law enforcement agencies and that "the legal truth will be established".
'CONSPIRACY THEORIES'
He added that the publication of foreign media reports raising "doubts about Russia's involvement in the attack... entails the growth of conspiracy theories" and would require examination by the investigative authorities.
"In the meantime, we must not forget: it was Russia that launched the invasion of Ukraine and it is Russia that is responsible for bringing war to our country," he said.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday described the Sept. 6 blast as "a Ukrainian attack on its own city".
The New York Times report said security camera footage showed the missile flew into Kostiantynivka from the direction of Ukrainian-held territory, not from behind Russian lines.
It said that minutes before the strike, Ukraine had launched two surface-to-air missiles towards the front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Kostiantynivka, and quoted a witness as saying they went in the direction of Kostiantynivka.
Holes caused by the explosion and fragments at the scene were consistent with the 9M38 missile fired by the mobile Buk anti-aircraft vehicle, it said. The Buk system is used both by Ukraine and Russia.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Gareth Jones)
The dawn of autonomous warfare is upon us, reshaping the battlefield's very essence. As we sail into uncharted waters, this gripping evolution raises questions that stretch beyond mere technology . Instead, they delve into ethical, legal, and humanitarian territories.
The ethical algorithm
Machine learning algorithms can process data at astonishing speeds. But can they understand the profound moral weight carried by decisions in warfare? The idea of teaching ethics to machines isn't merely theoretical; it's becoming a practical necessity. Researchers and ethicists are attempting to encode moral principles within AI systems through rule-based ethics, value alignment, and ethical calculus.
For instance, consider an autonomous drone faced with a decision to strike a target. Programming ethical guidelines to balance minimizing civilian harm with neutralizing military threats presents a formidable challenge. Adding to the challenge is the fact that this question is steeped in complex philosophical questions. In turn, this task navigates the murky waters between humanitarian concerns and strategic imperatives. That makes it a critical aspect of modern warfare technology.
While machines exhibit remarkable abilities to recognize patterns and simulate human-like responses, the essence of empathy eludes them. A soldier on the battlefield possesses the innate capacity to discern emotions, gauge fear, and perceive innocence. In contrast, machines lack this intuitive human connection. This gap becomes particularly critical when navigating intricate and emotionally charged scenarios .
Imagine the heart-wrenching decision confronting a human soldier who senses the need to withhold fire, perhaps perceiving a hint of uncertainty or recognizing the innocence reflected in a child's eyes. These judgment calls, deeply rooted in an understanding of the human experience, lie outside the current realm of machine comprehension. This distinction between human intuition and machine calculation underscores the intricate dynamics of autonomous warfare.
Who gets to decide the rules?
The deployment of AI-driven machines in warfare raises immediate concerns regarding civilian safety and human rights. How do we ensure that machines adhere to international humanitarian law? How can machines be taught to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants? What about when to recognize a cease-fire in the surrender of an enemy?
The answers to these questions may lie in a delicate balance between machine efficiency and human oversight. The concept of meaningful human control has emerged as a guiding principle. This emphasizes the need for humans to retain control over critical decisions and that machines should act as tools rather than autonomous entities.
Countries all around the world are actively exploring guidelines for autonomous weapons systems. The hope is there will be an answer somewhere that blends this tech with the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) and established Rules of Engagement (ROE).
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, WA (August 10, 2020) Saam Ostovari, Naval Information Warfare Center (NIWC) Pacific engineer, performs field repairs on a small camera drone used for data collection as part of the Offensive Swarm-Enabled Tactics (OFFSET) Program.
The new arms race
The technological prowess of a nation is no longer merely about economic might. It's rapidly becoming a key indicator of global influence. AI and autonomous systems are at the heart of this new arms race and everyone wants in on it. America, our peers, and our near-peers are investing heavily in research , development and deployment . The race for AI supremacy is not confined to the battlefield alone. From intelligence gathering to cyber warfare, autonomous technologies are becoming core to national defense strategies. However, this intense competition raises concerns about potential conflicts, misunderstandings, and destabilization.
As nations vie for technological dominance, the balancing act between innovation and responsible development becomes critical. Unbridled pursuit of autonomous capabilities could lead to a scenario where ethical considerations and safety norms are overshadowed by the urgency to outpace rivals. Still, the challenge remains to balance national interests with global responsibilities. In this complex web of competition and cooperation, strategic alliances and AI diplomacy play crucial roles. Countries are forging partnerships to enhance their technological capabilities, such as the U.S.-Japan alliance focusing on AI research. These alliances offer platforms for dialogue, ensuring that the race for AI supremacy doesn't escalate into open conflicts. They also provide avenues for setting common standards and norms. This is essential for ensuring that the power play doesn't spiral out of control.
Forging the chains of control
The absence of clear international norms for autonomous warfare is a significant challenge that demands urgent attention. Various international forums, like the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (UNGGE) on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), are working to define the rules of engagement.
Agreeing upon common principles is a complex and sensitive process, with nations balancing their strategic interests against shared ethical considerations. Creating norms is only half the battle; ensuring compliance, verification, and enforcement is equally critical. The complexities of autonomous systems make verification and compliance monitoring particularly challenging.
Collaborative mechanisms for transparent reporting, inspections, and shared methodologies may offer paths forward. Establishing an international regulatory body to oversee autonomous warfare norms could also be an essential step in building trust and ensuring accountability.
Adapting international law
As the operational effectiveness of emerging technologies like AI and autonomous systems increases, the necessity of revisiting international law becomes apparent. The Geneva Convention, formulated in 1949, has faced new challenges in the age of digitalization, cyberattacks, and robotic warfare. To address these complexities and uphold human rights, privacy, and accountability, an updated framework is essential.
The evolving landscape demands precise definitions of concepts like peace and war in a digital era. Instances of cyberattacks disrupting critical infrastructure or information warfare blurring truth and falsehood complicate traditional distinctions. Clear guidelines are needed to identify acts of conflict in a technologically driven environment.
With autonomous systems, accountability becomes intricate. Establishing responsibility for the consequences of algorithmic errors or human judgments is challenging. When civilians are accidentally harmed, identifying culpability is a complex task. Additionally, the attribution of cyberattacks becomes challenging in an era where AI can obfuscate origins. Defining a process for tracing actions back to their source is critical.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and similar conflicts underscore the urgency of a new Geneva Convention tailored to the realities of AI and autonomy. Although existing initiatives like the DoD's Ethical Principles in AI and the Cybersecurity Strategy of the European Union offer precedents, the complexity of the contemporary landscape requires further comprehensive work. A modernized code of conduct is imperative to govern critical technology domains and ensure a principled approach to AI and autonomy in warfare.
Looking forward
However, with great technological power comes great ethical responsibility. The rise of autonomous warfare raises significant questions about the limits of AI decision-making, accountability for unintended consequences, and the potential for a loss of human control. Striking the right balance between automation and human oversight is crucial to prevent catastrophic mistakes and maintain a sense of ethical integrity in military operations.
Furthermore, the global landscape of autonomous warfare is marked by geopolitical considerations. The proliferation of AI-driven military technology introduces new dynamics to international relations. Questions of arms control, cyber vulnerabilities, and the potential for an AI arms race become pressing concerns. It is imperative for nations to engage in dialogue and establish norms that govern the development and deployment of autonomous weaponry. The future holds promise for enhanced military capabilities, but it also demands careful consideration of the potential consequences and safeguards to uphold the principles of humanity and morality.
Former Rep. David Jolly (R-Fla.) has no sympathy for Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and any Republicans who helped him become House speaker.
Jolly, who left the Republican Party in 2018, weighed in on McCarthys current dilemma after the speaker capitulated on a Joe Biden impeachment inquiry to far-right Republicans who eventually backed his drawn-out bid for the leadership role.
Speaking to MSNBCs Joy Reid, Jolly observed that Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.) and even Kevin McCarthy, who allows all of this, are really carrying the heartbeat of todays Republican Party.
And you realize, it really is an embarrassing club to be considered a member of, he said.
Right now, however, Matt Gaetz, kind of the leader of that club, has Kevin McCarthy exactly where he wants him, he continued. I dont think we should feel bad for Kevin McCarthy, because he has created this moment.
And if there are Republicans in the caucus tonight who feel embarrassment, you created it too, he added. Because you elected Kevin McCarthy speaker under this corrupt bargain that he struck with Gaetz and others.
Gaetz is threatening to force a vote to oust McCarthy from his post if he does not meet a list of demands on spending and legislation. McCarthy made a deal with Gaetz and his far-right allies in order to gain their support during his bid for the gavel, and has since been caught between that faction and the rest of his caucus.
If you want to file a motion to vacate, then file the fucking motion, McCarthy reportedly dared Republican colleagues last week as tensions reached a boiling point.
The federal government will partially shut down at the end of September if Congress cant pass a spending bill or an interim measure, which House Republicans are bitterly divided over.
Watch Jollys MSNBC appearance below.
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EVANSVILLE, Ind. A former Indiana substitute teacher has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to sending hoax bomb threats targeting numerous locations, including the school where she was employed at the time, the Justice Department announced Monday.
In January, Mary Fortner sent a bomb threat to a Milltown, Indiana, police officer targeting a Crawford County school where she was employed at the time, the U.S. Attorneys Office said. Fortner, 35, used an anonymous messaging application.
The following month, the Corydon Democrat, an Indiana newspaper, notified law enforcement that it had received an emailed bomb threat listing five targets, including an elementary school, movie theater, and grocery store. An agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation said investigators tracked the IP address associated with the email's creation to Fortner's home.
Law enforcement arrested Fortner and charged her with intimidation and terroristic threatening.
"This series of bomb threats shook the sense of safety that all of our children, teachers, and families deserveand are especially egregious coming from an adult trusted to educate our children," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, Zachary A. Myers.
KANSAS POLICE NEWSPAPER RAID:Reporter had 'every right' to access business owner's driving record, attorney says
Probe reveals Fortners web searches before second threat
On the day of the first threat, FBI agents and Crawford County Sheriffs deputies interviewed Fortner at her home and executed a search warrant, where they seized a phone and other devices, officials said.
Court documents indicate the FBI performed a digital forensic examination of Fortner's phone on Jan. 30 and found searches for the following:
Egyptian man names
Ramesses II
ramochafisa@yahoo.com
Crawford county sheriffs department
how do I contact wdrb news
WAVE 3 new text number"
Crawford county high school"
On Fortner's laptop, FBI agents found searches for:
is a bomb threat a federal crime"
federal prisons near me
federal prison food"
Before entering her guilty plea, Fortner repeatedly denied knowledge of the bomb threats during interviews with law enforcement, officials said.
Following prison time, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker also sentenced Fortner to three years of probation, the first two months of which will be on house arrest.
Fake threats cause real chaos
"Swatting" is making a hoax call to law enforcement to deliberately cause a large police or SWAT team response.
Sometimes, an individual does it to single out someone specific, but the calls can also be done in waves as a trend to seemingly random targets. Last year, USA TODAY identified at least 30 hoax threats about a shooting or other violence at schools over the span of one week.
In cases where a member of the local community is responsible for the threat, it is often a teenager or young adult disgruntled with the school, attempting to pull a prank or get out of a test. In other instances, hoax threats come from malicious outside parties with no connection to the community.
False reports of violence can traumatize students and faculty, officials said, and they put a heavy strain on law enforcement and school resources.
Swatting threats can also pose a serious risk of injury. In 2017, California resident Tyler Barriss reported a fake hostage situation after arguing with another gamer playing "Call of Duty." He gave the address of an innocent, unrelated person who police ended up fatally shooting during their response. Barriss was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Making a threat, whether through social media, email, or any other format, is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in federal prison, the FBI said. People can also face state or local charges.
BOMB THREATS DISRUPT TWO SCHOOLS:Did right-wing LibsofTikTok posts help prompt them?
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Former Indiana substitute teacher guilty of sending hoax bomb threats
Denver TV news anchor Kyle Clark is putting Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) on blast for the antics that got her tossed from a performance of the Beetlejuice musical as well as her behavior afterward.
I havent seen a single person say, Why, I am shocked that Lauren Boebert was rude, disruptive and belligerent, Clark said on Next With Kyle Clark on 9News on Monday. This is, after all, the congresswoman who suggested that a Muslim colleague was a suicide bomber.
Thats a reference to an ugly incident with Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).
Boebert initially denied much of the boorish behavior that got her booted, which included being disruptive, vaping and taking pics during the performance.
Clark said thats no surprise given Boeberts history of lying. The only real surprise, he said, was that Boebert eventually apologized but only after video was released showing just how disruptive she was during the performance.
The lawmaker wrote on Twitter that she fell short of her values.
What? a stunned Clark asked. When Boebert didnt know that the cameras were watching, she was exactly who she is when she does know people are watching.
Clark referred to a report by theater staff in which she allegedly said Dont you know who I am? as she was ejected.
Yes, Clark answered. We do.
See his full segment below:
Commentary: Rep Lauren Boebert (R) reportedly berated theater staff with "Do you know who I am?" Yes. We do. #copoliticspic.twitter.com/yR57xoqZpq Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 19, 2023
By Filipp Lebedev and Gleb Stolyarov
(Reuters) - At least $14.3 million worth of coal produced in areas of Ukraine annexed by Russia has been exported to NATO member Turkey this year, according to Russian customs data reviewed by Reuters.
Between February and July 2023, about 160,400 tonnes of coal from the annexed eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk arrived in Turkey, the data showed. Three producers listed in the customs data confirmed to Reuters they had shipped coal from the two regions to Turkey during that period.
Unlike the United States and European Union, Turkey has not restricted trade with Russia or the areas of Ukraine controlled by Moscow. Washington has cautioned companies not to help Russia wage war against Ukraine or circumvent sanctions.
Since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022, Turkey - a member of NATO that supports Kyiv's efforts to repel Russia - has said repeatedly that it recognises Ukraine's territorial integrity. Ankara played a key role in mediating a now-lapsed deal between the warring countries that allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea.
Turkey's trade ministry and customs directorate did not respond to requests for comment on the shipments.
The data from a commercial trade data provider, reviewed by Reuters, showed that coal from at least 10 producers went to Turkey between February and July. Turkey was comfortably the biggest export destination of coal from the annexed regions, the figures showed, accounting for 95% of shipments during the period.
Turkey, a major coal consumer and importer, is bucking the global trend by increasing coal's share in electricity generation. It produced 31.5 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity from imported coal in the first half of this year, up by a quarter from the same period of 2022, official data shows.
The coal sellers are registered in Russia and in annexed Ukrainian territories, according to Interfax news agency's Spark database of Russian companies.
The buyers were companies registered in Hong Kong, the UAE and offshore jurisdictions including Belize and the British Virgin Islands, the customs data showed. There were no Turkish companies listed.
Reuters has not been able to find contacts for the buyers nor establish who the final beneficiaries were.
In November, Vitaliy Khotsenko, the then-head of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), said that the region was already exporting coal to Turkey, from where it went to markets in the Middle East and Africa.
Reuters was unable to find any information in customs data about deliveries of coal produced in the DNR to Turkey or other countries in 2022.
The Russian-installed authorities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as the Ukrainian government, did not comment on the coal exports.
Russia's Ministry of Energy did not respond to a request for comment. Russia's Federal Customs Service said in response to Reuters' questions that it had suspended publication of foreign trade statistics since February 2022.
While the commercial trade data does not give a complete picture of how the coal was exported, it showed that some went via the southern Russian port city of Rostov and some through the Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, which both have rail connections to Donetsk and Luhansk. Reuters was unable to determine whether some or all of it was re-exported from Turkey.
U.S. sanctions imposed on Feb. 21, 2022, three days before Russia invaded Ukraine, prohibit U.S. imports from or exports to the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (LNR). Two days later, the European Union announced measures including an import ban on goods from the two regions.
Turkey does not have the same restrictions. The United States has imposed sanctions on companies, including from Turkey, that it says are supporting Moscow in its war against Ukraine.
"We are aware of reports of trade like this, but we can't comment on your specific findings," said a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, when asked about the shipments to Turkey.
"We abhor any attempts by Russia to profit from the theft of Ukraine's natural resources. Ukraine's natural resources belong to the people of Ukraine."
The European Commission declined to comment. In April, Reuters reported that a Chinese company bought copper from a plant in a Russian-annexed region of Ukraine.
'COMMERCIAL SECRET'
Russia announced the annexation of the whole of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine in September 2022, although it only controls some of the territory amid ongoing fighting.
Ukraine, its Western allies and the vast majority of countries at the UN General Assembly, including Turkey, condemned the declared annexation as illegal.
Reuters tried to reach for comment the 10 miners and related companies exporting coal from the two annexed regions. It was able to make contact with four; the others did not respond.
Vostokugol, based in Luhansk and owned by the Russian-installed LNR authorities, is one of the largest coal mining companies in the annexed territories and accounted for 100,000 tonnes of the February-July volumes to Turkey, customs data showed.
Adzhmal Zalmai, a senior official at Florance LLC - a trading company registered in Moscow and the exclusive seller for Vostokugol - hung up when Reuters asked him about shipments to Turkey. Vostokugol did not respond to a request for comment.
Anton Nadeyev, director of private mining company Nedra-06, which operates in Antratsyt, a town near Luhansk city controlled by pro-Russian proxies since 2014, confirmed shipments to Turkey.
Nadeyev declined to provide further details of the transactions or information about the buyers.
"This is already our commercial secret. I'm not ready to voice it," Nadeyev said.
Customs data shows Nedra-06 made two shipments of coal to Turkey totalling 1,600 tonnes in May and June. The buyers were Belize-based Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD of Hong Kong, the customs data showed.
Customs records show the two companies were the biggest buyers of coal from annexed Ukrainian territory during the period under review.
From February to July, Brig Management LTD shipped 49,000 tonnes of coal mined in the annexed territories of Ukraine to Turkey worth $4.8 million, according to the customs data.
Over the same period, Green Rabbit LTD shipped 11,800 tonnes of coal worth $1.1 million.
Reuters was unable to find contact information for Brig Management LTD. A request made to the Belize Companies and Corporate Affairs Registry was denied because "information can only be requested by a Licensed Registered Agent or owners of the company."
Reuters visited the address listed in the Hong Kong registry for Green Rabbit Ltd - a commercial building home to several businesses - but was unable to see any mention of the company at the premises.
A coal producer in Russian-controlled Donetsk, businessman Denis Karashchuk, based in the mining town of Yasynuvata, also confirmed that some of his company's output had been shipped to Turkey.
He said that he did not ship the coal there himself. Coal bought at Russian ports by Brig Management LTD and Green Rabbit LTD was taken to Turkey, the data showed.
"Coal is bought in the port of Novorossiisk," Karashchuk said, referring to the Russian Black Sea port that is a major transport hub for oil and other commodities.
"And what happens next is, let's say, already their (the buyers') business."
(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev and Gleb Stolyarov in Tbilisi; Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington, Ece Toksabay in Ankara, Tom Balmforth in Kyiv, Julia Payne in Brussels and Jose Sanchez in Belize; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Daniel Flynn)
State Sen. Robert Peters, second from left, speaks during a news conference to mark the end of cash bail in Illinois outside of the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Sept. 18, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
During a detention hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building Monday afternoon, an assistant states attorney argued to a judge that a defendant facing a felony weapons charge should be held in jail while awaiting trial.
The defendant did in fact flee on foot while holding a handgun, Assistant States Attorney Joseph Sorrentino said. He was seen on camera pointing the gun at an individual the states position is that the defendant poses a real and present threat to safety.
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Assistant Public Defender Lillian McCartin, though, countered that the pod camera the prosecutor referenced had not been turned over to the defense. The prosecutor previously told the judge the state did not yet have the video.
The state is relying totally on pod camera they do not possess, McCartin said, arguing that the state had also not shown her client to be a flight risk.
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The detention hearing was among the first in Cook County held after long-sought reforms took effect Monday, abolishing cash bail as a potential condition for release and changing the way pretrial hearings are conducted.
State lawmakers, Cook County officials and advocates who worked to pass bond reform legislation marked the first day of implementation with a news conference on the steps of the Leighton Criminal Courts Building Monday morning where they lauded what they said was a historic moment meant to create more equity in the criminal justice system. Illinois is the first state to fully eliminate cash bail, making it a closely watched national bellwether.
Today, we end an antiquated and unjust system that has disproportionately harmed our communities of color and the poor, said Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch. We are one step closer to a detention system that puts victims first.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch speaks during a news conference to mark the end of money bond outside of the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Sept. 18, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Inside the courthouse, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and staff worked through the changes on the ground, using new paperwork and new guidelines for arguing cases and making decisions.
The detention hearing for the defendant facing the gun charge offered a glimpse into the new framework which provides for hearings that last a little longer, with more tussling over the actual evidence in the earliest stage of a case.
In that case, Cook County Judge Susana Ortiz ordered the defendant released on electronic monitoring, denying the states petition for detention.
I do believe electronic monitoring will suffice in securing the safety of the community and his appearance in court, Ortiz said.
At the Southwest Side courthouse, dual court calls took place in the afternoon, one for the first appearance of defendants for whom prosecutors were not opposing release and another for individuals the state sought to detain.
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In the detention hearings, defense attorneys scrutinized the information prosecutors presented about the basis for the charges as well as the arguments over whether the defendant meets criteria for being deemed a flight risk or a danger.
Theres nothing about him fleeing from police, just some walking, said Assistant Public Defender Tressa Palcheck in response to a proffer given for a stolen vehicle case in which the defendant was ultimately released on electronic monitoring.
In another case, Ortiz granted the states petition for detention for a defendant charged with a felony weapons charge and misdemeanor assault charge over the defenses objection. Prosecutors alleged he pointed a loaded weapon at the victim.
I do find that he does (pose a threat), she said.
The bond office at Division 5 of the Cook County Department of Corrections is empty on Sept. 18, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)
Across the hall in another courtroom, Judge Mary Marubio, head of the pretrial division, told the gallery that these hearings today in this courtroom are to determine conditions of release, noting that cases involving potential detention would happen in another room.
Throughout the afternoon, she oversaw cases involving weapons, allegations of assault, drunken driving and other matters, sometimes imposing additional conditions of release, such as turning over weapons, even if a defendant had a valid firearm owners identification card. Many of the defendants in the call were released with mandatory conditions such as appearing for subsequent court dates, while some were ordered to comply with additional requirements from the judge.
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Domestic violence cases are handled separately in a dedicated court call.
The court calls drew larger audiences than usual, with interested stakeholders watching to see the law in action after years of debate, controversy, preparations and a court challenge.
During the morning news conference, Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx said her office stands ready to implement the Pretrial Fairness Act.
We have seen over the course of the last two and a half years every trick of the trade to try to dissuade this moment and I would ask us why. What is so fearful about having a system that is fair and just, she said. What is so disarming about making sure that people are not detained because they are poor. What is it about the demographic that is impacted by this system that is so chilling to others throughout this state.
Court staff in counties across the state adjusted to the new system. In Kane County, the courts saw a low level of cases, which helped ease the transition and make for a successful first day, said Kane County Chief Judge Clint Hull. There were six pretrial hearings, with four released at the outset and two that went for a detention hearing. Of those, the judge granted detention on one.
The number of people before the judge this morning was substantially lower than what he normally sees, Hull said. It could be that there werent a lot of arrests last night, or it could be that police when arresting used their discretion to cite release, meaning there were less people in front of us today. Only time will tell on that.
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Lake County States Attorney Eric Rinehart said his office on the first day filed detention petitions for defendants charged with domestic battery, among other offenses. Court staff worked through the changes, with some slips in referencing the proceedings as bond court.
This is all new to us, Judge Raymond Collins said at one point as he presided over Mondays hearings.
Politicians weighed in throughout the day. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson congratulated the General Assembly on passage of the law and said the previous way of doing things has not led to safer communities.
I do know that there are individuals that have concerns about this particular piece of legislation and what this law means. What it really means is that people will not be held against their will because they dont have the ability to pay for bail, Johnson said. Now, keep in mind that there is still autonomy that exists within the judicial branch. This is just not a free fall.
Illinois Republicans who mostly opposed the measure spoke out citing concerns about the reforms.
In a statement, House Republican leader Tony McCombie, expressed an uneasiness about the new pretrial system, saying the legal deck is stacked against the victim and community in favor of the criminal, even though various victims rights groups support the new system.
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We can only hope that innocent victims lives are not the ultimate price we have to pay with the new system, said McCombie, of Savanna.
State Sen. Terri Bryant, a Republican from Murphysboro, raised concerns that some residents in certain counties may have to pay higher taxes with the new pretrial system in place, which she worries has logistical gaps the legislature has yet to fill in, including for some victims services.
Despite repeated Republican calls to address these many injustices, the Democratic majority refuses to address these serious safety and financial concerns, she said in a video statement to reporters. Now, tell me, does that sound fair to you?
The Pretrial Fairness Act was part of a broad array of criminal justice reforms passed as part of the SAFE-T Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2021, though lawmakers later amended the statute. Given the changes in how Illinois courts would operate, the measure was not slated to take effect until two years after the initial passage to give counties time to prepare.
But hours before it was set to be implemented on Jan. 1, the Illinois Supreme Court stayed the law to hear challenges from Illinois prosecutors who opposed the measure, contending that it violated the states constitution by infringing on the power of judges, among other arguments.
The high court upheld the law in a 5-2 decision in July, finding that the constitution does not mandate that monetary bail is the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public.
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In addition to removing money as a possible condition for release from jail while awaiting trial, the law makes changes meant to even the playing field for defendants and defense attorneys early in the trial process.
In order for a defendant to be jailed while awaiting trial, prosecutors must file a petition that shows the individual is a danger to the public or a flight risk. Judges will hear the cases in detention hearings, which will be longer than the sometimes minutes-long former bond hearings. Defense attorneys will have an opportunity to call witnesses.
Defendants who prosecutors do not seek to detain will have an initial appearance hearing, where judges will determine what conditions are necessary for release.
Chicago Tribunes Jeremy Gorner and Alice Yin, Aurora Beacon-News reporter Megan Jones and Lake County News-Suns Clifford Ward contributed.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com
Ukrainian special services were likely behind a series of drone strikes and a ground operation directed against a Wagner-backed militia near Sudans capital, a CNN investigation has found, raising the prospect that the fallout from Russias invasion of Ukraine has spread far from the frontlines.
Speaking to CNN, a Ukrainian military source described the operation as the work of a non-Sudanese military. Pressed on whether Kyiv was behind the attacks, the source would only say that Ukrainian special services were likely responsible.
The operation involved a series of attacks on the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which is believed to be receiving assistance from Wagner, the Russian mercenary group, in its fight against the Sudanese army for control of the country.
CNN was unable to independently confirm Ukraines involvement in the series of strikes. But video footage obtained by CNN revealed the hallmarks of Ukrainian-style drone attacks.
Two commercially available drones widely used by Ukrainians were involved in at least eight of the strikes, with Ukrainian text seen on the drone controller. Experts also said the tactics used namely the pattern of drones swooping directly into their target were highly unusual in Sudan and the wider African region.
Covert strikes by Ukraine in Sudan would mark a dramatic and provocative expansion of Kyivs theater of war against Moscow. Aside from a string of Ukrainian drone attacks that hit deep inside Russian territory, Ukraines ongoing counter-offensive has been focused on the countrys occupied east and south.
Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attacks, which were captured in the drone footage. After this report was published, Andrii Yusov, representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, told CNN: We can neither confirm nor deny this.
Portions of those videos have been circulating on social media since Thursday. Footage of the ground operation has not previously been published.
A high-level Sudanese military source said he had no knowledge of a Ukrainian operation in Sudan and did not believe it was true.
Multiple US officials appeared unaware of the alleged incident and expressed surprise at the suggestion that the strikes and ground operation may have been conducted by Ukrainian forces.
The videos, which alternate between the pilots view, the viewpoint of a drone observing from overhead and the controller itself, show a succession of drone strikes in and around Omdurman, a city across the Nile River from the capital Khartoum which has become a focal point of fighting between the two rival factions.
First-person view (FPV) drones allow pilots to view the operation from the drones point of view, wearing a pair of goggles or using a monitor to watch the live transmission. What appears to be a DJI MAVIC 3 drone can be seen in the videos filming the drone strikes. Both drone types are commercially available and widely used by Ukrainian forces.
The DJI MAVIC 3 drone has a maximum flight distance of 30 kilometers (around 18 miles), a video transmission range of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) and 46 minutes of flying time, which would indicate that the pilot would have been operating the drone inside, or very close to, the city.
In video showing the monitor of the drone controller, text in English and Ukrainian is visible, including , or Stop. The drone operator, who appears to be foreign, can also be seen in the reflection of the controller, but the operator is wearing a balaclava and is not identifiable.
A British researcher who runs Calibre Obscura, a website that identifies weapons, analyzed the footage for CNN and said the device tallies with those used by Ukrainian forces to control DJI MAVIC drones.
CNN has geolocated the sites of the small-scale attacks and the ground operation seen in the drone videos but could not independently verify the date the videos were filmed. Several strikes on Shambat bridge, which connects Omdurman and Khartoum, appeared to tally with local reports on social media of an attack on September 8.
The strikes came just two days after Wagner facilitated a large arms convoy to Sudan via an RSF garrison in al-Zurug, in the countrys southwest near the border with Chad, according to another high-level Sudanese source. The official told CNN that a large number of vehicles, including several trucks carrying weapons from Wagner arrived at Zurug on September 6. CNN has obtained satellite images that showed over 100 vehicles, including scores of trucks, at the garrison on the same day high-level Sudanese sources reported the arms convoy.
Two Chadian military whistleblowers told CNN that the convoy traveled through Chad to Zurug, which would signal an expansion of Russia and Wagners sphere of influence in Africa, which is widely known to comprise Mali, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Libya.
The powerful Russian mercenary group has played a public and pivotal role in Moscows foreign military campaigns, namely in Ukraine, and has repeatedly been accused of committing atrocities. In Africa, it has helped to prop up Moscows growing influence and seizing of resources.
Six drone strikes targeted pickup trucks driving on Shambat bridge. Eight other attacks hit parked vehicles, buildings and armed men in Omdurman and the western suburb of Ombada, where the Sudanese military has conducted a series of air raids in recent weeks targeting RSF positions that have reportedly claimed scores of civilian lives.
One of the videos showed at least three foreign fighters appearing to conduct a raid on a building. In a clip apparently recorded on a body camera, troops were wearing night goggles, and one of the soldiers appeared to be carrying a rocket launcher. An aerial shot showing the troops advancing on the building was geolocated by CNN to a neighborhood in Omdurman near where the drone strikes took place.
CNN has previously reported that, according to sources, Wagner has been supplying the RSF with surface-to-air missiles buttressing RSF paramilitary fighters and their leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo widely known as Hemedti as he battles for power with Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudans military ruler and the head of its armed forces.
Wim Zwijnenburg, project leader for humanitarian disarmament at PAX, a Dutch peace organization, said it was the first time the drones identified by CNN had been observed in Africa.
Such (FPV) loitering drones are being seen in the African continent for the first time ever, Zwijnenburg, who specializes in emerging military technologies, including drones, said. However, we have seen the rise in use of such drones in Ukraine over the last year.
Since Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zwijnenburg said that both Ukrainian and Russian forces have been experimenting with FPV drones, equipping them with rocket-propelled grenades. The highly maneuverable, precise munitions can carry a payload large enough to take out a vehicle. While drones have previously been used to drop bombs in Ethiopia, Nigeria and Libya, the use of weaponized commercial drones that explode on impact is new in Africa, he added.
Some of the individuals seen targeted in the footage were wearing local attire and pale fatigues, matching that worn by RSF soldiers and allied militia. In one video, fighters can be seen fleeing the scene of the raid while wielding AK-47s.
The RSF, which has a large presence in the capital Khartoum and Omdurman, has been under frequent aerial attack by the Sudanese military since fighting broke out between the two groups in April. In a speech on Thursday, RSF head Hemedti said his forces had all but dominated Khartoum state, which includes Omdurman, and spoke of recent indiscriminate aerial attacks in Omdurman and other cities.
Rapid Support Forces leader Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti) speaks at a press conference in Khartoum, Sudan, in April 2019. - AP
Prior to the outbreak of violence this spring, Burhan and Hemedti were allies in a military junta that overthrew an internationally recognized transitional government in 2021. Sudans military government had received Wagners support in the past, but Hemedti emerged over the years as Wagners preferred ally in the country.
Wagner dropped Sudans army wholesale when fighting broke out, backing Hemedti and his fighters in the conflict.
CNN has exposed arms supply routes that helped sustain this conflict, running through key Wagner transit points: Russias air and naval base in the Syrian coastal region of Latakia, Wagner bases in Libya, and Bangui airport in the Central African Republic.
Wagner has a significant presence in the CAR as well as large parts of eastern Libya, which borders Sudan, and where the renegade General Khalifa Haftar controls vast swathes of territory.
Around 90% of the RSFs weapons have come from Wagner, the high-level Sudanese source told CNN, adding that Wagners supply of arms to the RSF has continued unabated despite the death of the mercenary groups leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his deputy Dmitry Utkin in a plane crash on August 23.
Prigozhins demise has raised questions about the future of Wagners operations in Africa, where the mercenary group has used brutal tactics to prop up militant groups and authoritarian regimes in exchange for mineral riches. Those resources including huge concessions in Sudans gold mining industry are believed to have aided Moscows war effort in Ukraine, and helped it circumvent wide-ranging Western sanctions.
The late Yevgeny Prigozhin shared a video on August 21, days before his death, suggesting he was with Wagner mercenaries in Africa. - PMC Wagner/Telegram/Reuters
Analysts and researchers have speculated that the Kremlin has consolidated control over the mercenary groups activities in Africa as part of a larger effort to absorb the group into Russias defense ministry in the wake of Prigozhins failed mutiny in June.
Prigozhin had recently flown back to Russia from Africa when his jet crashed outside Moscow killing everyone on board. Two days after Prigozhins death, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov embarked on a five-country tour of old Wagner stomping grounds: Libya, Syria, Mali, Burkina Faso and the CAR.
During the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in late July less than a month before Prigozhins death the head of covert offensive operations at Russias military intelligence service (the GRU) General Andrey Averyanov attended meetings with the heads of Mali, the CAR, Eritrea and Burkina Faso.
We have repeatedly asked the Kremlin about Wagners support for the RSF, and they have told us that they have no information about this, the high-level Sudanese source told CNN. For us the Kremlin and Wagner have become one and the same.
As it battles Russia, Kyiv has placed strategic importance on deepening ties overseas, including among African countries. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has made three trips to the continent in the last year, visiting more than 10 countries.
Russia is trying very hard to keep countries in its orbit through coercion, bribery and fear Russia has two tools for its work in Africa, the most powerful ones are propaganda and Wagner, Kuleba said in a recent interview with Agence France-Presse.
Our strategy is not to replace Russia but to free Africa from Russias grip, he added.
This story has been updated with additional response from Ukraine.
Victoria Butenko and Andrew Carey in Kyiv, and Nima Elbagir, Barbara Arvanitidis and Alex Platt in NDjamena reported. Tamara Qiblawi wrote and reported from London. Gianluca Mezzofiore, Allegra Goodwin and Pallabi Munsi reported from London.
CNNs Lewis Whyld, Natasha Bertrand and Katie Bo Lillis contributed reporting.
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Humans have caused so many changes to our planet that some experts say we're on par with mass extinctions of eons past. We are equivalent to the asteroid that crushed most of the dinosaurs or the Great Dying that wiped out nearly all life on Earth. Some have proposed calling our current geological age the "Anthropocene," derived from the Greek word "anthropo" for "human."
While it may sound like an accomplishment being able to wield so much influence we can alter our home planet, human activity has done so in dangerously unsustainable ways. Indeed, according to a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, humans have caused so many extinctions in the last 500 years that it would have taken 18,000 years for those same genera to have naturally vanished if we had never existed. After all, animals go extinct regularly on geological timescales, but this mass extinction is largely human-driven.
And that is just the first sobering statistic from the study. Authors Gerardo Ceballosa and Paul R. Ehrlich from Stanford University and Mexico's Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico examined the classification statuses of 5,400 vertebrate genera (excluding fishes), a task that included 34,600 species. After they had finished, the scientists determined that 73 genera of animals had become extinct since 1500 AD.
"Beyond any doubt, the human-driven sixth mass extinction is more severe than previously assessed and is rapidly accelerating," the authors explained. This means animals are vanishing at a rate 35 times higher than those which prevailed over the past million years that is, before the advent of the Anthropocene. While this news might have a silver lining if humanity was at least arresting the trends driving these mass extinctions, the exact opposite is true.
"Current generic extinction rates will likely greatly accelerate in the next few decades due to drivers accompanying the growth and consumption of the human enterprise such as habitat destruction, illegal trade and climate disruption," Ceballosa and Ehrlich write. "If all now-endangered genera were to vanish by 2100, extinction rates would be 354 (average) or 511 (for mammals) times higher than background rates, meaning that genera lost in three centuries would have taken 106,000 and 153,000 [years] to become [extinct] in the absence of humans."
They concluded, "Such mutilation of the tree of life and the resulting loss of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity to humanity is a serious threat to the stability of civilization."
To illustrate the magnitude of the mass extinction epidemic, the authors mention that "there were around 10,000,000 African elephants at the beginning of the 20th century, and now there are only about 450,000 remaining," a drop over 95%. Yet overall the researchers found that "most recorded extinctions have occurred in birds, followed by amphibians, mammals, and then reptiles."
In terms of the numerous bird species lost, the most prevalent extinct orders include giant birds like the elephant birds (Aepyornithiformes) of Madagascar and the moas (Dinornithiformes) of New Zealand. The researchers also added that, while there is "scanty" data, it seems most of the genera lost have only vanished over the past two centuries.
The authors point to some species, like the Steller sea cow, which went extinct around 1768, but many more species including passenger pigeons, Tasmanian tigers and the Yellow river dolphin have "departed since modern science began to pay attention."
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The scientists consider it far from a good thing that so many extinctions have occurred at a time when humans have had the technology to record them. At this rate of extinctions, we are in for a very unpleasant shock in the near future.
"In other words, projected losses of genera over three centuries (1800 to 2100) would have taken 106,000 [years] for all vertebrates and up to 153,000 [years] for mammals to become [extinct] under the normal, background rates," the authors write. They don't mince words, descibing a "biological holocaust" and comparing us to rogue landscapers hacking away at every branch of life. "Mutilating the tree of life is changing the systems in which human beings and all other living organisms have evolved," they warn.
"During past mass extinctions there was no species with the power or interest to stop extinctions, and no conscious stake in maintaining biodiversity," they add. "Today there is a species that should know it is not able to wait millions of years for its life-support systems to be restored after a mass extinction."
This is not the first recent study to underscore Earth's increasingly compounding ecological crises. According to a recent study in the journal Science Advances, humanity is at existential risk for six of its nine planetary boundaries, or the framework that establishes how safely humanity can operate within Earth's biological and physical limitations before undermining our own ability to survive. These include maintaining a stable climate, land system change, freshwater change, novel entities (like plastics, pesticides and industrial chemicals) and the flows of biological and geological chemicals.
"We live by using the Earth's resources and we throw our waste into the open environment," the study's lead author Dr. Katherine Richardson, professor in Biological Oceanography at the University of Copenhagen's Sustainability Science Centre, told Salon in an email. "The Earth's resources are limited and our demand exceeds their supply. You can party even when your bank account balance is declining but you cannot party forever and that is the situation humanity has brought itself into."
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey
By Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The June murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada has triggered new diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi, with Canada saying it suspects India's involvement in the killing and India calling the allegations "absurd".
Here is what is known about Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the man at the centre of the row.
- Nijjar was born in 1977 in Jalandhar district in India's northern state of Punjab and moved to Canada in 1997, where he worked as a plumber, according to the Khalistan Extremism Monitor of the New Delhi-based independent Institute for Conflict Management.
- He was initially associated with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) Sikh separatist group, according to India's counter-terrorist, National Investigation Agency. New Delhi has listed BKI as a "terrorist organisation" and says it is funded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency, a charge Islamabad denies.
- Nijjar later became chief of the militant group Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and was "actively involved in operationalising, networking, training and financing" its members, according to a 2020 Indian government statement.
- New Delhi officially categorised him as a "terrorist" in the same statement, saying he was involved in "exhorting seditionary and insurrectionary imputations" and "attempting to create disharmony among different communities" in the country.
- For supporters demanding a so-called independent Sikh state of Khalistan, Nijjar was a prominent leader and a strong voice for the cause.
- He was elected head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara, a Sikh place of worship, in Surrey, the Vancouver suburb where he lived. He held that position at the time of his death.
- Nijjar was shot dead outside the same gurudwara on the evening of June 18.
- Hundreds of people protested outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver after his murder, alleging foreign hands were involved in his death, local media reported at the time.
(Reporting by Sakshi Dayal; editing by YP Rajesh and Sharon Singleton)
Oleksandr Vikul, head of Kryviy Rih military administration reported that an explosion occurred in the city.
Source: Vilkul on Telegram
Quote: "Kryviy Rih. Explosion. Don't record or post anything online."
Background: On the evening of 18-19 September, Ukraines Air Force announced the threat of ballistic missile attacks in six oblasts of Ukraine.
Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Amazon is hiring 30,000 full-time, seasonal and part-time workers in California, according to a news release from the company.
Positions in packing, sorting, shipping and other roles are available. The positions are open to applicants from all experience levels, the news release stated.
The available jobs come with benefits including:
Career advancement opportunities;
Earned pay access;
Health, vision and dental insurance;
A 401(k) with company match;
Up to 20 weeks paid parental leave and six weeks for supporting parents;
Access to Amazons Resources for Living program;
Free mental health, financial services and support for employees and their households;
And pre-paid college tuition with Career Choice.
In the news release, John Felton, Amazons senior vice president of worldwide operations, said an employee who starts with the company will see a 13% increase in pay over three years.
Whether someone is looking for a short-term way to make extra money, or is hoping to take their first step toward a fulfilling and rewarding career at Amazon, theres a role available for them, Felton said in the release.
The local effort is part of a nationwide push by the shopping giant to hire 250,000 people for the holidays.
This years hiring announcement is 100,000 more than the company said it would hire during last years winter holidays.
The holiday season is always a special time at Amazon and were excited to hire 250,000 additional people this year to help serve customers across the country, Felton said. Whether someone is looking for a short-term way to make extra money, or is hoping to take their first step toward a fulfilling and rewarding career at Amazon, theres a role available for them.
Felton said seasonal jobs can be lucrative long-term career options for many people, too.
A fulfillment or transportation employee who starts with us today will see a 13% increase in pay over the next three years likely more, including our annual wage investments and thats on top of offerings like prepaid college tuition and health care benefits from day one.
Amazon officials said some roles will have signing bonuses between $1,000 and $3,000 in select locations, with employees earning between $17 and $28 per hour depending on what jobs they do and where in the United States they work.
Amazon said it has opened more than 50 new fulfillment centers, delivery stations, and same-day delivery sites in the United States this year.
Zoe Richmond, a spokesperson for Amazon, said the company will be hiring for 14,000 part-time and full-time seasonal roles in Sacramento.
Amazon jobs available in Sacramento
These five Sacramento positions are currently available, according to online recruitment websites:
Grocery shopper;
Administrative assistant;
Driver;
Customer service;
and Forklift operator.
UPI.com contributed to this story.
What do you want to know about life in Sacramento? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@sacbee.com.
Claim:
In July 2023, Vladimir Putin said that Poland wants to "regain" western Ukraine.
Rating:
Rating: Correct Attribution
Context:
Although Putin claimed that Poland wanted to "regain western territories of Ukraine," that accusation was unsubstantiated and has never been been confirmed by any actions or declarations of Polish authorities.
In September 2023, a video was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the @MyLordBebo account, allegedly showing Putin claiming that "Poland wants to form a coalition and get back western Ukraine."
"Poland wants to form a coalition and get back western Ukraine." pic.twitter.com/VKkEu9BeU3 Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) September 18, 2023
The same video was published on TikTok and Telegram profiles with the same user names. The account's description on Telegram read "Against wokeness, hypocrisy, fake news and corruption," and its publications included anti-Ukrainian statements. For instance, one of the posts published by @myLordBebo on Telegram claimed that Zelenskyy "directly benefits from poor folks dying and his career would suffer from peace."
The text visible in the in-question video indicated that it was captured in Moscow, on July 21, but did not specify a year. Looking for the source of the footage, we found a Reuters article from July 22, 2023, that read:
Warsaw's Security Committee decided on Wednesday to move military units to eastern Poland after members of the Russian Wagner mercenary force arrived in Belarus, the state-run news agency PAP quoted its secretary as saying on Friday. Poland denies any territorial ambitions in Belarus. In his remarks Putin had also stated that the western part of Poland was a gift from Soviet leader Joseph Stalin to the country and that Russia would remind Poles about it.
Moreover, we found an article in English published on an official Kremlin website regarding the "meeting with permanent members of the Security Council" that took place on July 21, 2023. It included a transcription of the meeting, which proved that in fact, Putin accused Poland of plans to regain Ukrainian western territories with the help of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (emphasis ours).
As for the Polish leaders, they probably hope to form a coalition under the NATO umbrella in order to directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine and to bite off as much as possible, to "regain," as they see it, their historical territories, that is, modern-day Western Ukraine. It is also common knowledge that they dream about Belarusian land.
Moreover, the article accused Poland of starting World War II:
I would also like to remind you what Poland's aggressive policy led to. It led to the national tragedy of 1939, when Poland's Western allies threw it to the German wolf, the German miliary machine. Poland actually lost its independence and statehood, which were only restored thanks in a large measure to the Soviet Union. It was also thanks to the Soviet Union and thanks to Stalin's position that Poland acquired substantial territory in the west, German territory. It is a fact that Poland's western lands are a gift from Stalin.
The same article was also published on the Russian version of the Kremlin's website, which included a video recording of Putin's words. The in-question fragments started about 12:50 in the footage shared by Kremlin, proving that the video shared on social media was authentic and Putin did say that, among other things, Polish leaders wanted to form a "coalition under the NATO umbrella in order to directly intervene in the conflict in Ukraine." The Russian president's claims about Poland's plans to attack Ukraine were unsupported by evidence, and Poland has denied having any interest in Ukrainian territories. It appears to be yet another attempt by Russia to spread false information about Poland.
Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, commented on Putin's words on X, underscoring that he "seems to have forgotten what Stalin did to Poland previously."
"The Western territories of today's Poland are a gift of Stalin to the Poles. Our friends in Warsaw forgot about it, we'll remind them." - Putin. And he seems to have forgotten what Stalin did to Poland previously. pic.twitter.com/5lLH2tpWSK Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) July 21, 2023
The Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW, Osrodek Studiow Wschodnich), a Polish think tank that undertakes independent research on the political, economic and social situation in, among other regions, Central and Eastern Europe, published an article on July 24, 2023, with the title "Russia and Belarus accuse Poland of preparing aggressive plans." According to the OSW, the heightened anti-Polish rhetoric from the Kremlin and Alyaksandr Lukashenka is a psychological warfare escalation, aiming to create internal strife in Poland ahead of its parliamentary elections in October 2023. Moscow's objective is to weaken the trust of Western allies in Warsaw and challenge Poland's defense strategy. Moreover, says the OSW, the Russian narrative is designed to sow distrust between Poland and Ukraine, suggesting Poland has imperialistic ambitions.
Sources:
"Meeting with Permanent Members of the Security Council." President of Russia, 21 July 2023, http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71714.
"Putin Tells Poland Any Aggression against Belarus Is Attack on Russia." Reuters, 22 July 2023. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-tells-poland-any-aggression-against-belarus-is-attack-russia-2023-07-21/.
" ." , 21 July 2023, http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71714.
Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple after the killing on its grounds of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June 2023, in Surrey
By Manoj Kumar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Trade talks between India and Canada have taken a hit as tension rises after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said authorities were investigating "credible allegations" linking New Delhi's agents to the murder of Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar .
On Tuesday, New Delhi dismissed the allegations as "absurd", and asked Canada instead to crack down on anti-India elements operating in its territory.
Here is what is at stake for both countries:
HOW ARE TRADE TALKS AFFECTED?
Canada said this month it had paused talks on the proposed treaty with India, just three months after both said they aimed to seal an initial pact this year.
Industry estimates show the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between Canada and India could boost two-way trade by as much as $6.5 billion, yielding a GDP gain of $3.8 billion to $5.9 billion for Canada by 2035.
WHAT ARE THEY KEY ITEMS OF TRADE?
Steady growth has seen goods trade rising to $8 billion in 2022, with Indian exports to Canada touching $4 billion and imports from Canada also worth $4 billion.
India's growing demand for imported lentils has benefited Canadian farmers, while Indian pharmaceutical and software companies have expanded their presence in the Canadian market.
Major imports from Canada include energy products such as coal, coke and briquettes, besides fertilizers, while India exports consumer goods, garments, engineering products such as auto parts, aircraft equipment, and electronic items.
WHAT IS THE INVESTMENT POSITION?
Canada is India's 17th largest foreign investor, pouring in more than $3.6 billion since 2000, while Canadian portfolio investors have invested billions of dollars in Indian stock and debt markets.
The Canadian pension fund, CPP, has increased its investment in Indian markets to about $15 billion, in areas such as real estate, renewables, and the financial sector by the end of last fiscal year in March 2023.
HOW HAVE CORPORATES BENEFITED?
More than 600 Canadian companies, including Bombardier and SNC Lavalin, have a strong presence in India, while more than 30 Indian companies, such as infotech majors TCS, Infosys, Wipro have invested billion of dollars in Canada, creating thousands of jobs.
WHAT IS THE ROLE OF INDIAN STUDENTS IN CANADA?
Since 2018, India has been the largest source country for international students in Canada.
In 2022, their number rose 47% to nearly 320,000, accounting for about 40% of total overseas students, the Canadian Bureau of International Education says, which also helps universities and colleges provide a subsidised education to domestic students.
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SIKHS?
Many analysts say the worsening ties could affect the economic interests of thousands of Sikh families in India's Sikh-majority state of Punjab in the north, since they have relatives in Canada, who remit millions of dollars back home.
The share of Canada's Sikh population has more than doubled in 20 years, to 2.1%, according to the country's 2021 census, as large number of Sikhs have migrated from India in search of higher education and jobs.
(Reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey
By Rupam Jain and Shivam Patel
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tensions between India and Canada escalated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday there were "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the June murder in Canada of a Sikh separatist leader campaigning for the creation of an independent Sikh homeland called "Khalistan".
WHAT IS THE KHALISTAN MOVEMENT?
It wants an independent Sikh state carved out of India and dates back to India and Pakistan's independence in 1947 when the idea was pushed forward in negotiations preceding the partition of the Punjab region between the two new countries.
The Sikh religion was founded in Punjab in the late 15th century and currently has about 25 million followers worldwide. Sikhs form a majority of Punjab's population but are a minority in India, comprising 2% of its population of 1.4 billion.
Sikh separatists demand that their homeland Khalistan, meaning "the land of the pure", be created out of Punjab.
The demand has resurfaced many times, most prominently during a violent insurgency in the 1970s and 1980s which paralysed Punjab for over a decade.
HOW DID INDIA REACT?
The Khalistan movement is considered a security threat by the Indian government. The bloodiest episode in the conflict between the government and Sikh separatists occurred in 1984.
Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent the military into the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine for Sikhs, to evict armed separatist leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his supporters, which infuriated Sikhs around the world.
A few months later, Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards at her home in New Delhi. The army launched operations in 1986 and 1988 to flush out Sikh militants from Punjab.
Sikh militants were also blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed off the Irish coast.
The insurgency killed tens of thousands of people and Punjab still bears the scars of that violence.
Although the Khalistan movement has little support now in India, it has small pockets of backing among sections of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which has the largest population of Sikhs outside Punjab, and in Britain, Australia and the U.S.
WHY IS INDIA WORRIED NOW?
In April this year, India arrested a self-styled preacher and Sikh separatist Amritpal Singh for allegedly reviving calls for Khalistan, sparking fears of new violence in Punjab.
Earlier this year, India hit out at Canada for allowing a float in a parade depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi, perceiving this to be a glorification of Sikh separatist violence.
India has also been upset about frequent demonstrations and vandalism by Sikh separatists and their supporters at Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, Britain, the U.S. and Australia, and has sought better security from local governments.
HOW DOES IT IMPACT INDIAN-CANADIAN RELATIONS?
Indian diplomats based in Canada have on numerous occasions said that Ottawa's failure to tackle "Sikh extremism", and the constant harassment of Indian diplomats and officials by Khalistanis, is a major foreign policy stress point.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised strong concerns about Sikh protests in Canada with Trudeau on the sidelines of a G20 summit in New Delhi this month.
Canada has paused talks on a proposed trade treaty with India. Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng is postponing a planned trade mission to India.
(Reporting by Rupam Jain, Shivam Patel; Editing by YP Rajesh and Mark Heinrich)
A family of four and their three dogs were found fatally shot inside their home in a quiet suburban neighborhood in Illinois.
Police say theyre investigating the deaths as possible murders, but no suspect has been publicly identified.
Alberto Rolon, 38, and Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, and their two sons, ages 10 and 7, were found dead in their home in Romeoville alongside their three dogs Sunday night.
A concerned family member called police to do a welfare check when one of the parents did not show up for work and did not respond to phone calls throughout the day, Romeoville police said in a statement.
Zoraida Bartolomei (second from left), Alberto Rolon (second from right), and their children.
Zoraida Bartolomei (second from left), Alberto Rolon (second from right), and their children.
Responding officers found the family dead with gunshot wounds. The shooting likely occurred the previous night between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., police said.
Speaking at a press conference Monday, deputy chief Chris Burne said authorities are not considering the incident a murder-suicide. Police also found the familys three dogs dead inside the home, Burne said.
Police say theyre seeking a suspect, but that there is likely no threat to the area.
Neighbors told reporters that the family only moved to the neighborhood this spring, and that they mostly kept to themselves.
Carol Love, who lives next door, told the Chicago Sun-Times that she last spoke with Bartolomei on Friday.
Its so sad. They were nice people. They didnt bother anybody, Love said. I hope they find out who did it.
Multiple neighbors told the Sun-Times and CBS Chicago that they did not hear gunshots coming from the home.
In a statement following the familys death, Rachel Kinder, the superintendent of the Valley View School District, where the children were enrolled, said the boys lost their lives a result of a senseless act of gun violence.
This violent incident and loss are sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school community, Kinder said.
Bartolomeis sister shared a link on social media to a fundraiser created to help pay for funeral expenses.
These were hardworking people that had just bought their first home. Their kids were the sweetest most innocent angels who could hug your worries away, the GoFundMe reads. In just a few hours their lives, their familys lives completely changed. The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them.
Related...
The family of a then-10-year-old perp-walked by Lee County Sheriff's Office is calling for accountability weeks after their son was sentenced to probation for an alleged school threat.
The family of Daniel Marquez, 11, who was publicly perp-walked by the Lee County Sheriff's Office last year and was sentenced to probation on a count of making a school threat, is asking for support and contributions to a legal fund, saying Marquez's First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated.
Judge Carolyn Swift found Marquez, of Cape Coral, delinquent in a bench trial in July, ruling that the texts he sent a school friend last year constituted a threat to conduct a school shooting. At a sentencing hearing Aug. 3, Swift said she was withholding adjudication in the case, meaning it will not count as a conviction as long as Marquez follows the terms of his probation.
Swift didn't provide a length for Marquez's probation. He wasn't eligible for a jury trial, given his age.
Marquez's family has said in a Change.org online petition that an organization that had promised last year to fund the minor's legal expenses informed his father that they can't afford to provide any additional support.
The terms of the probation require Marquez to follow a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, seek permission before leaving Lee County and write a 500-word essay on the definition of a school threat and what he learned from his case. It also includes standard prohibitions on drug use and weapon possession. The petition says that the length of the probation is indefinite.
"This case has been a difficult ongoing struggle for Daniel and his family, and right now is a pivotal moment," the Change.org petition for Marquez reads in part.
The petition alleged the net effect of Swift's actions will be to "turn Daniel into a pariah."
"They are not corrective; they are punitive," the petition says.
The petition, which launched Aug. 22, has collected more than 40,000 signatures.
Marquez sent text messages to a friend
Previous reports from this news organization point out that the case stems from text messages Marquez sent to a classmate last year, days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
One text said, I scammed my friend for $1 trillion, with an image of money captured from Google, according to a deputys report and images of the texts released by the sheriffs office. Then I bought this, with another Google image of AR-style rifles. And then the phrase get ready for water day an end-of-school event for students.
Marquez testified in his defense, saying that the image of guns was part of a joke about scamming a friend and using the money to buy expensive items. But Swift did not find Marquez convincing after he gave some inconsistent answers about the timing of the texts and the contents of his phone under cross examination.
Florida law prohibits making written threats to conduct mass shootings, even if the threat is not sincere.
Three hours after Marquez's arrest, the sheriffs office released a 22-second clip of a deputy walking the handcuffed middle schooler to a cruiser. Daniels face was visible, and his name and date of birth were included in the accompanying Facebook post. The video accrued hundreds of thousands of views.
Marceno then did a string of interviews with local, national and international news media, touting his commitment to zero-tolerance law enforcement in the wake of the Uvalde school massacre. While some outlets withheld Daniel's identity, others broadcast his name and face.
The News-Press and Naples Daily News published his name with the consent of his father after Marceno released his identity.
In an interview, Marceno defended his decision to publicize Daniel's identity, saying he had received support from parents who had used the incident to scare their own kids.
On July 15, 2022, an advocacy group representing Marquez asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Lee County Sheriff's Office's handling of the case.
Marquez's attorney, Alex John Saiz, and the sheriff's office couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Family of Florida boy perp-walked by LCSO launches Change.org petition
Every September, world leaders converge on United Nations headquarters in Manhattan for a series of meetings on topics ranging from socioeconomic crises in Africa to climate change. For most Americans, the weeklong affair can best be described as a monotonous event, where dozens upon dozens of high-level officials who like to hear themselves talk deliver speeches to the U.N. chamber on the state of the world and what is needed to improve it.
Yet the U.N. General Assemblys annual meeting is about more than just a bunch of leaders talking into the microphone. Its also a time when diplomacy is in full force, and informal chitchats are arranged to tackle some of the globes most pressing problems. President Joe Biden will be engaging in a lot of chitchat when hes in New York City this week. So will Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president who has spent the last 19 months lobbying anybody and everybody for military support as his country valiantly resists Russias war of aggression.
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Zelenskyy is a tireless advocate for his nation. Over the last year and a half, the comedic actor-turned-wartime commander in chief has given countless interviews in the Western media to press his case: Russian President Vladimir Putin is a wannabe Peter the Great who not only wants to destroy Ukraines independence but also rebuild the Russian empire. Zelenskyy has traveled to Washington, Brussels, Paris, Berlin, London and Rome to meet with officials and ensure lawmakers in these respective countries understand why its imperative to assist Kyivs war effort. The most dramatic visit took place in Washington last December when Zelenskyy handed then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi the gift of a Ukrainian flag from soldiers fighting thousands of miles away in Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian president has been treated like a rock star in the West. Yet Zelenskyy has never been able to garner similar appeal in the capital cities of Africa, Latin America and Asia. (Seoul and Tokyo, two U.S. allies, have been the exceptions.) Whereas the collective West is fully behind Kyivs mission of expelling the Russian army from Ukraine, countries as varied as Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and South Africa just want the fighting to stop regardless of the outcome. To Zelenskyy and his partners in the U.S. and Europe, such a stance is unethical and immoral. But for the Ukrainian president specifically, its a stance that nonetheless exists and one he hopes to tame during his short time at the U.N.
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The Ukrainians recognize they have a problem with the so-called Global South, the developing and middle-tier powers straddling three continents. As one Ukrainian official acknowledged last week, To secure a comprehensive, long-lasting peace, we need more than Western political support. Zelenskyy seems to have taken those words to heart; in May, he made a surprise appearance in Riyadh to address the Arab League, whose members have chosen to stay neutral in the conflict. In June, Zelenskyy greeted an African Union delegation to receive its draft peace plan, if only to send a message that he isnt dismissing its effort out of hand.
[ Daniel DePetris: Yevgeny Prigozhins death in Russia raises questions about the Wagner Groups future ]
Yet those few appearances aside, Zelenskyys efforts in the Global South have been lacking compared with his diplomatic activity in the West. Granted, much of this can be chalked up to sheer necessity: The U.S. and Europe, after all, are Ukraines biggest military backers, and Kyivs top priority is to maintain, and ideally, expand, this aid well into next year. Without consistent Western military supplies, Ukrainians simply cant maintain their positions, let alone advance along a 600-mile-long front line inundated with trenches, anti-tank traps and minefields that in some places reach 10 miles wide.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before an address to the Danish people from the steps of Christiansborg Palace, the seat of the Danish Parliament, in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Aug. 21, 2023. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/AP)
Even so, the almost exclusive focus on the West hasnt helped Kyivs prospects in large swaths of Africa, Latin America and Asia. And lets be honest: His prospects werent especially great to begin with. This is less about Zelenskyys ability as a communicator and more about the fact that the positions are almost irreconcilable.
For Zelenskyy, there is no such thing as compromise on this issue. The entire picture is black-and-white, a contest between good and evil. Putin is a despot, Russia is an aggressor state, Ukraine is the victim and the only acceptable outcome is Russias unequivocal withdrawal from every square centimeter of Ukrainian territory. This has been Zelenskyys fundamental theory of the case, and he reiterates it at every opportunity. As he told CNNs Fareed Zakaria recently, talking with Putin is folly: When you want to have compromises or a dialogue with somebody, you cant do it with a liar.
Needless to say, Zelenskyys absolutism doesnt hold bandwidth outside the West. While Russias invasion and occupation certainly violate the core tenets of the U.N. charter, the developing world cant afford to cut off a major power to make a moral point. This obviously drives the West crazy but is quite sensible for countries that either depend on Russia as a food source (Brazil), have historical relations to the Kremlin dating to the Cold War (South Africa) or are seeking to leverage their strategic position (Saudi Arabia). Indeed, some, such as India, have actually made out quite well financially and geopolitically since the war began New Delhi has exploited Russias desperate need for cash by scooping up hundreds of millions of barrels of Russian crude oil at a hefty discount.
Bluntly put, Zelenskyy has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to bring these nations to Ukraines side. He will have his best chance this week.
But he, and we, shouldnt be surprised if he flies back to Kyiv with little to show for his effort. In international relations, national interests trump values more often than not.
Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
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After four University of Idaho students were killed in a gruesome attack last November, their families had to wrestle with grieving under the public eye as the case garnered national attention.
They chose to take different paths when it came to that type of publicity.
Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death at a house near the U of I campus in Moscow in the early morning hours of Nov. 13. Bryan Kohberger, 28, a Pennsylvania native studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, was arrested in December and has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
The Goncalves family has given dozens of interviews and said it conducted its own investigation into the killings, and it hired an attorney, Shanon Gray, who has been active in a gag order fight. Chapins mother has written a childrens book about him and went on NBCs Today show last year. Mogens family got matching tattoos in her honor and joined with the Goncalves family in filing a precursor to a lawsuit against police, the university and others.
The Kernodles, however, remained mostly out of the public eye, asking for privacy when approached by media outlets. That changed recently, when Jazzmin Kernodle and Jeff Kernodle sister and father of the victim sat down for an interview for a CBS 48 Hours episode that aired Saturday.
She cared about people, Jeff Kernodle said. She was a people person. She cared about her friends just as much as her family.
Jazzmin, 22, described Xana as fun and uplifting, someone who took any bad situation and turned it into a good one.
My sister Xana Kernodle was one of the happiest, funniest people Ive ever met, Jazzmin said. I had the awesome privilege of growing up with her.
The two sisters were often mistaken as twins and remained best friends until her death, according to CBS. They had planned to launch a marketing business together.
She would have been my maid of honor, and I probably would have been hers, Jazzmin said. Its sad to have to go through those moments without her.
From left, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed in an attack near the University of Idaho.
Father and sister remember worst day
Jazzmin was a senior at Washington State University in Pullman the same school where Kohberger was a graduate student and lived just 15 minutes away from her sister, the CBS report pointed out.
Jeff had been visiting Jazzmin for her colleges Dads Weekend on Nov. 12-13. After he left on that Sunday, Jazzmin began getting phone calls from Xanas friends saying something bad had happened at the house on King Road.
Jazzmin said she quickly got in her car and called her sister and Chapin, who was dating Kernodle, over and over as she drove to Moscow. She also called her father.
I hear crying, crying and just telling me to get back to Moscow and meet at Xanas house, Jeff said. My heart drops instantly and I race back down there.
After they arrived, law enforcement quickly took them to a police station.
The worst day of your life, your worst nightmare, just happened, Jeff said. What do you do? You cant do a damn thing.
Jazzmin said she is still coming to terms with the death of her sister.
Ive had some dreams of her, Jazzmin said. Theres times where I prayed and asked God to see her another time, and I did. It just gives me peace knowing that shes OK.
Jazzmin Kernodle, sister of Xana, and Jeff Kernodle, father of Xana, sat down with CBS for an interview.
Some families fight to get cameras in courtroom for trial
Defense attorneys for Kohberger have requested that the judge ban cameras from the courtroom, saying news coverage could threaten his right to a fair trial.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson also has asked the judge to remove cameras during the testimony of a number of young and vulnerable witnesses, according to court documents.
The Goncalves family and members of the Kernodle family have come out against those wishes, stating that they do not want camera restrictions, including at trial. Several media outlets, including the Idaho Statesman, have filed suit to maintain cameras in the courtroom.
This case is surrounded by secrecy, said a statement issued to the Idaho Statesman by Gray, the Goncalves attorney, on behalf of his clients and unnamed members of the Kernodle family. Everything is either sealed or redacted. No one knows anything about the case, which leads to speculation. That speculation is fueled by the secrecy surrounding everything that is filed and every hearing that is closed off to the media and the public.
So it is vitally important that the trial be viewed publicly! It is important to the victims family, relatives, community members and the public that this veil of secrecy be lifted at trial. This not only ensures accountability for all the parties involved but also helps the public maintain its faith in the justice system!
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
Todays right-wing conservatives have recently adopted a dangerous strain of inflammatory anti-vaccine rhetoric, according to scientist and vaccine expert Dr. Peter Hotez, who joins The New Abnormal this week to discuss his new book on the subject, The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science.
And he says theres plenty of research to suggest that the vaccine hesitancy born of far-right conspiracies is at least in part responsible for the unique trajectory of American COVID-19 deaths throughout the past three-plus years, something he addresses at length in his book.
The reason its important to talk about this is not because its just another check box in the culture wars, or something to do with wokeness or anti-wokenessit is the fact that it killed Americans in unprecedented numbers, Dr. Hotez said.
This aggressive anti-vaccine movement I estimate killed up to 200,000 Americans during the Delta and BA.1 Omicron waves, after vaccines were widely available, because people refused vaccines, he added. They went down this rabbit hole and believed elected members of Congress, the senators, members of the House of Representatives, the far-right podcasters on Fox News, and it killed people.
Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.
Then, labor reporter and author Kim Kelly joins the program to discuss the ongoing United Auto Workers strikeas well as a host of other labor-related news.
Republicans Are Embarrassing Themselves Trying to Justify Biden Impeachment Inquiry
Plus! An analysis of Kristen Welkers debut on Meet the Press, complete with an off-the-rails interview with former President Donald Trump.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Several deaths have been reported after Azerbaijan carried out strikes on the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday in an anti-terror operation that threatens to trigger another war in the region.
The countrys Defense Ministry said it was using high-precision weapons to incapacitate Armenian-backed forces and target Armenian military positions in a push to force out formations of Armenias armed forces.
Footage purportedly filmed in Stepanakert, the capital of Karabakh, which is called Khankendi by Azerbaijan, captured the sounds of loud shelling and artillery fire.
At this moment, the capital Stepanakert and other cities and villages are under intensive fire, an Armenia-based separatist group warned on social media, calling it a large-scale military offensive.
Armenian separatists said two civilians had been killed and nearly two dozen others wounded in Azerbaijans shelling, while authorities in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, blamed Armenian separatists in Karabakh for the mortar shelling death of a civilian in the city of Shusha.
Azerbaijan rejected a proposal from Armenians in Karabakh to sit down for negotiations, saying that anti-terrorist activities will continue until the end unless Armenians in Karabakh agreed to surrender.
The illegal Armenian military formations must raise the white flag, all weapons must be handed over, and the illegal regime must be dissolved, the presidential administration of Azerbaijan said.
Armenia has said it does not have any armed forces in Karabakh. Residents of Karabakhcalled Artsakh by localshave already suffered for months under an Azerbaijani blockade of the breakaway region that cut off food supplies and crucial medicines. Residents have said they believe Baku is using the blockade to try and starve them into submission or force them to leave the region. Experts, too, have warned that the blockade could turn into a full-on genocide.
The Gravedigger Who Fears Digging His Own Sons Grave in Nagorno-Karabakh
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Armenian capital of Yerevan late Tuesday to demand action be taken over Bakus military operationwith some of them chanting that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was a traitor.
Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh but vowed that Yerevan would not take any rash actions. Instead, he called on the United Nations and Russia, which has a peacekeeping mission in the region, to take steps to stop the conflict.
The Kremlin said it was concerned by the sharp escalation in the region, and called on both sides to stop hostilities. It also said it could not confirm that Azerbaijan had warned Moscow of the military operation in advance.
Officials in Baku said civilians were free to leave the area via humanitarian corridors and insisted that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure are not targets.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have feuded for decades over Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has a predominantly ethnic Armenian population.
Attack Drones Dominating Tanks as Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Showcases the Future of War
A bloody 2020 war between the two former Soviet rivals ended with Azerbaijan recapturing land of historical significance to Armenians. A Russian-brokered ceasefire deal to end that war did little to ease tensions in the region, with the two sides continuing to hurl allegations and periodic reports of shelling.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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A federal judge on Tuesday upheld two federal convictions against a Navy veteran and Oath Keeper associate accused of helping the far-right group stash weapons outside Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021.
In November, Thomas Caldwell who was tried along with leaders of the Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes and Kelly Meggs was convicted of obstructing an official proceeding and tampering with documents. A jury, however, acquitted him of all the conspiracy charges he faced, including seditious conspiracy.
During a hearing Tuesday morning, Judge Amit Mehta rejected arguments from Caldwell that a jury did not have sufficient evidence to conclude he was guilty of the two counts. As part of his ruling, Mehta found that Caldwell supported Oath Keeper members in obstructing Congress on January 6, noting that Caldwell was ready to support the organization and helped plan the armed quick reaction force in Virginia.
Staging materials to support the conduct on January 6 all could have been considered by the jury to enable President (Donald) Trump to remain in office as the ultimate, unlawful objective, Mehta said.
Mehta pointed to messages Caldwell sent through an encrypted app about a much bigger op where we might have to roll into town to save the republic. The messages, Mehta said, are important in that a jury could have found that Mr. Caldwell was thinking about a much bigger op that might include violence if called upon.
Mehta also said there was sufficient evidence that Caldwell deleted messages after the riot unfolded in an effort to obstruct prosecutors investigation into the riot.
During the weekslong trial, prosecutors argued that Caldwell, though not a member of the Oath Keepers himself, led the effort to organize the quick reaction force so that the far-right group could quickly transport firearms into Washington, DC, on January 6 should they decide it was necessary.
Caldwell went as far as to scope out DC in reconnaissance missions, prosecutors said, though Caldwell testified he was looking to see where porta-potties would be set up around the rally space.
On January 6, Caldwell was captured on video just outside the Capitol cheering and celebrating as the assault was ongoing.
In his own testimony, Caldwell told jurors that he was being a little bit of a goof when, on January 6, he claimed to know where then-Vice President Mike Pence lived and made derogatory comments about then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
During Tuesdays hearing, Mehta said that Caldwells own actions that day at the Capitol supported his conviction by a jury of obstructing an official proceeding. Caldwell was captured on video saying, We are surging forward and doors breached, Mehta noted.
Caldwell told the jury he didnt mean messages he sent just weeks before January 6, hoping that Trump would start rounding up and executing traitors.
He has not yet been sentenced.
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GRAND LEDGE During a major August storm that swept tornados across Michigan, Timothy Hillock felt the pressure drop and heard the "train" sounds that often come with devastating wind.
That's when his housemate told him to watch out. He crouched down a bit inside of his living room as a large tree crashed through his roof, hitting him on the head and driving him to the floor.
"I'm lucky to be alive," Hillock said.
Federal and state disaster officials visited Hillock's home in the Grand Ledge Ravines community, several sites in Eaton County, and elsewhere in mid-Michigan, on Tuesday. Hillock had one of the most damaged homes in Grand Ledge.
"I'm lucky to be alive," Timothy Hillock of Grand Ledge says, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, where a tree crashed through his roof, hitting him on the head, last month. The roof remains tarped and the window boarded up weeks after a series of violent storms and tornados swept through Michigan.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency work crew, joined by state emergency officials, will help determine if the Aug. 24 storm caused enough damage to warrant federal disaster intervention. Grand Ledge City Manager Adam Smith did not respond Tuesday to a request for comment about damage in the city.
There are currently nine federal disasters, including flooding or severe storms in Alaska, California, Illinois, Mississippi and Vermont. The other current disasters include the Hawaii wildfires, Hurricane Idalia and additional fires.
The formula for certifying a federal disaster is complicated and takes many factors into account, including the cost of the damage and the effect on the community, said Lauren Thompson-Phillips, a spokesperson for the Michigan State Police and its Emergency Management Division, which assists the federal officials.
The damage tallies are not yet available. Significant damage in other counties, including in and around Williamston and Webberville in Ingham and Livingston counties, will likely drive much of the end result, she said.
In areas of Detroit, officials will be going door to door this week to look for flooding, while in Eaton County it is more about responding to people who submitted reports to local, state or federal officials, Thompson-Phillips said.
If the damage qualifies for a federal disaster declaration, it could mean additional dollars, including reimbursements, for debris removal and other emergency acts. Disasters can qualify for a range of federal support, including payments to individuals and local governments, she said.
Federal and state officials speak with Timothy Hillock of Grand Ledge, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, outside his home. They're part of a preliminary team surveying storm, tornado, and water damage after a severe storm and tornado swept thru the area last month.
The local assessment work will continue this week. Officials are expecting to visit the Webberville area in Ingham County, one of the hardest-hit areas of the state because of a tornado. In all, eight counties will be checked by the officials: Eaton, Ingham, Ionia, Kent, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland and Wayne.
If the damage assessment crew had come last week, Hillock wouldn't have heard back from his insurance company yet and he would be worried about where he'll live when it gets cold. A home with a roof open to the air is no way to live, Hillock said.
"I'd be living in my car," he added.
But, as the state and FEMA officials took photos of his house and had him answer a brief question form, Hillock was seeing the brighter future.
His insurance policy is covering his repairs, and he survived something that could have killed him and he's coming out stronger.
Federal and state officials survey storm damage at a West Lincoln Street home in Grand Ledge on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. They're part of a joint team surveying storm, tornado, and water damage after a storm and tornado swept thru the area last month.
"My housemate says to step away from the window and I turned my head and sort of stepped and the tree came through the house," he said. "I was already in a crouch. If I wasn't, I'd be dead. It hit me in the head, knocked me to the flood and came and hit me again, burying me in the debris."
He climbed out from under the insulation and debris, largely unscathed except for a big headache the next day.
"I've got some things left to do," Hillock said. "I'm blessed."
Earlier crews had assessed the storm damage, finding that Michigan had seven verified tornadoes in the storm, an August record in the state.
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: 'I'm lucky to be alive': FEMA officials assess storm damage in Lansing area
For nearly 70 years, workers minted Frango chocolates on the 13th floor of the Marshall Field & Co. building on State Street.
Frango production moved out of state in 1999 to the dismay of civic leaders and local mint chocolate aficionados. The Frangos are long gone, but more than two decades later, chocolate has made its return to the upper floors of the building now anchored by the Macys department store, where candy giant Ferrero is opening its first North American research and development lab and innovation center.
The Tribune visited Ferreros labs, located on the buildings ninth floor, prior to a grand opening planned for Tuesday. Here, research teams will develop new product recipes, though sweets will not be manufactured on-site.
Details of the new operation are closely guarded. The Tribune was allowed to enter the labs where food scientists will research the development of new cookie products, but not its chocolate labs or the innovation center, where a team will conduct long-term research in support of products that could hit shelves a decade from now. Nor was the Tribune permitted to view the sensorial or analytical facilities, where workers will participate in blind taste tests of new products and evaluate their properties down to the gram.
The new space will support Ferreros scientific approach to the experience of eating and selling sweets.
You need brains and you need machines, said Laurent Cremona, senior vice president of research and development in North America and innovation center head.
When the Tribune observed Frango production at Marshall Fields in 1976, it viewed an assembly line in full, tumultuous gear stamping out endless rows of creamy, mint-scented chocolates at a rate of up to 300 pounds an hour. A conveyor belt vibrated excess chocolate to ensure each chocolate was uniform in weight; upon the mints emergence from a drying tunnel, workers inserted them into paper liners and then into boxes.
It is slow, exacting work, a vanishing art from another era, the Tribune wrote.
This century, the sweets labs at the historic Marshall Field building are an expansive white space full of shiny ovens, refrigerators and mixers used for testing but not production.
Ferreros local production is spread out across several facilities. In Illinois, Butterfinger and Baby Ruth chocolate bars are manufactured in Franklin Park and Keebler brand products are produced in a plant on 110th Street in Pullman. Ferrero makes Crunch bars, 100 Grand and Raisinets products at a facility in downstate Bloomington, where a $214.4 million expansion that will allow the production of Kinder products in North America for the first time is on track for completion next year.
Based in Luxembourg, the candy-maker has expanded in recent years, acquiring Chicago-based Ferrara Candy, the maker of Lemonheads, and chocolatier Fannie May. In 2018 and 2019 it bought Nestles U.S. candy business and a portion of Kelloggs North American snacks business, acquisitions that added the Butterfinger, Nerds and Famous Amos brands to its portfolio. Close to 500 Ferrara employees continue to work from the Old Post Office, confirmed spokesperson Blair Klein.
The Chicago labs will be a hub for development of North American products.
It isnt easy to capture all the needs, all the trends, when you are in (another) continent, said Joao Paulo Andorinha, senior vice president and head of the research and development lab.
Its why its important to be here, Andorinha said.
Legacy products like Nutella and Ferrero Rocher chocolates are made with the same recipe the world over, Andorinha said.
After that we have some more, I will say, specific products, like all the Keebler ones, Famous Amos, where there was designing for (the) North American market: in terms of the sweetener, in terms of the texture, he said.
One U.S.-specific brand that will be studied at the new R&D facility is Girl Scout cookies, acquired as part of Ferreros Kellogg purchase. Andorinha said the company sees the brand as a way to introduce younger consumers to Ferrero products.
About 30 to 40 workers will staff the labs and innovation center, with Ferreros total head count in the building topping 150 employees. Office staff on the eighth floor include brand teams for banners such as Keebler and Fannie May, as well as other corporate employees working in areas including finance and procurement.
The company is not adding to its head count in order to run the facility.
Ferrero said it has more than 1,500 employees in the state, including at its manufacturing facilities, downtown offices and Fannie May retail locations.
In a statement, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the investment at the Marshall Field building as one that would cement Chicagos reputation as a prime destination for the worlds best talent and businesses.
The upper floors of the Marshall Field building, which occupies an entire Loop block, were purchased by developer Brookfield Asset Management from Macys in 2018. Brookfield then converted those floors, which include the former Frango production space, into offices. Companies with leases in the building include online ticket broker Vivid Seats and Chicago-based market research firm Numerator.
Brookfield has leased 133,000 square feet of office space in the building so far this year, said spokesperson Laura Montross. New tenants include agribusiness company Olam International and logistics company Spot.
Privately held Ferrero reveals little about its finances, but said its U.S. sales grew more than 12% over the last year.
In an interview, Ferrero North America President and chief business officer Alanna Cotton said consumers are looking for products that are extra sensorial.
Cotton declined to describe potential future creations in detail, but said the company will continue to experiment with products that have a bit of texture, crunch, but also the goodness of chocolate, the goodness of fudge.
You can think about the idea of really combining our know-how in the chocolate, combining what were learning on the bakery side, and really making sure that we can create that experience that consumers love, she said.
Products that can be consumed on-the-go are also in demand post-pandemic, Cotton said, citing Ferreros Nutella & Go offering as one example.
Ferrero declined to share what percentage of its business is comprised of U.S. sales.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) took a jab at Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) while responding to Fox Newss coverage of the Senates updated dress code, calling out the Colorado lawmaker over her recent removal from a musical performance.
I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, theyll make me a hero, Fetterman wrote Tuesday in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in response to a Fox News post about how Republicans are pointing the finger at him for the Senates loosened dress code.
Fettermans apparent dig at Fox Newss coverage of Boebert comes after the Colorado lawmaker, along with a male companion, was kicked out of a performance of Beetlejuice last week for causing a disturbance, including vaping, singing and taking flash photography.
The Denver theater said Boebert and the man initially refused to leave the venue, even after an employee threatened to get the police, according to The Associated Press. While being escorted out of the theater, Boebert appeared to give the finger to security guards. Multiple videos have surfaced of the incident, which was first reported by The Denver Post.
Meanwhile, Fetterman, who is often spotted on Capitol Hill wearing shorts and hoodies instead of suits, has drawn the ire of some Republicans who blame the Pennsylvania lawmaker for the Senates dress code update.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has loosened the chambers informal dress code, allowing senators to wear whatever they want on the floor. This means lawmakers will no longer have to poke only their head and arm into the chamber to vote if wearing shorts or gym clothes. Prior to the update, Fetterman would have violated the dress code by walking onto the Senate floor in his typical attire.
On Monday, Fetterman took a snipe at data analyst Nate Silvers comments on the dress code, writing on X, I dress like you predict.
Fetterman was responding to Silvers post in which he joked he was starting a new political party for people who dont give a s about how John Fetterman dresses or what Lauren Boebert does in a theater.
Boeberts office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned "evil cannot be trusted" during a speech Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly 78th session General Debate in U.N. General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday as he sought unity against Russia's war in Ukraine and warned "evil cannot be trusted."
Zelensky urged the nearly 200 world leaders inside U.N. General Assembly Hall at the United Nations headquarters to unify against Russia and warned the threat of Russia's nuclear weapons "is even greater," as the Kremlin continues to weaponize food, energy and children.
"Terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons. No right!" Zelensky said in a 20-minute speech, spoken entirely in English, as he warned about what he called a "final war."
"While nukes remain in place, the mass destruction is gaining its momentum," Zelensky said.
Ukraine gave up its third largest nuclear arsenal. The world then decided Russia should become a keeper of such power. Yet, history shows it was Russia who deserved nuclear disarmament the most. And Russia deserves it now - terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons. pic.twitter.com/5gsz3iijTf Volodymyr Zelenskyy / (@ZelenskyyUa) September 19, 2023
"Once more, unity can prevent wars," Zelensky added, as he urged a complete nuclear disarmament. "It is a good strategy, but it should not be the only strategy to protect the world from the final war."
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky urges unity against Russian aggression during a speech Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly 78th session General Debate in U.N. General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI
While Zelensky called nuclear weapons the greatest threat, he said Russia has weaponized everything in its war against Ukraine.
"The aggressor is weaponizing many other things and those things are used not only against our country, but against all of yours, as well."
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russian's nuclear weapons threat "is even greater," during a speech at the U.N. General Assembly 78th session General Debate at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI
"Many times the world has witnessed Russia using energy as a weapon. The Kremlin weaponized oil and gas to weaken the leaders of other countries when they came to the Red Square. And now this threat is even greater," Zelensky said.
"Russia is weaponizing nuclear energy. Not only it is spreading its unreliable nuclear power plant construction technologies, but it is also turning other countries' power plants into real dirty bombs," Zelensky warned.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arrives Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly 78th session General Debate in U.N. General Assembly Hall at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. Photo by Jason Szenes/UPI
"Is there any sense to reduce nuclear weapons when Russia is weaponizing nuclear power plants? Scary question," Zelensky said, before turning to Russia's weaponization of food.
"Since the start of the full-scale war, the Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea have been blocked by Russia," Zelensky said. "And it is clear Russia's attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market."
"Russia is launching the food prices as weapons. The impact extends from the Atlantic coast of Africa to Southeast Asia," he said, as he thanked leaders for their support of Ukraine's Black Sea Grain Initiative.
"We are working to ensure food stability and I know that many of you will join us in these efforts. We launched a temporary sea export corridor from our ports and we are working hard to preserve our land routes for grain exports," Zelensky added.
During his entire speech, there were frequent televised cutaways of a non-reactive Russian federation inside U.N. General Assembly Hall. Earlier Tuesday, Zelensky questioned why the United Nations still allows "Russian terrorists" a seat at the table.
"If in the United Nations there is a place for Russian terrorists," Zelensky said during a visit to meet wounded Ukrainian soldiers at New York's Staten Island University Hospital, "it's a question to all the members of the United Nations."
During the second half of his U.N. speech, Zelensky grew emotional as he talked about Russia's weaponization of children, calling it "a genocide."
"Unfortunately, various terrorist groups attacked children to put pressure on their families and societies. But never before the mass kidnapping and deportation would become a part of the government policy. Not until now."
"We know the names of tens of thousands of children. We have evidence on hundreds of thousands of others kidnapped by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine and later deported," Zelensky shouted.
"We are trying to get children back home. But time, time goes by. What will happen with them? What will happen to them? Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine and all ties with their families are broken and this is clearly a genocide," he yelled.
Zelensky spent the final part of his speech warning all of the world leaders that if Russia succeeds, it will continue to wage war.
"Evil cannot be trusted. Ask Prigozhin," Zelensky said, referring to former Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who led an armed rebellion in June against military leaders in Russia. He died in a plane crash last month under questionable circumstances.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you," Zelensky warned. "Many seats in the General Assembly hall may become empty, empty if Russia succeeds with its treachery and aggression."
"The aggressor scatters deaths and brings ruin even without nukes, but the outcomes are alike," Zelensky said. "We know the possible effects of spreading the war into cyberspace and the artificial intelligence could be trained."
"Thank God, people have not yet learned to use climate as a weapon," Zelensky quipped sarcastically, as he announced plans for a global peace summit to stop wars in the future.
"We are preparing a global peace summit and please, I invite all of you, all of you who do not tolerate any aggression to jointly prepare the summit," Zelensky said, before pleading once again for unity.
"Weaponization must be restrained. War crimes must be punished. Deported people must come back home. And the occupier must return to their own land. We must be united to make it."
For anyone who has lived in Chicago for a while, the Mexican Independence Day festivities, and the ensuing disruptions to downtown Chicago this past weekend, were no surprise. Weve been trapped on DuSable Lake Shore Drive before, crawling along amid an exuberant group of celebrants waving the Mexican flag, honking their horns and feeling the September breeze on their faces.
It was a pain in the neck if you were trying to get home to a child and/or you couldnt afford losing an hour or two to gridlock. But there are worse things in life than being stuck in the middle of a joyous, overwhelmingly peaceful carnival. When you consider that something like a third of Chicagos population was either born in Mexico or has familial roots there, its hardly surprising that the Mexican Independence Day celebrations now are a big deal on the shores of Lake Michigan. And, lets remember, we all have a constitutional right to gather in the open air with like-minded folks and ride down DuSable Lake Shore Drive in celebration.
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If we keep moving.
There lies the rub. DuSable Lake Shore Drive cant be a tailgating zone. For one thing, ambulances have to be able to get through.
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Yet whereas most savvy Chicagoans clocked the calendar and made (or avoided) travel plans accordingly, City Hall appeared to be mostly oblivious to what happens every year now on this September weekend. Plans made in advance clearly were inadequate: The road closings, although necessary to prevent blockages, were last-minute, chaotic, unpredictable, poorly signed and mostly unannounced. And if you were visiting from out of state or even just from the suburbs, there was no noticeable pre-awareness campaign.
There were lessons learned, Mayor Brandon Johnsons deputy chief of staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, told the Tribune. Sure. Good. But lets not forget there were plenty of previous weekends just like this one that could have proved instructional.
Clearly, two things need to happen. The celebrants need and deserve more space and better accommodation, maybe in some kind of designated festive zone that we all know about in advance. And the city needs the mostly young flag wavers to understand that not everyone is having a party: Some of us are sick or trying to get to a job, and some of us are just trying to support a downtown business or event that can ill-afford another reason for its customers to be reluctant to go there.
The city has to focus its messaging along twin tracks: The right to assemble in joyous community celebration must be preserved, and lawlessness must not be tolerated.
This administration knows how to lift up the first (to use its preferred parlance) but not how to signal the second. The mayor needs to better understand that the one is as important as the other.
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.
WASHINGTON In recent years, debates have raged over how much oversight parents should have in their child's education, ranging from what books they read to instruction over gender identity and other issues.
Moms are at the center of these clashes.
Moms for Liberty, an organization founded in 2021, says on its website that it's dedicated to unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government.
But the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed the organization as an extremist group over accusations of harassing community members, advancing misinformation about LGBTQ+ people and fighting to remove materials about diversity from classrooms. Leadership of Moms for Liberty denies such accusations.
But resistance groups have formed against Moms for Liberty. One such group, Defense of Democracy, founded by two moms last year, is aimed at advocating for a public education system that supports and enhances our shared experiences," fighting against efforts to target local schools, libraries and other spaces for kids.
Heres an inside look at the battle between the two groups and how it's shaping the 2024 race.
'We have to fight this battle piece by piece'
Before Tiffany Justice co-founded Moms for Liberty, she served on the school board of the Indian River County, Florida, school district during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when schools were implementing masks and lockdowns.
I watched as parents were coming and saying, I'm very concerned about my child. My child isn't learning well. They're suffering from forced quarantining or masking, and it just became very apparent that government schools our public schools in America didn't really give a hoot what parents said or did or what their concerns were, Justice, a mother of four, told USA TODAY.
After her term ended, she co-founded Moms for Liberty along with two other moms, Tina Descovich and Bridget Ziegler.
Every parent has the fundamental right to direct the upbringing of their child," she said.
And what parents want when it comes to schools is transparency and accountability," she added.
Darcy Schoening, a 41-year-old who chairs the Moms for Liberty local chapter in El Paso County, Colorado, told USA TODAY she joined the group about a year and a half ago because shes "scared" about what her children might be taught in school.
I see the public schools as the forum where the fight for democracy (and) the fight for constitutional rights is really playing out ... whether it's, you know, reviewing the curriculum, whether it's looking at the books that are in schools, whatever may be the case, we have to fight this battle piece by piece to try to save our kids, Schoening said.
Schoening's children do not attend public school.
While Moms for Liberty says it promotes "teaching the principles of liberty in our homes and schools," it has garnered the most attention for becoming a conservative force in school board races across the country and its wider efforts to restrict student access to certain books about race, gender, sexual orientation and more.
Members of the group have also pushed against a slate of COVID-19 mitigation measures such as lockdowns and masking, even as infections have increased across the country.
Jeanie Rush, a member of Moms for Liberty in Colorado, told USA TODAY she is against social and emotional learning, critical race theory and diversity efforts in schools, and thats what connected her to Moms for Liberty.
Social and emotional learning is a wide-reaching term used to describe practices that range from managing emotions to developing empathy and other skills.
The Moms for Liberty people I've met, I'm so proud of because they stood up to different school boards and said, the books the materials that you are giving young children, you don't give, Rush, a 73-year-old grandmother to six children, said.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Moms for Liberty message spreads
Moms for Liberty has forged ties to high-level GOP politicians and managed to tap into conservative funding networks, said Michael Feola, an associate professor at the government & law department at Lafayette College.
"More broadly, they've secured a high-profile platform to push their radical vision of 'parent's rights' into the forefront of public conversations," Feola said.
In July, Moms for Liberty held its national summit in Pennsylvania that drew 2024 Republican frontrunner former President Donald Trump and other White House hopefuls, including businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis a sign of the groups growing influence on the national campaign trail.
The candidates lauded Moms for Liberty to a crowd of supporters at the event, in addition to criticizing trans people and critical race theory, positions Moms for Liberty has also embraced.
In school board races, PTA meetings and town halls across the nation, you have taught the radical left Marxists and communists a lesson they will never forget. ... Dont mess with Americas moms, Trump said. He later called the Moms for Liberty the best thing that has happened to America.
DeSantis, who has three kids under the age of 10, said the most powerful political force in this country are moms and added that "I believe if we do it right, 2024 is going to be the year when the parents across this country finally fight back."
The governor has made Florida schools the stomping ground for educational culture wars, signing bills aimed at prohibiting classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity and implementing a bill of rights for parents in the state.
Ramaswamy, Haley and other GOP candidates, including those running for U.S. Senate, have also signed the Parent Pledge from the group, vowing their support for the group's goals.
Feola explained that schools are a "nearly perfect target for culture warriors as schools encapsulate the fears that drive conservative messaging: racial change, shifting gender/sexual norms, and cultural change."
"It's a perfect storm of factors: fears over a nation moving leftward; fears over a society that has 'lost its way'; fears over elites forcing their will on citizens; and fears over children typically presented as a uniquely vulnerable population," Feola said.
'It's hard to sit back and not do something about it': Defense of Democracy fights back
Karen Svoboda, a 52-year-old based in New York, told USA TODAY she founded Defense of Democracy last year to fight back against school board members endorsed by Moms for Liberty. She said one of her organizations main tenets is the protection and advocacy for public schools and pro-democracy candidates and libraries.
Svoboda said Moms for Libertys efforts to exclude certain books from a childs curriculum is cruel, not only to the child, but to the entire country because you are denying somebody the ability to be a well-rounded and informed citizen.
Book bans, among other efforts taken by Moms for Liberty, are also what pulled Erica Watkins, a 36-year-old mom of two kids based in Oklahoma, into the group, where she is now a regional director.
Watkins condemned Moms for Liberty's stances on critical race theory and how she says the group embraces a harmful narrative around children who undergo gender-affirming care. She also said that as a veteran, she believes in freedom and differences in ideas.
We have marginalized groups ... queer community and people of color that are being targeted by religious extremists in our country, Watkins said. And as somebody that was served and sent overseas to fight against religious extremism in other countries, it's hard to sit back and not do something about it.
Candidates running for offices ranging from local school boards to congressional seats have signed the organizations pledge to acknowledge individuals from all walks of life and the education system.
Renay Zamora, a 56-year-old mother with two children based in Tennessee, said that amid anti-LGBTQ legislation being passed in her state, the tensions in school board meetings and book bans, she was feeling helpless and joined the group to fight back against those efforts.
We want people to attend the school board meetings, see what's happening because this is a very microcosmic kind of level stuff that's eating at the fabric of the public school system, Zamora said. And we want to stop it from metastasizing.
Diana Patton, a 49-year-old veteran based in New York who leads Defense of Democracys subgroup Veterans Defending Democracy, told USA TODAY that while she doesnt have any kids, she is under oath to protect all of our constitutional rights, including the kid's constitutional rights.
And Annette Deigh, a 44-year-old mom with two children in Pennsylvania and chair of the diversity, equity and inclusion committee at the organization, told USA TODAY she joined Defense of Democracy after she saw Moms for Liberty members making inroads at her local school district.
I really believe in what the organization stands for, fighting for inclusivity, you know, being inclusive for all of our children, not just like the white cis Christian kids and families, but like everybody, Deigh said.
What does the culture war in education mean for the 2024 election?
Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Columbia University, told USA TODAY that Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkins victory in the 2021 election sharpened a national focus on education.
You had a Republican in a purple state a state that often was going to the Democrats at the state level and you had (someone) who did win and who many people believed one largely because of his position on parent voice in schools, Henig said.
That message kind of percolated out among the Republican activist community who saw this as something that they might be able to transfer to other states and other elections as a way to both mobilize some of their core voters, but I think more importantly, to appeal to voters who were swing voters.
But Henig said that while GOP candidates like Haley and DeSantis are using education issues to appeal to Republican voters in the primary, discussions around the topic could fade by the general election.
I think that the culture war appeal, the appeal of the culture war on the right is going to fade to some degree out of pragmatic concern that ... those things will not help them win a general election, Henig said.
Pedro Noguera, the Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean of the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, agreed, noting that education is often a local issue.
Theres so many things that influence voters, you know, the price of gas will influence voters, you know, the overall state of the economy, jobs, Noguera said. It's hard to know where education fits in."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How Moms for Liberty, Defense of Democracy are shaping the 2024 race
YEREVAN, Armenia Azerbaijans forces rained artillery fire on Armenian positions in Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday, and local officials reported that scores of people both civilians and troops were killed and wounded in the fighting.
Ethnic Armenian authorities in the Caucasus Mountains region urged Azerbaijan to sit down for talks, but Azerbaijans presidential administration said what it described as an anti-terrorist operation will continue until illegal Armenian military formations surrender and the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh dismantles itself.
The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war in the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which have faced off for more than three decades in a conflict over the mountainous territory. The most recent heavy fighting there occurred for six weeks in 2020.
A training exercise near Yerevan, where around 85 U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division and Kansas National Guard are training with Armenian peacekeepers, will conclude tomorrow as scheduled, according to an emailed statement from Army officials in Europe. The Eagle Partner exercise has met its objectives to build new relationships at the tactical level and increase interoperability for peacekeeping operations, the officials told Military Times.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday declared that it started what it called an
Azerbaijans Defense Ministry announced the start of the operation hours after it reported that four soldiers and two civilians died in land mine explosions in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The ministry did not immediately give details but said front-line positions and military assets of Armenias armed forces were being incapacitated using high-precision weapons, and that only legitimate military targets were attacked.
Armenias Foreign Ministry, however, denied its weapons or troops were in Nagorno-Karabakh and called reported sabotage and land mines in the region a lie. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashiyan alleged that Azerbaijans main goal is to draw Armenia into hostilities.
Ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the regions capital of Stepanakert and other villages were under intense shelling. The regions military said Azerbaijan was using aircraft, artillery and missile systems and drones in the fighting.
A damaged residential apartment building following shelling is seen in Stepanakert in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. (Twitter via AP)
Video from the city showed a damaged residential building with shattered windows and damaged cars nearby.
Residents of Stepanakert moved to basements and bomb shelters, and the fighting cut off electricity. Food shortages persisted in the area, with the limited amount limited of humanitarian aid delivered Monday not distributed due to the shelling, which resumed in the evening after halting briefly in the afternoon.
Nagorno-Karabakh human rights ombudsman Geghan Stepanyan said 25 people, including two civilians, were killed and 138 others, including 29 civilians with 11 children among them, were wounded. According to Stepanyans earlier statements, one child was among those killed.
The Azerbaijani Prosecutor Generals Office said Armenian forces fired at Shusha, a city in Nagorno-Karabakh under Azerbaijans control, from large-caliber weapons, killing one civilian.
Neither claim could be independently verified.
Flames rise over an area that Azerbaijan says hosts Armenian forces' positions in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. (Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan via AP)
Although Azerbaijan said the operation was limited to military targets, the Defense Ministry said humanitarian corridors had been created to evacuate the population.
Thomas de Waal, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Europe think tank, said the military operation could be part of a plan by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev to get ethnic Armenians to leave the area.
Although he said it was still early to assess, it could be a kind of limited military action which will try to coerce thousands of Armenians to flee to Armenia. And then Aliyev can achieve his objective of taking over Karabakh with not so much bloodshed, de Waal told The Associated Press.
Earlier Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region that is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijans Interior Ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two highway department workers died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Nagorno-Karabakh and sizable surrounding territories were under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh during the 2020 fighting. That ended with an armistice placing Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh.
People gather at the Armenia government building to protest against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, Armenia, Sept. 19, 2023. (Vahram Baghdasaryan/Photolure via AP)
However, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing food and medicine shortages.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, but local officials said roads to the region were not fully open.
The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has complained repeatedly that the 2,000-member Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open, even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Armenia also angered Russia, which has a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied Tuesday that Russia was told in advance of Azerbaijans intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only a few minutes before it began.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was concerned by a drastic escalation of tensions and the beginning of hostilities in the region, and that the Russian military was in touch with their Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts, trying to bring back the process of settling (the conflict) back onto political-diplomatic track.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the use of force to resolve disputes is unacceptable and runs counter to efforts to create conditions for a just and dignified peace in the region. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Azeribaijani government must immediately stop the attacks and return to diplomacy.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country supports Azerbaijan, condemned the latest negative developments.
De Waal said the Russian peacekeeping force has lost probably its best officers to the war in Ukraine but that this breakdown in Armenia-Russian relations is a factor here.
I think it encourages Azerbaijan to be bolder and it makes the Russians more ambiguous and less willing to to intervene. And, you know, its quite possible indeed, that the Russians want to use a crisis to instigate regime change in Armenia, he said.
Thousands of protesters gathered Tuesday in central Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, blocking streets and demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some clashed with police, who reportedly used stun grenades. Others rallied at the Russian Embassy, demanding action. The Russian state news agency Tass reported, citing an unidentified source in the diplomatic mission, that the building was blocked by protesters.
Pashinyan said attempts to draw Armenia into the military escalation are unacceptable and said that Russian peacekeepers should act, along with the U.N. Security Council.
Associated Press writers Jim Heintz and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, Aida Sultanova in London and Siranush Sargsyan in Stepanakert, Nagorno-Karabakh, contributed. Army Times senior reporter Davis Winkie contributed additional reporting to this wire story.
The White House on Tuesday hit back at House Republicans after the House Oversight Committee announced that the first hearing in a GOP-led impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden would take place on 28 September.
Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the the White House Counsels Office, said in a statement that the timing of the announcement and of the hearing itself just 48 hours before the federal government will run out of funds at the end of the fiscal year shows that the House GOP is already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country.
Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families, Mr Sams said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the inquiry last week in a bid to appease extremist factions of his conference and entice them into voting to keep the US government funded next week.
The embattled Republican leaders announcement meant he reneged on a prior pledged to require a vote of the full 435-member body before conducting an impeachment probe into Mr Biden, who has been the subject of a months-long investigation by the House Oversight Committee which has turned up no evidence that he has broken any laws or committed any wrongdoing. Mr McCarthy previously criticised then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for employing during the impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump.
A spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee has said that the hearing is set to focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the Presidents involvement in corruption and abuse of public office.
The spokesperson added that the lawmakers are planning on subpoenaing the personal and business bank records of Mr Biden, his brother James Biden, and the presidents son Hunter Biden as early as this week.
The hearing comes amid the House GOPs ongoing investigation of the presidents youngest and only surviving son, who is an attorney and former lobbyist.
The chair of the Oversight Committee, James Comer of Kentucky, said that the hearing will review existing evidence developed during the probe, according to Axios.
Well be issuing the details hopefully by the end of the day or first thing in the morning, he said on Tuesday.
While a number of Republicans in both the Senate and the House have said that they dont think theres enough evidence to launch an inquiry, an Oversight Committee spokesperson said the panel will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government.
The scheduling of the first hearing comes as California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked the Republicans for launching their inquiry in an interview with CNN.
Mr Newsom blasted Mr McCarthy for launching the probe without any evidence of wrongdoing against Mr Biden. He called the investigation a joke after the probe was started despite no proven link showing that Mr Biden benefitted from his sons business dealings.
This is student government, Mr Newsom told CNN in an interview aired on Monday night. I mean, this is a perversity with what the founding fathers ever conceived of and imagined. So, if thats the best they could do, give me a break.
Mr Newsom said that while he doesnt love that some family members of political leaders use their DC influence to make large amounts of money, he said it was hardly unique.
If thats the new criteria, there are a lot of folks in a lot of industries, not just in politics, where people have family members and relationships that theyre trying to parlay and get a little influence and benefit in that respect, he said.
The News
A Republican-led House committee is set to hold its first hearing related to the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Thursday, Sept. 28.
The House Oversight Committee hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the Presidents involvement in corruption and abuse of public office, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy endorsed the impeachment inquiry without holding a vote. He was under pressure to back the move from far-right Republicans who have threatened to block his government spending plan.
Know More
The inquiry centers on the presidents son Hunter Bidens foreign business work. Republicans have not found evidence of misconduct by the president but say their allegations are serious enough to warrant the probe.
The hearings will give Republicans more leverage to investigate the Bidens; the committee could seek to subpoena Hunter Bidens financial records as early as this week, the spokesperson said.
The White House has adamantly denied any wrongdoing and accused House Republicans of trying to score political points against Biden by investigating lies. White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement Tuesday that Republicans are staging a political stunt hearing.
House Republicans should drop these silly political Washington games and actually do their job to prevent a government shutdown, Sams said.
The police, together with concerned citizens, have rescued two people from under the rubble in the first minutes after a Shahed drone attack on Lviv.
Source: video posted by the patrol police
Details: During the morning attack on the city of Lviv, the policemen of the 2nd Battalion went to the place of the explosion, where people were buried under the rubble.
Company commander Oleksandr Kuksin and his partners Nazar Burmekha and Yevhen Rybalka joined the concerned citizens and began to throw away the fragments of concrete and other structures under which a woman and a man were trapped.
The people were rescued from under the rubble. The 26-year-old man was taken to hospital; the 29-year-old woman refused to be taken to hospital.
Overall, one person was killed in Lviv, and another one was injured.
Reportedly, clean-up efforts to deal with the aftermath of the attack are ongoing.
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Five Americans freed from Iranian detention this week returned to US soil early Tuesday following an initial stop in Doha, Qatar, two US officials told CNN.
Emad Shargi , Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi , along with two Americans who have not been publicly named arrived at Fort Belvoirs Davison Army Airfield for an emotional reunion with their family members.
The freed Americans, who were released Monday as part of a wider deal that includes the US unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds, will have the option to participate in a Department of Defense program known as PISA (Post Isolation Support Activities) to help them acclimate back to normal life now that they are back in the United States.
The return of the five Americans, all of whom had been designated as wrongfully detained, caps a significant diplomatic breakthrough after years of complicated indirect negotiations between the US and Iran, who do not have formal diplomatic ties.
Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens and Acting US special envoy for Iran Abram Paley descended the steps of the small plane first to cheers and applause, and someone was heard shouting, Yay Roger! Yay Abram!
Then the freed American detainees stepped off the plane and onto US soil for the first time in more than five years and into the arms of their loved ones, some of whom rushed forward to greet them, carrying small American flags.
Were home, Emad Shargi said after embracing his daughters, Hannah and Ariana, and stroking his wife Baharehs face.
The family members then greeted each others returned loved ones Bahareh hugging Siamak and Morads son hugging Emad.
Families were hugging, crying, people at some points hadnt seen each other in eight years. I had the chance to hug and talk to a few of them myself but also to watch the families interact. It was very nice to watch the Shargi family interact with the Tahbaz family, the Tahbaz family interact with the Namazi family, Carstens said on CNN This Morning Tuesday. These people have become quite close over the last few years. It was good to watch that energy and love and happiness and joy of watching this reconnection.
I think theyre doing great, he said of the former hostages emotional state, adding that they are now in the care of the Department of Defense and undergoing post-isolation support activities.
In his first statement since his release from Iranian detention, Tahbaz said his time in captivity was difficult but also helped me learn a lot about myself and the world.
Although I am a cancer survivor, I learned that I needed to be even stronger than I thought I was. I had to dig deep within myself to find the resilience to overcome this challenge, he said in the statement shared with CNN Tuesday.
However, I also learned that even in the darkest places and worst conditions, there are still good people in this world, and that gave me hope, Tahbaz, who returned to the US along with his wife, Vida Tahbaz.
He noted that they are still absorbing the enormity of coming back home and to freedom and are focused on our recovery and spending private time with our family as we adapt to a new normal.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan posted on X an image of the Americans on the flight back to the US, along with a message that said, Welcome home.
The group was flown out of Tehran on a Qatari government jet to Doha on Monday, before taking off for the Washington, DC, area to be reunited with their families, according to a senior administration official. Namazis mother, Effie Namazi, and Vida Tahbaz, who had been previously unable to leave Iran, were also on the flight from Iran to Doha, the official said Monday.
After a year of indirect negotiations, the deal began to broadly come together in Doha about seven months ago and the first tangible public steps took place about five weeks ago, when four of the Americans were transferred to house arrest. The fifth American was already under house arrest.
President Joe Biden on Monday celebrated their release after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering. But while the release stood as the latest high-profile deal negotiated by his administration to secure the release of Americans deemed wrongly detained abroad, Biden drew criticism from some Republicans who likened the agreement to a ransom payment.
A senior Biden administration official said Monday that the deal has not changed our relationship with Iran in any way, noting the US would still work to hold Iran accountable for its human rights abuses and to constrain its nuclear program.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNNs Shawna Mizelle and Abby Baggini contributed to this report.
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Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds the powerful to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.
HARRISBURG Pennsylvanias five most recent former governors have collectively announced their support for open primaries, adding new fuel to a long-smoldering debate over whether the commonwealth should allow unaffiliated voters to help choose partisan candidates.
In a letter published Monday, Govs. Tom Corbett, Ed Rendell, Tom Ridge, Mark Schweiker and Tom Wolf wrote that they, pledged to govern on behalf of all Pennsylvanians, and argued that primary elections are now decided by fewer, more extreme voters. The letter goes on to assert that opening primaries would help tamp down extremism and polarization.
Pennsylvania is one of nine states with a closed primary system. Voters in the state can cast primary election ballots only for the party to which they are registered, which crucially leaves the commonwealths roughly one million independent or unaffiliated voters unable to participate in major party primaries at all. An additional 300,000 voters registered with third parties are also affected.
Independent and third-party voters are still able to participate in statewide referenda, other local ballot initiatives, and special elections that coincide with partisan primary elections.
By inviting independent voters into party primary elections, its giving them a chance to try before you buy, the governors said. Both political parties have seen dramatic declines over the past 20 years, while independent voters are the fastest growing segment of the voting population. Why wouldnt we want to invite them in?
The movement to open Pennsylvanias primaries has been in the works for nearly two decades. Good-government advocates and lawmakers in both parties and chambers have repeatedly championed various versions of bills to allow cross-party and no-party participation.
Some of these attempts to change the primary system have come close to passing, but none have made it to a governors desk. Most recently, an open primaries bill sponsored by former state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, who served as president pro tempore, passed the upper chamber 42 to 8 in 2019.
For the past five years, the good-government group Committee of Seventy has devoted particular effort to this issue. David Thornburgh the son of late Republican Gov. Dick Thornburgh chairs the groups initiative Ballot PA, which supports open primaries and published the governors joint letter Monday.
In an interview with Spotlight PA, Thornburgh described opening primaries as the right thing to do and the smart thing to do, and argued that having independent voters pay for primaries while being unable to participate is a form of taxation without representation.
He added that many independents are veterans.
We have hundreds of thousands of veterans in this commonwealth who are political independents, and the idea that you could prohibit men and women who fought for this country from voting for their own commander in chief is unconscionable, Thornburgh said.
This legislative session, there are measures in both the state House and Senate that would open the primary system.
In the GOP-controlled state Senate, Sens. Dan Laughlin , R-Erie, and Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh, have sponsored a bill that would allow independents to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Laughlin has sponsored a version of the bill since he was first elected in 2016.
Laughlin said that the first time he tried to vote in a primary, he was turned away because he was registered as an independent. This bill would increase voter turnout both in the primary and in general elections, he said.
I view this as not a tool to break either partys system really, Laughlin explained. I dont think you need a crystal ball to see that more and more people are registering as independent.
To advance, the bill must pass the state Senates State Government Committee, chaired by Sen. Cris Dush, R- Brookville. Dush previously told Spotlight PA that he would not run the bill, saying he does not agree with having voters who are not a member of a party decide its candidate.
Look I respect him as a chair, and we need to work through the process, Laughlin said when asked about the bills future in the state Senate.
Multiple proposals to open the primary system are circulating in the Democratic-controlled Pennsylvania House. One is sponsored by state Rep. Marla Brown, R-Lawrence, and another is helmed by state Reps. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia, and Chris Rabb, D-Philadelphia.
House State Government Committee Chair Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township, has expressed support for the concept in the past. Last session, he introduced a bill that would open primaries. However, none of the state House bills have been considered by Conklins committee this session.
All of the bills would enact open primaries on only a limited basis. They would allow independent voters to participate in one partys primary, but would not include third-party voters or allow for crossover voting which involves voters registered to one major party voting in the other major partys primary.
Spokespeople for the state House and Senate majority parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the bills futures.
BEFORE YOU GO If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
Two Missouri Republicans were accused of burning books at a fundraising event Friday night.
Both denied that was the case and revealed that they were burning a pile of cardboard.
The pair had different responses to the false accusations.
Videos showing two Missouri State Senators incinerating a pile of cardboard went viral after people online accused the pair of burning books but their responses to the accusations were markedly different.
State Senators Nick Schroer and Bill Eigel attended a fundraising event Friday night where flamethrowers were being auctioned, resulting in videos and photos being posted of the pair online.
"Burning down the swamp!" Schroer wrote alongside a photo of him using the flamethrower.
Neither candidate specified that they were burning books during the event. However, the story caught fire, and multiple X posts went viral condemning the state Senators for torching the supposed books.
"Missouri Republicans at a literal book burning," one post said. "They think flamethrowers should be legal but history books should be destroyed."
Schroer denied that they were burning books, writing on X that the "fake news" was spreading "division and hate."
James Murphy, Schroer's chief of staff, also clarified to Insider the accusations that Schroer is "a modern-day book-burner are false." Murphy also railed against those he described as "the left" and "liberal trolls" for starting the rumor online.
"Senator Schroer participated in a St. Charles County Central Committee Fundraiser, FreedomFest," Murphy said. "There, he was invited to engage in a unique and memorable act of lighting a bonfire of empty boxes with a flamethrower. This caused no harm to any books or literature."
Eigel, on the other hand, is OK with people thinking he was book-burning. He said he would do it if given the opportunity in a statement sent to Insider.
"In the video, I am taking a flame thrower to cardboard boxes representing what I am going to do to the leftist policies and RINO corruption of the Jeff City swamp," Eigel wrote, referring to the capital city of Missouri. "But let's be clear, you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and I'll burn those too on the front lawn of the governor's mansion."
Eigel also posted the statement on X, but his account was later suspended. It is unclear what policy prompted the suspension, but Eigel said in a statement to Insider that it was because he wanted to "protect our kids from the vulgar, pornographic material that woke bureaucrats have brought into our schools and libraries."
Murphy did not respond to a request for comment from Insider regarding his colleague's statement.
Eigel, who is running for governor, did not immediately respond to questions about what books he would burn should he have the opportunity to do so.
Crystal Quade, Missouri House Minority Leader Crystal Quade and the sole Democratic gubernatorial candidate for the state, condemned Eigel on X.
"Watching lawmakers use flamethrowers to intimidate folks they disagree with is a jarring reminder of how they view their jobs as a joke, while real people suffer from their cruelty," Quade wrote on Monday.
Read the original article on Business Insider
14th China-Mongolia media forum held in north China
Xinhua) 09:08, September 19, 2023
HOHHOT, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The 14th China-Mongolia Media Forum was held on Monday in the city of Ulanqab in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Focusing on the use of media power to serve modernization and common development, the forum attracted over 150 guests from the media sectors in both countries.
Liu Siyang, vice president of the All-China Journalists Association (ACJA) and secretary of the association's leading Party members group, told the forum that this year marks the 10th anniversary of Belt and Road Initiative.
Over the past decade, China and Mongolia have shown mutual respect, worked together for common development, engaged in frequent high-level interactions, and maintained continuous people-to-people exchanges, and bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful results, Liu said.
He noted that he expects the media organizations of both countries to play a greater role in serving modernization and promoting friendly cooperation between China and Mongolia, which would benefit both countries and their peoples.
Otgonbaatar Ulziibayar, president of the Confederation of Mongolian Journalists, said at the forum that cooperation between the Chinese and Mongolian media sectors has seen progress and contributed to deepening the friendship between the two countries.
Through the forum, practical bilateral cooperation in various fields will be strengthened and make a positive contribution to the friendship between the two countries, said Ulziibayar.
Chinese and Mongolian media also renewed the Belt and Road news exchange and cooperation agreement during the event.
Established in 2010, the forum has become an important platform for media organizations in both countries to advance exchanges and cooperation.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
A cowboy demonstrates rope tricks during the Mexican Independence Day Parade in Little Village on Sept. 16, 2023. (Trent Sprague/Chicago Tribune)
As revelers across the city this weekend waved flags and honked horns in honor of Mexican Independence Day, a chaotic undertone tarnished the celebration with the sudden downtown road closures that trapped drivers Friday and Saturday nights and bouts of mischief among the mostly peaceful street parties that sometimes escalated to violence.
The weekend came with lessons learned, Mayor Brandon Johnsons deputy chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told the Tribune.
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The mayors office wants to be able to lift up and ensure that celebration is able to happen, and that we are lifting up culture and peoples right to celebrate independence, she said.
She and other city leaders told the Tribune they are considering new efforts to better manage the weekend, including possible organized events downtown, where thousands came together for unofficial gatherings.
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Unplanned road closures block drivers
The city planned no street closures before the weekends celebrations started, Office of Emergency Management and Communications spokesperson Mary May told the Tribune then.
But as cars and revelers on foot filled downtown streets Friday many waving flags, some launching fireworks and even one intrepid chef spotted grilling atop a truck bed in traffic the OEMC announced shortly after 8 p.m. it would block roads into Chicagos downtown area. Intersections from Halsted Street to DuSable Lake Shore Drive and from Division Street to 18th Street were blocked, with residents and workers allowed through at 10 access points.
A group celebrating Mexican Independence Day moves in a vehicle down Roosevelt Road at Wabash Avenue as Chicago police stationed at that corner block vehicular traffic from going downtown on Sept. 16, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Meghan McDonough learned of the closures the hard way.
The River North resident was driving onto an I-90 southbound express lane when she suddenly noticed cars ahead of her reversing. Police had just blocked the exit, she realized. She had to reverse back onto the interstates main lane.
Back on the interstate, she quickly realized she couldnt get off: her Ohio Street exit was also closed.
[ Nostalgia and pride: The Chicago history of celebrating Mexican Independence Day by caravan ]
And the next one was closed. And the next one was closed, she said. And no signage either.
Cars on the northbound lane were stopped like a parking lot, she said.
It was just like somebodys backyard, McDonough said. Completely parked, bumper to bumper. They just stopped and were having a party.
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She took I-290 and got off at Ashland Avenue, slowly making her way back to her neighborhood. The closures cost her two hours of driving, she said.
Police didnt check her ID when she passed through the intersection into downtown. She imagines she wouldnt have dealt with them if they had, she said.
I was so angry. I was tired, she said.
The 47-year-old supports people celebrating, she said.
If you say youre going to close off the streets because theres going to be a lot of people, great, fine, she said.
But what resulted Friday night was scary, she added.
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In order to be safe, they created a lot of unsafe situations. And they werent transparent, she said.
On Saturday morning, the OEMC reiterated on X, formerly Twitter, that there were no planned street closures for the second day of celebrations. But before 7 p.m., the office had again announced downtown streets were closed to cars.
The downtown street closures meant Seth Blumenthals commute from West Town to his Streeterville home took over three hours.
I personally support the celebration, he said. Obviously the city needs to do something to control traffic during this, but it just seems like a lot of people werent prepared for the amount of area that they cordoned off and how severely they cordoned it off. I think it left a lot of people unprepared.
It typically takes Blumenthal, 48, about 20 minutes with traffic to drive home from the bar he is working to open near Ashland and Grand avenues. But Saturday, attempts to get through the closures downtown took him down to 18th Street, back up to the West Loop and through streets jammed to a standstill. He finally talked his way through a closure before having to show ID at another checkpoint.
Now Im back in Berlin, he recalled texting his wife.
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He should have taken the L, he said, but he drove to the bar so he could pick up a friend and some tools to work on the space. When he left around 7:15 p.m. to head home, he didnt realize the restrictions to get downtown would be so strict. Public transit is no longer his default mode of getting around because he feels he doesnt have time to wait for buses and trains while working a full-time job and trying to open a bar, he said.
Blumenthal said he had never experienced such closures and traffic around downtown, even when access to much of the downtown area was restricted during 2020 unrest following the death of George Floyd. The closures Saturday limited access to the central business district on a busy weekend night in good weather, he said.
This culture that we can just shut down access to downtown, it has consequences, and it feels like a more authoritarian thing, he said. I feel like it created something that was a lot worse than had they done nothing.
The closures were put into effect to restore traffic flow and ensure emergency vehicles could pass through the area, said May, the OEMC spokesperson.
All closures were put into effect only when it was deemed necessary due to large car caravans creating gridlocked traffic in the central business district, she said.
Pacione-Zayas said the closures were primarily managed by the OEMC and police. They were not planned, but were ultimately deemed necessary to ensure first responders could move throughout the city, she said.
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The mayors office is considering downtown Mexican Independence Day celebration options, she said.
You want to be able to have a central event that people can rally around and be a part of, Pacione-Zayas said, adding that accessible neighborhood celebrations are also important.
Mayor Brandon Johnson praised the Mexican Independence Day weekend as an amazing celebration at a news conference Monday.
Red, white and green. The flags, the culture, the outfits, the creativity, the vibrancy that Mexican Americans bring to the city of Chicago, really around the globe, he said. Its just remarkable what a beautiful display of culture.
The city has a responsibility to create safe spaces for celebration, he said. Ideas for how to improve the celebrations are already rushing in, Johnson said.
I didnt realize how many people have my cellphone number, and people have strong recommendations, he said.
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Any turmoil from the celebrations should compel city leaders to be proactive next year rather than finger point, said Teresa Fraga, president of the Mexican Cultural Committee.
The citys attempts to stop people celebrating downtown exacerbated chaos, angering some revelers who felt undermined by the new mayoral administration, but also those who were affected by the traffic, Fraga added.
Chicago police stationed at Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue block vehicle traffic from going downtown as groups look to celebrate Mexican Independence Day with car caravans on Sept. 16, 2023. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
It put people against each other, she said. City leaders need to meet the young people and come up with a plan. We need a celebration that is respectful and regulated, but we need people to stand up to recognize that.
The flag-waving car cruising is nothing new, dating back to the 1970s. Chicagos Mexican community has grown significantly since then, Fraga said.
Its important for people to recognize our presence in the city. We also work, we also pay taxes here, she said.
Its concerning that the mayor and the Chicago police considered it appropriate to close access to downtown and request identification from those who live or work there, Fraga said.
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Massive celebrations 99.9% peaceful despite police attacks, Little Village alderman says
Ald. Silvana Tabares, 23rd, worked with emergency response authorities to prepare for gatherings in her Southwest Side ward near Midway Airport. She also persuaded some Pulaski Road businesses to block off their parking lots to prevent meetups and car stunts, she said.
But as she listened to police scanners, the chaos she heard unfold prompted her to call the holiday a black eye for Chicagos Mexican community filled with vile, ignorant and embarrassing behavior.
People in crowds in her ward threw bottles, rocks and fireworks at police, she said. On Sunday morning, sanitation workers cleaned away anti-police graffiti, she added. She pinned the actions on people who came from outside her community.
Im not going to tolerate that, not in my ward, she said. Our local community is not the Wild West.
Tabares, who praised the courage and professionalism of police, called on other elected officials to share opposition to such attacks on officers. The city should better organize celebrations next year, she said.
Something new has to be done, because we cant repeat this next year, Tabares said. The new administration needs to look at ways families can celebrate safely together. If we invest in that, were going to cut down on lawlessness.
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Just north of Tabares ward up Pulaski Road, a young regional Mexican band, El Malo, was performing at the 49th Street intersection Friday surrounded by a group of people dancing when police abruptly approached them with shields and sticks in hand to stop them from playing, said the bands manager Pedro Marroquin.
We were just playing and people were dancing peacefully when the police attacked us, said Marroquin. Police did not ask the group to stop or the people to disperse before walking into the crowd, he said.
Video of the incident shared widely on social media prompted some viewers to demand the city pay for the $10,000 of instruments and equipment reportedly broken. According to police, there is an internal investigation about the allegations.
David Marroquin, foreground, lead singer of the band El Malo, poses with band members in west suburban Justice, on Sept. 18, 2023. Band members say that Chicago police officers damaged their instruments and equipment over the weekend as the band played during Mexican Independence Day celebrations. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Other attacks targeting police led to arrests across the city. Police body camera footage captured Esmeralda Aguilar, 24, of Cicero pepper spraying officers in the 200 block of North Wabash Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Cook County prosecutors alleged Monday.
Three officers were taken to the hospital. Prosecutors charged Aguilar with four felony counts of aggravated battery of a peace officer during an initial court appearance Monday. Judge Mary Marubio ordered she be released while awaiting trial.
This is a violent offense. The allegations are that you caused physical harm to police officers, Marubio said, admonishing her that the release order would be revoked if she commits another offense. Im balancing that with the presumption of innocence, ties to the community, employment history, that you are a caregiver to a minor.
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On Sunday, prosecutors charged Arturo Rodriguez, 46, with a felony count of aggravated battery of a peace officer. They alleged the Cicero man hit a police officer lying on the ground in Little Village early Saturday morning in the back of the head with a wooden flagpole.
In a related attack, someone hit another police officer in the head with a flagpole, severely cutting the officers ear, according to a police report.
Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, called the attacks that happened on the border of his Little Village ward an atrocious experience. A police commander told him the officers were doing better, he added.
But as he labeled the attacks egregious, he said attention should be focused on the huge crowds that did not become violent during the neighborhoods sprawling celebrations. An estimated 400,000 people attended the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade, making it one of the biggest parades in the country, he said.
I am sure 99.9% of the people who came to that were celebrating the culture, our beautiful impact of the Mexican community, he said. Im very, very proud we were able to facilitate joy in Little Village.
Rodriguez recalled visiting the parade, an annual highlight, as a child. He is open to working with city officials to organize other gatherings, including downtown celebrations, he said.
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We need to double down on that joy, he said.
The people who committed crimes should be held accountable, Rodriguez added.
But we need to continue to facilitate the joy of our people, and celebrate our greatest strength as our city, which is our diversity and our migrant spirit, he said.
Chicago Tribunes Alice Yin and Madeline Buckley contributed.
jsheridan@chicagotribune.com
larodriguez@chicagotribune.com
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sfreishtat@chicagotribune.com
If Miami-Dade politics were guided by fact and ethics and not, as they are, by the exploitation of exile pathos to win elections the rise of Cuban-American Rep. Daniel Perez to Florida House Speaker-designate could be celebrated as a refreshing change of pace for the Republican Party.
Florida issues, first and foremost. Demagoguery, take a backseat.
But this isnt the case.
Fresh from telling reporters that his leadership would mark a new era of independence for the rubber-stamping House a focus on things that really matter to Floridians like the home insurance crisis Perez (or his staff) was on X, formerly Twitter, peddling the stale GOP talking point of keeping Florida free.
This is political code, echoing Gov. Ron DeSantis , to brand Democrats and their agenda as socialism and communism to avoid admitting that the GOP stands in favor of wiping out Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.
Saying that, however, would keep Miami-Dade blue as the sky and sea.
READ MORE: Another Miamian is ascending to lead Florida House. Daniel Perez values family, hard work
So, instead of posting on X the video of his speech promising a new day or his press conference signaling independence from DeSantis autocracy, Perez showcases propaganda videos about the evils of communism.
He treats becoming the second Cuban American to be named House Speaker in Florida as if he were Joseph R. McCarthy reincarnated in a 36-year-old, New York City-born, Westchester-dwelling body.
Never mind that what ails Florida is the rampant fascism of his party, an all-out effort by the extreme religious right to crush hard-won civil rights and rule over our life choices. An agenda made worse by the neglect of needs like affordable housing, gun safety and climate-change mitigation to please wealthy GOP donors.
A Cuba trip to hide
No, Perez is off to the same old red-bait politics because hes got to prove his loyalty to DeSantis and a personal issue to hide.
Perez likely will stick to the hypocritical, but effective, Miami Republican Party rhetoric, trying to prove, against evidence, that hes the most anti-communist of them all.
He needs voters to forget that he traveled to Communist Cuba six years ago taking with him an entourage from a Miami photo company to take engagement photos with his fiancee amid the ruins and beauty of Havana landscapes and buildings.
He certainly didnt have any ethical issues and he wasnt thinking of the Bay of Pigs veterans he honored at his designation ceremony Monday when he was exploiting Havanas decay to obtain the stylish shabby-chic veneer of his pre-wedding photos.
Pictured in this 2017 engagement photo session amid Havanas beauty and ruins is newly designated Florida House Speaker Republican Rep. Daniel Perez when he traveled to Cuba with a Miami photography team and his fiance, now wife Stephanie.
Perez almost lost his first election for this, except that he told a sob story that he had gone there to tend to the needs of his fiancees sick uncle.
But, before the photos were taken down at his request, the photographers website publicized the romantic trip, the excitement of the setting and the bride and grooms wishes to select their parents Cuba as an engagement photo destination.
READ MORE: Miami Republican candidate took wedding engagement photos in Cuba
He only got away with acting as if he were at the old Hialeah Racetrack or Vizcaya, to name two places popular for glamour photo sessions, because he was a Republican and used his Cuban identity to campaign against his mixed-heritage primary opponent.
And because his electorate is as hypocritical and ethically challenged as Perez can be: They also travel to communist Cuba, swim in its waters, take pretty pictures and criticize others for doing the same when its politically convenient.
As a young candidate, Danny Perez was and is, as his Speaker designation proves a likable Republican who can work the room and speak like a moderate when he needs to.
Had Perez been a Democrat when the Miami Herald reported in 2017 on his trip to Caribbean Commie Disneyland, that would have been the end of any thought of a political career.
I reached out to Perez on Tuesday, congratulated him via text, but neither he nor his spokeswoman answered my requests to have a conversation.
No doubt that he has the talent and political chops to usher in better than the GOP has delivered for Florida. But which Perez will show up? The one who bucked the Cuban establishments politics for the sake of romantic photos or the dutiful GOP career soldier who will cave to DeSantis?
He never acknowledged the ethical dilemma with the Cuba dalliance to which he was entitled, ironically, under President Obamas engagement policy.
But thats how Miami Republicans roll, generation after generation, pandering to old wounds and old warriors while building a future that more and more looks like the oppressive ones our parents fled.
And, yeah, like in Cuba, they call it freedom, too.
Santiago
This story was produced in partnership with the Garrison Project, an independent, nonpartisan organization addressing the crisis of mass incarceration and policing.
This summer, Republicans in Florida launched an under-the-radar, yet incredibly effective, attack on criminal justice reformers in the state. In mid-June, the Republican speaker of Floridas House of Representatives asked the state Supreme Court to create a commission to look into redrawing judicial circuit borders. By the end of the month, the Florida Supreme Court had created a commission to review its judicial circuits, moving toward a devastating judicial gerrymander. The effort was a seemingly technocratic act, but its actually one of the most direct assaults on the politics of criminal justice reform after years of attacks by state-level Republican officials on reforms adopted in their more Democratic cities.
It also reflects a savvy understandingand exploitationof what makes politicians so consistently embrace ineffective, oppressive, and punitive policies.
In most states, prosecutors and judges are elected or appointed by county. The borders of counties are fairly fixed. But Florida is one of about 14 states that defines the jurisdictionsand thus the electorate in themfor prosecutors and judges as multi-county circuits. The states 67 counties are consolidated into 20 judicial circuits. In theory, the request from Florida House Speaker Paul Renner was made in the name of cost savings and the demographic and population changes since 1969, when the circuit maps were last drawn. But these borders are easy to change in politically motivated ways, and create a lot of opportunities for opportunistic map-drawing.
Such judicial gerrymandering is new, but its reminiscent of the long-established legislative gerrymander, where politicians draw the maps of legislative districtseven against opposition from the courtsin ways designed to cement the current majoritys power for years to come.
Like legislative gerrymandering, judicial gerrymandering will disenfranchise Black votersbut by making it nearly impossible for reform prosecutors to win elections. Opponents of reform prosecutors have long maintained that support for reform is an indulgence of progressive white voters in safe neighborhoods who do not bear the (alleged) costs of the reformers policies. But its clear that reform prosecutors most reliable political base is Black urban communities. In my recent study of precinct-level voting decisions across multiple cities that have both chosen and rejected reform candidates, Ive found that majority-Black precincts, including if not especially those with high levels of gun violence, generally favor reformers.
This support doesnt stem from a soft on crime perspective: These same voters likely vote for more punitive mayors. Instead, it reflects the beliefs of many of these voters that have developed from lifelong exposure to the costs of both crime and ineffective enforcement. Theyve concluded that harsh charging and sentencing practices either fail to deliver sufficient safety, or do so at too large a cost, a cost borne by their neighbors and family members; for them, complicated, three-dimensional people in their lives, not abstract criminals to be punished.
This pattern holds true in Florida, where both of the reform prosecutors removed by Gov. Ron DeSantisAndrew Warren in the 13th Circuit (Hillsborough County; i.e., Tampa) and Monique Worrell in the 9th Circuit (Orange and Osceola counties; i.e., Orlando)performed best in Black communities and struggled against tougher-on-crime opponents in their circuits whiter suburbs.
In Hillsborough, Warren defeated his Republican opponent, Mike Perotti, by about 75,000 votes, a margin of victory that was almost exactly that of Joe Bidens in the county. Simply merging Hillsborough with neighboring Pasco Countywhere Trump won by 80,000 voteswould likely eliminate Warrens margin. In Orlando, Worrells 200,000-vote win may be hard to gerrymander away. But adding in one or two more-conservative counties with more-conservative Democratic voters (like neighboring Brevard county, which is 83 percent white and went for Trump 5841) would likely be sufficient to wipe out Worrells narrow, pluralistic 18,000-vote primary win over the more conservative Judge Belvin Perry Jr.
So, consolidating the more urban circuits with even just one or two of their more rural neighboring counties would likely shift future votes decisively away from reformers. This is a troubling outcome: By expanding judicial circuits to include more voters who are relatively unaffected by the costs of both crime and enforcement, it will effectively silence the political voice of those most affected by crime. For all of crimes widespread political salience, crime itselfand thus enforcementis concentrated in very small, disproportionately urban areas. These areas are most likely to vote for reformers, because they are most aware of how ineffective harsh, punitive responses can be.
The power of judicial gerrymandering by Florida Republicans is that unlike other state efforts to undermine local controllike Texas notorious Death Star bill, which a Houston court recently found unconstitutionalis that reshaping judicial district maps in the name of efficiency is a far less obvious strike against reform, and thus harder one to rally opposition against.
Judicial redistricting in Florida would almost certainly be a near-fatal blow against the reform prosecutor movement in the state. But the success of Speaker Renners proposal isnt guaranteed. State prosecutor associations around the country have often been effective at blocking legislation they oppose, and many Florida prosecutors are not thrilled about the idea of new judicial districts. The Intercepts Akela Lacy found that even some more rural, conservative prosecutors opposed the proposalnot out of any love of reformbut because consolidation would likely undermine their own power. Even if consolidation would not change the party affiliation of the prosecutors elected in the new, bigger circuits, it would move the center of gravity away from the smaller towns and toward the urban center (and likely cost the more rural incumbents their jobs).
But if Florida Republicans succeed here, I would expect that we will see other states follow suit. Almost every state that employs judicial circuitsand thus has the ability to engage in some sort of judicial gerrymanderis located in the South, where Republican opposition to reform efforts in Democratic-led cities is at its most intense. The backlash against reform is not in any way waning yet, and Florida is opening yet another front in that struggle.
Florida House Republican Representative Linda Chaney (R-St. Pete Beach) filed Monday House Bill 49 (HB 49) which aims to lift existing restrictions on the working hours and time of day that 16-and 17-year-olds can work within the state.
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Rep. Chaney introduced HB 49 on Monday, marking the start of what promises to be a contentious debate during the 2024 legislative session.
The bill specifically targets regulations that currently prevent minors aged 16 or 17 from working before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m., and limit their weekly work hours to 30 when school is in session.
One key provision of the bill aims to align the working hours of 16-and 17-year-olds with those of individuals aged 18 and above, removing existing age-based distinction in labor law.
Additionally, the proposed legislation incorporates a provision that would prohibit counties and municipalities from enacting or enforcing ordinances that impose stricter regulations than those defined by state law regarding the employment and curfew of minors.
Age restrictions for minors have been lowered to 15 years old, replacing previous regulations that only applied to 16-and 17-year-olds.
The bill is now set to undergo committee reviews and further deliberations as it progresses through the legislative process in the state of Florida.
If the bill is signed into law, it is slated to take effect on July 1, 2024.
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) A 78-year-old Florida man is accused of shooting and killing his neighbor Sunday evening.
The Volusia Sheriffs Office said the shooting happened shortly after 7 p.m. in DeLeon Springs.
Investigators said Brian J. Ford, 42, was trimming trees over his property line when his neighbor, 78-year-old Edward S. Druwzolowski, came outside and shot him.
THP looking for speeder that started electrical fire outside Mt. Juliet church
The Volusia Sheriffs Office said the first two deputies who arrived at the scene tried to revive Ford, but he died at the scene.
Druwzolowski was taken into custody on a charge of second-degree murder, according to authorities.
In court documents obtained by ABC, Druwzolowski told authorities Ford initially told him to mind your business when the 78-year-old told him to get off his property. Thats when Druwzolowski allegedly pointed the gun at Ford, who moved closer to him, the man told investigators.
He went on, telling investigators that he left the first two rounds of his six-cylinder gun empty for safety reasons. Though Ford allegedly heard the gun click when Druwzolowski pulled the trigger the first time, he continued forward, Druwzolowski said. When he pulled the trigger again, Druwzolowski said it did go off and he shot Ford, according to investigators.
The man added that he feared Ford because of his reputation and thought he would leave the property after seeing Druwzolowskis firearm, ABC reports.
Deputies said the case remains active and charges are pending.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A Florida man fatally shot a neighbor who was trimming trees along a property line the two men shared, police said.
Edward Druzolowski, 78, was arrested Sunday after he allegedly fired a single fatal shot at his neighbor, 48-year-old Brian Ford, who was outside trimming trees along their property line in DeLeon Springs.
The Volusia County sheriffs office said that Druzolowski confronted Ford about being on his property before the fatal shooting.
Druzolowski told detectives he threatened to shoot Ford, and when Ford didnt leave, he shot him, the sheriffs office said in a statement.
Ford was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was the latest in a long line of shootings this year by angry homeowners who have opened fire on people who accidentally crossed over their property line. In Florida alone, police have responded to multiple reports of threats and shootings by homeowners.
In June, a Florida man fired 30 rounds at his pool cleaner after he mistook the cleaner for an intruder. The shooter wasnt charged thanks to Floridas stand your ground law, which allows homeowners to fire on someone they believe to be a threat.
Druzolowski has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond.
A former Florida preacher was sentenced to 60 years in prison on federal child sex abuse charges from the time he spent in Fiji leading missionary trips, federal officials said.
In late 2022, multiple victims came forward and told federal officials Jason Robert Moore, 43, from Milton, Florida had sexually abused them, according to a Sept. 18 release from the Department of Justice.
The abuse took place in the Republic of Fiji, where Moore had led missionary trips over multiple years, according to a 2022 news release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the DOJ release.
Moore also led trips in Florida, various other locations in the U.S. and in Canada, according to the FDLE.
From March 2013 through February 2016, Moore engaged in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places with children while in Fiji, federal officials said.
Individuals who masquerade under a disguise of public trust and prey on the vulnerability of children in their own home should expect to be held fully accountable for their actions, Homeland Security Investigations Tallahassee Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingegno said in the DOJ release. I commend the victim for having the courage to come forward.
Officials did not release the relation of the children to Moore or whether they were U.S. or Fiji citizens.
Moore was arrested on the federal charges, as well as state charges of lewd and lascivious molestation on a victim under 12 from a 2006 case in Pensacola, in December 2022, according to a release from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
McClatchy News reached out to Lauren Cobb, the public defender representing Moore, for a comment and did not receive an immediate response.
Moore pled guilty to two federal counts in February, according to court documents.
On Sept. 17, Moore was sentenced to 60 years in prison, followed by lifetime supervised release, according to the DOJ release.
Moore will also be required to register as a sex offender and follow all conditions of the registry, federal officials said.
As a former preacher, Moore had plenty of access to children in a role that placed him in a position of trust for parents and the community. Taking this dangerous predator off the streets was a priority for our agents, FDLE Pensacola Special Agent in Charge Chris Williams said in the release.
Milton is about 19 miles northeast of Pensacola.
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Ray Epps, who became the focus of right-wing conspiracy theories that law enforcement coerced Trump supporters into storming the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, has been charged with a single misdemeanor related to the riot.
Federal prosecutors filed the charge disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds against Epps on Monday morning, court records show.
Epps is expected to plead guilty at a hearing Wednesday afternoon.
The case was filed with an anticipation of entry of a guilty plea to the charge, Epps lawyer, Edward Ungvarsky, said in a statement to CNN.
In the aftermath of the riot, some members of the media, lawmakers, and supporters of the former president baselessly suggested that the Capitol assault was false flag operation staged by the federal government to make supporters of then-President Donald Trump look bad.
As part of the unfounded theory, right-wing figures pointed to video footage of Epps in Washington, DC, encouraging people to attack the Capitol, and the fact that Epps photo was on an early FBI most wanted list but was later removed, as evidence that Epps was part of a secret FBI plot to orchestrate the attack.
Epps reportedly sold his business amid fears for his safety and fled his home in Arizona.
Epps has forcefully denied any allegation that he incited the riot, telling the House select committee investigating January 6 in a closed-door interview that he has no ties to the FBI or law enforcement. Epps was also interviewed by the FBI in the months after the riot.
He also filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson , saying that Fox News searched for a scapegoat to blame other than Donald Trump or the Republican Party and eventually, they turned on one of their own. Fox News and Carlson are fighting the case in court.
Some other January 6 criminal defendants have even pointed the finger at Epps during their own trials, though prosecutors have repeatedly rejected the theory that Epps is affiliated with law enforcement, saying again and again that rioters were not tricked by law enforcement officers into entering the Capitol.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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CAPTION CORRECTS NAME SPELLING - Benoit Meystre of NGO Trial International talks to press outside of the court of St. Gallen, Switzerland, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. Harauski was supposedly a member of a special force acting on behalf of president Alexander Lukaschenko. He is on trial for the forced disappearance of three Belarusian politicians of the opposition. (Gian Ehrenzeller/Keystone via AP)
GENEVA (AP) A former member of Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko s special security forces was going on trial Tuesday in Switzerland over the enforced disappearances of political opponents in the late 1990s seen as a landmark case of international justice.
Yuri Harauski, a former member of a military unit known as SOBR, exited a tinted-window van wearing a hood as he entered the courthouse in the northern city of St. Gallen.
Activists have said the two-day trial marks a pivotal moment in international justice that could trigger prosecutions abroad of other Belarusian officials including Lukashenko. The court case was brought under a rarely applied legal principle known as universal jurisdiction, under which foreign courts can prosecute severe crimes that happened in other countries.
Harauski will be tried over the enforced disappearances of Yuri Zakharenko, a former interior minister who was fired by Lukashenko in 1996; opposition leader Viktor Gonchar; and publisher Anatoly Krasovsky, said Trial International, an advocacy group that has spearheaded the case.
The defendant lives in Switzerland, where he applied for asylum in 2018. He has made high-profile confessions about his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Lukashenkos political opponents in 1999. The motives behind the confessions were not entirely clear.
An extract of the court filing, obtained by The Associated Press, indicated that prosecutors planned to seek a three-year prison sentence of which two would be suspended against Harauski for his alleged role in the disappearances.
Lukashenkos regime has come under criticism for years, most recently over a crackdown against opposition leaders that began in August 2020 and support for Russias military invasion of Ukraine last year, among other things.
A woman who shared a cell with Ruby Franke said it seemed like the guards gave her special treatment.
She said their jailers "really catered" to Franke and she kept "getting out of the cell."
The case manager also sneaked in a pen for Franke, she said.
A woman who shared a jail cell with parenting YouTuber Ruby Franke for three nights said Franke seemed to get special treatment from the guards.
Debra Monsen, 52, spoke with Insider about her stint in the custody of Washington County Sheriff's Office in Utah at the same time as Franke and Hildebrandt.
Monsen was arrested on August 31 on allegations of petty theft and drug possession she told Insider she is innocent and will fight the charges.
She was booked the day after Franke was arrested on suspicion of aggravated child abuse with her YouTube partner Jodi Hildebrandt.
Monsen said she spent three nights in the same cell as Franke, and had several conversations with her. She also observed how the guards interacted with Franke.
"The guards really catered to her," Monsen told Insider. "I'm like, why are you so spoiled?"
A spokesman for the jail contested that Franke was treated differently. Sgt. Lucas Alfred, the public information officer for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, told Insider that Franke "has been given no additional privileges."
He didn't comment further on Franke's case, citing "safety and security."
Monsen also said it seemed like Franke was allowed out of the cell more than her or the third person in their cell.
"She got to keep getting out of the cell and going up and talking to the guys at the desk," she said. Franke also seemed to have more phone privileges, she added.
"Each time I wanted the phone, I was like, 'Hey, you ask them, they like you better,'" she said.
Franke requested a pen at one point, Monsen said, because she wanted to write a letter to the judge before her court hearing, at her lawyer's suggestion. But the guards told Franke she would have to wait until she could order her own from the jail's store, known as a commissary.
"Well, then short time later, she went up to the desk and then a case manager came and got her out, talked to her for a few minutes, and she came back in with very secretively with a pen," Monsen said.
"She goes, be quiet, don't let anybody see that," she said.
Having a pen in the medical area, especially when you are a new inmate, is "totally against the rules," Monsen said, "because they don't know what to expect of people."
"She could have been a crazy freak and gouged out people's eyes," she said.
Alfred, the sheriff's office official, said that guard monitor anyone they think is at risk of injuring others, and can separate them, but said that hadn't been an issue in these cases.
Alfred also denied that Franke would have been given anything extra.
"She hasn't been given anything additional to her housing unit," he said.
Monsen was in the medical area because she was on a specific medication, she told Insider. She said she didn't know why Franke was placed there. She theorized that it may be because Franke was on suicide watch.
She said their other cellmate made this suggestion to Franke after Franke wondered aloud why she was in the medical area.
"She goes, 'I have never done drugs in my life, so why would they have me in medical?' And the girl looked up her, she goes, 'Well, you're probably on suicide watch,'" Monsen said. "And she said, 'Suicide watch? Why would I commit suicide? I'm much stronger than that.'"
Alfred said that jail officials "can't talk specifics about medical issues."
Monsen told Insider she didn't know who Franke was at the time. She wasn't aware of the charges against her until she left and her family was talking about the case on the drive home, Monsen said.
She said after she found out about what Franke was being accused of, it made more sense that she would be watched closely.
"Anytime you have somebody that's done something to children, they keep them away from general population because the people will hurt them," she said.
Legal documents from the arrest allege that two of Franke's children were found badly mistreated. An affidavit said one, a boy, escaped from a window at Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, Utah, and pleaded for help from a neighbor.
Officers described him as emaciated and wounded, with duct tape round his ankles. Police then found another child in the same condition at Hildebrandt's house.
On their first, chaotic appearance in court on September 9, both Franke and Hildebrandt were denied bail. Both have another hearing scheduled for October 5.
Insider contacted representatives for Franke, and Hildebrandt but neither responded.
Read the original article on Insider
Louise Touvell holds a sign that replicates the honorary street sign recently erected in memory of her late husband Jim, who worked for the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Protection District for 55 years. (Village of Montgomery/HANDOUT)
When Montgomery officials held a dedication earlier this month to honor former Assistant Fire Chief James Touvell, who died last year, it was the first time in the history of the village a street sign was erected to commemorate the legacy of a community member.
Jimmie Touvell Way, at Clay and Railroad streets in front of the fire station, is not only a fitting tribute to this man who gave an incredible 55 years to the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Protection District, it was also a very personal labor of love from the wife who still grieves his passing.
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He loved Montgomery so much, she said of her late husband, who was born and raised in the village he protected from 1965 to 2020.
Their history together was not nearly as long.
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Both had lost their longtime spouses when Jim and Louise met in 2011, brought together by his late sister Sally Curtis, Louises hairdresser at the time, after Jim had inquired about whether she might have a client who would be interested in going out to dinner and just having fun together.
Married three years ago, when both were in their late 70s, it was from that very first date, Louise insisted, that she knew the two had something special.
It was an instant thing, she recalled. We gave each other purpose in life.
Which is what made his sudden death at age 79, on April 13, 2022, after undergoing a quadruple heart bypass, that much more difficult.
One way to deal with her grief: Find a special way to honor the man his colleagues lovingly referred to as Jimmie T.
As Louise drove around other communities, she noticed street signs honoring exemplary individuals in those cities and towns. And so of course she wondered, why not Montgomery?
Why not indeed.
It was one of those things where no one ever inquired about it, said the villages communications manager, Kristina Nemetz, noting that in the day to day operations of running a municipality, you dont know what you are missing until you are asked.
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Besides, she added, Louise was just so sweet, and very adamant that she wanted something done.
Working closely with village staff and Fire Chief Tom Meyers, who Louise said her late husband mentored through his rise in the department, a policy was created that would make it possible to erect honorary street signs in memory of those who loved the village and made a significant impact in it.
Jims application featured plenty of commendations and letters, including from former Gov. Bruce Rauner and the president of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, and also noted his lasting impact on the village, such as the Santa Parade he started in the 1970s and which to this day continues to deliver toys to needy children every December, Nemetz said.
Jim set a high bar, she added, also noting how he fit the bill for the villages current Montgomery Made initiative that celebrates all the wonderful things created in the community.
There is no question he was a good one to start with, Nemetz concluded.
The village of Montgomery recently unveiled its first honorary street sign, Jimmie Touvell Way, which commemorates the career of the late assistant fire chief for the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Protection District whose career spanned from 1965 to 2020. (Village of Montgomery/HANDOUT)
At the dedication ceremony on Sept. 7, past and current members of the Montgomery and Countryside Fire Protection District were in dress uniform as they saluted the honor guard that presented the colors for the national anthem.
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In addition to Louise, Jims daughter Nancy Fay of Sandwich also spoke, mentioning her fathers love for the village and how convenient it was that the fire station was just up the street from her childhood home.
And because Louise now lives in that same house, she can walk by Jimmie Touvell Way each day on her morning exercise jaunts.
Yes, it gives her comfort.
Jim is keeping an eye on the fire department, while also looking toward our house, making sure I am taking care of myself, she told me.
I still get teary-eyed ... I miss him so much.
dcrosby@tribpub.com
A former Compton City Council member who has been in legal hot water in the past was arrested on suspicion of taking part in a bribery scheme to secure marijuana permits, the U.S. attorney's office said.
Isaac Galvan and an Arcadia businessman bribed Ricardo Pacheco when he was a Baldwin Park councilman with $70,000 for the permits, according to a 10-count indictment unsealed Monday.
Galvan, 36, served on the Compton City Council from 2013 until 2022, when he lost his seat amid a vote-rigging scandal.
Also arrested was Arcadia business owner Yichang Bai, on whose behalf Galvan allegedly brokered the bribes.
Both Galvan and Bai were charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of bribery and eight counts of honest services wire fraud.
The scheme allegedly began sometime after 2017, when Baldwin Park began issuing permits for marijuana cultivation and distribution facilities.
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Pacheco who pleaded guilty in 2021 to accepting nearly $40,000 in bribes to support the city's police association contract began soliciting bribes for permits and development agreements in Baldwin Park, according to federal officials.
"In exchange for the illicit payments, Pacheco agreed to use his position in city government to assist the companies with obtaining marijuana permits, including voting in their favor," the U.S. attorney's office said in a release.
In August 2017, Galvan allegedly paid Pacheco $10,000 to ensure that he would obtain a marijuana permit for a future consulting client.
Bai then hired Galvan as a consultant, and Galvan allegedly arranged $70,000 in payments from Bai to Pacheco. The councilman eventually voted in favor of Bai's marijuana permit and voted to approve the relocation of Bai's business to Baldwin Park. Law enforcement officials did not say whether Pacheo was charged in the permit bribe scandal but noted that he signed a plea agreement "in which (he) agreed to cooperate in the government's ongoing investigation."
If convicted, Galvan and Bai face a maximum five-year sentence on the conspiracy charge, a 10-year sentence on the bribery charge and up to 20 years on each honest services wire fraud charge.
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Attorneys for Galvan, Bai and Pacheo could not be reached for comment.
The bribery charges are not the first criminal allegations that Galvan has faced.
In 2021, he was investigated for election rigging following a Compton City Council runoff election between him and Andre Spicer.
Galvan won the election by a single vote, but four of the votes that had been cast for Galvan were disqualified after a judge found that the ballots had been submitted by people who did not live in the contested council district.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged Galvan and six others with conspiracy to commit election fraud. Galvan pleaded not guilty, and the case is ongoing.
According to the district attorney's office, Galvan conspired with one of his opponents in the primary election, Jace Dawson, to send voters who lived outside the council district to vote for Galvan.
Spicer was awarded the council seat in 2022. Galvan also faced a $240,000 fine for campaign finance violations.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Former Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-Ind.), 64, was sentenced in New York to nearly two years in prison on Tuesday for insider trading.
The nine-term former congressman was sentenced to 22 months in prison for trading inside information he learned as consultant ahead of two separate companies mergers.
After leaving office in 2011, Buyer worked as a corporate consultant. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams convicted and sentenced Buyer.
He abused positions of trust for illicit personal gain, and today he faced justice for those acts, Williams wrote in a statement released Tuesday. No insider trader is above the law, and we will continue to bring those who undermine the fairness and integrity of our markets to justice.
In March, Buyer was convicted on four counts of misappropriating non-public information for his former consulting clients.
In July 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Buyer and nine others with insider trading. The SEC alleged that Buyer used the information he gained as a consultant for personal gain. Authorities said that Buyer obtained $568,000 in Sprint shares in 2018 after finding out that the merger between Sprint and T-Mobile was planned.
T-Mobile was a client of Buyers consulting firm, the Steve Buyer Group. According to evidence presented during trial, Buyer engaged in two separate, interrelated insider trading deals to place timely, profitable securities trades based on that stolen information.
In 2019, Buyer traded shares of Navigant Consulting group ahead of the organizations acquisition by Guidehouse. Evidence presented in court found that Buyer made more than $223,000 from his illegal Navigant trades.
When Buyer testified in March 2023, he provided false explanations for his trades. During sentencing, U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman found Buyers statements to constitute an obstruction of justice.
Buyer was ordered to pay more than $350,000 in forfeiture and restitution.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Lake Wales City Commissioner Kris Fitzgerald has filed to run for the U.S. House in District 15. She hopes to challenge the incumbent, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Tampa.
Kris Fitzgerald, a former Lake Wales City commissioner who was suspended and reinstated but unable to reclaim her position, is now aiming for the U.S. House.
Fitzgerald has filed to run next year as a Democrat in District 15, seeking to challenge the incumbent, Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Tampa. Now living in the Tampa area, Fitzgerald is the first Democrat to enter the race.
And Fitzgerald makes it clear that she will lean heavily on her experience of losing her Lake Wales position following an arrest as a major element of her campaign. In a section of her campaign website titled Her origin story, she claims that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd colluded to have her removed from her elected position, calling it the biggest DeSantis scandal never told.
Fitzgerald, 43, filed her statement of candidacy with the Federal Elections Commission on Sept. 7. She had announced her plan to run in an interview with the Lake Wales News published in July.
District 15 encompasses northwest Polk County, including most of Lakeland west of U.S. 98 and South Florida Avenue, as well as parts of Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Lee, Floridas former secretary of state, is in her first term.
Fitzgerald gained election to the Lake Wales City Commission in April 2021, beating incumbent Al Goldstein by just 33 votes. A circuitous drama began two months later, when the Polk County Sheriffs Office arrested Fitzgerald on charges of interference with child custody and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The following month, DeSantis issued an order suspending Fitzgerald from her position on the commission. He cited a Florida law that allows the governor to take such action against an elected official indicted in a crime.
The Lake Wales City Commission appointed Jack Hilligoss to replace Fitzgerald. Hilligoss successfully ran for mayor in 2022, and Daniel Krueger won an election for Seat 4, Fitzgeralds former spot.
Acquitted in trial
In October, a Polk County jury acquitted Fitzgerald on two charges, interference with custody and aggravated assault. Seven months later, DeSantis issued an executive order reinstating her to the Lake Wales City Commission.
In the order, DeSantis wrote that Fitzgerald's position had never been vacant in a legal or permanent sense and that Krueger had been serving temporarily even after his election in 2022. In revoking his 2021 order, DeSantis followed state rules that say an official charged with a crime may be temporarily suspended until acquitted.
But Fitzgerald never reclaimed her commission seat. Lake Wales City Attorney Chuck Galloway told commissioners in a May meeting that Fitzgerald was ineligible to return to her position because she had moved from her district while under suspension. Galloway cited a provision in the city charter stating that any commissioner who leaves their district vacates the position.
That ruling allowed Krueger to remain on the City Commission.
In a lengthy narrative on her campaign website, Fitzgerald places her suspension from office in the context of other actions by DeSantis: his removal of Andrew Warren, a Democrat elected as State Attorney in Tampa, his dismissal of four School Board members and his role in the dismantling of a government entity overseen by Walt Disney World.
Fitzgerald does not mention DeSantis more recent removal of another Democratic state attorney, Monique Worrell of the Orange-Osceola County circuit.
The campaign site alleges deep Florida corruption and says that Fitzgerald was not only removed from office by Governor DeSantis, but arrested and slandered by his cronies as well a reference to Judd, a staunch ally of the governor.
The origin story offers details not yet publicly released on the circumstances behind Fitzgeralds arrest. Weeks after the election, her daughter, then 13, told her she had been sexually assaulted. Fitzgerald made a complaint to the Lake Wales Police Department, the site says, but soon the Sheriffs Office became involved.
Rather than focus on the investigation of the sexual assault, the Sheriffs men arrested Kris in front of her child, the website says.
Judd implied that the assault did not happen and said Fitzgeralds daughter had waited too long to report it, the campaign claims. Instead, the Sheriffs Office charged Fitzgerald with threatening the boy she said had attacked her daughter, something she has consistently denied.
The website says Fitzgerald spent days in jail without due process or any answers. It implies that Judd contacted DeSantis and hatched a scheme to smear her through a news conference, paving the way for her removal from office. Fitzgerald notes that Judd endorsed Goldstein, her opponent in the 2021 election.
Fitzgerald claims on the site that DeSantis backed down within days of her demand to have the suspension lifted. Fitzgeralds lawyer contacted the governors office, campaign representative Shawna Vercher said.
Scott Wilder, a spokesperson for the Sheriffs Office, told The Ledger in an email:
Her claims about the Sheriff are pure fiction, as are her claims about mistreatment in jail. She was legally arrested for threatening an 11 year old boy with a gun. If she does that again, she will be arrested again.
The mother of the boy involved in the allegations of sexual assault against Fitzgeralds daughter reacted angrily to the description on the campaign website. She has complained about previous news coverage of Fitzgeralds case and about a self-published book in which Fitzgerald repeated the claims against her son, saying she identified him without actually naming him. (The Ledger is not identifying the woman to conceal her sons identity.)
The boy was 11 at the time of the allegations, which he and his mother deny. The mother said that the Polk County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families investigated and found insufficient evidence to support the allegation. The boy was not charged.
He is a child that is trying to continue to strive and grow, the boys mother said. Every time she (Fitzgerald) makes a statement about a case that she knows was closed because of inconsistent stories and insufficient evidence, I am going to prosecute her to the fullest.
Seeks to 'amplify voices'
Fitzgerald is an Air Force veteran who earned bachelors degrees in criminology and psychology from the University of South Florida, according to her campaign biography. While raising her daughter, Fitzgerald added a masters degree in mental health counseling and a masters of business administration, she said.
Following the charges against her, Fitzgerald was barred from using her license as a counselor and prohibited from having contact with anyone younger than 18, she said. Those court actions prompted her to move from Lake Wales for financial reasons, she said during comments before the Lake Wales City Commission in May.
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Vercher said Fitzgerald signed an agreement for exclusive rights to a first campaign interview, but Fitzgerald answered emailed questions from The Ledger.
Why is she running for Congress, rather than a city, county or state office?
In the blink of an eye I went from a sitting Commissioner to having false charges made against me, failing to get justice for my daughter, and having a sitting Governor remove me from an elected office, Fitzgerald wrote. I felt powerless and at my lowest point I felt like I wanted to give up. Then I realized that so many people feel powerless for different reasons.
I have faith that my experience was a gift to help me become a better public servant. With a national platform of being a Congressional candidate, I can help to amplify the stories and needs of even more people who feel like their voices have been silenced.
On her campaign website, Fitzgerald identifies veterans issues as her top priority while also emphasizing education and Social Security.
As a Veteran, it is critical to me that we strengthen the services and the care we can provide for the men and women in our military and their families, Fitzgerald said by email. With my background as a therapist and counselor, Im also passionate about increasing access to mental healthcare. And, of course, as a mom and former educator I view every issue from the perspective of how we keep our children safe while we continue to build opportunity for all Americans.
No Democrat has won a U.S. House district containing any part of Lakeland for more than 20 years, and Republicans have handily won every election for District 15 since redistricting in 2012.
Lee defeated her Democratic opponent, Alan Cohn, last year by 17 points after the Florida Legislature revised the districts boundaries.
Like most of the seats in Florida, District 15 has been redrawn, Fitzgerald wrote. It is now a more even mix of Democrats, Republicans, and independent voters so I do know that I can win this race. In my prior election I defeated a well-respected incumbent because I focused on the issues voters care about instead of being negative or attacking others. To me, being an elected official should be similar to being in the military. I plan to serve the people in our community no matter which party someone chooses to affiliate with.
A photo on her campaign website shows Fitzgerald with a bald head. The Lake Wales News reported in July that she opted to shave her head after a medical condition caused her to lose hair.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Former Lake Wales Commissioner Kris Fitzgerald runs for U.S. House
A former Mt. Juliet police officer is facing multiple charges after authorities say he used criminal justice data for unauthorized purposes this year, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Franklin DeRriggi, 51, was fired by the department in August after a review, the TBI said.
A grand jury indicted DeRiggi on Sept. 8 and charged him with 16 counts of official misconduct. He was booked in the Wilson County Jail on $3,500 bond. Jail records show he has been released on bond.
DeRiggi is accused of illegally committing acts related to his office or employment that constituted an authorized exercise of official power, from Jan. 4 through June 28 of this year, according to the indictments.
There are no allegations of identity theft or those charges would have been brought also, District Attorney General Jason Lawson said. But that was not the case.
Lawson did not comment on specific details of the allegations but said:
When law enforcement is given access to special data bases for law enforcement purpose they may not use those data bases for non-law enforcement purposes such as personal purposes.
Efforts to reach DeRiggi and the Mt. Juliet Police Department for comment were unsuccessful.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TBI: Former Mt. Juliet police officer misused criminal justice data
MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WKRN) A former Mt. Juliet police officer is in jail for official misconduct.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said agents began investigating the actions of 51-year-old Franklin Deriggi earlier this summer.
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Over the course of the investigation, agents determined Deriggi misused criminal justice data for unauthorized purposes, according to authorities.
The TBI said Deriggi was fired from the Mt. Juliet Police Department in early August.
On Friday, Sept. 8, the Wilson County Grand Jury returned indictments charging Deriggi with 16 counts of official misconduct. Deriggi was booked into the Wilson County Jail on a $3,500 bond on Monday, Sept. 8.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The Pentagons former personnel chief announced Monday that hes making a run for Congress again, after losing his competitive seat back in 2020.
Gil Cisneros, a Navy veteran turned representative for Californias 39th Congressional District, just finished a stint as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. From August 2021 until Sept. 8, he oversaw diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as abortion-related travel policies that have spurred the ire of Republican lawmakers. Theyve threatened to derail the next defense spending bill unless those policies are ended.
Federal diversity officers get caught up in woke political fights
As I witness the continued attacks by MAGA extremists on the programs, and policies that I implemented at DoD and fought for in Congress, like access to reproductive care, environmental protections, and gun safety legislation, I know that our work is not done, which is why I am announcing my candidacy for Congress, Cisneros said on his campaign website.
Cisneros told Military Times before he departed his DoD post that diversity initiatives play a crucial role in both recruiting and retaining talent while ensuring that every service member has a clear pathway to opportunities. He called the work more than demographics. Diverse backgrounds, skillsets, and experiences contribute to the innovative thought, creative adaptation, and cultural understanding necessary to successfully operate in todays complex, asymmetric environments, he said in emailed comments.
House Republicans are fighting those initiatives by loading next years defense spending bill with amendments to rid the Pentagon of its diversity and inclusion office, along with reviewing department diversity initiatives, which they claim politicize the military.
And Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville has placed a hold on all uniformed and civilian Pentagon nominees because of the abortion travel policy Cisneros helped craft. It covers costs for troops that have to travel to access the procedure if they are stationed in states that ban abortions. Tuberville is demanding the policys repeal, leaving more than 300 service members waiting for promotions, and the Army, Navy and Marine Corps operating without their top leaders.
Politico first reported Cisneros campaign launch. The Navy veteran began his political career after winning a multi-million-dollar lottery. He narrowly won election to Congress in 2018 in traditionally conservative Orange County, California, but lost his re-election campaign by a similarly narrow margin in 2020. He is now running in a more Democratic neighboring district, represented by retiring Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) Former Super Bowl champion and New York Giants running back Dion Lewis was arrested Monday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida.
Arrest documents show Lewis was taken into custody by Seminole Indian Police around 2 p.m. and booked into the Orient Road Jail of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office an hour later.
Lewis was charged with trespassing in an occupied structure. His bond was set at $500.
Instagram post may shed new light in death of former NFL players mother
A spokesperson for the Seminole Police Department told Nexstars WFLA that Lewis was acting unruly and belligerent, including causing a disturbance and refusing to leave the premises.
New York Giants running back Dion Lewis (33) gains yards in the first half of an NFL football game against the Cleveland Browns Sunday, Dec. 20, 2020, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Corey Sipkin)
Lewis joined the New York Giants in 2020 after spending two seasons with the Tenessee Titans. He also played for the New England Patriots from 2015-2018 and the Philadelphia Eagles from 2011-2013.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
A top University of Florida official who in April was fired by President Ben Sasse now finds himself with one of the premier schools in the country.
The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced Monday that Charlie Lane was named the school's vice president and chief operating officer, the same position he held at UF for nearly a decade.
Caltech, located in Pasadena just outside Los Angeles, is home to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), part of which Lane will oversee in his new position.
"In this pivotal role, Charlie will bring his extensive administrative success in higher education to enhance Caltech's operations; forge and sustain a culture of rigorous planning and effective execution; oversee campus finances and the JPL budget; and emphasize a diverse and inclusive work environment," Caltech President Thomas F. Rosenbaum said in an email announcement. "Charlie will serve as a strategic partner to the president, provost, division chairs, and his senior leadership colleagues, and will work closely with JPL leadership and several Board of Trustees committees."
Charlie Lane, the former COO at the University of Florida, has accepted the same position at the California Institute of Technology.
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Lane will join Caltech on Oct. 9, and will oversee the management of Caltech's facilities, human resources, business and finance, audit and compliance, and information and the management systems and services divisions.
Since Lane's departure
Caltech, an independent and privately supported school, is tied for seventh among all universities in U.S. News and World Report's 2024 college rankings, while UF is tied for 28th. Since Lane's departure, UF slipped to No. 6 among all public universities, though the school is now attempting to steer away from using the list as a metric for its success.
In the Wall Street Journal's latest rankings, UF is ranked 15th nationally, three spots ahead of Caltech at 18. WSJ, however, places UF at No. 1 among public universities. The school placed banners around the campus to celebrate the title, though most of the banners have been stolen, the Independent Florida Alligator newspaper reported.
"The faculty, students, and staff on campus and at JPL embody the essence of this extraordinary Institute," Lane said in the email announcement. "I look forward to joining the Caltech community and, together with my new colleagues on campus and at JPL, facilitating its transformative work in meaningful ways."
Lane's move across the country comes less than five months after Sasse just two months into his presidency sent out an email announcing that Lane was no longer with the university.
"I want to let you know that we've made a change in the leadership of UF's operation," Sasse, a former Republican Nebraska senator, wrote in the April 26 email. "Effective today, Charlie Lane, chief operating officer, is no longer with the University of Florida."
The email gave no reason for Lane's sudden exit. It also failed to recognize his time with UF and any of his accomplishments, such as leading the university to become a top five public institution in the country.
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Lane's responsibilities at UF included information technology, human resources, audits, business and real estate. He also was the leader in bridging a relationship between the school and city of Gainesville.
UF has launched a national search for Lane's replacement but has yet to announce any candidates. In the interim, Sasse in April said UF's Vice President for Business Affairs Curtis Reynolds and Associate Vice President for Enterprise Projects Colt Little would split the duties that Lane was responsible for.
Community members and students had long suspected that Sasse would come in and shake up the university, though much of those concerns revolved around political influence. His arrival in February was met with large student and faculty protests, mainly for a secretive search process and for Sasses past statements on same-sex marriage. He vowed not to allow his political ideologies to interfere with how he runs UF.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Former UF VP Charlie Lane fired by Ben Sasse hired at Caltech
A former Topeka fire captain has filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Topeka and its fire department, claiming they discriminated against him based on his race and disability.
Brently Dorsey, who worked for the Topeka Fire Department from December 1994 through May 2022, filed the lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court of Kansas, accusing officials of race-based and disability-based discrimination, retaliation and violating the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Dorsey, a Black man with leukemia, said he noticed a pattern of white employees being treated better than Black employees and receiving promotions more often.
The Topeka Fire Department didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.
A city spokesperson said in a statement they were made aware of the lawsuit Tuesday, and declined comment on the pending litigation beyond saying, The city takes claims of this nature very seriously and has full faith that the justice system will resolve this issue.
In the lawsuit, Dorsey alleges that when he applied for a fire inspector role sometime between 2003 and 2005, he and a female applicant were the only candidates. Administrators reopened the job because there werent enough applicants, according to the suit.
In 2014, Dorsey said he applied for a fire marshal position, noting he already had supervisory experience. A white employee without supervisory experience in the fire department was promoted instead.
In August 2015, Dorsey was promoted to a captain role that he held until he left the department.
Health problems
Dorseys health problems began around April 2004, and significantly worsened in January 2018.
After notifying the department, Dorsey took sick leave from January to March 2018, and then worked light duty from April to September 2018.
In January 2018, he applied for two inspector positions and interviewed for them during his sick leave, but was denied the promotions. Two people with less seniority were hired for the roles instead, according to the lawsuit.
Dorsey was diagnosed with leukemia around August 2018. Around that time, he started taking intermittent leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act until he stopped working for the department in May 2022.
Due to issues related to his leukemia, Dorsey worked light duty from October 2021 through early June 2022. Since he was experiencing shortness of breath, which would have made it difficult to respond to fires, Dorsey applied for less physically demanding positions, but said he was denied.
Denied promotions
Dorsey had previously asked a supervisor if he could ride the car, a position in which non-probationary captains take on battalion chief positions in their absence. However, the interim operations chief called him a few days later and said Dorsey couldnt ride the car because he hadnt completed an incident safety officer course.
But in January or February 2022, Dorsey was riding with a white captain acting as battalion chief for the day who said the course wasnt a requirement for him to ride the car.
In March 2022, Dorsey applied for several job openings, including fire marshal and chief of administration.
A white person who never held a captain position with the fire department was hired as the fire marshal, despite the job listing requiring at least two years of experience as a captain, the lawsuit said. Dorsey had six years of seniority over the person hired for the job and 17 more years of supervisory experience with the department.
The person hired for the chief of administration position was a white person who hadnt applied for the job, according to the suit.
The lawsuit claims that former Kansas City, Kansas Fire Department Chief John Paul Jones, who had previously been accused of making racist comments, was on the interview board to make hiring decisions for the positions.
Because Plaintiff was prevented from being promoted, because he was not accommodated, because his light duty was ending and because Plaintiff felt he could no longer do his current job due to his medical condition, he had no choice but to put in for his retirement effective May 20, 2022, the lawsuit said.
Dorsey had planned to work for the department for at least 10 more years.
The lawsuit said at least one other African American employee has said they were unfairly disciplined and not promoted due to race.
The incidents cause Dorsey to experience emotional distress, pain and suffering, career damage, embarrassment, degradation, humiliation, increased anxiety, difficulty sleeping and loss of enjoyment in life, according to the lawsuit. He also lost out on past and future wages and benefits and had diminished career potential.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, a Chicago native, reflected on the 18 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 during a trip to Chicagoland to speak on the history of the years of Soviet-occupied Ukraine.
The pair spoke to a packed room at Evanstons Rotary International for the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, a year-long genocidal campaign waged by former Soviet Premier Josef Stalin whose effects, they said, are still being felt.
From 1932 to 1933, Stalin carried out the Holodomor by closing the borders of Ukraine and taking crops and farm equipment from Ukrainian farmers in what was described by the USSR as an attempt to collectivize farming in the region.
As a result, 10 million Ukrainians starved to death, the Yushchenkos said. Two of the survivors of the genocide were Kateryna Yushchenkos mother and father. Kateryna herself was named after her aunts, one of whom found Katerynas grandfathers body after he was hanged for alleged anti-Soviet activities and the other who was stolen from her preschool at age three and never seen again.
My family history was shaped by Holodomor, she said.
When Kateryna Yushchenko, a former White House and State Department official who grew up in suburban Mount Prospect, first started visiting family in Ukraine, she would ask about the Holodomor and would be told that it never happened. Eventually, her family explained to her how they were told to forget and wanted to forget.
During his time in office from 2005 to 2010, Viktor Yushchenko made efforts to ensure the world didnt forget those lost. In 2006, Ukraines Parliament passed a bill declaring the Holodomor as a genocide. He also spearheaded the creation of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv, Ukraine, which opened on the 75th anniversary of the genocide in 2008.
When Viktor first created the museum, many people came and its interesting because we would see many people like my family, finally recognizing that what they knew and thought they didnt know, they knew again, Kateryna Yushchenko said.
She explained many Ukrainians denied the genocide out of fear and heartache that remained even years following Ukraines vote for independence in December 1991. This most recent trip to Chicagoland served as an extension of the pairs goal to educate the public about the impact the Holodomor had on Ukraine then and now.
We have an obligation to mobilize the world so that (regarding) one of the greatest tragedies in the 21st century, we speak with one voice and we can recognize this as a genocide, the former president said.
The history of the Holodomor has connections to the current war in Ukraine, according to founding coordinator of the Holodomor Studies Program at California State University, Victoria A. Malko. She explained that similarities between the ongoing war and Holodomor including how both were described as special operations, civilians were targeted and subjected to symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome to deny them of their Ukrainian culture constitute both as genocide.
This current genocide has become possible precisely because it (the Holodomor) has never been prosecuted, Malko said. The denial of genocide harbors the seeds of further violence.
Rotary Internationals General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer John Hewko said Russia needs Ukraine to win just as the rest of the world does to force Russian society to reflect much like Germany did after World War II.
Last week, North Koreas Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin , according to news reports, and stirred up concerns about the two countries engaging in a weapons transfer. For the former president, the meeting proved that Putin is struggling in the war and grasping at straws for support.
This alliance shows really how far Putin has fallen, how far he has to dig to find support, Viktor Yushchenkosaid. His only allies today are regimes which for decades have been under international sanctions. His only allies are countries that are run by dictators and I think this proves yet again that we are on the right side of history.
Regarding current Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the progress of the war, Viktor Yushchenko said with Zelenksyys constitutional majority in Parliament and his place as the president with the largest percentage of votes in the countrys history, he has the potential to make deep, lasting decisions about the path of the country going forward. However, the war must first be won.
A very important part of Ukraines policies today is the war has united Ukrainian society and now everyone in our society has one goal to overcome Russia and Putin, he said. There are many issues that we can discuss when it comes to financial, economic, security issues policies that have to be debated and discussed, but we feel strongly as a society thats something we should put off until our victory.
That victory isnt far off, the former president believes, saying this is our last battle with Russian colonialism, which every generation that came before us dreamt of. Thats the only context in which I view whats happening today in Ukraine. This is a great time for us and we will have a great victory.
The continued support to Ukraine from the United States has been up for debate in recent months as candidates for the 2024 presidential election outline their platforms. Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said during the Aug. 23 Republican National Debate he would pull support from Kyiv while candidate Ron DeSantis said he would continue support only if European nations increased their support. Viktor Yushchenko said he hopes American voters understand the war in Ukraine is the chief political issue impacting the world today.
The war that the Ukrainian nation is now having to fight against Russia is a great battle for the values of collective security policy and American security as well, he said. Its a system of responsibility and of course the Ukrainian nation would like to see that the American voter, no matter which side he supports, should be a partner of Ukraine.
The Evangelization Team at St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in Oak Lawn is made up of more than a dozen people, including, from left, the Rev. Dennis Ziomek, Reenie Panella, Don Kolkebeck, Dan Caddigan, Mike Bentley and Ruth Ann Allaway. The group is hoping to attract people to "explore questions of life and faith" at its Alpha discussion forum. (Pam Bentley)
Faith is everything to Mike Bentley, who leads the Evangelization Team at St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in Oak Lawn, where hes been a member for 35 years.
My faith allows me to have hope that God is pleased with me, he said. Faith strengthens my love of church, family and all mankind.
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He and others on his team plan to share that faith during the Catholic Churchs latest Alpha session, a free 12-week program that begins at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday.
We create a nonjudgmental and open environment where it is easy for anyone who is strong, uncertain, or simply curious about faith in Jesus to explore questions of life and faith in a friendly atmosphere, a new release from the parish explained, adding that the program will explore life, spirituality, and faith through a Christian lens.
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Bentley, whos led the team for four years, said Alphas goal is to take our guests on a journey of faith, giving them the opportunity to engage in discussions and be transformed by the love of Jesus Christ.
Faith is necessary to know God, he added. Knowing God is to know love. To know love is all we need.
St. Catherine of Alexandria offers the Alpha program twice a year. Each weekly session lasts 90 minutes.
We are hoping all people will participate in Alpha, Bentley said. This includes believers, skeptics and nonbelievers.
He and others are spreading the word near and far. We are reaching out through our church bulletin, speaking at Masses, our parish website, our parish Facebook page and personal emails, he explained. We have distributed flyers, promotional cards at local restaurants and in local papers. Of course the best outreach is through past participants who speak to others about their experience at Alpha.
Bentley said the Archdiocese of Chicago promotes Alpha as an evangelization tool for each parish to run as an accompaniment to Christ Renews His Parish retreats.
Don Kolkebeck, who just joined the Evangelization Team, had an amazing experience after he attended a two-day CRHP retreat about 10 years ago at what is now known as St. Augustine in Midlothian with his brother. The next time I was on the program as kind of a counselor, and I gave my life speech. It was very, very profound.
His relationship with faith may be a little different from that of most parishioners. A former seminarian whose wife was a nun for four years, he said he has a strong feeling for faith, and for us its pretty much not that much of a doubt.
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Kolkebeck, a 37-year member of St. Catherine, was persuaded to join the Evangelization Team after participating in Alpha sessions.
Ive been working with Mike. Ive been in his Alpha group going for the last three or four years, he shared. Ive liked it a lot, so Ive been in the last four Alphas kind of as a helper, someone who is in the small groups, a leader.
He said although the group is open to cradle Catholics, where youve been in Catholic schools and participating in going to church, hed also like to see others participate. Id like to get people outside of our religion. That would be kind of nice to see different views, not just people like myself.
Alpha is not just a Chicago phenomenon. The movement began in 1977 at Holy Trinity Brompton London and eventually came to the United States.
The ability of Christianity to unite people around the world is one of the messages of Alpha, Bentley said. God has created us to be one big family. Alpha brings individuals together to experience family and the love a family shares.
For Kolkebeck, Alpha represents an important way to learn more about his faith.
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From what I understand, the goal is to try to make you more of a deeper understanding and a lot of things you thought you knew to get you more involved and the fact that you can get with other people in your parish to get to know them a little better, he said. It gives you kind of a deeper understanding of religion, the Bible things of that nature. To me, it makes me a stronger Catholic.
He said participants enjoy the camaraderie, the getting together, the topics that are discussed. I think its been pretty positive.
During an Alpha session, the evening begins with light refreshments and conversation, followed by a 30-minute video and small group discussions, Bentley explained. The films explore life issues around faith and Christianity addressing questions such as Is there more to life than this?, How can I have faith? and How can I resist evil? Everyone is welcome to share their honest opinion and ask questions or just sit back and listen. There is nothing you need to bring. Just bring you.
Kolkebeck described Alpha as 12 different retreats that last an hour and a half each. I like it a lot. Its very rewarding. He said typically between 15 and 30 people attend Alpha sessions.
Sometimes the session attracts people from outside the parish. Its refreshing because they have other programs that are at their parishes, and its nice to hear about, he said.
If you dont have faith, its the fact that things arent the way they are supposed to be, he said. Faith is a kind of comfort. These things that in the Bible people are telling you about are real.
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Participants have consistently provided positive feedback, Bentley said. Most of the participants speak of experiencing a sense of belonging while opening their hearts to a new or better relationship with Jesus Christ.
Although the program is free, registration is requested with Bentley at mbentley@scaoaklawn.org or 708-423-4047.
Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Former Victorville Doctor Wendell Mark Street, 71, was sentenced for illegally prescribing hundreds of thousands of opioids at his High Desert clinic.
A former doctor who illegally prescribed hundreds of thousands of opioids at his Victorville office has been sentenced to federal prison.
Wendell Mark Street, 71, of Las Vegas was sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally prescribing oxycodone without a legitimate medical purpose, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Monday.
Street intentionally acted outside the usual course of professional practice, by failing to conduct a physical examination, establish diagnostic testing, provide a treatment plan, and create documentation to establish a medication indication for the prescriptions, the DOJ stated.
A doctor holds a position of trust over his patients and with the government, which grants him the authority to write prescriptions for controlled substances for the medical needs of his patients, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. [Street] violated his position of trust by selling prescription, thereby placing the lives of his patients at risk.
The investigation showed that Street prescribed 7,769 prescriptions for narcotics, including 437,000 doses of oxycodone, from November 2012 to November 2013.
Putting his patients 'at risk'
Streets sentencing, by U.S. District Judge George Wu, comes four years after the former doctor pleaded guilty to two charges of knowingly and intentionally prescribing and distributing oxycodone to patients, the DOJ said.
The former anesthesiologist sold two prescriptions for oxycodone and alprazolam (Xanax) for $300 each to an undercover investigator with the California Medical Board, according to the DOJ report.
The investigators posed as patients in August 2013 and documented their interactions with the doctor via video and audio, the Daily Press reported.
One investigator, posing as DeAndre Dotson, requested a prescription for OxyContin, the brand name for oxycodone, telling Street he suffered from bad headaches, according to the report.
Street instead diagnosed the patient with lumbar strain without performing a physical exam or testing. The investigator gave him $300 in cash and Street wrote him the prescription.
A second time, the investigator went into Streets office and gave his receptionist $200 in cash and received another prescription without even seeing the doctor, the report read.
Street surrendered his medical license in 2016.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Former Victorville doctor sentenced for illegally prescribing opioids
Fort Worths public school students lost ground in reading on this years state test, according to a new analysis of test results.
The Fort Worth Education Partnership presented its annual report on the citys state test results at a Fort Worth city council work session Tuesday. Across all grades and subjects, 36% of students in the city scored on grade level, according to the analysis. Thats the same percentage as last year. Students made progress in math, climbing from 30% last year to 34% this year.
But results dipped in reading, with 44% scoring on grade level this year, down from 46% last year, according to the report.
In 168 of the 216 schools in the city, or about 79%, less than half of all students scored on grade level, according to the report.
We know what that means for these kids and for their futures, Brent Beasley, president of the group, told council members. And we know what that means for our city.
Nearly two-thirds of Fort Worth kids test below grade level
The analysis includes STAAR scores from students in grades 3-8 from every campus across the 12 independent school districts and 14 public charter school networks with campuses in the city limits. It focuses only on the percentage of students who scored on grade level, and doesnt include those who approached grade level.
The 36% of students who scored on grade level across all subjects this year represent progress compared to the 28% who met grade level in 2021, the first year students took the state test after the pandemic began. But the citys scores still lag behind pre-pandemic levels: In the spring of 2019, the last year students took the test before the pandemic, 39% scored on grade level, according to the report.
Beasley compared the stagnant results to the city trying to climb a hill. In 2019, before the beginning of the pandemic, education leaders in Fort Worth knew they had a tall task ahead of them to improve reading scores. But with the beginning of the pandemic and the educational disruptions that came with it, the city fell into a hole at the base of the hill, he said. The city has mostly pulled itself out of the hole, he said, but now it finds itself back where it started.
Leila Santillan, the groups vice president for operations, told the Star-Telegram that, in the aggregate, students in every part of the city performed roughly the same on this years exam as they did last year. A few parts of the city saw average scores that were one or two percentage points higher or lower than last year, she said, but no part of the city saw great gains or drastic losses.
The report is based on state test scores that were released last month. The Fort Worth Independent School District is home to about 41% of the citys public school students, making it the largest single district serving Fort Worth students, according to the report. Another 46% go to the 11 other school districts with campuses in the city, and about 13% go to public charter schools.
The decline in reading mirrors statewide trends: Across Texas, the percentage of third-graders who met grade level in reading on this years STAAR dipped two points compared to last year, from 50% in the spring of 2022 to 48% this year.
Pete Geren, president of the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, told council members that parents were largely unaware of the problem, because in many cases, students who perform below grade level on state tests still bring home As and Bs on the report cards. He encouraged council members to hold town hall meetings in their districts to talk to parents about the problem, and walk them through the process for finding their kids STAAR scores.
When parents know their kids are behind at school, there are things they can do to help, Geren said. They can request small-group tutoring at school or make a point to work with the kids on their own, he said. But if they dont know theres a problem, parents cant help, he said.
This is a crisis that its unaddressed at present, Geren said. Its a crisis thats hidden in plain sight.
A Fort Worth man was arrested after his mother was found dead inside a hotel room Monday night, according to a Northlake police news release.
At around 11:50 p.m. Monday, police responded to a disturbance at Tru by Hilton at 13451 Raceway Drive.
The 911 caller told police that they heard a woman screaming and were concerned for her well-being.
When officers responded, they tried to enter the room with a room key. A man who was in the room slightly opened the door and quickly shut it with the deadbolt, police said in the release.
Officers used a breaching tool to get into the room. The man was called out of the room and was taken into custody, police said.
Officers then discovered an unconscious woman who was bleeding and they performed life-saving measures until paramedics arrived, the release said.
Medical personnel could not revive the woman and she was pronounced dead.
The man who was arrested was identified as 23-year-old Aaron Ezra Cole II, from Fort Worth. The woman was identified as his mother, 51-year-old Nichelle Cole, from Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
Aaron Cole was transported to the Denton County jail.
A Tarrant County jury sentenced a man to life in prison Tuesday for the murder of his girlfriend, Rochelle Mims, in September 2018.
Fort Worth homicide detectives arrested Lucious Newhouse III in September 2018. Police believe he shot Mims, dragged her body out of the house and dumped her body in Hopkins County, according to an arrest warrant. During Newhouses trial, prosecutors pointed out that Newhouse was also questioned in connection to a previous girlfriends death.
On Sept. 2, 2018, the Hopkins County Sheriffs Office and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety responded to the scene of a possible drunken driver crash. They found Newhouse, then 55, sitting on Texas 67 just west of Sulphur Springs. Newhouses vehicle was stuck in a nearby creek in the middle of a pasture just north of the highway.
Officers walked to the vehicle and found blood on the trunk and rear bumper. The body of a woman later identified as Mims was found a short distance away. Police arrested Newhouse at the scene.
A few hours later and armed with a search warrant, Fort Worth police went to Newhouses home in the 4200 block of Lorin Avenue. They found Mims purse and identification card on a bed and a large trash bag filled with womans clothing. A piece of cardboard in the middle of the bedroom was covered with blood, and blood was splattered on the TV, the warrant said. Two .32-caliber shell casings were found in the room.
During the trial, state prosecutors filed a motion that allowed them to discuss Newhouses criminal history. In 2004, police interviewed Newhouse in connection to another womans death, according to court documents. Fort Worth police found the body of JoAnn Davis on March 17, 2004, in Gateway Park. Her body was wrapped in a blanket and appeared to have been dumped in the park. Newhouse and Davis had been in a relationship and had a child together. Witnesses said the blanket Davis was found in was previously inside Newhouses house, and Newhouses DNA was linked to the body and the blanket.
Newhouse admitted to having sex with Davis that morning, but denied knowing how she had been killed or who dumped her body in the park, court records said. Court records do not show any charges against Newhouse in connection to Davis death.
The founder and CEO of a nonprofit anti-human trafficking group was charged Monday with 31 felonies alleging fraud, theft and other crimes. | Steve Griffin, Deseret News
The founder of a nonprofit anti-human trafficking organization in Utah has been arrested and accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from donations and using the money for personal expenses such as cars, vacations and homes.
In addition, investigators say Candace Elexzandria Lierd, 37, also known as Candace Rivera, has made numerous false claims of being a nurse, physician and physician's assistant but was never licensed or registered in Utah.
Lierd was booked into the Utah County Jail Friday and charged Monday in 4th District Court with 31 felony crimes, including engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, theft of services and four counts of communications fraud, second-degree felonies; 10 counts of theft, eight second-degree felonies and two third-degree felonies; two counts of identity fraud, a second-degree felony and a third-degree felony; plus six counts of forgery and seven counts of unprofessional conduct, third-degree felonies.
According to a statement from the Utah Attorney General's Office, its investigation "uncovered evidence that Candace Lierd repeatedly made false representations to donors who gave money to support the fight against human trafficking, and that Lierd used at least some of the money for personal expenses including homes, apartments, cars and trips."
From August 2020 through Dec. 27, 2022, Lierd was the CEO of Exitus, a Lehi-based nonprofit anti-human trafficking corporation. On her website, she describes herself as "the brand house owner of CR House & Co Brands, and while her passion and joy can be found in her brand, her greatest joy is found within being the CEO and founder of Exitus, an anti-human trafficking nonprofit organization."
Investigators say Exitus' business license expired in 2022 after it was not renewed. But the business was still soliciting donations on June 15 on Facebook and Instagram.
"Both social media pages appeared to document the organization's work in orphan rescues in Europe and solicited donations toward that effort," a police booking affidavit states.
"From Sept. 10, 2020, to present date, Candace Lierd misrepresented herself as a licensed registered nurse, medical doctor and nurse practitioner. Candace falsely stated that she held a position with the United Nations and was featured on BBC News. Candace also falsely asserted she was a successful business owner who has founded several multimillion-dollar companies," the affidavit states. "Based on the misleading and fraudulent representations made by Candace, the Exitus nonprofit corporation raised more than $1,697,000 since its founding in 2020."
The lengthy affidavit lists multiple times that investigators believe Lierd falsely represented herself to others, including in 2021 when she solicited a member of the Navajo Nation.
"Candace later met with tribal nation leaders to solicit donations for Exitus' work with a missing and murdered indigenous women effort." But a Navajo Nation member "later learned that no such effort to rescue or seek justice for missing and murdered indigenous women existed within Exitus," the affidavit alleges.
Lierd also entered into a residential agreement in Lehi but told the property manager that she "worked for the FBI and could not reveal the details of her work because everything she did was secret," according to the affidavit. She then wrote checks for the deposit and first month's rent, both of which bounced.
"Candace effectively 'squatted' at the property for about six months," the affidavit says. "And she caused approximately $10,000 in damage done to the property upon her eviction. There is no record of Candace being employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
In addition, investigators say Lierd used an Exitus credit card to buy her son a used Toyota 4-Runner. And in 2021 withdrew more than $400,000 from an Exitus bank account over four transactions that is still unaccounted for, according to the affidavit. Furthermore, investigators believe she took an additional $240,000 from an Exitus account to help with the purchase of a new home, according to the affidavit.
In May, Lierd was charged in 4th District Court with issuing a bad check, a second-degree felony. In that case, a man who says he was hired twice by Exitus to work events the company was hosting, was paid with checks that both bounced, according to charging documents.
Matt Johnson, who is listed as Exitus' business relations manager, and who says he "worked closely" with Lierd and Exitus, released a statement following her arrest saying he has severed all ties with her.
"Candace has personally lied to me about who she is and misled me to believe many things about her and her dealings with individuals, both personally and in business," he stated. "I apologize to those who are being affected by this; it's extremely disappointing and disheartening. Today is a very sad day for anti-trafficking work. ... I am sickened and hurt by this."
Four inmates previously held at a Kentucky prison have been indicted over an assault that left another inmate dead more than a year ago.
Michael Ford, Robert Smith, Spencer Horton and Jared Andrews all face charges related to an assault at Luther Luckett Correctional Complex that killed 50-year-old Clarence Roller Jr. in July 2022.
Ford, 48, was indicted in Oldham County Circuit Court earlier this month on charges of first-degree manslaughter, promoting contraband and being a persistent felony offender. At the time of the assault, Ford was serving out a life sentence on two counts of complicity to murder and two counts of kidnapping.
Fords indictment says he was charged with manslaughter for his intent to cause serious physical injury to another person. For the promoting contraband charge, Ford is alleged to have possessed or obtained dangerous contraband. The document does not detail specifics of the assault or the contraband Ford allegedly had.
Three other inmates were indicted in Oldham County and face a range of charges, according to court documents. Commonwealths Attorney Courtney Baxter could not comment on specifics of the case citing pending litigation, but did confirm indictments against the men were issued.
Smith, 44, faces charges of complicity to manslaughter, promoting contraband and being a persistent felony offender. His indictment alleges Smith solicited, commanded, or engaged in conspiracy with Ford in the planning or commission of the deadly assault on Roller. Smith was serving a sentence related to drug trafficking charges, according to court documents.
Horton, 25, is charged with tampering with physical evidence and being a persistent felony offender. His indictment says he destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered physical evidence that he believed was about to be produced or used in the official proceeding...
The indictment does not detail the evidence. Horton is serving a five-year sentence for an unlawful sex act with a minor under age 18, according to court documents.
Andrews who was out of prison as of Monday has an active warrant for his arrest. His indictment charges him with promoting contraband and being a persistent felony offender. He previously served a three-year sentence on burglary charges, according to court documents.
Horton is the only inmate who remains incarcerated at Luther Luckett.
Roller had been imprisoned at the facility since 2011, when he was convicted of three counts of first-degree sexual abuse, first-degree sexual abuse of a minor under age 12, first-degree sodomy and first-degree sodomy of a victim under the age of 12.
Roller died from complications of diffuse traumatic brain injury as a result of the attack, according to Jefferson County Coroner Barbara Weakley-Jones. She said her office arrived at the University of Louisville Hospital on July 18, more than a month after the assault, in response to Rollers death.
The Herald-Leader learned of Rollers death four months later, and Kentucky State Police would not confirm his death, or release information about suspects.
KSP Sgt. Matt Sudduth confirmed the cases were presented to a grand jury Sept. 8. He declined to comment on specifics of the case.
Timelines to complete investigations vary based on the complexity of the case, Sudduth said Monday afternoon. As this is an ongoing investigation, specific details regarding the incident and the investigation are not available for release at this time.
Luther Luckett is a medium/maximum security prison in Oldham County that opened in 1981 and housed 1,200 inmates, according to the state corrections website.
All four suspects are expected to be arraigned Sept. 28.
Four Texas restaurants are among the best in America, according to a new report.
For the third year in a row, the New York Times has compiled a list of the 50 best restaurants in the country. Texas is among the most represented on the list, with four entries.
Heres a look at the Texas contingent:
Gatlins Fins & Feathers
City: Houston
Opened: July 2022
Gatlins Fins & Feathers serves its Houston customers a bevy of southern-style cuisine.
The New York Times recommends the homemade biscuits, fried catfish and garlicky barbecue shrimp. Other dishes on the menu include po boy sandwiches, jerk chicken and chargrilled oysters.
Gatlins Fins & Feathers is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at 302 W Crosstimbers St.
El Hidalguense has been a Houston staple since 1994.
El Hidalguense
City: Houston
Opened: April 1994
El Hidalguense has been serving Mexican cuisine for nearly three decades in northwest Houston.
The New York Times recommends the roasted goat which is topped with chili paste and served with charro beans and flour tortillas. Other menu items include menudo, gorditas and barbacoa.
El Hidalguense is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at 6917 Long Point Rd.
Este is a seafood restaurant located in Austin.
Este
City: Austin
Opened: October 2022
Este is a seafood restaurant that celebrates Mexican cuisine and fresh-caught seafood.
The New York Times recommends the grilled turbot with salsa verde and salsa macha paired with grilled squid. Other items on the menu include pan seared trout, tuna carnitas and the catch of the day grilled in banana leaves.
Este is open for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday-Sunday and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday-Sunday at 2113 Manor Rd.
Wees Cozy Kitchen is located just minutes away from the University of Texas.
Wees Cozy Kitchen
City: Austin
Opened: Feburary 2022
Wees Cozy Kitchen is serving up Malaysian food at a gas station just minutes from the University of Texas campus.
The New York Times recommends the curry laksa thats topped with fresh cut lemongrass and chiles. Other dishes include the seafood nasi lemark, chicken char kway teow and beef rendang.
Wees Cozy Kitchen is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday-Saturday at 2400 Rio Grande St.
Fresno State was ranked in a tie for eighth among U.S. public and private universities in social mobility, an assessment of how well schools graduate economically disadvantaged students to a higher standard of living.
It made a big jump, up from No. 30 a year ago, and is one of five California State University campuses in a Top 10 compiled by U.S. World and News Report in its Best Colleges Rankings. Long Beach State is No. 1 in the social mobility rankings, with Cal State Fullerton tied for No. 2, Cal State San Bernardino tied for No. 4 and San Francisco State tied with Fresno State and Oakland City University in Indiana at No. 8.
Fresno Pacific also was rated high in its social mobility category, ranked No 4 among regional universities in the West. It was tied there with Cal Poly Pomoma, as well as No. 12 among best value schools and in a tie for No. 41 overall with La Sierra University in Riverside and Montana Tech.
The social mobility category is one Fresno Pacific often has excelled it was No. 2 in 2022.
This high and significant ranking on social mobility is especially important for our students, their families and our region, as it means that Fresno State allows our students to find the best versions of themselves, and in doing so, they become the leaders we all need in our Valley and the world, Fresno State President Saul Jimenez-Sandoval said in a statement from the university.
Thats why graduation day is so meaningful to me we are graduating the leader-professionals who will strengthen communities and elevate the quality of life for everyone in our Valley.
Fresno State earlier this month was No. 6 in a similar social mobility ranking by the Wall Street Journal/College Pulse. It also received 4.5 stars out of a 5-star rating in Money magazines list of best colleges for quality and affordability.
In the U.S. World and News Report social mobility rankings, UC Riverside was tied with Cal State Fullerton at No. 2 and UC Merced was tied with Cal State San Bernardino at No. 4.
The media company has published rankings of U.S. colleges and universities for 39 years, as well graduate schools, hospitals and mutual funds.
U.S. News and World Report refined its rankings formula this year, which allowed Fresno State to make a sizable jump in its ranking among national universities. U.S. News dropped five factors long-used in its formula for determining its rankings and modified others, while increasing an emphasis on graduation rates of students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. It also added a metric tied to first-generation college students.
Fresno State as a result is ranked in a tie for 185th among national universities by U.S. News and World Report, up 64 spots from a year ago. It also is ranked in a tie for 101st among public schools and 204th among best value schools.
The university was tied for No. 12 in electrical/electronic/communications, behind CSU campuses Cal Poly (No. 2), Cal Poly Pomona (No. 3), San Jose State (No. 8), Cal State Fullerton (tied for No. 9).
It also was tied for 49th among undergraduate engineering programs at schools where a doctorate degree is not offered and No. 129 among best colleges for veterans.
In determining its social mobility rankings, U.S. News and World Report aggregated two factors tied to the graduation rates of economically disadvantaged students who receive federal Pell Grants - six-year graduation rates and graduation rate performance, relative to students who did not have Pell Grants.
Students whose family income is less than $50,000 annually are eligible for federal Pell Grants.
FILE - Barbara Fried, mother of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, arrives at court, Dec. 22, 2022, in New York. On Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, lawyers for collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Trading filed a lawsuit accusing Allan Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, of exploiting their access to and influence over their son and the company he founded to enrich themselves by millions of dollars. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
DOVER, Del. (AP) Lawyers for FTX Trading have filed a lawsuit accusing the parents of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried of exploiting their influence over their son to siphon millions of dollars from the company, while spending lavishly on a luxury home in the Bahamas and funneling contributions to their pet causes and Stanford University.
The complaint filed Monday against Allan Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried in the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange's bankruptcy case in Delaware seeks to recover damages allegedly caused to by the couple to the company.
FTX entered bankruptcy in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits to make lavish real estate purchases, campaign contributions to politicians, and risky trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm. His trial on federal fraud charges is scheduled to begin Oct. 3 in Manhattan.
Several other former FTX executives have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and are cooperating with investigators.
The lawsuit alleges that Bankman, a Stanford University law professor and expert in tax law, and Fried, a retired Stanford law professor, participated in the wrongdoing that led to the collapse of FTX and resulted in both criminal and civil investigations.
Despite presenting itself to investors and the public as a sophisticated group of cryptocurrency exchanges and businesses, the FTX Group was a self-described family business, the lawsuit states.
Bankman played a key role in perpetuating this culture of misrepresentations and gross mismanagement and helped cover up allegations that would have exposed the fraud committed by the FTX insiders, the complaint adds. And together, Bankman and Fried siphoned millions of dollars out of the FTX Group for their own personal benefit and their chosen pet causes.
Attorneys for Bankman and Fried issued a statement denying the allegation and taking aim at John Ray III, who was named CEO when FTX sought bankruptcy protection and is charged with trying to clean up the mess left by its collapse.
This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins, the attorneys for Bankman and Fried wrote. These claims are completely false. Mr. Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the couple helped orchestrate a scheme in which their son gave them a nontaxable gift of $10 million. The scheme involved Bankman-Fried receiving a loan from Alameda, then transferring the money to his parents. The lawsuit describes the transaction as part of a scheme and pattern to enrich and otherwise benefit themselves.
The complaint also states that more than $18.9 million in FTX funds was used to purchase a 30,000-square-foot luxury residence in the Bahamas for Bankman and Fried, who also benefited from more than $90,000 in FTX-funded expenses to furnish and maintain the property.
Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges, Bankman directed more than $5.5 million in charitable contributions from FTX to Stanford University in what the complaint describes as naked self-dealing in an attempt to curry favor with and enrich his employer at the FTX Groups expense.
Fried is accused of encouraging her son and other FTX insiders to make unlawful political contributions, including to Mind the Gap, or MTG, a political action committee she co-founded and for which she served as president and chairwoman.
Fried focused heavily on masking Bankman-Frieds identity as a political donor. She regularly raised this issue in email communications with Bankman-Fried and advised him on avoidance of such disclosure, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh was used as conduit through which funds from Alameda were used to make political contributions to recipients who were hand-selected by Fried and rubber-stamped by Bankman-Fried.
Singh pleaded guilty in February to charges including conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and to defraud the Federal Election Commission. According to FEC records, Singh contributed roughly $9.7 million in 2022 and in late 2020 to various candidates and committees.
Earlier this month, Ryan Salame, former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets pleaded guilty to making tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians and engaging in a criminal conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Bankman-Fried argued to a federal appeals court panel Tuesday that his free-speech rights and ability to prepare for trial have been impaired by a judges decision to revoke his $250 million bail and hold him in pretrial detention. The judge revoked Bankman-Frieds bail last month after finding probable cause that he had tampered with witnesses.
Bankrupted cryptocurrency firm FTX has sued the parents of founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, alleging that the pair siphoned millions of dollars out of the company through their son.
The company filed the suit Monday against Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried , both Stanford law professors who, the suit alleges, held senior advisory roles in FTX and its market trading arm, Alameda Research.
Bankman served as legal counsel to the company and pressured his son to give him millions of dollars in cash and assets, the suit alleges. Fried held a similar advisory role and collected tens of millions for her charitable foundation, according to the suit.
The lawsuit aims to extract monetary damages from the pair as well as return any misappropriated FTX funds or assets.
As Bankman-Frieds parents, Bankman and Fried exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars, the suit reads.
Attorneys for Bankman and Fried vehemently denied the allegations in the suit.
This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins, Bankman and Frieds lawyers wrote in a statement to The Wall Street Journal.
The suit alleges that Bankman pressured his son for a $10 million gift and the purchase of a $16 million Bahamas estate. Fried was the primary adviser on FTXs political contributions, the suit claims, which topped $100 million.
It also claims Bankman violated his fiduciary duty to report and intervene on the rampant fraud which resulted in the downfall of the company last year.
The suit argues Bankman-Frieds parents were part of a small cadre of FTX insiders whose actions led to the companys collapse after stock market investments failed.
Bankman and Fried, tenured professors at what currently is ranked as the top U.S. law school, either knew or ignored bright red flags revealing that their son, Bankman-Fried, and other FTX Insiders were orchestrating a vast fraudulent scheme to profit and promote their personal and charitable agendas at the Debtors expense., the suit reads.
Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud and is in jail pending his trial next month.
A Stanford University spokesperson said the university is working with attorneys to return donations it received from FTX made at the direction of the embattled founders parents.
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Lori Wainwright, 63, walks through the flooded basement of her 62-year-old friend Mrs. Balls home, Sept. 19, 2023, after almost nine inches of rain fell Sunday in Calumet City. Wainwright and Ball have been friends since 1963 and when Wainwright came to check on her friend she says, It devastated me, I couldnt rest Mrs. Ball said she couldnt afford the $1200 it would cost to get the water out of her basement so Wainwright and Ball rented a pump from a Home Depot in Chicago and started removing the water themselves Tuesday. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
The sewer system in Calumet City needs upgrades, the city engineer said Tuesday, but he said no infrastructure could handle the deluge that hit areas of the south suburbs Sunday.
Were looking at almost 9 inches in a little less than 3 hours, said Ken Chastain, Calumet Citys engineer. Were looking at flooding that never occurred (before) in Calumet City.
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The rain overwhelmed the citys ancient sewer system, and the water filled streets and basements, although it was not immediately clear how many properties were affected. Chastain said flooding affected all seven of the citys wards.
It was a 500-year event over an extremely small area, he said, indicating that type of storm is exceedingly rare. It was an incredible amount of rain.
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National Weather Service radar estimates show between 8 and 10 inches of rain fell in and around Calumet City.
In South Holland, 5.7 inches were measured and the service reported rainfall of 5 inches in Harvey and a bit more than 4 inches in Oak Forest. Other suburbs such as Hazel Crest and Phoenix recorded 4 inches, according to the service.
Any assistance from the federal government for affected residents and business owners would take an emergency declaration from the governor and presidential approval, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
FEMA opened a temporary disaster recovery center Sept. 14 in Calumet City to assist residents affected by storms that moved through central Illinois and the Chicago area and caused flooding June 29 through July 2.
The worst of the floods earlier this summer happened in suburbs such as Cicero, although Calumet City saw some flooding problems as a result of the storms, Chastain said.
FEMAs Calumet City office is open through Thursday, with personnel able to help with things such as applying for grants for home repairs and low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, according to FEMA. The office is open to any Cook County resident impacted by the late June flooding.
The office isnt able to assist with residents affected by Sundays storms under the current emergency declaration, according to Nicole Wilson, a FEMA spokeswoman.
Gov. J.B. Pritzkers emergency declaration that covered the late June storms was approved by the Biden administration in August. It would take another such declaration to free up federal help for this weekends flooding, she said.
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In the meantime, she said FEMA advises impacted property owners to record any damages, including taking photos, and keeping receipts of work done to remediate damage.
Chastain said Calumet Citys sewer system couldnt handle the amount of water that fell in such a short time, and the city has proposed fixes carrying a price of more than $100 million, including new sewers and stormwater detention ponds.
Nothing could be designed for that, he said of the Sunday storm.
A washing machine sits on its side in the basement of Mrs. Balls home on Sept. 19, 2023, after almost nine inches of rain fell on Sunday in Calumet City. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
South Holland saw an unprecedented rainfall, with an astonishing 6 inches of rain falling in just 2 hours, Julia Huisman, a village spokeswoman, said Tuesday.
Flooding caused some temporary street closings, and the village received 30 calls from residents who had water in their basements, she said. Some of those were due to lack of overhead sewers or failed sump pumps, she said.
The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District said despite the heavy rainfall totals, its reservoir at the Thornton Quarry was just a bit more than 12% full, holding just under 1 billion gallons. The reservoir has a capacity of nearly 5 billion gallons, and holds a combination of stormwater and sewage, as many communities served have combined sewer systems.
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The district said few local sewers have capacity to handle these rain totals and move the water into the districts Deep Tunnel system, of which the Thornton Reservoir is part.
Chastain said Sundays rain and subsequent flooding impacted all of Calumet Citys seven wards, which was very unique. Three quarters of the citys sewer system uses combined rain and sewage lines.
He said there are systemic, structural deficiencies in the citys sewer system that Calumet City is seeking outside funding to correct.
Chastain said while major storm events causing flooding used to be uncommon, theyre going to happen with climate change more often, and that Calumet City and other municipalities need to cope with them.
mnolan@tribpub.com
In a 30-minute speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, President Joe Biden asked world leaders to stand with Ukraine.
Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was watching as Biden addressed U.N. delegates. Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, reports The New York Times. Russia alone bears responsibility for this war, the president said. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately.
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Biden told world leaders Moscows price for peace was Ukraines capitulation, Ukraines territory and Ukraines children and called on them to avoid appeasement.
I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? Biden said in his address. If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
He continued: Id respectfully suggest the answer is no. He implored leaders to stand firm. We have to stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, he said.
World at an inflection point
We gather once more at an inflection point in world history, Biden said. I understand the duty my country has at this critical moment.
As president of the United States, I understand the duty my country has to lead this critical moment, to work with countries in every region linking them in common cause, to join together with partners who share a common vision of the future of the world, where our children do not go hungry and everyone has access to quality health care, where workers are empowered and our environment is protected, where entrepreneurs and innovators everywhere can access opportunity everywhere, where conflicts are resolved peacefully and countries can chart their own course.
Biden stressed the need for the countries of the world to work together, reports The Wall Street Journal. The United States seeks a more secure, more prosperous, more equitable world for all people, because we know our future is bound to yours, Biden said. Let me repeat that again. We know our future is bound to yours. And no nation can meet the challenges of today alone.
Whats next?
According to The New York Times, Biden will be using his time at the United Nations to meet with other world leaders. He plans to meet Tuesday afternoon with the leaders of the five Central Asian republics that used to be part of the Soviet Union Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. It will be the first time a U.S. president has met jointly with the Stans, reports NPR.
On Tuesday evening, the Bidens will host a reception for other world leaders at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. On Wednesday, Biden will sit down separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, but will not be hosting him at the White House. Later on Wednesday, he will be meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, who pitched himself as the leader of the Global South during his own UNGA remarks.
Zelenskyy will address the U.N. General Assembly later Tuesday.
Holly Richardson is the editor of Utah Policy and minored in International Relations while earning a PhD in Political Science.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, Facebooks parent company, arrives for the Inaugural AI Insight Forum on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)
The Supreme Court will decide early next week whether to hear a case that will shape the future of social media for years to come.
At issue is whether companies like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are allowed under the law to remove content that violates their rules.
The case is actually two cases. A federal appeals court in Texas found that social media companies cant remove content. Another federal appeals court, in Florida, found that they can.
Those two cases are on a collision course and headed for the Supreme Court. After the court decides next week whether to take the cases which legal experts say it almost certainly will it would hear arguments just after the new year.
Whats the argument for the social media companies?
The First Amendments free speech protections are the first and main line of defense for social media companies.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Florida found that their moderation is protected editorial judgment under the First Amendment, according to Daphne Keller, director of the Program on Platform Regulation at Stanfords Cyber Policy Center.
The cases carry the potential to finally give social-media platforms the same First Amendment rights over content that the court bestowed on print newspapers nearly 50 years ago in Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo, wrote Clay Calvert, an expert on tech policy and the First Amendment at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
In other words, under this view when Facebook removes a post, or suspends a user, that is free speech on the companies part, and it is protected by the Constitution.
Social media companies remove or restrict content for a host of reasons, from profanity to abusive language to sexually explicit content to false information.
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State governments in Texas and in Florida, controlled by Republicans angered by social media suspensions of significant GOP figures such as former President Donald Trump in 2021, both passed laws that same year forbidding the platforms from removing content or suspending users.
But legal precedent in the U.S. has never allowed the government to control what a private company can communicate or not communicate.
In fact, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled earlier this month that the government is barred from coerc[ing] or significantly encourag[ing] social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce ... posted social-media content containing protected free speech.
The court found in that same decision that the Biden administration had likely violated the First Amendment in its attempts to pressure social media companies to take down or restrict COVID-19-related posts in 2021.
The odd thing is that the Fifth Circuit is the same court that one year ago upheld the law passed by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature that would coerce social media companies into leaving up content that the companies want to take down, for whatever reason.
The two rulings were issued by two different sets of three-judge panels. There are 17 active judgeships on the Fifth Circuit. But still, legal and tech experts have noticed the gaping discrepancy that appears to exist between the two rulings.
The Fifth Circuit Court has now held that its unconstitutional for the federal [government] to influence platforms moderation decisions, while also holding its constitutional for Texas to compel platforms to leave up content they want to take down. Impossible to square that circle, wrote journalist James Surowiecki.
Whats the argument against the social media companies?
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been writing opinions for a few years now that refer to social media companies as common carriers, which is similar to public utilities.
Justice Clarence Thomas poses for an official portrait at the Supreme Court in October 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
That just means that under Thomass understanding of the law, the government while barred from coercing social media platforms to take content down could still coerce companies to leave content up.
It is the kind of philosophy that sees more speech as the greatest good, but many experts firmly say that it is not a free speech point of view.
The rights against compelled speech are just as important as the rights against suppressed speech. Because without one, you really dont have the other. Freedom of speech covers both what you do and what you dont say, wrote Techdirts Mike Masnick.
But Keller, the Stanford expert, explained in a written piece for Lawfare that a Thomas opinion in Twitter v. Taamneh earlier this year repeatedly described social media platforms in an inaccurate way, claiming they are passive, and largely indifferent toward removing content.
The Thomas opinions description of platforms as generally available to the internet-using public[,] who mostly use the platforms for interactions that once took place via mail, on the phone, or in public areas frames them as functional substitutes for traditional common carriers, and tracks Texass argument that platforms are twenty-first century descendants of telegraph and telephone companies, Keller wrote.
Attorneys for the Texas Legislature have already relied on the Thomas opinion to argue that platforms have no First Amendment interest in maintaining editorial control because, as Taamneh describes them, the platforms dont really have much of an editorial role in the first place.
Keller described the faultiness of Thomass description of the social media platforms practices as strange.
By Humeyra Pamuk
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - G7 countries recognize that Russia is settling into its war in Ukraine for the longer term and this requires enduring military and economic support for Kyiv, a senior U.S. official said on Tuesday after a meeting of foreign ministers.
The ministers from the Group of Seven advanced economies, including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken , met over dinner on Monday evening on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
"There was a recognition that we see Russia settling into this war for the medium and long term," said a senior U.S. State Department official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.
That means continuing Western backing for Ukraine as well as ensuring that security and economic support are in place for the medium term, the official said.
"This is of course about ensuring that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's imperial project continues to fail and that he knows that he cannot out-wait us, but it is also about working together to ensure that there is sufficient burden-sharing, that there is sufficient long-term planning," added the official.
Western countries, led by the United States, have sent billions of dollars in weapons and economic support to Ukraine since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The State Department official added that reinforcing Ukraine's air defenses is key not only for the battlefield but also to protect its critical infrastructure as winter descends.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Simon Lewis and Doina Chiacu; editing by Andrew Heavens and Mark Heinrich)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris would seem to be on a political collision course in a race for the White House someday, but Newsom on Monday had lavish praise for his California colleague.
Newsom told CNN interviewer Dana Bash that President Joe Biden and Harris administration is a master class in terms of performance bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act.
Asked if Harris was Bidens best choice for vice president, Newsom kept up the compliments.
If I think this administration in the last two and a half years has been one of the most outstanding administrations in the last few decades, and shes a member of that administration. She gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success, he said.
The answer is absolutely.
Polls have shown Harris to be widely unpopular, and Republicans have been bashing her for some time, warning supporters that the 80-year-old Biden is at risk of not finishing his term, which means a Harris administration is very possible.
Newsom told NBCs Meet the Press last week that if Harris ran for president, he wouldnt run against her.
During Mondays interview, he once again refuted any interest in the White House.
Im not that guy, he said. Im just not.
Despite his comments, Newsom has been taking the sort of steps that a potential presidential candidate does, raising money and traveling the country to spread his views.
Newsom and Harris have similar political roots. Newsom was mayor of San Francisco and won two statewide elections as lieutenant governor before becoming governor. Harris was a San Francisco prosecutor who won two statewide elections as attorney general and then as U.S. senator in 2016.
Newsoms conversation with Bash touched on concerns around Bidens age, Hunter Bidens indictment and Republicans impeachment efforts, which the governor compared to student government.
This is a joke, Newsom said. ... I mean, this is a perversity that the Founding Fathers never conceived of or imagined.
Bash also probed Newsom about his philosophy around limitations on abortion and Californias new lawsuit against oil companies, which claim they misled consumers about climate change for decades.
They lied to people, knowingly lied to people, Newsom said about the alleged deception by oil companies. Its completely analogous to the tobacco companies.
Vice President Kamala Harris , left, stands onstage with California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the conclusion of an event at the IBEW-NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Center in San Leandro, Calif., on September 8, 2021. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Gavin Newsom on Monday praised Kamala Harris as "absolutely" the best running mate for Biden .
Newsom made the statement during a CNN interview, where he praised the administration's accomplishments.
The outspoken California governor is widely seen as a future Democratic presidential contender.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday gave a full-throated endorsement of the Democratic presidential ticket, arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris was "absolutely" the best running mate for President Joe Biden next year.
When asked by CNN's Dana Bash whether Harris was the "best person to be on the ticket" with the president, Newsom was unequivocal in his support for his fellow Californian.
"Of course she is," Newsom said. "Biden-Harris administration, master class in terms of performance bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act."
"If I think this administration in the last 2.5 years has been one of the most outstanding administrations in the last few decades, and she's a member of that administration, she gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success. The answer is absolutely," he continued.
Newsom is widely thought of as a future Democratic presidential contender and the visible backing of Biden and Harris will likely go a long way with the administration as they seek to quell some of the concerns that many party voters have regarding the president's age. And it would also tamp down much of the chatter about a political rivalry between Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor and ex-lieutenant governor, and Harris, a former San Francisco district attorney and ex-California attorney general.
While Democratic voters lined up behind Biden in 2020 and are poised to do so again, they have some misgivings about the president, who is 80 years old and would be 82 at the start of a potential second term in 2025.
In an August survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, 69% of Democrats indicated that Biden would be too old to be effective for another term. And while 55% of Democrats indicated that they didn't want to see the president run again, 82% said they'd likely support him should he emerge as the 2024 nominee.
So the spotlight on Harris has been even stronger in recent months, as some Democrats have questioned whether she'd be the party's best standard-bearer in 2028 or even earlier should Biden for whatever reason need to step down before the end of a potential second term.
And Newsom, who's now in his second term in office, has been huge backer of the administration and has been a key campaign surrogate since Biden launched his reelection bid earlier this year.
In June, the governor refuted any talk that he would challenge Biden in the 2024 Democratic primary, a scenario that had been raised by many political observers.
"Not on God's green earth, as the phrase goes," he told The Associated Press at the time. "I have been pretty consistently including recently on Fox News making the case for his candidacy."
Read the original article on Business Insider
The claim: Photo shows plane releasing genetically modified mosquitoes in Ohio
A Sept. 9 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a collage that includes a mosquito being injected with a syringe, airplanes and a U.S. map highlighting the state of Ohio. A second image shows an airplane trailing a plume of smoke.
Modified mosquitoes have officially made it to Ohio, reads the text in the post.
A previous version of the post on Instagram garnered more than 2,000 likes in five days before it was deleted. Other versions of the post continue to circulate on Facebook and X, formerly known as Twitter.
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Our rating: False
The photo in the post shows a plane trailing smoke, not mosquitoes, during an air show over Labor Day weekend near Cincinnati. The Environmental Protection Agency has not announced or approved any program involving genetically modified mosquitoes in Ohio.
Airplane in photo trailing smoke, not mosquitoes
The photo used in the Instagram post is a screengrab taken from a video originally shared on TikTok on Sept. 3. The original also includes the hashtags #ohioriver, #cincinnati, #newportkentucky and #labordayweekend2023.
An annual celebration called Riverfest took place on Sept. 3 in the Cincinnati and Newport, Kentucky, area, with events taking place on both sides of the Ohio River. Festivities included multiple flyover performances by members of the Cincinnati Warbirds, a local club dedicated to preserving historic military aircraft.
The trail shown behind one of the pictured airplanes, a T-6 Texan "Tweety Bird," is made up of smoke from burnt mineral oil, according to Warbirds president James Stitt.
The aircraft is equipped with a smoke system that sprays "mineral oil into the hot exhaust manifolds of the engine, which vaporizes into a harmless cloud of smoke," Stitt told USA TODAY in an email. "It is very common in airshows everywhere."
Stitt called the notion that the smoke trail in the photo is actually a swarm of mosquitoes "ludicrous."
There was no plan to release genetically modified mosquitoes or other insects as part of the event, Ben Breuninger, a spokesperson for the Cincinnati city managers office, told USA TODAY in an email.
Other planes that participated in the Riverfest flyovers, including a B-52 Bomber from the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, Ohio, also left trails of smoke oil, according to Stephanie Felts, a spokesperson for the museum.
Fact check: Genetically modified mosquitos released in US not tied to Gates, malaria cases
Only one company approved to release GMO mosquitos
The release of genetically modified mosquitoes, which carry a gene that results in female offspring not surviving into adulthood, is being evaluated as a way to manage local mosquito populations. The Environmental Protection Agency has only approved one company, Oxitec, to release genetically modified mosquitoes.
While the company was approved to conduct field testing in parts of Florida, Texas and California, Oxitec has only ever worked in the Florida Keys, according to company spokesperson Jamie Lester. The company has never released mosquitoes in the Cincinnati area or elsewhere in Ohio, Lester told USA TODAY in an email.
Furthermore, Oxitecs mosquitoes are not released by plane, helicopter or in any other sudden mass release, Lester said. Mosquitoes cannot be released in the kind of quantities claimed in this video.
Fact check: Video shows aphid, not genetically modified mosquito stamped with number
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment, and they did not provide any evidence to support the claim.
PolitiFact and the Associated Press also debunked this claim.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Photo shows plane trailing harmless smoke, not mosquitoes | Fact check
German police conducted multiple raids against homes belonging to members of the now-banned neo-Nazi Hammerskin movement. Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/EPA-EFE
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Germany on Tuesday banned the Hammerskin neo-Nazi group while also conducting raids against its members.
The German Interior Ministry said that more than 700 police officers raided the homes of 28 members of the organization in 10 federal German states, confiscating cash and other items including weapons, clothing with the Hammerskins emblem, flags with swastikas and copies of Mein Kampf.
"The ban on the 'Hammerskins Germany' is a hard blow against organized right-wing extremism. With this ban, we in Germany are putting an end to the inhuman activities of an internationally recognized active neo-Nazi association," said German Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser .
The Hammerskin movement grew out of a neo-confederate movement in Texas during the late 1980s and expanded to multiple nations including Britain, Australia and Germany.
The group is known for promoting Nazi ideology through concerts, as well as setting up neo-Nazi music labels and selling anti-Semitic records.
In Germany, the Hammerskin movement is known for its involvement in the neo-Nazi music scene and has been linked to a music venue called 'Hate Bar,' which has faced legal consequences for displaying banned symbols.
The Interior Ministry said the ban on the Hammerskins is the 20th that it has imposed on a right-wing organization and was conducted through close coordination with United States counterparts.
"Right-wing extremism remains the greatest extremist threat to our democracy. That is why we continue to act decisively to dismantle right-wing extremist structures," Faeser said.
(Bloomberg) -- German authorities banned a neo-Nazi group with roots in the US and raided the apartments of 28 members across 10 federal states in an operation coordinated with American officials.
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The group known as Hammerskins Deutschland and an associated organization called Crew 38 were both outlawed in an operation that Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said dealt a heavy blow to right-wing extremism and sent a signal that racism and antisemitism wont be tolerated.
Such groups represent the greatest extremist threat to our democracy, Faeser said Tuesday in an emailed statement. That is why we continue to act decisively to dismantle right-wing extremist structures.
The governments latest move against radical elements comes amid growing support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party, especially in the former communist eastern states. Its the 20th ban imposed on a right-wing extremist group, according to the interior ministry.
Read More: The Far Right Is Advancing in a Vulnerable Europe Again
Hammerskins Deutschland, which has around 130 members, is an offshoot of Hammerskins Nation, founded in 1988 in the US, and plays a prominent role in the radical right-wing landscape in Europe, the ministry said.
Members see themselves as an elitist brotherhood within the skinhead scene and distribute extremist music and merchandise, it added.
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Berlin is preparing a EUR 400 million ($428 million) security assistance package for Ukraine, largely focused on ammunition and winter equipment, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in an interview with Bild on Sept. 18.
Germanys priority is supplying Ukraine with additional ammunition: high-explosive rounds, mortar shells, and anti-air missiles, according to the minister.
Read also: Decision to transfer German Taurus missiles to Ukraine rests with Chancellor Scholz Kuleba
"Ammunition is what Ukraine needs the most in defending against this violent aggression," said Pistorius.
He added that his country will help the Ukrainian military with armored transport vehicles and demining systems.
Read also: Denmark allocates its largest military aid package to Ukraine
"We have also prepared for the approaching winter: we will send winter gear, as well as power and heat generators; the total cost of the package will amount to 400 million euros," Pistorius concluded.
Read also: Germanys decision on Taurus missiles supplies for Ukraine expected in two weeks max Pistorius
Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock announced that their governments are discussing the issue of transferring ATACMS and Taurus long-range missiles to Kyiv, but the ultimate decision has not been made yet
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ex-lawyers for Rudy Giuliani, a longtime ally and former attorney for former President Trump, filed a lawsuit against Giuliani for nearly $1.4 million in alleged outstanding legal bills.
Robert Costello, a partner at the law firm Davidoff Hutcher and Citron, filed the lawsuit Monday in New York state court, claiming Giuliani agreed to pay more than $1.5 million in legal fees to the firm but has only paid $214,000.
Costello and the firm are suing Giuliani for the outstanding balance of $1,360,196.10 in alleged fees for legal services provided from around November 2019 through July 2023.
Costello and the firm served as Giulianis representation on numerous occasions, including during the investigations by both Congress and special counsel Jack Smith into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, as well as by Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis into an alleged scheme to overturn Georgias election results.
Last month, Willis charged Giuliani, alongside Trump and 17 other co-defendants, for the alleged conspiracy to overturn the election. Giulianis charges are centered on his alleged attempts to spread false claims of election fraud and his accused role in the fake electors scheme in Georgia.
Earlier in August, Giuliani appeared to be one of the six co-conspirators listed in Smiths federal Jan. 6 case over Trumps alleged efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election.
In addition to his two criminal cases, Giuliani also faces three defamation suits related to comments he made while seeking to help Trump unwind the 2020 results two from voting equipment companies and another from a mother-daughter duo who were serving as election workers in Georgia. He is also facing disbarment proceedings in New York and Washington.
As Giulianis legal challenges mount up, so does his debt.
In recent case proceedings, Giulianis attorneys pointed to his inability to pay for bills, as well as the apparent cutting off of assistance from Trumps PAC after it initially provided him with $400,000 this year to help cover the cost of preserving his records as evidence in court cases.
Last month, CNN reported that Giuliani and his attorney traveled to Florida in April to appeal to Trump to help cover some of Giulianis legal fees. Trump reportedly did not appear interested, though he verbally agreed to assist with some of Giulianis legal bills without committing to a specific amount or time frame.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (center right) spoke alongside his wife Kateryna Yushchenko (center), Founding Coordinator of the Holodomor Studies Program Victoria A. Malko (far left) and General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer at Rotary International John Hewko (center left) at an event on the history and impact of the Holodomor genocide. Also pictured is former Minister of Finance for Ukraine Natalie Jaresko (far right) who served as moderator. (Alex Hulvalchick/Alex Hulvalchick)
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko, a Chicago native, reflected on the 18 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 during a trip to Chicagoland to speak on the history of the years of Soviet-occupied Ukraine.
The pair spoke to a packed room at Evanstons Rotary International for the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, a year-long genocidal campaign waged by former Soviet Premier Josef Stalin whose effects, they said, are still being felt.
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From 1932 to 1933, Stalin carried out the Holodomor by closing the borders of Ukraine and taking crops and farm equipment from Ukrainian farmers in what was described by the USSR as an attempt to collectivize farming in the region.
As a result, 10 million Ukrainians starved to death, the Yushchenkos said. Two of the survivors of the genocide were Kateryna Yushchenkos mother and father. Kateryna herself was named after her aunts, one of whom found Katerynas grandfathers body after he was hanged for alleged anti-Soviet activities and the other who was stolen from her preschool at age three and never seen again.
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My family history was shaped by Holodomor, she said.
When Kateryna Yushchenko, a former White House and State Department official who grew up in suburban Mount Prospect, first started visiting family in Ukraine, she would ask about the Holodomor and would be told that it never happened. Eventually, her family explained to her how they were told to forget and wanted to forget.
During his time in office from 2005 to 2010, Viktor Yushchenko made efforts to ensure the world didnt forget those lost. In 2006, Ukraines Parliament passed a bill declaring the Holodomor as a genocide. He also spearheaded the creation of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in Kyiv, Ukraine, which opened on the 75th anniversary of the genocide in 2008.
When Viktor first created the museum, many people came and its interesting because we would see many people like my family, finally recognizing that what they knew and thought they didnt know, they knew again, Kateryna Yushchenko said.
She explained many Ukrainians denied the genocide out of fear and heartache that remained even years following Ukraines vote for independence in December 1991. This most recent trip to Chicagoland served as an extension of the pairs goal to educate the public about the impact the Holodomor had on Ukraine then and now.
We have an obligation to mobilize the world so that (regarding) one of the greatest tragedies in the 21st century, we speak with one voice and we can recognize this as a genocide, the former president said.
The history of the Holodomor has connections to the current war in Ukraine, according to founding coordinator of the Holodomor Studies Program at California State University, Victoria A. Malko. She explained that similarities between the ongoing war and Holodomor including how both were described as special operations, civilians were targeted and subjected to symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome to deny them of their Ukrainian culture constitute both as genocide.
This current genocide has become possible precisely because it (the Holodomor) has never been prosecuted, Malko said. The denial of genocide harbors the seeds of further violence.
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Rotary Internationals General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer John Hewko said Russia needs Ukraine to win just as the rest of the world does to force Russian society to reflect much like Germany did after World War II.
Last week, North Koreas Kim Jong Un met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to news reports, and stirred up concerns about the two countries engaging in a weapons transfer. For the former president, the meeting proved that Putin is struggling in the war and grasping at straws for support.
This alliance shows really how far Putin has fallen, how far he has to dig to find support, Viktor Yushchenkosaid. His only allies today are regimes which for decades have been under international sanctions. His only allies are countries that are run by dictators and I think this proves yet again that we are on the right side of history.
Regarding current Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the progress of the war, Viktor Yushchenko said with Zelenksyys constitutional majority in Parliament and his place as the president with the largest percentage of votes in the countrys history, he has the potential to make deep, lasting decisions about the path of the country going forward. However, the war must first be won.
A very important part of Ukraines policies today is the war has united Ukrainian society and now everyone in our society has one goal to overcome Russia and Putin, he said. There are many issues that we can discuss when it comes to financial, economic, security issues policies that have to be debated and discussed, but we feel strongly as a society thats something we should put off until our victory.
That victory isnt far off, the former president believes, saying this is our last battle with Russian colonialism, which every generation that came before us dreamt of. Thats the only context in which I view whats happening today in Ukraine. This is a great time for us and we will have a great victory.
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The continued support to Ukraine from the United States has been up for debate in recent months as candidates for the 2024 presidential election outline their platforms. Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said during the Aug. 23 Republican National Debate he would pull support from Kyiv while candidate Ron DeSantis said he would continue support only if European nations increased their support. Viktor Yushchenko said he hopes American voters understand the war in Ukraine is the chief political issue impacting the world today.
The war that the Ukrainian nation is now having to fight against Russia is a great battle for the values of collective security policy and American security as well, he said. Its a system of responsibility and of course the Ukrainian nation would like to see that the American voter, no matter which side he supports, should be a partner of Ukraine.
Rudy Giuliani's former attorney has sued the former New York City mayor for reportedly failing to pay his legal fees.
In a document filed Monday, Robert Costello and his firm, Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, alleged that Giuliani has only paid for $214,000 in legal bills, leaving $1.35 million unaccounted for. The New York Times reported that a large part of what Giuliani owes is related to his dealings with former president Donald Trump in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. "Mr. Giuliani racked up legal bills while battling an array of criminal and congressional investigations, private lawsuits and disciplinary proceedings that cast a harsh light on his bid to keep Mr. Trump in office in spite of his election loss," the Times observed.
"I can't express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done," Giuliani said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. "It's a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I will say is that their bill is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees."
In response, Costello argued, "How can he take a personal affront when he owes my firm nearly $1.4 million?" Costello also refuted Giuliani's claims that his bills were inflated, asserting that he charged Giuliani at the standard hourly rate. "He's a little late to that party," Costello said. "It's too late for that frivolous claim as he will find out in court."
The suit is the latest in a series of escalating legal and political woes for the disgraced lawyer, who, along with a slew of other co-conspirators, was recently indicted by Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis on racketeering charges in the Georgia fake elector scheme. Giuliani also faces potential disbarment in connection to his efforts to assist Trump in subverting the 2020 election and had his law license suspended in June of 2021.
The plane carrying five American citizens freed as part of a deal between the U.S. and Iran have now landed back home in the United States.
MORE: US clears way for deal with Iran to free detained Americans
"They just landed on U.S. Soil early this morning, said National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on "GMA" Tuesday morning. "So they're going to be at a military facility in Virginia for a little while. We want to make sure they have access to mental and medical health care, whatever they need. Obviously, they'll be reunited with their families very very soon."
"Initial reports we have are relatively good health but we want to make sure they get all the care they need," Kirby continued. "They'll have access to that care for as long as they need it."
The repatriated Americans include Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz, as well as two others who asked that their identity not be made public. All five have been designated as wrongfully detained by U.S. government.
PHOTO: Family members embrace freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees whose names have not yet been released by the U.S. government at Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Tahbaz's wife, Vida, and Namazi's mother, Effie, were also allowed to leave Iran in the arrangement, according to a U.S. official. Unlike the other five, they had not been jailed by the Iranian regime but had previously been barred from leaving the country.
PHOTO: Freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees whose names have not yet been released by the U.S. government at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
In a statement on Monday, President Joe Biden said, "Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home."
"Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Sharghi, and two citizens who wish to remain private will soon be reunited with their loved ones -- after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering," he said. "I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the Governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, and South Korea.
"I give special thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, and to the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, both of whom helped facilitate this agreement over many months of difficult and principled American diplomacy," he said.
PHOTO: Family members embrace freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees whose names have not yet been released by the U.S. government at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Secretary of State Blinken, speaking in New York, said that he had the "great pleasure" of having an "emotional conversation" with the Americans after they landed in Doha on Monday as they made their way home to the United States, saying it was a good reminder of the "human element that's at the heart of everything we do."
He also noted that American Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent, still remains unaccounted for more than 16 years after what Blinken said was his abduction in Iran.
"We are also thinking of Bob Levinson who ... is presumed to be deceased. Bob's legacy lives on powerfully in the Levinson Act which is giving us new and powerful tools to crack down and deter the practice of taking Americans unlawfully to try to turn them into political pawns, and to abuse the international system in that way," he said.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry first announced the U.S. nationals would be imminently released early Monday morning, fulfilling a deal struck between Washington and Tehran last month, where the U.S. promised to grant clemency to five Iranians and to facilitate Iran's access to roughly $6 billion in frozen oil revenue on the condition the money be put toward humanitarian purposes.
PHOTO: Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, and arrived at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
The seven were transported via a Qatari aircraft to Doha. From there, U.S. officials say they departed "as quickly as possible" for the Washington, D.C., area, where they will be reunited with their families and the Department of Defense will be on hand to assist families "that might request help for their recovery and integration to normal life."
The five Iranians involved in the trade have either been charged with or convicted of nonviolent offenses. Two do not have legal standing to stay in the U.S. and will be transported by U.S. Marshals Service to Doha and then travel on to Iran.
Two more are lawful permanent residents of the U.S., and one is a dual Iranian American citizen. Administration officials did not say whether they would remain the U.S.
PHOTO: Family members embrace freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees whose names have not yet been released by the U.S. government at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
The five detained Americans all served time in Iran's notorious Evin prison but were placed on house arrest when Tehran and Washington reached a deal-in-principle.
Namazi, 51, is an oil executive and an Iranian-American dual nationalist. He was first detained in 2015 and was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison after a conviction on "collaboration with a hostile government" for his ties to the United States.
Shargi, a 58-year-old businessman, was detained without explanation in 2018 and released in 2019 before he was re-arrested in 2020 and handed down a 10-year sentence on an espionage charge.
Tahbaz, 67, is an Iranian-American conservationist who also holds British citizenship. He was arrested in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Blinken signed off on a broad sanctions waiver last week, clearing the way for international banks to transfer the roughly $6 billion in Iran oil revenue in exchange for Iran's release of the five detained American citizens.
The $6 billion is coming from a restricted account in South Korea, where it was effectively frozen when the U.S. reinstated sanctions against Tehran after former President Donald Trump left the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran's nuclear program and will be transferred to Qatar with restrictions on how Iran can spend the funds.
Iran expected to begin receiving its frozen assets on Monday, Nasser Kanaani, a spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said, adding that "active foreign policy" had led to the funds being unblocked.
"Today this asset will be delivered," Kanaani said. "It will be invested where needed."
PHOTO: From left to right split shows photos of Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi (Handout)
Republicans blasted the planned swap in the days after the initial announcement.
"The Americans held by Iran are innocent hostages who must be released immediately and unconditionally. However, I remain deeply concerned that the administration's decision to waive sanctions to facilitate the transfer of $6 billion in funds for Iran, the world's top state sponsor of terrorism, creates a direct incentive for America's adversaries to conduct future hostage-taking," House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul said in a statement.
But National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby insisted during a press briefing Wednesday that "Iran will be getting no sanctions relief."
"It's Iranian money that had been established in these accounts to allow some trade from foreign countries on things like Iranian oil. ... It's not a blank check. They don't get to spend it anyway they want. It's not $6 billion all at once. They will have to make a request for withdrawals for humanitarian purposes only," he said, adding that there will be "sufficient oversight to make sure that the request is valid."
The Iranian people will be the beneficiaries of the funds, not the regime, according to Kirby.
Pressed on why the $6 billion needed to be released in addition to the five Iranian prisoners, Kirby said, "This is the deal we were able to strike to secure the release of five Americans."
"We're comfortable in the parameters of this deal. I've heard the critics that somehow they're getting the better end of it. Ask the families of those five Americans who's getting the better end of it and I think you'd get a different answer," he said.
When asked about Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's claim that the money is "fungible," Kirby said, "He's wrong. He's just flat-out wrong."
Kirby said the funds in this agreement are "not a payment of any kind" and "not ransom" to secure the release of the Americans, responding to Republican complaints.
"Expect this money to free up revenues internally for more foreign aggression and domestic suppression. And certainly, at over one billion dollars per hostage and a jailed Iranian national" said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies. "Expect Tehran to continue if not step up its hostage taking."
Republican Leader Mitch McConnell slammed the administration for its negotiating tactics in a speech on the Senate floor.
"Unfortunately the deal that secured their release may very well be the latest example of President Biden rewarding and incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior," McConnell said. "Over the past two and a half years, the administration's weakness and desperation have emboldened a massive state sponsor of terror and would be nuclear-armed aggressor.
"The Biden administration's record of appeasement and squandered leverage has left Americans less secure," McConnell said. "The urgent question now is when the President will finally decide to change course. Because so far his administration's obsession with reviving a flawed nuclear deal actually suggests otherwise."
John Kirby offered a rebuttal on "GMA" Tuesday morning.
"The regime in Tehran has been taking foreign hostages for 40 some years," Kirby said. "This is a tactic they've used in the past. This is difficult to say what this will mean for the future except to say we're going to continue to put pressure on the Iranian regime. We're not going to turn a blind eye to the potential for additional hostage taking ... We aren't turning a blind eye to anything Iran is doing in the region."
Kanaani, the Iranian spokesperson, said only two of the Iranians who were expected to be released from American prisons were willing to return to Iran.
"Two of [Iran's] citizens will willingly return to Iran, one person joins his family in a third country, and the other two citizens want to stay in America," Kanaani said.
ABC News' Benjamin Gittleson and Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
Plane carrying 5 Americans freed from Iran lands in US originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California
By Foo Yun Chee
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) -Alphabet's Google on Tuesday made a last-ditch effort at Europe's top court to overturn a 2.42 billion euro ($2.6 billion) EU antitrust fine imposed for market abuse related to its shopping service, saying that regulators failed to show that its practices were anti-competitive.
Google turned to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) after the General Court in 2021 threw out its challenge to the fine levied by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in 2017.
It was the first of three penalties for anti-competitive practices that have cost Google 8.25 billion euros in total in the last decade.
Google lawyer Thomas Graf said the European Commission had failed to show that the company's different treatment of rivals was abusive and that different treatment alone was not anti-competitive.
"Companies do not compete by treating competitors equally with themselves. They compete by treating them differently. The whole point of competition is for a company to differentiate itself from rivals. Not to align with rivals so that all are the same," he told the panel of 15 judges.
"Qualifying every different treatment, and in particular different treatment of first party and third party businesses, as abusive would undermine competition. It would impair the ability and incentives of companies to compete and innovate," Graf said.
Commission lawyer Fernando Castillo de la Torre dismissed Google's arguments, saying the company had used its algorithms to unfairly favour its price comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust laws.
"Google was entitled to apply algorithms that lower the visibility of certain results which were less relevant for a user query," he said.
"What Google was not entitled to do was to use its dominance in general search in order to extend its position over comparison shopping by promoting results of its own services, and embellishing them with attractive features and apply algorithms that are prone to pushing down the results of rivals and showing those results without attractive features," he said.
CJEU advocate general Juliane Kokott said she would issue her non-binding opinion on Jan. 11. The CJEU will rule in the coming months following her recommendation.
This case and two others involving the Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service, however pale in comparison with the ongoing EU antitrust case into Google's lucrative digital advertising business where regulators in June threaten to break up the company.
The case is C-48/22 P Google and Alphabet v Commission (Google Shopping)
($1 = 0.9353 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by David Evans)
The Scene
Users of Google products like Gmail, Docs and Sheets, will have access to new integrations with Bard, the companys main competitor to OpenAIs ChatGPT.
Known as Extensions, the feature was one of several announcements Google made Tuesday on updates to its AI offerings as competition heats up with Microsoft, which has a partnership with OpenAI. The AI model that powers Bard, known as PaLM2, is also getting a makeover that the company says makes the model more effective.
Bard will also added Google it, where the chatbot will let users know which part of its responses are based on citations from the internet versus ones based on less certain sources. The update is meant to combat the hallucination problem, where large language models spit out inaccurate information.
Semafor spoke with Sissie Hsiao, vice president at Google and general manager for Google Assistant and Bard, about the new features and her thoughts on the future of AI tools.
The View From Sissie Hsiao
Q: Whats an example of what you can do with the new Bard Extensions?
A: I have two kids and at the beginning of school, its always emails galore from both schools. Theres back to school night. You need to buy these things. You need to pick them up at this time. You need to go meet the teacher. And so I asked Bard to summarize all the emails from my kids schools and tell me what I need to know. Bard retrieved all the emails, summarized them and gave me, point by point heres the things you need to know about the third grade classes starting and the seventh grade classes starting. In minutes, I was able to do what would have been hours reading through newsletters from all of these different schools.
Q: How does double-check work?
A: It evaluates each sentence that Bard responds with. And it basically checks if theres corroboration for that sentence on the internet. You see green and orange sentences. Green means I found a good quality site corroborating this information and you can click on the link to go see the site. Orange sentences mean Google did not find any corroborating evidence. So this means this sentence may or may not be true and you might want to go evaluate it.
Q: You announced this at Google I/O and have been testing it for months. What did you learn from watching how people use these tools?
A: They really love double-check. Theyre like wow, I can now double-check what Bard is telling me. People also find it absolutely difficult finding things in documents and emails.
I had this tester who said, Ive had my Gmail for 15-20 years and Ive been looking for this one email, and I just cant find it. But she found it through Bard. She was able to just describe it with words.
Q: Its ironic because Google is a search company. What does it mean for the future of search that these large language models are better at searching for things than traditional Google search?
A: Bard and search are complementary. So in the double-check feature, you search to corroborate and understand. In the Extensions case, this is searching your private corpus. Its a way to express looking for something that is pretty unique. Its new and I think people are finding power in that.
Q: How many people are using Bard in general? Is it a popular tool?
A: I cant talk to specific numbers, but I can talk to its tremendous momentum and also the engagement that we have on Bard. We see people using all of our new features and finding new use cases with them.
Q: How do you think about Bard? Is Bard kind of a demonstration and these tools that youre talking about today are the real product?
A: Bard is an experiment in generative AI and were constantly pushing the envelope on what generative AI can do. This latest launch with Extensions is a really powerful thing because not only is it able to do all the things that a large language model can do, youre able to do things with other tools, which is a really powerful concept. Internally, we call it agentive capabilities.
If you take that to the limit of time, you can summarize those kids emails for school, and then put the order into Amazon for all the things you need. Or you can find your entire kids summer camp schedule, because it can help reason and sort through all your inbox and see all the camps that youre interested in and actually come up with a schedule. How agentive can it be when it actually can take those higher order tasks and solve them for you through natural language with the human in control?
Q: When will we get to the point where it can actually book the summer camps? Some people call that being an agent? Is that on the horizon?
A: I definitely think that it is on the horizon. But I think people can save a lot of time, just with the actual planning and the iteration work. And then the transacting part, theres some time savings to enter your credit card and what not. But really, thats like a final mile and not the most accretive. I think its really all this, smushing all the information together and making sense of it and organizing it. Thats the work that people do a lot in email and text and all these different information corpuses and this is where were going to add the most value.
Q: Can you use Bard to search on other email and document services? Like, say Microsoft Office?
A: A person is not service centric. A person is multi service. You have relationships with multiple tools from multiple companies. You have your information in multiple places. My vision is that Bard can become an agent that brings all of that together for a personalized AI that helps you solve your problems.
Q: Youve also updated PaLM2. Can you say anything about the numbers? How much bigger is it and how much better?
A: I cant speak about model sizes. But were constantly building. Were constantly experimenting with different model architectures, different data, training, mixtures. This launch is significantly upgraded in quality.
Q: Can you talk about the kind of fine-tuning and reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF) youre doing to improve the model?
A: Its fascinating that they call fine-tuning and RLHF recipes. You add a little of this, you subtract a little of that and it tastes better, or maybe it tastes worse. Its actually remarkably true. And I think with our fine-tuning approach, were constantly looking for what kind of data will make the model hallucinate less, be more creative when it needs to be creative, be less creative when it should be more factual. Every two weeks, were actually constantly revving our fine tuning and our RLHF.
Q: Now that the model is bigger and better, is it more expensive to run as far as server costs go?
A: I cant speak to the exact costs. What I can say is we are always balancing costs and latency because bigger models can also be slower. These model sizes change over time and optimizations change over time. So theres not a fixed point perspective on our particular inference cost.
Q: A lot of people are really anticipating the launch of Gemini. PaLM 2 is getting better. Does it morph into Gemini or is Gemini a totally separate thing and what can we expect from it?
A: Its a really exciting model that were going to be putting into Bard. I cant say when. It will be a completely new model architecture, a completely new approach to the training. Its going to be quite a large model, of course, which is really exciting. And with these things, as a product builder, youre always thinking about what are the applications of this great technology. Again, its a recipe. The base model is definitely a component of that recipe and many other components on top. Features, RLHF. Stay tuned on more capabilities, but we think there will be more skills and more capabilities emerging from these newer generation models.
Correction
Googles new integration of AI tools into its products is available to all users. An earlier version of this article misstated that it was only available to users of the paid version of Google products.
North Carolina Republican lawmakers plan to sharply expand the Opportunity Scholarship program and delay implementation of the Parents Bill of Rights until next year.
Leaked legislative budget documents obtained by The News & Observer show GOP lawmakers plan to triple Opportunity Scholarship funding over the next decade as part of a plan to offer universal private school vouchers.
The budget documents also show lawmakers will accept GOP State Superintendent Catherine Truitts request to give schools until Jan. 1 to comply with the new Parents Bill of Rights law.
Republicans have a legislative supermajority, so they dont need Democratic support to pass a budget. But the budget has been delayed because of a fight over casino expansion, with House Republicans wanting to separate it from the budget vote.
Heres a look in more detail at some of the education items in the budget documents:
Universal private school vouchers
North Carolina is poised to join a small but growing number of states that are offering universal private school vouchers
The budget calls for increasing funding for the voucher program to $520.5 million by the 2032-33 fiscal year.. Thats compared to the $176.5 million spent this fiscal year.
The increase in state funding would come with new rules that say any family could apply for a voucher to get taxpayer funding to attend a K-12 private school. This change would eliminate income eligibility rules that restricted wealthy families from getting a voucher.
The highest voucher awards would go to the families with the lowest income. But even the wealthiest family would be able to get a voucher equal to 45% of the average amount the state spends per students in public schools.
Nariah Hunter (center right), 7, dances with classmates as they sing in music class in this 2016 file photo. Her family used a North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship to attend Victory Christian Center School.
The state spends around $7,200 per student.
This is the most important part of the budget, Marcus Brandon, a former state lawmaker and executive director of the school choice group CarolinaCAN, posted on X Tuesday. Strengthening and modernizing our public education system to meet the needs of ALL kids is the best investment we can make.
Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has been rallying public school supporters to oppose the expansion of the voucher program. Cooper has pointed to an Office of State Budget and Management analysis that allowing any family to get a voucher could cost traditional public schools $200 million in state funding from lost student enrollment.
By expanding voucher eligibility to any K-12 student, our public schools, especially schools in rural and poorer counties, will face steep funding cuts, leaving schools without the resources to maintain fixed costs and support students, Cooper said in March when he announced a state of emergency for public education.
In response, GOP lawmakers say in the budget that its their intention to provide public schools with some of the state funding theyll lose when students leave after getting a voucher.
If a student leaving a public school gets less than the full voucher amount, lawmakers say theyll transfer the difference in money back to the school district.
Parents Bill of Rights delayed
The new budget gives public schools three extra months to implement the many requirements in the new Parents Bill of Rights law.
On Aug. 16, Republican lawmakers passed into law over the veto of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper limits about discussion of LGBTQ issues in elementary schools and a requirement that schools notify parents if their child changes their name or pronoun.
The budget would give schools until Jan. 1 instead of the current Sept. 15 deadline to implement the law. Truitt, the state superintendent, had told lawmakers there wasnt enough time for schools to get the law in place this month.
Audience members hold up signs as a speaker addresses the Charlotte Mecklenburg school board on Aug. 22, 2023 prior to its 7-2 vote to approve four policies that comply with North Carolinas Parents Bill of Rights. The new law limits instruction of LGBTQ+ issues in elementary schools and potentially require schools to out LGBTQ+ students to their parents.
The budget also exempts the N.C. Youth Risk Behavior Survey from the new legal requirement that parents have to provide permission for their children to take protected information surveys at schools.
These surveys ask students questions on issues such as their sexual behavior and their mental or psychological problems.
The budget also clarifies that school employees can give emergency health care when reasonably apparent circumstances indicate that any delay would seriously worsen the physical condition or endanger the life of the pupil.
Schools had raised concerns that the new law limited how they could respond if a student was having a medical emergency.
The delay has angered supporters of the law. Brooke Weiss, chair of the Mecklenburg County chapter of Moms for Liberty, posted on X Tuesday that Truitt is a traitor and that Senate leader Phil Berger is putting his special interests above children.
Expand Teaching Fellows program
Other education components in the budget include:
Expand the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program into two more colleges and universities and open the program to aspiring teachers who want to teach in elementary schools. Currently, the program is only offered in eight institutions as a way to help cover the costs for college students who agree to teach special education or STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes in the state after graduation.
The proposed expansion comes at a time when the states public schools opened this school year with more than 3,500 teaching vacancies.
Limits the reasons the State Board of Education can use for withholding funding for charter schools. State lawmakers recently stripped the state board of its authority to approve and renew charter schools, so the state board passed a policy to control funding of charters.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Republican gubernatorial nominee Daniel Cameron appeared to soften his hardline opposition to abortion on Monday, telling a Kentucky radio station that he would support amending the states abortion ban to add exceptions allowing for the termination of pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
Cameron, the states attorney general, has steadfastly supported the current Kentucky law banning all abortions except when carried out to save a pregnant womans life or to prevent a disabling injury.
LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS
But during an interview with WHAS-AM, Cameron signaled that if elected governor he would be willing to sign legislation providing abortion exceptions for instances of rape and incest.
Theres no question about that, the GOP challenger said.
Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear s campaign accused Cameron of trying to hide his well-established extreme views on the abortion issue.
Throughout his time in office, even before this campaign began, Daniel Cameron has made it clear that he supports Kentuckys extreme abortion ban with no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, Beshear campaign spokesperson Alex Floyd said in a statement. He has repeated that position in public statements, questionnaires, press interviews and debates.
Either recent polling numbers have changed Camerons core beliefs, or he is lying to Kentuckians now that he is seven weeks from an election, Floyd added.
Camerons shift could be the latest indication that more Republicans see the abortion issue as a political liability. In the first nationwide election since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, voters protected abortion rights via ballot measures in several states, including Kentucky. The Bluegrass State showdown between Cameron and Beshear is among the nations most closely watched elections in 2023.
Makenze Cameron: Beshears 11% teacher raise not feasible
The abortion issue rose to the forefront of the campaign recently when Beshears campaign launched a TV ad linking Cameron to an extreme scenario requiring young victims of rape or incest to carry their pregnancies to term.
The ad represents a reversal of roles in this socially conservative state where Republicans traditionally went on offense in statewide races touting their opposition to abortion. Now, Beshear has become the aggressor against his anti-abortion GOP challenger signaling a willingness among Democrats to press the issue since the Supreme Court overturned a nationwide right to abortion last year.
Former President Donald Trump has warned Republicans against locking themselves into positions that are unpopular with a majority of the public and has argued that the Supreme Courts decision gives abortion opponents the right to negotiate restrictions where they live rather than rely on federal curbs.
Cameron touted his anti-abortion credentials during the states crowded spring GOP primary. But since winning the gubernatorial nomination, Cameron and his allies generally have downplayed the abortion issue while focusing on other topics, including crime rates and transgender rights.
Cameron staked much of his political identity to his staunch opposition to abortion. As attorney general, his office has defended the states abortion ban in court. During a Republican primary debate in March, Cameron expressed support for the law.
Former President Donald Trump to attend Lexington special MAGA reception
When asked for a follow-up statement Monday on Camerons radio remarks, his campaign said he supports the current abortion ban law. But if the situation in Kentucky were to change and the legislature brought him a bill to add exceptions for rape and incest, he would, of course, sign it, it said.
Beshears campaign said that amounted to Cameron doubling down in support of the current ban.
The Cameron campaigns own statement today says he supports a law banning abortion with no exceptions for survivors of rape and incest, Floyd said.
Beshear has consistently called the states abortion ban an extremist law that he says the vast majority of Kentuckians disagree with, pointing to the lack of exceptions for rape and incest. In the past, he said it provides rape survivors with no options despite the fact that they have been harmed and what theyre going through is absolutely zero fault of their own.
Addia Wuchner, executive director of Kentucky Right to Life, said recently that the rape and incest exceptions have become the talking points of abortion-rights groups and politicians.
Is a child conceived as a result of rape or incest any less human, or does the child have any less dignity than a child conceived in the loving embrace of their parents? Wuchner said.
Democratic governor seizes commanding fundraising lead over GOP challenger in Kentucky campaign
She didnt comment immediately Monday on Camerons remarks that he would sign legislation adding rape or incest exceptions. A bill to allow exceptions to terminate pregnancies caused by rape or incest was introduced in the 2023 session but made no headway in the states GOP-dominated legislature.
Last year, abortion rights supporters notched a rare victory in Kentucky when voters rejected a ballot measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion. It came after years of Republican lawmakers eroding access to the procedure in the Bluegrass State.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
It looks like the U.S. government is likely headed for another shutdown at the end of September, as House Republicans can't find a compromise on federal spending and members of the GOP caucus are blaming House Speaker Kevin McCarthy .
Beyond the usual roster of McCarthy detractors on the MAGA-fied far right, members closer to the Republican establishment are now starting to speak out against their leader.
"Promises were not kept," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., told Fox News on Tuesday. "I would say I would put me in the column of being very frustrated."
On Tuesday, House GOP hardliners blocked debate on the annual defense appropriations bill in a procedural vote. Mace represents a closely divided district in South Carolina, which is home to a large number of military voters, and likely believes she cannot afford a shutdown.
Only five Republican members defected on the procedural vote the kind of routine measure that normally falls along party lines but that was enough to deny McCarthy a majority. "To me, everything is on the table," Mace said that she is "not the only member upset" and added, "To me, everything is on the table," a possible sign that some moderate Republicans are prepared to vote with Democrats on certain necessary measures.
"I don't like feeling like I was misled or lied to on particular pieces of legislation," Mace said, evidently referring to McCarthy, adding that she had worked on "legislation that has fallen on deaf ears, has been ignored, no matter the promises that I was made by the leadership. So put me in the very unhappy column today."
If a government shutdown happens, Mace concluded, she believes political blowback will follow: "Republicans always get blamed."
Watch below, via Fox News:
Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) argued Tuesday that the striking United Auto Workers (UAW) members should force President Biden and his administration to stop subsidizing the electric vehicle (EV) industry.
In a Toledo Blade op-ed, Vance expressed his frustration with the Biden administrations EV manufacturing push.
He blamed the pro-EV policies for revenue losses being incurred on electric vehicle production at two of the three major automakers targeted by the strike, which he said in turn was causing lower wages for employees, fewer job opportunities in the auto industry, and higher prices for consumers.
Those who have claimed there will be a just transition to EVs should visit Northeast Ohio for a glimpse into the industrys bleak future. Up the road from the once-iconic Lordstown Assembly Complex, where 15,000 union workers once assembled millions of cars, now stands a battery plant that employs a fraction of the workers at a fraction of the wages, Vance writes in his op-ed.
Lordstown Motors, a much-celebrated electric truck startup based in Ohio, filed for bankruptcy in June and put itself up for sale.
Vances op-ed echoed arguments put forward by former President Trump, who is planning to visit striking workers in Michigan, that the shift to electric vehicles will undermine union leverage due to the global EV supply chains that rely largely on nonunion labor outside the U.S.
With this moment, the UAW leadership has an opportunity they cannot let slip through their grasp, Vance wrote. Rather than relenting to the Biden administrations unjust transition to EVs, the UAW should use their leverage and force the President to stop subsidizing an industry that benefits Communist China more than it does American workers.
I will support any agreement between the UAW and the Big Three that accomplishes these goals. By pivoting away from the Biden administrations destructive electric vehicle policies, we can achieve higher wages, greater job security, and a brighter future for autoworkers, he added.
Vances remarks came after the UAW officially launched its strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis last week. The union is asking for higher wages, shorter work weeks, union representation for battery plant workers and better retirement benefits, including restored pensions for new hires.
Biden has called on the automakers to increase their offer sheets to the union.
I believe they should go further, Biden said last week. Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW.
The Hill reached out to the White House for a response to Vances op-ed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Gov. Greg Abbott speaks about the recent 88th Legislative Session to an audience at the Texas Public Policy Foundation offices in Austin, on June 2, 2023. Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune
Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday his long-awaited special session on school choice will start next month while promising political consequences for lawmakers who stand in the way of his priority legislation.
Theres an easy way to get it done, and theres a hard way, Abbott said on a tele-town hall about the issue. We will take it either way in a special session or after an election.
Lawmakers have long expected the special session to start in October, but this is the most specific Abbott has been about the timing yet. And his blunt remarks about the politics mark an escalation of pressure on Republicans in the Texas House who have been a roadblock to the proposal.
If we do not win in that first special session, we will have another special special session and well come back again, Abbott said. And then if we dont win that time, I think its time to send this to the voters themselves.
We will have everything teed up in a way where we will be giving voters in a primary a choice, Abbott added.
Abbott entered this year more determined than ever to pass school choice, a proposal to let parents use taxpayer dollars to take their children out of public school. The idea has long encountered resistance in the House, where a coalition of Democrats and rural Republicans have blocked it.
That coalition remained strong enough during the regular legislative session to keep any school choice proposal from reaching the House floor.
When the regular session ended, Abbott vowed to call multiple special sessions on unfinished business, including school choice. Divisions between the House and Senate have only deepened since then, with back-to-back special sessions on a property tax stalemate and then the impeachment trial of Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The trial ended Saturday with the Senate clearing Paxton on 16 articles of impeachment after the House overwhelmingly voted to impeach him in May. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick bashed the Houses impeachment process after the verdict, while House Speaker Dade Phelan, a fellow Republican, fired back that Patrick was biased all along.
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In the wake of disappointing recruitment for paid, on-call firefighters, La Grange Parks Village Board has begun discussions about relaxing the Fire Departments rule for hiring only Village residents.
Village staff, including Fire Chief Dean Maggos, prepared a staff memo suggesting that the Villages rules be changed to allow people from parts of La Grange, Brookfield, Western Springs, Westchester, and Broadview to be part of the Villages recruiting area. The idea was discussed at the Sept. 12 Village Board Meeting.
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The staff memo pretty much explains the situation, Maggos told the Board. We have discussed it for years but we never moved on it.
The in-village requirement is not expressly stated in Village code, but it is noted in the Village Personnel Manual, and the Fire Department Administrative Manual.
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The staff memo (found at the Village website, lagrangepark.org under the Sept. 12 meeting agenda), highlighted the historic discussions on expanding the boundaries.
This has stemmed from challenges we have we have occasionally faced in finding an adequate number of qualified candidates to continue to properly staff our Fire Department read the memo. This situation became very apparent during our last hiring process, as we planned to hire six new candidates, but received only five applicants, and three were hired.
The proposed plan would expand the boundaries North to Cermak Road, East to Prairie Avenue in Brookfield,South to Cossitt Avenue in La Grange, and West to Gilbert Avenue in Western Springs. There are some deviations to those exact boundaries due to impacts of the BNSF Railroad and other traffic concerns that might impede timely response.
The staff memo acknowledged the concern among some that call-response times would might be negatively affected by hiring firefighters from nearby towns, but also noted out that many of the current paid, on-call staff actually lived in town but farther away from fire stations than some of the areas in the proposed plan.
Maggos touched on the highlights of the memo, including information on the requirements for paid, on-call recruits in neighboring villages.
Lyons requires their on-call firefighters to live within 5 miles of the village; Riverside mandates 1.5 miles; Western Springs requires that recruits live within village boundaries or in an adjacent town.
Maggos also indicated that proposal was almost certainly going to be put into effect, since it wasnt something the Board had to approve.
We believe our next recruiting effort will follow those boundaries, Maggos said.
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As with so many issues in local governments, the danger of increased costs was apparent to the Trustees.
I guess I want to remind everybody that we cant afford to have a full-time fire department, Trustee Jamie Zaura said. So we have to do this. Im definitely in favor of this.
Zauras colleague, Karen Koncel agreed, noting that Were very lucky it has gone as long as far has with a paid, on-call fire department Im in full support of this.
Maggos cautioned that merely expanding the employment boundaries might not ultimately solve the problem of adequate fire protection for the Village in a cost-effective manner.
I have to tell you, I cant tell you this is going to be the end-all, he said. Im hoping this will get us for quite a while. Because I honestly dont know how many folks are out there.
Contacted later, Maggos spoke of the problems the department faced in recruitment, saying in a word, its competing priorities. Spouses work, people are interested in their kids activities and are just more generally committed to their careers and families.
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The next La Grange Park Village Board meeting will be 7:30 p.m., Sept. 26, in the Village Hall Boardroom, 447 N. Catherine Avenue.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey announced that she will sign an executive order banning state agencies from purchasing single-use plastic bottles on Monday.
The announcement came as a part of the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting.
"In government, we have an obligation, we also have an opportunity to not only stop contributing to this damage but to chart a better path forward," Healey said.
Healey also announced that she would sign an executive order directing the state to set biodiversity goals for 2030, 2040 and 2050.
Our seas and forests are the most fundamental climate resources we have; we are determined to protect them, she shared.
Ill also sign an Executive Order to ban the purchase of single-use plastic bottles by state agencies, effective immediately.
Plastics are one of the biggest threats to our oceans. In government, we can chart a better path forward, and Massachusetts is proud to lead the way. Maura Healey (@MassGovernor) September 18, 2023
Other plastics bans across the country
The executive orders will be the first ban on plastic bottles in the country, though other states and municipalities have put in restrictions on other forms of single use plastics.
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and the District of Columbia each have laws either banning or requiring a charge for single-use plastic bags.
Other states and municipalities have laws on the books restricting the use of plastic straws, utensils and other single use take-out packaging.
Over 20 municipalities in Massachusetts have put restrictions on single use bottles, according to CBS Boston.
'Rapid' and 'unprecedented': New report shows dramatic rise in ocean plastic
Ocean plastic pollution
170 trillion particles of plastic fill the oceans, a new high in a "rapid and unprecedented" increase in ocean plastics, according to research from the 5 Gyres Institute in the journal PLOS-ONE earlier this year.
"Our data shows an increase in ocean plastic pollution at the same time as a decrease in effective laws and agreements," the Institute said.
Healey noted that the state could not go at it alone in the fight against plastic pollution in her speech Monday.
"Our natural world recognizes no political divisions and neither should our work to protect it," Healey shared.
Doyle Rice contributed to this story
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Massachusetts Governor announces plastic bottle ban for state agencies
Russian forces launched a guided aerial bomb at the city of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast, killing three civilians, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Sept. 19.
First responders are working on the site, Syniehubov said, adding that complete information on casualties and damages is still being determined.
Kupiansk has recently come under intensified attacks as Russia continues its offensive operation to retake the territories in Kharkiv Oblast liberated by Ukraines surprise counteroffensive last autumn. Kupiansk was occupied by Russian forces from Feb. 27 to Sept. 10, 2022.
Read also: Escape from Kupiansk: How one cop tricked the Russians
Russia has amassed around 110,000 soldiers along the Kupiansk-Lyman axis, according to Illia Yevlash, spokesperson for the Eastern Military Group.
Last month, Ukrainian authorities ordered the mandatory evacuation of 37 settlements in the Kupiansk district.
A total of 1,433 people, including 343 children, have been evacuated from front-line areas in Kharkiv Oblast's Kupiansk district since Aug. 9, Syniehubov said on Aug. 28.
Read also: Pro-Russian sympathies make life harder for soldiers, cops in Kupiansk district
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
My Greek parents tried 15 different Greek Trader Joe's products. These 6 were the most authentic.
I recently had my Greek parents try 15 different Greek products from Trader Joe's.
There were six products my parents loved so much, it reminded them of home.
My parents were huge fans of the frozen 5 Cheese Greek Spiral, Greek Spanakopita, and feta cheese.
I had my Greek parents conduct the ultimate Trader Joe's taste test.
My Greek parents were pleasantly surprised by Trader Joe's Greek products. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Growing up in California, I learned so much about my Greek culture through the delicious food my parents cooked. Our dinners frequently featured comforting bowls of avgolemono soup or heaping plates of pastitsio, and the holidays always included big pans of cheese pies, classic Greek roasted potatoes, and my dad's famous baklava for dessert.
More "Greek" and Greek-inspired products have appeared at our local supermarket through the years, but my parents rarely trusted them. They'd been let down plenty of times by inauthentic spanakopitas or terrible feta cheese.
But my parents had never been to Trader Joe's, and I was intrigued to see what they'd think of all the Greek products that the chain currently sells.
My parents tried 15 different Greek products from Trader Joe's, and there were six they thought tasted truly authentic.
We tried every Greek product we could find at Trader Joe's. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
My dad and I went to Trader Joe's and grabbed every product we could find that said "Greek" or "Greece" on the label. We also decided to try a few items that are very common in Greek cuisine.
Overall, my parents were very impressed with many of Trader Joe's Greek products. But these were the six that stood out to them the most and actually reminded them of home.
(Want to find out which products my parents definitely wouldn't recommend? You can find their full ranking of Trader Joe's Greek products here.)
First, we tested Trader Joe's tzatziki, Greek feta cheese, and Greek yogurt.
Of these four products, we loved everything except Trader Joe's Greek salad. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
I called this the "classics round" of our taste test because it featured items that my family and probably most Greeks in America eat almost daily. I may be a first-generation American, but I always have feta cheese and Greek yogurt in the fridge, and I eat Greek salad nearly every day of the week.
Trader Joe's Classic Greek Salad was a big disappointment and didn't get far in my parents' ranking. But the other three products were a huge hit.
My parents both make a great homemade tzatziki, but they said Trader Joe's version "definitely tastes authentic."
Trader Joe's tzatziki was deliciously creamy. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Tzatziki is a popular Greek dip that includes yogurt, cucumbers, and garlic. You'll see it served alongside breads, grilled meats, and veggies, and it's always at my family's barbecues and holidays.
My parents were such big fans of Trader Joe's tzatziki that they finished it in a day.
"It's very nice, and very creamy," my dad said.
Trader Joe's Authentic Greek Feta also lived up to its name.
Trader Joe's Authentic Feta Cheese. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Trader Joe's Authentic Greek Feta imported directly from Greece is submerged in brine, which helps preserve the cheese's flavor and texture.
My dad was also impressed that Trader Joe's feta is made with sheep's milk, which he said is hard to find in the US.
We used Trader Joe's feta in a classic Greek salad, and both of my parents loved its flavor.
The classic Greek salad we made with Trader Joe's feta cheese. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
"It's hard to find good feta in the US, but I really like this," my mom told me.
Many of the American feta brands are either too dry or too sour. But Trader Joe's Authentic Greek Feta tasted deliciously salty and rich, and the soft but crumbly texture was spot on.
It paired perfectly with the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and kalamata olives in our homemade Greek salad (which you can learn how to make here).
My parents were pleasantly surprised by Trader Joe's Greek yogurt.
Trader Joe's Greek yogurt. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
For as long as I can remember, my parents have always bought Fage a Greek yogurt brand that was founded in Athens in 1923. So I definitely didn't expect them to be impressed with Trader Joe's version.
But I was totally wrong! My parents loved the texture and flavor of Trader Joe's Greek yogurt, and my dad even plans to use it the next time he makes tzatziki at home.
"It's not too watery, but not very thick," my dad said. "It's just the right consistency."
We tried three of Trader Joe's tinned Greek products, and the dolmas were my parents' clear favorite.
Trader Joe's dolmas was one of three tinned Greek products we found. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Dolmas called dolmades in Greece are stuffed grape leaves. They're also commonly found in Turkish and Middle Eastern cuisines.
Unlike most of the products we tried for this taste test, Trader Joe's dolmas aren't explicitly Greek or "Grecian-style." According to the label, these dolmas are made in Bulgaria. But a Trader Joe's crew member recently informed me that their production first began in Greece.
My mom said Trader Joe's dolmas tasted like those her own mother used to make.
My mom said Trader Joe's dolmas tasted like home. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
"They remind me of my mom's," she told me. "They have a great texture and a touch of lemon flavor, which she always used to add."
Dolmades aren't easy or quick to make by hand, so both my parents were excited to find a great premade version. And they said Trader Joe's dolmas were the most authentic tinned version they've been able to find in the US.
But it was Trader Joe's frozen Greek products that impressed my parents the most.
My Greek parents said there are six Greek Trader Joe's products that actually remind them of home. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
My mom and dad were huge fans of Trader Joe's 5 Cheese Greek Spiral and Greek Spanakopita.
Since my mom makes a fantastic cheese pie and spanakopita of her own, I never thought she'd be impressed with a frozen version but she loved them both.
The 5 Cheese Greek Spiral was packed with great flavors.
Trader Joe's 5 Cheese Greek Spiral. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Trader Joe's 5 Cheese Greek Spiral includes Gouda, kasseri, kefalotyri, semi-hard cheese, and blue cheese all stuffed between thin sheets of phyllo. Its label says the pie is made in Greece and is the same as "what'd you find if you were traveling in the Greek Isles."
My parents were such big fans of the 5 Cheese Greek Spiral, they said it was actually the best frozen cheese pie they've had in the US. And believe me, they've tried many.
"Cheese pies can be very salty, but this has the proper amount of saltiness," said my dad, who loved the cheese combination.
"It's also the perfect size," my mom told me. "Usually frozen cheese pies in the US come in a huge spiral, and then the extra just ends up getting dry in the fridge."
And Trader Joe's delicious spanakopita tasted crispy and fresh.
Trader Joe's Greek Spanakopita. Anneta Konstantinides/Insider
Trader Joe's Greek Spanakopita includes spinach and three different cheeses (feta, mizithra, and a grating cheese), plus onions, leeks, dill, and parsley. According to the product description, Trader Joe's "engaged some Athenian bakers" to make its version authentic.
The label wasn't just smart advertising. Both my parents praised the spanakopita's authentic flavors.
"It's crispy, and it's got a good balance of spinach and cheese," my dad said. "There isn't an overwhelming amount of spinach, which I like."
My mom also loved that the spinach still looked and tasted fresh.
"I would definitely buy both the cheese spiral and spanakopita if I didn't have time to prepare my own," she told me.
Read the original article on Insider
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is set to release a tell-all book this fall chronicling her meteoric rise to fame, as one of the nations most prominent far-right lawmakers and most loyal supporters of former President Trump in Congress.
I wanted people to hear my side of the story, Greene told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday. Some of it is setting the record straight.
Greenes publisher confirmed the report in a statement to The Hill.
We are thrilled that Congresswoman Greene is publishing her first book with Winning Team Publishing, a spokesperson for the publishing company said in the statement. Few individuals have taken Congress by storm in the same way as she has. This book will pull back the curtain on her life, politics and the Washington swamp.
The book will be titled MTG and will be released on Nov. 21, the Washington Examiner reported. It reportedly has been in the works for about a year.
Im always controversial, but I think this book might be a little controversial with some of the stories, Greene said in the interview. She added she hopes to introduce myself to America as me, not the character that the mainstream media created and has sold to America over the past few years.
Greene told the DC-based news outlet that the book is about 300 pages long and will chronicle her upbringing, her first campaign for Congress in 2020 and her three years on Capitol Hill.
I tell about COVID. I talk about COVID and my personal experience going through that when my dad died. I talk about fights Ive had with people. I talk about the speakers race. I talk about the House Freedom Caucus. So Im pretty much running the gamut, and I even talked about Jewish space lasers, she told the Washington Examiner.
The Hill has reached out to Greenes office for further comment.
Updated at 5:18 p.m. Judy Kurtz contributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A still from a Progress Action Fund ad showing a fictional 12 year old unable to receive an abortion. Progress Action Fund/Insider
A Democratic super PAC has a new provocative abortion rights ad it's going to air in key states.
Progress Action Fund's spot features a fictional 12-year-old's inability to receive an abortion after a rape.
The ad will air in Ohio and Pennsylvania where abortion hangs over two key off-year elections.
A liberal group is out with a new abortion rights ad that underlines just how far advocates will go to pummel anti-abortion opponents after a string of victories across the nation.
Progress Action Fund, a Democratic super PAC, released a new ad on Tuesday that covers a fictional father's anger over his 12-year-old daughter's inability to receive an abortion after being raped.
"I can't believe this, my daughter was raped. And you're not going to do anything?" the fictional father asks a doctor, who explains that such a procedure would be illegal.
A generic actor playing a Republican congressman then responds, "He's right. I'm your Republican congressman. We've banned abortions. No exceptions."
The Democratic group previously made waves with a provocative ad that showed a fictional "Republican congressman" watching a couple as they tried to have sex.
The PAC's new ad will air in Ohio before a pivotal November vote on whether the state should enshrine basic abortion protections in its constitution. Ohio Republicans lost an effort to kneecap that drive by failing to make it harder to amend the state constitution.
The ad will also air in Pennsylvania, where abortion is looming over an off-year state Supreme Court election. Joe Jacobson, Progress Action Fund's founder, told Insider the group is splitting an initial $200,000 buy evenly between the states but that could change. Like its predecessor, the new ad appears primed to generate free media attention.
Since the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, abortion rights advocates have won a string of victories, expanding protections in states such as Michigan and beating back further restrictions in states like Kentucky. Republicans appear unable to find a way to address the issue in a successful way, a struggle that was behind their lackluster performance during the 2022 midterm elections. NBC News recently reported that Senate Republicans were trying to find a new anti-abortion short-hand given worrisome polling about the term "pro-life."
The issue of exceptions has been a major sticking point in post-Roe proposals. Republicans dating back to Ronald Reagan supported exceptions on abortion bans in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the mother. States have begun to move away from offering the three exceptions as some Republicans argue a person cannot be against abortion unless they oppose it in virtually all instances, including in the case of rape.
Ohio's virtual six-week ban, which does not have exceptions for rape and incest, has not gone into effect amid a protracted legal fight.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The Ukrainian military has stated that groups of attack UAVs were heading to Ukraine's west on the night of 18-19 September. Local authorities have reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
Source: Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram; Serhii Tiurin, First Deputy Head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram
Quote: "Khmelnytskyi Oblast faces danger from attack UAVs. Groups of attack UAVs are flying through Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kirovohrad and Vinnytsia oblasts towards the western oblasts."
Details: The threat of drone attacks has also been issued in Chernivtsi and Zhytomyr oblasts.
The threat of attack drones was announced in Ternopil Oblast at 03:05.
An air-raid warning was issued in Rivne Oblast at 03:15.
The danger of attack drones was issued in Lviv Oblast at 03:41.
Meanwhile, explosions were reportedly heard in Khmelnytskyi Oblast. Air defence was responding to the attack.
The air-raid warning was issued in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast at 04:04.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported attack drones in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi oblasts at 04:49: "Combat operations are underway! Do not leave the shelters!".
At that time, explosions occurred in Lviv.
Background:
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H-E-Bs latest North Texas grocery store is set to open in two weeks.
An Allen location at 575 E. Exchange Parkway will open on Oct. 4 at 6 a.m. The Texas-based grocery chain is also announcing plans for three more North Texas stores.
Eager H-E-B customers who cant wait for the Allen store opening can start placing curbside orders at 1 a.m. on Oct. 2 for pickup on opening day.
Similar to other H-E-B locations, the 117,000-square-foot Allen store features a pharmacy with a drive-thru, home delivery and curbside services, a True Texas BBQ restaurant with a drive-thru, and a primary care clinic.
The store will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Bakery Manager Kolby Franklin puts price tags on the package baked goods to prepare for the grand opening of the new H-E-B location opening in McKinney, Texas on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
Three future North Texas stores in Melissa, Prosper and Rockwall are scheduled to open in 2025.
H-E-B Rockwall will be at the southwest corner of John King Boulevard and I-30. The store in Prosper will be at the southeast corner of Frontier Parkway and Dallas North Tollway. And the Melissa site will be the northeast corner of U.S. 75 and Highway 121.
More details about the future stores will be revealed at their groundbreakings in early 2024, the company said.
H-E-B opened a McKinney location in July, about eight miles east of the recently opened H-E-B in Frisco.
The fresh produce section of the new H-E-B supermarket opening in McKinney, Texas on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
H-E-B began construction in November on an Alliance store in far north Fort Worth at Heritage Trace Parkway and North Riverside Drive. The H-E-B Alliance is expected to open in spring 2024.
The grocery chain broke ground on a Mansfield store in February at U.S. 287 and Broad Street. It also is slated to open in 2024.
H-E-B purchased other land in Fort Worth in March at The Shops at Chisholm Trail Ranch in far south Fort Worth in anticipation of (the companys) future needs.
When discussing adding another H-E-B to North Texas, spokesperson Mabrie Jackson said there are many, many more to come.
The sauce aisle is fully stocked and ready for the grand opening of the new H-E-B location opening in McKinney, Texas on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.
H-E-B has more than 430 locations in Texas and Mexico and achieved $39 billion in sales. It is the largest private employer in Texas with more than 155,000 employees across the state.
President Joe Biden called on the United Nations Security Council to quickly pass a resolution that will authorize a multilateral force to deploy to Haiti as it battles armed gangs controlling much of its capital, Port-au-Prince, warning that time may be running out to act.
The Biden administration threw its support behind a multilateral force nearly a year ago at the request of the government of Haiti and the U.N. secretary general, Antonio Guterres. But U.S. officials struggled for months to find a country willing to step up and lead the coalition force, and still have yet to secure support for the proposal from China and Russia, two veto-wielding members of the Security Council.
Kenya said in recent weeks that it would consider leading the force, which has since been rebranded as a security support mission. But the precise nature of the force and which other countries would also participate remains unclear.
On Haiti, the Caribbean communities facilitated a dialogue among Haitian society, Biden said, addressing the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York. I thank President Ruto of Kenya I thank him for his willingness to serve as a lead nation of a U.N.-backed security support mission.
I call on the Security Council to authorize this mission now. The people of Haiti cannot wait much longer, he added.
While U.S. officials had hoped for a Security Council vote on the resolution before the General Assembly, Beijing put negotiations on hold until after the summit.
Guterres also addressed the matter on Tuesday, noting that Haiti is today overwhelmed by gang violence and still awaits international support.
When two state law enforcement agents walked into Miami City Hall last week to arrest a city commissioner, their arrival was a very public reminder that the Magic City is once again awash in corruption allegations.
Now-suspended Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla is facing criminal charges that he sold his vote for $245,000 in campaign cash. At the same time, the FBI is separately investigating whether Mayor Francis Suarez worked behind the scenes to help a developer who was quietly paying him $10,000 a month. And local prosecutors have an open case prompted by old accusations that several of the citys politicians in particular Commissioner and former Mayor Joe Carollo held improper influence over the police force.
All three men have denied wrongdoing, and Carollo says hes never been contacted by investigators about the accusations made two years ago by a former police chief. But with half of Miamis six elected officials under a cloud, the atmosphere hanging over City Hall is drawing comparisons to past scandals that turned Miamis government upside down and leading to new calls to clean house.
I really was a bit shocked by what appeared to be I dont know is arrogance the right word? retired government administrator Merrett Stierheim said of the details laid out in Diaz de la Portillas arrest affidavit. I mean, these are not dumb people.
In Diaz de la Portillas case, investigators say that the longtime politician worked with a lobbyist to obtain nearly a quarter-million dollars in campaign contributions from a wealthy Miami couple seeking his blessing for a $10 million sports complex in a public park for their private school.
Two Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents leave Miami City Hall in Miami, Florida, on Thrusday, Sept. 14, 2023. Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla was arrested on a host of corruption charges that include bribery and money laundering, according to the FDLE.
The case was overseen by the Broward State Attorneys Office due to a conflict declared by Miamis top prosecutor. The agency has also handled a case prompted by a former police chiefs allegations in 2021 that commissioners were exerting undue sway over the police department.
In particular, ex-Chief Art Acevedos claims focused on Diaz de la Portilla and Carollo, whom he said pressured police and city regulators to target business owners they didnt like. The allegations generally echoed a lawsuit filed by club owners in Little Havana who convinced a federal jury to hit Carollo in April with a $63.5 million judgment for targeting their business.
You have to put your integrity aside in the city of Miami, Acevedo said while testifying during Carollos trial.
Now the police chief in Aurora, Colorado, Acevedo was recruited to lead Miamis police force in 2021 only to be fired seven months later, after a memo airing his grievances leaked to the press. He had also told officers that the department was run by the Cuban mafia, a phrase often used by the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro to describe Miamis Cuban exiles.
Commissioners said they were offended, and Acevedo, a Cuban American, eventually apologized. But when Acevedos successor was being sworn in, Carollo who has been in and out of power in the city over four decades memorialized the moment by playing the theme song from the iconic mobster movie The Godfather.
Asked last week by the Miami Herald about the various scandals rocking City Hall, Acevedo said he usually doesnt comment on ongoing investigations. But in this instance I will. I told Miami so, he said.
Embattled Miami Police Chief Art Acevedo reaches out to a small group of supporters, including members of the Miami Community Police Benevolent Association, at Miami City Hall after commissioners voted to fire him on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021.
The History
Fair or not, Miami City Hall has long been viewed skeptically by critics as a part of the regions underbelly, given its penchant for erupting in controversy.
For instance, Stierheim, the retired administrator, was appointed to clean up City Hall nearly 30 years ago after a sting called Operation Greenpalm a massive shakedown and public corruption scandal that involved yachts, extortion and bribery payments in the Caribbean.
When it ended, Miami Commissioner Miller Dawkins would be sentenced to 27 months in prison for accepting $30,000 in bribes. City Manager Cesar Odio would also spend a year in prison for trying to obstruct the investigation after finance director Manohar Surana flipped on him and wore a wire.
8/6/01 Al Diaz/Herald Staff--Miami--Fomer Finance Director of the City of Miami Manohar Surana pleads guilty to a conspiracy to commit extortion, bribery and money laundering. Here, Surana walks past the media in front of the federal court house.
Remarkably, the man elected to replace Dawkins also ended up behind bars. Before being stripped of his law license and going to prison in 1998 on voter fraud charges, Humberto Bert Hernandez was suspended twice by the governor from his commission seat.
Today, Hernandez is back at City Hall and once again shrouded in controversy as a lobbyist and one of Diaz de la Portillas closest allies. A lawsuit filed this month alleges that Hernandez worked with the commissioner in 2020 to try and rig a competition to rebuild the citys Rickenbacker Marina. Hernandez has called the lawsuit frivolous, non-meritorious and defamatory in nature.
RELATED CONTENT: Miami commissioner sued for alleged shakedown of Rickenbacker Marinas operator
Juan-Carlos Planas, the attorney who filed the complaint on behalf of a lobbyist who once represented the marinas operator, said the city needs to address institutional corruption by increasing the number of city commissioners and blocking elected officials from holding outside employment. He suggested changes to the citys charter, its founding document.
This is the most serious issue since the 1990s, during Operation Greenpalm, he said of the current climate at City Hall. I think its time for a total cleansing.
Planas, who is also representing a candidate seeking to unseat Diaz de la Portilla, puts the current spate of controversies above even an imbroglio in late 2009, when Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones was suspended and charged with steering a $50,000 grant to family members at about the same time that Commissioner Angel Gonzalez resigned as part of a plea deal after getting his daughter a ghost job with a city contractor.
Court bailiff Mabel V. Calderon, left, fingerprints former commissioner, Angel Gonzalez, after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
The case against Spence-Jones would ultimately fall apart. But the ousters left the city with so few politicians that November that it was unable to conduct official City Commission business for about two weeks.
The city was desperate enough that then-Mayor Tomas Regalado urged then-Gov. Charlie Crist to appoint someone to one of the empty seats. When Crist refused, Regalado took the more desperate measure of asking Gonzalez to return for an emergency meeting. (He, too, refused.)
During that chaos, which also prompted special elections to fill the vacancies, Spence-Jones won her seat back only to be suspended a second time a possibility facing Diaz de la Portilla, who is seeking reelection.
Obviously, Crist said of the current state of things in Miami, this situation is unfortunate.
Former Miami City Commissioner Humberto Bert Hernandez
Be careful who you vote for
Miami is far from the only community in Florida to struggle through scandal. The state took over Opa-lockas nearly-bankrupt government in 2016 after the FBI raided City Hall in the north Dade community. Other cities like Sweetwater, North Miami Beach and Hallandale Beach have seen mayors prosecuted and suspended or removed from office over the past decade.
But the bar for notable controversies is high in Miami, the only city ever charged twice by the Securities and Exchange Commission for cooking its books to cover cash shortfalls and misleading bond investors.
The current mayor, Suarez, knows this well. He was only 20 when a judge threw out his fathers victory in the 1997 mayoral election, finding that it was tainted by fraud. His own 2013 mayoral campaign ended prematurely after prosecutors opened an investigation into unlawful absentee-ballot requests that ended with several arrests.
The younger Suarez was cleared of wrongdoing by investigators and his father, Xavier Suarez, wasnt implicated in the fraud-marred 1997 mayoral election. But the sagas still come up from time to time, like when Carollo who was installed as Miamis mayor in 1998 after a court threw out tainted mail ballots went out of his way to mention them during a grievance-filled 2017 election-night speech.
Today, the younger Suarez is mayor, and under investigation by the FBI following the Miami Heralds reporting that a developer facing regulatory issues with a real estate project told his staff he sought the mayors help with permitting problems. Records show the mayors office helped the developer, Location Ventures, change a city zoning determination that would have set its project back. Suarez is adamant that he did not pull strings for his client.
Instagram posts by developer Rishi Kapoors URBIN Condos brand, show Miami Mayor Francis Suarez (center left) and former commissioner Ken Russell (second from the left) at the groundbreaking for the co-living project in Coconut Grove. Suarez was paid $10,000 a month by the developer
Suarez, who has two years left on his second and final term as mayor, isnt on the ballot this November. But with voters in the citys first and second districts set to go to the polls to elect commissioners to new four-year terms, the scrutiny of Miamis politicians is quickly becoming a campaign issue.
Weve witnessed one scandal too many, and its abundantly clear that the time for change is now, District 2 Commission candidate James Torres wrote in a campaign email sent Saturday afternoon. Join me in our mission to Shake Up City Hall as we unite to combat corruption and firmly apply the brakes on the powerful special interests and lobbyists that have held sway over our local government for far too long.
Diaz de la Portillas opponent, Marvin Tapia, referred in a campaign statement to the suspended commissioners arrest as part of a larger history of corruption.
The people of Miami deserve a leader who will walk into City Hall to represent them with their head held high, not out the back door in handcuffs, he said.
Diaz de la Portilla, who ultimately turned himself in after ducking out of City Hall last week before state law enforcement agents could take him into custody, has called the case against him a work of fiction.
Commissioner Manolo Reyes, who is also running for reelection, stressed that people accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty, and cautioned voters from making sweeping allegations against the entire city government. Reyes, among the commissioners accused by Acevedo of tampering with police affairs, has denied the allegations.
There are a lot of dedicated people working in the city, and we shouldnt be generalizing, said Reyes. There are dishonest mechanics and dishonest doctors, but that doesnt mean that all mechanics and all doctors are dishonest. We keep working. We keep picking up the garbage.
But he offered words of caution for voters: When you go vote, be careful who you vote for, and demand that they work for the people.
Miami Herald staff writer Joey Flechas contributed to this report.
District 4 Commissioner Manolo Reyes speaks during a commemoration event at the Bay of Pigs Memorial Park on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, in Miami, Fla. Reyes unveiled a new monument to honor the Cubans who participated in the Bay of Pigs Invasion and showed improvements made to the park.
Cashless bail arrived in Lake County Monday, as it did across the state, as judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys adjusted to the new system which was mandated as part of the Safe-T Act.
During Mondays hearings, there were a few slips on references to bond court now known as First Appearance Court and a little uncertainty in spots on getting the new procedures up and running.
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This is all new to us, Judge Raymond Collins said at one point as he presided over Mondays hearings.
Parts of the First Appearance Court looked just like a traditional bond court. People charged with crimes appeared before the judge, and Lake County prosecutors spelled out what charges they were facing, along with a synopsis of their alleged crimes.
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The conclusions, though, were different. Rather than asking for a suggested cash bond standard practice under the old system the judge instead asked if prosecutors were seeking to detain the defendant in custody until trial.
In a case with serious alleged domestic abuse and an alleged gun crime with street gang implications, among others, prosecutors said they would seek to detain the defendants.
Several times, though, the prosecutors said the charged crimes did not make alleged offenders eligible for detention under the new law. Those people were conditionally released from custody.
The changes are mandated under the Safe-T Act, a law enforcement and court reform bill. The Pretrial Fairness Act discontinues the practice of making defendants post a cash bond to ensure that they return to court for future hearings and abide by conditions of bond.
The law says people will either be released without a cash bond, or they can be ordered detained until trial, depending on the crime.
Opponents say the law will put alleged criminals back onto the street with little or no consequences. Backers say it will ensure that dangerous people are kept in custody, regardless of their financial means, while low-level offenders dont languish in jail for want of bail money.
Many prosecutors across the state opposed the elimination of cash bond, but Lake County States Attorney Eric Rinehart supports it and said the new system is safer.
On the first day, we filed detention petitions on offenders charged with residential burglary, felony domestic battery, misdemeanor domestic battery and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, he said. On the residential burglary case, we prevailed at the longer detention hearing this afternoon.
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The community is safer because these individuals cannot access their cash to gain release tonight, he said.
Prosecutors said Monday they are seeking to detain a Waukegan man who was arrested over the weekend at a parade. He, along with several other people, was throwing gang signs at another group. He then fled, but was caught by police and found to have a loaded revolver in his waistband, prosecutors said.
A Waukegan man who placed his hands around the neck of his pregnant girlfriend will also be singled out for possible pretrial detention, prosecutors said.
Both men have hearings scheduled for Wednesday, where a judge will decide whether they should be detained until trial.
OTTAWA COUNTY Ottawa County's embattled health officer appeared before county commissioners Tuesday to set the record straight as to where the current proposed budget for her department stands as well as addressing what she says is inaccurate information promoted by the county's new administrator.
"I would tell my kids, actions have consequences. You have to own those consequences, you dont get to put those on someone else," Health Officer Adeline Hambley told the Ottawa County Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 19. "Your choices to cut the budget in, what I would say, a last-minute ambush way outside of the normal scope of the budgetary process ... they have consequences."
She said it was her duty to communicate the potential consequences of Ottawa Impact's quest to make deep cuts to public health funding.
Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley looks over her shoulder as she takes her seat in the courtroom Friday, March 31, 2023.
"My communicating the consequences of potential actions of the board are not my causing the fear mongering or creating fear in the community. Im going to communicate those to the public when they are going to directly impact the services that we provide. However, the fear or concerns that those may raise in the public are not my consequences to own."
Hambley appeared before the committee to refute comments given by Administrator John Gibbs last week in response to widespread criticism.
Last week, Gibbs said the cuts were returning to pre-COVID budget levels and that no cuts to childrens programs were planned, saying claims of cuts to county food programs, children's special healthcare, maternal infant care or Miles of Smiles were outlandish and emotional appeals.
Hambley said that's not true.
"The original $2.5 million general fund contribution suggested by (Board Chair Joe) Moss was significantly lower than any pre-COVID funding level, all the way back to 2001," Hambley wrote in a statement Friday, Sept. 15. "The mandated health education program includes programming to children and families, including Ottawa Food, the Ottawa Area Suicide Prevention Coalition, Migrant Farmworker Health, Meet Up and Eat Up, and Safe Homes."
According to revised budget numbers available Monday, Sept. 18 one of at least two revisions since a Sept. 12 public hearing on the county's budget some funding had been restored, but deep cuts still remain, such as a $393,000 cut to the health education program and a $25,000 cut to Miles for Smiles.
The restored funding uses a projected increase in state funding, which Hambley said isnt the point.
Those funds were not intended to make up for budget reductions by local jurisdictions, but attempting to correct a chronic underfunding for public health, she said. So rather than allowing us to have our services go beyond minimum service levels, its allowing us to maintain that minimum service level.
In regards to health education, nutrition and wellness, Hambley said, while an initial look at budget documents show a slight increase for health education, it doesnt tell the full story. She said health education and nutrition and wellness were combined into one program, but the funding only supports one or the other.
The initial budget request asked for just under $800,000 for the two programs, but the current budget provides about $421,000. Hambley said the current proposal is a 48 percent decrease for both programs..
Gibbs said Tuesday its a "programmatic decision."
We have latitude in deciding where that funding is going to be spent, so it is definitely not the case that it's definitely going to come at the expense of a 100 percent cut to nutrition and wellness, Gibbs said. Im thinking of more cutting (out) giving out condom cupcakes at GVSU or teaching bartenders how to say no to a drunk customer.
The quip alluded to the board's Ottawa Impact majority criticizing the health department's participation in a Sex Ed Week at Grand Valley University in February. Moss, the founder of the far-right fundamentalist group disgruntled over school mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, erroneously claimed the health department co-sponsored the event.
More: Sex Ed Week at GVSU has Ottawa Impact digging into county's health department
Other planned cuts include $39,279 to sexually transmitted disease prevention and treatment, a $114,615 cut to communicable disease control and a $27,071 cut to family planning.
Commissioners approved the budget during Tuesday's finance and administration work session, sending it to the full board Sept. 26 for final approval. It passed by a 7-2 vote with OI commissioners Moss, Sylvia Rhodea, Lucy Ebel, Gretchen Cosby, Allison Miedema and Roger Belknap and commissioner Rebekah Curran voting "yes" and commissioners Doug Zylstra and Jacob Bonnema voting "no."
Commissioner Doug Zylstra listens to public comment Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the county offices in West Olive.
Zylstra attempted several times to amend the budget prior to a vote, all of which failed. The first would have increased the general fund allocation and restored a handful of COVID-related grants. The second would have reallocated $367,000 to the health education and nutrition and wellness line item of the OCDPH budget.
Zylstra also suggested the elimination of a digital communication specialist position, but went unsupported. Finally, Zylstra proposed a reduction in the amount of the contracted services for corporation counsel, which rose significantly this year.
More: County dips into contingency funds as it grapples with mounting legal costs
Bonnema also offered an amendment to reallocate funds intended to support a new director of veterans affairs, instead using it for a needs assessment of veterans services. That motion failed 2-7.
The budget process has been especially contentious this year, as OI commissioners continue to focus on the health department.
Commissioner Jacob Bonnema talks about the proposed budget during the board's meeting Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the county offices in West Olive.
After months of tense exchanges and amidst an ongoing lawsuit between Hambley and the board Moss announced in August his intention to cut the department's budget by nearly 60 percent.
Hambley said her attempts to negotiate with Gibbs were rebuffed, so she turned to the department's social media accounts to publish information on the staff, programs and services under threat. Days later, Hambley and her staff were locked out of those accounts, and Gibbs and Moss co-signed a "press release" they posted to the pages, calling Hambley "insubordinate" and "unprofessional."
Hambley refuted the characterizations in a series of press conferences and media releases, saying she's only advocating for the health and welfare of the public.
More: We support you: Hundreds rally in support of Ottawa County Health Department
"As the appointed health officer, it's a matter of law that Im an administrative officer of the health department. I take actions and determinations necessary and appropriate to carry out local health departments function, delegated under the law to protect public health and prevent disease," she told commissioners Tuesday. "So, theres not a chain of command breached when I am communicating information to the public that is important to public health."
Hambley has said every budget manifestation has featured inadequate funding levels that not only wouldn't serve the public appropriately, but could lead to an intervention by the state.
For example, there's a plan to cut the number of county epidemiologists from four to two. Health officials have pointed to studies that set the standard to 1-1.4 epidemiologists per 100,000 people. Ottawa's population hovers at about 306,000, meaning three full-time epidemiologists would be necessary to maintain adequate serviceable levels.
Gibbs claimed only one epidemiologist, tied to COVID-19 grant funding, would be cut, though his argument conflicts with the most recent budget posting.
Hambley said that would be great news if that were the case. Gibbs said he would confirm with fiscal services.
Hambley said, although the total general fund allocation from the county has increased over the past several weeks from Moss original target of $2.5 million, it's still a significant cut to the original $6.4 million budget Hambley proposed in May, which would've kept the budget at the same level as this year.
On Tuesday, Moss claimed the health department was receiving the second-highest budget ever in the history of the department, which Hambley said is false. She said, with COVID-19 grants removed, the requested budget was at or slightly below the previous two years' baseline budgets and that was prior to the severe cuts.
Commissioners Joe Moss (left ) and Sylvia Rhodea (right) listen to the legal council during the board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, at the county offices in West Olive.
Some commissioners have been vocal about their opposition to the cuts and have called the budget process "flawed" and "problematic."
Zylstra, the board's lone Democrat, indicated his frustration that he and other non-OI commissioners have had no input.
"It is important to point out that none of these changes were ever voted on, but rather were 'administrative changes' that did not have committee members' approval, much less relevant department input in the majority of the changes," he posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday.
Commissioner Jacob Bonnema posted to Facebook on Monday, voicing concern about cutting epidemiologists.
"Epidemiologists are the health detectives that track and stop diseases to keep you and your family safe (salmonella, meningitis, hepatitis)," Bonnema wrote. " ... Cutting down to two is BELOW serviceable for a required function, and in my opinion risks the health and safety of our community."
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Bonnema, a former OI member, has been a frequent critic of the board's majority since leaving the group in March. He pointed to a recent hepatitis A outbreak in Oakland County and "how a properly staffed health department protects its citizens."
Budget edits Monday saw additions to family planning, seemingly to negate the possibility of Planned Parenthood stepping into Ottawa County.
Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Sarah Leach is executive editor for The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarah.leach@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hambley fights OI narrative as budget moves to full board
On Friday, New Yorker writer Clare Malone published an expose of the renowned Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj , laying out two startling revelations about the man whos considered the front-runner to be the next host of The Daily Show. The first is that Minhaj, as he himself confessed to Malone, has bent the truthto the point of just lying, some might saywhen recounting personal stories in his stand-up comedy. The second, Malone reports, relates to allegations that Minhaj had fostered a hostile workplace for staffers of his former Netflix talk show, the critically acclaimed Patriot Act. The article paints a picture of Minhaj as a teller of emotional truths, referring to his habit of building off random real-world incidents to craft elaborate yarns of facing persecution as a brown Muslim American, and then pitching these as confessions that resonated with countless members of the South Asian diaspora. Meanwhile, women of color who worked on his show (including South Asian American women) allegedly suffered while helping build his platform as a comedic truth-teller. When Patriot Act was canceled in 2020, some of its former staffers publicly shared their mixed feelings on having made such a unique showan Indian Americanhosted talk show centered around confrontational interviews and taboo topics like the murder of Jamal Khashoggiwhile allegedly facing mistreatment behind the scenes. That alleged mistreatment, Malone reports, included gender-based workplace discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, to the point where three women had threatened to sue Patriot Act.
There were still more revelationsthat Minhaj had broadcast made-up stories about his wife to national audiences, that he had concocted a tall tale about rushing his daughter to the hospital for fear of anthrax exposure from a threatening letter, that he had centered a 2017 stand-up special around a false story regarding a white high-school classmate who had rejected him, consigning her to years of doxing and digital harassment from his fans. The news spurred complex, layered conversations about the necessity of strict factuality in emotive storytelling, the hypocrisy of famous men of color speaking to their oppression while allegedly mistreating women of color, and how American culture incentivizes representatives of marginalized communities to center the trauma of bigotry in their creative ventures. But there was also a sense of exhaustion and heartbreak, especially among those who had long admired the comedian. Whatever youd made of his act, Minhaj had been one of the past decades key figures for brown representation in American media. All of a sudden, here he was, exposed.
Its unsurprising that Minhaj and his brand of comedy flowered during Donald Trumps presidency, as liberals who were righteously opposed to his administrations Muslim travel ban and Islamophobic campaigning turned to late-night talk-show hosts for passionate (if often impotent) riffs against the GOPs xenophobia. After Minhajs anti-Trump monologue at the 2017 White House Correspondents Dinner went viral, he anchored himself as a #Resistance hero, landing his Patriot Act hosting gig in 2018 and using the show to talk through urgent issues like civil rights law, Americas cruel immigrant crackdowns, police brutality and George Floyd, and much more. All from the perspective of an Indian Muslim, hosting his own show, taking the country to task on his terms, terms that had long been absent from the white mandominated industries of stand-up comedy and late-night TV.
That perspective, of course, also included Minhajs personal life: His real-life parents showed up on Patriot Act to talk about their lives as immigrants. Whether tacitly or explicitly, Minhaj all but encouraged the wider perception that he was an upfront and blunt truth-teller with a haunting past, that he understood the travails afflicting brown Americans because he knew them firsthand. In the New Yorker piece, looking to Minhajs Netflix stand-up specials, Malone points to anecdotes wherein the host brought up an FBI informant at his childhood mosque, a prom date who rejected him thanks to her racist parents, and the dangers that he and his family faced after Patriot Act aired segments on international despots like Mohammed bin Salman and Narendra Modi. Minhajs responses to the New Yorker mark the first time hes acknowledged that all of this was not completely truethat because his day-to-day life is not very interesting or compelling, as he told Malone, he had to pretend as though it were in order to highlight the types of stories that did happen to so many other kids.
Beyond the eyebrow-raising implication that being on the receiving end of death threats and government surveillance is what makes someones life interesting or compelling, the fallacy of Minhajs argument here is given away by the man himself: that there are more than enough brown people across the country whove actually had their loved ones and livelihoods attacked in those very ways. If those same Americans were fans of Minhaj, it was because he effected a nationwide breakthrough of the truth that many of us have, in fact, been abused in our personal and professional lives thanks to our skin color or faith. In the thick of the post-9/11 anti-Muslim fervor that Patriot Acts title refers to, there were hundreds of hate crimes visited upon American Muslims, Sikhs, and anyone who looked to be of Arab descent, while several of the nations most prominent figures in politics and media disparaged Islam and Middle Easterners as a whole. There was no feasible way to counter this without being sneered at as an al-Qaida recruit-in-waiting. Pakistani American communities were infiltrated by undercover law enforcement officers, and many of their residents were arbitrarily detained. White-on-brown bullying raged in schools, including mineand yes, plenty was targeted at me specifically, as one of the few kids of color in some of Michigans whitest schools. Within such a hostile environment, in which peers and authorities saw you as less worthy, there were few to no willing audiences for how such plights made any of us feel.
What bothers me so much, then, when Whoopi Goldberg and Minhaj fans defend his lies as artistic license, is that they miss the point of why Minhaj could emerge as he did: because the people he claimed to be speaking for were led to believe he really did get it on a visceral, fundamental level. This was a rare public figure who could be a high-profile voice for our fears, who could get people in the highest levels of society to hear and pass on his onstage and offstage anecdotes about how Trumps Islamophobia-fueled rise affected him and his family directly, as it did ours. Obviously, many of Americas greatest artist-activists have dabbled in artifice and used it to speak poignantly to experiences and issues that didnt apply to them personally, like the Los Angelesborn Randy Newman singing from the point of view of impoverished Southerners. But, as opposed to stand-up greats like Richard Pryor who supplemented their commentary with clearly exaggerated alter egos, Minhaj never even hinted that he was doing a character, or giving voice to stories hed heard from others, or gesturing toward the broader landscape of Muslim Americans. Minhaj took what real, everyday brown folks were going through and led those people to believe that hed also been thereearning his fame and plaudits from that very trust, as well as the trust that engendered among those who wished to understand brown Americans.
Whats more, you could argue that Minhajs refusal to outline the differences between his persona and livelihood actually further harmed people of the very communities he claimed to be making culturally relevant. Its a cruel twist of irony that brown writers, journalists, and fact-checkersagain, several of them womenmay have been enticed by the idea of working on a show like Patriot Act because they thought they were uplifting the platform of someone who spoke for people like them, only to end up being allegedly dismissed and treated poorly by a hero of the community. (Prashanth Venkataramanujam, the shows co-creator, told the New Yorker it was painful to hear that some people who worked at the show did not enjoy their experience, and that the shows creators tried very hard to make Patriot Act one of the most inclusive and diverse spaces in all of late-night, and it was.)
Theres an idea, in the annals of representation culture, that people of a marginalized group should unconditionally cheerlead someone famous who shares their background or identitythat South Asian Americans should support Minhaj, one of the few powerful Indians in American culture, no matter what, because hes using his pedestal to air their grievances and fashion a safer world for their opinions. But what if that pedestal was built on falsehoods? What if it was exclusively built on the stories and labor and hardships of others? Whats left is the feeling of disappointmentthe hollow suspicion that, after all this time, the entire thing has been little more than an act that took advantage of something very real.
Chef Jonathon Stranger talks Sept. 8 about the first anniversary of El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina in Oklahoma City.
Every year in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Wine & Chile Fiesta celebrates one of the state's most beloved foods, the chile pepper, and the beverage of choice for pairing with those chiles is wine.
One restaurant in the Britton District has been bringing that flair to Oklahoma City for a year now and to celebrate its anniversary, chef-owner Jonathon Stranger is looking to continue to turn up the heat.
When I made the decision that I was going to live here for the time being, it was like if I'm going to do something, I want to add to the dining scene. I want to give people options, Stranger said.
Stranger's restaurant portfolio One Table Hospitality includes Bar Cicchetti, Osteria and El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina, 325 W Britton Road, the restaurant created with the goal of transporting guests somewhere else.
One of the entrances is pictured at El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina in Oklahoma City's Britton District. The restaurant has been open for a year and will celebrate with an anniversary party and Hatch chile roast.
The biggest thing is with El Coyote is we wanted to bring, when you walked in the door it had to feel like a different place, he said. "How could we make this place, and this neighborhood start to be a place where people want to go? Somewhere that, once you walk inside, it's totally different.
Strangers dad was born in Santa Fe, and his family still has a home there so the city holds a special place and a lot of memories for him. That is what he looked to for the development of El Coyote.
There is a place in Santa Fe on Canyon Road called El Farol, which has been there forever, Stranger said. It just reminded me of that.
From the decor, including handmade items from New Mexican artisans, to the food, Stranger wanted to provide guests with an authentic experience at El Coyote.
"What we really, really wanted to dial in here is this overall sensory experience of New Mexico. So, when people that travel to New Mexico, spend time in New Mexico or are from New Mexico, when they come in here, seeing them and their faces light up and I want to give other people that thing, he said. "That's what really creates a memory. You know memory is more than yes, food can do it but it's an overall sensory experience.
A chandelier that hangs inside the dining room of El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina in Oklahoma City was handmade by an artist in New Mexico in 1973 and purchased by owner Jonathon Stranger at an antique store.
What is New Mexican food?
Stranger said that people often expect one thing or another when they come into El Coyote , but find something different.
"So when you look at New Mexican cuisine, yes, being in Oklahoma, a lot of people might think it's Tex-Mex, well it's not, Stranger said. Its its own thing. New Mexican is this combination of conquests.
New Mexican food combines dishes from the Pueblo tribe and those before them, Spanish and other European settlers and more, Stranger said. The result is a cuisine that, while heavily influenced by the chiles many know it for, has "a lot more to it than that."
Jonathan Stranger, chef and owner of El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina, talks Sept. 8 inside his restaurant in Oklahoma City.
"We want to create really, really, really good food at a price that everyone can afford, because the reality is, if I wanted to just cook super high-end food only and make a living doing it, I wouldn't be in Oklahoma, Stranger said.
Bigger cities exist with people making higher incomes that can afford to spend more to dine out more often, Stranger points out. However, he said there are aspects that influenced his choice to build his brand here.
People here appreciate really good food. They don't necessarily appreciate and this isn't bad, it's just different all the pomp and circumstances that sometimes comes with those high-end restaurants, he said. So that's really what we focused on. What are really, really good dishes that we know are going to connect with people here but at the same time push them just like a little bit further?
If you find yourself at El Coyote and unsure of what to order, Stranger has a few simple and surefire suggestions from the menu.
"My go-to dish is always green chile chicken enchiladas with a fried egg on top. That's like my home spot, he said.
More: What to know about Hispanic Heritage Month in OKC and why it is celebrated
Additionally the two "sneaky dishes" on the menu are the red chile rib tips and the green chile cheeseburger, either is perfect paired with a frozen horchata made fresh in-house, Stranger said.
"Think about how people eat wings like a bar snack, these small little pork ribs, but theyre slow cooked in red chile paste and theyre so good [...] so that is an appetizer and then the sneaker is the green chile cheeseburger. Its so good, he said. "I think you would come to a place like this and not think I'll get the burger. Get the burger."
The bar area at El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina is pictured Sept. 8. The restaurant will celebrate its first anniversary this month.
El Coyote's first-anniversary and Hatch chile roast
A year into operating, Stranger and his team have hit their stride. Lunch and brunch service have returned after being taken off the table while the group found it's footing and flow.
Now, the staff at El Coyote are looking to celebrate with guests by bringing even more of New Mexico to Oklahoma City during their anniversary weekend, through the spirit of the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta.
"We're not there, we're here. So I wanted to bring some of that back. It's super fun, it's out there. It's great chefs and wineries and restaurants, so we're going to give everyone a taste of that here, Stranger said.
El Coyote will host its First Birthday Bash & Hatch Chile Roast from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23.
Chef Jonathon Stranger talks Sept. 8 inside El Coyote New Mexican Bar & Cantina in Oklahoma City.
You buy a ticket, there's free food, there's a wine tasting, there's tequila, live music all day. So it kind of gives you that wine tasting kind of feel, you know, hanging out, wandering around, which I'm excited about. And then I'm going to be roasting Hatch chilies, as well, live outside, Stranger said.
Hatch chiles can be any of a number of varieties of New Mexico chiles. Originally they had to be grown specifically and exclusively in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico, an area that was once a Rio Grande Valley floodplain and that has distinct growing conditions; now however, any chile grown in New Mexico can be labeled a Hatch chile, according to the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University.
Chiles will be roasted on-site and sold on the hour, in small batches, by the pound, until theyre gone.
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Stranger's team has carefully selected Spanish wines for tastings, the restaurant will have a tres leches birthday cake, and guests can take part in pinatas and prizes, as well. In addition to the free food included in the ticket price, the restaurant's full menu will be available for purchase. There also will be options to purchase additional wines by the glass and by the retail bottle.
All-access tickets are $40 per person and will only be available at the door, on the day of the event. Tickets include Spanish wine tastings with an on-site wine expert, snacks, and access to the partys activities and events. An option for a $20 ticket will be available for those under 21, accompanied by a ticketed adult.
El Coyote is open for regular business hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week for lunch and weekend brunch and from 4 to 10 p.m. for dinner Sunday through Wednesday and 4 to midnight Thursday through Saturday.
Stranger said that while the restaurant is still seeing full weekend dinner services, the restaurant's use of Yelp waitlist has helped minimize wait times for tables and guests should utilize the option for the fastest seating.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: El Coyote to mark one year celebration with Hatch chile roast, party
New Ohio welcome sign with new branding and slogan.
When driving across state lines into Ohio, travelers are faced with a sign that reads Ohio. Find it Here, but now, travelers will be welcomed with a new slogan that was once familiar.
In May, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Ohio would return to its old slogan, Ohio, The Heart of it All. Now, the new signage is starting to be installed on U.S. and interstate routes.
Ohio, The Heart of it All was the states tourism slogan between 1984 and the early 2000s and was followed by Ohio, So Much to Discover" during Republican Gov. Bob Taft's tenure.
Ohios most recent slogan, Ohio. Find it Here, was launched in 2015 during Gov. John Kasich's administration.
Sarah Wickham, state tourism director for the Ohio Department of Development, said the new slogan would allow Ohio to not only be talked about as a travel and tourism destination, but also as a great place to live.
For the last several years, weve encouraged Ohioans to Find it Here, and millions of them have, Wickham said. But ultimately, that brand, although a great tourism brand, didnt serve all the purposes we needed. We needed a new brand that was more inclusive and that told more of Ohios story.
Wickham said Ohio, The Heart of it All is a brand that has resonated with Ohioans for years.
And with Intel and Google making investments in our state, we are the heart of technology and opportunity, Wickham said. Those companies need employees.
The Ohio Department of Transportations Sign Shop in Columbus manufactured all 36 new signs in three weeks, according to Joshua Wilson, ODOT sign shop administrator. The signs cost nearly $60,000 to make.
In addition to the signs on highways, ODOT is working on smaller signs for some of the other two-lane routes coming into Ohio, according to Matt Bruning, ODOT press secretary.
These will be the new look, the new brand for the state of Ohio, Bruning said. That will be the welcome mat to the state of Ohio to show people theyre coming into the state, and certainly show off that new look that we have for the brand for the state of Ohio.
The goal is to have all signs installed by the end of the year.
Kayla Bennett is a fellow in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism's Statehouse News Bureau.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New signage welcoming travelers to Ohio, the 'Heart of it All'
COVID-19 antigen rapid tests indicate positive results in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2023. A new COVID-19 variant, labeled BA.2.86 and dubbed Pirola, turned up in a wastewater sample collected in Utah. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
An alarming new, highly mutated COVID-19 variant has been detected in Utah wastewater.
The new variant, labeled BA.2.86 by scientists and dubbed Pirola, turned up in a wastewater sample collected Sept. 7, said Kelly Oakeson, chief scientist for next generation sequencing and bioinformatics for the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
Oakeson said the sample came from the sewage treatment plant in Tooele and the results were confirmed this week. He said the new variant has not yet been seen in samples from individual positive COVID-19 tests.
Ten other states have reported finding the new variant: Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington, according to information compiled by a global virus database, GISAID.
Two of those states, New York and Ohio, identified Pirola in wastewater, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oakeson said wastewater surveillance acts as an early warning system for COVID-19.
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As of last Thursday, the states weekly coronavirus update showed COVID-19 levels were increasing at 10 of the 34 sewage treatment plants around Utah where samples are collected for testing, with virus reaching elevated levels at 11 sites.
Pirola has also been seen in Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom and South Africa, where it was responsible for more than a third of that nations COVID-19 cases last month, GISAID data shows.
After the variant surfaced this summer, Oakeson said Pirolas more than 30 mutations were alarming, comparing the changes to what was seen in the omicron variant that sent cases soaring in Utah to record levels in early 2022.
That sounded a warning bell, he said. When we saw that level of mutation again, we were like, Uh, oh. This isnt a good thing. Lets be really careful. Lets keep an eye on this and see what happens. Thats where we currently are.
Oakeson said the many mutations are still alarming, even though Pirola may not be another omicron.
It definitely doesnt look like what happened with the original omicron variant, he said. Its nowhere near as severe. Will it cause a surge in cases beyond what were currently seeing? I think its too early to tell that yet. But it doesnt seem to be giving us the same scare.
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An initial assessment by the CDC in late August warned Pirola may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines.
However, a CDC update earlier this month on the variant said new data are reassuring and show that existing antibodies work against it and are also encouraging because of what it may mean for the effectiveness of the 2023-2024 COVID-19 vaccine.
A new booster dose of that vaccine, updated to target other versions of the virus that, like Pirola, are descendants of omicron, was given final approval by the federal government last week for everyone 6 months and older.
The CDC also pointed out the new variant is not driving the current increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations nationwide. Last Friday, University of Utah Health officials cited a dramatic climb in the virus and advised eligible Utahns to get the new booster shots.
Others are also no longer as concerned about Pirola.
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It really got our attention as virologists because the high number of mutations suggested that it might cause a lot more trouble, Dr. Andrew Pavia, chief of the U. Health Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, told reporters last week.
Now, Pavia said, it looks like it might not be so bad.
Its not spreading as fast as other emergent variants have and its pretty well neutralized in people whove been vaccinated against COVID-19 or infected in the past few months, the doctor said.
So far, its not living up to its potential. Like a disappointing child, I suppose, if youre the parent, omicron, Pavia said. This one, were watching it, but currently it does not appear to be a large threat.
Esmerelda Rivas, Juana Sebastian and Rubia Lopez make pupusas, a traditional El Salvadorian food, at a Cinco De Mayo celebration on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Falls Park in Sioux Falls.
South Dakotas Hispanic population more than doubled over the past 12 years and now helps keep many small towns vibrant, a trend seen in other rural areas of the U.S., according to census data and experts.
There were an estimated 44,581 Latino individuals living in South Dakota as of 2022, or nearly 5% of the state population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
That base number is more than double the 2010 census count (22,119, or 2.7%) and more than four times the 2000 count (10,903, 1.4%). Hispanics are the third-largest racial/ethnic demographic group in South Dakota behind non-Hispanic whites (84.2%) and Native Americans (8.5%).
While Hispanic immigrants traditionally clustered in urban gateway cities, there has been a push to the rural Midwest as companies build food processing and manufacturing plants in smaller agricultural communities with lower operating costs.
This creates a need for workers and can help bolster population numbers in rural counties that have seen declines in recent decades, according to South Dakota State University professor and state demographer Weiwei Zhang.
Much of this is driven by job opportunities, said Zhang. A few family members find employment in the community, and then more relatives move there through chain migration.
Nationally, the Latino population increased 23% from 2010 to 2020 to reach a total of more than 62.1 million in the United States. The overall population growth during that time was 7%.
Pinatas and other party items are displayed at the Pinatas La Mexicana store in Huron. The business was started by Diana Vianey Pineda, a 30-year-old native of Guerrero, Mexico, who came to South Dakota in 2015 to work at the Dakota Provisions meat processing plant.
This business is something beautiful
About one-third of all Latinos living in the U.S. were born outside the country, according to the Pew Research Center, with Mexico the most common place of origin (61.5%).
Diana Vianey Pineda, a 30-year-old native of Guerrero, Mexico, came to South Dakota in 2015 to work at the Dakota Provisions meat processing plant in Huron. She was part of an influx that gives Beadle County the highest percentage of Hispanic residents in the state at 14.3%, or 2,741 residents, up from just 155 in 2000.
Other counties in the states top five of Hispanic population percentage are Aurora (8.0%), Grant (6.4%), Minnehaha (6.1%) and Marshall (5.9%).
Along with her husband, who is also from Mexico, Pineda in 2021 started her own pinata business, Pinatas La Mexicana, in Huron. Family members have helped operate the business so far. The goal is to become immersed in the community and find financial stability after starting out at the packing plant, she told News Watch.
We had a party and couldnt find anyone to make the pinata for us, said Pineda, referring to a decorated container, often made of papier-mache, filled with candy and broken up by party goers with a stick. I decided to make one, and my family liked the results, so we decided to start selling them to the public.
Pineda, whose interview with News Watch was done through translation software, said she is taking English classes so she can better communicate with her clients and expand the business, which has branched out with appearances in Sioux Falls and the South Dakota State Fair.
This business is something beautiful and we are moving forward, she said.
Immigrants help rejuvenate Huron community
For South Dakota communities shrinking from natural change (more deaths than births) and negative net migration, one of the solutions is to try to foster more international migration to offset those trends.
A prime example is the city of Huron, which lost 1,300 jobs when the Dakota Pork plant closed in 1997, around the same time NorthWestern Energy moved its corporate headquarters to Sioux Falls. Huron University was experiencing financial turmoil and officially closed in 2005.
Terry Nebelsick, a former principal and superintendent of the Huron School District who retired in 2021, told News Watch that the district had 2,400 students when he arrived in 1994.
Seven years later we got down to 1,800 students, and the projection six years after that was 1,200 students. The community had to make a decision.
Discussion among agricultural groups, city leaders and the Hutterite colonies led to the Dakota Provisions turkey plant opening in 2006. It created jobs that spurred incoming migration and refugee efforts, including an influx of Karen refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma) in southeast Asia.
When kids grow up together, they dont see color
Beef jerky maker Jack Link's also expanded operations at its plant in Alpena, about 20 miles southwest of Huron, contributing to the wave of incoming new residents.
Hurons school district enrollment is now just under 3,000, 58% of whom are minority or international students. Hispanic students make up 30% of the student body, and Karen students were named high school homecoming king and queen in 2022.
One of the challenges was to make sure that new residents found not just employment but opportunities to become part of the community. That meant lobbying Pierre successfully for more state aid to fund English-language learner (ELL) programs by tying them to economic development, according to Nebelsick.
When it became clear that there were elementary schools with mostly low-income or immigrant/refugee students, school officials proposed a $22 million bond measure for three new elementary schools that would put all kindergarten and first graders in the same building, with a separate school for second-third graders and fourth-fifth graders.
The 2013 measure needed 60% approval to pass and ended up with 71% of the vote.
By doing that, the kids have been together since kindergarten, and there are very few problems, said Nebelsick. When kids grow up together, they dont see color.
A Hispanic immigrant receives his Level One English certification at Caminando Juntos, a Sioux Falls-based ministry sponsored by the Aberdeen Presentation Sisters.
Ministry helps immigrants with legal, language hurdles
South Dakotas largest county, Minnehaha, had more than 12,000 Hispanic residents in 2020, according to census data, or 6.1% of its population. That was up from 4.1% in 2010 and 2.1% in 2000.
Those numbers are probably lower than the actual count, said Matthew Tschetter, executive director of Caminando Juntos, a Sioux Falls-based ministry sponsored by the Aberdeen Presentation Sisters.
The organization aims to help Latino immigrants integrate into their communities with legal services, housing assistance and English language classes.
Tschetter, who was born in Colombia but grew up in Freeman, said that there could be from 5,000 to 8,000 or more Hispanic folks who are undocumented, living and working in Sioux Falls and the surrounding area.
Undocumented residents are included in the census but are traditionally undercounted, according to U.S. Census Bureau studies.
The most prevalent countries of origin for Hispanic immigrants in Sioux Falls are Guatemala and Mexico, said Tschetter. Many of them need help with paperwork for county or state services or federal immigration proceedings such as family reunification.
Caminando Juntos, which translates to walking together, started in 2002 in response to rapidly increasing Latino populations in South Dakota. In addition to legal guidance, staffers provide English interpretation for interactions with government agencies or potential employers.
We live in a place where most everything in statewide government is English-only, but we try to serve as a buffer or go-between when we can, said Tschetter. The welcoming part that we do really works at showing the migrant that they have dignity, that we will treat them with dignity and help them with whatever we are able to do.
Made with Flourish
Hispanics median age much lower than whites in S.D.
As state demographer, Zhang is reluctant to make demographic population projections because of shifting variables such as economic factors and state and federal immigration policies.
But signs point to a continued trend of Hispanic growth in South Dakota.
The median age for Latino males in the state (23.4) is significantly lower than white males (40.4), with a similar disparity for Latino females (24) and white females (41.9). Nationally from 2018-20, Hispanic women had the highest fertility rate (64.8 births per 1,000 women ages 15-44) among demographic groups, with white women at 55.3.
Evidence of this growth can be seen in the Sioux Falls School District, the states largest, which went from 3% Hispanic in 2000 to 7.1% in 2010 and 14.7% in 2022.
As more immigrants are drawn to manufacturing jobs, Zhang noted that communities can reach a tipping point where the level of education or job skills potentially becomes a drain on the community in terms of social services or other resources.
In South Dakota, only 15% of Hispanic males have a bachelors degree or higher, compared to 31.6 for white males. For females, the percentages are 27.8 for Hispanics and 35.3 for whites.
The median household income in South Dakota is $57,045 for Hispanics and $69,702 for whites.
Immigrants can provide demographic lifeline to towns
For rural communities struggling with sinking populations, however, Latinos can provide a demographic lifeline to slow the rate of decline, said Daniel Lichter.
He earned a sociology degree from SDSU in 1975 and now teaches public policy and sociology at Cornell University.
Lichter published a paper with colleague Kenneth Johnson in 2020 analyzing immigration and Hispanic population growth in mostly rural states. They found that though the influx of immigrants was usually insufficient to reverse population declines in historically depopulating counties, stabilization of populations and institutions did occur.
New Hispanic immigrants may not only revitalize rural economies, but keep schools, churches and hospitals open that otherwise may have closed, said the study.
Lichter called it a demographic turning point in America, with the politically fraught issue of border security sparking antipathy toward Hispanics or other immigrant populations, especially among rural voters.
But there are signs of hope in South Dakota, as seen by Kristi Hine, publisher of the True Dakotan newspaper that serves Wessington Springs and Alpena in Jerauld County.
Wessington Springs high school student Estrellita Cardona, who died earlier this year of leukemia, is pictured with her mother at Sanford Children's Hospital. Cardona's classmates rallied around her by launching Team Estrellita and hosting fundraising events to help the family.
Its not just us and them. Theyre part of this community.
Hine, who is bilingual, provides interpretation for Hispanic families, many connected to the Jack Link's plant in Alpena, when they meet with local schools or government agencies.
She moved to South Dakota and bought the newspaper in 2015 after living in Las Vegas and Phoenix.
There were growing pains for sure, Hine said of the rising Hispanic population in Alpena and Wessington Springs. But over the past decade of being that go-between the community and Spanish-speaking families, Ive seen more acceptance.
She was struck by the story of Wessington Springs High School student Estrellita Cardona, who was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2023 while preparing for her quinceanera, a cultural celebration in the Hispanic tradition for girls turning 15.
Her classmates rallied around her by launching Team Estrellita and hosting fundraising events to help the family as Cardona received treatment at Sanford Childrens Hospital.
When she died in April, the family called Hine and asked her to spread the word to their daughters classmates and the rest of the community, who flocked to an all-night wake service at the Alpena Community Center to pay their respects.
It was really beautiful to see everyone come together to support the family, said Hine. I dont think that would have happened 10 years ago. Its not just us and them. Theyre a part of this community. Its a sign of how far weve come.
This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Hispanic population gains in rural counties spark South Dakota growth
One person was killed and multiple others were hurt when a pickup truck plowed into a group of motorcyclists and sped off with a bike still stuck to its front, Georgia troopers say.
The hit and run happened around 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17, along Georgia State Route 61 in Fairmount, Georgia State Patrol said in a preliminary report.
The driver of a Ford F-150 was headed north at a high rate of speed when he barrelled into the bikers from behind, according to troopers. The impact caused one of the bikes to become embedded in the front of the truck, the report said.
Instead of stopping, the driver took off and a bystander followed him until officers were able to intervene, the report said. Officers stopped the truck about six miles up the road.
Investigators said the initial crash site was approximately 1,000 feet long and it shut down the road for more than two hours.
Three of the bikers were airlifted to area hospitals and two others were taken by ambulance, troopers said. One of them did not survive.
The Ford truck driver, who wasnt named, faces multiple charges including DUI, first-degree vehicular homicide, hit and run and reckless driving, the report says.
The conditions of the injured motorcyclists werent known as of Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Fairmount is about 60 miles northwest of downtown Atlanta.
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"Im sorry," the man said, lying shirtless and bloodied in the Idaho mud near his empty wheelchair. "I did what he said, put the gun down... he just took his shot. I didnt know you guys were cops."
On 19 May, a multi-agency police raid in Idaho to evict a homeless family for misdemeanour charges of overstaying on public forest land took a disastrous turn, with police shooting Brooks Roberts over 10 times, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
The raid in Payette National Forest began when plainclothes officers approached the trailer where Roberts and his family lived, posing as motorists who needed help jump-starting their car.
When Roberts brother came out to assist the men, they put him in handcuffs and informed him he was under arrest, prompting him to scream for help. As Roberts wheeled out to check on the commotion while holding his pistol, police sirens went off, but officers didnt identify themselves directly before they showered him in bullets.
The 39-year-old is now seeking a $50m tort claim against the government for lost future earnings because of the injuries. Federal officials have declined to comment on the case, citing the pending litigation.
Federal police officers planned in secret to arrest this homeless family on minor misdemeanor offenses by preying on their good graces. Officers knew that the family would help two people that they thought were stranded motorists, Craig Durham, one of Brookss attorneys, told The Intercept. Its a shame that in the wealthiest nation on earth, our federal government will expend so many resources to hassle a homeless family, botch an arrest so badly, and permanently injure someone, rather than just help them find a place to live.
The operation was the culmination of the Roberts familys multi-year struggle with homelessness and disability, and what police describe as a lengthy period of staying too long and making aggressive threats to fellow members of the public on US federal forest land.
The Roberts family, made up of Brooks, his brother Timber, and their mother, Judy, had been struggling for years, eventually living in vehicles on federal lands in Idaho once they ran out of alternatives.
In 2020, the family was evicted, and Judy lost her long-time long-time manufacturing job after a car-accident. Meanwhile, Brooks was injured working during a shift at Walmart, requiring him to use a wheelchair.
The following year, Judy got frostbite living in an old school bus and underwent a double amputation.
Covid furth complicated the familys efforts to find stable shelter, according to the Roberts, prompting them to live on public lands.
Throughout this period, according to law enforcement, the family was warned they were camping on federal land longer than the US code allowed, and public officials began to fear they were a threat.
Timber allegedly threatened law enforcement officers he would booby trap his familys encampment if they continued to be told to leave.
Randy Hickman, of McCall, Idaho, alleged that Timber threatened him with a knife at the trailhead where the raid took place.
"I see a guy standing outside my vehicle. He wants something, I dont know what it is. So, I open the door, get out and say what do you need?" he told KTVB.
"He walked back over to a Chevy pickup [...] and picked up a knife off the tailgate," he added. "He shook the knife and started back toward me. That made it pretty easy for me to see I needed not to be here."
Timber has since been jailed on misdeamenour charges.
By May, the family had been hit with multiple misdeameanour charges for their time on public land, though the Roberts argued their situation left them stuck with few options, pointing to instances like Judys social security disability benefits being garnished for camping tickets as evidence of the negative feedback loop that led them to decamp to Payette National Forest.
Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center, said the use of force was unprecendented for a series of charges normally met with fines and tickets.
"This is the message from the top," he told USA Today. "Ive been doing this work for almost two decades, and Ive never heard of federal law enforcement using all these resources from multiple agencies just to target a single family for arrest for unsanctioned camping.
Idaho has around 2,000 unhoused people, a figure that has risen 14.2 per cent in the last 15 years, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The state has one of the highest rates in the nation of unsheltered homeless people living in vehicles or outside.
G20 leaders pay their tributes at the Rajghat, a Mahatma Gandhi memorial, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Kenny Holston, Pool) (Kenny Holston/AP)
The Group of 20, a forum of 19 industrialized nations plus the European Union, met this month at the Bahrat Mandapam conference center in New Delhi, India. The annual gathering provided a major opportunity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demonstrate Indias growing influence.
The G20 provides a structure for policy discussion and coordination on a wide range of matters, including international security.
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China and Vladimir Putin of Russia were absent. Both nations suffer serious and growing economic problems. Moscow is in addition afflicted with the costly, brutal war resulting from the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Just before the G20 gathered in India, President Joe Biden stopped in Hanoi, Vietnam. The occasion was a new, greatly strengthened strategic partnership between the United States and Vietnam. The relationship was formally raised to a comprehensive strategic partnership by Hanoi. This is its highest designation for cooperation. Previously, our relationship had been at their lowest designation.
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Last year in November, Indonesia hosted a G20 summit. Biden took the opportunity for a special meeting with Chinas President Xi Jinping.
The G20 began in 1999, spurred by the Asia financial crisis of 1997. Rapid response led by the United States mobilized public and private capital to relieve nearly disastrous financial pressures on Asian economies. U.S. President Bill Clinton led this effective crisis management.
In 2010, G20 meetings took place in Gyeongju and then Seoul, South Korea. The selection of this nation aptly, and appropriately, symbolized the exceptional economic development of its powerhouse economy - and stable political democracy - during the years following the devastating Korean War of 1950-1953.
Japan was a participant in the initial, predecessor G7 organization of economically advanced nations. The successor G20 has developed a wider arena to include China, along with Brazil, India and other rapidly industrializing large economies of the world.
The fact that worldwide, very poor people are becoming prosperous is good news for everyone. They represent new competitors, but also potential new consumers of our products, and investment partners. Wars are on balance less likely.
Washington took the opportunity to highlight Indonesia, and neighboring nations, as success stories of expanding political stability, modernization and the rule of law. In 1998, opponents forced Indonesias longtime autocratic president and former general Muhammad Suharto from power. Since then, the nation has had representative government.
Indonesias external conflicts today are largely technical and legal, notably the maritime disputes which generally involve the nations of East and Southeast Asia. Dictatorship has ended, but corruption remains a problem.
The situation used to be quite different. During the height of the Cold War, Indonesia was a pivotal leader among developing nations. Flamboyant nationalist President Sukarno played the Soviet Union and United States against one another. CIA efforts to bring Sukarno down failed, greatly weakening U.S. standing.
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In consequence, cooperation between Indonesia and the Soviet Union expanded. This development was extremely important in the decision for large-scale U.S. military intervention in Vietnam in 1965. Today, we largely have forgotten that history.
British forces, with Australian and New Zealand allies, defeated Indonesia attacks on Malaysia. Earlier, Britain defeated a Communist insurgency in Malaya, today part of Malaysia. Their strategy remains highly germane.
Today, the Cold War is over, though the potentially explosive tensions between China and the United States and other nations show utopia has not yet arrived.
Our collaboration with Vietnam is truly historic.
Learn More: Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moons memoirs, Resolved.
Arthur I. Cyr is author of After the Cold War American Foreign Policy, Europe and Asia (NYU and Palgrave/Macmillan).
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Contact acyr@carthage.edu
People look for survivors in Derna, Libya. For years, experts warned that floods pose significant danger to dams protecting tens of thousands in Libya's northeast. (Yousef Murad / Associated Press)
Amid the search for thousands of people washed away when two storm-swollen dams burst, amid the burials and bewilderment in the Libyan city of Derna, sorrow has given way to rage.
More than a week after Storm Daniel punched through the dams made of compacted clay, with the death toll at anywhere from 4,000 to over 11,000, recriminations and demands for punishment are mounting.
Libyans question why the dams failed why they weren't repaired or replaced despite stark predictions of disaster and why residents got confusing and contradictory instructions before floodwaters washed away buildings, bridges, neighborhoods.
For many in the troubled North African nation of some 7 million, the dams' disintegration has become a symbol of both the dysfunction and venality of Libya's political class.
"People know this is a crime, not just a natural disaster. And they want someone to be held accountable," said Awad Alshalwy, an English teacher in Derna working as a volunteer with rescue crews. Infrastructure in Derna had long been neglected, he said, with any money earmarked for upgrades stolen by politicians.
Rescuers recover a body after the flooding in Derna, Libya. (Ricardo Garcia Vilanova / Associated Press)
"There were problems with everything. Compared to Benghazi or Tripoli, it was as if Derna was in another country."
On Monday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the city's Al Sahaba mosque for the first public demonstration since the devastating flood, shouting slogans excoriating top officials.
A group of Derna residents released a statement to Libyan and international authorities demanding investigations be sped up. And they want prosecutions of "everyone who had a hand in the negligence or thefts ... without covering up any criminal, whoever they may be, as there is no one more important than the people we lost."
The dams underscored successive governments' blase attitude toward infrastructure.
Read more: What's delaying lifesaving aid after Morocco and Libya natural disasters? Politics
The dams were constructed in the 1970s by a Yugoslav company in the Wadi Derna basin. The larger dam, Boumansour, which is nearly nine miles from the city of Derna, stood about 250 feet tall and could hold nearly 800 million cubic feet of water. The other, Bilad, had a capacity of about 53 million cubic feet; less than a mile from Derna, it was meant to protect the city from flooding.
There were concerns for years about the dams' stability, with a sharp warning coming last year.
Buildings, bridges, neighborhoods were washed away in Derna. (Jamal Alkomaty / Associated Press)
Previous storms, going back to 1986, had damaged the dams' structure, a Libyan hydrologist said in an academic paper. A 2011 storm brought a wave of panic when water reached more than two-thirds of Boumansour's height.
"The current situation requires officials to take immediate measures to carry out periodic maintenance of the dams," Abdul Wanis Ashour wrote in the paper released in the Sebha University Journal of Pure & Applied Science.
He added that years of soil erosion in the valley and a subsequent lack of plant cover meant floodwater would encounter little to slow its path to the city.
"Recurring floods from time to time have become a constant threat for residents of the valley and the city of Derna," he wrote. "In the event of a huge flood, the result will be catastrophic for the residents of the valley and the city."
Chaos and neglect
In 2007, when Libya was still ruled by strongman Moammar Kadafi, a Turkish company, Arsel, was tasked with rehabilitating the dams and building a third dam in between.
But after Kadafi was toppled in 2011 in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization-backed uprising, and later killed, all such projects languished. Nevertheless, on its website, Arsel claimed it started work in 2007 and finished Nov. 28, 2012. The website has since been taken down. The company did not respond to an email sent to the contact listed on an archived page.
After Kadafi's ouster, civil war broke out and the country was riven by two rival governments, one internationally recognized in the west, and the other a regional administration covering the east.
Read more: Libya post-Kadafi: Lurching from one crisis to another
In 2014, Derna was taken over by Islamic State militants who were ousted by other Islamist factions. Then Khalifa Haftar, the septuagenarian general and former CIA asset who controls Libya's east, mounted a two-year siege followed by a devastating campaign to control the city, which he did in 2019.
And the dams remained a danger, thanks to corruption, a paranoid security apparatus viewing Derna as a threat rather than a city worth fixing, and the political chaos of competing governments. That chaos is one reason for the widely divergent death toll estimates.
Even though millions of dollars had been allocated for maintenance in 2012 and 2013, a 2021 report by Libya's Audit Bureau found that no work had been done. Though some of the money had been deducted, there appeared to be no clarity as to where it had gone.
That's a routine state of affairs for much of Libya's investment budgets, said Wolfram Lacher, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.
"Generally speaking, no one really knows where this money has gone," he said. "There are widespread allegations of large tranches of it being embezzled."
Read more: After Libya flooding, retrieving the dead becomes as big a challenge as finding the living
Now, Derna residents, in their demands to international and Libyan officials, want to ensure there's no repeat. They've called for "assigning an international consulting office to prepare all engineering, surveying and financial studies related to the reconstruction process."
Stephanie Williams, who worked as the United Nations secretary-general's special advisor on Libya, said a joint Libyan and international expert committee should steer recovery funds.
"Time is of the essence," she wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, "given the predilection of Libya's predatory ruling class to use the pretext of 'sovereignty' and 'national ownership' to steer such a process on their own and in a self-interested manner."
An avoidable tragedy
Fury has also been directed at officials for conflicting and confusing messages to residents as Storm Daniel bore down on Libya.
A man walks by the graves of the flash flood victims in Derna. The death toll varies wildly by source, from 4,000 to more than 11,000. (Yousef Murad / Associated Press)
The night of the storm, the Derna Security Directorate released a video announcing a curfew. The Water Resources Ministry, meanwhile, told readers on its Facebook page that the dams were "in good condition" even as they were filling up to dangerous levels and observers warned of imminent danger.
"I blame officials from here," said one resident interviewed by the channel Libya Live who said he lost 25 members of his family. "Don't tell me to stay home, that there's a curfew. During war you forced me out with the power of arms. This is mass destruction, a time bomb right behind my yard. You should force me out.
"I stayed home and I lost everyone. Twenty-five souls. Who can help me now?"
Derna Mayor Abdulmenam Ghaithi, a relative of the eastern administration's parliament speaker, said in an interview with the Hadath satellite channel last week that he had ordered an evacuation days before the dams burst. He said the city used loudspeakers to warn people of the danger and instruct them to leave.
There have been conflicting reports as to what residents were actually told. Some reported receiving text messages telling them to remain at home. Some officials said residents complained their warnings were overblown.
Ghaithi has since been suspended by the eastern administration and is under investigation.
Officials in the eastern government have insisted that what happened in Derna was a function of fate, nothing more.
God wills and acts. Dont say, If only wed done this or that, Aguila Saleh, the parliamentary speaker of the Benghazi-based eastern administration, said in an emergency session last week. What happened in our country was a natural catastrophe.
Read more: Clashes between rival militias in Libya leave 27 people dead, authorities say
The same day, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, who heads the government based in Tripoli, the capital, spoke of what he called "lost money," and blamed war and negligence for the tragedy.
Libya's general prosecutor, Sediq Sour, said allocations for the dams from previous governments will be scrutinized.
I reassure citizens that whoever made mistakes or negligence, prosecutors will certainly take firm measures, file a criminal case against him and send him to trial, Sour said at a Friday news conference.
But few believe that will happen, said Lacher, the Libya analyst.
Read more: U.N. points finger as European Union defends its Libya migrant work
"The chance of an investigation succeeding is very, very slim. If it's undertaken by any Libyan side, it risks being politically instrumentalized or extremely superficial," he said.
Alshalwy, the teacher in Derna, agreed.
"The courts are bribed. No one in Libya with more than a million dollars was ever imprisoned," he said.
"The international community needs to hold these people accountable. We can't let them get away with it."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Illinois House Democrats say they will no longer work with a Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm that helped guide then-Speaker Michael Madigan on sexual harassment issues at the same time it was orchestrating support for a campaign worker who said she had been harassed by one of Madigans lieutenants.
House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch, who succeeded Madigan in 2021, made the decision to drop the firm, SKDK, following reports that the company and one of its founders, Anita Dunn , worked with Madigan in 2018 and 2019 and received more than $200,000 from his personal campaign fund.
Madigan employed Dunn, who currently advises President Joe Biden and once worked in the Obama administration, while facing a job-threatening #MeToo reckoning because of allegations against several of his allies.
Their relationship began the same year that former House Democratic campaign worker Alaina Hampton went public with sexual harassment allegations against a top Madigan aide, Kevin Quinn, brother of 13th Ward Ald. Marty Quinn.
Hampton had charged in a federal lawsuit that she had been blackballed from working on Madigans operations for going public with her harassment claim. She later settled with Madigan-related campaign funds.
While working with Madigan, SKDK had hired a private contractor to help provide Hampton and other survivors with public relations support in a deal paid for by Times Up Legal Defense Fund, a womens advocacy group. SKDK told the Tribune in August that this work was wholly separate from any work helping Speaker Madigan address systemic cultural problems within his office.
Dunn and SKDKs work with Madigan emerged in August during the federal trial of Tim Mapes, Madigans longtime chief of staff, who was subsequently convicted of lying to a grand jury investigating Madigan, who now faces racketeering charges.
Hampton has said she would not have used the SKDK contractor if she had known that Dunn and SKDK were working with Madigan, calling it a conflict of interest that should have been disclosed to her.
After several days of questions from the Tribune, SKDK apologized last week, saying, it understood in retrospect that the decision to work with then-Speaker Madigans campaign on these matters was an error in light of the support Ms. Hampton was receiving from another firm through a separate initiative we were proud to support.
Welch issued a statement Monday saying House Democrats are allies for women, for victims, and for survivors. Its what we stand and fight for every single day.
The glaring conflict of interest and conduct in this case sends a chilling message to victims and survivors that they cant even trust the people who claim to be their greatest supporters, Welch said. We find this to be deeply disheartening and disqualifying for us.
Though Welch did not have direct ties to Dunn, House Democrats worked with television producers at SKDK during the last election cycle.
When Welch was on the verge of winning the speakership, the Tribune disclosed a 2002 Hillside police report in which his ex-girlfriend alleged he slammed her head into a kitchen countertop at his home after she called him a loser.
The report said Welch denied the allegations and that the accuser did not press charges after talking it over with a Welch relative. A Welch statement at the time he first sought the speakership said the verbal argument occurred nearly two decades ago and that he had reconciled with the individual since that night.
Welch found himself explaining what had happened at an impromptu meeting with a group made up primarily of female lawmakers before House Democrats voted for him to succeed Madigan in January 2021.
Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a Chicago Democrat, voted present on Welchs speakership, explaining that the police report threw her into a tailspin because she grew up in a violent home and she didnt have time to process the allegations. Cassidy supported Welch in his reelection as speaker this year.
Reached Monday, Cassidy said she asked Welch to make it clear in his responses about SKDK that House Democrats stand by victims and that their caucus would not work with SKDK moving forward. Cassidy maintained SKDK should have at the very least disclosed to Hampton the arrangement with SKDK and Madigan because not learning of it until years later was a gut punch.
By the time a victim has someone who says theyre helping you, youve already been traumatized, Cassidy said.
While this error in judgment happened more than five years ago, we understand the decision made by (Illinois) House Democrats, SKDK spokesman Mike Czin said in a statement Monday. We are proud of the work we have done to support survivors, and we will redouble our efforts to regain trust.
rlong@chicagotribune.com
House GOP leadership pulled a procedural vote on a proposed short-term funding stopgap that has bitterly divided the Republican conference and elicited opposition from hard-line conservatives.
The House was scheduled to vote at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday on the rule to allow the GOP continuing resolution (CR) proposal to move forward, but an update sent out shortly before noon did not list the procedural vote.
The Democratic Whips office confirmed that The House GOP Leadership made changes to the floor schedule. The offices updated schedule did not include the rule vote.
The House could hold the procedural vote later in the day, but the postponement marks a setback for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and GOP leadership, who hoped that the conference would coalesce around the stopgap proposal in order to increase their leverage in future negotiations with the Senate and White House.
Asked about pulling the rule Tuesday, McCarthy told reporters, Im just recircling it; we have people talking together.
Pressed on when he would bring the rule to the floor, he responded, Its coming up.
The turmoil around the partisan CR proposal is leaving House Republicans in a sticky situation that members widely agree has no clear way forward without further inflaming Republican tensions and potentially threatening McCarthys leadership.
The legislation, crafted by leaders in the Main Street Caucus and the House Freedom Caucus, would avert a government shutdown by extending government funding until Oct. 31 along with an 8 percent cut to all discretionary spending outside the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, plus the bulk of the House GOPs H.R. 2 border crackdown bill that they passed earlier this year.
But upwards of a dozen GOP members more than enough to sink the plan in the slim GOP majority swiftly said they would oppose the legislation, with many insisting on their longtime asks for lower overall spending levels.
As leaders delayed the procedural vote, many members huddled in House Majority Whip Tom Emmers (R-Minn.) office.
In it, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.) chair of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House pitched a possible alternative plan for the partisan stopgap bill. That plan would reduce spending to fiscal year 2022 levels as outlined in the House GOP Limit, Save, Grow debt limit bill passed earlier this year, plus boost border security funding.
Some members, including Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), made a similar proposal to members at a closed-door conference meeting on Tuesday morning. He said that the border provisions and a commitment to lower spending lower in appropriations bills would receive enough GOP support to clear the chamber.
I think you could get 218 in the conference, Good said.
It remains unclear if writing the stopgap bill at fiscal year 2022 levels would garner enough support within the conference. But House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who helped craft the continuing resolution, said he is of course open to making changes to the legislation.
The procedural vote was in clear peril as members left the full GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning. Lawmakers said they saw little sign that the holdouts were shifting positions.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he planned to vote against the procedural rule to allow for consideration of the CR and predicted that enough would join him to sink the procedural vote.
The conservative lawmaker said he likes the continuing resolution and loves the 8 percent cuts it includes but would oppose the rule over a demand that leadership provide hardliners with the top-line figures for all 12 appropriations bills. Conservatives have been asking for those numbers for months.
I just want to see the total, Norman told reporters. A pie has a lot of different ingredients. I want to see all the ingredients that leadership will commit to putting in this pie.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), who also helped craft the CR proposal, expressed frustration with the opposition to the CR.
I find it extremely difficult to explain or defend opposition to an 8 percent cut over 30 days in exchange for the most conservative and strong border security measure weve ever passed out of this body, Roy said. I think that is inexplicable. I think its malpractice. And I think that there are some outside groups who are trying to advance themselves that are a part of this that are that are pushing this narrative, that its somehow malpractice to do that.
Perry urged his colleagues to support the legislation even if they do not love it, recognizing that anything the Senate may send them will be less conservative.
This is a proposal, I speak for myself, it doesnt mean that I love it but I am working with my colleagues to secure one of two paths, Perry told reporters. The one path is where we offer something and the American people can see what we stand for. The other path is, quite honestly, accepting whatever the Senate sends us which is likely to be 100 percent worse than everything and anything that we stand for.
So lets pick the option that best suits us even though we dont necessarily love it and we want to hear every voice and get it as perfect as we can, understanding that we represent millions of people across the country and there are gonna be differences of opinions, he added. So youre not gonna get every single thing that you want. But if you dont do something, youre not gonna get anything.
Updated at 12:49 p.m.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tensions in the House GOP over how to avoid or not avoid a potential government shutdown are coming to a boil, with frustrations spilling over into public jabs and airing of grievances without a clear path forward to fund the government past Sept. 30.
Its an unmitigated disaster right now on the majority side, Rep. Steve Womack (R-Ark.), an appropriator, said Monday on MSNBC. Im fearful of what this leads to.
Republicans are bitterly divided on a short-term stopgap bill that would fund the government through Oct. 31. The measure includes an 8 percent cut to everything but Defense and Veterans Affairs, along with the bulk of the House GOPs border crackdown bill.
The plan, crafted by leaders in the Main Street Caucus and House Freedom Caucus, is intended to show House GOP unity and place pressure on the Democratic-controlled Senate and White House in negotiations for a package that could become law.
But more than a dozen hard-line conservative Republicans swiftly announced they opposed the bill for not going far enough or not addressing other appropriations including many in the House Freedom Caucus.
By the end of the day Monday, about 24 hours after the bill was unveiled, the list of Republicans saying they are definite or probable no votes had grown to at least 16. In the narrow GOP majority, that opposition would be more than enough to sink the legislation.
They werent speaking for anyone beyond the six of them, Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a Freedom Caucus member, said of the members who wrote the bill.
Clashes between conservatives spilled onto social media Monday, with GOP lawmakers going after one another in the public eye.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) knocked the stopgap measure which he dubbed the Donalds CR after Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), one of the bill sponsors in a tweet, arguing that it will continue to fund the office of Jack Smith, the special counsel overseeing investigations into former President Trump.
Donalds shot back, telling his Florida colleague, Youll need more than tweets and hot takes!!
In a separate post responding to Donalds, Gaetz said It is so painful watching someone I admire so much author a continuing resolution to fund the government agencies I loathe.
Donalds chalked up the back-and-forth as par for the course in politics.
Politics, its, you know, you get brutal sometimes, this is part of it, he told reporters later in the day. But you know, thats why I have Kevlar skin; I dont have thick skin, its Kevlar. So if you want to bring the attacks bring it on, Im ready.
The social media sparring did not stop at the pair of Florida Republicans.
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) kicked off the day with a fiery statement going after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) whom she dubbed a weak Speaker and staking her opposition to the GOP continuing resolution.
Asked for his reaction to Spartz, McCarthy took a shot at her for retiring at the end of this term.
Anybody who criticize you has never worked harder than you. And I mean, if Victoria is concerned about fighting stronger, I wish she wouldve run again and not quit, he told reporters. I mean, Im not quitting, Im gonna continue to work for the American public.
Gaetz then jumped in to defend his GOP colleague from McCarthy, whom the Florida Republican has sharply criticized in recent days. Last week, Gaetz heightened his threat to oust McCarthy from his post.
This quote from @SpeakerMcCarthy is disgraceful. Rep. Spartz is retiring after honorable service because her family needs her and she values the most important institution in American life. Kevin attacking a woman for putting her family above ambition & power is truly a new low. Kevin would never understand subjugating ambition for anything, or anyone, Gaetz wrote in a tweet.
When she announced her retirement in February, Spartz said, I need to spend more time with my two high school girls back home.
The intraparty frustrations have resulted in increased threats to McCarthys leadership already tenuous given the drawn-out, 15-ballot election that finally resulted in his victory in January.
When you have somebody of importance in the conference saying, If you want to do a motion to vacate, go fing try, that sort of tells you what you need to know, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) said last week when asked about the environment in his conference.
He was referring to McCarthy, who last week dropped an f-bomb as he dared his critics namely Gaetz in a closed-door conference meeting to make a move that forces a vote on whether to oust him from the position.
McCarthy for months has poked the press for doubting Republicans ability to pass party-line measures amid internal divisions in the slim majority, continually projecting confidence and taking I-told-you-so victory laps at the end of each week.
But the Speaker is striking a different tone now, particularly after conservative opposition forced leaders to punt plans to bring a Department of Defense funding bill to the floor last week. McCarthy told reporters Monday that he did not know whether the continuing resolution would pass as expected Thursday.
Im trying to convey to my members, if we want to be able to win these objectives, we should show the American public our ideas and be able to pass them, McCarthy said. Is it a struggle? Yes. But you know what, sometimes struggles are worth it.
But privately, Republicans acknowledge that the path forward looks bleak, and Republicans are losing leverage.
Nobody has a path forward now, said one GOP member. So what does that really mean? Is somebody else going to come in and try to save the day? Or what does the Speaker have?
If this goes down this week, you can bet McCarthy is going to be talking to you all immediately after saying, I told them it wouldnt work, the member said of the continuing resolution plan.
The hard-line conservatives who crafted the bill, for their part, are arguing that their colleagues have misunderstood some of the legislation and are poking back at them as they urge their conservative colleagues to join in support.
Ive got a lot of conservative friends who like to beat their chests and thump around going, oh, this isnt pure enough,' said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of the members who helped craft the continuing resolution, said on the Guy Benson Show on Monday.
The bill would ratchet back the federal bureaucracy thats been at odds with the American people and force their hand on the border, which is a strong national message, Roy added. I think thats a win.
Asked about the Freedom Caucus opposition, McCarthy said members need more time to review the bill and understand what is in it. But he added that he is never surprised by the group of hard-line conservatives, recognizing that the coalition of rabble-rousers has mucked up the legislative process every week.
So lets just work through it, lets not get overexcited about it, McCarthy told reporters. Lets just solve the problem.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
House Judiciary is demanding that the FBI turn over internal records about ex-agent Charles McGonigal.
The FBI ignored a letter from the committee sent in February, a committee spokesperson told Insider.
McGonigal now awaits sentencing for his New York case, where he pled guilty. His DC case is pending.
The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee is threatening to subpoena the FBI for a trove of records relating to Charles McGonigal, the former head of New York counter-intelligence who wound up being indicted for alleged money laundering and doing illicit work after his retirement for a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
The FBI and Justice Department "may be attempting to hide the true extent of McGonigal's misconduct to avoid further reputation harm to the Bureau," committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) alleged in a Tuesday letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. Jordan first demanded that the FBI turn over McGonigal-related documents in February, a few days after he was indicted in New York and Washington. The bureau never responded beyond acknowledging receipt of the letter, a spokesperson for the committee told Insider.
When McGonigal's alleged misconduct first came to light, his high rank inside the bureau and alleged Russia ties prompted intense speculation on the Hill by both parties. As special agent in charge of counter-intelligence at the FBI's New York City field office, McGonigal was charged with leading efforts to track and flip foreign agents in one of the world's spy capitals. A letter from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) drew a dotted line between McGonigal and leaks about the Hillary Clinton email investigation during the run-up to the 2016 election. Republicans, meanwhile, fixated on the fact that McGonigal had handled the incoming tip that led to the opening of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Kremlin-backed election-interference.
Insider was the first to break the news of a then-secret grand jury investigation into the counter-intelligence chief. In August, McGonigal reached a plea bargain with prosecutors in his New York case. So far, Jordan is the only legislator who has followed up in public. His committee has been hammering the FBI by hosting public hearings with special agents who say they are blowing the whistle about the bureau's alleged anti-Trump bias. Some of those agents have accepted financial support from conservative groups; one was reportedly suspended for leaking information to Project Veritas, the right-wing activist group.
Johnathan Buma, another FBI special agent who has come forward as a whistleblower, has disputed that the bureau has an anti-Trump bias. In a video interview, Buma told Insider that Jordan's committee is cherry-picking its witnesses, a charge that a spokesperson for Jordan has denied.
The FBI's national press office and an attorney for McGonigal both declined to comment.
You can read the full letter from Jordan to Wray below:
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The House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Sept. 28, a spokesperson for the panel told NBC News.
The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the Presidents involvement in corruption and abuse of public office, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that the committee intends to subpoena the presidents son Hunter Biden and James Biden, the presidents brother, for their personal and business bank records as early as this week.
The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government, the spokesperson said.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Oversight Committee Chair Jim Comer, R-Ky., said he will issue subpoenas for Hunter and James Bidens bank records once the paperwork is finalized.
Once all the is are dotted, ts are crossed, I expect to issue a subpoena to Hunter and James Bidens personal bank records, Comer said as he left the House GOP conference meeting Tuesday morning.
Theres a lot of apparently paperwork filed so all three committees and the speakers council office have to agree to the terms and everything of the impeachment inquiry, he added. And once all thats ironed out then Ill have the ability to proceed with impeachment inquiry with respect to subpoena.
Comer also said the hearing would include an overview of what an impeachment inquiry is and would feature appearances from experts on financial crimes, tax evasion, racketeering and the Foreign Agent Registration Act, among other topics.
The White House on Tuesday responded to news of the hearing by accusing Republicans of staging a political stunt to distract from a potential government shutdown on Sept. 30.
Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country, White House spokesperson Ian Sams said in a statement. Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families.
Comer and Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, briefed a group of Senate Republicans last week about the impeachment inquiry into the president.
Comer and Jordan, who are leading the inquiry along with House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., briefed the group last week during a weekly lunch with the Senate Steering Committee a group that includes the upper chambers most conservative members, such as Sens. Rick Scott of Florida and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Committee chair Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, invited Comer and Jordan to the lunch.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last week announced that he was directing three House committees to begin the impeachment inquiry to seek bank records and other documents from the president and Hunter Biden.
McCarthy said that an impeachment inquiry is a logical next step of the GOP-led investigations that have been happening for months.
McCarthy said House Republicans uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Bidens conduct related to abuse of power, obstruction and corruption that warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives.
The GOP-led probes into Biden and his family, however, have not produced evidence that the president was involved in his son's business dealings or the government's investigation into Hunter Biden.
McCarthys move marked a major reversal after he previously said he would not open an impeachment inquiry without a vote of the full House.
Sams, the White House spokesperson, said Republicans are clearly hoping they can use their baseless, evidence-free impeachment stunt to try to divert attention away from the consequences of their extreme agenda, while criticizing their current proposals to temporarily fund the government.
The President has been very clear: he is going to remain focused on the issues that matter to the American people, including preventing the devastating and harmful cuts proposed by House Republicans that are hurtling us toward a government shutdown, he said. House Republicans should drop these silly political Washington games and actually do their job to prevent a government shutdown.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
House Republicans are taking their next official steps in their impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden by preparing a hearing and subpoenas to members of the Biden family, as well as scheduling the first hearing in the investigation for September 28.
A committee spokesperson told CNN that the hearing will focus on the constitutional and legal questions Republicans are raising about Biden.
While the witnesses are still being finalized, House Oversight Chairman James Comer told CNN he plans to have a financial expert speak to the bank records he has uncovered pertaining to the Biden familys business dealings and a constitutional expert to discuss why an impeachment inquiry is warranted.
Its an informative hearing where were going to have some experts in different areas of the law that can answer questions pertaining to specific crimes, as well as to educate and inform exactly what an impeachment inquiry is, and why you do an impeachment inquiry, Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, told CNN.
The Oversight panel is also poised to issue its first subpoenas to the presidents son and brother, Hunter and James Biden, as early as this week, according to the spokesperson. The subpoenas are the first direct outreach to members of the Biden family and are expected to be for their personal and business records.
Republicans have made Hunter Biden s business dealings a central component of their impeachment inquiry, but there is no public evidence to date that the president personally received any money.
The White House slammed the committee for its plans to hold the hearing next week, accusing the GOP are prioritizing a political stunt over attempts to avert a government shutdown.
Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country, White House spokesman Ian Sams said in a statement. Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally authorized the impeachment inquiry last week and tasked House Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees to lead the effort. The framework for the inquiry is still being worked out among the key players, a source familiar tells CNN.
We are still finalizing with the Ways and Means Committee, Judiciary Committee and the Speakers Office all of the details of the impeachment inquiry. Once all of the Is are dotted and Ts are crossed, I expect to issue a subpoena for Hunter and James Bidens personal bank records, Comer said.
Comer has previously issued subpoenas to six banks for information regarding specific Biden family business associates to investigate the money trail behind the Biden familys foreign business dealings.
As House Republicans take definitive steps in their inquiry, key questions remain. There are a number of GOP members who do not support the inquiry, citing the lack of direct evidence against the president. Members disagree over how long the inquiry should last some want to move quickly but others say they need time to get the reluctant lawmakers on board. And ultimately, the question of whether the inquiry will lead to bringing formal articles of impeachment against Biden still hangs in the balance.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
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WASHINGTON A close personal associate of Joe and Hunter Biden met with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee earlier this year to answer questions about the Biden familys finances.
Republicans now say the meeting didnt count.
Eric Schwerin, a former Hunter Biden business partner who also did bookkeeping work for Joe Biden, told committee staff in March that the president had no involvement in his sons business deals, contrary to Republican claims that have led to an impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives.
Democrats have repeatedly cited the interview this year, but a spokesperson for committee Republicans told Fox News last week that the committee never interviewed Schwerin, apparently because the session was not transcribed like other witness interviews.
There was a meeting but it was about document production, the spokesperson said. There has never been a transcribed interview or deposition.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the oversight committees top Democrat, rejected the idea that there had been no interview in a letter to committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) on Tuesday.
I am writing to express my profound concern about baffling and increasingly embarrassing efforts on the part of you and your staff to completely misrepresent and deny basic and easily verifiable facts about the eight-month long investigation that has already taken place, Raskin wrote.
Raskin suggested that, even without a transcript, the meeting with Schwerin otherwise followed the same protocols as other interviews conducted in Capitol Hill offices.
Mr. Schwerin spent hours answering substantive questions from Republican and Democratic staff about his relationship with Hunter Biden, as well as the history, structure, and operations of Hunter Bidens various business entities, Raskin wrote.
A spokesperson for the Oversight Committee said Raskins letter was barely worth a response and that the committee still intended to conduct a transcribed interview with Schwerin.
The Oversight Committee has never held a transcribed interview or deposition with Eric Schwerin, the spokesperson said. The Ranking Member is well aware of the difference between a formal Committee interview and an informal meeting.
Hunter Biden received millions of dollars in fees from foreign nationals, including during the final years his father served as vice president, which ethics efforts and government officials alike have said created the appearance of a conflict of interest. Republicans have sought evidence of Joe Bidens involvement in his sons business deals and have previously asked Schwerin, a longtime friend of the Biden family, about cash flows between father and son that Schwerin apparently controlled.
So far, Republicans have not turned up evidence to implicate the president in wrongdoing.
House committees have conducted transcribed interviews with several witnesses this year as part of their investigation of the Biden family. The Ways and Means Committee heard from a pair of IRS agents who claimed the Justice Department had slow-walked their investigation of Hunter Bidens failure to pay taxes, while the oversight committee talked to Bidens former business partner Devon Archer. The transcripts from those interviews have become key pieces of evidence both for and against the alleged corruption of the president.
Raskin has previously highlighted instances of Republicans offering imprecise or misleading descriptions of their investigatory work, such as Comers claims about Archers testimony regarding Hunter Bidens work for a Ukrainian gas company.
Raskin said Schwerin provided exonerating statements during his interview that Republicans have found inconvenient.
During the interview, Mr. Schwerin explained that, between 2009 and 2017, he performed a number of administrative and bookkeeping tasks for then-Vice President and Hunter Biden, Raskin continued. He further stated that he had the ability to view President Bidens bank account transactions and that he was not aware of any involvement by President Biden in the financial conduct of his family members businesses.
Schwerins attorney confirmed Democrats characterization of the meeting to Fox News but declined to comment further.
GOP leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly announced Tuesday night they had reached a deal on the long-delayed state budget.
The compromise budget will not include casino legislation, the subject of a monthslong controversy between the chambers that appeared to derail negotiations last week and continued to be a sticking point up until Tuesday afternoon.
The nearly $30 billion spending plan, which lawmakers had intended to approve by the beginning of the new fiscal year on July 1, will now move forward with two-day votes in both chambers of the legislature on Thursday and Friday, after House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger said an agreement had been reached.
Berger, the chief proponent of the major expansion of state-sanctioned gambling, said Medicaid expansion will continue to be tied to passage of the budget, as lawmakers had originally laid out in March, when Gov. Roy Cooper signed an expansion bill into law.
The gambling bill, which would have authorized four new casinos and tens of thousands of video lottery terminals across the state, wont advance at all right now, Berger said, adding that lawmakers could consider taking it up again during next years short session.
This is the best, most prudent way for us to move forward, Berger said during Tuesdays impromptu press conference.
A draft of the budget, obtained by The News & Observer on Monday night, includes 7% raises for most teachers and state employees over two years, a reduction in the personal income tax rate to 3.99% by 2025, a major expansion of private school vouchers, and $500 million in funding for NCInnovation, a nonprofit that seeks to assist UNC System researchers create new businesses.
Moore confirmed, earlier on Tuesday, that many of those key provisions included in the draft obtained by The N&O would also be in the final budget, which Berger said would likely be released sometime Wednesday afternoon.
Casinos were a major sticking point
Tuesdays announcement marks a major development in the prolonged budget saga that carried on throughout the summer.
Berger, Moore and other GOP lawmakers first began talking about potentially expanding casinos beyond tribal lands in June, and cited a Caesars resort casino currently under construction just across the state line in Danville, Virginia, as a strong incentive for North Carolina to consider opening more casinos of its own to keep casino-goers, and the revenue and tax dollars they would generate, in the state.
GOP leaders from both chambers discussed and worked throughout the summer on a proposal to bring more casinos to North Carolina and to legalize and regulate 50,000 video lottery terminals, also referred to as video gambling machines, under the state lottery commission.
Berger repeatedly said he believed lawmakers were more likely to include the gaming proposal in the budget as opposed to introducing and running it as a separate bill that could be debated in multiple committees.
But opposition to the casino expansion grew, not only among Democrats, but also within the GOPs own ranks. Local residents in counties that had been mentioned as possible sites for future casinos spoke out against the proposal and urged their representatives in Raleigh to reject the bills inclusion in the budget.
The House and Senate appeared to reach an impasse last week when Berger reiterated that the gaming bill would have to go into the budget and Moore said that 30 members of the House GOP Caucus had informed him they would not support a budget that included casinos.
Berger agrees to set casinos aside
Addressing the decision to leave casinos out of the budget and not pursue the gaming expansion at this time, Berger said he believed opponents of the proposal had ignored how much rural counties could stand to benefit from the revenue and jobs that major casinos and other commercial developments would create.
It was just pretty clear that the facts were almost beside the point, as to what those proposals will do for rural areas, Berger said. And the emotion that was actually permeating every bit of discussion about that had sort of overtaken Ive learned that in an environment like that, youre unlikely to make any progress.
Berger also questioned why some supporters of other forms of gambling, including sports wagering and VLTs, had registered such robust opposition to casinos.
Theres a whole lot of talk about, We need to help rural North Carolina, Berger said. But when we have a proposal that actually would create over 5,000 jobs, good-paying jobs in rural North Carolina, increase tax base in rural North Carolina, these same folks come out adamantly opposed to it.
Asked if he believed advancing the gaming proposal as its own bill and letting it go through committees and the normal legislative process could have avoided any misunderstandings about the bill or increased support for it, Berger pointed to the sports betting bill as an example of a similar issue needing multiple sessions to advance.
I do think that the important thing was, and is, to have public discussion, and for people to have an opportunity to know that its something thats being considered, Berger said.
To the extent that that was not done, I think that could have prevented the bill from being successful, he said, adding, Im not sure the legislative process itself would have improved the outcome.
No charges will be filed against the parents of the 4-year-old who found his mothers gun inside of her purse in the closet, Gary Police released Monday.
Gary Police were sent at around 5:26 p.m. Sept. 12 to Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus at for the incident, which occurred in an apartment in the 1900 block of Burr Street, Gary Police Spokesman Cmdr. Sam Roberts said in an email Wednesday. The boys father, 25, said the boy found the unsecured gun inside a purse while he was watching TV in a bedroom and the childs mother was taking a shower, Roberts said.
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Once he heard the gun fire, the boys mother rushed him to the hospital, Roberts said. Theres still no word on his condition.
Meanwhile, two people were shot, one person was killed and another arrested in gun incidents in the city over the weekend.
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On Sept. 15, Gary Police were sent at around 1:55 a.m. to 15th Avenue and Clay Street in the citys Miller section for a report of a white van in a ditch, Roberts said in a release Monday. They arrived to find a man slumped over in the passengers seat who suffered a fatal gunshot wound, he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Lake County Prosecutors Homicide Team at (219) 755-3855.
On Friday evening, a 22-year-old woman who was rushed by a friend to Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus told police around 8:21 p.m. that she was shot on 15th Avenue after hearing gunfire, Roberts said in a release Monday. She ran to her friends house and they drove her to the hospital, but she declined to give officers any further information, Roberts said.
If anyone has information about this incident, please call Sgt. Mark Salazar at (219) 881-1209.
Gary Police then arrested a 23-year-old Gary man for shooting a 27-year-old Gary man on Sept. 17 in the 3900 block of Louisiana, Roberts said. The victim told the police he had gone to the Glen Park home to buy marijuana when he was shot, Roberts said.
Gary officers went to the home and arrested the suspect, confiscating suspected marijuana and cash without incident, Roberts said.
Anyone with information about this shooting is asked to call Cpl. Greg Faison at (219) 881-1229.
Hospital Sisters Health System said Monday afternoon it had restored hospital and clinic websites in addition to other functions.
The announcement was made on a website dedicated to outage updates.
HSHS was the victim of "a cybersecurity incident," according to president and chief executive officer Damond Boatwright, in a video put out on Sept. 1.
Kurtis Minder has been inside ransomware deals. Here's what he thinks HSHS is up against
HSHS acknowledged the outage in a social media post on Aug. 27.
Monday's post also indicated it had restored phone systems, MyChart and guest Wi-Fi.
MyChart applications help patients schedule, manage, and check in for appointments; message care teams; pay bills; get test results and after-visit instructions and request prescription refills.
"Our team remains focused on restoring the rest of our systems, which will take time and may contribute to delays," according to the hospital's update. "While our websites are now functional, we will continue to post updates on our temporary site, hshsupdates.org, as information becomes available."
Kelly Barbeau, Illinois Division director of marketing/communications for HSHS, did not respond to an email seeking clarification regarding what systems are still out.
HSHS representatives said "federal law enforcement" was investigating the attack. Rebecca Cramblit, a public affairs officer for FBI Springfield, would not confirm or deny an investigation.
HSHS has not said who was responsible for the attack or if patient records have been compromised.
The Catholic nonprofit health system operates 15 hospitals around Illinois and Wisconsin, including HSHS St. John's Hospital in Springfield and HSHS St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, along with a number of other clinics.
The attack also hit Prevea Health, which partners with six HSHS hospitals in Wisconsin.
Contact Steven Spearie: (217) 622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: More HSHS functions restored after late August cyber attack
The Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh is hosting its annual Spay-A-Thon for community cats in October.
The event will be held on Oct. 16 and 17.
Community cats are un-owned cats that live outdoors in the community.
The event will offer spay and neuter surgeries, rabies vaccines, FVRCP vaccines, flea prevention and ear tips at no cost to their caretakers.
Cats must be in individual traps and covered in a sheet or towel. A minimum of two cats per caregiver will be eligible.
There is a maximum of 15 slots per person, per drop-off time.
For more information, click here.
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Protests have erupted in the eastern Libyan city of Derna with locals demanding the removal of those in power, a week after torrential rain caused two dams to collapse, sweeping whole neighborhoods into the Mediterranean Sea and killing thousands.
Demonstrators vented their anger at officials, including the speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, Aguila Saleh , outside the Sahaba Mosque. Videos circulating on social media showed protesters climbing onto the golden dome of the Sahaba Mosque, a Derna landmark, chanting anti-government slogans and singing: Oh my homeland We will stay here until the pain goes away.
A week on from the catastrophic flooding, and as the immediate search for survivors begins to wind down, the citizens of Derna are confronting fresh horrors, from outbreaks of waterborne diseases to landmines displaced by the rains. A senior Libyan National Army official told CNN that certain areas are being cleared for security and health reasons.
Mondays protests marked the first large demonstrations since the flood, as citizens attempt to hold leaders across the divided country accountable for the bursting of the dams that some feel could have been avoided.
Protesters called for the removal of Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament. - Hussam Ahmed/AFP/Getty Images
A protester comforted their friend who lost his family members in the floods. - Zohra Bensemra/Reuters
The full scale of the disaster is not yet clear, with thousands of people still missing. While officials have given hugely different death tolls, the United Nations has confirmed at least 3,985 deaths.
Later in the evening, protesters set fire to the house of the man who was Dernas mayor at the time of the flood, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, his office manager told Reuters.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a minister in the eastern Libyan government, said Gaithi had been suspended from his post. Reuters could not immediately reach Ghaiti for comment.
The outpourings of anger may swell beyond Derna. Some protesters outside the Sahaba Mosque called on the people of Benghazi, Libyas second largest city, to come out and join in protest.
Much of the anger was directed towards Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, after he attempted to deflect blame for the disaster from authorities who oversaw the citys infrastructure.
The disaster that struck the country is a natural one It is in Gods hand, Saleh told a parliamentary session on Thursday, urging Libyans not to exchange accusations over who is responsible for it.
Saleh also called for a comprehensive investigation to hold those who were negligent accountable.
However, some Libyans have demanded that the investigation into what caused the two dams to collapse be carried out by international organizations, due to a lack of trust in local authorities which have been accused of failing to prevent the breach.
In a paper published last year, Abdelwanees Ashoor, a hydraulic engineer at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Libya, warned that the Derna area has a high potential for flood risk, and that the dams needed periodic maintenance to prevent disaster.
We just ask that if there will be any rebuilding efforts that no Libyan company be ever involved, Mohammed Ben Hamad, who was present at the protest Monday, told Reuters.
This is because everyone in Derna from the head of the municipality to all of the officials are corrupt. Derna should either be left as it is, or a foreign company should be involved. The souls of the martyrs will not be in vain, he said.
Libyas vulnerability to extreme weather is increased by its long-running political conflict, which has seen a decade-long power struggle between two rival administrations.
The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, sits in Tripoli in northwest Libya, while its eastern rival is controlled by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), who support the eastern-based parliament led by Osama Hamad.
Derna, which lies some 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Benghazi, falls under the control of Haftar and his eastern administration.
Evacuation uncertainty
A CNN team on the ground has witnessed growing confusion among local residents, after rumors circulated that officials were set to order the evacuation of Derna.
Khalifa Alobeidi, head of the media office of the LNA General Command, told CNN that certain areas were being cleared amid as survivors face health and security threats.
The decision means there will be restricted access to the worst-affected parts of the city. Alobeidi said rescue crews will be able to continue their work.
CNN saw uniformed military officers telling two men on a street wrecked by the flood to leave the area. The few remaining residents of similarly damaged streets told CNN they havent been informed of any evacuation orders. Several residents told CNN they want to stay in their homes, despite the destruction of the ground floors.
The city was much quieter on Tuesday than on previous days since the flooding, with fewer cars and pedestrians on the streets.
Phone networks have been disrupted due to fuel, generator and infrastructure issues, the LNA official said. Mobile networks have been down since 1 a.m. local time, a few hours after protesters in the city called for officials to take responsibility for the damage.
The LNA official said authorities have decided to limit the number of journalists in Derna. Some have been allowed to stay, including CNN, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
FILE - President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden leaves after a court appearance, July 26, 2023, in Wilmington, Del. House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his familys business dealings. The Sept. 28 hearing is expected to focus on constitutional and legal questions that surround allegations of Bidens involvement in his son Hunter's overseas businesses. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) Hunter Biden has gone on the offensive against his Republican critics, arguing in a new lawsuit that although he is the son of the president of the United States, he shouldn't be treated differently than any other American.
The lawsuit against the IRS is only the latest in a series of counterpunches by the president's son. But while Hunter Biden's lawyers might think that an aggressive approach is the best legal strategy for Biden the son, that might not be whats best for Biden the father as he seeks reelection and tries to keep the public focused on his policy achievements.
The president has had little to say about his son's legal woes which now include a felony indictment beyond that Hunter did nothing wrong and he loves his son. The White House strategy has been to keep the elder Biden head-down and focused on governing, reasoning that thats what voters will prioritize, while working to keep Hunter's troubles at arm's distance.
There's one hopeful school of thought among the president's allies that even if all the headlines about Hunter Biden aren't a plus for the president's reelection campaign, the legal process could ultimately clear the air in a positive way.
Obviously, the White House and Hunters teams are looking at it from different perspectives, said Democratic political strategist David Brock. Its important for the facts to reach the public, and when that happens, I think ultimately thats beneficial to the president.
But privately, some Democrats are concerned that Hunter Bidens legal problems could harm Biden heading into 2024 and pose difficulties for Democrats in tight House races, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The lawsuit that Hunter Biden filed Monday against the IRS maintains that two agents who testified as whistleblowers violated his privacy by publicly disclosing his tax data as part of a probe by House Republicans into his business dealings.
Hunter Bidens team last week sued a former Donald Trump aide over his alleged role in publishing emails and embarrassing images of the younger Biden. And his team also has asked state and federal agencies to open a criminal probe into Trump allies for accessing and spreading his personal data.
Hunter Biden agreed in June to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and avert prosecution on a gun charge by enrolling in a diversion program. But the agreement unraveled following a July 26 court hearing that was meant to end the case, and the younger Biden was then indicted for a felony weapons charge.
His legal woes have increasingly complicated matters for the president, who also faces an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans seeking to link the president to the business dealings of his son. While Hunter Biden did broker on his family name in business dealings, Republicans have so far unearthed no significant evidence of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, who spoke often to his son as vice president and did stop by a business dinner with his sons associates.
Biden hasn't had much to say about the impeachment drive. And he also has kept his distance from the Justice Department prosecutions of both his son and Donald Trump.
Now, Hunter Biden could be heading to trial in the midst of his fathers reelection effort. That suits Republicans, who are eager to distract from the multiple criminal indictments of Trump, the early GOP primary front-runner, whose trials could be unfolding at the same time.
Hunter Biden's allies have argued the plea deal fell through in part because Justice Department officials bowed to pressure from Republicans who claimed he was getting a sweetheart deal" to end a five-year investigation into his tax and business dealings.
This is just the beginning and far from the end of Hunter and his team going on offense and fighting back, said Michael LaRosa, a former special assistant to the president.
Their previous strategy of "being unresponsive has only led to Republicans filling a void with disinformation, smears, lies, and conspiracy theories that have severely damaged the presidents image and reputation, as you can see in poll after poll. Somebody has to be out there correcting the record and fighting back, LaRosa said.
Polling reflects the impact on the president of the drumbeat of negative headlines.
Roughly 1 in 3 Americans are highly concerned about whether Joe Biden may have committed wrongdoing related to his sons business dealings, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of Americans say they have little or no confidence that the Justice Department is handling its investigation into Hunter Biden in a fair and nonpartisan way.
The political divide on these points is stark: 66% of Republicans and just 7% of Democrats are very or extremely concerned about whether Joe Biden committed wrongdoing when it comes to his sons business dealings.
The headlines are likely to continue given the impeachment inquiry that's just ramping up and the special counsel's decision to file federal gun charges against Hunter Biden.
He is accused of lying on the forms he completed to buy a gun when he stated that he wasnt a drug user at the time of the purchase. Hunter Biden, according to his memoir, tumbled into drug addiction after the death of his older brother, Beau, in 2015.
His attorneys said Tuesday that he will plead not guilty to the firearms charges.
Earlier this year Hunter Biden hired high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell, a legal heavyweight known for also representing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Shortly after, the criminal referral was requested. In March, Hunter Biden sued a Delaware-based computer repairman who was said to have a laptop that belonged to the presidents son and who disseminated data from it. Five days ago, he sued the Trump aide over the publishing of the data. And on Monday, he sued the IRS.
Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free rein to violate his rights simply because of who he is," the lawsuit against the IRS states.
Prosecutions for lying on a federal gun application are uncommon, particularly when there's no allegation that the gun was bought to carry out a crime, experts said. There are also questions about the constitutionality of the federal ban on gun possession by people who use drugs in light of a Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights.
Hunter Bidens lawyers have signaled they will try to argue that an agreement sparing him prosecution on a felony gun charge should remain in place even though the plea deal on misdemeanor tax offenses largely unraveled.
If the case goes to trial, it could be a tough sell to a jury.
Addiction is something that touches a lot of Americans and the notion that this person who was in trouble with drug use and for 11 days owned a firearm that was never used for anything whatsoever, that's not going to sit well at a federal felony criminal trial with a lot of jurors, said Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor.
And it is not even touching on the issue of whether people think that he is being prosecuted because hes Hunter Biden," she said.
___
Durkin reported from Boston. Associated Press writer Michael Balsamo contributed to this report.
When news broke last week that Hunter Biden had been indicted by federal prosecutors for lying about his drug use while possessing a gun, Gun Owners of America, a hard-line gun rights lobby, responded with glee.
Good! the organization tweeted, with the clapping emoji. If his father wants to work with us to repeal unconstitutional gun control, our lobbyists will be at the White House in an hour. Until then, Hunter shouldnt get any sweetheart deal!
It was the most exuberant reaction of any gun rights organization to the Hunter newsa sign that most conservative opponents of gun regulations were struggling to square a political victory for those who dislike President Biden with the consequences of a law they oppose. But these groups appeared to find common ground in a single message: If there have to be bad laws, at least Hunter can be taken down by them too.
Its not exactly a rallying cry, so many groups opted to stay silent on the topic. The National Rifle Association, in statements to the press, simply said, Laws should be applied equally against all criminals. An official for Gun Owners of America, in a more measured statement published just under half an hour after the groups initial reaction tweet, took a similar tack. GOA opposes all gun control, but so long as this President continues to use every tool at his disposal to harass and criminalize guns, gun owners, and gun dealers, his son should be receiving the same treatment and scrutiny as all of us, the spokesman said in the statement.
The three charges Bidens son is facing stem from a two-week period in 2018 when he obtained and then owned a handgun while he was using drugs. Two of the charges relate to his lie about his drug use in the application for the gun; the third, and more serious, charge relates to his possession of the gun while under the influence.
But according to the New York Times, actual prosecutions of individuals who have lied on their applications for guns are extremely rare. Prosecutions on the third charge are less rare but are typically bundled with other criminal charges and are not pursued on their own. Hunter Biden never used the weapon, had no criminal record, and committed no violent act. A substantial percentage of those accused of lying on a federal firearms application negotiate deals that include probation and enrollment in programs that include counseling, monitoring, and regular drug testing, the Times report stated. It is unlikely that Hunter would have been subject to this level of scrutiny were it not for his public profile.
In the world of conservative punditry, the charges appeared to be something of a coupa deserved smackdown. But because the right perceives that preferential treatment for the younger Biden is around every corner, some are already speculating about how the president will let Hunter off the hook. When will Joe pardon Hunter? the editor of one gun publication wondered aloud.
Very few conservative gun groups defended Hunter, or adhered to their previously stated position that the law he was indicted under shouldnt exist. The Firearms Policy Coalition re-shared a tweet from August, offering, If Hunter is looking for gun lawyers to challenge the federal law hes charged with violating we know some people.
Indeed, Hunters own lawyers are pushing the court to adhere to an earlier plea agreement that fell through, citing a challenge to the federal firearms background check system that is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. If that lawsuit succeeds, it could undermine the legal foundation of Hunters prosecution, the New York Times reported. Thats not what gun groups are pushing for, though.
The Second Amendment Foundation, which opposes restrictions on gun ownership, responded to Hunters indictment by quoting an article from a conservative publication: The law spells it out pretty clearly that a person like Hunter Biden shouldnt be owning a gun. And if youre not going to enforce it against Hunter Biden, I dont know how youre going to enforce it against anybody.
These tepid responses show just how much partisan politics plays into stated policy goals. The ambivalence from gun rights groups may not be surprising, given the political awkwardness of the situation, but it is notable given the opportunity to promote a new ally for the cause. On Friday, Hunter Bidens attorney made the argument that would, under other circumstances, have been articulated by the gun rights groups themselves: The statute his client was charged under, the attorney said, was likely unconstitutional.
Hunter Biden is the first child of a sitting US president to be prosecuted - REUTERS
Joe Biden s son Hunter will plead not guilty to federal gun charges, his lawyers said in court.
The US presidents son, 53, was charged with three counts relating to owning a gun for 11 days in 2018 while using drugs.
He is the first child of a sitting president to have been criminally charged.
Prosecutors from his fathers Justice Department indicted him last week, accusing him of lying on a federal firearms form and possessing a firearm as a prohibited person.
If convicted on all three charges, he could face 25 years in prison. But in practice the offences are rarely punished by jail time.
The younger Mr Bidens lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said his client intended to plead not guilty to the charges in a court filing on Tuesday.
He also requested that the initial court appearance be held remotely.
Mr Lowell said the request for a remote hearing was not the case of the presidents son seeking any special treatment.
Rather, he said, it would minimise an unnecessary burden on government resources.
It would also avoid the disruption to the courthouse and the surrounding area involved with the Secret Service detail accompanying Mr Biden.
Prosecutors have opposed Mr Bidens request and must formally respond to it by Wednesday.
Republicans in the House, led by Kevin McCarthy, have launched an impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden - AP
Prosecutors previously said that, between Oct 12, 2018 and Oct 23, 2018, Mr Biden possessed a firearm despite knowing he was an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance.
When buying the gun Mr Biden had declared he was not abusing any illegal drugs. But in his 2021 memoir he admitted to using drugs including crack cocaine.
Mr Biden and prosecutors had previously negotiated a plea deal that would have covered two minor tax crimes and the gun case and seen him avoid jail.
But it collapsed during a dramatic court hearing in which federal prosecutors ruled out granting him immunity from further charges.
He could still face prosecution over his alleged tax crimes.
Republicans in Congress derided it as a sweetheart deal.
They have launched their own investigations into Mr Biden and his father which has culminated in an impeachment inquiry.
They are examining any potential ties between the elder Mr Biden, 80, and his sons foreign business ventures, while he served as Barack Obamas vice-president.
The Republican-led House of Representatives plans to hold its first hearing in the proceedings next week.
Congressman James Comer, who is leading the probe, said it intends to subpoena personal and business bank records belonging to Hunter and the presidents brother, James Biden.
The first hearing will be held on Sep 28.
White House spokesman Ian Sams accused Republicans of trying to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern by staging a political stunt.
Mr Sams said they had not requested any information from the White House.
Until they do that, were just going to wait and see what they do, he said.
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Hunter Biden said he plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges, according to a Tuesday court filing related to the indictment against President Joe Biden s son.
In a letter to Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke, attorney Abbe Lowell wrote that the younger Biden is requesting that his initial court appearance be held over video instead of in person, but that regardless, he plans to plead not guilty to the three felony gun charges he was indicted on last week.
There is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference, the attorney wrote. In short, Mr. Biden is satisfied that his constitutional rights will be met by conducting his initial appearance by video conference.
Mr. Biden is not seeking any special treatment in making this request. He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required.
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The Sept. 14 charges against Hunter Biden stem from an investigation by special counsel David Weiss, who was appointed last month by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to probe potential wrongdoing by the presidents 53-year-old son.
All three gun charges surround a Colt Cobra revolver that Hunter Biden bought in 2018. Two of the charges accuse him of falsely claiming on a federal form that he was not using illegal narcotics at the time of the purchase. The third charge accuses him of possessing the firearm while using illegal narcotics.
The presidents son has previously said that he was smoking crack every 15 minutes around the time he purchased the revolver, attributing his addiction to the trauma of surviving the car crash that killed his mother and baby sister about 50 years ago. He has also said that he did not become sober until meeting his current wife in 2019.
The gun possession charge and two tax misdemeanors were initially part of a plea deal from July that quickly fell apart after the federal judge overseeing the case probed the details of the agreement. Under the deal, Hunter Biden would have pleaded guilty to the tax charges and entered an alcohol and drug diversion program instead of pleading guilty to the gun possession.
Since that [July] proceeding, Mr. Biden has scrupulously complied with his conditions since returning home to California and it is his expectation that those conditions will remain in place until the Court orders otherwise, Lowell wrote. Moreover, should there be any discussion of revising Mr. Bidens existing conditions of release, there is no reason why these discussions cannot take place with the Court and the government present by video conference.
While President Joe Biden has always voiced his love and support for his son and his path to sobriety, the White House has maintained that the president would not pardon him on any potential convictions.
Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation appears to be exasperated over a creative? Dangerous? Lets go with terrifyingly dangerous makeshift stand that someone had set up high in the branches of a tree in McIntosh County.
Seems like someone failed to consult their Hunting for Dummies book before heading out.
Unfortunately, miss Jackson we are for real. This "tree stand" was discovered on public land in McIntosh Co. by Warden Rowland. Not only is this EXTREMELY NOT SAFE, it is EXTREMELY NOT LEGAL.
IT WAS HELD IN BY FOUR SMALL SCREWS.
YCAN'TY'ALLFINDSOMETHINGSAFETODO? pic.twitter.com/zCtovwnZkz Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (@OKWildlifeDept) September 19, 2023
Unfortunately, Miss Jackson we are for real. This tree stand was discovered on public land in McIntosh Co. by Warden Rowland, the tweet from wildlife officials said. Not only is this EXTREMELY NOT SAFE, it is EXTREMELY NOT LEGAL. IT WAS HELD IN BY FOUR SMALL SCREWS. Y cant yall find something safe to do?
Yeah, that looks about as sturdy as a paper-mache house would be in a EF-5 tornado.
In order to promote hunting safety for adults, the department is holding an Adult Hunter Education Course that will cover all of the subjects covered in a traditional hunter education course.
Were pretty sure trusting tiny screws and a kitchen chair to hold you high in the air is not one of the things covered in the course.
Folks on X, formally known as Twitter, were highly amused by the tweet, which surprise! included a popular Outkast song lyric.
Youre saying I need five screws? one person jokingly asked.
Werent you the one telling folks to get outside more? another asked.
Orthopedic surgeon here. Pro-tip: gravity wins, someone chimed in. Gravity *always* wins. And things like this are why Ill always have a job.
Thats not a tree stand, its a tree sit, one noted.
McIntosh County is about 125 miles east of Oklahoma City.
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Hurricane Nigel has strengthened slightly overnight and is set to intensify further, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
Nigel, the sixth hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean this season, developed into a Category 1 storm yesterday and was forecast to rapidly intensify to become a Category 3 hurricane.
At the moment, Nigel has sustained winds of 80mph (130kph) but forecasters in the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Hurricane Center expect the storm to have sustained winds of at least 111mph as it grows.
Nigel was located approximately about 875miles (1,410km) east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving northwest at a speed of 12mph (19kph).
The hurricane is not expected to make landfall and no warnings or watches have been issued.
As of now, the National Hurricane Center predicts Nigel will veer off right into the open Atlantic Ocean by Wednesday morning.
Nigel developed shortly after Hurricane Lee landed in Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm.
Key Points
National Hurricane Center expects Hurricane Nigel to rapidly intensify
Hurricane Nigels expected path
Spaghetti models of Hurricane Nigel
Why are so many hurricanes rapidly intensifying ?
How do extreme weather fronts get named?
09:00 , Ariana Baio
The custom of naming weather fronts originated in the 1900s in tandem with the earliest days of radio enabling ship-to-shore telecommunication for the first time.
Originally only given female names in accordance with nautical tradition, the idea of personifying extreme weather events was to ensure they could be clearly distinguished from one another through a system that was easier to remember than serial numbering.
Meteorologists, coast guards and ships captains could relay information clearly without fear of misunderstanding.
Joe Sommerlad reports:
How do storms and hurricanes get their names?
Watch: Nigel to strengthen into Atlantic's next major hurricane
08:00 , Stuti Mishra
Hurricane Nigel strengthens slightly
07:00 , Stuti Mishra
Tropical Storm Nigel, a Category 1 storm has strengthened slightly in the last few hours, the National Hurricane Center said in its latest advisory.
The storm is still packing maximum sustained winds of 85mph but it was expected to strengthen further on Tuesday before it starts to weaken on Wednesday.
Hurricane Nigel has somewhat ragged-looking eye'
05:00 , Ariana Baio
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) described Hurricane Nigel as having a somewhat ragged-looking eye as of Monday afternoon.
Nigel is exhibiting a somewhat ragged-looking eye on satellite imagery, surrounded by bands of very deep convection with cloud tops to -80 deg C. High-level outflow has become a bit restricted over the northeastern quadrant of the circulation, but overall the system continues to become better organized.
Hurricane Nigel as of 1:50pm ET on 18 September 2023 (GEOCOLOR / National Hurricane Center)
Hurricane wind speed possibility
03:00 , Ariana Baio
The National Hurricane Centers hurricane wind speed possibility outlook as of 18 September (National Hurricane Center)
Where did Hurricane Lee end up?
01:00 , Ariana Baio
On Saturday, the storm was downgraded from a hurricane to a post-tropical cyclone.
Kelly Rissman reports:
Hurricane Lee makes landfall
Hurricane Nigel approximately 800 miles from Bermuda
Monday 18 September 2023 23:00 , Ariana Baio
Hurricane Nigel is currently picking up speeds in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
As of Monday afternoon, the storm is about 810 miles from Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center said.
With sustained winds of 80 mph, Nigel is a Category 1 hurricane though it is expected to rapidly intensify to a Category 3 by Tuesday.
No warnings or watches have been issued as of Monday afternoon.
Hurricane Nigel may weaken on Wednesday
Monday 18 September 2023 22:00 , Ariana Baio
The National Hurricane Center predicted Hurricane Nigel to potentially weaken after becoming a major hurricane on Wednesday.
Nigel is forecast to rapidly strengthen into a major hurricane on Tuesday, the NHC wrote in an advisory on Monday afternoon.
They added: A gradual weakening trend could start on Wednesday.
How are hurricanes classified?
Monday 18 September 2023 21:00 , Ariana Baio
When a tropical depression reaches sustained winds between 74 and 95 miles per hour it is officially classified as a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
After that, hurricanes can reach up to a Category 5 depending on its sustained winds, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Category 1 Winds of 74 to 95 mph. Very dangerous winds will produce some damage.
Category 2 Winds of 96 to 110 mph. Extremely dangerous winds will cause extensive damage.
Category 3 Winds of 111 to 129 mph. Devastating damage with occur.
Category 4 Winds of 130 to 156 mph. Catastrophic damage will occur.
Category 5 Winds of 157 mph or higher. Catastrophic damage will occur.
Why destructive hurricanes often start with the letter I
Monday 18 September 2023 20:00 , Ariana Baio
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issues alphabetical lists of names to label hurricanes each year - one for each of the worlds three oceanic regions.
Faiza Saqib reports:
Why destructive hurricanes like Idalia often start with the letter I
Watch: Timelapse of Nigel going from tropical depression to hurricane
Monday 18 September 2023 19:15 , Ariana Baio
Nigel evolved from a depression into a tropical storm over the weekend, and then recently into a hurricane last night.
This timelapse of Nigel from Saturday night through this morning shows that process taking place. pic.twitter.com/oNm4dHWAhq CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) September 18, 2023
National Hurricane Center says no warnings in effect
Monday 18 September 2023 18:40 , Ariana Baio
In their latest update on Hurricane Nigel, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said the location of the storm does not affect land.
As of 11am ET on Monday, there are no coastal watches or warnings in effect regarding Hurricane Nigel.
Though it is currently a Category 1 and expected to rapidly intensify, the storms expect path is to remain in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricanes are getting stronger. Heres why
Monday 18 September 2023 18:00 , Ariana Baio
As the global average temperature increases and sea levels rise, tropical cyclones - the catch-all term for hurricanes and typhoons - are expected to become stronger and the damage more catastrophic, scientists say.
Ethan Freedman and Louise Boyle report:
Hurricanes are getting stronger. Heres why
Current systems in Atlantic
Monday 18 September 2023 17:25 , Ariana Baio
Systems in the Atlantic Ocean as of 18 September show Hurricane Nigel as well as two areas of disturbances (National Hurricane Center / National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
What names are left on the Atlantic hurricane season?
Monday 18 September 2023 17:00 , Ariana Baio
So far, 14 names of the 21 allocated for the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season have been used.
Nigel is the latest to be used for the Category 1 storm brewing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There are seven other names to be used for storms until the end of hurricane season at the end of November.
After Nigel, the names that can be used are: Ophelia, Philippe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince and Whitney.
Atlantic hurricane season runs from 1 June until 30 November. Peak hurricane season is typically in mid-September when temperatures in the ocean are at their warmest.
Spaghetti models of Hurricane Nigel
Monday 18 September 2023 16:21 , Ariana Baio
The spaghetti models of Hurricane Nigel show the Category 1 storm making a right and veering off into the Atlantic Ocean as of Wednesday.
The predicted spaghetti model of Hurricane Nigel in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm will most likely veer off into the middle of the Atlantic on Wednesday (South Florida Water Management District)
Why are so many hurricanes rapidly intensifying
Monday 18 September 2023 15:58 , Ariana Baio
When a hurricane, goes from a Category 1 storm to a Category 3 within two days it is considered rapidly intensifying the same prediction given to Hurricane Nigel.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) defines rapid intensification where a storms maximum sustained winds jump 35 miles per hour (56 kph) in less than 24 hours.
These storms can become extremely dangerous as they approach coastlines because they give residents little time to prepare and evacuate. They are the most costly and a great threat to human life. They are also becoming more common.
In the past 32 years, most Category 3 or higher hurricanes have undergone rapid intensification, according to a 2022 study.
This is due to warmer ocean waters, more moisture in the atmosphere and low vertical wind shear, Philip Klotzbach of Colorado State University told Science News.
Vertical wind shear happens when winds at different heights move at different speeds in different directions. These can assist in a storms intensification by pulling heat and moisture across the upper structure of the storm.
But warming ocean temperatures are a major factor in helping boost storms size and speed. As the Earth becomes warmer, ocean temperatures rise and contribute to fueling hurricanes.
Hurricane Nigels expected path
Monday 18 September 2023 15:30 , Ariana Baio
Forecasters in the National Hurricane Center do not predict that Hurricane Nigel will make landfall anywhere.
As of Monday morning, Hurricane Nigel will continue moving northwesterly then veer right on Wednesday morning heading back into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Hurricane Nigels potential path, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC NOAA)
National Hurricane Center expects Hurricane Nigel to rapidly intensify
Monday 18 September 2023 15:15 , Ariana Baio
Hurricane #Nigel Advisory 12: Nigel Forecast to Rapidly Intensify Into a Major Hurricane On Tuesday. https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 18, 2023
Where is Hurricane Nigel?
Monday 18 September 2023 14:56 , Ariana Baio
Hurricane Nigel, the sixth hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean this season, is located in the middle of the Atlantic as of Monday morning.
The Category 1 hurricane is approximately 935 miles from Bermuda near the latitude 26.5 North and longitude 50.7 West.
As of now, Hurricane Nigel is not expected to land anywhere as forecasters believe it will turn right and head into the middle of the ocean by Wednesday.
Hurricane Nigels locations as of 18 September, 2023 (CIRA)
Monday 18 September 2023 05:00 , Kelly Rissman
The Timeline of Storm Lee
In its final advisory about the storm, Environment Canada provided a summary of the storms path. Heres the timeline:
6 September: a tropical cyclone formed
7 September: the storm intensified into a hurricane
10-11 September: Lee passed north of the Caribbean sea
12-13 September: the storm began moving towards the Gulf Stream and Atlantic Canada
14 September: the storm passed just west of Bermuda
15 September: Hurricane Lee was downgraded
16 September: Post-tropical storm Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia
Monday 18 September 2023 04:30 , Kelly Rissman
Both the US and Canadian hurricane centers issued their final advisories for Lee
The National Hurricane center issued its final advisory this morning at 11am, while Environment Canada issued its final advisory at 4pm.
Environment Canadas final statement on Lee (Environment Canada)
Monday 18 September 2023 03:30 , Kelly Rissman
Canadas hurricane center forecasted Lees path
Environment Canada Hurricane Center tracks Lees path (Environment Canada Hurricane Center)
Monday 18 September 2023 02:30 , Kelly Rissman
What a difference a day makes
Many have taken to social media to highlight the contrast from before and after the storm.
Here is a pano of the beautiful rocky coastline of southern Nova Scotia. What a difference a day makes! #Lee https://t.co/3RiWpRVuz4 Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 17, 2023
Monday 18 September 2023 01:30 , Kelly Rissman
Maine is back to life after the storm
What a difference 24 hours makes
Bar Harbor, Maine fully back to life after #Lee. You can tell this is an area used to storms, they barely even flinched https://t.co/CC1OlBbYs0 Marissa Parra NBC (@MarParNews) September 17, 2023
Monday 18 September 2023 00:30 , Kelly Rissman
What to expect over the next few days...
Hurricane Lee update (National Hurricane Center)
Sunday 17 September 2023 23:30 , Kelly Rissman
Power restored
The power outages in Maine have dwindled down to only 11,000 customers.
Earlier on Sunday, a whopping 42,000 had been impacted by knocked-down power lines, caused by storm Lee.
Similarly, fewer than 2,000 outages were reported in Nova Scotia late Sunday afternoon.
Sunday 17 September 2023 22:30 , Kelly Rissman
Canadas hurricane center afternoon update:
Post-tropical storm Lee is currently affecting the Lower North Shore. It will give total rainfall amounts of 30 to 50 millimetres.
Rain will end this evening. Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads.
Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible.
Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts.
Sunday 17 September 2023 22:00 , Kelly Rissman
Post-tropical cyclone Lee has taken at least one life
A 51-year-old motorist in Searsport, Maine, was killed after the gusts caused a large tree limb to topple onto his vehicle on Saturday on US Highway 1.
The tree limb also brought down live power lines, meaning utility workers had to cut power before the man could be removed, police chief Brian Lunt said. The 51-year-old later died at a hospital, the chief said.
Read more on the aftermath of the storm here.
Motorist dies after tree limb falls on vehicle as Lee batters New England and Canada
Sunday 17 September 2023 21:30 , Kelly Rissman
Post-tropical storm Lee is crossing Eastern Quebec
According to Canadas hurricane center, Lee will result in about 1 to 4 inches of rain, which is expected to stop this evening.
Heavy downpours can cause flash floods and water pooling on roads. Localized flooding in low-lying areas is possible. Watch for possible washouts near rivers, creeks and culverts, the center wrote.
Sunday 17 September 2023 21:00 , Kelly Rissman
Canadas hurricane center gives an update
The remnant low from Lee is crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence today.
The current central pressure is estimated at 989 millibars. Conditions continue to improve in many areas of Nova Scotia and southern New Brunswick.
Environment Canada Hurricane Center tracks Lees path (Environment Canada Hurricane Center)
Sunday 17 September 2023 20:30 , Kelly Rissman
Some advice from FEMA
Hurricane #Lee brought damages to some areas. For your safety avoid power or utility lines they can still be electrified.
If you see a downed power line or other electrical hazard, report them immediately to your power or utility company. pic.twitter.com/pbw6DHR9tD FEMA (@fema) September 17, 2023
Sunday 17 September 2023 20:00 , Kelly Rissman
Climate change could bring more monster storms to New England
When it comes to hurricanes, New England cant compete with Florida or the Caribbean.
But scientists said Friday the arrival of storms like Hurricane Lee this weekend could become more common in the region as the planet warms, including in places such as the Gulf of Maine.
One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which include New York, Boston and even Beijing.
The study says the factors include warmer sea surface temperatures in these regions and the shifting and weakening of the jet streams, which are the strong bands of air currents encircling the planet in both hemispheres.
More here.
Climate change could bring more monster storms like Hurricane Lee to New England
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:30 , Kelly Rissman
Leader of Canadas New Democratic Party offers support for those affected by Lee
My thoughts are with all of the Maritimers who are being impacted by Hurricane Lee today. Youve gone through so much in recent months with the floods, forest fires and now a hurricane.
Canadians have your back. Stay safe and listen to advice from local authorities. Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) September 16, 2023
Sunday 17 September 2023 19:00 , Kelly Rissman
Post-tropical cyclone Lee has taken at least one life
A 51-year-old motorist in Searsport, Maine, was killed after the gusts caused a large tree limb to topple onto his vehicle on Saturday on US Highway 1.
The tree limb also brought down live power lines, meaning utility workers had to cut power before the man could be removed, police chief Brian Lunt said. The 51-year-old later died at a hospital, the chief said.
Read more on the aftermath of the storm here.
Motorist dies after tree limb falls on vehicle as Lee batters New England and Canada
Sunday 17 September 2023 18:30 , Kelly Rissman
Canadas hurricane center forecasts Lees path
Environment Canada Hurricane Center tracks Lees path (Environment Canada Hurricane Center)
Sunday 17 September 2023 18:00 , Kelly Rissman
Meteorologist captures Lees effects in Nova Scotia
Scenes of monster waves and surf at Peggys Cove lighthouse last night in the wake of Post-tropical Cyclone Lee in Nova Scotia. Huge wind field is the signature of this storm. Today, we will be documenting the effects of the coastal erosion, since it is too expensive to fly out pic.twitter.com/0xDQtBPOF7 Reed Timmer, PhD (@ReedTimmerAccu) September 17, 2023
Sunday 17 September 2023 17:30 , Kelly Rissman
Thousands are without power in Nova Scotia, as workers try to restore it as soon as possible
Work continues this afternoon as our crews respond to damage caused by Post Tropical Storm Lee.
Significant winds impacted the province for almost 24-hours, with winds reaching over 90km an hour in most areas. Limbs and branches have come down onto power lines, and in some cases pic.twitter.com/gPs4MYByNz Nova Scotia Power (@nspowerinc) September 17, 2023
Sunday 17 September 2023 17:00 , Kelly Rissman
National Hurricane Center issues last advisory
All tropical storm warnings for Canada are discontinued, the hurricane center wrote.
As of 11am, Lee is 135 miles from Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland, with winds moving at 45mph. The storm is expected to head over Newfoundland later today and over the Atlantic waters by early Monday, the center wrote.
Wind gusts up to near gale force are still possible over portions of Atlantic Canada today, the National Hurricane Center wrote.
Sunday 17 September 2023 16:30 , Kelly Rissman
Power outages in Maine
A large chunk of the states residents 42,000 to be exact are without power as of Sunday morning, according to Poweroutage.us. That number is down from yesterday when nearly 60,000 locals had reported outages.
Power outages across the US in the wake of Lee (Poweroutage.us)
Sunday 17 September 2023 16:00 , Kelly Rissman
National Hurricane Centers Watches and Warnings in Effect:
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for...
Nova Scotia from Lismore eastward to Point Aconi and southwestward to east of Porters Lake
Prince Edward Island from Savage Harbor eastward to east of Wood Islands
Magdalen Islands
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:30 , Kelly Rissman
A look at the life cycle of Lee
16 days of the life of #Lee:
Chapter 1: African easterly wave sudden intensification into Category 5 #hurricane
Chapter 2: Eyewall replacements and restrengthening
Chapter 3: Expansion, post-tropical transition, and landfall in Canada#meteorology pic.twitter.com/daWeZEC5Sk Stu Ostro (@StuOstro) September 17, 2023
Sunday 17 September 2023 15:00 , Kelly Rissman
Gusty Winds in Atlantic Canada as Lee rages on
An 8am advisory from the National Hurricane Center located the storm as about 70 miles from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island with winds whipping at 45mph.
A faster northeastward motion is expected over the next couple of days, taking Lee over Newfoundland this afternoon and over the Atlantic waters by early Monday, according to the hurricane center.
The storm is expected to gradually weaken over the next couple of days, and Lee could dissipate on Tuesday.
Warnings called off in parts of US and Canada
Sunday 17 September 2023 14:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Post-tropical cyclone Lee made landfall at near-hurricane strength Saturday, bringing destructive winds, rough surf and torrential rains to New England and Maritime Canada.
But officials withdrew some warnings for the region late Saturday night.
The US National Hurricane Center discontinued a tropical storm warning for the coast of Maine, while Environment Canada ended its tropical storm warning in New Brunswick.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for parts of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Magdalen Islands.
Nearly 144,000 left without power in Nova Scotia
Sunday 17 September 2023 13:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
About 144,000 people were without power on Saturday after strong winds due to storm Lee downed trees. In neighboring New Brunswick, 37,000 people had no electricity.
Crews have been able to restore power to some customers ... however, conditions are getting worse, Matt Drover of the Nova Scotia electric utility told Reuters.
In many cases, especially when winds are above 80 kmph, it isnt safe for our crews.
In a social media post, Nova Scotia police said they had received reports of drivers heading to the coast to watch the waves, which they said was dangerous.
A downed tree hangs on power lines in Nova Scotia, Canada (AP)
Storm Lee continues to move north
Sunday 17 September 2023 12:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Heavy downpour is expected to continue through Sunday in the Prince Edward Island province of Canada, the forecasters said.
Storm Lee made landfall in far western Nova Scotia, with winds whipping at 70mph, which killed one person and left thousands without electricity.
Lee is on track to turn northeast and pass over Saturday night into Sunday, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
Hurricane Lee makes landfall in Nova Scotia
Sunday 17 September 2023 11:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Hurricane Lee made landfall in Western Novia Scotia on Saturday, as millions in New England and Canada have been preparing for its devastation.
Maximum sustained winds were at 70mph, as of 4pm when the storm reached land about 50 miles from Eastport, Maine and about 135 miles from Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to the National Hurricane Center.
More here.
Hurricane Lee makes landfall
Teenager drowns ahead of Lee landfall
Sunday 17 September 2023 10:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A teenager drowned while in rough waters of the Atlantic on Wednesday, authorities in Florida said.
The 15-year-old was with two other people when he fell off a raft, Fernandina Beach Police Department told Fox Weather.
The other two were brought back to the shore and rushed to a local medical centre while authorities searched for the missing teen.
The group had ventured into the ocean despite multiple red flags warnings about the rough waters ahead of storm Lees landfall.
Republican representative survives after boat incident
Sunday 17 September 2023 09:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Billy Bob Faulkingham, House Republican leader of the Maine Legislature, and another lobsterman survived after their boat overturned while hauling traps ahead of the storm, officials said.
The boats emergency locator beacon alerted authorities, and the two clung to the hull until help arrived, said Winter Harbor Police chief Danny Mitchell. The 42-foot boat sank.Theyre very lucky to be alive, Mr Mitchell said.
Forecasters urged residents to stay home, but many ventured out anyway.
Betsy Follansbee and her husband, Fred, jogged to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Maine, to watch surfers some wearing helmets paddling out to catch waves reaching 12 feet.
They were the biggest waves Follansbee has seen in her 10 years living there, she said.Were impressed that theyre bold enough to try, Ms Follansbee said.
Climate change could bring more monster storms to New England
Sunday 17 September 2023 08:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
When it comes to hurricanes, New England cant compete with Florida or the Caribbean.
But scientists said Friday the arrival of storms like Hurricane Lee this weekend could become more common in the region as the planet warms, including in places such as the Gulf of Maine.
One recent study found climate change could result in hurricanes expanding their reach more often into mid-latitude regions, which include New York, Boston and even Beijing.
The study says the factors include warmer sea surface temperatures in these regions and the shifting and weakening of the jet streams, which are the strong bands of air currents encircling the planet in both hemispheres.
More here.
Climate change could bring more monster storms like Hurricane Lee to New England
Thousands left without power and flights cancelled as Lee makes landfall
Sunday 17 September 2023 07:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
Thousands of people were left without power as storm Lee made landfall in Nova Scotia, flooding roads and fanning anxiety in a region still reeling from wildfires and severe flooding this summer.
The province's largest airport, Halifax Stanfield International, cancelled all flights.
"People are exhausted. ... It's so much in such a small time period," said Pam Lovelace, a councilor in Halifax.
The storm was so big that it caused power outages several hundred miles from its center. At midday Saturday, 11 per cent of electricity customers in Maine lacked power, along with 27 per cent of Nova Scotia, 8 per cent of New Brunswick and 3 per cent of Prince Edward Island.
Hurricane-force winds extended as far as 140 miles from Lee's center, with tropical storm-force winds extending as far as 320 miles enough to cover all of Maine and much of Maritime Canada.
Strong winds batter Nova Scotia
Sunday 17 September 2023 06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
People walk in the rain and wind from Post-Tropical Cyclone Lee (Getty Images)
A tree on the ground is pictured after taking down the power lines and shutting off access to this road in Liverpool, Nova Scotia (REUTERS)
Motorist killed after storm Lee makes landfall
Sunday 17 September 2023 05:49 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar
A 51-year-old motorist in Searsport, Maine, died after a large tree limb fell on his vehicle Saturday on US Highway 1 during a period of high winds, the first fatality attributed to the storm.
The tree limb brought down live power lines, and utility workers had to cut power before the man could be removed, said Police chief Brian Lunt. The unidentified man died later at a hospital, he said.
Rev. Dan Robertson was voted in as Presbyterian Church of Western Spring's fifth senior pastor at a special congregational meeting June 25. (Therese Angarone/HANDOUT)
After a yearlong search, the Presbyterian Church of Western Springs is welcoming a new pastor.
Rev. Dan Robertson was voted in as the Churchs fifth senior pastor at a special congregational meeting June 25 and presided over his first service Aug. 20.
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The warmth of the community at the Presbyterian Church of Western Springs is one of the first things my family and I noticed since moving here a few weeks ago, Robertson said in his first official communication. We are thrilled to be in Western Springs, have our children in school here (Go Forest Hills Falcons!), and live in this community.
Robertson, also known as Pastor Dan, is a lifelong Presbyterian, born and raised in the suburbs of Kansas City, meeting his wife Sara while studying for his bachelors in political science from William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
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They have two young children.
Robertson earned his masters of divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary in Redlands, California. He has more than 14 years of church ministry experience, including tenures in Kansas City, San Francisco, and New Orleans. His last ministry was in Fairview, a small village in Central Illinois.
Robertson sat at his desk on a sunny, fall Monday and talked about his experiences, what led him to pick Presbyterian Church of Western Springs as his latest ministry, and amplifying on his first impressions of the community.
I would add how fun everybody is, he said. The spirit of joy and the spirit of people just enjoying being together theres something to be said for a group that just has fun together.
Robertson said his decision to continue his ministry at PCWP was very much a product of his faith.
Its very much a calling, a spirit-led decision, he said, noting that it was the same motivation that led him to each of his ministries. Im very thankful to be here. We have two young children, so its a great environment for the kids and our family I like to think I would go wherever God called me to go, but I was very happy for the fit with the family here.
Robertson talked about priorities in his new ministry.
For the way our church is structured, the way our governance works, priorities are something Ill be working with Session, our ruling board, he said. One of the things weve been talking about, about being intentional about, is the way we can have children especially being welcome in all aspects of the church. Before I got here the church did some changes for worship services, like having a place for children, where children can gather and be children but are still involved in worship. We just redid our Sunday school and have a Sunday school option right after worship.
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Asked if there were any surprises when his family moved to the area, he noted the food prices.
The first time I went to the grocery store, Robertson said with a laugh. Some things werent so expensive, but somethings were a lot more expensive. The cost of milk was three times higher here.
But he also spoke a sense of familiarity that he found in Western Springs.
I would say Western Springs is the closest to how we grew up, he said. Sara and I both grew up in the suburbs of Kansas City. So this definitely feels the closest to how we grew up. Theres that kind of instant familiarity.
Robertson also stressed the advantage of practicing his ministry in a variety of different locations.
Its really taught me the importance of learning and listening when you go into any new place, he said. I find its not helpful to go in and assume you know it all.
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Robertson acknowledged the other religious traditions in the area.
Im very much open to conversation with anybody, he said. There was a Methodist church, First United Methodist Church, that did a youth mission trip last summer and were already planning another one next summer. Were just looking to build on that.
The trip Robertson was referring to will take place in July 2024 and involve a service trip to the Appalachian region of Kentucky and West Virginia.
I would say that what we are looking to do as a church, is that ways that we can build meaningful and intentional relationships, he said. Thats with the community, with each other, and the world at large. To be able to grow into being the hands and feet of Christ out into the world. This is a very mission-driven church.
For further information on the Presbyterian Church of Western Springs, visit its website, presbyws.org.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
A Michigan husband managed to turn a lottery loss into a big win but he didnt believe it at first.
Nicholas McCreary, 37, said he likes to play the $6,000,000 Jackpot game, and he always double-checks his tickets by scanning them on the Michigan Lottery app.
When he does that, the Grand Rapids man earns entries into second-chance drawings, according to a Sept. 19 news release from the Michigan Lottery.
His scanning paid off during the Sept. 13 drawing.
I was going through my emails and saw I had one from the Michigan Lottery saying Id won $100,000, McCreary told lottery officials. At first, I thought it was a scam email, but after looking it over a second time, I thought everything looked pretty legitimate.
I called the Lottery, and thats when I learned that I really had won! he continued. Winning threw me off, made me shaky, and gave me butterflies all at the same time!
He claimed the $100,000 prize on Sept. 19, and now he plans to visit India, according to the release.
My wife and I have been wanting to take a trip to see the Taj Mahal, so I am going to use my winnings to finally make it happen, McCreary told lottery officials.
Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.
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An independent investigation of Kentuckys long-troubled juvenile detention centers will produce a report for the General Assembly early next year, the state auditors office said Tuesday.
The auditors office last month issued a $460,000 contract to CGL Companies LLC of Lexington, a consulting firm for criminal-justice facilities.
CGL will inspect the eight detention centers operated by the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice, conduct interviews and look for problems with staffing levels and how youths are treated in restraints, in isolation, during suicide prevention and at other times.
The firm will review problems that occurred in the detention centers from 2016 through 2022 under the administrations of two governors, Republican Matt Bevin and Democrat Andy Beshear.
The legislature ordered an outside review last winter as part of a package of juvenile justice reform measures in response to Herald-Leader news stories about assaults, escapes, riots and mistreatment of youths held inside the detention centers.
Most recently, the Herald-Leader reported that staff at the juvenile detention center in Adair County improperly used pepper spray on youths as punishment at least three times in March, sometimes forcing youths to wait more than 30 minutes before washing off the burning chemicals.
Also, the newspaper reported that the Kentucky State Police is investigating potential criminal activity involving a male correctional officer and one or more girls housed at the Campbell Regional Juvenile Detention Center that was captured on security video May 23 and May 30. DJJ has declined to release more detailed information.
Over the past few years, there have been many issues identified within DJJ due in part to the ongoing coverage by the Herald-Leader, Michael Goins, spokesman for the auditors office, said Tuesday.
That has prompted a wave of concerns, including among members of the General Assembly, who directed our office via legislation passed in the 2023 Regular Session to contract with an outside firm to conduct an audit of DJJ, Goins said.
A final report from CGL on its findings is due in early 2024 to the legislature and to DJJ.
KY juvenile justice workers pepper sprayed youths as punishment, violating policy
KY juvenile justice facility faces police probe, firings despite promises of reform
By YP Rajesh and Sakshi Dayal
NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said authorities were "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking New Delhi's agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, an assertion India quickly dismissed as "absurd".
The spat deals a fresh blow to diplomatic ties that have been fraying for years, with New Delhi unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada. It now threatens trade ties too, with talks on a proposed trade deal frozen last week.
Each nation expelled a diplomat in tat-for-tat moves, with Canada throwing out India's top intelligence agent and New Delhi responding by giving a Canadian diplomat five days to leave.
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen is "an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty", Trudeau told the House of Commons in an emergency statement on Monday.
He was referring to Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population, three years after India had designated him as a "terrorist".
Nijjar supported creating a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent, so-called state of Khalistan in India's northern state of Punjab, the birthplace of the Sikh religion, which borders Pakistan.
India's foreign ministry did not disclose the name or rank of the Canadian diplomat it had asked to leave the country.
"The decision reflects the government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it said in a statement.
The ministry had summoned Cameron MacKay, Canada's high commissioner, or ambassador, in New Delhi to notify him of the move.
ACCUSATION 'COMPLETELY REJECTED'
Earlier, New Delhi urged Ottawa to take action against anti-Indian elements in Canada.
"Allegations of the government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," it said, adding that similar accusations made by Trudeau to Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been "completely rejected".
It said the "unsubstantiated allegations" sought to shift focus away from "Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada".
"We urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the ministry said.
Trudeau said he had raised the matter directly with Modi on the sidelines of G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month, and had urged his government to co-operate with Canada to resolve it.
Modi, in turn, conveyed strong concern to Trudeau over recent demonstrations in Canada by Sikhs calling for an independent state.
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside the Indian state of Punjab, with about 770,000 people reporting Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.
Khalistan is the name of an independent Sikh state whose creation has been sought for decades. A Sikh insurgency killed tens of thousands of people in India in the 1980s and early 1990s before it was suppressed by tough security action.
New Delhi has been wary of any revival, with a particular focus on small groups of Sikhs in Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States, who support the separatist demand and occasionally stage protests outside its embassies.
The United States and Australia expressed "deep concern" over Canadas accusations, while Britain said it was in close touch with its Canadian partners about the "serious allegations".
U.S. authorities have urged India to cooperate with the investigation, a senior State Department official said on Tuesday.
Britain will continue trade talks with India despite Ottawa's allegations as London is not looking to conflate negotiations about a trade deal with "other issues", Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson told reporters.
'INCREASING STRAIN'
India has been particularly sensitive to Sikh protesters in Canada with some Indian analysts saying Ottawa does not stop them as Sikhs are a politically influential group there.
In June, India criticised Canada for permitting a float in a parade depicting the 1984 assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her bodyguards, perceived to be glorification of violence by Sikh separatists.
Ottawa paused talks this month on a proposed trade treaty with India, just three months after both said they aimed to seal an initial deal this year.
Modi did not hold a two-way meeting with Trudeau at the G20 summit, despite similar meetings with other world leaders. Days earlier, metro stations in the Indian capital were vandalised with pro-Khalistan graffiti.
Trudeau's allegations have put ties under increasing strain.
"Three months after the killing, no one has been charged. Nor did Trudeau say who his government believes carried out the killing," independent geopolitical analyst Brahma Chellaney posted on X.
"But his unproven allegation, by sparking tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats, will likely bring Canada-India relations to a new low."
(Reporting by YP Rajesh and Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Christina Fincher)
India is kicking a Canadian diplomat out of the country, a response to Canada expelling the head of Indian intelligence as bilateral relations between the two plunge amid a fight about an alleged assassination.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shocked the nation in Parliament on Monday when he warned the countrys national security institutions uncovered credible allegations of a "potential link between agents" of the Indian government and the death of a Canadian Sikh leader and Khalistan separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, on Canadian soil earlier this summer.
Nijjar was fatally shot in a parking lot outside a temple in June.
Indias foreign ministry denied the claim, calling it absurd and motivated, and said in a statement it is expelling a Canadian envoy amid growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Trudeau has raised the issue with President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Canadian officials have confronted India with the claims.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said if the allegations prove true, it would constitute a grave violation" of Canadian sovereignty.
The conflict comes amid strained relations between the two countries. Canada abruptly suspended a trade mission with India Friday.
India's government strongly denied on Tuesday any involvement in the murder of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat response as tension between the two countries soars. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau drew India's ire by suggesting Indian officials could have had a role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing on its grounds in June 2023 of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada September 18, 2023. / Credit: CHRIS HELGREN / REUTERS
Trudeau appeared to try to calm the diplomatic clash Tuesday, telling reporters that Canada is "not looking to provoke or escalate," The Associated Press reported.
"We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes," Trudeau said. "India and the government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness."
In remarks to Canada's parliament on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies were actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of Nijjar a vocal backer of the creation of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan who was gunned down in June in the city of Surrey in British Columbia.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Tuesday a statement posted on social media.
A second social media post shared by Bagchi said that the Canadian High Commissioner in India had been summoned and a senior Canadian diplomat had been expelled from the country in retaliation for Ottawa booting a senior Indian diplomat on Monday.
Canada on Tuesday issued a travel advisory for Canadians traveling to India, advising citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution" due to a threat of terror attacks throughout the country.
Trudeau said Monday that he brought up the potential links between Nijjar's murder and the Indian government with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a G20 summit last week "in no uncertain terms," adding that "any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty."
The Sikhs are a religious minority in India and Nijjar was a supporter of a separate state for the community. His killing sparked protests by Sikhs in Canada, who blame the Indian government for the murder.
The Khalistan movement that supports the creation of a new Khalistan state is a banned organization in India. Nijjar's name appeared on the Indian Home Affairs terror watch list prior to his shooting.
Canadian investigators revealed that they believed three suspects were involved in the shooting of Nijjar and released CCTV images of a getaway car (pictured) that they believe was used for two gunmen to escape / Credit: Royal Canadian Mounted Police
In August, Canadian investigators said they believed three suspects were involved in the shooting of Nijjar. They released security camera video of a car they believe was used by two gunmen to escape, aided and abetted by the vehicle driver.
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India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat Tuesday following allegations from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that Indias government may have been involved in the murder of a Sikh leader near Vancouver in June.
The move ratchets up a feud between the countries. Canada expelled a senior Indian intelligence official on Monday, the Canadian foreign minister said.
The Indian government explained its move as a response to growing concern over Canadas activities.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, Indias Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh activist, was killed after leaving a temple in Surrey, British Columbia in June. He was an advocate for a separatist state in the countrys Punjab region, called Khalistan.
Trudeau told parliament Monday there are credible allegations that the Indian government was involved in his death. The Indian government has referred to Khalistan separatists as terrorists, and outlawed their movement in India.
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, Trudeau said.
The Indian government vehemently denied the allegations, calling them absurd and motivated.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, Indias External Ministry wrote in a statement issued earlier Tuesday.
Nijjars son, Baraj Singh Nijjar, welcomed Trudeaus remarks.
Its a sigh of relief for the family and the Sikh community here because from day one we kind of had this idea and knowledge that if anything would happen to him the Indian government would be involved, Baraj Singh Nijjar told The Associated Press.
It was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out. Its finally coming to the public eyes that the Indian government is involved in this. Its a really serious foreign interference case, he said.
Trudeau said he confronted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the allegations at the G20 summit over the weekend. He said he also brought the issue to U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a close ally to both India and Canada.
A British Sikh activist died in Birmingham, England in June with his supporters claiming he was poisoned. Sunaks spokesperson Max Blain told the AP police found no suspicious circumstances, adding that Canada is within its rights to investigate.
These are serious allegations. It is right that the Canadian authorities should be looking into them, Blain said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed suit on Friday in federal court against the hospital system that employs Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the abortion provider who treated an unidentified, then-10-year-old rape victim from Ohio in the days after Roe fell. Rokita contends that Indiana University Health (IUH) and IU Healthcare Associates violated federal HIPPA law and state-level privacy law by standing by Bernard, who confirmed to the Indianapolis Star that she had treated a 10-year-old pregnant rape victim.
Bernards story got nationwide attention in the summer of 2022 in the days after Dobbs overturned constitutional protections for abortion because it was (a) shocking to the general public that a 10-year-old was raped, and (b) because she was forced to travel to another state for abortion care so quickly after the Dobbs decision (Ohios six-week ban went into effect immediately). Right-wing politicians and media immediately questioned Bernards facts, culminating in a Wall Street Journal op-ed titled An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm.
Read more
The lawsuit requests a jury trial, so well have to wait to see what kind of resolution the courts might provide.
Rokitas office is also upset that journalists did their jobs, essentially. The lawsuit contends that because Bernard initially confirmed the details, Indianapolis Star journalists were able to request the specific state data on abortions performed that week, in order to confirm what she told them. If the Indiana Attorney Generals Office is upset with the continued media coverage, it should do some soul searching: Rokita has focused on Bernard and the girls case for more than a year, keeping this alleged privacy violation in national news outlets.
The lengths to which an anti-abortion politician with the backing of a powerful state office will go are astounding (especially considering Indiana now has an abortion ban in place). In addition to this lawsuit, Rokita falsely accused Bernard in July 2022 of not properly reporting the abortion services rendered to the state. Since the Indianapolis Star story, Rokita asked the state medical licensing board to suspend Bernards license. The board instead reprimanded her in May and levied a fine. Even a nonpartisan statewide award for outstanding Hoosier women couldnt go toward Bernard because of her ongoing case with the licensing board.
Bernard maintains that she did not violate patient privacy but spoke up in the public interest. I think its incredibly important for people to understand the real-world impacts of the laws of this country, about abortion or otherwise, she said at the May hearing in front of the licensing board. Its important for people to know what patients will have to go through because of legislation thats being passed.
If that werent enough Indiana-Rokita-Bernard news for one day, the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission filed a complaint against Rokita for misconduct Monday, stemming from how he spoke about Bernard in 2022. (Bernards lawyer, Kathleen DeLaney, told the Indianapolis Star, We will watch how the Disciplinary Commission process proceeds and let the complaint speak for itself.)
Rokita, obviously, wasnt pleased. Hoosiers, in the largest number on record, elected me Attorney General because they knew they were getting a passionate fighter wholike themis beating back the culture of death, grievance and transanity being pushed by radicals in workplaces, schools, media and government, he said in a long statement on Monday. Okay, then. Looks like Indiana will remain an abortion story hotbed for a while.
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After his failed efforts to discipline an Indiana doctor who provided emergency abortion care to a 10-year-old rape survivor, the states anti-abortion Republican attorney general is now suing her employer.
His lawsuit also comes as he faces three ethics charges from the state Supreme Courts Disciplinary Commission, which found that Todd Rokita s statements to right-wing media and elsewhere about Dr Caitlin Bernard in the wake of the high-profile case violated attorney ethics rules.
On 25 May, Indianas Medical Licensing Board determined that Dr Bernard violated privacy laws by speaking briefly to a reporter about the case, which drew international attention in the wake of the US Supreme Courts decision to revoke a constitutional right to abortion care.
Dr Bernards patient travelled from Ohio, where abortion was effectively outlawed at six weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape and incest. Though she gave a generalised anecdote that did not identify anyone involved, the case drew national attention, underscoring the far-reaching consequences of sweeping abortion bans.
The doctor also faced the wrath of GOP officials who falsely suggested that the crime against the 10-year-old girl was a hoax, demanded to see criminal and medical records, or accused her of failing to notify law enforcement about her patients case.
During an appearance on Fox News, Mr Rokita called her an abortion activist acting as a doctor. He later issued subpoenas to doctors and healthcare facilities seeking medical records relating to the patient.
Records and testimony have shown that the case was reported to state agencies as required under law. Her employer, Indiana University Health, also stated that she did not violate rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.
Last year, as Mr Rokita sought to revoke the doctors license, a judge argued that he acted unlawfully with his allegations of wrongdoing in violation of his own offices confidentiality requirements. He caused irreparable harm to her reputation with his unlawful breaches of confidentiality provisions after he discussed his investigation on national news and in the press, according to a judge.
Dr Caitlin Bernard (AP)
Mr Rokitas efforts to professionally discipline Dr Bernard largely fell apart in May, after the states licensing board affirmed that she did not fail to report child abuse and that she was not unfit to practice medicine.
And in July, the man who pleaded guilty to raping the 10-year-old girl was sentenced to life in prison, with a possibility of parole after a minimum of 25 years.
Now, in a 28-page federal lawsuit, Mr Rokita is taking aim at Indiana University Health, arguing that instead of protecting the patient, the hospital chose to protect the doctor, and itself.
The hospital has revealed a systemic flaw in its implementation and administration of HIPAA rules that affect the privacy of all its patients, according to his complaint.
We hold ourselves accountable every day for providing quality healthcare and securing privacy for our patients, read a statement from Indiana University Health. We continue to be disappointed [that] the Indiana Attorney Generals office persists in putting the states limited resources toward this matter. We will respond directly to the AGs office on the filing.
Meanwhile, Mr Rokita is accused of violating three professional conduct rules after he baselessly called her an abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failure to report and for intentionally making public statements and/or directing others to issue public statements about the investigation into Dr Bernard.
Our legal team had no involvement in the recent charges filed and therefore cannot comment on them. We will watch how the Disciplinary Commission process proceeds and let the complaint speak for itself, according to a statement from Dr Bernards counsel Kathleen DeLaney.
In a lengthy statement in response, Mr Rokita suggested the committee is made up of radicals in an environment that cancels non-compliant citizens through intimidation as well as tactics that can weaponize our respected institutions.
In the year after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v Jackson Womens Health Organization, more than a dozen states have effectively outlawed abortion in most or all circumstances.
Ohio voters will weigh in on an amendment that would create a state constitutional right to an abortion this November.
Following a year-long legal battle, Indianas latest anti-abortion law went into effect last month, effectively outlawing most abortions at any point during pregnancy except if the womans life or health is seriously at risk.
Abortion is permitted before 22 weeks of pregnancy if a lethal fetal anomaly is detected, or until 12 weeks of pregnancy in cases of rape or incest.
"Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition showcases beauty of Beijing in Qatar
Xinhua) 09:13, September 19, 2023
People visit the "Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 18, 2023. The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
DOHA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in the Qatari capital Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination.
Themed "Capital, Ancient Charm, New Look, Humanity, and Ecology," the exhibition features 79 photography works that highlight the natural beauty, historical charm, and cultural significance of Beijing.
Photos of world cultural heritage sites such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven, as well as iconic Olympic venues like the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, and beloved giant pandas, are all on display at the exhibition.
Abdulaziz Al Anzy, a Qatari civil engineer who brought his families to the exhibition, told Xinhua that seeing these photos rekindled many of the good memories in Beijing.
"I love Beijing, particularly love the city in winter, as it's the first place where I've ever seen snow," he said cordially.
"I hope there will be more events like this in the future to bridge both countries through tradition, culture and art. China is truly beautiful, and the Chinese people are very friendly ... I often tell my family and friends that they must visit China to experience it for themselves," Anzy added.
The exhibition, jointly organized by the Beijing municipal government and the Chinese Embassy in Qatar, runs until Sept. 29.
People visit the "Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 18, 2023. The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
People visit the "Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 18, 2023. The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
People visit the "Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 18, 2023. The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
People visit the "Hello, Beijing" photography exhibition in Doha, Qatar, on Sept. 18, 2023. The "Hello, Beijing" Photography Exhibition opened on Monday here in Doha, showcasing historical and cultural emblems of the Chinese capital, and how the megacity succeeds in becoming a world-renowned tourist destination. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai)
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Cast and crew of "Ripples of Life" pose for a picture at the film's premiere in Beijing, Sept. 8, 2023. [Photo/China.org.cn]
In October 2020, director Wei Shujun and scriptwriter Kang Chunlei faced one of the most daunting and difficult moments of their careers.
Just two weeks before the scheduled commencement of shooting their movie, Ripples of Life, the creative duo was gripped by a sinking realization: The script that had been meticulously crafted over six years might be on the brink of failure.
At that time, everything, from the cast and the costumes, to props and locations, had been found. However, the director Wei, a Beijing native who shot to fame with his directorial debut Duck Neck in 2016, dealt a hammer blow to the project. With the movie seemingly destined to be a flop, he chose not to proceed with the filming.
As a result, his producers had to contact the actors and actresses to negotiate compensation for breaches of contracts, while Kang, facing immense pressure, undertook the stressful task of crafting a new screenplay.
Surprisingly, echoing the wisdom of Scottish inventor Alexander Graham Bell who once said, "When one door closes, another door opens", Kang and Wei found new inspiration and promptly crafted a fresh story, which was committed to celluloid. Seven art house film directors were also invited to play various roles in the rejigged production.
Under the original title, the movie garnered recognition at the 26th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea and the 74th Cannes Film Festival in France in 2021. In the same year, it won the prize for Best Director at both the Fei Mu Awards and the Youth Jury Awards during the 5th Pingyao Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon International Film Festival in Shanxi province, an annual event founded by prestigious filmmaker Jia Zhangke.
The movie was released in domestic theaters on Sept 8, quickly obtaining 7.4 points out of 10 on the popular review aggregator Douban.
For Kang, who grew up in a village approximately 60 kilometers from downtown Beijing, his first inspiration for the brand-new script for Ripples of Life was a young woman who was the owner of a restaurant in rural Hunan province, which he and fellow crew members frequently visited while preparing for the movie.
"She often held a little child, around 1 year old, with a sense of detachment from the surrounding environment on her face. When we met her, she showed curiosity toward the crew and an eagerness to try acting," recalls Kang.
"This brought back memories of my youth. When I used to spot someone carrying a camera in my hometown village, I couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity, as if they belonged to a world that was more magnificent and enchanting," he adds.
After drawing inspiration from the woman, Kang shared his findings with Wei and then wrote a short tale, which became the first chapter of the movie. The film consists of three chapters, each connected but focusing on different characters.
All three short stories revolve around a film crew as they prepare to shoot a movie set in a fictional town called Yong'an, which not only means "eternal tranquility", but also hints at the stagnant lifestyle and lack of change that keeps the locals stuck in a stereotypical existence, as Kang reveals.
The first tale recounts the story of a young mother who becomes increasingly frustrated with her monotonous life working in a small restaurant run by her bossy parents-in-law. When the film crew visits the restaurant for dinner, she eagerly hopes for a chance to feature in their production.
Starring actress Yang Zishan as a movie star, the second tale follows her character's nostalgic journey back to Yong'an, her hometown, to shoot a film and reconnect with childhood friends. However, she gradually starts to realize that the idyllic and sweet image she had of the hometown might just be a figment of her imagination.
The third, perhaps the most sarcastic of all the three tales, features Kang acting as a struggling scriptwriter, who has spent a decade writing four scripts, none of which have been made into movies. The character sees the opportunity to shoot a movie set in Yong'an as his chance to finally gain recognition.
"We hope to explore the stagnation of life and its impact on each individual. In our youth, when facing an uncertain future, we believe that anything is within our reach. However, as we age, we come to realize that many aspirations are challenging to attain, leading us to gradually accept our current circumstances," explains Kang about the theme of the movie.
The movie, to some extent, also mirrors Kang's personal hardships. After graduating from a high school in Beijing's Daxing district in 2008, he had ambitions of becoming a writer and chose not to take the national college entrance exam. However, he faced a lot of challenges in the following years, including financial difficulties and a string of different jobs, ranging from being an extra to selling insurance and working as a security guard.
The turning point came in 2012, when he happened to learn from a friend who had graduated from the Central Academy of Drama that writing a single episode of a TV series could earn him more than 5,000 yuan ($687).
During the following year, Kang purchased a lot of books, such as Hollywood scriptwriter Blake Snyder's Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need, to teach himself how to skillfully write a script for a movie or TV.
In 2014, working as a script planner at a production company, he managed to read over 300 scripts and outlines, accumulating more knowledge to write his own stories. However, none of his scripts found their way the big screen before Ripples of Life.
Regarding the title, he explains: "Big events in people's lives are like throwing a pebble into the water. Although ripples immediately appear on the surface, it quickly returns to calmness."
Thanks to the film, though, the ripples in Kang's own life have been significant. Following his collaboration with Wei, their second film, Only the River Flows, adapted from award-winning author Yu Hua's namesake novel, premiered during this year's Cannes Film Festival. Not content to rest on his laurels, Kang is now contemplating using the perplexities of his youth as a source of inspiration for his next screenplay.
Indianas Republican attorney general is facing three professional ethics charges stemming from public statements he made last year about a state doctor he sought to punish for providing abortion services to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.
In a 56-page complaint filed Monday with Indianas Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, Attorney General Todd Rokita was accused of violating three separate state professional conduct rules for a series of public comments he made about Dr. Caitlin Bernard.
Two of the counts relate to an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters in which Rokita referred to Bernard as an abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failure to report.
Rokita is also accused of intentionally making public statements and/or directing others to issue public statements from July 2022 - September 2022 about the investigation of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, prior to a referral to the Medical Licensing Board, in contravention of the duty of confidentiality required under Indiana law and professional conduct rules.
CNN has reached out to Rokitas office for comment on the disciplinary charges.
Rokita moved to dismiss the disciplinary charges against him in a filing later Monday, writing that his statements reflect his commitment to fulfill official duties regardless of political sensitivity and to keep the public informed.
Rokita conceded that the comments at issue from the Fox interview could reasonably be considered to have violated professional conduct rules, wbut that should a hearing be necessary, Respondent demands strict proof thereof, adding that he denies any allegations stemming from his comments about his offices probe into Bernard.
Bernards attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, said in a statement that her legal team had no involvement in the recent charges filed and therefore cannot comment on them.
Indianas Supreme Court will appoint a hearing officer to oversee the matter, much like a trial court judge would, according to the disciplinary commissions website. That officer will make a report on the case and provide it to the Supreme Court, which will make the final call on whether to reprimand Rokita.
Should the Indiana Supreme Court find that Rokita violated state ethics rules, it could order disciplinary sanctions ranging from a private or public reprimand to permanent disbarment.
Bernard was reprimanded and fined by Indianas medical licensing board after it determined that her disclosure of the 2022 abortion violated federal and state patient privacy laws. The reprimand came after Rokita had filed a complaint against Bernard last November, citing her decision to discuss the episode with a reporter.
The procedure was done just days after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, a ruling that paved the way for Ohio to ban almost all abortions after six weeks of gestation. The girl was six weeks and three days into her pregnancy, Bernard previously told CNN.
Bernard and her medical partner had sued Rokita, alleging his office used illegitimate consumer complaints to pursue his probe into her, but they later dropped their suit.
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Female veterans, especially those with lingering military injuries, struggle more with loneliness, anxiety and reintegration into civilian life than their male peers, according to new research released by Wounded Warrior Project on Tuesday.
Researchers said the findings show some progress in closing the gap but persistent challenges that could compound as the number of women veterans in America grows substantially in coming years.
Women are among the fastest growing groups within the veterans community and the military, but when they transition back to their communities, theyre still often an anomaly, especially in the smaller communities, said Tracy Farrell, vice president of program partnership and operations at WWP. So, for many of them, finding someone to connect with who has similar experiences is difficult.
The results of the Women Warriors survey compiled from responses of more than 13,300 men and 5,100 women is not necessarily applicable across the entire veteran community, since the group members included are typically dealing with more significant medical issues than the average veteran.
Wounded Warrior Project membership continues to grow even as wars fade
But researchers say the findings do point to concerning gaps in after-military care and well-being for women veterans, especially those facing more challenges than their peers.
Among the veterans surveyed, 73% of women said they frequently experience loneliness or isolation. Among wounded male veterans, that figure was about 65%.
Injured female veterans also reported higher levels of anxiety (83% to 74%) and depression (81% to 73%) than their male peers. They were also more likely to struggle finding work, with 10% of women reporting problems with unemployment compared to 6.3% for men.
Farrell said past surveys by the group have shown those gaps have closed slightly in recent years, but not enough to say whether it represents a positive trend. She said efforts by federal agencies and non-profits over the last decade have provided some new resources for women veterans in need of help, but not enough.
We havent really seen much progress in this idea of mentorship for those who are leaving in service, specifically women, she said. This could be through the Department of Labor or grants to community organizations. But its just taking that next step after transition, having somebody that is locked in front of her and sharing their lessons.
Nearly 45% of the women in the survey reported some form of military sexual trauma, compared to 3% of men. Only 66% said they viewed their time in the military as a positive experience, while 82% of the wounded male veterans saw it that way.
The full survey is available at WWPs web site.
The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration.
Walk into the headquarters of any operational Army unit on any Army base in the United States, and you'll eventually bump into something claiming to perform a groundbreaking effort of "innovation."
The members of the Innovation Task Force, the innovation cell/hub/bureau, will eagerly show you how they are "implementing new ideas," "applying disruptive tech," and "focusing on new capabilities for the warfighter." You may even run into the innovation officer, who will happily describe how innovation efforts tie with commanders at all echelons. These folks will earnestly tell you that all this innovation is "creating a culture of innovation."
Ingenuity has become orthodoxy across the operational Army. This is laudable, and every military leader should consider applying new ideas and cutting-edge tech to all operations. But this furious push to force innovation on operational and tactical units through a proliferation of disconnected efforts doesn't make them faster, more efficient, or more capable in combat. Quite the opposite: It often slows units down and depletes resources from their combat mission.
The U.S. military is in innovation overload.
"Innovation" is applied so exhaustively to so many different endeavors that the term no longer holds any meaning. Every military command seems to have its innovation show pony -- the cell, team, group or bureau working on new technology and techniques. But these local cells are untethered from the broader institution with the capability and resources to bring these ideas into the force.
To some extent, that's the point of these organizations: By breaking out from the gargantuan military bureaucracy, military units can absorb ideas from the tactical level and move faster. However, this also disconnects these elements from the resourcing and oversight of Congress.
Much of this innovation is all presentation with little purpose. Commanders build out their legacies on the show but, after the credits roll, nothing moves into research, development, procurement or implementation for the force. Worse, these efforts come primarily at the expense of actual, critical missions. For example, in 2021, the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps developed Dragon's Lair, a soldier innovation competition. Modeled on the network television show "Shark Tank," the program solicited new ideas from troops across the formation. Dragon's Lair aimed to unlock the imaginative solutions developed by soldiers at the lowest levels of command, bring them to the top of the organization, and spread them throughout every platoon. The program received significant media and organizational attention, and Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth lauded the initiative at the October 2021 AUSA convention.
However, after eight iterations and two years, not a single presented concept has made it to the troops. The U.S. Army and the XVIII Airborne Corps have yet to implement any solutions offered at Dragon's Lair. Each winning idea eventually ran into the brick wall of Defense Department bureaucracy. Meanwhile, the program ate up considerable time and energy from a corps staff otherwise busy organizing for operations.
In operational units, innovation cells and initiatives are manned and supported by service members slotted against a traditional duty position. Without a manning billet focused on new technology, officers are double-hatted to serve this intense focus on innovation. With limited troops and time, trade-offs are made, often to the detriment of the unit's primary mission.
Meanwhile, there are organizations codified by Congress and funded and explicitly staffed for innovation, such as AFWERX and the Army's Software Factory. These elements develop service-level solutions and maintain informal acquisition resources for new technology. Unlike operational units, these organizations maintain mechanisms to navigate the complex acquisition pathways.
The urge to access emerging and developed tech and update and modernize military systems, operations and capabilities is essential. China retains a sizable lead over the United States in this area, and the gap is growing. This summer, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute estimated the People's Republic of China beats the U.S. in 37 of 44 critical and emerging technologies. China outpaces the rest of the world in both research and implementation.
So, new ways of thinking are essential. Applying artificial intelligence, machine learning, unmanned systems and analytics at the tactical and operational level is critical. But without a mechanism to bridge to the DoD procurement apparatus, these efforts languish. Military units can best serve their troops by establishing clear and precise requirements that align with the DoD's overarching goals. Commanders should then advocate for these innovations and submit these requirements through the services to the DoD for procurement and implementation.
This past June, the Government Accountability Office released a report unsubtly titled "DoD Needs Department-Wide Guidance to Inform Acquisitions," revealing that, due to a lack of specific acquisition instructions for new tech, the U.S. military routinely misses opportunities to acquire capabilities to match the People's Republic of China's scale and speed. Without such guidelines, disparate research and testing efforts across the services are wasted, resources are squandered, and implementation opportunities are missed.
The hedge strategy advocated by Shield Capital partner and former Defense Innovation Unit director Michael Brown would allow the U.S. military to cut into the PRC's lead. This approach focuses on procurement of low-cost unmanned systems and designs to complement existing manned platforms. The DoD should accept this concept. The Pentagon should then create a dotted-line relationship from the Defense Innovation Unit to the resourced innovation organizations for each service (AFWERX, SpaceWERX, NavalX, Marine Innovation Unit and Army Futures Command). A collaborative connection among and between those organizations would aid progress and prevent redundancy. Each service should also establish a mechanism to access good ideas from across each service formation in the model of AFWERX's Spark Tank.
All ad-hoc innovation structures among operational units should be dissolved. Top-level organizations such as the Defense Innovation Unit and Army Software Factory should send out new technologies to these same operational units for testing and improvement by troops in real-world environments. These operational units should be serving as a testing ground for the Defense Department by subjecting technology to extreme conditions and diverse threats.
Stretching the force thin to demonstrate a focus on innovation may build out the legacies of those commanders and advance the careers of individual generals, but within the organization, it only consumes readiness.
In the past five years, the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory and the Strategic Capabilities Office developed methods to transition research and development to programs of record, the contracting mechanism that allows technology to be bought and distributed in the services. Warfighting units should feed these organizations with requirements that match their mission demands rather than waste time on internal-focused programs that pursue bespoke requirements without connection to the broader procurement process.
Shut down the task forces, boards, bureaus and cells, and instead focus on bringing private-sector applications to warfighters. To harness the potential of new technology and new ideas, the military must shift from focusing on innovation at the unit level to feeding requirements to the services for procurement.
It's time to close the curtain on the innovation show.
-- Joe Buccino is a retired Army colonel who served as the communications director for U.S. Central Command from 2021 until July 2023. He now serves as an adviser to Grave of Bulkington Media.
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Russian soldiers deliberately, systematically kill Ukrainian children
A documentary by the Kyiv Independents War Crimes Investigations Unit reveals Russias systemic targeting of children in its war against Ukraine.
The Kyiv Independent showcases the Kremlins forces deliberate murder of Ukrainian kids by telling the stories of three children killed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. For this documentary, journalists spoke to the childrens families, interviewed witnesses, and corroborated their findings with open-source research.
More than 500 Ukrainian children have died since the start of the full-scale invasion. Dozens of them were gunned down with small arms at close range, according to the investigation.
Among others, the film features the story of 15-year-old Mykhailo Ustianivsky, shot by Russian soldiers on April 15, 2022, in Kherson Oblast. Ustianivskys friend, who was with him at the time, told the Kyiv Independent that the boys were startled by a Russian armored vehicle when walking through their village. Russian soldiers exited the vehicle as the boys ran away and fired at them, killing one.
Citing witness testimonies, the Kyiv Independent reported that the Russian commander of the area where Ustianivsky was killed was Suren Mkrtchian, who also allegedly committed sexual crimes during the occupation.
Read also: Deliberate murders of Ukrainian children by Russian soldiers reveal culture of impunity
While there is no direct evidence that Mkrtchian ordered Ustianivskys killing, a commander is responsible for the crimes of their subordinates if they fail to take steps to prevent and punish them.
Russian soldiers discussed orders to kill civilians, including children, in intercepted communications published by the Security Service of Ukraine and featured in the documentary.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties and 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told the Kyiv Independent that Russian forces commit wanton violence to terrorize the Ukrainian population and suppress resistance.
On Sept. 1, the first day of school in Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General announced that they are investigating over 3,000 crimes against children committed by Russian forces, from killings and torture to indoctrination.
The first film of the Kyiv Independents War Crimes Investigations Unit, Uprooted, documented Russias abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children, the crime that forms the basis for the International Criminal Courts indictment of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Watch the documentary in English here or read it here.
Top investigative stories
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NGOs help thousands of men evade mobilization by fleeing Ukraine
Almost 400 civil society organizations are helping conscription-age men permanently leave Ukraine and evade mobilization in breach of legislation, according to Lviv-based investigative outlet NGL Media.
Under martial law, in force since Russias full-scale invasion, Ukrainian men aged between 18 and 60 are generally not allowed to leave the country.
Since the full-scale invasion, the Shliakh (Path) system offers an exception to martial law. Its a policy that allows drivers transporting humanitarian aid to leave the country for a limited period of time.
According to the findings of NGL Media, NGOs exploit the system by registering conscription-age men as volunteer drivers, which allows them to leave the country.
The journalist investigation identified 372 organizations that helped 2,248 men flee the country. By analyzing border crossing data, NGL Media found that the men had exceeded the stay that was allowed by their permit.
According to NGL Media, some escapees pay civil society organizations from $3,000 to $5,000 to flee the country, meaning there is a multi-million-dollar black market for mobilization evaders.
The two most prolific organizations identified in the investigation were the Lviv branch of Prosvita, a society for promoting Ukrainian culture, and the local NGO Khlib Teatr (Bread Theatre), between them facilitating 200 mens escape from the country. Neither organization responded to NGL Medias requests for comment.
An investigation by an ad-hoc parliamentary commission found that as of April 2023, almost 19,000 mobilization-age men left Ukraine through the Shliakh system and never returned.
Local and national authorities told NGL Media that the government is contemplating reforms to the Shliakh system, including a possible ban on organizations abusing it.
An earlier investigation by NGL Media showed that some organizations exploited the Shliakh system by registering conscription-age men as volunteers only to help them leave Ukraine for good.
Read the full investigation in Ukrainian here.
Journalists identify Russian occupation officials in Kherson Oblast
Nikcenter, an investigative media outlet in southern Ukraine, identified 20 leading Russian occupation officials in Kherson Oblast.
They include Ukrainian collaborators, Russian officials with a history of corruption, and Russian-appointed officials from occupied Donetsk and Luhansk.
Following the Russian-organized sham election attempting at annexation of then-occupied parts of Kherson Oblast in September 2022, Russia has appointed acting ministers in the occupied region. Ukrainian forces liberated Kherson on Nov. 11, 2022, while the southern part of the Kherson Oblast remains occupied.
On Sept. 8-10 this year, Russia held sham elections to form a regional parliament that will confirm the acting ministers, reports Nikcenter, citing Russian law.
Among the 20 so-called ministers journalists identified is Andrey Alekseenko, a former local Russian official subject to corruption and subordinate abuse allegations.
Since November 2022, he has served as the head of the regional occupation government of the Russia-occupied , based in the seized city of Henichesk, close to the Russian-occupied Crimea.
Six of the 20 so-called ministers are Ukrainian collaborators from Kherson Oblast, according to the journalist investigation. This includes Russia-appointed culture minister Oleksandr Kuzmenko, formerly a director of a Kherson music school.
Kherson OblastMost high-profile collaborators fled when the north part was liberated in November 2021, leaving Russia to appoint nobodies, according to a political scientist quoted by Nikcenter.
Read the full investigation in Ukrainian here.
Journalists identify officials leading Russian drone production in occupied Crimea
Ukrainian journalists from the Center for Investigative Journalism identified the key figures tasked with implementing Russias multi-billion-dollar push for drone production in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Russia allocated more than 300 billion rubles ($3 billion) for the domestic production of drones between 2024-2026.
In July, the Russian occupation government in Crimea ordered the creation of a working group to implement drone production on the occupied peninsula.
The 21-person working group includes Russian officials in the occupation government of Crimea and Ukrainian collaborators, according to the journalist investigation.
The head of the working group is Igor Mikhailichenko, who was part of the Russian airborne forces that illegally annexed Crimea in 2014 and later became the deputy head of occupied Crimea. He is sanctioned by Ukraine but not by the U.S. or EU.
One of the few technical experts in the working group is a representative of Roboavia, a Crimean company with connections to the Russian Defense Ministry, as shown in a previous report of the Center for Investigative Journalism.
Read the full investigation in Ukrainian here.
Impact
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US sanctions top Russian missile producer following media investigation
The U.S. included a top Russian missile producer and key executives in its latest sanctions package following an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Foundation of Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, that showed the companys connection to Russian war crimes.
The investigation, released in February, revealed that Russian missile manufacturer Soyuz, the companys chief designer Mkrtich Okroyan, and his family members who sit on the board were not under sanctions as of February 2023 despite their active support of Russias war.
According to the report, Soyuz is a crucial player in Russias military-industrial complex; it produces engines for Kh-22, Kh-59, and Kalibr missiles, all used in attacks that killed Ukrainian civilians.
The investigation also found that Okroyans 28-year-old daughter, who sits on the Soyuz board, is the registered owner of a 6-million-pound mansion in Surrey, UK, and that the Okroyan family has a raw-material export business based at the mansions address.
In their report, the Anti-Corruption Foundation called for sanctions against the Soyuz company, Okoryan, and his family and for freezing their UK-based assets.
The newest U.S. sanctions package includes other Russian military-industrial companies, dozens of millionaires deemed to be supporting the war against Ukraine, and foreign companies helping Russia evade sanctions.
Meanwhile, in Russia
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Journalists identify companies helping Russian airlines evade sanctions
Companies worldwide, including in the European Union, help Russian airlines acquire spare parts and evade sanctions, according to an investigation by a Russian independent media outlet, iStories.
The EU, the United States, and its allies imposed sanctions on Russian airlines, which operate Western-built aircraft and require parts for maintenance. Still, Russia found a way to circumvent sanctions, according to the investigation.
Russia imported at least $188.7 million of spare parts for Boeing and Airbus planes between March 2022 and March 2023, according to customs data analyzed by iStories.
The UAE, China, and Turkey were the main facilitators of airlines sanction evasion, with almost 90% of parts sold by companies registered in one of the three countries, customs data showed.
According to the journalist investigation, two Russian citizens own one of the largest UAE-based companies selling Western-made parts to Russia. The companys managing director denied the allegations.
Companies based in the Czech Republic and Lithuania also reportedly sold parts that ended up in Russian airlines. The CEO of the Lithuanian company claimed he had been deceived, while the Czech company did not respond to the request for comment.
Facilitating sanctions violations is a criminal offense in the U.S., and legislation is pending to make it a crime in the EU.
The New York Times reported in March 2023 that two Russian businessmen based in the US who helped Russian airlines acquire spare parts were arrested for violating export controls and international money laundering.
Read the full investigation in English here.
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Conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats said that the road to the GOP nomination goes through Iowa.
And Vander Plaats told CNN that evangelical voters are both "appreciative" and "exhausted" of Trump.
Trump recently said the six-week abortion ban in Fla. signed by DeSantis was a "terrible mistake."
While Trump retains a sizable lead in Iowa, the first-in-the-nation voting state for Republicans next year, conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats recently told CNN that the Hawkeye State still has the potential to blunt the former president's momentum.
Evangelicals, perhaps the most critical part of the GOP coalition in the state, are poised to make or break Trump's campaign.
"They are very appreciative of the former president, but they are exhausted as well," Vander Plaats, the president and chief executive of the nonprofit organization The Family Leader, told the network.
"Iowa is tailor-made to upend Trump," he continued. "If he loses Iowa, there's a competitive nomination process. If he wins Iowa, I think it's over."
In March, Vander Plaats told The New York Times that the former president's "character" was on display after suggesting that Republicans underperformed nationally in the 2022 midterm elections because they pushed for far-reaching abortion restrictions.
Vander Plaats has been a key figure in the anti-abortion movement and told The Times at the time that the evangelical bloc had not forgotten about Trump's comments.
"It showed a character thing with Trump that he cast the blame on the pro-life movement," he told the newspaper. "If you're trying to win the Iowa caucuses, I would not put that base under the bus."
Trump during his presidency appointed three conservative Supreme Court jurists Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett who all voted to overturn Roe v. Wade last year, which has endeared him to many anti-abortion voters.
But his most recent comments on abortion might also give evangelicals some pause, as he has sought to muddle the waters on a subject that has tanked many GOP candidates across the country especially among women and suburban voters.
The former president during a Sunday interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" blasted GOP presidential rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state's six-week abortion ban, which he said was a "terrible mistake."
And during that same interview, he said that he would bring together both Democrats and Republicans to enforce an abortion compromise, yet it is unclear how that would happen given the contentious nature of the issue.
DeSantis on Monday blasted Trump's remarks during an interview on Radio Iowa, questioning the former president's anti-abortion credentials.
"I don't know how you can even make the claim that you're somehow pro-life if you're criticizing states for enacting pro-life protections for babies," the governor said. "I think all pro-lifers should know that he's preparing to sell you out."
Read the original article on Business Insider
Iran and the U.S. executed the final steps of a highly complex diplomatic deal that saw five Americans released from an Iranian prison on Monday. The prisoners landed safely on U.S. soil on Tuesday morning after years spent locked away in Tehrans notorious Evin Prison.
President Biden released a statement praising the return of the prisoners and thanking the partners at home and abroad whose efforts led to their release. However, he also reiterated a warning to American citizens about travel restrictions for the Middle Eastern country: I once more remind all Americans of the serious risks of traveling to Iran.
What does the State Department say about travel to Iran?
Iran has been assigned the highest warning level due to the risk of kidnapping and the possibility of getting arrested and jailed. Exercise increased caution due to wrongful detentions, the State Department website says. There is now at least one U.S. national, Shahab Dalili, who the State Department claims is being wrongfully detained.
All Americans should heed those words and have no expectation that their release can be secured if they do not, Biden said about the warning. The U.S. hasnt had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1980, after the Iranian takeover of the American Embassy in November 1979.
Read more on Yahoo News:
A family member embraces freed American Siamak Namazi, after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between the U.S. and Iran, Tuesday at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
How U.S. travel advisories are determined
Travel advisories for American citizens are issued by the State Department in four levels, and an increase in crime, health warnings and civil unrest can cause a countrys risk level to change. The advisories are:
Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions
Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution
Level 3: Reconsider Travel
Level 4: Do Not Travel
What countries are Level 4?
In addition to Iran, there are currently 19 other countries that the State Department advises all American passport holders to avoid visiting.
Russia Level 4: Do Not Travel
The State Department has warned American citizens to avoid traveling to Russia due to the unpredictable consequences of the unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine as well as possible detention and harassment.
The diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Russia is at its lowest point in decades. Last week the Kremlin expelled two American diplomats for keeping in contact with a Russian citizen who it believed was an informant for Washington.
A military parade marks the 78th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War, Russias term for World War II, on Red Square in Moscow on May 9. (Cao Yang/Xinhua via Getty Images)
Niger Level 4: Do Not Travel
American tourists should reconsider travel to Niger over crime, terrorism, and kidnapping, the State Department warns. A coup in August led to political chaos and protests across the capital.
All American citizens were evacuated from the country after the French Embassy in Niamey was attacked by protesters. With the ongoing efforts to overturn constitutional order, there may be increased demonstrations that can lead to civil unrest and government instability, the State Department warns.
South Sudan Level 4: Do Not Travel
Americans are cautioned by the State Department to avoid travel to South Sudan over risks of crime, kidnapping, and armed conflict. Foreign nationals have even been the victims of rape and sexual assault.
Journalists have also been warned about reporting from South Sudan without obtaining the appropriate documentation. Without these documents, reporting is deemed illegal. Journalists regularly report being harassed in South Sudan, and many have been killed while covering the conflict, the State Department writes.
Other countries listed as Level 4 include:
Somalia
Mali
Central African Republic
Burkina Faso
Haiti
Belarus
North Korea
Myanmar
Venezuela
Syria
Libya
Iraq
Afghanistan
Ukraine
Sudan
Yemen
An officer rushed to save a baby creature that was spotted wandering around an Arizona dog park.
A woman found the small tortoise Monday, Sept. 18, in Oro Valley, the local police department said in a Facebook post.
Well, it isnt a puppy, but still cute, police said in the post.
The tortoise roamed into the dog park and couldnt find a way out.
So an officer helped relocate it to a safer area nearby because police said the tortoise was in an unsafe area for it to survive.
Not all calls to our department are emergencies, but all of them are important to someone or something, police said.
There are two native tortoises in Arizona: the Sonoran desert tortoise and the Mojave desert tortoise, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department.
These animals have been protected under Arizona law since 1988, wildlife officials said. Its illegal to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect this animal in any part of the state.
If someone finds an injured tortoise or one in a populated area, they can call the Desert Tortoise Adoption Program at 844-896-5730.
Oro Valley is about 10 miles north of Tucson.
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Palestinian patients carry their belongings on their way back to the Gaza Strip after receiving medical treatment in Israel, near the Erez crossing between Gaza and Israel, in the town of Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. Israel shut down the main personnel crossing between Israel and Gaza to thousands of Palestinian laborers on Tuesday, following a resurgence of violent protests at the Israeli border fence in recent days. (AP Photo/Adel Hana) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) The Israeli military killed a 25-year-old Palestinian along the volatile border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian health officials said, as youths mounted violent protests at the border fence.
Unrest over the past week has escalated tensions and prompted Israel to bar entry to thousands of Palestinian laborers from the impoverished enclave.
Gaza's Health Ministry said one man was killed by Israeli fire during Tuesday's protest. Nine others were wounded, one critically, it said.
The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
The string of protests disrupting weeks of calm at the separation fence comes during a sensitive holiday season in Israel that began with the Jewish new year last week and continues through the Sukkot festival next week.
During Sukkot, large numbers of Jews are expected to visit Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site, revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary. The compound, home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is often a focal point for violence.
Over the last week, dozens of Palestinians burning tires and hurling explosive devices at Israeli soldiers have streamed toward the fence separating Israel from Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent the ruling Hamas militant group from arming itself.
Hamas says youths have organized the protests in response to Israeli provocations. The militant group cites an increase in visits by nationalist Jewish activists to the contested Jerusalem holy site. As long as these provocations continue, the protests will continue, said Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasem.
Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the holy site. The large numbers of visits, along with scenes of some visitors quietly praying, have raised Palestinian fears that Israel is trying to divide or even take over the site.
The week's events recall a bloody protest campaign organized by Hamas in 2018 and 2019 during which over 350 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire. Those protests halted after mediators, including Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations, brokered an unofficial deal in which Israel eased some economic restrictions on Gaza and allowed Qatar to deliver tens of millions of dollars in monthly payments for needy Gaza families and Hamas salaries.
But this month, following a visit by the Qatari envoy to Gaza, the territory's finance ministry announced it would have to slash the salaries of thousands of civil servants by almost half. The Qatari government press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When asked about the reduction in Qatari funds, Ghazi Hamad, a member of the groups political council in Gaza, acknowledged there were problems between Hamas and Qatar, without elaborating. He insisted the issues were simple and solvable." He would not comment on whether Hamas was using the border protests as a pressure tactic to wring concessions out of Israel and Qatar.
In response to the protests, Israel closed Erez crossing, the sole pedestrian passageway out of the enclave into Israel, to the roughly 18,000 Palestinians from Gaza who work in Israel. The jobs in Israel are in great demand, paying up to 10 times as much as similar jobs in Gaza. Unemployment in the territory has hovered at close to 50%.
Israel has begun to grant work permits in recent years to help maintain calm in Gaza. But Israeli officials say the permits are contingent on a quiet security situation. Earlier this month, Israel briefly closed Gaza's main cargo crossing after saying it had discovered explosives in an outgoing shipment of clothing.
For Palestinians like Sami al-Amsi, head of the main labor union in Gaza, the latest closure means the loss of an economic lifeline. This is collective punishment, he said.
People visit the 20th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 17, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
ASEAN leaders attending the ongoing 20th China-ASEAN Expo highlighted the achievements of China-ASEAN cooperation and expressed optimism about China's economic development prospects.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh noted that China's sustained high-speed growth over the past decades has contributed significantly to global economic growth and stability, making it an important driving force for the world economy.
Pham Minh Chinh made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the expo in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China.
"ASEAN countries, including Vietnam, have always appreciated and highly valued China's important contribution to cooperation and common prosperity in the region," he said. He also noted that China has consistently played the role of a responsible major country, acting as a stabilizer of regional economic stability.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative and the 20th anniversary of the China-ASEAN Expo. Official data shows that the bilateral trade volume between China and ASEAN had increased from about 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 975.34 billion U.S. dollars in 2022. China has been the ASEAN bloc's largest trading partner for 14 consecutive years, while ASEAN has been China's largest trading partner for three consecutive years.
At the expo, multiple leaders voiced their commitment to further strengthening cooperation with China to promote their own countries' development and regional economic integration.
Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone noted that Laos-China infrastructure cooperation has yielded tangible results, adding that the China-Laos Railway, in particular, has not only strengthened connectivity between Laos and China but also facilitated economic, trade, investment, and tourism development in the region.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim emphasized the strong and dynamic economic and trade relations between China and ASEAN. He noted that China has long been Malaysia's major export destination, and he anticipates that practical cooperation between Malaysia and China will only strengthen in the future.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet noted that the close relationship between ASEAN and China demonstrates the benefits of enhanced multilateral cooperation.
In the future, ASEAN and China need to deepen cooperation through greater market openness, strengthened connectivity, and enhanced supply chain resilience, Hun Manet said, adding that increased investment and technical cooperation are needed to enable developing countries to benefit from free and multilateral trade.
Homeowners in Jackson County who are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits can start to see relief from rising property tax bills, although not until 2025, under a new program approved by the county legislature Monday.
Legislators had hoped to provide some relief this year, but county staffers said there was too little time to enact a program before tax bills are sent to the printer next month. Legislators worried that rushing the program might result in some people having to repay the county down the road, should those taxpayers be ruled ineligible.
Missouris legislature recently passed a law that gives counties the right to offer property tax credits to older people, regardless of income or need. St. Charles County passed its version last week. Others have, as well.
Under Jackson Countys plan, tax bills would be frozen at the 2024 level for most people 62 and older.
The county crafted its ordinance to limit the credit to people whose primary residence is valued for tax purposes with a market of under $550,000. It only applies to their principal residence and not other real estate they own.
The state set the age floor at those who are eligible for Social Security retirement benefits. The earliest Americans can start collecting those benefits is age 62. But not everyone that age or older is eligible for social security payments, such as some government employees.
Also, those who are eligible do not need to be receiving Social Security benefits to get the property tax credit from Jackson County.
Property owners, particularly retirees on fixed incomes, have been complaining since assessment notices went out late this spring about the possibility that rising property taxes will price them out of their homes.
While admitting some errors, the countys director of assessment says the property values set for tax purposes largely reflect market realities. Real estate prices have been surging and Missouri counties adjust property values every two years, which makes the increases sting all the more.
Some local taxing districts, but not all, are required to roll back their tax levies so that they dont receive a windfall from those rising values. So the final bills might not be a bad as feared.
The county tax lid ordinance takes effect next year, unless a court challenge invalidates any part of the state law that authorized the countys action. If that happens, the county tax credit would be nullified, the countys ordinance says.
But that is not when taxpayers might benefit. The earliest they will see a break is when the bills go out in the fall of 2025. The credit would equal the difference between their 2024 tax bill and the one they would have received in 2025, had they not gotten the tax credit.
That will give taxing districts time to prepare for the impact, although the county did not provide a fiscal note indicating what the impact would be on the multiple taxing districts, of which county government is only a small portion. Among those who will be impacted the most are area school districts.
DaRon McGee, chairman of the county legislature, and legislators Manny Abarca, Megan Marshall and Donna Peyton were members of the Hickman Mills, Kansas City, Lees Summit and Raytown school boards, respectively, until they were elected to the legislature last year.
In a statement issued after passage of the ordinance, McGee wrote: The passage of this ordinance reflects the commitment we have for our constituents throughout the county and our dedication to support and push forward legislation that protects and positively impacts the livelihoods and the day to day life of those in Jackson County.
Abarca and Marshall were also quoted.
The ordinance passed with eight votes and legislator Charlie Franklin abstaining because he said he would benefit due to him being older than 62 and benefit to the tune of thousands of dollars. Three other legislators older than 62 did not recuse themselves.
The 2023 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award will be presented to five women senators from South Carolina Katrina Shealy, Margie Bright Matthews, Mia McLeod , Sandy Senn, and Penry Gustafson who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state.
A special International Profile in Courage Award will honor South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for working to improve relations between their countries despite domestic opposition stemming from historical issues.
Ambassador Caroline Kennedy and her children, Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg, members of the Profile in Courage Award Committee, will present the awards on Oct. 29 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Yoon and Kishida are expected to accept via pre-recorded video message.
This years Profile in Courage Awards honor leaders who took stands of conscience and risked their careers by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing, Kennedy said in a statement. The women of the South Carolina Senate set an example for those seeking justice and individual freedom at all levels of government. President Yoon and PM Kishida are doing the hard work of reconciliation in pursuit of a more peaceful world. All of the honorees demonstrate a commitment to democracy at a time when courage is required.
The women of the South Carolina Senate exemplify courage and cooperation in politics today, Jack Schlossberg said in a statement. Facing intense opposition and personal attacks, Senators Shealy, Matthews, McLeod, Senn, and Gustafson worked together and across the aisle to oppose a total ban on abortion. Their impact extends beyond the state, inspiring Americans everywhere to keep fighting to protect individual rights.
The 2023 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award will be presented to five women Senators from South Carolina Katrina Shealy, Margie Bright Matthews, Mia McLeod, Sandy Senn, and Penry Gustafson who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state.
In a statement, the JFK Library Foundation said the South Carolina senators banded together in an atmosphere of overwhelming polarization.
The only women in the South Carolina Senate three Republican, one Independent, and one Democrat formed an unlikely coalition to protect abortion rights in their state, the foundation said. In April 2023, Senators Katrina Shealy (R), Margie Bright Matthews (D), Mia McLeod (I), Sandy Senn (R), and Penry Gustafson (R) held a two-day filibuster to block a near-total abortion ban in South Carolina.
During the filibuster, each of the five lawmakers took turns describing the complexities of pregnancy and the reproductive system, the dangers of lack of access to contraception, and inadequate privacy laws, according to the foundation.
Senators Bright Matthews and McLeod even publicly shared their deeply personal experiences with the subject on the Senate floor. Their filibuster halted passage of the ban, the statement said.
After their filibuster, the Sister Senators were heckled and harassed by anti-abortion activists, the statement said.
The three Republicans were also met with strong opposition from their own party including censures and promises of primary challenges in 2024. Weeks later, when the governor called the South Carolina legislature into a special session to further curtail abortion rights, the Sister Senators remained in alliance and stood strong in opposition to a measure banning most abortions at the 6th week of pregnancy, the statement said. Despite their efforts, that legislation was eventually passed into law.
Yoon and Kishida will be honored for fostering cooperation between their countries.
FILE - South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 20, 2022 at U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
On Aug. 18, Yoon and Kishida joined President Joe Biden at Camp David to solidify a historic level of trilateral cooperation between the US and two of its most important democratic allies, according to the foundation.
This moment was possible because the leaders of South Korea and Japan have courageously worked to address sensitive historical issues that have prevented close cooperation, the foundation said in a statement.
Despite strong opposition in South Korea, President Yoon began working toward rapprochement with Japan shortly after his election in March 2022, the statement said. Since then, the two leaders have built a strong personal relationship allowing them to resolve difficult historical issues. In March 2023, President Yoon made a bilateral visit to Tokyo, the first by a South Korean leader in 12 years. Two months later, Prime Minister Kishida became the first Japanese Prime Minister in 12 years to make a bilateral visit to South Korea, and in May, he welcomed President Yoon to the G7 meetings hosted by Japan in Hiroshima.
FILE - Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida waves as he visits a port in Wakayama, western Japan on April 15, 2023. (Kyodo News via AP, File)
Both leaders chose a more hopeful future for their countries as opposed to being held captive by the past. The August meeting at Camp David affirmed the progress made between two of Americas closest allies and set the stage for increasing trilateral cooperation with the United States, the statement said.
The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award was created in 1989 to honor President Kennedys commitment and contribution to public service. The award is presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences, according to the foundation.
Previous recipients include former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy; U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi; former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords; former U.S. Senator John McCain; Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee; U.S. Representative John Lewis; and former California State Senator and U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis.
The award is named for President Kennedys 1957 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Profiles in Courage, which recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers, incurring the wrath of constituents or powerful interest groups, by taking principled stands for unpopular positions.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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Journalist Jo Ling Kent joined CBS News in July 2023 as the senior business and technology correspondent for CBS News, where her reporting is featured across all CBS News programs and platforms.
Kent has more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of technology and business in the U.S., as well as the emergence of China as a global economic power. At CBS News, Kent adds to the division's existing reporting on international economics, including everything from personal finance and consumer trends to the Federal Reserve and the World Bank.
During her career, Kent has reported extensively on such critical issues as artificial intelligence's impact on our lives, viral disinformation; social media privacy issues, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global supply chain. She has also led investigations into the conditions of workers at Amazon's warehouses and Facebook's influence on the 2016 elections.
Kent joined CBS News after six years as the business and tech correspondent for all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, where her reporting earned an Edward R. Murrow Award and three Emmy nominations.
From 2013 to 2016, Kent covered major tech companies and startups as a correspondent and podcast host for the Fox Business Network.
Earlier, she was an investigative and general assignment reporter at NBC Connecticut, where she was part of the news team that earned a Peabody for coverage of the Sandy Hook school shooting. She also covered the 2012 presidential race as a campaign embed reporter for NBC News.
Kent began her career in Beijing, China, as a digital reporter in ABC News' Beijing bureau and then as an associate producer at CNN.
Kent speaks Mandarin and was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to China, focused on women's access to legal aid.
She holds two master's degrees in international affairs from the London School of Economics and Peking University and a BA from Rice University. Kent is an active member of the Asian American Journalists Association, a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and currently serves on the board of Libraries Without Borders U.S. and the advisory board of the Very Asian Foundation.
Kent is from Minnetonka, Minn., and is based in Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband and two daughters.
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JoAnne E. Epps, the acting president of Temple University in Philadelphia, has died after falling ill on stage at a memorial service Tuesday afternoon, the school announced.
Epps, 72, had collapsed while attending a memorial service on the campus and was transported to Temple University Hospital, according to the university. She was pronounced dead around 3:15 p.m.
"There are no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss. President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple," the university said in a statement Tuesday. "She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come."
JoAnne Epps, a former Temple law school dean and provost, poses for a portrait on the Temple University campus in Philadelphia, April 11, 2023. Epps, acting president of Temple University, has died after collapsing at a memorial service Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 19, the university said. (Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)
Epps was attending a memorial service at the university for Charles L. Blockson, a curator of a collection of African American artifacts, when she suffered what a doctor speaking at a news conference described as a sudden episode.
Epps was the university's former law school dean from 2008 until she was named as the executive vice president and provost in 2016. Following the resignation of Jason Wingard, Temple's first Black president, Epps was named the acting president in April.
She joined the university 40 years ago and worked at Temple's bookstore, according to Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Temple. Kaiser said she dedicated herself to improving the university.
Kaiser declined to speculate on the cause of Epp's death or about her health.
"We are not aware that President Epps had any health issues," Kaiser said at a news conference.
JoAnne Epps 'loved' Temple University
Epps was a native of Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, and received her bachelor's degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1973. About three years later, she graduated from Yale Law School.
She later served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia and Deputy City Attorney in Los Angeles. Epps then spent more than 30 years teaching law at Temple.
Epps held the position of dean of Temple Law School from July 2008 until her appointment as executive vice president and provost in July 2016.
"Epps was an outspoken advocate for legal education that emphasized institutional responsiveness over a one-size-fits-all curricular model," according to the university's directory.
After the resignation of Wingard in March, where he had led the 33,600-student university since July 2021, Epps was named the acting president.
As acting president, Epps promised to focus on enrollment and safety on the north Philadelphia campus amid a rise of crime and other issues during her predecessors tumultuous tenure.
She told The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported enrollment was down 14% since 2019, that she believed she was selected in part for her ability to sort of calm waters.
I am obviously humbled and excited and really looking forward to being able to make a contribution to the university that I so love, Epps told the newspaper. She said she would not be a candidate for the permanent position.
'Powerful force' for campus community
Temple University Provost Gregory Mandel choked up during the news conference as he remembered and described Epps.
"We are all in deep grief and at a loss for words. To know Joanne is to be her friend," Mandel said. "She was one of the most remarkably compassionate and caring individuals I've ever known."
He added the university's Board of Trustees plans to meet Wednesday to "put together a plan for us as we work through this transition."
The Temple University Police Association expressed their condolences, noting that "Epps served Temple with grace, dignity, and unwavering dedication."
"Our hearts are heavy as we extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and the Temple University community on the passing of President JoAnn Epps," the association said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro described Epps as a "powerful force and constant ambassador" for the university.
"Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia... May her memory be a blessing," he posted on X.
"Speaking at Temple's commencement earlier this year, I reiterated my strong belief in the university and its North Philly community," Shapiro added. "They are tough and resilient, and I know they will come together and lift each other up in this devastating time."
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: JoAnne Epps, Temple University's acting president, dies
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- JoAnne Epps, Temple University's beloved acting president, died on Tuesday, the university said. She was 72 years old.
Epps became ill during a memorial service at Temple for Charles L. Blockson, a curator of the Blockson Collection. She was then taken to Temple University Hospital for further treatment and pronounced dead at around 3:15 p.m., the university said.
"She had an amazing ability to be the calming force in troubled waters and pull everyone together and was a pleasure to work for, made every day coming into work fun and was steering the Temple ship in the right direction," Ken Kaiser, the senior vice president and chief operating officer of Temple, said. "I think it's just a gut punch right now. It's hard."
Dear Members of the Temple Community,
It is with deep heartbreak that we write to inform you that Temple University Acting President JoAnne A. Epps suddenly passed away this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/lvzxcLud9E Temple University (@TempleUniv) September 19, 2023
Temple officials didn't disclose a cause for Epps' death. A doctor from Temple University Hospital said Epps, who first joined Temple's faculty in 1985, suffered a "sudden episode" during the event and resuscitation efforts weren't successful.
Gregory Mandel, the senior vice president and provost at Temple, said the Board of Trustees will meet on Wednesday to put together a plan as the university manages through the transition period.
The university will have a vigil at the Bell Tower at noon on Wednesday to honor Epps.
"We're all in deep grief and at a loss for words. We grieve for JoAnne's family, her friends and our Temple community," said Mandel, who was emotional during the news conference at Temple Hospital.
Mandel said after Epps' sudden passing, he started thinking of memories throughout his time on North Broad. He said Epps was a friend ever since he joined Temple's law faculty in 2007.
"We've worked together in several different capacities over the years," Mandel said. "She's been an extraordinary leader, she's been a mentor for me and many others, she's been a close confidant."
"President Epps represented the best part of the Temple community, devoting nearly 40 years of her life to supporting us, as my colleague Ken said in many different capacities," he added. "We will all get through this. The university has a spectacularly strong community and we will get through this together."
Epps didn't retire and went on to become Temple's acting president in April after Jason Wingard, the university's first Black president, resigned due to her "love for the university," Mandel said.
Epps, a Cheltenham, Pennsylvania native, had several roles at Temple. She was the dean of Temple Beasley School of Law from 2008-16 until she became the university's executive vice president and provost in 2016. Epps was eventually replaced by Mandel as the provost in 2021.
Epps was also an assistant U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia and a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles.
Before Temple named Epps acting president, Wingard's tenure was filled with criticisms from students, faculty and alumni as the university community dealt with crime around campus and the fatal shooting of Temple University Police Sgt. Christopher Fitzgerald.
Wingard's time at Temple lasted less than two years.
The Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP) authorized a vote of no confidence in March for the university's leadership at the end of Wingard's tenure.
Kaiser said "there was a collective sigh" when Epps stepped into the role as acting president.
"I think over last six months, you saw the entire university community pull together, despite all of the ups and downs Temple has faced over this time, everyone was healing and everyone felt great about Temple and happy for JoAnne," Kaiser said.
The university launched a national search for the president shortly after Epps stepped into the role.
After Epps' sudden death, condolences poured in over social media.
"JoAnne Epps was a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades. Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia," Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro posted on X. "May her memory be a blessing."
JoAnne Epps was a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades. Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia.
Lori and I are holding JoAnnes loved ones in our hearts right now. May her memory be a blessing. Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) September 19, 2023
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney also released a statement about Epps passing.
"Heartbroken by the sudden passing of @TempleUniv, Acting President JoAnne A. Epps," Kenney wrote on X. "She was a passionate and steadfast leader who inspired many. I feel fortunate to have known her. My heart is with the Temple community and JoAnne's family and loved ones."
TAUP released a statement in regards to Epps' sudden death:
"The Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP) is deeply saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of Dr. JoAnne Epps. She was a true Temple icon, and her loss is a significant one for our university. Throughout her career at Temple, many of us came to know her as a colleague and as a friend. Her tireless service to our school, as a member of the law school faculty, as Dean of the Beasley School of Law, and then as provost was remarkable. And, when she was ready to retire, she answered the call to serve as our Interim President. "JoAnne's calming presence gave Temple a reset this spring when we needed it the most," notes Jeffrey Doshna, TAUP President. "I remember her walking into my office this April, and chatting with me one-on-one about how we could work together to make Temple a better place. That kind of personal approach makes her loss even more profound." We extend our heartfelt condolences to the Epps family, and the entire Temple University community. As we all grapple with this loss, we honor her legacy by continuing to work to make Temple a more equitable place for all."
Cherelle Parker, the Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor, released a statement about Epps' passing:
"It is with a heavy heart that I write this, having learned of Professor Epps' sudden passing earlier today. The circumstances of her death are tragic, but it will not overshadow the life and legacy of a colossal figure.
"For many people across our city, our region, and our country, Professor Epps was a pioneer in her approach to law. For those of us who walk in the footsteps along the path cut by the Professor Epps of the world, she represented the dream many of us never thought was in reaching distance. Epps was a fierce advocate for women and minorities throughout her career, who saw herself as a vehicle to uplift the students who passed through her classroom. In recognition of her work, she was awarded the 2015 Spirit of Excellence Award by the American Bar Association, the 2015 M. Ashley Dickerson Award by the National Association of Women Lawyers, and the 2014 Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association, to name a few.
"With this news coming on the heels of the passing of another indomitable figure, Dr. Constance E. Clayton, I know many of us are feeling a heavy sense of loss today. There are no words of mine that could possibly lessen the grief that all of the people she touched are feeling, nor can my words do justice to the legacy of this remarkable Black woman. So I will call upon the words of Maya Angelou:
"And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly. Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed."
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John Fetterman employed a classic Homer Simpson meme to troll online conspiracy theorists who falsely claim he uses a body double.
The Pennsylvania senator responded to a post on X from a BBC disinformation reporter who noted there was a community of people online who regularly share images of John Fetterman to figure out whether hes real or has been replaced by a body double.
Senator Guy Incognito (D-PA), Mr Fetterman wrote alongside an image of the Homer Simpson doppelganger of the same name.
Using doctored images and deceptively cropped screenshots, social media users on X, formerly Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and other sites have been spreading baseless claims that the 54-year-old uses a body double.
It looks like John Fetterman no longer has tattoos on his forearms, one wrote on X in a 14 September post.
They sure are getting sloppy with these doubles.
The images, which were edited to hide Mr Fettermans body ink, have gone viral after being amplified by right-wing internet personalities.
The posts claiming Mr Fettermans forearm tattoos had vanished were taken from a clip of him reacting to House Speaker Kevin McCarthys decision to launch an impeachment inquiry of Joe Biden.
Oh my gosh, its devastating, the first-term senator said in a mocking tone while raising his arms when asked about the inquiry.
Bogus online theories that Mr Fetterman was using stand-in reportedly started after he was hospitalised for clinical depression in March, according to an AFP fact check.
John Fetterman takes the stage at an election night party in Pittsburgh in November 2022 (Associated Press)
Mr Fetterman returned to Senate duties in April after a six-week inpatient stay at Walter Reed Hospital.
In recent days, Mr Fetterman has repeatedly mocked Republicans who have taken aim at his trademark attire of hoodies and shorts.
After Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer opted to get rid of the Senate dress code, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis accused Democrats of dumbing down Congress.
I dress like he campaigns, the Pennsylvania senator said in a post on X, ridiculing Mr DeSantis misfiring presidential campaign.
Mr Fetterman told The Independent this week that he was revelling in the partisan attacks.
My favorite one was that Im a revolting slob, he said in an interview with The Independents Eric Garcia.
Mr Fetterman added that the Senate had mush more important matters to focus on than his appearance.
Its just strange why, you know, with everything and the issues that we should be dealing with right now, were worried about how I dress, he said.
Its bizarre.
Senator John Fetterman scoffed when asked about Republican outrage at the Senate changing its dress code to accommodate the Pennyslvania Democrat.
On Sunday, Axios reported that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would get rid of the Senate dress code. Such a change would allow Mr Fetterman, who frequently wears hooded sweatshirts and shorts, to vote on the floor while in his typical outfit.
Immediately, Republicans criticised Mr Fetterman.
Police. Firefighters. Judges. Pilots. They all have uniforms, Sen Mike Lee (R-UT) posted on X, previously known as Twitter. Ours is a suit and tie. We shouldnt abandon it because its more comfortable to wear sweats.
Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) similarly criticised the move.
The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful, she posted. Dress code is one of societys standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!
But speaking to The Independent, Mr Fetterman brushed off the criticism.
Police. Firefighters. Judges. Pilots. They all have uniforms. Ours is a suit and tie. We shouldnt abandon it because its more comfortable to wear sweats. https://t.co/Ij9KOETPJk pic.twitter.com/9z8hP76cUX Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) September 18, 2023
My favorite one was that I'm a revolting slob, he said. And you know, again I'm really enjoying it.
Mr Fetterman, who made a virtue of his grizzled look as he won election last year, told The Independent that the Senate had more important matters to address.
The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful.
Dress code is one of societys standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions.
Stop lowering the bar! Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@RepMTG) September 17, 2023
It's just strange why, you know, with everything and the issues that we should be dealing with right now, we're worried about how I dress, he said. It's bizarre.
Mr Fetterman also addressed Gov Ron DeSantis (R-FL), whose campaign for the Republican nomination for president has lagged in recent months, for saying his actions were disrespectful to the body.
I dress like he campaigns https://t.co/IXgGmIRNb4 John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 18, 2023
I dress like he campaigns, Mr Fetterman posted on X.
Later in the day, Mr Fetterman caught Virginia Sen Tim Kaine (D-VA) in the basement of the Russell Senate Office building where they hugged. Mr Kaine, a longtime Senator and former governor, was not wearing a tie with his suit.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) on Monday mocked Georgia Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene s disgust at the Senate doing away with a dress code requiring that members wear business attire while on the floor.
The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful, Greene had written on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. Dress code is one of societys standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!
After catching wind of her displeasure, Fetterman referenced how she showed explicit images of Hunter Biden to a congressional committee hearing earlier this summera move that Greene herself admitted made her feel uncomfortable.
Thankfully, the nations lower chamber lives by a higher code of conduct: displaying ding-a-ling pics in public hearings, the Pennsylvania senator shot back Monday morning.
Thankfully, the nation's lower chamber lives by a higher code of conduct: displaying ding-a-ling pics in public hearings. https://t.co/a4sLQ7nSBL Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) September 18, 2023
Later that night on MSNBC, Fetterman continued to needle Greene on the topic. Her platform, he claimed, is more and more ding-a-ling in the form of pictures shown in Congress. Im not really sure why she cares how I dress, he told Chris Hayes.
Greene wasnt the only one to cop a snarky reply from Fettermen, with 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who had likewise taken issue with the Senate for dumbing down its dress code, also in his sights. I dress like he campaigns, Fetterman wrote in a post Monday in response to the Florida governors comments.
I dress like he campaigns https://t.co/IXgGmIRNb4 John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 18, 2023
DeSantis let go one-third of his paid campaign staff in July, and last month tapped a new manager amid his struggle to contend with frontrunner Donald Trump. Despite reaching a high of just under 40 percent support among GOP primary voters in February, only about 15 percent of the same group currently backs him, according to FiveThirtyEight.
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) made a sweeping request for more information about the Justice Departments investigation of the presidents son, Hunter Biden , setting a date for an interview with David Weiss, the special counsel on the matter, while demanding a number of documents related to the ongoing investigation.
Jordan is also asking the Justice Department (DOJ) to turn over a series of documents related to two IRS whistleblowers who claimed the investigation was being mismanaged.
The letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, obtained by The Hill, shows the committee is seeking an Oct. 11 interview with Weiss, who previously said he was willing to speak with the panel.
But it also shows the panel requesting interviews with other top DOJ officials mentioned in testimony by the IRS whistleblowers, including U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves and Lesley Wolf, a deputy to Weiss.
The request comes after the two whistleblowers IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler complained the investigation into Hunter Biden was slow-walked, pointing to both Weiss and Wolf as at times hesitant to aggressively pursue the case, which included allegations of several tax crimes.
Shapley also said Graves resisted bringing charges against Biden in Washington, D.C. a claim denied both by his office as well as Weisss.
Jordan also asks for a significant volume of documents tied to the ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden, who was indicted just last week on charges related to failing to acknowledge drug use when seeking to buy a weapon. Its unclear if additional tax charges are forthcoming.
Those documents include a PowerPoint regarding the investigation and any notes or emails related to an Oct. 7 meeting in which Shapley recalled Weiss saying he sought and was denied special counsel status, leaving him unable to pursue charges outside of Delaware.
The letter shows the panel is pulling at new threads about the meeting, including following up on recent testimony provided by FBI agent Thomas Sobocinski, who leads the Baltimore field office and recently told congressional investigators he had no recollection of Weiss claiming he was being blocked from seeking special counsel status.
Sobocinski countered Shapleys recollection of that meeting, echoing Justice Department staff in saying that Weiss had total authority on the case and could seek and be granted special counsel status at any time.
My memory of this is that it was a process or a bureaucracy thing he moves through, not a permission or authority issue, Sobocinski, special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office, said in a transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee.
Approval means, to me, thats more like, Hey, I can say no. I never thought that anybody was there above David Weiss to say no, he added.
Jordan also seeks yet more information about the two whistleblowers, asking for any and all documents or communications that reference the two men, their plans to testify before Congress, the Oct. 7 meeting, and Weisss authority to bring charges against Biden.
Jordan is zeroing in on those who have disagreed with Shapleys account, also asking for all communications between Sobocinski, his deputy Ryeshia Holley and Weiss.
Holley also reportedly said she did not recall Weiss saying he was struggling to get special counsel status.
She also said she did not believe politics played a role in the speed of the investigation, another point made by Sobocinski.
Weiss was elevated to special counsel in August, months after Shapleys May testimony. But the issue remains a focus of the GOP as Garland said Weiss had full authority to bring cases outside his district if desired.
He has been advised that he should get anything he needs, Garland said in March.
The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment. Weisss office also declined to comment.
Updated at 8:47 p.m.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A highly commended image of a sculpture in Lancashire, UK, under the stars.
The Royal Observatory Greenwich in the UK announced the winners of its annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition last week, and the final group of photographers doesnt disappoint. From phantasmal swirls of gas and dust to stupendous shots of our luminous Moonand other moons, toothe images offer a sweeping looks at some of the amazing aspects of our universe.
Its time to behold the universe, in all its dizzying glory.
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The Running Chicken Nebula
The Running Chicken Nebula, rich with color and speckled with stars.
In this image, the Running Chicken Nebula, or IC2944, bursts with colors and won the photo competitions Young category.
Roses Blooming in the Dark: NGC 2337
The Rosette Nebula, seen through a telescope in China.
The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2337) is seen in this highly commended image, taken through a telescope in Changzhou City, China. The nebula is about 130 light-years across and about 5,000 light-years away.
Moon at Nightfall
A timelapse showing the Moon's transit in the night sky.
A timelapse showing the Moons transit in the night sky.
The Moons rise over Dalian, China, was a highly commended image in the Young category. The Moon changes color over the course of its transit, from a deep rusty red to a luminous whitish-yellow.
Lunar Occultation of Mars
Mars is seen beyond the Moon in this shot just before it passes behind our satellite.
Mars is seen beyond the Moon in this shot just before it passes behind our satellite.
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, is a blotch of red beyond the edge of the Moon in this highly commended shot in the Young category.
Blue Spirit Drifting in the Clouds
The Pleiades, a cluster of wisps and stars in the night sky.
The Pleiades vibrantly shine in this image, the runner-up in the Young category. Also known as the Seven Sisters, the Pleiades is a prominent cluster of bright, blue stars located in the constellation Taurus and is visible from Earth with the unaided eye.
The Dark Wolf Fenrir
A molecular cloud that looks a bit like a wolf (or in my opinion, a boar.)
A molecular cloud in the shape of a wolf, hence its nickname: the Wolf Nebula, or the Fenrir Nebula.
New Class of Galactic Nebulae Around the Star YY Hya
A stellar remnant named 'the heart of the Hydra' by the team who observed it.
A stellar remnant named the heart of the Hydra by the team who observed it.
This image, showcasing a galactic nebula from over 100 nights of observation totaling more than 360 hours of exposure, won the Stars & Nebulae category.
LDN 1448 et al.
A molecular cloud, chock-full of gas and dust.
A view of LDN 1448, a molecular cloud crammed with dust, seen in the runner-up image in the Stars & Nebulae category. A molecular cloud is a cold, dense region of space filled with molecular gas, primarily hydrogen, where new stars are often born.
Noctilucent Night
Clouds over Hungary, mirrored in the pond below.
This image was highly commended in the Skyscapes category. It shows noctilucent clouds, reflected on a Hungarian pond.
Grand Cosmic Fireworks
Sprites over the Himalayas.
The winner of the Skyscapes category was this shot of large sprites reaching towards the snow-capped Himalayan mountains. Sprites are large-scale electrical discharges that occur high above thunderstorm clouds, often appearing as reddish-orange luminous flashes. Unlike regular lightning, they are cold plasma phenomena extending vertically into the Earths ionosphere.
Celestial Equator Above First World War Trench Memorial
Vivid streaks of stars above a French war memorial.
Stars above a First World War memorial in France took the runner-up place in the People & Space category.
Zeila
The stranded ship Zeila on the coast of Namibia.
The winner of the People & Space category is this shot of a stranded vessel named Zeila, with the trails of several stars in the sky behind it.
Close Encounters of The Haslingden Kind
A highly commended image showing streaks of stars above a large sculpture in Lancashire.
A mosaic of some 150 images taken at 25-second exposures show the apparent rotation of stars around Polaristhe North Starabove a sculpture in Lancashire.
A Visit to Tycho
The International Space Station with the Moon behind it.
The silhouette of the International Space Station is seen here with the Moons Tycho Crater just below it. Of course, the ISS is in low Earth orbit, but you wouldnt know it from this striking image.
Uranus with Umbriel, Ariel, Miranda, Oberon and Titania
Uranus and Titania, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Oberon.
Uranus and Titania, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Oberon.
A highly commended image showing the planet Uranus (the bright light-blue spot) surrounded by five of its moons. From top to bottom the shot depicts Titania, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Oberon.
Suspended in a Sunbeam
The planet Venus, in the category-winning image.
The planet Venus, in the category-winning image.
The winner in the Planets, Comets & Asteroids category is this shot of Venus seen in infrared, or ultraviolet false color.
Jupiter Close to Opposition
Jupiter, our solar system's largest planet.
Jupiter, our solar systems largest planet.
The runner-up in the Planets, Comets & Asteroids category is this stunning view of Jupiter.
The Great Solar Flare
A solar flare on the Sun.
A highly commended image in the Our Sun category is this shot, which features a massive solar flare on the Suns left-hand side. The flare is about 435,000 miles long (700,000 kilometers).
Dark Star
A photo of the Sun, inverted onto polar coordinates.
The Sun appears dark with a fiery surrounding due to the image being inverted onto polar coordinates. This unique representation earned the shot a runner-up position in the Our Sun category.
A Sun Question
A filament arcing across the Sun's surface.
A filament arcing across the Suns surface.
The winner in the Our Sun category is this shot of a filament on the Suns surface reminiscent of a question mark.
Last Full Moon of the Year Featuring a Colourful Corona During a Close Encounter with Mars
The Moon shines through clouds in Earth's skies.
The Moon shines through clouds in Earths skies.
This winning images shows the last full Moon of 2022, with a lunar corona caused by the moonlights diffraction in Earths atmosphere.
Sundown on the Terminator
Image: Tom Williams
The runner-up image in the Our Moon category was this shot of the 68-mile-wide (109 km-wide) Plato Crater.
Mars-Set
Mars peeking out from behind the Moon.
In this image taken from Cibolo, Texas on December 8, 2022, Mars resembles a shy child during an occultation and won the Our Moon category of the competition.
The Eyes Galaxies
The Eyes, or NGC 4438.
Captured with 30 hours of total exposure, the interacting structures of the two galaxies known as The Eyes in the Virgo Cluster earned this image the runner-up spot in the Galaxies category.
Neighbours
Several galaxies, against a background of countless stars and other galaxies.
This highly commended image in the Galaxies category shows the galaxies NGC 5078, IC879, and NGC 5101. The galaxies almost appear to be lined up for the shot.
Andromeda, Unexpected
The overall winning image, depicting a plasma arc next to the Andromeda Galaxy.
The competitions overall winner is this shot of the Andromeda Galaxy, with a large plasma arc next to it. The plasma arc was not discovered before, but showed up in this image, made from 111 hours of total exposure.
Blinded By the Light
The Sh2-132 complex, near the borders of the constellations Cepheus and Lacerta.
This shot of Sh2-132 won the competitions Sir Patrick Moore Prize for Best Newcomer. Dust and stars swirl together in this part of the sky, in an image that contains about 70 hours of data.
Fire on the Horizon
Aurora over Birdlings Flat, New Zealand.
A highly commended image in the Aurorae category was this shot of the aurora glowing bright pink and yellow.
Circle of Light
A gorgeous photo of the aurora over Norway's Lofoten Islands.
A gorgeous photo of the aurora over Norways Lofoten Islands.
The aurora appears both above and below in this image of the phenomenon over Norways Lofoten Islands, reflected on the ice. This image was the runner-up in the Aurorae category.
Brushstroke
A swath of the aurora above Utsjoki, Finland.
A wisp of neon green in the night sky looks like a brushstroke (hence the images title) in the winning shot for the Aurorae category.
Black Echo
A visualization of the sound of the black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy.
The winning image for the Annie Maunder Prize for Image Innovation is this captivating visualization of sound data from the black hole at the center of the Perseus Galaxy.
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People mingled, bargained, and made deals during the 20th China-ASEAN Expo held at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Sept. 17. [Photo by Yan Bin/China.org.cn]
During the 20th China-ASEAN Expo, business leaders and enterprises actively explored opportunities for economic expansion and enhanced economic integration between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Spanning an impressive area of 102,000 square meters, this year's event featured a foreign exhibition area comprising over 30% of the total space and hosting about 750 foreign enterprises from 45 countries. The expo showcased a wide range of products and services, ranging from artificial intelligence, green building materials and smart homes, high-end manufacturing facilities, electronics and electrical appliances, food products and beverages, handicrafts, and agricultural products, as well as real estate, tourism, and other services.
"The Belt and Road Initiative brings us a big opportunity for development, having our fruits and a lot of local products exported to China as well as other member countries," said Mr. Vikrom Kromadit, chairman of Thailand-China Business Council, at the China-ASEAN Business Leaders Forum and Conference during the expo.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative as well as the 20th anniversary of the founding of China-ASEAN Expo and China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS).
Dr. Francis Chua, permanent honorary president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PCCI), told China.org.cn that the past two decades have witnessed significant progress in China-ASEAN cooperation in trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges. He believes this event will promote more opportunities for ASEAN countries and bring economic growth and more jobs.
Fueled by the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and its favorable policies, such as lower tariff rates and trade barriers, the economic and trade ties between China and ASEAN have grown stronger, benefiting not only the two sides but also the global economy.
Guangxi Construction Engineering Group, a major state-owned enterprise from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has built four sugar refinery factories in Thailand with a daily sugar cane processing ability of 12,000 tons, providing employment opportunities for local residents, according to Li Yanchi, the group's spokesperson at the expo.
Jiang Yufeng, manager of Qingdao Hankel Trading Co., Ltd., an international trade company, told China.org.cn that her company imports dried date palms from Saudi Arabia to sell in China, and they've seen a surge in orders this year alone.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, China is actively advancing negotiations for the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement this year, incorporating new growth points in the digital and green economies, which aims to intensify collaborations between China and the ASEAN countries.
PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. A Kansas judge has issued her final ruling on three Prairie Village petitions aiming to shake up City Hall.
Johnson County District Court Judge Rhonda Mason ruled two of PV Uniteds three petitions cannot go on the ballot.
Bonner Springs receives federal grant to bring affordable housing downtown
Those two petitions include:
One calling for a city ordinance to limit rezoning that would allow more than one family to live on a lot in a single-family residential zoning district.
One calling to adopt a mayor-manager-council form of government. It would reduce the power of the mayor by creating a city manager position and cut the number of city council members from 12 to six.
In her ruling, Mason said the rezoning petition is administrative and, under Kansas law, administrative ordinances are not eligible for the initiative process.
The judge also ruled the adoption petition was not in compliance with state law. Mason said the petition sought to adopt a new form of government and a new city council at the same time, which is against Kansas law.
City says it was in process of firing Overland Park police chief when he resigned
But the court did rule an abandonment petition, to abandon the citys current mayor-council form of government, is eligible to go on a future ballot.
However, the city of Prairie Village cited state law that a city will continue its form of government until the form is changed, which the abandonment petition doesnt do. So even if voters approved it, Prairie Villages city government would continue on as it is now.
And while the court ruled the abandonment petition can go on a future ballot, they wont be included in the upcoming November election.
Earlier this month, Johnson County Election Commissioner Fred Sherman said the petitions didnt meet the countys deadline to be ballot questions in November.
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Due to logistics required to prepare ballots and the need to meet legally mandated deadlines, the election office is now past the point at which it can accept additional items for the November ballot, election officials said in a statement.
The election office said the deadline is in place to make sure it can proof ballots, program and test voting machines, print advance ballots and more.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
The judge in New York prosecutors hush money case against Donald Trump said lawyer Joe Tacopina can continue representing the former president despite the attorneys prior dealings with Stormy Daniels.
Manhattan prosecutors had flagged Tacopinas previous communications with the porn star as a conflict of interest, as she is at the center of their case. But in a letter dated Sept. 1, Judge Juan Merchan disagreed, writing that there is no conflict.
Tacopina welcomed the judges decision.
I have said from Day One there is no conflict, he said in a statement shared with CNNand ABC News. Now the court has said the same.
Clark Brewster, a lawyer for Daniels, told CNN in March he gave the prosecution communications that Daniels had had with Tacopina and others at Tacopinas law firm in 2018 when she was looking for legal counsel. Brewster claimed the exchanges demonstrated Tacopina had access to Daniels confidential information.
While the judge sided with Tacopina, he said he will bring up the issue with the former president early next year.
Nonetheless, in an excess of caution, the Court will revisit this issue with Mr. Trump when he next appears virtually on February 15, 2024, Merchan wrote.
Merchan also accepted Tacopinas offer not to examine Daniels if she is called as a witness by the prosecution.
At the center of the case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a $130,000 payment Daniels received in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election to keep quiet about an alleged affair with Trump years prior. A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump in April on 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump has denied wrongdoing.
The trials start date is currently slated for March 25, but the judge has signaled he is open to changing it given Trumps rapidly evolving trial schedule.
Apart from the Manhattan case, Trump has been indicted three additional times over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, his efforts to undo the 2020 election, and his scheme to overturn Joe Bidens win in Georgia.
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday revoked bail for a police officer accused of murder.
Officer Mark Dial has been charged with first-degree murder over the killing of Eddie Irizarry.
Dial killed Irizarry during a traffic stop, shooting him within seconds of exiting his cruiser, video shows.
PHILADELPHIA A municipal judge on Tuesday ordered a cop facing a first-degree murder charge over a traffic-stop killing to be immediately jailed pending trial, reversing an earlier, unusual decision that allowed officer Mark Dial to remain free on bail.
Dial was charged on September 8 with first-degree murder in the killing of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry after pulling him over in the Kensington neighborhood in August.
Police initially claimed that Irizarry had "lunged" at officers with a knife, but bodycam footage shows that he never left his vehicle and that Dial shot him just seconds after exiting his own police cruiser, gun drawn. Irizarry had been driving the wrong direction down a one-way street.
"The bail in this matter is revoked," Judge Lillian Ransom told a packed courtroom on Tuesday, causing some of Dial's supporters to begin crying; several placed their faces in their hands.
Brian McMonagle, an attorney for the officer, had argued at the hearing that prosecutors had failed to show his client was either a danger to the public or proved that he was likely to be convicted of first-degree murder.
But the office of District Attorney Larry Krasner argued that they are not required to do that at this stage and that the Pennsylvania constitution requires pre-trial detention of people charged with crimes that carry a potential life sentence.
This screen grab taken from the body cam video shows Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial with his weapon drawn at Eddie Irizarry on Aug. 14, 2023 in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Police Department via AP
After Dial turned himself in earlier this month, the police union posted $50,000 to secure his release, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, over prosecutors' objections. An attorney for Dial had argued that he should be eligible for bail, the outlet noted, because an affidavit of probable cause for his arrest had listed the lead offense as voluntary manslaughter, a charge that carries a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.
But Judge Ransom sided with the state on Tuesday, ordering Dial to be immediately detained at the conclusion of hearing. He will be held, for now, at a jail in Philadelphia, she said.
The case against Dial has attracted national attention in part due to how rarely police officers face murder charges related to their actions on the job. Krasner, a self-styled progressive prosecutor, has filed charges against a number of officers for alleged on-duty wrongdoing since first being elected in 2017.
In this case, prosecutors said they were compelled to file a murder charge after video footage contradicted police claims. Released to the public last week, the video shows Dial not Irizarry getting out of his car.
"I will fucking shoot you," Dial says just after exiting his vehicle and before firing a half-dozen shots.
"The video speaks for itself," Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco said at Tuesday's hearing, rejecting defense arguments that prosecutors needed more evidence to show Dial ought to be denied bail. Retacco said that, for prosecutors, a key factor in the charging decision was Dial's apparent eagerness to use deadly force.
"The one that moves [us] most is getting out of your car with your gun already drawn before anyone says anything," she said.
Irizarry had moved to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico, according to his family, and was not proficient in English. An attorney for the family has said that he did have a knife on him, which he used for work, but did not pose a threat to police.
After Dial was charged earlier this month, the Fraternal Order of Police said in a statement that it would be offering its "full support" to Dial, who was suspended from the police force after Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said he refused to cooperate with an internal investigation ("The body-worn camera footage made it very clear that what we initially reported was not actually what happened," she said at a press conference last month).
A preliminary hearing, where prosecutors will formally outline their case against Dial, is scheduled for September 26.
Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com
Read the original article on Insider
The $1.6 billion defamation case Dominion Voting Systems brought against Newsmax following the 2020 presidential election is set to go on trial in late September 2024, a judge ruled, according to a CNN report published Monday.
The voting technology company sued the right-wing network in August 2021, alleging Newsmax deliberately made knowingly false statements regarding the 2020 presidential race and Dominions voting machines to boost its ratings and profits. On the same day, Dominion filed two additional defamation lawsuits against One America News Network and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
Newsmax unsuccessfully tried to get the lawsuit dismissed last year, but the network has continued to deny wrongdoing and expressed confidence that it will ultimately prevail given the strong First Amendment protections provided to ensure free speech and a free press.
In the lawsuit, Dominion said Newsmax spread misinformation because the falsehoods, including the baseless claim that Dominion was created in Venezuela by Hugo Chavez to interfere with elections, attracted Trump s public stamp of approval, attention, and admiration.
In short, this lawsuit is not about Newsmax covering President Trump; it is about Newsmax courting President Trump, by feeding its audience a torrent of lies that supported the false narrative that President Trump won the election, the complaint states.
The case is overseen by Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, who also presided over Dominions suit against Fox News.
Dominion took legal action against Fox News over the networks broadcast of 2020 election lies about the company, but the two sides reached an eleventh-hour settlement for $787.5 million in April, avoiding a public trial that could have been embarrassing for the conservative network.
Prior to the settlement, Davis had declared it was CRYSTAL clear that none of the Statements relating to Dominion about the 2020 election are true, but left the question of whether they meet the legal definition of defamation to the jury.
Newsmax is also facing a lawsuit from Smartmatic USA, another voting machine company, over its 2020 election coverage.
[Source]
Julie Chen Moonves revealed that her departure from CBS daytime talk show The Talk in 2018 was not entirely her choice, saying that she felt stabbed in the back by her team.
Departure from The Talk: While Chen Moonves, 53, previously said she was leaving the show to spend more time at home with my husband and our young son, she revealed that she was actually forced to leave the show in an interview with "Good Morning America" ("GMA") on Monday.
That was a hard time, she told "GMA." I felt stabbed in the back. I was!
Husband's alleged sexual misconduct: Her exit from the CBS daytime show coincided with her husband Les Moonves stepping down as chief executive of the network amid allegations of sexual misconduct by multiple women. The 53-year-old journalist and host publicly supported her husband during that period.
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Newfound faith: The interview with "GMA" was meant to center on Chen Moonves new audio memoir, But First, God, where she speaks about her personal transformation after leaving the show. She attributed her newfound faith to a change in her character, explaining that her faith has allowed her to look at life with a softer heart and with a desire to help others.
I don't know if I couldve reconciled if I didn't have God in my life, Chen Moonves said. But First, God means God before anything and everything. What I hope people get is what I got from starting a personal relationship with God. I want everyone to have that because once Ive started that, I found peace. But most of all, I found hope.
CBS representatives have not commented on Chen Moonves remarks. Despite leaving The Talk, Chen Moonves has never stopped hosting CBS reality mainstay Big Brother. She continues to host the show to this day amid the ongoing 25th season.
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Jury selection is underway for the trial of two Colorado police officers charged in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who begged authorities for mercy as they placed him in a chokehold and injected him with ketamine.
Both Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt appeared at Adams County Court for the start of jury selection on Monday, CBS News reported. They will be the first of five first responders three police officers and two paramedics to go to trial in connection with McClains death. Theyre each facing one count of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, as well as other charges contained in a 32-count indictment handed down by a grand jury in 2021.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
McClain died on Aug. 30, 2019, six days after he was stopped by police officers in Aurora. He had been walking home from a convenience store when he was approached by authorities, who were responding to calls of a suspicious person in the area at the time.
McClain sporting a face covering due to a health condition that caused him to get cold easily had just purchased an iced tea and told officers he was on his way home before they tackled him to the ground, where he would remain for the next 15 minutes.
On two different occasions, authorities placed McClain in a carotid hold, which reduces blood flow to the brain and can cause blackouts. Then, responding paramedics gave him a sedative that officials eventually determined played a key role in his subsequent death.
McClain was not armed at the time, nor did he commit any crimes.
Rosenblatt was fired in 2020 after texting ha ha in response to a picture sent to him by other officers, one of whom appeared to be play-acting a chokehold near a memorial for McClain. Roedema meanwhile has been suspended without pay.
Former Aurora Police officer Nathan Woodyard is slated to go trial next month for his role in the altercation. A trial for former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec is scheduled for November.
McClains death sparked widespread backlash and protests against police brutality. The graphic body footage later released by authorities sparked comparisons to the 2020 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who similarly pleaded for his life amid a confrontation with police before he died.
_____
Much about the recent crash of a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Joint Strike Fighter in South Carolina remains unknown, but some additional details have now emerged thanks to recorded air traffic and first responder radio calls. Video of the site where debris from the jet was found has also now become available. You can read more about what is already known about this mishap in The War Zone's earlier reporting .
https://twitter.com/AlertChannel/status/1704133563384307825
The first word that something had happened came on September 17 after the F-35B's pilot ejected safely. However, the jet was on autopilot and continued on its own for some time in a 'zombie' state. Its transponder was rendered inoperable at some point in the incident, hampering subsequent efforts in the air and on the ground to locate the crash site. The public was encouraged to alert authorities to any information they might have had before the debris field was finally found around a day later.
User @aeroscouting on X, formerly Twitter, shared an audio recording of radio calls on September 17 between Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controllers at Charleston International Airport. Charleston International Airport is collocated with the U.S. military's Joint Base Charleston , which was the focal point for subsequent efforts to find the missing F-35B from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 (VMFAT-501). VMFAT-501 is based at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, also in South Carolina, located to the southwest of Charleston International Airport/Joint Base Charleston.
A stock image of an F-35B assigned to VMFAT-501. USAF
The recording has heavy background noise and portions are entirely unintelligible. However, air traffic controllers can be heard trying to raise military pilots using the callsigns Swede 11 and 12, as well as anyone else in the area flying F-35s.
https://www.twitter.com/aeroscouting/status/1703861559976714479?s=20
Swede 11 appears to have been the callsign of the F-35B that went down over the weekend. Someone can be heard toward the end of the air traffic control recording saying that contact with Swede 11 had been lost and that they would be treated as a "NORDO, "a term for a plane without a functioning radio or that is otherwise not communicating .
X user @ChrisJacksonSC separately shared a recording of local emergency services personnel responding to the incident after the pilot of the doomed F-35B had parachuted down to the ground.
https://twitter.com/ChrisJacksonSC/status/1704006011047051386?s=20
"He's unsure of where his plane crashed," the dispatcher can be heard saying at one point. "Said he just lost it in the weather."
It's unclear whether or not this means that weather was a factor in the incident or that the pilot had simply lost sight of the aircraft as it flew on due to clouds or other ambient conditions. Available weather data does show there was scattered rain in Charleston and areas to the northwest around the time of the mishap.
The dispatcher otherwise makes clear that they are still trying to get more information about the incident at that time.
At one point the dispatcher also relays locational information about a site identified as being approximately "10 miles out from runway one-five." This appears to be a reference to Runway 15 at Charleston International Airport/Joint Base Charleston, which points northwest.
A northwesterly direction would be in line with what is known about the focus of the initial search effort for the plane, which was centered on the Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion areas. Those bodies of water are situated further to the northwest of Charleston International Airport/Joint Base Charleston.
https://twitter.com/TeamCharleston/status/1703541506915668242?s=20
The debris field was subsequently located more to the northeast of Charleston International Airport/Joint Base Charleston, as can be seen in the map below.
A map of South Carolina with North Charleston, where Charleston International Airport/Joint Base Charleston is located, to the south. Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion are seen to the northwest. Bartell Crossroads, the area where the debris field was subsequently located, is seen marked to the northwest. Google Maps
Video that has now emerged of where the debris was located shows damaged trees and disturbed earth. In the available clips, seen at the top of this story and below, no large aircraft components are readily visible and there do not appear to be active recovery operations ongoing. It is unclear whether this reflects the near-total destruction of the jet on or following its impact with the ground, or if more substantial parts might have ended up deeply buried in the ground.
https://twitter.com/TPostMillennial/status/1704124450084471262
An investigation into the incident is ongoing. The Marine Corps' announced yesterday that it had now ordered all of its aviation units to conduct a so-called safety stand-down "to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews." This is common following major mishaps, but the loss of the incident over the weekend is also the third major Marine aircraft accident to occur in the past six weeks.
https://twitter.com/beverstine/status/1703874036202107116
As the formal review of Sunday's crash progresses, more details about this still somewhat mysterious incident are sure to continue to emerge.
Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
Kari Lake speaks at a fundraising event for Trent Staggs U.S. Senate campaign at Siempre in Draper on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Arizonas Kari Lake headlined a Utah fundraiser for Republican Senate candidate Trent Staggs Monday night and spoke of their shared affinity for former President Donald Trump and his America first agenda.
In an interview before the event, Lake spoke to the Deseret News about her own potential candidacy for U.S. Senate, whether she thinks shell be chosen as Trumps running mate and her continuing legal battle over the results of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race.
Around 200 people paid between $250 and $9,900 a plate to hear from Lake and Staggs. The attendees included several state and municipal lawmakers, like Salt Lake City Councilman David Alvord and State School Board member Natalie Cline. Staggs is the current mayor of Riverton.
Staggs and Lake, a former broadcast journalist, both took swipes at Sen. Mitt Romney during their remarks at the fundraiser. Staggs jumped in the Utah Senate race early on, months before Romney announced he was not going to run for reelection, and has staked out a position well to the right of Romney, appearing regularly in conservative media and garnering endorsements from Mark Levin, Charlie Kirk and former ambassador Ric Grenell.
Im thrilled hes an America first Utahn and he loves this country, Lake said of Staggs. He wants to make sure that his community is safe for his children to grow up in and he wants to make sure that we have the liberties that Trent grew up with and I grew up with, so that in future generations our kids and grandkids will have them.
Lake for Senate?
Lakes name has been floated as a potential Republican candidate for Senate in Arizona for the seat currently held by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat-turned-independent, who comes up for reelection in 2024. Sinema has not said whether shell run again.
When asked by the Deseret News whether she wants to run for Senate in Arizona, Lake said she is seriously considering joining the race.
We have a chance to get an America first candidate and an America first senator, and I am seriously giving that thought and Ill probably be making a decision here the next few weeks, she said.
Kari Lake poses for a portrait before speaking at a fundraising event for Trent Staggs U.S. Senate campaign at Siempre in Draper on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Kari Lake on VP rumors
Staggs and Lake have both endorsed former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, and Lake has frequently acted as a surrogate for Trump at campaign events in Iowa, where she was born and raised, and in other places around the country.
Her regular appearances on the campaign trail have led some to suggest she might be chosen as Trumps running mate but Lake called those suggestions a creation of the media.
I dont know that President Trumps floating anybody for VP right now, she said.
The priority right now is to make sure President Trump gets a second term. I know that hes going to pick great people in his cabinet, great people to surround him. Hes figured out whos who by now. And so my goal is to get him in office, Lake said.
Lake files appeal over 2022 election
Lake continues to question the 2022 election results in her narrow loss to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs. She announced on social media Monday she had filed another appeal in her so far unsuccessful efforts to overturn the election.
She was also sued for defamation by an Arizona election official over her statements about the election.
She said she would continue with her cases, and to fight for fair elections, even if she runs for U.S. Senate.
Im a mom, Im a multitasker. I can do more than one thing, she said.
Staggs an America first candidate
Lake said she was backing Staggs for Senate because he is an America first candidate and when asked what policy priorities she sees for an America first candidate, she spoke about immigration securing a border that is wide open, she said less money spent on foreign policy and on the war in Ukraine, re-shoring American manufacturing jobs and fighting crime.
She also mentioned support for Trump.
I think its pretty obvious what America first is its policies that support the interests of this great country, she said.
Kari Lake listens as Trent Staggs speaks at a fundraising event for his U.S. Senate campaign at Siempre in Draper on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News
Lakes first visit to Utah
Lake said it was her first visit to Utah, besides stopping for layovers at the Salt Lake City airport.
She said she bonded with Staggs over coming from large families she is one of nine children, Staggs is one of 10 over their shared dislike of mask mandates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and over his decision to run against Romney.
Headed to Utah! I cant wait to meet some of Americas GREAT Patriots in the Beehive State. See you soon! pic.twitter.com/azfwqK8WdJ Kari Lake (@KariLake) September 18, 2023
At the fundraiser, Staggs criticized Romney on spending, border security and his vote for Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. With Romney out of the race, Staggs also turned some of his criticism toward potential opponents, saying they should have jumped in the race against Romney earlier.
Where have you been? Have you called him out, ever? We did from Day 1, he said.
He said Romney and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would find a favored candidate to run against him. Lets not let it happen.
When asked after the fundraiser whether he was worried that he was running too far to the right in the Utah Republican primary, Staggs said he compared himself to Utahs other senator, Mike Lee, who won reelection last year.
I think Utahns are very conservative, he said. The majority are, especially of the Republican Party who should be represented. I think I would emulate very closely to a Mike Lee. I dont think Ive said anything more radical than what his positions are, frankly, and hes one I want to be able to go back to the Senate and work with.
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Contributing: Gitanjali Poonia
Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, greets the delegates while attending the eighth national congress of the China Disabled Persons' Federation at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2023. China Disabled Persons' Federation opened its eighth national congress in Beijing on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]
China Disabled Persons' Federation opened its eighth national congress in Beijing on Monday.
President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the event with other Party and state leaders including Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, and Cai Qi. Ding Xuexiang delivered a speech at the opening ceremony on behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.
The event, held in the Great Hall of the People, was attended by more than 600 delegates who represent about 85 million people living with disabilities in China.
When Xi and other leaders walked into the venue, warm applause rose among the audience.
In his speech, Ding said the country's programs for people with disabilities have been developing in a vigorous manner under the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.
He said China has achieved on schedule the goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects with not a single person with disabilities being left behind.
Ding stressed efforts to comprehensively implement Xi's important remarks and instructions, adhere to the values of equality, integration and sharing, and focus on the task of advancing common prosperity among people with disabilities to promote the all-round development of the programs for people with disabilities.
He called for joint efforts to create a better and happier life for people with disabilities in the pursuit of Chinese modernization.
Zhang Haidi, chairwoman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, delivered a work report at the event.
Leaders of the Communist Party of China and the state including Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Zhao Leji, Wang Huning, Cai Qi and Ding Xuexiang attend the eighth national congress of the China Disabled Persons' Federation and extend their congratulations to the event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2023. China Disabled Persons' Federation opened its eighth national congress in Beijing on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]
Katy Perry has become the latest star to sell off the rights to her music catalogue.
On Monday (18 September), The Carlyle Group investing firm announced that the Firework singer had sold the rights to her songs and albums released between 2008 and 2020 to Litmus Music for a reported $225m (181m).
According to Deadline and Billboard, the deal includes Perrys five albums released through Capitol Records One of the Boys (2008), Teenage Dream (2010), Prism (2013), Witness (2017) and Smile (2020) which feature 16 multi-platinum singles.
Litmus co-founder and CEO Hank Forsyth said: Katys songs are an essential part of the global cultural fabric. We are so grateful to be working together again with such a trusted partner whose integrity shines in everything that she does.
We believe this is a testament to the teams ability to partner with the worlds top artists. Katys iconic songs have not only achieved outstanding commercial success but have significantly influenced popular culture, said Matt Settle, managing director at Carlyle.
Perry, 38, is among a growing number of artists to sell the master recordings of their back catalogue.
In January, Justin Bieber sold his share of his own music rights to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a reported fee of $200m (162m).
Back in January 2022, it was announced that Bob Dylan had sold the rights to his entire back catalogue to Sony, for an undisclosed amount.
Katy Perry performs during the Coronation Concert on May 7, 2023 (Getty Images)
Reports suggest the deal was worth between 111m and 148m, with Sony also owning the rights to the Blowin in the Wind songwriters multiple future new releases.
Bruce Springsteen also sold his music to Sony in late 2021, in a mammoth deal worth a reported $500m (376m).
Perrys short-lived relationship with Russell Brand is being revisited this week after the British comedian, 48, was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women.
Brand has strongly denied all the very serious allegations made against him, which date back to between 2006 and 2013, and has insisted that his past relationships have been absolutely always consensual.
Perry, 38, has not addressed the allegations against her former husband. However, she has spoken in the past about the circumstances surrounding her split from Brand, and previously revealed that he called time on their relationship over text.
Hes a very smart man, and I was in love with him when I married him, Perry told Vogue in 2013. Lets just say I havent heard from him since he texted me saying he was divorcing me December 31, 2011.
She added: At first when I met him he wanted an equal, and I think a lot of times strong men do want an equal, but then they get that equal and theyre like, I cant handle the equalness, she continued. He didnt like the atmosphere of me being the boss on tour. So that was really hurtful, and it was very controlling, which was upsetting.
I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I cant necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let go and I was like: This isnt because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that.
In the decade-plus since Haitis capital and nearby cities were devastated by a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake, millions of dollars in promised aid remain uncollected, and many of the organizations that said they would help rebuild have left the country.
But at least one philanthropic group continues to work, funneling millions of dollars in grants every year to grassroots, community-based organizations in Haiti in an effort to help them change the trajectory of their local communities.
On Tuesday, that group, U.S. based W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, announced a new initiative that it hopes will not only raise tens of millions in additional money for Haiti, but that will also create pockets of hope in the country.
There is an approach to working in Haiti, which is about building local relationships, understanding the people on the ground, working with them, and giving them the power to make their own decisions about how the money is invested, said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Listening to what they need.
Following Haitis 2010 earthquake, Tabron said Kellogg committed ourselves to Haiti for at least a generation and what that means for us is that we wanted to partner alongside the local organizations, long-term in the country. When we do that, we really are following our values, because we believe that people have the inherent capacity to improve their own lives.
On Tuesday, the W.K Kellogg Foundation announced a $30 million, three-year commitment to invest in efforts by Haiti-based organizations to assist children, families and communities in the volatile country. The announcement, part of its Pockets of Hope campaign, was made at the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 gathering in New York, where more than 2,000 people from a cross-section of industries gathered over two days to discuss issues ranging from climate change to health equity to economic growth and recovery post COVID-19.
Haiti, which once featured prominently at the gathering launched by President Clinton, and shepherded by his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter Chelsea, didnt get much focus this year. However, Kellogg is hoping to change that as it reaches out to philanthropic organizations and reminds them that now more than ever, Haiti needs their help.
Thats what our entire Haiti Pockets of Hope campaign is all about. Its helping investors understand that this work has continuedand there are places to invest now, Tabron said. What we want to do is help to build that local [non-governmental organization] infrastructure and support the collaboration of those organizations so that theyre building a system from the ground up, regardless of whatever the governmental structures may be.
Haiti doesnt just have a political problem the countrys president, Jovenel Moise, was assassinated two years ago and there isnt currently a single elected official its escalating gang violence and kidnappings have led many charities to pull away or pull out altogether. But the needs remain, Tabron said.
Overall, Kellogg is seeking to raise $90 million as part of Pockets of Hope, by encouraging philanthropy groups to support community-led education, health, economic security and other initiatives in Haiti that the foundation has been providing grants for. Companies like the Digicel Foundation, Dunn Family Charitable Foundation and Porticus have together already committed nearly $20 million, outside of Kelloggs $30 million, Tabron said.
To build support for the campaign, Kellogg plans to convene funders, non-profit organizations, members of Haitis diaspora, and other supporters of the country who want to increase investments for Haitian-designed and Haitian-led programs that have the potential to transform entire communities. It has also turned to Garcelle Beauvais , the Haitian-American actress and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and influencer.
What I want people to realize is that Haiti still needs help, Beauvais told the Miami Herald in an interview ahead of the announcement. This initiative is bringing Haiti back to the forefront of everybodys minds and to remind people we still need help.
Beauvais, who was born in Haiti and attended high school in the Miami area, said she understands that people may be hesitant. After all, the news coming out of the country leaves even her feeling overwhelmed, she said. In addition to trying to figure out where the country is headed, there is still the unsettled question from the 2010 earthquake about where promised money went.
We dont know what happened to the money. We dont know where it went, other disasters happened, and then people forgot, Beauvais said. [But] we still need efforts.
She is hoping those efforts will help change the narrative about Haiti by demonstrating that despite the gang violence, kidnappings and multidimensional crises, there are still people in the country doing good work helping their communities.
Ive said this before, when I go to Haiti, and I post beautiful pictures, people always say, thank you for reminding us because we only see the disaster parts. We dont see the beautiful things. We dont see what the local communities are doing, said Beauvais, who last visited Haiti right before the COVID pandemic with her twin sons. And I think thats why this foundation and this campaign is important.
She is supporting Kellogg, the former model added, because its plan for her homeland aligns with who I am, what I want to do. It aligns with how much I love Haiti.
I feel like we have to give back, we have to remember, said Beauvais. And, you know, with my platform, I have all eyes on me in all different areas. And so its important for me to align with things that make sense that, you know, push the narrative that I want to.
Beauvais said what is currently taking place in the country breaks her heart and she doesnt know when the shift is going to happen, so that Haiti can once more thrive. However, she still believes it is possible and with the Kellogg Foundation what we want to do is really give the opportunity so Haitians can thrive again, we deserve that opportunity.
Kellogg currently averages between $10 million and $15 million a year in grant-making to Haiti-based organizations, which number around 80, said Alix Cantave, Kelloggs program officer for Haiti. We dont have a limit, or a floor or ceiling, he added.
In addition to providing support to local organizations, Kellogg is also trying to work with U.S.-based Haitian organizations to see how they can harness their voting power and access to influence policy.
We have to think about how we leverage the diaspora, Cantave said, because that is a powerful force.
School vouchers were already one of the most contentious issues in Texas politics.
The proposal has long pitted the Senate against the House, where Democrats and rural Republicans have formed a firewall against it.
But throw in Attorney General Ken Paxtons impeachment trial and acquittal and the explosive intraparty conflict it has caused in the Capitol and state lawmakers are bracing for an even more epic showdown over the issue this fall.
Gov. Greg Abbott has not announced the date yet, but he has long indicated that he would call lawmakers back to Austin after Paxtons trial to revisit his signature push to let parents use taxpayers dollars to take their kids out of public school.
Getting legislative approval was never going to be easy. The chambers spent months gridlocked on the issue during the regular session. Any kind of deal would likely require delicate negotiations and cooperation between the chambers something that has always been difficult with Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan. Earlier this year, Patrick and Phelan fought bitterly and publicly for months over how to cut property taxes a goal that had near-unanimous support on both sides of the Capitol. School choice has faced opposition from a majority in the House for years, complicating negotiations.
The fights over Paxton have only widened the divide between the two chambers.
After the House voted overwhelmingly to impeach Paxton in May, the Senate decisively acquitted him on all 16 articles of impeachment it considered in the trial. Patrick, effectively the judge, ended the trial by blasting the House for how it handled the impeachment, saying it was rushed and calling for an audit of the Houses spending. Phelan shot back, accusing Patrick of cheating the people of Texas of justice and placing his contempt for the peoples House on full display.
Amid the inter-chamber war, school choice advocates are still hopeful. Mandy Drogin, the top advocate on the issue at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, said Monday she was incredibly optimistic.
I think that while this has been a wild and crazy summer with everything thats happened, I think this is a chance for Texans to unite for good, Drogin said, and well see that here in the special session.
Abbott signaled Monday that he is pressing forward. It was announced he would be a special guest for a school choice tele-town hall Tuesday, and he tweeted that NOW is the time to deliver on the issue.
We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature during the next special session to build on the parent empowerment successes of the regular legislative session and ensure all Texas families have the opportunity to choose the best education path for their children, Abbott spokesperson Renae Eze said in a statement.
The precise timing of the special session remains a mystery. Patrick and lawmakers have publicly discussed October as the anticipated month of the special session, but Abbott has not been even that specific.
After the grueling trial, Republican senators who acted as jurors said they were looking forward to the special session.
I am ready to get back to the important work of representing you, my constituents, in the upcoming special session, Sen. Angela Paxton Ken Paxtons wife wrote in a letter to constituents. Im looking forward to defending critical parental rights, protections, and educational opportunities for all Texas children.
Yet all eyes will be on the House. Republican members there were less talkative Monday, and Phelans office declined to comment for this story.
About a month before the trial, Phelan said in an interview that a special House committee was having some of the most productive conversations that weve had in years regarding education, but school choice was no guarantee. That committee issued a report outlining a possible path forward for vouchers, suggesting a scaled-back approach compared to the legislation debated during the regular session.
Phelan said he was not personally lobbying members one way or another, a continuation of his hands-off approach to the governors top issue of 2023.
But now, Phelans intraparty critics believe he is more cornered than ever to deliver on the issue. Many of the same Republicans who were angered by the Houses impeachment of Paxton are also supportive of school choice.
If Dade Phelan is smart, he is going to pass complete school choice, said Luke Macias, an anti-Phelan Republican strategist. If he doesnt, Macias added, all hes doing is putting his members in an even more difficult position going into March.
Even the Texas GOP, no fan of Phelan, is holding back as it waits to see what comes from the special session. Late last month, before the Paxton trial started, the state party's resolutions committee declined to advance a county party resolution to censure Phelan over school choice and other issues, finding it premature with the special session on the horizon.
One big question that remains is what has changed, if anything, in the Houses attitude toward school choice since May. Drogin suggested Abbotts determination has been on display more and more, and lawmakers now have a budget signed into law that could fund education savings accounts, which would let parents withdraw state funds to pay for private school expenses.
Abbott is expected to continue tying ESAs with education proposals that enjoy broader support, like teacher pay raises.
Democrats say little has changed, citing test votes on the issue during the regular session. In April, the chamber voted 86 to 52 in favor of banning the use of state dollars on voucher-like programs.
I dont have to look at the impeachment to determine the viability of vouchers, said state Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus. Theres clearly not an appetite for vouchers in the House.
Depending on the timing of the special session and any subsequent ones the attitude of the House toward school vouchers could see slight changes compared to the end of the regular legislative session. At least two anti-voucher Republicans Reps. John Raney of Bryan and Four Price of Amarillo have since announced they will not be running for reelection, making them less likely to be swayed by political pressure. And there will be a Nov. 7 special election to fill a vacant seat where one leading GOP candidate is promising to vote for Abbotts agenda.
If we elect the right person, right time, on Nov. 7, then we can have someone down there fighting for us for school choice, the candidate, Brent Money, said during a forum last month.
For now, though, Republicans in both chambers are just grateful to have moved past the impeachment drama.
We did our constitutional duty, its behind us, were excited, in my case, to be back home in North Texas and get back to the peoples businesses, state Sen. Tan Parker, R-Flower Mound, said in a radio interview Monday. We have so many challenges before us that we need to address including, Parker added, tackling education in this special session around the corner.
Disclosure: The Texas Public Policy Foundation has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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Kentucky Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Daniel Cameron (R) reversed his position about adding exceptions to the states near-total abortion ban from a hard No to I would. In news that may or may not be related (but likely definitely is), Cameron is getting heat for his responses on an anti-abortion questionnaire while also trailing incumbent Gov. Andy Beshear (D) in the polls by as much as 10 points, ahead of the election this November.
In a Monday interview with the Tony & Dwight show on NewsRadio 840 WHAS, Cameron changed his tune from his hardline stance of only allowing abortions if the pregnant persons life was at riskthe current state law. If our legislature was to bring legislation before me that provided exceptions for rape and incest, I would sign that legislation, he said at about 11:25 into the interview. Theres no question about that. He also said reports that he would go after birth control were absurd.
Read more
When the Courier-Journal asked about his flip-flop on Monday, following his radio interview, press secretary Courtney Yopp Norris said via email that Daniel Cameron is the pro-life candidate for Governor and supports the Human Life Protection Act. But if the situation in Kentucky were to change and the legislature brought him a bill to add exceptions for rape and incest, he would, of course, sign it. Oh yes, of course.
Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for the Beshear campaign, told the Associated Press in a statement that Cameron made his position on exceptions very clear to voters. Either recent polling numbers have changed Camerons core beliefs, or he is lying to Kentuckians now that he is seven weeks from an election, he said.
Its important to note that rape and incest exceptions are often meaningless in practice, but anti-abortion activists and lawmakers sometimes trot them out to claim theyre being reasonable. Its not a functional difference for abortion seekers, but it is a rhetorical difference on the campaign trail where hes facing headwinds. Beshear is a popular Democratic governor in an otherwise red state: One August poll showed Beshear with a 58% job approval rating, and Cameron underwater at 41%.
In the interview, Cameron also tried to swat away concerns that he believes several forms of birth control are akin to abortionhe signed an endorsement questionnaire earlier this year which said that the birth control pill, shot, and implant cause abortions. On the radio show, he said it was completely absurd that he would go after contraception. I support birth control. I support contraception, he said at the 12:30 mark. Again, this is a smear campaign by Andy Beshear because they know that theyre going to lose this race, and so theyre clinging to and trying to do whatever they can. Projection much?
The election doesnt only have ramifications for abortion and reproductive freedom, the winner could also name a replacement for the ailing Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) if he were to resign before the end of his term in January 2027. And it sure seems like Cameron is feeling the heat and worried that his radical views might lose him the raceand possibly cost the GOP a seat in the Senate.
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The last time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Washington following the Russian invasion of his country, he was invited to speak to a joint meeting of Congress.
His upcoming visit this week to the U.S. Capitol will look more than a bit different.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told HuffPost on Monday that Zelenskyy will meet with a select group of lawmakers and party leaders in a bipartisan setting when he visits the House side of the U.S. Capitol.
Were going to do a bipartisan meeting. A group of members. Hakeems going to have some, Ill have some, based on the committees and stuff, and well do a meeting together, McCarthy said, referring to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Zelenskyy is expected to attend the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York this week and then go to Washington to meet with President Joe Biden . The Washington Post reported he was expected to arrive in the capital on Thursday.
Thursday is currently the last working day of the week in Washington scheduled for House lawmakers. However, with House Republicans wrestling over how to pass legislation keeping the government open past Sept. 30, McCarthy has threatened to hold representatives longer.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) waits for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver his address to a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 21, 2022.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) waits for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to deliver his address to a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 21, 2022.
Still, the change in atmospherics could not be sharper. McCarthy, since taking the gavel from now-speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) when Republicans took control of the chamber, has had one-on-one meetings with the leaders of Italy, the United Kingdom and India when they have visited.
In addition to inviting Zelesnkyy to speak to Congress and make the case for more U.S. aid directly to lawmakers as well as to the American public, Pelosi gifted Zelenskyy with a flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol on the day of his visit, and Zelenskyy gave her a Ukrainian battlefield flag signed by soldiers. The pair also made brief remarks at a photo-op.
But as the war has passed the 18-month mark, there are signs of war fatigue, especially among Republicans. A CNN poll released in early August found 71% of Republicans opposed more aid to Ukraine and 59% thought the U.S. had done enough already to support the country.
Donald Trump, the leader in the Republican presidential primary who is campaigning while out on bail from various indictments, has said publicly he could negotiate a quick end to the war but has in the past suggested Russia be allowed to keep some of the land its occupied, a condition Ukrainians reject.
Zelenskyys visit comes as Congress is mulling whether and how to fulfill Bidens request for about another $20 billion in aid to Ukraine as part of a supplemental spending request also including disaster aid.
McCarthy said Monday his fellow House Republicans were split on the issue and hinted that he may try to tie additional aid, a high priority for the White House, with border enforcement changes sought by House Republicans.
I think theres a number of people who want to make sure its successful there. They also want to make sure the American border is secure, too, he said.
A family of four and their three dogs were found shot dead in their home in a Chicago suburb with the killer or killers now at large.
The bodies of Alberto Rolon, Zoraida Bartolomei and their two children were found on Sunday after family members asked police to carry out a welfare check, Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne said in a press conference on Monday.
Police said that relatives had become concerned when one of the adults failed to turn up for work at 6am on Sunday morning and then didnt respond to phone calls throughout the day.
Officers carried out a welfare check at around 8.43pm at the familys home on the residential 500 block of Concord Avenue in Romeoville.
When police arrived at the home, the four family members were dead from gunshot wounds.
Three dogs were also found shot dead inside the home.
The names and ages of the children have not yet been released.
In a statement, police said that the killings are believed to have happened between 9pm on Saturday evening and 5am on Sunday morning.
Deputy Chief Burne said that investigators had ruled out a murder-suicide, with the perpetrator or perpetrator unknown at this time.
We do not believe the offender is among the victims, he said during the press conference. It is not a murder-suicide.
Despite concerns that the killer is out there, police said they do not feel the need to lock down the area.
Due to the timeframe that has gone by more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted we are not asking anybody to shelter in place, we are not actively looking for anybody in the area, said Deputy Chief Burne.
Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne confirmed in a press conference on Monday that they are not treating this as a murder-suicide (NBC Chicago)
Currently, no further information about the killer is known, with locals voicing concerns that such a tragedy could unfold in what they thought was a peaceful residential area.
Lynn Phillips, who lives one door down from the familys home, told The Chicago Sun Times that it was devastating.
Ive been crying on and off all day. It was a mom and dad and a couple of kids. The parents would be outside working the yard, and wed wave hi and bye, that kind of thing. Nothing unusual. We all keep to ourselves, the neighbour said.
Cristina Ibarra, who has lived in the residential community for three years, told the paper that it is very unusual for police to even patrol the area because the streets are usually so quiet.
Its sad because its your neighborhood and its usually quiet, and then this happens, Ms Ibarra said. Its very sad.
Police said that the investigation is in the early stages, so further details will not yet be released due to the sensitivity of the case.
By Juliette Jabkhiro and Noemie Olive
PARIS (Reuters) -Britain's King Charles arrived in France on Wednesday for a three-day state visit, during which he and President Emmanuel Macron will hope to build on symbolism and personal bonds to turn the page on years of rocky relations between the two nations.
The king and his wife, Queen Camilla, were the guests of honour at a state dinner in the 17th-century Versailles palace, where blue lobster and a selection of French and English cheeses were on the menu.
"Despite Brexit and because our ties are so old, I know that we will continue to write together part of our continent's history," Macron said in a toast.
More than 150 guests were invited to the banquet at the sumptuous palace, including British actor Hugh Grant, rock star Mick Jagger, French billionaire Bernard Arnault and former Arsenal football coach Arsene Wenger.
Earlier, Charles and Camilla were greeted on arrival at Paris' Orly airport by French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, before heading to a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, where they paid tribute to French and British soldiers who died in two world wars.
They then drove down the Champs-Elysees avenue in a French DS car, waving at the thin crowds that had gathered along the tree-lined boulevard. At one point, Charles and Macron stood up through the open roof of the car to wave.
"I like the royal family, because it's something out of reach, it makes you dream, they have a special status. And also for the gossip!" said Rozalie Zackova, a 28-year-old Czech who works in marketing in Paris.
The visit comes as French and British citizens feel the pinch of inflation at multi-decade highs, and the dinner at Versailles, a symbol of privilege, has been criticised by some as insensitive.
"The French complain all the time, anyway," shrugged Marie-Noelle Ahanso, a 62-year-old employee, whose only complaint was that Charles was not driving down the Champs-Elysees in a carriage - which she said would have allowed well-wishers to see him better.
On Thursday, Charles, Camilla, Macron and his wife Brigitte will visit the Notre-Dame cathedral to view restoration works following a massive blaze in 2019 that destroyed its roof.
Charles and Camilla will then head to the southwestern city of Bordeaux on Friday, where excursions will include a visit to an organic vineyard.
The king, a fluent French speaker like his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth, is keen to walk in her footsteps and referred to Elizabeth's deep affection for France, with the trip also being a chance to rebuild ties that have been frayed by Britain's chaotic exit from the EU in 2020.
"We must reinvigorate our friendship so that it is up to the challenges of the 21st century," Charles said in a toast at the banquet.
'ENTENTE RENEWED'
"He's an authentic francophile," Adelaide de Clermont-Tonnerre, editor-in-chief of French celebrity magazine Point de Vue, told Reuters. "His mother was an icon, she had become Europe's grandmother. Charles had a more polarising life."
Charles had hoped for a state visit to France to have been his first as king, but a March trip was postponed due to tense protests in France over pension reforms, much to Macron's embarrassment.
On their second attempt at meeting in France, the 74-year-old king and the 45-year-old president set out to build on a relationship already bolstered by their communications over Notre-Dame. Charles had written to Macron when the cathedral burnt down, and the pair also share interests in climate and heritage, royal aides and royal watchers said.
"They're both intellectuals, erudite men," Clermont-Tonnerre said. "And they both had to impose an unconventional, much-decried love story."
Camilla, 76, Charles's second wife after the much-loved and popular Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997, will launch a new book prize in Paris with the French president's wife.
The warm words, visits and symbolic gestures come after several tense years over the negotiation of Britain's exit in 2020 from the European Union, and after that, rows over issues ranging from immigration to the sale of submarines.
Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss once said the jury was out on whether France was a friend or foe, before settling on calling it a friend last year. Her successor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, visited France in March to kick off what he called an "entente renewed".
Still, some Parisians remained sceptical about the visit.
"He's just the son, they are old already, we don't have a long history," said 88-year-old Mireille Mauve.
Fifteen-year-old Alexia Aubert said: "I think since Elizabeth died, the royal family isn't as important as it was."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Michel Rose, Noemie Olive, Juliette Jabkhiro and Louise Dalmasso in Paris, Michael Holden in London; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Alex Richardson and Marguerita Choy)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency session of parliament on Monday that the countrys intelligence agencies are investigating credible allegations that the June killing of a prominent Canadian Sikh activist is linked to agents of the government of India.
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, Trudeau told lawmakers.
Trudeaus announcement was followed by the expulsion of the chief of Indias intelligence agency in Canada. Today were acting by expelling a key diplomat, but we will get to the bottom of this, foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly said.
Indias foreign ministry released a statement on Tuesday morning describing the allegations as absurd and said it was expelling an unnamed Canadian senior diplomat in retaliation.
Heres what to know about the murder, the Sikh separatist movement, and how its affecting India-Canada relations.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in his truck on June 18, 2023, by two masked men in front of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia.
The 45-year-old, who migrated to Canada in the 1990s, was a strong advocate for the Khalistan movement, which calls for a separate homeland for the ethnoreligious Sikh communitywhich makes up less than 2% of the countrys populationin Indias Punjab region. At the height of an insurgency in the 1980s and 1990s, tens of thousands were killed amid armed violence between Khalistan supporters and the Indian army.
Mourners carry the casket of Sikh community leader and temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar during a day-long funeral service for him in Surrey, British Columbia, June 25, 2023. Darryl DyckThe Canadian Press/AP
Support for the Khalistan movement has continued to reverberate in diaspora communities around the world. In Canada, which houses the largest Sikh population outside of Punjab, separatist protests sometimes take place in front of Indian diplomatic missionsa move that has triggered statements of concern from the Indian government.
Authorities in India, where Hindu nationalism has been on the rise, are known to fiercely hunt down Sikh separatists. In March, they went as far as restricting internet services for some 30 million people to hunt down another Sikh leader who supported the Khalistan movement.
Read More: India's Manhunt for a Hardline Sikh Leader Leads to Internet Shutdowns and Global Protests
Indian authorities had similarly labeled Nijjar a terrorist, and he was wanted by Indias National Investigation Agency for his alleged connection with the murder of a Hindu priest in Punjaba charge that Nijjars supporters have denied.
Canadian media reported in June that Nijjar had been warned by gang members and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that he was being targeted by professional assassins. Canadian investigators said last month that theyd identified three suspects in Nijjars murder, but no arrests have been made yet.
How is the assassination dividing Canada and India?
Earlier this month, Trudeau brought Nijjars murder up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi, he said on Monday, adding that he had urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
Meanwhile, India continues to view Sikh activists as a threat to its national security. After the two leaders G20 meeting, Indias foreign ministry said in a statement that Modi had in turn expressed to Trudeau his concern about anti-Indian protests in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship," the statement said.
The bilateral tensions appear to have trickled into other diplomatic engagementsmost notably the on-again, off-again trade talks that the two countries have held since 2010.
Last week, Canada announced that a visit to India by its trade minister scheduled for October would be postponed, without specifying the reason for the delay. The announcement came after both countries said they had paused trade talks with each other, months after they had agreed to sign an initial agreement to increase bilateral trade and investment by this year.
Trudeaus public announcement on Monday has only heightened tensions, with Canadian authorities vowing to hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice.
Joly, the foreign affairs minister, also said that Trudeau has raised the issue with President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Neither of the governments have commented on the matter.
Trudeaus announcement on Monday was met with support from lawmakers across the spectrum as well as from the Sikh community in Canadaincluding opposition leader Jagmeet Singh, the head of the New Democrat Party, who's also Sikh. To hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined, Singh said.
Today, the Prime Minister of Canada has publicly said what Sikhs in Canada have known for decadesIndia actively targets Sikhs in Canada, said the president of the World Sikh Organization of Canada in a statement published on Monday.
Several other Canadian Sikhs are also understood to be under threat by India and on so-called hit lists, the statement added.
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre said that Canadian citizens must be safe from extrajudicial killings and called on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as murder investigations continue.
In response to Trudeaus claims, India reiterated in its foreign ministry statement on Tuesday that Khalistani terrorists and extremists residing in Canada pose a threat to Indias sovereignty. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
FILE - A United States Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II takes part in an aerial display during the Singapore Airshow 2022 at Changi Exhibition Centre in Singapore, Feb. 15, 2022. A Marine Corps pilot safely ejected from a fighter jet over South Carolina and the search for his missing aircraft was focused on two lakes near North Charleston. Military officials say the pilot parachuted safely into a North Charleston neighborhood Sunday Sept. 17, 2023. He was taken to a hospital and was in stable condition. The pilot's name has not been released. A search for the missing F-35 was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, which are north of North Charleston. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah file) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) The crash of an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in South Carolina over the weekend has raised numerous questions about what prompted the pilot to eject and how the $100 million warplane was able to keep flying pilotless for 60 miles (100 kilometers) before crashing.
Heres what is known about the modern warplane and its latest incident:
FORCED TO EJECT
A U.S. Marine Corps pilot was flying a single-seat F-35B fighter jet on Sunday when the pilot experienced a malfunction and was forced to eject, a Marine Corps official who was not authorized to speak publicly said on condition of anonymity. The aircraft was only at an altitude of about 1,000 feet (300 meters) and only about a mile (less than 2 kilometers) north of Charleston International Airport, in a populated area that led the pilot to parachute into a residential backyard.
The Marine Corps' variant of the F-35 is different from the Air Force and Navy versions in that it can take off and land like a helicopter which allows it to operate on amphibious assault ships. But it's also different in that it's the only one of the three variants that has an auto-eject function on its ejection seat, according to seat manufacturer Martin-Baker. That has raised questions as to whether the malfunction the pilot experienced was the seat itself.
On the Air Force and Navy versions, the pilot has to initiate the ejection, said Dan Grazier, a former Marine Corps captain and the senior defense policy fellow at the Project on Government Oversight, but the Marine version's auto-eject is intended to better protect the pilot in case something goes wrong with the aircraft when it's in hover mode. Was that function triggered for some reason, and punched the pilot out?" Grazier said. There's a lot of unanswered questions.
Last December, an F-35B that had not yet been delivered to the Marine Corps crashed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas. The jet had been in hover mode over the airfield and began to drop, hit the runway and bounced before the pilot was ejected into the air.
In July 2022, the Air Force temporarily grounded its F-35s over ejection seat concerns. While the Air Force F-35A does not have an auto-eject function, some of the cartridges that initiate the ejection in the warplane were found to have issues, leading to the grounding.
At the time, all F-35 ejection seats, including the Navy and Marine Corps variants, were inspected, and the continue to be looked at during standard maintenance on the aircraft, the F-35 Joint Program Office said in a statement to The Associated Press.
THE AIRCRAFT KEPT FLYING
Other major questions include how the aircraft continued flying for 60 miles before crashing in a field near Indiantown, South Carolina, and why the pilot bailed out if the bailout was intentional of a plane that was able to keep operating for that long, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps Reserves colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Security.
If it flew that far, could (the pilot) have landed it someplace why punch out where he did? Cancian asked.
The search for the aircraft lasted more than a day before the debris was ultimately located Monday by a South Carolina law enforcement helicopter.
A Marine Corps official said he could not provide any additional details on why it took so long to find the jet, citing the ongoing investigation. Jeremy Huggins, a spokesperson at Joint Base Charleston, told NBC News that the jet was flying in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected from the aircraft. Once it was located, a Marine Corps team was dispatched to secure the wreckage and a second team, one that conducts aircraft mishap investigations, was sent to the site.
FIGHTER JET OF THE FUTURE
The Lockheed Martin-produced F-35 Lightning Joint Strike Fighter is the most advanced fighter jet in the U.S. arsenal, with more than 972 warplanes already built and plans to produce more than 3,500 globally. The Defense Department is counting on it serving for decades as the primary fighter both for the U.S. and a host of allied partners, much like the role the F-16 Flying Falcon was designed to fill decades ago.
The jet represents so much of the future of the country's airpower, Cancian said.
It was almost 22 years ago that Lockheed won the contract to build the F-35. It created three variants the Air Force's F-35A, which is the most produced version and the one most often sold to allies; the Marine Corps F-35B, which has the ability to take off and land vertically, and hover like a helicopter; and the Navy's F-35C, which can land on a carrier.
Lockheed Martin has delivered 190 F-35B variants to the Marine Corps, at a cost of about $100 million each.
The program, however, has faced significant cost overruns and production delays, and its final price tag now tops an estimated $1.7 trillion. While many of the aircraft have been built, the program is already looking at replacing the F-35 engine.
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, attends activities marking this year's Science Popularization Day at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 18, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has called for continuous efforts on science popularization to improve the scientific literacy of the public, and to make new contributions to achieving high-quality self-reliance and strength in science and technology while advancing Chinese modernization.
Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks on Monday while attending activities marking this year's Science Popularization Day.
Cai urged social organizations and professionals in the field of science and technology to focus their work on the country's most fundamental interests and shoulder the responsibility of giving full play to the basic role of science popularization in pursuing innovation-driven development.
He also encouraged teenagers to aim high in sci-tech innovation and make their contributions to achieving high-quality self-reliance and strength in science and technology at an early date.
Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, also participated in the event.
China has observed Science Popularization Day for 20 consecutive years. This year's event is themed around "improving public scientific literacy to bolster self-reliance and strength in science and technology."
Knox County commissioners advanced a resolution from Rhonda Lee that would "express the commission's commitment to protecting the innocence of children." Lee said the purpose of the resolution is for the body to make a statement, not to dictate what residents can and can't do.
"It doesn't do anything to change the crime," Lee said.
The resolution says that children's exposure to sexualized behavior could cause them to "act out with other children at home or school." While it does list statistics about sexual assault and human trafficking, it doesn't explicitly say what "sexualized behaviors" Lee is referring to.
"There's not a list of activities we're (prohibiting or endorsing)," Lee, the District 7 commissioner in the north part of the county, said at the Sept. 18 meeting.
Commissioner Larsen Jay questioned Lee's intent and whether the resolution was a precursor to restricting library programs or dictating what the county health department can and can't do. Lee said that was not her intention.
Jay referenced a resolution in Ottawa County, Michigan, with the same language as Lee's. That resolution was passed this summer as a direct response to that county's health department participating in an LGBTQ+ pride event.
The only vote against the resolution was from Courtney Durrett, who said she obviously was against the sexualization of children, but was concerned the resolution was a gateway to other policies.
Commissioner Kyle Ward was not at the meeting.
The original version of Lee's resolution banned county resources from being used for activities or events that "support, normalize or encourage the sexualization of children and youth." It didn't describe what potentially problematic events would look like or enumerate what those elements could include.
That section was removed before the meeting, but the rest of it stayed intact.
Knox County Deputy Law Director Michael Moyers said the wording was changed because the law office wanted the resolution to be aspirational, not directive. The section effectively directed the mayor how to write his budget. Commissioner John Schoonmaker said he was concerned with the original version, but is more comfortable with the funding directive removed.
The county commission will meet again Sept. 25 to vote on the resolution.
Allie Feinberg reports on politics. Email: allie.feinberg@knoxnews.com.
Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox County Commission advances resolution on 'innocence of children'
The Bureau of Economic Security (BES) assures that it is not preventing the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) detectives from carrying out their pre-trial investigation into businessman Ihor Kolomoisky and has "fully satisfied the request" of anti-corruption activists to conduct investigative procedural actions with the suspect.
Source: BES in a response to an information request of Ukrainska Pravda
Details: BES explains that "a pre-trial investigation in respect of one person may be carried out by several law enforcement agencies within the jurisdiction established by law".
Thus, in the criminal proceedings referred to in the request, BES and NABU detectives can conduct pre-trial investigations independently of each other, the bureau said in its response to UP.
In order not to lead to further loss of evidence and undue influence on witnesses, victims or suspects and to prevent information leakage, the agencies do not exchange information, data and evidence obtained during the investigation, BES also points out.
At the same time, it emphasises that BES detectives informed Kolomoisky of suspicion of fraud and money laundering "in the interests of the investigation and with sufficient evidence".
Quote from BES: "We would like to draw your attention to the fact that the BES detectives investigation and the preventive measure imposed on Kolomoiskyi in no way prevent NABU detectives from conducting a pre-trial investigation.
For its part, BES fully satisfied NABU's request to conduct investigative (procedural) actions with the participation of the suspect.
We also inform you that the Bureau of Economic Security of Ukraine has not received any information about meetings in the Office of the President regarding criminal proceedings against Ihor Kolomoisky."
Background:
On 2 September, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the Bureau of Economic Security and the Prosecutor General's Office served oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi with a notice of suspicion under articles 190 and 209 of the Criminal Code: fraud and legalisation (laundering) of the proceeds of crime.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv imposed on the oligarch a 60-day custodial sentence with the possibility of bail in the amount of almost UAH 510 million [about US$13.9 million].
On 7 September, NABU and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office served Kolomoiskyi and five other likely accomplices with a notice of suspicion of misappropriation of over UAH 9.2 billion [about US$250 million] of PrivatBank's funds.
On 15 September, the court increased the amount of bail for businessman Ihor Kolomoiskyi from just under UAH 510 million to UAH 3.891 billion [about US$185.76 million].
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When wildfires ravaged Maui in August, homes and businesses were charred in the historic town of Lahaina including the town's famed banyan tree. But the singed tree remained standing, and has shown a new sign of hope: New green leaves sprouting among the dead.
The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) shared a video of the sign of life on Sept. 13. The department said last month that while it didn't seem like the 150-year-old tree was showing signs of life, it was.
Since the fires, tankers of water had been dumping hundreds of gallons of water on the tree every few hours. The extra care by arborists, landscapers and other volunteers finally yielded results, landscape contractor Chris Imonti said.
New green leaves are sprouting from Lahaina's 150-year-old banyan tree, which was singed by the wildfires in Maui in August. / Credit: Hawaii DNLR
"We did root samples last week and we had very good news as far as new life in the roots," Imonti said in a statement on Aug. 31. "A lot of new roots shooting off."
They formed a banyan tree hui or conference unofficially lead by arborist Steve Nimz, who measured the growth rate of the tree using sensors, Imonti said.
They also used "compost tea," a mix of natural ingredients formulated by Imonti that was shot into the ground and tree. Alfalfa, a flowering legume plant, was also placed around the tree as an experiment to see if the nutrients in the plant would help restore it.
The iconic 60-foot banyan tree is seen in Lahaina after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town several days ago, in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, U.S. August 10, 2023. / Credit: MARCO GARCIA / REUTERS
Lahaina, which was once Hawaii's capital, was home to many historic buildings. The 60-foot banyan tree was originally planted in 1873 by Sheriff William Owen Smith to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission to the town, which is part of Lahaina's rich history.
The tree became a tourist attraction where many people held parties and even got engaged. Now, it's a symbol of hope.
"I've been here for years and years so, like many others, I have a personal attachment to the tree," Imonti said. "To me, it's a symbol of hope. We're taking it to heart to try to bring back the tree, to give some hope to Lahaina. We don't know what's down the line, but I think it's going to be a new beginning for everybody."
The great banyan tree on Lahaina Town's historic Front Street in February 2018. The iconic tree was scorched by a wildfire Aug. 8, 2023. / Credit: Jennifer McDermott / AP
The devastating wildfires left at least 97 people dead, 74 of whom have been identified, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced last week. Another 31 people are still missing.
West Maui will open in October, and the governor called on visitors to travel to the island.
"You will be helping our people heal," Green told "CBS Mornings" on Tuesday. "After October 8, if you could come to Hawaii and really help fortify us, because it's been a very tough time," he added.
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The teenager who shot and killed another student at Lamar High School in Arlington on March 20 raised himself, his defense attorneys told jurors in opening statements at his disposition, or sentencing, trial Tuesday in Tarrant County Juvenile Court.
After Tarrant County Assistant Criminal District Attorney Lee Sorrells told jurors that prosecutors are asking for the 40-year maximum sentence for a juvenile who has been found guilty of capital murder, defense attorney Frank Adler said the defense would not be asking for the minimum sentence of no punishment.
He deserves to be punished, Adler told the jurors. And its a big ask that were asking the 12 of you to punish him.
Both Sorrells and Adler agreed that video and photo evidence that will be presented to jurors throughout the trial would be hard to watch.
Theres nothing more terrible or terrifying for a kid than sitting there at a school, and then getting shot, Sorrells said. Getting killed.
JaShawn Poirier, 16, was fatally shot and another student was wounded. The shooter, who was 15 at the time of the killing, pleaded true, or guilty, last week to one count of capital murder and three counts of attempted capital murder.
A memorial was held at Lamar High School on April 28, 2023, honoring JaShawn Poirier. He was fatally shot outside of the school on March 20, 2023.
After opening statements Tuesday for the sentencing, Sorrells called the teenage girl who survived the shooting but was wounded and scarred to the witness stand. He then showed the jury a video of the morning of the shooting. In the video, students sitting on the steps outside the school before classes started the morning of March 20 are seen fleeing after shots are fired.
In another angle of the video, jurors could see clearly Poirier collapse and then remain on the ground after the shots were fired.
The injured girl testified that she hid behind a pillar with a large group of other students, seeking safety, but shrapnel from the gunmans shotgun hit her in the face.
The teen who committed the shooting came into court Tuesday wearing his corrections uniform, leading to advice from Juvenile Court Judge Alex Kims that he should consider wearing civilian clothes. The judge made sure the teen knew about his right to wear civilian clothing and asked a series of questions about why he was wearing the beige uniform issued by the jail, to which he responded that it was voluntary.
The judge also told the teen he had a right to change into civilian clothes during any normal break before further warning him that the clothes he decides to wear could impact the way the jury views him, saying it could create sympathy or cast him in a negative light.
An Arlington police officer was called to the stand to tell jurors about how he was responding to the scene when he saw the teen who committed the shooting. When the shooter, walking near the intersection of Lamar Boulevard and Cooper Street, saw the officer turning around to stop him, he began running, the officer testified.
As he ran, the officer said, the teen dropped the backpack he was carrying which contained the shotgun used in the killing.
Attorneys for the defense did not ask any cross-examination questions before the court recessed for a mid-morning break around 10:30 a.m.
The trial is expected to run through Thursday.
On Monday, attorneys for the state and defense questioned potential jurors about their backgrounds, their biases, and whether they could ever imagine themselves handing up the maximum sentence of 40 years or the minimum sentence of no disposition, meaning no time on probation or behind bars.
During jury selection before the panel was reduced to the final 12 jurors and two alternates, at least nine of the potential jurors told Kim they didnt think they could be fair and impartial, or only consider evidence presented in court during jury deliberations, because of news coverage theyd read or heard or news they knew about secondhand before the trial.
The case has been high profile since the shooting happened in March, along with other shootings at schools in Tarrant County in recent months and years.
Threats of shootings continued at the start of the new school year in the Fort Worth area, like on Sept. 8 when authorities say a 15-year-old made a threat on social media that led to a lockdown at Western Hills High School. That teen has been charged with making a terroristic threat.
Another student was arrested in August after making threats against Arlington schools. Police investigated each incident but said no credible threats were found.
And earlier this year, Timothy Simpkins, 19, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and a $6,000 fine for attempted capital murder at Timberview High School in Mansfield. That shooting happened in October 2021.
A big opportunity has landed on the real estate market in Alabama, and its one of the largest in the state.
For a price.
This is BIG acres and a BIG price, a news release on the property says. A 4,300-acre Baldwin County, Alabama property known as Fort Pierce is on the market for $12.95 million. It is the largest recreational ranch on the market in the state of Alabama, and boasts incredible diversity, fertile soils, miles of river frontage, flowing creeks, pristine bottomland hardwoods, diverse pine timber, and unmatched wildlife.
In other words, the huge property is prime for hunting and fishing.
Fort Pierce was owned by Scott Paper Company and was primarily used for company retreats, the listing on Jon Kohler says, so it has many high-end features, including:
Three-bedroom lodge
Bath house
Outdoor pavilion with fireplace
Deer cooler
Game cleaning room
Skeet range
Rifle range
Fishing pond
For those with an affinity for the outdoors and exceptional hunting and fishing, Fort Pierce checks every box for every season, the listing says. As a sustainable investment, a hard asset hedge, and a Social Storm Property, Fort Pierce is unmatched. Truly a legacy property and undoubtedly an opportunity of a lifetime.
Baldwin County is about 120 miles southwest from Greenville.
What makes this estate for sale in Colorado an architectural gem? See for yourself
A Cabernet Sauvignon heaven has listed for $12 million in California. Take a peek
American comedy star Larry David once confronted Elon Musk over his support of the Republican Party, according to a new biography about the Tesla and SpaceX CEO.
The interaction is detailed in acclaimed biographer Walter Isaacsons 615-page tome, titled Elon Musk, which follows the tech moguls meteoric rise.
Musk, 52, and Curb Your Enthusiasm star David, 76, were seated next to each other at Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuels wedding in Saint-Tropez, France, last year, Isaacson writes.
The event took place just days after the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed.
Isaacson wrote that David seemed to be fuming and asked Musk: Do you just want to murder kids in schools?
Musk was allegedly baffled and annoyed by the question and said hes anti-kid murder.
Then how could you vote Republican? David reportedly asked.
Elon Musk (left) and Larry David (Getty Images)
David confirmed the incident to Isaacson, explaining that Musks negative tweets about the Democratic Party were sticking in my craw.
Musk said in a May 2022 post that the Democratic Party has become the party of division & hate, so I can no longer support them and will vote Republican.
Even if Uvalde never happened, I probably would have brought it up, because I was angry and offended, David said.
The Independent has contacted Musks representatives for comment.
For his new book, Isaacson shadowed the billionaire businessman for two years watching him rule over his tech empire, poring over emails and text messages, speaking to those closest to (and most estranged from) him.
Isaacson examines the tech CEOs tumultuous romantic relationships, his early life in South Africa, and his inherent compulsion to stir up drama.
You can read about the six most intriguing and startling revelations in Isaacsons book here.
David is an outspoken proponent of the Democrats. He started out as a stand-up comedian before briefly writing for Saturday Night Live in the mid-Eighties. It was here that he teamed up with Jerry Seinfeld in 1989 to create Seinfeld.
The long-running sitcom was one of the most popular and lucrative ever made, earning David a reported $250m (183.6m) payday when it was syndicated at the end of the Nineties.
He has continued to earn money from the rights ever since, and the deal stipulates he will do so until a full $1.7bn (1.24bn) has been paid out. In 2019, Netflix picked up the Seinfeld streaming rights and David again pocketed somewhere north of $100m (80.7m).
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Las Vegas police accused two men of a string of burglaries after more than 20 different storage units were broken into between July and August, police documents said.
James Butts, 43; and Jason Lujan, 42, both face multiple counts of burglary of a structure and conspiracy to commit burglary after police say they were seen on video burglarizing several storage units in the Las Vegas valley.
Jason Lujan, 42; and James Butts, 43, both face multiple counts of burglary of a structure and conspiracy to commit burglary. (LVMPD)
Golden State Storage burglary
On Aug. 19, at around 2:30 p.m., detectives with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department were called to Golden State Storage in the 9000 block of Grand Canyon Drive, the report said. The owner of one of the units at the business told police that his unit was burglarized. He told police that approximately 10-12 bags and totes containing various style of Jordan, Yeezy, and Supreme brand clothing and shoes were taken.
The value of the items was approximately $12,000, according to the report.
Surveillance video showed two men entering the storage facility at around 4 a.m. The men are seen casing through the facility before loading a dolly cart with bags and totes and leaving, documents said.
The victim told police that there was an Apple Air Tag inside a shoe box that was taken. Police tracked the Air Tag to a residence in the 200 block of Adorno Drive in Henderson.
The suspects
When officers arrived at the residence, they found Lujan, who matched the description of one of the suspects on Golden State Storage surveillance cameras. He also had a Supreme brand backpack that appeared to be brand new, the report stated.
Lujan was taken into custody. A records check showed that a vehicle located at the residence was registered to a rental company and was rented by Butts, who matched the second suspect on video surveillance.
Butts was also taken into custody. He has a criminal history, including possession of stolen property, burglary of a business, grand larceny, petit larceny, domestic battery, obstructing a public officer, and narcotics-based offenses, the report stated.
On Aug. 29, a search warrant was obtained by police to search the residence.
Both Butts and Lujan were booked on charges of burglary of a structure, conspiracy to commit burglary, possessing stolen property, and possession of burglary tools. Court documents show they were released on Aug. 21.
Additional burglaries at Extra Space Storage
Following Butts and Lujans arrests, police looked for any additional incidents that may have involved the duo, the report stated.
On July 22 at around 10:20 a.m., LVMPD officers were called to Extra Space Storage in the 9900 block of Spencer Street after an employee reported that multiple units were broken into.
The employee told police that around 20 storage units were broken into, the report stated. Officers found a crowbar inside one of the units that were broken into. Video surveillance showed two men arriving on the property in a vehicle matching Butts rental.
The men on the surveillance video matched the description of Butts and Lujan. The suspects were seen on surveillance footage entering and leaving four times during the night of July 21, according to the arrest report.
On Aug. 2, a different employee of the business called police to report that again, multiple storage units were broken into. Surveillance video showed two suspects matching Butts and Lujan, the report stated.
The suspects were seen on video entering the storage building on Aug. 1 through a side gate not accessible to the public, the report stated. Surveillance video showed the duo carrying items from the building approximately 3 hours after they arrived.
From July 23 to Aug. 21, six different victims called police to report that their individual units were burglarized. The items reported stolen were worth approximately $20,000 in total, the report stated.
The second arrest
On Sept. 15 at 10 p.m., officers went to the residence on Adorno Drive to take Butts and Lujan into custody. A woman answered the door and told police that neither men were home.
During surveillance of the home, officers saw a man drive away from the home. Police followed him to a nearby gas station, where he met up with James Butts. Officers stopped the vehicle, taking Butts into custody.
Lujan was seen walking west on Robindale and was taken into custody.
The two were charged with five counts of burglary of a structure and five counts of conspiracy to commit burglary.
Lujan was released on electronic monitoring with the bail condition to stay out of trouble. His next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 3.
Butts is being held on a $10,000 bail. If he makes bail, he will be released on electronic monitoring.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Starting receiver Antwane Juice Wells will be out this week against Mississippi State, Shane Beamer announced Tuesday.
Wells saw a specialist in Charlotte Tuesday morning after he left Saturdays 24-14 loss to Georgia with a left foot injury. Beamer described it as a good visit and Wells injury as nothing season-ending. The decision was made to rest Wells this week. The team will reevaluate his situation next week ahead of the Tennessee game in Knoxville and the bye week after that.
From the preseason, Beamer described Wells situation as a lower-body injury. On Saturday, however, he told CBS on the broadcast that Wells was done right now, maybe a broken bone in foot. Good news it is the one he had surgery on. He got a screw in it.
Wells returned to the sideline a few minutes later, hopping on his right foot and stopping to visit with family members before taking a seat in the bench area. He was seen with ice on the left foot.
Other injury news
Ahmarean Brown (hamstring, Jatius Geer and Tyreek Johnson are questionable this week but trending toward the right direction, Beamer said. Brown did not practice Tuesday. Geer worked in practice Tuesday, so Beamer said hes optimistic hell play against Mississippi State. Johnson practiced some Sunday and Tuesday, Beamer said.
Latvia will close one of its two border crossing points with Belarus due to the ongoing Minsk-engineered migrant crisis, the Latvian government announced on Sept. 19.
Latvia has suspended the operation of its Silene border crossing point, while its second checkpoint with Belarus will remain open for freight transport, urgent humanitarian movement, and emergencies.
Beginning in 2021, Minsk engineered a migrant crisis at its borders with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, having funneled thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa under the false promise of easy asylum in the European Union.
Over the past week, Latvian border guards intercepted nearly 900 people trying to cross the border from Belarus, bringing the total number to 1,773 for September so far, according to LETA, Latvia's main news agency.
On Sept. 11, the Latvian Radio reported that the State Border Guard would ask the government to close the Silene crossing so that more personnel would be available to secure the border.
Tensions between Belarus and its EU neighbors have been mounting since 2021.
However, the Wagner mercenary groups presence in Belarus, increased Belarusian military drills near its borders, and Minsks involvement in Russias full-scale war have escalated tensions.
In response to the Wagner Groups presence in Belarus, Lithuania announced on Aug. 18 that it would close two out of six border crossings with Belarus.
Ukraines State Border Guard Service has said that since the reported death of Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, on Aug. 23, the number of Wagner Group mercenaries stationed in Belarus is gradually decreasing.
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski said at a summit in Warsaw on Aug. 28 that a critical situation would lead to Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland shutting their borders with Belarus entirely.
The only remaining crossing point between Belarus and Latvia is at Paternieki.
Read also: Baltic countries ban entry for Russian registered vehicles
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Lauren Boebert says she parted ways with the man filmed fondling her during a date at "Beetlejuice."
Boebert told TMZ on Monday that "all future date nights have been canceled."
"I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date," she added.
Rep. Lauren Boebert says she has parted ways with the man who was filmed fondling her during a musical theater performance of "Beetlejuice."
"Ultimately, all future date nights have been canceled, and I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date," Boebert told TMZ on Monday. Boebert was referring to her date, a man identified by the Daily Mail, New York Post, and other media outlets as Quinn Gallagher, a registered Democrat and bar owner.
"But all in all, you know, it was mostly a lovely time, and I've taken responsibility for my actions. I'd love to know how the musical ended, and I encourage people to go and see it," she added, calling her date a "wonderful man."
Boebert and her theater date were escorted out of a Denver theater performance of "Beetlejuice" on September 10, and accused of disrupting the show.
Surveillance footage from inside the theater showed the Republican lawmaker vaping at her seat something she initially denied doing. The video, obtained by 9News , appeared to show Boebert having her chest groped, and her grabbing her date's crotch in the theater.
Boebert told TMZ that her decision to part ways with the man had nothing to do with media reports that his bar once hosted a drag show. The Colorado congresswoman has historically taken a hard-right stance on drag shows and LGBTQ+ issues. She tweeted in June 2022 that people should take their children "to CHURCH, not drag bars."
"Well, TMZ, I'm pretty sure you told the world I went on a date with a Democrat," Boebert told the outlet on Monday.
"Honestly, he's a private citizen, and we peacefully parted at this time. Great man, great friend, and I wish him all the best," she added.
She added that she's now back in Washington, D.C., and ready to work on the "impeachment" of President Joe Biden, among other matters.
Representatives for Boebert did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Read the original article on Business Insider
You are here: China
China's State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters has activated a Level-IV emergency response to flooding in nine provincial-level regions.
These include Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Guizhou and Shaanxi, as well as southwest China's Chongqing and Sichuan. Authorities have dispatched work teams to Chongqing and Sichuan.
Heavy rainfall is expected to lash these regions from Monday, and some places are likely to experience thunderstorms and gales.
Local governments have been urged to closely monitor the precipitation level, strengthen the response to natural disasters and floods in small and medium-sized rivers, ensure the safety of reservoirs, and deal with urban waterlogging in a timely manner.
China has a four-tier flood-control emergency response system, with Level I being the most severe response.
Embattled Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert returned to Washington on Monday from a whirlwind week in Colorado and was immediately greeted at the airport by TMZ cameras.
"I'm here to provide levity," Boebert told the paparazzi with a smile. "It was a great time to go out and have dinner and enjoy part of a show."
The far-right lawmaker was initially caught in a lie when she denied that her booting from a Denver showing of "Beetlejuice: The Musical" was related to her behavior. Footage then showed Boebert obstructing patrons' view by raising her hands, taking pictures with the flash on and loudly singing. The lawmaker flipped the ushers off before finally leaving the venue. "Do you know who I am?" she was quoted as saying.
Boebert on OAN on getting kicked out of Beetlejuice: "I was a little too eccentric ... I'm on the edge of a lot of things." pic.twitter.com/nU8d8QgvvF Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 17, 2023
Boebert's partner that evening was soon identified as Quinn Gallagher, co-owner of the Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen, which once hosted "a winter Wonderland Burlesque & Drag Show." Boebert, of course, is infamously anti-LGBT.
"Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars," she exclaimed on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, in June 2022.
"I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date," Boebert joked to TMZ, before saying of Gallagher, "He's a wonderful man." Still, she said, "all future date nights have been canceled."
The mother of four and grandmother of one filed for divorce in May, citing "irreconcilable differences." On Monday, her ex-husband, Jason Boebert, took the blame for the congresswoman's erratic behavior.
"I feel the people should know the truth of our broken marriage and burden she has carried for too long," his open letter began," Boebert's ex wrote in an open letter posted by the Daily Beast. "Much of this is on me because the problem starts at the root," he continued, admitting that he "broke her down."
Lauren Boebert's ex defended her after videos showed her being fondled at a play.
Jayson Boebert said in a Facebook post his unfaithfulness during their marriage "broke her down."
In May, Lauren Boebert filed for divorce from her now ex-husband.
Lauren Boebert's ex leapt to her defense on Monday, after a video surfaced last week that appeared to show the Colorado Representative groping her date and being groped at a musical theater performance of "Beetlejuice."
Jayson Boebert issued a long apology on Facebook, addressing his ex-wife being kicked out of the family-friendly play, recommended for kids 10 and up, which took place on September 10. He took partial blame for her conduct, captured on video, and said his unfaithfulness during their 20-year marriage "broke her down."
"Much of this is on me because the problem starts at the root. I am the root," Jayson Boebert wrote in a Facebook post on Monday. He did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
In the post, he claimed that his unfaithful behavior has had long-lasting effects on the politician, and asked the public to forgive her, days after the groping videos had come to light.
"She deserves a chance to earn your forgiveness and regain trust," Jayson Boebert wrote. "I have broke her down in so many ways, but she will come out stronger as she always does, and so will I."
Lauren Boebert was kicked out of the play for disruptive behavior, which included vaping. Videos surfaced last Friday showing Boebert and her date intensely groping each other during the performance.
Lauren and Jayson Boebert got married in 2005, and she filed for divorce in May of this year after 18 years of marriage. In 2004, Jayson Boebert pleaded guilty to exposing himself to a 17-year-old in a bowling alley.
The former couple share four sons together.
In response to the incident and groping videos, Boebert first claimed she was ejected for singing, but then apologized once more videos of her at the play surfaced.
"While none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that," Boebert said in a statement emailed to Insider last week, where she said she didn't remember vaping. "I simply fell short of my values on Sunday."
Read the original article on Business Insider
Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Rep. Lauren Boebert 's public fondling incident may have violated Colorado public indecency laws.
But a local defense attorney told Insider that it's unlikely she would face charges.
Boebert was caught on camera appearing to grope her date during a theatre production of "Beetlejuice."
Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert's caught-on-camera fondling incident may have violated the state's public indecency laws, but it's pretty unlikely that she'd ever be charged, a local defense attorney says.
Boebert has faced ridicule after being kicked out of the Buell Theatre in Denver for causing a disturbance during a production of the musical "Beetlejuice."
In a video obtained by 9News, the conservative lawmaker who has railed against LGBTQ+ Americans and "groomers" can be seen vaping, having her chest groped by her date, and grabbing near her date's crotch while sitting in the audience.
Colorado's public indecency law states that "a lewd fondling or caress of the body of another person" isn't allowed in a public place or where a member of the public might view it.
Denver defense attorney Matthew Martin, who lists indecent exposure as one of his specialties, told Insider that he thinks Boebert "could be prosecuted for public indecency for their lewd caress or fondling of another's body in a public place or where that conduct was reasonably expected to be viewed by members of the public."
But just because prosecution would be possible, doesn't mean it's likely.
"I doubt the police will file charges unless a member of the public observed the caressing and filed a complaint rather than base charges off of the video," Martin added.
Police have not announced any charges against Boebert, and a spokesperson for the District Attorney's office told Newsweek the office does not plan to file charges.
Boebert, who filed for divorce from her husband earlier this year, publicly apologized in a Facebook post and said her behavior was "unacceptable." She also said that she won't be going on future dates with the man from the theatre.
Read the original article on Business Insider
It is a cycle as predictable as the sun rising and setting: Whenever feminism gains some social traction, the mainstream media reacts by amplifying a bunch of conservative messages about the alleged "dangers" of women having too much independence. In the wake of the post-Dobbs feminist uprising, we've been subjected to a deluge of hand-wringing articles about how feminism supposedly ushered in all these social evils, from male loneliness to child poverty. The cure that is invariably implied, if not outright demanded: Women are expected to lower their dating standards and get married, ideally sooner rather than later.
Alas, for those touting the "get married young!" message this past week, things got a little hairy. The GOP's most famous exemplar of youthful marriage, 36-year-old Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, got caught publicly engaging in what traditionalists call "heavy petting" with her bar-owning date, before getting kicked out of a staging of "Beetlejuice: The Musical." Initially, Boebert had denied any wrongdoing, saying she was ejected for mere exuberance. Once the video of her vaping and putting her hands in her companion's crotch came out, however, she released a statement saying, "I simply fell short of my values."
Laurent Boebert was jerking her date off in public while he gropes her in a theater where children were present and yet she continues to attack LGBTQ people as "threats to children." pic.twitter.com/O9m9asmDou Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) September 15, 2023
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Boebert's "values," which she enjoys talking about at length, reflect the anti-feminist line for decades: That women should put marriage and childbirth over their own ambitions and desires. Boebert met her husband, Jayson Boebert, when she was 16 and he was 22. He soon impregnated her, and, living her values, Boebert dropped out of high school to get married and have her first son at age 18.
A bit young by even Republican standards, of course. But Boebert is a perfect example of someone who didn't wait around to get married. It's a choice being championed across the media in recent weeks as the panacea for all sorts of social ills, from male loneliness to poverty to existential despair. The drumbeat is truly deafening. "To Be Happy, Marriage Matters More Than Career," declares a recent headline in a New York Times column where David Brooks complains young people (read: women) want to be established in their careers before marriage. He's hyping a book by Brad Wilcox titled "Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization," which sounds mostly like a book-length complaint about women holding out for Mr. Right.
"Has the Sexual Revolution Failed?" asked a title of a "debate" hosted by professional concern troll Bari Weiss over the weekend, in which the four women "debating" firmly agreed the answer was yes. There was an effort to pretend women's happiness was to focal point, but of course, this is really about the plight of men who can't get a wife when women are allowed choices. That's why we're under an onslaught of articles about the "male loneliness epidemic." The problem is real enough and occasionally the articles address the real cause toxic masculinity. More typically, these articles are aimed at women, for the purpose of making us feel guilty if we don't pity-marry some whiny dude in hopes that will prevent him from joining the Proud Boys. A typical example is the recent article by Christine Emba at the Washington Post that put the blame on women being no "longer dependent on marriage as a means to financial security." She largely avoided suggesting that men might want to consider making themselves attractive instead of relying on women's desperation.
Then there's the "do it for the kids" gambit. Not just one but two New York Times articles over the past week hyped the book "The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind" by Melissa Kearney. Alleged liberal Nicholas Kristof swallowed Kearney's bait, claiming "there is a deep discomfort in liberal circles about acknowledging" that it's hard to be a single parent. This is, of course, a favorite strawman of conservatives, but the truth is more complicated: Liberals don't deny that single parenthood is hard they just oppose "solutions" that trap women in unhappy marriages.
The bad faith underpinning this pressure to marry in haste is not hard to see. There's simply no evidence that women are turning up their noses to a series of princes. The problem is the dating market is cluttered with frogs. A recent poll commissioned by Teen Vogue makes it clear why: There just aren't enough eligible men out there. Sixty-four percent of women under 35 label themselves "liberal" or "progressive," while only 39% of men that age do. Strong majorities of women wisely call it a "red flag" if a date is MAGA or listens to Joe Rogan. That shrinks their dating pool considerably, but the alternative is partnering with someone who doesn't have even basic respect for women. That would work out for men, of course, but not for women's safety or happiness. For women, it really is better to be single than with someone who thinks President Pussy Grabber is a great guy.
Boebert, of course, did everything recommended by the concern trolls. She not only put marriage and babies ahead of career but ahead of a high school diploma. She ignored all those red flags, such as "you're only 16 and he's 22" and "he got arrested for exposing himself to teenagers at a bowling alley." Women are told to lower their standards and treat potential husbands like fixer-uppers who will be made into great, worthy partners if women put in the work. Boebert did what she was told and, of course, is now divorced.
It's gross watching a 36-year-old member of Congress act like a horny teenager, of course. But also, it's not the biggest surprise. That's another downside the "just get married" crowd doesn't want to acknowledge: Robbing people of their youth tends to breed a desire to make up for lost time. There's a sexist myth that only men want to sow wild oats, but of course, women also have sexual fantasies. One of the best parts about putting off marriage for a time is that you get to make mistakes and have your adventures in your youth, when the stakes are low. Otherwise, as we see, there's a risk that a 36-year-old grandmother publicly acts out that drunken prom date she didn't get in high school.
But preventing "Beetlejuice" hand jobs is not the main reason this "get married" bullying is so misguided. It's because it overlooks the very basic fact that women are people, and not just organic robots put on earth to cater to men. That's why it's useful to look away from the pseudo-academic framing given to the marriage discourse in the media, and to the more freewheeling world of TikTok. There you get refreshingly blunt takes from both sides of this debate.
No woman "is gonna ever understand what it's like to go to sleep with zero matches on your dating profile, zero people telling you that they love you," complains a young man going by the name of "Birdlaw".
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Of course, the notion that women never feel lonely and rejected is false, but this rant is, at least, more honest about what's at the center of this discussion: Male entitlement. But that is also what gets in men's way, as another TikToker named "hope_peddler" argued.
"Men need to change in order for them to be happy," she explained." "We women, we cannot fix this for you."
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This debate has been going on for decades, but it's growing in intensity as abortion bans are spreading across the red states. There's an audience and funding for the argument that it wouldn't be so bad, strongarming women into committed relationships through forced childbirth. The "get married" crowd wants us to believe that women's reluctance to marry young is something that a little coercion would overcome, and gosh, we'd all just be better if women stopped resisting. The argument clearly has allure, even to some liberals. After all, we all grew up in a sexist culture that assumes women should be the helpers, even at the cost of their own happiness.
Boebert accidentally timed her "Beetlejuice" ouster well, handing us all a reminder of the messy realities of trying to lock down women before they're old enough to know better. Because women are people, they tend to chafe under constraints. Marrying someone off before they've grown up doesn't confer maturity and happiness. It often just means they act like an overgrown adolescent when they finally break free.
The manslaughter verdict in the Othal Wallace trial has left law enforcement uneasy and outraged.
Wallace admitted to shooting and killing Daytona Beach Police Officer Jason Raynor in 2021.
Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty if he had been convicted of first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer. However, the manslaughter conviction means he can now only be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Mike Scudiero, executive director of the Coastal Florida Police Benevolent Association, said officers are angry.
Read: DeLand police captain fired after 7-month-long investigation
It seemed like such a clear-cut case for a first-degree murder conviction. How do you justify shooting a police officer in the face and leaving him to die like a dog in the street? Scudiero said.
Scudiero said police have every right to approach citizens, especially in high-crime areas. Wallaces defense team argued otherwise and when he took the stand, Wallace said he was afraid for his life during his encounter with Raynor.
Read: What a croc: Reptile swimming under pier shuts down South Florida beach
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was also bothered by the verdict.
This basically signals its open season on cops, Chitwood said.
During deliberations, jurors asked five questions. Three were about illegal detainment, one about the location of the shooting and another about what is considered concealed carry.
Read: New low pressure area will bring rough conditions again to Central Floridas beaches
Aaron Delgado, a Daytona Beach criminal defense and trial attorney, said after hearing the questions, he had a feeling the first-degree murder charge wouldnt carry.
I think its pretty clear that they didnt view that as a police-citizen encounter, they viewed it as two citizens or something, and thats based on the questions they were asking, Delgado said.
Wallaces sentencing will happen sometime in the next two months.
Read: Jury finds Othal Wallace guilty of manslaughter in shooting death of Daytona Beach police officer
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Attorneys Chris Hart, left, and Seth Rose, second from left, speak to announce that the family of a Belk employee is suing the department store chain after a worker died in a bathroom and was not found for four days during a news conference on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, in Columbia, S.C. Investigator said Bessie Durham's cleaning cart was outside the locked bathroom door the whole time. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) The family of a cleaning worker whose body remained in a locked bathroom at a department store for days after she died filed suit Tuesday against the Belk chain, saying her body was so decomposed they couldn't even hold an open casket funeral.
Bessie Durham, a 63-year-old worker with a contractor hired to clean the Belk store near Columbia, South Carolina, went into a family bathroom around 7 a.m. on a Thursday in 2022 and died shortly after from a cardiac problem, attorney Chris Hart said.
Durham had clocked in for work but never clocked out and her cleaning cart sat outside the locked door for four days until Columbia Police called the store trying to find Durham because her family reported the woman missing, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday.
The suit was filed a year to the day when her body was found on Sept. 19, 2022, at the store in Columbiana Mall.
The store was open for regular hours the entire time. Durham worked for a company contracted to clean the store, and the manager called while she was dead but no one had found her to complain the bathrooms weren't getting cleaned, Hart said.
They didnt ask if Bessie was OK. They didnt ask why hasnt this cart moved in four days," Hart said. They asked why arent the bathrooms being cleaned.
When police called the store, they pulled up footage from a security camera that showed Durham entering the bathroom shortly after her shift started and never coming out, the lawsuit said.
Durham worked for Belk for seven years on the cleaning crew before the chain hired a contractor to do that work and that company subsequently hired Durham, Hart said. The contractor was not named as a defendant in the suit though Hart said the family also was considering legal action against it.
Belk didn't respond to an email seeking comment about the lawsuit. After Durham's death, the company said in a statement that it sent its deepest condolences to Durham's family and was trying to figure out what had happened.
Columbia Police investigated, but determined no crime had been committed, spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.
An autopsy found Durham died from a cardiac problem, and older people often feel what seems like a need to use the bathroom in the moments before they are struck, Hart said.
The family isn't asking for a specific amount of damages. The lawsuit said Belk employees should have regularly inspected the store not only for Durham's safety, but the safety of shoppers and other employees.
The store began locking the bathroom after a shooting at the mall. Keeping the bathroom open, but locked, also created a safety hazard that prevented Durham from getting help, the lawsuit said.
Durham's body showed obvious signs of decomposition when it was found, preventing the family from properly grieving, attorney Justin Bamberg said.
This family should have had the opportunity to say goodbye the right way instead of having to sit at the funeral and smell the decomposing body of someone they cared about, Bamberg said.
Experts have said that Savannah has an acute sex trafficking problem.
Compared to communities of similar size and population, Savannah is a target largely because of the ports, the I-95 corridor and the tourism industry, in addition to relatively close proximity to major sex trafficking hubs, such as Miami, Atlanta and Tampa.
On Sept. 20, Georgia Legal Services Program Executive Director Susan Coppedge will expand on why human trafficking is so prevalent in Georgia, and nationwide, serving as the keynote speaker at the Fall Human Trafficking Stakeholder Meeting meeting for Tharros Place, a local nonprofit that will provide stable housing to underage survivors of human trafficking.
The event, hosted at the Eckburg Auditorium on 5717 White Bluff Road, will provide more information about human trafficking, including the different types of trafficking and how it operates in Georgia.
Tharros Executive Director Julie Wade said this is the fourth stakeholder meeting, which they host twice per year. This event is free and open to the public.
"[Susan Coppedge] is kind of like a celebrity in this space," Wade said. "She brings international experience, and she also has done really critical work right here in Georgia."
More: Attorney Julie Wade to launch Tharros Place to aid young victims of human trafficking
Beyond troubling: Current, former government officials tied to human trafficking probe in Georgia
Susan Coppedge is the Executive Director of Georgia Legal Services.
A look at Susan Coppedge's expertise
Coppedge knows a thing or two about human trafficking.
After all, as a former Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) in the Northern District of Georgia, Susan Coppedge prosecuted the first federal human trafficking case in Georgia.
A grand jury returned a 265-count indictment naming fifteen human traffickers, involving conduct spanning from 1997 through 2001. The Defendants were convicted of conspiracy in violation of the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
By virtue of one case, I kind of became an expert in this area, Coppedge said in a video call. Once you have that contact with those survivors and those victims, it's incredibly meaningful work and very hard to leave.
Coppedge has been working in the anti-trafficking world ever since. From 2000 through 2015, Coppedge served as an AUSA in the Northern District of Georgia, indicting more than 50 human traffickers and assisting over 93 human trafficking victims. In October 2015, Coppedge was appointed by President Obama, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as United States Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons for the U.S. State Department, a role she served in until July 2017.
Coppedge took some time off, before taking a management role with Kids in Need of Defense, a non-profit law firm that provides legal and social services to unaccompaniedimmigrant and refugee children, and then serving as an attorney for Krevolin & Horst.
The Tiffany Simpson case
In May 2022, Coppedge was appointed the executive director of the Georgia Legal Services, a nonprofit law firm that offers free civil legal services to Georgians with low incomes through 10 regional offices across 154 of Georgias 159 counties.
In 2012, 17-year-old Tiffany Simpson wrote a letter to an anti-trafficking advocate from a south Georgia prison, where she had been imprisoned for 10 months, according to a Washington Post story, for helping the man who trafficked her lure and traffic a 13-year-old girl.
I was wondering something. Maybe you can help me, she wrote. Am I a victim of sex trafficking, or am I a prostitute?
In 2021 nine years into Simpsons 30-year sentence Coppedge agreed to take the case on a pro bono basis. On Nov. 22, 2022, the South Georgia Judicial Circuit vacated Simpsons convictions and she was released from prison.
It was very frustrating to me that they were not both seen as victims, Coppedge said, referring to both Simpson and the 13-year-old.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Human trafficking law expert to speak at Tharros Place event
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) Attorneys for a Las Vegas man accused of killing his girlfriends 4-year-old son and concealing the boys body in a freezer believe there may be months worth of surveillance video from inside the home the family shared.
Brandon Toseland, 37, was charged with murder in the death of Mason Dominguez. Police arrested Toseland on Feb. 22, 2022, after Masons mother was able to sneak messages into her 7-year-old daughters shoe. Toseland is charged with 12 felonies, including murder, child abuse, kidnapping, and battery domestic violence.
Mason had allegedly undergone months of reported abuse at the hands of Toseland and was taken out of school to avoid teachers seeing his injuries, documents obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators last year said. Mason was last seen alive on Dec. 11, 2021. He lived with his mother, sister and Toseland at a northeast valley home.
In court Tuesday, Toselands attorneys said the home had five security cameras recording inside. They asked Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny to force prosecutors to hand over all video surveillance in their clients case, but prosecutors said Cox, which administered the system, said there was no footage.
Investigators said several food items and a fake cardboard bottom covered the 4-year-old body in the freezer. (KLAS)
I just find it hard to believe that a working surveillance system that had been paid for and that was operational all throughout this entire time has nothing to show, Toselands attorney, Gary Modafferi, said.
Toselands attorneys said they hoped a defense expert could look into the systems server, which prosecutors indicated was in Metro polices possession. Prosecutors said the server needed a PIN, which they said Toseland would need to provide.
Toselands attorneys also asked Kierny to require prosecutors to provide them with any footage recorded from inside a Metro transport vehicle during Toselands arrest. It remained unclear Tuesday if the footage even existed.
We werent sure whether or not they existed, Modafferi said. We got some Metro guidelines about the existence of cameras inside of transport vehicles, but its the states position that there were no cameras inside any of the vehicles.
Brandon Toseland, 37, was charged with murder in the death of Mason Dominguez, 4. (KLAS)
There was a camera pointed straight at me, Toseland said in court.
Theres no footage that is available from the transport, prosecutor Michelle Fleck responded. Ill double-check, but thats what Ive already been told by Metro.
Toseland, who often speaks out of turn in court, spoke up again Tuesday because the hearing ended.
So, how this process goes Mr. Toseland is they make a request, the state responds with what they have, and then your attorneys litigate it further, Kierny said when Toseland asked to speak. You dont just talk about in court about what you believe exists. Thank you.
Understood, so if my attorneys dont bring up the specific issue? Toseland replied.
You can talk to them, Kierny said.
OK, Roger that, Toseland said.
Masons mother said she and her two children moved into Toselands home in March 2021. The home is located on Saddle Brook Park Drive, near the intersection of Carey Avenue and Lamb Boulevard in the northeast valley. Toselands two children from a previous relationship also lived in the home, but were not there all the time due to their mother having shared custody, documents said.
Investigators said several food items and a fake cardboard bottom covered the 4-year-old body in the freezer. (KLAS)
Masons mother told police and a grand jury that she was frequently handcuffed or locked in a room after learning her son was deceased. Toseland never revealed to Masons mother that the boys body was in a freezer in the garage, she said.
Dominguezs body was discovered inside Toselands northeast valley garage concealed in a trash bag in the freezer. Detectives believe Mason had been there for at least 10 weeks and that a large hole in the backyard may be a potential grave, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported last year.
Detectives also located a large hole in the backyard, which they described as a potential grave.
Prosecutors said they are considering the death penalty should Toseland be convicted. Toseland has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Police said they found this suspected grave in the backyard. (KLAS)
Police were alerted to the home after being contacted by Clark County School District Police when the 7-year-old girl brought a note to her teacher that her mother was being held against her will and did not know what happened to her younger child.
If you or someone you know is living with domestic violence, you can reach out for help by contacting SafeNest. You can call or text 24/7 to a confidential hotline phone number (702) 646-4981.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Surrounded by friends, family and supporters, these grandmothers got to take a stroll down the red carpet on Saturday for the premier of WEPA Empowerment Center's debut film, "Our Grandmothers' Voices."
The bilingual film, roughly 35 minutes long, followed interviews from 12 grandmothers living in Central Pennsylvania, imparting their wisdom, shared stories of their past and forewarned parents and youth of what they see today.
Ten of the grandmothers were honored just before the premier, walking down a red carpet of their own to front row seats for the show. It was the first time that they were shown the final product.
The crowd, composed of family members, WEPA supporters, and special guests like Mrs. Pennsylvania Earth, Deborah Hornick and Ms. Senior America 2019 & 2020 Esmeralda Ybarra Hetrick.
Patrons were greeted by a photographer, as well as a warm welcome from Hornick, before enjoying horderves, conversation and live music, ahead of opening the remarks by those involved in the production of the film as well as Hornick.
The film was met with a thunderous applause of positive feedback.
Maribel Torres, co-founder of WEPA, gave some opening remarks before the premier, touching on the premise of the film and the inception of the idea.
The idea for the film came from WEPA co-founder Maribel Torres, who herself did not grow up with her grandmothers in her life. She found a similar series of videos online while looking for ideas for programing, about grandmothers in Argentina, who were leading a movement to find their grandchildren.
"It dawned on me that I never met my two grandmothers," Torres said. "I never had the privilege of knowing them. So, you know, once someone is no longer here with us because unfortunately we all have to go through death. I thought to myself how can we preserve the voices, and specifically in our community, how can we preserve some of the voices of our grandmothers in the community."
The movie was produced by Solomon Ortiz, owner of production company Glass & Sensor and WEPA board member, who was immediately on board with the idea once talking with Maribel.
While the film will be installed as a permanent exhibit in the future student lounge of WEPA, perpetually playing on a loop and gradually added to with more grandmother interviews over time, Ortiz said that they were currently working out additional distribution avenues.
While each subject was asked the same set of questions, what they spoke about was unique to them. Ranging from advice on how to live the best life possible, to what needs to be done next, each one of the grandmothers had something important to say.
The grandmothers featured in the film walked down a red carpet between the viewers to their front-row seats before it was shown.
Albertine Washington, the first interview in the film, spoke about persevering through adversity, including how she was learning to live alone with the recent passing of her husband, as well as making the changes in life necessary to become the best version of oneself by constantly reexamining who you are now and loving who you are to the fullest.
"I've had opportunities to talk about certain topics, but this is the first opportunity for my voice as a grandparent, so I was really talking from a perspective of being a grandparent as opposed to speaking as a retired teacher, an African American, or (someone) living in Lebanon."
Former mayor of Lebanon City Jackie Parker was also interviewed for the film and spoke about a moment of adversity in her life, when the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in the city in 2000. Parker, in response, held a unity day to bring the community together.
She also discussed what she sees as a step back in equity, not just in Lebanon but all over, as housing, education and good jobs have become less accessible for more people, expressing displeasure with the world that the Baby Boomer generation created for younger generations.
"When I was first asked to do it, I didn't really get the big picture of what it would be. So I knew it was going to be grandmothers being interviewed, but I didn't know how it was going to be put together or what it would be like and it turned out really well, I thought."
Grandmothers from the film, along with Maribel (lower middle) and Rafael Torres (lower right) and Solomon Ortiz (lower left) pose with Mrs. Pennsylvania Earth, Deborah Hornic (crown, right) and 2020 Ms. Senior America Esmeralda Ybarra-Hetrick (crown, left).
This is the first event that WEPA has put on since officially opening its doors last month. Co-founder Rafael Torres said during the opening remarks that he would work to put on more events like this moving forward.
Maribel said that they would likely hold another event in the future honoring grandmothers, and put on a Three Kings Day celebration in January as they did early this year.
Daniel Larlham Jr. is a reporter for the Lebanon Daily News. Reach him at DLarlham@LDNews.com or on X @djlarlham.
This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: WEPA Empowerment Center's film, 'Our Grandmothers' Voices,' premiers
In 2019, Orlando police infuriated the nation after arresting 6-year-old Kaia Rolle for throwing a tantrum in the classroom. The concern of why a little girl was allowed to be handcuffed and taken to juvenile jail is what Rolles family aims to address in their latest lawsuit.
Body camera footage showed the now-10-year-old being handcuffed with zipties after throwing a fit in class, as any 6-year-old would. The suit says Rolles grandmother told the Lucisous & Emma Nixon Academy Charter School administrators that Rolle struggled with sleep apnea, which causes a temper and heightened irritability due to a lack of sleep. However, even upon the administrators willingness to accommodate her condition, the teacher responded to Rolles tantrum by taking her down to the main office, the suit says.
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Turner was later fired for violating the departments policy which requires officers to get the approval of a watch commander before arresting anyone under 12 years old. There is no way a minimum age for an arrest at the age of 7 can be allowed to stand, said Kirkland. Kaias family and their attorneys are demanding the state of Florida raise the minimum arrest age. State legislators passed the Kaia Rolle Act back in 2021 banning the arrest of kids under 7. When asked what age he sees for the minimum arrest age of Florida, Kaias family attorney Bobby DiCello said, Not less than 14 here in the state of Florida. Kaias family also filed an amended lawsuit Monday claiming Kaias rights were violated by excessive force, a false arrest and what theyre calling malicious prosecution.
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Russia claims to have introduced a new long-range air-launched cruise missile, the Kh-BD, and that its now arming its Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers with the weapon. The mysterious Kh-BD has been in development for some time now, but no confirmed imagery of it has ever been released. Originally, it was planned to arm Russias next-generation PAK DA bomber with the nuclear-capable weapon but, as with many Russian defense programs, the exact status of the missile and the new bomber intended to carry it remains somewhat unclear.
Sergey Kobylash, the commander of Russias Long-Range Aviation the branch responsible for its bombers and cruise missile carriers, among others announced that Tu-160s were now carrying the Kh-BD missile. His statement came during a visit to Knevichi Airfield, part of Vladivostok International Airport, in Russias Far East, by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu. Kim has now been in the Russian Far East for several days, part of a rare foreign trip that has seen him visit a fighter production facility and, reportedly, conduct talks with President Vladimir Putin about the possible supply of North Korean arms for Russias war in Ukraine.
(Left to right): Russias Long-Range Aviation Commander Lieutenant General Sergey Kobylash, Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un look at a Tu-160 bomber at Knevichi Airfield in Russias Far East. Russian Ministry of Defense
According to state-run Russian news agency TASS, the Tu-160 can carry 12 of the new Kh-BD missiles six on each of the two rotary launchers in its internal weapons bays . Most notable, however, in terms of details about the missile, was Kobylashs statement that [A bomber] carries a Kh-BD missile with a range of over 6,500 kilometers equivalent to more than 4,000 miles.
Previously, it had been rumored that the Kh-BD would offer around 50 percent more range than the current Kh-101 (NATO AS-23A Kodiak), also used by the Tu-160, which would enable it to hit targets at around 3,700 miles. If the figure provided by Kobylash is true, then the Kh-BD possesses an even longer range than anticipated.
Wreckage of a largely intact Kh-101 reportedly shot down by Ukrainian forces in the central Vinnytsia region of Ukraine in January 2023. Ukrainian Air Force
As to what this new-generation long-range cruise missile actually looks like, it had been expected that it would be based on the existing Kh-101 and the nuclear-capable version of that missile, the similar-looking Kh-102 (AS-23B). That would ensure that the Kh-BD can also be carried on the Tu-160s existing internal missile launchers. The photo released by the Russian Ministry of Defense showing Kim Jong Un inspecting a Tu-160 in Vladivostok does reveal some kind of missiles in the weapons bay, although its unclear if these are actually examples of the Kh-BD or the Kh-101/102.
https://www.twitter.com/GuyPlopsky/status/1703709207768465578?s=20
If the Kh-BD is an evolutionary development of the Kh-101/102, its not evident, at this point, how it actually achieves its much greater range. One option is the miniaturization of its internal components, including the warhead, to make room for more fuel to power its (presumed) turbojet engine. A more efficient engine and/or a different type of fuel could also contribute to greater reach, as could certain aerodynamic refinements.
The design of the Kh-101/102 already features a low radar cross-section , reducing the chance of it being detected by hostile air defenses, and the same attributes will almost certainly be found on the Kh-BD. On the other hand, the much greater promised range of the Kh-BD would somewhat negate the need for low-observability.
A row of 12 Kh-101/102-series air-launched cruise missiles, in front, and another dozen of the earlier Kh-55-series missiles behind them, on display with a Tu-160 Blackjack bomber in the background. Russian Ministry of Defense
The first reports of the development of the Kh-BD (in which the last two letters stand for Bolshaya Dalnosti, or long-range in Russian) began to emerge in 2017.
Prior to that, however, in August 2013, the Raduga company based in Dubna, in Moscow Oblast, had received a Russian Ministry of Defense contract for research and development work for the Kh-BD, which is also known as izdeliye 506, under a program codename Romans (romance). According to that contract, flight tests of the new missile were expected to begin in 2018, leading to the completion of state acceptance trials in 2020. It seems that this schedule was not met, however.
https://www.twitter.com/JosephHDempsey/status/1703791248237109534?s=20
Also, if its true that the Tu-160 is now carrying the Kh-BD, that doesnt mean that the missile has finally undergone state acceptance trials and has actually entered service. It could well be the case that the missile is still undergoing tests aboard the bomber, which would ultimately also include various firing trials against simulated targets. No details of any such missions have been reported so far, however, and they may well be at a comparatively early stage, At this point, we simply dont know.
Ultimately, the Kh-BD is intended to arm both the Tu-160 and the PAK DA, Russias long-awaited new-generation bomber . The status of this equally mysterious aircraft is very much unclear, although theres no doubt that it has been significantly delayed and there is no guarantee, at this stage, that the program will lead to an operational bomber, at least anytime soon.
A two-view drawing that likely depicts a possible PAK DA configuration. yandex.ru
In the meantime, the Tu-160 has returned to production , after the initial manufacturing effort came to an end by 1995. The first example of the Tu-160M from the new production batch took to the air in January 2022, as you can read about here .
Putting the swing-wing Tu-160 back into production, in modernized form, is primarily intended as an interim measure due to delays in the PAK DA program.
The first newly manufactured Tu-160M at the Kazan Aviation Plant in the Republic of Tatarstan, western Russia. UAC
A formal order for 10 new Tu-160Ms was placed in 2018, while the Russian Aerospace Forces have declared an overall requirement for at least 50 new-build Blackjacks, although so far no further orders have been placed. Meanwhile, 17 of the original Tu-160s make up the current Blackjack fleet, a strictly modest force in terms of numbers.
It seems likely that, eventually, the Kh-BD could replace both the conventionally armed Kh-101 (which has been used in combat over Syria and in the war in Ukraine) and the nuclear-tipped Kh-102. It should also allow the replacement of the Cold War-era Kh-55 (AS-15 Kent) and its non-nuclear variant, the Kh-555 (AS-22 Kluge), the latter also having been widely used in Ukraine.
A Tu-160 launches a Kh-555 conventionally armed cruise missile at a test target during an exercise. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
While very few details are known about the missiles other capabilities, its extended range is clearly the key feature.
The maximum range of the current Kh-101 missile is reportedly between 1,864 and 2,485 miles and the Kh-102 is said to be able to fly somewhat further, thanks to its lighter warhead.
Assuming a range of 2,485 miles for the Kh-101/102, a Tu-160 can remain deep within Russian airspace and still be able to strike targets almost anywhere in Europe. Even flying directly over the Tu-160s home base at Engels , in central Russia, a good portion of western Europe can be held at risk, with the exception of southern Spain.
Targets within reach of the Kh-101/102 fall within the yellow circle, based on an estimated maximum range of 2,485 miles and missile launch directly over the Tu-160 home base of Engels. Google Earth
Even a range at the lower end of the scale, at around 1,864 miles, means that a Tu-160 can strike targets across most of Europe when the aircraft is flying over western Russia.
Targets within reach of the Kh-101/102, based on the more modest estimated range of 1,486 miles. The missile launch location is again overhead Engels. Google Earth
Introducing the Kh-BD, with a range said to be in the region of 3,700 miles, brings a whole new set of targets to bear, especially if the Tu-160 is deployed to bases in the Russian Arctic , for example, from where missions could be launched against North America. If the PAK DA, which is expected to feature low-observable characteristics, does finally enter service, it would provide an even more potent strike platform when combined with the long-range Kh-BD.
The considerably expanded reach of the Kh-BD, based on the claimed range of 3,700 miles. Engels is the launch point. Google Earth
Meanwhile, a 3,700-mile-range Kh-BD launched from the forward deployment base at Anadyr , in the far north of Russia, could hold a consideravble portion of North America at risk. Tu-95MS bombers have been using Anadyr as a deployment base for many years; Tu-160s first landed there in 2018. Google Earth
Even if the Kh-BD is launched from bombers operating in the vicinity of Engels, for example, this would offer advantages, too, including being able to return to base for a rapid reload and turn around, to launch another wave of missiles.
But whatever the current status of the Kh-BD, it pays to be cautious about claims made by the Russian Ministry of Defense about its novel weapons programs. Many of these over-promise on their eventual capabilities , while others disappear altogether, victims of changing priorities , technical over-ambition , or the competition for funds .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PZ-bSmKLQ8
In its favor is the fact that Long-Range Aviation, and strategic weapons in general, are typically assigned a high priority in Russia. At the same time, stocks of Kh-101s are clearly being burnt through at a prodigious rate due to the war in Ukraine. Since those stocks need to be replaced, now could be an opportune time to introduce a new and more capable missile, especially if its essentially a further evolution of the Kh-101/102 anyway.
Another question concerns the reliance, or otherwise, of the Kh-BD on components sourced from outside Russia. Multiple reports suggest that the production of high-tech weapons such as cruise missiles has become much more complicated due to the sanctions placed on Russia , with weapons of this kind typically relying heavily upon Western microchips , for example. It remains to be seen whether the design of the Kh-BD includes any kind of measures to work around these limitations.
https://www.twitter.com/RALee85/status/1517437129038647296?s=20
For now, we will have to wait for more details of the Kh-BD and, hopefully, a first confirmed glimpse of the new weapon. With Russian long-range cruise missiles remaining a weapon of choice in the war in Ukraine, if the Kh-BD is close to being operational, we may not have to wait long to see it in action in that conflict, too.
Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
Given how the Ukrainian advance in Zaporizhzhia Oblast affects them, it is possible that the Ukrainian liberation of two villages that Russian forces were desperately trying to hold corresponds with the severe degradation of the Russian units defending them.
Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)
Details: According to military analysts, the Russian forces that defended in Zaporizhzhia Oblast since the beginning of the counteroffensive did this mainly without rotation of operational-level units and probably suffered additional losses.
Units of the 71st, 70th and 291st motorised rifle regiments of the Russian 42nd motorised rifle division (Southern Military District) regularly repelled Ukrainian attacks and participated in various "combat clashes." They also reflected the first stages of the Ukrainian counteroffensive from June to August.
In August, Ukrainian troops began to break through the first line of Russian defence, where Russian troops spent a significant amount of manpower, personnel and efforts.
Russian reports and personnel indicate that many of these units of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division have since withdrawn and are now mostly shelling Ukrainians.
The lack of reports of the participation of these soldiers in hostilities in the west of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast indicates that the losses they suffered during the first stages of the Ukrainian counteroffensive made them ineffective in battle.
It is reported that units of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment temporarily retreated to the rear during the Ukrainian breakthrough and returned to the advanced positions in early September, which indicates that the Ukrainian offensive so worsened this unit that forced the Russian command to give it time to regroup.
It was one of the few rotations of units the ISW saw in this sector of the front.
Ukrainian counter-offensive operations could also severely affect units of the 22nd and 45th separate special forces brigades of the Russian Federation.
Therefore, experts concluded that the Ukrainian advance south of Bakhmut could lead to a similar degradation of Russia's defensive units in the area.
To quote the ISWs Takeaways on 19 September:
Ukraines liberation of Klishchiivka and Andriivka south of Bakhmut may have degraded the Russian defence in the area south of Bakhmut and could have rendered combat ineffective as many as three Russian brigades according to Ukrainian military officials.
Ukrainian counteroffensive operations may have resulted in the particularly severe degradation of critical elements of the Russian elastic defence in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Recent Ukrainian advances south of Bakhmut may correspond with the similar degradation of defending Russian units in the area.
Russian forces conducted a series of Shahed-131/136 drone and cruise missile strikes on coastal and rear areas of Ukraine on the night of 17-18 September.
An organisation with alleged ties to Russian First Deputy Presidential Chief of Staff Sergey Kiriyenko is reportedly responsible for disseminating pro-war propaganda and false information about Ukraine to prominent figures in the Russian information space.
Russian forces conducted offensive operations along the Kupiansk-Svatove-Kreminna line, near Bakhmut, along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line, in the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia Oblast border area, and in western Zaporizhzhia and advanced in some areas on 18 September.
Ukrainian forces conducted offensive operations in at least two sectors of the front and advanced in western Zaporizhzhia on 18 September.
Some Russian sources claimed that former Wagner Group personnel are working closely with Rosgvardia (Russian National Guard) in order to return fighting in Ukraine.
Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
Seattle police are facing outrage and investigation for its officers reaction to the death of a young woman struck by a patrol car.
A rally held on Saturday in honor of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student from India, brought together local Seattle residents and south Asian community members.
Organized by the south Asian charity Utsav, the angry crowd chanted for justice and accountability. Vandana Slatter, a Washington state Democratic house representative, addressed the crowd at the intersection where Kandula was killed: Were not a monolith, the Indian community. Theres diaspora in the community, but we are all united today.
Other rallies in the country, from New York City to California in recent days saw similar responses, and the consulate general of India in San Francisco is demanding action against the officers involved in the case. The Biden administration has also assured the Indian government of a quick investigation.
Kandula lost her life on 23 January after being hit while crossing the street by a vehicle driven by officer Kevin Dave, who was driving 50mph above the speed limit. The case garnered national attention when dash-cam footage from the Seattle police department revealed Kandula was mocked by another Seattle police officer who responded to news of her killing in a recorded conversation with a colleague.
Daniel Auderer, a drug-recognition expert and vice-president of the Seattle police officers guild, was speaking on the phone to Mike Solen, president of the Seattle police officers guild.
Just write a check $11,000, Auderer is heard saying while laughing, referencing the amount of a possible payout to Kandulas family. She had limited value.
The revelation prompted backlash from south Asian Americans, including high-profile politicians and celebrities.
The Democratic US House representative Ro Khanna tweeted: Jaahnavi Kandula came here for graduate work from India. She was killed on a crosswalk by a speeding police car, & Officer Auderer said her life had limited value.
I thought of my Dad who came here in his 20s. Mr. Auderer, the life of every Indian immigrant has infinite value.
He added: Anyone who thinks that a human life has limited value should not be serving in law enforcement.
Anyone who thinks that a human life has limited value should not be serving in law enforcement. Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 14, 2023
Members of Seattles south Asian community gathered together at city hall on Saturday to speak with Mayor Bruce Harrell, the police chief, Adrian Diaz, and councilmember Lisa Herbold, chair of the public safety and human services committee.
In an apology letter to Kandulas family, Harrell wrote: While I did not know Jaahnavi personally, I understand that she was a caring, kind, and smart young woman who had a very bright and promising future ahead of her. I share your grief that her life was tragically cut short.
In a video posted to Instagram, the television host and comedian Lilly Singh said she was angered to be hearing about Kandulas death months after she was killed. She called the video of the officer mocking Kandula disgusting and inhumane.
Singh said: Whenever innocent lives are lost, it is heartbreaking and tragic. But this particular incident is infuriating for me, because I have been becoming intimately familiar with all the challenges girls in India face. To know that Jaahnavi did what only a small percentage of girls in India have the opportunity to do, which is get an education and that too abroad, but have her life taken and dismissed in this way is simply heartbreaking and unjust to the highest degree.
At what point does the world stop dismissing the value of girls and women, specifically Indian girls and women?
The actor Priyanka Chopra wrote in an Instagram story: Its appalling to learn that such a tragic incident that happened 9 months ago is only coming to light now. A life is a life. One cannot put any value on it.
Auderer insists his statements were misunderstood.
In a statement, the Seattle police said: While any incident of public concern is under OPA, SPD or OIG review, no City employee should comment, either in their official or personal capacity, in a way that suggests that any factual, policy, or legal conclusions have been reached about the incident.
The officer who killed Kandula has been criminally charged and Seattle police are investigating the incident.
On Tuesday 19 September, Arvydas Anusauskas, Lithuanias Minister of National Defence, took part in a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group and met his newly appointed Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umierov for the first time.
Source: Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, as reported by European Pravda
Details: At the Ramstein-format meeting, Anusauskas also presented the latest package of military support for Ukraine, which contains "detonation systems, naval surveillance radars and ammunition for Carl Gustaf anti-tank grenade launchers."
In addition, starting this September, Ukrainian Leopard tanks will be repaired in Lithuania.
The Lithuanian minister also signed a declaration of support for the coalition to support Ukraine in the field of information technology, or IT coalition, which will assist with cybersecurity for Ukraine's Armed Forces.
Anusauskas separately noted the importance of the demining coalition which is now being set up, and called on other countries to join "and contribute training, equipment or finance".
Lithuania's total military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion has already exceeded US$500 million.
Earlier, Latvias new Defence Minister, Andris Spruds, also met with his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umierov on the sidelines of Ramstein, where he presented a new assistance package and announced that Riga has joined Ukraines IT coalition.
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!
After traveling over 6,000 miles visiting towns and cities across the country, 12-foot tall puppet Little Amal stopped in Washington D.C. on its mission to promote human rights especially for refugees.
The global theater project, called The Walk, features the not-so-little puppet of Amal, whose name means hope in Arabic. The traveling exhibit tells the story of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl looking for her family.
The puppet has traveled worldwide, including stops in Paris, London and Amsterdam.
We are trying our best to tell the story of a 10-year-old whos walking around the world lost, afraid, confused but also resilient and brave, Amir Nizar Zuabi, Little Amals artistic director, told The Hill. So shes a mixture of vulnerability and resilience.
Little Amal represents refugees across the world especially children, who make up half of all refugees, according to the projects website.
Though Little Amal is a puppet, organizers worked to humanize her and allow the audience to welcome her as a personal visitor. Zuabi said this serves as a perfect example of how to welcome and help those in need.
Its always beautiful to see that a community comes together to take care of somebody else, he said.
Little Amal made multiple stops in the D.C. area, each with a theatrical event of welcome organized by local cultural institutions and artists. But for some attendees, the event was more than just a walk.
I was raised in Syria and I moved here because of the civil war in Syria, said Amina Skouti, a recent Masters graduate at George Mason University, who was attending the walk. Im not a refugee, but I have a lot of family who are refugees.
For me to see this, its really important and it makes me feel happy that all these people are coming in and joining, she added.
Zuabi said the stop in D.C. was an important one as the U.S. continues to confront issues of immigration and displacement. As a world leader, he said, the U.S. is one of the global engines of thinking and policymaking.
We are here both on the capacity of it being the American capital, but also it being a worldwide capitol, Zuabi said. This is probably the seats of power globally.
He added he thinks of the event as the big girl comes to where the big decisions are made.
The puppet was designed and built by Handspring Puppet Company, which also made the iconic puppets in the hit play War Horse.
Zuabi said puppetry was an impactful medium to tell Little Amals story as it immediately asks the audience to participate.
The audience is not just a spectator, especially when she doesnt speak and shes silent, he said. The audience is participating because theyre trying to translate whats happening into thoughts.
It takes four puppeteers to control Amal, with one person holding each arm, one supporting her back and one inside walking on stilts. The puppeteer on the inside also controls the strings, or the harp, that animate Amals face, head and eyes.
Little Amal has visited 15 countries since July 2021 and will continue its trip across the U.S. until November.
However, Little Amal isnt walking only to spread a message. Every step she takes helps raise money for the Amal fund, which provides academic training, education and supplies such as food, shelter and medical services for refugees.
Zuabi says he hopes the project will create an emotional experience for people who witness Little Amal, saying he wants to crack indifference for those in need so they arent seen as a burden.
Indifference is our biggest enemy, he said. As long as we care, were okay. We just need to make sure we care.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
UNITED NATIONS (AP) Welcome to the United Nations. Over the course of the next week, leaders from scores of countries will take the marbled dais that, despite being geographically located in midtown Manhattan, belongs to the world. It's part of the U.N. General Assembly's General Debate, in which a parade of speakers will cycle through the iconic hall from Tuesday, Sept. 19, through Tuesday, Sept. 26.
At the United Nations and on the sidelines, pressing topics will reflect the myriad global crises at hand: climate change, rampant inequality, Russias war in Ukraine, public health and geopolitical instability, among others. Presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and other high-ranking representatives are convening under the 78th session's theme of Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.
Check back here throughout for live updates from The Associated Press in and around the U.N. General Assembly, as leaders address and engage with their peers, constituencies at home and the world at large. A team of AP staffers at the United Nations, around New York and across the globe is providing highlights, analyses and key context in all formats.
GREECE AND TURKEY MEET ON SIDELINES
The leaders of Greece and Turkey agreed Wednesday to continue high-level meetings over the next three months, aimed at deescalating tension that has troubled the two NATO members for years.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on the sidelines to discuss a so-called positive agenda, designed to take attention off long-standing disputes.
We agreed to continue working to deepen the positive climate in Greek-Turkish relations that has been established in recent months, Mitsotakis said, speaking to Greek reporters in New York after the hourlong meeting.
The two neighbors are at odds over sea boundaries and drilling rights in the eastern Mediterranean a dispute centered around boundary lines around numerous Greek islands, mostly in the Aegean Sea.
Greek government officials said top diplomats from the two countries would meet again over the next two months and that a joint cabinet meeting would be held in December in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.
BIDEN'S TIE MEANT TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH STRIKING UAW WORKERS
U.S. President Joe Biden expressed surprise during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wasnt peppered with questions by reporters about the countrys auto strike.
Biden was purposefully wearing a red tie at the sit-down on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to show his solidarity with the striking UAW workers, according to the White House. There are roughly 13,000 workers striking at three different factories run by General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the owner of Chrysler. The UAW has threatened to expand the strike unless progress is achieved by Friday.
After opening statements at the Netanyahu meeting, journalists shouted questions about Israel. (Biden has previously expressed misgivings about Netanyahus plans to restructure the Israeli court system and the possible erosion of checks and balances.)
The U.S. president turned to Netanyahu and said: Surprised they havent asked me about the auto strike. They usually ask about things that have nothing to do with what were talking about.
BIDEN AND NETANYAHU HAVE LONG-AWAITED MEETING
U.S. President Joe Biden held a long-awaited meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, but the setting was much different than when the two countries leaders usually sit down together.
Instead of welcoming Netanyahu to the Oval Office, Biden met with him at a hotel in New York, where both were in town for the General Assembly.
The location is a reflection of Bidens discomfort with Netanyahus attempt to weaken the independence of Israels judicial system.
Anti-Netanyahu protesters gathered near the hotel, waving Israeli flags and denouncing his policies as a threat to democracy. Hundreds more demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv.
Biden made a glancing reference to the controversy, saying he plans to discuss some of the hardest issues, including upholding democratic values that lie at the heart of our partnership, including checks and balances in our systems.
He also left open the possibility of another, more prestigious meeting, saying I hope well see each other in Washington by the end of the year.
Netanyahu said one thing will never change is Israels commitment to democracy.
He also thanked Biden for his work to normalize diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, describing it as something within our reach.
CYPRUS PRESIDENT VOWS NEVER TO ACCEPT ISLAND'S DIVISION
The president of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, has vowed to never accept the islands division as a basis for an internationally backed solution, as the ethnic divide in Cyprus approaches the half-century mark.
The Mediterranean island has been split with Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the breakaway North since a Turkish invasion in 1974 in the wake of a failed coup by supporters for a union with Greece. Christodoulides heads the internationally recognized government in the south.
He addressed remarks made a day earlier by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who described U.N. resolutions as outdated and called for a deal based on the existence of two sovereign states.
I want to take this opportunity to also send a personal message to President Erdogan, Christodoulides said. There is not and never will be any basis for a settlement of the Cyprus question other than (the one) dictated by the U.N. Security Council resolutions.
RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTER ATTENDS DRONE EXHIBITION IN IRAN
TEHRAN, Iran Russias defense minister has attended an exhibition of Iranian-made military drones and missiles after Irans president denied supplying weapons for Moscows war on Ukraine.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Tehran on Tuesday and met with top officials to discuss the longstanding military and defense cooperation between the two countries.
The official IRNA news agency ran an image of Shoigu viewing the various weapons in an outdoor space. The semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to Irans Revolutionary Guard, ran video footage.
Irans President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday denied his country had sent drones to Russia in a meeting with media executives on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Russian attack drones and missiles have wreaked havoc on Ukrainian cities, often killing civilians.
Iran has acknowledged sending drones to Russia before its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. and European officials say the sheer number of Iranian drones being used in the war shows that the flow of such weapons has not only continued but intensified after hostilities began. The White House has even said that Iran is helping Russia to build its own drone manufacturing plant east of Moscow.
KAGAME A FAMILIAR FACE AS ONE OF AFRICA'S LONGEST-SERVING LEADERS
He is only 65 but has been president of Rwanda for of his life.
Paul Kagame has been in power since 2000, making him one of Africas longest-serving leaders and the de facto leader of the East African nation since its 1994 genocide.
If he contests next years election as he said this week and wins, he could remain a familiar face on the rostrum for at least another five years.
TURKEY'S ERDOGAN AND ISRAEL'S NETANYAHU MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met late Tuesday in New York, Erdogans office said.
It is the first time the two have met in person and comes as Turkey and Israel gradually improve ties after years of tension over Palestine.
The leaders discussed political, economic and regional issues, as well as the Israel-Palestine issue, according to a Turkish government statement.
Erdogan told Netanyahu that the two countries could cooperate on energy, technology, innovation, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, the statement added.
Relations between the former allies soured in 2010 when Israeli commandos killed 10 Turks in a raid on a ship attempting to breach its blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Later efforts to patch up relations stumbled over the killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border in 2018.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog visited Ankara last year as Turkey embarked on a diplomatic push to revive relations with regional powers including Israel, the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
WELCOME TO DAY 2
Were back with more from the U.N. General Assembly Hall and the sidelines of the summit.
First up for Day 2 of the General Debate is Seychelles, which APs Chinedu Asadu notes is Africas smallest nation one whose land area is only slightly more than half of New York City.
Several thousand people live in graveyards in the Philippines.
Homes, eateries, and daycare centers have been made of tombs and mausoleums.
Residents of two Cebu cemeteries told Insider that living there is hard, and they must rely on each other to survive.
The Chinese Cemetery in Cebu an island-province in central Philippines is where dozens of people live in informal settlements.
Goats roam around the foliage enveloping the tombs at the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Cebu is the second-largest city in the Philippines, after Manila. It's where the country's richest and poorest coexist.
In Cebu, thousands of people live in graveyards like the Chinese Cemetery. Graveyards are turned into informal settlements described by the Philippine Statistics Authority as a place where people live "without title or right or without the owner's consent whether in urban or rural areas."
Many of these people live below the poverty line. In the Philippines, that's some $293 a month for a family of five. This means that the people residing in these graveyards have no choice but to seek shelter there, as they can't afford to rent elsewhere.
Most of the graves at the Chinese Cemetery, a graveyard where some of Cebu's most highly-esteemed Chinese-Filipinos were buried, are now dilapidated. Dozens of makeshift houses are built in mausoleums that once housed the dead. Food stalls, small businesses, and even a daycare center now operate inside the cemetery that's been turned into a neighborhood.
Insider spent a day with the residents of the Chinese Cemetery, and Carreta Cemetery another informal settlement just a few minutes away to learn more about what it's like to live in a graveyard in the Philippines.
Merle Rabacal is a long-time resident of the Chinese Cemetery. She spends her day caring for her children, whom she lives with in a small mausoleum at the entrance of the graveyard.
A woman and her makeshift bathtub in the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Rabacal's home was built from two mausoleums, which previously housed tombs belonging to several Chinese-Filipinos. The mausoleums beside her home, which were still intact, were decorated with traditional Chinese motifs, like twin dragons and sloped roofs.
The door to her home was made of several tin sheets. Right outside was a makeshift bathtub that was previously used as a cooler.
"My husband is in prison, but I live here with my children. It's OK, I see all these things as temporary," Rabacal said.
Rabacal played with her daughter in the morning, who enjoyed bathing in the tub. Her son, meanwhile, hung out with his friends who also live in the graveyard. Christian songs from the popular band Hillsong blared out of the boombox that she owned.
Rabacal says she's heard of plans to demolish the cemetery. And just several days after Insider spoke to her, these plans were confirmed the area was going to be turned into a heritage park.
Children play basketball at a makeshift court at the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
These plans have put many residents' lives, including Rabacal's, into limbo. This means that the families living in the cemetery now face eviction by the local Cebu government, according to the local newspaper The Freeman. The cemetery is set to be turned into a 100-million-peso, or $1.8 million park on July 12, per the report.
Cebu's local government did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Insider.
But Rabacal remains resolute. She says she's been through many challenges, and her faith will help her get through this one.
"I've been a born-again Christian for a year," Rabacal said.
"There are several pastors who have planted a seed to many people here. I believe that I'm here to share the word with others. I've dedicated my life fully to him," she continued.
Rabacal's work is difficult. She helps to remove cadavers from the few remaining tombs there, whether it's for the family to rebury the body elsewhere or to clear it to build homes.
"Nobody gets buried here anymore. We've heard of a plan to demolish the place. But I believe that God has a plan," she said.
Neighbors Neriluz, Genelyn, and Merlia have lived in the cemetery for between 10 to 20 years. They sell popular Filipino street food from a stall in the cemetery.
Neighbors pose outside a mausoleum at the Chinese Cemetery in Cebu, Philippines. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Several clusters of houses were made out of mausoleums deeper inside the graveyard. The streets where these residents lived weren't in the best condition. Black water had gathered on the cracks that had formed over the unpaved ground, and trash had accumulated right on top of it. The stench of the polluted water permeated the air.
In one of these streets, Neriluz, Genelyn, and Merlia ran a small stall where they sold Filipino snacks like lumpia a crunchy dish made with wrappers and meat, isaw grilled intestines with soy sauce, and bola-bola noodles with meatballs and vegetables. They greeted each of their customers with a bright smile.
"It's hard to live here. Sometimes you have food to eat, and sometimes you don't. If you don't sell anything, you won't survive. Sometimes you have to resort to taking on debt," Neriluz, 41, said.
Each of the snacks costs 10 pesos or 18 cents. But Neriluz still needed to borrow 1,200 pesos, or $21, to prepare the food she was selling, she said, as running the business had been tough. She often makes a profit of 200 pesos, or $3.50, which is enough to feed her family for the day.
But there are times when opportunities are few and far between, Neriluz said. Sometimes her family only has enough to eat once a day, she added.
"Some people end up leaving when their children have gathered enough money. But for us, it's not possible yet because our children are still young. I hope to work hard until we can leave," Neriluz continued.
But Neriluz said it's not all gloom living in a cemetery they all have a strong bond with each other.
Street food is being sold at a homestyle stall in Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
The community in the cemetery is built on trust, Neriluz said. In fact, when she's off running an errand, Melia and Genelyn help take care of her stall. Genelyn, in particular, has lived in the graveyard since she was a child.
Neriluz's customers are their neighbors too, who usually drop by her stall for lunch. Despite the difficulties of living in a graveyard, she said many of them are still smiling thanks to the kindness of some of her neighbors like Melia and Genelyn.
"The best part about living here is the community. We have a camaraderie here, a strong friendship," she said.
Roselyn and Rosemarie Aquino are sisters who have lived in a house made out of a mausoleum for 13 years. They sell snacks in their mini convenience store to make a living.
Sisters live in a mausoleum in the Chinese Cemetery in Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
The sisters run a sari-sari store, which refers to a family-run convenience store in the Philippines. Roselyn also colors hair on the side, and on that day, she was busy fixing up her sister's hair.
"I wake up at 5 a.m. to help my kids get ready for school," Roselyn, a mother of three, said. She added that her businesses make "enough for them to get by."
In her free time, she watches videos on the popular social media platform TikTok. There, she posts clips of herself dancing to some of the trendy songs. To her, it's an escape from living in a cemetery.
"Dancing on TikTok is the happiest part of my day. My children are proud to see me there, and they imitate me when I'm dancing too," she said.
Elvera and Diktor Uliyamot were some of the first people to live in the cemetery. The couple have lived there for more than 40 years right when the land was reclaimed from the ocean.
An elderly couple and their grandson at the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Elvera was in her 20s when her parents moved to Carreta to take care of the cemetery. She remembered picking up seashells and clams for food. Now, things are different there aren't many remnants of the sea. The cemetery is also not a place where people get buried anymore.
The reclamation of land in North Cebu, where Carreta is located, began in 1962, according to an October 1980 report by the Philippine Planning Journal. About 91,750 square miles of land were used to build cemeteries, per the journal.
"Now, many of the cadavers have already been reburied somewhere else, so we have not much to take care of. So my husband builds houses out and about here," Elvera said.
The couple met in the cemetery in 1972 and got married six years later. They have three children together, and several grandchildren, including a 14-year-old boy named Adrian, who also lives in the cemetery.
The cemetery's transformation into an informal settlement was one of the biggest changes in the area, Elvera said. Many things from the tombs to the structures built around them have fallen into disrepair.
A dog howls on top of a tomb in Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
On the street where the couple lives, concrete had piled up on top of tombs where bodies were once buried. Old, black and white photographs still hung on the blackened walls, while several belongings were scattered about. In one of the dilapidated mausoleums, a dog sat on top of a tomb, surrounded by plastic garbage and vandalized walls.
"We've stayed here because it's peaceful. But now there are many squatters, it's changed," Elvira said. She added that she and Diktor had stayed put, believing that it would always remain that way.
"Last time it was only us and the guard of the cemetery. We slept soundly, but now since there are many residents, I've felt like our peace is disturbed," she added.
Annabelle Amparo is the caretaker of a children's daycare center in the cemetery. She's been volunteering there for more than 10 years.
A daycare center for children living in the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Ampara said the daycare center was started by a man from Germany and a local priest who wanted to help the people living in the cemetery. In the Philippines, this is called a "sponsor" a person who helps out financially to people in need, and they are mostly based overseas.
Some 70 children living in the cemetery attend the daycare, Amparo said, but there's only one volunteer teacher to teach all of them. She wanted to help the teacher, so she volunteered to care for the children and keep the daycare clean.
"My grandkids attend the daycare too. I started helping because I pitied the teacher, who lives really far away. When the teacher comes, everything is ready," Amparo said, adding that she's "kind of the teacher's assistant."
The daycare center itself is built from a large mausoleum that's big enough to house dozens of children. It resembles an actual home, more than anything.
Inside the daycare center where children study and play at the Chinese Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Inside, photographs of fruit were hanging from the ceiling. Charts and school supplies decorated the walls, and there was even a makeshift stage. Several children were playing hide-and-seek, laughing heartily, with their feet thumping on the ground.
Amparo said she lives in the daycare, and that she spends most of her time just caring for the children. She added that everything is taken care of, from the children's food and clothes to their stationery for school.
"I just want to make sure that someone looking after them, especially as their parents are busy working elsewhere," Amparo said.
The Carreta Cemetery is one of the largest public graveyards in Cebu. It's sprawling, located behind a makeshift dumpsite, and surrounded by towering urban buildings.
The entrance to Carreta Cemetery, Cebu, covered in signs. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Carreta Cemetery was much busier and just a few minutes away from the Chinese Cemetery. There was a certain energy about the place, with people peddling everything from candles to trinkets on every car that passed by the bustling street. It was crowded too, with people running in and out of the graveyard, bringing in caskets, as family members followed closely behind, crying.
It's one of the largest informal settlements in any graveyard in Cebu. People live inside and outside the graveyard, with makeshift houses made from wood and tarpaulin sheltering dozens of people.
On All Souls' Day on November 1, when Filipinos celebrate their dead loved ones, the graveyard lights up with candles.
Insider arrived on a hot afternoon and there wasn't an air of festivities, but more a lull of people waiting patiently for time to pass by.
Virginia is one of the residents who sells candles to visitors for a living. She lives in a house covered in tombstones right outside the cemetery.
An elderly woman selling candles at the Carreta Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Virginia said her parents also sold candles, and so that's the kind of work she's known her whole life. It's been three generations of her family living in the graveyard, as her six sons also grew up in the cemetery. One of them, Nelson, still lives with her and makes a living building and engraving tombstones.
"We live and die here," Virginia said of her family, adding that she can't leave the cemetery as she's already built her candle business there.
Living there is far from easy, but natural disasters have made it even more difficult for Virginia. She used to own a sari-sari store right beside this home, but then it was destroyed when the Odette typhoon wreaked havoc on the Philippines in December 2021. More than 400 people were killed and some $1 billion in damages were incurred during the typhoon.
"Since then, we had to live in a simple shack. We didn't receive any aid," she said.
Virginia's home is made out of some wood and a plastic covering. It's hot, noisy, and very dusty and barely protects her and Nelson from the elements.
A makeshift home covered with tarpaulin and tombstones at Carreta Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Virginia said they often take shelter inside the cemetery whenever it storms. She said that the structures inside are much stronger and can protect from the wind and rain. But outside, where they live right next to mausoleums covered in crosses, they only have their marble tombstones to keep them safe.
These tombstones have been a lifeline for Virginia and Nelson. They sell one tombstone for at least 3,500 pesos, or $62, each. All the pieces are handmade by Nelson.
Virginia said that she's heard of plans for Carreta to be demolished and turned into a building. While there have been no official announcements from the local government regarding an eviction, it worries them.
"I don't have anywhere else to go, nor do I have work outside of selling candles to people at the cemetery," she added.
Fe Liloan operates several businesses inside the graveyard. She spends her day selling food and candles, as the hot sun basks over the thousands of tombstones that surround her.
Caretakers sell food, candles, and clean tombstones to make money at Carreta Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
Liloan had set up her sari-sari store beside a wall of small tombs. A shade blocked the sun overhead as several packets of food hung on an adjacent mausoleum. Her store was complete with a stove to heat some instant noodles for customers.
"People working and living around the cemetery frequent my shop," Liloan said, adding that she has been living in the graveyard for three years. She said she sells a "package" to people visiting the dead she would clean tombstones while giving them food to eat, as well as prepare candles for them to remember their loved ones.
Liloan said that living in a graveyard is all about survival and looking for opportunities to make some money to take care of herself and her children.
A woman shares what she sells in a day at Carreta Cemetery, Cebu. Marielle Descalsota/Insider
As grim as it sounds, Liloan said that living in the cemetery has taught her how much people rely on the dead to survive.
She's been married twice, she said, and has six children, including one child whom she adopted. She sells noodles, Coca-Cola, and coffee at her store in the graveyard every day where one bowl of instant noodles costs 10 pesos, or 18 cents so that she can provide for her family.
"The only thing that's good about living here is that we can make some money," she said.
"When there's no dead people, we don't have a livelihood and no one buys our candles," she added.
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Explosions and a fire broke out in an industrial warehouse in the city of Lviv on the night of 18-19 September, injuring two people and blocking part of Horodotska Street.
Source: Maksym Kozytskyi, Head of Lviv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi on Telegram; Ukrainian Air Force on Telegram
Quote from Kozytskyi: "It's loud in some parts of Lviv. Do not mention the locations. Don't take pictures or film anything! Maintain information silence!"
Details: Mayor Sadovyi reported at 04:49 that there was a threat of a second attack and that air defences were responding to the attack in Lviv. He also urged people to stay in shelters.
The Ukrainian Air Force reported that the attack UAVs were over Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Khmelnytskyi oblasts: "Combat operations are underway! Do not leave your shelters!".
Sadovyi said that at 05:24, a fire broke out in an industrial warehouse after the attack on Lviv.
He said all the relevant services were heading to the scene.
The Lviv mayor reported at 05:45 that the roof of an industrial warehouse was on fire and that one person was known to have been injured.
For his part, Kozytskyi said a woman had been rescued from under the rubble of the warehouse and that she was injured: "A fire broke out in an industrial warehouse due to one of today's attacks on Lviv. At the moment, one woman has been rescued from the rubble. She is injured. The warehouse is on fire. All relevant services are working at the scene. The air raid warning is in effect! The danger of new attacks remains!"
The all-clear was sounded at 05:59.
Based on Kozytskyi's updated information, two people were rescued from the rubble in Lviv - a woman and a man. Preliminary reports indicated that the woman was not injured and that the man was in severe condition.
Sadovyi reported around 07:00 that traffic on Horodotska Street from the intersection with Paton Street to the roundabout was blocked in both directions due to the missile strike.
He said special equipment and relevant services were responding there.
Background:
On 18 September, around 23:00, the Russians launched Shahed kamikaze drones towards Ukraine from Primorsko-Akhtarsk (Krasnodar Krai, Russia). In five hours, they reached Lviv.
On the night of 18-19 September, groups of attack UAVs were heading to Ukraine's west. Local authorities reported explosions in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
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FILE - Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, walks past Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi's cremation site, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Sunday, Sept. 10, 2023. Trudeau said that Canada wasn't looking to escalate tensions, but asked India on Tuesday, Sept. 19, to take the killing of a Sikh activist seriously after India called accusations that the Indian government may have been involved absurd.(Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Tensions between Canada and India have escalated over the assassination of a Sikh independence advocate in June.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country was investigating credible allegations that Indian government agents were connected to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but India has rejected the allegations as absurd.
India has long demanded that Canada take action against the Sikh independence movement, which is banned in India but has support among the sizable Sikh diaspora populations overseas, including in Canada and the U.K.
Here is a look at the relationship between the countries, by the numbers:
POPULATION
Canada is home to nearly 1.4 million people of Indian ethnic or cultural origin, about 3.7% of the country's total population, according to the 2021 census.
More than 770,000 people reported their religion as Sikhism, about 2% of Canada's population, and in 2019, the government designated April as Sikh Heritage Month.
India is the world's most populous nation with 1.425 billion people as of April, according to the U.N.s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Sikhs are the majority in the northern state of Punjab state, but only about 1.7% of Indias total population.
TRADE
With more than $13.7 billion in trade, India was Canada's 10th largest two-way merchandise trade partner in 2022, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jean-Pierre J. Godbout said. Canadian merchandise exports to India totaled $5.3 billion, ranking ninth, Godbout said.
But Trudeau had frosty encounters with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi. Trade talks have been paused and a planned trade mission to India has been canceled.
TRAVEL
Visitors from India rank as Canadas fourth largest international air travel market, according to the census. In 2021, the 89,500 tourists from India spent $3.4 billion, the most of any group visiting Canada. Canadians visiting India spent $93 million the same year.
In November 2022, Canada and India reached an agreement to remove the restriction on the number of flights between the two countries, which had previously been limited to 35 flights per week.
Of the more than 800,000 international students in Canada at the end of 2022, 40% were from India, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data.
When 1st Lt. Matthew Blejwas graduated from the Armys flight school in May, he knew hed deploy to Europe almost immediately after he pinned his aviators wings.
But the 24-year-old UH-60 Black Hawk pilot didnt know that scarcely two months later, he and others from the 3rd Infantry Divisions Combat Aviation Brigade Marne Air would find themselves in Greece as part of a multinational mission battling the largest wildfires ever recorded in the European Union.
Army Times spoke with Blejwas and two of his colleagues pilot Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Casey and crew chief Sgt. Jordan McLellan Tuesday morning as they neared the end of a workday as part of their Atlantic Resolve deployment. Their division headquarters currently oversees the northern portion of the long-running deterrence mission that sharply increased in size after Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Marne Air is operating out of the southern headquarters, led by the 10th Mountain Division staff, in Romania.
Spc. Ian Little, right, and Sgt. Ryan King, left, assigned to A. Co., 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, prepare to hook up a Bambi bucket to a UH-60 Blackhawk during firefighting operations in Greece, Aug. 1, 2023. (Sgt. 1st Class Noel Perez/Army)
The three soldiers were wrapping up a joint training exercise with the Greek military in June 2023 when they learned they would stay and fight fires instead of heading back to Romania.
We were down there doing some high-altitude [flying] training and some air assaults, alongside Greek pilots and special operations personnel, said Casey, who saw two combat deployments as an enlisted paratrooper stationed in Alaska before becoming a pilot in 2013. The warrant officer had actually redeployed to Romania as one of the units first crews to depart the training so when they got the call, Caseys crew loaded the units firefighting buckets and gear and immediately flew back across the Aegean Sea to a Hellenic Air Force base near Volos.
The pilots characterized the flying as technically difficult but rewarding. The water buckets, which McLellan said were filled with ocean water, weighed around 6,000 pounds and dangled about 30 feet below the helicopter. The swaying buckets are impacted by the wind.
Complicating matters further, the pilots were unable to see the buckets below the aircraft, meaning that crew chiefs like McLellan were telling the pilots where to go and what adjustments to make before he would release the water.
Sgt. Jordan McLellan, assigned to A. Co., 4th Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, prepares to drop water from a Bambi bucket during firefighting operations in Greece, July 29, 2023. (Sgt. 1st Class Noel Perez/Army)
It was...really disconcerting at first being in the front and not being able to see whats under the helicopter, confessed Blejwas, a Rochester, New York native. Youre completely relying on the crew chiefs in the back. Its a really cool team effort when done right.
McLellan, by contrast, said the role reversal was a great experience and also a lot of stress. He described the wind which would blow the falling water in addition to swaying the buckets as the primary obstacle to ensuring their water drops hit the specific spots that local firefighters radioed to them through a Greek liaison aboard the helicopter.
Casey, who hails from Raleigh, was dispatched to fight a fire on the distant island of Chios that reportedly began after a traffic accident. His crew simultaneously battled the flames alongside roughly seven helicopters from other countries.
The amount of professionalism in the air at the time and how everyone just kind of understood the flow of traffic was really impressive, Casey said.
A UH-60 assigned to the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, fills their Bambi bucket in the Aegean Sea during firefighting operations in Greece, July 29, 2023. (Sgt. 1st Class Noel Perez/Army)
The warrant officer identified the firefighting experience as a high point of the deployment that underscores the changes hes seen in Europe since his first Atlantic Resolve deployment in 2017.
I didnt train with a lot of NATO partners back then. It was a lot of [training] rotations, he said. This time its a very stark difference. Ive trained with the Greeks, Bosnians, Romanians, Bulgarians [and Italians]...its a lot more rewarding, fulfilling now.
Luch Design Bureau asks to resolve the issue with the conclusions of the State Audit Service
Ukraines Luch Design Bureau, a major state-owned defense contractor, has appealed to the government and National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) after an inspection by the State Audit Service (SAS) classified any profits made by the contractor as state losses, the bureau said in a Facebook post on Sept. 19.
Read also: Ukraine develops economic recovery plan for Crimea, says PM Shmyhal
Luch sent official letters to PM Denys Shmyhal, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov, Minister for Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin, and head of Ukroboronprom, Herman Smetanin.
The bureau requests that the conclusions of the audit be revised in accordance with the law, as the discrepancy complicates the carrying out of the assigned tasks of weapons development and manufacture.
"The contrived position of State Audit Service officials regarding the prohibition of including a profit margin in the price [of our products] has created genuine threats to national security and defense," the bureau's statement says.
Read also: Defense overhaul continues in Ukraine under new minister Umerov as government ousts deputy team
The message adds that the SAS conclusions raise eyebrows and have caused discord and legal proceedings among the government bodies during a state of war. The audit materials have been handed over to the law enforcement, and criminal cases have been initiated on their basis.
Read also: Polish government considered retreat of troops across Vistula in event of Russian invasion, declassified war plans show
In July, the Cabinet abolished a resolution that prohibited businesses from profiting from contracts with the Defense Ministry.
Read also: Ukraine had enough resources for 2.5 months of active fighting in February 2022 Reznikov
Earlier, the SAS found that Luch made UAH 2.5 billion ($68 million) in profit from contracts with the Defense Ministry, classifying these earnings as improper.
At the time, then-Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov described the audits conclusions as absurd.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
When a married pastor going through a period of deep anguish and despair told a fellow clergyman he needed to confess a sin, he twice asked for, and says he received, an iron-clad guarantee of absolute confidence.
But after Rev. Anthony H.T. Stephens admitted to having had an inappropriate relationship with a former congregant, the revelation promptly made its way to the presiding bishop, who contacted Stephens wife (like him, also a Lutheran clergyperson) and told her everything. Stephens was later defrocked over the alleged impropriety, which interrupted his ongoing ascension within the churchand deprived him of at least $1.5 million in future earnings.
Thats according to a tranche of court documents obtained by The Daily Beast, which includes a lawsuit Stephens filed against the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (MNYS; ELCA) and four church officials, seeking six figures in damages and a return to the pulpit. In the self-filed suit, Stephens claims he had previously occasional thoughts of suicide, and had been suicidal earlier in the year, but says he made clear during the call that he would never go through with it because he has lost loved ones to suicide and would be unwilling to inflict such pain on his daughter.
The subsequent disclosure to his wife generated a fresh bout of suicidal ideation, the suit says, and Stephens began a pattern of retiring at night hoping that he would not wake up in the morning.
Stephens, 61, who in addition to his religious calling is a practicing lawyer in the Ulster County Public Defenders Office, a licensed mental health counselor, and recently ended a years-long stint as an Army National Guard chaplain, is claiming, among other things, intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The church, on the other hand, said in a motion to dismiss filed Friday that Stephens undisputed infidelity constituted clear ecclesiastical misconduct, and that no confessional confidentiality applied to the phone conversation during which Stephens copped to the supposed affair. In fact, according to the church, the bishop had been informed of Stephens apparent indiscretions a week prior, and the confession merely confirmed what they already knew.
On Monday, Stephens told The Daily Beast that he has been barred from performing any spiritual work since May, when he was removed from the Evangelical Lutheran Church roster.
What breaks my heart is that people have come to me with the most personal and embarrassing stuff, on a regular basis, Stephens said. I will never, ever disclose it. This is a special thing that clergy can do. Theres also a second part of it, which is, Speak for God with words of comfort and forgiveness. And I got the exact opposite.
Stephens has more than 30 years of experience in the ministry, and will take many secrets to my grave, he continued. What happened to him, Stephens said, was like the sacraments turning poison.
Attorneys for the church did not respond to requests for comment on Monday.
Mortified
For the soft-spoken Stephens, becoming a priest in the Evangelical Lutheran-Episcopal church, which formally merged decades ago, had been a dearly held ambition and desire since age of fourteen [sic], his lawsuit states, adding that his father, grandfather, great-uncle and great-great-uncle were Anglican priests in his native England.
Stephens graduated from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1995, with a masters in divinity. He earned a second masters degree in human development and counseling, in addition to a doctorate in education and a J.D. He served as pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Croton-on-Hudson from 2002 until 2016. Stephens was then hired as senior chaplain to Joint Task Force Empire Shield, an Army National Guard, Air National Guard, and New York Naval Militia counterterrorism force, a position he said he left about 18 months ago.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has a famously pro-social justice streak, and in 2021 installed an openly transgender bishop in Northern California. During his career, Stephens has worked as a rape crisis counselor, provided free legal services to victims of domestic violence, volunteered in psychiatric hospitals, and provided pastoral care to 9/11 workers, survivors, and families.
Join us tonight at 7 p.m. Central time for a conversation with Indian boarding school survivor George McCauley. September is the month of remembrance for Indian boarding schools. No preregistration is required to participate. Just click "join the class". https://t.co/RnNZxcVOGq pic.twitter.com/Iqrj26ia54 ELCA Lutherans (@ELCA) September 13, 2023
On Nov. 14, 2022, some six years after he left Our Savior, a tormented Stephens contacted Rev. Christopher Mietlowski, the assistant to Bishop Paul Egensteiner, head of the MNYS.
Stephens told Mietlowski in a phone call that he wanted to discuss a very personal matter [that was] deeply disturbing and upsetting to [him], and one where confessional silence and counseling confidentiality were to the essence, his lawsuit states. Mietlowski agreed, and Stephens proceeded to reveal somethingthe details of which remain unexplained in his suit.
Within 24 hours, Mietlowski had given a blow-by-blow of the call to Egensteiner, who then got on the phone to Stephens wife to report what had happened, according to Stephens suit.
Immediately thereafter Stephens [wife] called [Stephens] and noted dryly, in sum and substance, Chriss (Mietlowski) idea of confidentiality is obviously very different to yours, it states.
Stephens was mortified that BOTH Egensteiner and Mietlowski had broken confessional silence and disclosed protected and privileged information, the lawsuit continues. [Stephens] reliance on ELCA ecclesiology and trust, and confidence that the ELCA was a vehicle of his faith was shattered, and he felt a deep sense of betrayal, alienation, and moral injury.
Although Stephens does not specify what his alleged transgression was, the churchs motion to dismiss rather candidly fills in the gaps.
The subject misconduct was a complaint received by the Bishop of the MNY Synod that [Stephens] allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair with a former congregant of the Our Savior Lutheran Church, the church's motion states.
The motion says Stephens does not deny that he engaged in infidelity with this former congregant, but instead pleads that at the time, she was not a minor, was a person of suitable age and discretion, and not lacking in capacity.
This, according to the churchs motion, did not in any way minimize the ecclesiastical misconduct committed by Plaintiff under the ecclesiastical rules of the ELCA. (The lawyers representing the church are also representing Egensteiner and Mietlowski.)
Further, the motion goes on, Egensteiner was first advised of the alleged affair between Stephens and the former congregant on Nov. 7, seven days before Stephens call to Mietlowski, and launched an investigation into the claim. In a Jan. 27, 2023 letter to Egensteiner marked CONFIDENTIAL, a copy of which the church filed to the public docket last week, Stephens called the relationship an intimate one.
I do not deny the immorality and poor judgment of a certain brief period of time, very much lament the pain and suffering experienced by others, and certainly accept reprimand, reproach and even censure, he wrote. I am also not seeking to avoid accountability.
Rev. Dr. Megan Rohrer (they/them) addresses their congregation on Sept. 11, 2021, after becoming the first openly transgender bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Yalonda M. James/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
The former parishioner became obsessed with Stephens, contacting him and threatening his wife hundreds of times by text, email, and social media, according to his lawsuit. (Stephens says in the filing that he has foregone pressing criminal charges against the woman out of compassion.)
On May 2, Egensteiner informed Stephens in a letter that he was being removed from the church, a development Stephens said blindsided him. The letter generated fresh suicidal ideations, and Stephens again contemplated execution of a plan to end [his] life, according to the lawsuit.
[O]nly [Stephens] expertise in suicide prevention, and devotion to his children and certain others, who he wished to spare pain, allowed him to martial [sic] the resources to stay alive, the suit states.
On Monday, Stephens attempted to walk back the description of the affair in court filings, insisting to The Daily Beast, Ive never said to anyone, in the synod staff or otherwise, that this was a sexual relationship. He also said he was not admitting to anything, but that, Nevertheless, I really regret it and wish it had never happened, in any shape, form, or fashion. Thats my fault. I should have had better situational awareness.
In his lawsuit, Stephens argues he did not have any fiduciary or hierarchical relationship with the former parishioner, which he emphasized in Mondays interview, claiming this person was actually never a member of my church. He also pointed to a section of his lawsuit which recalls a 2002 exchange with the parishioner during which she noted, in writing, Youre not my fucking pastor.
I thought that was pretty unequivocal, Stephens said.
Stephens says in his lawsuit that his relationship with Egensteiner has been fractured for many years, and that he has previously deep-sixed opportunities for advancement. As for the alleged affair, Stephens claims church elders never told him he was under investigation, never gave him a chance to respond to the allegations, and was otherwise denied due process. He was not given an opportunity to resign, and instead, Egensteiner personally ram-rodded [Stephens] disenfranchisement through MNYS Synod Council, according to his lawsuit. It says he will lose out on expected future church-related earnings in the sum of one million five hundred thousand dollars ($1.5MM).
New York State Supreme Court
In an odd aside, Stephens claims in his suit that he wouldnt have been dealt with so harshly if he was a member of a minority group. He notes in his suit that although he is a straight, white male, he has demonstrably and unequivocally been an unrelenting proponent of womens rights, and particularly women's victims rights, as well as a staunch ally to people of color and the LGBTQ community. However, Stephens suit alleges, members of those groups who have found themselves in analogous predicaments have been treated differently by MNYS.
I was presumed to be guilty, and others I know, who are not white males, have been treated differently, he told The Daily Beast.
Stephens claim of being treated differently on account of his race and gender is baseless, according to the churchs motion.
Church vs. State
Stephens is now mending fences with his wife, who, he said on Monday, is a fantastic person, the kindest person you could meet. He continues his work as an attorney and psychotherapist, while holding out hope his lawsuit will restore his status as a clergyman.
The church, on the other hand, argues that New York State Supreme Court is not the place for such a decision to be made.
Stephens improperly seeks to assert common law claims in what is inherently a church proceeding, the synods motion to dismiss states.
Even more outrageous, [Stephens] seeks to have this Court entangle itself into the religious and ecclesiastical rules and affairs of the ELCA and MNY Synod, and expunge his admitted infidelity with his former congregant from the records of the MNY Synod and ELCA under the guise that he was allegedly not afforded canonical due process and that some of his statements made during the investigation of the extramarital affair were purportedly subject to what he unilaterally now labels as confessional confidentiality, the motion argues.
In addition to being welcomed back as a pastor, Stephens is seeking a total of $450,000 in damages, plus a reasonable contribution to an Episcopal Charity favoring female victims of domestic violence. He is also demanding the synod uphold a policy guaranteeing anything a penitent/counselee tells a clergy member stays secret, particularly if they are at the lowest point in their life.
To date, no one from the Evangelical Lutheran church has made any effort to check in on Stephens well-being, according to his lawsuit. This, the suit says, is evidence that Egensteiner and Mietlowski were either callous and unearing towards a suicidal parishioner, or that they did not believe that parishioner was suicidal and therefore the expectation of confidence could not be broken, but nonetheless was.
Still, Stephens remains optimistic overall about the church, and views what happened in his case as an aberration.
There are certainly clergypeople who will respect confessional silence, he told The Daily Beast. If a person is deeply distressed, even contemplating taking their life, I would not want them to be discouraged to approach them.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel on Monday publicly accused Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody of committing crimes during a series of raids last month that included her private home and the Marion County Records newsroom.
And she said Mayor David Mayfield is violating his duty as mayor by failing to suspend Cody for what she called an illegal search and seizure at her house on Aug. 11.
The search warrants for her house, The Records newsroom and the home of its owner, publisher and editor were revoked by the county attorney five days later for insufficient evidence. The seized materials were returned, and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation, which is ongoing.
Cody remains on the job as the chief of Marion police.
Herbel, citing a discrepancy between the search warrant and search warrant applications, said she believes Cody falsified documents to illegally obtain a search warrant at her house and failed to inform her of the crimes she was being investigated for.
Herbel said she has not filed a formal complaint against Cody or Mayfield with any law enforcement agency. But she plans to file a federal lawsuit this week, she said.
I turned this over to my attorneys, Herbel said. I havent talked to KBI yet. But when I do talk to KBI, I will certainly mention that. But I turned it over to my attorney, and they are making the decisions whos responsible and whos getting a lawsuit against them.
The allegations came during the Marion City Council meeting, where three of the citys five council members Mayfield, Zach Collett and Kevin Burkholder blocked Herbels move to discuss Codys employment during an executive session.
Its the latest development in a controversial law enforcement action that brought international attention to the small town about 60 miles north of Wichita. Codys raids have been condemned by free press advocates as government overreach and an attack on the First Amendment.
Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel
Herbel, 80, said she and others in the Marion community live in constant fear of Cody and his officers after they executed search warrants to investigate a complaint by restaurant owner Kari Newell, who was upset that they had uncovered records of her drunken driving history as she was seeking a liquor license.
Im terrified of him, Herbel said of Cody in an interview with The Eagle. My kids told me to put up security cameras. Im wondering if I should go out and buy a pistol. I grew up with guns, so they dont really scare me. But that man scares me.
Herbel is pushing for Cody to be suspended. Mayfield could suspend Cody or a majority of the council could vote to put him on paid administrative leave. Herbel said a majority of the council has sided with Mayfield, who said he is waiting for the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to complete its investigation to take any action.
Herbel said at Mondays meeting Cody falsified records to commit criminal fraud by lying on his search warrant application to obtain illegal search warrants, so there is no need to wait.
Herbel said the search warrant provided by Marion police on Aug. 11 does not match the application that was filed with the district court on Aug. 14. Both copies, provided to The Eagle by Herbel, are signed by Cody and Magistrate Judge Laura Viar. Both allege Cody had probable cause to believe Herbel committed identity theft.
But the search warrant documents differ when it comes to a second crime alleged by Cody. The warrant says he had probable cause to believe Herbel committed unlawful acts concerning computers. But the warrant application, filed with the District Court Aug. 14, did not include that allegation. It said Cody had probable cause to believe she committed official misconduct.
This is an excerpt from a copy of a search warrant provided to Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel on Aug. 11. The search warrant alleged Marion Chief Gideon Cody had probable cause to believe Herbel had committed unlawful acts concerning computers. But a signed affidavit filed with the district court shows Cody did not include that crime in his application for the warrant.
This excerpt Marion Police Chief Gideon Codys application for a search warrant at Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbels home shows he sought a warrant under suspicion that Herbel had committed official misconduct, not unlawful acts concerning computers, which was listed on the search warrant document she was provided on the day of the search.
The difference means Herbel was not made aware of what crimes she was under investigation for when authorities entered her home and removed items of interest, including her personal computers and cellphone.
Herbel said the change constitutes criminal fraud by Cody in order to get the search warrant and shows that his investigation was on shaky ground to begin with.
He (Cody) falsified the documents by changing the warrant after it had been served to me by changing the words identity theft and unlawful acts concerning computers to identity theft and official misconduct before filing the warrant in district court, Herbal said. This is criminal fraud committed by a person acting under the color of law. This, within itself, should be enough to suspend Cody until the KBI completes its investigation.
The timing of the change is unclear. The search warrant was signed and dated at 9:05 a.m. on Aug. 11. The signature line on the warrant application is dated Aug. 11, with no time stamp, and was not filed in district court until 8:23 a.m. on Aug. 14.
Cody did not attend the council meeting and did not respond to emailed questions.
Herbel said Mayfield is in violation of a state law K.S.A. 14-307 that requires mayors to cause all subordinate officers to be dealt with promptly for any neglect or violation of duty.
Mayfield did not respond to Herbels comments during the city council meeting and did not respond to a request for comment for this story. He previously defended Codys actions.
As far as Im concerned, Cody has violated his duty all over the place, Herbel said. And I would complain to the attorney general, if I thought the attorney general would listen. But I really doubt that he will. So were kind of out here in the sticks by ourselves.
If filed, Herbels lawsuit will be the second federal suit against Cody in the Marion incident. Record reporter Deb Gruver, who had been digging into Codys questionable exit from the Kansas City Police Department, sued Cody last month for violating her rights by seizing her personal cell phone an item that was not included in the search warrant affidavit and re-injuring her finger.
Herbel said there was no need to search her home because she turned over all the information she had which had been given to her by community member Pam Maag to City Administrator Brogan Jones before the raids.
Maag told The Eagle that she legally obtained Newells records through the states court records system and a publicly available online database maintained by the Kansas Department of Revenue. She said she sent copies to Herbel and The Record.
It was not CJIS, the Kansas criminal justice database system, Maag said. You have to have a token to get into that. Those tokens are set to each individual. Theyre trackable. You have to get a new one every two years. So, no, it never went through CJIS. It never went through law enforcement. It was all done based off the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Odyssey court system.
Maag also addressed the Marion City Council on Monday.
If you would have called me, . . . all of this wouldnt have happened, Maag said. I would have told you who I sent it to, and I would have told you why.
But Cody didnt interview Maag, though he did mention her in his applications for search warrants.
Instead, Cody opened an investigation into Herbel and The Record for computer crimes and identity theft, alleging that they must have stolen Newells identity to access her drivers license records on the Kansas Department of Revenues public database. He sent his entire police department and multiple Marion County sheriffs deputies to Herbels house, the newsroom of the Marion County Record and the home of its owners, Eric Meyer and his mother, 98-year-old Joan Meyer, who died of sudden cardiac arrest the day after the raids.
Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey later revoked the search warrants and called for the seized items to be returned, saying in a written statement that insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.
Herbel said Codys raid, which included at least five law enforcement officers, terrified and mortified her husband, who suffers from dementia.
A majority of the council is hoping itll all blow over, and well pretend it didnt happen, Herbel said. But you cant pretend something like this didnt happen. They terrified that 98-year-old woman so much that she died the next day. And that was the worst thing about this whole thing and the fact that theyve terrified my husband and traumatized him, and hes still not back to normal.
Meyer, The Records owner, publisher and editor, expressed frustration after Mondays council meeting that the warrant at Herbels house has gotten less attention than the newspaper raid.
I feel really sorry for Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel, Meyer said. Theres not a national association of vice mayors to come defend her the way there is with journalism groups defending us. The warrant against her theres not even cause. Shes not accused of committing a crime. Theres no probable cause. Everything they could have found, shed already given them. So why raid her house?
Ned Heywood fettling the glaze on the clay plaque during the making of an English Heritage Blue Plaque, at Heritage Ceramics, The Workshop Gallery in Chepstow, Wales Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. English Heritage is preparing to unveil its 1,000th blue plaque, the famous discs that dot the walls of buildings throughout London, marking the places where scientists, artists, politicians and activists have made history. The charity is working to broaden the program to include more women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and community groups so that it better reflects the diversity of the capital. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON (AP) A resounding thump breaks the silence as Julia Land drops a lump of grey-brown clay onto the slab roller before Ned Heywood cranks it through the machine once, twice, three times, creating a rectangle about an inch thick.
Laying a pattern on top of the slab, Heywood slices through the clay to create a disc the size of an extra-large pizza that will become one of the blue plaques that dot the walls of buildings throughout London, marking the places where scientists, artists, politicians and activists have made history.
As English Heritage unveiled its 1,000th blue plaque on Tuesday, the charity was working to broaden the program to include more women, people from minority ethnic backgrounds and community groups so that it better reflects the diversity of the capital.
The latest installation marks the offices where the Womens Freedom League campaigned for womens equality" in the early 20th century, satisfying at least two of those goals.
The names are no longer just English names, which is significant because, you know, the people whove come to this country from all over the world have made a disproportionately large contribution, Heywood said at his workshop, a converted 18th century pub in the Welsh town of Chepstow, 110 miles (180 kilometers) west of London. Its changing now, which is very much for the good.
The blue plaque program, which began in 1866 and is believed to be the first of its kind, provides an informal historical walking tour of London that commemorates notable people and their accomplishments by highlighting the places where they lived and worked.
The honorees include famous figures from wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill to communist pioneer Karl Marx, as well as lesser known figures like theatrical wigmaker Willy Clarkson and civil engineer William Lindley, who built water and sewage systems around the world. There are also plaques honoring foreigners like Indias first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru , and American rock star Jimi Hendrix, who lived in London only briefly.
But English Heritage, which has sponsored the program since 1986, is concerned that past honorees were overwhelmingly white and male. Just 15% of the plaques honor women and less than 5% celebrate people from Black and Asian backgrounds.
The charity, which manages some 400 monuments, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses around England, is trying to encourage more nominations of women and people from minority ethnic groups, while retaining high standards for entry into the exclusive club, said Anna Eavis, the curatorial director.
Plaques unveiled recently include Princess Sophia Duleep Singh , a suffragette and critic of British rule in India; Ottobah Cugoano, a native of present-day Ghana who was enslaved in Grenada and campaigned against slavery after gaining his freedom; and Ada Salter, the first woman to be elected mayor of a London borough.
London is hugely diverse and it has always been, hasnt it? Eavis said. And so it is important to ensure that were reflecting that diversity, that richness of contribution on London streets."
Diana Yeh, a senior lecturer in sociology at City University of London, said broadening the reach of programs like the blue plaques is an essential part of remembering invisible histories." But heritage organizations must do more to discuss the troubling aspects of English history, including slavery and colonialism, she added.
In a way it's very easy to celebrate well-known figures who are marginalized, but its much harder to do that difficult work of acknowledging Britains difficult past, said Yeh, whose work focuses on race, racism and cultural politics. But this needs to be done for the benefit of future generations.
English Heritage installs a dozen blue plaques each year, selected from about 100 nominations. A committee reviews the nominees to decide which ones warrant commemoration and to ensure there is a real connection between each honoree and the site where the plaque is to be installed.
Once a decision is made, the order goes out to Heywoods studio, which has been making plaques for English Heritage since 2016.
Over a period of six weeks, Heywood and Land roll and cut the clay, inscribe the disc with the honorees name and accomplishments, then apply the characteristic blue glaze and fire it in a kiln. Its a process that creates an almost indestructible monument that should last as long as the building to which its attached as long as the plaques dont crack when theyre baked at 1,300 degrees Celsius (2,370 Fahrenheit).
We pray to gods of the kiln, Heywood said.
While the first plaque, honoring the poet Lord Byron, was destroyed when the building it adorned was demolished, the second, installed in 1867, still marks the house where Napoleon III, the last French emperor, lived in exile.
Plaque number 1,000 honors the Womens Freedom League, a suffragist organization that used 1 Robert Street in central London as its base of operations during its most active period.
The league was formed in 1907 by campaigners who broke away from the more famous Womens Social and Political Union because of disagreements with its leader, Emmeline Pankhurst.
The group, which had the motto Dare to be free, aimed for total emancipation for women. It advocated non-payment of taxes and backed a boycott of the 1911 census as ways to pressure the government to allow women to vote. In 1909, when womens suffrage was omitted from the Kings Speech outlining the governments legislative program, the league hired an airship to drop pamphlets over the capital.
Heywood and Land feel the responsibility of the blue plaques intensely. To get in the right mindset, they sometimes try to channel the honorees.
Land listened to recordings of violinist Yehudi Menuhin as she did the lettering on his plaque.
Heywood researched electrical engineer Tommy Flowers before working on the marker that commemorates his work on Colossus, the pioneering computer used to decipher German codes during World War II.
He was a very significant person in the whole of the World War II effort, Heywood said. And hes at last being recognized for the astonishing job that he did.
Heywood has a soft spot for scientists, who he says are the real heroes in improving peoples lives. Politicians? Not so much. They come and go.
But being the plaque maker, he gets to put his stamp on things, one disc at a time.
Im very aware of the history of this town, the country, and aware of the changes that individuals have brought within society," Heywood said, surrounded by his tools, clay and dust.
Blue plaques are carefully considered, the people are thoroughly researched, and the plaques are there for a reason, he added. And will be there forever.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. Police are looking for three males who tried to carjack a 72-year-old man and then took a car from a 17-year-old at gunpoint in East Memphis.
The teen said he was putting his car in reverse when it happened Saturday afternoon in the 600 block of River View Road.
Police said it started when three men in masks in a white Kia Forte with Mississippi tags tried to carjack the 72-year-old victim, but he told them to go away and refused to give up his keys.
Investigators said the carjackers then went up the street, pointed a gun with an extended magazine at the teen, and told him to give him his keys and wallet.
The 17-year-old gave him the car keys in his pocket and said a third suspect slapped him on the hand. He said all three jumped into his white 2014 Mercedes Benz SLK230 and left.
The victims 2014 Mercedes Benz SLK230
The victims 2014 Mercedes Benz SLK230
Police said the Kia Forte the suspects left behind was also stolen.
The young victim said the carjackers also got his wallet and iPhone 14 Pro Max inside his car.
I just grabbed him and held him as tight as I could and both of us just stood their sobbing because all I could think about was how lucky I am to be holding you right now, said Tamara Goff, the victims mother.
Tamara and Ken Goff say since the incident, their son, a student at Lausanne Collegiate School, has been afraid to drive.
His coping skills are largely intwined with his car, Tamara said. Now he needs to clear his head more than ever and he doesnt want to drive.
He said For the foreseeable future, I want yall to take me to school again,' Ken said.
The teen later encountered the 72-year-old mans family while seeking help. His parents said they are thankful for their quick action.
The reality is it can happen anywhere and it happened four doors down from where we live, Tamara said.
Just like there was random violence, there has been really random and wonderful kindness from people that we didnt know at all, Ken said.
The TN tag number for the stolen Mercedes is BNY4468. If you have seen the car or have any information that can help police find the carjackers, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) A couple in Los Angeles found some unexpected guests enjoying their backyard amenities last month, when a mama bear and her two cubs were spotted taking a dip in their pool.
Homeowners Jon and Karen Von Gunten say the bears came out of Rowley Canyon, which connects to the Angeles National Forest, in search of a place to cool down in the scorching temperatures.
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The couple captured a video of the bears taking a quick dip in the pool and enjoying some fun play time, before heading back into the forest.
Im just glad I wasnt in the pool, said one of the homeowners while recording the video.
Mama bear and cubs enjoy quick swim in Tujunga backyard (Jon and Karen Von Gunten)
Mama bear and cubs enjoy quick swim in Tujunga backyard (Jon and Karen Von Gunten)
Mama bear and cubs enjoy quick swim in Tujunga backyard (Jon and Karen Von Gunten)
Mama bear and cubs enjoy quick swim in Tujunga backyard (Jon and Karen Von Gunten)
Throughout the summer months, bear sightings and encounters have become more frequent in Southern California.
In July, a similar video in the same city showed a mother bear and a cub splashing around in a hot tub.
Also in July, a viewer shared video to Nexstars KTLA of another bear splashing around in a backyard pool. The viewer said it happened around 10:45 a.m. at a short-term rental in Azusa.
In the nearby city of Burbank, another bear was seen lounging in a backyard hot tub. Video shared by the Burbank Police Department shows the bear sitting upright in the hot tub, looking almost like a guest of the homeowner.
I was upstairs and I heard a lot of commotion and some beeping sounds, homeowner Diana Lewis said. And here he was, just having fun in the jacuzzi. Very happy.
That bear eventually left the hot tub and scaled a tree where it remained for several hours before finally coming down and returning into the Verdugo Mountains.
A bear sits in a jacuzzi in Burbank as police watch from afar in this video shared by the Burbank Police Department on July 28, 2023.
Lewis said she was fine letting the bear cool down in her hot tub, but officials are warning the public that bears, however cute they may appear, should never be fed or approached, and that its best that humans and bears keep a safe distance from one another.
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As temperatures continue to soar, wildlife officials say bear encounters are more likely to occur.
To reduce the likelihood of having a bad encounter with a bear, the National Park Service has a list of tips and tricks to avoid encounters, as well as what to do if you come face-to-face with one of the apex predators.
Some of those tips include talking calmly to the bear so it knows youre human and not prey, getting as big as possible, and remaining calm. You should never run from a bear, climb a tree to escape, or allow the animal to eat your food. More tips, including when to play dead and when to fight back, can be found at the National Park Service website.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. A man who was accused of robbing a woman at gunpoint and then breaking into a Christian school last month in Nutbush has been arrested.
ORIGINAL STORY: Video shows man robbing woman at gunpoint, breaking into Christian school
On August 22, Memphis Police responded to an auto theft in Whitehaven. The victim stated her Hyundai Sonata was in the apartment complex parking lot the day before, but when she returned it was missing.
Later that day, Memphis Police got a robbery call at Gateway Christian School on Macon Road. The victim stated when she arrived at the school, a silver Hyundai pulled in front of her and a man, later identified as Darren Rogers, got out of the car.
Rogers pointed a gun at her and took her purse, according to reports. He then left as she went into the school, locked the doors, and called the police.
Teen carjacked by 3 suspects in East Memphis neighborhood
Reports state that Rogers returned in the silver Hyundai and broke the schools glass door with the gun to get inside. The victim stated she heard the man yelling he was the police as he searched both floors of the school.
Police say Rogers then left the school and drove off in the Hyundai.
Video footage of the robbery revealed that the Hyundai used to rob the victim at the school was the same vehicle stolen from the Whitehaven victim.
On September 14, the school victim was able to positively identify Rogers in a six-person photo lineup as the man responsible for robbing her.
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On September 18, police say that Rogers was arrested and admitted to driving the stolen Hyundai, robbing the school victim with a gun, and forcing his way inside the school.
He is charged with Aggravated Robbery, Burglary-Building, Theft of Property, Convicted Felon in Possession of a Handgun, and Carrying a Weapon On School Property.
He is set to appear in court on Wednesday morning.
On February 25, 2016, Rogers was sentenced to 10 years after pleading guilty to Carjacking.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
PALMDALE, Calif. A man barricaded himself inside a home Monday before he was forced out and arrested in connection to the fatal shooting of a Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy, authorities said.
A SWAT team surrounded the suspect's house in Palmdale, and "family members did come out" but "the suspect chose to barricade and refused to initially come out," Sheriff Robert Luna told reporters, as he described the arrest of Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer's alleged killer.
Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer. (Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department / AP)
After an hours-long standoff on Barrinson Street, deputies "deployed chemical agents, and the suspect ultimately surrendered," Luna added.
The sheriff credited deputies for their patience and taking the 29-year-old suspect, Kevin Salazar, alive.
"Our special enforcement bureau deputies were so professional in giving the suspect adequate time to surrender peacefully," Luna said.
"Our deputies gave this suspect an opportunity to peacefully give up. That is not the right that was afforded to our deputy three days ago out here across the street."
Salazar has been dealing with schizophrenia for years and had been on medication, his family said Monday.
"It's not justifying anything, it's just getting a little bit of awareness," sister Yessica Salazar said. "He was mentally ill. He heard voices. We tried to help him. I mean it's just that we wanted it to get known also that he wasn't a coward. He was ... on a rampage on the schizophrenia."
A bystander called 911 after spotting the 30-year-old deputy unconscious in his car at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Southern California suburb that's a little more than 60 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, officials said.
Clinkunbroomer was rushed to the hospital but could not be revived.
Investigators said Sunday they were looking for a car a dark-colored 2006 to 2012 Toyota Corolla that was seen near Clinkunbroomers vehicle just before the shooting.
When the picture of that car went out Sunday, Yessica Salazar said her family spread those images with no idea they were to be linked to her brother.
"We we were like really genuinely like, 'Oh my god, this poor guy.' We shared pictures," she said.
"So we even shared those pictures. 'Hey, let it spread. Let the word spread you know, lets find this person,' not knowing that it was that a rampage, an episode of the schizophrenia that my brother was going through."
Police cars block off a street where a sheriff's deputy was shot while in his patrol car in Palmdale, Calif. on Sept. 17, 2023. (Richard Vogel / AP)
Clinkunbroomer had just left the station when he was discovered near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q, officials said.
Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said Sunday that a video clip that shows a car pulling alongside the patrol car before it speeds away is a focus of the investigation.
The sheriff on Monday did not reveal how investigators came to connect the man they have in custody to Clinkunbroomer's slaying, though Luna said tips from the public played a key role.
Deputies recovered "numerous weapons" from the home, according to the sheriff. His family would not confirm how Salazar had obtained the weapons.
"We have the person that we believe is responsible for the tragic murder of Ryan," Luna said.
Authorities did not immediately say or speculate what might have motivated Saturday's slaying.
Ryans loved ones and the community at large demand, and now deserve, answers," said L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the area where Saturday's murder happened. "Why was Clinkunbroomer murdered? Who was involved? And what is their background?"
She added: We need to have a full picture of what motivated the murder and why this shooting transpired.
Local sheriff's deputies were aware of Salazar's mental health struggles and had been to the family's house before, Yessica Salazar said.
A sheriff's spokesperson declined comment Monday afternoon when asked if there had been calls for service to Salazar's home before Saturday's shooting.
Earlier during his meeting with reporters Sheriff Luna declined to say whether the suspect had any mental health issues.
Whether mental health is a factor or not, think about this: If I had to go to your family and tell them that you were not coming home and you were just murdered, does it matter what that person was thinking or their condition?" Luna said.
Clinkunbroomer was a well regarded deputy and had been working as a field training officer for the past 1 1/2 years, officials said.
The victim, a third-generation deputy, got engaged to his girlfriend four days before the fatal attack, Luna said. The victim's grandfather rose to the rank of captain and his father was a lieutenant.
"He was proud to work along the side of his partners that he considered brothers and sisters as he sacrificed daily to better the community that he served," according to a family statement issued on Monday. "Ryan made the ultimate sacrifice in doing so."
Luna spoke to reporters in front of the Palmdale station, where Clinkunbroomer worked, with a picture of the slain deputy on the door and the words, E.O.W. 9/16/2023.
E.O.W. stands for end of watch, a term frequently used to mark the date a member of law enforcement is killed in the line of duty.
Dana Griffin and Stephanie Fuerte reported from Palmdale and David K. Li from New York City.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Family of the 29-year-old man arrested Monday morning in connection with the fatal ambush-style shooting of a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff who was sitting in his patrol vehicle in the Antelope Valley over the weekend, are speaking out about his struggles with mental health.
Authorities believe Kevin Salazar ambushed and killed Deputy Ryan Clink Clinkunbroomer, 30, an eight-year veteran of the sheriffs department, at around 6 p.m. Saturday while the deputy sat at a red light near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q in Palmdale. He was rushed to the Antelope Valley Medical Center where he later died as a result of his injuries.
Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer
After an hours-long standoff Monday morning, in which neighbors were evacuated and SWAT officers deployed tear gas, Salazar was taken into custody around 5 a.m. outside his Palmdale home.
The 29-year-olds family told KTLA they were shocked by his early morning arrest and that hes never hurt anyone before.
Jessica Salazar, the suspects sister, said this is in no way an excuse for his actions, but that her brother is in need of professional help, that hes been battling mental health issues and had stopped taking his medications.
Were not justifying anything, Jessica said. We feel for that family. It hurts. Nobody wishes to go through that, but I do want you guys to know that my brother had schizophrenia. He had paranoia. He heard voices.
Kevin Salazar
Suspect arrested in ambush-style slaying of L.A. County deputy
According to Dr. Evita Limon Rocha, a psychiatrist with Kaiser Permanente, schizophrenia is a chronic brain disorder. She says that among the symptoms can be misinterpreting ones environment, delusions, as well as hearing and seeing things that other people cant hear or see.
Treatment typically entails working with a mental health provider, such as a psychiatrist to treat the invidual with a variety of medications, typically a category of medicines that we call anti-psychotics, she explained. And to try and find the right medication for the patient, its a discussion about risk benefits and alternatives.
Dr. Rocha added that if youre ever concerned about a loved one struggling with these types of mental health issues, its critical to find support.
Whether it may be seeking crisis support, whether it be 988, 911 or going to the nearest emergency room, she said. Or if we are concerned and want more information, going to our internal medicine doctor or if its a child, a pediatrician.
Salazars mother told the Los Angeles Times that she called enforcement in the past asking for help when her son refused to take his medications and was told there was nothing that they could do since he was an adult. She also said her son had been hospitalized within the last year, but lately had seemed as if he was doing better.
One local psychiatric hospital tells KTLA 5s Rachel Menitoff that family members are often in a bind. They can go the legal route and petition for conservatorship or hope that their loved one wants to get treatment for him or herself.
Just know that we tried helping my brother with schizophrenia, the 29-year-olds sister said. A lot of people who know, who have family members with the same situation will understand how its so hard to want to help a loved one and knowing that their mind is not in the right state of mind.
There are resources for individuals and families in need of help. A good first step is the National Alliance on Mental Illness or NAMI, which has a program called Family to Family to help people better understand a mental health system that can be complicated and challenging.
Approximately 1,000 people showed up at the sheriffs station for a vigil Sunday night in honor of Deputy Clinkunbroomer.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A produce stand owner's TikTok video showing a man destroying his stand in Antioch has gone viral, drawing outrage and calls for support.
The TikTok has more than 600,000 views since it was posted on Monday. The fruit stand owner Diego Parada, whose TikTok account shows he's of Honduran descent, posted the clip showing a man tipping over tables covered in different types of fruit at the stand along Antioch Pike on Saturday, Sept. 16, before throwing tables on top of one another and telling Parada to move.
The first video lasts just under a minute.
"He affected me emotionally and psychologically with racism, with hatred. As if I were an enemy of his, thank God I have witnesses and videos. Sadly, I am very upset over what happened," Parada said in an interview with Nashville Noticias, a breaking news Hispanic television station, that was translated by The Tennessean.
Nashville rallies after immigrant's fruit stand is vandalized, raising $8K in gofundme
Metro Nashville police are investigating the incident and have charged the man with damaging the fruit stand after he "admitted to vandalizing the property," the arrest affidavit states.
Since the video was published under the TikTok account owned by Parada, people have stitched the video multiple times and have left comments like, "That's a lot of hate," and others asking for him to not let this go and to file charges. Others wonder how they can help him.
What happened in the viral TikTok video?
In the video, it is still dark out and headlights from a vehicle can be seen. Parada who is holding the camera can be heard speaking Spanish, while the man says phrases like, "Move your s***," as tables of fruit are pushed over, boxes are flung and a canopy is jerked around by him.
The man can also be seen getting extremely close to the camera and appears to try and grab onto the person filming while talking about a sign.
After that, he heads to a truck parked at an angle to the fruit stand and proceeds to make a call.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
Another video was posted to the account early Tuesday morning after police arrived at the scene of the incident. There is no sound in the video which is just over a minute long, but in the video lights from police vehicles can be seen flashing as the man is shown kicking fruit on the ground.
A police officer comes into the shot around 20 seconds in and speaks with him as he continues to kick at fruit and other items on the ground. After the discussion, the officer allegedly talks with the person holding the camera.
Diego Parada talks about the incident
In a translated interview from Nashville Noticias, Parada describes what happened when the man came to a stop in front of his stand along Antoich Pike early one morning.
"Well like any entrepreneur, I came with my business wanting to work, without hurting or bothering anyone. I stood here and then within the hour this man, who is present in his car, arrived and almost ran me and my friend over,' Parada said. "He got out very angry, I have the videos. And like a crazy person began insulting me. He assaulted me both verbally as well as physically and began throwing everything. Everything is here (referring to the produce)."
Parada estimates between $2,500 and $3,000 worth of damage was done to his stand. But there is also a mental toll that can't be calculated into a figure that weighs heavily on Parada.
"Lots of people know me that's why I came to work here but I never thought this man would take these violent attitudes. What happened is inhumane. This is anti-human," Parada said in the interview. "I am a human being just like everyone else and we deserve respect. We deserve an opportunity. Sadly, I am very unwell psychologically, he hurt me (pointing to his neck), he pulled my shirt, he wanted to throw me to the ground."
Nashville police investigate the fruit stand destruction
"The police are doing their job, we're waiting for answers to see what happens," Parada told Nashville Noticias.
When police arrived at the stand, the man was still kicking around fruit an other items that can be seen in the second video that Parada posted. According to a police affidavit, he also admitted to causing the damage after telling the police he didn't like that Parada was there.
"The defendant stated, that he didn't like the victim having his fruit stand on the sidewalk in front of his property," read the affidavit.
Police charged the man with felony vandalism.
Parada described the incident and the way the man behaved as "racist" and hopes the matter to be resolved.
"He came, kicked everything, he didn't care there were other people present. He behaved in a racist way and well I just want to solve this, and hope that he behaves more humanely," Parada said.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TikTok shows man destroying Nashville fruit stand, leads to arrest
A death row inmate in Nebraska who was convicted of killing his Tinder date has now been accused of concocting a fake murder-for-hire scheme from behind bars with a little help.
Aubrey Trail, 56, was sentenced to death in June 2021 for the brutal 2017 murder and dismembering of Sydney Loofe after meeting her on the dating app Tinder.
While in prison, he met 55-year-old Samantha Al-Rekabi of Lincoln, Nebraska, who was writing a book about Loofes murder and the two began hatching a plan to swindle a nurse at the Lincoln prison out of $25,000.
On Sunday, Ms Al-Rekabi was arrested and has since been charged with felony theft by extortion in the case, according to court records.
Investigators began the probe after being tipped off by another inmate in 2021. They say the two manipulated the nurse into smuggling in contraband, including a phone and chewing tobacco, according to a recent arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Lincoln Journal Star.
The nurse, who has not been named because she is not charged, worked at the Nebraska Diagnostic & Evaluation Center, now known as the Reception and Treatment Center. She quit just before the Nebraska State Patrols investigation began in March 2021, was interviewed by the FBI in December of that same year.
She told the FBI shed been manipulated by Trail and admitted to smuggling him contraband, the affidavit states.
The affidavit revealed that Trail told Ms Al-Rekabi to befriend the nurse, which she did, and the two bonded over being true crime buffs and confided in each other about marriage troubles.
In the interview, the nurse talked about how Trail exploited her friendship with Ms Al-Rekabi, and alleged that Trail had told her hed hired a hitman to kill her husband and that he would only call off the hit if she paid him $25,000.
She agreed to pay the money and went to the bank with Ms Al-Rekabi to withdraw the funds. The affidavit revealed the nurse had withdrawn $25,000 in cash from her account.
The affidavit also revealed that in a number of phone recordings investigators believe to be between Ms Al-Rekabi and Trail, she was allegedly heard bragging to Trail about getting the blackmail money from the nurse, gushing shes gonna get her pension out just [to] give it to us.
A response from a male can be heard, She dont have a choice.
Aubrey Trail testifies during his murder trial in 2019 (Omaha World-Herald)
It was revealed that investigators came to believe that there was never a legitimate plan to pay a hitman to kill the nurses family.
Other calls detailed Trails alleged desire to have a gun smuggled into the prison.
In one of the calls, a males voice is heard telling the nurse to bring me a gun so I can just kill everybody, according to the affidavit.
Ms Al-Rekabi later admitted that she helped Trail because she was afraid he would hurt her son, who is also in prison. She appeared in court on Monday where her bond was set at $5,000.
An interview with a Nebraska State Patrol investigator in April 2023 also revealed that Ms Al-Rekabi had admitted to working as an intermediary between Trail and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, a former store clerk who was also convicted for her role in Loofes killing, KLKNTV reported.
Boswell, who was at the center of a wild outburst by Trail during his 2019 trial, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November 2021. Trail had tried slashing his throat and yelled Bailey is innocent, and I curse you all!
A North Carolina man is in custody after police say he tried but failed to fake his own death in a poorly staged kayaking accident in order to evade rape charges.
Melvin Emde, 41, was taken into custody in Georgia on Sunday after a traffic stop and subsequent motorcycle crash revealed to authorities there that he had supposedly died in a tragic accident weeks earlier, according to the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office.
The alleged ruse began on Aug. 7, when Louisiana deputies say they received a call from Emdes son reporting that hed fallen overboard while kayaking in the Mississippi River near Hahnville.
Emde had been due in court in North Carolina on the same day of his supposed drowning. He faced charges of indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape of a child by an adult, police said.
We immediately became quite suspicious that this may have been a faked accidental drowning and death in order for Mr. Emde to escape charges in Brunswick County, North Carolina. However, we could not publicly expose our suspicions for fear of tipping him off, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said in a press release.
Police went along with the hoax drowning, Champagne said, because they knew theyd eventually be able to catch Emde. Meanwhile, local news reports detailed the frantic search efforts for the missing kayaker, and social media posts about the tragedy were flooded with comments from hundreds of well-wishers offering their prayers for Emdes rescue. Some of Emdes own family members took to Facebook to express their shock about his apparent death: This cannot be happening, wrote a woman identified in public records as his sister.
Search efforts are set to resume Tuesday a.m. for a man who disappeared while kayaking & fishing in the Mississippi River. Deputies say, Melvin Phillip Emde, 41, from Talihina, OK, was reported missing by his son after he was seen falling overboard near Matis Road in Hahnville. pic.twitter.com/kUJiGjvul3 Ashlyn Brothers (@AshlynBrothers) August 8, 2023
The scheme, police say, was doomed from the get-go, however: Emde was still wearing the ankle monitor he was required to wear as a condition of his bail. On the same day of his supposed drowning, the ankle monitor showed he was actually in a Walmart buying two prepaid phones, authorities said.
While the trail went cold after he apparently stopped using those phones, a motorcycle driving without a license plate in Georgia over the weekend caught the attention of the Georgia State Patrol. When a trooper tried to pull the driver over, he fled, crashed, tried to flee again on foot, and then gave authorities a bogus name. But fingerprints unmasked him as Emde, the tragic kayaker at the center of search efforts in Louisiana whod conveniently died on the eve of his court hearing.
Now its time for Mr. Emde to face the music for his charges in North Carolina, Champagne said.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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Police in Wisconsin are investigating after they say a mother of five was killed in her home.
David L. Edaburn Jr., 36, was arrested and is being held on a $1 million bond pending charges of first degree intentional homicide, according to a press release from the Village of Siren Police Department.
Police say the Burnett County Sheriffs Office dispatch got a call from Edaburn just before 2:30 a.m. Sept. 15, asking for someone to come remove children from the home because he killed a woman.
When police arrived, they found Brittany Hollan, 32, dead in her bedroom and four unharmed children in the home, the news release says.
She didnt deserve this, Brittany Hollans sister Bree Hollan told KSTP. She had a huge heart; she gave more than she received.
Police said an autopsy report confirms Brittany died from sharp force trauma to her head and neck.
We lost an amazing Sister, daughter, mother. Brittany was such an amazing person that touched so many lives. There are now 5 kids that no longer have a mom, a GoFundMe page says.
Police say after they found Brittany deceased, they searched for Edaburn and found him at his home in Grantsburg, where he turned himself into police.
As of Tuesday, Sept. 19, McClatchy News found no formal charges filed against Edaburn. The news release says the investigation is ongoing as police continue to look into the circumstances of the case.
Siren is about 110 miles northwest of Eau Claire.
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LAS VEGAS (KLAS) A man who convinced a Las Vegas casino cage worker that he was a hotel co-owner and that she needed to give him more than $1 million in bogus payments could spend several years in prison.
Erik Gutierrez Martinez, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to one charge of theft of more than $100,000. Gutierrez Martinez initially faced two felony counts. As part of a plea deal, Clark County District Court Judge Jasmin Lilly-Spells could sentence Gutierrez Martinez to anywhere from one to 10 years in prison.
As the 8 News Now Investigators first reported in June, Las Vegas Metro police searched Gutierrez Martinezs home on June 21, finding bundles of money from Circa Hotel & Casino, which they believe were part of a scam to defraud the business of more than $1 million, documents said.
Documents the 8 News Now Investigators later obtained in the case revealed the allegations involved thefts at Circa, Eureka Casino Resort in Mesquite and the Golden Nugget in Laughlin as well as federal investigators, including the U.S. Secret Service. As part of the plea deal, Gutierrez Martinez accepts guilt only in the Circa case.
Erik Gutierrez Martinez, 24, pleaded guilty Monday to one charge of theft of more than $100,000. (KLAS)
In March, a casino cage supervisor at the Eureka casino removed $250,000 from the property and drove to Las Vegas to deliver the money to a person who she believed was owed money for hand sanitizer. The person investigators believe the employee met with at a gas station parking lot was Gutierrez Martinez, documents said.
On March 2 around 1:30 a.m., a person called the Eureka casino cage from a Mexican phone number about a missing check to a business, documents said. The person then called the employees personal cell phone, telling her to search for a check that was made out to a business, which she would find in the cage, documents said. Mesquite is more than 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas near the Arizona border.
The employee told the person on the phone she could not find the check. The person on the phone then instructed the employee to remove $250,000 in cash from the casino cage and deliver to it to another person in Las Vegas, documents said.
The employee took $250,000 from the cage, put it in a cardboard box and left, documents said, reportedly saying to another employee, We dont want anyone to know about this, its embarrassing to [another employee].
Once the employee arrived at the gas station, the person on the phone instructed her to deposit $15,000 into a Bitcoin machine, documents said. The person on the phone then told her to go to a second location, but the Bitcoin machine was out of order.
The person on the phone then told the employee to go to a third gas station to meet a person, later identified as Gutierrez Martinez, to deliver the remaining $235,000, documents said. The employee met Gutierrez Martinez in the gas station parking lot, but before she left, she received a phone call from someone at the casino who ordered her to return with the money, documents said.
While speaking with investigators, the employee said, she received a call from a frantic individual who said, there was an issue regarding a contract and payment of $250,000 and the payment needed to be delivered immediately. The employee said her job did not involve handling payments from vendors or suppliers.
Investigators determined the money transferred to Bitcoin was sent to 17 different accounts, they said. The money involved also was sent to Gibraltar, the British territory at the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea.
On June 17, police responded to the Circa Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas for a report of a similar scam, the 8 News Now Investigators first reported in June. A person from the hotels security office told detectives an unknown person had contacted the casino cage claiming to be the owner of the hotel and asking for $320,000 for an emergency payment to the fire department, police wrote in court documents.
Police interviewed the cage supervisor, who said she received a phone call from a person who claimed they were the hotels owner. The person, who was not the hotels owner, said the fire department needed to do a check on the fire extinguishers and they would need a payment for further safety devices, documents said.
The cage supervisor brought the money in four installments to the unknown person at different off-site locations, documents said. The payments totaled $314,000, $350,000, and $500,000, plus three smaller deposits, resulting in a loss of $1,170,000 to the hotel, documents said. The employee believed she was on the phone with the hotels owner and texting with her manager, police said.
Circa Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas as seen from the 8 News Now drone shortly after the propertys opening. (KLAS)
Detectives tracked the vehicle involved in the suspected theft, finding its registered owner. Police suspect the car belonged to Gutierrez Martinezs aunt with whom he lives.
Police arrested Gutierrez Martinez at a gym on Sunday, June 18, they said. They later recovered nearly $850,000. Police did not know at the time of writing his arrest report last week who was given the outstanding $314,000, they said. Another man in the car with Gutierrez Martinez before his arrest was not detained.
Gutierrez Martinez has remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center since his June arrest.
Gaming Control Board investigators said a similar scheme also happened at the Golden Nugget in Laughlin, though Gutierrez Martinez was never charged on a third theft charge.
Representatives from Eureka Mesquite and Golden Nugget Laughlin casinos did not return requests for comment.
Derek Stevens, CEO of Circa, said in June that Circa was cooperating with the investigation and that he appreciated Metros efforts.
Lilly-Spells will sentence Gutierrez Martinez on Oct. 30.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Flash
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Malta, on Sept. 16, 2023. [Photo/Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
As part of ongoing efforts to maintain bilateral communication and stabilize relations, senior Chinese and U.S. officials held multiple rounds of meetings in Malta on Saturday and Sunday.
In the meetings, Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan agreed to maintain high-level exchanges and hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs as well as foreign policies.
This was the second time Wang met with Sullivan in four months since their Vienna meeting in May.
The two sides conducted candid, substantive and constructive strategic communication on stabilizing and improving China-U.S. relations.
"China hopes that the relationship between China and the United States will get back on track. This is fundamental," said Su Xiaohui, deputy director and associate research fellow of the Department for American Studies at China Institute of International Studies.
"From China's perspective, we hope that China-U.S. relations will remain stable," Su said. "China has always emphasized that China and the United States should meet each other halfway to bring bilateral relations back on the right track."
Communication is necessary when China-U.S. relations are growing increasingly precarious. Over the last several months, the two sides have conducted a string of high-level engagements.
Starting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Beijing trip in June, several senior U.S. officials have visited China one after another, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
All these U.S. officials have stressed the importance and willingness to stabilize China-U.S. relations. However, in areas concerning China's core interests, like the Taiwan question, the United States remains provocative.
In his meetings with Sullivan, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in the China-U.S. relationship and the U.S. must abide by the three China-U.S. joint communiques and honor its commitment to not support "Taiwan independence."
On multiple occasions, U.S. President Joe Biden has reiterated his "five noes," namely not seek a new Cold War; not seek to change China's system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support "Taiwan independence;" and not look for conflict with China.
But these promises did not prevent Washington from boosting arms sales to Taiwan, among others.
China has decided to impose sanctions on two U.S. companies due to their involvement in arms sales to Taiwan, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.
Constant hostility towards China does not serve the U.S. interests, said Anthony Scaramucci, founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, in a recent episode of the "Bloomberg Talks" podcast program. "So I think we need to calm ourselves down a little bit."
In recent years, the United States has adopted what it calls a "small yard, high fence" strategy in the name of protecting national security. Despite claiming it had no intention to decouple from China, the White House has continued to hammer China in the high-tech field.
In the meetings with Sullivan, Wang said China's development has strong endogenous driving force and follows inevitable historical logic and it cannot be stopped. The Chinese people's legitimate right to development cannot be deprived, he added.
U.S. sanctions that block China's access to U.S. processor chips and other technologies will slow down China's access to high-end capabilities to some extent, "but it's not going to keep China down forever," Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said last month.
"China will still be around. America has to learn to live with China and coexist with China," said Wong. "Hopefully, the two countries will be able to find ways to manage their differences and live together."
A man has been sentenced to 13 years in federal prison for trying to bring more than 6 1/2 pounds of fentanyl through Los Angeles International Airport in 2020.
Chicago resident Jermaine Eggleston, 35, was convicted in April 2022 of distributing fentanyl after LAX security officers found the narcotics in his checked duffle bag, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a Tuesday news release.
On Sept. 14, 2020, his bag set off an X-ray machine for possibly containing explosives, prompting a Transportation Security Administration officer to search it.
The officer opened the bag and found, inside a computer keyboard box, three parcels wrapped in tape, plastic wrap, and carbon paper, the release said. Eggleston checked the bag under his own name for a Los Angeles-to-New Orleans flight. Subsequent testing revealed that the parcels in total contained 2,986 grams of fentanyl.
That amount, just short of 3 kilograms, equates to 6.58 pounds and has a wholesale value of more than $250,000, the DOJ said.
[Eggleston] sought to check luggage containing nearly three kilograms of fentanyl powder onto a plane an act that, had [Eggleston] succeeded, would have risked the lives of not just the many eventual downstream users of the fentanyl, but also the passengers and crew of the plane, prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.
Eggleston was arrested in the airport that day and freed on pretrial release in October 2020, but about five months later, he was arrested in Chicago for the alleged possession of a firearm.
Hes remained in federal custody for the past 2 1/2 years.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE/KSEE) A man in Fresno was shot near an elementary school and was taken to the hospital.
Fresno Police Department announced Tuesday that a man who appears to be in his late 50s to early 60s was shot in the area of the 4700 block of East Liberty Avenue.
The shooting took place at around 9:15 a.m. as officers say they arrived at the scene and confirmed the shooting was in that location. Officers say there seemed to be a disturbance at the home which then led to the shots fired outside of the home.
The Fresno police department says the victim is now in critical condition and was taken to the hospital.
The shooting took place near Sunnyside High School and Lane Elementary. A Shelter in Place was issued as a precaution.
If anyone has any more information, you are asked to contact the Fresno Police Department.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. A quick trip to the grocery store this month turned into a big win for one Missouri Lottery player after he purchased a Powerball ticket.
The Missouri Lottery says the ticket was purchased at the Hy-Vee located off Highway 40 in Blue Springs. When the winner went to check his ticket, he was surprised to discover the cashier there was already expecting him.
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When I got there, and the lady looked at me, she turned around and said, Oh my God, youre the one! he told the Missouri Lottery. I said, Is that what I think it is? and she said Yes, you won that $150,000!
The ticket matched four of the five white-ball numbers drawn on Sept. 6, plus the Powerball, to win a base prize of $50,000. The prize amount instantly tripled to $150,000 when the Power Play number drawn was three.
It was a Quick Pick, the winner shared with the Missouri Lottery. I just let the machine pick it, and there it was.
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Mondays Powerball jackpot is estimated at $638 million.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Just a month before 32-year-old Amberly Harris was shot and killed inside an Independence apartment, a death and dismemberment insurance policy worth $20,000 was taken out in her name, according to investigators.
On Monday, 55-year-old Tommy Joe Powell, who prosecutors say was the beneficiary of that policy, was sentenced to life in prison for Harris death. That prison term was handed down by Kenton County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Summe.
Powell pleaded guilty last month to a murder charge and admitted using a shotgun to kill Harris, with whom he had been in a relationship. He will have to serve 20 years of his sentence before he's eligible for parole.
By the time Independence police went on Dec. 15, at the request of Harris employer, to the Beechgrove Drive apartment where the couple lived, Powell had been inside the home with her body for several days.
A criminal citation states that Powell told the officers that Harris was dead, and he later told the arresting officer that he shot Harris during an argument days earlier and had not called 911.
Police found her lying dead on the floor of the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to the head.
The shotgun was recovered from the bedroom, Independence police Detective Adam Strine testified during a December hearing, adding that Powell also told police he had been drinking the evening of the shooting.
Powell was taken to a local hospital after his arrest to be treated for dehydration, prosecutors have said.
I wanted all of you to know how deeply sorry I am from the bottom of my heart and soul for what happened that night, Powell wrote in a letter to Harris family, which his attorney read aloud. My actions caused a very special lady to be taken from us.
Still, for Harris loved ones, much surrounding her death remains a mystery.
Theres just so many, so many questions, and answers that we want, to why you did this, Jessica Mann, Harris sister, said through tears in court on Monday. I just want to know why.
Powell was previously convicted of a domestic violence assault in April 2022. In that incident, Powell attacked Harris after an argument at their apartment over Harris' use of social media, court records state.
He struck her in the face and choked her to the point of blacking out, a criminal complaint states. Harris arrived at the Independence Police Department after the assault with abrasions and bruises on her neck, face and chest, the complaint says.
Powell was sentenced to conditional discharge and ordered to undergo anger management and domestic violence treatment, though he was later found to be noncompliant with his treatment program, court records show.
Kenton County Commonwealths Attorney Rob Sanders said Powell was allowed to plead guilty to the assault charge a misdemeanor because Harris didnt come forward as a witness to prosecute Powell on a felony charge of strangulation.
I just think that the justice system should do more to protect victims of domestic violence, Sanders said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man who took out insurance policy on girlfriend, shot her, gets prison
A State College restaurant company with deep roots downtown has closed a pizza pub and basement bar, with the the owners directing customers to a nearby location and hinting at something new.
HiWay Pizza Pub and The Saloon at the corner of East College Avenue and Hiester Street closed in an abrupt and unforeseen change of plans, according to a Monday press release from Dantes Restaurants & Nightlife. A sign on HiWay Pizza Pubs door states the restaurant moved a few blocks away, to 1301 W. College Ave., State College, where another HiWay Pizza has been located since 2017.
Along with my father Andy and mother Cathy, I would like to express how truly grateful we are for the support and patronage we have received from downtown community, students, and returning alumni over the years, Jennifer Zangrilli, director of Dantes Restaurants & Nightlife, said in a written statement. While we are sad to say goodbye to our downtown locations, we are enthusiastic about the future and opportunities for growth that lie ahead for us.
In the press release, the company urged people to stay tuned for updates on our exciting transition, upcoming renovations, and our soon to be announced 60th anniversary celebration.
There are many chapters in our story from the past 60 years and we are already hard at work writing the next pages that will carry us forward for many years to come. We look forward to continuing to serve this community we have been so fortunate to raise our family in and call home, Zangrilli said.
The downtown HiWay Pizza location opened in 1976, though between 2008-2019 was Inferno Brick Oven Pizza. HiWay Pizza Pubs menu features pizza, calzones, pasta, sandwiches, salads and other dishes. The eatery prides itself on unique, house-made pizza doughs and Italian sauces.
Delivery service of the full HiWay Pizza menu will continue from the West College Avenue location, according to the press release. Employees from the downtown locations have been offered employment opportunities at that location.
And for those wondering, Dantes Restaurants Director J.P. Mills said that the Saloons signature Monkey Boy cocktail will also move to HiWay West.
We have enjoyed a very, very long run downtown are fortunate to have so many wonderful memories and loyal customers over the years. We would like to thank all of our past employees, customers, and friends for their hard work, patronage, and support, Mills said in a written statement. We invite everyone to keep the good times rolling with us just 15 blocks away at HiWay West. We are excited for the future and cant wait to show you what we are planning next.
Former Dantes locations downtown include The Deli Restaurant and Z Bar, Crowbar and Liberty Craft House.
Marilyn Manson, accused rapist and abuser, has finally been slapped with some good ol fashioned court-ordered accountability...only its not for the multiple sexual and physical abuse claims against him (Manson has repeatedly denied all rape and abuse accusations).
On Monday, the supposed shock rocker was sentenced to 20 hours of community service and a fine of $1,400 for *checks record* spitting and blowing his nose on videographer, Susan Fountain, at a concert back in 2019.
Read more
In the courtroom on Monday, Manson appeared but didnt give a statement. Meanwhile, Fountain chose not to appear but offered a statement that was read during the sentencing hearing.
In all the years Ive worked with people, Ive never been humiliated or treated the way I was by this defendant, Fountain wrote. For him to spit on me and blow his nose on me was the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done.
I understand this was not a big criminal charge to begin with, but I was hoping that the defendant would receive a sentence that would make him think twice before doing something like this again, her statement continued. Per the judges ruling, Manson is allowed to serve his community service in California where he resides, but must give proof of completion by February 4.
If Manson hadnt switched his plea and the case went to trial, he would have faced a jail sentence. Of course, this wont be Mansons last time in court. He remains in litigation in at least two casesone filed by his ex-girlfriend, Evan Rachel Wood, and the other, a Jane Doe suit stemming from allegations he raped her at the age of 16. In May, a judge ruled in favor of Wood and dismissed much of his defamation case against her.
Luck (and basic human decency???), it seems, is very much snot on Mansons side.
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WASHINGTON All Marine Corps aircraft, inside and outside the U.S., were grounded Monday after a stealth F-35 jet mysteriously disappeared in South Carolina, according to an order issued by Gen. Eric Smith, the acting commandant of the Marines.
Marine aircraft deployed abroad or with imminent missions can delay the order briefly but are expected to stand down for two days this week, officials said.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the pause in operations would allow units to discuss aviation safety matters and best practices. Marine leadership will use the stand down "to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews.
During the safety stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness, the statement said.
The Marines and Joint Base Charleston, an air base in North Charleston, South Carolina, were working Sunday to locate an F-35B Lightning II jet with a price tag of about $80 million after the pilot safely ejected from the aircraft. He was in stable condition Monday at a medical center, a spokesperson for the air base said.
Officials said Monday evening that a debris field had been located about two and a half hours northeast of the base.
Two defense officials said Monday that although the jet was on autopilot when the pilot ejected, it does not have the range or ability to fly for such a long period without refueling.
It remained unclear what caused the pilot to eject.
Retired Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former NATO supreme allied commander and F-16 pilot, said the military maintains a "very structured approach to an accident investigation." He noted that a stand-down is not unusual after such an incident.
The Marines will likely create an investigatory body to immediately start gathering evidence and a longer-term group of aircraft investigators will tackle the larger scope of human, operational and maintenance factors, he said.
"Once they interview the pilot, we'll pretty much know everything," said Breedlove, who is a trained aircraft investigator. "Since he lived, there's no use in the conjecture piece of this. They'll know exactly what happened very quickly, and I would caution everybody wait rather than get speculating."
Breedlove emphasized that the F-35 has a "phenomenal" safety record.
The decision to stand-down all aircraft also comes after two deadly Marine Corps crashes last month. An F-18 pilot died during a training flight near San Diego, and three Marines died and more were wounded when an Osprey crashed off the coast of Australia. The Pentagon noted the two previous accidents in its statement Monday.
Marines with VMFAT-501 and VMGR-252 conduct a FARP (Lance Cpl. Lauren Salmon / U.S. Marine Corps)
Joint Base Charleston said in a statement that it was coordinating its search efforts with the Marines and the Navy. It was also working with the FAA, Civil Air Patrol and local law enforcement across South Carolina, using "both ground and air assets" to aid in the search.
The jet belongs to one of the training squadrons in the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, the major East Coast aviation unit of the U.S. Marine Corps.
The search-and-recovery efforts for the aircraft are ongoing, and we are thankful to the agencies assisting in this effort, Capt. Joe Leitner, the spokesperson for the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, said. The mishap is currently under investigation.
It remains unclear why the Marines and federal authorities have been unable to track the aircraft, which carries some of the most elite technology and software procured by the federal government. That has rankled some members of Congress who have criticized the cost of the F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter program, the Pentagon's most expensive weapon system program to date.
"I think the problem with tracking it is it's stealthy it's supposed to be invisible," said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national security think tank. "If some civilian airport were tracking it, that would be a problem."
Cancian noted, however, that the F-35 has been "a very controversial program" because of its cost.
Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., likened the program to a financial "rathole" in 2021 during a virtual event at the Brookings Institution. His office declined to comment Monday.
What does the F-35 give us? asked Smith, who was then serving as chairman of the House Armed Services. Is there a way to cut our losses? Is there a way to not keep spending so much money for such a low capability? Because the sustainment costs are brutal.
The Department of Defense expects to spend $1.7 trillion to buy, operate and sustain the aircraft and its systems over its lifetime, according to a Government Accountability Office report published in May. The program's procurement costs have also increased by $13.4 billion since the last estimate was made in 2019.
Kube and Gains reported from Washington, and McCausland from New York City.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The Marine Corps says that three Okinawa V-22 Ospreys that diverted from scheduled flight paths last week due to "caution indications" in the cockpit did not appear to suffer from a clutch issue that has plagued the service's fleet and caused at least one fatal crash.
"Currently, there are no indications that these events resulted from an MV-22 hard clutch engagement (HCE) malfunction. In each of these events, the aircraft sensors and monitoring systems performed as designed," Maj. Rob Martins, a spokesperson for the Okinawa-based 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, said in an email Monday night.
The clutch malfunction shreds components that power the Osprey's twin rotors, and appears to be a risk for both the Marine Corps and Air Force fleets. Last year, a crash caused by a hard clutch engagement killed five Marines in an Osprey incident near El Centro, California.
Read Next: After Daylong Search, Likely F-35 Debris Found After Jet Went Missing in South Carolina
The cause of the warnings in the Osprey cockpits was not disclosed by the service.
The Marine Corps has said that it has significantly reduced the risk of hard clutch engagements following the crash of the "Swift 11" Osprey last year, though some families of the Marines who died in the incident remain skeptical.
Prior to the Osprey diversions last week, three Marines also died in late August after their Osprey went down during a routine multinational training event near the Northern Territory of Australia.
An investigation into the cause of that deadly Osprey incident in Australia is still ongoing.
Military.com reported last week that two Okinawa Ospreys made forced landings on the southern islands of Japan within two hours of each other. Two days later, a third Osprey diverted to Oita Airport on the southwestern part of the mainland, marking three total in two days.
"When a caution light appeared in each cockpit, the pilots and aircrew complied with safety procedures and diverted their aircraft, landing safely so each aircraft could be assessed," Martins said.
The first two Ospreys were diverted on Sept. 14 and returned to Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on Okinawa within the following few days "after completing necessary troubleshooting and maintenance actions," Martins said.
The third Osprey that diverted landed at Oita at around 4:35 p.m. local time on Sept. 16. The pilots and aircrew followed proper landing procedures and diverted "out of an abundance of caution." The aircraft was being examined Monday and was also set to return to Futenma when it was deemed safe to fly.
"We appreciate the support from our local communities and host-nation partners during the brief time needed at each airfield to ensure the safe return flights of each aircraft back to Futenma Air Station," Martins said. "We operate all of our aircraft in accordance with established standards and procedures, and remain fully committed to safety."
The past month has proved to be a perilous time for Marine Corps aviation.
On Monday, the Marine Corps finally found what it believed was the debris of a downed F-35B Lightning II -- a roughly $80 million fighter jet -- more than a day after it went missing over South Carolina. The pilot safely ejected from the jet on Sunday before it disappeared.
A F/A-18D Hornet crashed in southern California on Aug. 24, claiming the life of its singular pilot.
In total, the Marine Corps has experienced two deadly aviation crashes, one briefly missing jet and three known forced Osprey landings in about 24 days.
The top Marine Corps leader, Gen. Eric Smith, who is acting as commandant but has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, on Monday ordered a two-day safety stand-down for aviation units this week, where all operations are paused and commanders will discuss safety fundamentals with their troops.
-- Drew F. Lawrence can be reached at drew.lawrence@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @df_lawrence.
Related: 2 Marine Corps Ospreys Diverted After 'Cockpit Caution' Warnings Force Landing in Japan
(The Hill) The Marine Corps on Monday issued a service-wide stand-down order for all aviation units inside and outside the country after an F-35B fighter jet disappeared over South Carolina.
Marine Corps acting commandant Gen. Eric Smith ordered the two-day pause following three aviation mishaps over less than two months including the disappearance an F-35 fighter jet on Sunday.
The advanced $80 million jet went missing after its pilot safely ejected for unknown reasons over North Charleston, with Joint Base Charleston on Monday asking the public to call them if they have any information to help recovery teams find the aircraft.
The pilot who ejected was taken to a local hospital and is in stable condition, and the incident is under investigation, base officials said.
In a service-wide email, the Marine Corps said the safety stand down will include discussions led by aviation commanders focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness.
The aviation pause comes after two other aviation accidents, including an F-18 crash last month during a training flight near San Diego that killed the pilot.
Three Marines died and 20 military personnel were injured when an MV-22B Osprey crashed in Australia in late August.
After that incident, Smith has ordered a thorough and harsh service-wide safety review, expected to be wrapped up last week, the results of which have not yet been publicly released.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Marine officials found a debris field from the missing F-35B Lightning II fighter jet on Monday, ending the mysterious search for the missing aircraft that began when an unnamed pilot from Beauforts Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) was forced to eject from the warplane during an unexplained mishap Sunday afternoon.
The wreckage was found in rural Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston. Residents were asked to avoid the crash site while the U.S. Marine Corps began the recovery process Monday evening.
Site locator for MCAS Beaufort Lightning II fighter jet downed in Williamsburg County, SC.
Gen. Eric Smith, the Corps acting commandant, paused all aviation operations for two days following the fighter jets crash, according to reporting from the Associated Press. The crash was the third incident in the last six weeks classified as a Class A mishap, entailing damages totaling at least $2.5 million or complete destruction of a Department of Defense aircraft.
Local law enforcement and airmen from Joint Base Charleston set up a tent and tables to begin coordinating recovery efforts for a stealth fighter jet that crashed in Williamsburg County, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (Henry Taylor/The Post And Courier via AP)
In late August, Beaufort-based pilot Maj. Andrew Mettler, known as Simple Jack, was killed when the F/A-18D Hornet combat jet he was piloting crashed during a training flight. Just three days later, three Marines were killed and another was critically injured when a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed with 23 people aboard during a training drill in Australia.
Airmen from Joint Base Charleston walk down Old Georgetown Road when setting up a base during the recovery process for an F-35 that crash landed in a field nearby in Williamsburg County, S.C., on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (Henry Taylor/The Post And Courier via AP)
Officials have not yet disclosed the mishap that forced the pilot to eject from the $135 million advanced aircraft, although the military regards a mishap to be any incident that results in death, injury, illness or property damage. When an F-35 crashed on Little Barnwell island near MCAS Beaufort in September 2018 the first time the new fighter jet model had crashed the incident was identified as a Class A mishap.
Marines from MCAS Beaufort and local Williamsburg County law enforcement assisted in locating and recovering the wrecked jet plane Monday evening.
China's central bank adds liquidity via reverse repos
Xinhua) 09:25, September 19, 2023
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank conducted 208 billion yuan (about 29 billion U.S. dollars) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent Tuesday.
It also conducted 60 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.95 percent.
The move aims to keep liquidity stable at the end of the quarter, the People's Bank of China said in a statement.
A reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Flash
China is willing to work with Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by top leaders of the two parties and countries, and continue to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, said a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) during his visit to Cuba.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Li paid an official friendly visit to Cuba from Saturday to Monday.
China stands ready to promote the development of the respective party building and socialist cause, said Li, also secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
China is also willing to work with Cuba to promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, as well as the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is once again teasing a potential higher office bid even governor of Georgia.
"I have options. Anything from a governor's race to a Senate seat," she said.
She made the comments as she prepares to release a new tell-all book.
Marjorie Taylor Greene is once again teasing a run for higher office.
The controversial House Republican from Georgia and close ally of former President Donald Trump plans to release a tell-all book in November, the Washington Examiner first reported.
And that book, the congresswoman acknowledged, could play a role in laying the groundwork for a campaign for higher office not just for the US Senate, as Trump has encouraged her to do before, but potentially for governor of Georgia.
"I have options," she told the Examiner. "Anything from a governor's race to a Senate seat."
Also said to be a potential vice presidential pick for Trump, Greene said she hasn't "closed the door on anything."
Greene said her book would be about "setting the record straight" and to allow "people to hear my side of the story."
This isn't the first time the congresswoman has floated herself as a statewide candidate in Georgia. And Democrats would likely view a general election campaign against the congresswoman as a gift.
"She can do whatever she wants. Wherever she runs, we'll beat her," Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, currently the head of Senate Democrats' campaign arm, told Insider in March when asked about a potential 2026 Senate bid by Greene.
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, who currently holds that seat, shrugged off the question at the time.
"I'm not giving much thought to prospective challengers," Ossoff said in March. "Anyone is free to run. And I'll be ready."
"I have no doubt Georgia will remain a highly competitive state," he added.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Mark Wahlberg has reflected on his career trajectory, admitting that adding producer to his CV came out of necessity.
The 52-year-old actor has an extensive list of TV and movie acting credits from before and after his 1997 breakout role in Paul Thomas Andersons Boogie Nights. A decade later, he made his executive producing debut on the 2004 crime documentary Juvies (about juvenile criminals who have been tried as adults).
He has since gone on to produce or executive produce many of his major releases, including Ted (2012), Deepwater Horizon (2016)and Father Stu (2022).
I started becoming a producer out of necessity, Wahlberg told Cigar Aficionado magazine in a recent interview.
I didnt want to sit around waiting for Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise or whoever was already established before me and were the guys at the time, and Leo [DiCaprio], to go and pass on a movie until I could get my hands on it, he explained.
I was always proactive in trying to find material and things that I could produce, that I knew was right for me, create my own destiny.
The Other Guys actor added that he next wants to try directing and working with the next batch of great talent.
Mark Wahlberg (Getty Images)
He added that while hes certainly working harder now than ever, he doesnt think [hell] be acting that much longer at the pace I am now.
Its been over a year since he last starred in a movie Father Stu, a biopic about former professional boxer Stuart Long, who became a Catholic priest after experiencing a near-death motorcycle accident.
In a 2022 interview with Insider, Wahlberg, who is Catholic, explained that the inspiration for the movie came from his priest.
He told me the story a couple of times and, finally, it registered for me, Wahlberg said. I realised, Wow, I have been looking for something like this. Its a fantastic role, a powerful and inspiring story. It felt different and original to get peoples attention.
At the time, he told the outlet that he was in the midst of putting together a production company to solely focus on faith-based films.
The hope is I can intrigue other high-calibre talent to come and do what I did with Father Stu: bet on themselves, take a chance. Its not always about the paycheck, Wahlberg said.
Marquis Parrish, the man charged with murder in connection with the May 2021 death of Charles Vinson, has filed a lawsuit against Ashley Wood, the former Savannah Police detective who falsified information, including security footage and text messages, in multiple search warrant applications tied to the murder case.
Parrish detailed the hardships he experienced in the complaint, which was filed in the U.S. District for the Southern District of Georgia, stating that the two years he was held in custody before being granted bail in April of this year forced his family into homelessness.
While Parrish was incarcerated, his wife Tyesha Love gave birth to their child. As a result of Parrishs arrest and incarceration, Parrish and Love were forced into hiding because of the dangers of the false allegations.
The complaint alleges the Savannah Police Department acted with deliberate indifference to Parrishs constitutional rights, by
Failing to adequately train its police officers on the importance of not altering material evidence in criminal investigations and the severe consequences that may result otherwise;
Failing to adequately train its police officers on how to receive, process and respond to requests from prosecutors for evidence, including exculpatory evidence, in criminal cases;
Failing to train its officers on the proper way to secure search warrants without the necessity of falsifying information.
A spokesperson for the law firm that filed the suit on behalf of Parrish, the Manly Shipley Law Firm, said local and federal rules dont allow for comment.
Internal Investigation: Savannah Police detective under review over search warrants in Charles Vinson murder case
In Session: District Attorney drops murder charges after evidence challenged
Officer Fired: Savannah Police Department fires detective who lied in search warrants
U.S. District Court Southern District of Georgia
Evidence in murder case challenged by public defender
In April 2021, a Chatham County Grand Jury indicted Parrish on two counts of felony murder charges, malice murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
According to court documents, Wood obtained 34 search warrants related to the investigation between early May and early June 2021. The requests included warrants to search Vinsons residence, car, cell phone and his Facebook profile. Woods search warrants state that Parrish and others charged in the case purchased cleaning supplies at Walmart with three other people.
In May, the department launched an internal investigation into Wood, and in June, SPD fired Wood. At the time of the investigation, Wood was assigned to the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) as a task force officer, according to the probe. She was hired by the Savannah Police Department in February 2017.
On June 16, after the evidence in the case was challenged by Parrish and his public defender, Chatham County Assistant District Attorney Brian DeBlasiis dropped the murder charges against Parrish.
In a phone call, a City of Savannah spokesperson declined to comment, saying the city doesn't comment on pending litigation.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Man who faced murder charges sues former Savannah Police detective
As a new era of human space exploration dawns, the concept of humans living and working on the surface of Mars is no longer the stuff of science fiction. But, if settlement of the Red Planet is to become a reality, the technology to make long stays on the Martian surface will need to be developed.
With this in mind, the Mars Society , a nonprofit organization dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the fourth planet from the sun, has announced an initiative to create the Mars Technology Institute (MTI), a non-profit that will focus on the development of these technologies.
" SpaceX and other entrepreneurial launch companies are already moving rapidly to develop the transportation systems that can get us to the planet Mars ," Mars Society President and aerospace engineer Robert Zubrin said in a statement .
Zubrin said that the necessary materials to support human settlement are already on Mars and can potentially be mined in situ on the Red Planet, but to do this, humanity will need the tech to turn these materials into materials like cement, metals, glass, fabrics and plastics. Additionally, if the right technologies exist, harvested Martian materials can also be transformed into fuel, oxygen and even food for astronauts.
Related: We could start a settlement on Mars with just 22 people, scientists say
Putting biotech first
The Mars Society suggested in a press release that, in broad terms, there are three critical needs that a Mars colony will face: the severe constraints of labor, agricultural land and sources of energy.
Overcoming labor shortages could hinge on the development of robots and automated technologies as well as artificial intelligence needed to operate such systems. The lack of fossil fuels to burn on Mars and a shortage of liquid water to drive hydropower, as well as limited opportunities for solar and wind power, means that Mars settlements will have to rely on fission nuclear power plants or, if the technology proves viable on Earth, fusion power.
To tackle the lack of land on the Red Planet for agriculture, scientists could focus on biotech, including genetic engineering and microbial food production, as well as advanced agricultural systems like aquaponics and synthetic biology.
Though the MTI advisory board has already recruited a group of 12 experts in the fields of biotechnology, artificial intelligence and advanced nuclear energy technology, the Mars Society suggested that, once established for its initial efforts, the MTI should first focus its efforts on biotech. This is because these projects could be launched with less considerable financial backing than something like advanced nuclear research requires.
That isn't to suggest that developing biotech for Mars would be in any way easy, however, especially as current research in the field doesn't have to deal with the limitations delivered by the Martian landscape.
"Iowa cornfields are among the most productive farms on Earth, producing 12 metric tons of corn per hectare per year," Zubrin explained. "That's enough for a hectare to supply 30 people with a kilogram [2.2 pounds] of corn per day, or feed 20 people, assuming some land is devoted to fruits, vegetables and meat. That's extremely impressive, yet at that rate, a 100,000-person Mars town would require 5,000 hectares (around 20 square miles) of farmland and that's under the optimistic assumption that such productivity could be achieved at Mars' half-Iowa solar illumination levels."
Zubrin added that scientists could try to augment production driven by sunlight by supplying artificial light at 200 watts per square meter, which is about 20% of sunlight received in Iowa at noon) but this would require 10 gigawatts, or 10 billion watts, of electricity equivalent to the energy that could be delivered by 25 million solar panels.
"This results from the inefficiency of photosynthesis, which, while about 4% at the cellular level, is only about 0.2% efficient in converting the solar energy impacting a cornfield into biologically useful energy in the form of corn," Zubrin said. "This is not a major problem on Earth, where vast amounts of agricultural land are readily available. But it's a show-stopper for Mars.
"We need to solve this using biotechnology. By so doing, we will not only make it possible for humanity to become multiplanetary, we will decisively refute the canard that space advocates do not care about the basic needs of people on Earth."
Related: How to feed a Mars colony of 1 million people
How and where would the Mars Institute operate?
The Mars Society said that the proposed MTI would be nonprofit and would seek funding via tax-deductible donations. Additional support could be provided to the MTI via a wholly owned corporation called the Mars Technology Lab (MTL), which could receive donations from investors.
The MTL would also license technologies developed by the MTI and occasionally spin these platforms off into new separate companies. The dividends from these companies would then be channeled back to the MTI, the Mars Society proposed.
This means that the MTI would have six avenues of revenue, which the Mars Society lists as donations, investments, licensing income from intellectual properties, dividends from spinoff companies and research and development contracts with government and private corporations.
"Mars cities themselves will be inventors' colonies devoted to pursuing advances in these areas and will use the resulting technologies both to survive and prosper on the Red Planet and to obtain the income necessary to pay for imports by licensing such inventions on the home planet," Zubrin argued. "So why not start such a Mars Technology Institute on Earth now?"
He pointed to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as an example of how the MTI could eventually make money for investors by patenting and licensing the inventions of its scientists. Zubrin believes that such an institute hasn't already been created because investing in such a concern doesn't present a business case in the same way that investing in an existing Earth-based project does.
"The initial funders will have to be motivated by a long-term vision rather than short-term gain. It is hope, rather than greed, that will get us to Mars," Zubrin added.
Should the MTI blast off, the institute will conduct its research from a central campus, the location of which has not yet been selected, though sites in the Pacific Northwest and Colorado are being considered. Additionally, some projects could be outsourced to other companies and academic institutes.
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The MTI could also provide funds for volunteers who propose research projects that are credible and that they are willing to conduct without a salary. This model is currently employed by the Mars Society and is exemplified by its analog research stations and rover competitions. These volunteer projects could have significant educational value for student volunteers when overseen by teachers in school and university lab facilities, the Mars Society added.
"The MTI could become not only the engine of invention but also the engine of finance to enable the human exploration and settlement of Mars," Zubrin concluded. "To quote Frederick Douglass, 'Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow.' On to Mars!"
The Mars Society is soliciting donations for the establishment of the MTI here .
Multiple women came forward and said they were sexually assaulted by a Virginia Beach massage therapist, city officials say. Now hes going to prison.
Malik Williams, 29, was sentenced to 16 years in prison by circuit Judge Stephen Mahan following more than a years worth of investigations and court time. Williams was found guilty in a four-day jury trial in late June. His charges include sexual penetration with an object and aggravated sexual battery.
Williams had pleaded not guilty during his trial, according to the court case details.
His attorney, Daymen Robinson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News.
The Virginia Beach Police Department received a report in April 2022 from one of Williams clients who said she she was sexually assaulted during her massage appointment, according to a Virginia Beach commonwealths attorneys Sept. 18 news release. Virginia Beach detectives then reached out to other clients of Williams, city officials say.
In the process of contacting other clients, multiple women told detectives they were sexually assaulted by the masseuse, according to the release. Williams was arrested in August 2022, according to WAVY.
Later, when detectives interviewed Williams, city officials say he admitted to the sexual conduct. In his admission, Williams said most women had consented to his advances, which he received through the way the women looked at him, the release says. He also told detectives, Sometimes I dont gauge it right.
A former boss of Williams said her staff was shocked to hear of the allegations and never received complaints about Williams, the outlet reported.
During the trial, the commonwealths attorneys office brought in an expert on massage therapy to discuss the ethics of how to provide appropriate massages, the release says. Sexual contact is not an ethical aspect of massages, the expert said in the trial, and creates a power imbalance between the therapist and client.
There are plans to appeal the case Robinson told WAVY.
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.
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On April 26, 1986, humanity faced down the worlds worst nuclear disaster following a nuclear reactor meltdown in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Nearly forty years later, the area surrounding the nuclear plant is mostly abandoned, but Ukraine hopes to transform this irradiated zone into a massive wind farm project.
The project aims to provide 1 GW of energy to nearby Kyiv, which is enough to power roughly 800,000 homes.
The world knows the name Chernobyl for the nail-biting nuclear disaster of nearly 40 years ago. For decades, the 18-mile radius around the power plant, known as the exclusion zone didnt produce a single watt of energy, becoming a hotbed for dark tourism and mutated animals.
But in the last five years, Chernobyls mission has been changing. In 2018, a 1 MW solar farm opened up shop in the exclusion zone, generating energy for some 2,000 homes. But the Ukrainian government isnt stopping there, and hopes to one day transform the region into a symbol of clean, climate-friendly energy.
The plan? Transform Chernobyl into a 1 GW wind farm capable of powering up to 800,000 homes in nearby Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. If Ukraine realizes its vision, one made tougher by the ongoing war in Ukraine, Chernobyl would become one of the biggest wind energy projects in Europe.
Chernobyl is an attractive location for large-scale wind farms for a few reasons. The site contains existing infrastructure that can be upgraded rather than built from scratch, its near Ukraines largest city, and the overall impact of the development would be small due to the exclusion zones ghost town status. The wind farm will be built by the German company Notus Energy and operated by the Ukrainian transmission system operator Ukrenergo.
Although its been nearly four decades since the world-changing disaster than occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, questions still remain regarding whether or not it is safe to work for an extended period of time in the radiated zone. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, some radioactive materialsuch as Strontium-90 and Cesium-137still linger in the atmosphere in the exclusion zone, but is at tolerable exposure levels for limited periods of time.
In fact, some residents of the area have decided to return to their homes, and while exposure is higher than normal, long term exposure to small amounts of radiation isnt nearly as detrimental large amounts of exposure within a short timeframe (which is what made the initial Chernobyl disaster so deadly).
However, some Russian soldiers who dug into the dirt surrounding the power plant during Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine reported cases of radiation sickness. According to Recharge, a green energy news website, the partners on the project are still assessing how to proceed with the projectincluding figuring out the best locations to limit environmental impact and potentially dangerous radiation.
This plan for transforming the exclusion zone into a recovery zone, according to Ukraine officials, was in the works before Russias invasion in February of 2022. People involved with the project say that the invasion has delayed the countrys vision for Chernobylthe region was under Russias control for a few weeks after allbut hasnt destroyed it.
Finally, after 40 years as the symbol of disaster, Chernobyl is finally ready to turn the page and start a new, green energy chapter.
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What appears to be a draft of a motion to vacate the House Speaker written by Florida Rep Matt Gaetz was found in a mens restroom below the House floor, according to a report.
A Raw Story reporter discovered the discarded draft on a baby changing table in the mens restroom. The draft has Mr Gaetz written all over it.
The top of the page reads: Declaring the office of Speaker of the House of Representatives to be vacant. The draft was dated 15 September 2023.
This finding isnt too surprising as the Florida Republican has repeatedly threatened to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his post. Mr Gaetz recently told reporters: If we have to begin every single day in Congress with the prayer, the pledge and the motion to vacate.
Last week, Mr Gaetz made a number of demands on the House floor for Mr McCarthy to comply with otherwise, he faces being ousted. One such demand was to avoid passing temporary spending measures to prevent a government shutdown.
The government will shut down if a bill to prevent it isnt passed by the end of September. Mr McCarthy previously expressed that he intends to avoid a shutdown, telling reporters last week: Nobody wins in a government shutdown. Nobody wins. Ive been here.
Its put up or shut up time not just for McCarthy but for the 20 because if we arent serious about bringing him into compliance with the deal, then we were never really serious about the deal in the first place, Mr Gaetz added.
He seemed to be alluding to the 20 House Republicans who voted against Mr McCarthys speakership in January, causing inter-party turbulence. It took 15 voting rounds before Mr McCarthy was finally elected House speaker.
The House speaker seems to be cornered. Those within his own party and across the aisle are blasting him.
Rep Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic New York Congressman, also weighed in on Mr McCarthy. He posted a video of Mr Gaetzs speech saying this reaction is what Mr McCarthy created.
You are the worst kind of coward and now you reap what you sow. You have cow-towed and bent to the demands of the most EXTREMIST zealots in your party at the cost of our institutions and Democracy, Mr Bowman wrote.
He continued, You might be Speaker today, but if you dont stand up to this harmful element of your own party, you will allow them to destroy you and us in the process. Mr. Speaker, grow a back bone. Because until then, you do not SPEAK for anyone.
Florida Democratic Rep Maxwell Frost posted on X: The weakest Speaker in the history of our country: Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
In response to Mr McCarthy launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, Democratic Rep Gerry Connolly wrote, Kevin McCarthy is feeding the right-wing outrage machine so he can placate his craziest Members who are threatening to oust him from his post. Its a sham, its pathetic, and the American people know it.
Nerves are high on the one-year anniversary of protests in Iran, which spanned six months following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died in police custody after being arrested for violating Irans mandatory headscarf law. The protests spread across distant provinces in Iran and are viewed as the most significant challenge to the countrys theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, resulting in a crackdown by security forces with hundreds of deaths and thousands of detentions.
Ahead of the anniversary, the Biden administration announced new sanctions targeting members of Irans security forces and entities involved in internet censorship. Meanwhile, volunteer members of Irans paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, known locally as the Basij, have already taken to the streets as President Ebrahim Raisi warned that protesters would face a big cost. Still, reports say weekly protests have persisted.
Donna J.N., a protester who vividly remembers taking to the streets last year, agreed to speak to me using a pseudonym about the mood a year later. Despite the perception that the protests ultimately failed, she told me, they are ongoing, and they have already changed Iran for the better. In one example, Irans LGBTQ+ groups joined the protests more visibly than ever before, which helped inspire Donna, a trans woman, to take the risk. Our conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Aymann Ismail: What was it like for you once you joined in the protests? Can you tell me exactly what you saw?
Donna J.N.: I joined the protests in a small town two times. Both times, I faced chaos and a very high rate of violence from the regimes military and police. It was very violent, but we of course expected that from them. Weve seen so many times over the past 44 years how they react to protest. Throughout that time, I think each one of us was looking back out of our own lives and experiences living under discrimination. In Iran, you can be discriminated for your gender, your ethnic group, your gender identity, or your religion. Everyone experiences discrimination in some form, and I am no exception. I thought about my life and how difficult it is to tolerate this intolerance from the dictatorship that might one day kill me. So, I protested for my life and for people like me. It felt like we were in the process of starting a revolution, because the protesters that were brought together came from all kinds of backgrounds and had many differences, and were far more different than previous protests.
Did you jump in right away?
To be honest, I was scared. It wasnt sudden. I thought about it and made my decision to join the protest. I tried to prepare myself. I wore extra clothes because it was autumn and it was getting cold. I also wore a face mask and glasses. I had learned from social media that I needed to protect myself and take precautions, like not bringing our cellphones and wearing dark clothes to better hide. Theres always fear, specifically when you face the military and police, who are OK with killing people. But when I joined the protest, that fear was replaced with this great feeling of unity, which helped empower me to keep pushing forward. That feeling of solidarity and unity among the people was really amazing. When we were in the streets facing the military and police, we could rely on no one except each other. We helped each other to get away from the military and to escape danger. People who knew the alleyways guided protesters to escape the military and police and dangerous situations. The people that had water gave it out after the military deployed tear gas. Some others had motorcycles, and they used them to evacuate immobilized people after they attacked us. It was the longest sustained protests in Iran since the beginning of the Islamic Republic government. Im proud of my people.
Its been a year since those initial protests first broke out. From the outside, it seems as if the potential for a revolution has stalled. Has anything in Iran changed since then?
Some things have changed. This summer, I noticed many women and trans people feeling more free to wear what they wanted to wear. The resistance has been kept up by these actions in our daily lives. They are still policing us, but people are acting braver than ever against them. So, things have changed. Other governments have also seen that this regime is not wanted by the people.
But the Iranian government has clamped down hard on the protests. Reports said Iranian guards used live ammunition at the time, and there have been public trials and executions of people involved in the protests. Did this have the chilling effect the government hoped it would have?
It did affect us. It made us scared and depressed. I felt diminished watching the government continue its violence with these executions. But all that violence, the arrests and killings and imprisoning, has done nothing to dampen the anger that drives people to fight against the government. For example, some women gathered together and danced. Other people publicly hugged each other and shared candies. These beautiful things are acts of protest because the government hates it. This regime, like any dictatorship, gets anxious when people are gathered together and being kind to one another. It really scares them to see people showing solidarity and unity. So, this is how we have continued to fight back against the government. It also helps us to feel optimistic against the future and gives us the confidence that we can stand on each others shoulders against this government.
Have any of the protesters goals been met?
For me, the first goal is regime change, because this regime has nothing to do with the people, and the people have nothing to do with this regime. They were never our peoples choice. But one lesson Ive learned from my own activism is to be optimistic about every little step toward the future. Maybe we havent seen a big change right now. The Islamic Republic regime still remains, as you know, and we still live in a patriarchal world. But we are still fighting. And Im sure that one day, even after Ive died, that there will still be people who will keep on fighting. One day Im sure we will see regime change.
What do you think will happen now?
Even if there is no protest tomorrow, the people will take to the streets again in the near future. No dictatorship lasts forever. All oppressive governments fall, and the people will always win. So, I expect one day people will gather again like they did last year against this government in huge numbers. And we will win. But what is important now is to ask ourselves what we are going to do after this regime. In addition to fighting this government, we also need to practice accepting each other despite our differences. We need to practice finding solutions by conference and tolerance of race and gender identity, because the goal is equality and freedom.
What role do you think the rest of the world should have in that?
If I have one ask of the international community, it is to listen to the people of Iran. The trans and queer communities, as well as the women of Iran, are in huge danger. This government is not the peoples government. People want freedom and democracy. Iranian people are fighting for freedom, but they need support. And the base of this support is hearing us and paying attention to us.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about the movement and what its like one year on?
The Islamic Republic has spread propaganda accusing protesters of being against Islam, or against a specific kind of religion, and against each other. But they dont mention that they killed more than 90 people in Zahedan, in Baluchestan, after Friday Islamic prayer. They dont mention that they arrested Islamic mullahs in many different towns in Kurdistan and the people that crowded the police stations to pressure the cops into releasing them. There are many other examples that show just how wrong they are in perpetuating that myth. Many people in Iran nowadays are thinking more freely, considering secularism as a means to fight religious fanaticism. So, in this situation, people are talking about tolerance between different religions that have been discriminated against, like the Bahai community, who have systematically been robbed of their fundamental rights. When I was on the streets, I saw people from different groups, religious people, people like me who are not religious, and also people from different ethnicities, poor and rich people, all gathered together in solidarity. There is no civil war among people. There is just one war. And its people against the government.
When asked about renewed funding for Ukraine in its war against Russia, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said Tuesday he has questions for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky .
Wheres the accountability on the money we already spent? McCarthy said, listing off questions he said he will ask the Ukrainian leader when he meets with him later this week. What is the plan for victory?
Zelensky is visiting the U.S. now, with stops in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and a trip to the White House on Thursday. McCarthy also confirmed he will meet with the Ukrainian president then.
Look, what Russia has done invade is wrong, McCarthy said. Its an atrocity. We want to make sure that ends. I also have always said from the beginning, no matter what the issue is, I want accountability for whatever the hardworking taxpayers spend their money on, and I want a plan for victory.
McCarthys statements come as a government shutdown looms if Congress does not agree on a deal by the end of the month. House Republicans proposed stopgap bill does not provide funding for Ukraine, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) heavily criticized Monday on the Senate floor.
And with no Ukraine funding, the proposal is an insult to Ukraine and a gift to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. I cannot think of a worse welcome for Zelensky, who visits us this week than this House proposal, which ignores Ukraine entirely, Schumer said.
The White House has asked Congress to attach supplemental funding for Ukraine to a continuing resolution to fund the government. However, House Republicans are struggling to hold votes on key bills as turmoil in the caucus occurs over spending.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Flash
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, capital of Russia, on Sept. 18, 2023. [Photo/Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs]
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Moscow on Monday that in the face of rising unilateralism, hegemonism and bloc confrontations, China and Russia should adhere to true multilateralism.
Wang made the remarks while meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the two countries should also conform to the trend of the times, shoulder responsibility as major countries, and fulfill due international obligations.
He also called on the two sides to promote multipolarity in the world and advance the development of global governance in a fairer and more equitable direction through strengthened strategic coordination.
As major countries in the world and permanent members of the UN Security Council, Wang said, China and Russia bear important responsibilities for maintaining global strategic stability and promoting world development and progress.
Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Russia relations have maintained a momentum for sound and steady development, with deepening practical cooperation, rich and colorful cultural exchanges, and rapid growth of personnel exchanges, Wang said.
A China-Russia relationship featuring permanent good-neighborly friendship, comprehensive strategic coordination, and mutually beneficial cooperation will continue to contribute to the development and revitalization of the two countries and bring important benefits to the two peoples, Wang said.
For his part, Lavrov said that in March, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a successful visit to Russia and held an important meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which charted course for the future of Russia-China relations.
Russia is willing to work with China to make good preparations for the next high-level exchanges between the two countries, strengthen the synergy of development plans, and deepen cooperation in such fields as economy, trade, culture, sports and youth, he said.
In view of the complex and drastic changes in the international landscape, Lavrov said Russia and China should further strengthen coordination and cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, so as to jointly safeguard the basic norms of international relations.
The two sides commended the BRICS' historic expansion and voiced willingness to work with all BRICS member states to build a greater BRICS platform of solidarity, cooperation and common development.
Lavrov said that Russia will play its role as the rotating chair of BRICS and work with China to push for greater development of the BRICS cooperation mechanism.
Lavrov shared his views on the Ukraine crisis, applauded China's position paper for accommodating the security concerns of all parties and being conducive to eliminating the root causes of the conflict.
The Russian side, he said, is always open to negotiations and dialogue.
China is committed to the right approach of peace talks and will play a constructive role in the political settlement of the crisis in its own way, said Wang.
The two sides also exchanged views and coordinated positions on the international and regional issues of common concern.
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Tuesday warned fellow Republicans to avoid brinksmanship that could result in a government shutdown, warning that shutdowns are always a loser for Republicans.
Were waiting to see what the House is going to do on a continuing resolution. I think all of you know Im not a fan of government shutdowns, Ive seen a few of them over the years, they never have produced a policy change and theyve always been a loser for Republicans, politically, McConnell told reporters to kick off his weekly press conference.
The Senate Republican leader made his comments shortly after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other House GOP leaders pulled a procedural vote on a proposed government stopgap funding because of divisions within his conference.
Congressional leaders are running increasingly short on time to find a way to fund the government past Sept. 30 or risk a shutdown.
McConnell also said it is incredibly important to avoid a government shutdown at the end of the month.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) knocked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer s (D-N.Y.) decision to loosen the Senates informal dress code by pledging that GOP senators will nevertheless keep dressing up for work.
I think Im pretty safe in saying most if not all Republican senators think we ought to dress up to go to work. So I cant imagine that were going to be wearing jeans on the Senate floor anytime soon, McConnell told reporters in Tuesday in response to an announcement over the weekend that senators will be able to wear what they want on the Senate floor.
The loosening of the Senates informal dress code appeared to cater to freshman Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who often wears his trademark hoodie and on Tuesday came to work wearing a dark short-sleeved collared shirt and dark shorts.
Until now, senators were not allowed on the Senate floor without a coat and tie. On the occasion when senators showed up to vote in short-sleeved shirts or gym clothes, they were previously required to vote from the cloakroom just off the Senate floor, which meant poking only their head and arm into the chamber to register a yea or nay vote.
Former Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), who is of Native American heritage and a North Cheyenne chief, needed special permission just to wear a bolo tie on the floor, when he served in the upper chamber from 1993 to 2005.
The dress code change announced over the weekend, however, will not apply to Senate staff or other visitors to the floor, who will still be required to wear coats and ties or other business attire.
Other GOP senators complained about loosening the rules of decorum in the historic chamber. Sen. Schumer has done just about everything he can to destroy the traditions of the Senate, everything from eliminating the filibuster rule to now this. And for what? To accommodate one person who doesnt like to put on a suit? said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), referring to Fetterman.
I dont think its going to change a lot in terms of how most of us operate but I just think its another indication he doesnt respect the Senate as an institution, he said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ukraines Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture, Taras Kachka, has told the news outlet European Pravda that five members of the European Union have not rejected Ukraines plan for regulating grain exports to five neighboring states.
"The next round of negotiations has just ended, and I can say that the information about the 'five states that rejected Ukraine's proposals' is completely untrue," as quoted by European Pravda.
This follows an initial report that the five states in question, which include Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, had rejected Kyivs proposed plan to implement a system of permits to manage the export of grain.
The five countries, plus the European Commission, had placed a ban in May on the domestic sale of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed out of concerns the imports would threaten domestic agricultural producers in each country. The European Commission ended the embargo on Sept. 15, though Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia have each decided to continue their own bans on the imports.
Ukraine responded to the continuation of the bans by initiating an appeal through the World Trade Organization against Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.
Read also: Romania may extend ban on Ukrainian grain imports by 30 days
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Armenian citizens clashed with the police at the Russian embassy in Yerevan as the people demand Moscow to stop Azerbaijan's offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, the News.am news portal reported on Sept. 19.
The protestors are waving the flag of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and are blocking entrances to the building, the news outlet said.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, the embassy is completely blocked, and "normal activity remains impossible." Moscow reportedly sent a note to Armenia's Foreign Ministry asking to ensure restoration of the embassy's operations, TASS said.
Azerbaijan launched a military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh earlier on Sept. 19 with the claimed "goal of restoring the constitutional order" in the region. Shelling and explosions have been reported in Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto capital Stepanakert and other areas.
According to the latest information published by the Ombudsman of the self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, 25 people have been killed as a result of the hostilities and another 138 have been injured.
Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as Azerbaijan's territory under international law. Its population of 120,000 is predominantly Armenian.
The territory declared independence in 1991 with Yerevan's military support. Until 2020, Armenia de facto controlled Nagorno-Karabakh together with the surrounding regions.
In 2020, Azerbaijan launched a military operation establishing control over parts of Nagorno Karabakh.
In November 2020, Russia brokered an armistice between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moscow sent forces to patrol the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
In 2022, Yerevan accused Russia of failing its peacekeeping mission when Moscow began withdrawing its troops in 2022 and allowed Azerbaijan to blockade Nagorno-Karabakh, preventing basic supplies from reaching the population.
Read also: EU condemns Azerbaijans offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukraine refused to accept a recent batch of 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks sent by Germany, saying they need repairs that the Ukrainian military is not able to carry out, the German news outlet Spiegel reported on Sept. 19.
According to the outlet, Kyiv recently notified Berlin that the recent batch of Leopards that had arrived in Poland required major repairs.
Germany reportedly sent experts to Poland to inspect the vehicles. Spiegel said that according to their conclusion, the tanks were badly worn during the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the vehicles in Germany.
Some of the first 10 Leopards provided by Germany in July also reportedly suffered similar issues.
Although the German government announced the transfer of another batch of 10 tanks in August, Denmark said in September that only 10 Leopard tanks have arrived in Ukraine, while 10 more are still on their way.
Germany's Defense Ministry told Spiegel that it cannot comment on individual cases, but added that repairs of the tanks are underway in cooperation with Ukraine.
Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us
Earlier this year, Germany announced that in cooperation with Denmark and the Netherlands, it will provide Ukraine with around 100 older Leopard 1 tanks.
Additionally, Denmark and the Netherlands have agreed to purchase and donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall for Ukraine. The two countries previously agreed to deliver these tanks by "early 2024."
Germany also commissioned Rheinmetall in August to purchase and refit around 30 Leopard 1 tanks for Ukraine.
On Sept. 19, Denmark said it would send an additional 45 tanks to Ukraine, including 15 T-72EA and 30 Leopard 1 tanks.
Read also: Minister: Denmark to send Ukraine 45 more tanks in cooperation with partners
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The new curator at Duke Universitys Nasher Museum of Art makes basic mistakes.
It called one painting a sculpture and mistitled another. From the museums 14,000-item collection, it curiously picked a nondescript damaged bowl to display alongside a Dali. And the language it writes to accompany artwork is somewhat rigid and repetitive; on at least four occasions, it invites visitors to appreciate a meticulous piece.
Yet at the same time, this curator has assembled a credible exhibit at a speed and in a manner no human could match.
Yes, it is artificial intelligence.
On Sept. 9, the art museum at the private Durham university opened one of the worlds first AI-generated art exhibits, featuring 20 man-made pieces selected, ordered, and described by the large language model ChatGPT.
Titled, Act as if you are a curator, the project showcases the current capabilities and shortcomings of an emerging technology that can simultaneously be incredibly smart and dumb. It will perhaps also be a novel way museums present their collections in the future.
Text generated by ChatGPT describes an exhibit curated by A.I. at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
It brought out works that had not been on display for a very long time, if at all at the museum, said Julia McHugh, director of academic initiatives and curator of Arts of the Americas.
Whether all these works make sense in the same room is another question.
Ingenious connections and peculiar choices
Around six months ago, McHugh and her colleagues set out to use ChatGPT, the popular new generative AI platform from the company OpenAI, to fill the Nashers Incubator Gallery, a 600-square-foot room set aside for experimental projects.
Quickly, the curators ran into roadblocks. First, ChatGPT wasnt able to access their collection. And when the AI got stuck, it sometimes made up, or hallucinated, artwork that doesnt exist rather than admit it was lost. So, they contacted Mark Olson, a professor of visual studies at Duke, who led students to customize a ChatGPT interface for the museum.
ChatGPT intakes data and maps relationships between keywords. The human brain does this too like linking hot with fire but OpenAIs platform makes these connections, called dimensions, on a scale beyond human ability. Olson is aware of only a few other museums that have made their own bespoke AI models.
The Nasher team, including chief curator Marshall Price and curatorial assistant Julianne Miao, prompted their AI to suggest themes for an exhibit that would resonate with a college art audience. Somewhat on the nose, the artificial intelligence proposed ideas around dystopia, utopia and the subconscious.
Naming its exhibit Dreams of Tomorrow: Utopia and Dystopian Visions, the ChatGPT model selected relevant pieces from the Nasher collection and chose the sequence in which the art would hang. The curators said the AI performed better when they used polite language.
So, howd it turn out?
A person visits an exhibit curated by A.I. at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Durham, N.C. The A.I. model, designed by a Duke professor, selected artwork for the exhibition and gave it a title Dreams of Tomorrow: Utopian and Dystopian Visions.
Its plausible, Olson said. Its certainly not a set of works that would (normally) be put together. I think a critic would read it as either incoherent or adventurous.
Price, the chief curator, marveled that the AI selected two pieces he had never thought about in conjunction a screen print from young visual artist Tunji Adeniyi Jones and a Raphael Soyer lithograph that each portray the contours of human bodies.
We wanted to give the AI as much curatorial agency as possible throughout the process, he said.
Some of the picks fit neatly with themes of utopia, dystopia, and subconciousness including two paintings by Salvador Dali (the AI wanted to feature even more of the famous surrealists work.) Other selections were a stretch, like a Mayan ceramic bowl the staff called one of the least impressive examples of pottery traditions across the Mayan region in our collection.
We learned how limited it is, at the moment at least, Price said.
Marshall Price, chief curator, Julia McHugh, curator and director of academic initiatives, and Julianne Miao, curatorial assistant, are pictured in an exhibit curated by A.I. at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Durham, N.C. The A.I. model, designed by a Duke professor, selected artworks for the exhibition and gave it a title Dreams of Tomorrow: Utopian and Dystopian Visions.
The curators asked ChatGPT to write 50-word descriptions besides each piece. Directly below, Nasher staff wrote responses to clarify any errors. For example, the AI confused an acrylic painting by sculptor Dorothy Dehner with a sculpture.
It doesnt have a sense of aesthetics, McHugh said. So, the choices that it made were based off of textual information: titles, keywords and descriptions. It doesnt draw on visual information of the works.
Splitting the art community
The exhibit, which runs through Jan. 14, has proven somewhat controversial among art lovers. In the comments section of a recent New York Times article on the exhibit, some readers applauded the Nasher for embracing AI as a helpful tool while others slammed the museum for being lazy.
Theres a general culture around the perceived sacredness of curatorial work, Miao said. It has to be the hand of a curator whos had a specific education background whos able to pull this off. So, bringing AI to that is blasphemous to some people.
Julianne Miao, curatorial assistant, and Julia McHugh, curator and director of academic initiatives, stand at the entrance to an exhibit curated by A.I. at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Durham, N.C.
Price said the Nasher is leaning into the demystification of the curatorial process, and happy to offer a glimpse into what this new technology can do.
The curators pointed out many of the negative reactions could stem from peoples overall concerns regarding artificial intelligence and how it is starting to shape everyday life.
As it improves, its impact could begin to trickle to more galleries.
The technology is constantly changing, Olson said. Is it good enough for places that dont have resources? Is it good enough for institutions that are looking to cut costs? I think AI in general raises those questions.
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The United Nations General Assembly brings world leaders to New York each fall to discuss global problems like escalating climate disasters and widening inequality. But on the sidelines, heads of state often use their time in midtown Manhattan to pull aside leaders they need to glad-hand and cajole.
Thats how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Tuesday afternoon, the first face-to-face meeting for the two leaders since the start of Russia's war with Ukraine 18 months ago. Zelensky has been wanting to press Netanyahu in person for more assistance and a more coordinated front against Iranian weapons transfers to Russian forces in Ukraine.
But Israel, which relies on Russian-controlled airspace over Syria to attack Iranian proxies in the region, has been careful not to irk Moscow. That has required walking a fine line.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to topple Kyiv last year, Israels decision to not join other countries in imposing sanctions on Russia stood out on the world stage. Russian citizens and oligarchs still have freedom of movement in and out of Israel. No Israeli Prime Minister has visited Ukraines capital since Russia stepped up its aggression. And while Israel has provided humanitarian aid and defensive warning systems to Ukraine, it has balked at sending lethal, offensive military equipment or its most effective anti-missile technology.
Zelensky would like to change that. He also has sought to partner with Israel on working to block Iranian arms shipments to Russia for use in Ukraine. For months, Russian forces have used Iranian-made Shahed drone systems to attack Ukrainian cities. US intelligence officials have said that Iranian soldiers have been spotted in Crimea helping Russian forces use Shahed drones to strike Ukrainian power stations and infrastructure, and likely honing the use of the technology.
In May, Zelensky called out Iran for selling its weapons to Russia, telling Tehran in a video address that Iran was acting as an accomplice to Russian terror.
That presents a complicated, but common interest between Israel and Ukraine in finding ways to stop the flow of Iranian drone arsenals, says Bradley Bowman, senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Both Zelensky and Netanyahu are leaders of countries that are suffering from Iranian weapons, so that creates all kinds of opportunities for intelligence sharing and cooperation to better defend their respective people, says Bowman.
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When Zelensky walked into the meeting room on the sidelines of the UN general assembly, he gripped Netanyahu's hand and the two leaders leaned forward and patted each other on the back, according to video posted online. "You have a very big team," remarked Zelensky, as he shook hands with a line of Israeli officials. Gilad Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the UN, explained the meeting was "very attractive" and "there were other people who wanted to participate."
As Zelensky was about to sit down, he saw Israeli's top intelligence official, Mossad director David Barnea, across the room, and walked over to shake his hand and the two embraced and spoke briefly.
Zelensky later posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he and Netanyahu focused their talks "on our cooperation" and "civil defense." "I informed him about Russian strikes on our cities, ports, and critical infrastructure using Iranian drones," Zelensky wrote. "We share concern about the increasing military cooperation between Russia and Iran."
Israeli officials declined to provide many details about what was discussed in the meeting with Zelensky. A statement from Netanyahu's office described the meeting as "cordial" and said that Netanyahu "made it clear that Israel would continue to assist Ukraine on humanitarian issues, including dealing with anti-personnel mines."
Zelensky was not the only world leader Netanyahu met with on the sidelines of the annual diplomatic gathering. He also had a one-on-one with President Joe Biden, who has yet to invite Netanyahu to the White House since he returned to the role of prime minister in December. It may end up being a break with tradition on Bidens part. For decades, the U.S. president has welcomed the newly installed Israeli Prime Minister to the White House within the first year of the Israeli leader taking office. (Biden still has a few months to extend an invite.) The less formal meeting at the UN gathering amounted to a half measure from Biden, reflecting his concerns over Netanyahus policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank and his controversial push to weaken Israels judiciary.
Protests have followed Netanyahu during his visit to the U.S. In San Francisco, where the Israeli leader met with Elon Musk, protestors projected an illustration of Netanyahu in prison garb on a wall of the infamous former prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay. In the days before Netanyahu arrived in New York, activists projected a message onto the side of the iconic UN building that read, Dont believe Crime Minister Netanyahu. Protect Israeli democracy.
Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former State Department senior advisor for Arab-Israeli negotiations, says that the Biden Administration has been cooperating extensively with Israeli officials in recent months, including spending time brokering talks with the Saudi royal family to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, but that Biden has been reluctant to give Netanyahu the high-profile platform that comes with a White House visit. I think the administration didnt want to legitimize the Israeli government at a time when its very unhappy, both on the issue of the judicial overhaul and Israeli policies with the Palestinians, Miller says.
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On Ukraine, Miller adds, Israeli leaders have acted very cautiously to avoid upsetting Russia, and the Biden Administration has not leaned significantly on Israel to do more. I think the Americans have given the Israelis a sort of margin to operate without calling in chits and pressing them hard, Miller says.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
The group were confronted by onlookers and told they were not welcome - Bruno Brown/Eastern Daily Press
A brawl broke out at a 1940s festival after a group of people turned up dressed in Nazi uniforms.
The annual Second World War-themed event in Sheringham, north Norfolk, drew up to 25,000 people, many of them in period dress, at the weekend.
Among them was a group of at least 10 men in Nazi-era German uniforms, including some with SS markings on their collars as well as badges featuring the deaths head symbol and swastikas.
Onlookers confronted them, shouting that they were not welcome, and they were subsequently escorted out of the area by police after event marshals stepped in to ask the group to leave.
Police said one man had reported being assaulted and that they were still investigating.
The men, part of a re-enactment group that raises money for military veterans, defended wearing the SS uniforms and said they had been attending the festival for years with no trouble.
The group attended the Second World War-themed weekend in Sheringham wearing Nazi-era uniforms - Bruno Brown/Eastern Daily Press
The Eastern Front Living History Group also claimed the confrontation was an isolated incident on what was a weekend of good-natured fun.
A spokesman for the group said: We do battle re-enactments, displays and educational visits across the UK, raising money for charity for wounded soldiers so they can have artificial limbs.
We represent the Western European nations that fought against Stalin and communism during World War Two. We were wearing Waffen SS infantry uniforms displaying national shields and insignia of the countries portrayed. Not one member of the group portrayed a German.
The uniforms were supplied by Germany, as were the weapons, to the foreign volunteers from 1941-1945. Theyre as close to authentic as you can get.
As a group weve been attending the Sheringham 1940s weekend for four or five years running and never had any problems before.
The incident has prompted calls to ban Nazi uniforms from future weekends, and the town council has agreed to discuss proposals to make the event Allied-uniform only.
German military clothing from the period is not currently banned although the North Norfolk Railway, which runs an associated event over the weekend, does not permit such uniforms.
A spokesman for the main festival organisers said German uniforms are permitted as long as they do not promote the Nazis. He claimed the incident had been a misunderstanding and that the group was there to commemorate the German people.
Witnesses said the group congregated outside the Lobster Inn, where they were confronted by locals.
The group outside Sheringhams Lobster Inn - Bruno Brown/Eastern Daily Press
Mike Keller, who lost family members in the Holocaust, said: It was a lovely family atmosphere and very friendly when suddenly, from nowhere, there were 10 to 15 men dressed in authentic SS uniform literally marching in unison.
It was deeply offensive. These men were not milling about and blending in among people. They were marching and making a demonstration. It was frightening.
My father was from a Jewish family, who lost his parents and brothers and sisters in death camps. He was fortunate to escape with my uncle via Kindertransport, so having to see this with my son was mortally offensive and a disgraceful act.
Another witness said: When the group gathered outside of the pub, the family-friendly atmosphere of the day fell tense. There was so much tension and shock in the air.
There were many jeers and heckles from onlookers. While the group stood proud, one man at the pub confronted them. Thats when the police arrived and swiftly escorted the group out of town. It all happened quite quickly.
A Sheringham Town Council spokesman said: Sheringham Town Council will consult with the police, North Norfolk Railway and others to determine what happened and what action may be taken to prevent a recurrence.
A Norfolk Constabulary spokesman said: A police officer on patrol in Sheringham came across a confrontation in the High Street on Saturday at about 5.30pm, involving a man and a group of people who had been attending an event.
The officer intervened and quickly resolved the incident. One man reported being assaulted, and this is being investigated further. No one was injured during the incident.
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McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) A city councilwoman from the Mexican border town of Reynosa intends to plead guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in South Texas, according to court documents filed Monday in federal court.
Denisse Ahumada-Martinez, 34, on Monday signed a notice of plea agreement in the U.S. District Court of Southern District in McAllen. The documents indicate she plans to plead guilty at her next federal court hearing on conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Her next hearing has not yet been set.
She was arrested June 10 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers say they found over 90 pounds of drugs, including cocaine, wrapped in duct tape inside the seats and door panels of a car she was driving through the CBP checkpoint in the South Texas town of Falfurrias.
Federal charges were initially dropped against her and she was being escorted back to Mexico when the State of Texas stopped and arrested her on June 16 as she was trying to cross back into Mexico.
On June 26, federal officials filed new drug charges against her after a grand jury indicted her.
Her lawyer Samuel Reyes, who was initially appointed to represent her on the first federal drug-trafficking charges, told Border Report that his client told federal officials that she was coerced by Mexican drug operatives who said they would kill her and her two young daughters if she did not drive the vehicle north to San Antonio.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
A major Mexican railroad company has temporarily stopped 60 trains on south-to-north routes because of rising deaths and injuries of freighthopping migrants.
Ferromex, a company that operates several routes that head to five U.S.-Mexico border crossings, announced Tuesday it was stopping the 60 trains, with cargo capacity equivalent to 1,800 trucks, because of the notable increase of migrant persons concentrated in several regions of the country.
In recent days nearly a half dozen regrettable cases of injury or death were registered among the groups of people who on an individual basis or in families, including girls and boys, boarded freight trains on their way north, despite the grave danger that implies, read a statement by the company.
In the statement, the company said groups of migrants have congregated in rail yards and on trains, including more than 1,500 people in Torreon, Coahuila, 200 miles south of the international border; 800 people in Irapuato, Guanajuato in central Mexico, around 1,000 people in the central northern state of Aguascalientes, and more than 1,000 people on the route between Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez, the city that borders El Paso.
The company said it had informed its clients about interruptions to supply lines and international commerce.
In early 2023, Mexico surpassed Canada and China as the top United States trading partner, with $263 billion in bilateral trade over the first four months of the year, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The Mexican economy is largely dependent on trade with the United States, as well as remittances money sent to friends and relatives in Mexico sent by Mexicans in the United States.
Mexicos growth as a U.S. trade partner is in large part due to nearly 30 years of free trade between the two countries, first under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and more recently under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), and to growing investment in the country in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S.-China trade war.
Migration has over the past decade played a key role in the bilateral trade relationship, with both phenomena often leveraged against each other in U.S.-Mexico negotiations.
In 2019, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador surged the National Guard a militarized police force to interdict migrants after former President Trump threatened commercial retaliation over the number of South and Central American migrants crossing the country.
Ferromexs corporate ownership and Lopez Obrador have also recently butted heads.
In May, Lopez Obrador revoked a federal concession that allowed a Ferromex sister company to operate a strategic railway in southern Mexico, and dispatched the military to occupy that railways installations.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Flash
People gather to protest the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) decision on releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater in front of the headquarters of the TEPCO in Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 24, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
Japan plans to strengthen the monitoring and analysis of information about the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean and is seeking extra funding to step up public relations efforts at home and abroad.
The Japanese foreign ministry intends to include approximately 70 billion yen ($474.21 million) in its budget request for the next fiscal year to combat the spread of information it believes to be incorrect regarding the ocean discharge, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. It also plans to enhance strategic external communication.
Specifically, this includes expanding monitoring to detect so-called fake news and strengthening the capacity to disseminate information that the Japanese government believes to be accurate. The ministry also plans to utilize artificial intelligence for information collection and analysis, the report said.
Before taking the above measures, the Japanese government devoted a lot of effort in whitewashing its decision to release nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean.
Tokyo has set up a 30-billion-yen fund with the aim of minimizing the reputational impact associated with the ocean discharge. The fund has been used nationwide to support the expansion of seafood sales channels, temporary purchase and storage of seafood, and public relations activities related to the Fukushima plant's contaminated water.
Publicly available information indicates that the fund has so far supported 16 public relations projects. The maximum support for these projects totaled 2.7 billion yen.
Winning bidders of the projects include the Yomiuri Shimbun Group, the Distribution Economics Institute of Japan, and JR East Marketing & Communications.
"The government should spend more money finding better ways to deal with the nuclear-contaminated water, rather than trying to promote the idea that the radioactive water released into the ocean is safe," said Michiko Ueno, 64, a resident of Chiba Prefecture.
Given that various types of radioactive substances remain in the contaminated water, Ueno is concerned about the safety and health issues that may arise from the discharge. She joined a protest in Tokyo on Sept 6 and urged the government to spend money to develop methods to properly remove radioactive substances from the contaminated water so that it does not have to be discharged into the sea.
"Discussions in the Japanese media about alternative solutions for Fukushima's contaminated water are not enough. The government should thoroughly explore various solutions together with all stakeholders, including local fishermen," she said.
Since Japan announced plans to release the toxic water over two years ago, the legitimacy, legality, and safety of the plan have been continuously questioned by the international community.
Managing public perception
Japan needs to manage public perception to address major concerns about the long-term reliability of the filtration system that is expected to remove multiple radionuclides from the water, the accuracy of data related to the contaminated water, and the effectiveness of ocean-discharge monitoring arrangements, said Chen Xiang, an associate research fellow with the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"Japan is aware that with the release of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea, there is a likelihood of unpredictable ecological damage and harm to human health, necessitating proactive public relations efforts to address these issues in advance. Therefore, the public relations expenditure is aimed at salvaging Japan's national image to prevent a collapse of reputation," Chen said.
Zhang Yulai, vice-president of the Japan Institute of Nankai University, said: "The Japanese government is allocating a significant amount of funding toward public relations instead of addressing the issue. This misplaced prioritization suggests a lack of confidence in its ocean discharge plan, as the Japanese government could have been more transparent by sharing information more extensively and inviting relevant organizations for full-process monitoring."
Li Ruoyu, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Japanese and Korean Studies at Sichuan Normal University, said Japan can hardly achieve the goal of enhancing the tolerance of ocean discharge globally with the 70.1-billion-yen budget because the international community, which has access to various information, will raise questions about why the Japanese government insisted on ocean discharge rather than adopting alternative solutions.
Miami-Dade residents who choose to fix up their homes with a unique financing program that has generated a slew of consumer complaints just got a variety of new protections to make it a little safer.
The Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or PACE, offers homeowners a way to pay for certain pricey projects like hurricane windows and high-efficiency air conditioning without a credit check or any money down. Instead, the program uses the home itself as collateral for the debt by placing a lien on the home. Interest and fees are then collected each year through property taxes.
Although the end result is similar to a traditional bank loan, PACE is far less regulated in Florida.
Miami-Dade commissioners changed that on Tuesday, when the board unanimously voted to add some consumer protections to the program, which has more clients in Miami-Dade than any other county in the state. Though it has helped many homeowners improve their homes, the program also has generated a host of complaints about shady contractors and confusing payment terms.
The legislation, sponsored by Commissioner Kevin Cabrera, was inspired by Miami Herald reporting earlier this year showing that Florida and Miami-Dade lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of consumer protections.
Other states have fixed consumer protection problems with PACE loans. Why not Florida?
The new protections answer some of the most common complaints about the program. Now, PACE providers have to fill out a detailed disclosure document outlining to the homeowner exactly how much they owe over the lifetime of the agreement, the interest rate for the purchase, the estimated annual cost added to property taxes and a warning that if the homeowner doesnt pay their property taxes, they could lose their home.
Multiple people in California, where the program originated, went into foreclosure over unpaid property taxes from this program, but so far, it appears Florida hasnt seen any foreclosures.
The new disclosure doesnt apply to projects that cost more than $250,000, commercial properties or multi-family residential projects.
Cabreras bill also asked the county to more vigorously enforce its consumer protections for the PACE and hold the companies to account for residents complaints.
What were trying to make sure is that folks are safeguarded from any kind of loss that they have, he told the commission. With this disclosure, folks know what theyre signing up for.
The new bill will also require additional protections, including a paper signature instead of a digital one, for people over 65. Commissioners say seniors are extra vulnerable to programs like this because theyre often marketed with fliers in the mail or door-to-door sales folks, and massive increases to property taxes could be disruptive for people on fixed incomes.
A view of solar panels installed on Phil Stoddards home on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2023, in South Miami, Fla.
Some industry support
Representatives of three of the four PACE programs allowed to work in Miami-Dade showed up to support the bill, including the second-largest provider in Miami-Dade, Renew Financial.
Chris Peterson, representative for two more providers, FortiFi Financial and Home Run Financial, called the disclosure a welcome change.
We obviously want all of the consumer protections we can get, he told commissioners. This revised disclosure mirrors what were already doing.
Ygrene, the largest PACE provider in Miami-Dade and the state, did not appear at the commission. Last week, a county committee approved another of Cabreras PACE-related bills, which would dissolve the countys agreement with an appointed board of politicians that oversee Ygrene in the county, known as the Green Corridor.
Cabrera openly called the bill punishment for Ygrene, which abruptly pulled out of Florida late last year, leaving thousands of homeowners and contractors without a source of cash to pay for their projects, some of which were in progress. The company re-opened business in Florida in February with a new financial setup.
This home improvement program has drawn complaints, scrutiny. Miami-Dade might crack down
The commissioner said hes also working on a third PACE-related bill that would ensure future companies could not withdraw from business in the state without warning consumers and regulators first.
Protections elsewhere
These new protections put Miami-Dade near the top of the pack in county-level protections. Counties like Palm Beach and Broward require similar disclosures, which are above and beyond what the state requires.
But places like Pasco County go further still. There, a designated staffer calls each new PACE homeowner and walks them through the program before the state-mandated 3-day cancellation window closes.
And in California, after years of complaints, foreclosures and even a federal investigation into Ygrene that spanned Florida and California, the state set up a regulatory board that reviews all consumer complaints and metes out fines and punishments for companies that break the law. If a company gets in too much trouble, it gets kicked from the state altogether.
In Florida, there is no state board explicitly designed to oversee PACE or handle complaints. Floridas Attorney Generals office said it has received more than 100 complaints about various PACE programs since 2019 and confirmed to the Herald that it has an open investigation into Ygrene.
A Miami man fired his rifle in the air again and again to celebrate Gov. Ron DeSantis signing of Floridas permitless carry law, authorities say.
Police responding to the July shooting then shot him several times, putting the man in the hospital, where he was arrested months later.
Christian Labaut, 37, is now behind bars at the Metro West Detention Center after his Friday arrest at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He was charged with 48 counts of discharging a weapon in public and a slew of other charges, including resisting an officer with violence.
According to an arrest report, Miami police responded on July 7 to an Upper East Side apartment complex near the 7800 block of Northeast 10th Avenue, where they found a man in body armor wielding a gun and firing into the air. Witnesses told officers that the man, who police later identified as Labaut, announced he was celebrating the new law while spraying a hail of bullets.
The permitless carry law, which took effect on July 1, allows people to carry concealed guns in public without training and removes additional background checks. It was signed into law by DeSantis in April.
Police say an officer asked Labaut to stop shooting his rifle and show his hands. The officer, according to the arrest report, kept giving commands, but Labaut ran off into the apartments hallways.
The officer, whose name is redacted in the report, then shot Labaut several times, according to police. Labaut was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospitals Ryder Trauma Center, where he was being treated until his arrest.
Microsoft confirmed Monday that large amounts of data were mistakenly leaked.
Researchers provided a link to AI models via GitHub.
But that accidentally gave full access to a 38TB cloud storage account.
A team of AI researchers at Microsoft mistakenly leaked large amounts of data while trying to share their work, the company confirmed on Monday.
Microsoft said the team was trying to share open-source training data on the software development platform GitHub, as is common behavior in the AI sector.
However, the cybersecurity firm Wiz discovered that the researchers accidentally gave people access to 38 terabytes worth of data.
That's because the Microsoft researchers' GitHub repository told users to download AI models from a cloud storage URL. But the link had been misconfigured to the extent that it granted permissions across the entire storage account, according to Wiz.
Wiz found that the account included Microsoft employees' personal computer backups, passwords to Microsoft services, secret keys, and over 30,000 internal Teams messages.
"No customer data was exposed, and no other internal services were put at risk because of this issue. No customer action is required in response to this issue," Microsoft said in Monday's blog post.
"We are sharing the learnings and best practices below to inform our customers and help them avoid similar incidents in the future," it added.
Wiz reported the issue to Microsoft back in June, which invalidated the link two days later. Both companies disclosed the debacle on Monday.
That's less than two weeks after Microsoft published the findings of an investigation into China-based hackers. It found that when a system crashed back in 2021, a snapshot of the process accidentally revealed a signing key.
And that let the threat actor, known as Storm-0558, compromise a Microsoft engineer's account, giving access to email accounts including those of US government agencies.
Read the original article on Business Insider
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. It was a morning to celebrate: A group of volunteers had transformed, on short notice, a budget hotel into a shelter for migrant families.
And they had done it 50 times.
A delivery of Salvadoran food was on its way for families from Guatemala, Venezuela and Ecuador. Theirs was the 50th bus received by the Albuquerque group in an effort to aid asylum seekers and alleviate pressure at the border as increased migration stresses shelter capacity in El Paso.
Unfazed by the COVID-19 pandemic, shifting electoral politics or their advancing age all factors that have curtailed shelter operations at the border the volunteers' long-term commitment stands out as El Paso's nonprofit shelter network continues to struggle to recruit churches and volunteers.
"We are an immigrant-friendly city," said Eleanor Milroy, the site coordinator for the effort called Albuquerque Asylum-Seekers Welcome. "We do our best. It's a very generous community."
Eleanor Milroy volunteers with Albuquerque Asylum-Seekers Welcome on Saturday, Sept. 16 in Albuquerque, N.M.
Albuquerque welcomes migrant buses
The volunteers come from various faith and nonreligious backgrounds Catholic, Protestant, Mormon and atheist. Some still work, others retired. But on a Saturday, Sept. 16, the women were a powerhouse of organization.
The night before, in coordination with Ruben Garcia of El Paso's Annunciation House, a bus arrived with 47 people: men, women and 26 children. By lunchtime, 17 people had already traveled on with the volunteers' help, and the women arranged bus tickets and airfare for the rest to destinations from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio; Alabama to New York.
The women , many in their 60s, 70s and 80s, traded information about bargains found and prices that were unbearably high. A $179 one-way airfare to New York City was considered a hot deal; bus fares in the hundreds of dollars for a cross-country ride, something to avoid.
"It's hard for people to visualize how to do it," Milroy said of the hospitality operation. "But it's not that hard."
Garcia has struggled since the pandemic to recruit new churches and volunteers to his network of faith-based and nonprofit shelters at the border.
Many volunteers moved by politics what they saw as the Trump administration's cruel tactics disappeared after Biden was elected. Some older volunteers never returned after the pandemic, as they got older, more risk-averse to infection or concerned about loved ones with immunity issues.
The Albuquerque group's commitment is remarkable in that way, said Jan Hans, who runs the sorting of the group's clothing donations.
"The whole team hasn't quit," she said.
More: Buoys aren't going anywhere at least until October, so they remain an advantage to Abbott
Hotel serves as a pop-up migrant shelter
Last weekend, the city paid for 25 hotel rooms, where families slept for a night or two and enjoyed meals prepared by local restaurants, Milroy said.
Volunteer health care workers Kathie Esquibel-Baca and Gina Gutierrez Zamora had organized supplies into half a dozen large plastic containers to quickly unload onto double beds when word hit that a bus would be on its way. On Saturday, they had turned Room 229 into an impromptu health clinic, where migrants could get a check-up or refill prescriptions for medications confiscated by U.S. border authorities.
Volunteer health care worker Kathie Esquibel-Baca sets up an impromptu clinic for migrant families while volunteering with Albuquerque Asylum-Seekers Welcome on Saturday, Sept. 16, in Albuquerque, N.M.
Downstairs, Room 128 served as the operations center, with travel plans on one wall and an intake table near the door. On the bed lay a copy of the Saturday New York Times, with a front-page photo showing throngs of migrant families crossing a river at the border between Colombia and Panama.
The headline sounded a warning: "U.S. vows to stop migration, but flow keeps growing."
The women wondered how long the families would take to reach the U.S. border.
More: Migrant child who died on Texas bus trip had fever before she boarded, coroner says
As families wandered into the lobby for lunch, the volunteers scattered to pour plastic cups of milk for the children. Two Venezuelan women tucked into soft pupusas topped with marinated cabbage and traded harrowing stories from the journey. They, too, had crossed the Panamanian border through the Darien Gap jungle.
In El Paso, the Venezuelan women spent five days in U.S. custody with their children. They were processed and released; each wore a heavy plastic tracking device around their ankle.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported more than 1,100 daily encounters with migrants on Saturday and "community releases" of more than 1,500 migrants. A "community release" means migrants were delivered to shelter and hospitality sites, not released alone on the street but the possibility that street releases would start happening loomed large.
In a statement to the El Paso Times, CBP said it "works diligently to ensure that releases are conducted in a safe manner." When local shelter capacity is exhausted, CBP said Border Patrol coordinates with cities to identify where migrants can conveniently access transportation and accommodations.
Yet migrants are already sleeping on El Paso streets, including those who lack sponsors and can't arrange travel out of town before their time at a shelter is up.
Undocumented migrants await a chance to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol after entering between ports of entry along the El Paso-Juarez border on Monday, Sept. 18.
For volunteers, hospitality for asylum-seekers is 'an act of service'
Albuquerque, four hours north of the border, is the closest large city to El Paso with a major airport.
A year ago, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR called out Albuquerque for its "long tradition of welcoming refugees" and quoted Mayor Tim Keller as saying the city has "never second guessed our pro-immigrant or pro-refugee policies here in Albuquerque."
The city has an Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs whose website explains: "Groups of volunteers who didn't have a suitable space to shelter refugees have used budget hotels for convenience because they provide beds, linens, showers, and space for feeding groups."
In 2019, before the pandemic, the city estimated the cost of hotels averaged at $2,000 per group of 50 refugees for a two- to four-night average stay.
On Saturday, the volunteers joined the migrant families for lunch after everyone had served themselves. There would be more work in the afternoon: helping people locate their sponsors, making calls to family members for financial support and finding the best deals on travel.
"Some people aren't in church every Sunday," Milroy said, "but everyone here sees this as an act of service."
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: As migrants pour into El Paso, Albuquerque lends a hand
Jack Fellowes, an Air Specialist Technician, received an official warning after pleading guilty to possessing extreme pornography - Ollie Thompson/Solent News & Photo Agency
A military judge has criticised the prosecution of an RAF serviceman who was sent an extreme X-rated video on WhatsApp as unfair and unjust.
A 45-second clip which involved a cow and Benny Hill music was found on the phone of Jack Fellowes, an Air Specialist Technician (AST).
The 21-year-old, who is based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, received an official warning after pleading guilty to possessing extreme pornography. He will continue to serve in the RAF.
Judge Advocate General (JAG) Darren Reed criticised the military police for bringing the case to his attention.
He told Bulford Military Court, Wilts, that most cases involving this are of far greater seriousness.
He added that given the nature of the video, and how AST Fellowes came to have it, the sentence was never going to outweigh the costs of the court proceedings.
Unfair and unjust
This case feels unfair and unjust, JAG Reed added. I would hope that the service police would take note of these recommendations.
The court heard civilian police had seized AST Fellowes iPhone as part of a separate investigation and subjected it to a search by an officer and a forensic expert.
Rupert Gregory, prosecuting, told the court: On WhatsApp there was a short video 45 seconds in length.
There is some music playing over the top.
The court heard that a junior RAF police officer then took it upon himself to take on an investigation.
Derek Johashen, mitigating, said the video was created as a comedy piece and sent for humour.
Mr Johashen said: It came to this WhatsApp group to which the defendant is one member.
The defendant did not ask for that video to be sent to him. It was sent to a group chat intended for humour.
The court heard that after the video was found and the investigation commenced, AST Fellowes started to experience mental health issues.
Advice for depression
Mr Johashen said: He ended up having to seek some advice for depression and he had medication for that.
He says he no longer had any friends and he lost his girlfriend.
He went off the rails for a while and he struggled to comply with proceedings.
AST Fellowes was given an official admonishment by JAG Reed.
An iPhone you had was seized by the police, he said. On the WhatsApp messages, there was a short 45-second video containing bestiality that you had been sent.
He told the court this investigation has had a significant impact on [the] mental health and behaviour of Fellowes.
This case started as a civil police offence, he continued.
A junior RAF police officer took it upon themselves to take on an investigation.
Eventually, this case was referred to the service prosecuting authority.
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(Left) District 14 Alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic listens to (right) Mayor Cavalier Johnson deliver his budget address to the members of the Milwaukee Common Council on Tuesday September 19, 2023 at Milwaukee City Hall in Milwaukee, Wis.
The $1.92 billion proposed 2024 budget that Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson released Tuesday avoids service cuts for the first time in years, even as officials say the city's financial challenges are not over.
The lack of cuts stands in stark contrast to even one year ago, when Johnson called for decreases in police, fire and library services as the city faced increasing financial strain and uncertainty over whether a deal could be struck in Madison to help Milwaukee avoid a fiscal calamity. The Common Council ultimately reversed the proposed library and fire service cuts.
"I want to talk about the budget that I'm not presenting," Johnson said in an address to the Common Council Tuesday. "I am not closing branch libraries. I am not imposing furlough days or hiring freezes on our employees. I am not closing firehouses. I'm not cutting police sworn strength. I am not offering a budget that continues the spiral of declining services and growing desperation."
The difference between the 2024 budget and years past is the passage of that deal with the state earlier this year. Known as Act 12, the new local government funding law boosted the revenue that returns to the city from the state by $21.7 million and allowed the city to implement a 2% local sales tax. The city comptroller expects the new sales tax, which goes into effect Jan. 1, to bring in about $184 million next year.
Act 12, however, also came with significant increased costs and a bevy of other non-fiscal policies aimed at the city. Those include additional costs for public safety and the city's pension, a driver of its fiscal challenges.
City officials say the new revenue coupled with remaining federal pandemic aid will make the 2024 budget more flexible than those in years to come, when gaps between the city's costs and its revenues may again begin to widen.
The council will take up and amend the budget proposal. The 15-member body is scheduled to adopt the 2024 budget on Nov. 3.
"We're excited that we're finally on a path of financial solvency," said Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic, who chairs the council's powerful Finance and Personnel Committee and led Tuesday's meeting.
She expected the council to take a close look at the budget's use of federal pandemic aid, known as American Rescue Plan Act funding, to ensure the mayor's proposal meets both fiscal and social expectations.
Tax levy, fees increase 2%
Johnson's budget would increase the city's tax levy by 2%, from about $311 million to $317.4 million, according to the city Budget Office.
Though the numbers could still change, that is expected to translate to a total of about $1,377.38 for an average house in 2024 valued at about $145,600. The figure reflects an increase of $50.09.
All five major user fees solid waste, snow and ice, stormwater, sewer, and street lighting will also increase 2%, according to the Budget Office.
Increases to police, fire staffing proposed
Among the changes in Johnson's budget are proposed increases to police and fire staffing in 2024 after years of cuts.
Johnson said the increases are not solely meant to put the city in compliance with Act 12 but also to reach his own goals as mayor.
The city would hold three classes of 65 recruits each in hopes of boosting police staffing by a total of 15 officers next year, after retirements are taken into account.
That would increase the average sworn strength to 1,645 over the course of 2024, according to the Budget Office.
The budget would also increase Fire Department staffing from 192 daily staffing to 198. Four of those additional six staff members would be assigned to a fire engine that would be put back into service and the remaining two would be on a new paramedic unit.
"It feels very, very good on the front end of a budget process, for potentially the first time in my career, to hear about additions to the frontline staff for the Milwaukee Fire Department," Fire Chief Aaron Lipski said afterward.
Lipski cautioned that this is only the beginning of the budget process and said he had not yet determined where in the city the fire engine and paramedic unit would be stationed.
The increases in police and fire staffing would have to continue under Act 12.
The law requires that the city have at least 1,725 officers, including 175 detectives, and a daily staffing level of at least 218 members in the Fire Department by the end of the 10th year after a sales tax goes into effect.
In a twist, though, Johnson said the new law's provisions on which positions count toward the total police sworn strength have disincentivized the city from applying for U.S. Department of Justice hiring grants.
The law requires that Milwaukee maintain the number of police officers and the daily staffing level in the fire department minimally at the numbers from the previous year excluding any who are in state- or grant-funded positions.
The city is not applying for that grant, known as a COPS grant, in the 2024 budget. It's a shift for Johnson, who as Common Council president in 2020 and early 2021 shepherded the year's grant to passage after months of angst over whether to accept the nearly $10 million to hire 30 new police officers.
"We've applied for COPS grants in the past because prior to Act 12, at least, it made sense for us to do that and allow the federal government to cover the costs for three years," Johnson said.
He said he would like to see the state change the law so the city isn't incentivized to "leave money on the table."
Office of Violence prevention would get a new name, broader focus
The city's Office of Violence Prevention would be renamed the Office of Community Wellness & Safety as it moves from the Health Department to the Department of Administration.
Johnson said in his address that the new office would incorporate the work already under way at OVP but that promoting safety is broader than violence prevention.
In addition to having the existing violence interrupters, he said afterward, it is necessary to also focus on economic issues, neighborhood stability and education.
"We'll be looking at all those things with the new configuration of the office," he said.
Priority on streets, razing blighted properties
Johnson said the budget also increases funding for streets and doubles the number of blighted properties the city would raze.
The city would be spending about $16 million in 2024 on high-impact paving and local road reconstruction as opposed to the $14 million or $15 million spent in previous years, according to the Budget Office. High-impact paving refers to surface repairs that extend the life of a road.
Johnson said the street projects also provide the opportunity to make the city greener, for instance by installing bioswales and creating protected bike lanes. He said he would like to ultimately have a network of protected bike lanes throughout the city.
Johnson also framed the removal of blighted properties as "razing and reviving" neighborhoods, saying dilapidated properties diminish the values of occupied homes nearby and draw criminal activity to the area.
The city would raze 180 blighted properties instead of the 90 in previous years, with a total increased cost of about $2.44 million, according to the Budget Office.
Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Takeaways from Mayor Johnson's $1.9 billion 2024 Milwaukee city budget
Denmark will donate to Ukraine an additional 45 tanks purchased in cooperation with other countries, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Sept. 19, cited by the TV2 channel.
These are 15 T-72EA tanks and 30 Leopard 1 tanks, Poulsen reportedly said at the 15th Ramstein meeting. He didn't name other countries that would contribute to the donation, as discussions with allies are still underway.
The donation is part of Denmark's $830 million assistance package announced last week, the TV2 channel wrote. The country's largest aid package since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion also includes infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition, and anti-aircraft guns, among other things.
According to Poulsen, cited by the Danish media outlet, T-72EA tanks, the modernized version of the Soviet-designed T-72 model, can be deployed on the battlefield immediately after delivery as Ukrainian troops don't require additional training to use them.
Read also: New brigade bears heavy brunt of Russias onslaught in Kharkiv Oblast
This is the first time Denmark is supplying Ukraine with T-72EA tanks, added the outlet.
Earlier this year, the Danish government signed a cooperation agreement with Germany and the Netherlands to transfer at least 100 Leopard 1 tanks to Ukraine.
Danish Defense Ministry reported on Sept. 8 that the first batch of 10 tanks had arrived in Ukraine, and 10 more were on their way.
Additionally, Denmark and the Netherlands have agreed to purchase and donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks from the German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall for Ukraine. The two countries previously agreed to deliver these tanks by "early 2024."
Read also: Media: Nearly 100 Leopard 1 tanks stored in the open as Switzerland rejects transfer to Ukraine
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Palau-flagged Resilient Africa bulk carrier loaded with 3,000 metric tons of wheat has left the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk and is moving towards the Bosphorus, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov reported on Sept. 19.
Resilient Africa and another cargo vessel, Aroyat, have become the first civilian ships that agreed to enter Ukrainian ports after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July. They are expected to deliver 20,000 tons of grain to African and Asian countries.
Aroyat is still docked in the Chornomorsk port while loaded with Ukrainian wheat for Egypt, Kubrakov said on Facebook.
According to the official, the vessels are flying under the flag of the island nation of Palau, and their crews consist of Turkish, Azerbaijani, Egyptian, and Ukrainian citizens.
Read also: Blinken: Russias war in Ukraine is assault on global food system
Following Russia's unilateral termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine's navy announced a new temporary corridor for civilian ships on Aug. 10.
The route was primarily meant to allow passage for ships stuck in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa, and Pivdennyi since the start of the full-scale invasion. As of Sept. 16, five vessels have been evacuated through the temporary corridor, Kubrakov reported earlier.
Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in mid-July after repeated threats to do so and has since been targeting Ukraine's agricultural infrastructure, ports, and grain stockpiles.
Brokered by Turkey and the U.N. in July 2022, the grain deal was originally meant to guarantee the safe passage of ships transporting Ukraine's agricultural exports from the Black Sea during the invasion.
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
A missile that hit Kostyantynivka in September was likely Ukrainian, an NYT analysis said.
Kyiv had blamed the attack, which killed at least 15 people, on Russia.
However, data analyzed by the NYT suggests it was an air defense missile that went off course.
A missile that struck a busy market in Kostyantynivka, east Ukraine, was likely misfired by Ukraine and not the result of a Russian attack, a New York Times analysis found.
The missile struck the town, which is close to where Russian and Ukrainian forces are battling in Bakhmut, on September 6, killing at least 15 and injuring around 30 people.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shortly afterward blamed the attack on Russia, and the UN and Ukraine's Western allies condemned the strike.
"This Russian evil must be defeated as soon as possible," Zelenskyy said, according to RFERL. He described the missile strike as a deliberate attack on a "peaceful city."
But a new analysis of missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts, and social media posts suggests the incident was likely caused by a misfired air defense missile, the Times said.
Analysts told the Times that problems with a missile's guidance systems, or a fault with its tail fin, can cause one to accidentally go off course.
Russia has deliberately attacked civilian targets multiple times during the war, Human Rights Watch said. The UN says around 9,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the war so far.
According to the Times, several pieces of evidence point to the Kostyantynivka strike being a tragic Ukrainian error.
Video footage and data from the impact site indicate it came from territory to the northwest of Kostyantynivka controlled by Ukraine.
Two Times reporters were in the village of Druzhkivka, 10 miles northwest of Kostiantynivka, and said that shortly after 2 p.m. on September 6 Ukraine launched two surface-to-air missiles. Several eyewitnesses backed the claim. A missile struck Kostiantynivka at 2.04 p.m.
Analysis of shrapnel damage at the impact site is consistent with the missile being a 9M38 launched by a Buk surface-to-air launch system of the kind used by Ukraine and Russia. It is not consistent with Kyiv's claim it was caused by a Russian S-300 missile.
It would not be the first time Ukrainian air defense missiles have misfired. A November 2022 strike on a village in Poland, a NATO member, which was initially believed to have been caused by Russia was later found to have likely been the result of a misfiring Ukrainian air defense missile, Reuters reported.
The Ukrainian defense ministry did not immediately return a request for comment from Insider. It told the Times the incident in Kostiantynivka is being investigated by Ukrainian security services.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Flash
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met on Monday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, respectively, on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Han told Guterres that the world today is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century with various unstable and uncertain factors intertwined.
The more complex and grim the international situation is, the more necessary it is to uphold genuine multilateralism and the more the world needs a strong United Nations, he said.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative -- proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping -- are highly aligned with the ideals and goals of the United Nations, and have been widely recognized and actively supported by the international community, said Han.
China will, as always, be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, and support the United Nations in playing a central role in international affairs, he said.
For his part, Guterres thanked China for its firm support for the UN cause, and spoke highly of the important initiatives proposed by the Chinese president.
During his meeting with Blinken, Han said that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship is good for the two countries and the world.
Describing China's development as an opportunity rather than a challenge, a gain rather than a risk to the United States, Han said that the two sides may well contribute to each other's progress and achieve common prosperity.
China, he said, maintains consistency and stability in its policy toward the United States, all following the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in viewing and handling China-U.S. relations.
Han expressed the hope that the United States will work with China to follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali, Indonesia.
The two sides, he said, need to take practical actions, create favorable conditions and do more to enhance understanding, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring China-U.S. relations back on a healthy and stable track and deliver benefits to both countries and the rest of the world.
Blinken, for his part, said the United States looks forward to strengthening communications with China, managing the differences and advancing cooperation.
A missing kayaker has been found and arrested in south Georgia after authorities said he faked his death to evade rape charges in another state.
Melvin Emdes son reported him missing after he allegedly went overboard and drowned while kayaking in the Mississippi River near Matis Road in Hahnville, Louisiana.
The next day, the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office learned that Emde was supposed to be in court on the same day he was reported missing.
The sheriffs office said the 41-year-old had pending charges of indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape of a child by an adult in Brunswick County, North Carolina.
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Detectives learned Emde was wearing an ankle monitor as a condition of bail and that he had visited a Walmart in Louisiana and purchased two prepaid phones. They worked with North Carolina law enforcement and the United States Marshals Service to track the phones.
Emde was arrested on Sunday in Tift County.
The arrest happened early in the morning as a Georgia State Patrol officer attempted to a stop a motorcycle for not having a license plate. At that point, officials said Emde tried to speed away and ultimately crashed before he was taken into custody.
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Emde allegedly gave law enforcement a fake name, but he was later fingerprinted.
Now its time for Mr. Emde to face the music for his charges in North Carolina, St. Charles Parish Sheriff Greg Champagne said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Joshua Deroche with the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office at (985) 783-6807, (985) 783-1135, or jderoche@stcharlessheriff.org.
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A body was discovered during the search for a 60-year-old woman who went missing after leaving her Minnesota home, authorities say.
Beth Super was last seen alive at 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, when she left her Flensburg home driving a Ford Focus, according to the Polk County Sheriffs Office. Flensburg is about 105 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Super never arrived at her intended location in a neighboring county, authorities said.
On Sunday afternoon, a Ford Focus believed to be Supers was found abandoned in Neilsville, 200 miles from where she last seen, the sheriffs office said. At the time, Super remained missing.
Sheriffs officials said Monday a womans body was found in a cornfield near where the car was discovered.
Deputies did not say if the body had been confirmed as Supers. The womans identification and cause of death will be determined in an autopsy.
The Polk County Sheriffs Office said the investigation is ongoing, adding there is no threat to the public.
Anyone who saw Super or her vehicle Saturday is asked to contact authorities at 218-281-0431.
Realtor showing home stumbles onto human remains, missing womans car, Indiana cops say
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Mom missing for two years identified after remains found in rural Georgia, deputies say
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Historically Black land-grant universities in Missouri and 15 other states have missed out on $12.6 billion in funding over the last three decades, according to the Biden administration.
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack sent letters to the governors of each state asking them to increase funding, news outlets reported.
Two Kansas City-area schools named 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools
The letter said the largest disparity was in Tennessee, where Tennessee State University has been underfunded by $2.1 billion.
In Missouri, Lincoln University in Jefferson City is the only historically Black land-grant university in the state.
Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nations distinguished historically Black colleges and universities to operate with inadequate resources and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services, Cardona said in a statement Monday.
In addition to Missouri, letters were also sent to governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
US News releases latest college rankings after formula change
The nations land-grant universities were founded in the 19th century on federal land to further agricultural instruction and research.
Federal law requires states to provide an equitable distribution of state funding for all land-grant universities, but that hasnt happened with many historically Black ones, a new analysis found.
The federal agencies used data from the National Center for Education Statistics and found the funding disparity in 16 of 18 states that house Black land grants. Delaware and Ohio provided equitable funding, the analysis found.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Amarillo police officers responded to a reported shooting in the 100 block of South Carolina on Monday night that left one person injured.
About 11:39 p.m. Monday, Amarillo officers were sent to a residence in the 100 block of S. Carolina in reference to a shots fired call, according to the Amarillo Police Department. When officers arrived, they found two people inside the residence, one of whom had been shot multiple times, APD said. A man was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses told police they saw three men running from the scene and leaving in a dark colored sedan, according to APD.
The case is being investigated by the Violent Crimes Unit.
Anyone who has possible information connected to this incident is asked to contact the Amarillo Crime Stoppers at 806-374-4400. All tips are anonymous, and can also be made online at www.amapolice.org or via the P3 tips app.
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo police investigate shooting at residence Sept. 18
Over the last several months, parts from dozens of Jeeps left at South Florida airport parking lots have been stolen. Detectives now have two Broward men behind bars, and believe they were behind the cross-county car part thefts.
Broward Sheriffs Office detectives and surveillance footage on Saturday caught two men stealing headlights and grills from two Jeep Wranglers in the long-term parking lot at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, a Monday news release says. The investigators then followed the men and witnessed them doing the same thing at Sawgrass Mills Mall, located 25 minutes north from the airport.
Jonathan Quintero, 22, and Diogenes Morel Martinez, 25, face a slew of charges, including armed burglary and grand theft. The pair, arrested Saturday, are locked up at the Broward main jail as of Monday evening.
Detectives, according to court documents, suspect Quintero and Morel Martinez are behind the string of auto part thefts across South Florida.
The Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach airports had received 60 complaints related to auto part thefts. Twenty-eight were made from the Fort Lauderdale airport, according to BSO. The Miami and Palm Beach airports had received 14 and 18 complaints, respectively.
Investigators with Miami-Dade police and the Palm Beach County Sheriffs Office are also looking into the string of thefts.
Anyone with information should contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or online at browardcrimestoppers.org.
More Marion County Public Schools students will get free breakfast and lunch this school year.
The district announced Tuesday that there will now be 56 schools offering free meals, which covers around 45,500 students.
Officials said the program is provided in partnership with the Community Eligibility Provision initiative and is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture. There is no application required to participate.
Schools hosting the free meal program include:
Read: What a croc: Reptile swimming under pier shuts down South Florida beach
Anthony Elementary
Belleview Elementary
Belleview High
Belleview Middle
Belleview-Santos Elementary
College Park Elementary
Dr. N.H. Jones Elementary
Dunnellon Elementary
Dunnellon High
Dunnellon Middle
East Marion Elementary
Eighth Street Elementary
Emerald Shores Elementary
Fessenden Elementary
Fordham Early Learning Academy
Forest High
Fort King Middle
Fort McCoy School
Greenway Elementary
Hammett Bowen, Jr. Elementary
Harbour View Elementary
Hillcrest School
Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks
Howard Middle
Lake Weir High
Lake Weir Middle
Legacy Elementary
Liberty Middle
Madison Street Academy
Maplewood Elementary
Marion Charter
Marion Acceleration Academy
Marion Oaks Elementary
Marion Technical Institute
McIntosh Area School
New Leaf School
North Marion High
North Marion Middle
Oakcrest Elementary
Ocala Springs Elementary
Ocali Charter High School (new)
Ocali Charter Middle School
Osceola Middle
Reddick-Collier Elementary
Romeo Elementary
Saddlewood Elementary
Shady Hill Elementary
Silver River Mentoring and Instruction
South Ocala Elementary
Sparr Elementary
Stanton-Weirsdale Elementary
Sunrise Elementary
Vanguard High
Ward-Highlands Elementary
West Port High
Wyomina Park Elementary
Read: Ambitious, turbocharged: Disney plans to spend $60B on parks, cruise line over next 10 years
Officials said schools were selected based on the percentage of students from each campus who are participating in one or more variations of public assistance/service programs.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
FILE - President Joe Biden meets with Israel's President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, July 18, 2023. As Biden prepares to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week in New York, a new poll finds that while Americans generally view Israel as a partner or ally, many question whether his far-right government shares American values. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
NEW YORK (AP) As President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in New York on Wednesday, a poll finds that while Americans generally view Israel as a partner or ally, many question whether his far-right government shares American values.
The poll results from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the meeting come during a new period of tension between the Biden administration and Israel. Those tensions are caused by Netanyahu's proposed judicial overhaul that has sparked mass protests in major Israeli cities, ongoing disagreements over how to deal with Iran and how to approach the Palestinians, and comments from Netanyahu political allies that have irked U.S. officials.
At their sit-down, Biden pledged to raise hard issues, including protecting the checks and balances in a democracy. Netanyahu tried to play down concerns about his contentious proposed judicial overhaul, saying there is one thing that will never change and that is Israels commitment to democracy.
It was their first meeting since Netanyahu took office at the helm of his countrys far-right government late last year.
Biden also was emphasizing that the U.S. continues to work on expanding the Trump-era Abraham Accords, which normalized Israeli relations with several Arab countries, to include Saudi Arabia.
Although the poll showed that Americans overwhelmingly view Israel as more of a friend than a foe, it also found that they are divided on whether Israel is a country with which the U.S. shares common interests and values.
About 4 in 10 Americans described Israel as a partner with which the U.S. should cooperate, but they also said the country does not share U.S. interests and values, the poll found. Only about 3 in 10 said Israel is an ally that shares U.S. interests. Republicans (44%) are more likely than Democrats (25%) to call Israel an ally with shared values. About 2 in 10 Americans described Israel as either a U.S. rival or an adversary.
The U.S. provides Israel with more than $3 billion a year in military and other assistance and the close relationship has endured over the decades despite not infrequent spats over policy, most notably over Iran and treatment of the Palestinians.
Overall, 61% of Americans disapprove of how Biden is handling the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with only 35% approving. That number was slightly lower than Biden's overall approval rating.
Many Americans don't see a need for the U.S. to change its position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. About 4 in 10 Americans, or 44%, said the U.S. gives about the right amount of support to Israel in the conflict, while 27% said it's too supportive of Israel and 23% not supportive enough.
About the same percentage, 42%, say the correct amount of support is given to the Palestinians, with 30% saying they want more support and 21% wanting less.
Among Republicans, 34% said they would like the U.S. to give more support to Israel, but slightly more (40%) say the current level is sufficient. Only 11% of Democrats said the U.S. needs to be giving more assistance to Israel. About half of Democrats said the current amount is about right
Biden's administration is hoping to give Netanyahu one of his major requests entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which would allow Israelis to visit the United States on a temporary basis without a visa.
U.S. law requires that Americans, including Palestinian-Americans, be treated the same in order to qualify for the program. Israel has taken several steps to ensure equal treatment for all Americans entering Israel but it has only until the end of September to prove that the criteria have been met. Otherwise, Israel must requalify for the program during the next budget year, which begins Oct. 1.
In terms of the Palestinian conflict, about two-thirds of Americans profess neutrality, according to the AP-NORC poll 37% said they sympathize with neither Israel nor the Palestinians, while 29% said they sympathized with both equally.
A similar percentage, 58%, said they neither favor nor oppose the creation of a Palestinian state, while 22% favor it and 15% oppose it.
___
The poll of 1,165 adults was conducted Aug. 10-14 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Holding criminal defendants in jail until trial proved difficult Monday, the first day without cash bail in Winnebago County Court.
Associate Court Judge Scott R. Paccagnini presided over the first "initial appearance court" proceeding in county history in which the judge by law could not set cash bail.
Instead Paccagnini either set conditions for release or was forced to weigh each defendant's potential flight risk and danger to individuals or the community.
Over five hours, Paccagnini presided over 26 defendant appearances ranging from domestic battery to endangering the life of a child. Of those, Winnebago County State's Attorney J. Hanley asked Paccagnini to detain nine defendants after an arrest over the weekend.
Paccagnini declined to detain all but two saying that measures like "no contact orders" and other pretrial release conditions should be sufficient to protect the community.
Hanley, who previously expressed concern over the new laws regarding pretrial release, said it went about how he had expected.
"I was almost nervous about the uncertainty of today, but all in all it was fairly uneventful," Hanley said. "We did the best we could and enforced the law."
Four of 26 detained
Paccagnini agreed to order at least four defendants to be held in jail who were arrested while already on probation or pretrial release stemming from unrelated other crimes or charges. And two more had detention hearings delayed until Tuesday morning.
Hanley told the judge he could not petition to deny several defendants release because their charges were "non-detainable." Others, he did seek to jail before trial.
A woman arrested for driving under the influence was released before trial with a warning not to drive without a valid license. A man accused of beating up his mother's boyfriend and charged with felony aggravated battery was released with orders not to have contact with the man.
A South Beloit man accused of endangering the life of a child and possession of firearms without a FOID card after a 10-year-old was shot and killed was released before trial with orders not go near the home or have contact with his wife or children.
The Rev. K. Edward Copeland of New Zion Baptist Church speaks Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, at a celebration of the end of cash bail outside the Winnebago County Criminal Justice Center in Rockford. The event was attended by area officials, activists and clergy.
More: Cash bail is ending in Illinois. Here's what you need to know.
'Justice should not be fee-based'
In the past, it is possible all of the defendants would have had at least some monetary bond set and would have had to pay 10% of that amount as bail to be released from jail before trial. The Pretrial Fairness Act which was recently found to be Constitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court ended that practice.
It went into effect for the first time on Monday.
A group of clergy including the Rev. K. Edward Copeland, activists and members of the Rockford Urban Ministries joined Illinois state Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, to celebrate the end of cash bail before the first court call.
"Justice should not be fee-based," Copeland said. "Money should not determine if you have access to freedom."
Winnebago County Public Defender Nick Zimmerman, who last week praised the end of cash bail, challenged the constitutionality of denying bail to four defendants accused of misdemeanor domestic battery. The Constitution says all but capital offenses and those punishable by life in prison are "bailable by sufficient sureties."
Judge Paccagnini rejected the arguments citing legal precedents and the recent Illinois Supreme Court case that found the Pretrial Fairness Act to be Constitutional.
"Those are questions that will likely be resolved by the appellate courts in the coming weeks," Hanley said.
Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: End of cash bail means Rockford defendants mostly go free before trial
The two motorcycle riders killed by an alleged drunk driver in Nashua, N.H. on Sunday have been identified.
Anthony Clayton, 68, of Pepperell and Sayira Muriel, 51, of Nashua, New Hampshire were killed when the motorcycle they were riding collided with a truck on Daniel Webster Highway.
The driver of the truck, George Palazzo Jr., is facing a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Officers responding to a report of a collision near the intersection of Daniel Webster Highway and Independence Drive around 3 p.m. Sunday found a pickup truck that had crashed head-on with a motorcycle.
A preliminary investigation indicated that Palazzo Jr. had crossed over the median and struck the motorcycle, claiming the life of Clayton and Murie.
Officers made contact with Palazzo Jr. at the scene and made observations that he appeared to be impaired by alcohol, the department said in a statement.
Prakalya Ganesh told Boston 25 that she saw the flames as she and her dad were driving by the scene of the wreck.
I thought it was like an orange flag at first, but then it started growing and half the truck caught on fire, she said. Then it started exploding.
Neighborhood resident Emily DiMarco told Boston 25 that drivers speed badly in the area where the crash happened.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. A woman is accused of depositing a fraudulent U.S. Treasury check for more than $220,000 into her bank account and trying to spend most of it.
Aliscia Jackson, 24, is charged with theft of property of $10,000 to $60,000 and forgery of $60,000 to $250,000.
A fraud investigator for Orion Federal Credit Union said Jackson deposited the fake check made out to her for $220,564.53 on May 30, and the check was put on hold for two days. Police said during that time, Jackson was able to take $219,150 out of her account.
According to the affidavit, Jackson visited two Orion branches and had four $50,000 cashiers checks made out to three people, made 19 cash app transactions totaling $9,650, and withdrew $9,500.
On June 6, the U.S. Treasury check was returned unpaid for being altered or fictitious.
Police said Orion was able to stop payment on three of the cashiers checks but lost a total of $68,219.23.
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Flash
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from Chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation Jeffrey Greene and Flying Tigers veterans Harry Moyer and Mel McMullen.
In his reply dated Sept. 12, Xi said he hopes that the spirit of Flying Tigers will be carried on from generation to generation among Chinese and American peoples.
"I was heartened by the great enthusiasm of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation and the veterans of Flying Tigers in letting more Chinese and Americans know about the stories of the Flying Tigers over the years. Inspired by this, more and more young Americans have joined the Flying Tigers Friendship Schools and Youth Leadership Program, and nearly 500 Flying Tigers veterans and several hundred of their family members have visited China. I wish to pay tribute to you for all this," Xi said.
"In the past, our two peoples fought the Japanese fascists together, and forged a deep friendship that withstood the test of blood and fire," Xi said. "In the future, the two major countries shoulder even more important responsibility for world peace, stability and development."
"We therefore should, and we must, respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation," he said.
Noting that "in growing China-U.S. relations, the hope lies in the people, the foundation lies among the people, and the future lies with the youth," Xi said that "a sound and steady development of the relationship in the new era requires the input and support of a new generation of Flying Tigers."
Founded in 1998, the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation is an American civil friendship group aimed at promoting the study and commemoration of China-U.S. historical aviation events.
Recently, Greene, Moyer and McMullen jointly wrote a letter to Xi, in which they introduced the efforts of the foundation and Flying Tigers veterans in helping promote China-U.S. friendly exchanges, and expressed their willingness to inherit and carry forward the precious spirit of China-U.S. cooperation.
University of Missouri felony hazing defendant Blake Morsovillo, of Springfield, has avoided trial, with a plea hearing scheduled for Oct. 10, according to online court records.
Morsovillo is charged with felony hazing related to an Oct. 19, 2021, hazing incident at the former Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. At it, pledge Danny Santulli collapsed after drinking a large quantity of alcohol. Personnel at MU Hospital resuscitated the freshman.
He sustained brain damage that left him unable to speak, walk or see. His parents care for him at their home in Minnesota, using funds from settlements of civil lawsuits against the fraternity and its members.
Five defendants already have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, with most serving short jail sentences and other conditions including public service.
Trial dates for five other defendants are scheduled in December 2023 and January 2024.
Roger McKinney is the Tribune's education reporter. You can reach him at rmckinney@columbiatribune.com or 573-815-1719. He's on X at @rmckinney9.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: A sixth MU felony hazing defendant will avoid trial with plea deal
Attorneys for convicted killer Alex Murdaugh on Monday filed an affidavit that raises additional questions about whether Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill invented a false tale about a Facebook post during the trial that supposedly got a juror favorable to Murdaugh kicked off the jury.
An attorney for Hill, Will Lewis, declined comment.
Earlier this month, in a filing to the S.C. Court of Appeals, Murdaugh attorneys Jim Griffin and Dick Harpootlian alleged Hill falsely said that the ex-husband of the expelled juror, identified only as Juror 785, had posted a statement on Facebook saying in effect that the jurors mind was already made up about Murdaughs guilt. But the ex-husband denied posting the statement, according to the attorneys filing.
This week, Griffin and Harpootlian filed another motion saying they found the man who actually made the posting Hill was talking about. He has sworn in an affidavit he is not Juror 785s ex-husband and that his posting was not about the Murdaugh trial.
The initial post on Feb. 15, 2023, and the follow up post on Feb. 16, 2023, had nothing to do with anyone associated with the State v. Murdaugh case. The Feb. 15 post was in response to my wifes aunt sticking her nose in my business, the man, identified as Timothy Stone, of Odum, Ga., said.
The disputed Facebook posting is one of a series of allegations that Griffin and Harpootlian have made about alleged improper behavior by Hill that the defense attorneys contend deprived Murdaugh of his constitutional right to a fair trail.
Last March, a jury deliberated less than three hours after a six-week trial before finding Murdaugh guilty of killing his wife, Maggie, and son Paul in June 2021 at their 1,770-acre estate in rural Colleton County.
The defense attorneys are asking for a new trial and a public hearing, when the allegations they have made about Hill can be fully vetted.
In response to the defenses initial allegations about Hill, Attorney General Alan Wilson requested that agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigate. SLEDs findings would apparently be part of any hearing ordered by the Court of Appeals.
The initial filing also said that during the trial, Hill indicated to jurors that Murdaugh was guilty of killing his wife and son and that they should not be fooled by his statements that he didnt do it.
The defense also said that Hills motive for trying to influence the jury was to promote a book she was writing about the trial that would be an insiders account. Ms. Hill betrayed her oath of office for money and fame, the filing said.
More than eight books about the Murdaugh case are in the works. Several have already been published, including Hills narrative, which has been revised several times since its publication in late July.
A police vehicle is pictured on Tuesday, March 9, 2021. A Murray man with a history of domestic violence is facing new charges accusing him of running over his estranged wifes mother. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
A Murray man who prosecutors say has a history of domestic violence in three states is accused of running over his estranged wife's mother, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.
Erwin Riggs, 37, was charged Friday in 3rd District Court with three counts of aggravated assault resulting in serious injury, a second-degree felony; domestic violence in the presence of a child, and failing to stop for a serious injury accident, third-degree felonies; and two counts of property damage, a third-degree felony and a class B misdemeanor.
On Sept. 9, Murray police were called to an auto-pedestrian crash where they found a woman "laying in the middle of the parking lot" with "life-threatening injuries," according to charging documents.
A woman reported she got into an argument with Riggs, her estranged husband, the night before, "which boiled over" to the next day. During the argument, Riggs went outside her apartment and began letting the air out of the tires of the woman's truck and then punched the taillight, breaking it, the charges state.
He then allegedly got into another vehicle and put it in reverse with the driver's door still open.
"(The estranged wife) said that while the vehicle was in reverse, the car door pinned her chest against another vehicle, which was parked and unoccupied," according to the charges.
The woman's mother then attempted to help. After the estranged wife was freed from being pinned against the car, her mother "reached out to help pull her away from the car as Riggs was slamming the door shut, which caused (the mother's) hand to be slammed in the car door. While (her) hand was stuck, Riggs put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of the parking stall," the charges allege.
Police say the mother was dragged by the car as the estranged wife tried multiple times to open the door and free her. Riggs put the car in drive and continued to drag the mother until her hand eventually slipped out from the door, according to the charges.
"As she fell to the ground and rolled, (the woman) observed the driver rear wheel run over (her mother's) head and Riggs drive away and leave the scene," the charges say.
When detectives interviewed the mother two days later, "she said she remembered being 'jerked, then airborne twice' as the car was in motion. (She) said she doesn't remember anything after that until she woke up to the fire department telling her not to move. (She) reported she had a fractured skull with blood clots beneath the skull, a fractured vertebrae in her neck, and said the doctors nearly amputated the middle, ring and pinky fingers on her right hand," charging documents state.
Riggs has been convicted of domestic violence involving his estranged wife, with two pending cases involving the same victim. Prosecutors state in court records that Riggs is "violently jealous" of his estranged wife's activities.
"There is a documented history of domestic violence, in Utah, dating back to 2008 between the defendant and the victim. The defendant also has domestic violence convictions in New Mexico and in Arizona," charging documents state.
(NEXSTAR) From Netflix to Disney, Amazon to Walmart, and countless other services, Americans are already juggling a multitude of subscription fees. They could soon be facing another.
While speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk said his company X, formerly Twitter, is moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the X system, CNBC reports. He added that the move is intended to combat vast armies of bots.
Netanyahu urges Musk to curb antisemitism and hatred on X
Musk didnt share any other details, like when this change could happen, what it entails, or what it would cost.
He also didnt say how many bots may be present on X, either. He did, however, claim that X has garnered 550 million monthly users.
A paywall is something Musk has reportedly considered before. X does already have a subscription, X Premium (formerly known as Twitter Blue), that starts at $8 a month and gives members a blue checkmark previously reserved for those who met certain credibility requirements, the ability to edit posts, and other features.
Netanyahu kicked off a U.S. trip in California to talk to Musk about antisemitism on X while Musk asked him to address his judicial overhaul in Israel. The two also discussed artificial intelligence in a sparsely attended livestream event Monday.
Netanyahus high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad.
iOS 17: Should you install Apples latest update for iPhone?
The freestyle conversation, which included jokes from both men, soon turned to free speech and antisemitism, with Netanyahu telling Musk he hopes that within the confines of the First Amendment he can find a way to roll back antisemitism and other forms of hatred on his social media platform.
I encourage you and urge you to find the balance. Its a tough one, Netanyahu said.
Musk said that with 100 million to 200 million posts on X in a day, some of those are gonna be bad. He reiterated the platforms policy to not promote or amplify hate speech. Under Musk, the former Twitter changed its rules so that objectionable posts are not usually removed, but instead their visibility is limited so people have to seek them out if they want to see them. Musk calls this freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.
Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on X. The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organization, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on the platform. Its director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said Musk had amplified the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the league by engaging with them recently on X.
Tweets with racial slurs soar since Musk took over, according to report
In a Sept. 4 post, Musk claimed that the league was trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic. In other posts, he said the league was responsible for a 60% drop in revenue at X.
The ADL was among a coalition or groups that urged companies last year to pause their advertising on Twitter after Musk bought the platform. But analysts who track Twitter have argued that Musks chaotic changes to the platform including jettisoning its well-known brand name have led to a decline in interest from advertisers.
The group met this month with Xs chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. Both Musk and Yaccarino have recently posted messages saying they oppose antisemitism.
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On Sunday, however, Musk posted that George Soros organization appears to want nothing less than the destruction of western civilization.
Soros, 93, has donated billions of dollars of his personal wealth to liberal and anti-authoritarian causes around the world, making him a favored target among many on the right. The Hungarian-American, who is Jewish, has also been the subject of anti-Semitic attacks and conspiracy theories for decades.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Sama and Sima, who asked that their last names be withheld, show peace signs during a protest against the Iranian regime at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. The protest was held on the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Iranian American protestors gathered at the Utah State Capitol on Saturday to speak out against the Islamic Republic's killing of Iranian protesters and calling for the U.S. government to fight back.
The protest marked the first anniversary of the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini, 22, on Sept. 16, 2022, for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab headscarf. Amini's death sparked the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement and a year-long series of protests in Iran that organizers said have led to more than 4,000 killed and 90,000 imprisoned or detained.
"Mahsa Jina, you did not die. You did not perish. Your name became the key to a revolution," said Nia, one of the protest organizer who asked KSL.com to use a pseudonym to protect her loved ones in Iran.
Members of Utah's Iranian American community called on the American government Saturday, to stand up to Iran. They also encouraged locals to help amplify the voices of the nation's protestors.
A woman holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini at a protest against the Iranian regime at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday. Amini died a year ago in the custody of Irans morality police after being arrested for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women, sparking widespread protests. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
Protesters waved Iranian flags and raised signs with slogans like: "Stop execution in Iran," "Free all prisoners in Iran" and photos of Iranians, some as young as 9 years old, executed for civil disobedience.
Nia said Iranians, particularly women and children, are being arrested for any kind of civil disobedience, from girls going to school to not wearing the hijab headscarf.
But Crystal Bayat, founder of the Bayat Foundation that fights for better living conditions in Afghanistan, emphasized that the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement extends beyond Iranian women's rights.
"This is not just for women in Iran," Bayat said. "This is for all women around the globe."
University of Utah student Ava Anjom called the Islamic Republic's actions "domestic terrorism" and said the regime is also affecting countries outside of Iran, including Ukraine, as it provided drones to Russia used in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Members of the Ukrainian community in Utah also came to the protest to show their support, wearing Ukrainian flags around their shoulders. Anjom said, "Their plight serves as a stark reminder that when oppressive regimes such as Islamic Republic expand their influence, they sow the seeds of misery and destruction wherever they turn their attention."
People attend a protest against the Iranian regime at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The protest was held on the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
"Their malevolent influence is not limited solely to the people of Iran it casts a long shadow that engulfs the rest of the world," Anjom said. "Today we must unite in our resolve to condemn such actions and work collectively to advocate for peace, justice and the well-being of the nations."
Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion, D-Cottonwood Heights, came to offer her support, calling it "tragic" that Iranians "are struggling for these basic freedoms of self expression and being able to be who they want to be."
"I'm here in solidarity with you," Bennion said. "We share the same values of women, life and freedom."
Shanti Deemyad, an associate professor at the U., further called on governments to globally recognize the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement.
"It is a beacon of hope, a symbol of unity and a testament to the enduring spirit of those who refuse to accept inequality and injustice," Deemyad said. She said the movement transcends political parties and shows "a genuine commitment to the principles of freedom, equality and human rights."
"Let us amplify the voice of those who demand justice and equality," Deemyad said.
A woman holds a sign during a protest against the Iranian regime at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The protest was held on the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
American government criticism
"Our ultimate goal would be for the U.S. government to actually start dealing with Iran," Nia said, criticizing the U.S. latest $6 billion payout to Iran. "The more resources available to (Iran), the more power they have to oppress the people. They're not just an oppressive government, they're a dangerous entity."
Saveez Saffarian, University of Utah professor, also criticized what he sees as America's lack of involvement in helping Iranians. He said, "I see a lot of good in American society in support of freedom, women and minorities, but somehow it's not translating into meaningful action against the regime."
He said the movement for freedom of expression in Iran is an American fight. "This movement is very much in favor of everything we stand for as Americans, and we should support it," he said.
A protester holds a sign at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The sign shows images of protesters in Iran who have been killed during a protests against the Iranian regime The protest in Salt Lake City was held on the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
"If you want a prosperous world, we should really hear all the voices of freedom and democracy and women's rights all around the world," Saffarian said.
Organizers also read a statement prepared by local community leader and Iranian-American industrialist Khosrow Semnani.
"It falls upon us, Iranians in the diaspora, both here in the United States and elsewhere, to stand in support of the Iranian people," Semnani said. "We have an enormous responsibility, and that is to draw upon our power as a community, as citizens in a democracy, to speak up and speak out against a theocracy that poses an existential threat to Iran, and, one might add, to the Islamic and democratic world as a whole."
Semnani cited successful movements for freedom around the world and urged Americans to help fight for Iranians.
"We must engage in democracy," Semnani added. "We must use our influence to uphold our values."
Zahra Hanar, who is from Iran, calls out during a protest against the Iranian regime at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. The protest was held on the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by Irans morality police for allegedly violating the countrys strict dress code for women. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News
NASA scientists are predicting a chance that asteroid Bennu will strike Earth in the future, potentially affecting an area the size of Texas.
Bennu is a Near-Earth Object (NEO) that passes by the planet roughly every six years, and experts have been watching it since it was discovered in September 1999.
According to scientists, Bennu has a chance to pass through what they call a gravity keyhole, which would send it on a collision course with Earth in the year 2182.
A new paper from the OSIRIS-REx science team predicts Bennu has a 0.037% chance (1 in 2,700) of hitting Earth; this will largely depend on another flyby. In 2135, Bennu will zoom past Earth just close enough that our planets gravitational pull could affect it in just the right way to put it on a path to hit us on Sept. 24, 2182 almost 159 years to the day from this writing.
Visualization depicting the 2182 Bennu-Earth flyby. Bennus location in 2182 will vary depending on how the 2135 flyby occurs. Two representations of Bennu are depicted. The white dot represents an Earth-miss and the grey dot represents an extremely unlikely (1:2700 or 0.037% chance) Earth impact. Earths orbit is represented in light blue. (Video from NASA)
The Bennu asteroid is a third of a mile wide, roughly three city blocks. It could affect an area the size of Texas by its impact. Bennu, however, is still far smaller than the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, which is said to have been six miles wide.
While much smaller, IFLS.com says the impact would unleash 1,200 megatons of energy 24 times more powerful than any man-made nuclear weapon.
Weve never modeled an asteroids trajectory to this precision before, said Davide Farnocchia, the study lead from the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.
The OSIRIS-REx data give us so much more precise information, we can test the limits of our models and calculate the future trajectory of Bennu to a very high degree of certainty through 2135, Farnocchia added.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Pay Dirt
After a monumental journey through outer space that took years and countless miles, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is scheduled to release a "mini-fridge size capsule" over the Utah desert this week, according to the space agency.
The capsule contains truly precious cargo, about 8.8 ounces of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu tens of millions of miles away.
If carried off successfully, it could mark the first time NASA has nipped a sample of asteroid and taken it back to Earth in an extraordinary delivery. First-time honors in bringing an asteroid sample back to Earth belong to the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa, which had taken minute samples of the asteroid Itokawa back in 2010.
Many scientists are eager to study this asteroid sample from Bennu because they believe it contains materials that date back to the earliest days of the solar system, according to OSIRIS-REx deputy project manager Michael Moreau. It could also contain organic molecules that scientists think hitched rides on meteorites that slammed into Earth and helped seed life on our planet.
Touch and Go
OSIRIS-REx first embarked on its mission on September 8, 2016, and arrived two years later at Bennu, an asteroid that has a diameter of around 1,614 feet and orbits the Sun every six Earth years.
The asteroid is interesting because it's extraordinarily old, with material dating back to at least 4.5 billion years. Bennu is also relatively close to Earth compared to the solar system's many asteroids, which primarily reside in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, making it a tantalizing object of study.
When OSIRIS-REx first arrived at Bennu, it orbited the asteroid for two years, and then in 2020, it made a bold maneuver a "Touch-And-Go" move that saw the spacecraft land on the asteroid briefly, collect samples, and then used its on-board thrusters to launch itself off of the rock.
In 2021, after a last flyby around the asteroid, OSIRIS-REx finally started journeying back to Earth.
Even after it releases its return capsule over Earth in less than a week, NASA says OSIRIS-REx's job is not quite complete. When it makes its payload delivery, the spacecraft will not stop to land on our planet but will instead veer its path towards the asteroid Apophis, where it is scheduled to arrive in 2029.
More on OSIRIS-REx: Watch Nasa's Spacecraft Touch Down On A Tiny Asteroid
A NASA probe caught a massive eruption from the sun on camera.
The Parker Solar Probe flew right through a major coronal mass ejection last year.
The spacecraft was built to study the sun and is able to withstand scorching temperatures.
NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew right through a massive solar eruption and caught the whole thing on camera. It's the first up-close footage ever captured of a solar explosion like this.
The video, released by scientists at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, features an especially powerful coronal mass ejection that took place last year.
CMEs are large explosions of super-hot plasma that erupt from the sun's atmosphere. They consist of charged particles that can trigger radio blackouts and cause other mayhem if they strike Earth.
NASA said that the CME that struck the Parker Solar Probe was "one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded."
Lucky for those scientists currently studying the sun, NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew right through the CME and survived it, capturing the event on camera. (The eruption starts at around the 14-second mark.)
According to Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, CMEs can fire magnetic fields sometimes expelling billions of tons of plasma anywhere from 60-to-1,900 miles per second.
As for the one last September, Parker "clocked particles accelerating up to 840 miles per second," according to Johns Hopkins. The data may help physicists understand what propels CMEs and sends particles careening at such high speeds.
The Parker Solar Probe's mission to touch the sun
An artist's illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun. NASA
The Parker Solar Probe was designed specifically to study the sun. Not only is it the fastest spacecraft in history, but it's also the one that can come closest to the sun, within 4 million miles of its surface, and survive the journey, according to NASA.
"We knew from the beginning that Parker Solar Probe would fly through CMEs," Jim Kinnison, the Parker Solar mission systems engineer at APL, said in a Johns Hopkins statement. So NASA designed the probe to withstand the scorching temperatures near the sun.
The spacecraft is fitted with a custom heat shield as well as an autonomous system that protects the device from the sun's light emissions, per NASA.
When Parker first detected the CME, it was about 5.7 million miles from the sun's surface.
Later, the probe traveled in the wake of the CME's shock wave. The Parker probe spent almost two days studying this one CME and came out unscathed, according to Johns Hopkins.
The role of space dust in CMEs
During the same CME, NASA researchers also looked at the way the storm affected interplanetary dust particles floating around in space. They hope learning more about these interactions will help them better forecast space weather in the future.
"Does interplanetary dust affect the shape of a CME? Does it affect the speed of it? We're just starting to understand that it does," Russ Howard, a physicist at APL, said in a statement.
Parker has already given scientists a peek at other solar phenomena, including a glimpse at the source of "solar wind."
Read the original article on Business Insider
Observers who plan to watch the total solar eclipse in April next year can use a new NASA-funded app to record valuable data about the sun, the space agency announced last week.
Using the free app, SunSketcher 2024, citizen scientists can help advance heliophysics research by clicking as many images of the sun just before and after the solar eclipse . Those images will help in recording images of a bright, broken ring of sunlight known as Baily's Beads , which shine through mountains and valleys on the edge of the moon just before and after eclipses.
"There are so many ways to participate in NASA science, especially as we enter the Heliophysics Big Year," space physicist Elizabeth MacDonald, the heliophysics citizen science lead at NASA, said in a statement . "We're so excited to watch these and our many other projects come to life."
Related: Total solar eclipse 2024: Everything you need to know
SunSketcher 2024 is being developed by a team of students and professors at Western Kentucky University (WKU), and is the newest of five projects to receive funding from NASA this year to collect science data from the next total solar eclipse.
"Our goal is to get a bunch of people millions of people, hopefully in the path of the eclipse, to use our app and get a few pictures of the sun as the eclipse happens and as the eclipse ends," Starr May, a computer science major at WKU working on SunSketcher 2024, said in a different statemen t .
The SunSketcher 2024 app is an improvised version of an app used for a similar purpose during a total solar eclipse in August 2017 , scientists say. The new app will use GPS coordinates of smartphones to track precisely when the Bailys Beads phenomenon will begin and end locally across the path of totality, which is where the moon's shadow will fall on Earth during the eclipse.
This reference article by NASA outlines the time totality begins in 12 U.S. states that are in the path of totality for the April 2024 eclipse: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
Pictures from all observations will ultimately be combined into an hour-long "megamovie" to better understand the sun's shape by using the moon as a reference. Specifically, the observations will reveal how much the sun deviates from being a perfect sphere, scientists say.
"This information will lead to an improved understanding of the flows in the solar interior, and is also key to testing gravitational theories," NASA representatives wrote in last week's statement.
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Other citizen science projects being funded by the space agency include an experiment to study the structure of the solar wind and the corona, which is the outermost part of the sun's atmosphere and has long puzzled scientists by being at least a thousand times hotter than the surface of the sun.
NASA has also planned a second megamovie to record the thin layer underneath the corona known as the chromosphere. The megamovie will be the end result of an image processing competition for volunteer photographers and data analysts, with a goal to unveil jets of plasma in images captured during the 2024 eclipse.
The sun is steadily growing more active as it nears its predicted peak in activity in 2025, so the eclipse in April next year will likely capture more activity on the sun compared to the 2017 total solar eclipse.
A view of the spectrometer being slid into a vacuum test chamber. The view is from within the chamber.
On Sept. 12, a mirror-walled box arrived in the clean room of Planet Labs in San Francisco. This box contains a spectrometer, designed specifically to observe carbon dioxide and methane on Earth's surface.
Forged at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) further south in California, this spectrometers stop in San Francisco will see it mounted onto a satellite called Tanager . That satellite, if all goes according to plan, should launch in 2024. The nonprofit Carbon Mapper hopes to use Tanager to pinpoint greenhouse gas "super-emitters" on our planet.
This newly-arrived spectrometer is a key component of that mission.
Related: NASA sensors could help detect landfill methane from space to help limit climate change
This device is designed to observe infrared light reflected from Earth ' s surface, then separate that light into its spectrum. Different gases in Earth's atmosphere each absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving characteristic gaps in the spectrum and allowing observers to reconstruct what gases were present at a certain point.
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Before sending the spectrometer north, JPL staff tested the mechanism's ability to perform this duty. Inside a vacuum chamber, scientists placed a methane sample in clear view of the spectrometer. And, by JPL's account, the spectrometer succeeded.
"We are thrilled to see the exceptional quality of the methane spectral signature recorded," Robert Green, an instrument scientist at JPL, said in a statement. "This bodes well for the space measurement soon to follow."
Carbon Mapper a collaboration between JPL, Planet, the California Air Resources Board, Rocky Mountain Institute, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona already launched EMIT, an instrument aboard the International Space Station (ISS) that monitors mineral dust blown from Earth's deserts. Eventually, this spectrometer will join it from an orbit that wraps around Earth's poles.
Tarrant County commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to hire assistant county administrator Chandler Merritt as county administrator.
Commissioner Alisa Simmons was the lone vote against Merritts hire.
Merritt has been an assistant administrator in Tarrant County since May 2021. He previously served as a chief of staff for former County Judge Glen Whitley.
Outgoing county administrator G.K. Maenius is set to retire Sept. 30. Hes been in the position since 1988 and is the only person who has served as administrator in Tarrant Countys history.
Merritt will start in his new role Oct. 1.
The commissioners chose Fort Worth-based firm Mackenzie Eason to conduct a nationwide search for candidates to replace Maenius in July.
Experts had said the position may be difficult to fill, citing a growing partisan environment in Tarrant County.
Commissioners met for more than three hours Sept. 12 and more than six hours Sept. 13 to interview candidates.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram filed a Texas Public Information Act request for all application materials submitted for county administrator. The county did not fulfill the request for the public records and instead asked the Attorney Generals office to withhold the records, citing the ongoing application process.
Ahead of their vote Tuesday, commissioner Roy Brooks was careful with his wording the county wasnt hiring a replacement for Maenius. They were appointing a new administrator, he said.
Maenius, Brooks said, was irreplaceable. His statement was met with applause from a packed courtroom.
Simmons, however, said she found Merritts appointment problematic. She said the county had a tendency to hire people who were familiar and not necessarily the most qualified, and said she was worried because it could lead to a stagnant organization that lacks innovation and promote a good ol boys system.
Simmons said there was a uniquely qualified candidate who was not considered who was called superior and the Ferrari of candidates by her colleagues. She did not specify which colleagues.
The isms crept into this process, Simmons said. Cronyism, racism.
Simmons then offered Merritt her congratulations.
Commissioner Manny Ramirez said he was proud of Merritt and earned the opportunity.
We need a bridge from our longtime 35-year incredible county administrator, and I think Mr. Merritt, his experience, his education, and everything that he brings to the table is the perfect person to step in and be that bridge for us into the future, Ramirez said.
County Judge Tim OHare said Merritt learned from an amazing mentor during his time as assistant administrator and has his own ideas about how the county can improve and be more efficient.
Commissioner Gary Fickes saw Merritts hire coming.
Chandler, when I first met you this I where I thought youd be, Fickes said.
A LinkedIn job posting shows the county was looking for a candidate who would be a visionary leader with an open, transparent, respectful, and collaborative management style and could come to solutions through partnerships, strategic planning, and fiscal stewardship.
The county also wanted someone with five to 10 years experience of successful leadership at a senior executive/administrator level in a public or private organization with comparable hands-on responsibilities.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
Note: Hann Henson works for a school district in western North Carolina. ProPublica is not specifying the district because of his safety concerns.
In the spring of 2022, Hann Henson accepted a job as a communications specialist for a North Carolina school district. Not long after his insurance kicked in, he pored over the hundred-page booklet outlining the state health plan for district employees.
When he came to the list of services that arent covered, he paused at a tiny footnote: North Carolinas plan did currently pay for gender-affirming care but only because of a temporary federal court order.
Hensons heart rate rose as he considered his options. Since he was a child, hed been burdened by a sense of deep distress about the mismatch between the gender he was assigned at birth and the gender he knew himself to be.
Henson had grown accustomed to state leaders and insurance plans playing political tug of war with his rights. In 2016, early in his transition, a Republican governor signed into law the countrys first statewide ban on transgender people using the bathroom aligned with their gender forcing Henson to worry about violence from strangers when entering public restrooms. A Democratic governor largely scrapped it a year later.
Henson spent the next several years jumping through every hoop his insurance company required before it would cover one of his transition-related surgeries, with a representative at one point telling him the company didnt cover tranny health care.
Now, yet again, he faced obstacles to health care access because of his gender identity. As Henson found out after he started his new job, North Carolina had been fighting a legal battle since 2019 against transgender people on the states health plan, some of whom had sued the state for coverage of transition-related care. In 2022, a judge ordered the state to cover the care while the fight dragged on. But any moment, another court ruling could whisk it away.
As Henson had become more confident as a transgender man, the world around him seemed to grow increasingly hostile, with conservative rhetoric against transgender people accelerating an avalanche of restrictive laws.
In the last year, state lawmakers across the country have considered nearly 500 proposals targeting transgender rights, and more than 80 became law both unprecedented numbers. This legislative session, North Carolina passed laws banning gender-affirming care for youth, limiting instruction in elementary schools about gender and sexuality, and preventing transgender girls from playing on girls sports teams. A Republican supermajority in the legislature overrode the Democratic governors vetoes on all three.
In May, Dale Folwell , North Carolinas state treasurer, sat for an interview with a far-right activist to explain his decision to keep fighting the lawsuit filed by transgender people over the state health plan. North Carolina is one of more than a dozen states with a health plan that explicitly denies coverage for gender-affirming care, and this lawsuit one of several arguing that states cannot block access to the coverage is the first to make it to a federal appeals court.
Folwell, who is running for governor, argued that the state health plans board of trustees should have the authority to determine the scope of employee benefits echoing the argument North Carolina makes in court documents that covering gender-affirming care would be a financial burden.
When you have a plan this large, Folwell said in the interview, you have to focus on doing the most good for the most number of people. Thats how you set benefits. He did not respond to ProPublicas questions or interview requests.
Lawyers and experts for the transgender plaintiffs have pointed to evidence showing that covering the care would likely cost the state very little and have argued that withholding it is discriminatory.
For several weeks this spring, Henson repeatedly checked the federal court website for an update on the lawsuit, gripped by a feeling of panic, like somebody has got their hands around my neck. One more major surgery separated him from the relief of his body fully matching his gender, and he wasnt sure when the court would make a decision.
A few days after Folwells interview, Henson learned that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Virginia, would hear arguments on the case in late September. It was far from the ideal time: His surgery was scheduled for late November, and hed need a follow-up surgery about six months later.
The tight legal timeline has made the waiting period for the surgery almost unbearable for Henson: Youre on the highway in the car and youre driving and youre like, Im gonna make it, Im gonna make it. And then your gas starts running out.
***
A 28-year-old self-described nerd with a youthful face and quiet voice, Henson distracts himself with his hobbies: playing video games with friends and attending anime conventions in costume.
He regularly visits his parents in rural North Carolina and talks on the phone daily with his fiancee, who lives a few hours away. He has a calm demeanor, except for the nervous giggles that punctuate his speech, especially when he describes his darkest moments.
As the last academic school year came to a close, Henson stayed late to take photos at a school board meeting, sporting a blue suit jacket and hefty camera as he herded together groups of students and teachers who had won awards. He headed down the hall to his office to upload the photos. The live video of the board meeting played on the computer in the background.
Several minutes into the public comment period, a man approached the podium, introducing himself as a clergy member and a parent. His voice grew louder as he questioned whether board members were perverts and child molesters. He listed childrens books featuring transgender or gender-nonconforming characters and insisted they would be used to groom children, push down their throat puberty blockers or move them towards mutilation. As he began to read a passage from the Bible, his mic turned off. His time had run out. The audience applauded him.
Henson watched the screen, horrified. He felt like the man was speaking specifically about him.
Few of his co-workers attending the board meeting knew he was transgender. He had cautiously told only his boss and closest colleagues, nervous about gossip or uncomfortable questions. Alone in the room, the office door ajar, he began to cry.
In recent months, Henson had often considered where he would be if the attacks on transgender people had been as aggressive when he first came out a decade ago as they are now. I probably would be dead, he said.
During Hensons senior year of college, North Carolina passed House Bill 2, a prototype for the state bathroom bills that conservatives across the country stamped into law this year. HB 2 prohibited transgender people from using the public bathroom aligning with their gender and stripped the ability from cities and counties to pass local nondiscrimination policies. On the floor of the state House in late March of 2016, Republican lawmakers emphasized that the bill would help people travel more freely across the state, knowing each business would have the same policy.
Henson had moved cautiously through his college experience. Years earlier, as a freshman, he came out as transgender to his new group of friends. It was the first time he had been so widely open about his gender identity, and he hoped they would understand. Instead, they told him he was just looking for attention.
Already burdened by feelings of shame and low self-worth, Henson tried to kill himself. His resident assistant rushed him to the emergency room, where he told a doctor that hed been stressed about chemistry class and a recent medication change, and had fought with a friend about some kind of gender identity issues, according to his medical notes.
Henson never spoke with those friends again, but their comments looped in his mind after he returned to school and continued to move forward in his gender transition.
In his senior year, after several months on testosterone, his beard had begun to grow in, and though it was patchy, he wore it like armor to shield himself from strangers scrutiny. It didnt always work.
He remembers walking into one of the mens bathrooms on campus the first week after the law passed. A man standing at the urinal turned and asked, Are you allowed to come in here anymore?
Henson frequently experienced panic attacks, fearful of potential assault and furious at public policies that restricted his rights. He recalls standing in the middle stall at school and sending an angry email from his phone to then-Gov. Pat McCrory: Im a transgender man in a public mens room. Come and get me.
In the months after the law passed, when he and his sister, Ashlee Park, ran errands at the suburban Walmart near her home, she stood outside the mens bathroom protectively while he was inside. Park knew her brother was struggling. He had recently seen a therapist who waved away his gender dysphoria as a pathological need to be different, Park recalled. Since then, he had stopped mental health treatment and continued to spiral.
He would say things that were just like: I shouldnt be alive. Im an abomination, Park said.
She would respond, Theres nothing wrong with you. Theres something wrong with the world. You need to get out of your head.
Henson couldnt absorb her words. It just felt like my state had said: I dont want you. You dont deserve to be here, he said. And when youre told you dont deserve to be here, you sort of feel like, Where is there to go?
One day in the spring of 2016, Henson was visiting Park at her home. Park and her mother were about to leave the house, when Park suddenly felt uneasy. She went back inside to look for her brother and found him in her husbands closet, looking at the collection of firearms in his gun case.
Henson immediately grew ashamed and pleaded with them not to tell anyone that hed considered killing himself. He was begging. I remember him standing on the landing in the studio and looking at me with these incredibly brown eyes, his mother, Kim Crenshaw, recalled. And telling me how hard it was for him to be in his body and to feel like such a freak.
He asked his mother and sister not to take him to the emergency room. They agreed, under the condition that he find a good therapist, and they began calling him every week to ensure he was searching for one. Crenshaw thinks back on the effort it took to bring her son back up from his lowest point. That scares me so badly for all the kids out there that are going through this now, she said.
Henson relaxes with his dog, JoJo, before leaving for work.
***
With his familys encouragement and support, Henson began regular therapy after graduating from college and started to feel more comfortable in his identity. He decided to move forward in his medical transition, wanting chest reconstruction surgery so he could stop binding his chest flat every day. But the prospect of engaging with the health care system was daunting.
His medical records from past emergency room visits provide some insight into his experiences: Several times, doctors incorrectly referred to him as female (or, in especially erroneous language, as a transgendered female), at times using his previous name and alternating between pronouns.
In 2016, the Obama administration prohibited medical facilities and insurance companies from categorically refusing to cover all health services related to gender transition. But despite the new federal rule, his insurance company at the time, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, threw up barrier after barrier.
Henson recalled that on one occasion, while on the phone with the claims department, the person on the call threw out a transphobic slur: We dont do tranny health care. He hung up the phone and burst into tears.
At the time, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina required transgender patients seeking gender-affirming surgery to provide a supportive letter from a doctoral-level mental health professional an incredibly high hurdle given the shortage of those providers across the country. After an exhaustive search, Henson found one in 2018 and later that year was able to get chest surgery. He remembers the surgery practices billing department filing an appeal with his insurance to get the procedure covered. Doctors there told him he was one of their first patients who received insurance approval for chest surgery related to a gender transition.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina broadened its policy in 2020 to allow any licensed mental health professional to provide letters for transgender patients seeking gender-affirming care. In response to questions from ProPublica, spokesperson Jami Sanchez said the company provides training on gender identity to its customer service team to ensure members are treated with dignity and respect.
As the years passed, Henson found that more and more doctors understood how to treat transgender patients. After he took the job at the school district, he spoke with his general practitioner, Sydney Hendry, about getting a hysterectomy to treat the severe uterine spasms and cramps that can sometimes accompany testosterone therapy.
Hendry had to write a letter to the University of North Carolina Health surgical team verifying that Henson met the criteria for a gender dysphoria diagnosis and that a total hysterectomy would improve his quality of life. It was the first letter she had ever written for gender-affirming surgery. UNC Health provided a template that eased the process, avoiding the frustrating series of appeals and revisions that plagued Hensons previous surgery.
Because of the federal court order, his state employee insurance agreed that it would cover the procedure. Henson had the surgery this March. But Hendrys other transgender patients have told her that theyre scared about North Carolina limiting gender-affirming care for adults in the next year. I tell them that they are my priority and that I will advocate for them, she said.
It feels like through my transition, there was this shift, where people became more educated about it and more knowledgeable, Henson said. And then in the past year or two, its starting to go back rapidly at a pace that is kind of scary.
***
Henson feels that most people walking by him on the street see his full beard and stocky frame and dont assume he is transgender.
His fiancee, Aly Young, appreciates the sense of safety that comes with Henson passing but hates feeling like theyre hiding their true selves. I dont have thoughts in the back of my head like: Should I be kissing him in public? Should I be holding his hand in public? Are people looking at us? Are we in danger? she said. But at the same time, it makes me really sad. Because I dont feel authentic. I dont think Hann feels authentic.
The two met when Henson began attending her small charter school in 11th grade, after years of home-schooling. One day, Young was hanging out in the hallway, when a math teacher called her over and asked her to comfort the new student crying in the bathroom. Young slowly coaxed Henson out and started to pursue a friendship. When Young moved away the following year, she kept in touch, writing letters that Henson now keeps in a box under his bed.
The pair talk often about moving away from North Carolina, even leaving the South altogether. The South goes back generations in both their family lines, but this home feels increasingly hostile. Hensons parents live in Sanford, where the Proud Boys showed up to a local brewery to protest a drag brunch. On the drive to Sanford, he passes by a supersized Confederate flag, which the Sons of Confederate Veterans erected in 2020 to protest the removal of Confederate memorials.
Looking forward, Henson counts down the days until his final set of surgical procedures, a genital reconstruction process commonly called bottom surgery. He had used up all his paid sick leave recovering from the hysterectomy, so he scheduled this next surgery for November, letting him use winter break to recover. Even if he is able to get the surgery before a ruling in North Carolinas favor, the procedure requires a revision surgery about six months later, and Henson worries about being stuck with it incomplete.
On the morning of Sept. 21, all the active judges on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will preside over a second-floor courtroom in Richmond, Virginia, and listen to arguments from lawyers on both sides.
They will hear North Carolinas case on the same day that they hear a similar one out of West Virginia that will determine whether that states Medicaid program must cover gender-affirming surgery. In both cases, federal judges in lower courts have already found the states policies discriminatory.
Recently, more than 20 conservative states filed an amicus brief in support of North Carolina, calling gender-affirming care at best experimental and at worst deeply harmful a characterization that contradicts the consensus of major medical associations. More than 15 Democratic-led states wrote a brief in favor of the transgender plaintiffs, citing their own regulations that prevent insurance companies from discriminating against medically necessary, transition-related care.
In late August, Henson learned that the pastor who had railed against the school board back in June would soon be meeting privately with district leaders. He realized the man would be coming into the administration building where he works, meaning he could run into him face-to-face.
He thought about the benefits and drawbacks of not being immediately recognized as transgender: feeling safer but also forced underground, in a way, having to hear the vitriol against his community but powerless to stand up to it. He thought about how tired he was of feeling helpless and invisible.
That morning, he got dressed deliberately. Dress pants. A short-sleeved button-down shirt. And on the collar, a heart-shaped symbol of defiance a pin in the colors of the transgender flag.
From Jan. 1, 2020 to early July of this year, Columbus Police have responded to nearly 800 emergency calls from the Motel 6 in south Columbus.
Separated from a mobile home park by a chain-link fence and from a series of strip clubs and adult video stores by Victory Drive, the low-budget motel is a nexus of violence and crime, based on data provided to the Ledger-Enquirer by the Columbus Police Department via an open records request.
The calls vary widely: largely domestic disputes, with thefts, burglaries, auto thefts and shootings making up smaller percentages. In 2020, police responded to 236 calls; 243 in 2021, 209 last year and, through early July in this year, 106.
Two incidents in 2023 stick out: shootings that killed four people and injured one other.
The homicides
The Motel 6 at 3050 Victory Drive in Columbus, Georgia.
The evening of Feb. 18, Michael Carter Jr., 19, and his parents Michael Carter Sr., 54, and Tonya Carter, 50, were shot inside their motel room.
The father and son died at the scene. Tonya died a few weeks later in the ICU at Piedmont Columbus Regional Hospital.
An unidentified victim was also wounded in the shooting.
Jerimiah Walker was captured in Tennessee and extradited to Columbus to stand trial on charges of murdering the Carters. CPD detectives told a Recorders Court judge during Walkers hearing that video surveillance showed a fight between Walker and Carter Jr. before the shooting.
In early July, the Motel 6 was the site of another fatal evening shooting. James N. Mitchell, 46, was shot multiple times and died at a local hospital.
Jaboree Boone-Scott, 19, was later arrested and charged with killing Mitchell.
Violent area
The Carousel Lounge is located at 3003 Victory Drive in Columbus, Georgia.
The violent killings are not unique for the area.
On June 5, 2020, Samuel London, 40, was killed outside of the Foxy Lady Lounge when he confronted men breaking into his car in the wee hours of the morning. Four months later, Jaquill Ledon Banks, 29 of Phenix City, was shot multiple times leaving the nightclub at about 2:30 p.m.
Logan Galloway works in the area at APZ Rentals, a party equipment rental store. He recounted times he and coworkers have had to duck behind a desk to protect themselves from flying bullets.
He said hes stayed at motels in the area, which made him feel uneasy.
Its kinda like going into a dive bar where its just dangerous, he said. Hearing stories of peoples doors getting kicked in, shots fired. You just dont really know who youre dealing with.
District Attorney Stacey Jackson, right, and public defender Payton Vernon, second from left, take notes from the testimony of Sgt. Donna Baker of the Columbus Police Department Monday morning during a hearing in Columbus Recorders Court for Jerimiah Walker, center. 05/01/2023
Response
The motels franchise owner did not comment on the story.
A statement from Motel 6s corporate office reads nothing is more important to the motel than the safety of its customers, employees and the community.
We hold ourselves and our franchisees to the highest standards of safety and are committed to being a partner to local law enforcement and helping address community violence in any way we can, the statement read.
Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson told the L-E that the city has used its nuisance ordinance to close troublesome businesses in the past, but that law enforcement havent asked for that.
The challenge with that is almost exactly half of the calls during that time period were domestic, he said. Those you just, you cant stop even if you have three or four police in the lobby of the hotel. Our police and our sheriff do a pretty good job of trying to get out there and cover the areas, particularly the areas where theyve got a lot of activity.
(Bloomberg) -- Mexico should take advantage of nearshoring to better develop its manufacturing industry while also implementing policies to improve conditions for its workers, according to a close ally of the ruling partys presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum .
Most Read from Bloomberg
The trend thats seeing companies from Tesla Inc. to Mercedes Benz Group AG open up factories closer to the worlds largest consumer market gives Mexico an opportunity to push to develop the local components of the industry said Diana Alarcon, the chief adviser and head of international affairs of the Mexico City government. She cited the example of China, which in the last decade moved to make car parts instead of just assembling vehicles.
China offered the same as we did, commercial openness to build free zones for exports, she said in an interview from New York. But they invested in education, in developing local supply chains.
Her comments are a window into the thinking of Sheinbaum, seen as the frontrunner to succeed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. Sheinbaum, who left her post as Mexico City mayor in June to run for next years elections, has been has been mostly silent about policy definitions since winning the ruling partys nomination earlier this month.
The two women have known each other since their university years, and Alarcon is widely expected to be eventually part of Sheinbaums government if she wins. Alarcon, whos been in her post since 2018, has been having meetings in New York this week with companies invested in Mexico.
NAFTA Experience
Mexico needs to adapt its public policies, she said, arguing that the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) largely yielded low-paying manufacturing jobs.
There was a free trade mentality from the government, The market forces will work their magic, she said. Turns out thats not the case. Market forces dont work like magic. Its public policy that gives direction to processes.
Read More: Made in Mexico Is the New Made in China: Big Take Podcast
Mexico has just overtaken China as the biggest supplier of goods to the US amid a push from the worlds largest economy to reduce supply-chain reliance on geopolitical rivals and source imports from closer to home. Expectations of a flood of new investments have helped push the Mexican peso up more than 16% in the past year, the best performing major currency in the world in that span.
Countries from the US to Japan and South Korea have been able to develop local industries by investing in technology, education, innovation and workforce training which allows them to manufacture more sophisticated products integrating local components, she added.
I hope weve learned from that experience to make it better this time, she said.
--With assistance from Eric Martin and Maya Averbuch.
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The Idaho Supreme Court ruled against Boise in a key part of a lawsuit challenging the citys approval of a controversial development in the northwest corner of town.
But the ruling wont stop work already underway to build the Prominence subdivision of 130 houses and 96 apartments along Hill Road.
The North West Neighborhood Association fought the Prominence proposal for years, with members saying it would destroy the areas semirural character. But the City Council eventually approved it. An Ada County judge rejected the associations argument in a judicial review, so the association appealed the Idaho Supreme Court.
The association said the subdivision, led by Boise developer John A. Laude Sr.s Trilogy Development, would harm wildlife and lacked an adequate provision for firefighting. The association also argued that the City Council had violated its rights by not allowing due process during public hearings, according to prior Idaho Statesman reporting.
The Supreme Court found fault with part of the councils decision-making and reversed the Ada County judges decision in part. The court returned the case to the lower court with instructions to invalidate the actions of the City Council and go through some steps of the development process again, according to the courts summary statement.
But the Supreme Court rejected the associations claims that it was not allowed due process during hearings.
Richard Llewellyn, president of the North West Neighborhood Association, said the courts Sept. 7 ruling was an opportunity for greater transparency in development in Boise and beyond.
These are the most important decisions in a lot of peoples lives, Llewellyn said in a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman. Its important that we do it right.
The courts ruling wont stop the development, but Llewellyn said it will allow neighbors a chance to weigh in. The development process will start again at a new checkpoint at which residents can challenge things if they need to, he said.
Ground work on the Prominence development in Northwest Boise, along Old Hill Road, continues as Boise City officials work out details in the permit process.
Rewinding the clock
The battle began in 2018 when a group of developers including Trilogy and Meridian-based Corey Barton Homes submitted an application to build Prominence on about 38 acres of land in an area often referred to as Old Hill Road.
The development originally called for 286 homes made up of 156 single-family houses and 130 apartments at 8633 N. Bogart Lane.
The Boise Planning and Zoning Commission denied two parts of the application after hearing from residents and receiving a petition with roughly 2,500 signatures in opposition, according to the Supreme Courts ruling.
The commission denied the application partly because there was a lack of essential fire services needed to support the project, according to the ruling. The commission recommended that Boise City Council deny the rest of the application.
The Ada County Highway District Commission also expressed concerns about the developments traffic impact on Hill Road Parkway and Bogart Lane.
After its initial meeting, the City Council asked the developers to meet with the North West Neighborhood Association to address concerns and present modified plans. The modifications lowered the number of living units from 286 to 226, made changes to open spaces and pathways, replaced town houses with single-family homes and redesigned the apartment complex.
The City Council unanimously approved the revised project and reversed the Planning and Zoning Commissions denial despite making few efforts to address fire and traffic concerns.
Supreme Court ruling
The Idaho Supreme Court found that the city failed to explain its reasoning for overturning the Planning and Zoning Commissions decision and approving the application despite traffic safety concerns and the lack of fire services in the area.
The councils one and one-half page reason for decision is largely conclusory and does not identify decision criteria or address the fire safety or traffic issues raised by NWNA in any meaningful fashion, the Supreme Court wrote. To put it simply, we cannot evaluate the process by which the council reached its decision or the soundness of its legal reasoning.
But the court found that the errors were not a good enough reason to stop the development.
Because the Supreme Court did not find fault with the public hearing process or anything else leading up to the 2019 decision, the grading and construction currently happening at the site can continue, Maria Weeg, spokesperson for Mayor Lauren McLean, wrote in an email to the Statesman.
The City Council will need to write a reasoned statement for its decisions despite the fact that only one of the 2019 council members is still serving the city: McLean. The council may also hold more public hearings.
Weeg said the citys Planning and Development Services and legal departments are working on revised findings while they wait for the official order from the court. They City Council will review them at the next available meeting after they receive the order, she said.
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Florida has been full of Nazi news lately.
Neo-Nazi groups have staged demonstrations near Disney and in Altamonte Springs. Theyve blanketed neighborhoods with flyers, urging others to protect the purity of the white Aryan woman.
One neo-Nazi was arrested for criminal mischief Sunday. Another was arrested a few days earlier.
A man used a rifle with a swastika on it to slaughter three people in Jacksonville.
Rolling Stone assessed the stories, root causes and reactions, concluding: Neo-Nazis Gloat as Florida Becomes a Magnet for Hate
This may make you mad. Or sad. It should. But dont you dare act surprised.
Because this is an ugly, natural extension of the divisive culture wars that have been celebrated in Florida in recent years. You cant demonize gay people and Black people and then go: Gee, I wonder why some folks are also demonizing Jewish people?
Labor Day weekend neo-Nazi demonstrations near Disney, Altamonte Springs prompt outrage
Besides, neo-Nazi groups dont just preach hate against Judaism. They also demonize people of color and different sexual orientation.
As Mike Igel, chairman of the Florida Holocaust Museum, said in a recent Sentinel story: You dont meet a bigot, a neo-Nazi who says, I hate Jewish people but I sure do love the gay community or the Black community.
Hate doesnt happen in a vacuum. If love is love is love, then hate breeds hate breeds hate.
So when you see a politician who responds to a group that targets black people, gay people and Jewish people by saying only: But I love the Jewish people, theyre showing themselves.
Experts: Hatred links Jacksonville shooting, antisemitic displays in Central Florida
I dont lay this rise in extremism and extremist-related incidents an 80% increase in Florida over the last two years, according to the Anti-Defamation League at the feet of any single politician. Nor do I believe all members of any one party are to blame. Ive found that neither bigotry nor compassion is limited to any one political party.
But theres a growing segment of politicians on the right whove decided the easiest way to build a rabid following is by vilifying already marginalized communities. So they peddle a nonstop narrative of you-vs.-them:
THEY are coming for your job. Or your kids spot on the swim team. Or your freedom of religion.
THEY want to make you feel guilty about your past. And to recruit your children.
You are a victim, a target. Let us protect you from them.
Its all music to the ears of neo-Nazi recruiters.
Reasonable people can certainly have different opinions on sensitive topics, whether its affirmative action or transgender competitors in sports.
But too often, we dont see reasonable. Instead, we see transgender people labeled as freaks, Black protestors labeled as animals and gay citizens and their allies being called groomers. Not by rogue, swastika-toting Nazis, but by top state officials, state legislators or even from inside the governors office.
Volusia County Republican Rep. Webster Barnaby referred to LGBTQ citizens who had testified against a proposed bill in Tallahassee as demons and mutants.
If you dont understand why thats not OK, listen to Volusia Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who said comments like that put a target on the backs of transgender citizens, adding: Its not OK to dehumanize people who arent hurting anyone.
You think comments like Barnabys dont embolden neo-Nazis?
Or from Rep. Randy Fine, a Brevard County Republican who is quick to decry antisemitism even as he disparages other marginalized groups.
Fine has targeted LGBTQ citizens with both legislation and rhetoric, accusing them of grooming children and mocking their requests for dignity. I was just asked my pronouns, Fine said on Facebook last year. For future reference, they are: You / Are / A / Fu&$ng / Moron.
This from a guy who claims hes been approached about leading a state university.
A lot of people dont understand why its OK to vilify one minority group but not others. I dont. Neither do many kids.
So while theres a surge in neo-Nazi incidents among in Florida, there shouldnt be any surprise that were also seeing it among our youth with swastikas showing up on bathroom and school walls at high schools in Orange and Volusia counties. Even at a K-8 school in Seminole.
The kids are watching the adults. And theyre learning not only how to hate, but how to feel emboldened about doing so out loud.
So if youre appalled by Hitler salutes and White supremacist talk, good. You should be.
But dont you dare act surprised. Especially if you keep supporting the people serving up this divisive, toxic stew.
smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com
Ukraine's new Defence Minister, Rustem Umierov , participates in the Ramstein-format meeting in Germany for the first time on 19 September.
Source: European Pravda
Details: This is the 15th meeting of the US-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
Opening the meeting, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin congratulated Umierov on his new position.
Quote: "We had a good call last week, and we had the chance to sit down together earlier this morning as well. Rustem, I look forward to working closely with you and your team. And I know that everyone else here does too," Austin said.
Our commitment to Ukraine is a commitment to lasting security in Europe and beyond.
As the Ukraine Defense Contact Group convenes again today, our alliance remains unitednow and for the long haul. pic.twitter.com/QFVdlar4D1 Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) September 19, 2023
The Pentagon chief also thanked former Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov "for his hard work and dedication and for everything that he did for a free Ukraine in a secure world".
Background: In his opening remarks, Austin announced that Ukraine would soon receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States.
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 Canyon County Sheriffs Office and Sheriff Kieran Donahue have agreed that the county will pay a former employee $425,000 after she sued them for harassment and gender discrimination.
Aleshea Boals, a former Canyon County victim witness coordinator, sued the sheriff and his office last year after she left the department in January 2022. She said she endured harassment and discrimination from her supervisors and Donahue based on her gender, and was retaliated against for reporting gender discrimination and illegal activity about how deputies treated female victims.
As part of the settlement, which was announced Monday in a news release from Boals lawyers, the Sheriffs Office also agreed to secure funding to conduct additional victim-services training in Canyon County.
The Sheriffs Office did not immediately comment on the settlement after an email from the Idaho Statesman.
The Sheriffs Office and Donahue were represented in court by Bruce Castleton of Castleton Law in Boise. According to court documents, the office and Donahue deny each and every allegation in Boals complaint.
Boals created the Canyon County Victim Witness Unit in 2006 and worked as a coordinator for 15 years.
Victim-witness coordinators have a unique position in the criminal justice system, Boals said in the release. They are the dedicated individuals walking crime victims through their darkest days. I love my field, and I loved my job at CCSO (Canyon County Sheriffs Office). I was proud of the victim services provided by CCSO, and in my 15 years there, I had rarely seen a victim being mistreated.
Former Canyon County Victim Witness Coordinator Aleshea Boals
Boals said that in 2020, she noticed female victims were being mistreated, called liars and unfairly interrogated, mostly by a single sheriffs detective.
This mistreatment was against both the Idaho Constitution and Idaho statute, and I reported it to my superiors, Boals said. I thought that would be the end of it, but the mistreatment of female victims continued, and the detective who was responsible for most of the mistreatment was promoted.
In her lawsuit, Boals said there was at least one circumstance where the detective, Mark Taylor, chose not to believe a victim who said she had been raped by someone she knew, despite having defensive wounds. Taylor allegedly yelled at the victim for supposedly lying, and he told her that he was closing her case because her vagina was too small to have been raped. The victim left the interview in tears, and she refused to participate further in the investigation and prosecution of her case, according to the lawsuit.
In Castletons response to Boals complaint, he wrote that during one investigation Detective Taylor did not believe a victims account of an alleged sexual assault based on the information presented to him.
Taylor was employed by the sheriffs office as of June 2023 according to records obtained by the Statesman.
Castleton did not immediately respond to an email or phone call request for comment from himself or Taylor.
Boals said she tried to get her supervisors involved, but they began to retaliate against her by setting limitations on her that inhibited her ability to work with victims. They also harassed and discriminated against her, the lawsuit said.
After several months of this, I realized that CCSO would continue to mistreat female victims and would continue to retaliate against me, Boals said in the release. After I left CCSO, I knew that the only chance I had to ensure that female victims are treated with dignity and respect was to file my lawsuit. I could not ask a victim to have the courage to come forward and face their abuser if I did not have the courage to stand up for the victim myself.
The Boise law firm Strindberg Scholnick Birch Hallam Harstad Thorne represented Boals. The firms statement said the lawyers were honored to have represented Ms. Boals as she continues to strive for victims rights in Idaho.
District Court Judge Amanda Brailsford accepted the settlement on Tuesday, according to court documents.
Defeated county leader to incumbents: You violated law. Incumbent: I dont need your tutoring
Boise police, fire unions wont back McLean for re-election. What they and she say
All three of Kansas' Republicans in the U.S. House appear to support the GOP impeachment inquiry of President Joe Biden , as does one of two senators.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy , R-Calif., announced earlier this week the opening of a formal impeachment inquiry against the president, escalating a GOP investigation that started in January when Republicans took control of the House. The chamber is moving forward without a formal vote.
The opening of an impeachment inquiry doesn't mean the president has been impeached.
Republicans allege the president benefited from his son Hunter Biden 's business dealings but lack substantial evidence, USA Today reported. McCarthy said the inquiry is necessary to "gather all the facts and answers for the American public."
U.S. House Republicans have opened a formal impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden and allege he benefited from his son Hunter Biden's business dealings.
"House Republicans have been investigating the President for 9 months, and they've turned up no evidence of wrongdoing," Ian Sams, a special assistant to the president, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "His own GOP members have said so. He vowed to hold a vote to open impeachment, now he flip flopped because he doesn't have support. This is extreme politics at its worst."
The White House also issued a 14-page document responding to Republican claims.
Here's what each member of the Kansas congressional delegation has said on the impeachment inquiry.
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran
The Republican senator from Manhattan has not issued a statement or made a social media post about the impeachment inquiry.
His office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall
The Republican senator from Great Bend issued a statement and made social media posts, including a post on X stating simply: "Biden Crime Family, LLC."
"The Biden family has demonstrated a long history and culture of corruption," Marshall said, in part. "We know when there's smoke, there's fire. The American people deserve to know if the president of the United States is compromised, and I look forward to a full investigation and its findings."
U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann
The Republican representative from Salina, whose 1st Congressional District covers much of western and parts of northeast Kansas, including Manhattan and Lawrence, issued different statements in an email and on Facebook. The emailed statement said Mann supports the inquiry.
"Congress has uncovered serious and credible allegations of corruption surrounding President Biden, his administration, and his immediate family members," Mann said, in part, in the emailed statement. "These allegations include President Biden's direct involvement with shady foreign business deals, which bank records and the Treasury Department can corroborate."
On Facebook, he said in part that "there is evidence of shady foreign business deals involving the President."
U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner
U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner
The Republican representative from Topeka, whose 2nd Congressional District covers much of the eastern third of Kansas, minus most of the Kansas City metro, made a statement on Facebook.
"For the past eight months, the Oversight Committee has followed the facts and uncovered the truth about Joe Biden's influence-peddling schemes," LaTurner said. "The evidence speaks for itself: Joe Biden used his 'brand' to enrich his family, he lied to the American people about his involvement in foreign business dealings, and his own administration shut down legitimate investigations to protect the President and his family from facing justice."
The statement indicated LaTurner supports the inquiry.
"Opening an impeachment inquiry is not something I take lightly, but holding elected officials accountable for their actions is the first step in restoring public trust in our institutions," he said. "President Biden and his administration have left us no choice."
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids
The lone Democrat from Kansas in Congress, the representative from Roeland Park, whose 3rd Congressional District covers most of the Kansas City metro area, hasn't issued a statement or made a social media post about the impeachment inquiry. But her press secretary, Zac Donley, did.
"Rep. Davids is focused on keeping the government open and working on issues confronting hardworking Kansans, like lowering the cost of gas, groceries, and prescription drugs," Donley said in an email. "She takes impeachment proceedings seriously and has not seen sufficient evidence to warrant an inquiry at this time."
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes
U.S. Rep. Ron Estes
The Republican representative from Wichita, whose 4th Congressional District covers much of south-central Kansas, issued a statement and social media post.
"House Republicans have uncovered an overwhelming amount of evidence including bank records, suspicious activity reports, emails, texts and witness testimony that reveal Joe Biden lied to the American people about his involvement in his family's influence pedaling (sic) schemes," Estes said, in part.
The statement didn't explicitly say Estes supports the inquiry, but he did say "this step was not taken lightly" and "Kansans deserve to know the truth."
Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Here's what Kansas delegation said on Joe Biden impeachment inquiry
LACONIA, N.H. (AP) Marilyn Manson was sentenced to 20 hours of community service and a fine on Monday after pleading no contest to blowing his nose on a videographer at a 2019 concert in New Hampshire.
The shock rocker, 54, wanted to appear via video for his hearing on the misdemeanor charge, but the judge required him to be in the courtroom in Laconia, about 30 miles north of Concord, the state capital.
Manson, whose legal name is Brian Warner, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of simple assault stemming from the encounter with the videographer at the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion in Gilford on Aug. 19, 2019.
Manson pleaded no contest to just the nose-blowing charge in a fully negotiated plea agreement with prosecutors. The prosecutors agreed to dismiss the other charge, which alleged that he spit on the videographer. A no contest plea means Manson is not contesting the charge and does not admit guilt.
Manson was fined a little more than $1,400 as part of the deal, with $200 suspended. He needs to remain arrest-free and notify local police of any New Hampshire performances for two years.
The judge agreed to allow Manson to serve his community service in California. He mentioned to reporters that he might choose to work with people in recovery. Manson has to give proof of his community service by Feb. 4.
According to a police affidavit, Manson approached videographer Susan Fountain in the venues stage pit area, put his face close to her camera and spit a big lougee at her. She was struck on both hands with saliva. He approached her again later, kneeling and covering one nostril before blowing the other on her arms and hands.
Fountain said via a statement that it the most disgusting thing a human being could have done.
Manson blows a significant amount of mucous at Fountain, a police sergeant who reviewed concert video footage said in the affidavit. After that, the camera view changes to another one and you can see Manson point and laugh at Fountain as she gets down and walks away, the affidavit said.
Monday, Manson walked into the main entrance of the courthouse, through security. He was wearing a suit, dressed head to toe in black, and dark sunglasses. Security staff referred to him as Mr. Warner, and he identified himself in court as Brian Warner, using a soft speaking voice.
He otherwise only answered yes to the judges questions asking if he understood the proceeding, and made no statement. Prosecutor Andrew Livernois said it was his first offense and he had no prior record.
Fountain was not present in court.
Manson initially pleaded not guilty to both charges in 2021. He was scheduled to go to trial in August. His lawyer had said that the type of filming Fountain was doing commonly exposes videographers to incidental contact with bodily fluids.
The defendants performance for the past twenty years are well known to include shocking and evocative antics similar to those that occurred here, attorney Kent Barker wrote. The alleged victim consented to exposing herself to potential contact with sweat, saliva and phlegm in close quarters.
Drew Carey subpoenaed to testify in Amie Harwick murder trial
Barker also had said Manson planned to argue that any contact related to spitting or sneezing was unintentional.
If Manson had gone to trial on the charges, each could have resulted in a jail sentence of less than a year and a $2,000 fine if convicted.
Manson emerged as a musical star in the mid-1990s, known as much for courting public controversy as for hit songs like The Beautiful People and hit albums like 1996s Antichrist Superstar and 1998s Mechanical Animals.
In May, a California judge threw out key sections of Mansons lawsuit against his former fiancee, Westworld actor Evan Rachel Wood, claiming she fabricated public allegations that he sexually and physically abused her during their relationship and encouraged other women to do the same. He is appealing the ruling.
Mansons suit, filed last year, alleges that Wood and another woman named as a defendant, Illma Gore, defamed Manson, intentionally caused him emotional distress and derailed his career in music, TV and film.
Several women have sued Manson in recent years with allegations of sexual and other abuse. Most have been dismissed or settled, including a suit filed by Game of Thrones actor Esme Bianco.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) mocked the House GOPs impeachment inquiry into President Biden, calling the effort student government.
But an impeachment inquiry? Give me a break, Newsom said in an interview with CNNs Dana Bash . This is student government threatening a government shutdown again after we went through that process with the debt ceiling? This is student government.
This is a joke, Newsom continued. Ready, fire, aim. I mean, this is a perversity with what the Founding Fathers ever conceived of and imagined. So if thats the best they can do, give me a break.
McCarthy announced last week he was moving to launch an official impeachment inquiry into Biden following House Republicans widespread investigations into the Hunter Bidens foreign business dealings.
Investigations from House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.) have probed into Hunter Bidens time on the board of a Ukrainian energy company while his father was vice president.
These investigations have not found Biden directly financially benefited from his sons business dealings or proved that he made any policy decisions because of them.
When asked about allegations over Hunter Biden trying to leverage his fathers name and that the then-Vice President Biden joined calls with his sons business associates, Newsom said, I dont know enough about the details of that. I mean, Ive seen a little of that.
If thats the new criteria, there are a lot of folks and a lot of industries, not just in politics, where people have family members and relationships and they are trying to parlay and a little get a little influence and benefit in that respect, thats hardly unique, the Calfifornia governor continued. I dont love that any more than you love it or other people, I imagine, love that. We want to see a lot less of that.
CNNs full interview with Newsom is set to air during The Source with Kaitlan Collins Monday at 9 p.m. and later at 10.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
FILE PHOTO: Some of the men charged with public displays of affection with members of the same sex are seen gathered outside a court
By Tife Owolabi
YENAGOA, Nigeria (Reuters) -A court in Nigeria has released on bail 69 people who were arrested last month in connection with an alleged gay wedding, which is illegal in the country, their lawyer said on Tuesday.
In Nigeria, like in most parts of Africa, homosexuality is generally viewed as immoral on cultural and religious grounds, and the country implemented an anti-gay law in 2014 despite international condemnation.
A court sitting in southern oil-producing Delta state ruled that the suspects would be released from prison detention after posting 500,000 naira ($645) bail each to the court, lawyer Ochuko Ohimor said.
The suspects, who did not appear in court, were ordered to sign a register at the court in Warri town once a month until their next hearing, said Ohimor.
"They are to provide sureties, who will submit their particulars to the court. So, the 69 suspects have been granted bail and I am processing their paperwork," Ohimor said.
State prosecutors had opposed bail but the court ruled that the suspects should be released because they were not facing a capital offence, said Ohimor.
State prosecutors could not be immediately reached for comment.
The anti-gay law in Africa's most populous nation includes a prison term of up to 14 years for those convicted, and bans gay marriage, same-sex relationships, and membership of gay rights groups.
($1 = 775 naira)
(Reporting by Tife Owolabi, writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Jon Boyle, Hugh Lawson and Christina Fincher)
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria's two main opposition leaders on Tuesday filed separate appeals at the Supreme Court challenging a tribunal ruling that earlier this month upheld President Bola Tinubu 's victory in a disputed February election.
No legal challenge to the outcome of a presidential election has succeeded in Nigeria, which returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military rule and has a history of electoral fraud.
Atiku , from the People's Democratic Party who came second in the election, said in a court filing that the tribunal erred in law "when it failed to nullify the presidential election ... on the ground of non compliance" with the electoral law.
Labour Party's Peter Obi , who polled third in the presidential race, also filed his appeal, a spokesperson for his campaign told Reuters.
The two had up to Wednesday to challenge the Sept. 6 tribunal ruling. The Supreme Court, the highest in Nigeria, has 60 days to rule on the appeals.
A five-member tribunal had rejected the challenge by Atiku, and Obi, who asked the tribunal to cancel the election, alleging irregularities.
Tinubu, who is attending the United Nations meeting in New York, has defended his victory, saying he won fairly.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by William Maclean, Alexandra Hudson)
The Scene
GRAND MOUND, Iowa It was a model Nikki Haley campaign stop: Corn ready to be harvested, a 30-ton combine ready to do the job, and reporters watching from a respectful distance.
Ive been in a combine simulator before, but Ive never actually been able to drive one, Haley said afterwards, at an agricultural policy roundtable with farmers and supporters on Dennis Campbells farm.
An hour later, in a facility next door, she told a crowd of hundreds that I had driven a combine simulator, but thanks to Dennis, I actually got to drive one! The next day, in West Des Moines, she added a laugh line: Id driven a simulator, but Ive never driven a combine, and we didnt hurt anything. And when former Gov. Terry Brandstad asked how shed defend renewable fuels, Haley had a story to tell: I drove a combine yesterday, on a cornfield, and did my part.
One week out from the next GOP debate, still riding a wave of attention and interest from the first one, Haley has built her own lane in the Republican primary. A relentless commitment to her message and even the anecdotes she tells on the trail has helped. Reporters are invited to watch her dazzle crowds, but they dont get to pepper her with questions after.
Instead, Haley gets to talk about her own electability, in sync with the voters showing up to see her. She pledges to veto any spending bill that doesnt take us back to pre-COVID levels, a $1.8 trillion spending cut, without much detail. She leans into her support for funding the war in Ukraine, and commits to an amorphous abortion stance finding consensus, to save as many lives as possible even as social conservatives protest it.
I want you to be president, said Jim Barton, 62, a South Carolina transplant who asked the first question in Grand Mound. Youre electable. But can you win the nomination?
Davids view
No other candidate in this race has executed an underdog strategy so effectively, with so little deviation from her original plan. Haley has managed to nail her core message that shes a fresher, more electable, less erratic alternative to Trump.
At the same time, she appears to have topped out in the high single-digits among Republican voters nationally and in Iowa, and its not clear how much more of a constituency is left for her approach.
Haley ran a thrifty campaign, focused on breaking out at the first debate, then did so. She took risky positions with the base funding Ukraines defense against Russia, punting on abortion limits by saying Congress wouldnt pass them early on, making them old news while the campaign press was focused on other candidates.
Haleys proposal for mandatory mental competency tests for elderly politicians, mentioned nearly every day, was part of her campaign announcement; her promise to put China on the ash heap of history has run through most of her policy roll-outs. Unlike Mike Pence, she isnt hunted by MAGA hecklers; unlike Ron DeSantis, her anecdotes and family stories are concise, and delivered consistently. Tim Scott , whose entry into the race complicated her path, increasingly gets asked why hes single; Haleys crowds listen raptly as she tells personal stories about her family.
Im the wife of a combat veteran, Haley told Faith and Freedom Coalition president Ralph Reed at an Iowa gala on Saturday night. Two months ago, I dropped my husband Michael off at 4 a.m. for another year long deployment. I watched him and 230 soldiers pick up their two duffel bags of belongings to go to a country theyve never been all in the name of protecting America.
She had said that nearly word-for-word at the debate in Milwaukee, and in Des Moines, she was saying it to disagree with Reed on a burning issue Alabama Sen. Tommy Tubervilles refusal to allow votes on military promotions until the Biden administration abandons a new abortion policy.
But in the room, the answer got no protests. No candidate is attacking a rival who, in the strongest phase of her campaign so far, is still losing her home state to Trump. And with other candidates picking up the burden of attacking Trump, Republicans are inclined to think the best of her.
Nikki was the one who put the foreign policy together for the Trump administration, said Clinton County GOP chair Tim Striley, introducing the candidate at her Grand Mound town hall with a rosy assessment of her two years as U.N. ambassador. That administration did very well on foreign policy; we werent facing World War III on four different fronts, were we?
The campaigns careful approach to the media has helped. In seven months as a candidate, Haley has only gaggled with the press corps taken a few questions after an event twice. In June, after announcing that her husband Michael would deploy to Africa with the National Guard, she let reporters ask about it; in August, after her speech at the Des Moines Registers Iowa State Fair soapbox, she walked to the press tent for 12 minutes of Q&A.
Thats had a subtle effect on Haleys coverage. Meg Kinnard, a Columbia-based Associated Press reporter who has covered Haley for years, asked her in April 2021 if shed run for president against Trump. I would not, said the future candidate an answer she had to recant months later. And since then, Kinnard has talked to Haley just once, on topic, at the June 17 deployment ceremony for her husband.
The candidate has prioritized structured interviews instead, the vast majority of them on Fox News, where its in everyones interest to advance the message of the day. (On Tuesday, she appeared on Cavuto Live to say that the president had emboldened unions and contributed to the UAW strike.) The one campaign trail reporter with regular access to Haley, Fox Newss indefatigable Paul Steinhauser, has gotten updates on her fundraising, on Ron DeSantiss early hype, on Gov. Chris Sununus relevance in New Hampshire all on message, and more like the careful rhetoric of a general election candidate than the usual randomness of a messy primary.
I have always told the truth, and I think the American people expect us to tell the truth, Haley told Steinhauser after a speech to Club for Growth donors in March. In September, when Steinhauser asked about her crowds growing after the debate, Haley credited it to how shed spoken a lot of hard truths, and Granite Staters appreciate that.
The View From Democrats
Haley has described herself as the nominee that Joe Biden fears most, pointing to anonymous chatter about her and a CNN poll that showed her leading the president by 6 points.
But Democrats are of two minds. Haleys youth (51) and discipline pose obvious challenges, but shes endorsed some pre-Trump, Paul Ryan-era GOP economic thinking. In Iowa, she described Medicaid as welfare, and shed previously called for raising the retirement age for Medicare and Social Security. One proposed source of savings to claw back the unspent $500 billion of covid money overstates the amount of unspent outlays by a factor of 10. She hasnt gotten specific, beyond the usual promise to cut waste, and Democrats are experienced in filling in those details with negative ads.
The View From Iowa Voters
Republicans showing up to see Haley last week were overwhelmingly won over by her performance in the first debate, and excited for the second. Charles Peterson, 45, said that hed appreciated what DeSantis did in Florida, but saw a lot more that he liked in Haleys approach to politics and messaging.
Hes bold, but he carries some bravado, and I dont know that you need to haul that into our politics, said Peterson. Hell say, Im gonna shoot the bad guys, but shell say, Im going to work with Mexico to attack our drug problem.
Other voters said that Haley had risen in their estimation after the Milwaukee debate, but not enough to switch their votes.
I love the way she fights. Shes a tenacious person. I thought she was more of a Bush Republican, but I dont think that now, said Tim ODonnell, 72. But I would vote for Trump today. I would love to see her as vice president under Trump if they let him win. If they dont shoot him, or whatever.
Notable
In the Daily Beast, Jake Lahut reports that a quiet detente between Haley and Scott has been frayed by stories about Scotts bachelor status, which his campaign blames on Haley.
In the Washington Post, Maeve Reston and Marisa Iati look at how Haleys insistence that shes really running against Vice President Harris has affected the race.
The deaths of two models in their downtown Los Angeles apartments earlier this month are not believed to be connected, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday.
Nichole Coats, a 32-year-old found dead Sept. 10 in her South Grand Avenue apartment, and Maleesa Mooney, a 31-year-old found dead in her South Figueroa Street apartment on Sept. 12, were both models.
Coats, who went by Nikki, was found amid a bloody scene in her home, while Mooneys killing is being treated as a homicide, police said.
Mother of model found dead in DTLA apartment speaks out
Despite the similarities of the two womens locations, ages, professions and manners of death, police said in a Tuesday news release that thus far, there is no evidence to suggest that the deaths of Ms. Coats and Ms. Mooney are related to one another.
Police declined to release further details, citing active investigations.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detectives Pierce or Marcinek at 213-996-4150.
During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (1-877-527-3247).
Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call the LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or go to lacrimestoppers.org.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are running for reelection in 2024. Some Democrats arent thrilled about that. (AP/AFP via Getty)
Speculation and concern-trolling about Joe Biden standing for reelection in 2024 has officially reached a fever pitch.
A flurry of think pieces worrying about the incumbent presidents poll numbers in the Washington DC media has resulted in repeated questions from journalists about the possibility of the president stepping aside, despite strong showings in the 2022 midterm elections. David Ignatius , a longtime columnist for The Washington Post, opened up the latest broadside in DCs publication of record last week.
I dont think Biden and Vice President Harris should run for re-election. Its painful to say that, given my admiration for much of what they have accomplished. But if he and Harris campaign together in 2024, I think Biden risks undoing his greatest achievement which was stopping Trump, wrote Mr Ignatius.
Mr Bidens running mate, Kamala Harris, faces many of the same criticisms leveled at her boss, and suggestions that Mr Biden could replace her in the hopes of boosting his own popularity.
And some Democrats are beginning to show their exasperation as the idea has ricocheted around the Beltway media and beyond.
The answer is no, Californias Gavin Newsom told CNNs Dana Bash, almost as an admonishment, on Monday after being asked whether he was considering a bid for president. Im not that guy. Im just not.
Mr Newsom added that of course Ms Harris should be on the ticket with Mr Biden.
Biden-Harris administration a masterclass in terms of performance, bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act, the California governor added to CNN. I mean, by definition, if I think this administration last two, two and a half years, has been one of the most outstanding administrations the last few decades, and shes a member of that administration, she gets to lay and claim credit to a lot of that success. The answer is absolutely, he said.
JB Pritzker of Illinois, another Democratic rising star, had a similar answer for CBS in March: Im supporting Joe Biden, hes running for re-election and hes going to get re-elected.
Then theres the incumbents themselves: Mr Biden addressed the ongoing gripes about the idea of him seeking a four-year term at age 80 at a fundraiser this week: A lot of people seem focused on my age. Well, I get it. Believe me, I know better than anyone.
An aide to Ms Harris, quoted by several media outlets, even complained about Mr Newsoms challenge to debate Ron DeSantis, far behind in second place for the GOP nomination.
Its disrespectful. Joe Biden is running with Kamala Harris. Thats the Democratic ticket.
That last criticism, aimed specifically at the California governor, could broadly be applied to much of the conversation about the 2024 Democratic ticket. Beyond the candidates own personal feelings and internal polling, one other fact remains: theres just no real precedent that would allow for either Mr Biden or Ms Harris to go anywhere.
Its a perfectly reasonable argument to make. Theres just no real evidence that its going to happen, Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabatos Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia told The Independent of the assertion that Mr Biden should step aside because he is not the strongest candidate to put up against Donald Trump.
Mr Kondik, an elections analyst, noted that there hasnt been an American president who sought to replace a running mate they were elected alongside since Franklin Roosevelt and that was a particularly unique case, given that John Nance Garner III, his VP, was actually running against him in the Democratic primary that year.
The same goes for Mr Biden himself. The last US president to decline to seek a second term, a member of a club with a single-digit roster, was Lyndon Johnson. Mr Johnson, like Mr Roosevelt, faced a unique reality: his presidency and the very institution itself were poisoned by Richard Nixons involvement in Watergate, not to mention the growing unpopularity of the war in Vietnam and surrounding countries.
I mean, it doesnt seem like Biden wants to give up. You know, and ultimately, its his decision, said Mr Kondik.
If Mr Biden were to step aside, he would throw his party into abject chaos theres no clean process of anointing a successor, and it would require either a primary election or a convention floor fight. Were he to replace Ms Harris, the embarrassment would likely hamstring his 2024 bid and likely lose him more allies than it would gain.
A poll from earlier this month may explain why the chatter about replacing Ms Harris has grown. Forty-two per cent of respondents told a CBS News poll that Ms Harris performance as vice president makes them think worse of the Biden administration, while just 18 per cent said it makes them think better.
And a recent interview from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi didnt do Ms Harris any favours. When asked by CNNs Anderson Cooper whether Ms Harris was the best running mate for Mr Biden.
Shes the vice president of the United States. And people say to me, Well why isnt she doing this or that? I say, Because shes the vice president. Thats the job description. You dont do that much!
Those, like Mr Ignatius, who have suggested that the Democrats break tradition have not offered a suggestion for how the party could overcome the aftermath of humiliating one or both of its standard-bearers.
Theres been talk of dropping tried-and-trusted Vice President Harris from the Democratic ticket to strengthen the general-election slate. Do that and kiss the White House goodbye, warned Colbert King in the Post last Friday, writing of her continued popularity among constituencies like Black voters where her boss has been less successful.
Mr Biden is almost certainly going to be the 2024 Democratic nominee, barring some major unknown development between now and next November.
Every four years, theres always talk about dumping the VP, this or that and ... it just doesnt really happen, said Mr Kondik.
Biden could wake up one morning and decide not to run again, but theres no way to really predict that in advanceunless you were, like, a tarot card reader.
A Wake Forest man who claimed to be acting as a journalist and entered the U.S. Capitol along with rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, was found guilty of four misdemeanors by a jury in federal court.
Stephen Horn, who was 23 at the time, says he hid among protesters to accurately record those who stormed the Capitol. A jury on Monday decided he did not have the same rights as credentialed journalists and was instead a rioter, according to reporting by the Washington Post.
Horn is one of at least 34 North Carolinians who have been charged in connection with the attack on the Capitol. This protest turned riot led to five deaths and about 140 officer injuries, The Charlotte Observer previously reported
A 12-person jury found Horn guilty of: Entering or remaining in a restricted building; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly conduct in a capitol building; and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in the Capitol building, according to court documents.
The Observer contacted Horn for comment but did not receive a response.
After the riots, Horn posted on Facebook: I was in DC today when the Capitol was stormed.
I did not enter the Capitol building as part of the protest or for cheap thrills, but to accurately document and record a significant event which was taking place, Horn wrote two years ago.
After the verdict Tuesday, Horn re-shared his Jan. 7 Facebook post and said I told the same truth to the jury that I posted along with my video.
The FBI used this post along with a news photo and Horns video footage when prosecutors brought charges against him in federal court in March of that year, according to a statement signed by an FBI agent in Horns court files.
During the riot, Horn climbed onto a statue, joined protesters in a chant of USA and entered then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosis office, according to court records.
Horn is one of around 1,070 people who have been arrested in connection with the riot, the Observer previously reported.
Capitol riot
Just five days after the insurrection, someone who knew Horn notified the FBI that a photo in New York Times Magazine depicted him inside the U.S. Capitol during the riots, according to court filings accessed via CourtListener, a non-profit database operated by the Free Law Project.
This person, who is not identified in court documents, told the FBI that they believed Horn was in the Capitol as a journalist but said they were not aware of him possessing any media credentials.
The photo shows Horn standing on a statue of Abraham Lincoln and using his cellphone to record those around him.
Horn sat for voluntary interviews with the FBI before authorities eventually charged him for trespassing at the Capitol.
After Jan. 6, Horn published nearly two hours of footage documenting the event from his perspective. Both prosecutors and his defense used this footage in court during his two-day trial.
Horn later used the footage to create a documentary titled 79 Minutes: the Breach of the Capitol. The documentary analyzes the period of time and series of events between the initial violence at the edge of Capitol Grounds and the breach of the Capitol Building nearly an hour later, Horn said in a post to X.
Horns lawyer argued that on the day of the attack, Horn was acting as an independent journalist and he notes that Horn did not destroy property or behave as other rioters did, according to the Posts coverage of the trial. Prosecutors argued that Horn did not behave like a journalist and knowingly trespassed alongside a violent mob.
His journalism started when he needed an excuse for his criminal liability, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashely Akers said, according to the Washington Post.
Horns sentencing hearing is set for January and federal law stipulates he could face up to a year in prison on his charge of entering and remaining in a restricted building.
The investigation into the Jan. 6 insurrection remains ongoing, and anyone with tips can call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.
A North Franklin Township woman is charged in connection to the overdose death of her baby.
Lindsey Reho, 32, is charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children and reckless endangerment, according to a report from Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh.
State police were contacted on June 10 about a 1-year-olds death. Reho was allegedly heard saying to paramedics, Do you think she got into something? and asking about Narcan.
A toxicology report showed the baby died of fentanyl toxicity, according to Walsh.
Reho was interviewed and said she is a heroin addict. She said that when she buys heroin, she knows she is really buying fentanyl, according to the report.
On the day of the babys death, Reho said she brought drugs and paraphernalia into their apartment, eventually throwing them into a garbage can in the kitchen, according to the report, Walsh said.
A short time later, she found the baby unresponsive in her pack and play.
A court date has not yet been set.
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In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, steps down from his train after arriving in Artyom, near Vladivostok, Russian Far East on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has returned home from a trip to Russia where he deepened comradely fellowship and friendly ties with President Vladimir Putin , state media reported.
During Kims six-day trip to Russia, his longest foreign travel as a leader, the two countries said they discussed boosting their defense ties but didnt disclose any specific steps. Foreign experts speculate the two countries, both locked in confrontations with the West, were pushing to reach arms transfer deals in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The official Korean Central News Agency in separate reports said Kims train crossed a border river on Monday morning and Kim was greeted by the ardent cheers of a huge crowd at a Pyongyang rail station Tuesday evening. Wednesday's KNCA report said senior North Korean officials congratulated him on advancing relations with Russia.
Before traveling to Russia, Kim made several visits to his munitions factories, triggering speculation that he intended to check on productions of arms to be shipped to Russia.
While traveling through Russias far eastern region, Kim met Putin at Russias most important space launch center before visiting military sites to see some of Russias most advanced weapons systems such as nuclear-capable bombers, fighter jets and hypersonic missiles.
In live comments during their meeting last week, Kim offered full and unconditional support to Putin. KCNA later said Kim and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also met and discussed expanding strategic and tactical coordination between the countries armed forces.
Many outside experts say Kim would supply ammunition to refill Russias drained inventory in the second year of the war in Ukraine in return for receiving Russian technologies to modernize his nuclear weapons arsenals. U.S. and South Korean officials have warned that Russia and North Korea would face consequences if they go ahead with such weapons transfers deals in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Other experts say Kim would end up getting food and economic aid because Russia is reluctant to share its sensitive, high-tech weapons technologies with other countries.
South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin on Tuesday summoned the Russian ambassador to Seoul, Andrey Kulik, and urged Moscow to immediately stop its military cooperation with North Korea, which he said would have a very negative impact on its relations with the South. Kulik said he would convey Seouls concerns to his government, the South Korean ministry said in a statement.
Kim has been pushing hard to bolster his nuclear arsenal citing what he called intensifying U.S. military threats. Analysts say Kim would aim to use his enlarged arsenal to win greater concessions from the U.S. while boosting his military credentials at home in the face of economic hardships deepened over the COVID-19 pandemic.
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AP writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
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Follow AP's Asia-Pacific coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
A road trip is all about the views; and what view could be better than the constantly changing sea? Choose a coastal exploration of the USAs most northeasterly states and edging into southern Canada and you get to experience a slice of North America that is defined by its relationship to water, whether through sublime seafood or opportunities to get on or in it yourself.
On an epic driving holiday that felt like the road less travelled, taking in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, the seascape was the one constant. Whether the ocean was rising metres in the blink of an eye, tossing me about in a raft, raging at night a few feet away, perfectly still and punctuated by tiny remote islands in the distance, lapping yachts or providing impromptu swim spots, it was always there.
Heres my pick of the cant-miss-them top spots at each destination.
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Portland is a working port thats full of brownstone buildings and wharf conversions. Imagine cobblestone streets and rusty fire escapes hanging off red-brick walls, clapboard suburbs and beautiful bay views. The streets hum with the sound of tourists murmurs of appreciation of the upscale boho boutiques and ring with the cry of Oh I could definitely live here!. Only two hours from Boston Logan International airport, this is a great place for your first whiff of salty sea air.
Boothbay in Maine delivers a dose of vitamin sea (Visit Maine/Nick Cote)
Boothbay Harbor is an hour north of Portland and sits at the tip of one of many peninsulas that jut into the Atlantic Ocean. Its all about water here; land is separated by inlets, coastal islands, tidal rivers and harbours and its a great place to kayak, sail or whale watch. Its characterful too; a woman sells 50c lemonade from her house halfway along a wooden bridge across the harbour, and secondhand books are traded from a stoop on the main street. Five miles out of town is Ocean Point, where low tide reveals seaweedy rocks and pools and there are places to swim off the wooden jetty in the glorious sunset.
Further north is Bar Harbor, a vibrant base to explore Acadia National Park and from where you can board the 3.5-hour ferry to Nova Scotia.
Staying there
Bluebird Ocean has a relaxing end-of-the-world feel with rockers on the balcony, a seawater pool, an excellent restaurant and cornhole with a view.
Portsmouth has as much history as its UK namesake, but this one is smaller, prettier and more chilled. Explore the Strawbery Banke museum, which explains the history of the area from when settlers first docked through to WWII through the medium of preserved and renovated buildings, costumed actors and informative guides.
Staying there
Wentworth By The Sea is set on a beautiful marina just outside Portsmouth. This peaceful all-American resort oozes self-assured luxury; doubles from 256.
Massachusetts
Lets start with the North Shore, which includes highlights like the rugged Plum Island and the Gatsby-esque 1920s Crane Estate (also home to Jack Nicholsons average horny little devil in the Witches of Eastwick).
Rockport is a pretty harbour town with an artsy community thanks to its light and landscape. Emerson Inn on the cliffs is where Hannah Jumper, a fishermans wife, tired of her husbands drinking and led a raid to destroy the towns liquor, using hatchets to destroy all the barrels in town. It was one of the earliest events that led to the Prohibition in 1919 and Rockport stayed dry until the 1990s!
Rockports pretty harbour is an artists dream (North of Boston CVB)
Gloucesters maritime heritage is kept alive in the brilliant not-for-profit museum on the dock, and Hammond Castle makes a good stop on your route out of town to Salem; its eccentric inventor owner created a historical mashup by importing bits of Europe to the cliffs of Massachusetts.
On the south shore, Plymouth is close to Boston and an essential stop for understanding Americas historical jigsaw. In 1620, religious separatists, who wanted to worship without the constraints of the Church of England, left Devon on the Mayflower in search of religious freedom. Those first settlers were only 50 strong by the time they docked but now an unfathomable 35 million people worldwide can claim a link to the Mayflower.
In Boston itself, theres a lot to do, but sticking to a coastal theme, my top tips are to stay in the Back Bay area with its beautiful bay-windowed brownstones and its proximity to the Charles River Esplanade, a 17-mile stretch of park by the waters edge. Make sure you visit the Boston Tea Party Ships Museum in the Seaport District; its the 250th anniversary of the historic event which led in part to American independence, so expect to get your hands dirty cheering and jeering with the actors on board and chucking tea chests in the sea.
Staying there
Emerson Inn is a historic inn in Rockport with four-poster beds, wide hallways and a sweeping staircase. Elegance you only get from centuries of practice.
End on a high in the Four Seasons in Boston. The suites are roomy and the views are incredible especially from the bath tub...
Nova Scotia
Picture the scene. Its evening, the fog is hanging in the cobwebs on the veranda caught in the lamplight. Its kind of spooky. You can see two people huddled up on a bench looking out to sea and you know the ocean is just beyond them but you wont see it until the next morning when, halfway through your breakfast, the blanket of fog will suddenly break up. The sun will shine, rocks and lighthouses will appear and a rugged headland will gradually take shape. This is Nova Scotia and theres an unforgettable magic in its daily slow reveal.
White Point Beach encapsulates the Nova Scotian coast for me. And it really is all about the coast here; theres not much going on in the middle. The beach is wild and rugged but swimmable and sandy and its a great base from which to explore the south of this Canadian province.
Lunenberg is an Unesco-listed example of a planned British colonial settlement (Tourism Nova Scotia/Acorn Art & Photography)
There is a lot to do in this area besides jumping the waves and talking about the fog. In Quinan, theres Tim Doucettes Deep Sky Eye Observatory. Tim holds sky theatre sessions on clear nights using huge telescopes that can see deep sky objects, as well as stuff in our solar system.
In nearby Barrington, Darren Hudson, world champion lumberjack, lays on an unmissable axe-perience which sees you sawing, axe throwing and log rolling. And in Pubnico, you can visit the Le Village Historique Acadien to learn all about the French communities that have thrived here since the 1600s.
Travelling northeast from White Point Beach follows the Lighthouse Route, which winds its way around coves and inlets and via a cable ferry. The landscape is a curious mix of wild and remote yet manicured that we just dont get in the UK, and real estate access to the waters edge is like nowhere else Ive ever been.
Unesco-listed Lunenberg is a double-harboured town with an interesting history. A walking tour gives you the gist of European immigrants mis-sold a dream, maritime architecture and the number of descendants who still live in the same house. A little further along, Peggys Cove is a beautiful spot at sunset. Scramble over the rocks for a photo op and admire the tiny harbour that would look just as much at home in Scandinavia or northern Scotland.
Peggys Cove has become an emblem of Nova Scotias wild and beautiful coast (Tourism Nova Scotia/Dean Casavechia)
Crossing over to the northwest side of Nova Scotia, the Bay of Fundy has the biggest tides in the world. I think it would be a shame not to use them to fun effect, so go tidal bore rafting up the Shubenacadie river near Truro. The landscape and the force of the water makes for crazy currents. Ive had people find religion in there, says my skipper with glee as he cranks up the engine and barrels us back into the muddy washing machine again and again.
One of the best views of the Bay of Fundy can be found at Halls Harbour restaurant and lobster pound. The extraordinary speed of the tide means the beached boats you can see as youre ordering your lobster roll will be bobbing many metres up by the time youve finished your meal.
Staying there
White Point Beach Resort has all the old-school charm of a beach resort with a main house and bungalows dotted along the shore. Extra kudos for its role in the recent series of Race Across the World.
Oceanstone Resort is the perfect spot on the Lighthouse Route to visit Peggys Cove and Lunenberg on the way to NS capital, Halifax. Doubles from C$152.
Stay at Seek offers chic and unusual accommodation in Victoria Park outside Truro. Equipped with fire pit, BBQ, hot tub. From C$25 for a stay in a self-contained shipping container.
Driftwood By The Bay is a personal fave; this gorgeous geodome sits right on the rocky beach. At night, the high tide roars just feet from your feet. Domes sleeping four from C$315, minimum two-night stay.
Travel essentials
Getting there
Rachel flew with British Airways from London Heathrow to Boston. She drove up the coast through Maine to Bar Harbor where she took The Cat ferry to Yarmouth in Nova Scotia. She returned a week later and visited coastal Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts before ending her two-week trip back in Boston.
Read more of our best USA hotel reviews
The Norwegian government has announced plans to deliver to Ukraine about 50 tracked trucks, which are designed to deliver goods to areas where there are no roads.
Source: European Pravda, citing Bjrn Arild Gram, Minister of Defence of Norway
Such cars can manoeuvre on terrain inaccessible to wheeled vehicles. They can transport ammunition, food and water to the Ukrainian military in the field.
The machines were stored in the Norwegian Armed Forces, but are now undergoing maintenance before being delivered to Ukraine.
Background:
Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway were the first among the Western allies to decide to transfer part of their F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Ukrainian pilots have already started training in Denmark.
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!
Poland has no fear of repercussions from the European Union or the World Trade Organisation (WTO) following its decision to unilaterally impose a ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Source: European Pravda, citing Robert Telus, Polish Agriculture Minister, in an interview with Euractiv
Quote: "We would like not to implement unilateral solutions we would be happier that the EU does it, which would be the true EU solidarity approach but we were forced to introduce the decision unilaterally to protect our farmers."
Details: Telus believes there are "no substantive arguments" for not extending the ban.
He claimed that the European Commission's decision was "strictly political".
Telus made this comment on the sidelines of a meeting of EU agriculture ministers after Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports effective 15 September, although the European Commission had decided not to extend the ban on Ukrainian imports to five EU countries.
Asked whether he was concerned about the consequences of this step for Poland, which is probably in breach of EU law as the EU has exclusive competence in the field of trade, the minister said he was not.
"Nothing happens," Telus believes.
He added that if he is doing "good things" for Polish and EU farmers, he "cannot be afraid of regulations which go in the wrong direction".
Similarly, Telus is not concerned about any potential consequences at the WTO level, as he believes there is "no legal basis" for such a move.
"What I hear is that Poland would be sued for supporting their farmers, but this is ridiculous," he said, adding he "does not understand what the legal basis for this suing would be".
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!
A prominent New York Republican congressman Tuesday trashed fellow GOP lawmakers as clowns and lunatics as a new round of bitter infighting killed the latest effort to avert a government shutdown.
Rep. Mike Lawler angrily lashed out at far right-wing colleagues in the fractious GOP caucus after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy was forced to pull the plug on a stopgap funding measure.
This is stupidity. Its a clown show, said Lawler, who faces a tricky reelection fight in his Westchester County-based district next year. You keep running lunatics. Youre going to be in this position.
McCarthy is now left with no current viable plan to fund the government past a deadline of Sept. 30.
In that time, he needs to cajole almost all of his fellow Republicans to line up behind a proposal that will need to include steep cuts and other right-wing goodies to appease conservative members of the Freedom Caucus.
Then he will have to negotiate a whole new deal with Democrats in the House and the Senate, which wont go along with almost all of the most contentious provisions.
Lawler, one of a small group of congressional Republicans who represent Democratic-leaning districts, blames the chaos on right-wing extremists who are more interested in signaling ideological purity to their supporters than in actually governing.
They dont care what happens as long as they somehow, you know, look good in the process, Lawler said.
But Democratic ex-Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is running to unseat Lawler next year, said the self-styled moderate bears plenty of blame for empowering right-wing firebrands like Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Mike Lawler doesnt get to wring his hands about a government shutdown when he and his party would put us precisely where we are today, Jones said. When he voted for Kevin McCarthy, he knew hed be in the pocket of this chaos caucus.
Political pundits say the Byzantine drama could have a major impact if McCarthy cannot avert a shutdown, which history says would likely be blamed on Republicans.
Lawler is one of six Republicans who narrowly won seats in the New York City suburbs in a red ripple in last years midterms.
All are facing competitive re-election campaigns and Democrats believe flipping their seats could be key to retaking control of the House in 2024.
The so-called Biden district Republicans like Lawler need support from the GOP establishment. But none can afford to be seen as fig leaves for Republican dysfunction especially when most of them ran as can-do bipartisan figures, according to political observers.
Theyre caught between a rock and a hard place, said political analyst Doug Muzzio. The extremists dont care but the guys who won in New York and New Jersey, they have to care. Theyre going to be made to be wolves in sheep clothing.
Not everyone thinks even a full government shutdown would be much of a big deal next year.
It looks bad now and it could get worse in the next couple of weeks, said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. But is that going to be a voting issue in 2024? I dont know.
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The New York Times reported on Sept. 18 that the Sept. 6 missile strike on a market in Donetsk Oblast's city of Kostiantynivka could have resulted from a Ukrainian malfunctioning air defense missile fired during battles nearby.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and Air Force told the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne they were still investigating the attack. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Head of the Presidential Office, said that "society will definitely get an answer on what exactly happened in Kostiantynivka."
On Sept. 6, a missile struck a crowded market in front-line Kostiantynivka, killing at least 15 people and wounding 36, according to the latest information by the regional prosecutor's office.
The NYT said they had reached this conclusion after collecting and analyzing evidence, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts, and social media posts.
According to the media outlet, Ukrainian forces might have fired a 9M38 missile using the Buk air defense system from the outskirts of nearby Druzhkivka in the direction of the Russian front line, with the rocket possibly falling short of its target and landing in Kostiantynivka.
Air defense experts told NYT that a 9M38 missile can go off course for various reasons, including malfunctioning electronics and a damaged or sheared launch ring.
Ukrainian authorities have reported that Russia hit the market with an S-300 missile, which the SBU said is evidenced by identified missile fragments. Security services also told Suspline they were examining other materials pointing to Russia's involvement in the attack.
Read also: UN: 292 civilian casualties recorded in first 10 days of September
The NYT wrote, however, that they were able to collect remains of the missile that struck Kostiantynivka, alleging that its warhead was different from an S-300 one.
Commenting on the NYT report, Podolyak said such articles "cause the growth of conspiracy theories, and therefore will require additional legal evaluation by investigative bodies." He emphasized that Ukraine's law enforcement agencies investigate all attacks conducted during Russia's war by default.
"In the meantime, we should not forget: it was Russia that started the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia is responsible for bringing war to our country. And it is Russia that regularly inflicts massive missile, bomb, and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure and the civilian population," added Podolyak.
"Ukraine, on the other hand, conducts exclusively defensive actions, defends itself and its territories."
Read also: Russian attacks kill 6, injure 17 in past day, overnight
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Officials in South Carolina discovered the crash site of a F-35 fighter jet on Monday that disappeared in the state over the weekend.
A debris field was found on Monday in Williamsburg County, S.C., around two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, officials said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Officials spent Monday searching with a local marine base in Beaufort, S.C., for the missing jet after its pilot safely ejected from the military aircraft near Charleston on Sunday.
The pilot was parachuted to a local hospital and is in stable condition, officials said. It was not immediately clear why the pilot, whose name hasnt been released, ejected from the aircraft.
Upon the discovery of the debris field, members of the community were asked to avoid the area while recovery teams worked to secure the field.
This mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process, base officials wrote in a Facebook post Monday night.
The military initially searched for the $80 million fighter jet, near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion.
A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter also joined the search Monday after bad weather passed through the area, Senior Master Sgt. Heather Stanton at Joint Base Charleston told The Associated Press (AP).
Earlier Monday, the Marine Corps issued a service-wide stand-down order for all aviation units inside and outside of the country.
Sundays incident marked the third Class-A mishap in the past six weeks, according to the Marine Corps announcement. Incidents under this classification include when damages reach $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed or if someone dies or is permanently disabled, according to The AP.
In a service-wide email, the Marine Corps said the stand-down will include discussions led by aviation commanders focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness.
The order follows two other aviation accidents, including an F-18 crash last month during a training flight near San Diego that killed the pilot. In a separate incident, three marines were killed and 20 military personnel were injured when an MV-22B Osprey crashed in Australia in late August.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Juan Collado Daz of the Sensible Movement Coalition leads other marijuana supporters during a rally at the Ohio Statehouse on April 20.
Ohio's top Republican leaders haven't been shy about their opposition to recreational marijuana.
"There are a lot of people who don't do something because it's illegal, believe it or not, and if it's more accessible to whoever's going to buy it, it's going to be more accessible to people who shouldn't be smoking it," Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said in a recent interview. "Its really going to be devastating."
Come November, Ohio voters will decide if the state should legalize recreational marijuana. The proposal from the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol known as Issue 2 outlines rules for buying, selling, growing and taxing cannabis for adults 21 and older.
The measure is an initiated statute that would become law if passed, instead of a constitutional amendment. That means it would fall under the jurisdiction of the state Legislature, and Republicans in charge could later tweak or even repeal the measure if approved by voters.
Ahead of the Nov. 7 vote, Huffman and other key leaders aren't showing their hand. But several rank-and-file lawmakers don't think there's enough political will in the GOP-controlled Legislature to thwart the voters' decision.
"There is a lot more bipartisan support privately than publicly for legalization," said Rep. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, who's spearheaded legislation for adult-use marijuana. "Thats my sense. My hope is that the voters passing this which I think the voters will will give those reticent, quietly supportive lawmakers that permission theyre waiting for."
Would Ohio Legislature repeal marijuana law?
The Ohio Constitution gives lawmaking power to the state Legislature and also outlines the right of citizens to propose laws and amendments. The Ohio Revised Code and constitution don't explicitly say lawmakers can amend or repeal initiated statutes, but they also don't prohibit it.
The Legislature's ability to strike down initiated statutes has never been tested in court, so lawmakers could potentially face a lawsuit if they go that route, said Derek Clinger, an attorney with State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin.
Some states have so-called safe harbor provisions for initiated statutes, an idea that's been floated in Ohio but never acted upon. California's constitution, for instance, requires voter approval to repeal or change any law passed through the initiated statute process. Michigan, Washington, North Dakota and several others enacted time constraints or require a supermajority to scrap citizen initiatives.
Ohio's process got renewed attention during the debate this summer over whether to make it harder to change the state constitution, with some advocates saying initiated statutes are less effective than amendments.
Ive never seen one be repealed," said David Waxman, an Ohio attorney who specializes in cannabis law. "That would be extreme anywhere, even in Ohio with a supermajority Republican Legislature. I just dont see that happening, especially because this is a vote of the citizens of the state. It would be something quite extraordinary if they repealed it."
House and Senate Republicans told the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau there have so far been no discussions about Issue 2, and many think a total repeal is unlikely if voters approve it. In the House, any potential response could be complicated by rifts within the GOP caucus that have slowed action on a range of issues.
"There are not a majority of legislators in both chambers that would be pro-repeal," Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Wintersville, said. "Thats definitely not the case. You would have no Democrats, and there are not enough Republicans to put them in the top."
If passed, the Ohio Legislature would have the power to amend or repeal the recreational marijuana law.
Changes could happen over time
If voters approve Issue 2, the law could still change at some point.
Many specifics of the recreational marijuana program would be handled through administrative rule-making. Under the proposal, the Division of Cannabis Control would set rules for licensing, testing, product standards, investigations and more. The division must also impose THC limits for products that could later be changed or removed.
Beyond that, lawmakers could revisit the statute immediately or down the road as they have with the state's medical cannabis program. Weinstein supports Issue 2 but said he'd be open to future changes that make the program more equitable and "economically accessible."
I would think that the General Assembly would try to work with it if it passes because of the threat of a constitutional amendment," Sen. Bill Blessing, R-Colerain Township, said.
Then there are the Republicans at the top. When asked about Issue 2, House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill, didn't want to address hypotheticals but said "they call it the revised code for a reason." Huffman said he needs to review the proposed language, but how the vote shakes out if the support is overwhelming, or if it barely passes will inform his opinion.
Gov. Mike DeWine, who is staunchly opposed to recreational marijuana, hopes lawmakers never need to have that conversation.
"Theres a lot of discussion that has to take place," DeWine said. "The states that have passed recreational use of marijuana ... have seen some things happen. And I dont think these are things we want to see in Ohio."
USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau reporters Jessie Balmert and Anna Staver contributed.
Haley BeMiller is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio marijuana issue: GOP leaders unsure what's next if voters say yes
Seven members of the Ohio State Board of Education say lawmakers violated Ohio's constitution when they transferred most of the board's responsibilities to a new director position that would be appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
As Ohio begins transferring control over public education to the governor's office, seven members of the State Board of Education are suing to stop that transition from happening.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday afternoon in Franklin County, seeks a temporary restraining order to stop the changes from going into effect Oct. 2 and for the court to declare this restructuring of the Ohio Department of Education unconstitutional.
"It will strip the constitutionally mandated independent Ohio State Board of Education, the Ohio Department of Education and the State Superintendent of Education of nearly all of their powers ...," according to the complaint. "If unchecked by this Court, the system Ohios citizens mandated for governing education in Ohio will be rendered virtually powerless."
And that, in the opinion of the seven petitioners, is unconstitutional.
"The State of Ohio is perfectly legal in doing what we do because the constitution gives us the authority to set the duties of the state school board, and we did that in the state budget," Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, said. "The Ohio General Assembly has 100% of the authority to do that. They are wrong, and they are wasting taxpayer money."
Ohio's new Department of Education and Workforce
For decades, the state board has chosen a state superintendent who works alongside them to guide the development of Ohio's academic standards. They create our state strategic plan (currently called Each Child, Our Future), recommend textbooks and set curriculum standards.
But all those responsibilities were transferred to the governor's office when Ohio passed its budget in June.
Board members were left with duties like deciding whether to revoke teacher licensures or approve territory transfers.
Supporters said the board has been plagued by ideological infighting, and the current way of doing things at ODE wasn't working. Thousands of children still struggle with pandemic learning loss, chronic absenteeism rates remain higher than pre-pandemic, and the board still hasn't replaced the last superintendent who left in September 2021.
"It is irresponsible of them to hold up this process when they have failed to do their jobs," Lt. Gov. Jon Husted told the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau. "We have a situation where the state school board has failed for two years to perform their duty of hiring a state superintendent, and now these very people are the ones trying to hold up the process again."
More: Ohio State Board of Education repeals its anti-racism resolution
Board members Christina Collins, Teresa Fedor, Katie Hofmann, Tom Jackson, Meryl Johnson, Antoinette Miranda and Michelle Newman said these changes took away rights from Ohio parents.
They hold public hearings where any Ohioan can raise their concerns about statewide standards or curricula.
For decades, parents in Ohio have gone to the voting booth to exercise their right to elect representatives empowered to advocate for them at the state level," according to a joint statement issued by the seven plaintiffs. "We will not sit back and let stand such a brazen power-grab that flies in the face of Ohio residents who value local input and control over their childrens education.
Who makes the rules?
Article IV, Section 4 of Ohio's constitution states that there "shall be a state board of education" and a superintendent of public instruction.
That's not up for debate. All sides agreed that the board can't be disbanded without a constitutional amendment.
Where they disagree is on the following line: "The respective powers and duties of the board and of the superintendent shall be prescribed by law."
The complaint argued that "turning the board into an empty shell" violated Article IV.
"The General Assembly is not permitted to abolish the constitutionally created Board via legislative workaround," according to the complaint. "And what the Ohio Constitution forbids the General Assembly from accomplishing directly, it also forbids the General Assembly from achieving indirectly."
A spokesman for DeWine said the governor's office does not comment on pending litigation, but Brenner and Senate President Matt Huffman, R-Lima, said that part of the constitution gives lawmakers the authority to decide what the board does.
"They should know that the GA and the governor set policy, not them," Huffman said. "(It's) another example of folks believing that courts, and not elected representatives of the people, should direct policy."
Board Member Jon Hagan, who is not part of the lawsuit, agreed.
"If you ask me whether I like the changes that they made, not a big fan," Hagan said. "But I do believe that the legislature and the governor have the grounds to do it."
Anna Staver is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.
Get more political analysis by listening to the Ohio Politics Explained podcast
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State Board of Education sues to stop transfer of its powers
Oklahoma City University nursing student Albert Babarsky studies in one of the Kramer School of Nursing labs.
In an effort to bring more nurses into the field, Oklahoma City University is launching a path for students to receive a nursing degree in just one year.
The accelerated program is the state's first and only in-person 12-month Bachelor of Science in nursing degree, according to a news release. The school hopes the program will help address a critical nursing shortage being felt in Oklahoma and across the nation.
The degree track is open to any student with a non-nursing associate or bachelors degree.
OCU President Kenneth Evans said its important that higher education institutions continue to play an active role in helping address societal needs.
We view ourselves not only as a school, but as a member of our local and broader community, Evans said. We have an obligation to help tackle the difficult issues our community faces, and to play a leading role where we can. We feel that we can play a leading role when it comes to the nursing shortage.
When does OCU's accelerated nursing program start?
The first group of students will start classes in January, and the second group will start in the fall of 2024.
Courses are offered in eight-week blocks.
More: Physician assistant, nurse practitioner or doctor: What patients should know
In a previous effort to combat the nursing shortage, the school announced in February the Saints and Stars Program. This allows some OCU nursing students to work part-time with SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital while receiving scholarships and tuition discounts during their junior and senior years of college.
OCU also offers a variety of nursing programs and degrees, with on-campus and online options.
Scholarships available for OCU accelerated nursing program
The school also announced "substantial scholarships" for nearly every student accepted in the program.
The competitive $15,000 Kramer Way Scholarship is available to at least 10 students who start the program in January.
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And any student with a college transfer GPA of at least 3.0 will automatically receive nearly $10,000 in scholarships. Those with a 3.6 GPA or higher will receive more than $17,000 in scholarships.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma City University offering nursing scholarship, 1-year program
After her estranged husband was found shot dead in a park, a woman is accused of hiring someone to kill him.
Susen Hunter was charged Sept. 7 with solicitation for murder in Comanche County District Court, according to a court docket. Her husband, John Velas, was found dead in Elmer Thomas Park on Labor Day, said Lawton police spokesperson Christopher Blessing.
Police were called to the park after reports of shots heard in the area around 6:30 in the morning.
Just days before, Velas had told police he believed his wife wanted to have him killed.
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"A gentleman did approach him that was working on the properties that him and his wife owned, saying, 'Hey, your wife is trying to pay me to have you killed,'" Blessing said.
Hunter and Velas owned properties together and were going through a divorce. It had been "drawn out," Blessing said, possibly because they couldn't come to an agreement about their property. Blessing told The Oklahoman that police presented Velas' concerns to the district attorney's office, which declined to press charges at that time.
Hunter was arrested the same day Velas was found dead, based on a witness who told police Hunter had offered him compensation if he would kill Velas.
Police are still investigating the slaying of Velas.
"We're still looking for the person who committed this crime," Blessing said. "So, we can use any help that we can get."
Anyone with information can contact the Lawton Police Department's non-emergency number, 580-581-3272, or can submit an anonymous tip through Crimestoppers of Southwest Oklahoma.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Man found dead in Lawton park, wife accused of murder for hire
One school from the Los Angeles Unified School District was recognized Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Blue Ribbon School for its overall academic performance.
Downtown Magnets High School in Los Angeles received the recognition, the only school from LAUSD to receive the honor, according to a press release.
California lawmakers pass bill barring school book bans
A total of 33 schools from California were named on the list, out of the total 353 schools that received the honor.
The list comes out every year and recognizes public and private elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups, according to the National Blue Ribbon Schools website.
Schools from Rancho Cucamonga, Irvine, Santa Barbara and San Diego were also named on the list, which can be viewed here.
Proposed California bill could remove roadblocks to becoming a teacher
The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to Raise the Bar in education, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement.
The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Officials say that up to 420 schools can be nominated each year.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Zoila Dominici was on her way to Divino Nino daycare for an early pick-up on 15 September when she received the tragic news. Just a month shy of his second birthday, Ms Dominicis son Nicholas was pronounced dead at the Bronx home-based daycare centre.
Nicholas grief-stricken parents and the Kingsbridge Heights community are now grappling with the disturbing reality surrounding the little boys sudden death he and three other children at the daycare were exposed to fentanyl, according to New York City officials.
Daycare owner Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested on charges including murder, manslaughter and assault. They have also been charged with narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics at the federal level.
Authorities said that Ms Mendez rented rooms in the apartment where the daycare operated and that a kilo of fentanyl was found inside a hallway closet. The NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that the lethal drug was placed underneath a mat where the children had been napping.
Law enforcement is now seeking to question Ms Mendezs husband, who was reportedly captured on surveillance video removing trash bags from the apartment before authorities arrived at the scene, according to CBS News.
Heres everything we know about the case:
The daycare
The Divino Nino daycare started operating in January out of Ms Mendezs apartment in Kingsbridge.
The centre, which was advertised for children between 6 weeks and 12 years old, is licensed under the citys Department of Children and Family Services. It had passed all inspections without violations, including a surprise visit by city authorities on 6 September.
Nicholas Dominici died after being exposed to fentanyl on Friday, NYC authorities said (Otoniel Feliz/Facebook)
During a press conference last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against accusations that the city had failed to identify existing threats at the centre.
Who did not do their job are the people who were there to protect the children, Mr Adams said. Part of this relationship is based on trust, that those who are taking care of our children are going to do it in a safe manner. They broke that trust ... This is not marijuana mistakenly left around the house.
Nicholas father Otoniel Feliz told CBS News that the little boy had been at the daycare centre for just a week. Mr Feliz said that the daycare had been recommended to him by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
We spoke to the ones who are in charge ... They recommended that place and apparently complied with all of the rules, Mr Feliz said. We were on a waitlist for our son to qualify. Apparently, the place passed all of the inspections. Supposedly that apartment was only for daycares, but the rumor is, from what we have heard, they also rented rooms.
What happened?
Three infants were found unresponsive by staff at the facility, who then called 911. When EMS first responders arrived they found two infants in cardiac arrest and called the FDNY for backup after administering Narcan.
Nicholas and two other minors were transported to a hospital. A fourth minor, a two-year-old boy, who had already been picked up by his parents was taken to the hospital after his mother realized that he was acting lethargic and unresponsive.
The boy was in critical condition, while another two-year-old boy and an eight-month-old girl were both in stable condition.
Investigators outside of the Divino Nino daycare centre in the Bronx (CBS)
Toxicology results from the three surviving victims showed that they were exposed to fentanyl. The Medical Examiners Office will perform an autopsy on Nicholas to officially determine his cause of death.
I love him, I miss him, I want him back but theres nothing that will give me back my son. When I came home from work and walked through the door, hed say daddy, daddy! Mr Feliz recounted to ABC7. My wife was on her way to the daycare. She was going to pick him up early. Shortly before she arrives, she receives the call and also sees the ambulance.
A kilo of fentanyl was found in a hallway closet outside Mr Britos room, which he rented from Ms Mendez for $200 a week, according to investigators. Police said that three kilo presses, a device used for packaging large quantities of narcotics, were also found inside the daycare.
Investigators believe that the children inhaled fentanyl particles during their daylong exposure to the drug before they were found unconscious and the alarm was raised.
Who are the suspects?
Prosecutors told a judge during a Sunday night arraignment hearing that Ms Mendez had taken part in a reckless depraved act by renting Mr Brito, her husbands cousin, the room, according to ABC News.
Her lawyer told the court that his client, who faces a sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, had no idea that drugs were being stored at the daycare.
Her only crime was renting her room to someone who had a kilo, attorney Andres Aranda said. There is no evidence that she did anything but care properly for these children.
The judge said that Mr Brito, a national of the Dominican Republic in the country illegally, was a flight risk. He then said that Ms Mendez, who is not a US citizen and also has ties to the Dominican Republic, was a flight risk.
Daycare owner Grei Mendez and her tenant Carlisto Brito are facing charges in Nicholas death (CBS)
Law enforcement sources told CBS that phone logs revealed Ms Mendez called her husband before she called 911 immediately after finding the children unresponsive. Ms Mendezs husband was also reportedly captured on surveillance video removing items from the basement apartment.
New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan and Mayor Adams said that although the specific circumstances surrounding Nicholas death were not clear, the tragedy was a wake-up call in the fight against the fentanyl crisis.
Im very sorry but one of the things my childcare inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl, Mr Vasan said. But maybe we need to start. Maybe we need to start.
Richland School District is seeing a small jump in enrollment as students returned to classes earlier this month in the Tri-Cities.
The district added more than 200 students this fall, a sign welcomed by administrators after many public schools saw a sluggish rebound in enrollment following the COVID pandemic.
Other local school districts, however, havent seen the same gains.
School building administrators started their first head count of the 2023-24 school year on Sept. 7.
Roughly 13,990 students were counted in Richland and 18,276 were counted in Pasco.
Districts count heads on the first school day of each month. The next count will be Oct. 2.
Enrollment is important because its tied directly to public education funding. For each full-time pupil sitting at a desk, schools receive thousands of dollars in general education apportionment from the state.
Districts also receive funds from other sources, such as the federal government, local taxpayers and from fees and other programs. But that enrollment apportionment makes up a large chunk of the total revenue that local school districts receive to operate.
As of Monday, the Kennewick School District was still working to finalize enrollment data from this months count and couldnt provide a projected enrollment.
The school district has budgeted for 18,450 full-time students in the 2023-24 school year budget, which is about the same as last year.
Vic Roberts, Kennewicks executive director of business operations, previously told the Tri-City Herald over the summer that the district is still missing about 300 full-time students when compared with pre-COVID enrollment.
Public schools around Washington state have nearly 67,000 fewer students than they did four years ago.
Change in enrollment
Here is the year-over-year change in enrollment as compared with fall 2022 headcounts.
Richland: +215 students, or +1.6%.
Pasco: -114 students, or -0.6%.
Kennewick: Data not available.
Pasco staff are actively reaching out to parents whose children are currently enrolled but have not yet attended classes, said Anna Tensmeyer, the districts director of public affairs.
Our primary objective is to ensure that every student within our district has the opportunity to benefit from the exceptional educational resources and supports we offer, she said.
This school year, Pasco has budgeted for 14 fewer certificated general education teachers and added five special education teachers. Enrollment has not fully rebounded back to pre-pandemic levels and the district continues to adjust staffing to align with enrollment.
Meanwhile, the number of certificated general education teachers in Richland schools has mostly stayed the same, said Shawna Dinh, the districts public information officer.
Its too early to tell what Richlands enrollment gains mean for the medium-sized school district, Dinh said. Its the first school district among the Tri-City big 3 to return to pre-pandemic enrollment levels.
Enrollment dropped nationwide by about 1.2 million students during the pandemic, with the largest declines seen among kindergartners, and states are still trying to catch up.
State and national trends
Public schools around Washington state have nearly 67,000 fewer students than they did four years ago.
Enrollment dropped nationwide by about 1.2 million students during the pandemic, with the largest declines seen among kindergartners, and states are still trying to catch up.
At the same time, enrollment at private schools, home schools and other alternative learning arrangements went up.
In Washington, more than 10,000 students enrolled in private school during the pandemic, an increase of about 17%, while 7,000 more students enrolled in home schooling, an increase of about 34%.
By some measurements, public school enrollment is expected to continue its decline.
By 2030, enrollment of students prekindergarten through 12th grade is expected to be down 5.4% from fall 2023 in Washington, according to the Seattle Times, which cited data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
That projection of declining enrollment appears consistent with nearly every state in the nation, except for Utah, North Dakota, Arizona and Tennessee.
Some demographics, including a decline in fertility rates across much of the country, are likely key factor when it comes to declining school enrollment, the Times reported.
When you consider that students are the primary beneficiaries of school board decisions, empowering them with a voice on the board is critical to building better school systems. Engaging student board representatives prepares young people to participate in a democratic society by making them part of a local governing process. Board membership offers students an opportunity to gain valuable life skills, including leadership, community service and visibility into the broader decisions that will directly impact their lives.
Student representation on school boards is a growing national trend, and Washington state is a pioneer, with nearly half the 295 districts in the state more than 120 including students on their boards. According to the National Student Board Member Association, there are more than 500 student board members across 42 states representing more than 20 million students a number projected to grow.
Often, these are non-voting members whose power comes from their ability to speak on the record and to influence peers to get involved in whats happening at their schools. In rare cases, student representatives have a binding vote, such as in Maryland, where the state Supreme Court recently upheld the constitutionality of having students under 18 serve as voting members.
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Even in districts where students dont have an official seat on their district board or on board advisory committees, theyre still showing up at meetings to make public comments and take part in important conversations.
This is a tremendous opportunity for school board members and district leaders to truly hear the perspectives of multifaceted, diverse students and to consider their experiences when making decisions that directly affect them.
During the past five years, I worked closely with school board directors across Washington state, and I observed many successful examples of districts where student representatives had a meaningful impact on policy. Here are some strategies and initiatives that all districts can employ.
First, there may be a tendency to appoint students who already hold leadership roles because they are known entities. Its important to give the opportunity to all students announcing via social media, school apps, posters, QR codes and word of mouth that applications are open. A key part of this strategy is actively recruiting students with varied experiences and backgrounds and others who are not usually involved in school governance. Students themselves say this method is the most inclusive and leads to the most diversity of voices something they greatly value.
Second, consider advisory voting a simple process that many districts have been implementing recently that enables student representatives to voice the concerns, needs and viewpoints of the student body and submit a non-binding vote. After school board members have discussed an agenda item, the chair will ask the student representatives to offer an advisory vote a chance to share their perspective with the rest of the board, for the record. Members can then consider that information when casting their votes. More and more boards are adopting this process, and the Washington State School Directors Association recently shared formal recommendations for districts earlier this year.
Third, engage students in real-world experiences. One Washington district assigned each student representative to analyze one section of a long-term strategic plan, break it down and clarify its implications for young people. They helped simplify the content and collected feedback from peers, which provided valuable insights for the board. In some districts, student representatives play a key role on superintendents advisory councils, which are designed to give district leaders feedback directly from students. Student board representatives will often lead these councils, helping to gather a wide array of perspectives and ideas and then bringing that information back to the board, where they can be considered in upcoming decisions.
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Fourth, to sustain advances in student representation, schools and districts need to explicitly commit to providing opportunities for student voice. Whatever this looks like board representation, surveys, focus groups, one-on-one conversations districts should put it in writing so students know what to expect and can hold leaders accountable. One challenge in involving students is ensuring they feel their feedback has been taken seriously. When the issue of tokenization arises, its often because students werent acknowledged or no one responded to them, which makes them feel that theyre not seen, heard or valued. Usually, this is inadvertent. Making sure feedback and accountability measures are in place can head off this potential challenge.
Lastly, its not realistic to expect that two or three students on a school board can fully represent the perspective of every one of their peers across the district. But there are many ways to get more students involved. Districts can invite them onto advisory committees and topic-specific working groups. They can conduct polls and surveys and demonstrate how they used the results. They can hold leadership training workshops to prepare the next generation of student representatives.
Incorporating student voice into decision-making builds civic engagement and prepares students for the world that awaits them beyond high school. For student representatives on school boards, learning about governance, legislative processes and budgeting is priceless. But what such a program really does is ensure the health and vitality of the local school system and, by extension, the nations democracy.
Editors Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book OK Boomer, Lets Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind. Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion on CNN.
Democratic US Rep. Jennifer Wexton of Virginia is demonstrating what integrity and service look like.
In 2018, Wexton flipped a district that had been red for nearly 40 years and sailed into office along with a wave of other Democratic women, in a midterm backlash to the election of former President Donald Trump to the White House. While in office, she has been an advocate for women, children and human rights.
Jill Filipovic - Courtesy of Jill Filipovic
And now, at just 55, shes stepping back: Wexton isnt running for reelection, she says, because she was recently diagnosed with Progressive Supra-nuclear Palsy, a rare and ravaging neurological disorder, and is not responding well to treatment.
Its a heartbreaking diagnosis, and surely a gutting decision from a woman who has donned a Wonder Woman costume on the campaign trail with Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, one of the many members of Congress who spoke in tribute to Wexton after her announcement. She has used her perch to do as much good as she can and bows out surely knowing that her congressional seat is particularly vulnerable.
Wexton has served in the truest meaning of the word. Shes a quiet force in Congress if youre not from Virginia, you might not have heard of her, because she doesnt showboat. But she has pressed for more services for domestic violence and abuse victims. She has pushed for more funding for childhood cancer research.
In her own state she served in the state legislature before running for Congress she successfully helped to pass a law clearing the way for victims of revenge porn to sue, and protected the right of women to breastfeed in public.
These are not small things. For the women affected by these policies, they are the difference between justice and shame, between the right to exist in society and being forced to hide.
There is no doubt much more that Wexton could do if she held on to her seat in Congress. And she certainly tried; she described to The Washington Post what it was like asking her doctors if she could run again. But the diagnosis was simply too dire, and would make it too difficult for Wexton to do her job. And so, this woman who has spent so much of her life fighting for others, decided to spend whatever time is left with those she loves.
Its a lesson a lot of powerful people could learn from.
Wexton is still young, which is part of what makes her diagnosis so tragic. But shes part of one of the oldest Congresses ever. Many of her colleagues in the House, and many in the Senate, are octogenarians, well past the typical age of retirement in the United States. Age alone does not suggest that one is unable to do ones job, and there are many members of Congress who are in their 70s and even 80s and seem as sharp as ever.
But thats far from universal. Several have been the subject of public speculation about their physical health and mental abilities. And while some, like Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, have said they will not run for reelection, many have not; and even some who have shown signs of impairment or difficulty like Feinstein and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have not stepped down before the end of their terms.
Public servants who cant serve their constituents, or the American people, particularly well have an obligation to consider the cost of their devotion to their positions. Wexton is setting an important example: If you are no longer able to serve well, its time to step back.
But shes setting an important example in other ways, too and particularly on the question of what it means to live a good life. Theres a growing body of research on what makes people happy and satisfied, and the conclusions point to so much of what Wexton has done personally and professionally. First, people need the fundamentals: safety, housing, enough to eat. Wexton has worked as an elected official to try to secure those fundamentals for others.
Atop those foundations one can start to build meaning, connection and purpose. Wexton has done that in her own life. She has had a professional life centered on serving others, and on advocating for the needs of the vulnerable and the less-lucky. She has used her power for good, and has left her mark on her state and her country. She surely could have done many things with her time on this earth, and with her position of power. She chose to do good.
Wexton is now stepping back from this purpose-driven path to spend time with her family. She has two sons who reportedly come back from college each weekend to see her, a husband who supports her and a network of colleagues and friends rallying around her. These kinds of deep connections dont come easy; both are hallmarks and building blocks of a well-lived life. That Wexton is choosing to spend time with her loved ones, rather than dedicate her last days to her job or the pursuit of power, says much about her character and her understanding of whats actually important.
Theres no upside to a smart, ambitious woman getting so sick or to the loss of any human being to a devastating illness. But there are benefits to remembering that we all only get one shot at our time on this earth, and rarely do we get to determine when and how we depart it. Death is tough to think about, but every day that we are lucky to be alive, we are also one step closer to our own departure.
And so its worth asking ourselves the same questions Wexton surely has: How do we plan on using our limited time here for good? What does a good life look like? And what does one gain by hanging onto power or status past the point where one is able to carry out ones duties, and at the expense of ones integrity?
I hope all of us, including Wextons colleagues in Congress and their families, are watching her master class in living well even in the face of immense tragedy, and are asking themselves these same questions.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editors Note: Dr. Theodore Pak is an infectious diseases fellow practicing in Boston, the piece begins with his patients story. Dr. Lara Jirmanus is a primary care physician practicing in Cambridge and public health researcher and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Andrew Wang is a health equity researcher at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Drs. Jirmanus and Wang are members of the Peoples CDC, a public health watchdog organization. The views expressed in this commentary are their own. View more opinion on CNN.
As Covid-19 hospitalizations rise across the country, I (Dr. Pak) think back to my first Covid-19 patient. It was the first time I saw Covid in the hospital and it wasnt where it was supposed to be.
It was April 2020. I was an intern on a non-Covid floor, admitting an elderly man named John (whose name has been changed to protect his privacy) for bacterial pneumonia and a urinary infection. Per hospital protocol, he tested negative for Covid-19 twice before he was admitted to the hospital. But a week into his stay, despite antibiotics, he had a worsening cough and a fever.
Because John was on a non-Covid floor, my colleagues felt Covid-19 was unlikely. But additional testing showed that he was indeed positive and, given the timing of his positive test, he most likely caught the infection in the hospital. John was transferred to a Covid-19 ward where his breathing continued to worsen. He died on his 16th day in the hospital. Hundreds of Covid patients later, I will never forget him my first.
In 2020, hospitals used universal masks and screening tests to help keep hospital floors safe. But after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) relaxed infection control guidelines in 2022, many states and hospitals stopped requiring masks and screening tests for symptom-free patients.
Although we now have a new vaccine tailored to the circulating variants of the virus, Covid-19 still remains a serious threat.
Since the beginning of 2023, Covid-19 has steadily killed over 47,000 people in the US. At this rate, it is on track to remain in the top 10 causes of death in the US this year. Even with vaccines and treatments, elderly, disabled, immunocompromised patients and some with major underlying health conditions can still be severely harmed or die from the virus.
Furthermore, we lack effective treatments for long Covid, which can impact anyone, even healthy, vaccinated people. According to government data from July 2023, as many as 23 million US residents have developed long Covid, and 2 to 4 million people in the US are out of work because of it.
Covid spreads in the air like smoke. At least half of Covid transmission happens before people develop symptoms or even if they never develop symptoms so people frequently spread the virus without knowing it. Thats why layered protection the combination of masks, tests and ventilation is so important.
With hospitals facing what the American Hospital Association calls crushing financial challenges, are medical institutions and the CDC really putting patient and worker safety first?
Despite myriad compelling reasons to prevent Covid-19 transmission in hospitals, some hospital infection control leaders pressured public health departments to end Covid protections such as universal masking in health care settings, according to reporting from The Boston Globe. While there are important and legitimate reasons such as reprioritizing the preventive and elective care that took a back seat during the height of the pandemic for hospitals to want to move past their Covid priorities, its also notable that hospitals stand to lose money from rescheduling elective procedures when patients test positive for Covid-19. But whatever the motive for loosening masking and screening measures, patient and health care worker safety could ultimately suffer.
Because hospitalized patients, like John, are often particularly vulnerable to disease, hospital-acquired Covid-19 is dangerous with a mortality rate as high as 5-10% in parts of Europe. (That means a 1-in-10 to 1-in-20 risk of dying for patients who catch Covid-19 in the hospital.)
Even in 2020, when most hospitals used masks and screening testing to prevent Covid infections, 12-15% of hospitalized Covid patients caught Covid-19 in the hospital after being admitted for something else, according to research published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. One study based in a Boston hospital, and published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, showed that patients may have nearly a 40% chance of passing Covid-19 to their hospital roommate.
Although European data may not be perfectly representative of US hospitals, the CDCs hospital-onset Covid data lacked sufficient granularity for meaningful research. (We know because we filed a public records request for additional data and were told it was unavailable.)
To top it off, the CDC stopped requiring hospitals to report hospital-onset Covid in May 2023, leaving us without data to evaluate the impact of ending Covid-19 infection control in health care settings. But hospital-acquired cases surged in England and Scotland after hospitals stopped screening all admitted patients for Covid-19 last year.
The Biden administration also reportedly decided to keep the names of hospitals where patients contracted Covid-19 private, according to Politico, meaning that patients cannot look up hospital-onset Covid-19 rates by hospital to assess quality of care.
Instead of withholding this information, the federal government should require its release and financially incentivize hospitals to prevent Covid-19, as it does for other, less fatal infections. The CDC should make hospitals report hospital-acquired Covid-19 and share this information publicly.
Lastly, the CDC should redefine hospital-onset Covid-19 as Covid infections diagnosed in patients after five or more days of hospitalization, as opposed to 14 days, which is the current standard. The Omicron variants take only three to four days to cause infection and most hospital patients are discharged home before 14 days, meaning that, inevitably, many with hospital-onset Covid are not counted.
Most recently, despite a national letter from nearly 900 experts urging the CDC to strengthen health care infection control policies, the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) is poised to further weaken its guidance.
The HICPAC suggested in a draft of updated guidelines for Covid protection in health care setting that surgical masks were just as effective as well-fitting N95 masks. This sparked an outcry from hundreds of health care workers across the country who were concerned about the proposed shift in guidance. Airborne disease-carrying particles can travel through the gaps in loose-fitting surgical masks and infect health care workers, who may then infect their coworkers and patients, leading to more hospital outbreaks. Most voting members of the CDC HICPAC represent large, powerful hospitals, while the Liaison Representatives who include some health care worker and consumer groups, including health worker organizations lack voting power. The CDC committee is set to revisit the issue at its November 2023 meeting.
We must push hospitals to put safety first. Public health guidance should be made with transparency and in partnership with impacted patients and health care workers. Vulnerable patients like John should be able to access health care without being exposed to Covid or other serious infections. We should apply our knowledge from the last three years to protect patients and health care workers from Covid-19 and future pandemic pathogens. We all deserve better.
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Sen. Mitt Romney recently announced he is not going to seek reelection. That alone puts him in a select group in the Senate. Most hang on as long as their constituents allow them even if that is longer than they should. Romney, who is 76 years old, is now in a unique position to champion a constitutional amendment providing a maximum age for Congress and the president.
The problems associated with our federal gerontocracy are well known. Nikki Haley recently described the Senate as the most privileged nursing home in the country. It is understandable why most would not want to give up the notoriety associated with office. There also is a direct financial incentive because the amount of their pension depends on length of service and the average of the highest three years of salary. An aging congressmans pension can be quite lucrative as much as 80% of his or her final salary.
The age problem is not party-specific. Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell recently froze during a press conference and was unable to answer (or perhaps even comprehend) a simple question. Democratic senator Diane Feinstein has had health issues the required her to be absent from the Senate for long periods of time, and she may suffer from serious cognitive decline.
Aside from these medical issues, one has to wonder how much age influences congressional actions (or inactions). Our debt problems impose an enormous and disproportionate burden on the young. The issues associated with social security, which will disproportionately affect younger workers, are well known. Would these issues have been mitigated by a group that truly felt and represented the interests of younger Americans?
Some are very vocal that leaders need to mirror the rest of society in many dimensions, such as gender and ethnicity. That concern appears not to apply to age. More than half the Senate is over 65. The House has 151 members over 65. By comparison, the median age of Americans is 38.9 years.
Even more problematic is the office of the president. President Biden is 80 years old. The leading Republican candidate, Donald Trump, is 77. How wise is it to put our nuclear arsenal in the hands of one with increased chances of age-related cognitive concerns?
So, what does all this have to do with Mitt Romney? Like others of his colleagues, he could introduce a constitutional amendment providing an upper age limit for the president, the Senate and House. But his decision not to seek reelection placed him in a rare position of acting not just talking.
Related
The Constitution provides minimum age limits for the president (35), senators (30) and members of Congress (25), but no maximum age limits.
Many who look at the two leading candidates for president must be thinking we could do better. Romneys feelings about Trump are well known. Perhaps as a parting statement, he might champion the passage of an amendment that would disqualify Trump and Biden.
An amendment cant be passed and ratified that quickly, you say?
Think again.
Following an adverse Supreme Court decision, and fearing confusion as to who would be able to vote in the 1972 election, Congress quickly proposed and passed a constitutional amendment permanently lowering the voting age to 18. Ratification of the amendment by the states was completed within four months the fastest in ratification history.
Though possible, with 34 senators over 70 it would be an uphill battle. But if anyone can do it, surely the retiring senator from the youngest state in the union can.
William R. Titera is a retired partner of a large accounting firm.
Editors note: Dan Perry is the former Cairo-based Middle East editor and London-based Europe/Africa editor of The Associated Press and author of two books about Israel. Gilead Sher is the former chief of staff of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and a senior peace negotiator. He has written and edited five books, most recently Reflections on Conflict Resolution in the Middle East and Beyond. The opinions expressed in this commentary are their own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting the United States this week and can be expected to trumpet the opposition against him back home, with protests on the streets and an unfettered media, as a reflection of a healthy democracy.
Dan Perry - Courtesy Dan Perry
He is set to meet Wednesday with President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. But the US leader and Israels other friends in America should not be fooled: Netanyahu has not only launched an attack on the democracy that brought him to power, but he and his allies are coming for Israels journalists.
The special US-Israeli relationship has been based on their shared democratic values since Israels founding. A cornerstone of those shared values is both countries historic commitments to a free press. Israels journalism, as in the United States, is freewheeling and independent, and reporters are famously skeptical and often critical of any government.
Gilead Sher - Courtesy Gilead Sher
As in the United States, Israeli governments have always viewed a free press as inviolate because of the central role it plays in upholding democracy and fostering government transparency and accountability until now.
US media has already reported the facts showing that Netanyahus government has been undermining the rule of law, political participation, Palestinian rights and Israels Supreme Court. Missed so far, however, in most mainstream US news, are the governments initiatives to erode Israels free press and gradually turn Israeli media into government propaganda vehicles. This is no exaggeration.
While Netanyahu claims that Israels legal system has too much power and says judicial reforms are needed to create a better balance, he has generally avoided comment on the non-judicial aspects of the overhaul. His position is rejected by the overwhelming majority of Israels legal experts, security establishment and business community. Biden must stand firm on this front in any one-on-one meeting with Netanyahu.
For example, Netanyahus government has proposed wiping out the existing, apolitical state regulatory bodies and handing news supervision (as well as the ratings measurement) to the government a de facto political takeover of the broadcasting channels side.
The government also wants to eviscerate the excellent public channel, Kan (Israels version of the BBC), officially known as the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation. And it has proposed eliminating the requirement that cable providers offer the two main independent television channels, known for their tough journalism, and it is engineering ways of starving these channels of advertisement. Lastly, the government is almost universally expected to funnel funds to Channel 14, a channel that parrots the right-wing talking points disseminated by Netanyahus apparatus.
And the government is not content with trying to neuter Israeli media. Another government official has proposed withholding press accreditation from foreign journalists deemed hostile. Doing so would win Israel zero sympathy from the foreign media but clarify the kind of benighted regime that is in charge.
There is still more, all pointing in the same direction: empowering government control over news broadcasts, strengthening media bodies the government favors and weakening to the point of destruction those platforms it perceives as critical. Imagine how Americans would react if Biden sent government money to MSNBC or if former President Donald Trump had sent government money to Fox News.
This assault on the media is straight out of the cynical playbook implemented by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who transformed what had been a jewel in the democratic crown of post-communism into an autocracy run by one man. Like Orban, Netanyahu knows its easier to engineer permanent rule with a domesticated press and hobbled opposition.
And indeed, as already stated, Netanyahus government has targeted much more than the free press. It has proposed 225 unilateral laws that in sum would turn Israel into an authoritarian state, eliminating its liberal democracy and it has begun legislating some. These include specific measures to weaken the political opposition, such as removing judicial oversight of the parliaments ability to bar opposition parties from running. Other measures would expand the authority of religious Jewish courts not beholden to secular law in which men enjoy superior status to women and the LGBTQ community is treated as an abomination.
The shamelessness is mesmerizing. Another proposal would strike from the books the crimes of fraud and breach of trust by politicians, which are precisely two of the three corruption charges Netanyahu faces in court, in an ongoing trial. (Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.)
Netanyahus government is doing all this with a coalition that did not win an outright majority of votes and is in power only because unwise splits in the opposition caused 12% of its vote not to be counted two splinter groups fell just under the minimum percentage 3.25% of the vote needed to get into parliament.
It is a legal parliament majority, but the vote was by no means a mandate to kill off the democracy that has underpinned the special relationship with the United States. Some of the proposed laws may ultimately not pass, but the coalition has shown its true face.
The US president is of course free to meet with whomever he chooses. Biden knows that Netanyahu will use any such meeting to try to weaken the popular pro-democracy resistance at home, where fears about a decline in Israels special relationship with the US are partly behind his flagging support. He will undoubtedly claim the relationship with America is as strong as ever.
Heres hoping that Biden will make clear at Wednesdays meeting and in the weeks to come, that destroying the free press is not a value the United States can share or support in any form. That message will find its way back to Israel and will perhaps hasten the day when this disgraceful, obscure authoritarian chapter is over.
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Editors Note: Patrick T. Brown is a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank and advocacy group based in Washington, DC. He is also a former senior policy adviser to Congress Joint Economic Committee. Follow him on Twitter. The views expressed in this piece are his own. View more opinion on CNN.
Glenn Youngkin won Virginias gubernatorial election in 2021 in large part due to education policy. Parents fed up with how public schools handled Covid-19, the Black Lives Matter movement and increasingly salient LGBT issues were open to conservative critiques of the K-12 education system.
Youngkins general election opponent, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, may have sealed his fate with one line in a gubernatorial debate: I dont think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.
Patrick T. Brown - Courtesy Patrick T. Brown
On September 8, Youngkin pardoned Scott Smith, a Virginia dad arrested at a school board meeting in 2021 while seeking answers about his daughters sexual assault on school property, suggesting Youngkin, at least, still sees a political advantage in pushing the topic.
Republicans commitment to prioritizing parents rights the idea that the ultimate authority for childrens education rests with their parent continues to drive much of the conversation around K-12 public education. And in many states, increasing numbers of parents are opting out of the traditional public education system.
As someone who wrote a report for Congress on expanding school choice, Im heartened by this momentum. But Republicans are on delicate footing in this new world of educational choice and parents rights, and they need to be as concerned about execution as about principles. After three years of turmoil and change, the next phase of advancing parents rights and school choice will need to focus less on pushing an ambitious revolution and more on successfully administering those changes that have been introduced.
In the past year, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Oklahoma, Ohio and Utah created or expanded programs that allow parents to use state funds to pay for non-public education for all or nearly all students. Other Republican-controlled states have expanded school choice programs more incrementally, with additional growth on the horizon. EdChoice, a leading school choice advocacy organization, called 2023 the year of universal school choice.
These victories will thankfully expand the options for many parents. But they are not yet set in stone. Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, for example, has tried to rescind some of her Republican predecessors sweeping school choice legislation, which includes universal scholarship accounts for parents to use at private schools or other untraditional options.
To solidify their gains, conservatives who have championed the school choice revolution must shift their focus to ensuring that their new policies can be executed well, or they will open the door to further efforts to erode them.
Already, stories are popping up about parents stretching the bounds of universal educational scholarships by using the money to purchase kayaks, pizza ovens and large trampolines for educational purposes. Too many stories like this may undermine support for these accounts.
Enforcing common-sense guardrails around how these dollars can be spent can ensure parents use the system as intended and avoid some of the more egregious headlines coming out of the new programs.
Similarly, some states that have expanded school choice have very limited means of making that choice accessible, especially in states with heavily rural populations. Critics fairly point out that choice in education is a meaningless concept if students cant access any new options. States should consider a series of capacity-building grants to help new institutions get off the ground. They could also rethink their approach to school transportation services to make sure families can get their students to the institution that best matches their needs.
Part of the opposition to school choice rests on fears that private schools will underperform academically. Indeed, expanded choice will work best when coupled when some kind of assessment. As Ashley Berner, associate professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy, has stated, marrying choice and accountability is common globally.
Most democratic school systems around the world build choice and quality into their design, she writes. This is called educational pluralism, and it is the norm in places as diverse as Canada, Sweden, Indonesia, Belgium, and Israel. Ensuring that all schools receiving public funding are providing a quality education should be part of the conversation around expanded choice.
Advocates for school choice and parents rights would also do well to learn some lessons from the tea party. That movement tapped into genuine populist anger about the housing crash and financial crisis and sought to channel it toward long-standing conservative concerns about the size of government. But the movements unwillingness to compromise amid an ideological echo chamber helped push Washington toward political brinksmanship, which ended up undermining its long-term strategy.
At the same time, blue states face their own self-inflicted wounds, alienating some parents and pushing them to consider other alternatives. Groups like Moms for Liberty have seen success galvanizing parental opposition to policies around diversity and inclusion and transgender issues, opening a total of 285 chapters across 44 states, one of the founders told PBS earlier this year.
Their movement has been fueled by stories like that out of Montgomery County, Maryland, where a public school district is seeking to bar parents from being able to opt out of having their children engage with required books that go against the parents religious values, such as on gender, sexuality and LGBT issues. In an amicus brief, my colleagues at the Ethics and Public Policy Center argue the idea that schools should be able to overrule parents concerns flies in the face of the First Amendment: The ideology advanced by the School Board is radically at odds with Christian anthropology, they say, and substantially burdens [parents] religious exercise and constitutional rights.
Any Republican education agenda will always prioritize safeguarding parental rights against infringement like that seen in Montgomery Country. But doing so effectively will depend on being responsive to criticism around accountability and academic achievement to show that giving parents more power strengthens our education system and offers a viable alternative to the brittleness of heavy-handed administration in places like Montgomery County.
The parents rights and school choice movements aim to improve students academic, social and moral formation. That wont automatically follow from a few policy wins. The new landscape for K-12 education will require the kind of studied, technocratic approach that doesnt necessarily garner applause on a debate stage but is essential to making the permanent and lasting change conservatives would like to see.
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In this image from video provided by the Department of Defense labeled Gimbal, from 2015, an unexplained object is seen at center as it is tracked as it soars high along the clouds, traveling against the wind. | Department of Defense via Associated Press
As The Atlantic put it earlier this year, Talking about UFOs can be a nasty business.
It seems to have gotten even nastier in an age where so many people question government and scientists.
And it doesnt help when a UFO enthusiast in Mexico appears before the Mexican Congress with two tiny mummified bodies from Peru that he claims are space aliens and the most important discoveries in the history of humankind.
The enthusiast, Jaime Maussan, said one of the creatures is female and was discovered to have eggs inside her. Imagine that. Sounds like the beginnings of a predictable movie premise.
And, speaking of movies, the two bodies just happen to look a lot like E.T., from a movie of the same name about 41 years ago. The tiny lifeless creatures arent begging anyone to let them phone home, but images of the bodies are available for everyone to examine and form opinions about on their own modern phones.
Reuters quoted Maussan as saying, I believe that this phenomenon is the only one that gives us the opportunity to unite.
Did he say unite? Apparently, few things divide people more than the question of alien life forms visiting earth, and of who might be covering up information.
Scientists said the creatures are frauds, and that this was a previously debunked and perhaps criminal stunt. Reuters said previous such finds were found to be mutilated mummies of pre-Hispanic children, sometimes combined with bits of animal parts.
Maussan says he has DNA studies that show they are not from this earth.
Reuters asked a Mexican scientist to review those results. The scientist said they indicated normal life on Earth.
Legislators fill the lower house of Congress as they wait for the inauguration ceremony of President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, at the National Congress in Mexico City, Dec 1, 2018. Experts from Mexico, the United States, Japan and Brazil gathered before the Mexican Congress on Sept. 12, 2023, to share their findings on the existence of UFOs and extraterrestrials that date back to 2017 in the sandy Peruvian coastal desert of Nazca. | Marco Ugarte, Associated Press
And Peru, where the creatures supposedly originated, is not impressed. The culture minister said a criminal investigation is underway to determine how the samples left the country.
The lessons here are clear. One is that supposed evidence of extraterrestrial visits to Earth always seem to soar close to the murky waters of make-believe. Another is that the notion of unity on the subject of UFOs can make politics look like a Sunday School meeting.
As I wrote two years ago, people might be more inclined to believe the evidence if someone could capture a video that looked a little clearer than a prenatal ultrasound, circa 1980.
Which doesnt mean were a nation of unbelievers. A Gallup poll in 2021 found that 41% of Americans believe at least some UFO sightings could be alien spacecraft from other planets.
A Pew survey from roughly the same time period confirmed those results, but it also found that 65% of Americans believe intelligent life exists on other planets, and they dont see UFOs as threats.
Thats a solid majority, but still nowhere close to unity.
Humans have a natural yearning for greater understanding among the endless sea of stars and planets that fill space. The James Webb Telescope, although the product of an independent government agency many seem to distrust, has taken this yearning to new levels.
According to space.com, NASA recently tested its ability to find possibly inhabited planets by demonstrating that the telescope could detect intelligent life on Earth from a great distance away.
Which sounds like the setup to a joke. At the least, it suggests the telescope might need a little tweaking regarding intelligence detection.
Which brings me back to NASA, which earlier this year appointed a panel to begin seriously studying UFOs, or as it calls them, unidentified anomalous phenomena, or UAPs. That was an about-face for the agency, which used to avoid the subject.
The panel released its first report last week after reviewing hundreds of UFO er UAP sightings. Its conclusion sounds responsible and logical, but it wont make anyone happy. It was, as the BBC put it, Theres no proof aliens exist, but they might.
Also, NASA has appointed someone to head up an effort to create a robust database that, with the help of AI, might bring a bit more clarity to the subject in the future.
The agency wont say who this is in order to protect that person from harassment the kind members of the panel have received. The kind that made The Atlantic say NASA would probably like everyone to stop getting worked up over aliens.
As for those Peruvian aliens in Mexico? The BBC quoted NASA scientist David Spergel saying, Make samples available to the world scientific community and well see whats there.
As if that would put an end to it.
Editors Note: Paula M. Krebs is the executive director of the Modern Language Association. She is a former dean, professor of English, magazine editor and sportswriter. The views expressed here are hers. Read more opinion on CNN.
Fridays vote by West Virginia University (WVU)s Board of Governors to approve massive cuts to the universitys offerings came as no surprise. The big surprise, at least to WVU President Gordon Gee , seemed to be the huge negative national attention his proposal garnered.
Paula M. Krebs - Daniel Root
After years of overspending complicated by the fact that huge enrollment gains he predicted never materialized, Gee proposed the elimination of the universitys language and linguistics department, graduate degrees in mathematics, huge percentages of faculty positions in English, education, the arts and more, dropping a total of 28 majors, and 147 faculty positions, in addition to the 12 graduate programs and 132 positions cut in June.
Pushback from WVU students was swift and loud, with protests, press interviews and petitions. The universitys Faculty Senate voted no confidence in Gees leadership, and op-eds by faculty members and WVU graduates appeared in major national publications.
The outcry about the loss of languages, particularly from the students, was so strong that it produced some backtracking on the Academic Transformation plan: WVU will retain some teaching of Spanish and Chinese, with no majors and no language department.
The WVU restructuring was meant to set a precedent for academic restructuring all over the country, according to Gee. He billed it as a model for other major universities to follow, a template for the university of the future.
Universities need to transform themselves, he told NPR. This is an existential moment for higher education, he said. We have to reform ourselves in order to be relevant to what is needed in higher education at this point. What is needed, according to the universitys recommendations, is to create a more focused academic program portfolio aligned with student demand, career opportunities and market trends.
When the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point planned to cut liberal arts programs a few years ago, the national backlash was strong, and the university reversed the planned cuts. The many op-eds and protests over WVU managed to produce only a small revision to the cuts, but it remains to be seen whether the blowback was severe enough to spook other universities that might have been planning to follow Gees lead.
Lets leave aside whether a states public university has any obligations beyond creating career preparation and serving the fluctuating trends in the market. Lets not consider whether a state flagship university might want to, for example, educate citizens to become well-informed community members, voters, parents or participants in the life of the world around them.
Instead, lets focus on careers. Nationally, secondary school language teachers are in short supply. A survey conducted by the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages shows that 9 out of 10 companies rely on employees who can speak a language other than English, and 56% expect their demand for language skills in employees to increase. If you were selecting programs to keep based on employment trends, youd surely want to hold onto languages.
Most employers rely on on-the-job training to onboard new employees, whatever their degree. When I visited Cisco Systems, the network engineering firm, a couple years ago and asked if their new cadre of trainee engineers all came with engineering degrees, the recruiter chuckled. They have all kinds of different degrees, he said. We have English majors, history majors. We teach them what we need them to know. What was most important, he said, was that they were enthusiastic, knew how to listen and ask questions and were willing to try different solutions until they found one that worked.
The disconnect between what campuses think employers want and what employers actually need can be stark. Yet many colleges continue to eliminate the programs that produce the very skills, in communication, cultural awareness, research and synthesis, that employers need and want.
Students who major in languages, creative writing and other programs that university administrators target in sweeping cuts like WVUs are not doomed to the life of a barista. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences Humanities Indicators project demonstrates that such students are employed in all sectors of the workforce, including in STEM fields.
More than half of humanities graduates go on to get advanced degrees and certificates, which increases their earning potential, and proficiency in another language confers a premium in earnings on top of that, according to Indeed.com. Why, then, are such programs easy targets for belt-tightening universities?
Part of the reason is that liberal arts programs have been reluctant to brag about the professional success of their alumni or even to point their current students toward the successes their former students have achieved. Believing in the intrinsic value of the study of everything from Shakespeare to math to philosophy, faculty members have relied on career offices to help students with those next steps but they have not necessarily helped those offices understand the skills, values and perspectives students are getting from the study of the fields that dont name jobs (a computer science major becomes a computer scientist; whats a French majora Frenchist?).
Instead of investing in the future by developing connections between careers offices, employers and, say, language departments, helping to prepare students who will bring their skills into jobs that have not even been created yet, universities, including WVU, pay consultants to get shortsighted plans that direct universities to spend all their money on job-preparation programs that feed a narrow range of jobs that exist today.
The cuts to the liberal arts at WVU, especially those to languages, will tell West Virginias many rural, working-class or first-generation college students not to get ideas above their station ideas that they might want to learn about a world outside West Virginia or beyond the walls of a future employer.
Where other state universities understand their mission to be to offer a full range of academic programs to the students of their state, Gee takes a different tack: Someone else is going to have a great PhD program in mathematics, he told The Washington Post. And you know what? God bless them. What could be more cynical and opportunistic than the combination, in a public institution, of eliminating educational breadth and at the same time, cultivating elite status for selected programs? For instance, Gee told The Post that cuts to the liberal arts programs would allow the university to develop a world-class program in neuroscience.
The cuts being made to the liberal arts at WVU will dramatically narrow educational opportunities not just for West Virginia students who want to major in humanities fields but also for STEM and business students. All students job prospects and lives are enriched by language study, writing instruction and the research and analytical skills taught in beginning and advanced literature and culture courses, as the Humanities Indicators data, the Association of American Colleges and Universities employer survey data and other sources attest. Public universities are the only route to a college degree for many Americans.
A quarter of WVUs students receive federal financial aid in the form of Pell Grants, and more are first-generation college students. Yet these cuts at WVU tell those West Virginians that the humanities, and especially the study of languages and culture, are reserved for others for West Virginians who can afford to pay the tuition at private colleges and universities.
And teaching isnt the only job of a state university. In addition to producing educated citizens who can collaborate and compete with the rest of the world, state flagship universities contribute to the production of knowledge. Eliminating the department of World Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics eliminates all research on language acquisition at the university.
How are languages best learned? What is the significance of the ways different cultures consume social media or write television shows or read books or discuss politics? What is the relationship between a countrys literature and culture and its business and politics? Research in language and literature needs the support of universities if we are to move forward in our understanding of the world around us, and that is no less true in the humanities than it is in science and technology fields.
Its heartbreaking to see these cuts to West Virginias research university. In calling for this slash-and-burn of the liberal arts education WVU used to offer, West Virginia Universitys leaders are making clear how little they really value the education of the majority of West Virginias citizens.
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WICHITA, Kan. Oprah Winfrey has selected a Kansas graduates second novel as the book of the month for her popular book club.
Nathan Hill is a 1994 graduate of Maize (Kansas) High School, KSNW reports. His debut novel The Nix, which released in 2016, became an overnight success, shooting to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list, thanks in part to glowing reviews from celebrated authors like John Irving.
Two Kansas City-area schools named 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools
Oprah officially announced Hills second novel Wellness is her new Book of the Month.
Hill learned of the selection when Oprah surprised him by joining in on a Zoom meeting with his publisher, Penguin Random House, according to the Associated Press.
Penguin Random House gives this synopsis of the book:
When Jack and Elizabeth meet as college students in the 90s, the two quickly join forces and hold on tight, each eager to claim a place in Chicagos thriving underground art scene with an appreciative kindred spirit. Fast-forward twenty years, and now theyre grappling with the routines of married life, the challenges of parenting, and the indignities of agingnot to mention cults of positive thinking, polyamorous would-be suitors, Facebook trolls, NIMBY protests, and something called Love Potion Number Nine. For the first time, Jack and Elizabeth struggle to recognize each other, and the no-longer-youthful dreamers are forced to face their demons, from unfulfilled career ambitions to painful childhood memories of their own dysfunctional families. In the process, they have to undertake separate, personal excavations, or risk losing the best thing in their lives: each other. Penguin Random House
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Hill, a former college professor, lives with his wife in Naples, Florida.
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This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
CAIRO (AP) More than 1,200 children under age 5 have died in nine camps in war-scarred Sudan in the past five months, because of a deadly combination of measles and malnutrition, the U.N.s refugee agency said Tuesday.
The UNHCR said the deaths, between May 15 and Sept. 14, were documented by its teams in the White Nile province, where thousands of Sudanese have sheltered as fighting has raged for six months between rival generals, in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere. There were thousands of suspected cases of cholera in other parts of the country, UNHCR public health chief Allen Maina said.
Dozens of children are dying every day a result of this devastating conflict and a lack of global attention, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
Sudan plunged into chaos in mid-April, when simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open warfare.
The conflict has turned the capital and other urban areas into battlefields. At least 5,000 people have been killed and more than 12,000 others wounded, according to Volker Perthes, the U.N. envoy in the country, who announced his resignation last week. The actual casualty toll, he said, is likely much higher.
More than 2.5 million people fled their homes, including more than 1 million who crossed into Sudans neighboring countries, according to the U.N.s migration agency.
The fighting wrecked the countrys health care system, with many hospitals and medical facilities out of service. The World Health Organization said that it documented 56 attacks on health care facilities that left 11 deaths and 38 injuries since the war broke out in mid-April.
Local health care workers desperately need the support of the international community to prevent further deaths and the spread of outbreaks, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, warned Monday that the conflict, coupled with hunger, disease, displacement and destruction of livelihoods, threatens to consume the entire country.
OCHA said about half of the countrys population around 25 million people needs humanitarian assistance by the end of this year. They include about 6.3 million who are one step away from famine, the agency said.
The U.N. refugee agency said that many displaced Sudanese are suffering from measles and malnutrition. Many refugees arriving in South Sudan and Ethiopia also have contracted measles and are malnourished. Acute malnutrition among children was reported in Chad, which hosts the largest number of Sudanese refugees since the conflict began.
The U.N. children's agency has also warned that many thousands of newborns may die in Sudan by the end of the year because of a lack of access to treatment.
Those newborns and their mothers needed adequate care at a time when such care was becoming less likely by the day, said UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who just returned from Sudan.
The fight against fentanyl is moving in a new direction.
First responders have carried Narcan, a life-saving drug that can reverse an overdose for years. Its now available at pharmacies over the counter.
The FDA signed off on the change in March, but the medication is now landing on pharmacy shelves in Central Florida.
CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart and Walgreens all carry the medication for about $45.
With the product now available over-the-counter, advocates believe Narcan must be in every familys first-aid kit.
In the nearly three years since Paula Khoenles daughter Kaitlyn died of fentanyl poisoning, shes been on a mission to get Narcan into as many hands as possible.
Read: Investigators find 28 pounds of fentanyl pills in parked car; suspect arrested
My daughters not here, but if I can save a life, Im going to save a life, said Khoenle, who works to help overdose victims through Project Noelle in Lake County.
Her daughter Kaitlyn Karlowicz was just 28 years old when she was found unresponsive with enough fentanyl in her system to kill 25 people.
T oday, the drug is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 to 45 in the United States.
Khoenle says through her work, shes connected with thousands who have lost loved ones to overdose.
Read: Top health officials urge community members to carry Narcan as access increases nationwide
Dont ever think it cant happen to you. Because when all youre left with is memories and picture, you never heal from that, said Khoenle.
For Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma, Floridas pill crisis of the last decade has given way to a new crisis made of substances laced with fentanyl.
According to the DEA, the drug accounts for 70 percent of U.S. overdose deaths.
What were seeing way too often is somebody experimenting with drugs or taking drugs for the first timeWhether they think theyre taking Xanax or whatever the drug that is, its made in clandestine labs. Its mixed with fentanyl, said Sheriff Lemma.
According to Lemma, Seminole County deputies have administered Narcan 90 times since January.
Read: Narcan is now approved for over-the-counter sales; here is what you need to know
But he said increased education is making a difference as more people begin to carry the medication themselves.
Were seeing a shifting trend to actually citizens deploying naloxone. And thats exactly what we want to see, said Lemma.
We spoke to experts at the Orlando Outpatient Center about how Narcan should be used.
They compared the life-saving drug to an AED used during heart failure.
Read: Deputies identify 78-year-old Volusia County man accused of killing neighbor who was trimming trees
We use Narcan to jumpstart the body. And when we jumpstart the body, we also call EMTs to transport to further treatment, said Samyra Boney, the clinical director for Orlando Outpatient Center.
Experts like Boney say Narcan is safe and easy to use.
If you suspect someone is overdosing, administering Narcan will not harm them.
You can learn more about how to use Narcan here.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
The owner of a New York day care where a one-year-old boy died of fentanyl exposure was dubbed depraved during a court hearing.
Youngster Nicholas Dominici died after he was exposed to the opioid at a Bronx facility on Friday, while three other young children were hospitalised.
Daycare owner Grei Mendez, 36, and tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested on charges including murder, manslaughter and assault.
A kilo of fentanyl was found in a hallway closet outside Mr Britos room, which he rented from Ms Mendez for $200 a week, according to investigators.
Prosecutors told a judge during a Sunday night arraignment hearing that Ms Mendez had taken part in the reckless depraved act by renting Mr Brito, her husbands cousin, the room, reported ABC News.
Her lawyer told the court that his client, who faces a sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, had no idea that drugs were being stored at the daycare.
Her only crime was renting her room to someone who had a kilo, attorney Andres Aranda said. There is no evidence that she did anything but care properly for these children.
Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, face 11 charges including murder, manslaughter, and assault (ABC7)
Police say that drug production equipment was also found inside the daycare. Investigators believe that the children inhaled fentanyl particles during their daylong exposure to the drug before they were found unconscious and the alarm was raised.
The judge said that Mr Brito, a national of the Dominican Republic in the country illegally, was a flight risk. He also said that Ms Mendez, who is not a US citizen and also has ties to the Dominican Republic, was a flight risk.
Authorities are also looking to question Ms Mendezs husband, who they say was captured on video fleeing the daycare with bags after the incident.
I love him, I miss him, I want him back but theres nothing that will give me back my son when I came home from work and walked through the door, hed say daddy, daddy! Nicholass father, Otoniel Feliz, told ABC7.
My wife was on her way to the day care. She was going to pick him up early. Shortly before she arrives, she receives the call and also sees the ambulance.
Chinese automaker to deliver 300 NEVs to Turkiye
Xinhua) 09:26, September 19, 2023
NANCHANG, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Jiangxi Jiangling Group Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd. will deliver 300 new energy vehicles (NEVs) to Turkiye in October, the company said.
The Jiangling "Yi" model to be exported to Turkiye uses a dual motor combination, with a comprehensive output power of 170 kW and a 100-km acceleration within 5.8 seconds, according to Nie Xiaoyong, vice president of the Engineering Research Institute at the company.
According to a cooperation agreement signed by the company and its partner in Turkiye, between 2024 and 2026, its Turkish partner will set up professional sales teams and exhibition halls in Turkiye, and build a sales network with 35 dealers within three years.
Jiangxi Jiangling Group Electric Vehicle Co., Ltd., located in Nanchang City, east China's Jiangxi Province, was established in 2015. It is a new energy vehicle company that integrates research and development, production, and sales of new energy vehicles and auto parts.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Oxford school shooter Ethan Crumbley will learn his fate before Christmas: His sentencing date has been scheduled for Dec. 8.
And the key issue whether he is eligible to be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole will be decided even sooner: in 10 days, to be exact.
According to court filings, Oakland County Circuit Judge Kwame Rowe will issue that decision on Sept. 29, more than a month after sitting through weeks of grueling testimony from health experts, police, and students and staff who witnessed the horror of Crumbley's rampage on Nov. 30, 2021, during which he killed four classmates and injured seven other people.
Ethan Crumbley appears in the Oakland County courtroom of Kwame Rowe on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Pontiac, Mich. The Oakland County Prosecutors are making their case that Crumbley, a teenager, should be sentenced to life without parole for killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021.
The witnesses were part of Crumbley's mandatory Miller hearing, which is designed to help the judge decide whether a life without parole sentence is appropriate for Crumbley, who was 15 when he carried out the massacre.
The defense has argued Crumbley is too young to be locked up forever, and deserves a chance to turn his life around and prove himself worthy of freedom one day. But the prosecution maintains he has forfeited the right to live freely again for murdering four classmates two execution-style injuring others and terrorizing an entire community in a massacre he planned out in his journal and in a manifesto that he recorded the night before the shooting.
Crumbley parents' case timeline is less clear
Meanwhile, the fate of the shooter's parents remains in limbo, and could remain uncertain for some time depending on what the Michigan Supreme Court says about the charges against James and Jennifer Crumbley, the first parents in America charged in a mass school shooting.
The state's highest court has yet to weigh in on the Crumbleys, who haven't spoken to or seen their son in person in almost two years as they are facing involuntary manslaughter charges for their alleged roles in the students' deaths. The parents are accused of ignoring their son's mental health issues and buying him a gun instead of getting him help the same gun that their son used to shoot up Oxford High School.
The prosecution also maintains that the parents, more than anyone else, could have prevented the massacre had they informed the school that they had bought their son a gun when they were summoned to the school on the morning of the shooting about their son's troubling behavior. The couple said nothing and went back to their jobs. A few hours later, Crumbley emerged from a bathroom and opened fire with a gun the same one his parents gave him days earlier as an early Christmas present.
Jennifer Crumbley, sat to the left of attorney Mariell Lehman as her husband, James Crumbley sat to the right in the Oakland County courtroom of Judge Cheryl Matthews on March 22, 2022, regarding pretrial matters.
The defense has fought for almost two years to get the case thrown out against the parents, arguing the charges are unwarranted, overreaching, and could set a dangerous precedent for parents everywhere who could be held liable for the misdeeds of their children. The defense has long argued that the parents never knew their son was going to carry out a school shooting that day a key point that, it maintains, the prosecution can never prove.
Since the Crumbleys were charged, the defense has argued repeatedly that there was no probable cause to bind the couple over for trial. To date, the courts have ruled against the Crumbleys, who still hope for a win before the Michigan Supreme Court.
The high court may be releasing its opinion in the coming weeks if a recent news release is any indication. The release states that the Michigan Supreme Court is set to begin its new session in October, with oral arguments in 12 cases set to begin on Oct. 4 at the state Capitol.
The Crumbleys' case is not among those new cases.
Meanwhile, James and Jennifer Crumbley are each locked up on $500,000 bond in the Oakland County Jail, where their son is also being detained. However, the family members are prohibited from talking to one another pending the outcomes of their cases.
Catch up: Oxford school shooter's long, emotional hearing ends with drama, name calling and outrage
Parent perspective: Father of slain Oxford student Tate Myre: We cant unwatch surveillance video footage
Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ethan Crumbley to get big news in 10 days. What about his parents?
Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson leaves the field after getting hurt against the New Orleans Saints during the first half of an NFL football game Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Rusty Jones)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Carolina Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson is expected to miss extended time after suffering what coach Frank Reich said was a significant right ankle injury in the teams 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday night.
Reich said the Panthers will know more after Thompson undergoes medical tests on Tuesday. He wouldn't say if the ankle might be broken.
The 29-year-old Thompson was carted off the field in the first quarter. Saints offensive lineman Trevor Penning and Panthers defensive lineman DeShawn Williams were engaged in a block and rolled up on the back of Thompsons right leg as he was trying to make a tackle.
The Panthers initially announced Thompson was doubtful to return with a shin injury, but later updated that by saying he was out with an ankle injury.
Thompson, in his ninth season with the Panthers, is one of the team's emotional leaders. Before he was helped onto the cart, the entire Panthers bench ran on the field to wish Thompson well.
The second-longest tenured player on Carolina's roster, Thompson had a career-high 135 tackles last season. He became only the fifth player in franchise history to amass at least 100 tackles in four consecutive seasons.
For the Saints, running running back Jamaal Williams suffered a hamstring injury in the second quarter and did not return. New Orleans was already playing without the suspended Alvin Kamara and injured rookie Kendre Miller.
Tony Jones Jr. rushed for 34 yards and two touchdowns in Williams absence. Change-of-pace quarterback Taysom Hill was the Saints leading rusher 75 yards on nine carries.
Its unclear when Williams was hurt. He finished with 29 yards on nine carries.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
MILAN South Africas Paramount Group is expanding its manufacturing hub in India to broaden the range of combat vehicles it will produce there, including 4x4 and 6x6 infantry fighting platforms in the lineup for global customers.
The aerospace company, now headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, announced on Sept. 14 that it was widening its armored vehicles production cooperation with India-based engineering and technology conglomerate Bharat Forge and its subsidiary Kalyani Strategic Systems.
The global armored vehicle market is undergoing a monumental shift and our partnership [with them] has become ever more strategic. We are excited to broaden it to include the development and production of 4x4 and 6x6 infantry fighting vehicles for customers around the world, Steve Griessel, chief executive officer of Paramount Global stated in a company press release.
This expansion builds on existing industrial ties between the partners. In 2021, Paramount and Bharat Forge signed a cooperation agreement for the joint manufacturing of the Kalyani M4 armored personnel carrier in India. A number of these have been delivered to the Indian Army as part of a contract estimated around $21.4 million.
These deals indicate a wider trend among global defense companies to ramp up production in India to lessen their dependence on China and Russia. For years, New Delhi has been doubling down on efforts to become the Asian alternative to Chinese manufacturing, with the governments Make in India mantra embedded in all sectors of the economy.
A defining feature of Paramounts business model has revolved around in-country production of different systems. In March, it signed a strategic agreement with UAE-based AAL-Group to locally manufacture the main and tail rotor composite blades for customers of Mi-type helicopters in the Gulf country.
This move was an attempt to incentivize states to shift away from Russian manufacturers for upgrades, maintenance, repairs and overhauls and opened up new business opportunities for the South African group.
Officers checking on a family at a Chicago-area home found two parents and two children fatally shot and say police were still looking for leads on anyone who may have been involved.
The discoveries were made Sunday night after a family member asked police for a "wellbeing check" because one of the victims did not show up for work that day, Romeoville Police Department Deputy Chief Chris Burne said.
"We dont believe the offender is among the victims right now," he said during a news conference on Monday. "It is not a murder-suicide."
Police officers investigate the scene in Romeoville, Ill., on Sept. 18, 2023. (NBC Chicago)
Also found at the home were three dogs, also fatally shot, he said.
The parents were identified as Alberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolomei, the deputy chief said. It wasn't clear if they were married, he said, but they were the parents of the two child victims.
Those two were not identified, and Burne declined to release their ages and genders, citing the ongoing investigation and its "sensitive" nature.
"A member of the family did not show up for work at 6 am on the morning of Sunday, September 17 and did not respond to phone calls throughout the day, resulting in family members becoming concerned," Romeoville police said in a statement on Monday.
Officers made the find after the 8:43 p.m. report Sunday, the department said.
Detectives believe the shootings took place between 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 a.m. Sunday, Burne said. It wasn't clear exactly why.
Any possible motive was a mystery, but the deputy chief said police don't believe the community was at risk because detectives believe more than 18 hours passed since the crime took place.
Detectives seek anyone who might have been involved, and they hope witnesses and tipsters can help. "Anyone with information should contact the Romeoville Police Department," police said in Monday's statement.
Burne said there's no active police search for any suspected assailants near the home.
"We are not actively looking for anybody in the area," Burne said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
By Noemie Olive
PARIS (Reuters) -King Charles' state visit to France, from Wednesday to Friday, may be seen politically as a chance to rebuild ties between the two countries, but some Parisians said they were not impressed, and that they missed the glamour of late Queen Elizabeth.
The 74-year-old king, and his wife Queen Camilla, will be guests of honour at a state banquet in the gilded Versailles palace, where the menu will feature blue lobster, Bresse French poultry, and a selection of French and English cheeses.
Charles, a fluent French speaker like his mother, is keen to walk in her footsteps and is likely to refer to the late queen's deep affection for France during the visit, officials said.
Still, Parisians were sceptical.
"He's just the son, they are old already, we don't have a long history," retiree Mireille Mauve said.
His wife is "not so enchanting, she's a bit dull with her discourse. All this combined together doesn't create much interest," said the 88-year old, who liked Queen Elizabeth and her horses.
As part of the visit, Charles and Camilla will drive down the Champs-Elysees and view restoration works at the Notre-Dame cathedral following a massive blaze in 2019 that destroyed its roof.
There will be wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe, with France's Patrouille acrobatique and Britain's Red Arrows, the aerobatics display teams of both nations' air forces, conducting a flypast at the start of the trip in celebration of the countries' shared history and values.
The trip is also a chance to rebuild ties that have been frayed by Britain's chaotic exit from the EU in 2020.
But 15-year-old Alexia Aubert said: "I think since Elizabeth died, the Royal family isn't as important as it was, King Charles isn't as important and symbolic as Elizabeth, so it doesn't really matter if he comes or not."
In Britain, polls suggest Charles is less popular than his mother, who had strong support from much of the public. Still, a YouGov survey released in September found 60% held a favourable view of him compared to 32% with a negative one.
Younger Britons, however, tend to be more negative, also with the concept of the monarchy itself.
In Paris, carpenter Edouard Val de Lievre said of the British monarchy: "It's a part of the folklore in England, for me it's just that."
"He (Charles) represents the English population but that's all, nothing special for me."
(Additional reporting by Michael Holden and Elizabeth Pineau; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
At least six earthquakes were recorded in western Stanislaus County Monday afternoon through early Tuesday morning, and some Modesto-area residents said they felt at least one of them.
Several faults run through Stanislaus County, including the Great Valley thrust fault system. The series of lines runs along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley, said Belle Philibosian, a research geologist with the United States Geological Survey.
This particular earthquake, its hard to say exactly which fault line its on, Philibosian said. It may not be associated with any of the major known, mapped fault lines.
Here are the earthquakes that happened in Stanislaus County in September 2023, which parts of the county are most at risk and what officials say to do if you feel one:
Where are the faults in Stanislaus County?
The San Joaquin and Ortigalita fault lines are part of the Great Valley thrust fault system, Philibosian said.
The earthquakes this week were located slightly north of the Ortigalita fault, in an area without any mapped fault lines at the surface, she said.
These earthquakes, of course, occurred some miles deep in the earth, Philibosian said. I would hesitate to associate these earthquakes with any one of those particular mapped faults, but theyre happening on that broader fault zone.
In the southern area of the Diablo Range, an area west of I-5, is the Ortigalita fault. Most construction in this area is prohibited without a geographic study, according to the county.
A map of the faults that run through Stanislaus County.
No active faults are currently known to exist within the valley portion of the county, a 2017 version of the countys hazard mitigation plan says.
Most development in the unincorporated county is not near the areas of greatest shaking potential, according to the county, with exception of the Diablo Grande community.
All of the recent earthquakes were in the area of Diablo Grande and Westley.
This seems to be part of a longer sequence that started on Aug. 25, Philibosian said. Most of the earthquakes have been quite small and probably not felt. The activity really ramped up after that magnitude 4 last night.
Here are the locations and sizes of the earthquakes, according to previous Bee reporting:
5:15 p.m. (4.0)- 14 km south-southwest of Westley, at a depth of 0.1 km
8:44 p.m. (3.6)- 15 km southwest of Westley, depth imprecise
9:13 p.m. (4.5)- 15 km southwest of Westley, at a depth of 3.5 km
9:40 p.m. (3.2)- 16 km west-southwest of Patterson at a depth of 1.4 km
10:25 p.m. (3.2)- 17 km west-southwest of Patterson at a depth of 1.9 km
3:21 a.m. (3.1)- 16 km west-southwest of Patterson at a depth of 0.3 km
How common are earthquakes in Stanislaus County and where is the risk?
The area is no stranger to small earthquakes, Philibosian said. Since the 1970s when there were instruments to record them in Stanislaus County, there have been dozens of similarly sized earthquakes.
Mondays magnitude 4.5 temblor was the largest earthquake ever recorded by instruments in the county, Philibosian said.
The western region of Stanislaus County like Diablo Grande and Westley that experienced Monday and Tuesdays quakes has more earthquakes than the eastern part.
What triggers an earthquake and how are they measured? A California physicist answers
The active faults that may cause ground shaking in the county include the San Andreas, Calaveras and Hayward faults, according to the county.
Damage from earthquakes hasnt occurred for over 200 years, according to the county, except for two occurrences in the extreme western region that borders Santa Clara County. Stanislaus County has declared no disasters caused by earthquake since 1950, the hazard plan states.
While the effects of an earthquake on Stanislaus Countys fault lines lessen in the more incorporated parts of the county like Modesto the dangers from a large earthquake in the region are present.
Map of Stanislaus County earthquake shaking zones.
Stanislaus County is not expected to be an epicenter for a major earthquake, the county states, but damage could result from shaking and aftershocks in other areas. All of California is at high risk for earthquakes.
There is an 80.62% chance of a major earthquake within 31 miles of Stanislaus County within the next 50 years, according to the 2017 hazard plan, and the probability of one impacting the region is likely.
What to do during an earthquake
Even areas that seem relatively quiet like Stanislaus County are not without risk of an earthquake, Philibosian said.
The way to avoid panic is to think about the possibility of these events happening in advance and then you can take steps to be prepared so that you dont suffer injury or damage, she said.
StanEmergency offers several tips for what to do during an earthquake, including:
Stay inside
Minimize movement
Take cover and hold on to whats near you
Stay away from glass, windows or anything that can fall
If youre in bed, stay there and cover your head with a pillow
Cover your face and head and crouch in an inside corner
If you are outside, stay there and move away from buildings, street lights and utility wires
If youre in a vehicle, stop and stay put
Do not use elevators
The Bees Deke Farrow contributed to this story.
What do you want to know about life in Modesto? Ask our service journalism team your top-of-mind questions in the module below or email servicejournalists@modbee.com.
North Carolina Senate Bill 169 came back to the Senate for a vote on Tuesday, Sept. 12, where it was passed with only five opposing votes.
The bill, which started in the Senate as a correction to a prior bill relating to land annexation in Davidson County, was openly opposed by the city of Gastonia after it picked up several additions in the North Carolina House of Representatives.
One of those additions will change voting in Gastonia from an at-large system to a single ward voting system starting in 2025.
City Council members believe this change will lead to higher costs to run elections, lower voter turn out, and even cause the city council to work less cohesively, according to a special meeting held last month.
In summary of their opposition to the bill, Gastonia City Councils resolution to oppose the bill stated that the bill would cause residents to feel, disenfranchised and unrepresented by a majority of the council members who will still be able to vote on major issues affecting the safety, health, and welfare of those citizens.
Councilwoman Donyel Barber said she believes the move could be a waste of taxpayer dollars to have voters come out and cast a vote for just one person, she stated in an interview last month.
Councilwoman Jennifer Stepp said in an interview about the bill last month that the current system has been in place for 60 years.
We have low voter turnout as it is, Stepp said. On top of that, now youre only coming out to vote for one person? That turnout is going to be even lower.
Sign outside the Gaston County Citizens Resource Center on Dallas Cherryville Highway during Early Voting Tuesday afternoon, May 3, 2022.
Stepp also said in the interview that two important factors make her question this decision.
Firstly, Stepp said, these changes are usually requested by the city and executed by the delegation, but in this case, the city did not request this change.
Secondly, Theyre doing this only for Gastonia? None of the other towns and municipalities, Stepp said.
She added that the County Commission has a much larger voting population, but no movement has been made to change the at-large voting system in place at that level.
So I can vote for somebody for county commissioner thats in Dallas or Belmont when I live in Gastonia, but theres been no movement to change that. So, why are they focusing only on Gastonia? Stepp asked.
In the special meeting where they discussed the topic, City Council stated that this change could lead to vote-trading and bias when it comes to making decisions around the city.
Proponents for this change believe it could lead to more representation.
Long-time advocate for this change and Gastonia resident Jim Pass recently wrote an opinion piece stating that the current at-large voting system itself causes more expensive election cycles and opens elections up for more dishonesty.
Pass dives into the history of the voting system in Gastonia and even the role it played in the lives of those working in textile mills. Ultimately, Pass includes a link to an article published by a non-partisan organization that dives into bias that can occur as a result of at-large voting.
In the event that this bill passed after returning to the Senate, Gastonia City Council discussed appeals and reversals at a special meeting on Aug. 12.
However, in an interview on Sept. 13, Stepp stated that as far as she knows, "there's really not an appeal process."
According to Stepp, the only course of action that could be taken is for City Council to ask the delegation to sponsor a bill to reverse the decision.
While City Council has not had a meeting since the time of the bill's passing, and she cannot speak for the city at large, Stepp said she intends to ask the delegation to reverse this decision.
"It seems very disrespectful to me. Disrespectful to the elected officials, and disrespectful to the people who voted for those local officials to represent them," Stepp said.
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: What the passing of Senate Bill 169 means for Gastonia voters
KINGSBURG, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) A teenage boy has been arrested after allegedly making violent threats to a school over social media, the Kingsburg Police Department announced on Monday.
Officers say they were dispatched to the Kingsburg High School located at the 1900 block of 18th Avenue regarding a threat posted over social media.
Upon arrival, police say they were able to identify one juvenile male who was involved in the social media post and that a crime had been committed.
Kingsburg police officers determined the 17-year-old boy is a resident of Fresno and attends school in Fresno.
According to police, the teen was arrested on suspicion of criminal threats and booked into the Fresno County Juvenile Justice Center.
Anyone with information regarding this case is encouraged by police to contact Detective Derek Gagnon at (559) 859-4911.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
Pennsylvania is adopting an automatic voter registration system for anyone who obtains a drivers license or other state identification card, state Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) announced on Tuesday.
Pennsylvanians can still choose not to register when they are obtaining or renewing their IDs, but they will have to proactively opt out of the process to do so.
Shapiro had the power to make the change without passing a new law.
Pennsylvania is the birthplace of our democracy, and as Governor, Im committed to ensuring free and fair elections that allow every eligible voter to make their voice heard, Shapiro said in a statement. Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars.
Pennsylvania is the 24th state to adopt automatic voter registration.
Studies have found that the policys adoption is tied to both higher registration and higher voter turnout.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) implemented a change Tuesday that could boost both voter registration and turnout. Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the 2024 elections.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) implemented a change Tuesday that could boost both voter registration and turnout. Pennsylvania is a critical battleground in the 2024 elections.
Democrats have long argued that making it easier to register to vote, as well as to vote, leads to expanded voter participation. They also tend to believe that their party benefits from higher turnout among low-income residents and other people who vote less frequently, though that theory has been disputed in recent years.
In Pennsylvania, 8.7 million residents were registered to vote as of December 2022, even as the U.S. Census suggests that 10.3 million people are eligible to register.
The Keystone State is expected to be a critical battleground in the 2024 presidential election that could determine whether President Joe Biden remains in the White House. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is also up for reelection in 2024 in a race that is expected to be closely fought.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is encouraging U.S. allies to dig deep and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, saying the munitions could be critical to stopping Russian missile barrages.
Air defense is saving lives, Austin said at a meeting of NATO and allied military leaders in Germany. So I urge this group to continue to dig deep on ground-based air defense for Ukraine. We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defense systems and interceptors.
Tuesday marked the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which comprises military leaders from more than 50 nations focused on supporting Kyiv against the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian leaders have consistently requested long-range missiles that could strike Russia, but the U.S. and other allies remain wary, concerned that strikes on Russian soil will further escalate the war.
A group of four Republican senators backed calls for long-range missiles in a Saturday letter to President Biden.
Austin also said the 31 Abrams tanks promised for Ukraine will arrive soon, with a defense official telling The Associated Press they are already in Europe and will be in Ukraine in the coming days.
International support for Ukraine has continued, despite political movements against financial assistance growing in the U.S. and elsewhere. The Biden administration announced an additional $1 billion in aid for Ukraine earlier this month.
Austin encouraged allies to continue their military and financial support.
Ukraines recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group, he said. And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battles and for the long road ahead.
That $1 billion in aid comes as Ukraine makes progress in its long-awaited counteroffensive in the countrys east. The offensive has moved slowly, worrying some allies, but Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a recent visit that he is pleased by real progress in recent weeks.
Ukrainian forces have taken back more than 50 percent of the territory seized by Russian forces since February of 2022, Blinken said while in Ukraine earlier this month. In the ongoing counteroffensive, progress has accelerated in the past few weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is scheduled to visit Washington this week, where he will meet with Biden and members of Congress.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Peru has launched a criminal probe into how alleged non-human alien corpses that were displayed to the Mexican Congress were taken out of the country.
Self-described UFO expert Jaime Maussan claimed the two small corpses were retrieved from Cusco, Peru. They were presented in windowed boxes in Mexico City on Wednesday, stirring excitement within the UFO conspiracy-theorist community.
Peruvian officials have questioned Mr Maussans claims and said they are looking into how the corpses came into his possession.
Culture minister Leslie Urteaga said they were looking into how the pre-hispanic bodies left Peru, adding that a criminal complaint has been filed against Mr Maussan.
Mr Maussan, 70, insists he is innocent. Im not worried. I have done absolutely nothing illegal, he said.
The 70-year-old has not been able to explain how the corpses came into his possession. He said he would reveal all at an appropriate time.
Doctors in Mexico City are carrying out CT scans on the corpses. Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez, director of the Scientific Institute for Health of the Mexican navy, said the studies showed that the alleged bodies belonged to a single skeleton and were not assembled.
He added that the laboratory tests have shown that there is no evidence of any assembly or manipulation of the skulls.
Mr Maussan claimed, under oath, at the Mexican congress that the mummified specimens are not part of our terrestrial evolution, with almost a third of their DNA remaining unknown, reported Mexican media.
His claims have not been proven and he has previously been associated with claims of discoveries that have later been debunked.
Mr Maussan claimed the remains are about 1,000 years old, saying researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico used carbon dating to determine the age of the corpses.
Self-described UFO expert Jaime Maussan claimed the two small corpses were retrieved from Cusco, Peru (Reuters)
The university has distanced itself from Mr Maussan, claiming its scientists were not involved in the research and never came into contact with the full specimens.
In no case do we make conclusions about the origin of these samples, the universitys National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry With Accelerators said in a statement.
At the public hearing, Mr Maussan showed US officials and members of the Mexican government several videos of UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena before unveiling the alleged alien corpses.
He said: These specimen(s) are not part of our terrestrial evolution... These arent beings that were found after a UFO wreckage. They were found in diatom (algae) mines, and were later fossilized.
Whether they are aliens or not, we dont know, but they were intelligent and they lived with us. They should rewrite history.
He added: We are not alone in this vast universe, we should embrace this reality.
Mr Maussan also told the Mexican Congress how scientists from the Autonomous National University of Mexico found eggs in one of the corpses.
The 70-year-old has previously been associated with claims of alien discoveries that have later been debunked, including five mummies found in Peru in 2017 that were later shown to be human children.
Former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who also attended the hearing to share his personal experience with sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) heaped criticism on the presentation.
Yesterdays demonstration was a huge step backwards for this issue, Mr Graves said on the X, formerly known as Twitter. I am deeply disappointed by this unsubstantiated stunt.
Meanwhile, Antigona Segura, one of Mexicos top astrobiologists, told The New York Times: These conclusions are simply not backed up by evidence. The whole thing is very shameful.
Data loss prevention (DLP) has emerged as a foundational strategy for businesses looking to prevent workers from inadvertently (or advertently) sharing sensitive data outside the confines of the company network. At its core, DLP is about solving the "people problem" -- humans are often at the center of security lapses, whether it's through sharing a confidential document with outsiders or pasting database access tokens into a public GitHub repository.
Recent history is littered with high-profile data breaches, leading to all manner of reputational, regulatory, and financial penalties that can be difficult to recover from. And it's against that backdrop that Virginia-based startup Phalanx is setting out to help, with a lightweight DLP and document-mapping platform that automatically monitors and secures sensitive documents across the likes of Office 365, Google Workspaces, and local machines.
Presenting onstage today as part of the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt, CEO Ian Garrett showcased Phalanxs technology and laid out the company's mission at a time when companies might prefer a more "human-friendly" solution to stop their data seeping into the public domain. TechCrunch caught up with Garrett ahead of time for a product demo and to get the lowdown on the scale of the problem as he sees it.
The story so far
Founded in 2021, Arlington-based Techstars alum Phalanx was initially focused on securing AI systems using data, model validation and vulnerability scanning, using work from Garrett's PhD. However, he says that it was a little ahead of the curve, and companies (and investors) were concerned with more pressing threats.
"When we went out for market validation, what we found across the board was that everyone thought that [what we were doing] was important, and that they would definitely pay for it -- but only when enough people were being hit using that attack vector," Garrett said. "So they were pretty much like 'thanks, but no thanks.'"
Phalanx founding team: CEO Ian Garrett is center
Phalanx CEO Ian Garrett flanked by CTO Austin Garrett (L) and CMO Carl Kenney (R) Image credits: Phalanx
But their work up to that point was not in vain, as they had substantively been concerned with protecting datasets, leading them down a path to help companies protect their unstructured data stored in documents. And so following a late-2021 pivot, the company's MUZE (Monitoring Unstructured data with Zero trust Encryption) platform was born, enabling companies to easily encrypt and decrypt files' track file-related behavior, with Phalanx taking care of the underlying process automatically.
"Phalanx specifically focuses on data security, and within that unstructured data -- mostly documents and files," Garrett said. "Unstructured data is especially hard to protect and manage compared to structured data, such as that stored in databases."
Unstructured data is so difficult to protect because it isn't easy for organizations to even know that sensitive data exists within emails or documents, let alone who has access to those documents. And this data is easily spread across locations (physical and digital) with little footprint to show for it.
According to data from Gartner, unstructured data constitutes as much as 90% of new data generated in the enterprise, which gives an idea as to the size of the problem businesses face.
Under the hood
Phalanx allows security teams to stipulate how data and documents are stored for example, automatically encrypting every file on a two-hour basis, or which file types or directories should be protected.
Enable auto-encryption
Enable auto-encryption. Image credits: Phalanx
Companies can also set expiration dates on shared files so that users don't accidentally keep dozens of confidential documents stored on their laptop, and they can control the "who and how" of file downloads.
At an individual level, users can be given control over their encryption and decryption endeavors, with a right-click enabling them to access Phalanx and choose to manually encrypt a file and send it to any third party.
Encrypting and decrypting files with Phalanx
Encrypting and decrypting files with Phalanx. Image Credits: Phalanx
They can choose to allow a file to be accessed just the one time, allow anyone with the link to access the file, require email verification, and more.
Phalanx: Sharing secure link
Phalanx: Sharing secure link. Image Credits: Phalanx
There are two broad categories of users who will engage with Phalanx: the security teams in charge of deploying Phalanx and the end user (i.e., employee) who will interact with its features on a daily basis.
On the security team's side, they have access to Phalanx's endpoint software, which can be deployed by downloading it from Phalanx's website, with support for documents stored locally or in the cloud, the latter of which requires a browser extension.
In addition to the endpoint software, Phalanx also serves up a centralized dashboard through the browser where security teams can view and manage everything, including users and cloud connections, and access data analysis. Indeed, the company debuted an all-new version of the dashboard at TC Disrupt today, where it showcased new data-mapping and data inventory smarts that reveal how many files there are, how many are encrypted, and across how many devices.
Phalanx dashboard
Phalanx dashboard. Image credits: Phalanx
State of play
Phalanx has entered a space that includes well-resourced incumbents such as Netskope, which hit a $7.5 billion valuation two years ago, and Proofpoint, which private equity giant Thoma Bravo took private in a $12.3 billion deal around the same time. According to Garrett, though, most of the traditional DLP tools out there are geared toward enterprise-size organizations and are substantively rules-based, which means that companies have to predict how each user in the organization will interact with data in their possession using historical patterns.
On top of that, rule and policy-based configuration requires significant technical expertise that even some of the largest organizations struggle with. Phalanx, on the other hand, is designed for same-day deployment.
"Existing DLP is difficult for security teams to deploy and manage, as well as being difficult for end users (e.g., employees) to deal with," Garrett said. "This impacts productivity and causes human-related security issues. Document visibility is a black box, so security teams try to retrofit legacy DLP to fix the issue."
In truth, existing DLP solutions adopt various approaches to keeping company data secure. This may involve applying rules and policies to network traffic, for example, or trying to prevent data movement beyond a defined perimeter. This could be something like "don't let user X from department Y download file Z," or maybe trying to stop users from moving data from a local environment to a USB stick.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOSew7EWKPg?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent&w=640&h=360]
Instead, Phalanx focuses on tethering user identities to files, meaning that the security "follows the file itself," giving customers analytics based on file access.
For now, SMBs are the core target market for Phalanx, though longer term it has its eyes on the enterprise segment too. That said, Garrett reckons that bigger companies could certainly find use for Phalanx right now, perhaps where a company is already using several DLP platforms and they need a very specific solution for a subdivision where their existing DLP just isn't providing what they need.
"Our single biggest differentiator is that we are a proactive solution, whereas traditional DLP is reactive," Garrett said. "It's corny, but we put the 'prevention' in 'data loss prevention.' Traditional DLP aims to catch data as it's leaving its perimeter, while we protect it in place so no matter what happens to it, it will be secure."
Miami real estate broker George Pino didnt show up Tuesday for his first appearance before a judge to answer for misdemeanor careless boating charges, but instead pleaded not guilty through his attorney.
At the Miami court hearing, Pinos lawyer, Howard Srebnick, entered the plea to Miami-Dade County Judge Lizzet Martinez via a Zoom call.
George Pino
Pino, 52, was at the helm of his 29-foot Robalo center console boat Sept. 4, 2022, driving from a birthday celebration for his daughter on Elliott Key to his vacation home in Ocean Reef Club, when he slammed the vessel into a fixed channel marker in South Biscayne Bay throwing all 14 people on board into the water.
View of the channel going south toward Key Largo and Ocean Reef Club in Biscayne Bay, site of a deadly boat crash on Labor Day weekend.
Luciana Fernandez, 17, died in the hospital the next day as a result of injuries she suffered in the crash. Her Our Lady of Lourdes Academy classmate, 18-year-old Katerina Puig, was left with permanent disabilities.
State fish and wildlife police determined alcohol was not a factor, even though when the boat was recovered from the water the next day, they found more than 60 empty alcohol bottles and cans, along with a half-empty booze bottle and a spent bottle of champagne, on board.
Empty beer and other alcoholic beverage bottles and cans are lined up behind the cockpit of George Pinos 29-foot Robalo boat on Sept. 5, 2022.
The main investigator wrote in his final report that he did not notice Pino showing any signs of impairment following the crash, and that Pino declined to voluntarily submit blood to test for alcohol because his lawyer wasnt present.
However, footage from the officers body-worn camera, released to the Herald late last month, appears to tell a different story. Pinos immediate response to being asked to submit blood was, No. I had two beers.
His attorney not being present was never brought up, according to any footage released to the Herald.
Based on the officers report, the Miami-Dade State Attorneys Office said it could not seek higher charges than the three counts of misdemeanor careless boating filed in August.
The outcome of the investigation outraged the Fernandez and Puig families. The Puigs had already filed a lawsuit against Pino and his wife, Cecilia, who was also on the boat that day, alleging they provided alcohol to all 12 teen girls on the vessel that day.
Katerina Katy Puig was seriously injured in a Sept. 4, 2022, boat crash in Biscayne Bay. She is pictured here after being named Dade Soccer Big School Player of the Year, photographed at A.D. Barnes Park in Miami, Florida on Tuesday, March 8, 2022.
The Pinos through court filings in the pending case denied the accusation.
Both the Fernandezes and Puigs declined to comment for this story. They had previously issued statements criticizing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigation and the charges ultimately filed by prosecutors.
Luciana Fernandez
The families also took issue with the charges because they note Pinos narrative as to why he lost control of his boat that a larger boat heading in his direction threw a wake was not corroborated by anyone on the boat or in the area that day.
Judge Martinez Tuesday set a status hearing for the case for Oct. 3 at 10 a.m. She said she hoped prosecutors and Pinos attorneys would be ready for a trial by late October or early November.
Planned Parenthood resumed providing abortions in Wisconsin on Monday after stopping them for more than a year when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated the constitutional right to the medical procedure.
The organization began halting its services shortly after the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health opinion in June 2022. The decision triggered Wisconsins 1849 law that providers interpreted as banning almost all abortions.
Wisconsins Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a suit to repeal the abortion ban. A Wisconsin judge in July ruled the law does not apply to consensual medical abortions, allowing the lawsuit to move forward.
The suit is expected to eventually reach the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which flipped to Democratic control last month for the first time in 15 years.
The uncertainty about the enforceability of Wisconsins 1849 abortion law has been devastating for Wisconsin women and people across the gender spectrum who need abortion care, Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, said last week.
Due to the July court ruling, Atkinson said the organization is confident to resume abortion care in Wisconsin. Services were resumed at clinics in Milwaukee and Madison on Monday, according to Atkinson.
Over the past 15 months without access to abortion care, many patients sought services in neighboring Illinois, where abortions have remained largely available. In a June statement, Planned Parenthood of Illinois said it saw a 700 percent increase in patients traveling to the state from outside of the bi-state region of Missouri and Illinois.
Womens Medical Fund of Wisconsin, which provides financial assistance for abortion procedures and related costs, helped 477 patients from Wisconsin with abortion care outside of the state in the first six months of 2023, according to The Associated Press, which cited board president Cynthia Lin.
Theres a lot of work still to do, even within the return of legal abortion care in Wisconsin, Lin told the AP, noting the long distances some patients must travel to clinics in Madison or Milwaukee.
Lin also pointed to the barriers established by state laws that require patients seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound and counseling appointment before waiting 24 hours for the procedure, the AP reported.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Poland will likely not extend the support for the roughly 1 million Ukrainian refugees it is hosting to the same extent for the following year, Polish government spokesperson Piotr Muller told Polsat News on Sept. 18.
Poland has hosted the largest number of Ukrainian refugees of all countries. The U.N. records around 6 million refugees residing abroad as a result of Russian aggression.
In a show of solidarity with besieged Ukraine, Warsaw decided to assist Ukrainian refugees by waiving residency requirements and providing free access to education, healthcare, and family benefits.
Now, the Polish government signals this aid may not be prolonged for 2024, at the very least not at the same scale.
"These regulations will simply expire next year," Muller said on television.
"I think the regulations will not be extended to a large extent," he noted, adding that the international community should become more involved in the support.
Read also: Mothers of killed soldiers find meaning in helping war effort, refugees
According to data collected by Statista, Poland allocated around $16.5 billion to support refugees in the period from March 2022 to June 2023, outspending all other European countries hosting Ukrainians fleeing from the war.
Poland has been one of Ukraine's most fervent supporters since the start of the full-scale war, providing not only humanitarian aid but also military and diplomatic support.
The relationship has grown strained recently, marred by diplomatic spats and disagreements over Ukrainian grain imports as the governing Law and Justice party likely seeks to win over farmers' votes ahead of the October parliamentary elections.
Poland extended the ban on domestic sales of Ukrainian agricultural products despite the EU's decision not to prolong the measure past Sept. 15.
The ban was imposed by the European Commission in May at the request of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania, who feared that Ukrainian imports may threaten their domestic agricultural production.
In turn, Kyiv said it will sue Poland, as well as Hungary and Slovakia who also decided to prolong the ban, over their refusal to lift the restrictions. Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that the Ukrainian government may impose its own import bans on select goods from the three countries.
Read also: Ukraine ready to take neighbors to court as continued grain bans threaten exports
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
As of around 5 p.m. local time, six people have been confirmed killed in Russias Sept. 19 air strike on Kharkiv Oblasts Kupiansk, according to Serhii Bolvinov, head of the regional police's investigative department.
Earlier the same day, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that Russian forces had launched a guided aerial bomb at Kupiansk, killing three civilians.
The attack hit the vehicle of volunteers evacuating civilians from the city, Bolvinov said on Facebook. The updated number of victims includes two women and four men.
We continue to retrieve the bodies from the nearby river and destroyed cars, the official added.
Kupiansk has recently come under intensified attacks as Russia continues its offensive operation to retake the territories in Kharkiv Oblast liberated by Ukraines surprise counteroffensive last autumn. Kupiansk was occupied by Russian forces from Feb. 27 to Sept. 10, 2022.
Last month, Ukrainian authorities ordered the mandatory evacuation of 37 settlements in the Kupiansk district.
A total of 1,433 people, including 343 children, have been evacuated from front-line areas in Kharkiv Oblast's Kupiansk district since Aug. 9, Syniehubov said on Aug. 28.
Read also: Escape from Kupiansk: How one cop tricked the Russians
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The scene outside the Grove Park Apartments in Tallahassee, where a child was accidentally fatally shot on Sept. 6.
A young father was arrested Tuesday after Tallahassee police say he left unsecured guns around his two toddler sons and one was accidentally shot and killed earlier this month.
Jevin Randle, 20, was arrested on charges of leaving a loaded firearm accessible to a minor. He is currently being held in the Leon County Detention Facility.
According to court documents, Randle had just finished bathing his two 1-year-olds and was in his mother's room watching TV as the boys left the room to go play in his bedroom.
The children became quiet when he heard a "pop" come from the room, according to the documents. He ran into the room and found the victim on the floor and his other son by the gun.
"Jevin reported that his children knew not to play with firearms and that, although they are infants, they know right from wrong," the document says. "Jevin stated that the children were 'unoccupied for too long which is my fault, I apologize.'"
A neighbor who was outside the apartment talking with Randle's mother at the time of the shooting said he ran out of the house with his son in his arms and said he needed to go to the hospital.
Randle and his mother took off to the hospital but had Emergency Medical Services meet them along the way. The shooting occurred at the Grove Park Apartments in east Tallahassee.
Footage from interior video cameras show that Randle was in his mother's room, Randle's brother was in the living room playing video games, his mother was outside talking with the neighbor and the two toddlers were alone in the back bedroom, according to court documents.
"There is sufficient evidence to support that ... the minor obtained and used the firearm to inflict injury or death upon another 1-year-old," the document says.
Firearm safety at home: 5 tips to keep your kids safe with guns in the house
Randle told police he had the guns as a safety measure because the day before, a group of masked men were walking around the apartment complex with a gun and crowbar, which was also captured on his mother's surveillance footage.
When officers searched the room they found the handgun used in the accidental shooting and an unsecured pistol under the bed, along with "firearm accessories and ammunition throughout the bedroom."
This incident is one of five accidental shootings since the start of the month. Four of the shootings involved children or minors and claimed the lives of three people.
The slew of accidental shootings comes as a summer surge of gun violence weighs on the capital city and county. So far this year, there have been at least 70 serious shootings leading to 19 deaths 14 of them since June and at least 56 injuries, according to a Tallahassee Democrat analysis of gun violence.
Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on Twitter @elenabarreraaa.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee police: Dad faces charges after toddler shoots 1-year-old
WORCESTER Police said they discovered a loaded handgun and illegal drugs in a student's backpack Monday morning at the Worcester Alternative School.
According to a Facebook post from the police department, school administrators called for police assistance after discovering what appeared to be illegal drugs in a student's bag.
Officers discovered a loaded handgun and bags of what appeared to be heroin, crack cocaine and powder cocaine, police said.
A 17-year-old boy was placed under arrest on firearms and drugs charges.
The school's administration notified families of the incident in a letter, which mentioned Worcester police were initially called due to concerns about items potentially in the student's possession and that a gun was found in the student's backpack after police arrived. The letter did not specifically mention drugs being discovered.
Worcester Alternative School serves students in seventh through 12th grade whose needs are not met in a traditional school setting.
"While we do not believe the student in question was planning to harm our students or staff, we do not tolerate weapons of any kind on school property," Ann Ortiz, coordinator at the Alternative School, said in the letter. "This incident did not disrupt the school day and the safety of students and staff was maintained at all times."
She said the school is remaining in close communication with the police department about the incident to "ensure the safety of everyone at our school."
School counselors are also available to speak with students and staff members about the incident, she said.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Police say loaded gun and drugs found in Worcester student's bag
Authorities in Salem responded to an elementary school Tuesday afternoon for a reported bomb threat.
The threat was called into Witchcraft Heights Elementary School around 1:30 p.m. and after a thorough search of the building, Salem Police deemed the incident a hoax.
In a press release, Chief Miller expressed his frustration saying in part this was yet another threat at the elementary school.
The frequency of school threats which turn out to be hoaxes has dramatically increased in the last two years and presents a quandary for school personnel and public safety alike, they said. It is clear that we must always respond and take all threats seriously given what is at stake. The response, however, must also take into account the mental trauma inflicted upon school children who are exposed to repeated police emergencies and the small but real risk we take in moving them en masse.
According to the school departments website, grades 1-12 returned to class on August 29, marking at least the second bomb threat to Salem schools in less than a month.
Police say theyre committed to ensuring a safe and measured response to all threats made against schools in the district.
For Immediate Release 19 September 2023 Today at approximately 1:30 PM, Salem Police responded to yet another bomb... Posted by Salem MA Police on Tuesday, September 19, 2023
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A teen was arrested Monday morning for allegedly bringing a loaded handgun along with an abundance of drugs into school.
Authorities responded to the Worcester Alternative School around 11:30 a.m. after school administrators found illegal drugs in a students backpack, according to Worcester Police.
Arriving officers searched the teens backpack and allegedly found a loaded handgun, bags of what appeared to be heroin, bags of apparent crack cocaine, and bags of apparent powdered cocaine.
A 17-year-old male juvenile was charged with firearm and drug-related offenses.
Police say families were notified of the incident by the schools administration. In a letter to parents, Principal Ann OLeary Ortiz said the safety of students and staff is always a top priority.
While we do not believe the student in question was planning to harm our students or staff, we do not tolerate weapons of any kind on school property, she wrote. This incident did not disrupt the school day and the safety of students and staff was maintained at all times. We are in close communication with the Worcester Police Department about this incident. We will remain in close communication with the Worcester Police now and in the days ahead to ensure the safety of everyone at our school. In addition, please know our school counselors are available to speak with any student or staff member who would like to talk about this incident.
There were no reports of any injuries.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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Columbus, Ohio, authorities are investigating two police officers who casually discussed charging an 11-year-old girl with manufacturing child porn. The girl in question had allegedly sent inappropriate photos of herself to a much older man, prompting her father to call the police.
"Sexual Assault Unit detectives were immediately notified of the incident and have since initiated an investigation," said the Columbus Department of the Inspector General in a statement, according to The Columbus Dispatch.
The interaction between the police officers and the girl's father was captured by a doorbell camera and posted to TikTok. The account that posted the video on TikTok did not respond to a request for comment.
In the video, the police arrive at the girl's house at about midnight, according to the father, who complains that he called them many hours earlier. The father steps outside the door and explains the situation: His 11-year-old daughter sent pictures of herself to an adult man. He suggests that he wanted the police to convey the seriousness of the situation to her, though she has already gone to bed.
"I just want her to realize what this was," says the father. "I mean, reality is not much I probably can do about it, is there?"
One of the police officers responds: "I mean, she can probably get charged with child porn."
The father is taken aback, and clarifies that he believes his daughter is the victim, not the perpetrator.
"Doesn't matter," says the officer. "She's still making porn."
At that point, the fatherquite wiselytells the officers to have a good night and shuts the door in their faces.
The viral video created understandable outrage on social media, which has prompted the authorities to investigate their own response. Most people do not think an 11-year-old girl who has produced pornographic images of herself should be arrested for it.
An adult male coercing a child into sending sexual images is absolutely engaging in criminal activity, and if that's what happened here, it should be dealt with. It's not at all encouraging that the police seemed to have the situation backward.
Nevertheless, state laws criminalizing child pornography often fail to make this important distinction. Indeed, underage teenagers are often charged for consensually swapping sexts. Overzealous police have a habit of making things worse rather than better.
The post Police Threaten To Arrest 11-Year-Old Victim of Child Porn appeared first on Reason.com.
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses a joint meeting of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 21, 2022. Zelenskyy's visit to Washington this week comes at a critical time as Republican leadership in the House and Senate diverge on the best way to get more military and humanitarian aid over the finish line. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington this week comes at a critical juncture for his alliance with the United States as Republican leaders in Congress diverge on how to send more military and humanitarian aid to the country.
President Joe Biden is seeking an additional $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, in line with his promise to help the country for as long as it takes to oust Russia from its borders.
But ratification of Biden's request is deeply uncertain thanks to a growing partisan divide in Congress about how to proceed.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he wants more Ukraine aid to be debated on its own merits as a standalone bill, rather than attaching it to other priorities like government funding.
But the Senate has other ideas. Leaders in the chamber would like to combine the Ukraine aid with other priorities, such as a short-term spending bill that will likely be needed to avoid a shutdown at the end of September.
The differing approaches threaten to become a stalemate that could easily delay future rounds of American assistance to Ukraine, raising the stakes for Zelenskyy as he makes his first visit to the United States since his surprise address to Congress at the end of 2022. In that speech, Zelenskky thanked every American for support as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris dramatically unfurled a Ukrainian flag behind him.
Nine months later, with Republicans now in control of the House majority, there is growing wariness among voters about continued support for Ukraine as Russia turns its invasion into a costly war of attrition. In Congress that skepticism is concentrated among House Republicans, where many share former President Donald Trump's America First" approach and want to halt the aid entirely.
The U.S. has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russias invasion so far, totaling about $113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishing U.S. military equipment sent to the frontlines. Most members of the House and Senate support the aid, viewing defense of Ukraine and its democracy as a global imperative.
McCarthy has stressed the need for oversight of Ukrainian assistance but has also been critical of Russia, criticizing the country's killing of children in a speech this summer. But he is juggling a desire to help Ukraine with the political realities at home, which include a demand from many in his party to slash government spending.
In some ways, attaching Ukraine aid to other pressing matters could improve the odds of passing it quickly. Some lawmakers will be more inclined to vote for Ukraine assistance if it gets included with say, disaster relief for their home state.
But the maneuver would also deeply divide House Republicans and is sure to inflame critics of McCarthy who are threatening to oust him from the speakership.
I dont know why they would want to put that onto a CR," McCarthy said, using Washington parlance for a short-term continuing resolution that keeps agencies funded. I think it should be discussed on its own.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has put Ukraine aid at the top of his to-do list, and has been speaking from the Senate floor for weeks about the urgency he sees to act.
He brought in inspectors general last week to brief GOP senators on how U.S. aid is being tracked to address concerns about waste and fraud. And in one of his speeches on the Senate floor, McConnell responded to critics who say that the U.S. has borne too much of the burden on Ukraine by pointing to the assistance also flowing from European nations.
In fact, when it comes to security assistance to Ukraine as a share of GDP, 14 of our European allies are actually giving more, McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and McConnell have called for senators to meet with Zelenskyy on Thursday morning.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said he believes aid should be provided as soon as possible, and the legislative vehicle for that is unlikely to be a stand-alone bill.
I for one think we ought to go ahead and get it done, Tillis said. We have to get the Ukraine funding done in a time that doesn't produce a lapse, at least a perceived lapse, because I think that's a strategic win for Putin and I don't ever want Putin to have a strategic win.
But Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., warned against adding Ukraine aid to the short-term spending bill. He said the focus needs to be on first passing an overall defense spending bill as well as the other spending bills.
We can't divert attention outside of that, Calvert said. There's significant munitions within Ukraine right now I think to get through the end of the year."
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said he's not necessarily opposed to more Ukrainian assistance, but he said the average American doesn't know how the war is going, and the average member of Congress can't say, either.
Tell us what you're doing with the money, and let's have a debate on the floor about this funding and not ramming it down our throats, Garcia said.
House Republicans hope to bring up for a vote this week a stopgap spending bill that doesn't include Biden's aid package for Ukraine.
I cannot think of a worse welcome for President Zelenskyy who visits us this week than this House proposal, which ignores Ukraine entirely, Schumer said.
Still, Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, voiced confidence that Ukraine aid will continue.
It has to pass. What I hear from our NATO allies ... is that if the United States is not in, the whole thing falls apart, McCaul said.
At this point I have no idea if Daniel Cameron is auditioning to be the high priest of Gilead or Margaret Sangers best friend, but it looks as though the most recent public polling which showed him eight points down has put his messaging in a twist.
If our legislature was to bring legislation before me that provided exceptions for rape and incest, I would sign that legislation, Cameron said on a local radio show on Monday. Theres no question about that.
Except there are many questions about that.
Until Monday, Cameron had never signaled that he would be open to exceptions in Kentuckys extreme abortion ban. Until Monday, in both words and deeds, he had stood staunchly behind Kentuckys trigger law after the Dobbs decision and Kentuckys own fetal heartbeat bill, which has virtually eliminated abortion in our state. He said so in at least two debates, and his office argued in favor of the current laws in front of the Kentucky Supreme Court.
These have had real life consequences for Kentucky women, like one whose baby had no brain, but who was forced to carry to term, or another who had to seek an out of state termination because even though her babys anomaly would kill him and possibly give her cancer, her doctors did not think they could help her.
Cameron didnt even seem open to helping doctors in Kentucky by encouraging legislators to make Kentuckys exceptions for the life of the mother more specific about fetal anomalies that might require termination as more progressive states like, ahem, Louisiana has done.
Its also worth pointing out that Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, did file a bill allowing exceptions, and it didnt even get a committee hearing. So Cameron can hide behind the extreme supermajority in the legislature.
Voters are going to get confused. Nor has he helped explain his position on birth control, which he was for, apparently before he filled out the Northern Kentucky Right to Life questionnaire saying he was against it.
Now this questionnaire conflates abortion and birth control, which for some extremists are one and the same. But Cameron should read more carefully. Some of his fellow GOP candidates did so and left the questions blank.
Ill take Cameron at his word that he supports birth control, which is, after all, the best way to avoid abortion. What I find more alarming is that Cameron said he opposed Medicaid funding for birth control, which is a way many poor women receive it. Luckily, Medicaid is a federal program, thus immune from the vagaries of gubernatorial candidates.
It would be interesting to see Camerons internal polling with women, moderates, and suburbanites, the same people who stopped a constitutional amendment that he supported to make an abortion ban permanent.
All this to say, Camerons new positions are fooling very few. You cant drum up the base and appeal to suburban moderates at the same time. Just as teachers dont buy Camerons crocodile tear apologies now that he needs their votes, women know that were close enough to a Margaret Atwood dystopian novel as it is. With our personal freedoms on the line, we cant risk playing footsie with a politician whose views change with every new poll.
Hundreds of mail pieces containing checks went missing from a Chicago neighborhood, and now its former postal carrier has pleaded guilty in federal court, authorities said.
In her signed plea agreement, Olivia Bryant said she stole hundreds of pieces of mail that contained checks between about December 2020 and March 2021. The checks included COVID-19 stimulus checks and other U.S. Treasury checks, authorities said.
On Thursday, Sept. 14, she pleaded guilty to a charge of theft from the U.S. mail, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
The defense attorney representing Bryant, 35, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on Sept. 19.
In one example, Bryant said she stole 11 pieces of First-Class mail on March 17, 2021, according to court records.
Authorities said the mail, which was transferred from her mail satchel to her purse, contained five pieces of government property:
A $250 U.S. Treasury check.
A check with $551 in Social Security benefits.
A $212 tax refund.
A Treasury check worth $135.
A $17.62 Treasury check.
Bryant faces up to five years in federal prison, authorities said. Her sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 7.
McClatchy News requested comment from the U.S. Postal Service Office and was awaiting a response.
Popeyes cashier steals customers credit card and goes shopping, Texas cops say
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Attorney steals $1.6 million from client after he died, splurges on Amazon, feds say
After arriving in New York City on Sept. 18 for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers recovering at Staten Island University Hospital.
Nine service members who have lost limbs fighting are currently receiving treatment at the hospital, according to Ukrinform.
According to his Telegram channel, president Zelensky visited the wounded immediately upon arrival in New York, where he presented decorations to the soldiers.
According to Zelensky, the hospital director told him they had "never seen people who wanted to return home so much" as the Ukrainian military.
President Zelensky will stay in New York from Sept. 18 through Sept. 20, where he will address the General Assembly of world leaders on Tuesday. Over 150 heads of state are expected to participate in the meeting, which is the first Zelensky will attend in-person since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.
After participating in the assembly, Zelensky is expected to travel to Washington DC to meet with President Biden and members of Congress. The United States has been the single largest provider of aid to Ukraine.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Prince William wrapped up his flying visit to New York on Tuesday by unveiling the finalists of his million-pound Earthshot prize for climate and environmental innovations.
He said that it was wonderful to be back in the city for the first time since 2014, adding that earlier attempts to return had been put back by the pandemic and death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
The prince took part in a fireside chat with previous Earthshot prize winner, Vaitea Cowan, during a summit at the Plaza Hotel on Tuesday in Manhattan, where he began by confirming that he had started the day with a quintessential New York activity.
I decided to join the hordes of New Yorkers doing their morning routine as they went round Central Park. It was wonderful waking up in New York on a sunny morning after the rain we had yesterday, and it was beautiful getting some fresh air this morning, Prince William said.
He explained that the success of the Earthshot prize, which is in its third year, was cause for optimism but that he was impatient to scale up the innovations that emerging from the competition.
For me, something I havent quite cracked yet is how do we scale faster, he said. You guys provide the products and inspiration. My role is to get as fast and as scalable as possible. I think we still have some work to do.
He pointed out that the prize isnt a philanthropic thing.
Were doing this because the vast majority of these solutions are commercially viable, he added.
He told the audience that Earthshot had been inspired by President John F Kennedys Moonshot challenge which drove space innovation in the 1960s and saw the United States put the first man on the moon.
Prince William pointed out that JFKs project had resulted in inventions that we take for granted today, such as the X-ray.
William, Prince of Wales, walks in the water as he visits the Billion Oyster Project in New York City on September 18, 2023 (Getty Images)
Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York and financial partner of the Earthshot prize, opened the event by welcoming the audience to the greatest city in the world.
He lauded the prince for his popularity in America after a recent poll discovered that 60 per cent of Republicans and 60 per cent of Democrats view the royal favorably.
The US has not seen that bipartisanship since 1776, Mr Bloomberg joked.
Advisers to the Earthshot prize, Dame Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister, and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, also took part in conversations at the event.
Each of the 15 finalists, who span six continents, are in the running to receive one of five 1 million ($1.2m) awards in five categories - Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Singapore this November.
Among the finalists are a community initiative from Peru that is working to protect native high Andean forest ecosystems; a British company that designs tyres for electric vehicles that reduce harmful particulate pollution; and a tech company from South Africa that helps small fishing communities make their catches more sustainable while earning a living.
The Earthshot Prize summit coincides with New Yorks annual climate week and the United Nations General Assembly taking place across town.
On Monday evening, Prince William met with UN Secretary General Antonio Gutterres where they both expressed hope that the Cop28 climate summit, held later this year in Dubai, will deliver a significant outcome on reducing emissions, Kensington Palace said.
The Prince of Wales spent Monday afternoon getting waist-deep in New York harbour to learn about the Billion Oyster Project which returns restaurants discarded oyster shells to the waters in order to help with water filtration and create new habitats.
When the private equity firm KKR agreed to buy the publishing house Simon & Schuster from Paramount for $1.62 billion on Aug. 7, one element of the deal raised eyebrows in the book world. Employees will receive an ownership stake in the company, part of a program KKR developed to improve engagement among those who work in the companies it buys, the New York Times reported. In the wider media industry, which has learned the hard way in recent years what private equity takeovers can mean for headcounts and working conditions, the asterisk prompted skepticism and hope in equal measure. Because I am writing a book (for HarperCollins) about workers at companies acquired by private equity firms, my texts and DMs began to fill with inquiries from curious authors, editors, and gossip hounds. Am I going to get rich????? one S&S editor friend texted, concluding with a string of money-tongue emojis.
If Pete Stavros, KKRs co-head of global private equity, has his way, she just mightrich by the woeful standards of the publishing industry, anyway. For a little over a decade, Stavros has been building employee-ownership stakes into KKR deals; in 2021, he expanded his efforts into a nonprofit called Ownership Works, which has convinced about two dozen other investment firms to do the same. (The Omidyar Network, which awarded me a grant for my book reporting and has funded a slew of groups working toward regulation and increased accountability in the private equity industry, has also given money to Ownership Works.)
The idea is that an acquiring investment firm redirects a couple percent of the total equity of a company to employees; each gets a fraction of the fraction for free, with an option for higher-paid workers to buy more. When the company eventually goes public or sells, everyone gets a check, instead of just the top executives. In the most extreme example to date, workers at Illinois-based C.H.I. Overhead Doors made an average of $175,000 when KKR sold the company for a 10-times return last year. Some longtime truck drivers made as much as $800,000.
Private equitys entire M.O. is maximizing profits: A firm like KKR buys a company using mostly borrowed money, takes hefty management fees, and often uses a variety of financial maneuvers that progressive politicians and advocacy groups are clamoring to outlaw. (The industry doesnt have much to worry about on the regulation front thanks in large part to its massive donations to politicians of both parties.) Seen through that lens, Ownership Works can look like simple whitewashing, sacrificing a tiny amount of money in exchange for a lot of good headlines.
Stavros, though, insists that the program is a win-win: Workers get the chance for a big payout and a voice in company decisions, and investors get increased staff engagement and retention, which in turn creates higher profits. Hes fond of recounting a conversation he had while shadowing a C.H.I. truck driver on his delivery jobs through the upper Midwest. The driver told Stavros he was paid 40 cents per mile, so he didnt care whether his route was efficientuntil he became a partial owner of the company, when he had an incentive to help curb waste and drive up profits. While Simon & Schuster is unlikely to see a 10-times exitits still book publishingStavros says if workers there can help find similar inefficiencies that help KKR sell their employer for a profit, their small stakes will earn them at least six months worth of salary on the deal.
At KKRs New York headquarters last week, Stavros and I discussed the future of employee ownership and the limitations of the Ownership Works model. The conversation has been condensed and lightly edited for length and clarity.
Megan Greenwell: What did KKR see in Simon & Schuster?
Pet Stavros: Weve had a lot of success in carve-outs, where you buy a division of a huge company, particularly when that division is not core to what the main company does. Its usually underinvested in, to say it mildly: underappreciated, hasnt gotten a lot of focus, and certainly hasnt gotten capital. Those tend to be really interesting investments. So we took it out of Paramount, which does not have a focus on book publishing, and are now creating the only major stand-alone book publisher. Everyone else is buried in huge conglomerates.
When youre stuck in a big company that doesnt have a focus on your business, it leads to a lot of complacency. Why are we going to go kill ourselves to make the business different or better? For example, theres a lot of waste that comes from excess inventory in publishing. To be fair to them, its challenging to predict if a book is going to sell.
Im sure you know the brand Zara. The entire success of Zara is their supply chain.
Zara basically said, Were going to massively shrink lead times. We are going to more locally source everything that we do, and we are going to have the most responsive supply chain in the world. We will test at the beginning of a season, colors, fits, and well see what sells. And then were going to shift our whole supply chain to whats selling. Thats how Zara made gazillions of dollars. No one has ever tried that type of thinking in book publishing, and theres no reason those types of ideas cant work, right? Its just, whats the incentive?
Theres always going to be nervousness in creative fields when a company focused on maximizing shareholder value comes in. Every book is sort of a gamble, and you dont know what will sell and what wont, but you know that Taylor Swifts hypothetical memoir will sell a lot better than a beautiful lyrical book of poetry, right?
Book publishing is a hit-driven business, and people dont really know whats going to sell. I dont think its practically achievable to say all were going to do now is hits, because everyone wants to do that, and no one knows how to do it. I think the key to being successful is going to be making it so the best editors and the best writers want to work with Simon & Schuster. And that needs to be a balance of Were bringing important works to the world and Were trying to be a profitable, growing business.
Tell me the details of how employee ownership will work at Simon & Schuster.
The idea is going to be that everyone becomes an owner in the business, and then we build on top of that. This is very hard and takes years, and, by the way, is not always successful, but we try to build a culture of ownership. That means educating people on the business, teaching them about the financials of the company, sharing information, having quarterly owner meetings. I will chair a steering committee with Jonathan [Karp, Simon & Schusters CEO] on employee ownership and engagement. Its basically a lot of things that we try and do to get people to be more engaged on the job, and then measuring the quit rate. So, are people less likely to quit over time?
What about the financial side for employees?
We try to underpromise and overdeliver. So we will say to folks, If we hit our plan,I dont even know what the plan is yet, reduce waste, whatevereveryone has an opportunity to make six months of their salary in stock options. Were hoping that it will take 24 months. And when I say the plan, its not just earnings, but key drivers of growth. How can we get the entirety of the workforce to understand the drivers and be involved in pushing them forward, give them data to understand how were doing and how theyre contributing and where were off track?
If you make less than $100,000, you still get equity, but we dont ask you to invest. Thats an Ownership Works mandate. If youre making more than $100,000, you dont have to invest; you will have a little bit less upside, youre going to get a little bit less stock, but you can always go in the free lane. And then in the nonfree lane, its small as a percentage of your income. So it tends to be something like 2 percent of your annual salary. And the goal is that within a couple of years, everyone can get at least 100 percent of their salary out.
Simon & Schusters entry-level salary is now $50,000, which is the highest among the Big Five publishers. But
Its low.
Its barely making ends meet. So if Im an entry-level worker at Simon & Schuster, why dont you just raise my salary?
Its one of the most complicated and fair challenges you always get with this program. Simon & Schuster, without getting into numbers, is not a highly profitable business. And we are managers of other peoples money. So to give you an extreme example, we [KKR] manage teachers retirement funds. We also manage wealthy peoples money, so I dont want to cherry-pick, but Im just giving you a flavor for why this is so tricky. If youre managing teachers pension money and you want to just raise everyones salary, that is on the backs of teachers, which is not ethical, and its not our money. So what can we do? Ownership is a way of trying to navigate to a win-win: People can build wealth, quit rates can go down, company cultures can improve, productivity can go up, performance can improve, and the teachers are better off, just like the workers.
This does not solve everything. Its not like if we just do employee ownership, the economy is going to be fair and everyones going to be fine. I totally acknowledge there are other challenges. We just dont maybe have the tools at all times to address them. This is where CEOs need to understand this is a messy process youre about to embark on. Workers will say, I am shocked to hear this company makes $100 million in annual profit. My hourly wage is $22. This is unethical. So when you start this journey, you have to be prepared for some very honest, not-so-easy conversations.
If were successful, we can do more for you in terms of impacting your life and your financial future than we could ever do by giving you another $1 an hour or $2 an hour. It doesnt always go as well as it did at C.H.I., but there, people made hundreds of thousands of dollars, which we could have never matched through wages.
What happens if in a few years the research shows that C.H.I was an exception, and in general this isnt paying off for investors in the way we hoped it would?
That would be bad. Im highly, highly, highly confident thats not going to happen.
The way we look at it is, any private equity firm sets aside an incentive plan. In general, that incentive plan would be for about 10 to 15 percent of the upside. That would historically go to just senior people. So what we do is, we give a smidgen less to senior people on a percentage basis, and then we make the plan a smidgen bigger. And the combination of those two leads to an opening up of an opportunity to bring everyone into the ownership program. Youre looking at two impacts. Can I still afford to hire the best and brightest at the top? Weve had no problem doing that. And can I afford to show all workers enough of an opportunity without making the overall plan so big and diluted? And the math shows that youre not risking that much.
So the senior executives share of the pie is getting a little bit diluted, KKRs share is getting a little bit diluted, the outside investor share is getting a little bit diluted, but its a trivial sacrifice for everyone.
Yes. And when you drop the quit rate 90 percent and you are no longer hiring thousands of people every year, you eliminate the cost of recruiting, training, and retraining, all the knowledge and skills youre losing as people are just walking out the door every year. You dont have to believe in a miracle to say, I can cover those costs because Im going to have a happier, more engaged workforce.
A publishing company is reliant on human capital in a way that maybe manufacturing isnt. Ive worked in journalism long enough to know finding efficiencies in industries like that often means restructuring, and that often can mean layoffs. And an employee owner isnt going to get that big payoff if they get laid off.
We would not invest in a company where the strategy is to get profit dollars up by firing people. We just wouldnt do that.
Then youre talking aboutand this isnt going to happen in publishing, I dont thinkbut in a more cyclical industry, the industry falls to pieces because the economy falls to pieces. Or another example would be a merger; if Simon & Schuster merged with a smaller company, there would be redundancies. Jonathan Karp would have to make some tough decisions, but how are people treated in those scenarios? How much notice, how much severance do they get? Running a company doesnt mean that youre not operating in free markets and things cant happen. But were not buying into an investment thesis where were just going to go fire people to reduce costs.
But there are always divisions that are underperforming, right? There may well be an imprint within Simon & Schuster that is not pulling its weight financially. Balancing things in order to maximize profits can often mean, Well, this thing just isnt working.
Yeah. That feels less controversial to me. If theres a money-losing imprint, the board would say, Well, how are we going to make this work? But there is a view among some people that its like the slash-and-burn, pump-and-dump strategy. We wouldnt do it, first of all; second of all, Im not sure those opportunities really exist.
You talk a lot about how employee ownership is not just about the financial side, its also about having a seat at the table. But realistically, theyre tiny minority shareholders. So how does this help them get a seat at the table any more than they would through a union or a normal employee council, which a lot of companies have?
Its not like we dont do employee ownership with union companies. To me, its about integrating ownership with information and transparency, with having peoples ideas and voices heard. Thats one question we sometimes get: Why dont you just do everything except the ownership? Why cant you just do worker voice and financial literacy? I think its the right thing to do. But also, I think the combination of a financial stake and a seat at the table is the magic of what makes the program work.
But do you feel like the voice they get at the table is meaningful?
It varies. It has to do with how far the leadership team is going to go with the program. There are some CEOs who roll out the ownership program with good intentions, and then they have the quarterly owner meetings, but not that much changes beyond that. People have a better understanding of where the business is headed. The engagement scores, you know, go up a little bit or kind of go sideways, the quit rate goes up a little bit or goes sideways.
And then there are CEOs who do what I think Jonathan will do, kind of go whole-hog on this. But to your question of how meaningful is the voice, I think its inconsistent, and we are at the mercy of the leadership team because they have to do this every day. Its not like I can show up once a month for a steering committee meeting and make something magical happen.
One flaw in the model seems to be that private equity ownership is generally relatively short-term. C.H.I. sold last year. The workers there got their payout, but theyre no longer owners of their company.
There are three ways we exit companies. We take them public. That is in many ways the easiest situation because you are permanentizing the capital structure. So, forever, that will have employee ownership as a component.
The next easiest would be when youre selling to another investor, because they would be crazy to blow up the program. If youve done years of hard work, changed the culture, and people expect this now, for someone to say, We are kind of just like KKR, but were not doing that, would be very difficult.
The hardest one is when you sell to a corporate buyer. But I dont think its a coincidence that C.H.I sold to Nucor, because they are legendary for how they treat blue-collar workers. They have the best safety record in the world. They have a profit-sharing program, which is massive. I dont think its a coincidence that groups like that migrate to cultures like this. Its not perfect. [C.H.I. workers are] not owners anymore. But I think these businesses tend to end up in homes that fit.
Youre likely not going to get a 10-times return out of Simon & Schuster. Whats the best-case scenario for employee owners there, and whats the path to getting there?
I think the best scenario is that we see meaningful moves in employee engagement scores and the quit rate. I think people would agree, if those two metrics move meaningfully, its irrefutable that the culture has improved. The other part, from an employee perspective, is that they generate meaningful wealth for themselves, and its great for our investors. Thats the home run youre always trying to hit: People are happier, they participate in the value creation, and investors did great. That doesnt have to be a blowout deal. It can be a good deal and people can make a lot of money.
Never Back Down, the super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis s (R) presidential bid, aired a new ad Tuesday slamming former President Trump over his remarks about abortion.
The ad, titled Trumps Betrayal of the Pro-Life Movement, touts Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds s (R) six-week abortion ban bill and goes after Trump, who slammed DeSantis during his interview with Meet The Press host Kristen Welker that aired Sunday.
Gov. Reynolds signed the so-called fetal heartbeat bill in front of an ecstatic crowd in Des Moines, the ad mentions. The bill would ban most abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected. The right to life is fundamental to everything that we stand for.
The ad says that Trump isnt standing with them and showcases his answer from the NBC interview: I mean DeSanctus was willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban, Trump said. I think what he did was a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.
The ad then praises DeSantis for promoting a culture of life and singing the six-week abortion ban.
We have delivered in Florida on promoting a culture of life and that means signing the heartbeat bill into law. It was the right thing to do. Dont let anyone tell you it wasnt.
The DeSantis campaign has zeroed in on Trumps stance on abortion as the former president continues to lead in most polls.
The Florida governors campaign went after Trump Sunday for his responses to Welkers interview. The DeSantis War Room account on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, said that he is selling out conservatives to win praise from corporate media or the Left.
Trump says he will compromise with Democrats on abortion so that theyre nice to him: Both sides are going to like me. Then he says its a terrible thing babies with heartbeats are protected in Iowa, Florida, and South Carolina. Ron DeSantis will NEVER sell out conservatives to win praise from corporate media or the Left.
DeSantiss communications director Andrew Romeo said Trumps compromises with the Democrats brought disastrous results during his term.
Weve already seen the disastrous results of Donald Trump compromising with Democrats: over $7 trillion in new debt, an unfinished border wall, and the jailbreak First Step Act letting violent criminals back on to the streets, Romeo wrote. Republicans across the country know that Ron DeSantis will never back down.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The SBU announced the exposure of a blogger who filmed the building of the Security Service in Lviv
Ukraines SBU Security Service is investigating a pro-Russian blogger in Lviv who live-streamed himself advocating for missile strikes on the city outside the services local office, according to a press release on Sept. 19.
The SBU stated that the suspect had conducted a live broadcast on his Instagram page outside the high-security building.
Read also: Over 200 individuals charged with sharing videos, photos of military positions SBU
During the live stream, the suspect, in collaboration with an accomplice located abroad, not only discredited SBU personnel but also called for them to be targeted with Russian weaponry.
Following an investigation, the culprits were identified as two residents of Lviv. One currently resides in the EU and periodically participates in the live streams of his partner in Ukraine.
Law enforcement officers discovered computer equipment and mobile phones containing evidence of provocative video recordings in the home of the suspected Russian sympathizer.
Read also: SBU detained Russian woman for adjusting strikes on Sumy residential area
Formal charges against the suspects are under consideration, and they are subject to ongoing investigation.
This revelation follows a substantial Russian drone attack on Ukraine on Sept. 1819, targeting Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi oblasts.
During this attack, Lviv Oblast was the focus of eighteen Shahed drones, with air defense forces successfully intercepting fifteen of them. One person was killed in the attack, and two others were seriously injured.
Read also: SBU catches FSB agent red-handed preparing missile attack on Ukrainian Railways
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
South Carolinas five female state senators will be honored with a Profile in Courage Award for their united stance against a near-total abortion ban in the state.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation announced the honor Tuesday on the Today show.
State Sens. Penry Gustafson , R-Kershaw; Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton; Mia McLeod, I-Richland; Sandy Senn , R-Charleston; and Katrina Shealy , R-Lexington; stuck together during the springs debate arguing against a near-total abortion ban and ultimately voting against the six-week ban, which passed and was upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Also honored by the foundation this year were South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
This years Profile in Courage Awards honor leaders who took stands of conscience and risked their careers by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing, said U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy s daughter.
The five senators were honored for their two-day filibuster to block a near-total abortion ban in South Carolina, discussing the complexities of pregnancy, dangers of a lack of access to contraception and inadequate privacy laws, the JFK Library Foundation said in a news release.
The women of the South Carolina Senate exemplify courage and cooperation in politics today, said Jack Schlossberg, JFKs grandson. Facing intense opposition and personal attacks, Sens. Shealy, Matthews, McLeod, Senn, and Gustafson worked together and across the aisle to oppose a total ban on abortion. Their impact extends beyond the state, inspiring Americans everywhere to keep fighting to protect individual rights.
Republicans Gustafson, Senn and Shealy faced backlash from their own party for voting against a near total ban.
Shealy was censured by the Lexington County Republican Party. Gustafson was censured by the Kershaw County Republican Executive Committee.
Senn already will face a primary challenge in next years election.
In light of their stance, the group received a lot of attention from national media outlets.
Previous Profile in Courage award winners include U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, the late U.S. Sen. John McCain and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley and former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis also have received the honor.
The award was created in 1989 to honor President Kennedys commitment and contribution to public service and is presented annually to public servants who made courageous decisions without regard for the personal or professional consequences. This years honors will be presented in a ceremony on Oct. 29.
The United Auto Workers (UAW) strike has reenergized a progressive wing that struggled to maintain its fire and relevance early in the 2024 election.
Left-wing Democrats and labor advocates see the days-long wage hike effort against General Motors, Ford and Stellantis as bringing their top concerns back into the focus, offering an immediate channel for their activism around workers rights, corporate profits and income inequality that had fallen into the background this cycle.
President Bidens embrace of the strikers last week showed his public dedication to unions, one of his longest standing political principles. For progressives, it also offered a new chance to show the power of their flank in battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
It is a real-time reflection of what the progressive movement has been talking about since the latter part of 2015, said Nina Turner, a former state senator from Cleveland who served as co-chair of Sen. Bernie Sanders s (I-Vt.) presidential campaign in 2020. There is no doubt that what the UAW is doing is taking this whole thing to another level.
You needed the rawness of the progressive movement. Those voices out in the wilderness shouting from the rooftops, said Turner, whose Ohio roots have placed her at some of the countrys biggest economic and labor disputes. Its the confluence of that that makes this moment even that much more powerful because progressives can say: See, we told you.
Progressive lawmakers have offered support to thousands of workers taking action against low pay in critical assembly plants. Wages and jobs have been at the forefront of the demands, with workers railing against what they see as exorbitant CEO salaries and unacceptably low compensation for their industrys labor force.
Union leaders from a variety of industries have rushed to express strong support for what many see as a national uproar over systemic economic inequality.
We have a situation where the CEOs of the Big Three have gotten their raises while workers are still living with the sacrifices they made in 2008 to help this industry survive, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), told The Hill in an interview Monday, referring to the three major automakers. And thats outrageous.
I think that inequity, that injustice resonates with every working person across the economy, she said. Its time for a reckoning because working people are fed up with a system that only works for corporate executives and shareholders.
Many liberal Democrats who have jumped to support the picketers were elected on pro-union platforms. Some hail from states and districts that are manufacturing and industrial labor hubs in the Midwest, further emphasizing their importance as Democrats and Republicans alike seek to define the major issues of the election.
Heading into the weekend, progressives in Congress and aligned organizers made moves to show their unity toward those pushing for a 40-percent increase in pay. While Detroit is at the center of the action, other cities like Toledo, Ohio, also saw an influx of activity that union leaders dont see slowing down anytime soon.
While workers heard the president say they have the support of the White House, the discussions are still tense and ongoing. In an interview with NPR this week, UAW President Shawn Fain said that both camps only had minimal conversations over the past few days.
Fain is seen as a hero to much of the labor community. Hes willing to challenge the conventional thinking around ultra-rich executives, some on the left say, in a way that few other leaders have been willing to do. They like how he presents an unabashed case for corporate greed at the expense of working Americans.
Neoliberals cant just brush him off. They gotta listen to what he says because he wields influence with over 145,000 members, Turner said. They dont have to build an army. They are the army.
The way hes calling out the billionaire class, hes not saying anything any differently than people like me or Sen. Sanders or other progressive movement leaders whether theyre elected or not have been saying about a rigged system or a rigged economy, Turner explained. The difference is his sole agenda is so laser-focused because he has not only the members behind them, but they have the power to upset the flow of the economy.
Now they got your attention, she said.
On Capitol Hill, one politician offering a clear link between workers concerns and swing-state politics is newly elected Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D), who won a Senate seat in part over his labor advocacy.
Fetterman, who drives what his office noted is a UAW-made Ford Bronco, picketed alongside strikers over the weekend at the same plant that made his own vehicle, showing that his loyalty is with workers. Two longer-serving Senate heavyweights, Sanders and populist Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D), offered similar sentiments. In the House, first-term progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), whos from the Pittsburgh area, highlighted the movements people to help shift the outcome.
These CEOs are never going to move unless we the people join together in solidarity to move them, Lee said in a statement. Any company that can afford 40 percent raises for CEOs already raking in millions can afford raises for their workers who make .00275 (less than half a percent) of their companys top executives.
Other progressive officeholders, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who traveled alongside the Vermont Independent to the industrial Midwest as his other campaign co-chairman and has filled his travel schedule ever since, said he is heading to Toledo in addition to Detroit this week.
Bidens embrace of the strike also shows a continuation of the lefts influence on the White House. The president who said the UAW deserves a contract that sustains the middle class has long been an advocate of unions and sought to make it a focal point of his administration. Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su was embraced by progressives eager to continue the traction made with her predecessor Marty Walsh.
Su is expected to visit Detroit as discussions continue into their fourth day.
Biden, who is facing low approval ratings from within his own party, gave another nod to progressivism by addressing the environmental and energy component of the automobile industry. But he still walked a fine line between both sides of the issue. He acknowledged that strong unions are critical to growing the economy and growing it from the middle out, the bottom up, not the top down, For climate activists, he added, Thats especially true as we transition to a clean energy future, which were in the process of doing.
The president appeared to balance priorities, however, by adding, I believe that transition should be fair and a win-win for auto workers and auto companies.
Climate and labor supporters were even clearer in their support of the laborers.
For Green New Deal supporters, turning out in support of our allies at the UAW is a no-brainer. We are building a world together where regular people can thrive, said Saul Levin, legislative and political director at Green New Deal Network. Union jobs will power a new generation of electric vehicles and green labor. For decades, huge corporations have been the bad guy obstructing this shared mission, and we support any and all efforts to hold them accountable and make sure profits flow to working people.
Henry of the SEIU, like other prominent union leaders, sees the autoworkers strike as one piece of a larger uprising that has built up over time, including the fight for a $15 minimum wage and fairer conditions and practices for a variety of industries like rail workers, baristas and writers.
This is what unions are for, she said. Tough conversations, tough negotiations, and on equal footing between employers and their workers. This is what democracy looks like.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
ST. PETERSBURG It was a pointed musical choice: Minutes before the official announcement of a deal for a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium, Stevie Wonders Signed, Sealed, Delivered (Im Yours) played over a speaker system at Tropicana Field.
The message, like that of the whole to-do, was that, after years of waiting and debating, a plan for a new stadium is finally here. Officially, its not yet signed, though, much less sealed and delivered: The St. Petersburg City Council and Pinellas County Commission still have to approve the terms of the deal, a process that officials said Tuesday will take until early next year.
Should the deal go through, it would mark the largest development project in Pinellas County history, County Commission chairperson Janet Long said. Brandi Gabbard, the City Councils chairperson, called it the largest redeveloment our city will ever see.
The plan calls for about $600 million in public city and county money for the new ballpark, split evenly, while the Rays will cover the remaining $700 million in expected stadium costs. The city will pay as much as another $130 million for public infrastructure in the development around the stadium.
That money will not come from property taxes, though, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch promised during a news conference after the announcement ceremony Tuesday. Nor will it require new or increased taxes. The city will fund its portion, he said, through bonding of a number of revenue streams.
We looked at that $300 million as an investment that will pay dividends for the city of St. Petersburg, he said, referring to the citys portion of the public funding for the ballpark.
The county, meanwhile, will pay for the stadium with tourist bed tax dollars a tax charged to people who stay in hotel rooms or short-term rentals as has been planned all along, Long said.
For now, at least, there are no questions about the feasibility of such an allocation. As the countys tourism board heard last week, after a recent analysis, the county expects to be able to pay for renourishment of Pinellas eroded beaches without sacrificing funding for a ballpark or other tourist-tax projects.
We do have the money to do both, Long said Tuesday. Our bed taxes are now higher than theyve ever been, and god willing, theyre going to continue to rise.
The agreement includes a $105.3 million land purchase by the Hines/Rays redevelopment group for land around the stadium of the Gas Plant district, the Black community razed to build whats now known as Tropicana Field. Thats up from the $97 million land purchase included in the groups original proposal. Pinellas County would own between 15 and 20 acres of the site, including the ballpark and two parking garages. It would lease that land to St. Petersburg, which would sublease it to the Rays.
The city and county are very focused on our return-on-investment, St. Petersburg City Administrator Rob Gerdes said Tuesday. Over the course of the proposed 30-year lease agreement, he said, the ballpark and development are projected to generate $200 million in tax revenue for Pinellas County schools, $55 million for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and hundreds of millions more for both the city and county.
Rays president Matt Silverman acknowledged that the teams planned investment of $700 million-plus is more than the organization had anticipated or expected to be able to put in.
Its going to be a combination of equity from our ownership and borrowing, he added. Were going to work through that as we go.
A North Carolina school leader issued a public apology this week after a racist message was delivered over a PA system at a high school marching band showcase.
Cabarrus County Schools Superintendent John Kopicki, speaking at a school board meeting on Monday, read from a written statement: I would like to personally apologize to all those in attendance on Saturday who were disgusted by this senseless act of racism. I would also like to apologize to the host school, Mount Pleasant High School.
The Charlotte Observer has been unable to confirm exactly what was written then broadcast from the derogatory message.
The air-gram often used as a fundraiser in conjunction with marching band competitions or shows was written by a student and directed at another student, officials say. It included racist remarks or tropes, according to Kopicki and attendees who posted on social media after the event.
Air-grams typically are short personal messages of celebration or shout-outs from students, parents or teachers and are read as a marching band leaves the field after a performance. Usually a person pays a small amount to send an air-gram. The Cabarrus County Preview of Bands, an annual event showcasing area high school marching bands, was held Saturday at Mount Pleasant High School.
These air-grams are then read over the public address system as the marching band exits the field. Unfortunately, one of these air-grams, which was directed from one of our students to another, included racist remarks and phrases that have no place in either our schools or our society, Kopicki said on Monday night.
He added that the student responsible for the air-gram had been dealt with by school administrators.
Its unclear who read the message from the sound booth at the event, and its unclear whether organizers vet air-grams prior to reading them over the speaker.
Cabarrus County Schools does not condone nor tolerate this type of behavior or language, Kopicki said. .... Mount Pleasant is a supportive, inclusive community who welcomed our students and families to their campus on Saturday for a day to celebrate the performing arts. This act in no way reflects the values of Mt. Pleasant High School or the Mt. Pleasant community.
The U.S. Department of Education released its latest list of Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023, including one Centre County school.
Thirteen Pennsylvania schools were recognized, with State College Area School Districts Radio Park Elementary among them. Across the country, 353 schools made the list based on academic performance or progress in closing the achievement gap through state or national testing. The Department of Education receives nominations from education officials in each state while private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private Education.
Other Pennsylvania schools one the list include:
Gwynedd-Mercy Academy Elementary, Gwynedd-Mercy
Central Bucks High School-East, Central Bucks School District
Wasson Avenue Elementary School, Dubois Area School District
Elizabethtown Area Schools, Elizabethtown Area School District
Saints Philip and James School, Archdiocese of Philadelphia
West Allegheny High School, West Allegheny School District
Saint Philip Neri School, Archdiocese of Philadelphia
David Leech Elementary School, Leechburg Area School District
Hampden Elementary School, Cumberland Valley School District
Saint Mary Interparochial School, Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Boyce Middle School, Upper Saint Clair School District
Schuylkill Haven Area Elementary Center, Schuylkill Haven Area
Danielle Yoder, assistant superintendent of elementary education for SCASD, said it was an honor for Radio Park Elementary and for the district.
The faculty, administration, parents, students, staff, and community have all played a key role in the success of this elementary school, and I want to personally thank them for their dedication to the success of their school, Yoder wrote in a email to the CDT.
Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education, said schools serve as models of exemplary teaching for state and local educators.
The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, Cardona said in a press release.
Up to 420 schools can be awarded each year, with over 9,700 schools receiving the honor throughout the 40 cohorts.
A giraffe at a Maryland zoo may have found an easier and safer way to drink water when hes thirsty.
Caesar the giraffe, who lives at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, was shown sipping up raindrops with his long tongue in the zoos Sunday, Sept. 17, Facebook post.
Rainy days bring peaceful vibes from the giraffe yard. Caesar finds joy in every drop, the zoo wrote in its Facebook post.
Those in the comments had an outpouring of love for Caesars creative rain-catching method, with one person calling it the Best Giraffe video ever!!!
In an Instagram post caption, the zoo added some musical wordplay by changing up the lyrics to B.J. Thomas song Raindrops Keep Fallin On My Head to say raindrops keep fallin on my *tongue.*
For giraffes, drinking water is no simple task, however, as it could potentially put them in danger. Because their necks arent long enough to reach the ground standing up, giraffes are forced to spread their legs and bend down in an awkward position to drink water, according to Shamwari Private Game Reserve, which is a South African company focused on land conservation.
The odd-looking split move makes giraffes more at risk to predators, Shamwaris website says, so giraffes only drink water every few days.
The reticulated giraffe, a subspecies of giraffes that includes Caesar, is listed as a vulnerable population on the Maryland Zoo website, which is a level before being considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Giraffes also have a clever system of valves to regulate their blood pressure when they bend over to drink water, according to PBS documentary Natures Biggest Beasts. This helps the animals avoid getting a head rush from drinking water, the documentary said.
Caesars openness to try new things has followed him throughout his time at the Maryland Zoo. In 2019, he was the first of his four-giraffe herd to venture out of the barn into the expanded yard when his habitat was newly renovated, according to the zoos blog.
The Maryland Zoo has a live camera feed of its giraffe feeding station where site visitors can watch giraffes like Caesar.
Day-old otter cried for mom after fatal orca attack in Alaska. See the rescued pup
Shes been at CA aquarium since before WWII. Now shes worlds oldest aquarium fish
Squirrel-like monkey born at Wisconsin zoo. See photos of the adorable family
Pastel-colored fentanyl recently found in Charlotte could lure children intentionally or otherwise to the lethal and addictive substance, one local police leader warns.
Fentanyl which experts say is laced into nearly every illegally bought drug throughout the country is the leading cause of local overdose deaths. The drug is a synthetic opioid and usually is white in powder form.
The less common rainbow fentanyl, however, is a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults, according to the DEA.
During a traffic stop earlier this month, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers seized 23 grams of suspected fentanyl, 12 grams of heroin, five grams of crack cocaine and nearly 60 grams of suspected synthetic marijuana from a South Carolina fugitive, police posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
CMPD Maj. Luke Sell has seen the otherwise unassuming substance before, but, as Halloween approaches, discovery of the multi-color rainbow fentanyl was particularly unsettling, he said, talking with reporters on Tuesday.
What scares me more than anything ... would be that a child would take that, put it in their mouth and ingest it just thinking it was a Sweetheart or Smartie, he said.
Sell isnt certain if dealers market the colored fentanyl toward children or young people. The dye could have simply been a branding tactic, he said.
Nonetheless, the father of two college-aged children worries about what would happen if a kid found one of the pills on a counter or took one at a party.
In July, 17-year-old Laird Ramirez, a Hough High School student, died after taking a laced pill he thought was Percocet, his parents told The Charlotte Observer. His parents and several others said students bought and used drugs in the schools bathrooms and cafeterias.
It could happen right here at UNCC or Johnson C. Smith or to one of our kids, Sell said. Literally, taking a pill is Russian roulette.
While fentanyl can and is reaching young people, it is not concentrated in any demographic or location, Sell said.
The police department, paramedics and the health department cant fight the growing epidemic alone, he said. Schools, churches and neighborhoods need to be just as involved in spreading the message.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is thinking about what it needs to do to address and stop these tragic issues, said Superintendent Crystal Hill said.
Our school district is a microcosm of our larger community, she said during a Hood Hargett Breakfast Club discussion Tuesday afternoon.
The club, sponsored by Hood Hargett insurance agency, featured speakers from Medic and Atrium Health last week for a discussion on Navigating the Fentanyl Crisis in Our Schools.
The panelists urged everyone to purchase or request the life-saving nasal spray NARCAN, or Naloxone, that reverses overdoses.
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, confirmed Tuesday that many of the highest priority items in a draft version of a new $30 billion House budget shared with The News & Observer were in their finalized form and had been negotiated with the Senate, including raises for state employees and teachers.
Medicaid expansion and the legalization of four new state-sanctioned casinos were not in the new House budget bill and instead had been pushed into another bill, which was still being finalized, Moore said. The N&O also obtained a draft copy of this bill.
Its unclear whether this House GOP maneuver to separate Medicaid and casinos from the budget has support from the Senate. Senate Leader Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, was not at the General Assembly session Tuesday morning. Its also unclear whether Democrats will sign on to the casino and Medicaid bill, though both the Senate and House Democratic caucuses formalized their near-unanimous disapproval Monday.
Heres a look at what raises for state employees and others would be under this new budget bill:
State employees and bus drivers
The budget plan would provide:
State employee raises of 7% over two years, with 4% in the first year and 3% in the second year. The prior House budget version provided state employee raises of 7.5% over two years. This exempts certain state employees such as State Highway Patrol employees, who would be compensated differently.
School bus drivers would earn an additional 2% on top of the across-the-board raises, giving them a total raise of 9% over two years.
A one time 4% cost-of-living adjustment would be given to retired state employees.
Teachers
The House budget sets a salary schedule for teachers based on years of experience.
Moore said the budget calls for an average 7% raise for teachers over the next two years and a $30 million rural supplement. Increases in the states base salary are larger for early career teachers than for veteran teachers, with raises ranging from 3.6% to 10.8% based on experience. Moore said Tuesday he would frankly have liked to have seen more raises, but this was a compromise position that we took with the other chamber. He said he would like to beef up the second year raises in the biennium next year with new fiscal numbers. The Senate provided in its earlier budget version a 4.5% average raise over the next two years.
Teachers with national board certifications, degrees and other licenses would receive additional bonuses. There is also a small county and low-wealth signing bonus for teachers, with the state matching up to $1000 in local funds.
Community colleges and university employees
Community college faculty and non-faculty personnel will get an across-the-board salary increase of 4% in 2023 and 3% in 2024. University of North Carolina employees will also get this raise.
Raises for Elected Officials
Governor: A raise of almost $40,000, or 22.5%, over the next two years. Democratic Gov. Cooper, who is in his last term, currently makes $165,750.
Non-elected legislative employees: A raise of 7.5% over the next two years.
Apart from the Governor, other Council of State members, including the lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, labor commissioner, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner and superintendent of public schools will get a raise of nearly $22,000, or 14.9% over two years.
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A man who has been the subject of conspiracy theories about the Capitol riot has been charged with disorderly conduct for his actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The information filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., says Ray Epps knowingly engaged in disorderly and disruptive conduct on restricted federal grounds. The court scheduled an arraignment and plea agreement hearing for Wednesday.
Epps has said he traveled to Washington from Arizona, attended then-President Donald Trump s speech near the White House, and then went to the Capitol and was part of the mob on the west front of the building.
Republican members of Congress, eager to deflect blame from Trump for unleashing the attack on the Capitol, have suggested that Epps behaved suspiciously before and during the riot and that he might have been a government agent.
During a July hearing with FBI director Christopher Wray, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) played clips of Epps on Jan. 5 telling other Trump supporters that they needed to go into the Capitol the next day. Nehls complained to Wray that other rioters had been arrested, but not Epps, even though hed been on restricted grounds.
If you dont arrest Mr. Epps, the reason behind it, I believe you know what it is and it appears to me you are protecting this guy, Nehls said.
Wray said he wouldnt talk about whether the FBI would arrest certain individuals.
If you are suggesting that the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or FBI agents, the answer is no, it was not, Wray said. And to suggest otherwise is a disservice to our hardworking, dedicated law enforcement profession.
In January 2022, Epps told the special House committee that investigated the riot that he did not have any affiliation with any federal or local law enforcement agency.
The only time Ive been involved with the government was when I was a Marine in the United States Marine Corps, Epps told the committee.
Earlier this year, Epps sued Fox News for portraying him as a government-sponsored instigator of the riot. During his deposition with the Jan. 6 committee, he described death threats he had received and complained that several members of Congress, including Reps. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), fueled the bogus speculation that he was a government agent.
The leaders that try to try to ride this thing for gain, for whatever purpose theyre doing it, I just believe that they could do better, he said. Its saddened me because I I respected these people.
Related...
Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump gather in Washington
By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - James Ray Epps, the subject of relentless conspiracy theories by the far-right, is facing a criminal misdemeanor charge for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump .
Epps, an Arizona man, is facing one count of disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds, according to a charging document filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 18.
The charges were filed in a document known as a "criminal information," a type of court document that typically indicates a plea deal is in the works.
The news of the charge was reported earlier by NBC News.
Reuters could not immediately determine who is representing Epps.
Epps, a Trump supporter and former Marine, has repeatedly been falsely accused by Trump's supporters and by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as being an undercover government informant - a claim that both he and the FBI have denied.
Earlier this year, Epps sued Fox News for defamation, saying that Fox and Carlson spread lies that have "destroyed" his life.
"Epps was not a federal agent. He was a loyal Fox viewer and Trump supporter," the lawsuit says.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Timothy Gardner)
Ray Epps a Donald Trump supporter, Oath Keepers militia member and January 6 participant who became the subject of rightwing conspiracy theories about the attack on Congress has been charged with one criminal count related to the riot.
In a court filing in US district court in Washington DC, dated Monday, federal prosecutors charged Epps with disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds.
Related: Fox News faces another defamation lawsuit involving Tucker Carlson
The charge can carry a sentence of up to 10 years.
A former US marine from Arizona, Epps went to Washington in January 2021 to join protesters seeking to block Joe Bidens victory over Trump in the presidential election the previous November.
On the night of 5 January, he was filmed in downtown Washington, telling other Trump supporters: Tomorrow, we need to go into the Capitol peacefully.
The next day, as Trump told supporters to fight like hell in his cause, the Capitol came under attack. The attack failed and Trumps defeat was confirmed. Nine deaths have now been linked to the riot.
The notion that Epps was a federal agent, acting as a provocateur, took root early. On the night of 5 January, some around him chanted: Fed! Fed! Fed! Fed! In footage of the attack, after a Capitol police officer went down, Epps was seen pulling a rioter aside.
Rightwing media, prominently including the then Fox News prime-time host Tucker Carlson, eagerly took up the theory that Epps was linked to federal agents.
In July, Epps filed a defamation suit against Fox News, which the rightwing network has sought to dismiss.
Epps spoke to CBS in August.
I said some stupid things, he said. My thought process, we surround the Capitol, we get all the people there. I mean, I had problems with the election. It was my duty as an American to peacefully protest, along with anybody else that wanted to.
Of the moment involving the fallen officer, he said he told the rioter: Dude, were not here for that. The police arent the enemy, or something like that.
He denied any links to police or federal agencies. There is no evidence he committed any acts of violence on January 6, or entered the Capitol.
He told CBS that after he went to help an injured man, he looked back at the Capitol, and there was people crawling up the Capitol walls. And it looked terrible. I mean, I was kind of ashamed of what was going on at that point. So I started to walk out.
Asked about efforts to paint you as this instigator, citing his own actions and messages, Epps said: There was an effort to make me a scapegoat.
Earlier this year, Dominic Pezzola, a member of the far-right Proud Boys group who was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in prison for his part in the riot, invoked the Epps conspiracy theory while testifying in court.
Epps was charged by information, suggesting a plea deal may be likely.
On Tuesday, lawyers for Epps did not immediately comment.
Shannon Beador joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" in 2014 when she was voted by fans "Best Housewife Ever." (Charles Sykes / Bravo via Getty Images)
Newport Beach police arrested "The Real Housewives of Orange County" star Shannon Beador over the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit-and run, authorities said.
Beador, 59, was arrested at about 1:17 a.m. Sunday on Via Lido near Via Oporto after allegedly driving drunk and hitting and damaging property before fleeing, said Sgt. Steve Oberon, a Newport Beach police spokesperson. Oberon said the crimes she's accused of are misdemeanors. He declined to comment further on the incident and said officers had not yet finished submitting their reports to supervisors.
The reality TV star's attorney, Mike Fell, told The Times, "I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful. We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions."
Read more: Shannon Beador of 'Real Housewives' sells her Newport home for $9 million
Police declined to specify what type of property had been damaged. The street where the alleged crash took place runs along the affluent coastal Orange County city's bay, where private boats are docked. Condos and apartments line the water, alongside coffee shops and clothing stores.
Beador, a resident of the community of Newport Coast, joined the cast of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" in 2014 for the show's ninth season as a health-conscious mom who chooses organic and other green options for her life at home. She quickly became a fan favorite and was voted "Best Housewife Ever" in an online poll rating cast members across Bravo's "Housewives" TV franchise.
Beador has remained on the show since and, last week, was in New York City and appeared on Andy Cohen's "Watch What Happens Live" alongside fellow show mates Vicki Gunvalson and Tamara Judge. The trio were there to promote the show's 17th season, which has been airing since June and will continue until October. Beador was also scheduled to appear at BravoCon in Las Vegas this November.
Read more: 'The ladies themselves bought into it': How 'Housewives' fans upended the franchise
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The ragingand entirely hypotheticaldebate over whether Joe Biden should seek a second term has been framed by right-wing claims of a doddering, incoherent, lost-in-the-fog president. Under this scenario, the federal government is currently being run by (take your pick) Barack Obama , the Clintons, George Soros, the Deep State, or even Kamala Harris.
Franklin Foers meticulously researched and consistently insightful account of Bidens first two years in the Oval Office, The Last Politician, offers a powerful rebuttal to these Biden-is-gaga talking points. In Foers retellingbased on nearly 300 interviews rather than cherry-picked news clipsBidens old-school virtues of political patience and flexibility have paid major dividends as he has pulled off a string of legislative victories on Capitol Hill almost worthy of Lyndon Johnson.
A key ingredient in Bidens success has been a disciplined White House staff that doesnt leak, doesnt backbite, and doesnt undermine the president. But as Foer makes clear, Biden is far more than a figurehead president propped by his staff. Instead, he shrewdly has surrounded himself with senior aides who have mostly worked with him before, often for decades. As a result, staffers instinctively know when to directly challenge the president and when to let Biden marinate on an iffy decision for a few days.
Embedded in Foers narrative, though, is a worrisome consideration about a Biden second term.
This has nothing to do with conservative scare tactics about senility or a decades-long penchant for exaggeration and verbal gaffes. Instead, the core problem relates to Bidens future staff: Who will be occupying the West Wing offices beginning in 2025?
Foer explains that Biden hated how the Obama administration debated policy in the Roosevelt Room, where experts and aides, many of whom the president barely knew, crowded around the table and strutted their wonkish stuff. What Biden craved instead was to figure out policy in a safe space, where he trusted the faces and could test arguments and work through frustrations without having to worry about aides rushing to leak his stray, unformed comments to The New York Times.
But there wont be much of a safe space for Biden if he is reelected.
Biden inevitably will be surrounded by ambitious assistants whom he barely knows. Historically, even the most loyal aides tend to drift away in a presidents second term. It is an unalterable reality of life in Washingtonsome staffers decide to cash in, and others simply burn out after too many late-night crises and missed family dinners. At some point, every two-term president looks around the staff table and asks himself, Who are these people? What happened to everyone I knew?
The problem will be more acute for Biden, both because of his age and because some of his advisers have been with himoff and onsince he first flamed out running for president in 1987. Age, as Biden has demonstrated, can bring insight, but it encourages rigidity. It would be particularly hard for a president in his mid-eighties to forge new relationships of trust with senior aides who come from the outside or were taking notes at the back of the room in meetings during the first term.
In the coming campaign, prominent Democrats will inevitably tout the strength of Bidens first-term White House as a selling point to voters who are dubious of reelecting a president who will be 82 at his second inaugural. In contrast, Trump, who will be a rotund 78 years old if (God forbid) he gets another term, would be surrounded by rogues and lunatics who would encourage his worst and most anti-democratic instincts. Bidens current staff is the opposite: a disciplined team focused on the difficult, delicate work of governing. That is largely true, but it also obscures the likely reality: Most of the presidents closest advisers will be at law firms and strategic consulting outfits at the end of a hypothetical second term.
Even if the Democrats in 2024 retain the Senate (a daunting challenge) and win back the House (much easier given Kevin McCarthys shaky grasp on the gavel), Biden will be dealing with a Capitol Hill that he barely recognizes. Old, respected Biden adversaries like Mitch McConnell may be gone from the scene. Even mercurial West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin (who is a central figure in the Foer book) may not be back in the Senate. While Senate Democrats are led by a group of veterans, moreover, House leadership has experienced a generational shift, with Hakeem Jeffries taking over from Nancy Pelosi after the 2022 midterms.
The unalterable truth is that second terms, dating back to Franklin Roosevelt and his ill-fated effort to pack the Supreme Court, are invariably sad. The historical list is daunting: Lyndon Johnson (Vietnam), Richard Nixon (Watergate), Ronald Reagan (the Iran-Contra scandal), Bill Clinton (his sexual entanglement with an intern and impeachment), George W. Bush (Hurricane Katrina and the unraveling of Iraq), and Barack Obama (stymied by an obstructionist Republican House and then by McConnell in the Senate over Merrick Garlands Supreme Court appointment).
Unlike Obama, Clinton, and Reagan, Biden lacks the rhetorical ability to rally the voters when times get tough. As Foer points out, At this late stage in his career, he had largely stopped giving speeches with cadences and imagery that aspired to be described as Kennedyesque. But even when the speech texts make allowances for Bidens limitations and his suppressed stutter, the president can still spoil everything with an undisciplined ad lib.
In March 2022, Biden in Warsaw marred a major speech supporting Ukraine by improvising this line about Vladimir Putin: For Gods sake, this man cannot remain in power. After Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, had to issue a statement stressing that America was not seeking regime change in Moscow, Biden (according to Foer) fumed to his friends about how he was treated like a toddler. Was John Kennedy ever babied like that?
These tensions will inevitably grow worse in a second term when Biden finds himself babied by near strangers.
In What It Takes, his riveting look at Bidens plagiarism-marred 1987 presidential campaign, Richard Ben Cramer describes the candidate as afflicted with Guru Madness. In those days, Biden was widely dismissed as a creature of his consultants, particularly pollster Pat Caddell. It was Caddell who gave Biden a speech text with an uncredited passage from Robert Kennedy, which contributed to the scandal that drove him from the race.
Biden, to his credit, has over the years inculcated the kind of loyalty from advisers that brings out the best in hima far cry from the dueling egos of expensive campaign consultants in 1987. In the White House, Biden has harnessed his aides rather than becoming captive to them. As Foer makes clear, Biden is running the show rather than a shadowy group of puppet masters. But as Democrats brood about a second term, the makeup of the Biden White House in 2025 should loom large. It will be nothing short of the staff of life.
Boston Red Sox's Triston Casas, left, scores on a wild pitch as New York Yankees pitcher Randy Vasquez, right, is unable to tag him in the fourth inning in the first baseball game of a doubleheader, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Boston Red Sox rookie first baseman Triston Casas isn't expected to play again this season because of right shoulder inflammation.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Monday that Casas was seeing a doctor, and they were looking at an MRI. But even before knowing those results, Cora said it was unlikely the first baseman would get back in the lineup.
Casas was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday. Boston, last in the AL East, had only 11 games remaining after the series opener at Texas on Monday night.
To ramp up again ... it doesnt make any sense. Thats where were at, Cora said. For this season, it doesnt make sense to get him back here.
Casas hit .263 with 24 home runs and 65 RBIs in 132 games. He ranked first among AL rookies in walks and second in homers. He batted .317 with 15 home runs in 54 games after the All-Star break.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Twenty-eights years ago, Thai workers at an El Monte sweatshop reported their mistreatment at what the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of American History described as one of the most horrendous U.S. sweatshops in modern times.
As a result, eight operators of the sweatshop were arrested and 72 Thai immigrants were freed from virtual slavery behind fences tipped with razor wire, where they were forced to sew garments in conditions significantly worse than those found in most sweatshops, the museum said.
After the harrowing experience, the group, commonly referred to as the El Monte Thai Garment Workers, pushed for change, creating legal protections for workers nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Some Southern California garment workers are paid $1.58 an hour, U.S. Labor Department says
On Monday, those workers were honored for their impact by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, who was joined by U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth , an Illinois Democrat who was born in Thailand, and UCLA Labor Center Director Kent Wong in a ceremony enshrining the group in the Department of Labors Hall of Honor.
They join labor luminaries like Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez in the Hall.
Honoring these women and men here today allows us to celebrate how far weve come and also remember how much more work we have left to do, Su said in a statement. It also reminds us that real progress isnt measured only in monetary wins or even in policy changes. The most profound changes are personal. Like our honorees, standing up, building power, exercising their rights, and against all odds defying the message they have heard their entire lives: that they should just keep their heads down and know their place.
El Monte workers get standing ovation
The workers in attendance were given medals to commemorate their honor and received multiple standing ovations from the officials and the crowd.
I never imagined I would be honored at the Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. This means so much to me and my family, worker Maliwan Radomphon Clinton said during Mondays ceremony. We brought the case against the companies; we went to the court. I know we worked very hard to stand up here for our rights. We changed the laws. This is very special, to speak in front of my family and all of you. I cannot believe I am going to be remembered in history along with my friends.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the Democrat from Wyckoff, urged two local colleges to do more to fight antisemitism on campus, in a letter that challenged a pair of speakers and a classroom text that critics have accused of promoting hate.
Gottheimer last week wrote to Princeton University and his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. He asked Penn to disinvite the two speakers rock musician Roger Waters and former CNN commentator Marc Lamont Hill and urged Princeton to reconsider the use of a book that he said "spews Jewish hatred and anti-Israel rhetoric."
Both universities responded with statements saying they abhor antisemitism but must also defend academic freedom and oppose censorship on campus.
Gottheimer, in an interview with Northjersey.com and The Record, said he was surprised at the college leaders' refusal to budge. "I'm all for debate and promoting different ideas," he said. "But this is hate speech masquerading as scholarship."
U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) said a book used by a Princeton professor and two speakers invited to a University of Pennsylvania festival encouraged antisemitic violence against Jews.
'The Right to Maim' draws complaints of antisemitism
In his Sept. 10 letter to Princeton, Gottheimer urged the school to remove Jasbir Puar 's text "The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability" from a class syllabus. Puar is a professor and graduate director of women's and gender studies at Rutgers University whose book, according to its website description, characterizes Israel as using "liberal frameworks of disability to obscure and enable the mass debilitation of Palestinian bodies."
The text is on the syllabus of a Princeton course called The Healing Humanities: Decolonizing Trauma Studies from the Global South, being taught by Satyel Larson, an assistant professor of Near Eastern studies.
Gottheimer said Puar's book is an "offensive, antisemitic blood libel" that promotes falsehoods about the Israeli military, including a charge that Israel has harvested the organs of deceased Palestinian children. Puar writes in the book that the Israeli Defense Forces have a pattern of "shooting to maim rather than to kill. This is ostensibly a humanitarian practice, leaving many civilians permanently disabled."
In a 2016 article, Puar wrote on the website Jadaliyya that some in the Palestinian community "speculate that their bodies were mined for organs for scientific research. She cited reporting in the Israeli press about coroners who had illegally taken the organs of dead Palestinians and says she was highlighting "the daily terror that imbues Palestinians lives and the ways that fear for their bodily integrity animates every interaction with the Israeli state."
Said Gottheimer: "She is promoting falsehoods that are aimed at undermining Israel and Jews. No university should promote lies."
"The use of materials containing antisemitic tropes and anti-Israel sentiment in a Princeton classroom clearly contradict the university's mission of inclusivity, which includes protecting Jewish students," he wrote in his letter.
Larson and Puar did not immediately respond to a reporter's requests for comment.
Princeton's president responds
Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber responded last week with a public letter to Gottheimer, saying he is sensitive to issues surrounding antisemitism because he is "Princetons second Jewish president and its first Jewish undergraduate alumnus to serve in that role; I am the son of a Holocaust refugee; I am a scholar of religious freedom; and my last scholarly publication before accepting the presidency was a defense of Zionism."
His statement emphasized the school's commitment to academic freedom and "fostering a welcoming environment for students" and stressed that such freedom protects the right of faculty members to determine what texts they will assign and how best to cover the subject matter in their own courses.
Eisgruber added: "Your letter concludes by asserting that colleges 'must protect all students, including Jewish students,' from being 'made to feel unsafe by curricula.' That assertion misunderstands the role of a university, where students inevitably encounter controversial and sometimes disturbing ideas. As I said earlier, Princeton will work vigorously to ensure that all students can thrive here, but not by censoring our curriculum."
The book's inclusion in the curriculum has drawn criticism from groups including the International Legal Forum, a nonprofit organized based in Tel Aviv which advocates for equality in the Middle East;, Israel's minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism; the World Jewish Congress and the Zionist Organization of America in New York.
Other groups on and off the campus, including the Alliance of Jewish Progressives, the Princeton Open Campus Coalition and PEN America, a nonprofit that says it advocates for free speech and the rights of authors, have rallied in favor of Princeton's right to teach the book.
Gottheimer criticizes Penn for allowing two speakers
Gottheimer's letter to the University of Pennsylvania centered on the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, a planned Sept. 22-24 conference that includes speakers who have been criticized for antisemitic and anti-Israel statements. Among them are Waters, co-founder of the rock group Pink Floyd, and Hill, the former news commentator who was recently hired as a professor by the City University of New York.
Palestine Writes bills itself as a literature festival dedicated to "promoting cultural productions of Palestinian writers and artists," according to its website. Neither Waters nor Hill is Palestinian. The festival coincides with Yom Kippur, one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar.
Earlier this year, Waters was denounced by the Biden administration and European officials after a Berlin concert in which he wore a Nazi-style uniform onstage. The State Department said the musician has a long track record of using antisemitic tropes," an accusation Waters has denied. He has also drawn the ire of the pro-Israel community for his outspoken support of the BDS movement, which calls for boycotts and sanctions against Israel.
Hill, meanwhile, was dismissed from CNN after controversial statements he made about Israel, including a call for a "free Palestine from the river to the sea." Critics say the phrase is used by militant groups to advocate for the death of Jews and destruction of Israel; Palestinian activists say it is merely an expression of their desire for self-rule.
More: Antisemitism is rising in NJ and across the U.S. Here's how to combat 'the oldest hatred'
Hill said he is opposed to antisemitism and that his comments have been misinterpreted.
"While policy discussion and differing views are a welcome and critical part of building cultural understanding, they can't provide a bully pulpit for those who seek to divide others," Gottheimer wrote in his letter to the University of Pennsylvania. "If the university's goal is to promote mutual understanding and bring students together, it will fail so long as antisemitism and anti-Israel advocates are given a platform to spew hate."
University President M. Elizabeth Magill released a statement saying the Palestine Writes festival is not organized by the school.
We 'fiercely support the free exchange of ideas'
"While the Festival will feature more than 100 speakers, many have raised deep concerns about several speakers who have a documented and troubling history of engaging in antisemitism by speaking and acting in ways that denigrate Jewish people. We unequivocally and emphatically condemn antisemitism as antithetical to our institutional values.
"As a university," she continued, "we also fiercely support the free exchange of ideas as central to our educational mission. This includes the expression of views that are controversial and even those that are incompatible with our institutional values."
The Palestine Writes Literature Festival rejected Gottheimer's criticism in a Facebook post: "Unsurprisingly, the original letter speaks of 'anti-Israel bias and antisemitism' as if these are interchangeable concepts. The latter is a form of religion-based bigotry with a legacy of violence and profound harm, while the former is a wholly legitimate and necessary criticism of a settler colonial state with one of the worst human right records in the world."
Rising fears of antisemitism on campus
Gottheimer's move comes at a time when Jewish students at colleges around the country have reported growing antisemitism on campus. A recent survey commissioned by the nonprofit group Jewish on Campus asked more than 3,000 undergraduate students at colleges about their experiences with campus antisemitism and found that nearly 60% reported having personally experienced or witnessed such activity.
Northjersey.com recently interviewed nearly 50 college students from around the country who all shared their own experiences with anti-Jewish harassment.
Deena Yellin covers religion for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering how the spiritual intersects with our daily lives, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: yellin@northjersey.com; Twitter: @deenayellin
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Josh Gottheimer: Princeton class book 'Right to Maim' is antisemitic
The estranged husband of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) is speaking out in support of the controversial congresswoman and says he is the one to blame for problems in the marriage.
In May, Lauren and Jayson Boebert announced they were getting divorced after nearly 18 years of marriage. The couple cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
But Jayson offered some details of the split in a Facebook message posted on Monday and took responsibility for the shattered relationship.
Jaysons message began with a greeting to the people of Colorados 3rd District and across the nation before referring to the deep concerns circulating and the attacks against Lauren, a possible reference to the congresswoman being kicked out of a recent stage performance of Beetlejuice in Denver, in part for vaping and for groping her date.
The congresswoman at first denied the allegations but then apologized. She claimed her behavior was partly due to her filing for a divorce.
Jayson Boebert said he felt people should know the truth of our broken marriage and burden she has carried for too long and said he was devastated by the pain he has caused his wife.
I take full responsibility for my actions, and I deeply regret the choices I made that led to the breakdown of our marriage, he wrote. I was unfaithful to Lauren in so many ways. I should have always brought my best just as she did. My actions were selfish and thoughtless, and I failed to consider the consequences they would ultimately have on the person I hold dearest in my heart.
This has been a devastating divorce that I hold all responsibility for, he added. It upsets me that everyone believes she left me over fame or a new lifestyle. That is far from the truth. Then again, most of whats said about our family is untrue. Another battle we have faced together for too long. Much of this is on me because the problem starts at the root. I am the root. The hurt I caused Lauren was not only significant but also something she carried within her, burying it deep inside, while continuing to love people and our country fearlessly with a smile each day.
Jayson said he has embarked on a journey of self-reflection and personal growth since the separation and is committed to becoming a better man, one who can fully appreciate and reciprocate the love and kindness that has been demonstrated to me.
He then addressed his estranged wife and said, If you are reading this, please know that I am dedicated to doing everything in my power to rebuild the trust that has been shattered. I stand behind you. You are the hardest working person I know, selfless and overflowing with love. I hate the attacks that are coming your way. In part, this is my fault and you dont deserve this.
Jayson Boebert then asked people reading his post to show grace and mercy towards Lauren in this troubling season, saying she deserves a chance to earn your forgiveness and regain trust.
He added: I have broke her down in so many ways, but she will come out stronger as she always does, and so will I.
You can read the complete post below.
Lauren Boebert said she appreciated her husbands post.
I am appreciative to hear of Jaysons sincere comments. This is a new season for us both grace and prayers for our family are welcomed by all, she told the Daily Beast in a statement.
The couple first met when she was 16 and he was 22 at a Burger King restaurant where she was working. They married in June 2005, a few months after their first child, Tyler, was born.
A hearing on their divorce petition is scheduled for October.
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Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz (Ind.) responded Monday to Speaker Kevin McCarthy s (R-Calif.) call for the lawmaker not to quit Congress, warning the Speaker that his wishes might come true.
Well, his wishes might come true. Im not sure if he really wishes that, but, you know, Ill be honest with you I do need to regroup because I think my party is failing the people, said Spartz, who announced earlier this year she would not run for reelecton, in an interview on NewsNations The Hill.
Spartzs comments are the latest in her back-and-forth with McCarthy, whom she called a weak Speaker amid his battle with GOP hard-liners over government funding.
McCarthy shot back that if Spartz is concerned about fighting stronger, I wish she wouldve run again and not quit.
When asked about McCarthys comments, Spartz suggested the Speakers tumultuous stint running the House could make her reconsider her future.
But maybe this fight needs to be won here and I have to decide because I feel if we are not going to save this republic, there is no [one] else whos going to stand up for people, Spartz said.
Its sad, but I think we cannot give up, we cannot give in. We have to regroup and Im not quitting and Im not going to quit the fight for our country, she continued.
I just need to decide where the battles have to be fought. And unfortunately, with this leadership, I dont think we can win unless we make some changes.
A group of Republicans announced an internal deal Sunday night for a stopgap bill to avert a government shutdown. If approved, the deal would extend the funding deadline by a month, cut all spending except for the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs and enact a large part of the House GOPs marquee border bill.
The proposal has already been met with some Republican opposition, jeopardizing its approval.
When asked if the deal could cost McCarthy his job, Spartz said it might.
I think it might cost his job at some point you have to keep your promises, Spartz said. And if youre not willing to fight for the people, you know, maybe well have to have someone else trying to fight, but I havent seen him trying to fight the fight.
A continuing resolution would need to be approved by Congress to fund the government past Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The decision of the United Nations to give a platform to representatives of Russia is not of concern to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy , according to an interview he gave to Reuters on Sept. 18.
During his visit to the United States, Zelenskyy will participate in a UN Security Council meeting. He said he is unsure if he will listen to the head of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov , when he makes his address.
While visiting wounded soldiers in New York, Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of having all their words and messages heard by their partners.
"Im not certain we'll opt for such a format. I dont know how it will unfold... If the UN still provides a platform for Russian terrorists, its not my purview. I believe its a matter for all UN members," Zelenskyy said.
Read also: Ukraine peace summit to be held in September at UN General Assembly or G20 Summit in India Politico
Zelenskyy, and First Lady Olena Zelenska, arrived in New York for the 78th UN General Assembly on the evening of Sept. 18.
The president is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Polish President Andrzej Duda, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Additionally, Zelenskyy will visit Washington, D.C., where he will hold meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden, congressional leaders and parties, military officials, and American businesspeople.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Virginia and 17 other GOP-led states filed a brief in support of Montana in a lawsuit it faces from social media giant TikTok.
The lawsuit was filed in May in federal court by TikTok over the Montanas first-in-the-nation law that will ban the social media platform from operating in the Treasure State at the beginning of next year. It will also bar app stores from allowing it to be downloaded.
TikTok has argued Montanas ban violates its First Amendment rights, intrudes upon federal authority and unlawfully singles out the company.
The brief, filed Monday, calls Montanas law the latest in a storied tradition of consumer protection laws. It also argues TikToks request for a preliminary injunction in the case should be denied.
TikTok intentionally engages in deceptive business practices which induce individuals to share sensitive personal information that can be easily accessed by the Chinese Communist Party, the brief reads.
Concerns about TikTok and its connections to China have gained steam in recent years as the app has surged in popularity among Americans. In March, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about these security concerns.
Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns, Chew said in his opening statement at the time. We have addressed them with real action.
TikTok has a plan, named Project Texas, to route and store American data through Oracle, a Texas-based technology company. The plan aims to assuage the concerns surrounding Chinas ability to access American data, but U.S. lawmakers remain skeptical.
I still believe that the Beijing communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do, and so this idea of Project Texas is simply not acceptable, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) told Chew during the committee hearing.
The Hill has reached out to TikTok.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Senator Susan Collins is threatening to wear a bikini to work. Why? Because Chuck Schumer has done something that threatens the very fabric of the republic: relaxing the Senates dress code in a move that would allow lawmakers like Pennsylvanias John Fetterman to embrace their affinity for casual clothes without violating protocol.
On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) officially changed the rules around what is considered appropriate attire for members of the upper chamber, instructing the Sergeant at Arms to stop enforcing guidelines requiring business attire on the floor. Informal attire previously constituted a dress code violation that would have prevented a senator from fully entering the chamber, forcing them to vote with one foot out the door.
Fettermans relaxed stylings have been a part of his image throughout his political career, and after taking a medical hiatus from Congress to seek treatment for clinical depression, hes clearly decided to prioritize comfort over costume. Schumers move, which did not directly reference the Pennsylvania senator, has angered some of the more tight-laced Republicans both in and out of Congress and led to criticism of Fetterman.
I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor and Chris Coons is gonna wear shorts because theres no dress code anymore, Sen. Collins (R-Maine) said Tuesday. All we can say is that it would be quite a sight.
Fettermans style is the very sloppiest that a person would dress even if theyre going to a gym by themselves, said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), accusing Schumers decision of having debased the Senate.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) complained on X (formerly Twitter) that the Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful. Dress code is one of societys standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar! Greene, a paragon of etiquette and social graces, has in the past demonstrated her respect for our institutions by loudly heckling President Biden during his State of the Union addresses, but its OK, she was wearing a fur coat at the time.
Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis also attacked Fetterman, bashing him for wearing sweatshirts, and hoodies and shorts in a way that was disrespectful to the Senate. We need to be lifting up our standards in this country, not dumbing down, the former member of Congress added.
But Fetterman has never been one to ignore criticism. I dress like he campaigns, he tweeted, referencing DeSantis lackluster performance as a candidate in the 2024 primaries. The Pennsylvania senator took a similar dig at professional pollster Nate Silver, who complained about the amount of coverage the rule change was receiving. I dress like you predict, he wrote.
I dress like he campaigns https://t.co/IXgGmIRNb4 John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 18, 2023
In another post, Fetterman clapped back at Fox News criticism of him by taking a dig at network coverage of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who was recently kicked out of a performance of the Beetlejuice musical after vaping, causing a disturbance, and getting a little too intimate with her date while in the audience.
I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, theyll make me a folk hero, Fetterman wrote on X.
Fetterman weighed in on the dress code change itself on Tuesday. I feel its a little more freedom, which should be bipartisanship, he told Fox News while sporting a short-sleeved button-down and shorts while in the halls of the Capitol. I think its a good thing, but Im going to use it sparingly, he added. I hope other colleagues take advantage of it too.
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Two retired Charlotte firefighters visited one of their old captains, taking him on a ride in their old fire truck.
Channel 9s Hannah Goetz joined Danny Ross, Larry Met and Harry Rogers on the ride, learning about their decades-long friendship and time spent serving the Queen City.
There are very few fires where we cant say we were there, said Ross.
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Larry Mets and Danny Ross take retired captain Harry Rogers on a surprise ride
Their visit to the former captain is a part of a larger program to reconnect with retired firefighters in poor health and lift everyones spirits.
If you want to uplift a fireman, you bring him a fire truck.
In the video at the top of the page, hear the story of their half-century long friendship.
(WATCH: Charlotte firefighter given CFDs Medal of Valor for actions during shooting)
The Reuters agency has recalled corruption scandals involving Oleh Tatarov , Deputy Head of the Presidents Office of Ukraine, and called Andrii Yermak, head of the Presidents Office, a "green cardinal", considering the degree of his influence in this country.
Source: Reuters
Details: The news agency has published an article with a title "Corruption accusations continue to plague top Zelenskiy aides".
The article says that Oleh Maiboroda, the chief executive of one of Ukraine's biggest construction firms Ukrbud, bribed public officials to approve building projects through Oleh Tatarov, now senior adviser to Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Maiboroda said this in an interview in Vienna, where he has settled to escape prosecution in Ukraine for his own alleged role in corruption schemes.
Maiboroda said bribes flowed through Tatarov from 2014 to 2019. The lawyer's contacts with police, courts and prosecutors made him a perfect mediator. He provided no proof of his words.
He added that he received regular orders from Maksym Mykytas, developer and former member of the Ukrainian Parliament, to hand over certain amounts of cash to Tatarov.
In his statement for Reuters, Mykytas accused Maiboroda of ""false testimony" and behaving "like a cornered animal" after himself being accused of corruption. He said Tatarov's contacts and influence were being "greatly exaggerated."
Maiboroda remarked that Tatarov would either collect the bribes himself or sent a driver to do it. Tatarov accounted for this money as construction projects expenses.
Maiboroda showed Reuters what he said was a list of bribes, recorded in a spreadsheet, totaling US$1.8 million paid by Tatarov. He also shared three signed cash receipts that matched entries on the list. Maiboroda said the signatory was Tatarov, and the list of bribes was from Ukrbud Development's accounts. Reuters could not independently verify this.
Reuters shared the receipts with Mykytas and Tatarov. Mykytas said they were a forgery. Tatarov didn't respond. The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) said experts would need to study the material to verify it.
Quote by Reuters: "Maiboroda's remarks threaten to reignite a controversy that has plagued President Volodymyr Zelenskiy even in wartime: accusations by political opponents and anti-corruption campaigners that powerful people have shielded Tatarov from prosecution."
More details: Reuters reported that Zelenskyy and Tatarov provided no responses to detailed questions for the article.
Reuters recalled a scandal with "trading positions" involving the brother of Andrii Yermak and reported that Yermak himself is called a "green cardinal" in diplomatic circles abroad.
Quote: "These days, he [Yermak ed.] is frequently alongside Zelenskiy at government meetings and public events. He is known among foreign diplomats as the "green cardinal" because of his reputed influence and because, like his boss, he has taken to wearing khaki."
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 European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) expects to invest 1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) into Ukraine annually for the coming two years, Reuters reported on Sept. 18.
However, the figure could increase "if reconstruction really started to accelerate," EBRD President Odile Renaud-Basso said at an event at Chatham House in London.
Renaud-Basso said that amidst the ongoing Russian invasion, support for Ukraine was critical, particularly its energy sector and infrastructure.
"If there is no heating, no electricity, the winter will be very difficult. That's why we have mainly been focusing on that," she added.
Russian attacks last winter repeatedly targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure, leaving millions of people without heating or power.
In December, Ukraine's state grid operator said it would receive a loan of 300 million from EBRD to restore infrastructure damaged by Russian strikes.
According to Reuters, last year the EBRD also offered up to 300 million in financing to Naftogaz, Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company, to help it buy enough gas last winter.
In August, Naftogaz said it had already accumulated 14 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas reserves, a target the company had aimed to reach before the winter. Last year, Naftogaz hit the 14 bcm target only in October.
The EBRD is the largest institutional investor in Ukraine. In May 2023, it released a report indicating that Ukraine will need approximately $250 billion for its recovery over a five-year period.
Read also: Shmyhal: Energy infrastructure will be ready for winter within next month
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The Richmond County Sheriff's Office is seeking the public's help in solving the murder of a 21-year-old in April 2022.
JaJuan Marcell Russell, of Augusta, was shot and killed April 17, 2022 on the 3700 block of Oslo Road, according to previous reporting.
JaJuan Marcell Russell, 21, was shot and killed in Augusta on April 17, 2022.
Deputies found Russell unresponsive in the middle of the road with at least one gunshot wound, according to an incident report released Tuesday. Another 23-year-old was found at the scene with a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening.
Russell was pronounced dead at Augusta University Medical Center, according to the report.
Anyone with information about the shooting is encouraged to contact the sheriffs office at 706-821-1020 or the non-emergency dispatch line at 706-821-1080. All callers can remain anonymous.
Gun violence in Augusta: Two men shot in Augusta within 48 hours, sheriff's office says
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Deputies seek the public's help in 2022 Augusta murder investigation
MEMPHIS, Tenn. As we get ready to start this years Go Jim Go, we are taking a moment to give thanks to the man who started it all.
This year is WREG meteorologist Jim Jaggers final ride as he steps back from his weather duties.
Jim started on Memphis TV in 1977 and has been with WREG since July 26, 2004. During his 19-year journey at WREG, theres no doubt that he has left his mark on Memphis.
Hes a guy who cared deeply about the Memphis area. You can tell that through Go Jim Go, said digital executive producer David Royer. I have watched him nearly my entire life. Theres no one I trust more to tell me what is going on in the Memphis skies.
Jim kept us informed on the sunny days and when severe weather hit, often times spending hours on air.
WREGs Jim Jaggers receives National Weather Associations Broadcaster of the Year award
You felt a level of comfort when you heard the forecast from Jim, whether it was good or bad, said Stephanie Scurlock. He had a way of informing you without scaring you, you know?
And his expertise was certainly admired and noticed.
Hes an amazing scientist. He really knows what he is talking about. So many people have learned so much from him, said WREG news director Bruce Moore.
He has so much knowledge. So many different awards. Hes won the National Weatherperson of the Year from the National Weather Association, said fellow weather expert Todd Demers.
Jim also had another side we loved. He made people laugh.
He didnt take himself too seriously, and thats what we all appreciated about Jim, Scurlock said.
And that was also the case in the newsroom.
Working with him, I was like, woah, youre really like that. You are this pleasant person. This kind person I see on TV, said Quametra Wilborn.
He brought a lot of laughter to the newsroom. Jim always had a joke, said assignment manager and investigative producer Lisa Dandridge.
Jim Jaggers with Stephanie Scurlock and April Thompson
Its a sentiment shared by so many at News Channel 3.
We got so close with him. He told me that he is the godfather of my child now. He always asks about us, and the family and how his godson is doing, said production technician Melissa Jospeh.
A very down to Earth guy. Hes just fun, man. Hes fun, said production director Michael Gates.
Jim Jaggers is getting back on the road for Go Jim Go 2023
Jims kindness reached beyond our station. Youd see him out in the community working with the boy scouts and volunteering countless hours. He also spent 18 years doing Go Jim Go, biking hundreds of miles to raise money for Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital. Over the years, he raised more than $4 million.
Hes there getting to know parents, getting to know the children themselves, the doctors, the nurses. This is personal for him and always has been, said Alex Coleman.
His charitable work is incredible, and its a legacy of work that, its everlasting, said Jerrita Patterson.
You wont see Jim every day on News Channel 3, but were lucky its not a total goodbye.
Jim will still be a part of our family hosting WREGs Knowledge Bowl and appearing occasionally in other roles, including the weather desk.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
The squiggly lines and plump, rounded letters that showed up on the new sound walls along the Beltline in West Raleigh recently are part of an uptick in graffiti on N.C. Department of Transportation structures in the past year or so.
After a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of graffiti on NCDOT walls and signs has rebounded in the Triangle, according to Brandon Jones, the top engineer in the division that includes Wake and Durham counties. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the division paid contractors about $225,000 to remove graffiti, three times what it spent a year earlier, Jones said.
Normally, NCDOTs contractor is quick to attack new graffiti, but the paint on the Beltline is taking longer to clean up, Jones said.
Thats because some of it is on a new type of sound wall thats made of concrete but formed and painted to look like brick. NCDOT and the construction company that built the walls are trying to figure out how to take the graffiti off without marring the special brick paint.
Kevin Smith, an NCDOT graffiti-removal contractor, says that on bare concrete he begins by permeating the scrawls and images with solvent for about 15 minutes, then hits them with high-pressure steam. A couple rounds of that usually does the trick, Smith said.
Unless its some really expensive paint that theyre using, itll come off with that two-step process, he said. But if there is some shadowing, well have to go over it a third time.
Smith has been in the pressure-washing business for more than 25 years and branched into graffiti removal 5 years ago. He said youll find graffiti everywhere in the Triangle, but that the nature and quality of it varies.
Out along Interstate 540 and U.S. 401 in North Raleigh, he said, the scribbling tends to be cruder and more vulgar, likely the work of kids. In addition, someone uses sound wall messages in that area to express their disdain for homebuilders and developers.
Some of the graffiti along the Beltline in West Raleigh is more elaborate than others. This piece appeared on the new bridge support walls along Beryl Avenue.
But the busiest place for highway graffiti is in West Raleigh, Smith said, perhaps because of its proximity to the students at N.C. State University. Some of it is the elaborate, colorful words and images you associate with graffiti in places like New York, and Smith feels a little bad taking it off.
Some of it is just really artistic. It doesnt address any particular political agenda or any stereotype, but its just nice artistic expression. Very well done, he said. But they pay me to take em down, so thats what I do.
Graffiti vandalism is a crime in North Carolina
Smith agrees theres been a significant increase in graffiti since the pandemic. Perhaps things got quieter when classes went virtual and there were fewer NCSU students in town, he said.
Jones has spent about 28 years with NCDOT and says graffiti has always waxed and waned. He doesnt know why.
Sometimes theres not a lot of activity, and other times you cant keep up with it, he said. I dont know what would create cycles of graffiti activity.
The City of Raleigh has two crews dedicated to removing graffiti. They havent seen an increase in recent years, said spokesman Rob Murray. Raleigh maintains a website and special email address, graffiti@Raleighnc.gov, where people can report graffiti, which the city tries to get to ASAP, Murray said.
Removing graffiti quickly acts as a deterrent to continued tagging, he wrote in an email.
Under state law, graffiti vandalism is a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and possibly 24 hours of community service.
But despite how common it is, graffiti seldom becomes a police matter. Since the beginning of 2021, the Raleigh Police Department has received only 5 reports of graffiti in the city, said spokesman Jason Borneo.
More often than not, they are quickly cleaned up by crews or go unreported, Borneo wrote in an email.
Its not uncommon for police to notify NCDOT when officers see graffiti on walls or signs thats either offensive or tied to gangs, Jones said. But the department doesnt typically report graffiti because it seems too late, he said.
After-the-fact, theres probably not a whole lot they can do besides just make a record of it, he said.
Jones said the graffiti along the Beltline took place in a construction zone where whoever painted the sound walls had some space to access them. By the end of the year, traffic will shift onto new lanes closer to the walls, which might discourage future tagging, he said.
Jones said there are anti-graffiti coatings for sound walls, but theyre expensive and dont actually prevent graffiti. They just make it easier to clean the paint off.
Jones said he expects the graffiti along the Beltline will be cleaned up sometime in the next few weeks, once NCDOT, the construction company and the contractor have agreed on a strategy for the faux-brick walls.
Graffiti on new sound walls along Interstate 440, the Raleigh Beltline.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a presidential candidate seeking to win the Democratic nomination, has repeatedly hinted that hes open to pursuing a third-party or independent campaign, should he fail to get on the Democratic ballot.
In a recent campaign stop in South Carolina, Kennedy told voters that the Democratic National Committee is actively working to keep him from winning the Democratic nomination, forcing him to keep all (his) options open about launching an independent run.
Theyre trying to make sure that I cant participate at all in the political process, and so Im going to keep all my options open, Kennedy said.
A day later, he reiterated his position, telling a crowd in New Hampshire that he would have to make a call before Oct. 15, according to ABC News.
Kennedy, the son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy , announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in April.
President Joe Biden is running for reelection, and the incumbent is seen as the all-but-sure nominee, maintaining a 50-percentage-point lead over Kennedy in national polls. But polls also show a growing skepticism of Bidens age and fitness for office: An AP poll this month shows that 77% of Americans think Biden is too old to serve another term, including 69% of Democrats.
A separate CNN poll suggests that two-thirds of registered Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want their party to nominate someone other than Biden. But of that group, when asked who they would like to see as the Democratic nominee, only 1% named Kennedy.
Kennedy has been accusing the DNC of making efforts to keep him off of the ballot for several weeks. In an interview with Forbes at the beginning of September, Kennedy accused the DNC of a rigged process to make it simply impossible for anybody to challenge President Biden.
Its pretty clear that the DNC does not want a primary, Kennedy said. Essentially, they are fixing the process so that it makes it almost impossible to have democracy function. Theyre effectively disenfranchising the Democratic voters from having any choice in who becomes president, the Democrat nominee.
The Kennedy campaign has tried to soften Kennedys statements, emphasizing that the goal is still to get on primary ballots and compete as a Democrat.
Were trying to stop the Democratic Party from making a mistake, Kennedy campaign manager Dennis Kucinich told ABC News. Were trying to help the Democratic Party come to reconcile with its own voting base. ... Regardless of whats been said, even by the candidate himself, we have not abandoned hope for the Democratic Party.
A South Beloit man charged in connection with the shooting death of a 10-year-old boy was ordered released from the Winnebago County Jail Monday following a detention hearing.
Jose Sandoval-Tenorio, 30, of South Beloit, was charged with endangering the life of a child and possessing firearms without a Firearm Owners Identification Card. Sandoval-Tenorio had kept a pair of pistols unsecured but hidden in his bedroom beneath a loose floorboard, prosecutors told Associate Judge Scott R. Paccagnini.
Winnebago County State's Attorney J. Hanley asked Paccagnini to deny Sandoval-Tenorio release.
But lawyer Jason Tempin said Sandoval-Tenorio has no criminal record and that although the death was tragic, there was no evidence the South Beloit man posed a continuing threat since his firearms were seized as evidence.
More: Rockford area man arrested in shooting death of 10-year-old boy
Paccagnini noted that Sandoval-Tenorio had lived in the area for 13 years without serious legal trouble. He ruled that under the Pretrial Fairness Act, which ended cash bail in Illinois on Monday, Sandoval-Tenorio should be released.
The judge ordered the South Beloit man to stay away from the family home and to have no contact with his wife or children.
"We argued he should be detained based on the severity of the charge and the underlying facts, but ultimately the court disagreed and found he should be released with those conditions," Hanley said.
Prosecutors have sixty days to bring a bill of indictment against Sandoval-Tenorio. It's possible the charges could be amended or upgraded as an investigation continues.
The shooting took place Friday in the 200 block of Townline Avenue in South Beloit.
Prosecutors said that Sandoval-Tenorio and his wife had left to go out to eat or attend a festival in Beloit, leaving the 10-year-old boy and a 9-year-old boy alone at home.
Authorities found realistic toy guns near the actual guns including a Springfield 9-mm pistol, prosecutors said.
Jeff Kolkey can be reached at (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.
Editor's Note: This article was updated to make a correction. It initially said the 10-year-old was home alone with a girl. In fact, he was left home with a 9-year-old boy.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: South Beloit parents had gone out to eat when boy was shot at home
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Tuesday that he is willing to waive his blockade of the Senates effort to pass spending legislation if he wins an amendment vote on a bill to end government shutdowns.
Lawmakers told reporters that Johnson was in discussions with Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, about the potential amendment vote to the trio of funding bills known as a minibus the upper chamber is attempting to move.
The bill Johnson wants a vote on is being proposed by Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).
If they get me that, Ill consent, Johnson said. I need to make sure I get a vote. Thats my ask. I didnt ask for anything initially, but I appreciate the work the appropriators are doing.
Well see, Johnson said when asked if Collins was amenable to that idea. Are the Democrats amenable to it? Theyre the ones who have to agree to give me a vote on that.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was noncommittal about the amendment vote, telling reporters that he had not seen news of the talks.
I havent seen that yet, so Im not commenting, he said.
Collins told reporters that the lunch was constructive and that they might have achieved a breakthrough with Johnson.
But that remains to be seen, Collins said, adding that shes asked Lankford to pass along language of his bill and had to talk to Democrats about the potential amendment vote.
The move would end the standstill that has lasted since Thursday, when Johnson objected to a unanimous consent effort by appropriators to move the minibus along. The Wisconsin conservative at the time was calling for the upper chamber to consider bills one at a time rather than via the three-bill minibus, and to start with the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs spending package.
Top senators and appropriators are moving the spending bills via a minibus because of the lack of time between now and the end of fiscal 2023, and to show that the chamber can functionally operate while the House finds itself mired in intraparty issues in moving its government funding bills.
Johnson wasnt alone in calling for movement on Lankfords proposal. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), who chairs the Senate GOP campaign arm, called for the bill to pass during Republican leaderships weekly press conference.
Lankford, alongside Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), has offered the bill, which requires that if appropriations work is not completed by the set deadline, lawmakers must stay in Washington, DC, and work until the spending bills are completed. It would also implement an automatic continuing resolution on rolling 14-day stretches.
This will prevent a government-wide shutdown, continue critical services and operations for Americans, and hold federal workers harmless while Congress completes appropriations, Lankfords team said in a press release.
Schumer and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) announced Monday that the chamber would move to suspend the rules and advance the minibus with 67 rules to overcome Johnsons objection. That vote was slated to be held later this week.
Updated at 3:31 p.m. ET
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON Senate proceedings remained largely at a standstill as of Tuesday morning following a move by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson to block the advancement of must-pass spending measures as the threat of a government shutdown looms over Capitol Hill.
Johnson's maneuver to object to proceed to amendment votes on a so-called "minibus" package of spending bills led Senate leadership on Monday to move to suspend Senate rules in an effort to override the Oshkosh Republican's blockade.
Wisconsin's senior senator last Thursday took issue with the bundling of measures that would fund the Departments of Agriculture and Transportation with legislation to fund military construction and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The military construction and Veterans Affairs bill, as well as the other spending bills, should be considered one at a time, Johnson maintained.
Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass legislation to fund the government's various agencies and avoid a shutdown.
One member, mimicking the House Freedom Caucus, has derailed the Senate and prevented us from considering amendments, including Republican amendments," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor Monday, referring to Johnson. "Its a reminder that in both chambers a small band of hard-right Republicans are dead set on grinding down the gears of government."
For these MAGA Republicans, its as if gridlock is a virtue and cooperation is a crime," Schumer said. "I ask this small group of Republican senators: What happened to wanting to do appropriations in regular order?"
Still, Johnson on Monday stood by his decision to hold up proceedings on the spending package. He called for "fiscal sanity" and reiterated his desire for the Senate to take up the 12 spending bills, which all passed out of committees with bipartisan support, individually.
"This is not regular order. If this was regular order, they wouldnt need my consent to break their own rules," Johnson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel when asked about his minibus objection.
"We need the House to start passing appropriations bills one at a time," he said. "We need to bring them up and pass them here in the Senate one at a time. Actually, that process should've started last May, and the fact that it started here in September just shows how grossly dysfunctional this place is."
Johnson's single-handed roadblock has drawn the ire of Democrats and Republicans alike. Maine Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, pushed back on Johnson's move last week noting it holds up Republican amendments to the legislation. She claimed it could lead to an omnibus a massive 12-bill spending package.
Johnson on Monday told the Journal Sentinel Congress would "probably" end up with an omnibus package regardless of what he did with the minibus.
The back and forth is playing out under the threat of a government shutdown at the end of the month. Senate Democrats' decision to move Monday to suspend Senate rules would end the delay caused by Johnson. Still, it is not a guaranteed solution because such a move needs 67 votes to pass the narrowly divided chamber. A vote is expected later this week.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is working to gather support from within his conference for a short-term stopgap measure, known as a continuing resolution, that would keep the government open past the Sept. 30 deadline.
Members of the House Freedom Caucus and the more moderate Main Street Caucus negotiated the one-month temporary funding bill over the weekend. The proposal would cut last year's spending levels by 1% and result in nearly an 8% cut to non-defense spending while also leaving veterans affairs and disaster relief funding untouched.
The Republican stopgap measure, which has no future in a Senate controlled by Democrats, includes Republican border security and immigration proposals. A number of Republicans on Monday, however, came out against the legislation, leaving its future in the House this week uncertain.
It reads like a hard-right screed," Schumer, the Senate majority leader, said of the Republican proposal, noting it does not provide any additional aid to Ukraine. "This is not a serious proposal for avoiding a government shutdown and if passed would never have enough votes to make it through the Senate."
That stopgap measure could be taken up in the House this week and is likely to get the support of the majority of the Republican conference, including those in Wisconsin.
"I'm in favor of it," U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel outside the Capitol Monday evening. "It secures the border, which has been a complete disaster under the Biden administration. It does that while keeping the government open. It's a great win."
Asked about pushback over the measure within the Republican Party, Steil responded: "We have a narrow conference. Everything is hard."
He added: "We've been underestimated. We overdeliver. It's the same as the previous (debate) with the debt ceiling. We'll get there."
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson spending blockade puts government shutdown in focus
Russian forces attacked communities in Sumy Oblast on 37 occasions during Sept. 18, resulting in 171 recorded explosions, according to the Sumy Oblast Military Administration.
The communities of Krasnopillia, Bilopillia, Khotin, Yunakivka, Velyka Pysarivka, Hlukhiv, Esman, Seredyna-Buda, and Znob-Novhorodske each came under fire from a mixture of artillery, drones, and mortars.
Sumy Oblast borders Russia and comes under fire on a daily basis. Russian forces were pushed out of the region in April of last year, though attacks continue to be launched from across the border.
Velyka Pysarivka experienced the most intense attack today, with 58 explosions recorded there alone. Over the past 24 hours, the Krasnopillia community was attacked with artillery, and mortars with 13 explosions reported.
No casualties were reported during todays attacks, according to the administration.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
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The investigation conducted by Ukraines Security Service has said that on 6 September 2023, the Russian occupiers hit the market in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast, with an S-300 missile.
Source: Ukraines Security Service in a comment for Ukrainska Pravda
Quote: "Ukraines Security Service is investigating another war crime conducted by Russia, where the Russians attacked a market in Kostiantynivka on 6 September of this year.
The investigation is carried out under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).
The investigation indicates that the enemy hit this civilian target from a S-300 missile system. In particular, the identified missile fragments found at the scene prove this."
Details: This is how Ukraines Special Service commented on The New York Times article about the attack on Kostiantynivka on 6 September being a "tragic mishap" caused by the fall of a Ukrainian missile and not by Russian shelling.
Ukraines Security Service noted that the investigation is examining a number of other materials that indicate the involvement of Russian forces in this shelling.
Ukraines Security Service added that the pre-trial investigation is ongoing as of now, and a number of examinations have been appointed to establish all the circumstances of this war crime.
Background:
On 6 September, the Ukrainian authorities reported that the Russian military had attacked the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. It was reported that 16 people were killed and 33 were wounded.
The New York Times, based on the results of its own investigations, said the attack on the market in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on 6 September was a "tragic mishap" caused by the fall of a Ukrainian missile and not by Russian shelling. The NYT journalists also reported that the size of the impact hole and of the fragments found at the scene corresponds to the size and shape of one weapon in particular, which is the 9M38 missile launched by the Buk air defence system.
A Ukrainska Pravda source clarified that the Ukrainian Air Force did not use Buk air defence systems that day.
The Department of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) urged the media to wait for the results of the official investigation into the missile attack on the market in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk 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!
Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defence Council, has said that Russia is too weak to support Armenia in the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Source: Danilov on UP.Live
Quote: "Russia will abandon Armenia, it will not fight there, it is not a partner for any country. All the commitments that Russia has made to Armenia are now worth nothing, and it will leave it [Armenia ed.] alone with this problem. This should be understood by all the Central Asian countries that still have direct relations with Russia. It simply abandons its partners, and it does not fulfil its commitments."
Details: Danilov added that Russia had promised to help the Armenians. However, Azerbaijan realises that because of its focus on the war in Ukraine, Russia is weak and cannot fight back.
Background:
Earlier, Danilov said that there will be no second march on Moscow following the example of the Wagner mutiny, but a rebellion is in fact brewing in Russia and it will lead to the fragmentation of the Russian Federation. Ukraine knows who is leading the rebellion and how it manifests itself.
On 19 September, Azerbaijan announced the start of "local anti-terrorist measures" in unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry called Baku's actions a large-scale aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh "in order to complete the policy of ethnic cleansing". Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan convened the National Security Council.
In Yerevan, clashes broke out between police and protesters who had come to the Russian Embassy in the Armenian capital in connection with the resumption of hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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Russia opened fire on its own surrendering soldiers with artillery, Ukraine says
A composite of video stills shows what appears to be three surrendering Russian troops lying on the ground and a big explosion then hitting the area. Telegram/2nd Mechanized Battalion
Russian troops trying to surrender were targeted by their own artillery, a Ukrainian unit said.
Ukraine shared footage of three soldiers appearing to surrender before a big explosion.
It said two of the soldiers survived. A different report said "several" Russian soldiers died.
Surrendering Russian troops were shot at and killed by their own artillery, Ukraine has claimed.
The 2nd Mechanized Battalion of Ukraine's 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said on Saturday that it was taking Russian prisoners in the frontline village of Andriivka in the eastern Donetsk region.
But it said that Russian forces, realizing the fight for the village was lost and many of its soldiers were surrendering, gave the order to open fire on its own troops.
According to the Ukrainian account, Ukraine still took two Russian soldiers captive after the explosion. It is not clear how many Russian soldiers were killed, but three soldiers were visible before the explosion in the drone footage shared by the battalion.
The video shows soldiers moving through the remnants of destroyed buildings, with explosions going off around them.
The video then appears to show Ukrainian soldiers interacting with three Russian soldiers, one of whom is seen lying down and two others holding up their arms and lying down.
A huge explosion then goes off, engulfing the group.
When the smoke clears, the footage shows multiple Ukrainian soldiers, a Russian soldier being led away, and another Russian moving on the ground before walking away with Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian news outlet Euromaidan Press reported that "several" Russian soldiers died, some others survived, and Ukraine's troops were not harmed. It did not give figures.
It is not clear from the video who was responsible for the explosion.
Andriivka has become the scene of some of the most intense fighting in Ukraine's counteroffensive.
The 2nd battalion said it retook the village, which has been largely destroyed, and shared photos of its troops raising Ukraine's flag there on Monday.
A soldier holds the Ukrainian flag in front of a destroyed building in the village of Andriivka. Telegram/Ukraine's 2nd Mechanized Battalion
It said that capturing and holding Andriivka is key for Ukraine's future counteroffensive efforts, including around the city of Bakhmut, which has been the longest and bloodiest battle in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine and Western intelligence have previously pointed to Russia shooting at its own surrendering soldiers.
The UK Ministry of Defence said in November that Russia was likely deploying units that had the sole purpose of threatening to shoot soldiers caught retreating, which is something Russia has done in previous wars.
A Ukrainian official also told Insider in May that a Russian soldier who was caught on video surrendering to a Ukrainian drone was targeted by his own comrades as he fled.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Russia sent troops into battle armed with little more than shovels against Ukraine's cluster munitions, report says
A soldier holds the Ukrainian flag in front of a destroyed building in the village of Andriivka. Telegram/Ukraine's 2nd Mechanized Battalion
A Russian soldier claimed that his regiment was being sent into hopeless fights, per independent media.
His account suggests a desperate fight in the village of Andriivka, which Ukraine recently retook.
Russian soldiers there had "practically no weapons," one soldier's wife reportedly said.
A Russian soldier fighting near Bakhmut said his regiment is being sent to face Ukrainian cluster munitions with little more than "shovels," according to independent Russian media.
The soldier, identified by the pseudonym Denis Ivanov, spoke by telephone on Sunday from near Andriivka, a village to the south of Bakhmut, where Russia's 94th regiment was fighting, Svoboda reported.
Ivanov's wife identified pseudonymously as Vera said he had earlier told her that they had "practically no weapons," adding that they were attacking with shovels and barely any artillery support, the outlet reported.
Insider has not independently verified their identities or claims.
Last Thursday, video appeared to show Ukrainian troops retaking Andriivka, which Russia quickly denied.
As of Wednesday, however, the US think tank the Institute for the Study of War assessed that Ukraine had retaken Andriivka as well as Klischiivka, a town about a mile closer to Bakhmut.
In the context of the broader counteroffensive, it's a tiny but notable breakthrough in what appears to be a Ukrainian tactic of straining thinly spread Russian forces across many spots on the front line, the Associated Press reported.
According to Svoboda's report, the fight at Andriivka has been a desperate one for Russian soldiers. The soldier identified as Ivanov told the outlet that his regiment had lost about 600 out of 1,000 fighters, a number far higher than official reports.
When troops are sent in, there is barely any supporting fire from artillery because they have hardly any rounds, Ivanov told Svoboda.
Vera, the wife, suggested that Russian troops had been ordered to fire on their compatriots if they retreated. Ukrainian forces echoed this claim on Saturday.
Ivanov complained that his commander would not admit that the village was in Ukrainian hands, sending them to fight when it was plainly futile, the outlet reported.
Vera told the outlet that she was speaking out in order to get the word out to Russian high command about his refusal to accept the loss of the village, so that the doomed attacks could come to a halt.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The Ukrainian Defence Forces have successfully repelled Russian attacks near the settlement of Klishchiivka, and the Russian forces have tried to regain their lost ground near the village of Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast, but to no avail.
Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 19 September
Details: The Russian occupying forces persist in ignoring international humanitarian law, targeting not only the positions of Ukrainian troops but also civilian infrastructure in the settlements, terrorising civilians.
The Russian Federation carried out another attack on Ukraine with air-to-surface cruise missiles and Shahed-136/131 loitering munitions yesterday. Ukrainian air defence brought down all 17 cruise missiles and 18 of the Russian-launched 24 Shaheds. Unfortunately, these acts of terrorism by the Kremlin resulted in civilian casualties, destroyed residential buildings and damaged civilian infrastructure.
The Ukrainian Defence Forces are pursuing defence in Ukraines east and south, offensive operations on the Melitopol front and offensive action on the Bakhmut front, crushing the Russians, liberating the temporarily occupied territories step by step, and consolidating their positions.
A total of 35 combat engagements occurred over the past 24 hours. The Russians launched 22 missile strikes and 57 air strikes and fired on Ukrainian positions and populated areas 55 times using multiple-launch rocket systems.
The Russian airstrikes targeted Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
Russian artillery fire affected over 70 settlements in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts.
On the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna fronts, the Russian army retains a grouping of troops to cover their state border. They are actively conducting sabotage activities in the border areas to prevent the deployment of Ukrainian forces to vulnerable areas and are increasing the density of minefields along the state border in Russia's Belgorod Oblast.
In the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group on the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian Defence Forces successfully repelled Russian attacks near Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast. The Russians attempted to regain their lost ground near Andriivka, Donetsk Oblast but failed. The Ukrainian army continues its assault operations in the area south of the city of Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, inflicting significant losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian forces and consolidating their positions.
In the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group on the Marinka front, Russian troops launched an unsuccessful offensive in and around the city of Marinka in Donetsk Oblast. They have carried out over 10 unsuccessful attempts to force Ukrainian units out of their positions over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, on the Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk fronts, the Ukrainian Defence Forces are holding the initiative, pressuring the Russians and gradually regaining Ukrainian land.
On the Melitopol front, the Russians launched unsuccessful offensive actions near the settlement of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, trying to regain lost ground. The Ukrainian forces continue to hold the line, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the Russian occupying army and exhausting them.
In the area of responsibility of the Odesa Operational Strategic Group on the Kherson front, Ukrainian defenders continue to wage counter-battery combat, destroying supply depots and successfully hitting the Russian rear.
The Kremlin persists in sending military personnel from constituent entities of the Russian Federation to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Around 100 conscripts from the Kabardino-Balkar Republic of the Russian Federation arrived in the temporarily occupied city of Dzhankoi, Russian-occupied Crimea, on 15 September this year to reinforce the security and defence of the local military airfield.
Over the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian Air Force have delivered 9 strikes on clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment.
Units from Ukraines Rocket Forces and Artillery struck 2 clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment, 3 anti-aircraft missile systems, 19 artillery pieces, and 1 Russian command post.
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Russian attacks against Ukraine have killed six civilians and wounded another 17 in the past day and overnight, regional authorities reported on Sept. 19.
Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported that 18 attack drones were sent toward the region, 15 of which were shot down by air defense systems.
Industrial warehouses in the city were hit by three strikes, causing fires to break out and injuring one 26-year-old man, Kozytskyi said.
The body of another man was later found under the rubble, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
An overnight attack in Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast caused a multi-story building to collapse, according to Serhii Lysak, the region's governor.
Since yesterday evening, Nikopol and the surrounding region were attacked twice with artillery fire, injuring a 71-year-old man and damaging six homes, Lysak said.
Three people were killed and 11 more were injured in Russian attacks on Kherson Oblast over the last day, Oleksandr Prokudin, the region's governor, reported. The city of Kherson was hit by 11 strikes over the past day, Prokudin said.
In Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks in the past day have killed two civilians and injured four others, the regional military administration reported. One person was killed in Avdiivka and another in Toretsk.
Local authorities reported the downing of drones across southern, central, and western Ukraine, including Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, and Odesa Oblast.
Russian forces launched 30 drones toward Ukraine overnight and air defense systems downed 27 of them, the Air Force reported.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
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Russian attacks against Ukraine have killed eight civilians and wounded another 16 in the past day and overnight, regional authorities reported on Sept. 19.
Lviv Oblast Governor Maksym Kozytskyi reported that 18 attack drones were sent toward the region, 15 of which were shot down by air defense systems.
Industrial warehouses in the city were hit by three strikes, causing fires to break out and injuring one 26-year-old man, Kozytskyi said.
The body of another man was later found under the rubble, Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
An overnight attack in Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast caused a multi-story building to collapse, according to Serhii Lysak, the region's governor.
Since yesterday evening, Nikopol and the surrounding region were attacked twice with artillery fire, injuring a 71-year-old man and damaging six homes, Lysak said.
On the morning of Sept. 19, four people were injured in Beryslav in Kherson Oblast when a drone was used to drop an explosive near a local bus station, Kherson Oblast Governor Oleksandr Prokudin reported. Three men and one woman are now in hospital.
An attack on the village of Mykolaivka around 9 p.m. local time on Sept. 18 injured one person and killed a 40-year-old man, and an overnight attack on Kherson killed a 72-year-old man and injured another, the governor reported.
A woman was killed and a 60-year-old man was injured following a strike on a house in the village of Kizomys, while a 63-year-old woman was injured in an attack on the village of Olhivka, Prokudin said.
Prokudin also reported that two people died and four others were injured as a result of Russian attacks on Sept. 18.
In Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks in the past day have killed two civilians and injured four others, the regional military administration reported. One person was killed in Avdiivka and another in Toretsk.
Local authorities reported the downing of drones across southern, central, and western Ukraine, including Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Mykolaiv Oblast, and Odesa Oblast.
Russian forces launched 30 drones toward Ukraine overnight and air defense systems downed 27 of them, the Air Force reported.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has arrived in Tehran to meet with Iran's military command.
Source: RBC, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet, with reference to the Russian Defence Ministry; Tasnim, an Iranian news outlet
Details: The Russian Ministry of Defence reports that their delegation will hold "a series of talks with the military leadership" of Iran, and this "will help strengthen Russian-Iranian military ties and will be an important stage in the development of cooperation between the countries".
Tasnim, an Iranian news outlet, stated that Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, invited Shoigu to visit the country on 28 June.
At that time, the Russian Defence Ministry reported that the parties "discussed relevant issues of bilateral military and military-technical cooperation" and "exchanged views on the international situation and regional security".
This time, as media reported, the delegation is to meet with Defence Minister Mohammad-Reza Ashtiani.
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A Russian drone attack early on Sept. 19 caused a fire in Lviv that injured one person, Lviv Mayor Andrii Sadovyi reported on Telegram.
After earlier rounds of aerial alerts the night of Sept. 19, Sadovyi warned residents of another attack at around 4:49 a.m. local time.
At 5:17, the Air Force confirmed that Shahed drones were flying towards Lviv.
Shortly thereafter, Sadovyi reported that explosions were heard in the city. He also said the attack caused a fire at an industrial warehouse.
Emergency workers were dispatched to the scene of the fire. Sadovyi said that one person, a 26-year-old man, was pulled out of the warehouse and suffered injuries. He is currently being treated in the hospital.
No further casualties have been reported at this time.
The same night, the Air Force reported aerial alerts in other western regions of Ukraine, including Khmelnytskyi and Ivano-Frankivsk oblasts.
While attacks on Ukraine's western oblasts are less common, a massive missile strike on Lviv Oblast on Aug. 15 injured 19 people.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
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The Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti claimed that Russian air defense shot down three targets over Belgorod Oblast on Sept. 18.
Belgorod Oblast Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the downing of three targets, but did not specify what they were in his claims.
Power lines were allegedly damaged in the incident. No casualties were reported.
Reports of attempted drone strikes in the region and other areas of the Russian Federation have increased in recent weeks.
Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for most of these alleged strikes.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Defense Ministry reboot underway as government dismisses six deputy ministers
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Russian soldiers say they dream of conquering Ukrainian cities and moving their families there in haunting recruitment ad
Russian troops wistfully discuss plans to "recapture Kyiv" in a haunting new recruitment ad.
The commercial shows soldiers planning to move their families to conquered Ukrainian cities.
Russia, which has struggled to recruit troops, has doubled payments to soldiers since the war began.
In a chilling Russian military recruitment ad, soldiers wistfully discuss their plans to "recapture Kyiv" and move their families into conquered Ukrainian cities.
"Do you know where Pechersk Hills are, in Kyiv?" one soldier asks another as the pair wind through trenches, loading their weapons and dodging incoming fire in the latest ad campaign meant to entice recruits to join the Russian Armed Forces.
Recruitment ads from the Russian military are prominently displayed on billboards, interspersed throughout television broadcasts, and even handed out in pamphlets to passersby in high foot-traffic areas, according to The Moscow Times, making their haunting calls to action difficult for typical Russians to avoid, even if they want to.
"It's downtown, my aunt lives there. It's a cool area," a second Russian Army member replies as gunfire pops and explosions ring out in the background. "Why?"
The first solider aims his weapon, saying: "I have a dream. I want to buy an apartment there. When the war is over and we recapture Kyiv, I will move my family there."
As the music crescendos, a title screen with bold letters appears, reading in Russian: "choose the city of your dreams."
Ostap Yarysh, the Pentagon correspondent at Voice of America News, added subtitles to the Russian video and shared the clip in a post on X, saying: "Please tell me more that Russia started this war because it felt threatened by NATO."
Russia, which has struggled to recruit soldiers, has more than doubled the amount it is offering to pay its troops since the invasion of Ukraine began, Insider previously reported. In a separate ad that aired earlier this year, military-age prospective recruits were told to be "a real man" and sign up to serve as contract soldiers in the war where up to an estimated 120,000 troops have been killed.
Read the original article on Business Insider
A Ukrainian partisan group says Russian soldiers are increasingly cooperating with them.
In turn, they get money and the chance to go abroad, the Atesh guerrilla group told the Kyiv Post.
One such agent successfully carried out an attack at a Russian military base last week, they said.
Russian troops who are working with a Ukrainian partisan group as double agents are killing their own soldiers in exchange for cash and the chance to live abroad, The Kyiv Post reported on Monday.
The partisan movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars (ATESH) an underground guerilla group fighting back against Russia within occupied territory sent a Russian soldier to blow up two trucks at a military base in the occupied city of Henichesk, in Kherson Oblast last week, a spokesperson told the outlet.
The soldier, who was not named, put 10 kilograms of explosives between the trucks and then detonated them as troops were boarding the vehicles, the spokesperson said.
The operation took more than a month to plan and involved the Russian soldier gathering information about the location of the trucks and troops beforehand, they added.
A growing number of Russian soldiers are cooperating with Ukrainian partisans and, in turn, "agree to cooperate for material benefits and the possibility of leaving for Ukraine and the EU," the spokesperson told the Kyiv Post.
The Russian soldier involved in the military base attack has since "successfully left" the area and "decisions are being made on their transfer to the territory controlled by Ukraine," they added.
The guerilla group also posted about the operation on Telegram, writing: "Result: two trucks with personnel were destroyed," according to a translation by the Kyiv Post.
It is unclear how many people died, but ATESH told the Kyiv Post that most of the soldiers in the two trucks died immediately and four are in hospital in serious condition.
The strike is part of Ukraine's larger plan to take back Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.
ATESH was created in September last year with the goal of carrying out acts of sabotage from within the ranks of the Russian army, The Guardian reported.
The comments come several days after ATESH also claimed Ukraine's devastating attack on a shipyard in Crimea that damaged a Russian sub and landing vessel was partly done with the help of another Russian double agent.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The Russian army has tried to regain the lost positions near Andriivka in Donetsk Oblast, which were liberated by the Defence Forces of Ukraine on 15 September.
Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, information as of 18:00 on 19 September
Details: The Defence Forces successfully repelled the Russian attack west of Yahidne, Donetsk Oblast. Another 10 attacks were repelled in the area of Marinka, Donetsk Oblast, and Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
The defence forces of Ukraine continue to conduct an offensive operation on the Melitopol and Bakhmut fronts.
The aviation of the Defence Forces launched 16 strikes on clusters of Russian personnel, weapons and military equipment and two strikes on Russias anti-aircraft missile systems.
Units of Rocket Forces and Artillery hit three Russian command posts, an anti-aircraft missile system, nine artillery systems, one ammunition storage point and an EW station.
Quote: "Russian occupiers cynically continue to violate the norms of international humanitarian law: they forcibly move in with civilians in their houses, using them as human shields. For example, in the settlement of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, servicemen of the Russian occupying forces are massively resettled with elderly civilians in their homes. In addition, the occupiers are robbing apartments and houses of Ukrainian citizens."
Background:
On 15 September, the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated Andriivka during their offensive, and have had partial success in the area of Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade shared footage of their battle against the Russian occupiers in the liberated settlement of Andriivka. Soldiers launched a UAV with a loudspeaker into the sky, and the commander of the 2nd Assault Battalion offered that the occupiers choose between captivity or death.
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Russian forces have attacked a village in Donetsk Oblast using two types of missiles, injuring four civilians.
Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office on Facebook
Details: At about 15:00 on 19 September, Russian forces attacked the village of Petropavlivka in the Volnovakha district. Early reports say the Russians attacked the settlement with three Iskander missiles and one Kh-35 missile.
Four villagers were injured during the attack on one of the villages streets. Among the victims is a family: a husband and wife, both 58, and their 30-year-old son. The family were in their own home at the time of the attack, and their neighbour came under fire near their house.
In addition, six private houses, some garages, an outbuilding and a barn were damaged.
Criminal proceedings have been opened with respect to a violation of the laws and customs of war.
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Joe Biden, US President, has called the concessions to Russia against the international law for ending the war in Ukraine unacceptable. He said this during his speech at the UN General Assembly session. He stressed that it would undermine the international legal order.
Source: European Pravda
Biden stressed that such fundamental principles as sovereignty, territorial integrity and human rights must not change.
He reminded the public that Russia has been waging the full-scale war of conquest against Ukraine for the second year in a row.
"Like every nation in the world, the US wants this war to end. No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine Russia alone bears the responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately, and Russia alone stands in the way of peace. Because Russias price for peace is Ukraines surrender, Ukraines territories and Ukraines children," Biden stressed.
"If we abandon the core principles of the UN Stature to appease aggression, can any member state in this lobby be confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to get cut up, is the independence of any nation secure? The answer is no. We have to stand up to this direct aggression today to deter potential aggressors tomorrow," Biden added.
The audience met these words with long ovations.
Background: Simultaneously, Ukraines Defence Contact Group meeting is held in Germany. At this meeting, head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin called upon the allies to supply Ukraine with as many air defence means as possible before winter starts.
Meanwhile, he did not express his opinion concerning Ukraines request to supply it with long-range ATACMS missiles.
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The Sacramento County Sheriffs Office has fired a deputy who responded to a call to help a suicidal 21-year-old woman and later sent her a photo of his genitals and paid her for a pornographic video.
The county also this year paid $40,000 to settle a lawsuit the woman filed against the county regarding the incident, county spokeswoman Janna Haynes said.
In July 2022, then-deputy Patrick Walker, 40 at the time, responded to a call for service made by the friends of a woman who was 21 at the time, according to Sheriffs Office internal affairs documents released last week. The friends said she had gone missing and intended to commit suicide by overdosing on cocaine and fentanyl. In an attempt to help her, Walker used his work cell to text the woman, the deputies located her and checked her into the hospital, where she stayed for three days on a mental health hold, the documents state.
About a week after the initial call, Walker texted the woman to check on her well being, the documents state. She responded, and they started texting. She asked if he was married, and when he said yes, she said his wife was a lucky woman.
Walker then made it clear he wanted to have sex with her, the documents state, and the two agreed he would pay her $100 for each nude photo. He sent her a photo of his genitals, then she sent him a pornographic video. Walker did not pay her for it, then blocked her on Facebook messenger. She then texted his work phone asking for money, and he sent her $400, the documents state.
The womans stepfather later called the Sheriffs Office to file a complaint alleging Walker was using his authority to take advantage of the woman, who had just suffered a mental health crisis, had used illegal drugs, and had been sexually abused in the past.
The evidence in this case is undisputed, Chief Deputy Matt Peterson wrote in an internal memo in November 2022. Deputy Walker overtly expressed his sexual desires ... via digital messages. He ultimately paid $400 for a nude video of herself. Deputy Walker acknowledged his behavior was wrong and brought shame to this department. Deputy Walker clearly understood that his conduct was unacceptable, as indicated by his attempts to conceal his conversations by transitioning them from his work phone to Facebook Messenger and then by deleting all the messages from his devices.
(The woman) experienced a mental health crisis, which we helped her with, but was subsequently victimized by Deputy Walker based on his sexual desires.
The woman told investigators she did not want Walker to get in trouble but did not think he should be allowed to respond to mental health calls anymore.
Walker violated the Sheriffs Office general orders regarding conflicting relationships, social media, and use of county cellphones. The General Orders state: To avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest, members of this department shall refrain from developing or maintaining personal or business relationships with victims, witnesses or other individuals during the course or as a direct result of any official contact.
Walker did not respond to an email seeking comment. During an interview with investigators, he said, in retrospect, he believed he took advantage of situation for his own sexual gratification. He said that despite their age difference, how they met, and her mental illness, that was not his intent at the time, the documents state.
The Sheriffs Office posted the documents online after an attorney for The Sacramento Bee sent the office a letter demanding the office post its disciplinary documents to its website more quickly, in order to comply with Senate Bill 1421.
Online records maintained by Transparent California show Walker earned $176,608 in pay last year. He was a Sheriffs Office employee for 18 years, including a decade on patrol, the documents state.
Salesforce's CEO opened up about remote work, saying that he doesn't "work well in an office."
His comments come after Salesforce mandated some of its workers to return to the office.
Companies have been grappling with their RTO policies since the pandemic.
Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO, is the latest business leader to chime in on the return-to-office conversation.
"I'm a remote worker. I've always been a remote worker my whole life," Benioff told MSNBC last week during Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference. "I don't work well in an office. It just doesn't work with my personality."
His employees are another story.
"They need to mix in-person and remote together," he said. "Our engineers are extremely productive at home. We have lots of people who are extremely productive at home. But there also has to be sales people who are productive in the office."
Like many companies, Salesforce embraced remote work during the pandemic.
In February 2021, Brent Hyder, Salesforce's former chief people officer, wrote that "the 9-5 workplace is dead," and the company announced that it would allow some of its employees to work fully remote, even after it was safe to return to office.
But, also like a host of other major companies, Salesforce has altered its course.
Salesforce's return-to-office mandate now requires non-remote employees to go into the office three days a week. Non-remote and customer-facing employees have to go in four days a week, while engineers only have to work from the office 10 days each quarter.
Any employee can work remotely full time upon approval from their managers, according to the company's policies.
"For our new employees who are coming in, we know empirically that they do better if they're in the office, meeting people, being onboarded, being trained," Benioff said in a March interview on the podcast "On With Kara Swisher." "If they are at home and not going through that process, we don't think they're as successful."
In June, Salesforce incentivized workers to return to the office by offering a $10 charity donation for each day an employee worked in person.
Salesforce is one of many companies tied up in the return-to-office debate though Benioff's position is lenient compared to that of other leaders.
At Amazon, workers have clashed with leadership since CEO Andy Jassy announced that most employees would have to return to the office at least three days per week beginning in May. Meta is threatening to fire employees who don't follow its policy of going into the office at least three a week. Goldman Sachs is requiring workers to be back in the office five days a week.
Read the original article on Business Insider
A group including Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and representives of the city and Salt Lakes hispanic community take a selfie during an event gathering community members and community leaders to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month at the Suazo Business Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
Government, nonprofit and business leaders highlighted the economic, cultural, culinary and political influence of Latinos on Friday, officially kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month, at the Suazo Business Center.
Hispanics make up 20% of the city's population and 15% of the state, according to United States Census data. That influence is reflected in the city's theme this month, "Latinos: Driving prosperity and powering progress in America and environmentally sustainable futures."
"This month holds a special place in my heart because it allows us to celebrate our beautiful community and heritage. It's an honor to live in a city where diverse cultures and traditions can flourish," said Ana Valdemoros, Salt Lake City's first Hispanic council member. "There are boundless opportunities for us in Salt Lake City and we belong here. ... I encourage you to be bold and proud about our heritage this month and all year long. Let's celebrate how far we've come and let's continue to make history."
Utah's Mexican Consul Eduardo Baca Cuenca and Suazo Center Business Development Director Edward Bennett stressed just how much Latinos contribute economically.
Nearly 5 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the country contribute over $800 billion to the U.S. economy annually and employ 3 million workers. Utah has over 25,000 Hispanic business owners, who contribute over $9.6 billion to the local economy each year.
Latinos are also almost 20% of the U.S. labor force and are projected to represent 1 out of every 5 workers by 2030, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As consumers, their buying power exceeds $2.7 trillion, which is larger than the gross domestic products of Italy, Brazil and Canada and would be the seventh-largest GDP in the world.
"It is without a doubt our Latino and Hispanic businessmen and women will be driving prosperity, power and progress in America, Utah and our very own Salt Lake City in 2023 and for many years to come," Bennett said.
Carla Arancibia and Luis Ulloa perform a musical number during a gathering of community members and community leaders to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month at the Suazo Business Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
Mayor Erin Mendenhall said the city is working to support the Hispanic community, including investing in the west side and increasing language access.
"We work to prioritize access for our (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and women-owned businesses in this community. We recognize that the access to support, historically, is not equitable. And that's why we're working intentionally to listen, to unpack the policies or the processes that may make it harder for some members of our community to access the support they need," she said.
Councilman Alejandro Puy, an Argentine immigrant who represents the city district with the highest number of Latino residents, said although Latinos contribute to the city in many ways, their full political power has been under-tapped.
"Latinos are not showing up to vote, and I understand why. We have sometimes many trust issues. We don't know if our vote matters, but it does," he said, adding that District 2 has the lowest voter turnout. "Latinos need to show up, need to make a difference. We need to make sure that we are strong and they see our strength in our ballot box. So register to vote if you know how to. If you know friends that need to be registered to vote, send them the link. If you need to naturalize and you're eligible to do, so start that process."
Olivia Juarez, lifelong Utahn and public land director for the national nonprofit Green Latinos, also encouraged Latinos to come together on climate issues, which, across the country, have historically disproportionately impacted Hispanic and other communities of color.
"I know it feels really urgent. It can even feel really scary. But I can say that I'm not scared," Juarez said. "I'm not afraid because I can call on the power of my heritage, of all Latino community heritage and culture and history, and carry the power of the battles that we have overcome to be here today, to carry the power of the battles won for independence and liberation across Latin America to fight the greatest battle facing humanity of our lifetimes: the climate crisis."
Marta Cosgrove, a Salt Lake City resident, enjoys a gathering of community members and community leaders to celebrate the start of Hispanic Heritage Month at the Suazo Business Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Tuesday appeared skeptical of former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's argument that being jailed just two months before his trial on federal fraud charges violated his right to free speech.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail on Aug. 11, finding probable cause to believe that the defendant had tampered with witnesses. This included his sharing the personal writings of Caroline Ellison , the former chief executive of his Alameda Research hedge fund, with a New York Times reporter.
Ellison has pleaded guilty to fraud and is expected to testify against Bankman-Fried, a former romantic partner.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan challenged Bankman-Fried lawyer Mark Cohen's assertion that Kaplan had not sufficiently considered the defendant's right under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment to speak with the press and try to restore his reputation.
"There isn't a First Amendment right to try to discredit or influence a witness who might testify against you, is there?" U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin said.
The judges did not say when they would rule on Bankman-Fried's bid to be released from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Bankman-Fried faces seven charges of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the November 2022 collapse of FTX, the now-bankrupt crypto exchange he founded. Prosecutors accused him of looting billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda, buy luxury real estate and donate to U.S. political campaigns. He has pleaded not guilty, while acknowledging risk management failures.
The judges appeared slightly more open to Bankman-Fried's argument that jailing him violates his right under the Constitution's Sixth Amendment to aid in his own defense because his case is complicated and he lacked internet access in jail to review prosecutors' evidence.
They questioned Danielle Sassoon, a prosecutor, about what Cohen said were inadequacies in accommodations Kaplan and the MDC had made to try to allow Bankman-Fried to access the internet, including by visiting his lawyers in a cell at the federal courthouse in Manhattan twice a week.
Sassoon said the government had taken "extraordinary measures" to try to help Bankman-Fried prepare for trial from behind bars, and that Bankman-Fried had seven months with unrestricted internet access while free on $250 million bail at his parents' Palo Alto, California, home.
U.S. Circuit Judge William Nardini said Bankman-Fried should have considered the possibility of losing internet access before sharing Ellison's writings.
"If it is true that he has intimidated witnesses, at a certain point, he makes his own bed, he sleeps in it," Nardini said.
Kaplan in a written ruling last week said that Bankman-Fried had not specified which pieces of evidence he had been unable to access and noted that the defendant had not asked for a trial delay despite the judge's offer to consider one.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Will Dunham and Nick Zieminski)
Failed crypto exchange giant FTX has filed a lawsuit against the parents of its co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, accusing them of misappropriating millions of dollars worth of funds from the now-bankrupt company for their personal use and benefit.
The 63-page lawsuit filed in federal court Monday accuses Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman of using their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves through misappropriated customer funds.
The suit comes just days before Bankman-Frieds criminal trial is set to begin over allegations that he defrauded FTX customers and lenders, leading to the companys stunning collapse last year. The company, under a new CEO, has since been working to recover the billions of dollars lost in customers funds.
Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman are accused of misappropriating millions of dollars worth of funds from FTX for their personal use before the crypto exchange collapsed.
Barbara Fried and Joe Bankman are accused of misappropriating millions of dollars worth of funds from FTX for their personal use before the crypto exchange collapsed.
Attorneys for Bankman-Frieds parents said in a joint statement shared with HuffPost on Tuesday that the lawsuit against them is completely false and a waste of FTXs money.
This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins, said attorneys Sean Hecker and Michael Tremonte.
According to the lawsuit, Fried and Bankman were considered part of the family business by their son, who is now 31, and either knew or ignored bright red flags revealing that their son, Bankman-Fried, and other FTX Insiders were orchestrating a vast fraudulent scheme to profit and promote their personal and charitable agendas at the Debtors expense.
In addition to allegedly turning a blind eye to fraud among them, theyre accused of accepting a $10 million cash gift and a $16.4 million luxury property in the Bahamas from FTX, despite knowing or blatantly ignoring that the FTX Group was insolvent or on the brink of insolvency.
The couple's son, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, is awaiting trial next month on charges related to money laundering, campaign finance offenses and various types of fraud.
The couple's son, FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, is awaiting trial next month on charges related to money laundering, campaign finance offenses and various types of fraud.
They also allegedly pushed for tens of millions of dollars in FTX money to be dished out in political and charitable contributions of their choosing, including to Stanford University, where they are both employed, according to the lawsuit.
On top of their alleged financial gifts, trips and real estate perks, the suit alleges that Bankman also complained in an email to his son, which he said he would CC his wife on, that his $200,000 annual salary from FTX was too paltry and he should be receiving $1 million.
Gee, Sam I dont know what to say here. This is the first [I] have heard of the 200K a year salary! Putting Barbara on this, a copy of the email cited in the suit states.
Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges related to money laundering, campaign finance offenses and various types of fraud. His trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 3.
See the full lawsuit here:
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The father of Sara Sharif and two other relatives are facing a trial next autumn over the death of the ten-year-old, whom a court heard was found with a constellation of injuries.
Urfan Sharif, 41, stepmother Beinash Batool, 29, and uncle Faisal Malik, 28, all appeared via videolink at the Old Bailey on Tuesday accused of her murder.
The trio, who are also charged with causing or allowing the death of a child, returned to the UK from Pakistan last week - after travelling abroad the day before Saras body was discovered at her home in Woking, Surrey.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, set a plea hearing date for Dec 1 and a provisional six-week trial to begin on Sept 2 2024.
This court is extremely busy and finding fixtures earlier than that at this court building simply isnt possible.
It may be this case can be tried more rapidly elsewhere, but theres obviously quite a bit of work to be done, he said.
Judge Lucraft added: Its very likely that there will have to be discussion as to whether this case is presided over by me or a High Court judge.
The court heard that there was still a significant amount of post mortem work ongoing.
A preliminary examination found that Sara had suffered multiple and extensive injuries over a sustained and extended period of time.
The court heard the exact cause of her death was still to be established, but she had a number of healed and healing fractures that clearly demonstrate she had been subject to multiple events of violence.
Sara Sharif's uncle Faisal Malik (left) and father Urfan Sharif, appearing via video-link from Belmarsh prison - Elizabeth Cook/PA
Violence culminated in her death
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the court Sara was discovered with a constellation of healed and healing injuries.
He added: Sara sustained a number of injuries - a healed fracture to one of her clavicles, multiple rib fractures, multiple bruising to the torso and limbs and the presence of haemorrhage on her brain.
There were multiple healing fractures on different parts of [her] body suggesting multiple events of violence over a period of time which must have culminated in her death.
Mr Sharif, wearing a grey tracksuit, and his brother, Mr Malik, wearing a red top and grey tracksuit bottom, appeared via video link from high security HMP Belmarsh.
Ms Batool, wearing a dark grey t-shirt, appeared via videolink from HMP Bronzefield in Surrey.
At a previous magistrates court hearing, prosecutors outlined the events that took place in the aftermath of Saras death.
Police were first made aware after receiving an eight-minute-long call from Pakistan at 2.47am on Aug 10.
Officers made their way to the Surrey home and discovered Sara lying face up and fully clothed under a blanket.
The day before Sara was found, the three defendants allegedly left the UK for Pakistan with five children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Last Wednesday, the trio, of Hammond Road in Woking, returned to the UK and were arrested after landing at Gatwick Airport.
The schoolgirl was identified using the DNA of her mother Olga Sharif, who lives in Somerset, and another relative. Ms Sharif is currently being supported by specialist officers.
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FILE PHOTO: Saudi's new Defence Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman chairs his first meeting with military officials in the Ministry of Defence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
CAIRO (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia welcomed positive results from discussions to reach a road map supporting the peace process in Yemen, the kingdom's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, after Houthi negotiators' talks with the Saudis in Riyadh.
Houthi enovys left Riyadh on Tuesday after a five-day round of talks with Saudi officials on ending the eight-year-old conflict in Yemen, sources familiar with the meeting and Houthi media said.
The kingdom reaffirmed its commitment to promoting dialogue among all warring parties in Yemen, the Saudi defence minister said on Wednesday after meeting with the Houthi delegation.
"I emphasized the Kingdom's support for Yemen and reaffirmed our commitment to promoting dialogue among all parties to reach a comprehensive political solution under UN supervision," Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a post on messaging platform X.
Houthi envoys left Riyadh on Tuesday after a five-day round of talks with Saudi officials on a potential agreement paving the way to an end to the eight-year-old conflict in Yemen, sources familiar with the meeting and Houthi media said.
Some progress has been made on the main sticking points, including a timeline for foreign troops exiting Yemen and a mechanism for paying public wages, two sources said, adding the sides would meet for more talks after consultations "soon."
The Houthi delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia last week. It was the first such official visit to the kingdom since the war broke out in Yemen in 2014 after the Iran-aligned group ousted a Saudi-backed government there.
The talks are focused on a full reopening of Houthi-controlled ports and Sanaa airport, payment of wages for public servants, rebuilding efforts, and a timeline for foreign forces to quit Yemen. An agreement would allow the United Nations to restart a broader political peace process.
The Houthis have been fighting against a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and left 80% of Yemen's population dependent on humanitarian aid.
The United States has put pressure on its ally Saudi Arabia to end the war and linked some U.S. military support to the kingdom to ending its involvement in Yemen.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Chris Reese)
Smoke in the sky of Ukraine after a missile is shot down
Russia launched a drone and missile attack targeting Kryvyi Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast overnight causing a multi-story building to catch fire, according to the head of the citys Defense Council, Oleksandr Vilkul , on Sept. 19.
"The fire has already been extinguished. The explosive shockwave damaged the facades of three high-rise buildings and shattered many windows and doors in other structures, as well as in a school and kindergarten. There were no casualties as a result of the attack," Vikul said.
Read also: Ukrainian military destroys 27 drones overnight, one man injured in Lviv
"All infrastructure, transportation, and facilities are operating normally. Moreover, all water supply restrictions in Kryvyi Rih have been lifted as of today."
One Russian drone was shot down over Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In the Nikopol district, Russian forces shelled the town of Nikopol and the Marganets community with heavy artillery fire.
Read also: One dead, 41 wounded in Russian missile attack on Kryvyi Rih photos
A 71-year-old man was injured in the attack. Six private houses, an outbuilding, a garage, power lines, and a gas pipeline were damaged.
During the night of the Russian attack, explosions were also reported in Odesa, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
To say a lot of people flock to Disneyland and Walt Disney World doesn't do the mass migration justice. Each year, people descend upon the parks by the tens of millions, and many of them don't fund the increasingly expensive experience by using their savings alone. Disney die-hard Maddy Thompson of Phoenix says her husband once got a second job to pay for her self-described "Disney addiction."
"Another time, we put off our son's dental work to be able to afford our annual trip to Disneyland," she says.
She's far from being alone. One analysis showed that 18% of Disney park goers go into debt to pay for their Disney vacation. For fans like Jeff Reitz of Huntington Beach, who famously visited Disneyland 2,995 days in a row, such habits can become an obsession.
Read more: Every ride at Disneyland, ranked
And though other theme park destinations can claim they have loyal fans of their own, none of them can deny Disney's appeal to the masses. Disney's six U.S.-based theme parks are visited more annually than the next 13 most popular U.S.-based theme parks combined.
Why are people so drawn to the happiest place on Earth? The answer may have to do with how our brains are wired. While many factors no doubt contribute to Disney's enduring popularity, some scientists believe that Disney-related vacations prompt more compulsive travel behavior than others, due to the powerful strategies the company employs. The next time you find yourself with a strange yearning to inhale the damp, musty air of Pirates of the Caribbean or walk along charming Main Street U.S.A., consider these possible reasons for it.
Travel craving is real
Though research around "travel craving" is new and relatively sparse, behavioral psychologists and cognitive scientists believe a yearning for travel can fit the clinical understanding of craving as "a strong desire to modify ongoing cognitive experiences" in ways that don't only relate to addictions.
Neuropsychologist Paul Nussbaum, an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, explains that such cravings can be especially focused on getting specific outcomes from one's vacation. "Our brains circuitry is wired to both desire things and to have our desires resolved temporarily with action," he says. In other words, for people who describe their love of Disney travel this way, craving a trip to Disneyland may not only be a desire, but a yearning that continues to grow until satisfied.
(Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles Times)
Something smells funny
Such yearnings are fed by any number of factors, of course, but smells are high on the list because of how they trigger memories and positive emotions. "The brain region critical to smell is located near the hippocampus, which is an important brain structure that helps us remember," Nussbaum explains. "That is why the sensation of smell can trigger memories." Indeed, multiple studies show how one's sense of smell has a stronger link to memory and emotion than any of the other senses.
Disney seems to understand this as it has filled its parks with machines called Smellitzers apparatuses carefully disguised or hidden away throughout attractions, shops and walkways, each pumping out soothing and familiar scents to passersby. In a 2017 interview , a 30-year Disney parks veteran said these machines release these familiar scents "on purpose" because the company is mindful that visitors "are using all their senses when they're there. But beyond simply releasing the smells, Disney also uses carefully timed systems and fans to ensure those scents reach the nostrils of guests. One Disney attraction patent notes that the ride's Smellitzers' "nozzles may be provided to direct scent materials into proximity to the fans so that appropriate scents may be directed to the passenger."
While many parkgoers undoubtedly love the distribution of such smells on attractions and while shopping, one fan went viral on TikTok for saying Disney's use of Smellitzers "brainwashes" people who attend the parks into making purchases they may not otherwise make.
Read more: 41 Disneyland tips, tricks and food secrets from park fanatics
Brainwashing or not, the effect "is ingenious," says Melanie English, a licensed clinical psychologist in Seattle. She explains that not only do such smells release happy hormones in visitors, but breathing them in can actually reduce stress. When taking the slow, deep breaths required to take in each aroma, she explains, parkgoers "complete some inadvertent meditation, which slows their heart rate down and reduces their cortisone levels."
Not only do Disney Smellitzers enhance the visitor experience, but because of how strongly smells are linked with memory, the scents can pull visitors back to the parks whenever they get a whiff of similar aromas that remind them of the woodsy pines around Grizzly Peak in Disney's California Adventure park or the freshly baked goods along Disney's Main Street U.S.A. One scented candle company understands how powerful these smells can be and sells candles that capture the " damp ocean air " associated with the Pirates of the Carribean attraction, the " etherealizing scent " of riding Haunted Mansion or the " earthiness " of Soarin' Around the World.
"Smell is a chemical sense, and it is evolutionarily ancient, so it connects more directly with the emotional parts of the brain than the other senses do," explains David Ludden, a professor of psychology at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Ga. "While some odors rise to the level of consciousness, many smells influence our behavior at an unconscious level," he says, adding that Disneyland's ability to evoke such unconscious emotions and connect with visitors so deeply is "a big part of Disneys success."
(Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles)
Feeding peer influence
Beyond its unique methods for distributing smells, Disney also benefits from and contributes to established social behaviors regarding peer influence. Though people frequently take and share pictures of many types of travel, few vacations feel as obligatory to document as a trip to Disneyland. Andrew Selepak, a social media professor at the University of Florida, says people are highly influenced by the images their friends and family members share on social media. "Family vacations to Disney are not just photos of the family in mouse ears or after a fun ride, but the entire park," he says. "We take pictures of our food, the things we buy, the lines we wait in, and even the most minor of moments to post and share in social media." Ludden echoes that because of how often people chronicle their Disney vacations, those following them from home feel especially driven to experience and share the same vacations so they can "belong to the elite group of those who have 'been there, done that.'"
Selepak believes Disney recognizes its influence and points to the effort it puts into setting up meet-and-greets with beloved characters, creating eye-popping backdrops and decor, and coming up with photo-worthy treats and souvenirs. This year, Disneyland also made Disney PhotoPass digital attraction photos free for ticketed guests, encouraging more people to share images with their friends and followers.
And while lines at amusement parks aren't unique to Disneyland, the experts say Disney's efforts to entice social media sharing pays off in ways efforts at other destinations simply don't. "How many other theme parks have you been to where the line to get a photo with a costumed character like Mickey Mouse is as long as some of the rides there?" asks Selepak.
(Patrick Hruby / Los Angeles)
Nostalgia we're wired to crave
Perhaps Disney's most powerful strategy is how it triggers feelings of nostalgia through its many throwback details: old-time attraction posters at park entrances, a train whistle sounding from a steam-powered locomotive as it loops around the park, classic movie characters mingling in real life with guests, a horse-drawn street car transporting visitors along Disneyland's most visible walkway and the architecture of Main Street U.S.A. built to resemble Walt Disney's idyllic turn-of-the-20th century hometown. Even more recent attractions take guests back to the classics for instance, Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway is designed to transport riders into vintage-style Mickey Mouse cartoons.
"Visiting Disney parks allows people to indulge their nostalgia by immersing themselves in this reliable world filled with familiar colors, characters, smells and music," says Erica Hepper, a lecturer of psychology at the University of Surrey in England and author of multiple nostalgia-related studies.
The rewards associated with such wistful remembrances or feelings of nostalgia are many and include improved mood , feelings of optimism , stronger social bonds and reduced anxiety . Hepper says experiencing nostalgia this way not only rewards park visitors while they're in the parks, but also motivates them to want to return when they see nostalgia-triggering Disney films at home or encounter Disney-themed merchandise and ads, which are everywhere.
Read more: Disneyland feels classist now. Is it killing the magic for everyone?
What's more, because Disneyland opened nearly 70 years ago, many adults today have some of their fondest childhood memories rooted in a visit there. "Childhood is a time of security, innocence, fantasy, and carefree and exuberant joy," says Krystine Batcho, a psychology professor at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. Because of this, she says Disneyland is "strongly evocative of nostalgia" and makes people naturally long to return to experience their treasured childhood emotions anew.
Ludden agrees, saying that Disney theme parks provide a "nostalgic refuge" for adults seeking to escape their stressful lives.
Indeed, it's this use of nostalgia marketing combined with these other subtle strategies that the experts say contributes to the overall experience and makes guests of all ages want to return to the happiest place on earth again and again. "Disney is absolutely special in creating smells, foods, experiences and merchandise that pair very well together," says English. "Collectively, this brings people back to their parks and with joy."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
The family of a Florida girl who was arrested at school when she was 6 years old filed a lawsuit on Monday, Sept. 18.
The complaint lists the city of Orlando and several law enforcement officials as defendants in this case for the terrorizing arrest of Kaia Rolle at Lucious & Emma Nixon Academy Charter School back in 2019, according to court documents obtained by Reason.
Meralyn Kirkland (right) recalls the moment she learned her 6-year-old granddaughter, Kaia, had been arrested and taken to a juvenile detention center after throwing a tantrum at school. (Photo: WKMG/YouTube screenshot)
It alleges that officers from the Orlando Police Department, identified as Dennis Turner and Sergio Ramos, had no probable cause and used excessive force when they handcuffed the child and escorted her out of the building. The lawsuit said that she was detained after having a tantrum in class due to her sleep apnea a disorder the school was aware of and agreed to accommodate.
Related: It Was Just Really Shocking: FBI Opens Investigation After Parents Allege American Airlines Crew Member Secretly Filmed Girl In Airplane Restroom
Footage from the incident shows Rolle crying and pleading for help as the officer put the cuffs on her wrist.
I dont want to go in the police car, she said.
You dont want to? one of the officers responded.
No, please, she cried out. Give me a second chance.
The officers then placed her in the back of the police vehicle: Please, let me go! the first grader continued.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW.
According to the lawsuit, she was fingerprinted when she arrived at the juvenile detention center and had to step on a step stool to take her mugshot. She was charged with misdemeanor battery, but it was later dropped. Officer Turner also was fired.
During an interview with Insider in 2021, Meralyn Kirkland opened up about the lasting impact the arrest has had on her granddaughter. She said she was struggling in school and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
They have ruined her life over something that was 100 percent preventable, Kirkland told the outlet. Shes still a loving child, but shes not as fun and loving the way she once was. Before, she saw some good in everything, and nothing used to bring her down, but now she has to bring herself out of despair.
The lawsuit is seeking compensation for Rolles pain and suffering and her past and present medical expenses. According to WESH 2, the family is calling on the state to raise the minimum age for arrests to 12. The Kaia Rolle Act currently prohibits the detention of kids under 7 years old.
I like my law how it is now, but, like, grandma said, I want it to be at 12 so me and other kids can be protected, Rolle said, per local news.
For the second time in less than a week, an inmate has died at the Chatham County Detention Center.
According to a Chatham County Sheriffs Office (CCSO) press release, a Chatham County Sheriffs officer discovered detainee Marco Danton Ochoa unresponsive in his cell around 4:13 p.m. on Monday. Officers, medical staff and Emergency Medical Services attempted life-saving measures. He was transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center, where was was pronounced dead.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) Region 5 is leading the investigation to determine the cause of Ochoas death. Chatham County Sheriff John T. Wilcher will hold a media conference at 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
Report Card: Federal judge rules for release of reports related to health care in Chatham County jail
Inmate Death: Georgia Bureau of Investigation looking into death of Chatham County Detention Center inmate
According to arrest and booking records, Ochoa, 34, has been involved in the court system since 1997, beginning with burglary and entering autos. His latest arrest on aggravated child molestation charges and statutory rape occurred in February.
According to CCSO records, 17 inmates have died at the jail since 2016. Investigations revealed that eight of those deaths were by suicide, three by disease, one by natural causes and one by overdose. Ochoas death comes four days after another inmate, Lloyd James, died at the jail. The GBI is also conducting an investigation into the cause of James death.
Drew Favakeh is the public safety and courts reporter for Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at AFavakeh@savannahnow.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Second Chatham County jail inmate dies in less than one week
This Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, photo provided by Shelly Deano shows two bears getting into a doughnut truck in Anchorage. Alaska. | Shelly Deano via Associated Press
Krispy Kreme Alaska announced the UnBEARlievable Krispy Kreme Alaska moment on its Facebook page after two bears broke into a Krispy Kreme doughnut van to steal some treats for themselves on an Alaska military base.
One of our brave delivery drivers managed to capture this incredible moment on camera, the Facebook post details. Its a reminder that our donuts are loved by everyone, even the wildlife!
Alaskas News Source reported on the shocking raid and showed photos taken of the bears chomping on pastries in the van.
How did two bears get in a Krispy Kreme van? The Associated Press reported that the van was on its delivery route when the driver stopped outside of a convenience store and left the doors open.
One of our delivery trucks was making deliveries at the base and while bringing up doughnuts, one of the doors was left ajar, Candace Sargeant, the general manager of the Krispy Kreme store, told USA Today.
The store manager, Shelly Deano, reportedly said that nothing like this has ever occurred.
Were cautious when we come in, when we leave. When we take out garbage, we do it in pairs, especially if its dark, Deano said.
Related
How many doughnuts did the bears eat? Alaska News Source reported that Deano heard what was going on and tried to get the bears to stop eating the doughnuts.
I was beating on the van and theyre not moving. I could hear them breaking open the packages and everything, Deano said.
USA Today further reported that when Deano realized that the bears were not going to leave anytime soon, she alerted base security that used loud sirens to chase the bears away and into the woods nearby.
They ate 20 packages of the doughnut holes and I believe six packages of the three-pack chocolate doughnuts, Deano said.
An airman who received his emergency medical technician license at Keesler Air Force Base put his training to use less than 24 hours later on his flight home.
Airman First Class Nathan Johnson, an aerospace medical technician with the 153d Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard, was at Keesler in Biloxi this summer for technical training.
He was on the flight home when a public announcement came over the speakers for any medical personnel aboard the airplane to identify themselves. Johnson immediately stepped forward, as did a former U.S. Navy firefighter.
Together, they worked to revive a passenger who had lost consciousness.
We made sure she was breathing and went through our EMS run sheet, answering questions like how conscious she was, whether her airway was secured, and if she was bleeding things like that, Johnson told Senior Airman Edward Hermsen of the 153rd public affairs staff. Hermsen wrote up the incident and shared it on the groups Facebook page.
The news release said the decision was made to continue with the flight to its Houston destination, which was about an hour away and where treatment options would be available. Johnson and the other volunteer continued to monitor the distressed passengers vital signs and administer oxygen until the flight landed.
After landing, Johnson stayed with the woman until he could transfer her care to paramedics in Houston. In doing so, he missed his connecting flight to Denver, Colorado.
Once youve engaged with a patient from an EMT standpoint, you cant leave that patient until you can get them to a higher level of care, Johnson told Hermsen for the news release. I told the guy with me he could go, and I would stay with the patient because he had family waiting for him outside the airport.
Johnson was able to catch a flight a few hours later and reunite with his family, whom he hadnt seen in several months.
The actions of A1C Johnson truly exemplify what it means to prioritize service before self, the National Guard news release said. Its not only the fact that A1C Johnson quickly and without hesitation answered the call for help, but also his unwavering commitment to waiting by the passengers side until paramedics arrived, even at the cost of missing his connecting flight.
The news release said Johnson exemplified one of the Air Forces core values, service before self.
Sen. John Fetterman is selling "body double" T-shirts on his campaign website.
It's a cheeky reference to a right-wing conspiracy theory about the Pennsylvania Democrat.
Joe Biden 's campaign made a similar move earlier this year, selling "Dark Brandon" merch.
John Fetterman is leaning into the meme, selling T-shirts via his campaign website that reference the "body double" conspiracy theory about the Pennsylvania Democrat that has been cropping up on social media, particularly in recent days.
One T-shirt, emblazoned with the phrase "John Fetterman's Body Double," sells for $35 apiece.
It's part of a broader line-up of new merchandise from the Pennsylvania senator's campaign, including references to the newly changed Senate dress code and the epithets lodged against him from the right.
A mock-up of a T-shirt including various anti-Fetterman epithets. Fetterman for PA
"John has loved having fun with the body-double conspiracy theory and the new Senate dress code, and he loves trolling," said his spokesman Joe Calvello. "This is an example of all those things meeting."
"It's all true," Fetterman joked to a reporter about the body-double theory earlier on Tuesday, the audio of which was posted by the senator's own office on Twitter.
"I'm Senator Guy Incognito," Fetterman added, referencing a character from "The Simpsons" who's a doppelganger of the show's protagonist, Homer Simpson.
Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) September 19, 2023
The Pennsylvania Democrat's decision to lean into the conspiracy theory which suggests Fetterman has been replaced by a body double, owing to the senator's improved speech capabilities in the wake of his 2022 stroke is perhaps unsurprising, given the senator's general posture towards the right.
"Go ahead and do it, I dare you," Fetterman recently said of the looming impeachment inquiry led by House Republicans into President Joe Biden. "It would just be like a big circlejerk on the fringe right."
And earlier on Tuesday, he tweeted about "vaping and grabbing the hog," referring to Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado's recent incident at a regional production of "Beetlejuice."
It's also an echo of Biden's decision to embrace the "Dark Brandon" meme, which came about as an ironic response to the "Let's Go Brandon" epithet used by the right, as well as the "Dark MAGA" movement employed by the online far-right. The Biden campaign now sells a variety of "Dark Brandon" merchandise on their campaign website.
In addition to the "body double" shirt, Fetterman's campaign is also selling an "I Vote In This Hoodie" sweatshirt and another T-shirt that includes various insults lodged against the senator by figures on the right, including former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
Read the original article on Business Insider
An Iowa voter on Monday asked Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) whether he would insert himself into the United Auto Workers strike as president. The GOP presidential hopeful responded by praising Ronald Reagan s firing of federal workers who went on strike.
I think Ronald Reagan gave us a great example when federal employees decided they were going to strike. He said, You strike, youre fired. Simple concept to me, Scott said to laughter. To the extent that we can use that once again, absolutely.
Its actually not as simple a concept as Scott suggests.
Former President Ronald Reagan famously fired the air traffic controllers when their union, the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, or PATCO, called a strike in 1981. The saga was a pivotal moment in U.S. labor relations, when the federal government signaled to corporate America that it was open season on unions. Private-sector collective bargaining has continued to decline since then.
The air traffic controllers were federal workers who didnt have the legal right to strike or even to bargain over wages with their employer, though they were demanding raises. Reagan acted within his powers when he fired them. The thousands of controllers who participated in the strike were never allowed to return to their jobs.
You strike, youre fired. Simple concept to me.Sen. Tim Scott
But the UAW strike, which has hit Ford, General Motors and Jeep parent company Stellantis, involves private-sector workers bargaining with private-sector employers. It is illegal under the National Labor Relations Act to fire workers for taking part in a lawful strike. So far, none of the Big Three have claimed that the auto worker strikes are unlawful.
A spokesperson for Scott said the candidate was not suggesting auto workers should be fired for striking.
He was clearly talking about federal workers in that first exchange, Matt Gorman, the spokesperson, said in an email. Senator Scott repeatedly made clear, both at that event and others, that Joe Biden shouldnt leave taxpayers on the hook for any labor deal.
At the Iowa event, Scott said that President Joe Biden, the self-styled most pro-union president in history, is leased by the unions, if not bought and paid for.
The senator went on to criticize the decision by Biden and other Democrats to rescue defined-benefit pension plans as part of a nearly $2 billion coronavirus aid package in 2021. The plans negotiated over the years between unions and employers were on the brink of insolvency, and the move backstopped pension payments for an estimated one million workers and retirees.
Like other candidates, Sen. Tim Scott is trailing Donald Trump by double-digits in his run for the GOP presidential nomination.
Like other candidates, Sen. Tim Scott is trailing Donald Trump by double-digits in his run for the GOP presidential nomination.
When they overpromise, taxpayers should not be on the hook, Scott said. They end up on the hook when the president negotiates and provides your dollars to their pensions even though you didnt work for them.
Scott also appeared to criticize the UAW for demanding large raises and a reduced work schedule as part of the negotiations.
[T]hey want more money working fewer hours, he said. They want more benefits working fewer days. In America... that doesnt make sense.
The UAW workers are known legally as economic strikers they are demanding better pay and working conditions. They cant be fired, but they can be replaced while theyre on strike. And in what unions consider a travesty of labor law, that replacement can become permanent. Once the strike is over, and if the worker hasnt found similar work, he can apply for his old job as positions open up, but there is no guarantee he will return if a worker has taken his place.
It would be a difficult time for Ford, GM and Stellantis to find permanent replacements even if they wanted to. Workers would need to be trained to replace the strikers at the plants, and many employers are still having a hard time finding workers as it is. The unemployment rate is hovering near historic lows, at just 3.8%, despite voters gloomy outlook on the economy.
At this point, the UAW seems to have little fear of striking workers losing their jobs. The union has struck three plants so far one apiece for Ford, GM and Stellantis but has vowed to strike more if the companies dont improve their offers. UAW President Shawn Fain said Monday that barring a settlement, more targets will be announced on Friday.
Were going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to, Fain said. And were not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out.
Senate Democrats on Monday universally panned the stopgap spending bill rolled out over the weekend by House Republicans, further increasing the chances of a government shutdown as both chambers remain stuck with less than two weeks before the deadline for an accord.
Top Democrats did not mince words about a proposal cobbled together by the various wings of the House GOP, including the House Freedom Caucus and the Main Street Caucus, saying that provisions included in the bill have no chance of inclusion in a continuing resolution.
Last nights proposal in the House can be boiled down to two words: slapdash, reckless, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the floor. Slapdash because it is not a serious proposal for avoiding a shutdown and reckless because if passed it would cause immense harm to so many priorities that help the American people.
Time is short to finish the job, Schumer continued. If both sides embrace bipartisanship, a shutdown will be avoided. If the hard right is given a license to run the show, a shutdown is almost inevitable. Its that simple.
Both chambers, however, are having trouble deciding how to proceed.
The future of the House GOP bill remains very much up in the air as the conference deals with multiple absences, a dwindling margin for error after former Rep. Chris Stewarts (R-Utah) resignation went into effect, and an increasing number of conservatives speaking out against the proposal.
If that opposition holds, it could be enough to sink the bill in the House.
But its the Senate that is hamstrung at the moment. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) moved to suspend the Senates rules Monday to advance a trio of appropriations bills after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) objected to the legislation last week. Johnson is calling for the bills to be voted on one by one, a process that is more time-consuming than the bipartisan minibus.
In order to move on Murrays plan, two-thirds of senators will need to support the motion, but Senate Republicans were noncommittal to how they would proceed despite the overwhelming support the minibus received when it hit the floor.
This is a package of bills which each of them passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously, and we have been working very hard in a bipartisan effort in good faith to set up a very robust process for amendments and debate, Murray said on the floor. Unfortunately, a few senators decided to object to us last week and now we are moving forward.
That vote to suspend the rules is expected later in the week, according to Murray.
Senators also indicated they were not sure whether the Senate would move on a continuing resolution of their own before the House does.
The monthlong House bill includes an 8-percent cut to discretionary spending, while maintaining current funding levels for Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It would also include the House GOPs border crackdown legislation, sans provisions that would require E-Verify.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, told reporters that the inclusion of the H.R. 2 border bill is certainly a problem, but he declined to say whether he considered it a poison pill provision. Others in his party indicated the border package is not up for discussion.
The underlying provisions are very extreme, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told The Hill.
Its a non-starter. Thats the bottom line, he added on the bill writ-large.
Adding to the issues for Democrats and some Senate Republicans, the proposed stopgap bill does not include funding for Ukraine or disaster relief that was part of the White Houses supplemental request last month. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been a vocal proponent of including aid for the Ukrainians in their ongoing war against Russia.
Senate Republicans largely held their fire on the Houses bill, with some arguing that it was a good first step for a chamber that has been mired with troubles on the government funding front for months.
We cant do it alone. Weve got to have the House involved. Its good that theyve at least put out a mark, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said. If they can get it passed, then at least weve got a starting point.
You have to start someplace. At least getting the House to come up with something that they can get a majority vote on is pretty critical right now, Rounds continued. Some folks, if they are really obstinate, they may find themselves no longer being players.
Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters that Republicans in the upper chamber are in wait-and-see mode and want to see what the House produces. He also indicated that they would know more on how the party will move ahead on Murrays motion tomorrow when the Senate GOP meets for their weekly caucus lunch.
The balls in their court, Thune said. I hope they can execute on getting something done.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON (AP) The stuffy Senate is now a bit less formal.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that staff for the chambers Sergeant-at-Arms the Senate's official clothes police will no longer enforce a dress code on the Senate floor. The change comes after Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman has been unapologetically wearing shorts as he goes about his duties, voting from doorways so he doesnt get in trouble for his more casual attire.
There has been an informal dress code that was enforced, Schumer said in a statement. Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit.
Schumer did not mention Fetterman in his statement about the dress code, which will only apply to senators, not staff.
The changes prompted outrage from some of the chambers more formal members, eroding a bit of the good will that first-term Fetterman had earned earlier this year when he checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression. He won bipartisan praise for being honest about his diagnosis, which came in the wake of a stroke he suffered on the campaign trail last year. When he returned from treatment, he started donning the more casual clothes, which he says make him more comfortable.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican, said its a sad day in the Senate and that the people who Fetterman and Schumer represent should be embarrassed.
I represent the people of Kansas, and much like when I get dressed up to go to a wedding, its to honor the bride and groom, you go to a funeral you get dressed up to honor the family of the deceased, Marshall said. Senators should have a certain level of decorum, he added.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine agreed, arguing that the relaxed rules debase the institution of the Senate. I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor, Collins joked.
Walking to Monday evenings vote in a short-sleeved button-down shirt and shorts, Fetterman said he wasnt sure if hed take advantage of the new rules just yet.
Its nice to have the option, but Im going to plan to be using it sparingly and not really overusing it, he said.
Asked about the criticism, Fetterman feigned mock outrage.
Theyre freaking out, I dont understand it, he said of his critics. Like, arent there more important things we should be working on right now instead of, you know, that I might be dressing like a slob?
When Fetterman reached the Senate floor, he still voted from the doorway. Baby steps, he told reporters as he got on the elevator to go back to his office.
Not all Republicans were upset about the change. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was wearing jeans, boots and no tie on Monday evening, an outfit he says he normally wears when he flies in from his home state for the first votes of the week.
Now I can vote from the Senate floor on Mondays, Hawley said, noting that he usually wears a suit and tie every other day.
Nearby, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was also tieless. The Democrat said hes been reprimanded by Sergeant-at-Arms staff in the past for not wearing a tie on the floor.
They would tell us when we were doing it wrong, Murphy said.
Its unclear if the rules for more formal attire were actually written down anywhere, but Schumers directive means that staff will no longer scold senators for their choice of clothing or ask them to vote from the doorway.
For Fetterman, his signature hoodies and gym shorts were a sign of his recovery. Before he checked himself into the hospital, his staff had asked him to always wear suits, which he famously hates. But after a check with the Senate parliamentarian upon his return in April, it became clear that he could continue wearing the casual clothes that were often his uniform back at home in Pennsylvania, as long as he didnt walk on to the Senate floor. He still wears suits to committee meetings when they are required.
In recent weeks, the Pennsylvania senator has become more comfortable joking around in the hallways and answering reporters questions. His words are still halting sometimes due to his stroke and an auditory processing disorder that makes it harder to speak fluidly and process spoken conversation. He uses iPads and iPhones in conversations that transcribe spoken words in real time.
I think we should all want to be more comfortable, Fetterman told a group of reporters on Monday. And now we have that option, and if people prefer to wear a suit, then thats great.
___
Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
EU's attempt to 'derisk' Chinese batteries 'biased, not feasible'
Global Times) 10:06, September 19, 2023
Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times
Seemingly coming to its "waking up" moment again, the European Union (EU) is repeating its "de-risk" narrative with the world's second largest economy in the latest push which Chinese observers said results from the EU's ideologically biased policy against China. This time EU's eyes are fixated on lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells, where China has an edgein global markets thanks to its competitive industrial chain over years of building-out.
Believed to be a gesture to impose pressure on China ahead of a high-level economic and trade dialogue between the EU and China, penciled in for September 25 as media reported, the bloc's seeking reduction of so-called dependence on Chinese economy will ultimately prove unfeasible, which will not only hamstring China-EU ties that have been recovering, but also exacerbate its own economic woes and drag on progress toward its decarbonization goal, observers said.
Faced with challenges posed by US' rising protectionism that weighs on the world's economic recovery, China and the EU, two large economic powers, should forge stronger ties in deepening their cooperation on the principle of mutual benefits instead of setting up hurdles citing imaginary threats, analysts said, calling on the bloc to maintain its China economic policies independent instead of being at the mercy of the US.
Absurd comparison
Chinese observers' comment followed a Reuters report on Monday saying that the bloc could become as dependent on China for lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells by 2030 as it was on Russia for energy before the Russia-Ukraine conflict unless it takes strong measures, citing a document prepared for EU leaders that was seen by the media agency.
The document will be the basis of discussions on Europe's economic security during a meeting of EU leaders in Granada in Spain on October 5 when they will discuss the European Commission's proposals to reduce the risk of Europe being too dependent on China and the need to diversify toward Africa and Latin America, according to the Reuters report.
In 2021, prior to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU took more than 40 percent of its total gas consumption, 27 percent of oil imports and 46 percent of coal imports from Russia, according to the European Commission.
"It's quite absurd to be drawing a comparison between China and Russia in the energy case as these are two unrelated things," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Monday.
"Closer economic engagement is actually a result of natural market choice, which should not be interpreted as political risks," he said, adding that some EU leaders' China policy in the economic sector is "going a bit maniac."
Last week, China's Ministry of Commercelodged serious concerns and strong opposition to the EU's investigation into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers over subsidies, calling the EU's behavior "blatant protectionism" that will seriously disrupt and distort the global automotive supply chain, and have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade ties.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Wednesday that the EU is launching a probe into Chinese EVs, claiming the prices of imported Chinese vehicles are being kept "artificially low by huge state subsidies."
The probe came just days after Chinese EV makers shined at the IAA Mobility in Munich by launching their cutting-edge products at the auto show.
"The impactful presence of Chinese EV brands at the auto show has caused some unnecessary anxiety among EU politicians as if made-in-China EVs are flooding the market," Zhao Yongsheng, director of the French Economic Studies Center at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told the Global Times on Monday.
In fact, the penetration ratio of Chinese EVs in Europe is overestimated, Zhao said, adding that despite the dominating narrative at the moment is about the big potential of Chinese carmakers in Europe, the registration volume of Chinese brands is actually less than anticipated.
In the first quarter of 2023, most European EV sales were captured by the top five automotive groups - Volkswagen, Tesla, Stellantis, Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai-Kia. They accounted for nearly two-thirds of the market share, according to market research agency Counterpoint.
Opportunity, not risk
There is no major conflict between China and the EU, and the two sides should push forward their pragmatic cooperation under the principle of mutual benefits, officials and experts said.
China's development is an opportunity, not a risk, for Europe. Both sides should stay committed to opening-up and cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win results. No matter at present or in the future, China is and will remain a trustworthy friend and partner of Europe, Chinese Premier Li Qiangsaid when meeting with President of the European Council Charles Michel on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India on September 10, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Separately, in meeting with Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg on Saturday, Chinese top diplomat Wang Yi said China-EU cooperation outweighs differences and the two sides are partners instead of rivals, noting China has consistently supported the EU's strategic independence and European integration, according to Xinhua.
"Instead of being focused on such complaint as Chinese brands will undercut its European peers based on its stellar cost-efficiency performance, EU leaders should well notice the opportunities that Chinese EV supply chain has brought to the continent in terms of technology and industrial upgrade," Yu Qingjiao, secretary general of the Zhongguancun New Battery Technology Innovation Alliance, told the Global Times on Monday.
"Giving up on China's such edge in the supply chain could put a region's or country's development of its own EV sector at an obvious disadvantage," Yu noted, adding that if the EU opts to build up its own supply chain from the scratch just because of the potential risks as exaggerated by some politicians, it will certainly drag on the bloc's green mobility transformation - the EU is committing to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
"It is also an unfeasible move for the EU given a number of challenges due to lack of experience and capabilities to source key components for EV batteries," Yu said.
Ningde-based CATL, the largest EV battery maker in the world, has two factories in Europe with one operating in Germany and the other under construction in Hungary, which is expected to create more than 9,000 job opportunities for the East European country, according to media reports.
"What the EU's real 'waking up' moment should be sober awareness on teaming up with China economically by following its own independent China policy instead of being bound onto the US wagon of unilateralism," Cui noted.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Senate Republicans are mulling a plan to jam the House with a continuing resolution to keep the government open and fund the war in Ukraine, though the muscle-flexing by conservatives in the House and Senate has them proceeding cautiously.
Senate Republicans as recently as last week said they were ready to add money for Ukraine to a stopgap spending bill that needs to pass by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.
But over the weekend, House conservatives and moderates struck a deal on a short-term measure that doesnt include money for Ukraine or disaster relief something that had been a non-starter with many Republican senators.
Its not clear whether the House bill has the GOP votes to be approved. The Hills whip count on the bill includes 10 no votes as well as a number of GOP lawmakers leaning no. Republicans can only lose a maximum of four votes, assuming all Democrats vote against the legislation.
That raises the possibility of a shutdown and further complicates the situation for Senate Republicans, who for the most part see a shutdown as a potential political albatross for their party.
The Senate GOP isnt sure about the path forward, and Republican leaders are softening predictions that the Senate will add money for the war in Ukraine to the stopgap since this would spark a battle with conservatives in both chambers.
Thats a debate thats forthcoming, Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) said of adding Ukraine money to the stopgap measure.
Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), a member of the Senate Republican leadership team, said, I dont know what the plans are, but I certainly support supplemental funding [for Ukraine], but Im agnostic at what point that needs to be done.
Ive actually asked my staff to provide me the data for how much weve appropriated and how much has actually been spent, so we can figure out what the need is, he said.
The battle comes at a dramatic moment in Washington for Ukraine, with Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraines president, expected to visit this week and press for continued assistance for his war-embattled country.
Senate Republican leaders are also undecided over whether to support a Democratic motion to suspend the Senate rules to get around an objection raised by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), an outspoken conservative, that last week derailed a minibus package funding military construction and the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.
Johnson told The Hill Monday that there are growing reservations within the Senate GOP conference about adding more money for the war in Ukraine to a stopgap measure, reflecting what polls show is strong opposition among Republican voters to spending more on Ukraine.
There are plenty of us who have grave reservations about whats happening in Ukraine, and I will tell you the people who vote for us have really grave concerns about whats happening in Ukraine, Johnson said.
A CNN/SSRS poll of 1,279 adults and 1,049 registered voters nationwide in July found that 71 percent of Republicans said Congress should not authorize new funding for Ukraine.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) now must decide whether to go ahead and jam the House by adding Ukraine and disaster money in a bill to keep the government open.
Until the past few days, Schumer appeared to have the support of many Senate Republicans who wanted to add Ukraine funding to legislation to keep the government open, giving him leverage over Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Cornyn said last week that he assumed the House would not add Ukraine money to the continuing resolution, adding I expect it would be added here in the Senate.
I think the strong majority of senators on our side support Ukraine aid and see it important to our national security, he said, while acknowledging were divided.
The House will pass what they can pass and then if it doesnt include Ukraine funding, Id imagine wed add it and send it back to the House and try to negotiate an outcome, Cornyn predicted to reporters earlier in the month.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has repeatedly expressed his support for funding the war in Ukraine.
This isnt a debate about abstract principles or philanthropy. The United States isnt arming Ukraine out of a sense of charity. We are backing a fellow democracy because it is in our direct interest to do so, McConnell said on the Senate floor Thursday.
To rebut one ad hominem accusation in particular, there is nothing neo-conservative about support for Ukraine. Helping a democratic partner defend its sovereign territory against an unprovoked attack from a common enemy is obviously in Americas interest, he argued.
On Monday, however, Senate Republican Policy Committee Chairwoman Joni Ernst (Iowa), a member of McConnells leadership team, said she does not support adding money for Ukraine to the continuing resolution.
I think we should have a clean CR, Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told The Hill.
Other Senate Republicans argue Ukraine needs more weapons and U.S. aid now while the country is slogging through a counteroffensive against entrenched Russian troops in the Zaporizhzhia region and other strategic areas.
Military aid to Ukraine and some assistance is necessary. Theyre doing a good job on the battlefield. There could be a major breakthrough here soon. I think it would be sending the worst possible signal to stop supporting Ukraine. It leads to war in other places, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said.
Another senior Republican senator who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue of funding the war in Ukraine said theres still a good chance the money could be added to the government stopgap funding measure, despite strong opposition among House conservatives.
Senate Republicans are also divided over whether to vote this week for a Democratic motion to suspend the rules to overcome the procedural objection raised by Johnson and keep the spending bills on track.
The Senate GOP conference is set to debate the issue at a lunch meeting Tuesday.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Republicans and conservatives hate change generally. And Senate Republicans and conservatives appear to hate one new change in particular: Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer s approved change to the chambers sartorial standards, which calls for the sergeant-at-arms to stop enforcing the dress code for its members.
There has been an informal dress code that was enforced, Schumer said in a statement. Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit, said the majority leader.
Previously, senators were required to suit up when conducting business on the Senate floor, though senators routinely circumvented the requisite business attire by voting with one foot on the senate floor and one foot in the cloak room, a tactic Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, regularly employs when voting in his gym clothes after a workout.
The change brought a predictable roar of faux outrage from the political right, with Fox News dedicating segments on several of their primetime shows to bashing Senator John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat, who prefers hoodies and gym shorts to the buttoned-up look typical of lawmakers in the upper chamber of Congress.
Senator Susan Collins , a Republican from Maine, joked to reporters on Monday that she would wear a bikini to work on Tuesday. Obviously, Im not going to wear a bikini, Collins clarified. But the fact is, as I understand it, I could!
Other GOP senators were quick to pile on with derisive comments of their own to NBC News reporter Frank Thorp. It bothers me big time, said Senator Tommy Tuberville of the new dress code. You got people walking around in shorts that dont fly with me, Tuberville added in an apparent jab at Fetterman. Senate Chuck Grassley echoed Tubervilles disdain. It stinks, said the senior senator from Iowa.
Tuberville, of course, while so worried about the debasement of the Senate if people wear shorts, has done a little debasing of his own recently, with his weeks-long hold on top military officials over the Pentagons abortion policy.
The New Republic asked Democrats on Tuesday if the Senate could possibly survive Schumers change to the centuries old dress code. If we cant, then we have a lot more problems than anybody can imagine, laughed Senator Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Asked what she makes of the right-wing outrage over such a seemingly innocuous thing as what people wear to work, Hirono didnt waffle. Its sort of par for the course in my view regarding the right wing and what they constitute as moral outrage. I disagree with what they consider to be outrageous.
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut echoed Hirono about the faux outrage over the Senates dress code. There are so many efforts to distract and deter, ranging from the trivial like dress codes to the more important like impeachment, he said. It seems like the right-wing fringe is over a cliff on basic sanity, Blumenthal continued, before noting that the dress code isnt exactly top of mind. I havent really thought at all about the dress code because Im going to keep wearing a suit and tie.
Senator Chris Murphy echoed his Connecticut colleague. Ive not even been briefed on the dress code changes, he said. Ive only read stories and tweets about it, so I havent really given it any thought. Ive been engaged in things that matter a lot more than this.
Georgias Raphael Warnock, by any measure one of the best-dressed members of the upper chamber, laughed when asked if the Senate could survive the new dress code. I think the American people want us to keep the government open, so we need to stay focused on that, he said. Added Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon: So I have a position on the dress code issue. In the broad sweep of Western civilization, I do not believe this will be one of the major issues.
For his part, Fetterman said that he will continue to wear a suit when appearing on the Senate floor to conduct official business. Ill never understand why anyone really cares how I dress, said Fetterman. But I really believe theres much more important things that we should be working on like, for example, youve got Ukraine, youve got the shutdown, youve got all kinds of things. So I dont understand the meltdown.
The junior senator from Pennsylvanias team has been taking the criticism from the right in stride. Another great day for Fetterman to live rent free inside of the head of every Republican, tweeted Joe Calvello, the senators press secretary. Lets get this bread.
Seven schools in Massachusetts were named as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday.
The schools were among 353 schools nationwide to receive the recognition, which is based on a schools overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups on assessments, officials said.
The Massachusetts schools named as National Blue Ribbon Schools were:
Andover Andover West Middle School, Andover Public Schools.
Boylston Tahanto Regional High School, Berlin-Boylston Regional School District.
Cambridge Benjamin Banneker Charter Public School, Benjamin Banneker Charter Public.
Hopedale Hopedale Junior Senior High School, Hopedale Public Schools.
Hyannis Sturgis Charter Public School, Sturgis Charter Public.
Plymouth Manomet Elementary School, Plymouth Public Schools.
Somerville John F. Kennedy School, Somerville Public Schools.
The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to Raise the Bar in education, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. As the Biden-Harris Administration partners with states and schools to accelerate academic success and transform educational opportunity in this country, we take tremendous pride in the achievements of these schools and their commitment to empowering educators, serving students, and engaging families.
The Department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:
Exemplary High-Performing Schools are among their states highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their states highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a schools student groups and all students. Nominated schools also complete an extensive narrative application describing their school culture and philosophy, curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership structures, and parent and community involvement.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,700 schools. Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year.
National Blue Ribbon Schools serve as models of effective and innovative school practices for state and district educators and other schools throughout the nation, education officials said in a statement. A National Blue Ribbon School flag gracing a schools entryway or on a flagpole is a widely recognized symbol of exemplary teaching and learning.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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ANADARKO, Okla. (KFOR) A run from the law ends with a woman dead and a driver facing a second-degree murder charge.
She was a ride-or-die, she was gonna ride or die with you, and thats the way she was. And thats what ended up happening, said Michelle Wendling, the victims friend.
Logan County deputy at home recovering after alleged drunk driver hits his patrol truck
Wendling was talking about Billie Jean BJ Butler.
BJ Butler
Im kind of like a mother to her, said Wendling. She was full of like, life and energy and spirit and she was beautiful.
Wendling said the mother and grandmother was dating Justin Chase Milford, 35, whos now locked up in the Caddo County Jail on second-degree murder charges.
Justin "Chase" Milford mugshot
If she had to walk, shed follow him all over town, said Wendling.
UPDATE: Suspect identified in Friday chase through OKC, Yukon
Early in the morning on September 9, Anadarko Police said they tried to pull Milford and Butler over for an expired tag after spotting Milfords car at two separate houses known for drugs.
Instead of pulling over, investigators said Milford took off. Milford later told police Butler called him names and began telling him to go because she had a warrant.
She felt like they were about to close in on her, said Wendling.
Officers said both doors opened and Milford jumped out of the moving car. But when Butler tried to jump out, she was pinned between the seat, the door, and the bridge barrier.
She was alive but the officer felt if he moved the vehicle at all it could do more harm to her.
Butler didnt survive.
Someone called me about 6 hours later saying, Did you hear about BJ dying last night and I just went numb, said Wendling.
ODOC: Escaped inmate back in custody
Two days later, investigators found Milford in a Cyril home.
According to court documents, Milford killed the engine while still in motion when he jumped out.
Milford allegedly told investigators he took off running under the bridge into some trees. He stated that he jumped out because he did not want to run anymore and figured BJ could take the vehicle and run. He stated that he never meant to hurt BJ.
If hed said go she wouldve drove, said Wendling. These young kids, theyre just so wild and crazy and they end up losing their lives and were left behind to hurt.
Butlers sister was too upset to talk to News 4 on camera, but sent us the following statement.
Bj was a ray of absolute sunshine who never met a stranger. Funny, charming, and kind beyond measure. She had this otherwordly magnetism that kept people (not always the best) in her orbit. Little did we know this would be her downfall. She will be sorely missed by so many. Chelsea Guest
Milford is now facing charges of second-degree murder and attempting to elude officers.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
A Flagler Palm Coast High School student was arrested Sunday after posting on Instagram about his yearbook pictures with a caption that read: Im going blow up the school if I cant retake.
The 14-year-old student was arrested and charged with written threats to kill, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office. The student was turned over to the Department of Juvenile Justice. The News-Journal is not publishing his name because he was charged as a juvenile.
I want to thank the FCSO for their quick response to this alleged threat, said Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore in the press release. This is an important reminder for our parents to please talk with their children about what they post online. Even if a person posts something in a 'joking' manner or thinks theyre posting in a private group, law enforcement treats all threats the same, and even 'private' posts have a way of becoming 'public.'
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly warned parents about monitoring their children online.
We see this time and time again children ruining their futures over their behavior online, Staly stated in the release. Social media can be a treacherous space, and as parents, it is our duty to teach children responsibility both on and off the web. Be the sheriff in your home. We take every threat at face value to avoid a tragedy. No matter how small or unintentional they may be, consequences will follow.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Sheriff: FPC student arrested after posting about blowing up school
A Russian delegation led by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Tehran on Sept. 19 for talks with the Iranian military leadership, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.
Moscow said that the visit aims to strengthen the military ties between the two countries as Russia grows increasingly dependent on foreign support in its war against Ukraine.
Iran has been supplying Russia with Shahed kamikaze drones that the Russian military regularly uses in air strikes against Ukraine.
Russia has even reportedly managed to launch production of domestic-made versions of the drones.
Aside from Iran, the Kremlin has been making overtures to North Korea as well, hoping to secure munitions supplies as Russia is spending its arsenal on a mass scale on Ukrainian battlefields.
Read also: How Russia loses allies, influence amid its aggression against Ukraine
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket is "ready to launch" again, CEO Elon Musk said.
On its first test flight, the mega-rocket exploded four minutes after liftoff.
SpaceX made four major changes to help it reach orbit for the first time.
SpaceX made crucial upgrades to its Starship launch system since the rocket last exploded, and it's about to test them out.
The new features, some of which are huge installations visible in photos, could help the world's largest and most powerful rocket finally reach orbit.
The stakes are high. CEO Elon Musk is counting on Starship to establish a human settlement on Mars. The company has also received billions of dollars from NASA to put humans back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years.
The company has been racing to improve its flagship rocket's flaws ahead of its next launch. On its first attempt, Starship blew up mid-air around three minutes after launch. It blasted a crater through its launchpad that sprayed debris over the area, some of which reportedly rained down on a small town about 5 miles away.
More than a thousand changes have been made to the rocket since and it is now "ready to launch" again Musk recently said.
Here are four of the biggest modifications to the rocket, explained by a former SpaceX mission director.
1. SpaceX added a vent between the rocket and the booster to try a risky new maneuver
A vent and heat shields were added between the spaceship and the booster. SpaceX/Insider
SpaceX has added a vent between the two stages of its rocket. This is evidence of a bold change for its next flight: hot staging.
SpaceX's enormous Starship mega-rocket is made of two stages: the Starship spaceship and its booster, the Super Heavy booster.
The booster generates an immense amount of thrust, heaving the entire system off the ground and through the thickest parts of Earth's atmosphere. The spaceship then separates from the booster miles above the ground to fly off on its own.
Typically, on traditional rockets "the main engines on the booster stage come to a stop, then the second stage lights up after it's been separated," Abhi Tripathi, a former mission director for SpaceX's Dragon spaceship, told Insider.
But for Starship's next launch, the spaceship will start igniting its engines "while still essentially connected" to its booster, said Tripathi, who is now Director of Mission Operations at the University of California's Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory.
The Starship-Super Heavy launch system is made up of two stages. SpaceX
That's why Starship added the vents and heavy-duty heat shields to the top of the booster, so the flames can escape and the rocket doesn't "just blow itself up," Musk told journalist Ashlee Vance in a live interview on X in June.
The upside of this approach is that it gives the spaceship a small but significant boost, increasing the rocket's payload by about 10%, Musk told Vance.
The tradeoff is that hot staging might put the booster at more risk from the flames, a counter-intuitive move for a company that aims to reuse its booster, Tripathi said.
SpaceX placed this heat shield between the Starship space ship and its booster. SpaceX
So why did SpaceX decide to take the potential risk? Engineers may have decided it was worth it for better performance, Tripathi said.
2. New protection against booster damage
To the casual observer, the first Starship test flight was going amazingly well until the rocket suddenly burst into flames. But there were clues that something was going wrong long before the explosion.
Screengrabs from Starship's April flight show three engines off at the beginning, two shutting down mid-flight, and another flickering on and off. SpaceX/Insider
The live stream of the flight included a diagram of the rocket's 33 raptor engines. This showed two engines dying during the flight, and a third flickered off and on, on top of three that were off from the get-go.
A few engine failures during a flight is no big deal Starship is so powerful, it could still make it to orbit with less than full thrust, said Tripathi.
But it was a symptom that something was going awry in the booster. A statement later published by SpaceX later explained that a fuel leak inside the booster had caused fires. Because of this, SpaceX lost communication with the rocket's primary flight computer "and, ultimately, control of the vehicle," per the statement.
"If something cascades from the engine to knock out the smarts of your rocket, that's not good," said Tripathi.
The bigger picture here is that SpaceX probably underestimated the shielding needed to bolster its rocket from the power of its own engines, Tripathi said.
To address this, SpaceX has likely had to add more protection to the components in the booster, Tripathi said. The company said it was adding more systems to control fires onboard.
All of this adds weight, which may have contributed to the decision to move to hot staging, per Tripathi.
3. A safer self-destruct system?
Wild cheers let off by SpaceX engineers fell to worried hushes at around 2 minutes 45 into the test flight.
The rocket was due to have separated from its booster, but it had clearly failed. For about a minute, it tumbled out of control, before it burst into a huge fireball.
But that explosion didn't happen immediately, and that is a big problem.
Starship was seen tumbling before it burst into a fireball on its first integrated flight. SpaceX/Insider.
Starship is fitted with a self-destruct system, which automatically detects when something is going wrong. That system called the Autonomous Flight Safety System (AFSS) did set off explosives in the rocket, but only after an "unexpected delay," SpaceX said in a statement on September 8.
This means the AFSS system did not work as it should have, a matter that would have been taken very seriously by the FAA.
SpaceX is not allowed to share much about the improvements for security reasons, Tripathi said. But the company has confirmed it has "enhanced and requalified the AFSS to improve system reliability."
4. A 'gigantic upside-down shower head' on the launchpad
SpaceX added a flooding system to its launchpad to avoid fire and heat damage (in this picture, it is covered with a blue tarp). SpaceX/Insider
During its April launch, the rocket blasted through its launchpad, sending fragments of concrete and other debris flying around the launch site in Boca Chica, Texas.
The debris was spread across 385 acres, including some state park land, and the launch also ignited a 3.5-acre fire in a state park to the south, Bloomberg previously reported.
This angered local environmental groups who filed a lawsuit against the FAA over their oversight of the launch.
A picture shows a crater left by SpaceX's Starship after taking off in April. LabPadre/YouTube
The problem, Tripathi said, is that SpaceX hasn't built a flame diverter at Boca Chica. A flame diverter is made up of a series of huge tunnels typically built under launchpads to direct flames hundreds of yards away.
It's not immediately clear why this hasn't been done, but it could have to do with the fact Starbase is located near a nature reserve, said Tripathi.
Instead, for Starship's maiden test flight, SpaceX decided to see if they could absorb the force of the flames with a thick concrete launchpad alone.
"As we all saw, that calculation did not go right," said Tripathi.
Ahead of the next launch, SpaceX has decided to tweak its approach by adding what Musk called a "water-cooled steel sandwich" to the pad, he told Vance in June.
SpaceX demonstrating its new water deluge system on the Starship launchpad. SpaceX
The pad has now been fitted with two thick steel plates along with a water deluge system essentially a "gigantic upside-down shower head" Musk told Vance.
"It's going to basically blast water upwards while the rocket is over the pad to counteract the massive amount of heat from the booster," he told Vance.
The launchpad has also been reinforced with 35,300 cubic feet of high-strength concrete,
This approach has raised concerns of its own, as the water used to cool the pad could constitute "industrial process water" which is tightly regulated in the US, CNBC previously reported.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) told CNBC that SpaceX had not applied for permits to regulate that water, adding there was "no determination" made as to whether the activity violated environmental laws
The FAA has given the all-clear, but will Starship fly?
Over four months after the first launch, the FAA has said it is ready to allow SpaceX to fly again.
A mishap investigation launched after April's aborted test flight standard procedure when a flight doesn't go to plan has now been closed, and SpaceX has likely already made the changes the agency required, Tripathi said.
Acting Administrator Polly Trottenberg told reporters Wednesday the FAA is "optimistic" a launch license could be issued "sometime next month," per Reuters.
Still, Starship isn't orbit-bound yet.
The FAA will still need to review the changes made to the Starship launch system before it can grant a new license. This includes an environmental review of the new launchpad system, the administration told Insider in an email.
The lawsuit raised against the FAA's handling of Starship's environmental review could also cause delays. This case "has the potential to delay launches, but only if we bring a motion for an injunction, which we have not done yet," Jared M. Margolis, a Senior Attorney for Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case against the FAA, told Insider.
Correction: September 19, 2023 An earlier version of this article misstated the reason that Tripathi thinks SpaceX switched to hot staging. He thinks the company may have done it for performance gains, not necessarily because new booster reinforcements made Super Heavy heavier.
Read the original article on Business Insider
One Sioux Falls resident is busy creating Dorothys List, a project compiling a statewide collection of businesses that are allied with the LGBTQ+ community, and resources for businesses to become better allies to their customers and clients.
Adam Jorgensens work is in partnership with Sioux Falls Pride, and is part of the Billie Sutton Leadership Institute, through which he is one of nine 2023 Sutton Leaders. Other leaders in the institute are working on a variety of topics, including mental health, healing trauma, queer history and more.
Jorgensen compiled information for his research by way of a survey that asked participants how much they see businesses engaging with the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit community outside of Pride Month, what they believe the hallmarks of an inclusive business are and what a business or organization can do to show their space is inclusive.
A lot of businesses dipped out after all the rainbow stuff was gone, at the end of Pride Month in June, Jorgensen said. I wanted to bridge that gap.
More: What would make South Dakota safer for the LGBTQ+ community? Not just policies alone.
Many people in South Dakota are looking for businesses that genuinely support their community and are invested in making South Dakota a better place, he said. Some respondents said businesses could do better by putting up pride flags, providing LGBTQ+ inclusive healthcare and benefits for their employees, and more.
His survey also asked people if they feel safe as an LGBTQ+ or Two Spirit person in South Dakota, and if not, why they feel that way.
Jorgensen said many felt unsafe because of the political scene in South Dakota; fear of being reprimanded or fired for being LGBTQ+; hearing negative comments, hate speech or slurs while theyre out in the community; fear of physical violence or harm; or, because they struggle to find openly inclusive businesses.
More: A decade of hate: How South Dakota's anti-LGBTQ+ bills have grown in the last 10 years
He also asked what businesses people would like to see be more vocally supportive of the LGBTQ+ and Two Spirit community, and what businesses they would shout out for being strong allies of the community.
Allied local businesses respondents shouted out in the survey included Zandbroz, Full Circle Book Co-Op, the State Theatre, Club David, Cleanslate Design + Print and Pheasant Restaurant & Lounge in Brookings, and Drifters in Pierre, Jorgensen said.
For businesses that people wanted to see more vocal support from, Jorgensen said he will be bringing his survey results to each of them to explain what they can do to get more involved in, and supportive of, the LGBTQ+ community.
Then, people dont have to second-guess or wonder if they can go there for business or shopping, he said.
More: A decade of hate: How anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has shaped legislation in Pierre
What else are the Sutton Leaders working on?
Another leader from the institute, Jake Danielson, is based in Rapid City and is working on a mental health project that he said he hopes will help people change the way they look at mental health and give people personal development schools to take care of their own mental health. Hes also working on a support program for youth transitioning out of mental health treatment facilities.
Sutton said his institute is all about helping people take on projects, big or small, that they are passionate about.
We believe that change happens with action and community engagement, and these projects are a great way to build trust in communities and in turn affect change, he said.
Participants can apply for grant funding through the institute and if eligible, they can receive up to $1,000 in grants that will go to the nonprofit that the participant works with.
2023 Sutton Leaders include Jorgensen and Danielson, Angie Cleberg, Elaine Yellow Horse, Karin Eagle, Kendra Gottsleben, Lindsey Peterson, Sara Burtis and Serene Thin Elk.
2023 Sutton Rural Power Leaders include Bobbi Jo Horsted, Brendyn Richards, Carmen Garcia Pacheco, Courtney Sully, Jessica Murano, Lesley Atkins and Sentel Schreier.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Billie Sutton 2023 Leadership Institute includes LGBTQ+ research
John Fetterman and Lauren BoebertTom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images. Bill Clark and Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Lauren Boebert has had quite the week.
The Colorado congresswoman was kicked out of a play in Denver after vaping and groping her date.
Sen. John Fetterman is now tweeting about 'grabbing the hog' as a result.
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado's rowdy behavior at a recent performance of "Beetlejuice" has inspired history in DC: For the first time*, a sitting senator has tweeted about "grabbing the hog."
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania mocked the congresswoman in tweet Tuesday morning in response to a Fox News article about the Senate doing away with its dress code.
"I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, they'll make me a folk hero," Fetterman wrote, quote-tweeting the Fox News story.
Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) September 19, 2023
Fetterman is referencing Boebert and her date getting handsy with each other during a performance of "Beetlejuice" in Denver earlier this month. Surveillance video footage of the audience during the show obtained by 9News shows Boebert grabbing the crotch of her date and being groped.
The couple, who unfortunately are no more, were kicked out of the theater for their disruptive antics, which also included vaping and singly loudly during the performance.
Boebert has since apologized for the fiasco, perhaps in part because of how it could doom her reelection bid next year as well as the GOP's hold over the House.
Her soon-to-be ex-husband has also come to her defense after the incident.
*we assume.
Read the original article on Business Insider
In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Hasan Minhaj confessed to bending the truthsome would say to the point of lyingin his stand-up. Coupled with allegations of fostering a hostile workplace for staffers, its raising some thorny questions about the comedian.
Minhaj took what real, everyday brown folks were going through and led those people to believe that hed also been thereearning his fame and plaudits from that very trust, as well as the trust that engendered among those who wished to understand brown Americans, Nitish Pahwa writes.
He takes a closer look at whats so maddening about Minhajs emotional truths.
Hunter Bidens indictment for improper gun ownership has put gun rights groups in quite an awkward bind: Should they delight in the indictment of a political enemy or attack a law they oppose? Molly Olmstead examines the contours of their dilemma.
Plus: Dennis Aftergut argues that the Hunter Biden charges hurt the Justice Departmentand all the rest of us, too.
And ICYMI: Mark Joseph Stern unpacks Hunter Bidens surprisingly excellent legal defense.
Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for Angel Studios.
Tim Ballard, of Sound of Freedom fame, is a star on the right. So why would his church denounce him? Benjamin E. Park argues its a sign of something bigger.
In todays dispatches from the world of Trumps legal troubles:
Lawrence Lessig takes apart the terrible plan to neutralize Trump that has somehow entranced the legal world.
Norman L. Eisen and Richard W. Painter explain why the Trump camps argument for Judge Tanya Chutkans recusal is flat-out ridiculous.
The incoming owners of Simon & Schuster are giving employees a stake in the publisher. Megan Greenwell asks: Is it corporate whitewashing, good capitalism, or both?
Photo illustration by Slate. Photos by Toronto International Film Festival.
Two new movies find poetry in the worst form of recorded music. Sam Adams reviews Wim Wenders Perfect Days and the documentary Flipside, which both hit rewind on the long-beleaguered cassette tape.
And speaking of recorded music: Jack Hamilton shares his appreciation for one of the bestand most poorly mixedalbums of the 1980s, which has finally gotten the release it deserves.
Whats it like to have many kids (and adults!) dream job: coming up with the zany names for nail polish colors? To find out, Heather Schwedel spoke to one of the main brains behind the names of Butter Londons range of shades.
Nickelodeon
much like the deep-sea creatures in one particularly memorable episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. Its on the list of 40 greatest stand-alone TV episodes that Slate staff has curateda collection of snackable introductions and satisfying meals that you can consume without watching the whole series, along with details of where to stream them.
Thanks so much for reading! Well see you tomorrow.
This article was originally published on St. Louis Public Radio, a BND content partner
Illinois first day without cash bail got off to a slow start outside the Chicago metro area on Monday, with at least one county still using the old system for pretrial decision making. In Chicago and its suburbs, court proceedings took much longer than before, but the new process ran relatively smoothly
For more than two years, Illinois has been preparing for and battling over the end of cash bail, a change that makes Illinois the first state in the United States to take money out of pretrial decisions on detainment and release. On Monday, the new regime got underway.
The day started with an early morning press conference in front of the main Cook County criminal courthouse, with supporters of the massive change looking forward to the new system.
Today, we end an antiquated and unjust system that has disproportionately harmed our communities of color and the poor, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Chris Welch said in front of the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Monday. Today, we are one step closer to a detention system that puts victims first. Today, Illinois is no longer criminalizing poverty, and the entire nation has their eyes on us.
In counties outside Chicago, some of the court officials tasked with enacting the new system were vehemently opposed to the change. Many downstate prosecutors joined an unsuccessful legal challenge to the law.
In some of those counties there was an inconsistent interpretation of when the new law took effect, with some arguing that it should be based on when a person was arrested or charged, instead of the date specified by the state Supreme Court. A spokesperson for that court, reached by WBEZ, declined to weigh in on the debate.
St. Clair and Madison counties
More than 500,000 people live in Madison and St. Clair counties near St. Louis, but there were no new pretrial hearings in either county on Monday.
Both, however, have at least four combined pretrial hearings scheduled for Tuesday, according to judges in the counties.
I do expect over time, were going to be making a pitch for some more detainable offenses, said Ryan Kemper, an assistant states attorney in Madison County. But a lot of this is just sort of the normal ebb and flow of how cases come into this office.
The Madison County Criminal Justice Center in Edwardsville did host one initial appearance on Monday under the new system.
A states attorney sought detention of a man charged with felony stalking, but a public defender asked for a 24-hour delay. The judge granted the delay, setting the detainment hearing for Tuesday afternoon.
Despite the lack of pretrial hearings, judges said they were pleased with the first day under the new system.
Things went as well as we could have hoped today, said Judge Kyle Napp, the chief criminal judge in Illinoiss 3rd Circuit, which covers Madison and Bond counties.
Easing into such significant changes with a relatively light workload wasnt a bad thing, Napp said.
Napp, who oversees but does not preside over initial appearances and pretrial hearings, said getting all the little details right like starting court promptly at 1:15 p.m. and giving proper notice to all parties involved will be the focus for Madison County over the next week.
DuPage County
In west suburban DuPage County, the states second-most populated judicial circuit, 22 pretrial defendants arrested from Sunday through early Monday were brought one-by-one to a newly remodeled courtroom near the sheriffs office.
Of those, 14 faced charges of domestic battery a misdemeanor or violation of a protection order in a domestic violence case. For other defendants, charges ranged from retail theft to aggravated driving with a suspended or revoked license.
If the proceedings had been bond hearings like those held through Sunday, according to DuPage County public defender Jeff York, we probably would have been done within an hour for sure.
York said thats because the judge would have set a bond in each case after quick statements from the prosecutor and defense attorney. York said the preparation for his staff of defense attorneys who represent people who cannot afford an attorney would have been quicker too: We would have had 5 to 10 minutes with our client and no evidence discovery.
But Mondays hearings, which began at 8:30 a.m., did not finish until around 4:30 p.m. Nine defendants were ordered released within 15 minutes each because the prosecutors had not petitioned for detention and because the defense attorneys voiced few qualms about the conditions of release.
The contested hearings averaged roughly a half hour each because defense attorneys armed with evidence in their cases due to the new law could present stronger arguments for their clients liberty. The hearings stretched longer when interpretation was necessary for defendants who did not speak much English. Mondays defendants included several Spanish speakers and two from Romania.
Prosecutors ultimately sought pretrial detention for 10 of the days 22 defendants. Of those, Judge Dieden having found a safety threat or flight risk ordered jail for just two.
One of the defendants released by Dieden had been arrested for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon while on probation for a 2021 conviction on a similar charge.
DuPage County States Attorney Bob Berlin, who appeared briefly in the courtroom, said later that the new law did not allow prosecutors to petition for detention in that case.
Dieden ordered jail for two others until at least Tuesday because technical glitches had blocked evidence discovery. From the bench, Dieden voiced concerns about adding to Tuesdays court call: Im worried about the snowball effect and that well have the same problem tomorrow.
Some advocates who campaigned for eliminating cash bail have voiced worries that Illinois judges will substitute electronic monitoring for the money bonds. But Dieden did not order electronic monitoring for anyone Monday.
Sangamon County
At the Sangamon County courthouse in Springfield, pretrial hearings were still being conducted under the old system. Officials there said it was because no new arrests had been made since the law took effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
That seemed to contradict the Illinois Supreme Courts July ruling authorizing the end of cash bail. The high courts instructions said September 18, 2023 was the day that the circuit courts are directed to conduct hearings consistent with the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Sangamon County Chief Judge Christopher Reif did not answer WBEZs phone calls seeking clarification about the countys decision to hold hearings under the old system.
An Illinois Supreme Court spokesperson declined to comment on whether Sangamon County was properly interpreting the ruling.
Inside the courtroom Monday, there was debate over whether the defendants who were already in custody should be processed under the new cashless system. That would have meant forgoing bond and instead setting conditions, such as electronic monitoring, for their release pretrial.
Public Defender Craig Reiser argued that people with hearings on Monday should have been released or had their bond amounts lowered because their charges were no longer detainable under the new law. Many defendants were charged with domestic battery or lower-level misdemeanors such as retail theft.
The prosecutor argued the defendants were charged with crimes before the new system went into effect, making the previous status quo the calculus the court should take.
Judge Rudolph Braud granted the release of almost every defendant after making them promise to appear for their next court date. Several people were relieved. One defendant fist bumped courtroom security on his way out.
But Braud denied a bond reduction for three people. One person charged with retail theft had too many pending charges in surrounding counties and was deemed a willful flight risk. Another person charged with aggravated battery was also denied a bond reduction, due to outstanding battery and domestic battery cases. The last person denied a reduction was charged with possessing firearms without a valid Firearm Owners Identification card.
McLean County
In the McLean County courthouse in Bloomington, three people had pretrial hearings on Monday.
The hearings happened in a packed courtroom, with four judges and States Attorney Erika Reynolds watching from the gallery. Reynolds was one of several states attorneys who joined a failed legal bid to stop the abolition of bail.
In an example of Mondays confusion over the new laws implementation, the judge, prosecutor and defense attorney debated whether a man arrested Saturday on gun charges was eligible for cash bail under the old system or if he should be processed under the new system.
Unlike what played out in Sangamon County, the mans attorney argued he should be eligible for the old cash bail system, hoping to get his client out of jail.
Ultimately, the judge sided with prosecutors, and McLean County had its first hearing on a petition to detain under the new system. Prosecutors successfully argued that the defendant a 24-year-old accused of possessing a gun as a felon posed a risk to public safety.
The search for a missing woman has turned into a possible murder investigation after a Texas deputy found what is believed to be a blood stain inside of her home, authorities said.
The Liberty County Sheriffs Office deputy was called to Sheryl Ann Siddalls home at about 11:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 18, after family members reported her missing, according to a news release. They said they last talked with her on Sept. 12, and now the 57-year-old woman wasnt answering phone calls.
When the deputy got to her home, a 52-year-old parolee greeted him and consented to a search of the house, authorities said.
As the deputy entered the kitchen, he found what is believed to be a blood stain on the plywood floor, according to the release. Suspecting that foul play may be involved, the deputy immediately backed out of the room and called for investigators.
During a search behind Siddalls home, investigators said they found evidence that suggested something was dragged into the lake that borders her backyard.
A Texas game warden searched Horseshoe Lake using a sonar system on his boat, deputies said, but he did not find any other evidence. Investigators plan to search the property with cadaver dogs Tuesday, Sept. 19.
The man inside the home told authorities he is buying the home from Siddall, according to the release. He also said Siddall told him she was going to visit her sister in Oklahoma.
Siddalls cellphone was last pinged near her home, deputies said, and her car and purse were both found at the home along with other personal possessions.
The man was arrested and booked into the Liberty County Jail on a charge of felon in possession of firearms, according to the release. Other charges may be pending.
An investigation is ongoing.
Horseshoe Lake is about 70 miles northeast of Houston.
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The man whose life inspired the film "Sound of Freedom" about fighting child sex trafficking has been accused by seven women he worked with of sexual misconduct, according to a new report.
The allegations were outlined in a recent report by Vice News.
Tim Ballard , the former Homeland Security operative whose life served as the basis for the film, stepped down as CEO of the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad in June.
Reporters at Vice cited unnamed sources who have familiarity with an internal investigation into the women claiming Mr Ballard engaged in sexual misconduct.
Operation Underground Railroad confirmed to Vice that it had hired an outside law firm to investigate, but did not provide further details.
Though Mr Ballard has not provided a response to Vice for its report, he has previously insisted that Vice's other reporting about him was "not true."
In a statement after publication, Mr Ballard called the allegations baseless.
As with all of the assaults on my character and integrity over many years, the latest tabloid-driven sexual allegations are false. They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children. During my time at O.U.R., I designed strict guidelines for myself and our operators in the field. Sexual contact was prohibited, and I led by example. Given our meticulous attention to this issue, any suggestion of inappropriate sexual contact is categorically false.
Mr Ballard became a subject of scrutiny after the release of the film "Sound of Freedom," which was beloved by conservative movie-goers, with some right-leaning groups buying out entire theatres to provide free screenings to others.
Operation Underground Railroad admits on its site that some parts of the movie are fabricated and do not parallel the truth of Mr Ballard's life. It also acknowledges that the kind of child trafficking portrayed in the film is the exception, not the norm. Organisations that fight child sex trafficking criticised the film for its portrayal of the sex trafficking industry, noting that the majority of trafficking incidents involve families selling other family members, as opposed to the abductions portrayed in the movie.
Tim Ballard attends the premiere of "Sound of Freedom" on June 28, 2023 in Vineyard, Utah. (Getty Images for Angel Studios)
Mr Ballard was also criticised for holding views that appeared sympathetic to QAnon in media appearances.
The QAnon conspiracy movement long held that elites especially Democrats and other ideological enemies sex trafficked and even devoured children.
The allegations against Mr Ballard claim he pressured women working at the organisation to act as his "wife," coercing them to share his bed and shower with him during supposed anti-trafficking missions.
He allegedly told them it was a way to trick traffickers and helped him in his mission to save minors, according to the report.
One of the sources said Mr Ballard sent a photo of himself in underwear to at least one woman, and asked another "how far she was willing to go" to save trafficked children.
Vice reportedly attempted to contact the women and get them to speak on the record, but suggested they were unwilling to go public for fear of retaliation.
Operation Underground Railroad said in a statement that it does not tolerate any sexual harassment or discrimination in its orgnisation.
"O.U.R. is dedicated to combating sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organisation," the group said in a statement to Vice.
The group said that the outside law firm was investigating "all relevant allegations" but would not offer further comment.
A previous report by Vice and local media in Utah claimed that Mr Ballard was condemned by the LDS Church, which Mr Ballard denied during an event.
"It's not true, nothing you hear is true," Mr Ballard said, referring to a local media piece about his condemnation.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Ballard for comment.
In this combo image, South Carolina senators from left; State Sen. Sandy Senn on Sept. 7, 2022, in Columbia, S.C., Sen. Katrina Shealy on Sept. 7, 2022, in Columbia, S.C. State Sen. Mia McLeod on June 11, 2022, in Columbia, S.C., State Sen. Margie Bright Matthews on Jan. 28, 2021, Columbia, S.C., and Penry Gustafson on May 23, 2023. The five women Senators from South Carolina who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state have been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year. (AP Photo/Jeffery Collins, Meg Kinnard, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BOSTON (AP) Five women state senators from South Carolina who formed a bipartisan coalition to filibuster a near-total abortion ban in their state have been chosen to receive the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year.
A special International Profile in Courage Award will honor South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for working to improve relations between their countries despite domestic opposition.
During the filibuster the senators - Republicans Katrina Shealy , Sandy Senn , and Penry Gustafson , Democrat Margie Bright Matthews , and independent Mia McLeod took turns describing the complexities of pregnancy and the reproductive system, the dangers of lack of access to contraception, and inadequate privacy laws, award officials said in written release.
Officials noted that members of the coalition, who became known as the sister senators," were heckled by anti-abortion activists and the three Republicans were also met with strong opposition from their own party including censures and promises of primary challenges in 2024.
Despite the filibuster, the South Carolina Legislature was later able to approve the measure that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy before most people know they are pregnant.
We in the South Carolina Legislature are not God. We do not know whats going on in somebody elses life. We do not have the right to make decisions for someone else, Shealy said at the time, urging other members of her party to adopt a 12-week abortion ban instead.
U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy said the goal of the Profile in Courage awards is to honor leaders who took stands of conscience and risked their careers by putting the public interest ahead of their own political standing.
The women of the South Carolina Senate set an example for those seeking justice and individual freedom at all levels of government," she said in a statement. President Yoon and PM Kishida are doing the hard work of reconciliation in pursuit of a more peaceful world.
Kennedy and her children Jack Schlossberg and Tatiana Schlossberg, members of the Profile in Courage Award Committee, will present the awards on Oct. 29 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.
President Kennedys book, Profiles in Courage, recounts the stories of eight U.S. senators who risked their careers by taking principled stands for unpopular positions. The award was created by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in 1989.
Previous winners have included Presidents Barack Obama, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush.
Last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among five people named as recipients of the award for his efforts to protect democracy.
The Charlotte City Council voted, 8-1, Monday to allow Chipotle Mexican Grill to build a new restaurant across from the Park Road Shopping Center.
PAST COVERAGE: Where Chipotle is looking to put its next Charlotte restaurant
A gas station used to exist at the location on the corner of Park and Woodlawn roads.
Councilmember LaWana Slack-Mayfield voted no.
Blu South
More development is coming to the Sterling neighborhood.
PAST COVERAGE: Blu South to build single-family homes, duplexes in south Charlotte
The Charlotte City Council unanimously approved Blu Souths plans to build 186 townhomes and duplexes.
The area is currently vacant but is within walking distance of the land the developer forced longtime residents out of last year.
There was no discussion before the vote.
University City data center
The Charlotte City Council voted, 7-2, to approve a 2.5 million-square-foot data center off University City Boulevard near Interstate 485.
PAST COVERAGE: Charlotte leaders concerned about noise, environmental impact of proposed data center
City staffers originally expressed concerns about noise from the project but now say they are confident in how the company will address it.
Councilmembers Renee Johnson and Slack-Mayfield voted no.
The South Korean Foreign Ministry has summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik to express concerns over Moscow's potential arms deals and military cooperation with North Korea, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Sept. 19.
Deputy Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin urged Russia to "immediately" halt the development of military ties with North Korea, and to adhere to UN Security Council resolutions.
Read also: South Korea to supply Ukraine with two K600 Rhino anti-mine vehicles
The official also emphasized that actions threatening the security of South Korea could harm bilateral relations with Russia.
On Sept. 18, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol stated he plans to address the issue of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea at the UN General Assembly.
Read also: Zelensky says Russians let Putin grow into a second Hitler, only the world can stop him now
Kim Jong Un travelled to Russia in September 2023, where he met with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, visited the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East, and referred to the war against Ukraine as a "holy battle," wishing the Kremlin leader "victory."
On the eve of the visit, media outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported that arms transfers from North Korea to the Russian Federation might be discussed. The US warned that if such a weapons transfer occurs, new sanctions will be imposed on Russia and North Korea.
Read also: Japan watches out for possible arms shipments from North Korea to Russia
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia on Sept. 12 to meet with dictator Vladimir Putin likely in the Russian city of Vladivostok on Sept. 13.
Read also: IAEA chief skeptical Russia will share nuclear technology with North Korea in light of treaty obligations
It is expected that one of the topics the two dictators will discuss will be the transfer of weapons from North Korea to Russia. The United States has already warned that if such a transfer takes place, Moscow and Pyongyang will face new sanctions.
In July, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Pyongyang and attended an arms exhibition, which featured, among other things, combat and reconnaissance drones and new locally-produced intercontinental ballistic 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
South Korea will supply Ukraine with two K600 Rhino combat engineering vehicles to break through Russian minefields as part of its next tranche of aid for Kyiv, South Korean newspaper Chosun reported on Sept. 18, citing government sources.
The advanced engineering vehicles are built on a K1A1 main battle tank chassis and equipped with a magnetic field generator to disable mines.
Read also: Ukraine to receive $2.3 billion in additional aid from South Korea
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol pledged to provide non-lethal goods, including demining equipment, and post-war reconstruction assistance to Zelenskyy during the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.
The K600 Rhino is a highly mobile and heavily armored minefield and complex obstacle breaching system equipped with a mine-clearing plow, an earth-moving arm, and a magnetic mine-disarming device. It can detect and destroy mines within a range of up to five meters.
Read also: Ukraine to receive hundreds of thousands of shells from South Korea via USA - WSJ
South Korea will also provide Ukraine with financial aid totaling $2.3 billion to support its economic recovery, President Yoon announced at the G20 summit in India on Sept. 10.
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
Singapore and Brunei Navy personnel march during the opening ceremony of the military non-combat exercise called ASEAN Solidarity Exercise at Batu Ampar Port on Batam island, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Andaru Kz)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area.
The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said.
He said the five-day exercise in Indonesia's Natuna waters aims to boost military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drills also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention.
ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries including both the United States and China but this weeks drills are the first involving just the bloc and are being read by many as a signal to China.
Chinas nine-dash line, which it uses to demarcate its claim to most of the South China Sea, has brought it into tense standoffs with rival claimants Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in the disputed waters.
The line also overlaps with a section of Indonesias exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna Islands. Margono initially said the exercises would take place in the North Natuna Sea at the edge of the South China Sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S. and China, following meetings of ASEAN defense officials in Bali in June.
However, Indonesia, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, decided to move the drills to the South Natuna Islands, away from the disputed area, apparently to avoid any reaction from Beijing.
China and ASEAN signed a nonbinding 2002 accord that called on rival claimant nations to avoid aggressive actions that could spark armed conflicts, including the occupation of barren islets and reefs, but violations have persisted.
China has come under intense criticism for its militarization of the strategic South China Sea but says it has the right to build on its territories and defend them at all costs.
Those who carry out any exploration or activities in that area must not violate state territory, Margono said after an opening ceremony for the exercise attended by ASEAN military leaders on Batam island next to Singapore. That has been clearly regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Asked whether ASEAN was sending a stronger message against Chinas competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, Margono replied, "We have had a firm stance.
He told reporters that ASEAN has agreed to hold military exercises annually. In the future, they will be expanded to full war drills involving the army, navy and air force, he said.
Indonesia and China enjoy generally positive ties, but Jakarta has expressed concern about what it sees as Chinese encroachment in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Increased activities by Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats in the area have unnerved Jakarta, prompting its navy to conduct a large drill in July 2020 in waters around Natuna.
Despite its official position as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, Indonesia renamed part of it the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to underscore its claim that the area, which includes natural gas fields, is part of its exclusive economic zone. Similarly, the Philippines has named part of what it considers its territorial waters the West Philippine Sea.
Vietnam, one of the four ASEAN claimant states, has been vocal in expressing concerns over Chinas transformation of seven disputed reefs into man-made islands, including three with runways, which now resemble small cities armed with weapons systems.
Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, both Chinese allies, have opposed the use of strong language against Beijing in the disputes.
JAKARTA, Indonesia The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area.
The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said.
He said the five-day exercise in Indonesias Natuna waters aims to boost military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drills also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention.
ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries including both the United States and China but this weeks drills are the first involving just the bloc and are being read by many as a signal to China.
Indonesian Armed Forces Chief Adm. Yudo Margono inspect the troops during the opening ceremony of the military non-combat exercise called ASEAN Solidarity Exercise at Batu Ampar Port on Batam island, Indonesia, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (Andaru Kz/AP)
Chinas nine-dash line, which it uses to demarcate its claim to most of the South China Sea, has brought it into tense standoffs with rival claimants Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in the disputed waters.
The line also overlaps with a section of Indonesias exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna Islands. Margono initially said the exercises would take place in the North Natuna Sea at the edge of the South China Sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S. and China, following meetings of ASEAN defense officials in Bali in June.
However, Indonesia, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, decided to move the drills to the South Natuna Islands, away from the disputed area, apparently to avoid any reaction from Beijing.
China and ASEAN signed a nonbinding 2002 accord that called on rival claimant nations to avoid aggressive actions that could spark armed conflicts, including the occupation of barren islets and reefs, but violations have persisted.
China has come under intense criticism for its militarization of the strategic South China Sea but says it has the right to build on its territories and defend them at all costs.
Those who carry out any exploration or activities in that area must not violate state territory, Margono said after an opening ceremony for the exercise attended by ASEAN military leaders on Batam island next to Singapore. That has been clearly regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Asked whether ASEAN was sending a stronger message against Chinas competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, Margono replied, We have had a firm stance.
He told reporters that ASEAN has agreed to hold military exercises annually. In the future, they will be expanded to full war drills involving the army, navy and air force, he said.
Indonesia and China enjoy generally positive ties, but Jakarta has expressed concern about what it sees as Chinese encroachment in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Increased activities by Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats in the area have unnerved Jakarta, prompting its navy to conduct a large drill in July 2020 in waters around Natuna.
Despite its official position as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, Indonesia renamed part of it the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to underscore its claim that the area, which includes natural gas fields, is part of its exclusive economic zone. Similarly, the Philippines has named part of what it considers its territorial waters the West Philippine Sea.
Vietnam, one of the four ASEAN claimant states, has been vocal in expressing concerns over Chinas transformation of seven disputed reefs into man-made islands, including three with runways, which now resemble small cities armed with weapons systems.
Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, both Chinese allies, have opposed the use of strong language against Beijing in the disputes.
On April 20, the most powerful rocket ever flown stood on a launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas, its stainless steel skin gleaming in the sun. Moments later, rocket and launch pad would become fiery debris. It was the first, disastrous orbital test launch of the SpaceX Starship.
Within seconds of launching, the rockets ferocious thrust shattered the concrete pad at SpaceXs Texas Starbase facility, sending debris flying as far as Port Isabel, a city six miles away. The rocket caught fire. Less than four minutes after launch, it began to tumble across the sky, and then it exploded .
The Federal Aviation Administration grounded Starship, pending an investigation into the explosion, but the rocket may soon fly again. On September 8, the FAA closed its inquiry, citing 63 corrective actions SpaceX would need to take before its second attempt to send Starship to orbit.
The FAA has approval authority on all commercial launches, and so they are the ones who grant companies launch licenses, says Wendy Whitman Cobb , a space policy expert and instructor at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. Any time something blows up, they want to know why. Because they want to make sure that it's safe not only to go up, but that it's not going to harm anybody on the ground.
SpaceX will have to demonstrate to the FAA that the company has successfully completed those 63 corrective actions and then apply for a modified launch license. Once that is granted, they theoretically can go up whenever they want, Whitman Cobb says. Neither FAA nor SpaceX have publicly said what those fixes are. But the actions presumably address the failures of the April launch.
Theres a lot riding on Starships success. Its key to expanding SpaceXs launch and Starlink satellite businesses. NASA plans to return humans to the moon in 2025 with a modified Starship as the lunar landing vehicle on the Artemis III mission. If SpaceX can fix the problemsand Whitman Cobb and other experts believe thats likelythe company may put its rocket program and NASAs moon program back on track. This investigation might also provide insights into launch pad construction that could one day help astronauts traveling to and from the moon.
Failures to launch
Starship, despite not yet reaching orbit, holds the title for most powerful rocket ever launcheda superlative it took from the Soviet N1 rocket. Meant to power Soviet cosmonauts to the moon, the N1 first stage produced 10.2 million pounds of thrust. Starship has two stages in its stack; the first stage alone, the Super Heavy Booster, produces 16.7 million pounds of thrust.
That record-breaking power is why it was bizarre that SpaceX chose to launch Starship from a concrete launch pad without features such as flame trenches. Those grooves are designed to divert a rockets plume away from the pad and the vehicle itself. SpaceX could have also used a water deluge system to flood the pad to help mitigate the rocket engines heat and acoustic shockwaves.
[Related: SpaceXs Falcon Heavy launches have been a slow burnfor an interesting reason ]
You would never normally launch a rocket with that much thrust without having a better designed active mitigation of the plume in the launch environment. Because you worry about the heat and the dynamic forces of the plume breaking materials and creating ejecta, says University of Central Florida physicist Philip Metzger . If the ejecta had hit the launch vehicle in a way that caused the rocket to explode while it was still near the tower, it could have destroyed a lot of infrastructure that would have taken a very long time to rebuild.
As it was, the April launch blew the launch pad apart and dug a crater about as deep as a house, he says.
Lessons for the moon
Metzger has been studying the Starship launch and is currently writing a paper about the results. He wants to understand what went wrongbecause the way things failed is important for the design of future rockets and landing pads on the moon or other celestial bodies.
Most concepts for a lunar landing pad simply use flat concrete. There's no flame diverter, no flame trench, no water, Metzger says. I decided just because of the pure fun of solving the physics, and also because of what we might learn about lunar landing pads, that I was going to take this seriously.
What he found was that chunks of concrete from the Boca Chica pad were flung away at more than 200 miles per hour. A cloud of hot water vapor and carbon dioxide, created by Starships methane- and liquid oxygen-burning Raptor engines , heaved sand skyward and carried it to Port Isobel. Metgzer realized the process must have been similar to the way pressure builds in a volcano before an eruption.
The only explanation we could come up with was that the landing pad cracked and the high pressure of the thrust drove gas through the cracks, he says. This increased pressure beneath the pad until it erupted. Lunar landing pads must be designed to avoid this problem, he says, by adding vents for gases to escape or by constructing stronger pads that resist fracture.
[Related: DOJ is suing SpaceX for years of workplace discrimination ]
That could be difficult on the moon, where heavy construction will be hindered by a lack of resources, machinery, and an atmosphere. But on Earth, SpaceX may have a solutiona steel plate that is actively cooled with water to keep it from melting during a rocket launch.
That's really a great idea, Metzger says. If their engineers did it correctly, it should be a complete solution to the problem.
As for keeping the next Starship from blowing up in the sky, SpaceX says it found that leaked fuel had ignited inside the Super Heavy Booster. The resulting fires cut the booster off from the computer guiding its flight, which caused the rocket to tumble and then explode, according to an update on its website. The company has significantly expanded Super Heavys pre-existing fire suppression system in order to mitigate against future engine bay fires, the company says.
Next moves
While neither the FAA nor SpaceX have said where the two are in the process, SpaceX Founder Elon Musk has suggested that his company has completed the corrective tasks, tweeting on September 5, before the FAA announcement, that Starship is ready to launch, awaiting FAA license approval.
If the ball is truly in the FAAs court and the regulator is simply reviewing the work SpaceX has done, I don't think it will take more than a few weeks, Whitman Cobbs says. That would be my best guess. If thats the case, she notes, then SpaceX and the FAA have moved with exceptional speed to get Starship ready for another launch attempt. Whitman Cobb contrasted SpaceX with its competitor Blue Origin, whose New Shepard rocket remains grounded more than a year after a failed launch on September 12, 2022. Blue Origin is still in the FAA investigation mode, and have not been able to launch, she says. They've yet to apply for a modified launch license.
Rapidly reworking Starship and its launch pad, though, doesnt guarantee the next launch attempt will go flawlessly. But Whitman Cobb notes that SpaceX has been more willing than NASA or other rocket makers to test new spacecraft, watch them fail, and rapidly make changes. The eighth Starship prototype was destroyed in a fiery belly flop during a high-altitude test in December 2020, for instance, but the company pressed on.
Given the ability of SpaceX to succeed and prove its critics wrong in the past few years, I have no evidence to believe they wouldn't be able to make this work, she says.
Metzger also notes that the person in charge of getting Starship ready to fly again is William Gerstenmaier , who, before joining SpaceX in 2020, was the former associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA. Gerstenmaier is a legend in the space community, Metzger says. Its in really good hands. I don't know if there's anybody better in the world than Bill Gerstenmaier to manage that sort of a project.
First plenary session at Spain's Parliament with simultaneous translation in co-official languages
First plenary session at Spain's Parliament with simultaneous translation in co-official languages
By David Latona
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's lower house of parliament allowed the use of regional languages for the first time on Tuesday as part of a deal to elect a Socialist speaker and amid vocal protests from conservative lawmakers.
Legislators used earphones to listen to live translations into Spanish of speeches in Catalan, Basque and Galician as they debated amending house rules to allow their use in proceedings, which had previously been banned in the lower house but partially admitted in the Senate.
The reform was passed with 176 votes in favour, 169 against and two abstentions. It comes as acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez courts Catalan separatist parties to support him in an investiture vote.
Sanchez's caretaker government has also asked the European Union to make the three languages official at the bloc's institutions.
Jose Ramon Gomez Besteiro, a Socialist deputy from the northwestern Galicia region, was the first to speak in his native Galician and was interrupted by far-right Vox spokesperson Pepa Millan, who objected to his use of the language.
After the speaker admonished her, Vox's 33 lawmakers abandoned the chamber in protest, leaving their earphones on a seat where Sanchez usually sits. Lawmakers from the conservative People's Party (PP) refused to use them.
The new measure was agreed on Aug. 17 in exchange for backing Francina Armengol's speakership bid.
Her election was the first step in Sanchez's attempts to woo regional parties which hold the keys to renewing his term.
He will have to wait until the end of September for his conservative opponent, Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the People's Party (PP), to make a first attempt at securing the premier job after his party placed first in the July general election.
Feijoo, a bilingual Galician speaker, has so far failed to cobble together enough votes to secure a majority.
Public use of Spain's regional languages was censored by the state during Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
After Franco's death in 1975, Spain's fledgling democracy ushered in regional constitutions which declared them official within their region alongside Spanish.
The use of these languages has long been a point of contention between Spain's nationalist right, which champions a centralised vision of the country, and other parties seeking to bolster regional rights and diversity.
There are an estimated 9 million speakers of Catalan, 3 million Galician users and some 750,000 people fluent in Basque.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Christina Fincher)
A 2-year-old Spanaway girl died and an infant from Puyallup was taken to the hospital after they were exposed to fentanyl this weekend, according to the Pierce County Sheriffs Department.
Early Saturday, deputies and medics arrived at a home in Spanaway to find a 2-year-old girl dead after her father called 911.
The man said he fell asleep with his daughter, and when he awoke at 4:20 a.m., she wasnt breathing. He was interviewed by detectives.
On Monday, officials with the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office told detectives the girl had a significant amount of fentanyl in her system.
Detectives returned to the home to re-interview the victims father and serve a search warrant.
The 33-year-old father was later arrested for investigation of first-degree manslaughter.
A second fentanyl-related incident involving a child happened in the South Sound on Sunday.
In Puyallup, deputies were called to a home where CPR was in progress on a baby. When they arrived and asked what happened, they were told the baby had put a piece of foil in their mouth that may have been contaminated with fentanyl.
Officials with Central Pierce Fire said the child may have overdosed and the baby was taken to the hospital, where they were in stable condition.
The babys 3-year-old brother was also taken to the hospital to be evaluated and also tested positive for fentanyl exposure.
After interviewing the childrens 33-year-old father, detectives arrested him for investigation of reckless endangerment.
The sheriffs department said fentanyl addiction affects people from all walks of life. For instance, the man in the Puyallup case appears to be a new user who has a stable job and doesnt appear to have a history of drug use, according to deputies.
This is a reality every day, said Sgt. Darren Moss Jr. with the Pierce County Sheriffs Department. Every day. Every hour. Someone is overdosing.
Sgt. Moss added that the problem is coming from places you wouldnt associate with drug use.
The most troubling thing in this situation is you have young, young children who cant help it. Its not their fault. But every day were seeing overdoses in middle schools, in high schools. Places where you wouldnt think thered be drug usage. And now were seeing overdoses, said Sgt. Moss.
If you or a family member or friend is suffering from drug addiction, visit the Washington Recovery Help Line at www.waRecoveryHelpLine.org or call 1-866-789-1511.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., briefs reporters following a closed-door Republican Conference meeting on how to agree on a path to funding the government, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
WASHINGTON (AP) Facing fresh challenges to his leadership, Speaker Kevin McCarthy is trying to accomplish what at times seems impossible working furiously to convince House Republicans to come together and pass a conservative bill to keep the federal government open.
Its a nearly futile exercise that could help McCarthy keep his job, but has little chance of actually preventing a federal shutdown. Whatever House Republicans come up with is nearly certain to be rejected by the Senate, where Democrats and most Republicans want to fund the government.
In one dramatic sign of defeat Tuesday, House Republicans were even voting against their own defense bill. During a rowdy afternoon vote, the usually popular bill was turned back from consideration, 212-214, after five hard-right conservatives helped sink it. They want to see an overall plan from McCarthy.
McCarthy simply walked off the House floor. Look, the one thing youre going to learn about me: I like a challenge I dont like this big a challenge but were just gonna keep doing it until we can make it, McCarthy told reporters.
With time dwindling, Congress faces a Sept. 30 deadline to pass the broader government funding legislation and get a bill to President Joe Biden's desk to become law. Otherwise, the U.S. faces massive federal government closures and disruptions. Plans for another vote Tuesday to advance the overall spending bill were shelved.
The balls in Kevins court, said Republican Rep. Ralph Norman of the Freedom Caucus.
The latest House government funding proposal, a compromise between members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus and the more pragmatic Main Street conservatives, was almost dead on arrival, left sputtering even after McCarthy loaded it up with spending cuts and Republican priorities in a border security package.
Behind closed doors Tuesday, the speaker was trying to stress the political repercussions of a government shutdown to Republicans, warning them that no party wins with a closure.
Unlike last week when an angry and frustrated McCarthy unleashed foul language on his colleagues, he tried a different tack when addressing his members privately in the Capitol basement.
Appearing cool, calm and collected, McCarthy cast the funding plan as just a proposal and left time for rank-and-file members to debate, according to Republicans familiar with the meeting.
Still, one Republican after another rose to tell McCarthy that the current plan would not have their votes. With a slim majority, he needs almost every Republican on board.
Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., one of the negotiators for the Main Street group, urged her colleagues later to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The showdown over the usually popular defense bill shows the difficulty ahead it was the second time McCarthy had tried to advance the measure after he abruptly withdrew it from consideration last week.
The attempt to soothe tensions among Republicans comes as tempers are flaring and as big personalities try to seize the upper hand some trying to lead and others hoping to disrupt any plans for compromise.
Floridas two leading conservatives, Matt Gaetz and newcomer Byron Donalds, are sniping in the halls and across social media, as Gaetz criticizes the deal Donalds and others struck as insufficiently conservative.
And freshmen Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., pointedly attacked McCarthy as a weak speaker.
One seasoned lawmaker Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., warned the infighting could derail the House GOP, much the way it did for past speakers like John Boehner and Paul Ryan. Both retired earlier than expected amid constant threats of ousters.
Womack said he fears there is a larger fight brewing that is more of a personality nature because of the conflict between certain members and the speaker.
The monthlong funding package that McCarthy is pushing would impose steep spending cuts of more than 8% on many government services, while sparing defense and veterans accounts. It would last for 31 days in hopes of giving House Republicans time to approve the more traditional government funding bills.
The White House issued a memo detailing cuts from the Republican plan, saying it would mean fewer border patrol agents, school teachers and aides, Meals on Wheels for seniors and Head Start slots for children, among other cutbacks.
Extreme House Republicans are playing partisan games with peoples lives and marching our country toward a government shutdown, the White House said.
Across the Capitol, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned of the steep cuts Republicans are planning with their cruel and reckless spending plan.
At its core, House Republicans are trying to undo the deal McCarthy reached with Biden earlier this year to set federal funding levels as part of the debt ceiling fight. Conservatives rejected that measure then, even though it was approved and signed into law, and they are trying to dismantle it now.
But House Republicans are late to the effort, with time running short to act. Whatever bills they pass are certain to run aground in the Senate, where bipartisan groups of senators have already started approving their own funding bills, some at levels higher than the Biden-McCarthy agreement.
The roughly dozen Republicans who have voiced displeasure at McCarthy's proposal see the current impasse as a make-or-break moment to hold the speaker to commitments to drastically cut topline government spending.
If my party is not going to stand up, what is the right thing to do?" said Spartz. "No matter how hard, I dont think anyone else will.
When Spartz was asked whether she would support an effort to oust McCarthy, she said she was open to everything.
But Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who helped draft the proposal, all but dared his fellow Freedom Caucus members and other so-called conservative colleagues to reject it particularly its dream bill provisions for dealing with the U.S. border with Mexico.
If my conservative colleagues want to vote against that, go explain that, Roy said.
The holdouts want steeper cuts that would adhere to the $1.47 trillion for annual discretionary funding they had initially advanced earlier this year to raise the nation's debt limit.
Another seasoned lawmaker, Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho, warned of pain ahead for Americans if the government shuts down.
"It would be disastrous, he said. Ive never seen a time when a shutdown is good policy or good politics.
Simpson suggested it was time for McCarthy to reach out to Democrats to strike a bipartisan deal.
But that would almost certainly lead McCarthy's right-flank to try to hold a vote to oust him from the speaker's job.
___
Associated Press writers Kevin Freking and Josh Boak contributed to this report.
SAN DIEGO (KSWB) A bill that would establish a pilot program in six California cities to ticket speeding drivers with cameras instead of police is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsoms desk for approval.
AB 645 proposed the five-year pilot program to give local transportation departments in the cities of San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Glendale, Long Beach and the city and county of San Francisco the ability to install automated speed safety systems.
These cameras would use a mobile radar to monitor for drivers going at least 11 miles over the posted speed limit, snapping a picture of their license plate to issue speeding tickets to the driver.
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According to the bill, transportation departments can deploy anywhere from nine to 125 cameras throughout their jurisdiction depending on population size, prioritizing areas such as school zones, high-injury roadways and known street racing corridors in geographically diverse locations.
Drivers that are found to be speeding through these areas will be fined relative to how many miles per hour they went over the speed limit. The first infraction, however, would be a warning.
Under AB 645, the penalties would be:
$50 for driving 11 to 15 miles per hour above the speed limit.
$100 for driving 16 to 25 miles per hour over the speed limit.
$200 for driving 26 miles per hour or more over the speed limit.
$500 for driving at a speed of 100 miles per hour or more.
All violations would be written, according to the bill, and will issued to the registered owner.
Unlike some cities red light camera programs, these violations would not be considered criminal they would be civil and would not result in points on your license, Assemblymember Laura Friedman (D-Burbank), who co-authored the bill, explained in a statement to FOX5SanDiego.com.
In lieu of payment, cities and counties can also offer those who receive a ticket the alternative to perform community service to satisfy their violation. People who meet certain income or housing criteria can also receive deductions of these fines anywhere from 50 to 80%, the bill stipulates.
Speed cameras are about slowing drivers down and saving lives, not about punishment, Friedman continued.
Research has shown speed cameras can reduce crashes by 54% in urban cores, especially high-injury and fatality crashes, she added. Thats why seven other states with Democratic and Republican governors have authorized have authorized or expanded the use of speed cameras this year.
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According to data from the National Transportation Safety Board, areas that implemented automated speed enforcement saw a decrease in the number of crashes that occurred anywhere from 8 to 49% for all collisions and 11 to 44% for those that resulted in serious or fatal injuries.
In cities like Los Angeles, speed is the No. 1 factor in crash severity.
every year for the past five years, more than 1,000 Californians have died in speed-related traffic collisions, Los Angeles officials wrote in support of AB 645. These deaths and injuries are preventable. Jurisdictions suffering from high levels of avoidable fatal and severe collisions are desperate for additional tools to bring the number of traffic deaths down to zero.
New York City, which deployed 750 speed cameras back in 2020 during certain time periods, saw speeding decrease by about 73% as of December 2021, according to a report from the citys Department of Transportation.
New York City officials expanded implementation of the program to allow 24/7 automated enforcement of speeding this year, according to reports a move that contributed to a 30% drop in violations over the last 12 months.
AB 645 was passed through the legislature last Wednesday, receiving bipartisan support. Opponents of the bill cited concerns about how the speeding cameras could contribute to increased surveillance.
There are effective alternatives to reduce speed-based traffic collisions without these harmful
impacts, including those highlighted in the bill itself: roundabouts, speed humps or speed tables, traffic circles, and other traffic-calming measures that do not require increasing surveillance to automate enforcement and issue more tickets, the National Motorist Association wrote in a report.
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Newsom has until Oct. 14 to either sign or veto the bill. If signed into law, Californias pilot program under the AB 645 will last five years.
For the six participating areas, the bill requires transportation agencies to issue warnings rather than notices of violation to drivers for the first 60 days of the program, coinciding with a month-long public information campaign to help educate residents about the new cameras.
After the program expires, state and local officials will assess the success of the program to explore expanding it across California.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
California State University, Stanislaus, has made the top 10 in four categories in U.S. News & World Reports 2024 Best Colleges rankings.
Stanislaus State ranked 10th in regional universities on the West Coast, fourth in top public schools, sixth in top schools for veterans and third for social mobility for regional universities in the West. The Turlock school, which also has a Stockton campus, has risen in the ranks of these categories from the previous report.
This distinction not only underscores our commitment to academic excellence and student success but also highlights the pivotal role we play as a regional comprehensive university in sculpting the educational landscape, Interim President Susan E. Borrego said in a news release. Stan State is proud to contribute to a legacy of transformation and the promise of a brighter tomorrow for our students, their families and communities.
UC Merced ranked 60th among U.S. public institutions, rising 28 places from last year. The university tied for fourth with California State University, San Bernardino, in top performers on social mobility for national universities. The university was also named 62nd in the country for best undergraduate teaching.
Student success is our North Star, and it is rewarding that national organizations increasingly recognize this commitment, UC Merced Chancellor Juan Sanchez Munoz said in a news release. What has been built here, in the heart of California, is a testament to the faculty and staff, both past and present, who have worked tirelessly in their shared pursuit of student success.
All nine University of California undergraduate campuses landed in the Top 100:
15th (tied) - UC Berkeley and UCLA
28th (tied) - UC Davis and UC San Diego
33rd - UC Irvine
35th - UC Santa Barbara
60th - UC Merced
76th - UC Riverside
82th - UC Santa Cruz
U.S. News annual ranking comes less than a week after CSU leaders voted to increase tuition. The cost of attending college will increase by 6% annually over the next five years, starting next year.
According to a news release, the U.S. News & World Report looked at diverse enrollment and graduate rates, social mobility, student debt and post-college success of more than 1,000 colleges.
This years ranking did not compare classroom size, facility education, alumni donations, high school rankings or the number of graduates using federal loans.
Sacramento Bee reporter Brianna Taylor contributed to this report.
Ukraine's State Bureau of Investigation reported on Sept. 19 that it had launched an investigation into the alleged abuse of a civilian at a military enlistment office in Sambir, Lviv Oblast.
Earlier the same day, a video appeared on local Telegram channels showing a man in military uniform beating and threatening a man in civilian clothes in what reportedly was a recruitment office room.
Holding what seems to be a gun, the offender threatened an alleged civilian that he would be "thrown into the trunk and buried," adding that even police "wouldn't be looking" for him. Another man in civilian clothes, who sat nearby filming the video, was also threatened, while at least two more men in uniform were in the same room but did not stop the beating.
In another video shared online, a man similar to the one abused in the previous footage said that he was being held in an enlistment office for six days.
"I can't say much. They took the phone. There are many videos on the phone conflicts with the servicemen, and other things. I will provide everything later. Please help."
In the third video, the same man having what appears to be blood on his neck and chest shows a red stain on a wall, claiming that it's his blood, which allegedly proves he was really at the enlistment office. The man said he had been beaten.
Shortly after these videos were published, the Lviv Oblast military enlistment office said it had started investigating the incident. The servicemen shown in the footage were suspended for the investigation period, according to the report.
"The video shows only part of the event, so what exactly happened in this situation and what preceded the actions of the servicemen is being determined," the enlistment office wrote.
The incident comes more than a month after a nationwide inspection of Ukraine's military recruitment offices revealed multiple violations, including corruption, power abuse, and fraud. Heads of all regional military enlistment offices across Ukraine were dismissed.
On Aug. 8, the State Bureau of Investigation reported that 112 cases regarding abuses by military enlistment offices had been brought to investigation since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Bloomberg) -- Share trading by the partners of some of Norways key politicians has added to the conflict of interest scandals upsetting the countrys image as a leader in transparency.
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Revelations about thousands of stock trades made by the husband of former prime minister Erna Solberg during her eight years in power, and the investments of the partner of Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt have raised questions about how free Norway is from corruption.
The cases in Norway follow hard on the heels of scandals where politicians of the ruling Labor-Center coalition government failed to recuse themselves from decisions on appointments or procurements despite apparent conflicts of interest, with four ministers resigning since autumn 2021 over violations of ethics rules.
It is quite obvious these revelations erode trust in mainstream political parties, Guro Slettemark, the secretary general of Transparency International Norway, said in an emailed response to questions. It is a strong reminder that political corruption can also happen here, and that Norway needs to reconsider whether we have sufficient integrity mechanisms in place.
Political leaders elsewhere have also faced grief over the actions of their significant others. Last year, Rishi Sunak faced questions over the then-Chancellor of the Exchequers wife, Akshata Murty , not paying UK taxes on her overseas earnings.
In Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, one of Europes leading critics of the Kremlin, has faced pressure by the countrys president, opposition and media to resign over revelations last month that her husbands company had business activity in Russia.
Ranking fourth on Transparency Internationals Corruption Perceptions Index, Norway has long been viewed as having relatively little public sector corruption. Only Switzerland, Luxembourg, Finland and Sweden rank higher in surveys on trust in government, with about 64% of Norwegians saying they had confidence in the national government, according to OECD data. That compares with about 50% in Canada, 43% in Japan and just 31% in the US.
To be sure, recent events in the Nordic country dont stand alone. Some of Norways biggest companies including Telenor ASA and Yara International ASA were embroiled in cross-border graft scandals last decade.
Read More: Norway Junior Minister Quits After Buying Defense Firms Stock
In the latest development, ex-premier Solberg announced last Friday her husband, Sindre Finnes, made more than 3,600 stock trades during her eight-year term ending in 2021, for a profit of 1.8 million kroner ($170,000). The scope clearly exceeded what was known to the government office earlier.
Norways economic and environmental crime unit, or Okokrim, said it is looking into whether a case should be opened into possible breaches of securities trading legislation, E24 news outlet cited its head, Pal Lonseth, as saying on Friday.
Some of the trades meant Solberg should have been disqualified from decisions covering companies including aluminum producer Norsk Hydro ASA, she told reporters in Oslo. The list also included the purchase in September 2020 of derivatives that allow the owner to profit from a falling market in the days before the premier announced that new pandemic restrictions were being considered, VG reported.
The disclosure came just days after her Conservative Party took a historic local election victory over Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stores Labor, the first since at least 1945 and partly blamed on the recent scandals that so far had only involved government members.
Store, who faces an uphill battle to stay in power in national elections in two years, has already pledged stricter procedures. Parliament speaker Masud Gharahkhani plans to summon parties next week to discuss clearer rules on stock trading for politicians, he was cited as saying by local daily Dagbladet on Monday.
--With assistance from Gina Turner.
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A stolen vehicle crashed into a Rocklin shopping center storefront Monday afternoon following a pursuit involving the California Highway Patrol, police said.
The crash occurred near the Sees Candies and AT&T stores at the Crossings shopping center, along Sierra College Boulevard just south of Interstate 80.
The Rocklin Police Department shared a photo the crash vehicle in social media posts. The photo shows what appeared to be a wrecked silver SUV outside the Sees store.
Police said the CHP was involved in a pursuit that ended when the reportedly stolen vehicle crashed into the retail storefront. Shoppers should expect to see an increased police presence in the area.
It was not immediately clear whether any arrests were made. Police asked people to stay away from the area as authorities worked at the scene.
This is a locator map for Syria with its capital, Damascus. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BAB Al-HAWA, Syria (AP) A United Nations aid convoy reached rebel-held northwest Syria on Tuesday after a vital border crossing from Turkey reopened following an agreement with the Syrian government.
The 17-truck convoy carrying medicine, medical equipment, food supplements and other supplies crossed into Idlib through the strategic border-crossing of Bab al-Hawa on Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, the U.N. reached an agreement with Syria's government to reopen the crossing, used to deliver 85% of aid to Syria's northwestern Idlib province, where the majority of its 4.5 million residents live in poverty after being internally displaced during Syria's conflict, now in its 13th year.
The deal was agreed on after the U.N. Security Council failed to authorize two rival resolutions on July 11 to renew the border crossing's authorization. The United States, United Kingdom, and France were key advocates of the U.N. aid delivery, whereas Syria's key allies, Russia and China, called for delivering aid to rebel-held areas through Damascus instead.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the resumption of humanitarian deliveries saying that our humanitarian operations have continued to assist millions of people in need in northwest Syria, his spokesman said. Stephane Dujarric added that the Bab al-Hawa crossing has long been central to the U.N.s efforts to deliver aid in the northwest.
Dujarric added that with more people than ever requiring humanitarian aid in Syria amid the countrys economic crisis, the secretary-general underscores the need for ever greater efforts to be made to ensure we reach all those who need it.
The U.N. has been exclusively using two northern crossings to deliver aid to rebel-controlled areas since July 9, making it extremely challenging because of the length of the routes and poor infrastructure. In August, the U.N. sent 195 trucks loaded with aid to the rebel enclave.
U.N. aid is the artery for the citizens of northwestern Syria. Without it, there would be a humanitarian disaster in the area, Mazen Alloush, an official on the Syrian side of the border crossing, told The Associated Press. He said he hoped more convoys would reach the area in the coming weeks
The United Nations did not immediately comment on the aid delivery.
The Syrian conflict started as an uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011 and was met with a harsh crackdown that plunged the country into years of civil war, killing nearly half a million people and displacing half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.
____
Edith M. Lederer, chief U.N. correspondent for the AP, contributed to this report.
The Department of Strategic Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom) urges media to wait for the results of the official investigation into the missile attack on the market in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on 6 September, which took the lives of 16 people.
Source: StratCom of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a comment to Ukrainska Pravda in response to a NYT article about the 6 September strike on Kostiantynivka being a "tragic mishap" caused by the fall of a Ukrainian missile and not Russian shelling
Quote from the Office of Strategic Communications: "In order to clarify the circumstances of the missile strike, the Security Service of Ukraine on 6 September began criminal proceedings under Article 438, Violation of the Laws and Customs of War. An official investigation is currently underway. Until its completion, commenting on any details regarding the incident is prohibited by law and inadvisable".
Details: In particular, the StratCom noted that any comments or assumptions "can and will be used by Russian propagandists".
Earlier: The New York Times based on the results of its own investigations, said that the attack on the market in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on 6 September, which claimed the lives of 16 people, was a "tragic mishap" caused by the fall of a Ukrainian missile and not by Russian shelling.
Background:
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Stay on the lookout for the possibility of strong storms Tuesday night in North Texas.
Patricia Sanchez, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Fort Worth said scattered storms could arrive in the Dallas-Fort Worth area overnight and into Wednesday morning.
Tuesday evenings commute wont be affected by bad weather, she said.
Sanchez said most of the storms will be along the Red River, but there is a 30% to 40% chance that the metroplex and North Texas could see large hail and damaging winds if storms develop.
Storms will be scattered, and some wont see any rain, Sanchez said.
Sanchez urged people to stay weather aware and to have a way to get warnings and alerts on their cell phones or weather radios.
Weather watches and warnings
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A cold front is coming
Looking ahead, more storms are possible Thursday night into Friday morning mainly along the Red River, and a cold front will arrive in North Texas Saturday night into Sunday morning with another chance of showers and thunderstorms, Sanchez said.
Sanchez said its too early to tell if storms will be severe, but cooler temperatures will arrive by Monday with highs in the mid 80s.
Sanchez added that the weather pattern is changing, and the area will see more rounds of storms with cooler temperatures.
Its not necessarily going to get super cold, but there will be a noticeable change, she said.
3-Day Storm Outlook
This map shows the 3-day weather outlook for storms by the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. Sources: National Weather Service, Esri. Open
Days after a local school superintendent said the district would not tolerate violence in schools, a student is accused of attacking a teacher in class.
School leaders say the altercation is under investigation.
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Channel 2s Tom Jones went to Clayton County on Tuesday after receiving calls from staff inside North Clayton High School who said the attack on a teacher by a student was brutal.
Superintendent Dr. Anthony Smith said he couldnt say much about what happened here at North Clayton High because of the ongoing investigation.
The Clayton County School District sent the following statement to Channel 2 Action News that states, It confirms there was an altercation involving a teacher and a student in a classroom. The incident is under investigation and it couldnt comment further.
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Workers said violence runs rampant at the school, and too many students are unruly.
It saddens me when kids go astray, Smith said.
Jones attended the editorial breakfast where Smith talked about the districts vision and efforts to build a safe, violence-free school community.
Were not gonna tolerate nonsense in classrooms, Smith said.
Regarding the incident at the school, Smith told Jones its going to take time to get the message across that violence wont be tolerated.
But he wanted to make one thing clear.
Were serious about folks behaving when they come on our campuses and behaving when they come in our classrooms, Smith said.
Jones was at a forum last week where the superintendent warned students who had discipline issues they would face dire consequences if they continued to disrupt school.
He doubled down on that message again.
I dont know where we went in this world, the world where we thought that it was OK to come in to curse out teachers and be rude and mean, Smith explained.
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Channel 2 Action News submitted an open records request to learn more information about the incident.
Smith says students who cant conduct themselves appropriately will have to learn from home.
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Children entertain themselves by watching a show on a cell phone at El Barretal shelter in Tijuana, Mexico on December 9, 2018. A new study out of Boston University School of Public Health found that former President Donald Trump 's election was associated with a 5% drop in well-child visits for children of immigrant mothers in the United States. File photo by Ariana Drehsler/UPI
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- A new study is blaming former President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric for a decline in preventative healthcare visits among children born to migrant mothers.
Researchers at Boston University School of Public Health found that Trump's 2016 election was associated with a 5% drop in well-child visits for children of immigrant mothers, compared to children of U.S. mothers.
The study, published Monday in the journal Health Affairs Scholar, is the first to examine the "chilling effect" of immigration status-related fears.
"Missing well-child visits is deeply worrisome since so many vital health and development checks and referrals happen at these visits, where waiting could mean long-term harms to health or developmental delays. In addition, parents miss out on support and connections to other resources, which could potentially compound existing inequities," Dr. Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, research associate professor of health law, policy & management and pediatrics at BUSPH, said in a statement.
According to the study, one in four children in the United States has at least one immigrant parent. Researchers analyzed electronic health record data and healthcare surveys of nearly 11,000 children of immigrant and U.S. mothers in Boston, Minneapolis and Little Rock, Ark., between the years of 2015 and 2018, which cover the Trump campaign and the early months of his presidency.
During the first few years of the Trump administration, restrictions for asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border were implemented, along with interior immigration enforcement and travel bans for several Muslim-majority countries.
"We found that Trump's rhetoric and election were already driving parents' decisions about seeking preventative healthcare for their young children, even before some of these policies were implemented," Ettinger de Cuba said.
Researchers say the number of well-child visits for children of immigrant mothers dropped from 54% before the 2016 election to nearly 49% by 2017. There was no change in well-child visits for U.S-born children after Trump took office, according to the researchers.
"These results underscore the need for changes to both laws and regulations that recognize the individual and societal impact of ensuring immigrant families can meet all of their basic needs, including healthcare, without fear," Ettinger de Cuba said.
"Words matter and have real-life consequences in campaigns and governance," Ettinger de Cuba added. "Much more work is needed to rebuild trust in immigrant communities."
New Hampshire Democrats are attracting an unlikely defender in their effort to remain the first in the nation to vote: Republican Gov. Chris Sununu .
Sununu told Fox News on Tuesday that his opposing partys move to demote the Granite State in the presidential primary lineup is insulting and could harm Democrats.
Joe Biden has completely screwed this up for himself and for the Democrats, Sununu said. Were going first, no matter what.
Its just insulting. The president has insulted the Democrats of this state, he added.
President Biden and the Democratic National Committee(DNC) pushed to move South Carolina ahead of New Hampshire for the 2024 cycle, a decision that has angered both parties in the small state that holds four electoral votes.
Sununu went on to accuse Biden of giving political payback to his buddies in South Carolina by endorsing the DNCs proposal to bump the Palmetto State earlier in the calendar.
The popular GOP governor, who announced in July he is not running for reelection, wouldnt say if he believed Biden would appear on the ballot as an official candidate. Heck if I know, heck if I care, he said, shrugging off concerns among some voters that the incumbent president may not even be a contender in the historically influential state.
Hes completely turned his back on the state. Everybody realizes it, he said.
Democrats in New Hampshire have been at the front of discussions around the primary date and order, constantly angling to keep their traditional voting status.
The committee in charge of the DNCs rules voted to give members an extension one of several granted in recent months to put forward a final date and delegate plan. Members now have until Oct. 14 to present their newest proposal.
The back-and-forth has given Republicans some optimism that Democrats appearing to turn away from the state could give them an advantage in the battleground in the fall.
I think a lot of folks realize were an independent-minded state, tend to be a little more Republican, and thats why there could be a very strong possibility this state goes Republican in November, Sununu said.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Indigenous people march for the resignation of the Attorney General Consuelo Porras in Guatemala City, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. President-elect Bernardo Arevalo has called people to protest efforts to derail his presidency before he can take office and for the attorney general's resignation due to its office's investigations related to the registration of Arevalos Seed Movement party, and alleged fraud in the election. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) Thousands of farmers and Indigenous supporters on Tuesday blocked roads and streets in Guatemala to defend the president-elect as government prosecutors seek to ban his political party.
Protests organized by the Farmworkers' Development Council set up about 14 blockades on Guatemala's seven main highways and blocked several streets in Guatemala City.
Protesters are demanding the resignation of prosecutors who have sought to ban the Seed Movement party of president-elect Bernardo Arevalo.
Arevalo won the Aug. 20 presidential runoff in a landslide, but prosecutors have continued pursuing multiple investigations related to the registration of Seed Movement, and alleged fraud in the election. International observers have said that is not supported by evidence.
Earlier this week Aleisar Arana, a leader of the Xinca ethnic group, called the prosecutions an attempt at a coup.
The coup that the prosecution is leading must be stopped, Arana said. Protesters threatened to keep demonstrating until the efforts against Arevalo are stopped.
Arevalo announced plans last week to call Guatemalans into the streets to protest efforts to derail his presidency before he can take office, he said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press.
A coalition of academic and rights groups issued a statement Monday saying that international pressure should be stepped up to ensure Guatemala respects the results of the elections.
Arevalo, a progressive lawmaker and academic, shocked Guatemala by making it into the runoff in which he beat former first lady Sandra Torres by more than 20 points.
The attorney generals office has said it is only following the law, but has come under intense criticism within Guatemala and abroad for what appears to be a brazen attempt to keep Arevalo from coming to power, or to weaken him.
This week, agents from the attorney generals office opened boxes of votes and photographed their contents in an unprecedented violation of Guatemalas electoral law.
Arevalo has called for Attorney General Consuelo Porras resignation and said he would temporarily suspend the process of transition from outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say they have someone in custody for the theft of a French Bulldog stolen from its home.
Police say a juvenile has been arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy in relation to this case.
Two other unknown suspects are still at large.
PREVIOUS: Robber holds Charlotte woman at gunpoint in home, steals French bulldog
Police said they broke into a home in northeast Charlotte, held a woman at gunpoint, and took the dog.
Theres no word if the dog has been found at the time this article was published.
(WATCH: Thieves rob letter carrier in Third Ward at gunpoint, stealing USPS keys)
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A man convicted of two murders and suspected of slaughtering at least two dozen other women was found dead in his Texas state prison cell early Tuesday.
Billy Chemirmir, 50, had been serving two life sentences without parole in the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony near Palestine when he was attacked. His cellmate, who has not been named, was identified as the assailant, officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. Its unclear how Chemirmir died.
The TDCJ told NBC5 that the Office of Inspector General is investigating Chemirmirs death. No further details were released.
In October 2022, Chemirmir was found guilty of capital murder in the death of 87-year-old Mary Brooks. His first murder trial for the slaying of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris ended in a mistrial in Dallas County.
Police have said Chemirmir preyed on older women, targeting them inside their homes or senior living centers where he would smother them with pillows and steal their jewelry and valuables.
Authorities initially believed Brooks had died of natural causes, even though family raised alarm bells that many of her favourite pieces of jewelry was missing. Her shopping bags were left on the counter, and a coral necklace and several diamond rings were gone, according to prosecutors.
It was only weeks later when Chemirmir was arrested for a separate attack that police began to suspect his involvement.
In that case, Mary Annis Bartel, 91, told police that a man had forced his way into her apartment at Parkview Elderly Assisted Living facility in Frisco, attempted to smother her with a pillow and stole her jewelry, the Associated Press reported.
Ms Bartel, who died in 2020, described in a taped police interview that Chemirmir had appeared suddenly as she opened her front door a man wearing green rubber gloves before forcing her to the ground and holding a pillow over her face.
Documents found in a box the murder suspect was attempting to dispose of led police to the home of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris, who was found dead in her bedroom, lipstick smeared on her pillow, the Associated Press reported.
As more unexplained deaths came to light, authorities in Texas said they were planning to review hundreds of deaths previously thought to have been due to natural causes.
Two people were charged with federal drug crimes in the overdose death of a 1-year-old boy and the hospitalization of three other children at a day care in the Bronx, according to a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York on Monday.
Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, who were earlier charged in state court with murder, were charged in federal court with conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
Both defendants face up to life in prison on federal charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death. During a court appearance Tuesday, Mendez and Brito were ordered to remain in federal custody until their next hearing after prosecutors argued they both pose a flight risk.
According to court documents, Mendez is the owner and operator of the day care, and Brito is her husbands cousin and a tenant who resides in a bedroom within the day care.
The charges stem from the death of a 1-year-old on Friday after he and three others were exposed to suspected opioids at the Divino Nino day care in the Bronx.
The incident has shocked the conscience of the city, Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District, told reporters Tuesday.
The two defendants, with co-conspirators, ran a fentanyl distribution business out of the building, Williams said. He also said law enforcement was searching for Mendezs husband.
Mendez and her family burst into tears in the courtroom when the federal magistrate judge denied her bail Tuesday evening. The judge agreed with prosecutors that Mendez could be a flight risk as she is a citizen of the Dominican Republic and a legal permanent resident in the US. Prosecutors said in court her husband had already fled and theres no reason to believe she wouldnt.
At one point, the judge paused the proceeding to allow Mendez, through tears, to speak to her attorney using a Spanish-speaking interpreter. The real allegations are against her husband and not her and she would never leave her children in the lurch, an attorney for Mendez relayed on her behalf.
Britos court-appointed attorney did not make a request for bail Tuesday but maintains the right to do so at a later time. Brito is due back in federal court on October 19.
New York City police were called to the day care Friday afternoon, where they discovered three unconscious children. First responders administered Narcan, an opioid reversal treatment, to all three children in an attempt to revive them, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Two children survived, but 1-year-old Nicholas died at Montefiore Medical Center, the NYPD said in a statement.
In addition, another 2-year-old boy, whose family had taken him home from the day care around 12:15 p.m., was later brought to BronxCare Health System where he was administered Narcan, which saved his life, Kenny said.
A kilogram of fentanyl was discovered in an area where children napped at the day care center Friday, the chief of detectives said.
Complaint details alleged efforts to remove evidence
According to the federal complaint, a DEA special agent involved in the investigation detailed how he believed Mendez attempted to remove evidence from the day care prior to a law enforcement search.
Mendez called 911 to report the unresponsive children around 2:40 p.m. on Friday but placed three other calls before calling emergency services: one to another day care employee, and two to her husband, according to the agents affidavit in the complaint.
After speaking to 911, Mendez called her husband again multiple times, according to the complaint.
Several minutes before law enforcement arrived, the DEA agent said, surveillance footage showed Mendezs husband enter the day care empty-handed and then exit approximately two minutes later carrying what appears to be two shopping bags weighted with contents.
Instead of exiting through the front door of the day care, Mendezs husband exited through a back alley, the agent said.
Surveillance footage also showed Mendezs husband at the day care earlier Friday, despite Mendez stating no one had come into the day care that day, according to the complaint.
Further, Mendez deleted approximately 21,526 messages from an encrypted messaging application and sent her husband several messages while law enforcement was with her following the overdoses, the agent said.
The DEA agent said in his affidavit that Brito, the other defendant, had exchanged messages indicating his participation in narcotics trafficking. Several messages between Brito and an unknown individual in August 2023 involved discussions about the presence of law enforcement outside the day care, according to the complaint.
That same individual sent Brito a message on September 12 three days before the overdoses that they had left him una torta which translates to sandwich or cake in Spanish, the court documents say.
Cake is often used to refer to a kilogram of narcotics, the agent said.
CNNs Lauren del Valle, Rob Frehse and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
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Anti-government protests have been gaining steam in Syria for more than a month, echoing the demonstrations that President Bashar Assad sent his security forces to crack down on in 2011, sending the country into a downward spiral that morphed into a full-scale civil war.
The demonstrations, focused predominantly in the southern city of Suwayda, were initially driven by a deepening cost of living crisis Syria's economy has been crippled by years of war and is straining under the weight of myriad international sanctions. But anger over the crumbling economy has evolved quickly into demands for the downfall of the Assad government.
What's behind the latest protests?
The demonstrations in Suwayda and nearby Deraa where the 2011 uprising began started after Assad's government reduced fuel subsidies and raised gasoline prices by nearly 250% in August.
Assad doubled already-meager public sector wages and pensions, but the efforts to mitigate public anger did little to cushion the economic blow. Instead, the move accelerated inflation and further weakened the Syrian pound. Millions of Syrians who were already living in poverty after more than a decade of war found themselves even worse off.
The government insists the country's economic trouble is the result of the sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its European allies since the war broke out.
The Druze, and the Assad government's response
Three protesters were wounded in Suwayda on Sept. 13, when armed individuals opened fire as the demonstrators attempted to shut down a branch of the ruling Baath party. The shooters went unidentified, but reports said they were plain-clothes security forces. It was the first time that shots were fired at protesters during the recent demonstrations.
People gather to protest against the Bashar Assad regime in Suwayda, Syria, Sept. 1, 2023. / Credit: Leys El-Cebel/Anadolu Agency/Getty
Overall, however, the government's response to the loud but non-violent demonstrations in Suwayda has been restrained.
The city is the heartland of the Druze religious minority in southwest Syria, and Assad has appeared reluctant to wield overwhelming force against the group. During the civil war, the government has presented itself as a defender of religious minorities against "Islamist extremism."
In 2010, the last year before the initial Syrian revolt, Druze made up 3% of the country's 22 million people. Members of the community, which is concentrated in Suwayda and in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana, are generally well-educated, and it is one of the most secular groups within Syrian society. They are also a transnational minority, with a presence in Lebanon, Jordan and Israel.
After the 2011 revolt, the Druze remained largely on the sidelines of the civil war, though many young men from the community refused to be conscripted into the Syrian military. Now, at least one powerful figure within the community is advocating for an end to the Syrian central government's authority in Suwayda.
U.S. outreach to the Druze, and Captagon in Suwayda
Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijiri, the most influential of the so-called Sheikh al-Aql (Sheikhs of Reason) who lead the Druze community in Syria, has called for the establishment of a new democratic state and rejected the Syrian national government's control over the region.
U.S. Rep. French Hill, a Republican from Arkansas, paid a brief visit to a rebel-held part of northwest Syria last month. Hill joined two other U.S. lawmakers for the trip, which was the first known visit to the war-torn country by American politicians in six years.
After his visit, Hill held a video call with Sheikh Hijiri, "to learn first-hand about the experiences of the Syrians living in Suwayda."
People gather to protest against the Bashar Assad regime in Suwayda, Syria, Sept. 1, 2023, with one protester (at rear) holding aloft a large portrait of influential Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijiri. / Credit: Leys El-Cebel/Anadolu Agency/Getty
The congressman told CBS News they'd "discussed the frustrations of the local people and their peaceful protests," and that Hijiri had informed him that Syrian government forces were "cutting off access to water and electricity" in the city. The sheikh also accused the Assad government and "Iranian militia operators" allied with it of trafficking the illegal drug Captagon in the area.
The Biden administration, in conjunction with the U.K., sanctioned several members of Assad's own family in March for "facilitating the export of Captagon," with the U.S. Treasury saying the sanctions package, "underscores the al-Assad family dominance of illicit Captagon trafficking and its funding for the oppressive Syrian regime."
Fighters affiliated with Syria's
Maher Sharafeddine, a Druze writer, journalist and opposition activist from Suwayda, told CBS News that Hill had made it clear to Hijiri that he hoped relations between the U.S. and the local Druze community would deepen, and Sharafeddine hoped the initial contact could signal new support in Washington for the opposition in Syria's civil war.
Assad welcomed back by his neighbors
Assad has held on to power through the war thanks in large part to the armed assistance of his allies in Russia and Iran. But the conflict has splintered the country, left at least 300,000 civilians dead and displaced half of Syria's pre-war population of 23 million.
The protests in Suwayda have rattled the Syrian government, but they don't seem to pose an existential threat. Government forces have consolidated their control over most of the country and, after years spent fighting demonization for alleged war crimes against his own people, Assad has very literally retaken his seat at the table.
Other Middle Eastern leaders have been restoring relations with the Assad government, arguing that engagement is the best way to address the flow of refugees and illegal drugs across Syria's borders.
In this photo released by the official Syrian state news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad, right, receives a delegation representing various Arab parliaments in Damascus, Syria, Feb. 26, 2023. / Credit: SANA via AP
The 22-member Arab League, which cut ties with Syria early in the war, recently reinstated Syria as a member and, for the first time in more than a decade, Assad joined the bloc's other leaders as they met in May.
The Biden administration, however, has indicated no softening of its stance on the heavily-sanctioned Assad government.
"We don't support normalization of relations with the Assad regime," U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price said bluntly in March as the U.S. worked to get humanitarian aid into parts of Syria devastated by a powerful earthquake.
Rep. Hill, after his visit to rebel-held ground in Syria and his discussion with Sheikh Hijiri, told CBS News he felt the objective for the U.S. and all other nations should be "to work for a political solution that ends Assad's systematic destruction of his country and finds an outcome where Syrians can securely and safely return to homes and villages to live and work."
Syria's state-controlled media outlets have made no mention of the demonstrations in Suwayda. The Syrian Arab News Agency SANA has instead been reporting on food aid provided to the rural village of Salkhad, outside Suwayda, by Russia.
Assad's office announced Tuesday, meanwhile, that the Syrian leader would travel to Beijing this week to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as part of a Chinese-Syrian summit.
CBS News' Ellis Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
NYC day care owner, tenant face federal charges after 1-year-old's suspected fentanyl death
Biden vows continued support for Ukraine in address at United Nations
Eye Opener: Biden, Zelenskyy make the case at U.N. for more Ukraine support
Judson L. Jeffries is professor of African American and African studies and a regular contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.
A letter to the editor writer recently took issue with the perspective attorney Terry Gilbert expressed in his Dispatch guest column about the shooting death of TaKiya Young.
Highly charged language does more harm than good in TaKiya Young police shooting, a headline on Greg Wourms' letter reads.
Terry Gilbert, a civil rights attorney, is a founding partner of Friedman, Gilbert, and Gerhardstein with offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati.
Take a close read of Gilbert's piece and you will be hard-pressed to find any such language. What I did find however is a thoughtful piece grounded in the attorneys years of experience.
Was deadly force the only viable option in TaKiya Young shooting?
True, Young exercised extremely poor judgment on multiple levels the day she was shot and killed by a Blendon Township police officer.
To be clear, the pregnant 21-year-old should not have been shoplifting nor should she had tried to drive off as one of the officers positioned himself in front of her car.
No argument there.
Gilberts main point I believe is, was lethal force necessary?
Was deadly force the only viable option?
Ta'Kiya Young, standing in line at right, is joined by two other women in the liquor store of a Kroger in Blendon Township on August 24 before all three leave the store together.
After the officers made contact with Young and observed the make and model of the car (sans license plate), there would have been little chance of her evading prosecution had officers simply allowed her to drive off unimpeded, especially once police officers gained access to the stores video camera that clearly showed Young stealing one item after another.
Judson L. Jeffries
Would tracking her down hours or days later have been that difficult?
No, its done all the time.
Gilbert called the officers decision to stand in front of Youngs car stupid.
His choice of words may have offended some, but the spirit in which Gilbert characterized the officers behavior should not be summarily dismissed.
TaKiya Young was a suspect in a 'low-level' crime.
Why would the officer unnecessarily put himself in such a potentially dangerous position given this low-stakes circumstance?
Opinion: TaKiya Young shooting video shows incompetent, potentially criminal acts
More: Racism claims in TaKiya Young shooting by police not logical, irresponsible| FOP VP
Positioning oneself in front of a car in order to detain a low-level shoplifter strikes some as not well-thought-out and ill-advised.
Sep 7, 2023; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Family and friends mourn the loss of Ta'Kiya Young and her unborn daughter who died Aug. 24 after a Blendon Township police officer shot Young through the windshield of a car in the Kroger parking lot, on Sunbury Road.
Different levels of crimes warrant different levels of response. Low-level shoplifters probably should not be handled in the same manner as an active shooter, a murderer, serial killers, or bank robber, etc.
There is a long record of white active shooters, serial killers and mass murders being taken into custody without incident.
Would the officer had reacted the same if TaKiya Young were white?
Speaking of race, according to Wourms' letter, Terry Gilbert almost immediately characterizes the incident as racial: black women, white policemen.
Well, that is because like some within the African American community, Gilbert wonders how the shooting officer would have reacted had Young been white.
As a founding partner in a firm with offices in Cleveland and Cincinnati, two cities with, historically speaking, records of policing that leave a great deal to be desired, Gilbert has undoubtedly seen his share of incidents of police use of excessive force against Black residents.
More: Letters: Blendon Twp. officer who killed TaKiya Young shouldn't have step in front of car
Perhaps the officer would have behaved similarly had Young been white but given the history of police interactions with whites vis-a-vis Blacks the role that race may have played in the officers decision to discharge his firearm weighs heavy on the minds of many people.
Judson L. Jeffries is professor of African American and African studies and a regular contributor to the Columbus Dispatch.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Police response to pregnant Ohio shoplifter extreme for alleged crime
[Source]
Taiwan's defense ministry urged China to stop its "military harassment" after it dispatched 103 warplanes toward the island within a 24-hour period.
Recent movement high: According to the ministry, the aircraft were detected between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday. The ministry said the move marked a "recent high" in China's ongoing efforts to assert control over the island.
Breaching the median line: The report highlighted how 40 of the deployed warplanes breached the symbolic median line dividing mainland China and Taiwan. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning later refuted the existence of a median line, further affirming Beijing's stance that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory.
Threatening regional stability: Taiwan's defense ministry also noted the presence of nine Chinese naval vessels in the vicinity, further heightening concerns of a potential conflict escalation. In its statement, Taiwan urged the Chinese government to assume responsibility and immediately halt these "destructive military activities" that threaten regional stability.
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Political move: The actions are believed to be a part of China's longstanding strategy of employing both incentives and intimidation to influence Taiwan's political landscape. Taiwans presidential election, which is set in January, pits the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party against the opposition candidates who are keen on working with Beijing.
Troubled air and waters: The surge in military activity coincides with China's recent deployment of an aircraft carrier, the Shandong, and other ships in the Taiwan Strait. The United States and Canada had previously conducted naval operations near Taiwan's waters, underscoring the geopolitical significance of the region.
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TAMPA After more than two years of negotiations, the city of Tampa and its largest private parking lot company have agreed to a proposed land swap that would allow for the restoration of the Jackson House, the citys last segregation-era Black boarding home.
Via email, 717 Parking co-founder Jason Accardi called it a win win deal to restore the house while preserving our private property rights.
Once restored, the barely standing historic downtown structure at 851 E. Zack St. would become a Black history museum.
But first there are some conditions the city has to meet before the deal is finalized, said Alis Drumgo, the citys deputy administrator of development and economic opportunity. One is for the Tampa City Council to approve the agreement.
It was scheduled for a vote at Thursdays meeting but was removed from the agenda Tuesday afternoon due to an unresolved title issue, Drumgo said. Once the city gets the property, then were able to establish a partnership with the Jackson House and turn over the property necessary to support the restoration.
To create a city-required 10-foot fire code buffer between property boundaries, the restoration requires Accardi and his brother John Accardi to provide the Jackson House with 2,100 square feet of their neighboring parking lots.
The house was built before such buffers were needed but construction cannot commence without adhering to todays codes. In exchange, the city will give the Accardis two neighboring properties.
One is a 9,172-square-foot vacant public right of way that runs behind the Jackson House and the parking lots. When that land was offered over a year ago, the Accardis turned down the deal.
We have been in ongoing negotiations with the Jackson House Foundation and the City for quite some time, Accardi said, and the requests and terms associated therewith have changed and evolved over that time.
This deal added conditions that everyone would be satisfied with, Drumgo said, plus the second piece of neighboring property. Located on the corner of Nebraska Avenue and Twiggs Street, the city and the Florida Department of Transportation each owns a piece of it.
Drumgo did not have that propertys exact size but estimated that it is under 10,000 square feet.
If the deal is approved, the Accardis will get more land than they give up.
Through numerous limited liability companies, they currently own around 38 acres in the Tampa area, with a market value of around $111,000,000, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraisers website. Of that, about 14 acres are parking lots in downtown and Ybor City.
With such a portfolio, why didnt the Accardis just give the needed buffer land, which totals 10 parking spaces?
Unfortunately, there are extensive details that go into arrangements such as this, Accardi said, which simply cannot be viewed from a macro perspective.
For the deal to be finalized, the Accardis must also amend a lease with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which uses a piece of their property.
FDOT must agree to vacate its piece of land, which is now an active right of way separating the Accardi parking lot from the city property that currently has a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority bus stop. When contacted by the Tampa Bay Times, FDOT provided a statement saying the agency is working with the city.
Weve got a little bit of work to do, Drumgo said. But the real work is the restoration.
The 24-room Jackson House was built at the turn of the 20th century. James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway stayed there, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. visited. It closed to the public in 1989.
Accardi said that his company purchased the neighboring parking lots in 2008 and, since then, provided the former family owners with free parking while they were living at the property, helped with minor repairs to the exterior and landscaping.
But as the family owners and then the Jackson House Foundation nonprofit struggled to raise the necessary $2.5 million needed to restore the structure, the two-story, 4,000-square-foot building fell into such disrepair that the city considered condemnation for safety reasons.
Then, in recent years and under the leadership of Carolyn Hepburn Collins, the foundation secured more than $2 million for the cause. Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Viniks Family Foundation donated $1 million of that.
The holdup has been a deal for the buffer land. The city got involved two years ago when the Accardis and the foundation were at an impasse.
They have been phenomenal about just working through this process with us, Drumgo said of the Accardis. I think, over the years, theyve probably been unfairly vilified for their role in the stalled negotiations.
The city and the foundations feelings seem to have shifted now that the deal is nearly done. A year ago, Collins said that the Accardis dont seem to respect our citys history and the importance of preserving it.
According to an email obtained by the Times through a public information request, in July 2022, the city drafted an unreleased statement for Mayor Jane Castor that said the Accardis refusal to part with their land was extremely frustrating I wish they would join those of us trying to preserve an iconic piece of our past.
And, in recent months, the City Council discussed taking the buffer land through eminent domain.
Being framed as the bad guy has bothered Accardi, he said. Throughout this process, our company (717 Parking), our family, and children have felt the effects of the false narrative. We have always supported the Jackson House including the restoration of the property and its history.
And now, the city and the foundation consider the Accardis to be an unofficial partner in the venture.
You have to be considered a partner to mutually agree to get to this point, Drumgo said.
Collins said that she hopes the partnership grows. They may decide that they want to become an official partner if theres some other things that they want to do I am grateful for them.
Tarrant County commissioners gave a final stamp of approval Tuesday to the county and JPS Health Networks budgets and tax rates for the 2024 fiscal year.
This is the first time in years that the health network has lowered its tax rate. Its also the first time a tax rate deduction will result in a lower property tax bill for Tarrant County homeowners, despite rising home appraisal values.
The county property tax rate and the hospital districts tax rate will be 19.45 cents per $100 of assessed value, a decrease of almost 3 cents compared to last years tax rate. Additionally, a 10% homestead exemption is in place for the county and hospital district after county commissioners approved the tax break in June. Each tax will cost the owner of a $350,000 home with a homestead exemption $613.
The new tax rates are below the so-called no new revenue tax rate, which would produce the same revenue as the previous year.
The county passed a $896.6 million budget for 2024 that includes raises for both county employees and its elected officials. Budgets for public safety and the countys judicial system will increase in 2024, but community services will receive a cut.
The hospitals budget passed with an amendment from Tarrant County Judge Tim OHare, who stipulated that the hospitals community projects fund be limited. There is no reference to a community projects fund on the budget preview that the health network has publicly released. The Star-Telegram has requested a copy of the hospitals complete budget for 2024, but the district has not released a document that details the line items of its $1.95 billion spending plan.
The health networks budget for 2024 is $1.54 billion for operating expenses, the majority of which pays for the salaries of the thousands of employees employed by the district. Another $41 million will go toward the health networks capital budget.
The board of managers for the hospital district initially opted to keep a flat tax rate for the hospital district, of 22.4429 cents per $100 of assessed value. But Tarrant County commissioners, who have the final say on the hospital districts tax rate, rejected that tax rate last month and instead lowered it to match the countys tax rate.
Hospital officials have said the reduced tax rate will not affect the health networks service availability or its long-term plans, which include a bond program that will build a new hospital and numerous other buildings. The renovation and expansion projects are funded by $800 million in voter-approved bonds, and the remainder of the work will be paid for by the hospitals cash reserves.
JPS is one of the busiest hospitals in Tarrant County, and it is the countys only hospital district, meaning that it can directly levy property taxes to help fund its operations. In the 2024 budget, about 35% of the health networks revenue will come from property taxes, according to a JPS presentation.
Tarrant County agreed to pay $1 million to the mother of a man who lay dead on a Tarrant County jail cell floor for six hours before staff discovered his body.
Javonte Myers, 28, died of a seizure disorder on June 19, 2020. Myers mother, Sondrea Miller, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Tarrant County jail in April 2022. According to county documents, the county will pay Sondrea Miller $900,000 and pay her lawyer, Dean Malone, $100,000. The terms of settlement agree that Myers family cannot seek any other legal action against the county in regards to his death.
According to the suit, a jailer charged with falsifying records in Myers case told an investigator that his managers regularly encouraged staff to lie about checking on inmates.
The lawsuit laid out an alleged culture of deceit surrounding jail records. According to the investigation, two jailers, Erik Gay and Darien Kirk, lied about checking on Myers more than 20 times and were charged with tampering with a government record. Those charges are still pending, according to court records.
A Texas Ranger investigated Myers death and during an interview with Gay, Gay said supervisors encouraged jailers to lie on paperwork about checks being conducted properly. Gay said supervisors were only concerned about making the computer look good, even in the midst of other deaths at the jail, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by Millers attorney.
County officials did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests to comment on the settlement.
About two months before Myers died, jail employees missed three of their checks on another person at the jail, leaving him alone for nearly an hour. He died by suicide. The jail also lost its state certification for six days in summer 2020.
Other jailers interviewed during the investigation admitted it was common practice to not correctly check on people in the jail, according to the lawsuit.
Myers was dead in his cell for hours before someone noticed, according to the lawsuit. A MedStar report obtained by the familys lawyer said that Myers had obvious signs of rigor mortis to both of his arms, his hands, his fingers and his jaw. Myers was last seen alive at 10:44 a.m. MedStar wasnt called to his cell until 4:49 p.m.
The lawsuit says the sheriffs office falsified records to make it look like adequate checks were done on Myers. Tarrant County Sheriffs Office staff told an emergency medical tech that there were routine visual checks done on (Myers) every 15 minutes, according to the suit.
This was clearly false and designed to make jailers and the Sheriffs Office appear that they had done nothing wrong, the lawsuit says.
Kirk, the other jailer accused of falsifying records, told investigators he was also not aware that Myers had health issues, even though intake notes show the jail knew Myers had a seizure disorder, insomnia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and anxiety. The jails intake form also indicated that Myers had been hospitalized in the prior 90 days because of seizures.
In June, another family filed a lawsuit against Tarrant County jail alleging their mother did not receive adequate health treatment and died on the floor of her cell as a result. Georgia Kay Baldwin was declared incompetent to stand trial and should have been transferred to a state hospital, according to the federal suit filed by her sons. Instead, her mental state deteriorated until Sept. 14, 2021, when the 52-year-old was found dead in her cell. Her cause of death was listed as dehydration; she lay right next to the working water fountain affixed to her cell toilet.
The suit alleges the Tarrant County jail caused Baldwins death due to its policies, practices and customs of not caring for incarcerated peoples medical and mental crises.
So far this year, seven people have died inside the Tarrant County Jail, according to in-custody death reports. The Tarrant County Sheriffs Office has been publicly scrutinized due to allegations of neglect, abuse and a lack of transparency.
The question of Germany supplying Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine was not discussed at the most recent Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting (also known as the Ramstein format), German Defense Ministry said on Sept. 19, as reported by German news outlet ntv.
German Parliamentary State Secretary Siemtje Moller clarified that the topic of discussion at Ramstein Air Base was air defense, ammunition, and artillery.
Read also: Scholz blocking Taurus transfer to Ukraine amid claims German leader fears Ukraine might use them to hit Russia
On Sept. 13, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that there was progress in talks about Ukraine getting U.S. ATACMS ballistic missiles and German Taurus cruise missiles.
Read also: US Republican senators pressure Biden to speed up shipment of ATACMS missiles to bolster Ukraine's counter-offensive
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius believes that Kyiv needs more air defense systems and 155mm caliber ammunition, instead. He noted that United States potentially deciding to provide Ukraine with ATACMS does not necessarily mean Berlin would follow suit with Taurus.
Read also: Decision to transfer German Taurus missiles to Ukraine rests with Chancellor Scholz Kuleba
On Aug.11, Der Spiegel reported that the German government is exploring the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles in the coming months. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reportedly wants the missiles to be modified so they cannot be used to attack targets on Russian territory.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Senate has relaxed its dress code, allowing senators to wear any attire in the chamber.
Ted Cruz, who sometimes walks to votes in workout clothes, was less angry about the change than others.
But he says he won't take advantage of the rule change and "will continue to only wear a suit and tie."
The Senate has done away with its dress code, and John Fetterman isn't the only one who stands to benefit from it.
The new policy, first reported by Axios, will allow senators to wear any attire they please in the Senate chamber. Though senators sometimes wear less-than-formal attire on Capitol Hill most often when they've just gotten off a flight they generally can't wear it onto the floor, forcing them to cast their votes via hand gestures at the door.
Fetterman, the recently-elected Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, frequently wears informal clothing such as hoodies and shorts at the Capitol.
But he's not alone: Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is also known to wear workout clothes from time to time, especially around unexpected afternoon votes.
Many of Cruz's Republican colleagues, and even one Democrat, have expressed outrage at the change.
"I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor," Republican Sen. Susan Collins joked to reporters, saying the change "debases the institution."
Republican Sen. Mike Lee referenced the decline of the Roman Empire as he criticized the change.
But Cruz, curiously, isn't exactly fuming about the change.
"Every senator will have to decide how he or she dresses," he told Bloomberg on Monday. "In the 11 years I've been in the Senate, I've only been on the Senate floor in a suit and tie, and as far as I'm concerned, I will continue to only wear a suit and tie on the Senate floor."
"It's up to each senator to make that decision," he added.
And on Twitter, Cruz has made light of the changes, assuring his followers that he will not be wearing a speedo on the Senate floor.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Chloee Moores death is still being investigated after someone allegedly set her on fire (GoFundMe)
Police are investigating a suspicious death after a teen was doused with an accelerant and set on fire.
After 1am on 3 September, Tacoma, Washington, detectives responded to a report of a brush fire when they came across a deceased person in the debris, according to police.
After some investigation, detectives thought that an 18-year-old woman was doused with an accelerant and intentionally set on fire.
The cause of death is still under investigation, the police added.
The teens mother wrote a post on Facebook and identified the 18-year-old as Chloee Moore.
Nicole Hanson wrote that on 1 September, Moore left home at 1.38am. I begged her to stay home, but wasnt able to convince her. She assured me that shed be home in the morning and so I let it rest. That was the last time I laid eyes on my babygirl, she wrote.
I had a terrible feeling and reported her missing that evening. I spent the next couple days searching for her, putting up posters and trying to collect as much information as I could, the grieving mother continued.
Days later, on 6 September, Ms Hanson said she received the worst news of my life. My Chloee was found deceased in a brush fire at McKinley Park in Tacoma September 3rd, 2023 around 1am.
Someone set my daughter on fire! she wrote. I am devastated by this senseless and brutal act of violence. I have lost my precious child, my best friend, and my reason for living. I am struggling to cope with this unbearable loss, and I dont know how to move on without her.
Ms Hanson asked for donations to help pay for her daughters funeral.
A GoFundMe page was created by Moores sister, Cameryn Haroldson, who wrote that Moore aspired to become a dental hygienist who had a heart of gold.
The page has raised over $6,000 out of the $18,000 it aims to earn.
As of 13 September, the Pierce County Medical Examiners Office said that Moores cause of death was still pending.
Temple University acting president JoAnne Epps has died at the age of 72 after falling ill during a service (Temple University )
Temple University acting president JoAnne Epps died after collapsing on stage during a memorial service at its Philadelphia campus on Tuesday, according to the university.
Ms Epps was taken to Temple University Hospital where she was pronounced dead around 3.15pm, the university said in a statement. She was 72.
Temple senior vice president Ken Kaiser said the university was not aware Ms Epps was suffering from any health issues at a press conference.
Provost Gregory Mandel paid tribute to Ms Epps as one of the most remarkably compassionate and caring individuals Ive ever known during the media briefing.
We are all in deep grief and at a loss for words, Mr Mandel said.
Ms Epps had been attending a service for Charles L Blockson, curator of the Blockson Collection, when she suddenly fell ill.
The Yale Law School graduate served as an assistant US attorney in Philadelphia and deputy city attorney in Los Angeles prior to her arrival at Temple, according to a biography on the university website.
In 2008, she was appointed dean of Temple Law School and went on to become executive vice president and provost of Temple University in 2016. She was named acting president in April after the resignation of the universitys first Black president Jason Wingard.
Ms Epps was a champion for women and minorities within the legal profession, the university biography said.
She also worked in leadership roles in the American Bar Association, the National Association of Women Lawyers and the American Law Institute.
In a statement posted to X, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro called Ms Epps a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades.
Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia... may her memory be a blessing, the governor posted.
Temple University board chairman Mitchell Morgan said there were no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss in a statement.
President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple. She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come.
Ms Epps told the Philadelphia Inquirer her goal when she assumed the acting presidency was to focus on enrollment and spiralling crime in the area of North Philadelphia where the campus is situated.
Student enrollment at the 33,600-student university had plummeted by 14 per cent since 2019, and Ms Epps said she thought she was hired in part due to her ability to sort of calm waters.
Ms Epps lived in New Jersey with her husband.
A murder of brilliant and prominent lawyers believe they have found a legal argument to solve the political problem of Donald Trump.
First pressed by Yale Law professor Bruce Ackerman and Indiana University professor Gerard Magliocca, then taken up with law-review obsessiveness by Chicagos Will Baude and St. Thomas Michael Paulsen, and now endorsed by the most prominent former conservative judge, Michael Luttig, and the most prominent liberal law professor, Harvards Larry Tribe, this argument says that by its own force, the 14th Amendment prohibits the election of Donald Trump as president because his acts of insurrection disqualify him from that office.
The argument is elegant and impressive. But it would be flatly wrong for any court especially the Supreme Court to embrace it.
The provision of the 14th Amendment that these lawyers rely upon describes a range of offices that one becomes disqualified from occupying if one, having previously taken an oath, shall engage[] in insurrection or rebellion. Donald Trump had taken an oath to support the Constitution. His acts leading up to Jan. 6, they say, constitute insurrection or rebellion. Therefore, they argue, he is disqualified from seeking office again. They ask the courts to enforce this by requiring secretaries of state to keep Trump off the ballot, with a test lawsuit in Colorado as the opening salvo.
The paradigm case that the authors of Section 3 and the state legislators who ratified it were thinking of was the Civil War. That war involved an active insurrection against the government of the United States. Many prominent Americans, including a Supreme Court justice, renounced their allegiance to the United States of America and took up arms to defend a new Confederate States of America. Thankfully, these rebels were unsuccessful. And thankfully, among the many critical reforms that the victors added to our Constitution is Section 3. That section essayed at the very least to disqualify from federal office the Civil War rebels and, prospectively, anyone who tried to do the same thing again.
No one thinks Jan. 6 was a repeat of Fort Sumter. No one, that is, believes that Trump and his allies were rallying to secede from the Union. Nonetheless, the argument these lawyers press is that the words of Section 3, as understood at the time they were ratified, should reach the behavior we saw on Jan. 6. That behavior, they insist, was insurrection or rebellion.
Others have resisted this argumentincluding a co-founder of the Federalist Society who initially endorsed the idea and then changed his mindbecause they dont believe that Section 3 applies to the president. But there is a much more practical reason why it would be a mistake to apply Section 3 to the events of Jan. 6. And to see why, we need only envision a different scenario from the one that actually played out.
Imagine that on Jan. 6, Vice President Mike Pence did what Trumps lawyer John Eastman was advising him to do: assert a constitutional authority to decide which electoral votes should be counted. Imagine he then excluded the ballots for Joe Biden in a number of critical states, and instead counted the ballots for Donald Trump in those states. And then imagine, on the basis of that count, that Pence declared Donald Trump reelected.
Most believe that at this point the Supreme Court would intervene. Yet anyone close to constitutional law recognizes that that backstop is actually quite leaky. There would be a very strong argument that the counting of electoral votes by the joint session of Congress is a political question, beyond the scope of legitimate Supreme Court review. That argument could easily have persuaded a majority of that court to stay out of the conflict, leaving Trump declared to be the next president. And with that act, the thousands surrounding the Capitol would have broken out in cheers. They would have stopped the steal, as they saw it.
What, then, would be the status of anyone who would act to resist that outcome? What is the line that would divide insurrectionists from protesters? If 50,000 gathered on Capitol Hill to protest the Pence coup, would that render the protesters insurrectionists under Section 3? Would they be acting to overthrow a government? Or would it require violence for resistance to become a violation of Section 3? And if so, how much violence? If protesters on the House side broke into the Capitol, would protesters on the Senate side who didnt break in be disqualified? Or, more pointedly, would those who rallied the protesters to resist the Pence coup then be disqualified from future office?
Dont get me wrong. I believe that those who charged the Capitol on Jan. 6 committed a crime. I believe that their crimes should be prosecuted. But I also believe that the vast majority of them thought not that they were overthrowing a government but that they were pressuring their government to do the right thingat least as they (wrongly) saw it.
If such behavior qualifies as Section 3 insurrection, then every leader who might resist a future coup attempt risks disqualifying themselves from serving in any subsequent government.
This is a nightmare of uncertainty and one that wouldnt end with declaring Donald Trump disqualified. Do Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley, who played a pivotal role in the effort to throw out the true electoral count, qualify as insurrectionists as well? Is every member of the House who voted wrongly to reject the slate from Pennsylvania an insurrectionist? Or, more practically, is every secretary of state permitted now to make their own judgment about whether a member of Congress or a senator crossed the line from legitimate contest to insurrection, forcing federal courts to actively review the history of every member of Congress who objected on Jan. 6?
The disqualification of Section 3 makes sense in the context in which it was crafted. If you participate in an effort to overthrow a government or, through violence, to secede, you are disqualified from office in the United States government unless Congress chooses to forgive you. If you do anything less, you may well be subject to criminal law, and hopefully, to the rightful judgment of the people. But no court should transform even criminal protest and violence into a Section 3 disqualification. We should punish those who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6. I think we should also punish those who encouraged those people to believe that there was a steal that they should stop. But the act they were engaging in was not rebellion. It was an effort to assure what they wrongly believed was the rightful result. Section 3 cannot police a contest over an election.
The question is now before the courts, but Congress should stop this detour by exercising its express authority under Section 3. The Constitution gives Congress the power to waive any supposed disqualification by a two-thirds vote. No doubt, two-thirds of Congress does not support Donald Trump in the 2024 election. But Congress could act to end the distraction of this legal tussle and avoid forcing an already weakened Supreme Court from rightly ruling for Donald Trump in a context that only increases the perception of many that that court is political. Congress could unite to condemn the acts on Jan. 6 but assert that Section 3 does not reach a fight over the results of an election. That even if his acts were criminal (which I believe they were), Donald Trump is not, by those acts, disqualified from office.
That vote would then shift the fight back to the place where such battles should be waged: not among lawyers in high courts, but among ordinary citizens at the ballot box.
As students continue to struggle with learning loss in mathematics, some educators are pushing for a return to a more structured teaching strategy thats being called the science of math.
Posited by advocates as a companion to the better-known science of reading, a juggernaut that has recently brought enormous change in how that subject is taught nationwide, the science of math calls for a more orderly, explicit approach to classroom instruction.
Sarah Powell (UT Austin)
Sarah Powell, associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin and one of the movements most vocal proponents, said the circuitous path to learning popularized in recent years might sound sexy but doesnt help kids master the skills they need to succeed at least not in math.
Some teachers are helping to set students up for success, she said, while others are not. We dont want to waste students time.
But critics call the movement poorly researched, saying it resurrects ineffective techniques that should have been abandoned years ago. They say, too, that it wont counter the current mathematics crisis, evidenced by a troubling cascade of low test results at the local, state and national level.
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Powell said ineffective teaching practices are among the factors that have contributed to students performance. She said many educators, in delivering their lessons, are not getting to the point fast enough, especially considering the limited time in which they must teach complex and often abstract concepts.
Powell, who works in the department of special education, said she observed a fourth-grade teacher last school year who instructed her students, at the start of class, to find a partner and begin to solve a mathematical problem right away, with no prior instruction.
That can be a really intimidating strategy for a lot of students, especially if they havent worked on a multi-step word problem before, Powell said. If you put an adult in that situation, they would be really, really annoyed. And that we put students in that situation is quite unfair, particularly when they have weak or sometimes nonexistent foundations in math.
Instead, she said, teachers would be better to explain the problem first and arm students with some of the vocabulary they will need to solve it. So, a lesson on perimeter shouldnt start with students staring at a figure on a sheet of paper, asking themselves and one another about where the perimeter might be found, she said, but with a teacher providing a definition of the term, in this case, the distance around the outside of a shape.
We would like to see teachers go over vocabulary thats going to be important or say, Lets do a problem together, she said. Be more systematic with that than open-ended because it could be that when you do allow students to explore, you might have some students engaging in no exploration or maybe incorrect exploration.
Some 25,000 people are members of the science of math Facebook group, where they discuss best practices, share helpful websites and offer feedback on lesson plans. Powell is currently working with around 100 fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in Austin this year.
Nick Wasserman, associate professor of mathematics education at Columbia Universitys Teachers College, said there has been much back and forth around the teaching of mathematics through the decades, as evidenced by the math wars of the 1990s.
Part of the issue, he said, is that educators sometimes prioritize different aspects of mathematics and draw differing conclusions from the same studies. But even considering these debates, research has shown students learn better when they are asked to reason and think mathematically a core tenet of inquiry-oriented approaches.
Of course, teachers have times when they are giving direct instruction and that is not something we disagree about, he said, adding that, But its also really important that students have times when they are the ones being asked to think and reason mathematically. Giving students tasks for them to work on on their own without a teacher telling them how to think is a vital component of that. A key piece is this engagement with thinking and reasoning.
Michael Greenlee (Matthew Thornton)
Michael Greenlee, who also works at UT Austin as a professional learning specialist with the Charles A. Dana Center, said the science of math should be approached with caution.
Greenlee, who serves as a regional director for the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, questions the validity of the idea, adding its special education roots might not make it applicable to all students.
He argues, too, that there is a political agenda behind it, backed with people trying to fight against the Common Core, what they have wrongly dubbed new math.
Common Core illustrates more explicitly what math actually is, Greenlee said. People look at it as new math because its vocalizing and putting in words brain processes and scaffolding strategies that students should use.
Powell scoffs at the politicization of the issue and said she is in favor of the Common Core standards, put forth in 2009 and which sought to define one rigorous set of English and math skills that every student should have at the end of each grade level.
Initially widely embraced, the standards, particularly Common Core math, later engendered intense backlash, including from those who considered it an intrusive federal mandate. It was so confusing for parents that it sent them back to the classroom to understand the new techniques.
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Greenlee said the science of math has no relationship to the science of reading and is unfairly linking itself to the earlier movement. He said, too, that the science of math assumes teachers are using certain methods when they are not.
The reality is, we dont know what teachers are actually doing in their classrooms, he said. In fact, in my job going into large systems and school districts, my experience is teachers arent doing what that research says they should be doing: Theyre still not teaching (mathematics) appropriately. They dont have the background knowledge themselves to be able to teach it properly.
Jo Boaler, a Stanford University professor and one of the main architects of Californias recently updated math framework, said many educators are exacerbated by the science of math debate.
Theyre rolling their eyes about it, she said, adding that those who promote the notion have cherry picked data.
She said research shows students learn better they are more able to master terms and methods through activity.
But if you stand at the front and tell them first, it often stops them really being able to engage conceptually because their brains are just so taken up with these methods and rules, they cant even think conceptually, she said.
Boaler is no defender of the Common Core standards: She calls them outdated. But this old is new tactic, which immediately divides kids into right and wrong, isnt the answer, she said.
Why are we not teaching kids the mathematics they will need in the world theyre moving into? Boaler asked, adding students should leave high school with data literacy and the ability to build a mathematical model that would allow them to study the issues most pressing to them. Theyre not learning that in school. Theyre just learning the calculation piece. When theyre given a real situation and asked to make a mathematical function, they cant.
This lack of knowledge places students at a disadvantage compared to those from other countries, she said.
When we have been out interviewing seniors in high school recently, they had never seen a spreadsheet in their whole 12 years of school, she said. The U.S. is really far behind the rest of the world in teaching kids about data and data tools.
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Such knowledge would have been tremendously useful during the pandemic: Much of the information shared about the virus was done using graphs and statistics, data impenetrable to those who didnt understand them, she said.
But Elizabeth M. Hughes, associate professor of special education at Penn State said educators do not have to pick a side in the debate.
A lot of times I see things on the internet that are essentially asking, Are you Team Fact Fluency or Team Conceptual Understanding? she said. The reality of it is that students need both. They need to understand the underlying constructs of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division and be able to do them accurately with ease. Students need to be able to explore new ideas and have a solid plan to solve known problems.
And, she said, rote memorization might have been wrongly demonized: Students must be able to recall math facts with ease and accuracy.
That shouldnt be a controversial idea, she said.
Wasserman said teachers can find success through many strategies including a combination of guided instruction and student exploration.
Its fine to give students a definition, he said, but teachers must also give them tasks that force them to wrestle and grapple with some of the nuances of that concept.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Wellington residents woke up one morning earlier this month to find over 100 antisemitic flyers littering their lawns, an occurrence that became so common across South Florida last year, it was almost routine.
The antisemitic incidents, which appeared to taper off over the past few months, are popping up again but this time, if the perpetrators are caught, they will be treated as felons for acts like littering, trespassing and displaying images on buildings under a new Florida law designed specifically to thwart them.
It appeared as if these acts were over, Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg said at a news conference at the State Attorneys Office in West Palm Beach on Tuesday, asking the public for help. Now they rear their disgusting little heads again theyre testing our law.
Aronberg was joined by Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw and State Rep. Mike Caruso, who represents District 87 in Palm Beach County and introduced the bill last session. He joined Gov. Ron DeSantis when he signed the bill, HB 269, into law in Jerusalem in April. It went into effect in July.
Antisemitic incidents rose to new highs in Palm Beach County and throughout South Florida in 2022 and early 2023. In January, a group projected a swastika onto the AT&T building in downtown West Palm Beach; another set up a table with a banner on Florida Atlantic Universitys campus with antisemitic messages. Hundreds of antisemitic flyers littered the lawns of homes in the Jewish neighborhoods of cities like Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and Surfside.
The incidents have begun picking up again across the state and elsewhere, as well as in South Florida, where the Wellington incident was the first since the new law passed. This past week in Orlando, officers arrested two men in the hanging of an antisemitic banner over Interstate 4 earlier in the summer. They are being charged under the new law.
In some of the incidents prior to the laws passage, some arrests were made in Palm Beach County under anti-littering or anti-trespassing laws, the consequences minor, as the speech itself was not factored in. As far as Aronberg knows, Palm Beach County was the only county in Florida to prosecute any of the incidents.
The new law has not yet been used in any arrests. But it has built on the previous usage of littering and trespassing laws by placing additional penalties on those crimes based on the speech used in committing them.
Now, in response to the distribution of antisemitic flyers, the law makes it a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison to litter if the litter contains a credible threat and is dumped onto private property for the purpose of intimidating the owner.
When the people projecting the swastika in West Palm Beach were stopped last January, they laughed at the police officer, Caruso said, because he couldnt stop them.
The new bill makes it a misdemeanor to project any image onto a building or structure without permission. Should that image contain a credible threat, the act is a third-degree felony.
A previous law banning speech that targets a specific group was thrown out by an appeals court on First Amendment grounds, Aronberg said. The new law is hopefully crafted in a way that will stand court scrutiny, should someone challenge it.
Were going to enforce it because its on the books, he said. Hopefully the courts will give it their approval.
Antisemitic messages have reached hundreds of homes and spread from Orlando to St. Petersburg to Miami, and in neighboring states, escalating in severity. In one case, Bradshaw said, people placed themselves in the driveways of synagogues, shouting at people through bullhorns. In another, Caruso said, a woman taking two young children to school in Surfside was harassed by a group of men.
Where does it stop if you dont draw a line in the sand? Bradshaw asked. They continue to ramp up what they do.
While the breadth of incidents gives the appearance of widespread antisemitism, one group is behind many of the same incidents and is made up of a handful of people, Aronbeg said.
He declined to name the group Tuesday, saying he didnt want to give them additional attention, though he said they are originally from California.
They want you to think its an army of individuals, Aronberg said, adding that the leader is also one of the people throwing out the flyers.
Officials hope that the new law will help stem the new tide of incidents, saying it already appears to have altered their behavior. Previously undaunted when confronted by law enforcement, the perpetrators are now more concerned about getting caught, Aronberg said.
But their new evasiveness also means law enforcement needs the publics help to build a case, through sending tips, evidence like Ring camera videos, and calling 911 while the incidents are happening so officers can catch them in the act.
In the Wellington case, the suspects wore masks and distributed the flyers overnight; deputies still havent made any arrests, Bradshaw said.
This was the first time we saw this since the statute passed, Aronberg said. And we would love to prosecute. But we need the help of the community.
_____
* At the China-ASEAN Expo, there's a palpable excitement about China's growing appetite for durian, the pungent "king of fruits."
* Last year, China imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, about four times the figure of 2017. The fruit has emerged as a prominent symbol of the booming China-ASEAN cooperation and China's vast market potential.
* Fruit dealers are rejoicing at tariff-free policies, expanding market access, and improving transportation infrastructure as a result of close China-ASEAN cooperation.
by Xinhua Writers Yao Yuan, Pan Qiang and Zhu Lili
NANNING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Seated behind a stack of durian-flavored snacks at the Malaysian pavilion of the China-ASEAN Expo, two livestream ers were introducing the Southeast Asian country's iconic thorny fruit.
"Malaysia is home to more than 200 durian varieties, but I know the Musang King is the favorite in China," said one of the livestream ers, who is a Malaysian fruit exhibitor, to hundreds of viewers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
At the expo currently underway in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, there's a palpable excitement about China's growing appetite for the pungent fruit, with many booths selling a motley of durian products, ranging from durian ice cream to durian coffee, while seeking cooperation with Chinese partners.
Lau Hieng Seng, hailing from Malaysia, brought more than 600 servings of durian-pulp ice cream to this year's exhibition, after missing out on three editions of the expo due to COVID-19.
"Anything with durian in it is hugely popular among Chinese consumers. Our only concern is whether our stock is sufficient," he said.
The Chinese market made up 91 percent of the world's demand for durian in the past two years, according to an HSBC report. Last year, the country imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, about four times the figure of 2017, according to customs and industry association data.
As the vast majority of durians sold in the Chinese market are imported from Southeast Asia, the "king of fruits" has emerged as a prominent symbol of the booming China-ASEAN cooperation and China's vast market potential.
A woman chooses durians imported from Thailand at a supermarket in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 7, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Xingyu)
SUPER BIG MARKET
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday said that China-ASEAN relations have become the most successful and dynamic model for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and a clear example of building a community with a shared future for all.
With a total population of more than 2 billion, China and ASEAN countries constitute a huge market, with its expansion and integration continuing to inject new impetus into the regional economy.
The flow of goods in this regional market has continued to benefit from tariff-free policies and expanded market access under the frameworks of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
"A decade ago, ASEAN fruits like durian, mangosteen and golden coconut were rare in China, but now they can be seen in fruit stalls in almost every big Chinese city at increasingly affordable prices," said Wang Zhengbo, president of a Guangxi-based fruit company.
Durians in China used to be predominantly from Thailand and Malaysia and were expensive due to limited supplies. Last year, Vietnamese durians , known for their longer harvest season and lower prices, gained market access to China under the RCEP framework, which was followed by the import of fresh durians from the Philippines starting in January this year.
Jumping onto the bandwagon of Vietnamese durian imports, Wang's company last year signed contracts with Vietnamese durian farms covering nearly 3,000 hectares.
"We plan to import more than 3,000 containers, or 60,000 tonnes, of Vietnamese durians this year to cater to the demand of the Chinese market," Wang said.
Official data from Vietnam showed the country earned more than 500 million U.S. dollars from durian exports in the first five months of the year, up 18 times from a year ago. Vietnam exported more than 65,000 tonnes of durian during the period, with China buying 97 percent of the shipment.
Traders from Vietnam sell durians during the 20th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhang Ailin)
Wong Kok Loong from Malaysia has been closely following China's durian craze. The entrepreneur started attending the China-ASEAN Expo in 2015 to sell durian pastries and candies. Seeing China's e-commerce boom in recent years, he opened stores on the country's leading e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Tmall.
"Now my durian products have expanded from four categories to over 80, including durian custard roll and durian cheese," he said.
"China's durian market still has plenty of potential, as only a small proportion of Chinese, mainly living in large cities, have had durian and durian products," said Wong, expressing optimism regarding the market prospects in China.
In August, China's retail sales of consumer goods reported a 4.6-percent increase after a three-month slowdown, indicating an improving consumer sentiment as the country's economic recovery gained momentum .
Exhibitors display fruits from Thailand during the 20th China-ASEAN Expo at Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Center in Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 17, 2023. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)
REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY
In recent years, the development of transportation infrastructure amid the China-ASEAN cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has significantly boosted the durian trade, as there are specific requirements for the fruit due to its short shelf life.
On June 11, a train loaded with about 500 tonnes of fresh Thai durians reached southwest China's Chongqing. Traveling on the China-Laos Railway, a flagship BRI project, the entire journey took only four days, compared with eight to 10 days via previous land-sea routes.
"Durian imports have now become faster with more transportation options," said Guan Caixia, a Guangxi-based durian importer, whose Thai durians are either shipped through road-rail passage via Youyiguan land port or through sea-rail route via Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf, a key knot for China-ASEAN trade.
But it is not just tropical fruits that have benefited from the improved connectivity. In Qinzhou, China-made auto parts, soda ash, and mechanical and electrical products are waiting to be shipped to ASEAN countries.
"We handle about 20 rail-sea intermodal trains every day, and our cargo delivery volume has increased from 27,000 tonnes in 2017 to nearly 3.3 million tonnes in 2022," said Huang Jiangnan, head of Qinzhou Port's east railway station.
This aerial photo taken on July 22, 2023 shows an automated container wharf of the Beibu Gulf Port in Qinzhou, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)
According to China's Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and ASEAN countries rose from more than 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 975.3 billion dollars in 2022. The two sides have been each other's largest trading partners for three years in a row.
"Against the backdrop of sluggish world economic recovery, China-ASEAN trade and cooperation have maintained robust growth, which is of both regional and global significance," said Zhang Jianping, a deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
At the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Expo, Premier Li said China is willing to import more specialty products from ASEAN countries, upgrade regional connectivity, and build a more stable and smooth regional industrial and supply chain system based on comparative strengths.
"China will continue to firmly support the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, better synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of other countries, and help ASEAN countries realize their development goals. China will work with ASEAN countries to advance regional economic integration," Li said.
(Video reporters: Wu Siyu, Qin Guanghua, Huang Kaiying, Liang Shun, Hao Xiaojiang, Xu Ning; video editors: Hong Ling, Luo Hui, Zhang Yucheng, Li Qin)
Darryl George, a 17-year-old junior at Barbers Hill High School near Houston, was suspended for wearing locs on Aug. 31. George was told his hairstyle violated the districts dress code policy, which bars male students from having hair extending past their eyebrows and earlobes, even if it is pulled back.
The student was put on in-school suspension for refusing to cut off his locs. According to Insider, he returned to school two weeks later with his hair tied and was suspended again. The 17-year-olds family plans to file a lawsuit against the school for racial discrimination and violation of the CROWN Act.
Darryls hair is spiritual; his hair is a connection to his ancestors. His hair is a connection to God, Dr. Candice Matthews, a civil rights activist helping his family, told the news outlet.
Georges locs were woven with his fathers, stepdads and brothers hair.
Cutting it off is cutting him off from them, too, she said.
The suspension was issued the same week the CROWN Act was enacted on Sept. 1. in Texas. The law, Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, prohibits hair discrimination in school and the workplace. So far, 24 states have enacted the law, according to the AP. On the federal level, it passed in the House of Representatives but was unsuccessful in the Senate.
His mother, Darresha George, said she is planning on notifying Child Protective Services over the conditions of her sons suspension.
Daryl is sitting on a stool, a stool in a cubby, she told Insider. Thats what conditions hes in. Hes got to sit on the stool for eight hours, back hurting, and cant move.
She added that her son wasnt given a cafeteria lunch but a sandwich and a bottle of water instead. She noted that his grades are falling because he is lacking proper instruction.
If I were to make my children sit on a stool for eight hours, I would have an issue with CPS, Allie Booker, an attorney representing the George family, said. And so thats also the next step is that were going to contact Child Protective Services because the conditions that he is in inside of that room are not proper. He doesnt even have a desk.
Black HS student Darryl George received a week-plus suspension over his loc hairstyle just days AFTER Texas CROWN Act went into effect! That law bans discrimination based on a students hair texture or protective hairstyle, including locs and braids! https://t.co/Ap0d3kKypw Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) September 13, 2023
Darresha noted the emotional toll that the suspension has taken on her son.
Hes going to keep fighting, but its tearing him down, she said. Hes up every night. He has tears in his eyes every day. Hes emotionally and physically drained behind this.
The school garnered national attention with a similar case in 2020 when a Black student was told he had to cut his lock if he wanted to return to school and participate in graduation, reported the AP.
Texas has had 156 reported UFO sightings so far in 2023, the fourth highest number in the country after California, Florida and Washington, according to the National UFO Reporting Center.
Texas had 6,107 sightings reported on the database throughout the years, with the most recent being an unknown object flying in Houston on Sept. 5.
The group has received more than 170,000 reports of UFOs in the 49 years since it began recording reports of sightings. Just this month, there were 147 reported sightings across the country, with three being in Texas.
UFO sightings in Texas
In the Lone Star State, the ghost town of Lobo in West Texas is frequented by UFO enthusiasts because its on the way to Area 51. Then theres the small Texas city of Aurora, about 27 miles north of downtown Fort Worth, where according to local legend the remains of an alien killed in a UFO crash were buried.
Theres no lack of reported UFO sightings in North Texas, but some are easier to explain than others. A line of more than a dozen strange lights seen one night this August wasnt an invasion of UFOs, but SpaceXs Starlink, a high-speed internet service using a constellation of satellites operating in a low orbit around the Earth. Last September, SpaceXs Starlink satellites were likewise to blame for what some North Texas residents mistook as alien visitors traveling over the night sky.
Years earlier, in 2018, a blog tracking UFO sightings in Texas published a video purporting to show a UFO that was said to hover over Keller for roughly 20 minutes. In 2008, dozens of people around Dublin and Stephenville about 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth say they saw flying objects that they could not identify and did not move like conventional aircraft.
NASA UFO investigation
Last fall, NASA launched a nine month study of UFOs to venture into understanding these unexplained sightings.
We are not shying away from reputational risk, said the space agencys science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen, during a National Academy of Sciences webcast. Our strong belief is that the biggest challenge of these phenomena is that its a data-poor field.
This month, NASA released a 33-page report that found no evidence that unidentified anomalous phenomena had extraterrestrial origin. In its findings, the 16-member team cautioned that the negative perception around UFOs hinders data collection. NASA says the study of UFOs will require new scientific techniques such as advanced satellites and a shift in the perception of UFOs, according to the Associated Press.
I want to emphasize this loud and proud: There is absolutely no convincing evidence for extraterrestrial life associated with unidentified objects, said NASAs Dan Evans in May, per AP News.
Congress held its first hearing in 50 years on UFOs in May 2022, with lawmakers saying UFOs are a national security concern and the Pentagon saying it would try to destigmatize the issue and encourage pilots and other military personnel to report anything unusual they see. The Pentagon office that started tracking UFO reports said in December they had received several hundreds.
A former Air Force intelligence officer told Congress in July that the U.S. is concealing a multi-decade program that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects, though the Pentagon has denied his claims.
We have not seen anything, and were still very early on, that would lead us to believe that any of the objects that we have seen are of alien origin, said Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. Any unauthorized system in our airspace we deem as a threat to safety.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton s (R) weekend acquittal has exposed the deep divisions in the Lone Star States GOP, which may be difficult to mend long after news about the impeachment trial has faded.
The fight largely pits grassroots Republicans and supporters of former President Trump, with whom Paxton has aligned himself, against a more traditional, business-friendly GOP that was more sympathetic to impeaching the attorney general.
In Texass embattled Legislature, the House is more of an establishment body, while the Senate is more Trump-friendly.
This was borne out in the impeachment votes in the chambers, where a majority of Republicans in the House voted to impeach Paxton but only two Republican senators cast votes to convict him on any charges.
What we saw over the last 10 days in Texas is the latest example of a decadelong battle between establishment, mainstream forces in the GOP and the business community, and the grassroots, said GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak, whose firm is based in Austin and Washington, D.C. And Paxton has been a central figure for some time.
Paxtons not guilty verdict is likely to embolden his side of the political battle, and there are already calls for retribution on those who voted against him in the House.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who had been presiding over the trial, broke his relative silence and bashed the House for moving forward with the impeachment. He also called for an audit of taxpayer funds spent by the House during the process, arguing that millions of dollars had been wasted and that our founders expected better.
With all due respect to the House, we didnt need to be told in the final arguments how important this vote was. If only the House members who voted for impeachment would have followed that instruction in the House, we may not have been here, Patrick said.
Paxton a key Trump ally and his supporters have taken particular aim at Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan, whom Paxton labeled liberal.
They painted the state Speaker as responsible for kicking off the impeachment inquiry in the House.
You and your band of RINOs are now on notice, Defend Texas Liberty PAC leader Jonathan Stickland said in a social media post over the weekend, referring to Phelan as a Republican in name only. You will be held accountable for this entire sham. We will never stop. Retire now.
Phelan doubled down on his stance in a statement after the verdict.
It is unfortunate that the outcome of this process will ultimately relinquish control of the states top law enforcement agency to an individual who, I believe, clearly abused his power, compromised his agency and its employees, and moved mountains to protect and benefit himself, the Texas Speaker said.
Austin-based GOP strategist Brendan Steinhauser suggested that the scrutiny surrounding the impeachment proceedings could pose problems in upcoming elections for the Republican state lawmakers who backed impeachment and conviction.
The politics of this suggests that those rank-and-file Texas House members who voted for impeachment are going to be doing a lot of explaining. And when youre explaining, youre losing, he said. I dont believe that 25 or 30 House Republicans will get defeated in a primary, but I think theres gonna be a price to pay for some of them.
Mackowiak said he cant imagine most of the pro-impeachment House members feel like that was a smart political move at this point, as tensions over the matter look like they could impact the 2024 elections.
Trump took to Truth Social to congratulate Texas and the state Senate for rejecting POLITICAL PERSECUTION with the acquittal.
Now Attorney General Ken Paxton can get back to work, Trump wrote. In another post, he also called for Phelan to resign after pushing this Disgraceful Sham.
Paxton had been accused of misusing the powers of the attorney generals office to help his friend and campaign donor, an Austin-based real estate developer. After the not guilty verdicts, Paxton was set to return to work Monday after a suspension that started when the state House impeached him in May.
No more than 14 state senators voted to convict on any of the articles, with just two of 19 Republican senators siding with Democrats on many of the counts. When the Republican-majority House impeached Paxton in May just the third time in state history that a sitting official has been impeached the vote was an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 121-23.
It really does show the difference between the House and the Senate. They really are mirror images of each other reflected, Mackowiak said of the contrasting turnout from Republicans in either state chamber.
In his statement after the verdict, Paxton echoed Trump, who faces his own legal problems, by railing against the weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences.
President Biden is facing his own impeachment inquiry in the U.S. House, where Republicans have been accused of playing politics.
Still, the Paxton argument could echo in Texas, where Republican voters are distrustful of investigatory institutions such as the Justice Department and FBI and are more inclined to put their faith behind those being investigated, Steinhauser said.
And so when Donald Trump or Ken Paxton says, Hey, this is all politically motivated, these are my political enemies coming after me, these guys are a bunch of Democrats, or these are a bunch of establishment Republicans coming after me, Republican voters believe it, he said.
Carl Tobias, a professor at the University of Richmond School of Law, suggested on the other hand that the essentially party-line voting on the impeachment articles indicates there was pressure to acquit, and even threats of retribution from Trump and many Republicans, especially in Texas.
Steinhauser said he thinks Paxton will be emboldened by the impeachment battle, and that as he continues to get the support of leaders in his party at both the state and national levels. he could be encouraged to make a run for governor.
But impeachment isnt the last of Paxtons legal woes. Though he returns to the attorney generals office, he still faces a securities fraud trial for two felony charges he was indicted on in 2015. Hes also been under investigation by the FBI since October 2020.
The Senates refusal to remove Ken Paxton from office is, however, not the end of this matter. Ken Paxton is the subject of multiple other lawsuits, indictments and investigations, Phelan, the state Speaker, said in his post-acquittal statement.
If new facts continue to come out, those who allowed him to keep his office will have much to answer for.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
[Source]
A Thai man was wrongfully arrested after his friend borrowed his identity to avoid prison.
What started it all: The friend, only identified as Phuwadon, 25, was stopped by Thai police while driving on Aug. 30, 2020. After the police pointed out that his car did not have a license plate, Phuwadon told them that his name was Anucha and that he had forgotten his ID.
After testing positive for drugs, Phuwadon was briefly detained. His mother reportedly used a copy of the real Anucha's ID and bailed Phuwadon out the following day. He never showed up to court following this, according to reports.
Wrongful arrest: The real Anucha was wrongfully arrested at his workplace in Bangkok on June 13. Thai authorities accused the innocent man of evading arrest for three years and took him to Bangkok Remand Prison soon after, where he was locked up for 80 days.
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Anuchas parents reportedly asked the nonprofit organization Saimai Survive for help following the arrest, stating that their son was never involved in any crimes in the past.
What happened next: Police said that after Anuchas arrest, Phuwadon underwent plastic surgery to evade the authorities and worked as an entertainer for parties at several venues.
He was eventually arrested in the car park of a bar in Bangkok's Lat Phrao district on Saturday.
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His release: Anucha was finally released from prison, and a video of him hugging his sobbing mother has been circulating on the internet.
Thai authorities have stated that they are now looking into how they will compensate Anucha with the help of the Ministry of Justice.
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told borrowers that student-debt relief "is not a done deal."
She said there's still a chance for relief under the Higher Education Act.
But she criticized Republicans for codifying the end of the student-loan payment pause.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has some reassuring words for student-loan borrowers concerned about the prospect of broad debt relief.
On Monday night, Ocasio-Cortez took to her Instagram story to answer questions about the current state of affairs in Congress particularly a government shutdown and what's next for student-loan borrowers. At the end of June, the Supreme Court struck down President Joe Biden's first attempt at broad student-loan forgiveness using the HEROES Act of 2003, which allows the education secretary to waive or modify student-loan balances with a national emergency, like COVID-19.
While the Supreme Court ruled the administration does not have the authority to use that law for broad relief, the Education Department announced the same day as the decision it would be attempting relief using the Higher Education Act of 1965, instead. That law does not rely on a national emergency, but it does mean the administration has to go through a lengthy process known as negotiated rulemaking, during which the department holds negotiations and public hearings.
Ocasio-Cortez said borrowers shouldn't rule that option out.
"There is absolutely still a chance of cancellation," she said on her Instagram story on Monday. "When the Supreme Court struck it down, they said that the administration couldn't use a specific avenue, namely the HEROES Act, but there are alternative avenues that we have pursued. They are going to be laying out that program over the course of the next year."
"Cancellation is not a done deal whatsoever," she added.
However, she did blame Republicans for the student-loan payment resumption next month. To appease the GOP, the bill to raise the debt ceiling that Biden signed into law in the beginning of June included a provision that codified the end of the student-loan payment pause. Interest began accruing on federal balances on September 1, and bills are due in October.
"That was when Republicans forced the restarting of student loan payments on October 1, and that they forced that to happen by law in a couple of weeks," Ocasio-Cortez said. "You can thank a Republican for student loan payments restarting."
As Insider has previously reported, the negotiated rulemaking process could take at least a year. Bharat Ramamurti, deputy director of the National Economic Council, said during a July press briefing that "you have to intake the comments that you get from the public, and then you have to decide whether to change your proposal accordingly before you do the next public hearing."
"But we are aiming to do it as quickly as possible," he added. "And so, we will give you more updates as we hit each milestone in that process."
Still, the new plan could face legal challenges yet again and Republican lawmakers have already introduced legislation to overturn Biden's targeted reforms for borrowers, specifically his new SAVE income-driven repayment plan. Regardless of the hurdles the broad relief could face, a group of Democratic lawmakers want borrowers to see a reduction to their balances as soon as possible.
"We appreciate your announcement initiating a rulemaking under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to deliver on debt relief," 87 Democratic lawmakers recently wrote to Biden, "and write to urge you to swiftly carry out your commitment to working and middle class families, and cancel student debt by early 2024."
Read the original article on Business Insider
We asked some professors who specialize in ancient cultures why everyone's boyfriend and husband seems to be thinking of Rome.
We asked some professors who specialize in ancient cultures why everyone's boyfriend and husband seems to be thinking of Rome.
Like many women last week, Kait Grange was shocked nay, flabbergasted! to learn how often her husband thinks about the Roman Empire.
Since last week, women have been recording conversations with their husbands or boyfriends on TikTok in which they ask them, point blank, how often they think about the Roman Empire. Almost unanimously, the answer is a lot.
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Who is doing PR for the Roman Empire?
When Grange asked her husband about Rome, he replied tentatively at first (Yeah, sometimes. I dont know, once a week?) before revealing the depths of his feelings: Basically, everything you know and love is because of the Roman Empire, he said in their clip.
Grange, 26, was left speechless and had a number of questions: What about the Roman Empire? What around you triggers your mind to jump to the Roman Empire? Is it a subconscious thought or one that he actively reflects on?
He said that he thinks about gladiators and Roman mythology often, said Grange, who lives in St. Louis, Missouri. And then he started talking about plumbing. He said plumbing was a direct gift from the Romans: You like plumbing? ROMANS.
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Caley Svensson, a 39-year-old from New Jersey, was similarly floored by how often Caesar, Commodus, Augustus , et al. are on her husbands mind. She and her husband are both history lovers, but Svensson underestimated his interest.
I thought for sure his answer wouldve been hardly ever, but instead he answered, Frequently, every other day or so, she said. And he really doesnt go on social media, so he never has any idea what trends are trending.
Svensson was also shocked by the amount of sexist comments in her replies: There were many men who commented about how dumb women are, how we shouldnt be president. I never once implied in my line of questioning that I didnt think about it often rather, I was shocked at my husbands answer. (Sadly, the internet is going to internet.)
In an interview with HuffPost, Svenssons husband, Erik, gave some insight into his ancient Rome interest.
I think about it every day because the parallels to their entire way of living and our way of living were very similar, he said. The fall of Rome is comparable to the fall of our entire civilization, so perhaps there is no better culture to learn from and reflect upon.
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To get some generational perspective, other women asked their dads how often they ruminate on Roman history.
Every time I take a shit I think about sewers and how the Romans invented the modern day sewage system, TikToker Jordan Bunnings dad replied over text. So at least twice a day if all things are working correctly. (Were noticing a theme here: Men love sewage.)
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Heres what Roman Empire scholars think is going on.
Given how rare it is for the Roman Empire to trend on social media, academics who study the period sat up and took notice of the trend.
I was not totally surprised, given the new emphasis on machismo in our culture, said Ronald J. Mellor, a distinguished professor of history at UCLA, where he has been teaching Greek and Roman history since 1976.
And there are, indeed, many elements in Roman history and culture architecture, law, constitutional elements (veto, Senate, elections, etc.), civil wars, slavery, military organization and pensions, etc., which have similarities to American institutions, he said.
Rome fascinates us because it both is and is not what we want to be, said David Potter, a Francis W. Kelsey collegiate professor of Greek and Roman history at the University of Michigan. Its a powerful empire that lasted for centuries at its height in 117 A.D., it controlled swaths of land from Western Europe to the Middle East but its ultimately an empire that fell, he said.
Roman emperors can be very wise people like Marcus Aurelius, whose meditations are a popular read these days but there are also dreadful tyrants like Caligula, Nero and Commodus. Roman emperors model the best and the worst for us, Potter told HuffPost. (If youre wondering, yes, he thinks about Rome during his free time. Its pretty hard not to think about Nero when Donald Trump is around, he joked.)
How often do you think of Rome? And do you picture Russell Crowe as Maximus in the 2000 film
How often do you think of Rome? And do you picture Russell Crowe as Maximus in the 2000 film "Gladiator" when you do?
Theres also no shortage of pop culture artifacts associated with Rome: Spartacus and the BBC series I, Claudius in years past, and Gladiator or HBOs Rome more recently. Millennial men in particular really seemed to glom onto Maximus, Russell Crowes character in Gladiator.
In many ways, Maximus is the archetypal male hero, Potter said. He is fighting for what he believes in and has to overcome great challenges in doing so. Before there was Maximus, there was Spartacus. Striving against the odds is something many men see themselves as doing.
Both characters sync up well with the Roman idea of heroism: Aeneas, the founder of Rome, was driven from his homeland and lost pretty much everything. Gladiators have to overcome danger and pain in their pursuits, Potter said.
Kimberly Bowes, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, thinks Roman fanfare has something to do with mens preoccupation with power: Who has it, how they get it, how they maintain it.
Mark Zuckerberg, for instance, is a big Roman Empire fanboy, and that seems to be at the core of his obsession, Bowes said. (Suddenly, that Caesar haircut is making sense.)
Apparently [Zuckerberg] was obsessed with the Roman emperor Augustus. He attributed this to the idea that Augustus created world peace, she said. Augustus was also the master of changing everything while convincing everyone he had changed nothing: the originator of the social network. Could this be a clue of why men think about the Roman Empire? Power of all kinds.
Mark Zuckerberg is a fanboy of ancient Rome, too.
Mark Zuckerberg is a fanboy of ancient Rome, too.
Carlos Norena, a professor of ancient history at the University of California, Berkeley, suspects the appeal for men stems from the centrality of warfare in most mainstream accounts of ancient Roman history. Theres also the remarkable feats of engineering that characterized Roman culture, he said: aqueducts, underground sewage (again?), far-flung road systems, massive urban moments made possible by Roman innovations in the use of concrete.
Norena noted that theres a darker side to this cultural interest, though. Extreme right-wing ethno-nationalists here and abroad have sought to appropriate the history of the Romans (and the Greeks before them) in their efforts to legitimize their movements with the prestige of the classics, the professor said.
This is dangerous and involves a serious distortion of the ethnic and cultural fabric of the Roman empire, which was diverse and pluralist in the extreme, he said.
A man in his happy place (Rome).
A man in his happy place (Rome).
Are women similarly obsessed with something?
All the professors we talked to were quick to note that theres just as many women as men enrolled in their classics courses.
When asked if there was a womens equivalent to mens Roman fixation the sinking of the Titanic perhaps or Anastasia and the murder of the royal Romanov family classics professor Judith Peller Hallett wasnt convinced either rivaled the general interest in you guessed it ancient Rome.
I work with and have taught literally thousands of women who are fascinated by the ancient Roman Empire, too; women who hold degrees and publish and teach about it in an informed and responsible way, said Peller Hallett, whos a distinguished scholar-teacher emerita at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Peller Hallett herself has been into ancient Rome since around age 13, when she started Latin lessons. Its been an obsession ever since. My 8-year-old granddaughter complains that I am too into the Romans!
Roman history is complicated, as is the gender politics of the empire, added Michael Stahler, a 26-year-old actor from Philadelphia whose friend posted about his impressive Roman Empire knowledge on TikTok:
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Its wrong to think that women, queer folks and non-Europeans were not major players in that history, he said.
Look at Galla Placidia, he said, a Roman empress and major power broker who at one point tried to bridge the cultural gap between Romans and the Goths, or Elagabalus, who ruled Rome in the 3rd century and had a complex relationship with gender that many trans and genderqueer people have connected with.
Then theres Septimius Severus, a successful Roman emperor of mixed heritage who hailed from Africa, Stahler said. And those are just the imperial families.
I encourage people who are baffled by the seemingly inexplicable fascination men have with the Roman Empire to look into the scholarship, talk to people like me who love to share info or, best yet, talk to some actual experts who could highlight why this time period so frequently captures the mind, Stahler said.
Of course, its fine not to think about the Roman Empire all the time, too. Some women on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok have noted that the girl version of the Roman Empire tends to be more introspective.
The girl version of the roman empire is constantly thinking about that one thing that happened 7 years ago, one woman joked on X.
Melissa Tovar Patrie, a 29-year-old digital marketing expert with a Rome-obsessed husband, said shes generally more concerned with things happening in the present or future. (In terms of historic personal things, I also think about my ex best friends quite often, Tovar Patrie joked.)
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Post-TikTok trend, Tovar Patrie said shes happy to have a new peek into her husband Marcos brain which, for the record, is thinking about ancient Rome approximately once every two weeks.
Thats not a lot compared to other things, Tovar Patrie said. He says, If you think its weird that men think about the Roman Empire, wait until you find out how often we think about World War II.
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After a decade in office, Bergen County Clerk John Hogan has helped thousands of 18-year-olds register to vote.
Hogan visits at least 10 high schools each year to talk to 18-year-olds about why they should register to vote and cast their ballots in every election.
"We drive the message home, hit their emotions and mind and get a good response," Hogan said. "We try to tell them not to get registered because someone else is or because I'm saying to, but do it because you want to and then go out and vote."
The Bergen County clerk's office is making a last push before the Oct. 17 voter registration deadline for the Nov. 7 general election.
The youth voter demographic from 18 to 29 years old has the lowest margins of voter participation in elections. Those numbers drop even further during non-presidential years.
Midland Park High School students fill out voter registration forms after a presentation by Bergen County Clerk John Hogan (not pictured) on Thursday, June 1, 2023, in Midland Park.
A 2022 study by the Tufts University Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement looked at youth voter turnout specifically in New Jersey and Virginia in the 2021 gubernatorial elections.
The results showed that about 20% of voter turnout was from the 18-to-29 age group, a significant drop from the 67% turnout in the 2020 presidential election.
More: One more police officer sues Hackensack, police director alleging retaliation
"Voter turnout (both among youth and among the whole electorate) tends to be lower in so-called off-year elections than in midterm and presidential cycles," the study found. "But, in all elections, outreach and policies can influence participation."
In 2020, New Jersey automatically sent mail-in ballots to all registered voters and had the highest youth voter turnout rate in the country. It did not automatically send ballots for the 2021 gubernatorial election.
Hogan gave a presentation on Sept. 13 to seniors at Bergen County Academies, where 153 students registered to vote.
In 2022, after visits to 10 high schools, there were 300 students who registered.
Bergen County Clerk John Hogan holds a voter registration presentation for juniors and seniors at Midland Park High School on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
With the new school year beginning, voter registration presentations are beginning again. Presentations are scheduled in the upcoming weeks at Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan and Demarest, Palisades Park, Westwood and Ridgefield.
The presentations give a quick breakdown of how local elections work, the history of registering to vote and why it's important to continue voting after registering.
One year, Hogan told summer interns in the clerk's office that the 18-to-30-year-old demographic is least likely to vote. The interns were tasked to create a video saying why they think it's important to vote. That video now plays during the presentations.
Bergen County Clerk John Hogan holds a voter registration presentation for juniors and seniors at Midland Park High School on Thursday, June 1, 2023.
Hogan gives a brief history lesson to show how far voting has come in the nation. "Only white men who owned property were allowed to vote," Hogan said. "There was a time if someone wanted to register to vote in the South, you would have to appear before a board of elections, and if they didn't like how you looked or where you were from, they decided no."
Hogan also tells students there were no significant voter rights laws in the United States until 1965, saying it is a "great shame to our nation" that it took so long.
The presentation is also rounded out with quotes from Democratic and Republican presidents with opposite political views who agree that "voting is the cornerstone of democracy."
More: This Tenafly Marine wants to improve military recruiting for Gen Z. Will top brass adapt?
Hogan also addressed concerns about voter fraud and the reports in the media and social media. He told the students that new voting machines were installed throughout the county.
"Every vote is counted in Bergen County, no matter how big of a landslide there is," Hogan said. "It takes two weeks, but your votes will be counted."
Elections have also improved in recent years, he said. In addition to the addition of the touch-screen machines, registered voters can cast their votes 10 days before an election, mail in ballots with longer deadlines than decades ago, or vote in person on the day of the election.
"This is the most revamping of elections in recent times," Hogan said. "There are a lot of opportunities to vote and no reason not to vote."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County clerk helps 18-year-old students register to vote
Authorities are scrambling to recover thousands of mink that were released from a Pennsylvania farm.
On Sunday morning, one or more suspects broke into a mink farm in Rockefeller Township, about 85 miles from Allentown, and cut holes in the fences surrounding the farm, Pennsylvania State Police said in a release report.
The suspects also released somewhere between 6,000 to 8,000 mink from their pens, according to police.
"Numerous state agencies and farm staff are currently working on recovering the mink that escaped the fence," police said.
Pennsylvania Game Warden Mike Workman is advising residents to avoid the tiny predators.
"Just stay away. Don't touch it, don't try to trap it, and don't try to catch it. They will bite you, and they can potentially hurt you. We want to make sure the public is safe," he told WNEP-TV.
Mink are known as one of Pennsylvania's most efficient predators, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
The semi-aquatic members of the weasel family usually live on the edges of lakes, streams and rivers and are most active at night and in the early morning, though they sometimes venture out during the day, according to the commission.
The animals are "agile and fierce fighters" that kill prey with a "hard bite to the back of the skull," the commission says.
Since mink are opportunists that will feed on whatever is most easily caught or found, they pose a threat to pets in Northumberland County.
"Don't let (pets) out unattended," Dr. Beverly Shaw told WNEP-TV."Take your dogs out on a leash. Mink might not be big enough to go after a big dog, but that doesn't mean they can't get injured by one. I would suspect cats and kittens, kittens especially, could be at risk."
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VILNIUS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania's first and so far only biomethane plant is now operational, the country's Ministry of Energy said on Monday.
The Tube Green plant, located in the Pasvalys District, is estimated to produce 100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of biomethane per year. This will cover up to 1 percent of the country's total annual gas demand.
Tube Green is implementing the project in cooperation with local biofuel producer Kurana, with an investment of 15 million euros (16.05 million U.S. dollars).
Lithuania's Environment Minister Simonas Gentvilas said in a news release that 2.8 million euros were allocated to the plant from the European Climate Change Program.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the purification technology that the plant is using will avoid emissions of pollutants, noise or smell during production and transportation.
"The rapid development of biomethane production will help Lithuania reduce its consumption of fossil fuels and consolidate its energy independence," Jurgis Polujanskas, chief executive officer (CEO) of Kurana, told the Baltic News Service(BNS).
Biomethane produced from food or agricultural waste is part of the circular economy and is considered one of the most advanced types of renewable energy that many European countries are actively developing.
Lithuania aims to produce at least 950 GWh of biomethane by 2030, BNS reported. (1 euro = 1.07 U.S. dollar)
Up to 8,000 mink are on the loose in Pennsylvania, and residents are being encouraged to stay away from them.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers say someone cut holes in the fence of the Richard Stahl Fur Farm in Northumberland County in the early morning hours of Sunday, Sept. 17, releasing 6,000 to 8,000 mink from their pens.
As numerous agencies work to corral the mink, it remains unclear who cut the holes in the fence.
The mink range in size from 12 to 20 inches and could be black, brown or white in color, WNEP reported.
Right now its like living in some sort of sci-fi movie or horror film. Everywhere you look, theres minks, Erin Bourinski said in a Facebook post. Running through the fields, standing in the roads, trying to find shelter in random houses.
The Sunbury Animal Hospital said on Sunday mink have surrounded the hospital, but they should not be approached. The animal hospital has asked for help setting traps for the escaped animals.
Mink are aggressive, the animal hospital said. Bourinski said they are likely scared, confused and hungry with no idea how to survive.
They are not pets, and should not be taken in a home or to a rescue, the animal hospital said. If one of these minks were to approach you, get far away from it.
Northumberland County District Attorney Tony Matulewicz said the animals could affect other farms and animals, potentially leading to millions of dollars in damages, according to The Daily Item.
Mink are referred to as one of Pennsylvanias most efficient predators, according to the states game commission. Officials call the animals opportunists, saying they feed on whatever is most easily caught or found.
Animal rights groups have long spoken out against mink farming, McClatchy News reported in November 2022 when up to 40,000 mink were freed from an Ohio farm.
The Animal Liberation Front have been behind similar instances of mink being freed from captivity, but its unclear if they are behind the Northumberland County escape.
In August, the activists released 3,000 mink from a Wisconsin farm, the Star Tribune reported. The FBI was seeking suspects in similar incidents in Ohio and Michigan from November 2022 to February 2023, WTOL reported.
Sunbury is in central Pennsylvania about 60 miles north of Harrisburg.
40,000 mink are running loose after someone broke into their facility, Ohio cops say
Three people have been killed in an aerial bombing attack on Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast, the head of Kharkiv Oblasts Military Administration, Oleh Synehubov, reported on Sept. 19.
"The Russian occupiers have committed another war crime against the peaceful population of Kharkiv Oblast, Synehubov said.
Read also: Three Kherson civilians killed by Russian occupiers over three days
"Emergency services are currently on the scene; information is being updated."
Earlier, a senior police officer was killed and two passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries after a Russian artillery strike on a trolleybus in Kherson, according to the head of the Kherson Regional State Administration, Roman Mrochko.
One fatality has been reported after a mass Russian drone attack on Ukraine on September 1819, which targeted Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi Oblasts.
Warehouse buildings in the city of Lviv remain ablaze after the attack, and a mans body has been pulled from the rubble, the State Emergency Service has reported.
Read also:
Lvivs mayor, Andriy Sadovyi, described the fire as one of the most extensive in terms of destruction and losses in the city's history, estimating damages in the hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
Were bringing the voice of Ukraine to the world. Support us with a one-time donation, or become a Patron!
Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
A senior police officer was killed and two passengers hospitalized with serious injuries after a Russian artillery strike on a trolleybus in Kherson, according to the head of Kherson Regional State Administration, Roman Mrochko, on Sept. 19.
According to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, 49-year-old Senior Sergeant Andriy Tarchynskyi was killed in the attack.
Prior to joining the police, he served in the military as a peacekeeper in Bosnia & Herzegovina and in Kosovo. After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, he volunteered to join the Kherson special police patrol company and served at the Battle of Ilovaisk.
Earlier, 26-year-old Anastasia and her 34-year-old husband Valery Saksahansky were abducted from their home and executed by the Russians in the temporarily occupied village of Mali Kopany on Sept. 16, the Center for Journalistic Investigations reported on Sept. 18.
Read also: Five killed, 15 injured in Russian attacks on Ukraines Donetsk, Kherson Oblasts
"Russian soldiers kidnapped the young couple Valery and Anastasia Saksahansky from their home in the village of Mali Kopany on Sept. 15. Unfortunately, they were killed in cold blood. Their two-year-old daughter, Margarita, was orphaned, said Anastasia's colleague, Antonina Pshenychna.
They refused to collaborate and receive Russian passports, which was why they were killed. The rest of their family members and the couples acquaintances who remained in the occupied village chose to cooperate with the Russians, Pshenychna said.
Read also: ICRC confirms kidnapped Kherson mayor is POW in Russia
The couple's bodies were found with gunshot wounds the day after they were abducted.
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
Presidential contender Tim Scott says he still believes the U.S. Department of Justice is treating Hunter Biden with "kid gloves," despite news last week that the president's son has been indicted on federal firearm charges.
Hunter Biden was charged by Special Counsel David Weiss with three offenses related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018. He is accused of possessing a firearm as an unlawful drug user and lying on purchase paperwork for the gun. The charges are felonies and could lead to multiple years imprisonment if convicted.
Scott, a Republican senator from South Carolina, for months has accused the Justice Department of improperly protecting the president's family. In an interview Monday, Scott told the Des Moines Register the new charges haven't changed his view.
"It seems like the DOJ continues to hunt Republicans by protecting Democrats," Scott said of Biden. "I can't think of an easier path they've given him than the one that we see today."
The Hunter Biden case has gone through several twists and turns, with prosecutors originally reaching a plea deal that would have seen Biden plead guilty to two tax offenses and the government agree not to prosecute the firearm case.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., speaks during a meet and greet, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
That deal fell apart after it became clear in a plea hearing that the parties disagreed over whether the deal would also immunize Biden to prosecution on other charges, including any related to his business dealings in Ukraine and elsewhere during his father's vice presidency.
After that deal collapsed, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland in August appointed Weiss as special counsel to continue pursuing the cases. Although Scott was among Republican legislators who had demanded the justice department do so in 2022, he condemned the appointment last month, pointing to the failed plea deal to say Weiss "cannot be trusted."
USA Today Network: Latest Tim Scott news and information
Scott said Monday he believes prosecutors should be investigating further into Hunter Biden's dealing with the Ukrainian gas company Burisma, although he did not identify any other charges he believes would be appropriate.
"They've had the case and the evidence since 2019," he said, pointing to investigations by Sen. Chuck Grassley and Rep. James Comer. "They should look forward and find the charges and not rush to a simple one or two charges when there may be evidence that suggests there's more opportunities as well."
Weiss' team continues to investigate the president's son, and additional charges, including for the tax offenses that were part of the original plea deal, are still expected.
Are gun charges constitutional? Scott defers to prosecutor
Legal experts have pointed out that prosecutors very rarely bring the type of charges filed against Biden, and there also are widespread questions about whether the law in question is constitutional in light of a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
At least one federal appellate court, the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit, has already ruled the law is unconstitutional in an unrelated case.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., listens to a question from an audience member during a meet and greet, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Scott often speaks on the campaign trail about his support for the Second Amendment and opposition to gun regulations, but asked if he believes the unlawful-drug-user law is constitutional, Scott deferred to Weiss.
"Obviously the prosecutors do (think the charges are constitutional)," Scott said. "There is absolutely a charge when you lie on a federal application."
Scott's comments come during a pass through Iowa that saw stops Monday in Nevada, Dodge Center and Mason City. He also spoke Saturday in Dubuque and was one of the candidates featured at the Iowa Faith & Freedom banquet in Des Moines.
In recent polls, Scott has ranked third among Republican caucus voters in Iowa, behind Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. In an August Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Scott received 9% support.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Tim Scott still says Justice Department going easy on Hunter Biden
A 55-year-old woman is accused of helping an inmate on Nebraskas death row attempt to swindle a former prison nurse out of $25,000 in what investigators say was a fake murder-for-hire scheme.
The plot was allegedly concocted behind bars by Aubrey Trail, the man convicted of killing and dismembering Sydney Loofe after meeting her on a dating app in 2017. After another inmate tipped investigators off, a probe began in mid-March 2021less than three months before Trail was sentenced to death for Loofes murder.
On Sunday, Samantha Al-Rekabi of Lincoln, Nebraska, was arrested. She has since been charged with felony theft by extortion in the case, according to court records.
An arrest warrant affadavit filed Friday and first obtained by the Lincoln Journal Star outlines how Al-Rekabi met Trail while writing a book about Loofes death. In 2021, the warrant alleges, Trail manipulated a nurse at a Lincoln prison called the Reception and Treatment Center into smuggling contraband in for him, including chewing tobacco and a cellphone.
Trail instructed Al-Rekabi to befriend the nurse, the affidavit states. The two women bonded over their shared status as true crime buffs, and the nurse would sleep over at Al-Rekabis house on occasion.
The nurse, who has not been charged, quit just before the Nebraska State Patrols investigation began. In a December 2021 interview with the FBI, she said shed been manipulated by Trail and admitted to smuggling him contraband, the affidavit states.
The nurse also told federal agents that shed confided in Trail, telling him about her marriage troubles. Trail exploited this, the nurse alleged, telling her hed hired a hitman to kill her husband and that he would only call off the hit if she paid him $25,000.
The nurse said she agreed to pay Trail the money and went to the bank to withdraw the funds, accompanied by Al-Rekabi. Bank records reflect that the nurse took out $25,000 in cash after moving a large sum of money out of her retirement savings account, according to the affidavit.
In a number of phone recordings obtained by investigators, Al-Rekabi was allegedly heard bragging to Trail about getting the blackmail money from the nurse. In one call, a female voice can be heard marveling that shes gonna get her pension out just [to] give it to us.
A male then can be heard responding, She dont have a choice.
Investigators later came to believe that there was never a legitimate plan to pay a hitman to kill the nurses family, the affidavit says.
During the calls to Al-Rekabi, Trail also mentioned his intent to have a firearm smuggled into the prison, the affidavit states. The male voice in one of the calls explains that he told the nurse to bring me a gun so I can just kill everybody.
At a court hearing on Monday, Al-Rekabis bond was set at $5,000, according to Lincoln station KLKN-TV. If convicted, she could spend up to two decades in prison.
The 55-year-old told a Nebraska State Patrol investigator in an April 2023 interview that she aided Trail out of fear he would hurt her or her son, who is incarcerated. She also admitted to working as an intermediary between Trail and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, a former store clerk who was also convicted for her role in Loofes killing.
Boswell was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in November 2021. She was at the center of a violent outburst by Trail, who began slashing at his own neck with a piece of a razor blade while bellowing, Bailey is innocent, and I curse you all! during his 2019 trial.
Trail has spent recent months attempting to expedite his own execution. Last month, a judge threw out his request to file a petition seeking to force the state to set a date for him to die. Trail does not have the right to dictate when the state will execute him, the judge wrote.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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A former police captain who alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired for whistleblowing on his colleagues and exposing corruption within the Vallejo Police Department will receive nearly $1 million in a settlement with the city.
John Whitney and his attorney, Jayme Walker, agreed to the settlement last week, in which the city will be required to pay Whitney $900,000 as well as all costs, liens and attorney fees.
I feel vindicated by the settlement agreement because of the amount, Whitney told The Times in an interview Monday. You dont settle for nearly $1 million if you did everything correct.
Whitney alleges in a lawsuit filed against the city and his former employers in 2020 that he was fired after he told Vallejo City Manager Greg Nyhoff, Mayor Bob Sampayan and then-City Atty. Claudia Quintana that members of the Police Department were bending the corners of their badges to commemorate every time an officer killed a civilian.
Read more: Assaulted student sues Claremont Unified School District, alleging it failed to protect against bullies
The Times reached out to the city of Vallejo, the offices of the city attorney, the city manager, the mayor, former Police Chief Andrew Bidou and the Vallejo Police Department on Monday. They didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Monica Martinez, a spokesperson for the Solano County district attorney's office, confirmed that an independent third-party investigation into "badge bending" in the department "did not give rise to any criminal liability."
Whitney told The Times that he first became aware of badge bending within the department in late 2014 or early 2015 from another officer. He then learned about it a second time in February 2019 when an officer was placed on administrative leave and had to turn in his badge. When Whitney asked him why two edges were bent, the officer said it represented the two people he had killed in the line of duty.
Whitney, who had worked for the Vallejo Police Department since 2000 and was promoted to the rank of captain in 2015, also reported what he maintained were other unlawful practices and mismanagement under the tenure of former Chief Bidou, who is also named in the lawsuit. Whitney reported that a sergeant used force on a minor and filed a false use-of-force report saying that the child had made terrorist threats.
Read more: Suspect arrested in killing of L.A. County sheriff's deputy in Palmdale
Whitney alleged that he asked Bidou to conduct an internal investigation into badge bending within the department, but Bidou refused. Whitney then ordered all supervisors to collect any bent badges, and about 10 were found. Bidou allegedly ordered the badges returned to the officers and told them to fix them. Whitney said he was concerned about destruction of evidence and notified Nyhoff, Sampayan and Quintana.
Whitney told The Times that its frowned upon in law enforcement to report misconduct about other officers because that means crossing the thin blue line. Theres also fear of retaliation by both superiors and colleagues.
Too many things were going on, and there was no accountability, he said. I was surprised and shocked that City Manager Nyhoff was involved in basically a conspiracy to conduct an internal affairs investigation and have me terminated. The person I went to thinking this is who can solve these problems was also involved in covering up the wrongdoing by the Police Department.
Whitney alleges that, in August 2019, Bidou and Nyhoff retaliated against him for reporting the badge bending and other misconduct and made him the subject of a "sham investigation" in which he was fired for deleting personal content from his department-issued cellphone, a practice that he said isn't prohibited by the Police Department.
Walker said she hoped the settlement would push more officers to come forward about misconduct within their departments.
I hope that there is going to be some real change in Vallejo, and one of the significant things keeping them in line is the press has been intensely scrutinizing their conduct, Walker told The Times. Thats how we can shine a light on this and protect whistleblowers who shouldve been commemorated as a hero and, instead, were illegally terminated.
Whitney, who now works for the El Cerrito Police Department, said there's a stigma from being fired from law enforcement, especially as a high-ranking captain. He said it was difficult for him to find another job, and once he started applying, the agencies told him they had been contacted about his past. The chief of the El Cerrito Police Department even told him that he had been asked why he hired Whitney.
"There was a lot of concern and sleepless nights that just went on for years," Whitney said. "With all of my education, experience and training, I was ready for the next step. Instead, I started over as a line-level patrol officer at a new agency. They took everything away from me that I was working toward in my career."
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Tri-Cities area health care workers have been investigated by the Washington state Department of Health for theft, alleged inappropriate conversations with a client and violating a no contact order.
Badr Eddine Elkhlifi has had his registered nursing assistant license suspended after he entered a legal order for violating a no contact order.
Elkhlifi was present at the Himalaya Adult Family Home in Pasco before it was closed and its owner, his wife, was accused of neglecting the medical needs of its residents.
In February 2022, Elkhlifi allegedly assaulted his wife, Yesenia A. Chavez, in the presence of elderly residents at the adult family home on Rio Grande Lane.
She requested that residents be transferred out of her adult family home when Elkhlifi was found there in violation of a domestic violence no contact order two months later.
After residents were transferred to other care, they complained about a lack of food, being left alone for days at a time and a lack of routine care at Himalaya Adult Family Home, according to the Washington state Department of Health.
They also said they were threatened with harm and there was little to no diabetes monitoring, exercise, activities or hygiene care.
Immobile patients were not being rotated in their beds or chairs to prevent bed sores, residents said.
The Department of Health also alleged that a cancer patient was found dead with a maggot-infested wound, according to state documents.
Chavez, a registered nursing assistant, has been charged with unprofessional care by the Department of Health, as previously reported by the Tri-City Herald.
Elkhlifi did not respond to Department of Health charges sent to him in May 2023, resulting in the suspension of his license. the Department of Health announced Monday. He may not apply to have the license reinstated for two years.
In July 2022 he entered a stipulated order of continuance for two years in Pasco City Municipal Court for a violation of a no contact order. The order prohibited him from working with vulnerable adults for two years.
More WA health care cases
The home care aide license of Eldy E. Munoz has been revoked after he was convicted of second-degree theft, a felony, the Department of Health said in an announcement this summer.
He was sentenced to two days in jail in Benton County in 2022.
In September 2021, he entered the home of a vulnerable adult without permission and stole a prepaid debit card, according to the Department of Health. The vulnerable adult was his home care patient.
He used the card to purchase items for himself totaling $107, according to Department of Health documents.
Stacey Renee Bennett, a certified home care aide in Kennewick, is charged with unprofessional conduct by the Washington Department of Health, it announced this month.
In late 2022, she had inappropriate conversations with a client while she was employed by ADDUS Homecare, according to state documents. The client was receiving services through the Developmental Disabilities Administration.
Bennett discussed smoking cannabis with him, taking a trip together on Amtrak, a sex toy and a dream she had about him.
She also visited him at his home outside of business hours without supervision.
The Department of Health said she blurred the ethical boundaries for her profession.
Under the terms of an agreed order, her home care aide certification is suspended for one year.
Before applying for reinstatement she must complete the Ethics and Boundaries Assessment Services exam.
The Department of Healths Board of Nursing has indefinitely suspended the registered nurse license of Elvia Lothrop of Franklin County.
Lothrop admitted that she had been convicted in 2019 of first-degree negligent driving while under the influence of a controlled substance. She was addicted to prescription opioid medications at the time of the conviction, according to a Washington state document.
In May she was ordered to participate in the Washington Health Professional Services monitoring program.
She did not comply with the programs monitoring contract, according to the Department of Health.
Allie Montez of Benton County has agreed to a cease-and-desist order.
She was accused of providing massage therapy services at a business she owns despite having no credentials. She will do no more massage therapy and pay a $250 fine, according to the Department of Health.
Brenda Ramirez is accused by the Department of Health of practicing massage without a license in Franklin County. She has been notified that the state will issue a cease-and-desist order.
Editors note: Welcome back to our series Lets Dish, Kansas City, showcasing some of our favorite restaurant meals. Click here to sign up for our new newsletter. And scroll down to learn how you can participate.
I spend an unusual amount of time thinking about Sen. Josh Hawley .
To be fair, as The Stars Washington correspondent I am paid to think about him, as well as the other members of Congress elected from Missouri and Kansas.
But Hawley is particularly prominent. The Missouri Republican is the type of senator who draws strong reactions. Some people adore him, some people despise him. The oddest, and most frequent, thing I hear is how many people find him handsome. It comes from people of all political persuasions even a Canadian I met while visiting Montreal.
Food is both a unifying and polarizing force in politics. When politicians want to do some good old-fashioned, wrist-grabbing politicking, theyll get caught on camera eating a cheesesteak, or an ice cream cone, or a pork chop.
So when I was in Kansas City last month, I did what anyone who spends too much time thinking about politicians would do: I tried Hawleys favorite dish in the city.
Favorite might not be the right word.
A slab of baby back ribs at Jack Stack Barbecues Freight House location.
When I asked him to name his favorite meal in Kansas City, Hawley, who grew up in Lexington, about 45 miles northeast of downtown and went to Rockhurst High School, hemmed and hawed. His immediate reaction was an exasperated oh my gosh! before he finally spilled the beans, as it were.
I really love the ribs from Jack Stack, he said.
So on a recent Monday, I sat alone in a booth in the Freight House location of Jack Stack Barbecue, devoured a plate of $24 honey-glazed baby back ribs with a side of fries and washed it down with a $4.50 lemonade.
It was fantastic.
The sauce was sweet and tangy, the meat was moist and full of flavor, with the right combination of chewy and fall off the bone.
Logan Gaspard, a pitmaster at Jack Stack Barbecues Freight House location, divides beans into serving trays.
I asked Carlos Perez, a chef at Jack Stack who specializes in private dining, what makes the ribs there special.
I like it to be a little bit firm, Perez said. People think its supposed to fall apart on you, like pulled pork, but no, it needs to have a little bite to it.
To get that texture, the pitmaster comes into the restaurant around 4 a.m., depending on the day of the week. His first move is checking all the meat that was loaded into the smoker the night before. He takes the meat out.
The chef then lightly seasons the baby back ribs, just a sprinkling, and puts the meat in the smoker for about 3 and a half hours, sometimes more.
They dont use thermometers to check if the meat is ready. Instead they touch every one to make sure it has the right bounce.
Then they slather on the barbecue sauce.
Jack Stack Barbecue has six locations in the Kansas City metro, including this one in the Freight House district.
I did not ask Hawley which ribs he liked from Jack Stack, because I naively assumed there would only be one type on the menu. When I go out and get barbecue I generally get brisket, pulled pork or when in Kansas City burnt ends.
Im not much of a judge. I generally like any barbecue I can get my hands on. My experience with ribs is largely limited to whatever my father grilled growing up.
So far Ive tried Gates Bar-B-Q, at the recommendation of Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City Democrat. Ive tried Slaps BBQ in Kansas City, Kansas, at the recommendation of my editor, and Q39 in midtown.
Next time Im back, Ill try Arthur Bryants Barbeque, a favorite of Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt. Hawley was dismissive of Schmitts choice, pointing out that the junior senator was from the other side of the state.
My weakly held position on barbecue may be sacrilege in Kansas City, where it feels like opinions on the citys best barbecue could break up families.
When I asked Perez whether those same rivalries exist for the people who work at the barbecue spots, he immediately agreed.
Oh, yes, he said. The thing he thinks sets Jack Stack apart from its rivals? The beans.
Nobody in town beats us on our beans, he said.
Jack Stacks Freight House restaurant, 101 W. 22nd St., #300, is one of six locations in the Kansas City metro.
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BANGKOK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Thailand received over 19 million foreign tourists between January and mid-September, representing a 271-percent year-on-year increase, official data showed on Tuesday.
As of last week, the Southeast Asian country earned more than 795 billion baht (about 22.08 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue from foreign visitors who were mainly from Malaysia, China, South Korea and India, according to data released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The number of tourist arrivals showed signs of improvement this week due to long weekends in Malaysia and Japan, and increased visitors from short-haul countries within the Asian market, the ministry said in a statement.
Beginning next Monday, Thailand will grant a temporary tourist visa exemption to passport holders from China and Kazakhstan until the end of February 2024 in support of its vital tourism industry during the peak season.
The visa-free entry scheme is expected to help revive Thai tourism and achieve the whole-year target of 25 million to 30 million inbound visitors with 2.38 trillion baht in revenue, said Thapanee Kiatphaibool, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, in a separate statement.
She noted that the kingdom is expected to welcome up to 4.4 million visitors from China in 2023, with revenue of 257 billion baht generated from Chinese tourists.
In pre-COVID 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for about 28 percent of the nearly 40 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Tourism, the key driver of the nation's economic growth, accounts for about 12 percent of its gross domestic product. (1 baht equals 0.028 USD)
Greg Ditzler, Jr. scoops up trout to weigh at Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Pisgah National Forest August 29, 2019.
ASHEVILLE - As fall fishing begins, the U.S. Forest Service is looking for feedback on a plan that will expand and renovate North Carolina's largest trout hatchery the Bobby N. Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Transylvania County.
The renovations will increase the efficiency in which the hatchery can produce trout and will improve existing trailheads along the Davidson River in Pisgah National Forest, according to a Forest Service environmental assessment study.
"Cumulative impacts from the Setzer Hatchery renovations will include improved water quality, increased production of trout for the region and potentially increased flow in the sections directly below the dams on Grogan Creek and the Davidson River," the study reads.
Trout swim in the water at the Setzer State Fish Hatchery in Pisgah National Forest August 29, 2019.
The environmental assessment study indicates the renovations may increase the population of the rare hellbender salamander, where proposed "improvements to water quality and sediment transport immediately below the facility could improve habitat for hellbenders."
The hatchery was damaged by Tropical Storm Fred in 2021, which flooded the Davidson River and caused the hatchery to lose around 67% of its trout. The flooding affected the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission's Wildlife Education Center, which was demolished later that year after renovations were proposed.
The renovations aim to replace "dated and failing infrastructure to ensure continued operation of the Setzer Hatchery, increase efficiency of operations" and improve the regions water quality, according to the study.
The proposed renovations would focus on the Davidson River intake, the hatchery building and raceways for the trout, while also providing trailhead renovations that will expand parking spaces for fishing in the Davidson River, alongside providing a new public restroom for visitors.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission will implement delayed harvest trout waters on Oct. 1. On 33 streams, anglers will only be able to fish with artificial lures on a single hook.
Under delayed harvest catch-and-release regulations, no trout can be harvested or possessed from identified waters between Oct. 1 and June 1, 2024.
More stream regulation information is available at ncwildlife.org/Learning/Species/Fish/Trout/Trout-Fishing.
Rare salamanders! NC Wildlife: As fall fishing begins, report any sightings of hellbender salamanders
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The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking the public to report sightings of hellbender salamanders, which are a species of special concern.
Low-head dam poses dangers, but not within project scope
When renovations were initially proposed in 2022, a scoping letter outlining the project's goals was accompanied with the opportunity for public feedback. During that time, five of the six comments about the project directly addressed concerns about the Davidson River's low-head dam.
Incidents involving low-head dams led to 111 deaths nationally between 2018 and 2020, according to the National Weather Service. Another 38 deaths were recorded at or near low-head dams in 2021.
Currently, there is no data available that indicates the whether Davidson low-head dam has led to any fatalities.
The low-head dam on Davidson River, around March 2022.
Kevin Colburn, the national stewardship coordinator for American Whitewater, a nonprofit that focuses on river preservation and promotes paddling safety on rivers and streams, wrote to the Forest Service about the dam in 2022, asking the agency to "put it within the scope of the renovations."
Current plans do not include the removal of the low-head dam, as they are not "within the scope of the plans actions." The U.S. Forest Service sent a statement to the Citizen Times regarding the dam:
"The proposed actions focus on improving and creating efficiencies in ongoing operations associated with the Setzer Hatchery. Removing the hatchery from NFS lands and removal or modification of the diversion dams are not currently within the scope of the proposed actions for this project."
Colburn still believes the dam may pose dangers to river travelers.
"Low-head dams are responsible for approximately 10% of drownings on whitewater rivers for whitewater paddling, so for our community, they're absolutely one of the leading causes of death," he said, referring to the paddling community.
The Davidson River low-head dam serves the function of diverting water to the hatchery and would need to be replaced with a different solution if removed, Colburn said.
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Regardless, Colburn believes the project will benefit all who are interested in the area.
"More than the actual production of fish or fishing in the Southern Appalachians, it's just a really important trailhead; it's a really important river access area," Colburn said. "When I review the analysis, I'll really be looking for 'What does this do for visitors to the Davidson River that are not going to fish, but are going to do all the other things that are unique about it."
The full environmental assessment for the renovations and a location to leave a public comment is available at fs.usda.gov/project/nfsnc/?project=59657. Public comment will be taken until Oct. 17.
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Trout fishing in NC? You could see more trout, better streams, soon.
(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau s shocking allegations that India orchestrated the murder of a separatist leader leaves President Joe Biden caught between one of the USs closest allies and an increasingly important partner in countering China.
Indian leader Narendra Modi s government on Tuesday denied that it had anything to do with the slaying of a prominent Sikh leader in Canada, calling the allegation absurd. Both nations expelled one of the others diplomats, and thats before Canada has made any evidence public.
The White House reacted cautiously, with National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson saying the administration was deeply concerned and called on India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation. A US official acknowledged the allegations pose a problem for Biden, who just left India with relations seemingly on track.
Now the episode threatens to upend the USs effort to court India as a counterweight to China, which was on display at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month. The US and its allies had hailed Modis success in reaching a compromise on a joint communique, accepting softer language on Russias war in Ukraine to align itself more broadly with India in the battle with China for influence among major emerging economies.
The Biden administration is in a no-win situation with this latest bombshell, said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation. If it sides with Ottawa, then New Delhi will be up in arms and, once again, question the loyalty of Washington. If it sides with New Delhi, then the US is contradicting a NATO ally.
The US frequently finds itself torn between its efforts to defend human rights around the world and the pragmatic need to partner with government accused of regular abuses to protect its geopolitical interests. That leads to periodic tensions, such as when agents from Saudi Arabia murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
Trudeau told lawmakers on Monday there were credible allegations that agents of the Indian government were behind the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia in June. Nijjar, 45 at the time and the temples president, was outspoken in both his advocacy for the creation of an independent Khalistan in the northwest and his criticism of human rights violations in India.
The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness, Trudeau said on Tuesday morning. Canada is going to remain calm, were going to remain grounded in our democratic principles and values, and were going to follow the evidence and make sure that the work is done to hold people to account, he added.
India has denied any involvement and blasted Canada for failing to take action against Sikh separatism. India had declared Nijjar a wanted terrorist and accused him of conspiring to murder a Hindu priest, among other allegations.
Without a resolution, the dispute threatens everything from pending talks to expand the modest $11 billion India-Canada trade relationship to communications between the two countries militaries, something that could create a headache for Biden as he seeks greater cohesion from partner nations.
Modis government sees Trudeau as politically beholden to the Sikh community, and expects relations with Canada to deteriorate, according to an Indian official with knowledge of the situation. At the same time, the person said, India-US security cooperation is on a strong footing and is unlikely to affected by Canadas allegations.
There is this evergreen challenge that the US and some of its allies face with India, concerns about what they regard as democratic backsliding, said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center. But at the same time they want to ensure they dont risk imperiling relations with a country that they view as strategically critical. Honestly, I think Washington will just stay quiet.
The historical issue of Sikh separatism has troubled Canada-India relations for years, and politicians in both countries have tapped into the issue to win votes. Canada has the largest Sikh population outside of Punjab after many left following riots in 1984. They have also become an important political group, including within Trudeaus administration. Modis party, meanwhile, has pushed policies appealing to voters who see India as a Hindu nation.
India has been historically prickly about public criticism from the US and its allies, and the US has said that it tries to voice concerns behind close doors. Speaking in Vietnam after his G-20 visit to India this month, Biden said he had raised rights issues in his recent meeting with Modi, though its unclear if they discussed Nijjars killing.
For its part, Canada pledged in a recently published strategy for the Indo-Pacific region to grow ties with India across a range of areas, while also acknowledging its growing strategic importance. The two sides had also previously expected to agree to a trade pact by end of this year but that was put on hold ahead of the G-20 summit. Canada last week postponed a trade mission to India that had been set for October.
As the India-Canada relationship worsens, the US will face a tough balancing act, according to Vivek Mishra, senior fellow at New Delhi based Observer Research Foundation.
I expect there will certainly be back-channel discussion between the US and India on how to proceed further, he said. With Canada being a NATO ally and India being a strategic partner ally, the US will have to do the tightrope walk.
--With assistance from Natalie Obiko Pearson and Jennifer Jacobs.
(Updates with Trudeau comment in eighth paragraph.)
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This is an excerpt from our true crime newsletter, Suspicious Circumstances, which sends the biggest unsolved mysteries, white-collar scandals and captivating cases straight to your inbox every week. Sign up here.
A true crime fan who used to spend weekends poring over police files and sharing theories in online message boards put up the money for private DNA testing and actually helped solve a 40-year-old cold case.
After she donated about $7,000 to fund the investigation, Jeanne Ayotte learned last month that the remains of Francis Patrick Fitzpatrick were finally identified in August. The 43-year-old man was last seen in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1983, but his loved ones never knew what happened to him.
Thanks to Ayottes donation to a private DNA laboratory that uses advanced technology and forensic genetic genealogy to identify human remains, Fitzpatricks son was finally able to bring his father home. The finding closes out a cold case with the Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which determined that the long-unidentified man died by suicide.
Jean Ayotte at CrimeCon in Las Vegas in 2022.
Jean Ayotte at CrimeCon in Las Vegas in 2022.
Regardless of the circumstances, regardless if theyre [a] murder victim, regardless if theyre an unfortunate suicide or someone thats unhoused and just died [in] the elements whatever the case may be, theyre a human being and deserve to have [their identity] restored to them, Ayotte, a real estate paralegal, told HuffPost.
The 48-year-old Ohio resident, who is fascinated by forensics, felt like shed hit the jackpot when she won an auction at CrimeCon, an annual true crime convention, for a real-life private CSI tour at Othram, a forensic DNA sequencing laboratory for law enforcement, and dinner with its CEO and co-founder, David Mittelman.
Having heard David speak at CrimeCon shes attended all five of its national in-person conventions I was like, no ones going to outbid me, Ayotte told HuffPost. That one was mine. She paid about $3,000 to win the tour.
Ayotte spent all day at Othram, touring its lab and meeting scientists and a genetic genealogist. The founders passion inspired Ayotte to make an unusual offer: Id love to fund a case if youre interested in that, she told Kristen Mittelman, Othrams chief business development officer, who co-founded the company with her husband.
The Mittelmans took Ayotte up on her offer. Othram, which works exclusively with law enforcement (with funding from a variety of sources, including private donors like Ayotte), received the skeletal remains from the Connecticut medical examiners office of a long-unidentified man whose body was found in the marshlands near the Connecticut River.
Othram scientists were able to extract DNA from his bones and generate a comprehensive profile based on hundreds of thousands of data points, David Mittelman told HuffPost a stark contrast, he claims, to the 20 DNA markers currently used by CODIS, or Combined DNA Index System, the computer software program that creates DNA profiles from convicted offenders in local, state and national databases.
Depending on the quality of the remains and the amount of genealogical research required, the companys process can cost $5,000$10,000. Citizen sleuths who want to help can donate money via DNASolves, an Othram website that Mittelman compares to Kickstarter. Were really crowdfunding among folks that are interested, he said. People contribute their coffee money a bunch of people chipping in a few bucks here and there, and next thing you know, a case is solved.
Francis Patrick Fitzpatrick in an undated photo.
Francis Patrick Fitzpatrick in an undated photo.
Othram played a key role in identifying Karen Vergata, known as Fire Island Jane Doe, one of 11 bodies found on or near Gilgo Beach in Long Island, New York. Vergatas remains, which were discovered in 1996, werent identified until after the arrest of Rex Heuermann on charges of killing three other women found on Gilgo Beach. He is believed to be a suspect in a fourth murder, and authorities are trying to determine whether he was involved in the other Gilgo Beach deaths. Mittelman confirmed to HuffPost that Othram is working to identify the remains of the other people found nearby.
While many larger law enforcement agencies like the Gilgo Beach task force do not need to rely on private funding, Mittelman pointed out that others do not have strong laboratory resources and that more remote or rural agencies might not have a crime lab at all. Othram, he said, is really eager to democratize this for everyone.
Of course, despite the huge advances in DNA technology, identifying remains and suspects in other crimes, like sexual assaults relies on a robust database. CODIS, the national database of convicted offenders maintained by the FBI, links DNA collected at crime scenes to other cases or to persons already convicted of or arrested for specific crimes, but labs like Othram are strong advocates for private DNA collection, which allows them to test DNA from victims and others who might not be in CODIS.
Othram charges about $15 for a DNA swab kit, or you can upload your results from genetic testing companies like Ancestry and 23andMe.
To people who are reluctant to contribute DNA samples due to privacy reasons or concerns about misuse, Mittelman emphasized that the data Othram collects is used exclusively by law enforcement agencies to aid in human identification to solve cold cases.
Americans are divided on whether its appropriate for DNA testing companies to share information with law enforcement, and lawmakers across the U.S. have taken steps to both restrict and open up police use of genetic genealogy. Department of Justice policy outlines that DNA from unsolved violent crimes should only be tested against private databases where users have voluntarily provided their own samples after CODIS has produced no leads and that law enforcement should never retain personal genetic information thats used in an investigation.
Jeanne Ayotte poses with David Rudolf (seen in
Jeanne Ayotte poses with David Rudolf (seen in "The Staircase" defending Michael Peterson) at CrimeCon 2019 in New Orleans.
There are currently more than 23,000 open missing persons cases and nearly 30,000 unidentified or unclaimed remains in the U.S., according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a free online database of unidentified remains and missing persons records. The National Institute of Justice, a research agency within the DOJ, has referred to the backlog of cases as a silent mass disaster.
This is something that burns a hole in my head, Mittelman told HuffPost. I think that theres a kind of a blast radius of damage that happens when a crime like this is unresolved. Its obviously the victim and their family and their friends, but the society at large, [including] the traumatized investigators that arrive at the scene these people get kind of frozen in time and stuck with this case, and they cant let it go and they pass it on to the next generation of detectives.
And not only are they waiting, but the family is not around forever to get the answer. [It would] be the ultimate tragedy to solve a case and then the familys not even there to know.
Ayotte said a frightening experience she had years ago made her mindful of just how easily families can lose someone. One night, she hitched a ride with a stranger who kept driving past her destination and refused to stop when she asked him to and she realized there was no door handle on her side of his truck. He eventually turned around and dropped her off, but what could have happened has always stuck with her.
I could have been sitting in a test tube at Othram, [with other people] either trying to identify who I was or who killed me, if that man intended that. Its kind of something that always stuck in my head and made me feel very lucky and fortunate. And it kind of spurred an interest in what can I do to either stop these people from doing this, or if something unfortunate happens, get a family their loved one back?
Since her visit to Othram, Ayotte said she has donated about $25,000 to the company. For me, this is charitable giving. We dont have all the resources we need to solve crime. We dont have all the resources we need to identify the missing and the lost. I look at it as no different than if Im giving to the Red Cross or if Im giving to the Salvation Army. Its just this is the charity that I choose to do.
Restoring Francis Patrick Fitzpatricks identity was exciting for Ayotte, but what she thinks of most is the mans son.
I just hope that whatever solving this case did, it helps him sleep at night, Ayotte said. Because a lot of [missing peoples loved ones] go to bed at night not knowing anything.
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(Bloomberg) -- Former President Donald Trump will visit Detroit on the day of the second Republican primary debate in a bid to court members of the United Auto Workers union who are striking against Detroits legacy big three automakers, according to people familiar with his plans.
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Trump will deliver a prime-time address before an audience of current and former union workers, according to the people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. Trump has also weighed appearing at a picket line with striking auto workers, but the logistics of such a visit may be difficult to organize, according to the people.
The second GOP debate is scheduled for Sept. 27 in Simi Valley, California at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Trump skipped the first debate in August and has previously said he would not attend the second forum. Trumps plans to visit Detroit were first reported by the New York Times on Monday.
The UAW launched an unprecedented strike on Friday against General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis NV, the maker of the Jeep and Chrysler brands, after the two sides failed to agree on a new contract by a deadline.
An extended work stoppage threatens to have devastating ripple effects upending supply chains, raising prices on automobiles and potentially tipping some battleground states with plants into recession.
At the center of the dispute over wages and job security are President Joe Biden s efforts to push the country toward electric vehicles. The UAW fears that transition will result in fewer union jobs for workers and less pay.
Earlier: Biden Has Few Options to Avert Strike Against Big 3 Carmakers
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has sought to appeal to rank-and-file auto workers and drive a wedge between them and their union leaders. The UAW endorsed Biden in 2020 but has not yet endorsed his reelection bid.
Union President Shawn Fain said Democrats need to do more to show their support for higher benefits and wages for auto workers and avoid taking the unions support for granted. Fain, though, has ruled out endorsing Trump, despite the former presidents calls for their support.
Trumps visit will take him to a battleground state, Michigan, which he lost to Biden in 2020. Biden has cast himself as the most pro-union president in US history but his clean energy push has put him at odds with organized labor. Republicans, including Trump, have lambasted Biden for his EV policies, saying the push will only cost US auto workers jobs and raise prices for consumers.
Donald Trump is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn. Instead of standing with workers, Trump cut taxes for the super-wealthy while auto companies shuttered their doors and shipped American jobs overseas, said Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Bidens campaign. No self-serving photo op can erase Trumps four years of abandoning union workers and standing with his ultra-rich friends.
The UAW on Monday said it was still waiting for counter-proposals from automakers. A union representative said no new offers had come from GM, Ford or Stellantis since the union made its proposals on Sept. 14, right before it began its strike.
Earlier: UAW Says Its Waiting for Counteroffers From Detroit Three (1)
Trump has so far declined to take the stage against his lower polling Republican rivals, saying the debates will only give his challengers more attention. The president has increasingly pivoted his attacks toward Biden, seeking to cast himself as the Republican partys de facto nominee four months before Iowa voters caucus.
(Updates to add Biden campaign comments in 10th paragraph)
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Former President Trumps criticism of a six-week abortion ban poses risks in Iowa, which boasts a strong conservative grassroots base and happens to be the first presidential contest state.
Trump attacked his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), for his signing of a six-week abortion ban, calling the move a terrible thing and a terrible mistake during an interview on NBCs Meet the Press. Trump went on to say that he would find a solution with which both sides will be happy.
The comments come as Trump ramps up his efforts in the Hawkeye State as his rivals continue to make inroads in the state.
Theres a variance of opinions but I dont think the average Iowa pro-life voter would appreciate what he had to say, said David Kochel, a veteran Iowa GOP strategist.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released last month showed 70 percent of Trumps supporters in Iowa saying they were in favor of a state law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. On top of that, the poll showed 69 percent of white, evangelical voters in Iowa, a critical group in the GOP nominating process, saying they supported a six-week ban as well.
Terry Amann, a Des Moines-based evangelical pastor who has met with Trump and several other GOP contenders, called Trumps comments disappointing.
I cant speak for all caucusgoers but for the evangelical Christian community, its very troubling. Our goal is to see the number of weeks go down, not increase, Amann said, referring to abortion restrictions.
It makes it really difficult for evangelicals and evangelical pastors like myself to really step up and give support because we just cant support that type of position, he continues.
DeSantiss campaign was quick to hit back against Trump, citing existing six-week abortion bans in states including Iowa, where Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed such a bill into law in July.
Trump says he will compromise with Democrats on abortion so that theyre nice to him: Both sides are going to like me, the DeSantis War Room account said on X, formerly known as Twitter. Then he says its a terrible thing babies with heartbeats are protected in Iowa, Florida and South Carolina. Ron DeSantis will never sell out conservatives to win praise from corporate media or the Left.
The legislation signed by Reynolds banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy in the Hawkeye State, with the exception of the well-being of the mother and in cases of rape and incest. Later that same month, a state court temporarily blocked the ban from going into place.
Most Republicans in Iowa do not think that that position is a stupid position, which is basically what Trump is saying, Kochel said.
Iowa is home to a strong anti-abortion activist base with groups like the Family Leader and the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition calling the state home.
Bob Vander Plaats , the president and CEO of The Family Leader, told The Hill on Monday that Trumps comments reveal his true colors.
He was willing to appoint three Supreme Court justices that would lead to the overturn of Roe v. Wade because it was a transactional deal which led to a transformational decision to appoint three justices, said Vander Plaats, who has been a vocal Trump critic.
Hes willing to make a deal to make both sides happy, and I think all Americans know thats probably not going to happen, he continued, referring to Trumps comments on Meet the Press.
Timothy Head, the executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, was a bit more optimistic.
If anybody can do it, he can do it, but I do think that most of the pro-life and, frankly, also the pro-choice camps are not expecting anything in the realm of compromise anytime soon, at least in federal bills, Head said.
Trump, who lost the Iowa caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2016, has recently turned much of his campaigns attention toward the state. The former president will head to Dubuque and Maquoketa on Wednesday, marking the first of five trips to the state in September and October.
Wednesdays event will mark Trumps eighth visit to the state, fewer times than many of his rivals, who have spent significantly more time campaigning there.
He doesnt have to do the things that other candidates have to do to get known because hes got 100 percent name ID and most people know how they feel about Trump already, Kochel said.
And polling shows Trump holds a relatively commanding lead in the state, despite slipping in some polls. An Emerson College poll released last week showed the former president with 49 percent support among Iowa Republican caucusgoers, down from 62 percent in May. DeSantiss support among the same group of voters sat at 14 percent, down from 20 percent in May.
If it looks like [Trump is] trying to get Iowa on the cheap, I think that runs the risk of alienating some voters who really want to engage with candidates and want to be able to ask questions and go to townhalls, Kochel said.
DeSantiss campaign has made the state a top priority heading into next years primary and caucus season, with a pledge to visit all of Iowas 99 counties, also known as the Full Grassley.
Over the weekend, DeSantis and Trumps other rivals attended the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalitions annual banquet in an effort to court the states evangelical voters. Trump, however, was noticeably absent from the gathering. The former president did address the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee in Washington, D.C., on Friday and at the Family Research Council and FRC Actions annual Pray, Vote, Stand conference.
Head said Trumps absence at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition event was due to scheduling and said the group had maintained a great relationship with Trump. But he acknowledged his absence, along with his comments on Meet the Press, could open him up to attacks from his GOP opponents.
It will just be all the more incumbent on President Trump and their team to reiterate or remind Iowa religious voters that he was the driving force behind the current Supreme Court and clearly the Dobbs decision, Head said.
However, Vander Plaats said Trumps increased attention on the state shows that, unlike in 2016, Iowa could be the key to the GOP nomination in 2024.
He sees Iowa very much in play, that this is not a sure victory for him, Vander Plaats said. If Trump is to get beat here, I think Trump knows and everybody else knows itll be game on to a nomination. If Trump wins here, I just dont think anyone is going to beat him.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Jeffrey Clark , one of the 18 people indicted in the Fulton County, Georgia, election case, pointed fingers at Donald Trump , saying he was pushed to investigate the 2020 election fraud claims at the direction of the former president.
The former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments environment and natural resources division was indicted alongside a group that includes Mr Trump for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
At the time, Mr Clark had drafted a letter to Georgia election officials saying that the Justice Department was looking into supposed irregularities that occurred in the states election.
On Monday, however, a lawyer for Mr Clark argued that he only wrote the letter at the direction of then-president Donald Trump.
This claim was made as part of an effort to move Mr Clarks case to federal court. His lawyer, Harry MacDougald, was trying to demonstrate that his client was acting within the scope of his duties as a DOJ official.
Mr MacDougald argued that it was simply impossible for Mr Clark to do what he was charged with if he had not been acting as a federal official, the Washington Post reported.
Mr Clark did not appear in court, but instead filed a sworn declaration on 14 September. The newspaper said that in this declaration, while Mr Clark emphasised that he acted in his role as a federal official, he did not mention that he had been directed by Mr Trump.
Jeffrey Clark mug shot (Fulton County Sheriffs Office)
Its unclear how the judge will receive Mr Clarks plea to move the case to federal court. Not only were others requests to have their cases moved a la Mark Meadows denied, but some seemed to have already debunked Mr Clarks argument.
In 2020, Mr Clark was also appointed acting head of the DOJs civil division. Jody Hunt, who preceded Mr Clark in that role, previously testified to the court that it was not within the civil divisions role to deal with election interference or voter fraud.
Mr Clark and Mr Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Mark Meadows, and others were indicted in August. He was charged under the RICO Act and faces a count of making a criminal attempt to create false statements and writings.
He had drafted a letter to Georgia officials claiming that the Justice Department had identified significant concerns about the results and should consider sending a separate slate of electors supporting Mr Trump.
The former DOJ official isnt the only Fulton County co-defendant to throw Mr Trump under the bus.
Last month, David Shafer, the former chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, claimed in a court filing that he merely acted at the direction of the incumbent President and other federal officials.
Former President Donald Trump took aim at President Bidens address to world leaders at the 2023 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday, referring to his potential 2024 election opponents speech as a surrender to which nobody showed up in a recent post on TruthSocial.
Biden just finished his surrender (speech) at the United Nations, and nobody, despite all we give them, showed up, Trump wrote in a post on TruthSocial. No respect for America any longer!
The GOP frontrunners comments came after Biden appealed to the heads of state and government from at least 145 countries at the organizations headquarters in New York, urging them to unite in support of Ukraine as the Russian invasion continues.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state feel confident that they are protected?
The president affirmed Americas commitment to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom, encouraging his international allies and partners to do the same. The Biden administration is currently working on securing approval from Congress to provide $24 billion in additional funding for Ukraine but must contend with resistance from some conservative House members.
Trump, who has said during this years election cycle that he would end the war in 24 hours and would not commit to sending aid to Ukraine if re-elected, last addressed the UNGA in 2018 and was met with laughter from the audience after he claimed at the time that in his two years of office, he had accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former President Trump is expected to travel to Detroit next week in lieu of attending the second Republican primary debate, putting himself at the center of a major autoworker strike.
Trumps trip underscores how the former president has in some ways already turned his focus to a possible general election rematch with President Biden, with the former president seeking to appeal to the type of union workers that are critical to Bidens voting coalition.
Its a twofer for him, said Michigan-based GOP strategist Jason Cabel Roe. He gets to troll his opposition and go stake a claim in an important battleground state that he has been unique amongst Republicans of the last 30 or 40 years in winning. So I think its a pretty savvy move on his part.
Trump skipped the first Republican presidential primary debate last month and instead sat for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, citing his comfortable lead in polling. He plans to travel to Michigan while his main rivals for the GOP nomination gather for the second debate in California on Sept. 27.
A Trump adviser confirmed the former president will deliver remarks in prime time in front of current and former union workers in Detroit, a hub of the U.S. auto industry. A visit to the picket line is unlikely, however. The New York Times first reported on Trumps plans.
Some Republicans believe that Trumps decision to speak to union workers in Detroit may make the second GOP debate less relevant this go-around. Its also likely to frustrate his Republican opponents, who are vying to go after him on the debate stage.
At the very least, he diminishes the value of the debate for other potential challengers and candidates, said Saul Anuzis, former chairman of the Michigan GOP. It may not be overwhelming, but to some degree, regardless of what it is, he clearly diminishes the value of the debates for all the challengers and makes it tougher for them to get their message out, to get their candidacy out there as an alternative for Trump.
At the same time, Trumps appearance underscores the importance of Michigan one of a handful of swing states that play a pivotal role in determining presidential elections.
Trump narrowly won Michigan in 2016 but lost the state in 2020. His campaign views the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike and the larger debate over the transition to electric vehicles as an opening to win over voters in the state.
Autoworkers represented by the UAW went on strike at a small number of factories last week after the union failed to reach a deal with General Motors, Ford and Stellantis. The union is asking for increased pay and benefits.
But also at issue is the fate of union workers as auto companies increasingly transition toward manufacturing electric vehicles, a factor Trump has zeroed in on, claiming the shift will mean more jobs are outsourced to China.
The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump, the former president said in an interview with Meet the Press.
The reason is: Youve got to have choice, like in school. I want school choice. I also want choice for cars. If somebody wants gasoline, if somebody wants all electric, they can do whatever they want, he added. But theyre destroying the consumer, and theyre destroying the autoworkers.
A poll published last week from Susquehanna Polling & Research showed Biden leading Trump by 3 percentage points in a hypothetical 2024 matchup in Michigan. Recent national polls have shown Biden with a similarly narrow lead over Trump.
Trumps attacks have put increased pressure on Biden, who has touted himself as the most pro-union president in history but has also pushed for expanded incentives around electric vehicles as part of his climate agenda.
Biden last week delivered remarks saying automakers should share record profits with autoworkers, and he has dispatched top administration officials to Detroit to help broker a deal.
The UAW has withheld its endorsement of Biden thus far, even as some other major unions have thrown their support behind the president.
Biden frequently speaks about the importance of unions, and Democrats have largely brushed off the prospect of Trump a billionaire with a reputation for stiffing his workers making significant inroads with organized labor heading into an election year.
Bidens campaign immediately went on offensive following the news of Trumps expected travel to the Great Lakes State. Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz posted on X, the website formerly known as Twitter, a statement from the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, whose general president slammed Trump and called him just another fraud who does not care about working men and women.
Shawn Fain, the head of the UAW, has also been sharply critical of Trump, saying in a statement Tuesday that every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.
At the same time, some Democrats have also suggested Biden, too, should travel to the state.
It would be great for President Biden to go as well, as he has been the most pro-union president in decades, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said in a statement, according to The Washington Post.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) argued that the president shouldnt be involved in negotiations between the two sides.
[Biden] doesnt belong at the table. We know he supports the workers. We know his administration supports the workers, Dingell said. We know that Donald Trump wants to build electric vehicles in China.
The Michigan Democrat acknowledged that Trump has been able to understand voters anxieties and concerns something she says her party wasnt as cognizant of during the 2016 election. But she vowed 2024 would be different.
Both candidates understand workers are concerned about the transition and these times, but we did a terrible job as Democrats, cause nobody thought that he could win. Im talking about trade. We will not make that mistake again, Dingell said. We will make sure that we remind people and we all have that responsibility to remind people of his track record.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), together with the Moroccan government, announced Monday that they have agreed to proceed with holding the 2023 World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings.
The meeting is scheduled for Oct. 9-15 in the western Moroccan city of Marrakech.
"Since the devastating earthquake in Morocco on Sept. 8, the World Bank and the IMF staff have worked in close coordination with the Moroccan authorities and a team of experts to thoroughly assess Marrakech's capacity to host the 2023 Annual Meetings," World Bank President Ajay Banga, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui said in a joint statement.
"In undertaking this assessment, key considerations were that the Meetings would not disrupt vital relief and reconstruction efforts, and that the safety of the participants can be assured," the statement said.
Based on "a careful review" of the findings, the Managements of the World Bank and the IMF, together with the Moroccan authorities, have agreed to proceed with holding the 2023 Annual Meetings in Marrakech.
The statement noted that it is of "utmost importance" that the meetings were conducted in a way that "does not hamper the relief efforts underway and that is respectful to the victims and the Moroccan people."
The death toll from the devastating earthquake in Morocco has risen to nearly 3,000 with more than 5,500 injured, according to the latest figures released by the Moroccan government.
Ray Epps, 62, of Arizona, was charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor for his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Ray Epps, an Arizona man at the center of a right-wing conspiracy, was charged Tuesday in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Epps, 62, faces one misdemeanor count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in proximity to a restricted building and grounds. A virtual plea agreement hearing is set for Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia before Chief Judge James Boasberg.
Epps, a former Marine, has said he went to Washington in January 2021 as a supporter of former President Donald Trump with no intention of breaking the law. He said he traveled there to protest the 2020 election, which he said he believed was stolen.
In July, Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson over a conspiracy theory alleging he was an undercover federal agent who instigated the attack on the Capitol.
His lawsuit says Fox and Carlson searched for a scapegoat in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot and destroyed his reputation and livelihood with "fanciful notions" that he was an undercover FBI agent.
The right-wing conspiracy claimed that Epps wasn't arrested for his involvement in the Jan. 6 riot because the Justice Department was protecting him. The conspiracy theory was fueled by videos showing Epps discussing entering the Capitol and whispering into the ear of another protester during the attack.
Epps' lawyer Michael Teter wrote a cease and desist letter to Carlson in March.
"The consequences of your lies cannot be minimized. Mr. and Mrs. Epps have been subjected to threats, intimidation, and harassment, resulting in significant economic and emotional damages," Teter wrote.
"Each time Mr. Carlson and Fox News spreads more misinformation about Mr. Epps, the harm redoubles."
Former President Trump on Tuesday sought to clarify his position on abortion after facing backlash from some conservatives for calling Floridas ban on the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy a terrible thing.
I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible, end Roe v. Wade, Trump wrote on Truth Social. For 52 years, people talked, spent vast amounts of money, but couldnt get the job done. I got the job done! Thanks to the three great Supreme Court Justices I appointed, this issue has been returned to the States, where all Legal Scholars, on both sides, felt it should be.
Trump reiterated that he believes in exceptions to abortion restrictions for cases of rape, incest and life of the mother, arguing that Republicans will struggle to win elections if they do not support exceptions.
In order to win in 2024, Republicans must learn how to talk about Abortion. This issue cost us unnecessarily, but dearly, in the Midterms, Trump wrote, adding that Republicans should paint Democrats as Radicals on the Abortion issue.
He also repeated a false claim that Democrats support abortion even after birth, which no one has actually backed. Vice President Harris earlier this month dismissed claims that Democrats support abortion until the moment of birth as ridiculous.
Trumps lengthy statement on the topic of abortion comes as he has faced criticism from conservatives and rival Republican campaigns for comments he made on Meet the Press when moderator Kristen Welker asked if he thought Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) made a mistake by signing the states six-week abortion ban into law.
I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake, Trump said. He went on to say both sides would come together to find a solution on abortion, an incredibly unlikely scenario given partisan divisions over the issue.
The former president, who is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, has repeatedly dodged questions about whether he would support a federal abortion ban if elected in 2024.
But he is likely to take fire from all sides on the issue of abortion over his latest comments.
Rivals like DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence, as well as some activists, have argued Trump is inconsistent on an issue that is important to many socially conservative voters and does not support tougher restrictions.
Its never a terrible thing to protect innocent life. Im proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) posted Tuesday on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Democrats, meanwhile, will seize on Trumps comments taking credit for the end of Roe v. Wade, which for decades protected a womans right to have an abortion. The Supreme Courts 6-3 ruling last year overturning the landmark decision helped lead to major Democratic turnout in special elections and in the midterms last November.
Bragging about overturning Roe. Is that still hedging? Biden campaign spokesperson Kevin Munoz wrote on X.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The United States has indicted a president previously the leader of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis .
The Davis case may offer certain analogs to the prosecutions of Donald Trump.
As the end of the Civil War neared, Davis, his family and many in his Cabinet fled the Confederate capital in Richmond, heading ultimately toward Florida to find a boat to a sanctuary out of the country.
Federal troops arrested Davis on May 10, 1865, and transported him to Fortress Monroe, on the Virginia coast. He would remain imprisoned for two years.
Many so-called Radical Republicans pushed hard for trial, conviction and hanging. To them, the case was simple warring against the U.S.A. was high treason under the Constitution. President Andrew Johnson , successor to slain Abraham Lincoln, initially agreed. But other Republicans were hesitant. They feared a trial would only re-open the wounds of a tragically divided nation.
The pro-prosecution voices prevailed, and in May 1866, a year after his capture, the Confederate president was indicted for treason. It was a flamboyant indictment, claiming that Davis being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil incited insurrection, rebellion and war against the United States of America.
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Some abolitionists supported Daviss release on bond
In May 1867, a year after the indictment, Davis finally earned release on bail bond guaranteed by a group of prominent Northerners including Cornelius Vanderbilt and the famous abolitionist Gerrit Smith. (Ironically, Gerrit Smith had helped finance John Browns 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, and Davis then a U.S. Senator had urged that Smith be tried and hanged along with John Brown.)
Steve Helber, AP A statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis stands on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. A city commission is considering whether to remove such statues. This Wednesday, June 28, 2017, shows statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. Cities across the United States are removing Confederate statues and other symbols, dispensing with what some see as offensive artifacts of a shameful past marked by racism and slavery. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) ORG XMIT: OTK
Under the law in force at the time, two judges presided over the case one was a Virginia federal district judge, John Underwood, and the other was U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon Chase.
Underwood had been a Radical Republican politician and a zealous abolitionist. Chase was a former senator from Ohio and a former Secretary of the Treasury in Lincolns cabinet. He had been a leading anti-slavery voice in the Senate. Despite these credentials, Chase was in favor of leniency to former rebels.
Davis defense centered on the claim that the Souths secession was legal, thus he was a citizen and resident of another country (the Confederacy), and as such he owed no allegiance to the United States. Treason, the argument went, is a crime that someone who is both non-citizen and non-resident cannot commit.
A judge suggested the defense change its strategy
As the case proceeded to jury trial, Chief Justice Chase presumably seeking to get rid of the case without agreeing to the secession defense took an unusual step and suggested privately to Daviss lawyer another defense, based on the concept of double jeopardy: that when southern leaders were stripped of their capacity to hold public office by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, Davis had already been punished.
Before trial, Daviss defense team followed Chases suggestion and moved to quash the indictment based on the double jeopardy theory. The presiding judges took polar-opposite positions on the motion, with Chase agreeing (obviously), but with the other judge Underwood disagreeing because he considered the Fourteenth Amendment provision a civil disqualification rather than a criminal punishment. Thus, the presiding judges of the case split on the question, and a certificate of division was sent directly to the U.S. Supreme Court for resolution.
Will Martin
Before the Supreme Court issued its decision, President Johnson effectively ended the case of United States v. Jefferson Davis by issuing an order granting complete amnesty to all participants in the rebellion.
Will Martin is a retired attorney; an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt Law School; and the author of a Civil War novel, Surrection.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Trump defense team might learn from the prosecution of Jefferson Davis
The tumultuous life of Alexei Navalny, Russia's outspoken dissident who has been sentenced to 19 years in prison
Alexei Navalny attends a rally in support of political prisoners in Moscow, Russia. Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Alexei Navalny, Russia's most famous living dissident, made a name for himself as an anti-corruption blogger.
His videos linked bureaucrats to palaces and yachts, gained millions of views, and sparked protests.
In 2013, Navalny ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Moscow and despite a conviction that barred him from running also attempted to run for president in the 2018 election.
Last month, Alexei Navalny a famously outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin had 19 years added to his prison sentence.
Navalny, 47, has been a thorn in Putin's side for 15 years first as an anti-corruption blogger, and later as an independent politician running and campaigning in local and national elections.
Navalny has often used humor to take on Putin. He dubbed Putin's political party United Russia "the party of Crooks and Thieves," and called Putin "a thieving little man in a bunker."
In 2020, he almost died after he was poisoned with a nerve agent, allegedly by Russian agents.He was flown to Germany for treatment.
Once he recovered, he returned to Russia knowing he would be imprisoned. He's now locked in a remote penal colony that's typically reserved for those accused of violent crimes and incarcerated people serving life terms.
Alexei Navalny was born on June 4, 1976, in Butyn, a town west of Moscow.
Alexei Navalny speaks during a rally against parliament elections in Moscow, Russia. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
His father was a Red Army soldier, and his mother was an economist.
Until he was 10, he spent his summers with his grandfather, who lived in the countryside near Chernobyl. But that came to an end in 1986 after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
As he grew up, his family moved between military towns in the Moscow area.
After failing to get into Moscow State University, Navalny went to Peoples' Friendship University of Russia where he studied law. He graduated in 1998.
He wasn't particularly fond of his university education and found it uninspiring, recalling he once put $50 in the exam book to get a passing grade.
Alexei Navalny poses in his office in Moscow, Russia. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP
He later earned a degree in economics, graduating in 2001.
Navalny got his first taste of corruption working as a real estate lawyer.
Alexei Navalny attends a meeting of the organizers in Moscow, Russia. Yevgeny Feldman/AP
"Working there taught me how things are done on the inside, how intermediary companies are built, how money is shuttled around," he told the New Yorker.
During this period of his life, his friends described him as a right-wing "punk."
In 1999, Navalny joined the Yabloko party, a liberal group his mother supported that formed after the Soviet Union collapsed.
Alexei Navalny speaks in his office in Moscow. Oxana Onipko/AFP via Getty Images
The following year, Vladimir Putin was elected president. Soon after, debates and elections became infrequent and Yabloko became less relevant.
Regardless, Navalny wasn't impressed with Yabloko's internal politics.
He later told the New Yorker the party struggled to reconcile "normal people" and a radical group who had been political in the 1980s before the Soviet Union collapsed.
Navalny clashed with the party when he posted several controversial videos, including a 2007 pro-gun rights video where he suggested that Muslim militants are "cockroaches" that need to be exterminated.
Alexei Navalny speaks at a meeting in Moscow, Russia. Mikhail Metzel/AP
In the video, he pretends to shoot an actor wearing a kaffiyeh who runs up to attack him.
In 2007, Navalny was kicked out of Yabloko. Party members said it was because of his "nationalistic activities." He had also gone to nationalist marches that were attended by uninvited neo-Nazis. He argued it was worse to ignore the movement and that these events had regular people, too.
His reasoning was later summed up by Daniel Roher, who directed the documentary, "Navalny."
Roher told NPR Navalny had said, "How can I afford to alienate these crazy guys? Their goal is to get Putin out of power. And my goal is to get Putin out of power. Fine. We might as well join forces."
In 2008, Navalny began to make a name for himself as an anti-corruption blogger.
Alexei Navalny speaks to his supporters and media after his release from a detention center in Moscow, Russia. Mikhail Metzel/AP
He used data and "relentless, paint-stripping contempt" to attack the government, as described by the New York Times.
It helped that Russia was experiencing an internet boom at the time. By 2011, a quarter of Russian families had broadband internet.
Navalny's videos were popular with a younger audience, attracted not by his ideology "but the confident challenge he mounts to the system," the New York Times published in a 2011 profile.
He started buying stocks in state-owned companies, including oil and gas monopolies, so he could ask questions as a shareholder and see how the companies worked from within.
Alexei Navalny takes part in a march at Strastnoy Boulevard in Moscow, Russia. Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
He soon found discrepancies. One company barely provided dividends but had donated $300 million to "charities" that no one could see. In another state-owned oil company, he discovered a $4 billion government corruption scheme.
His report received 1 million views on the day it was published.
When other companies refused to provide shareholder information, he sued them, then republished the information on his blogs.
Navalny was aware of how dangerous his work was.
Alexei Navalny attends a rally in support of political prisoners in Prospekt Sakharova Street in Moscow, Russia. Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
In 2011, Nikolai Tokarev, the chief executive of the state-controlled petroleum company, Transneft, accused Navalny of being a Western agent working for the CIA.
Navalny had just spent a year in the US studying at Yale University in 2010.
In response to Tokarev's claim, Navalny provided his wife with a list of names to contact if he suddenly vanished.
"They could arrest me at any moment," Navalny told The Times.
That same year, he founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation, or FBK for short.
Alexei Navalny speaks during an opposition rally in central Moscow, Russia. Alexey Sazonov/AFP/Getty Images
Through the foundation, he hired several activists who continued exposing corruption. The foundation's investigations took aim at the authority and reputations of officials across Russia.
One of its most famous investigations was a short documentary on then-President Dmitry Medvedev's hidden wealth. The documentary played clips of his duck pond and huge shoe collection, according to the Conversation.
In response to the foundation's work, the Kremlin later labeled it a "foreign agent" and "undesirable."
During 2011 and 2012, Navalny's popularity grew as he campaigned to get people to vote for politicians running against Putin's party, United Russia.
Alexei Navalny was detained by Russian police officers during a protest in Moscow. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
Navalny famously called United Russia the "Party of Crooks and Thieves."
There were widespread protests across Russia after United Russia still won the most seats.
In 2013, Navalny ran for mayor of Moscow.
Alexei Navalny takes part in a televised debate with former Kremlin adviser Andrei Illarionov in Moscow. Misha Japaridze/AP
Navalny ran a grassroots campaign meeting with voters outside metro stations and passing out posters. He didn't win, but he came second out of six candidates after winning 27% of the vote.
It was the first time there had been an election for the city in nearly 10 years after mayoral elections were banned in Moscow in 2004.
He told Foreign Affairs he hadn't wanted to run for office but was left with little choice.
"When this system controls the courts, the prosecutor's office, and everything else on earth, you have to change the system itself, that's all," he said.
During his mayoral run, he was also on trial for embezzlement.
Alexei Navalny seen behind the bars in the police van after he was detained during protests in Moscow, Russia. Sergey Ponomarev/AP
He was accused of stealing about $500,000 from a timber company, despite the accusation being dismissed earlier after a European human rights court found procedural violations in the first trial.
The case was reopened, and Navalny was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison in 2013.
Within hours, thousands of unsanctioned protesters meaning they faced the risk of being arrested gathered in Moscow. His sentence was suspended and he was released the next day.
Despite the conviction and loss of the election, all of the publicity transitioned Navalny from "a widely followed blogger and activist into a respected orator and politician," Joshua Yaffa wrote for Foreign Affairs.
The following year though, Navalny was accused of fraud alongside his younger brother, Oleg.
Police officers detain Alexei Navalny after his visit to the city's election commission office to submit documents to get registered as a mayoral election candidate in Moscow, Russia. Vasily Maximov/AFP/Getty Images
Navalny and his brother were accused of defrauding clients of a shipping company that they had started in 2008. Navalny was placed under house arrest meaning no access to phones, internet, or other people.
During his house arrest, he kept busy by studying the internet in particular, memes and viral hits.
Later in 2014, Navalny was convicted and given a suspended sentence of 3.5 years. He was released in 2015 on the same day Time magazine released its list of the internet's most influential people.
Navalny was on the list next to Justin Bieber and former President Barack Obama.
Navalny's brother, Oleg, was convicted and given a 3.5-year prison sentence.
Alexei Navalny and his brother, Oleg Navalny. Dmitry Serebryakov/AFP/Getty Images
It was seen as a tactic by the Russian government to keep Navalny under control. By 2020, Navalny himself had been to jail 13 times.
The government didn't stop there. It froze his bank accounts and imposed hefty fines for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which he struggled to pay off.
His critics also pointed to the fact he didn't have a clear idea of what he wanted Russia's future to look like. In general, Navalny said he hoped Russia would "resemble a huge, irrational, metaphysical Canada," but his main focus was on loosening Putin's grip on the country.
In late 2016, Navalny announced his run for president for the 2018 election.
Alexei Navalny is seen before his visit to the Russian Central Election Commission in Moscow, Russia. Evgeny Feldman for Alexei Navalny's campaign/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Navalny was implicitly barred from running because he was a convicted felon, but that didn't stop him. He opened more than 80 political campaign offices across Russia and called for a nationwide boycott of the election.
Putin was re-elected with 76.7% of the vote, according to Central Election Commission data.
In August 2020, Navalny was on a flight back from Siberia where he had been campaigning when he suddenly collapsed.
An empty stretcher was believed to have carried Alexei Navalny into the German hospital. Markus Schreiber/AP
Navalny said Russian agents had applied a nerve agent called novichok to his underpants. This was later confirmed by the German government, although Putin denied the accusation.
After international pressure, he was allowed to be flown to Germany for treatment. He was in a coma for a fortnight. Even after he woke up, he had back pain and lost control of his legs.
Navalny claimed he later managed to trick a Russian agent into confessing by calling and pretending to be an official demanding to know why the assassination had failed.
In 2021, after he had recovered, Navalny decided to return to Russia.
Alexei Navalny, who was arrested during an anti-corruption rally, gestures during an appeal hearing at a court in Moscow, Russia. Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images
He was arrested as soon as he got off the plane. When news of his arrest got out, protests occurred across 180 different cities and towns.
The foundation then released a video tying Putin to a 190,000-square-foot billion-dollar palace he secretly owned, which was built with taxpayer funds. In May, Insider published annotated versions of diagrams of the palace.
In June, the Russian government reacted by banning the foundation and closing down 40 of its regional offices.
Navalny's days of freedom also appear to be over.
Alexei Navalny is seen on a screen via a video link from his penal colony during court hearings t the Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow, Russia. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images
In 2021, he was sentenced to almost three years in a penal colony. Another nine years were added in 2022 for additional charges, and he was regularly locked in solitary confinement.
In 2022, Navalny was on the cover of Time magazine, described as "The Man Putin Fears," and a CNN documentary about his life called "Navalny" won an Oscar for best documentary.
Navalny's colleague, Maria Pevchikh, who is exiled from Russia, spoke about why the documentary was significant, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"Putin wants Navalny to be irrelevant. We were aware that this film was life insurance," she said.
Despite international support, Navalny was moved to IK-6 prison, a remote penal colony that's typically reserved for those accused of violent crimes and incarcerated people serving life terms.
A screen shows Alexei Navalny as he listens to his verdict over a series of extremism charges at the IK-6 penal colony. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images
In August, 19 more years were added to his sentence based on charges of extremism.
Navalny said Putin's main "gripe" with him was that he would be remembered for poisoning Navalny.
"We had Alexander the Liberator, Yaroslav the Wise, and we will have Vladimir the Underpants Poisoner," he said.
Navalny hasn't given up hope and told his allies "not to lose the will to resist."
Activists of the Russian community in Italy demonstrate for the freedom of Alexei Navalny and all Russian political prisoners. Simona Granati/Corbis/Getty Images
"I understand perfectly that, as many political prisoners, I'm serving a life sentence, which is measured by the length of my life or the length of life of this regime," he said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
FILE PHOTO: Migrant from Guinea, Paldy Soulima, sits with other migrants in a public garden in Sfax
By Tarek Amara
TUNIS (Reuters) - The Tunisian coastguard said on Tuesday it had intercepted more than 2,500 migrants and arrested dozens of human smugglers following a major crackdown launched last weekend in the coastal region of Sfax, a main departure point for migrants heading to Italy.
The operation, which included hundreds of security forces supported by anti-terrorism units, planes and police dogs, was ordered by President Kais Saied, who cited an "unacceptable influx of migrants".
The Italian island of Lampedusa is struggling with a record number of landings by boat migrants crossing from North Africa.
Almost 10,000 migrants reached Lampedusa last week, dealing a blow to the credibility of right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who won office last year vowing to curb illegal immigration.
A Tunisia national guard statement on Tuesday said that 62 human smugglers were arrested and dozens of boats had been seized in its operation. It also prevented about 1,900 sub-Saharan African migrants who tried to enter Tunisia across the land border, the statement said.
Most migrants arrive across the land border from Algeria.
The Tunisian coast guard recovered 920 bodies of drowned migrants off its coast from Jan. 1 to the end of August this year, Interior Ministry officials said.
(Reporting by Tarek Amara; editing by Grant McCool)
FILE - Tunisian President Kais Saied gives a speech at the new government's swearing-in ceremony at the Carthage Palace outside the capital Tunis, on Feb. 27, 2020. Tunisian officials detained a former prime minister for questioning before freeing him hours later, but jailed two top officials of the moderate Islamist Ennahdha party whos leader Rached Ghannouchi has been in prison since mid-April, the official TAP news agency said Wednesday. (Fethi Belaid/Pool via AP, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) Tunisian President Kais Saied s remarks about Storm Daniel have been denounced as antisemitic, prompting an uproar on Tuesday on social media platforms across the world following floods that devastated a Libyan city.
Speaking during a government meeting on Monday, Saied pointed to the name Daniel, which was chosen for the storm, making the link with the name of a Hebrew prophet, in a video broadcast overnight on the Tunisian presidency's social media.
Didnt anyone wonder why the name Daniel was chosen? Saied asked, adding: Because the Zionist movement has infiltrated minds and thinking, weve fallen into a cognitive coma.
The storm destroyed entire neighborhoods in the Libyan city of Derna, killing thousands of people.
Names of storms are chosen by meteorological authorities through a alphabetical list alternating female and male easy-to-remember names. Daniel is a very common name across the world.
Many scholars and human rights advocates denounced the remarks on social media.
The U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights organization, strongly condemned Saied's words as antisemitic comments that resonate with some of the worst conspiracy theories of Jewish control of the weather, according to a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Union of French Jewish Students tweeted that Saied reiterated intolerable anti-Semitic comments.
Saied also suggested that U.S.-sponsored talks to issue normalization agreements between Israel and some Arab states were connected to Zionists abroad.
Normalization for me is a major betrayal. The rights of the Palestinian people must be exercised throughout the entire Palestinian territory, he said.
In 2021, Saied denied accusations that he made antisemitic remarks while trying to calm youths after days of unrest.
Saieds statement was in response to allegations by the Conference of European Rabbis that he accused Jews of being responsible for the instability of the country. The statement, relayed by some Israeli media, caused an uproar, forcing Saied to address the allegations, which his office firmly denied.
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.
At the onset of his unprecedented third term, Xi Jinping stacked Chinas top ranks with a slate of loyalists who he presumably hoped would smooth the paths to achieve his grand vision for China.
Less than a year on, however, a storm of turbulence is roiling Xis hand-picked ruling elite, raising questions about his judgment and dampening international confidence in his governance at a time when China is facing major economic troubles at home and increased competition with the United States on the world stage.
In just a matter of months, two senior members of Chinas cabinet who served as the countrys key interlocutors with the world have gone missing. Defense Minister Li Shangfu has not been seen in public for three weeks, sparking speculation he is under investigation. Weeks earlier, Foreign Minister Qin Gang was dramatically ousted after vanishing from public view for a month.
Their sudden absence comes as Xi is seeking to eliminate any perceived threats and vulnerabilities in a drive to bolster national security, amid rising tensions with the West.
Both Li and Qin serve among Chinas five state councillors, a senior position in the cabinet that outranks a regular minister. Li also sits on the Central Military Commission, a powerful body headed by Xi that commands the armed forces.
Meanwhile, the surprise removal of two top generals has rocked the Peoples Liberation Army Rocket Force, an elite unit set up by Xi to modernize Chinas conventional and nuclear missile capabilities, sparking concerns of a broader purge in the military.
The Chinese government, which has become even more opaque under Xi, offered little in the way of a public explanation for the series of personnel shake-ups, nor did it show any interest in clearing up the inevitable speculation that has run rampant since.
On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Qin was found by a Communist Party investigation to have been engaged in an extramarital affair while serving as Chinas envoy to Washington, citing people familiar with the matter. Chinas Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the report.
The lack of transparency over the fate of two high-profile ministers has dealt a blow to the international image of Beijing, which has touted its political model as more stable and efficient than Western democracies.
Experts say the growing uncertainty among Chinas ruling elite has exposed the vulnerabilities of its one-party system which have only been amplified by Xis concentration of personal power during what is now his third term.
Whats going on in China really represents and has reflected an absolutely tremendous political risk emanating from Beijing, said Drew Thompson, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore.
The political risk is both among Xi Jinping and his relationship with his handpicked subordinates, but also the lack of established rules and norms that govern behaviors in the system.
As defense minister, a largely ceremonial role in the Chinese system, Li does not command combat forces. But he is an important face of Chinas military diplomacy to the outside world, said James Char, a research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
If Li Shangfu is really in trouble, Beijing will be perceived in a very negative way to have two state councillors removed so soon in Xi Jinpings third term, he said.
Since being promoted to the post in March, Li has traveled twice to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, visited Belarus president in Minsk, and shook hands with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a security conference in Singapore.
In recent weeks, however, Li has reportedly missed a series of diplomatic engagements, including an annual meeting on border defense with Vietnamese officials and a meeting with Singapores Navy Chief in Beijing.
But experts noted there is one silver-lining in Lis mysterious absence when it comes to efforts to stabilize US-China relations.
Li was sanctioned by the US in 2018 over Chinas purchase of Russian weapons, and Beijing has repeatedly suggested that the US wont get a meeting with Li unless the sanctions were revoked.
If Li was removed as defense minister, it could potentially open a window for the resumption of high-level military talks between the two superpowers.
China's Defence Minister Li Shangfu gives a speech during the Moscow Conference on International Security on August 15. - Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images/File
Xi could not escape the blame
The potential downfall of Xis own loyalists would reflect badly on the top leader, who has concentrated power and decision-making into his own hands to a level unseen in China in recent decades, analysts say.
Two state councillors single-handedly promoted by Xi had run into troubles within six months, no matter how hard the authorities try to defend it, Xi could not escape the blame, said Deng Yuwen, a former editor of a Communist Party newspaper who now lives in the US.
There will be questions within the party over what kind of people he has placed in important positions.
Rahm Emanuel, the US ambassador to Japan, even compared Xis cabinet line-up to Agatha Christies novel And Then There Were None.
Whos going to win this unemployment race? Chinas youth or Xis cabinet? the ambassador wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
China is already battling a series of economic woes from record youth unemployment and mounting local government debt to a spiraling property crisis. The growing uncertainty in Xis ruling circle risks fueling a crisis of confidence in the worlds second largest economy, analysts noted.
Xis latest high-level purge underscores his belief that ideological cohesion, not economic performance or perceived military prowess, are the cornerstones of a nations strength, a lesson he drew from the Soviet Unions collapse, said Craig Singleton, a senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington DC.
Lis removal may not seriously impinge on Chinas state relations, but it will almost certainly reinforce the international business communitys growing concerns regarding party overreach and dwindling transparency in China.
Fighting corruption
Military leader Li, 65, cut his teeth at one of Chinas main satellite-launch sites in the southwestern province of Sichuan, rising through the ranks to become its director.
After three decades at the launch center, he was promoted to work in the PLAs headquarters on armaments in 2013, soon after Xi rose to power. t
Li is believed to be a protege of General Zhang Youxia, Xis childhood friend and closest ally in the military. In a sign of his prominence, Zhang was promoted to first vice chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) during the leadership reshuffle last October despite having well passed the unofficial retirement age.
From 2017 to 2022, Li was in charge of Chinas weapon procurement as the head of the CMCs Equipment Development Department, a position Zhang previously held.
In July, days before the two top generals at Rocket Force were abruptly removed, the Equipment Development Department announced a fresh crackdown on corrupt procurement practices, calling for tips on questionable activities dating back to 2017 coinciding with the time Li took the helm of the department.
Since coming to power, Xi has wielded an unrelenting anti-corruption campaign, which ensnared hundreds of senior officials and generals and millions more lower-level cadres.
If you look back over 10 years, Xi Jinping is still battling corruption. Hes still battling disloyalty. Hes still expressing his concerns about the loyalty of the army towards the party, said Thompson, the researcher at the National University of Singapore.
This really reveals some fundamental problems in the nature of governance in Beijing. The lack of checks and balances, the over-reliance on top down party control does nothing to remove the incentives that underpin the behaviors that theyre constantly trying to root out.
Such purges will keep happening
Even as he has already amassed more power than any other Chinese leader in recent decades, Xi is still doubling down on a campaign to consolidate his authority in the party and the military.
Last week, as speculation mounted over the whereabouts of the defense minister, Xi called for unity and stability within the military during an inspection in Chinas northeast.
The lack of political trust between individuals in the system is an underlying driver of of this campaign, Thompson said.
Xi is not the only Chinese leader who has turned against his own circle after amassing unrivaled personal power. Chairman Mao Zedong, Communist Chinas founding father and the most powerful leader before Xi, purged many of his once trusted allies in the Cultural Revolution.
Char, the expert at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, warned the political shake-ups does not suggest Xi is losing his grip on power.
The very fact that he can remove anyone he wantssays a lot about the extent of control Xi has achieved, Char said.
But he noted the disappearance of Li and Qin is a symptom of the one-party centralized rule in China.
Until Xi Jinping has the gumption to reform the entire political systemIm very sure this kind of purges will just keep happening.
CNNs Simone McCarthy contributed reporting.
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(Reuters) - A separatist Armenian human rights official in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh said 25 people had been killed there on Tuesday as a result of an Azerbaijani military offensive.
Two of the dead were civilians, Gegham Stepanyan said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. Stepanyan added later that 138 people, including 29 civilians, had been wounded. Reuters could not verify his information.
Azerbaijan sent troops into Armenian-controlled Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of its own territory, earlier on Tuesday in an attempt to bring the region to heel by force, raising the threat of a new war with neighbour Armenia.
(Reporting by Maxim Rodionov; Editing by Andrew Osborn and Mark Heinrich)
The saga surrounding Alex Murdaugh has taken yet another dramatic twist after a random Georgia man was thrust into the centre of the convicted killers bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wifes aunt.
Back on 15 February, Timothy Stone took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been sticking her nose in my business, according to court documents.
Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt terrible about it and deleted it the next day.
He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by Satan.
Little did Mr Stone know that this brief family spat would become central to the so-called trial of the century going on in Colleton County Courthouse and efforts by convicted killer Murdaugh to be granted a new trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Earlier this month, Murdaugh filed a motion requesting a new trial on the basis that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case to return a guilty verdict against him.
Central to the bombshell motion was the circumstances surrounding juror number 785 who became infamous as the egg juror when she prompted some light-hearted relief by asking to pick up her dozen eggs from the jury room as she was dismissed from the case hours before deliberations began.
Murdaughs attorneys claim the juror was dismissed from the case after Ms Hill told Judge Clifton Newman about the posts from Mr Stone, claiming that they were made by jurors ex-husband as evidence that she was speaking about the case outside of the courtroom.
Now, in a new court document filed by Murdaughs attorneys on Monday, Murdaughs attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin state that this was a case of mistaken identity.
They say that the Mr Stone behind the posts is simply someone with a similar name to the jurors ex-husband and that the post had nothing to do with anyone associated with this case.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for hearing on state financial crimes charges (AP)
The Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts has given a sworn affidavit to Murdaughs legal team.
Mr. Stone is a resident of Georgia who has a name similar to the name of Juror #785s ex-husband. Mr. Stone was the author of the apology Facebook post, previously submitted as Exhibit E to Exhibit 1, which Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill represented was evidence Juror #785 had discussed the evidence presented at trial with her ex-husband before deliberations began, the document states.
In his affidavit, Mr. Stone avers that he has never been married to Juror #785 and that he has never posted anything to the Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth. He did post what Ms. Hill identified as the apology post by Juror #785s ex-husband but it was posted to his personal Facebook page and not the Walterboro Word of Mouth group.
According to the motion filed earlier this month, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February the day after Murdaugh testified at his trial claiming that she had seen a post in the local Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth from juror 785s former husband Tim Stone.
The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty.
A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by Satan.
When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadnt seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriffs Office personnel had gone to Mr Stones house and that he had confirmed he made the post.
She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty to which she said she had not made up her mind.
Murdaughs attorneys claim that the original post was fictitous and that a download of Mr Stones Facebook shows he did not make either post.
The Facebook post which was said to have been posted by a jurors ex-husband (THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In the Court of Appeals)
After the prosecutions closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again.
The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury just hours before jury deliberations began.
During her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case.
Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the jurors tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property.
The motion from Murdaughs attorneys included affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who denied ever making the posts.
Disgraced legal scion Murdaugh made several other damning accusations against Ms Hill as he accused her of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal.
In the motion, Murdaughs attorneys claim that Ms Hill tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaughs testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.
Specifically, they claim that the clerk instructed jurors not to be misled by evidence presented by the defence and told jurors not to be fooled by Murdaughs testimony when he took the stand.
She allegedly instructed the jury to watch him closely, to look at his actions, and to look at his movements on the stand something at least one juror said they understood to mean that Murdaugh was guilty.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilsons office responded to the allegations on Friday, saying that investigators probing the accusations had already found significant factual disputes with the claims.
The prosecutors did not outline what the factual disputes may be but pointed to the number of media interviews made by Mr Griffin and Mr Harpootlian about the motion.
The latest twist comes the same day that Murdaugh reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges after he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients.
In the agreement, signed on Monday, the double murderer will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Murdaugh is facing more than 100 state and federal charges over the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill swears in witness at Murdaugh trial (AP)
While he has reached a deal on the federal charges, he is heading to trial on the state charges in November.
Murdaugh appeared in court last week for a hearing on the state charges which include stealing more than $4m from the family of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who died in a mystery trip and fall at the family estate in 2018.
It marked the first time that he was seen in court since his sentencing at his murder trial.
Former friend and alleged co-conspirator Cory Fleming was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.
Meanwhile, former friend and Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte is also awaiting trial.
Murdaugh is also facing charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead two months after Maggie and Pauls murders.
For now though, Murdaugh is behind bars at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina where he is serving two life sentences for his wife and sons murders.
Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the familys 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies.
During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent familys 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull.
After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband.
During the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders but continued to claim his innocence of the killings.
The jury didnt agree and the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders.
ROELAND PARK, Kan. Eight Missouri schools and four Kansas schools including two in the Kansas City area received national recognition Tuesday.
The U.S. Department of Education honored the winners of 2023s National Blue Ribbon School Awards, recognizing a total of 353 U.S. schools for their exemplary test performances or efforts to close achievement gaps between students.
US News releases latest college rankings after formula change
Two schools in the Kansas City area received the national award: Edgerton Elementary School in the Gardner-Edgerton School District and Roesland Elementary School in Shawnee Mission School District.
Two other schools in Kansas Valley Heights Elementary School in Blue Rapids and Lakeside Elementary School in Cawker City were also named Blue Ribbon Schools this year.
On the Missouri side, eight schools were named National Blue Ribbon Schools, with majority in the St. Louis area:
Betty Wheeler Classical Jr. Academy, St Louis
Chesterfield Elementary School, Chesterfield
Fort Zumwalt South High School, St. Peters
Harry S. Truman Elementary School, Webb City
Mallinckrodt A.B.I. Elementary School, St. Louis
Mathews Elementary School, Nixa
Pierremont Elementary School, Manchester
Reed Elementary School, St. Louis
The leaders, educators and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a release.
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Created in 1982, the National Blue Ribbon School Program recognizes public, parochial and private learning facilities from across the country. This year, 313 public schools were awarded and 40 non-public schools were awarded.
In 40 years, the National Blue Ribbon School Program has issued about 10,000 awards to over 9,700 schools across the country.
This year, 46 states plus Washington D.C. and the Department of Defense Education Activity were represented in the awards. California boasted the most Blue Ribbon Schools with a total of 33, followed by Texas (29), New York (22), Illinois (20) and Ohio (19).
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Schools can be recognized for a Blue Ribbon School Award in one of two performance categories: high achievement as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests, and greatest advancements in closing achievement gaps.
Find a complete list of 2023 winners here.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Over 100 PLA warplanes set new record in drill around Taiwan island
10:23, September 19, 2023 By Liu Xuanzun ( Global Times
A fighter jet attached to the PLA Air Force Xi'an Flying College takes off at sunset during an around-the-clock training mission on August 19, 2023. Photo:China Military
A record-breaking more than 100 aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) were spotted around the island of Taiwan within 24 hours on Sunday and Monday. The sightings, which came after 20 PLA vessels, also broke their respective record last week. Experts say this shows that PLA exercises around the Taiwan island have reached a new level.
The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said in a press release on Monday that it detected 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLA vessels around the island from Sunday morning to Monday morning, with 40 of the detected aircraft, including Su-30, J-10 and J-16 fighter jets, YU-20 tanker aircraft and KJ-500 early warning aircraft, crossing the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits or entered the island's self-proclaimed southwest and southeast air defense identification zones.
It was the highest number of PLA aircraft that has been recorded in a single day around the island of Taiwan, observers said.
According to flight paths provided by the island's defense authority, the PLA warplanes covered both ends of the Taiwan Straits and flew to the east side of Taiwan island.
Dispatching a complete array of more than 100 aircraft to a same region in one day usually indicates a large-scale operational level campaign, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese mainland military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Monday.
Such a large number of forces and their large-scale joint operation indicates that the PLA's combat-oriented exercises around the island of Taiwan have reached a new level, and can be turned into real action at any time if necessary, Fu said.
Only less than a week ago, on September 12, the defense authority on the island of Taiwan said that 20 PLA vessels were detected around the island of Taiwan over the previous day, which also set a new record for PLA vessel activity around the island.
More than a dozen PLA warshipsincluding the aircraft carrier Shandongheld a five-day exercise in the West Pacific waters to the east side of the island of Taiwan from September 11 to Friday, according to releases from the defense authority on the island of Taiwan and Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff.
Both the record-breaking aircraft exercise and warship exercise were not announced by the PLA, and analysts said that such sudden, large-scale exercises could reflect that the PLA is able to deploy powerful, large scale concerted forces that can complete missions within a short period.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2023 shows fire and smoke from a building in Khartoum, Sudan. Violent clashes continued on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides accusing each other of targeting vital infrastructures in Khartoum. (WhatsApp group of the Sudanese Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)
KHARTOUM, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Violent clashes continued on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides accusing each other of targeting vital infrastructures in the capital Khartoum.
The SAF accused the RSF of leading a systematic military campaign to destroy the capital Khartoum.
"The militia committed a series of fires targeting a number of major and important economic institutions and commercial buildings, which are among the pillars of the country's national economy," Sudan's foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The ministry urged the international community, governments, and international, regional, and human rights organizations to condemn the RSF crimes and classify it as a terrorist group.
Video clips released on social media platforms on Sunday and Monday, and verified by Xinhua, showed fire and flames engulfing government buildings and headquarters west of the Sudanese army's General Command in central Khartoum.
The fire destroyed the tower of the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, one of the largest oil companies in the country and also engulfed the building of the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organization and the tower of the Sudanese Ministry of Justice.
The RSF, meanwhile, denied targeting government headquarters and accused the SAF of doing so.
"The Sudanese army warplanes continued deliberate bombardment of infrastructure and vital areas in Khartoum with the aim of destroying them," the RSF said on its page on social media platform X.
Eyewitnesses said that the clashes on Monday focused on the neighborhoods of Burri and Imtidat Nasir in eastern Khartoum. An eyewitness told Xinhua that the SAF launched strikes on the RSF bases in the Al-Mugran area and at the entrance to the Tuti Island Bridge in central Khartoum.
The independent Sudan Tribune news portal, meanwhile, said that there were also violent clashes at Al-Rashid city, north of the Jabal Awliya locality, south of Khartoum.
Sudan has been witnessing deadly clashes between the SAF and the RSF in Khartoum and other areas since April 15, resulting in at least 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 injuries, according to figures released by the Sudanese Health Ministry.
Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2023 shows a building damaged in violent clashes in Khartoum, Sudan. Violent clashes continued on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides accusing each other of targeting vital infrastructures in Khartoum. (WhatsApp group of the Sudanese Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)
Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2023 shows a building damaged in violent clashes in Khartoum, Sudan. Violent clashes continued on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides accusing each other of targeting vital infrastructures in Khartoum. (WhatsApp group of the Sudanese Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)
Photo taken on Sept. 17, 2023 shows smoke rising from a building in Khartoum, Sudan. Violent clashes continued on Monday between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with the two sides accusing each other of targeting vital infrastructures in Khartoum. (WhatsApp group of the Sudanese Armed Forces/Handout via Xinhua)
Two Models Found Dead Inside Their Downtown Los Angeles Apartments Just Days Apart | Getty Images
Nichole Coats, a 32-year-old model in Los Angeles, was found dead in her luxury apartment on Sept. 10. Coats family members first became concerned when they were unable to reach her by phone.
Coats father and aunt then went to check on her at her apartment, where they were met with a gruesome scene, local TV station KTLA 5 reported.
I couldnt recognize her, May Stevens, Coats aunt, told KTLA 5. I believe it was murder, I really do. One of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position. Thats not somebody who just laid in their bed and died.
Two Black models were found dead inside their Downtown, Los Angeles luxury apartments within three miles of each other, in one week.
The family believes these two deaths are connected and there is a predator/serial killer on the loose in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/CXeZizghel South Central Native (@slausongirlnews) September 17, 2023
Loved ones said it was Coats friends who last heard from her on Sept. 8 when she told them that she was going out on a date. The models mother, Sharon Coats, said she doesnt know anybody who would hate her daughter.
I dont know who she went out with or what transpired there, Sharon told KTLA 5. I have no idea, but Im going to find out. So if youre out there, youre going to get caught. Youre messing with the wrong person.
She added, This is senseless and I want some answers because my daughter is gone. And its not fair. I want everybody to find out who did this to her. She shouldnt be gone.
Just a couple days following Coats death, another model, 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney, was found dead inside her apartment, which is less than a mile away from Coats apartment, leading both families to believe theres a possible link due to the similarities.
31-year-old model Maleesa Mooney was found dead in her downtown LA apartment on Sept. 12, according to the LAPD. Two days before, on Sept. 10, authorities found 32-year-old Nichole Coats dead in her apartment, less than a mile away. https://t.co/HhUXpJbTa6 FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) September 17, 2023
When a week went by, we just knew something was off, Mooneys cousin Bailey Babb told KTLA 5. Her messages werent delivering, and we knew something was up because we all have a special relationship with Maleesa.
Officials said they are investigating Mooneys case as a murder. Coats case, however, is considered as a suspicious death right now. Over the weekend, LAPD Officer Drake Madison said we had no information of any type of homicide or anything of Coats death. He added, We couldnt find anything on that. It could be anything.
Coats loved ones have organized a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $15,000 so far.
Nikkis vibrant personality was one that touched and affected everyone she crossed paths with, the page stated. She is known as an amazing daughter, friend and soul. Her untimely passing has left us shocked. Theres no way we could have imagined or prepared for this difficult time.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case is encouraged to call the Los Angeles Police Department at (877) 527-3247.
If retirement is on your horizon, you may not have to look far for an ideal place to settle down.
Thats because North Carolina is home to two of the best places to retire in the South, new rankings show. Blowing Rock ranks No. 1 for mountain towns, and the waterfront city of Beaufort is the top destination for healthy living, according to results that Southern Living magazine published Tuesday, Sept. 19.
To create the list of top places for retirees to live, Southern Living said it worked with the financial website Investopedia to evaluate 41 cities. In March, those cities had been named among The Souths Best, a distinction for places that received nominations from editors and reigned supreme after thousands of magazine readers completed a survey.
The final list of Best Places to Retire was chosen based on how each city or town compared to the U.S. as a whole on a variety of economic and lifestyle criteria including: home and rental affordability, average resident age, unemployment, best industries for jobs and wages, prevalence of restaurants, hospitals, and colleges, Southern Living wrote in its new report.
What do the NC retirement destinations offer?
Among the 12 categories considered, North Carolina destinations made their mark in two. Blowing Rock was described as a place where retirees rule the roost, given the median resident age of 61 (as opposed to the national 38.9).
In addition to boasting an older population, the town roughly 90 miles west of Winston-Salem received nods for its lavish floral displays, nearby forests and, of course, Blowing Rock a cliff that hangs 3,000 feet above a gorge.
The town of about 1,000 people also received a nod for restaurants that serve local fare. Last year, one Blowing Rock dining destination The Restaurant at Gideon Ridge ranked among the nations best places for upscale meals and date nights, McClatchy News reported.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is seen near Blowing Rock, which was named one of the top retirement destinations in the region.
Also on the more recent list, Beaufort was named the top retirement destination for healthy living. Southern Living gave the town roughly 160 miles southeast of Raleigh praise for its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and said 60% of Beaufort residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park.
Beaufort, home to about 4,000 people, also received praise for offering residents chances to stay active by riding bikes and building boats. When its time to unwind, the magazine highlighted the towns waterfront dining scene.
We had fresh tuna and saw a pod of dolphins and three wild horses in the distance, retiree David Cartier told Southern Living. Sometimes we watch yachts on the Intracoastal Waterway. It never gets old.
On the Southern Living list, Chattanooga, Tennessee, ranked as the best all around retirement destination. Other categories included the best places for food, beaches, cities, outdoors, nature, affordability, lifelong learning, home buying, and arts and culture.
Southern Living only published one top winner in each category. In an email to McClatchy News, the magazine said the rankings focused on the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
Two NC cities rank among best places to live in Southeast. What makes them special?
Two North Carolina destinations rank among best places to visit this fall. Heres why
Two women were hospitalized Monday after they were hit by gunfire in a Sacramento shooting, which took place on the same street and block of an Upper Land Park neighborhood where a man was shot and killed Friday evening.
About 2 p.m. Monday, officers were called for a reported shooting in the 2600 block of Kit Carson Street, just south of Revere Street and west of Muir Way. Officers arrived and found the two women who each had at least one gunshot wound, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
The wounded women were taken by ambulance to a hospital. There was no further information about the extent of their injuries.
No arrests in the shooting had been made as of Monday afternoon. Police said the shooting investigation was still in its early stages, and they will provide updates when more information becomes available.
Fridays shooting was reported about 7 p.m. in the Alder Grove public housing complex, formerly known as New Helvetia. Officers arrived at the scene and found a man with at least one gunshot wound, and began life-saving measures. Medics from the Sacramento Fire Department arrived shortly after and took over, but the man died at the scene.
The Sacramento County Coroners Office had not yet released his name pending family notification.
Its unclear whether Mondays shooting has any connection to Fridays homicide.
We dont want to speculate but that is something that will be determined through the officers and detectives investigation, police officials said.
Investigators asked anyone with information about Mondays shooting to call officers at 916-808-5471.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) The office of U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) is now accepting applications for service academy nominations for appointment to four of the five U.S. service academies: the U.S. Military Academy, U.S Naval Academy, U.S. Air Force Academy, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
The fifth service academy, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, does not require a congressional nomination for appointment.
According to Senator Mullins press release, the deadline to apply for a nomination is Friday, October 13, 2023.
Governor Stitt requests approval for tribal gaming compacts rejected by Oklahoma Supreme Court
Mullin released the following statement regarding this years nomination process:
The decision to apply to a service academy is an incredibly personal and courageous one, and I am humbled to be a part of the process, said Sen. Mullin. No matter the branch, rank, or role, each of our men and women in uniform play an important part in maintaining our national security and defending our way of life. I encourage Oklahomas qualified high school seniors to consider if this path is right for you. I wish you all the best of luck in the process, and I look forward to reviewing your applications.
Details:
A nomination does not guarantee admission. If an individual receives a nomination from the Senators office, next, they must receive an appointment from the service academy.
The honor of attending a U.S. service academy comes with an obligation and commitment to serve in the military for a minimum of five years upon graduation. At that time, individuals receive a bachelors degree and are commissioned as military officers.
In addition to meeting the minimum eligibility requirements, the Senators office recommends that each applicant excel academically and demonstrate involvement in extracurricular activities through their schools and in their communities.
Applications and additional information can be found on the Senators website: www.mullin.senate.gov/services/service-academy-nominations/
Students must submit four copies of their completed application, along with four copies of their 35 photo, by mail to the Senators Oklahoma City office.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
By Natalie Grover
LONDON (Reuters) - A new U.S. approach is needed to facilitate the re-opening of a pipeline between Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Turkey, a trio of U.S. congressmen urged President Biden in a letter seen by Reuters.
The pipeline contributes about 0.5% of global oil supply, and has been shut since March, costing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) roughly $4 billion in lost exports, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
Turkey halted flows on Iraq's northern oil export route this year after an arbitration ruling by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) ordered Ankara to pay Baghdad damages for unauthorised exports by the KRG between 2014 and 2018.
With global oil supplies being restricted by OPEC+ and prices rising, the United States would also benefit from the resumption of flows from northern Iraq's oil sector.
The KRG has served as one of the United States' most reliable partners in the Middle East, said the letter signed by three members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.
However, the closure of the pipeline has cut the region off from the majority of its revenue, the letter said, citing a communique to Biden this month in which KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani warned the economic drain on the region could trigger its collapse.
The KRG is being "economically strangled, politically and legally pressured ... and militarily threatened by Iran and Iran-backed elements in Baghdad," added the letter from congressmen Michael Waltz, Michael T. McCaul and Joe Wilson.
It called for a "new Iraq strategy" to help fix the crisis, but did not detail what that should be.
The letter came ahead of a meeting between Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York.
Blinken during the meeting "underscored U.S. support" for the re-opening of a pipeline.
(Reporting by Natalie Grover in London; Editing by Mark Potter)
Cuban leader Miguel Diaz-Canel used the spotlight at the United Nations general debate session on Tuesday to lash out at the United States economic sanctions against the island, calling it a ruthless economic war with brutal effects.
But notably, he did not mention Russia in his speech, despite his several public comments justifying and supporting Russias invasion of Ukraine, a telling sign of the fine line Cuba is straddling on the international arena.
While Cuba remains a close political and military ally of Russia, the country now has to speak as temporary chairman of the G-77, a group of 134 UN member nations wary about the consequences the war is having on their countries.
Miguel Diaz-Canel brought up several issues other leaders from developing countries were expected to raise, calling for debt relief, a reform of the international financial institutions and more urgent action to deal climate change.
Then, he started bashing the United States.
For 60 years Cuba has suffered a suffocating economic blockade, an inhumane policy he blamed for the shortages of food and medicines on the island. He said Cuba was not a national security threat to the U.S, and that the American government lied when it concluded that Cuba sponsors terrorism.
He ended his speech with the traditional Cuban slogan Venceremos, We will prevail without mentioning the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, was in attendance earlier in the morning for President Joe Bidens address and was scheduled to speak to fellow leaders later on Tuesday.
Galvanizing support for Ukraine was a central theme in President Bidens speech, in which he urged foreign leaders to reject Russias violations of the principles of the U.N. Charter.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said. If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? The answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.
Diaz-Canel spoke instead of the unilateral coercive measures powerful countries used to subjugate others and rejected sanctions against Venezuela, Syria and North Korea, again remaining silent on Russia, which is also under sanctions by the United States and other countries over its war on Ukraine.
President Biden was not in the room for Diaz-Canels address.
Cuba leader Miguel Diaz-Canel arrives in the U.S. to speak at the United Nations
While his trip has received little attention in the United States and so far he has not scored high-profile bilateral meetings Diaz-Canel has said one of his primary goals is to prove the island is not isolated diplomatically.
Though he did not secure foreign support capable of helping lift Cuba out of its severe economic crisis, the Cuban leader came to New York emboldened by his recent foreign tours abroad and his presiding of a recent summit in Havana of the G-77 plus China. There, he rubbed shoulders with the U.N. Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, and the presidents of Brazil and Colombia, two of the largest South American nations and important U.S. partners, who publicly advocated for lifting the U.S. embargo and removing Cuba from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Anyone who thinks that Cuba is isolated, their argument has collapsed, Diaz-Canel told diplomats and employees at the Cuban mission to the United Nations shortly after he landed on Sunday.
Cuban diplomats, who for decades have been very active at the U.N, securing a yearly declaration condemning the embargo, said they wanted to make the most of the momentum to hammer criticism of unilateral coercive measures against any country, as well as all colonialist, hegemonist, interfering and discriminatory practices in international relations, said Rodolfo Benitez Verson, an official at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, supported Cubas call for relief from the U.S. sanctions.
Brazil will continue to denounce measures adopted without the cover of the United Nations Charter, such as the economic and financial embargo imposed on Cuba and any attempt to classify this country as a state that sponsors terrorism, Lula said.
Petro said Cuba was unjustly blocked and the victim of a former Colombian president, a reference to Ivan Duque, with whom he has been sparring on X over Petros support of Fidel and Raul Castro. At the beginning of his U.N. address, Petro blamed Duque for suggesting the inclusion of Cuba on the U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism just because it helped to make peace in Colombia.
The context for that remark was Cubas past statement that as a mediator in the Colombian peace process, it could not extradite leaders of a terrorist guerrilla group, the ELN, that Duque accused of having ordered a terrorist attack in Bogota in 2019. Citing Cubas refusal at the time, the Trump administration placed Cuba again on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism in January 2020.
Historically, presenting itself as a tiny victim of a mighty imperial neighbor has been a winning message for Cuba in the United Nations, where its savvy diplomacy has secured the islands government, known for its repressive policies against dissidents and for currently holding more than 1,000 political prisoners, a seat at the U.N. Human Rights Council.
Cuba is running for reelection next month.
But human rights activists said Tuesday they had collected 2,200 signatures of people calling for the expulsion of Cuba from the Human Rights Council. They also said they had asked the Biden administration to sanction Diaz-Canel for violating human rights on the island.
Thousands of people around the world are asking that Cuba not be a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council, taking into account that repression has increased over the past four years on the island, said John Suarez, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba. The Cuban dictatorship and its representative Diaz-Canel are criminals who must be held accountable and not received at the United Nations.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., wears a hoodie while addressing President Joe Biden during an event in June. Effective Monday, Fetterman will be allowed to wear his signature shorts and hoodie on the U.S. Senate floor after Sen. Chuck Schumer , D-N.Y. sent a directive to the sergeant-of-arms to relax the dress code. File photo by Laurence Kesterston/UPI
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Senators will be allowed to wear whatever they want on the Senate floor, now that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer has loosened the chamber's informal dress code.
"Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit," Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday in a statement.
Schumer's new dress code directive was sent to the Senate's sergeant-at-arms last week, and went into effect Monday.
While Senators will be allowed to wear whatever they want, staff and outside visitors will still be required to adhere to the stricter dress code of coats and ties for men, and business attire for women.
The new dress code will allow Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who frequently wears shorts and hoodies instead of suits, to vote on the Senate floor. Fetterman, who returned to the Senate in April after receiving treatment for depression following a stroke, managed to skirt the dress code in recent weeks by voting from the edge of the chamber.
While Fetterman has not commented on the new dress code, Republicans took to social media Monday to blast the new standard.
"Police. Firefighters. Judges. Pilots. They all have uniforms. Ours is a suit and tie," Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"We shouldn't abandon it because it's more comfortable to wear sweats."
Police. Firefighters. Judges. Pilots. They all have uniforms. Ours is a suit and tie. We shouldn't abandon it because it's more comfortable to wear sweats. https://t.co/Ij9KOETPJk pic.twitter.com/9z8hP76cUX Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) September 18, 2023
"Dress code is one of society's standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote in a post on X. "Stop lowering the bar!"
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters jokingly that she plans to "wear a bikini."
"I think there is a certain dignity that we should be maintaining in the Senate, and to do away with the dress code, to me, debases the institution," Collins added.
While the Senate's dress code was not written policy, other senators -- including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz -- have been seen on the Senate floor wearing gym clothes to cast their votes.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, who wore travel clothes on Monday -- which included black pants, a quarter zip and sneakers -- said she hopes the dress code change will warm up the Senate chamber, which women frequently complain is much too cold.
"I'm not so hung up on things to think that every single day a man needs to wear a necktie," Murkowski said.
"If I had my way, we would have summer casual for men so we didn't have to have the air conditioning so crazy low and spend so much money keeping this place cold."
United Auto Workers (UAW) president Shawn Fain made it clear he doesnt approve of former President Trumps trip next week to Detroit amid the unions ongoing strike against the Big Three automakers.
Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers, UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement to CNN.
The Hill has reached out to Fain and UAW.
As workers continue to stand on the picket line, demanding wage increases and benefits from Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, Trump will deliver prime-time remarks to current and former union workers in Detroit instead of attending the second Republican presidential primary debate Sept. 27.
Trump, who won Michigan narrowly in 2016 but lost the state in 2020, may attempt to appeal to union workers, a critical voting block for President Biden and Democrats. But Fain said UAWs message directly contrasts with who Trump is and what he represents.
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Union workers have long been seen as a key cog of the Democratic base, but polling from the last presidential election indicates these voters may be shifting allegiances.
While Biden garnered the most votes from union households (56 percent) compared to 40 percent for Trump, according to exit polling by CNN, Trump won the support of workers with less than a college degree in 2016 and again in 2020, by 7 and 8 percentage points respectively, according to The Pew Research Center.
Biden has repeatedly claimed he is the most pro-union president, but Fain has yet to endorse the president, saying last week that endorsements have to be earned and members need to see actions not words, from Biden.
Our endorsements are going to be earned. Weve been very clear about that, no matter what politician.
Fains decision not to endorse Biden is driven by concerns about federal electric vehicle (EV) policies. The Biden administration has pushed for an industry shift to EVs, which require fewer workers to make, and the concern is how such a transition could impact workers jobs and pay.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Russian operations around the islands of the lower Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, which currently mark the front line, have likely been "energized" since being assumed by Russia's 40th Army Corps, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its daily update on Sept. 16.
Heavy fighting has reportedly continued in the area through the first half of September.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have launched raids with groups in small boats against the islands and the opposite riverbanks.
According to the ministry, while the number of forces committed to the area are relatively small compared to other fronts, "both sides see the area as strategically important."
The area also reportedly serves as a means to "draw their adversary's units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts."
The city of Kherson and other settlements in the region on the Dnipro River's west bank have been continuously subjected to Russian shelling since they were liberated by Ukrainian forces in November 2022.
Read also: Russias southern mistake Surovikin lines, Gerasimov tactics
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The U.K. will provide Ukraine with tens of thousands more artillery shells in the coming months, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said on Sept. 19 after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Ramstein, Germany.
"Today we've demonstrated the U.K.'s unwavering commitment to Ukraine and set out more military support, including pledging tens of thousands more artillery shells to enable Ukraine to defend itself," Shapps said, as cited by Reuters.
"We have also set out how the U.K. will go further in the coming months in our priority support areas, including air defense and long-range strike capabilities, and training."
The Ukraine Defense Contact Group meets regularly to coordinate the allied support for Ukraine's struggle against Russian aggression.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged Kyiv's partners to "dig deep" and provide Ukraine with more air defenses.
Ukrainian leaders have stressed the importance of both air defense systems to protect the population and infrastructure against Russian airstrikes, and artillery support to counter Russian advantage in heavy guns on the battlefield.
Read also: Austin says Ukraine will receive Abrams tanks soon
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TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's financial regulator on Tuesday started its probe into the country's major used car dealer Bigmotor and insurance company Sompo Japan Insurance, in response to allegations of fraudulent insurance claims related to automobile insurance, local media has reported.
According to the Financial Services Agency (FSA), a thorough investigation was initiated to uncover the reported collusion between Bigmotor, which deliberately damaged vehicles during repair to make exaggerated insurance claims, and Sompo Japan Insurance, which resumed transactions with Bigmotor despite being aware of the fraudulent activities.
The responsibilities of Sompo Holdings, the parent company of Sompo Japan Insurance, were also brought into question amid the probe, national news agency Kyodo reported.
If it is determined that the company disregarded the interests of insurance policyholders, administrative sanctions such as orders for business improvement may be imposed.
The FSA has not ruled out the possibility of conducting an inspection at Sompo Holdings itself.
Amid the insurance fraud scandal, Sompo Japan Insurance President Giichi Shirakawa on Sept. 8 publicly announced his decision to resign, taking responsibility for the situation.
UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps promised on Tuesday additional supplies of artillery shells for Ukrainian forces by the end of the year after a Ramstein-format meeting on defence assistance for Ukraine.
Source: UK Ministry of Defence
Details: Shapps' statement was made against the backdrop of the shipment of the 300,000th artillery shell. He said that UK aid will allow Ukraine "to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked invasion and to retake illegally occupied territories."
Quote: "To ensure Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself as we approach winter, we have also set out how the UK will go further in the coming months in our priority support areas, including air defence and long-range strike capabilities, and training."
More details: Admiral Sir Tony Radakin , Chief of the Defence Staff, said that "President Putin should be worried".
"This is a tangible demonstration of the international community's continued resolve to back Ukraine with the military support it requires through the winter and into 2024," he added.
Background:
The UK Ministry of Defence said that to date, the UK has sent Ukraine more than 12,000 anti-tank weapons, 300,000 pieces of artillery ammunition, thousands of air defence missiles and self-propelled artillery systems.
Kyiv also received more than 200,000 pieces of non-lethal military equipment from London, including clothing for extremely cold weather, mine detection equipment and industrial power generators.
By the Western estimates, Ukraine uses up to 10,000 155mm artillery shells per day. And in February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Kyiv was using up shells much faster than the West could produce them.
The United States is seeking to significantly increase the production of artillery shells up to 100,000 per month in 2025 given that they are rapidly being used up in the course of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Meeting in the Ramstein format on September 19, 2023
The United Kingdom will deliver tens of thousands of artillery shells to Ukraine, while Germany is planning to provide a $428 million aid package following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (also known as the Ramstein format) on Sept. 19.
After the meeting, UK Defense Secretary Grant Shapps stated that London has extended additional military aid to Ukraine. Specifically, they have pledged to supply "tens of thousands of artillery shells." The meeting also identified priority aid for the coming months, including air defense, "long-range strike capabilities," and training for Ukrainian troops.
The German Defense Ministry has announced a new aid package totaling about $428million that will include:
Read also: Up to 10,000 Russian elite paratroopers deployed as infantry towards Robotyne UK Defense Intelligence
- 200 MRAP mine-resistant armored vehicles;
- 50 naval drones;
- 480 AT2 anti-tank mines;
- 30,000 155mm artillery shells and roughly 3,800 smoke rounds;
- 105,000 120mm munitions;
- Demining systems;
- Winter gear, additional spare parts, and more.
Read also: Defense overhaul continues in Ukraine under new minister Umerov as government ousts deputy team
The Sept. 19 Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting, held at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, was the first one for Ukraines newly-appointed Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
(Bloomberg) -- Ukraines leadership is bracing for an escalation of Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure as cold weather approaches and the Kremlin continues to throttle the nations grain exports, the countrys deputy premier said.
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People are preparing for a severe winter, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. The blockade of Ukrainian ports is a situation of survival for the embattled nations economy, while Russias conditions for restarting a deal to secure Black Sea commerce are impossible, she said.
With the Black Sea export channel disrupted, Ukraine has had to shift to costlier river, rail and road routes through the European Union. The government in Kyiv moved this week to challenge unilateral grain-import bans imposed by three of the EU neighbors Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement with Romania, while Bulgaria joined the EU in lifting the restrictions.
We are operating in times of war, understanding that these five countries are the only available area of exporting and releasing the grain products to the whole world, Stefanishyna said, adding that Ukrainian grain doesnt threaten Polands domestic market.
The deputy premier, whos in charge of Ukraines European integration, said Poland is continuing its political support for Ukraines European aspirations and defense.
--With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska, Olesia Safronova and Max Ramsay.
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"A few days ago" Ukraine refused to accept a batch of 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany, saying they need to be repaired but Ukraine has no technicians and components for this.
Source: European Pravda with reference to German media outlet Spiegel
A few days ago, Spiegel reports, Kyiv informed the special staff of the Ministry of Defence of Germany that the German Leopard 1 tanks that arrived in Poland are in need of repairs, some of them require a major overhaul.
The German side sent a group of experts to Poland to examine the tanks themselves. There it was revealed that "they were already quite worn out after the training of the Ukrainian soldiers in Germany and needed repairs".
Moreover, several Leopard 1A5 tanks out of the batch of 10 which arrived in Ukraine in July broke down for the same reason.
The German Defence Ministry told Spiegel that it cannot comment on a "concrete individual incident" and added that the Leopard tanks are being repaired "jointly with Ukraine after intense training in Germany".
Spiegel also stated that the condition of the Leopard 1A5 tanks, a hundred of which Germany has promised to supply Ukraine with, reflects planning problems in German military aid logistics.
The tanks that are stuck in Poland are the second tranche of a planned massive Leopard 1A5 tank supply. They were withdrawn from service by the Bundeswehr over 10 years ago, but since a lot of these tanks are still in storage, armourers were ordered to repair them as soon as possible.
Background:
At the beginning of August it was revealed that Germany would supply Ukraine with nearly 30 additional Leopard 1 tanks after the Rheinmetall armament concern bought them from Belgium.
In addition to this, according to the media, Germany turned to Greece with a suggestion to supply Ukraine with 100 Greek Leopard 1A5 which are now in service, in exchange for upgraded armoured vehicles.
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Ukrainian special services are likely responsible for a series of strikes on Wagner Group mercenary forces in Sudan, CNN reported on Sept. 19, citing a Ukrainian source.
The attacks occurred two days after the mercenaries delivered a large batch of weapons to Sudan, says the report.
Read also: After Prigozhins death, dynamic decrease of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus Lithuanian Defense Minister
A Ukrainian military source described the operation as the work of a "non-Sudanese military". When asked if Ukraine was behind the attacks, the source only responded that "Ukrainian special services were likely responsible."
Read also: UK formally declares Russias Wagner mercenary company to be a terrorist organization
Video footage obtained by CNN showed distinct features of drone attacks the Ukrainian military uses on the battlefield against Russian troops. Two commercially available drones, widely used by Ukrainians, were involved in at least eight strikes, with Ukrainian text visible on the drone control interface.
Read also: More difficult than Afghanistan UA intelligence on rescue operation in war-torn Sudan
Text in both English and Ukrainian can be seen in a video from the drone controller monitor. Experts also said that the deployed tactic, specifically a diving attack aimed directly at the target, is quite unusual for Sudan.
A high-ranking Sudanese military source stated that they have "no knowledge of a Ukrainian operation in Sudan" and did not believe in Kyivs involvement.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Taras Kachka, Deputy Economy Minister and Trade Representative of Ukraine, has said that Ukraine will introduce an embargo on onions, tomatoes, cabbage and apples from Poland in the coming days.
Source: Kachka in an interview with Rzeczpospolita, reported by European Pravda
Details: Kachka said that after five months of negotiations, Ukraine had lost hope of resolving the dispute, and that is why Kyiv had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation.
Since then, he said, the Ukrainian side has not received any response from the Polish government on the matter. For Kyiv, it was important not only that Poland extended the ban, but also that it extended it to cover more products flour and grain meal.
Quote: "The main reason for us is to prove that Poland has no right to impose such measures. From the very beginning, we disagreed with the export ban, and it is important for us to move in the right direction, which means a dialogue with the European Commission as the institution responsible for international trade."
More details: Kachka explained that Ukraine took this step to "persuade" Poland to take a step back and agree to a licensing mechanism developed in cooperation with the EU.
Kachka added that Ukraine does not intend to deteriorate relations with Poland, but seeks to develop civilised methods of resolving the dispute.
Background:
On Friday, the European Commission announced that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine after 15 September, but Kyiv agreed to take measures to limit imports on its part.
However, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have decided to impose unilateral restrictions, with Warsaw saying their
restrictions will remain in place indefinitely.Following this, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine was ready to impose a ban on imports of certain goods from Poland, Slovakia and Hungary if these countries do not lift the grain ban.
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Ukraine and Poland have signed an agreement on mutual execution of punishments as decided by respective national courts.
Source: European Pravda, citing the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine
Details: On 19 September, a protocol on amendments to the Treaty between Ukraine and the Republic of Poland on legal assistance and legal relations in civil and criminal cases (originally dated 24 May 1993) was signed in Warsaw.
The protocol adds a new chapter to the current agreement and creates a mechanism for the interaction of the competent authorities of Poland and Ukraine in transferring the execution of decisions made by the courts of the contracting parties in connection with the commission of criminal or administrative offences, regarding punishments and measures not related to deprivation of liberty (fine, public or correctional works, disqualification, confiscation).
"For Ukraine, this is the first agreement regulating international cooperation to carry out punishments not related to deprivation of liberty, imposed by courts for committing criminal or administrative offences," said Deputy Minister of Justice Iryna Mudra, who signed the document on behalf of Ukraine.
The Ministry of Justice noted that this is an urgent decision, as punishments and sanctions imposed by the court against foreigners living abroad often remain unfulfilled, and since the beginning of a full-scale war, there have been even more Ukrainians in Poland.
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Kyiv may be gearing up for a legal battle with three of its neighbors as it now fights to free its grain on its western borders.
In defiance of the European Commissions Sept. 15 decision to lift an embargo on the domestic sale of Ukrainian agricultural products in five countries, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia imposed their own restrictions on Ukrainian imports, despite Ukraines open trade agreement with the EU.
Hungary expanded the embargo to include 24 Ukrainian agricultural products, including vegetables, some meat products, and honey. Poland has also voiced plans to possibly prohibit more goods.
Earlier in May, the EU imposed restrictions that had allowed Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria to ban the domestic sale of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seed, while still permitting the transit of these products for exports elsewhere, after local farmers complained the imports were driving prices down.
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The EU allowed the ban to expire on Sept. 15 after Kyiv pledged to take action to tighten export controls to neighboring countries.
In response to the continued restrictions in the three countries, Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told Politico in an interview published on Sept. 18 that Kyiv would appeal to the World Trade Organization (WTO) "to prove that these actions are legally wrong."
Kyiv officially filed a complaint with the WTO against the three countries on Sept. 18, according to a statement published on the Economy Ministry's website.
"It is fundamentally important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods. That is why we file lawsuits against them in the WTO," Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said in the statement.
The tensions are the latest episode in Ukraines struggle to get its grain out of the country following Moscow's decision in July to unilaterally pull out of the UN-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative. The deal had been put in place following the start of Russia's full-scale invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports.
The decision to continue the embargo is likely to protract Ukraines already troubled exports, inflaming tensions between Kyiv and its neighbors in the meantime.
Read also: Romania may extend ban on Ukrainian grain imports by 30 days
Trouble for Ukrainian farmers
Ukraine is expecting a relatively healthy grain and oilseed harvest forecast of 80 million tons this season, of which 49 million tons is forecasted for export, according to the Ukrainian Grain Association.
But the ban is aggravating export problems for Ukrainian farmers, Agriculture Minister Mykolya Solsky told the Kyiv Independent.
He says that grain transit has slowed down by three to four times since May with only 183 trucks passing through Poland daily last month, compared to 584 in November 2022.
Our export volumes are decreasing due to complicated logistics routes. Certainly, (the ban) affected the overall monthly figure of our exports in all ways. To compare, in September and October 2022, we exported 6.9 million tons of agricultural products, but in August 2023, we exported only 3.7 million tons, Solsky said.
The Solidarity Lanes project, introduced in May 2022 in response to Russias blockade of Ukrainian ports, has allowed Ukraine to export 53.2 million metric tons of food goods including 48.4 million metric tons of grains, cereals and oilseeds between its inception and August 2023, according to the European Commission.
Food products make up 60% of Ukraines total exports and contribute significantly to Ukraines economy, totaling $23.4 billion last year.
Since the start of Russias Black Sea blockade, Danube river ports have become the main route for Ukraines exports, particularly the Romanian port at Constanta.
Read also: Spain sees bans by EU countries on Ukrainian grain imports as illegal
Relentless Russian attacks on Danube River port infrastructure facilities since July have reduced grain exports along the river by nearly three million tons per month, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov wrote in a post on Facebook.
As a result, pressure is mounting on land transportation, which is costly and plagued with logistical issues exacerbated by Polands ban, according to Solsky.
The largest flow of ground transportation went through Poland, the agriculture minister said.
Since the ban was implemented, the volume of export of our grain across the border of Poland this year in April decreased by 2.5 times, compared to the beginning of the year.
The EC has focused on improving the Danube river corridor and reduced logistical costs by 50% in the past month, resulting in increased trade flow expected to reach 4 million metric tons per month by the end of the year, EC spokesperson for trade and agriculture Miriam Garcia Ferrer said in a press briefing on Sept. 14.
The EC has also formed a joint coordination platform to tackle bottleneck issues, with participation from Ukraine and the frontline five Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria.
Garcia Ferrer emphasized that work has intensified over the last weeks to facilitate grain transit and ensure increased capacity through the solidarity lanes with viable routes being explored via Greece, Italy and Croatia.
At the same time, Solsky stated that Ukraine is looking toward Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria for land transport.
Polish-Ukraine tensions
Ukraine and Poland, united in their fight against Russian aggression, have locked horns over the influx of Ukrainian grain in the frontline five.
Polish Agricultural Minister Robert Telus, who is spearheading the ban, told the Polish Press Agency on Sept. 14 that Warsaw would even consider blocking Ukraines EU ascension unless it comes to a satisfactory deal over agricultural exports.
Ukraine cannot join the EU without conditions. We had conditions (to join) and the same must be applied to Ukraine, Telus said.
Polands rhetoric has gotten under Kyivs skin. Zelensky will meet his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda during the UN General Assembly in New York this week to discuss Poland's position on the grain ban, the Polish Presidents Office announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Sept. 14.
Many in Kyiv suspect Polands ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) are appeasing rural voters ahead of next months elections.
Read also: Ukraine Business Roundup Issue 1
Duda claims the government is acting in the interest of local farmers, alleging that the import of Ukrainian grain has caused prices and sales to drop in Poland.
Kyiv has fired back at the accusations asserting that the ban has not affected farmers in the frontline five nor the drop in global wheat prices, which have plummeted to a three year low.
Agriculture Minister Mykolya Solsky outright dismissed the claim that Ukrainian grain is to blame.
What effect did the EU countries get from the ban on the export of Ukrainian wheat to these five countries? Five months have already passed. Since April 15, when Poland first implemented the ban, the price decreased from $290-280 per ton to $255-225 per ton in September. Prices decreased and continue to decrease, he told the Kyiv Independent.
Read also: Ukrainian innovators want to bring life-saving robots to the battlefield
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Ukraine sacked its six deputy defense ministers nearly two weeks after the countrys new defense chief took the helm amid a corruption scandal in the military.
The fired deputy defense ministers include Hanna Maliar,Vitaliy Deynega and Denys Sharapov, as well as state Secretary of the Defense Ministry Kostiantyn Vashchenko, according to a Telegram post from Taras Melnychuk, the permanent representative of the Cabinet of Ministers.
Melnychuk did not explain the firings, though the shake-up comes amid the governments investigation of accusations of corruption in the military.
Former Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov resigned earlier this month amid a corruption scandal involving the ministrys procurement of military jackets at three times their cost. He has since been replaced with Rustem Umerov.
Umerov was appointed by the Verkhovna Rada as the chairman of Ukraines State Property Fund in September 2022, where he led the processes of privatization and lease in the state.
In his announcement about the replacement, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he thinks the ministry needs new approaches, while noting Reznikov served in the position for 550 days of full-scale war.
The Associated Press contributed.
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ABUJA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A violent clash over a land dispute in Nigeria's southwestern state of Ogun has claimed at least eight lives, the police said Monday.
At least nine suspects were detained following the clash in Sagamu, a major town in Ogun, over the weekend, said Abiodun Alamutu, the state's police chief, in Abeokuta, the capital city of Ogun State.
The clash stemmed from a land transaction between two groups, according to Alamutu, who noted that the situation in the town deteriorated into a cycle of attacks and counterattacks between Wednesday and Sunday.
The nine suspects detained so far have already confessed to their involvement in the violent clash, the state police chief said. Additionally, at least two guns and several rounds of cartridges were recovered from those detained.
There are five permanent member states on the United Nations Security Councilbut of all their leaders, Joe Biden was the only one to show up at the U.N. General Assembly this week. That may be the most significant thing about Bidens speech Tuesday morning.
Russias Vladimir Putin , Chinas Xi Jinping , Frances Emmanuel Macron, and Britains Rishi Sunak all had other, presumably better things to do. Another prominent world leader, Indias Narendra Modi, stayed home as well, possibly exhausted from having hosted the G20 summit just last week.
This unusually large spread of high-level no-shows could mean that the General Assemblywhich used to be a major event, the one occasion when all the worlds leaders gathered in one place and some of them took a moment to meet quietly on the sidelinesis simply no longer as big a deal as it once was.
Perhaps, for now anyway, its just as well. Washingtons tensions with Moscow and Beijing are so fraught that it may be best for their leaders to avoid meeting face-to-face. A few days before the U.N. get-together, Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan , met in Malta with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for what the White House readout called candid, substantive, and constructive discussions. Best for senior officials such as these to tee up the issuesscoping out where accommodations might and might not be madebefore their bosses risk the stakes of a great-power summit. (After the Malta meeting, Wang flew to Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrovsuggesting that Xi is now playing the same sort of triangular politics with the U.S. and Russia that American presidents once played with Russia and China.)
Meanwhile, Biden tried to use the absence of his peers to his advantage. He devoted most of his speech to a call for expanding international institutions to include low- and medium-income nations that have been ignored over the past decades, and thus create a more equitable world for all people because we know our future is bound to yours.
Leaders of the Global SouthAfrica, Latin and South America, and parts of Asiahave recently been pushing for a greater say in global affairs. Much of the General Assemblys agenda this year is devoted to issues that resonate with this discontentsustainable development, financing for development, and universal health coverage.
Putin and Xi, in their own ways, have adopted this rhetoric and tied it to anti-imperialist themes as a way to displace U.S. influence in what used to be called the Third World. Putin has done so to keep these nations at least neutral toward his war with Ukraine; Xi has touted Chinas Belt and Road Initiative as an alternative to Western finances. Both have been fairly successful in these campaignswhich is ironic and infuriating, given that BRI has its own sets of inequities (as some of its clients have discovered) and that Putin is conducting the most aggressively imperialist war in decades.
Bidens speechhis very presence at the assembly, contrasted with Putins and Xis absencemarked an assertion that Western democracy stands as a better vehicle for these aspirations. He cited the tens of billions of dollars that the U.S. has invested in development, world health, and combating climate change in just the two years of his administration, as well as his own role in coordinating tens of billions more from other nations. He urged the assemblys leaders not to follow Russias path, warning that if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he could commit aggression against them.
In a coupling of both messages (Im Here, Theyre Not and Dont Cuddle Up With Moscow), Biden was scheduled to meet with the presidents of five Central Asian nationsKazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. A senior U.S. official noted that this C5+1 summit will be the first-ever such meeting with those nations and that they will discuss regional security, trade and connectivity, climate, and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law. The official did not note that all of these nations used to be republics of the Soviet Union and that Putin is keen to bring them back into Moscows orbit.
Bidens message may have reassured the leaders of long-neglected nations to some extentbut there was a specter looming in the shadows: that of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Biden has a long record of supporting alliances; his words on inclusivity and equity are consistent with that record. (And by the way, his delivery of those words was fine. Yes, he looked old, but not doddering, except for a couple of slurred lines, which seemed products more of his lifelong stutter than of any geriatric infirmity.)
The unspoken concern, however, was how long Biden will be around to deliver actionwhether someone else will be president a mere year and a few months from now, and whether that president might be Donald Trump, who detests international organizations, cares nothing about global inequities, and will likely pull whatever funding Biden devotes to leveling measures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was attending the General Assembly for the first time since the war began, is especially concerned about this possibility. Upon his arrival in New York on Monday, he visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in Staten Island. He watched Bidens speech at the U.N. Tuesday morning (Bidens commitment to Ukraines cause was the only line that prompted applause) and gave a speech of his own that afternoon. Far from the burbling homily of thanks and beseeching for more that some expected, Zelenskys speech was a fiery call for unity and justice in the face of Russian terror and war crimesnot just to restore Ukraine but to prevent aggression against others and to create a space where the worlds other urgent crises, such as climate change, can be solved.
On Wednesday, Zelensky is slated to go to Washington, where he will meet with Biden in the White House and with several lawmakers on Capitol Hillwhose support he needs, regardless of what happens in next years election, especially since it now seems the war will last longer than he and his supporters had hoped.
The war in Ukraine, which was the dominant (almost the sole) topic of last years General Assembly, seemed to be slipping off the agenda this yearBidens speech devoted only a few lines to the war, at least directly. Zelensky sought to restore its prominence. Even without his speech, the war loomed as a constant backdrop of the sessiona rallying cry for sovereignty and territorial integrity (core tenets of the U.N. charter, as Biden put it) and a test of whether the U.N., either as an institution or as a collective of nation-states, is up to doing much about it.
At the moment, it seems not to be. Much of the Global South wants no part in the new East-West divide. Many of the leaders who could help put an end to the war, including the one who started it and could stop it single-handedly, did not bother to show upand seem not to see the U.N. as the place where such crises can be solved.
U.S.-donated M109 A6 Paladin self-propelled howitzers have played a big role in Ukraine's counteroffensive push south in the Robotyne-Verbove salient, according to the front line troops. The Paladin's ability to rapidly reposition after firing has made them a vexing challenge for Russian artillery troops.
Members of Ukraine's 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which has taken part in the heaviest fighting in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, say the Paladins, along with donated Leopard 2A6 tanks , have helped their forces breach Russia's dense defensive lines.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPi_YOKyADo
The U.S. promised Ukraine 18 Paladins in January. Ukraine has also receive them from Italy, Lativa, Norway and the U.K. in a private purchase arrangement.
Though the Paladin can fire standard 155mm howitzer shells with a range up to 24 kilometers, the Ukrainians are using the weapons to hit targets at less than 10 km, according to members of the 47th, in an interview with Ukraines United24 Media news outlet.
With its ability to hit targets and move away before the Russians could return fire, the Paladins played a significant role in the liberation of Robotyne , according to the brigade.
The Paladins fired between 50 and 100 rounds per day, often using U.S. donated cluster muntions .
When the infantry needs help, theres no room for economy, United24 reported.
https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1700393715078922688
The assessment about the Paladins' mobility largely concurs with one we reported on last week that was made by Russian Duma member Andrey Gurulev.
On Friday, Gurulev said on his Telegram channel that Ukrainian forces have switched to squeeze-out tactics, they are massively using cluster shells, inflicting fire on the strong points of our units and assault groups. They have a lot of ammunition, they are trying to burn out absolutely everything.
While it has improved its counter-battery warfare, with some positive results, Russian artillery is no match for the range and maneuverability of Ukrainian fires, in particular the Paladins which are far more nimble than towed artillery, Gurulev added at the time. From our report :
Basically, all of [Ukraines] guns are installed in depth at a distance inaccessible to our artillery. An estimated two artillery brigades were concentrated in the hottest directions, not counting the artillery of local brigades. We burned a lot of their towed artillery, they switched to using self-propelled guns. Our people say that it is very difficult, almost impossible, to catch them; after the second sighting shot they move and change position.
https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1701610579750986034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1701610579750986034%7Ctwgr%5E5f19dbc33a64106266c0fb74ad37fc67bc6884c5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_\u0026ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2Fukraine-situation-report-small-town-near-bakhmut-recaptured
The Leopards, meanwhile, are used to cover troops advancing in Bradley Fighting Vehicles through "Russia's most advanced and complex layered defenses," according to Vitaliy, a tank commander with the 47th who says he has survived anti-tank guided missiles, loitering munitions and mines. Compared to the Soviet-era T-72 tanks Vitaliy was used to before, the Leopard is "superior in speed, accuracy, sight capabilities and armor."
https://twitter.com/front_ukrainian/status/1703766517488193792?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
Though the counteroffensive may not be proceeding as swiftly as some had hoped, it appears that the donated armor is giving Ukraine an edge.
Before we head into the latest from Ukraine, The War Zone readers can catch up on our previous rolling coverage here .
The Latest
On the battlefield, Ukraine says its continuing successful operations near Bakhmut and in Zaporizhzhia Oblast while the Russians claim to be pushing Ukrainian forces back.
After capturing the small nearby towns of Andriivka and Klischiivka over the past days fierce fighting continues in the Bakhmut area, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said Monday, according to the Telegram channel of the Ukrainian Military Media Center. After losing the settlements of Andriivka and Klishchiivka last week, the enemy is conducting numerous counterattacks from different directions, unsuccessfully trying to regain lost positions. After all, these small, at first glance, settlements were important elements of the enemy's defensive line, which stretched from Bakhmut to Horlivka.
https://twitter.com/kyivpost/status/1703773712388911411?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
As a result of the successful actions of our troops, the enemy's defense line was breached, which he tried to close, throwing all available reserves into battle, Syrskyi said. "In the battles in the Bakhmut direction, some of the most prepared and best units of the enemy - 72nd Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, 31st and 83rd Separate Amphibious Assault Brigades - were defeated and completely disabled, he said.
However, the situation in the eastern direction remains difficult, Syrskyi said. The enemy does not abandon his intentions to resume offensive actions in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions, for which he is actively preparing.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not specifically dispute Syrskyis claims, but said that its aviation and artillery forces repelled six enemy attacks near Klischiivka and other area villages. The attacks killed up to 255 Ukrainian personnel and destroyed several armored vehicles.
On the Zaporizhzhia section of the front, Ukraine is continuing to make advances, according to former Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar (more about her status later in this story).
In the south, we continue to conduct an offensive operation in the direction of Melitopol. There is success in the area south and east of Robotyn. Ours are now anchored there on the achieved borders.
https://twitter.com/gloooud/status/1703517132292567480?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
In its latest assessment posted on social media, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) concurred.
Ukraine continues to advance in western Zaporizhzhia, ISW said. Geolocated footage from 18 SEP showing Russian assaults on Ukrainian positions west of Verbove shows that Ukrainian forces have made further advances toward that settlement.
The Russian MoD again did not dispute this, but said coordinated efforts of [Russian troops] in combination with air strikes, artillery fire, and heavy flame-throwing systems defeated a cluster of manpower and hardware of the 71st Jaeger Brigade near Verbove. Up to 55 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, three pick-up trucks, two D-30 howitzers, one U.S.-made M119 gun, as well as one AN/TPQ-50 counter-battery radar station have been eliminated.
https://twitter.com/thestudyofwar/status/1703808600655937658?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
In addition to gaining ground and breaching into the second of Russia's three dense defensive lines, the counteroffensive push in the Robotyne-Verbove sector of Zaporizhzhia Oblast appears to be forcing Russia to use elite troops as reinforcements.
Over the past two weeks, Russia has likely further reinforced 58th Combined Arms Army defending that sector with additional VDV airborne units, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its latest assessment.
At least five VDV regiments of the 7th and 76th divisions "are now likely concentrated within several kilometers of the frontline village of Robotyne," U.K.'s MoD said. "At full strength, such a force should constitute around 10,000 elite paratroopers. However, almost all units are highly likely dramatically under strength."
Moving that many paratroopers to backfill battlefield losses is not likely to go over well with the VDV leadership, the U.K. MoD noted.
"Throughout the war, Russian commanders have attempted to regenerate the airborne forces as a highly mobile, striking force for offensive operations. Once again, they are being used as line infantry to augment over-stretched ground forces."
https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1703648434547311015
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in New York today ahead of a busy few days in the U.S.
Zelensky will attend the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday, then heads to Washington D.C. to meet with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders later in the week, according to the New York Times.
Zelensky is expected to continue his requests for more military aid as the counteroffensive grinds on with incremental success at high cost. Likely to be on the agenda is an effort to convince Biden to provide Ukraine with U.S.-produced Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles.
https://twitter.com/ywnreporter/status/1703861449427144798?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
"Upon my arrival at the airport, I will immediately visit our soldiers who are receiving treatment and rehabilitation in America," Zelensky said, according to the United24 MediaTelegram channel. "My first priority is to offer support to our people and express gratitude to those who are aiding Ukraine and Ukrainians."
In Washington, "I have negotiations planned with the President of the United States, as well as meetings with congressional leaders and representatives from various parties. I will also engage with military leadership, American businesses, journalists, and the Ukrainian community. I extend my heartfelt thanks for the leadership of the United States in supporting our struggle for freedom and independence."
https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1703857771320361311
One of the Ukrainian militarys most prominent voices was fired Monday in a major Defense Ministry shakeup in which all six deputy defense ministers were cashiered.
Hanna Maliar, upon whom many media outlets, including The War Zone, relied for updates on Kyivs military operations, and the other five deputy defense ministers dismissed hours before Zelenskys arrival in the U.S.
The announcement, made on a government Telegram channel, did not give a reason for the action, which comes two after former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was fired.
Under Ukraines Law on Executive Bodies, when a minister is dismissed, the first deputy minister and deputy ministers are dismissed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Citing high-level sources in the Ukrainian government, Ukrainian Pravda reported Monday that all the deputy ministers resigned voluntarily at newly-appointed defense minister Rustem Umierov's request and will not be going back to their positions. Consultations are currently underway on candidates for the post of deputy defense minister.
https://twitter.com/pravda_eng/status/1703711339540037706
Germany is sending Ukraine 20 more Marder armored vehicles as part of its latest tranche of aid to Ukraine.
In addition to the Marders, which bring the total to 60, Germany is also providing an additional 3,000 155mm artillery rounds, two more WISENT 1 mine-clearing vehicles, unspecified explosive ordnance explosives material, one SATCOM surveillance system, 20 more RQ-35 HEIDRUN drones, two more mobile antenna mast systems, 10 more unspecified drone detection systems, 1.5 million more rounds of small arms ammunition, three ambulances and several trucks.
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1703833806426300499
Ukraine has received a U-Haul-sized 3D printer to help it sustain its military equipment, the Pentagons top arms buyer said last week at a think-tank event in Washigton D.C.
Ukrainians were initially 3D printing their own parts before they even had the tech data packages, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante said during a Center for New American Security (CNAS) virtual meeting.
In addition to receiving the tech data, Ukraine received industrial-sized 3D printers, LaPlante said.
Then we just finally last month we got them these industrial-size 3D printers into country. And this last week, we trained them on it I mean, were talking like a truck size that the Ukrainians have finished training on. Its going right in theater and theyre printing all their repair parts. You know, I mean, its just remarkable what theyre doing and its changing the ballgame, of course, he said.
The 3D printer equipment is about the size of a U-Haul, according to LaPlante. One could imagine major airframe and hull components for drones could be produced by these systems, as well.
https://twitter.com/Ukrainene/status/1702995991803093393?s=20
Video has emerged purporting to be the first to show the Vulcano guided 155mm artillery shells in service with Ukraine. The video shows a Ukrainian soldier in a German-donated PzH 2000 self-propelled howitzer loading and firing one of the munitions. A joint development of Leonardo and Diehl Defense , the Vulcano's are said to have a range of 70 km and can be guided either by GPS or laser designator.
https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1703536822947651947?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
We often see videos of First Person Video drones striking targets on both sides. This video below purports to show what it is like on the receiving end of such an attack. The video opens with apparently wounded Russian troops in a vehicle. There is a flash, followed by a small explosion, after which the Russians exit the vehicle and run through the woods.
https://twitter.com/clashreport/status/1703475466059792868
A couple of Russian 2S9 Nona air-droppable self-propelled mortars are seen in this video below being destroyed by Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (GMLRS) munitions fired by the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS and the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) provided to Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/GloOouD/status/1703755022905884744?s=20
Russian milbloggers say a Ukrainian weapons warehouse in the Krasny-Liman area of Donetsk Oblast was destroyed by a FAB-500M-62 winged glide bomb dropped by an Su-34 Fullback fighter-bomber.
https://twitter.com/Zagonel85/status/1703838336509514199
Even on the technologically advanced battlefield of Ukraine, officials in that country are turning to an age-old concept to help troops make the distinction between friendly and unfriendly drones. Drone recognition silhouette cards - a throwback to those used during World War II to help spot German and Japanese aircraft - have been developed to help Ukrainian troops tell the difference between friendly and enemy drones.
Drone recognition silhouette cards. (Aerohub Telegram image)
And finally, this Russian recruiting exudes immense confidence, in which soldiers in a trench discuss Ukrainian real estate, with one saying he wants to move to Kyiv's posh Pechersk neighborhood after it's captured.
https://twitter.com/yarotrof/status/1703762022582612247?s=12\u0026t=BQRSNakUKt7_8ssZiGBW-A
That's it for now. We'll update this story when there's more news to report about Ukraine.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
By Stephanie van den Berg
THE HAGUE (Reuters) -Ukraine told the U.N.'s highest court in The Hague on Tuesday that Russia justified waging war against Ukraine by invoking "a terrible lie" that Moscow's invasion was to stop an alleged genocide.
"The international community adopted the Genocide Convention to protect. Russia invokes the Genocide convention to destroy," Ukraine's representative Anton Korynevych told judges.
He called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide that it has jurisdiction to hear the case fully and eventually rule that Russia must pay reparations for invading under a false pretext.
"Can a state use false allegations of genocide as a pretext to destroy cities, bomb civilians and deport children from their homes? When the Genocide Convention is so cynically abused, is this court powerless? The answer to these questions must be 'no'," Korynevych said.
On Monday, Russia urged the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to throw out the case, claiming Kyiv's legal arguments were "hopelessly flawed".
Ukraine brought the case before the ICJ, also known as the World Court, days after the Russian invasion on Feb. 24 last year.
Kyiv argues Russia is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to stop an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine says there was no risk of genocide in eastern Ukraine, where it had been fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014. The convention defines genocide as crimes committed "with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such".
Ukraine has already cleared one hurdle as the court decided in its favour in a preliminary decision in the case in March last year. Based on that, the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately.
Russia has so far ignored the ICJ's orders to stop its military actions and the court has no way of enforcing its decisions. Experts say a full ruling in favour of Ukraine can pave the way for compensation payments.
Korynevych told journalists after the hearing Tuesday that reparations were a key issue for Ukraine in this case. However, any discussion about amounts and implementation "we will be dealing with further on", he said.
The hearings, set to run until Sept. 27, will not delve into the merits of the case, but will instead focus on legal arguments about jurisdiction. The court is expected to rule if the case can go forward in several months.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
Kyiv has refused to accept a batch of ten German Leopard-1A5 tanks that were in need of repairs, German newspaper Spiegel reported on Sept. 19.
The publication reports that a few days ago, Kyiv had informed the German Defense Ministry that the Leopard tanks, which had arrived in Poland, were in need of major repairs.
Read also: US M1A1 Abrams tanks will arrive in Ukraine soon, says Austin
The German side then independently inspected the tanks, confirming they "had already seen considerable wear during Ukrainian troop training in Germany, and required repairs."
Read also: Ukraine shatters Russian propaganda by eliminating invincible T-80BVM tank
Spiegel added that there were some Leopard-1A5 tanks, handed over to Ukraine in July, that have broken down due to similar issues.
Read also: General Staff releases detailed update on Ukraines counteroffensive
On July 23, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Baszczak announced that Poland opens a center to repair and service Leopard tanks.
On Aug. 29, it was reported that during the first 13 weeks of Ukraine's counteroffensive, Kyivs forces lost five of the 71 Leopard-2 tanks provided by Western allies.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Key developments on Sept. 18:
Government dismisses six deputy defense ministers. 'Reboot' of Defense Ministry underway, says Umerov
Ukrainian troops break through one of Russian defensive lines near Bakhmut, but general situation in the east remains difficult
UK Defense Ministry says Russia redeploys thousands of airborne troops to Zaporizhzhia Oblasts Robotyne as infantry
Germany prepares new aid package for Ukraine worth $430 million
UN court resumes hearings on Ukraine genocide case
On Sept. 18, the government dismissed six deputy defense ministers and the state secretary for defense.
Among the dismissed deputy defense ministers are Hanna Maliar , Volodymyr Havrylov, Rostyslav Zamlynskyi, Denys Sharapov, Andrii Shevchenko, and Vitalii Deineha.
Kostiantyn Vashchenko was dismissed from his post of Defense Ministrys state secretary.
Following the announcement, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing unnamed sources in government, that all of the dismissed officials had resigned upon the request of Ukraines new Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
On Facebook, Umerov wrote that the "reboot" of the Defense Ministry had begun.
"Rebooting. We started. We continue. The Ministry continues to work as usual. The rest of the news will come later," he wrote.
The names of the new deputy defense ministers have yet to be announced, but consultations on potential candidates are being held, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Umerov became Ukraine's new defense minister on Sept. 6, after President Volodymyr Zelensky requested the dismissal of Oleksii Reznikov, whose tenure at the Defense Ministry had been marred by several scandals related to procuring equipment and supplies for Ukrainian soldiers.
Zelensky announced his decision to dismiss Reznikov on Sept. 3, saying that "the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction both with the military and with society as a whole."
According to Zelensky, strengthening the central role of the ministry in the defense sector, ensuring the protection of soldiers, expanding international partnerships, curbing corruption, speeding up innovation, and reforming the military to keep up with NATO standards are the key priorities for the new defense chief.
"I am sure that Rustem Umerov is able to provide it," Zelensky said on Sept. 7.
Read also: Who is Rustem Umerov, Ukraines soon-to-be defense minister?
Ukrainian forces breach Russian defensive line near Bakhmut, but situation remains difficult
According to Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces who heads the military operations in the east, Ukrainian troops have broken through one of the Russian defensive lines near Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast.
Fierce battles are underway around Bakhmut, with Russia conducting multiple counterattacks from various directions, trying to regain lost positions following the liberation of Andriivka and Klishchiivka, Syrskyi said on Sept. 18.
"After all, these small, at first glance, settlements were important elements of the enemy's defensive line, which stretched from Bakhmut to Horlivka," he said.
However, according to Syrskyi, the general battlefield situation in the east remains difficult" as Russia is actively preparing for offensive operations in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions.
Earlier on Sept. 17, the Ukrainian military announced the liberation of Klishchiivka after more than three months of counteroffensive operations on the Bakhmut axis.
The village of Klishchiivka lies about nine kilometers south of Bakhmut.
Just two days before that, on Sept. 15, the General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces announced the liberation of Andriivka, another small settlement located nearly three kilometers south of Klishchiivka and less than 10 kilometers from occupied Bakhmut.
Read also: New brigade bears heavy brunt of Russias onslaught in Kharkiv Oblast
UK Defense Ministry says Russia redeploys thousands of airborne troops to Zaporizhzhia Oblasts Robotyne as infantry
In its latest update on Sept. 18, the U.K Defense Ministry said that Russia has likely redeployed at least five airborne regiments to the area of Robotyne in Zaporizhzhia Oblast in order to reinforce the "hard-pressed" 58th Combined Arms Army.
"At full strength, such a force should constitute around 10,000 elite paratroopers," reads the update. "However, almost all units are highly likely dramatically under strength."
The personnel were drawn from the 7th and 76th divisions of Russias Airborne Troops, also known as VDV, according to the update.
The VDV leadership would most likely consider the current situation highly unsatisfactory, said the U.K. defense ministry.
"Throughout the war, Russian commanders have attempted to regenerate the airborne forces as a highly mobile, striking force for offensive operations. Once again, they are being used as line infantry to augment over-stretched ground forces," the ministry added.
According to the dismissed Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian forces advanced south and east of Robotyne, having liberated 5.2 square kilometers of land over the past week.
Ukraines military has regained a total of 260 square kilometers in the south since the beginning of the counteroffensive in June, said Maliar.
Read also: Russias southern mistake Surovikin lines, Gerasimov tactics
Germany prepares new aid package for Ukraine worth $430 million
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told Bild on Sept. 18 that his country is preparing an aid package for Ukraine worth 400 million euros ($430 million) that includes munitions, armored vehicles, power generators, and more.
According to Pistorius, the new assistance tranche will include explosive and mortar ammunition, rockets, armored vehicles, and demining equipment.
Apart from that, Germany also wants to help Ukraine prepare for the next winter by sending clothes and generators as Kyiv fears mass Russian strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
However, when asked about the possibility of providing Ukraine with Taurus long-range missiles, Pistorius said that the decision has not yet been made as Berlin has to consider a "variety of political, legal, military and technical aspects."
Ukraine has long been seeking to acquire Taurus missiles in addition to the long-range missiles provided by France and the U.K.
The German leadership has been so far reluctant to provide the weaponry, reportedly fearing that the missiles with a range of 500 kilometers could be used to strike against Russian territory.
According to Pistorius, Germany does not currently plan to join the fighter jet coalition either, and will instead focus on providing hardware such as Leopard 2A6 or IRIS air defense systems.
Read also: Timothy Snyder: If you want peace, Crimea has to be a part of Ukraine
UN's International Court of Justice resumes hearings on Ukraine genocide case against Russia
On Sept. 18, the United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) resumed hearings on Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia over false allegations of genocide that Moscow used to justify its full-scale invasion.
The Hague-based court will hold public hearings on preliminary objections raised by Russia until Sept. 27.
Ukraine filed the lawsuit against Russia at the Hague back in February 2022, arguing that the Kremlin had used false claims about acts of genocide in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts as a justification to launch an all-out war against Ukraine.
In its lawsuit, Ukraine "emphatically denies" that such genocide has occurred, aiming "to establish that Russia has no lawful basis to take action in and against Ukraine for the purpose of preventing and punishing any purported genocide."
Ukraine's lawsuit is supported by 32 intervening states who will make their statements on Sept. 20.
The list includes 26 countries of the European Union, excluding only Hungary, as well as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Liechtenstein, and the U.K.
It is reportedly the largest number of countries to join another nation's lawsuit at the Hague court.
The parliaments of eight countries, including Ukraine, have already recognized the acts committed by the Russian forces as genocide.
Read also: Deliberate murders of Ukrainian children by Russian soldiers reveal culture of impunity
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Key developments on Sept. 19:
ISW: Ukrainian advances point to 'severe degradation' of Russian units.
UK intelligence: Russian operations near islands in Kherson Oblast likely 'energized'
NYT reports Ukrainian missile might have accidentally struck Kostiantynivka market, Kyiv still investigating
More tanks coming from US, Denmark
UK pledges 'tens of thousands' artillery shells to Ukraine
Russian attacks kill six civilians, wound 17 in past day, overnight.
Recent Ukrainian advances in western Zaporizhzhia Oblast and south of Bakhmut correspond with evidence that Russian units in those areas have suffered heavy losses, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Sept. 18 report.
The ISW identified a number of Russian front-line units, including the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division, that regularly fought Ukrainian troops during the earlier stages of the counteroffensive.
Following recent Ukrainian advances, these units appear to have withdrawn.
"The absence of recent reports and footage of these elements participating in combat engagements in western Zaporizhia Oblast suggests that casualties sustained during the first phases of the Ukrainian counteroffensive rendered them combat ineffective," the ISW said.
Read also: Deadly drone arms race intensifies as Ukraine, Russia embrace the future of war
The ISW also said that elements of Russia's Black Sea Fleet appear to have retreated behind deeper defensive lines following Ukraine's liberation of Robotyne.
Further, the ISW said that elite Russian units dedicated to counterattacking advancing Ukrainian troops have "likely suffered heavy losses in these operations."
Russian units south of Bakhmut have also racked up heavy losses. The ISW said that Russia's 72nd Motorized Brigade "has likely been rendered combat ineffective."
The ISW's report cautioned that it is too soon to tell exactly what level of degradation Russian units in western Zaporizhzhia and the Bakhmut sector have suffered, and that losses may vary across units.
However, the ISW said that "evidence currently available" points to heavy losses, including loss of combat effectiveness among elite Russian units.
Read also: Russias southern mistake Surovikin lines, Gerasimov tactics
Russian operations near islands in Kherson Oblast likely 'energized,' says UK intelligence
Russian operations around the islands of the lower Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, which currently mark the front line, have likely been "energized" since being assumed by Russia's 40th Army Corps, the U.K. Defense Ministry said in its daily update on Sept. 16.
Heavy fighting has reportedly continued in the area through the first half of September.
Both Ukrainian and Russian forces have launched raids with groups in small boats against the islands and the opposite riverbanks.
Read also: Ukrainian troops regularly cross Dnipro River, probing Russian defenses in Kherson Oblast
According to the ministry, while the number of forces committed to the area is relatively small compared to other fronts, "both sides see the area as strategically important."
The area also reportedly serves as a means to "draw their adversary's units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts."
The city of Kherson and other settlements in the region on the Dnipro River's west bank have been continuously subjected to Russian shelling since Ukrainian forces liberated them in November 2022.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine liberates Klishchiivka in Donetsk Oblast after months of heavy fighting
NYT reports Ukrainian missile might have accidentally struck Kostiantynivka market, Kyiv still investigating
The New York Times reported on Sept. 18 that the Sept. 6 missile strike on a market in Donetsk Oblast's city of Kostiantynivka could have resulted from a Ukrainian malfunctioning air defense missile fired during battles nearby.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and Air Force told the Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne they were still investigating the attack. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Head of the Presidential Office, said that "society will definitely get an answer on what exactly happened in Kostiantynivka."
On Sept. 6, a missile struck a crowded market in front-line Kostiantynivka, killing at least 15 people and wounding 36, according to the latest information by the regional prosecutor's office.
The NYT said they had reached this conclusion after collecting and analyzing evidence, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts, and social media posts.
According to the media outlet, Ukrainian forces might have fired a 9M38 missile using the Buk air defense system from the outskirts of nearby Druzhkivka in the direction of the Russian front line, with the rocket possibly falling short of its target and landing in Kostiantynivka.
Air defense experts told NYT that a 9M38 missile can go off course for various reasons, including malfunctioning electronics and a damaged or sheared launch ring.
Ukrainian authorities have reported that Russia hit the market with an S-300 missile, which the SBU said is evidenced by identified missile fragments. Security services also told Suspline they were examining other materials pointing to Russia's involvement in the attack.
The NYT wrote, however, that they were able to collect remains of the missile that struck Kostiantynivka, alleging that its warhead was different from an S-300 one.
Commenting on the NYT report, Podolyak said such articles "cause the growth of conspiracy theories, and therefore will require additional legal evaluation by investigative bodies." He emphasized that Ukraine's law enforcement agencies investigate all attacks conducted during Russia's war by default.
"In the meantime, we should not forget: it was Russia that started the invasion of Ukraine, and Russia is responsible for bringing war to our country. And it is Russia that regularly inflicts massive missile, bomb, and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure and the civilian population," added Podolyak.
"Ukraine, on the other hand, conducts exclusively defensive actions, defends itself and its territories."
More tanks, ammunition coming from Western allies
Ukraine will "soon" receive M1 Abrams tanks committed by the U.S., Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said while delivering opening remarks at the 15th Ramstein summit.
Austin didn't specify how many vehicles would be delivered in the first batch. Earlier, Politico reported that the first 10 out of 31 promised tanks were scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in mid-September.
The tanks, which offer greater mobility and firepower than Soviet battle tanks, are expected to support Ukraine's defensive and offensive efforts. The shipments may add momentum to the counteroffensive, which has begun to break through Russian lines of defense.
On Sept. 19, defense leaders of some 50 nations gathered for the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein NATO base in Germany. The format coordinates the efforts of the U.S. and its allies to provide military aid to Ukraine.
In his opening remarks, Austin urged allies to step up the provision of ground-based air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine.
"Ukraine's counteroffensive continues to make steady forward progress. And brave Ukrainian troops are breaking through the heavily fortified lines of Russia's army of aggression," the U.S. official said.
"But Ukraine's recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group. And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battles and for the long road ahead."
According to Austin, Washington and other international partners have committed more than $76 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine since the first Contact Group meeting in April 2022.
Read also: Media: Nearly 100 Leopard 1 tanks stored in the open as Switzerland rejects transfer to Ukraine
Meanwhile, Denmark will donate to Ukraine an additional 45 tanks purchased in cooperation with other countries, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said on Sept. 19, cited by the TV2 channel.
These are 15 T-72EA tanks and 30 Leopard 1 tanks, Poulsen reportedly said at the 15th Ramstein meeting. He didn't name other countries that would contribute to the donation, as discussions with allies are still underway.
The donation is part of Denmark's $830 million assistance package announced last week, the TV2 channel wrote. The country's largest aid package since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion also includes infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition, and anti-aircraft guns, among other things.
According to Poulsen, cited by the Danish media outlet, T-72EA tanks, the modernized version of the Soviet-designed T-72 model, can be deployed on the battlefield immediately after delivery as Ukrainian troops don't require additional training to use them.
This is the first time Denmark is supplying Ukraine with T-72EA tanks, added the outlet.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said after the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting that the U.K. will provide Ukraine with tens of thousands more artillery shells in the coming months.
"Today we've demonstrated the U.K.'s unwavering commitment to Ukraine and set out more military support, including pledging tens of thousands more artillery shells to enable Ukraine to defend itself," Shapps said, as cited by Reuters.
"We have also set out how the U.K. will go further in the coming months in our priority support areas, including air defense and long-range strike capabilities, and training."
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The Ukrainian forces launched an attack on the staff of the Russian occupiers near the occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on the morning of 19 September.
Source: Directorate of Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (StratCom); Ivan Fedorov, mayor of Melitopol
Quote by Stratkom: "At about 07:00 the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a successful attack on the occupiers staff near the temporarily occupied city of Melitopol."
Details: Earlier, Ivan Fedorov, the legal mayor of Melitopol, who is in the Ukraine-controlled territory at the moment, reported with reference to locals that over five explosions sounded in Melitopol, and they were most distinctly heard near the Autocolorlyt factory.
The occupiers claimed their air defence was responding in Melitopol.
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Ukraine's capture of two villages shows 'severe degradation' of Russia's defending troops, experts say
Destroyed Russian armored vehicles and tanks seen in Lyman, Donetsk region, Ukraine in October 2022. Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Ukrainian soldiers retook two villages south of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, a think tank reported.
The attacks inflicted "severe" damage to Russian troops, The Institute for the Study of War said.
It followed Ukraine's breaches along several fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian troops' recapture of two villages near the front lines has caused a "severe degradation" of defensive Russian forces on the front lines, a think tank reported.
The respected Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian troops breached a strategic defensive line that Russian forces tried to hold onto in the area south of Bakhmut, citing Ukrainian military officials.
In doing so, it defeated three Russian brigades, the report said.
The Ukrainian recapture of the villages Klishchiivka and Andriivka likely left Russian forces battle-worn and less able to fight.
The forces "will likely struggle to replenish their combat strength and defend against any further Ukrainian offensive activity," the ISW said.
The ISW said that in the neighboring Zaporizhzhia region, Russian forces also most likely suffered heavy losses and retreated to a second line of defense, where they could use artillery to fire on advancing Ukrainian troops.
The think tank said it was unable to independently verify the strength and extent of Russian defensive lines or observe the degree of deterioration among the mentioned Russian units.
Ukraine's advance into new villages is the latest example of its steady but costly progress in the monthslong counteroffensive.
Ukraine's long-awaited counteroffensive got off to a slow start on June 4, prompting concerns over its strategy and pace.
But since late August, Ukrainian forces appear to have made steady and slow gains, with breakthroughs along Russia's first line of defense on the southern frontline, the ISW said, despite complex Russian defenses, including dense minefields and fortifications.
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, told Reuters that cold and wet weather later this year, however, would hold up the counteroffensive.
The US Army general Mark Milley, who's chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the same point, telling BBC News that Ukraine's counteroffensive had less than 30 days before the weather disrupted military operations.
"There's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days' worth of fighting weather left, so the Ukrainians aren't done," Milley told the outlet.
Ukrainian forces are now working on breaching the second line, Michael Kofman, a defense analyst and senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told The Kyiv Independent.
Read the original article on Business Insider
By Michelle Nichols and Gabriela Baczynska
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy implored world leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to stand united against Russia's invasion and said Moscow had to be pushed back so the world could turn to solving pressing global challenges.
Zelenskiy drew applause as he took his place at the United Nations General Assembly lectern in New York for his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
"Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation," he said. "Weaponization must be restrained, war crimes must be punished, deported people must come back home and the occupier must return to their own land."
"We must be united to make it - and we'll do it."
He accused Russia of manipulating global food markets to seek international recognition of ownership of land it seized from Kyiv.
In a nod to the Global South, whose support he is seeking in his standoff with Russia, Zelenskiy spoke about the worsening climate crisis and natural disasters, mentioning the recent earthquake in Morocco and floods in Libya.
"We have to stop it. We must act united to defeat the aggressor and focus all our capabilities and energy on addressing these challenges," he told the General Assembly.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said nine people were killed in Russian attacks, including a drone strike that set ablaze industrial warehouses.
Zelenskiy accused Russia of kidnapping Ukrainian children.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of illegally deporting children from Ukraine. The Kremlin rejects the accusations and the court's jurisdiction.
"Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine and all ties with their families are broken. And this is clearly a genocide when hatred is weaponized against one nation," Zelenskiy said.
Last year, Zelenskiy presented a 10-point plan that included restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders.
He said he was now working towards a peace summit based on that: "Tomorrow I will present the details at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council."
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
HANOI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade has called on each individual and organization, especially enterprises, to take action to save energy, Vietnam News reported on Tuesday, citing Trinh Quoc Vu, deputy director of the ministry's Energy Saving Department.
The action aims to cope with the severe electricity shortages as what happened this summer in the Southeast Asian country.
According to the ministry, industries accounted for more than half of Vietnam's total energy consumption.
If each enterprise saved at least 2 percent of its energy consumption each year, an estimated volume of 1.4 billion kWh could be saved, equivalent to 3 trillion Vietnamese dong (nearly 123.3 U.S. dollars).
Vietnam's total power production reached 186.3 billion kilowatt-hours in the first eight months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 2.7 percent.
Given the context of the annual rising power demand of 10 percent, northern Vietnam is predicted to continuously face power shortages in the coming years.
A shortage of up to 1,770 MW is predicted during the peak of the dry season next year in the country, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Smoke after the attack of the Russian Federation on Lviv
Vital details about Russias drone attack on Ukraine during the night of Sept. 18-19 have been revealed by Yuriy Ihnat, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force.
Speaking on Ukrainian national television, Ihnat revealed that the Russian attack had been initiated before the previous evening.
Read also: Pro-Russian blogger called for missile strikes on Lviv during livestream, says SBU
The enemy deployed its drones from the southeast direction, which then traversed Ukrainian territory, circumventing the eastern and central oblasts before heading westward, Ihnat said
Ihnat added that various military and aviation units neutralized 27 out of the 30 drones, demonstrating a highly efficient response to the threat.
Read also: School, kindergarten damaged in Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih, no casualties reported
The Russians will continue their attacks, and it is our duty to continue destroying them, he said.
During the night of Sept. 19, air raid sirens blared in multiple Ukrainian oblasts. Explosions were reported in Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, and Lviv, with air defense systems activated in the Khmelnytskyi Oblast.
An industrial warehouse in Lviv caught fire as a result of the attack. One man was killed, and another two were injured.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Border guards of the Steel Frontier unit of the Offensive Guard have captured a wounded Russian serviceman during a mop-up operation in Klishchiivka, which was liberated on 17 September.
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs on Facebook
Details: Soldiers in the video are saying that the prisoner reached their rear lines and asked for help because he was wounded in the stomach. He turned out to be a staff sergeant who served in a reconnaissance unit of the Akhmat battalion, which fights on the Russian side.
Background:
On 17 September, the Defence Forces liberated the village of Klishchiivka on the Bakhmut front of Donetsk Oblast, thus creating a springboard to develop offensive operations.
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 19 September, the Cabinet of Ministers (the government) dismissed Oleh Kotenko, Ukraines Commissioner for People Missing Under Special Circumstances, who recently announced that he would resign due to the transfer of his powers to other departments.
Source: Taras Melnychuk, representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Ukrainian Parliament, on Telegram
Quote: "Oleh Oleksiyovych Kotenko has been dismissed as Ukraines Commissioner for People Missing Under Special Circumstances."
Details: Apart from that, the government has appointed Iryna Nadashkevych head of the National Health Service of Ukraine.
Oleksandr Riabets has been appointed deputy head of the National Health Service of Ukraine for issues of digital development, digital transformations and digitalisation.
Background:
It became known in August that the Cabinet of Ministers had decided to remove the institution of the Office of the Commissioner for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances, which, among other things, was responsible for the exchange of bodies of fallen soldiers.
The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories stated that the information about the alleged removal of the position of commissioner for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances was not true.
On 13 September, Oleh Kotenko, Commissioner for Persons Missing Under Special Circumstances, announced that he would resign due to the transfer of his powers to other agencies.
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 Russians attacked Lviv with Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones at about 5 am
Video footage from the body cameras of patrol officers capturing the initial moments following Russias attack on Lviv on Sept. 19 has been published by the National Police on its social media.
Today, during the morning attack on Lviv, patrol officers from the 2nd battalion immediately rushed to the explosion site where people were trapped under debris. There was a threat of further drone strikes, so there was no time for hesitation, the police said.
Read also: Ukrainian military destroys 27 drones overnight, one man injured in Lviv
Law enforcement officers and citizens managed to rescue a woman and a man from the rubble. The 26-year-old man was hospitalized, while the 29-year-old victim initially declined hospitalization.
The Russians attacked Lviv with Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones at approximately 5 a.m., targeting three industrial warehouses. These warehouses contained food products, household chemicals, and humanitarian aid. The fire engulfed an area of nearly 10,000 square meters. One person died, and two others were injured.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi described the fire as one of the worst destruction incidents in the citys history, adding that the losses will amount to hundreds of millions of hryvnias.
Read also:
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The New York Times, based on the results of its own investigations, says the attack on the market in the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast on 6 September, which claimed the lives of 16 people, was a "tragic mishap" caused by the fall of a Ukrainian missile and not by Russian shelling.
Source: NYT; sources of Ukrainska Pravda
Quote: "Throughout its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly and systematically attacked civilians and struck schools, markets and residences as a deliberate tactic to instill fear in the populace. In Kostiantynivka in April, they shelled homes and a preschool, killing six.
But evidence collected and analysed by The New York Times, including missile fragments, satellite imagery, witness accounts and social media posts, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defence missile fired by a Buk launch system. The attack appears to have been a tragic mishap."
Details: The article, citing air defence experts, notes that such missiles can go off course for a variety of reasons, from electronic malfunctions to damage during launch.
It emphasises that the alleged missile failure occurred against the background of gunfights, which often take place in this area. It also mentions that Russian troops shelled Kostiantynivka the night before.
A spokesman for the Armed Forces of Ukraine told the newspaper that the country's security service is investigating the incident and added that he could not comment further.
The NYT writes that immediately after the strike, the Ukrainian authorities allegedly tried to prevent its journalists from reaching the wreckage of the missile and the crash site, but in the end, the reporters were able to get to the scene, interview witnesses and collect the remnants of the weapons used.
The authors, based on the recording of a surveillance camera, claim that the missile flew into Kostiantynivka from territory controlled by Ukraine and not from the side of the Russians.
The NYT reports that the camera captured at least four pedestrians simultaneously turning their heads towards the sound of the approaching missile. It notes that all these people were facing the camera in the direction of territory controlled by Ukraine.
In addition, the missile reflection on the roofs of parked cars is visible just a moment before the strike. The article claims that this also indicates that the missile was coming from the northwest.
The Times article also points to a missile crater, and damage extending from the point of detonation, as further suggesting a launch from that area.
"Further evidence reveals that minutes before the strike, the Ukrainian military launched two surface-to-air missiles toward the Russian front line from the town of Druzhkivka, 10 miles northwest of Kostiantynivka.
Reporters with The Times were in Druzhkivka when they heard an outgoing missile launch at 2 p.m., followed a few minutes later by a second. By chance, one member of the team recorded the first launch in a voice message. Residents in Druzhkivka also reported an outgoing launch at that time on a local Telegram group," The NYT said.
The journalists noted that the time of these launches coincided with the launch of the missile that hit the market in Kostiantynivka at 14:04.
The Times reporters who visited the alleged launch area [a site in Druzhkivka ed.] saw evidence that it had recently been used by the military; in particular, there were trenches, garbage pits and wide tracks typical of large military equipment.
Another key indicator they mentioned is scorch marks. They say that various ground-based air defence systems launch missiles from the back of a large vehicle and, during launch, burn the surrounding grass.
"Analysis of before-and-after satellite imagery shows new scorch marks around the trenches on the day of the strike, possibly indicating that the site was used for launching missiles," The Times said.
The authors also reported that the size of the impact hole and of the fragments found at the scene corresponds to the size and shape of one weapon in particular, which is the 9M38 missile launched by the Buk air defence system, noting that both Ukraine and Russia use this system.
"Several witnesses either heard or saw Ukrainian forces firing surface-to-air missiles from Druzhkivka toward Kostiantynivka at the time of the market strike. And evidence collected at the market shows that the missile came from that direction," The Times summed up.
A Ukrainska Pravda source has clarified that the Ukrainian Air Force did not use Buk air defence systems that day. Ukrainska Pravdas sources say the Ukrainian Ground Forces have no Buk air defence systems in service.
Ukrainska Pravda also requested a comment from the Press and Information Office of Ukraines Armed Forces and the Air Force.
Former Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar did not answer Ukrainska Pravdas calls, and requests for comment sent through messaging apps have remained unread for over two hours.
The Centre for Strategic Communications of the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces told Ukrainska Pravda that "in order to establish the circumstances of the missile attack, the Security Service of Ukraine launched criminal proceedings under Art. 438 'Violation of the laws and customs of war' on 6 September. An official investigation is currently underway. Pending its completion, it is prohibited by law to comment on any details of the incident, and it is inappropriate to do so. This can and will be used by Russian propagandists."
Background:
On 6 September, the Ukrainian authorities reported that the Russian military had attacked the city of Kostiantynivka in Donetsk Oblast. It was reported that 16 people were killed and 33 were wounded.
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 Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders, hoping Republicans in Congress will also take notice.
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said in his speech to UNGA. "If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
Biden drew applause when saying that the United States and its allies would stand with Ukraine's fight for freedom. "Russia alone bears responsibility for this war," the president said. "Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately."
Biden's address at the annual gathering was the centerpiece event of his three-day visit to New York, which will include meetings with the heads of five Central Asian nations, and the leaders of Israel and Brazil.
Biden, a Democrat, has made rallying U.S. allies to support Ukraine a leading component of U.S. foreign policy, arguing the world must send a clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will not be able to outlast the West.
Biden has faced criticism from some Republicans who want the United States to spend less money on the war effort.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has vowed to seek a quick end to the war if returned to power.
Trump has voiced skepticism about Washington's engagement with traditional allies, including NATO, and has been complimentary of Putin.
House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the leading Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the United States should keep sending billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine.
In his speech, Biden said Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and occupation of territory violated the founding U.N. Charter, a main principle of which is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
His remarks echoed those of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who in his opening speech to UNGA on Tuesday said Russia's invasion "has unleashed a nexus of horror."
A Biden administration official said Biden and U.S. officials would also focus at the U.N. meetings on mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development and fighting climate change.
Solid majorities of Americans support providing weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia and believe that such aid demonstrates to China and other U.S. rivals a will to protect U.S. interests and allies, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey in June.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who attended and applauded Biden's remarks ahead of his own speech at UNGA on Tuesday, was expected to visit Biden at the White House on Thursday and to meet some congressional leaders as well.
The United States is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine to coincide with Zelenskiy's visit, and Congress has been asked to approve billions of dollars more in security assistance for the rest of the year.
"We have confidence that there will be bipartisan support for this. I think President Zelenskiy does as well," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
After his speech, Biden was due to sit down with Guterres to discuss world hot spots.
Later, he will attend a summit with the presidents of five Central Asian nations, a first. They are Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
On Wednesday, Biden will meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and join him in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States.
Also on Wednesday, Biden will have his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu regained power last December.
Sullivan said they would discuss "a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran."
(Reporting By Steve Holland; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Heather Timmons, Grant McCool and Howard Goller)
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he has no power at all ahead of the U.N.s General Assembly yearly meeting.
When asked in an interview with CNN about the executive power he holds in the meeting, Guterres said, No power at all.
The secretary of the United Nations has no power, and theres no money, Guterres continued. What we have is a voice, and that voice can be loud, and I have the obligation to make it be loud.
The general debate for the 78th session of the U.N. General Assembly kicked off this week. Countries will be able to broadcast their plans, concerns and calls to actions in front of other global leaders.
Guterres said the General Assembly is sometimes able to convene more than just countries, while noting the power of member states.
Sometimes we are able to bring together different actors, not only countries, but the private sector, civil society, women and youth organizations, scientific experts, the academia, Guterres said. But the power is in the member states.
Guterres said the exercise of this power is getting blocked due to the division among superpowers since World War II.
We have a level of division among superpowers than has no precedent since the Second World War, Guterres said. Even in the Cold War, things were more predictable than they are today.
At a two-day summit, which began Monday, Guterres tried to kick-start action to fulfill the 17 goals adopted by world leaders in 2015, reminding leaders they made a promise to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all a promise to leave no one behind and a promise to pay for it.
General Assembly President Dennis Francis added that the assembled leaders are lagging in their promise, The Associated Press reported.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Gabriela Baczynska and Don Durfee
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukraine urgently needs air defenses, including ammunition, spare parts and maintenance for the systems the Ukrainian military already has, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Reuters on Tuesday.
Stoltenberg said the war, now well into its second year, was a "war of attrition" but not a stalemate, given the gains Ukraine has made with a counteroffensive it began in June to try to reclaim territory occupied by Russian forces.
"If we want an end to the war, if we want a just and lasting peace, then military support to Ukraine is the right way," said Stoltenberg in an interview while in New York for the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly. "Ukraine needs many different types of support."
"There is an urgent need for air defense, not only new systems, but also ammunition, maintenance, spare parts ... We see that air defense is saving lives every day in Ukraine and we need to sustain the air defense systems of Ukraine."
He spoke after a senior State Department official said earlier on Tuesday that reinforcing Ukraine's air defenses was key, including to protect critical infrastructure as winter descends.
Stoltenberg declined to say how many rounds of munitions NATO allies can deliver to Ukraine each year, or when exactly F-16s would be delivered to Kyiv.
"Allies are working hard to train (F-16 pilots) as fast as possible," he said. "The importance of the F-16s is also that it sends a message of long-term and enduring support."
"We are ready for the long haul. Not because we are able to predict exactly how long this war will last, but because we need to send a message that President Putin cannot wait us out."
Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighbor Ukraine in February 2022 in what he calls a "special military operation" to degrade the Ukrainian military and remove what Russia says is a potential threat against its own security.
Stoltenberg said he would have preferred to see faster progress in Ukraine's counteroffensive but said its gains in the south and the east were still "enormous".
Ukrainian officials have said that their forces have pressed past Russia's first line of defenses but now face further lines in places where Moscow has had time to build up fortifications and minefields.
Some military analysts have said Ukraine could struggle to sustain its momentum on the battlefield with the onset of cold and wet weather, but Stoltenberg said fighting could also continue in the fall and through the winter.
"What we need to continue to do is to support Ukrainians and then they have to make the decisions on the ground," he said. "War of attrition becomes a war of logistics."
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Don Durfee; editing by Grant McCool)
GENEVA (Reuters) - A U.N. humanitarian office report said on Tuesday that some 400 migrants were killed in the floods that hit eastern Libya last week, citing hospital reports.
The report quoted the U.N. health agency, the World Health Organization, as saying that 4,000 deaths had so far been reported in Libya by hospitals, including 400 migrants.
Thousands of African and Middle Eastern migrants are temporarily based in Libya and many make the perilous Mediterranean crossing each year to flee poverty and conflict.
The International Organization for Migration had previously said that over 100,000 migrants lived in flood-hit areas, including more than 8,000 in the city of Derna. They are mostly from Chad, Egypt and Sudan, it said.
(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by William Maclean)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) Wilcon Depot, the Philippines' most trusted home improvement and construction supplies retailer, returned on a grander scale at Philconstruct Mindanao 2023 Hybrid Edition held last September 7-9 at the SMX Convention Center, SM Lanang Premier, Davao.
Organized by the Philippine Constructors Association, Inc. (PCA), Philconstruct creates a space and opportunity for businesses to showcase their newest technologies and products from massive construction vehicles down to the baseline construction materials.
Philconstruct Mindanao 2023 Hybrid Edition brought together entrepreneurs from the region to discuss and learn the potentials and future of the construction industry.
With a legacy of excellence and commitment to advancing the construction industry, Wilcon Depot left a palpable mark by featuring in its impressive booth a meticulously curated selection of construction materials, interior solutions, and home improvement essentialshighlighting the depth and breadth of its offerings.
Photo from Wilcon Depot
Exclusive brands such as Heim, the number one brand for all home interior needs, and Alphalux, an energy-efficient lighting solutions brand, were the focal point of the booth.
Attendees witnessed the seamless blend of innovation, sustainability, and design that defines Wilcon Depot's products. The exhibit showcased the products' practicality and demonstrated their role in shaping modern aesthetics and design trends.
The company has been fostering growth, innovation, and collaboration for years to remain at the forefront of the home solutions and construction industry. Wilcon Depot is committed to continuously improving its operations and processes in order to uphold these values, cater to the evolving needs of its customers, and make a positive impact on society and the environment.
For more information about Wilcon Depot, visit wilcon.com.ph or follow their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, or subscribe and connect with them on their Viber Community, LinkedIn, and YouTube. You may also contact their hotline 88-WILCON (88-945266) for inquiries.
The United Automobile Workers Union (UAW) has denounced Donald Trump ahead of his plans to skip the GOPs second presidential primary debate in favor of delivering a speech in Detroit, Michigan during a major auto workers strike.
Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers, said union president Shawn Fain in a statement on Tuesday.
We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class, Fain added.
UAW president on Trump's planned to Detroit: "Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers" pic.twitter.com/ozdjsYMZFa Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) September 19, 2023
Last week, the UAW went on strike against the Big Three auto manufacturers Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis and staged a 12,700-worker walkout at three facilities. The union, which represents more than 150,000 workers, has made various demands including changes to pay structure, union expansion into planned electric vehicle manufacturing plants, and the revival of benefit programs that were stricken in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
Since the strike was announced Trump, notorious for stiffing contractors and laborers who work on his real estate projects, has been making overtures to the unions workers. AUTOWORKERS, VOTE FOR TRUMP ILL MAKE YOU VICTORIOUS & RICH Trump wrote last week on Truth Social, attacking the development of electric vehicles in the process.
The New York Times reported on Tuesday morning that Trump is planning to skip the Republican primary debate scheduled for September 27, and would instead fly to Detroit to deliver a speech before a crowd of blue-collar workers.
The decision fits in with the former presidents strategy of creating flashy counterprogramming to overshadow his rivals on debate night. Instead of attending the RNCs first debate in August, Trump sat down for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. As previously reported by Rolling Stone the decision was likely a strategic move by Trump to punish Foxs owners, the Murdoch family, for a perceived lack of loyalty. A collaboration with Carlson, who was fired from the network in April, added an additional stab of pettiness to the snub.
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Airlines have been on the lookout for potentially dodgy spare parts.
The supplier has been under investigation by regulators who say it used false documentation.
United, Southwest, and Virgin Australia have all identified suspect parts, per Bloomberg.
United Airlines has joined the ranks of air carriers affected by inauthentic engine parts from a supplier called AOG Technics, Bloomberg first reported.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency issued a notification about the London-based supplier last month, suspecting unapproved parts.
It said AOG Technics had used false documentation for engine parts of unknown origin.
Bloomberg previously reported the dubious parts were used for repairs of CFM56 engines, which power many Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 planes, leaving companies scouring their records for references to the supplier. The total number of suspect spare parts is still unknown.
Since then, three major airlines have discovered that the components had been used in some of their engines.
A spokesperson for United told Insider that components were discovered in a single engine on each of two aircraft, one of which was already undergoing routine maintenance.
"We are replacing the affected engines on both aircraft before they are returned to service, and we'll continue to investigate as new information becomes available from our suppliers," they added.
Also on Monday, Virgin Australia Airlines found a second suspected unapproved part from AOG Technics, Bloomberg reported. Flightradar24 data showed the Boeing 737 in question was diverted during a flight on Saturday.
"At Virgin Australia, safety is our highest priority and we apply a highly stringent approach to maintenance to ensure our safety standard is upheld," a spokesperson told Insider.
Southwest Airlines was the first major carrier to disclose that it had identified components from AOG Technics. "We became aware of the issue in early August and took necessary steps to ensure we do not have any parts in our fleet from AOG," a spokesperson said in a statement shared with Insider.
"Our suppliers conducted a review of Southwest parts and identified one engine that contained two low-pressure turbine blades from this vendor. In an abundance of caution, we made an immediate decision to promptly replace those parts on that single engine."
Read the original article on Business Insider
The United States distrusts Russia's and North Korea's claims that they have no arms deals. It warns that it will consider any steps in this direction a violation of a UN Security Council resolution and will act accordingly.
Source: statement during a press briefing in New York by John Kirby, White House National Security Council coordinator; Ukrinform
Quote from Kirby: "We saw the comments coming out of Kim Jong Un s meeting, comments coming from the Kremlin that there was no deal announced. Well take that with a grain of salt and well watch."
Details: He stressed that "any deal would be a violation of UNSC resolutions".
Kirby also stated that the United States will certainly continue to talk with its partner countries at the UN about how to work together to hold Moscow and Pyongyang accountable if they move in this direction.
Background:
Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. North Korea launched two ballistic missiles off its east coast on Kim's arrival in Russia.
The EU stated that it is ready to take action against North Korea if it supports Russia in its war against Ukraine.
The United States also threatened to aggressively apply existing sanctions against Pyongyang and introduce new ones if North Korea provides weapons to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
Ukrainska Pravda is the place where you will find the most up-to-date information about everything related to the war in Ukraine. Follow us on Twitter, support us, or become our patron!
By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. climate envoy John Kerry met Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in New York City on Tuesday, and emphasized the need for China to "raise ambition" in efforts to accelerate decarbonization and reduce emissions of methane, the State Department said.
THE TAKE
Kerry recently visited China and met his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua, with the two of them discussing policy measures and progress on actions both countries have taken to address climate change.
Kerry has been among a number of top U.S. officials from the administration of President Joe Biden to have visited China in recent months. Others who have made the visits include Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
KEY QUOTES
"Secretary Kerry reiterated the urgency of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which will require ambitious action by the United States and the PRC (China)," the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday after Kerry met Han.
"He also emphasized the need for the PRC to raise ambition in efforts to, among other things, accelerate decarbonization and reduce emissions of super pollutants like methane."
CONTEXT
* Kerry met China's vice president on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday a day after Blinken met Han, with the two sides agreeing to maintain open lines of communication.
* The talks could help set the stage for a meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.
* Relations between the world's two largest economies have been strained of late due to a number of issues including Taiwan, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, allegations of spying and trade tariffs, among others.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast)
FILE - A man with a shopping bag walks out from a ZARA flagship store at a shopping mall in Beijing, on June 21, 2023. American companies operating in China view tensions with Washington over technology, trade and other issues as a major hindrance for their businesses there, according to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Foreign companies operating in China say tensions with Washington over technology, trade and other issues and uncertainty over Chinese policies are damaging the business environment and causing some to reassess their plans for investing in the giant market.
The results of surveys released Tuesday by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China largely concurred in appealing for greater certainty and clarity over China's stance toward foreign businesses.
For decades, European companies thrived in China, benefitting from a stable and efficient business environment. However, after the turbulent past three years, many have reevaluated their basic assumptions about the Chinese market, Jens Eskelund, the EU Chamber's president said, in a letter that accompanied the report.
Eskelund said that predictability and reliability had been undermined by erratic policy shifts, hurting confidence in Chinas growth prospects.
At the top of a growing list of questions about the Chinese market is, what kind of relationship does China want to have with foreign enterprises? he said.
The Shanghai AmCham's survey showed a continued downgrading of China's importance as an overseas destination for investment, even though two-thirds of the 325 companies responding said they had no immediate plans to change their China strategy.
Just over one in five of the companies surveyed said they were decreasing their investment in China this year, with the top reason being uncertainty about the U.S.-China trade relationship, followed by expectations of slower growth in China, it said.
Overall, the survey showed sentiment worsened from last year, when companies were embroiled in disruptions from zero-COVID policies that caused parts of entire cities, transport networks and travel to be shut down, sometimes for weeks at a time.
Such disruptions were a major push factor that companies cited in expanding their operations outside China, the survey showed.
Asked about the survey, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said that Beijing has recently taken measures to attract foreign investment and that China welcomes foreign companies to invest and operate in China.
What I can tell you is that Chinas economy is resilient, promising and dynamic, and the fundamentals of long-term development have not changed, said the spokesperson, Mao Ning.
The outstanding advantages of a super-sized market and a complete industrial system have also remained unchanged, she said.
While 52% of those surveyed by AmCham Shanghai said they were optimistic about their five-year business outlook in China, that was the lowest figure since the group began the annual survey in 1999.
Nearly nine in 10 companies said rising costs were a big challenge.
Intensifying competition has also been worsened by policies that favor local companies over foreign ones and courts that tend to favor Chinese companies in decisions on protection of intellectual property such as patents and trademarks, the chamber said.
Companies face a growing threat from nimble, innovative local businesses and state-owned enterprises, which have enjoyed stronger support in recent years and whose consolidation has made them increasingly competitive with large multinational corporations," the survey said.
Companies that are limiting their commitment to the China market included those selling technology hardware, software and services an area hit hard by trade sanctions imposed in the name of national security, mostly by Washington.
Others include education and training industries that have suffered in a crackdown on private education companies, and banking and other financial industries.
Southeast Asia ranked as the top choice for the 40% of companies shifting their investments to places outside China, followed by the U.S. and Mexico, the survey said.
In the 2022 survey, 40% of manufacturers surveyed said China was among their top three investment destinations, while this year that dropped to 26%.
American companies also are urging Chinese authorities to clarify various regulations, saying that gray areas leave companies uncertain over what is permitted and what may have been outlawed as rules changed.
Companies are much more hesitant, said Sean Stein, AmCham Shanghai's chairman. He noted that the problem was acute for financial and pharmaceutical companies.
"What businesses need above all else is clarity and predictability, yet across many sectors companies report that Chinas legal and regulatory environment is becoming less transparent and more uncertain, Stein said in an online briefing before the report was released.
The survey results echoed those found by other foreign business groups. Foreign companies are on edge following unexplained raids on two consulting firms and a due diligence firm. The expansion of an anti-spying law and a push for self-reliance in technology also are seen as risks.
Foreign investment into China fell 2.7% from a year earlier in the first half of 2023, according to official data.
A survey by the British Chamber of Commerce in China found 70% of foreign companies want greater clarity before making new investments. The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said its members are shifting investments to Southeast Asia and other targets.
Despite the relatively gloomy perspective evinced by the survey, some things have improved, American Chamber of Commerce members said.
China has extended preferential tax breaks for expatriates, such as tax write-offs for housing and educational expenses until the end of 2027.
A recent overall improvement in China-U.S. relations has occurred since the survey was completed, they said.
By Moira Warburton
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives is set to hold its first committee hearing on Sept. 28 on its long-shot impeachment inquiry against Democratic President Joe Biden launched by Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week.
The House Oversight Committee, led by Republican Representative James Comer, said it will explore constitutional and legal questions at the hearing, and also intends to subpoena personal and business bank records of Hunter Biden , the president's son, and James Biden, the president's brother.
Republicans allege that Biden profited from Hunter's business dealings while serving as vice president between 2009 and 2017 but have not released any concrete evidence of misconduct. Biden, who is running for re-election next year, has denied wrongdoing.
White House spokesperson Ian Sams on Tuesday accused Republicans of trying to "distract from their own chaotic inability to govern" by "staging a political stunt." Sams said they had not requested any information from the White House.
"Until they do that, we're just going to wait and see what they do," Sams said.
Two other House committees also are taking part in the inquiry.
The Constitution establishes an impeachment process under which Congress can remove a president from office. The House can approve formal charges - articles of impeachment - by a simple majority. The Senate then holds a trial and can remove a president with a two-thirds majority vote. Democrats control the Senate, making conviction and removal highly unlikely.
McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry after facing pressure from far-right lawmakers in his party who were furious that Democrats, when they controlled the House, impeached Republican former President Donald Trump in 2019 and 2021. Trump was acquitted both times by the Senate.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton in Washington; additional reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Will Dunham and Andy Sullivan)
On Tuesday, the US Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against a network of companies from Iran, China, Russia and Turkiye that facilitated the smuggling of components for the production of Iranian aircraft and drones.
Source: European Pravda with reference to the US Department of the Treasury
Details: The new US sanctions targeted seven individuals and four legal entities from Iran, China, Russia, and Turkiye that facilitated the supply and financing of Iranian military aircraft and drones.
The company in question is the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company (HESA), which, among other things, produces Shahed drones used by Russia against Ukraine; although it has been under US sanctions since 2008, it has been using a new name for contracts since last year.
The current head of HESA, his deputy and production director, as well as one Chinese company and its head, three Russian companies and two Turkish citizens involved in the network of supplying components to Iran, were subject to US sanctions.
Media outlets reported that the United States is trying to persuade Iran to stop selling attack drones to Russia as part of a broader "unwritten agreement" between Washington and Tehran to calm down the tensions.
At the same time, evidence has already been revealed of Iranian drone production in Russia.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday that every country in Asia has started boosting their rice reserves, triggering a spike in prices, which he earlier solely blamed on smugglers and hoarders.
During a rice distribution in Zamboanga City, Marcos said Asian countries are now preparing for El Nino, which is expected to greatly hit the agriculture sector.
Kaya lahat ng bansa sa Asia, tinitiyak nila na sila ay may buffer stock. Kaya nagtaasan ang mga presyoang Indonesia bumibili, ang China bumibili, tayo, Thailand, Singapore, lahat bumibili, he said in his speech on Tuesday.
[Translation: Thats why every country in Asia are ensuring that they have buffer stocks. Thats also the reason for the rising prices, everyones buying -- Indonesia, China, even us, Thailand, and Singapore.]
Sumasabay ang pag-akyat ng bigas kaya kailangan natin lagyan ng price cap, Marcos added, referring to the price ceiling the government started implementing on Sept. 5.
[Translation: Rice prices go up at the same time, so we need to put a price cap.]
RELATED: Economic team surprised by rice price cap Diokno
Marcos earlier said hoarders and smugglers were the only culprits behind the high prices.
READ: Marcos: Smugglers, hoarders the only reason behind high rice prices
The president also mentioned the governments move to set higher prices for wet and dry palay to boost local farmers income.
Marcos led the distribution of smuggled rice confiscated by customs authorities to qualified beneficiaries in Zamboanga City.
Around 1,500 sacks -- part of the 42,180 smuggled sacks of rice worth 42 million -- were distributed to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
He said suppliers were given enough time to provide proof that the shipment legally entered the Philippines.
But since they failed to comply, the seized rice supply would be turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for distribution in the region.
FILE - Iran's domestically built drones and weapons are displayed in an exhibition in a military compound belonging to the Defense Ministry, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 23, 2023. The U.S. has imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkey who officials allege are connected with the development of Irans drone program. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
WASHINGTON (AP) The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkey who officials allege are connected with the development of Iran's drone program.
The U.S. accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as the Kremlin continues its invasion of Ukraine.
The latest development comes after Irans President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
We are against the war in Ukraine, President Raisi said Monday as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the worlds premier global conference, the high-level leaders meeting at the U.N. General Assembly.
The parties sanctioned Tuesday by Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control include: An Iranian drone company previously sanctioned in 2008, now doing business as Shahin Co., its managing executives, a group of Russian parts manufacturers and two Turkish money exchangers, Mehmet Tokdemir and Alaaddin Aykut.
Treasury said the action builds on a set of sanctions it issued last March, when Treasury sanctioned 39 firms linked to an alleged shadow banking system that helped to obfuscate financial activity between sanctioned Iranian firms and their foreign buyers, namely for petrochemicals produced in Iran.
Brian E. Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Irans continued, deliberate proliferation of its drone program enables Russia and other destabilizing actors to undermine global stability.
The United States will continue to take action" against Iran's drone program, he said.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, said the U.S. will continue to use every tool at our disposal to disrupt these efforts and will work with Allies and partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions.
Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the U.S. and prevent U.S. companies and citizens from doing business with them.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain high, despite the release of five American detainees from Iran this week in exchange for the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
American-made M1A1 Abrams tanks will soon arrive in Ukraine, according to Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, who was speaking at the 15th Ukraine Defense Contact Group Ramstein meeting in Germany on Sept. 19.
"History will show the full folly of [Russian dictator Vladimir] Putins reckless, cruel, and unprovoked invasion of his peaceful neighbor. In this war, time is not on Putins side. Time is never on the side of a dictator who launches an imperial war of choice, Austin said.
Read also: Biden close to decision to supply Ukraine with ATACMS missiles FT
"The people of Ukraine are fighting in self-defense for a just cause. They are fighting to save their futures and secure their freedom. And they have the guts and the persistence to outlast the Kremlin."
Earlier, Secretary of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said that the first ten Abrams tanks would soon arrive in Ukraine.
Read also: Germany will greenlight Leopards for Ukraine if US provides Abrams tanks
Along with the tanks, Washington, D.C., plans to provide Ukraine with depleted uranium tank munitions.
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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
FILE PHOTO: A view of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. State and Defense Department officials warned on Tuesday that a possible government shutdown could affect international weapons shipments by the United States, including to Ukraine and Taiwan.
Mira Resnick, deputy assistant Secretary of State for Regional Security, testified in Congress that she could not say what would happen, but in the past, the State Department's bureau of political and military affairs has been unable to process new licenses or new military sales for any partner, including Taiwan, during a shutdown, except in an emergency.
"This is something we would like to avoid," she told a House of Representatives hearing on defense cooperation with Taiwan.
The Republican-controlled House and Democratic-led Senate have until Oct. 1 to avoid a partial shutdown by enacting appropriations bills that President Joe Biden can sign into law, or passing a short-term spending measure to give lawmakers more time for debate.
Fueling fears of a shutdown, the House on Tuesday failed to move forward on a fiscal 2024 defense appropriations bill, as divisions among Speaker Kevin McCarthy' Republicans threatened Congress' ability to fund the government before the deadline.
Separately, Pentagon spokesperson Chris Sherwood said shutdown could affect shipments to Ukraine. Delivery of defense articles, services and training "could be impacted by furloughs of personnel and DoD's suspension" of non-essential activities, Sherwood said in an emailed statement.
Sherwood's comments were first reported by Politico.
At the United Nations on Tuesday, Biden appealed to world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders.
Biden has made rallying allies to support countries like Ukraine and Taiwan a leading component of U.S. foreign policy.
China's military in recent years has stepped up activity around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory. CIA Director William Burns has said Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed his military to be ready to invade by 2027.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will visit the U.S. Capitol on Thursday and meet with members of Congress, who are considering Biden's request for billions of dollars in additional military aid to Ukraine.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; additional reporting by Mike Stone, Micheal Martina, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Stephen Coates)
The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Fisheries, Water, and Wildlife, chaired by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), will convene a hearing entitled Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Tribal Communities on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 2:30 p.m. - EDT.
Testimony will be heard from tribal water experts and stakeholders on a range of water-related challenges for tribes in the United States, including a lack of access to infrastructure, deferred maintenance of existing infrastructure, inadequate water quality, a shortage of operations and maintenance funding, emerging contaminants, technical assistance concerns, tribal operator certification issues, and workforce development shortfalls.
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The hearing will examine how these barriers prevent tribes from building or upgrading aging wastewater and drinking water infrastructure systems.
Despite significant federal funding for tribal water and sanitation needs from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, tribes are still more likely than other populations in the United States to lack access to wastewater services and clean drinking water. The Indian Health Service reports that approximately 17 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native homes lack adequate sanitation facilities, and Native American households are 19 times more likely than white households to lack indoor plumbing.
Testimony will be heard from:
Mr. Ken Norton, Chair of the National Tribal Water Council (NTWC) and Director of the Hoopa Valley Tribal Environmental Protection Agency
Mr. Brian Bennon, Tribal Water Systems Department Director, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA)
Jola WallowingBull, Director, Northern Arapaho Tribal Engineering Department
The hearing will be broadcast live here.
About the Author: "Native News Online is one of the most-read publications covering Indian Country and the news that matters to American Indians, Alaska Natives and other Indigenous people. Reach out to us at editor@nativenewsonline.net. "
Contact: news@nativenewsonline.net
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (Dem, Arizona) has arrived in Ukraine and toured a State Border Guard Service (DPSU) base with the services head, Serhiy Deineko, according to a press release on Sept. 19.
During the meeting, they discussed the execution of the border guards mission, the effective utilization of assistance provided by the US, and future collaborative projects.
Read also: U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly visits Ukraines largest children hospital
Senator Kelly, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, conducted inspections of American equipment used by the border guards.
"Today, Mark Kelly and I saw how Ukrainians are using this assistancefrom armored vehicles to weapons to protective gear and other equipment. We stand with Ukraine," Brink said.
Throughout the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States has consistently stood by Kyiv, offering both material and military assistance.
Read also: Blinken meets Ukrainian border guards, delivers US MRAP vehicles photo
The United States announced on Sept. 6 that it would provide Ukraine with depleted uranium tank rounds as part of a $175 million aid package.
The next day, on Sept. 7, the United States revealed a package of up to $600 million in aid, including equipment to support anti-aircraft defense and ammunition.
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
Liberal veterans organization VoteVets is out with another political ad taking aim at Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) for holding up more than 300 senior military officers over an abortion policy in the Defense Department.
The latest ad, Tight lips could sink ships, was released Tuesday and is expected to air nationwide, according to VoteVets.
The 30-second spot knocks Tuberville for endangering national security and emboldening dictators, with the ad using classic 50s style, black-and-white video footage in an apparent homage to old military commercials.
Flashes of the video show Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to underscore the point that the holds are encouraging foreign adversaries.
Dangerous dictators look on with glee as Tuberville does their work for them, a narrator says in the ad.
The final few seconds of the ad also attacks Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Republican allies of Tuberville, who VoteVets has accused of having tight lips on the holds by refusing to force the senator to end his blockade on military promotions.
VoteVets has been hammering Tuberville since June with several ads, featuring veterans and congressmembers who denounce the holds as dangerous and reckless.
Tuberville is refusing to budge on his hold, which he has maintained since February. The Marines, Navy and Army are all without Senate-confirmed leaders, straining the militarys ability to handle missions and daily structure.
At the end of the month, Gen. Mark Milley , the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will step down from his post, and his replacement is expected to also be held up.
Tuberville is protesting a Pentagon policy passed last year that provides reimbursement and travel costs for servicemembers who cross state lines for an abortion service.
The senator says the Pentagon can end the policy if it wants to confirm its leaders or the Senate can force through the process by confirming each nominee individually without the usual fast-track process of voice voting.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) Hundreds of migrants arrived atop a train at the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday.
Video shows dozens of migrants atop each of the covered box hoppers as the train arrives in south Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas.
Since Saturday, hundreds of migrants have been gathering in Juarez and lining up along the border wall in hopes of surrendering to U.S. Border Patrol agents.
U.S. Border Patrol officials told Border Report that there are at least 500 migrants directly south of the border wall, adding that those people crossed the border illegally to get there. The center of the Rio Grande is the international boundary.
Border agents say most of the migrants are from Venezuela and include adult males and family units, and will be taken to a U.S. Border Patrol processing facility and processed accordingly.
Migrants overwhelming resources in Arizona, congressman says
The U.S. Border Patrol has repeatedly warned that migrants are being processed under Title 8. Those without a legal basis to be in the United States face immediate removal from the country, and those evading apprehension, repeat offenders, and those engaging in smuggling efforts face prosecution and a five-year ban.
Migrants should not listen to the lies of smugglers and make the dangerous journey, only to be sent back, Border Patrol officials said in a statement. When migrants cross the border illegally, they put their lives in peril.
El Paso border crossing to suspend cargo processing to assist with migrants
On Friday, El Paso city officials said they anticipated a spike in migrants after federal officials release them, and they expressed concern that the city did not have enough space.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection also announced that it will suspend the processing of commercial cargo to assist with migrants at the Bridge of the Americas in South El Paso.
According to the City of El Pasos Migrant Situational Awareness Dashboard, as of Monday, the number of daily migrants encounters has shot up to over 1,200. Additionally, 4,129 people were in CBP custody in El Paso.
Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border
In recent weeks, shelters in El Paso have been working at capacity, John Martin, deputy director of the Opportunity Center, recently told Border Report, referring to three organizations the Opportunity Center, Sacred Heart Church and the Rescue Mission that make up El Pasos Downtown shelter network.
The citys dashboard says theres were 562 migrant releases, however, there were no street releases as of Monday.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com.
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's Prime Pham Minh Chinh has visited the headquarters of Nvidia and Synopsys, encouraging them and other U.S. tech firms to invest further in the Southeast Asian country's semiconductor industry.
"Vietnam is willing to open its doors to all investors to invest and do business there," a government statement quoted Chinh as telling a technology business forum in San Francisco during his visit to the United States.
Chinh's trip comes on the heels of a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to Hanoi this month during which the two leaders announced improved bilateral relations and plans to deepen cooperation in several areas, including chips, AI and critical minerals.
Chinh pledged to facilitate future investments by Nvidia and Synopsys in Vietnam, the statement said.
The statement quoted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang as telling Chinh that "Nvidia wants to cooperate with Vietnam in semiconductor, information technology and artificial intelligence."
Synopsys, which has plans to build chip design centres in Vietnam, on Monday signed memorandums of understanding with Vietnam's information ministry and with the investment ministry.
Nvidia, a top supplier of servers to Vietnam, and Synopsys did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
U.S. chipmaker Intel has its biggest factory for assembling, packaging and testing chips in southern Vietnam, while rival Amkor is building a large factory for semiconductor assembly and testing near Hanoi.
Chinh is in the U.S. for the United Nations General Assembly this week, after which he plans to visit Brazil.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
The five co-hosts of The View collectively piled on to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) over her scandalous antics during a recent showing of Beetlejuice.
The lawmaker was booted from a Denver theater on Sept. 10 for being disruptive and breaking theater rules. Her campaign initially dismissed criticism and lied about what happened, but later apologized after security footage revealed the extent of her misbehavior at the family-friendly event.
In defense of Lauren Boebert, who has not gone to a matinee of Beetlejuice, gotten a little over-served, starting vaping, gotten a little handsy with someone, gotten dragged out and then flipped the bird to security? co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin cracked.
Boebert told One America News network on Sunday she was a little too eccentric at the show and blamed her animated personality.
No, honey, you werent eccentric, you were X-rated, The View panelist Ana Navarro said of that exchange.
The talk show aired a montage of Boeberts past comments attacking LGBTQ+ awareness initiatives and drag shows, complaining about grooming children and exposing them to obscene content.
Well, you didnt mind exposing the pregnant woman to your vape smoke, moderator Whoopi Goldberg said, referring to a pregnant attendee who was seated behind the lawmaker.
(The woman told The Denver Post she asked Boebert to stop, but the congresswoman said no.)
Co-host Sara Haines said that, for her, the lying was the worst part.
Watching her behavior, if she had come forward and said. Im going through a rough time, I had a rough night, I would have said, I have a lot of grace for you, she said. But youre a nasty person to a lot of people, so I have no forgiveness for what she did.
Sunny Hostin referred to a tabloid report that Boeberts companion is the owner of a gay-friendly bar in Aspen.
The hypocrisy is so delicious for the Democrats, but its so disgusting for the country, Hostin said.
Watch the pile-on below.
Related...
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 20) The two environmental activists who claimed they were abducted by the military have been released from government custody and reunited with their families.
Facing reporters and rights groups after their release Tuesday night, the two vowed to continue their fight against reclamation.
"Ituloy 'yung laban sa pagpapatigil ng reklamasyon at ipagtanggol at ipaglaban ang karapatan ng mga mangingisda sa Manila Bay," Jonila Castro said.
[Translation: We must continue the fight to stop reclamation and defend the rights of fishermen in Manila Bay.]
She also thanked people who rallied on social media, urging the government to produce them.
"Sa totoo lang hindi namin alam na hinahanap niyo kami halos tatlong linggo na hindi namin alam kung anong nangyayari sa labas," Castro said.
[Translation: We really didn't know you were looking for us for almost three weeks we didn't know what was going on outside.]
Jhed Tamano also urged the government to produce other missing activists.
READ: Families of missing UP alumni seek help from Court of Appeals
The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) earlier said Tamano and Castro surrendered to the 70th Infantry Battalion in Dona Remedios Trinidad, Bulacan on Sept. 12.
National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya also said the two activists surrendered after "they left the movement on their own free will."
But in a media briefing organized Tuesday by the task force itself, the activists said the military was behind their abduction on Sept 2. in Orion, Bataan.
Tamano and Castro are community organizers working with fishermen opposing reclamation projects in Manila Bay.
According Global Witness, the Philippines remains the deadliest country for environmentalists in Asia for the 10th consecutive year.
The international watchdog said 281 environmental defenders have been killed in the country since 2012.
Hundreds of Wake County students could be moved to different schools next year, with some students also being required to change to a year-round calendar.
Wake County school administrators will present Tuesday the first draft of a student assignment plan to fill schools for the 2024-25 school year. Among the recommendations is to open the new Woods Creek Elementary School in Holly Springs on a multi-track year-round calendar and populate it with students from Apex, Holly Springs and Oakview elementary schools.
Some students, particularly from downtown Raleigh and Southeast Raleigh, could also be in line for shorter commutes under the new plan.
In total, the plan calls for moving students out of 21 different schools. The exact total on the number of students who could be reassigned usually isnt provided until later versions of the assignment plan.
The public will be able to view the plan at wcpss.net/2024enrollmentproposal when its posted online Tuesday.
People will be able to provide feedback at an online forum (wcpss.net/draft1feedback). School officials regularly say they use the feedback to help make changes for a second draft, which will be released Oct. 17.
Under the proposed timeline, the school board will hold a public hearing Nov. 8, with a final vote scheduled for Nov. 21.
Growth picking back up
Student reassignment has historically been a contentious topic in North Carolinas largest school system. Last year, some families fought a plan that moved 1,769 students for the 2023-24 school year.
Wake appears to have recovered from enrollment losses suffering during the pandemic. Some initial Wake enrollment numbers have the district at 161,946 students more than 3,500 children over last year and above the pre-pandemic high of 161,907 students.
Over the years, one of the ways Wake has dealt with growth is to put some schools on a multi-track year-round calendar, which can increase its capacity by more than 20%.
Students are split into four groups, or tracks, operating on their own schedules of nine weeks of classes followed by three-week breaks. Some families like the alternative schedule but others do not.
By opening Woods Creek on a year-round calendar, it will be able to handle more than 900 students. But two of the three elementary schools it will draw students from Apex and Oakview operate on a traditional calendar.
Woods Creek is currently being used to temporarily house students from Baucom Elementary while their campus in Apex is renovated.
Sending students to closer schools
Student assignment is based on a combination of four factors: operational efficiency, proximity, student achievement and stability.. Student achievement is part of Wakes longstanding efforts to try to balance school populations.
But an ongoing shortage of bus drivers has led Wake in recent years to reassign more students to schools closer to where they live. That appears to be the case again this year.
The plan moves some downtown Raleigh and Southeast Raleigh neighbors out of schools in North Raleigh and western Wake that they had been going to for diversity reasons. Theyre now slated to go to schools closer to where they live, which cuts down on the number of bus routes needed.
Some of the proposed moves include:
Move some students from Carpenter Elementary in Cary to Combs and Olds elementary schools in Raleigh.
Move some students from Alston Ridge Middle in Cary to Centennial and Martin middle schools in Raleigh.
Move some students from Leesville Road and Southeast Raleigh elementary schools to Hunter, Joyner, Powell and Underwood elementary schools in Raleigh.
Move some students from Centennial and Leesville Road middle schools in Raleigh to Ligon and Martin middle schools in Raleigh.
Move some students from Durant Road Elementary in Raleigh to Partnership Elementary in Raleigh.
Move some students from Durant Road Middle in Raleigh to Moore Square Middle in Raleigh
Stability transfers
Once the plan is approved, Wake will open a stability transfer period, or what used to be called grandfathering. This is an option that allows some students who are being moved to stay at their current school in exchange for losing bus service.
The proposed stability rules will vary depending on what school a student is trying to avoid attending next year.
Rising fourth- and fifth-grade students being reassigned to Woods Creek Elementary can stay at their current elementary school if they provide their own transportation. In addition, their younger siblings will be able to stay with them at their current school.
The proposed Woods Creek transfer rules would also apply to students who are being reassigned into or out of Pleasant Grove Elementary School in Morrisville.
Excluding Woods Creek and Pleasant Grove elementary schools, all other students who are being reassigned can stay at their current school if they provide their own transportation. Rising kindergarten, sixth-grade and ninth-grade students can also request to stay with their sibling to avoid being reassigned.
Wake normally applies the same stability transfer rules to any student who is being moved to an existing school. But an exception is proposed for the students impacted by the Pleasant Grove changes.
The Wall Street Journal issued a lengthy correction Tuesday of an article that ran in 1963 and misquoted the late civil rights icon and Democratic lawmaker John Lewis.
An Aug. 29, 1963, article about the civil-rights movements March on Washington incorrectly quoted several parts of the speech of John Lewis, who was then the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. It appears that the Journal relied on an early draft of Lewiss speech rather than the speech Lewis actually delivered on Aug. 28, 1963, the Journal wrote.
One example cited by the Journal related to Lewiss comments on the Kennedy administrations civil rights bill. The article quoted Lewis as saying, We cannot support the Administrations civil rights bill, for it is too little and too late. In reality, Lewis actually said, We come here today with a great sense of misgiving. It is true that we support the administrations civil-rights bill. We support it with great reservation, however.
The Journal said the same article also misquoted Walter Reuther , who was president of the auto workers union at the time, noting he did call upon Congress to enact without delay the civil-rights program proposed by President Kennedy, but he didnt use those exact words, and that statement shouldnt have been in quotation marks.
Lewis, a leading figure of the Civil Rights Movement and fixture of Democratic politics, died in July 2020.
It is unclear how the Journal was made aware of the incorrect information in the nearly six-decade-old article but said in its correction that readers can alert The Wall Street Journal to any errors in news articles.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich will remain behind bars after a Moscow court refused to hear an appeal against his pre-trial detention on Tuesday.
The Moscow City Court said in a statement it was sending the motion back to a lower court effectively quashing it for the time being.
The decision is the latest legal setback for Gershkovich, whose pre-trial detention has been extended twice since his arrest, once in May and again in August. An appeal against his first pre-trial detention was also denied.
With the courts latest decision, Gershkovich will remain in jail until at least November 30, Russias Tass news agency reported.
Gershkovich was arrested in March while on a reporting trip. The FSB, Russias main security service, accused him of trying to obtain state secrets a charge Gershkovich and his employer have strenuously denied.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Journalists were allowed in the courtroom before the hearing began. Amid tight security, photographers crowded around Gershkovich as he stood in a glass enclosure wearing jeans and a light shirt. Its unclear if he could hear a question posed to him by CNN.
Detention is source of tension
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was in the courtroom on Tuesday.
The US position remains unwavering. The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government locked Evan up for simply doing his job. Journalism is not a crime, Tracy told reporters outside the courthouse.
Tracy added that she had visited Gershkovich last week at Russias notorious Lefortovo prison, where the journalist is being held.
Evan is fully aware of the gravity of his situation, yet he remains remarkably strong, she said, adding that he is keeping his mind sharp by playing chess with his father by mail.
Gershkovichs continued imprisonment has been a source of tension between Washington and Moscow, whose relations were already deeply strained due to Russias invasion of Ukraine last year.
The White House alleges the Kremlin is using Gershkovich, the first American reporter jailed in Russia on allegations of spying since the Cold War, as a geopolitical hostage.
The world knows that the charges against Evan are baseless he was arrested in Russia during the course of simply doing his job as a journalist, and he is being held by Russia for leverage because he is an American, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in July to mark Gershkovichs 100th day behind bars.
The US State Department declared in April that Gershkovich had been wrongfully detained, a move that empowered the Biden administration to seek his release through avenues such as prisoner exchanges.
Though talks of a swap between the White House and the Kremlin have taken place, they have failed to secure his release.
US President Joe Biden said that he is serious about doing what we can to free Americans who are being illegally held in Russia or anywhere else for that matter. And that process is underway.
CNNs Niamh Kennedy, Matthew Chance, Jack Guy and Joshua Berlinger contributed to this report
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The hunt for a wanted suspect ended with his body being found in a West Virginia river, Ohio officials say.
A few days after the Meigs County Sheriffs Office in Ohio alerted the public about its search for the missing suspect, it received word of a dead man found Sept. 13 in West Virginia, the sheriffs office said in a Sept. 16 news release. The body had been pulled up river by a barge, according to the release.
Two days later, the sheriffs office said in a news release that the body was identified as 34-year-old Christopher Cowdery, the suspect deputies were searching for.
The sheriffs office originally posted a news release to Facebook Sept. 10 to inform the public that law enforcement was attempting to find Cowdery, who was identified originally as a person of interest in an active Felonious Assault investigation.
On Sept. 12, Meigs County law enforcement posted another update on Cowdery to Facebook, saying he was accused of first-degree attempted murder, second-degree felonious assault and second-degree strangulation and that arrest warrants and search warrants were filed for him.
In tandem with the U.S. Marshals Service, the sheriffs office said it had searched numerous residences as well as outside locations.
Finding Chris is our #1 priority, Meigs County Sheriff Scott Fitch said in the Sept. 12 release. If anyone is found to be harboring or aiding Chris in evading arrest then they will be criminally charged to the fullest extent of the law. Chris, if you see this Facebook post, we know you are well aware that you are wanted. I strongly suggest that you stop hiding and turn yourself in immediately.
When the originally unidentified body was found in a river in Marshall County, West Virginia, the sheriffs office said it was still actively seeking Cowdery. Marshall County is in the northern tip of the state, about 120 miles from Meigs County.
The body was initially looked over by Marshall County officials but was then sent to the West Virginia Chief Medical Examiners Office, the sheriffs office said. West Virginia authorities provided DNA, fingerprints and dental records for comparison, the Sept. 18 release says, which later resulted in a positive identification of Cowdery.
After an autopsy was performed, the medical examiners office listed the cause of death as drowning, the sheriffs office said, and there werent any injuries that could indicate foul play.
This has been a horrific event that has highly affected our community and we are sending thoughts and prayers to all involved, Fitch said in the release.
Meigs County is about 170 miles east of Cincinnati.
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It's not everyday you see a CEO take a customer service call.
Apple's Tim Cook helped a caller with an iPhone decision during a "CBS Sunday Morning" interview.
You guys thought I'd screw it up," he jokingly told onlooking Apple employees after the call.
It's not everyday that the CEO of a Fortune 500 company works the customer service line even if it is just for a PR stunt.
On the most recent episode of "CBS Sunday Morning," Apple chief executive Tim Cook tried his hand at taking a sales call on a visit to Apple's Austin, Texas, campus.
"I was hoping you had a moment to chat with a very special guest," an employee told a customer over the phone before Cook, donning a headset, joined in, repeating the customer's request: "You want a larger display."
After he got off, the room of onlooking employees burst into cheers and applauded Cook, who shook a few employees' hands.
"You guys thought I'd screw it up," he joked.
The caller "wanted to upgrade their iPhone," Cook told CBS anchor John Dickerson.
During the interview, which was scheduled around the release of the iPhone 15, as well as the new Apple Watch, Cook also discussed Apple's Vision Pro, which he said is on track for an early 2024 release. Cook said he uses the mixed-reality headset frequently, even to watch the whole third season of "Ted Lasso."
Though Cook probably isn't answering customers' calls everyday, he's said before that he starts his days by reading emails from users sharing feedback about Apple's devices.
"If you're in the business, like we are, of creating technology that really enriches people's lives you want to know what it's doing," he told GQ in April. "You want to know how people are feeling about it."
Another CEO recently spent some time interacting directly with customers.
Last year, Uber's Dara Khosrowshahi moonlit as an Uber driver, which he said was an eye-opening experience.
"It showed me, literally, that we as a company culturally were very much focused on the rider and the eater product because we used them ourselves we took a lot of pride in it all the time," Khosrowshahi said at a conference hosted by GE earlier this month. "But we didn't take pride in the driver product because very few of us drove."
Watch the full "CBS Sunday Morning" interview here.
Read the original article on Business Insider
President Biden is delivering his annual address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York Tuesday morning.
One central issue Biden is expected to address is international support for Ukraine as its struggle to expel Russian invaders turns from a hard summer counteroffensive toward its second winter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also be in attendance. Russian President Vladimir Putin who, like Chinese President Xi Jinping, skipped the recent G20 summit will not.
Biden will also likely speak about the climate crisis, as well as security for food and energy, building infrastructure globally and support for the economies of developing countries in the wake of the pandemic.
The president is scheduled to speak at 10:15 a.m. EDT.
Watch the live video above.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Have you been inundated lately with images of a curly-haired, spirited-looking lad wearing a red vest and a straw hat? Maybe you have seen the title One Piece running across your Netflix home screen, or heard the words uttered by your kids several times a day, and wondered to yourself, A piece of what, exactly? Allow me to explain: One Piece, Netflixs live-action adaptation of the decadeslong manga and anime series of the same name, has taken over, debuting at No. 1 among Netflixs TV series in 46 countries and staying in the platforms Top 10 since its Aug. 31 release. The series has received rave reviews from critics and fans alike, accumulated 37.8 million views in less than two weeks, and secured itself a Season 2 renewal. It is, by all accounts, a smash successa pleasant surprise, given Western medias horrible track record for live-action anime adaptations, as well as the daunting challenge of turning a 24-year-old (and counting) animated series into an acceptable live-action version for die-hard fans.
But back to the big question: Should you check it out? Understandably, the anime-uninitiated might be a little confused about whether Netflixs latest hit is a good fit for them. So, as someone who is a lover of anime, but who doesnt watch or read the One Piece anime or manga, I am here to help you make an informed decision.
What is One Piece about?
Swashbucklin pirates, matey! I think the genre sells itselfsimply put, some of us are pirate people and some arent. But, for those in need of more details: One Piece is set in a fantasy world and follows a young man named Monkey D. Luffy (Luffy for short, pronounced loo-fee), played by Inaki Godoy. Luffys dream is to assemble a crew of friends and sail the East Blue Sea, find whats known as the One Piece, and become King of the Pirates. The One Piece is the hidden treasure of the former King of the Pirates, Gol D. Roger, who was captured and killed by the World Government. The contents of Rogers treasure are unknown, but, according to lore, Roger left it together in one piece, hence the name. While plenty of corrupt buccaneers are at sea in search of the One Piece, Luffy might have a better shot than most at finding it because, in addition to being strong-willed and determined, he is essentially made of rubbera side effect of eating something called a Devil Fruit in his youthgiving him super stretchy powers.
Sounds damp. Do I need to have absorbed all this context from the anime or the manga to understand the live-action show?
Not at all! Netflixs adaptation is pretty condensed and provides the necessary exposition to be able to follow the show.
OK, so Ill get it, but will I like it? Im not the biggest fan of anime, and this show sounds like its for kids.
To weigh in on this, I have to first address the stereotype of animation being exclusively for kids. This is simply not true. People of all ages can enjoy animation as a medium; certain anime series that feature violent themes and oversexualized depictions of women are actually better suited for late teens and adults.
One thing to note is that theres a lot more violence that animation can get away with that would translate as much darker or squicky if it were paired with real bodies, so when violent anime gets turned into live action, the violence is often censored or skirted around in a way that can feel a bit cartoonish or infantilizing. Speaking for myself, personally, Netflixs One Piece adaptation isnt a perfect fit because it feels a bit juvenileit strikes me as reminiscent of the kids show LazyTown, but aged up for 15-year-olds. This is different from a Netflix hit like Wednesday, which is explicitly made for teens, but has a little more for adults to enjoy, thanks to its darker tone, mystery plot, and mature titular character.
Aha! So this One Piece show is for kids?
Its certainly OK for kids of a certain age to watch. The show is billed as Family Watch Together TV on Netflix, but also comes with TV-14 content warnings for language, nudity, self-harm, smoking, and violence. This may sound harrowing, but after watching the show, I can say that it seems tween-friendly. All of the violence is either played up in a cartoonish fashion, or, if more gory, mostly kept offscreen and alluded to. For example, you might not see someone get chopped in half, but you will see an underling mop up the blood his body left behind. There are some characters who use profanity, as well.
But the series is not just for kids and tweens. Plenty of fans of the One Piece manga and anime are adults, and it seems like theyre loving this!
So, whats your final verdict? Should I watch One Piece? Seems like everyone else is.
Everyones mileage here will vary. Comparing it to other must-watch Netflix hits from specific genres, its no Squid Gamea show that I would tell even K-drama naysayers to watch. But, if youre looking for a mindless pirate romp set in a fantasy world, I say why not give it a try? The series has plenty to offer, including action, clear-cut heroes and villains, archetypal characters (the dangerously optimistic leader, the singular girl whos smarter than the boys, the gruff, taciturn fighter), and a good ol assembling a group of friends narrative (Im always a sucker for that). Plus, theres some particularly good eye candy (Mackenyu, hello), and the show sports a pretty diverse cast, including a trans actor, Morgan Davies, in a lead role.
At best, you might find yourself really engaged in One Piece. At worst, its still something fun to have on in the background like I do right now.
[Source]
A 32-year-old Singaporean man has been reunited with his biological parents in China 28 years after he was abducted as a child.
Heartfelt reunion: Kai Ye was accompanied by his wife on his trip to Chengdu, China, to finally see his parents again.
A Weibo video of the reunion shows him being hugged by his sobbing mother while his father stands beside them fighting back tears.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
The heartfelt reunion, which has gone viral on Chinese social media, happened just in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival on Sept. 29.
About the abduction: Kai Ye was purportedly abducted at a wet market. He told local news outlets that he was taken to Guandong province before being trafficked to Singapore.
More from NextShark: Couple violently attacks Indigenous Filipina nurse distributing face masks in New York subway
How he found his family: In 2021, Kai Ye asked the Baobei Huijia Volunteer Association to help him reunite with his biological parents. The charity is known for helping people find their biological families.
In July, Kai Ye's biological mother reportedly encountered a video of him stating that he wanted to reunite with his biological family. She had a feeling he could be her missing son and reached out to a volunteer of the Baobei Huijia Volunteer Association. After they took a DNA test and confirmed a match, Kai Ye started making plans to finally see his biological parents again.
More from NextShark: Man Accused of Racially Abusing a Bystander in Canada Will NOT Be Charged
Enjoy this content? Read more from NextShark!
Clerk Fired From Silicon Valley Supermarket for Xenophobic Remark Against Asian American Woman
ELAINE, Ark. The town of Elaine, Arkansas is under a boil water order until electrical problems with the towns antiquated water pump are fixed.
Folks in the Phillips County town lined up at city hall Monday for donated canned water, a safe option while the towns water system is undependable.
We dont want to put anything in our stomach thats going to hurt us later, said resident William Quiney III.
Whats already causing stomach pains for Elaines Mayor Lisa Hicks Gilbert is how to find money to repair or replace the towns water system.
There has not been any major upgrade or updates to our water system, as far as I know, since 1961, Gilbert said.
As the new mayor of Elaine, Gilbert inherited a water pump that no longer reliably fills the towns water tank after a storm two weeks ago fried this circuit breaker and shut the pump down.
Our residents were without water. Some of them had low pressure, some were completely without water for approximately three hours on Saturday, Gilbert said.
A temporary work around didnt last. Now, someone has to manually start and stop the pump. The low water pressure in the tank means the state issues a boil water order.
Mayor Gilbert is reminded of how residents of West Helena, Arkansas, suffered for weeks without safe drinking water after their system crashed and worries it could just as easily happen to customers served by the Elaine water system.
Setbacks impact Helena-West Helena water system repair
Theres just a huge need for infrastructure. Were all having infrastructure problems. I suspect its just the start of problems to come, she said.
The water is being tested daily by the state and the mayor is waiting for the new breaker to be installed and the state to give the clearance to lift the boil water advisory.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
(CNN) With Covid-19 cases up across the country, many people are once again relying on home tests to guide decisions about going to work and sending their kids to school and other activities.
A lot of those tests will come back negative, even when a person is 100% sure they have Covid-19. They have had a known exposure, for example, or telltale symptoms they recognize from a previous bout.
That has led to speculation on social media that perhaps rapid tests have lost their ability to detect some of the newer coronavirus variants.
Each time a new variant comes around, I see this exact same conversation spark up on Twitter, said Dr. Michael Mina, an immunologist and epidemiologist who is the chief science officer at the telehealth company eMed. Mina was an early proponent of selling rapid lateral flow tests to the public as a way to help people understand when they were contagious.
Mina says people who notice this arent crazy. There are reasons why your test might say youre negative why you actually have Covid.
For one thing, people are using rapid tests differently than they used to. Our immunity factors, in, too. Nearly all of us have some kind of underlying immunity to the coronavirus now, and that affects the performance of the test, too.
But ultimately, the tests are still capable of picking up infections, said Todd Merchak, who co-leads the RADx program at the National Institutes of Health. The program, whose name is short for rapid acceleration of diagnostics, was created during the pandemic to quickly develop tests for the coronavirus.
To date, the performance of currently marketed COVID-19 tests has not been adversely impacted by any new variants, Merchak said in a statement.
RADx works with the US Food and Drug Administration to monitor new variants and continually assesses the performance of the Covid-19 tests sold in stores.
Tests are less vulnerable to variants
The reason Covid-19 tests continue to work when other tools dont, such as the vaccines and monoclonal antibodies that have become ineffective over time, is that the vaccines and antibodies target the spike proteins that stick up from the round envelope of the virus. These spikes are under constant pressure from the environment to change, and they do.
Most rapid tests, on the other hand, target the nucleocapsid proteins, or N-protein, of the coronavirus. N-proteins dont change as much as spike proteins do.
If the N-proteins do change, researchers are prepared.
In a large study published in September 2022 in the journal Cell and funded by RADx, researchers developed a tool thats essentially a library of every conceivable change to the N-protein over time. They used deep mutational scanning to predict how each of those changes would affect the ability of 17 antibodies used in 11 commercially available rapid tests to latch onto the virus. Now, scientists can cross-reference changes in each new variant of the virus to quickly assess whether a given test will still work.
If the FDA suspects that a test has stopped working to detect a common variant, it conducts further analysis and may revoke authorization for the test.
When you test matters
The CDC recommends that people take a rapid test five days after a known virus exposure.
If you look at viral kinetics on average, it usually takes three, four or five days for the virus to go from being very low levels to getting high enough for any test to pick up, Mina said.
That hasnt changed, even with new variants, he said.
The new variants may copy themselves a little faster in the body, but its a difference of hours, rather than days with the original virus, he said.
Now that our immune systems recognize the virus, Mina thinks they begin to respond faster, and thus people get symptoms sooner than they used to.
That may be leading them to test earlier in their infections, before the virus has a chance to build up enough copies that a test would catch it.
So people are now starting to test really fast, like day one, day two post-exposure, when we know that the average person wont get a viral load thats high enough to be detectable on PCR or antigen tests until day 3, 4, 5 or 6, Mina said.
Its a bias thats happening as a result of easy access to testing at home, he said.
Repeat testing improves accuracy
Thats why, late last year, the FDA issued a safety communication to the public, advising anyone who uses a home test and gets a negative result to repeat it within 48 hours. In November, it added the same direction to the emergency use authorizations for all Covid-19 home tests.
The advice to repeat test came from another government-funded study. Researchers at the University of Massachusetts studied more than 5,000 people who had been recruited to find out how well home tests for Covid-19 work in the real world. The study was conducted during the winter of 2021 and into 2022.
People in the study tested themselves with rapid home tests every 48 hours for 15 days. They also submitted samples for PCR testing, which is a more sensitive way to detect infections.
They can detect sort of vanishingly small amounts of a virus, and so they tend to perform better in the early stages of an infection, said study author Dr. Nathaniel Hafer, an assistant professor of molecular medicine at UMass Chan Medical School.
During the study, 154 people tested positive on PCR tests; 57 had symptoms, but 97 did not.
Rapid home tests were more accurate in people who had symptoms. They caught the infection about 60% of the time when a single test was taken on the first day of infection when a person had symptoms. When the rapid test was repeated two days later, the tests caught an infection with symptoms around 90% of the time.
Rapid tests were less helpful in people who didnt have symptoms. A single test caught positive but asymptomatic cases only about 9% of the time. A second test two days later caught people who were positive but didnt have symptoms about 62% of the time. A third test another two days later caught more than 75% of positive cases without have symptoms.
Early in an infection, the amount of virus can still be pretty low. And PCR tests could detect that the presence of the virus, but the rapid test is not quite sensitive enough, Hafer said. Thats why the repeat testing 48 hours is so important.
Why rapid tests are often negative in kids
Another real-world study of rapid tests identified another reason the tests sometimes dont work well: operator error.
The study followed more than 200 parents and 426 children treated at a family clinic in Taiwan as Covid-19 spread through their households. The families were given rapid home tests and instructions on how to use them. The average age of children in the study was 5, parents were around 40. More than 98% of the adults were vaccinated, but most of the children were not because Taiwan hadnt recommended vaccination of children under 5 at the time.
Covid-19 cases were confirmed by PCR tests, which were helpful in determining a persons viral load.
Then, investigators looked to see how well the rapid tests performed in detecting those cases. Despite having more infections and more symptoms than their vaccinated parents, kids rapid tests often read as negative. In this study, negative rapid tests correctly meant that a child was healthy only 38% of the time.
Researchers were puzzled by this result. PCR tests showed that the infected kids had viral loads that should have been high enough to turn positive on rapid tests. Whats more, kids who tested negative often had the same high viral loads as children who tested positive, giving researchers a clue about the problem: As many parents can attest, sometimes the kids werent exactly cooperative when it came to getting a good sample.
This finding indicates that it is difficult for some parents to obtain a good nasopharyngeal swab sample from children, resulting in false-negative test results, the study authors wrote.
Squirmy toddlers aside, Mina says hes looking forward to the day when its common for rapid home tests not to show a positive result, even with repeat testing.
We could actually call that a victory of our immune system, because it means that our immune system actually kept the virus at bay enough that it never grew up to a high level to turn the test positive, he said. I think for a lot of people, thats actually happening.
This story was first published on CNN.com, "Home tests still work to detect Covid-19, but heres why your test may not pick up an infection"
Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters appeared on the very first episode of Action News Jaxs new public affairs program, This Week in the 904 on Sunday.
Action News Jaxs John Bachman spoke with Waters about the aftermath of a racially-motivated shooting that took the lives of three Black people -- Angela Carr, Anolt Laguerre, and Jerrald Gallion -- at a Dollar General in the New Town area on Aug. 26.
Bachman discussed with Waters what can be done to help the community heal.
Waters also talked about growing up with racism and how it shapes the way he enforces the law.
You can watch their full conversation in the three videos below.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
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FILE - A view of the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., May 2, 2019. West Point was sued in federal court on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, for using race and ethnicity as factors in admissions by the same group behind the lawsuit that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
West Point was accused in a federal lawsuit Tuesday of improperly using race and ethnicity as factors in admissions by the same group behind the legal challenge that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions.
Students for Fair Admissions claims the U.S. Military Academy sets benchmarks for how many Black, Hispanic and Asian cadets there should be in each class. The lawsuit filed in New York's Southern District claims West Point is violating the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which contains an equal-protection principle that binds the federal government.
Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race, according to the complaint. In fact, it openly publishes its racial composition 'goals,' and its director of admissions brags that race is wholly determinative for hundreds if not thousands of applicants."
The academy said in a prepared statement that it does not comment on ongoing litigation to protect the integrity of its outcome for all parties involved.
The filing comes after the Supreme Court in June struck down affirmative action in college admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. The courts conservative majority invalidated admissions plans at Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina, the nations oldest private and public colleges, respectively.
That ruling did not cover West Point and the nation's other military academies.
But Edward Blum, president of SFFA, said in a prepared statement that with the recent high court decision, "it must follow that the U.S. militarys higher education institutions must end their race-based policies as well.
Over the years, courts have been mindful of the militarys unique role in our nations life and the distinctive considerations that come with it," Blum said. "However, no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies.
West Point produces about 17% of newly commissioned Army officers each year, according to the lawsuit.
West Point in recent years has made concerted efforts to diversify its ranks, with officials increasing outreach to metropolitan areas like New York City, Atlanta and Detroit.
Minority enrollment was about 38% for the class of more than 1,240 that entered the academy north of New York City this summer.
The academy also recently complied with recommendations from a commission created by Congress to remove honors to Robert E. Lee and other Confederate officers as a way to address racial injustice. Still, some graduates of color from West Point and the nation's other military schools have described hostile environments.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday also names the Department of Defense, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and other officials.
The anti-affirmative action group that convinced the Supreme Court in June to deem race-conscious admissions unconstitutional launched a new challenge Tuesday targeting the practice at one of the countrys top military schools.
Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit in the Southern District of New York alleging that the U.S. Military Academy, also known as West Point, considers race in its admissions process in a way that's discriminatory and unconstitutional.
West Point has no justification for using race-based admissions, the complaint reads.
Affirmative action at military academies Supreme Court exempts them when it comes to admissions. But for how long?
The lawsuit is a harbinger of the next battleground in Students for Fair Admissions decadeslong fight to nix race from admissions policies at schools and in workplaces across the country. The group scored a major win this summer when the majority-conservative Supreme Court overturned a longstanding precedent allowing colleges and universities to use race as one of many factors in students' applications.
But in Chief Justice John Roberts sprawling majority opinion, a small footnote left room for an unexpected exception: military academies.
Race-based admissions programs further compelling interests at our nations military academies, he wrote in June. No military academy is a party to these cases, however, and none of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context. This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.
Students for Fair Admissions has been mulling litigation against the country's most selective federal service academies ever since the ruling came down. An email obtained by USA TODAY in July showed Ed Blum, the longtime affirmative action critic and conservative activist who runs the anti-affirmative action group, spent much of the summer "exploring the legality of using race at these institutions."
West Point did not immediately provide a comment on the litigation. Ed Blum referred USA TODAY to the complaint.
In a press release, Blum said "no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies."
Zachary Schermele is a breaking news and education reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: West Point targeted with affirmative action lawsuit
West Point is the target of a new lawsuit over affirmative action which says the school values 'skin color' over a soldier's 'loyalty'
West Point graduates arrive for the 2022 West Point Commencement Ceremony at West Point Military Academy on May 21, 2022 in West Point, New York. Mark A. Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered the graduation address to the 1014 cadets in this years graduation of the U.S. Military Academys Class of 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit against West Point on Tuesday.
The group argued the military academy should no longer consider race in its admissions process.
The Supreme Court affirmative action decision did not include military academies in the ruling.
A prestigious military academy is the latest target of a group seeking to make sure race is not a consideration in any school's admissions process.
On Tuesday, Students for Fair Admissions the group that won the Supreme Court case seeking to end affirmative action in college admissions filed a lawsuit against United States Military Academy at West Point, pushing for it to get rid of race as a factor in its admissions process. While the Supreme Court ruling has pushed schools across the country to reevaluate their admissions process, even leading some to remove legacy preference from those processes as a result, the decision excluded military academies. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion that the exclusion is because of "the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present."
Students for Fair Admissions is challenging that idea.
"For most of its history, West Point has evaluated cadets based on merit and achievement," the lawsuit said. "For good reasons: America's enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, soldiers must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin."
"Over the past few decades, however, West Point has strayed from that approach," the lawsuit added. "Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race."
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court Southern District of New York, called on the court to declare West Point's use of race in admissions unconstitutional and permanently prohibit the school from considering race in admissions. A West Point spokesperson said that "the U.S. Military Academy does not comment on ongoing litigation to protect the integrity of its outcome for all parties involved."
Students for Fair Admissions cited a 2022 amicus brief to the Supreme Court from 35 former leaders from all four military branches who supported diversity. They referred to a period during the Vietnam War when a lack of diversity in military leadership led to racial tension among soldiers. Students for Fair Admissions argued that the issues those leaders referenced have "not existed for the past half century."
"Moreover, the underlying assumption of West Point's argument is that soldiers view their peers and superiors foremost in terms of race, rather than in terms of their ability or character traits like loyalty, devotion, and selflessness," the group said. "Put differently, it assumes that soldiers apply the same racial stereotypes to one another that West Point applies to them."
West Point has yet to file a response to the lawsuit, but it's not the first institution to be targeted since the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision. Recently, Yale adjusted its admissions process to confirm it is not considering race at all when deciding to admit a student, leading Students for Fair Admissions to drop the lawsuit it filed against the Ivy League back in 2021.
While the Supreme Court arguments for affirmative action in college admissions were not focused on the military, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar did touch on the issue: "For the United States military, as I've explained, having a diverse officer corps is a critical national security imperative."
Read the original article on Business Insider
A West Virginia man Tuesday pleaded guilty to obstructing the federal hate crime trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooter after sending threatening messages to jurors and witnesses in the case.
Hardy Lloyd, 45, admitted to relaying hostile social media posts, comments and emails throughout the trial of Robert Bowers, who in 2018 killed 11 congregants at the Tree of Life Synagogue. Bowers was convicted on 63 counts; a jury recommended a death sentence in August.
A self-identified reverend of a white supremacy, Lloyd previously described Bowers as a lone wolf hero and criticized jurors who convicted him as guilty of anti-White racism, according to the Justice Department.
Free Robert Bowers Now!! We need to support anyone who kills jews, he posted on one Russian social media site, according to prosecutors.
Lloyds white supremacist organizations website also contained an enemies page, which lists those individuals home addresses, workplaces, family photos and contact information. He threatened to post online the jurors information which was sealed during the trial to keep the trial honest, according to court filings.
Yall who are on the jury, make sure to vote what you know in your heart is morally correct, he wrote online with two winking-face emoticon. Free Richard Bowers, city of Pittsburgh or else there will be legal consiquences (sic)!
As part of his plea agreement, Lloyd stipulated that he intentionally picked jurors and government witnesses as targets due to the actual or perceived Jewish religion of the witnesses and the Bowers victims, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Hardy Lloyd attempted to obstruct the federal hate crimes trial of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. His guilty plea underscores that anyone who attempts to obstruct a federal trial by threatening or intimidating jurors or witnesses will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.
FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency will not tolerate the intimidation of citizens participating in our criminal justice system.
If a judge accepts Lloyds plea deal, he will spend 78 months about six-and-a-half years in prison, according to the Justice Department.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
For anyone watching the recent state test scores for elementary and middle school students in South Carolina, the most recent high school data offers more of the same.
Fort Mill and Clover schools rank at or near the top among all South Carolina districts. The rankings come from most recent end of course testing data released Monday.
Test score data shows York County has the states No. 1 performing school district.
Scores cover Algebra 1, English 2, Biology 1 and U.S. History and the Constitution. Separate data comes from a new career readiness test that measures math, data, reasoning and soft skills while awarding certifications for career readiness.
The information is vast and varied.
Algebra 1, for instance, includes high school students and advanced eighth-graders who take the class as a high school credit. That makes for a long list more than 520 schools of schools to score.
U.S. History and the Constitution is a course limited to the almost 260 high schools. Overall, there are more than 80 school districts listed, including traditional, charter school, academies and others.
Ellen Weaver, state superintendent of education, said high school tests from the most recently completed school year align with scores from lower grades.
South Carolina students have seen marked gains in ELA compared with pre-pandemic data and continue to struggle with math, Weaver said with Mondays release.
Statewide, almost 40% of students received a failing score on the history portion.
Our future depends upon citizens with knowledge deeply rooted in our shared story and Americas exceptional founding ideals, Weaver said. Thats why a strong focus on civics education will be an ongoing priority of my administration.
Here are the rankings, by subject, for area high schools and in the case of one subject, middle schools:
Algebra
Fort Mill ranked first and Clover second in Algebra 1 testing.
The next area district was Lancaster County at No. 34. Rock Hill was No. 36 followed by Chester County (No. 42) and York (No. 66).
At the school level, Algebra 1 testing weighed toward middle schools where more advanced students often take the class. The highest ranking high school in the area was Catawba Ridge at No. 195, which fell below 18 middle schools from five of six area districts. Catawba Ridge also fell behind York Prep, whose scores combine middle and high school students there.
The top performing middle schools schools in Algebra 1 were Springfield (No. 26), Gold Hill (No. 28), Pleasant Knoll (No. 48), Fort Mill (No. 61), Indian Land (No. 63), Oakridge (No. 67), Forest Creek (No. 68), Banks Trail (No. 75) and Buford (No. 79).
The top high schools (including schools that also serve middle school) were York Prep (No. 184), Catawba Ridge (No. 195), Nation Ford (No. 229), Fort Mill (No. 243), Clover (No. 245), Riverwalk Academy (No. 249), Great Falls (No. 277), Indian Land (No. 283) and South Pointe (No. 294).
Biology
Fort Mill and Clover again paced the field in Biology 1 testing. Fort Mill was first and Clover second statewide.
Rock Hill was next at No. 28, followed by Lancaster County (No. 38), Chester County (No. 45) and York (No. 57).
All three Fort Mill high schools finished in the top 15 statewide.
Fort Mill (No. 8), Catawba Ridge (No. 11) and Nation Ford (No. 14) also led area schools followed by Clover (No. 28), York Prep (No. 33), Indian Land (No. 50), Legion Collegiate (No. 63), Andrew Jackson (No. 78), Northwestern (No. 92) and South Pointe (No. 95).
English
Fort Mill again led all districts statewide in English 1 testing. Clover wasnt far behind at No. 4, behind Lexington/Richland Dist. 5 and Anderson 4.
Lancaster County was next at No. 24 followed by Rock Hill (No. 35), York (No. 41) and Chester County (No. 46).
Fort Mill (No. 15), Catawba Ridge (No. 16) and Nation Ford (No. 21) high schools were the best performing area schools. Next were Legion Collegiate (No. 23), Indian Land (No. 24), Clover (No. 38), York Prep (No. 51) and Lewisville (No. 89).
U.S. History
Fort Mill ranked third statewide in U.S. History and the Constitution testing.
The top two districts were part of the state Governors School programs, with fewer than 200 combined students. Clover schools were No. 9, behind another Governors School program and a district each from Greenwood, Horry, Spartanburg and Anderson counties. York was No. 25 followed by Rock Hill (No. 32), Lancaster County (No. 36) and Chester County (No. 48).
The highest performing area high schools were Fort Mill (No. 10), Catawba Ridge (No. 15), Nation Ford (No. 22), Indian Land (No. 25), Clover (No. 55), York Prep (No. 68), Northwestern (No. 79), Legion Collegiate (No. 84), South Pointe (No. 91) and York (No. 95).
Career Readiness
A test for juniors across the state measures career readiness in math, data, reading and soft skills. Last year was the first time the new test was given, though similar programs previously existed.
The way tests were scored, there were lots of ties in the rankings. Two state governors school programs led the way across categories, but then the usual names emerged.
Fort Mill finished third statewide in math, reading and soft skills. Fort Mill was fourth in data and sixth in career readiness certifications earned. Clover was third in data and reading, fourth in math and fifth in certifications.
A federal judge on Monday dismissed Richard Wershe Jr.'s $100 million lawsuit against the FBI and Detroit police, concluding that the infamous drug informant and dealer known as "White Boy Rick" waited too long to sue over his alleged distress and misfortune cooperating with the government.
Wershe, who got a life sentence on a drug conviction at age 17 and served more than three decades behind bars, said that he feared retaliation if he spoke out against the powerful figures he says pressured him into becoming an informant at 15 and ruined his life.
But the judge concluded he could have and should have acted sooner.
"(Wersche) has not met his burden to show that he acted 'as diligently as reasonably could be expected' when he did not take any action to file a claim or seek protection from the alleged threats of retaliation during his lengthy prison sentence," U.S. District Judge Kay Behm wrote in her opinion. "(Wershe's) allegations affirmatively show that his claims are time-barred and must be dismissed."
In this screen capture from a live press conference, Richard Wershe, 52, also known as 'White Boy Rick,' addresses the media on July 20, 2021 about his $100 million lawsuit against the FBI and Detroit police, alleging they subjected him to child abuse by coercing him into being a drug informant.
Behm's ruling comes almost two years after Wershe filed the federal lawsuit against the FBI and Detroit police, alleging law enforcement subjected him to child abuse by coercing him into being a drug informant when he was just a teen, robbing him of a full life.
His lawyer has vowed an appeal.
"We are disappointed that the judge didnt find Mr. Wershe to have extraordinary circumstances and therefore not tolling the statute of limitations," Werseh's lawyer, Nabih Ayad, said in an email to the Free Press late Monday. "We will be appealing to the United States 6th Circuit Court of Appeals."
The FBI declined comment, as did the city of Detroit.
'I told on corruption on the city of Detroit'
Wershe, now 54, spent 30 years in prison in Michigan on a Wayne County drug conviction before his release in 2017, followed by a few more years in a Florida prison for his role in a car theft ring.
"Im bitter about missing out on my kids' lives, about not being able to see my father when he was dying. I have grandkids who Ive never met to this day," Wershe said at a news conference in 2021, when he filed his lawsuit. "I want to put this behind me and I think this is the final chapter."
Wershe maintains that "the only reason that I stayed in prison for 30 years was because I told on corruption on the city of Detroit. I told on the powers that be, and I was too young and dumb to know that it would affect the rest of my life."
The Detroit police and federal government, meanwhile, argued Wershe Jr. filed his lawsuit too late almost one day before his parole officially ended and that the statute of limitations had been reached. They also scoffed at his fears of retaliation by powerful figures, noting that Wershe Jr. had filed numerous civil lawsuits against influential figures while he was locked up.
The defendants also argued that Wershe's claims were so old that it's unlikely they would be able to find any relevant documents or witnesses assuming they're still alive to recall the details of what happened.
The judge agreed.
"Plaintiff has not provided any evidence that he discussed his fear of retaliation or any concrete threats with his attorneys, prison officials, or any other individuals from various state or federal law enforcement agencies."
"In fact," the judge continued, "defendants highlighted that (he) filed a number of lawsuits against 'powerful individuals' when he was in prison."
Among the lawsuits cited by the judge are Wershe's unsuccessful appeal of his 1988 cocaine conviction, his lawsuit against the parole board and another lawsuit against the Michigan prison warden.
These cases, the judge wrote, indicate that Wershe "had access to the legal system, and did not fear bringing cases against individuals in power."
Wershe's allegations of suffering
In his 10-page federal lawsuit, Wershe argued that his reckless youth in the 1980s was tied to the pressures of pleasing local police and the FBI, who used him as an informant and sent him into drug dens.
The lawsuit also says that Wershe's work as an informant almost cost him his life in 1984, when he was shot at point-blank range, "cutting his large intestine in half and only surviving by the grace of God."
More: Who is White Boy Rick? 7 facts about the 14-year-old FBI informant
Wershe's conviction and life as an informant inspired the 2018 film "White Boy Rick," starring Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt, who played Wershe's father and Wershe, respectively.
Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'White Boy Rick's' $100M lawsuit dismissed against FBI, Detroit cops
A self-proclaimed white supremacist pled guilty to obstruction of the due administration of justice in the federal trial of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting.
Hardy Carroll Lloyd, 45, admitted to making online threats to jurors and witnesses involved in the federal hate crimes trial of Robert Bowers, the Tree of Life Synagogue mass shooter, according to court documents and statements made in court.
Lloyd distributed threatening social media posts, online comments and emails during the trial.
As part of his plea agreement, Lloyd stipulated that he intentionally selected the jury and government witnesses in the Bowers trial as the targets of his offense due to the actual or perceived Jewish religion of the witnesses and the Bowers victims.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: White supremacist arrested for threatening federal jury in Pittsburgh synagogue shooting trial
Hardy Lloyd attempted to obstruct the federal hate crimes trial of the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history, said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a news release. His guilty plea underscores that anyone who attempts to obstruct a federal trial by threatening or intimidating jurors or witnesses will be met with the full force of the Justice Department.
If the agreement is accepted by the court, Lloyd will be sentenced to 78 months in prison, which is expected to be the highest end of the sentencing range calculated under the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Randolph Bernard and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod Douglas are prosecuting the case on behalf of the government. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated.
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Isaiah Martin, a Houston Democrat hoping to be the second Gen Z member of Congress, provoked left-wing ire with his endorsement of a resolution
Isaiah Martin, a Houston Democrat hoping to be the second Gen Z member of Congress, provoked left-wing ire with his endorsement of a resolution "recognizing Israel as America's legitimate and democratic ally."
When Isaiah Martin, a 25-year-old Houston Democrat, launched his campaign earlier this month to become the next Gen Z member of the United States Congress, there was one thing he needed: a clearly defined position on Israel.
Martin said on his campaign website that he would support a broadly worded, pro-Israel resolution the last of 26 bills he promised to back in Congress. Progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), a critic of Israeli policies, joined ardent Israel allies in co-sponsoring the resolution, H.Res.92, in February in a failed effort to preserve Omars seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Left-wing critics jumped on Martin for bothering to outline his stance on the resolution while being comparatively quiet on climate change, arguing Martin does not speak for the progressive values of Generation Z. Martin responded by taking down the issues page of his website.
Martins campaign did not respond to a request for comment. And the kerfuffle did not stop him from raising more than $230,000 in the first week of his campaign. It did, however, highlight how more conservative pro-Israel groups aggressive spending against progressive candidates in the 2022 election cycle, has made Israel an issue of paramount importance for Democratic candidates and activists, even if it is rarely a top issue for voters.
U.S.-Israel policy, and making a candidates stance on it clear, now occupies a lot of headspace for campaigns embarking on contested Democratic primaries. Candidates must prove their pro-Israel bona fides or lack thereof in a policy position paper, usually at least two pages, that has quietly become a rite of passage for candidates for the U.S. House or Senate from both major parties.
While many interest groups assess candidates based on their answers to detailed questionnaires, only pro-Israel groups demand a single-issue policy paper and often play a hands-on role in its drafting, according to a number of seasoned political operatives.
The Israel lobbys very organized. And unlike other lobbies, theyre very strategic, and often get these folks on the record really early in their careers, said a former manager of several mainstream Democratic congressional candidates campaigns who requested anonymity for professional reasons. People wouldnt be talking about Israel much if there wasnt a real political consequence for not doing so.
In the current political environment though, Republican candidates virtually all espouse hardline pro-Israel views.
But as the blowback Martin faced shows, there is a real debate over U.S.-Israel policy on the Democratic side. That has in turn increased the significance of the policy paper as a tool that groups on rival sides of the Israel policy divide use to assess a candidate.
On the plus side, it pins people down. It confirms that they will agree to certain things.Adam Loewy, AIPAC supporter
On the plus side, it pins people down. It confirms that they will agree to certain things, said Adam Loewy, an Austin, Texas, personal injury lawyer and longtime activist with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. I guess you could say its part of AIPACs success.
With President Joe Biden and the Democratic establishment moving closer to the activist left on a host of domestic policy issues, the nature of U.S. policy toward Israel and its military occupation of some 5 million Palestinians has become a key source of tension between the hardcore left and the Democratic mainstream. Increasingly, candidates that style themselves progressive, come under some form of pressure from a vocal minority of activists to take a more critical approach to the Israeli government, perhaps by embracing calls to impose stricter conditions on the U.S. annual military aid to the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, the deep-pocketed pro-Israel groups that brook no dissent from the bipartisan, pro-Israel consensus have spent millions of dollars pushing back on Israel critics electoral gains. Progressive candidates who hope to avoid the onslaught of a pro-Israel super PAC or even win their support have begun toning down their policy positions and rhetoric, accordingly.
AIPAC, the largest and most influential pro-Israel group in the country, begins its outreach process early on in a candidates campaign. If a candidate jumps into a race, a representative from AIPACs nearest regional office typically contacts the candidate to request an in-person meeting.
AIPAC then asks candidates to draft a policy paper that outlines their views on the U.S.-Israel relationship. Candidates receive copies of papers written by past candidates aligned with AIPAC as models to emulate, and are encouraged to share their personal experiences with Israel as part of their articulation of their pro-Israel views. Congressional hopefuls are also expected to discuss their support for U.S. aid to Israel, especially the Iron Dome technology that Israel uses to defend its civilians against rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, without additional conditions.
AIPAC did not respond to a request for comment on its exact criteria for an endorsement.
Democratic Majority for Israel, or DMFI, a newer group formed in 2019 specifically to arrest the growing strength of the deeply Israel-critical left within the Democratic camp, shared its specific endorsement criteria with HuffPost.
For a Democrat to receive DMFIs blessing, they must express a general appreciation of the importance of the U.S.-Israel relationship and a desire to broaden that relationship as an elected official; support for the current package of U.S. military aid without additional conditions; opposition to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel; support for Israels right to defend itself against security threats; and a conviction that Iran is an existential threat to Israel and cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons. DMFI-approved candidates must also back a two-state solution to be negotiated between Israel and Palestinian representatives without preconditions and support the Abraham Accords treaties negotiated by the Trump administration between Israel and a host of Arab nations.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), the first member of Congress from Generation Z, did not embrace left-wing policies like adding conditions to U.S. aid to Israel.
Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), the first member of Congress from Generation Z, did not embrace left-wing policies like adding conditions to U.S. aid to Israel.
If Martin is seeking a template for at least avoiding the wrath of the less liberal parts of the Israel lobby, he might look to the first Gen Z member of Congress, Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.). As a candidate in 2022, DMFI told HuffPost that Frost consulted the group about how best to write his pro-Israel policy paper.
Frosts campaign said only that he consulted a variety of groups on both sides of the issue. HuffPost separately confirmed that J Street, a more progressive alternative to AIPAC and DMFI, was one of them.
In his four-page paper, Frost condemned Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and any potential annexation of those lands, as well as the displacement of Palestinians from their homes through eviction and home demolition.
But Frost also listed threats to Israels security, such as the militant Islamist group Hamas commitment to eradicating Israel and gaining control inside Gaza, as a reason not to add more conditions to U.S. aid one of DMFIs key demands.
DMFI endorsed Frosts opponent Randolph Bracy and contributed $2,000 to Bracys campaign but did not activate its super PAC to spend money in the race. Given DMFIs history of using million-dollar ad blitzes to defeat candidates hostile to its agenda, its insignificant spending in the race is its own blessing for an aspiring Democrat.
Martin, who is hoping to succeed Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D) in Texas 18th Congressional District, has already indicated that he is sympathetic to DMFIs worldview. Iran sponsors terror worldwide, Martin wrote in a quote-post of DMFI on social media. In Congress Ill continue this critical work to curb the influence of Iranian terrorism.
This election cycle, Martin is already one of many Democratic candidates scrambling to curry favor with pro-Israel groups. HuffPost obtained a paper submitted to AIPAC by Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson, a Dallas-area Democrat running to succeed U.S. Rep. Colin Allred (D), who is running for Senate.
In her two-page paper, Johnson fondly recalled a trip to Israel with the Dallas Symphony in which she met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She expressed a general belief that the U.S. can and should help bridge the deep divides between the Israeli and the Palestinian people, ensuring the fulfillment of both nations rights to sovereignty and security in a two-state solution.
But Johnson also made clear that the United States role as a broker between the two peoples should not include additional conditions on U.S. aid. I trust our Israeli partners, she declared.
Efforts to shape candidates U.S.-Israel policies are not limited to the more conservative part of the spectrum.
J Street, a more progressive organization that identifies as the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy Americans, has responded to the position paper phenomenon by seeking to influence the process in its own way.
And what the group demands of its allies is no less specific than AIPAC. To receive the groups endorsement, candidates must draft a position paper that backs U.S. aid to Israel, but also expresses support for: humanitarian aid for Palestinians; a two-state solution, including by condemning incitement and the expansion of settlements on occupied Palestinian lands; a diplomatic approach to preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons; and a pluralistic, non-discriminatory democracy and the rule of law in the United States and Israel.
One criterion that J Street shares with DMFI is its insistence that candidates it supports oppose BDS, even if J Street candidates may not articulate it with the same level of gravity as AIPAC allies. In fact, J Street and AIPAC endorsed 48 of the same Democratic candidates in the 2022 election cycle. (J Street has rarely endorsed Republicans.)
AIPACs thing is: If youre with us, we want you to have all of our support. And if youre not with us, we want to know how not with us you are.'Senior progressive campaign operative
The gulf between the groups is perhaps greatest on the question of conditioning U.S. aid to Israel, which a growing number of progressives see as an essential source of potential leverage over what is now the most right-wing government in Israeli history. These progressives warn that absent real consequences for Israeli policies that they believe endanger a two-state solution, U.S. support for that solution is little more than a formality.
While J Street does not actively push candidates to embrace stricter conditions on U.S. aid to Israel or restrictions on its use, it has supported such plans and the candidates who are leading drivers of them. For example, J Street has endorsed a bill sponsored by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), which would bar U.S. aid to Israel from being used to, among other things, subject Palestinian children to military detention. J Streets PAC has also endorsed McCollums reelection bid.
By contrast, the Working Families Party, a multi-issue left-wing organization, not only supports McCollums bill, but also asks prospective endorsees about their position on it in its candidate questionnaire.
The WFP does not make an endorsement contingent upon an affirmative answer to the question any more than it does other individual questions in the questionnaire, the group told HuffPost. Candidates are instead assessed on the totality of their views, values and, where applicable, record.
For the congressional candidates that have undergone the Israel policy paper gauntlet, completing the paper is only the beginning of ones relationship with pro-Israel groups. Even when it becomes clear to AIPAC that a candidate is more aligned with J Street, or vice versa, the groups will maintain open lines of communication with all candidates.
AIPACs thing is: If youre with us, we want you to have all of our support. And if youre not with us, we want to know how not with us you are, said a senior campaign operative who has worked for progressive Democrats that did not win AIPACs stamp of approval.
A completed position paper is usually not available to the wider public. Instead, Israel policy activists on either side of the debate will circulate it among donors and groups capable of spending millions of dollars in a Democratic primary, which then decide how to proceed in the race. The paper also serves as a kind of insurance policy for pro-Israel groups hoping to hold candidates to account once in office.
Then, it often comes time for congressional candidates to conduct an interview with Jewish Insider, a relatively new, pro-Israel outlet that has become the go-to platform for candidates to communicate with donors, activists and voters that care about U.S.-Israel policy.
Were proud of our track record of interviewing hundreds of politicians both candidates and elected officials each year so that our readers can be better informed about where these politicians stand across a range of domestic and foreign policy issues, Josh Kraushaar, editor-in-chief of Jewish Insider, said in a statement. We seek to interview and introduce these candidates and their views to our readers and we welcome any and all viable campaigns for federal office to reach out to our team to be interviewed.
Jewish Insider is where left-wing Florida congressional candidate Omari Hardy came out in support of BDS. But its also where Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), then a progressive primary candidate, promised in April 2022 to lean in to deepening the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Asked to reconcile his staunch support for Israel with his ties to the activist left, Fetterman told Jewish Insider: Im not really a progressive in that sense.
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Children eat sitting in a shelter during shelling in Stepanakert in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan on Tuesday declared that it started what it called an "anti-terrorist operation" targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in that region said there was heavy artillery firing around its capital. (AP Photo/Siranush Sargsyan)
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) The announcement of a cease-fire in Nagorno-Karabakh, just a day after Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire against Armenian forces, toned down fears of a third full-scale war over the region in the southern Caucasus Mountains.
But it still leaves significant unresolved questions about the conflict.
Under the agreement mediated by Russian peacekeeping forces, Nagorno-Karabakh's separatist authorities made sizable concessions: disbanding the region's defense forces and withdrawing Armenia's military contingent. But the question of Nagorno-Karabakhs final status remains open and is to be at the center of talks between the sides beginning Thursday.
Emotions and ethnic pride are intense on both the Azerbaijani and ethnic Armenian sides, with neither showing an inclination for compromise in the previous three decades of conflict that killed tens of thousands of soldiers and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.
WHAT IS THE REGION?
Nagorno-Karabakh, with a population of about 120,000, is a mountainous, ethnic Armenian region inside the borders of Azerbaijan that has been a flashpoint since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The region and sizable surrounding territories came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian military at the end of a separatist war in 1994. But Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself after six weeks of fighting in 2020. The area is recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan.
The latter conflict ended with an agreement to deploy about 2,000 Russian peacekeepers there, but tensions have soared since December when Azerbaijan began blocking the Lachin Corridor the road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia proper.
On Tuesday, after claiming that four soldiers and two civilians were killed by Armenian-planted mines, Azerbaijan launched heavy artillery fire that it characterized as an anti-terrorist operation. It said the attacks would continue until Armenian forces laid down arms and the Nagorno-Karabakh government disbanded.
On Wednesday, Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh authorities said a cease-fire was reached with Russian mediation that included the military demands, but said reintegration of the region was still to be discussed.
WHAT IS AT ISSUE IN THE TALKS?
Nagorno-Karabakh has strong cultural resonance for both overwhelmingly Christian Armenians and Muslim Azeris, holding a wealth of monasteries, mosques and other religious sites. Armenians in Azerbaijan have been victims of pogroms, while Azeris claim discrimination and violence at the hands of Armenians.
In light of that history, the ethnic Armenian regional authorities are unlikely to agree to step down without firm and enforceable security guarantees from Azerbaijan. They could seek a form of limited autonomy within the country, although that could be similar to the status Nagorno-Karabakh held under the Soviet Union, before erupting into violence with the USSR's collapse in 1991.
Even as Nagorno-Karabakh suffered severe food shortages because of the blocked road from Armenia, local authorities resisted proposals to begin shipments from Azerbaijan, seeing it as a strategy by the government in Baku to absorb the region.
WHAT ALLIES DO BOTH COUNTRIES HAVE?
Turkey was the first country to recognize Azerbaijans independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Throughout the decades of conflict, it has been Azerbaijans steadfast ally.
Turkey and Azerbaijan share cultural, linguistic and ethnic ties, encompassed in the slogan One Nation, Two States used by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his U.N. speech on Tuesday.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev frequently visits Turkey and is said to have a close friendship with Erdogan. Armed aerial drones supplied by Ankara played an important role in Bakus 2020 victory.
They enjoy robust economic ties, with Turkey being the main conduit for Azerbaijans oil and gas exports, and Turkish construction firms heavily involved in Azerbaijani projects. Their deep military ties have grown since the 2020 war.
Trade between Azerbaijan and Russia has been increasing, and Moscow is a major supplier of arms to the country.
Armenia is a longtime ally of Russia, sharing Christian roots, and it hosts a Russian military base. Both countries are members of the Collective Treaty Security Organization, a Moscow-led bloc of six former Soviet countries.
But their relations have deteriorated notably in the past year. Armenia sharply criticized Russian peacekeepers for failing to intervene in the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, and it angered Moscow by refusing to allow CTSO exercises on its territory and instead holding joint exercises this month with U.S. troops.
Russia also bristled at Armenia providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the 2022 invasion by Moscow.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES?
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyans agreement to the Russia-brokered deal to end the 2020 fighting was widely unpopular at home, with opponents accusing him of being a traitor and large protests demanding his resignation.
The new hostilities and Nagorno-Karabakh's quick capitulation to some of Azerbaijan's demands will likely prompt a new wave of popular dismay in Armenia.
Pashinyan is aware of the potential power of such protests, having become prime minister himself on the heels of large demonstrations in 2018.
Azerbaijan could use the end of fighting to solidify its hold on territory returned to its control from the 2020 war.
___
Andrew Wilks in Istanbul contributed.
Derna, Libya (CNN) Protests have erupted in the eastern Libyan city of Derna with locals demanding the removal of those in power, a week after torrential rain caused two dams to collapse, sweeping whole neighborhoods into the Mediterranean Sea and killing thousands.
Demonstrators vented their anger at officials, including the speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, Aguila Saleh, outside the Sahaba Mosque. Videos circulating on social media showed protesters climbing onto the golden dome of the Sahaba Mosque, a Derna landmark, chanting anti-government slogans and singing: Oh my homeland We will stay here until the pain goes away.
A week on from the catastrophic flooding, and as the immediate search for survivors begins to wind down, the citizens of Derna are confronting fresh horrors, from outbreaks of waterborne diseases to landmines displaced by the rains. A senior Libyan National Army official told CNN that certain areas are being cleared for security and health reasons.
Mondays protests marked the first large demonstrations since the flood, as citizens attempt to hold leaders across the divided country accountable for the bursting of the dams that some feel could have been avoided.
The full scale of the disaster is not yet clear, with thousands of people still missing. While officials have given hugely different death tolls, the United Nations has confirmed at least 3,985 deaths.
Later in the evening, protesters set fire to the house of the man who was Dernas mayor at the time of the flood, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, his office manager told Reuters.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a minister in the eastern Libyan government, said Gaithi had been suspended from his post. Reuters could not immediately reach Ghaiti for comment.
The outpourings of anger may swell beyond Derna. Some protesters outside the Sahaba Mosque called on the people of Benghazi, Libyas second largest city, to come out and join in protest.
Much of the anger was directed towards Saleh, speaker of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, after he attempted to deflect blame for the disaster from authorities who oversaw the citys infrastructure.
The disaster that struck the country is a natural one It is in Gods hand, Saleh told a parliamentary session on Thursday, urging Libyans not to exchange accusations over who is responsible for it.
Saleh also called for a comprehensive investigation to hold those who were negligent accountable.
However, some Libyans have demanded that the investigation into what caused the two dams to collapse be carried out by international organizations, due to a lack of trust in local authorities which have been accused of failing to prevent the breach.
In a paper published last year, Abdelwanees Ashoor, a hydraulic engineer at Omar Al-Mukhtar University in Libya, warned that the Derna area has a high potential for flood risk, and that the dams needed periodic maintenance to prevent disaster.
We just ask that if there will be any rebuilding efforts that no Libyan company be ever involved, Mohammed Ben Hamad, who was present at the protest Monday, told Reuters.
This is because everyone in Derna from the head of the municipality to all of the officials are corrupt. Derna should either be left as it is, or a foreign company should be involved. The souls of the martyrs will not be in vain, he said.
Libyas vulnerability to extreme weather is increased by its long-running political conflict, which has seen a decade-long power struggle between two rival administrations.
The UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU), led by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, sits in Tripoli in northwest Libya, while its eastern rival is controlled by commander Khalifa Haftar and his Libyan National Army (LNA), who support the eastern-based parliament led by Osama Hamad.
Derna, which lies some 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Benghazi, falls under the control of Haftar and his eastern administration.
Evacuation uncertainty
A CNN team on the ground has witnessed growing confusion among local residents, after rumors circulated that officials were set to order the evacuation of Derna.
Khalifa Alobeidi, head of the media office of the LNA General Command, told CNN that certain areas were being cleared amid as survivors face health and security threats.
The decision means there will be restricted access to the worst-affected parts of the city. Alobeidi said rescue crews will be able to continue their work.
CNN saw uniformed military officers telling two men on a street wrecked by the flood to leave the area. The few remaining residents of similarly damaged streets told CNN they havent been informed of any evacuation orders. Several residents told CNN they want to stay in their homes, despite the destruction of the ground floors.
The city was much quieter on Tuesday than on previous days since the flooding, with fewer cars and pedestrians on the streets.
Phone networks have been disrupted due to fuel, generator and infrastructure issues, the LNA official said. Mobile networks have been down since 1 a.m. local time, a few hours after protesters in the city called for officials to take responsibility for the damage.
The LNA official said authorities have decided to limit the number of journalists in Derna. Some have been allowed to stay, including CNN, Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya.
Ive worked with protest demonstrators of all kinds throughout my legal career in Georgia. Whats happening around the planned police training facility referred to by opponents as Cop City is the largest, most sustained attack on free speech since the Civil Rights Movement. It intensified earlier this month, when the state criminally indicted 61 people affiliated with the protest opposing the facility, followed by Atlanta officials challenging city residents attempting to place the construction of the facility on a ballot referendum. The one-two punch is part of a chilling string of retaliatory actions against Cop City protesters, further indicating that officials are willing to use every statutory tool in their arsenal to deny voters an opportunity to make their voices heard.
In the birthplace of Martin Luther King, Jr., repression of any perspective particularly progressive ones advocating for free expression and civil rights signals the troubling ascent of an anti-democracy movement that is taking hold in more conservative states and municipalities across the country.
Public outcry has only grown since Cop City plans were approved by local officials in 2021. Activists rallied throughout 2022 around the call to #StopCopCity, both to prevent the deforestation that the center would inevitably cause and to challenge the narrative from Georgia law enforcement that a larger police presence better ensures public safety. The narrative has been proven false repeatedly, particularly as it pertains to racial justice groups and movements led by people of color. National data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), a research entity that studies public demonstrations and the police, finds that police take a particularly heavy-handed, militarized approach when protestors rally around racial-justice issues. For example, authorities across the country are three times more likely to intervene in pro-Black Lives Matter demonstrations than they are in other demonstrations.
The events surrounding Cop City only reinforce these findings. The recent indictment alleges that a criminal conspiracy around the #StopCopCity movement began on May 25, 2020 the day George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis, and well before plans for the police training facility were even announced. As Cop City activists conducted sit-ins around the area designated for clearing earlier this year, police violence toward protesters reached a fever pitch. It culminated when law enforcement killed local activist Manuel Esteban Paez Teran. The official line from Atlanta and Georgia officials has been, to this day, that Teran opened fire first. However, their familys lawyers have shared an autopsy report revealing that gunshot patterns show Terans hands were up, and that they were sitting cross-legged when shot. Terans murder, and subsequent police efforts to manipulate media coverage about it, have sparked more community outcry. Demonstrations have grown. Sit-ins continue.
Atlantas official response is to crack down on these forms of speech. In March, dozens of demonstrators were swept up in arrests, with a total of 42 individuals charged with domestic terrorism for participating in protests following Terans killing. Those charged face up to 35 years in prison for demonstrating. In May, three people were arrested in a suburb outside of Atlanta while distributing flyers that contained the names of the officers who killed Teran. They were charged with misdemeanor stalking and felony intimidation of a police offer. All were denied bond and face up to 20 years in prison. And late this spring, a heavily armed SWAT team from the Atlanta Police Department raided an Atlanta home, arresting three residents and charging them with money laundering and charity fraud. The three were activists and allies who support bail fund relief for protesters opposing construction of the police center. But even the judge assigned to these fraud cases admitted in their bond hearing: I dont find the evidence real impressive Theres not a lot of meat on those bones. Yet all of these individuals now also face charges of racketeering and criminal conspiracy.
In another era, protest demonstrations and leafleting were absolutely protected speech. The Civil Rights Movement was founded on the need to bring attention to long-ignored, suppressed racial inequities. Speech as conduct, in all forms, is a tool for the marginalized, for the unheard. Some of our countrys strongest legal rulings strengthening the right to free speech and protest came from Georgia courts.
The assault on free speech in the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement is sobering, but its not all that surprising. In fact, the erosion of free speech here in Georgia is simply the natural consequence of years of conservatives sowing anti-democracy throughout the U.S. in order to delegitimize progressive movements. Not only are our courts stacked with mostly Republican judges who continue to deny First Amendment rights and find immunity for officials when we sue them, but our legislators and other leaders are stacking the deck to create statutory limits on free speech through more severe criminal penalties for activities previously considered protected.
In 2017, following almost two years of large-scale demonstrations around Georgia in support of Black Lives Matter and the Womens March, Georgias governor at the time, Nathan Deal, surreptitiously signed an executive order to grant state officials discretion to accept or deny permit applications for demonstrations. The move granted state officials unbridled discretion to pick and choose what speech they would allow and they made good on that scheme by rejecting progressive demonstrators applications. I represented colleagues from March for Our Lives (the student activist entity formed to challenge gun violence in the U.S.) and Representative Mary Margaret Oliver of the Georgia General Assembly in a lawsuit challenging the governors permit scheme. The permit scheme was revoked and the students were allowed to protest.
The states loss did not weaken its resolve. Nearly every year since, weve seen legislators in Georgia introduce proposals to chip away at the First Amendment in the state. The domestic terrorism charge used against 42 demonstrators surrounding the Cop City protests in March is a relatively new, unused criminal charge, introduced and passed in the last several years as part of this legislative crackdown on free speech. The 61 new racketeering charges encompass actions taken long before the planned police training center was even announced and bear nothing resembling even a veil of a commitment to the rule of law.
But its not just Georgia thats criminalizing protest rights. Since 2018, state lawmakers have pushed over 220 anti-protest bills around the country. This is a systemic attack to criminalize and narrow the avenues through which people can make their opinions heard. And these actions will continue to encroach on our rights until more people mobilize against them.
As the anti-democratic push has intensified, it has bled into other essential rights. Since 2017, a majority of state capitols have introduced over a thousand anti-speech legislative proposals to narrow various aspects of peoples First Amendment rights. Hundreds of proposals to limit ways for people to vote; hundreds to limit the teaching of critical race theory; and hundreds more still limiting expressive rights for LGBTQ+ communities. The litany of legislative attacks on basic rights keeps growing, driven by a combination of bigotry, authoritarianism, and a blatant disregard for the U.S. Constitution.
These legislative proposals are one of the greatest threats to freedom of speech today. Model legislation moving through a majority of states in the U.S. has been copied elsewhere around the world such as the UK, Australia, and elsewhere, to roll back basic free speech and free expression rights for us all.
Exciting countermeasures are popping up around the country in response to the anti-democratic movement. For example, we are seeing litigation efforts to challenge unconstitutional legislation like Floridas anti-protest law, Tennessees ban on drag races, and Georgias sweeping anti-voting law. Other countermeasures are happening at the local level: just two days after the Atlanta City Council voted to support Cop City, activists introduced a referendum for voters to override the legislation.
With authoritarianism right in our front yard, Atlanta now has the potential to reject the anti-democratic movement by refusing to bankroll Cop City and lifting all charges for those prosecuted with crimes associated with the free exercise of their speech and assembly rights.
Atlanta should heed these voices. Over 100,000 Atlanta residents signed the petition in support of the referendum process to vote in opposition of the proposed facility. Unfortunately, the referendum process and its underlying constitutionality is currently under legal scrutiny and has been hamstrung by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that non-Atlanta residents cannot support the signature-collection process. We should take notice and support efforts to practice our basic First Amendment rights, not shut them down.
The United States has a proud history of civil rights champions who stood up for peoples rights and against racial and social injustice. A new generation of leaders is joining the fight against efforts to take away our basic rights surrounding Cop City and in statehouses across the country. They need everyones support right now, before the advances won by the Civil Rights Movement are unraveled and the sacrifices of so many are lost.
Nora Benavidez is a free speech and civil rights attorney, serving as senior counsel and director of digital justice and civil rights at Free Press as well as on the board of directors of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. She is based in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Hunter Biden talks with guests during a State Dinner for Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House in Washington on Thursday, June 22, 2023. | Susan Walsh, Associated Press
Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, is suing the Internal Revenue Service after he says they unlawfully disclosed his confidential tax return information.
This lawsuit is not about the legitimacy of the IRS investigation of Mr. Biden over the past five years or any decision to penalize Mr. Biden for any failure to comply with his obligations under the tax laws, the suit, filed by Abbe Lowell, Bidens attorney, stated.
Rather, the lawsuit is about the decision by IRS employees, their representatives, and others to disregard their obligations and repeatedly and intentionally publicly disclose and disseminate Mr. Bidens protected tax return information outside the exceptions for making disclosures in the law.
This comes after Biden was indicted on three felony gun charges last week, while GOP House lawmakers pursue an impeachment inquiry against his father.
Related
Did IRS whistleblowers reveal confidential details?
The lawsuit, uploaded by The Wall Street Journal, said IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who gave closed-door testimonies in front of House committees over the summer, cannot be protected by their whistleblower status when making public, unauthorized disclosures.
In fact, a whistleblower is supposed to uncover government misconduct, not the details of that employees opinion about the alleged wrongdoing of a private person, it added.
Hunter Bidens attorney alleged that the IRS agents not only confirmed details about an ongoing IRS investigation into Biden, but also provided detailed allegations regarding the specific tax years under investigation, the amounts of deductions, the nature of those deductions, and allegations of liability regarding specific tax years and the amount, which they could have only known by reviewing the physical tax returns.
Related
They also made public appearances and issued statements. All this, the suit argued, is a violation of the IRS code, which the federal agency is responsible for enforcing.
In the latest suit, Biden is seeking $1,000 for each unauthorized disclosure, as well as punitive damages.
Shapley, in his July testimony, alleged that the Justice Department provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, (and) did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts when investigating Biden.
Ziegler, who said he worked alongside Shapley, alleged that the IRS retaliated against him, threatening him with criminal conduct in response to an internal email regarding the investigation.
Special counsel David Weiss to indict Hunter Biden over tax charges
Hunter Biden had previously agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to allegedly fraudulent tax filings he allegedly underpaid his federal taxes by over $100,000 in both 2017 and 2018 and was set to receive a deferment on a felony firearms charge, as the Deseret News previously reported.
But the plea deal collapsed in August, around the same time when the Justice Department appointed attorney David Weiss as special counsel over the investigation.
Last week, Weiss brought forward an indictment against Biden over three firearm-related felony charges that together carry a maximum prison time of 25 years.
Weiss is expected to file another indictment, possibly in California, related to the tax charges
Related
Lowell wrote a letter, uploaded by Insider, to Rep. Jason T. Smith, R-Mo., the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, on Monday, arguing the whistleblower testimonies, as well as Smiths statements, created a narrative that Biden intentionally and willfully evaded paying taxes.
The attorney singled out the tax return from the year 2018, which does not include the $900,000 that Biden paid the IRS later on.
Lowell said that since then Biden had overstated certain items of his taxable income.
Mr. Biden will take all necessary steps to secure the refund of any and all overpayments of tax, the attorney added.
A key component of U.S. foreign policy is defense partnerships with foreign countries. By building trust and interoperability with allies, the U.S. military supports global security and promotes international cooperation. At the state level, different National Guards also maintain partnerships with foreign countries.
The SPP allows for the sharing of knowledge between the U.S. and its foreign allies (Minnesota National Guard)
In 1991, as the Soviet Union collapsed, U.S. European Command established the Joint Contact Team Program in the Baltic region with the Army and Air Force Reserve. This inspired a similar program for the National Guard that pairs U.S. states with three former Soviet states. In 1993, the National Guard's State Partnership Program was born.
National Guard partnerships promote defense cooperation around the world (Guam National Guard)
Over the course of 30 years, the SPP expanded exponentially. "The program that began in 1993 with just 13 countries and has now grown to 100 countries," Army Maj. Gen. William L. Zana, the National Guards Director of Strategy, Plans and International Affairs, said at the Pentagon. "It is a theme that runs deeply through our national security strategy, national defense strategy, and national military strategy."
The SPP creates relationships between all participants (U.S. Air National Guard)
The SPP is administered by the National Guard Bureau and guided by the State Department's foreign policy goals. State adjutant generals execute the program in support of U.S. Chief of Mission security cooperation objectives and Department of Defense policy goals. While the SPP uses 1% of the nation's security cooperation budget, Zana notes that it results in 20-30% of combatant command touchpoints or engagements.
The SPP has expanded from Eastern Europe to partner nations worldwide (U.S. Army)
Partnerships under the SPP extend across formations from commanders and civilian officials to frontline troops. National Guardsmen tend to stay in place, allowing for continued SPP missions that establish, grow and maintain foreign military relationships. "You cant build that trust overnight," Zana said. "I think its something that we, as the United States military , are particularly good and our partners are really good at."
Ukrainian forces benefited from U.S. training via the SPP (U.S. Army)
In 1993, Ukraine became an SPP member and partnered with the California National Guard. Since then, California Guardsmen have trained with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, teaching them NATO standards, including the employment of Javelin and Stinger missiles. The effective use of these weapons was critical to Ukraine's defense in the opening stages of the Russian invasion and Ukraine's subsequent counteroffensive.
The Missouri Attorney General has offered a plea deal to Stephanie Householder, co-owner of the now-closed Circle of Hope Girls Ranch, to testify against her husband in their upcoming abuse trial.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder are scheduled for a Cedar County jury trial in late November that is expected to last three weeks. Boyd, 74, and Stephanie, 58, were charged in 2021 with nearly 100 felony child abuse counts. They have pleaded not guilty.
Online court records show that defense attorney Adam Woody, who represents both Stephanie and Boyd Householder, has yet to respond to the plea offer.
On August 4, 2023, the State conveyed a written offer to defense counsel for Stephanie Householder, in exchange for testimony against co-defendant Boyd Householder, the AGs office said in a motion filed earlier this month. Most of Stephanie Householders charges stem from her either acting in concert with co-defendant Boyd Householder, or allowing co-defendant Boyd Householder to have continued contact with the victims
The AGs office has twice before filed motions to disqualify Woody. Prosecutors argued it would be a conflict for him to represent both Householders, saying joint representation would prevent any potential of meaningful plea negotiations. Those requests were both denied.
Defense counsel cannot advise either client in a fair and reasonable manner since their interests are directly adverse to one another, the most recent motion said. Now that an offer has been made to one co-defendant, this dual representation creates an actual conflict.
The Householders responded to the motion to disqualify Woody, saying that he should be able to represent them both.
The same attorney may represent co-defendants in criminal matters in Missouri, their response said. ... Conflicts of interests may not be manufactured by opponents to prevent defendants from exercising their right to choose their own counsel, and trial courts should be aware of this.
Here, the State has not created any conflict of interest that cannot be properly waived, if any.
On Monday, Stephanie Householder filed a document waiving any conflict of interest issue pertaining to Woody.
Boyd and Stephanie Householder, in a Cedar County jail photo. Cedar County jail
She and her husband were arrested in March 2021 for conduct that allegedly occurred at the Cedar County school near Humansville in southwest Missouri. Boyd Householder faces 78 felony charges, including six counts of second-degree statutory rape, nine counts of second-degree statutory sodomy, six counts of sexual contact with a student and 55 counts of abuse or neglect of a child. He also is charged with one count of second-degree child molestation, a misdemeanor.
The charges allege that Boyd Householder slammed girls heads or bodies against walls, slapped or struck them with his hands, a belt or other objects, shoved one girls face into horse manure and poured hot sauce down a girls throat.
Stephanie Householder is charged with 21 felonies, including 11 counts of abuse or neglect of a child and 10 counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
The two were held without bond until July 2021, when David R. Munton, presiding judge of the 28th Judicial Circuit, unexpectedly set a $10,000 bond after Boyd Householder said he had COVID-19. At that time, Stephanie Householder said she had a serious blood clot in her foot that if not properly treated could result in amputation.
Munton placed restrictions on them that included wearing ankle monitors.
In recent filings both Householders asked the court to remove the monitors. Both said theyve had no violations since being released from jail on July 23, 2021, and that the GPS monitors are not in furtherance of the safety of the community or of the alleged crime victims and are too costly.
They are paying nearly $700/month for the monitors, an unnecessary expense that has now exceeded its necessity, their motions said.
Boyd Householder further said that his health is slowly failing and he is now on two tanks of oxygen per day.
He is no risk of flight nor is he a danger, said the motion filed Aug. 23. He cannot travel without his oxygen tanks and has difficulty moving around.
Stephanie Householder also told the court she has a host of medical issues herself that she takes prescribed medication for. The motion also said she is the primary caretaker for her ill husband, who requires oxygen daily to survive.
He would not be able to take care of himself without her, eliminating any risk of flight she poses. She has shown the Court that she is no threat to violate her conditions of release.
A court docket entry on Tuesday showed that the court granted Boyd Householders request to remove the GPS monitor but denied the same request from Stephanie Householder.
The Householders opened Circle of Hope in 2006. They closed it in August 2020 shortly after about two dozen girls were removed amid an investigation into abuse allegations. In a Sept. 12, 2020, interview with The Star, the Householders denied the allegations against them and accused their estranged daughter of wanting to do anything to shut them down.
About two dozen former students have filed civil lawsuits in state and federal court since late 2020 alleging physical and sexual abuse. Former students said in those suits they were subjected to extreme physical and psychological abuse. They said they were routinely assaulted, manhandled by being thrown against walls and to the ground and hit and slapped. Others described painful restraints and some said if they didnt finish their meals they were forced to eat until they vomited.
A Winterville woman who realized she was being set up for a scam is now charged with being a vigilante-like suspect after she armed herself with a gun in an attempt to capture the scammer.
The woman lured the scammer to meeting in a store parking lot, telling him she had the cash he wanted. Then she held at gunpoint a woman who arrived to collect the package, according to an Athens-Clarke police report.
The felony charge against 76-year-old Patricia Ann Reed stems partly from the fact that Georgia no longer has a citizens arrest law as it was repealed in 2021 following the Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Brunswick when Arbery was killed during an apparent citizens arrest, according to the police report.
Reed was arrested Sept. 15 on charges of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and possession of a gun during a felony.
She was released from jail the next day on a $2,950 bond.
Scammers stealing from citizens in the Athens area occurs on a near weekly basis, but this is likely the first reported instance in which an intended victim is alleged to have taken matters into their own hands in an effort to capture the con artist. She told police that law enforcement was not cooperating to assist in the capture, so she devised her own plan.
The scam perpetrated against her involved a telephone call from a con artist who pretended to be an official notifying his intended victim that a family member is in jail and that person needs bail money. In this case, Reed told police that the caller said her sons bail was set at $255,500 and they needed $25,000 in bond money.
Reed called Athens-Clarke police, the Oglethorpe County Sheriffs Office and her daughter and told them that someone was trying to scam her. Apparently, when she did not receive the assistance she desired, she arranged to meet the con artist about noon at the Lowes off Lexington Road and deliver the money, according to the report.
The law enforcement agencies and the womans daughter all three advised her not to go to Lowes, according to the report.
The scammer told Reed that a woman would arrive at the location to pick up the cash, which he wanted concealed inside a shoe box.
Reed told police she fixed a shoe box as told and filled it with paper and a small amount of money.
Police: Oconee County man, off-duty Athens-Clarke police officer involved in road rage incident
Recent: Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz involved in minor car accident
The 45-year-old Athens woman who arrived to collect the shoe box was an Uber driver, who police said was not aware she was being used as a courier in an illegal scam.
After Reed arrived at the parking lot, she was approached by the Uber driver, and police said that is when she exited her car with a pistol and held the driver at gunpoint.
Reed laid her gun down when police arrived and explained she was holding the driver, whom she believed was a participant in the crime, until officers arrived.
Asked why she attempted to catch the scammer, she replied that she knew police were not planning to come to the location, so she did it herself, according to the report.
During this period, the real scam artist deleted his request on the Uber drivers phone and this action erased where he wanted to the Uber driver to deliver the package, the report states
I again advised her that this was a job for law enforcement and it was illegal for her to do this and she continued to argue with me over it, the officer reported.
The officer noted that Reed thought she had the right to carry out a citizens arrest.
Reed acted as a vigilante despite request from law enforcement and her daughter that she not and showed no ounce of remorse for it, the officer reported.
The report also notes that Reed wanted to catch them and that she wasnt going to let them get away with it.
After she was told of her imminent arrest, she continued to argue with the officer, according to the report. Reed also objected to the fact that police decided not to charge the Uber driver, police said.
Police said that Reeds action placed the Uber driver in fear of bodily harm or death.
Witnesses at the scene reported that Reed had her finger on the trigger and the officer wrote that this meant one slight mistake and she would have shot (the woman).
Reeds gun and the shoe box were all placed in evidence.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Winterville woman arrested after failed attempt to capture scammer
FILE - Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz attends her first hearing as a justice, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023, in Madison, Wis. On Monday, Sept. 18, Republicans fighting to preserve Wisconsin legislative electoral maps they drew argued in new legal filings that the key liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice must recuse herself from the case despite the dismissal of complaints against her related to comments she made about redistricting. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
MADISON, Wis. (AP) Republicans fighting to preserve Wisconsin legislative electoral maps they drew argue in new legal filings that a key liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice must recuse from the case despite the dismissal of complaints against her related to comments she made about redistricting.
Democratic allies asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to throw out the Republican maps counter in court filings Monday that the judicial commission's actions are further proof that Justice Janet Protasiewicz can legally hear the case.
If Protasiewicz doesn't recuse herself from the redistricting cases, Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has threatened to consider taking the unprecedented step of impeaching her.
Protasiewicz's win flipped majority control of the court to 4-3 for liberals when she took her seat in August. In her first week, two lawsuits seeking to overturn the GOP maps were filed.
The Republican-controlled Legislature argued that Protasiewicz prejudged the case and must step down from hearing it, which could leave the court deadlocked 3-3. Republicans pointed to comments she made during the campaign calling the maps rigged and unfair and her acceptance of nearly $10 million in donations from the Wisconsin Democratic Party.
Protasiewicz never said how she would rule on a redistricting lawsuit.
The Wisconsin Judicial Commission earlier this year rejected complaints filed against Protasiewicz. She released its May 31 decision earlier this month and then asked both sides in the redistricting cases to weigh in on how that action affected their arguments.
The commission did not give a reason for why it dismissed the complaints, but said in its letter to Protasiewicz that it had reviewed her comments, the judicial code of ethics, state Supreme Court rules, and relevant decisions by the state and U.S. supreme courts.
The commission's decision confirms that she didn't break any law and should not step aside, attorneys in both redistricting cases argued.
Without such grounds, each Justice has a duty to hear this case, attorneys representing Democratic voters argued.
Furthermore, Protasiewicz's comments not only don't warrant recusal, they should be expected from judicial candidates who must communicate with the voters who bear the constitutional responsibility of choosing judges, the attorneys argued.
The question looked at by the judicial commission is different than the one facing the state Supreme Court, the Legislatures attorneys countered. They argue that the U.S. Constitutions due process clause and state law require her to recuse from the cases.
Perhaps those statements were permissible on the campaign trail, as judged by the Judicial Commission, but Justice Protasiewicz cannot hear a case she has prejudged, attorneys for the Legislature argued in filings Monday.
The commission also did not consider the nearly $10 million in Democratic Party donations, Republican attorneys said. They also point to the $4 million the Democratic Party promised to spend countering Republican efforts to possibly impeach Protasiewicz as evidence that she can't fairly hear the case.
The legislative electoral maps drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2011 cemented the partys majorities, which now stand at 65-34 in the Assembly and a 22-11 supermajority in the Senate. Republicans adopted maps last year that were similar to the existing ones.
Wisconsins Assembly districts rank among the most gerrymandered nationally, with Republicans routinely winning far more seats than would be expected based on their average share of the vote, according to an Associated Press analysis.
Both lawsuits ask that all 132 state lawmakers be up for election that year in newly drawn districts. In Senate districts that are midway through a four-year term in 2024, there would be a special election, with the winners serving two years. The regular four-year cycle would resume again in 2026.
One lawsuit was filed on behalf of voters who support Democrats by Law Forward, a Madison-based liberal law firm, the Stafford Rosenbaum law firm, Election Law Clinic at Harvard Law School, Campaign Legal Center, and the Arnold & Porter law firm.
The other case was brought by voters who support Democratic candidates and several members of the Citizen Mathematicians and Scientists. That group of professors and research scientists submitted proposed legislative maps in 2022, before the state Supreme Court adopted the Republican-drawn ones.
New testimony from a number of FBI and Internal Revenue Service officials casts doubt on key claims from an IRS whistleblower who alleges there was political interference in the federal criminal investigation of Hunter Biden s taxes.
According to transcripts provided to CNN, several FBI and IRS officials brought in for closed-door testimony by House Republicans in recent days said they dont remember US Attorney David Weiss saying that he lacked the authority to decide whether to bring charges against the presidents son, or that Weiss said he had been denied a request for special counsel status.
Those twin claims, made by IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley, form the basis of Republican accusations that the Justice Departments investigation into Bidens taxes was tainted by political influence and that Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland tried to protect Hunter Biden in the investigation.
The new testimony comes as House Republicans begin an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and his family, potentially undercutting one element of that effort.
At issue is an October 2022 meeting between prosecutors and case agents working on the Hunter Biden investigation. Shapley alleges that during that meeting, Weiss, the then-US attorney for Delaware, told participants that he was not the deciding person on whether Hunter Biden was charged, according to Shapleys notes from the meeting. House Republicans have taken that to mean Weiss was not in charge of his own investigation, and was deferring to a higher authority.
In addition to Shapley and Weiss, there were five others in that meeting, three of whom have recently testified to the Republican-led congressional committees now spearheading the impeachment inquiry.
While the witnesses disputed Shapleys key allegations from that meeting, they acknowledged Weiss was having trouble finding a venue to bring charges against the presidents son, as US attorneys from other states rejected partnering on the case. They also expressed frustration with the pace of the probe, which at that point had been ongoing for roughly four years.
In June, Weiss reached a plea deal with Hunter Biden on tax and gun charges. But the deal fell apart amid scrutiny from a judge, and Weiss subsequently requested special counsel status. Last week, Hunter Biden was indicted on the gun charges.
Republicans are expected to pepper Garland with questions about Weiss plea agreement and special counsel status when he appears before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee, which has been investigating Hunter Bidens business dealings, is planning its first impeachment inquiry hearing next Thursday.
He didnt say that
Attorneys for Shapley have argued that he took contemporaneous notes of the October 2022 meeting and that he sent an email to his supervisors memorializing the meeting after it happened, while others in the room did not do so.
Shapley, a 14-year IRS veteran who oversaw parts of the Hunter Biden probe, alleged in testimony to Congress there was political interference in the investigation. He and the entire IRS team were later removed from the probe as Weiss neared a charging decision.
I am alleging, with evidence, that DOJ provided preferential treatment, slow-walked the investigation, did nothing to avoid obvious conflicts of interest in this investigation, Shapley told lawmakers in his closed-door testimony in May.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley, left, and Joseph Ziegler testify in July to the House Oversight Committee about alleged meddling in the Justice Department's investigation of Hunter Biden - Leah Millis/Reuters
In letters to the House Judiciary Committee, Weiss has pushed back on Shapleys allegations, including that he was denied special counsel status in October 2022. Weiss wrote that he had not even asked for a special counsel designation at that point, and that he had discussions with the DOJ about filing charges outside of his district.
In their recent testimony, the other FBI and IRS officials in the October 2022 meeting have supported Weisss version of events on several key points of contention, particularly his allegation that Weiss said he was not the deciding person on whether to bring charges.
I do not remember I dont he didnt say that. In my recollection, if he would have said that, I would have remembered it, Thomas Sobocinski, the special agent in charge of the FBIs Baltimore field office, told the committee.
I do not recall that ever being said, said Darrell Waldon, who was previously Shapleys boss as the IRS special agent in charge of the Washington, DC, field office overseeing criminal investigations.
I dont remember him saying that, said Ryeshia Holley, an assistant special agent in charge with the FBI, who added she thought Shapley may have been confused or misunderstood what transpired at the meeting.
Last week, CNN and others reported on Sobocinskis testimony, which prompted Shapleys attorneys to dispute his recollection of the October 2022 meeting.
Mr. Sobocinski apparently acknowledged that he took no notes in the meeting, nor did he document it in any contemporaneous fashion afterwards, attorney Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt, president of Empower Oversight, a nonprofit group that represents whistleblowers, wrote in a letter to the House Judiciary Committee. By contrast, [supervisory special agent] Shapley took notes during the meeting.
Shapley alleged Weiss requested Special Counsel status in 2022 and was denied
When emailing his supervisor about the October 2022 meeting later the same day, Shapley claimed that Weiss stated he requested special counsel authority, and that the Justice Department denied his request and told him to follow the process.
Waldon responded to the 2022 email at the time by saying, thanks, Gary. You covered it all.
But when pressed by committee investigators earlier about it this month, Waldon said, I agreed that he covered it all, but, in terms of the word special counsel being requested, I dont recall those words being used.
Both Holley and Sobocinski also said they did not remember Weiss bringing up any discussion of special counsel authority during the meeting.
Since, Shapleys allegation came to light in June, Weiss has told Congress that he had never requested special counsel status, but rather explored becoming a special attorney under a different statute.
After Hunter Bidens plea deal fell apart, Weiss did request and was granted special counsel status. Weiss has offered to testify to Congress, but securing that testimony is more difficult now that he is a special counsel overseeing the ongoing criminal probe. Republicans have requested Weiss to appear for a transcribed interview on October 11 and public hearing on October 18, according to a new letter obtained by CNN.
While the testimony from the trio of FBI and IRS officials complicates the allegations from the IRS whistleblower, its not the final word on the matter in the House GOP probe. Congressional investigators have also heard from Waldons supervisor, Michael Batdorf, who was not in the October 2022 meeting, and a source tells CNN theyve subpoenaed two more officials from DOJs tax division involved in Hunter Bidens criminal case: Mark Daly and Jack Morgan.
Witnesses agreed with some of Weiss assertions
Though they contested Shapleys claims that Weiss said he had been denied special counsel status, they did confirm that Weiss said he had been rejected when he tried to partner with US attorneys in Washington, DC, and California in order to bring a potential case there.
But the other officials contended that didnt mean Weiss couldnt bring a case there if he chose.
I believe Mr. Weiss said that the case was presented and they did not agree to join or take on the case, Waldon said of a discussion about the US attorney in Washington, DC, adding that he didnt take it to mean a case couldnt be brought there.
US Attorney David Weiss speaks during a press conference on May 3, 2018, at his district office in Wilmington, Delaware. - Suchat Pederson/The News Journal/AP
I didnt understand that, that the case was declined just that they were not going to be a partner on the case, Waldon added. The case was still able to move forward.
The House Judiciary Committee requested US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Mathew Graves. and US Attorney for the Central District of California, E. Martin Estrada, to appear for transcribed interviews on October 2nd and 3rd respectively to offer their take on the situation.
Shapley also said that Weiss disclosed at the meeting he was not planning on bringing charges over Hunter Bidens tax years of 2014 and 2015, due to the statute of limitations expiring.
The FBI and IRS officials said they had no reason to dispute Shapleys assertions on the tax years, which cover Hunter Bidens time on the board of Ukrainian energy firm Burisma, a key part of House Republicans allegations surrounding Hunter Bidens business dealings.
I remember overall charges for being a conversation in the sense that that is something that they are still deciding, Holley said. I dont remember if it was stated at this meeting that that was not those tax years were not going to be charged. I just know that, again, those tax years and others were part of the overall discussions.
Testimony on Shapleys character and recollections
Holley said her experience working with Shapley was very limited, but she did not have any reason to believe he lied.
I have no reason to believe that Mr. Shapley is not being truthful. But at the same time, my understanding and recollection is different than his as noted in this document, Holley said.
Instead, Holley told committee investigators she believes Shapley was confused about what transpired in the meeting.
Of my understanding, as well as my recollection of the meeting, I definitely think there is either some confusion or misunderstanding in things that were communicated, Holley said.
Waldon told the panel that he recommended to Batdorf that Shapley be removed from the case. Waldon said that Weiss told him after the October 2022 meeting that he would not be talking with Mr. Shapley henceforth, as they were going through their deliberative process.
Before I left the special agent in charge position, in February, I recommended to Mr. Batdorf that Gary Shapley be removed as the [supervisory special agent] from the Hunter Biden investigation, primarily due to what I perceived to be unsubstantiated allegations about motive, intent, bias Waldon said.
When I left, Mr. Shapley was still on the case, and as I understand it, was on it until May. So in my mind, my recommendation was just that, a recommendation, he said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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A woman mistakenly identified as a Walmart shoplifting suspect spent a night in a South Carolina jail after she was arrested at her home in front of her young children, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
Courtney Williams, of Florence, was taken into custody on Nov. 22 by authorities who accused her of stealing two Apple laptops from a Walmart in Florence County on Aug. 29, 2022, she told McClatchy News.
However, Williams never stepped inside Walmart that day and was nowhere near it, according to state Rep. Marvin Pendarvis, who is Williams attorney.
After Florence police officers met with Walmart employees and reviewed surveillance footage of the August 2022 theft, they concluded Williams was the suspect seen in the footage, according to a complaint filed Sept. 18 in Florence County Court of Common Pleas.
Following her arrest, she was detained in jail for about 12 hours, feeling shocked and confused.
I was praying when I was there and I was crying because I was upset, because I knew that that wasnt me, she said.
Although the charges against her were officially dismissed in January, the damage had already been done, a news release from Pendarvis Law LLC said.
In addition to public humiliation and emotional trauma, Williams lost her job as a result of her false arrest, the release said.
Now shes suing the city of Florence and its police department on several causes of action including negligence, civil assault and false arrest.
Pendarvis told McClatchy News if the police had done their proper due diligence in trying to ascertain the true culprit, Williams would never have been arrested.
Thats a situation where a mistake is unacceptable, he said. You put an innocent persons life in jeopardy, a livelihood in jeopardy because of a mistakeThats inexcusable and everyone needs to be held responsible because of that.
The city and the Florence Police Department declined to comment on the lawsuit, as they cannot comment on pending litigation, Capt. Mike Brandt told McClatchy News on Sept. 19.
McClatchy News also contacted Walmart for comment on Sept. 19 and didnt receive an immediate response.
Pulled away from her children
Officers arrested Williams three months after the August 2022 Walmart theft when she called to make a police report about an unrelated incident, she told McClatchy News.
Officers told her to step outside because they had a warrant out for her arrest, according to Williams, who said felt confused, betrayed and unsafe as her two young daughters screamed and cried while she was detained.
Pendarvis said his client was essentially pulled away from her children.
Ultimately, Williams was released from custody on Nov. 23, the day after her arrest, according to the complaint.
The actions of the defendants were objectively unreasonable under the circumstances and were undertaken intentionally with malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights and safety of (Williams), the complaint says.
Williams said she decided she wanted to bring the matter to court immediately following her release, when she realized her whole world and life was turned upside down.
The lawsuit seeks to recover damages and relief for Williams.
When asked what she hopes will come out of the case, Williams said she wants to hold the defendants accountable.
Williams, who is Black, also said she hopes that people who work in law enforcement understand that every person is not bad and you cant go based off of skin color and that they have to thoroughly investigate and make sure that theyre doing their job.
They failed me and my children, she said.
Student with autism went to get lunch. Then school officer handcuffed him, SC suit says
DNA exonerates 72-year-old, overturns longest wrongful conviction in US, officials say
Handcuffed woman fell from police car and died in Georgia. Now her family is suing
A New Rochelle resident who kept the body of a woman in her apartment for nearly a week has been charged with murder in the case, New Rochelle police said Monday.
Authorities are still trying to determine the identity of the victim, who was found dead Friday in the third-floor apartment of Kenya Tilford at 155 Franklin Ave. Police said she was in her 20s and was likely Tilford's roommate.
Tilford, 40, was taken into custody Friday night at a hotel in Elmsford after police were notified of the corpse and directed to where they could find her.
She was arraigned Monday in New Rochelle City Court on charges of second-degree murder and concealment of a human corpse and ordered held without bail at the Westchester County jail.
A cause of death has not been revealed and New Rochelle police are asking anyone with information about the case or the identity of the victim to call them at 914-654-2300.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New Rochelle woman charged with murder after body found in apartment
A Naples woman shot her boyfriend in the face while playing with guns in South Florida, police say. Shes now locked up a year after his death.
On Friday, Brittany Brothers, 26, was arrested and charged with manslaughter. Police say that in September 2022, Brothers called 911 frantically saying that she had shot her boyfriend and needed help.
When Hollywood police arrived to the apartment, they found a man with a gunshot wound to the face lying on the floor. Brothers, who told 911 she had money and would do anything for him to be OK, was also on the floor, holding his head.
The man was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital, where he died days later.
Brothers, in an interview after the shooting, told detectives that her boyfriend would hate her because his face was injured, according to court documents. She said she hoped he would forgive her, also exclaiming Damn what did I do? and This should never have happened.
She also detailed the accounts of that day, including a game she and her boyfriend played in which they pointed their guns at each other. According to court records, Brothers claimed her boyfriend was holding a gun, pulled the trigger and said: This b---- almost went off.
In a phone call in front of detectives, Brothers told her mother she was sorry and that she knew we arent supposed to play with guns. Brothers also said she wanted to take what happened back as DNA and fingerprints were collected from her.
Investigators found a live round in the chamber of the guns belonging to Brothers and her boyfriend, according to court records. The Broward Sheriffs Office Crime Lab also determined a spent casing found at the scene was fired from Brothers Glock.Brothers is being held for Broward authorities at the Collier County Jail, according to jail records accessed Tuesday afternoon.
[Source]
Jaahnavi Kandula, the 23-year-old Indian graduate student fatally struck by a police vehicle in Seattle, will be awarded a masters degree posthumously, Northeastern University has announced.
Driving the news: Kandula, who arrived at the universitys Seattle campus as an exchange student in 2021, was set to graduate with a masters degree in information systems in December. Unfortunately, she was killed by a speeding police car driven by Officer Kevin Dave on Jan. 23.
The case returned to the headlines last week after Seattle police released bodycam footage that recorded controversial remarks made by Officer Daniel Auderer, who was responding to the incident. In it, Auderer can be heard laughing while talking about Kandula, saying she had limited value and advising someone to just write a check.
What the university is saying: In a statement, Chancellor and Senior Vice President of Learning Kenneth W. Henderson announced that the university plans to award Kandulas degree posthumously and present it to her family. Campus gatherings to unite the academic community will also be held this week.
More from NextShark: Report: 1 in 4 Asian New Yorkers lived in poverty in 2020
The latest: On Saturday evening, another rally was held at the site where Kandula had been fatally hit. Marchers demanded justice for the fallen student, carrying signs that said Jaahnavi had more value than SPD and Justice for Jaahnavi, jail killer cops.
Earlier that day, Seattle Bruce Harrell and Police Chief Adrian Diaz issued a public apology and expressed their condolences to Kandulas loved ones.
We had these insensitive comments and we want to work to ensure that that never, ever occurs; that we value human life; that we do not dehumanize others, Diaz said.
More from NextShark: Man convicted in murder, robbery of 75-year-old Asian man in Oakland
Whats next: The King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office is reportedly conducting a criminal review of the fatal incident, while the Office of Police Accountability is investigating the body cam footage. Auderer, for his part, has reportedly denied being insensitive to the incident, claiming he was trying to mock lawyers.
More from NextShark: Virginia police looking for man who laughed after assaulting, exposing himself to woman
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'Depressed' Tiger Walks in Endless Circles at Beijing Zoo
A railroad worker is dead after being hit by a remote-controlled train on a CSX railyard in Ohio.
This is the third time a railway worker has been killed in an incident involving a remote-controlled train.
Unions are calling for an in-depth review of the use of the trains and update of safety protocols.
A railroad worker died over the weekend after he was struck by a remote-controlled train in a CSX railyard in Ohio, raising concerns among unions about such technology.
The death highlights the need for an in-depth review of the use of remote-controlled locomotives, the Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen said in a news release Sunday. Every major railroad has used such locomotives inside, and increasingly outside of, railyards across the country for years.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the death, which happened shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in Walbridge, Ohio. Spokesperson Keith Holloway said the worker was struck and fatally injured when he walked into the path of a moving locomotive that was being operated by remote control.
Fred Anderson is the third carman killed in an incident involving a remote-controlled locomotive, the unions said.
"Enough is enough. A full-scale review of the use and practices around remote-control locomotives is long overdue. CSX and every railroad must evaluate their use of these supposed technological advancements to ensure they are actually making our members safer, and not merely replacing people to continue lining the pockets of Wall Street," Transportation Communications Union National President Artie Maratea said in the news release.
CSX officials at the railroad's headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida, confirmed the accident but declined to discuss the details of Anderson's death because it is still being investigated.
"CSX mourns the loss of this employee and our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. The safety of our railroaders is our highest priority. CSX is working with officials to determine exactly what happened," spokesperson Sheriee Bowman said.
The Federal Railroad Administration has approved the use of remote-controlled locomotives since 2005. They are primarily used inside railyards to help assemble trains. Regulators issued guidelines for railroads back then calling for precautions, including ensuring the trains don't operate at speeds above 15 mph, but there aren't detailed regulations on exactly how they can be used.
Typically, a railroad worker stationed on the ground near a train controls its movements with a remote, although sometimes that worker rides aboard the train while it is moving.
Railroad safety has been a key concern nationwide this year ever since a Norfolk Southern train derailed and caught fire in eastern Ohio in February. That crash prompted evacuations, lingering health concerns, a massive ongoing cleanup and calls for reforms.
CSX is one of the nation's largest railroads, operating trains in 23 Eastern states and two Canadian provinces.
Read the original article on Business Insider
The international community cannot allow the Russian invasion of Ukraine to turn into a frozen war, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Sept. 19.
Read also: Zelenskyy, Duda to Meet in New York during UN General Assembly
During his address, Duda called on "courageous and visionary" leaders to stand against the "imperial policy" of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin .
He added that Russias full-scale aggression against Ukraine has led to "immense global problems" and challenges the international world order.
For the first time in a long time, Russians have shown the face we have known for hundreds of years, said Duda.
They believed that the nations around them should be subjected to them. We say no. Russia believes that the old days of the empire that collapsed less than 20 years ago, that domination will again be a feature of our region. Well, it will not. Those days are over once and for all.
Read also: Ukraine to demand reparations from Russia at ICJ
Duda added that Russia's "brutal" war against Ukraine must end and it cannot be turned into a "frozen war".
Read also: Zelenskyy warns against attempts to strike backroom deals with Russia
"This can only be done by restoring the full territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders," the Polish president adds.
Read also: Poland bans entry of vehicles with Russian license plates
Duda noted that Poland is participating in initiatives aimed at holding Russia accountable for violating fundamental norms of international law and decisively supports the work of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
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
Five former Florida Supreme Court justices joined a legal brief filed Monday supporting Monique Worrells lawsuit to get her job back as Orange-Osceola state attorney, calling Gov. Ron DeSantis move to suspend her as a violation of the state constitution.
The five former justices Harry Lee Anstead , Rosemary Barkett , Barbara Pariente , James E.C. Perry and Peggy Quince were among 121 current and former prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and law enforcement leaders from around the country to back Worrell in her case before the Florida Supreme Court.
They characterized DeSantis suspension order, which accused Worrell of not aggressively prosecuting certain crimes, as at best, policy disagreements as vague claims of incompetence and neglect of duty.
The brief also cites the decision in a lawsuit brought by Andrew Warren, whose suspension by DeSantis as Hillsborough County state attorney was found by a federal judge to be a violation of free speech, though the judge also ruled he had no power to reinstate him.
The Florida Supreme Court refused to hear that case, ruling Warren took too long to file a complaint with the court.
It is clear that even if Governor DeSantis or this Court disagrees with the manner in which SA Worrell or any elected official conducts her job, when those disagreements are based on reasoned, policy or other decisions well within her lawful exercise of discretion, they do not and cannot amount to justification for suspension, the brief argued.
Top DeSantis adviser took hands-on role in state attorney transition after Worrell suspension
Worrells suspension in August and subsequent replacement with Orange County Judge Andrew Bain was the culmination of months of back-and-forth between her office and law enforcement leaders in Orange and Osceola counties.
DeSantis in part cites complaints by Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez that Worrell wasnt aggressively prosecuting accused drug traffickers, which the now-suspended state attorney attempted to debunk at a press conference earlier this year.
It also cited concerns by Orange County Sheriff John Mina following a spate of shootings, including one in Pine Hills that killed three people in February, about Worrells office inadequately prosecuting repeat offenders.
DeSantis and Sen. Rick Scott lambasted Worrell after those killings for not prosecuting the shooter for misdemeanor marijuana possession in 2021. Worrell said the amount of marijuana was too small to be suitable for Florida Department of Law Enforcement testing.
Those reasons and others cited in the suspension order, Worrell and others have argued, fall under the state attorneys discretion.
Governor DeSantis has once again suspended a duly-elected State Attorney because he apparently disagrees with her policies, Pariente, one of the former justices who signed onto the brief, said in a statement. In so doing, he has, yet again, exceeded his authority, violated well-settled prosecutorial independence and disregarded the rights of the people of Florida to be represented by their chosen leaders.
In Worrells suspension by DeSantis, Ayala sees echoes from her own tenure as state attorney
The Worrell suit is the latest to test the limits of a governors ability to sanction an elected state attorney. Scott took on her predecessor, Aramis Ayala, by reassigning dozens of murder cases from the Orange-Osceola office in 2017 after Ayala announced her refusal to seek the death penalty.
Ayala sued, ultimately fighting Scotts actions to the state Supreme Court, which sided with the then-governor. Pariente and Quince, who were on the court at the time, dissented with the majoritys ruling in that case.
The wreckage of a missing F-35 jet that disappeared Sunday has been found less than 100 miles north of Charleston, a South Carolina military base announced Monday afternoon.
Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, in close coordination with local authorities, have located a debris field in Williamsburg County, Joint Base Charleston announced in a statement on Facebook Monday afternoon. The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process.
The Marine Corps is taking over the investigation from the base, according to the statement.
The discovery closes the military's search for the plane, which disappeared over the weekend. On Sunday, an incident occurred in flight, prompting the pilot to eject safely from the Marine Corps aircraft, which can take off and land vertically. The jets last-known position was north of Joint Base Charleston, near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, the base announced Sunday.
Unable to locate the jet, the base called on the public to help, asking those with information to call the facilitys operations center.
The news of the disappearance prompted some disbelief from lawmakers. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who represents the area in Congress, said said she felt frustrated by the Marine Corps response.
"Our community deserves basic, minimum answers," Mace said in an interview with a local news outlet in South Carolina. Mistakes happen and its a matter of taking responsibility, ensuring trust in the process, trust in operations, trust that the communitys going to be kept as safe as possible even when theres a jet missing.
A spokesperson for the base, Jeremy Huggins, told the Washington Post on Sunday that the F-35s transponder was not working for some reason that we havent yet determined.
The announcement comes as the Marine Corps has announced it will suspend aviation units flights for two days in response to this incident, the third flight mishap to occur in six weeks.
In a news release, the Marine Corps said commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness.
The stand-down is needed, the Corps continued, to ensure the service is maintaining operational standardization of combat-ready aircraft with well-prepared pilots and crews.
Microsoft Gaming chief Phil Spencer wanted to acquire Nintendo so bad, he considered it a "career moment." One of the leaked documents from the FTC v. Microsoft case was an email Spencer sent to the company's Chief Marketing Officers Chris Capossela and Takeshi Numoto in 2020. The executive talked about how Nintendo was the prime asset for the tech giant in gaming, which is Microsoft's best bet for consumer relevance. He was confident that if there was an American company capable of acquiring Nintendo, it was Microsoft. However, Nintendo was apparently sitting on a "big pile of cash" that made it unlikely to go looking for buyers.
Spencer added that Nintendo had a board of directors that had not pushed for increases in market growth in ages. He explained that it might change in the future, though, as one of Microsoft's board of directors investment company ValueAct Capital had been "heavily acquiring" Nintendo shares and had been "fully supportive" of an acquisition if the opportunity arose.
Microsoft has a long history of trying to acquire the Japanese gaming giant. When Bloomberg published an in-depth oral account of how the Xbox came to be for its 20th anniversary in 2021, it was revealed that the company asked Nintendo if it was willing to be acquired and got laughed out of the room. "They just laughed their asses off," Xbox co-creator Kevin Bachus said. "Like, imagine an hour of somebody just laughing at you. That was kind of how that meeting went." Microsoft also reportedly asked Nintendo to let it take care of hardware so it could focus on games, but it ultimately failed to convince the company to do a merger.
In Spencer's letter, he said it was "taking a long time for Nintendo to see that their future exists off of their own hardware." And then he ended it with a smiley face that seemed to indicate that he was willing to play the long game, though it's unclear if he still has plans to make another attempt at a merger. Microsoft's legal battle against the Federal Trade Commission will decide the outcome of the company's $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. The company announced the massive purchase in early 2022, but the FTC filed a lawsuit to block the merger, which the agency says can harm competition in the gaming market.
Microsoft has big plans for the fourth year of the Xbox Series X/S, based on new leaks from the Federal Trade Commissions failed court fight to block the company from acquiring Activision Blizzard in June. In addition to a revised Series S, the tech giant is also planning a cylyindrical, disc-less update to the more powerful Series X, complete with a new controller featuring better haptic feedback.
The information, which is always subject to change prior to products actually shipping, was buried in unrelated files uploaded by the Northern District Court of California and is part of a massive trove of unredacted documents. A strategy roadmap for the Xbox brand through 2030 points to the planned release of the Series S refresh (codename Ellewood) and Series X refresh (codename Brooklin) in late 2024 alongside an all-new Xbox controller (codename Sebile).
Read more
A screenshot shows specs for the new Xbox controller.
According to the roadmap, the controller will arrive in May, followed by the Series S refresh in September and the Series X refresh in November. Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had previously told Bloomberg and others in interviews throughout the summer that the company was not working on any substantial power upgrade to its current consoles prior to the next hardware generation, which leaks suggest is currently planned for 2028.
Sony, on the other hand, is reportedly currently working on a PlayStation 5 Pro. Its still not clear what the specs of that machine might be. The PS5 currently appears to be outselling the Xbox Series X/S two to one. A majority of current Xbox owners have so far opted for the less powerful Series S, however. New data released as part of the FTC trial puts it at roughly 75 percent compared to 25 percent for the Series X.
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A man convicted in the 1999 slaying of a beloved Sacramento minister whose conviction was later overturned and led to him offering himself up as a mentor and a force for change has been charged with selling fentanyl to an undercover agent and through the mail, court records say.
Tio Dinero Sessoms, who operates a consulting firm in the 900 block of H Street, has been charged in federal court with distribution of a controlled substance, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday morning in Sacramento.
In July and August of this year, Sessoms mailed fentanyl and sold fentanyl to law enforcement in the Eastern District of California, an affidavit from U.S. Postal Inspector Aaron Parker said. During law enforcements investigation of Sessoms drug trafficking activities, it was discovered that Sessoms was using his workplaces as return addresses on packages he mailed to addresses in Pennsylvania containing drugs.
Court records say investigators learned of Sessoms alleged activities through recorded phone calls he had with an inmate in custody in Pennsylvania on drug charges and that after listening to the calls, law enforcement suspected the two were discussing drug trafficking.
Sessoms allegedly used code words in text messages to a confidential informant working for law enforcement and asked to be referred to as Jack, court records say.
In the messages, Sessoms indicated through coded language that there were certain drugs that he was unwilling to send through the mail, referring to one of these drugs as dog food, court records say.
The Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento is seen from the DoCo plaza in 2017. Prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Friday a Sacramento consultant whose conviction in a 1999 murder was later vacated now faces a fentanyl charge after he allegedly sold fentanyl to an undercover agent in a third-floor bathroom at the hotel.
One drug purchase the undercover agent made was conducted on the third floor of the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento on Aug. 28, a place selected because Sessoms said that floor did not have security cameras, court records say.
Agents then arrived at the Kimpton Sawyer hotel and found Sessoms waiting on the second-floor balcony, overlooking the entrance of the hotel, court records say. Law enforcement noticed another male loitering in the lobby who appeared to be a lookout for Sessoms, subsequently identified as Co-Conspirator 1.
Around 1:22 p.m., the (undercover agent) entered the hotel lobby and made contact with Sessoms. After returning to the (agents) car to get the negotiated cash, the (agent) returned to the hotel and went to a third-floor bathroom with Sessoms.
Inside the restroom was another man in khakis and a polo shirt with a radio in his pocket, a man court records say was another lookout for Sessoms.
Tio Dinero Sessoms is seen in an image take from a video on his consultancy website. The Sacramento man, whose conviction in a 1999 murder was later vacated, now faces a fentanyl charge in federal court after prosecutors said he sold the drug to an undercover agent.
Court records say Sessoms told the agent to leave the cash in a toilet stall and that he indicated fentanyl was in the adjacent stall.
Around 2:40 p.m., I examined the suspected fentanyl the (agent) had purchased, Parkers affidavit says. I observed two zip lock bags containing white chunky powder individually wrapped in clear baggies.
The total weight of both Ziplock bags was 522 grams. The powder was field tested, and it tested positive for fentanyl.
Conviction on a count of distributing fentanyl could result in a prison sentence of 10 years to life in prison and a $10 million fine, court records say.
Sessoms could not be reached for comment. A voicemail box at his business was full and not accepting messages, and court records indicated he was arrested Thursday in Pennsylvania and made an initial court appearance there on Friday.
A portrait of the Rev. Ed Sherriff, director of the Samaritan Center run by the Cathedral of Promise Metropolitan Community Church, hangs on the wall of the center as a memorial after Sherriffs 1999 slaying.
Sessoms was one of three men convicted in the 1999 murder of Sacramento minister and gay rights activist Edward R. Sherriff, who was found dead in his mobile home on Elder Creek Road.
Sherriff had been bound with rope and telephone cord and stabbed 24 times, and his two small dogs were huddled next to his body.
Sessoms conviction ultimately was overturned on appeal because after Sessoms was arrested and asked for an attorney a Sacramento police detective convinced Sessoms that a lawyer would simply get in the way, an appellate opinion said.
Sessoms conviction was vacated and in 2017 he pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and first-degree burglary, court records say. He later was arrested in 2020 for a parole violation, court records say.
The LinkedIn profile of Tio Dinero Sessoms, a Sacramento consultant whose conviction in a 1999 murder was later vacated. Prosecutors said in an indictment unsealed Friday that Sessoms faces a fentanyl charge after he allegedly sold the drug to an undercover agent.
According to his publicly accessible LinkedIn page, Sessoms holds himself out in the Sacramento Community as a mentor and consultant, Parkers affidavit says.
In the LinkedIn pages about section, Sessoms writes that after wrongful conviction I now have the opportunity as a free man to speak and be a force for change.
I want to be the resource that I wished I would of had, for those that need help understanding and making their way through this system, he wrote. Using my knowledge as a mentor, consultant through my company, T.Rind Consulting LLC, I have also had the opportunity to visit some of the same prisons that once held me.
Sessoms maintained in a jailhouse interview that he was not in the room when Sherriff was killed. He said he rejected a plea deal because he wasnt going to take the fall for something I didnt do, he said then.
Prosecutors said another man, Frederick ONeal Clark, who had been released from prison four months before the murder, was responsible for stabbing Sherriff, and Clark made it clear during his 2002 sentencing to life without parole that he was not remorseful.
The only thing I regret is that I didnt kill him in front of the UC Med Center where he could have been revived so that I could have killed him again, Clark told Sherriffs daughter at sentencing.
There are few more magnificent places in the world than Yellowstone National Park, which boasts 2.2 million acres of land to explore.
When making a visit, its important to remember youre also entering the home of a number of wild animals, including elk, bears, and wolves.
One tourist got up close and personal with a wild bison, and it didnt end well for them.
An image posted on the TouronsOfYellowstone Instagram account shows an unfortunate person pinned underneath the head of a clearly unhappy bison.
What an idiot. Got what he was asking for up close and personal, one user commented.
Another moron! Cant read and wont follow the rules! said another.
According to the National Park Services website, bison are responsible for more animal-related injuries in Yellowstone Park than any other animal. Its recommended to stay at least 75 feet away from the animals at all times, as they can run three times faster than humans.
If this particular tourist had indeed read the parks rules and advice as the commenter suggested, they would have known that approaching a bison threatens them, and warning signs like lowering their head, pawing, bellowing, or snorting would have suggested a charge was coming.
You can also determine a bisons mood by looking at their tails. The National Park Service has said that if its hanging down naturally, its feeling calm. But if the tail is standing upwards, they may be getting ready to charge.
Regardless, since bison behavior is unpredictable, keeping a safe distance at all times is essential.
Do not stand your ground, the National Park Service recommends to those in a tricky situation. Immediately walk or run away from the animal. Spray bear spray as you are moving away if the animal follows you.
Bison are the largest land mammal in North America, and an adult male can weigh around 2,000 pounds.
Since bison have lived in Yellowstone since prehistoric times, its probably fair that they would want to defend themselves against unwanted attention in their own home. Hopefully, this tourist has learned their lesson and wasnt hurt after the close encounter.
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Hong Kong: Cheung Kwok-kwan to visit Hainan
Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan will tomorrow lead a delegation on a visit to Haikou, Hainan, to attend the first seminar organised on the island province by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Governments Department of Justice with the aim of promoting Hong Kongs legal and dispute resolution services.
The delegation of more than 30 people will comprise legal and dispute resolution professionals from the Law Society of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Bar Association, as well as a Legislative Councillor.
Mr Cheung and his delegation will attend the seminar, due to be held on the morning of September 21, to introduce Hainans commercial and legal sectors to Hong Kong's unique advantages under one country, two systems, which allows it to enjoy the strong support of the motherland while being closely connected to the world. They will also elaborate on the capacity of the citys legal and dispute resolution services to expedite Hainans development as a globally significant free trade port.
During the visit, Mr Cheung and his delegation will also meet Hainan Provincial Government officials and representatives from the local legal sector to enhance co-operation and collaboration between the two places.
Mr Cheung and the delegation will conclude their visit and return to Hong Kong on the evening of September 21.
This story has been published on: 2023-09-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Chinese vice president meets Guterres, Blinken on sidelines of UNGA session
Xinhua) 13:50, September 19, 2023
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met here Monday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, respectively, on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Han told Guterres that the world today is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century with various unstable and uncertain factors intertwined.
The more complex and grim the international situation is, the more necessary it is to uphold genuine multilateralism and the more the world needs a strong United Nations, he said.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative -- proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping -- are highly aligned with the ideals and goals of the United Nations, and have been widely recognized and actively supported by the international community, said Han.
China will, as always, be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, and support the United Nations in playing a central role in international affairs, he said.
For his part, Guterres thanked China for its firm support for the UN cause, and spoke highly of the important initiatives proposed by the Chinese president.
During his meeting with Blinken, Han said that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship is good for the two countries and the world.
Describing China's development as an opportunity rather than a challenge, a gain rather than a risk to the United States, Han said that the two sides may well contribute to each other's progress and achieve common prosperity.
China, he said, maintains consistency and stability in its policy toward the United States, all following the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in viewing and handling China-U.S. relations.
Han expressed the hope that the United States will work with China to follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali, Indonesia.
The two sides, he said, need to take practical actions, create favorable conditions and do more to enhance understanding, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring China-U.S. relations back on a healthy and stable track and deliver benefits to both countries and the rest of the world.
Blinken, for his part, said the United States looks forward to strengthening communications with China, managing the differences and advancing cooperation.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
York County Council approved tax incentive deals Monday night for two huge projects that combined would bring more than 800 jobs and $1 billion of new investment.
The projects are on opposite ends of the investment and jobs spectrum.
The QTS Data Centers project in Lake Wylie projects $1 billion of investment but only a dozen new jobs. The Silfab Solar project in Fort Mill is an investment of $150 million, no small amount in itself but not what the data center projects. But Silfab would create 800 new jobs.
The QTS and Silfab proposals also are on opposite ends of the public input spectrum.
QTS passed with relative ease while Silfab brought scores of community comments and debate even up to Monday nights vote.
Not all economic development is the same, Councilwoman Allison Love said Monday night. Its very important that we look at these companies and the opportunities that come before us, that we vet those and that we choose those. And only those that are great for York County.
Whats going on? This is how Rock Hill region readers can keep up with recent projects
Silfab Solar
Considerable public feedback led to an eventual 4-3 council vote to approve a tax incentive deal for Silfab.
Fort Mill residents voice concerns over proposed plan to add 800 jobs to York County
Opponents argued the company will bring traffic, relatively lower wages for the area, a reliance on Chinese products, environmental concerns with air and water quality and chemicals right beside two new schools.
Proponents argued the project would meet the same environmental standards any other would, and manufacturing there is a financial and job boost for the area, compared to warehouse or distribution.
Councilwoman Debi Cloninger represents the area that includes the 7149 Logistics Lane address in Fort Mill. Cloninger repeatedly voted against the plan.
The boxes are not checked, Cloninger said.
Cloninger lives a mile from the site and said she shares the varied concerns brought up by neighbors. Cloninger said the decision shouldnt be dollars and cents, but about people.
We the people are not excited, Cloninger said. We are not happy. We are not opening our arms to you.
Love echoed those sentiments of listening to people in the area ahead of job, school funding or other financial issues. Love and others said they dont often get an outpouring of feedback on an incentive project.
When you get that, Love said, maybe you should consider the source.
Councilman Tom Audette, who heads the county economic development subcommittee, said projects have to go in the right places. With the county dealing with solar manufacturing for the first time, and with two schools coming right beside the property, Audette said he wants to see state health department approval of air and water permits after a public hearing set for next month.
I am absolutely for manufacturing, Audette said. I think theres a lot of opportunity for manufacturing. But the final decision then for something like this, for me, has to come down to where, and what is being brought in. The where is critical.
Other council members said they studied the company and its plan, and theyre satisfied Silfab will be a positive addition to the county.
Its a major investment that will create 800 skilled jobs and establish the company as a cutting edge manufacturer in our community, said Chairwoman Christi Cox.
Cox said the site is an existing industrial park with three decades of business. The project will make the county more competitive in the solar manufacturing industry, Cox said. And with commitments for higher wages than initially shown in incentive documents, Silfab would create less traffic, higher paying jobs and more benefit to schools compared to what the building initially was designed to house, Cox said.
This opportunity, if you look at the facts, is much better than warehouse and distribution, Cox said.
Councilman Watts Huckabee said non-management roles at Silfab would still be in the top 30% of York County wages and management or engineering roles would be in the top 10%.
Assistant county manager and CFO Kevin Madden called manufacturing at the Silfab site an economic homerun for York County compared to other property uses. It would have more than five times the economic impact with highly automated manufacturing, Madden said.
There is a huge difference between what we could be getting in taxes versus what we can get through this, Madden said.
Councilman Tommy Adkins heard concern about reliance on Chinese products, but said anyone with a computer or phone relies on Chinese products. Adkins said he sees companies like Silfab as a way to turn the manufacturing tide.
I dont know what its going to take to get manufacturing back in our country, and start somewhere, Adkins said. And at least were competing against China.
Councilman William Bump Roddey said a primary aim of council is to improve quality of life, and projects that bring jobs and investment hit that mark.
We like the 800 jobs, Roddey said. We like the tax base that theyre bringing. We like the help that its going to provide for our school district, putting people to work.
QTS Data Center
Council spent far less time Monday night on the QTS project, which passed unanimously.
Ive already gotten calls about, you know, how can I get one of the jobs there? Roddey said.
Roddey said the project brings substantial pay and supports both area schools and county tax base. QTS bought land in Lake Wylie along Hands Mill Highway and Campbell Road for a new data center. Love, who represents the area, said the addition of QTS is the culmination of forethought by county officials.
If youve got a plan in place, and something in mind, dont ever accept less than that, Love said.
Years ago the county bought land for $800,000 and sold it to the company for $4.3 million which by itself would have been a great return, Cox said. It became a huge win when QTS proposed the largest scale investment so far in the county, which Cox said could exceed the projected $1 billion.
QTS development program manager Ryan Wehmann said the company will partner with area community college, high school and sustainability programs. The incentive deal aids community growth and job development in the area, Wehmann said.
QTS is excited to come to York County, Wehmann said, and were looking forward to getting started.
Fee for tax agreements
The QTS and Silfab incentive agreements, and many others like them used to attract large business, are similar. They allow the businesses to pay a negotiated fee instead of taxes at a reduced assessment rate. Deals typically span decades. Some allow credits against the fees. The bigger the investment or job count, the more incentives companies can request.
Many companies in the Rock Hill region got incentives, but have they kept their promises?
Yet, officials say, each deal is unique.
QTS has the special investment credits worked into its deal, for instance, while Silfab doesnt. Deals can hinge on location and land use, among a variety of factors.
Cox said there can be public pushback to economic incentive deals.
Its one of those things that you have to do in order to attract quality investment, Cox said. And I think that our council is committed to attracting high quality investment and maximizing the industrial parks that we have in the county right now.
South Carolina tax structure isnt always favorable to other states for business. Which is especially important in an area like York County.
We are in a position being a border county, where our business taxes just arent fair, Madden said.
Large companies often evaluate multiple sites, sometimes across multiple states. Cox said the county could take a hard stance and not offer incentives. Cox and others say theyd expect far fewer opportunities like the ones QTS and Silfab present.
YouTube announced it has suspended actor and comedian Russell Brand from its platform after several women made allegations of sexual assaults against the creator.
The suspension means that Brand cannot earn any revenue from ads that run within and alongside his YouTube videos.
Brand, whose main YouTube channel has 6.6 million subscribers, has other side channels on the social media platform, including Awakening With Russell, which has 426,000 subscribers, and Stay Free With Russell Brand, with 22,200 subscribers.
This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand, YouTube said in a statement, according to The Associated Press.
We have suspended [monetization] on Russell Brands channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy, YouTube said in a statement to The Hill. If a creators off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.
This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand, the company added.
YouTube follows a list of organizations distancing themselves from Brand, including the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), which also removed content from the comedian from its streaming services.
This comes as British politicians have called on local authorities to launch an investigation into the allegations against the comedian. A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the allegations should be treated seriously and treated with sensitivity.
We have to be particularly careful when we listen to the voices of the people who are relatively powerless, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly told the BBC. Because we, I think, collectively have missed opportunities to do the right thing and intervene much, much earlier.
Brand, 48, has publicly denied the allegations made by four women in a Channel 4 television documentary, and in the The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers. He has maintained that all of his relationships were always consensual.
The Associated Press contributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
YouTube has blocked Russell Brand from making money off its platform and the BBC pulled some of his shows from its online streaming service in the wake of rape and sexual assault allegations against the comedian-turned-influencer.
YouTube said in a statement early Tuesday that it had suspended monetization on Brand's channel for violating its creator responsibility policy.
If a creators off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community, the online platform said.
Brand has developed a major following on his YouTube channel in recent years, amassing more than 6.6 million subscribers while cultivating a persona as a wellness and conspiracy influencer.
The BBC also reported it had removed "some programmes" featuring the former actor that were "deemed to 'fall below public expectations'" from its streaming services, iPlayer and Sounds.
"There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds," the BBC said in a statement published by the U.K. public broadcaster on Tuesday. "Weve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations."
Other platforms hosting material from Brand, including Spotify and Luminary, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News.
The developments come after multiple sexual assault allegations against the British star were published over the weekend, with Brand, 48, accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women in a joint investigation by the Times of London, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. A fifth woman accused him of flashing his genitals at her.
Brand has denied the allegations and said his relationships have all been consensual.
In a video posted to his social media accounts prior to the publication of the allegations, the comedian said he had received "extremely disturbing" communications from a mainstream TV company and a newspaper "listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks."
But amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute, Brand said.
On Monday, London's Metropolitan Police Service said it was investigating a report of an alleged sexual assault in 2003 in the wake of allegations against Brand.
The police department told NBC News it received a report of sexual assault against Brand on Sunday, a day after the publication of the investigation and the airing of a documentary on the subject on Saturday.
The incident was alleged to have occurred in 2003 in London's Soho neighborhood, the Met said.
We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us, the department said.
NBC News has not spoken to any of the accusers or independently confirmed any of the allegations against Brand.
In the wake of the allegations, Brand has postponed upcoming U.K. comedy shows and is suspending the end of his current comedy tour, "Bipolarisation."
It was not immediately clear whether the dates would be rescheduled.
Management agency Tavistock Wood said Sunday that it had dropped Brand as a client after it said it was horribly misled by him.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
ZayZoon, a fintech firm that got its start charging employees $5 to get paid sooner, has raised $34.5 million in a Series B round co-led by Framework and EDC with participation from ATB Financial.
CEO Darcy Tuer says that the funds, which bring ZayZoon's total raised to $53 million, will be put toward "doubling down" on ZayZoon's growth and accelerating the development of new features on its product roadmap.
"ZayZoon is on a mission to save 10 million employees 10 billion dollars. We will achieve that with a relentless focus on helping employees that are struggling to make ends meet," Tuer told TechCrunch in an email interview. "At the same time, small- and mid-sized businesses are faced with their own financial challenges while struggling to recruit talent. ZayZoon helps employers recruit and reduce turnover while keeping employees away from predatory loans and unnecessary bank fees."
Tuer co-founded Calgary-based ZayZoon with Tate Hackert and Jamie Ha in 2014. Tuer, a serial entrepreneur, came on to scale Hackert's initial proof of concept, and Tuer and Hackert met Ha, an investment banker, at a local startup event that ZayZoon was participating in.
Hackert had the idea for the business several years before meeting Tuer and Ha. After making money working on a commercial fishing rig, Hackert -- then 16 years old -- lent cash through Craigslist and the Canadian classified ads site Kijiji to help employees bridge the gaps between paychecks.
In the nearly 10 years since its founding, Tuer claims that ZayZoon has become one of the fastest-growing apps of its kind, acquiring more than 10,000 business customers across the U.S. and partnering with more than 160 payroll providers.
"ZayZoon provides employees with access to their earned wages whenever they need them, instead of having to wait until payday," Tuer said. "This helps them stay away from payday loans or deal with unnecessary bank fees."
ZayZoon falls into the category of fintechs known as earned wage access (EWA), which largely operate on the same premise. For a fee -- in ZayZoon's case, $5 -- employees can request a portion of their regular paycheck early. ZayZoon lets employees withdraw a minimum of $20 and a maximum of $200 each pay period.
ZayZoon and other EWA companies pitch their products as a way to help customers avoid high-interest loans and credit cards. But the reality is often less rosy than their marketing suggests.
ZayZoon
Image Credits: ZayZoon
Some consumer groups argue that EWA programs like ZayZoon's should be classified as loans under the U.S. Truth in Lending Act, which provides protections such as requiring lenders to give advance notice before increasing certain charges. Users arent under a legal obligation to repay ZayZoon and ZayZoon wont take action to collect payments.
ZayZoon offers a no-fee payout option. However, it requires employees to accept payments in the form of gifts cards for retail partners such as CVS and Target and to agree to share their personal information, including their name, date of birth, gender and address, for advertising purposes. (Workers can email ZayZoons customer support to request that their data be deleted, but there isnt an in-app mechanism to make this easy.)
A $5 per-pay-period fee might not sound like very much. But it can add up, especially for a low-income worker and the consequences can be disastrous. Just $100 fewer in savings can make families more likely to pursue predatory lending and forgo utility bill payments, one 2020 study showed. And an estimated one in five families in the U.S. has less than two weeks of liquid savings.
ZayZoon, like its rivals Refyne, Branch, DailyPay and Even, claim that they're a retention tool for businesses. But it remains unclear whether EWA programs are a net positive for companies. Taking Walmart as an example, the retail giant had high hopes of boosting retention by giving employees access to earned wages early. Instead, it found that employees using the early wage access service tended to quit faster.
EWA usage is on the rise, regardless. A 2021 report from research firm Aite-Novarica estimated that workers accessed $9.5 billion via EWA apps in 2020, up from $6.3 billion in 2019 and $3.2 billion in 2018.
As their popularity among workers -- particularly those with lower credit scores -- grows, regulators are beginning to step in. In June, Nevada enacted a law that requires early wage access providers to be audited and examined by the state. The following month, Missouri passed a law that requires EWA companies to register with the state, pay a $1,000 registration fee and retain payment records for a minimum of two years.
ZayZoon, which is one of the larger EWA startups with 102 employees, isn't letting the increased scrutiny get in the way of expansion.
"We are in regular discussions with the institutional investment community and decided to execute on an opportunistic raise," Tuer said. "Strengthening our balance sheet will help us cement ZayZoons place as a category leader."
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand should use its diplomatic clout to try and avert a situation of armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday during a first debate with his main challenger ahead of a general election.
He was responding to a hypothetical question in the 1News debate on what he would do if China invaded democratically-ruled Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, at a time when China is stepping up military activities near the island.
"Armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait is not going to be good for the world and New Zealand should use all of its diplomatic might whatever that might be to try and avoid that situation," Hipkins said.
Wellington has historically taken a more conciliatory approach towards China than Australia or its other Five Eyes security partners, Britain, Canada and the United States.
In recent months, however, Hipkins' Labour government has become more vocal, raising concerns about the impact Chinas assertiveness is having on the Pacific region.
His comments came in a debate that saw prime ministerial hopefuls clash on most issues, although opposition leader Christopher Luxon was clear that the two main parties are on the same page when it comes to foreign policy.
"Our relationships with key partners have actually been very consistent between governments," Luxon said, adding that successive governments, and parties, had taken a bipartisan approach to foreign affairs.
Recent opinion polls give Luxons centre-right National Party a significant lead over the ruling Labour Party, putting it on course to win the Oct. 14 election, although it would probably need to form a coalition with at least one minor party.
Luxon agreed with Hipkins that talk of hypothetical scenarios such as China and Taiwan was not helpful, however.
"I dont think we should talk about hypotheticals like that," Hipkins said.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's foreign minister will attend the United Nations General Assembly before heading onto Washington for meetings on Pacific regional issues, leaving Prime Minister Chris Hipkins at home to campaign ahead of the Oct. 14 election.
Campaigning is well underway in New Zealand with the current Labour government trailing in the polls and looking likely to be replaced by centre-right National Party and their coalition.
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said in a statement that she would participate in the United Nations leaders meetings starting this week on behalf at Hipkins and undertake a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings.
"Im looking forward to delivering the National Statement on behalf of New Zealand and reaffirming our close relationships with friends and key partners while in the United States," Mahuta said.
She added she will then travel next week to Washington DC for a series of meetings focused on contemporary Pacific regional issues and US engagement in the Pacific.
Pacific Island countries are expected to meet with President Joe Biden next week for a second summit with the United States. Biden hosted a first summit with 14 Pacific island nations a year ago, at which his administration pledged to help stave off China's "economic coercion," and he promised to work harder with allies and partners to address islanders' needs.
"I am looking forward to having productive discussions in Washington DC to consider how the United States can help advance Pacific priorities," said Mahuta.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Michael Perry)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday questioned why the United Nations still allows Russian terrorists a seat at the table, expressing a renewed determination to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the General Assembly meeting this week.
If in the United Nations there is a place for Russian terrorists, Zelensky said, its a question to all the members of the United Nations.
Zelensky made the comments during a visit to meet wounded Ukrainian soldiers at New Yorks Staten Island University Hospital. There are 18 Ukrainian military members at the hospital who lost limbs while fighting in Ukraine.
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The Ukrainian president, who arrived in the U.S. on Monday, chatted with soldiers and posed for pictures with them ahead of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, which opened Tuesday.
Zelensky has repeatedly pushed for greater action against Russia at the U.N. and last year called for the U.N. Security Council to remove Russia, stressing the body must not be held hostage by Moscow.
Earlier this year, he also condemned the Security Council after Russia assumed the chair of the group.
Zelensky is expected to address world leaders Tuesday and during a Security Council meeting Wednesday.
President Biden delivered remarks Tuesday in New York condemning the Russian invasion and arguing the world was darkened by the shadow of the war in Ukraine.
We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, the U.S. president said at the U.N. gathering.
Zelensky will meet with Biden at the White House on Thursday before the Ukrainian president heads to Capitol Hill to talk with lawmakers.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his speech at the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19 that Russia's war against Ukraine poses a threat to global security as the Kremlin weaponizes energy and food against nations across the world.
The president stressed that by blocking Ukraine's grain exports and attacking Ukrainian ports, Russia seeks to escalate global food shortages and blackmail the world into recognizing its conquest of Ukraine's territory.
"It is a clear Russia's attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market in exchange for recognition for some if not all captured territories," Zelensky said.
The president turned his criticism also toward Kyiv's partners who continue to block Ukraine's grain imports despite the already dire situation caused by the Russian blockade.
"It is alarming to see how some of our friends in Europe play with our solidarity in a political theater," he said, adding that these nations are inadvertently "helping to set the stage for" Moscow.
Though Zelensky did not name any concrete countries, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary announced they would keep their restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports despite the EU's decision not to prolong the ban.
Just as the Kremlin weaponizes global food supplies, it does so with energy, including oil, gas, and nuclear power, Zelensky continued.
Russia is spreading its "unreliable nuclear power plant" technology abroad and uses other countries' nuclear plants as "dirty bombs," Zelensky added, referring to Russia's terrorism threats against Ukraine's occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Read also: Biden asks UN leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression
Zelensky called for the nuclear disarmament of Russia due to its aggressive behavior, commenting that "terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons."
The president reminded that Ukraine itself gave up its nuclear arsenal upon agreement with the world's powers in the 1990s.
Ukraine's head of state called for unity among the world's nations in countering Russian aggression.
According to Zelensky, more than 120 nations and organizations supported Kyiv's peace formula, which he said could serve as a template for future conflict resolution and ensure that the wars are solved on the terms of the defending party.
The president invited the U.N. leaders to attend the Global Peace Summit, which is to be held this fall.
Zelensky added that he is also aware of attempts at closing "shady" deals with Russia "behind the scenes," warning U.N. leaders against trusting the Kremlin.
"Evil cannot be trusted. Ask (Yevgeny) Prigozhin if one can bet on (Vladimir) Putin's promises," referring to the Wagner Group's owner who died under mysterious circumstances in a plane crash only months after making a deal with Putin to end his armed rebellion.
Read also: Ukraines nuclear disarmament
The U.N. General Assembly has convened this week with Russian aggression against Ukraine as one of the points on the agenda. Shortly before Zelensky's speech, his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden delivered his own address, calling the world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression.
Presidents of Ukraine and the U.S. are also scheduled to attend the U.N. Security Council meeting on Sept. 20 to discuss the principles of the U.N. Charter.
After his New York trip, Zelensky will head to Washington, D.C. to hold a bilateral meeting with Biden, senior members of Congress, and other American political and military leaders.
Zelensky's visit comes just as the White House seeks approval from U.S. lawmakers for $24 billion in additional funds to bolster Kyiv's struggle against Russia.
Some members of Congress grow increasingly critical of the level of support that Washington provides to Ukraine.
Zelensky has previously visited the U.S. in December 2022, meeting Biden and addressing Congress members.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukrainian advances point to severe degradation of Russian units, says ISW
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Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky criticised Donald Trump for promising to swiftly end the Russian invasion without offering up many specifics, as the Eastern European leader is in the US for the United Nations General Assembly and a series of meetings in Washington.
He can publicly share his idea now, not waste time, not to lose people, Mr Zelensky told CNN on Tuesday.
The Ukrainian president also said he has concerns that Donald Trumps idea of peace would mean ceding territory to Russia.
Mr Zelensky said if Mr Trumps proposals including how to tame part of our territory and how to give it to Putin , that is not a peace formula or a global idea of peace.
The former US president has boasted that he could end the Ukraine war in a matter of days or hours by facilitating negotiations between Mr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin and cutting some kind of deal.
During a recent interview with NBC, Mr Trump said he was happy to hear that Mr Putin praised this outlook.
Well, I like that he said that. Because that means what Im saying is right, Mr Trump said.
Zelensky addresses the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Tuesday (AFP via Getty Images)
The Ukrainian leader also had a message for another prominent Republican, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is in the middle of a contentious intra-party fight over government spending, part of which revolves around further aid to Ukraine.
Mr McCarthy has said he would prefer to vote on Ukraine funding as a standalone bill, rather than the $24bn in security and humanitarian the White House is seeking in the spending negotiations.
Is Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I dont think I have to commit anything and I think I have questions for him, Mr McCarthy told ABC News on Tuesday.
Wheres the accountability on the money weve already spent? What is the plan for victory? I think thats what the American public wants to know, he added.
Mr Zelensky said he plans to meet with Mr McCarthy, and said the Ukraine war was a unique situation that differs from regular domestic politics.
When it comes to war, its different, he told CNN.
Far-right Republicans in the House have opposed further funding to Ukraine, while others, particularly those in the Senate, have suggested continued aid now.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged United Nations members to join his country in pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin s aggression, warning they could be next and that the Kremlins war may not end with Ukraines borders.
Zelensky, wearing his army-green crew shirt and speaking from the podium of the general assembly, also warned of the threat of nuclear weapons in the war, saying the U.N. needed to stand up against Putin and Russia to protect the world from the final war after which no one would gather in the General Assembly Hall again.
While nukes remain in place, the mass destruction is gaining momentum, said Zelensky. The aggressor is weaponizing many other things and those things are used not only against our country, but against all of yours as well.
Zelenskys speech followed an address by President Biden that also centered on the need for international action against Russia. Biden and Zelensky are both seeking to build continued international support for Kyiv amid fears of war fatigue in Europe and the United States, where Republicans in Congress remain divided over Ukraine.
The war is now in its 19th month, and the conflict has taken immense attention and resources from the U.S. and other advanced economies.
Global sanctions against Russia have disrupted global energy supplies and Moscows blockade of Ukraines Black Sea coast has impacted global food supplies to some of the worlds most populous and needy nations.
Zelensky argued that Putin is to blame for shifting international attention, necessarily, toward his country and away from other needs such as climate change.
When islands and countries disappear underwater, and when tornadoes and deserts are spreading into new territories, and when all of this is happening, one unnatural disaster in Moscow, decided to launch a big war and killed tens of thousands of people, he said. We have to stop it. We must act united to defeat the aggressor.
Cameras during Zelenskys remarks at times turned on the Russian representative at the body, who appeared to take some notes before turning his attention to his cell phone for what seemed to be the remainder of the Ukrainian leaders speech.
The Russian representative looked at his phone as Zelensky accused Russia of launching a new war each decade, noting various conflicts.
Russia has almost swallowed Belarus. It is obviously threatening Kazakhstan and now the Baltic states. And the goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people our lives, our resources into our weapon against you again the international rules-based order, he said.
Zelensky urged member states to join in on his proposal of a peace formula, that largely calls for Russias withdrawal from all of Ukraines territory, delivering justice for war crimes and guaranteeing the countrys security.
The Ukrainian president has held at least three meetings with leading supporters of Ukraine trying to gain support for the peace formula, most recently in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. That meeting was attended by representatives from China, India, South Africa and Brazil, key economic and diplomatic partners of Russia.
He urged U.N. member states to join in an as yet scheduled global peace summit to further stir support for his country.
I invite all of you, all of you who do not tolerate any aggression, to jointly prepare for the summit, he said.
And I am aware of the attempts to make some shady dealings behind the scenes. Evil cannot be trusted. Ask Prighozin if one bets on Putins promises, Zelensky said, referring to the leader of the Wagner mercenary group Yevgeny Prighozin, a former ally of Putins who died last month in a mysterious plane crash.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kenyan President William Ruto have discussed the construction of grain hubs and providing the region with Ukrainian agricultural products. Their conversation occurred in New York, during the UN General Assembly session.
Source: Ukraine's President's Office
Details: The presidents discussed preparations for the next meeting on the Ukrainian Peace Formula implementation, which is to take place on the level of advisers.
They also talked about creating grain hubs in Kenya. The presidents emphasised that it is very important for the region to have a stable provision of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Zelenskyy informed the Kenyan President about the functioning of the alternative route for the Ukrainian grain export through the Black Sea, as well as about the work on the creation of other export routes.
Zelenskyy also talked about the grain corridor with Cyril Ramaphosa , the president of the Republic of South Africa.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Cyril Ramaphosa, the president of the Republic of South Africa.
Photo: Ukraine's President's office
Quote from Zelenskyy: "We are not waiting, we are continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative and trying alternative routes. Several ships with grain have already successfully passed through these routes despite the difficult situation."
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!
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, 19 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on other states to join in preparations for a summit on Ukraines Peace Formula.
Source: European Pravda
Details: Zelenskyy noted that he presented Ukraines Peace Formula last year at the G20 summit. This formula in general terms represents a way to end Russia's war against Ukraine, and Zelenskyy plans to present it at the Security Council meeting on Wednesday, 20 September.
Quote: "Over the past year, the Peace Formula became the basis to update the existing security architecture. Now we can bring back to life the UN Charter and guarantee the full power for the rules-based world order," Zelenskyy said.
He added that the Peace Formula is fully or partially supported by over 140 states and international organisations, and its provisions could become the basis for ending other world conflicts.
"We launched the format of meetings between national security advisers and diplomatic representatives. Important talks and consultations will be held in Hiroshima, in Copenhagen and in Jeddah on the implementation of the Peace Formula. And we are preparing a Global Peace Summit. And, please, I invite all of you, all of you who do not tolerate any aggression, to jointly prepare the summit," Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy also rejected any "shady dealings" with Russia, citing the example of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group leader who was killed in a plane crash.
Background: Earlier, Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Presidents Office, said he hoped it would be possible to hold the Peace Formula summit as early as this autumn.
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 Tuesday 19 September, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy , speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, called for Russia's nuclear disarmament.
Source: European Pravda
Details: The President recalled that during the twentieth century, the world learned to refrain from using weapons of mass destruction, but this strategy "should not be the only strategy to protect the world from the final war".
Quote: "Ukraine gave up its third largest nuclear arsenal. The world then decided that Russia should become a keeper of such power," Zelenskyy said, referring to the Budapest Memorandum concluded in 1994.
"Yet history shows that it was Russia who deserved nuclear disarmament the most back in the 1990s. And Russia deserves it now. Terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons," he stressed.
Background:
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has occasionally resorted to nuclear threats. Intelligence services and Western leaders generally consider this scenario unlikely, but there are other opinions for example, the one voiced by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto.
In addition, this year Russia decided to "suspend" participation in the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which established restrictions on the nuclear arsenals of the Russian Federation and the United States.
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NEW YORK Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday called on the worlds nations, big and small, to rally behind Kyiv as it defends itself against Russias invasion, warning that the conflict is not only about Ukraine.
In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Zelenskyy focused heavily if not necessarily by name on countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia that have tried to remain neutral in the war. He urged them to support a 10-point Ukrainian peace proposal.
He also stressed topics such as food insecurity, nuclear threats and the unfairness of a global system that seems to primarily benefit the great powers. He spoke as an approaching winter threatens to halt a lagging Ukrainian counteroffensive against Russia.
Each decade, Russia starts a new war, Zelenskyy said. Many seats in the General Assembly hall may become empty if Russia succeeds with its treachery and aggression.
Zelenskyys efforts are likely to play well rhetorically among many of the officials gathered before him at the U.N.s annual gathering of world leaders in New York. Many fellow world leaders are, after all, using their time at the podium to also denounce the world powers dominance.
But Zelenskyys appeals are less likely to lead to developing countries taking action to isolate or even sideline Moscow in a meaningful way.
Too many countries have critical economic and security relationships with the Kremlin to simply walk away, even if they sign on to symbolic measures denouncing the war and repeatedly call for a peace agreement.
The fact that China is backing Russia, at least diplomatically, in the war also makes these other countries think twice about abandoning Moscow or enforcing Western sanctions on it.
That means Russia may not feel enough of a financial squeeze to leave Ukraine anytime soon.
This was Zelenskyys first in-person appearance at the annual U.N. gathering since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Ukrainian president is also expected to appear at a special U.N. Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy, wearing his standard green military fatigues and boots, opened his speech Tuesday by assailing Russia for its aggressive nuclear posture and stressing that Russias nuclear threats put global security at risk.
History shows it was Russia who deserved nuclear disarmament the most back in the 1990s, and Russia deserves it now, he declared, alluding to the removal of nuclear weapons from Ukrainian territory after the fall of the Soviet Union. Terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons.
Zelenskyy further recounted alleged Russian atrocities in the conflict, including the forced deportations of thousands of Ukrainian children. He highlighted Moscows past military interventions in Moldova and Georgia, and Russias support for Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad during the Arab countrys civil war.
He warned that Russian aggression would not stop.
This is a real chance for every nation to ensure that aggression against your state, if it happens, God forbid, will end, Zelenskyy said, not because your land will be divided and you will be forced to submit to military or political pressure, but because your territory and sovereignty will be fully restored.
Condemning Moscows decision to exit the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal that allowed shipments of Ukrainian agricultural products to exit the Black Sea and reach the global food market, Zelenskyy said that Russias actions amounted to a weaponization of food.
Zelenskyy also criticized Russia for using energy as a weapon and for its efforts to turn other countries power plants into real dirty bombs, pointing to Russias attacks on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
The divides around the war were clearly visible in the attendance at Zelenskyys speech. While delegates present were largely stoic as they heard Zelenskyy speak, and Zelenskyy earned several applause lines, several sections in the sloping hall were visibly empty.
During much of Zelenskyys address, only one Russian diplomat could be seen at the countrys desk in the General Assembly hall, usually jotting down notes with no perceptible facial reaction to Zelenskyys remarks.
The Ukrainian leader came to New York intent on courting as many countries as possible from Latin America, Africa and Asia. His aides said he planned many meetings from officials from such countries.
Although many of the countries have signed on to past U.N. General Assembly resolutions condemning Russias aggression, they have not taken stronger moves, such as reducing purchases of Russian energy products or enforcing U.S. and European sanctions on the Kremlin.
Zelenskyy highlighted Ukraines 10-point formula for peace and called on the U.N. to end the aggression and reject shady dealings. The latter appeared to refer to Russias efforts to keep many developing countries on its side.
Evil cannot be trusted, the Ukrainian leader warned.
Zelenskyy will head to Washington later this week, where hell meet with President Joe Biden, members of Congress, and other top officials.
The News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged international leaders not to trust Russia amid the ongoing war, invoking the recent death of Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin .
Evil cannot be trusted ask Prigozhin if one bets on Putins promises, Zelenskyy said during a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Prigozhin led a armed rebellion against Putin in June, but the Kremlin pledged not to prosecute him. Two months later, Prigozhin died in a plane crash, leading to speculation that he was killed and the Kremlin was behind it. Putin denied ordering a hit on the mercenary leader.
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During his speech Tuesday, Zelenskyy also invited international allies to a Global Peace Summit. He plans to present more details on his proposed peace plan on Wednesday.
He also said he is aware of attempts to make some shady dealings behind the scenes, and that Russia was committing genocide by abducting children.
The president of Ukraine visited Staten Island University Hospital in New York, where he met with seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers undergoing treatment and rehabilitation.
Source: Ukrinform
Details: There are nine servicemen from Ukraine who lost their limbs in this hospital.
Zelenskyy spoke with hospital staff and the military. He says the head of the medical institution admitted that he "has never seen people who would like to come home so much" as the Ukrainian military.
"We will be waiting for you to defeat the enemy," the president said, addressing the fighters, "Get well, come back, and we will win!"
The head of state also presented awards to the military and the management and staff of the hospital who take care of wounded people, in particular those engaged in prosthetics.
Background:
On Monday, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife arrived in New York and announced their participation in the UN General Assembly and other bilateral meetings.
First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska in the USA will meet with the Clinton family and patrons who support Ukraine. In addition, Zelenska will open an exhibition dedicated to the destruction of cultural heritage captured in photographs, together with the UNESCO director general.
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A fatal fire early Monday is under investigation in Shambaugh, Iowa.
Police received numerous calls on a structure fire around 2:45 a.m. on Sept. 18. The residence, in the fourth block of Cinder Alley, was fully engulfed in fire when crews arrived, according to a news release.
As we get there, we find the structure fully involved, and the south part of the structure, the roof is already caved in and gone, Clarinda Fire Chief Roger Williams told the Southwest Iowa Herald. So, were behind to start with.
Crews got to work extinguishing the fire while deputies began looking for the owner of the property, but were unable to locate them.
We cant do a search (inside the structure) until we can get the fire knocked down enough and make sure its safe to get inside, Williams said.
When they eventually extinguished the fire, a body was discovered in the remains of the home. The body was sent to the Iowa Medical Examiners Office for identification and autopsy.
Id say it took about 30 minutes to get it safe enough we could approach to get guys in there to search, Williams said.
Williams said crews were on the scene for roughly 10 hours, ensuring the fire was completely out and waiting for the fire marshal to arrive. The structure was a complete loss, he said, with the south side of the tin roof caved in, holding in heat, and the north side had a lot of heat and flame damage.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Williams said they believe the point of origin was in the dining room and kitchen area.
Williams said the Braddyville Fire Department was called for tanker support and manpower. Also assisting at the scene were the Iowa State Fire Marshals Office and Iowa State Medical Examiners Office.
The Page County Sheriffs Office said more information would be released when it became available.
The Council Bluffs Area of Chamber of Commerce was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from Google to further develop and expand its GrowCB program.
GrowCB is an innovative partnership designed to connect school districts with local businesses to provide students with invaluable work-based learning opportunities.
The grant underscores the importance of bridging the gap between education and real-world experience, particularly in today's job market.
GrowCB is a partnership between the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce and the Council Bluffs Community School District, Lewis Central School District and Avenue Scholars of Southwest Iowa. It is intended to be a conduit and platform for youth-business partnerships. The partnerships are ongoing, in which businesses provide work-based experiences directly to area students, to help young people appreciate the importance of quality education and how it relates to opportunities in the workforce. Students also explore the local workforce while continuing to focus on their education.
Each partnership is unique in that there is no set curriculum. If a business is partnering through an area school districts work-based learning or another student program, it becomes a GrowCB business member.
The grant will allow the chamber to expand the reach of the program through testimonial videos and enhanced recognition for participating businesses, and provide additional support to program partners.
"The Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce looks forward to the continued growth and success of the GrowCB program, thanks to the support of Google and its commitment to advancing education and workforce development," the chamber said in a news release.
Forty leaders from across the state have been selected to participate in the 2023-24 program of Leadership Iowa, Iowas premier issues-awareness program offered by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry Foundation.
The class includes the following local participants:
Machaela Clark of The Tandem Works in Council Bluffs; Clark is a CB native.
Brandon Garrett with the City of Council Bluffs, also a CB native.
Chris LaFerla with the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation, a CB native.
Brandy Wallar of New Visions Homeless Services in Council Bluffs; Wallar's hometown is Neola.
Sarah Curry, a Glenwood native with the Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation.
Leadership Iowa exists to educate, inspire and grow a network of informed leaders, and to encourage their ongoing engagement on local and statewide levels. More than 1,300 Iowans have taken part in the program since it began in 1982. Participants represent all regions of the state and a variety of industries, companies and backgrounds.
This experience not only provides first-hand exposure to opportunities and challenges across the state, but it also fosters a strong network of problem-solvers ready to create a brighter tomorrow for the state of Iowa and the communities within," ABI President Mike Ralston said in a news release.
The 2023-24 class will travel to communities throughout Iowa for a series of two-day monthly sessions beginning in October and concluding in June. Each session allows participants to delve into an important topic as it relates to the state of Iowa by way of discussions with subject-matter experts, interactive experiences, industry tours and more.
King Mohammed VI received a phone call from the President of the United States of America, Joseph R. Biden, on Monday.
During the call, the US president expressed his personal condolences, as well as those of the American people and government, to the Sovereign and to the Moroccan people, following the painful earthquake that struck several provinces of the Kingdom.
President Biden took this opportunity to praise the swift and efficient management, in accordance with the royal directives, of the consequences of this natural disaster of such a magnitude.
President Biden also expressed the readiness of the United States of America to provide the necessary assistance and support to the Kingdom based on the needs identified by Moroccan authorities and as part of the comprehensive action plan deployed by the Kingdom to address this tragedy.
Morocco, whose King Mohammed VI chairs the Al-Quds Committee, condemns the storming of the Al Aqsa Mosque by a group of extremists, a source at the ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
These acts of escalation are likely to stir up feelings and undermine appeasement efforts in the occupied Palestinian territories, the same source pointed out.
Morocco underlines the need to put an end to all unilateral actions and forms of escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, and to preserve the legal and historical status of the Holy City and the Al Aqsa Mosque.
The Kingdom considers that the dialogue and negotiation approach is the only way to achieve a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause, based on the resolutions of international legitimacy and the principle of the two-State solution adopted by the international community, the same source noted.
The International Monetary Fund will lend Morocco $1.3 bln to help the country fend off climate change risks, Moroccos news agency reported.
The IMF concluded a staff-level agreement with Morocco to provide $1.3 billion in financing over the long term, the agency said, citing IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva.
Georgieva made the announcement during her participation at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Earlier this year, the IMF backed Moroccos request for a $5 billion flexible credit line that Rabat said will treat as precautionary against external shocks.
The IMF, the World Bank and the Moroccan government confirmed Marrakech will host the annual meetings as planned on October 9-15, in a boon for the earthquake-hit tourism industry in the country.
The confirmation came in a joint statement signed by World Bank President Ajay Banga; International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva; and Moroccos Minister of Economy and Finance Nadia Fettah Alaoui.
The Managements of the World Bank and IMF, together with the Moroccan authorities, have agreed to proceed with holding the 2023 Annual Meetings in Marrakech from October 9 to 15, adapting the content to the circumstances, reads the statement.
The decision was based on assessment of Marrakech capacity to host the event taking into consideration that the meetings would not disrupt relief and reconstruction efforts and that the safety of participants can be assured, it says.
As we look ahead to the Meetings, it is of utmost importance that we conduct them in a way that does not hamper the relief efforts under way and that is respectful to the victims and the Moroccan people, said the statement.
At this very difficult time, we believe that the Annual Meetings also provide an opportunity for the international community to stand by Morocco and its people, who have once again shown resilience in the face of tragedy. We also remain committed to ensuring the safety of all participants, it said.
The news came to reassure the tourism industry in the country after panic led many tourists to cancel bookings.
Tourism businesses look at the event as a chance to attract more tourists and reflect an image of resilient Morocco in the face of the earthquake which mainly affected High Atlas villages killing around 3000 people.
Tourism operators believe that the best way to show solidarity with Morocco is by visiting the country and contributing to its economic development.
The military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger signed over the weekend a mutual defense pact establishing an Alliance of Sahel States (AES) that will allow them to cooperate against threats of armed rebellion or external aggression.
The AES was established by the Liptako-Gourma Charter, in reference to a region, where the Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger borders meet. According to the Charter, any attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties will be considered an aggression against the other parties. The Charter also binds the three countries to work to prevent or settle armed rebellions. This alliance will be a combination of military and economic efforts between the three countries, Malis Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said. Our priority is the fight against terrorism in the three countries.
A jihadist insurgency that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015. All three signatories of the Liptako-Gourma Charter were members of the France-supported G5 Sahel alliance joint force with Chad and Mauritania, launched in 2017 to fight armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) groups. All three countries have undergone coups since 2020, most recently Niger, where soldiers in July overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum, who cooperated with the West in the fight against Sahel-based armed groups.
Burkina Faso and Mali have recently responded to the threat by the West African regional Block ECOWAS to intervene militarily in Niger by warning that any such operation would be deemed a declaration of war against them.
A UN-backed experts report, published on Monday (18 September), has revealed that war crimes continue in Ethiopia despite a peace deal signed nearly a year ago, ending the violence that has left over 10,000 survivors of sexual violence
The human rights experts say that despite the peace deal signed in late 2022, which ended a devastating conflict that has also engulfed the countrys Tigray region, the conflict in the north of the country has not been resolved, not least for the at least 10,000 people affected by rape and other sexual violence mostly women and girls. But the report comes against the backdrop of an uncertain future for the team of investigators who wrote it: The UN Human Rights Council is set to decide early next month whether to extend the teams mandate in the face of efforts by the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to end it. The report details how troops from neighboring Eritrea and militia members from Ethiopias Amhara militia continue to commit grave violations in Tigray, including the systematic rape and sexual violence of women and girls.
The report cites atrocities by all sides in the Tigray conflict in 2020-2022, including mass killings, rape, starvation, and destruction of schools and medical facilities. While the signing of the agreement may have mostly silenced the guns, it has not resolved the conflict in the north of the country, in particular in Tigray, nor has it brought about any comprehensive peace, said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chairman of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia. Violent confrontations are now at a near-national scale, with alarming reports of violations against civilians in the Amhara region and on-going atrocities in Tigray, Othman added. To that end, the report also highlights the low accountability and trust in the justice system in Ethiopia.
The government in Congo-Brazzaville has denied recent claims of an attempted coup by the countrys military against President Denis Nguesso, who has held office for an uninterrupted 39 years.
These allegations surfaced on social media, suggesting an orchestrated effort by the military to remove from power the 79-year-old leader who was at that time in New York, attending the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly with other world leaders. The stories claimed that the military was taking control of strategic locations in the Congolese capital, Brazzaville. Fictitious information suggests that serious events are taking place in Brazzaville, said Minister of Communication and Media and government spokesman Thierry Moungalla on his X (formerly Twitter) account. The government categorically denies the spread of false information. We wish to reassure the public of the prevailing tranquility and encourage everyone to carry on with their daily activities calmly.
The governments official website also published a statement reaffirming its rejection of any reports concerning an attempted coup. Recent months have seen a surge in military takeovers across the African continent, with the most recent occurrence taking place in neighboring Gabon since then speculations have been rife also about a pending coup in Congo. Nguesso ascended to the presidency of this oil-rich Central African nation through a military coup in 1979. Nicknamed The Emperor by some of his African colleagues, Nguesso has remained head of state after winning elections in 2002, 2009, 2016, and 2021 amid frequent accusations of fraud by the opposition.
The Algerian people continue to suffer from the growing suppression of freedom of expression, association, and peaceful Assembly, forcing political opponents to flee abroad, while thousands pro-democracy protesters have been jailed by the military regime which has managed so far to weaken the popular Hirak movement.
Fourteen human rights organizations, in addition to Human Rights Watch, have denounced the restrictions imposed by the Algerian authorities on freedoms, calling on the Algerian military regime to stop the violation of basic human rights, respect the universal civil & political rights and allow independent NGOs to operate in the country without harassment.
In reports submitted to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association, Clement Nyaletsossi Voule, who is visiting Algeria from 16 to 26 September, the human rights organizations said the Algerian authorities have dismantled the countrys independent civil society and hindered political pluralism based on restrictive laws on associations, political parties, and unions.
The Algerian regime has also suspended or dissolved independent civil society organizations, political opposition parties, and media outlets, and unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders, activists, and journalists.
The UN Special Rapporteur can exert pressure on the Algerian authorities to stop cracking down on civil society and make reforms to allow Algerians exercise their right to free expression.
His current visit to Algeria comes after several years of refusal and procrastination by the ruling junta. During his visit, Mr. Voule will assess Algerias compliance with the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, including the legal framework relating to these rights, and the challenges and opportunities for the protection of these rights.
The UN Special Rapporteur will focus on the ability of civil society organizations, trade unions and political parties to operate freely, as well as measures to protect the right of peaceful assembly.
Voule will meet Government officials, members of the legislature and the judiciary, monitoring bodies, and members of the UN country team, among others. He will also meet with civil society actors, journalists, academics, lawyers, trade unions, and political parties.
A week after the floods that killed thousands of people, hopes are fading of finding survivors in Derna. Some relatives of the missing now want only one thing: to find their bodies and bury them. And all the while, resentment towards the authorities is spreading among the population.
The more time passes, the less hope there is of finding survivors, admitted the Health Minister of the government of eastern Libya, which is not recognized by the international community, on Monday. Rescue workers dispatched by the Spanish authorities declared that they were calling off their search. However, efforts are continuing to find the bodies washed out to sea.
According to a volunteer rescuer working in the town, over 600 bodies were recovered from the sea off Derna. According to an Egyptian rescue team member, hundreds of families were trapped in their cars as they tried to escape the danger.
Behind the sorrow and pain, the shock is now giving way to great anger among the displaced and wounded people from Derna who went to Benghazi. They are appealing to the public prosecutor in Tripoli. They are asking him not only to open a general inquiry, but also to be transparent, so that those responsible are swiftly brought to justice.
The demonstrators are particularly angry with the city council and its leader. The latter was not elected, but appointed by the head of parliament. The money earmarked for the upkeep of the two dams has never been used. It has to be said that Libya has been in chaos since 2011. The country suffers not only from negligent business management, but also and above all from endemic corruption, not to speak of lack of a central government.
The former executive director of a Southeast Nebraska nonprofit could soon face criminal charges after state auditors accused the Pawnee County woman of diverting nearly $220,000 of mostly public funds to her husband's food truck, according to a report released Monday.
Bobbie Meints, who served as the executive director of Five Rivers Resource Conservation & Development for at least 10 years before her resignation last November, is accused of funneling $219,963 into her husband's food truck over a five-year period, auditors in Mike Foley's office said in the 20-page report.
Meints used the organization's credit card at her husband's business, called Arley's, 162 times from November 2017 to July 2020 for a total of $185,458 in charges that don't appear to have been in exchange for any goods or services, according to the report.
And Meints wrote checks or made direct transfers to Arley's 38 times in the amount of $34,505 from September 2020 to November 2022 the month the Steinauer woman resigned from the conservation nonprofit, auditors said in the report.
Meints did not respond to an email seeking comment. An email to Arley's also went unreturned Monday.
Nearly 91% of Five Rivers' funding came from the state and local governments, including money paid to the nonprofit in the form of grants from the Nebraska Environmental Trust, the state Department of Environment and the Nebraska Department of Agriculture all of which came under fire in Monday's report, along with the Tecumseh-based nonprofit's board of directors.
"What occurred at Five Rivers is a prime example of how public monies are placed at serious risk of misuse when a governing board of directors is inattentive to the day-to-day operations of a director under its control, Foley, the state's auditor, said in a news release accompanying the report.
Even worse, Foley said, the governmental bodies that provided most of Five Rivers' funding ultimately failed to ensure that those taxpayer dollars were being spent appropriately.
Foley's office forwarded its findings to the Johnson County attorney and state Attorney General's office, both of which could pursue criminal charges against Meints. None had been filed as of Monday.
Five Rivers, a now-defunct nonprofit that was administratively dissolved in July, set out to "create a better environment in which to live" when it was established in 1993, focusing on resource conservation, beautification and improving the agricultural and business economy in Southeast Nebraska.
But by the time Meints allegedly started diverting money from the organization in 2017, the payments she was making to her husband's food truck had "no apparent connection to the aforementioned objectives of Five Rivers," auditors said.
Five Rivers representatives couldn't provide adequate documentation to support whether Arleys ever provided any catering services in exchange for the payments. And none of the representatives could recall receiving any catering from the food truck, according to the report.
Meints also promoted Arley's on her Facebook account before and after she resigned as Five Rivers' executive director, auditors said in the report.
And Meints is accused of using the organization's accounts to pay herself $86,161.17 in 63 installments from January 2020 through October 2022. The payroll checks made out to Meints weren't issued on a consistent basis or at a constant rate, according to the report.
Auditors weren't able to determine whether those checks were in line with her approved wages because Five Rivers representatives "were unable to provide adequate documentation" to support the payouts, auditors said.
The organization's inadequate record-keeping had raised red flags even before state auditors started their probe of Five Rivers, according to Monday's report, but those warning signs failed to halt state payouts to the nonprofit.
The Nebraska Environmental Trust which provided Five Rivers $182,395 in grant funding from January 2022 to November 2022 carried out a "monitoring audit" of the organization in June 2022 after noticing discrepancies in a reimbursement request Five Rivers had submitted to the state agency.
Meanwhile, as the Trust sought documentation supporting Five Rivers' grant reimbursement requests, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture continued to pay the organization, awarding Five Rivers $18,011 in August 2022 in what was supposed to be the first installment of the agency's Riparian Vegetation Management Grant worth more than $89,000 altogether.
The Ag Department's August payment would be the last state payout to Five Rivers, which accepted Meints' resignation three months later.
Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Rudy Giulianis legal and financial troubles continue to pile up.
On Monday, Giuliani was sued by Robert Costello, his former lawyer, who alleges that the former New York City mayor owes him and his law firm, Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron LLP, nearly $1.4 million for legal services.
A court filing claims that Giuliani retained the firm to represent him from November 2019 to around July 2023. Giuliani, who was former president Donald Trumps lawyer, has been under plenty of legal fire during that time: Hes at or near the center of the special counsel Jack Smiths investigation into January 6, the Fulton County district attorneys probe into 2020 election interference in Georgia, and more than a dozen civil lawsuits. Costello says he also represented Giuliani in proceedings involving the revocation of Giulianis law licenses in Washington, D.C., and New York over false election claims. In July, a disciplinary panel for the D.C. Bar Association recommended Giuliani be disbarred, but a final decision is still pending. His New York law license was suspended in 2021.
Per the firm, the cost of those services came to an amount just shy of $1.6 million. The company claims that Giuliani has paid it only $214,000, most recently sending a $10,000 payment on September 14. The firm is seeking what it says is close to $1.4 million that it is still owed.
In a statement provided by a spokesman, Giuliani suggested that Costello and his firm were seeking an extravagant amount of money. I cant express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done. Its a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I will say is that their bill is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees, he said, per CNN.
Giuliani and Costellos personal relationship goes beyond that of a lawyer and a client. The New York Times reports that the two have known each other for 50 years with Costello working under Giuliani while he was U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.
The new lawsuit is far from the only financial problem Giuliani is contending with. The former mayor is believed to be facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills from the cases against him. A judge also recently ordered him to pay up in a defamation case filed by a Georgia election worker. In August, Giuliani placed his longtime $6.5 million Manhattan apartment up for sale. Earlier this month, former president Trump hosted a fundraiser to help his former counsel and fellow Georgia co-defendant with his legal fees.
That which does not kill Trumps candidacy only makes it stronger. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images
In the initial phase of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump has overcome a remarkable number of pitfalls while solidifying his status as the runaway front-runner in the race. We were told his focus on preposterous lies about the 2020 election would disqualify him as Republicans looked ahead. Instead, Republicans have largely come to agree with Trumps point of view, treating him as though hes an incumbent president running for reelection instead of a serially discredited fraudster. It seemed for a while that Ron DeSantis might be able to steal Trumps thunder by exhibiting more self-discipline and ideological rigor that the former president. Yet DeSantis has spent much of 2023 steadily losing ground to Trump. Indeed, the collapse in the governors support made it possible to imagine that a third candidate would arise to smite both the early leaders in a party hungry for new leadership. That hasnt happened, either. Most astonishingly, Trumps incredibly high level of exposure to criminal liability has not damaged his position; it may have even strengthened him.
So today, four months before the voting phase of the contest begins, Trumps level of support in the national RealClearPolitics polling averages has reached an all-time high of 56.6 percent. DeSantis is at an all-time low of 12.7 percent in the same averages, and nobody else is above the mid-single digits (Trumps trusty wingman Vivek Ramaswamy is third at 7.2 percent).
The increasingly compelling question, then, is how, exactly, do Trumps rivals think theyre going to bring him down? All the ways in which he was supposed to have self-destructed by now have turned out to be illusions. And nobody other than the increasingly feeble DeSantis has ever been in a position to serve as anything other than a minor nuisance to the 45th president.
Presumably, any threat to Trumps third consecutive nomination has to begin with some sort of surprise in Iowa, where all the candidates other than Chris Christie are making a disproportionate effort. The reason is obvious: Its a state that has traditionally rewarded candidate shoe leather and careful appeasement of interest and constituency groups particularly conservative Evangelicals and agribusiness interests which means the results there arent always a reflection of national polls. After finally abandoning his self-portrayal as a political Death Star who will crush his opponents in every contest, DeSantis has shifted to an Iowa-or-bust strategy. He has outhustled Trump in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, supplementing a big ad budget with the time-devouring full Grassley commitment to campaign in all 99 counties, and pandering to religious conservatives with a fierce intensity.
Though DeSantis has scored a lot of Iowa endorsements, its unclear if this strategy is working overall. There havent been a lot of credible public polls of Iowa, but the RCP polling averages show Trump leading DeSantis in the state by 30 points (46 percent to 16 percent), with Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, and Ramaswamy in the mid-to-high single digits. Perhaps more significantly, the Trump campaign claims to have harvested 27,500 caucus pledge cards, compared to the 13,000 Team DeSantis claims.
And the former president does not appear to be sitting on his lead there; hes now planning a significant number of live appearances in Iowa, including the monster rallies that are his signature, according to Politico:
Building on his seven visits to Iowa so far this year, Trump is embarking on a Team Trump Caucus Commitment organizing event in Iowa with campaign volunteers at the Jackson County Fairgrounds in Maquoketa, and remarks at the Grand River Conference Center in Dubuque this Wednesday. Trump plans to make three more stops in Iowa during the first half of October, and again in the final days of the month, his team said.
DeSantis, Scott, and Mike Pence have been trying to outflank Trump on the right on abortion policy in front of Iowa audiences, and they will undoubtedly seize on his new comments in an NBC News interview calling the six-week abortion ban DeSantis signed a terrible thing and a terrible mistake (Iowas popular Republican governor Kim Reynolds has signed a similar bill). But Trumps bond with very conservative and Evangelical voters has transcended heterodox policy positions in the past, and harping on this one could cost his rivals more moderate voters as well.
Barring an unlikely Trump loss in Iowa, the best-case scenario for his rivals is probably a decisive second-place finish that significantly culls the field and sets up a more direct challenge to Trump in subsequent contests in New Hampshire, Nevada, and South Carolina. But Trump has near-majority support in those states, too, and its unclear if any Iowa survivor will be able to consolidate non-Trump voters in time to keep the former president from a blitzkrieg that clinches the nomination by Super Tuesday. (The divided opposition won it for Trump mythology about 2016 isnt very accurate; he actually gained strength as the field shrank.)
Trumps rivals may be hoping that Republican voters will suddenly reverse their current inclinations and abandon him as criminal trials begin. Thats possible, but the very earliest tentative Trump trial date (for the federal case alleging felony election interference) is March 4, 2024, just one day before 14 states hold Super Tuesday contests. Even if that trial date doesnt slip, its initial proceedings will be focused on jury selection rather than any high-impact testimony. Trump could be the putative nominee by March 5.
There is a Rube Goldberg scenario whereby the criminal prosecutions of Trump and/or his perennially reckless conduct and rhetoric so thoroughly repel swing voters that GOP primary voters suddenly decide hes not a viable general-election candidate and look elsewhere. But at this point, GOP primary voters actually believe Trump is their most electable candidate, and the polls dont contradict that assumption, either.
All in all, the candidates hoping to supplant Trump need to quickly come up with new and direct criticisms of the front-runner that primary voters can buy, or find ways to make themselves incandescently appealing. The time for hoping Trump will defeat himself has passed.
Justice Janet Protasiewicz. Photo-Illustration: Intelligencer; Photo: AP Images
When Wisconsin Republicans won total control of state government in 2010, they didnt just pass right-wing policies; they cemented their majorities with a gerrymander so extreme that Democrats in the archetypal purple state were effectively shut out of legislative power permanently. Over the years, Democrats loosened the Republican stranglehold and have controlled one branch of government since Tony Evers defeated former governor Scott Walker in 2018. But they could only get so far until Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a hugely consequential state Supreme Court race earlier this year. With a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years, the court appeared poised to overturn the skewed maps (which had been blessed by the previous conservative majority), as well as clarify the legality of abortion and give the stamp of approval to other liberal priorities.
But the GOP wont surrender its grip on power quietly. Leading state Republicans, including state assembly Speaker Robin Vos, have raised the prospect of impeaching Protasiewicz before she has even heard a case, citing what they claim were improper comments regarding the propriety of the maps during her campaign, as well as donations she received from the Democratic Party. Vos has vacillated on actually going forward with the idea, but last week he announced a secret panel of former state Supreme Court justices, which will study the legal basis of impeachment. The assembly also passed a bill that would empower a supposedly nonpartisan redistricting board to draw new maps, a proposal Democratic governor Evers says he will veto. To understand the latest political drama unfolding in Wisconsin, I spoke with Ben Wikler, the states Democratic Party chairman. Since taking the role in 2019, Wikler has become a rare celebrity state-party official a reflection both of his media-centric strategy and of Wisconsins paramount importance to Democrats in national elections.
Whats the state of the impeachment drive now?
In the assembly, impeachment requires a simple majority. In the state senate, removal requires a two-thirds supermajority. Whats striking about this moment is that the state senate does not appear interested at all in taking up an impeachment inquiry. This creates the risk that Robin Vos tries to push the whole state through a kind of constitutional loophole, which is that under Wisconsins Constitution, if a judge or justice is impeached, theyre suspended until theyre acquitted by the senate. Meaning that Vos could hold a simple majority vote in the assembly, and he could have 12, 13, 14 Republicans vote no but if he has the remaining 50 Republicans lined up, he could impeach a Supreme Court justice. That person would not be able to rule on any cases, in theory indefinitely.
So it would revert back to a court with three liberals and three conservatives, and the maps would probably stay as they are.
Not only the maps. We just had a trial court rule that the preCivil War abortion ban in Wisconsin is no longer in effect. If that were reversed on appeal, the appeals-court ruling would presumably result in a 3-3 deadlock at the Supreme Court, so that law would also stand. If it were Trump versus Biden redux in 2024 and a far-right judge sided with Trump and the case reached a 3-3 court, that would also stand. It threatens the whole idea of having a Supreme Court in the state if you can just impeach people and sideline them. And Robin Vos is threatening to do that over the redistricting case, which is incredibly important but maybe less well known to the public because he doesnt want to have this debate over abortion and all the other things that people also voted on in the spring of 2023.
Where do you think this all might end up? Vos seems desperate to do anything in his power to stop Protasiewicz from actually ruling on cases.
Voss caucus is visibly divided. Two Republican state representatives have already come out against impeachment. Vos seems to be all over the place one moment hes saying that impeachment is the last thing he wants to do and that he hopes it doesnt come to that, and the next minute hes appointing his panel of former Supreme Court justices to advise him on how to do it. So I think this is a jump ball, and I think the critical thing is that the public weigh in now. The GOP has a big to-do list. Theyre holding their national convention here next summer, and they need to raise tens of millions of dollars in order to pull that off. This is the kind of constitutional chaos and disaster that pushes away the donors that they need to hold a national convention that could be the key to their quest for the presidency.
Does it, though? Because this is not too far off the mainstream of current Republican thinking, Id think.
A poll found that the public is about roughly two to one against the impeachment push. I think the business wing of the Republican Party recognizes that this may be a bridge too far, whereas the ultra-MAGA wing gets really excited about the idea of having discovered a new norm to smash. For the business wing, the problem with this is that once the legislature can suspend any Supreme Court justice to change a future ruling, the rule of law kind of collapses. And while stacked pro-corporate right-wing courts are something that the business community really likes, not having a system of laws is something that winds up being bad for business.
Though Scott Walker, who embodies that pro-business side of the GOP, is in favor of impeachment if Protasiewicz doesnt recuse herself.
I think around the Capitol, there are a lot of whispered conversations about how absolutely wild and out of control this is. And I think our sense is there are a lot of Republicans and certainly every Democrat and vast majority of independents who would like this to go away and be a historical footnote of a full-on constitutional crisis. This will engulf Wisconsin politics and every Republican candidate for the next year and a half if they actually move forward.
And Wisconsin is likely to be the tipping-point state, or at least one of them, in next years presidential election.
Yeah. If Republicans impeach someone who just won in a landslide a few months ago, then the next several elections become a referendum on whether Republicans should overturn elections and erase the votes of Wisconsinites. And voters tend to choose no on the question of having their votes erased.
Before she beat her opponent Dan Kelly by 11 points, Protasiewicz called the current maps rigged and said, I cant tell you what I would do on a particular case, but I can tell you my values in the maps are wrong. I understand that conservative Supreme Court justices have made overtly political statements, but do Republicans have a point in saying that Protasiewicz shouldnt have made her views so clear before she was even on the court?
Robin Vos testified that he took partisanship into account when drawing these maps. Its really not a question of whether the maps are rigged. The question is whether its constitutional to rig them. And Justice Protasiewicz didnt say anything about that. Dan Kelly actually was much more explicit about how he would view these arguments and said that those questions can only be made by the legislature. Republicans didnt seem to have a, didnt make any noises about impeaching him if he got on the court.
Rebecca Bradley, when she was running for state Supreme Court, wore an NRA hat and had campaign materials holding a gun, wearing NRA logo materials. And has absolutely declined to recuse herself in related cases.
Hey, maybe she just liked the colors. Its not necessarily an endorsement of the organization.
Scalia wrote a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Republican Party of Minnesota v. White, which made it very clear that you cannot require a judge who has to run for election to recuse themselves if an issue that they spoke about comes before the court. The essence of having elections is to give voters a basis to understand who these justices are. Theres a categorical difference between explaining what your personal values are on issues and making commitments about particular cases. When Justice Protasiewicz ran, there was no case before the Supreme Court, and there was no set of claims about what was unconstitutional about rigging the maps. Yet it was the central fact of Wisconsin politics that the maps were rigged to ensure Republican control. So were living in a house that right-wing justices built.
Wisconsin has explicit refusal rules that leave it to the sole discretion of the justice. The conservative majority on the state Supreme Court explicitly rejected a call by dozens of former judges for recusal rules that would bar people from hearing cases brought by campaign donors. In this case, that wouldnt even apply because the Democratic Party is not a party in any of these cases. The redistricting cases are being brought on behalf of voters in Wisconsin, the people who have the biggest stake in all this. Republicans are making an argument against the very system of rules that they set up because they dont like the fact that under their own rules they might actually have to face some constitutional scrutiny.
So lets say Protasiewicz isnt impeached and rules the maps unconstitutional. This may sound extreme, but do you see Republicans actually complying with the law? Im wondering whether there might be another kind of crisis.
I have learned the painful lesson that one should never expect calm and clarity in Wisconsin politics. At the same time, you have maps that are selected by the state Supreme Court. So its not like Ohio, where the state Supreme Court tells the legislature to draw new maps and then they have to do so. In Wisconsin, if the legislature and the governor dont agree on a set of maps, then the court can draw it. And its up to the court on what process they want to use.
And at that point, you send in the National Guard. Perhaps Im catastrophizing here.
Its on the Wisconsin license plate: Expect the unexpected.
Is it really?
No, its not.
You had me. I was thinking that was a weird state motto.
Were Americas Dairyland.
That makes much more sense. Democrats have suffered a lot of blows in Wisconsin since 2010, from Walker being elected and pushing through the right-to-work law, to the gerrymandered maps, to having to hold an election during the worst days of the pandemic. Its the only state in the area that hasnt expanded Medicaid, and abortion remains in a legal gray area. Why are Republicans there so extreme? Is it just a function of the maps? Or is it a function of one party having total control of the government for years in such a closely divided state?
For a very long time, Wisconsin had the national reputation as a sterling example of a laboratory of democracy. But I think that when margins are incredibly narrow, it might increase the temptation for would-be authoritarians to make the kinds of changes that can win a statewide election in a very close private state. Whereas if youre in a 60-40 state, if you suppress a couple of hundred thousand votes, its not going to get you the governors office.
So everything has vast stakes here. And for authoritarian conservatives, its a certain cast of mind. It creates an overwhelming implication to try to rig things every way they can. And that also made Wisconsin a kind of test kitchen for far-right policies.
Americas test kitchen for authoritarianism. That should be the motto on the license plate.
I hope to retire that motto. That is my goal as Democratic Party leader here.
I think Walker was very explicit about this when he was running for governor, and during his years in power that Wisconsin was this great progressive bastion, and that if Republicans could do it here, they could do it anywhere. It was a very exciting prospect to smash unions in the place that invented public-sector unions.
Yeah, the state has really swung to both poles over the years.
I think thats also why on the Democratic side we organize so intensely and fight so hard, because we know that if we put in that last ounce of effort, it might make all the difference for a presidential election, and for the future of the state. Nothings ever etched in stone here. And as long as thats true, I think the politics are going to stay intense.
Do you feel that voters are worn out from all the crises and drama, and from being the center of national attention all the time? Are people yearning for a little more normalcy?
Voters are yearning for normalcy, but theyre also yearning for change. We had explosive turnout in 2018, 2020, 2022, and then this spring. That turnout tends to be high when people understand that theres a real significant substantive difference between the two sides and that their vote could be the one that tips the entire thing. And as long as thats true, I think engagement is going to stay high even if people wish that the big questions over time could be settled, so they could go back to regular nonpolitical life.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
an icon! a queen! a true ally!
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Yes! I love fall because it brings the ~cool~. Living in the South, summer is so long and humid :') will be nice to not leave my house and start sweating in a second.
Edited at 2023-09-19 10:51 pm (UTC)
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Since last year's post she had another daughter named Collins
(Yes I follow her on insta, she's nice)
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She legitimately just seems like a nice lady
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She said trans rights!
Like she donated to the trans creator who made her a meme and that person said they were in touch or something and said Caitlin was like the nicest person ever
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fall is so so pretty, last year was the first time i actually ~lived fall with the beautiful leaves and such, too bad it only lasts like two weeks here
we hardly had any real summer weather this year so sucks its already over, not ready for 6+ months of cold weather
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I wish we had a real fall here. It seems like we go from burning hot to snow. I remember how pretty it used to be and it makes me sad. I wish we had a real fall here. It seems like we go from burning hot to snow. I remember how pretty it used to be and it makes me sad.
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where I am we still have nice foliage but it's raining a little too much so the all the leaves are just brownish sludge after a few days :(
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are we supposed to care?
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yes
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I noticed the leaves are starting to change and I ordered some Halloween decorations. Im ready. This summer was brutal.
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I am so, so ready for autumn, especially after that hellish heatwave we had in the UK a couple of weeks ago.
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I really want to go on a fall trip to a place where the leaves change, but I think it's too late to book IDK.
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queenie
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Ummmm theres no fall in Jerusalem. And she calls herself a Christian!
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She said support Palestine or bust
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The idea of following someone with no particular talents other than taking pretty pics of them living life is just beyond to me. I'm not judging people who do it bc I know it's not always that deep, but a lot of people genuinely follow these lifestyle influencers thinking this will somehow make them closer to living those vapid lives, while failing to realize they're just a reminder that your life is far from being like that. I know people who are absolutely miserable and treat these folks like ~goals and I'm like... do you realize that constantly comparing yourself to an online curated reality is precisely one of the reasons why you're miserable? Like c'mon.
Damn, I'm all in my feelings. I think it was the word christian, it's kinda triggering.
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IDK, IA with you that so much influencer content is weird but this is a case where she was a smalltime blogger and someone snagged a photo of her and tried to make a snarky Christian girl meme. Her response was very wholesome. She was like, first of all, use better photos of me in your memes, but also I'm NOT conservative, pro-choice, stand with the LGBTQ community and believe that Black lives matter! And just like that, she became the queen of fall!
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Good to know that she's a sweet girl but you see how absolutely none of the things you listed require talent, or even truth? It's literally just a cute skinny woman living her life without openly being an asshole. Idk I guess I'm just awfully bitter bc I work with influencers almost on a daily basis and the more I do, the more I hate them lol
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She seems lovely but MY Queen of Fall is Christine Mc Connell. <3
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I'm with you. I think it's because I'm old and cynical (Gen X) I just don't see the point. I'd rather follow cute cats or people who grow pretty flowers.
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Nah Im sick of influencers.
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do you realize that constantly comparing yourself to an online curated reality is precisely one of the reasons why you're miserable ?
Yes. Yes, I do.
Along with reading ONTD posts and especially reading ONTD comments.
And the economy.
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sometimes yall are so
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Those influencers are just modern day magazines. You get to see some pretty pictures, know some random products or brands you might like, things like that.
Those influencers talent is to create content that connects with their audience constantly. And not everyone wants to read about world hunger, slavery and war before bed.
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A liberal Christian? And I love the fall. My favorite season.
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Liberal/progressive Christians exist! Like a lot of the ones who actually READ The Bible (especially while trying to place it an even a modicum of socio-cultural, historical and linguistic context) are. Those who just get Bible talking points from right-wing media OTOH lollll.
Even among the absolute worst, White Evangelicals, Hillary got 6 million votes in 2016. Trump got 28 million lmaoo so overall it's heinous, but there were still several million white evangelicals that went for her! As much as they pretend they vote Republican "because the Bible" it's interesting that non-White evangelicals (with similar theology) tend to solidly lean Dem.
Catholics tend to be 50/50. The bad ones follow their old, pervy male leadership and the good ones follow the nuns who do social justice and sue Katy Perry. Same with mainline (non-Evangelical) protestants. Both groups the whites on average go GOP and the non-Whites go Dem and it about evens out.
Just shows America is more divided on race than anything else, even religion. (Religion isn't even second. Education is a better indicator of voting preference than religion).
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Did she donate to someones transition fund? Or am I misremembering?
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I miss fall in the northeast, ngl. Stopped at TJ's earlier - already ate one of the Apple Cider donuts I bought there, and am currently burning a vanilla pumpkin candle!
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This will be my second Autumn back in California (i lived bear Boston for 11 years) and im sad not to be excited for fall. All it means now is that i dont get to use the pool as much.
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Ive got my vanilla pumpkin and also the Honey crisp apple
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people say autumn starts when the PSL begins flowing at starbucks but in fact its not until Caitlin takes her photos
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NSC Introduces Program Addressing Workplace Overdose Epidemic
The "Respond Ready Workplace" program addresses workplace overdose deaths.
The National Safety Council (NSC) has announced its latest initiative, Respond Ready Workplace, in response to the escalating workplace overdose deaths across the U.S.
According to a release dated Sept. 18, this new program aims to emphasize the necessity of the life-saving drug naloxone in professional settings and ensure workers are educated on its use. Its introduction comes amid an increasing number of workplace overdose deaths, a figure which rose 536 percent since 2011 and now accounts for 9 percent of all on-the-job deaths.
"The Respond Ready Workplace program is a pivotal step forward in reducing overdose deaths and protecting workers everywhere, NSC President and CEO Lorraine Martin said in a statement. The opioid crisis has reached every corner of society, affecting workers in all industries and occupations. By equipping workplaces with naloxone and the knowledge to use it, we can make a tangible difference in saving lives from the workplace to anyplace.
NSC plans to share educational materials to boost employers' understanding of the opioid crisis's impact on workplaces and naloxones role in remedying it. The organization will also provide workers with hands-on training on administering naloxone so that they may act quickly in an emergency. Finally, the NSC will guide employers on how to best integrate naloxone into workplace medical kits and other easy-to-reach locations.
In addition, NSC has been vocal about policies promoting workplace naloxone availability and workplace overdose prevention, such as the WORK To Save Lives Act. For more on the Respond Ready Workplace program is available on the NSCs webpage for the initiative.
South American microstate Guyana recently emerged as what is being described as the worlds hottest offshore frontier oil play. A consortium led by ExxonMobil controls Guyanas prolific offshore 6.6-million-acre Stabroek Block, where more than 30 world-class oil discoveries have been made and lies at the heart of the former British colonys burgeoning oil boom. Exxon, the operator of Stabroek, holding a 45% interest with 30% held by partner Hess and the remaining 25% by Beijing-owned CNOOC, is ideally positioned to be the greatest beneficiary of Guyanas oil boom. The consortium secured especially favorable terms for the Stabroek Block, making it an especially profitable venture, notably for Exxon, with it becoming a key driver of production and profit growth.
Exxon made its first discovery in offshore Guyana in the Stabroek Block in 2015. In a stunning turn of events, the supermajor brought the discovery of Liza-1 to the first oil by the end of 2019, an incredibly short four-year period. Since then, Exxon has made over 30 discoveries in the block, which contains more than an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil resources, endowing Guyana with greater petroleum reserves than many of its regional neighbors. It was in late 2020, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, when Brent had plunged to multidecade lows, that Exxon elected to prioritize the development of the Stabroek Block. There are a range of reasons for this, including low breakeven costs, high-quality low carbon intensity light sweet crude oil and most importantly, the Exxon-led consortiums ability to secure an extremely favorable production sharing agreement.
That PSA was so lopsided that it drew considerable criticism globally, with claims that Exxon was exploiting the nativity and lack of experience in Georgetown, seeing Guyana lose billions of dollars in oil profits. The agreement signed by the Stabroek consortium secured Georgetown an industry-low royalty rate of 2%, which is significantly lower than any other oil-producing jurisdiction in South America. The PSA caps cost recovery oil at an advantageous 75% of all petroleum produced and sold. Cost recovery oil is not ringfenced to any single development within the Stabroek Block, allowing the Exxon-led consortium to frontload exploration and development costs for other projects. There is also a 50:50 profit split with Georgetown for all petroleum sold after the cost recovery oil is deducted. Based on those conditions, Guyana effectively receives 12.5% of the revenue generated by the oil produced and sold, along with a 2% royalty.
For those reasons, the administration of Irfaan Ali set about reviewing the existing PSA after taking office. Georgetown recently introduced a new production agreement, although the president pledged to leave the Stabroek agreement with Exxon untouched despite converting many existing blocks to the new contract. The new PSA will be used for successful bids in Guyanas first-ever oil auction, where the country has received eight bids, including from supermajors Exxon and Frances TotalEnergies. This leaves Exxon, as well as its partners, Hess and CNOOC, in the unique position of holding what appears to be a low-risk, highly profitable agreement to exploit the Stabroek Block.
The good news for Exxon doesnt stop there. The Liza phase one and two facilities are producing well in excess of their nameplate capacity of 120,000 barrels per day and 220,000 barrels per day, respectively. According to data from Guyanas Ministry of Natural Resources, combined output from both floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels operating in the Liza field was 410,000 barrels per day at the end of July 2023. Production from the Stabroek Block is expected to soar over the coming years, with Exxon committed to developing four additional operations in the Stabroek Block.
The first of these is the 220,000-barrel-per-day Payara project, which is expected to produce its first oil later this year from 41 wells, comprised of 20 production wells and 21 injection wells. Payara will be followed by the Yellowtail development, which will have 51 wells, comprised of 26 production wells and 25 water wells with the capacity to lift 250,000 barrels per day. Exxon anticipates that Yellowtail will start up during 2025, giving the supermajor total capacity of 810,000 barrels per day in the Stabroek Block. The fifth operation Exxon and its partners will develop in offshore Guyana is the 250,000 barrel-per-day Uaru project, which was approved earlier this year. Uaru will have the capacity to pump 250,000 barrels per day from 44 wells on start-up, which is scheduled for 2026. The final project to be approved is the nearly $13 billion Whiptail operation, which will have the capacity to lift 250,000 barrels per day from up to 72 wells and is expected to start up during 2027.
This means the Exxon-led consortium will have the capacity to lift 1.3 million barrels per day from the Stabroek Block, potentially even more with all assets capable of producing more oil than their stated capacity. That will put Guyana firmly on the map s a global oil producer, seeing the former British colony of less than one million take Algerias place to be ranked as the worlds 16th largest oil producer. It will be a significant driver of production growth for Exxon, Hess and CNOOC while significantly boosting those companies' profitability.
The oil discovered and produced in the Stabroek Block is light and sweet, with the Liza grade having an API gravity of 32 degrees and 0.58% sulfur content. Those characteristics make Liza grade oil cheaper and easier to refine into high-quality, low-emission fuels. Petroleum with those characteristics is surging in popularity among refiners around the world because of ever-stricter fuel emission regulations. The carbon intensity of extracting Liza-grade crude oil is some of the lowest in the world. According to industry consultancy Rystad Energy, the oil extracted in Guyana emits 9 kilograms of carbon per barrel compared to the global average of 18 kilograms per barrel. This enhances the attractiveness of operating in offshore Guyana, particularly with Western energy majors, including Exxon, committed to becoming carbon neutral and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
Offshore Guyana is also a profitable jurisdiction in which to operate because of its industry low breakeven prices. According to Hess Liza Phase-1 has a breakeven price of $35 per barrel Brent while for Liza Phase-2 that has fallen to $25 pr barrel. Exxons other projects in the Stabroek Block will have similar breakeven prices. It is estimated that the 250,000 barrel-per-day Payara operation will breakeven at $32 per barrel, while Yellowtail is pegged at $29 per barrel. In an operating environment where Brent is selling for around $93 per barrel, the Stabroek Block is a cash-generating machine for Exxon, Hess and CNOOC.
As this low-cost production expands, with four new operations adding a capacity of 970,000 barrels per day, coming online between now and 2029, Exxons total oil output, revenue, cash flow and bottom line will all experience a healthy boost. Further significant oil resource and production growth are ahead, with the Stabroek Block containing far greater oil potential than originally believed. Exxon is set to embark on an ambitious 35-well drilling campaign once the current 25 well program ends.
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By Matthew Smith for Oilprice.com
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BRICS is a group of major emerging economies, originally including Brazil, Russia, India and China, which was termed in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O'Neill in a research paper outlining the potential growth of these powers. The bloc was informally founded in 2009, and initiated by Russia, to counter the dominant role of the United States and Western allies in the contemporary world order. It has yet to be formalised, however, heads of state and government meet on an annual basis. South Africa joined the group in 2010 when an S was added to the acronym to make it BRICS. Together, the member states account for over 40 percent of the worlds population and a quarter of the global economy.
The group generally focuses on geopolitics, economic cooperation and multilateral trade and development, and operates by consensus. Since its formation, BRICS says that over 40 countries have shown interest in joining, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Algeria, Bolivia, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon, and Kazakhstan. Over a dozen countries participated in the Friends of BRICS talks in Cape Town in June, demonstrating their interest in shifting the world order and enhancing their position within it. Following the Covid pandemic, the global world order was criticised by several state powers, as Western countries were seen to be hoarding vaccines.
Several oil executives now believe that the sanctions that the West imposed on Russia are encouraging a deeper partnership between BRICS member states. Russell Hardy, the CEO of energy trading firm Vitol, statedLooking at the oil markets today ... the Western sanctions on Russia are working. Theyre working in the sense that theyre creating less or lower revenues, lower invoice prices for Russian goods. However, The flip side of sanctions is that it is creating stronger bonds between BRICS countries, which in turn is a sort of an opposite force, of polar opposites, to Western politics, he explained.
It is widely believed that the sanctions could push BRICS nations closer together, particularly due to the recent expansion of the group to include several major oil producers. In August, BRICS officially invited Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Argentina, and Ethiopia to become new full-time members, expanding the group from five to 11 states. In 2024, when the new states join, the bloc will account for 37.3 percent of the worlds GDP, which is expected to rise to 37.7 precent in 2025 and 38.5 precent in 2028., according to the International Monetary Fund. The BRICS population will also grow from 3.2 billion at present by at least 400 million, significantly higher than the G-7 combined population of 800 million.
The expansion of BRICS also means that the bloc holds a significant proportion of the worlds natural resources. BRICS states hold around 5,493 tonnes of gold, compared to the G-7s 17,527 tonnes. Meanwhile, the G-7s member states US and Canada produce 20 percent and 6 percent of the worlds oil, respectively, and Russia, Brazil and China together account for 21 percent. The share of oil production will rise substantially when Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iran join the bloc, to around 41 percent of global production. Meanwhile, Russia, Iran and China will contribute significantly to the groups proportion of gas production. The expansion will also increase the blocs representation in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America.
The existing bloc hopes to form a stronger coalition of developing nations that can elevate the interest of the Global South at the international level. The choice of which new states to include in the group surprised many as the six countries invited to join have few commonalities. The choice appears to be very Middle East-centric, perhaps due to their significant resource offerings.
Sanusha Naidu, a senior research fellow at the South African Institute for Global Dialogue, stated, This has geo-economic, geostrategic and geopolitical implications. It will likely lead to the deepening of ties between the existing BRICS member states and the Middle East, Naidu suggests. She also addressed the energy-centric decision to include these states, explaining Besides Russia, all of [the core BRICS countries] are non-energy producing countries. They need to be able to make their economies function, but they dont want to get caught in the secondary collateral damage of sanctions.
In reference to the growing presence of BRICS, Fereidun Fesharaki, the chairman of energy consultancy Facts Global Energy, stated Everybody is irritated by the U.S. government, the U.S. Treasury sanctioning ... So people say is there any way to create a counterforce, counterbalance to G7 or G20? BRICS is the candidate.
As several emerging powers grow increasingly discontent with the existing world order, the BRICS bloc could grow increasingly powerful as a means of countering U.S. and Western dominance. The COVID-19 pandemic and the sanctions imposed on Russian energy last year have worked to bring member states of BRICS closer together. And the announcement of new member states is expected to enhance cooperation between the growing powers, which hold a significant proportion of the worlds resources and account for a large percentage of the global population.
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By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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With its vast oil and gas resources, there is no fundamental reason why Iraq cannot become a world-class producer of high-value petrochemicals. In the process, it would benefit enormously from huge revenues from these value-added products and from putting a large part of the gas it currently flares to good use. There have been plans to do just this in place for several years, most particularly in the shape of the Nebras Petrochemical Project (NPP). According to comments from the Iraq Oil Ministry, talks took place last week to ratify a final concept for this long-delayed plant, and affirmed the need for speeding up plans to execute this project.
It was all the way back in January 2015 that Shell signed the original deal to build the then-costed US$11 billion NPP in the southern oil hub of Basra, having signed the original memorandum of understanding in 2012. At that time, hopes were high on both sides for the future of Nebras, with the then-Industry Minister, Nasser al-Esawi, telling a news conference that the NPP would come online within five to six years and would make his country the largest petrochemical producer in the Middle East. For Shell, it offered the opportunity to build out its then-existing upstream operations in Majnoon and West Qurna 1 into a flagship downstream capability. These offered oil and associated gas stocks to add to the potential feedstock that would come from Shells 44 percent stake in the US$17 billion 25-year Basra Gas Company (BGC) project. The BGC was designed to aggregate gas from fields in the south including West Qurna 1, Zubair, and Rumaila.
Related: Washington May Put Military Personnel On Tankers In Strait Of Hormuz
The design plans for Nebras were for a project that could produce at least 1.8 million metric tonnes per year (mtpa) of various petrochemicals. This would make it Iraqs first major petchems project since the early 1990s and one of only four such major complexes across the entire country. The others - Khor al-Zubair in the south, Musayeb near Baghdad, and the Baiji refinery complex in the north were all operated by Iraqs State Company for Petrochemical Industries. In January 2015, then, Shell released the statement that Iraqs cabinet had authorised the Nebras project and that the company would work jointly with the ministries of oil and transport to develop a joint investment model for a world-scale petrochemical cracker and derivative complex in the south of Iraq.
From very early on in the NPP, though, problems became apparent to Shell, as they have done for many foreign oil and gas companies that have worked in Iraq. As has been repeatedly highlighted by the independent Transparency International (TI) in its Corruption Perceptions Index publications, Iraq perennially features in the worst 10 out of 180 countries for its scale and scope of corruption. Massive embezzlement, procurement scams, money laundering, oil smuggling and widespread bureaucratic bribery that have led the country to the bottom of international corruption rankings, fuelled political violence and hampered effective state-building and service delivery, TI states. Political interference in anti-corruption bodies and politicization of corruption issues, weak civil society, insecurity, lack of resources and incomplete legal provisions severely limit the governments capacity to efficiently curb soaring corruption, it concludes.
In fact, Shell was unfortunate enough to have signed the original memorandum of understanding for the Nebras project during the period when according to a statement made in 2015 by then-Oil Minister, and later Prime Minister of Iraq, Adil Abdul Mahdi - Iraq lost US$14,448,146,000 as cash compensation payments, as analysed in my new book on the new global oil market order. This cash compensation includes what to many people would be classed as bribery and corruption payments that ended up either in the hands of Iraqi officials, or brokers of various exploration and development deals, or others involved in these deals. It was also during this period that ExxonMobil started to run into the same sort of problems in its equally high-profile Common Seawater Supply Project, as also examined in my book.
As the Nebras project remained on hold in the years after 2015, a senior oil industry source who worked closely with Iraqs Oil Ministry at that time exclusively told OilPrice.com that Shell faced two major problems in taking it forward. The first was logistical, in that after the British firm withdrew from its upstream operations in Iraqs Majnoon and West Qurna 1 fields, the basic upstream platform for it to expand into the downstream had been diminished. The second was reputational, in that although commission payments were common in the Middle East and in the oil sectors of many countries, Shell remained uneasy about how broadly the practice was applied in Iraq.
These misgivings were compounded by the sheer scale of the commission likely to be involved. Even if the project remained within initial costings [US$11 billion], Shell would have been looking at around US$3-4 billion in these commission payments, which would have been very difficult to explain, said the source. Also, any new government coming into Iraq might point at the payments and call them bribes, he added. However, at that time, without paying this scale of commission, Shell was left in a position of not being able to get even the simplest of things done on Nebras, he told OilPrice.com.
Shells reluctance to move forward alone on the Nebras project at that stage prompted Iraqs Oil Ministry to look for another firm to partner it. Over the latter part of 2017 and early 2018, the Ministry talked to several companies about the possibility most notably, global petchems giant, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). This would have allowed Shell to share the burden of economic and reputational risk involved in Nebras, said the Iraq source. These discussions, though, were increasingly sidelined as Saudi Aramco started to investigate the possibility of buying the majority share in SABIC ahead of its own IPO, then re-scheduled for 2021, he added.
Having said all this, there remains a truly massive opportunity in Nebras for Iraq to exploit. As highlighted exclusively to OilPrice.com back in 2018 by a senior figure in one of the Russian companies that was looking to take over the Nebras project: Shell has done a really good job so far with the BGC [US$17 billion 25-year Basra Gas Company project], but the country needs to put into action its plans to develop a second gas hub away from Basra. He added: That would get the gas volumes up to an average of one billion standard cubic feet per day so that the ethane can be extracted on a sustainable and reliable basis and that would give sufficient volume for a major petrochemicals plant to be viable. By 2019/2020, the BGC had reached a peak production rate of over this required level (1.035 billion standard cubic feet per day to be exact) - the highest in Iraqs history.
Ethane should be the initial feedstock for Iraqs new petrochemicals plants, including Nebras, the Russian source added at the time - not naphtha, as Iraqs Oil Ministry has often suggested. Ethane should be used, as it was in the development of Saudi Arabias master gas system that captured associated gas, which was then fractionated and supplied as primary feedstock to the flagship Jubail Industrial City, he underlined. The highest concentration of ethane [up to 10 percent and slightly over] is usually found in associated gas streams, which Iraq has a lot of, and processing ethane produces ethylene with few by-products [mainly fuel gas] to process and manage, he told OilPrice.com. This reduces the capital required for construction and minimises the complexity of the logistics and distribution requirements, which will be important factors in Iraqs early-stage build-out of a viable petrochemicals industry, he underlined. Later, as the industry and corresponding infrastructure grows, heavier feed streams can be utilised, as happened with the use of propane, butane and naphtha in Jubail, he said.
A world-scale facility for ethylene one of the most in-demand petrochemicals products in the world, especially from China - is in the range of 1.0 to 1.5 million tons of ethylene production, the source added, and a 1.0 million ton per year ethylene facility would require a supply of roughly 1.3 million tons per year of ethane. This would need to be a sustainable and reliable supply for at least 20 to 25 years and, overall, to build out all of the necessary parts for a functioning world-class petrochemicals sector in Iraq would require around US$40-50 billion, he concluded.
By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com
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Shale oil production in the United States is set to decline for the third month in a row to 9.39 million barrels daily, the Energy Information Administration said in its latest Drilling Productivity Report.
That would be down from 9.433 million barrels daily for August and a record-high 9.476 million bpd for July.
Most of the decline would come from the Permian basinthe star of the shale patch. There, the EIA has projected a production decline of 26,000 bpd, followed by a 17,000-bpd output drop in the Eagle Ford basin.
Reuters noted in a report that the decline this month would be the biggest negative monthly change since December last year.
Even so, the EIA remains certain total U.S. oil production will hit a record this year and another one in 2024. The agency has the same forecast for natural gas production.
For this year, the EIA last month said it saw production hit 12.76 million bpd, which would be an increase of 850,000 bpd on the 2022 average. In 2024, the EIA sees output rising by another 330,000 bpd to 13.09 million bpd.
Yet the rig count has been falling for much of the year and despite a recent reversal of the decline trend, the total rig count remains 16% below the levels it was this time last year, per Baker Hughes data.
That said, some shale producers have recently reported higher well productivity thanks to greater drilling efficiency. This increased productivity, however, has not been enough to keep prices in check.
West Texas Intermediate is currently trading at over $92 per barrel, pushing retail fuel prices higher, too. Yet even if producers decide to respond to higher prices with more drilling, it would take time to see the increased drillingif it materializestranslate into lower crude and fuel prices.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Oil prices continued to climb on Tuesday morning as the EIA predicted a continued slowdown in U.S. shale production, adding to concerns about a tightening oil market.
Chart of the Week
- Low inquiry levels stemming from Saudi Arabias production cuts, reoccurring congestion in China, and seasonally declining demand have driven freight rates to their lowest since May 2022.
- Losing steam after their November 2022 peaks, freight rates from West Africa to East Asia have dropped to Worldscale 43.5, whilst Gulf-to-East Asia rates are even lower than that, with most recent deals done at w37.
- Saudi Arabia accounts for more than a quarter of VLCC deliveries, with more than 90% of Aramco exports taking place by means of VLCC tankers, hence the oversized impact of Saudi cuts on freight rates.
- Whilst the freight market expects depressed VLCC rates to recover later this year, so far theres been little upside quite the contrary with Suezmax tankers that bottomed out earlier this month and the Gulf-East Asia route strengthened from w75 to w90 over the past two weeks.
Market Movers
- UK oil major BP (NYSE:BP) intends to invest up to $11 billion in low-carbon fuels, renewables, and EV charging stations in Germany by 2030 as it seeks to expand in Europes largest economy.
- US refiner Valero Energy announced it had authorized a share repurchase of up to $2.5 billion, with no expiration date, in addition to the $2.5 billion already authorized earlier this February.
- French energy company TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) is reportedly in talks with Adani Green Energy to invest up to $700 million in the Indian firms clean energy projects, the first deal since Hindenburg Researchs short-selling recommendations.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
News of shrinking US supply has only added bullish sentiment in oil markets, keeping ICE Brent and WTI around $95 and $93 per barrel, respectively. This week will bring about a flurry of macroeconomic news with central banks meeting in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and other countries, potentially reminding the oil markets of the continued risk of a significant recession in Western economies.
Oil Majors Warn Peak Oil Demand Not Happening Soon. Defying the IEAs calls of fossil fuel demand peaking by 2030, the CEOs of Saudi Aramco and ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) both said the energy transition will take longer than assumed and that oil and gas investment remained critical to stop prices soaring.
Geopolitical Risk Jumps As Azerbaijan Launches Anti-Terrorist Operations. The risk of a renewed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia has increased after Azerbaijan announced "anti-terrorist operations" in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The move comes just days after Armenia's Prime Minister expressed doubt over Russia's ability to guarantee its security while struggling with its invasion of Ukraine.
IAEA Condemns Iran Ban on Nuclear Inspection. Irans nuclear program made headlines again after Tehran banned multiple IAEA inspectors assigned to the country, triggering an immediate condemnation from the UN watchdog as it investigates uranium traces at undeclared Iranian sites.
Chevrons Australia Strikes Turn Real. Australias Offshore Alliance union of oil terminal workers said that workers at Chevrons (NYSE:CVX) Gorgon and Wheatstone terminals had begun full-day strikes, with the government tribunal activated by the US major set to start hearings this Friday.
US Shale Output to Decline in October. According to the EIAs Drilling Productivity Report, US shale output is on track to decline for the third month in a row in October, expected to come in at 9.393 million b/d, the lowest monthly level since May and some 85,000 b/d below the July peak.
China Needs New Import Quota Package. Chinas private-sector refiners have started lobbying the Ministry of Commerce in Beijing to issue a fourth batch of crude import quotas, already running out of the 194-million-tonne allocation received in this years three quota allocations.
Saudi Arabia Buys Into Latin American Fuels. Saudi Arabias national oil company Saudi Aramco (TADAWUL:2222) agreed to purchase Chiles main fuel distributor Esmax Distribucion, formerly known as Petrobras Chile, from private equity investor Southern Cross Group.
California Sues Oil Majors for Alleged Deception. The government of California sued five of the worlds top oil-producing companies ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips for allegedly covering up the truth about climate change, calling for the creation of an abatement fund.
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Ireland Rejects LNG Terminal Plans. Irelands top planning body An Bord Pleanala has refused permission for a new liquefied natural gas terminal in county Kerry with a planned annual capacity of 8.25 bcm, saying the 700 million project would be contrary to the governments net zero policy.
Prisoner Release Unfreezes Irans $6 Billion. In addition to higher oil prices and higher crude exports to China, the Iranian government finally tapped into the $6 billion of its funds frozen in South Korean banks after the US and Iran carried out their long-anticipated prisoner exchange this week.
Greenpeace Blocks Arrival of French LNG Unit. Activist group Greenpeace tried to prevent the Cape Ann tanker, refurbished as TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) latest FSRU to receive LNG cargoes off the coastal city of Le Havre, from entering the port, saying France needs to halt all new fossil fuel projects.
Australias Nuclear Switch Option Labelled a Fantasy. According to Australias Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen, the cost to replace the countrys coal-fuelled power plants with modular nuclear reactors would amount to $250 billion, alleviating calls for a swifter transition.
South African Drilling Delayed by Environment Appeals. Having hit multi-billion discoveries in neighboring Namibia, both TotalEnergies and Shell are unable to advance their offshore drilling in South Africas blocks 5, 6, and 7 after a series of appeals against their environmental authorization keep on stalling exploration drilling.
White House Wants Wider Pool of US Tankers. With the US fleet of commercial product tankers comprising a few dozen tankers that could be jeopardized in times of war, the US government-chartered 9 tankers so far this year to move oil products, paying up to $6 million per year for agreements that run until 2035.
By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com
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Exxon will boost crude oil production in Nigeria by an additional 40,000 barrels per day, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu's spokesman Ajuri Ngelale said in a statement on Tuesday.
Nigeria has long had aspirations for increasing its crude oil production, most recently promising to boost production to 1.7 million barrels per day by November of this year.
But now, Exxon is pledging to boost production on its end, according to Nigeria, who was citing information from Exxon's president of global upstream operations. Exxon's promises could put more weight behind an announced production increase.
"Nigeria has never been more ready for business than it is now," the spokesperson's statement read, quoting President Tinubu.
Nigeria is OPEC's largest producer in Africa. Its OPEC production quota was lowered earlier this year to 1.38 million bpdfrom 1.742 million bpdwhen it failed to meet its quota under the agreement due to repeated challenges with oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and lack of investment in capacity. The problem has been recently quantified by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), which estimates that Nigeria lost to theft more than 615 million barrels of crude oil valued at more than $46 billion in the decade ending in 2020. That's more than 140,000 bpd.
Nigeria's planned production for next year is 1.578 million bpd, although its stated capacity is 2.5 million bpd, according to the chief executive at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Nigeria's crude production was up in August from July levels, but still below the 1.320 million bpd that it reached in June. Nigeria's August production came in at 1.269 million bpd, according to OPEC's secondary sources published in the latest edition of its Monthly Oil Market Report.
NUPRC announced earlier this month that it was planning an international investment roadshow to attract cash to its extractives sector.
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By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Europes energy crisis is far from over as risks to supply will continue to persist until new LNG volumes hit the market in 2026, according to Catherine MacGregor, chief executive at French utility giant Engie.
Europe expects the coming winter with more confidence compared to last year, but the EU shouldnt be complacent amid rising LNG demand from other regions and risks to supply disruptions, MacGregor said at an annual event of gas industry association France gaz, as carried by Montel.
The crisis is far from over. We must remain vigilant, MacGregor told the conference.
Europes room to manoeuver in the coming years could be limited until new LNG supply becomes available after 2026, the executive added.
The EUs gas storage sites were 94% full early this week after the bloc reached its target to have storage 90% full by November 1 two months in advance.
However, European benchmark prices have been volatile in recent weeks due to strikes at Australian LNG export facilities and signs of rising spot LNG demand from Asia.
Europes biggest economy, Germany, expects natural gas prices to remain high until at least 2027, the government said last month in a report on the measures to mitigate high energy costs for households.
A week earlier, INES, the group of German gas storage operators, said in its August gas update that Germany would continue to be at risk of natural gas shortages until the 2026/2027 winter season unless it takes measures to add LNG terminals, additional gas storage capacity, or pipelines.
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The risk of a gas shortage during cold temperatures still exists and will probably remain with us until winter 2026/27 without further infrastructural measures. Only after that, reduced gas consumption might eliminate the need for further measures, INESs managing director Sebastian Bleschke said in a statement in early August.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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Mexicos state-held oil giant Pemex has resumed trade with Vitol Group three years after the world's largest oil trading firm admitted to bribing officials and two years after Mexico banned the trader from business dealings with Pemex, anonymous sources familiar with the new deals have told Reuters.
Vitol has been accused of corruption by U.S. and Mexican authorities. The company has agreed to settle bribery allegations for the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil, and has agreed to pay $164 million in fines and disgorgement by the DOJ and CFTC for oil bribes in Brazil, Mexico, and Ecuador.
In August 2021, the Mexican government banned Vitol and Trafigura from doing business with the state-owned oil and gas major on allegations of corruption.
Those who are carrying out corruption shouldnt be in Mexico, Mexicos Energy Minister Rocio Nahle told Bloomberg at the time.
Now, according to Reuters sources, two tankers carrying fuel from Vitol docked at Mexican ports last week and have already discharged the cargo.
Lawsuits and legal disputes in the United States over the alleged bribes from Vitol are ongoing.
The U.S. charged in August a former trader at Vitol for violating anti-bribery and anti-money laundering regulations for offering bribes to Mexican officials to obtain business for Vitol.
Javier Aguilar, 49, from Texas, made his initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Houston in late August, the United State Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Texas said.
The five-count indictment says that Aguilar allegedly conspired to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and allegedly violated the FCPA, the Travel Act, and the money laundering statutes in connection with a scheme involving Mexican government officials.
The charges allege that between August 2017 and July 2020, Aguilar and others knowingly, willfully, and corruptly offered and paid bribes to and for the benefit of Mexican officials. Aguilar allegedly intended to obtain and retain business for Vitol related to Mexicos state oil firm Pemex and PPI, a wholly-owned and controlled subsidiary of Pemex with its principal place of business in Houston.
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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Oil prices rose for yet another day early on Tuesday, with Brent hitting $95 per barrel, as Azerbaijan said it had launched anti-terrorist operations in the Nagorno-Karabakh region with mostly Armenian population.
The Azerbaijan-Armenia tensions have been rising in recent months after Azerbaijan imposed a blockade on the ethnic Armenian region also known as Artsakh by Armenians but internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
Last week, for the first time in three months, Nagorno-Karabakh received aid via Azerbaijan's Aghdam route, while Azerbaijan continues to block the Lachin corridor connecting the region to Armenia.
Today, Azerbaijans defense ministry said that local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure. Azerbaijan said Armenias armed forces targeted a vehicle with a land mine, killing two civilians.
Armenia, for its part, accused Azerbaijan of spreading false information in claiming that there are Armenian military, equipment and personnel in Nagorno-Karabakh. As of 2 p.m. local time on Tuesday, the situation on the borders of the Republic of Armenia is relatively stable, Armenias ministry of defense said.
Azerbaijan is an oil and gas producer and exporter and is part of the OPEC+ alliance of producers as a non-OPEC participant in the group currently withholding oil supply to the market.
While tensions in the restive Azerbaijan-Armenia region rise, oil prices were also up on Tuesday morning ET, with Brent topping $95 per barrel and WTI Crude up by 1.3% at $92.50.
A 15% rally in the space of around three weeks to trade at levels not seen since last November and not far from triple figures, its been an impressive move and there could be more to come, Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA, wrote in a note on Monday.
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This oil rally has been relentless and Im not seeing any signs of exhaustion yet, Erlam added.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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The expansion of Canadas Trans Mountain oil pipeline is expected to raise the prices U.S. refiners in the Midwest pay for Canadian oil by up to $2 per barrel, analysts tell Reuters.
The Trans Mountain Expansion project, expected to triple the volume of crude shipped from Canadas oil sands to its Pacific Coast, would intensify competition for Canadian heavy crude in the Midwest, where refiners have so far received discounted crude from Canada.
But the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline would divert crude to the Pacific Coast for exports to the U.S. West Coast and potentially Asia, depriving the Midwest of some supply and boosting the prices for crude there, according to the analysts.
One oil trader based in Calgary told Reuters, They will be competing for barrels that no longer transit through their region.
Currently, the Trans Mountain Expansion project is expected to start up early next year, but further delays cannot be ruled out after years of setbacks.
The Trans Mountain expansion aims to triple the capacity of the original pipeline that carries Alberta crude through British Columbia to the west coast of Canadato 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd.
Initially, the pipeline expansion was set to help Canada export its heavy crude oil to Asia via tankers from the Canadian West Coast. But as the expansion project took years to clear permitting, financial, and construction hurdles, the global crude oil flows changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Fierce opposition in British Columbia has forced Kinder Morgan to reconsider its commitment to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline. So the Government of Canada reached an agreement with Kinder Morgan back in 2018 to buy the Trans Mountain Expansion Project and related pipeline and terminal assets.
Construction on the Trans Mountain Expansion Project was 94% mechanically complete with around 42 kilometers of pipe left to install as of the middle of August 2023.
However, the start-up of the expanded pipeline could be set back by nine months unless regulators approve a proposed change of its route.
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By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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NORTH PLATTE, Neb. A 76-year-old man has been sentenced to probation after he reached a plea deal with prosecutors in an animal cruelty and neglect case.
Larry E. Mikoloyck, 76, pleaded guilty to five counts of misdemeanor attempted abandonment or cruel neglect of livestock. As part of the plea deal, five counts of felony abandonment or cruel neglect of livestock were amended down and five more of the same counts were dropped.
More than 150 head of dead cattle were reported found by the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office in February. More than 1,000 were found on their Logan County ranch, many malnourished.
District Judge Michael Piccolo sentenced Mikoloyck to 18 months of probation, with the condition that he not be allowed to have any non-domesticated animals in his custody at that time.
Deputy County Attorney Andrew Van Velson said Mikoloyck had a handful of sheep in his custody, and they worked out an arrangement where he had 28 days to make arrangements and remove the sheep off the property.
Matthew Mikoloyck, Larry Mikoloycks son, who also is charged in the case, will next appear in court Oct. 16.
According to court records, there were dead cattle lying in feeding areas with live cattle, creating a health concern over predators and disease on the Mikoloycks property.
There were numerous dead cattle located in a large blow out that were too numerous to even count as they were piled on top of one another in multiple layers.
Multiple area residents had told investigators that cattle escaped on an almost daily basis from the ranch.
Around that time, the Nebraska State Patrol conducted a flyover and identified deceased cattle on the property. All but one water tank was frozen.
A section owned by Matthew Mikoloyck had a severed leg from a dead cow lying on the side of the road. It was documented and collected as evidence, court records say.
The report also said cattle appeared malnourished, with spines, hips and ribs showing through their winter hair.
Mark Zumdohme, CEO of the business headquartered in Papillion, was one of several honorees recognized by the nonprofit group, representing nearly 300 business executives and community leaders, according to a news release.
Zumdohme launched Graepel North America in the metro area in the metro area in 2006 with a sales office. It has grown into a manufacturing business operating a 85,000-square-foot plant on seven acres in the Hilltop Industrial Park.
"Since arriving in Omaha from Germany, Mark has immersed himself in Nebraska life," the Nebraska Diplomats said in a release. "He has joined the Millard Rotary Club, the German American Chamber of the Midwest, and the Nebraska Diplomats. As an active Diplomat, and current Nebraska Diplomats board member, Mark is always available to host companies, help with trade missions, and promote Nebraska as a great place to work and live. He and his wife, Heike, have three sons and enjoy all that Nebraska has to offer."
A Douglas County District Court judge was ordered to pay a $500 fine after she pleaded no contest to one count of reckless driving.
Tressa Alioths conviction stems from an incident in which she was pulled over in a Bennington neighborhood shortly before 2:30 a.m. on July 2. Although she was initially cited on suspicion of driving under the influence and transporting a child while intoxicated, city prosecutors only charged Alioth with reckless driving.
Alioths attorney, Joe Naatz, said Alioth, 50, had been celebrating a friends birthday when she consumed what she thought was a reasonable amount of alcohol. She was stopped, Naatz said, after a sheriffs deputy saw her cross the center line numerous times. Court documents show Alioth was about two blocks away from her home at the time of the stop.
According to the citation, Alioths blood alcohol content was .088%, just above Nebraskas limit of .08%.
Arguing for a sentence that did not include probation, Naatz said Alioth has been very remorseful since the incident. Alioth could be seen dabbing her eyes as her lawyer spoke.
Ms. Alioth is just like the rest of us: She is a human being and she is fallible, Naatz said.
Katie Reed, a senior attorney for the City of Omaha, requested that Alioth attend a victim impact panel session. Lancaster County Judge Matt Acton agreed. Acton also encouraged Alioth to refrain from driving after drinking any amount of alcohol.
In addition to paying the fine and attending the panel, Alioth will also be required to pay court costs.
Alioth was appointed to the District Court bench by former Gov. Pete Ricketts in 2021. She previously worked as a deputy county attorney in the Douglas County Attorneys Office.
Four Nebraska schools have been honored as 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools, an annual award from the U.S. Department of Education.
Two of the four schools recognized this year belong to the Millard Public Schools. They are Reeder Elementary School in Gretna and Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School in Omaha.
Millard Superintendent John Schwartz said the district is incredibly proud to have Aldrich and Reeder receive the national recognition.
It is such a credit to the staff, students and families, Schwartz said. Especially having two of the four Nebraska schools recognized, this is reflective of the strong core curriculum and commitment to academics that runs through all thirty-five schools in our district.
The other schools recognized are Dodge Elementary School of the Howells-Dodge Consolidated Schools and Pender High School and Pender Elementary School of the Pender Public Schools.
The recognition is based on a schools overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups on assessments.
The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally, said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona in a press release.
Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of September 2023
An Omaha man died Monday night after his vehicle crashed into a tree near Memorial Park.
Robert Lane, 32, was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center with lifesaving measures in progress, an Omaha police spokesman said Tuesday. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The crash occurred about 8:40 p.m. near Happy Hollow Boulevard and Dodge Street. Police said Lane was not wearing a seat belt.
Investigators determined that Lane was driving a a 2006 Nissan Maxima northbound on Happy Hollow when it drifted left, leaving the roadway. The Nissan went down a grass embankment and struck a tree.
The crash remains under investigation.
One person was found dead following a house fire early Monday in southwest Iowa.
The fire was reported about 2:45 a.m. in the town of Shambaugh, about six miles south of Clarinda, according to the Page County Sheriff's Office. The body was sent to the Iowa Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy and identification.
Firefighters from Clarinda and Braddyville found the residence at 409 Cinder Alley fully engulfed in flames upon arrival. A body was discovered in the remains of the house.
Deputies have been unable to locate the owner of the property. The Iowa State Fire Marshal's Office is conducting an investigation.
Shambaugh, a town of about 160 residents, is located approximately 84 miles southeast of Omaha.
Speed kills
Traffic accidents are on the rise nationwide. Omaha is no exception. Take a drive on any roadway in the Omaha metro area and drive the speed limit. You will be passed continually by drivers far exceeding the posted speed limit. What can law enforcement do? Ramp up presence in hot spots. Post speed traps publicly so speeders are forewarned. Increase fines for violations to an impactful level. Excessive speed violations 35 MPH above the limit pull the drivers license and impound the vehicle. Make a speeding ticket so painful that drivers consider the consequences of receiving a ticket. Take a drive on the West Dodge Expressway, or I-80. Its like being on the Kansas City Race track.
Butch Kirkland, Papillion
Promoting ranked choice voting
In the most recent Public Pulse letter promoting ranked choice voting, Larry Bradley asserted that exit polling showed Alaskan voters overwhelmingly approved of the new system. Nebraskans should know much more about Alaskas experience with this system. Donald Trump won Alaska in the 2020 election by 10 points. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was censured by the Alaska Republican party in early 2021 for her animosity against Trump. Things certainly werent looking good for her upcoming 2022 Republican primary reelection bid. It was then that Sen. Murkowski and her allies successfully changed election laws and implemented RCV and also combined Republican and Democratic candidates into a single primary.
Knowing that she no longer had the worry of facing only Republican voters to get a place on the general election ballot, Sen. Murkowski was free to spend the next two years voting for President Bidens positions 79% of the time, a rate much higher than her support for former President Trumps positions. And sure enough, even though she was polling 8% behind her Republican challenger, she was the winner in a race that included two Republicans and a single Democrat. If this system is adapted here, I hope for claritys sake the law change will be referred to as the Incumbent Retention Act.
Richard Leech, Omaha
Constitution week
We the People, in order to form a more perfect union... These are words we hear often, but dont often stop to reflect on. We the People everything else set forth in the U.S. Constitution derives its power from the people who ordain and establish it, including the amendments made along the way. We live in a nation full of diverse experiences, backgrounds and ways of life, and while our union may not be perfect it is made more perfect by each and every one of us contributing uniquely in our day-to-day lives.
The week of Sept. 1723 is Constitution Week, and the Omaha chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution invites you to take a moment to pause, reflect and show your pride in the U.S. Constitution. Our Founding Fathers wrote this exceptional document inspired by the exceptional individuals who make up the United States of America. Almost 250 years later, the U.S. Constitution is a living, breathing document that not only reflects who We the People were, are and will be, but is ordained and established by that uniquely American identity and experience.
Tori Mahoney, Omaha
Disgusted by behavior
I think it is disgusting that our vice president, Kamala Harris, while at the 9/11 ceremony with all the somber faces around her, was seen giggling, smiling and waving at someone! Just like Biden when he was at a ceremony bringing back to the U.S. the bodies of slain service personnel and he was seen checking his watch. Their supporters should be proud of these two!
John Saniuk, Papillion
Carter Lake
The City of Omahas leaders should be ashamed of the condition of Carter Lake, its boat ramps and the west road that connects north east Omaha to Carter Lake Iowa. The boat ramps are in horrific shape, the parking lot has holes big enough to swallow small cars. The docks are a danger to anyone foolish enough to try to launch a boat. How is it this lake is the exception to the way other bodies of water in this city are taken care of?
The city finds money to keep the east road well keep and manicured, to keep up a facade for travelers coming to Omaha. If they travel west and end up on the west road around the lake, they may feel like they took a turn onto a country road. The city seems content to let the west road be a convenient place for people to dump their trash, tires and mattresses, boats and brush. There was a time when the city took care of this area, it is now overgrown and there are ruts between the piles of trash and where people are pulling their vehicles by the lake to fish.
In the last ten years, the neglect has gone from bad to horrific. I dont know who the blame should fall on, but this matter needs to be addressed. How can the city talk about spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a streetcar project, with this type of neglect going on less than three miles away from said project? This lake could be a nice lake. It will take effort and a mayor and city council as concerned about the east and north side of the city, as they are about downtown and west Omaha.
William Earlywine, Omaha
Response on indictments
Speaking at an Eastern Economic Forum recently, Russias Vladimir Putin said that the criminal cases brought by our corrupt government against Donald Trump were political revenge. It is nice to know that they still have each others back!
Gary Runyan, Omaha
Concealed carry isnt easy
I really dont know what kills more people, cars or guns. I do know you have to have training and pass a test to get a drivers license. If you dont comply, sooner or later youll be in jail. So how do we think you can buy a gun one day and start to conceal carry the next?
I have been fortunate to have had a concealed carry license in Ohio and Nebraska. The training in Ohio was a 12-hour nonstop class, with the last hour and a half on the shooting range. There was a 20-point test on the class, with 80% correct needed to qualify. I had to meet the qualifications of shooting and handling of my gun on the shooting range. The Nebraska concealed carry class was 4 hours, no test, no qualifications.
The Ohio class went over almost every situation and action curtailed in a confrontation. We learned most confrontations last only seconds 10 seconds and they are gone. Confrontations are up close and very personal. Basically, in your face. The bigger the gun, the harder it is to get it up, in your hand, and ready to use. So many people think they are going to be a hero by being in the right place at the right time, then pulling out their gun and chasing the bad guys away. The odds are against that, but I hope they do. The faster you resolve a situation, the more lives you save. Please remember the bad guys can and will shoot back.
Herb Rutz, Omaha
BLOOMINGTON A traffic stop initiated by state police Saturday evening brought McLean Countys first detention without the possibility of bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Judge Scott Kordings courtroom was packed Monday afternoon with nearly every seat in the gallery and jury box filled, a significant departure from the low attendance of the traditional custody hearings that were held daily at the McLean County Law & Justice Center.
But judges, prosecutors, public and private defense attorneys, pretrial service officers and courthouse support staff all showed up for the first day without cash bail in Illinois, as the Pretrial Fairness Act went into effect.
I thought that todays hearing complied with the statute, complied with the legislative intent. It took a little while, but obviously in the beginning were going through a lot of new things, said Chief Judge Casey Costigan, speaking after the afternoons proceedings that lasted more than two hours.
He noted several judges, who will eventually have their turn at detention and conditions hearings, were among those observing.
By Judge Kording going slower today, he was helping us understand how these hearings are going to proceed, Costigan said, adding that Kording has been heavily involved with the rollout of the new proceedings and has taught at a statewide level. If the pace picks up a little bit, I think were right on track with what the legislature intended.
Six cases were brought before Kording. The first case, with new charges filed, gave the judge the first opportunity to apply the new law.
The defendant was charged with criminal trespass to residence and domestic battery, a Class 4 felony and Class A misdemeanor respectively. Assistant States Attorney Spencer Chikahisa told Kording these were detention-eligible offenses, but he was not seeking to detain the defendant.
The court then has no discretion, and it must authorize the release of the defendant on conditions, Kording said.
Mandatory conditions for his release were ordered, as well as having no contact with a residence and person involved with the case, and undergoing alcohol and substance abuse evaluation and treatment.
With that the defendant was to be released, as intended by the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Half of the cases brought forward Monday were old cases with warrants filed before the new system took effect, leaving the court with agreement from the prosecutor and public defender to treat them under the former law. Bonds were ordered to remain as previously set in those three cases and new court dates were scheduled.
Monday afternoons hearing proceeded with minimal hiccups and minor shuffling as the lawyers adjusted to the new system, until the last case in which Chikahisa filed a petition to detain the defendant.
The prosecutor said in a probable cause statement that Brendan T. Pendleton, 24, was pulled over Saturday by Illinois State Police in north Normal. Police reported seeing him attempt to conceal what turned out to be a loaded handgun in his waistband and he was arrested.
He was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of unlawful possession of firearm ammunition by a felon.
Chikahisa asked that he be detained under the dangerousness standard in accordance with the Pretrial Fairness Act.
To meet the dangerousness standard, the judge must find the defendant poses a real and present threat to the safety of another person or the community, based on specific, articulable facts of the case. Among possible considerations are the nature of the offense charged, any evidence of violent or abusive behavior in the defendants criminal history and whether the defendant is known to have access to weapons.
However, before Kording could consider arguments for detention, Assistant Public Defender Carol Shegog-Parker disputed whether the Pretrial Fairness Act should be applied in Pendletons case because he was arrested Saturday.
Both citing language from different parts of the legislation, Shegog-Parker and Chikahisa disagreed about whether the law applied to the day the defendant was arrested or the day he was formally charged Monday.
First Assistant States Attorney Brad Rigdon argued the Pretrial Fairness Act had abolished cash bail, and thus it could not be applied to a new case.
The whole premise behind the PFA here is the abolition of cash bail, Rigdon said, noting there are exceptions written into the law addressing those who have pre-existing orders placing them on bond.
However, bail and bond does not exist until it is ordered by the court. We have a circumstance here in which this defendant was arrested, has had no order entered. What the defense is asking this court to do is enter an order that should not exist under the statutes.
He argued that if the judge were to set a bond, the court would be flying in the face of the statute and in the face of the agreements and arguments and the like made on the previous cases here today, noting other new cases in which defendants were arrested before Monday but both sides agreed they were subject to the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Kording said the state had the better argument, considering the requirement of posting a monetary bail has been abolished and no prior bail had been set in this newly filed case.
The fact that the defendant was arrested prior to midnight does not empower the court under current law to set a bond, he said.
The judge then considered further arguments from counsel regarding whether Pendleton should be detained under the dangerousness standard as well as all statutory factors, eventually ruling in favor of detention.
Although thankfully no one was hurt or directly threatened, (the charges) are very serious, he said. ... Certainly there is good cause to be concerned about the communitys safety.
Kording also said he didnt see how electronic monitoring, as recommended by the defense, would prevent the defendant from committing a future offense if he were released.
Pendletons hearing took about an hour as Kording and the attorneys worked through each aspect of the case.
Following the hearing, States Attorney Erika Reynolds said she was not surprised by the length of the afternoons proceedings.
You never know what kind of issues are going to come up, she said. ... Its not surprising from our perspective that it took that long. I think itll more normalize, the process, eventually as we get familiar with how were going do it, kind of see what works, what doesnt work.
Costigan said it was impossible for the courts to foresee every challenge that could arise as a result of the Pretrial Fairness Act.
Noting the question of whether Pendletons case fell under the new law or the old, he said, I think more things like that are going to come up. More things like that are going to get rulings from a trial court judge that may be looked at by an appellate court. So I think the appellate courts are going to be busy determining those types of issues, but thats just going to be something that we have to work through.
Costigan said he expects the court will face challenges every day for several months as they continue to learn how to work within the new system.
As long as Ive been around, I dont remember a change of this magnitude, he said. Its a big deal and its got some positives and negatives, so well see how it plays out.
10 weird traffic laws you don't know you're breaking 10 weird traffic laws you don't know you're breaking Driving in reverse on a public road Honking your horn near a restaurant Driving a black car on a Sunday Driving with hazard lights on Buying or selling cars on a Sunday Inhaling vehicular fumes Installation and use of parking meters Driving with fewer than three sleigh bells Riding a horse on the highway Windshield wiper requirements
How Time Flies is a daily feature looking back at Pantagraph archives to revisit what was happening in our community and region. 100 years ago
Sept. 19, 1923: After the conclusion of weeks of negotiations, the Moline Plow Company will dispose of its building and adjacent land at 407-11 South Main Street. New owners J.F. Humphreys & Co. plan to use the structure in connection with their wholesale grocery and produce business. The paperwork has not yet been recorded, but it is understood that the transaction involved an amount over $100,000.
75 years ago
Sept. 19, 1948: Evidence that phloem necrosis, a killing disease of the American elm tree, has infested Bloomington-Normals trees was discovered. Symptoms were found in dead trees in a five-block area east and south of the intersection of East Oakland Avenue and Gridley Street.
50 years agoSept. 19, 1973: A 123-year-old Normal home used by three Illinois State University presidents since 1967 has been sold to Chester Thomson, 715 N. Main, Normal, and Steven Thomson of R.R. 2. The house at 607 N. Main St. was sold Monday to the Thomsons for $47,500.
25 years ago
Sept. 19, 1998: Residents around the intersection of Lee and Mulberry streets on Bloomingtons west side have gathered more than 40 signatures on a petition urging the city not to remove flowering clematis vines that have grown up and around the posts of a street sign and no-parking sign. City officials say the vines are a hazard that block drivers vision as they try to negotiate turns.
101 years ago: See vintage Pantagraph ads from 1922 Gerthart's Union Gas and Electric Co. Hoover Dr. J.A. Moore Dentists Moberly & Klenner W.P. Garretson W.H. Roland Pease's Candy Thor 32 Electric Washing Machine The Kaiser's Story of the War Ike Livingston & Sons Gossard Corsets Cat'n Fiddle 'Stolen Moments' Case Model X The Johnson Transfer & Fuel Co. The Pantagraph want ads Franklin Motor Car Co. 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court' Calumet Baking Powder Mayer Livingston & Co. Newsmarket 'The Emperor Jones' 'California Fig Syrup'
DALLAS A man accused of killing nearly two dozen older women and who was convicted last year in the slayings of two was killed Tuesday morning by his cellmate at a Texas prison, an official said.
Billy Chemirmir, 50, was found dead in his cell, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Hannah Haney. She said that Chemirmir's cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant, but said she couldn't release the cellmate's identity or how Chemirmir was killed.
Authorities said Chemirmir preyed on older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span, killing them and stealing their valuables. He was caught after a 91-year-old woman survived an attack in 2018 and told police Chemirmir had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took her jewelry.
Police said they found Chemirmir the following day in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box. Documents in the jewelry box led them to the home of Lu Thi Harris, 81, who was found dead in her bedroom.
The first capital murder trial of Chemirmir for the slaying of Harris ended in mistrial in Dallas County. He was later convicted in a second trial for Harris' death and then convicted of a second killing in the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
Following his second conviction, family members of those Chemirmir was accused of killing gathered at a Dallas courthouse to face him. In Ellen French House's victim impact statement, she told Chemirmir, who was wearing a striped jail uniform, that she wanted him to see two photos of her mother: one of Norma French alive, the other after the 85-year-old was killed.
"This is my beautiful mother," House said as she displayed the first photo. "This is my mother after you pried her wedding ring off of her finger that she couldn't even get off."
Chemirmir had been indicted on 22 capital murder charges. Thirteen of the charges were in Dallas County while nine were in Collin County. Collin County prosecutors said last month that after the two convictions in Dallas County, they would n ot seek the death penalty in their cases.
Chemirmir, who maintained his innocence, was serving two sentences of life without the possibility of parole. He was imprisoned at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, located about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
Haney said that the Office of Inspector General is investigating his death.
___
This story has been corrected to show that Chemirmir was indicted in the deaths of 22 women, not 18 women.
A look at some of the most notorious serial killers in the US since 1970 1970-2005: Samuel Little February-May 1971: Juan Corona 1972-1978: John Wayne Gacy 1974-1991: Dennis Rader 1975-1998: Robert L. Yates Jr. 1976-1977: David Berkowitz 1976-1986: Joseph James DeAngelo 1977-1978: Angelo Buono Jr. and Kenneth A. Bianchi 1977-1978: Ted Bundy 1978-1992: Jeffrey Dahmer 1978-1995: Theodore Kaczynski 1979-1981: Wayne B. Williams 1983: Henry Lee Lucas 1984-1985: Richard Ramirez 1984-1985: Charles Ng and Leonard Lake 1985-2007: Lonnie David Franklin Jr. 1989-1990: Aileen Wuornos 1989-1993: Joel Rifkin 1990-1993: Heriberto Seda 1997-1999: Angel Maturino Resendiz 2002: Lee Boyd Malvo and John Allen Muhammad 2005-2006: Mark Goudeau 2007-2009: Anthony Sowell 2014: Darren Deon Vann
Five Ghanaians are in police grips, since August this year, and have since made an appearance in court where they were charged with planning to overthrow the government and destabilizing the peace.
The arrest took place on August 14, 2023, and was related to a protest organized by a pro-Russian outfit led by one Michael Asiedu, the administrator of Mikado News, a Facebook blog with 1.5K followers that publishes pro-Russian content.
A detailed report by GhanaFact said he was arrested along with four others "by the Ghana Police Service for wearing shirts with Wagner inscriptions."
The report added that their investigations pointed to the fact that the said protest happened on August 13, 2023, at Diabene Park in Takoradi, the capital of the Western Region of Ghana.
"In attendance at the rally were young people with some holding placards with various inscriptions, including Biden is a warmonger and Long live Russia, and flags of Ghana, Russia, Niger, Mali and Algeria," the report stated.
Four days later, on August 18, 2023, Michael Asiedu and the four others were granted bail and scheduled to appear in court on October 3, 2023.
The GhanaFact report points to the work of Asiedu and others in pushing a pro-Russia view as part of a shadowy campaign believed to be in the wider interest of Russian mercenary group, Wagner.
The GhanaFact report as produced below extensively covered areas like their shadowy online campaigns and funding methods used towards mobilization for the August protest.
Operational tactics in Ghana
On the Telegram pages, GhanaFact discovered details of the operational procedures of the network. The pages are used as the source of disseminating information, which implies that any information posted on the pages is subsequently replicated on other media, including Twitter and Facebook.
For instance, a post about Okudzeto Ablakwa, the Member of Parliament of North Tongu, shared on the AussieCossack channel has been reshared multiple times on X (here, here and here).
Also, on August 7, a flyer for a protest dubbed the West African Freedom Rally was posted on the DDGeopolitics telegram channel, and within 24 hours it was amplified across other online media platforms (here, here, here and here). The poster had details such as date, venue, time and guests from the two major political parties in Ghana:
Mr. Kwame, Sir Obed Amponsang, Mr. Ernest Asomani, Madam Akita, Madam Ernestina Amoafoa from the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Madam Akosua Yeboah from the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
GhanaFact also found links to podcasts and Twitter space conversations where plans ahead of the pro-Russian/ pro-Wagner protests in Ghana were discussed together with issues relating to logistics for their operations in Ghana.
Through our investigations, the team identified the local point man of the Ghana project, Michael Asiedu, the administrator of Mikado News, a Facebook blog with 1.5K followers that publishes pro-Russian content.
As part of plans to organise the pro-Russian/pro-Wagner protest, 3 online events in the form of podcasts/Twitter spaces were organised on the 5th, 10th and 12th of August 2023.
The August 5 meeting was held on TNT radio, a radio podcast program detailing the initial planning stages. Among the issues discussed were the proposed venue [Independence Square], expected turnout [1000], funding [crowdfunding] and local political backing.
The show host, Aussie Cossack revealed that the Russian Embassy had been informed about the planned protest but did not want to be involved in its organisation. (4:44-5:50)
The August 10 discussion was held on X (Twitter) space and was hosted by DDGeopolitics. During the event, Aussie Cossack stated (13:19-15:00, 36:40-36:53) that the organisers of the rally had the backing of the Russian Government, the Soviet Peace Fund and the Wagner PMC with a strong warning to all anti-Russian elements, including the Ghana Police Service not to harass the participants.
Further research by GhanaFact revealed the actual name of Aussie Cossack, the administrator of the Telegram page, to be Simeon Boikov, a pro-Russian Australian citizen currently seeking asylum at the Russian Embassy in Sydney, Australia.
During one of their online discussions, concerns about local authorities in Ghana refusing to grant permission for the rally were raised while citing the governments position on the Wagner group.
At the last engagement on August 12, 2023, the host, Aussie Cossack, confirmed that he had sent crowdsourced funds and Russian flags to Michael Asiedu through global money transfer and payment service Western Union and the Russian Embassy in Ghana respectively.
Protest funding in Ghana
An appeal for funds was made (1,2) on August 6, calling on people to support the pro-Russain/ pro-Wagner protests in Ghana and GhanaFact investigations found about $ 6,000 was used in organising the protest.
The investigations found AUD 2471.5 was directly sent to the organisers of the protest in Ghana, with AUD 691.5 being used for purchasing and shipping 200 Russian flags to the Russian embassy in Ghana.
A screenshots of the money sent to organisers of the pro-Russian protest
Before the purchase of the 200 flags on August 8, publications by two online Russian newspapers, RiaNovosty and EADaily, on August 5 revealed an earlier shipment of 100 flags to Ghana by Aussie Cossack.
GhanaFact also found a receipt written in the name of the Wagner PMC, dated August 7, that ordered 1000 T-shirts for the protestors at a cost of GHS 50,000 or $4,300.
Source: ghanaweb.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, the CEO of Dzata Cement Limited and Engineers & Planners, invited Master Alex Ofori from Bobikuma near Swedru for mentorship after a video of Alex went viral last weekend.
The meeting took place on Friday, September 15, 2023 in Accra. Young Alex who resides in extremely less privileged community of Bobikuma was seen in the viral video telling the world how life is difficult for him but he is at same time hoping to become successful in life like Mr. Ibrahim Mahama.
When Mr. Ibrahim Mahamas attention was drawn to the virally video, he quickly instructed his team to look for Alex and bring him to Accra for mentorship.
Ibrahim Mahama has made adequate arrangements to relocate Alex to Accra for his mentorship to start after todays meeting in Accra. Alex will be trained in the areas of construction and mining. Mr. Ibrahim Mahama has also supported Alexs family in Bobikuma with food items and substantial amount of cash.
The food items and the substantial amount of cash were presented to the family in Bobikuma by Rafik Mahama, Aide to the Business Moguls and Philanthropist.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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In a heartwarming display of unity and community support, the "Friends of Wenchimanhene" group recently paid a visit to Wenchi, the Bono Region of Ghana, to honor the newly enstooled Paramount Chief, Osagyefo Ampem Anyeamoampong Tabrako III. During their visit, the group not only celebrated the rich traditions of the area but also demonstrated their commitment to local development.
A Royal Visit with a Purpose
The Friends of Wenchimanhene group embarked on a Royal visit to the palace of Wenchimanhene in Wenchi. Their visit was intended to show respect and admiration for the revered traditional ruler, who recently ascended to the position of Paramount Chief of the Wenchi Traditional Area.
The group was warmly welcomed by Wenchimanhene and his kinsmen at Omanhene Ahenfie, where they were treated to a mini durbar. The event was a testament to the spirit of hospitality for which the people of Wenchi are renowned for, with various traditional customs being performed.
Celebrating Unity and Local Pride
During the mini durbar, the group expressed their joy and gratitude for the honor bestowed upon them. They also took the opportunity to thank the people of Wenchi for their unwavering support and belief in their esteemed Paramount Chief. In addition to congratulating Osagyefo Ampem Anyeamoampong Tabrako III, they pledged their unwavering support for the development of the Wenchi Traditional Area.
A Generous Contribution to Healthcare
In honor of the Wenchimanhene, the group made a cash donation of GHC 210,000 to the Wenchi Methodist Hospital. The donation was made to the Children, Maternity and Special Accident Victims wards of the hospital to settle outstanding bills for patients in these wards.
Hospital authorities expressed their profound gratitude to the group and extended their thanks to Wenchimanhene for the thoughtful gesture which will bring relief to patients.
A Call for Unity and Development
In his remarks, the Wenchimanhene, stressed the importance of unity among the people of Wenchi, emphasizing that such unity could attract more development from well-meaning investors and philanthropists. He also took a moment to express his heartfelt gratitude to his friends who had traveled from Accra to contribute to the development of the Wenchi Traditional Area.
Celebrating with a Private Dinner Dance
In a further display of camaraderie, the Friends of Nana Wenchimanhene organized a private dinner dance in honor of the Paramount Chief, his kinsmen, and other stakeholders in the Wenchi Traditional Area. The event served as a joyful celebration of their shared commitment to the community's growth and prosperity.
This significant gesture was proudly sponsored by a group of generous individuals, including Nana Yaw Apea-Kubi, Dr. F. Opei Horthman, Kwaku Asare-Berkoh, Okai Mintah, Kofi Omane-Frimpong, Edwin Tuffour, Augustine K. Bimpeh, Kofi Amofa Tanoh, Kwame Obeng Sika, Clement Mensa-Bonsu, Kwei Dagadu, Nana Yaw Ofori-Koranteng, Daniel Deamesi, David Klu, Kwaku Obeng, Alberto Kwaku Boateng, Nana Yaw Oware, Chris Yalley, Michael Odarno, Yaw Bempah, Naval Lieutenant L.N. Teiko Tagoe, Isaac Kwame Adjah, and Allan Idun.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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RE-ROT AT GHANA GAS BUT AKUFO-ADDO GOVT SCARED OF KENNEDY AGYAPONG
The Ghana National Gas Company Limited has become aware of a publication by the Herald Newspaper with the above headline.
The company wishes to state categorically that the Herald publication is completely false, malicious and unfounded.
Indeed, there is no scintilla of evidence to back the Herald story.
The reportage passes for irresponsible media aggression, and certainly not journalism.
There has never been any rot associated with our operations here at Ghana Gas, and we find it very unusual for a journalistic outlet to throw away the cardinal journalistic standard of fairness and the responsibility to tell the truth as it engages in news resorting.
We demand retraction of the story and formal apology to repair the damage caused to our organization.
Ghana Gas remain committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in all our operations.
SIGNED:
ERNEST KOFI OWUSU-BEMPAH BONSU (HEAD OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS)
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Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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A minister in eastern Libya's government says all journalists have been asked to leave the devastated city of Derna.
The minister, Hisham Chkiouat, accused the media of hampering the work of rescue teams in the wake of last week's floods.
On Monday, demonstrators set fire to the home of the ousted mayor.
Many residents say the disaster - caused when two dams collapsed during torrential rains - could have been prevented.
Officials have acknowledged that a contract to repair the dams was never completed.
Estimates of the numbers killed varies widely but the World Health Organization has confirmed the death of more than 3,900 people. Thousands more are missing.
Source: BBC
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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As part of efforts to transform the operations of the Lands Commission and improve its services, government will sign a contract with a Ghanaian-owned private investor to inject US$85 million into the Commission's operations.
The contract agreement is expected to be signed between the Lands Commission and the PDB Ghana Limited, a wholly-owned Ghanaian Land Administration Company, by the end of this year.
The contract will span a period of five years, which will see major transformation in the operations of the Commission.
Mr Benito Owusu-Bio, a Deputy Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, announced this during a familiarisation visit to the Client Services and Access Unit of the Lands Commission in Accra, on Tuesday.
The Government, he said, had tasked the Office of the Attorney-General, the Ministry of Finance, Public Procurement Authority and Pricewaterhouse Coopers to scrutinise the contract agreement to ensure value for money.
Key performance indicators would be clearly spelt out in the Agreement for the private investor to meet.
The Deputy Minister expressed the belief that the injection of funds into the Commission's operations would bring efficiency and enhance service delivery.
"There will be structural and administrative reforms, which will improve the Commission's revenue mobilisation drive and eventually change the 'bad image' the public had about the Lands Commission," he said.
Asked whether the involvement of a private investor would not increase the cost of services of the Commission, Mr Owusu-Bio said it was the responsibility of Parliament to determine its fees and charges, hence there would not be any arbitrary increase in them.
Mr Benjamin Arthur, the Executive Secretary, Lands Commission, said the injection of private capital into the Commission's operations would enable it to undertake digital mapping of the entire country.
The digital data from the mapping could be accessed by various public and private entities for spatial planning purposes.
"We shall establish a National Spatial Data Infrastructure, which will allow all agencies to tap into it, and this will help improve data quality, standardisation and generate a lot of money for the Commission," Mr Arthur said.
He explained that the repayment of the private investor's funds would be spread over a long period through the Commission's internally generated funds.
On the Commission's ongoing digitalisation programme, Mr Arthur said it had established online portals, which enabled clients to put in their applications in the comfort of their homes.
He said clients could also make payments of various fees and charges through the Ghana.gov. portal, with 23 banks hooked onto it.
He announced the Commission's intentions to intensify public sensitisation and public education drive on its services in the coming days.
On the recent changes at the Client Services and Access Unit, Mr Arthur said the Commission had assigned senior technical professionals to frontline duties to prevent previous shortfalls and technical errors in land registration.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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An unnamed man claiming to be a Ghanaian was spotted among about a dozen migrants who were allowed entry into the United States according to a Fox News report.
In the video available, US border officials are seen allowing the migrants enter through giant iron gates in batches.
As the gates are shut for a particular batch, the reporter is heard saying: Every person who is just let through appears to be a single adult maleI dont know if they are all with the same group, let me try to ask.
He goes close to them and asks for their nationality in Spanish, after posing his question, a young man wearing a face mask as all of them are responds: Ghana, Ghana.
You are from Ghana, the reporter asks and he nods in the affirmative. He is wearing a black sleeveless Adidas top with a black bag behind him.
The reporter goes on to ask the other migrants, Haitians, predominantly why they decided to force their way into the United States.
Watch the report below:
Thousands of migrants cross the US southern border. pic.twitter.com/c2usdfFKrp Catch Up (@CatchUpFeed) September 18, 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.
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The Director of Special Services of the COWBOY, Mr Charles Amenyaglo has encouraged cocoa farmers to help sustain the cocoa industry by avoiding the trappings of illegal miners into releasing their farmlands for illegal mining activities.
This is in view of the threats illegal mining poses to the countrys cocoa industry. Illegal mining that we refer to as galamsay has far-reaching consequences on the countrys cocoa industry, saying besides the reduction in yield, it has serious international ramifications.
Amenyaglo was addressing farmers at Dormeabra near Asankragwa in the Amendi West Municipality in the Western Region a handing over ceremony of a primary school block to the Dormeabra Community.
The fully furnished six-unit classroom which has a library and a computer laboratory, was funded by Federated Commodities, FEDCO, a cocoa Licensed Buying Company with support from their partners, STORK and WALTER MATTER. The partners also collaborated with COCOBOD Foundation to provide an AstroTurf to the school for recreational activities. This was in appreciation to the cocoa farmers for keeping faith the company by selling their produce to the company. It was also to encourage the farmers to send theyre to school.
Amenyaglo said farmers have benefited greatly from COCOBOD, its agencies and partners through various projects by way of corporate social responsibility through the provision of school, health and social infrastructure.
All these benefits you enjoy after selling your cocoa would be a thing of the past if you give your lands to illegal miners who will in turn destroy the land, pollute water bodies and expose you to health risks, he said.
For her part, the Managing Director of FEDCO, Mrs Mariam Adamu-Zibo said through their partners, GH32 million has been invested in various projects and in premiums paid to farmers in their operational areas.
According to her, we we were able to do all these because you the farmers kept your side of the bargain by trading with and we have also delivered and will continue to impact your communities in a positive manner. She said beside the three school blocks provided by FEDCO and partners in the Wassa Amendi West Municipality, they have also provided a 10-seater toilet facility and mechanized borehole at Supanso, a mechanized borehole at Odumasi and two hand pump boreholes at Dormeabra.
On galamsay, she pointed out that, it is not only to a threat to the cocoa sector but an existential threat to all. Lets look at the long-term sustainable benefits from cocoa instead of the short-term gratification from the money illegal miners will give you to destroy your farms, she advised. Mrs Adamu-Zibo also urged the community to work the school authorities to maintain the school in order to prolong its life span.
The Chief of Dormeabra, Nana Kweku Appiah was grateful to FEDCO for the school, saying, you ( FEDCO) have given us hope and we will ensure that, our children including those unborn are educated to the highest for them to come and help us.
He further asked for an ISS block so kids in the Community will not commute to nearby towns to attend school.
The Sourcing Manager at STORK, Marcus Bonemeier said contributing to the education of children in deprived Communities is their way of showing appreciation to their local partners. Cocoa Trader of WALTER MATTER, Aimon Bourqui was appreciative of the partnership as it has yielded positive benefits to all, adding that, there is room for more to be done and encouraged farmers to increase their yield, sell to them so they also adjust upwards their social investments.
Source: gbc
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The Ashanti South Regional Police Command has mounted investigations into the alleged rape and murder of a 22-year-old lady at Anwiankwanta, in the Asante Bekwai Municipality.
The deceased, Abenaa Georgina, an apprentice seamstress was said to have been picked up by some unknown people in a vehicle to drop her home, but that was her end.
After her family realised that she had not been in the house throughout the night, a search party was organized on Sunday morning and her body was discovered in an uncompleted building near her home.
Eyewitnesses said she was partially undressed, leading to suspicion that she might have been sexually assaulted before her death.
A police source told the Ghana News Agency that police are investigating circumstances leading to her mysterious death and to bring the perpetrators to book.
Frank Awuah, assembly member for the Anwiankwanta electoral area told the GNA that the police had assured the family and the people in the community of thorough investigations and called on anyone who had information to assist the police.
The mysterious death of the lady has thrown the community into a state of shock.
People in the community are calling for stringent security measures to curb the wave of mysterious deaths in the town.
It would be recalled that a seven-year-old boy was also murdered recently in the community by an unknown assailant.
Source: GNA
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NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg has warned that there will not be a swift end to the war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the full scale war between Russia and Ukraine in February 2022, Transatlantic military alliance, NATO has supported Ukraine with billions economically, militarily and politically. Ukraine has made joining NATO it's long term goal, but the Bloc says the war must end before Ukraine is admitted into the alliance .
Most wars last longer than expected when they first begin, the NATO chief said in an interview with Germanys Funke media group. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves for a long war in Ukraine.
We are all wishing for a quick peace, Stoltenberg added.
But at the same time, we must recognize: if President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians stop fighting, their country will no longer exist. If President Putin and Russia lay down their weapons, we will have peace, he said.
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Electoral Commission says there will be a continuous registration exercise in 2024.
In line with the ECs plans to promote an inclusive participatory registration process, they plan to institute continuous registration in all their district offices nationwide in 2024 for a considerable length of time.
It is important to note that this will not be the only registration exercise before the 2024 elections . . . In addition to that, we will identify difficult to access areas and undertake a mop up registration exercise in those areas. Of course, we will rely on data from the Ghana Statistical Service and our own database to determine areas where the registration figures are low, due to inaccessibility to our district offices, Mrs. Jean Mensa assured.
This Limited Registration exercise is an update of the register. It is to allow persons who have obtained the age of 18 years and above since the 2020 and others who had not previously registered the opportunity to register to vote.
It is not a full-blown registration, she added.
The Electoral Commission says it is aware that the their policy to use its 268 district offices as the registration centres has attracted criticism from some sections of the society.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
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The Electoral Commission on Monday, September 18, 2023 organized a press conference to update Ghanaians on the ongoing Limited Voters' Registration Exercise in its 'Let The Citizen Know' series.
Read attached the full speech of the Electoral Commission Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa.
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Source: Peacefmonline.com
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The leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa North Constituency of the Upper East Region, says it will not go to sleep because the Constituency is their stronghold.
Mr James Achaab, the Constituency Chairman of the Party, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview in Sandema that the Party would continue to work hard to maintain the Parliamentary seat and ensure former President John Dramani Mahama took over the administration of the country.
He emphasized that the Party would not take anything for granted and would mount a high-spirited campaign to maintain the seat and bring Mr Mahama back to power.
Yes, Builsa North Constituency is our stronghold, but we will not say because it is our stronghold, we will sleep over, no, we are working.
We are working, and that is why we have taken this limited voter registration exercise very seriously, he said.
He said the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Mr James Agalga, had worked hard to improve the lives of Constituents in all sectors of the economy, and supported the youth in the area when he was a Deputy Minister for the Interior.
According to the NDC Chairman, the people of the Constituency know the contributions of Mr Agalga in the Constituency over the years.
When he was not an MP and working as a lawyer in Accra, he used to help Builsas. When he eventually got the nod as MP and Deputy Minister, he continued to help the Constituency till date, he noted.
Mr Achaab said the NDC was not worried about the campaign activities of the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for the Constituency, Mr Thomas Kofi Alonsi.
We are not entertaining any fears at all about the campaign activities of Mr Alonsi. We in the NDC are not worried, Mr Agalga is not moved by that either. It is because Mr Alonsi wants power that is why he is visiting the Constituency frequently.
This is not his first time, he has lost to Mr Agalga before, so we are not worried, but focused on our mandate and campaigning on our track record which is obvious in the Constituency, he added.
The NDC had consistently won elections in the Constituency right from the 1992 general elections, but only lost to the NPPs Mrs Agnes Asangalisa Chigabatia in the 2004 elections.
The NDC took back the seat in the 2008 Parliamentary elections.
Mr Agalga won the seat in the 2016 election with 13,886 votes, representing 61.21 per cent while Mr Alonsi who contested in that election, polled 8,652 votes representing 38.14 per cent.
He again maintained the seat for the NDC in the 2020 elections when he polled 13,826 representing 56.60 per cent to beat Mr James Maurice Abakasi of the NPP who got 9,031 representing 36.97 per cent.
Some political observers in the Constituency said the contest for the seat between Mr Agalga and Mr Alonsi in the 2024 elections would be tough.
Source: GNA
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National Organizer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B) says claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the Electoral Commission (EC) will disentrance qualified voters in the ongoing Limited Voter Registration is fat lie.
He said on NEAT FMs morning show, 'Ghana Montie' that the process is going on smoothly and that no one will be disenfranchised.
His comment comes after the NDC flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama issued a statement to the effect.
North Tongu MP, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has also raised issues that qualified voters in the constituency are facing difficulties to register.
But Nana B, who disagrees with them said they are just playing political games to discredit the process.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana
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The Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo has refuted claims that former President John Mahama set up a fund for cocoa farmers pension scheme.
Speaking at a cocoa farmers conference in the Ahafo Region, Asunafo South MP, Eric Opoku, indicated Mr. Mahama set aside GHC 28.9 million as seed money for their pension scheme for which the Akufo-Addo government claims credit.
The Mahama administration left Ghc28.9 million as seed money for a cocoa farmer pension scheme before leaving office, but the current administration has misappropriated the money and continues to claim to have introduced the scheme, he told the farmers.
But in an interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" show, the COCOBOD Chief Executive says there is no record of the fund, adding the pension scheme was initiated in 1984 by the late Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings but wasn't implemented until President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assumed office.
He stated emphatically that the scheme was dormant for 35 years till the incumbent government started to roll it out.
"We all know it is President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who launched the scheme in 2020...the scheme had been neglected for 35 years...Rawlings is the person who initiated it and this is one specific thing he did to help the farmers. So, he made it a law in 1984 and the pension should be implemented in 1985 but it wasn't effected until 2020", he disclosed.
He revealed that COCOBOD has commenced enrolment into the scheme, however, it is optional to the farmers.
"It is voluntary and contributory...So, some farmer can decide I don't want the pension scheme."
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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During a Show Down walk on September 16, 2023, Kennedy Agyapong, the Member of Parliament for Assin Central, directed a salvo at an unidentified minister hailing from Bantama in the Ashanti region.
The minister according to Kennedy had allegedly claimed that if the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presents Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia as their candidate for the 2024 elections, they would lose, but that Bawumia would be well-marketed for a future election.
"It is surprising that a certain minister in Bantama has said that if they present Bawumia, he won't win. But if Mahama comes to power and he stays in opposition for four years, by the time the four years are over, he will be attractive. Oh Jesus Christ, if NPP doesn't understand the meaning of power, NDC does."
In response to these allegations, the Member of Parliament for Bantama and Minister of Workd and Housing, Francis Asenso Boakye, denied the said claims.
Boakye characterized the allegations as "blatant lies" and "politically puerile," emphasizing the NPP government's commitment to improving the well-being of Ghanaians.
He urged everyone to disregard Kennedy Agyapong's accusations and focus on building unity within the party, which he deemed essential for winning the upcoming 2024 elections.
However, tensions escalated as Kennedy Agyapong expressed his dissatisfaction with Asenso Boakye's response.
Speaking in an interview on Kessben TV on September 18, 2023, he vowed to confront the minister if he continued to attack him, warning that he was prepared to expose potentially damaging information about him.
Agyapong asserted that Boakye should insure his own integrity before targeting others.
During a conversation with a host, Kennedy Agyapong implied that Asenso Boakye had stayed at a friend's house in Adenta, suggesting that he possessed information that could be used against the minister if necessary.
Read an excerpt of his conversation with the host below
Host: The minister is in Bantama. Who is it
Kennedy: I won't tell you but if he has accepted it, so be it.
Host: Honourable we are on national television, is it Asenso or not?
Kennedy: Yes we are on national television, I mean that he is nobody for me to defend himbut I am advising him, if he wants to attack people he shouldnt try Kennedy Agyapong because if he does I will explain to him
He was staying at my friend David Anims house at Adenta, if he doesnt want trouble for himself he should keep quiet, you see that he has exposed himself, as he said I assumed, when you played the video, is that how it is?
Host: A Minister from Bantama
Kennedy: Yes, a Minister from Bantamawhy didnt he call to ask me about what I was saying, does he know the protection I have given to him, if he dares me I will embarrass him.
...because the first problem I had with President Akufo-Addo is because of Aseno Boakye. If he jokes, what I will do to him,if you are not clean dont come and try Kennedy Agyapongif he likes he should make a mistake.
Source: ghanaweb.com
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Kennedy Agyapong, a New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer aspirant has clarified recent comments that the party lost the 2024 elections in 2022.
Whiles standing by his comments despite stern critique from within about his claims, he explained that the comment was directed at fellow flagbearer contender, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
Agyapong explained that the issue of currency depreciation which spiked in 2022 and the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) were the two main economic factors that caused many voters to make up their minds.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Kessben FM on September 18, 2023; the Assin North lawmaker clarified who the comment was directed at:
I did not make it clear on the day, let me state it here. I was referring to Bawumia. It was Bawumia that said if the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you, have I said that? he quizzed.
If I win (flagbearership), I can easily defend my stance because some policies by the current Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government, like Free SHS, 1D1F will be maintained but I will review all other.
were my funds set aside that because I am an NPP person, it will not be affected by depreciation? If my money depreciated, am I the only affected businessman? he asked.
The NPP is currently gearing up to select its official flagbearer who would represent the party for the presidential seat in the 2024 general elections to be held in December 2024.
Kennedy Agyapong is competing against vice-president Mahumudu Bawumia, former Minister for Agriculture Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto and former MP for Mampong, Francis Addai Nimo.
The NPP is expected to hold its national delegates conference on November 4 to elect its flagbearer for the 2024 general elections.
What Kennedy Agyapong said:
We lost the 2024 elections in 2022. At the time the Ghana cedi destroyed the hard work of many businessmen, all the way to the tomato seller. Ghanaians will never forget that.
"The time the middle class went to court because their monies were lost, and the time the pensioners had their monies gone, Ghanaians will remember that, he stated.
He however reassured the people, telling them he was someone within the NPP who is always looking out for the masses and making sure no such situation happened again.
Source: ghanaweb.com
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The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says his orientation and life experiences have thought him to accord respect and create inclusive support for all because life is about helping one another.
Interacting with NPP stakeholders in Kukuom in the Asunafo South Constituency of the Ahafo Region, Dr. Bawumia said he believes in inclusive progress and creating opportunities.
"Everyone needs help, one way or the other," Dr. Bawumia said.
"That's why I believe in creating opportunities and giving people opportunities. Many people are looking for opportunities, and when you create opportunities, you change the life of many."
"My own life experience teaches me to be humble and respect everyone you meet because the cleaner you meet today, can be a Vice President tomorrow", he added.
He further said; "When I was in secondary school in Tamale, I used to go to the farm during holidays to support myself. I had an opportunity to study abroad and over there, I drove taxi and cleaned dormitories to earn some money to pay for my fees."
"All these teach me to be humble, to respect people and to also create opportunities for people."
Dr. Bawumia is in the Ahafo Region to continue his interactions with NPP stakeholders in all constituencies across the country.
Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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Nana Akomea has blasted the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) over claims that the Electoral Commission has deliberately sent faulty machines to their strongholds in its ongoing limited registration exercise.
The limited voter registration is targeting to register at least 1.35 million people who have turned 18 years old since the last registration exercise in 2020 but the opposition party accuses the Commission of trying to sabotage their strongholds.
The exercise which commenced on Tuesday, September 12 is expected to end on October 2, 2023.
At a media briefing on the exercise, NDC National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketiah alleged that the EC had intentionally taken faulty machines to some of its district offices in areas it deems as NDC strongholds to frustrate eligible voters.
There is not more than two centres where these breakdowns are happening which are in the stronghold of the NPP. All the rest are in the stronghold of the NDCIt is like his excellency when he was complaining about politicking within the bar association which turns to campaign at the bar conference, he said.
But Nana Akomea finds these accusations very ridiculous.
He wondered how the EC would send faulty machines to NDC strongholds when the situation didn't happen only in specific areas but across 15 Regions with only Savannah Region not recording the challenge.
To him, the NDC is using the challenge which has been rectified by the Commission as their ploy in deceiving Ghanaians.
He also refuted the opposition's claims that the National Identification Authority (NIA) is in cahoots with the ruling New Patriotic Party to rig next year's general elections.
"When you think about this mindset of the NDC, you simply can't understand it. To say we have sent [faulty] machines to your constituencies or Regions; such childish things!...Now, they are even saying that the National Identification Authority has conspired with the NPP to register Nigerians or foreigners and when you tell them that the foreigners are part of the national identification, just but they will receive a card that shows they are foreigners, something that everyone already knows but you hear them on radio throwing dust into the eyes of Ghanaians", the STC Chief Executive on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo".
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
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The Year of Return, Ghana 2019 was a kick-start campaign in Ghana that encouraged many from the black diaspora to trace their roots and find new opportunities in Ghana. Since then, Ghana has seen an influx of black diaspora and foreigners, especially during the Christmas festivities.
Notable personalities who have visited the country following the campaign include WWE champion Kofi Kingston, Idris Elba, Boris Codjoe, Usher, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Chance the Rapper. Increased revenue from tourism, investment deals, partnerships in various sectors and closure for the African diaspora have been some of the tangible benefits of this campaign.
The Ghana-Diaspora Property Festival is a groundbreaking event that brings together members of the diaspora community and real estate developers to explore investment opportunities in Ghana.
The event is being organized with the aim of attracting the top real estate developers both locally and internationally to have a stand at the festival and to showcase their properties to the world while creating a one-stop shop for everything property from building materials, sanitary ware, interior decor, furniture and properties.
The maiden edition is set to be held in the vibrant city of Accra this December 2023.The event will host both foreign and local exhibitors, real estate developers, suppliers, construction firms, banks and insurance companies among others.
By bringing together all these exhibitors and professionals from varying backgrounds within the business environment, part of the festivals primary objective is to facilitate business partnerships and create opportunities for investment.
There will be a colorful display of food, culture, and musical performance. The event is expected to attract thousands of people from the diaspora community and locally.
With a plethora of reasons to invest in Ghana, political stability, good returns on investment, easy accessibility, a fast-growing marketplace place, and alluring incentives are just to mention a few why investment in Ghanas real estate market is a no-brainer;Registration for the Ghana-Diaspora Property Festival is free for all exhibitors. All purchases by attendees to the event will enjoy incentives such as discounts even up to 15% off all products and exclusive networking opportunities.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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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
James Rainbolt typically can tackle most problems at his rural water plant with some extra time or money.
But he can't fix this.
"I just can't make it rain," he said.
Like others across Southeast Kansas, Rainbolt remains helpless as he watches a persistent drought dry up the local water supply. He runs a public wholesale water supply district that provides the drinking water for several cities and rural water districts. The lack of rain has been so severe that it's now threatening the water district's intake pipe, which brings water from a local lake to the treatment plant.
As lake levels fall, the angle at which the 8-inch pipe meets a floating pump station grows steeper and steeper, stressing the flexible joint. If the joint breaks, the consequences would be catastrophic, instantly cutting the water supply for thousands of people, businesses and schools across three counties.
"If we break it, we have no water. Period," said Jack Warren, the mayor of Sedan, Kansas, a county seat about 100 miles southeast of Wichita and the largest customer of the water district.
This part of Kansas is suffering what the U.S. Drought Monitor characterizes as exceptional drought, its most severe category. While droughts frequently wreak havoc on agriculture here, residents are facing unprecedented challenges with drinking water supplies. This corner of the state, which lacks the vast underground aquifers that sit below much of Kansas, is overly reliant on surface water such as lakes and rivers.
That means small towns and ranches face tough and expensive choices on where to draw water from, a problem likely to increase as climate change brings more extreme weather. And it's a quandary that stretches far beyond Kansas. Persistent drought is plaguing communities across the country's interior: The map created by the U.S. Drought Monitor shows its deepest red pockets across Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, among other states.
Lack of rain has hit crops hard: In Missouri, for example, 40% of the state's corn crop was classified as poor or very poor, according to the drought monitor. Iowa, the nation's top corn producer, is in the midst of its worst drought in a decade with about 80% of the state in some measure of drought.
Prolonged drought has even reached the banks of Lake Superior: Parts of Wisconsin have the most severe drought designation for the first time since the 1999 inception of the U.S. Drought Monitor, said Dennis Todey, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Midwest Climate Hub.
"It's the severity of the drought and the length of the drought that are causing some confounding issues right now," he said.
In Southeast Kansas, locals have taken extraordinary measures to conserve the dwindling lake water supply.
The city pool closed in the middle of the summer. So did the town's only car wash.
Local schools shut off drinking fountains, furnishing bottled water instead.
A community of about 900 people, Sedan has banned residents from using tap water for plants or lawns, forcing some to get creative. The mayor, for one, has been collecting the water that drains off his basement air conditioning unit to keep outdoor plants alive. The local movie theater is doing the same, allowing locals to come pick up its air conditioning runoff.
"Word's kind of got around about the various places you can go and get water," Warren said.
Conservation efforts appear to be working: Warren said Sedan has cut its water usage by about 30% since entering a stage 3 water emergency in early August.
"Drive around and you won't see a green yard in town," he said.
The water district just began construction on an emergency fix to its intake equipment. The work will essentially extend the floating dock farther into the lake, allowing the pipe to fall deeper into the water as the lake drops.
Locals, who noted that the drought has been ongoing since last year, said they've never seen a situation this severe.
"It just doesn't rain," said Rainbolt, who has lived in the area for nearly two decades. "This is not normal."
A church sign outside the First Assembly of God in Independence, Kan., is pictured here. Southeast Kansas is suffering some of the most severe drought conditions in the nation after months of lower-than-normal rainfall. Kevin Hardy/Stateline
Signs of drought
Sedan is surrounded by the foothills of the scenic Flint Hills, which contain the nation's largest concentration of remaining tallgrass prairie.
The sidewalks of the small downtown are an homage to "The Wizard of Oz": Sedan claims to be home to the world's largest Yellow Brick Road with more than 10,000 yellow bricks encircling the heart of town.
On average, the town sees nearly 40 inches of precipitation each year, according to National Weather Service data. But last year, Sedan reported only 28.32 inches. Through August of this year, the town has seen fewer than 18 inches.
Signs of drought are apparent throughout the region.
On the Red Buffalo Ranch outside of town, no water flows over the 14-foot Butcher Falls. Normally a scenic destination, visitors can now walk across dry boulders where water normally rolls.
At the edge of one nearby community, a church sign implores passers-by to "Pray for Rain." Inside another church, pews are filled with photocopies of a special prayer for rain.
After Sedan's public pool closed early this summer, the city allowed ranchers and farmers to pump out the remaining water. They've also allowed locals to pump water from a local fishing lake to bring water to dry farms.
"Where are you getting water? Wherever you can find it," said Jim Bell, a longtime farmer in the area who manages Sedan Farm Supply, which runs a small grain elevator and retail store selling feed, seed and other products.
This is the time of year farmers bring their combines out of the barn to reap the year's harvest. Bell said local corn yields aren't great but are better than people expected. Still, more than a year of lackluster precipitation and recent extreme heat has jeopardized many soybean crops.
"Soybeans are burning up in the field, the grass is burning up on the prairie. And water's becoming a bigger and bigger issue," he said. "Something needs to happen pretty quick."
The drought has threatened hay production, a necessity to keep livestock fed through cold Kansas winters. Bell said many ranchers, including himself, have culled their herds because of limited water and hay.
The five ponds on his family farm long ago went dry, forcing him to haul water he buys from the local water district. In nearly 50 years on the property, he said he's never seen things this dry.
"I've got one pond that I had no idea how deep it was until I saw the bottom of it this year," Bell said.
Luckily, the lake that supplies the area's drinking water hasn't totally dried up, though Rainbolt estimates water levels have dropped 8 or 9 feet below normal.
"Typically, there should be water right where we're standing," he said, perched atop dry rocks on a metal gangway that leads to the floating pumphouse.
The lake is so small locals don't even agree on its name: Some call it Murray Gill Lake. Others call it Quivira Lake or Boy Scout Lake, because of the regional Boy Scout council that owns the lake and runs the Quivira Scout Ranch on its banks each summer.
Whatever it's called, locals agree that the lake is a crucial, but threatened, lifeline. Through its various customers, the water district supplies treated water for some 7,000 residents, Rainbolt said.
Lake levels dropped so low that boat ramps and docks are unusable at the summer camp.
The water district has some reserve funds it will rely on and will also seek state and federal emergency funds to cover construction costs of upgrading and protecting the water intake structure, Rainbolt said.
"That's what this is: It's an emergency," he said.
Officials with the Kansas Water Office say they are well aware of the drought conditions in Southeast Kansas.
The state has encouraged communities to secure secondary sources of water, but that's easier said than done, according to Nathan Westrup, manager of the Kansas Water Office's public water supply programs.
That's especially true in Southeast Kansas, which is typically the wettest corner of the Sunflower State. Many water providers rely on a single river, lake or stream.
"It's more common than I would like," he said. "I'd say it's more common than not."
He noted that the GOP-controlled legislature made an extra $35 million available to protect water resources in a bill Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law in April. The legislation makes grants available to communities both for technical assistance and for major water projects.
"That's, in my opinion, just a start and a recognition that the state might be needed," Westrup said, "and is willing to assist these small, small communities."
'It is not going to be a cheap fix'
About 30 miles away, the small city of Caney, Kansas, has for decades relied on the Little Caney River, a small waterway, to feed its water treatment plant.
But that river's flow has been compromised for months. Water currently doesn't even fall over the concrete dam.
Kelley Zellner, city manager for the community of about 1,600 people on the Oklahoma border, blames the problem on a mix of environmental factors and previous decisions by city leaders.
Caney resisted previous regional efforts to consolidate water sourcing and treatment. It runs its own municipal water plant that relies on a singularand relatively precariouswater supply. Last year, county crews had to bring excavators to break up a logjam decades in the making that clogged water flow and accelerated evaporation.
Aside from the source issues, Zellner said the city is also struggling with an inefficient water plant and water lines. The plant was improperly designed for treating river water, he said. And a patchwork of duplicative, leaky city pipes causes the city to lose about 40% to 45% of its treated water.
Since last summer, city leaders have explored alternative water sources.
An attempt to connect with a water treatment plant in nearby Copan, Oklahoma, was unsuccessful. While the town is only about 9 miles away, moving water across state lines proved politically complicated and overly expensive.
Now, the city is eyeing a new water pipeline to connect to Coffeyville, a town of about 9,000 that sits along the Verdigris River. A tributary of the Arkansas River, the 310-mile Verdigris is replenished by several dams and reservoirs maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
But building a pipeline isn't easy or cheap.
Last week, engineers told the Caney City Council it would cost nearly $22 million to fix water infrastructure in town and construct a new pipeline to Coffeyville.
"You guys have quite the interesting predicament," Danny Coltrane, the owner of Midwest Engineering Group, told the council. "Unfortunately it is not going to be a cheap fix."
Coltrane said the city's crisis would likely help it compete for state and federal funding. That's because the city would tackle dual problems: the ongoing drought and the replacement of lead in its pipes, a major priority of the federal government.
Plus, some direct allocations could be made available through current congressional negotiations to reauthorize the farm bill, the omnibus bill that's expected to top $1 trillion for the first time.
"If you're related to a senator or representative, now would be the time to call them," Coltrane said.
The city just made its first formal proposal to connect to Coffeyville's water plant. The cost of running an 8-inch pipe over 14 miles is expected to top $7.6 millionwhen the city's total annual budget is about $7.2 million.
"So, $21 million is pretty big," Zellner said. "We're kind of at the mercy of the funding. I hate to say it that way, but we are."
After a presentation on Caney's water problems, the Coffeyville City Commission Tuesday evening expressed support for a new pipeline and voted to begin planning.
"We don't have a lot of options," Zellner told the commission. " We're not on our prayer bones yet but we could be."
Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.
2023 States Newsroom.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain
The number of workers taking antidepressants rises significantly when a company is going through financial turmoil, Ph.D. research by Daniel Karpati shows. Job loss is an important reason for soaring prescription rates, but employees who don't lose their jobs are also more likely to suffer from depression. To curb the psychological and economic costs of recessions, Karpati argues for more proactive mental health strategies in times of crisis.
When the global financial crisis hit in 2008, many companies suddenly found themselves struggling to stay afloat. But it was not just companies that were facing difficult and uncertain timesthe recession also took a heavy toll on employees. Karpati found that employee mental health worsened during the peak years of the recession, with employees of struggling firms taking the hardest hit.
Examining data of more than 300,000 employees in the Netherlands, Karpati found that employees at companies facing greater financial difficulties became more likely to use antidepressants. The most obvious explanation for soaring depression rates is job loss, which rose dramatically for people working at struggling companies during the financial crisis. But importantly, antidepressant use was also higher among employees who did not lose their job. "A potential explanation is that these employees suffered from the fear of job loss," Karpati explains.
Limiting the human and economic costs of crises
The research gives new insight into the psychological and economic burden of financial crises, showing that health-related productivity losses may be higher than previously thought. "An important finding is that negative mental health effects are not necessarily restricted to people who lose their jobs," Karpati says. "Employees of struggling firms who manage to keep their jobs can also be negatively affected."
To keep the human and economic costs of financial crises as low as possible, Karpati argues for more preventive mental health strategies. "Hopefully, our findings can encourage companies, unions and the government to address problems caused by firm-level financing difficulties in a more proactive way. By offering psychological support, for instance, or by adjusting the workload when companies are going through financial difficulties."
Daniel Karpati will defend his PhD thesis "Essays in Finance and Health" on 19 September 2023 at Tilburg University. An article based on the research is scheduled for publication in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.
More information: Corporate financial frictions and employee mental health. Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. research.tilburguniversity.edu 98-8399-9894f9a12a1f
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Marginal effect of political interest on EU authority perceptions. Note: Difference in predicted probability between political interest values two standard deviations above versus below the mean, for each answer choice and each question, separately, using multinomial probits as specified in Table 1. Put differently, the point estimates show how moving from low political interest to high political interest affects the probability of each outcome. Categorical and numerical variables are set at their mode and mean, respectively, and the reference country in each sample is used (typically Germany). Each model is estimated 500 times, sampling six countries with replacement. Mean point estimate and 95% confidence intervals are based on this cluster bootstrapped sampling distribution. MS: power of member states vs. European Commission, EP: power of European Parliament vs. European Commission, MEP: direct election of the Members of the European Parliament. Credit: European Union Politics (2023). DOI: 10.1177/14651165231193833
A significant share of voters see the EU as less democratic than it really is and believe the European Commission can steamroll its member states, a new study shows.
The research shows that key channels of legitimation in the EU are not well known by the citizens of large member states. Whether people see themselves only as citizens of their nation, or simultaneously as a European, is linked to what they believe about the EU.
A substantial share of EU voters who took part in the study believed that the members of the European Parliament are not directly elected. Many assumed the European Parliament is unimportant for decision making in Brussels.
Less than half of those who took part in the research knew which powers the EU has and which it does not have.
Some were aware of their gaps in knowledge about EU institutions, but a large number who had gaps in their knowledge also thought they were informed.
Those who said they did not hold a European identity were more likely to assume that the EU is less democratic than it is.
The research, published in the journal European Union Politics, was carried out by Florian Stoeckel, Jack Thompson and Jason Reifler from the University of Exeter, Vittorio Merola from Durham University and Benjamin Lyons from the University of Utah.
Professor Stoeckel said, "Not knowing how a complex institution like the EU works is completely understandable but it is problematic when people have the wrong idea about how the institution works and assume the organization is not as democratic as it is or has power over member states that it doesn't have. Populist parties can mobilize or exploit such misperceptions, or they create them in the first place."
"Our findings help elucidate the rhetorical value of 'taking back control' from Brussels. Indeed, to voters who believe that the European Commission can legislate against the will of a majority of MEPs or member states, European integration is likely to appear like an absolute loss of the sovereignty of the general will, rather than just a transfer of authority to another level."
Researchers carried out a survey in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden, with approximately 1,000 respondents per country, in February 2019. Participants were asked three questionsif MEPs are directly elected by voters; to react to the following statement: 'the European Commission can issue new laws even when a majority of MPs of the European Parliament objects' and whether the following statement is correct: 'the European Commission can issue new laws for the EU even when a majority of member states objects."
While the exact proportions vary by country and issue, the combined share of the uninformed and misinformed made up more than half of respondents.
For instance, a third (35 percent) of respondents knew the European Commission cannot pass laws against the will of a majority of Member States. In contrast, 40 percent of respondents wrongly believed the EC could override the will of member states, while another 25 percent were uninformed.
Respondents who took part in the study who described their identity in a narrow, national way thought of the EU as an organization with more unrestricted powers. They are more likely to wrongly believe MEPs are not directly elected and the European Commission can rule over the European Parliament and EU member states. They were less likely to know legislation needs to be approved by a majority of MEPs in order for it to become law.
Substantial portions of the public in all six countries were either uninformed or misinformed. Pooling responses across countries showed 19 percent held the misperception that MEPs are not directly elected and 21 percent of respondents answered that they 'don't know.'
A total of 22 percent of respondents said the European Commission could pass laws while overriding the objection of the European Parliament, while 27 percent of the respondents selected the 'don't know' category.
Only 35 percent of respondents correctly said that the European Commission cannot pass laws against the will of the member states of the EU, whereas 40 percent of respondents held a misperception and another 25 percent of respondents chose 'don't know.'
More information: Florian Stoeckel et al, Public perceptions and misperceptions of political authority in the European Union, European Union Politics (2023). DOI: 10.1177/14651165231193833
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Credit: AI-generated image
Ann Trappers harnessed a shock in her native Belgium to help heal social wounds across Europe.
After Islamic terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016 left 35 peopleincluding three suicide bombersdead and more than 300 injured, Trappers and her colleagues at a non-governmental organization called Foyer sought to rebuild community trust and cohesion.
No taboos
They used the NGO's long-established youth center in the religiously and ethnically diverse neighborhood of Molenbeek. Their experience fed into a research initiative to explore and foster religious tolerance in eight European countries.
"One of the ways in which we worked to counter radicalization was to ensure it didn't become a taboo subject," said Trappers, program coordinator at Foyer. "We wanted young people to be able to talk about it freely and safely in the setting of the youth center."
Concerns about growing polarization in Europe have pushed the issue up the EU political agenda.
The portfolio of a vice-president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, includes dialog with churches as well as religious associations and communities. The portfolio is called "Promoting our European Way of Life."
The EU is also putting its weight behind various initiativesincluding the Radicalisation Awareness Networkaimed at helping communities in Europe live harmoniously together.
The EU project in which Trappers was involved ran from May 2018 through October 2022 and was called RETOPEA. It brought together academic organizations from Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland and Spain as well as non-EU countries North Macedonia and the UK.
The project explored ways in which religion is regarded in the educational, professional and social realms. It also examined how peaceful religious coexistence has been established over history.
Past and present
The idea was to use insights gained from the past to inform thinking about religious tolerance today.
"It's not often you get the opportunity as a historian to make your work relevant," said Patrick Pasture, who coordinated RETOPEA and is a professor of modernity and society at Catholic University Leuven in Belgium.
The project delved into more than 400 primary source extracts from historical peace treaties, contemporary news reports and cultural snippets.
Based on these materials, teenagers from Foyer and other youth associations in each of the participating countries joined workshops to create their own video blogor "vlog"about religious tolerance and coexistence.
The vlogs, available on the RETOPEA website, include interviews with passersby, drawings and other creative work.
Pasture said the act of working together took the focus away from the participants' differences.
"The most important thing will always be that people have to learn to talkto refrain from immediately judging," he said.
Spreading the word
Pasture was struck by the number of students who were unaware of the religious beliefs of classmates and by how open they were to talking about the issue.
He said most participants were upset about the divisiveness of contemporary discussions of religion and 'hated' the rise of polarization.
Around a year after RETOPEA wrapped up, the results and materials collected are informing actions by interfaith organizations, governmental bodies and European teacher associations.
The project team is regularly invited to make presentations at teaching workshops and seminars in the EU and beyondplaces ranging from Austria and Italy to Jordan and Wales.
And the European Association of History Educatorsestablished in 1992 to build educational bridges on the continent following the collapse of communism in eastern Europeincludes the RETOPEA materials on its website.
Middle ground
Another research project looked specifically at the notion of tolerancehow it feels for people to push themselves to accept "others" and what it feels like to be "tolerated." The research relied mainly on questionnaires and online experiments.
"People have their own opinions and their own beliefs and we can't just expect them to give them up and consider everything of equal value," said Maykel Verkuyten, who led the initiative and is a professor in interdisciplinary social science at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Called InTo for Intergroup Toleration, the project ran for five years through September 2022.
In conducting studies in the Netherlands and Germany, Verkuyten and his team were pleasantly surprised to find that a clear majority of people regarded tolerance as an important societal value.
He said that most respondents agreed with, for example, the following two presented statements: "I accept it when other people do things that I wholeheartedly disapprove of" and "Everyone is allowed to live as he or she wants, even if it is at odds with what I think is good and right."
On a cautionary note, the team also found that it's far easier to move people towards greater intolerance than it is to make them more tolerant.
Verkuyten is driven by an interest in the middle ground of the whole subjectwhere space exists for differing views without any desire either to crush or to celebrate them.
He said this zone must be promoted through civics courses, human-rights lessons and other educational initiatives to help ensure the health of democracies and multicultural societies.
"There is something in between being very negative, discriminatory, and fully embracing all diversity," Verkuyten said. "That's essential for a functioning liberal democracy and indispensable for a culturally diverse society."
More information: RETOPEA
InTo
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Annelid samples found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. Credit: Wiklund et al.
The demand for rare raw materials, such as cobalt, is fueling the exploration of the deep-sea floor for mining. Commercial deep-sea mining is currently prohibited in areas beyond national jurisdiction, but companies are permitted exploratory operations in certain areas to assess their mineral wealth and measure environmental baselines.
The Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) is an area of the Pacific deep-sea floor spanning up to 6 million km2, found roughly between Hawaii and Mexico. Currently, it has 17 contracts for mineral exploration covering 1.2 million km2. However, despite relatively extensive mineral exploration beginning in the 1960's, baseline biodiversity knowledge of the region is still severely lacking. Even the most basic scientific question "What lives there?" has not been fully answered yet.
In a new paper researchers report on the marine life of the CCZ, focusing on annelid worms. Annelids represent one of the largest group of macroinvertebrates living within the mud covering the sea floor of CCZ, both in terms of number of individuals and the number of species. Data from recent oceanographic cruises enabled researchers from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden and the Natural History Museum London to discover more than 300 species of annelids from around 5,000 records.
The annelid species, many considered to be new to science, were discovered through employment of traditional morphological approaches and modern molecular techniques. The current study focuses on 129 such species across 22 annelid families.
Previously, the authors of this study formalized 18 new species, while altogether reporting on 60 CCZ species, including most recently 6 species in family Lumbrineridae. The lead author Helena Wiklund from University of Gothenburg comments, "Taxonomy is the most important knowledge gap we have when studying these unique habitats and the potential impact of mining operations. We need to know what lives there to inform the protection of these ecosystems."
To further understand the CCZ, scientists sail the Pacific Ocean on research expeditions that employ sampling techniques ranging from the technical, like remote-controlled vehicles that traverse the ocean floor, to the simple, like a sturdy box corer collecting sediment at the bottom.
"Sadly, the soft-bodied annelids are often damaged during the collection and sediment sieving onboard," says annelid taxonomist Lenka Neal from the Natural History Museum London. As a result, the traditional morphological approach is often of limited use when working with the deep-sea specimens, with taxonomists increasingly employing DNA techniques as well.
Over the last decade, scientists have generated a large amount of annelid data. Such data are only of use when made available through publication to the wider scientific community and other stakeholders inferences, and even more rarely make the specimens and all associated metadata available in a FAIR way.
"In this study, we have made a significant and time-consuming attempt to do this, in a region of the global oceans where critical policy decisions are being made that could impact the way humanity obtains its resources and manages its environment in a sustainable way," the researchers write in their paper, which was published in the Biodiversity Data Journal.
The team behind the research hope that this still partial checklist of CCZ annelids, many in too poor state of preservation to be immediately described, is a key step forward towards creating future field guides for the area's wildlife. Given that mining operations in the area could be imminent with the International Seabed Authority considering applications this year, the use of biological data for environmental management has become more important than ever.
More information: Helena Wiklund et al, Checklist of newly-vouchered annelid taxa from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, central Pacific Ocean, based on morphology and genetic delimitation, Biodiversity Data Journal (2023). DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.11.e86921 Journal information: Biodiversity Data Journal
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LLF National Park Gonarezhou in Zimbabwe. The name translates to "place of many elephants." Credit: Daniel Rosengren, ZGF
The establishment and preservation of protected areas is a key measure for achieving the goals set during the World Conference on Nature in December 2022. However, such protected areas often need to fulfill multiple objectives, such as climate protection or biodiversity conservationwhich frequently leads to conflicts between different interest groups.
In their study, recently published in the journal One Earth, Senckenberg researchers advocate for a flexible and transparent selection of protected areas as potential recipients of scarce conservation funding. A new online tool they developed enables the weighting of different conservation goals as well as the real-time comparison of results on a global scale.
Currently, strictly protected nature reserves make up only about 6% of Germany's land area. Worldwide, around 17% of the land area and 8% of coastal and marine areas are protected. According to the resolutions of the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal, at least 30% of terrestrial and marine areas should become nature reserves by 2030.
"These areas are expected to meet a wide range of objectives, from protecting biodiversity to providing ecosystem services and mitigating climate change. But which areas should be funded in a particularly sustainable way because they are especially beneficial to biodiversity goals?" asks the study's first author, Dr. Alke Voskamp of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Center Frankfurt (SBiK-F), explaining the dilemma of the decision-making process. She continues, "Since available land and funds for conservation are limited, optimizing the selection of the most beneficial protected areas is crucial."
Together with other Senckenberg researchers and international colleaguesincluding the recipients of the German Environmental Award, Prof. Dr. Katrin Bohning-Gaese (SBiK-F) and Dr. Christof Schenck (Frankfurt Zoological Society, ZGF)Voskamp has now developed a decision support tool. "We present a flexible and transparent approach to selecting protected areas based on multiple objectives. This makes it possible to highlight synergies and conflicting objectives in connection with the selection of protected areas, thus aiding in making transparent decisions," says second author Prof. Dr. Susanne Fritz of the SBiK-F and Goethe University Frankfurt.
It is not an easy task to select a suitable area slated for permanent protection in the future. Nature reserves focusing on particularly species-rich regions would have to be located in the Andes, the East African rift zone, or on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, for example. Rare and endemic animals and plants, on the other hand, are more likely to be found in island ecosystems such as present on Madagascar. "And when it comes to expansive, virtually untouched habitats, protected areas would have to be established in the far north in Russia or Canada," adds Bohning-Gaese of the SBiK-F.
The current version of the decision support tool contains 1,347 potential nature reserves based on the criteria of the "Legacy Landscapes Fund" (LLF), which was also involved in the study. The LLF is an international foundation that aims to permanently fund the protection of at least 30 areas of exceptional biodiversity by 2030. Users can combine and weight six conservation goalsbiodiversity, ecological integrity, climate stability, land use, climate change mitigation, and site sizewith the help of a slide controller.
"For example, if the weightings for 'biodiversity' and 'ecological integrity' are equal, our tool for the South American continent shows a list of protected areas in a specific ranking. If you exchange ecological integrity for climate protection, the list and ranking will turn out differently," explains co-author Schenck, director of the ZGF. He continues, "Above all, our work shows that a diversified approach to conservation is needed on a global scale, since no area on Earth can meet all conservation goals."
"We hope that our new tool will help decision-makers to select the best areas for biodiversity conservation, according to the criteria that are most important to the respective decision-makers, based on the best scientific data. The 30x30 target, with the right selection and configuration of protected areas, will greatly advance biodiversity conservation while making a major contribution to climate protection," says Voskamp.
More information: Alke Voskamp et al, Utilizing multi-objective decision support tools for protected area selection, One Earth (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2023.08.009 Journal information: One Earth
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Artistic rendering of the unusual behavior of azulene. Credit: Tomas Bellon / IOCB Prague
Researchers at IOCB Prague are the first to describe the causes of the behavior of one of the fundamental aromatic molecules, which fascinates the scientific world not only with its blue color but also with other unusual propertiesazulene. Their current undertaking will influence the foundations of organic chemistry in the years to come and in practice will help harness the maximum potential of captured light energy. Their article appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
Azulene has piqued the curiosity of chemists for many years. The question of why it is blue, despite there being no obvious reason for this, was answered almost 50 years ago by a scientist of global importance, who, coincidentally, had close ties with IOCB Prague, Prof. Josef Michl.
Now, Dr. Tomas Slanina is following in his footsteps in order to offer his colleagues in the field the solution to another puzzle. He and his colleagues have convincingly described why the tiny azulene molecule violates the universal Kasha's rule.
This rule explains how molecules emit light upon transitioning to various excited states. If we use the analogy of an ascending staircase, then the first step (the first excited state of the molecule) is high, and each subsequent step is lower and therefore closer to the previous one. The smaller the distance between the steps, the faster the molecule tends to fall from the step to lower levels. It then waits the longest on the first step before returning to the base level, whereupon it can emit light. But azulene behaves differently.
To explain the behavior of azulene, researchers at IOCB Prague used the concept of (anti)aromaticity. Again, simply put, an aromatic substance is not characterized by an aromatic smell but by being stable, or satisfied, if you will. Some chemists even refer to it informally with the familiar smiley face emoticon.
An antiaromatic substance is unstable, and the molecule tries to escape from this state as quickly as possible. It leaves the higher energy state and falls downward. On the first step, azulene is unsatisfied, i.e. antiaromatic, and therefore falls downward in the order of picoseconds without having time to emit light.
On the second step, however, it behaves like a satisfied aromatic substance. And that is important. It can exist in this excited state for even a full nanosecond, and that is long enough to emit light. Therefore, the energy of this excited state is not lost anywhere and is completely converted into a high-energy photon.
With their research, Slanina's team is responding to the needs of the present, which seeks a way to ensure that the energy from photons (e.g., from the sun) captured by a molecule is not lost and that it can be further used (e.g., to transfer energy between molecules or for charge separation in solar cells).
The goal is to create molecules that manage light energy as efficiently as possible. Additionally, in the current paper, the researchers show in many cases that the property of azulene is transferable; it can be simply attached to the structure of any aromatic molecule, thanks to which that molecule gets the key properties of azulene.
Tomas Slanina adds, "I like theories that are so simple you can easily envision, remember, and then put them to use. And that's exactly what we've succeeded in doing. We've answered the question of why molecules behave in a certain way, and we've done it using a very simple concept."
In their research, the scientists at IOCB Prague used several unique programs that can calculate how electrons in a molecule behave in the aforesaid higher excited states. Little is known about these states in general, so the work is also groundbreaking because it opens the door to their further study. Moreover, the article published in JACS is not only computational but also experimental.
Researchers from Tomas Slanina's group supported their findings with an experiment that accurately confirmed the correctness of the calculated data. They also collaborated with one of the world's most respected authorities in the field of (anti)aromatic molecules, Prof. Henrik Ottosson of Uppsala University in Sweden. And this is the second time JACS has taken an interest in their collaboration; the first time was in relation to research on another primary moleculebenzene.
Yet the story of azulene is even more layered. It concerns not only photochemistry but also medicine. Like the first area, the second also bears the seal of IOCB Pragueone of the first drugs developed in its laboratories was an ointment based on chamomile oil containing a derivative of azulene.
Over the decades, the little box labeled Dermazulen, which contains a preparation with healing and anti-inflammatory effects, has found its place in first-aid kits throughout the country.
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New research published in Public Opinion Quarterly reveals a correlation between the number of times President Donald Trump repeated falsehoods during his presidency and misperceptions among Republicans, and that the repetition effect was stronger on the beliefs of people who consume information primarily from right-leaning news outlets.
By the time President Trump left office, he had made an estimated 30,573 false claims, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker, which informed this study. Some of these claims were repeated dozens and hundreds of times in various news and social media outlets.
To understand whether and to what extent the repetition of Trump's falsehoods affected public misperceptions, researchers at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development surveyed 754 U.S. participants on 150 of Trump's claims; 301 participants were registered Republicans and 453 were Democrats or not affiliated with either party.
The survey did not reveal that the claims were made by Trump or how many claims were true or false. After completing truth ratings on all claims, participants completed optional questions about their demographic backgrounds as well as news and social media consumption.
The researchers found that repetition of Trump's false claims correlated with belief in the claims among Republicans but not Democrats; in fact, increased repetition of the claims correlated with a decrease in Democrats' misperceptions. These findings build on prior research on the "illusory truth effect," which contends that repetition increases belief in both true and false statements.
The type of media consumed may explain the partisan asymmetry in belief of Trump's claims, as the authors write, "Republicans may consume news media that amplifies these false claims, while Democrats may consume media that ignores or outright rejects them. Thus, repeated falsehoods by Trump may increase belief regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat sees it, but because news outlets' coverage of Trump's falsehoods varied, Republicans were more likely to see these false claims."
"We believe that the news media plays an important role in mediating the relation between what politicians say and what the public hears. Democrats and Republicans tend to listen to different media outlets and so were more or less likely to hear what Trump said and whether it was false," said Lisa Fazio, associate professor of psychology and human development and senior author on the paper.
In particular, the repetition effect was strongest among participants who predominantly watched Fox News, especially among Republicans. In addition, claims repeated mostly through X, the company formerly named Twitter, were more likely to increase belief for both Republicans and Democrats, "possibly because such claims gained broad coverage through, for instance, cable news," the authors write.
"These findings highlight the ways that prominent politicians may be able to shape public opinion, and they highlight the need for more to be done to curb the spread of misinformation in contexts like social media," said Raunak Pillai, the study's first author and a psychology doctoral student in Fazio's Building Knowledge Lab.
Ultimately, the researchers say that the results of this study suggest that repeated false statements by politicians may play an important role in creating misperceptions among the public.
More information: Raunak M Pillai et al, All the President's Lies: Repeated False Claims and Public Opinion, Public Opinion Quarterly (2023). DOI: 10.1093/poq/nfad032 Journal information: Public Opinion Quarterly
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16 new species have been added to the group, Loboscelidia, based on their unique physical characteristics. Scale bar = 0.5 mm. Credit: Yu Hisasue et al. (2023) European Journal of Taxonomy, Kyushu University
Researchers at Kyushu University and Vietnam's National Museum of Nature have discovered 16 new species of Loboscelidia, a strange-looking and elusive group of parasitoid wasps. The scientists also reported for the first time the unique parasitic behavior of a captive female of one species, Loboscelidia squamosa, who was observed digging a hole in the soil to hide her host's egg.
The findings were published in the European Journal of Taxonomy.
While we are more familiar with hunting wasps like yellowjackets, with their dramatic black and yellow stripes and painful stings, parasitoid wasps make up the vast majority of wasp species. They are often tiny (Loboscelidia wasps are between 25 mm in body length, smaller than a pencil-top eraser) and while unnoticed by humans, they play a crucial role in regulating the ecosystem.
"Parasitoid wasps act as a parasite of other insects. They lay their eggs in or on the bodies or eggs of their host, ultimately killing them," says Assistant Professor Toshiharu Mita of Kyushu University's Faculty of Agriculture, who led the research.
Despite their ecological importance, very little is known about many groups of parasitoid wasps, including Loboscelidia. Prior research into the group has suggested that they parasitize the eggs of stick insects, also known as walking sticks.
"Loboscelidia was first discovered around 150 years ago, but we still lack important knowledge about their biology. This study was the first time we were able to observe their parasitic behavior," says first author, Dr. Yu Hisasue, formerly a Ph.D. student supervised by Mita.
Mita and Hisasue, along with their colleague, Dr. Thai-Hong Pham of the National Museum of Nature, Vietnam, conducted field surveys at six sites across Vietnam, setting traps and using nets to capture the tiny parasitoid wasps.
A series of photos captures the moment a captive female wasp from the species Loboscelidia squamosa lays her egg inside a stick insect egg before carrying and burying it in the soil. This marks the first time that this parasitic behavior has been observed. Credit: Yu Hisasue, Kyushu University
On one occasion, they trapped a living female from one of the newly described species, Loboscelidia squamosa. They released her into a plastic container containing soil and placed a stick insect egg inside. The female wasp punctured the egg, laid her own egg inside and then searched for a location to bury the parasitized egg. She used her head to dig a hole, placed the host egg inside and plugged the entrance with soil.
This parasitic behavior is very developed, and similar to the nest building behavior seen in solitary hunting wasps. The researchers therefore believe that further research could help shed light on how these behaviors evolved in other wasps. It could also help explain the unique specialized head structure of Loboscelidia wasps, which could be useful for digging holes in the soil.
By the end of the field survey, the scientists had collected 70 individuals from the Loboscelidia group, taking high-resolution close-up photos of each wasp. One unusual feature of the wasps was the presence of hairs at the back of their head and on their body, with the arrangement and density of body hairs differing between each species.
In total, the scientists identified 16 new species, bringing the known number of species worldwide up to 67.
"The Loboscelidia wasps were thought to be rare group with a small number of species, but with one stroke, we have increased the number of species by 30%," says Mita.
Importantly, each species was typically found in a very limited area, usually only at one collection site. This makes it likely that the group has many more species that still could be discovered with further field surveys. However, it also highlights the vulnerability of each species.
"As each species is only found in a small area, any disruption to their habitat could result in the loss of that species forever," concludes Hisasue.
More information: Yu Hisasue et al, Taxonomic revision of the genus Loboscelidia Westwood, 1874 (Hymenoptera: Chrysididae: Loboscelidiinae) from Vietnam, European Journal of Taxonomy (2023). DOI: 10.5852/ejt.2023.877.2203
Provided by Kyushu University
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This figure shows forest loss between 2001 and 2020. The loss of forest is shown in pink. Forest is defined as 50% tree cover and is shown in green. Credit: Annual Review of Economics (2023). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-090622-024705
Imagine if France, Germany and Spain were completely blanketed in forestsand then all those trees were quickly chopped down. That's nearly the amount of deforestation that occurred globally between 2001 and 2020, with profound consequences.
Deforestation is a major contributor to climate change, producing between 6% and 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2009 study. Meanwhile, because trees also absorb carbon dioxide, removing it from the atmosphere, they help keep the Earth cooler. And climate change aside, forests protect biodiversity.
"Climate change and biodiversity make this a global problem, not a local problem," says MIT economist Ben Olken. "Deciding to cut down trees or not has huge implications for the world."
But deforestation is often financially profitable, so it continues at a rapid rate. Researchers can now measure this trend closely: In the last quarter-century, satellite-based technology has led to a paradigm change in charting deforestation. New deforestation datasets, based on the Landsat satellites, for instance, track forest change since 2000 with resolution at 30 meters, while many other products now offer frequent imaging at close resolution.
"Part of this revolution in measurement is accuracy, and the other part is coverage," says Clare Balboni, an assistant professor of economics at the London School of Economics (LSE). "On-site observation is very expensive and logistically challenging, and you're talking about case studies. These satellite-based data sets just open up opportunities to see deforestation at scale, systematically, across the globe."
Balboni and Olken have now helped write a new paper providing a road map for thinking about this crisis. The open-access article, "The Economics of Tropical Deforestation," was published this month in the Annual Review of Economics.
So, how can the world tackle deforestation? It starts with understanding the problem.
Replacing forests with farms
Several decades ago, some thinkers, including the famous MIT economist Paul Samuelson in the 1970s, built models to study forests as a renewable resource; Samuelson calculated the "maximum sustained yield" at which a forest could be cleared while being regrown. These frameworks were designed to think about tree farms or the U.S. national forest system, where a fraction of trees would be cut each year, and then new trees would be grown over time to take their place.
But deforestation today, particularly in tropical areas, often looks very different, and forest regeneration is not common.
Indeed, as Balboni and Olken emphasize, deforestation is now rampant partly because the profits from chopping down trees come not just from timber, but from replacing forests with agriculture. In Brazil, deforestation has increased along with agricultural prices; in Indonesia, clearing trees accelerated as the global price of palm oil went up, leading companies to replace forests with palm tree orchards.
All this tree-clearing creates a familiar situation: The globally shared costs of climate change from deforestation are "externalities," as economists say, imposed on everyone else by the people removing forest land. It is akin to a company that pollutes into a river, affecting the water quality of residents.
"Economics has changed the way it thinks about this over the last 50 years, and two things are central," Olken says. "The relevance of global externalities is very important, and the conceptualization of alternate land uses is very important." This also means traditional forest-management guidance about regrowth is not enough. With the economic dynamics in mind, which policies might work, and why?
The search for solutions
As Balboni and Olken note, economists often recommend "Pigouvian" taxes (named after the British economist Arthur Pigou) in these cases, levied against people imposing externalities on others. And yet, it can be hard to identify who is doing the deforesting.
Instead of taxing people for clearing forests, governments can pay people to keep forests intact. The UN uses Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as part of its REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) program. However, it is similarly tough to identify the optimal landowners to subsidize, and these payments may not match the quick cash-in of deforestation. A 2017 study in Uganda showed PES reduced deforestation somewhat; a 2022 study in Indonesia found no reduction; another 2022 study, in Brazil, showed again that some forest protection resulted.
"There's mixed evidence from many of these [studies]," Balboni says. These policies, she notes, must reach people who would otherwise clear forests, and a key question is, "How can we assess their success compared to what would have happened anyway?"
Some places have tried cash transfer programs for larger populations. In Indonesia, a 2020 study found such subsidies reduced deforestation near villages by 30%. But in Mexico, a similar program meant more people could afford milk and meat, again creating demand for more agriculture and thus leading to more forest-clearing.
At this point, it might seem that laws simply banning deforestation in key areas would work bestindeed, about 16% of the world's land overall is protected in some way. Yet the dynamics of protection are tricky. Even with protected areas in place, there is still "leakage" of deforestation into other regions.
Still more approaches exist, including "nonstate agreements," such as the Amazon Soy Moratorium in Brazil, in which grain traders pledged not to buy soy from deforested lands, and reduced deforestation without "leakage."
Also, intriguingly, a 2008 policy change in the Brazilian Amazon made agricultural credit harder to obtain by requiring recipients to comply with environmental and land registration rules. The result? Deforestation dropped by up to 60% over nearly a decade.
This figure shows the percentage of forest cover in 2000 near the border between Brazil, on right, and Bolivia. The black solid line is the Brazilian border. Forest cover is represented in shades of green, and white represents deforested areas. The red overlay marks protected areas as of 2004, and the blue overlay marks private non-protected land. Credit: Annual Review of Economics (2023). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-090622-024705
Politics and pulp
Overall, Balboni and Olken observe, beyond "externalities," two major challenges exist. One, it is often unclear who holds property rights in forests. In these circumstances, deforestation seems to increase. Two, deforestation is subject to political battles.
For instance, as economist Bard Harstad of Stanford University has observed, environmental lobbying is asymmetric. Balboni and Olken write, "The conservationist lobby must pay the government in perpetuity while the deforestation-oriented lobby need pay only once to deforest in the present." And political instability leads to more deforestation because "the current administration places lower value on future conservation payments."
Even so, national political measures can work. In the Amazon from 2001 to 2005, Brazilian deforestation rates were three to four times higher than on similar land across the border, but that imbalance vanished once the country passed conservation measures in 2006. However, deforestation ramped up again after a 2014 change in government. Looking at particular monitoring approaches, a study of Brazil's satellite-based Real-Time System for Detection of Deforestation (DETER), launched in 2004, suggests that a 50% annual increase in its use in municipalities created a 25% reduction in deforestation from 2006 to 2016.
How precisely politics matters may depend on the context. In a 2021 paper, Balboni and Olken (with three colleagues) found that deforestation actually decreased around elections in Indonesia. Conversely, in Brazil, one study found that deforestation rates were 8% to 10% higher where mayors were running for re-election between 2002 and 2012, suggesting incumbents had deforestation industry support.
"The research there is aiming to understand what the political economy drivers are," Olken says, "with the idea that if you understand those things, reform in those countries is more likely."
Looking ahead, Balboni and Olken also suggest that new research estimating the value of intact forest land intact could influence public debates. And while many scholars have studied deforestation in Brazil and Indonesia, fewer have examined the Democratic Republic of Congo, another deforestation leader, and sub-Saharan Africa.
Deforestation is an ongoing crisis. But thanks to satellites and many recent studies, experts know vastly more about the problem than they did a decade or two ago, and with an economics toolkit, can evaluate the incentives and dynamics at play.
"To the extent that there's ambuiguity across different contexts with different findings, part of the point of our review piece is to draw out common themesthe important considerations in determining which policy levers can [work] in different circumstances," Balboni says. "That's a fast-evolving area. We don't have all the answers, but part of the process is bringing together growing evidence about [everything] that affects how successful those choices can be."
More information: Clare Balboni et al, The Economics of Tropical Deforestation, Annual Review of Economics (2023). DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-090622-024705
This story is republished courtesy of MIT News (web.mit.edu/newsoffice/), a popular site that covers news about MIT research, innovation and teaching.
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Identification chart of stars located through the area of NGC 2509. Credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2309.05037
Using data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers from the Istanbul University have inspected a Galactic open cluster known as NGC 2509. Results of the study, published September 10 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver important insights into the structural and astrophysical parameters of this cluster.
Open clusters (OCs), formed from the same giant molecular cloud, are groups of stars loosely gravitationally bound to each other. So far, more than 1,000 of them have been discovered in the Milky Way, and scientists are still looking for more, hoping to find a variety of these stellar groupings. Expanding the list of known galactic open clusters and studying them in detail could be crucial for improving our understanding of the formation and evolution of our galaxy.
NGC 2509 is an intermediate age OC located in the constellation of Puppis. It is a poorly studied cluster and many of its properties are still uncertain or unknown. For instance, some studies report that NGC 2509 is located about 3,000 light years away, while others point to a much larger distance of at least 8,000 light years. The cluster's age estimates are also debated as the results range from 1 to 8 billion years.
That is why Istanbul University's astronomers Talar Yontan and Seliz Koc decided to investigate NGC 2509 by analyzing astrometric and photometric data from the latest Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3).
"We performed Gaia DR3 astrometric and photometric data-based study of intermediate-age open cluster NGC 2509. (...) We created the catalog of NGC 2509 by considering a 20 arcmin radius circular field from the cluster center," the researchers wrote in the paper.
Given that OCs are mostly affected by foreground and background stars, the first goal of Yontan and Koc was to separate cluster members from field stars to determine more precise fundamental parameters of NGC 2509. Based on the data from DR3, they calculated membership probabilities of stars in the region of NGC 2509. This resulted in classification of 244 stars as most likely members with membership probabilities of over 50%.
By further analyzing the 244 identified stars, the astronomers found that NGC 2509 has a mean proper motion of -2.72 and 0.8 mas/year in right ascension and declination, respectively. The cluster's distance was estimated to be approximately 8,200 light years, while its age is most likely 1.5 billion years.
The study also found that NGC 2509 has a limiting radius of about 16.7 light years and reddening of 0.1 mag. The metallicity of the cluster was measured to be at a level of 0.0152 dex and its central stellar density turned out to be about 32.33 stars/arcmin2.
More information: T. Yontan et al, Astrophysical Parameters of the Open Cluster NGC 2509, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2309.05037 Journal information: arXiv
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This data visualization shows sea surface heights off the northern California coast in August as measured by the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite. Red indicates higher-than-average heights, due to a marine heat wave and a developing El Nino, while blue signals lower-than-average heights. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
The international Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission is able to measure ocean features, like El Nino, closer to a coastline than previous space-based missions.
Warm ocean waters from the developing El Nino are shifting north along coastlines in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Along the coast of California, these warm waters are interacting with a persistent marine heat wave that recently influenced the development of Hurricane Hilary. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is able to spot the movement of these warm ocean waters in unprecedented detail.
A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales), SWOT is measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth's surface, providing one of the most detailed, comprehensive views yet of the planet's oceans and fresh water lakes and rivers.
Water expands as it warms, so sea levels tend to be higher in places with warmer water. El Ninoa periodic climate phenomenon that can affect weather patterns around the worldis characterized by higher sea levels and warmer-than-average ocean temperatures along the western coast of the Americas. The image above shows sea surface heights off the U.S. West Coast, near the California-Oregon border, in August. Red and orange indicate higher-than-average ocean heights, while blue and green represent lower-than-average heights.
The SWOT science team made the measurements with the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument. With two antennas spread 33 feet (10 meters) apart on a boom, KaRIn produces a pair of data swaths as it circles the globe, bouncing radar pulses off the water's surface to collect water-height measurements. The visualization combines data from two passes of the SWOT satellite.
"SWOT's ability to measure sea surface so close to the coast will be invaluable for researchers but also forecasters looking at things like the development and progress of worldwide phenomena like El Nino," said Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
In its September outlook, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast a greater than 70% chance for a strong El Nino this coming winter. In addition to warmer water, El Nino is also associated with a weakening of the equatorial trade winds. The phenomenon can bring cooler, wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia.
Governor Hochul signed legislation into law that will allow Warren County to enter into the CDTA transportation network and for the CDTA to merge with Greater Glens Falls Transit. The transition to the CDTA will offer increased accessibility and transportation options for Warren County residents, officials have said.
The GGFT will cease to exist after it is merged with CDTA, and CDTA will operate in Warren County, according to interim Transportation Director Mary Hastings.
Short term there should be no changes for a while until CDTA can look over the overall service. There might be some improvement to go more computerized than GGFT is at this point, but I think thats slowly trying to be phased in, Hastings said.
After the Warren County Board of Supervisors voted to approve the transition in May, the County announced that CDTA will work with the City of Glens Falls to transition employees at GGFT. CDTA will also work to assume the GGFT assets, including equipment, property, and other administrative items. It will be a months-long transition.
Increasing transportation access to airports, train stations, special events and area recreation will also help increase regional economic development initiatives, Assembly member Carrie Woerner said a joint statement that she and New York Sen. Dan Stec released on Monday Sept. 18, after Hochul signed the bill. The two had introduced the legislation to the New York Legislature.
This will be a great help to Warren County residents who rely on mass transit, by offering expanded services and the opportunity for future expansion. Thank you to the governor for signing this legislation into law and helping to enhance the quality of life for Warren County residents, Stec said in the statement.
This bill was in direct response to growing community needs, and I am grateful to Governor Hochul for its signing, Woerner said. The CDTA network of transportation services is vast and this legislation will help expand it even further to include the communities of Warren County.
Hastings recently took over the role of GGFT director when former director Scott Sopczyk retired.
Operated by Glens Falls, the bus system struggled during and after the pandemic. The bus system had a hard time finding drivers and had to pare back routes at times, especially in the summer months. CDTA stepped in and helped to keep the system afloat.
Mayor Collins and leadership in the county, including County Administrator John Taflan, championed the take-over.
The other option, if GGFT is not going to continue after this year, is for Warren County to take it over. We arent any better equipped or staffed to handle those responsibilities, Taflan said in May when the board was preparing to vote.
Spargel on Nine, a German, fine dining restaurant, will open at 925 Route 9 in Queensbury in November, replacing the 40 Oak Adirondack Grill Restaurant that closed this summer.
Spargel is German for asparagus.
Germans are crazy about their asparagus, Owner and Chef Christian Raeth said. The naming process took a long time because he wanted to avoid the stereotypical German names.
Theres way more to German cooking than the Sauerbraten, Spargel said. Well have all the classics, the Sauerbraten and Schnitzel, but then theres the fine dining aspect to it that nobody dabbles in.
Raeth notes how German cuisine has been heavily influenced by surrounding cultures since its geographically landlocked in central Europe. The menu will be large and diverse to reflect that.
Over the hundreds of years, a lot of things nestled in the German cuisine and got adopted and evolved. This is where we come in. We take this cuisine and show it to Upstate New York, Raeth said. The idea is to give you the real experience of walking into a German restaurant.
For Raeth, he doesnt want to get caught up in the gimmicky aspects of German restaurant culture, such as the chicken dance or lederhosen.
Were only concentrating on high quality food and high quality service, Raeth added.
In 1984, Raeth, then 15-years-old, began his apprenticeship in Germany. After he graduated he worked all over Europe before arriving in the United States in the early 90s to work as a Sous Chef at the Albany Country Club. For the last 12 years, Raeth has worked at Sysco Foods as a Premium Protein Specialist.
(In an online advertisement, Sysco, lists the premium protein specialist position as primarily a sales position that requires the person to have expertise in the center of the plate, or the meat and seafood portion of the dinner.)
Raeth specializes in making his own brats, a skill hes very proud of.
Im really trying to showcase all my experience over the years of working in those restaurants and fine country clubs, and just bring it to our area, Raeth said.
It has always been a dream of Raeths to open up an authentic German restaurant in the area.
Entrees prices will be anywhere from $18 to $35, with prime Filet Mignon on the higher end.
Raeth is targeting early November for Spargel on Nines opening. He hopes to be open 6 days a week, 5 if there are staffing issues. It will start out as dinner only from 4 to 10 p.m. If all goes well, Raeth says he hopes to expand to lunch and then possibly catering.
The restaurant will hire 20 employees to start, but when everything is ramped up that could expand to 40 or 50 employees, he said.
Work on the interior will be minimal, with paintings and photographs on the walls for decoration.
Students from a New Media program at SUNY Adirondack designed the restaurants logo, adding local flavor to the restaurant.
India has vehemently rejected allegations made by the Canadian government suggesting its involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday, India labelled these claims as 'absurd and motivated.' The Indian Ministry of External Affairs firmly refuted the accusations and called for Canada to take swift and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from its territory.
"We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the external affairs ministry stated.
The statement continued to highlight that similar allegations were previously made by the Canadian Prime Minister to India's Prime Minister and were unequivocally rejected. India emphasized its commitment to democratic principles and the rule of law.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the Indian ministry's statement demanded, expressing long-standing concerns over Canada's inaction in this regard.
The Indian reaction came following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's emergency statement in Parliament, where he revealed that Canadian security agencies were actively investigating credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
Subsequently, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat in connection with the incident and conveyed her concerns to India's Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar.
India's Ministry of External Affairs further addressed the allegations by stating, "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The statement continued, "That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking, and organized crime, is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments."
During a recent meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, PM Modi conveyed India's strong concerns regarding ongoing anti-India activities by extremist elements in Canada. PM Modi highlighted that these elements promote secessionism, incite violence against Indian diplomats, damage diplomatic premises, and pose threats to the Indian community and their places of worship in Canada.
The final rites of Indian Army soldier Serto Thangthang Kom, who tragically lost his life, were conducted at his ancestral village, Litan, situated in Manipur's Chandel district on Tuesday. The ceremony, marked by solemnity and respect, featured full military honours and drew the attendance of family members, a substantial gathering of villagers, and officials from the Army, Assam Rifles, and the district administration.
Serto, a dedicated member of the Defence Service Corps (DSC), was abducted by three armed assailants from his residence in Tarung, Happy Valley, Imphal West district, on Saturday. His lifeless body, bearing gunshot wounds, was discovered in Khuningthek Village East, Imphal East district, on the subsequent Sunday. Serto Thangthang Kom, aged 49, leaves behind his grieving wife, a daughter, and a son.
To investigate the heart-wrenching killing of the Indian Army soldier, the Manipur government has appointed a one-person Inquiry Commission, with Inspector General of Police, Zone-1, Themthing Ngashangva, tasked with conducting the probe. The inquiry's findings are to be submitted to the government within a month's time.
In response to this tragic incident, a significant number of individuals, predominantly belonging to the Kom tribal community, took to the streets in Imphal and other parts of the state on Monday to express their collective anguish and demand justice for their community member.
Serto Ahao Kom, President of the Kom Union Manipur, revealed that Chief Minister N. Biren Singh convened a meeting with Kom community leaders and the bereaved family, offering his condolences and assuring the deceased soldier's next of kin of a suitable government job as a gesture of support during this challenging time.
The final rites of Serto Thangthang Kom, performed with full military honours, not only pay tribute to his service to the nation but also serve as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by brave soldiers in the line of duty. The Manipur community, united in their grief, stands together in seeking justice for their fallen hero and ensuring his family's well-being in the aftermath of this tragic loss.
Ashley Koehler couldnt sit still.
Koehler, 36, Rock Island, fidgeted in place, shifting about in her orange jail suit as Rock Island County court officials discussed her criminal case.
Her excitement was palpable even through the video screen on which jail inmates appeared Monday before Judge Peter Church.
When the hearing, just a few minutes long, ended, jail staff escorted Koehler off screen
Koehler would soon be free one of the first people held in the Rock Island County Jail released after the abolishment of cash bail in Illinois went into effect Monday as part of the Pretrial Fairness Act.
The act was passed and signed in 2021 as part of the SAFE-T Act. It has since been amended and faced legal challenges, but it went into effect Monday. Under it, Illinois becomes the first state where solely non-monetary factors, such as danger and flight risk, determine if a person is detained before their trial. Judges make rulings on detention based on those factors.
Amendments passed in 2022 provided more guidance on topics like the detention net of detainable offenses, trespass violations and how the transition to the non-cash bail system is to work.
On Monday morning, Rock Island County court officials began in earnest their real-time test of the new process. Officials said there were about 50 cases the list and the court addressed about 20 of those before lunch, including Koehlers case.
Its definitely a lot of work and a lot of information to have ready quickly, Rock Island County States Attorney Dora Villarreal said during a lull.
Mondays effort required many resources from the court system, she said.
Rock Island County Public Defender Hany Khoury said during the same lull that the cases were going about how he expected.
Individuals previously detained on now non-detainable offenses are being released, he said.
The courts were holding most of the people eligible for detention, Khoury said.
Most, but not all, he said.
Under the Pretrial Fairness Act, cases fall under two broad categories those in which authorities cannot detain the person charged and those in which the accused are eligible for detention.
Cases Monday morning fell into both categories and included homicides, gun crimes, drug crimes, property crimes and violation of orders of protection, often in combination.
Defendants released must meet conditions to remain free. Potential conditions included not having firearms, staying away from alcohol or submitting to GPS monitoring.
The charges against Koehler possession of a stolen vehicle and possession of a controlled substance did not make her eligible for detention under the circumstances of her case, according to court documents.
The Rock Island County States Attorneys Office opened the case against her in August, records state. Illinois still used the monetary bail system at the time, and Koehlers bail, set at $50,000, required her to post a $5,000 bond before the jail would release her.
She had remained in custody since her first appearance in court on Aug. 16, court documents state.
Her conditions for release on Monday included maintaining contact with the countys court services.
In cases where defendants are eligible for pretrial detention, the act places the burden on the state.
On Monday, that meant that whenever Villarreal wanted a person detained, she had to make her case to the court.
Khoury had the option to challenge the states assertions and did so in each contested case Monday morning.
When the attorneys finished their arguments, the judge Peter Church for most of the morning, then Frank Fuhr would make a determination.
Both sides have the option to appeal rulings that were not in their favor. The states appellate level prosecutors and defense counsel will handle those appeals.
In many of Monday mornings cases, when Villarreal argued for detention, the judges ruled in her favor.
One of these cases involved Zaccheus Hayes.
Prosecutors charged Hayes, 24, Galesburg, with first-degree murder on allegations that he shot Christopher Bivens to death on March 26, court records state. He also faces gun and drug charges.
Hayes, who made his first appearance on the charges in March, initially had a $2 million bail, according to court records. Before Mondays change, he would have had to post a $200,000 bond to be released.
Villarreals arguments included that Hayes alleged offenses were serious and that he has posed a danger to the community.
Khourys arguments included that Hayes could be adequately controlled through GPS monitoring and house arrest.
Fuhr opted for detention.
I do find that he is a danger to the community, the judge said.
Khoury said Hayes intended to appeal.
In another case, involving gun charges, the judge ruled against Villarreals recommendation for incarceration.
She said later that she also intended to appeal.
Lee Enterprises reporter Brenden Moore contributed to this report.
Rock Island-Milan School District
SEPT. 12 All board members were present.
For the first time, Tuesdays meeting was held in the districts brand-new, $8.3 million administration center.
The meeting kicked off by recognizing Rock Island High Schools 2023 Charles O. Austin, Jr. Scholars students earning a 3.6 GPA or higher after six semesters.
The board then held a public hearing on the districts 2023-24 budget, which anticipates around $86 million in education fund expenses and $8.6 million in operations and maintenance fund expenses.
During board reports, Rock Island Education Association leaders addressed negative comments made about district teachers in the most recent Committee of the Whole discussion on student behavior. They listed teachers recognize phrases and gave examples of current district programs and partnerships aimed at encouraging positive student climate and behaviors.
The board then approved all action items.
Highlights:
The proposed 2023-24 budget.
Moving forward with building a new, 8-lane swimming pool facility on-campus for Rock Island High School
. Estimated to cost $14.75M, the new pool will also feature moveable bulkheads and a diving well. Pending final contract approvals, construction for this project is tentatively slated to begin in Sept. 2024 and end by Jan. 2026. Gary Rowe was the only board member to vote against this item, citing concerns with costs amidst other district investments.
Before adjourning, district CFO Jen Barton led a discussion on possible options for the former administrative building.
Next meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 26 at 6 p.m.
Bettendorf Community School District
SEPT. 14 All board members except Paul Castro were present.
Thursdays meeting opened with a public hearing on a proposed $400,000 budget and scope of work for chiller replacements at Bettendorf Middle School.
The board then recognized Chrissy Block, an art teacher at Neil Armstrong Elementary School. She was named the 2023-24 Iowa Outstanding Elementary Art Educator of the Year.
During her report, Superintendent Michelle Morse said a partnership with Davenport schools will allow Bettendorf high schoolers to participate in Davenports student-built homes program. The Bettendorf Educational Support Association report said its paraeducator mentoring program is officially underway.
This years student board representative, senior Charlie Silver, gave his first report, noting the following:
Summer fundraising for the River Bend Food Banks 2023 Student Hunger Drive
The annual Fill the Truck Student Hunger Drive fundraising contest against Pleasant Valley, in which the two tied this year. While PV raised more money, Silver said, Bettendorf filled more boxes with food.
Bettendorfs 2023 Homecoming theme: Once Upon a Homecoming. This years homecoming parade is on Thursday, Sept. 21.
Student Council held a pep assembly at each elementary school on Friday, Sept. 15, to kick Homecoming week off.
With that, the board unanimously approved all action items:
June 2023 financials, which estimates around a $100,000 budget deficit after rollback and audits are complete still, finance director Bob Beckwith said this puts the district in a much better position than initial projections.
Replacing the middle school chillers for $400,000. Due to bidding and shipping timelines, these wont be installed until October, 2024, at the earliest.
Several board policy revisions, along with the following new policies: 200.4Board Member Social Media Engagement and 909School Logo Use and Protection Guidelines.
Like other districts, these revisions were made to align with the IASB and changes to law.
Next meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 6 p.m.
Photos: Rock Island High School graduation
May the Hangzhou Asian Games be a complete successIranian Ambassador to China
13:55, September 19, 2023 By Mao Li ( People's Daily Online
Mohsen Bakhtiar, Ambassador of Iran to China (Photo by Lu Ningyuan/People's Daily)
With a long history and splendid culture, Iran has many scenic spots worth visiting again and again. Iran attaches great importance to Chinese tourists and offers a visa-free policy for Chinese citizens. I hope that every Chinese tourist in Iran will have a good time, Iranian ambassador to China Mohsen Bakhtiar said in a recent interview with our newspaper.
In March this year, Iran was among the second batch of destinations in Chinas pilot program to revive outbound group travel. Chinese travelers show great enthusiasm for travelling to Iran. Bakhtiar believes that the increased popularity of tours in Iran among Chinese tourists epitomizes the ever growing relations between Iran and China. By deepening people-to-people exchanges such as tourism, the two peoples will get closer and closer.
Cant wait to learn more about Hangzhou
Bakhtiar arrived in China in June this year to take up his new post. His engagement with China dates back to fifteen years ago. Working in the Iranian power sector at that time, I had cooperation with my Chinese counterparts. As one of Irans most important partners, China is very important for both the Iranian government and its people, Bakhtiar said, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi visited China in February this year, and I was appointed as Iranian ambassador to China, which offers a golden opportunity to implement the consensus reached by the heads of state of Iran and China. It is my great honor and I will work hard to deepen cooperation between Iran and China in various fields.
Bakhtiar tries to know more about China by travelling around. In Gansu province, Bakhtiar travelled to Kang County of Longnan City in the Qinling-Dabashan Mountain Area, which used to be one of the 58 contiguous counties of dire poverty in Gansu. Nowadays, it has become a treasury with picturesque scenery, leaving more money in peoples pockets. Gansu has many beautiful villages. It can be said that every village has its own characteristics and attractions. The local people live a decent life, which demonstrates that there is great potential to develop rural tourism, Bakhtiar said. In Xinjiang, Bakhtiar was impressed by his visit to a smart agricultural machinery company. He said, Advanced machinery and equipment have already been used in local agriculture, and mechanical cotton picking brings more efficiency. All fields in Xinjiang, including agriculture, are developing rapidly. People are living in peace and prosperity, and their living standard has improved. This is what I have seen with my own eyes.
Bakhtiar is eager to experience the poetic and picturesque atmosphere of South China. As the 19th Asian Games is just around the corner, he has already arranged a trip to Hangzhou. He said Iran will send a delegation of more than 500 people to the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, hoping the athletes will deliver their best performances. He is very glad to have the opportunity to cheer for them on the spot, and he cant wait to learn more about Hangzhou. The Asian Games is an event that goes beyond sports. The Asian Games in Hangzhou will deepen exchanges and mutual understanding among Asian civilizations and promote solidarity and cooperation in Asia. A successful Asian Games will leave unforgettable memories in the hearts of all peoples. The Hangzhou Asian Games have attracted a lot of attention, including the opening ceremony, the theme song and the mascot. May the Hangzhou Asian Games be a complete success!
A corner of the Persepolis site in Iran. (Photo provided by the Embassy of Iran in China)
The metro in Tehran was built by Chinese companies
Travelling across the country, Bakhtiar is more eager to share the opportunities of Chinese modernization. As an important transportation hub on the ancient Silk Road, Iran sees the Belt and Road Initiative as an opportunity for its development. According to Bakhtiar, the Belt and Road Initiative will help a large number of developing countries pursue common development, promote economic growth and reduce poverty. This is an effort to achieve enduring peace through the establishment of mutually beneficial and win-win relationship. Iran is looking forward to the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation and is ready to play a greater role in the process of jointly building the Belt and Road and to translate the friendship between Iran and China into the results of practical cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples.
The benefits of cooperation with China are visible and tangible in the daily life of Iranians. The metro system in Tehran, the capital of Iran, was built by Chinese companies, which greatly facilitates peoples travel. Iranians who have experienced the convenience of Chinese infrastructure are full of praise. Bachtiar said that after President Raisis visit to China, the pragmatic cooperation between Iran and China is witnessing more positive results. A joint statement was issued by Iran and China in February this year to promote the development and cooperation of e-commerce between the two countries. At the recent China International Fair for Trade in Services, Iran launched an online national pavilion on a Chinese e-commerce giant, setting up a new platform for Iranian products to be linked directly with Chinese consumers. There are numerous comments from Chinese netizens on the social media account of the Iranian Embassy in Beijing, such as Ill buy some saffron, Ill definitely go and buy it, and Show me more Iranian specialties. Encouraged by all these comments, Bachtiar hopes to add more Iranian specialty products directly into the shopping cart of Chinese consumers.
The China International Import Expo (CIIE) is another important platform for Iranian exhibitors to deeply explore the Chinese market. Bachtiar said that Iran takes CIIE as one of the most important international exhibitions and will send an unprecedented delegation to the expo this year. In addition to the establishment of national pavilions, Iranian companies will also actively participate in the corporate and commercial exhibition, where Iranian companies in various fields, such as agriculture, consumer goods, medicine and healthcare, will display their specialty products. Iran is seeking to diversify its exports to China. Irans exports to China, including pistachio, saffron and dried figs, continue to grow. Agricultural products such as sweet lemons, honey, citrus fruits, aquatic products and dairy products have also been authorized to enter the Chinese market, Bachtiar said.
A band from Iran performs at the opening ceremony of the Cultural Exhibition of Countries along the Belt and Road during this year's CIFTIS in Beijing.(Photo by Ju Huanzong/Xinhua)
Continue to support the Belt and Road Initiative
In March this year, a piece of news flooded the screen globally. Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to resume diplomatic relations as a result of their fruitful talks in Beijing. Looking back at this historic moment, Bachtiar commented that unlike some countries that create confrontational camps and create regional conflicts in the Middle East, China has always played a constructive role in the Middle East and promoted peace, stability and security in the region.
Iran was accepted as a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and was invited to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism this year, which has attracted wide attention from the international community. We highly appreciate and thank China for supporting Irans membership in the SCO and BRICS, Bachtiar said the SCO and BRICS mechanisms provide valuable opportunities for member states to deepen cooperation. SCO will help expand cooperation among its member states in various fields, such as industry, transportation, energy, tourism, trade and the environment. Iran is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China within the SCO. Irans accession to BRICS injects new impetus into the development of Iran-China relations, which is conducive to boosting bilateral cooperation on multilateral platforms.
Bachtiar holds that Iran and China share many similar or identical positions on current international and regional issues. Both of the two countries believe that peace and stability are a prerequisite for world development and prosperity, and that every country has the right to choose their own path of political, economic and social development. As a responsible major country, China has actively promoted international cooperation and made important contributions to world peace and development. Iran has always supported and will continue to support the Belt and Road Initiative, Global Development Initiative, Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China, Bachtiar said.
Source: Haiwainet
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
It was 6 a.m. on Monday morning when Theos Java Club in Rock Island opened the doors again after a two-year closure. The minutes ticked by, and nobody came in. Until, everyone came in at once.
It was quiet for a little bit and then you could almost hear them coming, general manager Matthew Dailing said. For a minute I was thinking, Oh my goodness. Come on, everybody.
Before long, the customers came, and the line extended to the door all afternoon.
Theo Grevas closed the doors on his coffee shop at 213 17th Street in Rock Island in October, 2021, after 27 years in business. He then sold to Jamie Anderson and Barry Morris who put months of work into remodeling the beloved cafe.
They came along to purchase and wanted to rejuvenate back into the old Theos, Dailing said.
Dailing is in charge of the eight employees at Theos, but this isnt the first time hes been behind the counter. Opening Monday, he said, was a full circle moment.
I worked at the old Theos all the way until we closed, he said.
Renovations on the building took longer than expected, pushing the opening date back considerably. But, it helped build anticipation for when the doors finally opened.
We kept telling people perpetually it would be two weeks, he said. (That went on) for months.
The grand opening for Theos will be in October, Dailing said. Until then, the cafe is trying out shortened hours to shake down and get their feet wet.
Being away from it for so long, you kind of forget a few things, he said.
New in Theos is flooring, upholstery and a bar in the adjoining storefront. Dailing said the plan is to do live music and poetry, including open mike nights.
Anything we can do on the stage. We want to do community events and help our community, he said. We want to keep it rolling.
Also new to Theos is its extensive menu. In addition to coffee, the shop offers pastries, bagels, sandwiches, salads and a soup of the day. Monday, customers crowded every table and couch available, munching on the new items.
Dailing said finally sitting in a full cafe again is a great feeling. Hearing positive feedback from customers lets him know they are off to a good start, he said.
I feel just the same, Its like all the energy is back, he said. A lot of people have spent a large portion of their lives here, and maintaining it as it was has been really important to me and everyone else here.
For the foreseeable future, the hours will be 6 a.m. until 4 p.m. seven days a week.
What does the best coffee from 10 regions around the world taste like? What does the best coffee from 10 regions around the world taste like? Ethiopia Kenya Tanzania Yemen Brazil Colombia Mexico Costa Rica Guatemala Indonesia
A judge rejected attempts to dismiss allegations in one of the many lawsuits related to the Davenport building collapse in May.
Three people died during the May 28 partial collapse of the building at 324 N. Main St. Another person lost a leg and many people lost their homes and property.
As of Tuesday, there were seven suits related to the collapse pending in Scott County, including one filed by Quanishia White-Cotton Berry and Lexus Berry. Quanishia Berry is the person who lost her leg because of the collapse.
The suit names a dozen defendants, including building owner Andrew Wold and the city of Davenport.
On Monday, District Court Judge Mark Lawson denied several motions to dismiss filed by some of the defendants.
Motion to Dismiss by Waukee Investments and Parkwild Properties
The suit identifies Waukee and Parkwild as the buildings previous owners, according to Lawsons ruling.
The plaintiffs allege the two businesses failed to maintain or inspect the building, and failed to remediate unsafe conditions, according to Lawsons ruling.
Waukee and Parkwild argued the court should dismiss the allegations against them because they did not own the building when the west wall collapsed, Lawsons ruling states. They argued they did not control the property.
Lawson, though, denied the motion.
In his ruling, he wrote that the plaintiffs argued that either Wold knew of the buildings condition and did nothing or Waukee and Parkwild concealed the buildings condition from the new owner.
This creates a factual issue as to when the Wold entities discovered the dangerous condition, whether any delay was due to Waukees and/or Parkwilds concealment, and whether the Wold entities had a reasonable opportunity to take effective precautions against it prior to the collapse, Lawson wrote. Because there is a legal basis for their claim and the court cannot say they have no right of recovery against Waukee and/or Parkwild as a matter of law, the court must deny the motion to dismiss.
Allowing the allegation of negligent infliction of emotional distress
Lexus Berry accused the defendants of negligently causing her emotional distress because of the collapse and many of the defendants wanted the claim rejected, Lawson wrote.
Lawson also denied those motions to dismiss on Monday.
Iowa law recognizes a bystanders right to claim emotional distress damages in certain circumstances, the judge states in his ruling.
The criteria for making such a claim include the bystander being near the accident and that the emotional distress resulted from directly observing the accident occur, Lawson wrote.
The defendants argued the Berrys suit based the allegation on Lexus Berrys own injuries, not those she sustained as a bystander, Lawson wrote.
At first blush, this would appear to be correct, the judge said. However, a reading of the entire amended petition paints a different picture.
Lawson wrote that the allegation also incorporated narrative provided earlier in the suit. That narrative described the couple being together in their apartment when the west wall collapsed, taking Quanishia Berry and much of the couples home with it to the ground.
By including those elements, the suits emotional distress allegation satisfied the requirements needed for the plaintiffs to continue pursuing it, Lawson wrote.
Photos: Demolition continues Tuesday on the collapsed The Davenport apartments
BHS to host blood drive
The Bettendorf High School National Honor Society will host its first blood drive of the 2023-24 year on Tuesday.
Partnering with ImpactLife, the blood drive will take place at the high school, 3333 18th St. in Bettendorf, in the student commons area.
The event is open to the public, and all students ages 16 and older are also invited to donate. Sixteen-year-old students planning to donate will need to bring a parent permission slip from Student Services to the drive.
By donating to the blood drive, individuals can save up to three lives within the Quad-Cities community.
To schedule your donation, sign up online at https://tinyurl.com/5n6hrk2h.
LeClaire library to offer fall family concert
The LeClaire Community Library, 323 Wisconsin St., will host a fall family concert at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26 featuring Jubilo, a bluegrass and folk-inspired group.
The band consists of local musicians Jean Duncan, Chuck Bodds, Kevin Lendt, Jenna McClelland and Nick McClelland. The joyful group will highlight string music of all kinds and combinations including violin, guitar, banjo and double bass.
Admission is free and all ages are welcome to attend.
There will be fall-themed crafts and activities offered in the childrens area for any restless little ones.
Construction on City Centre Plaza may limit library access. Follow posted signs for the best parking and entrance. The most accessible entrance is between the LeClaire Post Office and the library.
DES MOINES At what point in a pregnancy should abortions be legal, if at all? And should that legal question be answered by the state or the federal government?
Those key questions have moved to the center of the 2024 Republican presidential primary, and the varied viewpoints among the field of candidates were on full display this past weekend in Iowa.
The current debate was created in no small part by a 2022 ruling by the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court that overturned the 1972 opinion in Roe v. Wade that had created a federal right to an abortion up to roughly the 20th week of pregnancy.
Most of the 10 Republican presidential candidates who appeared Saturday night at a fundraising event hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, a Christian conservative advocacy organization, were asked one of those two questions about abortion policy. And one top-tier candidate who was not in Iowa last weekend former president and current primary polling leader Donald Trump was asked about the topic during a national TV interview that aired over the weekend.
In Iowa, abortion remains legal until roughly 20 weeks of pregnancy. However, Gov. Kim Reynolds and fellow Republican state lawmakers have passed a law that would ban abortions once a fetus heartbeat can be detected at roughly six weeks of pregnancy, advocates for such laws say. That law is being challenged in the state courts.
One consistent theme throughout the Republican president candidates thoughts were some attempts to portray Democrats as having the extreme viewpoint on abortion policy, even though that claim does not hold up against public polling.
A majority of Americans have said abortion should remain legal in all or most cases over decades of polling, according to historical data from Pew Research and Gallup Polling. And in its most recent figures, Pew polling shows that 62% of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, against just 36% who believe it should be illegal in all or most cases.
As to the question of specific abortion policy in a post-Roe v. Wade legal landscape, there are multiple viewpoints within the field of Republican presidential candidates.
Trump, during an interview with NBC News, said he has a plan to unite Americans on the topic but offered no specifics on any such plan. Trump said a number of weeks into pregnancy will be chosen to ban abortions, but declined to say how many weeks that would be and whether it would be determined at the state or federal level.
Let me just tell you what Id do. Im going to come together with all groups, and were going to have something thats acceptable, Trump said, according to a transcript of the interview. Whats going to happen is youre going to come up with a number of weeks or months. Youre going to come up with a number thats going to make people happy. I would sit down with both sides and Id negotiate something, and well end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years. We have to bring the country together on this issue.
But Trump did not directly answer how many weeks that would be, and whether it would be implemented by the states or federal government.
Back in Iowa, Trumps former vice president, Mike Pence, reiterated his support for a federal ban at 15 weeks of pregnancy. A 15-week ban has become a somewhat popular idea among Republicans because it is built around the suggestion thats when a fetus begins to feel pain.
However, that assertion is not supported by a majority of medical experts, including the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Disagreements with those expert views largely center around the definition of pain, and at what point a fetus organs and neurological system are sufficiently developed to experience what is commonly known as pain.
I believe even as we work relentlessly to advance protections for the unborn in every state capitol in America, I believe that we owe it to the American people to elect a president who will fight for a minimum standard in Washington, D.C., Pence said while making the claim about when a fetus could feel pain. Its a 15-week minimum ban. I believe its an idea whose time as come. Why would we leave unborn babies in California and Illinois and New York to the devices of liberal state legislatures and liberal governors? We need to stand for the unborn all across America.
Former Texas U.S. Rep. Will Hurd also expressed support for a 15-week federal ban, and Michigan businessman Perry Johnson said he believes life begins at conception.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2021 signed into law there a near-total ban on abortions, which did not include any exceptions in cases of rape or incest. He said last weekend he would sign into federal law any pro-life legislation passed by Congress that has reasonable exceptions, and attempted to throw cold water on Trumps notion of bringing Americans together on the subject.
Let me tell you, both sides arent going to like it. This is going to be a fight for life, and weve been doing that for 40 years. You take a stand. You state your position, Hutchinson said.
Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor, reiterated her suggestion that the federal ban debate should not be the focus because of how unlikely it is to happen. Haley reminded those in attendance Saturday that any such legislation would require at least 60 anti-abortion rights Republicans in the U.S. Senate to avoid a bill-killing filibuster. There has not been 60 Republicans in the U.S. Senate in more than a century, since 1910.
So no Republican president can any more ban abortions than a Democrat president can ban those state laws, Haley said. So my goal is how do we save as many babies as possible and support as many moms as possible? The way we do that is bring people together.
Haley said her plan to do that would be to find areas of bipartisan agreement on abortion policy, including by banning late-term abortions which are exceptionally rare and encouraging adoptions, allowing medical professionals to decline performing abortions if it violates their personal belief and not charging with a crime any woman who has an abortion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed into law an abortion ban very similar to Iowas so-called fetal heartbeat bill, said that he believes states have done the better job with abortion policy, and so far Congress has not.
Conservative media personality Larry Elder also said that he believes abortion policy should be left to the states, and not the federal government.
Photos from the first 2024 Republican presidential debate
DES MOINES Nikki Haley shared how her faith sustained her after the 2015 shooting deaths of nine Black Americans by a white supremacist shooter.
Ron DeSantis said his faith enabled him to weather the slings and arrows that he said came his way after backlash to policies he enacted as Floridas governor.
And Tim Scott confirmed that he is dating someone a lovely Christian girl, he said adding that he is thankful that God has guided him in a way that has allowed his life to intersect at the right time with the right person.
Faith was a prominent topic as were anti-abortion policies and the protection of religion freedom on Saturday night in downtown Des Moines during a fundraising event that featured 10 of the Republican candidates for president and was hosted by the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, the state chapter of a national Christian conservative organization.
Roughly 1,200 people attended Saturday nights fundraiser, according to event organizers, giving those candidates yet another opportunity to address a large swath of evangelical voters one of the strongest voting blocs within the Republican Party in Iowa.
The lone prominent candidate missing from Saturday nights event was former President Donald Trump, who also happens to be the front-runner at this stage of the Republican presidential primary.
Each of the candidates was interviewed by either Ralph Reed, founder and chairman of the national Faith & Freedom Coalition, or Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.
One recurring question for the candidates was how faith has informed their public service. Haley, for example, was asked how her faith sustained her through the aftermath of the shooting at Charlestons Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2015, when she was South Carolinas governor. During that time, the Confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina statehouse grounds and placed in a museum.
Haley said her focus as governor was to prevent the state from becoming divided over the Confederate flag, and to prevent public riots. She also talked about attending the funerals of the shooting victims, and how she was eventually diagnosed with PTSD.
I was deeply affected by it, Haley said. I remember one day getting on my knees and saying, God, I cant do this by myself. I need you. And the strength and grace that he showed me, I will tell you, was a defining moment in my life. Because it was the only way that I was able to pull through and get through it.
DeSantis said his faith has enabled him to weather the storms that come when enacting policies that lead to some backlash. He singled out Floridas moves to reopen businesses earlier than other states during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, LGBTQ-related public school policies, and his legal tussles with Disney.
People sometimes ask me what does it take to be an effective leader, and to me, I would say first put on the full armor of God. Then you can be an effective leader when you do that, DeSantis said, adding that he believes the power of prayer helped lift his wife Caseys spirits during her bout with breast cancer.
Iowa Republicans still weighing their options
Trump has been the consistent and dominant leader in polling on the Republican presidential primary this year, both nationally and in Iowa. Trump leads the rest of the field by 44 percentage points in Real Clear Politics rolling average of national polls, and while that lead is smaller in Iowa, he led DeSantis by 23 points in an August Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll, and by 37 points in a September Iowa State/Civiqs poll.
However, conversations with Iowans who attended Saturdays event served as a reminder that while the polling has been consistent, many Iowa Republicans minds remain unsettled four months out from the Jan. 15, first-in-the-nation Iowa Republican caucuses.
Phil and Pat Hetrick, a husband and wife from Atlantic in western Iowa, both said they are primarily considering three candidates: Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy and Tim Scott.
Both Hetricks expressed frustration with but also concern about the legal issues facing Trump.
National Democrats deployed a mobile billboard in Des Moines that labeled the Republican presidential candidates as all having extreme MAGA agendas, referring to Trumps campaign slogan. The billboard highlighted issues like abortion, Social Security and Medicare, and tax policy for wealthy Americans and businesses.
Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Rita Hart took a similar messaging approach in a statement the party issued ahead of Saturday nights event; she also used the MAGA label and highlighted abortion policy.
The MAGA Republicans gathering in Des Moines (Saturday) have signed or voiced support for some of the most cruel, anti-choice legislation our country has ever seen, Hart said in the statement. Its abundantly clear that if they got the chance, many of them would sign the most restrictive abortion bans they could and strip away the rights of millions of women across this country. They are all wildly out of step with Iowa women who overwhelmingly want and deserve the right to make decisions about their own bodies.
Dozens of people filed into The Monument Fine Arts Theater Saturday, faces alighting with recognition at friends and family members. Children clung to their parents, burying tiny faces in camo-clad shoulders. The faint hymn of patriotic music echoed through the hall.
The room was abuzz as 84 members of the South Dakota National Guard returned from a nine-month deployment in the Middle East.
The 109th Regional Support Group left mid-December in support of Operation Inherent Resolve. They were forced to abandon the traditional activation ceremony due to Winter Storm Diaz, but Governor Kristi Noem paid them a visit during pre-deployment training in Fort Hood, Texas. While they were training to head overseas, another unit was called to serve the people of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations two of the hardest-hit areas after the winter weather.
According to Brigade Commander Col. Wyatt Hansen, the soldiers were sent to various bases across the Middle East, and supported more than 8,000 U.S. and coalition military personnel. By assisting partners in the region, Hansen said, the 109th played a strategic role at a critical moment.
"I'm hopeful that we have a tangible sense of progress," he said. "Some of the things that happened...[the] longest period of time without an attack on our bases. We're in that moment now. The Iraqi government is relatively stable. The number of Da'esh (ISIS) fighters is at record lows. Significant numbers of displaced personnel from this conflict are being repatriated to the country they came from, and the U.S. and Iraqi government just had a joint security dialogue...We were there to support that. These are all signs of progress."
Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun, Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) and Gov. Kristi Noem attended the ceremony and expressed their thanks for the service and sacrifice each soldier makes. Salamun, an Air Force veteran, reflected on his time in the service and his son's two tours in Afghanistan. He offered words of advice for those returning.
"Resiliency is about endurance. It's about progressing through when the wind is in your face. It's about keeping moving forward," Salamun said. "When you're back into your day jobs, wherever that might be, and it might be challenging to pick up where you left off here's the thing you can do it because you've done it before."
Returning to everyday life can be a shock, Salamun said, because life goes on even when it feels like time is standing still for those deployed. Life did go on for the families of the 109th several soldiers came home to new babies. Three completed their military service on Saturday the last time they'll don their uniform in service of this nation. Parents missed the end of one school year and the start of another. Spouses missed anniversaries. People celebrated birthdays. None of the missed opportunities mattered Saturday when hugs were had for the first time in nearly a year.
Governor Noem was given the opportunity to "drop the flag" during the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, but chose instead to attend the National Guard deactivation ceremony. The 109th was invited to record a message with her to play during the race's opening. It ended with the classic, "Gentlemen, start your engines," with the uniformed soldiers smiling and waving flags in the background.
She praised the 109th for their efficiency and professionalism, and said she's proud and honored to be their Commander-In-Chief.
"I thank God we still have men and women who step up and serve and still believe in this country. We look across this country, there's very few things to be proud of anymore," Noem said. "We can be proud of you. We can be proud of you, and we can get on our knees tonight and thank God that you were home and that we still have freedom because of what you've done and how you completed your mission. God bless you. Thank you so much."
After roll call during which each soldier got the opportunity to shake hands with Noem, Johnson, Salamun and National Guard leaders Maj. Shane Skinner read out the order releasing the 109th from duty.
Chaplain Maj. Robert Lacey rounded out the afternoon with a benediction, before the soldiers and their families made way towards the parking lot and back to normal life.
The African Childrens Choir will perform popular childrens music, traditional spiritual songs and African cultural pieces at Bitterroot Valley Church of the Nazarene in Victor on Sunday, Oct. 1.
The 2023 tour is more than just a choir with concert performances, it is opportunity. The African Childrens Choir coming to Victor includes 20 children from Uganda, age 8 to 11, who were selected based on need.
Choir Manager Tina Sipp said the youth represent the potential of the African child to become leaders for a better future.
The African Childrens Choir proves just how powerful music can be, Sipp said. These concerts provide hope and encouragement, not just to our audiences, but to the children whose lives are forever changed by their experiences with the Choir.
The African Childrens Choir Tour is a creation of Music for Life, an international, nonprofit, Christian organization that provides thousands of impoverished children throughout Africa with education, discipleship and leadership skills to rise above their conditions so they can bring positive, lasting change to their families, communities and countries. The 2023 U.S. African Childrens Choir Tour has plans for more than 50 stops across the country
Sipp oversees each tour to make sure everything runs smoothly. She said there are three aspects to each tour the children and their education, the concerts with host homes and provided meals, and staff members who travel with the children to be caretakers, mentors, teachers and chaperones.
They look over every aspect of the childrens lives while they are on tour, Sipp said. They are the primary caretakers of the children. They go to the host homes and care for the childrens physical, spiritual, educational and emotional well-being. They also are trained with specific duties like handling the financial details, the sound, tech stuff and administrative duties.
The 2023 tour children are from Uganda but in previous years the children have come from two additional African countries. Uganda is the base for Music for Life and the training center for the African Childrens Choir.
[The children] do audition but not for talent, Sipp said. There is a selection process but were choosing the children based on financial need. There are hundreds of children in Africa who are impoverished but we try to identify the families we can help the most at that particular point in time.
After being selected the children report for a six month training session at the choir training academy on the same campus as Music for Lifes primary school. When the children arrive at the training center in Africa they have nothing.
We completely equip them with clothing, toiletries and luggage they need when they travel, Sipp said. I gather everything from socks to chaperones.
The choir children start school there, do the tour and return to the same school.
We have a secondary school that they go on to, Sipp said. Their education is financed past that to the university or post-secondary level. So, if youre in the choir, your education is paid all the way through university. The money they raise through the tours finances all our educational programs.
The African Childrens Choir helps hundreds of children each year. The vision is education, advanced education and for the children to be change makers in their communities.
Our motto is helping Africas most vulnerable children today, so they can help Africa tomorrow, Sipp said. We are trying to educate as many children as possible so they can actualize their potential and work to give back. If they have been blessed we hope theyll give back positively to their families, communities, cities and countries.
Sipp said the money is a good investment and Music for Life believes in the children and their potential.
One of the main reasons Im with this organization is that the children come from very impoverished homes but that isnt what we use to illicit funds, we encourage people to see the beauty, dignity and potential of these children, she said. They just dont have the opportunity to become who we believe God designed them to be. We want to change that, give them opportunity and help as many children as we can.
The African Childrens Choir started nearly 40 years ago, in 1984, and has helped over 1,200 children. Each child does one tour but remains part of the ACC family with interaction at camps, outreaches, mentorships and further education. They stay in contact.
We have doctors, lawyers, teachers, nurses and business people. We have all kinds of careers covered with former choir children, Sipp said. Even more beautiful is that in this particular choir we have four chaperones who were members of the choir when they were little.
Sipp was a chaperone for two of this years chaperones when they were choir members.
Now we are co-workers, she said. Its a full circle, which is a beautiful thing.
Concerts are usually held in churches and the hosts pay a fee, agree to provide housing, and a pre-concert dinner or a lunch after the performance.
If it is during a school day we need space to have school and rehearsal schedule, Sipp said.
In addition to concerts, the ACC offers cultural exchange workshops, scheduled in advance, for a fee. The ACC arranges field trips or show-and-tell experiences for the children on tour.
We try to have the children see something that is unique to the area, Sipp said. The other day we had a fire truck come buy and show the 110-foot ladder. The tour is a benefit educationally, everything is done in English, plus the experiences are enriching.
She said the seed is planted that there is more to the world than what theyve experienced.
Most children have only experienced three to five miles from their home, Sipp said. Tour opens them up to I can be something and I can contribute. The vision-casting can never be evaluated.
Joy is a character trait seen in the lives of the children in the African Childrens Choir.
They are so full of natural joy, natural hope and they are so resilient, Sipp said. They are funny, they are talented, smart and delightful. It is not uncommon for host families to be teary when the children are leaving.
She said stuff does not equal happiness.
Their souls are so rich but they dont have a lot of stuff, Sipp said. It is a trade-off. Were see joy despite their circumstances. Thats the number one comment we get, They are so joyful. They are naive and innocent and dont know they are making this tremendous impact. They have humility and are genuine.
The children in the ACC transcend the language, age and gender barriers, appealing to audiences from age 2 to 100.
Its remarkable to watch the kids knock it out concert after concert, Sipp said. The children are hoping to see snow on this tour, they really want to see it.
The African Childrens Choir is on its 52nd choir and for 2023 has over 50 concerts in Washington, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, California and Arizona. It runs Sept. 7 to Jan. 9. For a full list of tour stops, visit https://africanchildrenschoir.com/tour-dates/.
In the rugged terrain of Montana's Little Belt Mountains, a hidden treasure awaited discovery beneath the surface a treasure that would come to be known as Yogo sapphires. These stunning blue gemstones, renowned for their exceptional color and quality, have a history as intriguing as the land from which they emerged.
The story of Yogo sapphires begins approximately 46 million years ago during the Eocene Epoch. At that time, volcanic activity was shaping the landscape of what is now Montana. Beneath the earth's surface, molten rock, rich in aluminum and iron, began to cool and crystallize. Within this chemical concoction, sapphires formed.
Unlike most sapphires, which are typically found in sedimentary deposits, Yogo sapphires are what geologists call "igneous sapphires." This means they formed directly within the host rock rather than being transported there by other geological processes.
The discovery of Yogo sapphires is credited to a team of gold prospectors led by Jake Hoover in the late 19th century. These prospectors were initially drawn to the area in search of gold, but they soon stumbled upon small, blue gemstones that glittered in the gravel of Yogo Creek. Not realizing the true value of their find, the prospectors first believed they had uncovered blue garnets. It wasn't until later that they recognized these gems as sapphires, and not just any sapphiressapphires of exquisite quality and color.
In 1895, an enterprising man named R.S. Mitchell began systematic sapphire mining operations in the Yogo Creek area. This marked the beginning of the Yogo sapphire rush, drawing miners and gem enthusiasts from across the United States to Montana's wilderness.
What sets Yogo sapphires apart from their counterparts around the world is their remarkable cornflower-blue color. This intense, vivid blue hue is one of the most sought-after colors for sapphires and is often described as "Yogo blue."
Mining Yogo sapphires was not without challenges. The sapphires were often embedded in a bluish clay called "yogoite," which made extraction and cleaning of the gems a painstaking process. Additionally, Yogo Creek's remote location and harsh climate made year-round mining difficult.
Yogo sapphires quickly gained a reputation for their exceptional quality. They were found in various sizes, with some larger stones exceeding 10 carats. Gemstone dealers and jewelers soon recognized the unique allure of Yogo sapphires and their potential for use in high-quality jewelry.
In 1897, Yogo sapphires gained international recognition at the Paris World Exposition when they were awarded a prestigious grand prize. This recognition solidified their status as a world-class gemstone.
By the mid-20th century, Yogo sapphire mining had largely ceased, and the area returned to relative obscurity. Interest in Yogo sapphires experienced a revival in the late 20th century. Advances in mining techniques and equipment allowed for more efficient extraction without damaging the sapphires' color.
One of the most significant developments was the creation of a hydraulic mining system that gently washed the gem-bearing gravel, minimizing the risk of color loss. This method, combined with improved gem-cutting techniques, led to a resurgence of interest in Yogo sapphires among jewelers and collectors.
Today, Yogo sapphires remain highly coveted for their exceptional color and quality. They are treasured by jewelry designers and collectors around the world. Montana's Yogo Gulch is the only commercially operated sapphire mine in the United States.
Yogo sapphires' unique place in American gemology is celebrated in Montana, where it was declared the state's official gem in 1969.
In a presidential contest cycle, Senate races dont get the same kind of attention when theres still a year to go until Election Day. But the start of the second fundraising quarter earlier this month brought a host of new candidate names some declared and some still biding their time that will help shape the race for control of the chamber in 2024 and the ultimate power dynamics for whoever is president in 2025.
With more candidates launching their campaigns this month, the prospect of competitive primaries has become more real especially on the Republican side. Thats especially true in the top three seats most likely to flip, which represent the GOPs best chances to pick up the one or two seats theyd need to control the chamber, depending on who wins the presidency. (Rankings are based on CNNs reporting, fundraising figures and historical data about how states and candidates have performed.)
West Virginias GOP primary mainly between the governor and a congressman was already brewing, but its looking even more contentious with outside groups like the Club for Growths political arm touting the millions theyre planning to spend. This race will be a marquee battle between the national GOPs more establishment forces and the conservative outside group. And, as in other races like Montana and Nevada, this one will test the National Republican Senatorial Committees new strategy of picking sides in primaries.
Its impossible to talk about Republican primaries without discussing former President Donald Trump. Ever since 2016, loyalty to him has been a key litmus test for the GOP often much more than actual conservatism. But adherence to his election conspiracy theories has sometimes hurt Republicans in general elections, with the 2022 midterms being a prime example.
The chairman of the NRSC, Montana Sen. Steve Daines, has endorsed Trump. And for now, at least, the former president appears to be playing along. CNN reported that hes informed two House Freedom Caucus members whom hes previously backed in West Virginia and Montana that they wont have his support for the Senate. (In Montana, Rep. Matt Rosendale hasnt yet announced his campaign but is expected to challenge the NRSCs preferred candidate.)
This months ranking isnt all about primary drama, however. In Pennsylvania, Republicans breathed a major sigh of relief in May when election denier Doug Mastriano, fresh off his 15-point gubernatorial loss, decided not to run. The expectation that Dave McCormick will get into the race with a clearer lane and the GOPs lack of candidates right now in other states bumps the Keystone State up one spot on this list as slightly more likely to flip.
Overall, the Senate map remains an offensive opportunity for Republicans. Democrats hold seven of the 10 seats most likely to flip next year, an independent holds one and Republicans hold two a breakdown thats unlikely to change much, although the order of the ranking will likely evolve in the months to come.
Recently, in a spirit of community uplift and interfaith partnership, Hanovers finest came out to support a food distribution event at Atlee High School. Participating churches, faith-based groups and non-profit organizations engaged in this important work to help eradicate food insecurity. The Baptist General Convention of Virginia (BGCVA), the Chickahominy Baptist Association Health and Wellness and the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-Day Saints collaborated for this Community Food Distribution Beta Project to distribute non-perishable foods throughout the state of Virginia.
In addition to participating churches, other supporting organizations in attendance on June 29 were the Pamunkey Baptist Association, Hanover County Community Services Board, Hanover County Public Schools, Hanover Fire and Emergency Medical Services, Hanover County Sheriffs Office, Virginia Health Dept. and Chickahominy Medical Reserves, The McShin Foundation, Mechanicsville Churches Emergency Funds (MCEF) and others. Hanover County Community Resources and referral information for family services and needs were also readily available during the event.
This community effort completed the twelve scheduled semi-trailer deliveries of non-refrigerated shelf stable food into communities designated as food deserts throughout June and July. The 40,000 pounds of food on the semi-trailers was donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
This has been a blessing of interfaith collaborations and other organizations and shows an example of service-oriented partnerships working together to do good works for those in need in our communities, said Stuart Scott, LDS Communications and Public Relations Director.
The Chickahominy Baptist Association (CBA) Health and Wellness provided refreshments for the volunteers. Water was donated by Hanover Fire and Emergency Medical Services and Gatorade was generously donated by the Hanover County Sheriffs Office towards the event.
It is a privilege to be in this partnership to provide food for families throughout Virginia, especially those who live in places with high levels of food insecurity and find themselves challenged to provide consistent, healthy meals for their families, said Dr. J. Elisha Burke, SACRED SPACES/Food Distribution Consultant for the Baptist General Convention of Virginia.
Henrico County police on Tuesday identified the victim of a Monday night homicide that occurred in Varina as DWayne Lamont Crawley, 51, of Henrico.
Officers responded to the 1400 block of Southbury Avenue at around 8:47 p.m. Monday for the report of a suspicious situation. They located Crawley in the front yard of a home with apparent gunshot wounds. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries, police said.
Detectives are seeking information from people in the area who may have heard or seen something prior to the calls to police. Community members who have home surveillance are encouraged to contact Detective M. Rosser at 804-501-5247. Tips may also be submitted via Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000, or through P3tips.com. Both methods are anonymous.
From the Archives: The construction of the Richmond Convention Center
Nearly 600 immigrants from Afghanistan to Yemen declared the Oath of Allegiance in Richmond on Monday as they were sworn in as naturalized U.S. citizens.
Im happy and in good spirits, said Anthony Mithamo, 35, who emigrated from Kenya and works as a certified nursing assistant at The Westmont assisted living facility in Short Pump. I feel relaxed because I dont have to take the tests anymore.
The ceremony at Virginia Commonwealth Universitys Siegel Center came one day after Constitution Day, which commemorates the formation and signing of the Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, and Citizenship Day, which recognizes those who have become citizens.
VCU and the Daughters of the American Revolution sponsored the event. Family and friends, as well as VCU faculty, staff and students, were on hand to congratulate the 569 newest members of the U.S., who emigrated from 85 different countries.
At first I was nervous because Ive never been in such a big crowd, said Mithamo, who wants to go back to school to further his nursing studies.
Fotis Sotiropoulos, VCU provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, delivered the opening remarks to the crowd. Sotiropoulos reflected on his time in America: arriving from Greece in 1987 as a first-generation college student before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2000.
I got intoxicated by the possibilities, Sotiropoulos said. I felt an empowering sense of belonging, and that sense of belonging gave me the confidence I needed to start pursuing my own version of the American dream.
Each immigrant was granted citizenship after meeting the requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act and remaining in good standing as a lawful, permanent resident of the U.S.
The newest citizens were sworn in by U.S. District Court Judge David J. Novak, who said this was the largest naturalization ceremony hes presided over.
Each generation of immigrants brings a renewal for our national character and adds vitality to our culture, Novak said. Newcomers have a special way of appreciating the opportunities in America and, when they seize those opportunities, our whole nation benefits.
While addressing the crowd, Novak noted prominent figures such as former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, scientist Albert Einstein and author Isabel Allende who immigrated to America and became citizens.
Its an honor, privilege and duty to be able to walk in the footsteps of the great people who came to the States, said Kevin Patino, who became a U.S. citizen on Monday. Its a huge responsibility and duty because we have to be able to live up to that standard just as any American would. We want to make sure America is great, and we can do our part, whatever that is.
Some family members were sworn in together, such as Patino, from Panama, and his mother, Jogly Bocanegra, from Colombia.
Its a privilege and its an honor, said Bocanegra, echoing the sentiments of her son. Its a pleasure.
Another person marking the joyous occasion was Anastasia Jiles. She came to the U.S. from Russia and established a family just north of Richmond with her American husband, Ben, and their two young children.
Here they are, with me, said Anastasia Jiles, pointing to Alex, 4, and Abby, 2, as the reasons why she decided to become a U.S. citizen. Now I can exercise my rights and my duties.
Sanjiv Yajnik, the president of Capital Ones financial services division who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2007, delivered the keynote address.
When I was growing up, I could never imagine that one day I would be standing in front of you and having this discussion, said Yajnik, who grew up in Kolkata, India, and arrived to the U.S. in 1998. Almost all Americans have been good to me and my family; we have been accepted and brought into the American family.
A scary moment occurred late in the ceremony when one of the newly minted citizens collapsed. After receiving medical attention, the man waved to the crowd as he was taken to the back of the arena by wheelchair.
Following the incident, the ceremony wrapped up, with the new citizens completing final paperwork and heading out to celebrate with family and friends.
Jodianne Roberts, 25, decided to become a U.S. citizen when her green card was set to expire. Roberts, who came from Jamaica and now lives in Hopewell, said she was glad to share the experience with 600 others.
Its great, she said. I got to see a lot of people from different countries, and Im happy that we were all able to do this.
For an electric grid that plugs into lots of wind turbines and solar panels, coping when the wind dies and the sun sets requires long-lasting batteries.
With the heavy demand for lithium-based batteries, Dominion Energy wants to test two different types of batteries one of which is based on rust.
Dominion wants to test a battery that can power its system for up to 100 hours with a pilot project at its Darbytown power station in Henrico County.
The utilitys $70.6 million pilot project reflects its concerns that the key ingredient of 16 megawatts of batteries it now deploys the metal lithium will be in heavy demand for electric vehicles, as well as lessons learned during last years Christmas winter storm, said Brandon Martin, Dominions manager of business development for energy storage.
Winter Storm Elliots bitter cold meant other electric utilities had to launch rolling blackouts, as some generating stations went off line.
One of the two new-style batteries Dominion will test at the Darbytown Storage Pilot Project, iron-air units, can store electricity for several days; Dominions current batteries now can do so for four hours or less.
It can address a different need, Martin said. Today, on a beautiful sunny day, we can charge up a four-hour lithium ion battery, and it will discharge electricity in the evening, when people are coming home and turning things on and the sun isnt shining ... he said.
But the iron-air batteries Dominion is acquiring from Pennsylvania-based technology developer Form Energy can deliver 5 megawatts of electricity for up to four days. A megawatt can power 250 homes.
So think about a situation like Winter Storm Elliot and what being able to supply electricity then could mean, Martin said.
Trust in rust
At their heart, Forms batteries are about rust. The chemical reaction that melds oxygen from the air to iron also releases energy, which the battery taps to feed an electric current out to the grid. Charging them with electricity from the grid removes the rust, allowing the energy releasing reaction to start again.
Last month, New York State granted $12 million to Form Energy to develop and construct a 10-megawatt demonstration iron-air batteries bank.
With longer-duration batteries in the mix, this project could be a transformational step forward, helping us safely discharge stored energy when it is needed most by our customers, said Ed Baine, President of Dominion Energy Virginia.
The pilot means Dominion employees responsible for maintaining the tightly limited voltages needed on its grid will have a chance to learn the distinctive charging and electricity-feeding characteristics of this kind of battery, Martin said.
Form Energy chief executive officer and co-founder Mateo Jaramillo said the iron air batteries provide Dominions Virginia customers with access to wind and solar energy when and where it is needed over periods of multiple days.
Zinc hybrid
Dominion is also testing pilot zinc hybrid batteries, which are charged and then discharge energy as zinc ions move from anode to cathode.
Since it takes a lot of energy to move zinc atoms around, these batteries need less material in their anodes and cathodes. New Jersey-based Eos Energy Enterprises is supplying batteries than can deliver four megawatts over four hours.
This technology has the potential to evolve into longer-duration batteries, but more immediately, it could give Dominion options as demand grows for the lithium metal in its current and planned battery fleet, Martin said.
That demand is fueled by the rapid expected growth of electric vehicles lithium ion batteries are much lighter than other kinds of batteries and are efficient ways of powering vehicle motors, Martin said.
Dominion understands that meeting our future energy needs requires multiple storage technologies, said Joe Mastrangelo, Eos chief executive officer.
Dominion has pilot lithium-ion battery banks in Hanover, New Kent and Powhatan counties, which can deliver a total of 16 megawatts of electricity for up to four hours. It is developing a 20-megawatt battery bank in Chesterfield County and has plans for more batteries in Sussex County, as well as a large 50-megawatt battery facility at its major new solar project at Washington Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia.
If the State Corporation Commission and Henrico County approve the projects, Dominion said construction would begin by late 2024 with the batteries coming online in 2026.
PHOTOS: Dominion's battery storage system in New Kent County
Cancun firemen cut passenger free after car slams into back of utility truck
Cancun, Q.R. Cancun firemen were requested at the scene of an early morning accident to free a trapped female passenger. The passenger of the car became stuck in the front after the car she was riding in collided with the back of a large utility truck.
The front passengers side of the engine was pushed inward while a piece of metal from the rear of the truck broke through the passenger side windshield. After being cut out of the car, she was rushed to a Cancun hospital in serious condition.
The accident happened around 8:00 a.m. in SM 260 of Cancun near the residential area of Real Valencia.
The passenger side of the car sustained the most damage. Photo: September 18, 2023.
Transit elements were in charge of towing both units to a city corralon. Information as to how the accident occurred were not provided. It is also not known if the utility truck was parked or slow moving at the time of the crash.
Criminal leader handed over to U.S. federal agents in extradition
Mexico City, Mexico Edgar V is identified as one of the leaders of a criminal organization, has been extradited to the U.S. On Sunday, Edgar V was met at the Mexico City International Airport by U.S. federal agents for his return to American soil.
According to the Attorney Generals Office of the Republic (FGR) of Mexico, Edgar V was wanted by a Federal District Court of Columbia for charges of drugs, criminal association and possession of a firearm.
In their statement, the FGR reported that Edgar V is identified as one of the leaders of a criminal organization which has trafficked large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico to the United States.
Due to the above, the Government of Mexico granted the extradition of the requested person to the government of that country. Edgar V was subject to the extradition procedure within the Federal Social Rehabilitation Center number 15 CPS-Chiapas in Villa Comaltitlan, Chiapas, due to the fact that a criminal process was being carried out against him for the crime of aggravated kidnapping, the FGR added in their statement.
His delivery was made at the Mexico City International Airport (AICM) to the U.S. agents designated for his final transfer.
Governor announces new Yum Kaax Commercial Tianguis for Chetumal
Chetumal, Q.R. Governor Mara Lezama has announced the creation of the Yum Kaax Commercial Tianguis in Chetumal. Lezama made the announcement Monday morning during the Presidential press conference in Mexico City.
She described the tianguis (market) as a project designed for the purchase and sale of regional and imported products at a low cost. She says the market will take advantage of Chetumals status as a free zone, while also returning prominence to the of the Mexican Caribbean.
During the morning press conference of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Lezama said At the tianguis all the people of the country will find imported products again, especially from the Mexican southeast () Chetumal will shine again, It is time to return the splendor to our capital.
The Yum Kaax Commercial Market will consist of nearly 14,000 square meters destined for the placement of stores and 50,000 open spaces to become markets for producers, distributors and consumers, outlet stores, construction of hotels, offices or warehouses and much more.
Mara Lezama reported that the Yum Kaax Commercial Market seeks to generate synergy with projects in the region to become a trading point for products and services with the mission of activating and increasing the local economy.
A render of the Yum Kaax Commercial Market. Render: CGC September 18, 2023.
She said thanks to projects of this magnitude, the people of Quintana Roo can benefit not only from access to different imported products such as food or appliances, but also that thousands of Mexican men and women will be able to take advantage of the space to enjoy the natural beauties, the archaeological vestiges as well as the gastronomy of Chetumal.
She reiterated that projects such as the Yum Kaax Commercial Tianguis are only possible thanks to large infrastructure projects such as the Maya Train, which has become a synonym for social justice.
We understand the Maya Train as the verbal column to recover the south of our state. Thanks to the projects that are part of the Maya Train such as the expansion of the Chetumal airport, such as the tourist terminal and the loading station, a new stage will begin where it will recover the shine that once existed that Chetumal should never have lost, she said.
When we think of cultural invention, human flourishing, and technological innovation, we tend also to think of great cities. A look at 40 of them proves instructive as to what makes true progress possible.
What is progress? How and where does it occur? Such questions are not easy to answer. Debates about the nature of progress have given rise to entire theories of historical development. Whig history, for example, relates the story of humanity as one of a rise from an oppressive past to a more enlightened present. Two world wars, the Holocaust, and Soviet terrorism in the 20th century, however, put some major dents in the idea that the modern world could be only an undiluted blessing.
Another problem is that identifying progress can be a perilous exercise. In the 1920s, for example, eugenics and racial hygiene were widely accepted by most educated Western opinionespecially progressivesas being at the very forefront of scientific development. Few would make such an argument today.
Then there are more philosophical questions. What, for instance, constitutes societal progress? Would we regard a society massively wealthier than its predecessors but also characterized by the normalization of pornography to have progressed? Does the brutalist architecture of the 1960s really represent progress on, say, Pariss 13th-century Sainte-Chapelle? Is progress both linear and all-encompassing? Or does it proceed hand in hand with regression in other areas? How does one reasonably measure such things?
The ongoing saliency of these issues makes it easy to lose sight of the fact that much of the world has, in many respects, become a better place in which to live. That is the measured argument made by Chelsea Follett in Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World. Materially, she points out, people are generally better off than the vast majority of their ancestors. They also do live healthier and longer lives. These are positive achievements to celebrate. Follett also underscores how there have also been positive developments in the area of moral awareness. In the vast majority of societies, slavery and torture were once seen as uncontroversial institutions and practices. That is no longer the case.
In exploring how these developments came about, Follett focuses on the role played by cities. In her view, The story of civilization is in many ways the story of the city. Her point is not that the rural life lived by most people throughout human history constituted barbarism. Rural communities, she states, have plenty of achievements. But sparsely populated areas also offer fewer choices, whether in terms of what people can eat or how they work.
Folletts book has two goals. The first is to provide practical examples of how 40 different cities have contributed to human progress. The second is to challenge declinist historical narratives while simultaneously widening our comprehension of what drives positive changes.
The second objective, which Follett describes as dissident, is especially important. There is no shortage of historians who have focused on the role of particular philosophical, political, and religious ideas and movements in bringing about specific developments in legal institutions, technology, intellectual inquiry, and the natural and social sciences.
Follett doesnt suggest that these things dont matter. Its difficult to deny, for instance, that the idea of we humans as made in the imago Dei, first given concrete expression in Judaism and the Book of Genesis, was crucial to a self-understanding that we are fundamentally different from all other creatures, making us less fearful of the natural world. Follett, however, is correct to state that the role played by urbanization in general and specific cities in particular is often neglected, and right to offer a corrective.
Each of the 40 cities identified by Follett is associated with a particular development. The first city covered is Jericho, and the theme is the shift away from hunter-gatherer arrangements toward the domestication of plants and animals that we call agriculture. The last city is San Francisco, which is associated with the digital revolution. Folletts argument is not that San Francisco is a model city. Anyone who has visited San Francisco in recent years knows it has become a byword for severe dysfunctionality presided over by self-described urban progressives. Rather, Folletts point is that the areas erstwhile achievements merit celebration.
Some of the cities covered in Folletts analysis are likely to be unknown to most readers. Uruk in the south of Iraq is an archaeological site that today is uninhabited. Four thousand years ago, in Bronze Age southern Mesopotamia, however, Uruk was a thriving commercial city that had developed extensive trade networks to make up for its lack of natural resources. But it was also a place in which accountants and recordkeepers started to develop pictographs to make more efficient the inventorying of goods. Those pictographs in turn developed into nonpictorial symbols that represented concepts. Such abstract symbols reduced some of the work of making detailed drawings. Those symbols further advanced to represent the spoken sounds that people used to express those concepts.
What is curious about this and similar turns of events associated with the cities detailed in the book is that few of them appear to have been planned, let alone ordained from the top-down. They emerged as creative responses over time to particular, often seemingly innocuous, everyday challenges. It was also the case that events sometimes intervened to spread the resultant knowledge such cities had to offer. The violence and economic turmoil that afflicted 15th-century Mainz in Germany was not good for the city. But that same carnage meant that the printmakers fleeing Mainz took with them a new technology called the printing press. The subsequent spread of that technology eventually helped to curb the power of the guilds and nobility whose conflicts had helped bring Mainz to its knees.
Not all the cities covered in this book are presented as being equally important in terms of their contribution to human progress. Nor does Follett engage in an equal-opportunity exercise. She does not suggest, for example, that every culture is as good as every other. By my count, 22 of the 40 cities that she discusses would be conventionally described as part of the West, while three of the others have been heavily subject to Western influences. Still, what readers will realize as they work their way through the cities identified by Follett are the ways in which much progress in Western countries owes a great deal to changes that occurred centuries beforehand in places ranging from Agra in modern-day India to Hangzhou in todays China.
What, then, are the factors that Follett sees as common denominators in driving progress in these urban settings? One element is proximity. Cities are places that bring peopleand their minds and creativitytogether. When many people are in one place, conflict often occurs, but so does cooperation, conversation, the exchange of ideas, and chance encounters that lead to unanticipated positive outcomes. But the vital contextual ingredient that causes thriving, in Folletts view, is when cities are also environments of liberty.
Of course, not all cities have always been free. Berlin was a very unfree place between 1933 and 1945, and its eastern half became a virtual prison from 1961 until 1989. Moscow and Beijing have, with a few blink-of-an-eye intervals, never been free. But when freedom does prevail in urban environments, exciting things can happen. Absent the set patterns of activity that often are part and parcel of rural life, men and women are freer to experiment, take risks, be entrepreneurial, or are simply more stimulated by the hustle and bustle around them to think and act differently.
City air makes you free, or so the German saying quoted by Follett goes. That is surely right, and something that can give us hope that the story of human civilizationand true progressis not over.
The Jefferson Center is asking the city of Roanoke for an immediate $250,000 and a total of $6 million over the next six years to address capital needs.
The centers executive director, Cyrus Pace, told city council during a Monday meeting that the facility has one to two years of useful life left unless the city steps in.
Pace said that assertion is backed up by a recent capital needs study done by Hughes Associates Architects & Engineers performed for the center. The study concluded that the center has nearly $6.2 million in critical projects that need to be completed in the next five years.
Theres a widening gap between the expectations created by an outdated lease and the realities of maintaining a 100-year-old, 131,000 square foot building, Pace said. We will never have the level of surplus needed to sustain the building.
Pace said the center would use the immediate $250,000 to address various issues, including sprinkler head replacements and several heating and cooling repairs and replacements. The building has an historic designation, and that drives up the cost of some repairs, he said.
The Jefferson Center, located in the building that was once Jefferson High School, has been used as an arts and cultural center for 30 years.
Pace said the center is integral to the community because it enhances the quality of life, increases tourism, supports education and stimulates the economy.
The center also provides a performance space for organizations that have no space of their own like Opera Roanoke and the Roanoke Valley Childrens Choir. The center also rents space to various local organizations, including Goodwill, Virginia Tech and regional nonprofits and businesses.
Pace said the building has not received any significant renovations since it was saved from demolition in the 1980s and Shaftman Performance Hall was renovated in the 1990s.
The city doesnt make any annual recurring contributions to the center, City Manager Bob Cowell said. However, the city has made one-time contributions in the past.
Council member Stephanie Moon Reynolds who, along with Vice Mayor Joe Cobb, sponsored Paces presentation to council said she believes the center has been a good steward of those city funds.
The last time you all came before council with a capital need was in April of 2013, Moon Reynolds said.
Moon Reynolds said it makes sense for the city, as the centers landlord, to take on some of the major capital costs.
The current lease does not provide for that.
The original business model was designed to use revenue from office leasing and facility rentals to cover the cost of operational maintenance. And weve done this successfully for 30 years. However, the business model was never designed to cover capital for building system replacements like were faced with now, Pace said.
What worked in the 1990s and has worked for 30 years is no longer sustainable, he said.
The centers leadership believes that the buildings capital needs will overtake its ability to operate within the next two years.
However, Pace said, the current lease wont allow the center and city to consider a better partnership.
Cowell acknowledged that issue.
At minimum, Cowell said, the Jefferson Center lease terms need to be renegotiated. He stressed the importance of getting it right this time, because the need wont go away.
Thats exactly right, Pace said.
The center has raised more than three times the amount of money the city has given it since 1989 and the center is looking into a new capital fundraising campaign, Pace said. However, he said a successful campaign needs to start with a contribution from the city.
He said current and prospective donors have implied that, without an early commitment from the city, they will be less inclined to maximize their contributions.
Cobb acknowledged the challenge of meeting the centers funding request.
One of the challenges we face when we look at capital improvement projects is whats already scheduled and what we dont anticipate, Cobb said. I think whats startling is to hear an immediate need.
The $6 million discussion will have to wait until CIP budget discussions, Cowell said. Meanwhile, the $250,000 will have to come from year-end surplus or, Cowell said, the city could forgo a project already planned.
This all about trade-offs. ... Right now one of our elevators doesnt work in this building [city hall]. Ive got roofs that are leaking throughout this building. We have ... probably $7 million worth of expenses in the jail, Cowell said.
At the meeting, city officials indicated that the requests could be discussed at the councils budget retreat in early November.
But if the need for artificial gravity is so clear, why bother with research in space, or on Earth? Why don't engineers simply get to work designing spinning ships, like the Hermes?
The answer is that artificial gravity requires a trade-off, because all that spinning creates problems. As on the Rotor Ride, moving your head while you're spinning that fast causes nausea. Spinning also impacts the fluid in your inner ear and any other body parts that you move while you're in a rotating environment.
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And that nausea, disorientation and movement problems worsen the faster you rotate (the number of revolutions per minute [RPMs]). But the amount of artificial gravity that can be produced depends both on the RPMs and the size of whatever is rotating.
To experience a given amount of gravity for example one-half the usual amount that you feel on Earth the length of the radius of rotation (the distance from you standing on the floor to the center of whatever is spinning) determines how fast you need to spin. Build a wheel-shaped craft with a radius of 738 feet (225 meters) and you'll produce full Earth gravity (known as 1G) rotating at just 1 RPM. That's slow enough that scientists are very sure that nobody would get nauseous or disoriented.
Other than the floor being a little bit curved, things aboard such a craft would feel pretty normal. But building and flying such an enormous structure in space would entail numerous engineering challenges.
This means that NASA and any other space agencies or organizations likely to send people around the solar system in the future must settle for a lower amount of gravity, a faster rotation (more RPMs) or both. Since there is no laboratory on the moon where the surface gravity is about 16 percent that of Earth's surface, making it a great place to research the effects of low gravity, as opposed to weightlessness, there simply isn't not enough data to know how much gravity humans may need for long-term space missions or space colonies. Such data is needed, as is data on how much rotation humans can reasonably tolerate, and that's the rationale for ongoing artificial gravity research.
Now That's Cool The University of Colorado, Boulder is studying ways to design revolving systems that could fit in a room of a future space station or moon base. Astronauts could crawl into these rooms for just a few hours a day to get their daily dose of gravity.
A total of 32 parliamentary questions were filed in relation to the recent money laundering case involving 10 foreign nationals and S$1 billion worth of assets. (PHOTO: Singapore Police Force)
SINGAPORE Members of Parliament (MP) in Singapore filed a total of 32 questions on anti-money laundering initiatives in light of the recent money laundering case where 10 foreign nationals were arrested and about S$1 billion in assets seized.
The list of questions ranged from anti-money laundering initiatives by the government to data on past suspicious transaction reports (STRs).
In response to the queries by MPs from the People's Action Party (PAP), Workers' Party (WP), and Non-Constituency MPs from the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said that the Ministry of Home Affairs, together with various other ministries, will respond to the queries in a ministerial statement in October.
Money laundering case
On 15 August, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) conducted islandwide raids which led to the arrest of 10 foreign nationals for their suspected involvement in forgery and money laundering.
The raids, which were one of the city state's largest anti-money laundering operations, also resulted in the collective seizure of about S$1 billion worth of assets. This included 35 bank accounts with a total estimated balance of more than S$110 million and cash amounting to more than S$23 million. Prohibition of disposal orders were issued against 94 properties and 50 vehicles, with a total estimated value of more than S$815 million.
Additionally, more than 250 luxury bags and watches, more than 120 electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones, more than 270 pieces of jewellery, two gold bars, and 11 documents with information on virtual assets were also seized.
All 10 suspects are currently facing trial.
Questions on anti-money laundering initiatives
1. MP Patrick Tay (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how have recent offences including forgery and money laundering with an estimated value of about S$1 billion in cash and various assets come about in such magnitude despite Singapore's robust laws and anti-money laundering frameworks; and (b) what is being done to prevent future recurrence of such cases. Tay also asked what more can be done to prevent individuals under false identities or with criminal intent to conduct cross-border organised crimes from obtaining work, employment, or dependant passes.
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2. MP Foo Mee Har (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how has the recent high-profile money laundering probe affected Singapores reputation as a leading wealth management hub; and (b) how does Singapore's efforts to combat money laundering compare with other leading wealth management jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Switzerland and the US.
3. MP Desmond Choo (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how have surveillance and international partnerships between MAS and other regulators helped to prevent and take down money laundering syndicates; and (b) what are the further plans to strengthen Singapores anti-money laundering systems.
4. MP Joan Pereira (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether Singapore is working towards full compliance on recommendations 22 and 23 of the Financial Action Task Force for designated non-financial businesses and professions such as real estate agents, dealers of precious metals and stones, legal and accounting professionals and trust and company service providers.
Questions on reviewing existing anti-money laundering measures
1. MP Saktiandi Supaat (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how does MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) identify suspicious transaction reports to be indicators of a wider network of unlawful activity; (b) whether the existing detection measures in our financial system can be supplemented and enhanced to build our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing reputation; and (c) how does Singapore's measures across MAS and other relevant agencies currently compare with other jurisdictions such as the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and UAE.
2. MP Hany Soh (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs whether the Ministry will review current AML (anti-money laundering) laws to determine whether any amendments or enhancements are required to prevent similar cases in future. She also asked whether the Council of Estate Agencies has reviewed the Customer Due Diligence measures that salespersons are required to undertake on their customers to determine whether the measures are sufficiently robust to prevent recurrences.
Questions on Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs)
1. MP Ng Ling Ling (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many STRs have been made by financial institutions about suspicious activities in each of the past three years; and (b) how many of such reports have resulted in the Singapore Police Force mounting a formal investigation.
2. MP Sylvia Lim (WP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs what is the extent to which STRs are useful in uncovering suspected money laundering activities.
3. MP Dennis Tan (WP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the authorities are satisfied with the effectiveness of STRs filed in the past few years; and (b) if not, whether there will be enhancements to improve on the effectiveness of the STR or the early scrutiny of all STRs filed.
4. MP Louis Chua (WP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) in each of the last five years, what proportion of real estate transactions reported to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office have been blocked; and (b) whether more can be done to block such transactions in order to better detect and prevent money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious crimes.
Questions on foreign nationals
1. NCMP Leong Mun Wai (PSP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the immigration status of the 10 foreign individuals who have been charged in the S$1 billion money laundering case; and (b) whether foreigners who are convicted of offences are permanently blacklisted from entering Singapore and, if not, why.
2. MP He Ting Ru (WP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs in the granting of approvals to foreign nationals for the purchase of landed residential property (a) whether the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) considers the link to money laundering or suspicious financial activity in its assessment; and (b) what are the considerations in being satisfied that the foreign national had made exceptional economic contribution as part of the criteria.
3. MP Alex Yam (PAP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many of the properties issued with the prohibition of disposal orders in the S$1 billion money laundering probe have restrictions on foreign ownership under the Residential Property Act 1976; and (b) how will the ministry ensure that private properties in Singapore are not used to launder illicit money.
4. MP Louis Chua (WP) asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) what forms of background checks are conducted on foreigners and what are the processes that the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has in place before it grants foreigners the approval to purchase landed residential properties in Sentosa Cove; and (b) whether the SLA will review its processes for conducting such checks.
5. NMP Neil Parekh Nimil Rajnikant asked the Minister for Home Affairs what additional steps can be taken to prevent individuals with criminal intent to conduct cross-border organised crimes from obtaining permanent residency under the programmes offered by the Economic Development Board.
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BEDFORD, N.H. As summer turns to autumn and former President Donald Trump continues to dominate the 2024 Republican presidential race despite his coup attempt and four criminal indictments, there remains one glimmer of hope for his rivals: the 11-percentage point gap.
That is the difference between Trumps polling lead nationally over his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and the average of his leads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, three of the four early voting states.
Lots of people are still undecided, said Marc Short, who was former Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff and is now advising his presidential campaign. He added that while Trump has large leads in polls, Iowa voters do not seem solidly committed to him particularly after recent Trumps comments disparaging anti-abortion activists. Thats what we see when were canvassing in the neighborhoods.
While Trump has the support of 57% of GOP voters nationally, that figure is only 48% in South Carolina, 46% in Iowa and 44% in New Hampshire.
(Nevada, the fourth early state, has had no recent public polling, and the pro-Trump state party is encouraging candidates and GOP voters to shun the state-run Feb. 6 primary and participate in party caucuses two days later instead.)
Trump campaign officials did not respond to HuffPost queries asking why he is not doing as well in the early states as nationally. But in a sign they recognize the problem, they have scheduled a handful of Iowa events in the coming weeks after a summer of little campaigning at all.
Under the theory that anti-Trump Republicans are pinning their hopes on, that gap between national and early state numbers proves that in states were other candidates are actually conducting a campaign, a majority of Republican voters are open to a non-Trump candidate.
Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addresses a gathering during a campaign event at V.F.W. Post 1631, Monday, July 24, 2023, in Concord, N.H.
Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addresses a gathering during a campaign event at V.F.W. Post 1631, Monday, July 24, 2023, in Concord, N.H.
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And because Trump is effectively the incumbent in the Republican field, those under-50% numbers actually show considerable weakness, not the insurmountable strength that Trump and his allies like to project, the anti-Trumpers argue.
I think New Hampshire is going to be a very busy place in the coming months, and I think theres a lot of opportunity for movement, said Maura Weston, a former New Hampshire Republican Party official.
In this scenario, should Trump wind up losing Iowa, the myth of his inevitability will be shattered, making a loss in New Hampshire the following week more likely.
And if he loses New Hampshire, the theory goes, it becomes a wide-open race going forward which is precisely the way the candidate who has made attacking Trump the focus of his campaign has been presenting his case in his New Hampshire-centric effort.
Just remember, the future of this country starts with you. Here, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told a couple of dozen voters during a visit to the Mountain Base Brewery in Goffstown last week. If Donald Trump wins here, he will be our nominee. Everything that happens after that is going to be on our party and on our country. Americas counting on you. Im counting on you, too.
Normalizing Trumps Coup
Just after Jan. 6, 2021, it seemed certain that Trump had ended his political career with his incitement of a violent attack on the Capitol that injured 140 police officers and led to the deaths of five in his last-ditch attempt to remain in power despite having lost the 2020 election. On the floors of their respective chambers, the two Republican leaders both blamed Trump for the mayhem.
But within weeks, as Republican lawmakers returned to their districts and found that their voters were angry at them for not supporting Trump, GOP leaders in both Congress and the states began toning down their criticism or reversing course entirely.
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) not only voted against impeaching Trump a Senate conviction would have had the effect of banning Trump from federal office for life but asked other Republicans to do the same. Kevin McCarthy, at the time the House minority leader, actually made a pilgrimage to Trumps country club home in South Florida to make amends with him exactly three weeks after his mob had invaded McCarthys office in the Capitol.
That refusal to criticize Trump for his coup attempt has largely continued within the GOP presidential field. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy a week after Jan. 6 called Trumps behavior downright abhorrent, but has now become Trumps biggest cheerleader among the 2024 contenders and has promised to pardon Trump on his first day in office.
Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who served as Trumps United Nations ambassador, went from telling fellow Republicans the day after Jan. 6 that Trumps actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history to declaring we need him in the Republican Party in a span of nine months. Now, running against Trump, she calls him the most disliked politician in all of America but fails to mention the role Jan. 6 plays in that unpopularity.
And when a moderator at last months Republican debate asked how many of the eight hopefuls on stage would still support Trump as the nominee even if by that time he had been convicted of a felony, she was among six to raise their hands.
For former New Hampshire Republican party chair Jennifer Horn, Haley is the perfect illustration of the non-Trump fields inability or unwillingness to challenge the man who, despite everything, remains the de facto incumbent in the Republican primary.
When she raised her hand on stage, Horn said, Haley effectively eliminated any reason for her supporters to choose her over Trump. No matter how good Nikki Haley is, if shes going to support him no matter what, shes giving permission to even her own voters to do the same, Horn said.
The GOPs De Facto Incumbent
Fergus Cullen, another former chair of the New Hampshire party, said that Republican leaders missed their window to put Trump behind them by not universally condemning him and his actions immediately after Jan. 6. That opportunity is now gone, he said, and he remains unconvinced that someone can defeat him in the primaries.
Voters are always open to looking at other choices, but fundamentally, theyre OK with Trump, he said. Do you want your potato mashed or baked? Or French fries? Voters will pause to consider the options, but theyll go with the usual most of the time.
Others, like former Republican National Committee member from New Hampshire Steve Duprey, are more sanguine about the odds of beating Trump, pointing to New Hampshires reputation for quirkiness and the ability of registered independents to vote in either Democratic or Republican primaries. Duprey said that while Trump may be currently favored by New Hampshires registered Republicans, the independents are done with him and will make up a third or more of the vote in January. Watch the independents, he said.
Matt Mayberry, another former state party official who now hosts candidate meet-and-greet events for the state home builders association, said the primary is only getting started and several of the non-Trump candidates are well positioned. I think theres a possibility that anyone can win or lose New Hampshire, he said.
I liked some of Trumps policies, but hes just a horrendous person. You wouldnt buy a car from someone who you dont like, even if its a good price.New Hampshire voter Greg Lynch
For those non-Trump candidates, there is clearly a significant percentage of voters, including former Trump supporters, who are ready to get behind someone without Trumps baggage.
I think if he is the candidate again, I think he will be defeated again,said Marc Colcumbe, a 63-year-old mechanical contractor who voted for Trump in both 2016 and 2020. But I wont vote for him a third time.
Greg Lynch, who is 56 and installs building insulation, said he, too, is a never-again Trump voter. I liked some of Trumps policies, but hes just a horrendous person, he said. You wouldnt buy a car from someone who you dont like, even if its a good price.
While much of the field has focused their time on Iowa, hoping to either win or place in the caucuses, Christie is instead putting his time and money into New Hampshire in echoes of the late Sen. John McCains 2000 campaign against George W. Bush in which he conducted 114 campaign town halls in the state.
At a Rye gathering sponsored by former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, Christie said that he did not expect to lead Trump in any poll prior to the primary just as McCain did not until beating Bush on election night by 18 points.
The following night at a campaign town hall in Bedford that drew several hundred, Christie repeated his pledge to work the state until primary day four months from now. I will be here until the last dog dies, he said, wrapping up two hours in a hot elementary school gym. I will be here until the last vote is counted.
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SIOUX CITY -- The Sioux City Council approved second consideration of a concept plan Monday for a residential subdivision near North Middle School.
The vote was 4 to 0 to 1, with Mayor Bob Scott abstaining from casting a vote for or against the concept plan, which is an optional step a developer may take to receive preliminary approval of a conceptual vision for a site. The council is expected to vote on third and final consideration at its next weekly meeting.
"The attorney for Mr. Lieber questioned my unbiased opinion," Scott said. "I'm not abstaining because I have any conflict of interest. I have no financial gain in any of these deals."
Rod Lieber wants to construct a residential subdivision on a 49-acre site at 2319 and 2605 41st St. Lieber Heights would feature 131 single-family and duplex or townhouse lots.
Sioux City's Planning and Zoning Commission voted to advance the concept plan to the city council for approval on Aug. 8. During the commission's meeting, a handful of property owners expressed concerns about "dramatic grading," the instability of loess soil and potential environmental impacts on the land. During Monday's meeting, a handful of residents again raised concerns about the project.
"We as neighbors and all of us as city taxpayers have no guarantee that this development will ever happen," said Rhonda Bridges, who owns property on Bings Court. "We have no guarantee other than the dirt moving will take place."
Before the vote, Bridges told council members she and other property owners are asking them to reject Lieber Construction's proposal to start dirt moving based on a conceptual plan versus an actual plan that has been vetted.
Senior Planner Chris Madsen said the concept plan is "not a substitute" for the rezoning or a preliminary plat. Approval of the concept plan does not allow development to occur, as rezoning and platting would need to be approved before any development could take place at the site.
"Those items will still need to be reviewed by the Planning and Zoning Commission and the City Council. So there's a process that will need to happen before anything can be done on the site," Madsen said.
Mayor Pro Tem Dan Moore said one of the many "clear messages" the neighbors are sending is that the project needs to monitored.
"We want to make sure that there's compliance with what they say they're going to do," he said of Lieber Construction.
Councilman Alex Watters said the city is "really going to be checking in" to make sure any approved development is "done well."
"I do think we need development. We need to grow. We need to be able to expand our city in a meaningful, intentional way, rather than acting hastily, and it sounds like staff is working with the developer to do so," he said.
Jordan Rozeboom, Lieber's chief financial officer, told the council that he thinks the plan for the development is becoming a "better plan in the process." He said Lieber intends to put a 10-foot barrier with native grasses above the property line with North Middle School.
"As we get further along in the year, I think it is more doubtful that a substantial amount of grading occurs this year," he said.
At its Aug. 28 meeting, the council voted to defer taking action on the concept plan until after a public meeting could be held on Sept. 7. Between 40 and 50 citizens attended the meeting at North Middle School. Madsen said updated plans, including a preliminary grading plan, were shared at the meeting and he described the response from residents as "positive."
Then, during its Sept. 11 meeting, the council approved first consideration of the concept plan by a vote of 4 to 1. Councilman Matthew O'Kane cast the lone vote against the plan. During that meeting, O'Kane said he heard "a lot of people sharing a lot of concerns" about the project. He said he was concerned about a detention pond near a proposed park on the site filling up after heavy rains and potentially posing a danger to small children.
Lieber has said development would occur in three stages, with the final stage of development taking place between 2026 and 2028.
In the summer of 2019, Lieber withdrew plans to excavate undeveloped Loess Hills land near North Middle School for a residential subdivision, after several residents spoke out in opposition to the project, citing environmental and safety concerns.
At that time, Lieber had planned to excavate most of the soil away to make room for an approximately 35-acre residential subdivision at 2321 41st St. He asked the city to rezone the plotted land from agricultural to suburban residential.
Lieber reduced the number of lots in his concept plan from 140 to 133, and then, from 133 to 131, with a number of proposed lots increasing in size.
According to city documents, the easterly phase of the development would be completed in 2024-2025 and include the extension of Indian Hills Drive north through the development. The second stage, estimated for 2025-2026, is in the center of the property. The final stage, estimated for 2026-2028, would be the westerly portion of the property and also have a second access to 41st Street to complete a roadway loop through the development.
Anybody that takes that position is stupid for saying it. Weve got to have an FBI.
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley on calls to eliminate the FBI
"I don't think it's going to get delayed that long, but your guess is as good as mine."
District Judge Patrick Tott on the delayed opening of Woodbury County's new jail
"I know people are getting their wedding photos or senior pictures taken in the alleys because the setting is spectacular."
Brent Stockton, organizer of Sioux City's Alley Art Festival, in which muralists paint alleyways in downtown Sioux City
Its an extremely hard decision."
Sioux City School Board Member Taylor Goodvin on his decision not to run for re-election
It is evident that a further and more thorough investigation is warranted to protect the integrity of our institutions, defend the rule of law in our country, and hold President Biden accountable for his corruption."
U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden
"Fans will be able to clearly hear goals, assists, penalties and announcements, as well as music. Music plays such an important role in human emotion. If you can hear the notes a little bit more clearly, it just helps jazz up the fans even that much more, as well as the players."
Connor Ryan, a spokesman for the Sioux City Musketeers, on the new sound system that will debut at the Tyson Events Center Oct. 6
The whole projects going to take a significant amount of money."
John M. Loughlin, a member of the Brummer Legacy Foundation, on the nonprofit's efforts to restore the historic Brummer Building in downtown Cherokee
SIOUX CITY When it comes to venues presidential candidates visit in Iowa, Pizza Ranch has loomed large in the past.
On Iowa caucus night 2012, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who ended up defeating Mitt Romney by 34 votes, gave a shout to the Orange City-based business by noting he'd campaigned at 36 Pizza Ranches. In 2016, former President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to a location in Waukee, Iowa, and reportedly footed the bill for campaign staff there.
"I dont think of another place that is quite as common (for campaigning in Iowa) as Pizza Ranch," said David Peterson, a Lucken professor of political science at Iowa State University in Ames.
Mike Pence meet and greet Former Vide President Mike Pence signs a baseball for Lee Holder, right, and his wife Mary Holder, center, during the Woodbury County GOP and
As for the 2024 cycle, former Vice President Mike Pence held his first event in Sioux City at the Pizza Ranch on Floyd Boulevard. The party room Pence spoke in for more than an hour was at capacity and many interested Iowans were spilling out into the hallway.
"I encouraged them to go elsewhere," Woodbury County Republican Party Chair Bob Henderson said. "I know what was motivating them. They just thought that they were not going to be able to get a big crowd on the fifth of July ... but they did."
New primary, new places, new faces
Republican presidential candidates for 2024 have ended up elsewhere when they've come to Siouxland this year and Henderson has played a part in that. In fact, several venues are entirely new to the presidential campaigning process.
Before anyone had even visited the Sioux City metro area for this primary, Henderson contacted local businesses who'd potentially be willing to host campaigners when they came through. Henderson, the state representative for Iowa District 2, spent several years working for Sen. Chuck Grassley which allowed him to build up his list of favorable locations. He said he got three, of varying sizes, to commit.
"I got the agreement from those people to host," Henderson said. "(The) candidates actually selected the venues, I did not."
Through September, Port Neal Welding Company in Salix, Iowa (about 15 miles from Sioux City) has brought in three politicians vying for the White House: former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum. Prior to this go around, the business hadn't welcomed any presidential hopefuls.
Daniel Lee, the owner of Port Neal Welding Company, said he felt compelled to offer up his shop this time out because he believes the country needs a change.
"We need to change and now Im just doing my part," Lee said.
Since Port Neal operates 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, Lee said there have been scheduling concerns he needed to work out before being visited by the various campaigns. And some tidying up as well.
When Burgum, DeSantis and Haley finally showed up, Lee had a chance to meet with each one of them. As of now, he's not playing favorites.
"They all were good and all were very personable," he said.
Nikki Haley Port Neal campaign Nikki Haley, 2024 Republican presidential hopeful, walks into a campaign event in front of U.S. Congressman Randy Feenstra, R-IA, Monday at Po
Ron DeSantis Salix campaign Ron DeSantis, 2024 Republican presidential hopeful and governor of Florida, introduces his wife, Casey, during a campaign event Wednesday, May
Doug Burgum Republican presidential candidate, and current North Dakota governor, Doug Burgum, speaking during an interview at the Sioux City Journal in S
What does it all mean?
While those three events at Port Neal covered an array of topics, other stops to Siouxland locales have been oriented around a particular message.
On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, just two days after announcing his candidacy, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott came to Sioux City while rolling out his education platform. The place he decided to visit in the morning? Siouxland Christian School. Scott toured the facilities and talked with staff about school safety and educational savings accounts.
"For the school choice movement, the seeds have been planted over years and years and years," he said. "It's going to be fun to watch how the country changes because of quality education."
Tim Scott going into Siouxland Christian gym South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott tours the Siouxland Christian gymnasium during a presidential campaign stop in Sioux City on Wednesday. Scott, a
Peterson said such choices can help drive home a candidate's message.
"Those can be very important. They can use where they are as part of the speech. It becomes an example of the point theyre trying to make," he said.
Even a particular eatery or shop can communicate something about a campaign or campaigner, Peterson said. "Some of it is also a signal of 'Were together. Were the same. Im one of you.' This is the kind of restaurant or location youd go to anyway."
To Peterson, who a venue doesn't host can say something about the place, too.
"If youre hosting an event, you can say no to these. The companies that choose to host these events are making the conscious choice of at least not opposing the candidate," he said.
In Ames, in 2020, Peterson said a common place for Democratic presidential candidates to visit was one of several breweries in town. Those crisscrossing Iowa that year would also make stops to house parties, churches, libraries and the Iowa State University campus.
"At some point its wherever they can find someone who will host them and its a little different for each party," Peterson said.
Candidate Ryan Binkley Ryan Binkley, Republican candidate for president of the United States, Texas businessman and pastor, speaks about his message of unity and fai
Asa Hutchinson with voter Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson greeted prospective Iowa caucus-goers during a campaign stop at Sioux City's The Wheelhouse Bar & Gril
Along with Pizza Ranch, Port Neal Welding and Siouxland Christian, area venues to play host to Republicans have included Knova's Carpets (Sioux City), Novelty Machine & Supply Co. (Sioux City), Uptown Event Center (Le Mars) and The Wheelhouse Bar & Grill (Sioux City). In June, The Wheelhouse hosted former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson as well as Texas businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley.
"The Wheelhouse has been used before," Henderson said.
Jeremy Dumkrieger, who served as the head of the Woodbury County Democratic Party from 2017 through March 2023, said common spots for candidates in his party in 2020 were Jackson Street Brewing, Jitters cafe, the Morningside University Campus, Rebos Grill & Cantina and the Sioux City Public Museum.
"We tried to spread it around as much as we could. We had to go wherever was available," Dumkrieger said.
Finding the right fit
Availability is important as is the size of a space, Dumkrieger said.
"You dont want it to look like its empty," he said. "People always want to do the Orpheum (Theatre) like theyre going to fill it up but its hard to fill it up. Its pretty big."
Henderson agreed about lining up a location that's the right size.
"Wherever it is, they want something thats a full place. A full place might be 40 people or 300 people," he said.
Sometimes a smaller site can make a politician's crowd seem more impressive, Peterson said.
"Ive seen some of the DeSantis events where it looked like the room was underfilled but he probably had more people than that Mike Pence event (in Sioux City)," he said.
To make sure somewhere isn't underfilled, Henderson has a contact list of about 500 people which he said can help pack a place.
What's down the line
One other problem with planning a presidential campaign event: There isn't necessarily a lot of lead time.
"Those candidates really cannot plan for more than about two weeks in advance so I oftentimes dont get a heads up," Henderson said.
However, in early October, Henderson said the Woodbury County GOP is looking to host an event featuring multiple candidates. But there are still questions to answer.
"I dont have a venue for it set because were trying to get commitments from all of the candidates."
There are five permanent member states on the United Nations Security Councilbut of all their leaders, Joe Biden was the only one to show up at the U.N. General Assembly this week. That may be the most significant thing about Bidens speech Tuesday morning.
Russias Vladimir Putin, Chinas Xi Jinping, Frances Emmanuel Macron, and Britains Rishi Sunak all had other, presumably better things to do. Another prominent world leader, Indias Narendra Modi, stayed home as well, possibly exhausted from having hosted the G20 summit just last week.
This unusually large spread of high-level no-shows could mean that the General Assemblywhich used to be a major event, the one occasion when all the worlds leaders gathered in one place and some of them took a moment to meet quietly on the sidelinesis simply no longer as big a deal as it once was.
Perhaps, for now anyway, its just as well. Washingtons tensions with Moscow and Beijing are so fraught that it may be best for their leaders to avoid meeting face-to-face. A few days before the U.N. get-together, Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, met in Malta with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, for what the White House readout called candid, substantive, and constructive discussions. Best for senior officials such as these to tee up the issuesscoping out where accommodations might and might not be madebefore their bosses risk the stakes of a great-power summit. (After the Malta meeting, Wang flew to Moscow for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrovsuggesting that Xi is now playing the same sort of triangular politics with the U.S. and Russia that American presidents once played with Russia and China.)
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Meanwhile, Biden tried to use the absence of his peers to his advantage. He devoted most of his speech to a call for expanding international institutions to include low- and medium-income nations that have been ignored over the past decades, and thus create a more equitable world for all people because we know our future is bound to yours.
Leaders of the Global SouthAfrica, Latin and South America, and parts of Asiahave recently been pushing for a greater say in global affairs. Much of the General Assemblys agenda this year is devoted to issues that resonate with this discontentsustainable development, financing for development, and universal health coverage.
Putin and Xi, in their own ways, have adopted this rhetoric and tied it to anti-imperialist themes as a way to displace U.S. influence in what used to be called the Third World. Putin has done so to keep these nations at least neutral toward his war with Ukraine; Xi has touted Chinas Belt and Road Initiative as an alternative to Western finances. Both have been fairly successful in these campaignswhich is ironic and infuriating, given that BRI has its own sets of inequities (as some of its clients have discovered) and that Putin is conducting the most aggressively imperialist war in decades.
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Bidens speechhis very presence at the assembly, contrasted with Putins and Xis absencemarked an assertion that Western democracy stands as a better vehicle for these aspirations. He cited the tens of billions of dollars that the U.S. has invested in development, world health, and combating climate change in just the two years of his administration, as well as his own role in coordinating tens of billions more from other nations. He urged the assemblys leaders not to follow Russias path, warning that if Putin succeeds in Ukraine, he could commit aggression against them.
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In a coupling of both messages (Im Here, Theyre Not and Dont Cuddle Up With Moscow), Biden was scheduled to meet with the presidents of five Central Asian nationsKazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. A senior U.S. official noted that this C5+1 summit will be the first-ever such meeting with those nations and that they will discuss regional security, trade and connectivity, climate, and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law. The official did not note that all of these nations used to be republics of the Soviet Union and that Putin is keen to bring them back into Moscows orbit.
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Bidens message may have reassured the leaders of long-neglected nations to some extentbut there was a specter looming in the shadows: that of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Biden has a long record of supporting alliances; his words on inclusivity and equity are consistent with that record. (And by the way, his delivery of those words was fine. Yes, he looked old, but not doddering, except for a couple of slurred lines, which seemed products more of his lifelong stutter than of any geriatric infirmity.)
Related From Slate No, Biden Hasnt Messed Up an Opportunity to End the War in Ukraine Read More
The unspoken concern, however, was how long Biden will be around to deliver actionwhether someone else will be president a mere year and a few months from now, and whether that president might be Donald Trump, who detests international organizations, cares nothing about global inequities, and will likely pull whatever funding Biden devotes to leveling measures.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was attending the General Assembly for the first time since the war began, is especially concerned about this possibility. Upon his arrival in New York on Monday, he visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers at a hospital in Staten Island. He watched Bidens speech at the U.N. Tuesday morning (Bidens commitment to Ukraines cause was the only line that prompted applause) and gave a speech of his own that afternoon. Far from the burbling homily of thanks and beseeching for more that some expected, Zelenskys speech was a fiery call for unity and justice in the face of Russian terror and war crimesnot just to restore Ukraine but to prevent aggression against others and to create a space where the worlds other urgent crises, such as climate change, can be solved.
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On Wednesday, Zelensky is slated to go to Washington, where he will meet with Biden in the White House and with several lawmakers on Capitol Hillwhose support he needs, regardless of what happens in next years election, especially since it now seems the war will last longer than he and his supporters had hoped.
The war in Ukraine, which was the dominant (almost the sole) topic of last years General Assembly, seemed to be slipping off the agenda this yearBidens speech devoted only a few lines to the war, at least directly. Zelensky sought to restore its prominence. Even without his speech, the war loomed as a constant backdrop of the sessiona rallying cry for sovereignty and territorial integrity (core tenets of the U.N. charter, as Biden put it) and a test of whether the U.N., either as an institution or as a collective of nation-states, is up to doing much about it.
At the moment, it seems not to be. Much of the Global South wants no part in the new East-West divide. Many of the leaders who could help put an end to the war, including the one who started it and could stop it single-handedly, did not bother to show upand seem not to see the U.N. as the place where such crises can be solved.
Two years ago, the Supreme Court set the stage for its 202122 term through a wild abuse of the shadow docket after lawmakers in Texas passed a deliberately unconstitutional abortion ban in the form of a vigilante law called S.B. 8. Texas jammed the court into deciding the future of Roe v. Wade in an unsigned order in the dark of night, an incomprehensible decision that presaged the formal end of Roe nine months later. Last year, the term opened under the cloud of the unprecedented leak of the Dobbs opinion and the halfhearted in-house investigation that followed, as well as unusually public sparring between the justices. By last November, the court was hit with a revelation that conservative donors used pay-to-play schemes to influence the justicesa story that snowballed into a full-on corruption crisis after the revelation that justices were accepting exorbitant gifts from the same group of millionaires and billionaires with a vested interest in court decisions about money in politics, hobbling labor, and strangling the administrative state. Both of the past two terms, in short, opened with a self-inflicted face punch to the courts legitimacy.
The third full term in thrall to the 63 supermajority is now upon us, and it brings yet another crisis of the courts own making: The Alabama Legislature has defied meticulous instructions to create a second congressional district in the state where Black residents could effectuate their voting power. In last Junes Allen v. Milligan, the court explicitly upheld a lower court ruling ordering that a second such district be created. Alabamaled by Republicans in the statehousespent the last few months declining the courts explicit instructions. The new maps were drawn with a single majority-Black district. The district court issued a furious rebuke. Now Alabama has come back to the Supreme Court in an emergency posture requesting a green light to use their still-illegal maps, claiming that the decision in Milligan didnt in fact mean what it said it meant.
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Why? Because in his concurrence in Milligan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the determinative fifth vote in the case, signaled to the lawmakers that hed be open to deciding the matter in their favor on a different theory that was neither briefed nor argued: Things might come out differently, he wrote, winkingly, if they came back armed with the argument that even if Congress in 1982 could constitutionally authorize race-based redistricting under the Voting Rights Act for some period of time, the authority to conduct race-based redistricting cannot extend indefinitely into the future. (He called the Voting Rights Act a form of race-conscious redistricting because it forbids states from diluting the votes of racial minorities, and measuring dilution requires consideration of race.) Alabama legislators reasonably think Kavanaughs in the bag based on intelligence thats either an inside source or a straightforward reading of his Milligan concurrence. So they refused to follow the directives of the court in the hopes that in this go-round, they win.
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Related From Slate Alabama Is Quickly Discovering the Dangers of Defying the Supreme Court Read More
Theres a lot to hate about starting off a third term of the Supreme Court under the shadow of both ethical scandals and a states decision to simply ignore an express opinion of the court while the ink on that decision is still wet. It calls to mind the era in which Southern states disregarded the holding of Brown v. Board of Education because, well, who was gonna make them do otherwise? And indeed, even if one was on the losing side of Milligan, its hard to imagine that to any justice on the current court the fact of state nullification feels awesome. No matter where you come down on the issue of judicial legitimacy, states flipping the bird at the highest court of the land is a bad look.
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But theres something else happening here, and its worth a mention. Its not just that state legislators and lower court judges have become so certain that they have six justices to rubber stamp anything that they are now prepared to try anything. Its also that they no longer believe in the legal process at all; as the Nations Elie Mystal noted, drug dealers display more transactional deftness than Alabama lawmakers. Years ago, there was an elaborate ritual dance: Justice Clarence Thomas would drop a line in an opinion or a dissent that someone should bring a challenge to X or Y, and in the fullness of time, some group would bring the challenge. It would take a few years, sure, but the case would be tried, a record would be developed, an appeal would be filed, and the case would duly arrive at the court, awaiting its resolution. The nondelegation doctrine. The individual right to bear arms. The end of preclearance under the Voting Rights Act. The return of state-sponsored prayer. The gutting of the Eighth Amendment. Thomas precipitated all of these developments by putting out a call for a case that was answered by conservative litigators plotting their next challenge.
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But Kavanaugh finds himself at this unfortunate moment in Supreme Court history in which nobody cares to do any of those steps anymore: He sends his smoke signal to the litigants, and they just straight up defy the courts orders. Its not just that the dog has caught the car with the conservative legal movements capture of the Supreme Court. Its that the dog has eaten the car and spits it out anytime its honks are not to the dogs liking. Kavanaughs concurrence in Milligan does not read as a road map for Alabama to disobey this very ruling; rather, it appears to be a warning that the justice may not enforce the Voting Rights Act in future rounds of redistricting over the coming years. In the old days, litigants wouldve grasped this distinction. When Thomas mused that the Second Amendment might protect a personal right to own firearms in 1997, he was not encouraging gun owners to start ignoring state gun regulations, but planting the seeds for a someday in the future ruling (which came with 2008s D.C. v. Heller).
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With characteristic ineptitude, Kavanaugh tried and failed to pull off this same trick, vastly overestimating the patience of the modern conservative legal movement. It has not been three decades or three years since Milligan, but three months; its the same exact case with the identical damn facts. And yet, here we are, waiting to see if the outcome will flip just because Alabama lawyers copied and pasted Kavanaughs concurrence into their new briefs. And while we all wait to find out, Alabama voters find themselves in the same posture they were in for the months and years they waited for judicial relief. As Sherrilyn Ifill would remind us: Is this how we do law now?
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In fairness, its easy to see why Kavanaugh thought that slipping a time bomb into his Milligan concurrence was a good idea. When the court handed down that decision, it was still putting the finishing touches on its ruling against affirmative action. There, the majority stressed that a previous Supreme Court ruling had demanded that race-conscious admissions programs have a termination point, with durational limits and sunset provisions. Time was now up. Never one for subtlety, Kavanaugh wrote a whole concurrence highlighting this alleged constitutional bar on long-term racial classification. You can imagine him hard at work in his chambers, trying to square his votes in these cases and landing on this temporal limit as a harmonizing principle. You can also envision his satisfaction at having it both ways: He got to rule against Alabama (which litigated the case with arrogant certainty that it had the court in its pocket) without giving up the weapon he may want to use in the future to kill whats left of the Voting Rights Act.
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But, again, the key words in Kavanaughs Alabama concurrence: in the future. We are not here to overestimate Kavanaughs capacity for strategic thinking. But it is nearly impossible to imagine that he would fault Alabama for failing to raise this temporal argument not as a clue for future litigants, but as a weird trick the state could pull out to nullify his own decision. The justice is already touting his vote in Milligan as proof of the Supreme Courts integrity and nonpartisanship. Does he really want to reverse course so quickly? More to the point, did he despise his own vote about the importance of the VRA so deeply, and hand it out so cheaply, that he put a three-month expiration date on it? The justice craves public admiration and surely adored the liberal acclaim that greeted his surprise position in Milligan.
We are still skeptical that, all along, Kavanaugh was planning to squander that goodwill at the very first chance he got. But, again, the dog has caught the car. And were about to find out how the car intends to manage that.
All of these shows produced a truly great stand-alone episodeone that exemplifies the best of what television can be and makes total sense if youve never watched the rest of the series.
From classic bottle episodes to daring formal experiments, Slate staffers have rounded up the most memorable installments of television that can stand entirely on their own, and where to watch them. Its a true gift in an era when it feels like theres both endless TV and nothing to watch.
Plus: Jenny G. Zhang asked showrunners and TV writers to pick their favorites.
The cake is baked
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Its a waste of time for Democrats to moan about replacing Biden and Harris, David Faris writesthe cake is baked for 2024, and now we all have to er, eat it? He explains why trying to change the Democratic ticket would cause more problems than it would solve.
Worse than Fox
People stress about elderly parents watching Fox News or OAN. But theres another channel thats even worseand Maud Newtons mother is hooked on it.
Boebert-juice
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Coming fresh off the Beetlejuice vaping (and other things) scandal, Lauren Boebert will now help decide whether to shut down the government. Ben Mathis-Lilley reflects on the wonders of U.S. democracy.
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And in related political news: Jim Newell explains why the Freedom Caucus is outraged at its own government funding bill.
Cardio for cardio-haters
Rebecca Onion has discovered the best form of cardio for people who otherwise cant stand cardio. She explains why youll find her carrying around a weighted backpack.
An impartial Trump jury?
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Its more likely than you might think! Legal experts explained to Shirin Ali why theyre not too worried about the ability of the courts to assemble unbiased juries for one of the most polarizing people in America.
Today, Slate is * FAMILIAR TO EVERY AMERICAN
much like the struggles Michigan has faced in recent years: Factory closures, population loss, Motown Records moving to Los Angeles, Ohio State beating Michigan like 20 times in a row, Ben Mathis-Lilley writes. Its been a tough time for the Great Lakes Statebut the United Auto Workers strike is just the latest example of how things are turning around.
Thanks so much for reading! Well see you tomorrow.
Former President Donald Trump has been charged with four felony counts in federal court in the District of Columbia for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Trump asked to delay his trial until 2026, but the judge refused, setting a March 2024 trial date.
Now Trump wants a new judge. On Sept. 11, he filed a motion to recuse Judge Tanya Chutkan based on comments she made in other related cases, such as saying a Jan. 6 defendant exhibited blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day. On Thursday, the Department of Justice filed its reply, taking issue with Trumps demand. Sunday night he fired back and asked Chutkan for a hearing on the question. Battle over this issue has now been fully joined.
As ethics experts who served in a Democratic and Republican White House respectively, we think it is one that Trump will lose. We understand why some might at first glance raise an eyebrow at the judges comments. But a look at the law and the facts proves that the judge has done nothing wrong. She should not recuse.
The statute governing recusal of federal judges, 28 U.S. Code 455, provides that a judge must recuse in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. The test is whether an objective observer in the public would question the judges impartiality. Moreover, when recusal is sought because of judicial statements made during court proceedings like those here, the Supreme Court has warned that only in the rarest circumstances should the judge step aside if her words display a deep-seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment impossible.
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Trumps motion says this is such a case. He relies first on a comment by Chutkan in proceedings against a defendant convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. In sentencing Christine Priola, Chutkan said of her and the Jan. 6 rioters:
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The people who mobbed that Capitol were there in fealty, in loyalty, to one mannot to the Constitution, of which most of the people who come before me seem woefully ignorant; not to the ideals of this country; and not to the principles of democracy. Its a blind loyalty to one person who, by the way, remains free to this day.
Trump argues this is a gratuitous suggestion that he should be imprisoned. But the context is to the contrary. Chutkan was addressing the topic only because the defendant herself raised it at sentencing, trying to shift blame away from herself and onto Trump. The primary point that the judge was making in response to Priola attempting to lay off her own responsibility was that the defendant and others like her made a culpable choice because they put their loyalty to one man before their loyalty to their country and democracywhich was true.
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Related From Slate Trumps Ploy to Evade Punishment for Jan. 6 Is Coming Into Focus Read More
She noted that this one man remained freewhich was also true. But her point was that this fact weakened Priolas efforts to blame him: because Trump had not at that time even been charged, much less convicted, it was less appropriate to point a finger at him. The judge certainly never said Trump was guilty of any crime or that he should be criminally charged, much less imprisoned. Even if the judges statement was tinged with the irony that the alleged ringleader remained at liberty, that passing reflection is far too thin a reed to sustain recusal given the extremely high burden Trump must carry.
The second statement that Trump complains about was made by Chutkan in sentencing another defendant, Robert Scott Palmer, and is even more benign:
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And it is true, Mr. Palmeryou have made a very good point, one that has been made beforethat the people who exhorted you and encouraged you and rallied you to go and take action and to fight have not been charged. That is not this courts position. I dont charge anybody. I dont negotiate plea offers. I dont make charging decisions. I sentence people who have pleaded guilty or have been convicted. The issue of who has or has not been charged is not before me. I dont have any influence on that. I have my opinions, but they are not relevant.
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In this statement Chutkan does not even mention Trump at all. She names no names. She does not even commit to the culpability of those unnamed individuals, stating that they may be at least in part responsible.
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As DOJ also points out in its brief, that is a far cry from the kind of extreme bias that justifies recusal under the law. Chutkan expressly said that charging decisions are not hers to make, and she cannot influence them. She was simply telling Palmer that his strategy of trying to blame the organizers and funders of the January insurrection was not going to help Palmer get a lighter sentence. Palmer was going to prison for what he did, not what anyone else did.
Indeed, Chutkan faced a long line of Jan. 6 defendants who used the somebody else made me do it excuse. Sometimes the person the defendants referred to in making these arguments was Donald Trump. Sometimes it was someone else. The somebody else made me do it defense does not fly in Chutkans courtroom. Nor should it. These were adults who make bad and criminal choices for which they were culpable. And thats exactly what she told Palmer and the others.
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In Trumps reply filed Sunday night, the former president tries to wriggle away from the fact that these two statements do not meet the extremely exacting standard for disqualification. As the department previously noted, the bar for recusal is high in cases such as these, where the comments at issue were made in the course of a judicial proceeding, that is in the course of a judge doing her job. To escape this rule, his lawyers argue that when a judge makes comments based on information the judge has gathered outside the courtroom, the defendants burden is much lowerand that Chutkans comments must have been based on outside sources because the trials were not about Trump.
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That claim is ridiculous. During these two trials, litigants were in front of Chutkan talking about Trumps role in the insurrection, and she was simply responding in context. That is a more than ample record to support her remarks.
The statements the judge made at these two sentencing hearings show precisely the opposite of what Trump claims. Chutkan demonstrated in these statements that she understands the role of the judge and she sticks to it. Each persons guilt or innocence is decided at trial, and only after defendants are charged, and a judge will not assess the guilt or innocence of parties not yet charged before then.
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Donald Trump may not like Chutkan for a variety of reasonsshe was appointed by President Barack Obama; she sits in the District of Columbia, which did not cast its Electoral College votes for Trump; she did not give him his 2026 trial date; and, perhaps most significantly, she believes people should be held accountable for their actions, not allowed to shift all the blame to others. All of this, however, is irrelevant to recusal of a judge under federal law. She should not and almost certainly will not remove herself from the case, and that is a good thing. If the issue is appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, or eventually the U.S. Supreme Court, it will likely fail there too.
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When opening a restaurant or revamping your kitchen, a commercial broiler becomes a must-have in todays modern kitchen. These powerhouses define how some of your signature dishes taste and look. Their primary function? To cook food at high heat from above, ensuring a delightful sear or crust. Given its central role, understanding the advantages of a quality broiler is paramount.
Definition and primary function
Commercial broilers, commonly found in restaurants, operate differently than your typical home oven broiler. While both aim to apply high heat, the commercial version does so more efficiently and over larger food volumes. A commercial broilers primary function is to cook or finish dishes with direct, intense heat from above. This technique imparts a distinct texture and flavor, making it a favorite for certain dishes. For instance, many chefs prefer it for achieving that perfectly crispy skin on a roast chicken.
Using a commercial broiler is not just about heating food; its an art. This device is designed to apply a consistent degree of heat, ensuring even cooking. Its especially useful for dishes that need a final touch of high heat, like caramelizing the sugar atop a creme brulee or adding that char to a steak.
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Importance in the culinary industry
In the bustling world of culinary arts, a commercial broiler is more than just another kitchen appliance. It can be the defining factor between a good dish and a great one. In high-demand settings like sandwich shops or steakhouses, the speed and efficiency of a broiler become paramount. Your patrons expect dishes like perfectly broiled steaks or sandwiches with beautifully melted cheese, and delivering consistently can set your establishment apart.
Additionally, in the vast culinary landscape, techniques and equipment evolve, but the demand for classic, well-broiled dishes remains. This makes the commercial broiler not just a current need but a long-term investment. For any restaurant aiming to stand out, mastering the art of using this equipment can be a game-changer.
Benefits of investing in a quality broiler
Investing in a top-notch commercial broiler can yield benefits beyond just cooking food. Firstly, a high-quality broiler ensures even heat distribution, resulting in consistently well-cooked dishes. This consistency can be the difference between a one-time visitor and a loyal customer. Moreover, quality broilers are designed to last, making them cost-effective in the long run.
Quality also ties into safety. A well-made broiler reduces the risks of malfunctions or accidents, ensuring a safer kitchen environment. And lets not forget the energy efficiency factor: modern commercial broilers often come designed to consume less power, making them both eco-friendly and pocket-friendly. In the world of commercial cooking, where margins matter, investing in quality equipment like a broiler is a wise choice.
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Buying the Right Commercial Broiler
Feature/Description Top Pick: Remta Makina Professional Salamander
Runner Up: Wolf Range C36IRB Salamander Broiler Best Value: IKON 36' Countertop Gas Salamander Broiler Product Dimensions 18.9"D x 30.71"W x 22.83"H 36 in. W x 19 in. D x 1912 in. H Not specified Color Silver Stainless Steel Stainless Steel Fuel Type Gas Natural Gas Natural Gas or Liquid Propane Finish Type Powder Coated Not specified Stainless Steel Burners/Heat Source 3 radiants 2 ceramic infrared burners 35,000 BTU Infra-red burner Ignition System Self-controlled 3 radiants Standing pilot ignition system Standing pilot ignition system Adjustable Positions Cooking distance adjustable Broiler carriage adjusts to 6 positions 3-level broiling positions Power Source Natural Gas Natural Gas Natural Gas or Liquid Propane Construction Material Stainless Steel Stainless Steel Heavy stainless steel BTU Not specified 30,000 BTU 35,000 BTU Additional Features Equal heat distribution, quick cooking, easy cleaning Straightforward ignition, chrome-plated grid, overflow spillage pan 4 adjustable height, full width broiler pan, 3 position adjustable rack, ball grip handle
Their versatility and efficiency make commercial broilers a valuable tool in modern kitchens. Whether youre running a cozy cafe or a bustling restaurant, having the right broiler can elevate your dishes, ensuring customer satisfaction. As with any equipment, understanding its nuances, ensuring its maintenance, and operating it efficiently can make all the difference. The broilers on this list will help you achieve that.
Remta Makina Professional Salamander
Top Pick: The Remta Makina Professional Salamander is the perfect example of how precise cooking can be. The new standard for high-quality cooking tools is this commercial countertop salamander grill. This salamander was made with great care and attention to detail, so it will always give your food the perfect sear.
Key Features:
Brand: Remta Makina
Remta Makina Product Dimensions: 18.9D x 30.71W x 22.83H
18.9D x 30.71W x 22.83H Color: Silver
Silver Fuel Type: Gas
Gas Finish Type: Powder Coated
Powder Coated Material: High-grade stainless steel
High-grade stainless steel Special Feature: Equal heat distribution ensures perfect grilling and a quick cooking time without any smell or smoke.
Remta Makina Professional Salamander
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Wolf Range C36IRB Salamander Broiler
Runner Up:The Wolf Range C36IRB Salamander Broiler is a professional-grade salamander broiler that will help you improve your cooking skills. With efficiency and longevity that cant be beat, the Wolf C36IRB guarantees consistent performance even in tough commercial settings, so you can always grill perfectly.
Key Features:
Heated by Natural Gas: Ensures consistent and efficient heating.
Ensures consistent and efficient heating. Durable Stainless Steel Construction: Designed to resist bends and scuffs, ensuring longevity.
Designed to resist bends and scuffs, ensuring longevity. Dual Heat Controls: Allows simultaneous cooking of 2 products.
Allows simultaneous cooking of 2 products. 2 Ceramic Infrared Burners: Provides efficient and even heating.
Provides efficient and even heating. Adjustable Chrome-plated Grid: 6 position adjustments using a cool-touch knob.
6 position adjustments using a cool-touch knob. Integrated Spillage Pan: Collects overflow, simplifying the cleaning process.
Collects overflow, simplifying the cleaning process. Overall Dimensions: 36 in. W x 19 in. D x 19 in. H.
Wolf Range C36IRB Salamander Broiler
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IKON 36 Countertop Gas Salamander Broiler
Best Value: Professional cooks worldwide use the IKON 36 Countertop Gas Salamander Broiler. IKON offers more than just efficiencyits a sign of power and prestige. IKON goes above and beyond the ordinary by combining unmatched quality with unmatched value. This turns empty areas into culinary hubs. Let your chef brag about a tool that adds to their cooking skills.
Key Features:
Gas Options: Available in Natural gas(NG) or Liquid propane(LP) with a conversion kit for flexibility.
Available in Natural gas(NG) or Liquid propane(LP) with a conversion kit for flexibility. Construction: Robust heavy stainless steel ensures durability and longevity.
Robust heavy stainless steel ensures durability and longevity. Infra-red Burner: Powerful 35,000 BTU for effective broiling.
Powerful 35,000 BTU for effective broiling. Temperature Control: Manual gas control ranging from 300F to 750F.
Manual gas control ranging from 300F to 750F. Positioning: 3-level broiling positions to suit different needs.
3-level broiling positions to suit different needs. Connectivity: 3/4 rear gas connection with an inclusive regulator.
3/4 rear gas connection with an inclusive regulator. Added Conveniences: Features like a full-width broiler pan, an adjustable spring-balanced rack with a comfortable ball grip handle, and compatibility with IKON 36, 60-inch range.
IKON 36 Countertop Gas Salamander Broiler
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Adcraft CHM-1200W Electric Cheesemelter
Adcrafts stainless steel cheesemelter isnt just another kitchen toolits the perfect partner for cooking art. It makes melting cheese fast and easy. Its compact and well-thought-out design guarantees perfect results every time, especially for kitchens with limited room, whether youre melting cheese or toasting nachos.
Key Features:
Design & Material: Crafted in a sleek silver shade with a robust stainless steel construction.
Crafted in a sleek silver shade with a robust stainless steel construction. Compact Size: Designed thoughtfully for kitchens with limited space.
Designed thoughtfully for kitchens with limited space. Heating Efficiency: Equipped with a metal sheath heating element ensuring quick and perfect warming.
Equipped with a metal sheath heating element ensuring quick and perfect warming. Power Specifications: Operates on 120 volts, with a power draw of 1200 watts.
Operates on 120 volts, with a power draw of 1200 watts. Heat Control: Infinite switch for precise heat adjustments.
Infinite switch for precise heat adjustments. Additional Features: Comes with an insulated body to retain heat effectively.
Comes with an insulated body to retain heat effectively. Package Inclusions: The set includes the cheesemelter as the primary component, designed for electric power sources.
Adcraft CHM-1200W Electric Cheesemelter
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Axis Equipment Gas Vertical Broiler
This modern vertical broiler was made by MVP Group, and it is both durable and efficient. Whether youre making mouth-watering gyro sandwiches or other tasty treats, the quality of its build and the way it works promise nothing less than perfection. Made of 304 stainless steel, it doesnt rust and can handle high temperatures, so you can be sure your cooking will be nothing less than amazing.
Key Features:
Material & Durability: Crafted from 304 stainless steel for optimal corrosion resistance and ability to endure high temperatures.
Crafted from 304 stainless steel for optimal corrosion resistance and ability to endure high temperatures. Versatility: Specially designed for broiling meats, ideal for making gyro sandwiches and other delicacies.
Specially designed for broiling meats, ideal for making gyro sandwiches and other delicacies. Heating Capacity: Equipped with four infrared burners, boasting a combined heating capacity of 44,382 BTU.
Equipped with four infrared burners, boasting a combined heating capacity of 44,382 BTU. Gas Options: Comes with orifices for both propane and natural gas.
Comes with orifices for both propane and natural gas. Size & Capacity: Measures 18 x 22 x 45, with a 30 spit; can handle up to 176 lb. of meat.
Measures 18 x 22 x 45, with a 30 spit; can handle up to 176 lb. of meat. Control: Individual temperature adjustments for each burner via knob controls.
Individual temperature adjustments for each burner via knob controls. Safety Features: Includes thermo-elements that cut off the gas flow if the flame is extinguished.
Axis Equipment Gas Vertical Broiler
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Moffat Stainless Steel Electric Half Size 2 Deck Oven
Moffats top-of-the-line electric oven will change the way you bake forever. Moffat is known for making high-quality products that are also stylish, efficient, and durable. This oven is made to fit perfectly into any business. It heats evenly, can be used for many different things, and is easy to use.
Key Features:
Brand Excellence: Moffat, a name synonymous with quality and precision.
Moffat, a name synonymous with quality and precision. Material & Finish: Crafted from robust stainless steel and glass, ensuring longevity and elegance.
Crafted from robust stainless steel and glass, ensuring longevity and elegance. High Wattage: A powerful oven with 2.9 KW wattage ensures efficient and quick baking.
A powerful oven with 2.9 KW wattage ensures efficient and quick baking. Control: Convenient knob controls for precise temperature and time settings.
Convenient knob controls for precise temperature and time settings. Capacity: Designed to accommodate (4) 1/2 size sheet or hotel pans.
Designed to accommodate (4) 1/2 size sheet or hotel pans. Versatility: Equipped with rethermalization & roast functions, allowing varied culinary tasks.
Equipped with rethermalization & roast functions, allowing varied culinary tasks. Added Components: Comes with a sheet pan and a stacking kit with casters for added mobility.
Moffat Stainless Steel Electric Half Size 2 Deck Oven
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IKON 60 6 Burner and 24 Radiant Broiler Commercial Gas Range
The one thing that will change everything in your industrial kitchen. This gas range is made for heavy-duty cooking jobs because it can bake, fry, boil, grill, and do a lot more. Its flexible design, strong burners, and sturdy construction make it an essential part of any professional kitchen.
Key Features:
High Efficiency: Six 30,000 BTU top burners and two 30,000 BTU ovens.
Six 30,000 BTU top burners and two 30,000 BTU ovens. Radiant Broiling: A 24 radiant broiler to enhance your grilling needs.
A 24 radiant broiler to enhance your grilling needs. Durable Construction: Features stainless steel front, back riser, and a lift-off shelf.
Features stainless steel front, back riser, and a lift-off shelf. Versatility: Riser with a removable shelf and a full pull-out crumb tray.
Riser with a removable shelf and a full pull-out crumb tray. Oven Specialties: 3 position oven rack settings with two racks included per oven.
3 position oven rack settings with two racks included per oven. Quality Finish: Oven interior elements, including the door and sides, are porcelain coated.
Oven interior elements, including the door and sides, are porcelain coated. Complete Package: Comes with a gas conversion kit ensuring adaptability based on your needs.
IKON 60 6 Burner and 24 Radiant Broiler Commercial Gas Range
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Remta Makina Commercial 3 Burner Vertical Broiler
A wonder of cooking made for people who enjoy the art of cooking. This broiler is a must-have for workers because it is made of high-quality stainless steel and is made to work well. Whether youre running a busy restaurant or providing food for an event, this vertical broiler will help you cook with precision, speed, and a traditional taste.
Key Features:
Brand Excellence: Manufactured by the renowned Remta Makina.
Manufactured by the renowned Remta Makina. Compact Design: Measures 22.05D x 16.93W x 41.34H, fitting seamlessly into various spaces.
Measures 22.05D x 16.93W x 41.34H, fitting seamlessly into various spaces. Portability Perks: Special portable feature ensuring ease of movement and setup.
Special portable feature ensuring ease of movement and setup. Elegant Finish: Boasts a sleek silver color, elevating the look of any kitchen setup.
Boasts a sleek silver color, elevating the look of any kitchen setup. Fuel Flexibility: Uses Propane Gas (LPG) for effective cooking.
Uses Propane Gas (LPG) for effective cooking. Authentic Cooking Experience: Manual spinning by hand, allowing chefs to engage directly with the cooking process.
Manual spinning by hand, allowing chefs to engage directly with the cooking process. Comprehensive Set: Comes with a serving tray, sheesh, and a meat plate, ensuring youre equipped for every culinary endeavor.
Remta Makina Commercial 3 Burner Vertical Broiler
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Varieties of Commercial Broilers
Different culinary needs necessitate varied broiling equipment. While the end goal is the same deliciously broiled dishes the journey varies. The market offers an array of commercial broilers, each with its own set of advantages and suited for distinct purposes.
Radiant vs. infrared
Radiant broilers use metal plates to spread heat, producing a consistent and even cooking surface. These are often preferred for their ability to retain heat, providing consistent results for extended periods. On the other hand, infrared broilers utilize infrared technology, which delivers rapid, high-intensity heat directly to the food. This method is exceptionally efficient, cutting down cooking time and delivering a quick sear.
Infrared broiling is an innovation in the culinary scene. By using electromagnetic radiation, these broilers can deliver intense heat in a short amount of time. While radiant broilers might be the traditional choice, the speed and efficiency of infrared technology are hard to match, especially in fast-paced kitchen environments.
Salamander broilers and their significance
Salamander broilers are a type of overhead broiler, perfect for finishing touches. They excel at tasks like browning the top of a lasagna or melting cheese over a dish. Their design allows for easy access, making them especially handy for busy kitchens. A salamander broilers precision is its hallmark: it can apply the perfect amount of heat without overcooking the dish beneath.
Restaurants, especially those that prioritize presentation, cherish salamander broilers. Their ability to provide a final touch like the golden brown on a meringue pie is invaluable. Furthermore, with adjustable heights, chefs have more control, ensuring that dishes get just the right amount of heat.
Differences between charbroilers and griddle broilers
Charbroilers and griddle broilers, while similar in function, serve different purposes in a kitchen. Charbroilers typically use grates, exposing food directly to the heat source, perfect for dishes like burgers or steaks that benefit from grill marks and a smoky flavor. Griddle broilers, conversely, offer a flat surface, making them ideal for foods like pancakes or sandwiches.
Understanding the nuances between these two can elevate your culinary game. While charbroilers impart that classic grilled texture and taste, griddle broilers give an even, consistent heat, ensuring dishes are cooked uniformly. Depending on your restaurants menu, one might be more suitable than the other, but having both can truly diversify your offerings.
Operational Guidelines and Safety
Operating commercial broilers efficiently isnt just about great food; its also about safety. These machines operate at high temperatures, and without the right guidelines, accidents can occur. Ensuring your staff is well-versed in both operation and safety is key.
Cleaning and maintenance
Keeping your commercial broiler clean isnt just about hygiene; it directly impacts the performance of the equipment. Regular cleaning prevents the buildup of grease and food particles, which can affect the taste of your dishes. Moreover, a clean broiler operates more efficiently and has a longer lifespan.
Maintenance goes hand in hand with cleanliness. Regularly checking for potential issues, ensuring the gas lines are clear and functioning, and replacing worn-out parts can keep your broiler in top condition. After all, in a commercial setting, equipment downtime can be costly, not just in terms of repairs but also in lost business.
Safety protocols to follow
Safety cant be stressed enough when it comes to high-heat equipment like commercial broilers. Ensuring that your staff is trained to handle the equipment, knows how to shut it off in emergencies, and wears the right protective gear is crucial. Additionally, having a clear evacuation plan in place in case of larger accidents ensures everyones safety.
Its also wise to keep the area around the broiler clear of any flammable materials. Regular inspections by professionals can identify potential hazards before they become major issues. Remember, a safe kitchen is not only beneficial for your staff but also ensures a consistent and uninterrupted service for your patrons.
Efficient usage and energy conservation
In the age of sustainability, energy-efficient operations are not just good for the environment but also for your wallet. Modern commercial broilers often come with features that optimize energy usage. Knowing how to operate your broiler efficiently not overheating, shutting it down when not in use, or using it at optimal capacity can lead to significant energy savings.
Investing in energy-efficient models might have a higher upfront cost, but pays off in the long run. Furthermore, efficient usage also extends the lifespan of the broiler. In the restaurant business, where every penny counts, smart and efficient use of equipment can make a tangible difference.
Integration in Various Cuisines
The versatility of commercial broilers means theyve found a home in various global cuisines. From the sizzling steaks of American diners to the savory kebabs of Middle Eastern eateries, the touch of a broiler is evident.
Role in American cuisine
In the American culinary scene, the commercial broilers mark is undeniable. Think of the classic diner steak, the juicy burger, or the melt-in-your-mouth grilled cheese sandwich. These staples owe their taste and texture to the broilers intense heat. The broiler brings out the flavors, caramelizes the sugars, and seals in the juices of these iconic dishes.
But its not just about the main courses. Desserts like smores or certain pies, which need that light char on top, benefit from a broilers precision. In essence, the commercial broiler is an unsung hero in American kitchens, playing a part in both the countrys culinary history and its future.
Influence in Mediterranean dishes
Mediterranean cuisine, with its emphasis on grilled meats and vegetables, heavily relies on commercial broilers. Dishes like shish kebabs, gyros, or even certain seafood delicacies get their unique taste and texture from broiling. The high heat seals in the flavors, ensuring that every bite is a medley of taste.
Moreover, the quick cooking time that broilers offer is in line with Mediterranean cookings fast-paced nature. Dishes are often prepared fresh and served immediately, and a commercial broilers efficiency aids this process. From the bustling streets of Istanbul to the quaint eateries in Athens, the broilers influence is pervasive.
Integration in Asian culinary practices
Asian cuisines, known for their diverse flavors and techniques, have embraced commercial broilers in unique ways. While traditional grilling methods are still prevalent, the efficiency and consistency of broilers have made them popular, especially in commercial settings. Dishes like Japanese yakitori, Korean bulgogi, or even certain Chinese grilled delicacies benefit from the broilers touch.
The broilers ability to lock in flavors while ensuring a delightful char makes it perfect for Asian dishes, which often balance sweet, salty, and umami flavors. In bustling cities like Tokyo or Seoul, where street food culture thrives, commercial broilers have become an essential tool, delivering mouth-watering dishes in record time.
Selecting the Right Broiler for Your Needs
Given the array of commercial broilers in the market, making the right choice can be daunting. But understanding your needs, your restaurants capacity, and your menu can guide you to the perfect match.
Assessing kitchen space and capacity
Before diving into models and specifications, assess your kitchen. How much space do you have? Is it a countertop setup or a larger, standalone unit youre after? Understanding the spatial constraints can narrow down your options. Additionally, consider your kitchens throughput. A small cafe might not need the capacity that a bustling diner demands.
For restaurants with limited space, countertop models might be more appropriate. They offer the power of larger units but in a compact form. On the flip side, large establishments with high customer turnover might benefit from full-sized models that can handle volume.
Budget considerations
Commercial broilers, like any equipment, come at various price points. Setting a clear budget can streamline your selection process. While its tempting to go for the cheapest option, remember that this is a long-term investment. Sometimes, spending a bit more upfront can save costs in the long run, both in terms of energy efficiency and durability.
However, its also essential to ensure youre getting value for your money. Look for models that offer warranties, have good customer reviews, and are from reputable brands. Balancing quality with cost is key.
Menu compatibility
Finally, consider your menu. Are you primarily serving dishes that require intense grilling, like steaks or burgers? Or is it a mix, with some items needing a gentle broil, like certain desserts or seafood? Understanding what youll be cooking most frequently can guide your choice.
For instance, a steakhouse might benefit from a charbroiler that can impart grill marks and a smoky flavor. In contrast, a dessert cafe might prioritize a salamander broiler for those finishing touches. Your menu is a reflection of your establishments soul, and ensuring your equipment aligns with it is paramount.
Longevity and Maintenance Aspects
Any commercial kitchen equipment is an investment, and ensuring its longevity is crucial. Regular maintenance, understanding the broilers needs, and ensuring its operated correctly can significantly extend its life.
Regular cleaning routines
As reiterated earlier, cleanliness isnt just about aesthetics or hygiene. A clean broiler performs better, ensuring that your dishes are cooked evenly and taste as they should. Over time, food particles, grease, and other residues can accumulate, impacting the broilers performance and potentially becoming a fire hazard.
Setting a regular cleaning schedule, depending on your broilers usage, is essential. Whether its a daily wipe-down or a weekly deep clean, ensure its consistent. Also, using the recommended cleaning agents and tools can prevent any damage to the broilers components.
Replacement of worn-out parts
No matter how well you maintain your commercial broiler, parts will wear out over time. Being proactive in replacing them ensures that your broiler remains in top condition. Whether its the grates, the burners, or even the knobs, timely replacements can prevent bigger issues down the line.
Having a trusted supplier for parts can be beneficial. Moreover, regularly inspecting your broiler for any signs of wear and tear and addressing them immediately can prevent more costly repairs in the future.
Professional servicing and inspections
While regular cleaning and maintenance can be handled in-house, periodic professional servicing is advisable. A professional can identify potential issues before they escalate, ensuring your broilers longevity. Whether its calibrating the broiler, checking the gas lines, or even assessing the overall performance, a professionals touch can make a difference.
Setting a routine whether its bi-annual or annual for professional inspections can be beneficial. Not only does it ensure your broilers health, but it also gives you peace of mind, knowing that a critical piece of your kitchen equipment is in top shape.
Understanding the Energy Aspects
The efficiency of a commercial broiler isnt just about cooking; its also about energy consumption. In an era where sustainability and cost-effectiveness are crucial, understanding your broilers energy aspects becomes vital.
Gas vs. Electric broilers
The debate between gas and electric broilers is ongoing. Both have their merits and drawbacks. Gas broilers are often lauded for their quick heating times and the ability to give food a distinct flavor. Electric broilers, on the other hand, offer more consistent temperatures and might be more energy-efficient in the long run.
Making a choice depends on several factors. If your establishment is in an area with frequent power outages, gas might be the way to go. Conversely, if youre in a location where electricity is cheaper than gas, an electric broiler might be more cost-effective. Understanding the nuances and making an informed decision can affect both your dishes and your bottom line.
Energy efficiency ratings
Modern commercial broilers often come with energy efficiency ratings. These ratings, often provided by third-party agencies, give an indication of the broilers energy consumption. Opting for a high-rated broiler might have a higher upfront cost but can lead to significant savings in the long run.
Moreover, in many regions, energy-efficient equipment might be eligible for rebates or tax breaks. Being aware of these incentives and taking advantage of them can reduce the overall cost of the broiler.
Sustainable practices
Beyond the broilers specifications, sustainable practices in the kitchen can make a difference. Simple steps, like shutting down the broiler when not in use, ensuring its at optimal capacity when operational, or even using it at off-peak hours (if electricity costs vary), can lead to energy savings.
Training your staff, understanding the energy dynamics, and being conscious of consumption can have both environmental and economic benefits. In the restaurant business, where margins can be thin, every bit of savings counts.
Tips for Optimal Broiling
Broiling can elevate your dishes, but mastering this technique is vital. With proper guidance, your commercial broiler can be a game-changer for your restaurant.
Knowing your heat zones
Every commercial broiler boasts different heat zones. Recognizing these is pivotal for evenly cooked dishes. Some zones emit intense heat, others are milder. Understanding these zones is pivotal to the broiling process. Proper placement, particularly for gradient cooking, enhances food quality.
On the other hand, not understanding these zones can lead to inconsistent cooking. One side of a dish might be perfectly broiled, while the other remains undercooked. Training staff on heat zone recognition can prevent such inconsistencies. A well-cooked dish reflects expertise and can significantly boost customer satisfaction.
The importance of pre-heating
A commercial broiler is not a device to rush. Like any good equipment, it requires patience. Pre-heating is not an optional step; its a fundamental part of broiling. To achieve consistency in your dishes, ensure the broiler reaches its optimal temperature.
Beginning to broil too early can result in unevenly cooked dishes. It might look done on the outside, but the inside could remain undercooked. Educating the kitchen staff on the importance of this step can elevate the quality of the dishes served. After all, a perfectly broiled dish speaks volumes about a restaurants commitment to excellence.
Exploring Additional Features
Every commercial broiler comes with a set of standard features. However, many models on the market offer additional features that can optimize the cooking process.
Digital controls
The era of knobs and manual controls is evolving. Many modern commercial broilers now come with digital control panels. These offer precision in temperature settings, ensuring dishes are cooked to perfection. Digital controls also come with timers, alarms, and other settings that make the cooking process more streamlined.
In contrast, some chefs still prefer the tactile feel of manual controls. They believe it offers them a connection with the equipment. No matter the choice, understanding the controls and features of the broiler is essential. Ensuring the staff is trained in these nuances can lead to efficient kitchen operations and high-quality dishes.
Adjustable racks
A one-size-fits-all approach doesnt work in the culinary world. Different dishes require different cooking heights. This is where adjustable racks in commercial broilers come into play. They allow chefs to adjust the proximity of the food to the heat source.
Being able to modify the rack height can be a boon for dishes that need delicate broiling. On the flip side, some dishes require intense heat, and bringing them closer to the heat source achieves this. Equipping your kitchen with a broiler that has this flexibility can be a great advantage. It ensures that a variety of dishes, from cheeses to steaks, are broiled to perfection.
Integrating Broilers with Other Kitchen Equipment
A commercial kitchen is a symphony of various equipment working in harmony. For smooth operations, its vital that these machines integrate seamlessly.
Space considerations
Kitchens, especially in urban settings, often face space constraints. While a commercial broiler is an asset, it should fit well with other equipment. Mapping out the kitchen layout in advance can prevent logistical headaches later. It ensures that theres enough space for the staff to move around comfortably and for equipment doors to open without hindrance.
In addition to the physical layout, ventilation considerations are key. Broilers emit a lot of heat, and adequate ventilation ensures the kitchen remains at a comfortable temperature. Proper ventilation also ensures safety, preventing overheating or any potential fire hazards.
Power requirements
Commercial broilers, especially those that pack a punch, often have specific power requirements. Its essential to ensure that the kitchens electrical setup can handle the broilers demands. Overloading circuits can lead to power outages, disrupting the restaurants operations.
Moreover, some broilers might require special gas connections or even dedicated electrical circuits. Its wise to consult with a professional before installing the broiler. Ensuring that all power requirements are met upfront can prevent costly disruptions or damages down the line. Proper power management also contributes to the overall efficiency and safety of the kitchen.
Coordinating with staff
Introducing a new piece of equipment, like a commercial broiler, requires staff coordination. Chefs, sous chefs, and kitchen helpers all need to be familiar with its operation. Training sessions can ensure everyone is on the same page.
While the chef might be responsible for the actual broiling, others play a role too. For instance, setting up the broiler, cleaning it post-operation, or even basic maintenance might fall on other staff members. A cohesive team that understands the equipment can lead to smoother operations. Regular training sessions and updates can ensure that the entire team is well-versed with the broiler and its features.
FAQs
What is a commercial broiler?
A commercial broiler is a type of oven that uses high heat from above to cook food. Its especially popular in restaurants for dishes that require a charred or caramelized finish.
How does a commercial broiler differ from a regular oven?
Unlike conventional ovens that cook from below or all sides, a commercial broiler primarily cooks from above. This direct heat method results in faster cooking times and a distinct texture on the foods surface.
Are there different types of commercial broilers?
Yes, there are various types, including infrared broilers and salamander broilers. Each type has its unique features and benefits tailored to specific cooking needs.
How do I maintain and clean a commercial broiler?
Regular maintenance includes wiping down after use, checking for food particles, and ensuring that gas lines or electrical connections are intact. Periodic deep cleaning and professional check-ups are also recommended.
Can commercial broilers be used for all types of dishes?
While they are versatile, commercial broilers are best for dishes needing a crisp top layer or a charred finish. It might not be suitable for dishes that require even, slow cooking.
Is there a notable difference in taste when using a commercial broiler?
Using a commercial broiler can result in a caramelized or charred finish which can enhance the flavor profile of certain dishes, giving them a distinct taste.
Are commercial broilers energy efficient?
The efficiency varies by model and type. However, because they cook food faster, they might be more energy efficient than traditional ovens for specific dishes.
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The role of a receptionist is integral to any organization, as they often serve as the first point of contact for clients, customers, and visitors. Crafting a well-defined receptionist job description is crucial for the success of your business, as it helps attract top talent and ensures that candidates are well-informed about their responsibilities.
Receptionist Overview
Primary Responsibilities of a Receptionist
A receptionist typically takes on various tasks to ensure the smooth operation of the front desk and overall office. Their main responsibilities may include:
Greeting clients, customers, and visitors in a friendly and professional manner Answering incoming calls and directing them to appropriate staff members Handling mail and deliveries, both incoming and outgoing Scheduling appointments and managing calendars Assisting with administrative tasks such as data entry and file management Providing basic information about the company or services offered
Key Skills Required for a Receptionist Position
A successful receptionist should possess a range of skills that enable them to excel in their role. These skills may include:
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Excellent verbal and written communication
Strong interpersonal abilities
Professional and friendly demeanor
Attention to detail
Organizational and time management skills
Problem-solving and critical thinking capabilities
Adaptability and flexibility
Proficiency in computer applications and office software
Key Skills Description Excellent verbal and written communication Effective communication is essential for interacting with clients and colleagues. Strong interpersonal abilities Building positive relationships and providing excellent customer service. Professional and friendly demeanor Creating a welcoming and courteous atmosphere for visitors. Attention to detail Ensuring accuracy in tasks like appointment scheduling and message taking. Organizational and time management skills Efficiently managing tasks, appointments, and daily operations. Problem-solving and critical thinking capabilities Handling unexpected situations and finding solutions. Adaptability and flexibility Adapting to changing work environments and tasks. Proficiency in computer applications and office software Using technology for tasks like email, document management, and appointment booking.
Education and Experience Necessary for a Receptionist Role
While some employers may require a high school diploma or equivalent, many receptionist positions do not necessitate formal education. However, previous experience in a similar role or in customer service can be advantageous. Additionally, specific industries such as medical or dental offices may require specialized knowledge or certifications.
Crafting the Perfect Job Description
Importance of an Accurate and Engaging Job Description
A well-crafted job description is an essential tool for attracting and retaining top talent. By providing an accurate and engaging depiction of the receptionist role, candidates can gauge whether they are well-suited for the position and aligned with the companys values and expectations.
Essential Components of a Receptionist Job Description
A comprehensive receptionist job description should include the following key components:
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Job title: Clearly state the position title and any relevant industry-specific terms. Company overview: Provide a brief introduction to your organization and its mission or vision. Job purpose: Summarize the main purpose of the role within the company. Responsibilities and duties: List the primary tasks and responsibilities associated with the position. Required skills and qualifications: Outline the necessary education, experience, and skillset for the role. Employment type: Indicate if the position is full-time, part-time, or temporary. Location and work environment: Specify the job location and describe the physical or cultural setting. Salary and benefits: Offer information about the compensation package and any additional perks or benefits.
Tips for Writing Clear and Concise Job Descriptions
Use straightforward language: Avoid jargon and opt for simple, direct language to convey the necessary information. Be specific: Clearly outline the responsibilities, qualifications, and expectations associated with the role. Focus on the most important aspects: Prioritize the key aspects of the position and avoid overwhelming candidates with excessive details. Emphasize your company culture: Highlight the values, mission, and work environment that set your organization apart. Proofread: Ensure your job description is free of errors and communicates a professional image.
Free Templates
To assist in the creation of an effective receptionist job description, weve provided four industry-specific templates that can be customized to suit your organizations needs.
Template 1: Medical Receptionist Job Description
Job Title: Medical Receptionist
Company Overview: [Insert a brief description of your medical practice, including the type of services offered and your mission or vision statement]
Job Purpose: The Medical Receptionist is responsible for providing exceptional patient support, maintaining the front office, and assisting with administrative tasks to ensure smooth clinic operations.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Greet patients and visitors in a welcoming and professional manner Schedule appointments and manage doctor calendars Register new patients and update existing patient information Answer phone calls and handle patient inquiries Collect and process patient payments Manage patient records and ensure privacy and compliance Assist with various administrative tasks as needed
Required Skills and Qualifications:
High school diploma or equivalent Previous experience in a medical office or customer service role preferred Strong verbal and written communication skills Knowledge of medical terminology and HIPAA regulations Proficiency in electronic medical records (EMR) systems and office software Excellent organizational and time management skills Ability to maintain a compassionate and professional demeanor
Employment Type: [Full-time, part-time, or temporary]
Location and Work Environment: [Include information about the job location and a brief description of the work setting]
Salary and Benefits: [Provide details about the salary range, health benefits, paid time off, and any other relevant compensation information]
Template 2: Dental Receptionist Job Description
Job Title: Dental Receptionist
Company Overview: [Insert a brief description of your dental practice, including the type of services offered and your mission or vision statement]
Job Purpose: The Dental Receptionist is responsible for managing the front desk, providing excellent patient support, and assisting with administrative tasks to ensure a positive and efficient dental office experience.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Greet patients and visitors in a friendly and professional manner Schedule appointments and manage dentist calendars Register new patients and update existing patient information Answer phone calls and handle patient inquiries Process insurance claims and collect patient payments Maintain patient records and ensure privacy and compliance Assist with various administrative tasks as needed
Required Skills and Qualifications:
High school diploma or equivalent Previous experience in a dental office or customer service role preferred Strong verbal and written communication skills Knowledge of dental terminology and insurance processes Proficiency in dental practice management software and office software Excellent organizational and time management skills Ability to maintain a compassionate and professional demeanor
Employment Type: [Full-time, part-time, or temporary]
Location and Work Environment: [Include information about the job location and a brief description of the work setting]
Salary and Benefits: [Provide details about the salary range, health benefits, paid time off, and any other relevant compensation information]
Template 3: Hotel Receptionist Job Description
Job Title: Hotel Receptionist
Company Overview: [Insert a brief description of your hotel, including the type of services offered and your mission or vision statement]
Job Purpose: The Hotel Receptionist is responsible for providing exceptional guest support, managing the front desk, and assisting with administrative tasks to ensure a positive and memorable hotel experience.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Greet guests and visitors in a welcoming and professional manner Check guests in and out of the hotel efficiently Manage room reservations and cancellations Answer phone calls and handle guest inquiries Process payments and maintain accurate records Provide information about hotel amenities and local attractions Assist with various administrative tasks as needed
Required Skills and Qualifications:
High school diploma or equivalent Previous experience in a hotel or customer service role preferred Strong verbal and written communication skills Excellent interpersonal abilities and a customer-focused mindset Proficiency in hotel management software and office software Exceptional organizational and time management skills Ability to maintain a professional and friendly demeanor
Employment Type: [Full-time, part-time, or temporary]
Location and Work Environment: [Include information about the job location and a brief description of the work setting]
Salary and Benefits: [Provide details about the salary range, health benefits, paid time off, and any other relevant compensation information]
Template 4: Corporate Receptionist Job Description
Job Title: Corporate Receptionist
Company Overview: [Insert a brief description of your company, including the type of services offered and your mission or vision statement]
Job Purpose: The Corporate Receptionist is responsible for managing the front desk, providing exceptional visitor support, and assisting with administrative tasks to ensure a professional and welcoming office environment.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Greet visitors and clients in a professional and courteous manner Answer incoming calls and direct them to appropriate staff members Manage conference room bookings and coordinate meetings Handle mail and courier deliveries, both incoming and outgoing Provide basic information about the company or services offered Maintain a clean and organized reception area Assist with various administrative tasks as needed
Required Skills and Qualifications:
High school diploma or equivalent Previous experience in a corporate office or customer service role preferred Excellent verbal and written communication skills Strong interpersonal abilities and a professional demeanor Proficiency in office software and telephone systems Outstanding organizational and time management skills Ability to maintain a friendly and approachable demeanor
Employment Type: [Full-time, part-time, or temporary]
Location and Work Environment: [Include information about the job location and a brief description of the work setting]
Salary and Benefits: [Provide details about the salary range, health benefits, paid time off, and any other relevant compensation information]
Job Title Medical Receptionist Dental Receptionist Hotel Receptionist Corporate Receptionist Company Overview [Insert Description] [Insert Description] [Insert Description] [Insert Description] Job Purpose Ensure clinic operations Ensure efficient dental office Ensure memorable hotel experience Maintain professional office environment Responsibilities and Duties - Greet patients and visitors - Greet patients and visitors - Greet guests and visitors - Greet visitors and clients - Schedule appointments - Schedule appointments - Check guests in and out - Answer incoming calls - Register patients - Register patients - Manage room reservations - Manage conference room bookings - Answer phone calls - Answer phone calls - Answer phone calls - Handle mail and courier deliveries - Collect and process payments - Process insurance claims - Process payments - Provide basic information about the company - Manage patient records - Maintain patient records - Provide information about hotel - Maintain a clean and organized reception area Required Skills and Qualifications - High school diploma - High school diploma - High school diploma - High school diploma - Previous medical office experience preferred - Previous dental office experience preferred - Previous hotel or customer service experience preferred - Previous corporate office experience preferred - Strong communication skills - Strong communication skills - Strong communication skills - Strong communication skills - Knowledge of medical terminology and HIPAA - Knowledge of dental terminology and insurance processes - Excellent interpersonal abilities - Proficiency in office software and telephone systems - Proficiency in electronic medical records (EMR) systems - Proficiency in dental practice management software - Proficiency in hotel management software - Outstanding organizational and time management skills - Excellent organizational and time management skills - Excellent organizational and time management skills - Exceptional organizational and time management skills - Ability to maintain a friendly and approachable demeanor Employment Type [Full-time, part-time, or temporary] [Full-time, part-time, or temporary] [Full-time, part-time, or temporary] [Full-time, part-time, or temporary]
Customizing Templates to Fit Your Organizations Needs
Its essential to tailor the provided templates to accurately represent your organization and the specific requirements of the receptionist role. Make sure to adjust the responsibilities, qualifications, and any industry-specific details to create a job description that accurately reflects the position youre offering.
Interview Process and Selection
Screening Potential Candidates
To ensure a successful hiring process, begin by carefully reviewing resumes and cover letters to identify candidates who possess the necessary skills and qualifications. Consider using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to streamline the screening process and improve efficiency.
Preparing Interview Questions for Receptionists
Develop a set of interview questions designed to assess candidates interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills. Questions should focus on real-world scenarios, customer service experiences, and office-related challenges. Additionally, inquire about candidates motivations and career aspirations to gauge their long-term commitment and potential fit within your organization.
Assessing Candidates for Cultural Fit within Your Organization
Consider how a candidates values, work style, and personality align with your company culture. Assessing cultural fit helps ensure a positive work environment and reduces employee turnover. Incorporate behavior-based questions and situational examples in the interview to evaluate how candidates align with your organizations values and expectations.
Onboarding and Training
Welcoming Your New Receptionist
Once youve selected the ideal candidate, provide a warm and welcoming onboarding experience. Introduce them to the team, provide a tour of the facilities, and explain the companys values and expectations. A positive and engaging introduction helps set the tone for a successful and fulfilling employment experience.
Providing Resources and Support for Success
Equip your new receptionist with the necessary tools, resources, and support to excel in their role. This may include providing training materials, access to relevant software, or mentoring from experienced colleagues. Encourage open communication and feedback to ensure they feel comfortable asking questions or seeking assistance as needed.
Establishing Goals and Expectations for Performance
Clearly outline your expectations for the receptionists performance, including key performance indicators (KPIs) or specific goals tied to their responsibilities. Regularly review their progress and provide constructive feedback to help them grow and develop within the role. Implement performance evaluations to assess their performance, identify areas for improvement, and discuss future growth opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What are the key differences between a receptionist and a secretary?
While both roles involve administrative tasks and customer service, a receptionist primarily manages the front desk, greeting visitors and handling incoming calls. In contrast, a secretary often provides direct support to specific individuals or departments and may have more specialized tasks such as document preparation, data entry, and meeting coordination.
How much does a receptionist typically earn?
Receptionist salaries can vary depending on the industry, location, and level of experience. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2020, the median annual wage for receptionists was $31,110. However, this figure may change over time and may not accurately represent current market trends.
What are the best resources for finding receptionist candidates?
To find qualified receptionist candidates, consider posting your job description on popular job boards, industry-specific job sites, or social media platforms such as LinkedIn. You can also reach out to local colleges, vocational schools, or employment agencies to source potential candidates.
How do I know if my organization needs a receptionist?
If your organization frequently receives visitors, clients, or customers, and you require assistance with administrative tasks, a receptionist may be a valuable addition to your team. A receptionist helps create a welcoming atmosphere, manages incoming calls, and provides support for various office tasks, contributing to the overall efficiency and success of your organization.
Can a receptionist work part-time or on a temporary basis?
Yes, a receptionist can work part-time or on a temporary basis, depending on your organizations needs. Be sure to clearly specify the desired employment type in your job description to attract candidates who can accommodate your requirements.
Check out more job description examples!
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) warns businesses to be wary of aggressive and misleading promotions related to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). While the ERC is a legitimate pandemic-era tax benefit, dubious marketing tactics are pushing businesses, potentially unqualified, to claim the credit.
Despite promises of risk-free claims by some promoters, the IRS has heightened its audit and criminal investigation initiatives. Hundreds of criminal cases are active, with thousands of ERC claims under review.
Claiming the ERC improperly can result in businesses needing to repay the credit, along with potential penalties and interest. This could lead to a significant financial burden, potentially worse than if the credit had never been claimed. The IRS highlights that businesses should be cautious, especially when promoters demand high contingency fees, sometimes as much as 25% of the credit amount.
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Key Points for Properly Claiming the ERC:
The ERC is valid for qualified wages paid between March 13, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021.
Eligibility criteria include: Operations suspension due to government orders related to COVID-19. Significant decline in gross receipts in 2020 or 2021. Qualification as a recovery startup business in late 2021.
Warning Signs of Questionable ERC Marketing:
Unsolicited communication claiming an easy application process.
Promotions guaranteeing quick ERC eligibility checks.
Hefty upfront fees or fees based on the credit refund amount.
Ghost preparers who dont provide identifying information.
False claims about a businesss eligibility without an assessment.
Promoters might also misrepresent eligibility requirements and withhold supporting documents. Theres also a potential threat to taxpayer identity or fraudulent claim cuts.
How Promoters Trap Businesses:
Small Business Deals
Aggressive advertising through multiple channels.
Deceptive mail campaigns.
Omitting essential details about eligibility or credit calculation.
Misinformation on wage deductions and participation in other financial relief programs.
Misguidance on qualifications related to supply chain disruptions.
Protection Measures:
Consult with reputable tax professionals.
Request comprehensive worksheets detailing ERC calculations.
Only apply if genuinely qualified. Use resources on IRS.gov for accurate information.
The IRS reiterates the importance of diligence and consultation with trusted professionals over promoters who might prioritize profit over clients best interests.
If you buy something through our links, we may earn money from our affiliate partners. Learn more.
What is Malware? Malware is a blanket term for unwanted software that harms a computer. Some are codes, files, and malicious links that infect networks. Worms and viruses like Trojan horses that gain access to a single computer or a whole system the list goes on.
Understanding Malicious Software
Malware is software that is specifically designed with bad intent. The word itself is a contraction for malicious software. Simply put, its designed to exploit the victim and benefit the hacker through infected files.
Here are 5 facts about how sneaky malware can be. And some good answers if youre asking, What is a Malware Attack?
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Malware Attacks Have Numbers There were 5.6 billion malicious programs at work across the globe in 2020.
There were 5.6 billion malicious programs at work across the globe in 2020. Personal Computer Users Are Worried Americans are worried about an infected computer compromising their personal data and online networks. In fact, research says over 70% are in this group.
Americans are worried about an infected computer compromising their personal data and online networks. In fact, research says over 70% are in this group. Email Is The Biggest Offender Ninety-two percent of the way that computer systems get infected is through email. You can spread malware by opening unfamiliar messages on your mobile devices.
Ninety-two percent of the way that computer systems get infected is through email. You can spread malware by opening unfamiliar messages on your mobile devices. Malicious Software is Evolving The types of malware that steal sensitive data are moving targets. Ransomware attacks are evolving. Heres a list of some new ones that can affect a computer system.
The types of malware that steal sensitive data are moving targets. Ransomware attacks are evolving. Heres a list of some new ones that can affect a computer system. Malware Disguised is Just As Dangerous Malware trends are important, like the fact that Trojan horse viruses make up 58% of malware delivery events. Watch out for these types of cybersecurity attacks.
How to Prevent Malicious Code Attacks
Now you know a bit more about these security threats. Here are some tips on using things like legitimate software for malware protection. These suggestions will help you avoid computer viruses and know how to not download infected files.
Get Antivirus Software
Investing in reputable antivirus software is one of the foremost steps in securing your digital environment. This software actively searches your computer or network for signs of malicious activities or suspicious files.
A top-tier antivirus not only detects threats but also removes them, ensuring your data remains protected. Opting for software that provides scheduled scanning can be beneficial. This way, it will automatically search for and neutralize threats, requiring less manual intervention.
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In cybersecurity an effective antivirus program is often the first line of defense and comes highly recommended by experts.
Heres a free malware protection download list to get you started. This is some of the best anti-malware software youll find.
Use Secure Authentication
Avoiding security vulnerabilities means :
Use passwords with symbols and numbers, lowercase and uppercase letters as well as eight characters.
Enable multi-factor authentication that uses security questions or a PIN.
Biometric tools work too. Like iris scans and fingerprints.
Keep Software Updated
Having the latest software isnt just about accessing new features; its a critical security measure. Cybercriminals often exploit vulnerabilities found in outdated software, from your operating system to your web browser.
By keeping your software updated, youre essentially patching any security loopholes that could be exploited. This includes not just the main programs but also plug-ins and extensions that might be attached to your browsers.
Regularly scheduled updates or enabling auto-updates ensures youre always equipped with the latest security patches, making it harder for malicious entities to breach your system.
Use Caution When Opening Attachments
It cant be stressed enough: always be wary of unsolicited attachments, even those that appear harmless like pictures. While some might be benign or simple spam, others could be more sinister, designed to infiltrate your system.
Emails from unknown senders could contain malicious files disguised as regular documents or images. When opened, these files might install malware that can monitor your activities, steal data, or cause other damages.
Its a good practice to avoid opening attachments or clicking on links from unknown or unverified senders.
If youre uncertain about an email, even if it seems to come from a known contact, its better to double-check with the sender directly before opening any attached files.
Tips to Detect Malware Attacks
Navigating the digital world can sometimes be like walking through a minefield, especially when it comes to malware attacks.
From the casual internet surfer to businesses big and small, everyone is at risk. So, once youve understood what malware is, its crucial to recognize its signs.
Whether its on your smartphone, tablet, or desktop, being alert to these signals can help you act swiftly to protect your data and devices.
1. Strange Posts on Social Media
Be wary of unexpected posts on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Sometimes, you might see posts from friends exclaiming, Is this you in the video? or Check out this shocking photo!
Such posts can be a sign that your friends account, or even your own, has been compromised. Clicking on these links can inadvertently download malware onto your device, granting attackers access to your data.
2. Lots of Pop Up Ads
While ads are commonplace in many apps and websites, an excessive number of intrusive pop-up ads can be a telltale sign of adware. Especially prevalent on Android devices and other platforms, these ads can be misleading.
Even if they seem to be promoting a legitimate product, the underlying link may lead you to download malicious software. Always exercise caution before clicking on any pop-up.
3. Constant Redirects
Have you ever entered a search term only to find yourself redirected to an entirely different and suspicious-looking website? This is a classic symptom of certain malware types.
These cybercriminals aim to steal your data or lure you into their trap by making their site appear genuine.
Always double-check the URL, especially if it looks unfamiliar or contains a random assortment of characters.
4. A Sluggish PC
If your once-speedy computer starts to drag or frequently crashes, it could be infected. Certain malware operates quietly in the background, hogging resources and slowing down performance.
They might allow attackers remote access, who can then further compromise your system by adding more malicious programs. Over time, this cumulative effect can make your PC grind to a near halt.
Remember, while these signs are strong indicators, they arent definitive proof of malware. Its always a good idea to run a trusted antivirus scan if you suspect something is amiss.
Moreover, ensure you have proactive defenses like regular software updates and security software installations. Being alert and taking timely action can save you from significant digital troubles.
Removing Malicious Software
If youve got it, you want to remove malware. Whether youre suffering from phishing attacks or other malware types, heres how to fight back.
Update Your Software Different types of malware are constantly evolving. Update your software with the latest virus definitions. Heres free threat protection from Microsoft.
Different types of malware are constantly evolving. Update your software with the latest virus definitions. Heres free threat protection from Microsoft. Clear Your Cache Get rid of different types of malware by clearing your cache. Heres how.
Get rid of different types of malware by clearing your cache. Heres how. Reboot In Safe Mode This is a good tip if you have a mobile device. First, shut it down and reboot in safe mode. Then follow these steps for an Android device.
What is a Malware Attack Example?
Ransomware is a computer virus where a victims data is encrypted. Ransom payment is usually requested in cryptocurrency. There are several different vehicles. Like email phishing, social engineering and unwanted advertisements.
Here are some other generic malware examples.
Worms can spread to devices on a network. Government agencies are at risk through executable files passed between departments.
Spyware is one of the other programs businesses need to watch out for. Spyware steals personal and financial information.
Adware high jacks a computer and sends ads to you. Heres a quick way to check for mac malware on one of those devices.
A boot sector virus can be transferred through infected floppy disks. These are dangerous since they can be used on different computer systems.
Heres a quick overview of different malware types and their main features:
Malware Type Primary Characteristics Threat Ransomware Encrypts victim's data, demands payment Data loss, financial loss Worms Spreads across networks via executable files Rapid spread, system disruption Spyware Stealthily collects user information Identity theft, privacy breach Adware Delivers unwanted ads Annoying ads, potential further malware installation Boot Sector Virus Transfers via infected storage devices System corruption, widespread damage
What Can Happen If There Is a Malware Attack?
Malware infections can cause big issues. One of the big consequences can be identity theft and a target system can be redirected through spyware. Access to other files can be restricted. and daily business operations can be disrupted and/or your computer can be slowed down.
What Are the Reasons for Malware Attacks?
A variety of different types of people create malware. Blackmailers, cheats, and hackers are just a few of the criminals involved. Most of them are trying to make money illegally, but there are a few other reasons.
Some of the people who create these viruses are pranksters and others are activists. There are people looking to make an illegal profit and others who are just looking to damage targets.
Can Malware Spread Through Wifi?
Curious if malware can spread through Wi-Fi? Check out this informative YouTube video for clarity on the subject:
Unlike some other spots in the national park, these gorges are without the crowds.
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An average of 3,350 tourists per day visited Slovak Paradise National Park during this year's summer season.
Detailed travel guide to the Tatras introduces you to the whole region around the Tatra mountains, including attractions on the Polish side.
This was reported by the Slovak Paradise National Park Administration, basing its statistics on the summer census of tourists, which it carries out every year.
This is a comparable number as in previous years, the SITA news agency wrote.
The largest share was domestic visitors, approximately 45 percent, followed by Poles, Czechs, Hungarians, Germans and other nationalities.
Sucha Bela marks a record
Dobsinska Ice Cave, Prielom Hornadu and Tomasovsky Vyhlad viewpoint continue to be among the most visited localities of Slovak Paradise.
Among the gorges, Sucha Bela is in the lead.
Attendance peaks during summer weekends and holidays.
According to the Slovak Paradise National Park Administration, this was most evident on Monday, August 14, when 2,455 tourists visited the aforementioned gorge.
This is the second highest number since 2017. The reason was a public holiday in neighbouring Poland and favourable sunny weather. The average summer attendance of Sucha Bela ranges from 500 to 600 tourists.
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Impatient visitors destroy protected habitats
"With extremely high traffic, long queues form in the exposed sections. The most problematic situation is especially before the ladders at Misove Falls, where tourists waited more than an hour," described the conservationists.
According to them, it arouses tension among visitors and, at the same time, an effort to find shortcuts off the tourist trail.
"During such attempts, they trample vegetation, to which protected habitats are extremely sensitive," they added.
In an effort to avoid similar situations, the national park tries to regulate attendance and direct visitors to other, less frequented routes.
"We communicate with visitors personally in our information centre in Podlesok. At the same time, we have provided several information screens in Podlesok and in the centre of the village of Hrabusice, where visitors can find information about the accessibility of the gorges, and monitor the situation at Misove Falls in Sucha Bela via a live camera," explained the Administration of Slovak Paradise National Park.
Several attractive gorges
Footage from the live camera is also supplemented with information about a possible time delay.
The National Park Administration reminds the public that there are as many as nine attractive gorges like Sucha Bela in Slovak Paradise. At the same time, their attendance is significantly lower, without the risk of waiting in lines.
"The Piecky, Velky Sokol, Zejmarska and Klastorska gorges are easily accessible. A slightly longer route should be taken on foot to the Sokolia Dolina gorges with the 75-metre-high Zavoj Waterfall, the second highest in Slovakia," conservationists advise.
They also recommend Maly Kysel, Velky Kysel and Ferrata HZS Kysel, which are definitely worth the effort.
If you visit Sucha Bela, they advise you to go early in the morning and avoid the time between 10:00 and 12:00, when there is the greatest rush of tourists.
The counting of tourists is organised by the national park once in winter and twice in summer, in July and August.
It is implemented through the physical registration of tourists in census sheets at selected locations.
https://sk.frame.mapy.cz/s/mudomukeze
Spectacular Slovakia travel guides
Slovak media, Deutsche Welle and Ukrainian journalists will create stories for refugees.
A press briefing on the occasion of the launch of the new media project focusing on Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia. (Source: Memo 98)
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With more than 107,000 Ukrainian refugees living in Slovakia, UNESCO has announced that it will support Slovak media in providing the refugees with reliable news and information in Ukrainian.
At the same time, these outlets will fight the stereotypes about Ukrainians that are circulating in Slovak society. The organisation hopes that the media, to a degree, will contribute to the integration of refugees into society in this way.
News organisations hold the means to counter suspicion, fear, and social stigmas, said UNESCOs Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information, Tawfik Jelassi.
Apart from Slovakia, the international organisation will also help the media in Romania and Moldova.
Cooperation with Deutsche Welle
The media in all three countries will cooperate with Deutsche Welle Akademie, international experts and national partners (Memo 98 in Slovakia), on the creation of refugee-related media outputs.
Alina Graffyova, editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian-language Novyny.sk website, believes that it is crucial for Ukrainians to have access to news in their mother language. It means a lot to them, she continues.
You understand that you are not alone, says Graffyova.
The one-year project, which will end next January, is supported by the Japanese government. Head of the Migration Office Jan Orlovsky has also welcomed the project, as it can help people in Slovakia receive objective information about migration.
Almost nobody in Slovakia knows that so far, the war in Ukraine has cost us only 11 per citizen, Orlovsky said, hoping that this information will reach more Slovaks in the near future.
Ukraine will sue Slovakia over grain ban extension, threatening to also impose trade restrictions on Slovakia.
Slovakia extended the ban on the imports of four crops from Ukraine on September 16, 2023. (Source: European Commission)
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In response to Slovakias decision to prolong the ban of Ukrainian grain imports, Ukraine has decided to file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organisation against Slovakia, as well as against Poland and Hungary.
This is a blow to our economy, to the very principles of the European Union, to global food security, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said about the decision of its three neighbours.
Slovakia extended the ban on the imports of four crops from Ukraine - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds - on September 16 following the examples of Hungary and Poland. The Slovak government introduced the ban, which initially included 30 crops, in April to protect Slovak farmers and the domestic market.
The [extended] ban does not apply to the transport of goods through our territory, thereby expressing solidarity with Ukraine and placing its goods in target markets, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry went on to say.
Still, Ukraine has called the latest move an unfriendly action, threatening to impose mirror or reciprocal trade restrictions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky compared the situation to a political theatre.
It is alarming to see how some in Europe, some of our friends in Europe, play out solidarity in a political theatre making a thriller from the grain, Zelensky said during his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 19.
Slovak President Zuzana Caputova also attends the meeting. She will give a speech on September 20, which is Wednesday.
EU lifts agricultural food ban
A day prior to the Slovak governments latest decision, the European Commission had lifted the ban on Ukrainian grain introduced in June of this year. It said that the market distortions in the EU member states bordering Ukraine, including Slovakia, have disappeared.
The Commission will refrain from imposing any restrictions as long as the effective measures by Ukraine are in place and fully working, said the Commission.
These measures should include control and verification measures for the exports of four agricultural products. The Ukrainian government called it a compromise.
We will provide the EU and our neighbours with customs data on the export of certain goods, and collect data on the final destination of shipments in the electronic queue system, said the Ukrainian PM.
Although the Slovak government extended the ban last week, it has said that it is open to lifting it as soon as a common EU solution to the problem is found.
Slovakia will not lift the ban unless the system of guarantees from Ukraine is evaluated and there are guarantees that imports are under control, acting Slovak Agriculture Minister Jozef Bires said on September 18.
For now, the ban remains in place until the end of December.
On September 19, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry announced that thousands of wheat growers in Slovakia, who have suffered losses due to increased imports of wheat from Ukraine, will receive extra cash of more than 15 million from the EU and the government by the end of this year.
Slovakia not scared of lawsuit
Last week, acting Slovak PM Ludovit Odor held an online meeting with Shmyhal to discuss the Ukrainian exports of agricultural products and cooperation in the defence and energy sectors.
Yesterday, Bires admitted that the mention of a lawsuit surprised him.
Regardless, the minister said confidently, We can present our reasons and concerns to the WTO.
If theres one name associated with producing mind-bendingly stunning cafes, it is 43 Factory Coffee Roaster in Vietnam. In the past weve reported on their otherworldly Da Nang cafe and roasting space as well as their Ho Chi Minh City concept, which earned Finalist honors at the 2022 Sprudgie Awards. And now they are back with not just another gobsmacking cafe, but a whole new brand identity. Introducing XLIII Coffee.
Following aesthetic cues from their Ho Chi Minh City outpost, the new cafe features black-and-white monochrome design with verdant pops of color from plant life stationed all around the interior. It is simply a world-class cafe that must be seen to be believed. So lets take a look inside the all-new cafe for the all-new named XLIII Coffee in Vietnam.
The 2023 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by DONA. The 2023 Build-Outs of Coffee is sponsored by La Marzocco, Pacific Barista Series, Acaia, and Marco Beverage Systems.
As told to Sprudge by XLIII Coffee.
For those who arent familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Wishing to create a larger and more sustainable coffee community, we strive to bring high-quality specialty coffee products with original values as the focus of exploitation. We source quality raw materials with maximum traceability, provide transparent and direct information to customers, operate based on ethics and responsibility, and transfer toward sustainability development.
XLIII Coffee transforms from the original brand: 43 Factory Coffee Roaster. We respect the achievements and values built since the beginning of the journey to discover the world of pure coffee and cherish the starting point of the first shop. On the journey ahead, XLIII Coffee continue to hold and maintain consistency in our overall activities, core values, and strategic direction.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
We are happy to inform you about XLIII Coffees new project: XLIII Coffee Shop Hoi An branch. With this project, we have much to share with you and the readers of Sprudge. XLIII Coffee Hoi An store was built and is officially open to welcome customers on August 18, 2023, at 326 Ly Thuong Kiet, Tan An Ward, City, Hoi An, Quang Nam, Vietnam.
This project is a gift to mark five years of the establishment and development of our brand, as well as a gratitude to customers for always accompanying and supporting XLIII Coffee during the past time. Despite bearing the new name XLIII Coffee, we are still firm with the inherent orientation and mission of the predecessor brand, 43 Factory Coffee Roaster.
We maintain our original coffee perspective and approach at this upcoming new store. The face-to-face system of coffee gives us an overview of how to create the best products, services, and experiences.
The design respects the status quo, balances the brand mark. Respecting the inherent value and original beauty, XLIII Coffee respects the current status of the premises. We choose the right renovation plan, respecting the status quo while maintaining the consistency of the brand.
XLIII Coffee Hoi An Ancient Town is designed in the familiar black-white tone with the highlight of balanced green trees and creates a simple but not boring space. The shop space is divided according to the needs: chatting, working, and discovering the process of creating a cup of coffee. In the middle of that streamlined, neutral space, coffee is the focus, and the person enjoying it is the most prominent touch.
Belonging to the high-class Almanity Hoi An Resort & Spa, XLIII Coffee is both a rendezvous for guests and a coffee stop for local coffee lovers.
Whats your approach to coffee?
Quality, transparency, and sustainability are the first factors in selecting XLIII Coffees raw materials. We are honored to work directly and independently with some of the worlds leading specialty coffee producers. Over the years, XLIII Coffee has deliberately kept its business small and focused on quality, consciously investing in a limited number of origins and trying to represent those coffee sources. This coffee is at the highest level, Sourcing the finest coffees from a select group of like-minded producers who share our values and commitment to quality.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Equipment and machinery system at XLIII Coffee Hoi An Ancient Town
Espresso Machine: Modbar AV Espresso System, Modbar Stream System
Grinder: Mahlkonig E80 Supreme, Ditting 807 Lab Sweet
Brewers: Kinto Alfresco brewer, Fellow Stagg EKG electric kettle
With current machinery and equipment support, XLIII Coffee confidently has a coffee cup with quality assurance and multi-layered flavors.
How is your project considering sustainability?
Environmentally friendly from the minor things. XLIII Coffee Hoi An Ancient Town offers a relaxing and healing experience when designed with ample space and green trees. This architects style creates harmony, balance and minimizes the impact of the greenhouse effect. We use photosynthetic lighting systems to grow indoor plants.
In addition, the materials used for architectural construction are also environmentally friendly and are recycled to the maximum extent. The bar and table are manufactured with high-quality industrial pressed wood, not using natural wood to limit the environmental impact and not indirectly destroying the forest. All single chairs at the store are made from recycled microplastics with standard technology that ensures quality and durability over time.
The system of machinery and equipment is permanently installed in eco mode, making a single dose to save electricity and water for the extraction process. The filter preparation process is used high-quality filter paper and uncoated and reused coffee grounds to fertilize and take care of plants.
Whats your hopeful target opening date/month?
18/08/2023
Thank you!
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/at-least-1-person-killed-as-hurricane-lee-leaves-trail-of-damage-in-new-england-maritime-canada-1113479602.html
At Least 1 Person Killed as Hurricane Lee Leaves Trail of Damage in New England, Maritime Canada
At Least 1 Person Killed as Hurricane Lee Leaves Trail of Damage in New England, Maritime Canada
The storm severely affected northern parts of New England and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. Those who were inland experienced power outages and downed trees, while those on the coast delt with dangerous, rogue waves.
2023-09-18T23:25+0000
2023-09-18T23:25+0000
2023-09-18T23:23+0000
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The coastal areas of Maine, New Hampshire and the Canadian Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island were left dealing with widespread damages and power outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Lee this weekend. The storm, which brought with it intense winds, rough surf and rain, prompted the death of at least one individual in Maine.The center of the post-tropical cyclone first made landfall about 135 miles west of Halifax, Nova Scotias capital, according to the National Hurricane Center, just 50 miles southeast of Eastport, Maine. Lee brought with it maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour); however, more averaged speeds of 45 MPH. The storm later downgraded as it headed north to New Brunswick and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.But before doing so, Lee caused extensive damage across Maine and the Canadian Maritime provinces. The wind knocked down dead trees, and caused surf swells that prompted possible life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.Hundreds of miles from the storms center, residents of Maine and Canada found themselves without power. At around midday on Saturday, 27% of Nova Scotia was without power, 8% of New Brunswick and 3% of Prince Edward Island was also without power. At least 11% of customers in Maine also found themselves without power. About 100,000 power outages in Maine were reported at the height of the storm.By Sunday, large parts of New England enjoyed warm, sunny weather, including Boston, Massachusetts, and parts of Maine. But by Monday at around 4:30 p.m. local time, more than 2,600 people in the state of Maine were still without power, while 1,417 people in Vermont and 816 people in New Hampshire were also without power, according to PowerOutage.us.Bar Harbora town on Maines Mount Desert Island popular to tourists as it allows access to Acadia National Parkexperienced a whale watch boat breaking free from its mooring and crashing onshore. The national park officials chose to close every campground in the park, expecting trees to come down due to the storm.A 51-year-old in Searsport died after a large tree limb fell on his vehicle while he was traveling on US Highway 1 during a period of high wind speeds. According to officials, the tree limb also brought down live power lines that were first shuttered before officials could remove the injured person. The individual later died at the hospital.Destructive waves of 3 feet were expected along the coast. In Maine, a lobsterman and state lawmaker reportedly experienced a rogue wave while hauling traps on the coast of Winter Harbor a day before the storm impacted the state. The lobsterman as well as a crew member were thrown overboard when a large wave struck the starboard side of his 42-foot boat, capsizing the vessel.Its not normal for waves to break in that depth, but this one crested. I just remember the force. It hit like a freight train. I didnt know this in the moment but later realized I had gripped the wheel so tight and was torn off with such force that the calluses on the palm of my hand were torn off when I was ripped from the helm, he added.Both persons survived the rogue wave.Images of trees downing power lines, crashing onto vehicles, and blocking roads were reported in the Mid-coast cities of Maine, including Rockland and Camden. Closer inland, the effects of the storm had less destructive effects.The storm was not as bad as it was made out to be, and Im thankful for the electrician teams who brought power back after only a few hours, a resident near Damariscotta, Maine, told Sputnik.The companies of Central Maine Power and Versant Power had hundreds of workers, including those from out of state, to assist in bridging back power.The wind was mildly sporadic from the north, and caused a lot of dead branches to shake from the trees. The rain was mild, to even a misting. Some trees fell, a majority being those with shallow roots or which were already dead, the eyewitness added.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/face-saving-iran-sanctions-give-biden-cover-in-move-to-refocus-us-efforts-against-china-1113478493.html
Face-Saving Iran Sanctions Give Biden Cover in Move to Refocus US Efforts Against China
Face-Saving Iran Sanctions Give Biden Cover in Move to Refocus US Efforts Against China
The Biden administration may be trying to cool tensions with Tehran in order to focus more US forces on opposing China, but it must also satisfy critics at home who might cast a deal with an adversary as a sign of weakness.
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2023-09-18T20:41+0000
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A deal was made on Monday between the United States and Iran in which five American prisoners were released by Iran in exchange for five Iranians held in US custody and for Washington overseeing the release of $6 billion in frozen assets owned by the Iranian government.Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said the deal could become a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America. His government has been engaged in yearslong talks to convince the US to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a 2015 deal that put limits on Irans nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of US sanctions against the country, but a final resolution has evaded diplomats.However, the White House has tried to quiet such notions. John Kirby, the spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, cast the deal as a shrewd diplomatic maneuver, telling reporters that "sometimes in diplomacy you get what you can get."As the deals finalization was looming, the Biden administration unveiled new sanctions on 29 people and organizations it claimed were responsible for the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman whose death in September 2022 set off major protests in the country. She died following an encounter with the Guidance Patrol, Irans now-disbanded morality police, who said she was not wearing her hijab properly. She died three days later, officially due to a heart attack and coma caused by a prior heart ailment, but anecdotal reports claimed she died from complications caused by a severe beating by police.Richard Becker, the author of Palestine, Israel, and the US Empire, and the West Coast Coordinator for the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition, said the sanctions may be face-saving and aimed at trying to deflect criticism of Biden for the prisoner exchange.The moving of the focus of US foreign policy to Asia, the Pivot to Asia, preparation for war against China, and so forth - thats where the main interests of US foreign policy are at this point, he said. But it doesnt mean that they are forgetting about the Middle East or Iran. I think the reason for some moves toward accommodation or some initiative to try and take down the hostility with Iran [is] in order to be able to focus more forces in East Asia.The entire interview may be listened to here, it begins at 1:06:00.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230913/challenges-across-globe-prompted-us-to-ink-prisoner-swap-deal-with-iran-1113338567.html
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Fantine Gardinier
iran sanctions; iran prisoner swap; jcpoa; china; pivot to asia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/grim-milestone-for-gun-violence-number-of-2023-mass-shooting-incidents-in-us-surpasses-500-1113475033.html
Grim Milestone for Gun Violence: Number of 2023 Mass Shooting Incidents in US Surpasses 500
Grim Milestone for Gun Violence: Number of 2023 Mass Shooting Incidents in US Surpasses 500
Amidst a troubling surge in mass shootings in the US, 2023 has recorded the most horrific shooting incidents. Recent Denver and El Paso events add to the dreary tally, prompting renewed concerns about gun violence in America.
2023-09-18T20:16+0000
2023-09-18T20:16+0000
2023-09-18T20:14+0000
americas
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texas
gun violence archive
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The US officially surpassed 500 mass shooting cases for 2023 this past weekend, data collected by the Gun Violence Archive has revealed. As of Sunday, the Archive's records paint a somber picture of 2023, with 501 reported shooting incidents. The 500-mark was reached after a shooting took place in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday night. The Denver Police Department detailed the incident resulted in four individuals being hospitalized, with a fifth victim subsequently found. In an official statement released on X, formerly known as Twitter, law enforcement authorities assured that each individual involved in the incident is anticipated to recover fully. Also, no arrests have been made as of Sunday morning.The watchdog officially marked 501 mass shootings for the year with a Sunday incident that claimed the life of a 19-year-old man and left five others injured in El Paso, Texas. Per local media, one of the wounded victims is in critical condition.January witnessed a devastating event in Monterey Park, California, marking this year's most tragic shooting. Following a Lunar New Year celebration, a dance studio turned into a scene of tragedy after 11 individuals were killed and 10 others were left wounded.Nevertheless, it is imperative to underscore that this year's figures already surpassed those recorded in 2019, which documented a staggering 414 incidents, and in 2018, which reported 335 such occurrences.The year 2021 etched the grimmest record in US history, with 689 reported incidents, marking an unprecedented surge in such events. The year 2022 witnessed a dip in occurrences, with 645 recorded. However, data from the FBI indicates an uptick in the overall count of Americans injured in these incidents, when comparing data from 2021 and 2022.The FBI defines a mass shooting as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area, which deviates from metrics that primarily consider the total victim count in evaluating an incident. Despite the decline witnessed in the preceding year, FBI officials contend the overarching pattern spanning the past two decades demonstrates an ongoing increase in these events. The progression persists irrespective of the particular criteria applied to evaluate them.
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gun violence archive, mass shooting, united states, denver shooting, el paso shooting, monterey park shooting, 2023 shooting incidents, fbi mass shooting definition, law enforcement statement, fbi mass shooting trend, gun violence, mass killings, us mass shootings, us gun violence records, mass shooting deaths
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/argentine-president-discusses-with-guterres-sovereignty-of-falkland-islands-1113483767.html
Argentine President Discusses With Guterres Sovereignty of Falkland Islands
Argentine President Discusses With Guterres Sovereignty of Falkland Islands
Argentine President Alberto Fernandez raised the issue of the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the presidential press office said on Tuesday.
2023-09-19T04:35+0000
2023-09-19T04:35+0000
2023-09-19T04:35+0000
world
antonio guterres
falkland islands
argentina
the united nations (un)
united kingdom (uk)
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"President Alberto Fernandez held a meeting tonight in New York with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, with whom he discussed challenges at the global and regional level. In this regard, the head of state reiterated Argentina's interest in the good offices mission to resume negotiations to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute with the United Kingdom over the Malvinas [Falklands] Islands. Guterres pledged to demand that the UK comply with UN resolutions," the office said. There is a long-standing dispute between Argentina and the UK concerning sovereignty over the Falkland Islands. In 1982, a war broke out between the countries, which lasted several weeks and ended with the defeat of the Latin American country. The Foradori-Duncan pact was concluded in 2016 following the talks between Argentine Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Foradori and his British counterpart, Alan Duncan. In March, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said that the country terminated the 2016 joint statement because the pact was incompatible with the UN General Assembly resolution, which recommended that both parties refrain from making decisions that entail unilateral changes in the dispute over the islands' sovereignty. At the same time, Argentina invited the UK to resume negotiations on the islands and transfer them to the agenda of the UN. Later, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly responded by saying that the islands belong to the UK.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230303/argentina-urges-uk-to-move-negotiations-on-falkland-islands-to-un---foreign-ministry-1107963715.html
falkland islands
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argentine president alberto fernandez, un secretary-general antonio guterres, falkland islands
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/azerbaijan-launches-anti-terrorist-activities-in-nagorno-karabakh---defense-ministry-1113489403.html
Azerbaijan Launches 'Anti-Terrorist Activities' in Nagorno-Karabakh - Defense Ministry
Azerbaijan Launches 'Anti-Terrorist Activities' in Nagorno-Karabakh - Defense Ministry
Azerbaijan launched local "anti-terrorist activities" in Nagorno-Karabakh to restore the constitutional order, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
2023-09-19T10:03+0000
2023-09-19T10:03+0000
2023-09-20T12:36+0000
world
russia
nikol pashinyan
ilham aliyev
azerbaijan
nagorno-karabakh
armenia
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"Therefore, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan," the statement said. The Defense Ministry added that it informed the command of the Russian peacekeepers and the leadership of Monitoring Center about the ongoing events. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that "the media are spreading information that the Azerbaijani side allegedly warned Russian peacekeepers 'in advance' about today's 'anti-terrorist operation' in Nagorno-Karabakh. This is not true," she said, adding that "Baku informed Moscow a few minutes before the start of the operation.Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region wedged in between the two nations where both have a military presence. The decades-long conflict reignited in the fall of 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended in a Russia-brokered ceasefire and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the region.Yerevan and Baku began discussing a future peace treaty in 2022 with mediation from Russia, the European Union and the United States. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in May that Yerevan was ready to recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within boundaries that include Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that a peace treaty can be signed in the near future if Armenia does not change its position.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230812/armenia-requests-emergency-meeting-of-un-security-council-over-nagorno-karabakh-1112552374.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/cheap-ukrainian-poultry-imports-ruffle-french-farmers-feathers-1113490194.html
Cheap Ukrainian Poultry Imports Ruffle French Farmers Feathers
Cheap Ukrainian Poultry Imports Ruffle French Farmers Feathers
Ukraine has filed a formal complaint with the World Trade Organization over unilateral moves by Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to ban the import of low-cost Ukrainian foodstuffs in an effort to protect local farmers. Further westward in Europe, farmers in France are bracing for losses resulting from grey imports of Ukrainian poultry.
2023-09-19T11:55+0000
2023-09-19T11:55+0000
2023-09-19T11:55+0000
economy
ukraine
france
world trade organization (wto)
european union (eu)
european commission
chicken
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imports
restrictions
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French poultry breeders have sounded the alarm over what they say is a sharp jump in the import of Ukrainian chicken to France, warning that the low-cost competition, often coming in the form of grey imports through third countries, could put them out of business.According to French customs data, imports of Ukrainian poultry over the first half of 2023 increased by a whopping 75 percent. And while this number still accounts for less than one percent of total imports, Anvol, a group representing Frances farmers, says the real figures are far higher, since imported Ukrainian poultry often makes its way to France through factories in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Poland, and is not labeled as coming from Ukraine. The figures do not reflect reality, Yann Nedelec, Anvols director, told local media.The European Commission says Ukrainian chicken accounted for 27 percent of the total volume of the EUs poultry imports over the first five months of 2023, second only behind Brazil (36 percent) and above Thailand (19 percent). Thats far above the 13 percent of imports Ukraine accounted for just two years ago in 2021.Ukraines pro-Western elites thought they had won a major victory in 2014 after the success of the Euromaidan coup detat and the signing of the European Association Agreement, expecting the deal to facilitate the export of Ukrainian foodstuffs to European markets. These expectations did not come to pass, with the European Union instead tightening up protectionist measures against Ukraine.It would not be until May 2022, after the escalation of the smoldering Donbass crisis into a full-blown NATO-Russia proxy war, that Brussels would suspend customs duties on Kiev, ostensibly to support the countrys economy.Paul-Henri Lava, a representative of the Brussels-based lobbying group AVEC Poultry, told media that the problem with Ukrainian poultry is that it is not subject to quotas, allowing for large-scale imports, mainly of chicken fillet, dragging down the prices of this most profitable part of the animal for local producers. At the same time, thanks to Ukraines geographic proximity, it can export fresh, not frozen, chicken, which again puts its exports in direct competition with French farmers.Ukraine insists its poultry products are certified by European institutions, and that the current simplified trade regime is an extremely important tool helping Ukrainian farmers to survive economically amid plunging demand at home after some eight million people left the country.But according to Anvols information, the largest Ukrainian exporter, accounting for over 60 percent of all exports, is a company called MHP, which is actually registered in Cyprus, listed in London, and controlled by a Ukrainian oligarch.Imports have slowly chipped away at French poultry farmers ability to make ends meet for years now, creeping up from 41 percent in 2020, to 45 percent in 2021, and topping 50.5 percent in 2022. Over the long term, defenders of French agriculture fear that the situation threatens to result in the disappearance of French producers, the deterioration of the countrys balance of trade, and greater dependence on foreign countries for food.But French Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau has so far ignored complaints, expressing solidarity with Kiev and saying last week that he doesnt want to send hostile signals in Ukraines direction. Fesneau added that he would investigate whether the suspension of customs duties destabilizes the market or not before taking a definitive position.Brussels announced last Friday that it would not extend restrictions on the import of Ukrainian foodstuffs including wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds into the EU, and asked Kiev to self-regulate export control measures. Authorities in Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia responded by "taking a definitive position" to extend restrictions on Ukrainian foodstuffs on a unilateral basis, and listed 24 food products among the banned goods including grains, but also poultry, eggs, meats, honey, vegetables, and wine.Kiev responded by filing a complaint against the three countries with the World Trade Organization, and threatened with bans on goods from Poland and Hungary on Tuesday unless the unfriendly actions were immediately reversed.It is fundamentally important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yuliya Svyridenko said while announcing Kievs WTO complaint. Ukraine hopes that these states will lift their restrictions and we will not have to clarify the relationship in the courts for a long time, she said.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/ukraine-files-import-ban-lawsuits-against-poland-hungary-slovakia-with-wto-1113471832.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/ukraine-grain-row-shows-war-fatigue-seeping-in-as-eu-has-own-interests-at-stake-1113457047.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/china-to-hold-drills-in-south-china-sea-from-september-20-22-1113492510.html
China to Hold Drills in South China Sea From September 20-22
China to Hold Drills in South China Sea From September 20-22
China will hold a naval exercise in the South China Sea from September 20-22 amid increased tensions in the region, the China Maritime Safety Administration said on Tuesday.
2023-09-19T12:22+0000
2023-09-19T12:22+0000
2023-09-19T12:22+0000
military
south china sea
china
tsai ing-wen
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The drills will be held from 08:30 local time (00:30 GMT) September 20 to 17:00 local time (09:00 GMT) September 22, the authority specified. The Chinese authorities provided the coordinates of the drills' area, which will stay off-limits during the military drill.Earlier in September, the Chinese military conducted live-fire drills in the South China Sea near Vietnam's maritime border.The latest escalation around Taiwan took place in April after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in the United States. Beijing responded by launching massive three-day military drills near the island in what it called a warning to Taiwanese separatists and foreign powers. In August, the Taiwanese armed forces reported multiple sightings of Chinese naval and air patrols in the island's vicinity.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230829/china-conducting-military-drills-in-yellow-south-china-seas-this-week-1112958003.html
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china maritime safety administration, china to hold drills in south china
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/erdogan-turkiye-never-needed-help-support-from-european-union-1113483358.html
Erdogan: Turkiye Never Needed Help, Support From European Union
Erdogan: Turkiye Never Needed Help, Support From European Union
Turkiye has never needed help or support from the European Union, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in an exclusive wide-ranging interview with US media.
2023-09-19T04:40+0000
2023-09-19T04:40+0000
2023-09-19T04:38+0000
world
turkiye
recep tayyip erdogan
european union (eu)
eu membership
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When asked whether Turkiye was ready to abandon the process of joining the European Union, Erdogan commented that Istanbul attaches great importance to EU decisions but that it's not wholly reliant on the body. "If the EU would take such a step forward by making such a decision, we would welcome it," Erdogan was quoted. Turkiye signed the Ankara Agreement, or the Agreement Creating an Association Between the Republic of Turkiye and the European Economic Community (EEC, the predecessor of the EU), in 1963 and applied for full membership in 1987.The negotiations on Turkiye's accession to the EU began in 2005; however, talks stalled over the bloc's concerns about human rights violations in Turkiye.The exclusive interview also saw the Turkish leader note how Turkiye would not follow the EU's sanctions campaign against Russia, noting how Ankara considers Moscow one of its closest neighbors.Also raised during talks was Erdogan's belief that the Swedish government is not doing enough to ensure that Ankara ratifies Stockholm's bid for NATO membership, referring to the Nordic country's efforts to mitigate backlash over recent Quran burnings."We have repeatedly stated that we were ready to support Sweden's bid to join NATO, but Sweden is supposed to rise up to the occasion and keep their promises, because, on the streets of Stockholm, we still see terrorists wandering around freely," Erdogan said. "Sweden seemingly carried out legislative amendments, but it's not enough."Amid backlash over multiple Quran burning incidents undertaken in Sweden over the last several months, the Swedish government earlier announced it would launch an inquiry into potentially making legal changes that would bar such behavior. At present, Sweden has no law that ensure an outright ban for Quran burnings, as the act is considered protected by the country's constitution.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230722/not-an-easy-neighbor-turkiye-unlikely-to-join-eu-soon-says-german-foreign-minister-1112055233.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230819/sweden-mulls-changes-to-laws-on-public-events-after-quran-burnings-raise-terror-threat-1112722618.html
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turkish president recep tayyip erdogan, turkiye, european union, sweden quran burning, eu sanctions campaign against russia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/everyones-invited-mexican-president-defends-inclusion-of-russia-in-independence-parade--1113485401.html
Everyone's Invited: Mexican President Defends Inclusion of Russia in Independence Parade
Everyone's Invited: Mexican President Defends Inclusion of Russia in Independence Parade
Mexico's President has defended Russia's participation in Independence Day Parade.
2023-09-19T12:31+0000
2023-09-19T12:31+0000
2023-09-19T12:31+0000
world
russia
mexico
ukrainian crisis
andres manuel lopez obrador
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President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador underscored that his country boasts relations with all countries after a Russian military units presence at the weekend parade marking Mexico's Independence Day drew ire from Ukraines officials.Oksana Dramaretska, Ukraine's ambassador to Mexico, had left a dramatic post on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the parade had been "sullied" by the Russian participation, as she slammed the decision made by Mexico's President, also known by his initials, AMLO. "All the countries that Mexico has diplomatic relations with were invited," AMLO stressed, pointing out that a Russian contingent had participated in past parades as well.Representatives from 19 countries took part in the military parade in the capital's Zocalo Square on September 16 to mark Mexicos Independence Day, including China, Nepal, South Korea, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba. The Russian Federation was represented by soldiers of the 154th Preobrazhensky Regiment.The Mexican Secretariat of National Defense said that the inclusion of military contingents from many countries in the parade is a demonstration of the brotherhood that unites Mexico with the countries of America, Europe and Asia.Mexico has joined the majority of countries in the developing world in maintaining neutrality in the Ukrainian crisis, whipping up irritation in the United States and among Washington's allies. The Mexican president has also been a major proponent of peace talks, since Obrador said at an August presser, that Mexico does not want to see the conflict become commonplace.As for peace talks regarding the Ukraine crisis, Obrador earlier told Sputnik:If both Ukraine and Russia agree to seek a solution to achieve peace, we will take part if the parties to the conflict agree and convene (other countries) for this purpose. We are for peaceIf the two countries are represented, then yes.Amid Western sanctions targeting Russia over Ukraine, Moscow has stepped up trade ties and market share with non-Western countries to unprecedented new highs. Mexico is one such example. Trade turnover between both countries jumped 17 percent year-on-year in June, by $324 million in total, the highest level ever recorded, according to a report by Russian media citing figures from Mexicos official statistical service, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230801/amlo-to-sputnik-mexico-sees-no-point-to-ukraine-peace-talks-without-russia-1112313508.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/gunsmith-day-how-ukraine-conflict-improved-russian-arms-1113472608.html
Gunsmith Day: How Ukraine Conflict Improved Russian Arms
Gunsmith Day: How Ukraine Conflict Improved Russian Arms
Despite sanctions and export controls, Russia has significantly expanded weapons production, outpacing the US and Europe, the Western mainstream press has admitted. Military experts have explained to Sputnik how the conflict has boosted Russia's defense industry.
2023-09-19T05:00+0000
2023-09-19T05:00+0000
2023-09-19T11:05+0000
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Russia is manufacturing over two million shells and 200 tanks a year, tearing apart Western intelligence prognoses, the US mainstream press reports.At the beginning of the conflict, Washington was betting on ramping up military supplies to Kiev and hoped to curb Russia's industrial capacity through a heap of sanctions. However, it turns out that Russia's production of weapons has not been hindered. Quite the contrary, it has doubled and continues to grow, the newspaper complains.As a result, Russias current ammunition production is seven times greater than that of the West, per European defense officials. That spells trouble for Ukraine in the coming months, the media outlet says.As Russia is celebrating Gunsmith's Day on September 19 a professional holiday for all employees of enterprises of the country's military-industrial complex Sputnik has decided to take a look at what is behind the industrial boost.Special Operation in Ukraine Gave Boost to Russia's Defense SectorWhile the Western press has largely brought its focus on the speeded-up production of munitions in Russia, Sputnik's interlocutors refer to improvements and innovations in various fields. These include manufacturing of small arms, artillery of various calibers, tanks, helicopters, and aircraft for various purposes, body armor and radios, binoculars, rangefinders, and so on and so forth, Litovkin noted."We heard from our president that the defense procurement has grown tenfold, especially in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles in the field of communications, in the field of reconnaissance equipment, target designation, and so on and so forth," the expert continued.How Russian Weapons Became Protected Against Enemy DronesThere have not been military actions of such intensity, power, and scale since the Second World War, according to Dmitry Drozdenko, a military analyst and chief editor of the Fatherland Arsenal Internet portal. Russia's tactics, strategy, and military science have "collided" with those of the West, he highlighted, adding that this prompted Russia's gunsmiths to explore new approaches, symmetric and asymmetric responses.At Russia's ARMY-2023 military-technical forum, which took place last month at Patriot Park in the Moscow region, one could see a Russian T-90M tank with additional protection against Javelins and drones in the upper part. The Tigr-M super-protected multipurpose all-terrain infantry mobility vehicle made a debut at the show. In general, the expo featured a lot of military vehicles with additional protection against drones, taking into account the experience of the special military operation in Ukraine.How Russia Has Mastered Itself in Counter-Battery CombatDrozdenko has drawn attention to the growing role of artillery duels on the battlefield. When engaged in counter-battery combat (which envisages the destruction or neutralization of the enemy's fire support systems), Soviet-era 152 mm 47 caliber howitzers (for example, 2S19 Msta-S) could be outperformed by their NATO 155 mm 52 caliber analogues, given the latter's greater striking range.To solve the dilemma, Russian gunsmiths created the 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV, a self-propelled gun which is expected to supplement and eventually replace Russia's 2S19 Msta. The Koalitsiya is equipped with 152.44 mm or 155 mm guns, and boasts a maximum firing range of 80 km, and a 16 rounds/min rate of fire. The Koalitsiya's combat characteristics allow it to beat NATO howitzers, such as the French CAESAR, Drozdenko pointed out.Russia's Lancet kamikaze drones (or loitering munitions) have also proven efficient in counter-battery combat, according to the expert."With their strike, the Lancets pushed the Western artillery further away from the front line. And, accordingly, we improved the quality of the battery control circuit. (...) This is an innovation, and a massive one," Drozdenko said.What Russian Weapons Have Proven Especially Effective?Currently, the domestic military-industrial complex has been working in three shifts to satiate the needs of the Russian military.Most notably, the conflict has taught Russia that it is necessary to develop and improve high-precision weapons, according to Pavel Kalmykov, an analyst at a military and political analysis bureau and a lieutenant colonel in reserve."These are the Kalibr cruise missiles, various high-precision air-launched missiles there's a whole line of them. The list could take a long time: the Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, land-based Iskanders, etc. [] It became clear that it is necessary to increase their production," Kalmykov told Sputnik.Russia's high-power guided aerial bombs have also come in handy, per the military expert. He explained that aviation can use them without entering the enemys air defense zone, and drop them at a distance. And then the bomb proceeds controlled by a GPS or similar signal, he explained.In addition, main battle tanks have made a historic comeback, according to the expert.What New Russian Arms May Appear in Combat Soon?"On the front line are not only our troops, [but also] instructors who look at how our weapons are used, what their advantages are, what disadvantages they have, what can be improved, what can be strengthened, and so on," Litovkin underscored.Russia's arms manufacturers have already learned a lot from the ongoing conflict, per Sputnik's interlocutors. On this basis, new systems will be produced.The Russian president always walks the talk: years ago, he referred to Russia's successes in developing hypersonic arms. Today, Russia's hypersonic missiles are efficiently used in the Ukraine conflict zones. So, one could easily conclude that soon one will see new Russian wonder-weapons developed by the nation's renowned gunsmiths.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230917/inside-look-at-do-it-yourself-arms-and-equipment-used-by-russian-troops-during-special-op-1113438723.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230914/powerful-russian-weapons-tear-nato-hardware-to-shreds-in-ukraine-1113377071.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230904/sky-high-showdown-su-34-deployed-hypersonic-kinzhal-dagger-missile-1113101815.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230912/what-does-putin-mean-by-weapons-based-on-new-physical-principles-1113316548.html
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Ukraine acknowledges that Russian Lancet and Orlan drones create serious problems for the countrys armed forces Ukraine acknowledges that Russian Lancet and Orlan drones create serious problems for the countrys armed forces 2023-09-19T05:00+0000 true PT0M54S
The crews of the T-90M Proryv ('Breakthrough') destroyed strongholds with personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces The crews of the T-90M Proryv ('Breakthrough') destroyed strongholds with personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces 2023-09-19T05:00+0000 true PT0M30S
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/india-canada-hit-pause-on-trade-talks-expel-diplomats-amid-khalistan-spat-1113487152.html
India, Canada Hit Pause on Trade Talks, Expel Diplomats Amid Khalistan Spat
India, Canada Hit Pause on Trade Talks, Expel Diplomats Amid Khalistan Spat
Trade negotiations between India and Canada have been frozen due to disagreements on certain issues, said New Delhis Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
2023-09-19T11:58+0000
2023-09-19T11:58+0000
2023-09-19T11:58+0000
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India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has confirmed that the ongoing trade negotiations with Canada have been frozen due to disagreements on certain issues.There had been earlier indications that the talks might have hit a pause, when previously in September, Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma told journalists that the Canadian side had argued for the need to take a break.Also, this month, media sources had cited a spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng as saying that, At this time, we are postponing the upcoming trade mission to India. The five-day mission led by Mary Ng was scheduled to begin on October 9.Tit-For-Tat Diplomatic SpatNew Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in response to a similar move by Ottawa, the Indian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The day before, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said that Ottawa had expelled an Indian diplomat after a "link" was allegedly discovered between the Indian government and the murder of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who headed a secessionist group known as the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), earlier this year.Indignant Indian officials on Tuesday vehemently dismissed the "absurd" allegations."Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law, the MEA said, adding:India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier expressed concerns about the upsurge in Khalistani activities in Canada during his bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which took place on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Delhi on 9-10 September.Modi told Trudeau that "extremist elements" were "promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship, as per the Federal Ministry of External Affairs.Last year, India made a demarche to the Canadian government, asking it to stop the Khalistan referendum from being organized by a banned group in Ontario. Ahead of the Modi-Trudeau meeting at the G20, the banned 'Sikhs for Justice', led by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, declared a designated terrorist by the Government of India in 2020, held the Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in British Columbia, Canada.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20221103/india-asks-canada-to-declare-sikh-secessionists-terrorists-1103690224.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/iran-prisoner-exchange-swap-completed-african-nations-sign-defense-pact-uaw-strike-1113480739.html
Iran Prisoner Exchange Swap Completed; African Nations Sign Defense Pact; UAW Strike
Iran Prisoner Exchange Swap Completed; African Nations Sign Defense Pact; UAW Strike
A group of West African nations have signed a security pact which will make it difficult for neocolonial powers to act against the new government in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
2023-09-19T04:05+0000
2023-09-19T04:05+0000
2023-09-19T11:16+0000
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Iran Prisoner Exchange Swap Completed; African Nations SIgn Defense Pact; UAW Strike A group of West African nations have signed a security pact which will make it difficult for neocolonial powers to act against the new government in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss Ukraine and Russia. The Senate armed services committee is aggressively investigating Elon Musk. Mark Sleboda says that this is a cautionary tale in the feedback loop between politicians and the media. This investigation is based on media disinformation and lies. He says that Musk was prohibited by US sanctions from acting in the manner that the US military had requested. Also, Russia attacked Ukraine's stores of depleted uranium weapons.EJ Magnier, veteran Middle East War correspondent, joins us to discuss foreign policy. A group of West African nations have signed a security pact which will make it difficult for neo colonial powers to act against the new government in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. EJ Magnier says that the principal aim is to get rid of colonial France. He says that Africa is rising and trying to come together to form an alliance and reject the French military presence and exploitation of resources. He also sees this type of alliance growing.Dr. Gerald Horne, Professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss China. US military leaders say that the infamous Chinese spy balloon was not actually spying. Dr. Gerald Horne says that the result of the balloon episode caused US leaders to stream into Beijing to try and mitigate the damage. He also says that there is a global shift of international forces away from US imperialism. Also, he relates the meeting between Chairman Kim of North Korea and President Putin to the shift away from US hegemony.Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, joins us to discuss the economy. The UAW strike reflects the dilemma of trying to industrialize the US. Dr. Linwood Tauheed says that neoliberal oligarchs try to decrease wages while increasing the cost of living and these two things do not work together. Also, the three major automakers have increased profit by 90 percent over the last few years.Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. The prisoner exchange deal between the United States and Iran has been consummated as the US released prisoners is on the way back. Laith Marouf says that Iran is treating the citizens of the West the way its citizens are treated which shows that it is a sovereign entity. Also, the money that was returned was funds owed to Iran in return for oil that was supplied to them. The "cop city" is in a Black community and the police will get subsidized housing.Misty Winston, radio host and political commentator, joins us to discuss the 2024 election. A number of Democratic operatives are pushing to replace Kamala Harris as the 2024 VP nominee. Misty Winston says that the conversation about replacing Joe Biden is the more pressing issue. She also says that using Kamala's race as a defense actually damages the argument of those who really suffer from discrimination.Craig Jardula, co-host of The Convo Couch & AM Wakeup on Rokfin, joins us to discuss foreign policy. The US has intensified its sanctions on Nicaragua and Hawaiian citizens suffering from wildfires and their needs are being ignored. Craig Jardula says that the US has a long history of usurping the interests of Nicaragua. Craig is also working on a documentary about the fires that destroyed communities in Hawaii. He says that the Hawaiian people are not getting answers about the fires on their island.Jacqueline Luqman, co-host of By Any Means Necessary on Radio Sputnik as well as the weekly Black Power Media show, Luqman Nation, and organizer of the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Black Alliance for Peace, joins us to discuss domestic politics. Jackie Luqman writes that a system that is not fair for some people can't be trusted for anyone. Jackie says that even "Proud Boys" members have been the victim of the racist judicial system in the US. The only person of color in the group was the only one whose sentence was increased with a terrorism enhancement.The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.comCatch us at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/moscow-says-received-no-official-request-from-turkiye-to-hold-meeting-on-nagorno-karabakh-1113490985.html
Moscow Says Received No Official Request From Turkiye to Hold Meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh
Moscow Says Received No Official Request From Turkiye to Hold Meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh
Russia did not yet receive any official request from Turkiye to hold a quadrilateral meeting on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
2023-09-19T10:54+0000
2023-09-19T10:54+0000
2023-09-20T12:35+0000
world
nikol pashinyan
ilham aliyev
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turkiye
russia
maria zakharova
nagorno-karabakh conflict
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"Yes, we have seen such materials in the media, but we have not yet received official requests from Turkiye," Zakharova told a briefing. Russia traditionally maintains a close dialogue with Ankara on the international agenda, including the situation in the South Caucasus, the spokeswoman said.Moscow is in contact with Baku in light of the "anti-terrorist measures" launched by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, Zakharova said.The Russian peacekeeping contingent continues to fulfill its tasks amid the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, and Moscow expects that the security of the peacekeepers will be ensured by all the parties, Maria Zakharova said.Media reports that Azerbaijan allegedly warned Russian peacekeepers in advance about the "anti-terrorist measures" in Nagorno-Karabakh do not correspond to reality, Zakharova said.Earlier in the day, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry announced the beginning of local "anti-terrorist activities" in Nagorno-Karabakh to restore the constitutional order. Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous region wedged in between the two nations where both have a military presence. The decades-long conflict reignited in the fall of 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended in a Russia-brokered ceasefire and the deployment of Russian peacekeepers to the region.Yerevan and Baku began discussing a future peace treaty in 2022 with mediation from Russia, the European Union and the United States. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in May that Yerevan was ready to recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity within boundaries that include Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said that a peace treaty can be signed in the near future if Armenia does not change its position.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/azerbaijan-launches-anti-terrorist-activities-in-nagorno-karabakh---defense-ministry-1113489403.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/of-course-he-was-paying-former-ukrainian-business-leader-accuses-top-zelensky-adviser-of-bribery-1113501002.html
Of Course He Was Paying: Former Ukrainian Business Leader Accuses Top Zelensky Adviser of Bribery
Of Course He Was Paying: Former Ukrainian Business Leader Accuses Top Zelensky Adviser of Bribery
A top adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky is facing renewed corruption allegations after an exiled Ukrainian business leader claimed the man worked for him for years as a go-between handling payments to Ukrainian officials.
2023-09-19T17:04+0000
2023-09-19T17:04+0000
2023-09-19T17:04+0000
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"Tatarov used to solve all issues with law enforcement - thats what Oleh Maiboroda, the former executive director of Ukrbud Development, one of Ukraines largest construction companies, told Western media on Tuesday about Oleh Tatarov.Once a lawyer, Tatarov now serves as Zelenskys top adviser on law enforcement and security agencies, a position hes held since 2020. However, according to Maiboroda, Tatarov was running bribes for him for the five years before he took the job for Zelensky.The lawyers connections across the Ukrainian legal system, from police officials to judges and prosecutors, made him the perfect man to smooth over the approval processes for Ukrbuds many promising construction projects.The former Ukrainian business leader showed to Western media a list of bribes allegedly paid by Tatarov, totaling some $1.8 million.Maiboroda has himself fled Ukraine and currently lives in Vienna, where he hopes to stay safe from corruption charges against him in Kiev.Tatarov is no stranger to such accusations, either: a previous case, brought by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and Anti-Corruption Action Centers (AntAC), claimed he had bribed a forensic expert on behalf of Ukrbud, even going so far as to publish the WhatsApp conversation in which Tatarov agreed to the bribe. However, the case was closed in April 2022 on procedural grounds.Zelensky has stood by his man through the tribulations, refusing to fire or even to condemn Tatarov despite citizen petitions like the one AntAC organized, with more than 25,000 signatories.Last month, Zelensky fired all 24 of Ukraines regional military recruitment offices, which are awash with accusations of corruption, including that dozens of recruitment officers have accepted bribes to exempt eligible men from being drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.Earlier this month, Oleksiy Reznikov was fired as defense minister, and on Monday, Zelensky fired all six deputy defense ministers. Reznkovs replacement, Rustem Umerov, is himself under investigation for what NABU calls gross violation of labor laws and that he and his deputies "took actions aimed at concealing the facts of theft of state property" while he was head of the State Property Fund (SPF).No accusations of corruption have been brought against any of the former ministers, but the AntAC spoke of the terminations as a positive step toward cracking down on corruption and improving accountability.A small but growing faction of the Republican Party is openly questioning US support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. While some have demanded audits and better accountability for the tens of billions of dollars in aid flowing to Kiev, others have demanded the support halt entirely, especially in light of the disastrous Ukrainian counteroffensive this past summer.Many countries are sending major resources to Ukraine, and rightly so, but governments and populations will soon lose patience for that if there are not signs that the government is serious about fighting corruption, an anonymous Western diplomat in Kiev told British media.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220723/us-analyst-time-has-come-for-american-politicians-to-hold-kiev-responsible-for-endemic-corruption-1097725155.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230829/rough-country-ukraines-burisma-courted-hunter-biden-for-protection-amid-oligarch-feuds-1112973294.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/pepe-escobar-russia-north-korea-stage-strategic-coup-against-western-hegemony-1113489011.html
Pepe Escobar: Russia, North Korea Stage 'Strategic Coup' Against Western Hegemony
Pepe Escobar: Russia, North Korea Stage 'Strategic Coup' Against Western Hegemony
It will take ages to unpack the silos of information inbuilt in the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week, coupled with the armored - train-keeps-a-rollin conducted by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un straddling every nook and cranny of Primorsky Krai.
2023-09-19T11:00+0000
2023-09-19T11:00+0000
2023-09-19T11:30+0000
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The key themes all reflect the four main vectors of the New Great Game as its being played across the Global South: energy and energy resources; manufacturing and labor; market and trade rules; and logistics. But they go way beyond exploring the subtle nuances of the current civilizational war.So Vladivostok presented- A serious debate on the surge of anti-neocolonialism, presented for instance by the Myanmar delegation; geostrategically, Burma/Myanmar, as a privileged gateway to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, was always an object of Divide and Rule games, with the British Empire only caring about extracting natural resources. This is what scientific colonialism is all about.- A serious debate on the concept of the civilization-state, as already developed by Chinese and Russian scholars, applied to China, Russia, India and Iran.- The interconnection of transport/connectivity corridors. That includes the upgrading of the Trans-Siberian in the near future; a boost for the Trans-Baikal the worlds busiest rail line connecting the Urals to the Far East; a renewed drive for the Northern Sea Route (last month two Russian oil tankers sailed from Murmansk across the Arctic to China for the first time; ten days shorter than the Suez Canal route); and the coming of the Chennai-Vladivostok channel, which will be connected to the International North South Transportation Corridor (INTSC).- The common Eurasia payment system, discussed in detail in one of the key panels: Greater Eurasia: Drivers for the Formation of an Alternative International and Monetary and Financial System. The immense challenge to set up a new payment settlement currency against toxic currencies instrumentalized amid relentless Hybrid War. In another panel, the possibility of a timely BRICS and EAEU joint summit next year has been evoked.All Aboard The Kim TrainThe genesis of Kim Jong Uns train journey to the Russian Far East - coinciding with the Forum, no less - is a masterful strategic coup that was in the works since 2014, at the time of the Maidan.Xi Jinping was still in the beginning of his first mandate; he had announced the New Silk Road exactly ten years ago, first in Astana and then in Jakarta. The DPRK was not supposed to be integrated into this vast pan-Eurasian project that would soon become Chinas overarching foreign policy concept.The DPRK then was on a roll against the Hegemon, under Obama, and Beijing was no more than a worried spectator. Moscow, of course, was always focused on peace in the Korean Peninsula, especially because its geopolitical priorities in 2014 were Donbass and Syria/Iran. The last thing Moscow could afford was a war in Asia-Pacific.Putins strategy was to send Defense Minister Shoigu to Beijing and Islamabad to calm it all down. Pakistan at the time was helping Pyongyang to weaponize their nuclear arsenal. Simultaneously, Putin himself approached Kim, offering serious guarantees: weve got your back if ever there is an attack by the Hegemon supported by Seoul. Even better: Putin got Xi himself to double down on the guarantees.The categorical imperative was simple: as long as Pyongyang did not start any trouble, Moscow and Beijing would be by its side.A sort of calm before any possible storm then set in even if Pyongyang continued to test their missiles. So over the years, Kims mindset changed; he became convinced that Russia and China were his allies.The DPRK's geoeconomic integration into Eurasia was seriously discussed in previous, pre-Covid editions of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. That included the tantalizing possibility of a Trans-Korean Railway linking both North and South to the Far East, Siberia and the wider Eurasia.So Kim started to see the Big Eurasia Picture, and how Pyongyang could finally start to benefit geoeconomically from a closer association with the EAEU, SCO and BRI.This is how strategic diplomacy works: you invest during a decade, and then all the pieces fall into place when an armored train keeps-a-rollin across Primorsky Krai.From the perspective of a Russia-China-DPRK triangle, its no wonder the collective West has been reduced to the status of crying toddlers in a sandbox. The Hegemons puny US-Japan-South Korea axis to counter, simultaneously, China and the DPRK, is a joke compared to the DPRKs brand-new role as a sort of Asia-Pacific Military District, adjacent to their immediate neighbor, the Russian Far East.There will be military integration, of course, in missile defense, radars, ports, airfields. But the key vector, along the way, will be geoeconomic integration. Sanctions from now on are meaningless.No one in 2014 was seeing this all play out, except for a very sharp analyst who coined the precious Double Helix concept to define the still evolving, at the time, Russia-China comprehensive strategic partnership.The Double Helix perfectly explains the full-spectrum geostrategic symbiosis between two civilization-states which happen to be former empires but since the middle of the previous decade willfully decided to accelerate their mutual drive to lead the Global Majority in the path towards multipolarity.The Road to PolycentricityAll of the above finely coalesced in the last panel in Vladivostok - informally known even to the Japanese and Koreans as the European capital of Asia, in the heart of Asia-Pacific. The debate was on a global alternative to Western dominance. The West, incidentally, was absolutely invisible at the Forum.Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova summed it all up: the recent G20 and BRICS summits had set the stage for President Putins remarkable address to the plenary session in Vladivostok.Zakharova alluded to fantastic strategic patience. That applies to the whole pivot to Asia policy and boosting the development of the Far East, initiated in 2012, and now implying a full turn of the Russian economy towards Asia-Pacific geoeconomics. But at the same time, that also applies to integrating the DPRK into the geoeconomic Eurasian high-speed train.Zakharova stressed how Russia never supported isolation; always advocated partnership which the Forum graphically displayed for dozens of Global South delegations. And now, under the conditions of a dirty fight, unlawful and with no rules, a serious stand-off, the Russian position remains easily recognizable for the Global Majority: Not to accept dictatorship.Andrey Denisov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, made a point to mention crack political analyst Sergey Karaganov as one of the key drivers of the concept of Greater Eurasia. More than multipolarity, Denisov argued, what is being built is polycentricity: a series of concentric circles, involving plenty of dialogue partners.Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl now heads a new think tank in St. Petersburg, G.O.R.K.I. As a European who ended up being ostracized by her own peers under the blatant toxicity of cancel culture, she stressed how freedom and rule of law have disappeared in Europe.Kneissl referred to the Battle of Actium as the key passage of power from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Western Mediterranean: Thats when the dominance of the West started, complete with all the mythology built around the Roman Empire which obsesses the Anglosphere to this day.With sanctions dementia and irrational Russophobia installed at the head of the EU and the European Commission, Kneissl stressed, the notion that treaties must be preserved disappeared while the rule of law has been destroyed. This is the worst that could have happened to Europe.Alexander Dugin, online, called for understanding the depth of Western domination, expressed via hyper-liberalism. And he proposed a key breakthrough: the Western modus operandi should become an object of research, in a sort of Gramscian attempt to define what distinguishes Western ideology, and thus act towards deep decolonization.In a sense this is what is being attempted by current actors in West Africa Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger. That poses the question of who is a real Sovereign in a new world. The West, argues Dugin, is a Total Sovereign; Russia, as a nuclear power and prime military power defined as an existential threat by the Hegemon, is also a Sovereign.Then theres China, India, Iran, Turkey. These are key poles in a dialogue of civilizations; actually what was proposed by former Iranian President Khatami way back in the late 1990s, and then dismissed by the Hegemon.Dugin remarked how China has moved far away in building a civilizational state. Russia, Iran, India are not far behind. These will be the essential actors steering the world towards polycentricity.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230912/live-updates-russian-president-putin-attends-plenary-session-at-eastern-economic-forum-2023-1113298415.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230917/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-wraps-up-visit-to-russia-leaves-by-train-1113429429.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230816/top-n-korean-diplomat-lauds-growing-strategic-ties-between-russia-dprk-1112637069.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230911/western-russophobia-campaign-is-insane---daughter-of-chilean-political-prisoner-corvalan-1113286391.html
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pepe escobar, russia, north korea, western hegemony, eastern economic forum
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/retired-german-colonel-crushes-wests-misplaced-hopes-for-ukraines-counteroffensive-1113505209.html
Retired German Colonel Crushes Wests Misplaced Hopes for Ukraines Counteroffensive
Retired German Colonel Crushes Wests Misplaced Hopes for Ukraines Counteroffensive
Ukraine has expended up to 71,000 troops, hundreds of tanks and armored vehicles and tens of billions of dollars worth of Western-provided hardware and ammunition on its counteroffensive with seemingly little to show for it as far as Kiev and NATOs strategic goals of retaking lost territory and weakening Russia are concerned.
2023-09-19T18:17+0000
2023-09-19T18:17+0000
2023-09-19T18:17+0000
russia's special operation in ukraine
ukraine
russia
vladimir putin
bundeswehr
nato
ukrainian armed forces
leopard 2
challenger 2
joe biden
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A retired Bundeswehr colonel and military expert has dismantled the outright lies and half-truths he says are being told in Western media about the success of Kievs counteroffensive.We mustnt forget one thing: that despite all the reports about successes that we keep hearing [from the Ukrainian side], whats being talked about are tactical battles, local successes, were talking about two, three or even five kilometers of advance, which then at some point again go back to Russias control, Colonel (ret.) Wolfgang Richter said in an interview with German media.On the front as a whole, no changes whatsoever in Ukraines favor have been observed, the military expert emphasized.Furthermore, Richter expects the intensity of hostilities to drop dramatically as weather conditions worsen a month to a month-and-a-half from now. Accordingly, the retired officer predicts that it will be next to impossible for Ukraine to achieve a breakthrough.Bogged Down CounteroffensiveUkraines summer counteroffensive began in earnest on June 4, with Ukrainian Armed Forces tanks, troops, artillery and whatever limited air power Kiev could muster pushed into attacking heavily entrenched and fortified, multi-layer defenses set up by Russian forces over the previous months. Ukraines offensive planners quickly learned the futility of sending large columns of ground forces with no air support against entrenched Russian positions, but continued the offensive anyway, with Russian President Vladimir Putin estimating last week that Ukraine had lost a staggering 71,000 troops killed since June.In addition to the horrific losses in manpower, Ukraine has burned through hundreds of armored vehicles in the past four+ months, including dozens of the highly-touted NATO-built main battle tanks like the Leopard 1, Leopard 2 and Challenger 2.The United States and its allies have committed over $175 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to prop up its economy and keep the war machine going, with Western officials including EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell admitting casually that Kiev would last just days without the Wests support. In the US, a growing number of House Republicans have sought to challenge the Biden administrations bottomless pit of spending on Ukraine.On Tuesday, GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced that he would not automatically commit to further assistance to Kiev, and said he has questions for President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in the US to meet Biden and attend the UN General Assembly in New York. Whats the accountability in the money we already gave? What is the plan for victory? I think thats what the American people want to know, McCarthy said.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/of-course-he-was-paying-former-ukrainian-business-leader-accuses-top-zelensky-adviser-of-bribery-1113501002.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/zelenskys-us-visit-a-dog--pony-show-to-plug-cracks-in-ukraine-support-1113493146.html
ukraine
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Ilya Tsukanov
ukraine, russia, nato, west, counteroffensive, observer, bundeswehr, analysis, operations, misplaced hopes
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/russian-defense-minister-sergey-shoigu-presents-sword-to-north-koreas-kim-jong-un-1113493327.html
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu Presents Sword to North Korea's Kim Jong Un
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu Presents Sword to North Korea's Kim Jong Un
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a hand-made sword made of precious wood and gemstones during his visit to Primorye, Oleg Trubin, director of the Zlatoust arms factory in the Chelyabinsk region, said.
2023-09-19T13:38+0000
2023-09-19T13:38+0000
2023-09-19T13:44+0000
world
kim jong-un
sergei shoigu
russia
north korea
gift
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with a hand-made sword made of precious wood and gemstones during his visit to Primorye, Oleg Trubin, director of the Zlatoust arms factory in the Chelyabinsk region, said. North Korean state media reported that Kim Jong Un gave a gift to the Pacific Fleet during his visit to Primorye, while he received gifts from Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Sergei Kobylash, commander of the Russian Air Force's long-range aviation. According to Trubin, Shoigu presented the North Korean leader with a sword made in Zlatoust.The sword is inlaid with precious stones, decorated with miniatures from Russian folk tales, emphasizing the strength and power of the Russian state, he added.Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived to Russia. This was Kim's first visit to Russia since 2019. The North Korean leader held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. During the talks, Kim assertively pledged his countrys full-fledged support for all decisions made by Moscow. Putin, for his part, hailed the negotiations as "very productive," adding that "there was a very frank exchange of views on the situation in the region and on bilateral relations.''
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230915/kim-jong-un-visits-russian-aircraft-factory-1113400530.html
russia
north korea
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russian defense minister sergei shoigu, north korean leader kim jong un, hand-made sword made of precious wood and gemstones
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/russian-defense-minister-top-iranian-general-talk-on-strengthening-strategic-partnership-1113509298.html
Russian Defense Minister, Top Iranian General Talk on Strengthening Strategic Partnership
Russian Defense Minister, Top Iranian General Talk on Strengthening Strategic Partnership
Russo-Iranian relations have bloomed in recent years, building on their targeting by Western sanctions and common membership in regional pacts that are steadily de-centering the West in Asian affairs.
2023-09-19T21:40+0000
2023-09-19T21:40+0000
2023-09-19T21:38+0000
world
russia
iran
sergei shoigu
mohammad hossein bagheri
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Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu met with the top officer of the Iranian Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, in Tehran on Tuesday. The two military officials discussed the positive and dynamic development of Moscow-Tehran relations in the military sphere, which have included weapons sales and training.I consider our meeting as another step towards strengthening the strategic partnership between Russia and Iran, Shoigu told Bagheri, who is chief of general staff for the Iranian armed forces.However, they also discussed pressing issues of the day, with the recent outbreak of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both neighbors of Russia and Iran, at the top of the agenda. The situations in Syria, where Russia and Iran have cooperated with the Syrian government to crush Daesh* and al-Qaeda** aligned terrorist groups, and Afghanistan, where the disastrous US withdrawal in 2021 led to the Taliban*** returning to power.Last month, the BRICS group, of which Russia is a member, agreed to admit several new nations as members, including Iran. Last year, Iran also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO, or Shanghai Pact), a Eurasian bloc that includes Russia, China, India, and several other nations across the continent. Both developments promise to bode well for Russia, which has a population of 143 million, and Iran, with a population of 90 million.The two days of talks, which are to include other top Iranian military officials as well, will also concern issues such as education and the exchange of experience, the exchange of delegations, and joint naval exercises.These are just the latest meetings between Russian and Iranian officials as relations between the two states have bloomed in recent years. Economic and cultural ties have also grown, including cooperation on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a rail line connecting Russia and Iran via Azerbaijan, and careful negotiations over the equitable sharing of natural resources beneath the Caspian Sea.*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other states.**Al-Qaeda and al-Nusra Front (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) are terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other countries.***The Taliban is a terrorist organization under UN sanctions
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230918/irans-drones-selling-like-hot-cakes-as-demand-outpaces-production-capacity-top-commander-says-1113476423.html
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Fantine Gardinier
sergey shoigu; mohammad bagheri; brics; shanghai pact; defense minister; russian iranian
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/russian-peacekeepers-record-karabakh-ceasefire-violations-from-azerbaijani-side-1113502561.html
Russian Peacekeepers Record Karabakh Ceasefire Violations From Azerbaijani Side
Russian Peacekeepers Record Karabakh Ceasefire Violations From Azerbaijani Side
Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh recorded numerous ceasefire violations from the Azerbaijani side along the entire line of contact on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said.
2023-09-19T16:29+0000
2023-09-19T16:29+0000
2023-09-19T18:30+0000
world
nagorno-karabakh
azerbaijan
russia
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armenia
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From 12:00 [08:00 am GMT] on September 19, 2023, the Russian peacekeeping contingent has recorded numerous facts of ceasefire violations from the Azerbaijani side along the entire line of contact, the ministry stated, and called on sides of the conflict to halt use of force and engage in a dialogue. The peacekeepers also organized evacuation of civilians from most dangerous areas and provision of medical care to victims, the ministry added.Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus. The population is overwhelmingly Armenian.In 2022 with the mediation of Russia, the United States, and the European Union, Yerevan and Baku began discussing the terms of a future peace agreement. In late May of this year, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared that Yerevan was ready to recognize Azerbaijan's sovereignty within its Soviet-era borders, including Karabakh.In September, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the Armenian leadership had essentially recognized Azerbaijan's sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev said that Azerbaijan and Armenia could sign a peace agreement by the end of the year if Yerevan did not change its stance.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/russias-lavrov-to-arrive-in-new-york-on-tuesday-for-un-general-assembly-1113485144.html
Russia's Lavrov to Arrive in New York on Tuesday for UN General Assembly
Russia's Lavrov to Arrive in New York on Tuesday for UN General Assembly
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will arrive in New York on Tuesday to attend the 78th annual General Debate of the UN General Assembly in his capacity as the leader of the Russian delegation.
2023-09-19T06:36+0000
2023-09-19T06:36+0000
2023-09-19T06:36+0000
world
russia
sergey lavrov
new york
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wang yi
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The UNGA High Level Week is taking place from September 19-26. The Russian foreign minister will address the General Assembly on Saturday. Lavrov's agenda also includes about two dozens of bilateral and multilateral meetings on the sidelines of the General Assembly, including a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and events involving the UN Security Council, BRICS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Group of Friends for the Defense of the UN Charter.On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the conflict in Ukraine, briefed each other on the content of talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US Presidential National Security Advisor John Sullivan. In addition, "there was an in-depth exchange of views on interaction in the UN, including the issue of Security Council reform.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230902/lavrov-to-speak-at-ungas-general-debate--1113079822.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/s-korea-sends-expert-group-to-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-to-monitor-waste-water-release---1113486321.html
S Korea Sends Expert Group to Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant to Monitor Waste Water Release - Reports
S Korea Sends Expert Group to Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant to Monitor Waste Water Release - Reports
South Korea has sent an expert group to Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant on Tuesday as part of regular inspections to monitor the release of treated water into the ocean, a South Korean news agency reported.
2023-09-19T07:55+0000
2023-09-19T07:55+0000
2023-09-19T07:55+0000
asia
fukushima
japan
international atomic energy agency (iaea)
world trade organization (wto)
fumio kishida
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"This visit marks the first onsite activity since the first round of water release concluded on Sept. 11," Park Ku-yeon, the first deputy chief of the South Korean Office for Government Policy Coordination, was quoted as saying by the media. In July, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol asked Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to include South Korean experts in monitoring the discharge of treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. As a result, Tokyo and Seoul agreed on regular visits by South Korean experts to an office of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Fukushima. Several nuclear experts from the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety are also planning to meet with IAEA representatives and inspect the plant, including its control room, media reported. Japan will carry out three more releases of treated water until March 2024, with 7,800 cubic meters of water expected to be discharged each time. On August 24, Japan began dumping treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean after diluting it with seawater. Tokyo said that the water was cleaned from all radionuclides except tritium, which was still within acceptable limits. The water release has drawn strong opposition from China and other countries in the region. Beijing has described the discharged water as "contaminated" and responded by suspending seafood imports from Japan. Tokyo, for its part, has vowed to use tools under World Trade Organization rules to respond to the ban. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that the treated wastewater would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230911/first-round-of-fukushima-water-release-completed-in-japan-1113273562.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/several-injured-detained-amid-clashes-with-police-in-yerevan-over-nagorno-karabakh-hostilities-1113510555.html
Several Injured, Detained Amid Clashes With Police in Yerevan Over Nagorno-Karabakh Hostilities
Several Injured, Detained Amid Clashes With Police in Yerevan Over Nagorno-Karabakh Hostilities
In total, 34 people have been injured during clashes near the Armenian government building in Yerevan on Tuesday, including 16 law enforcement officers, the Health Ministry said.
2023-09-19T22:59+0000
2023-09-19T22:59+0000
2023-09-20T12:35+0000
world
yerevan
armenia
nagorno-karabakh
armenian investigative committee
russian defense ministry
clashes
demonstration
nagorno-karabakh conflict
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As a result of the clashes near the government building, according to preliminary data, 34 people were injured, including 16 police officers and 18 civilians, the ministry said in a statement.Moments earlier, the Armenian Investigative Committee detailed that "several" police cases were opened as detainees were held on the "suspicion of committing criminal acts."Footage has surfaced across social media documenting continued clashes between demonstrators and law enforcement officials near government buildings in the Armenian capital.At the time, the Russian embassy in Yerevan indicated the building had also been temporarily blocked by protesters in the area, with staffers then describing the situation as "tense."The stream of demonstrations come on the heel of renewed tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh, a land-locked region in the South Caucasus that has been at the center of tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the early 1990s after a movement for reunification with Armenia began in Nagorno-Karabakh in 1988. Military hostilities broke out in the region on two prior occasions in 1992 and again in 2020.Along with various global leadership, the Russian Defense Ministry has called on both sides to immediately cease hostilities and return to efforts to renew the implementation of trilateral agreements. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov earlier told reporters that a diplomatic settlement to the conflict still "exists."A Wednesday statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry specifically calls on "the conflicting sides to immediately stop the bloodshed, cease hostilities and avoid casualties among the civilian population."The ministry believes "the fate of the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was dramatically affected by Yerevan's recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the territory of Azerbaijan at the summits under the auspices of the European Union in October 2022 and May 2023," adding "this changed the fundamental conditions, under which the statement of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia of November 9, 2020, was signed, as well as the position of the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent."The ministry said Russia's peacekeeping forces "have been faithfully carrying out the tasks of maintaining the ceasefire and ensuring contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides" since their deployment in the region, adding that Russia's peacekeepers "coordinated efforts to improve the humanitarian situation 'on the ground,' as well as contributed to the launch of direct dialog between Baku and [the Karabakh city of] Stepanakert.""Even in these hours, the Russian Peacekeeping Contingent is providing assistance to the civilian population, including medical aid, and is engaged in evacuation," the Russian ministry said."It is important now to urgently return to the implementation of the set of trilateral agreements, reached at the highest level in 2020-2022, where all steps for a peaceful solution to the Karabakh problem are enshrined, to stop the armed confrontation and do everything possible to ensure the rights and security of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh," the statement read.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/russian-peacekeepers-record-karabakh-ceasefire-violations-from-azerbaijani-side-1113502561.html
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azerbaijan, armenia, police clashes in yerevan, nagorno-karabakh hostilities
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/shoigu-arrives-in-tehran-to-hold-talks-with-iranian-military-leadership-1113494041.html
Shoigu Arrives in Tehran to Hold Talks With Iranian Military Leadership
Shoigu Arrives in Tehran to Hold Talks With Iranian Military Leadership
A Russian delegation led by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with Iran's military leadership, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
2023-09-19T13:15+0000
2023-09-19T13:15+0000
2023-09-19T13:15+0000
world
sergei shoigu
russia
tehran
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"During the visit, the delegation of the Russian Defense Ministry will hold a number of talks with the military leadership of the republic," the ministry said. The visit will contribute to the strengthening of Russia-Iran military ties and will become an important stage in the development of cooperation between the two countries, the ministry added.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/ukraine-loses-400-troops-in-donetsk-zaporozhye-directions-1113492429.html
Ukraine Loses 400 Troops in Donetsk, Zaporozhye Directions
Ukraine Loses 400 Troops in Donetsk, Zaporozhye Directions
Ukraine has lost up to 400 soldiers in the Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
2023-09-19T12:33+0000
2023-09-19T12:33+0000
2023-09-19T12:33+0000
russia's special operation in ukraine
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The Russian forces repelled two attacks in the Donetsk direction near the settlements of Mayorsk and Kamyanka. In the Zaporozhye direction Ukraine lost some 175 servicemen. Moreover, the Russian forces repelled one attack by Ukrainian troops in the South Donetsk direction, where Kiev lost over 115 military, and fended off three attacks in the Krasny Liman direction, the ministry added.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230831/russian-forces-repel-11-ukrainian-attacks-in-donetsk-kupyansk-directions-1113015700.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/ukraine-turns-down-10-german-leopard-tanks-due-to-their-condition-1113497726.html
Ukraine Turns Down 10 German Leopard Tanks Due to Their Condition
Ukraine Turns Down 10 German Leopard Tanks Due to Their Condition
Last week, Ukraine refused to accept 10 Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany due to their unsatisfactory technical condition, German media reported, citing sources.
2023-09-19T16:51+0000
2023-09-19T16:51+0000
2023-09-19T16:51+0000
military
russia
europe
ukraine
germany
kiev
russian defense ministry
boris pistorius
vladimir putin
german defense ministry
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According to the publication, Kiev has informed a special committee within the German Ministry of Defense that the German armored vehicles that arrived in Poland need to be repaired.However, since neither the necessary technical personnel nor the required spare parts are available, sending the Leopards to Ukraine "makes no sense," the report said.According to one of Germany's leading multimedia outlets, Kiev's statement "caused concern" in Berlin. After the German Ministry of Defense sent specialists to Poland to service the tanks, on-site inspections confirmed that the machines did indeed need repairs.German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had previously promised to increase deliveries of refurbished Leopard 1A5 tanks to Ukraine starting in July.Earlier, the chairman of the German Military-Political Society, Ralph Thiele, criticized the tanks being delivered to Ukraine, calling the Leopard 1s "scrap metal."In June, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a meeting with Russian war correspondents that American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and German Leopard tanks "burn nicely."The Russian Defense Ministry had already released several videos with captured equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Zaporozhye direction, showing Leopard and Bradley vehicles. It was noted that some of the Ukrainian military vehicles had working engines.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230901/swiss-leopard-2-tanks-will-not-be-sent-to-ukraine-if-sold-to-germany-1113041975.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230910/as-russia-easily-destroys-western-armored-vehicles-in-ukraine-us-doubts-its-effectiveness---report--1113244261.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/ukrainian-buk-missile-caused-dpr-market-tragedy-us-media-report-affirms--1113484058.html
Ukrainian Buk Missile Caused DPR Market Tragedy, US Media Report Affirms
Ukrainian Buk Missile Caused DPR Market Tragedy, US Media Report Affirms
A Ukrainian missile released from a Buk surface-to-air system caused the market tragedy in Kinstantinovka on September 6, 2023, stated a US report.
2023-09-19T08:30+0000
2023-09-19T08:30+0000
2023-09-19T09:43+0000
world
ukraine
ukraine crisis
volodymyr zelensky
antony blinken
buk missile system
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Ukrainian President Zelenskys visit to the US to attend the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, visit the White House, and meet with congressional leaders, comes against a sobering backdrop. Ukraines much-hyped counteroffensive has been stuttering, while skepticism is mounting over endlessly propping up the Kiev regime among some Republican lawmakers.On the eve of Zelenskys arrival, the New York Times published an investigative piece into a missile strike on a marketplace in the town of Konstantinovka, in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), that occurred earlier in the month.The strike on September 6 had killed 15 people and left over 30 people wounded, according to Ukrainian officials. Zelensky was quick to describe it as a "Russian" attack on "a regular market and shops, with numerous Western media outlets parroting the claim and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal vowing "fair retribution" for it. The strike occurred on the same day when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Ukraine, announcing millions in new aid to Kiev.However, evidence suggests it was a Ukrainian missile released from a Buk surface-to-air system that caused the market tragedy, as per the US report. A long hard look at eyewitness accounts, social media posts, analysis of video and weapon fragments, along with satellite imagery, strongly suggests the catastrophic strike was the result of an errant Ukrainian air defense missile fired by a Buk launch system, write the journalists.Ukraines authorities had initially tried to prevent journalists with the Times from accessing the missile debris and impact area in the strikes immediate aftermath, according to the report. However, they subsequently managed to reach the scene of the strike, talk to witnesses, and gather fragments of the projectile itself.Ukrainian artillery fire had been reported in the area, according to a local Telegram group, minutes before the strike on the marketplace, the media report underscored. The missile strike on Konstantinovka came from the direction of Ukrainian-held territory, not from Russian lines, according to security camera footage seen by the journalists. Furthermore, they claim that at least four pedestrians appear to simultaneously turn their heads toward the incoming sound - in the direction of Ukrainian-held territory - when the missile approached. A reflection of the missile itself, coming in from the northwest, is visible in the cited footage, passing over parked cars.Further analysis shows that the crater and point of detonation are also consistent with a missile traveling from the northwest. According to the media outlets reporters who were in the nearby town of Druzhkovka at the time of the missile strike on Konstantinovka, minutes before the attack, Ukraines military had launched two surface-to-air missiles toward the Russian front line. The Ukrainian missile launches were also purportedly mentioned by the residents of Druzhkovka at the specified time in a local social media group. Witnesses that reporters interviewed also confirmed they saw the missiles being fired, and traveling in the direction of Konstantinovka. Missiles had been launched from fields outside Druzhkovka, another witness stated, adding that it had been used by the Ukrainian military to station air defense systems. After reporters themselves visited the site in question, they saw indications that it had recently been used by the military, including trenches, trash pits and wide tracks consistent with a large military vehicle. Satellite imagery showed fresh scorch marks around the trenches on the day of the missile strike, in an indication the area could have been used to launch missiles, the investigation revealed.While the Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia had fired a missile from an S-300 air defense system at Konstantinovka, such a missile has a different warhead from the one that exploded in the market on September 6, the report pointed out. It added that the measurements of the holes in the facades of the buildings closest to the strike are consistent in size and shape with a 9M38 missile, fired by a Buk antiaircraft vehicle, used by Ukraine. The same conclusions were reportedly made by independent military bomb-disposal experts: damage at the missile strike site in Konstantinovka was most consistent with an 9M38.The Kiev regime staged a false flag in the DPR's Konstantinovka based on the same scheme as in Bucha, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on September 8. Referring to the strike on the town in the part of the DPR controlled by Ukraine's forces, he called it a terrible tragedy, adding:Western mainstream media has been eager to echo the Kiev regimes falsehoods, such as accusing Russia of deliberately striking civilian targets. The developments in the city of Kramatorsk, in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and are another case in point.As for Bucha, the Ukrainian authorities and Western media had spread gruesome footage purportedly showing murdered civilians lying along a road in the suburb of Kiev, citing it as evidence of Russian war crimes. Moscow dismissed the footage as a false flag provocation, pointing out that the bodies appeared days after Russian troops had withdrawn.Russia has repeatedly reiterated that its armed forces do not attack civilian facilities.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230906/why-blinkens-visit-to-ukraine-is-sign-of-trouble-in-washington-1113156789.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230629/fact-check-what-was-real-spot-of-russias-strike-in-kramatorsk-1111542792.html
https://sputnikglobe.com/20220405/msms-bucha-tall-tale-1094504500.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/un-launching-ai-panel-to-deliver-recommendations-on-tech-by-year-end---secretary-general-1113505956.html
UN Launching AI Panel to Deliver Recommendations on Tech by Year End - Secretary-General
UN Launching AI Panel to Deliver Recommendations on Tech by Year End - Secretary-General
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday that he will appoint a new panel on artificial intelligence (AI), which will be tasked with delivering recommendations on addressing the new technology by the end of the year.
2023-09-19T18:22+0000
2023-09-19T18:22+0000
2023-09-19T18:22+0000
artificial intelligence (ai)
antonio guterres
the united nations (un)
general assembly
beyond politics
ai
science & tech
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"Now AI is on everyones lips - a subject of both awe, and fear. Even some of those who developed generative AI are calling for greater regulation," Guterres said during remarks to the General Assembly. "To help advance the search for concrete governance solutions, I will appoint this month a High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence - which will provide recommendations by the end of this year." The UN needs a Global Digital Compact between governments, the private sector and civil society to mitigate the risks of new technologies and help utilize them to the benefit of humankind, Guterres said. Generative AI holds much promise, but may lead humanity "across a Rubicon" and into uncontrollable and dangerous circumstances, Guterres said. Some UN member states have called for a new global entity to advise member states on AI, in the vein of the International Atomic Energy Agency or Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Guterres said. The UN is prepared to host global, inclusive discussions based on the decisions of member states, Guterres added.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230514/stakes-couldnt-be-higher-unbridled-super-intelligent-ai-could-wipe-out-humanity-1110344362.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/us-army-halts-reenlistment-bonuses-despite-persistent-recruiting-shortfall-1113481323.html
US Army Halts Reenlistment Bonuses Despite Persistent Recruiting Shortfall
US Army Halts Reenlistment Bonuses Despite Persistent Recruiting Shortfall
A cash bonus program for reenlisting soldiers was suspended as the US Army exceeded its retention targets, although it still expects to fall short of its annual recruitment goal.
2023-09-19T01:25+0000
2023-09-19T01:25+0000
2023-09-19T01:23+0000
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A cash bonus program for reenlisting soldiers was suspended as the US Army exceeded its retention targets, although it still expects to fall short of its annual recruitment goal.The temporary discontinuation of the program was publicized with immediate effect on September 12 in an internal Army Military Personnel Center message. The suspension comes several months after the service announced in April they had met their yearly target, retaining more than 55,000 soldiers who had been scheduled to retire.The announcement marks the fourth year in a row that retention goals were exceeded, but falling enlistment means the US Army continues to bleed soldiers. A shortfall of 15,000 new recruits against a target of 60,000 last year generated significant headlines. The Army is set to announce slightly higher numbers this year but is still expected to fall well short of this years target of 65,000 recruits.The Army has sought to address chronic enlistment shortfalls by relaxing policies requiring a high school diploma and banning certain visible tattoos. Additionally, several incentives are offered such as educational benefits, cash bonuses, and accelerated naturalization for permanent residents.Still, Army guidelines bar 71% of American youth from enlisting due to obesity, past drug use, criminal history, physical and mental health problems or a lack of needed skills.More recently, a tight job market is also providing stiff competition for Army recruiters. The majority of enlistees come from military families as nearly 80% of new recruits have a relative who served.Recent polling from Gallup revealed that only 60% of Americans have confidence in the US military, the lowest percentage in over two decades. The decline in confidence has accelerated over the last five years, with a notable drop after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Party breakdown revealed 68% of registered Republicans expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the US military, while 62% of registered Democrats do. Only 55% of political independents reported confidence in US armed forces.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230612/us-army-lures-legal-migrants-to-enlist-for-quick-citizenship-amid-recruiting-shortfalls-1111087448.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/us-marine-veteran-highlights-top-notch-russian-arms-in-ukraine-conflict-1113494776.html
US Marine Veteran Highlights Top-Notch Russian Arms in Ukraine Conflict
US Marine Veteran Highlights Top-Notch Russian Arms in Ukraine Conflict
Russia celebrates Gunsmith Day on September 19, honoring workers of the nation's defense industry. Russia's state-of-art weapons help it withstand and counter pressure from the NATO bloc in Ukraine.
2023-09-19T15:30+0000
2023-09-19T15:30+0000
2023-09-19T15:30+0000
us
russia
europe
ukraine
lancet
nato
t-90m
mikhail kalashnikov
ak-47
high mobility artillery rocket system (himars)
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Every year on September 19, Russia celebrates Gunsmith's Day, a professional holiday dedicated to all employees of the military-industrial complex and craftsmen who create weapons for the country's armed forces.The decree "On the establishment of Gunsmith Day" was signed by then-President Dmitry Medvedev on December 3, 2011, in response to a petition from the Union of Russian gunsmiths which was handed to then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by legendary weapons-maker Mikhail Kalashnikov in May 2010.On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin congratulated Russian gunsmiths on their professional holiday, noting that Russia's modern weapons have unmatched characteristics and impeccable efficiency, which have been demonstrated during the special military operation in Ukraine.Speaking to Sputnik, Brian Berletic, an ex-US Marine Corps independent geopolitical researcher and writer, has shared his views on what Russian weapons have proven to be most effective on the battlefield.Pantsir S1According to Russian weapons makers, the Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun system is designed for air defense of small areas, military and administrative-industrial facilities, against fixed- and rotary-winged aircraft, cruise missiles, and precision munitions as well as for bolstering air defense units against massive air strikes. The mobile, multichannel short-range system boasts a swift reaction time and high firepower due to combined missile-cannon weapons.Lancet Kamikaze DroneThe Lancet drone "loiters" around a target area while in search mode. When a target is found, the smart kamikaze drone strikes it like a guided air-to-surface missile, while also destroying itself. Designed by ZALA Aero, one of the Kalashnikov Group's companies, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) got its name not only due to its exterior design, but also because of its high precision. The drone has a double X-shaped tail which bolsters both its maneuverability and stability in nosedive mode. Back in 2019, General Director of ZALA Aero Alexander Zakharov told the press that "double X" was the company's "absolute know-how." In April 2021, the drone was shown in action on the Syrian battlefield. At that time, the Lancet earned its nom de guerre: "the flying Kalashnikov" (or "flying AK-47") due to its simplicity, usability, and reliability.Russia's T-90 Main Battle TankThe T-90 is a third generation main battle tank and successor of the T-72. Being designed in the 1990s, the tank has undergone several upgrades and has become one of the most commercially successful main battle tanks on the global market.The modern T-90M "Proryv" ("Breakthrough") is manufactured by the Open Joint Stock Company Research and Production Corporation Uralvagonzavod, one of the Russian leaders in the high-quality machine-building industry. The T-90M's 125mm enhanced-accuracy smoothbore cannon has an autoloader, which simplifies and speeds up the firing process during combat. The tank is also mounted with a remote-controlled 12.7 mm machine gun. On top of that, the tank is well-protected against conventional ammunition, precision guided weapons and anti-tank rockets.Ka-52 Attack ChopperThe Ka-52 Alligator is a next-generation reconnaissance and combat helicopter which was designed by the Kamov Design Bureau, a division of the Russian Helicopters Company. The chopper is quick and highly-maneuverable - partly thanks to its coaxial rotors and has a wide range of aerial weapons. Its main tasks include the destruction of armored and non-armored vehicles, enemy personnel and adversary helicopters both on the front line and in tactical depth. The Ka-52 has a two-seat cockpit and can be flown by either pilot. In addition, it is equipped with signature control devices as well as electronic and active counter-measures.Russian Artillery"Russias advantage in artillery has created not only tactical and strategic advantages for Russia on the battlefield, but a geopolitical position of strength because of the collective Wests inability to match Russian artillery firepower," the former Marine continued.Indeed, the US mainstream press has recently complained that Western sanctions have failed to hinder the production of Russia's artillery shells and other weapons, adding that in fact Russia's defense sector has considerably boosted manufacturing capabilities since the beginning of the special military operation. Presently, Russia produces seven times more munitions than the whole West, according to the US press estimates.Berletic pointed out that the arsenal must be used together in concert as part of combined arms warfare. Given that Russia has top-notch arms in all domains of warfare, the nation's military concerted efforts provide for efficient offensive and defensive operations on the battlefield.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230916/watch-russias-lancet-kamikaze-drone-take-out-ukrainian-tank-1113417174.html
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/watch-russian-mig-31-fighter-crews-practice-intercepting-cruise-missile-during-drills-1113483991.html
Watch Russian MiG-31 Fighter Crews Practice Intercepting Cruise Missile During Drills
Watch Russian MiG-31 Fighter Crews Practice Intercepting Cruise Missile During Drills
The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing the crews of Russian MiG-31 fighter jets practicing the interception of cruise missiles of possible aerial enemies over Chukotsk Sea as part of the Finval-2023 drills.
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The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing the crews of Russian MiG-31 fighter jets practicing the interception of cruise missiles of possible aerial enemies over Chukotsk Sea as part of the Finval-2023 drills.The Finval-2023 exercises involve approximately 10,000 military personnel and more than 50 pieces of military equipment. These include surface ships and support vessels, submarines, naval aircraft and helicopters, Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems, as well as wheeled and tracked armored vehicles.During the maneuvers, cruise missiles were successfully launched at a complex target location in the north-eastern part of the Bering Sea.
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https://sputnikglobe.com/20230919/watch-ukrainian-pow-describe-how-russian-leaflet-saved-his-life-1113502078.html
Watch Ukrainian POW Describe How Russian Leaflet Saved His Life
Watch Ukrainian POW Describe How Russian Leaflet Saved His Life
A group of Ukrainian soldiers ran into the woods to surrender to the Russian Armed Forces. One of the defectors told Sputnik that the group decided to surrender after their infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) got hit.
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The Russian Ministry of Defense has published a clip showing a detained Ukrainian servicemen who managed to contact Russian troops thanks to leaflets spread by Russian forces that contain a frequency and call sign.The Ukrainian soldier talked about the poor combat supplies of the Kiev regime, including the lack of armored vehicles and munitions. Moreover, the prisoner of war (POW) mentioned that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have special squads to shoot deserters.The POW noted the good attitude towards him of the Russian soldiers.Amid the failed counteroffensive attempt launched by the Kiev regime in early June, Ukrainian servicemen are increasingly refusing to sacrifice their lives to protect NATO interests. Having achieved almost nothing by losing the majority of their strategic reserves, Ukrainian servicemen have no reason to fight for Volodymyr Zelensky or US hegemony. Therefore, more and more Ukrainian soldiers are trying to save their lives by surrendering to Russian troops.
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The Fox Group Island Trot Challenge continues Tuesday (Sept. 19) evening with a leg at Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.
The Prince County track has a 13-dash presentation starting at 6 p.m., with the $5,300 Fox Group Island Trot Challenge leg in race eight.
Alcina is the top choice from post five with Ken Murphy in the seat for trainer Jeff Holmes and owner Hardcore Racing of Belfast, P.E.I. The four-year-old daughter of Muscle Mass was a winner her last start in a leg of the Island Oceans Trot Mares Series scoring in 1:57.3. Incredible Two (Kenny Arsenault) is another top contender from post three along with post two starter Labero (David Dowling).
The "Backstretch Beat" likes Alcina on top of the six-horse field: Alcina has been excellent since joining Team Holmes with three wins and two seconds. The Holmes stable has been red hot all season and this mare is getting even better every week so we think she overcomes the biggest test shes seen on the Eastern Seaboard and gets it all.
Harlequin Romance (Taylor Doyle) is favoured in the race one Kirk Bulger Memorial from the James Barlow stable.
Elory Shiner has won five of his last seven starts from the Holmes barn with Brady Sweet in the seat in the race three Humans Of Harness Racing Pace.
The City Of Summerside Pace takes to the track in race seven with Southfield Sandy the 5-2 morning line favourite after a pair of runner-up finishes in his last two starts. Dowling trains and drives the son of Western Paradise.
Parole Violation (Dowling) is the top choice in the race nine Ivan & Isabelle Cameron Memorial. Mike Dowling handles the training duties of the post five entry.
The Bob MacInnis Memorial is in race 10 and Rock The Baby (Dowling) is the favourite for trainer Earl Watts.
To view Tuesdays's harness racing entries, click the following link: Tuesday Entries - Red Shores at the Summerside Raceway.
(Red Shores)
The Virginia State Police has seven divisions and 48 area offices across the state. The Fredericksburg area has two divisions covering several counties.
These division headquarters have emergency dispatch center non-emergency numbers residents can call to reach the state police. Those numbers are about to change as part of a technology upgrade. While the upgrade is related the state police emergency dispatch telephone systems, it will be the non-emergency phone numbers that are changed as a result. The state police are phasing in the number changes through the end of October.
The technology change moves state police from an antiquated analog telephone system to a digital system that will allow integration between all seven emergency dispatch centers across the Commonwealth and two additional disaster recovery sites, said Captain Thomas A. Bradshaw, division commander of the Virginia State Police communications division, said in a statement.
Bradshaw added that the transition to the new phone numbers will be seamless, and we have built in an overlap period that allows the old phone numbers to still accept calls. Those calls will automatically forward to its corresponding new number for up to 30 days, then an announcement will advise the caller of the updated phone number.
The new state police non-emergency number for the Culpeper area divisions are:
Division I (King George, Louisa, Westmoreland counties): 804/750-8758
Division II (Culpeper, Orange, Spotsylvania, Stafford counties): 804/750-8778.
The changes will not impact the #77 or toll-free numbers for the state police field division numbers.
As investigations continue into Thursdays perchloric acid explosion and fire at Bailey Yard, North Plattes fire chief says hes generally pleased with local responders performance.
Dennis Thompson, confirming a follow-up statement from Union Pacific Railroad, said Friday that air monitoring throughout the five-hour fire never showed health concerns from the black and orange billowing smoke.
We never saw any diminishment in oxygen content in the air, Thompson told The Telegraph. We were always seeing almost 21% (content), which is normal. We didnt detect any levels of the chemical.
People in about 25 homes near U.S. Highway 30 and up to a mile beyond it were evacuated after the acid exploded about noon inside the lower of two stacked intermodal containers on a stationary railcar.
The blast caused several nearby railcars to catch fire, U.P. said in a Thursday afternoon statement.
With reports of heavy toxic smoke coming from Bailey, North Platte-area first responders quickly shut down U.S. Highway 30 between Front and Splinter roads, directly north of the explosion site in Baileys west hump.
U.S. 30 traffic was also being stopped at Buffalo Bill Avenue and Hoover Road, the latter just east of the former Taft School north of the yard.
Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park and State Recreation Area closed, as did the Golden Spike Tower and Visitor Center just south of the yard.
Authorities were poised for evacuations south of the tower if weather conditions changed. But the fire was declared out and the evacuations were lifted about 5:15 p.m. Thursday.
Weather conditions couldnt have been more perfect for us to prevent chemical clouds, Thompson said. The particles were going up and into the atmosphere.
U.P. spokeswoman Robynn Tysver said Friday that the railroad was cooperating with state and federal regulators as they determine what caused the explosion in the yard.
Perchloric acid is a hazardous material used in explosives, as well as some food, drug and biocidal products, Tysver said U.P.s Friday statement.
No Union Pacific personnel were injured, and our employees have been safely evacuated, she said about two hours after Thursdays blast.
She added that the explosion did not result from a derailment, as the car had been stationary in the yard for a couple hours.
Injuries resulting from exposure to perchloric acid are not common, said Dr. Ron Kirschner, a physician toxicologist at the Nebraska Poison Center. But when injuries do occur, they can be severe.
Kirschner said people can be chemically burned if their skin comes into contact with the acid. Depending on where and how large the burn is, it could affect their ability to take care of themselves.
Fumes from the acid can also damage the airways and lungs and result in symptoms such as difficulty with breathing. The severity of injury from fumes depends on a persons length and proximity to the acid.
In both instances of exposure, a person could be hospitalized.
Its a very strong acid, Kirschner said. Its something that requires a lot of care in transporting.
Thompson praised the cooperation of railroad employees as well as the firefighting and law enforcement agencies who have regularly trained on what to do in case of a hazardous materials fire, leak or spill at Bailey.
Union Pacific, Thompson added, is great at making sure we have the resources we need and the help we need to deal with these things.
Other agencies involved in Thursdays response were North Platte police, the Lincoln County Sheriffs Office, the Nebraska State Patrol, Region 51 Emergency Management, the State Fire Marshals Office, The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross.
Evacuees were directed to shelters at North Plattes Salvation Army headquarters and Hersheys American Legion Post 279. It sounds like they had a few people show up there, Thompson said.
First responders will prepare after-action reports seeking ways to improve, he said. But we are extremely happy with the way it unfolded in terms of obtaining information, securing safety zones (and) other agencies responses.
The fire chief also addressed concerns he had heard Friday that groundwater near the yard might have been contaminated from firefighting efforts.
Thompson said North Platte employees of Hazmat Inc., a national firm that includes Bailey Yard among its clients, responded quickly to ensure that didnt happen.
They were on scene with us and set up containment to catch any runoff from applying water to those containers, he said. That was huge for us environmentally to have that in place ahead of time.
Communications among agencies and with the public generally worked well, Thompson said. But hes concerned that some residents never got the string of emergency rave alerts from North Plattes 911 center often because they hadnt signed up for them.
He said people can sign up for cellphone and online notifications at smart911.com. They just have to go in, and its an easy process and you can get whatever alerts you want.
Winds were blowing from the southwest at about 10 mph around the time of the blasts. Two men who live near U.S. 30, talking aboard utility-type vehicles Thursday afternoon on nearby Scouts Rest Ranch Road, agreed that they heard four explosions in all.
Shortly afterward, dark smoke could be seen billowing into the sky from atop the eight-story Golden Spike Tower.
Volunteer Gregg Robertson said he was talking to someone inside the tower when I just saw something and I looked and it was just a big ball of flame.
And then it was just fire, fire, fire, constant for 10, 12 minutes maybe. And then the fire went down and smoke kind of increased, and then it was just sparks coming out.
Robertson said he saw two smoke plumes rising from the blast site. The east plume was like black smoke. The west plume was orange smoke, something like Ive not seen from a fire, he said.
Theres something was burning that I dont want no part of smelling what it was, because it was some kind of chemical over there going on.
Thompson said Friday that the shipping container containing the perchloric acid collapsed after the fire had consumed all of the chemical.
When the bottom container was consumed, the top one came down atop it, he said. And it had memory foam in it, so that burned for a while.
This story includes reporting from Telegraph staffers Ryan Herzog, Andrew Bottrell, Joan von Kampen, Tyler Soper and Omaha World-Herald reporter Dan Crisler.
Photos: 55th annual AppleJack Festival draws visitors to Nebraska City
A 55-year-old Lincoln woman went to jail Sunday for allegedly helping convicted killer Aubrey Trail in a murder-for-hire scheme to extort money from a prison nurse who had smuggled contraband into the prison for him, including a cell phone.
Trail even allegedly tried to pressure the nurse into smuggling a firearm into the prison in 2021, about six months before he was sentenced to death for the murder and dismemberment of Sydney Loofe, according to court records filed Friday.
In an affidavit for Samantha Al-Rekabi's arrest filed Friday, Nebraska State Patrol Trooper Neal Trantham said the investigation began in March 2021, when an intelligence captain got information from an inmate alleging that Trail had compromised a female medical staff member at the Nebraska Diagnostic & Evaluation Center, now known as the Reception and Treatment Center.
He said Al-Rekabi was planning to write a true-crime book about Trail and his crimes and allegedly befriended the nurse at Trail's direction, allowing her to stay at her apartment and giving her gifts of money and a computer.
Trantham said that in an interview in 2021, Al-Rekabi denied she was communicating with prison staff members for Trail.
But, he said, the investigation turned up recordings believed to be the two of them talking about the compromised nurse bringing in tobacco and a cell phone for him to use in the past.
"Trail also mentioned his intent to have a firearm smuggled into the prison," the investigator wrote. "They also discussed the compromised staff member and her desire to have her husband killed in order to prevent him from obtaining her pension (through divorce)."
The nurse, who isn't being named because she hasn't been charged, abruptly quit her job without notice three days earlier, on March 15, 2021.
Soon after, Trantham said the State Patrol was informed of the allegations and investigators contacted the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to request recorded prison calls, emails, financial information (commissary funds), and intelligence materials, as well as job application information for the nurse and began to research Al-Rekabi.
Trantham detailed recordings of three calls believed to have been between Trail and Al-Rekabi in early 2021.
In one, the female voice says: "It's crazy that she's gonna get her pension out just (to) give it to us."
Then, the male responds: "She don't have a choice."
The woman said she made a mistake "when she sent you that phone." And the male responded that she had made a lot of mistakes, like bringing in chewing tobacco and food.
In another excerpt of the call, she said the other woman talked "about bringing you a (gun)."
He said she would bring him anything he wants because she wants the phone she gave him back "and she wants us to go away so badly."
He said he told her to "... bring me a gun so I can just kill everybody."
Trantham said that in an FBI interview in late 2021, the nurse admitted she had confided details with Trail about her troubled relationship with her husband, and Trail later told her he had hired a hitman and made a $2,400 downpayment on her behalf to have her husband killed.
In order for her to stop the murder, Trail told her she needed to give him $25,000, which she said she did through Al-Rekabi.
"Through training and experience, investigators believe that there was never a legitimate plan to actually pay to have (the nurse)s relatives killed. lnmate Aubrey Trail, with the assistance of Samantha Al-Rekabi, manipulated (the nurse) into the belief that these things would happen if she did not provide the funds that Inmate Trail requested," Trantham said.
He said that in an interview this spring, Al-Rekabi alleged she was pulled into Trail's manipulations. At first, she acted as an intermediary between him and his co-defendant, Boswell, and she later feared Trail would turn her in for it or have her and her son killed.
Photos: Aubrey Trail in court Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail plea hearing Aubrey Trail Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.18 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail trial, 7.9.19 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail Trial, 6.28 Aubrey Trail trial, 6.24.2019 Aubrey Trail trial, 6.24.2019 Aubrey Trail Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail Trial, 7.10 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9 Aubrey Trail, 6.9
Gov. Jim Pillen has signed a $10 million contract with a Utah consultant to find better, less-costly ways to run state government.
At the same time, he axed a state office already working on similar goals, saying the Center for Operational Excellence had fulfilled its purpose.
The center had been created by former Gov. Pete Ricketts with a mission of simplifying government by making it more efficient, effective and customer-focused. Since 2016, it completed nearly 1,000 process improvement projects that cut costs by more than $100 million and saved hundreds of thousands of hours for state employees and the public.
But Pillen said he wanted to go in a different direction, using a systems approach to reduce costs on a broader, agency-wide scale while improving outcomes and performance.
Ive challenged our entire team to drive breakthrough change, he said. We are going to accelerate our progress to reduce waste in government, improve services and save taxpayer money.
His office said it was not necessary to keep the 26 employees from the Center for Operational Excellence to make those changes, although five were moved to the State Budget Office.
Leading the new charge will be Kristen Cox, founder and CEO of Epiphany Associates and a former executive director of the Governors Office of Management & Budget in Utah. During her tenure, Utah calculated that she orchestrated a 35% improvement in efficiency across executive branch agencies.
At the end of June, Nebraska signed a $10 million, four-year contract with Coxs firm in hopes of getting similar results. The contract calls for Epiphany to provide an efficiency review and improvement services for one year at $2.5 million, with the option of three one-year renewals.
Under the contract, Epiphany is to recommend and support strategies that reduce costs while improving quality, with a target of 25% improvement in agencies identified by the state. Pillen spokeswoman Laura Strimple said the 25% target will be based on a combination of cost savings, quality and output.
The contract specifically requires Epiphany to identify realistic, feasible, hard cost savings equal to at least 3% of state general fund appropriations in the fiscal year that began July 1 and at least 6% in the following fiscal year.
That works out to be more than $160 million in the first year and more than $322 million in the second year.
This approach will deliver sizable general fund appropriation savings by analyzing high value projects and contracts to determine value to the Nebraska taxpayer, Strimple said. These freed dollars will allow for future investment in items like tax relief, education and other future priorities identified by the governor and Legislature.
Nebraska lawmakers included a provision in the state budget this year requiring the independent efficiency review and the 25% improvement target. The budget allocated $2.5 million for the review. Strimple said savings produced by Epiphany and at least part of the $1.8 million saved by eliminating the excellence center would pay for additional years.
State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, whose bill was amended into the budget, has been pushing for an independent efficiency review of all state agencies, boards and commissions for at least three years.
Other states have done similar reviews and the results have been head-turning, he said. As stewards of taxpayer dollars, we have a solemn obligation to see that those dollars are utilized in the most efficient manner possible.
Those states include Kansas, where a consulting firm made 105 recommendations that were calculated to save $2.04 billion over five years if all had been adopted. The recommendations included such steps as taking the full 30 days allowed to pay invoices, merging agency field offices, outsourcing the processing of workers compensation claims and filling vacant revenue officer and auditor positions to review more tax returns.
A review done in Iowa last year led to the consolidation of 37 state agencies into 16, the elimination of 513 vacant state employee positions and the sale of some state land. Gov. Kim Reynolds said the changes would save $215 million over four years.
In Nebraska, a roadmap set by Epiphany calls for the firm to achieve breakthrough results in two major systems during Phase 1 of the contract. The firm will use its Systems Thinking method to find efficiencies, starting with unemployment insurance and the state Department of Motor Vehicles. In addition, it will focus on support systems including information technology, human resources, procurement and budget.
Cox has some background in unemployment insurance. She gained prominence at the Utah Department of Workforce Services by managing a 65% workload increase during the 2008-09 economic crisis with no new staff and a $30 million reduction in spending.
Her work generated controversy at times, though. A legislative audit concluded that changes made on her watch had created an atmosphere of frustration and unrest among current and former employees of the workforce agency.
Strimple said timelines for the various phases have not been established yet. The third phase calls for training people within Nebraska to continue the efficiency improvement work. The roadmap envisioned working with the Center for Operational Excellence during the process.
The center used a method called Lean Six Sigma to improve government operations.
Among the centers successes: cutting on-hold time for people seeking public benefits from an average of 23 minutes down to 5 minutes; streamlining registration and renewals for fleet vehicles that allowed one business to complete 4,000 renewals in three days rather than 30; and simplifying fire marshal reviews of building construction plans that cut 15 days out of the process.
Other successes included faster processing times for some health care professional licenses and environmental permits, changes in contracting that saved $10.2 million in the first year and negotiating ways to speed up background checks for relative foster families so children removed from their parents could stay with family.
The center gained national attention and was the subject of a National Association of State Chief Administrators case study in 2019. The center initially hired consultants to lead the effort. But, in the study report, center Director Matthew Singh said he concluded that outside consultants could not achieve changes that were sustainable, structured and impactful.
Instead, the center embedded employees within the states largest agencies to work on projects and trained agency employees to tackle smaller process improvement projects.
But the Pillen administration wants bigger dollar savings.
(The center) succeeded in improving the culture of state government, but did not deliver sizable reductions to the general fund budget, Strimple said. By analyzing end-to-end decision making and overall results, the governor is confident the systems approach will yield transformational results.
The General Federation of Womens Club of North Carolina (GFWC of NC) Statesville Womans Club (SWC) is planning to participate in the GFWC National Day of Service. The National Day of Service (NDS) is a day in which all of GFWC comes together in service to highlight an area of need, take action to address it, and raise public awareness about its importance.
The SWC is hosting a Take-Out Hunger Day and partnering with Yokefellow Ministry at 1380 Shelton Ave. in Statesville on Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will be serving hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans and desserts. The goal of the club is to Love our community in honor of GFWC National Day of Service with community participation welcome.
For information about renting the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Clubs Clubhouse for your meeting or event, email the club at Statesvillewomansclub@gmail.com or call 704-761-8208. The club website is www.statesvillewomansclub.org. Also, be sure to like and follow the club on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For details on joining the GFWC of NC Statesville Womans Club, call Membership Team member Joanna Gaither at 704-873-2684.
Ali Asghar Khaji explained that "current discussions revolve around cooperation between Turkey and Syria", according to al-Watan.
Iran emphasized the importance of assisting the Syrian Arab Army in establishing border security along the Turkish border, addressing Turkeys concerns and urging it to withdraw its forces from the occupied regions of northern Syria.
Ali Asghar Khaji, the Senior Assistant for Special Political Affairs to the Iranian Foreign Minister, was quoted in the Iranian Al-Wefaq newspaper as saying, We are confronted with two undeniable truths: land occupation is unacceptable, and the security of territories is equally valid. The Turkish government aims to address the issue of terrorist infiltration from Syria before discussing military withdrawal.
On the other hand, Syria views Turkey as an occupying force. Both perspectives should be considered within the framework of good neighbourliness, international regulations, and the mutual interests and security of both nations, much like the negotiations that took place in Adana. He stressed the need to assist Syrian military forces in positioning themselves along the border to establish border security, which would allay Turkeys fears, adding, Turkish forces should also vacate the border.
Khaji further explained that current discussions revolve around cooperation between Turkey and Syria, with Iran and Russia participating, to secure the border and end Turkeys military presence in Syria. While the implementation mechanism remains undetermined, a key aspect of this agreement is the fight against terrorism, a principle both parties endorse.
When asked about the ongoing situation in northwestern Syria, particularly with the active presence of the terrorist organization Al-Nusra Front, which has formed a government, changed its name, and is listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations, Khaji said, There is unanimous agreement in Syria on the necessity of countering terrorism.
However, defining terrorism and its instances poses a challenge. The Al-Nusra Front is a terrorist organization, and its members are listed as terrorists by the United Nations. Our agreements stipulate the need to combat terrorist groups, and the Astana statements identify the Al-Nusra Front as a terrorist organization. They are currently located in Idleb in the de-escalation zone, exerting control while other groups have a lesser role.
He continued, Our agreement aimed to separate civilians from terrorist groups in Idleb. Civilians should be handled through negotiation, while terrorist groups must be confronted decisively, disarmed, and expelled. Regrettably, these agreements have not been fully implemented, and this festering wound persists. This objective must be realized in our upcoming discussions with Turkey, Russia, and Syria.
When asked whether military operations in Idleb are ruled out, Khaji responded, Currently, Jabhat al-Nusra forces frequently conduct operations within Idleb or infiltrate government-controlled areas in Idleb. Russia and the Syrian army are engaged in operations against them. While normal conditions do not prevail, large-scale operations have not yet been undertaken. Anything is possible in Syria. When dialogue fails to resolve the issue, there may be no alternative but to address this festering wound through more assertive measures.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
The U.S. is eager to initiate the project within a year to counter China's growing influence, according to Iyad Jaafari in Syria TV.
The optimism expressed by the U.S. President regarding the potential impact of the Economic Corridor agreement between India and Europe on the Middle East region appears well-founded. However, if this project becomes a reality in the near future, it may not necessarily bring stability and prosperity to the region, as Joe Biden hopes. Instead, it is likely to reshape the geopolitical landscape, though not necessarily in favour of Syria. The earnest pursuit of such a project could further solidify Syrias current status as a battleground for settling regional and international conflicts, leaving political and economic solutions elusive. In all likelihood, Syrias strategic importance will rise as it becomes a focal point for competing regional and global initiatives.
Some may attempt to downplay the significance of the corridor project, considering it mere political rhetoric aimed at diverting India, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE away from China. Critics may argue that the high financing costs and economic feasibility challenges make the project impractical. They may invoke the well-established principle in the shipping sector, where sea freight is typically more cost-effective than land freight, including rail transport. In the case of the corridor project, unloading cargo from large ships to load it onto railways and then reloading it onto other ships could make sea shipping through the Suez Canal a more economical choice.
This assessment could have been entirely accurate if the project had been limited to transporting goods via a maritime route from India to the UAE, followed by a land railway route through the UAE, Saudi Arabia, southern Jordan, and ending on the Israeli coast. Another maritime route would then extend to Greece, branching into the rest of Europe. In this scenario, sea shipping via the Suez Canal would remain economically viable. However, the project encompasses a more ambitious vision, involving the transmission of renewable electricity, clean hydrogen, digital data, and even oil and gas through pipelines. This presents a potential revolution in energy security and digital connectivity between East and West, overshadowing competing historical projects, some of which had Syria as a theoretical passageway. Iran and Turkey had significant stakes in these.
Given that Iran stands to be the most affected by the project, as it has invested heavily in becoming part of the Chinese Belt and Road initiative, focusing on implementing the corridor project through its Jordanian route becomes a strategic imperative for Iran. This development would elevate the smuggling of drugs and weapons from southern Syria into Jordan beyond mere financial gain for the Assad regime and Iran. It could become a strategic tool to destabilize Jordan, a key link in the planned project. Meanwhile, Turkey, isolated from the corridor project, may find itself increasingly drawn toward an alliance with Iran and Russia. The alternative project of linking the Gulf to Turkey via Iraq is unrealistic, as it traverses Iranian spheres of influence, subjecting it to Tehrans control.
While the U.S. is eager to initiate the project within a year to counter Chinas growing influence, Europe emerges as one of the primary beneficiaries. It stands to reduce its dependence on Chinese supplies and enhance energy security. India aims to demonstrate its ability to serve as a manufacturing and supply alternative to China or at least a formidable competitor. Saudi Arabia and the UAE are positioning themselves for a future marked by clean energy and digital development.
In the midst of this ambitious endeavour, Syria finds itself at the periphery. Bashar al-Assad, only 12 years ago, had placed Syria at the center of numerous commercial corridors and competing pipelines. However, he later excluded Syria from these initiatives. His regime justified its brutal war against the Syrian people by claiming it was protecting the interests of Russia and Iran, who opposed energy transfer projects from the Gulf through Syria to Europe. Iran is likely to escalate threats to Jordanian national security from southern Syria to disrupt the corridor project. The establishment of a secure zone in southern Syria may become a geostrategic necessity for the U.S. and its regional partners. When this reality takes shape, the regimes ideologues may assert that they had warned of a conspiracy to separate the south from Syria, ignoring the fact that Syrias transformation into a battleground for regional conflicts, favouring Iran, inevitably led to this outcome.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
Your daily brief of the English-speaking press on Syria.
On Thursday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to embark on a diplomatic journey to China, where he will engage in a significant bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart. This announcement was made by the Syrian presidency in a statement released on Tuesday. Simultaneously, on Tuesday afternoon, a convoy consisting of 17 trucks loaded with UN aid successfully entered the province of Idlib through the strategically important Bab al-Hawa border crossing.
Syrias Assad to Travel to China for Summit With Xi Presidency
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will travel to China this week for a bilateral summit with his Chinese counterpart, the presidency in Damascus said in a statement on Tuesday.
Assad, Syrian first lady Asmaa al-Assad and a senior delegation will travel to China on Thursday for a string of meetings in Beijing and Changzhou. Presidents Assad and Xi would hold a Syrian-Chinese summit, the statement said.
Assad last visited China in 2004 to meet then-President Hu Jintao. It was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1956.
China like Syrias main allies Russia and Iran maintained those ties even as other countries isolated Assad over his brutal crackdown of anti-government demonstrations that erupted in 2011.
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China has repeatedly vetoed resolutions on Syria, including several to extend cross-border aid operations into areas outside the Syrian governments control.
Assad has come in from the diplomatic cold this year, with the Arab League reinstating Syria as a fully-fledged member after more than a decade of suspension.
Luxembourg FM deeply regrets death of 3 Kurdish female fighters in Syria
Luxembourg Foreign Ministry on Monday said that the Minister Jean Asselborn is saddened by the recent death of three Kurdish female fighters in the vicinity of Syrias Manbij city by a suspected Turkish drone attack, Kurdish Website Rudaw reported.
Candan Cudi, Servin Serdar and Nucan Ocalan from the Womens Protection Units (YPJ) were killed when their vehicle was hit by a drone near Manbij city on Friday. The YPJ blamed Turkey for the air strike.
The Luxembourg Foreign Ministry said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) that Asselborn deeply regrets the killing of the three Kurdish fighters, adding that he had met with Serdar in 2016 to express support in the common battle against the Islamic State [ISIS].
Luxembourg is a member of the US-led global coalition against ISIS.
The YPJ is the all-women wing of the Peoples Protection Units (YPG) the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
SDF is the main ally of the coalition against ISIS on the ground in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Turkey has not immediately commented on the drone attack.
Turkey considers the YPG to be the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Peoples Party (PKK) an armed group struggling for increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara. Turkey has carried out three military operations against the Kurdish forces in northern Syria since 2016, invading key towns near the border such as Afrin, Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad).
YPJ said in a statement that Serdar was born in Dirbesiye in 1981. She had joined the PKK when she was only 17.
She was a member of the YPJ military leadership and a member of the SDF-affiliated Manbij Military Council, according to the statement.
Strategic border crossing reopens allowing UN aid to reach rebel-held northwest Syria
A United Nations aid convoy reached rebel-held northwest Syria Tuesday after a vital border crossing from Turkey reopened following an agreement with the Syrian government, AP reported.
The 17-truck convoy carrying among other things, medicine, food supplements, stationery supplies and medical equipment crossed into Idlib through the strategic border-crossing of Bab al-Hawa Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, the U.N. reached an agreement with Syrias government to reopen the crossing, used to deliver 85% of aid to Syrias northwestern Idlib province, where the majority of its 4.5 million residents live in poverty after being internally displaced during Syrias conflict, now in its 13th year.
The deal was agreed on after the U.N. Security Council failed to authorize two rival resolutions on July 11 to renew the border crossings authorization. The United States, United Kingdom, and France were key advocates of the U.N. aid delivery, whereas Syrias key allies, Russia and China, called for delivering aid to rebel-held areas through Damascus instead.
The U.N. has been exclusively using two northern crossings to deliver aid to rebel-controlled areas since July 9, making it extremely challenging because of poor infrastructure and route length. In August, the UN sent 195 trucks loaded with aid to the rebel enclave.
U.N. aid is the artery for the citizens of northwestern Syria. Without it, there would be a humanitarian disaster in the area, Mazen Alloush, an official on the Syrian side of the border crossing, told The Associated Press. He said he hoped more convoys would reach the area in the coming weeks
The United Nations did not immediately comment on the aid delivery.
The Syrian conflict started as an uprising against President Bashar Assad in 2011 and was met with a harsh crackdown that plunged the country into years of civil war, killing nearly half a million people and displacing half of the countrys pre-war population of 23 million.
She was forced to live under ISIS in Syria as a child and then stuck in a refugee camp. Finally, she is home
The Independent published a lengthy report highlighting the story of a 16-year-old girl named Emina, who was forced to live under ISIS in Syria as a child and later found herself in a refugee camp. The article discusses her journey, the challenges she faced, and the broader issue of repatriation for wives and children of ISIS fighters.
Bellow are the key points from the report:
Eminas Background: Emina was born in Tirana, Albania, but spent most of her formative years in ISIS-controlled cities in Syria, including Raqqa and Baghuz. She, along with her mother and sister, was taken to Syria in 2015. Life Under ISIS: Eminas early years in Syria were marked by a sense of normalcy, as she was very young and rarely left the house. However, as the war escalated, her familys situation became increasingly perilous. Her father died during the battle for Baghuz, and Emina, her mother, and sister were eventually relocated to the al-Hol refugee camp, where thousands of wives and children of ISIS fighters were housed. Repatriation Efforts: Albanias government has offered a way for its citizens to return from the al-Hol camp. Those who wish to return are transferred to the al-Roj camp before being repatriated to Albania. Emina chose to leave the camp and return to Albania, but her mother and sister decided to stay, fearing that ISIS might resurface. International Perspective: The report discusses the contrasting approaches of different countries toward repatriating their citizens from Syria. While Albania has made efforts to bring back its citizens, some Western countries, like the UK, have been reluctant to do so. The UK, for example, revoked the citizenship of Shamima Begum, a British citizen who joined ISIS, making her stateless. Challenges of Reintegration: The report highlights the challenges of reintegrating women and children who lived under ISIS rule into society. While Albania provides psychotherapy, education, and support for returning individuals, some women may still hold radical views, making reintegration complex. ISIS Threat: The article mentions concerns about the potential resurgence of ISIS in the region. While governments may be distracted or underestimate the threat, experts warn of the possibility of ISIS regaining strength. The Situation in al-Hol: The report describes the dire conditions in the al-Hol camp, where residents live in poverty with limited access to medical care. It also highlights the danger of radicalization within the camp and the vulnerability of unaccompanied children. Repatriation Dilemma: The article underscores the dilemma of repatriating ISIS fighters, which is even more controversial and challenging than repatriating their wives and children. The longer individuals remain in the camps, the greater the risk of radicalization. Albanias Success: Albanias efforts to repatriate and reintegrate its citizens serve as an example of successful repatriation. Despite its smaller population and fewer resources compared to larger European countries, Albania has managed to bring back and support women and children who lived under ISIS.
Overall, the report sheds light on the complex and sensitive issue of repatriation from Syria and the challenges involved in reintegrating individuals who lived under ISIS rule. It also highlights the different approaches taken by various countries in addressing this issue.
Why Clashes in Northern Syria Threaten U.S. Strategy in the Region
A Foreign Policy report discusses how recent clashes between Kurds and Arab tribes in Northern Syria, particularly in the Deir Ezzor region, pose a significant threat to U.S. strategy in the region.
The report says since 2017, the United States has pursued a strategy in Northern Syria to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State, counter Iranian and Russian expansion, and protect valuable oil and gas fields in the region. This strategy has been based on working with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition with internal rivalries but effective in combating the Islamic State.
According to the report, recent clashes between Arab tribes and the SDF in Deir Ezzor have exposed the vulnerabilities within the SDF coalition. This conflict has weakened the SDFs control over the region and damaged its relationships with local communities.
Deir Ezzor is strategically important due to its significant oil and gas reserves, making it a target for both the Assad regime and its allies (Iran and Russia) and the Islamic State. Controlling these resources enhances their access to foreign currency and strengthens their regional influence.
Local Arab tribes, the article adds, in Northern Deir Ezzor have long felt neglected and accuse the SDF of diverting revenues from the regions resources to areas with larger Kurdish populations. This discontent has fueled the recent tribal rebellion.
The United States finds itself in a challenging position. It needs both the SDF and the local tribes to cooperate to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State. However, it has been hesitant to openly support one side over the other in the recent conflict.
The SDFs response to the rebellion has led to the imprisonment and alienation of significant local leaders and tribal figures. This jeopardizes the SDFs ability to maintain control and support in the region.
The rebellion has created a shared experience of resistance against a common enemy, potentially uniting previously feuding factions. This could fuel a long-term rebellion, further destabilizing the region.
The report adds that the imprisoned leaders of the rebellion may become targets for other actors seeking to exploit the situation in Deir Ezzor, including extremist groups or foreign powers.
The article highlights the need for the United States to maintain focus on Syria and the region to prevent divisions between the SDF and its Arab allies. Failure to do so could allow adversaries to undermine U.S. gains in the area.
In summary, the clashes in Northern Syria threaten U.S. strategy in the region by weakening the SDF coalition, jeopardizing control over valuable resources, and creating opportunities for adversaries. The situation underscores the complexities of the regions geopolitics and the challenges in maintaining a delicate balance between different actors.
These remarks from Qassem follow his meeting with US Senator French Hill, Athr Press writes.
The commander of the US-backed Free Syrian Army faction, Farid al-Qasim, expressed his support for the Suweida protests in southern Syria. This endorsement came shortly after his meeting with US Senator French Hill, which coincided with Hills contact with one of the Druze community sheikhs in Suweida, Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri.
Regarding the coordination between Qasims meeting with Hill and Hills contact with Hijri, Qassem mentioned in an interview with Arabi21, Yes, we communicated with US Representative French Hill. As for the purpose of the meeting with Sheikh Hijri, I am not aware of its specifics. However, we wholeheartedly support the demands of the ongoing protests in Suweida.
Regarding the recent developments observed at the US base in Tanf, these changes were documented by the ICADA platform using satellite images accessible through the Google Earth Pro program. These alterations primarily focus on enhancing security measures. Qassem commented on this, saying, It is natural for there to be an increase in armament and training to ensure the safety of the de-escalation zone, often referred to as the 55th area. Currently, we are training a number of new fighters who have joined the ranks of the Free Syrian Army.
Addressing the tensions in Deir-ez-Zor between Arab tribal forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Qassem emphasized the importance of the Free Syrian Armys involvement in resolving the prevailing tension. He stated that his faction is open to engaging with all relevant parties, as reported by Arabi21. Qassem stated, We are actively seeking a comprehensive solution to this issue, and as partners of the international coalition, we believe we should have a role in finding a resolution.
Qassem also commented on reports of a potential US military operation along the Iraqi-Syrian border, saying, As of now, there has been no significant movement in that regard. The current actions of US forces primarily consist of routine movements and patrols.
These remarks from Qassem follow his meeting with US Senator French Hill and Senator Brendan Boyle, where they discussed strategies to safeguard the Tanf area in southern Syria, as detailed in Qassems official account on the X website.
It is worth noting that the Free Syrian Army is a locally supported military force backed by the United States. It was initially established in the Tanf region of southern Syria at the intersection of the Jordan-Syria-Iraq borders in 2015 under the name Commandos of the Revolution. In October 2022, its name was changed to the Free Syrian Army. Its primary mission remains the protection of the American base in Tanf.
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.
Blinken underscored that both the United States and Gulf countries are addressing the primary regional security concern: Iran, according to Enab Baladi.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of maintaining pressure on the Assad regime in Syria to make substantial advancements in resolving the ongoing conflict. During a meeting with foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on Monday, Blinken articulated, We firmly believe in the need to continue exerting pressure on the Assad regime in Syria, with the goal of achieving concrete and enduring progress in the Syrian conflict, and addressing the urgent humanitarian needs of the Syrian people.
Furthermore, Blinken underscored that both the United States and Gulf countries are collaboratively addressing the primary regional security concern: Iran. They are actively engaged in efforts to counter Tehrans aggressive actions and destabilizing activities.
The US statement aligns with recent indications from Gulf and Jordanian authorities, which underscore a growing rift between Arab nations and the Syrian regime. This discord comes several months after the introduction of the Jordanian initiative aimed at finding a resolution to the Syrian crisis.
On September 8th, former Jordanian Minister of Information, Samih al-Maaytah, accused the Syrian regime of direct involvement in drug smuggling operations from Syria to Jordan. Maaytah stated in an interview with the Qatari channel al-Jazeera, The Syrian regime employs a strategy of delay, and Assad acknowledged during an official meeting that corruption and bribery persist and are beyond our control, but this assertion is far from accurate.
He added, A regime that claims victory in the conflict, having vanquished the opposition and asserting control, cannot feasibly allow such activities to persist. It defies logic. Maaytah contended that the drug trade, particularly involving Captagon, is a lucrative enterprise for the Syrian state, the Assad regimes inner circle, various militias, and segments within the military apparatus.
On September 16, journalist Makram Tarawneh published an article in the Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad, titled Damascus Stance Toward Jordan, highlighting Syrias persistence in conveying negative messages towards Jordan. These messages are conveyed under the guise of cooperation on security matters related to their shared border, specifically regarding the issue of narcotics trafficking.
Please note that the information provided is accurate as of my last knowledge update in September 2021, and there may have been developments in the situation since that time.
Saudi Arabia: The known source
In his remarks, Salem al-Yami, a former advisor in the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke with al-Jazeera and emphasized that the origins of the drugs impacting Jordan and the Gulf region are well-known. He revealed that discussions have taken place with the responsible parties, and there are commitments, as indicated in reports, that within a month of reconciliation or a return to the Arab League, comprehensive lists detailing the producers, factories, exporters, and methods of drug export will be provided.
Yami also commented on President Assads recent statements during his interview with Sky News Arabia. In this interview, Assad attributed drug smuggling to countries that he claimed had introduced terrorism to Syria. Yami interpreted Assads remarks as a fresh contradiction from the official Syrian perspective, given their prior commitments to curbing smuggling. He suggested that this situation underscores the notion that weak sovereignty equates to weak control.
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.
President al-Assad will be joined by a prominent political and economic delegation, according to Athr Press.
President Bashar al-Assad, along with his wife, Asma al-Assad, is scheduled to embark on an official visit to the Chinese capital, Beijing, commencing on Thursday, September 21. This visit comes in response to the gracious invitation extended by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Syrian presidency has officially announced, via its Telegram channel, that President al-Assad will be joined by a prominent political and economic delegation. This significant visit will encompass a series of meetings and events hosted by President al-Assad and Mrs. Asma al-Assad, spanning across the cities of Khanju and the capital, Beijing.
Analytical circles are interested in the visit before it happens:
Just two days ago, press leaks confirmed President Assads upcoming visit to China. In the wake of this revelation, speculations and analyses have begun to circulate, fueled by recent events, most notably the G20 summit held in New Delhi a few days ago. The summit, spearheaded by US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, unfolded in the notable absence of both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The summit discussions primarily revolved around the concept of an economic corridor that would connect India to Europe and occupied Palestine, potentially serving as the cornerstone of a burgeoning economic alliance. This development also raised questions about the deepening normalization between the Israeli occupation entity and several Gulf states. Furthermore, it introduced concerns about the potential marginalization of the Suez Canal as a global trade corridor between the East and West, and posed challenges to the strength of the Chinese Silk Road, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative.
Syria is an important strategic asset for China:
In this context, Dr. Shaher al-Shaher, a professor of international studies at the Chinese University, shared his insights in an article published by al-Mayadeen Net. He stated, Syria holds a strategic significance for China, not solely due to its valuable natural resources but also because of its geopolitical importance, geographical location, cultural influence, and its role in Middle Eastern politics. Despite maintaining consistent relations with Syria throughout the years of conflict, Chinas stance has not escalated to match Beijings resolute positions within the Security Council, where it has exercised its veto power on several occasions in support of Syria.
Dr. Shaher emphasized that Chinas foreign policy concerning Syria has been guided by the convergence of interest and ideology, with these two factors remaining fundamental determinants of Chinas foreign policy, deeply rooted in Chinese political thought.
He further explained, Chinas stance on the Syrian conflict has been shaped not only by considerations of interest and ideology but also by its overarching goal of preserving and enhancing its influence in the global balance of power within the Middle East. Beijing has emerged as a significant global player, and the evolution of Chinas foreign policy towards Syria is emblematic of its growing status and influence.
Dr. Shaher concluded his article by noting, All eyes are now focused on the imminent visit of the Syrian president to Beijing, with widespread expectations that it will mark a historic turning point in the relations between the two nations. It has the potential to become a landmark event in shaping the international balance of power in the Middle East, and perhaps even on a global scale.
Al-Mayadeen Net also featured an article by political analyst Dr. Ahmed al-Darzi, who highlighted, Following the outbreak of the war, Syria assumed increased importance for China, as it became one of the countries targeted by the conflict, along with Russia and Iran. Syria, being the primary gateway to reshaping the new Middle East in the event of the wars success and the influx of Uyghur jihadists, prompted China to thwart the US-Western project in the Security Council in 2012.
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.
Cowlitz County Superior Court plans to cut dockets, likely leading to delays in resolving courts cases, after Cowlitz County commissioners voted down a request for a sixth judge.
The state recommends Cowlitz County Superior Court have two more judges than today, and the number of qualified attorneys to cover cases in lieu of judges is dwindling all leading to a lag in the justice system, said Presiding Judge Gary Bashor.
County commissioners Arne Mortensen and Rick Dahl last week voted down requesting the Washington State Legislature to create the position, stating the judicial system is broken, while Commissioner Dennis Weber approved, saying a sixth judge is part of the solution.
Its only going to get worse if we dont make any changes, Weber said.
If approved, the Washington state governor would have appointed the judge in 2025 and the position would have gone to a citizen vote the next election.
Cowlitz County Superior Court cases filed 2019: 5,733 2020: 4,233 2021: 4,157 2022: 4,878 Source: Washington State Center for Court Research
Weber said he approved the request partially based on the Washington State Center for Court Researchs advice to hire two more Superior Court judges based on the countys caseload. Superior Court handles cases like criminal felonies.
The new, fulltime judge was requested to replace an attorney who works as a court commissioner 3/4 of a fulltime shift and cant cover jury trials, said Bashor. The new judge could cover another roughly 25% of cases, helping to quicken resolutions as caseloads continue to grow, he added.
Ive been working in this field for 23 years and its been an increasing caseload since I started ..., Bashor said.
Cowlitz County Superior Court cases resolved 2019: 5,334 2020: 3,269 2021: 4,092 2022: 4,484 Source: Washington State Center for Court Research
The appointment would also save county money, he argued.
A new judge would knock $48,000 off the countys budget, he said, as the county would only be responsible for half the judges salary, and the state would foot the bill for the other half and benefits like health care.
The court commissioner looking to be replaced is paid roughly $160,000, while the county portion for the judge would be about $114,000, Bashor said. That court commissioner is the only one who works regularly, while the other court commissioners work as needed.
Mortensen sees the state money as taxpayer money, and therefore not a savings, he said. He said the judge would likely need an assistant and additional clerks, which would also cost.
Mortensen, who took office in 2017, said he didnt understand how the countys fifth judge OKd in 2006 and appointed in 2017 remedied any court proceedings, so it is difficult to throw more money at a broken system, especially as the courts budget continues to grow.
Dahl said Cowlitz County isnt the only county using court commissioners in lieu of judges, so were not really different. He said he couldnt morally approve the request because the system doesnt work for the citizens and that judicial appointments are made for political reasons.
How many local judges are needed? Washington State Center for Court Research reports more judges are needed in local counties' superior courts. Cowlitz County: Five current judges, with recommendations for seven. Clark County: 10 current judges, with recommendations for about 16. Lewis County: Three current judges, with recommendations for six. Source: Superior Court Judicial Needs Estimate, 2020
Weber said Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee, who isnt seeking reelection, wont be in office to appoint the judge in 2025, and that making the request today doesnt force future commissioners to go through with it.
In the meantime we have families that continue to have their cases (lag) behind ... , he said.
Homeless people in Longview can no longer pitch tents in medians and the edges of city parks as police continue to issue citations for unlawful camping.
The ordinance passed by the Longview City Council Thursday night is functionally an around-the-clock ban on camping in city parks, street medians and rights-of-way adjacent to city parks.
Longview Police Chief Robert Huhta said the median ban is meant to keep the unhoused safe by moving them away from roads and to clarify that people cannot camp on the strips of grass between parks and sidewalks.
The new limits address some of the most visible locations homeless people have stayed over the last year. The median on Broadway Street outside of City Hall has been a frequent spot for tents, as well as a grotto at the south end of Lake Sacajawea Park across from PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center.
The Longview Police Department issued 91 citations for unlawful camping between January and August, including 10 in that area near the lake and the hospital. More than a third of those were at R.A. Long Park in the Civic Circle or in grassy areas immediately east of the park.
Capt. Branden McNew told the council Thursday the right-of-way explanation was in response to some requests for clarification from those who are doing the camping and those who are enforcing the ordinance.
Overnight camping in parks was already denied by the park curfew hours but was not stated in the unlawful camping section of the city code. Unlawful camping is a misdemeanor offense, which carries a maximum punishment of 90 days in prison or a $1,000 fine.
Multiple cases by the 9th Circuit Court limit how Longview and other Washington cities can criminalize homelessness. The pivotal Martin v. Boise case keeps cities from banning or criminalizing homeless camps on public property if there is not alternative space available at indoor shelters.
A 2022 court ruling on a case from Grants Pass reinforced the decision and added that cities must allow rudimentary precautions such as tents and sleeping bags.
Camping is still allowed on other Longview public property between 9:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. That includes city-owned parking lots other than City Hall and certain rights-of-way away from city parks.
Councilmember Spencer Boudreau attempted to amend the ordinance to also ban camping in city-owned parking lots, which he argued posed a safety issue for all residents.
Other council members successfully pushed to hold the parking lot discussion until further down the road. Councilmembers Angie Wean and Christopher Ortiz raised concerns that a sweeping ban could clash with efforts for the city to create a safe parking area for people living in their vehicles and needed vetting by the city attorney.
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
After many years of designing and selling a variety of different cables to power and charge its devices, Apple has slowly switched to USB-C chargers for all of its products.
The last device to swap is the iPhone, and it happened against Apple's will. In October last year, the European Commission requested all phones and laptop producers switch to the USB-C connector (which had earlier been agreed on as a common standard).
Apple could have chosen to ignore the request and stop selling in the EU, or to produce versions with USB-C for the European single market only. Instead, it chose to comply and follow the EU rules everywhere. The common charger for all devices is thus becoming a reality, at least until the world moves completely to wireless charging.
A better standard
The Lightning charger was introduced by Apple in 2012 and first featured on the iPhone 5. It was the successor to the 30-pin dock connector introduced in 2003 for the first iPods and iPhones. Arguably, the key visible innovation of the Lightning cable was reversible ends.
This enabled the user to insert the charger into the dock without having to wonder whether it was oriented in the right way. It might seem trivial now, but this was not the case with any other charger. If you are using the standard USB port on your laptop now, you are likely to spend a lot of time plugging the cable in and taking it out in order to find the right orientation. You're probably also complaining about how inconvenient it is. At least, that's what I do.
The USB-C connector came out about two years after the Lightning. There was nothing particularly novel or remarkable about it compared to Apple's cable. However, one notable feature was that it borrowed the Lightning connector's reversibility.
USB-C is just the name of the connector, not the entire cable. The cable and connector are part of a bigger technical specification called USB-4. USB-4 outperforms Lightning in every technical dimension conceivable. It can transfer data much more quickly: up to 40Gbps (gigabits per second) for USB-4 versus 480Mbps (megabits per second) for Lightning. It also charges devices more swiftly, to the point that Apple started selling Lightning to USB-C adaptors.
The main difference between the two, however, is that UBS-C is not proprietary. It was developed by a consortium called the USB implementer forum. This consortium is composed of companies such as Intel and Microsoftand also Apple.
All of the USB standards can be used by any business. Apple, on the other hand, does not allow anyone else to use its proprietary accessories, unless they agree on a license. This means that USB-C is compatible with many more devices, including all recent Apple products, but not previously with the iPhone.
When it pays to be different
So, what's so special about the Lightning connection that made Apple stick with it for so long, despite repeated promises to join its competitors on a common standard? Why would Apple sabotage one of its own phones by keeping a substandard charging connection?
One possibility is that consumers are inattentive when they buy a phone, and do not directly factor in the cost of accessories such as chargers. If this is true, Apple would have needed these add-ons to remain proprietary and make sure no competitor could start offering them for a lower price. If so, forcing Apple to offer the better standard benefits all consumers.
The alternative explanation is that some consumers actually value the Lightning connection more. After all, the look is different, and Apple fans argue that it may be harder-wearing than other standards. It is also a signal of status and exclusivity.
We seem to have reached a stage in the market for smartphones where people who only care about everyday usage replace their device much less often. This is probably because technology is not evolving at the same pace it did in the past. Yet, it's also the case that demand for high end phones continues to increase.
This could be because they cater to a subset of consumers who either greatly value a marginally higher quality of camera or slightly bigger storage. But mostly, expensive phones are a way to signal social status.
People buy the latest phone not only because they want to own it, but also to be seen as owning one. This is certainly a factor that has helped Apple thrive because the company offers products that are visibly different from the cheaper alternative. And another sign of status for Apple users is having different accessories, including the proprietary chargers.
Apple has not always been so keen to reject common standards. Not only is it one of the participants in the USB consortium, but it is also the company that helped USB become the global standard by offering it on its first generation of iMacs.
At the time, however, Apple was the underdog in the market for personal computers, facing off against the tech giant Microsoft. And a big reason why many people did not buy Apple computers at the time was their fear they would not be compatible with Microsoft products.
At one point, Apple even went as far as developing tools to help users run Windows on their devices. At the time, it made sense to try to make your products as compatible as possible with those of the market leader.
In today's smartphone market, Apple is a leader, and may gain from not being compatible with other standards and products. The big question, however, is whether consumers benefit. If exclusivity is a way to block competition, then they probably don't. If consumers value exclusivity, or if it encourages Apple to innovate, then perhaps forced standardization is not such a great idea.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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United Auto Workers members marched at a rally in downtown Detroit on September 15 after the union launched a strike earlier that day.
Uncertainty will be the most powerful weapon wielded by US auto workers, industry watchers said as the first ever simultaneous strike by Detroit's "Big Three" looks set for the long haul.
Negotiations continued Monday, the fourth day of the United Auto Workers' strike of Ford, General Motors and Jeep maker Stellantis employees, with public statements on both sides indicating they remain far apart.
Late Monday, the UAW set a Friday deadline for the companies to make significant headway on talks.
"If we don't make serious progress by noon on Friday, September 22nd, more locals will be called on to Stand Up and join the strike," said UAW President Shawn Fain.
Fain had told MSNBC Monday morning that the two sides remained "far apart."
Industry watchers have said the strike could drag on for weeks or more, in part because the costs to both sides thus far have been limited.
Rather than completely shutter production at one or all of the Big Three, the UAW launched a limited strike, taking down just one plant at each company.
The targeted strike tactic "doesn't put as much immediate pressure on any one company, but it creates uncertainty," said Harry Katz, a professor at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, who thinks the stoppage could go six or eight weeks or longer.
The three plants taken down produce midsized pickup trucks that are profitable, but not the biggest cash cows, meaning the dramatic action has not inflicted maximum pain on company profitabilityyet.
"The union has given themselves the ability to escalate and hit facilities that are even more harmful," said Michelle Kaminski, a professor at Michigan State University who specializes in labor relations.
The lost sales will result in an impact of between $41 million and $64 million in weekly operating profits, according to a note from Deutsche Bank.
United Auto Workers members strike at the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant on September 16, 2023 in Wayne, Michigan.
From the union's standpoint, the three plants employ about 12,700 workers, fewer than 10 percent of UAW auto workers nationwide.
That limits the hit to UAW's $825 million strike fund, set to drop an estimated $6.5 million per week, said the Deutsche note.
"These headwinds seem very manageable for now, reflecting the UAW's strategy not to paralyze immediately the broader production process, but rather to inject (a) high level of uncertainty into strike magnitude ... to put growing pressure, depending on how the negotiations are progressing," said the Deutsche Bank note.
Labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein expects the UAW to perhaps add plants on a weekly basis as long as there is no deal.
"The threat is the next target," Lichtenstein said, who thought the strike could last at least a month.
Payrise push
The UAW is seeking 40 percent wage hikes that would match the increases enjoyed by auto CEOs over the last four years.
Other key demands include an elimination of different worker pay and benefit "tiers"; a cost-of-living adjustment; and the reestablishment of retiree medical benefits.
In the past, the UAW has picked a lead company to target for a strike, then used the eventual contract as a pattern for the other companies.
This time round, they have broken with that tradition by striking at all threethough labor experts still expect the union to seek to use the first deal reached to be used as a template on terms such as wages.
Analysts at Cox Automotive have said GM sales are "likely more vulnerable" because of brisk sales at dealership, especially compared with Stellantis, which has much loftier supply because of "weak" sales, while Ford is "in-between" the other two companies.
GM has previously said that its inventory of new and popular vehicles is at about 10 days, though it hopes to increase that by the end of the year.
2023 AFP
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Elliptic PDE learning methods can be data-efficient. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2303904120
Researchers have determined how to build reliable machine learning models that can understand complex equations in real-world situations while using far less training data than is normally expected.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Cornell University, found that for partial differential equationsa class of physics equations that describe how things in the natural world evolve in space and timemachine learning models can produce reliable results even when they are provided with limited data.
Their results, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could be useful for constructing more time- and cost-efficient machine learning models for applications such as engineering and climate modeling.
Most machine learning models require large amounts of training data before they can begin returning accurate results. Traditionally, a human will annotate a large volume of datasuch as a set of images, for exampleto train the model.
"Using humans to train machine learning models is effective, but it's also time-consuming and expensive," said first author Dr. Nicolas Boulle, from the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences. "We're interested to know exactly how little data we actually need to train these models and still get reliable results."
Other researchers have been able to train machine learning models with a small amount of data and get excellent results, but how this was achieved has not been well-explained. For their study, Boulle and his co-authors, Diana Halikias and Alex Townsend from Cornell University, focused on partial differential equations (PDEs).
"PDEs are like the building blocks of physics: they can help explain the physical laws of nature, such as how the steady state is held in a melting block of ice," said Boulle, who is an INI-Simons Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. "Since they are relatively simple models, we might be able to use them to make some generalizations about why these AI techniques have been so successful in physics."
The researchers found that PDEs that model diffusion have a structure that is useful for designing AI models. "Using a simple model, you might be able to enforce some of the physics that you already know into the training data set to get better accuracy and performance," said Boulle.
The researchers constructed an efficient algorithm for predicting the solutions of PDEs under different conditions by exploiting the short and long-range interactions happening. This allowed them to build some mathematical guarantees into the model and determine exactly how much training data was required to end up with a robust model.
"It depends on the field, but for physics, we found that you can actually do a lot with a very limited amount of data," said Boulle. "It's surprising how little data you need to end up with a reliable model. Thanks to the mathematics of these equations, we can exploit their structure to make the models more efficient."
The researchers say that their techniques will allow data scientists to open the 'black box' of many machine learning models and design new ones that can be interpreted by humans, although future research is still needed.
"We need to make sure that models are learning the right things, but machine learning for physics is an exciting fieldthere are lots of interesting math[s] and physics questions that AI can help us answer," said Boulle.
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Credit: Pixabay
Scientists and industry leaders worldwide are looking for answers on how to make aviation sustainable by 2050 and choosing a viable sustainable fuel is a major sticking point. Phil Ansell, aerospace engineer at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, took a full inventory of the options to make a data-driven assessment about how they stack up in comparison. He reviewed over 300 research projects from across different sectors, not just aerospace, to synthesize the ideas and draw conclusions to help direct the dialogue about sustainable aviation toward a permanent solution.
The study, "Review of sustainable energy carriers for aviation: Benefits, challenges, and future viability," by Phillip J. Ansell, appears in the journal Progress in Aerospace Sciences.
Ansell said several key energy carriers emerged, including bio jet fuel pathways for synthetic kerosene, power-to-liquid pathways for synthetic kerosene, liquid hydrogen, ammonia, liquid natural gas, ethanol, methanol, and battery electric systems. Ansell compared each of them to conventional fossil-derived aviation turbine fuel.
For each of the alternate fuels Ansell addressed factors such as how their material properties impact aircraft performance and fuel handling, emissions, cost and scalability, and resource and land requirements, as well as social impacts, which can be difficult to measure.
"Let's face it, if we want to do this at scale, we need all three pillars of the environmental, economic, and societal contributions, to make that energy carrier sustainable, and every stakeholder in the value chain sees the challenges differently," Ansell said.
"Because the production and infrastructure costs required to adopt an alternative fuel source are significant, people think we can only pick one, the biggest contenders being bio jet fuel and hydrogen," Ansell said. "But the choice doesn't have to be mutually exclusive. For example, we can use hydrogen to produce synthetic aviation fuels like the power-to-liquid pathway or use biomass to produce hydrogen."
Ansell admitted this is not what he typically studies, but his research and teaching areas in aircraft design and aerodynamics must consider where the energy will come from to make flight possible. So, for any fuel associated with a bio aspect Ansell had to look at the stresses it might create for crops.
"I leaned on a lot of the observations from the community, especially for the land use change question," he said. "It is so driven case by case. Making a broad assessment doesn't do it justice, because land use changes depend on their location."
Ansell said he has been working with hydrogen for several years and battery/electric systems before that, so he needed to remain objective and all the data to drive the conclusion.
"About eight years ago, I realized that battery systems are a pie-in-the-sky solution. The technology challenge is insurmountable. The weight and volume required for batteries is too difficult to close. I think my biases were from the fact that I've been studying hydrogen for a long time, and I think it has real potential. That's one of the conclusions I arrived at from the data, and I think I would have learned that independently."
Ansell said hydrogen presents infrastructural and integration challenges, unique to the aircraft platform and unique to the cryogenic handling of fuel on aircraft.
"The technological challenges of hydrogen are very solvable. And I can say that with confidence because we've done it as a society." He referred to Tupolev 155, a commercial scale aircraft which was flown by the former Soviet Union with liquid hydrogen in the 1980s on a relevant airframe. Even earlier experimental studies were conducted by NASA. "It will take a bit longer to implement at scale, but it's doable."
In the study, Ansell examined numerous options to produce biofuel from just about anything, from municipal waste to seaweed and algae.
"Basically, anything that you can burn, create energy from, decompose, can be turned into a jet fuel. We've already been using corn to produce ethanol. But if you were to take corn, ferment it, then turn that ethanol into jet fuel, you now have lost the ability to feed people or animals that corn. This is one of the challenges of all first-generation biofuels."
He said people are trying to use the stover, the parts of a corn plant left on the ground after harvesting to make fuel. Corn stover is full of sugar but it's difficult to extract.
Why is an aerospace engineer studying feedstocks?
"I want to be able to know enough to interact with scientists who are tackling these options," Ansell said. "And it's important that the aviation community understands where the challenges exist. We need to draw the lines between the aircraft as a system, the aircraft operating in an airspace, and how that connects with energy. With a goal of net zero CO 2 by 2050, I want the aviation community to recognize how big of a task this is.
"As a society, we are often attentive to challenges that are right in front of us, with limited foresight to plan for the future. So even as it pertains to the greenhouse gas effect, we still don't have an appreciation for the long-term sense of the damage that produces. We have other immediate concerns to spend money on. But without that foresight, we are going to struggle and regret decisions not to make investments and not to take seriously these aviation sustainability challenges when we still had time."
Again, Ansell stressed that it might not need to be a one-fuel-fits-all solution. In fact, countries may need different strategies, different rates of implementation, and adoption of renewables, based on their own resources. For example, Denmark doesn't have as much land as the U.S. and so is making great use of offshore wind turbine platforms.
"Maybe we should play to our strengths. The U.S. has one of the world's largest agricultural sectors in the world. We may have more land than Europe that can be allocated to feedstock development, which can be used for a variety of bio-jet fuels or hydrogen production pathways. In contrast, Europe has an extensive network of clean energy, and as such is doing a lot of work in electrolytic hydrogen production."
More information: Phillip J. Ansell, Review of sustainable energy carriers for aviation: Benefits, challenges, and future viability, Progress in Aerospace Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.paerosci.2023.100919
Provided by University of Illinois Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
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Lora Ho (C), senior vice president of human resources at TSMC, poses with Sebastian Gemkow (L), Saxony state's minister of science, and Ursula Staudinger (R), president of the Dresden University of Technology.
Germany's Saxony state signed an agreement with Taiwanese chip giant TSMC on Tuesday to train German students in an effort to meet the growing demand for workers in the semiconductor sector.
A shortage of skilled workers including in the crucial chip sector has emerged as a major challenge for Germany, Europe's largest economy, as vast cohorts of older employees retire.
Last month, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Companywhich controls more than half of the world's chip outputannounced a new $3.8 billion chip factory in Saxony's capital Dresden.
The agreement, signed between TSMC, Saxony and the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) "is specifically designed to train German STEM students for careers in the semiconductor industry", the Taiwanese firm said in a statement.
Up to 100 high-achieving students from the state will come to Taiwan for a six-month exchange program and "collaborate with Taiwan's top universities", it added.
The first students are expected in February 2024, according to TSMC.
Market research has shown a demand for more than one million skilled workers in the chip industry, said Lora Ho, TSMC's senior vice president of human resources.
"We are preparing in advance for the shortage of talents that may come shortly and strengthening semiconductor education is the most critical way to resolve the global shortage of technical talents."
Construction of TSMC's Dresden facility, which will be focused on automotive chips, is scheduled to begin next year, with production starting by the end of 2027.
It is expected to create around 2,000 direct high-tech jobs.
"We know companies from the semiconductor field (are) facing problems with finding enough talents," Sebastian Gemkow, Saxony's State Minister for Science, told AFP.
"That's why we started very early to structure this process so TSMC and later ESMC will have all the employees that it needs," he said, referring to the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.
ESMC is a joint venture between TSMC, Germany's Bosch and Infineon, and Dutch firm NXP that will build the Dresden plant.
TSMC's production has expanded beyond Taiwan as Western powers lines have raised concerns about the chip industrycritical for the modern global economybeing centered on an island that China claims as its territory.
Beijing has ramped up political and military pressure on the island in recent years, adding to fears about the global semiconductor supply chain.
2023 AFP
Multilateral cooperation needed amid global changes
People's Daily Online) 15:14, September 19, 2023
The Sub-Session on International Relations at the 7th Taihe Civilizations Forum took place in Beijing, China's capital, on Sept. 12. Participants engaged in thorough exchanges and discussions on the theme "Navigating the Dynamic International Landscape: Challenges and Opportunities in the Evolving Global Order."
Currently, the global pattern and order are rapidly evolving, with international and regional situations undergoing swift changes. The competition among major powers is escalating, and there's a growing trend toward unilateralism and protectionism. Faced with these worldwide shifts, questions of peace versus war and coexistence versus opposition have become pressing issues that society cannot sidestep and must urgently address.
The sub-session covered a variety of topics, including global changes, Sino-U.S. relations, and the China-proposed Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). These discussions provided valuable insights into global transitions and China's interactions with the rest of the world.
During the event, participants unanimously agreed that, given the intricate and dynamic nature of the international landscape, the foremost priorities are peace, stability, development, and cooperation. All countries should uphold multilateralism and jointly avoid bloc confrontation.
"The world is undergoing once-in-a-century changes due to three historic shifts in the global economic landscape," said Wang Tong, dean of the China Development Research Institute and vice chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy. He noted that China should ensure high-quality development and champion an open global economy to build a community with a shared future for mankind.
"The biggest challenge China currently faces is confrontation and conflict between China and the United States, and the greatest opportunity is peaceful cooperation between the two countries," stated Wu Hailong, president of the China Public Diplomacy Association, in his keynote speech. He emphasized that China aspires to respect, coexist peacefully, and collaborate with the U.S. for the mutual benefit of both nations and the world at large. If the U.S. genuinely wishes to improve Sino-U.S. relations, it should rectify its aforementioned missteps, return to the consensus reached at the Bali meeting between the heads of state of both China and the U.S., and discern a suitable approach to coexisting with China.
Amid global shifts, the China-proposed GCI seeks to promote harmony by embracing diversity. This, in turn, cultivates a shared vision and mutual understanding, explained Einar Tangen, Senior Fellow of the Taihe Institute and Chairman of Asia Narratives. He added, "All living things can grow in harmony without hurting one another, and different ways can run in parallel without interfering with one another.
(Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun)
(Photo : THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)
An employee handles packages at the Amazon's centre of Bretigny-sur-Orge, on December 14, 2021.
Starting Sunday, employers across New York State will have to disclose proposed pay rates as a new salary transparency law goes into effect.
This landmark legislation aims to promote fairness in compensation, prevent discrimination based on age, gender, and race, and empower workers to make informed career decisions, CBS News reported.
New York's Salary Transparency Law
Under the newly enacted law, employers with at least four workers must disclose salary ranges for any job advertised internally and externally. This move is seen as a significant step in promoting pay transparency and equity in the state's job market.
It's worth noting that the law extends to remote employees who work outside New York but report to a supervisor, office, or worksite-based in the state, ensuring that all workers are covered by its provisions. However, government agencies and temporary help firms are exempt from this requirement.
Similar to a pay transparency ordinance in New York City since 2022, this statewide legislation is a response to the growing demand for transparency and equity in the workplace.
Employers with at least four workers must disclose salary ranges not only for jobs advertised externally but also for positions that are internally advertised to workers interested in a promotion or transfer.
The underlying objective of this law is to prevent employers from offering disparate salaries to job candidates based on irrelevant factors such as age, gender, race, or other discriminatory criteria.
Pay transparency supporters argue that this will ensure that compensation is based solely on an individual's skills, experience, and qualifications, fostering a more equitable job market.
Advocates believe that implementing this law could have a profound impact on underpaid workers, helping them recognize situations where they are earning less than their counterparts performing the same job.
By making salary ranges accessible to all potential applicants and internal employees, individuals will have the information they need to negotiate fair compensation and advocate for their worth. New York State now joins the ranks of a select few states, including California and Colorado, with similar pay transparency laws in place.
This trend highlights a growing desire among workers to have greater insight into what they can expect from a job regarding compensation. Da Hae Kim, a state policy senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center, comments on this trend, stating, "There is a trend, not just in legislatures but among workers, to know how much they can expect going into a job.
There's a demand from workers to know the pay range." This demand for transparency underscores the importance of this legislation in addressing the concerns of the modern workforce, as per to Syracuse.
Read Also: Online Safety Bill: Campaigner, Father of Suicide Victim Urges UK Regulator to Act Fast After Bill Passes
Salary Structure Assessment for Employers
To avoid potential legal issues and ensure compliance with the new law, employers must carefully examine their pay structures for current employees. Allen Shoikhetbrod, an employment law practitioner at Tully Rinckley, a private law firm, suggests that employers should conduct thorough assessments to establish fair and competitive salary ranges.
State Senator Jessica Ramos, a Democrat representing parts of Queens, celebrates the enactment of this law as a significant victory for labor rights groups. The law reflects a broader movement towards more equitable and transparent employment practices, benefiting both workers and employers in the long run.
New York State's new salary transparency law represents a significant stride towards fostering fair compensation practices and combating discrimination in the workplace.
By requiring employers to disclose salary ranges for advertised positions, this legislation empowers workers to make informed decisions and ensures that compensation is based on merit rather than extraneous factors.
As the state joins the ranks of others with similar laws, it reflects a growing desire among workers to have greater transparency and fairness in their employment opportunities. This law is a positive step towards creating a more equitable job market for all New Yorkers, according to ABC News
Related Article: NHS Warns About Doctors' Strike Could Cause Major Patient Care Disruption
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The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company is a leading global biopharmaceutical company with a long and impressive history of innovating and developing medicines that improve the lives of patients around the world. Founded in 1887 when William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers purchased the Clinton Pharmaceutical Company, the company was initially named Bristol, Myers and Company. Its first nationally recognized product, Sal Hepatica, was released in the 1890s.
Bristol Myers-Squibb offers chemically synthesized drugs and biologics administered through injections or infusions to patients. The company's pharmaceutical portfolio includes a large number of well-known products. BMS's primary research and development sites are in New Jersey, California, Spain, Massachusetts, New York, Belgium, Japan, India and Massachusetts. The company's products sell to wholesalers and distributors around the world.
Bristol Myers-Squibb has a robust pipeline of investigational medicines in its pipeline. In addition, the company has established strategic collaborations and partnerships with various companies, successfully launching new products. These partnerships and investments generate portions of the company's revenue.
Bristol Myers-Squibb has acquired several companies over the years, including Medarex in 2009, ZymoGenetics in 2010, Inhibitex Inc. in 2012, Amylin Pharmaceuticals in 2012, iPierian in 2014, Flexus Biosciences in 2015, Cardioxyl in 2015, Padlock Therapeutics in 2016, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals in 2017, IFM Therapeutics in 2017, Celgene in 2019, Otezla in 2019, Forbius in 2020, MyoKardia in 2020 and Turning Point Therapeutics in 2022.
In 2005, the company divested individual consumer products and its subsequent consumer products businesses. In December 2014, the company received FDA approval for its cancer drug, Opdivo, used to treat skin cancers that do not respond to drug therapies. In 2019, the company divested its consumer health business, UPSA, to Taisho.
The company has also faced several scandals, lawsuits and investigations over the years, the biggest of which is the ongoing $1 billion lawsuit from Guatemala for the company's role in a 1940s experiment that infected hundreds with syphilis. In 2001 BMS faced an accounting scandal that resulted in a restatement of revenues from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, BMS faced a lawsuit based on illegally maintaining a monopoly on Taxol, a chemotherapy medication. The former head of the pharma group and the ex-CFO were indicted for federal securities violations in 2005. In July of 2006, an FBI raid on the company's corporate offices revealed that the company took steps to delay the release of a generic version of one of its drugs.
BMS began a significant restructuring in 2009, focusing on the pharmaceutical business and biologic products, productivity initiatives and cost-cutting. The U.S. attorney forced the company into oversight and appointed a monitor as part of a deferred prosecution agreement. Lou Schmukler joined Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010 as global product development and design president.
In 2013, Forbes magazine ranked the company as the drug company of the year. Dr. Giovanni Caforio took the reigns as CEO in 2015. In 2017, reports began to surface that activist investor Carl Icahn took a stake in the company, widely seen as a signal for a potential future takeover.
As Bristol-Myers Squibb continues to experience success and growth, the company is committed to delivering innovative treatments to patients and staying ahead of the curve in the biopharmaceutical industry. With its focus on research and development and a long and rich history of delivering innovative medicines, BMS offers an excellent long-term investment opportunity.
SEEK Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of online employment marketplace services in Australia, South East Asia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally. It operates through ANZ, SEEK Asia, Brazil Online, OCC, Platform support, Portfolio investments, and SEEK Growth Fund segments. The company offers Jora, an online employment marketplace; JobAdder, a talent acquisition suite that simplifies the hiring process for recruiter and corporate talent acquisition teams; and Certsy, a platform to securely verify and share work credentials, and to complete compliance checks. It also owns and manages seek, JobsDB, JobStreet, catho, and occmundial platforms. In addition, the company holds a portfolio of investments in the human capital management industry. SEEK Limited was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.
The following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California Inc., AHN Accountable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASC Operators-East Bay LLC, ASC Operators-San Francisco LLC, ASC Operators-San Luis Obispo LLC, ASC Operators-Santa Rosa LLC, ASC Operators-South Bay LLC, ASV-HOPCo-SCA Cornerstone LLC, ASV-HOPCo-SCA Florida LLC, AbleTo Behavioral Health Services P.C., AbleTo Inc., Accurate Rx Pharmacy Consulting LLC, Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A.S., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Center LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Allina Health Heart and Vascular Surgery Center LLC, Allina Health Surgery Center-Brooklyn Park LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Holdings Inc., AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Kentucky LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, American Physicians Inc., Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Angiografia e Hemodinamica Madre Theodora Ltda., Anne Arundel-SCA Holdings LLC, Anne Arundel-SCA Surgicenter LLC, Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arcadia JV Holdings LLC, Arcadia Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., ArchWell Health LLC, ArchWell Health MSO LLC, ArchWell Health Professional Services Holding Co., ArchWell Health Professional Services of Alabama LLC, ArchWell Health Professional Services of North Carolina P.C., ArchWell Health Professional Services of Oklahoma LLC, Archwell Health Professional Services of Arizona LLC, Archwell Health Professional Services of Nebraska LLC, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., Arlington Surgery Center LLC, Aspectus Inc., Associacao Lusiadas Knowledge Center Health Education and Research, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Aurora Hospitalist P.C., Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Aventura Medical Tower Surgery Center LLC, Avery Parent Holdings Inc., Aveta Inc., AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, BOSC Holdings LLC, BSC Holdings LLC, Ball Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Banmedica Colombia S.A.S., Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Barranca Surgery Center LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings II LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Beach Surgical Holdings LLC, Beaver Medical Group P.C., Bedford Physicians Risk Retention Group Inc., Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Beltway Surgery Centers L.L.C., Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Bergan Mercy Surgery Center LLC, Bergen-Passaic Cataract Laser and Surgery Center LLC, Bessler MD PLLC, Bind Benefits Inc., Bind LH Holdings Inc., Bind Re Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Bloomfield ASC LLC, Blue Ridge Day Surgery Center L.P., Blue Ridge GP LLC, Blue Ridge Properties LLC, Boca Raton Outpatient Surgery & Laser Center LTD., Bordeaux Barbados Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux Barbados Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux Barbados Holdings III S.r.l., Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, CCEC Anesthesia Management LLC, CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos Ltda., COI Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill Ambulatory Centers, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardinal Holding Company LLC, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Care Logistics LLC, CareMount Dental Member LLC, CareMount Health Solutions ACO LLC, CareMount Health Solutions Employer LLC, CareMount Health Solutions LLC, CareMount Holding LLC, CareMount Medical Foundation Inc., CareMount Value Partners IPA LLC, Carr PLLC, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Castle Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran 2 Unlimited Company, Catamaran Finance Ireland Unlimited Company, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Cedar Park JV Partners LLC, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Center for Quality Improvement LLC, Center for Restorative Surgery at Maple Grove LLC, Center for Surgery of North Coast L.P., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, CentriHealth Corporation, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro de Entrenamiento Capacitacion en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada, Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica SpA, Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centura-SCA Holdings LLC, Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Surgery Properties LTD., Charlotte-SC LLC, Chatham Orthopaedic ASC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Claims Management Systems Inc., Cleburne Surgical Center LLC, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinton Partners LLC, Clinica Alameda SpA, Clinica Bio Bio SpA, Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.p.A., Clinica Iquique S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica Portoazul S.A., Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.p.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A.S., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Cobranzas Banmedica SpA, Cogent Healthcare IPA of New York Inc., Cogent Healthcare Inc., Cogent Healthcare Management of New York Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Arizona P.C., Cogent Healthcare of California Prof. Corp., Cogent Healthcare of Georgia P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Illinois LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Iowa P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Jackson MS LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Jacksonville LLC, Cogent Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Missouri Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Montana P.C., Cogent Healthcare of New Jersey P.C., Cogent Healthcare of North Carolina P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Oregon P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Pensacola L.L.C., Cogent Healthcare of Tennessee P.C., Cogent Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Cogent Healthcare of Washington P.C., Cogent Medical Care P.C., Cogent Patient Safety Organization Inc., Cogent/Endion Medical Care of New York P.C., Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada S.A., Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Comprehensive Hospital Physicians of Florida Inc., ConnectYourCare Inc., ConnectYourCare LLC, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Consorcio Regenero S.A., Constructora Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Continuum Physicians Group Inc., Continuum Physicians Group of Washington PLLC, Cornell Surgicenter LLC, Cornerstone Surgery Center LLC, Cornerstone Surgicare LLC, Corpus Christi Endoscopy Center L.L.P., Country Scan Ltda., Critical Care Physician of New York P.C., Critical Care Physicians of Illinois LLC, Critical Care Physicians of New Jersey PC, Critical Care Physicians of Pennsylvania P.C., Cross Timbers Surgery Center LLC, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DSP Flint Real Estate LLC, DSP-Building C LLC, DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., Dallas Inpatient Specialist PLLC, Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Denton Endoscopy Surgery Center LLC, Denton Surgery Center LLC, Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Digestive Disease Center L.P., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Blocker LLC, Diplomat Corporate Properties LLC, Diplomat Pharmacy, Diplomat Pharmacy Inc., Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy Great Lakes Distribution Center LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Chicago LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Ft. Lauderdale LLC, Diplomat Specialty Pharmacy of Los Angeles County LLC, Distance Learning Network Inc., Divisadero Holdings LLC, DocASAP Inc., DocASAP India Technologies Private Limited, DocASAP US LLC, Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duluth Surgical Suites LLC, Durable Medical Equipment Inc., E Street Endoscopy LLC, EM Orange Tree LLC, EP Campus I LLC, EPIC Health Plan, EPIC Management Services LLC, East Bay Endoscopy Center L.P., East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Echo Locum Tenens Inc., Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Emerald Coast Surgery Center L.P., Emisar Pharma Services LLC, Emmaus Holdings LLC, Emmaus Surgical Center LLC, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Empremedica S. A., Endion Hospitalist North P.C., Endion Hospitalist of Western New York P.C., Endion Medical Healthcare P.C., Endion Medical Services P.C., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Everett MSO Inc., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center L.L.C., Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., Eye Specialists Surgery Centers LLC, FMG Holdings LLC, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice Inc., Ferrell Physician Services P.C., Fideicomiso Clinica Barranquilla Portoazul FA-517, First Coast Orthopedic Center LLC, First Family Insurance LLC, Florence Surgery Center L.P., For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fort Sutter Medical Building a California Limited Partnership, Fort Worth Endoscopy Centers LLC, Fortified Provider Network Inc., Foundation Surgery Affiliate General of Huntingdon Valley LLC, Foundation Surgery Affiliate of Huntingdon Valley L.P., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GLBESC LLC, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology Canada Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Gladiolus Surgery Center L.L.C., Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Global One Ventures LLC, Golden Gate Endoscopy Center LLC, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grandview Surgery Center LTD., Greater New Haven ASC LLC, Greensboro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Greenville Surgery Center LLC, Greenway Surgical Suites LLC, Grossmont Surgery Center L.P., Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., H&W Indemnity SPC Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HFHS-SCA Holdings LLC, HMG Holding Corporation, HMG Holdings LLC, HMP of Baltimore USH P.C., Harken Health Insurance Company, Harrison Endo Surgical Center LLC, Hawthorn Place Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Hays JV Partners LLC, Hays Surgery Center LLC, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Affiliates Medical Group, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthEast Surgery Center-Maplewood LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Healthplex America LLC, Healthplex Dental Services Inc., Healthplex I.P.A. Inc., Healthplex Inc., Healthplex Insurance Company, Healthplex of CT Inc., Healthplex of DC Inc., Healthplex of MD Inc., Healthplex of ME Inc., Healthplex of NC Inc., Healthplex of NJ Inc., Healthplex of TX Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help Seguros de Vida S.A., Help Service S.A., Help SpA, Hemonefro Hemodialise e Nefrologia Ltda, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Medical S.A., Honodav SpA, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of Broome County PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Binghamton P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Buffalo P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Newburgh P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Nyack P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physician of New York - Patchogue P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alabama TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alabama TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alaska TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Alaska TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Goodyear Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Nogales Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Phoenix II Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Phoenix Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Sierra Vista Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Tucson II Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona - Tucson Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arizona TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arkansas TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Arkansas TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Buncombe County PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Apple Valley PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Bakersfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Camarillo PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Crescent City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Fairfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Fremont PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Grass Valley PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Jackson PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Oceanside PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Oxnard PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Salinas PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Bernardino II PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Bernardino PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - San Leandro PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Sonoma PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Stockton II PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Stockton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Thousand Oaks PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California - Vacaville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of California TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado - Brighton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado - Denver PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Colorado TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Manchester LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Rockville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut - Wallingford LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Connecticut TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of DC TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Delaware TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Delaware TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Ft. Lauderdale LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Jacksonville II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Jacksonville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida - Palm Coast LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Florida TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Fredericksburg LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Atlanta PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - East Point PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Lavonia PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia - Savannah PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Georgia TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii - Kealakekua Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Hawaii TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho - Nampa PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Idaho TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Downers Grove LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Elmhurst LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Rockford LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois - Winfield LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Illinois TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Clinton LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Mishawaka LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana - Terre Haute LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Indiana TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa - Cedar Rapids PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa - Mason City PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Iowa TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Topeka LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Wichita II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas - Wichita LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Kansas TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Alexandria Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Bossier City Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Lake Charles Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana - Shreveport Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Louisiana TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine - Bangor PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine - Lewiston PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maine TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Cheverly PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Cumberland PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Frederick PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Laurel PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland - Rockville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Maryland TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Brockton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Dorchester PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Framingham PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Holyoke PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Natick PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Norwood PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Springfield PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Stoughton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Taunton PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts - Worcester PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Massachusetts TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Alpena PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Dowagiac PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Escanaba PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Grand Blanc PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Grayling PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Kalamazoo PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Plainwell PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Port Huron PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Saginaw PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan - Tawas City PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Michigan TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Minnesota TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Minnesota TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Mississippi TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri - Bridgeton Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri - Richmond Heights Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri TCG Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Missouri TCS Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Billings PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Butte PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Miles City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana - Missoula PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Montana TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Multiple Practice Sites LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nebraska TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nebraska TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Henderson Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Henderson II Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Las Vegas Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada - Las Vegas II Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada TCG Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Nevada TCS Bessler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Hampshire TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Hampshire TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - Hackensack PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - Paterson PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey - TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Jersey TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - Clovis LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - Rio Rancho LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New Mexico - TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of New York PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Burlington PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Clyde PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Elizabeth City PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Jacksonville PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - New Bern PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina - Rocky Mount PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Carolina TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Dakota TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of North Dakota TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Akron Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Batavia Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Canton Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati II Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati III Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Cincinnati Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Circleville Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Columbus II Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Columbus Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Dover Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - East Liverpool Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Fairfield Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Martins Ferry Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Westerville Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio - Youngstown Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio TCG Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Ohio TCS Professional Corporation, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oklahoma - Oklahoma City LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oklahoma TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oklahoma TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oregon - Portland PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oregon TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Oregon TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Pennsylvania P.C., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Pennsylvania TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Pennsylvania TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Rhode Island TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Rhode Island TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Richland County Ltd., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of San Luis Obispo County Inc., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Carolina - Aiken LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Carolina - Rock Hill LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Carolina TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Carolina TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Dakota TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of South Dakota TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Tennessee Columbia PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Tennessee Franklin PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Tennessee TCG PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Tennessee TCS PC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Amarillo PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Atlanta PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Austin II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Austin PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Bryan PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Burnet PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Corpus Christi II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Corpus Christi PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Cypress PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Dallas PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - El Paso II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - El Paso III PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - El Paso PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Fort Worth II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Fort Worth PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Fredericksburg PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Houston PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Humble PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Kerrville PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Kyle PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Livingston PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Lubbock PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Lufkin PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Mount Pleasant PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Plainview PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Rockwall PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Round Rock PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio III PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio IV PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio V PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio VI PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Antonio VII PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - San Marcos PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Texarkana PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas - Tyler PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Texas TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Utah TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Utah TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Vermont TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Vermont TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Alexandria LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Front Royal II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Front Royal LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Mechanicsville LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Midlothian LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Richmond II LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Richmond LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia - Winchester LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Virginia TCS LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Arlington PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Auburn PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Bellingham PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Bremerton PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Burien PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Coupeville PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Enumclaw PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Federal Way PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Gig Harbor PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Lakewood PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Mount Vernon PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Puyallup PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Tacoma II PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Tacoma III PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Tacoma PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington - Vancouver PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington County LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Washington TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia Martinsburg PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia South Charleston PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia TCG PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia TCS PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of West Virginia Wheeling PLLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wisconsin Ltd., Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wyoming - Casper LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wyoming TCG LLC, Hospitalist Medicine Physicians of Wyoming TCS LLC, Hospitalists Management Group LLC, Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation Ontario, IEC Holdings LLC, IHD Holdings LLC, INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, Illinois Independent Care Network LLC, Imagen Technologies Inc., Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., InTouch Pharmacy LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Indiana Endoscopy Centers LLC, Inland Surgery Center L.P., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inpatient Services P.C., Inpatient Specialists of California P.C., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Instituto Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, Inter-Hospital Physicians Association Inc., International Healthcare Services Inc., Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria SpA, Ironman Holdco Inc., Ironman Intermediate Holdco LLC, Isapre Banmedica S.A., JPM Healthcare LLC, Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Jordan Ridge Family Medicine LLC, Joyable Inc., Kansal Inc. A Professional Corporation, Knox Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Kokomo Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, LDI Holding Company LLC, LDI Management Services LLC, LGH-A/Golf ASTC L.L.C., LHC Group, La Esperanza del Peru S.A., Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Landmark Group Holdings LLC, Landmark Health Holdings LLC, Landmark Health LLC, Landmark Health NY IPA LLC, Landmark Health NY PO LLC, Landmark Health Technologies Private Limited, Landmark Health of California LLC, Landmark Health of Massachusetts LLC, Landmark Health of North Carolina LLC, Landmark Health of Oregon LLC, Landmark Health of Pennsylvania LLC, Landmark Health of Washington LLC, Landmark India LLC, Landmark Intermediate Holdings LLC, Landmark MSO LLC, Landmark Medical of Idaho PC, Landmark Medical of Massachusetts PLLC, Landmark Medical of Tennessee PC, Landmark Primary Care LLC, Laser Acquisition Holdings III LLC, Leehar Distributors LLC, Lemhi Ventures Fund I LP, Lemhi Ventures Fund II LP, Level2 Medical Services P.C. Alaska, Lexington Surgery Center Ltd., Liberty Anesthesia Services LLC, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeWell. Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Limestone Medical Center LLC, Litomedica S.A., Logan Surgical Suites LLC, Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook L.P., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas Algarve S.A., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., Lutheran Campus ASC LLC, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MCNA Health Care Holdings LLC, MCNA Insurance Company, MCNA Systems Corp., MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, Main Line Spine Surgery Center LLC, Managed Care of North America Inc., Managed Physical Network Inc., Mansfield Endoscopy Center LLC, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care IPA Inc., March Vision Care Inc., March Vision Care of Texas Inc., Marin Health Ventures LLC, Marin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Marlin Holding Company LLC, Maryland Ambulatory Centers LLC, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, McKenzie Surgery Center L.P., MedExpress Primary Care West Virginia Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services LLC, Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memorial Houston Surgery Center LLC, MemorialCare Surgical Center at Orange Coast LLC, MemorialCare Surgical Center at Saddleback LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management Ltd., Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midlands Orthopaedics Surgery Center LLC, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Medical Plaza L.C., Mobile Medical Services of New Jersey PC, Mobile-SC LTD., Modality Accountable Care Organisation Limited, Moen M.D. P.C., Mohawk Surgery Center LLC, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Monument Health LLC, Moore Orthopaedic Clinic Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Morris County Surgical Center LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Murrells Inlet ASC LLC, Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings Inc., NPN IPA Washington PLLC, NSC Channel Islands LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Greensboro West LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Naperville Surgical Centre LLC, National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Navigator Health Inc., Nebraska Spine Hospital LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., New York Proton Management LLC, Newton Holdings LLC, Niagara Hospitalist P.C., Nomad Buyer Inc., North American Medical Management California Inc., North Coast Surgery Center Ltd. a California Limited Partnership, North Dallas Surgical Center LLC, North Kitsap Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgery Center L.P., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northern Utah Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Hills JV Partners LLC, Northwest Medical Group Alliance LLC, Northwest Spine and Laser Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OCC MSO LLC, OSB Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Lda., Omesa SpA, OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., One World Surgery, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Dallas LLC, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Networks Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Care of New York Management Inc., Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Compounding Services LLC, Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Direct To Consumer Inc., Optum Financial Inc., Optum Frontier Therapies Holdings LLC, Optum Frontier Therapies II LLC, Optum Frontier Therapies LLC, Optum Genomics Inc., Optum Global Solutions Colombia S.A.S., Optum Global Solutions India Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Global Solutions Philippines Inc., Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners Holdings Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology Holdings US Inc., Optum Health & Technology Hong Kong Limited, Optum Health & Technology India Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology Servicos do Brasil Ltda., Optum Health & Technology Singapore Pte. Ltd., Optum Health & Technology US LLC, Optum Health Plan of California, Optum Health Services Canada Ltd., Optum Health Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Optum Health Solutions UK Limited, Optum Health and Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services LLC, Optum Inc., Optum Infusion Services 100 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 101 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 103 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 200 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 201 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 202 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 203 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 204 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 205 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 206 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 207 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 208 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 209 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 301 LP, Optum Infusion Services 302 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 305 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 308 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 401 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 402 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 403 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 404 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 500 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 501 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 550 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 551 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 553 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 554 Inc., Optum Insurance of Ohio Inc., Optum Labs Inc., Optum Labs LLC, Optum Life Sciences Canada Inc., Optum Management Consulting Shanghai Co. Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Operations Ireland Unlimited Company, Optum Oregon MSO LLC, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharma Services Holdings Inc., Optum Pharmacy 601 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 700 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 704 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 706 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 707 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 800 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 803 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 805 Inc., Optum Pharmacy 806 Inc., Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket LLC, Optum SCA CS JV Holdings LLC, Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Services Ireland Limited, Optum Services Puerto Rico LLC, Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Venture Global Partners II LP, Optum Venture Global Partners LP, Optum Venture Partners II LP, Optum Venture Partners III LP, Optum Venture Partners LP, Optum Washington Network LLC, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare ACO West LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare Portland LLC, OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumCare Specialty Practices LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Oregon Healthcare Resources LLC, Oregon Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the South Inc., OrthoWest MSO LLC, Orthology Inc., Orthopedic Center of Palm Beach County LLC, Orthopedic Surgery Center of Palm Beach County LLC, Orthopro Management LLC, Ovations Inc., Owensboro Ambulatory Surgical Facility Ltd., Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans CT Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, Oxford Health Plans NJ Inc., Oxford Health Plans NY Inc., P2P Link LLC, PCCCV Inc., PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PPH Management Company L.L.C., PPH-Columbia Inc., PPH-Gardendale Inc., PS Center LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., Pacific Cardiovascular Associates Medical Group Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Panama City Surgery Center LLC, Park Hill Surgery Center LLC, Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Patient Care Associates L.L.C., PatientsLikeMe, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peninsula Eye Surgery Center LLC, Penzo Enterprises LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Perham Physical Therapy LTD, Perimeter Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Pharmaceutical Technologies LLC, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians' Surgery Center of Downey LLC, Pinnacle III LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings Inc., Pocono Ambulatory Surgery Center Limited, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Post-Acute Care Center for Research LLC, Practice Partners in Healthcare LLC, Preferred Care Network Inc., Preferred Care Network of Florida Inc., Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., PreferredOne, PreferredOne Administrative Services Inc., PreferredOne Insurance Company, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Premiere Medical Resources LLC, Presidio Surgery Center LLC, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., PrimeDoc St. Francis P.C., PrimeDoc of Richmond P.C., ProHEALTH Care Associates L.L.P., ProHEALTH Care Associates of New Jersey LLP, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, ProHealth/CareMount Dental Management LLC, Procura Management Inc., Professional Coverage Services PLLC, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical LLC, Promotora Country S.A., Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Benefits Management LLC, Prospero Care Management LLC, Prospero Management Services LLC, Providence & SCA Development LLC, Providence & SCA Off-Campus Holdings LLC, Providence & SCA On-Campus Holdings LLC, Providence & SCA Outreach Markets Holdings LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., R Cubed Inc., RABessler M.D. P.C., ROC Surgery LLC, ROCS Holdings LLC, RX Ricardo Campos Ltda., Rally Health Inc., ReMedics LLC, Real Appeal Inc., Redding Surgery Center LLC, Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Reliant Medical Group Inc., Reliant Medical Group The Endoscopy Center LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, Resonancia Magnetica de Colombia Ltda., Resonancia Magnetica del Country S.A., RightCare Solutions Inc., River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Corporate Wellness LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Robert A. Bessler MD PLLC, Rockville Eye Surgery Center LLC, Rocky Mountain Health Maintenance Organization Incorporated, Rush Oak Brook Surgery Center LLC, SC Affiliates LLC, SCA AHN JV Holdings LLC, SCA Alaska Surgery Center inc., SCA Athens LLC, SCA Austin Holdings LLC, SCA Austin Medical Center Holdings LLC, SCA Aventura Holdings LLC, SCA BOSC Holdings LLC, SCA Bloomfield Holdings LLC, SCA Cedar Park Holdings LLC, SCA Clifton LLC, SCA Colorado Springs Holdings LLC, SCA Community Service Foundation, SCA Cottonwood Holdings LLC, SCA Danbury Surgical Center LLC, SCA Denver Holdings LLC, SCA Development LLC, SCA Duluth Holdings LLC, SCA Duncanville Holdings LLC, SCA Duncanville MSO LLC, SCA ESSC Holdings LLC, SCA Englewood Holdings LLC, SCA Global One Holdings LLC, SCA Greenway Holdings LLC, SCA Grove Creek Holdings LLC, SCA Guilford Holdings LLC, SCA Hays Holdings LLC, SCA Health Value Enterprise LLC, SCA Heartland Holdings LLC, SCA High Point Holdings LLC, SCA HoldCo Inc., SCA Holding Company Inc., SCA Holdings Inc., SCA IEC Holdings LLC, SCA Indiana Holdings LLC, SCA Lutheran Holdings LLC, SCA Maple Grove Holdings LLC, SCA Mohawk Holdings LLC, SCA Murrells Inlet LLC, SCA Northern Utah Holdings LLC, SCA Northwest Holdings LLC, SCA Outside New Jersey LLC, SCA Pacific Holdings Inc., SCA Pacific Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Palisades Holdings LLC, SCA Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, SCA Pinnacle Holdings LLC, SCA Premier Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, SCA Providence Holdings LLC, SCA ROCS Holdings LLC, SCA Rockledge JV LLC, SCA Rush Oak Brook Holdings LLC, SCA SSSC Holdings LLC, SCA Sage Medical LLC, SCA Sage Medical MSO LLC, SCA San Diego Holdings LLC, SCA Skyway Holdings LLC, SCA South Ogden Holdings LLC, SCA Southwestern PA LLC, SCA Specialists of Florida LLC, SCA Specialty Holdings of Connecticut LLC, SCA Stonegate Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Surgicare of Laguna Hills LLC, SCA Teammate Support Network, SCA West Health Holdings LLC, SCA Westgreen Holdings LLC, SCA Woodbury Holdings LLC, SCA eCode Solutions Private Limited, SCA of Clarksville Inc., SCA-Albuquerque Surgery Properties Inc., SCA-Alliance LLC, SCA-Anne Arundel LLC, SCA-Applecare Partners LLC, SCA-Bethesda LLC, SCA-Blue Ridge LLC, SCA-Bonita Springs LLC, SCA-Brandon LLC, SCA-Castle Rock LLC, SCA-Central Florida LLC, SCA-Charleston LLC, SCA-Chatham LLC, SCA-Chevy Chase LLC, SCA-Citrus Inc., SCA-Colonial Partners LLC, SCA-Colorado Springs LLC, SCA-Connecticut Partners LLC, SCA-DRY CREEK LLC, SCA-Davenport LLC, SCA-Denver LLC, SCA-Denver Physicians Holdings LLC, SCA-Derry LLC, SCA-Doral LLC, SCA-Downey LLC, SCA-Dublin LLC, SCA-Encinitas Inc., SCA-Eugene Inc., SCA-First Coast LLC, SCA-Florence LLC, SCA-Fort Collins Inc., SCA-Fort Walton Inc., SCA-Franklin LLC, SCA-Frederick LLC, SCA-Freeway Holdings LLC, SCA-Ft. Myers LLC, SCA-GRANTS PASS LLC, SCA-Gainesville LLC, SCA-Gladiolus LLC, SCA-Glenwood Holdings LLC, SCA-Grove Place LLC, SCA-Hagerstown LLC, SCA-Hamden LLC, SCA-Hilton Head LLC, SCA-Honolulu LLC, SCA-Houston Executive LLC, SCA-IT Holdings LLC, SCA-Illinois LLC, SCA-JPM Holdings LLC, SCA-Kissing Camels Holdings LLC, SCA-MC VBP Inc., SCA-Main Street LLC, SCA-Marina del Rey LLC, SCA-Mecklenburg Development Corp., SCA-Memorial City LLC, SCA-Memorial LLC, SCA-Merritt LLC, SCA-Midlands LLC, SCA-Midway Management LLC, SCA-Mobile LLC, SCA-Mokena LLC, SCA-Morris Avenue LLC, SCA-Morris County LLC, SCA-Mt. Pleasant LLC, SCA-Naperville LLC, SCA-Naples LLC, SCA-New Jersey LLC, SCA-Newport Beach LLC, SCA-Northeast Georgia Health LLC, SCA-PORTLAND LLC, SCA-Palm Beach LLC, SCA-Palm Beach MSO Holdings LLC, SCA-Panama City Holdings LLC, SCA-Paoli LLC, SCA-Phoenix LLC, SCA-Pocono LLC, SCA-Practice Partners Holdings LLC, SCA-River Valley LLC, SCA-Riverside LLC, SCA-Riverside Partners LLC, SCA-Rockville LLC, SCA-Sacred Heart Holdings LLC, SCA-San Diego Inc., SCA-San Luis Obispo LLC, SCA-Sand Lake LLC, SCA-Santa Rosa Inc., SCA-Somerset LLC, SCA-South Jersey LLC, SCA-Sparta LLC, SCA-Spartanburg Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis LLC, SCA-St. Lucie LLC, SCA-SurgiCare LLC, SCA-Swiftpath LLC, SCA-VERTA LLC, SCA-VLR Holdings Company LLC, SCA-Wake Forest LLC, SCA-Western Connecticut LLC, SCA-Westover Hills LLC, SCA-Winchester LLC, SCA-Winter Park Inc., SCA-Woodlands Holdings LLC, SCAI Holdings LLC, SCLHS-SCA Holdings LLC, SCP Specialty Infusion LLC, SHC Atlanta LLC, SHC Austin Inc., SHC Hawthorn Inc., SHC Melbourne Inc., SJ East Campus ASC LLC, SRPS LLC, SSSC Holdings LLC, SVHS-SCA Florida JV LLC, Sacred Heart ASC LLC, Saden S.A., Sage Medical Prof. LLC, Salem JV Holdings LLC, Salem Surgery Center LLC, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy Inc., San Diego Endoscopy Center, San Diego Sports and Minimally Invasive Surgery Center LLC, San Francisco Endoscopy Center LLC, San Luis Obispo Surgery Center a California Limited Partnership, Sand Lake SurgiCenter LLC, Santa Barbara Endoscopy Center LLC, Santa Cruz Endoscopy Center LLC, Santa Helena Assistencia Medica S.A., Santa Rosa Surgery Center L.P., Santos Administracao e Participacoes S.A., Sanvello Health Holdings LLC, Sanvello Health Inc., Sanvello Health Limited, Scanner Centromed S.A., Seashore Surgical Institute L.L.C., Seisa Servicos Integrados de Saude Ltda., Senate Street Surgery Center LLC, Senior Benefits L.L.C., Serquinox Holdings LLC, Servicios Integrados de Salud Ltda., Servicios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Servicios Medicos Bio Bio Ltda., Servicios Medicos Ciudad del Mar Ltda., Servicios Medicos Santa Maria Ltda., Servicios Medicos Vespucio Ltda., Servicios de Entrenamiento en Competencias Clinicas Ltda., Serviclinica Inmobiliaria S.A., Serviclinica S.A. Ex Los Leones La Calera, Servisalud Inmobiliaria S.A., Servisalud S.A. Ex Los Carrera Quilpue, Shark Holdings P.C., Sierra Dental Plan Inc., Sierra Health Services Inc, Sierra Health Services Inc., Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company Inc., Sierra Health-Care Options Inc., Sierra Home Medical Products Inc., Sierra Nevada Administrators Inc., Sistema de Administracion Hospitalaria S.A.C., Small Business Insurance Advisors Inc., Sobam Centro Medico Hospitalar S.A., Sociedad de Inversiones Santa Maria SpA, Solstice Administration Services Inc., Solstice Administrators Inc., Solstice Administrators of Alabama Inc., Solstice Administrators of Arizona Inc., Solstice Administrators of Missouri Inc., Solstice Administrators of North Carolina Inc., Solstice Administrators of Texas Inc., Solstice Benefit Services Inc., Solstice Benefits Inc., Solstice Health Insurance Company, Solstice Healthplans Inc., Solstice Healthplans of Arizona Inc., Solstice Healthplans of Colorado Inc., Solstice Healthplans of New Jersey Inc., Solstice Healthplans of Ohio Inc., Solstice Healthplans of Tennessee Inc., Solstice Healthplans of Texas Inc., Solstice of Illinois Inc., Solstice of Minnesota Inc., Solstice of New York Inc., Solutran LLC, Somerset Outpatient Surgery L.L.C., Sound Inpatient Physicians Inc., Sound Inpatient Physicians Medical Group Inc., Sound Inpatient Physicians of Ohio LLC, Sound Inpatient Physicians of Texas I Inc., Sound Inpatient Physicians Michigan PLLC, Sound Intensivists of Nevada RBessler M.D. PLLC, Sound Kenwood Hospitalists of Cincinnati Inc., Sound Kenwood Hospitalists of Cincinnati LLC, Sound Physicians Advisory Services Inc., Sound Physicians Alaska Hospitalist Group LLC, Sound Physicians Anesthesiology of Texas PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Arizona Inc., Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Georgia P.C., Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Illinois LLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Kansas LLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Kentucky PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Louisiana Inc., Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Michigan PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Nevada Bessler PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of South Carolina LLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Southern California P.C., Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Texas PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of Washington PLLC, Sound Physicians Emergency Medicine of West Virginia PLLC, Sound Physicians Holdings LLC, Sound Physicians Intensivists of Arizona Inc., Sound Physicians Intensivists of Georgia PC, Sound Physicians Intensivists of South Carolina LLC, Sound Physicians Intensivists of Virginia LLC, Sound Physicians Intensivists of Washington PLLC, Sound Physicians Palliative Care of Maryland P.C., Sound Physicians Telemedicine Inc., Sound Physicians of Florida IV LLC, Sound Physicians of Georgia III P.C., Sound Physicians of Hawaii Inc., Sound Physicians of Idaho PLLC, Sound Physicians of Illinois LLC, Sound Physicians of Indiana LLC, Sound Physicians of Iowa PLLC, Sound Physicians of Kankakee Illinois LLC, Sound Physicians of Massachusetts II P.C., Sound Physicians of Massachusetts Inc., Sound Physicians of New Jersey LLC, Sound Physicians of New York PLLC, Sound Physicians of North Carolina PLLC, Sound Physicians of South Carolina LLC, Sound Physicians of Wyoming LLC, South Arlington Surgical Providers LLC, South County Surgical Center LLC, South Sound Inpatient Physicians PLLC, Southern California Medical Practice Concepts LLC, Southland Hospitalists P.C., Southwest Medical Associates Inc., Southwest Michigan Health Network Inc., Southwest Surgery Center LLC, Southwest Surgical Center LLC, Space Coast Surgical Center Ltd., Spartanburg Surgery Center LLC, Specialists in Urology Surgery Center LLC, Specialized Pharmaceuticals Inc., Specialty Benefits LLC, Specialty Billing Solutions LLC, Specialty Surgical Center LLC, Spectera Inc., Spectera of New York IPA Inc., Sports and Spinal Physical Therapy Inc., St. Cloud Outpatient Surgery Ltd. a Minnesota Limited Partnership, St. Cloud Surgical Center LLC, St. Louis Cardiovascular Institute LLC, St. Louis Specialty Surgical Center LLC, Stonegate JV Partners LLC, Stonegate Surgery Center L.P., Summer Street ASC LLC, SunSurgery LLC, Surgery Center Holding LLC, Surgery Center at Cherry Creek LLC, Surgery Center at Cottonwood LLC, Surgery Center at Grove Creek LLC, Surgery Center at Kissing Camels LLC, Surgery Center at South Ogden LLC, Surgery Center at St. Vincent LLC, Surgery Center of Boca Raton Inc., Surgery Center of Colorado Springs LLC, Surgery Center of Des Moines LLC, Surgery Center of Easton LLC, Surgery Center of Ellicott City Inc., Surgery Center of Fairfield County LLC, Surgery Center of Fort Collins LLC, Surgery Center of Lexington LLC, Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, Surgery Center of Maui LLC, Surgery Center of Mt. Scott LLC, Surgery Center of Muskogee LLC, Surgery Center of Rockville L.L.C., Surgery Center of Southern Pines LLC, Surgery Center of The Woodlands LLC, Surgery Centers of Des Moines Ltd. an Iowa Limited Partnership, Surgery Centers-West Holdings LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates, Surgical Care Affiliates LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates Political Action Committee, Surgical Care Partners of Melbourne LLC, Surgical Caregivers of Fort Worth LLC, Surgical Center of Greensboro LLC, Surgical Center of San Diego LLC, Surgical Center of South Jersey Limited Partnership, Surgical Center of Tuscaloosa Holdings LLC, Surgical Eye Experts LLC, Surgical Health LLC, Surgical Health of Orlando LLC, Surgical Hospital Holdings of Oklahoma LLC, Surgical Management Solutions LLC, Surgicare LLC, Surgicare of Central Jersey LLC, Surgicare of Jackson LLC, Surgicare of Jackson Ltd. a Mississippi Limited Partnership, Surgicare of Joliet Inc., Surgicare of La Veta Inc., Surgicare of La Veta Ltd. a California Limited Partnership, Surgicare of Minneapolis LLC, Surgicare of Minneapolis Ltd. a Minnesota Limited Partnership, Surgicare of Mobile LLC, Surgicare of Mobile Ltd., Surgicare of Oceanside Inc., Surgicare of Owensboro LLC, Surgicare of Salem LLC, Surgicenters of Southern California Inc., Symphonix Health Holdings LLC, T.M. Carr M.D. P.C., THE SURGICAL CENTER OF THE TREASURE COAST L.L.C., THR-SCA Holdings LLC, TeamMD Holdings Inc., TeamMD Iowa Inc., TeamMD Physicians of Texas Inc., TeamUP Insurance Services Inc., Tecnologia de Informacion en Salud S.A., Texas Health Craig Ranch Surgery Center LLC, Texas Health Flower Mound Orthopedic Surgery Center LLC, Texas Health Orthopedic Surgery Center Alliance LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Alliance LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Bedford LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Chisholm Trail LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Irving LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Las Colinas LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Preston Plaza LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Rockwall LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Southwest Fort Worth LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Waxahachie LLC, Texas Health Surgery Center Willow Park LLC, The Advisory Board Company, The Alaska Hospitalist Group LLC, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, The Eye Surgery Center of the Carolinas L.P., The Intensivist Group of Langhorne LLC, The Lewin Group Inc., The Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head LLC, The Polyclinic MSO LLC, The Surgery Center of Easton L.P., The Surgical Center of Connecticut LLC, Thomas Johnson Surgery Center LLC, Three Rivers Holdings Inc., Three Rivers Surgical Care L.P., Tmesys LLC, Topimagem Diagnostico por Imagem Ltda., Touchpoint Health Plan, Trails Edge Surgery Center LLC, Trauma Surgery Affiliates LLC, Travel Express Incorporated, Treasure Valley Emerald Properties LLC, Treasure Valley Hospital Limited Partnership, Tri-City Medical Center ASC Operators LLC, Tri-County Surgery Center LLC, Trinity Cardiovascular Care PLLC, Tufts Health Freedom Insurance Company, Tufts Health Freedom Plans Inc., Tuscaloosa Surgical Center L.P., U.S. Behavioral Health Plan California, UCSD Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, UCSD Center for Surgery of Encinitas L.P., UCSD Surgical Center of San Diego LLC, UCSD-SCA Holdings I LLC, UCSD-SCA Holdings II LLC, UHC Finance Ireland Unlimited Company, UHC International Services Inc., UHC of California, UHCG Holdings Ireland Limited, UHCG Services Ireland Limited, UHCG FZE, UHG Brasil Participacoes S.A., UHG Holdings UK IV Limited, UHG Holdings UK V Limited, UHG Holdings UK VI Limited, UHIC Holdings Inc., UMR Inc., UPHT-SCA Holdings LLC, USHEALTH Academy Inc., USHEALTH Administrators LLC, USHEALTH Advisors LLC, USHEALTH Career Agency Inc., USHEALTH Funding Inc., USHEALTH Group Inc., USMD ASC IV1 LLC, USMD ASC IV2 LLC, USMD Administrative Services L.L.C., USMD Affiliated Services, USMD Holdings Inc., USMD Hospital at Arlington L.P., USMD Hospital at Fort Worth L.P., USMD Inc., USMD PPM LLC, Unidad Medica Diagnostico S.A., Unimerica Insurance Company, Unimerica Life Insurance Company of New York, Unison Health Plan of Delaware Inc., United Behavioral Health, United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A. Inc., United Group Reinsurance Inc., United Health Foundation, United HealthCare Services Inc., United Medical Park ASC LLC, United Resource Networks IPA of New York Inc., United in Advancing Health Equity Foundation, UnitedHealth Advisors LLC, UnitedHealth Group Employee Assistance Fund, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedHealth Group International Finance Ireland Unlimited Company, UnitedHealth International Inc., UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services LLC, UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas L.L.C., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service Beijing Co. Ltd., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Global Medical UK Limited, UnitedHealthcare Inc., UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of America, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Designated Activity Company, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services Inc., UnitedHealthcare International Asia LLC, UnitedHealthcare International I B.V., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III B.V., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VIII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International X S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Parekh Insurance TPA Private Limited, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits LLC, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arizona Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Colorado Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Florida Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky Ltd., UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New England Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oregon Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., UnitedHealthcare of South Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Utah Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Rockies Inc., Unity Health Network LLC, Upland Holdings LLC, Upland Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Urgent Care Holdings Inc., Urgent Care MSO LLC, Urology Associates of North Texas P.L.L.C., VERTA MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC, VPay Benefits Corporation, VPay Inc., VPay Intermediate Holdings LLC, Valley Hospital L.L.C., Valley Physicians Network Inc., Vascular Labs of the Rockies ASC LLC, Vascular Labs of the Rockies PLLC, Via Vitae MSO LLC, Vida Integra S.p.A., Vida Tres S.A., Virtua-SCA Holdings II LLC, Virtua-SCA Holdings LLC, Vivify Health Canada Inc., Vivify Health Inc., WESTMED Practice Partners LLC, Wake Forest Ambulatory Ventures LLC, Walnut Creek Endoscopy Center LLC, Walnut Hill Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Surgery Center LLC, Wayland Square Surgicare Acquisition L.P., Wayland Square Surgicare GP Inc., Waypoint Minnesota PC, WellMed Medical Management Inc., WellMed Medical Management of Florida Inc., West Coast Endoscopy Holdings LLC, WestHealth JV Holdings LLC, WestHealth Surgery Center LLC, Western Connecticut Orthopedic Surgical Center LLC, Westgreen Surgical Center LLC, Wilson Creek Surgical Center LLC, Winchester Endoscopy LLC, Winter Park LLC, Winter Park Surgery Center L.P., Woodbury Surgery Center LLC, XAS Infusion Suites Inc., XLHealth Corporation, XLHealth Corporation India Private Limited, divvyDOSE, divvyMED LLC, eCode Solutions LLC, gethealthinsurance.com Agency Inc., hCentive Inc., inPharmative Inc., naviHealth Care at Home LLC, naviHealth Coordinated Care LLC, naviHealth Coordinated Care SC P.C., naviHealth Holdings LLC, naviHealth Inc., naviHealth Michigan HBPC P.C., and naviHealth SM Holdings Inc..
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Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease, and critical care and surgical monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of heart valves; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases. The company also provides the PASCAL and Cardioband transcatheter valve repair systems for minimally-invasive therapy. In addition, it offers surgical structural heart solutions, such as aortic surgical valve under the INSPIRIS name; KONECT RESILIA, a pre-assembled aortic tissue valved conduit for patients who require replacement of the valve, root, and ascending aorta; and HARPOON Beating Heart Mitral Valve Repair System for patients with degenerative mitral regurgitation. Further, the company provides critical care solutions, including advanced hemodynamic monitoring systems to measure a patient's heart function and fluid status in surgical and intensive care settings; and Acumen Hypotension Prediction Index software that alerts clinicians in advance of a patient developing dangerously low blood pressure. The company distributes its products through a direct sales force and independent distributors. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation was founded in 1958 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
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.
Procter & Gamble Co, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a multinational consumer goods corporation founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. The company has a rich history of innovation and has become a household name in many countries worldwide. Proctor & Gamble Co is a consumer staples stock. A consumer staples stock is a type of stock that offers investors a more stable and steady growth pattern that is minimally affected by economic factors.
With a market capitalization of over $327.9 billion as of February 2023, Procter & Gamble is one of the largest companies in the world. The company operates in over 70 countries, with its products sold in more than 180 countries globally. Its brand portfolio includes household names such as Tide, Pampers, Gillette, Head & Shoulders, Crest, and Olay.
Procter & Gamble's business is divided into five segments: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric & Home Care, and Baby, Feminine & Family Care. The Beauty segment includes SK-II, Pantene, and Herbal Essences. The Grooming segment comprises brands such as Gillette, Venus, and Braun. The Health Care segment includes brands such as Oral-B, Vicks, and Pepto-Bismol. The Fabric & Home Care segment includes Tide, Downy, and Swiffer brands. The Baby, Feminine & Family Care segment includes brands such as Pampers, Always, and Tampax.
Procter & Gamble's products are sold through various channels, including retail stores, online retailers, and direct-to-consumer channels. The company has also invested in e-commerce capabilities and digital advertising, recognizing the importance of these channels in reaching consumers.
Procter & Gamble has a long history of innovation and investing in research and development. The company's R&D efforts are focused on improving its existing products and developing new products that meet the evolving needs of consumers. Procter & Gamble also invests heavily in marketing and advertising, recognizing the importance of building strong brands that resonate with consumers.
Recently, Procter & Gamble has made sustainability a key focus area. The company has set ambitious goals to reduce its environmental footprint, such as using 100% renewable electricity at all its plants by 2030. Procter & Gamble has also committed to reducing its plastic packaging waste to reduce its use of virgin plastic by 50% by 2030.
Procter & Gamble has a strong financial position, a solid balance sheet and a history of strong cash flows. The company has a long record of paying dividends, with over 130 years of uninterrupted dividend payments. Procter & Gamble has also implemented a share buyback program, repurchasing over $30 billion of its shares in the past three years.
Despite its size and global reach, Procter & Gamble faces competition from various large and small companies. The consumer goods industry is highly competitive, with companies constantly vying for market share and consumer attention. Procter & Gamble must continue to innovate and invest in its brands to stay ahead of its competitors.
New Relic, Inc., a software-as-a-service company, delivers a software platform for customers to collect telemetry data and derive insights from that data in a unified front-end application. It offers a suite of products on its open and extensible cloud-based platform, which enables users to collect, store, and analyze telemetry data. The company's platform also provides New Relic Instant Observability, an open-source ecosystem of quickstarts that delivers pre-built integrations, dashboards, and alerts for approximately 450 technologies and frameworks; and supports custom app development through common open-source frameworks, a library of existing applications, and a development environment. It sells its products through direct sales organizations, and online and offline sales in the United States and internationally. New Relic, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Wipro Limited operates as an information technology (IT), consulting, and business process services company worldwide. It operates through three segments: IT Services, IT Products, and India State Run Enterprise Services (ISRE). The IT Services segment offers IT and IT-enabled services, including digital strategy advisory, customer-centric design, technology and IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, cloud and infrastructure, business process, cloud, mobility and analytics, research and development, and hardware and software design services to enterprises. It serves customers in various industry sectors, such as healthcare and medical devices, consumer goods and life sciences, retail, transportation and services, communications, media and information services, technology products and platforms, banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, hi-tech, energy, and utilities. The IT Products segment provides a range of third-party IT products comprising enterprise platforms, networking solutions, software and data storage products, contact center infrastructure, enterprise security, IT optimization technologies, video solutions, and end-user computing solutions. It serves enterprises in various industries primarily in the Indian market, which comprise the government, defense, IT and IT-enabled services, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, education, and financial services sectors. The ISRE segment offers IT services to entities and departments owned or controlled by the Government of India and/or various Indian State Governments. It also provides cybersecurity consulting services. The company has a partnership with ServiceNow, Inc. to develop Wipro CyberTransform - Intelligent ServiceNow Risk and Security Solutions. The company was incorporated in 1945 and is based in Bengaluru, India.
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas giant founded in 1920 to explore for oil in California. The company made its name in the early 1960safter discovering the Lathrop Gas Field in Lathrop, California. The company expanded into chemicals manufacturing in 1968 and then in 1972 it became a pioneer in the quest to extract oil from shale. In 1993, the company made a historic move by exiting its coal operations, and then it did so again when it embraced a lower carbon future.
The company worked to realign its goals with a carbon-free future in 2021. After extensive review, new carbon emission targets were laid out along with a plan that the Transition Pathway Initiative recognized as being 1 of 3 coming from major oil companies that could realistically result in net-zero emissions by 2050. Since then the company has laid interim goals that include net zero from operations and energy by 2040 and no routine flaring by 2030.
Today, Occidental Petroleum is an integrated energy company with operations in the US, the Middle East, Africa, and Columbia along with some other smaller operations. The company operates a network of best-in-class production, delivery, and storage facilities with operations centered in the US. On a net basis, the companys US operations accounted for more than 75% of the total in 2022 with 19% from Middle East operations and the remainder from Columbia and elsewhere.
The company engages in the oil & gas business as an explorer, producer, and mid-stream infrastructure operator. The company operates through three segments that include Oil and Gas, Chemicals, and Midstream & Marketing.
The oil and gas segment explores for oil, develops new fields, and produces hydrocarbon liquids, gasses, and condensates. The chemicals segment manufactures a range of chemicals including chlorine, potassium chemicals, and vinyl. The midstream segment transports, stores, and markets hydrocarbons. It is the 6th largest oil and gas producer in the US by market cap. The company attained the position after its acquisition of Anadarko Petroleum in 2019, the 4th largest oil and gas acquisition at the time.
Berkshire Hathaway became Occidental Petroleums largest shareholder in mid-2022. The firm had purchased more than 26% of the shares as of 10/14/2022 and had regulatory approval to purchase up to 50% of the company in total.
Philip Morris International (NYSE:PM) pays an annual dividend of $5.20 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 5.94%. PM 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 16 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 100.97%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on EPS estimates, PM will have a dividend payout ratio of 79.03% in the coming year. This indicates that the company may not be able to sustain their current dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for PM.
San Francisco McDonald's faces a lawsuit after a woman was severely burned because of a scalding coffee.
The question is, is this legal action another money-making lawsuit? Here are the major details you need to know.
San Francisco McDonald's Faces Lawsuit Over Severe Coffee Burns
According to SFGate's latest report, Mable Childress filed a lawsuit in the San Francisco Court on Sept. 14. The plaintiff explained that she purchased a cup of coffee in the drive-thru of the McDonald's branch at 1100 Fillmore St. in June.
But she was surprised that the coffee cup lid wasn't secure, causing the cup to open. Because of this, the scalding coffee spilled onto her body.
She had third-degree burns on her groin, abdomen, and legs, as reported by Delish. Her lawsuit also stated that the woman continued to experience pain and emotional distress because of the incident. Aside from this, Mable also claims that employees at McDonald's just ignored her despite her call for help.
"She was standing there for quite some time, around 20 to 25 minutes, asking for a manager," said Mable's lawyer, Dylan Hackett.
"They didn't give her the time of day. ... Nobody helped her whatsoever. She had to get to the hospital herself," he added.
The attorney added that the coffee that burned Childress was hotter than 190 degrees. Based on these details, the lawsuit filed by Mable is not a money-making legal action. However, she still asks for millions of dollars from the American fast-food chain. The San Francisco McDonald's branch still hasn't commented on Mable's legal action.
Read Also: British American Tobacco Shows Support for Ukraine by Ending Sales in Russia
McDonald's a Target of Lawsuits
Lawsuits usually target McDonald's. Most complaints against the fast-food chain are injuries caused by its meals or drinks. Before Mable's lawsuit, another legal action was filed a few months ago. This involved a young girl in Florida who was burned by a chicken nugget.
The kid's family initially sued McDonald's for around $15 million. But, they were only awarded $800,000 for the damages and inconvenience. Since the 1990s, McDonald's has been at the center of lawsuits. And the fast-food chain will still be in this situation for the next couple of years.
Related Article: Las Vegas Blind Date Stabber Shares New Details to Police-Saying She Thought She's Salma Hayek of 'From Dusk Till Dawn'
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AerCap Holdings N.V. engages in the lease, financing, sale, and management of commercial flight equipment in China, Hong Kong, Macau, the United States, Ireland, and internationally. The company offers aircraft asset management services, such as remarketing aircraft and engines; collecting rental and maintenance rent payments, monitoring aircraft maintenance, monitoring and enforcing contract compliance, and accepting delivery and redelivery of aircraft and engines; and conducting ongoing lessee financial performance reviews. Its aircraft asset management services also include periodically inspecting the leased aircraft and engines; coordinating technical modifications to aircraft to meet new lessee requirements; conducting restructuring negotiations in connection with lease defaults; repossessing aircraft and engines; arranging and monitoring insurance coverage; registering and de-registering aircraft; arranging for aircraft and engine valuations; and providing market research services. The company also provides cash management services, including treasury services, such as the financing, refinancing, hedging, and ongoing cash management of vehicles; and administrative services comprising accounting and corporate secretarial services consisting of the preparation of budgets and financial statements. In addition, it offers airframe and engine parts and supply chain solutions to airlines; maintenance, repair, and overhaul service providers; and aircraft parts distributors. As of December 31, 2022, the company had a portfolio of 2,194 owned, managed, or on order aircraft. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
Delta Air Lines Inc. is a major airline providing domestic and international air travel services. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Delta is one of the largest airlines in the world, operating a fleet of over 900 aircraft that serves more than 325 destinations across six continents. Delta has a long history in the airline industry. It is known for its exceptional customer service, operational reliability and industry-leading innovation.
As of the end of the fourth quarter of 2022, Delta Air Lines Inc. had a market capitalization of $24.5 billion, with over 720 million outstanding shares. The company has a strong financial position, with total revenue for the full year 2022 reaching $38.6 billion, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. Delta's net income for the same period was $2.7 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 2021.
Delta's strong financial performance comes from several factors, including its strategic focus on customer service, operational efficiency and technological innovation. The company has invested heavily in its fleet and infrastructure and is committed to delivering passengers a safe and comfortable travel experience. Delta has also made significant investments in technology, such as its Fly Delta app and biometric boarding, which have helped to streamline the travel experience and improve customer satisfaction.
Delta is also committed to sustainable business practices, focusing on reducing its environmental impact. The company has set ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2050 and has invested in fuel-efficient aircraft and sustainable aviation fuel. In addition, Delta has a comprehensive recycling program and has implemented measures to reduce waste in its operations.
Delta's strong brand recognition, customer loyalty and strategic partnerships support its competitive position in the airline industry. The company has alliances with several international airlines, such as Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic, enabling it to provide its customers with seamless travel experiences. Delta also has a strong presence in key markets, such as New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles, which have helped to drive its growth and profitability.
Delta also faces significant challenges in the airline industry, including intense competition from other major airlines and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic severely impacted the airline industry, with reduced demand for air travel and significant disruptions to operations. Delta responded to these challenges by implementing cost-cutting measures, such as reducing its workforce, retiring older aircraft and focusing on its core customer service and operational efficiency strengths.
The docks at Crazy Horse Marina in Moneta were filled with history on Saturday. Boats from decades-long past were on display for Smith Mountain Lakes 31st Annual Antique and Classic Boat Show.
Visitors lined the docks Saturday to get a closer look at more than 40 boats that hailed from an era as long ago as the 1920s. Many of the boats on display are owned by members of the Smith Mountain Lake Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society who organize the event each year.
Club member John Seal said good weather helped to bring in the crowds. He expected turnout to rival the 2,000 people that attended last year.
I think we are there or beyond it this year, Seal said.
Visitors snapped photos of each of the antique and classic boats and even voted for their favorite. Boats are judged each year in a variety of categories including the peoples choice award chosen by visitors.
We are amazed by the beauty of these boats, Tommie Sperrazza of Moneta said. He and his wife said they heard about the show and decided to come out and see what it was all about.
Tony Oosterbeek who travels between his homes in Moneta and West Virginia said he makes a point to attend the show each year. He comes to get a close up view of boats your rarely get to see anywhere else.
I really enjoy antique boats, Oosterbeek said. I try to make it a point to come every year.
The show is also an annual fundraiser for local charities. While the show is free to attend, guest are asked to make donations in a collection jar that will be split between Lake Christian Ministries in Moneta and Henry Fork Services Center in Rocky Mount.
Jim McCloskey of Leonardtown, Maryland agreed to match everything donated during the show as well as donate an additional $1,000. While not a member of the club, he was given assistance from member John Coffman to fix up his fathers 1960 Chris Craft that had fallen into disrepair.
Coffman is one of several members in the Smith Mountain Lake club that actively work on and restore old boats. He had McCloskeys boat, named Class of 60 on display Saturday.
Its incredible what he did, McCloskey said.
Nebraska lawyers are continuing to address the difficulty many people have in obtaining legal counsel, filling whats known as the justice gap.
In a visit to Grand Island last month, members of the State Bar Association talked about the need for counsel in criminal and civil cases.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of two events that went a long way toward helping people obtain legal representation.
Gideon v. Wainwright, a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision, established that all Americans, regardless of income, have a right to appointed counsel where imprisonment is at stake, said Jason Grams of Omaha, president of the State Bar Association.
The other anniversary celebrates the 1963 formation of Legal Aid of Nebraska.
Although there are exceptions, there is generally no right to counsel in civil cases. Thats part of the reason why Legal Aids exist nationwide, said Laurie Heer Dale, who is director of Legal Aid of Nebraska.
Legal Aid essentially exists to provide free civil legal services to Nebraskans who have limited income, Heer Dale said.
About 300,000 Nebraskans would be eligible for free civil legal services, she said. Legal Aid of Nebraska is able to help about 13,000 of those people each year.
Legal Aid of Nebraska has seven offices across the state. They are in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Norfolk, Scottsbluff and Bancroft.
About a third of its funding comes from the Legal Services Corp., a publicly funded nonprofit corporation that began in 1974. There are now 132 Legal Aid programs across the country, Heer Dale said.
Legal Aid attorneys help vulnerable individuals navigate complex legal procedures, provide advice and education, and most importantly, improve the likelihood of a favorable outcome in their legal situation, says a news release.
Grams pointed out that Legal Aid of Nebraska is available to people statewide.
The State Bar Associations Volunteer Lawyers Project has a new virtual self-help center for self-represented litigants. That service allows low-income Nebraskans to meet virtually with an attorney for free for 30-mintue sessions to discuss civil legal issues. The volunteer lawyers provide information and basic legal advice.
For those sessions, a smartphone, computer or mobile devices is required. The program is not meant for criminal legal matters or appeals. To register, visit www.nevlp.org/shcsignup.
Public defenders represent people in criminal cases.
But only about 25 Nebraska counties have public defenders, Grams said. Hall County is one of those counties.
Nebraska law provides that counties of more than 100,000 people are required to staff offices of public defenders, including an elected chief.
The State Bar Association feels its essential that county boards fully fund public defenders offices, Grams said.
Some counties have part-time county attorneys. Counties in rural areas generally rely on court-appointed counsel and contract with individual lawyers to serve as prosecutors.
Eleven Nebraska counties have no lawyers. People who need legal services in those counties have to drive elsewhere.
Many people who have jobs still cant afford to pay someone $300 an hour to go to all their court appearances, give them appropriate counseling and generally represent them in a civil matter, Grams said.
Everyone likes to tell lawyer jokes, Grams said. But lawyers are essential when you get into a situation where you need one, he said.
Ten or 15 Nebraska counties are home to just one or two attorneys. And those folks are aging out of the profession, Grams said.
The State Bar Association tries to get young lawyers to move into those communities. Not only is there a need, but they can make a good living taking over some of those practices, Grams said.
A significant number of Nebraskans cant get legal help because there arent enough lawyers and dollars to help them, Gram said.
That need grows every year, Heer Dale said.
KEARNEY No one knows why Bill Taddicken was abruptly dismissed last week as center director of Ian Nicholson Audubon Center Rowe Sanctuary, but his friends and supporters wouldnt let him go quietly.
They honored Taddicken at a reception Friday night at the Younes Conference Center North with food, drinks, four cakes, music, proclamations, handshakes and hugs.
One guest, Carol Hines, even made a sandhill crane scarf for the occasion.
During his 26 years at Rowe, Taddicken is credited with raising awareness and activities around the annual sandhill crane migration every spring and turning Kearney into the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World. The six-week crane season draws visitors from nearly all 50 states and numerous foreign countries.
No reason has been given for his departure. Monday afternoon, Kristal Stoner, vice president of the National Audubon Society and executive director of Audubon Great Plains, said only that out of respect for Bill, and due to our confidentiality policies, we are unable to disclose the specific reasons for his departure.
Stoner said she will manage operations at Rowe while an extensive search is underway for permanent director.
All that was set aside during Fridays celebration, planned by his wife Autumn. The couple lives in rural Gibbon.
Bill didnt get to pick how he ended his time at Rowe, but I get to pick how we mark his 26-year career, Autumn said in the invitation. I hope you can join us to celebrate his work on behalf of the cranes and the Platte River.
Friends and supporters flocked to the event. During the brief program, Taddicken received a standing ovation and accepted a city proclamation from Jonathan Nikkila, Rowe board chairman and a Kearney city councilman.
The proclamation noted Taddickens work putting Rowe Sanctuary and the Kearney area on a worldwide stage. It said he was part of:
*Conservation work on the Platte River for the betterment of sandhill cranes, whooping cranes and other birds.
*Assisting with Kearneys designation as the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World.
*Expanding Rowe from 1,100 acres to 3,000 acres in size, providing the gold standard for a habitat complex on the Platte River.
*Launching the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program, which manages the entire river for cranes and other birds and wildlife.
*Making the Platte River a haven for cranes and an extraordinary learning experience for worldwide crane devotees.
It concluded, It all comes down to one key component: your endearing dedication to Audubon. The everlasting mark you have left at Rowe Sanctuary . . . will keep the vision for Rowe Sanctuary, the Platte River, and the Central Flyway soaring into the future.
In response, Taddicken thanked the public. It takes all of us, as a community, to take care of the environment at Rowe Sanctuary. Rowe became the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World not because of me, but because of you, he said.
Taddicken was also instrumental in Rowes $13 million expansion project, part of Elevate: The Campaign for Audubon Nebraska, which began last spring.
In a letter emailed to friends early last week, he announced his departure, but also noted his accomplishments:
During my tenure the local community went from disregarding cranes and crane watchers to Kearney proclaiming itself the Sandhill Crane Capital of the World, he said. An amazing team of stakeholders and staff created a 50-year vision for Rowe and the river so the future will remain bright for birds in the Central Flyway.
Even though I am saddened by this turn of events, I cherish the memories of raising our daughter here, the conservation successes and crane season, and all the people I have had the opportunity to create relationships with over the years, it said.
Stoner said Monday that the Rowe staff is already planning for the March crane migration, and we are looking forward to a robust season where we will welcome thousands of visitors.
She said she expects construction to begin this fall on Rowe renovations and expansion and we are confident that the staff have all the support they need going forward.
She added, Over the many years Bill worked at Rowe, we had incredible growth in multiple areas. He was undoubtedly part of that but the credit also belongs to the community as a whole. It is so much bigger than one individual.
She concluded, We will continue to do everything we can to make this place safe for the cranes and other wildlife that depends on the Platte.
A 64-year-old man died Sunday following a two-vehicle collision that occurred when his vehicle went through a stop sign just south of Blair.
Ramon L. Gutierrez of Blair, who was not wearing a seat belt, was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office. The two occupants of the second vehicle, who were both wearing seat belts, declined medical treatment.
Investigators determined that Gutierrez was alone and eastbound on County Road P26 in a 2004 Toyota Tacoma pickup truck about 9:50 p.m. The pickup failed to stop at the intersection with Nebraska 133 and was struck by a southbound Chevrolet Impala driven by Angelica Reinders, 44, of Blair.
The Impala collided with the driver's side door of the pickup. Deputies at the scene were assisted by members of the Blair and Kennard fire departments.
Millions of dollars in pandemic-era funding for Nebraska child care providers will expire at the end of September, which could further pinch working parents who have been key to economic growth in 2022 and 2023.
Affordable, available and quality child care is directly linked to workforce participation, according to a Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry policy brief from 2022. Child care is essential for working parents to enter, reenter and stay in the workforce as our economy recovers.
Several Nebraska companies are using creative solutions to address their employees child care challenges as a way to attract and retain workers in the state.
The opening of an on-site child care center at Hudl in Lincoln and providing access to vetted on-demand backup caregivers for staff at QLI via Swishboom in Omaha are two examples of how companies are increasing support for working parents with the hope that other employers will follow.
A looming crisis
Nebraska has already lost almost 10% of the states child care programs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Buffett Early Childhood Institute.
Much-needed federal rescue funds helped providers meet payroll, offer additional slots to children and families, and keep their doors open. The loss of these funds could cause more child care programs to close, disrupting families and the economy, the report says.
A majority of the estimated $312.1 million in federal funds allocated to support the child care industry in Nebraska will expire as of Sept. 30.
Its not just an Omaha problem there is a child care crisis happening right now in the United States, said Kellee Mikuls, founder and CEO of Swishboom, a mobile app that connects families in Omaha with on-demand childcare services via its network of vetted local sitters.
Mikuls said the COVID-19 pandemic exposed cracks in an already unsustainable child care system. Low wages and thin profit margins mean few high-quality options for families. Its just not an industry people are flocking to, she said.
To support their staffs, Nebraska employers such as QLI and Hudl are taking note and exploring ways to make high-quality child care more accessible.
Connecting with trusted caregivers
QLI, a nonprofit that provides rehabilitation services for people with brain or spinal cord injuries, partnered with Swishboom to provide free access to the platform for any of its approximately 425 employees for one year.
We knew the child care issue is everywhere, said QLI Director of Operations Kiley Armitage. It can be expensive, hard to find a trusted carer or when a caregiving family member gets sick.
Armitage said the leadership team considered offering child care stipends or an afterschool program, but ultimately decided to contract with Swishboom instead because it more directly addressed the challenge they were trying to solve for their team: Finding a trusted caregiver even if its last-minute.
Providing on-site child care
Primrose School at Hudl opened in July as an on-site child care provider for Hudls headquarters in Lincoln. The Lincoln office houses about 600 of the companys 1,500 global employees.
An annual engagement survey revealed a desire for more benefits for existing and soon-to-be parents at Hudl, said Mark Ketcham, VP of operations at Hudl.
The company was started in 2006 by recent college graduates, and their peers made up a majority of their original workforce, Ketcham said. Over time the team has evolved, and so have the needs of team members, he said.
Located on the ground floor of Hudls headquarters in Lincoln's West Haymarket, Primrose School at Hudl features 7,000 square feet of indoor learning and purposeful play space, an outdoor area and multiple age-specific classrooms to serve infants through pre-K.
Its hard enough being a first-time parent, but as a working parent, Hudl makes it easier on me and my family. I appreciate that I can take advantage of this benefit and better balance growing in my profession without sacrificing being a great mom, said Hudl employee and Primrose parent Marilyn John.
Ketcham said Hudl wants to make it more appealing for team members to come into the office to collaborate in person as the post-COVID work landscape continues to evolve. They hope that providing on-site child care at a subsidized rate for employees makes that decision easier, he said.
Attracting and retaining workers
Both Hudl and QLI hope that providing child care solutions as part of their benefits package will help attract and retain talent.
Hudl is partnering with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to conduct a multi-year study of the impact Primrose School at Hudl has on employee engagement, satisfaction and retention, Ketcham said.
We want to be able to tell our story and show others what this can provide, he said. We have already seen tremendous support from those using (the center), including nursing mothers.
Armitage at QLI said the new Swishboom benefit is highlighted in new employee onboarding, and current employees are starting to download the app. Its just nice to have the peace of mind that theres a backup plan.
Mikuls said shes having conversations with multiple local companies that are exploring ways to ensure that their team members, especially women, dont have to leave the workforce due to child care challenges.
Ketcham agreed that employers and employees will benefit from setting working parents up for success. He added that while an on-site child care center might not be feasible for most businesses, perhaps some could provide a discounted rate at a preferred provider.
Its a big problem to solve, but we can't just be intimidated by it and be paralyzed, Armitage said. We have to do something.
Silicon Prairie News shares event highlights, founder profiles and feature stories digging into all things related to Nebraska startups and small businesses.
Photos: 55th annual AppleJack Festival draws visitors to Nebraska City
Federal sign-off Tuesday recommending updated COVID-19 vaccines for Americans 6 months and older means the first of the new shots should begin arriving in Nebraska pharmacies and clinics within days.
And with a recent uptick in COVID-19 activity in Nebraska and the nation as a whole, those new shots come at a good time, said Dr. Mark Rupp, chief of the infectious diseases division at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Im enthusiastic about folks getting the vaccine and hopefully tempering ongoing COVID transmission, he said.
While COVID case counts and hospitalizations are nowhere near what either Nebraska or the nation saw in earlier waves, Rupp said, Nebraskans are hearing more anecdotal reports of friends, neighbors and family members testing positive for the virus. Patients hospitalized at Nebraska Medical Center with COVID-19 now figure in the double digits after being in the single digits and on some days, zero earlier this summer.
Concentrations of virus particles in wastewater in the state, as well as the U.S. as a whole, had increased to the highest levels since last spring, although the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services latest report showed a downturn in preliminary data for Sept. 6.
But quashing transmission of the virus now can only help, particularly with another respiratory illness season on the horizon. Last years confluence of COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, strained some hospitals and clinics.
Rupp said previous versions of the vaccine have been shown to be effective at preventing infection with and transmission of the virus in the first months after vaccination. Over time, however, protection against infection wanes. Americans who got last falls booster now are nearing a year since their last dose.
I think were going to be able to take this in stride, particularly if we have more and more people affording themselves of the protection that is offered by the vaccine, he said.
The vaccines continue to show good protection against severe illness and death. Fortunately, fewer people over time have developed severe disease requiring hospitalization.
But it certainly is continuing to occur, he said.
The new vaccines also are patterned on variants of the virus that are a closer match to those circulating now than past shots, Rupp said. Available data also suggests the new booster is effective against emerging strains, including BA.2.86, that had initially raised alarms.
Its not perfect, and it certainly doesnt prevent people from developing mild disease, he said, but (the vaccine) does continue to protect against more severe illness.
Should everyone get them?
Nationally, some have debated whether the new vaccine should be recommended for most Americans or just those at greater risk of serious illness, such as the elderly and immune compromised, as has occurred in some countries.
Rupp said that argument makes some sense. But from a public health standpoint, he said, it makes sense to vaccinate a broader swath of Americans. While younger people are at less risk of severe disease, they can still become seriously ill. They can also spread the virus to those at higher risk.
This is much the philosophy that weve had with influenza virus now for years and years, that this is a good vaccine, its a safe vaccine, we should be using it broadly across society to protect everyone but in particular to protect those who are most vulnerable, Rupp said. Really, at all age groups, this is a good public health strategy.
While some have raised concerns about rare cases of myocarditis among young men after vaccination, the risk of the complication has proved greater after infection, he said.
The condition, while still rare, was more common with initial doses of the vaccine than with the booster available last fall, Rupp said. Some researchers believe the initial cases were related to the fact that there was little time between the first two doses. Most believe the will be less risk with the new booster.
While the federal government has signed off on the mRNA vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna, he said, consumers likely will have another option. Regulators also are expected to authorize an updated version of the protein-based Novavax shot in the coming weeks.
What uptake of the vaccines will look like, however, remains to be seen. Only 17% of Americans got the last booster. Nebraska did slightly better with 17.7% of its population getting the shot.
Can I get them together? And when?
The new vaccine also comes as people are beginning to think about getting shots to protect against other respiratory illnesses, including influenza and RSV. A new RSV vaccine was approved in May for people over 60. Another was OKd for pregnant women to protect them and their infants.
Rupp said people can safely get their COVID and flu shots at the same time. The two shots were given together last year with no issues. The CDC also says its OK to get COVID, flu and RSV shots together.
However, he cautioned that its still a little early to get the flu shot. As with the COVID vaccines, its protection wanes over the months. For people who can time their shots, he recommended getting the COVID shot now, given that the coronavirus is circulating in the community, and the flu shot between mid-October and early November so theyre at maximum immunity in January and February, when flu typically peaks.
When it comes to the RSV shot for older people, he said, patients should speak to their health care provider about their individual risk and timing. Studies indicate that shot provides a fair amount of protection even into the following year.
However, a small amount of data has indicated that getting the RSV vaccine with other shots may somewhat decrease protective antibodies. Whether that translates into less protection in the real world, however, isnt known, he said.
So the official word is you can give all three of those vaccines together, they are safe, he said. But I think there are some reasons people would want to time their vaccines to give them maximum protection against things in conjunction with what we see in the community.
As of Friday, the new COVID-19 booster did not yet appear to be available anywhere in Nebraska. The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department said it was still awaiting final guidance from the federal government and would provide more information in the near future.
The updated vaccine is coming at crucial time, said Health Director Pat Lopez. We expect to see more cases of COVID-19 in the months ahead along with other respiratory viruses. We recommend residents get the updated vaccine as soon as its available locally so they have heightened protection as we move into fall and winter.
Long COVID and other considerations
Rupp said people also need to remember that the COVID vaccines reduce the risk of long COVID, including in young people.
And while fewer people are testing for COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, he said, testing and getting a diagnosis allows people to access the effective treatments available for flu and COVID.
Its also still reasonable to try to reduce risk in other ways, he said, by avoiding crowded, high-risk settings with poor ventilation, particularly for those at higher risk of serious illness. Those who cant avoid such situations shouldnt feel shy about wearing a KN95 respirator to further minimize the risk.
We need to get ... more accepting of seeing those folks wearing their masks, he said. It may protect them, it may also be protecting you, so we should be welcoming that.
Cost
Unlike past years, most people now will get COVID vaccines where they get flu shots, at pharmacies and doctors offices. But instead of the federal government picking up the tab, the cost this year will be covered by Medicare and private insurers.
Free vaccines, however, will be available to the uninsured and underinsured through health departments, federally qualified health centers and some pharmacies through whats known as the Bridge Access Program. Locations are expected to be available later this week on the Vaccines.gov website.
(Photo : Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted by the state Senate on charges of corruption and abuse of office but his legal issues continue.
The Texas Senate has acquitted state Attorney General Ken Paxton on corruption charges and abuse of office, but he still faces other legal issues, such as securities fraud.
The Republican lawmaker survived an impeachment vote in the State Senate over the weekend, but the US Justice Department still has an open investigation. This is over many allegations of corruption and abuse of office against the attorney general.
Ken Paxton Acquitted
Lawyers for Paxton are scheduled to be in court in October with state prosecutors to set a trial date for his pending indictment on two counts of securities fraud. This is an eight-year-old case in which the senators did not take up directly during the weekend's acquittal vote.
The embattled attorney general's lawyer, Dan Cogdell, predicted that the securities case would be dealt with relatively quickly. On Saturday, he said that officials ought to dismiss the case entirely, and if they don't, the defendant's team will try and beat them there, similar to how they did with the corruption case, as per the New York Times.
Cogdell was less willing to predict the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Justice Department's public integrity section. He said he does not talk to the FBI and tries not to.
The Texas Attorney General has faced many legal troubles since he was sworn into the position in 2015 when he replaced Greg Abbott. He has been re-elected twice because he aligned himself with the right-leaning politics that former US President Donald Trump champions.
Voters delivered comfortable victories for Paxton even though he faced indictment, and many of his top aides came forward to claim that he abused his office when he helped a wealthy donor. That particular accusation is the subject of the recent attempt to oust him from his position.
Sunday was Paxton's first full day back in office as the Texas attorney general after winning the recent case. He quickly resumed what has long helped make him one of the most resilient political figures in the nation despite facing years of criminal charges and scandal accusations, according to Politico.
Read Also: Pennsylvania Juvenile Escapees Gave Up Allowing Authorities to Capture Them
Other Legal Troubles
The situation in the Texas Capitol is potentially only the start and threatens to spread to the 2024 elections. That is when conservative allies of Paxton say they will focus their signs on Republican legislators who led the investigation against the state attorney general.
Shortly after Paxton was impeached, Trump posted "free Ken Paxton" on his social media platform, Truth Social, and called the legal efforts against him a form of "election interference" led by "radical left Democrats," criminals, and insufficiently loyal Republicans.
There were more than 100 witnesses who were scheduled to testify, including some people who were associates of the attorney general who accused him of wrongdoing. The efforts to impeach Paxton have divided the GOP between a pro-Trump faction and more traditional conservatives, said BBC.
Related Article: Gov. Michelle Grisham Narrows New Mexico Gun Ban After Widespread Opposition
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Four Vietnamese carriers win top regional honors at World Travel Awards
By Hoang Minh Tue, September 19, 2023 | 4:55 pm GTM+7
Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet, Vietravel Airlines and Hai Au Aviation have been honored in different categories at this years World Travel Awards for the Asia and Oceania regions.
A Vietnam Airlines aircraft. Photo courtesy of the carrier.
National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines surpassed 12 rivals to be named winner of Asias Leading Airline-Economy Class category.
It beat Air China, Air India, Asiana Airlines, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air, Singapore Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and Thai Airways to claim the title.
In addition, Vietnam Airlines was also the winner in the "Asias Leading Cabin Crew" category.
The carrier leads the Vietnamese aviation market, one of the fastest growing in the world, in terms of passengers with 18 million in 2022.
Budget airline VietJet Air, owned by Vietnams first female billionaire Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, was named "Asia's Leading Airline for Customer Experience 2023" at the annual awards.
Graham Cooke, founder of the World Travel Awards, said: "As a rapidly growing airline, Vietjet has carved out a distinct position for itself in a competitive aviation market."
"With its focus on convenience, attractive marketing campaigns to benefit its customers, powered by innovation and creativity, Vietjet has gained reputation for enhancing the overall passenger travel experience. Having flown on many Vietjet flights, I can personally attest to the excellent service and delicious in-flight catering a well-deserved win," said Cooke.
VietJet, also known as the "bikini airline", launched 11 international routes in the second quarter of this year to Australia, Indonesia and India, raising its air links to 120, including 75 overseas destinations.
Vietnam's newest carrier, Vietravel Airlines, was voted "Asias Leading Leisure Carrier" at this years awards.
Vietravel was launched in December 2020 and is one of the newest airlines to enter the Vietnamese aviation market, which has seen fierce competition in recent years.
Hai Au Aviation, the only airline offering direct flights from Hanoi to Ha Long and seaplane tours over Ha Long Bay, was named "Asias Leading Seaplane Operator".
Established in 2011, Hai Au Aviation is a member of the Thien Minh Group, a leading travel and hospitality group in Southeast Asia.
Its seaplane tour takes tourists across attractions in UNESCO heritage site Ha Long Bay such as Tuan Chau Island, Reu Island, Sung Sot Cave, Ti Top Island, Dinh Huong Islet, and Thien Cung Cave.
Each tour lasts 25 minutes and costs VND1.6 million ($68) for Vietnamese and VND2 million ($85) for foreigners.
The World Travel Awards, launched in 1993, acknowledge excellence in the travel and tourism industry, and have been described as the "travel industry's equivalent of the Oscars".
The awards are based on votes cast by travel industry professionals and the public.
Major Vietnam, US tech firms sign deals
By Tri Duc Tue, September 19, 2023 | 11:59 am GTM+7
Major tech firms from Vietnam and the U.S., including VNPT, Mobifone, and Rikkeisoft from Vietnam, and Synopsys, Qualcomm, and Nvidia from the U.S., along with government agencies have agreed to commence or boost their cooperation.
Firms made their commitments at the Vietnam-U.S. Business Forum in San Francisco on Monday (local time). The event, focusing on technology and innovation cooperation, was part of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs visit to the U.S.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Vietnam and U.S. Business Forum in San Francisco on September 18, 2023. Photo courtesy of Vietnam's government portal.
Rikkeisoft, among the biggest private tech firms in Vietnam, will invest $2 million in the U.S. in 2023 and raise the figure to $30 million by 2026, focusing on high-tech workforce development, market expansion, and merger & acquisition (M&A) activities.
Dallas-based RKTech, wholly owned by Rikkeisoft, was established in early 2023 to provide high-quality and comprehensive information technology solutions and services to American businesses in various sectors, such as automotive and manufacturing.
Vietnam's state-owned telecom group VNPT and American giant Qualcomm signed an agreement on provision of copyrights, tools, and equipment for the research, testing, development, and production of telecommunication and technological solutions for 5G, smart cities, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Their cooperation will be based on Qualcomms equipment and solutions and VNPTs platform, amid VNPTs focus on developing digital infrastructure and a digital government.
Representatives of VNPT and Qualcomm (front) exchange documents at the Vietnam and United States Business Forum in San Francisco on September 18, 2023. Photo courtesy of Vietnam's government portal.
Besides, Mobifone, one the of largest telecommunication providers in Vietnam, and Juniper Networks signed an agreement on cooperation in data centers and cloud computing.
On the same day, Prime Minister Chinh had working sessions with businesses based in Silicon Valley.
Synopsys, a top electronic design automation (EDA) firm, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Innovation Center (NIC) under Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment to build a workforce for integrated circuit (IC) design in Vietnam. In particular, the American firm will help the Vietnamese agency in establishing an incubation center for chip design.
Synopsys also signed a MoU with an agency under Vietnams Ministry of Information and Communications for developing the semiconductor industry in Vietnam.
Working with Nvidia, PM Chinh proposed the American giant to invest more in Vietnam, such as establishing a factory in the country. The government chief asked relevant agencies to cooperate with Nvidia on detailed deployment.
In reply, Nvidia president Jensen Huang affirmed the firm wants to collaborate with Vietnam in semiconductors, artificial intelligence and IT, and expects Vietnam to become its production hub in Southeast Asia.
Redo draft deployment proposal for national power plan: Deputy PM
By Tri Duc Tue, September 19, 2023 | 8:00 am GTM+7
Deputy PM Tran Hong Ha has asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to redo its deployment proposal for the national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII) towards making it more comprehensive.
He has also asked the ministry to build a piloting mechanism to let state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and qualified domestic businesses conduct offshore wind power projects.
Ha noted that Vietnam is yet to have a complete legal framework on offshore wind power development, covering such details as who can grant investment certificates, what the process of selecting investors will be, power price mechanisms and the process for carrying out surveys of offshore resources.
He said the ministry should redo the draft plan as the current version does not meet the requirements of detailed deployment, administrative procedures and other aspects. It should review renewable energy projects in order to re-determine power supply and demand and the portfolio of power projects for operation by 2030, he added.
A sea-based wind power project of Trungnam Group in Tra Vinh province, southern Vietnam. Photo courtesy of the group.
The PDP VIII mentions that Vietnam has a technical potential of generating 600,000 MW from offshore wind power. The target is to develop 6,000 MW of offshore wind power until 2030 to serve the domestic market and moving towards 70,000-91,500 MW by 2050.
Another goal is to develop offshore wind power and renewable energy of 15,000 MW by 2035 and 240,000 MW by 2050 for production of green energy, such as green hydrogen and green ammonia.
Vietnam is in a position to attract offshore wind power investments, but failures to provide timely policy support policy can turn investors and suppliers away, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has said in its newly-released Global Offshore Wind Report 2023.
The GWEC emphasizes that major wind energy developers have been facing a profitability crunch in recent years, causing them to retrench and withdraw from smaller or slower-moving markets.
One example of this is Denmarks Orsted withdrawing from Vietnam, Vattenfall Boreas projects in the UK, and the U.S. Avangrid development.
However, the council has also stressed the advantage that Vietnam has in the oil-gas industry being able to quickly transition to offshore wind.
Petrovietnam has stated that it is currently not allowed to invest in offshore wind power projects under a Politburo resolution, although the state-owned oil and gas group is highly capable of doing so.
"Petrovietnam is capable of all offshore wind power activities, from the beginning to the ending phases. In seabed surveys, hydrogeological tasks, data analysis and research, Petrovietnam is the best in Vietnam, thanks to its experience in working in the sea over the past 60 years," its vice-chairman Pham Tien Dung said.
Petrovietnam and its subsidiaries were also capable of manufacturing equipment, he added, noting that Petrovietnam Technical Services Corp. (PTSC) has won a mega contract with Danish power giant Orsted to build equipment in Vietnam for a Taiwan-based offshore wind power project.
Scientist-entrepreneur collaborates with foreign giants, grows Phu Thai Holdings
By Huy Ngoc, Thanh Tra Tue, September 19, 2023 | 9:00 am GTM+7
Phu Thai Holdings, founded by scientist turned businessman Pham Dinh Doan, has become a large multi-sector corporation with effective implementation of a strategy to cooperate with foreign giants.
Established in 1993, it has grown to become a large-scale private corporation in the country operating in several areas including trade, fashion, luxury car distribution and veterinary medicine.
As of December 2021, Phu Thai Holdings had a charted capital of VND1.1 trillion ($45.13 million), with subsidiary Unity Vietnam Company Limited contributing nearly VND1.06 trillion ($43.3 million), equivalent to 95.97%. The remaining shares were held by Pham Thi Lien (1.39%) and Doan (2.64%).
Doan owned a 91.92% stake in Unity Vietnam as of July 2015.
Phu Thai Holdings operates in five main areas, namely trade-distribution, manufacturing of construction and mining machinery, fashion, luxury car distribution and agriculture. Photo courtesy of the group.
A key to the major strides that the company has taken since its establishment three decades ago is the expansion of its ecosystem through cooperation deals struck with foreign giants by Doan.
Today, with abundant capital, experience and capacity, Phu Thai Holdings has become a corporation with great potential, operating in five main areas, namely trade-distribution, manufacturing of construction and mining machinery, fashion, luxury car distribution and agriculture.
Its first nucleus is the Phu Thai Group Joint Stock Company, which specializes in trading and distributing consumer products of major global corporations like P&G, Friesland Campina, Cuckoo, Kewpie and Paloma.
At present, it has more than 20 member companies as well as distribution and logistics centers nationwide.
At the end of 2012, Phu Thai Holdings and its founding shareholders transferred 65% of Phu Thai Group shares to Thai retailer Berli Jucker (BJC). Thai businessman Pattaphong Iamsuro was elected chairman of the Phu Thai Group.
As of October 2019, the remaining shares, equivalent to 35% of Phu Thai Group's charter capital, were still held by Pham Dinh Doan through Thai An Vietnam Joint Stock Company.
The corporations second important link is Phu Thai Industry Company Limited, which is the exclusive Vietnam dealer for Caterpillar the world's leading maker of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
Phu Thai Industry was established in 2010 with a charter capital of VND100 billion ($4.1 million) and two founding shareholders - Phu Thai Holdings (49%) and Pham Dinh Doan (51%). This is also the only legal entity in the Phu Thai ecosystem without the presence of foreign investors.
Phu Thai Holdings fashion segment, managed by the KOWIL Vietnam Fashion Joint Stock Company, boasts the famous OWEN brand. Having established a firm presence in the hearts of consumers in the country, it has the capacity to compete fairly with giants such as Uniqlo of Japan and H&M of Sweden.
In addition to OWEN, KOWIL Vietnam runs several other fashion brands including Winny, Dunlop and Beverly Hills Polo Club.
The corporation also imports and exclusively distributes luxury car brands like Jaguar and Land Rover in Vietnam, including genuine spare parts, through the Phu Thai Mobility Import Company Limited.
This business was established in January 2019 with parent company PON Phu Thai Mobility Group Company Limited holding a 100% stake.
The final part of the Phu Thai Holdings ecosystem is Vietnam Green Vet Joint Stock Company (Greenvet Jsc), which specializes in livestock and poultry farming as well as aquatic veterinary medicine. Greenvet is a 55:45 joint venture between Phu Thai Holdings and Artha Vena International, a maker of veterinary products headquartered in Singapore. Phu Thai Holdings is also involved in some real estate projects.
In 2021, it proposed to the People's Committee of Lang Son province in northern Vietnam that it surveys and makes a detailed plan for the 10.98-hectare Tan My Residential Area in Van Lang district and a 22-hectare shophouse and villa complex in Thuy Hung commune, Cao Loc district.
In April 2021, it submitted a similar proposal to the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province for the Quang Tam and Dong Cuong new urban area projects in Thanh Hoa town. However, this proposal was not approved by local authorities.
SETDA Survey
Cybersecurity, AI Policy Top List of State Ed Tech Priorities
New survey results from the State Education Technology Directors Association underscore the importance of collaboration across agencies and school districts as cybersecurity and AI pose the biggest unmet challenges for public education.
Released by SETDA in collaboration with Whiteboard Advisors, the 2023 State Ed Tech Trends Report reveals results of the associations annual survey of ed tech directors, state superintendents, chiefs of staff, and other senior education officials from 45 states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and Guam, according to a news release.
The survey data is complemented by spotlights on several state education departments best practices in supporting cybersecurity efforts, the effective and equitable use of ed tech tools, and the development of policy to guide the use of AI in K12 classrooms.
State leaders cant shy away from change or the technologies that bring it about. Thats not an option for the students we serve whose future success depends on their ability to thrive in an ever-changing, technology-rich world, said Kirsten Baesler, superintendent of public instruction of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, in the preface to the 2023 report. The SETDA State Ed Tech Trends report serves an invaluable purpose. It shows us that at state agencies, too, change is constant.
Key Finding 1: Cybersecurity is the Top Need
Cybersecurity is now the top need, but still not receiving enough funding or support: The number of survey respondents who noted cybersecurity as their top technology priority increased between 2022 and 2023, yet 42% of respondents said their state provides a small amount or very little funding for cybersecurity needs.
Improving K-12 cybersecurity posture has become an issue of resources and equity, said Brad Hagg, director of education technology at the Indiana Department of Education. Under-staffed districts and communities without access to a pipeline of cyber specialists will struggle to meet the requirements, often dictated by insurance companies, as well as the best practices necessary to implement a strong cybersecurity threat mitigation program.
Key Finding 2: AI Guidance a Growing Need
State education officials report an increased demand for guidance relating to artificial intelligence and its use in K12 schools, yet most states reported no efforts under way to meet that increased demand, SETDA said.
55% of respondents indicated they have witnessed an increased interest in AI policy development.
2% reported that their state has an AI initiative in place.
Key Finding 3: Home Connectivity Remains an Unmet Need
State education agencies responding to the survey said their biggest unmet need remains home access connectivity, with nearly one-third listing it as their top need.
Comparing the data from the 2022 survey to this years results yields some compelling insights, SETDA said. Respondents in 2022 listed cybersecurity and professional learning on the use of ed tech as their top unmet needs. This year, states have responded by making those issues priorities in terms of money and time.
During the pandemic, home internet access was a major challenge for schools during closures, and districts spent billions to increase broadband connectivity, the report noted.
According to the Federal Communications Commission, reliable home internet access is still not available for about 17 million students.
As with ensuring cybersecurity, providing reliable broadband to entire communities isnt easy, often requiring cooperation across agencies (sometimes across states) and the private sector, not to mention significant funding. But in a world where access to the internet is critical perhaps even a civil right the stakes couldnt be higher, SETDA said in the report, which includes a spotlight on how New Mexico is addressing lack of home connectivity.
Key Finding 4: States Still Aim for More Effective Use of Ed Tech
While states believe progress is being made on the effective use of ed tech tools, leaders still view this as an area of ongoing need, the report said. The number of states collecting data on the effectiveness of their edtech tools also increased according to respondents, and using edtech effectively to support instruction remains a top priority for state leaders.
Download the full report at SETDA.org/priorities/state-trends/.
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SPRINGFIELD Illinoisans who own weapons that can no longer be purchased or sold in the state under its new assault weapons ban will soon be able to register those weapons so they can legally keep them.
The law, officially known as the Protect Illinois Communities Act, bans the sale and possession of firearms defined as assault weapons as well as assault weapon attachments, .50 caliber rifles, .50 caliber cartridges and high-capacity magazines.
However, the law provides an exception for Illinoisans who already owned such items before it went into effect. Those people are required to submit an endorsement affidavit through their Firearm Owners Identification Card account before Jan. 1, 2024.
The Illinois State Police filed emergency rules with the secretary of state on Monday to implement that portion of the assault weapons ban beginning next month.
State agencies have authority to issue emergency rules in certain circumstances. Those rules can only remain in place for up to 150 days, after which they must be replaced by permanent rules or repealed. Permanent rules are subject to a public comment period and review by the legislative Joint Committee on Administrative Rules.
ISP will begin accepting affidavits online starting Oct. 1. Affidavits must be submitted online through a FOID Card account, which can be accessed through ISPs Firearms Services Bureau website or by going directly to ispfsb.com/Public/Login.aspx.
ISP has also published a frequently asked questions page on its website with additional information about how to submit an endorsement affidavit. Help is also available at any of ISPs FOID kiosks, located in Lockport, Springfield, Collinsville, and Du Quoin.
According to the statute, those affidavits must include the applicants name, date of birth and FOID card number. Applicants also need to provide the make, model, caliber, and serial number of each weapon, and a statement testifying that they own a locking mechanism for the weapon.
The affidavit form will also include a statement that reads, Warning: Entering false information on this form is punishable as perjury under Section 32-2 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 2022.
The law passed during the General Assemblys lame duck session in January. It was prompted by a mass shooting at an Independence Day parade last year in Highland Park that left seven people dead and dozens more injured or traumatized.
The assault weapons ban prompted several lawsuits almost immediately after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed it into law on Jan. 10.
Numerous challenges in federal court allege the law violates the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. One federal judge in the Southern District of Illinois ruled that it did, but two other judges in the Northern District rejected such claims. Those cases have now been consolidated and an appeal is pending before the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.
In 4-3 decision in August, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law, rejecting claims that the exemptions in the act amounted to special legislation and a denial of equal protection under the Illinois Constitution.
But the court has delayed issuing a final order in that case pending the plaintiffs appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
DENMARK Voorhees University will be conducting an active shooter training session titled "Surviving an Active Threat: Run. Hide. Fight." on Sept. 19-20.
This comprehensive training will be held at three campus locations: the Dawson Center, Mass Hall and the St. James Building, running from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days. The training will be conducted by Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
The active shooter training sessions are designed to equip members of the Voorhees community with the knowledge and skills necessary to respond effectively in the event of an active threat situation. The training will cover critical aspects of response, including the importance of running to safety, finding a secure hiding place, and taking appropriate action to defend oneself and others if needed.
The sessions will feature a pretest to assess participants' baseline knowledge, practical exercises to simulate real-world scenarios, and a post-test to gauge their understanding of the material covered. Additionally, a class evaluation will be conducted to gather feedback and insights from participants, ensuring that future training sessions can be even more effective.
Upon successful completion of the training, participants will be awarded a certificate, recognizing their dedication to ensuring the safety and security of the Voorhees University campus.
Chief Shawn Hale, Voorhees Director of Safety and Security, emphasized the importance of proactive measures in light of the increased frequency of active shooter situations on college campuses across the country.
Hale said, "The safety of our campus community is of the utmost importance, and we will take all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of everyone. This training is a critical step in our ongoing efforts to prepare our students, faculty, and staff for any potential threat."
Voorhees University is committed to providing a safe and secure learning environment for all members of its community. This active shooter training session is just one example of the university's dedication to preparedness and safety.
(Photo : Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed reports that claims he is considering a run for the state's gubernatorial position, saying that is focused on supporting Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz slammed recent reports claiming he was considering a run for the state gubernatorial position, denying them and saying he is focusing on supporting former United States President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign.
The idea of Gaetz running for the Florida governor's position has been the subject of many conversations in Tallahassee in the last few days. These moments include a reception on Sunday night that was for the incoming speaker of the Florida House.
Matt Gaetz for Florida Governor
The Republican lawmaker has been seen as being on the shortlist of people who will try to seek the GOP nomination for governor. This is a field that many expect would be crowded because the incumbent, Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be facing term limits.
The latter is currently also running for president of the United States but would have two years remaining in the governor's mansion if he fails to win in that race. Gaetz, similar to other Florida Republican politicians, attended the designation ceremony of Miami Republican state Rep. Danny Perez in Tallahassee, who is set to start next year, as per NBC News.
During the event held at an AC Hotel by Marriott near the city's downtown, four people said that Gaetz was seen "kind of holding court," where he allegedly strongly implied several times that he was planning to run for governor.
One longtime Florida Republican lobbyist said there was much talk regarding that particular topic during the event. He added that Gaetz told other people to expect him to be in the gubernatorial race in 2026.
When initially asked about the Sunday event, Gaetz said many people encouraged him to consider running for governor one day. However, he said that the state currently has an outstanding governor who will remain in that position until the end of his term.
Read Also: GOP Senator Mitt Romney Stands Down on Senate Reelection Bid
Denying the Claims
Gaetz has, in recent years, been the focus of a Department of Justice investigation into allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid her to travel with him, that he violated the Mann Act by taking a woman or women across state lines for prostitution, as well as obstruction of justice, according to People.
In a recent interview, the Republican denied the claims that he was planning to run for Florida governor. He said he ran into dozens of former colleagues from his days in the state Legislature. Gaetz noted that while they often encouraged him to consider the idea, he was not focused on that type of discussion.
The situation comes as Gaetz is in his fourth term in the House and has said his political priority is campaigning for Trump. He was previously an ally of DeSantis and worked as a top campaign adviser to the governor during the 2018 election.
Since then, Gaetz and DeSantis have had a falling out, and the former supported Trump in the latter's endeavors. Gaetz has also regularly pushed baseless 2020 election fraud claims and came in defense of the former president's alleged interference in the results, said Axios.
Related Article: Senate Begins Deliberations for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's Impeachment
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HARLEYVILLE U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn joined representatives from Audubon South Carolina, the National Park Service, Clemson University and other community leaders to commemorate the Four Holes Swamp watersheds role in the fight for freedom from slavery in South Carolina.
The event was held at Audubons Center and Sanctuary at Francis Beidler Forest.
"The stories of the men and women who sought freedom from enslavement among these very trees are powerful reminders of the strength and resilience of the human spirit, even under the most challenging circumstances, said Clyburn. I commend Audubon South Carolina's commitment to telling a complete history of the lands it protects.
Audubon South Carolinas Executive Director Rebecca Haynes said, "As stewards of this land, we have an obligation to share and interpret both the natural and cultural history of Four Holes Swamp. I'm grateful to Congressman Clyburn for taking time to raise awareness about this important history, and to our many partners, especially the staff at the Avery Research Center, for lending their expertise in this endeavor."
The Four Holes Swamp watershed, where Audubon's 18,300-acre Beidler Forest sanctuary is located, is one of nine sites in South Carolina to be recognized by the National Park Services Network to Freedom Program, which seeks to honor, preserve, and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight.
Were proud to have the Four Holes Swamp watershed, including the old-growth sanctuary at Beidler Forest, as a part of the Network to Freedom program, said Sheri Jackson, Southeast Regional manager for the Network to Freedom program at the National Park Service.
It is particularly impactful to be in this landscape during September, which is known around the world as International Underground Railroad Month, said Jackson.
Audubon South Carolina sought NPS designation for the site after research revealed that freedom seekers used the area around its Beidler Forest sanctuary as a refuge from slavery leading up to the Civil War. An important piece of this history focuses on James Matthews, who fled bondage on a plantation near Four Holes Swamp where he was born, took refuge in the swamp before finally escaping North, and later recounted his experiences anonymously in a memoir entitled Recollections of Slavery by a Runaway Slave.
Dr. Susanna Ashton of Clemson University, whose research first connected James Matthews to this anonymous narrative, also provided remarks at this event.
In partnership with the Avery Research Center, Ashton and other partners, Audubon installed six new interpretive signs this past spring, thanks to an NPS-funded grant from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. These signs are the first step in interpreting the cultural history of the land for the thousands of people who visit the Beidler Forest Center and Sanctuary each year.
Audubon continues to work with members of the community and partners, including representatives from other Underground Railroad sites, to identify further opportunities to highlight the Underground Railroad designation and honor the men and women to whom the history belongs.
The Four Holes Swamp watershed is named after the Four Holes Swamp, a blackwater swamp that rises in Calhoun County and flows for 62 miles to the confluence of the Edisto River. The watershed includes portions of the tribal lands of the Edisto Natchez-Kusso, a state-recognized Native American Tribe, which is headquartered in Ridgeville.
Beyond the areas cultural and historical significance, Four Holes Swamp also provides vital habitat for vulnerable bird and wildlife species and critical ecological services, helping maintain water quality and mitigate the impacts of severe flooding to downstream communities in this rapidly developing area of the Lowcountry.
Visitors to Audubon's Beidler Forest Center and Sanctuary, which spans portions of Berkeley, Dorchester and Orangeburg counties, have an opportunity to learn more about the history of the area as well as Audubons ongoing research and conservation efforts through a self-guided tour along the centers 1.75-mile boardwalk through the swamp, which is surrounded by thousand-year-old bald cypress and tupelo gum trees.
The center is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday through Sunday and is free for all guests on the second Saturday of every month. Visit beidler.audubon.org for more information.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is scheduled to travel to China on Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, according to a presidential statement.
This would be Assads first visit to China since 2004, and his second to a foreign country outside the Middle East since the start of the civil war. Assad visited Russia in March.
The aim of the visit is to conduct negotiations and strengthen bilateral relations.
Assads visit comes with Chinas efforts to to position itself as a key geopolitical player in the Middle East, while Syria hopes to make a comeback from its political exile on the international stage.
Beijing and Damascus have never severed relations. Unlike Western countries that closed their embassies in Syria as soon as the conflict broke out, China kept its embassy throughout, and is said to have maintained a staff of around 80 people.
For Assad, the political gain from such a trip is obvious.
For Syria, which is poor and isolated, maintaining good relations with a country like China, an emerging superpower and the worlds second-largest economy, will always be of great importance, said Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International.
Showing that he is part of Chinas New Silk Roads project is also a way for Assad to prove that he is not isolated on the international stage.
So far, we have seen very little economic support from China, added Lund, . but even a limited increase could be significant for Assad and Syria.
Assad intends to use this visit to attract Chinese capital to Syria, whose economy is in tatters. Beijing is perceived as the ideal investor the country generously doles out foreign investments and regularly circumvents US sanctions, importing for instance, large amounts of Iranian oil.
But a closer look reveals the Syrian context to be a repellent for any serious investment attempts, especially in the reconstruction sector.
While the Chinese government has demonstrated the ease with which it overcomes Western sanctions, the same cannot be said for private companies.
Major Chinese companies will not be able to embark on this type of project, said Joseph Daher, a professor at the University of Lausanne.
For a company to become involved in Syria under sanctions, it would have to have no massive investments in the United States or Europe, or even in areas where transactions are heavily denominated in dollars. So were talking about rather medium-sized companies, Daher said.
The $2 billion industrial park project, and other big promises of Chinese investment in Syria, never materialized.
This is despite the fact that since 2017, Beijing has become Damascus leading trading partner. Chinese exports to Syria reached $424.51 million in 2022, according to the UN's Comtrade database, which is a derisory amount.
The port of Latakia
Assad continues to hope that the development of infrastructure will be part of his countrys partnership with China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Syria doesnt have much to offer in terms of trade, but it could attract some interest because of its geographical position, in particular its ports and its transit possibilities, said Lund.
If the port of Tartus already belongs to the Russian navy, the Assad regime can always give China a license to operate the port of Latakia, said Ayman Aldassouki, a researcher at Omran for Strategic Studies.
Syria could be Chinas Mediterranean opening in the new Silk Road. The announcement of Assads trip which is yet to be confirmed by official authorities comes a week after US President Joe Biden presented a new rival project to the G20: the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), which would link India to Europe, via the Gulf States and Israel.
The IMEC will increase the US influence and therefore reduce the influence of China, Washingtons main rival. This could increase Beijings interest in the port of Latakia, which would then compete with the port of Haifa in Israel, said Daher.
Antoine Bondaz, a researcher focusing on China at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a French think tank, is not convinced by this prospect.
A rapprochement by Iran, Iraq and Syria seems unlikely for the time being, Bondaz said.
Nevertheless, China could help strengthen the Iranian axis in the region, especially with Washingtons growing involvement in the Gulf and Israel, partly designed to counter Beijings influence.
China, which never seriously invested in the Middle East before, has been showing a growing interest in the region, which for a long time was the geopolitical preserve of the United States.
Chinas foreign policy has always been marked on the international and regional scene by a respect for the sovereignty of states, whether authoritarian or not, said Daher.
So there is a desire to respect the Syrian state, without doing so at the expense of a relationship with other states with which it has a more important relationship, such as Saudi Arabia. The two dynamics are not contradictory, he added.
Jinpings unprecedented visit to Riyadh for a three-day summit with Arab countries in December 2022 symbolizes this dynamic. It was consolidated three months later, when Saudi Arabia and Iran signed a Beijing-brokered surprise detente agreement on March 10.
In the wake of this rapprochement, Riyadh has embarked on a process of normalization with Damascus, and the Saudi Crown Prince has worked to reinstate Assad in the Arab League, inviting him to the Jeddah summit.
The Syrian regime has been rehabilitated on the regional stage, so there is a desire on Chinas part to position itself before other countries, potentially western, to resume dialogue, said Bondaz.
Because China is keen to show that, unlike the West, it can talk to the Gulf monarchies, Iran and Syria at the same time, and so to position itself as a key mediator in the region. And along with Russia, they are the only two UN Security Council members able to do so, he added.
This article was originally published in French in L'Orient-Le Jour. Translation by Joelle El Khoury.
*A previous version of this article indicated that Bashar al-Assad was expected to travel to China to attend the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) conference to be held in Beijing this October. The information, which was not confirmed by the Syrian presidency, has been amended.
FORMER finance minister, Winston Dookeran, is calling for a shift in the Caribbean integration model in order to forge wider convergence spaces for approaching production, the institutional framework and economic frontiers.
Dookeran, an economist and former central bank governor, said the current integration model seems limited by size, design an inertia.
Before the railway system closed, and reversed the fortunes of vast swathes of Trinidad, there was a thriving village called St Johns, deep in the interior of Trinidad, where people lived with little complaint.
No one became rich, but no one went without since there was wildlife cavorting right behind your house, you ate what you planted in forest gardens, and people lived in airy homes constructed strong by the village men using the timber pulled out of the bush by bison power.
A businesswoman on nine charges, following allegations of $525,700 in vehicle fraud, has bee
Elon Musk confirmed his plan to charge X users with monthly fees.
The tech executive revealed this during a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the US.
Will Elon Musk's Planned X Monthly Fees Charge All Users?
ABC Net AU reported that Elon Musk wants to charge users and use the funds to combat bots and spam. The billionaire said that his social media platform is moving to have a small monthly payment.
This fee will be applied to people who are using the X system. Based on his statements, all X users must pay the monthly fee once it is implemented.
As of writing, Musk hasn't confirmed when this adjustment will happen and how much the fee will cost. He only said that this monthly charge is the only way to combat "vast armies of bots," as reported by CNBC.
Bloomberg's columnist Dave Lee also reported about Elon Musk's newly announced X monthly fee plan. In the comment section, many users shared their opinion regarding this change.
"That will probably cost 2 dollars, it won't break the users but depending on what the people are offered at the lower tier," explained X user Asmaa.
She added that it will only make the bot accounts more expensive but will not eliminate them. Meanwhile, another X user offered a suggestion, saying that bringing back the moderation teams of the platform would be a better solution.
Read Also: ABC Australia Leaves Elon Musk's X, Formerly Twitter: Here's Why!
Other Things Elon Musk Discussed
Aside from the new monthly fee plan, Elon Musk also discussed other things about X. These include new metrics from the platform.
The billionaire claimed that the social media app now has over 550 million monthly users. He added that these users generated around 100 to 200 million X daily posts. However, he didn't disclose the exact numbers of real users and bots.
Originally, Musk's discussion with Netanyahu was supposed to be only about the theoretical risks of AI and how this technology can be regulated. However, the tech executive decided to use this opportunity to dispute the allegations, claiming that his social media platform tolerates antisemitism and hate speech.
Musk and Israel's PM conducted their meeting as the billionaire received widespread criticisms from civil rights groups.
If you want to learn more about Elon Musk's latest announcements about X, you can click this link.
Related Article: X Launches Government ID-Based Account Verification to Weed Out Fakes
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER AT UN: Trinidad-born Dennis Francis, right, president of the 78th session of the General Assembly, meets with Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne yesterday at the United Nations in New York.
For saying absolutely nothing in 126 words, yesterdays media release from Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on the crime crisis would be hard to beat.
Following the fatal shooting of eight men between Sunday night and Monday afternoon, Dr Rowley issued a statement describing crime in Trinidad and Tobago as now gone beyond concerning to the ridiculous.
A jury convicted a Tucson teen in the killing of a man at a local apartment complex in 2021, records show.
Gabriel Alejandro Pichardo, 18, was found guilty of first degree murder, discharging a firearm at a nonresidential structure and two counts of endangerment in Pima County Superior Court on Sept. 14, court records show. It took the jury a day to reach a verdict.
Pichardo was initially arrested when he was 16 years old in connection with the fatal shooting of Andres Guillermo Franco, 23, at an apartment complex near East 29th Street and South Swan Road on Nov. 2, 2021.
Deputy County Attorney Mark Diebolt described the incident in opening statements as a revenge killing.
Diebolt told jurors that about four months before Francos death, Pichardos older brother, Felix Pichardo, was shot and killed by Terrayne Newsome. Franco happened to be at the scene right after the shooting.
Months later, a gunman approached Franco, who was at his stepfathers home along with his wife and two young children. The gunman asked if he was Franco, then said, this is for AP, which was Felix Pichardos nickname, Diebolt said.
Franco was shot multiple times, and the gunman fled.
Pichardos attorney, Stephanie Bond, said her client was not guilty and was actually helping Pichardos family because they needed him to testify in the criminal case in Felix Pichardos killing.
In the end, the jury declared Pichardo guilty on all counts.
Pichardo had initially gone to trial for the killing in June, however, Judge Renee Bennett declared a mistrial due to late disclosure of evidence by the prosecution.
Pichardo is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 6.
Supervisors on Tuesday approved seeking an independent investigation of how Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos handled an internal review of his agencys handling of an alleged sexual assault of a deputy by a colleague at a holiday party last year.
Supervisor Bronson requested an outside agency such as the Arizona Attorney Generals Office or the Arizona Department of Public Safety conduct an investigation after recent allegations by the Pima County Deputys Organization that Nanos delayed an internal investigation into how supervisors and command staff handled the alleged sexual assault.
After meeting behind closed doors with the Pima County Attorneys Office, Supervisors Sharon Bronson, Steve Christy and Matt Heinz voted in favor of seeking an independent investigation. Supervisors Adelita Grijalva and Rex Scott voted no.
Nanos was not at the meeting but he reacted to the vote and complaint later in the day.
"The Sheriff has extended support to the victim throughout this process and investigative staff is engaged in the pending prosecution" the Sheriff's Department said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
"In all cases of a sensitive nature the Sheriffs Department places a high priority on preserving the privacy and dignity of crime victims," the release goes on to say.
"These principles guide us in this case. Requests for outside reviews and demands for transparency are understandable and the department offers full cooperation," the release said.
"The sensational claims covered in the media do not reflect the facts of this case or the decisions of this office," the release said. "We shall proceed with our principles in mind."
Its essential, I think, that we make this request and see which entities respond to it, Christy said. The public is demanding this, the optics are terrible, they need to be clarified with some sort of explanation and transparency on the Sheriffs Department and the Sheriffs part.
Scott and Grijalva cited legal advice in voting against the measure.
Based on the legal advice we received I cant support the item, Scott said. The employee in question whos been charged with the assault has been fired form the Sheriffs Department, there is a criminal investigation that is being conducted (and) also a civil case ... I respect the concerns of my colleagues ... but based on what we heard in executive session I think that we can have an impact on the criminal court or the civil case.
An amendment to the initial motion says the search for an outside investigation will not be limited to the two state agencies Bronson first mentioned.
The alleged sexual assault occurred in December during a Christmas party hosted by a former sergeant and leader of a school resource officer team, Ricardo Garcia.
According to a $900,000 claim filed against Garcia, Pima County and other law enforcement officials, Garcia and his girlfriend allowed the deputy to stay the night in their spare room after she felt she was unable to drive home.
Garcia, who was the deputys supervisor at the time, then allegedly assaulted the deputy while she was unconscious. He was arrested in January on suspicion of sexual assault and was then fired.
A criminal investigation is being handled by the Santa Cruz County Attorneys Office.
The Pima County Deputys organization, their union, claims the assaulted deputy filed a formal complaint against her lieutenant, captain and chief because they were aware that she was being actively sexually assaulted by her sergeant, Ricky Garcia, and refused to intervene for 80 minutes, the union alleged.
After Sheriff Nanos did not launch an internal investigation into the supervisors in question, the deputy filed a complaint through internal affairs, but the union says it was been held up by Nanos.
Tuesdays vote comes as Nanos notified the board his department would no longer provide security for their meetings.
The department has assigned two deputies to the meetings.
This board has not asked that sergeant-at-arms be removed from our board rooms, that is something that is in the purview of the Sheriffs Department and Sheriff Nanos, Grijalva said Tuesday. We will ensure that we have ample security here ... we dont have any authority over whether theyre placed here or not.
The move by Nanos, Bronson said, was retaliation for her seeking the independent review.
Nanos, however, said removing the deputies is a cost saving move that has nothing to do with the boards vote to seek an investigation of him.
PHOENIX A federal appeals court is questioning whether a Scottsdale police officer violated the civil rights of the owner of a restaurant when he essentially arrested him twice for the same alleged violation of one of former Gov. Doug Duceys COVID executive orders.
And the outcome of the case could be determined, at least in part, on whether its illegal to curse at police officers.
Kathleen Wieneke, who represents Officer Christian Bailey and the city acknowledged the officer issued Randon Miller a citation for violating a March 19, 2020, order by Ducey that restaurants had to close for on-site dining but could remain open for pickup, delivery and drive-through operations.
Under Arizona law, a citation for a misdemeanor, which is what the violation was, constitutes an arrest. Miller signed the citation agreeing to appear in court.
And she acknowledged that a few minutes later, Bailey decided to physically take Miller into custody for the same violation.
But Wieneke told a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals this past week that was justified because Miller yelled obscenities at Bailey and other officers. That, she said, entitled Bailey to charge Miller with disorderly conduct and, at the same time, go back into the restaurant and physically take him into custody on both that charge and the executive order violation, and take him to the city jail.
As it turned out, Miller never went to court on either count.
The charge of violating the executive order was apparently dropped after a judge in another case involving Scottsdale had concluded that only businesses and not individuals, including owners could be cited for violating the executive order.
That meant the arrests themselves may never have been legal in the first place. And in dropping the charge, there never was a legal finding as to whether how Sushi Brokers was operating ran afoul of Duceys order.
Prosecutors also never pursued the charge of disorderly conduct.
Miller, however, who has had a series of run-ins with Scottsdale police over the restaurant, did not let it drop. He sued both Bailey and the city for violating his civil rights.
At the hearing last week, Wieneke told the appellate judges there was no illegal action, even if there was no legal basis for arresting Miller.
Officer Bailey, tasked with interpreting a new executive order in the early weeks of a global pandemic, reasonably believed that a business owner was the person criminally liable for that businessess actions, she argued. Even if he mistakenly applied the law, that mistake was reasonable under the circumstances, and does not diminish the probable cause for the arrest.
But Cameron Morgan, Millers attorney, said that wasnt the issue.
You cannot rearrest somebody when you just released them, he told the judges.
That act clearly troubled the judges.
Wieneke said it all got triggered with the disorderly conduct. But Judge Andrew Hurwitz said hes not sure what Miller did and even his lawyer acknowledged there was foul language broke that law.
Is the yelling of obscenities at somebody, at a police officer, enough to violate this statute? he asked.
Wieneke said the law does cover serious disruptive behavior.
The customers are observed at the window, she said. And as Mr. Miller begins to yell and scream, they back away from the window, they cross their arms, they go into the parking lot in retreat.
Only thing is, the trial judge who dismissed Millers claims against Bailey and the city never actually determined the question of whether the police actually had probable cause to charge him with disorderly conduct. Morgan said that, at the very least, that requires the case to be sent back to that judge to rule on the issue.
That could be crucial given that Wieneke essentially acknowledged that it was that alleged disorderly conduct which caused Bailey to turn around and physically taken Miller into custody for the same violation of Duceys executive order for which he had just cited and released him.
Even without the disorderly conduct, however, she said that Bailey still was entitled to change his mind and physically arrest Miller for the same crime, even after he had cited him.
Mr. Miller said it is clearly noted in the report as well as on the body cam give me the ticket, Im just going to tear it up and throw it away, Wieneke said.
By signing it, you are promising to appear in court, she continued. An officer has discretion that if they do not believe you are going to honor that promise, they can take you into custody.
But Hurwitz said the timeline just doesnt work.
He pointed out that statement actually was made before Miller had been issued the citation. In fact, the judge said, it was only after Miller got the citation and signed the promise to appear that Bailey decided he needed to be physically arrested.
And Judge Patrick Bumatay said theres something else that bothered him about the events.
Officer Bailey started walking away, he said, after Miller signed the promise to appear. He went back into the restaurant to arrest him.
Wieneke said thats irrelevant, saying Bailey still had probable cause to arrest him.
Probable cause for what? Bumatay pushed.
If he still didnt believe that you were going to honor that promise to appear, she explained.
Bumatay appeared unconvinced, saying theres got to be some limit to that.
An officer cant cite and release someone, two days later come back and say, You know what? I dont think youre going to show up, Im going to arrest you, the judge said.
Wieneke said she agreed. But she said there are exceptions, like when police make a drug buy but choose not to arrest someone until several weeks later.
Thats a totally different situation, Bumatay interjected. Here, he said, Miller was cited and released and then, just a short time later within minutes he was arrested for exactly the same conduct.
Hurwitz picked up on that theme, asking what had occurred between the initial encounter and the arrest that made Bailey believe he wouldnt show up in court. Wieneke responded by going back to her argument that Miller had said he was going to tear up the ticket.
But that, Hurwitz said, is countered by the fact that he did subsequently sign the promise to appear. So what else happened, he asked Wieneke, to cause Bailey to decide to physically arrest Miller.
That is not apparent from the record, she conceded.
The judges did not say when they will decide whether to send the case back to the trial court to actually take evidence to determine if Bailey and the city violated Millers rights.
PHOENIX Arizonans should brace themselves to be inundated with campaign advertising between now and the November 2024 election.
More than $820 million will be shelled out to reach Arizona voters by candidates and ballot issues this campaign cycle, according to a new report by AdImpact, a national media consulting and data analysis firm.
Thats a 64% increase from the 2020 election cycle.
Its also second to only California, where AdImpact pegs political spending at close to $1.2 billion.
But Arizona pollster Mike Noble points out that it costs a lot more to buy commercials in California.
That means a dollar goes farther in Arizona. He figures that $820 million will buy a lot more air time here than the $1.2 billion that will be spent by our neighbor to the west.
Youre going to get crushed with ads, Noble told Capitol Media Services. No doubt about it.
In some ways, he said, the numbers are no surprise.
At the end of the day, if you want to look at where the fights are happening, where its competitive, look no further: Where are they spending the money, Noble said.
Much of the spending is anticipated to be in the presidential race, with Arizona anticipated to be one of a handful of battlegrounds. Democrat Joe Biden won the states 11 electoral votes in 2020. Biden had just 10,547 votes over Donald Trump out of more than 2.5 million ballots cast in the state.
AdImpact figures presidential campaign spending in Arizona will rise $137 million from the last election.
One thing that is likely to cause the parties to focus their dollars more on Arizona and some other states is that they will be spending less in Florida a lot less. AdImpact anticipates presidential campaign advertising there to $269 million less than candidates spent there four years ago.
The reason, according to the report, is that states shift in the past four years to the right will cause both campaigns to decide their dollars are better spent elsewhere.
But the focus on Arizona is expected to go beyond this states role in deciding who gets to sit in the White House for the next four years. What also is at play is who will control the U.S. Senate which now has just 50 Democrats 51 if you count Democrat-turned-independent Kyrsten Sinema out of the 100 seats.
Sinema hasnt said whether shes going to seek another six year term. But she is putting out news releases and raising money like someone who is not ready to give up her seat.
As of the most recent report, she has a war chest of $10.8 million.
At the same time, Democrat Ruben Gallego has amassed about $3.8 million.
Then theres the whole question of who the Republicans will nominate.
Kari Lake, who has hinted broadly at her interest in the Senate has a national network to raise funds if she wants, along with the presumable support of Trump.
Blake Masters hasnt decided whether to get in. But Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb is in the race, though he has raised only about $355,000.
Arizona looks likely to be the most expensive Senate race of the cycle, the report says. In recent years, it has hinged on razor-thin margins, contains one of the most expensive markets in the country, and it expected to have competitive primaries on both sides of the aisle.
Overall, AdImpact figures total spending in Senate races should reach about $2.1 billion in the 33 states where there are contests.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House and all nine in Arizona are up for grabs. Noble said he expects heavy spending in the bid by Republican David Schweikert to hang on to his seat, saying Democrats could see a chance to pick him off.
On top of that, of course, is the fact that all 30 seats in the state Senate are up for grabs as are the 60 House seats. And with Republicans having just a two-vote edge in each chamber, they are likely to focus on protecting a handful of potentially vulnerable seats.
What also is likely to flood the airwaves are commercials over two very high-profile ballot measures.
Arizona is expected to be one of a handful of states where voters will be are being asked to enshrine the right to abortion in the state Constitution after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade which had guaranteed it on a federal level.
Jodi Liggett, senior advisor for NARAL Arizona, said there is positive polling for the measure which would create an unrestricted right prior to fetal viability about 22 to 24 weeks and a more limited right beyond that tied to the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional that terminating the pregnancy is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.
But even with public sentiment, she predicts it will cost between $40 million and $50 million not only to get the 383,923 valid signatures by July 3 to get the measure on the 2024 ballot but also to run the kind of campaign necessary.
Backers of a similar ballot measure in Ohio already have spent more than $30 million, AdImpact reports.
Look for heavy spending by foes. And Noble said that, given the interest in this issue, dollars should be pouring in from outside of Arizona.
A newly launched initiative to scrap partisan primaries also is likely to prove costly.
The national interest has never been greater when it comes to Arizona Noble said.
AdImpact said the signs already are there for record-setting election spending.
As of last month more than a year before the general election candidates and issues already had spent $652 million. That compares with $371 million the same time four years ago.
On a national level, AdImpact figures that of the $10.2 billion that will be spent this election cycle, fully half of that will end up on broadcast television. Look for another $2.1 billion paid to cable TV outlets.
We want choices
Re: the Sept. 10 letter Democrats need more choices.
I heartily agree with the letter writers who want a choice, not an echo, in the selection of a Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 2024. As a scholar of American politics and the Presidency, it is unfortunate that President Joe Biden has chosen to run for re-election at the age of 80. After serving eight years as Vice President and four years as President, Biden has the opportunity to retire with grace and dignity. His four years as President have been very successful, and he could retire with an admirable record.
It is time to know when to fold em, Mr. President. The majority of Democrats are not favorably disposed to your re-election and want to see new leadership in The White House. There are several successful Governors who would be strong Democratic candidates in the national election: Jay Inslee of Washington, Gavin Newsom of California, and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, among other potential candidates.
We want a choice, period.
Jeanne Clarke
Foothills
Renounce U.S. citizenship
Re: the Sept. 12 article Pima County hit by sovereign citizen filings.
If it is true that: Democracy is the worst form of Government except for all the others, it would appear that a growing number of people are anxious to put that sentiment to the test. If they are so unset with our current form of government that they are willing to renounce their U.S. citizenship and adopt one from another country so be it. My suggestion is that they appear in person at any US embassy or equal, fill out the appropriate forms, submit the petition to apply for citizenship in the country they prefer and immigrate. If, however, they remain in the U.S.A. to enjoy the security and benefits afforded them as citizens, which by their actions they no longer wish to enjoy that they be immediately stripped of their right to vote, are classified as illegal immigrants as such immediately deported to the country they designated at their own expense! I am convinced this is probably best for all parties.
Robert Cozad
Oro Valley
Amen, Juan
The Republican US HOUSE Representatives from Arizona are an extreme group. District 6 Rep. Juan Ciscomani tries to have it both ways. He portrays himself as a moderate.
To a Republican audience, he says Amen to extreme proposals.
When they say, Shut down the government and cut Social Security, he says, Amen.
When they say, Government oversight of mining pollution use is evil, he says, Amen.
Ciscomani is highly partisan with a charismatic Christian background, believing that homosexuality is a sin, womens healthcare is subject to religious restrictions, and the constitution is written to ensure Christian control of government.
A recent mining conference was hosted by Rep. Gosar. Ciscomani argued that government oversight of pollution, safety, ecology, and water use is unacceptable, and mining should not be taxed. His words were straight from libertarian master Charles Koch.
Ciscomani claims to be a bipartisan moderate. Dont be fooled. He is aligned with MAGA.
Ricky Sage
Northeast side
Rein in PBMs
Dear editor,
As someone with Celiac Disease, growing up in an Italian family proved exceedingly difficult. Today, it is still a daily challenge just to go out to eat, let alone to effectively manage my symptoms. In order to help, I routinely rely on specialized prescription medications.
Thats why its appalling to know that the practices put in place by pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) are contributing to the higher out-of-pocket costs that I, and millions of other Americans, may face at the pharmacy. These groups have an inordinate amount of influence over the prescription drug market, controlling 80% of prescriptions available today.
Congress needs to do something about this, and President Bidens proposal to add in more government price controls is not the answer. I hope Senator Kyrsten Sinema realizes this, and she can instead start by introducing legislation similar to the HELP Copays Act in the Senate, which would reform PBM practices that put profits above patients.
Jennifer Marziali
Downtown
Childhood cancer and Beads of Courage
Re: the Sept. 16 letter Childhood cancer.
This letter writer wrote that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and that childhood cancer is the number one cause of death by disease of children in this country. I wanted to highlight the locally founded and headquartered nonprofit organization, Beads Of Courage that has helped thousands of children, teens and their families to cope with serious illnesses by providing innovative arts in medicine programs at the local, national and international levels. All those children, teens, family members and clinicians deserve a shout-out for their fortitude, bravery and caring before during and after illness while facing those challenges. The founder and CEO, Jean Gribbon, and all the folks who work and volunteer at Beads Of Courage should also be applauded and thanked. Check them out at beadsofcourage.org.
Kim Stone
Midtown
How valuable is water?
When I lived in a poor country in Southeast Asia, I visited some isolated villages. In one, the women got up very early and walked almost a mile to get their water. They made as many trips as was needed to bring back the bare minimum amount of water needed for people and animals.
Since one can live only a few days without water, it is the most valuable possession that they have! They did not waste their valuable water.
In contrast, in our country, safe drinking water is delivered to our homes with no effort on our part. We use all of the water that we want. Much of it is wasted. We have the mistaken idea that there is all of the water that we want. That is not true; we are in a water crisis. We must conserve water and eliminate wastage.
So I ask you, How valuable is water to you?
George Riek
South side
Invasive grasses
Yesterday, I drove up the Mt. Lemmon highway to enjoy the cool weather in the Santa Catalina Mountains. The infestations of Buffelgrass, Fountain Grass, and Natal Grass I saw along the highway up to approximately Molino Basis are disgusting and dangerous. The U.S. Forest Service should be ashamed of its lack of management of this potential fire threat.
Lee Cooper
Foothills
Aim high
This year, El Tour de Tucson celebrates its 40th anniversary. What could be more fitting and more exciting than a Davis Monthan fly-over to mark the occasion?
Brian Dolan
Northeast side
Blighted properties
Re: the Sept. 17 article Tucson to crack down on blighted properties.
I dont think you will find many that disagree with the need for a faster and more focused effort on fixing up blighted properties in Tucson. As the article confirms, resolution doesnt happen in a vacuum, and to create change it takes a coordinated effort by the city, neighborhood associations, and concerned citizens such as Ronni Kotwica.
As the former President of the Palo Verde Neighborhood Association, Roni Kotwica has always been my neighborhood associations go-to person when difficult questions arise. Shes always eager to help and consult with neighboring associations on how to organize or what city officials to contact with me neighborhood concerns. Bravo Ronni for continuing to lead in other areas.
Presently, the VANS teams salaries will be funded by vacancy savings, but future costs of the program should be funded by the recouped lien dollars associated with the program so as not to create another bureaucracy funded by taxpayer dollars.
Emery Nicoletti
(Photo : Andrej Ivanov / AFP) (ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of killing on Canadian soil following the fatal shooting of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims that India assassinated a Sikh community leader on Canadian soil in June, prompting an order to expel an Indian diplomat.
The alleged killing happened in British Columbia, and the recent allegations by the prime minister are expected to worsen relations between the two countries further. Trudeau spoke at the House of Commons, where he said that he had raised India's involvement in the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Justin Trudeau Accuses India of Killing on Canadian Soil
Trudeau said that he talked directly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Group of 20 summit meeting that was held earlier this month. The prime minister noted that the allegation was based on intelligence gathered by the Canadian government.
Additionally, the Canadian prime minister said that any involvement of a foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of the country's sovereignty. He argued that the nation would pressure India to cooperate with the investigation into the incident, as per the New York Times.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly later announced that the North American country had expelled an Indian diplomat, the head of India's intelligence agency in Canada. The prime minister added that many residents who had Indian origin made up roughly 4% of the population.
They have been angered by the killing of the Sikh community leader and, in some cases, expressed fear for their safety. There are roughly 1.4 million Canadians who have Indian heritage, many of whom are Sikhs. They include several well-known individuals, such as Jagmeet Singh, the leader of the opposition New Democratic Party.
Trudeau's allegation against India is expected to impact the two nations' relationship negatively. Canada suspended negotiations earlier this month regarding a trade deal with India scheduled to be concluded by this year.
Read Also: Sevastopol Explosion: Ukraine Steps Up Efforts to Break Russia's Control in Crimea
India's Sikh Movement
The prime minister said that Canadian intelligence agencies have been investigating the allegations after Nijjar was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey. Joly added that if the allegations are proven to be true, it would violate the most basic rule of how nations deal with each other, according to the Associated Press.
Modi allegedly expressed "strong concerns" at the G20 meeting over Canada's handling of the Punjabi independence movement. India's Ministry of External Affairs released a statement that described the Sikh movement as "promoting secessionism and inciting violence" against Indian diplomats.
The Indian government then called on Canada to cooperate on what New Delhi described as a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora. Trudeau noted that his government also worked with allies to investigate the case.
The situation comes as Canadian police have not yet made any arrests in relation to the shooting murder of the Sikh community leader. But in August, police officials released a statement that said they had moved to investigate three potential suspects and issued a description of a possible getaway vehicle, asking for help from the public, said CNN.
Related Article: US Prisoners Come Home in Rare Prisoner Swap With Iran After $6B Unfrozen
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James D. Watts Jr. Tulsa World Scene Writer Follow James D. Watts Jr. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
The establishment that chef Nico Albert Williams opened last week is not the sort of place many people were expecting.
"A lot of people thought that I would be opening a restaurant," Albert Williams said. "But I had been working in that industry for quite a while, and I was really feeling disconnected from that world. The way a restaurant has to be run, with an eye always on your bottom line, the stress and pressure of all that it just didn't have the appeal for me anymore."
Albert Williams has been the chef at several prestigious local restaurants, such as The Brasserie, Lucky's on Cherry Street, MixCo. and Duet, which she helped launch in 2018. Two years later, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in its early months and restaurants were either drastically altering operations or just closing down completely, Albert Williams found herself out of a job.
But the sudden change in employment meant that Albert Williams, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, was able to devote herself full-time to something she had been pursuing on the side for a number of years the foods of America's Indigenous people, and how to bring traditional ingredients, cooking techniques, and native dishes into the modern world, and how to use food as a way of promoting healing and wellness within the native community.
Albert Williams founded Burning Cedar Indigenous Foods, a catering and food consulting company that specialized in traditional and modern native foods, in 2022. That company has evolved into Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness, which had its official opening Thursday, Sept. 14, at 1162 E. 49th St.
"This is what I've working toward since I left Duet," Albert Williams said, as she sits in the facility's main room, underneath a neon sign that spells out the words "Gather Heal Grow," which is the Burning Cedar motto.
Albert Williams said that the name was chosen because cedar "is a medicine that unites us as Indigenous people. The name was initially inspired by a song my husband wrote with the line, 'I send this message to the Creator, bless this world, burning cedar.' We burn cedar when we pray with the belief that the smoke carries our prayers to Creator and our ancestors, and cleanses negative energy."
A self-taught chef, Albert Williams was born in Bakersfield, Calif., where her mother's family had moved years before from their native Oklahoma. It wasn't until her family returned to Oklahoma, when Albert Williams was in college, that she been to re-connect with her Cherokee heritage.
And, naturally for someone who has been in the restaurant business for much of her life, the most direct way to connect with the culture was through food.
"I was always doing this on the side of my 'day job' as a restaurant chef," Albert Williams said. "And something I noticed when I would do these catering jobs was that everyone wanted to learn more about the foods I was serving, especially people in the Native community.
"I knew I needed a catering kitchen, a place to store all the ingredients I was accumulating, and some place with a yard where I could plant some of the culinary and medicinal plants I use," she said. "I also realized that there really was no inter-tribal Native American community center in Tulsa. People from various tribes may get together for specific events, such as powwows, but there was no one, central place where everyone could come together."
That is what she envisions Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness to be. She choose the location, just off of Peoria Avenue, because she wanted this to be very much an urban center.
"There is a huge Native population in this city, and I wanted to be able to show people that everything I'm doing can be done, and done sustainably, within the city limits," she said.
Albert Williams said there are plans for cooking workshops and other community events, such as storytelling sessions around a backyard campfire. And she will continue to operate her catering business, which offers such dishes as sweet potato blue corn tamales, sumac-crusted fish with a seasonal fruit salsa, roasted green chili pork pozole, and kanvchi, a porridge made from pecans and black walnuts, sweetened with maple syrup and fresh berries.
"We can do a whole spectrum of different foods," Albert Williams said. "But primarily what we offer is taking traditional Indigenous ingredients and using them in modern ways to create something new.
"And all the profits from the catering business will go into Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness," she said.
For more information on Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness: burningcedar.org.
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Michael Dekker Tulsa World Business Writer Follow Michael Dekker Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
Related content Deadline lapses for mixed-use project near PAC downtown
Clarification: This story has been clarified to say Oasis Fresh Market owner A.J. Johnson has come under scrutiny for his companion nonprofit, not the store itself.
A plan to build a 13-story residential tower and grocery store near the Tulsa Performing Arts Center downtown was effectively nixed Monday by the PAC Board of Trustees.
The board voted unanimously to let the contract with Indianapolis-based developer Flaherty & Collins Properties expire following a closed-door session to discuss the matter.
To continue to enter into these extensions is not in our best interests, said Mark Frie, chief executive officer of the PAC.
Its been several, several years with really no timeline given to us on how long its going to take. To me its just better if we just take a breath, he said after the meeting.
The PAC Trust and Flaherty & Collins have for years been working to develop the PAC-owned parking lot directly across Cincinnati Avenue from the Performing Arts Center between Second and Third streets.
The latest iteration of the proposed development called for a 20,000-square-foot supermarket, a 13-story residential tower, 478 parking spaces, 10,000 square feet of first-floor commercial and retail space, and an Origin Hotel a boutique property with about 120 rooms.
Last week, the developer failed to meet a Friday deadline to close on the purchase of the property.
The PAC Trust in December agreed to give Flaherty & Collins until the end of June to close on the property, a deadline that was later extended to mid-September.
When the extension was granted, Ryan Cronk, vice president of development for Flaherty & Collins, told trustees the company would use the time to finalize construction documents, get city permits for the project and secure tax credits.
That way, Cronk told trustees, he would be ready to begin construction at the time he closed on the property.
He also announced that Flaherty & Collins had signed a lease with Oasis Fresh Market to operate a 20,000-square-foot supermarket as part of the $108 million development.
The citys first Oasis Fresh Market opened in May 2021 at 1725 N. Peoria Ave., ending a yearslong effort by north Tulsa residents to get a grocery store that sells fresh fruits, vegetables and meats.
The grocery store's owner, A.J. Johnson, has come under scrutiny in recent months.
Plans to expand the Oasis Fresh Market model stalled earlier this year after the state Legislature passed on a request for $30 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding.
The companys plan to use the funds to build four more stores ran aground amid concerns regarding the leadership structure of a Johnson's companion nonprofit.
Calls to Johnson and Cronk were not immediately returned Monday evening.
Frie said perceived issues with Johnson was no factor to the performing arts center at all.
In our mind what we had right in front of us today was that the contract elapsed and they did not close. We were ready, willing and able.
Frie said he was not given an explanation why the developer did not make Fridays deadline.
He said nothing is going to happen overnight with development of the area now.
PAC trustees are planning an upcoming retreat to discuss that and other issues, Frie said.
Certainly, that will be top of mind, he said. I cant put a timeline and when we would be ready to move forward. Its an opportunity to take a breath and evaluate.
City Councilor Lori Decter Wright said after the meeting that she was hopeful the boards action wasnt the end to the concept of having a downtown grocery store, but that other factors are also important.
This is not the necessarily type of thing where if you build it they will come, she said. We have other developments downtown now ... other opportunities.
Those who live downtown are going to have to decide what their best options are.
Brian Kurtz, president and CEO of the Downtown Tulsa Partnership, asked for comment on Mondays vote, said:
Downtown continues to experience historic levels of investment fueled by demand and private-public partnerships.
Our community has the opportunity to more than double downtowns population over the next decade, and we are ready to work with partners to bring quality projects to downtown that elevate our neighborhood for all who live, visit, and work here.
Kian Kamas, executive director of Partner Tulsa, said her agency will continue to support development of the site through an existing tax increment finance district.
We look forward to working alongside the PACs leadership and Trust to ensure this valuable asset is developed into a project that will benefit Tulsans and the downtown community for years to come, Kamas said.
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Tulsa Public Schools leaders will have new legal guidance as they work through compliance with state demands to maintain the districts accreditation status as well as an ongoing state forensic audit and the criminal probe of an embezzlement case.
On Monday evening, the school board voted 5-0 to approve a short-term contract with Tulsa-based education attorney Doug Mann to serve as special counsel to TPS interim Superintendent Ebony Johnson and school board leaders.
I have worked alongside Doug Mann before, Johnson said. He has an extensive amount of experience in education law, and due to my interim status, I believe he will be a great fit because of his experience and will provide us with the extensive additional supports we need.
Board members Jerry Griffin and ELena Ashley abstained from the vote.
Oklahomas largest school district is grappling with several extraordinary situations that have legal implications.
The State Auditor and Inspectors Office is still in the process of conducting a forensic audit triggered by Gov. Kevin Stitt after TPS self-reported to law enforcement in June 2022 allegations that one of its most senior administrators schemed to circumvent disbursement and conflict-of-interest policies to benefit himself and two of his family members.
Devin Fletcher, who resigned in late June 2022 as TPS chief talent and equity officer, was charged Monday in Tulsa federal court with felony wire fraud conspiracy on allegations that he embezzled at least $603,992 from Tulsa Public Schools and the Foundation for Tulsa Schools.
This spring, court records revealed that the FBI had already seized a combined $216,105.95 from two bank accounts listed under the names of relatives of Fletchers.
TPS officials and an independent audit firm they hired have called into question the use of the $400,000-$500,000 total intended for teacher recruitment and retention efforts. That reportedly was a combination of the districts own funds and grant funds received from a philanthropic donor.
Lastly, State Superintendent Ryan Walters publicly campaigned this summer for the state to consider taking over Tulsa Public Schools through the annual review process of state accreditation through which every public school district is authorized to operate and receive taxpayer funding.
Those threats ended for the time being with Deborah Gists agreeing with the local school board to step down Friday as Tulsa superintendent and the State Board of Educations ultimately greenlighting the districts state accreditation status in late August with three stipulations:
That TPS create a professional development plan to train teachers in scientifically-backed methods of literacy instruction.
That the district create an action plan to get all of its schools that are designated as failing on state school report cards off the F schools list.
That the district publish its newly implemented internal controls to try to prevent embezzlement.
Walters has made at least one visit to TPS in recent weeks and has issued a few more public statements about the matter, including Monday morning, when his office sent out a press release marking Johnsons beginning as interim TPS superintendent.
I have been clear for months that the status quo was unacceptable and dramatic change was necessary to improve literacy and overall student outcomes among Tulsa students. With new leadership in place, TPS has an opportunity to begin to turn the corner. Our kids deserve it, and the Tulsa community expects strong leadership dedicated to excellence and improving student outcomes, Walters said in the written statement.
I look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Johnson and the rest of TPS leadership toward these goals and to foster accountability, innovation, and excellence in Tulsa Public Schools. Working together, we will forge a brighter future for Tulsa kids.
The proposal approved Monday night by the Tulsa school board says Mann will provide legal services and representation on an as needed basis through June 30 for billable work hours not to exceed $49,500. It also specifies that Mann will not perform general or routine legal work for TPS that is normally performed by the staff general counsel or the districts contracted outside law firm.
It is of the utmost importance for the board and its interim superintendent to have the legal expertise and dedicated support of Mann to ensure that the board and its interim superintendent can continue to maintain local control of all aspects of the district in furtherance of the districts mission statement: To have students who lead through literacy, are empowered through experience, and contribute to their community, the proposal states.
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In a discussion reminiscent of congressional hearings of the 1950s, a panel that included Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters warned members of the U.S. House of Chinese Communist Party infiltration of the nations schools, including in Oklahoma.
Conflicts today are fought on a different dimension than they were in the past, Walters said Tuesday during his opening remarks for a subcommittee hearing on early childhood, elementary and secondary education. While we may not be taking up conventional arms against China and other hostile foreign governments, there is still a deep underlying conflict using the weapons of information, misinformation and propaganda.
It is hard enough to root out Chinese misinformation and propaganda without providing them with influence inside our schools, Walters said.
But just how much influence China or any other foreign adversary has in American schools was not clear from Tuesdays hearing.
Walters again cited a Tulsa Public Schools teachers participation in a professional development class sponsored by a Texas organization as Oklahomas only example.
As it has in the past, the district denied Walters accusation that it is involved with the Chinese Communist Party. It also noted that the school in question, Booker T. Washington High School, was one of four in Oklahoma designated Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education.
This recognition denotes schools that demonstrate effective and innovative teaching and learning among other criteria, the district said in response to Walters statements.
Students at Booker T Washington have the benefit of learning world languages from exceptional educators, including those who choose to take Chinese language classes, the statement read. Some of those students from the recently named National Blue Ribbon School earned awards in the prestigious state and national Chinese Speech Contests. These students work with a dedicated, highly respected educator who engages in supplemental professional development in Chinese language instruction, including past engagement with one of the organizations mentioned in remarks by Oklahomas state superintendent. This teachers salary and adopted instructional resources are fully paid for by Tulsa Public Schools. Contrary to accusations, the district takes no funds from the Chinese government and has no Confucius Classroom programs in its schools.
While Walters, two other witnesses and committee Republicans described the situation nationally as a dire security threat, Democrats dismissed the allegations as debunked by a 2019 Senate report and investigations by the Brookings and Hoover institutions.
A fourth panel member warned that rhetoric generated by the controversy endangers Asian Americans and hampers U.S. recruitment of Asian science and technology talent.
At issue was the Confucius Classroom program, an offshoot of the Confucius Institutes set up on college campuses around the United States through an organization affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. A goal of both programs is to soften Americans image of Peoples Republican of China and the CCP.
Many of the Confucius Institutes have been deactivated because of political pressure or because host universities decided the terms of the partnerships were untenable.
The Confucius Classroom program primarily involves Mandarin Chinese language instruction. In some cases, this includes Chinese nationals paid by CCP-affiliated organizations teaching in American schools.
This appears not to be the case with TPS.
Walters said complex networks of nonprofit organizations are used to funnel CCP money into schools. He said schools should hand over any money received from nonprofits.
Arizona Democrat Raul Grijalva briefly grilled Walters on Walters attempt to take over TPS and asked if he saw any inconsistency in opposing possible Chinese influence while welcoming it from the business world.
Walters said he did not.
Related Coverage of State Superintendent Ryan Walters
Vietnam put 11 special car license plates up for auction online last week, with the Ho Chi Minh City plate 51K-888.88 winning the highest bid of VND32.34 billion (US$1.32 million).
These 11 license plates, deemed 'super nice,' were initially placed up for auction on August 22 but they went unsold due to some technical issues.
Friday's online auction saw all 11 sold at a combined VND82.325 billion ($3.36 million), according to data from the Vietnam Partnership Auction Company.
The auction began with the 19A-555.55 license plate, registered in northern Phu Tho Province, which was sold at VND2.69 billion ($110,000) to Do Tien Thanh, a native of Phu Tho.
Thanh, an experienced collector of special license plates, said that he sought to own the 19A-555.55 license plate as it was the first one to be auctioned off in Vietnam and it is registered in his hometown.
The winner pledged to fully pay for the license plate, which will be attached to his white BMW 735i, he added.
Do Tien Thanh, a native of Phu Tho Province in northern Vietnam, won a bid for the Phu Tho-registered 19A-555.55 license plate at VND2.69 billion ($110,000). Photo: Supplied
During the auction, the sale topper was the Ho Chi Minh City plate 51K-888.88, which sold for VND32.34 billion ($1.32 million) to H.X.H., a resident of north-central Thanh Hoa Province.
Commenting on the fact that some people are willing to spend huge sums of money buying nice license plates, D.T.H., a big name in the field in Hanoi, said that only an auction-winning license plate is eligible to be sold along with a car, and the car ownership can be transferred to the buyer, as per the new regulations for vehicles with five-digit plates that came into effect on August 15 this year.
This means the buyer can keep the plate after reselling the car, H. explained.
The auction winners have to pay in full within 15 days, lawyer Le Hong Hien, member of the Hanoi Bar Association, said, citing regulations in Government Decree 39.
Failure to do so will lead to the cancelation of the bidding results and the loss of the VND40-million ($1,637) deposit that each paid earlier to join the auction, according to the decree.
The lawyer added that no sanctions are available for those who fail to pay for auction-winning plates and accept the loss of the security deposit.
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Synopsys, an American electronic design automation company, and Nvidia, a U.S. multinational technology company, have been committed to helping Vietnam foster its semiconductor industry development.
These commitments were made during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinhs visit to Silicon Valley, where the two firms are headquartered, in San Francisco, California on Monday afternoon (local time), as part of his week-long trip to the United States to attend the high-level General Debate of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session and other activities.
PM Chinh arrived in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon.
A representative of Synopsys told the meeting with PM Chinh that the firm has been in operation in Vietnam since 2006.
The firm aims to build a global semiconductor ecosystem, seeing Vietnam as a key base outside Silicon Valley.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (C, 2nd row) witnesses the ceremony for exchanging signed cooperation agreements between Synopsys and the Vietnam National Innovation Center. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
The prime minister witnessed the signing of a cooperative agreement between Synopsys and the Vietnam National Innovation Center to develop a workforce of integrated circuit design.
As per the deal, Synopsys will support the center in opening a chip design incubation hub at the Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park in Hanoi, helping promote the capacity of integrated circuit design and commercialize products quickly.
Furthermore, Synopsys will join hands with the Authority of Information and Communications Technology Industry to establish a semiconductor research institute in Vietnam.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (C) meets with Vietnamese employees at Synopsys in the U.S.. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
Meanwhile, the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology said that it is working to form a super computing system based on Nvidias A100 chips.
The two sides plan to complete relevant procedures and sign a cooperation agreement on research, technology transfer, and human training in the semiconductor industry in October.
PM Chinh said that he is impressed by the strong growth of Nvidia.
Nvidia president and CEO Jensen Huang (L) introduces A100 chips to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (L) experiences a tool for the metaverse at Meta. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
The top Vietnamese official invited Huang, co-founder of Nvidia, to Vietnam, expecting the firm to build a factory in the Southeast Asian nation and consider the country its base in Southeast Asia.
Huang said that Vietnam has developed rapidly, hoping that his firm will enhance its cooperation with Vietnamese partners in the semiconductor, information technology, and artificial intelligence spheres.
Huang underlined that Vietnam might become Nvidias key manufacturing base in Southeast Asia.
Before leaving San Francisco for Washington D.C. on Monday night, the prime minister paid a visit to Meta Platforms, Inc., which owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, among other products and services.
Speaking at the meeting with PM Chinh, Joel Kaplan, Meta vice-president for global public policy, underscored that the Vietnamese market is huge and promising.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, Meta produced tools for the metaverse in Vietnam.
The term metaverse refers to the integrated environment that links all of the company's products and services.
However, the pandemic disrupted its work, so the firm desires to expand its reach in Vietnam and continue producing metaverse tools in the nation in the coming years.
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SYDNEY - Australia will spend A$1.5 billion ($966 million) to boost maritime surveillance of its northern approaches, buying more long range drone aircraft and upgrading Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.
The fleet of 14 Boeing P-8A Poseidon Maritime Patrol aircraft will have anti-submarine warfare, maritime strike and intelligence collection capabilities upgraded, Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said in a statement on Tuesday.
A fourth Northrop Grumman manufactured MQ-4C Triton drone aircraft, developed with the United States Navy, will be based in Australia's Northern Territory, closest to Asia, and operated by a newly formed squadron in South Australia state.
The Triton will provide long-range surveillance of Australia's maritime region, the statement said.
"The purchase of an additional Triton will enhance operations from Australia's northern bases, a priority under the Defence Strategic Review," said Conroy.
The review in April said United States was no longer the "unipolar leader of the Indo Pacific", that intense competition between the U.S. and China was defining the region, and that the major power competition had "potential for conflict".
It recommended the country's northern bases become a focal point for deterring adversaries, and protecting trade routes and communications.
Australian Poseidon aircraft have conducted patrols in the East Vietnam Sea, and have also operated out of a Japanese airbase to enforce United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
Conroy said the Poseidon aircraft upgrades will strengthen the protection of Australian "maritime interests".
($1 = 1.5523 Australian dollars)
A new survey revealed that the impulse buying habit of younger Americans is worsening.
The latest findings showed that young US residents are spending tens of billions of dollars on impulse purchases online.
New Survey Claims Younger Americans' Online Impulse Buying is Getting Worse
According to Pix11's latest report, Bankrate conducted a new survey to see how much younger Americans spend on impulse purchases.
They spent around $71 billion on products they saw on social media platforms in 2022. The New York City-based financial company said each impulse buyer spends $754 on average.
"That's more than the gross domestic product of countries like Slovenia, Ghana, or Jordan," said Bankrate via its official survey.
Bankrate said that Americans with the worst impulse buying habits are Gen Z and millennials. On the other hand, baby boomers and Gen X showed a little more restraint.
Aside from this, Bankrate also revealed that nearly 50% of young Americans were triggered by social media platforms. Around 48% of them said that they impulsively purchased an item and then went on online platforms.
But, 68% of these impulse buyers said they regretted their decisions at least once after purchasing.
Read Also: [SURVEY] Americans More Interested in Space Defense Than Mars Missions; Are Asteroids Really That Scary?
How NOT To Be An Impulse Buyer?
Bankrate Senior Industry Analyst Ted Rossman said that if younger Americans want to avoid spending too much on impulse purchases, they can best follow the 24-hour rule.
To do this, you must avoid the item you put in your cart for 24 hours. After that, you can return to it and see if you still want to buy it.
"For larger amounts, you might even want to hold off for a week or more. Make sure to involve your spouse in the discussion as well (if you have one)," explained Rossman.
Aside from the 24-hour rule, here are other tricks you can do to lessen your impulse purchases:
Always use cash if you want to buy something so that you will have a limited budget for your impulse spending.
Creating a budget is always the best way to reduce spending on unnecessary purchases.
Before purchasing any product online, make sure that you are not emotional.
Avoid visiting physical stores or checking online shopping websites unless you need to buy something.
You can remove your saved card info so that you will have a hard time ordering online, allowing you to have time to think before making the purchase.
Related Article: [SURVEY] Chinese Americans See China Negatively; Only 4 Out of 10 Favor the Country
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China's electric vehicle giant BYD has been on a tear in Southeast Asia, shooting past rivals including Tesla to take more than a quarter of the share of EVs sold in the region.
Along with attractive prices, BYD's early success is based on a pattern of distribution partnerships with large, local conglomerates that have allowed the carmaker to expand reach, test consumer preferences and navigate complex government regulations in the region, officials from three partners and analysts said.
This partnership model, similar to that pursued by Japanese automakers in some Southeast Asian countries decades ago, is helping BYD to build market share rapidly and contrasts with Tesla's go-it-alone distribution - though it comes at a cost.
"At present, BYD's primary focus is on brand proliferation rather than optimising profit margins," said Soumen Mandal, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
"By providing local dealers with more lucrative profit margins, BYD can cultivate trust and loyalty, paving the way for broader expansion."
BYD did not respond to questions from Reuters.
The Chinese automaker sold more than 26% of all cars in Southeast Asia's small but fast-growing EV market in the second quarter of 2023 and its Atto 3 model, priced starting at $30,000 in Thailand, was the regional bestseller, according to Counterpoint. Tesla prices the most basic Model 3 from about $57,500 in Thailand.
EVs constituted 6.4% of all passenger vehicle sales in Southeast Asia in the second quarter, up from 3.8% in the preceding quarter, and the region could gain in importance for Chinese automakers after the European Commission last week announced an investigation into Beijing's EV subsidies.
'Not an easy market'
BYD's regional distributors include divisions of Sime Darby in Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia's Bakrie & Brothers, Ayala Corp in the Philippines and Thailand's Rever Automotive.
BYD's partnerships are helping it in a region where Chinese car brands do not have an established track record, said Chee-Kiang Lim, managing director for China at auto sales consultancy Urban Science.
"If buyers are unsure or have any concerns, partnering with established players like Sime Darby, Bakrie & Brothers, or Ayala Corp will give them the peace of mind, especially for aftersales support," he said.
The Shenzhen-based automaker is investing nearly $500 million in Thailand to build a new factory that will produce 150,000 EVs per year from 2024 for exports to Southeast Asia and European markets.
For Ayala Corp's AC Motors, which plans to open a dozen BYD dealerships in the next 12 months in the Philippines, the focus for initial spending is on brand building and getting more consumers considering EVs, said the head of its automotive business, Antonio Zara.
"It's about busting the myths on range," he said. "It's about busting the myth on price and communicating the total cost of ownership."
In Thailand, an advertising spree is visible from small screens inside elevated trains in the capital Bangkok to massive billboards in provincial towns.
BYD's Thai partner Rever did not respond to questions on its distribution and marketing strategy.
In Indonesia, BYD has able to lean on Bakrie & Brothers' unit VKTR to secure a government contract for 52 EV buses for Jakarta, said its chief strategy officer Alex Kim.
"Indonesia is not an easy market to do business on your own," said Kim, adding that, beyond government sales, VKTR was in talks with large domestic businesses to sell BYD EV buses.
Taking on Tesla
Thai EV buyers contributed 24% of BYD's overseas sales in the second quarter, making it the Chinese automaker's largest foreign market, according to Counterpoint, whereas fewer than 1% of Tesla's sales are in Southeast Asia.
Tesla's website currently lists only two stores in the region, both in the wealthy city-state of Singapore, though it is hiring for Thailand and Malaysia.
BYD's Southeast Asia playbook and its embrace of dealerships contrasts with Tesla, whose direct-to-consumer approach is hard to replicate, since no other new EV brand has its buzz or the outsized media presence of its CEO Elon Musk.
BYD and its partner Sime Darby Motors are experimenting with a new approach to draw young, tech-savvy consumers towards the Chinese brand in Singapore.
The partnership has launched five "BYD by 1826" showrooms that double as white-tablecloth restaurants where dishes are named after BYD EV models.
"With BYD by 1826, we are able to reach out to more customers who want to know more about BYD or (are) new to the BYD brand," said Jeffrey Gan, managing director of retail and distribution for Sime Darby Motors in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau.
($1 = 35.6400 baht)
What you need to know today in Vietnam:
Politics
-- Vietnamese National Assembly (NA) Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue will pay official visits to Bangladesh and Bulgaria from Thursday this week to Tuesday next week at the invitations of Speaker of the Bangladeshi Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria Rosen Zhelyazkov, the Vietnam News Agency reported, citing an announcement of the NA's Committee for Foreign Affairs.
Society
-- The administration of District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City has rejected a rumor that the district would merge its wards to set up new ones, such as Hoang Sa, Truong Sa, Ban Co, and Phu Thanh Wards.
-- Nearly half of a 25-kilometer section of the western coastal corridor, also known as Trans-Asia Road, in An Minh District, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam has seriously deteriorated, causing difficulties in travel for local residents.
-- Vietnams state appraisal council has approved an appraisal plan for the nearly-39-kilometer-long Van Cao-Hoa Lac urban railway project connecting downtown Hanoi and outlying Thach That District. The project carries a price tag of over VND65.4 trillion (US$2.7 billion).
-- Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha on Monday signed a decision to approve an increase by over VND1.6 trillion ($65.5 million) in the total cost for the Rach Mieu 2 bridge project linking Tien Giang and Ben Tre Provinces in Vietnams Mekong Delta and the extension of the projects completion date to 2026 instead of 2025.
-- Police in Chau Thanh District, An Giang Province, southern Vietnam said on Monday that they had initiated legal proceedings against the owner of an unlicensed kindergarten on charges of accidentally causing human death due to breach of professional regulations after a two-year-old boy died at the kindergarten on May 25.
-- A landslide happened near an elementary school in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong in school time on Monday afternoon. The incident caused no casualties.
Business
-- U.S. enterprises should visit Vietnam to see its development and make investments in the country in a win-win manner, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said at the Vietnam - U.S. Business Forum in San Francisco on Monday morning (local time).
Sports
-- The Vietnamese men's Olympic football team expect a victory against Mongolia in their first match at the 19th Asian Games (ASIAD 19) in China on Tuesday afternoon.
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A 15-year-old girl in Quang Xuong District under Thanh Hoa Province, located in north-central Vietnam, died of Whitmore's disease, also known as melioidosis, after many days of intensive treatment at Thanh Hoa Pediatric Hospital.
The hospital confirmed the death of the young resident of Tien Trang Commune in the district on Tuesday.
The patient was transferred to Thanh Hoa Pediatric Hospital on September 4, with some symptoms of respiratory failure and heart arrhythmias, according to the hospital.
After undergoing a test, she was diagnosed with a bacterium called Burkholderia pseudomallei, which causes Whitmore's disease, an infectious and fatal illness.
Due to the serious health problem, the patient died in a state of multi-organ failure.
The girl showed symptoms of a sore throat, cough, high fever, and weight loss from August 22 to 30, said the Quang Xuong District Healthcare Center.
Her family bought medicine and treated her at home in vain.
She was rushed to the An Phuc Clinic in Tien Trang Commune on September 1 for a medical check-up and treatment, but then her health condition worsened.
The girl was admitted to the Central Hospital 71 in Quang Tam Commune under Thanh Hoa City, and was transferred to Thanh Hoa Pediatric Hospital.
In November last year, Thanh Hoa Province reported two Whitmores disease cases, with one of them dying in a state of multi-organ failure, septic shock, and intestinal necrosis.
Doctors say that melioidosis infection commonly involves the lungs, causing pneumonia, high fever, night sweats, weight loss, bloody sputum, and pus or blood in the lung tissues.
There is no vaccine against Whitmores disease, so those exhibiting suspected symptoms of the disease such as high fever, chest pain, stomachache, headache, and convulsion should visit medical facilities for check-ups and tests.
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Vietnams state appraisal council has approved an appraisal plan for the nearly-39-kilometer-long Van Cao-Hoa Lac urban railway project linking downtown Hanoi and outlying Thach That District, with a price tag of over VND65.4 trillion (US$2.7 billion).
The metro line will feature a 6.5-kilometer underground section, a two-kilometer elevated section, and a 30-kilometer section at ground level.
The urban railway project will have 21 stations, and pass through Ba Dinh, Dong Da, Cau Giay, and Nam Tu Lien Inner Districts, and Hoai Duc, Quoc Oai and Thach That Suburban Districts.
The city is set to finance the metro line, which is one of its priority projects in the 2021-25 period, through five sources.
Among them are the 2021-25 public investment capital, proceeds from equitization and divestment at state-owned enterprises, revenue from land auctions, proceeds from bond issues, and remaining loans borrowed from international financial institutions.
Of the total investment, more than VND24.8 trillion ($1.02 billion) will be spent on construction, while equipment installation will cost over VND16.6 trillion ($680.8 million).
The city will use VND811 billion ($33.2 million) for site clearance and resettlement support, and VND16.9 trillion ($692.1) for backup.
Meanwhile, over VND6.2 trillion will be used for management and consulting fees and other costs.
As planned, the Vietnamese capital city will carry out a test run of the metro line in late 2025.
When in place, the metro line will help ease traffic jams and boost the development of the citys suburban districts, according to the Hanoi administration.
The urban railway is expected to serve more than 273,000 passengers per day and night after it is put into operation.
The Hanoi Peoples Committee wants to operate four-car trains on the metro link during the 2025-50 period, and the number of train cars will increase to eight after 2050 to meet higher demand.
The municipal administration proposed learning from Malaysia to manage and implement the project under the project delivery partner (PDP) model.
Accordingly, the investor of a project will select a qualified and healthy contractor to deploy it under the PDP model.
As per the model, a project delivery partner will take responsibility for all risks of the project implementation process, and ensure the project can undergo a test run as scheduled and fix projected costs.
In fact, a project delivery partner acts as a consulting company whose work encompasses project management and technical expertise.
In early November 2021, the city put into service the Cat Linh Ha Dong metro line, the first of its kind in Hanoi.
The line has 12 elevated stations and 13 trains which run from Cat Linh Station in Ba Dinh District to Yen Nghia Station in Ha Dong District.
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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is encouraging American enterprises to boost their investment in Vietnam in the spirit of sharing both the benefits and risks, while stressing the success of foreign investors is the success of the host country.
PM Chinh was speaking at the Vietnam - U.S. Business Forum on technology and innovation cooperation on Monday morning (local time) in San Francisco, California, where he arrived on Sunday for a week-long trip to attend the high-level General Debate of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.
Before a very large audience, Chinh touched on the fruitful development of the Vietnam - U.S. relations over the past years with a lot of milestones, including the upgrade of the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which took place a week ago during the visit to Vietnam by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The enhancement of ties resulted from a great effort of the two countries and people, including Vietnamese and American businesses, the PM told the forum.
With the view that 'resources come from thinking and awareness, motivation takes shape from innovation, and strength originates from people and businesses,' PM Chinh expressed his hope that American businesses will promote their investment in Vietnam in the spirit of 'harmonious benefits and shared risks' to be successful in the win-win cooperation with their Vietnamese partners.
Vietnam sees foreign investors success as its own, the Vietnamese leader affirmed.
Reiterating the U.S. commitment to supporting a strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous Vietnam, PM Chinh suggested U.S. investors focus their investment in the Southeast Asian nation on trade, services, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, energy conversion, the circular economy, and the sharing economy.
After nearly four decades of innovation, opening up, and integration of the national economy, Vietnam has obtained many remarkable achievements, the PM told the forum.
The scale of the economy has reached US$409 billion, making Vietnam one of the worlds top 20 biggest international trade economies and one of the worlds 40 largest economies, while average income per capita has increased from $160 to over $4,100, Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper cited Chinh as saying.
Vietnams PM Pham Minh Chinh witnesses the ceremony for exchanging signed cooperation agreements between Vietnamese and American businesses at the Vietnam - U.S. Business Forum in San Francisco, California, September 18, 2023. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
Last year, Vietnam registered a GDP growth rate of 8.02 percent, the highest in the past 10 years, and earned an import-export turnover of over $732 billion, an increase of 9.5 percent, with a trade surplus of more than $11 billion.
The nation also saw realized FDI capital reaching about $22.4 billion in 2022, the highest in the past five years.
The Vietnamese leader stressed that Vietnam and the U.S. have long determined to 'put aside the past, look toward the future, and heal the wounds of war,' but some people still do not fully understand Vietnam and are therefore afraid and worried.
Thats why I would like to take this opportunity to ask U.S. authorities at all levels as well as the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council to explain to them that the Vietnamese government is ready to open the door for all companies to invest and do business legally, stably, and effectively, the PM stated.
He called on those who are hesitant about Vietnam to come to Vietnam to witness its development with their own eyes and then invest in the country for mutual interests.
A picture is worth a thousand words, Chinh cited an adage.
Earlier on the same morning, Chinh met and had breakfast with representatives of typical Vietnamese businesses in San Francisco, during which he highly valued the contributions by overseas Vietnamese business communities, including those in the U.S., to Vietnams economic development.
These business leaders expressed their pleasure at the increasingly improved investment and business environment in Vietnam, and at the vigorous progress in Vietnam - U.S. relations, which they said will open up many new opportunities for trade and investment cooperation.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shakes hands with a representative of typical Vietnamese businesses based in San Francisco, California, September 18, 2023. Photo: Nhat Bac / Tuoi Tre
Affirming that the Vietnamese community here is very dynamic and always looks back to their homeland, the business leaders expressed their desire to contribute more to the countrys development as well as promote the relations between the two countries.
They also briefed Chinh on some plans for cooperation between them and their Vietnamese partners in the coming time.
As the main part of his trip, the PM is to deliver a speech at the General Debate of the 78th UNGA session at the General Assembly Hall of the UN Headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.
The event will take place under the theme, 'Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals toward Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and the Sustainability for All.'
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The government on Monday released a fresh decree revising and enhancing various provisions regarding the recruitment and management of foreign workers in Vietnam.
The new decree, which took effect the same day, stipulates that foreign experts must hold a university degree or higher, or an equivalent qualification, and possess a minimum of three years of work experience relevant to the intended position in Vietnam.
Their university degree does not have to be related to the field of expertise for which they will be hired.
Foreign technical workers are only required to undergo training for a minimum duration of one year and possess at least three years of experience relevant to the designated position in Vietnam.
Employers, excluding contractors, are obligated to provide a report to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs or the relevant Departments of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs in the respective localities at least 15 days prior to the commencement of foreign worker employment.
This report outlines the employers specific requirements for the occupation that Vietnamese workers do not qualify for.
Any alterations pertaining to a foreign employees role, job designation, employment type, work site, or the quantity of foreign workers must also be reported to the aforementioned agencies no later than 15 days prior to the effective date of these changes.
The agencies have a duty to issue a written approval or rejection within ten working days from the date of receipt of the report.
Starting January 1, 2024, job postings for positions requiring foreign workers must be published on the online portal of the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs or the employment service centers of centrally-administered cities and provinces in Vietnam.
As reported by the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids, and Social Affairs, Vietnam had hosted approximately 120,000 foreign workers from more than 110 different countries and territories by the end of 2022.
This represents an almost 20 percent increase compared to the figures from 2021.
Among these workers, Chinese nationals make up 30.9 percent, followed by South Koreans at 18.3 percent, Taiwanese at 12.9 percent, and Japanese at 9.5 percent.
The remaining individuals are from various other nations and regions.
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Artist Le Sa Long crafted a series of seven paintings within three days to commemorate 56 dead victims of a recent fatal fire in Hanoi, while also conveying his appreciation for the relentless efforts of both emergency responders and compassionate civilians who fought the blaze and aided the struggling victims.
Long, a member of the Ho Chi Minh City Fine Arts Association, joined numerous Vietnamese citizens from across Vietnam in closely monitoring news about the fire at an apartment block in Thanh Xuan District of the capital on Tuesday night last week.
The conflagration hit the apartment block down a narrow alley on Khuong Ha Street in the district and claimed the lives of 56 people while injuring 37 others.
A painting by artist Le Sa Long depicts the scene of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
The tragedy inspired Long to dedicate nearly three days to crafting seven paintings in remembrance of the lost victims.
Out of the seven paintings, five form a sequential narrative.
The initial one portrays the scene of the tragic incident, while the subsequent paintings describe the efforts of emergency responders extinguishing the flames and rescuing individuals from the engulfed building.
A painting by artist Le Sa Long depicts two brave emergency responders fearlessly entering a burning building to rescue victims in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
The last two paintings consist of individual portraits.
In one, he depicts Nguyen Dang Van, a 30-year-old deliveryman from Bac Ninh Province in northern Vietnam, who valiantly assisted in the rescue of nine people from the fire.
A painting by artist Le Sa Long depicts police officers, firefighters, and civilians banding together to rescue victims of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
In the other portrait, Long painted Pham Quoc Viet, founder and leader of First Aid Support Angels, a civilian charity organization committed to offering prompt first aid assistance for all accidents in Hanoi.
Viet and his team also provided aid at the scene of the fire last Tuesday night.
If I have the opportunity to meet these two brave young people, Pham Quoc Viet and Nguyen Dang Van, I will present them with their portrait paintings as a gesture of gratitude for their fearless acts of rescuing people without regard to their own safety, Long said.
A painting by artist Le Sa Long depicts emergency responders working at the scene of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
Besides, Long is currently working on another oil painting measuring 120cm x 160cm, centered around a rare moment of respite among the firefighters after they successfully combated the deadly blaze on Tuesday night.
He plans to put this painting up for auction, with the proceeds to be used as support for the families of the 56 deceased victims.
A painting by artist Le Sa Long depicts a firefighter carrying a child out of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
The artist said he worked diligently to finish the first seven paintings on Sunday night, just before various Hanoi departments and organizations observed a minute of silence in memory of the 56 victims on Monday morning.
The result of his work, however, did not feel rushed at all.
A portrait by artist Le Sa Long depicts Nguyen Van Dang, a heroic deliveryman who helped rescue nine people from the site of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
Long conveyed the poignant incident with a touch of compassion and sensitivity, paying tribute to the fire brigade and promoting fire prevention and fighting in a gentle and impactful manner.
He agreed with Hoang Song Viet, a prolific composer of traditional southern Vietnam music and performance cai luong, on transforming this heart-wrenching incident into works of literature and art as a means to raise peoples awareness about the importance of fire prevention and fighting, particularly in densely-populated urban areas like Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City.
A portrait by artist Le Sa Long depicts Pham Quoc Viet, founder and leader of First Aid Support Angels, a civilian charity organization dedicated to providing timely first aid for accidents in Hanoi, who led his team to help rescue victims at the site of a tragic apartment building fire in Hanoi, September 2023. Photo: Supplied
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Two part documentary Kim vs. Kanye: The Divorce will hear from legal teams (charming) who represented both sides of the Kim Kardashian / Kanye West divorce.
In 2021, American media personality and businesswoman Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West, one of the music industrys most controversial and revered hip-hop artists. With the couple worth an estimated two-billion dollars, everything was at stake, including their businesses, their families, and most importantly, their reputations.
In this two-part documentary we are given exclusive access into the bitter details of one of the most high-profile divorce cases in history. While it seemed as though the two were made for each other, it soon became known that Kim and Kanyes marriage was burning down in flames, as Kanyes behaviour was too much for Kim to bear. As Kim cut Kanye out of the Kardashian empire, neglect, isolation, and love for his family, urged Kanye to try and keep the marriage on track, but he was no match for the Kardashian legal machine.
Ep 1: Kanyes Story
After Kim Kardashian filed for divorce in early 2021, troubled genius Kanye West was determined to keep his marriage and family together at all cost. Insiders and experts detail how Kanyes mental health struggles eventually led to a bitter two-year divorce that played out on both social media and every tabloid across the world. With unique access to Kanyes legal team, this is the inside story of how Kanye fought against his divorce and his struggle to retain an influence over his childrens lives. Did the breakup of his family affect his controversial behaviour at the end of 2022?
Episode 2: Kims Story
Troubled rapper Kanye Wests controversial behaviour finally forced reality superstar Kim Kardashian to file for divorce in early 2021. This episode reveals insider details on the end of their six-year marriage and tells the story of their two-year divorce from Kims perspective. With insights from those close to her, we learn how Kim endured an increasingly troubled marriage and how the TV star coped during a campaign of online harassment waged by her ex-husband, Kanye. Was Kim Kardashian right to call time on her explosive marriage to Kanye West?
Thursday September 21 on Binge / 9pm FOX Docos
US actor Billy Miller, best known for The Young and the Restless and General Hospital, has died, aged just 43.
He died on Friday in Austin, Texas following a battle with manic depression.
Millers mother Patricia released a statement saying: He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years. He did everything he could to control the disease. He loved his family, his friends and his fans but in the end the disease won the fight and he surrendered his life. The other causes of death being told are not true. I wish they were but they just arent. We all loved him so much and are desperately trying to deal with our loss. I will have nothing further to say. Thanks for the love and support.
After work as a model he went on to play Richie Novak from 2007 to 2008 in All My Children then moved over to The Young and the Restless to take over the role of Billy Abbott an winning three Daytime Emmy.
In 2014 he joined General Hospital in the roles of Jason Morgan and Drew Cain starring as a series regular until 2019 and then joining Suits for five episodes.
Suits co-creator Aaron Korsh took to social media to say, Very sad news for the entire Suits family. I flew home once with Billy. We had a great time, bonding over the five-hour flight, which seemed like it was over in minutes. A funny, smart, kind, gentle man.
Other credits included NCIS, The Rookie, Truth Be Told, Major Crimes, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Castle, Enormous, and 2016s Urban Cowboy.
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Source: Variety, Daily Mail
NYC officials are now considering the removal of George Washington statues, as well as other monuments, Dutch Governor Peter Stuyvesant and Italian explorer Christopher Columbus.
The planned removal of their statues is a part of New York City's effort to establish a reparations task force, as confirmed by the New York City Council.
NYC Considers Removing George Washington Statues
Fox News reported that the city council of New York City is considering measures that could remove statues of the mentioned historical figures above. Officials will discuss these measures on Tuesday, September 19. NYC's Cultural Affairs Committee said it will hold a public hearing to remove monuments of people who benefited from slavery and directly enslaved other humans.
Statues of individuals linked to systemic crimes against indigenous people and other human rights crimes will also be taken down. CAC said that if the Public Design Commission doesn't approve the removal of these statues, then it will be required to put an explanatory plaque next to the monuments.
Aside from this, PDC will also need to coordinate with the Department of Education to install the plaques on public spaces adjacent to schools, such as sidewalks.
The upcoming public hearing will also discuss proposals that call for anti-racism training, which city employees and human services contractors should take.
Read Also: NYC Warns of Migrant Crisis' Far-Reaching Implications if Democrats Win in the Ballot
Some New Yorkers Criticize NYC's Reparations Task Force Effort
According to The New York Post's latest report, some New Yorkers are criticizing NYC's reparations task force effort. They branded this effort as a cancel culture run amok. Among those who are against it is Columbus Heritage Coalition President Angelo Vivolo.
He argued that Columbus was once a migrant himself. Because of this, Vivolo said that he would fight any effort to remove the Italian explorer's statutes from the city parkland. Meanwhile, an NYC resident, Joann Ariola, also shared her concern, saying that the proposals are an attempt by the radical left to rewrite the country's history.
"These men all had an enormous impact on this country, and these statues commemorating their achievements have been in place for decades," added Ariola.
The New Yorker explained that the Founding Fathers and other historical figures who greatly contributed to the country's establishment should be celebrated instead of eliminated. These are just New Yorkers' statements against removing George Washington statues and other monuments. You can click this link to see more.
Related Article: NYC Mayor Eric Adams Issues Warning of 'Financial Tsunami' Amid Raging Migrant Crisis
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Britain is forging ahead with trade talks with India despite acknowledging serious allegations that the Indian government is linked to the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.
Downing Street said on Tuesday it is in close touch with Canada after its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said New Delhi may have been behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The advocate of Sikh independence from India was gunned down outside a cultural centre in British Columbia in June.
A photograph of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP)
India has denied being behind the murder, expelling a senior Canadian diplomat on Tuesday in a tit-for-tat move and accusing Canada of interfering in its internal affairs.
In the UK, Rishi Sunak was keen not to let the severe row between two allies get in the way of the post-Brexit trade deal he is trying to secure with India.
The Prime Ministers official spokesman said: Were in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations.
Its right that the Canadian authorities are looking into them. But Im not going to get ahead of that work that needs to take place now.
He said that work on trade negotiations will continue as before, arguing it is important not to get ahead of the work that Canadian partners are doing investigating the allegations.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hugs his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, during the G20 Summit in New Delhi this month (Dan Kitwood/PA)
The official said Britain raises concerns directly during trade talks, but added that with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal and we are not looking to conflate with other issues.
But he stressed it is vitally important that a countrys sovereignty and international rule of law is respected.
Mr Trudeau, who met Mr Sunak at the G20 summit in New Delhi this month, raised the claims with the Prime Minister, according to Ottawas foreign minister, Melanie Joly.
It is understood the Prime Minister knew in advance that Canada, a fellow member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, was going to level the claims at India.
Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, has in the past raised concerns with Rishi Sunak about Sikh separatists in the UK (Dan Kitwood/PA)
Downing Street said it is not aware of any plans to follow Canadas move in expelling a diplomat.
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Canada expelled four Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia with a nerve agent in Salisbury in 2018.
Mr Trudeaus allegation has led to fresh scrutiny being placed on the deaths of prominent Sikh figures, with three said to have died unexpectedly in recent months.
One, Avtar Singh Khanda, a 35-year-old activist calling for an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, died in Birmingham in June.
West Midlands Police said a review had concluded there were no suspicious circumstances and they would not be reopening the investigation.
Jas Singh, an adviser to the Sikh Federation (UK), said the Canadian allegations mean that absolutely there should be a full investigation now into what he called the suspicious death of Mr Khanda.
Asked if police should look again at the circumstances, Mr Sunaks spokesman said the police review had been thorough.
Indias prime minister, Narendra Modi, has in the past raised concerns with Mr Sunak about Sikh separatists in the UK.
Mr Nijjar had been organising an unofficial referendum for Khalistan at the time of his death, and Indian authorities had accused him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
TS Foods David Steele, operations director, Ann & Tony Steele, founders and Joanne Molloy, managing director celebrate the company turning 45 this year. Established in 1978, TS Foods is one of NIs leading frozen and chilled food producers, employing over one hundred people in the Castlewellan area (Photo: Brian Thompson)
Northern Ireland chilled and frozen food producer, TS Foods, is celebrating its 45th year of operation.
Started by Tony and Ann Steele in 1978, TS Foods is now run by their daughter Joanne Molloy (managing director) and son David Steele (operations director), with the third generation also now working within the business.
The company started life as a fish and chip shop (The Dolphin in Castlewellan), which is where Tony and Ann identified a gap in the market for retail chip-shop style pasties. These were met with unprecedented demand, and following their huge success, Tony and Anne developed an entire range of coated value-added products under Tonys Chippy brand.
In 1983, they identified another opportunity to supply a new and innovative product to market, becoming the first food company in Northern Ireland to sell prepared fresh breadcrumb stuffing. Today, their Great Taste award-winning stuffings and breadcrumbs range continues to be the market leader.
Over the years, TS Foods have continually invested in the upgrade and expansion of their premises in Mary Street, Castlewellan, including extended warehousing capacity and increased production lines, to meet with increasing consumer demand, and to enable them to continually develop new and innovative products.
TS Foods retail brands include Tonys Chippy, TS Foods Chicken and TS Foods Stuffing, and they count many major retailers amongst their customers.
They also have an extensive foodservice offering, as well as making a wide range of own-label products for well-known retailers. In addition, they also fulfil contract manufacturing for other customers.
Their commitment to innovation, product quality and production best-practice means they have garnered an excellent reputation within the industry, not just here in Northern Ireland, but also in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
With over 100 employees, TS Foods is one of the most significant employers in the area. The company recently held a celebration on site to thank their team for their on-going hard work and dedication, and to toast the company's success to date and to look forward to the coming years.
Can the EU stop Italy from drifting further right after record migrant arrivals?
For days, the local news media have been warning Italians of an unfolding crisis on the small island of Lampedusa, off the coast of Sicily, after an unprecedented number of migrant arrivals brought the territorys facilities to a breaking point.
Nearly 7,000 migrants landed in Lampedusa within 48 hours last week, overwhelming the islands hosting facility, which has a total capacity of only 400. Protests broke out among the migrants asking to leave the island, while residents also complained about the impossibility of hosting more people on the island.
The entire population of Lampedusa is about 6,300 people - meaning that it almost doubled last week because of the migrant arrivals.
In the midst of an increasingly difficult situation, far-right politician Matteo Salvini, whose party, the League, is currently part of the coalition government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, declared that the European Union was to blame for the unfolding crisis.
Not because it has not done enough to help Italy redistribute the migrants across the union - but because it was trying to eliminate the government, he claimed.
Its an act of war funded and prepared to put an inconvenient government in trouble, Salvini, Minister of Infrastructure and Transport said, describing the recent migrant arrivals as an invasion.
Salvinis claim that the EU had left Italy alone to deal with the problem of increased arrivals was somehow reinforced by Germanys decision to halt the relocation of migrants from Italy last week. Berlin has since backtracked on that decision, saying that it will keep taking migrants from the country after all.
In France, the Minister of Interior Affairs Gerald Darmanin said that his country would have not accepted migrants from Lampedusa, saying, as reported by Corriere: Were already doing our part.
Migrants prepare to board an Italian Navy ship to be taken away from Lampedusa Island after being rescued at sea, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. - Cecilia Fabiano/LaPresse via AP
A tug of war between Meloni and Salvini
A lack of response and help by Italys neighbours and fellow EU members plays into the Euro-scepticism pushed forward by Salvini and his populist party - and gives him a chance to raise his profile over that of Meloni.
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Salvini and Meloni have been in a certain tug of war since the beginning, because I dont think he ever accepted his loss, Marianna Griffini, assistant professor in International Relations and Anthropology at the Northeastern University in London, told Euronews.
He always takes the chance to monopolise public and media attention on the most urgent issues in Italy, he always tries to find a window of opportunity to jump into the conversation and steal some attention from Meloni, she said.
This peaked when they were discussing the upcoming EU electoral coalitions this summer and Salvini made it clear that he would stand with Marine Le Pen, while Meloni showed some reservations.
This conflict at the heart of the Italian government - as well as the heart of French politics and the countrys far-right - was clear when last week Marion Marechal (granddaughter of French National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen) travelled to Lampedusa to declare her support for the Italian government at the same time as her aunt, Marine Le Pen, travelled to Pontida to meet Salvini, who was holding a party gathering there.
Both expressed their support for Italys right-wing government, setting up a contrast with the alleged lack of help from Emmanuel Macron.
Salvini is formally siding with Meloni, but at the same time hes trying to push forward his own party, the League, Griffini said.
On the issue of migration, Salvinis party has been urging tougher measures, including using the country's navy to stop migrant boats, after declaring that Melonis diplomatic approach to the problem has failed.
Von der Leyens attempt to keep Meloni close
While Italys neighbours reacted to the recent crisis in Lampedusa by reinforcing border checks, sparking the anger of Salvini and Meloni, the head of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen travelled to the island to show her support to the country.
Meloni said that the visit was not an act of solidarity, but of responsibility.
Francesco Strazzari, professor in International Relations at the Pisa-based Scuola Universitaria Superiore Sant'Anna, told Euronews that her visit should be seen as an astute political move aimed at keeping Melonis government from shifting further right on issues of migration.
Ursula von der Leyen is scared because she sees that right-wing populism is advancing with the cost of living crisis, the war in Ukraine, and the issue of migration, Strazzari said.
I think that von der Leyens visit to Lampedusa can be interpreted as an attempt to keep the Italian government stable and moderate, as well as on the EUs side, showing that a dialogue is possible with Italys right-wing government, he continued.
But at the same time, Meloni is facing direct competition from Salvini, Strazzari added. The European Parliament election is ahead, where Melonis and Salvinis parties will compete for seats and the issue of migration is going to be a big topic.
So far, Meloni has appeared willing to remain open towards the EU on the issue of migration. But the number of new arrivals is pushing toward taking a more extreme stance, Strazzari said.
First Minister Humza Yousaf. Image: Robert Perry/Press Association.
First Minister Humza Yousaf has pledged to spend 2.5 million on helping to prevent heart attacks, strokes and cancers in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Yousaf is now on day three of a trip to New York to attend Climate Week 2023, and is due to meet with Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
This will be a historic meeting in New York, as a WHO director general has never met with a First Minister of Scotland before.
Later today at the UN General Assembly the First Minister will announce the investment over the next five years into the Health4Life fund, which is run by WHO and the UN to support countries in the global south to build stronger healthcare systems.
This makes Scotland the first high-income country to donate to the Health4Life fund.
The 2.5m investment will come from the Scottish Governments 11.5m international development fund, and will be spent mainly in Malawi, Zambia and Rwanda - all three countries are listed as the Scottish Governments partner countries.
Speaking ahead of the announcement, Mr Yousaf said: This is a significant step which cements Scotlands role as a global champion in tackling non-communicable diseases, and highlights the important contribution we can make when it comes to tackling health emergencies across the world.
I am very proud to be able to announce our plans to become the first high-income country to contribute to the World Health Organisations Health4Life fund.
This investment will allow us to support the development of new programmes to improve healthcare and build stronger health systems in Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda.
The World Health Organisation predicts that by 2030 non-communicable diseases - such as heart attacks, strokes and cancer - will be the primary cause of death across sub-Saharan Africa, with around 3.8m premature deaths.
Scotland has longstanding expertise in delivering action to tackle non-communicable disease domestically, which is why we are well placed to share learning beyond our borders and with partners like WHO.
The funding that I am confirming today makes Scotland the first high-income country to support the vital Health4Life fund - but I very much hope that we will not be the last.
The deaths of Abigail Williams and Liberty German were allegedly part of a ritual sacrifice conducted by a white nationalist group believing in a pagan Norse religion.
This was shared by the murder suspect's attorneys, arguing that the Delphi man wasn't responsible for the killings of the two teenage girls.
Deaths of Abigail Williams, Liberty German Part of Ritual Sacrifice?
After reading the new #delphi doc re: the murders of Abigail Williams and Liberty German, Doug Carter's words are hitting different...
Doug Carter: (directly to the killer) "I can assure you that how you left them in that woods is Not... is not what they're experiencing today" pic.twitter.com/GwHRlEH7sJ GemRNx22 (@RaFanGem) September 18, 2023
On Monday, September 18, attorneys of murder suspect Richard Allen filed contend in court documents that their client is not responsible (or had anything to do with) for the deaths of Williams (13-year-old) and German (14-year-old).
They argued that these two girls were killed by members of a white nationalist group called Odinists, which believes in the pagan Norse religion "Odinism."
"Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German," said Allen's lawyers in their filing.
They added that Richard is not linked to Odinism or any religious cult. In their defense, the attorneys said two Odinist groups were investigated for their alleged crimes.
Had to make a detour to Delphi on the way to Chicago. This is the place where two children (Abigail Williams and Liberty German) were tragically murdered a few years ago the case is/was wild, and sad Luckily they did arrest someone finally. pic.twitter.com/qP1CWAFSl8 brave.murder.cheese (doesnt mind Gildan shirts) (@chrisatecheese) April 28, 2023
One was from the Rushville area, which is located in southeastern Indiana. Meanwhile, the second group is from the Delphi area, as reported by NBC News.
They claim that investigators discovered numerous ritualistic symbols at the crime scene. These include how Liberty's body was positioned.
As of writing, the Carroll County prosecutor's office hasn't commented regarding the claims of Richard's attorneys.
Read Also: Rhode Island: 20-Mile Police Chase Leads to Animal Abuser's Death-Here's What Happened
Murder Suspect's Attorneys Make Requests
More key images from this weeks episode (#235):
6. Abigail Williams and Liberty German
7. Abby Williams crossing the Monon High Bridge taken by Libby German
8. Released still from Libbys video
9. Original and updated composite sketch of suspect pic.twitter.com/yugPPM8KEk My Favorite Murder (@MyFavMurder) August 13, 2020
After sharing the 130-page filing with the court, attorneys Bradley Rozzia and Andrew Baldwin said they want a Franks Hearing. The Daily Mail UK explained that Allen's lawyers are making this request because they believe investigators might have withheld information from a judge.
This could also mean investigators intentionally lied to get a search warrant.
Will we ever be done grieving, mourning? No: More than five years after the deaths of teenagers Abigail Williams and Liberty German in Delphi, Indiana, officials have arrested a suspect in the case.
The victims families have been left wondering what to do now. pic.twitter.com/CHL8pWGvMw CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) November 1, 2022
"Due to either incompetence or a concerted intentionality, those in charge of the investigation refused to arrest or even properly investigate these obvious suspects," said Baldwin and Rozzi.
Aside from the Franks Hearing, the attorneys are asking officials to question the search warrant's validity and move the alleged murderer to another facility.
The two girls were found dead near the Monon High Bridge on February 14, 2017. After the tragedy, Delphi has been haunted by their deaths. Right now, the families of the two victims are still seeking justice. If you want to learn more about the Delphi murders case, you can click this link.
Related Article: 6 'Soldiers of Christ' Arrested in Georgia for Killing Woman Later Found in Car Trunk
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
When she hopped in a taxi in Tehran this past summer, Raha was not wearing a headscarf.
Her open challenge to the mandatory hijab rule in place in Iran for the last 40 years did not go unnoticed. She said her male taxi driver complimented her for the brave gesture, like many other men have done since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly.
"You are going to change this regime. It's the way to go," the driver said to Raha, as she told ABC News. She wanted her real name not to be used for her safety. "You are so strong and free-spirited. We are proud of you."
PHOTO: FILE - A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's 'morality police', in Tehran, Iran Sept. 19, 2022. (Reuters)
MORE: 1 year after Mahsa Amini's death, Iranian activists still fighting for freedom despite regime's cruelty
Raha said she faced at that moment another aspect of the reality of the Mahsa revolution, which had been going on for over 10 months. The praise of the taxi driver should have made her feel more hopeful for the future. Instead, it made her reflect on how men in Iran support the movement.
"I want them to know I am not strong. I am tired of them expecting me to always be strong and them just being proud," she said. "I told him I wanted men to really join us in this fight, both on and off the streets."
For Raha, then, being cheered on was not enough.
"Woman, Life, Freedom" is a movement of women but without men's solid support, it would be doomed to fail, experts and activists say.
At least 551 people have been killed and 22 have died suspiciously, since September 2022, according to a report by Iran Human Rights. Nearly 80% of the victims were men, the group said. Moreover, only men were executed by the regime in retaliation to the uprising. Amnesty International said the men were hanged after "sham trials."
PHOTO: A police motorcycle burns during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's 'morality police', in Tehran, Iran Sept. 19, 2022. (Wana News Agency/Reuters)
Iranian women believe the regime is trying to scare men from joining their mothers, sisters and wives in their fight for equal rights by making them the main target of their systematic bloody suppression.
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"Although the focus of the movement is on women rights, the people who got executed for the revolution are primarily men," Nasrin Rahimieh, an expert in Iranian and women studies at University of California Irvine, told ABC News. "The reason why it's cross-gender is simple: it is about the rights of the individual."
MORE: Iran arrests women's rights activists ahead of 'Woman, Life, Freedom' anniversary
Men's support for the cause of Iranian women can come in many forms and levels, from active participation in protests, to online campaigning, and more importantly, "accepting women's choices about their lives," Raha said.
As she explained, the pressure to follow the lawful dress code also comes from conservative male relatives. Something she's seen changing.
"Mahsa's revolution was actually a renaissance in Iranian society. I am witnessing this renaissance in my own family which is from one of the most traditional classes of Iranian society," Raha said. "Now the very same family, the very same society, which was restricting me, is encouraging me."
Hamoun, 21, kept up his support both on and off the streets. He says he was arrested and tortured by security guards on Saturday as he participated in a peaceful gathering for the one-year anniversary of Amini's death in Tehran. He said he was handcuffed, beaten up, insulted and verbally threatened.
"I think that all of us should participate hand in hand in this revolution and defend the right against oppression, be free and save our country from poverty and ignorance", Hamoun told ABC News.
He asked for his full identity not to be disclosed for safety
"To me, the slogan of a woman's life of freedom is more than a slogan," he said. "It's a belief that we should all believe in and apply, especially as men."
Experts suggest that the aggressive rate at which the regime has been imprisoning or executing men involved in the protests it's a clear sign of its awareness that if men and women unite, it will struggle to contain the movement.
"The message is: 'Don't get involved,'" Rahimieh explained.
Iranian women who spoke with ABC News agreed it's an attempt to intimidate.
"Since last year, many young men have been arrested and some of them have been executed without committing any crime," Mahsa Piraei told ABC News.
Piraei, who lives in the United Kingdom, says her mother, Minoo Majidi, was killed by the police during the protests last September. She recalls fearing her father would endure the same destiny if he supported the movement.
"When I was in Iran for my mother's funeral, I could see the morality police everywhere in the street and I was shaking. I kept thinking, one of them is the murderer of my mother," Piraei said. "And I can remember I covered my hair because I was next to my dad, and I was very afraid that one of them would shoot my father as well, right there."
She added, "I think the regime wants to scare men to stop them from supporting the women of Iran. I don't think it's succeeding."
Men targeted by Iranian regime as women protest for equal rights originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Paris and Tyson Fury with six of their children. Credit: Paris Fury on Instagram
The 33-year-old mum of now seven gave birth to a little boy on Monday, September 18 and announced the news via OK! magazine.
Paris and Tyson, 35, welcomed their latest arrival weighing 6lb 13oz at 2.29am in the private Lancaster Hospital.
The couple, who have been married for 15 years, told OK!: "We're over the moon to have welcomed our baby boy to the Fury family. His brothers and sisters can't wait to meet him and create lots of Fury fun! Our boy is the most perfect addition and we're bursting with love for him. It's crazy how you can love someone so quick."
OK! also shared the first exclusive image of the little one, pictured below. In it, the proud couple hold their newborn whilst standing in their room at Lancaster Hospital.
Posting the picture on their respective Instagram accounts, Tyson wrote Hes here and hes perfect @parisfury1, whilst Paris caption read Cant believe hes here.
Also offering their congratulations were Coleen and Wayne Rooney, Piers Morgan, Mark Wright, Daniella Westbrook and Bad Boy Chiller Crews Gareth Kelly.
Paris also shared a video of their hospital room, which was painted with a sunflower filled meadow scene, to her Instagram story with the caption Not long after the babys arrival I realised how beautiful the room was.
Tyson and Paris are already parents to Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 10, Prince 'Tutty' Tyson, six, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah Fury, four and Athena, two.
Their family life was recently showcased to the world in the Netflix show, At Home With The Furys, which has been reportedly renewed for a second series.
(Photo : Paul Ratje / AFP) (PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)
Mexican drug cartels are believed to be taking advantage of migrants and sending them to turm themselves over to Border Patrol officials to distract from their smuggling operations.
Mexican drug cartels are believed to be taking advantage of migrants and sending them to the southern United States border to distract officials from their smuggling operations.
The asylum seekers are allegedly being sent deliberately to hand themselves over to Border Patrol officers in various US border towns in the thousands. Law enforcement officials alleged this was an effort to allow the cartels to carry on their drug and human smuggling operations undisturbed in less populated areas.
Mexican Drug Cartels Using Migrants
There was a migrant group of roughly 2,200 people who turned themselves over to officers in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday. Video footage showed migrants lined up in blocks, waiting to be processed by Border Patrol.
Roughly 500 miles away, in the westernmost tip of the state, El Paso has also seen a surge in the number of migrants in the last week. Sources said that on Thursday alone, some 1,700 migrants were encountered in 24 hours, as per the New York Post.
Since then, multiple groups of migrants in the hundreds have lined up along the border wall to surrender themselves to officers and claim asylum in the United States. The situation is allegedly fueled by cartel lies, including the Biden administration's CBP One app to schedule immigration appointments.
One source said that the drug cartels were circulating false information that anyone waiting for a CBP One appointment could turn themselves in and seek asylum in the US. On Monday, up to 500 mostly Venezuelan asylum seekers lined up at El Paso, waiting to cross into the US.
Many single adults and families crossed the border illegally but hope to stay in the US while their asylum cases are heard. However, this is a process that usually takes several years to complete.
Read Also: DeSantis Says Drone Strikes Against Mexican Cartels Possible If He Wins US Presidency
Overwhelming the Southern Border
Additionally, the American government allegedly knew about weapon trafficking for several years, based on US intelligence documents and interviews with half a dozen current and former officials. However, sources said that there was little done to stop the trafficking networks inside the United States, according to CBS News.
These networks are supposedly responsible for moving up to a million firearms across the border yearly, including belt-fed miniguns and grenade launchers. Dozens of cartel gunrunning networks, which operate like terrorist cells, pay Americans to buy weapons from gun stores and online dealers nationwide.
Then, the firearms are shipped across the southwest border through brokers and couriers. The US government has also spent the last five decades waging an unsuccessful war on drug traffickers who are now believed to be fueling a deadly fentanyl epidemic.
The situation comes as Mexico is considered the top source of migrants trying to cross the US border illegally. There have been nearly half a million US Border Patrol encounters along the southern border this fiscal year alone, said Dallas News.
Related Article: US Troops to Stay at Southern Border Until Sept. 30
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British American Tobacco (BAT) Vietnam and Gaia Nature Conservation on September 15 jointly organised a programme for delineating and promoting the natural regeneration of 40 hectares of mudflats in the core area of the Ca Mau Cape National Park.
It is expected that more than 200,000 white mangrove trees will grow in the forest in the next six years.
More than 50 people from BAT Vietnam, including the companys leaders and associates, together with volunteers from Gaia and staff from Ca Mau Cape National Park Authority, constructed fences with tree branches to delineate white mangrove trees.
Previously, on August 4, more than 60 members from BAT Vietnam also joined hands with Gaia to plant 1,000 trees across an area of 2 hectares in the ong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve.
These activities are a part of a project by BAT Vietnam and Gaia between 2022 and 2025 to afforest more than 120 hahectares in the ong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve and Ca Mau Cape Natural Park.
In addition to the main goal of achieving carbon neutrality by promoting a balance between emitting carbon and absorbing it from the atmosphere, which contributes to the net-zero emissions vision, the project also targets many other sustainable values such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing erosion, increasing biodiversity, and providing practical benefits to local communities. During the first year of the project in 2022 BAT and Gaia planted trees on 2 hectares in the ong Nai Culture and Nature Reserve and 40 hahectares in the Ca Mau Cape National Park.
This attests to BAT Vietnams commitment to net zero carbon emissions to further promote its environment, society and governance (ESG) objectives and joining hands with the Government for tackling climate change and protecting biodiversity in Viet Nam.
Mr Pham Hung Anh Tuan, BAT Vietnam's head of operations, said: This project not only helps strengthen our commitment to environmental protection and carry out our ESG strategy, but also provides an opportunity for BAT Vietnam staff to take a deep dive into forest and environmental protection while consolidating internal bonding..
The United Nations has identified Viet Nam as one of the five economies most affected by climate change. In 2022 there were more than 1,000 natural disasters that left 175 people dead or missing and caused estimated economic losses of VN19.5 trillion (according to Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment statistics).
The World Bank Groups Country climate and Development report issued in July 2022 also pointed out that extreme disasters such as storms and floods, compounded by the degradation of ecosystems due to the loss of mangroves and wetlands, have already put multiple billions of dollars of assets at risk in Viet Nam. Without rapid and inclusive adaptation responses, climate change impacts could cost Viet Nam a total of 1214.5 percent of GDP by 2050.
In this context, expanding forests to help tackle climate change and protect biodiversity in Viet Nam is an integral part of BATs mission and strategy to build A Better Tomorrow.
Besides afforestation, BAT Vietnam also has other environmental initiatives to promote the environment pillar in ESG. These are always well aligned with the common goals of the Government to join hands with the business community to contribute to the National Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 based on the UNs 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
BAT Vietnam was honored among the Top 100 Sustainable Businesses in Vietnam by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2022 through the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development.
It was the fourth time in seven years that BAT Vietnam made it to the list (2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022).
Thanks to BAT-Vinatabas unrelenting efforts, in mid-2023 their joint venture factory in ong Nai Province received certificates, including the carbon neutral (Scope 1 & 2 emissions) certificate after rigorous PAS2060 testing carried out by the Totum Institute (Brazil), and the effective water stewardship certificate from the Alliance For Water Stewardship - AWS.
In July 2023, BAT was named to the Top 50 Corporate Sustainability Awards by business and investment magazine Nhip Cau au Tu.
These latest achievements demonstrate BAT's practical and consistent practices in Viet Nam.
HA NOI The Ministry of Transport, in a recent draft circular, proposed a 10-per-cent increase in container handling fees, aimed at assisting seaport companies in acquiring more resources to improve service quality and for reinvestment.
According to the Viet Nam Maritime Administration (Vinamarine), Viet Nam currently has two deep-water seaports, Lach Huyen and Cai Mep Thi Vai, which are capable of receiving large tonnage container ships and competing with other ports in the region. There are also direct routes from these seaports to the EU and US markets, which help save time and costs for freight owners and ship owners.
However, Viet Nam's container loading and unloading charges remain lower than the regional average. Vinamarine's statistics show that the loading and unloading charges at deep-water seaports in Viet Nam are equivalent to just 59 per cent of those in the ASEAN region and neighbouring countries, and 85 per cent of Phnompenh Port, Cambodia an inland port with a lower investment value.
Increasing container handling fees, a major part of terminal handling charges (THCs), is reasonable to help ports secure resources for reinvestment, expansion, and enhancing service quality, according to Vinamarine.
Under the draft, the floor THCs for deep-water seaports would increase to US$57 for the floor fee and $66 for the ceiling fee per 20-foot container. The proposed rates for 40-foot containers are $85 and $98, respectively.
To encourage the use of clean fuel, the ministry also proposed that ports which use clean fuel, supply shore power to ships, or participate in the international green transport corridor could apply fees 10 per cent higher than the regulated levels.
An additional increase of 10 per cent would also be granted to ports which could accommodate container ships of 160,000 DWT.
The draft elicited mixed opinions because THC was a major source of revenue for seaport companies, accounting for around 60-70 per cent.
Tran Khanh Hoang, Deputy President of the Viet Nam Seaports Association, stated that with the increases in container loading/unloading charges, ports would need to invest more in enhancing service quality and infrastructure. He emphasised the importance of promoting the application of information technology to boost efficiency and reduce costs.
Vinamarine opined that the increase of 10 per cent was justifiable. If the draft was sanctioned, the THCs of ports in Viet Nam would still be 30-35 per cent lower than the regions average, ensuring competitiveness.
Hoang noted the importance of regularly reviewing THCs for prompt adjustments, rather than once every 5 years as is currently the case.
Pham Quoc Long, President of the Viet Nam Ship Agents, Brokers and Maritime Services Providers Association, believed there was scope for THCs to be augmented by 15-20 per cent.
The proposal to raise container loading/unloading charges was also presented in 2022. However, the Government opted not to consider adjustments that year due to concerns about potential impacts on production and business, particularly in the aftermath of the pandemic. VNS
HA NOI With an aggregate sugar demand of 2.24 million tonnes, Viet Nam's sugar supply is projected to fall short of the figure by 626,000 tonnes in 2023.
Vu Huy Phuc, a research specialist at the Insitute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development, said the thirst for sweetness in the country was well reflected in the data for the food and beverage sector.
Sugar consumption by 40 typical food and beverage heavyweights, including Vinamilk and Acecook, was expected to reach 382,660 tonnes in 2023. They were forecast to consume 33.4 per cent more sugar in the next five years on grounds of output expansion and the roll-out of new products.
By 2028, their sugar demand was projected to reach 510,800 tonnes.
In spite of the country's strong sweet tooth, its farmers were turning their back on sugarcane growing. Alarmingly, sugarcane farms across the country dwindled to 165,900ha and sugarcane farmers halved in number in 2022.
The retreat of sugarcane farmers has led to a large supply-demand gap that could only be bridged by imports. Given that domestic supply meets merely 37.5 per cent of demand, the country had to import 1.23 million tonnes of sugar last year.
But the true scale of the supply deficit might be much greater than what the official data suggested because at least 816,530 tonnes of illegal sugar were also trafficked into the country from Cambodia and Laos during the period.
"Aggregate supply stood at 1.76 million tonnes by late July. That means the country would have to import around 625,000 tonnes to fill the supply deficit for this year," said Phuc.
The heavyweights suggested several measures to deal with the supply shortage. The first measure involves supportive packages to encourage sugarcane farm expansion and the cultivation of new high-yield varieties.
Another measure centers around the raise of import quotas for sugar to quench the thirst for sweetness through official imports. If the quotas are not raised, heavily subsidised sugar would be illegally transported to the country to pick up the slack, dealing a heavy blow to domestic producers.
The next measure is more straight forward: surveilliant agencies take actions to crack down on illegal sugar trafficking to safeguard domestic producers. In fact, illegal sugar has always been a major cause for domestic farmers to cut back on production. VNS
SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday afternoon (local time) paid a visit to the Silicon Valley during his attendance at the high-level week of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, engaging with the US leading technology companies.
Nvidia
His first stop was at Nvidia, a prominent US enterprise specialising in semiconductor chip manufacturing. With a market capitalisation of US$992 billion as of May 2023, Nvidia boasts a global workforce of over 26,000 employees. The company has ambitious plans to increase artificial intelligence (AI) chip production more than threefold by 2024, signalling substantial growth in the near future.
In Viet Nam, Nvidia holds a significant position as a leading server and AI provider. The company has signed an agreement with Viettel, aiming to be a vital partner in Viet Nam's journey to enhance its domestic AI capabilities. The US company is also collaborating with the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST), focusing on developing a supercomputing system utilising Nvidia's A100 chip for applications in science, technology, health, and education.
During the visit, PM Chinh held discussions with Jensen Huang, co-founder and current Chairman of Nvidia, on global AI development trends and the potential for robust cooperation between Nvidia and Viet Nam. The Vietnamese Prime Minister emphasised the importance of Nvidia's continued investment in Viet Nam, particularly in areas aligning with the country's priorities.
He also offered valuable insights on policies, human resource training, and technological advancements to deepen Viet Nam's integration into the global supply chain. Furthermore, he extended an invitation for Nvidia's Chairman to visit Viet Nam, expressing hope for the establishment of a production facility in the country, positioning Viet Nam as a key hub in Southeast Asia.
Synopsys
In his visit to Synopsys, an electronic design automation (EDA) company, founded in 1986, PM Chinh highlighted the importance of strengthening Synopsys' production and supply chain in Viet Nam. Given varying levels of development, cultures and market conditions between the two nations, he urged Synopsys to adapt to Viet Nam's unique conditions and provide technological, managerial, and financial solutions to accelerate Viet Nam's sustainable development.
Synopsys entered Viet Nam in 2016, establishing four offices in HCM City and a Nang, employing nearly 500 engineers. The company has signed an agreement with Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park to support IC design workforce training in Viet Nam, furthering its commitment to expand its investment in chip manufacturing software cooperation with Viet Nam.
Specifically, the Prime Minister requested Synopsys to support the development of Viet Nam's National Innovation Centre (NIC), participate in training high-quality human resources, and continue attracting Vietnamese talents in the United States. During his visit, Synopsys signed two memorandums of cooperation pertaining to the development of IC design human resources in Viet Nam and support for Viet Nam's semiconductor chip industry.
Meta
On the same day, Prime Minister Chinh also visited Meta Platforms (formerly known as Facebook), a multinational technology corporation renowned for its ownership of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp and other products and services. Meta is among the top 10 most valuable listed corporations in the US, with a remarkable 2022 revenue of $116.6 billion, solidifying its position among the leading tech giants alongside Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft.
During the meeting, Joel Kaplan, Meta's Vice President in charge of global public policy, mentioned that Meta had initiated the production of various equipment for the 'virtual space' metaverse in Viet Nam prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic but was disrupted due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, Meta expresses its intention to expand investments in Viet Nam, including the continued production of metaverse devices in the coming years.
Kaplan underscored the significance of the Vietnamese Government Electronic Information Portal as a strategic, vital, and effective partner for Meta in Viet Nam, even before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following discussions and insights from company leaders, PM Chinh stressed the importance of realising the potential in business partnerships, especially with Meta, to further the comprehensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and the United States. He hopes Meta will provide technological solutions, promote technology transfer, cooperate on financial matters, and enhance digital transformation efforts. Additionally, he emphasised collaboration in cybersecurity and network safety, along with accurate information dissemination regarding the two countries' relations. VNS
HA NOI The temporary suspension of automatic order placement services, or high-frequency trading (HFT), is necessary in the short term, given the recent technological infrastructure capacity of the stock market, but regulators need to allow the deployment of these services in the future.
High-frequency trading (HFT) is an automated trading platform that large investment banks, hedge funds, and institutional investors employ. It uses powerful computers to transact a large number of orders at extremely high speeds.
These high-frequency trading platforms allow traders to execute millions of orders and scan multiple markets and exchanges in a matter of seconds, thus giving institutions that use the platforms an advantage in the open market.
The State Securities Commission (SSC) has just sent a document to securities companies regarding the use of algorithms, robots and high-frequency orders in placing online stock trading orders, requesting securities companies review and immediately stop these forms of automatic order placement.
According to SSC's assessment, using robots to place automatic online trading orders with high frequency poses many potential risks and affects the stability of the stock market.
It causes a sudden increase in orders from securities companies entering the stock exchanges at the same time, leading to the number of orders entering the floor exceeding the design capacity of the whole system, causing system overload.
According to Trinh Thanh Can, General Director of Kafi Securities Company, automatic order placement service supports investors in implementing investment strategies as well as hedging, copy trade, price arbitrage activities for warrants, ETFs, and derivatives products.
This is a highly developed investment method and is applied in stock investment activities in many developed countries, he said.
In Viet Nam, quantitative investment funds have not yet developed strongly, copy trading activities are only at a small-scale experimental level. However, the number of trading orders often increases suddenly at times when market liquidity increases strongly. To accurately determine which activities use high-frequency robots, it is necessary to analyse actual transaction data at stock exchanges.
From a business perspective, I would guess that arbitrage activities may have a higher trading frequency, especially at times of high market volatility.
In fact, automatic order placement activities comply with current laws. However, the current technology infrastructure of the Vietnamese stock market cannot meet this need. For example, HOSE's current system encountered significant problems at times when market liquidity was booming in the 2020 2021 period, he said.
Therefore, applying automatic order placement at this time can have a negative impact on the market, especially on small investors. However, management agencies should consider developing the above products soon after upgrading the infrastructure.
Currently, in the US market, the trading proportion of high-frequency trading (HFT) accounts for about 50 per cent of the volume. In European markets, this figure is about 20-30 per cent of daily liquidity. Not only the stock market, but HFT transactions are also popular in the commodity, foreign exchange or cryptocurrency markets, said Bui Van Huy, Director of HCM City branch of DSC Securities Company.
At present, temporarily banning the implementation of automatic order placement services is necessary, because it ensures smooth trading for the system, according to Nguyen The Minh, Director of Analysis, Yuanta Viet Securities Company.
However, automated trading is considered one of the most popular activities in emerging and developed markets. This not only helps increase market liquidity through high-frequency transactions, but also helps investors increase investment efficiency with trading strategies tested by quantitative systems or AI.
Therefore, in the long term, I think that market management agencies should accelerate the upgrade of trading systems to ensure that automatic trading products are deployed, he said.
The regulator banning securities companies from placing orders via robots does not have much impact on market liquidity, because currently, only a few securities companies provide this service to customers.
In the Vietnamese stock market, the trading system of stock exchanges system was not technologically steady enough to handle the full application of automated order placement services, according to Nguyen Anh Khoa, Head of Analysis Department, Agribank Securities Company (Agriseco).
Using robots to increase sudden orders at the same time can lead to system overload, especially in the context of exciting cash flows entering the market today, he told Viet Nam News. VNS
GBA Oktoberfest, the largest German beer and food festival in Southeast Asia, will come to the central coastal city of a Nang for the first time this year in addition to it taking place in Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the occasion of 50 Years of Germany in the United Nations.
Fifty years ago, on 18 September 1973, by New Yorks East River, two German states joined the United Nations. This event was the result of a brief General Assembly resolution however, it was anything but routine business in the world of diplomacy.
Almost three decades after the end of the Second World War that Germany had begun, and the genocide of Europes Jews that had brought immeasurable suffering to millions of people, this day marked a return of the defeated enemy nation to the international community. We remain grateful for this return today and we see it as an obligation.
Germanys accession to the United Nations came 28 years after the organisation was founded. This accession stands for our acknowledgement of German culpability and our commitment to the principles of the UN Charter, to a world that relies on the strength of the law and not the tyranny of the strong. And 18 September 1973 stands for a deeply rooted understanding of German diplomacy.
German foreign policy must never limit itself to the protection of German interests. For 75 years, our Basic Law has imposed the requirement for our policy to promote world peace [...] in a united Europe.
This task and our fifty years of United Nations membership are more important now than ever at a time when fundamental principles of the United Nations are being eroded. That is why we joined over 140 states in the General Assembly in advocating for the people of Ukraine and for the principles of the Charter. Because under this Charter every state has the right to live in peace, without having to fear that a stronger neighbour will attack.
It is clear that we are living in a different geopolitical reality than in the days of the Cold War. The opposition of an Eastern and a Western bloc is, fortunately, a thing of the past. Instead, a new multipolar reality is emerging in which we must organise cooperation.
More and more states with differing views seek to help shape the international order. And rightly so. It is past time that their voices were heard more clearly.
We therefore seek to strengthen our partnerships with all states around the world who value an international order based on rules and the law.
This order is no Western ideology, as some now assert. On the contrary. It is rooted in the UN Charter and thus in the universal conviction that all states and all human beings have equal rights, regardless of how powerful they are, and that no state must ever again be allowed to attack a neighbour. For us Germans, these principles are also a lesson learned from the Second World War and the atrocities that Nazi Germany inflicted on its neighbours.
We Germans therefore have a particular responsibility to strengthen the UN Charter. It is for this reason, too, that we are seeking to gain a seat on the Security Council for the year 2027/28.
Those who are calling into question this order have thus far failed to indicate what principles a better, more just order should be built on.
We want to build on what was created in 1945 and has been continuously developed since then. We know that this order is imperfect and that we must adapt it to our new world.
That means finally organising our international financial institutions, and health agencies, as well as the UN Security Council, in such a way that our partners in Africa, Latin America and Asia have a suitable voice there.
It means putting the Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of the United Nations.
And it means showing more ambition in efforts to curb the climate crisis, the greatest threat of our time. With a clear road map for phasing out fossil energies. And with solidarity for the most vulnerable states, who are particularly hard hit by the effects of the climate crisis.
But honest partnerships also mean critically examining our own actions. This is why Germany has initiated the return of artefacts looted during the colonial era. Doing so will not heal all of the wounds of the past. But it is an important step in efforts to address our dark colonial history.
With our accession fifty years ago, we Germans made a promise to take on responsibility for the United Nations. Today, we do not merely stand by this promise. With our partners, we seek to find new ways to fulfil it in a changed world.
With courage and confidence.
For a strong United Nations. For a better, more just future for everyone.
HA NOI During its 26th meeting in Ha Noi on Monday, the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee discussed a report on the outcomes of thematic oversight regarding the execution of the NA's Resolutions on cross-ownership and bad debts.
Nguyen Thi Thuy Ngan, Vice Chairwoman of the NA Office, indicated that efficient actions have been implemented to tackle cross-ownership and cross-investment concerns in the banking sector. There has been notable progress in addressing bad debts, and credit growth has been judiciously overseen, leading to enhanced credit quality.
Nevertheless, she noted that the advancement of legislation concerning the restructuring of credit institutions and the management of bad debts has been sluggish. There is also a lack of incentivising policies to entice investors into asset resolution and bad debt trading. Engaging with commercial banks for obligatory transfers, particularly concerning weaker banks, continues to present significant hurdles.
Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Thi Hong emphasised that the issues of cross-ownership in the banking sector were matters of great concern to the Party, the NA, and the Government. They requested the State Bank of Vietnam to refine legal provisions and ensure their effective implementation to address these issues.
Hong noted that the issue of cross-ownership has been largely addressed. However, there were cases in which organisations or individuals held shares either directly or indirectly.
"These cases have recently come to light through recent investigations and are of great concern to the State Bank," she said.
The Governor also informed that the draft Law on Credit Institutions has designed several solutions to reduce cross-ownership, such as expanding the scope of related concepts, reducing the ownership percentage of shares in credit institutions, and limiting lending capacities.
However, Hong said, the provisions in the draft law were just part of the solutions and that they needed to be combined with other regulations to fully solve this issue.
Regarding bad debts, Hong stated that the State Bank of Vietnam would continue to use legal measures to address bad debts in the coming period, following the regulations set forth by the law.
During the session, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang emphasised that the warnings provided were essential for the Government to focus on resolving obstacles until the end of the year.
Regarding the banking sector, the Deputy PM mentioned that efforts would be concentrated on creating favourable conditions for organisations and individuals to access capital, thereby boosting production and business activities.
Also, in the report of the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and various committees, Ngan outlined the results achieved as well as the existing challenges in the implementation of various matters related to 21 different areas.
In the field of industry and overall national energy planning, the National Energy Development Plan, in which measures to ensure a stable electricity supply for political stability and social order has been issued.
However, retail electricity pricing mechanisms remained inconsistent with the electricity market, and supply-demand imbalances persisted in the electricity sector, she said.
In the field of security and social safety, efforts in crime prevention and law enforcement have been vigorously undertaken, leading to a reduction in some types of crimes. The report emphasised that fire prevention and control remained complex, with the continued occurrence of major fires causing severe damage to both people and property.
The NA Standing Committee provided feedback on the report from the Supreme People's Procuracy regarding the implementation of the NAs resolutions, including the ongoing efforts to improve and enhance the effectiveness of policies and laws related to urban land planning, management, and use. VNS
SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on Monday 18 (local time) called on Vietnamese and US enterprises to take practical actions to help implement the two countries newly established comprehensive strategic partnership.
He made the appeal while addressing the Viet Nam - US business forum on technology and innovation cooperation held in San Francisco, California. The event was part of his trip to attend the high-level week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the US.
Recounting the development of bilateral ties, he said during US President Joe Bidens recent state visit to Viet Nam at the invitation of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the two sides elevated relations to the comprehensive strategic partnership, which came as a result of enormous efforts by the two countries and the two peoples, including enterprises.
After nearly four decades of reforms, door opening and integration, Viet Nam has obtained significant achievements, PM Chinh noted, adding it considers investors success as its own and hopes that with a good foundation and an upward trend in cooperation, enterprises of both countries will continue enhancing collaboration.
He suggested US firms continue investing in Viet Nam and help the country engage in global supply chains, especially in the areas of science - technology and innovation, in order to secure common wins and mutual benefits in the spirit of harmonising interests and sharing risks.
At the forum, the two countries enterprises shared the view that the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership, with technology, innovation and investment as agreed by PM Chinh and President Biden to be turned into a true new pillar of bilateral relations, was a strong turning point for the two business circles to boost investment cooperation.
They proposed the two Governments keep connecting the countries enterprises in producing and applying technology; developing innovation, semiconductor technology, remote sensing technology, artificial intelligence, and bid data; and training high-quality human resources for enterprises.
Welcoming their attention to the Vietnamese market, PM Chinh asked Vietnamese and US enterprises to take practical actions to help implement the comprehensive strategic partnership, thus generating benefits for both countries and peoples.
He called on US businesses to help realise their countrys support for a strong, independent, resilient, and prosperous Viet Nam, suggesting they focus on such fields as trade, services, science - technology, innovation, digital technology, energy transition, the circular economy, and the sharing economy.
The Vietnamese Government welcomes all enterprises coming to make investments and do business in line with law and in a stable and effective manner, he went on, describing this as the best way to heal the wounds, set the past aside, and work towards the future.
At the forum, PM Chinh and other delegates witnessed the exchange of cooperation agreements between some Vietnamese and US firms.
Earlier on Monday, the Government leader had a working breakfast with some outstanding businesses of overseas Vietnamese (OV) people.
Leaders of the companies highly valued the increasingly improved investment and business climate in Viet Nam, the Party and States clear-sighted leadership and management, as well as the Governments strong directions. They also expressed their delight at the new strides in the Viet Nam - US relations, which have helped remove barriers and create new opportunities for trade and investment links.
PM Chinh applauded the OV business communitys growing contributions to the homelands economic development. So far, OVs have invested in 385 projects worth over US$1.7 billion and contributed capital to thousands of companies in Viet Nam.
Affirming the Party and States attention to the OV community, he asked OV enterprises to further capitalise on the achievements gained since bilateral relations were normalised nearly 30 years ago and the comprehensive partnership set up 10 years ago, optimise chances created by the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership, pay more attention to the Vietnamese market, cooperate with Vietnamese companies, and become a bridge helping the country further joining in global supply chains, thereby helping with both countries development and bilateral relations.
On Monday afternoon (local time), PM Chinh had a meeting with a delegation of politicians and businesses from USs Oregon State led by Vince Porter, head of the Economic Development and Workforce Advisor at the Oregon Governor Office.
Showing his delight at the growth of partnership among Vietnamese localities and Oregon State over the years, PM Chinh affirmed that Viet Nam hopes to further promote its relationship with Oregon, one of the gateway states of the US western region.
He said that the elevation of the Viet Nam - US ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership shows efforts of both sides as well as Vietnamese and US localities, including Oregon. The PM said he hopes the two sides will continue to foster bilateral political relations, while expanding exchanges through the Party, State and people-to-people channels.
The Vietnamese Government leader encouraged Oregon, which is home to a large number of firms investing in Viet Nam and Vietnamese people, to beef up economic cooperation, trade and investment with Vietnamese localities to optimise collaboration potential, especially in education - training, science - technology, innovation, human resources training, energy transition, circular and sharing economy.
PM Chinh proposed that Oregon open its door for Vietnamese products such as leather and footwear and garment, and promote tourism cooperation with Viet Nam.
Noting that more Vietnamese have been elected to leadership positions in Oregon, he held that this reflects the good integration and contributions by the Vietnamese community in the host society.
For his part, Porter noted that the relations between Oregon and Vietnamese localities have thrived on the foundation of the Letter of Intent signed between the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry and Oregon, as well as the success of the Viet Nam visit by Oregon Governor Katherine Brown in November 2022.
He reiterated Oregon Governor Tina Koteks invitation to PM Chinh to visit the state, affirming that Oregon wishes to reinforce and expand partnership with Viet Nam in general and Vietnamese localities in particular.
Porter said that Viet Nam is among the 10 leading trade partners of Oregon, and a large number of Vietnamese students are studying and working in local universities and businesses.
According to the Oregon delegation, there are currently five Vietnamese in the Oregon House of Representatives, along with a judge of the Vietnamese origin, affirming the position and role of the Vietnamese community in the state. They expressed their wish to further promote cultural exchanges and cooperation between the two sides. A representative of Oregon state said that a Vietnamese cultural centre will soon be established in Oregon. VNS
HA NOI Economy is a diplomatic aspect helping tighten the special friendship and cooperation between Viet Nam and Cuba, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha said while visiting establishments of some Vietnamese businesses and meeting with the Vietnamese community in the Caribbean country.
Ha was in Cuba to attend the G77+China Summit and pay a working visit to the country from September 15-18.
Reporting to the Deputy PM, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Le Thanh Tung said about 260 Vietnamese people are living, working, and studying here, and that Vietnamese businesses form a bright spot of bilateral investment links.
He said as economic diplomacy is a focus of their activities, the representative agencies of Vietnam in Cuba have maintained close connections with Vietnamese firms in the country, kept constant information exchanges with them, and provided maximum assistance for the companies to overcome obstacles during project implementation and seek investment and business opportunities in Cuba.
Talking to representatives of the Vietnamese community and staff members of the embassy, Deputy PM Ha emphasised the particularly strong bonds between the two countries.
He affirmed that the Party, State, Government, National Assembly, and people of Viet Nam never forget Cubas wholehearted support during wartime. They always treasure and stay determined to further intensify the countries traditional solidarity and comprehensive cooperation, and stay by the side of the Cuban people in their just revolutionary cause. Vietnam will keep assisting Cuba to weather current difficulties.
Ha recommended that aside from solutions to existing difficulties, Vietnamese businesses should carry out new forms of cooperation to capitalise on Cubas strengths and attainments in scientific research and biological and medical technology in order to generate substantive economic benefits.
On behalf of Party and State leaders, he spoke highly of efforts by the Vietnamese community and representative agencies in Cuba to help maintain and promote the special and exemplary solidarity between the two countries.
The Deputy PM expressed his belief that with the peoples strength and the worlds support, Cuba will surmount current challenges and difficulties and become a highly potential market.
He also called on Vietnamese people in Cuba here to continue engaging in cultural exchanges and the promotion of investment, production, and business activities. VNS
New Zealand celebrates Chinese Language Week
Xinhua) 15:35, September 19, 2023
New Zealand has started to celebrate its annual Chinese Language Week, with language learning and cultural events held nationwide to bridge the cultural and linguistic knowledge gap between China and New Zealand by delivering fun and practical initiatives that assist Kiwis to learn Chinese.
"In an increasingly diverse society like New Zealand, learning a language shows respect for culture and a commitment to inclusion," New Zealand China Council Chair John McKinnon said on Tuesday.
New Zealand is an increasingly multicultural society, and in many cases, new Kiwis have a mother tongue that is not one of New Zealand's three recognized languages, McKinnon said.
These new Kiwis often wish to ensure their children maintain this linguistic heritage, so "a wide range of languages are taught formally or informally, in local communities and at home," McKinnon said, adding that this of course includes many families with Chinese-speaking backgrounds.
A variety of cultural activities such as learning the Chinese language and Chinese Kungfu, enjoying Chinese folk music, experiencing Chinese cuisine, Chinese calligraphy workshops, and Chinese lion dance performances, will be held this week across New Zealand.
New Zealand Chinese Language Week is a Kiwi-driven initiative launched in 2014. It is another language week held in New Zealand after Maori Language Week and Pacific Island Language Week.
The number of primary and secondary school students in New Zealand learning Chinese was nearly 70,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 400 primary and secondary schools offering Chinese courses, according to New Zealand's Ministry of Education.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
England's halted salt reduction effort is now blamed for the rising numbers of premature deaths.
This was revealed by a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).
England's Halted Salt Reduction Effort Responsible for More Premature Deaths?
According to The Guardian's latest report, FSA (Food Standards Agency) released a program in 2006 to reduce the salt content of food manufacturers.
This greatly helped England, allowing the country to lessen its salt consumption by almost 20% during that period.
However, the England government decided to abandon this initiative in 2011, enabling food manufacturers to put more salt in their products.
The coalition government's public health responsibility deal received heavy criticism from numerous health experts since this deal relies on companies' voluntary efforts to make healthier food products.
In 2018, the salt intake in the country increased from 7.58g (2014) to 8.30g per day. QMUL's new health study explained that this salt consumption increase is higher than the recommended intake, which is only 6g each day.
"This would have prevented over 38,000 deaths from strokes and heart disease in just a four-year period," explained Dr. Jing Song, one of the involved researchers.
Song and his team claimed that if England only relied on FSA's 2006 program, 24,000 premature deaths could have been prevented.
The study's co-author, Prof. Graham MacGregor, explained that the salt intake of England residents now depends on the government's efforts.
"It is now up to the government to set up a coherent strategy where the food industry is instructed what to do, rather than the food industry telling the government what to do," said the cardiovascular disease expert.
Read Also: COVID Booster: CDC Recommends New Vaccine for Nearly All Americans Over 6 Months as Cases, Hospitalizations Rise
Reducing Your Salt Intake
Health experts said that an individual should consume no more than 6g of salt per day if they want to have good health conditions.
If you love to eat and hate bland food, you can follow the National Health Service's tips to reduce your salt consumption:
Instead of putting too much salt, try using more herbs and spices.
Table salt is not the only thing you need to avoid. You must also limit your use of hot sauce, barbecue marinades, and salad dressings since they are high in sodium.
If you are buying food in containers, you can check their Nutrition Facts Panels to see their sodium levels.
If the first three tips don't work for you, the best thing you can do is ask for help from nutrition experts. They can find more suitable ways that can help you reduce your salt consumption.
Related Article: Golden Cancer Killers: Medical Researchers Develop Gold Particles Designed to Kill Tumors
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WASHINGTON DC A delegation from the Party Central Committees Commission for Information and Education led by its standing deputy head Lai Xuan Mon paid a working trip to the US from September 14-17.
At a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State Bill Russo, Mon noted that the two sides have witnessed a special event of US President Joe Bidens visit to Viet Nam, during which leaders of the two countries adopted a joint statement on the elevation of the Viet Nam-US relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
The official affirmed that Viet Nam considers the US an important strategic partner and hopes to further expand partnership with policy planning and management agencies of the US in the fields of culture, education and external relations information as well as the application of science and technology and innovation, and other areas.
For his part, Russo said the US wants to foster cooperation with Viet Nam through the exchanges of delegations at all levels in external relations and people-to-people exchange channels, and concretise collaboration activities included in the joint statement adopted by leaders of the two sides.
At a working session with Joe Sims, Co-Chair of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), Mon underlined that his visit aims to affirm Viet Nam's foreign policy of independence, self-reliance, multilateralisation and diversification of foreign relations, active and proactive international integration; and foster friendship and cooperation between the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) and political parties of the US, including the CPUSA.
The Vietnamese official briefed the host about the situation of Viet Nam in recent years, and gave a number of proposals on strengthening cooperation between the two parties, including increasing information sharing and fostering coordination at forums for political parties, especially the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP).
Sims highly valued the role of the CPV and congratulated Viet Nam on the political, socio-economic achievements that the country has gained, especially amid fluctuations and challenges in the world situation. He lauded Viet Nam and the USs efforts to deepen their diplomatic and economic ties, especially after the two sides lifted up their relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
At a working session with Merle Ratner, an activist of the left-wing movement in the US and a long-time, close friend of Viet Nam, Mon said that his visit provides a chance for Viet Nam to meet and show gratitude to close friends who worked whole-heartedly to support Viet Nam during the ups and downs of the history.
Viet Nam always treasures the priceless solidarity, support and help that US communists and progressive people have given to Viet Nam during its cause of national construction and defence, especially from long-time friends like Ratner.
The official expressed his hope that those like Ratner and her spouse Prof. Ngo Thanh Nhan will continue to spread stories about Viet Nam , so that more international friends, especially the youth, will support Viet Nam and the leadership of the CPV.
During his stay in the US, Mon also visited the Vietnamese Embassy in the US and the Permanent Mission of Viet Nam to the UN. VNS
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to Brazil, made at the invitation of President Lula da Silva, will bring the two countries closer and look at fields they can work together, Brazilian Ambassador to Viet Nam Marco Farani said in an interview with the Vietnam News Agency ahead of the trip.
Could you please share your expectations about Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Brazil?
I think the bilateral relations between Brazil and Viet Nam are very promising although we are very distant from each other. In the last few years, I remember that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva who is now in his third mandate as President of Brazil visited Viet Nam before and I think he might come back again.
He was invited by the President of Viet Nam, and next year, we have 35 years of diplomatic relations and I think it's a good opportunity to receive the President of Brazil here in Viet Nam.
Brazil and Viet Nam maintain a comprehensive bilateral cooperation, characterised by balanced relations and mutual respect. Recently, President Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met at the G7 meeting, held in Hiroshima last June. At the opportunity, President Lula invited the Vietnamese PM to visit Brazil.
It is with great joy and enthusiasm that we are waiting for PM Chinh's visit. The visit of the PM will bring the two countries closer to each other and there are a lot of fields in which we can work together.
Currently, Brazil is Viet Nam's leading trade partner in Latin America. Could you comment on the potential for bilateral economic cooperation in the coming time?
Our trade balance is around US$7 billion, but there is enormous potential to be explored in the areas of agriculture, green energy and defence. Brazil is one of the largest economies in the world, ranking 9th or 10th place in the world in terms of the size of its economy.
The presence of Brazil exports to the countries of Southeast Asia can be attested by the growth of our trade with the region (from US$15.1 billion to $28.9 billion). In the first half of 2022 alone, Brazil's trade with ASEAN increased by 91 per cent, registering $17 billion. In 2022, Brazil became a Partner of the ASEAN Sector Dialogue, counting with the valuable support of Viet Nam. I take this opportunity to reiterate our gratitude to the Government of Viet Nam.
Brazil has been optimistic about the growth and economic dynamism of Viet Nam. Viet Nam is a fast-growing country, probably will be a middle-income country in the next 10 years. Brazil has a large population of 220 million. Brazil is rich in natural resources, and then also has a booming agricultural. So there are a lot of areas in which we can work together.
Another area in which I think we have bright partnership to engage which is renewable energy. In Brazil, 93 per cent of its electricity comes from renewable energy and that is something that we can share with Viet Nam and can help Viet Nam to lower its emissions in the future.
Green and sustainable growth is a development orientation that is receiving special attention from many countries around the world, including Viet Nam and Brazil. How could the two sides cooperate in this field?
Brazil is an example of a green economy. With regard to the environment, it is worth a mentioning that about 90 per cent of the Brazilian energy matrix today is renewable, a true inspiration and hope for the whole world, in which the energy transition is urgent, in order to fulfil the commitments made of net zero emissions of CO2 by 2050. Thanks to the use of ethanol, which began to be developed in Brazil about fifty years ago, when the first oil crisis occurred, Brazil currently has the largest and most complete decarbonization programme in the world, 93 per cent of the cars produced in Brazil are today powered by renewable and green fuel.
So we can share most of these experiences with Viet Nam, especially in ethanol to achieve Viet Nam's goal of the net-zero emissions by 2050. Green economy is a challenge for every country and also is a commitment every country has made.
What are your expectations about the prospects of cooperation between the two countries at both bilateral and multilateral levels in the future?
I think the prospects are more trade, more tourism between our countries, cooperation's in agriculture, energy and education. I also hope for more political alignment, political dialogues. Both countries belong to the Southern Hemisphere. We have seen aspirations and both countries are leaders and have specific importance in these regions. So it's very important that our two leaders to meet and start dialogues with these.
In the international sphere, Brazil has just assumed the Pro-tempore presidency of Mercosur where it intends to work on deepening the intra-bloc dialogue, aiming at the expansion of free trade between regional markets. The FTA between Mercosur and Viet Nam is a goal by both sides. President Lula has already declared that he will work with the other leaders in Mercosur in order to accelerate the agreement with Viet Nam.
Starting next year, Brazil will assume the Presidency of the G20, a unique opportunity to foster coordination among members in defence of a more just, sustainable and peaceful international community. VNS
SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hosted a reception for a delegation of politicians from cities in San Francisco Bay Area of California state, led by Sheng Thao, Mayor of Oakland city, on Monday afternoon (local time) as part of his trip to the US to attend the high-level week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly, and bilateral activities in the country.
Noting that Viet Nam and the US have lifted the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during the Viet Nam visit by US President Joe Biden, PM Chinh said that it reflected aspirations of the two nations to further promote the practical and effective development of the relationship for the benefit of their people, contributing to peace, stability, cooperation and development in the Asia-Pacific region.
Sheng Thao and several officials and businesspeople recalled their good memories of their Viet Nam visit in August this year.
Members of the delegation expressed delight at the establishment of the Viet Nam-US comprehensive strategic partnership. They said that they are making preparations for the APEC Leaders Meeting in San Francisco in November and look forwards to welcoming Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong.
The US officials said that after their visit in August, businesses of the two countries signed many cooperation agreements, including the exploration of Vietjets opening of a direct air route to California. They affirmed their hope to strengthen connections between technology enterprises in the Silicon Valley with the Vietnamese community as well as Viet Nam, expressing belief that with their sound relations, the two countries boast great potential for stronger cooperation, especially in technology, semiconductor and pharmaceuticals.
Sheng Thao said that the San Francisco Bay Area is home to a strong Vietnamese community who has received support from the administrations of the state and cities. She expressed her hope to seek collaboration opportunities with Vietnamese firms investing in the US, including automaker VinFast.
PM Chinh underlined that Viet Nam always welcomes and gives family sentiments to overseas Vietnamese to return to their home country.
Reaffirming the consistent policy of creating favourable conditions for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to do business in Viet Nam, the PM suggested Sheng Thao and representatives of cities and businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area call for more people and enterprises to exchange and seek investment and business opportunities in the Southeast Asian nation.
He emphasised that strengthening cooperation, sharing interests and joining hands in national development are an effective and practical measure to deploy the Viet Nam-US comprehensive strategic partnership and contribute to the joint efforts in settling war consequences. VNS
HA NOI A recent field exercise has been held at National Military Training Centre No.4 in Ha Noi within the framework of the Competency Evaluation Programme for Prospective United Nations Peacekeepers (CEPPP) with a view to improving the capacity of prospective peacekeepers.
In the scenario-based training, military observers, engineers and medical staff worked together in response to an urgent medical situation in which engineer officers were injured by explosive remnants from war.
According to Colonel Nguyen Nhu Canh, Deputy Director of the Viet Nam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, the training session aims to raise the trainees awareness of the suitable response to the explosive leftovers from war, as well as partnership among military observers, engineers and military medical staff.
Hailing the participants professional skills, Indian Lieutenant Colonel Kusum Khaiti, who observed the excerise, said that the training is crucial to helping the prospective peacekeepers get prepared for their missions since it provides them with knowledge and skills to handle situations such as first aid and mass evacuation.
The CEPPP, an activity under the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Experts Working Group on Peacekeeping Operations (PKO-EWG) Cycle 4, is co-chaired by Viet Nam and Japan on September 13-21.
The event, drawing nearly 300 experts, trainees and observers from ADMM-Plus member countries, is the last activity of PKO-EWG Cycle 4 within the framework of the ADMM-Plus.
The co-hosting of the CEPPP has shown Viet Nams role and responsibility in multilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms in the field of UN peacekeeping operations within the ADMM-Plus framework. Through the activity, Viet Nam hopes to make contributions to enhancing the efficiency of UN peacekeeping operations by ADMM-Plus member states. VNS
HAVANA Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha paid a courtesy call to President of the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba Esteban Lazo Hernandez and held talks with First Deputy Prime Minister of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz in Havana on Monday (local time), as part of his visit to the Caribbean nation and attendance at the Group of 77 plus China (G77+China) Summit.
The Cuban leaders expressed their appreciation for Viet Nam's participation in the summit, which, they said, showed the special attention of the Vietnamese Party, State, and people to the traditional friendship and special cooperation between the two nations and contributed to the success of the event.
Lazo Hernandez said the National Assembly of People's Power of Cuba has continuously learned and studied the reform experiences of Viet Nam and brought them into the building and approval of laws in Cuba.
Cabrisas Ruiz, who is also Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, thanked Viet Nam for its multifaceted assistance for Cuba, especially when the Caribbean country is facing numerous difficulties from increased blockade measures.
He said that the Viet Nam-Cuba relationship is growing well and expressed his wish to further enhance the effectiveness of their existing cooperation mechanisms via the Party, National Assembly, and Government channels. He also hoped to see more Cuban-invested projects in Viet Nam.
Ha said Viet Nam always treasures and is determined to deepen its traditional solidarity and comprehensive cooperation with Cuba. He also affirmed Viet Nam's consistent stance on uniting with and supporting Cuba, opposing and calling for the end to the blockade and embargo against Cuba, and joining Cubas efforts to overcome the current difficulties.
The two discussed specific measures to further promote the comprehensive, practical, and effective cooperation between both nations, including increasing the exchange of visits and meetings at all levels and coordinating the implementation of the results of the summit, particularly in the fields of science-technology and innovation. They also agreed to step up the bilateral economic, trade, and investment ties, with a focus on aquaculture projects, corn development, rice production, and collaboration in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.
The same day, Ha and the Vietnamese delegation laid flowers at a park named after late President Ho Chi Minh and visited and presented gifts to Alfredo Miguel Aguayo Elementary School in the Cuban capital.
While visiting establishments of some Vietnamese businesses and meeting with the Vietnamese community, the Deputy PM said economy is a diplomatic aspect helping tighten the special friendship and cooperation between Viet Nam and Cuba.
Reporting to the Deputy PM, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cuba Le Thanh Tung said about 260 Vietnamese people are living, working, and studying in Cuba and that Vietnamese businesses form a bright spot of bilateral investment links.
He said as economic diplomacy is a focus of their activities, the representative agencies of Viet Nam in Cuba have maintained close connections with Vietnamese firms in the country, kept constant information exchanges with them, and provided maximum assistance for the companies to overcome obstacles during project implementation and seek investment and business opportunities in Cuba.
Talking to representatives of the Vietnamese community, Deputy PM Ha recommended that aside from solutions to existing difficulties, Vietnamese businesses should carry out new forms of cooperation to capitalise on Cubas strengths and attainments in scientific research and biological and medical technology in order to generate substantive economic benefits.
He also called on Vietnamese people in Cuba to continue engaging in cultural exchanges and the promotion of investment, production, and business activities. VNS
HA NOI Following the tragic fire in a mini apartment in Thanh Xuan District last Tuesday night, which claimed the lives of 56 people and injured 37, numerous apartment residents have been gripped with fear and anxiety.
Public concern has grown significantly regarding fire safety in tall apartment buildings due to evident lapses.
In Tu Do Alley, ong Tam Ward, Hai Ba Trung District of Ha Noi, which is near universities, there's a high demand for rental accommodation.
Local inhabitants have noted the construction of several mini apartment blocks, ranging from seven to nine floors in height.
A significant number of these buildings fall short regarding fire safety standards.
T.D., a local, told the Vietnam News Agency (VNA) that these mini apartments, despite having a floor area of less than 200sq.m, have a high population density. Typically, rooms lack windows and possess only minor ventilation doors.
On the ground floor, one can find hundreds of motorbikes and electric vehicles parking.
T.D. emphasised the severe consequences if a fire or explosion were to happen.
A recent visit by a VNA correspondent revealed that the mini apartment at No 87 Tu Do Alley, while not fully constructed, already had inhabitants. The structure lacks fire safety equipment, and its staircases are missing handrails.
M., a student, mentioned that the property owner had given assurances about fitting fire safety equipment at a later date.
Fire risks
Recent findings from the Ha Noi Police reveal that from the start of the year to mid-August, the capital city has witnessed 144 fires, resulting in 10 fatalities and 11 injured.
The preliminary evaluation places property damage at approximately VN4.6 billion (US$190,000) and a loss of six hectares of forested land.
This month, Ha Noi has experienced roughly five fires of varying magnitudes.
Most notably, a severe blaze engulfed the mini apartment building at No 37, Alley 29/70, Khuong Ha Street, Khuong inh Ward, Thanh Xuan District. This nine-storey building, covering an area of about 200sq.m, houses around 150 residents. The tragic incident led to the deaths of 56 individuals and injured 37 others.
Colonel Duong uc Hai, the deputy director of the Ha Noi Police, highlighted that electrical short circuits were the root cause of an overwhelming 96 per cent of these fires.
In an endeavour to heighten public knowledge and preparedness regarding fire hazards, the city instructed 102,034 business establishments (which is roughly 94.1 per cent of the total) and 1,496,239 households (amounting to 91.3 per cent) to establish an escape path. Furthermore, 620,938 households have equipped themselves with portable fire extinguishers, totalling nearly one million devices.
The city has established and overseen 7,313 teams responsible for fire prevention and combat.
In addition, 19,685 public fire-fighting stations have been set up.
Yet, as Hai pointed out, there remains a level of negligence amongst some individuals, making fires a persistent hidden threat.
It's evident that in certain older apartments within the city centre, residents continue the practice of burning votive papers in communal hallways. Similarly, at marketplaces, some vendors burn these papers directly at their stalls.
Hai emphasised that particularly in mini apartments or boarding houses, predominantly occupied by informal workers, there is a stark lack of awareness concerning this issue.
Management
In the aftermath of the Khuong Ha Street fire tragedy, many are of the view that had there been stricter construction oversight, issues like excessive floor construction and overpopulation in residential areas would have been avoided.
Preliminary data indicates that Ha Noi houses around 2,000 mini apartment buildings.
Enhanced oversight of construction practices in mini-apartments and boarding houses stands as a pivotal measure to mitigate the risk of fires.
Tran Sy Thanh, Chairman of the Ha Noi People's Committee, emphasised that following the devastating fire on Khuong Ha Street, there's a pressing need for Party committees and other authorities to recalibrate their perception of the issue.
The emphasis should be on harnessing the collective strength of the entire political framework, with a special focus on the public, to advance fire prevention and response efforts.
"Without the backing of the public, our endeavours will fall short," Thanh commented.
Ha Noi has slated a comprehensive review of mini apartments, set to run from September 15 to 30 this year. The city's administration will scrutinise aspects like land utilisation, investment strategies, construction standards, electrical installations, fire precautions, and rescue protocols pertaining to all mini apartments and boarding houses.
Moreover, the Ministry of Construction is in the process of revising the National Regulations on Fire Safety for Houses and Buildings, aiming for regulations that better reflect real-world scenarios.
Cao Duy Khoi, deputy director of the Institute of Construction Science and Technology, emphasised the importance for project investors to integrate fire protection measures at the design phase itself.
It's essential to engage a proficient consulting and construction agency that possesses the requisite expertise on the subject, he stated.
Tran Tuan Anh, general director of the Viet Nam Investment Consulting and Construction Designing Joint Stock Company, pointed out the supremacy of fire prevention over fire fighting. Consequently, he believes the national guidelines should underscore this aspect.
Foreign countries always pay great attention to fire prevention, so when a fire occurs, property and people damage is always controlled to a minimum level. If prevention is good, it will ensure the safety of human lives at construction sites. Thus fire prevention needs to be the top priority in the amended regulations," said Anh.
However, he also acknowledged the financial burden of adhering to fire prevention rules.
The heightened construction expenses, which arise from meeting these standards, pose challenges for investors. This becomes a significant dilemma for many of them when weighing the various investment facets associated with fire safety and management.
Technology application
The Ministry of Public Security's recent Circular 149/2020/TT-BCA has said that, starting from February 20 this year, all structures with potential fire and explosion hazards under police supervision must possess devices that relay incident reports and updates to the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department.
This system will routinely send updates to paired mobile phones regarding the fire alarm's operational status.
In the event of a fire, it also instantly broadcasts alerts through the network.
This is seen as a significant stride towards integrating state-of-the-art science and technology into fire prevention.
Pham Thi Hong Lien, a resident of an apartment on To Huu Street in Nam Tu Liem District, conveyed her eager anticipation upon hearing about this innovative device.
"If the equipment is overseen by the fire safety system and provides immediate and precise data, residents of the apartment will undoubtedly feel much safer," she said.
Echoing Lien's sentiments, Nguyen Minh Phuong, living in Bac Tu Liem District, emphasised the need to use technology in fire prevention strategies.
Identifying the exact source of a malfunction plays a crucial role in maintaining the building's fire safety, given that it's not feasible for humans to maintain constant surveillance on every aspect, she said. VNS
A NANG Ministers of information and communications of ASEAN countries will be sharing experience and initiatives at discussions on boosting co-operation in media, broadcast and television; social network, website, internet-formed communication and improved awareness of ASEAN.
Vice minister of information and communications of Viet Nam, Nguyen Thanh Lam said at a press conference on the 16th Conference of ASEAN Ministers Responsive for Information and related Meetings (AMRI) in the central city on September 20-23.
Lam said the conference will be a forum for regional ministers of the information and communications industry to map out a future plan for the sector in dealing with current global challenges and social network invasion.
The conference will also include a forum for ASEAN countries and three dialogue countries China, Japan and South Korea to discuss initiatives and deeper co-operation among regional countries and partners in the sector.
Its also a chance for senior officials working in the sector to submit key agendas to the ministers meeting for approval at the conference.
Viet Nam has chosen the title - Media: From Information to Knowledge for a Resilient and Responsive ASEAN as a key agenda for the 16th AMRI, Lam said.
The theme of the conference highlights the important role of communication in the context of digital transformation booming and the 4th industrial revolution. Media and communication will be playing as a driving force in transforming information into human knowledge, and supporting for a resilient and responsive ASEAN, he noted.
The vice minister also said the conference will host a regional forum in dealing and solutions of fake news and disinformation on the internet, creating an open dialogue among state-owned agencies, media and trans-border technological platforms.
It will help regional countries build up trust and a safe information space for the ASEAN community, while promoting a sustainable digital transformation process for media and communication agencies in the region.
A photo exhibition on ASEAN and a virtual film experience space on ASEAN, a showroom of communication and information technology as well as visiting trips will be held at the conference, he said.
A final press conference will review on results and conclusion of the conference and related meetings on September 23, Lam added.
A regional forum on fake news and disinformation will prelude the conference on September 19. VNS
SAN FRANCISCO Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited the University of San Francisco (USF) on September 18 (local time), as part of his trip to the US for the high-level week of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the country.
The leader stressed that on the basis of the newly-established Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, enhancing education cooperation matches Viet Nam's priority, era trends, as well as collaboration orientations of both countries.
Cooperation in education-training, especially high-quality personnel training, is a focus of the Viet Nam-US relations as mentioned in a joint statement issued by the two countries leaders, he continued, adding that Viet Nam takes high-quality personnel training as one of the major breakthroughs.
Chinh also lauded contributions by the USF to the strong developments of the bilateral education cooperation over the past time, saying there are about 50 cooperation programmes between Vietnamese and US educational institutions.
The PM emphasised that Viet Nam always wants to seek and expand cooperation opportunities with US educational institutions, including the USF, and expressed his hope for stronger collaboration between the university and Viet Nam, with more diverse, intensive, extensive, effective, and practical formats.
He suggested the university grant more scholarships to Vietnamese students, focusing on new areas like innovation, digital transformation, green transition, circular economy, and sharing economy.
Chinh urged Vietnamese students in the US to study harder, thus contributing to the development of both nations as well as their relations.
Founded in 1855 as the first university in San Francisco, the USF is a private Jesuit university with a distinguished history in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, education, law nursing, and business.
According to the university President Paul J. Fitzgerald, about 80 Vietnamese students are studying at the university, the third biggest number after those from China and India.
Agreeing with the Presidents views on contributions by religions in Viet Nam's history, Chinh highlighted their important role in the formation of the Vietnamese culture, and national construction and defence.
As a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country, the Vietnamese State always consistently pursues the policy of respecting and ensuring the right to freedom of belief and religion, and the right to follow and not follow any religion; guaranteeing equality and non-discrimination based on religion and belief; and protecting the activities of religious organisations by law, he affirmed. VNS
HA NOI The Government of Viet Nam has always placed great importance on the sustainable development of the air industry and leads unceasing efforts to maintain air security and safety.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang made the statement during the inaugural World Safety and Operations Conference (WSOC) that opened in Ha Noi on Tuesday.
The conference, organised by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and for the first time hosted by Viet Nam, takes place under the theme of "Leadership in Action: Driving Safer and More Efficient Operations" over three days, September 19-21, with the participation of over 800 delegates from airlines worldwide and international organisations in the aviation sector.
Deputy PM Quang said the development of the aviation industry would contribute to achieving the comprehensive goals of economic and social development, enhancing national competitiveness, promoting trade and people-to-people exchanges, ensuring national defence and security, protecting national sovereignty, and strengthening Viet Nam's connectivity with the world.
In the past 15 years, the growth of the aviation industry has been closely linked to the GDP growth rate of the nation. This means that for every 1 per cent increase in GDP, the aviation sector will experience a growth rate of 1.5-2 per cent, Quang noted in his address.
From 2009 to 2019, the Vietnamese aviation transportation market has made remarkable strides, with passenger growth reaching over 17 per cent and cargo growth reaching nearly 14 per cent.
The transportation volume has increased by 4.86 times for passengers and 3.66 times for cargo.
In 2023, the Vietnamese aviation industry continues to experience recovery and positive growth.
Immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, many global airlines have returned to the Vietnamese market, said the Deputy PM, who also stressed that Viet Nam always ensures air safety despite soaring growth.
Quang underscored that the Vietnamese Government highly appreciates the efforts of the Ministry of Transport, Vietnamese airlines, as well as the cooperation and support from international organisations in ensuring aviation safety in order for Viet Nam to achieve noteworthy accomplishments, such as maintaining over 25 years without any accidents in commercial aviation transportation.
With a strong commitment to continuously enhancing aviation security and safety, Viet Nam continues to prioritise the task of ensuring aviation safety and security within the overall national security system, he remarked.
Viet Nam will make relentless efforts to establish a strong, efficient aviation safety and security system that suits Viet Nam's conditions and meet international standards and practices, Deputy PM Quang said, adding that the Government has been focusing on issuing policies and regulations and making an enabling business environment for a healthy, safety growth of the air industry.
To effectively exploit opportunities and overcome challenges together, Deputy PM Quang proposes that IATA and international partners continue to play a crucial role in establishing operational safety standards, including strengthening connectivity and sharing information and experiences regarding aviation safety and security among member airlines and aviation organisations worldwide.
Viet Nam's transport minister Nguyen Van Thang said at the conference that all Vietnamese airlines, airports, and aviation enterprises are equipped with new safety management systems, along with advanced aviation safety monitoring solutions such as continuous and proactive risk-based surveillance systems.
The Vietnamese air industry has received Category 1 (the highest rating) of Aviation Safety Assessment from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Thang said, adding that all Vietnamese airlines have been evaluated and certified for operational safety by the IATA.
In addition to efforts to improve legal frameworks, procedures, standards, and safety management systems, Viet Nam has been investing in infrastructure to enhance its aviation operational capacity, Thang said, adding that the Vietnamese government has approved the master plan for the development of the national airport system from 2021 to 2030, with a vision extending to 2050.
Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA, stated that safety has been receiving top priority attention of the aviation industry, and this has been showcased by the fact that Government leaders, regulatory authorities, and safety experts from around 100 airlines, aircraft manufacturers, and relevant stakeholders attended this conference in Ha Noi.
Located at the heart of Asia and enjoying strong economic growth, Viet Nam is an ideal destination for hosting the conference, the IATA leader remarked, expressing his appreciation towards the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines in organising the event.
During the conference, Vietnam Airlines and IATA signed a memorandum of understanding on aviation safety culture, and engaged in dialogues with airline leaders, aviation authorities, and Government regulatory agencies on the topic of building a safety culture in aviation. VNS
The academic journey is often a challenging one, full of hurdles and obstacles that must be navigated. For international students, these challenges are often compounded by cultural differences, language barriers, and unfamiliar educational systems. This is especially true for Vietnamese students pursuing higher education in the United States. This article aims to delve into these challenges and offer solutions, focusing specifically on term papers help for Vietnamese students.
The Challenges Faced by Vietnamese Students in USA in Term Paper Writing
Term papers are a critical component of the American education system, requiring students to conduct in-depth research, synthesize information, and communicate their thoughts effectively in writing. This can be a daunting task for Vietnamese students who may be accustomed to a different academic culture.
Language Barrier
First and foremost, language often poses a significant challenge. Though many Vietnamese students have a good grasp of English, academic writing demands a level of fluency and understanding of nuances that can be difficult to achieve for non-native speakers. Complex sentence structures, technical jargon, and idiosyncratic academic conventions can all pose significant hurdles.
Cultural Differences
Cultural differences also play a substantial role. Vietnamese students may find the American system of education, with its emphasis on critical thinking and individualistic learning, to be starkly different from the more collectivist and memorization-focused approach prevalent in Vietnam. This can make the process of researching and writing term papers particularly challenging.
Lack of Familiarity with American Academic Conventions
Finally, Vietnamese students may struggle with unfamiliar academic conventions. The American system places a high value on originality, citation of sources, and academic integrity, with plagiarism considered a serious offense. Unfortunately, these are aspects that Vietnamese students may not be fully aware of, leading to unintentional mistakes that can have serious consequences.
Tailoring Term Paper Support to Meet the Needs of Vietnamese Students
Given these challenges, it becomes clear that term papers help for Vietnamese students needs to be tailored to their specific needs. It's not simply about improving language skills but also understanding cultural differences, familiarizing oneself with new academic conventions, and gaining confidence in one's abilities.
Language Support
Language support for Vietnamese students can come in various forms. English language classes can help improve proficiency, while writing workshops can focus on the intricacies of academic writing. Furthermore, one-on-one tutoring can provide personalized feedback and guidance, allowing students to improve their writing skills at their own pace.
Cultural Awareness
Cultural awareness is another crucial aspect. Workshops and seminars that explain the American education system, emphasize the importance of critical thinking, and showcase examples of successful term papers can go a long way in helping Vietnamese students adapt to their new academic environment.
Academic Orientations
Academic orientations, which explain the expectations and rules surrounding term papers, can help Vietnamese students avoid unintentional mistakes. This includes a thorough understanding of plagiarism, citation styles, and the importance of original thought in academic writing.
Stories of Vietnamese Students Who Overcame Term Paper Challenges
The challenges faced by Vietnamese students may seem insurmountable, but numerous success stories attest to the ability to overcome these hurdles. These stories serve not only as inspiration but also as proof that with the right support, Vietnamese students can excel in their term papers.
One such story is that of Linh, a Vietnamese student who initially struggled with her term papers. With the help of language support, academic orientations, and a strong determination, she was able to improve her writing skills, understand the expectations of her professors, and eventually received an A on her term paper.
Another story is that of Binh, who found the cultural differences between Vietnam and America to be quite challenging. However, through cultural awareness workshops and interaction with his American peers, he was able to adapt to the American academic system and excel in his term papers.
Creating a Supportive Community for Vietnamese Students Pursuing Higher Education in USA
The success stories of Vietnamese students overcoming term paper challenges underscore the importance of a supportive community. This includes not only academic support in the form of term papers help but also emotional support and the opportunity to connect with others who are on a similar journey.
Academic Support
Academic support can come from various sources, including professors, tutors, and fellow students. Professors can provide valuable feedback on term papers, tutors can offer personalized guidance, and fellow students can form study groups to help each other navigate the academic landscape.
Emotional Support
Emotional support is equally important. The experience of studying in a foreign country can be emotionally taxing, filled with homesickness and stress. Having a supportive community to turn to can make a significant difference. This can come from fellow Vietnamese students, student organizations, and counseling services offered by the institution.
Community Connection
Finally, Vietnamese students can benefit from opportunities to connect with others who share their experiences. This can be facilitated through student organizations, cultural events, and online platforms where students can share their stories, ask questions, and offer support.
In conclusion, while Vietnamese students in the USA face significant challenges in term paper writing, these can be overcome with the right support and resources. By acknowledging their specific needs and tailoring support accordingly, we can empower these students to succeed in their academic journey and beyond.
(Photo : Mark Felix / AFP) (MARK FELIX/AFP via Getty Images)
NASA's OSIRIS-REx is set to bring back samples from a mysterious asteroid known as Bennu after it spent the last seven years in deep space.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is set to deliver samples taken from a mysterious asteroid known as Bennu back to Earth for scientists to study.
The historic delivery comes after the spacecraft has spent seven years of its operation in deep space. OSIRIS-REx was first launched in 2016 to travel towards Bennu and in October 2020 successfully collected samples from the asteroid's surface.
NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft
The spacecraft is now scheduled to return on Sept. 24 to bring back the samples stored inside a special capsule and parachute, with a landing time expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT. It would land at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range which is located near Dugway, Utah.
When NASA's spacecraft arrived at the asteroid in 2018, it looked nothing like what mission planners were prepared to see. In a statement, Dante Lauretta, the mission's chief scientist, said that she really thought they might be in trouble.
Lauretta said that this was because the surface of the mysterious asteroid looked so different from how the OSIRIS-REx team thought it would look. They were forced to reprogram the spacecraft in order to land on Bennu's loose, gravely surface, as per Space.
Despite their efforts, Bennu still had more surprises for the spacecraft as it touched down to collect a sample from the surface. The asteroid's conditions nearly put an end to NASA's OSIRIS-REx.
In just one week before the landing of the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, NASA's scientists are excited but also on tenterhooks. They are already preparing for the spacecraft's return to our planet. It would slam into Earth's atmosphere while being protected by its heat shield. OSIRIS-REx is estimated to reach speeds of up to 27,000 miles per hour before it deploys drogue and main parachutes to slow itself down to a more manageable 10 miles per hour.
The space agency's mission is ultimately a success in part due to Queen guitarist Brian May, who meticulously created 3D images of the rubble pile to help the mission leaders identify safe landing spots.
Read Also: James Webb Observes a Planet Located in a 'Habitable' Zone, Finds Evidence of Potential Life
Mysterious Asteroid Bennu
On Monday, chemical engineer Solveig Irvine of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville talked about OSIRIS-REx's journey and what scientists hope to learn more about Bennu, according to Al.com.
Marshall is known as the program lead and managed the OSIRIS-REx mission for the space agency as an accountant, advocate, and monitor of the mission. Irvine said that the spacecraft picked up regolith, which is the surface rubble on the asteroid.
He noted that Bennu is a carbonaceous asteroid, which means that it is mostly made up of carbon. Irvine added that understanding the asteroid will help scientists understand the microbiology of the cosmic object, the chemistry that was here on our planet before there was life, and what chemistry goes on in space, the precursors of life.
The mission also prompted NASA to call upon the Vatican for assistance. The curator of the Vatican's meteorite collection, Brother Robert J. Macke was responsible for designing a custom device that would fit inside the glovebox where scientists will handle the sample that OSIRIS-REx will deliver, said Mashable.
Related Article: New NASA UFO Report to Be Released-What's in It?
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According to Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and a high-level delegation flew to China to attend the 20th China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) on September 16-17 at the Nanning International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Guangxi province.
ASEAN-China ties taking crucial steps, photo VNA
The PM will also attend the 20th China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit.
The expo serves as a high-level dialogue platform for friendly exchanges and the enhancement of political mutual trust between China and ASEAN leaders, which provides long-term and stable political support for friendly cooperation.
Through speeches at the opening ceremonies, bilateral and multilateral meetings, and commemorative activities, leaders from both sides continually strengthen their common will, coordinate joint actions, and promote cooperation from consensus to practice, the China-ASEAN Expo Secretariat said. This has led to the elevation of relations from a strategic partnership to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and the upgrading of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (ACFTA) has provided strong evidence.
Vietnam considers the expo a big opportunity to promote its goods and services and draw in more investment from these economies.
During their bilateral meeting in Beijing in June, Chinese Premier Li Qiang told PM Chinh that China would further open its market for Vietnamese goods, especially high-quality agricultural and aquatic products and fruits.
China will also coordinate in creating better conditions for quarantine and customs clearance, and stand ready to work together with Vietnam to address obstacles related to institutions and policies.
PM Qiang also suggested the two countries strengthen strategic connectivity, particularly in infrastructure and transport; promote cooperation in economy, trade, and investment in the sectors of production, manufacturing, and agriculture; as well as boosting cooperation in fostering supply and production chains.
The Chinese government encourages Chinese companies and groups, especially major ones with advanced technology, to expand investment in Vietnam in line with its demand and sustainable development strategy.
Currently, the top exports of China to Vietnam are integrated circuits, mobile phones, sound recorders, electric batteries, and knitted or crocheted fabrics.
Meanwhile, key imports of China from Vietnam include agricultural products, integrated circuits, broadcasting accessories, office machine parts, and non-retail pure cotton yarn.
PM Chinh in June also met with leaders of major Chinese groups including Texhong International Group, Runergy, Energy China, Goertek, and TCL, among others. They said that their groups would expand operations in Vietnam.
For example, chairman of the Board of Texhong International Group Hong Tianzhu said it is seeking new opportunities in Vietnams textile and garment sector.
Texhong has invested over $1.6 billion in Vietnam since 2006, establishing 12 textile and apparel projects in Dong Nai, Quang Ninh, and Thai Binh provinces, creating employment opportunities for over 25,000 workers.
Additionally, in Quang Ninh, Texhong has established a textile industrial park to service a vertically integrated textile supply chain.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and China hit $175.6 billion last year, accounting for approximately 24 per cent of Vietnams total import-export turnover. In the first eight months of this year, the figure reached $103 billion, with Vietnams exports to China hitting $35.8 billion, up 0.1 per cent on-year, and imports from China reaching $68.1 billion, down 17 per cent on-year.
According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of August 20, Vietnam had about 3,950 Chinese valid ventures registered at $25.8 billion, making China its sixth-largest foreign investor. In the January-August period, China ranked second in Vietnams list of foreign investors, with total new capital of $2.7 billion.
Currently, ministers from ASEAN member states and China are boosting negotiations of a new version of the ACFTA. The first round of negotiations began in April.
According to the ASEAN Secretariat, the upgrade will focus on sectors that benefit the interests of both ASEAN and China. They include the digital economy, green economy, non-tariff measures, consumer protection issues, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the rearrangement of chapter structure of the agreement.
We expect the ACFTA 3.0 to better benefit the people of both sides. At present, more than 90 per cent of commodities (about 7,000 types) already enjoy zero tariff treatment between China and ASEAN, effectively enhancing business efficiency, social employment and peoples income, said Hou Yanqi, the Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN.
The update will further reduce tariffs, regulate measures customs, inspection, and quarantine, and enhance trade liberalisation. It will also better protect the rights and interests of consumers on both sides, promote the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, and create more jobs, Yanqi said.
ASEAN, US partners launch ASEAN SME Academy 2.0 The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in collaboration with the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on April 8 officially launched the ASEAN SME Academy 2.0, an upgraded version of an online learning platform.
What have been the biggest outcomes of US President Joe Bidens visit to Vietnam?
Ha Kim Ngoc, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
President Bidens state visit to Vietnam has been a special one. It is because this has been the first time that a US president paid a state visit to Vietnam at the invitation of the Party General Secretary.
The visit took place when Vietnam and the US celebrates 10 years of bilateral comprehensive partnership. For the first time, both US president and vice president visited Vietnam within one term. This also follows a 30-year tradition in Vietnam-US relations, in which all US presidents have visited Vietnam in their tenures.
The biggest outcome of the visit is that both countries have inked a joint statement to elevate their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, ushering in an important new chapter in their cooperation.
The new partnership covers 10 cooperation pillars embracing all sectors of the economy. It has reflected and meets shared benefits of both nations, and is also suitable to the regions development trend and shared benefits.
The new cooperation framework will bring both short-term and long-term benefits for the two economies, while Vietnams status in the international arena will be further enhanced. Moreover, it will also help the two countries strengthen mutual trust, while helping the US consolidate its role in the region.
What have been the biggest highlights in the economic, trade, and investment sectors between the two countries since relations were normalised in 1995?
Bilateral trade has witnessed spectacular strides, from only $450 million in 1995 to $123 billion last year, and $71.6 billion in the first eight months of this year.
Vietnam has surged to become the seventh-largest trade partner of the US worldwide and the biggest trade partner of the US within ASEAN. Since 2022, the US has become the largest export market of Vietnam, with an export turnover of $100 billion.
When it comes to investment, the US has always been one of the top investors in Vietnam. Cumulatively as of August 20, the US had nearly 1,290 valid projects registered with $11.8 billion, not including big investments into Vietnam via third nations.
Meanwhile, a number of Vietnamese companies have come to the US for investment, with an accumulative figure of billions of US dollars, generating thousands of employment for US employees.
Vietnam and the US have reaffirmed the importance of economic, trade, and investment cooperation and innovation-driven inclusive economic growth as the core foundations and sources of momentum in the bilateral relationship.
Both sides have pledged to create improvements and facilitate the further opening of markets for each others goods and services, support trade and economic policy, and also regulatory measures to achieve this aim; and to address varying issues such as market access barriers via the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
The US applauds Vietnams progress in significant market-based economic reforms, and affirms its enthusiasm and commitment for a broad, strengthened, supportive, and constructive engagement with Vietnam in its transition to a market economy, and subsequently to market economy country status, under US law.
What sectors will be in prioritised cooperation between Vietnam and the US in the coming time?
Vietnam and the US will increase visits and contacts at all levels and via all channels.
What is more, cooperation in economics, trade, and investment will be the biggest priority. They will continue to act as a cornerstone and impetus for both nations fine relationship.
The two countries will concentrate cooperation on specific sectors such as supply chain, infrastructure, high-quality human resources, energy transition, digital economy, green economy, and industrial manufacturing development.
In addition, sci-tech and innovation will be a big breakthrough in bilateral cooperation. Both countries will centre on creating foundations for developing digital technologies, semiconductor ecosystem, and AI application.
At the same time, energy transition, biotechnology, health, and pharmacy will also be the sectors with big cooperation.
Moreover, Vietnam and the US will continue addressing war legacies. This is a priority in bilateral relations that contributes to the building of mutual trust and understanding between the two nations.
What is more, Vietnam and the US will boost cooperation in peacekeeping activities of the United Nations, army medical training, accident rescues, and improvement of naval and aviation capacity.
The two countries will also increase cooperation and coordination at regional and international forums such as ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, and the United Nations.
In particular, they will continue working effectively with each other to deal with global challenges such as climate change as well as energy, food, water, and health security, as well as anti-terrorism.
Vietnam, US seek stronger economic, trade, investment partnership Politburo member and head of the Party Central Committees Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh had a meeting in Hanoi on March 10 with a delegation from the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) and representatives from 28 leading US businesses.
Vietnam, US hold potential in expanding economic, business collaboration The United States and Vietnam have a lot of potential to expand their business and trade cooperation in such fields as agriculture, life sciences and energy transition, according to President and CEO of the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) Peter Tichansky.
Vietnam, US seek to boost ties in digital economy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung on February 13 met with US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper to discuss boosting bilateral ties in digital economy and digital trade.
Vietnam, US further promote financial cooperation Minister of Finance Ho Duc Phoc highly evaluated financial cooperation between Vietnam and the US as he received US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen in Hanoi on July 21.
Chip cooperation to underpin US capital, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com
Last week saw Vietnam and the US forged a new semiconductor partnership to support resilient semiconductor supply chains for US industry, consumers, and workers.
The partnership is reflected via the signing of a memorandum of cooperation on semiconductor supply chains, workforce and ecosystem development, which will formalise this bilateral partnership to expand the capacity of the semiconductor ecosystem in Vietnam, in support of US industry. Under the International Technology Security and Innovation Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022, the US will partner with Vietnam to further develop Vietnams current semiconductor ecosystem, regulatory framework, and workforce and infrastructure needs.
The comprehensive workforce development initiatives in Vietnam will jointly develop hands-on teaching labs and training courses for semiconductor assembly, testing, and packaging. The US government will provide initial seed funding of $2 million to launch the initiatives, in conjunction with future support from the Vietnamese government and the private sector. The effort will support the expansion of good jobs for the American middle class for work further up the semiconductor industry value chain.
According to a statement from the White House, the US recognises Vietnams potential to play a critical role in building resilient semiconductor supply chains, particularly to expand capacity in reliable partners where it cannot be re-shored to the US and further promote manufacturing and industry development at home under the US CHIPS Act.
Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has been assigned to formulate a scheme on semiconductor manufacturing, in the context that the nation has put its modern National Innovation Centre into operation, including semiconductor research and development.
The US has set priorities on developing resilient and secure supply chains with Vietnam because the Southeast Asian nation has already demonstrated the capacity to produce semiconductors to world standards with American companies like Intel and Amkor.
Semiconductors are of vital importance to US manufacturing. The US and Vietnam have become trusted partners based on years of dealing with each other, said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales. The US has chosen to prioritise AI and quantum computing because these are the frontier technologies for the future. Vietnam has also set priority on Industry 4.0 technology, so the views of Vietnam and the US are congruent. The US would also like to develop green energy technology with Vietnam.
According to the joint leaders statement on elevating US-Vietnam relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership released last week, Vietnam and the US decided to strengthen science, technology, and digital innovation cooperation, regarding this as a new breakthrough of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The US affirmed its commitment to increasing support for Vietnam in the training and development of a high-tech workforce. Acknowledging Vietnams tremendous potential as a major player in the semiconductor industry, the two leaders pledged to support the rapid development of Vietnams semiconductor ecosystem and to work together energetically to improve Vietnams position in the global semiconductor supply chain, the statement read.
Over the past decade, Vietnam has emerged as a critical node in the global semiconductor supply chain, and investments are only accelerating. Less than an hours drive from here in the northern province of Bac Ninh, Amkor an Arizona-based company will soon fully open a $1.6 billion factory for semiconductor assembly and testing.
Down in the southern province of Dong Nai, another American company, Onsemi, produces chips that are used in cars around the world. Nearby, in Saigon High-Tech Park, sits the largest Intel assembly and testing facility in the world. Many of the companies investing in Vietnam are also building up their capacity and employment in the US as well.
South Korean component manufacturer LG Innotek recently also confirmed a $1 billion investment to build a manufacturing facility for advanced smartphone camera modules and other optical products in northern Haiphong city. Meanwhile, the new $1.6 billion semiconductor plant of South Koreas HANMI Semiconductor in Bac Ninh province is scheduled for trial production in late October.
According to German data provider Statista, revenue from Vietnams semiconductor market is forecast to hit $20.15 billion this year and post a compound annual growth rate of 11.62 per cent in the 2023-2027 period, for a market volume of $31.28 billion by 2027. The largest market within the semiconductor industry is integrated circuits, with a projected market value of $16.44 billion this year.
Do Van Su, deputy director of the MPIs Foreign Investment Agency, revealed that at a recent meeting upon their survey in Vietnam, the US Semiconductor Industry Association recognises Vietnam as the futures semiconductor powerhouse.
With its unparalleled strength as a manufacturing hub, producing sophisticated smartphones and electronic components, Vietnam stands poised to lead. US investors see more than just potential here. They see a thriving future, Su said.
Meanwhile, a US Department of Treasury analysis indicated that real manufacturing construction in the US has doubled since the end of 2021. But the US does not seek to build everything in its territory.
Rather, we believe that long-term economic resilience requires diversified global supply chains. This means deepening our economic integration with the large number of countries we can count on including Vietnam, said US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen when she visited Vietnam in July.
Yellen noted that while critical to the production of everyday consumer products like cars and refrigerators, and the development of cutting-edge technologies, virtually all manufacturing of the most sophisticated chips is concentrated in East Asia.
Recent experience demonstrates the economic pain that disruption of this key supply chain can cause. One study estimates that the chip shortage during the pandemic likely contributed to worldwide revenue losses of over $500 billion from 2020 to 2022. The impact was particularly acute for the automotive industry. In 2021 alone, this single industry was estimated to have lost $210 billion in global revenue.
The US is taking a comprehensive approach to diversify and strengthen its semiconductor ecosystem. The US is first investing in its own domestic capacities through the CHIPS and Science Act. This law provides incentives for manufacturers to build fabrication plants in the US.
But no country can or should do this alone. We are working with our partner countries to ramp up their investments as well, explained Yellen. For example, we have dedicated a new $500 million fund for international semiconductor and telecom projects under the CHIPS Act. This fund can help countries in the Indo-Pacific develop their own diverse and resilient semiconductor supply chains, Yellen said.
Michael Nguyen - Country managing director Boeing Vietnam We believe an enhanced bilateral economic relationship between the United States and Vietnam will reinforce cooperation in aerospace and support a thriving aviation industry. Vietnam is an important partner for Boeing due to its growing economy, expanding aviation industry, emerging role in global supply chains, and commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions, and we are excited to deepen our presence. Over the years, Boeing has proudly partnered with Vietnam to develop and strengthen its aerospace capabilities. Boeing will continue to support Vietnams goal to become an aviation hub, develop Vietnamese suppliers, train talent, and work with the domestic industry to decarbonise aviation. Leonardo Garcia - General manager Coca-Cola Vietnam and Cambodia Vietnam presents significant growth opportunities for any business, with a population of 100 million people and a rapidly growing consumer market with its middle class expanding. Having been operating in Vietnam for nearly 30 years, Coca-Cola is eager to contribute to Vietnams socioeconomic development through expanding investment along with a commitment to fulfilling social responsibilities in the country. As of now, the total capital of Coca-Cola in Vietnam has exceeded $1 billion, including the new investment in the greenfield plant broke ground in the Mekong Delta province of Long An in October 2022. It is a $136 million project with a capacity of one billion litres of beverages per year from the plant to go to the entire production. We have also innovated packaging design and partnered with various stakeholders, such as Duy Tan, Vikohasan, GreenHub, and related organisations to promote a circular economy model and raise awareness of the benefits of proper waste management in Vietnam. This follows the vision of a world without waste, which aims to help collect and recycle the equivalent of every bottle or can we sell globally by 2030. Le Nhan Tam - Chief technology officer Microsoft Vietnam The cloud is considered an important infrastructure for all products and services in our ecosystem. We are empowering users with more computing capabilities and abilities to use the latest technologies. In the past, AI seemed far away, but now it is becoming much more popular. With Azure Cloud, Microsoft is today the second-largest cloud service provider, with a market share of around 23 per cent. It offers comprehensive and end-to-end cloud services, from computing, storage, network, and databases to big data analytics, security, and AI services so that enterprises can build and deploy their own solutions flexibly, easily, and cost-effectively while reducing product development time. Simultaneously, in our ecosystem with the Windows operating system, modern workplace solutions like Office, Exchange Email, and others, Microsoft embeds AI technology into those products in the easiest way possible for end-users from enterprises to consumers. Microsoft now proactively creates an open ecosystem for many different partners to participate in joint market development. Our strategy is to focus on open sources, open platforms, and frameworks contributing to the development of open-source communities.
Vietnam to train up to 50,000 semiconductor engineers At the monthly government meeting on August 5, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh tasked the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Science and Technology to develop a plan to train between 30,000 and 50,000 engineers and 100 experts in digital transformation and manufacturing semiconductors.
Semiconductor groups go all-out with local investment Vietnams semiconductor potential is being bolstered by the development of manufacturing complexes and related capabilities.
PM Pham Minh Chinh at the Vietnam and US Business Forum on Technology and Innovation Cooperation
At the High Level Week of the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and bilateral activities in the US, PM Chinh attended the Vietnam - US Business Forum on technology and innovation cooperation organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in coordination with the Vietnam's Embassy in San Francisco and the US-ASEAN Business Council.
At the forum, the PM and delegates witnessed the awarding ceremony of cooperation agreements between State Capital Investment Corporation, Vietnam Pharmaceutical Corporation (Vinapharm) and Biomed Group exchanging a cooperation and joint venture agreement to establish a company for manufacturing and clinically testing Biomed's biopharmaceutical products and building a research and development (R&D) Center in Vietnam;
There was also a deal signed between Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) and Qualcomm Technologies Inc. (QTI) awarding a cooperation agreement to transfer the rights of QTI technologies and equipment to VNPT;
Mobifone Corporation and Jupiter Networks Group announced they were cooperating in building data centre and cloud computing service business;
Finally, Rikkeisoft Corporation (in Vietnam) and RKTech (in the US) signed an MoU on establishing RKTech America Company in Dallas, Texas, specialising in designing and developing software, mobile applications and IT consulting services.
Dozens of deals were agreed between Vietnam and US corporations
Chinh discussed the development process of Vietnam-US relations, and the upgrade of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
He said that Vietnam's economy was worth about $409 billion, and GDP per capita was $4,100. Vietnam has become one of the world's top 20 largest international trade economies and one of the world's 40 largest economies.
In 2022, despite rapid, complex, unpredictable fluctuations in the world and regional economies, and numerous difficulties, Vietnam has turned risks into opportunities and achieved many positive results.
GDP growth in 2022 reached 8.02 per cent, the highest in the past 10 years; import-export turnover reached over $732 billion, an increase of 9.5 per cent on-year; the trade surplus was over $11 billion; and foreign direct investment disbursement reached about $22.4 billion, the highest in five years.
"Vietnam's investment environment continues to be highlighted by the international community and investors," the PM said. "We believe that investors' success is also our success. We hope that US businesses will continue investing in Vietnam, enabling us to participate in the global supply chain, especially in science, technology, and innovation to benefit both sides, and share risks together."
Dozens of agreements in technologies and innovation shaken hands between Vietnam and US corporations
At the forum, US businesses showed their interest in and said they would look for opportunities to invest in Vietnam. As technologies and innovation are new pillars in the bilateral relations, they asked the governments to support and connect people and businesses to develop technologies, innovation, semiconductor technology, remote sensing, AI, big data, and high-quality human resources training.
Airbus taps Vietnamese suppliers to manufacture components Airbus, the world's largest airliner manufacturer, is increasing its commitment to establishing a sustainable supply chain in line with Vietnams net-zero emissions roadmap. This ambition was underlined as the conglomerate unveiled plans to roll out new work packages for its commercial aviation operations in the country.
FPT Corporation focuses on AI and chip expansion FPT Corporation has reported orders nearing 70 million chips by 2025 and is setting its sights firmly on the expansion of AI, according to Reuters.
US and Vietnam stand together for growth A new bilateral cooperation framework established last week will help Vietnam and the US elevate their economic and business-to-business ties, with the former to get major support from the latter.
According to local newspaper Nhandan, the announcement came during Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's recent visit to Guangxi, China, where he met with vice president of Energy China Zhang Manping on September 16.
The discussions centred on ramping up the company's footprint in Vietnam, particularly in terms of wind power projects spread across provinces such as Ha Tinh, Ninh Thuan, and Quang Tri.
This engagement coincided with PM Chinh's attendance at the 20th China-ASEAN Expo and Business and Investment Summit held in Nanning. It gave the Vietnamese leader an opportunity to emphasise the nation's focus on green and digital transition.
He stated, "Our partnerships with investors, especially in the green sector, mirror Vietnam's broader development goals."
Renowned as a multifaceted conglomerate, Energy China has cemented its place in the prestigious Fortune 500 list, demonstrating unparalleled expertise in delivering intricate technical solutions across the energy and infrastructure domains.
With an expansive footprint boasting 256 branches across 147 countries and territories, the group oversees 416 ventures and employs over 100,000 personnel.
During his presentation, Manping shed light on Energy China's corporate landscape, articulating its vision for prospective projects in Vietnam.
He stated, "Our expansion plans underscore our commitment to renewable energy, spotlighted by our initiatives in wind power across Ha Tinh, Ninh Thuan, Quang Tri, and other provinces."
PM Chinh lauded Energy China's forthcoming investment strategies, urging the conglomerate to explore digital and sustainable projects. He emphasised adherence to the rule of law, ethical business practices, healthy competition, and the prioritisation of socio-cultural values.
"The success of our investors aligns with Vietnam's aspirations, fostering a spirit of harmonious benefit and shared risks," noted the PM.
Addressing Energy China's partnership proposals, PM Chinh has entrusted the Ministry of Industry and Trade to collaborate with the group's representatives. The ministry will take the lead, liaising with relevant departments and regional bodies to ensure the smooth progress of Energy China's exploration into new ventures and investment opportunities in Vietnam.
Norway and Vietnam collaborate on energy transition The participation of the private sector is seen as an important aspect of implementing Power Development Plan VIII and promoting Vietnam's goal of transitioning from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy sources.
EIB and EVN explore offshore wind energy collaboration The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) are deepening ties, with advanced loan discussions centred on the Bac Ai hydropower project.
Meredith Woo - Professor, Arizona State University (right) and Jonathan Pincus - Senior international economist UN Development Programme (left)
Since 1980, only eleven markets have increased per capita income to 50 per cent or more of the level of the United States. Eight of them were new members of the European Union, leaving only South Korea, Taiwan, and Panama as the only non-EU examples to have substantially closed the income gap with the US, escaping the middle-income trap.
The figures refer to per capita income in international (purchasing power parity) dollars in 1980 and 2019.
Countries that have escaped this trap succeeded in developing the technological and managerial capabilities that enabled them to realise increasing returns to scale, especially in export industries. They did so because they had well-established education and training systems in place, sometimes even before they began their push into export manufacturing.
Vietnam is a lower-middle-income country with ambitions to achieve high-income status by its centennial in 2045. Average GDP growth of 6.5 per cent over three decades has established Vietnam as one of the best performers in the region, enabling the country to achieve high human development status at a relatively low level of national income. Exports have increased at double-digit rates over the same period.
The government is deeply committed to its vision of breaking free and joining that small group of East Asian and European markets that have closed the gap with the worlds leading economies.
To achieve its economic ambitions, Vietnam needs to accelerate GDP growth to 8 per cent annually, sustain its export growth, and substantially increase the share of investment in GDP. Even then, the unresolved problem of Vietnams growth bottleneck remains. Vietnam underinvests in higher education and skills training.
While secondary schools achieve outstanding results on international student achievement tests, university enrolments and public spending on higher education, research, and vocational education lag behind neighbouring countries. UNESCO data reveal that public expenditure on higher education as a share of national output is about 10 per cent below the world average and half of the levels achieved by regional competitors like Malaysia.
In the 1940s, the economist Paul Rosenstein-Rodan identified increasing returns to scale as the main factor in post-war European development, and he concluded that incremental change would not be enough to move the countries into a new growth path. His so-called big push anticipated the new growth theory that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s that emphasised the spillover effects of the concentration of investment in one industry or region.
Vietnam needs a big push now an intensive, sustained, and determined campaign led by the government to transform its higher education, research institutions, and vocational schools.
The stakes are too high for incremental reform of higher education. Achieving excellence at the top of the educational system while creating educational pathways for talented young people to achieve excellence regardless of where they live and study is of utmost importance to the nations future. It is essential for breaking out of the middle-income trap.
Vietnam has a historic opportunity to engineer a big push in higher education and research, supported by a coalition of interests, including government agencies at the national and local levels, but also state-owned enterprises, private companies, multinationals, international partners, scholars, researchers, teachers, parents, and students. While each entity may have different reasons for backing this, all would benefit from its success.
Vietnam is tightly integrated into regional and global production systems, giving international partners a material stake in the countrys progress and, in particular, the skills and quality of the Vietnamese workforce. Economic and political imperatives are compelling multinational companies to diversify production networks, including supply chains for manufactured goods and extending to basic research, product design, development, and testing.
Domestic companies have developed advanced capabilities in emerging sectors like telecommunications, cybersecurity, biochemistry, renewable energy, and electric vehicles.
It is a young nation of 100 million people with exceptionally high literacy levels and respect for education. Vietnams K-12 school system is a global leader among developing countries, and students exhibit a high level of readiness for scientific and technical education.
After 30 years as a major sending country of undergraduate and postgraduate students to North America, Europe, and Australia, the scholars in the Vietnamese diaspora have risen to global prominence across a wide range of scientific and technical fields, which creates an opportunity to short-circuit the development process by attracting this human capital back home.
High-income countries launched their own push in higher education and research in response to national security concerns. The most famous case is that of Silicon Valley, but similar examples can be found in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East that gave rise to concerted national programmes to upgrade universities and build domestic research capacity.
Vietnams leadership is acutely aware of the central importance of technology to national security and can call on a disciplined military with industrial experience. Like other examples in the region, Vietnam can also draw on a high-quality diaspora of international scholars and technologists that should be attracted to return home to contribute to the "big push".
Vietnam has all the prerequisites to launch such a push in higher education. The government must design a campaign to mobilise a national population thirsty for meaningful educational opportunities. International entities, for whatever motives of their own, are ready to make long-term investments in high-quality manpower.
Vietnam faces a rare window of opportunity; now is the time to act before it closes.
Human resources a driving force for southeastern regions development: Official The southeastern region needs long-term planning and strategy for human resources development to meet the demands of industries during its socioeconomic development towards 2030 with a vision to 2045, an official has said.
Sao Do Group collaborates with RMIT on human resources training Early this month, in the presence of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, RMIT University announced the next phase of RMIT's commitment to Vietnam, which includes a strategic investment fund worth more than $165.2 million.
Green credit balance figures on positive trajectory, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com
The latest data from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) revealed that the total green credit balance in the nation currently hits VND528 trillion ($22.3 billion), accounting for only 5 per cent of the total outstanding debt of the economy.
The average growth rate of the green credit balance is positive at about 26 per cent per year. But if aiming for net-zero by 2050, capital and investment through credit channels are the main sources, so the growth rate of green credit at present cannot meet the requirements.
Nguyen Chi Hieu, director of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) consulting at KPMG Vietnam and Cambodia, said that Vietnam was estimated to need about $368-380 billion (equivalent to 6.8 per cent of GDP each year) until 2040 to transition to a green economy and cope with climate change.
This is an opportunity for banks to participate in the green capital market, Hieu said. Meeting the criteria requires a lot of time and effort and cooperation from organisations, businesses, and communities, while Vietnams banking industry only accounts for 4.3 per cent of the total balance by the end of 2022.
This is an increase of 12.9 per cent on-year, equivalent to about $21.1 billion.
SBV Deputy Governor Dao Minh Tu said that currently the number of credit institutions granting green credit was 43.
The goal is that all credit institutions will participate in granting green credit by 2025 along with internal instructions and regulations to conduct social and environmental risk assessments, he said.
He said this is not a new issue for banks. Green credit growth is currently not high, so the target is to reach 25 per cent by 2025 and 30-35 per cent by the end of 2023. The target proportion of green credit in the economy is to rise to 10 per cent (from 4.6 per cent) by the end of 2025.
Experts said that building infrastructure for green credit is the key to opening a strong green finance in Vietnam. However, commercial banks are currently struggling with selecting, appraising, evaluating, and monitoring in granting green credit.
Among the 12 green fields that the SBV guides credit institutions to lend, outstanding loans focus mainly on renewable energy, clean energy (accounting for 45 per cent), and green agriculture (31 per cent). Credit institutions have boosted the assessment of environmental and social risks in credit granting activities, with outstanding loans assessed for these risks making up nearly 20 per cent of the economys total outstanding loans.
Based on actual implementation, Nguyen Quoc Hung, project finance director at BIDV, said that there are some problems in appraising green projects.
We do not have a specific basis for identifying and classifying green projects, causing some difficulties for commercial banks to select, appraise, evaluate, and monitor in granting green credit, while the legal framework in environmental and social risk management and green credit is being formulated, Hung said.
Experts from banks said that the governments mechanisms and incentives for green credit are encouragement only.
There is no recognition mechanism in the evaluation and ranking for credit institutions with good achievements in green credit, as well as no mechanism to support capital suppliers or channels to access capital for credit institutions to promote green credit, Hung claimed.
Capital investment in industries generating environmental benefits, especially the field of renewable energy. Energy saving and efficiency in Vietnam often require long payback periods and large investment costs, while market risk is high. So incentives on loan terms and costs are needed.
Nguyen Xuan Bac, deputy director general of the SBVs Department of Credit for Economic Sectors, said that despite positive progress, green credit still faces difficulties, such as a shortage of national regulations on criteria to identify green projects.
In addition, granting green credit requires in-depth technical environmental factors, which will make it difficult for credit officers to appraise and evaluate the effectiveness of the project and the customers ability to repay debt.
Its necessary to improve the legal framework and develop a roadmap to implement policy mechanisms to support green industries and draw in investors to green projects, Bac said.
Green credit initiatives urged to push ahead development Given stringent domestic capital mobilisation, Vietnams banks are turning into international financial institutions for growth expansion, particularly to strengthen their sustainable and environmentally friendly loan portfolios.
Green credit initiatives highlight positive advances New insights have been revealed into the sustainable debt market in Vietnam and ASEAN more broadly, showing diversification and government support for sustainable finance.
With the theme Generations of Pride, this years Hanoi Pride encourages attendees to look back and celebrate the proud milestones of individuals as well as the LGBTQI+ community in the past decades.
Hanoi Pride Week 2023 has officially launched at Complex 01 on Tay Son street, Dong Da district
Julien Guerrier, EU Ambassador to Vietnam said, The EU always accompanies Vietnam in its efforts to promote equality and justice for the LGBTQI+ community, supporting the establishment of a foundation so that they can access the full range of services, as well as the necessary opportunities to realise their dreams and aspirations.
The week-long Hanoi Pride 2023 will have more than 20 activities including exhibitions, freedom and equality journey events, career discussions, book announcements, community meetings and diverse performances.
In particular, the bike rally and pride festival is the highlight of this years Pride Week, taking place on the evening of Sunday, September 24.
Since the first celebration in 2012, Hanoi Pride has become an annual event calling for the elimination of prejudice and discrimination against the LGBTQI+ community in Vietnam.
Through different forms and approaches, Hanoi Pride has created opportunities for the LGBTQI+ community to be more confident, contributing to promoting a Hanoi that celebrates diversity and equality, playing an important role in spreading pride to the LGBTQI+ community throughout Vietnam.
MPI Minister Nguyen Chi Dung (left) met with delegates in Hong Kong
At last weeks eighth Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong, Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that Vietnam-China cooperation in this initiative is connecting China and Southeast Asia.
Vietnam shares land and sea borders and is one of Chinas major trading partners, as a bridge between China and Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, cooperation between Vietnam and China within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework is meaningful in promoting regional cooperation and connectivity.
Currently, Vietnams Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Chinas National Development and Reform Commission are promoting the conclusion of negotiations on the connectivity plan between the Two Corridors, One Belt framework and the BRI, while the friendly relations between the two countries are increasingly improving, political trust is firmly consolidated, economic cooperation and connection have been strengthened significantly.
To strengthen the performance of the BRI, Minister Dung proposed to boost sharing information, experiences on developing a digital and green economy, and new models like international trade free ports, smart border gates, and cross-border economic cooperation zones.
We should accelerate the cooperation and development of transport linking China and Vietnam, and other regional countries, especially railway, as well as facilitating trade activities, the minister emphasised.
Leaders of some businesses like Sunwah Group, Swire Pacific, and Jardine Matheson met with Vietnamese government officials to find out more investment and cooperation opportunities in Vietnam.
With the remaining available land in the inner of Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong-based property developer Sunwah is gradually completing the prime Sunwah Pearl and Sunwah Tower 2 ventures, and the group wants to deploy the Sunwah complex in Hoc Mon district next year.
Meanwhile, Swire Pacific, which acquired Coca-Cola Vietnam early this year, highly appreciated the potential in Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the most promising countries in Asia and offers significant growth potential for the company in the long term, said Patrick Healy, chairman at Swire Coca-Cola.
Minister Dung welcomed investors from Hong Kong and beyond to Vietnam based on harmonised benefits, shared risks, equality, and mutual benefit for both sides and respecting international law.
We call for such investors in some areas that both sides are interested in like innovation, digital transformation, high technologies, financial services, logistics, and human resources, and help local firms to level up in global supply chains, Dung emphasised.
At the two-day BRI event, 17 MoUs were also signed by companies from New Zealand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Kazakhstan, expanding the scope of cooperation among participating countries and regions.
Since 2016, the summit has become a gathering place for senior government officials, representatives of international organisations, business leaders, and experts. It was initiated by China in 2013 to promote regional cooperation and connectivity in transportation, finance, trade, and human connections.
With a staggering $1 billion poured into its newest facility, Lego's investment in Vietnam stands as one of the most significant nods to the country's burgeoning market potential and its appeal as a strategic and sustainable business hub.
Speaking at an event in Binh Duong on September 15, Preben Elnef, vice president of Lego Group and CEO of Lego Manufacturing Vietnam, shared with VIR, "Lego Manufacturing Vietnam is a testament to our evolving global strategy. As our sixth-largest facility, it's a proud milestone for us and our inaugural carbon-neutral plant. Our investments in manufacturing locations are driven by a mix of historical timing, regional financial nuances, and ever-shifting market needs."
While some facilities are steeped in a decade of history, others, like Vietnam, represent our freshest footprints. Despite the geographical differences, our undying commitment is to consistently deliver top-tier products close to our customer bases, he added.
As Elnef revealed to VIR, the sprawling facility is poised to release its first Made in Vietnam Lego sets by the latter half of 2024, marking a significant milestone in the company's Asia-focused strategy.
"One of the main factors driving our investment in Vietnam is our unwavering commitment to our customers. We aim to efficiently cater to their evolving demands," Elnef noted.
"But our ardent dedicated to sustainability is another dimension. Our Binh Duong factory is a testament to that, as it is primed to operate on 100 per cent renewable energy," he added.
Indeed, Lego's staunch commitment to green practices manifests itself vividly with the installation of a pioneering 7.4MW solar system atop the factory, marking an impressive stride in Vietnam's industrial ecosystem. This solar initiative is also aligned with the National Power Development Plan VIII that was introduced in Vietnam in May.
"The 7.4MW solar setup is not just about self-reliance. It underscores our commitment to Vietnam's sustainability aspirations and showcases our proactive alignment with the nation's progressive steps towards renewable energy," Elnef proudly pointed out.
Yet, for Lego, this ambitious foray into Vietnam is not solely characterised by significant financial figures or its sustainable strides. It is the foundation of a deep-seated collaboration and mutual trust with the nation.
Beyond infrastructure and investment, Lego's entry into Vietnam has been marked by a synergistic rapport with the local authorities.
Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khais presence at their recent event on September 15 is emblematic of this collaborative spirit.
"Its about forging lasting partnerships," Elnef emphasised, citing the seamless acquisition of construction permits as evidence of this productive alliance.
Pivoting towards intellectual property (IP) a pressing concern for global businesses Lego remains steadfast. With a brand cultivated over decades on the principles of trust, quality, and innovation, the company is unyielding in its approach to IP protection.
Elnef emphasised, "It's vital to understand that, from our vantage point, Vietnam's IP landscape isn't markedly different from many of its global counterparts. At Lego, beyond toy-making, we are engrossed in fostering creativity and learning. With around 25 per cent of our earnings channelled into the Lego Foundation, our commitment extends beyond profit. Our massive global footprint demands rigorous IP protection to preserve the essence and integrity of our brand for future generations."
Looking ahead, with an employment blueprint targeting 4,000 individuals over the next 15 years, Lego's Binh Duong facility is poised to be more than just an economic beacon. It epitomises a fusion of market understanding, green innovations, and lasting partnerships.
Through this venture, Lego is reaffirming its commitment to crafting a more sustainable, connected, and innovative global future.
The most-awaited NASA UFO report might disappoint those who believe in UAPs.
The International Space Agency's study team confirmed that no evidence proves that unidentified anomalous phenomena are extraterrestrial.
UAPs are Not Extraterrestrial, Says NASA's Study Team
Ever since David Grusch, an ex-U.S. Air Force official, shared what he knows about the existence of UAPs, the U.S. government suddenly took this space topic seriously.
Many people were even excited to know that a military official also believed in the existence of UFOs. More and more UAP believers were hyped after NASA announced that it was releasing its new UFO report.
But, they might be disappointed since NASA's independent study team said that they found no evidence proving that UAPs are from extraterrestrial beings, as reported by the Fast Company.
During the recent NASA press briefing on September 14, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson was present. He explained that he wanted to shift the UAP topic from a sensational conversation to a scientific one.
Nelson said that he wanted to do this since the space union already has scientific technologies and programs designed to trace other life forms on Mars.
Aside from this, they can also find biological imprints in the atmospheres of exoplanets.
Read Also: Mexican Congress Hears Testimony on 'Alien' Bodies, DNA Evidence Unveiled
What NASA's UFO Report Revealed?
According to BBC News, the last page of NASA's UFO report said there's no reason to conclude that UAP sightings were from extraterrestrial sources.
Many space experts explained that the UAP sightings could be attributed to airborne clutter and weather balloons. Meanwhile, other UFO-like objects could be surveillance operations from foreign countries.
"However, if we acknowledge that as one possibility, then those objects must have traveled through our solar system to get here," stated NASA in its report.
But, NASA clarified that it didn't conclude that extraterrestrial life is non-existent. The space organization added that it doesn't deny the possibility of unknown alien technology in Earth's atmosphere.
Aside from confirming the lack of evidence, NASA's independent study team suggested further investigating UAP sightings.
Involved space experts said it would be better if sightings by commercial pilots using the Federal Aviation Administration could be gathered.
If FAA allows this, NASA's team plans to combine airplane sightings with classified sightings, which are not included in the UFO report.
The study group's recommendations clearly show that NASA will still try to find evidence that can prove UAPs are extraterrestrial.
Related Article: New NASA UFO Report to Be Released-What's in It? Here's How to Watch the Livestream
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The company's staff worked closely with the schools to create a fun and meaningful experience for the students. They engaged in activities such as clay modelling, storytelling, and enjoying buffet parties. Additionally, 400 gifts comprising milk, sponge cakes, sweets, and learning tools were distributed to the children.
The total budget allocated for this initiative was nearly VND200 million ($8,400). The funding was converted from gifts and congratulatory flowers received during the recent inauguration of Japfa Binh Phuoc feed mill and slaughterhouse. Moreover, employees of the company enthusiastically participated in the event, collectively bringing joy to all the children.
Nguyen Thi Thoa, principal of Dang Lang Village Nursery School, emphasised the school's location in Dak Nhau commune, serving nearly 150 ethnic minority students. She highlighted the need to improve the facilities, teaching materials, and recreational equipment for the children. She sincerely appreciates the companionship of Japfa Vietnam and its partners.
With the mission of growing towards mutual prosperity, Japfa Vietnam focuses on developing products from hygienic raw materials and maintaining a safe farm system to ensure animal health. Additionally, the company has undertaken various sustainable development projects, including initiatives to support children, protect the environment, and enhance local labour quality.
Since 2022, Japfa Vietnam has implemented the Care and Share programme, which involved the distribution of 20,000 chicks, 600 gifts, and the planting of 10,000 trees in several provinces and cities.
Under the Japfa for Education project, the company constructed and handed over the Hoa Sen Nursery School in Duc Linh district with an investment of over VND2.2 billion ($93,000). Furthermore, the company has donated 700 gifts of equipment and nutritious food to hundreds of students across the country.
Japfa Vietnam opens state-of-the-art poultry hatchery Japfa Vietnam officially has opened a poultry hatchery in Krong Buk commune of Krong Pac district in Dak Lak, the fourth factory and one of the company's most modern projects in the country.
MARD Deputy Minister visits Japfa Group's veterinary vaccine factory On February 7, representatives of Japfa Group and Vaksindo Vietnam Animal Health Co., Ltd. welcomed Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), Nguyen Van Long, director of the Veterinary Department, and officials of the Department of Animal Health to observe projects at the veterinary vaccine production factory in Yen My II Industrial Park.
Japfa Vietnam accompanies livestock customers Japfa Comfeed Vietnam has held its Annual Customer Conference to honour and say thank you to its dealers.
Tung Bui of Rikkeisoft announces the $30 million investment alongside Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his delegates
This significant investment will be used to foster technology and human resource development, expand infrastructure, and execute well-planned mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
The pledge was unveiled by Tung Bui, senior executive vice president of Rikkeisoft and CEO of RKTech (Rikkeisoft's US subsidiary), during the Vietnam and United States Business Forum - Technology and Innovation Cooperation in San Francisco on the morning of September 18 (US time).
The announcement, made under the watchful eyes of Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and key delegates, underscores the company's ambitious global aspirations.
RKTech's phased investment begins with $2 million in 2023, with projections soaring to a cumulative $30 million by 2026. These funds will be strategically channelled into M&A initiatives, office expansions, and talent development, Bui shared with VIR.
Experts predict this hefty capital injection could create hundreds of technology-focused job opportunities in the US market, propelling Rikkeisoft into the ranks of technology companies worth billions of dollars within the next five years.
Founded earlier this year in Dallas, Rikkeisoft's wholly owned subsidiary, RKTech, offers comprehensive IT solutions tailored to the US business environment.
To date, RKTech has already achieved initial success in expanding its network of US partners and fostering technological collaborations in various sectors, including automotive and manufacturing.
Bui elaborated on the multi-faceted impact of the investment and the unique edge that a Vietnamese technology company can bring to the US
"This investment is more than a financial infusion. It is a solution to the pressing talent shortage in the US tech industry," he said.
"With Vietnam's highly skilled and cost-effective tech talent, we are uniquely positioned to offer value-added services to US clients. Rikkeisofts goal is not just to reach an initial public offering (IPO) in the US in 2028, it also plans to fundamentally enrich the US tech landscape by providing a sustainable solution to talent scarcity," he added.
Tung Ta, chairman of Rikekisoft, shared that the US market represents a strategic investment for Rikkeisoft. "We envision becoming a global tech services firm with a market capitalisation of $1 billion. Consequently, a substantial market like the US can significantly contribute to Rikkeisoft's realisation of this goal," he remarked.
Rikkeisoft is researching and developing AI solutions for facial and voice recognition to enhance the productivity of businesses operating in the human resource, finance, and banking sectors.
Regarding human resource training, Rikkeisoft is expanding its subsidiary, Rikkei Academy, aiming to educate Vietnamese students who aspire to become IT engineers.
Rikkeisoft is committed to forging high-impact, far-reaching cooperation initiatives. Establishing RKTech, and other long-term investments in the US market, will play a pivotal role in helping Rikkeisoft achieve its IPO target in 2028.
FPT Corporation focuses on AI and chip expansion FPT Corporation has reported orders nearing 70 million chips by 2025 and is setting its sights firmly on the expansion of AI, according to Reuters.
Huawei sets sights on Vietnam's digital infrastructure Huawei has revealed its ambition to invest in Vietnam's digital infrastructure, underscoring its commitments to an eco-friendly energy transition.
This crucial development was highlighted in a government report sent to the National Assembly and its Standing Committee on September 18 on the execution of select supervisory resolutions from the beginning of its tenure.
As per the report, the government revealed that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) presented restructuring plans for SCB a bank that entered special control in October 2022.
The initiative followed a series of events where several of SCB's branches experienced a surge in customer withdrawals, prompting the SBV to place the bank under rigorous scrutiny. This administrative action aims to tightly control and limit the negative impact on the bank and the broader credit system.
Historically, several banks have undergone similar rigorous controls but later recovered and thrived.
The restructuring proposal for SCB is based on a comprehensive review, suggestions from the bank itself, and those of the special control committee. Thus, nearly a year after entering special control, SCB's restructuring proposal has been finalised and awaits approval from the relevant authorities.
Moreover, the SBV has proposed and received endorsement on the forced transfer of four other banks that were previously under special control, including the Construction Bank, OceanBank, Global Petroleum Bank, and Dong A Bank.
The relevant parties are progressing with further activities following the approved decisions, and the SBV will present the restructuring plans for these banks to the government for endorsement.
Ensuring transparency and preventing asset losses during the restructuring of the weaker banks, including SCB, is a priority emphasised by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
Apart from these banks, the report also mentioned that weaker non-banking credit institutions are being reviewed by the SBV to assess the need for restructuring.
In its assessment, the National Assembly recognises the challenges in identifying and negotiating with banks for forced transfers. Such complexities arise from the voluntary participation of these banks and the time required to persuade shareholders, especially foreign strategic stakeholders. The mechanisms and financial resources to handle weak credit institutions remain fraught with obstacles and prolonged procedures.
SCB announces branch closures amidst restructuring Saigon Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (SCB) is closing several branches as part of its restructuring efforts. The bank has reassured customers that their rights and transactions are guaranteed, and that it is complying with directives laid out by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).
On September 18, Synopsys signed signed two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in a bid to bolster the semiconductor workforce.
Accordingly, one MoU with the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC), under Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), is aimed at advancing the IC design workforce there. With Synopsys support, the NIC plans to build up infrastructure for a new semiconductor design incubation centre at Hoa Lac High-Tech Park in Hanoi.
The aim behind the collaboration with NIC is to cultivate an advanced IC design workforce and facilitate the startup design community in Vietnam.
Synopsys will provide its University Software Programme, which includes curriculum, educational resources, and a train the trainers programme to the NIC to establish the design incubation centre.
The company also plans to connect Vietnamese engineers trained at the NIC IC design centre with job opportunities, support NICs participation in the global semiconductor supply chain, and work with NIC in the development and implementation of workforce development projects in Vietnam.
Synopsys also signed a second MoU with the Authority of Information and Communication Technologies Industry (AICTI) of Vietnam, under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). As part of this effort, Synopsys is supporting the AICTIs establishment of a Vietnam semiconductor research institute.
The US company plans to consult and provide insights as the AICTI drafts its strategic plan to set up an initial research and development (R&D) lab and a high-end emulation centre to cultivate advanced IC design startups and facilitate R&D production capability in Vietnam.
This is a time of unprecedented opportunity for Synopsys as semiconductor R&D continues unabated to harness AI and to capture the many opportunities in a world of 'Smart Everything', said Joachim Kunkel, GM of the Solutions Group at Synopsys. Not only is Synopsys a catalyst for chip innovation, we are also committed to ensuring a strong, global semiconductor ecosystem. This includes our commitment to the growth and development of our critical industry in Vietnam.
Synopsys is set to shift its investment and engineer training to Vietnam as multinationals continue to leave China. The company, one of the biggest chip design software makers in the world, will train electrical engineers in Vietnam and donate software licenses for a chip design center in the country, Nikkei Asia reported.
Synopsys opened its first office in the country in 2016. Today, Synopsys has four offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. Of the 500 employees there, approximately 400 are in R&D.
The joint activities should not only accelerate the availability of critical talent, but also broaden effort between the governments to renew the strength and dynamism of the US-Vietnam relationship.
Synopsys is just one of the US companies that plans to increase investment in Vietnam's semiconductor industry. Amkor Technology's $1.6 billion semiconductor plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh is scheduled for trial production by late October. Meanwhile, Marvell is in the process of expanding its physical footprint in the country with a new facility to be operational by the end of 2024.
In addition, Intel has set up its largest assembly and test factory in Ho Chi Minh City with 2,800 employees and an investment of $1.5 billion.
Marvell to set up new facility in Vietnam Marvell Technology, Inc., a leader in data infrastructure semiconductor solutions, will open a new facility in Vietnam by the end of 2024.
FPT Corporation focuses on AI and chip expansion FPT Corporation has reported orders nearing 70 million chips by 2025 and is setting its sights firmly on the expansion of AI, according to Reuters.
US banks push deals in Vietnamese market - documentary photo
Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) last week announced the signing of a seven-year, $100 million loan from the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The announcement was made during the state visit of US President Joe Biden to Hanoi.
This financial injection is designed to benefit a range of beneficiaries in Vietnam, with an emphasis on personal banking clients, micro enterprises, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A notable feature of this initiative is the focus on supporting women with lower incomes and businesses owned or led by women in the country.
Established in 2019 under the Better Utilisation of Investments Leading to Development Act, the DFC primarily seeks to funnel private capital into the developing world.
Do Anh Tu, deputy chairman of TPBank, said, Embracing digital transformation for sustainable growth has been a consistent direction for TPBank over the past decade. We harness technology to make capital accessible to more customers, offering convenience while ensuring safety and security. I am confident that the credit facility from DFC will significantly enhance our ability to serve our customers, helping foster a resilient and sustainable society.
Further underlining the robust relations between the US and Vietnam, VPBank and the DFC last week also signed a commitment for a $300 million bilateral loan with a tenure of seven years to bolster VPBanks capital base, promote sustainable lending, and aid SMEs, especially those steered by women.
Current influences are not only institutional, and the US financial landscape and technological innovations are leaving footprints on Vietnams industry pioneers.
MoMo, under the combined prowess of US-educated talent and favourable Vietnamese government policies, has constructed a unique technological platform tailored to Vietnamese financial service needs.
We ardently hope to continue receiving support from both governments, propelling Vietnams digital transformation, said MoMo deputy chairman and CEO Nguyen Manh Tuong.
Tuong was among 17 people chosen for the Vietnam Education Foundation Scholars programme, sponsored by the US government two decades ago, and his vision for MoMo was inspired by the cashless society he witnessed during his academic stint in the US.
Today, a majority of MoMos leadership are proud alumni of esteemed US institutions such as Harvard, Yale, and Columbia. Simultaneously, our major investors include prominent US financial funds like Warburg Pincus and Goodwaters, he said.
Beyond direct financial engagement, other US entities are nurturing Vietnams move towards a cashless economy.
Firms like Visa and Mastercard have been consolidating ties with domestic banks such as MB, Techcombank, and ACB, while the recent introduction of Apple Pay in Vietnam has underscored the countrys rapid digital progress.
With the surge in mobile contactless payments across Vietnam, we anticipate a warm embrace of Apple Pays convenience and security, noted Dung Dang, Visas country manager for Vietnam and Laos.
The broader aspiration beyond just capital is evident in the rise of innovative services. August saw Citi Vietnam unveiling its Citi Commercial Payment solution, which it says is set to revolutionise payment efficiency, optimising processes for more diverse business needs.
Just over a year ago, Madhu Kannan, Bank of Americas executive vice chair of Global, Corporate, and Investment Banking, held discussions in Ho Chi Minh City regarding its strategic engagement in Vietnam. Despite closing its representative office in the city in 2002, the discussions hinted at a renewed interest in the region, although no official update has been forthcoming.
DFC to grant $100 million loan to TPBank TPBank, one of Vietnams leading commercial banks, has announced the signing of a letter of commitment for a $100 million loan with a 7-year term from the US governments Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
Vietnam wants more state-of-the-art complexes to boost production, photo Le Toan
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh last week required ministries and localities to double efforts to remove all obstructions to recover industrial production in a quicker manner, with a focus laid on manufacturing and processing activities.
Industrial production is beginning to bounce back, so boosting it must now be a pivotal and imperative task to boost economic growth, PM Chinh stated at last weeks government cabinet meeting on the countrys socioeconomic performance. Now we have to find out solutions to recover supply chains and accelerate the construction of large-scale projects.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) last week reported to the government that so far this year, Vietnams index for industrial production (IIP) decreased 0.4 per cent as compared to the same period last year, when it climbed 9.4 per cent on-year.
The eight-month IIP for processing and manufacturing, which creates more than 80 per cent of industrial growth, reduced 0.6 per cent as compared to the same period last year.
However, the rate has gradually been recovering in August, at 2.9 per cent on-month and 2.6 per cent on-year. Meanwhile, the on-year IIP in July increased only 2.3 per cent, said the MPI, adding that the Purchasing Managers Index of the industrial production sector hit 50.5 points in August, showing an expansion in production with the volume of new orders and output bouncing back.
The IIP for processing and manufacturing in August ascended 3.5 per cent on-year, still lower than the on-year rise of 3.6 per cent in July but higher than 2.8 per cent in June.
Dao Thu Trang, head of Business Development Services of AHK Vietnam, told VIR that she believes the existing IIP is just for the short term. Vietnams industrial production sector is surging to become a magnet to foreign investors, including those from Germany, she said.
Trang cited a recent AHK survey as stating that a significant majority, 91 per cent, of German companies have expressed their intention to continue investing in or expanding their production in Vietnam. Additionally, around 40 per cent of these companies are planning to increase their workforce in the next 12 months.
These figures highlight the attractiveness and potential of the Vietnamese market for German investors, Trang said.
In an example, German-backed KURZ Vietnam last week inaugurated its state-of-the-art factory in the south-central province of Binh Dinhs VSIP Binh Dinh to manufacture Luxor and Alufin films.
KURZs venture in Vietnam marks the first high-tech initiative from Germany in Binh Dinh. The 12-hectare factory, in its first phase, boasts a total registered investment capital of $40 million, and a production capacity of 15 million square metres of products a year.
German businesses still consider Vietnam as one of the most potential developing markets in Asia. Moreover, with Germanys investment diversification strategy, Vietnam is being evaluated as a promising and reliable investment destination for German enterprises, Trang said.
However, she also added, To further improve investment in Vietnam and enhance its attractiveness as a destination for foreign investors, the government should continue its efforts to streamline administrative procedures, to invest in infrastructure development, particularly in transportation and logistics.
PM Chinh last week also ordered ministries to boost administrative reform in favour of investors and businesses. Enterprises are still facing numerous administrative obstructions. Ministries and localities are requested to focus on reviewing all legal regulations, mechanisms, and policies. Any improper policies and regulations must be removed immediately, he stressed. No more unnecessary procedures are allowed to be enacted, as they will increase costs and time for people and enterprises.
Despite difficulties, the government is still steadfast to an economic growth target of 6-6.5 per cent this year, but global analysts FocusEconomics said that the economy is projected to miss this target due to subdued private spending and exports.
Nevertheless, stronger public spending and looser monetary policy mean Vietnam should remain among ASEANs top performers, FocusEconomics said. Its panelists see Vietnams GDP expanding 5 per cent in 2023 and 6.3 per cent in 2024.
Signs are up for industrial production and services Vietnams production and services are beginning to gain momentum, with expectations for a more positive recovery by the years end.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from Sen. Brian Birdwell.
Waco-area political leaders this week had a range of reactions to the acquittal on Saturday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, with local Republicans relieved and local Democrats disappointed by the Senates decision to clear Paxton of 16 articles of impeachment after a two-week trial.
But members of both parties expressed their desire to move past the impeachment trial and on to other pressing issues.
Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, who represents Waco, joined the majority in voting to acquit Paxton on all counts. He served as chair of the committee that recommended rules for the trial and voted to allow the trial to proceed.
In a statement Wednesday, he said it was the Senate's duty to give Paxton a fair and just trial.
"Only after hearing the evidence provided by the prosecution and Attorney General Paxton's defense team would we be able to render a carefully deliberated judgment on the Articles of Impeachment," he wrote. "I gave this matter, as I do my faith in the Constitutions of Texas and the United States of America, the solemnity it deserved."
He said the testimony by witnesses "provided sufficient reasonable doubt concerning the charges laid out in the Articles of Impeachment, and did not meet the standard required to remove Mr. Paxton from office."
Texas and the rest of the country were shocked by the introduction of the articles in late May, which followed a months-long investigation by a Republican-led House committee into allegations against Paxton.
Those charges included abuse of power, bribery and whistleblower retaliation. The investigation began in March when Paxton asked the House for $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit with former employees he fired for reporting his alleged misconduct to the FBI and Texas Rangers.
Paxton was impeached by the House on May 27 on a vote margin of 121-23, with 70% of House Republicans voting to send 20 articles of impeachment to the Senate for a full trial.
In the Senate trial, no article received more than 14 votes for conviction, seven votes shy of the 21 needed for Paxtons removal. The only Republican senators voting to convict on any articles were Sen. Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills and Sen. Robert Nichols of Jacksonville.
Rep. Charles Doc Anderson, R-Waco, was one of the 23 House members who voted against impeaching Paxton, which he said was due to his concerns that the process had been rushed, as he said House members had only been given 48 hours to read and vote on the articles. He also said the vote came near the end of the legislative session, when the legislature is extremely busy trying to finish discussion and voting on bills.
Anderson also expressed concerns that the House was asked to vote on the articles without any witness testimony, which was against the precedent set during the impeachment trial of Gov. James Pa Ferguson in 1917. Fergusons trial saw weeks of witness testimony before the House voted to send 21 articles to the Senate, which ultimately convicted Ferguson and barred him from holding public office.
Anderson said the 4.2 million Texans who voted for Paxton in 2022 would be disenfranchised if he was removed from office and said the will of the voters must be respected. He also said he believed the Senate did a good job in hearing the evidence presented by both sides and were diligent in setting rules for a fair trial to be conducted.
Anderson said he is glad the trial is over so that Texas Republicans can unite behind important issues such as the border and education.
Rep. Angelia Orr, R-Itsaca, whose district includes parts of McLennan County, voted to impeach Paxton in May. At the time, she said in a statement that the allegations against Paxton were disturbing and enough to warrant a full Senate trial. In a statement to the Tribune-Herald, she said the Senate conducted a fair and thorough trial.
I voted to send the case to a full trial in the Senate based on the evidence and testimony presented by the whistleblowers, who reported their concerns to law enforcement, she said. The Senate conducted a fair and thorough trial and I respect their decision.
Pat Flavin, the Bob Bullock professor of political science at Baylor, said he initially believed the Senate might convict Paxton since 22 Senators voted to deny dismissing the case, signaling they were at least open to convicting.
He said the Senate ultimately decided to acquit Paxton because they didnt believe the evidence was strong enough or because they were concerned about constituent blowback, or a combination of the two.
Flavin said voter pressure was lurking in the background of the trial, as there were many reports of people calling senators offices urging them to acquit Paxton.
Paxton has attempted to brand the trial as a kangaroo court brought on by Democrats and RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), but Flavin said that is an inaccurate term to describe the two Republicans who voted to convict. He said RINO has become more of a political buzzword used to brand certain Republicans as being insufficiently conservative.
While Flavin noted Nichols is one of the more moderate members of the Texas GOP with a history of breaking with his partys ranks, a Texas Tribune analysis of the Senate said Hancock was one of the more conservative members of the Senate, with only three senators ranking above him.
Brad Holland, chair of the McLennan County Republican Party, said there is great enthusiasm and relief among local Republicans following Paxtons acquittal. He said he knows many of the senators personally, and said they take their jobs seriously and subsequently, took the trial seriously.
Holland said he didnt think the Senate could convict Paxton based on the evidence presented in the trial, and said he believed justice was served.
While the trial may have exposed some rifts in the Texas GOP, especially between House Speaker Dade Phelan and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, an issue he said was exacerbated by the trial, Holland said he believes issues of division are contained to Austin. He said he doesnt think the trial will matter much in the future, and said he believes Texas Republicans will unite behind defeating president Joe Biden in the 2024 election and other issues.
Holland said he hopes Paxton regains his footing in the Attorney Generals office, and he praised Paxtons pro-life stances and resistance to federal intrusion.
Mark Hays, chair of the McLennan County Democratic Party, said Paxtons acquittal was a sad day for Texas and amounted to an endorsement of corruption.
So much for the party of law and order, Hays said.
He said he felt that the whistleblowers testimony during the trial was enough evidence to warrant Paxtons removal as attorney general, and said he felt the senators motivation for acquittal was due to a fear of being ousted from office.
Their only goal was to stay in office, Hays said. At some point, you have to take a risk to do whats right.
Hays also commended Nichols and Hancock for showing courage by voting in favor of conviction.
With the trial done, Hays said Democrats should put the impeachment behind them and focus on the partys ultimate goal of creating more political balance in Texas. He said it is unhealthy for Texas to have a one-party government.
Flavin said he believes the trial signals the start of a prolonged battle for what the future of the Texas GOP will look like. He said he believes there is a split in the party between establishment Republicans and a competing Trump strain that is more conservative in their beliefs.
Flavin said many of the issues behind the trial will not be resolved, and said it is rare for there to be such a split in the controlling party of a state.
Outside of the legal community, people may not widely know it, but a small team of lawyers based in a Lincoln office have taken their briefcases and laptops across the state, representing people accused of the worst of the worst crimes.
Alleged murderers, serial rapists, abusers who killed kids.
While Nebraska is one of just five states without a statewide public defenders office and in Lincoln and Omaha a majority of court appointments go to county-funded public defenders offices, elsewhere in the state judges often appoint the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy.
In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the six lawyers employed by the commission were court-appointed to handle 21 first-degree murder cases, 12 cases more on appeal and 15 cases involving violent crime and drug offenses, according to its annual report issued in July.
If divided equally among the lawyers, that would be eight each.
Thats at the top of the National Public Defense Workload Study, a new set of standards that came out this week, established to ensure competent representation.
The study set out to replace the National Advisory Commission (NAC) Caseload Standards in place for the past 50 years, which among other things, lumped all felonies together and said attorneys could handle 150 a year.
Jim Mowbray, the commissions chief counsel from its inception in August 1996 until his retirement in 2015, read the new report from his home in Florida and told the Journal Star he was encouraged.
It was way past due and years of work in the making, he said.
Mowbray said that for years he and other public defense attorneys in Nebraska and across the country used the previous NAC standards as a starting point, but they knew they were flawed. For one thing, they weighted all felonies everything from a drug possession case involving a small amount of drugs to a death-penalty case equally.
It was just a numbers game, he said.
And, Mowbray said, there wasnt a lot of study that went into the earlier report, whereas the new study used the same Delphi method, which courts have been using for years.
I think this is a really well-done report, and the standards that theyve come up with justify the actual hours. It makes sense, he said.
He said longtime Lancaster County Public Defender Dennis Keefe was the first in Nebraska to start keeping track of the numbers based on the type of case to come up with a better weighted standard for his office.
Mowbray said having the numbers meant Keefe could go to the county board to show them on paper when he needed additional attorneys and why.
That likely explains why the office, now led by Public Defender Kristi Egger, fared well in a Lee Enterprises study that applied the new caseload workload standards.
But you had to have that data to do that and most offices didnt have that, Mowbray said.
He said he likes that the new standards take into consideration things like the huge increase in electronic evidence that comes in discovery now, which he calls a whole new bucket of worms, and the increasing number of problem-solving courts, which he says are brilliant ways to cut down on recidivism and give people a legitimate second chance but also take far more attorney time.
Mowbray said the commission for years has operated on its own set of standards, recognizing the 1973 NAC workload standards didnt work when most of the felonies the office handles are murder cases.
He knows prosecutors are likely to say the new study overestimates the time necessary for the work. But they have law enforcement officers and the Nebraska State Crime Lab analysts helping in their investigations. Defense attorneys dont have the same luxury.
There still are things Mowbray would like to see happen. For years, he tried without success to get the state to consider minimum standards to try certain kinds of cases, like where prosecutors seek the death penalty, and to get the state to put a statewide pay standard in place for contract court-appointed counsel rates.
The rate currently varies from a low in Douglas County of $50 an hour for juvenile court and county court cases and $70 for district court cases to a high of $125 an hour in Lancaster and Sarpy counties for appointments across the board.
But the majority of counties pay between $95 and $100 an hour.
According to a 2022 study by the Nebraska State Bar Association, the number of lawyers willing to take court appointments has decreased significantly in a number of counties, threatening the administration of justice in the state.
Just outcomes in the criminal justice system require capable counsel for both the state and the defendant, the report said.
They say that when compensation isnt adequately addressed, there is a cost. Fewer lawyers will take court-appointed cases or attorneys will spend less time per case, which inevitably will have an adverse impact on defendants and the legal system.
At some point, there is a question of whether ethical and/or constitutional provisions are being met, according to the Bar Association report.
Mowbray said he doesnt blame county commissioners who are looking for the lowest bid.
If someone is willing to do it for $50 an hour, they dont care as long as they have a law license and can still practice law. Thats good enough for them, he said.
Mowbray said he thinks most have a general respect for the work public defenders and contract public defense attorneys are doing, but they see it as a necessary evil.
At the commission, which is funded through an indigent defense fee that comes from court filing fees, they save the counties a lot of money, he said.
Which was how the office got started, on the heels of a string of big murder cases in Richardson County in the 90s that nearly bankrupted the county.
While a steady trend of decreasing case filings (and resulting indigent fee funds) since 2008 has meant money problems, this year the commission, now run by chief counsel Todd Lancaster, got funding to add a seventh lawyer.
Mowbray said the Legislature sees the benefit of the commission, but senators still only have so many public tax dollars and dont necessarily see public defense as the first thing they want to pay for.
But, he said, the new report will help establish when more public defense lawyers whether with the commission, public defenders or contract attorneys are needed and provide the data to support it.
The countys also going to get adequate representation, which they by law have to provide, whether they like it or not, Mowbray said. I think the study will help overall make the system better.
The top diplomats of Russia and China convened in Moscow to discuss reinforcing their international cooperation.
The meeting took place on Monday, setting the stage for an eagerly anticipated visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing in the coming weeks, according to BBC.
Russian and Chinese Diplomats Forge Stronger Ties
This renewed commitment to collaboration focused on enhancing their engagement within the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and other international forums.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi initiated the discussions with a commitment to continue their "well-coordinated work" at the UNGA, which had just commenced a new session. Their agenda included strategies for navigating future summits and high-level meetings on the global stage.
This meeting between Lavrov and Wang comes amidst a broader backdrop of evolving diplomatic relations between major global powers. Concurrently, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng engaged in a dialogue with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UNGA meeting in New York.
The outcome of this exchange was an affirmation from both sides regarding their commitment to maintaining open lines of communication. The significance of Russia and China's diplomatic partnership cannot be overstated, especially concerning their interactions within international organizations like the United Nations.
As permanent members of the UN Security Council, both nations play pivotal roles in shaping global affairs and maintaining peace and security. Their close coordination and collaboration have often defined the trajectory of international decisions and policies.
One of the primary areas of focus for Russia and China's partnership is their engagement with the United Nations General Assembly. The UNGA is a critical platform for member states to address pressing global issues, from climate change and poverty reduction to conflict resolution and human rights.
With their shared interests and strategic alignment, Russia and China have the potential to exert considerable influence over the direction of these discussions. The timing of this diplomatic meeting is noteworthy, as it precedes Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Beijing.
Such visits between top leaders of the two countries signify the deepening of their strategic partnership. They provide an opportunity to discuss bilateral matters and align their positions on global issues of mutual concern, as per CNN.
Read Also: Taiwan Sees 103 Warplanes From China in 24 Hours as Taipei Claims 'Harassment'
Beyond the UNGA: Russia and China's Global Diplomatic Synergy
In addition to their UNGA commitments, Russia and China have consistently collaborated on other high-level international forums and summits. This close partnership extends beyond the confines of the United Nations and encompasses various regional and global organizations, reflecting the depth of their relationship.
Their combined influence can be a formidable force in shaping the international agenda. However, it is crucial to recognize that Russia and China's cooperative efforts are not without their critics.
Some observers express concerns about the potential for their collaboration to challenge the established international order. The alignment of their interests in cybersecurity, opposition to specific Western policies, and efforts to counterbalance Western influence can create tension in the global arena.
Despite these concerns, Russia and China have consistently reiterated their commitment to a multipolar world order based on international law, respect for sovereignty, and non-interference in the domestic affairs of other countries. They emphasize their desire for a peaceful and stable global environment.
The meeting in Moscow and the anticipated visit by President Putin to Beijing underscore the importance of this partnership in the evolving landscape of global diplomacy. As the world faces increasingly complex challenges, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, and regional conflicts, the cooperation between Russia and China takes on added significance.
China's Vice President Han Zheng's meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UNGA session in New York also carries significant implications. While China and the United States have had their differences on various issues, the commitment to maintaining open lines of communication indicates a willingness to engage in diplomatic dialogue to address shared concerns.
The meeting between the top diplomats of Russia and China in Moscow signals a reaffirmation of their commitment to strengthening international cooperation. Their focus on the United Nations General Assembly and their ongoing collaboration in various international forums underscores their pivotal role in shaping global affairs.
As these two influential nations continue to work together, their partnership will continue to be a critical factor in shaping the future of international diplomacy, Express repoted
Related Article: North Korea's Kim Returns From Russia With Gifts, Including Military Drones
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A Republican candidate for Missouri governor on Monday vowed to burn books like NAZIS if elected and released a video showing him burning cardboard boxes with a flamethrower now. circulating on social media websites.
Republicans Sen. Bill Eigel, a Weldon Spring Missouri Republican who is running for governor in 2024, and state Sen. Nick Schroer, a St. Charles Republican, used flamethrowers to torch a stack of boxes at a fundraising event in Defiance in St. Charles County on Friday, pledged to burn books like the NAZIS did as they rose to power.
Eigel said in a statement to The Star on Monday
In the video, I am taking a flame thrower to cardboard boxes representing what I am going to do to the leftist policies and RINO corruption of the Jeff City swamp, But lets be clear, you bring those woke pornographic books to Missouri schools to try to brainwash our kids, and Ill burn those too on the front lawn of the governors mansion.
Eigels promise to burn books comes as he launches his campaign for governor, attempting to appeal to the staunch right wing of the Missouri Republican Party. Public book burnings typically illustrate extreme censorship related to political, cultural, and religious materials. Buring books invoke historical atrocities such as the burning of Jewish texts in Nazi Germany and the racist bonfires by the Ku Klux Klan.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat who is also running for governor in 2024, issued a statement criticizing State Sen. Eigel, saying that he and his
Extremist allies idea of campaigning for governor is using a flamethrower to burn whatever he doesnt agree with.
Quade went on to say
Watching lawmakers use flamethrowers to intimidate folks they disagree with is a jarring reminder of how they view their jobs as a joke while real people suffer from their cruelty.
We deserve a government that will work to solve real problems, not make political stunts.
Schroer, reached by phone on Monday, said the video was taken during a Freedom Fest event hosted by the St. Charles County Republican Central Committee. He and Eigel were burning empty boxes to help the committee raffle off a flamethrower, he said.
The Republican state senator said he was burning books that were spreading false information. Schroer on Friday shared a photo of himself using the flamethrower, saying he was Burning down the swamp!
Democrats and liberal activists on the social media site X, were quick to condemn the video, accusing the Republicans for the demonstrating the authoritarian approach to combating truth.
Jess Piper, the executive director of Blue Missouri, a group that fundraises for Democrats, wrote in response to one of the videos, drawing a comparison to burnings by the Ku Klux Klan.
Next time, dont forget your hoodsinhaling fumes from burning books and crosses is noxious business,
While the boxes that Senators Eigel and Schroer burned were supposedly empty, the wave of criticism of the video comes as some Missouri Republicans have targeted book content.
The Star reports
This year, House Republicans agreed to cut from the state budget $4.5 million for libraries in retaliation for a lawsuit on behalf of two library groups challenging a new state law that bans certain materials in school libraries.:
Those funds were later restored in the Senate this year.
Eigel posted another angle of the video on social media, calling on people to visit his campaigns website
To fight back against these woke radicals.
Democrat candidates nationwide will likely use the video to emphasize the far-right policies of the Republican party.
WATERLOO A Waterloo man who was found with an illegal machine pistol has pleaded to weapons charges.
Coolishun Dillanae Moody, 38, entered a plea to one count of felon in possession of a firearm in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids.
The charge is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and sentencing will be at a later date.
Authorities allege Moody is prohibited from handling firearms because of prior felony convictions for drugs, theft and fleeing from police in Minnesota in 2007 and 2008.
Waterloo police searched his motel room in Waterloo on May 23, 2021, and found a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson SD40 handgun with a green laser under a pillow.
Then on June 13, 2021, Waterloo police stopped him for speeding around 1:24 a.m. in the area of Ankeny and Newell streets. Under the rear seat, officers found a .40-caliber Glock 23 handgun equipped with a drum magazine and a switch capable of allowing the gun to fire fully automatic, according to court records.
Officers also found marijuana and ecstasy pills.
Photos: Guns in Northeast Iowa crime cases
CEDAR FALLS This week a controversial law went into effect that will change how medical professionals can provide gender affirming care to minors.
Senate File 538, which bans doctors in the state from providing puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries to children to treat gender dysphoria, became enforceable on Monday.
Doctors who violate the law can be subject to discipline from a state licensing board, and individuals can bring lawsuits against doctors who continue providing gender-affirming care.
Supporters of the law have argued minors are too young to make potentially irreversible decisions about medical care, according to media reports, with some saying gender dysphoria is a temporary phase that children will grow out of.
Rachel Benson, a medical provider for the UnityPoint LGBTQ Clinic at Prairie Parkway whose focus is family medicine, said the nurses and doctors in the clinic have been preparing for this week since the law was passed in March.
Benson said the clinic, which started about five years ago, was brought about because of fear from patients going to standard doctors offices.
I think, and it likely will, cause regression in that standpoint because kids are being alienated and its not OK for them to seek health care now, she said. These children may not feel as comfortable reaching out (to us), which is going to be very unfortunate and detrimental.
The LGBTQ clinic will still be available for adults and also as a resource center for out-of-state care for children. Benson said shes thankful medical providers can still refer children out of state for gender affirming care.
Before this week, the clinic was able to provide basic hormone therapy and puberty blockers to minors.
Hormone therapy is when testosterone or estrogen is prescribed to patients. Transgender boys can use injectable testosterone to suppress feminizing features. This can cause redistribution of fat from the hips and thighs, more body hair, a lower voice, growth of genitals and the loss of a menstrual period.
Transgender girls can use injectable estrogen to suppress masculinizing features, which can result in fat redistribution to the hips, face and buttocks and fuller breasts.
Puberty blockers are prescribed for younger patients who havent started puberty or are at the beginning of puberty. They block testosterone and estrogen that cause puberty changes and can stop things like menstrual periods, breast growth, voice changes and facial hair growth.
Minors can undergo hormone therapy if they meet certain requirements outlined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, which helps medical professionals diagnose other mental disorders like depression, ADHD, and schizophrenia, to name a few.
Children have to meet six out of eight symptoms to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria. In order to meet criteria, the patient has to present clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other areas of functions.
Benson said minors who want to use hormone treatments or puberty blockers are encouraged to go through counseling. Patients and parents also have discussions with pharmacists about the risks and benefits of using these therapies.
As for surgeries, Benson said most patients who request these are 16 to 18 years old. Almost all of these are for top surgery, which flattens someones chest. She said full bottom reconstruction, which changes the appearance of someones genitals, is rare for minors.
To be approved for surgeries, surgeons need letters from at least one counselor that attests that the patient is mentally stable as well as a letter from a medical provider stating the patient has been seen by them. That letter also includes the patients medical history. Benson said this is required to show were not doing things haphazardly.
Although some minors request having gender affirming surgeries, Benson said how gender dysphoria is treated is a spectrum.
Some patients want me to use their name and pronouns, she said. Others want every option in the book.
With the new law, she said providers can still address patients with their preferred name and pronouns. She said they cannot directly address gender dysphoria but can treat things like depression, anxiety and other problems it may be causing, which falls under primary care.
Not directly addressing a patients gender dysphoria is going to have a great impact on children, Benson said. Mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand, she said, and providers cannot address one without discussing the other.
She believes this will increase self harm and suicide in patients because they cant receive the care they are seeking. According to the Trevor Project, Benson said last year 35% of transgender children attempted suicide, compared to 7% of cisgender children.
There will be physical changes, too, for children on hormone treatments and puberty blockers. Those on blockers will be taken off and will go through puberty for the sex they were assigned at birth.
Those taken off testosterone and estrogen may not change from when they were on the hormone. For some, vocal changes may not go back to what their voice sounded like before hormones. For some taking estrogen, breast development may not fully regress. Those being taken off testosterone may see breast growth and will restart their menstrual cycle.
Benson said the legislation changes happened because the general population may not have experience with people who are transgender. She said those in the state legislature have a lot of fear involved with the unknown resulting in impacts they may not have considered.
Chad Mohammad, a licensed therapist in Waterloo, said the legislature is creating a mental health issue.
People are living their freaking lives like the children that they should be, he said. And, all of a sudden, now were imposing trauma.
The law is creating a forced detransition, Mohammad said. While it may be super dramatic, he compared the current situation to Hitlers Germany.
Honestly, this is, like, the exact same thing that led up to that, he said. Its almost like the state is preparing to exterminate trans people.
Mohammad said since multiple laws regarding LGBTQ+ citizens have been passed, hes been limiting his patients to those in that community. He was expecting he would have less clients because of this. Instead, hes seen an influx and has been very busy.
Summer Elliott, also a therapist in Waterloo, said there is a scarcity of providers in the community, let alone those who cater to the LGBTQ+ population.
This legislation (will) impact ... how they feel valued, or how they feel connected, or how they feel safe at school, she said. Were gonna see an increase of people feeling more isolated and worried and scared to affirm their own identity.
Mohammad said with the new law, therapists seeing LGBTQ+ children may be even more limited because they are afraid of losing their license. He said he is not subscribing to that mindset.
My license means dookie if I cant f-ing affirm someones gender, he said. I guess Im just gonna do it until they come after it. And then when they come after it, I will give them hell.
WATERLOO The City Council approved multiple bids for new projects Monday.
A $264,700 contract for interior renovations at the Waterloo Public Library was awarded to Woodruff Construction of Waterloo, the sole bidder on the project.
Library Director David Eckert said the money will be used to build a wall on the first floor and move the childrens department behind that wall. Eckert said the wall will be fun with different shapes and windows.
The teen department on the second floor will have a new glass wall around the area.
A bid was also approved for the fiscal year 2024 sidewalk repair assessment program for zone three. The engineers estimate was $299,952 and the city received three bids that all came in lower. The council awarded the contract to the lowest bidder, Brock Even Construction LLC of Jesup, for $171,241.
A contract was also approved for a prefabrication shelter located at 3233 Ansborough Ave., which is Fire Station Six. The shelter will hold one of the three main systems for Waterloo Fiber. It will be able to withstand severe weather conditions and would use the fire stations backup generator in case of a blackout.
CellSite Solutions of Cedar Rapids won the contract for $121,500. This will be paid for through funding from the fiber utility board. No engineers estimate was provided on the project.
In addition, the council approved a development agreement with Dustin Arends of Arends Investments to demolish an existing home at 3921 Midway Drive and build a new duplex on the property. The city property, which was acquired through Iowa Code 657A, was sold for $15,000.
North Charleston, S.C. The pilot of a $100 million stealth fighter jet parachuted safely into the backyard of a home in South Carolina after a malfunction forced him to eject from the aircraft, causing the plane to crash into a wooded area about 60 miles away.
A U.S. Marine Corps official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details of the investigation into Sunday's crash said the aircraft was not found until the next day. A state law enforcement helicopter located the jet and debris around 5 p.m. Monday in a field near Indiantown, South Carolina.
The pilot, who has not been identified by the Marine Corps, did not have serious injuries and has been discharged from the hospital.
Hes unsure of where his plane crashed, said he just lost it in the weather, someone can be heard saying of the pilot on audio from a Charleston County Emergency Medical Services call shared Tuesday by a local meteorologist.
A trip that began as a routine training flight did not last very long. The pilot experienced a malfunction and was forced to eject Sunday at an altitude of about 1,000 feet just 1 mile north of Charleston International Airport, according to a situation report given to AP by the Marine Corps official.
More questions than answers remained Tuesday around how an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter wound up leaving a debris field described as extensive by the local sheriffs department. Officials closed about one mile of road indefinitely as they continued searching rural Williamsburg County for any wreckage. Residents were being asked to avoid the area while a recovery team worked to secure it.
Federal, state and local officials worked Sunday to locate the jet, and the military appealed to the public for help in finding the aircraft, which is built to evade detection.
The Marine Corps said the pilot of a second F-35 returned safely Sunday to the base where both aircraft had departed earlier that day for the routine training flight.
In a military aviation incident where there are two or more aircraft, its standard practice for remaining aircraft to stay on location, said Mark Cancian, a retired Marine Corps Reserves colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. If one goes down the other will circle to make sure the pilot is safe and relay the crash location information, Cancian said.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was designed in three variants. There is the F-35A Air Force version and the Navys F-35C, which is equipped for carrier takeoffs and landings. Then theres the Marine Corps F-35B variant, which can hover and take off and land vertically like a helicopter. The aircraft involved in Sundays crash was an F-35B, the Marines said.
Each variant has an ejection seat. The Marine Corps variant has a specialized seat that can auto eject to better protect pilots in case an incident occurs while the plane is in hover mode. An F-35B crashed last December in Fort Worth while descending in hover mode and the pilot safely ejected.
Jeremy Huggins, a spokesperson at Joint Base Charleston, told NBC News that the jet was flying in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected from the aircraft. Huggins told The Washington Post on Sunday that the warplane has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect. He added that the jets transponder was not working for an undetermined reason.
Huggins would no longer answer questions Monday, according to Joint Base Charleston, as the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing had taken the lead on communications related to the mishap. The 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing said there was an investigation ongoing and would not share any more details.
The jet belongs to the most expensive weapon system program in the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a May 2023 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. The Department of Defense is weighing its options to modernize the engine, according to the report, and the overtasked cooking system requires that the engine operate beyond its design parameters.
The extra heat is increasing the wear on the engine, reducing its life, and adding $38 billion in maintenance costs, the report found.
The Marine Corps announced Monday it was pausing aviation operations for two days after the fighter jets crash. Three Class-A mishaps have occurred over the past six weeks, according to the announcement. Such incidents occur when damages reach $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone dies or is permanently disabled.
Commanders will spend the stand-down reinforcing safe flying policies, practices and procedures with their Marines, according to the Monday release.
The announcement gave no details on the two previous incidents. But in August, three U.S. Marines were killed in the crash of a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during a training exercise in Australia, and a Marine Corps pilot was killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
Russian delegation headed by Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu arrives in Tehran for talks with the military leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran
During the visit, the Russian Defence Ministry delegation will hold a number of talks with the military leadership of the Republic. The visit will contribute to strengthening RussianIranian military ties and will be an important stage in the development of co-operation between the two countries.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran held a formal greeting ceremony for the Russian delegation outside its main building, which was attended by a guard of honour and a military band. Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, greeted the Russian Minister of Defence.
Russian Defence Ministry
WtR
Libya is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history. Quite recently, there was a massive flood there, as a result of which, according to various sources, tens of thousands of people were killed, injured or missing. Entire cities and towns went under water. The destruction was catastrophic.
And although terrible images from Libya spread all over the world, the reaction of the world community looked and remains no less monstrous. Many Western countries have demonstrated almost complete indifference to the tragedy in the Muslim region. The hypocrisy of pseudo-democratic states has not been surprising for a long time. After all, we remember very well what an increased interest NATO countries had in Libya when they mercilessly bombed it, verbally explaining this by the fact that they allegedly wanted to help the Libyan people.
Todays tragedy is also the result of the policy of the United States and the entire North Atlantic Alliance, which plunged Libya into chaos and destruction 12 years ago. The country did not develop. The infrastructure that is needed in case of natural disasters is in a state of disrepair. As a result, Libya is faced with a humanitarian catastrophe. If a similar situation had happened in Europe, all the media would have trumpeted about it, and all available resources would have been involved in the rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Russia responded to the tragedy in Libya from the first days. Humanitarian aid is sent to the disaster zone every day, and our rescuers help eliminate the terrible consequences of the flood. For my part, I want to say that we are in constant contact with the leadership of Libya. We are ready to provide the necessary assistance to those affected by floods and floods. Local authorities know this. Unlike Western countries, we have been and remain a reliable friend of Libya in any matter and will always provide all possible assistance to people who find themselves in difficult situations.
May Allah Almighty help the affected people, and may He have mercy on all those who died!
Kadyrov
WtR
(Photo : Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Women from Scottish Feminist Network outside the Court of Session on September 19, 2023 in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the beginning of 2023, the UK government employed Section 35 powers to obstruct Scotland's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, intended to allow transgender individuals to alter their legal gender without needing a medical diagnosis. The legal challenge will unfold during a three-day hearing, overseen by Judge Lady Haldane, who, in 2022, rendered a significant ruling that the definition of sex extended beyond 'biological or birth sex.'
In a significant legal showdown, the Scottish Government is poised to challenge the UK Government's decision to block contentious gender reform legislation.
Scheduled to be heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh, this legal battle centers on the UK Government's use of Section 35 of the Scotland Act, which effectively prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from receiving royal assent, according to Independent.
Scotland Challenges UK's Block on Gender Reform Legislation
The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications for gender rights and the relationship between the Scottish and UK governments. The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill was designed to streamline the process for transgender individuals to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate.
This legislation aimed to make it easier for trans individuals to navigate legal processes associated with gender identity. However, Scottish Secretary Alister Jack utilized previously unused powers of the Scotland Act to halt the bill's progress.
First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf announced the legal challenge in April, framing it as a defense of the Scottish Parliament's autonomy against what he deemed a Westminster veto.
At the time, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak asserted that UK ministers had taken their decision after careful consideration, expressing concerns about the potential impact of the Scottish bill on the reserved Equalities Act, as per The Guardian.
The Scottish Government's legal challenge is based on a 22-page petition published in April. This document outlines four key grounds upon which the UK Government's order is being contested:
Material Error of Law: The petition argues that Alister Jack committed a "material error of law" in his decision to block the bill.
Relevance of Concerns: The Scottish Government contends that the concerns raised by the UK Secretary were "irrelevant" to the making of the order.
Inadequate Reasons: It is asserted that the reasons provided by Mr. Jack for blocking the legislation were "inadequate," rendering the order itself "illegal."
Irrationality: Scottish Government attorneys characterize the Scottish Secretary's decision as "irrational."
Read Also: UK's Health System Warns Doctor Strike Could Cause Major Patient Care Disruption
Advocate General Rebuts Claims of Irrationality in Gender Reform Blockage
In response to these challenges, Lord Stewart, Advocate General for Scotland, published legal arguments last month. These arguments refute the assertion that Alister Jack acted irrationally in blocking the Scottish bill.
Lord Stewart maintains that the Scottish bill modifies the law as it applies to the reserved matters. This legal battle holds significant implications for the rights and recognition of transgender individuals in Scotland.
The Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, had it passed, would have marked a notable step forward in simplifying the process for trans individuals to self-identify and access necessary documentation. The outcome of this case will determine whether these reforms will see the light of day.
Moreover, this legal challenge also underscores the ongoing tension between the Scottish and UK governments regarding devolved powers and legislative authority.
It raises questions about the extent to which the UK Government can intervene in matters reserved to the Scottish Parliament and the potential limits of its authority, Sky News reported.
Related Article: US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan Meets With Top Chinese Foreign Policy Official Wang Yi To Negotiate Diplomatic Issues
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Minnesota State College Southeast officials are looking to help address the shortage of qualified nursing assistants in the state.
The college announced it will bring back its tuition free nursing assistant training and testing program through the Next Generation Nursing Assistant Train, Test, Work initiative.
The technical and community college will offer the free course at its Red Wing and Winona campuses, saving participants more than $1,500.
Courses start Oct. 9 in Red Wing and Oct. 23 in Winona. They will take place on campus and online via Zoom over a six-week period.
Additional courses will be offered in 2024.
Seth Flatten administers the Next Generation Nursing Assistant program at Minnesota State College Southeast and said the state has heavily invested in nursing assistant training for many years and in recent years has offered it for free.
Basically, paying for students to take the training up front instead of reimbursing them on the back end, Flatten said about the program. The whole initiative is designed to really get people into the workforce right away. And once theyre on the registry, any facility in the state would be looking to hire them.
Flatten said theres been a great need for nursing assistants after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the training typically serves as a first step into nursing as a career.
Were going to have some employer engagement that could be anything from employers who will do real interviews, could be assisting with a facility or an employer coming in to orientation to talk about what a day in the life of a nursing assistant looks like, Flatten said. Really the goal is that all of the students would have at least a conditional job offer before they complete training and testing.
After a student successfully completes the program, they will receive a certificate of completion and be eligible to take the Nursing Assistant Competency Evaluation and be placed on the Minnesota Nursing Assistant Registry.
The training will operate in a hybrid classroom, Flatten said. Students will need access to a computer either at home or on campus. Students will have daily work on units with unit quizzes and tests and will have hands-on training near the end of the class.
This is the third year Minnesota State College Southeast has offered the free course. Flatten said the program attracts a broad spectrum of students ranging from those who recently graduated high school to adults looking for a career change.
Were very excited about this, and its been a great opportunity for individuals to get into health care, Flatten said. This is really the first step, and for it to be paid up front its really almost at no risk.
Space is limited and courses will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Participants are required to work as a nursing assistant after training completion.
For more information or to enroll, visit www.southeastmn.edu/training and scroll down to Next Generation Nursing Assistant Training." For additional assistance, contact Seth Flatten at 507-703-6165 or at seth.flatten@southeastmn.edu.
The Beaver Dam City Council on Monday unanimously approved a developers agreement with Generac Power Systems, which is slated to become one of the citys biggest employers when its new factory is completed in late 2024 or early 2025.
It is another great day in Beaver Dam, Beaver Dam Mayor Becky Glewen said on Tuesday.
Headquartered in Waukesha, Generac makes home and commercial generators along with a wide range of other power products.
As a proud Wisconsin-based company, we look forward to having a strong and positive presence in the city of Beaver Dam, Generac CEO Aaron Jagdfeld said. We sincerely appreciate the citys support and warm reception and are excited to break ground later this year.
Oliver Construction Co., Oconomowoc, has worked with Generac in the past has already created artistic renderings for the new facility.
We understand that Generac is a Wisconsin institution, and we couldnt be more excited about them joining the Beaver Dam businesses community, said Trent Campbell, the citys economic development director.
The 322,000-square-foot facility for the production of industrial generators will be built in the Highway 151 Business Park beginning this fall. The factory would eventually employ between 350 to 400 workers.
We are excited to welcome Generac and thank them for their investment in the city of Beaver Dam. This development will not only bring good-paying jobs, thereby improving the quality of life for our residents, but will also attract new talent, driving economic growth and vitality in our city and throughout the region, Glewen said. Id like to express my gratitude to the City Council for their leadership and foresight in approving this project, recognizing the long-term value it will bring to Beaver Dam and Dodge County.
Generac has agreed to guarantee a $35 million assessed property value when their buildout is completed, Glewen said.
That will roughly create $740,000/year tax payment for the city, county, schools and Moraine Park when the TID (Tax Incremental District) is closed and we expect that values will go up in the future as well, Glewen said. The city should also benefit from growth in the tax base from housing, etc., that is needed in order to continue to attract a new workforce.
When TID 7 closes in 2038 at least half of the projected $740,000 payment will be used for taxpayer relief and reduce total taxes collected per state statute, city Administrator Nathan Thiel said. The remainder will be allocated to city, county, school and Moraine Park Technical College to support general operations.
Also built into this developers agreement is the opportunity for future expansion by Generac, and we look forward to Generac growing here in our community, Thiel said
The addition of Generac will help Beaver Dam to work toward the citys economic goals as well, Glewen said.
Businesses realize the advantages of our easy access to the Highway 151 corridor, short distances to metro areas, strong work ethic from Wisconsin employees, and a community that values creating a high quality of life for residents offering multiple housing options, restaurants, shopping, an active arts district, outdoor recreation opportunities and excellent schools, Glewen said.
The manufacturing facility would have positions including manufacturing and office employees.
I am confident Generac and Beaver Dam together are a great fit, and we welcome them as a community business and partner. We look forward to their groundbreaking yet this year, Thiel said. Trent Campbell and the Beaver Dam Area Development Corporation are also deserving of recognition and praise for leading the conversation and recruitment of Generac to Beaver Dam.
GALLERY: Beaver Dam Pepper Festival held
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Anderson Cooper begins his new book Astor (Sept. 19), cowritten with Katherine Howe, with an anecdote about dining at Mortimers in Manhattan as a child with his mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, where he met Brooke Astor and politely shook her white-gloved hand. Years later, Cooper was working as a waiter at Mortimers when he crossed paths with her again. He said, Hello, Mrs. Astor," and, as he recalls, she glanced at him or, rather, through him and walked silently past.
It was a seminal moment, Cooper, 56, says, that got me thinking about what kind of person did I want to be? What side of the table did I want to be on, if I wanted to be at that table at all?
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That table, of course, is reserved for the elite the absurdly rich, the 1 percenters, the inheritors of vast fortunes. He and Howe explored his own familys place at that rather unpleasant (in Coopers view) table in their bestselling 2021 book, Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty.
The pair now turn to the Astors in Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune, offering a fascinating, frank and extremely critical portrayal of a clan prone to both greed and miserliness, in the unhappy grip of a fortune that was created with very real brutality.
It all began with John Jacob Astor, the son of a German butcher, who came to America in the 18th century and grew rich in the beaver fur trade, then New York City real estate. Subsequent generations would go on to manage and be defined by that obscene wealth in part by acting as slumlords before their empire diminished in a sad soap opera of infighting and scandal. (Brooke Astors son Anthony Marshall, you may recall, was convicted of larceny, among other things, in 2009 for looting his mothers fortune while she was incapacitated by Alzheimers disease.)
We talked to Cooper about the new book, being a Vanderbilt and more.
You write in the book that it was Katherines idea to tackle the Astors after you wrapped up Vanderbilt. What was your reaction to the idea?
I just knew I wanted to do another book with her I loved the experience with Vanderbilt and I didn't have another idea. Then once I started reading and learning about [the Astors], it became much clearer to me that this made absolute sense. But [as with Vanderbilt], I was less interested in the business side and more interested in the human stories and the pathology of the moneymaking and its ripple effects over the generations.
(Photo : ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - A combine harvests wheat on a field near Novosofiivka village, Mykolaiv region on July 4, 2023. Ukraine was one of the world's top grain producers, and the deal has helped soothe the global food crunch triggered by the conflict. Germany and Ukraine called on July 3, 2023 for the extension of a landmark deal that allows grain from Ukraine to reach the global market, which is set to expire soon.
Ukraine's recent announcement that it intends to sue Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland at the World Trade Organization (WTO) has raised eyebrows and concerns, given the potential diplomatic fallout and its timing.
The basis of Kyiv's complaint is these nations' rejection of new European Union (EU) rules requiring them to allow Ukrainian grain imports, citing concerns about their domestic agricultural industries, as per Euro News.
Ukraine's WTO Lawsuit
While Ukraine's grievances are not entirely without merit, its decision to pursue legal action against its neighbors, particularly Poland, seems short-sighted and counterproductive. Hungary, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has been contentious in the EU due to his close ties with leaders like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine's decision to take legal action against Hungary may be less consequential since Budapest has not been a reliable partner in supporting Ukraine's interests. The situation with Slovakia and Poland is markedly different. Both nations have supported Ukraine in various ways, including accepting Ukrainian refugees and providing military aid.
Ukraine's decision to sue these countries, especially with Slovakia's upcoming election and Poland's parliamentary polls, could have significant repercussions.
Suing Slovakia, just weeks before its election, seems politically unwise. Robert Fico, a populist with a history of anti-American sentiments, could return as Prime Minister, potentially ending military aid to Ukraine and advocating for closer ties with Russia. This move could undermine the incumbent President Zuzana Caputova, a staunch supporter of Ukraine, BBC reported.
Read Also: Jacinda Ardern's Absence in New Zealand's Election Campaign Brings Questions
Ukraine War
The situation with Poland is even more puzzling. Poland has been a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, both politically and economically. The country has committed a significant portion of its GDP to Ukraine, actively advocated for more excellent support within the EU and NATO, and played a crucial role in supporting Ukraine's sovereignty.
Despite concerns from Polish farmers about being undercut by Ukrainian imports, Poland's commitment to Ukraine has been unwavering. Ukraine's actions, including its rejection of Western requests for more gratitude for arms supplies and these grain sanctions, reveal a degree of misguided arrogance.
Ukraine's leadership must recognize that it is not merely dealing with Western governments but also with the populations that elect or remove those governments. To secure long-term support, it must gain the trust and goodwill.
Ukraine's decision to pursue legal action against its neighbors over grain imports could inadvertently play into the hands of those who would prefer to see Ukraine abandoned.
As Ukraine grapples with the aftermath of Russia's invasion and seeks ongoing international support, such actions risk alienating crucial allies and fostering a sense of isolation. Poland's support is not just valuable; it may be existential for Ukraine in the long term. Russia's strategy may rely on wearing down the EU and the US over time, hoping for a shift in favor of
Moscow-friendly governments or reduced support for Ukraine. Poland's steadfast commitment has been instrumental in countering these efforts. Ukraine's decision to pursue legal action against neighboring countries at the WTO, particularly Poland, is a short-sighted move with far-reaching consequences.
While Ukraine's concerns are valid, its approach may alienate critical allies and damage its long-term diplomatic standing. As it navigates complex international relations and seeks continued support, Ukraine would be wise to consider the broader implications of its actions, according to the Washington Examiner.
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Editors note: On September 19, 2023, Texas officials announced that convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir, 50, had been found dead in his cell at a Texas prison. His cellmate has been identified as the alleged assailant. Chemirmir, who was suspected of killing two dozen older women in the Dallas area, had been serving two life sentences without parole after being convicted of a pair of slayings last year. This is the story of those murders:
Lu Thi Harris liked to dress up when she went out, even for a Walmart shopping run. On March 20, 2018, Harris freshened her bright pink lipstick, then slipped on a gold and jade necklace, along with a few other favorite pieces of jewelry. The slim Vietnamese American widow Kim to her friends and family had moved to a house on Warm Breeze Lane in Dallas with her husband, Bill, in 2003 and stayed on after his death a few years later.
A spry 81, Harris was known as fun and friendly. She gave away $2 bills as good luck gifts so often that she ordered them from the bank in bundles, her son-in-law recalled. She was just a hoot to be around, he said.
On that day in 2018, Harris didnt seem to notice the bald, clean-shaven male shopper, wearing neatly pressed slacks and a collared shirt, standing in an adjacent checkout line at Walmart. The man blended into the background like a security guard, probably because hed worked as one. He exited the parking lot first and drove away in a gray sedan, security footage showed. Harris went home. A few hours later, police following a tip arrived and discovered her lifeless body on the bed.
It looked at first as if Harris had passed away peacefully in her sleep. The front door had been locked, and her cozy home was intact, stuffed with her late husbands vast collection of model airplanes.
But gone were her own prized possessions: her collection of lucky $2 bills, her gold necklace with its jade pendant, her rings and her oversize red jewelry box, with drawers full of jade, gold and other treasures, including papers that showed her journey from a restaurant owner and mother in Vietnam to a U.S. military veterans wife in Texas.
Her house keys had disappeared, too.
The clue to foul play was discovered on the underside of a pillow: a smudge of Harris magenta lipstick on the polka-dotted case. Later, a Dallas County pathologist found patterns of tiny red dots on her skin known as petechiae and other subtle signs around her eyes and throat that he determined to be indications she was asphyxiated. The most likely murder weapon: her pillow.
A homicide investigation began immediately.
Within days, high-ranking law enforcement leaders in the Dallas area, including the district attorneys of Dallas and Collin counties, gathered for an unusual news conference and made a shocking announcement: It appeared that Lu Thi Harris was not the only older widow to be stalked and smothered for her jewelry, but just one of many.
With TV cameras rolling, officials admitted that a serial killer had been stalking older Dallas and Plano women for at least two years in a previously undetected crime spree that could include hundreds of cases. Detectives in Dallas, the sprawling suburb of Plano and the smaller cities of Richardson and Frisco had begun reviewing older Texans deaths connected to jewelry thefts, to determine whether those deaths all deemed natural at the time were in fact homicides.
The Dallas Police Department alone planned to examine at least 750 recent deaths, an admittedly monumental task, said Assistant Police Chief David Pughes. Pughes revealed authorities had identified a suspect: Billy Chemirmir (pronounced Sheh-meer-meer), the man who had been surveilling Harris at Walmart and was arrested with her jewelry clutched in his hand. Chemirmir had worked in home health care for years, and cellphone tracking suggests he surveilled older victims in parking lots and upscale retirement complexes. He was looking for expensive jewelry and plotting his access and exit routes to and from their homes and apartments. He often pretended to be a maintenance man to gain entry, authorities said.
Over the following months, a series of horrific phone calls went out to sons, daughters and other relatives all across North Dallas and beyond. They had long ago buried loved ones who were assumed to have passed away peacefully.
Loren Adair-Smith heard from a Dallas homicide detective in April 2018. Her mother, Phyllis Payne, had died two years earlier. I have some shocking news for you, the officer said. We believe she may not have died of natural causes.
I said, If this is a joke, this is really sick, Adair-Smith recalls. It wasnt.
Chemirmir, then in Dallas County jail on $1 million bond, eventually faced a long list of capital murder charges in Dallas and Collin counties. He repeatedly proclaimed his innocence. I just cant believe this, he said. Where I come from, our culture, we dont even think about murder.
His first trial for Harris murder, in November 2021, ended in a hung jury. In his second trial on the same facts five months later, a new jury convicted him after deliberating for 45 minutes. The families of other people Chemirmir allegedly killed were not sure theyd ever get their day in court. So they gathered to hear the verdict. Among them: M.J. Jennings, whose mother, Leah Corken, is one of 13 victims named in Dallas County indictments. Elated, ecstatic, thrilled, relieved!!!! Jennings texted. Finally.......SOME justice. It was so wonderful to hear GUILTY!!!!!
Chemirmir is in prison serving two sentences of life without parole for the murder of Lu Thi Harris and, after another verdict was handed down Oct. 7, for the murder of Mary Sue Brooks. He faces additional murder charges in two counties for allegedly killing 20 more victims, all in similar circumstances. Victims families suspect he is linked to two more deaths, though he has not been indicted.
At the Lu Thi Harris murder trial, a prosecutor shows the jury her jewelry box and the murder weapon. Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP/Pool (2)
His days of freedom may be past, but his case poses a troubling question that goes far beyond Texas. Assuming authorities are correct in their assertions that Chemirmir is guilty of dozens of murders, how could such a brazen crime spree unfold over the course of two years presenting case after unsolved case, sending more and more families into unending grief without alarms being raised by police or the facilities charged with the protection of those victims? Our shocking conclusion: because the victims were old.
AARP asked me to investigate the alleged murders of these older Americans, whose ages ranged from 76 to 94. Over 18 months, I sifted through thousands of pages of court records, police reports and witness statements, and interviewed dozens of relatives, lawyers, police and others. Ultimately, two things became clear. First, although Chemirmir has been convicted of two murders, the evidence against him in those and other cases is overwhelming and compelling. Second, the criminal justice system and the adult living complexes entrusted with protecting these victims health and safety appeared to be blinded to the crimes by a fatal strain of ageism.
In almost every case, investigators failed to collect fingerprints or DNA evidence, order autopsies or photograph crime scenes all standard death investigation practices, particularly when paired with a theft or burglary report, as was the case with nearly every homicide in this grim procession. Time and again, the deaths were attributed to heart attacks and strokes. Doris Gleasons suspicious death in 2016 was instantly attributed to natural causes. As her daughter, Shannon Dion, puts it: The mentality of it was, They were old, and they just died.
The most damning admission of an ageist and uncaring system came from Jeffrey Barnard, M.D., medical examiner for Dallas County. In Chemirmirs first trial, he conceded that his office rarely orders autopsies for anyone over 65. Instead, thousands of unattended deaths (outside a hospital with no doctor present) are handled by phone even those involving robberies or burglaries. Otherwise, he asserted, the workload would be overwhelming: No office can handle that. So you have decisions based on those cases, the findings and the medical history. (Barnard and his office, as well as the Collin County medical examiner, declined to comment for this story, citing ongoing investigations.)
When crime rates are rising in the major cities, the police and medical examiners would rather expend their forces on other crimes rather than on the death of someone whos reaching their expiration date, concludes Mitchel Roth, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, and an expert on serial killers who has reviewed the facts of the case. A police force also hates to admit there may be a serial perpetrator out there because it reflects badly on them. And the same is true of an upscale living facility. News of a serial killing there is bad for business.
The beginning
Who did the killer target? Widows mostly, women living alone, but women of means with the resources to pay for what they believed was safe housing. Most of the alleged murders (plus two attempted murders) described in indictments against Chemirmir were committed in upscale senior independent living complexes. These places are heavily marketed to buyers as secure places to retire to, and they arent cheap one rented apartments for $4,000 a month, and another required residents to buy in for as much as $1 million. But court records and police reports show that for the two years before Chemirmirs arrest, the murder victims were robbed of tens of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, including wedding rings and large collections of gold, diamonds and coins, as well as two safes. All too often, administrators at these complexes ignored the crimes and, most important, failed to warn other residents about intruders, home invasions and major thefts.
Chemirmir was not dumb, says Dallas lawyer Trey Crawford, who represents 13 victims families. He knew which facilities to go to, the target-rich environments that do not have robust safety and security measures. We counted 30 or 40 [suspicious deaths] within a 5- to 10-mile radius of where Chemirmir lived.
Billy Kipkorir Chemirmir, 49, could face trial in an additional 20 murders. A Kenyan-born immigrant, he held a series of short-term home health aide jobs during his 15-plus years as a legal permanent U.S. resident. He was comfortable around older people his father lived to be 100 and he had years of experience caring for older, fragile people in private homes and upscale apartments. After working through health care agencies, he grew tired of paying commissions and began recruiting his own clients. When first questioned by a Dallas County homicide detective in March 2018, Chemirmir explained his presence at crime scenes by insisting he was simply soliciting health care work.
Yet before his 2018 arrest, Chemirmir was known to Dallas police as a small-time criminal with prior arrests and stints in jail for domestic assault, drunken driving and trespassing. In the domestic assault case, hed been convicted after admitting to beating an ex-girlfriend with a frying pan following a night of drinking at a Dallas club.
Chemirmir used a fake ID with the name Benjamin Koitaba which allowed him to work at a Dallas home health agency that required a background check he could not have passed under his real name. That company communicated with him only as Koitaba, and Chemirmir frequently took short nighttime assignments.
From 2016 to 2018, records show, Chemirmir roamed the hallways and parking lots of at least three upscale senior living complexes where sudden deaths occurred. He was repeatedly stopped and questioned as an intruder but left free to continue. We believe one of his techniques was looking for women who walked their dogs or used walkers and needed extra time coming in their doors, says attorney Ali Ohlinger, who worked with Crawford to investigate the murders on behalf of victims families.
Chris Bianez, a Plano police officer who specializes in crime prevention and is familiar with the murders, notes that the serial killer didnt rely on fancy burglary tools or technology. It is in precisely these kind of cases, he says, that standard crime prevention techniques such as posting flyers to alert residents about an intruder could have worked: He was committing robberies but mainly he was able to access residents by just knocking on the door and posing as a maintenance worker or using some other way to gain their trust. As Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot said in the October trial for the murder of Mary Brooks, Chemirmir had a fundamentally different approach to his job. We go to work to produce, Creuzot said. He goes to work to kill, strip, steal, sell.
Billy Chemirmir, left in court. Right caught on Walmart security camera in March 2018. A few days later he tailed Lu Thi Harris from there to her home, suffocated her and stole her jewelry. Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News; Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP/Pool
Though Chemirmir repeatedly made unauthorized forays into senior living complexes for years before the murders were detected, he was arrested only once for trespassing, at the Edgemere retirement community, where authorities suspect the murder spree began.
Catherine Sinclair, M.D., had a successful medical practice a U.S. Army veteran, shed worked in hospitals in several states. Near the end of her career, she and her husband shared a sprawling home in Pennsylvania and had the means to collect gold and precious gems on regular trips to the Virgin Islands. She was still working ER shifts when her husband contracted cancer and died. For a while, Sinclair kept rattling around their big old house. Then one day, she called her beloved niece in Texas and said, You know, this isnt really working for me.
That niece, Jane Fold, and a nephew, Dan Probst, talked their aunt into moving closer to their families in Texas in 2014. Together they settled on Edgemere, near the exclusive Dallas neighborhood of Highland Park. The place was luxurious. It offered condos for as much as $1 million, as well as exceptional cuisine, a putting green, a jewelry cleaning service, an oversize pool, an upscale salon and a spa.
It was as nice as any five-star hotel, Probst says. I mean, dinner was served on cloth tablecloths, with flowers on the table and candles, and they would fix anything special you ordered.
Sinclair soon settled in. She used a walker but, as far as her niece and nephew knew, took no medicine at all. She dined with them in early April 2016, and the 87-year-old seemed in perfect health. So both were astonished when they were notified only a week later that their aunt had died. When they entered her apartment, things got stranger.
We saw blood on the bed, Probst recalls. Whats more, their aunts oversize safe with her collection of gold, loose diamonds and fine jewelry was gone. He and his sister insisted the Dallas Police Department open a homicide investigation even though the Dallas County medical examiner quickly attributed Sinclairs death to natural causes. A robbery detective was assigned but didnt return calls for about a month; the Dallas Police Department, which had about 500 retirements in 2016, was regularly rotating that detective, and other robbery and homicide detectives, to patrol shifts.
As for Edgemere, civil court records indicate that security guards detected several intruders in the independent living facility that year but didnt always summon police or immediately review security camera footage.
Sinclair is believed by her family to be Chemirmirs first victim. But her case remained unsolved and had been officially attributed to natural causes when another Edgemere resident, Phyllis Payne, died the next month.
At 91, Payne was still vibrant, a ball of energy, according to her daughter Loren Adair-Smith, who lived nearby. Paynes brunette hair remained naturally dark, and she rarely complained of aches or illnesses. Payne provided welcome support to Adair-Smith, whose husband had terminal cancer. She was my best friend, and we talked every day, Adair-Smith says, adding that she often invited her mother on family trips, including one to a beach in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in May 2016. But Payne was too busy to go on the trip.
Authorities were able to find the debris of a missing F-35 fighter jet hours after its pilot ejected due to a "mishap" Sunday (September 17).
The debris was discovered Monday evening (September 18) northeast of Joint Base Charleston in South Carolina, officials said without providing further details.
Crews are now working to recover the fighter jet's debris, according to US defense officials as quoted by CNN.
"Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort are responding to a mishap involving an F-35B Lightning II jet from Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing," the base said through a Facebook post.
The base added in a statement that it coordinated with units and leaders from the US Marine Corps (USMC) and the US Navy, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Civil Air Patrol, and local law enforcement across the state, using "both ground and air assets" in the search effort.
Pilot Safely Ejected, Military Officials Say
The base also added that the pilot safely ejected from the fighter plane and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.
Joint Base Charleston spokesperson Jeremy Huggins said the F-35 was in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected the aircraft, and that authorities believed there was a possibility it could have remained airborne for some time prior to crashing.
However, the FAA did not immediately respond to reporters' requests for comment as the circumstances prompting the pilot to eject were not immediately clear.
Read Also: US Navy Wants Lockheed Martin's Helmet-Mounted Displays; How Will These Help F-35 Fighter Jet Pilots?
Now that I got that out of the way. How in the hell do you lose an F-35?
How is there not a tracking device and were asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in? Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) September 18, 2023
Reactions to the Search Efforts
Prior to finding the missing fighter jet, Joint Base Charleston requested locals to assist them in finding the missing F-35.
"The public is asked to cooperate with military and civilian authorities as the effort continues," the base said. "If you have any information that would assist the recovery teams, please call the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Public Affairs Office."
Aside from public reaction, South Carolina's House Republican Representative Nancy Mace responded on social media, asking how the USMC was able to lose an F-35.
"How is there not a tracking device and we're asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?" she wrote.
About the F-35
The F-35 Lightning II is a fifth-generation single-seat stealth fighter developed by Lockheed Martin in the early 2000s, claiming it to be the "most advanced fighter jet in the world" and the "most lethal, stealthy, and survivable aircraft." It comes with three variations - A, B, and C - as a replacement for the US's fleet of F-16s, Harriers, and FA-18s, respectively.
The F-35 involved in the incident was a B variant, which has short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) capabilities, especially in aircraft carriers that do not have catapult-assisted take-off and barrier-assisted recovery (CATOBAR) configurations, such as the UK's Queen Elizabeth-class and the Japanese Izumo-class after modifications. Both countries, along with other US allies are intending to purchase, or have already purchased the F-35, primarily as a replacement for the F-16.
In the US armed forces, the F-35B is primarily used by the Marines, while the A variant is used by the Air Force and the C variant by the Navy.
Related Article: F-35 Stealth Fighter Jet Now Missing; Here's How You Can Help the Marine Corps
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Annual Report 2023
Perth, Sep 18, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Horizon Minerals Limited ( ASX:HRZ ) continued to advance and build up its core gold project portfolio in Western Australia through extensional and new discovery drilling for gold, and to leverage off its substantial landholding into other commodities, including NiCo, Ag-Zn, Cu and PGE's.
In addition, the Company along with joint venture partners Richmond Vanadium Technology ( ASX:RVT ) successfully transitioned the JV to a publicly listed company through a successful IPO and listed RVT on the ASX in December 2022, with Horizon shareholders receiving shares in RVT via an in-specie distribution, and Horizon maintaining a 9% shareholding in RVT.
The Company also acquired the remaining 50% interest in the Penny's Find gold project from JV partner Labyrinth Resources Limited ( ASX:LRL ) and now owns the project 100%. The Company also divested its Kangaroo Hills and Phoenix tenements to Greenstone Resources Limited ( ASX:GSR ) for $300,000 in cash and shares.
Horizon also advanced its Cannon project by securing a US$5m loan from Nebari Partners to pay the deferred consideration for the project and to fund its development, with all necessary statutory approvals also secured for the project.
*To view the Annual Report, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/GXC75EM2
About Horizon Minerals Limited
Horizon Minerals Limited (ASX:HRZ) is a gold exploration and mining company focussed on the Kalgoorlie and Menzies areas of Western Australia which are host to some of Australia's richest gold deposits. The Company is developing a mining pipeline of projects to generate cash and self-fund aggressive exploration, mine developments and further acquisitions. The Teal gold mine has been recently completed.
Horizon is aiming to significantly grow its JORC-Compliant Mineral Resources, complete definitive feasibility studies on core high grade open cut and underground projects and build a sustainable development pipeline.
Horizon has a number of joint ventures in place across multiple commodities and regions of Australia providing exposure to Vanadium, Copper, PGE's, Gold and Nickel/Cobalt. Our quality joint venture partners are earning in to our project areas by spending over $20 million over 5 years enabling focus on the gold business while maintaining upside leverage.
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High Grade Lithium and Rubidium Samples
Perth, Sep 19, 2023 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Raiden Resources Limited ( ASX:RDN ) is pleased to announce that initial assay results from its recently completed mapping and rock chip sampling program over its Andover South tenements, indicate high potential for significant and mineralised pegmatites.
Highlights
- Pegmatites are situated within a ~3.5km x ~600m wide pegmatite swarm
- ~50 metre wide pegmatite discovered returned grades of up to 1.81% Li2O
- Significant new results from Andover South (those >1% Li2O) include:
o 2.42% Li2O - sample R21896
o 2.27% Li2O - sample R21895
o 2.11% Li2O - sample R21826
o 1.85% Li2O - sample R21825
o 1.81% Li2O - sample R21876
o 1.77% Li2O - sample R21868
o 1.69% Li2O - sample R21887
o 1.64% Li2O - sample R21866
o 1.52% Li2O - sample R21871
o 1.49% Li2O - sample R21886
o 1.44% Li2O - sample R21869
o 1.43% Li2O - sample R21859
o 1.35% Li2O - sample R21870
o 1.30% Li2O - sample R21865
- First batch of assays from Andover South program (81 out of 301 rock chip assays received to date), with additional assays still pending
- Consistently anomalous rubidium grades in rock samples, with grades up to 0.36% Rb
Mr Dusko Ljubojevic, Managing Director of Raiden commented: "The results from the ongoing mapping and sampling exercise continue to build confidence for the Company that Andover South project represents a high value investment, with drill targets being defined on an ongoing basis. Detailed mapping continues to define broad zones of pegmatite hosted mineralisation with high grades striking over significant lengths and widths. As further results are received we are hopeful new target zones will be defined as we progress the project to drilling. Further work is ongoing over the Mt Sholl, Pyramid and Arrow project to define lithium potential across those projects and the Company will report significant results are they are received and interpreted."
The mapping and outcrop sampling program, undertaken in early September over E47/4061 & E47/4062, was the maiden detailed field program carried out over the project area.
Following the recent acquisition of the tenements from Welcome Exploration Pty Ltd, the Andover project has become the focus for the Company and further work over the entire project is being undertaken.
The Company conducted a program of mapping and rock sampling of outcropping pegmatites within the Andover South tenements. Likely Spodumene crystals were noted in several samples by the Company's geologists (Note: definitive XRD analysis of selected samples is currently being undertaken by ALS laboratory in Perth to confirm this visual interpretation of mineralisation - results are awaited).
Recent mapping has defined a previously unreported 50-metre-wide pegmatite zone, which outcrops over a 170 metre strike, and which has returned grades of up to 1.81% Li2O (sample R21876). These recent observations and results correlate well, and further substantiate, the previously reported pegmatite outcrops observed with up to 30m widths, located approximately 350 metres north-east of the pegmatite outcrop being reported.
Potential extensions of the pegmatites are interpreted by Company geologists to extend beyond the currently defined outcrops and are based on vegetation anomalies which are located directly along strike.
To date, a total of 301 rock chip samples have been collected from outcrops on the Andover South Project. This first batch of assays account for only 81 of that total, with further results still pending analysis and interpretation. It is noted that of the 81 samples reported in this announcement, 17% of the samples returned grades greater than 1.00% Li2O (14 samples out of 81), further confirming the high-grade prospectivity of the Andover South project.
Rubidium Results
Recent sampling results have returned consistently anomalous Rubidium results (refer to Table 2). A significant percentage of results returned >0.1% Rb, with highest values of up to 0.36%Rb. The Company is still evaluating the distribution of the elevated Rb values in regard to the high grade lithium values and their relationships.
Rubidium is a high-value technology mineral mostly associated with pegmatite deposits.
Rubidium Carbonate, the most widely used form of rubidium, is used in multiple applications, including in solar panels, fibre optic cables, GPS systems and night vision equipment, as well as sodium-ion batteries.
Drill Program Planning
The Company has commenced with planning of the maiden drilling program with a focus on the outcropping, high-grade lithium pegmatites that present clear targets on the basis of this initial work and results. Mapping teams are currently undertaking further detailed work of the major pegmatites identified thus far, in order to define their strike and dip orientations to aid in drill planning. If further results define additional prospects, management will integrate these new targets into the drill planning program.
Raiden is proactively engaging with the Traditional Owners, through the NAC, to initiate heritage surveys across the area with primary focus on ensuring the Traditional Owner's knowledge of the area is used to avoid areas of cultural significance, while at the same time allowing exploration activities to progress in a timely manner.
Soil sampling and potential geophysical surveys are also being planned over the entire Andover Project where pegmatite hosted mineralisation may be obscured by sediment cover.
More results are expected in the near term from the Andover South Project and these will be reported as and when they are received from the laboratory, quality controlled and interpreted.
The Company will report on further results from the Andover South rock chip sampling and mapping program as they become available.
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/EB13VR77
About Raiden Resources Limited
Raiden Resources Limited (ASX:RDN) (DAX:YM4) is a dual listed exploration and development company which is advancing the Mt Sholl Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-Palladium deposit in the Pilbara. The Company's portfolio host metals and commodities considered critical for the revolution of the energy and electrification revolution.
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A sixth woman has reached out to law enforcement, accusing the 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall' actor of sexually assaulting her in Soho, central London in 2003.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Russell Brand is accused of sexual assault by a sixth woman. The 48-year-old comedian has been facing allegations ranging from rape and sexual assault to emotional and physical abuse by four women - whose claims emerged as part of a major media investigation that broke on Saturday, September 16 - as well as a fifth alleged victim, who wrote about her claims in a book published in 2014.
On Monday, September 18, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police revealed a woman had contacted them on Sunday saying she was sexually assaulted by the entertainer in Soho, central London, in 2003.
Police are set to investigate the latest allegation which came directly to them and have appealed for other potential victims to come forward. A spokesperson for the force said, "We are aware of reporting by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches about allegations of sexual offences."
"On Sunday, 17 September, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003. Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support."
The alleged offence took place three years before the alleged rape and sex abuse claims that were levelled at Brand over the weekend by four women as part of a joint investigation into his treatment of women by The Times and Sunday Times newspapers, as well as Channel 4's "Dispatches" show.
A fifth woman, Jordan Martin, wrote in a book published in 2014 about the alleged abuse she endured at the hands of the comic in February 2007.
Brand denies all claims against him and said any relationship he has had has been consensual.
The four women who came forward as part of the media investigation say his offences were committed between 2006 and 2013.
The Met added they first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday and have "since made further approaches" to the paper and Channel 4 "to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police."
The spokesperson added, "We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us."
The first woman to come forward as part of the media probe into Brand used the pseudonym "Nadia" to claim the comic raped her against a wall at his LA mansion in 2012.
A second victim, using the name "Alice", said she had an abusive relationship with Brand when he was 31 and she was 16 - and added he called her "The Child" when they were together and once had to punch him in the stomach to get him off her after he got her to perform a sex act that made her choke.
A third alleged victim named as "Phoebe" in the investigation alleged he attacked her in 2013 at his house in West Hollywood.
The fourth accuser claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand, who she alleges was physically and emotionally abusive towards her.
Jordan Martin wrote in her book "kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity: A Memoir" that Brand subjected her to emotional abuse, sexual abuse and made her brush her teeth so hard her gums bled.
Hours before the investigation into him broke on Saturday, Brand issued a furious denial of the claims against him in a 2 minute, 45 second video posted to his millions of followers on X and YouTube.
He said the claims were part of a "serious, concerted agenda" to control "spaces" such as his YouTube channel and that he felt "attacked." Brand also promised to "look into this matter" as he considered it "very serious", before signing off by urging his fans to "stay free."
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The 'Get Him to the Greek' actor has pulled the plug on three stand-up gigs as a sixth woman comes forward to report him to cops over alleged sexual assault.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Russell Brand has had three stand-up shows called off as allegations of rape, sexual assault and abuse against him grow. The comedian, 48, took the stage as scheduled at a sold-out show at the Theatre Royal Windsor, London, on Saturday, September 16, hours before Channel 4's "Dispatches" show aired containing allegations of abuse against him from four women, and he had been due to continue with his "Bipolarisation" tour this week.
However, in a statement issued on Monday, September 18 by promoters said, "We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don't like doing it - but we know you'll understand."
Brand was due to perform on Tuesday, September 19 at the Theatre Royal Windsor, with more dates in Wolverhampton and Plymouth.
The comic refused to address his sex scandal at his "Bipolarisation" show on Saturday. He told the 2,000 fans there - many of whom held up signs backing him, "I really appreciate your support. I love you."
"I want to do a fantastic show for you. I've got a lot of things to talk to you about. There are obviously some things that I absolutely cannot talk about - and I appreciate that you will understand."
A man who looked like Russell walked past the stage minutes after the show started - and the comic joked he was a body double which he said "might come in handy."
Brand now faces claims of abuse from six women. Four women came forward as part of a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4's "Dispatches" that broke on Saturday, September 16 to accuse Brand of offences ranging from rape and sexual assault to emotional and physical abuse sex attacks, which they say happened between 2006 and 2013.
A fifth woman, Jordan Martin, wrote in her 2014 book "kNot: Entanglement with a Celebrity: A Memoir" that Brand subjected her to emotional abuse, sexual abuse and made her brush her teeth so hard her gums bled.
And on Monday, September 18, the Metropolitan Police said a woman had contacted them on Sunday, September 17 saying she was sexually assaulted by the entertainer in Soho, central London, in 2003.
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The 'Real Housewives of Orange County' star reportedly accepts 'full accountability for her actions' after crashing her car into a property in Newport Beach on Saturday night, September 16.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Shannon Beador allegedly will enter counseling following a legal problem. Shortly after getting arrested for DUI and hit-and-run, the star of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" reportedly felt "embarrassed" by her actions.
The 59-year-old star's condition after the arrest was revealed by her pal Jeff Lewis on his SiriusXM radio show "Jeff Lewis Live". In the Monday, September 18 episode, he said, "I am happy to say that she is gonna be entering counseling this week, so I'm happy about that." He also spilled that his friend is "accepting full accountability for her actions," which left her feeling "ashamed" and "embarrassed."
Jeff went on to confirm Shannon's arrest. "She got a DUI on Saturday night. She was also in a car accident. She was injured. So she's gonna be recovering," he said. "Shannon and I have been friends for a very long time. She called me yesterday; we talked for a while and I was shocked because I've never known Shannon to ever, ever, ever drink and drive. I'm not justifying it, I'm not condoning it, I just am telling you what I know."
The 53-year-old former Bravolebrity further shared his knowledge on Shannon. "I don't think Shannon is an alcoholic," he insisted. "I think as her close friend, I think she's going through a lot of personal struggles right now, and I think that she probably has been leaning on alcohol, but I don't believe she's an alcoholic."
Jeff also confirmed that he met Shannon on Friday night, September 15, one night prior to her accident, and invited her to an event on the next day. He recalled, "I invited Shannon on Saturday to go to Stus birthday at Abbey and Hi Top, uh, she said she was staying in, but she ended up going out, unfortunately." He was making a reference to two venues around West Hollywood, California.
Previously, TMZ reported that Shannon was arrested for DUI alcohol and hit-and-run. She was driving her car and crashed into a house in Newport Beach, California on Saturday night, September 16. The outlet noted that "she was cited and released without bond."
In the wake of the arrest, Shannon's lawyer Michael Fell issued a statement that read, "I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful." Michael added, "We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions."
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In the eastern Libyan city of Derna, protests have broken out, with residents demanding the resignation of those in charge a week after heavy rain caused two dams to collapse, flooding the whole districts and killing thousands.
Opposition From the Public to the Government
According to CNN, protesters gathered outside the Sahaba Mosque to express their displeasure with government officials, notably Aguila Saleh, the speaker of the Libyan parliament in the east. In the videos posted online, they may be seen chanting, "Oh my homeland... We will stay here until the pain goes away," while standing on the golden dome of Derna's Sahaba Mosque.
One week after the devastating floods, as the hunt for survivors winds down, the people of Derna must face new horrors. These include the spread of fluid infections and the discovery of landmines washed ashore by the storms.
Large-scale rallies resumed on Monday, September 18, a week after the flood, as people tried to hold their leaders throughout the politically divided nation responsible for the breaching of dams, which they believed might have been averted.
Even now, countless people are presumed dead, making it impossible to know the entire scope of the calamity.
Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, who was mayor of Derna during the flood, had his home burned down in the evening, according to his office manager, who spoke to Reuters. It was Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a minister in the eastern Libyan government, who confirmed that Gaithi had been removed from his position.
There is a possibility that the outbursts of rage may spread beyond Derna. There were calls for the people of Benghazi, Libya's second biggest city, to join the demonstrations outside the Sahaba Mosque.
The political crisis in Libya has been going on for over a decade, with two different governments vying for control of the country.
Tripoli, in northwest Libya, is home to the UN-backed Government of National Unity (GNU) led by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh. Meanwhile, in the east, the Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by commander Khalifa Haftar, backs the parliament headed by Osama Hamad.
Haftar and his eastern administration rule over Derna, which is located around 300 kilometers (190 miles) east of Benghazi.
Also Read: Libya Floods Kill Thousands, but UN Claims Majority Could Have Been Avoided
Deaths Might've Been Averted
While the flash flood killed thousands of people, the UN said last week that thousands of fatalities may have been prevented.
At a press conference held in Geneva on September 14, UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Secretary-General Petteri Taalas remarked, "If there would have been a normally operating meteorological service, they would have issued the warnings ... The emergency management of this would have been able to carry out evacuations of the people, and we would have avoided most of the human casualties,"
She added that although economic losses are unavoidable, they may have been lessened if proper services had been provided.
Talaas said the WMO has tried to have conversations with Libyan officials about improving these structures, but the country's unstable security situation has made that difficult.
Also Read: Oil Price Hits 10-Month High After Libya's Catastrophic Flooding Disaster
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Toni shows up to join the video vixen on 'Tamron Hall Show', where she gushes over the former star of 'Rob and Chyna', as they celebrate Chyna's 1 year of sobriety.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Blac Chyna's mom Tokyo Toni made a surprise appearance during a "Tamron Hall Show" episode with Chyna as the guest. Toni showed up to join the video vixen on the talk show as she celebrated 1 year of sobriety.
Donning a colorful dress, Toni made her way while holding colorful balloons for her "big baby." At one point, the former star of "Rob & Chyna" could not help but cry, prompting Toni to quickly comfort her daughter, who went makeup-free for the gig.
In the episode, Toni also opened up about her motherhood journey as she had Chyna when she was really young. "[It feels] kind of surreal," she told host Tamron Hall. "First of all, being a young girl, young lady, those times were different than these times. Raising her, it was very difficult because I was single - you know, her dad wasn't around."
"What it does for me to see her growth because Hollywood, it does things to people. It changes you," she went on gushing over her daughter. "Seeing her sober, no makeup, filler's gone this is who I birthed. Angela."
Toni continued showering Chyna with praises, "Everybody in the world has to know, she has the biggest heart in the world. It's so big that sometimes she forgot about herself. Taking care everyone else this is what she does. She's a very beautiful person."
Of their reconciliation, Tony admitted, "I could have never imagined us like this after that mess, because it was lies, it was a mess. This here, this is the truth." She later went on pulling Chyna to a warm hug, prompting the audience to clap for the sweet moment.
Meanwhile, Chyna took to her Instagram account to celebrate her milestone. One of the pictures she shared captured her receiving a kiss and a huge number 1 balloon from her mother. In the snap, she was holding a bouquet of pink and purple flowers in her hands.
"September 14 , 2023 marks my one-year of sobriety this year taught me a lot about myself. I made up my mind on September 14, 2022 that I was done with the alcohol. This process is not easy but I did it, I plan on continuing practicing sobriety," the mom of two wrote.
She added, "I want to thank everybody that has been supporting me with this part of my journey [red and pink hearts emoji]. Angela White is unstoppable, smart, beautiful, brave, a great mother, and a great friend. I'm hoping that when you see this, this will inspire you."
"If you are struggling with any addiction, just know that you can do it and you are worth it," she then encouraged fans to start their recovery journey. "God loves you. Its so many different apps, and groups that can help you with this journey, and you're not alone. I love you. ~ Angela White [red heart and hands folded together emojis]. P.S ( I couldn't wait to get this 1 year balloon) @queen_tokyotoni."
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When taking the stage at Michigan's Pine Knob Music Theatre, the longtime friends and collaborators perform their 2003 joint single, 'Patiently Waiting', and 2009's 'Crack a Bottle' ft. Dr. Dre.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Eminem has wowed fans with his surprise appearance at 50 Cent's Detroit concert. When showing up at his longtime friend's "Final Lap Tour" on Sunday, September 17, the "Mockingbird" hitmaker entertained the crowd by performing two songs with Fif.
According to The Detroit Free Press, the 50-year-old took the stage at Michigan's Pine Knob Music Theatre when Fif was finishing up his verse in their 2003 joint single, "Patiently Waiting". The pair then performed another collaboration "Crack a Bottle" ft. Dr. Dre, which appears on Eminem's 2009 album "Relapse".
After wrapping up their second performance, Eminem told the concertgoers, "Detroit, make some noise for one of the best friends I've ever known: 50 Cent!" He went on to exclaim, "Make some noise for hip-hop's 50th birthday, y'all - it's still hip-hop's 50th birthday. Detroit, I love y'all!"
The special moment was documented by 50 Cent on Instagram. When sharing the post, he penned in the caption, "Bro when I do anything with EM people just go crazy they know he really my boy. I love him till death!"
The "In Da Club" hitmaker followed it up with a carousel of the show. "The Final lap [world] tour unbelievable moments," he gushed in the accompanying message. "Detroit."
Fif and Eminem's reunion came months after the former defended his pal from Melle Mel's comments. In March, Fif hit back at Melle for saying Em is only considered to be a top-five rapper because of his skin color.
The "Power" co-creator made use of his Instagram page to slam Melle for his critical remarks about Eminem's No. 5 placement in Billboard and Vibe's Top 50 Greatest Rappers of All-Time list. Alongside the post, Fif wrote, "There was more money selling dope than being in Hip Hop when Melly Mel was popping, the culture has grown so much."
"I am not sure if it would be what it is today with out artist like Eminem. S**t I am not sure I would be who I am with out him but you know it is competitive so n***as gonna hate," Fiddy continued in the since-deleted post. "LOL f**k outta here ! We sucker free."
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The 'Get Him to the Greek' star was supposed to release a new self-help book before the end of the year but now the tome has been held off by publisher amid allegations against him.
Sep 19, 2023
AceShowbiz - Russell Brand's new book project has been freezed as his sex scandal deepens. The 48-year-old comic - who as of Monday, September 18 is hit with claims by six women he committed offences ranging from rape and sexual abuse to emotional and physical abuse - was due to release his latest book with his long-term publisher in December.
"These are very serious allegations (against Brand) and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand," Bluebird, an imprint of UK book company Pan Macmillan, told The Wrap on Monday, September 18.
Brand has worked with Bluebird since 2017 when the company released his self-help book and memoir "Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions". His new tome, again about addiction titled "Recovery: The Workbook", was due to be published at the end of this year but is now on hold.
Former heroin addict Brand is also the subject of an internal investigation by Channel 4 after claims emerged at the weekend from staff on the "Big Brother" spin-off shows he worked on in the 2000s.
Among their allegations is that they felt like they were acting as Brand's "pimps" by selecting women from audiences to go to his hotel.
Channel 4 has asked the production company that produced the spin-off shows to conduct their own investigations and report their results back to the network. It added, "Channel 4 is also conducting its own internal investigation, and we would encourage anyone who is aware of such behaviour to contact us directly."
Channel 4 added in there had been management changes since the reported incidents took place, and said it now has a "zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviour" and a "robust Code of Conduct."
It said, "We require all suppliers to have in place rigorous safeguarding policies and provide whistleblowing support, including Channel 4's 'Speak Up' facility."
Brand has been dropped by his talent agency, Tavistock Wood, and it is not yet clear if his long-term publicist is still representing the comic. He has also had upcoming shows on his "Bipolarisation" tour cancelled by the promoter that were set to go ahead this week.
Four women accused Brand of rape, sexual assault, and emotional and physical abuse between 2006 and 2013 as part of a joint investigation into the actor's treatment of women by The Times and Sunday Times newspapers, as well as Channel 4's "Dispatches" programme.
A fifth accused him of abuse during their 2007 relationship in a memoir she published in 2014.
The Metropolitan Police said on Monday, September 18 a woman had contacted them on Sunday, September 17 saying she was sexually assaulted by the entertainer in Soho, central London, in 2003.
Brand denies all the accusations against him and has said any of his relationships have been "consensual."
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The granddaughter of actor Andrew Sachs insists she speaks from her own experience when weighing in on the damning allegations levelled against her former boyfriend.
Sep 20, 2023
AceShowbiz - Georgina Baillie thinks women "should be believed" but she does not "see Russell Brand as a rapist." The 38-year-old granddaughter of late "Fawlty Towers" actor Andrew Sachs - who landed at the centre of a media storm when Brand prank called him live on air in 2008 to brag about having sex with her - has offered her opinions as the 48-year-old comedian faces several allegations from women accusing him of rape, sexual assault and predatory behaviour at the height of his fame.
"From my own personal experience I do not see Russell as a rapist, however, the evidence is compelling so one has to keep an open mind. I'm not saying they are lies, it was a long time ago and they [the women] should be believed and get some help," she said on TalkTV's "Piers Morgan Uncensored" on Monday, September 18.
However, Georgina stopped short of saying she thinks Brand - who has strongly denied the allegations - is guilty. She added, "I wouldn't say that. I'm taking it with a pinch of salt, maybe, for want of a better word."
The artist - who also revealed that Brand paid for her rehab as she recovered from addiction and apologised for speaking about their relationship in public - also backed a police investigation into the allegations. She added, "Part of the recovery programme is that you should make amends for these things and that's what he did to me and hopefully he'll do the same for the others."
Meanwhile, Georgina confirmed she hasn't spoken to Brand since the allegations were revealed over the weekend in a joint investigation between The Time and Channel 4's "Dispatches: In Plain Sight" programme.
She said, "All I have got is my own truth. I don't know what I would say to him really. I feel like he was a different person during those time. He was young and stupid and so was I and things would be done differently now I think. I want him to continue on his path of recovery and when he makes a mistake, make an amends, that is what we do."
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TheDigitalFellow Academy is thrilled to announce the launch of its groundbreaking AI certification course, "AI for Workplace: Ultimate Certification." This comprehensive program offers a unique opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to harness the power of over 5000+ AI software tools across 40 categories.
Rated a remarkable 4.9 stars by 50 top industry leaders, "AI for Workplace" is set to redefine how we approach artificial intelligence in the workplace.
The course, created by Thedigitalfellow, a top digital business consulting firm renowned for its expertise in AI, machine learning, and robotics implementations, is designed to empower everyone with the transformative capabilities of AI technology. From marketing professionals looking to expand their client reach to CEOs, VPs, directors aiming for high-performance team management, and digital entrepreneurs seeking to leverage online content, this course caters to a diverse audience.
Even creatives, marketers, developers, SEO experts, influencers, campaign managers, article writers, freelancers, and artists who have been warned of AI replacing their roles can turn this course into their golden ticket to career advancement. MBA students, BBA graduates, engineers, and even high school students can benefit from the course, making it a versatile choice for learners at any stage of their careers.
One of the most compelling features of "AI for Workplace" is its accessibility. No specific prerequisites are neededonly a willingness to learnTheDigitalFellow Academy is thrilled to announce the launch of its groundbreaking AI certification course, "AI for Workplace: Ultimate Certification." This comprehensive program offers a unique opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to harness the power of over 5000+ AI software tools across 40 categories. and an internet connection, which most learners already possess.
What You'll Learn:
Unlock Lightning-Fast Content Creation: Master the art of prompt engineering to craft content swiftly and effortlessly using ChatGPT.
Monetize Your Imagination: Transform your creative ideas into a lucrative profession.
Supercharge Your Productivity: Manage your time efficiently with ChatGPT as your ally.
Marketing Mastery: Craft laser-focused content, seize emerging trends, and create compelling ads and campaigns.
Mastery of Soft Skills: Enhance your communication, leadership, problem-solving, and social skills.
Revolutionary AI Voice Tools: Generate AI-powered speech for various purposes.
AI Video Magic: Transform scripts into captivating presentations with AI avatars.
Picture Perfect with AI: Enhance visuals dynamically with AI.
The Ultimate Writing Assistant: Bid farewell to writer's block with AI assistance.
Harmonize with AI Music Tools: Compose unique musical compositions.
Elevate Your Branding Game: Forge a captivating visual identity.
DALL-E 2's Artistry: Witness the magic of AI in image transformation.
Business Brilliance: Revolutionize business operations with AI.
Multimodal Marvels: Combine multiple AI tools for immersive content creation.
Midjourney's Creative Canvas: Sculpt stunning images with AI.
Code with Confidence: Supercharge your coding prowess with AI.
Course Highlights:
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Access on mobile, laptop, and smart TV
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8 weeks course
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Don't miss out on this transformative opportunity to master AI and enhance your career prospects. Enroll now in "AI for Workplace: Ultimate Certification" and embark on a journey to unlock your full potential.
For more information and to enroll, visit [thedigitalfellowacademy].
Amazon miniTV - Amazons free video streaming service has been a part of the hit parade with its path-breaking and diverse content library. Adding yet another feather to its hat, the streaming service today announced its latest show, Builders - a unique one-of-a-kind comedy series that will give viewers an insight into the day-to-day incidents of a gym! Taking the excitement a level higher, Amazon miniTV released the trailer for the young adult drama bound to strike a chord with viewers across India.
Releasing on 22nd September 2023, Builders will accord a heightened dramatic situation but will also leave the viewers in splits with cleverly crafted humor. Following the quest of a naive managers struggle to save his gym from a financial fallout with some help from a few countable members, Builders features Swapnil, Ankit Motghare, Anushka Mishra, Vidushi Kaul, Avtar Gill, and many more.
Created by The Screenpatti - a subsidiary under The Viral Fever (TVF), the amusing trailer of Builders unveils how the task of saving the gym falls on the manager, Mandar, who is a very simple-minded guy. The trailer is an amalgamation of fun and drama. While Mandar has been given the task of saving the gym, his simplicity is no match for a business runner which results in him seeking some help from his friends who are also members of the gym. The trailer also shares a glimpse of these friends cum gym members who join the hustle. This dream team includes the ambitious actress Parul, the hopeless romantic Kaameshwar, and the "been there, done that" uncle.
Amogh Dusad, Head of Content, Amazon miniTV expressing his thoughts about the show, said, We at Amazon miniTV aim to deliver unconventional yet relatable content for our viewers.It brings me great joy to bring to the audiences yet another comedy riot- Builders. This unique take on gyms is definitely going to touch your funny nerve.
Anandeshwar Dwivedi said, We are delighted to announce the release of our latest series, 'Builders,' on Amazon miniTV. This marks another exciting addition to our collaboration with Amazon miniTV, where we have successfully launched several series. We are confident that the audience will find 'Builders' to be a captivating situational drama, with engaging characters and a witty tone. It is always inspiring to see how our work is received by the national audience, as it fuels our dedication to developing more interesting content, cultivating collaborations with brilliant artists, and extending Amazon miniTV's remarkable content catalog.
Ganesh Chaturthi, also called Vinayaka Chaturthi, is a 10-day long festival, which marks the birth of Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity who is worshipped as the God of wisdom and prosperity. It commences from the fourth day of the month of Bhadrapada. The celebrations of the festival begin by placing the Lord Ganesha idols on elevated platforms, existing in homes or in intricately embellished outdoor tents. The worship starts with a ritual which is aimed at invoking an aspect of life in the idols or to make the idols come alive, also called pranapratishtha. It is followed by the 16 ways of paying tribute or shhodashopachara. In the midst of the chants of Vedic hymns from religious texts such as the Ganesh Upanishad, the idols are smeared with red sandalwood paste, along with red and yellow flowers. Twnety one modaks, jaggery, and coconuts are offered to Lord Ganesha whose favourite food is considered to be sweet dumplings. The auspicious festival is concluded by carrying the idols in huge processions to the local rivers, and is accompanied by devotional dancing, songs, and drumbeats. The idols are then immersed in the rivers, representing the journey of Lord Ganesha towards Mount Kailas, the home of his parents Parvati and Shiva.
Ganesh Chaturthi became a gala public celebration when Shivaji, the Maratha ruler, utilised it in order to invoke nationalist sentiments, among his subjects, who were fighting the Mughals. In the year 1893, when political assemblies were banned by the British, the Indian nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak revived the festival.
Like every year, this year too brands indulged in full-fledged celebrations of the merry festival of Ganesh Chaturthi by posting beautiful creatives on their social media handles. Let's take a look at how brands celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi this year:
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
Bern, 19.09.2023 - Switzerland and Slovakia have signed a bilateral agreement on 19 September 2023 on the implementation of the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states. Switzerland will support programmes in Slovakia in the areas of vocational training, sustainable tourism and healthcare amounting to CHF 44.2 million. This means that all 13 bilateral implementation agreements for the second Swiss contribution to strengthen cohesion are under wraps.
State Secretary and Director of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Helene Budliger Artieda, and the Slovak State Secretary of the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Digitalisation, Barbora Lukacova, signed the last remaining bilateral cohesion agreement of the second Swiss contribution in Bratislava. The necessary basis now exists with all 13 EU partner states to develop the agreed programmes in detail and implement them by the end of 2029.
The cooperation programme with Slovakia takes account of the countrys current needs and aims to strengthen Swiss-Slovak partnerships in areas where Switzerland can offer a clear added value based on its experience and expertise. These areas include sustainable tourism and biodiversity protection, vocational training and healthcare. Switzerlands contribution of CHF 44.2 million will be supplemented by CHF 7.8 million from Slovakia.
Adapting vocational training to private sector requirements
With respect to promoting sustainable tourism in and around national parks and protected areas, Switzerland can support Slovakia with experience and expertise to seek and implement long-term solutions. This includes upgrading existing structures in national parks in an environmentally responsible manner while paying particular attention to measures to protect biodiversity.
A further focus is on vocational education and training. To make practice-based education in Slovakia more attractive, it should become more widely accessible and flexible in structure and be better aligned with the needs of the labour market.
The third area in which Switzerland can support Slovakia is healthcare. Slovakia has one of the lowest life expectancy rates in Europe. Switzerland will work with Slovakia to strengthen the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and promote health.
Agreements with all 13 partner states to strengthen cohesion
The second Swiss contribution is an investment in security, stability and prosperity in Europe. It aims to strengthen cohesion, reduce economic and social disparities and support countries under migratory pressure. The programmes are implemented by SECO, the SDC and SEM. Through this second contribution, Switzerland can enhance bilateral relations not only with the individual partner countries, but with the EU as a whole.
Address for enquiries
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO
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CH-3003 Bern
Tel. +41 58 462 56 56
medien@seco.admin.ch
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State Secretariat for Economic Affairs
http://www.seco.admin.ch
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
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The United Nations General Assembly is underway Tuesday (September 19), where world leaders come to the organization's headquarters in New York.
It is expected that both US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, are scheduled to speak to the caucus in its first session Tuesday to tackle the war in Ukraine, high food prices, a series of climate-related catastrophes, new political crises in west Africa and Latin America and economic instability.
Other world leaders expected to speak at the general assembly are Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
It was also reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are not attending this year's plenary session, which meant Biden would be the only leader of the five permanent members of the powerful UN Security Council to attend and address the world's delegates.
Zelensky is expected to meet Biden at the White House on Thursday (September 21), with separate discussions with Silva and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the day prior (Wednesday, September 20).
Read Also: Clinton Global Initiative Announces Proposal To Launch New Organization To Support Ukraine Rebuild, Provide Humanitarian Aid
Rundown of Expected Topics
According to The Guardian, the UN General Assembly will open with a speech by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will deliver his State of the World address before what the organization describes as the general debate.
As per tradition, the Brazilian delegate or head of state delivers his or her address after that of the secretary-general, which meant Silva would deliver his speech first.
Afterward, Biden is expected to address the assembly, which would reiterate his criticisms of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, urge world delegates to back the Ukrainians in terms of aid, as well as emphasize the US's desire to address challenges in the developing world.
Zelensky would also speak to the world's delegates Tuesday to convince leaders from the global south to support Kyiv against the machinations of Moscow. He is also scheduled to speak at the UN Security Council meeting Wednesday. This is his first in-person speech at the caucus since Russia's invasion.
Erdogan, on the other hand, is expected to use his speech to revive the Black Sea Grain Initiative to allow Ukrainian grain to be exported to the world through the contested Black Sea waters after Putin backed out of it upon its expiry back in July, which resulted in a rise in global food prices.
Related Article: NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg Warns That Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Will Not End Anytime Soon
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Two federal agencies are calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to address a severe financial gap between the states historically Black and predominantly white land grant universities.
In the past 30 years alone, the state has underfunded Alabama A&M University by more than half a billion dollars, federal officials said in a series of letters issued to governors on Monday.
States are supposed to provide equal funding to public land grant institutions in Alabama, those schools are Auburn University, Alabama A&M and Tuskegee University but often have shortchanged the historically Black institutions, experts say. A new analysis estimates that Black land grants in 16 states have lost out on a collective $12.6 billion in funding.
Using the latest available federal data from 1987 to 2020, officials determined that Alabama A&M had been underfunded by $527,280,064 in that time span.
Alabama A&M University, the 1890 land-grant institution in your state, while producing extraordinary graduates that contribute greatly to the states economy and the fabric of our nation, has not been able to advance in ways that are on par with Auburn University, the original Morrill Act of 1862 land-grant institution in your state, in large part due to unbalanced funding, Miguel Cardona and Thomas Vilsack, secretaries of the U.S. Department of Education and Agriculture, said in the letter.
Land grant institutions are colleges built between 1862 and 1890 with grants from the federal government, which aimed to help working class Americans gain access to higher education. But for decades, states have substantially underfunded Black land grant colleges compared to their white counterparts, experts say.
Historically Black institutions also tend to have lower endowments and pay higher borrowing rates than white schools, researchers said.
The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in Alabama A&M University disadvantages the students, faculty, and community that the institution serves, the letter continued. Furthermore, it may contribute to a lack of economic activity that would ultimately benefit Alabama.
Federal officials are now advising the governor to substantially boost funding for the college in the state budget, and have offered to match that funding with federal dollars.
These funds could have supported infrastructure and student services and would have better positioned the university to compete for research grants, the letter stated. Alabama A&M University has been able to make remarkable strides and would be much stronger and better positioned to serve its students, your state, and the nation if made whole with respect to this funding gap.
Below is a list of other universities identified by the agencies, and the amount of money they should have been allotted in the past 30 years.
Five Alabama schools were recognized as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday.
The schools are among 353 national recipients, which were honored for their academic performance, or for progress in closing achievement gaps. The Blue Ribbon award is the highest national honor given by the U.S. Department of Education to a school.
Alabamas 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools include:
Cordova Elementary School, Walker County
Mt. Carmel Elementary School, Madison County
Creek View Elementary School, Alabaster City
Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School, Jefferson County
Skyline High School, Jackson County
Skyline High School and Cordova and Creek View Elementary Schools are Title I schools, meaning more than 40% of their students are economically disadvantaged.
Read more: How Cordova helps children beat the odds in math.
The five schools will join 125 Alabama Blue Ribbon schools that have received the honor since the program began in 1982.
The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to Raise the Bar in education, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a news release. The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
Nominated schools complete an extensive application describing their school culture and philosophy, curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership structures and parent and community involvement.
They are awarded based on student and subpopulation scores in state or nationally normed assessments, as well as graduation rates.
Officials said Blue Ribbon Schools also share core elements, such as a vision of excellence, innovative teaching and learning, community involvement and data-driven teaching practices.
All Alabama recipients were recognized as Exemplary High Performing schools, which have their states highest high school graduation rates and the highest achieving students in English and mathematics.
Of this years recipients, 313 were public schools and 40 were non-public schools.
More information about the program can be found at www.nationalblueribbonschools.ed.gov.
The mother of The Young and the Restless and General Hospital actor Billy Miller is setting the record straight about her sons cause of death.
Miller, who died Friday at age 43, surrendered his life to bipolar depression, Patricia Miller said Monday in a statement to Soap Opera Digest.
Millers manager, Marnie Sparer, previously told The Times that the Daytime Emmy-winning actor had been struggling with manic depression when he died, although no specific cause or manner of death was disclosed at that time.
I want to personally thank the many fans and personal friends for the overwhelming amount of love, prayers and condolences sent to me and my family on the devastating death of my beautiful son BJ Billy Miller, Patricia Millers statement said.
He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years. He did everything he could to control the disease. He loved his family, his friends and his fans but in the end the disease won the fight and he surrendered his life, she added.
The actors mother said that the other causes of death being reported are not true.
I wish they were but they just arent, she said. We all loved him so much and are desperately trying to deal with our loss. I will have nothing further to say. Thanks for the love and support.
Miller, who also appeared in Suits, Ray Donovan and Castle, was born in Tulsa, Okla., and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas. He moved to Los Angeles after graduating from the University of Texas, where he was one of just 20 students accepted into the film departments prestigious production-sequence program.
In 2010, 2013 and 2014, he won the Daytime Emmy for lead actor in a drama series for his performance as Billy Abbott in The Young and the Restless a role he played in more than 700 episodes over the course of six years.
Miller received additional Daytime Emmy nominations for his work on Y&R, as well as another long-running soap opera, General Hospital. He portrayed twin brothers Jason Morgan and Drew Cain in nearly 600 episodes spanning six years of the latter daytime drama.
The daytime community mourns the loss of Billy Miller who graced Y&R with his talent for many years as Billy Abbott. Our deepest sympathies to his family and loved ones, the CBS soaps official Instagram account said in a statement posted Monday.
The entertainer also had an alternate career as a restaurateur and owned several bars and restaurants in the Los Angeles area.
Times staff writer Christi Carras contributed to this report.
2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Newport Beach police arrested The Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador over the weekend on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit-and run, authorities said.
Beador, 59, was arrested at about 1:17 a.m. Sunday on Via Lido near Via Oporto after allegedly driving drunk and hitting and damaging property before fleeing, said Sgt. Steve Oberon, a Newport Beach police spokesperson. Oberon said the crimes shes accused of are misdemeanors. He declined to comment further on the incident and said officers had not yet finished submitting their reports to supervisors.
The reality TV stars attorney, Mike Fell, told the Los Angeles Times, I spent quite a bit of time with Shannon yesterday. She is extremely apologetic and remorseful. We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions.
Police declined to specify what type of property had been damaged. The street where the alleged crash took place runs along the affluent coastal Orange County citys bay, where private boats are docked. Condos and apartments line the water, alongside coffee shops and clothing stores.
Beador, a resident of the community of Newport Coast, joined the cast of The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2014 for the shows ninth season as a health-conscious mom who chooses organic and other green options for her life at home. She quickly became a fan favorite and was voted Best Housewife Ever in an online poll rating cast members across Bravos Housewives TV franchise.
Beador has remained on the show since and, last week, was in New York City and appeared on Andy Cohens Watch What Happens Live alongside fellow show mates Vicki Gunvalson and Tamara Judge. The trio were there to promote the shows 17th season, which has been airing since June and will continue until October. Beador was also scheduled to appear at BravoCon in Las Vegas this November.
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2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Justices on the Alabama Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a wrongful death case against a Mobile fertility clinic involving the destruction of in vitro embryos stored in cryogenic freezers.
The case hinges on the argument that the states wrongful death statute should apply to embryos that have not yet been implanted in a womans uterus. Attorneys representing the Medical Association of the State of Alabama wrote that applying the wrongful death statute to in vitro embryos, which had been created in a lab but not yet implanted, would drive up the costs of fertility treatment and discourage doctors from practicing in Alabama.
The potential detrimental impact on IVF treatment in Alabama cannot be overstated, according to a brief filed by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama. The increased exposure to wrongful death liability as advocated by the Appellants would at best substantially increase the costs associated with IVF. More ominously, the increased risk of legal exposure might result in Alabamas fertility clinics shutting down and fertility specialists moving to other states to practice fertility medicine.
Three families who sought fertility treatment at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile sued the clinic and Infirmary Medical Center after an unauthorized person gained access to the cryogenic freezer and removed and destroyed unused embryos. The circuit court judge dismissed the case on the grounds that an embryo stored in vitro did not count as a person under Alabama law. The families appealed that dismissal and the case is now before the state supreme court.
Attorneys for the families, James and Emily LePage, William Tripp Fonde and Caroline Fonde and Felicia Burdick-Aysenne and Scott Aysenne, said Alabama law recognizes human life as beginning at the moment of conception, when sperm fertilizes an egg.
This appeal presents this Court with the opportunity to lead the Nation ... in proclaiming that all human life is precious from the moment of conception and that remedies do indeed exist for the wrongful deaths of human embryonic children, according to the LePage brief.
The only difference between embryos implanted inside the body, which would be covered under Alabamas wrongful death statute, and those stored in a cryogenic freezer is the location, they argued. Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 that protects the rights of unborn children.
Attorneys for the clinic argued that frozen embryos should not be covered under the wrongful death statute because they are not covered under the homicide statute or in other key parts of Alabama law. The destruction of the embryos happened when a patient from Infirmary Medical Center left another part of the hospital and walked into the cryogenic freezer area, which hadnt been secured. After he dropped the frozen embryos, they couldnt be saved, according to the brief. The person was not charged with murder.
Alabama has five clinics that perform advanced reproductive technology, which includes in vitro fertilization. An amicus brief filed by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama said many doctors retrieve multiple eggs for in vitro fertilization and create several embryos. That prevents women from having to undergo the surgical procedure multiple times for multiple children.
Parents pay to store unused embryos. But sometimes embryos are destroyed or donated for research if there are genetic problems or if they are unlikely to develop normally in utero, the medical association said. Requiring fertility clinics to store all unused embryos forever would push up the costs for patients.
The Appellants position would require such embryos to remain in cryogenic storage even after the couple who underwent the IVF treatment have died and potentially even after the couples children, grandchildren, and even great grandchildren have died, the medical association brief said. This absurd result would be the outcome if this Court extends wrongful death liability to the destruction of cryopreserved embryos.
Although fertility treatment has improved, failure rates still hover at around 50 percent for women who are young, raising the possibility of lawsuits for failed implantations.
The Appellants position would result in physicians being potentially liable for wrongful death any time in vitro embryos fail to develop into a successful pregnancy, the brief said.
Lawyers for the families argued that Alabama law has gone to great lengths to protect human embryos and fetuses, which should extend to lawsuits for wrongful death.
Each embryonic child destroyed was special and unique, the brief said. Each human life destroyed can never be recreated. Each life taken has forever been lost to the Plaintiffs and the world. The fact that Plaintiffs may be able to conceive different children in the future is not a defense to killing the children Plaintiffs already conceived.
The crash site for a stealth fighter jet that went missing during the weekend after its pilot ejected was located Monday in rural South Carolina after the military asked the public for help finding an aircraft built to elude detection.
The debris field was discovered in Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston. Residents were being asked to avoid the area while a recovery team worked to secure it.
We are transferring incident command to the USMC this evening, as they begin the recovery process, the base posted Monday on the X social media platform.
Authorities had been searching for the jet since the pilot, whose name hasnt been released, parachuted to safety into a North Charleston neighborhood about 2 p.m. Sunday. He was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, Marines Maj. Melanie Salinas said.
The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process, the Marine Corps said in a news release on Monday evening.
The Marine Corps announced earlier Monday it was pausing aviation operations for two days after the fighter jets crash the third costly accident in recent weeks.
Gen. Eric Smith, the acting commandant of the Marine Corps, ordered the stand-down while authorities searched near two South Carolina lakes for the missing Lockheed Martin FB-35B Lightning II aircraft.
Its the third event documented as a Class-A mishap over the past six weeks, according to a Marine Corps announcement. Such incidents occur when damages reach $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone dies or is permanently disabled.
Commanders will spend the stand-down reinforcing safe flying policies, practices and procedures with their Marines, according to the Monday release.
The announcement gave no details on the two previous incidents. But in August, three U.S. Marines were killed in the crash of a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during a training exercise in Australia, and a Marine Corps pilot was killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
Cpl. Christian Cortez, a Marine with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, said the details of what prompted the pilot to eject from the aircraft Sunday were under investigation.
Based on the missing planes location and trajectory, the search was initially focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, said Senior Master Sgt. Heather Stanton at Joint Base Charleston. Both lakes are north of North Charleston.
A South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter joined the search after some bad weather cleared in the area, Stanton said. Military officials appealed in online posts Sunday for any help from the public in locating the aircraft.
The pilot of a second F-35 returned safely to Joint Base Charleston, Salinas said.
The planes and pilots were with the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing based in Beaufort, near the South Carolina coast.
Huntsville Utilities told the city council it needed a 35 percent across-the-board rate increase for both water consumption rates and availability rates. The city council responded, essentially, with a no.
What ultimately happened, by unanimous vote of the council on Sept. 14, is that both consumption and availability rates increased but not quite to the level the utility sought. That path, however, was anything but linear.
The compromise: After the council postponed a vote on the rate increase on Aug. 24, Council President John Meredith began talks with Huntsville Utilities CEO Wes Kelley and others on a path forward both sides could live with.
The solution: Consumption rates were lowered for minimal users, then raised for virtually everyone else. To offset those increases, availability rates for the average home increased by only 13.4 percent a fraction of the originally proposed 35 percent increase.
The availability rate is a monthly flat fee, which is based on having water available for customers. The consumption rate is an upward sliding scale thats based on how much a customer uses per month.
For minimal users, defined as using less than 3,000 gallons per month, the consumption rate increased 28 percent (or 37 cents per thousand gallons up to 3,000 each month) instead of 35 percent. For customers that use more than 3,000 gallons per month, the consumption rate soared 88 percent (or $1.50 per thousand gallons for the second 3,000 gallons. The average home, according to Huntsville Utilities, uses about 4,400 gallons per month.
So when it comes to consumption, the Meredith amendment ($9.59 cents per month) cost the average home more than the Huntsville Utilities proposal ($8.63 cents per month).
However, the Meredith amendment also included that reduced availability rate.
The translation: Minimal users will not carry an equal burden, percentage-wise, to heavier water consumers or even commercial businesses. And the average home gets a little bit of a break as well on their water bill over the original proposal. Between the availability rates and consumption rates, that average home using 4,400 gallons will pay $23.59 per month. Under the original Huntsville Utilities proposal, that rate would have been $25.30 per month. Its a savings of about 7 percent.
Going forward: Huntsville Utilities pulls about 85 percent of its water from the Tennessee River. But you probably wouldnt want to drink it or cook with it as is. And costs for treating the water for customers has been going up, which led to the request for the rate increase.
Huntsville Utilities maintains that, despite the increase, its rates are still among the lowest in Alabama.
Kelley said Huntsville Utilities delayed seeking the rate hike as long as possible a delay made even longer by the COVID pandemic. The utility is in the midst of more than $220 million in building projects, not to mention other rising costs and the continued growth of not only Alabamas most populous city but its largest based on land space.
We can still meet our requirements to both operate and maintain the system at the first class level we do today and provide for the future infrastructure, Kelley told AL.com. Under this right now, I will tell you, it will require us to focus and redouble our efforts to get maximum cost efficiency. Because it does tighten things up a bit. But I think that is reasonable. And we can live within these means.
The man charged with murder after a bystander was fatally shot during exhibition driving in downtown last year is claiming he fired in self-defense and should be immune from prosecution under Alabamas Stand Your Ground law.
Ronald Demetrius White, a 24-year-old Bessemer man, is charged with murder in the killing of 19-year-old JaKia Winston.
Winston, the mother of an infant son, was shot to death Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022.
Whites trial was set to begin Monday before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Streety.
Whites attorney, Leroy Maxwell Jr., last week filed a motion for immunity under the States Stand Your Ground law. The trial has been postponed until next year.
A large crowd was gathered in a parking lot in the 800 block of Second Avenue North where drivers were doing burnouts and donuts. According to police and to a video circulating on social media, a vehicle doing a burnout struck another vehicle in the parking lot.
The collision happened just after 3 a.m.
Video of the incident showed a male opening fire immediately after a silver Infiniti was struck. Officer Truman Fitzgerald said police saw White outside of that vehicle immediately after the shooting.
Winston was pronounced dead on the scene. Four other people were wounded.
Police at the time said they believed there were other shooters.
The deadly shooting prompted police and city officials to speak out. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin at the time said it not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
Woodfin, Police Chief Scott Thurmond and District Attorney Danny Carr later held a press conference to address gun violence and exhibition driving.
Alabama is a Stand Your Ground state, which says a person is justified in using physical force on another person in order to defend himself or herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person.
According to Maxwells motion, White was in the parking lot when a black Charger began doing donuts and then struck his car.
At that point, other people began firing and Mr. White returned fire, allegedly striking JaKia Winston and causing her death, the motion states. Mr. White has maintained from the beginning that he only fired his gun in response to oncoming fire from other unknown shooters.
Another witnesses, Blackwell said, reported seeing men with rifles firing toward her.
A woman was shot to death and four other people injured when gunfire broke out during an exhibition driving event in Birmingham in August 2022. (Alabama Court Records)
The state believes that Ronald White began firing after the black car hit his vehicle, Maxwell wrote. However, on Aug. 30, 2023, the state turned over new video evidence that shows men with long AK and AR-15 style rifles at the scene.
These men began firing immediately when the black car hits Mr. Whites car and before Mr. White returned fire, he said. This new video corroborates Mr. Whites testimony.
Maxwell contents White was justified in using deadly defensive force because he was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was in a public space, where he had a right to be.
Therefore, he had not duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground, he said. Additionally, Mr. White was not the initial aggressor and reasonable believed his life was in imminent danger due to the shooting from other gunmen.
My baby was very outspoken, Winstons heartbroken mother, Keizia Gaines, said at the time.
She said her daughter loved to sing and joked a lot.
She was my go-to person, Gaines said. My world, my rider. We were together every day.
My soul is hurt deeply, she said.
The judge has not responded to the Stand Your Ground Motion, but the murder trial has been reset for March 18, 2024.
White has been held in the Jefferson County Jail on $1.5 million bond since his Aug. 8,2022, arrest.
A missing kayaker thought to have drowned in the Mississippi River was found alive and on the run in Georgia, Louisiana deputies said.
The mans son called the St. Charles Parish Sheriffs Office on Aug. 7 to report his father, 41-year-old Melvin Emde, as missing, according to a Sept. 18 news release.
The son told deputies Emde was kayaking on the Mississippi River near Hahnville, Louisiana, just west of New Orleans, when he went overboard and drowned, according to the release.
On the same day Emdes son said his father had died in the water, Emde was due to appear in court in Brunswick County, North Carolina, on the southeastern tip of the state, deputies said.
Emde was facing charges of indecent liberties with a child and statutory rape of a child by an adult, according to the sheriffs office.
We immediately became quite suspicious that this may have been a faked accidental drowning and death in order for Mr. Emde to escape charges in Brunswick County, North Carolina. However, we could not publicly expose our suspicions for fear of tipping him off, Sheriff Greg Champagne said in the release.
Emde was wearing an ankle monitor as a condition of his bail, and deputies used the tracking device to learn Emde had gone to Walmart on the day he drowned in Boutte, Louisiana, according to the release.
He had purchased two pre-paid phones, then tried to use the phones discreetly by turning only one on at a time for very short periods, deputies said.
Deputies tracked one of the phones to Oklahoma, where Emde is originally from, until he stopped using the phones and his trail grew cold, according to the release.
Then, on Sept. 17, a Georgia State Patrol trooper saw a motorcycle driving in Tift County without a license plate, deputies said.
When he tried to pull the motorcycle driver over, he took off, speeding away before he crashed, according to the release.
The motorcycle driver was taken into custody under a fake name after deputies said he tried to run away on foot, according to the sheriffs office.
Once the driver was fingerprinted, Georgia authorities learned it was Emde and were alerted to his record, according to the release.
Now its time for Mr. Emde to face the music for his charges in North Carolina, Champagne said in the release.
Tift County is about 185 miles south of Atlanta.
2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
During the UN General Assembly (Sept. 19), U.S. President Joe Biden decided to encourage world leaders to support Ukraine in its ongoing war against Russia.
Aside from them, Biden is also hoping that his statements will change the minds of Republicans in the U.S. Congress.
Joe Biden Tries To Encourage World Leaders To Support Ukraine
According to Reuters' latest report, Joe Biden decided to take advantage of the UN General Assembly to appeal to world leaders to stand with Ukraine.
POTUS made strong statements about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," said the American leader.
"If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?" Biden asked the world leaders present at the UN General Assembly.
POTUS received applause after saying that the United States will continue to work with allied countries to stand with Ukraine as it tries to achieve freedom once again.
Aside from this, Biden also mentioned Russia, saying that the Kremlin is solely responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine.
He added that the Russian government alone has the power to put an end to the invasion. Ever since the Russia-Ukraine war started, Biden has been making efforts to encourage other countries to support Kyiv.
He explained that the U.S. and its allies should send a strong message to Vladimir Putin that Russia doesn't have enough capability to outlast the West.
Read Also: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to Make 2nd US Trip; Is His Visit Linked to Biden's Proposed $24 Billion Aid to Ukraine?
Ukrainian President Also Attends UN General Assembly
Since the UN General Assembly is a great opportunity to converse with world leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to attend.
Yahoo News reported that the Ukrainian leader arrived in New York on Monday, Sept. 18.
Zelenskyy is expected to visit Washington to meet with Joe Biden, as well as U.S. business representatives, journalists, and congressional and military leadership.
He is also expected to make his speech before the UN General Assembly. The Ukrainian president plans to discuss high food prices, climate change catastrophes, and the Russia-Ukraine war.
If you want to learn more about the plans of Zelenskyy as he makes his major U.S. visit, you can click this link.
Related Article: Zelensky, Biden Expected to Speak at UN General Assembly, Multiple Reports Say
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The Mobile man suspected of killing a man and injuring nine others during New Years Eve celebrations downtown was sentenced to 10 years in prison today on federal gun charges in connection with the shooting.
Thomas Earl Thomas Jr., 22, of Mobile, pleaded guilty in federal court in Mobile back in April to illegally possessing a machine gun.
Chief United States District Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock handed down the sentence, which was the maximum, along with a three-year term of supervised release once he leaves prison. During this period, Thomas will receive substance abuse and mental health treatment. He also owes $100 in special assessments and forfeited his weapon.
Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine said the sentence underscores our commitment to maintaining the safety and well-being of our community. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with our federal, state, and local partners to ensure that individuals who engage in violent criminal activities face the full force of the law.
Our commitment remains unwavering in ensuring community safety and justice. We express our condolences to the victims and their families and reassure our citizens of our dedication to their security during all future celebrations, Prine said.
Thomas still faces multiple charges in the Mobile County District Court, including intentional murder, first degree assault, and shooting a firearm into occupied and unoccupied buildings and vehicles.
He is accused of firing a .40-caliber Glock pistol equipped with an extended magazine and an illegal machine gun-conversion device known as a Glock switch during New Years Eve.
A man was killed and nine people were injured, eight severely, when gunfire rang out in a crowded section of Dauphin Street near South Jackson Street.
In pleading guilty to the federal charges, Thomas admitted that he lied to homicide detectives about possessing and firing the gun. The gunfire was captured on surveillance video.
Thomas also admitted to buying the gun at a Mobile gun show weeks before the shooting and that he knew it was illegally modified with the Glock switch.
The head of the Alabama Republican Party said the amount of grants the American Library Association provides to public libraries is not enough for the state to continue supporting the organization.
But GOP Chairman John Wahl, speaking to AL.com on Friday, said he is awaiting on an opinion from Attorney General Steve Marshalls office on how libraries might be affected by a disassociation from the American Library Association (ALA).
Wahls comments come after the ALA, in a two-page write-up to AL.com, provided an explanation of its support for Alabamas libraries from 2019-2023. Among them, was securing $293,200 in grants since 2021, which were doled out to 36 libraries throughout the state.
Thats less than $15,000 a year for libraries across Alabama, Wahl said. Were not talking about a lot of financial support.
Other highlights from the ALA include:
Since 2021, the grants secured by the ALA and issued to libraries in Alabama went toward digital training workshops, bolstering technology in small and rural libraries, STEM resources, and other professional development and resources to help libraries in their communities.
The ALA has advocated for increases in annual appropriations to the state libraries. The largest funder of libraries on the federal level the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which has secured an increase of $376,724 or 13% in annual funding since 2019. The money is utilized by the Alabama State Library to fund programs and operations on the local level.
ALA says it played a crucial role during the pandemic, providing guidance to librarians and essential services for their communities. The state got $3.1 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to support libraries.
ALA biggest contribution to libraries is supporting professional development for library workers (40%), membership engagement (21%), and advocating for the preservation of library services (14%).
Explosive tweet
Emily Drabinski
The ALAs information comes at a time in which the organization has become a political lightning rod throughout the nation, but particularly in conservative states like Alabama where calls are growing for libraries to dissociate from the group based largely on the organizations support of disputed books. Most of those books have LGBTQ+ or racial themes, which conservatives find concerning to have displayed in front of children and teens.
Another growing concern seem to focus on the organizations president, Emily Drabinski, whose tweet in April 2022 set off a furious backlash nationwide including in Alabama and has increased calls for libraries to move away from the 147-year-old ALA.
Libraries in Missouri, Montana, and Texas have already dissociated from the group. GOP lawmakers in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Wyoming are also pushing their states to withdraw from the ALA.
The since-deleted tweet from Drabinski came after she was elected to her post. It read, I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity! And my mom is SO PROUD. I love you mom.
Drabinski has since said she regrets the tweet. She told The New York Times last week that she wished she could go back in time and push that tweet right back in the bottle, saying it represented an excited utterance for me and my friends.
The ALA, a nonprofit that has long fought back against book bans, has denied it has a political agenda. It has said it remains nonpartisan.
Wahl and others are not backing down. They say the organization is led by a Marxist and have used Drabinskis tweet as fodder for defunding the group.
Rep. Susan DuBose presents HB261, a bill that would force transgender athletes at the college level to play on teams that align with the gender on their birth certificate. Sarah Swetlik/AL.com
State Rep. Susan Dubose, R-Hoover, a conservative lawmaker who has criticized the ALA, said the issue is not just about one person temporarily atop the association. She said Drabinskis tweet sheds light on the organization, and that supporters who elected her to the post must agree with her.
Dubose said that she hopes Alabama disassociates from the organization. She said if neither the Alabama Public Library Services executive board or local library boards around the state do not take action and revoke their annual memberships, she will consider pitching legislation next spring requiring them to do so.
I think that is something we may look into, she said. But I would like that to be handled by our APLS and local library boards. I believe in local rule as much as possible.
Professional organization
Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys office says it has serious concerns about continuing affiliations with the ALA. She recently expressed concerns about the family-friendly environment of Alabamas libraries via a letter sent to Nancy Pack, the director of APLS.
A spokeswoman for the governor said Wednesday that the office is reviewing an official response the APLS sent to them.
The bottom line is that she like families all over the state want our children to be able to pick up a book and read and for the libraries to be a safe space for that, said Ivey spokeswoman Gina Maiola.
Pack, during a Sept. 15 appearance on Capitol Journal, said ALA does a lot of things and was instrumental in guiding libraries during the pandemic.
She also said that ALA has no say so on the type of books displayed by local libraries.
It goes back to your local community, Pack said during the interview.
The Alabama Public Library Service Executive Board meets on Sept. 13 2023. (Jemma Stephenson/ Alabama Reflector)
Matthew Layne, president of the Alabama Library Association a chapter of the ALA said the national organization serves as a professional organization that offers librarians guidance on best practices and educational opportunities. The organization is primarily funded through personal membership dues, Layne said. Its unclear how much in dues the ALA collects from Alabama.
Layne said that ALA members host educational workshops like Serving the Alzheimers/Dementia Community in Public Libraries, and programs that make us better librarians. One grant that ALA received, Layne said, helps provide financial literacy and college and workforce training skills lessons for teenagers.
When we talk about ALA, we are not talking about a sinister cabal, Layne said. We are talking about our parents, our siblings, and our neighbors who chose the profession of librarian to serve their communities.
Wahl, a member of the APLS executive board, denied that the effort to withdraw from ALA had to do with a national effort by conservatives to weaken public libraries, or defund them.
I would not have taken the appointment (to be on the Alabama Public Library Services) board if I wasnt supportive of libraries, Wahl said. They provide a great service to the people of Alabama. We saw that during COVID. It was a resource.
He added, Its why its so important that we clean up this situation and make sure the public is aware that we want libraries to support Alabama values and that they feel safe, so we want (families) to bring their children to libraries.
This story was updated at 7:05 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2023, to include comments from Gov. Kay Iveys office.
In 2022, Natalie Zoghby, was inspired by the confirmation of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. When Zoghby witnessed Jacksons daughter watching her mothers confirmation, she decided to add Jackson to her collection of paintings.
Zoghby is a portrait artist from Hoover who now resides in Vestavia.
I like to paint women who inspire me, and are influential in society, Zoghby told AL.com. So Ive done paintings of Dolly Parton, Maya Angelou, Taylor Swift.
Former U.S. senator Doug Jones happened to see Zoghbys art last year at the Grand Bohemian Hotel Mountain Brook Gallery, for a exhibit called Women In Color. In 2022, Jones was appointed by President Joe Biden to assist in the nomination of Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, so he took a picture of the portrait and sent a text the justice.
However, Zoghby and Jones didnt meet until August 2023 at Pepper Place Farmers Market. Jones saw her prints and thought her work looked familiar. Initially, he didnt see any prints of Jackson. Jones continued to thumb through Zoghbys prints and eventually came across image of the same portrait he saw last year at the Grand Bohemian Gallery.
The two sparked a conversation about Jacksons upcoming trip to Birmingham for a memorial service marking the 60th anniversary of the 1963 bombing that killed four Black young girls at 16th Street Baptist Church. Zoghby then offered to present her painting to KBJ if there was an opportunity to do so. Jones called her a few weeks later to coordinate her display of the portrait at a private dinner for the Supreme Court Justice along with other elected officials.
The dinner happened on Sept. 14 at Highlands Bar and Grill. When she saw the portrait, a shocked Jackson exclaimed, What inspired this? Why did you do this?
Shes obviously the object of a lot of attention and has been since her nomination, but she was very flattered that someone would do this on their own in conjunction with a series of prominent women in this country, Jones told AL.com.
Zoghby and Jackson were able to have a conversation about their love and appreciate for art. Jackson let Zoghby know that the painting was spectacular.
The next day, Zoghby posted about her experience on Instagram. Last night a dream too big for me to imagine happened, she wrote in the caption. I had the honor and privilege of meeting and showing my art to the woman who has inspired so many including myself, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson!
More on Ketanji Jackson Brown:
I felt in my spirit I had to come, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says at 16th Street Baptist Church
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson eats at popular Birmingham soul food spot
Starting next year, high school students in Baldwin County Schools will be able to obtain vocational training and maybe even an associate degreebefore they graduate.
Weve heard for years about the workforce has aged in Alabama. We constantly hear theres no workers, we cant find plumbers, we cant find welders, we cant find electrical technicians, Eddie Tyler, superintendent of Baldwin County Schools, said. Were going to do something about it.
Baldwin County Schools is in the process of constructing the Baldwin Preparatory Academy, a career training school on Alabama State Highway 59 in Loxley. Officials say its the first of its kind in the state. The 182,000 square-foot building is expected to open for the 2024-2025 school year and will serve 1,050 students from grades 10-12 once its fully operational.
Not only will students from Baldwin County public schools be able to enroll, but also students from private and religious schools, as well as other school systems, can apply for a waiver to enroll, Tyler said.
The school will provide training in a variety of trades, including welding, advanced manufacturing, health services and cosmetology. But unlike a traditional school, the students will also wear the uniforms for the field theyre training in and clock-in and clock-out. Academic classes will be tailored toward the trades the students are training in. The idea is that, when the students graduate, theyre ready for a seamless transition into the workforce.
The alleged gunman who opened fire during New Years Eve celebrations in downtown Mobile that killed a man and injured nine people was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison Monday on gun-related charges -- the maximum punishment allowed.
U.S. Chief District Judge Jeffery Beaverstock also sentenced Thomas Earl Thomas, Jr. to three years of supervised release after completing the term, according to court records.
Thomas pleaded guilty in April to illegally possessing a machinegun. Thomas possessed and fired a .40-caliber Glock pistol equipped with an extended magazine and an illegal machinegun-conversion device known as a Glock switch during New Years Eve, according to court documents.
He still faces charges directly related to the deadly shooting, including intentional murder, first-degree assault and shooting a firearm into occupied and unoccupied buildings and vehicles.
Thomas sentence was applauded by Mobile Police Chief Paul Prine, who called it a significant milestone in our pursuit of justice and community safety.
The sentencing of Thomas Earl Thomas, Jr. underscores our commitment to maintaining the safety and well-being of our community. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with our federal, state, and local partners to ensure that individuals who engage in violent criminal activities face the full force of the law, Prine said in a statement.
Our commitment remains unwavering in ensuring community safety and justice, the chief continued. We express our condolences to the victims and their families and reassure our citizens of our dedication to their security during all future celebrations.
Residents in Bay Minette say a plan to open a landfill and trash transfer center near a subdivision, homes and schools could drag down property values and create safety issues.
The Red Hill landfill has been closed for 30 years. The site, located off Red Hill Road, is less than two miles from two schools: Baldwin County High School and Bay Minette Middle School.
Under a proposal the Baldwin County Commission is considering, the old landfill would reopen for construction waste, and the county would also open a trash transfer station next to it.
More than 20 people spoke during a 90-minute public hearing at the commission meeting today, all of them in opposition to the plan. Residents expressed concerns about garbage truck traffic, a threat to safety and the potential for dragging down property values.
Theres so many kids that ride bikes and stuff up and down this road, said resident Calvin Phillips, a father of four. I love my children ... I will protect them by all means. We dont need that traffic. We dont need Bay Minette to be the armpit of Baldwin County.
The countys application to issue a permit for the landfill says the transfer station is not anticipated to have a major impact on the amount of traffic or the traffic patterns in the facility area.
The proposed waste acceptance rate of 350 tons/day will result in approximately 20-30 trucks per day traveling to and from the transfer station, the application states.
According to the EPA, a transfer station is a facility where solid waste is unloaded from smaller trucks and reloaded into larger vehicles for transport to a final disposal site.
Six counties would use the transfer station, and the county says the plan would help manage waste in response to growth in the area and reduce overhead costs.
Bay Minette resident Emily Ryan helped organize a petition against the plan that collected over 1,200 signatures, which she submitted to the commission. Ryan said she knew something was wrong when only five residents attended the first meeting about the plan, held in July.
That should have been a red flag, she told the commission. The five of us did not believe were the only families that cared about our neighborhood, about our community, and as you can see, thats proven true today.
She said shes concerned by seeing construction already occurring at the landfill site.
Other residents said they are concerned about more semi-truck traffic coming to the area, as there is already a precarious sharp turn near the Bay Minette Walmart.
Ive watched those trucks going into Walmart, Robert Branum said. They cannot navigate into and out of these businesses without utilizing the entire road.
The Baldwin County Board of Education also opposes the plan. In a letter, the board asked the commission to consider the long-term consequences of approving the plan.
Sarah Young, the boards general counsel, said in the letter that the board is concerned about the potential for Baldwin County Solid Waste employees ... to have access to school children when children are walking to or from school or participating in after-school activities near the campuses.
Billie Jo Underwood, vice chairman of the commission, defended the countys employees at todays meeting, saying they are worthy of not being treated like they are criminals.
You know what? Our employees are good employees, Underwood said, adding that every county employee undergoes a background check.
The commission delayed voting on the plan from its Oct. 3 meeting to the Oct. 17 meeting to allow more time to research the matter.
Editors note: After the publication of this article, a spokesperson for the school board sent a statement to clarify that the general counsel wasnt referring specifically to county employees as a threat to students, but that the board had concerns about concerned about the additional public coming onto these roads.
English News Defining entire China-U.S. relationship as competition is serious misjudgment
Alwihda Info | Par peoplesdaily - 19 Septembre 2023
The Earth is vast enough to accommodate the independent development and shared prosperity of both China and the United States. The United States should abandon zero-sum games and Cold War mentality, break free from the logic of competition and confrontation, and work with China in the same direction with a sense of responsibility towards history, the people, and the world, so as to realize mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation.
By Zhong Sheng, People's Daily In recent years, the United States has always emphasized "competition" when discussing China-U.S. relations, as if competition has become the dominant theme and even the sole focus of the relationship.
From the "competitive, collaborative and adversarial" rhetoric to the "invest, align and compete" strategy, competition has become the main tone of U.S. policy towards China.
The various measures taken by the United States clearly demonstrate that the so-called "competition" has become synonymous with comprehensive containment, unrestricted suppression, and relentless pressure on China.
As two major countries, it is normal for China and the United States to compete in areas such as trade and technology. Such competition should be fair and reasonable, conducted in a benign and regulated manner, with boundaries and prohibited areas. It should not disregard the rules of the market economy and basic principles of international relations. Core interests should not be used as tools for competition or provocative means.
The United States, under the guise of competition, has used its national machinery to suppress other countries, attempting to sacrifice the interests of other nations and hinder their development and progress in order to seek its own competitive advantage. This approach completely deviates from the true essence of competition and only exposes a zero-sum mindset and Cold War mentality.
The United States shows no intention of engaging in fair competition. It recklessly wields the stick of sanctions, forcefully promotes "decoupling" and so-called "de-risking." Driven by ideological bias, it generalizes the concept of national security, imposes excessive regulations and scrutiny, and builds "small yard, high fence" around its own interests. It fabricates a false narrative of "democracy versus authoritarianism," creates an encirclement against China, coerces other countries to take sides, and incites confrontation, disruption, and undermines peace. It constantly provokes China on core issues such as the latter's political system and territorial sovereignty, seriously violating the basic principles of international relations and damaging the political foundation of China-U.S. relations.
The United States employs all means to hinder China, essentially aiming to deprive the Chinese people of their right to choose their own development path, their right to pursue a better life, their right to achieve legitimate development, their right to build national unity, and their right to develop normal relations with other countries.
America's perception of competition as the entirety of its relationship with China is fundamentally flawed, and this stems from a directional problem in its understanding of China.
The United States consistently portrays China as the "most serious competitor," the "most significant long-term challenge," the "most significant geopolitical challenge," the "most significant systemic challenge," and the "only competitor with both the intention and capability to reshape the international order." It is using its own template of hegemony to mirror China and misjudging China based on the trajectory followed by traditional Western powers.
Viewing the world from a zero-sum perspective, one sees division, competition, and conflicts; viewing the world from a perspective of shared destiny, one sees openness, cooperation, and win-win outcomes. The erroneous perceptions and actions of the United States not only disregard the reality of interdependence between China and the United States, but also distort the history of cooperation and mutual benefit between the two countries, dangerously impacting China-U.S. relations.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat recently warned that U.S. policy towards China is becoming a major issue for the world.
China and the United States bear a special responsibility for global peace, stability, and development. The world needs an overall stable China-US relationship.
The two countries should start from the perspective of shared interests and the future of humanity, and compete in such areas as who can govern their nations better and ensure the well-being of their own people, who can provide greater impetus for global post-pandemic recovery and growth, who can offer more public goods in addressing climate change, who can provide better solutions to regional hotspot issues, and who can make the planet safer, more peaceful, and more prosperous for the 8 billion people living on it, including both Chinese and American citizens.
The Earth is vast enough to accommodate the independent development and shared prosperity of both China and the United States. The United States should abandon zero-sum games and Cold War mentality, break free from the logic of competition and confrontation, and work with China in the same direction with a sense of responsibility towards history, the people, and the world, so as to realize mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win cooperation.
Only by doing so, both countries can learn from each other, make progress together, shoulder international responsibilities as major countries, and contribute their wisdom and strength to global peace and development.
(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 : < > Finance Ministers' Meeting Seeks $30 Billion Boost for Water and Sanitation AI Beauty Ranking: The Most Attractive U.S. Presidential Candidates for 2024 Climate dialogue held to explore new opportunities of China-U.S. cooperation on green development Pour toute information, contactez-nous au : +(235) 99267667 ; 62883277 ; 66267667 (Bureau N'Djamena)
Amy Reichert is the Republican candidate for District 4 San Diego County Supervisor. She ran in 2022 against Nathan Fletcher and lost. Nathan Fletcher resigned from his position earlier this year after sexual misconduct allegations. She ran against three other candidates the second time and the election will be heading to a runoff where the voting will begin in November. The election is down to Monica Montgomery Steppe, a Democrat and the President pro Tempore of San Diego City Council and Amy Reichert. Amy Reichert is a licensed private investigator, small business owner, and leader of a Christian 12-step rehab program. She also founded ReOpen San Diego, an organization against COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates. Her top three priorities are lowering the cost of living, crime, and the homelessness population of San Diego.
Your first political campaign was against Nathan Fletcher last year and this is your second attempt. What did you learn from running against Fletcher and how have you applied that to your campaign now?
During my campaign against Fletcher, I personally experienced these derogatory terms and more. I made a promise to myself and the public that I would maintain a higher standard, refraining from name-calling or mudslinging.
Now this year, with the Special Election underway to replace him, I'm running with the same principles that guided me in my previous campaign. I firmly believe that how one conducts their campaign is indicative of how they will govern. I've renewed my commitment against mudslinging, and I take pride in the race I've run.
Youve been very open about your past personal struggles and how it has influenced your policies but how have they influenced you personally? How have you grown from your experiences?
Twenty-five years ago, I was in the midst of a deeply challenging period in my life. I was eight months pregnant with my first child when my father passed away due to MS when he was only 56 years old. Just five weeks later, after a normal pregnancy but a week overdue, my daughter Ashley was born in a coma. She spent three days in the NICU, and I held her in my arms as her heartbeat slowly faded away.
In the aftermath of these heart-wrenching losses, I found myself seeking help through emergency grief counseling. I was put on a regimen of various antidepressants at the highest dosages, and I was diagnosed with major depression and PTSD. Unfortunately, I turned to alcohol as a way to cope.
But in 2004, a profound transformation occurred in my life. I found solace and renewal in my faith as I became a Christian and embarked on the journey to sobriety.
Now, I no longer think of my experience as PTSD; I prefer to call it PTSG, (Post Traumatic Stress Growth). Through this challenging journey, I discovered the power of finding meaning and purpose in life.
Monica Montgomery Steppe has more experience in politics. Why do you think youre still the better candidate despite having less experience?
The cost of living is skyrocketing, homelessness is on the rise, and crime rates are increasing. As an elected representative in the City of San Diego, my opponent's tenure has been marked by a growing sense of disillusionment among the people. Many feel that their voices aren't being heard, and they're deeply concerned about San Diego becoming like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
My candidacy represents an alternative path forward. I bring a fresh perspective, unencumbered by the baggage of traditional politics. I am committed to listening to the concerns of the people, addressing the root causes of the problems we face, and implementing innovative solutions. It's not about the years of experience; it's about the ability to bring about real change and make a positive impact on the lives of San Diego residents.
Why should we focus more on the mental health issue of homelessness rather than the economic issues?
There's a well-established connection between homelessness, severe mental illness, and severe addiction. In California, for instance, the state has invested a staggering $23 billion in the "Housing First" approach, which primarily treats homelessness as an economic crisis. Unfortunately, despite this substantial investment, chronic homelessness has continued to increase.
To truly make a difference and reduce homelessness in our community, we must take a comprehensive approach that includes mental health support, addiction treatment, and affordable housing solutions. This way, we can tackle the root causes of homelessness and provide those in need with the holistic help they require to rebuild their lives and regain stability.
You want to lead with compassion for people struggling with mental illness, yet you also want to mandate mental health and addiction facilities. Why is forcing homeless people to go into a treatment center against their will the compassionate thing to do?
Allowing people to sleep, suffer, and die on the streets is not compassionate. The tragic statistics from San Diego, where the number of unhoused people who died last year increased sixfold since 2012, with 588 lost lives, highlight the severity of the issue. Often, individuals who are severely mentally ill or grappling with severe addiction find themselves in encounters with the police, leading to incarceration.
In such cases, where someone is either mentally ill, struggling with severe addiction, and has committed a serious crime, I advocate for an alternative approach -- mandatory treatment rather than incarceration. This isn't about punishment; it's about providing the help and rehabilitation they need to rebuild their lives and find hope through treatment and recovery. It's a compassionate way to address the root causes of their issues and ensure that they receive the support they require for a better future.
Crime is a huge problem in San Diego. Will you adopt a tough on crime approach to public safety or a more holistic and humane approach?
While it's crucial to hold individuals accountable when they commit crimes and victimize others, we must take a more holistic approach that emphasizes rehabilitation rather than simply locking people up and throwing away the key. We should strive to address the root causes of criminal behavior and provide opportunities for individuals to reform, reintegrate into society, and become productive citizens. Tough-on-crime policies have their place, but they should be complemented by humane and rehabilitative approaches that aim to break the cycle of crime and create safer, more inclusive communities.
Do you foresee yourself also getting involved in preventing discrimination against the unvaxxed employees in private companies?
Now, when it comes to private employers, it's worth noting that most vaccine mandates have been rescinded. My commitment to defending workers' rights remains steadfast, and I will always advocate for fairness and justice in the workplace, no matter the setting.
If you win and become County Supervisor, how will you make sure people know that you are not a politician despite you being one?
My commitment to putting people first and serving them remains unwavering. People know that they can rely on me to act in their best interests and do what's right, regardless of political labels. I aim to continue being a public servant who prioritizes the well-being of our community and isn't bound by typical political constraints.
Image: Amy Reichert for San Diego
There is more than one way to skin a cat, it seems.
I have previously pointed out the craziness of the epistemic standard that is being deployed against Donald Trump in the election-interference cases. The epistemic standard in question is the belief, or more precisely the assumption, universally shared by Trumps opponents, that its unreasonable to believe that the 2020 election was stolen. Heres an innocuous-seeming but flagrantly question-begging recent example from The Bulwark: The widespread conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 election, depicted in both the federal Washington, D.C. indictment and the Fulton County, Georgia indictment, was an attack on the foundations of the republic.
This is to assume what must be proved. What must be proved, in order for the anti-Trump unreasonableness postulate to be justified (i.e., that its unreasonable to believe the 2020 election was stolen), is the assumption that the election clearly was not stolen. This assumption is inherent in the anti-Trump unreasonableness postulate. That postulate is not merely pervasive but universal among Trumps enemies, including among some members of the Federalist Society. The problem is that it cant just be assumed but must be proved (in that it must at least be cogently argued for), if one is to justify the belief/assumption that its unreasonable -- as opposed to mistaken albeit reasonable -- to believe that the election was stolen.
I happen to think its not mistaken to believe that the election was stolen, but the point here is the further one that its not unreasonable to believe that. Whether the belief that the election was stolen is mistaken or not is a whole different issue. It is, of course, the issue we should be addressing, and which we would be able to fairly address were it not for the question-begging Big Lie narrative, which shuts down a proper debate.
However, theres another big difficulty with the idea that its unreasonable to believe that the 2020 election was stolen. This is that the claim that its unreasonable to believe the election was stolen is counterintuitive. Note well: its not counterintuitive to think that the election was not stolen. Whats counterintuitive is to think that its unreasonable to believe the election was stolen. That this is counterintuitive is the inescapable conclusion of any honest and self-aware thinker who has a basic familiarity with the events preceding Election Day 2020, and the several days following it -- whether or not that person believes the election was in fact stolen.
Often, but not invariably, the unreasonableness standard (or postulate) is counterintuitive on one or both sides of any social or political controversy in which there is widespread disagreement, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, COVID vaccines and masking, and the 2020 election. A case-by-case analysis will show whether, when one side is regarded by the other side as having an unreasonable belief, the unreasonableness is symmetrical between the two positions. It might or might not be. It may be that just one of the two (or more) sides is thinking counterintuitively. But often, both sides are. As we will see in the case of Trump, the symmetry or asymmetry can be as revealing as the matter of being counterintuitive in the first place.
Take abortion, by way of example. The proposition that its unreasonable to believe that fetuses have a right to life is powerfully counterintuitive, even if you are someone who believes that fetuses do not, in fact, have a right to life. Also counterintuitive is the proposition that its unreasonable to believe that a woman has greater moral autonomy than a fetus. (Thats a close analogue to its unreasonable to believe that the fetus does not have a right to life.). In short, the unreasonableness postulate appears to be symmetrical as between the contesting positions in the abortion debate. This tie with respect to counterintuitive thinking suggests that each side in the abortion debate must, for the sake of having a rational debate, steer clear of unreasonableness postulates. In other words, in the abortion debate it is better to embrace epistemic modesty in the form of what it is reasonable to believe, and to reject the epistemic triumphalism of what it is unreasonable to believe. The former is far less likely to raise the specter of counterintuitive thinking, maybe vastly less likely.
Needless to say, the desirability of rejecting the unreasonableness standard is for situations where disagreement is widespread and plainly reasonable; it does not apply to, say, a debate about whether the earth is flat. We can confidently say its unreasonable to believe that the earth is flat. This is admittedly an extreme case; there are still other cases where its hard to say what is unreasonable or not unreasonable. Another thing to be clear about: the counterintuitive thinking in question is understood to be after or upon reflection. A rational intuition or counterintuition can certainly be pre-reflective, but oftentimes, such as with the 2020 election and the question of whether it was stolen, it seemingly cannot be pre-reflective. You have to first think about the matter, in light of the observable facts, to decide what it is rationally intuitive or counterintuitive to believe about the 2020 election.
Suppose we try the flipside by considering the pro-Trump unreasonableness standard. Abbreviating (for ease of reading) the statement its unreasonable to believe that the election was not stolen as unreasonable-to-believe-not-stolen, ask yourself whether its counterintuitive. Unreasonable-to-believe-not-stolen is undoubtedly as question-begging as unreasonable-to-believe-stolen, but is it just as counterintuitive? The answer is that if the pro-Trump unreasonableness standard is counterintuitive at all, it is surely less counterintuitive than the anti-Trump unreasonableness standard.
Interesting.
In the 2020 election debate, and notably unlike in the abortion debate, counterintuitive thinking is (apparently) asymmetrical. And its asymmetrical in Trumps favor. This is very unexpected! The fact that unreasonable-to-believe-not-stolen is not obviously counterintuitive -- in contrast to unreasonable-to-believe-stolen -- helps make clear how striking is the bias against Trump in the election-interference cases, and on the subject of the Big Lie more generally. And all this from a logical, or more precisely an epistemic, perspective. (Epistemic means simply knowledge-relevant, where knowledge is understood, as it has long been by philosophers, as justified true belief.)
If youre someone like Jamie Raskin, this is the point where maybe you start to get depressed. It will take a bit longer before you begin to suspect that the only thing you have against Trump, at least in the election-interference cases, is propaganda. And then you will have to choose between your personal integrity, on the one hand, and what your tribe counts as success, on the other hand. If youre someone like J. Michael Luttig or William Barr, you have to worry about that, but also about what tribe you belong to.
Image: Becker 1999
China, Zambia make steady progress in development of economic cooperation zone
Xinhua) 15:37, September 19, 2023
The Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone has seen steady development and progress over the years, according to data from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC).
Since its establishment in 2007, the economic cooperation zone has attracted nearly 100 businesses, with its total investment surpassing 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, according to the CNMC, a centrally-administered state-owned enterprise (SOE) that built the zone.
As Zambia's first multi-functional economic zone, it has also created over 10,000 local jobs, the CNMC said.
The company added that it would continue to scale up investment in Zambia and bring more Chinese investors to Zambia with the help of the cooperation zone.
So far, over 10 centrally-administered SOEs from China have worked with Zambia across various sectors, including mining, transportation, electricity, manufacturing and agriculture, yielding successful projects such as the Tazara Railway and Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Officials from the US state of Arizona and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) discuss increasing its advanced chip packaging capacity by opening a facility in the US.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) is in Taiwan Tuesday (September 19) as part of a broader US delegation visiting the island nation to discuss with officials and firms focused on Taiwan's key role in the semiconductor supply chain, Bloomberg reported.
In addition, US Undersecretary of Commerce Laurie Locascio said Washington is talking with TSMC about research and development for the first time in an effort to bring more of the world's biggest contract chipmaker's technology to the US.
Chip Packaging a Bottleneck to Settle, Says TSMC Chair
Packaging has become a bottleneck in the fabrication of the most in-demand silicon of today, especially for Nvidia's artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators, which TSMC makes.
In response, TSMC chairman Mark Liu told Semicon earlier this month that the company has committed to expand its packaging capacity in Taiwan, but expected that supplies to tighten for another 18 months. Cadence Design Systems CEO Anirudh Devgan also told the same event that packaging would be the key battleground for nations seeking to establish tech leadership, something Taiwan is attempting to maintain in its conflict against China.
Read Also: Same Hackers That Broke Into MGM Also Targeting Other Companies, Including Caesars: Report
TSMC Proposes to Increase, and Develop Chip Packaging Facility in AZ
To date, TSMC's commitment to Arizona now spans two fabs and $40 billion in investment. Adding advanced packaging to its current commitments would increase the firm's chipmaking capability outside Taiwan.
Last December, TSMC had already said it would offer more advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips from its Arizona plant at the request of Apple, which is one of its biggest customers.
Hobbs added that her state and TSMC are "working through some bugs," but was "very impressed" by the speed of developments in their discussions that the project to develop TSMC's Arizona plant was reported to be continuing as scheduled. TSMC executives added in its latest earnings call that the operation of the first Arizona plant would be delayed to 2025 due to a lack of skilled labor, among other things.
Hobbs also said that over 30 supply chain companies have come to Arizona in the past year, adding that the state has a "highly skilled workforce" that has been continuing to grow.
She further added that Taiwan should bring more workers stateside to work side by side with Arizonans.
In response, TSMC said in a statement it was "honored" to host Hobbs at its headquarters where executives held "productive discussions" with her.
"We believe the dialogues that we held during this visit will help us to work together even more closely in the future," the company added.
Related Article: TSMC Announces Plans to Build 2nm Chips in Kaohsiung Plant, Establish Factory in Germany
@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A handy barometer for federal, monetized aggression against the American people can be readily seen in the documents of the U.S. Census, as it fails to justify its growing demands upon our privacy and insists on the priority of race in every evaluation.
The U.S. Census documents imply, by focus and repetition, that racism is the crowning national proclivity -- despite the same being, in real life, sanctioned by a slim minority. Arent most of us tired of being held ransom in black vs. white land? I know I am. If we consider Census-speak as a whole, its insistent presumption is that we the people are to confirm, in writing, the Feds bizarre, loose identity politics.
The racial categories included in the census questionnaire generally reflect a social definition of race recognized in this country and not an attempt to define race biologically, anthropologically, or genetically. In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as American Indian and White. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race. OMB requires five minimum categories: White, Black, or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
Oh-Kay. The Census does admit that it is not using formal definitions or understandings of what race means, at all: that is right; they arent, but they are making some up. Whatever might be a social definition of race?
If we use William Shakespeares marvelous definition of humanity, of a naturally equal human species that trumps race, spoken by Juliet to Romeo, we can draw a legitimate analogy as to how secondary, at best, race truly is, compared to the family of man:
Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
Whats Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
Whats in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
Juliet affirms that nothing about Romeo, no part of him, argues against his essential identity, the human persona that she partakes of and loves. Most relevant here is her first line: Tis but thy name that is my enemy. Juliet is telling Romeo that the only element dividing them from each other is that which seeks his or her identity in ones family name (the Montagues and Capulets are locked in a long, bitter feuding). She is telling Romeo that she and he are of a piece and that their shared humanity overrides family or blood feuds, or names (or races, by analogy).
From the US Census:
In addition, it is recognized that the categories of the race item (emphasis added) include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups. People may choose to report more than one race to indicate their racial mixture, such as American Indian and White. People who identify their origin as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be of any race. OMB requires five minimum categories: White, Black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
How and why, exactly, can the race item include racial and national origin or sociocultural groups? By what agency or definition does national origin define race? Are the French a race? Are Ugandans a race? For heavens sake, what even is a race item? And what of sociocultural groups? Can diverse but grouped, acronym-heavy phenomena e.g., Transgender, BLM, MADD, Pacific Islanders, AA, etc., now be sociocultural groups and, therefore, by U.S. Census illogic, be a race item? This is dangerous nonsense. The reference to OMBs minimal and required categories is even more noncommittal; that is, its racial labeling is not characterized as racial, or as anything else. What does the OMB have to do with this? (See taxes.)
In national crises such as we face today, Abraham Lincoln -- having put on his frequent verbal armor, humor -- argued against the racial identity politics of his time:
If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B. -- why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A? -- You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be a slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own. You do not mean color exactly? You mean whites are intellectually the superiors to blacks, and therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own. But say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest, you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.
In agreement with Shakespeares Juliet, Lincoln is standing for the extra-racial prerogatives of being born a human being, which standard made him the most beloved of U.S. Presidents. He is showing no partiality. He has no special interests, no identity politics. Maybe the lawyer in him scorned the notion of evaluation by skin color, or recognized by skin color/shade, as highly illogical and unreal. As in Juliet, for Lincoln, a human person is as such, and our humanity to be taken seriously as sure identity. Most of us are Juliets or Lincolns in this regard, if we can just get on with it.
After summing up its diverse and illogical racial items, the Census information minders attempt to rectify their racial fixations as Reasons:
Reasons for Collecting Information on Race Information on race is required for many Federal programs and is critical in making policy decisions, particularly for civil rights. States use these data to meet legislative redistricting principles. Race data also are used to promote equal employment opportunities and to assess racial disparities in health and environmental risks. The most telling, prophetic sentence is the last: Race data also are used to promote equal employment opportunities and to assess racial disparities in health and environmental risks.
Now, we really see the green lights flash: for more federal tinkering, intrusion, expansion, and racial incitement. And, oh yes, we will be taxed more for it. By the feds lights, having included every identity politics gadget in their Census store, we are to be reassured that every citizen will be assessed, redistricted, budgeted, policy-enhanced, fairly employed, medically insured, and environmentally protected. More incoming American dough for Medicare, Social Security, and the international panoply of federal service-minded ops. Thats the switch. Race was only the bait.
Image: RCragun
The Border Patrol, which remains focused on its mission and is generally less corrupted than the rest of the federal workforce, has a little something to say to all the sanctuary cities out there:
Note to sanctuary cities, counties and states:
Stop your whining. You declared yourselves sanctuaries for illegal aliens while condemning those who think our laws should actually be enforced. You helped Biden unleash this historic disaster. Live with it.https://t.co/e0l4YkbgDc Border Patrol Union - NBPC (@BPUnion) September 17, 2023
Sure, it was done by the Border Patrol union, and not the agency itself. But it pretty well indicates what the rank and file are thinking.
That may be why we are seeing strange videos like these, this time in San Diego, which has become the latest dumping ground for Joe Biden's catch-and-release:
NEW: Watch as Border Patrol mass releases hundreds of illegal migrants to a city street in San Diego as CBP facilities are overcrowded.
Migrant: Its no problem if I go to Chicago?
BP agent: You can do whatever you want, youre free.
These are Bidens buses, not Texas. pic.twitter.com/X7J9Vq9AfK Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 15, 2023
Shocking video shows hundreds of migrants being let go from buses to roam the streets of Democratic-run San Diego as Gavin Newsom's California is overrun by border crisis https://t.co/TQYV08VZ9j pic.twitter.com/EnrqlMJ8a1 Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) September 16, 2023
SHOCKING footage from Southern border reveals how Biden Border Agents RELEASE illegals into US:
You can do whatever you want, youre free.
pic.twitter.com/sOq2wyZ0WW Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 18, 2023
The invasion is being supported by Mexico. They want these illegals out of their country. pic.twitter.com/9Jn0I4fdQQ @amuse (@amuse) September 17, 2023
It may be that the Border Patrol doesn't even care anymore. They've been demoralized and spat on by their ultimate commander in the White House who clearly doesn't want them to do the job they are trained and committed to do, so their next step is to just dump migrants in deep blue sanctuary cities and let what happens, happen. If they can't enforce the law, they can make the leftist preventing them from doing their job pay.
In a world run by Joe Biden, that is the next best thing.
Image: Twitter screen shot
Why is it always California?
According to an AP report out three days ago:
The state of California filed a lawsuit against some of the world's largest oil and gas companies, claiming they deceived the public about the risks of fossil fuels now faulted for climate change-related storms and wildfires that caused billions of dollars in damage, officials said Saturday. The civil lawsuit filed in state Superior Court in San Francisco also seeks creation of a fund financed by the companies to pay for recovery efforts following devastating storms and fires. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement the companies named in the lawsuit Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP should be held accountable.
Then we learned yesterday that there's more to the story. Per an article by Kevin Killough from Cowboy State Daily:
The suit is seeking money for alleged damages but doesn't ask that the companies be stopped from producing oil and gas.
So let's just get this straight, shall we? California is alleging a corrupt conspiracy in which fat-cat capitalists prioritized profits before people and intentionally deceived the public about looming "catastrophic" climate change consequences they "knew" would manifest as a result of their product's use, but the state isn't even asking the court to prohibit the defendants from continuing this alleged criminal behavior? Instead, Gavin Newsom, California attorney general Rob Bonta, and all the other Machiavellian civil servants will drop the lawfare just as long as the defendants agree to foot the bill for the recent spate of storm-related damages and finance a fund for future losses, too? This sounds eerily similar to...extortion.
This is one big exercise in Look! Squirrel!
Pay no attention to the stormwater systems now obsolete and disintegrating because we were too preoccupied with doling out universal welfare to millions of illegal aliens instead of building crucial flood control infrastructure. Look! Over there! Big Oil!
Never mind the big government red tape that requires "environmental impact" studies before construction projects like dams, levees, and drainage systems can break ground. Look! Over there! Big Oil!
Don't focus on the incompetent and unqualified agency hirees developing asinine policy, because California is a government of "diversity" and "equity" (not brains and merit). Look! Over there! Big Oil!
Ignore the fact that "settled climate science" dictating "fire exclusion" was the best course of action turned out to be completely wrong, creating overly dense forests (five times what is natural) that explode into infernos instead of regenerative and small-scale burns. Look! Over there! Big Oil!
And whatever you do, keep your eyes glued on Greasy Gavin as millions of taxpayers (and their tens of billions of dollars) flee the state, seeking refuge after a brush with death by taxation, because look! Over there! Big Oil.
Image: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.
The constant stream of ads for firms telling employers they can collect $26K from the feds for every employee they kept on during the unnecessary COVID lockdown is disappearing from the talk radio and cable news stations I favor. Alan Rappaport reports in the New York Times:
The Internal Revenue Service said on Thursday that it was freezing a pandemic-era employer tax benefit that has been a magnet for fraud and has cost the federal government billions of dollars as the agency looks for ways to stop the program from being abused.
The tax collector also said it had referred thousands of claims for the so-called Employee Retention Credit [ERC TL] for audits and had initiated over 250 criminal investigations involving nearly $3 billion in potentially fraudulent claims.
The moratorium on new claims underscores the high level of alarm within the I.R.S. that the tax credit has been misused and abused. Top I.R.S. officials have warned that the program is being exploited by unscrupulous "tax mills" accounting firms and other companies that aggressively lure taxpayers who are not eligible for refunds to submit applications anyway. Many of these companies receive either commissions for submitting applications or a percentage of the refund and have been relying on faulty interpretations of the rules of the program to convince small business owners that they have a chance to get free money.
The Covid panic was engineered (remember Fauci changing his tune on whether masks were necessary?) to justify changes in election rules necessary to steal the 2020 election from Trump. But the economic consequences were so severe that deficit spending to pump money into the economy was a no brainer for many members of Congress from both parties. Hastily-created programs to quickly hand out hundreds of billions of dollars (funded by the national debt) was an open invitation to fraud. One that was widely responded to positively by many segments of the populace:
Maryland's U.S. attorney found a big connection between violent crime and COVID-19 pandemic fraud.
Maryland U.S. Attorney Erek Barron told the 11 News I-Team that his office found that 60% of violent criminals are also committing some type of COVID-19 fraud, and because of that, his office investigates every single violent crime target to see whether they've committed pandemic fraud.
Barron told the I-Team that the 20% reduction in homicides and the 10% reduction in nonfatal shootings in Baltimore City can both be explained by his office prosecuting COVID-19 fraud. Barron said that if his office can't lock up violent offenders for those crimes, there's a good chance his office can prosecute them for pandemic fraud.
When Israeli prime minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu arrives in New York this week to address the United Nations General Assembly, the television news channels will be sure to highlight the disgraceful sight of Israelis joining Palestinians, radical leftists, and other Israel-haters to protest Israel's democratically elected leader.
You will see Israelis, who deserted Israel years ago, accusing Bibi of all sorts of fraudulent claims. One of the most hypocritical was already displayed on a huge sign facing the U.N. building, calling him a "Crime Minister" despite unproven guilt as the weak cases brought against him are collapsing due to lack of any substantive evidence.
WATCH 'Don't believe Crime Minister Netanyahu' projected on UN building in New York ahead of Israeli PM's visit
pic.twitter.com/xNVOqdmOtu Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 17, 2023
The hypocrisy of the Israeli left I speak of is that they are led by a very real criminal actor, Ehud Olmert, who served time in prison on corruption charges after egregious breaches of public trust.
In their blatant hypocrisy, these left-wing Israelis are not embarrassed by this important detail, and the media will not cover it.
As such, Bibi's current turmoil is a microcosm of what is going on in America as fearful members of the left are determined to slam their political rival in prison, preferably before the 2024 presidential election, even as they work to judicially gag him from speaking publicly of his innocence, and how those of the Democrat left are destroying traditional justice and true democracy before our eyes.
In America, we see the emerging evidence of the Biden crime family and a justice system and a media establishment that cover up for it, all while Soros-selected prosecutors and justices corrupt the justice system and democracy, in pursuit of their feared political rival and in New York, you will witness the Israeli version of a losing left resorting to any means necessary to destroy the competition.
You will see Israelis join arms with anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, anti-Semitic demonstrators, while slandering Israel in the name of democracy. For shame!
Image: YouTube video screen grab.
One big premise for the Green New Deal is that Venus's atmosphere is a "runaway greenhouse" due to its atmospheric composition being largely carbon dioxide gas, which absorbs the outgoing infrared radiation from the surface, thereby retaining the heat from the incoming sunshine. This blanketing effect is said to be so effective that the surface temperature of Venus is hot enough to melt lead.
But has anyone ever compared Venus's atmosphere to the Earth's with the goal of testing this assumption? Let us do just that using established physical laws. I propose to use Gay-Lussac's Law as our starting point. It states that the absolute temperature and pressure of an ideal gas are directly proportional, under conditions of constant mass and volume.
We start with the fact, established by NASA, that the surface pressure on Venus is 93 times that of the Earth. Since pressure is measured with respect to a fixed surface area, typically per square inch, the one-inch cube of gas at the surface of Venus would be much, much hotter than the similar cube at the surface of the Earth ninety times hotter for an "ideal gas." Carbon dioxide is not an ideal gas, but clearly the much higher surface pressure should result in a much higher temperature. Due to the higher pressure, we expect Venus to be hotter than the Earth. This would be true regardless of the solar input. Moving Venus out to the orbit of Mars would not change the mass of the atmosphere or the acceleration of gravity, so simply the compression of the gas results in a high surface temperature.
Let us try a thought experiment based on Earth's atmosphere. Let us imagine that a passing comet's tail is drawn into our atmosphere. Let us assume it is 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon, and the mass of the gases drawn in is equal to the mass of Earth's current atmosphere. In effect, we have doubled the mass of the atmosphere, and therefore the surface pressure, without changing the greenhouse gases. The "greenhouse effect" would be unchanged. But Gay-Lussac's Law tells us that the surface temperature would soar. You do not need a "greenhouse effect" to get a higher surface temperature.
If our insight is correct, what would we expect to see in reality?
We would expect the temperature to decrease with increased altitude and therefore pressure. That is known as the adiabatic lapse rate. Even a kid with a window seat on an airliner can feel the window get cold as the plane increases its altitude. Given the task of drawing a tall mountain, the child is likely to put a glacier at its peak. If he were to fly to South America, over the country of Ecuador (derived from "Equator"), he could see its seven glaciers. Glaciers at the Equator? Who knew? The summit of the tallest, Chimborazo, "despite not being the tallest mountain in the Andes or on Earth ... holds the distinction of being the farthest point on Earth's surface from the Earth's center, due to its location along the planet's equatorial bulge. Chimborazo's height is 6,263 m (20,548 ft), well below that of Mount Everest (8,849 m)." Given that the local gravitational force is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the centers of gravity (Newton's law of gravitation), it would have the lowest surface pressure on Earth. Therefore, it would be quite cold cold enough to maintain a glacier about 102 miles south of the Equator. It is located at 1 28 9 S, 78 49 3 W; -1.469167, -78.8175. With the approach of the autumnal equinox on Earth, it is also interesting to note that while Earth has glaciers at each pole, Venus is believed to have a fairly uniform surface temperature, even on the dark side and at the poles. This makes sense if the temperature is determined by the pressure, but not based on insolation. Caltech gives the length of a Venusian day at 5,832 hours contrasted with our 24-hour day. To put that in context, the Venusian night is half that, or 122 Earth days long. Its night is four months long, yet the temperature does not decline significantly? That makes no sense. Only a Green New Dealer who thinks solar panels are the solution to our energy future would believe that.
Let us consider other terrestrial bodies' surface temperatures.
Mercury is closest to the Sun and gets the strongest sunlight, but it is cooler than Venus due to its low gravitational force and low surface pressure.
The Moon gets the same insolation as the Earth, being at the same average distance from the Sun, but is much colder. It has little atmospheric pressure and a lower gravitational force.
Mars has a carbon dioxiderich but very thin atmosphere with less gravity than Earth and is therefore much colder.
There is a good correlation between a planet's surface pressure and temperature. QED.
Image via Raw Pixel.
The Democrat party's strength exists primarily in its control over the federal workforce, most of whom are Democrat party loyalists. Trump promised in 2016 to pare down the Deep State but failed. Instead, it pared him down. Now Republican candidates are again promising to cut back on the federal workforce, with Vivek Ramaswamy believing that he can fire whole departments and agencies. Naturally, that mindset represents a huge threat to the Democrats, so it's being reported that the Biden administration is trying to create rules to prevent any future Republican from destroying the Deep State bureaucracy.
According to an article in Newsmax,
[t]he White House proposed a new rule Friday aimed at impeding Trump or a similarly minded Republican president's ability to replace the federal workforce with loyalists, strengthening protections for civil service employees. It ensures that a move Trump tried to make in the last year of his presidency to broaden the number of federal employees not subject to political protections would have significant hurdles if tried again.
The fight is over the rule known as "Schedule F." At the end of his first term, Trump created this category in the federal workforce. He defined "Schedule F" employees as those people "in positions of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character." According to Trump, a new president should be able to fire that kind of employee rather than being saddled with holdovers from the last administration. He's right, of course, as a matter of principle.
Biden has a different idea. Again, from Newsmax:
Now, the rule proposed by the White House's Office of Personnel Management in its Federal Register filing allows workers to keep their existing job protections even if their position were reclassified. The rule also tightens the definition of what positions can be exempted from civil service job protections, specifically limiting it to noncareer political appointees.
The big question, then, is how much control the president has over the people who work for him. Is he just a figurehead who must bow to the will of his employees, or is he the big boss, the man whom the people elected to effectuate his administration's policies (which, of course, include implementing the laws of the United States)?
In this regard, note that Biden has explicitly directed the border patrol to ignore the laws of the United States. The fact that he hasn't been impeached for this since the 2022 election tells you how deeply invested the Republican party is in illegal immigration or rather, make that the Chamber of Commerce branch of the Republican party (or, as I also call them, the Vichy Republicans). The Republican party once owed its loyalty to Main Street America. The Vichy Republicans are now loyal to corporate America, which, if you look at who really owns these companies (BlackRock, Vanguard, Unilever, etc.), means the world's globalists, along with their Democrat party values.
But back to who has power over the federal workforce...
The permanent bureaucracy began under Woodrow Wilson, a racist progressive Democrat who believed that he and his cohorts had the "expertise" necessary to run the country without regard for the wants of the American people. Franklin Roosevelt, another racist progressive Democrat, used the Depression to create the modern administrative state. They effectively created a fourth branch of government that is not recognized under the Constitution.
After his election, John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order 10988, which unionized the federal workforce. This put the Wilson-Roosevelt bureaucracy on rocket fuel. Federal employees now had an unprecedented level of job security and, eventually, wealth. This permanently welded their loyalty to the Democrat party. Today, they earn more money and have better benefits than their peers in the private sector and, most importantly, have unmatched job security. It's almost impossible to fire a federal worker.
But as the past few years have shown, these federal workers are no longer non-partisan drones, quietly carrying out the will of the American people as reflected in legislation. Instead, with few exceptions, they are hardcore Democrat loyalists. In the DOJ, the FBI, the IRS, the Department of Education, the Pentagon, etc., they deliberately ignored Trump's authority and carried on as if there hadn't been a change in command in the White House.
So the big question is whether the federal bureaucracy, without the benefit of a constitutional amendment, exists as a completely independent branch of government over which the president has no control or whether the Constitution makes the president the big boss with plenary power over the people who work in the bureaucracy.
I believe that, as the nation's chief executive, the one charged with managing the government and implementing the laws of the United States, the president has complete power over the people and agencies that extend his reach so that he can engage in those managerial activities. If they're not following his orders, he can fire them...and no legislation or regulations can protect them. Neither Congress nor the unconstitutional branch of government called the administrative state can interfere in the Executive's realm.
Schedule F reflects that constitutional reality by saying that, at a minimum, the president can fire those bureaucrats who set the policy within a given agency. Any Democrat attempts to put rules in place blocking a president's plenary power over that policy-making segment of the federal workforce are unconstitutional.
Of course, that's the (correct) theory. In fact, what is constitutional and what isn't ultimately comes down to what the powers in Washington choose to do. If the bureaucrats refuse to go along with being fired and a Republican president backs down, then the Constitution doesn't matter. And if the Supreme Court, led by the noodle-spined Justice Roberts or the mysteriously cowed young conservative justices, declares that the Deep State has permanent rights...well, once again, there will have been a soft coup against the Constitution.
Image: Bureaucrats the real power in Washington, D.C.? This is a picture from the Oregon Department of Transportations offices, but a bureaucrat is a bureaucrat. CC BY 2.0.
Where money amasses, Clintons follow.
So it didn't take long for the Clintons to suddenly get their interest in "philanthropy" back after a long droughty hiatus.
According to the Associated Press:
The need to Keep Going is the theme of this year's Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, as Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conferences return last year after a six-year hiatus. Giving up and giving in is a surefire guarantee that we will not make progress on the major challenges that face us, Bill Clinton said in his opening statement. Being distracted and majoring in the minors may be momentary good policy, but its a terrible way to run a railroad or a country. CGI announced numerous new programs Monday that it hopes will gather new monetary commitments and engagement, including gender equality and continued support for the people of Ukraine.
As for Ukraine, well, Ukraine would get abortion, lots of abortions, as would every other place their Global Initiative's gelid hand touches:
Hillary Clinton announced that gender equality will now be the fourth pillar of CGIs activities, along with fighting climate change, economic inclusion and public health issues. It is time to close the wage gap once and for all, Hillary Clinton said. It is time to protect and expand access to reproductive health care, abortion and quality maternity care once and for all. It is time to ensure that every girl everywhere can get the education she deserves.
Seems there's more than one way to kill off Ukrainians. Who needs Russian rockets?
Which raises questions as to why Pope Francis is openly shilling for this group, which not only openly promotes abortion, but is corrupt and scandal-plagued to boot.
The Clinton Global Initiative was specifically planning to start something called the CGI Ukraine Action Network, drawing in financial pledges to bankroll NGOs working in the country.
According to AP:
The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday, In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference. However, for nonprofits working in Ukraine, the spotlight CGI is offering them, 18 months after Russias invasion of the country, may be just as important as the monetary commitments. The nonprofit Save Ukraine, which has opened community centers across the country to help families and especially children traumatized by the war and works to rescue Ukrainian children who have been detained in Russia, is set to receive commitments of support during CGI that it plans to use to open more centers, said Olga Yerokhina, spokeswoman for the charity.
Seems Ukraine's been down this road before with the Soros bunch, but no matter. The Clintons will be their new Soroses. And with Ukraine the most corrupt nation in Europe according to international raters of such things, what could go wrong?
The Clintons will shake down corporations for "donations," likely with the implicit promise that political favors will come to them in return once they regain power, and corporations will line up to donate.
Nobody rides for free with the Clintons.
Now that Joe Biden is falling apart as president, it's not surprising to see the Clintons get active on the money front with the aim of regaining political power.
Donations to their foundation from foreign sources soared as Hillary's presidential prospects rose, and skidded to nearly nothing when her prospects were squelched. By 2021, they fell 93% from their 2006 peak.
Gee, what did that coincide with in Hillary's career?
Issues & Insights did an excellent piece showing that curious correlation.
A quick review of the flagrantly corrupt dealings of the Clinton Foundation is in order. When Hillary took the job of secretary of state under President Barack Obama, she promised that the foundation wouldnt accept foreign donations. It took in money from at least seven foreign governments. Documents showed that 85 of the 154 private interests who met with Clinton at the State Department had donated money to the foundation. Emails unearthed by Judicial Watch showed that Clintons top aide, Huma Abedin who worked for both the State Department and the foundation gave special expedited access to the secretary of state for those who gave $25,000 to $10 million.
The Issues & Insights chart shows the correlation:
Issues & Insights, by permission
Not only is it a political vehicle for the Clintons' personal enrichment, the Clinton Foundation itself, and its CGI auxiliary, doesn't actually donate much.
According to the Paddock Post, which examined the 2016 books:
In looking at specific line item expenses, the reader is able to see exactly where revenue was spent. BHCCF reported $81.3 million in expenses (not including depreciation) in 2016 which was spent as follows: $37.3 million (53% of revenue): Salaries, Compensation, Benefits, Pension, Payroll Taxes
$14.3 million (20% of revenue): Other Expenses (no detail provided)
$12.9 million (18% of revenue): Travel and Conferences
$ 8.1 million (12% of revenue): Office, IT, Occupancy, Insurance
$ 5.1 million (7% of revenue): Fees for Services (acct, legal, invest fees, staff training, fundraising fees)
$ 2.8 million (4% of revenue): Grants
$ .8 million (1% of revenue): Advertising, Promotion, Exhibits
Umm, four percent went to grants. The rest went to salaries and overhead. They've had whistleblowers. In some years, the Foundation was rated "not suitable" as a charity organization.
Their supposed humanitarian work in Haiti was so shoddy even the leftist press reported it and the Clintons have been met with protests in that country. Ready for that, Ukraine?
With a record like this, it's pretty shocking that the pope is openly endorsing these grifters. The Clintons don't need charity ratings when they've got the pope in their tree.
Now they've seen the money rolling into Ukraine and they'd like to get their snoots in the trough while the getting's good, so now they're back in business.
Heaven help Ukraine with this bunch involved.
The Democrats are learning on a daily basis that there is more to politics than January 6 and hating Trump. They are also learning that some voters think their party has been hijacked by some pretty weird people who think boys can be girls and girls can be boys.
Enter a community in Michigan. This is the story:
The LGBTQ residents of Hamtramck, Michigan voiced their feelings of "betrayal" over the Muslim city council's decision to remove Pride flags from public property, according to the Washington Post. The council unanimously voted in June to ban Pride flags from public flag poles, citing a desire to respect the religious rights of citizens opposed to the symbol. This decision, months later, is still considered an act of betrayal by LGBTQ citizens to the symbol of "diversity" they hoped the council would uphold. "Many residents in this tiny enclave just north of downtown Detroit saw these changes as a sign of Hamtramck's progressiveness. The Muslim community that had previously experienced discrimination, including voter intimidation and resistance to mosques' public call to prayer, had finally taken its seats at the table," the Post reported. It continued, "Yet the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity that made Hamtramck something of a model is being put severely to the test. In June, after divisive debate, the six-member council blocked the display of Pride flags on city property -- action that has angered allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community, who feel that the support they provided the immigrant groups has been reciprocated with betrayal."
Betrayal? Really? Maybe the LGBT community never really understood the value system that these immigrants have. Over the years, I've spoken to many Muslims in the U.S., and they are very conservative on family issues.
Moral of the story: Do not assume that supporting an immigrant is going to have him change fundamental religious values on marriage and sexuality. Immigrants have their values, and they won't let you poison their kids with books and messages that contradict what they believe.
PS: Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.
Image: City of Hamtramck.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan is one of the busiest and the most important spaceport on earth with over a thousand satellite launches under its belt and more than one hundred fifty launches with human crews. As the oldest spaceport, Baikonur Cosmodrome is steeped in history, being behind many milestone space missions, like the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik 1 in 1957, the first spacecraft (Luna 1) to reach the moon in 1959, the first human in the space, Yuri Gagarin, in 1961, and the first woman in space, Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963. Understandably, the Baikonur Cosmodrome have had its share of disappointments and disasters, the most notable among which is the so-called Nedelin catastrophe, which remains the deadliest space exploration related disaster in history.
The space race between the Soviet Union and the United States started with the development of missiles, especially ones that could fly over oceans and continents to deliver nuclear warheads on demand. In 1959, the Soviet Union test fired the first successful ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile), the R-7, developed by rocket engineer Sergei Korolyov. The R-7 would go on to become one of the most successful rockets in history. It was used to place Sputnik in orbit and Yuri Gagarin in space. A heavily modernized version of the R-7 is still used as the launch vehicle for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The trouble with early Soviet missiles was the use of liquid oxygen as the oxidizer for the fuel. Liquid oxygen necessitated cryogenic refrigeration and posed difficulties in long-term storage, essential for missiles on standby for rapid deployment. Additionally, the Soviets wanted a system with better guidance, and an infrastructure that was less vulnerable to surveillance from aerial and satellite reconnaissance.
To address these issues, the Soviet leadership initiated the development of a new type of missile that used so-called storable propellants, with improved navigation and smaller mobile launch platforms. The propellants chosen for this new missile, designated the R-16, were unsymmetrical di-methyl hydrazine (UDMH) as a fuel and inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IFRNA) as the oxidizer. These propellants were hypergolic, meaning they spontaneously ignited upon contact, eliminating the need for external ignition sources.
Both the fuel and oxidizer have high boiling points compared to other rocket fuels (such as liquid hydrogen) and oxidizers (such as liquid oxygen), that allowed rockets to remain fueled and ready for launch over extended durations without the risk of the fuel or oxidizer evaporating and requiring replenishment. With these new type of fuels, a missile could be rolled out of the hangars, fueled and readied for launch within three hours. The downside was that both UDMH and nitric acid are extremely corrosive and toxic. They were so dangerous that Soviet engineers called them devils venom.
The R-16 missile was developed by Mikhail Yangel, and heading the missile development program was Chief marshal of Artillery Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin. Together, the two men were determined to have a successful test launch by October 1960 as an early gift to Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet premier, in celebration of the upcoming 43rd anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution. To meet the deadline, the design and development of the missile was rushed, including its flight-development test program. Veterans of the test range would later testify that the rocket was plagued with problems since the day its testing commenced in Tyuratam on September 26, 1960.
Mitrofan Ivanovich Nedelin
On the morning of October 21st, the new R-16 rocket was rolled out to the pad at Tyuratam. The initial checks at the launch pad were apparently uneventful and were completed successfully by October 23. On the same day the missile was fueled for launch. By the time of the fueling, by protocol, all unessential personnel was supposed to leave the area, but Marshall Nedelin and Mikhail Yangel ignored the safety rules and stayed at the pad. Nedelin reportedly set up a chair on the pad to observe and direct operations. Around 150 other nonessential people, including military and civilian, also remained on the pad.
Shortly after the fueling process was finished, the rocket developed a fuel leak. However, this leak was considered tolerable, as long as it did not worsen, and preparations for the launch continued. According to certain accounts, there were requests to drain the fuel and remove the rocket from the launch pad, but Nedelin rejected these suggestions, saying that there would be "no time for such things in a nuclear war." At this juncture, the tests had already reached a point of no return, as once the rocket was fueled, there was no procedure in place to drain the propellant from the vehicle. Consequently, the launch team had no alternative but to proceed or abort the mission. The latter was not possible as it would delay the launch by at least a month, destroying any chance of meeting their mandatory launch schedule.
The following day, October 24th, was the day of launch. Several high government officials had arrived to view the launch, and a viewing stand was set up for them 800 meters from the pad. Nedelin was under tremendous pressure from Moscow to launch on time, and when another delay of 30 minutes was announced Nedelin insisted on going back to the pad himself to figure out what's going on. Meanwhile, mounting technical problems and lack of time were pushing the technicians to the wall. The presence of Nedelin on the launch pad would have put even more pressure on the technicians, thereby compromising the safety at the pad.
At approximately 18:45 hours, about 30 minutes before the scheduled launch, a technician turned off a switch called PTR (or Programming Current Distributor) which activated the systems onboard the rocket in a certain sequence. When the operator turned the switch to neutral, the switch momentarily moved through an operational position that sent a spurious signal to open the propellant line valves of the second-stage engines. Upon mixing, the propellants self-ignited and the engines came to life, with an estimated 250 unsuspecting people still around the rocket.
Instantly, the roaring flame of the engine burst through the fuel tank of the first stage directly below, initiating an enormous explosion of the fully-fueled rocket. In seconds, a giant fireball, up to 120 meters in diameter engulfed the launch pad.
Many people were killed instantly, while many others burned and fell off the pad, still in flames, attempting to escape the blaze. A video camera that had been set up to record the launch captured these terrible moments instead.
Roscosmos engineer Boris Chertok describes the incident in Rockets and People:
The enormous temperature at a significant distance from the epicenter of the fire burned peoples clothing, and many of those fleeing who got bogged down in molten asphalt burned up completely. [...] Running for their lives, they found themselves in the ditch surrounding the launch site or on sand; instead of throwing off their flaming clothes or falling to the ground to extinguish the flames, like burning torches, they attempted to flee farther from the launch site and got tangled in the barbed wire surrounding it. Rescue workers arriving on the scene attempted to help the people who had run to them. They flung them to the ground and threw sand on them. It was 2 hours before the fire fighters managed to contain the fire and the launch site became accessible to the rescue workers.
Another eyewitness describes the horrific scene:
At the moment of the explosion I was about 30 meters from the base of the rocket. A thick stream of fire unexpectedly burst forth, covering everyone around. Part of the military contingent and testers instinctively tried to flee from the danger zone, people ran to the side of the other pad, toward the bunker...but on this route was a strip of new-laid tar, which immediately melted. Many got stuck in the hot sticky mass and became victims of the fire...The most terrible fate befell those located on the upper levels of the gantry: the people were wrapped in fire and burst into flame like candles blazing in mid-air. The temperature at the center of the fire was about 3,000 degrees. Those who had run away tried while moving to tear off their burning clothing, their coats and overalls. Alas, many did not succeed in doing this.
Chief Marshal Nedelin perished in the flames (he was reportedly only 15 meters away from the rocket when it exploded), but missile designer Mikhail Yangel survived only because he had left to smoke a cigarette behind a bunker a few hundred meters away. Later, an enraged Khrushchev rebuked Yangel, asking him why are you still alive?, to which Yangel reportedly answered in a trembling voice, Walked away for a smoke. It's all my fault.
At least seventy-four people died that day and approximately fifty more died later of their injuries. Details of the disaster remained a secret for nearly three decades. Nedelin's death was officially listed as having occurred in a plane crash. Details about the disaster did not become public until 1989 when the Soviet Union acknowledged the events.
Exactly three years after the disaster at Tyuratam, on October 24, 1963, another fatal accident at the launch pad resulted in the death of 7 people. Since then, October 24 is regarded as the Black Day at Baikonur Cosmodrome, and no launches take place on this day.
Today, the site of the explosion at Site 41 lies as a desolate, forsaken parcel on the outskirts of the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Here, one can find a modest memorial bearing the names of the individuals who lost their lives and a map illustrating the layout of the old launch complex. In another part of the base, there stands a solitary casket, which holds the remains of those individuals who could not be identified. This casket was interred in Leninsk Park and now rests beneath a gentle rise of grass, encircled by a small enclosure.
The memorial at the site of the disaster. Photo credit: Mixrunya/Wikimedia Commons
References:
# Boris Chertok, Rockets and People, Volume 2: Creating a Rocket Industry
# System Failure Case Studies, NASA
# Nedelin disaster, Russian Space Web
# Nedelin disaster, Aerospaceweb
A suspect in the shooting deaths of a family (two adults, two children, and three dogs) in their Illinois home is on the loose. Police are continuing their investigation into this ruthless event.
On Sunday, September 17, authorities discovered the bodies of the victims inside a house in a Chicago suburb.
Shot to Death
The corpses were discovered with gunshot wounds at about 8:40 PM local time in Romeoville, Illinois, as reported by Fox News.
Deputy Chief Chris Burne of the Romeoville Police Department said in a press conference on Monday, September 18, that the victims were likely shot sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning. Yet their investigation is still in its early stages.
Family members called police when one of the victims failed to show up to work on Sunday morning, prompting an initial well-being check at the residence.
According to Burne, the police are treating their deaths as murders. Authorities do not think the perpetrator is now among the victims. There was not a murder-suicide involved in this incident.
Police have said that they do not feel there is an active danger to the community since the killings occurred over 18 hours ago. Burne added that there was no active search for suspects or shelter-in-place directive in effect.
Also Read: New York Daycare Death: NYPD Seeks 3rd Person Involved in Fentanyl-Related Killing of 1-Year-Old Boy
'Violent, Devastating'
The parents were named by police as Alberto Rolon, 38, and Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, but the identities of the children were withheld.
The kids who died were students at Robert C. Hill Elementary School, according to a statement made by Valley View School District (VVSD) superintendent Rachel Kinder on Monday.
"It is with deep sadness that we inform you about a recent loss to our VVSD school community ... This violent incident and loss are sure to raise many emotions, concerns, and questions for our entire school community," Kinder said in a statement. According to the message, the school is making resources about mental health and therapy available to the families of its students, CNN reported.
Local residents in the area are now worried that something like this may happen in their quiet neighborhood.
Next-door neighbor Lynn Phillips called it "devastating" in an interview with the Chicago Sun Times.
Cristina Ibarra, a resident of the neighborhood for the last three years, told the media that police seldom make patrols in the area due to the relative peace and quiet.
In an interview with CBS, some neighbors said the victims just moved home recently. Even locals did not know much about the family, saying they never saw them for more than a few minutes outside.
Next-door neighbor Carol Love claims that she and several others on the block were home during the gunshots but did not hear anything despite being just a few feet away.
"We hear the gunshots from the shooting range, two miles away. We can hear those nonstop. But not this, no," another neighbor stated.
Also Read: Indiana: Deaths of Abigail Williams, Liberty German Allegedly Part of Ritual Sacrifice
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ASUS has sued Samsung for allegedly violating its wireless communication patents related to 4G and 5G networking technologies. The Taiwanese company is taking legal action after reportedly failing to strike a licensing deal with Samsung. It has named more than 200 Galaxy devices among the list of products infringing on its patented technologies, including the Galaxy S23 series and the latest foldables.
This complaint was filed by Asus Technology Licensing, an ASUS subsidiary that owns its patents, and Celerity IP, an intellectual property management firm in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The plaintiffs allege that Samsung has violated its 4G/5G wireless technology patents covered under US Patent No. 10,187,878. It was issued to ASUS in January 2019, the official filing notes.
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The technology in question involves a method and apparatus for improving a transmission using a configured resource in a wireless communication system. According to the official complaint, ASUS notified Samsung about its infringing on this patent in January 2022. It offered the Korean behemoth a global license to use the patented technologies in exchange for a royalty fee. However, Samsung rejected the Taiwanese firms offer.
ASUS and Samsung had a prolonged discussion over the matter over an 18-month period that began in January 2022. After failing to reach an agreement, ASUS has decided to drag the Korean behemoth to the court, Bloomberg Law reports. The company says Samsung willfully infringed on its patents. It is seeking recovery of damages resulting from the Korean firms actions, at least in the form of reasonable royalties.
ASUS says Samsung used its patented technologies in over 200 Galaxy devices
The licensing negotiations have been unsuccessful because Samsung has refused to engage in a good faith licensing discussion concerning the plaintiffs valuable patents, the complaint states. Given Samsungs unwillingness to license the plaintiffs patents, or to cease its infringement, the Plaintiffs have filed this lawsuit for the purpose of protecting their patent rights in the United States.
As said earlier, ASUS complaint names more than 200 Galaxy devices as accused products. These include devices as new as the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy Z Fold 5 and as old as the Galaxy A3 from 2014. The accused products also include Samsung tablets and smartwatches. Time will tell whether ASUS has a solid case in hand and if it manages to win this fight. It has demanded a jury trial for all issues, so we might be in for a long courtroom battle here.
Move over, AI! There are other innovations getting attention in this modern-day era, and satellite calling is one of them. Several companies are looking to break down the barrier between our phones and the satellites orbiting the Earth. According to Cord Cutters, using the AT&T 5G network, a user was able to make a call through a satellite.
Several companies are looking to usher us into the age of satellite calls. Youre able to make SOS satellite calls using your iPhone. Also, companies like Huawei and Samsung are looking to bring satellite calls to the public. Using this technology, people far away from signal towers will still be able to get a signal. If youre out in the middle of nowhere, this could come in handy.
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An AT&T 5G call was made through a satellite
Were stepping toward satellite calls, and this call was a major leap forward. Back on September 8th, an AST SpaceMobile engineer was able to successfully complete a call from Maui, Hawaii to Madrid, Spain. This call used AT&Ts 5G network, and it was completed through AST SpaceMobiles own low-Earth orbit satellite called BlueWalker3.
There are two things that are notable about this call . Firstly, this is a major step forward. This involves a phone call between two regular phones routed through a satellite. Apples implementation is restricted to emergency calls, which isnt a bad thing. It just limits the use case. The call made through AT&T could have been a casual call.
Secondly, the area in Maui was far from any cell tower; it was basically in the middle of nowhere. That call would have been impossible under other circumstances. Ostensibly, this could make dead zones a thing of the past.
AST SpaceMobile has been performing equally incredible feats over the past couple of months. In April this year, the team was able to make the first direct-to-device voice call between Texas and Japan. Then, in June, they made history again by completing the first file download using BlueWalker in a dead zone in Maui. They were able to reach 10Mbps download speeds.
They didnt stop there, as the team completed the first video call on 4G using the satellite technology. Also, they were able to tap speeds up to 14Mbps. Who knows what milestone the team will pass next?
Huaweis recent return with the Mate 60 Pro smartphone has drawn the attention of the U.S. government due to concerns about how the company managed to manufacture 7nm Kirin 9000S 5G chipsets amidst the sanctions. Now, in a recent development, Foxconn Technology Group, a key Apple supplier, is reportedly offering higher wages to workers involved in the production of Huawei smartphones at its Shenzhen manufacturing unit.
Huawei seemingly pays more money to workers making Huawei phones, compared to those making iPhones
According to the report, Foxconns FIH unit, which specialises in manufacturing Huawei smartphones, has hired new workers at an hourly wage of 26 yuan ($3.60) to assist in assembling the Mate 60 Pro. This wage is notably higher than the 21 yuan offered to workers at Foxconns Integrated Digital Product Business Group (iDPBG), responsible for iPhone assembly.
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The new hires will know what phone they are making after the factory allocates them to different teams based on current demand, but these days, they have a higher chance of making handsets for Huawei, said a recruitment agent.
This development comes at a time when Apple has been intensifying efforts to expand its supply chain to countries like India and reduce its dependence on China. As a result, companies like Foxconn have had to seek alternative production opportunities.
Huaweis resurgence
Following the U.S. governments sanctions on Huawei, it appeared that the company had no path to recovery. However, the launch of the Mate 60 Pro has left U.S. officials bewildered. This is because Huaweis earlier flagship models, like the Mate 50 series and P60 series, were forced to use a downgraded version of the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, which lacked 5G network compatibility. However, just a year after its release, the new Mate 60 Pro, equipped with chips produced by SMIC, can access all 5G networks.
Furthermore, with Huaweis plans to re-enter the global market, U.S. officials have raised concerns about the need for even stricter regulations on the company.
HONOR CEO, George Zhao, decided to comment on the iPhone 15 series, as he believes the devices are disappointing. He said that in a recent interview, and he did elaborate on it.
HONOR CEO is not impressed with the iPhone 15 series
To be more accurate, this is exactly what George Zhao said: When everyone can expect it before the launch, we feel a little disappointed. Despite that, he believes that the iPhone 15 series will sell really well.
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He did say that it lacks when it comes to innovation, though. He believes there is more than one area where the phones are lacking in terms of innovation, but he believes the form factor is the main one. Hes disappointed Apple is still only selling bar phones.
This is understandable, as HONOR recently showed off two truly innovative foldable phones in Berlin. The HONOR Magic V2 is the thinnest book-style foldable out there. The HONOR V Purse is an innovative, fashion-forward, and outwards-folding foldable smartphone.
HONOR is actually expected to announce the HONOR V Purse in China today, making it a product that will actually be available, not just a concept smartphone.
Apple doesnt seem to be in a hurry when it comes to foldable phones
In any case, George Zhao, and everyone else, will have to wait in order to see a foldable from Apple. There are still no strong signs that Apple is remotely close to delivering something like that.
The company has been rumored to be working on foldable prototypes for a long time now. We havent really seen a concrete rumor regarding an actual launch. As per usual, Apple is waiting for everyone else to perfect something (in this case a different form factor) in order to jump in. The company is not in a hurry at all.
Apple did make a major move forward with the iPhone 15 series, though, as it finally included a Type-C port on the device. Truth be said, the EU forced Apples hand, but still, its nice to see.
The Google Pixel Watch 2 is said to have a skin temperature sensor among a handful of other upgrades revolving around health and safety. Including new personal safety features, an EDA sensor, and a reintroduction of translation features.
For the translation features, users will reportedly be able to translate conversations using the interpreter mode from Google Assistant. Translations happen directly on the watch and those are played out loud. Users can set up a default language and then a second language to translate to and from. Making this a perfect tool to have on trips. The feature is said to be live already on the Pixel Watch. Plus Google apparently has plans to launch it on Wear OS as part of the launch of the Pixel Watch 2. Although it isnt clear which devices might get support.
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New personal safety features are also on the way. This includes a new safety check feature that will alert your emergency contacts if you dont respond to a safety verification following the expiration of a designated countdown. Additionally, the Pixel Watch 2 will be able to display core medical information if a crash is detected by your Pixel smartphone. The third new feature will allow you to share your location with emergency contacts.
Pixel watch 2 to get skin temperature and EDA sensors
Two of the new features coming to Googles Pixel Watch 2 will be the skin temperature and EDA sensors. These are both sensors that were available on the Fitbit Sense 2, and are now making the jump to Googles Pixel hardware. The EDA sensor will reportedly be intended to help users manage stress. As for the skin temperature sensor, its not mentioned what the exact use of this will be for. But on other devices it can and is used in relation to tracking menstrual cycles. It could also be used for helping you get a better picture of your overall sleep quality.
For example, if the sensor tracks a higher temperature overnight, you could use that data to try and adjust how warm things get. Like using less blankets or perhaps turning on a fan. With the Pixel Watch 2, wearers will be able to get on-demand readings. So the skin temperature sensor could have multiple uses for wearers.
Samsungs mega huge Odyssey Neo G9 57 gaming monitor is now available for pre-order. This is the same monitor that Samsung showed off during CES and then more recently announced the pricing for. When it was first revealed, Samsung only showed off a picture of the monitor alongside some specs. But no price tag or availability timing.
We learned the official price back at the end of August and unsurprisingly its fairly expensive. Coming in at $2,499 its not Samsungs most expensive gaming monitor but it sure is up there. Thankfully Samsung is throwing in a pretty special deal for those that pre-order. A $500 credit that can be used on Samsung.com. This can be redeemed immediately if you so choose. Or Samsung lets you save it for another purchase down the road. You dont have long to spend it though as it will expire after November 30 of this year. Theres also one rather large caveat.
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You cant use the $500 for the pre-order price of the Odyssey Neo G9 57
Samsungs wording makes it sound a little like you can, but you cant. You can use it immediately in the same purchase order of the monitor. You just cant use it to lessen the price of the monitor.
To use it immediately, you would need to throw in other stuff with your order. Say a new SSD to go with the new monitor so your games load faster. Or really any other product Samsung sells on its website. Another thing to keep in mind is that if you defer the $500 credit, it can take up to 35 days to get it emailed out to you at the email associated with your Samsung account. So at worst you get the credit code about 30 days before it expires. Depending on when you place the pre-order.
Speaking of which, if you want the credit, you have to place the pre-order for the Odyssey Neo G9 57 by October 1. Theres not a lot of wiggle room there. But if you fancy saving $500 on something else from Samsung that you wanted, nows the time to take advantage.
In 2022, South African-born American entrepreneur, Elon Musk, announced his purchase of Twitter for approximately $44 billion. This made him the sole owner of the company. As Twitters new owner, he initiated significant changes, including changing the name from Twitter to X, newly this government ID account verification in X, workforce reduction of about half the company, and the introduction of an $8 per month fee for users to obtain blue checkmark verification.
X is partnering with AU10TIX, an Israeli company specializing in identity verification, to make this happen. They may store the data, including the photos and ID information, for up to 30 days.
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Extra benefits of government ID verification in X
X believes that this verification process can do more than just prevent impersonation. It could help with controlling content and reducing spam. Verified users will see a note on their profile indicating that their government ID has been verified, but others can only see this when they click on the blue checkmark. In an interesting move, X is allowing paying users to hide the checkmarks on their profiles. This has led to some confusion about the account verification in X. However, X plans to make it easier for users to get verified with their IDs and also wants to give verified users more flexibility in changing their names, usernames, or profile photos without losing their checkmark.
In April, Twitter discontinued its legacy verification program and removed checkmarks from accounts. But since that caused a lot of chaos, the company reinstated the checkmark for top accounts.
The checkmark system has been controversial, especially since Elon Musk took charge. It was briefly behind a paywall but was later brought back after users complained. X is also planning to collect biometric data from users, which has raised concerns about privacy. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into possible privacy and security issues related to this.
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 19 - The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni has reconsidered controversial new rules concerning air fares on certain domestic routes, it emerged on Tuesday.
In an amendment to the so-called Asset decree currently before parliament for conversion into law, the executive has eliminated the price cap of 200% of the average fare and given the Italian antitrust authority powers to verify possible abuses.
"The conduct exercised (by airlines) on the routes to the islands, the period of peak seasonal demand, and prices that are more than 200% above the average fare are considered circumstances and indications that the Authority can take into account," reads the technical report.
In a letter to the European Commission trade body Airlines for Europe (A4E) contested the price cap, arguing that it could "set a precedent and lead to a domino effect" as well as "violating" the rights of companies to '"compete wherever possible, set prices and define services as they see fit".
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson also blasted the measure, describing it as "ridiculous, illegal and interfering with the free market, according to European law" and later announcing a 8% reduction in the air line's services to and from the Italian island region of Sardinia this winter as a direct result.
However, ENAC President Pierluigi Di Palma said an "oligopoly" had formed in the Italian domestic air-transport market.
"Particularly in the case of Ryanair, which has bought other companies like Air Malta.
"It's clear there is a no longer a free market, but the imposition of the price and little consumer protection," he said.
Antitrust Authority President Roberto Rustichelli, meanwhile, told a Senate hearing on the law conversion bill that the measure did not hinder airlines' ability to "independently set their price policies", adding that it appeared to try to impede "illegal exploitation of market power to the damage of particularly vulnerable consumers".
Photo: Antitrust Authority President Roberto Rustichelli (ANSA).
(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 19 - Many migrants and refugees continue to die during the sea crossing from north Africa to Europe, said Juan Matias Gil, Head of Mission of the Geo Barents rescue ship operated by Doctors without Borders (Msf) that disembarked 471 people in the Puglia port of Brindisi on Tuesday. The new arrivals feel "relief for the end of this long crossing and for the end of their stay in Tunisia, which is becoming very hard," added Gil.
Tunisia is the country of departure of many of the migrants and refugees embarking on the dangerous journey in search of safety and a better life in Europe.
People departing from Tunisia have started to report "borderline situations" especially in Tunisia, "with people who had been there for many years being turned away", said Gil.
He also said "many people are raped and taken back to the borders with Algeria and Libya, where they find themselves in a crossfire as neither country is safe". "People tell us they are raped in the streets when they go to buy food," he added.
Italy has made cooperation with third countries such as Tunisia a central pillar of its strategy to stem irregular migration and played a leadership role in pushing through the Memorandum of Understanding between Tunis and the EU on stepping up cooperation to curb departures and the activities of smuggling gangs in exchange for funding, which was sealed during a visit to Tunisia in mid-July by EC chief Ursula von der Leyen, Premier Giorgia Meloni and Dutch PM Mark Rutte. (ANSA).
Futures Exchange (FTX) has sued the parents of its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, for allegations of using the company to enrich themselves at the expense of the company's customers.
According to its CEO John Ray III, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, among other insiders, have been benefiting from their son running FTX like a "family business."
Bankman-Fried initially pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding FTX customers by using their funds to prop up his own risky investments. Despite this, he has been detained ahead of a trial scheduled to begin on October 3.
Other former FTX executives have also pleaded guilty to criminal charges, Reuters reported.
Read Also: [Timeline] The Rise and Fall of FTX Chief Sam Bankman-Fried
The Family that Scams Together?
FTX's lawsuit alleged that Bankman and Fried accepted a $10-million cash gift and a $16.4 million luxury property in the Bahamas from the firm, even as it was about to collapse. The company further alleged that the parents also pushed FTX to make tens of millions of dollars in charitable contributions, including to their alma mater, Stanford University.
Bankman, a tax specialist at Stanford Law School, often positioned himself as the "adult in the room" in a firm run by his son and other executives who were relatively young and with little to no management experience. However, the lawsuit added, Bankman "stayed silent" when he saw the warning signs of fraud and did little to prevent FTX's leadership from misappropriating customer funds.
Meanwhile, Fried was the strongest influence on FTX's political contributions, which caused her son and his fellow executives to directly contribute millions of dollars to a political action committee that she co-founded.
SBF's Legal Team Denies FTX's Embezzlement Claims
On the other hand, Bankman and Fried's attorneys, Sean Hecker and Michael Tremonte said in a joint statement that FTX's claims were "completely false" and the lawsuit a waste of funds that could be returned to the company's customers.
"This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their child's trial begins," the legal counsels said.
To date, FTX has recovered more than $7 billion in assets to repay customers and has been pursuing additional recoveries through lawsuits against FTX insiders and other defendants who received money from FTX before it went bankrupt.
Related Article: Robinhood Buys Back Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's Stake for $606 Million From US Government
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A post office auditor gave inaccurate information to the High Court that led to the bankruptcy of a subpostmaster, the Post Office Horizon Inquiry has heard.
Helen Rose, who worked as an auditor between 1999 and 2004, issued a signed witness statement in 2006 before civil proceedings involving subpostmaster Lee Castleton, which indicated he was sloppy and slapdash.
On Tuesday, the inquiry heard an audit conducted in March 2004 by Ms Rose had actually recorded the opposite.
Subpostmaster Lee Castleton was made bankrupt after the High Court proceedings (Yui Mok/PA)
Mr Castleton, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, whose branch was found to have a 25,000 shortfall, was made bankrupt after he lost his legal battle with the Post Office.
Counsel to the inquiry Jason Beer KC took the witness through the audit, in which she had answered yes to the question: Is the safe kept locked when not in use with the key removed?
But in paragraph nine of her first witness statement for the court, Ms Rose had said: The inspection revealed that the safe was left open, the safe keys were left in the safe door and it was not secured, that cash and stock were not secured during lunchtime if the subpostmaster was not on the premises.
Under questioning from both Mr Beer and chairman to the inquiry Sir Wyn Williams, the witness said: I dont have an explanation as to why that wasnt taken out.
Sir Wyn continued: I am slightly concerned because your evidence to me is, in effect, that (the information) in this statement and the previous version in the second statement should, in effect, never have been in those witness statements because theyre wrong?
Given that you were the person who signed them, I would like you to try to remember why it is they are there.
Mrs Rose replied: I have no recollection of it, Im sorry.
Continuing his own questioning, Mr Beer asked: Why is inaccurate evidence being given to the High Court?
The Horizon scandal has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history (Brain Lawless/PA)
Mrs Rose said: I cant recall. I dont know.
Mr Beer continued: Youre telling the court in this paragraph here, arent you, this man, Mr Castleton, was sloppy and slapdash. There are things that we saw when we audited him that could well explain the missing money.
Thats what this paragraph is for, isnt it?
Mrs Rose responded: Thats what it kind of indicates, yes, but, as I say, I dont know why that wasnt picked up at the time of the hearing.
Mr Beer also directed the witness to paragraph 10 of her statement to the court, in which she said: I do remember that Mr Castleton left the branch at lunchtime and returned in the afternoon smelling strongly of alcohol.
He continued: Theres no reference in the contemporaneous note of nearly two years previously to that issue and thats found its way into the witness statement. How has that come about?
Mrs Rose replied: I dont know.
It must have been a comment I felt necessary to mention but I cant remember it.
Mr Beer told the inquiry another part of Mrs Roses audit commented on how Mr Castleton seemed very pleased to see the auditors and that he had been in contact regularly with the Horizon helpline and retail line manager Cath Oglesby.
Mr Beer questioned Mrs Rose: Do you think these two pieces of information might assist Mr Castleton he was very pleased or he was pleased to see the auditors and he told you Ive been in contact with the retail line manager, Cath Oglesby, and the Horizon helpline regularly since these problems began'?
Mrs Rose replied: I dont know. I cant answer for what I did back in 2004 but I can only presume that the audit report would have been part of the evidence and so it wasnt duplicated.
He asked the witness: So why is it that these two bits of information that might help Mr Castleton have been excluded from the witness statement but paragraph 9 has been left in and paragraph 10 has been added?
Mrs Rose answered: I honestly dont know why other things have not been included at the time.
On Monday, the Government announced that wrongfully convicted subpostmasters will be offered 600,000 to settle their claims.
The Horizon scandal, which has been described as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, saw more than 700 Post Office branch managers handed criminal convictions after faulty Fujitsu accounting software made it appear as though money was missing.
The Government said 86 convictions have been overturned and 21 million has been paid in compensation.
China has been invited to attend Rishi Sunaks flagship summit on artificial intelligence (AI) despite tensions with Beijing.
Relations with China have been strained by a series of security rows, including the arrest of a parliamentary researcher under the Official Secrets Act.
But Chinas status as a technology superpower has led the Government to extend an invitation to the summit on AI safety at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire in November.
The summit is part of the Prime Ministers plan to position the UK as a global leader on AI.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Chinas status in AI means it should not be excluded from the summit (Victoria Jones/PA)
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said: We cannot keep the UK public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech.
Thats why China has been invited to our AI Safety Summit in November.
The UKs approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners, and engage where it is in the UKs national interest.
Public confirmation of the arrest of the researcher who insists he is completely innocent came only weeks after Mr Cleverly became the first Foreign Secretary in five years to visit China at the end of August.
The Prime Ministers representatives for the AI summit are engaging with China and other countries to determine the precise nature of their participation in the Bletchley Park gathering.
Rishi Sunak is keen to establish a key role for Britain in harnessing and regulating AI (Aaron Chown/PA)
Downing Street declined to say whether the invitation was extended to President Xi Jinping, saying it would be up to the Chinese government to set out whether they intend to attend or indeed who they may send.
It will be for each country to decide who they think is the appropriate representative, Mr Sunaks official spokesman told reporters.
Mr Sunak previously said the gathering would be open to like-minded countries.
Asked whether China was considered as such, given its inclusion, his spokesman said: I think our position on China is well established and indeed is set out in the integrated review refresh.
We recognise that China is an authoritarian country and represents a significant challenge.
And its right only to engage when its in the interest of the British public and I think thats what youre seeing us do here.
James Cleverly will announce measures to ease developing countries access to funds to invest in climate action to help achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals.
The Foreign Secretary will push for a more inclusive international financial system at the UN General Assembly in New York.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been accused of snubbing the gathering of world leaders, blaming diary pressures for his absence and instead sending a team headed by his deputy Oliver Dowden and including Mr Cleverly.
The Foreign Secretary will announce new financial guarantees for multilateral development banks at Tuesdays sustainable development goals (SDG) summit.
Through one guarantee of up to 300 million US dollars (about 242.3 million), the UK could help unlock up to 1.8 billion dollars (1.45 billion) of climate finance to support people in Asia and the Pacific in adapting to climate change impacts and help their transition to low-carbon energy, according to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The UK will also contribute around 180 million in support of an international finance facility for education, which could help make up to one billion dollars (810 million) in new financing available to boost school enrolment in Asian and African nations, the FCDO said.
Mr Cleverly said: The extra finance needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is estimated to be around four trillion dollars (3.23 trillion) annually. We urgently need bold global action to build a bigger, better and fairer international financial system that helps close this gap.
The UK played an instrumental role in establishing the Goals and we are committed to achieving them by 2030. Together with our international partners, we are going faster and further, to change the international financial system and make sure no one is left behind.
The voice of the poorest and most vulnerable countries must be heard at the heart of the multilateral system.
Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden will lead the UK delegation (PA)
The UK should be leading from the front in supporting countries in need, both because its the right thing to do and also because its in our interests. Thats why a Labour government will reconnect the UK with our partners around the world, to boost prosperity and security at home and abroad.
Shadow international development minister Lisa Nandy said steps to help developing countries access finance are welcome but accused the Government of playing catch-up after years of withdrawing from the world stage.
The SDG summit is held once every four years and this year marks the halfway point to the 2030 deadline for achieving the global plan to improve the planet and the quality of human life.
Mr Sunak was accused by aid and development leaders of stepping back from leadership on globally agreed goals by skipping the event.
He is not the only world leader expected to miss the gathering, which is set to see discussions on the war in Ukraine, artificial intelligence (AI) and the threat of climate change.
French President Emmanuel Macron is not expected to attend and neither is Chinas Xi Jinping nor Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The UN gathering comes weeks after world leaders met at the G20.
Mr Cleverly will hold talks with his US and French counterparts among others during the trip.
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine will also be on the agenda, with Mr Dowden a close ally of the Prime Minister set to attend UN Security Council sessions during the week.
He will also use an address to the general assembly on Friday to call for countries to co-operate on new technology such as AI, with meetings also due to be held with top tech companies during the American visit.
Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has launched a broadside on Sir Keir Starmers Labour leadership and accused the party of smearing her with accusations of antisemitism.
The veteran MP, who was stripped of the Labour whip in April for comments she made on race, said the five-month party investigation into her remarks was fraudulent.
She said: There is a widespread sentiment that as a black woman, and someone on the left of the Labour Party, that I will not get a fair hearing from this leadership.
Ms Abbott suggested in the open letter published on Twitter, now known as X, that she believes the current Labour leadership is looking to oust her from Parliament by ensuring she cannot stand for the party.
Labour said it would not provide a running commentary on the independent process reviewing Ms Abbotts case.
Ms Abbott, who became the first black woman elected to Parliament in 1987, had the Labour whip suspended after comments she made suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism all their lives.
In a letter at the time to The Observer, the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said that although white people with points of difference suffer prejudice, they have not suffered the same racism as black people.
Following a backlash, including from Jewish MPs, she apologised for any anguish caused, suggesting errors arose in her initial draft letter to the newspaper.
A day after the whip was removed, Sir Keir condemned the comments as antisemitic and said they would never be accepted in the party.
Ms Abbott, in an attack on the party on Tuesday, said: The internal Labour Party disciplinary against me is fraudulent.
I was told by the chief whip to actively engage with an investigation. But the Labour whips are no longer involved it is run entirely out of the Labour Party HQ, which reports to Keir Starmer and there is no investigation.
This is the same Keir Starmer who almost immediately pronounced my guilt publicly.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Diane Abbotts comments amounted to antisemitism (Gareth Fuller/PA)
This completely undermines any idea that there is fairness or any natural justice.
It is procedurally improper.
The Independent MP continued: The Labour Party has not charged me with antisemitism because they know it is untrue.
As someone who has fought all forms of racism all my life, I would consider it a very serious allegation.
Instead, it has been used to smear me, my reputation, and decades of anti-racist work.
The 69-year-old accused the leadership of taking over her Constituency Labour Party, saying it had decapitated the local leadership to install its own, hand-picked personnel and replace me as the candidate prior to the next election.
Ms Abbott, a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn who also lost the whip in 2020 after his response to an equalities watchdog report into antisemitism in the Labour Party during his tenure, said blocking her from standing in her long-held seat was what some have clearly wanted all along.
The treatment of Diane Abbott Britains first female Black MP is a disgrace. The latest stitch-up represents yet another flagrant attack on local democracy. A lifelong anti-racist campaigner, Diane deserves so much better. So do party members being treated with contempt. pic.twitter.com/qMyV5bYk3c Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) September 19, 2023
Following publication of the open letter, Mr Corbyn tweeted: The latest stitch-up represents yet another flagrant attack on local democracy.
A lifelong anti-racist campaigner, Diane deserves so much better. So do party members being treated with contempt.
Momentum, a left-wing pressure group, said Ms Abbotts treatment by the Labour leadership was nothing short of disgraceful.
A spokesman for the group, which was prominent under Mr Corbyns leadership, said: In a new low, it seems that in their factional vendetta to force a black socialist woman out of Parliament, the Labour leadership have exploited horrific crimes to shut out local Labour members and undermine due process.
If there is any semblance of democracy and due process in Starmers Labour, a fair and proper process should rapidly be concluded and the whip restored.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he entirely rejected Ms Abbotts assertions.
Weve had some issues to sort out in the Labour Party, we wouldnt be where we are as a potential next government in this country if we hadnt addressed them, he told Sky News Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.
Diane had a well-publicised incident that resulted in the disciplinary action that has happened. She did that, no-one forced her to write that letter. Theres a process thats now followed.
I dont know where that investigation is at but I do think the public expect political parties to exercise high standards and to police those standards.
A Labour Party spokeswoman said: The Labour Party rightly expects the highest standards of behaviour from its elected representatives, and has introduced an independent complaints process to investigate cases.
We do not give a running commentary on ongoing investigations.
The father of Sara Sharif has been ordered to face trial next autumn as a court heard the 10-year-old suffered a constellation of injuries culminating in her death.
On Tuesday, Urfan Sharif appeared at the Old Bailey alongside Saras stepmother, Beinash Batool, and uncle, Faisal Malik, following their return from Pakistan last week.
All three are charged with murdering Sara and causing or allowing the death of a child.
Court artists sketch of Sara Sharifs stepmother, Beinash Batool, uncle, Faisal Malik, and father, Urfan Sharif (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
The court heard that Surrey Police had found Saras body after receiving a call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, at 2.47am on August 10.
The defendants flight to Pakistan had been booked two days earlier, on August 8, the court was told.
Officers arrived at the family home in Woking, Surrey, and found the young girl lying face up and fully clothed under a blanket in a bunk bed in an upstairs room.
She was identified using the DNA of her mother, Olga Sharif, who lives in Somerset, and another relative.
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the court that Sara was found to have a constellation of healed and healing injuries.
They allegedly included a healed fracture to her collar bone, a healed fracture to the hyoid bone in her neck, multiple rib fractures, bruising to her torso and limbs, and a brain haemorrhage.
Mr Bedloe alleged: It follows Sara had been subjected to multiple events of violence over a sustained period of time that must have culminated in her death.
He added: There is quite a significant amount of post-mortem work ongoing and that will continue.
The day before Sara was found, the three defendants allegedly left the UK for Pakistan with five children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
A note left on flowers outside the house in Hammond Road in Woking, Surrey, where Sara Sharif was found dead (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Last Wednesday, the trio, of Hammond Road in Woking, returned to the UK and were arrested on landing at Gatwick Airport.
At the court hearing on Tuesday, Sharif, 41, Batool, 29, and Malik, 28, appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Belmarsh high-security jail in south London and Bronzefield womens prison in Surrey.
They spoke only to confirm their identities and dates of birth before a timetable was set for their case.
The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, said a plea hearing will take place before him on December 1.
A six-week trial at the Old Bailey was provisionally set to start on September 2 2024.
Judge Lucraft said a decision will be made later on whether the trial should be heard by a High Court judge.
The defendants were all remanded into custody until their next hearing.
Blocking controversial gender reforms in Scotland because of a policy disagreement is inconsistent with the constitutional principles of the UK, the Lord Advocate has argued.
Dorothy Bain KC kickstarted the significant constitutional battle between the UK and Scottish governments in the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday as she argued against Westminsters use of the Section 35 order of the Scotland Act to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill gaining royal assent.
In her opening remarks, Ms Bain told the hearing, presided over by Judge Lady Haldane, that Scottish ministers believe the order is unlawful and want it dropped.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack triggered the never-before-used power of the Scotland Act the legislation which established the Scottish Parliament to halt gender laws which sought to simplify the process for trans people to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Ms Bain told Scotlands highest court the decision would effectively mean Holyrood was not able to legislate on issues which Westminster disagreed with.
She said: There are those who disagree with the Bill or those who would have legislated differently, or not at all.
It is apparent from the respondents answers that the Secretary of State is within that number.
She went on to argue the decision to use the Section 35 order did not go through adequate scrutiny in the House of Commons, requiring the court to occupy dead ground and stepping into the vacuum to prevent the misuse of executive power.
Ms Bain said: It would be inconsistent with the constitutional principle of parliamentary accountability for the UK Government to be able to veto Scottish legislation simply on the grounds of a policy disagreement.
The Lord Advocate said if the Secretary of State really had concerns about the contents of the Holyrood legislation, he would have raised it during multiple consultations and scrutiny of the Bill in the Scottish Parliament.
She said: If the Secretary of State had such fundamental concerns, it is striking there was not a whisper of them through the various consultations and the earlier stages of the Bills parliamentary process.
Indeed, the UK Government got sight of this Bill and the appropriate supporting documents before the Bill was introduced to the Scottish Government.
Members of the Scottish Feminist Network outside the Court of Session in Edinburgh (Jane Barlow/PA)
However, Lady Haldane interrupted Ms Bain to state that the UK Government did not have a requirement to consult with the Scottish Government prior to the Section 35 order.
Later in the session, the Lord Advocate then went on to address arguments that the Scottish legislation infringed on reserved UK Equality laws, arguing the Bill only alters the process of obtaining a GRC, not the effect of the certificate.
She also said no explanation was given on what the Secretary of State meant when he said the legislation would have adverse effects on UK tax IT systems, arguing Mr Jack should explain his rationale, rather than Scottish ministers to try to work out what he was on about.
Concluding her oral submission to the hearing, Ms Bain said the case raises important questions about the constitutional arrangements which give the Scottish Parliament an unquestioned democratic mandate to legislate within its competence.
She added: It is inconsistent with that basic constitutional structure which was enacted by the UK Parliament to recognise a broad and largely unfettered power to block the legislative choices of the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish legislation seeks to change the age at which a person can obtain a GRC from 18 to 16, and removes the requirement of a gender dysphoria diagnosis.
David Johnston KC, acting on behalf of the UK Government, has began his introductory remarks which will continue into Wednesday afternoon, with the hearing expected to conclude on Thursday.
In a 15-minute opening statement, he said Section 35 was integral to the constitutional distribution of the Scotland Act.
He added: Its an express recognition on the face of the Act on the possibility that devolved policy may have an adverse impact on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he hopes the Irish government will do all it can to support a new legacy body established to examine hundreds of unresolved Troubles deaths.
Mr Heaton-Harris described the granting of royal assent for the Governments Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill on Monday as a significant milestone.
The controversial legislation will provide a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
It will also prevent future civil cases and inquests.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Irish government is seeking legal advice over the UKs new legacy Bill (Brian Lawless/PA)
The Bill was opposed by all major Stormont parties, the Irish government and victims campaign groups.
Several families of Troubles victims have already launched legal challenges to the new laws.
The Irish government said it has requested legal advice as it considers taking a case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.
But Mr Heaton-Harris said the legacy of the Troubles was one of the key issues left unaddressed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
He added: Yesterdays royal assent of the Northern Ireland (Troubles & Reconciliation) Act marks a significant milestone as the Government aims to deliver on our pledge to deliver better outcomes for those most affected by the Troubles, while helping society to look forward.
I recognise getting to this juncture has been a hugely difficult task for all.
The legislation contains finely balanced political and moral choices.
It presents us all with a real opportunity to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families, moving away from established mechanisms that have left far too many empty-handed.
The Bill formally establishes the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which will be led by former lord chief justice Sir Declan Morgan with former senior police officer Peter Sheridan as its commissioner for investigations.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said: I know Sir Declan and his team of commissioners will approach the task with the rigour, integrity and professionalism required.
If we are truly to provide greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families of the Troubles and help society to move forward in the spirit of reconciliation, we must build a legacy process founded on integrity, expertise and fairness.
Now that the legislation has become law, the UK Government will do all it can to support the ICRIR, consistent with its operational independence, as it establishes itself and seeks to deliver effectively for victims and families.
I hope that others, including the Irish government, can do the same.
Scotlands highest court is set to hear the Scottish Governments legal challenge against a decision by UK ministers to block controversial gender reform legislation.
The substantive hearing challenging the UK Governments use of the Section 35 order of the Scotland Act which prevented the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill from gaining royal assent will be held in Edinburghs Court of Session.
Judge Lady Haldane will preside over the full hearing, beginning on Tuesday, and running for three further consecutive days.
The Scottish Government argues Scottish Secretary Alister Jack acted irrationally over the blocking of gender reforms, a claim denied by UK officials (Victoria Jones/PA)
The Scottish Government will set out its argument first over the first day-and-a-half, with the UK Government set to present its response up to day three.
The challenge comes after Scottish Secretary Alister Jack utilised never-before-used powers of the Scotland Act the legislation which established the Scottish Parliament to halt the gender laws which sought to simplify the process for trans people to self-identify and obtain and gender recognition certificate.
Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf confirmed the legal challenge in April, adding it was necessary to defend the Scottish Parliaments democracy from the Westminster veto.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said at the time his ministers had taken careful and considered advice before blocking the legislation, with concerns around how it impacted the reserved Equalities Act.
According to a 22-page petition published by the Scottish Government in April, officials have challenged the UK Governments order on four counts that Mr Jack made a material error of law, that his concerns about the safeguards in the Bill were irrelevant to the orders making and that his reasons were inadequate, which would make the order unlawful.
Humza Yousaf confirmed he would challenge the veto in April (Robert Perry/PA)
Scottish Government lawyers also described the Scottish Secretarys decision as irrational in the official documents.
However, legal arguments published by the Lord Stewart, Advocate General for Scotland, last month disputes the claim Mr Jack acted irrationally, stating the Scottish Bill modifies the law as it applies to the reserved matters.
It added: In making the order, the Secretary of State did not act irrationally on the basis of evidence which was before him or by taking into account any irrelevant considerations.
LGBT organisations, including Stonewall, Gendered Intelligence and the Institute for Constitutional and Democratic Research (ICDR), will also be able to present written evidence to the court setting out what they argue are the adverse consequences of the UK decision.
The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service is expected to livestream the hearings from 10am each day.
The UK will be the safest place in the world to be online, ministers have claimed after flagship legislation finally cleared Parliament.
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said the Online Safety Bill was a game-changing new law.
The legislation, which has been years in the drafting, imposes new legal duties on big tech companies and service providers, overseen by the regulator Ofcom.
Child safety campaigners welcomed the passage of the Bill, which has had a protracted journey through Parliament and had faced resistance from tech firms concerned about measures which could weaken communication security.
Watch to find out how online abuse has impacted the lives of @MissGeorgiakx, @georgiaharisonx, @NataliePinkham and @MissMalinSara and how the Online Safety Bill is tackling harmful online content to make the UK the safest place to be online pic.twitter.com/YLEBJNbgrw Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (@SciTechgovuk) September 15, 2023
Ms Donelan said the Government had adopted a common-sense approach to the legislation.
The Online Safety Bill is a game-changing piece of legislation, she said.
Today, this Government is taking an enormous step forward in our mission to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online.
Officials said the legislation would tame the Wild West of the internet.
The reforms come in response to continuing concern about youngsters accessing pornographic content online, child sexual abuse in cyberspace and the impact of harmful material on social media, which has led young people to take their lives.
Sir Peter Wanless, chief executive of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said: At the NSPCC we hear from children about the completely unacceptable levels of abuse and harm they face online every day.
Thats why we have campaigned strongly for change alongside brave survivors, families, young people and Parliamentarians to ensure the legislation results in a much safer online world for children.
Barnardos chief executive Lynn Perry said: Every day, children are being exposed to extreme pornography online which harms their mental health and their understanding of healthy relationships, and normalises sexual abuse.
We are delighted that the Online Safety Bill is heading for Royal Assent. It will make age verification compulsory for pornography sites, social media and other platforms which should stop children from stumbling across and accessing pornographic content.
Barnardos will continue to work with the Government to ensure that pornography that would be illegal to buy on a DVD or Blu-ray will be illegal online too.
The legislation is aimed at making social media platforms responsible for the content they host.
If they do not act to prevent and remove illegal content they will face significant fines of up to 18 million or 10% of global revenue potentially billions of pounds and in extreme cases their bosses could even face prison.
We did it The #OnlineSafetyBill has been passed and will soon be law! Repost to spread the news Thanks to your amazing support weve taken a huge step towards making the internet a safer place for children. You've made a lasting difference to children's lives pic.twitter.com/BkSGfT5APO NSPCC (@NSPCC) September 19, 2023
TV personality Georgia Harrison, whose ex-partner Stephen Bear was jailed earlier this year for posting intimate footage of her online, has backed the legislation.
She said the new laws would mean holding social media companies accountable to protect women and girls from online abuse.
The final stages of the legislation, which was introduced to Parliament in March 2022 when Boris Johnson was prime minister, played out in the House of Lords.
Ofcoms chairman Lord Grade of Yarmouth was reminded of the responsibilities his organisation would now assume.
Liberal Democrat Lord Clement-Jones said: Its over to Lord Grade and his colleagues at Ofcom, in whom we all have a great deal of confidence.
In response, Lord Grade, who sat on the red benches throughout the Bills passage through the upper chamber, pretended to nervously bite his nails.
Independent crossbencher Baroness Finlay of Llandaff said: I think we all need to wish Lord Grade good luck and all the best as he takes on what is an incredibly important scrutiny role.
Labour frontbencher Lord Stevenson of Balmacara said: Isnt it odd that this historic Parliament, with all our archaic rules and traditions, has the capacity to deal with a Bill which is regulating a technology which most of us have difficulty in comprehending let alone keeping up with.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York Tuesday (September 19), warning them of Russia's "weaponization" of everyday commodities, such as food and energy - two things the country has been heavily hit with since the beginning of the Russian invasion - saying that the Kremlin can replicate what they have done to his country to the rest of the world.
"The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order," Zelensky addressed delegates and other guests in English.
His remarks against Russia were among the most scathing in a series of addresses by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, who earlier said that if the world would allow Russia to "brutalize" Ukraine, the independence of any other nation in the world would be in jeopardy.
"If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?" Biden asked global delegates.
Biden was the only leader of the five permanent member states of the UN Security Council - which some call the Big Five - to attend the General Assembly.
Read Also: Zelensky, Biden Expected to Speak at UN General Assembly, Multiple Reports Say
Zelensky Urges World Leaders to Unite Against Russian Aggression, 'Weaponization'
During his speech, Zelensky called on world leaders to "act united to defeat the aggressor," which he identified as Russia.
Aside from weaponizing food and energy, he also called out the Kremlin for threatening nuclear war not only to Ukraine but to the world, which was met with thunderous applause.
"While Russia is pushing the world to the final war, Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression no one in the world will dare to attack any nation," he added. "Weaponization must be restrained, war crimes must be punished, deported people must come back home and the occupier must return to their own land. We must be united."
He also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin's "weaponization" of Ukrainian children Kyiv claims to have been abducted in order to be russified.
"The International Criminal Court issued international arrest warrants to Putin for this crime," he continued, as quoted by the New York Post. "We are trying to get children back home but time goes by... what will happen to them?"
Related Article: UN General Assembly: Joe Biden Encourages World Leaders to Support Ukraine-Here's What POTUS Said
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Sir Keir Starmer has described his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron as constructive and positive amid expert warnings his vision for a closer partnership with the EU would likely face challenges if he wins power.
The Labour leader said shared interests including future prosperity and security were discussed and that he made clear his intention to strengthen the relationship between the two countries if his party wins the next election.
The pair sought to break the ice with an exchange of gifts that saw Sir Keir give the president a personalised Arsenal shirt and receive cufflinks.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, he said the talks covered a wide range of topics relating to global politics.
We had a very constructive and positive meeting, which as you can imagine covered a wide range of issues, he said.
It was my first opportunity to say how much I value the relationship between our two countries, particularly when it comes to prosperity and security and how, if we are privileged enough to be elected into power, we intend to build on that relationship and make it even stronger than it is today.
Sir Keir added: We had a very political discussion covering a lot of issues to do with global politics but also it was that opportunity to look at future prosperity, future security, some of the most pressing issues on my mind, on the presidents mind.
He refused to be drawn when asked whether he believed President Macron was hoping for the election of a Labour government, but said it was important that they got to know one another and that he was very pleased with the outcome.
It comes as the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) research group publishes a new report that finds using the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to reduce trade barriers will be very challenging.
Sir Keir indicated in an interview with the Financial Times that he would seek to use a reassessment of the agreement in two years to try to get a much better deal for the UK.
The trade deal signed by Boris Johnson faces its first five-yearly review in 2025, though the extent of the talks are uncertain.
UKICE says the onus will be on Britain to give the EU an incentive to shift its position, given the bloc is relatively happy with the existing partnership.
Closer alignment on veterinary standards in order to ease trade, which Labour has cited as a priority, is highlighted in its report as one of the potential changes which would benefit the UK.
But it adds that any new negotiations would potentially be lengthy and complex, and that time-consuming domestic issues such as the economy and the NHS are likely to leave limited bandwidth for a major reassessment.
Experts also warn that a review could even inflame tensions over implementation issues and that the EU is likely to prefer a lighter, technical re-evaluation.
Anand Menon, director of UKICE, said: Keir Starmers desire to secure a much better Brexit deal for the UK is all well and good.
However, he failed to explain how tinkering with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement will make a meaningful economic difference. Moreover, he runs the risk of demanding more than the European Union is willing to give.
Sir Keir Starmer and shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper visited Europol in The Hague (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
The UK is not a priority for the EU, which remains relatively happy with the TCA. The key for a Labour government will be figuring out a way to provide the EU with an incentive to restart negotiations over Brexit.
In its report, UKICE says Labour would need to set out a much more detailed plan to demonstrate it is a serious negotiating partner with a realistic grasp of the issues at hand and refine its long list of ideas into a more coherent set of goals.
Sir Keirs visit to Paris is the latest in a flurry of international engagements undertaken by Labour as the party leadership seeks to raise its profile on the global stage ahead of a likely general election next year.
He was joined by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy at a private diner hosted by Hakluyt, a global strategic advisory firm, ahead of a planned breakfast with French businesses on Tuesday.
Sir Keir will use opening remarks to promise attendees he would invest in a Franco-British relationship on entering No 10, Labour said.
Labour is deeply serious about a partnership with business as part of our ambitions for economic growth, he is due to say.
Coinciding with his trip is an appearance from shadow defence secretary John Healey in Washington DC, where he will make a speech calling on the US and UK to work together to defend democracy.
Speaking at the American Enterprise Institute alongside Democratic Congressman Dean Phillips, Mr Healey will propose the countries jointly establish and lead a new democratic resilience centre to protect shared values and collectively monitor threats.
The centre would be open to other Nato allies to join and could be a forerunner for a fully-fledged Nato body, he will say.
Sir Keir recently met Justin Trudeau (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)
Mr Healey will meet officials from the White House, the US Department of Defence and the US Department of State during their visit.
He will say: For Labour, the US is the UKs most essential ally, especially on defence and security.
Our countries should be on high alert ahead of the UK general election and US presidential election in 2024. This is the time to launch democratic resilience work together to better protect our democratic values and systems.
Democracy and freedom is hardwired into Natos founding treaties, alongside collective defence. Our deep conviction in democracy means we must also act to defend our democracies when under attack.
Sir Keir spent last week meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the countrys prime minister Justin Trudeau.
That visit followed a trip to The Hague to hold talks with Europol officials on the shared challenge of people-smuggling gangs profiting from small boat crossings in the Channel.
The remaining shows on Russell Brands Bipolarisation tour have been postponed as the Metropolitan Police said it has received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
The 48-year-old has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films.
Brand has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
The Met Police said in a statement on Monday they had received an allegation of sexual assault in 2003.
The force said: On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
A performance of Brands tour scheduled for Tuesday at the Theatre Royal Windsor in Berkshire was postponed, with the shows promoters saying in a statement shared by the theatre: We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we dont like doing it but we know youll understand.
Performances had been scheduled for two more venues this month The Pavilions in Plymouth on Friday and The Civic At The Halls in Wolverhampton next Thursday.
Brand usually posts a new show on the video platform Rumble on weekdays at 5pm, but there was no new episode on Monday with his most recent appearance a short clip on Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
A joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4s Dispatches includes allegations Brand assaulted one of the women when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl and another woman has claimed he raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles.
The Times reports several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about the Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
She said: He started talking about Ian Huntley, the paedophile and child killer, and mentioned it quite a few times, like in a joking way, but also made up a whole song about it.
I just couldnt understand why you would be able to have sex and talk about a child killer at the same time.
Russell Brand leaves the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set (James Manning/PA)
Another woman, known as Esme, told the Times Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herrings Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been promiscuous but that all of his relationships have been consensual.
The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
Downing Street urged the broadcasters to set out the results of their investigations into Brand transparently.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks official spokesman called the allegations very serious and concerning.
Channel 4 announced it has removed content featuring Brand from its streaming service while it looks into the claims and will remind production companies of its code of conduct.
It comes after Brand was accused of pursuing audience members for sex while presenting Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum and Big Brothers Big Mouth on Channel 4.
Screengrab taken from footage issued on the YouTube page of Russell Brand during his denial of the accusations made against him (Russell Brand/PA)
Banijay UK, which bought Endemol in 2020, said it has launched an urgent internal investigation and encouraged anybody who feels that they were affected by Brands behaviour to come forward.
The BBC is facing questions after one of the women, who was 16 when she claims Brand began a relationship with her, alleged he used the corporations car service to pick her up from school to take her to his home.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Womans Hour on Monday, the woman, known as Alice, said Brands denial was laughable and insulting.
In 2020, the same woman contacted Brands literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of talent agency Tavistock Wood.
A spokesman for the agency said Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegations at the time but they now believe they were horribly misled and have terminated all professional ties with the comedian.
Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Caroline Dinenage said the group will be looking for the same reassurance from the BBC which has been provided by Channel 4.
In a statement to the PA news agency Brands publisher, Bluebird, said that all future publishing with the comedian had been paused.
As Dispatches aired on Saturday Brand performed a sold out comedy gig at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told PA they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirmed there have been no arrests following two allegations concerning claims that are said to have happened in the US.
Rishi Sunak appears set to water down some of the Governments net zero pledges to ensure they are proportionate, in a move that has drawn sharp criticism from across the political spectrum and campaigners.
The Prime Minister confirmed he will make a speech this week to set out an important long-term decision, following reports that he would use one to row back on green targets.
This could include weakening the plan to phase out gas boilers from 2035 and delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars currently due in 2030 by five years, the BBC reported.
Mr Sunak said on Tuesday that the Government remains committed to the target of net zero emissions by 2050, but will achieve it in a better, more proportionate way.
He said that politicians of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade offs and accused previous Tory governments of taking the easy way out, saying we can have it all.
Mr Sunak, who is attempting to draw a dividing line with Labour before the next general election, sought to position himself as the bringer of real change who would put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment.
The Prime Minister insisted the Government is not losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments, but looks set to renege on a host of policies put in place by Conservative governments to hit the net zero goal.
The prospect of a major shift in the Conservatives approach to green policy was quickly condemned by senior figures in the party.
When the history of this period of @Conservatives government is written, our leadership on climate issues will be one of our main achievements. We are fortunate to have a broad, non partisan consensus in the UK. How does it benefit either our country or our party to shatter it? Simon Clarke MP (@SimonClarkeMP) September 19, 2023
Former Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma warned that for any party to resile from this (climate action) agenda will not help economically or electorally.
Tory former Cabinet minister Sir Simon Clarke tweeted that it is in our environmental, economic, moral and (yes) political interests as @Conservatives to make sure we lead on this issue rather than disown it.
Some Tory MPs are considering writing letters of no confidence in the Prime Minister if he goes ahead with the changes, the PA news agency understands.
The partys success in the summers Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, won largely through a campaign against the expansion of the ultra low emission zone (Ulez), has led to other MPs to call for Mr Sunak to water down or abandon net zero pledges.
The Prime Minister could reportedly also axe plans for new energy-efficiency targets for private rented homes.
The Tories campaign against Ulez expansion is widely credited as helping them win the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election (Yui Mok/PA)
In his late-evening statement, he said: For too many years politicians in governments of all stripes have not been honest about costs and trade offs. Instead they have taken the easy way out, saying we can have it all.
This realism doesnt mean losing our ambition or abandoning our commitments. Far from it. I am proud that Britain is leading the world on climate change. We are committed to Net Zero by 2050 and the agreements we have made internationally, but doing so in a better, more proportionate way.
Our politics must again put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment.
No leak will stop me beginning the process of telling the country how and why we need to change.
As a first step, Ill be giving a speech this week to set out an important long-term decision we need to make so our country becomes the place I know we all want it to be for our children.
Conservative MP Dame Andrea Jenkyns backed the plans, telling ITV News: The country and globally weve been through a difficult time with Covid and also the war in Ukraine. We cannot ask people on top of that to change the heating system to change the cars.
And I dont want to see the working classes pay for, you know, the middle classes having electric cars.
But Chris Skidmore, a Conservative former energy minister who has become increasingly outspoken on net zero, told PA: If this is true, the decision will cost the UK jobs, inward investment, and future economic growth that could have been ours by committing to the industries of the future.
It will potentially destabilise thousands of jobs and see investment go elsewhere. And ultimately the people who will pay the price for this will be householders whose bills will remain higher as a result of inefficient fossil fuels and being dependent on volatile international fossil fuel prices.
Rishi Sunak still has time to think again and not make the greatest mistake of his premiership, condemning the UK to missing out on what can be the opportunity of the decade to deliver growth, jobs and future prosperity.
Tory peer Zac Goldsmith, who quit as environment minister in June with a scathing attack on Mr Sunaks environmental apathy, accused the Prime Minister of dismantling the UKs credibility on climate issues.
He said: His short stint as PM will be remembered as the moment the UK turned its back on the world and on future generations. A moment of shame.
Seriously?! Sunak is economically illiterate, historically inaccurate & environmentally bone-headed. This absurd rollback will mean higher energy bills, colder homes, fewer jobs, more air pollution & more climate chaos. Game, set & match to the climate dinosaurs? #ClimateCrisis https://t.co/i3xiTRHaIo pic.twitter.com/H4MtMssPPR Caroline Lucas (@CarolineLucas) September 19, 2023
Liberal Democrat climate and energy spokesperson Wera Hobhouse said: What Rishi Sunak should see in front of him is the opportunity to embrace the industries of the future and protect the coming generations from the catastrophic impacts of climate change.
Instead, he has cowered to the delayers and deniers like the disgraced Liz Truss and adopted wholesale their policies.
Labours shadow energy secretary Ed Miliband said: This is a complete farce from a Tory government that literally does not know what they are doing day to day.
Thirteen years of failed energy policy has led to an energy bills crisis, weakened our energy security, lost jobs, and failed on the climate crisis.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said: This decision would be economically illiterate, historically inaccurate and environmentally bone-headed. This absurd rollback will mean higher energy bills, colder homes, fewer jobs, more air pollution and more climate chaos.
Hannah Martin, co-director of Green New Deal Rising, said: Once again this Government has shown that they are hell-bent on breaking their promises and doing nothing to stop climate chaos. Just weeks after the hottest summer on record Rishi Sunak has decided to ignore science and stoke a culture war.
Whilst global leaders are meeting to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis, he has stayed home to set fire to some of the only remaining climate policies this Government had left.
Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: As the rest of the world is rushing to invest in net zero industries, any further rowing back by the UK would leave our international standing further tarnished.
Friends of the Earths head of policy, Mike Childs, said: Rolling back on key climate commitments as the world is being battered by extreme flooding and wildfires would be morally indefensible.
The Prince of Wales and the UN Secretary General have held warm and constructive talks and expressed their hope Cop28 will deliver a significant outcome on reducing emissions, Kensington Palace has said.
William met Antonio Guterres at the end of Monday, the first day of his brief visit to New York to promote his environmental Earthshot Prize and unveil the 2023 finalists.
During the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on Tuesday, the prince will deliver a speech, as will former New York mayor and business news mogul Mike Bloomberg, a global advisor to Earthshot Prize winners, Dame Jacinda Ardern, Earthshot trustee and former New Zealand prime minister, and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft.
The prize aims to discover and scale-up ground-breaking solutions to repair the planet and 1 million in prize money will be presented to the winners in five categories, or Earthshots Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world and Fix our climate.
The 15 finalists, three in each category, will be named at the summit and their innovative ideas will be showcased, following on from 30 other initiatives that have been promoted during the two previous Earthshot awards.
Williams meeting with Mr Guterres lasted just under half-an-hour and he was joined by Dame Barbara Woodward, UK Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.
A Kensington Palace spokesman said: During the warm and constructive meeting, the Prince highlighted how the Earthshot Prize is strongly aligned with the objectives of the United Nations and the Secretary General.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (Jane Barlow/PA)
His Royal Highness also thanked the UNSG for his ongoing support for Earthshot. In addition to Earthshot, the prince enquired about the Secretary Generals recent trip to Nairobi for the African Climate Summit.
Cop28, the UN Climate Change summit being hosted in November by the United Arab Emirates, was also a topic of conversation.
They also touched upon their shared hope for COP28 to deliver a significant outcome on emissions reductions, said the spokesman.
The future king began his two-day trip by putting on a pair of waders and learning about the ambitious Billion Oyster Project to rebuild oyster reefs which once filled New York Harbour.
Former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern (Kirsty OConnor/PA)
In the water off Brooklyn Bridge Park he saw artificial oyster beds, made from discarded restaurant oyster shells, that are now home to fledgling oysters with the hope they will form oyster reefs to help filter the waters, create new habitats and protect the area from storms.
During his final day in New York, William will visit a fire station to meet firefighters, new recruits and long-serving colleagues, and hear their experiences of working in the city and discuss the importance of mental health in the first responder community.
He will also have an audience with the President of Ecuador Lasso Mendoza, during the UN General Assembly in New York.
Five Americans wrongfully detained in Iran were released Monday as part of the Biden administrations agreement with Iran to unfreeze $6 billion in funds in exchange for the prisoners freedom.
The five traveled from Tehran early Monday on a Qatari plane to Doha, a senior administration official confirmed. A plane carrying the Americans to Washington is due to land Monday night.
Those released include Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Shargi and two others who have asked for their identities to remain private.
The mother of Namazi and the wife of Tahbaz, who have not been able to leave Iran, traveled with the group of prisoners as well.
In exchange for their release, the White Houses agreement granted clemency to five Iranians and issued a blanket waiver for international banks to allow the transfer of $6 billion of Iranian oil sale proceeds, frozen in South Korea to a bank in Qatar.
All five Americans were sentenced in Iran to 10 years in prison on different spying charges.
Who are the Americans freed in the Iran prisoner swap?
Siamak Namazi
Namazi, an 51-year-old Iranian American businessman, was arrested in 2015 and sentenced to 10 years in prison alongside his father, Baquer, for co-operating with a foreign enemy, BBC News reported. Both denied the claims, BBC News said. Baquer Namazi was permitted to leave for media treatment in 2022.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Siamak Namazi said, I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
Morad Tahbaz
Tahbaz, a British American conservationist of Iranian descent, was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence, according to The Associated Press.
BBC News reported Tahbaz, 67, was arrested alongside eight other Iranian conservationists who were accused of spying after using cameras to track critically endangered wild Asiatic cheetahs.
Emad Shargi
Shargi, 56, was born in Iran but left the country as a child, CBS News reported. After he and his wife relocated to Iran, Shargi was detained in April 2018, released on bail and then cleared of the charges eight months later. He was arrested a second time in 2020 and sentenced to 10 years on espionage charges.
Two unidentified prisoners
Two of the freed Americans asked to remain anonymous, though CBS News reported one of the individuals is a female former United Nations worker.
The Associated Press contributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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Five American prisoners were freed by Iran on Monday in a Qatar-mediated deal that also included the transfer of some $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds and the release of five Iranian prisoners in the United States.
The carefully choreographed agreement was years in the making and is being seen as a major diplomatic breakthrough for the two foes.
But in a sign that the pact is no indication of a wider thaw in relations, a senior Biden administration official said the deal has not changed our relationship with Iran in any way. Soon after the American prisoners took off from Iran, the Biden administration slapped new sanctions on the regime.
The prisoner deal is, however, an example of a new method of unwritten arrangements between Washington and Tehran, analysts say, where smaller mutual concessions are exchanged in the absence of a wider, formal agreement like the one reached in 2015 and abandoned by the Trump administration in 2018.
A new, wide-ranging agreement may be difficult for both sides to achieve as the US heads to presidential elections in November 2024. Such a pact would likely face resistance from Congress, whose approval it would need. And from Irans perspective, efforts to forge a new pact with a US administration that could potentially be ousted in those elections would be futile if the next president abandons it.
The Biden administration is unlikely to engage in meaningful revival of the 2015 nuclear deal, said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the Chatham House think tank in London.
Instead, it has already agreed on an understanding that is unwritten, where Iran is rolling back (uranium) enrichment, she said. In exchange, the Biden administration is looking away and allowing Iran to increase its oil sales.
The deal comes amid a significant dialing back of tensions between Iran and the US in recent months. Attacks by Iran and its proxies on US interests in the Middle East have almost ceased, and Irans oil exports have risen despite Western sanctions on its oil industry. Meanwhile, Irans uranium enrichment under its nuclear program has reportedly slowed.
Ali Vaez, Iran Project Director at the International Crisis Group think tank, said a de-escalatory understanding between Washington and Tehran has created a more stable context for progress, calling it a no deal, no crisis status quo.
Iran has been slowing down the pace at which it is enriching its uranium to weapons-grade levels, several US news outlets reported last week, citing a confidential report by the UN nuclear energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
At the same time, Iran has been boasting higher oil output and exports despite Western sanctions. Irans Minister of Petroleum Javad Owji on Sunday said that Western sanctions are gradually losing their effectiveness.
Last month, he said that oil production was on course to reach 3.4 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the summer. Production is the highest its been since 2018, when Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
The Islamic Republics oil exports have also increased, averaging 1.9 million bpd in August, Reuters reported, citing shipping firm TankerTrackers.com. Thats not far from pre-sanctions figures, when exports averaged more than 2.5 million bpd in 2017, according to the US Energy Information Administrations estimates.
Ali Ahmadi, a Tehran-based executive fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, said theres little Washington can do to stop Iranian oil exports, given that most of its buyers are beyond the scope of US sanctions.
Those claiming that Biden is ignoring Irans exports are assuming that Biden can just shut down Irans exports through sanctions, he said. The Biden administration still regularly sanctions Irans business partners, but the actors left dealing with Iranian oil are ones with extremely limited exposure to the US dollar and financial services community and, therefore, will not be affected by US sanctions.
He said a surge in Iranian oil exports to China is attributed to demand from small, independent teapot refineries there.
A lack of trust
Even an unwritten arrangement can prove delicate, analysts say, given the ongoing disputes between the two nations that could undermine the recent reduction in tensions. Trust between the two sides appears to be weak too.
Western frustration with Iran has mounted over the past year. The Islamic Republic has sold drones to Russia amid its war on Ukraine, and has violently crushed protests at home against the mandatory hijab law, drawing Western ire.
Tehran has also informed the IAEA that it will bar several agency inspectors tasked with conducting verification activities in Iran, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Saturday, strongly condemning Irans decision.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Sunday said his country would continue its cooperation with the nuclear watchdog within the framework of the signed agreements, without providing further details.
Under Mondays agreement, which has already prompted criticism from the US Republican Party, Iran can only use the released funds for humanitarian purposes. Biden administration officials have stressed that the funds, which have been transferred to accounts in Qatar, will only be able to be used by Iran for humanitarian purchases and that each transaction will be monitored by the US Treasury Department.
But in an interview with NBC last week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said his government would decide how and where to spend the $6 billion.
Asked if the funds would be used for humanitarian purposes, including food and medicine, Raisi said that humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people needs.
So, this money will be budgeted for those needs and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government, Raisi said.
Trita Parsi, executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute in Washington, DC, said Qatars involvement in managing the released Iranian funds acts as a guarantee that it will be used for humanitarian purposes. The Iranians will not be able to access that money, he said. Its the Qataris that will be holding the money.
When the Iranians request the money to purchase food and medicine, for example, approval will have to be sought from the US before the purchases go through, he said, adding that the terms of the agreement are so strict on Iran that they are humiliating.
The biggest thing this (US) administration fears is to be accused of being soft on Iran, said Parsi. In order to balance the fact that they made a deal to secure the release of Americans, they are imposing new sanctions and doing things that make them look really tough.
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Crayola, a name synonymous with vibrantly colored crayons for more than a century, is going into the flower business.
The crayon maker, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, on Tuesday announced the launch of Crayola Flowers, an online flower shop selling bright bouquets and boxed flowers.
But theres a dual purpose to the new venture, the company said: It will also double as a fundraising platform, with 10%-50% of every direct sale donated to a participating charity or entity chosen by the customer. Nonprofit organizations can use the floral storefront, too, as part of their own fundraising campaigns.
Crayola partnered with Mrs. Blooms, an importer and distributor of fresh-cut flowers daisies, mums, hydrangeas and many different colors of roses to jointly develop the online flower shop, the company said. Bouquets are priced from $49 to $150 and are shipped directly from farms to consumers nationwide.
Crayola is getting into the flower business with the launch of Crayola Flowers, an online marketplace for fresh flowers. - Crayola Flowers
A colorful corporate history
Since the birth of the Crayola brand in 1903, the company has branched out beyond wax crayons into arts and crafts materials, coloring books, Crayola experiences and unexpected collaborations, including according to Footwear News a recent one with footwear makers Crocs for crayon-inspired Crocs.
But the idea here is to extend the Crayola brand into the flowers industry in a slightly different way, Warren Schorr, senior vice president of business development, global licensing and experiences, said in an interview with CNN. Instead of just selling flowers when theyre needed, why not unite this idea of color and creativity with spreading kindness.
The long menu of charities or entities a customer can donate to includes 4-H, the American Heart Association, Autism Speaks, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the Humane Society, St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital and the Wounded Warrior Project.
Crayola announced it has launched Crayola Flowers, a retail and fundraising platform. - Courtesy Crayola Flowers
Nonprofit organizations can also host their own custom flower shops on Crayola Flowers. The platform offers toolsets with which they can set the parameters of the campaign, such as the landing page, the bouquet options that we already offer, set the prices, set the beginning and end dates of the campaign, add and send automated emails about it, said Schorr.
For-profit entities, such as local small businesses, can also create fundraising campaigns through a Crayola Flowers storefront to benefit community efforts such as soup kitchens and disaster relief. All campaigns, however, will be vetted, he said. This includes evidence of campaign need, proof of nonprofit status or proper identification of for-profit entities and administrators.
Crayola Flowers partnered with Mrs. Bloom's, an importer and distributor of fresh cut flowers. - Courtesy Crayola Flowers
In addition to the website, Crayola Flowers will have an on-the-road component with a mobile flower truck or traveling storefront to set up at various events to support local and national nonprofits, the company said.
Schorr said Crayola Flowers launch was three years in the making. As horrible as the pandemic was, it gave us time to explore and develop this innovative platform, he said.
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Bijou Phillips Masterson has filed for divorce from husband Danny Masterson over a week after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women.
Phillips filed a petition to end their 11-year marriage on Monday in Santa Barbara court, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY. TMZ was first to report the news.
Phillips cited irreconcilable differences as the reason and listed the date of their separation as "TBD." Her petition, signed Sept. 15, requested spousal support as well as restoration of her name to Bijou Phillips and full legal and physical custody of their daughter, with Masterson receiving child visitation.
The two married October 2011 and share a 9-year-old daughter, Fianna Francis Masterson, together.
More: Danny Masterson's wife stood by him. Now she's filed for divorce. It's not uncommon.
Danny Masterson and his wife Bijou Phillips arrive for closing arguments in his second trial, Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Los Angeles.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Phillips and Masterson for further information.
Phillips stood by Masterson throughout his two trials. She wept when the guilty verdicts were read on May 31 and showed similar emotion at times during his Sept. 7 sentencing hearing, when a judge handed down the maximum sentence allowed by law to the 47-year-old actor. Masterson will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years but can be held in prison for life.
A jury of seven women and five men had found Masterson guilty of two counts of rape after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson's Hollywood-area home in 2003 when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox sitcom "That '70s Show." The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend.
Masterson maintains his innocence, and his attorneys have said they plan to appeal, contending there were problems with evidence and constitutional issues with his conviction.
Bijou Phillips called Danny Masterson an 'extraordinary husband' a month before divorce
In the character reference letter she wrote in support of her husband last month before his sentencing, Phillips said Masterson has been "a life-saving partner to me" over the course of 19 years together.
"Danny is an amazing father. Our daughter and I are heartbroken that he is not home with us. It has been very difficult without him here," she wrote. "We need him more than you can imagine. I know he has been convicted of serious crimes. But the man I married has only been an extraordinary husband to me and a devoted father to our daughter."
The letter, addressed to Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo and dated Aug. 14, was among dozens that Masterson's family and friends wrote made public by The Hollywood Reporter urging leniency in his sentencing.
Who is Bijou Phillips?
Phillips, daughter of "The Mamas and the Papas" singer-songwriter John Phillips and actor Genevieve Waite, was a model as a teenager and released an album before shifting to acting.
She has appeared in films including "Almost Famous" and television shows including "Raising Hopes" and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
Ashton Kutcher resigns from anti-child sex abuse nonprofit after supporting Danny Masterson
Contributing: Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bijou Phillips files for divorce from Danny Masterson after 11 years
Senate Democrats on Monday moved to suspend the Senates rules to advance a stalled government funding bill after Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) objected to the legislation last week.
Sen. Murray will move to suspend Rule XVI and file cloture on that motion, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on the Senate floor.
This is an effort to move forward on the minibus and keep the appropriations process on track here in the Senate, he explained.
The Senate had been making good progress on the annual spending bills, passing all 12 of them out of the Senate Appropriations Committee with bipartisan support, until Johnson threw a wrench in the works last week.
Johnson invoked Rule XVI, which effectively bars senators from expanding the scope of appropriations bills, to block Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Vice Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) from offering a substitute amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.
Their substitute amendment would have expanded the base bill into whats known as a minibus, funding military construction as well as the departments of Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development.
Johnsons procedural objection brought last weeks Senate debate to a grinding halt, scuttling votes that were expected Thursday afternoon.
Democrats struck back on Monday by advancing a motion to suspend the Senate rules, an ambitious move because it would need the support of 67 senators to pass.
Its unfortunate that one member who does not represent the views of most senators prevented us from moving forward last week, Schumer said, referring to Johnson.
Murray then stood up on the Senate floor to make a motion to suspend Rule XVI and said she hopes to get amendments to the minibus ready while the motion ripens.
This is a package of bills which each of them passed the Appropriations Committee unanimously, and we have been working very hard in a bipartisan effort in good faith to set up a very robust process for amendments and debate, she said. Unfortunately, a few senators decided to object to us last week and now we are moving forward.
She said the vote to suspend the rules would happen later this week.
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, warned that suspending the Senates rules with a two-thirds vote is not an easy thing.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Gotham/GC Images
Prince William landed in New York City on Monday, September 18, one day before he is due to attend the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit at the Plaza Hotel and jumped in feet first.
On his first day in the city, William, 41, paid a visit to Governors Island where he met with volunteers of the Billion Oysters Project and students at the New York Harbor School. Students were delighted and surprised to see the prince, whose appearance had been kept a secret until the last minute.
The New York Harbor School, a public high school designed for students preparing for maritime careers, has partnered up with the Billion Oysters Project to restore one billion live oysters to New York Harbor over the next twenty years.
Kynara, one of the high school students who met William, gushed to Town and Country, We didnt find out about [his visit] until literally when it happened. It was shocking! Its not something I expected, but going to a school like this, its nothing out of the ordinary.
Prince William Through the Years
Following in the footsteps of those who came before him. Prince William has known since he was young that one day he will become the king of England, but in the meantime, he has made his own way as a high-ranking member of the British royal family. King Charles III and Princess Diana welcomed their []
William didnt hesitate to join volunteers as they waded waist-deep in the murky New York Harbor waters to inspect an oyster reef by Brooklyn Bridge Park. He also paid a visit to an oyster hatchery and a pile of oyster shells donated by New York City restaurants in an effort to restore the oyster reefs on Governors Island.
Cindy Ord/Getty Images
After his visit, William reflected on what he learned, sharing via X: From restaurant to Harbor, thats one shell of a journey New Yorkers enduring love for Oysters and the support of local restaurants has helped @BillionOyster Project collect more than 2 million pounds of recycled shells to date
William is the Founder and President of the Earthshot Prize. It was launched in 2020 to award leaders, innovators and activists who are aiming to repair the planet by 2030.
Inside Prince William and Prince Harry Relationship Over the Years
A tale of two brothers. Prince William and Prince Harry may be royalty, but their relationship may remind you of your own sibling. Their relationship is incredibly intimate, Princess Dianas biographer Andrew Morton revealed in the November 2019 edition of Royals Monthly. Nobody apart from each other knows exactly not even their father []
About the Earthshot Prize, William tweeted: Its so good to be back in the United States. No one does optimism and ingenuity like the American people, so its only right we unveil this years @Earthshotprize Finalists in New York City.
William will unveil the 15 Earthshot Prize Finalists for 2023 at the Plaza on Tuesday, September 19. The five official winners will be announced at the ceremony in Singapore on Tuesday, November 7, where they will win $1.2 million each to fund their efforts in combating climate change.
Elon Musk, X owner, opened the possibility of charging "small amount of money" for using X, during a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Read Also: X Adds Government ID Verification for Premium Subscribers
X Deems Payment as Necessary
Musk confirmed that the company is "moving to a small payment" for the use of the X platform. As of 2023, X has 528.3 million active users. However, Musk attributed the possible change as a way to combat bots.
"Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny - call it a tenth of a penny - but even if it has to pay...a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high," Musk said.
The company is yet to disclose any further details on the possible change but Musk was firm that it will only be a "small amount of money." Currently, X has been updating new features for the X Premium users. The X Premium costs $8 per month or $84 per year.
X Launches New Features
Recently, X announced that the company added a government ID verification for Premium subscribers. However, the new feature is only available on limited countries such as the United States. The feature has not yet been released to the European region. In addition, X now also allows Premium users to hide their like counts.
The possible introduction of paying for basic services of X might imply that Premium will get expensive in the future, especially with the type of exclusive features that the Premium users are getting. Nonetheless, this will surely ramp up X's revenue after series of revenue decline since Musk's acquisition.
Related Article: New X Feature Allows Premium Users to Hide Like Counts
Happy Rosh Hashanah, hope you learn from your mistakes.
Thats the message posted by former President Donald Trump to liberal Jews for the High Holy Days, accusing them of seeking to destroy America & Israel by voting against him.
Trump, who insists he is not anti-Semitic and often points to his Jewish son-in-law Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka and grandchildren, posted a meme that rehashed tropes about Jews and dual loyalty.
Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! read the message that Trump posted on his social media site.
Lets hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward! Happy New Year! the message added
Trump, who is running for re-election, posted the message late Sunday night, just two days after the start of the Jewish New Year of Rosh Hashanah and in the midst of the holiest time in the Jewish calendar.
The meme also accused Jews of blindly following liberal values and hating on Trump.
Wake Up Sheep. What (Nazi)/ Anti Semite ever did this for the Jewish people or Israel? the message said, listing a string of pro-Israel actions taken by Trump.
Its unclear if the message is a reposting of a prior years-old missive given the hashtag #Trump2020 toward the bottom of it.
Trump has regularly criticized Jews for supposedly not showing fealty to him, especially after he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and forged even closer ties with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu is planning to meet with President Biden and billionaire Elon Musk during a visit to New York for the UN General Assembly this week.
Jewish advocates say criticizing Jews for showing insufficient loyalty to their own country or other cause is a common anti-Semitic trope that dates back centuries.
The jibes sometime take the form of Jews being blamed for favoring Israel over the U.S. or, alternately, for being not being supportive enough of Israel or its current government.
_____
If youve been wanting to book a cruise this fall, theres a new deal on the table but youll have to act fast.
American Queen Voyages is offering travelers up to $4,000 off per stateroom as part of a flash sale through Thursday. Guests can also get $200 in onboard credit.
"We are delighted to unveil the return of our highly anticipated Fall Flash Sale for travelers still looking to book a cruise this year," Cindy D'Aoust, the lines president, said in a news release. "Back by popular demand, this limited-time offer promises substantial savings on coveted 2023 cruises travelers have been eagerly eyeing, including a number of our specialty itineraries and holiday cruises, perfect for any end of the year, last minute getaways."
What are the terms of American Queen Voyages cruise deal?
The discount applies to select cruises between September and December. Those include itineraries such as a 12-day sailing from Toronto to Chicago departing Sept. 20 and a nine-day cruise from Memphis to New Orleans, leaving Nov. 5.
Looking for cheap cruises?: Here's what to know know about finding deals
Only the first two guests on a new booking are eligible for the deal and can claim the offer using the code FALLFLASH. Passengers must pay in full when they make their reservation.
The $200 credit per stateroom is valid on all 2023 departures and can be used for onboard purchases not included in the fare.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: This cruise line is offering up to $4,000 off sailings
The operator of a Bronx day care center and her tenant are facing federal charges of up to life in prison for operating a drug distribution operation out of the facility where a 1-year-old died of a fentanyl overdose last week, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, who rented a room inside the center, hastily moved to cover up evidence of the operation before seeking help for three children who had been exposed to the drug, prosecutors said at a press conference.
Before calling 911, Mendez contacted a co-conspirator, who arrived at the day care center, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said. "Minutes later, he left the day care and fled out the back alley, carrying two full shopping bags. And all of that happened while suffering the effects of fentanyl poisoning and in desperate need of help," he said.
Police found a one-kilogram brick of fentanyl sitting "on top of children's play mats in the day care closet," Williams said. They also recovered machine equipment used to press and package drugs for distribution.
Mendez and Brito face a maximum federal sentence of life in prison and a minimum sentence of 20 years. Both suspects are being held without bail.
What happened at the Bronx day care center?
Police were called to the Divino Nino day care center on Friday when several children seemed unusually lethargic after taking naps. A 2-year-old and an 8-month-old recovered after they were administered Narcan, but 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici died at Montefiore Medical Center. Another child who was exposed had been taken to the hospital earlier.
"One grain, two grains of fentanyl could take down a grown man, so even just the residue itself for a small child would cause the death," NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said.
'Missing' kayaker: Kayaker faked Louisiana drowning death to avoid child-sex charges, police say
Police seek husband of day care operator
Police are now seeking Mendez's husband after he reportedly fled the scene after authorities were called, according to WABC-TV. Mendez placed several calls to her husband before calling 911 when she discovered the children unresponsive, the report said.
Asked about the report, her attorney Andres Manuel Aranda told USA TODAY that Mendez placed calls in the aftermath of the tragedy to both police and her husband, as well as her supervisors and neighbors.
"I don't know what sequence of events transpired. But she did call him and she was asking for his help, and he disappeared," he said.
Aranda said Mendez had no knowledge of the presence of drugs in the day care center.
"Hopefully, the truth will come out because my client had no idea whatsoever that there were any narcotics in that location," Aranda said. "She feels horrible about what happened. She is very distraught and feels that children are victims, and she's a victim also."
The NYPD and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency are investigating whether Brito, who entered the U.S. from the Dominican Republic around the same time the day care center opened, could be involved in a broader drug operation that used the day care center as a front, officials said.
Police probe: Columbus police under investigation after video shows response to reported sexual manipulation of child
Day care center passed 3 routine checks
The day care center passed three routine checks by the health department, including one unannounced search on Sept. 6. Police also confirmed they had received no complaints from the community related to "drug transactions" at the center.
"One of the things my child care inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl, but maybe we need to start," said New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Commissioner Ashwin Vasan.
Julie Gaither, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, told USA TODAY that, given fentanyl's strength, just a small amount could cause a child's death.
"Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than heroin, which is in itself more potent than most prescription opioids," Gaither said. "It takes only a minuscule amount of fentanyl to kill a child and to send them into respiratory distress and respiratory arrest, and to become unresponsive very quickly."
A study released by Gaither earlier this year found that fentanyl was blamed in 94% of opioid overdose deaths in children in the U.S. in 2021, up from just 5% in 1999.
"It's growing, and it's no longer a problem just for the older teens, those who would be likely to misuse fentanyl," Gaither said. "We're increasingly seeing very young children exposed."
Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her by email at cmayesosterman@usatoday.com. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Day care death Bronx: Fentanyl found under mats where toddler died
In a late court filing on Monday, the bankruptcy estate of FTX sued the parents of founder Sam Bankman-Fried, seeking to recover millions of dollars that it alleges were fraudulently transferred and misappropriated.
In the 63-page lawsuit, the estate alleges that FTX was a self-described "family business" despite its appearance as a sophisticated cryptocurrency exchange, that was "fueled by fraud." Allan Joseph Bankman, Bankman-Fried's father, is a top tax law professor at Stanford Law School, and the lawsuit alleges that he played a key role in "perpetuating this culture of misrepresentations and gross management" and in covering up allegations that would have exposed the fraud.
The lawsuit also alleges that Bankman-Fried's parents "siphoned millions of dollars" from the crypto empire for "their own personal benefit," with the estate now seeking to claw back the funds as part of its bankruptcy process.
After FTX's collapse in November, the bankruptcy estate led by former Enron steward Jon Ray III has sought to recover hundreds of millions of dollars paid out to politicians, corporations, and former members of the FTX inner circle.
The lawsuits have often been a scathing dissection of what went wrong with Bankman-Fried's project, such as an action in July against an entity called FTX Europe that argued the exchange had paid nearly $400 million for what amounted to a $2 million regulatory license. In another suit from July, the estate laid out details of mismanagement from former executives and family members, including that Bankman-Fried's brother had inquired about purchasing the island nation of Nauru using FTX funds to set up a philanthropic community prepping for the apocalypse.
The latest lawsuit is striking for its targets: Bankman-Fried's parents are both longtime academics at a top university, with Barbara Fried a renowned professor of philosophy at Stanford along with Bankman, the tenured law school professor.
"This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins. These claims are completely false," said Sean Hecker, counsel for Joe Bankman, and Michael Tremonte, counsel for Barbara Fried, in a statement shared with Fortune. "Mr. Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better."
The 'proverbial adult in the room'
The lawsuit corroborates details revealed in recent reporting on Bankman-Fried's parents, including in a feature last week by Bloomberg Businessweek, that they played key roles in the rise of FTX. The suit alleges that Bankman supported the development of the exchange, including "proudly" touting his status as an early investor in the trading firm Alameda, and advised his son on corporate and tax matters. He also took on a formal role as the senior advisor of the FTX Foundation and served as a "de facto officer, director, and/or manager" in the broader corporation.
"Bankman portrayed himself as the proverbial adult in the room," the FTX estate argues. Instead of raising alarms about misconduct, he "stayed silent" and actively worked to suppress efforts to "expose the fraud."
While Fried played less of an active role, the lawsuit alleges that she described herself as her son's "partner in crime of the noncriminal sort," serving as the most influential advisor in his campaign of political donationsa key part of the criminal case against Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives.
The FTX estate argues that Bankman and Fried either knew "or ignored bright red flags revealing" that their son was orchestrating a "vast fraudulent scheme." Moreover, they allegedly enriched themselves along the way, including a $10 million cash gift and a $16.4 million luxury property in the Bahamas. Bankman also arranged $1,200-per-night hotel rooms for himself, as well as plane tickets and tickets to the Formula 1 Grand Prix in France for a student at Stanford Law School, who was later employed as outside counsel to FTX.
Bankman also arranged a $1 million annual salary for himself, complaining when he only received around $17,000 a month. Emailing his son, Bankman wrote, "Gee, Sam I don't know what to say here," adding that he planned to put Bankman-Fried's mother on the thread.
Not all alleged benefits were financial. According to the lawsuit, Bankman receivedat his requesta cameo appearance alongside comedian Larry David in a 2022 FTX Super Bowl commercial.
"I'm not a star-fucker and don't really care about meeting, say, Tom Brady," Bankman said, according to the lawsuit. "But Larry David..."
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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Five Americans who were released after being wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for years made an emotional return to U.S. soil on Tuesday.
A plane carrying the five Americans and two of their relatives touched down at 5.25 a.m. ET at a military airfield near Washington, D.C. They had flown from the Gulf state of Qatar, which helped facilitate the transfer.
The group were freed as part of a prisoner exchange agreement that allowed Tehran to access $6 billion in oil revenues frozen under U.S. sanctions and also saw five Iranian nationals released from U.S. custody.
The rare, high-stakes deal comes despite heightened tensions between the two countries over a range of issues including Iran's uranium enrichment program and crackdown on internal dissent the weekend marked a year since Mahsa Amini's death sparked a wave of domestic unrest.
NBC News first reported on the prisoner swap negotiations in February.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Va., on Sept. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst / Pool via AP)
There were emotional scenes on the tarmac when the freed Americans left the jet to be reunited with family and friends, many waving small U.S. flags as they tearfully embraced.
The former prisoners then posed for a group photograph alongside their families, calling out: Freedom!
"Weve all looked forward to this day," said Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs. He said the group would "maintain the fight" in helping to bring back other detained Americans.
Siamak Namazi, 51, was imprisoned for almost eight years, the longest stretch of the five American prisoners. He was arrested in 2015 on charges of espionage and convicted in a trial that lasted a few hours.
Dulles, Virginia, on September 19, 2023. The United States and Iran on September 18, 2023, swapped five prisoners each in one of the arch-foes' first deals in years as Tehran gained access to $6 billion in frozen funds. (Jonathan Ernst / Pool via AFP - Getty Images)
Emad Shargi, 59, an Iranian-born businessman who moved to the U.S. as a young man, was arrested in 2018. Despite being released and cleared of all charges in 2019, Iranian authorities retained his passport, before he was charged again in 2020 and convicted of espionage charges without a trial.
A third former prisoner, Morad Tahbaz, 67, is an Iranian-American who also has British citizenship. Part of a group of environmental activists carrying out research on Irans endangered cheetah population, he was arrested in 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2019.
The families of the two other former prisoners have requested that their identities remain private, U.S. officials said.
Two unnamed family members were also on the flight from Qatar.
Human rights groups accuse Iran of charging the prisoners with espionage without any foundation but Iran says they were treated in accordance with the law.
The deal comes as President Joe Biden and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi were due to attend the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
Biden has come under criticism from Republicans for agreeing to a deal they say amounts to a ransom payment that will likely only encourage Tehran to imprison more foreigners.
The administration has maintained that Iran will only be permitted to use the funds unblocked by the U.S. for medicine, food or other humanitarian purchases.
But Raisi told NBC News Lester Holt in an exclusive interview that Tehran will decide how to spend the $6 billion. The money will be spent wherever we need it, he said.
Washington The House Oversight Committee is set to hold the first hearing of its impeachment inquiry into President Biden next week and plans to issue a subpoena for bank records from two of the president's family members, according to the panel's chairman Rep. James Comer.
Comer said that the hearing will be a "refresher" on the information he and fellow GOP lawmakers have gathered during the course of their investigation into foreign business dealings by Hunter Biden, Mr. Biden's son, and James Biden, the president's brother. The proceeding is also expected to feature testimony from legal experts about possible criminality based on the evidence collected, he said.
Once the details of the impeachment inquiry are finalized, Comer also plans to issue a subpoena for Hunter Biden's and James Biden's personal bank records as soon as this week, he said.
"Everyone in America knows why we need those bank records, and they can either provide them or we'll see them in court," the Kentucky Republican told reporters on Capitol Hill.
A committee spokesperson said the hearing will take place Sept. 28 and focus on "constitutional and legal questions surrounding the president's involvement in corruption and abuse of public office."
"The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government," the spokesperson said.
Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigation, accused Republicans of trying to take the focus away from the looming possibility of a government shutdown. Congress has until the end of September to pass legislation to fund the government, though GOP lawmakers remain at odds over a plan to keep agencies operating.
"Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country. Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: to them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," he said in a statement.
Sams warned of the consequences of a government shutdown and urged House Republicans to prevent one from occurring.
"The President has been very clear: he is going to remain focused on the issues that matter to the American people, including preventing the devastating and harmful cuts proposed by House Republicans that are hurtling us toward a government shutdown," he said.
The Biden impeachment inquiry
House Republicans have been investigating foreign business dealings by Hunter Biden and other members of the president's family since the GOP took control of the House in January. Republicans have alleged that Mr. Biden profited off of his son's overseas business ventures while he was vice president, but they have yet to uncover evidence of wrongdoing by the president himself.
The White House has repeatedly said Mr. Biden did not do anything wrong, and the president has denied involvement in his son's foreign work.
Still, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy escalated the investigation into Mr. Biden last week when he announced that he directed House committees to open a formal impeachment inquiry into the president. The inquiry is being led by the Oversight, Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees.
Comer said his role in the months before the impeachment inquiry was opened was to "follow the money and report on trying to determine how much money the Bidens received, why they received it, and what role Joe Biden played in it."
"That's what my job was from the beginning and that's what it will hopefully be," he said.
Rep. Tom Emmer, the third-ranking Republican in the House, said Tuesday that the impeachment inquiry is about "providing answers for the American people. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Opening a formal impeachment inquiry will give our committees the full congressional authority needed to get the American people the answers they deserve," he said.
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HOPEWELL Hopewell Police have arrested a third suspect in the shooting death last December of an eight-year-old girl.
The suspect, a 17-year-old juvenile, was arrested Sept. 14 in New York, police Lt. Jacquita Allen said in an email late Monday afternoon. He has been extradited to Virginia and is being held at a local juvenile detention center.
The boy, who was not identified because of his age, has been charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, conspiracy to commit murder and shooting from inside a vehicle.
Allen said the boy is a New York resident. It was not immediately clear what his ties to Hopewell were.
P'Aris Mi-Unique Angel Moore
Eight-year-old PAris Mi-Unique Moore was killed Dec. 30, 2022, on Freeman Street in east Hopewell. Police originally reported that her death was the result of an altercation involving a vehicle near where she and some friends were playing.
Two other suspects, Jamari Antonio Taylor, 20, of Hopewell, and Rayquan Latrel Harvell, 18, of Chesterfield County, were indicted Aug. 8 on charges of first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Taylor also was indicted on conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Taylor is due in Hopewell Circuit Court Oct. 11 for a status hearing. A similar hearing for Harvell is set for Nov. 1.
Taylor, who shares a last name with the victim's mother but is not related to her, also is a suspect in the June 24 slaying of William Jamal Claiborne at the Langston Park Apartments in Hopewell. Taylor was being held in jail when the P'Aris Moore murder indictments were handed up.
Allen said the juvenile is the final suspect police were looking for in the investigation.
The Hopewell Police Department would like to thank all of the local, state, and federal partnerships that assisted in investigating and apprehending each offender in this case, she wrote in the email.
In Virginia, juveniles may be tried as an adult if they are at least 14 years old at the time the crime was committed and if that crime would have been a felony if committed by an adult. The commonwealth's attorney would request it to be transferred from the juvenile into the adult court system.
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: Juvenile arrested in 2022 murder of Hopewell child
Police tape is shown.
Two people have been charged after a baby died and three other young children were hospitalized from apparent fentanyl exposure at a New York City day care center Friday.
New York City police responded to the Bronx-based Divino Nino Daycare after receiving calls about children not waking up after nap time. They arrived to find a 1-year-old, Nicholas Dominici, unconscious along with a 2-year-old boy and an 8-month-old girl. Responders administered Narcan to all three children after suspecting opioid involvement.
Dominici was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after. The other two children, along with another 2-year-old boy whose mother noticed he was "acting lethargic and unresponsive" after leaving the facility, were hospitalized for fentanyl interaction, with all three in critical or stable condition by Saturday.
That's when police arrested the day care's owner, Grei Mendez, as well as her tenant, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, and charged them both with murder and attempted murder showing "depraved indifference."
SEE MORE: Baby dies at daycare of suspected opioid exposure, 3 kids hospitalized
Mendez opened the day care, which is registered under the city's Department of Children and Family Services, in January and passed multiple inspections, including a surprise visit made a week before the tragedy.
But upon investigating the scene Friday, police found a kilogram of fentanyl, including some underneath a mat where the children had been sleeping. They also found three kilo presses, which are typically used to package and combine illegal narcotics, in a closet, police said Monday.
Police also said they have reason to believe further incriminating items were removed from the apartment after authorities had been notified about the unconscious children.
When pleading not guilty to the charges Sunday, Mendez maintained she had no knowledge of the opioid's presence in the Bronx apartment that housed the business and the room she rented to Brito, her husband's cousin.
Brito is awaiting arraignment, but both continue to be held without bail as of Monday after a judge determined they were both flight risks.
During a press conference Monday, Mayor Eric Adams spoke of how little an amount of fentanyl could lead to an overdose for an adult and how it would be even smaller for a child. He said Narcan "probably saved the lives" of the three hospitalized children.
"You cannot be a parent and not be angry about what happened to those four babies. I am," Adams said.
Montana's TikTok Ban is not without its supporters in the US.
A group of state attorneys general recently showed their support for Montana's statewide TikTok ban, which prohibits the use and installation of the app by anyone within the state's borders.
Montana's TikTok ban became law in mid-May, much to TikTok's dismay, along with the content creators on the platform, who had filed a lawsuit against it.
Support For Montana
Montana's statewide TikTok ban is getting applause from other US states. According to an article from Reuters, a group of 18 state attorneys general stated that they support Montana's effort to ban the installation and use of TikTok within its state.
These attorneys general also urged the US judge handling the lawsuits from TikTok and the content creators on the platform to reject them as the company "intentionally engages in deceptive business practices." According to these attorneys general, TikTok's business practices involve inducing individuals into unwittingly sharing sensitive personal information with the Chinese Communist Party, and TikTok's platform harms children in Montana.
For those unaware, TikTok and the content creators' lawsuit argues that the ban infringes on people's freedom of speech and expression. Although the ban seems to single out the social media platform, the State of Montana also banned other apps, such as Telegram, WeChat, and Temu, from being used and installed within it.
Read More: Apple Staff Allegedly Ordered To Stay Quiet on iPhone 12 Radiation Issue
While there is no evidence that TikTok is directly harming children, the content it hosts on its platform does, according to Bloomberg Law. You may recall that TikTok is the origin point of many social media challenges that resulted in the injury (severe or otherwise) or even death of their participants, which are normally children or adolescents.
Nevertheless, this show of support for Montana's statewide TikTok ban proves that the calls from US lawmakers for a nationwide ban on the app are growing over concerns about possible Chinese government influence. The legislation that gives the Biden administration more power to ban or crack down on TikTok has seemingly stalled.
The ByteDance-owned company has yet to respond to Reuters' request for a comment addressing the state attorneys general's show of support for Montana's statewide ban.
Montana's TikTok Ban
Montana is the first and only US state to have banned TikTok statewide as of press time. The ban, which will take effect on Jan. 2024, will fine digital companies $10,000 per day for making TikTok available for download in their online stores (e.g. Google Play Store/ Apple App Store).
While people living within the state couldn't get the app from the usual channels (Google Play Store/Apple App Store), they could still use a VPN to use or download the app - something that won't be consequential for them. To clarify - the law doesn't impose penalties on individual TikTok users.
Should the ban take effect as planned, would lose the approximately 380,000 users it has in Montana - a third of the state's 1.1 million people.
Related Article: NYC Joins The Ban of TikTok on Government-Issued Devices
By Andrew Mills, Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi
DOHA/NEW YORK (Reuters) -A plane carrying five Americans freed by Iran landed in the United States on Tuesday, a day after they were swapped for the release of five Iranians held in the U.S. and the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian funds, in a deal between the arch enemies.
CNN reported the plane had landed. The report did not provide further details.
It followed a carefully choreographed exchange, agreed after months of Qatar-mediated talks, that was triggered on Monday when the funds that had been blocked in South Korea were wired, via Switzerland, to banks in Doha.
After the transfer was confirmed, the five U.S. prisoners plus two relatives took off on a Qatari plane from Tehran, at the same time as two of the five Iranian detainees landed in Doha on their way home. Three Iranians chose not to go to Iran.
The deal removes a point of friction between the United States, which brands Tehran a sponsor of terrorism, and Iran, which calls Washington the "Great Satan".
But it is unclear whether it will bring the two adversaries, which have been at odds for 40 years, closer on any other issues, such as Iran's nuclear program and its backing for regional militias or the U.S. military presence in the Gulf and U.S. sanctions.
The freed Americans include U.S.-Iranian dual citizens Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, and Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality. Two of them have not been publicly identified.
'HUMANITARIAN ACTION'
U.S. President Joe Biden welcomed the return of the prisoners home in a statement on Monday but his administration also announced fresh U.S. sanctions.
"We will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region," he said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly, called the swap a humanitarian action. "It can certainly be a step based upon which in the future other humanitarian actions can be taken," he added.
Biden, a Democrat, has faced criticism from Republicans over the deal. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a prominent Republican, said the transfer of the $6 billion could encourage Iran to detain more U.S. citizens.
Biden aides say the money belongs to Iran and is being transferred from restricted South Korean accounts to restricted accounts in Qatar, which will monitor the cash to ensure it is spent on humanitarian goods not items under U.S. sanctions.
Relations between the United States and Iran have been especially bitter since 2018 when then-President Donald Trump pulled out of a deal aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear ambitions and toughened U.S. sanctions.
Washington suspects Iran's nuclear program may be aimed at developing nuclear arms, a charge Iran denies.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken left the door open to nuclear diplomacy, but suggested nothing was imminent.
U.S. analysts were sceptical about prospects for progress, particularly with a U.S. election looming in 2024.
"The prisoner swap does likely pave the way for additional diplomacy around the nuclear program this fall, although the prospect for actually reaching a deal is very remote," said Henry Rome of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
(Reporting by Andrew Mills in Doha; Humeyra Pamuk and Parisa Hafezi in New York; Writing by Edmund Blair and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Gareth Jones and Jon Boyle)
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -A federal appeals court on Tuesday appeared skeptical of former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried's argument that being jailed just two months before his trial on federal fraud charges violated his right to free speech.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail on Aug. 11, finding probable cause to believe that the defendant had tampered with witnesses. This included his sharing the personal writings of Caroline Ellison, the former chief executive of his Alameda Research hedge fund, with a New York Times reporter.
Ellison has pleaded guilty to fraud and is expected to testify against Bankman-Fried, a former romantic partner.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan challenged Bankman-Fried lawyer Mark Cohen's assertion that Kaplan had not sufficiently considered the defendant's right under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment to speak with the press and try to restore his reputation.
"There isn't a First Amendment right to try to discredit or influence a witness who might testify against you, is there?" U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin said.
The judges did not say when they would rule on Bankman-Fried's bid to be released from Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center.
Bankman-Fried faces seven charges of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the November 2022 collapse of FTX, the now-bankrupt crypto exchange he founded. Prosecutors accused him of looting billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda, buy luxury real estate and donate to U.S. political campaigns. He has pleaded not guilty, while acknowledging risk management failures.
The judges appeared slightly more open to Bankman-Fried's argument that jailing him violates his right under the Constitution's Sixth Amendment to aid in his own defense because his case is complicated and he lacked internet access in jail to review prosecutors' evidence.
They questioned Danielle Sassoon, a prosecutor, about what Cohen said were inadequacies in accommodations Kaplan and the MDC had made to try to allow Bankman-Fried to access the internet, including by visiting his lawyers in a cell at the federal courthouse in Manhattan twice a week.
Sassoon said the government had taken "extraordinary measures" to try to help Bankman-Fried prepare for trial from behind bars, and that Bankman-Fried had seven months with unrestricted internet access while free on $250 million bail at his parents' Palo Alto, California, home.
U.S. Circuit Judge William Nardini said Bankman-Fried should have considered the possibility of losing internet access before sharing Ellison's writings.
"If it is true that he has intimidated witnesses, at a certain point, he makes his own bed, he sleeps in it," Nardini said.
Kaplan in a written ruling last week said that Bankman-Fried had not specified which pieces of evidence he had been unable to access and noted that the defendant had not asked for a trial delay despite the judge's offer to consider one.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; additional reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York Editing by Will Dunham and Nick Zieminski)
By Sarah Wu
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Arizona is in talks with Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC on advanced packaging, Governor Katie Hobbs said on Tuesday, as the U.S. state seeks to attract more investment and address challenges that TSMC's massive project has encountered there.
TSMC is investing $40 billion to build two chip fabrication facilities, or fabs, in Arizona, supporting Washington's plans to boost U.S. chipmaking capacity.
"Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that right now," Hobbs said on the sidelines of a U.S.-Taiwan supply chain forum in Taipei.
TSMC said in a statement it had updated the governor on the "positive" progress made on the Arizona fabs, but did not directly mention plans for advanced packaging facilities.
"We believe the dialogues that we held during this visit will help us to work together even more closely in the future," TSMC said.
Crucial for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, advanced packaging techniques can stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the cost of more powerful computing.
Facing a surge in AI-related demand, TSMC has been unable to fulfil demand for advanced packaging services and has been rapidly expanding capacity, including a nearly T$90 billion ($2.81 billion) investment in a new facility in Taiwan.
In July, TSMC said its first Arizona fab would be delayed until 2025 because of a shortage of specialist workers and it was sending technicians from Taiwan to train local staff. Production had been due to start next year.
Hobbs said she did not expect further delays.
"The project is going well in Arizona. I'm very impressed by the speed with which it's been built and we are working through bugs and expect it to continue on schedule," she said.
Her delegation's meetings with TSMC executives on Monday focused on their "continued partnership" and how to address any issues that arise, Hobbs said.
"We're continuing to make sure that we have the skilled workforce that's needed, both on the advanced manufacturing side but also the construction side so that we can continue these investments."
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, the world's largest contract chipmaker, counts Apple and Nvidia among its major clients.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, meeting Hobbs at the presidential office later on Tuesday, praised TSMC's Arizona plant as a symbol of cooperation.
"These joint efforts also will help us create more secure and resilient supply chains," Tsai said.
($1 = 32.0120 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Sarah Wu; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Edmund Klamann Christian Schmollinger and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
BAKU (Reuters) - Azerbaijan sent troops backed by artillery strikes into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday in an attempt to bring the breakaway region to heel by force, raising the threat of a new war with its neighbour Armenia.
Karabakh is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory but part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities who say the area is their ancestral homeland. The region has been at the centre of two wars - the latest in 2020 - since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
Loud and repeated shelling was audible from social media footage filmed in Stepanakert, the capital of mountainous Karabakh, called Khankendi by Azerbaijan, on Tuesday amid an air raid warning.
Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said Baku had deployed ground forces who he said had broken through Armenian lines in several places and achieved some of their main goals, something Armenian separatist forces denied.
A Baku defence ministry statement said Azerbaijani forces had so far seized more than 60 military posts and destroyed up to 20 military vehicles with other hardware.
Reuters could not immediately verify the Azerbaijani battle reports.
Karabakh separatist authorities said 25 people had been killed, including two civilians, and 80 injured from Baku's military action. Inhabitants of some villages had been evacuated, they said. Reuters could not verify these assertions.
It was not clear whether Baku's actions would trigger a full-scale conflict dragging in Armenia. But there were signs of political fallout in Yerevan where Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan - viewed as too pro-Western by Russia, Armenia's traditional supporter - spoke of calls for a coup against him.
The fighting could also alter the geopolitical balance in the South Caucasus region, which is crisscrossed with oil and gas pipelines, and where Russia - distracted by its own war in Ukraine - is seeking to preserve its influence in the face of greater activity from Turkey, which backs Azerbaijan.
'CLOSE A CHAPTER'
Azerbaijan's Hajiyev said the army was using guided munitions against military targets to try to avoid collateral damage to civilians.
"The intention of Azerbaijan is to close a chapter of animosity and confrontation," said Hajiyev.
"Enough is enough. We cannot tolerate any longer having such armed forces on our territory and also a structure which, on a daily basis, challenges the security and sovereignty of Azerbaijan."
Azerbaijan's defence ministry spoke in an earlier statement of its intention to "disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, (and) neutralise their military infrastructure".
It said it was acting to "restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan" and that civilians were free to leave by humanitarian corridors, including one to Armenia.
Pashinyan, Armenia's prime minister, said the offer looked like another attempt by Baku to get Armenians to clear out of Karabakh as part of a campaign of what he described as "ethnic cleansing", an accusation Baku denies.
Armenia, which had been holding peace talks with Azerbaijan, including on questions about Karabakh's future, condemned what it called Baku's "full-scale aggression" against the people of Karabakh and accused Azerbaijan of shelling towns and villages.
"Driven by a sense of impunity, Azerbaijan has openly claimed responsibility for the aggression," Armenia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports from either side.
APPEAL FOR HELP
Armenia, which says its armed forces are not in Karabakh and that the situation on its own border with Azerbaijan is stable, called on members of the U.N. Security Council to help and for Russian peacekeepers on the ground to intervene.
Russia, which brokered a fragile ceasefire after a war in 2020 which saw Azerbaijan recapture swathes of land in and around Karabakh that it had lost in an earlier conflict in the 1990s, called for all sides to stop fighting.
Russia is in touch with both Azerbaijan and Armenia and has urged negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday, adding that Moscow considered ensuring civilian safety the most important issue.
Armenia has accused Moscow of being too distracted by its own war in Ukraine to protect it and has accused Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh of failing to do their job.
The United States was pursuing crisis diplomacy over what it believed was a particularly dangerous flare-up, U.S. officials said, saying Secretary of State Antony Blinken was likely to get involved in the next 24 hours in trying to defuse the crisis.
France said it was working with its partners to respond strongly, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Azerbaijan had broken a promise not to resort to military action, and European Council President Charles Michel called the news "devastating."
Turkey said it supported Baku's drive to preserve its territorial integrity.
Alissa de Carbonnel of the International Crisis Group, a conflict prevention organisation, said it was critical that the U.S., EU and Russia - all currently gathered at the U.N. General Assembly - did their utmost to halt the fighting and convince Baku that its aims could best be met through talks.
Speaking inside Karabakh with artillery rumbling in the background, Ruben Vardanyan, a top official in Karabakh's ethnic Armenian administration until February, appealed for Armenia to recognise Karabakh's self-declared independence from Azerbaijan.
"A really serious situation has unfolded here," Vardanyan said in a video clip. "Azerbaijan has started a full-scale military operation against 120,000 inhabitants, of which 30,000 are children, pregnant women and old people," he said.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
A bear that prompted partial closures at Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom on Monday was captured without incident and is being relocated, according to a news release from Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.
In most cases, it is best for bears to be given space and to move along on their own, but given this situation, staff have captured the animal and are relocating the bear out of the park to an area in or around the Ocala National Forest, FWC said.
FWC added that the animal was an adult female.
Nearly a dozen attractions were closed on Monday at the time authorities were trying to locate the bear at Magic Kingdom, according to the My Disney Experience app.
At 11:17 am EDT, the attractions Swiss Family Treehouse, Magic Carpets of Aladdin, Jungle Cruise, Enchanted Tiki Room, Pirates of the Caribbean, Country Bear Jamboree, Tom Sawyer Island, Walt Disney World Railroad, Liberty Square Riverboat, Hall of Presidents and Haunted Mansion were closed to the public, according to an official app screenshot shared with CNN by Craig Williams, executive producer at wdwinfo.com.
Aerial footage of FWC personnel on the scene shows them removing the bear. - WESH
It was not clear if the closures, or how many, were related to the bear sighting. CNN has reached out to Disney for more details about specific closures but has not heard back yet.
In an earlier statement, Disney said, We are working with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and have made the decision to reopen Frontierland, Liberty Square and Adventureland at Magic Kingdom Park.
Aerials images captured by CNN affiliate WESH show the bear was captured in a wooded area near the Magic Kingdoms its a small world ride. The video shows a team carrying the bear away from the area in a tarp.
There are three other major parks at the resort: EPCOT, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom.
Shawn Nottingham, Carlos Suarez, Melissa Alonso and Kate Conerly contributed to this report.
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials were forced to euthanise a sick black bear this month after the animal suffered "severe intestinal blockage" after eating human trash.
The bear was found in Telluride, where it was suffering from an infection and was unable to digest food, according to CPW Area Wildlife Manager Rachel Sralla.
After the 400-pound bear was killed, trash items including paper towels, disinfectant wipes and food wrappers were found inside the bear's digestive tract.
CPW issued a news release warning that trash is a major driver of human conflicts with bears in Colorado.
It all comes back to trash, which we talk about too often when it comes to bear conflicts in Colorado. The reason we had to put this bear down was to end its suffering that was caused by eating indigestible trash, Ms Sralla said in the statement.
Officials found the bear after receiving a report that the animal appeared to be in distress.
"The bear acted feverish and had puffy eyes and discharge coming from its eyes and mouth. CPW officers also determined it likely had severe abdominal pain based on their observations and from a video supplied by a resident of the building the bear was near," the statement said.
Officials noted the bear was humped while it moved, but it generally showed a reluctance to move at all.
CPW agents believe the bear was the same one that entered a home earlier in the summer.
Bears frequently raid human trash bins when they can't find food or if they find the trash bins to be a more accessible means of finding sustenance.
Human encroachment into bears' habitats increases the likelihood of bears both losing their natural food sources and having encounters with humans, including eating their garbage.
A collection of trash items found inside a 400lb black bear that had to be euthanised in Telluride, Colorado (Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
Ms Sralla said the incident is a tragic reminder that residents and business owners in areas where bears live must secure their trash bins to avoid conflicts. CPW said it has responded to 37 human-bear conflicts in San Miguel County in 2023.
In Telluride, securing trash containers is actually mandated by local ordinances.
Telluride has an ordinance to address bear in trash issues, Ms Sralla said. We need the community to follow that ordinance to be a better neighbor to our bears and prevent this type of incident from happening again.
She said the CPW decided to put the bear down to spare it a long, painful death.
We could not leave a sick bear like this knowing it was suffering and struggling to survive, Ms Sralla said. When you have a very fat 400-pound bear, it will take it ages to starve to death. Thats a horrific way to die, decaying from the inside out for that long. As officers, we had to make an unfavorable call. Its a call we wish we never had to make.
A black bear wanders along Canyon Road in 2020 in Arcadia. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
A black male bear in Telluride, Colo., had to be humanely euthanized because it was starving and in distress from consuming human trash, including food wrappers, paper towels and other garbage that deprived it of nutrients and choked its intestines, officials said.
The bear, which weighed about 400 pounds, was put down by Colorado Parks and Wildlife on Sept. 9 because it showed signs of infection and was suffering from a severe intestinal blockage caused by consumed human trash, according to a news release from CPW.
A full necropsy of the bear showed its intestines were fully blocked by wipes, paper towels, food wrappers, onions, French fries and other garbage, CPW said.
The bear could not digest food and was very sick, CPW Area Wildlife Manager Rachel Sralla said.
Read more:Orphaned brother bears find a new home in San Diego while authorities investigate report of bear shooting
CPW received a report of a sick or injured bear near the river trail in Telluride in the early afternoon Sept. 9, the agency said. CPW officers and the Telluride Marshals officers monitored the bear and kept it away from humans. A nearby resident also provided video footage of the bears behavior.
The bear was acting feverish and had puffy eyes and discharge coming from its eyes and mouth, CPW said. It was in a humped position while walking and seemed unable to move, indicating severe abdominal pain, officers said.
CPW said the bear was known in the town and to law enforcement, which on several occasions had to scare it away from public areas. But officers werent able to chase the bear off Sept. 9, and said the bear tried to intimidate officers.
The agency said it made the decision to euthanize the bear that evening for human health and safety reasons as well as to prevent the bear from further suffering.
Officers performed a necropsy on the bear the following morning and found trash clogging several organs, CPW said.
The removal of the stomach and intestines showed that the bear was starving due to a plug of paper towels, disinfectant wipes, napkins, parts of plastic sacks and wax paper food wrappers in the pylorus, CPW District Wildlife Manager Mark Caddy said, referring to the opening from the stomach into the small intestine. This plug was accompanied by french fries, green beans, onions and peanuts."
Read more:Black bears are also scaling Yosemite's Half Dome: What to do if you meet up
Caddy said the bear's small and large intestines were inflamed from decomposing bacteria, and that they were empty of digested food matter.
Officials with CPW have responded to 37 reported human-bear conflicts in Colorado's San Miguel County in 2023, the agency said.
On X, the website formerly known as Twitter, commentators blamed tourists for the rubbish. But CPW said the message needs to also be aimed at local residents.
This was a town bear getting residential trash and dumpsters, CPW wrote. So also encourage your neighbors and town businesses to secure their trash.
Telluride has laws and fines addressing the issue of bears getting into trash, and CPW has asked the community for better compliance.
We need the community to follow that ordinance to be a better neighbor to our bears and prevent this type of incident from happening again, Sralla said.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By William James
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has invited China to its global artificial intelligence (AI) summit in November, with foreign minister James Cleverly saying the risks of the technology could not be contained if one of its leading players was absent.
"We cannot keep the UK public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech," Cleverly said in a statement on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants Britain to become a global leader in AI regulation and the summit on Nov. 1-2 will bring together governments, tech companies and academics to discuss the risks posed by the powerful new technology.
Britain said the event would touch on topics such as how AI could undermine biosecurity as well as how the technology could be used for public good, for example in safer transport.
Cleverly, who became the most senior minister to visit China in five years last month, has argued for deeper engagement with Beijing, saying it would be a mistake to try to isolate the world's second-largest economy and China's help was needed in areas such as climate change and economic instability.
"The UK's approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners and engage where it is in the UK's national interest," Cleverly said on Tuesday.
London is trying to improve ties with Beijing but there has been growing anxiety about Chinese activity in Britain in recent weeks after it was revealed that a parliamentary researcher was arrested in March on suspicion of spying for the country.
The Chinese embassy in London was not immediately able to say if China would attend the summit.
Britain has appointed tech expert Matt Clifford and former senior diplomat Jonathan Black to lead preparations for the summit.
Clifford told Reuters last month that he hoped the gathering would set the tone for future international debates on AI regulation.
(Reporting by William James and Andrew MacAskill, writing by Sarah Young and Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Christina Fincher)
North Korea's food situations may have improved, compared with the first half of the year, on the back of an increase in crop harvest and imports, South Korea's unification ministry said Tuesday.
With deaths from starvation reported in some regions, North Korea has reportedly been facing serious food shortages, as its prolonged COVID-19 border closure and disruptions in state-controlled food supply have aggravated the situation.
"There is a possible change in the North's food situations, as the country has boosted food imports and harvests of barley and wheat have significantly made progress," a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.
The official said the North seems to have suffered a food crisis in the first half due largely to problems in food distributions, rather than an absolute shortage of food.
Russia is ready to offer food aid to North Korea, but Pyongyang said it can "do without foreign help as it has good harvest," Russian Ambassador to North Korea Alexander Matsegora said in an interview with Russia's state-run news agency TASS.
The North is known for chronic food shortages that have been apparently aggravated in recent years amid global sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs, unfavorable weather and border lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Yonhap)
By David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada is not trying to provoke India by suggesting it was linked to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader, but wants New Delhi to address the issue properly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Trudeau announced on Monday that Canadian intelligence agencies were actively pursuing credible allegations tying New Delhi's agents to the shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, in British Columbia in June.
India quickly dismissed the assertion as absurd, and said it was expelling a Canadian diplomat, further worsening already poor diplomatic relations between the two G20 members.
Trudeau told reporters that the case had far-reaching consequences in international law.
"The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that; we are not looking to provoke or escalate," he said.
The affair has derailed protracted talks on a potential bilateral trade deal.
A source familiar with the situation said Canada's decision to announce on Sept. 1 it was pausing the talks and announce on Sept. 15 it was postponing a major trade mission, set for next month, had been directly linked to concerns over the murder.
The source spoke on the grounds they not be identified, since they were not authorised to speak to reporters.
Canadian officials have so far declined to say why they believe India could be linked to Nijjar's murder.
"The evidence "will all be shared in due course", said a senior Canadian government source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.
Canada has worked very closely with the United States, including on Trudeau's statement on Monday about his country's concerns over the killing, said the government source.
Trudeau, asked why Ottawa had spoken out now, said, "we wanted to make sure that we had a solid grounding in understanding what was going on ... we wanted to make sure we were taking the time to talk with our allies."
Nijjar's son Balraj, 21, said on Tuesday he had always suspected India was behind the killing, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported.
"It was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out," it quoted him as saying.
Sikh and Muslim organizations welcomed Trudeau's remarks and called on his government to take swift action, including protecting Sikhs in Canada under threat and preventing Indian nationals tied to intelligence forces or human rights abuses from entering Canada, among other immediate steps.
"To see a Canadian attacked on Canadian soil by a foreign country I think we can't understate how shocking that news is," World Sikh Organization of Canada board member Mukhbir Singh told a news conference.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims chief executive, Stephen Brown, speaking alongside Singh, added: "This assassination was an attack on all of us as Canadians. This is why we must take action."
New Delhi, which urged Ottawa to act against anti-Indian elements, has long been unhappy over Sikh separatist activity in Canada.
Nijjar supported creating a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent, so-called state of Khalistan in India's northern state of Punjab, the birthplace of the Sikh religion, which borders Pakistan. India designated him as a "terrorist" in 2020.
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside Punjab, with about 770,000 people reporting Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.
India has been particularly sensitive to Sikh protesters in Canada, with some Indian analysts saying Ottawa does not stop them because Sikhs are a politically influential group
The United States and Australia expressed "deep concern" over Canada's accusations. U.S. authorities have urged India to cooperate with the investigation, a senior State Department official told reporters at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Canada and India have been trying to boost low levels of bilateral trade, which in 2022 amounted to just C$13.7 billion ($10.2 billion) out of Canada's total of C$1.52 trillion. Both sides have announced they are freezing the talks.
Britain, meanwhile, said it would continue trade talks with India despite the allegations.
($1 = 1.3415 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by David Ljunggren and Steve Scherer; additional reporting by Susan Heavey; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Reuters) -A cargo vessel carrying grain has left the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Chornomorsk for the first time since a grain deal collapsed, a top government official said on Tuesday, in a test of Ukraine's ability to unblock its seaports for grain export.
"The vessel RESILIENT AFRICA, carrying 3,000 tons of wheat, has left the port of Chornomorsk and is heading towards the Bosphorus," Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said on Facebook.
"This is the first of two vessels that entered Chornomorsk last week through a temporary corridor for civilian vessels established by the Ukrainian Navy."
Kubrakov posted a photo of the ship on the open sea.
Ukraine last month announced a "humanitarian corridor" in the Black Sea to release ships trapped in its ports since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 and to circumvent a de facto blockade after Russia abandoned a deal to let Kyiv export grain.
The bulk carriers Resilient Africa and Aroyat arrived in Ukraine on Saturday and were due to depart after loading almost 20,000 metric tons of wheat for Africa and Asia.
Kubrakov said the second ship, Aroyat, is still moored in Chornomorsk and is being loaded with wheat for Egypt.
The loading is a test of Ukraine's ability to reopen shipping lanes at a time when Russia is trying to re-impose its de facto blockade.
Moscow has launched frequent drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian grain export infrastructure.
Odesa's three seaports, including Chornomorsk, shipped tens of millions of tons of grain during Russia's invasion under a U.N.-brokered deal which collapsed when Moscow withdrew.
Five of several vessels that had been stuck in Odesa have so far left the port, using the temporary corridor which hugs the western Black Sea coast near Romania and Bulgaria.
The Black Sea grain deal was brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in July 2022 to combat a global food crisis worsened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's top grain exporters.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Kirsten Donovan)
Federal health authorities are urging Americans to stay up to date on all vaccines to avoid slowing down the healthcare system during cold and flu season.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new statement on the potential for a tripledemic, in which cases of Covid-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) all circulate at the same time and are massively disruptive to urgent care centres and hospitals.
If all three viruses peak at the same time, they have the capacity to overwhelm healthcare centres causing delays to routine appointments, such as cancer screenings.
Before Covid-19 emerged, RSV and flu caused millions of illnesses during the fall and winter months. Flu causes an estimated 9 million to 41 million illnesses each year, while RSV causes more than 2 million illnesses in children under five alone. Among people 65 and older, RSV causes up to 10,000 deaths annually.
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes illness with Covid, added an extra burden to an already fragile system, experts say. As with last year, the total number of hospitalisations this year is expected to be higher than what we as a nation experienced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new statement said. According to the most recent data from the CDC, from 3 September to 9 September, hospitalisations from Covid rose 7.7 per cent compared to the previous week. Deaths from the virus rose 4.5 per cent during the same time period.
The outlook released in the new CDC statement shows projections for what could happen if all three viruses peak at the same time, and experts say that scenario is cause for concern.
When a disease is endemic, it means that the levels are mostly predictable. So its nice to see the CDC putting out their predictions this fall, Dr Ellie Murray, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, tweeted in response to the outlook. [On the other hand], its not so nice that their best case scenario is almost twice as many respiratory hospitalizations as pre-COVID.
During last years tripledemic, the peaks of the three viruses overlapped, causing chaos in emergency care centres. RSV, in particular, took a massive toll on children at one point, every single paediatric hospital bed in the state of Rhode Island was full, according to reporting from NBC News .
This is the first year that vaccines are available for each virus; to prevent healthcare shutdowns, the CDC is recommending that all those who are eligible stay up to date on all their shots.
Adults 60 and older are eligible for the RSV vaccine, while everyone six months and older can get the updated Covid-19 and flu vaccines.
Vaccination against these respiratory viruses is important for everyone and especially for those who are at higher risk of developing serious complications, including older Americans and those with medical complications, the new statement said.
Infants and older adults are at high risk for severe disease from both RSV and influenza, while Covid is more dangerous for people over 65; more than 81 per cent of deaths from Covid occur in this age group. People with certain medical conditions such as asthma or who take immunocompromising medications are also at an increased risk.
If viral infections do cause a tripledemic, people in the US may need to start wearing masks and social distancing. That these behaviours werent implemented during last years cold and flu season was part of the problem, experts say .
Another factor that crippled the healthcare system last year was Americans hesitancy to get vaccinated: Only a quarter of US adults got the bivalent booster that was made available in September 2022, according to data from KFF , a health policy research group.
While people in certain age brackets and with certain health conditions are more likely to need hospitalisation from RSV, Covid, and flu, anyone can get very sick from these viruses. Therefore, staying up to date on all vaccines does more than protect healthcare infrastructure, the CDC says.
Migrant children who were separated from their parents at the southern border were not informed by U.S. officials of their right to interact with family members, resulting in increased trauma from detention, according to an official report filed in court last week.
According to the report, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at times separated children as young as 8 from their parents, often without informing the parties of their right to interact with each other.
The report was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for Central California by Paul Wise, a professor of child health and pediatrics at Stanford University and the court-appointed juvenile child monitor overseeing implementation of the Flores settlement agreement, a key court resolution governing detention standards for migrant minors.
None of the interviewed children had visited with their parents since they were separated, including children who had been separated for 4 days. Most of the children were not aware of any protocols that would allow them to request a visit with their parents, Wise wrote in the filing.
Caregivers assigned to the children were also largely unaware of the detainees visitation rights, according to the report.
A CBP official told The Hill the agency uses filings like Wises to identify deficiencies for instance the lack of information on visitation rights to address specific issues in compliance with Flores.
The report, concerning conditions for migrant minors in just two sectors of the border Rio Grande Valley and El Paso heightened concerns among advocates.
U.S. Border Patrols continued practice of family separation as detailed in this report is deeply troubling. It confirms that CBP continues to violate childrens rights to safety and family unity, despite the traumatic and long-lasting consequences of separating children, said Gladis Molina, executive director at the Young Center for Immigrant Childrens Rights.
The fact that Dr. Wises report focuses on just one part of the border gives us reason to be concerned that forced family separation is even more widespread than we know.
According to the Flores settlement, minors may not be held in immigration detention for more than 72 hours in most cases, a rule that CBP largely followed for unaccompanied minors, but less so for family units.
In July, 737 minors traveling as part of family units were subject to longer-than-usual detention; 697 were held for three to five days, 39 for more than five days, including 15 who were held more than 14 days.
Thats a sharp increase from June, when 187 minors were held for periods longer than three days, and none for more than 14 days.
Few unaccompanied children were held for long periods. No unaccompanied minors were held longer than three days in June, and five were held in July, including only one minor held more than 14 days.
When the 72-hour limit is surpassed, it is almost always due to special circumstances, such as a child initially reporting that they are over 18 years old or for a protracted medical issue, Wise wrote.
Children in families, however, are routinely held for more than 72 hours.
Those prolonged detentions are decided on a case-by-case basis and can respond to a familys proximity to repatriation, medical care or other factors, but are not used for the purpose of prolonged separation, according to a CBP officer.
Wise cited site visits to the Donna facility in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, a temporary holding facility run by CBP, where investigators found that some children had been separated from their parents.
The separated children included young boys separated from fathers and young girls from mothers, an apparent violation of the terms of the Flores settlement.
However, the report noted that some family separations are routine, for instance placing older teenage boys among other boys, rather than in family holding facilities.
This is done so that teenage boys are not held in the same pods with large numbers of what are often, very young women, Wise wrote.
Children can also be separated from their parents if officials believe the parents are a risk to the welfare of the children.
Those exceptions are not clearly delineated in the settlement, and medical professionals such as Wise say forced family separation comes with intrinsic risks.
The essential context for these Settlement provisions and their legal assessment is the fundamental understanding that hold a child separately while in custody is bad for children. Separating a child from a parent can be profoundly traumatic for children and can have lasting, harmful effects, he wrote.
The reports recommendation on the issue was simply to stop separating children younger than 16 from their parents, or at the very least inform children, parents and caretakers of family visitation rights.
Advocates say the practice has to end.
There is simply no justification for routinely separating children from their parents at the border. If overcrowding is truly CBPs concern, the agency should take action to quickly process and release families together, Molina said.
Children seeking safety at our border require the highest standards of care. The Biden Administration must immediately address these concerns, rather than repeating the harm of the past.
But, Wise noted, family separations while in detention under the Biden administration different from the Trump administrations short-lived zero tolerance policy, which extended beyond detention.
The separations observed in the [Rio Grande Valley] pertained only to the families time in custody, as parents and children were reunited upon their release from custody, Wise wrote.
These separations in custody, therefore, should be distinguished from the family separations associated with the Zero Tolerance policy in 2018 in which children were separated from parents at apprehension and ultimately transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, [Health and Human Services], as [unaccompanied children].
Updated at 6:58 p.m.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Reuters) -China's former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was ousted from his position in July, had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with a briefing.
The report said Qin was cooperating with the investigation, which was now focused on whether the affair or Qin's conduct had compromised China's national security.
Senior Chinese officials were told that an internal Communist Party investigation found Qin engaged in the affair throughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the United States, the report said. Two sources told the newspaper the affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the U.S.
During a regular press briefing on Tuesday, China foreign ministry spokeperson Mao Ning was asked about the article and said: "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned".
Qin was replaced by veteran diplomat Wang Yi in July as the foreign minister after a mysterious one-month absence from duties barely half a year into the job.
He was China's top envoy in Washington from July 2021 until January this year.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Neil Fullick and Michael Perry)
By Jessie Pang
HONG KONG (Reuters) -China's foreign ministry in Hong Kong said it has asked consulates in the financial hub to provide job titles, home addresses and identification details of all locally employed staff, confirming a letter to consulates seen by Reuters.
The Hong Kong Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a note on Sept 18 to foreign consulates in Hong Kong requesting the submission of relevant information on local employees of the consulate, the ministry said in a statement to Reuters.
"This measure is in line with international customary practice. It is understood that Chinese consulates stationed abroad also provide local employee information to the host country according to local government requirements," it said.
The letter stated that consulates must comply with the request by Oct. 18.
Under Hong Kong's mini constitution, Beijing is in charge of foreign affairs relating to the special administrative region. The former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
Beijing has ratcheted up control over the densely packed city of 7 million people since a sweeping national security law imposed in 2020. China's national security office has extensive investigative and surveillance powers under the law.
In line with the "Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, the Consulates General and the Office of the European Union ... are requested to provide information on all locally engaged who have entered into employment contract," the letter said.
The EU office, the U.S. and British consulates did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The move comes as some Hong Kong-based diplomats have been closely monitoring the implementation of the tougher national security laws imposed after sometimes violent anti-government protests rocked the city in 2019.
While some Western governments have criticised the laws as curbing social and political freedoms in the city, both Chinese and Hong Kong officials have said they were vital to restoring stability.
(Additional reporting by Liz Lee in Beijing and Greg Torode in Hong Kong; writing by Farah Master; editing by Michael Perry and Mark Heinrich)
Blasts rocked Ukraines western city of Lviv in the early hours of Tuesday as Russia launched large-scale air attacks that struck an industrial warehouse, officials said.
Local officials said air defence systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack that started in the early hours.
From around 1am BST the entire western half of Ukraine was covered by air raid alerts.
The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, and regional governor Maxim Kozitsky asked people to stay indoors due to the threat of continuing attacks in the region.
As a result of the strike on the territory of Lviv, we recorded a fire at an industrial warehouse, he said.
Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here
One injured person in the air attack was found under the wreckage, the mayor said.
There is a threat of a second attack. Air defence works in our region. Do not leave shelters, please! the mayor said on his Telegram channel, starting the alert messages around 7am local time.
These are the sounds of air defence!! he said.
It is not immediately known if the attacks were caused using missiles and drones.
The heavy aerial attacks from Russia on Ukraine commenced as the war neared 600 days of conflict and coincided with the start of president Volodymyr Zelenskys visit to the US on Monday.
The war-time president is making his second visit to the country after his last trip in December. He is likely to deliver a powerful address at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday. He will also address world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Mr Zelensky will come face-to-face with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in a first since Russias full-scale invasion in February last year. The Russian leader is also expected to make remarks at the meeting. Moscow is a veto-wielding member of the security council.
Mr Zelensky is scheduled to spend some time Thursday on Capitol Hill and meet with president Joe Biden at the White House.
A couple took their children out of school to take them on a 10-month long European road trip in a campervan in search of a more valuable education.
Carl and Ruth Jackson, both 43, set off for Calais in November 2022 with children Maisie, 11, Pippa ,10, and Marley, five.
The family visited 28 countries, including flying to Australia and Bali before travelling to Greece and Italy.
They returned to England in August 2023 in time for Maisie to start secondary school.
We genuinely believe they are got a more valuable education from all these new cultural experiences, Carl said.
By Raphael Satter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Beijing has a cyberespionage program so vast that it is bigger than all of its major competitors combined, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Chris Wray told a conference on Monday.
THE TAKE
U.S. officials have been sounding the alarm about Chinese hackers for years. But even after decades of handwringing over the theft of American secrets, Wray's comments were unusually stark.
KEY QUOTE
"China already has a bigger hacking program than every other major nation combined," Wray said. "If each one of the FBI's cyber agents and intelligence analysts focused on China exclusively, Chinese hackers would still outnumber our cyber personnel by at least 50 to 1."
THE RESPONSE
Beijing's embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment, but China has repeatedly denied using hackers to spy on the United States. Last month the embassy said that American officials and media frequently "hyped up" allegations of China-linked espionage.
THE CONTEXT
*Wray was speaking at mWISE, a Washington conference hosted by Mandiant, the cybersecurity company bought in 2022 by Alphabet's Google Inc.
*His comments follow a spate of high-profile hacks blamed on China, including the recent theft of hundreds of thousands of emails from senior U.S. government officials.
*Mandiant Chief Executive Kevin Mandia told Reuters at the conference that Chinese hackers were increasingly among the best spies out there. "The top innovator on offense is China," he said.
(Reporting by Raphael Satter; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
Alberto Jorrin Rodriguez/Dreamstime.com
Federal housing officials are charging a pair of New York landlords with violating fair housing law for making no exceptions for emotional support animals in their "no pets" policy.
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced it had filed a complaint against Ronit and Voyl "Tom" Mechamowners of a two-unit rental property in Jamestown, New Yorkfor denying a tenant's requests to keep a cat on the premises.
The Mecham's tenant, whose name is redacted in the complaint, had requested in November 2021 that they be allowed to have the cat as part of the treatment they were receiving for unspecified mental health issues. The tenant said they would provide a doctor's note justifying the emotional support cat.
In December, Tom Mecham told the tenantwho had been living on the property since February 2021that they would not allow a cat on the property, but they would allow them to get out of their lease early if they wished to move.
The tenant's subsequent requests for an exemption to the "no pets" policy went unanswered, according to the complaint. Eventually, in May 2022, the tenant went ahead and acquired an emotional support cat anyway.
That didn't appear to cause any immediate issues, as the tenant continued to live at the Mechams' property through August 2022. That month, the tenant informed the property owners that they were moving out.
Only during a move-out inspection did the issue of the cat resurface. According to the complaint, Ronit Mecham told the tenant she should have disclosed her mental health issues before moving in and should have moved out if she wanted a cat.
That comment seems to have been the end of it.
The HUD complaint says the tenant suffered emotional and physical distress as a result of the Mecham's "discriminatory conduct"but doesn't list any other penalty they suffered.
For HUD, that's nevertheless enough to qualify as illegal disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.
"Assistance animals provide people with disabilities the support they need to enjoy the benefits of their housing," said Demetria L. McCain, HUD's principal assistant deputy secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, in a press release. "HUD is committed to zealously enforcing the Act to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities."
HUD's complaint demands that the Mechams take proactive steps to "remedy the effects of [their] illegal, discriminatory conduct." It also seeks monetary damages to compensate the tenant for the damage they suffered for not getting permission to keep an emotional support cat in their house.
Those monetary damages could be substantial.
In 2021, a New Hampshire landlord agreed to pay $35,000 to settle a fair housing lawsuit brought by the feds over their failure to make an emotional support animal exception to the "no pets" policy at their property.
In 2019, the Meeker Housing Authority, which operates low-income housing in Meeker, Colorado, was forced to pay $1 million after losing a discrimination lawsuit that challenged its policy of charging a pet fee to people looking to keep emotional support animals.
HUD's charge of discrimination was filed on September 15. The Mechams have 20 days from that date to request a civil trial in federal court. If neither they nor their former tenant decide to take that option, the case will be heard by a HUD administrative law judge.
The post The Feds Sue New York Landlords for Not Allowing a Tenant's Emotional Support Cat appeared first on Reason.com.
President Yoon Suk Yeol arrived in New York on Monday to embark on a five-day trip to attend the U.N. General Assembly and meet with world leaders amid signs of growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.
Yoon is first set to hold a flurry of bilateral summits on the sidelines of the annual U.N. gathering in a last-minute push to win support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern port city of Busan.
"President Yoon plans to widely make known our determination to carry out our role and responsibility befitting the status of the Republic of Korea in terms of solving various challenges facing the international community," Principal Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Tae-hyo told reporters on Thursday.
"President Yoon will pledge that the Republic of Korea will fulfill its responsible role in continuing to expand official development assistance to help reduce the global development gap, supporting the efforts of climate-vulnerable nations to reduce carbon emissions and transition to clean energy, and allowing the world's citizens to enjoy the benefits of digital technologies," Kim said.
A highlight of Yoon's trip will be his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
The speech will come as last week's rare summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin has led to concern about potential military deals between the two isolated states.
"In the U.N. General Assembly address, we expect that there will be an appropriate analysis and message about the recent military exchanges between North Korea and Russia," a senior presidential official told reporters Thursday.
"Along with individual measures we can take on our own, we're also discussing multilateral measures we can take together with the United States, Japan and other key friends," the official added.
In an interview with the Associated Press published Sunday, Yoon said military cooperation between North Korea and Russia is "illegal and unjust as it contravenes U.N. Security Council resolutions and various other international sanctions."
The international community "will unite more tightly in response to such a move," he said.
Yoon is scheduled to hold at least 30 bilateral summits on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly, including around 10 with countries that have never previously had a bilateral summit with South Korea since they established diplomatic relations, such as North Macedonia, San Marino, Saint Lucia and Mauritania.
During these meetings, Yoon will continue his push to win support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo, with two months to go until member states of the Bureau International des Expositions, the international body in charge of overseeing the event, cast their votes.
Busan is in a three-way competition against Rome, Italy, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Other events on Yoon's itinerary will include a meeting with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a reception hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, and a Digital Vision Forum to be held at New York University, where Yoon will unveil plans to announce a "Digital Bill of Rights" outlining the details of a new digital order.
Yoon is accompanied on the trip by first lady Kim Keon Hee and will return home Saturday. (Yonhap)
France and Germany are pushing plans to offer Britain and other European countries associate membership of the EU in a move that could rebuild the UKs ties with the bloc.
The two countries have tabled a blueprint that would create four new tiers, with the most aligned states forming an inner circle.
In what will be seen as an olive branch, a new outer tier of associate membership would be open to the UK, laying the ground for a closer economic relationship.
Senior Tories welcomed the proposal with the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine telling The Independent that Britain must urgently explore the idea as the overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake.
The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe, he said.
But the move prompted a furious reaction from Brexiteers who accused EU countries of desperation in their bid to enlarge the bloc.
News of the plans came after Sir Keir Starmer held talks in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron, the final leg of an international tour designed to portray the Labour leader as a prime minister in waiting.
But as both main parties walk a tightrope over Brexit in the run-up to next years general election, Labour and No 10 ruled out any form of associate membership of the EU.
As he tries to appeal to both pro-remain businesses and Leave voters, Sir Keir at the weekend pledged to secure a much better Brexit deal if he wins the next election, but rejected rejoining the customs union or the single market.
In March the chairperson of the government watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility warned the economic impact of Brexit was the same magnitude as the Covid pandemic and the energy price crisis.
Richard Hughes said Britains gross domestic product, a key measure of a countrys wealth, would be 4 per cent higher if the UK had stayed in the EU.
Under the associate membership plans the UK would be expected to contribute to the EUs annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for participation in the single market.
Associate members, who would form the blocs first outer tier, could include members of the single market who are not in the EU, such as Switzerland, or even the UK, a paper put forward by France and Germany stated.
They would not be bound to ever closer union and further integration, it said.
But they would have to commit to the common principles and values of the EU.
Although they would pay into the EUs budget, costs would be lower than those paid by full members.
Sir Keir said his meeting with Mr Macron began with an exchange of gifts and covered topics including the relationship between our two countries and future prosperity and security.
Sir Keir stressed plans to build on the relationship between France and Britain if Labour wins power.
A European diplomatic source told The Times the plan was designed with Labour in mind, despite Sir Keir having ruled out rejoining the EUs single market.
It is carefully balanced politically to be a potential place for Britain without the need to ever rejoin the EU or to hold a referendum, the source said.
A party spokesperson said: Labour will seek a better deal for Britain. This does not involve any form of membership.
And the prime ministers official spokesperson, asked whether Rishi Sunak would countenance Britain becoming an associate member of the EU, said: No.
Associate membership would not include a customs union, allowing Britain to keep an independent trade policy.
Lord Heseltine told The Independent Britain must urgently explore France and Germanys plan.
He said: The remorseless pressure of public opinion is changing the dynamic of politics.
The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe. This is an opportunity offered by France and Germany which should be seized upon.
The overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake, even those who still believe in it agree it has never been possible to implement it.
The Tories have at least recognised change is needed, firstly with Northern Ireland and the Windsor Agreement and then with Horizon, allowing cooperation on science and technology.
He also suggested that political stances could shift after the next election. While the red wall may be insurmountable on this side of the general election, the pressure of events will push people of both main parties to dare to change and to make permanent links with Europe, he said.
This new plan between France and Germany must be explored urgently.
In response to the plan, the Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, who has previously called for Britain to rejoin the EUs single market, said the UK needs a pragmatic re-engagement with Europe.
As our Brexit deal comes up for formal re-negotiation, we need to explore more avenues for economic advantage, he added.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, when asked about the potential to join a new outer tier of the EU, said: I like the outer tier that we are currently in.
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost told The Independent Britain should certainly not consider associate membership.
Sir John Redwood, the Tory former trade minister, said that leaving the single market was a crucial part of the Brexit case and rejoining would do huge damage to British industry. He said a great win of Brexit was no longer having to contribute to the blocs budget.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said the idea smacks of desperation at a time when many member states are wondering what this democracy devouring beast is for. He said: The country rejected this once and would do so again.
Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner, told The Independent the UK should see this move as an opportunity to start the process to rejoin the EU.
This onion option, forming part of an outer layer of the EU, is an olive branch from our European neighbours, but we must negotiate cautiously to make sure that we regain at least some of the influence we lost under Brexiteer extremism, she said.
And Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said the proposals were encouraging, although associate membership remains some way off.
Under the plans a second tier for outer members would not include any integration with EU law but would see an upgrade of the European Political Community (EPC), of which Britain is a part. It would include free trade agreements in certain areas such as energy or defence, and would focus on cooperation on important issues such as climate and security.
The paper has been written by an official Franco-German working group on EU institutional reform, made up of experts, academics and lawyers, set up by both the French and German governments earlier this year. The proposals are due to be presented at a monthly meeting of ministers of EU member states.
Five Americans who spent years imprisoned in Iran were freed on Monday as part of a complex and delicate diplomatic deal that saw five imprisoned Iranians released from the United States.
Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, as well as two others who were not identified, were flown out of Tehran to Qatar, and are now flying back to Washington, D.C., on a U.S. government plane.
As part of the deal, the Biden administration unfroze nearly $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue that had been held in South Korea since 2018.
Also read: What we know about the U.S.-Iran prisoner exchange
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said that two of the Iranian prisoners held in the United States plan to stay in the U.S., two plan to return to Iran and one would go to a different country where family lived.
"Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home," President Biden said in a statement, adding: "As we celebrate the return of these Americans, we also remember those who did not return."
Our live coverage has ended for the day. Visit Yahoo News for the latest on the swap, and check out the blog below for a recap of how it unfolded.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) -Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani met with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York on Monday and received an invitation from U.S. President Joe Biden to visit the White House soon, a State Department spokesperson said.
Sudani, who is in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, said a date for the official visit to Washington would be set at a later time, Iraqi state media reported.
Biden and Sudani have yet to meet since Sudani took office last year after being appointed by a coalition of parties, predominantly Shi'ite Muslim groups close to Tehran.
He has since walked a diplomatic tightrope between the United States and Iran, two countries that in the past have fought out their rivalry on Iraqi soil.
Sudani and Blinken "renewed their commitment to continue strengthening the partnership between the two countries," the State Department spokesperson said.
Iraq has been a close partner of Washington since the U.S. 2003 invasion and both sides say they are trying to broaden their relationship from a near-singular focus on defence and counter-terrorism towards economic and financial cooperation.
Blinken during the meeting "underscored U.S. support" for the re-opening of a pipeline between Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and Turkey, the State Department said. The pipeline has been shut since March, costing the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) roughly $4 billion in lost exports, according to sources.
Turkey said last week the pipeline, which contributes about 0.5% of world oil supply, would be ready to resume operations soon, though it is unclear whether Baghdad and Ankara have agreed to the terms of a resumption of crude flows.
Blinken also "commended the Prime Ministers commitment to judicial independence in Iraqs recent conviction and sentencing of multiple individuals on terrorism charges in connection with the killing of U.S. citizen Stephen Troell," according to the State Department readout.
An Iraqi court in August sentenced an Iranian man and four Iraqis - all members of a Shi'ite Muslim militia - to life in prison over Troell's November 2022 killing in a middle class neighbourhood in central Baghdad.
U.S. officials have also praised increased cooperation between Washington and Baghdad on financial issues.
In New York Sudani met with Brian Nelson, Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, to discuss ways to "strengthen the Iraqi financial sector against fraud, sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities," a Treasury statement said.
Nelson "acknowledged the significant progress Iraq has made in their efforts," the statement said.
Last week, a senior U.S. Treasury official said Iraq's central bank must address continued risks of the misuse of dollars at Iraqi commercial banks to avoid new punitive measures targeting the country's financial sector.
In July, the United States barred 14 Iraqi banks from conducting dollar transactions as part of a wider crackdown on the illicit use of the currency.
With more than $100 billion in reserves held in the United States, Iraq is heavily reliant on Washington's goodwill to ensure oil revenues and finances do not face U.S. censure.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Baghdad; additional reporting by Natalie GroverEditing by Andrew Heavens, Peter Graff and Tomasz Janowski)
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) made a sweeping request for more information about the Justice Departments investigation of the presidents son, Hunter Biden, setting a date for an interview with David Weiss, the special counsel on the matter, while demanding a number of documents related to the ongoing investigation.
Jordan is also asking the Justice Department (DOJ) to turn over a series of documents related to two IRS whistleblowers who claimed the investigation was being mismanaged.
The letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, obtained by The Hill, shows the committee is seeking an Oct. 11 interview with Weiss, who previously said he was willing to speak with the panel.
But it also shows the panel requesting interviews with other top DOJ officials mentioned in testimony by the IRS whistleblowers, including U.S. Attorney for D.C. Matthew Graves and Lesley Wolf, a deputy to Weiss.
The request comes after the two whistleblowers IRS agents Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler complained the investigation into Hunter Biden was slow-walked, pointing to both Weiss and Wolf as at times hesitant to aggressively pursue the case, which included allegations of several tax crimes.
Shapley also said Graves resisted bringing charges against Biden in Washington, D.C. a claim denied both by his office as well as Weisss.
Jordan also asks for a significant volume of documents tied to the ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden, who was indicted just last week on charges related to failing to acknowledge drug use when seeking to buy a weapon. Its unclear if additional tax charges are forthcoming.
Those documents include a PowerPoint regarding the investigation and any notes or emails related to an Oct. 7 meeting in which Shapley recalled Weiss saying he sought and was denied special counsel status, leaving him unable to pursue charges outside of Delaware.
The letter shows the panel is pulling at new threads about the meeting, including following up on recent testimony provided by FBI agent Thomas Sobocinski, who leads the Baltimore field office and recently told congressional investigators he had no recollection of Weiss claiming he was being blocked from seeking special counsel status.
Sobocinski countered Shapleys recollection of that meeting, echoing Justice Department staff in saying that Weiss had total authority on the case and could seek and be granted special counsel status at any time.
My memory of this is that it was a process or a bureaucracy thing he moves through, not a permission or authority issue, Sobocinski, special agent in charge of the Baltimore Field Office, said in a transcribed interview with the Judiciary Committee.
Approval means, to me, thats more like, Hey, I can say no. I never thought that anybody was there above David Weiss to say no, he added.
Jordan also seeks yet more information about the two whistleblowers, asking for any and all documents or communications that reference the two men, their plans to testify before Congress, the Oct. 7 meeting, and Weisss authority to bring charges against Biden.
Jordan is zeroing in on those who have disagreed with Shapleys account, also asking for all communications between Sobocinski, his deputy Ryeshia Holley and Weiss.
Holley also reportedly said she did not recall Weiss saying he was struggling to get special counsel status.
She also said she did not believe politics played a role in the speed of the investigation, another point made by Sobocinski.
Weiss was elevated to special counsel in August, months after Shapleys May testimony. But the issue remains a focus of the GOP as Garland said Weiss had full authority to bring cases outside his district if desired.
He has been advised that he should get anything he needs, Garland said in March.
The Justice Department confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment. Weisss office also declined to comment.
Updated at 8:47 p.m.
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KYIV, Ukraine Mykola Kuleba looked stressed.
The CEO of Save Ukraine listened carefully to his lead investigator whispering into his ear. He covered the microphone on his jacket.
"Its a very emotionally stressful day because we have our seventh rescue mission and we have a huge problem," said the head of the Ukrainian nongovernmental organization at the start of an interview with NBC News earlier this year.
Save Ukraines seventh rescue mission, Kuleba said, was a group of Ukrainian mothers, grandmothers and other legal guardians of Ukrainian children who had been illegally deported and forcibly transferred to Russia and Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories.
With Save Ukraines training, planning and funding, these women were traveling through Poland, Belarus and Russia to find their children a daring, 3,000-mile journey to the other side of the front line.
But it wasnt going to plan.
To learn more about "Saving Nikita" and Ukraines fight to bring home children, tune into NBC News Now and MSNBC on Monday and Tuesday
"The FSB tried to block everything," Kuleba said, referring to the Russian security services. "They imprisoned several of our mothers. One was deported and just now, my team met her on the border."
The family was one of hundreds of thousands that the Ukrainians say have been torn apart deliberately by the Russian government, which faces allegations of war crimes.
Kuleba has worked in child protection for decades; before joining Save Ukraine, Kuleba held the post of ombudsman for children with the president of Ukraine for seven years. At the NGO level, he readily admits theyre more nimble than the Ukrainian government.
"We can do things that governments simply cant, he told NBC News, without elaborating. But there was a hint of frustration that more than a year into this war, there wasnt more collaboration with major international organizations or the Ukrainian government.
As Kuleba spoke, a Ukrainian woman named Oksana Stetsenko was on a train from Moscow to Rostov in southwestern Russia. Stetsenko had joined the seventh rescue mission to find her 12-year-old son, Nikita, whom she hadnt seen in eight long months.
Oksana Stetsenko with her son Nikita. (NBC News)
On Sept. 1, 2022, Stetsenko sent Nikita to a boarding school in the occupied village of Kupyansk, about an hour outside of Ukraines easternmost city, Kharkiv. She said later, she figured it was safer than her home village of Pischane, deeper into Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine.
If only I had known, she said, not finishing her sentence.
A week later, on Sept. 8, Russian troops took Nikita and 12 classmates from the basement of the Kupyansk Special School, loaded them onto trucks and transferred them to Svatove, in Russian-occupied Luhansk.
Two days later, Kupyansk was retaken by Ukrainian troops in a sweeping counteroffensive, but by then, the school was empty. Around that same time, satellite imagery shows the bridge between Stetsenkos village of Pischane and Kupyansk had been blown up, destroying the only route she could take.
She cried so much after going to bed that her pillow was soaked with tears every night.
I didnt know what to think. What else could I think? she said. She tried to remember what was going through her head, but it was all hard, she said.
If you had children, you would understand me. It was hard for the soul. This uncertainty, this pit, Stetsenko said.
Russia maintains that children it has removed from Ukraine were being evacuated and saved from danger.
"Children are sacred, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in June. We took them out of the conflict zone, saving their lives and health. Thats what happened.
On Sept. 11, 2022, a pro-Russian Telegram channel posted a video announcing the safe evacuation of 13 children from a school in Kupyansk to Svatove. By Sept. 14, according to Maria Lvova-Belova, Russias childrens rights commissioner, the group had been moved again deeper into Luhansk.
Lvova-Belova told NBC News that the group of 13 students had been "taken out from under shelling" and transferred to the Perevalsk Special Correctional Boarding School on Sept. 14.
Oksana Stetsenko. (NBC News)
Stetsenko had no idea what had happened to her son. She said she spent the next month hunkered down in the basement in Pischane, praying at night before evacuating to Kharkiv at the end of October 2022.
Back in June, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy estimated that more than 200,000 children have been deported to Russia or a Russian-occupied territory since Putins invasion began in February 2022. That number could be as high as 300,000, according to the Ukrainian presidents adviser on child rights, Daria Herasymchuk.
For Lvova-Belovas part, she put the number at 700,000 since the war began in 2014, but Ukrainian officials say she hasnt offered a comprehensive list of names for them to confirm that number.
Back in March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for both Lvova-Belova and Putin, accusing them of the "unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children," which is a war crime. Their actions, according to a statement from Prosecutor Karim Khan, "demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the ICC allegations "outrageous and unacceptable," but noted that Russia does not recognize the courts jurisdiction.
"And accordingly, any decisions of this kind are null and void for the Russian Federation from the point of view of law," he said March 17.
Since March, Kuleba said, it has proved harder to return Ukrainian children.
"Russians understand now that each case is valued for the ICC," Kuleba said. "Each case is evidence of a war crime."
Oksana Stetsenko's son Nikita. (NBC News)
Ukrainian officials say their real fear, for children like Nikita, is the indoctrination, the so-called Russification they endure after being taken by Russian forces. Nikita described singing the Russian national anthem, dressing in Russian uniforms and being taught a Russian curriculum.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights charged with leading the daunting reunification process, explained the playbook, as seen from Kyiv.
"Deport these children to [the] Russian side, he said in an English-language interview with NBC News in late May. Take away their Ukrainian documents. Give them Russian documents. [Tell them] Look, you were never Ukrainians because Ukraine never existed like a state. The Ukrainian nation never existed like a nation. You [were] all the time Russian.
Ukrainian officials say they track the number of children returning to the best of their ability. They currently estimate at least 386 Ukrainian children have returned home since the start of the war, all without Russian help. Kulebas organization, Save Ukraine, says they are responsible for 176 of those children. Last week, Kuleba reported 13 more Ukrainian children returned home as part of the organizations 11th rescue mission.
Save Ukraines methods are kept under wraps for security, and Kuleba spoke of the operational details in broad brush strokes.
"We provide trainings, because it is very dangerous to go [to Russia] and they [have] to be prepared for interrogation of FSB," Kuleba said.
Stetsenko had never been out of the country before. She had never flown on a plane. And with few resources from a small eastern Ukrainian village, she had no idea there were even organizations that did this.
Within a month of connecting with Save Ukraine, Stetsenko was in Kyiv with the other mothers. And within days, she was on her first-ever flight.
On May 19, Stetsenko hugged Nikita for the first time in eight months.
TAPACHULA, Mexico (AP) Migrants, mostly from Haiti, burst into an asylum office in southern Mexico on Monday, demanding papers.
Throngs of migrants knocked over metal barricades and rushed into the office in the city of Tapachula, pushing past National Guard officers and police stationed at the office. Some of the migrants were trampled by their colleagues in the rush.
Authorities later convinced many to leave, and no injuries were reported.
The tension comes as asylum claims in Mexico have skyrocketed, reaching over 100,000 so far this year.
Crowds of frustrated migrants, including many from Cuba and Honduras, say they have had to wait for weeks in some cases for an appointment at the office in Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala.
At the office, run by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid, migrants can file claims for asylum in Mexico. Most, however, intend to use the papers to travel more safely and easily to the U.S. border.
It's very complicated, there are too many people here, the Haitians get desperate, they knock over the barricades and that only makes the process slower, said Cuban migrant Miguel Argoten.
Argoten said he had been waiting a week in Tapachula to start the asylum application process. The office has been getting about 2,000 appointment requests per day recently.
Mexico is on track to receive more asylum applications this year than ever before as the flow of migrants threatens to overwhelm governments of several Latin American countries along the migratory route.
Andres Ramirez Silva, the director of Mexicos refugee agency, said last week that the number of asylum applications his agency receives this year could reach 150,000, well above the 129,000 record set in 2021.
Effectively we have a pace that is very above what we have in our record year that was 2021, Ramirez Silva said. If that pace continues he predicted they could reach 150,000 by years end. Through August they already had 100,000 25% above the same period in 2021 more than half at Mexicos shared border with Guatemala.
Some migrants got unruly during the wait last week and pushed their way into the agencys offices, which led to the deployment of National Guard officers, who had little luck in keeping order.
Ramirez Silva said Cubans, Haitians and Hondurans have made up about 80% of the asylum applications at the Tapachula office. He said his agency had asked the federal government for more resources to expand its capacity.
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Follow APs global migration coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/migration
GAZA (Reuters) -Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man along the Gaza-Israel border on Tuesday and three Palestinian men in clashes in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian officials said.
The Palestinian killed in Gaza was the first such fatality in what has recently become almost daily confrontations along the frontier after months of relative calm.
"The ongoing Israeli aggression against our people in Gaza, Jenin and other Palestinian cities will bring violence and escalation to the entire region, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the official spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, said.
A statement from the Israeli military said "hundreds of rioters gathered in a violent riot adjacent to the security fence in the Gaza Strip."
"During the incident, a number of explosive devices were activated by the rioters," the statement said, but did not confirm the death.
Health officials said 25-year-old Youssef Radwan was shot in the neck at the border and died in a hospital and that 11 more people were wounded in the violence.
Separately, three Palestinian men, ages 22, 23 and 24, were shot and killed by Israeli forces and at least 30 were wounded in clashes in Jenin, Palestinian officials said.
The Israeli military said one of its drones had struck in Jenin but did not confirm the casualties.
In a statement, the Israeli military said it came under fire in the West Bank during a raid and that an explosive was detonated under a military vehicle which then needed to be rescued.
"During the rescue, gunmen fired at forces, hits were identified on the rescue vehicles and no IDF injuries were reported," the statement said.
Over the past few weeks the military said its soldiers had been using riot dispersal means against Palestinians throwing explosives at the border fence along the Gaza Strip.
Last week, five Palestinians were killed at the border by an explosive device detonated accidentally by demonstrators who were planning to use it against Israeli forces.
Hamas, the Islamist armed group that rules Gaza, has been supportive of the border rallies. Organizers on Tuesday said they were held in protests of Jewish visits to the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem.
Others were called in support of Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel and an Israeli blockade on the narrow coastal territory, home to around 2.3 million Palestinians whose economy is buckling under the restrictions.
Israel says its blockade is necessary to stop arms reaching Hamas, with which it has fought several wars since the group seized control of Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel withdrew its settlers and troops from the small coastal enclave.
(Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta; Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell and Emily Rose in Jerusalem; Editing by Timothy Gardner and Mark Porter)
US investigators seized artworks by Austrian painter Egon Schiele from three museums amid claims Nazis stole them from a Jewish collector during World War II.
Museums in Chicago, Pittsburgh and Oberlin, Ohio were named in search warrants issued by New York states Supreme Court, which said it has reasonable cause to believe that the works in their collections are stolen property.
The Manhattan District Attorneys office declined CNNs request for comment on the nature of its investigation, though all three artworks the Chicago Institute of Arts Russian Prisoner of War, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburghs Portrait of a Man and the Allen Memorial Art Museums Girl with Black Hair are currently part of civil lawsuits filed by the heirs of Fritz Grunbaum.
Prior to the war, Grunbaum, a well-known Austrian comic, cabaret star and songwriter, amassed an art collection of almost 450 works, according to court documents filed by his heirs. Among them were 81 artworks by Schiele, an expressionist painter and protege of Gustav Klimt.
Egon Schiele's "Girl with Black Hair," at Ohio's Allen Memorial Art Museum, is among the works that heirs of Jewish collector Fritz Grunbaum say were stolen by the Nazis during World War II. - Handout/Manhattan District Attorney's Office
In 1938, Grunbaum was sent to Dachau concentration camp, where his heirs say he was tortured and compelled to sign an unlawful power of attorney over to his wife before he was murdered in 1941. Court documents claim that his wife, Elisabeth, was then forced to liquidate his assets, including his art collection, which was looted and dispersed by the Nazis. She, too, was later killed in a concentration camp.
The three seized items, which include watercolor and pencil works on paper, were produced during the later years of Schieles life, between 1911 and 1917. Investigators have valued each at between $1 million and $1.5 million.
A spokesperson for the Art Institute of Chicago said the museum is confident in its legal acquisition and lawful possession of this work, adding the matter is being properly litigated in the ongoing civil suit.
Oberlin College also expressed confidence that its Schiele watercolor had been legally acquired and was lawfully possess(ed), adding: We believe that Oberlin is not the target of the Manhattan DAs criminal investigation into this matter.
Egon Schiele's "Portrait of a Man," from the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburghs collection. - Handout/Manhattan District Attorney's Office
A Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh spokesperson meanwhile told CNN that the institution is deeply committed to its mission of preserving the resources of art and science by acting in accordance with ethical, legal and professional requirements and norms.
We will of course cooperate fully with inquiries from the relevant authorities, the statement added.
The search warrants specify that the three items be seized in place, meaning they may, for now, remain at the museums.
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TACOMA, Wash. Jury selection started Monday in the trial of three Tacoma police officers charged in the death of Manuel Manny Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who was tackled, punched, shocked with a stun gun and held face down on a sidewalk in March 2020, two months before George Floyd met a similar fate.
Officers Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins, who are white, have been charged with second-degree murder, and Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, faces first-degree manslaughter charges. They pleaded not guilty.
Jury selection is expected to take two weeks and opening statements are slated to start Oct. 2 in Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma. The trial is expected to run four days each week until December.
Ellis purchased a box of doughnuts and some water at a convenience store at about 11:21 p.m. that Tuesday night and walked across the street, where he encountered Burbank and Collins sitting in a patrol car, according to a probable cause statement filed by the Washington Attorney Generals Office.
Tacoma Police officer Christopher
Burbank and Collins said Ellis tried to get into a strangers car and then attacked the officers when they confronted him. But witnesses say the officers jumped out of their car as Ellis walked by and knocked him to the ground. Several witnesses recorded the encounter with their cellphones as they screamed for the officers to stop, the document said.
A video taken by a woman sitting in a car behind the officers shows Burbank wrapping his arms around Ellis, lifting him into the air and slamming him onto the pavement, striking him with his fist in the process, the statement said.
Collins then moves in towards Ellis and brings his weight down onto him, the document said. With Ellis underneath him, Collins begins striking Elliss head with his fist. Meanwhile, Burbank draws his Taser gun and walks close in towards Ellis. Collins can be seen on S.M.s video striking Elliss head four times, with Ellis screaming after each strike.
Collins wrapped his arm around Ellis neck while squeezing and his head fell limply to the sidewalk. The officer also pressed on Ellis back while pushing his face into the ground, the document said.
A mural honoring Manuel
A doorbell security camera across the street picked up Ellis saying, Cant breathe, sir. Cant breathe, and one of the officers responded by saying, Shut the (expletive) up, man.
The officers then wrapped a hobble restraint device around Ellis legs and linked it to his handcuffs behind his back in a hog-tie position while he remained in the prone position. They also pulled a spit-hood over his head. After the hobble was applied, he stopped moving, the statement said.
All three witnesses said Ellis was not fighting back during the struggle, the prosecutor said.
Ellis was pronounced dead at the scene.
Tacoma Police officer Matthew Collins during his trial alongside codefendants Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine in Tacoma, Wash., on Sept. 18, 2023. (Brian Hayes / The News Tribune via AP)
The Ellis family released a statement through their lawyer late Monday saying they hope the start of the trial will help mark a turning point in the history of our country in favor of truth and justice.
We believe that Manny was tortured to death, and before his body had even turned cold the Tacoma police began their campaign to slander their victim and obstruct justice, said the release from Monet Carter-Mixon and Matthew Ellis, Manny Ellis sister and brother. We reject the shameful efforts to demonize our loved one and to try and make him seem like some kind of monster.
Brett Purtzer, a lawyer representing Burbank, said it was patiently false and absurd to say Ellis was tortured. Burbank is looking forward to going to trial where the truth will be told, he said.
People light candles at a makeshift memorial on June 3, 2020, at the intersection where Manuel Ellis died in Tacoma Police custody. (Jason Redmond / AFP via Getty Images file)
Messages sent seeking comment from the lawyers for Collins and Rankine were not immediately returned.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner said the cause of death was hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, due to physical restraint and found the manner of death was homicide.
Lawyers for the officers filed reports saying Ellis was resisting and trying to get away, so the officers needed to use force to get him into custody.
Experts hired by the officers blamed his death on methamphetamine use and heart problems. They called it an accident.
Marcia Carter-Patterson, the mother of Manuel Ellis, reacts to a video of her son's final moments in Tacoma, Wash., on June 9, 2020. (Karen Ducey / Getty Images file)
The Pierce County Sheriffs Office initially investigated the death, but months later when it was revealed sheriffs personnel were involved in the detention, Gov. Jay Inslee ordered the Washington State Patrol to take over the investigation and referred the charging decision to the Washington Attorney Generals Office.
Charges were filed on May 27, 2021, marking the first time the attorney generals office has charged a law enforcement officer with murder. It was only the second time an officer has been charged with murder in Washington state since voters approved Initiative 940 in 2018, which removed the requirement that prosecutors show an officer acted with malice in order to be charged with murder.
Auburn Officer Jeffrey Nelson was charged in 2020 with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shooting death of Jesse Sarey on May 31, 2019. His trial is pending.
Ellis family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the county and officers and the Pierce County Council approved a $4 million settlement agreement in 2022. The deal ended the countys involvement, but Monet Carter-Mixon, and mother, Marcia Carter, continue to pursue their wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Tacoma.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Czech President Petr Pavel during their summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 18. Yonhap
President Yoon Suk Yeol held summits with the leaders of Sri Lanka, San Marino and seven other nations in New York on Monday (local time), kicking off a series of bilateral meetings arranged on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to seek support for South Korea's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.
Yoon, who arrived in New York on Monday for a five-day visit, is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday and hold at least 30 bilateral summits on the margins, according to his office.
Yoon's last-minute push to win support for South Korea's Expo bid comes as member states of the Bureau International des Expositions, the international body in charge of overseeing the event, are set to cast their votes at the end of November, with South Korea's southeastern city of Busan competing against Rome, Italy, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
During a meeting with Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Yoon requested Sri Lanka's support and said he looks forward to long-term partnerships between their two countries in the areas of development cooperation, labor, climate change response, and trade and investment.
Wickremesinghe noted that Sri Lankan workers who were trained in South Korea are working as skilled laborers in his country and voiced hope for further trade and investment between the two countries through the signing of a relevant cooperation deal.
Yoon later met with the two captains regent of San Marino Alessandro Scarano and Adele Tonnini and called for the swift signing of a memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation between the two countries.
The captains regent said they hope the two sides will establish the legal framework necessary for bilateral economic cooperation, including by signing a double tax avoidance agreement and an investment guarantee agreement.
In his meeting with Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, Yoon called for increased cooperation in agriculture and health. He also invited his counterpart to the inaugural South Korea-Africa summit to be held in South Korea next year.
In his meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel, Yoon asked the president for his attention and support for South Korean companies' participation in the new nuclear power plant project in Dukovany, the Czech Republic.
Pavel said he hopes to expand cooperation with South Korea in the areas of energy, autos and express railways, as well as in producing batteries using Czech lithium resources.
Yoon also held a summit with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the two leaders noted their countries' growing cooperation in green growth.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, right, shakes hands with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during their summit on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 18. Yonhap
Credit - Photo-illustration by Lon Tweeten for TIME Images: Alain Pararazzi Cubano / YouTube, Facebook, CyberResistance UA / Telegram
Alex Vegas Diaz was surprised to find himself sleeping next to Russian soldiers in a trench in Ukraine, more than 6,000 miles from home. In his telling, the skinny 19-year-old Cuban accepted an offer posted on WhatsApp to make good money doing construction work for the Russian military. Instead, he and a friend were taken to a base, outfitted with weapons, and sent against their will to the front lines of a war they never intended to join.
What is happening in Ukraine is uglyto see people with their heads open before you, to see how people are killed, feel the bombs falling next to you, Vegas Diaz said in an Aug. 31 video, speaking from a Russian hospital, where he said he was recovering from an illness before being sent back to the front. Please, please help get us out of here.
The plea for help went viral. Similar stories began to surface, as Cubans posted online and called into talk shows to ask for information about family members who had also flown to Moscow to join the Russian military. The outcry eventually prompted the Cuban government to issue a striking allegation: a human trafficking network operating out of Russia was luring young Cubans to enlist to fight in Ukraine. On Sept. 8, Cuban officials said they had arrested 17 people in connection with the alleged trafficking scheme. They could face up to 30 years in prison for engaging in mercenary activity, which is against Cuban law.
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But social-media posts, audio messages, and videos from recruits in Russia reviewed by TIME, along with interviews with family members and documents obtained by a Ukrainian hacker group that corroborate their identities, combine to tell a very different story. They indicate that Vegas Diaz became caught up in a large, organized operation that has openly recruited hundreds of Cuban volunteers to fight in Moscows increasingly depleted army since July. They also suggest that the trafficking allegations may be an attempt by the Cuban government, a longtime ally of Russia, to maintain its stated neutrality on the war in Ukraine, four Cuba experts and former U.S. officials tell TIME.
Posts advertising a "contract with the Ministry of Defense for military service in the Russian army" began to appear on Cuban Facebook groups in June. Recruits were offered a monthly salary of 204,000 rubles, or $2,086 U.S. dollarsan almost unimaginable sum in Cuba, where the average salary is less than $50 per month. On Sept. 5, a Ukrainian hacker group posted what appeared to be a version of the six-page contract that recruits signed once they arrived in Russia, translated into flawless Spanish. It required a one-year commitment and came with benefits that included a one-time enlistment fee of 195,000 rubles (roughly $2,000) and 2 million rubles (roughly $21,000) for their families if they are killed. The contract also asks recruits to fill out a questionnaire about why they are enlisting and how they feel about military service. The terms of the contract match those publicly promoted by the Russian Defense Ministry, including the possibility of Russian citizenship for the recruit and their families per a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin last year.
It is unclear how many conscripts the recruiting push yielded. The hacked emails reviewed by TIME only document the nearly 200 recruits who passed through the military office in the Russian city of Tula in July and August. Cuban human-rights groups estimates range from around 750 recruits to more than 1,000. The Miami-based Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FHRC) told TIME that of the 746 recruits they have tracked, at least 62 appear to be part of a highly-trained Cuban special forces outfit known as the Avispas Negras, or Black Wasps. TIME reviewed 199 passports of Cubans, aged 18 to 69, who appear to have enlisted with the Russian army since mid-July, and matched more than 20 to social-media profiles that corroborated their names, faces, and hometowns.
Perhaps the clearest indication that the vast majority of these recruits went to Russia willingly, and did not act as though they were engaging in an illegal scheme, comes through their own social-media posts. On Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, many of these recruits posted photos with Russian tanks, smiled with other Cubans in their new Russian military uniforms, and boasted about sending money back home. In Facebook comments, family members openly discussed brothers, husbands, and cousins who were "in Russia' and "in the war."
The discovery of the recruiting effort has complicated the delicate line Havana has tried to walk since Russias invasion of Ukraine. Cuba has been crippled by a 60-year U.S. embargo, island-wide blackouts, and a hunger crisis. It relies on Russia for food, oil, and economic investment, and recently signed a series of bilateral deals in which Moscow pledged relief for food and oil shortages and investment in the islands struggling sugar and steel industries in exchange for land leases. At the same time, Cuba cant afford to further jeopardize its relations with Western nations who have sought to isolate Russia as punishment for its war in Ukraine. The European Union is Cubas second-biggest trading partner and largest foreign investor. Ukraine, which has made it clear it believes Havana is involved in the recruiting scheme, has publicly pushed for Western nations to retaliate by "severing diplomatic relations with Cuba."
In a statement Sept. 4 accusing the human trafficking network of luring Cubans to Russia, Cubas foreign ministry said the nation is not part of the war conflict in Ukraine and firmly rejects allegations that it was an accomplice in this scheme. Yet dozens of the passports reviewed by TIME had been issued very recently, making it unlikely, experts say, that the Communist government, which keeps close tabs on its citizens, would not have detected the sudden exodus. Cuba analysts reject the possibility that Havana was unaware of the recruiting push. Several recruits told family members who spoke to TIME, as well as human rights groups, that Cuban officials intentionally did not stamp their passports before they exited the country to board their flight to Moscow, in an apparent attempt to maintain deniability.
The idea that the government was not involved is ludicrous. Nothing happens without their involvement, says Chris Simmons, a Cuban spycraft expert and former counterintelligence officer with the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agencya view widely shared by Cuba experts who spoke to TIME. By pledging to prosecute any "illegal" recruiting, the Cuban government gets the best of both worlds: It supports its ally," Simmons says, "and because the passports arent stamped, theres no liability of a body count, because theres no proof they ever left.
Rumors of Cuban recruits appearing on the front lines in Ukraine have been swirling for months. In May, a video of soldiers with Cuban flag patches on their chests, who claimed to be working for the mercenary Wagner Group, circulated on TikTok. A few weeks later, photos of Cubans sitting in a Russian recruitment office were published by a local newspaper in the city of Ryazan. In one of those photos, a recruit appears to be signing a document that closely resembles the contract seen by TIME.
In June, the ads soliciting Russian military service began appearing in Facebook groups for Cuban expats in Moscow. Most of the ads were posted by a woman under the name of Elena Shuvalova, a young Russian who spoke fluent Spanish and had previously built a reputation as a trustworthy travel agent for Cubans seeking to travel between Havana and Moscow, according to three people who told TIME they interacted with her in the past. The profile photo on the Telegram account linked to Shuvalovas number shows a young woman with dark red hair wearing tactical gear and posing next to a truck with a Cuban flag. Dozens of members of Cuban Facebook groups tagged Shuvalova in posts about enlisting in the Russian military. In an audio message TIME listened to, one recruit refers to nuestra companera Elena, who he says met them when they arrived in Russia. In one photo, she is seen smiling in the middle of a group of recent arrivals. (Shuvalova did not respond to TIMEs request for an interview.)
Marilin Vinent holds up a photo of her son Dannys Castillo dressed in military fatigues in an Aug. 22 message from her son that reads in Spanish "I'm already entangled" during an interview at her home in Havana, Cuba, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Vinent said that her son and other Cubans traveled at the end of July to Russia after being promised work in a construction job, but that he was one of the Cubans recruited to fight for Russia in Ukraine. Ramon EspinosaAP
The Facebook accounts of several men whose names and photos match the passports seen by TIME indicate that they rapidly sold ramshackle houses and left their girlfriends, wives, and young children to leave for Russia. The recruits social-media accounts underscore the hardship of their lives in Cuba, with posts begging for medicine and selling everything from cell phone parts to rationed meat on black market sites. With the money youll pay me, one Cuban man said in a video on WhatsApp addressed to Russian recruiters, if Im killed or not, at least Ill be able to help my family.
Several also mentioned Cubas history of sending its citizens to fight in Russias conflicts. My father went to Angola, one young man wrote in a lengthy explanation of his decision, referencing Cubas deployment of more than 50,000 volunteers to Angola and Ethiopia from 1975 to 1991 to fight in Soviet-backed wars. All my male ancestors were in some war and I want to follow themI understand the concept of cannon fodder and I don't care.
On July 1, Russian airline Aeroflot began operating direct flights from the Cuban beach town of Varadero to Moscow. In the weeks that followed, a stream of Cuban recruits began to arrive in Tula, according to the hacked documents. I now have 14 people at the selection point, Maj. Anton Valentinovich Perevozchikov, a Russian military officer in the city of Tula, wrote in an email on July 18. Passport translations are urgently needed. The flow seemed to continue for at least a month. 10 more people are coming to see me today, the officer wrote on Aug. 18. (Perevozchikov did not respond to TIMEs request for comment.)
Read More: Inside the Kremlin's Year of Ukraine Propaganda.
These emails and attached files were posted on Telegram on Sept. 5 by a Ukrainian activist hacker group called Cyber Resistance UA, which has also taken responsibility for the recent leaks of hacked emails from Russian politicians. The Cuban government is trying to abdicate responsibility for sending its citizens to war against Ukraine, the hacker group wrote on Telegram after the Cuban government made the human-trafficking allegation. We will 'help' the Cuban authorities to remember the situation and publish the passports of 200 mercenaries.
TIME was able to match at least 20 names on the passports to social-media profiles. Some of the images include photos of their Russian migration cards, which state the reason for visiting the country as tourism. Most of the arrivals seem to have flown into Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, where several reported being greeted by Cuban soldiers. In one photo viewed by TIME, recent arrivals pose for a selfie at the airport with a fellow Cuban dressed in a military uniform with the Russian flag patch, giving a thumbs-up sign.
The recruits did not hide their actions, as one might expect if they were part of an undercover scheme or trafficking operation. Some changed their Facebook location to living in Moscow and posted frequent photos with landmarks and military hardware. In videos shared with Cuban media, recruits film themselves at a military base having their heads shaved by Russian soldiers. Half a dozen photos sent to family members and viewed by TIME show Cuban recruits posing in barracks or holding guns. In one, Pedro Soto Hernandez, whose passport identifies him as a 59-year-old native of Granma, poses in a Russian military uniform, flashing a peace sign with the caption por la madre patria. (For the motherland.) One recruits aunt told TIME she spoke to her nephew almost daily, and that he was still training in Russia.
But after the recruits deployment to Ukraine, much of the communication seemed to cease, leading to confused and often desperate messages from family and friends back home. I need a number where I can reach my cousin, a woman named Yanisleydy Hernandez posted on July 6. He enlisted in the [Russian] Army. Several recruits told Cuban media that their phones were taken away by Russian forces once they were deployed, citing security concerns about being detected by drones. In a July 30 post circulated in Cuban groups on Facebook, an anonymous man said he was unable to reach his friend in Russia to tell him his brother had died back home. Please, cubanos, dont let yourself be deceived by these false promises, the man wrote. The situation in Cuba is bad, but going to a war is not a [better] option.
The recruits are now in a kind of no-mans land. Its actually incredibly tragic, says Hugo Acha, an expert in transnational organized crime at the Center for a Secure Free Society and the research director at the FHRC. If Im a poor guy from Pinar del Rio who finished his military service, and a uniformed official comes to my house and tells me this is a way to make money, helps me get to the airport, and now this is all happening while I find myself on the front line in Ukraineestoy literalmente muerto en vida. (I am like the living dead.)
Due to the Cuban governments denouncement of the effort as a human trafficking ring, it may be impossible for the recruits to return home, where they could face up to 30 years in prison for crimes including fighting as a mercenary or hostile action against a foreign state. Fighting as mercenaries for Russia would also bar them from seeking asylum or legal status in many countries, including the United States, according to Acha. And by not stamping the passports of recruits who left for Russia, the state has branded them as having illegally left the country.
Cubas government understands perfectly that Putin is a pariah in the international community, and that it could suffer enormous consequences if it were directly involved with the [war] being waged by Putin in Ukraine, says Vladimir Rouvinski, an expert on Russia-Latin America relations at the Instituto Colombiano de Estudios Superiores de Incolda in Cali, Colombia.
But Cuba cannot afford to alienate Russia, which has drawn closer to its former Cold War ally since the invasion of Ukraine. The apparent recruitment scheme unfolded in the wake of several high-level visits between senior officials in Havana and Moscow, which resulted in more than a dozen economic deals in which Cuba agreed to open the country to Russian banks and investors. Cuba has declined to vote on U.N. resolutions condemning the invasion of Ukraine. In a visit to Moscow in May, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel assured Russia of "Cuba's unconditional support."
Read More: Congress is Grappling With the Wrong Questions on Ukraine.
But Cuban officials have made contradictory statements about the mercenaries' involvement. On Sept. 14, Cuba's ambassador in Moscow said his government did not oppose the participation of its citizens in Russias war in Ukraine as long as it's "legal." A few hours later, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the nation prohibits "the participation of Cuban citizens in conflicts of any sort and against mercenarism."
Cuba watchers have questioned whether the state could have a financial stake in hundreds of its citizens serving in the Russian military. "Renting" Cuban citizens to work abroad has been a well-documented and lucrative venture for the cash-strapped Cuban government, which is paid up to $3,600 per month for providing doctors in countries like Brazil and Qatar, and made $1,000 per month for each soldier it sent to fight in Angola in the 1980s.
In Washington, the State Department has said it is assessing the reports of Cuban recruits fighting in Ukraine. We are deeply concerned that young Cubans may have been deceived and recruited to fight for Russia in its brutal full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we continue to monitor this situation closely, a spokesman said in a statement.
Ukraine has made clear it does not believe the Cuban governments denial of knowledge of the mercenary recruitment, and has called on the E.U. to take action. The Cuban communist regime pretends that it has nothing to do with this human trafficking. In reality, this totalitarian regime is on the side of the aggressor, Oleksandr Merezhko, who heads the foreign affairs committee in Ukraine's parliament, posted on Twitter.
Ukrainian soldiers themselves sent a message directly addressing the Cuban recruits they could soon be encountering on the battlefield. "Cubans, do not let yourselves be deceived as in the times of the Soviet Union," one said in a video posted on Telegram and subtitled in Spanish, standing with two dozen others holding a Ukrainian flag. "You can be sure that [you] will meet your own death in this place....It is better to die with dignity for the freedom of Cuba than to die as an invader of the Ukrainian land."
Vegas Diaz insisted he was ready to heed that warning. In the viral YouTube interview that first publicized the mercenary recruitment effort, he and his friend say that when they realized they were being sent to fight at the front, they asked to go back to Cuba and were denied. There are dead Cubans, there are missing Cubans, and this is not going to end until the war is over, Vegas Diaz said. We know that Cuba is aware and our advice to Cubans is not to come here. This is the craziest thing. Crazy. Don't do it."
Write to Vera Bergengruen at vera.bergengruen@time.com.
KYIV (Reuters) - Six people were killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine on Tuesday, including a drone strike that set ablaze industrial warehouses and destroyed humanitarian aid supplies in the western city of Lviv, officials said.
They said one person was killed in Lviv, three were killed in an attack on the northeastern town of Kupiansk, and two people, including a policeman, were killed in shelling of the southern city of Kherson.
In Lviv, which is far from front lines, fire fighters tackled a blaze after three industrial warehouses were hit in an attack at around 5 a.m. (0200 GMT), emergency services said.
Photos released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine showed huge flames lighting up the sky above the burning warehouses.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi said the body of a man who worked at one of the warehouses had been found under the rubble, and that the warehouses stored windows, household chemicals and humanitarian aid.
Denise Brown, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said a warehouse used by the non-governmental organisation Caritas-Spes has been destroyed.
"The vital humanitarian facility, which contained approximately 300 tons of relief supplies, was burned to the ground," she said in a statement.
Lviv regional governor Maxim Kozitsky said Russian forces had launched 18 drones in the attack on his region, and that 15 had been shot down, including seven that were directly over the Lviv region.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched a total of 30 drones and one Iskander ballistic missile in attacks on Ukraine overnight, and that 27 of the drones had been shot down.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Russia has repeatedly attacked infrastructure critical to Ukraine's defence, energy system and agriculture. Many civilians have also been killed but Moscow, which invaded Ukraine nearly 19 months ago, denies deliberately targeting civilians.
(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Tony Timpa is pinned facedown on the ground by Officer Dustin Dillard | Dallas Police Department
Last month, the seven-year anniversary of Tony Timpa's death came and went. Today, jury selection in the civil trial surrounding that deathwhich occurred after Dallas police violated their training when they pinned him to the ground for about 14 minutesfinally began, providing an apt example of the legal odyssey alleged victims of government misconduct must navigate, should they want recourse.
Those seven years were filled with roadblocks, put in place by the government, which almost deprived Timpa's family not only of stating their case before a jury but of learning the very basics about what happened on the evening of August 10, 2016, when Timpa phoned 911.
That night, Timpa told a dispatcher that he was having a mental health crisis. He mentioned he had schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and anxiety and that he had not taken his medication. Two private security guards handcuffed Timpa and waited for the cops.
They arrived shortly thereafter. For approximately 14 minutes and seven seconds, then-Officer Dustin Dillard, who was promoted last year to senior corporal, dug his left knee into Timpa's back, pressed his left hand between Timpa's shoulders, and periodically applied his right hand to Timpa's right shoulder. Timpa repeatedly cried out for help, yelling that he was "going to die."
He eventually went quiet. Because of the risk associated with the prone restraint, the Dallas Police Department (DPD) orders its officers to place subjects in an upright position or on their side as soon as any resistance abates. Instead, Timpa's silence induced Dillard to joke that he heard Timpa "snoring," after which Cpl. Raymond Dominguez and Officer Danny Vasquez suggested that "scrambled eggs" and "tutti-frutti" waffles could rouse Timpa from his slumber.
"You're going to kill me," Timpa had said. An autopsy found he suffered "sudden cardiac death due to the toxic effects of cocaine and [the] physiologic stress associated with physical restraint." He was 32.
Yet Timpa's mother, Vicki, would go years without knowing what happened to her son. It was not for lack of trying.
After the DPD notified her that her son was dead, the cops supplied several different stories. The police told her, Vicki said, that he'd had a heart attack at a bar, or that he collapsed by his vehicle, or that he fell unresponsive in an ambulance. None of those conflicting accounts could be reconciled, nor could any of them adequately explain why Timpa would have grass in his nose and bruises on his arms, which were apparent on her son's body when she went to the morgue.
Vicki then filed suit against the police. But the department refused to give her the body camera footage, threatening her ability to effectively outline what happened and meet the minimum standard required to file such a suit. The government then moved to have her complaint dismissed for not being specific enough, despite that it was the government that was withholding the specifics.
"The idea about this plausible pleading standard is to give defendants notice of what is being alleged against them," Joanna Schwartz, a law professor at UCLA and author of Shielded: How the Police Became Untouchable, told me earlier this year. "Well, the Dallas Police Department had all the notice in the world about what their officers had done, and yet used this tool to try to get the case dismissed."
It took three years before Vicki Timpa would be able to see how her son died. In August 2019, a court ordered the DPD to release the footage, clearing the way for Vicki to state in her suit what the officers knew all along.
In a practical sense, that was just the beginning. In July 2020, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas gave the police qualified immunity, the legal doctrine that dooms suits against state and local government actors if the misconduct alleged was not "clearly established" in a prior court ruling. Timpa's family invoked Gutierrez v. City of San Antonio, a 1998 case in the same federal circuit in which police officers were denied qualified immunity after a man died while they similarly restrained him facedown. The man in that case was hog-tiedwhereas Timpa was handcuffed with his feet zip-tiedwhich Judge David Godbey said was enough of a departure to render it ineffective at putting the Dallas officers on notice.
That thin distinction exemplifies how difficult it can be to overcome qualified immunity, with many courts demanding that victims find a pre-existing precedent that essentially mirrors their allegations. Such a ruling often doesn't exist. But in a surprise decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit overturned Godbey's ruling in December 2021, denying the officers qualified immunity and paving the way for Vicki to move forward.
"Within the Fifth Circuit, the law has long been clearly established that an officer's continued use of force on a restrained and subdued subject is objectively unreasonable," wrote Judge Edith Brown Clement. She also invoked the DPD's specific guidance on the prone restraint, which the officers appeared to ignore. Police can still receive qualified immunity even if they violate their own training, however, which puzzlingly assumes that officers are more likely to read decades of case law than they are their own department policy.
The police then appealedagainasking the Supreme Court to intervene. The tactic is a common one used by government defendants, who have bottomless coffers of taxpayer dollars from which to pull. William Virgil, for example, filed suit in 2016 amid allegations that police framed him for murder; his conviction was overturned after he spent 28 years behind bars. Though the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit declined to give the officers involved qualified immunity, the government continued to pursue vacuous appeals. Earlier this year, the city of Newport, Kentucky, finalized a $28 million settlement, although Virgil will not be able to enjoy any of it, as he died in January 2022, after waiting years for the privilege to state his case before a jury.
In May 2022, almost six years after Timpa's death, the high court rejected the government's request to intervene. A trial was set for July 2023. That was ultimately postponed after the presiding judge, Godbeywho penned the initial decision giving the officers qualified immunityreportedly expressed his discontent with media coverage of the case.
So it wasn't until today, more than 85 months after Timpa's death, that Vicki, Timpa's mother, finally saw the jury that will decide if her family deserves recourse for the actions police took that night. It's a part of the race that many victims of government misconduct never seeand the trial has barely begun.
The post Seven Years Since He Died Under a Cop's Knee, His Mom Is Getting Her Day in Court appeared first on Reason.com.
San Luis Obispo Countys top prosecutor has been deployed to the Middle East as part of a historic mission with the California Army National Guard, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorneys Office confirmed Monday.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow is on temporary active duty military leave beginning this week as he joins the California Army National Guards 40th Infantry Division overseas, according to the District Attorneys Office.
Its the divisions first deployment since the Korean War in January 1952, according to the U.S. National Guard.
The division will support the Operation Spartan Shield and Operation Inherent Resolve missions to build partner capacity and increase regional security in the Middle East, including Iraq, Jordan and Kuwait, the U.S. National Guard said.
I am very pleased to be able to serve the people of the United States and the state of California through my continued service in the California Army National Guard and be a part of this historic deployment of the 40th Infantry Division, Dow wrote in an emailed statement. I am anxious to get to work for the Army and return as quickly as possible to my very rewarding job as district attorney.
Dow is on temporary active-duty military leave, but remains the district attorney for San Luis Obispo County.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow. Courtesy photo
The great work of the District Attorneys Office will continue as though I were here, Dow said, with San Luis Obispo County Assistant District Attorney Eric Dobroth serving as the acting district attorney until Dow returns from his deployment.
The length of Dows deployment is unclear at this time.
Dow is a lieutenant colonel reserve officer and military judge in the California Army National Guard, the District Attorneys Office said.
He has served in the U.S. Army, U.S. Army Reserve and Army National Guard.
In June, Dow marked 30 years of military service.
He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during his deployment to Iraq under Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn. He also served in Kosovo under Operation Enduring Freedom.
Federal law protects all military reservists for their temporary leaves of absence from civilian or government employers, including elected officials.
By Joyce Lee
SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's Doosan Robotics is set to raise 421.2 billion won ($317 million) in an initial public offering (IPO) after pricing the deal at the top of its marketed range.
The company is a leading maker of so-called collaborative robots that work side-by-side with humans such as robot arms that can perform assembling, loading and welding tasks.
The offering for institutional investors had been marketed at 21,000 to 26,000 won and its pricing at the top end would give the company a market cap of 1.69 trillion won ($1.3 billion). Sales to retail investors at the same price will be completed later this week.
The company is due to make its market debut on Oct. 5.
Doosan Robotics' cornerstone investors include Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte, Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management, Blackrock and Goldman Sachs, Yonhap News reported, citing the company.
Funds raised from the offering will be used to expand production facilities and its product portfolio.
Established in 2015, Doosan Robotics competes with Japan's Fanuc and Denmark's Universal Robots.
It reported revenue of 45 billion won and an operating loss of 13.2 billion won last year. Chief Executive William Ryu has said he expects the company to start breaking even in 2024.
Conglomerate Doosan Corp's stake in Doosan Robotics will shrink to around 68% from 91% with the offering.
Shares in the parent company have risen 11% in the last eight trading days in anticipation that its valuation will benefit from a successful listing for its robotics unit.
($1 = 1,327.1700 won)
(Reporting by Joyce Lee; editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs)
Tensions are flaring inside the House Republican conference as it barrels toward a government shutdown, with the infighting spilling out into public view and growing increasingly nasty.
This is stupidity, New York Rep. Mike Lawler said of GOP hardliners demands on spending, prompting the Republican freshman to privately float a new plan to work with Democrats and force a vote keeping the government open past September 30.
At the center of much of the drama: Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, attacking Speaker Kevin McCarthy in personal terms. But hes also engaged in social media spats with fellow hardline conservatives who helped broker a House GOP plan to fund the government first revealed on Sunday evening.
Rep. Byron Donalds, also a Florida Republican, shot back at Gaetzs criticism of the plan, writing on social media: Matt, tell the people the truth. Whats your plan to get the votes to defund Jack Smith? Youll need more than tweets and hot takes!!
Rep. Chip Roy, a conservative from Texas who helped reach the deal, also slammed hardliners opposition, saying on a conservative radio show: I dont know whether well have the votes or not, because Ive got a lot of conservative friends who like to beat their chests and thump around going, Oh, this isnt pure enough.
Even if the plan passed the House, it would most likely be dead on arrival in the Democratically controlled Senate. But McCarthy will need support from virtually all of his conference in order to pass the brokered deal through the narrowly divided House. McCarthy can only afford to lose four GOP votes on a continuing resolution deal without relying on Democrats.
Meanwhile, Rep. Victoria Spartz, an Indiana Republican, put out a statement Monday blasting McCarthy as weak and saying they need party leadership who wants to fight for the country, not just fight for power and a picture on the wall.
McCarthy, in response, told reporters: One thing I learned in life: anybody who criticizes you has never worked harder than you. If Victoria is concerned about fighting stronger I wish she would run again and not quit. I mean, Im not quitting. Im going to continue work for the American public.
Spartz, who previously announced she will not seek reelection, responded on social media Monday evening: I wish @SpeakerMcCarthy would work as hard at governing our country as he does at collecting checks but his wish might come true.
Gaetz also went on social media and called McCarthys comments disgraceful and accused the speaker of attacking women.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia has also been forceful in pushing back on her GOP colleagues who are supporting the government funding plan. She posted a lengthy video refuting Donalds, who called Greenes understanding of the bill wrong.
Greene also blasted out inflammatory social media posts and Shrek memes to lambast support for Ukraine funding and criticized her colleagues who wore Ukraine pins to show support for the war-torn nation. Gaetz, too, seemed to mock McCarthy for wearing a Ukraine pin by posting a picture of the speaker wearing one, which was then shared by Rep. Eli Crane, a conservative Arizona Republican.
And the ongoing feud between Gaetz and Rep. Dave Joyce continued Monday, with the moderate Ohio Republican calling Gaetz a special person.
I mean, in the how many years hes been here, what has he ever accomplished other than running his mouth? Joyce told reporters as he exited McCarthys office.
The feud began when Joyce criticized past shutdowns on CNN, saying they did not work out well, and Gaetz took to social media to rail against Joyces campaign donations.
The messy infighting shows the challenge McCarthy is facing as he works to wrangle the votes to avoid a government shutdown, protect his speakership, and deal with the tricky optics of Ukraine funding while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits Capitol Hill this week.
Rep. Steve Womack, a Republican from Arkansas, summed up the situation on NBCs MTP Daily on Monday: Its an unmitigated disaster right now on the majority side.
Donalds, weighing in on the infighting, told reporters as he left a meeting in McCarthys office that Politics, it can get brutal sometimes. Thats just part of it.
But you know, thats why I have Kevlar skin. I dont have thick skin, its Kevlar, said Donalds, wearing a pair of black aviator sunglasses indoors. So, if you want to bring the attacks, bring it on. Im ready.
Tensions have been boiling over since Republicans returned from a six-week recess. Gaetz had taken his criticism of McCarthy to the House floor threatening to oust the California Republican from his speakership, using a process called the motion to vacate. McCarthy had a heated closed-door conference meeting last Thursday, daring his critics to proceed.
Move the f***ing motion, he said, according to four sources in the room.
On Monday evening, McCarthy sounded a more optimistic tone after meeting with Republican factions of his conference, colloquially referred to around Capitol Hill as the five families.
Im always more confident! Life is good, McCarthy told reporters when asked if he feels more confident after the meeting.
Moderate Republicans exploring backup plan
As frustrations and the prospect of a government shutdown rise, some Republicans are exploring a Plan B.
Moderate Republicans are privately discussing teaming up with Democrats to avoid a government shutdown if the House GOP plan to temporarily fund the government fails on the floor this week, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
The idea was raised during multiple leadership meetings in the Capitol Monday evening. During a House GOP whips meeting, sources said Lawler told colleagues he is willing to support a so-called discharge petition a procedural mechanism to force a floor vote on a bill and circumvent leadership to move a short-term spending bill if the Republican plan stalls.
And during a meeting in McCarthys office with elected members of leadership, Rep. Andrew Garbarino, another New York Republican, said theres a group of members talking about moving a temporary funding bill with Democrats if other members are unwilling to act, sources said.
Lawler has aired his frustrations with his hardline colleagues who are opposing the plan to fund the government for one month, calling it a clown show.
I wouldnt even call them on my right flank. This is not conservative Republicanism. This is stupidity. The idea we are going to shut the government down when we dont control the Senate, we dont control the White House, Lawler said.
I was elected to govern. That is what I am going to do. So, if some of my colleagues choose to put their own interests above the country, then I will do what needs to be done to make sure the government does what it needs to function and is funded.
A discharge petition, however, would take time to move through the House and its unclear whether it could succeed before the government funding deadline at the end of the month. If all Democrats sign on to the petition, it would take just five Republicans at the moment to join forces for the effort to succeed.
Sources said the idea is also being discussed among top Democrats.
The House Problem Solvers Caucus has been working on an outline for a bipartisan plan to fund the government that would temporarily extend current spending levels and also would include disaster aid, Ukraine funding and some border security provisions, per a source a familiar with the talks.
The idea is expected to be presented at Tuesdays Problem Solvers Caucus meeting, and the group, which is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, could take an official position on it.
This headline and story have been updated with more information.
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Ukraine filed a lawsuit Monday against Slovakia, Poland and Hungary at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the ban on food imports from the country.
In a statement released Monday, Ukraines Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said that its European neighbors had violated their international obligations and defied the orders of the European Commission, which decided Friday not to extend a previous ban on Ukraines grain imports into Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
It is crucially important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban imports of Ukrainian goods, Svyrydenko said in a statement. That is why we are filing lawsuits against them.
At the same time, we hope that these countries will lift their restrictions and we will not have to settle the matter in courts for a long time, Svyrydenko added.
Since May, bans imposed by the European Union meant that the three Central European countries could block the domestic sale of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds. The transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere was permitted. Citing a need to protect the livelihoods of their farmers, the three countries announced that they will continue to enforce these restrictions.
Our decision is not aimed at Ukraine, it is dictated by the protection of the Polish farmer and the protection of Polands interests, said Radoslaw Fogiel, the head of Polands parliamentary foreign affairs commission, according to reporting from Reuters.
The Russian invasion has created an influx in agricultural products coming to Ukraine, something that has led to a decline in prices for local farmers within the countries. While the EU said that Ukraine has agreed to introduce measures to control the export of grains, countries like Poland, whose current populist right-wing government of the Law and Justice party has strong support in farming regions and will seek to remain in power in the countrys upcoming elections, have vowed to continue their bans in spite of Ukraines lawsuit.
We maintain our position, we think it is correct, it results from an economic analysis and powers derived from EU and international law, government spokesman Piotr Mueller said on Polsat News. A complaint before the WTO doesnt impress us.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Volodymyr Zelensky posed the question of why Russia and Vladimir Putin continued to have representation at the United Nations to world leaders ahead of his UN security council speech.
Mr Zelensky was speaking in the US after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital shortly after arriving for his diplomatic tour on Monday.
"For us, its very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. And if in the United Nations still its a pity, but still there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think its a question to all the members of the United Nations," he said.
Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here
The Ukrainian president is likely to cross path with Russias top diplomat at the United Nations during the upcoming UN Security Council meeting.
On being asked if he will stay in the room to listen to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrovs remarks at the meeting, Mr Zelensky said: I dont know how it will be, really.
Mr Lavrov had called Mr Zelensky a b*****d and walked out after a round of condemnation and accusations of war crimes aimed at Russia in last years UNSC meeting.
Such outrages remain unpunished because the United States and their allies with the connivance of international human rights institutes have been covering up the crimes of the Kyiv regime based on the policy of Zelensky might be a b*****d, but hes our b*****d, the foreign minister said.
He walked out after his speech and remained absent for most of the session having already arrived 90 minutes late missing UN chief Antonio Guterress briefing.
The Ukrainian president had confronted the UN even before the war launched by neighbour Russia, who, as a Security Council member, is entrusted with maintaining international peace and security.
In September last year, Mr Zelensky detailed the Russian atrocities in Ukraine and described a sweeping peace plan to end the war in his previous address to the UN General Assembly.
How can we allow the Russian army somewhere on Ukrainian soil, knowing that they are committing such mass murder everywhere? Mr Zelensky asked. We cannot. We must protect life. The world must protect life.
He also called on the international community to temporarily strip Russia of its UN powers, continue sanctions, and establish a special tribunal to oversee the peace process.
He lamented at the General Assembly in 2021 that the UN was a retired superhero whos long forgotten how great they once were.
Mr Zelensky will be making a case for Ukraines protection and security assurances as the country continued to fight off a Russian full-scale invasion for nearly 600 days now. He will also seek help from Washington ahead of a looming winter.
The US Congress is currently mulling over president Joe Bidens request to provide Ukraine with as much as $24bn more in military and humanitarian aid. Mr Zelensky will spend some time at the Capitol Hill on Thursday and then proceed to meet with Mr Biden at the White House.
Three pieces of Costa Rican history have been returned to the country almost six years after an international traveler brought them to the United States, according to US Customs and Border Protection.
Customs officers seized the ancient artifacts in December 2017 from a central Florida resident who arrived with them at the Orlando International Airport without proper documentation, according to a news release.
After a secondary inspection, CBPs agricultural specialists suspected the traveler, who flew in from San Jose, Costa Rica, was carrying protected artifacts without proof of being legally allowed to remove them from the country, authorities said.
CBP notified Costa Rica, and the country filed a petition for the objects return that stated they were stolen and owned by the people of Costa Rica pursuant to its cultural patrimony laws, the release stated. CBP granted Costa Ricas petition.
The objects were believed to have been used for funerary or domestic contexts in the period established between 300 B.C. and 880 A.D, CBP said.
Specialists from the National Museum of Costa Rica described one of the artifacts as a tripod pot that is missing its three supports and decorated in some areas with red clay, combined with the natural color of the paste and decorations modeled in zoomorphic shapes.
Experts described the second object as a hollow support called a raffle that has a zoomorphic motif, or mammal head.
The third is a fragment of decoration that was supported by a vase with high supports, the specialists said.
On Thursday, the Honorable Ludmila Patricia Ugalde Simionova, who serves as Consul General of Costa Rica in Miami, received the artifacts, according to CBP.
Simionova said looting and illicit trades of antique items have endangered the countrys precious artifacts.
Our cultural heritage holds immeasurable value, serving as a testament to our rich history and identity, Simionova said in a statement. Through joint initiatives and bilateral agreements, we have been able to recover and repatriate many stolen cultural treasures.
The US and Costa Rican governments signed the Memorandum of Understanding on the Imposition of Restrictions on the Importation of Archaeological Material in January 2021 to protect specific artifact categories, according to the CBP. The memorandum means if customs officers find artifacts in those categories, the US will return them to Costa Rica.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, pleading with world leaders to support his war-torn country as it continues a counteroffensive against Russia.
"This is clearly a genocide when hatred is weaponized against one nation," Zelensky said, adding: "It is not only about Ukraine."
Russia's formula, he said, "could be used by other aggressors" if other nations fail to help Ukraine defend itself.
It was Zelenskys second trip to the United States and first in-person address to the U.N. since the war began 18 months ago.
Zelensky addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
In his speech, Zelensky warned that Russia cannot be trusted especially following the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group mercenary army who was killed in a plane crash months after he launched a military rebellion against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Evil cannot be trusted," Zelensky said. "Ask Prigozhin."
The Ukrainian president received loud applause following his address. A representative from the Russian Federation who was in the room appeared to be looking at his phone throughout the speech.
Zelensky addresses the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Tuesday. (Michael Kappeler/Getty Images)
Zelensky is scheduled to travel to Washington, D.C., later this week to meet with President Biden and members of Congress, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Biden used his speech at the UNGA earlier Tuesday to ask world leaders to stand with Ukraine.
Russia believes that the world will go weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said, with Zelensky in attendance. If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
After arriving in New York on Monday, Zelensky visited nine wounded Ukrainian soldiers being treated at Staten Island University Hospital, telling them to stay strong.
We all will be waiting for you to come back home, he added.
Korea, China and Japan plan to hold a high-level meeting in Seoul next week to discuss three-way cooperation, including setting up a trilateral summit of their leaders, according to Seoul's foreign ministry Tuesday.
According to the ministry, the meeting, set for Sept. 26, will bring together Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's senior deputy foreign minister, and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs.
Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for the ministry, said the three sides will discuss various matters related to their trilateral consultative body, and review the current state and future direction of cooperation between the three countries.
A ministry official told reporters the meeting will also discuss matters related to a possible trilateral summit that has been suspended since 2019.
"The trilateral summit is currently under discussion with the aim of holding it within the year," the official said, adding the three sides could hold a foreign ministerial meeting to coordinate a date for the summit.
Three-way summits among the regional neighbors, first held in December 2008, were suspended after the eighth gathering in December 2019 following a dispute between Korea and Japan over forced labor compensation rulings and the pandemic.
Talks on the need to revive tripartite summit diplomacy have surfaced following a thawing of the frozen ties between Seoul and Japan since the launch of the current Korean administration under President Yoon Suk Yeol in May of last year. (Yonhap)
Erica Robin, 24, has won the inaugural Miss Universe Pakistan title (@ericarobin/Instagram)
On Thursday last week, 24-year-old Erica Robin won the inaugural Miss Universe Pakistan pageant held in the Maldives. It should have been a moment of celebration for Karachi-born Robin, yet in the days that followed the competition has faced an outpouring of anger back home that has been fuelled at the highest level of government.
A deeply conservative Muslim-majority country, Pakistan has never before participated in the global Miss Universe competition. With the backlash to Robins victory spanning politicians to religious leaders and including the countrys caretaker prime minister, it remains unclear whether the model will be allowed to take part in the 72nd Global Miss Universe Pageant to be held in El Salvador in November.
The government of caretaker PM Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has asked the countrys intelligence agency to investigate the organisers of the pageant, and how they were able to hold the competition seemingly in the countrys name without the governments approval.
Kakar has called the staging of the Maldives pageant a shameful act and an insult and exploitation of women of Pakistan.
Who is Erica Robin?
Robin has a degree in Business Administration and started her professional modelling career in January 2020, with her photos appearing in several magazines including Diva Magazine Pakistan. She told Voice of Americarecently that she felt a lot of responsibility on her shoulders as she believed it would be the first time Pakistan would have a participant in the global Miss Universe pageant.
However, I wont do anything that would harm the reputation of the country, she added.
After she was declared the winner on Thursday at a ceremony held at Brennia Kottefaru resort in the Raa Atoll in the Maldives, the backlash was swift.
An Islamic scholar from Pakistan, Taqi Usmani, demanded that the government take action against the organisers of the pageant and dispel the idea that Robin was representing Pakistan.
Another polician, Mushtaq Ahmed Khan, called the event an insult to Pakistan. He posted on X/Twitter: Who are the organisers of this beauty pageant in Pakistan? Who is doing this shameful act?
How she entered the pageant
In March it was reported that Dubai-based agency Yugen Group was organising the first-ever Miss Universe Pageant and had invited applications from Pakistani women. The agency also owns the Miss Universe Bahrain and Miss Universe Egypt franchises, according to reports.
Robin applied to the call for contestants and amid hundreds of entries, she made it to the top 10 contestants and then into the top five.
After her victory, the 24-year-old model from Karachi who was born in a Christian family said: I am honoured and humbled to be the first ever Miss Universe Pakistan and I want to highlight the beauty of Pakistan. We have a beautiful culture that the media is not talking about.
Pakistani people are very generous, kind and hospitable. On top of that, I would like to invite everyone to visit my country and try the most sumptuous Pakistani cuisines and explore our enchanting nature, our snow-capped mountains, our greeneries and our progressive landscapes.
The Organisers
Earlier this year, Josh Yugen, national director of Miss Universe Pakistan and the founder of Yugen Group, told The National: We want to localise our approach without changing the dynamics of the Miss Universe brand. We are still going to show women from Pakistan who are beautifully confident and who are the epitome of stories of dreams turning into realities.
He also claimed that hundreds of Pakistani women applied for the inaugural Miss Universe Pakistan.
Yugen Group announced in March that it had acquired the rights to the competition.
Miss Universes official website says that the women who participate in this international platform serve as inspirational leaders and role models to their communities and fans around the world.
There were five finalists selected earlier this year from across Pakistan. Alongside Robin the contestants were 24-year-old Hira Inam from Lahore, 28-year-old Jessica Wilson from Rawalpindi, 19-year-old US-born Malika Alvi and 26-year-old Sabrina Wasim from Punjab.
Introducing Robin as one of the contestants, Yugen Group wrote on their Instagram page: Despite her challenges belonging in the countrys minority group, she works so hard to become the best version of herself. She wants to be an instrument to see positive changes in Pakistan and she wants to highlight the diverse community in the country.
The post said: She wants to work towards organisations that advocate with [sic] education and women empowerment. By telling her own personal journey, she aims to be a symbol of hope to young Pakistani girls to follow their dreams.
Breakthrough moment... and backlash
The crowning of the first-ever Miss Universe Pakistan on 14 September was streamed live on the Miss Universe pageant YouTube channel. Robins win was initially celebrated by some back in Pakistan, but the overwhelming reaction has been outrage.
The pageant came under the governments radar when journalist Ansar Abbasi wrote on X/Twitter last week: Who allowed five Pakistani girls to represent Pakistan in the Miss Universe beauty pageant? Either, it was decided by Prime Minister Anwaar-ul Haq Kakar or this decision was taken by any of his cabinet members or advisers? He asked, can anyone represent Pakistan without the permission of the government of Pakistan?
Pakistan belongs to all. Every Pakistani can represent anywhere, whenever,however.
Ladies n Gentlemen,
Karachis Erica Robin was crowned the winner of the first-ever Miss Universe Pakistan.
Beauty and Brains ! pic.twitter.com/0DRjL1rBlw Mariana Baabar (@MarianaBaabar) September 15, 2023
Minister for information and broadcasting in Pakistan, Murtaza Solangi, said on X/Twitter: The government and state of Pakistan are represented by state and government institutions. Our government has not designated any non-state and non-governmental person or institution for any such activity and no such person/institution can represent the state/government. The end.
Beauty Queens and Beauty Pageants in Pakistan
In Pakistan, even though there is no legal restriction on participating in beauty pageants, some believe that the dress codes in the contest go against their Islamic beliefs.
This does not mean that Pakistan doesnt have any beauty pageants. GeoTV reported earlier this month that just a few months after being crowned Miss Pakistan Universal 2023, Dr Kapotaqkhy Chanchala proudly represented Pakistan in the Miss World Tourism 2023 competition held in Sri Lanka. It added that she was embarking on a new journey to unfurl the Pakistani flag in Vietnam.
/ /
https://t.co/rW5XGi2bV1 Murtaza Solangi (@murtazasolangi) September 13, 2023
In 2018, it was reported that Indias Miss Diva Supranational 2018 Aditi Hundia and Miss Supranational Pakistan 2018 Anzhelika Tahir were participating in the Miss Supranational 2018 pageant in Poland amid tensions between the two countries they were representing.
On social media, the two beauty queens posed together holding the flags of their respective countries and wrote: We hope one day all wars will stop, every conflict will stop and the world will be a peaceful place.
The winner of last years Ms Pakistan World contest, Dr Sadaf Khalid, said she participated in the contest to uplift its positive image and to represent bright and happy image of the country.
However, the reality is that most of these beauty queens dont stay in Pakistan anymore. In a 2008 report by the New York Times, Amna Buttar, a founder of the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights who lives in Lahore was quoted as saying: In Pakistan, we are trying to get basic rights for women: right to marry, right to divorce, equal opportunity for job and education, and issues like Miss Pakistan create problems for this movement.
" Muhammad Taqi Usmani (Official) (@muftitaqiusmani) September 13, 2023
She added: An average Pakistani young woman does not want to wear a bikini in public, and for her it is important to have equal opportunity and all focus should be on that, and not on a pageant where only the elite can participate.
Support for Robin
Human rights activist Zohra Yusuf who is a former chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan is among those who have come out in support of Robin. Dawn quoted her as saying that first Malala Yusfzai and Sharmeen Chinoy were reviled, and now Robin was similarly being targeted. This attitude is misogynistic and condemnable, she said.
Pakistan belongs to all. Every Pakistani can represent Pakistan anywhere, whenever, however, journalist Mariana Baabar wrote on X/Twitter.
WASHINGTON Ray Epps, a Jan. 6 participant whose removal from the FBI's Capitol Violence webpage sparked conspiracy theories that he was a federal informant, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Tuesday.
Epps is charged with one misdemeanor count, disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds. He was charged by information, suggesting that he plans to enter a plea deal. Not long after he was charged, a virtual plea agreement hearing was set for Wednesday, Sept. 20 before Chief Judge James Boasberg.
Ray Epps, center at U.S. Capitol (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file )
The criminal information charges that Epps "did knowingly, and with intent to impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, engage in disorderly and disruptive conduct in and within such proximity to, a restricted building and groundsthat is, any posted, cordoned-off, and otherwise restricted area within the United States Capitol and its grounds, where the Vice President was and would be temporarily visitingwhen and so that such conduct did in fact impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, and attempted and conspired to do so."
Most of the thousands who unlawfully gathered on the restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol have not been charged unless they engaged in some sort of aggravating conduct, like attacking police or destroying property. Video shows that Epps attempted to deescalate tensions between the police and rioters, though he's also shown with his hands on a giant Trump sign the rioters jammed into the police line. A federal judge acquitted another Jan. 6 participant who had his hand on that same sign, saying that his intent was unclear.
Epps is not charged with entering the Capitol; he is only known to have been on the grounds on Jan. 6. Reached for comment a lawyer for Epps, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said that the case "is filed with an anticipation of entry of a guilty plea tomorrow to the charge" and declined to comment further.
In an interview with the Jan. 6 committee last year, Epps said that he'd gone to Washington, D.C., in January 2021 as a supporter of former President Donald Trump, but that the conspiracy theories that followed had torn his life apart.
I never intended to break the law," Epps, a former Marine, told the committee. "Its not in my DNA. Ive never Im sure youve looked up my record. I dont break the law.
Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson for spreading the conspiracy theories suggesting that Epps was some sort of agent of the federal government.
Representatives for Fox News and for Carlson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The unsupported notion that Epps was some sort of government agent who was inciting the mob to storm the Capitol has become widely accepted in right-wing circles, and even members of Congress have raised the Epps case during congressional hearings. Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 10 years for his actions on Jan. 6, even invoked Epps name at trial.
The search for a missing F-35 stealth fighter jet turned to a recovery mission Tuesday after authorities located a debris field in South Carolina, capping an unusual saga that drew global attention.
The discovery came a day after the public was asked for help tracking down the aircraft after the pilot ejected because of a "mishap" and left the jet on autopilot. Officials will now probe exactly what happened, with Marine Corps aircraft grounded following the incident.
Members of the community in Williamsburg County were urged Monday night to avoid the area where the debris field was found as a recovery team worked to secure it.
The debris was discovered about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston in North Charleston. The base sparked international headlines Sunday after it put out a request on social media for "any information" that might help locate the aircraft, an F-35B Lightning II fighter jet, which comes with a price tag of about $80 million.
The air base had said it was working with Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort to "locate an F-35 that was involved in a mishap" Sunday afternoon.
The pilot was able to eject safely and was taken to a medical center, where the pilot was in stable condition as of Monday, a spokesperson for Joint Base Charleston said.
It is still unclear what exactly unfolded in the "mishap" that prompted the pilot to eject from the aircraft.
Joint Base Charleston said in a Facebook post Monday that the incident was under investigation and that it was "unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process."
The jet was left in autopilot when the pilot ejected, Jeremy Huggins, a spokesman at Joint Base Charleston said Monday. Authorities believed it was possible the aircraft could have remained airborne for some time. Two defense officials said Monday that the jet does not have the range or ability to fly for a long period without refueling, however.
On Monday, all Marine Corps aircraft within and outside the United States were grounded after the incident, according to an order issued by Gen. Eric Smith, acting commandant of the Marines.
Marine aircraft deployed abroad or with upcoming missions were able to briefly delay the order, but they are expected to stand down for two days this week, officials said. The Pentagon said the suspension would allow units to "discuss aviation safety matters and best practices."
During the safety stand down, aviation commanders will lead discussions with their Marines focusing on the fundamentals of safe flight operations, ground safety, maintenance and flight procedures, and maintaining combat readiness, the statement said.
By Renju Jose
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia on Tuesday declared an El Nino weather pattern was underway as the country's southeast sweltered in an intense spring heat wave that raised the risks of bushfires and prompted authorities to issue a total fire ban for Sydney.
Australia had held off declaring an El Nino but has been bracing for a warm and dry southern hemisphere spring and summer in 2023, after three years of heavy rains and frequent flooding. The anticipated dry weather could hit wheat production in Australia, one of the world's top exporters, with winter wheat harvesting set to start in November.
"We are already seeing extreme conditions in some parts of the continent, particularly in the duration of heat. We've had an extended period of warm and dry weather to start spring," the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecaster Karl Braganza told reporters.
Australia's last two fire seasons have been quiet compared to the 2019-2020 "Black Summer" bushfires that destroyed an area the size of Turkey and killed 33 people.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Climate Prediction Center (NOAA) declared an El Nino event in June. The BoM uses different, slightly stricter metrics for declaring El Nino.
The BOM's declaration of an El Nino, typically associated with extreme weather events from wildfires to cyclones and droughts, comes in the middle of a five-day burst of uncommon spring heat in parts of the country. The heatwave is forecast to last until Wednesday, pushing temperatures well above the September average.
Several regions have been given high fire danger ratings as authorities warned high winds could whip up bushfires and urged residents to minimise fire risks at their houses.
More than 500 firefighters and emergency personnel are trying to tame 61 fires across New South Wales state as of Tuesday morning, with 13 not yet contained, authorities said.
Twenty-one schools in New South Wales, mostly in the state's south, have been closed. Fire danger ratings in the south coast have been raised to 'catastrophic' due to stronger-than-expected winds.
"Its the biggest risk we've faced since the 2019-20 fire season," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Rob Rogers told Sky News.
Sydney is set to post five consecutive daytime maximum temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius (86 F) in September, a record, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Temperatures could reach 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 F) in Sydney on Tuesday, just shy of the September record of 34.6 degrees Celsius (94.28 F) in 1965. But a cold front from Thursday will bring some relief to the heat, pushing temperatures down to the low 20s.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
Before Australians last voted in a referendum on First Nations people in 1967, Uncle Bob Anderson set up a table and chair at a tram stop in central Brisbane.
From his rail-side office, hed tell anyone who would stop and listen that Australia counted its horses, cows, sheep and goats, but not its Indigenous people. My question to you is, do you think they should be? hed say.
Some 56 years later, the Ngugi Elder sat on a chair under the hot Brisbane sun on Sunday, his wispy white hair covered in a straw hat, his presence a sign of support for another referendum concerning his people.
Nearby, thousands of people gathered for Walk for Yes rallies in multiple cities around Australia ahead of the October 14 vote.
On that day, some 17.5 million registered voters will be asked whether Australia should change the constitution to include a permanent body made up of First Nations people to advise the government on matters affecting them.
Now 94, Uncle Bob says a Yes vote isnt just important for him but the country.
By talking and walking together as a nation and as a society, we will share a common destiny, he said.
Uncle Bob Anderson campaigned for the last referendum on First Nations rights in 1967. - Hilary Whiteman/CNN
A vocal No
But less than four weeks out from the vote, polls suggest the split between the supporters and opponents is widening, in favor of no change to the constitution.
Veteran grassroots Aboriginal activist Wayne Wharton wore the reason for his objections on his T-shirt, as he shouted at Yes supporters on a bridge in central Brisbane.
Youre a thief, a liar and a gatekeeper, he yelled, to a mix of ages and races walking by. Give back what you stole, give back what you stole, give back what you stole.
Aboriginal activist Wayne Wharton delivers his message to supporters at the "Walk for Yes" rally in Brisbane on Sunday, September 17. - Hilary Whiteman/CNN
The 62-year-old Kooma man told CNN on the phone that fundamentally people are being asked the wrong question.
In a well-meaning country and a country seeking justice, this question would never have been raised or tabled. The question that would have been offered would have been a question about [a] treaty or just occupation, he said.
Like Uncle Bob, Wharton remembers the curfews that confined First Nations people to the outskirts of town between sunset and sunrise, the racial slurs hurled at him and his family, the abuse of his ancestors forced to live in missions, and the theft of First Nations children under policies of assimilation that later prompted a national apology.
Wharton said he wants liberation, freedom and restitution delivered through negotiation by the hundreds of Aboriginal nations with people occupying their land.
Ive seen many things change in my 60 years, and as the White bigots that created this continent of privilege die, the next generations have a greater sense of fairness and justice, Wharton said.
I believe in my childrens time a lot of this will be overcome. And thats why I want to make sure that the door of opportunity is always going to be there for those people when the opportunity comes to create a just occupation, that the mechanism will be there and that it wouldnt have been hijacked by some desperates in 2023 that changed the constitution.
A Yes for change
Other First Nations people see it differently, including Nick Harvey-Doyle, who at 31 is half the age of Wharton, and a third of the age of the Aboriginal Elder Uncle Bob.
From his New York apartment, Harvey-Doyle, an Anaiwan man from New South Wales, co-organized a walk across Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday, attended by more than 350 people, mostly Australians, calling for a Yes vote.
Im from a really small country town that has about 10,000 people and I think theres about 8,000 Australians in the New York tri-state area. To me, thats almost essentially a whole country town worth of votes, he said.
Nick Harvey-Doyle is studying in New York and is calling for a Yes vote. - Courtesy Nick Harvey-Doyle
Harvey-Doyle is a former lawyer who is studying at New York University with a Roberta Sykes Scholarship that provides funding for Indigenous students to undertake postgraduate research abroad. Sykes, who died in 2010, was the first Black Australian to study at Harvard, and fought for a Yes vote in the 1967 Referendum.
That referendum, to count Indigenous people in Australias Census figures, passed with over 90% approval.
Harvey-Doyle implored Australians living overseas to cast their votes to improve the life outcomes for First Nations people, who have lagged behind the countrys non-Indigenous population in heath and welfare statistics for decades.
We as Aboriginal people dont feel like we have carriage over our most intimate and important personal affairs, he said.
I think Aboriginal people do have a different way of life from non-Indigenous people and the current structures and institutions we have in place, dont always acknowledge that and arent always in the best cultural place to service our needs.
Actually having a body that exists that is enshrined in the constitution that allows us empowerment, to give advice over our own lives and our own issues is actually super important.
More than 350 people walked across Brooklyn Bridge in New York to call for a Yes vote in the Australian Voice referendum. - Jonathan PIlkington/YES Campaign
According to the Australian Electoral Commission, as of Sunday, more than 96,000 registered voters were outside Australia including those living abroad and some 58,000 who have notified the commission that theyll be traveling on October 14.
While voting is compulsory within Australia, being overseas is considered a valid reason not to vote. More than 100 polling centers will be open worldwide to enable people to vote in person, or they can return a postal ballot. Overseas voting starts early, on October 2.
To pass, the referendum needs the majority vote across the country, as well as the majority of people in at least four states.
Indigenous people wont determine the outcome of this vote that will be up to millions of other non-Indigenous Australians, some of whom object to Indigenous people being given a special place over others within the constitution, calling the vote divisive.
Wharton says the concept of millions of non-Indigenous voters deciding whats best for 3% of the population is racist in itself.
However, Harvey-Doyle says hes wary of the message a No vote would send in the country and beyond.
If we vote No, it says that we are really happy to be apathetic towards the poor life outcomes that some average Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experience, and I feel like that goes against what it means to be Australian to give everyone a fair go, he said.
Itll be a really sad global position for us to put ourselves in, if we do vote No.
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Former President Donald Trump intends to deliver a prime-time speech to union workers in Detroit during next week's Republican primary debate, three sources familiar with the planning confirmed to NBC News on Monday.
The debate on Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California will be the second snubbed by Trump this election cycle in favor of a competing event.
The New York Times first reported Trump's plan.
The counter-programming comes amid an ongoing labor dispute between autoworkers and car manufacturers that has drawn national attention. Thousands of United Auto Workers are on strike after Detroit's three automakers failed to reach a contract agreement with the union last week.
Image: Republican Presidential Candidates Speak At The Pray Vote Stand Summit In Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Trump said the United Auto Workers leadership had failed its members in an interview with NBC News Kristen Welker that aired over the weekend, but held back from criticizing its members.
"The auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump," he said.
UAW President Shawn Fain has been critical of Trump, calling the prospect of a second Trump presidency a disaster, even as he has withheld his endorsement of President Joe Biden.
Asked to respond to Fain, Trump said, "I think hes not doing a good job in representing his union, because hes not going to have a union in three years from now."
Trump said he was "on the side of making our country great" in the standoff, and called for car "choice." Trump warned U.S. workers jobs would move to China amid Biden's electric vehicle push.
Trump's plan to speak directly to union and other workers in Michigan suggests that he is already eyeing a general election rematch against Biden, who carried Michigan in 2020. Trump won the state in 2016 against Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
A spokesperson for the Biden-Harris campaign responded Monday night saying Trump "is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn."
"Instead of standing with workers, Trump cut taxes for the super-wealthy while auto companies shuttered their doors and shipped American jobs overseas," Ammar Moussa said in a statement. "No self-serving photo op can erase Trumps four years of abandoning union workers and standing with his ultra-rich friends."
Trump decided in August to skip the first two Republican debates, a source familiar with Trumps thinking previously told NBC News.
During the first debate, Tucker Carlson aired a pre-recorded interview with Trump on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Moscow court on Tuesday declined to consider the latest appeal by U.S. reporter Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention, nearly six months after his arrest on spying charges that he denies.
The court's press service said the case was being sent back to a lower court, meaning that the 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter remains in Moscow's Lefortovo prison awaiting his trial, for which no date has been set.
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison.
He had failed in two previous appeals, in April and June, against his pre-trial detention.
"It is unacceptable that Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan still languish in Russian prisons on charges that are baseless," U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy told reporters after Tuesday's hearing.
Whelan is an American who is serving 16 years in a Russian penal colony on spy charges that he too denies. Tracy visited both men in prison last week.
"The United States will not rest until Evan and Paul are safely at home with their families and friends," she said.
A court spokesperson said the court had considered the latest complaint by Gershkovich's lawyers at Tuesday's closed hearing and decided to send it back to a district court "to eliminate the circumstances impeding the consideration of the criminal case in the appeal court".
Asked what these "circumstances" were, the spokesperson said: "We don't know - most likely some sort of documents were not presented for the parties to review".
Gershkovich's lawyers left without speaking to reporters.
Before the hearing, reporters were allowed into the court where Gershkovich was standing in a glass box, wearing a pale yellow top and blue jeans.
Russia has said the reporter was caught "red-handed" on a trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where the FSB security service said he was trying to obtain military secrets. It has not provided any detail to support that assertion.
The White House has called the charges "ridiculous" and President Joe Biden has said Gershkovich's detention is "totally illegal".
The United States has accused Russia of using Gershkovich to conduct "hostage diplomacy", at a time when relations between the two countries are at their lowest point in more than 60 years because of the conflict in Ukraine.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Hugh Lawson)
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Number of China-Europe freight train trips growing rapidly in Lianyungang city
(People's Daily App) 16:44, September 19, 2023
Lianyungang, the largest seaport city in Jiangsu Province, is a strategic hub in China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. The number of China-Europe freight train trips in the city has been growing rapidly. Currently, it has achieved full coverage of major stations in Central Europe and Central Asia. From January to August, Lianyungang saw a total of 418 China-Europe freight train trips, a year-on-year increase of 6 percent, conveying the strong pulse of economic development.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un examine a launch pad during their meeting at the Vostochny cosmodrome outside the city of Tsiolkovsky in Russia's Amur region, Sept. 13. AP-Yonhap
China concerned about losing influence on N. Korea
By Lee Hyo-jin
Closer relations between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin is not a win-win partnership, but "Kim's win," according to analysts, who viewed that the Russian leader may later regret his decision to forge closer ties with Pyongyang.
While North Korea has a lot to gain from Russia such as technological support in advancing its weapons and food supply, the same cannot be said for Moscow as the summit has only highlighted Putin's deepening international isolation.
According to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Tuesday, Kim returned home on Monday after completing his "official goodwill" visit to Russia which has "opened a new chapter" in bilateral ties. After entering Russia on Sept. 12, Kim met with Putin and visited key military sites, sparking concerns from the outside world that the two sides may strike a major weapons agreement.
"It was a successful trip for Kim," Patrick Cronin, the chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute, told The Korea Times.
"Although we don't know the details of what Putin has promised, it's clear that Russia is willing to provide the space program modernization that Kim wants. And undoubtedly, there are other benefits that we'll learn about in the future weeks and months," he said.
Victor Cha, the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), gave a similar assessment. "Kim gained what he wanted. Probably more than what he wanted actually, because he stayed longer," he said.
The North Korean leader's latest visit to the Russian Far East was his longest overseas trip since taking power in 2011. Including the travel time on the railways, Kim spent a total of eight days on his trip to Russia.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un waves as he boards his private train bound for Pyongyang from Primorsky-1 railway station in Artyom, 40 kilometers northeast of Vladivostok, Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap
N. Korea's Kim arrives in Pyongyang after Russia trip: state media Biden condemns N. Korea's defiance of UNSC resolutions, remains committed to diplomacy S. Korean foreign ministry summons Russian envoy over NK ties Russia, on the other hand, has little to gain from closer relations with North Korea, Cha said. He viewed that Putin will face consequences if it receives ammunition from Pyongyang for its war in Ukraine.
"Russia may regret it, because it could affect South Korea's decision about Ukraine," he said. "If North Korea is selling ammunition to Russia, then Russia can't say anything if South Korea sells ammunition to Ukraine. South Korean ammunition is much better than North Korean ones."
Seoul has maintained its stance of not providing lethal arms to Kyiv, but recent speculation that Pyongyang may provide or has already been providing weapons to Moscow may prompt the South Korean government to reconsider its current policy.
Ramon Pacheco Pardo, a professor of international relations at King's College London, described the Kim-Putin summit as the latest indication of the Russian leader's narrowing international horizons.
In August, Putin did not attend an annual summit of BRICS nations in South Africa, a move widely speculated to be due to an indictment issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against him over the mass abduction of Ukrainian children. Similar reasons seemed to have led Putin to skip the recent G20 summit held in India earlier this month.
"The perception about Putin has become worse after the summit. Instead of being at meetings with other global leaders, he has reached out to someone like Kim Jong-un, one of the most isolated people in the world," Pacheco Pardo said.
Also notable is the fact that North Korea may have had the upper hand in negotiations with Russia, he added.
"Putin now has to pay much for what North Korea has to offer. He wouldn't have had to pay a lot to North Korea in the past. But the situation has changed now. Russia is isolated, desperate, with many countries refusing to give weapons."
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the plenary session of the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, Aug. 23. Reuters-Yonhap
How China will respond to the burgeoning North Korea-Russia military cooperation is also being closely watched by officials in South Korea and the United States.
"China very much wants to not lose control over these critical developments on its periphery. It ostensibly will acknowledge broad support for the so called 'anti-imperialist' movement by North Korea and Russia," Cronin said.
"But under the surface, China is quite concerned about Russia and North Korea for destabilizing the situation in Ukraine or in the Chinese periphery, especially on the Korean Peninsula."
Pacheco Pardo said the North Korean leader may soon reach out to China to explain about the summit with Putin. But he commented it remains to be seen whether a meeting between Kim and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will take place soon.
India rubbishes Canada PMs absurd allegations
New Delhi/Toronto: In a dramatic development that holds wider implications for ties between India and the West, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India on the floor of the Canadian Parliament on Monday of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan radical whom India regarded as a terrorist and the alleged head of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), after which Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat, with India later retaliating and expelling a senior Canadian diplomat.
New Delhi swiftly rubbished the Canadian PMs allegations, calling them absurd, adding India was a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law It also turns out that Mr Trudeau had raised the matter pertaining to Nijjars killing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent G-20 summit in New Delhi and Mr Modi had rejected his claims. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was gunned down in June this year in the parking lot of a gurdwara at Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
Media reports from Toronto said Canada had expelled Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, who is learnt to be the head of the RAW station in Canada, while India expelled Canadian diplomat Olivier Sylvester, believed to be the head of the Canadian intelligence unit in New Delhi. Canadas high commissioner to New Delhi Cameron MacKay was also summoned to the external affairs ministry and told about Indias decision, with New Delhi accusing Canada of granting shelter to pro-Khalistan terrorists and extremists threatening Indias sovereignty and giving space to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organised crime, adding that the inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
In a fierce reaction to the Canadian allegations, the MEA said: We have seen and reject the statement of Canadas Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian PM to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.
The MEA added: Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
In a second statement, New Delhi said: The high commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Mr Trudeau informed the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday (early Tuesday IST): I am rising to inform the House of an extremely serious matter. I have also informed the leaders of the Opposition directly Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental. Our top priorities have been one, that law enforcement and security agencies assure the continued safety of all Canadians; and two, that all steps be taken to hold the perpetrators of this murder to account.
Mr Trudeau further said: Canada has declared its top concerns to the top security and intelligence officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G-20, I brought them (up) personally and directly to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free open and democratic societies conduct themselves. As you would expect, weve been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, quoting unnamed government sources, said Mr Trudeau had briefed some key foreign leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron on the matter.
The Canadian PM added in Parliament: In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the Government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter. I also expect it to reiterate that its position on extra judicial operations in another country is clearly and completely in line with international law. I know many Canadians, particularly members of the Indo-Canadian community, are feeling angry or perhaps frightened right now. Let us not allow this to change us. Let us remain calm and steadfast inour commitment to democratic principles and adherence to the rule of law. This is who we are and what we do as Canadians.
The arguments against the boycott are various, including press freedom and the Emergency
The Opposition INDIA alliance has announced the names of 14 news television anchors whose programmes their spokespersons will boycott. No reason was cited when the list was put out but various Opposition leaders have said this was the WhatsApp group of the BJP Media Cell.
The arguments against the boycott are various, including press freedom and the Emergency. Let us look at what evidence we have to suggest that some anchors and TV stations act as extensions of the government.
On June 19, 2020, NDTV correspondent Arvind Gunasekar tweeted the text of a note the government had given to journalists as talking points after an all-party meeting on the Chinese intrusion. This was the meeting in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that there had been no intrusion by China in eastern Ladakh.
The talking points that the Modi government wanted the media to focus on in their headlines included: India stands solidly behind PM. Most leaders express their confidence in the way Modi government has handled the situation. And Congress efforts to create wedges trashed by KCR, Naveen, Sikkim Kranti Morcha.
The channels obeyed the instructions. The prime-time debate for Times Now a few hours later was headlined: All parties unite behind India but Sonia Gandhi wont slam China?. Republic TVs main debates on June 19 were headlined: Unarmed with fact, Congress insults Army; Is there a special relation between the Congress and China? and Peoples movement against China gets bigger.
For my book Price of the Modi Years, which is being republished this month in paperback, I looked at the two top English news channels. What were the subjects of their prime-time debates in this period when there wasthe Chinese intrusion and the economy was contracting because of the Covid-19 lockdown?
In the months of May, June and July, Times Now had 33 prime-time debates which criticised the Oppositions actions. It had none that criticised the Narendra Modi government. There were zero debates on the economic recession. In the same three months, Republic TV had 47 debates that criticised the Oppositions actions. It had none that criticised the Modi governments actions and none on the economic recession.
This was a period in which between June 7 and June 27, the price of petrol/diesel was hiked every single day for 21 days.
On June 16, India announced that it had lost 20 soldiers, who were bludgeoned to death in hand-to-hand combat with the Chinese in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh. Daily Covid infections rose from 2,300 cases on May 1 to over 57,000 daily cases on July 31. But note the focus of the debates.
A few days later, the Indian Journalism Review published another note that the PMO had circulated to the television channels, instructing them on what to focus on. The note read: Modi effect loud and clear. Taming expansionist China is a Herculean task but the right strategies and actions can yield to (sic) outstanding results.
China hasnt pulled back. China has been pushed back, by a united nation led by a leader who led from the front. By taking decisive military, economic and strategic moves, PM Modi has pushed back China. The notion of economic infallibility of China has received a tight slap with the PMs clarion call of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
Times Now responded with debates headlined:
PM Modi punishes Expansionist China, doubters put to shame?
China admits it was pushed back, will Army doubters surrender?
China admits push back but lobby continues to lie?
And Republic TV with:
'Prime Minister leads from the front
PM Modis strong leadership pushes back China
Ladakh reality check: Galwan victory a slap in lobbys face.
Others have looked at the data and arrived at similar numbers. In a study published at the end of 2020, political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot and data analyst Vihang Jumle examined Republic TVs content. They wrote in Caravan magazine: We studied all prime-time debates held since the channel was launched in May 2017, until April 2020, when we began the study -- 1,779 in all. Our conclusion was clear: Republic TVs debates have been consistently biased in favour of the Modi government and its policies, as well as the ideology of the BJP. Whats worse, these debates have rarely featured some of the most pressing issues that impact Indians, such as the state of the economy, education or health. Instead, they have consisted mostly of attacks against the Opposition as well as any groups or persons that oppose the ruling governments ideology. Some figures are staggering, if unsurprising. Nearly fifty per cent of Republic TVs political debates criticised the Opposition, but it has not conducted even one debate that we could classify as being in the Oppositions favour.
To return to the question we began with -- What is the evidence we have to suggest that some anchors and TV stations act as extensions of the government? The evidence is quite clear for anyone who wants to seek it. There is absolutely no question that the Opposition is correct in having concluded that it is being asked to play a rigged game by large sections of the media. It has every right to refuse to be any part of this. One hopes, though one is not optimistic, that this action to some extent corrects the lunacy which has infected our national media and has damaged our nation.
The Congress has shown unexpected focus and discipline
There are three challenges that this collection of leaders have identified as critical to the revival of the institution, which, if it is achieved in the next round of Assembly elections, will position the Congress to do the absolutely necessary heavy lifting for the INDIA alliance in 2024. (Image: PTI)
The Congress Party is entirely truthful when its leader Rahul Gandhi acknowledges that the party is not an organisation; his take is that it is a movement. Earlier generations described the party as a platform. The Congress is certainly an institution and the purpose of the two-day Congress Working Committee meeting in Hyderabad of some 80 leaders was to motivate the top brass into working together as an organisation: a lean, mean fighting machine that can deliver election wins instead of losses or misses.
There are three challenges that this collection of leaders have identified as critical to the revival of the institution, which, if it is achieved in the next round of Assembly elections, will position the Congress to do the absolutely necessary heavy lifting for the INDIA alliance in 2024. There is no escaping the responsibility that the Congress has to confront the gigantic machinery of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with its limitless resources and the advantage that comes with being the defending champion with a superstar whose cult following exceeds by far the popular appeal of any other leader in India today.
The three challenges are -- one, to convert the movement into an organisation to fight the five state elections in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha battle; two, iron out wrinkles, frictions, factional fights and convince wilful, feckless, self-serving leaders to work for the party, ailments that are as endemic as they are debilitating to the 138-year-old institution; three, forge working relationships with hitherto sworn enemies to create the foundations of the INDIA alliance. The good thing is that these are three short-term goals that are like the preliminaries before the main test, when the Congress has to be ready to engage in single combat with the BJP in about 200 seats.
Getting powerful state satraps to serve an organisational goal in the Congress is as big a challenge for the leadership as is facing off with the BJP and the cult that has grown around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, snidely described as bhakts by the progressive chattering classes on the social media. Even as the CWC kicked off to a big start, with the ailing Sonia Gandhi in attendance, in Chhattisgarh, a state where elections are due around November, the recently promoted deputy chief minister T.S. Singh Deo struck a discordant note by praising Narendra Modi sky high for Centrally-designed schemes that are under implementation in the state. This is just one example of the capacity of Congress leaders to inflict injury, create dissonance, light a fuse in the moment when doing so increases the vulnerability of the party to the advantage of the competition.
Making mischief in the name of doing good is a signature move within the Congress. Even as the CWC proceeded to discuss the long agenda that Mallikarjun Kharge had put together for the meeting, there were leaders like Ajay Maken and P.S. Bajwa raising questions about the dependability of the Aam Aadmi Party as a member of the INDIA alliance. By outing their doubts, Mr Maken and Mr Bajwa brought into focus the difficulties that the Congress faces vis-a-vis its hitherto sworn enemies. By making it sound as though these were irreconcilable differences, the idea and the process of forging a united alliance against a common enemy, which is the larger picture, was undermined, even if temporarily.
Mr Kharge has been explicit about his expectations from the members of the CWC and in doing so has set himself a very tough task. That he did not ignore the problems within the party he was elected to lead is a measure of how he determined he is to make the organisation a stable and sustainable instrument for big and small political purposes. It is intriguing that the media did not swamp the public with a flood of stories about the dissensions and cross-cutting conversations that must have taken place during the two-day deliberations. By all accounts, there were no rebel groups that set themselves up as standard-bearers of the institution or guardians of the sacred tenets, whatever those may be.
With what is now characteristic of Mr Kharge, he set out his agenda and his expectations. He pointed out that the challenges arent just those of the Congress Party; they concern the survival of Indian democracy and the preservation of the Constitution of India. With brutal accuracy, Mr Kharge politely told off the Congress leadership and handed out a job profile: This is not the time for us to rest.
The unvarnished truth that the Congress won in Karnataka because organisational unity is of utmost importance only through unity and discipline can we defeat our adversaries -- was both a challenge to the factional warriors in the party and a caution that Mr Kharge delivered during the CWC meeting and put it out on X to make sure that there was no distortions in what he said and expected. The end goal was we must unite and overthrow this dictatorial government in order to save our democracy. He was explicit: In the last 10 years under BJP rule, the challenges faced by ordinary people have multiplied. His prescription was equally direct: We must work tirelessly, putting aside personal interests. We must prioritise the success of the party putting aside our personal differences.
By dodging the snares that the BJP has planted, like the Prime Minister hitting out at the INDI Alliance, calling it ghamandiya (arrogant), and claiming that the nation would be set back by a thousand years, which has to be understood as a reference to Mughal times in the RSS chronology, for it has a hidden agenda of attacking Sanatan Dharma, which they want to destroy, the Congress has shown unexpected focus and discipline. The choice of Hyderabad for the CWC meeting is another instance of its renewal; it hopes to, at least, jostle the BJP out of the running as the principal challenger to K. Chandrashekhar Raos Bharat Rashtra Samithi, if not actually win the state.
The Congress leaders have collectively handed themselves a task list: the five state elections where their determination and winning capabilities will be tested. The state elections will be a face-off between Narendra Modi and INDIA, with the Congress going to war on behalf of the alliance. To an extent, what is won and/or lost in the state elections will contribute to building capacities within INDIA as a group and the Congress, which has the biggest stake, for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Today's headlines: prisoner exchange between the US and Iran; Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra could be granted parole at the end of February; Indonesia reassesses plans to relocate its citizens for Chinese industries; Beijing asks consulates in Hong Kong to share information on personnel; In South Korea, free therapy for teachers.
UNITED STATES IRAN QATAR SOUTH KOREA
Qatar brokered a prisoner swap between the United States and Iran that allowed the unfreezing of billion worth of Iranian assets frozen by South Korean banks. The deal was announced on August 10 and will eliminate one of the main conflicts between Washington and Tehran but according to experts, relations between the two countries will not change before the 2024 US presidential elections.
INDIA CANADA
Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of being responsible for the killing of a Sikh separatist and Canadian citizen, who died in a shootout on June 18. This morning New Delhi called the accusation "absurd" and urged Ottawa "to take swift and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their territory." Furthermore, today the respective diplomatic representatives were expelled from the two countries. Activists for the creation of an independent Khalistan are considered "terrorists" by the Indian state.
THAILAND
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra could be released on probation in late February under a provision for prisoners aged over 70, after his sentence was already reduced from eight years to one. After a coup in 2006, Thaksin remained abroad in self-exile for 15 years and was convicted in absentia in three cases involving abuse of power, conflict of interest and wrongdoing. His return to Thailand coincided with the rise of his ally Srettha Thavisin as the new prime minister.
INDONESIA CHINA
Indonesian Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has promised a better plan to compensate and relocate villagers on the island of Rempang, where Jakarta wants to make room for a Chinese industrial project. After some clashes between local residents and the police, the minister considered the possibility of allowing residents to move within the island itself rather than to Galang Island, a little further south.
HONG KONG
China's Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong has requested consulates to provide professional titles and residential addresses of all local staff by October 18. A letter seen by Reuters states that in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, consulates general and the European Union Office are required to provide information on all locally employed people who have a contract of employment Work". Beijing is responsible for Hong Kong's foreign affairs, but has increased its control over the city since 2020.
SOUTH KOREA
Korean teachers will be entitled to free mental health treatment under a new 10 billion won government plan launched in response to growing concerns about their mental health after the suicides of some teachers who faced pressure from their pupils' parents. The initiative will last for the second semester, from September to February 2024, after which the ministries of Education and Health will jointly plan a new budget for the new school year.
RUSSIA
The Education Authority of the Russian region of Udmurtia has issued a recommendation, given the low turnout in the last administrative elections, for which local operators and teachers will have to try to implement the 1+5 scheme, communicating in written form their own data and those of at least 5 relatives who pledge to vote in the 2024 presidential elections.
TURKMENISTAN - SINGAPORE
Turkmenistan has entrusted defense against cyber attacks to a completely unknown company from Singapore, Indigo Software, similar to a "ghost" company, based on the German Rohde & Schwarz software, even if it blocks Internet access, very frequent in the country, they are carried out by DDoS-Atak. Many believe that these are overall dark operations of the security services of the Ashgabat government.
Environment Minister Han Wha-jin will attend the United Nations' Climate Ambition Summit to be hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this week in New York, her ministry said Tuesday.
The Climate Ambition Summit 2023, scheduled to take place at the U.N. headquarters Wednesday, represents "a critical milestone for demonstrating that there is collective will to accelerate the pace and scale of the transition to a renewable energy-based, climate-resilient global economy," according to the international organization.
At the event, Han plans to share Korea's recent pledge to provide an additional $300 million to the Green Climate Fund and encourage other nations to join global efforts to fight climate change.
She also plans to take part in a breakfast meeting of leaders on responding to threats posed by the rise in the sea level and deliver Korea's commitment to actively join in the fight against the sea level rise threatening Pacific island nations.
Han also plans to attend a ministerial global stocktake meeting to be hosted by the chair of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Yonhap)
Two Vietnamese activists are on their way to the United States thanks to a deal negotiated before Biden's visit; another couple is already in Germany. A private agreement promises improvements to freedom of worship and NGO activities. Yet 374 activists are at risk of arrest or closely monitored, while 190 are in jail, laments advocacy groups Project 88.
Hanoi (AsiaNews) Two Vietnamese activists unjustly detained by Vietnams communist government according to US authorities are moving to the United States thanks to a deal struck by the two countries before last weeks visit by US President Joe Biden to Hanoi.
A human rights lawyer who campaigned for police accountability, a Catholic parishioner evicted from his home for his activism and faith, and their families are leaving Vietnam for the United States under the "Priority 1" refugee programme, US officials told Reuters.
Neither activist was in prison, but both had been barred from leaving Vietnam, and were under constant surveillance
Last Friday, Catholic legal expert Nguyen Bac Truyen was released; with his wife, he left for Germany where he was granted asylum (pictured).
At the time of his arrest on 30 July 2017, he was actively working with the Redemptorists, who have also been targeted by the government over the control of some land.
On 5 April 2018, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison and three years of house arrest for "promoting activities aimed at overthrowing" the government.
The US-Vietnam deal includes the release two more activists subject of a campaign for their release in the United States.
Vietnam has also signed a private agreement to make progress on religious freedom, non-governmental organisation (NGO) operations in the country, prison conditions, and labour laws. The contents of the private agreement were not previously reported.
This comes as the two countries, once enemies, agree to an historic partnership. As a result, Vietnam has granted the United States its highest diplomatic recognition, alongside China and Russia.
The Biden administration faces criticism over the agreements at home (from the Republican Party) and abroad over its diplomacy with Vietnam, as well as India and Saudi Arabia, countries that deny the political freedoms enjoyed in the West, and over its negotiations around a prisoner swap with Iran.
In fact, repression continues in Vietnam. Project 88, a rights advocacy focused on Vietnam, has documented the crackdown in the Southeast Asian country, collecting data on political prisoners and people arrested for crimes of conscience, including defending religious freedom.
As of 19 September 2023, at least 374 activists are at risk of arrest or closely monitored by the authorities. Another 190 activists are in prison, and 98 women activists are persecuted. As for ethnic minorities, 71 leading figures have been targeted by the government.
In recent years, Vietnams communist regime has cracked down on activists, dissidents and people whose only fault is to belong to ethnoreligious minorities like the Montagnards (Nguoi Thuong, highlanders) and the Hmong.
Members of these communities are often victims of persecution and discrimination because they fought alongside the United States during the latters involvement in the Vietnam War.
Previously, between 2001 and 2004, thousands of Montagnards fled the central highlands of Vietnam to neighbouring Cambodia.
Environmentalists have also been arrested (including "Mother Mushroom", a Catholic activist, pictured 1), as have bloggers, ordinary Vietnamese who protested against Beijing's expansionism in the South China Sea and advocates of religious freedom.
Activists and critics have suffered various types of abuse, as Project 88 has documented, including physical attacks, questioning by police, fines, forced evictions, and loss of passports.
Even those released from prison or acquitted remain under the watchful eye of police and security officials.
Project 88s website is updated daily with information about arrests and abuses that are rarely reported elsewhere thanks to information from family members, articles from state media and independent newspapers, court rulings, social media posts, NGO reports, and international groups.
Vietnam is reportedly drafting new rules designed to further restrict online information, banning social media users from posting news-related content without registering as a journalist.
"It's outrageous that President Biden chose to upgrade diplomatic ties with Vietnam at a time when the one-party state is in the middle of a brutal crackdown on activism, dissent and civil society," said Ben Swanton, co-director of Project 88.
For its part, the US administration has a different point of view. While we wish that we could have gotten many more people out ahead of the president's visit, we do believe that this increased partnership and the strengthened relationship gives us the vehicles and the processes we need to keep working on these issues with Vietnamese friends, a US official said.
by Dario Salvi
The cardinal relects on the the tumultuous weeks since the withdrawal of the presidential decree under pressure from self-styled leaders (in the pay of Tehran). A "more subtle" threat hangs over the community, but with the same logic as Isis: drive out Christians. The bitterness at the Pope's meeting (at the end of a general audience) with Rayan the Chaldean, who has been proclaimin in Iraq that Sako is no longer the patriarch. Forced to give up his presence at the meeting of the Mediterranean bishops in Marseilles because of the complaints in the courts, part of this campaign against him.
Milan (AsiaNews) - Concerned for the future of Christians who today face a "different threat", but one that is no "less serious" than the Islamic State. Embittered by the Holy See's silence in the face of the mystifications of Rayan the Chaldean, the leader of a local militia calling itself Christian (but in the pay of Tehran) who openly disputes his legitimacy. But also aware of the support of a community, the Iraqi Christian community, and of the closeness of the Muslim world, for a struggle that embraces the very future of the country and its inhabitants.
This is the state of mind that the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Card. Louis Raphael Sako, confides in this interview with AsiaNews in which he recounts the last few tumultuous weeks marked by calumnies, personal attacks, threats, court cases and the head-on clash with the President of the Republic. It was precisely because of the court hearings that are part of this campaign that he was unable to leave to take part in the meeting of the Mediterranean bishops in Marseilles, where Pope Francis will arrive Friday for a two day visit.
As will be recalled, in mid-July, the cardinal had temporarily transferred the patriarchal see from the capital to Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, in protest against the head of state's annulment of the decree - which concerns "only the Chaldean Church, and this is the basic issue," the patriarch explained - recognising its role and authority.
It was a surprising decision: Abdul Latif Rashid, in fact, has disavowed a centuries-old tradition by striking down the highest local Catholic authority, which is also responsible for managing the Church's assets and property.
This is where the issue revolves: the control of the properties that are targeted by the self-styled Christian leader 'Rayan the Chaldean' and the pro-Iranian militias that support him (a variegated galaxy that includes Shiites, Christians, Sunnis...), a threat to peace and coexistence for the nation. In response, the cardinal has not ruled out boycotting the upcoming elections.
Below is the interview with the Chaldean Patriarch:
Your Beatitude, for weeks now you have been waging a personal battle, and on behalf of the entire Christian community - for your very survival - against the highest Iraqi institutions and self-styled Christian leaders. How do you explain this?
At the root is a project that aims to silence the voice of the Church and my person. In these 10 years as patriarch [the appointment dates back to January 2013, ed] I have always defended human rights, without distinction of faith or ethnic-religious affiliation, I have tried to protect Christians and I have never wanted to justify the formation of a so-called 'Christian' militia. I rejected all this, hence the purpose of revenge on the part of a faction [Rayan al-Kildani's Babylon Brigades] that has an ulterior motive: to push Christians to leave, to make them emigrate in order to take possession of their homes, goods, property. This is also why they want to create an unstable environment, why the idea of citizenship, which I have always claimed as the basis for belonging to the nation, is opposed. However, a sectarian mentality prevails in the country where people fight to have more power, visibility and earn more money. There is no will to build a state based on law and justice, but confusion and anarchy prevail.
A confusion that also emerges in the roles and powers of the highest institutions?
This is one of the basic elements: the President of the Republic does not have the power to withdraw decrees issued in the past, he can issue them but he certainly cannot cancel them arbitrarily. Moreover, he goes against a centuries-old tradition, dating back to the time of the Abbasid caliphate, then the Ottoman Empire, and finally the Republic. In one second, the head of state wanted to erase 14 centuries of history and tradition, but I am not afraid and I have nothing to lose... maybe my life, but I am ready for that too. All this is being done to intimidate the Christians, to make them leave the country, and that is why I encourage them again, and more strongly, to stay and hope!
So your battle is based on the rule of law for the whole country, not just for Christians...
Of course! I am not just fighting for them, but for all Iraqis. And I must recognise that, as a people, the Christian community is at my side and supports me in this fight. Not only that, recently a group of 13 Muslim lawyers also filed a petition with the Supreme Court against the withdrawal of the presidential decree decided by the President of the Republic. At this stage, we experience cohesion, strong support and unity at the level of the people and the Christian community, while there are divisions between the Churches. One example among many, the words of a Patriarch who called the President of the Republic 'wise and with a clear vision', or others [bishops and priests] who profit from the sale of houses and property.
After the US invasion, the many attacks and violence and the rise of the Islamic State, with its logic of terror and death, does a new threat loom over the future?
This is another style, another method perhaps more hidden and subtle but with the same objective: to push Christians to leave. A different approach from ISIS, but with the same underlying logic.
Are there realities, institutions, even within the Church, from which you expected more solidarity and closeness?
I am disappointed by the position of the Holy See, which in almost five months has not intervened to disavow the actions of the President of the Republic, to reject the attacks against the person of the Patriarch, to distance itself from those who call themselves Christian leaders. This gentleman's visit to Rome [the reference is to Rayan the Chaldean's "brief greeting of circumstance" at the end of a general audience at the beginning of September, as described later in a brief Vatican clarification note ed] and the meeting with Pope Francis in St Peter's Square at the end of the Wednesday audience. Which he then loudly reposted on his own social channels, seeking legitimacy by using an ecclesiastical authority but ending up showing profound ignorance because he spoke about the Angelus... on Wednesdays! His words came as a real shock to Christians and Muslims in Iraq, because he presented himself once again as the true representative of Christians; he and not the patriarch whose resignation [according to Rayan the Chaldean] the pope allegedly accepted. To remain silent in the face of such statements is unacceptable.
Does silence end up legitimising the attacks against you and the entire Chaldean Church?
Exactly! The Holy See could have taken the floor, could have said that this gentleman's propaganda is not true, could have tried to calm the people, the many Christians and Muslims in Iraq who are suffering from these new attacks, from these lies that hurt our community first of all. The apostolic nuncio invites me to dialogue, not to humiliate the president... but here it is the president who is humiliating the Church and its people. He says we must leave the decree and accept a court ruling. But he must understand the local mentality and support the Church: he could deny the instrumentalisation and lies of Rayan, ask the bishops who receive money from him to stop, find a solution that is not against the Chaldean Church.
Complaints are filed against me on an almost weekly basis in the courts, and in the coming days I will have to appear in court and will not be able to attend the Rencontres Mediterraneennes in Marseilles. I wrote to Pope Francis after Rayan's visit to the Vatican, he has still not replied. We are a persecuted Church, for a long time... fighting to survive but to do this we also need support, closeness, solidarity.
In light of this can the Synod scheduled to take place in Rome in October be of help?
Ours is a special issue, but the Synod can still be of help in finding a solution. The Church must show its presence, its closeness, it must find the word that has been sorely lacking until now. The Church is its believers.
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Refugees fleeing the Taliban are detained or deported after police seized their papers. Pakistan shut down the Torkham crossing for nine days after clashes broke out at the border. It reopened it only after Afghan authorities pledged to stop acts of terrorism originating from their territory. Expert warns that Pakistani Taliban are the greatest threat to regional stability.
Islamabad (AsiaNews/Agencies) Pakistani security forces continue to carry out mass arrests of Afghan refugees following clashes on the border with Afghanistan two weeks ago, which led Pakistan to shut down the Torkham border crossing (at the western end of the Khyber Pass) for nine days, blocking trade and people.
As a result of tensions between the two countries, Pakistani authorities began rounding up and expelling Afghan refugees. In Karachi alone, 250 were detained last week, following mass arrests based on "racial profiling" twitted lawyer and human rights activist Muniza Kakar.
Today the Pashtun Protection Movement, an organisation that blames both the Taliban and the Pakistani military for the destruction and division of Pashtun territories, criticised Pakistani police, and sent a letter to the UN Human Rights Council calling for urgent international action.
Two days ago, more than 200 Afghan refugees were arrested in the capital, Islamabad, most of whom worked in the city's fruit and vegetable market with permanent residency papers.
Proof of Registration cards were issued to Afghan refugees in Pakistan in 2006 and were last extended for two years in 2021. Since then, many refugees complain about the lack of help to complete the paperwork needed to extend their stay, adding that the authorities harass them when they apply for asylum.
According to the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, more than 1.3 million Afghans are registered out of 3.7 million living in Pakistan.
Some 1.6 million people fled Afghanistan in the past two years, and at least 600,000 have crossed into Pakistan.
Recent border clashes originated on the Afghan side. Pakistan claims the Taliban were building "unlawful structures on Pakistani territory and opened fire when challenged by Pakistani security forces.
On the same day, heavily armed militants from the Afghan side attacked two outposts in the northern Chitral border district, killing four soldiers. Twelve attackers also died during the incident.
In the past, the Pakistani Taliban had attacked Pakistani security forces when they tried to build a barrier along the Durand Line that demarcates the border between the two countries.
Afghanistan has never recognised the line, while radical Pashtuns who live on both sides call for the creation of a single territory.
For Pakistan, Afghan Taliban are protecting groups tied to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), effectively helping them to carry out armed attacks against the Pakistani military and government institutions.
Spurred by the Talibans return to power in August 2021, the TPP want to impose an Islamic Emirate in Pakistan as well.
The TTP "is posing the greatest threat" to regional stability, warned Tom West, the US special representative for Afghanistan, We see a very significant increase in [TTP] attacks directed at Pakistan, he added.
Eventually, Pakistan reopened the Torkham crossing after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi vowed that Afghan territory would not be used for acts of terrorism, a commitment already made in the past.
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ECU
Interestingly, the press representatives of the automotive world are still busy trying to get their reviews of the all-new Ford Mustang. Still, already some owners have taken their examples to the next level. However, do not think about tuning just yet because theis infamously locked just like General Motors did with the C8 Chevy Corvette (and it took a hell of a lot of hard work to crack it, plus a lot of time).Instead, some folks have gone down the 'poor guy' mod lane more precisely (in)famous YouTuber StangMode has also gotten hold of a 2024 Mustang GT with the Coyote V8 engine plus ten-speed automatic transmission and immediately took the sports/muscle car to the local quarter-mile dragstrip for some initial passes. Back then, the best he could summon on some Mickey Thompson rear drag radials was a 12.3s ET which is not as bad as it sounds because the S650 is probably heavier than the outgoing model by quite a margin.Now, though, he's back for a second attempt at Cecil County Dragway in Rising Sun, Maryland, and he deployed some tricks to try and make the Mustang GT a little faster and possibly dip into the high 11s. So, Papa Smurf now doesn't have a front passenger seat anymore, among other minor hacks. With that being said, there's nothing like a pre-race burnout and a brawl against a feisty, old-school station wagon to put things into the proper quarter-mile dragstrip perspective Well, the vintage racer easily won the brawl, as the Mustang GT appeared standing still compared to its pass but StangMode was more interested in the time rather than anything else. So, in the end, it was close but not close enough 12.03s at over 118 mph (190 kph). The gains are there, but they're incremental, clearly. Anyway, the testing by trial and error continued, and with a new plan, the Ford Mustang GT was set against a traditional full-size coupe that also smoked the modern Blue Oval like there was no more tomorrow.If you also want to see some Mustang Dark Horse action from StangMode, not long ago, he organized a meeting between the 2024 model year and an S550 Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 to see who's faster. That was an impromptu brawl on an airfield's runway or something along the line, and they only did some roll races (street-style), most likely because the Dark Horse wasn't yet out of the woods with the initial mileage roll. Cool, or not?
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Both General Motors and Toyota soared above the one-million delivery mark during H1 of 2023, but the Detroit-based carmaker jumped 18% while the Japanese rival was down 0.7 percent. Plus, the Toyota brand also came second behind Ford Motor Company's namesake marque with an even higher dip of minus 2.8%. No worries, though, as Toyota plans to turn the tide.More precisely, they prepared a tidal wave of novelties for the US market, including stars like the 2023 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, a trio of GR special editions (GR86 Trueno, GR Corolla Circuit, GR Supra 45th Anniversary), an entire 2024 Corolla Nightshade family, the 2024 Grand Highlander 8-seat crossover, or the 2023 Corolla Cross Hybrid. There were also the superstars aka the 2024 N400 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck and the returning 2024 Land Cruiser.However, did anyone notice there was a significant absentee? No, I am not talking about the 4Runner, which has been growing longer in the tooth than a wooly mammoth's ivory tusks. Instead, let's talk about the only passenger car segment that's still in the top five of sales mid-size cars. Over there, the Toyota Camry still reigns supreme (over 150k sales during H1, plus 11%), so of course, the automaker is diligently taking care of it. For the 2024 model year , the Toyota Camry has arrived at dealerships from $26,420, and America's best-selling mid-size sedan brought fresh looks and an updated cabin. Many trims, several outputs, and lots of exterior colors (18) are available for customers but what if that isn't enough? Well, at least according to the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, the wait for an all-new, ninth-generation 2025 Camry is almost over at least across imagination land.The Halo oto channel on YouTube usually provides fresh automotive info that is corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some CGI ideas about a new-gen Toyota Camry. According to the resident pixel master, the ninth iteration of the best-selling mid-size sedan could sport one of four design variants for the front fascia inspired mainly by the returning Crown crossover-sedan.Meanwhile, around the back, just one potential (unofficial) design is showcased in the video feature embedded below and there are no ideas for the hypothetical cockpit changes. However, the host is confident that Toyota will use the same TNGA-K variation for the new Camry as seen on the S235 Crown and various other models like the Lexus ES and compact plus mid-size crossover SUVs, plus the large MPVs such as Sienna or Alphard.
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To each its own, as beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, and Volkswagen is known for two things its traditionalist designs and its worshiping fan base. Anyway, after a rather long wait during which we have seen the Tiguan spied from all angles and rendered on countless occasions, the third generation of the model series that premiered in 2007 is finally live. Ahem, at least in Europe, that is As always, the German automaker graces the Old Continent first with the world premiere of the Europe-specification Volkswagen Tiguan. On the other hand, VW faithful are undoubtedly wondering if the popular compact crossover its current iteration is still on sale from $28,505 is coming to America. Well, at least we can put to rest the speculation regarding the possibility of seeing the second-generation Tayron coming to the US from China.That is not going to happen because Volkswagen of America made sure to announce the global reveal of the third-generation Tiguan, which does not directly concern the region. Instead, the US-specific version will be released next year after the long-wheelbase variant of the European Tiguan comes out to play, too. There you go no Tayron from China, and instead, the Tiguan LWB will cross the big pond (aka the Atlantic Ocean) to the United States.While that means we still need to wait a while longer before meeting the North American Tiguan, usually, these LWB variants do not differ much in terms of styling and powertrains compared to their SWB siblings. Only the interior space is much better, of course. As such, let's remember some of the regular Tiguan's highlights from the world premiere earlier today.The new generation is said to arrive (during early 2024) with a "charismatic design and progressive technologies" like the new adaptive chassis control system DCC Pro, an all-new cabin with the "clearly structured" Digital Cockpit, HUD plus "driving experience switch," as well as a new plug-in hybrid model boasting around 62 miles (100 km) ofrange on a charge and DC fast charging capabilities.As always, the new Tiguan is based on theEvo modular architecture and boasts the new MIB4 infotainment system on up to 15 inches of screen real estate, IQ.Light HD matrix headlights or the newest Park Assist for automated parking. Inside, there are new ergoActive front seats with pneumatic adjustment and massage functions, plus a larger boot to store more items the luggage space has increased by 37 liters to 652 liters (over 23 cubic feet).
It's been a long time coming, but America is now just days away from the moment it will receive a piece of space rock not as a hit on its territory, but gently brought down to the surface by means of a spacecraft.
On Sunday, September 24, the OSIRIS-REx mission comes to an end, after no less than six years. It will do so with the landing in the Utah desert of a capsule containing at most 8.8 ounces (250 grams) of alien soil. It is the conclusion of the country's first asteroid sample mission, and one that's got NASA and scientists around the world all worked up.OSIRIS-Rex stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and SecurityRegolith Explorer. It's a spacecraft that departed our planet back in 2016 to complete a journey 1.4 billion miles (2.25 billion km) long to and from an asteroid called Bennu.This piece of floating rock was discovered in 1999 and is estimated to be 490 meters (1,607 meters) in diameter. It was chosen as a target for the mission because of its age approximately 4.5 billion years which makes it a prime candidate for being "a type of building block of our solar system's rocky planet," hence a window into our own past. That includes potential answers into how organic material was transported to our planet and eventually turned into life.The spaceship reached its target two years after launch, in 2018, and spent the following three years orbiting it and collecting samples from its surface. It started headed back home in 2021, carrying with it the precious cargo.OSIRIS' saga will end this weekend with the landing scheduled to take place at the Utah Test and Training Range. As it often does with such high-profile missions, NASA has people and gear in place for a momentous coverage.It will all start on September 24 at 10 AM EDT, and you can watch the entire event live on NASA TV, the NASA app, and the agency's website. The coverage will be performed primarily in English, but the streams over on Facebook, X, and YouTube will also be available in Spanish. The entire day will conclude with a press conference scheduled for 5 PM EDT.Once the sample is safely on the ground, NASA will move it to a new curation facility already established at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. From there, broken into tiny pieces, the sample will head to labs around the world, to be studied by an army of scientists.As for the spaceship that brings a piece of Bennu to Earth, it will remain in orbit and be repurposed for another mission. Renamed OSIRIS-APEX, it will head out back into space, targeting asteroid Apophis for an extended survey.
Teheran is reviewing collecting interest from Korean lenders over their past withholding of around $6 billion in Iranian funds under United States sanctions, according to sources Tuesday, after Seoul released the funds in a prisoner swap deal between Washington and Teheran.
According to Iranian diplomatic sources, Teheran authorities have begun a legal review of seeking interest for the funds that were previously frozen by the Bank of Korea, the Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank over the past four years or so.
An Iranian government official, who declined to be identified, said Korean financial institutions unfairly earned interest income due to what it described as illegal sanctions by the U.S.
The official said it was only natural for the lenders to return the interest to the rightful owner.
A Seoul foreign ministry official, meanwhile, said Iran's move was "not in line with the spirit of agreement between the relevant countries."
"All the details related to the transfer of the frozen funds have been carried out based on agreements with the relevant countries, including Iran," the Seoul official said.
Relations between Korea and Iran had remained tense as the Islamic republic had demanded the transfer of its frozen money. The demand had posed a diplomatic challenge to Seoul, which sought to strengthen its treaty alliance with Washington and its economic partnership with Tehran. (Yonhap)
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At first glance, this tester caught by our spies in Europe appears to be the usual Cupra Tavascan . And it is, albeit with a few modifications. For one, the face looks somewhat different, sporting a new bumper and headlights.Save for the different wheels, which feature sensors on them for data collecting purposes, as this prototype was used to test the brakes, the sticker out back reveals, the profile looks the same. At the rear, it has different taillights and not much else.As usual, the devil is in the details. If you look at the space between the taillights, where the illuminated Cupra logo sits on the normal Tavascan , you will see that it has a round shape. This coincides with the VW emblem. It also does not feature the SEAT-owned brand's emblem on the nose.The interior is not visible at all in these scoops, but in all likelihood, it will be almost identical to that of the regular Cupra Tavascan. We think the dashboard panel, digital dials, infotainment system, door cards, seats, and so on will carry over, with the only differences being the new logo on the (different?) steering wheel, no copper accents, as cupra means copper in Latin, and perhaps new upholstery and trim.It will be interesting to see if the model retains the same powertrains as its western sibling , which uses a rear-mounted motor in the base configuration, rated at 282 hp (286 ps/210) and 402 lb-ft (545 Nm) of torque. The upper spec comes with two motors that kick out a combined 335 hp (340 ps/250 kW) and 501 lb-ft (679 Nm). Both versions pack the same battery, which has a 77-capacity.Based on the VW Group's MEB platform, the Cupra Tavascan is basically the Mediterranean cousin of the Volkswagen ID.4 and ID.5. It has a driving range of around 323 miles (520 km) on thecycle, and it is expected to sell more than 50,000 copies each year. The model will go on sale in the Old Continent next year, where it will be imported from the Volkswagen Anhui facility in China, which is where the VW-branded version will likely come to life.As expected, the Tavascan won't cross the Atlantic Ocean to end up on our shores, just like the Chinese variant won't make its way to Europe. Chances are the latter will be introduced in the coming months, launching in the People's Republic early next year.
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Designed as the Korean brand's rival to the likes of the Mercedes S-Class, BMW 7 Series, and Audi A8, the 2023 Genesis G90 is available in two versions on the right side of the pond: normal and long wheelbase. For the former, customers are looking at 115,000 (equal to $122,756) in Germany and 129,300 CHF ($144,141) in Switzerland. The latter starts at 125,000 ($133,430) and 139,400 CHF ($155,400), respectively.By comparison, a brand-new Mercedes-Benz S-Class will cost you a bit less. The model is listed on the local website from 111,729.10 ($119,264). BMW's 7 Series kicks off at 116,000 ($123,823), and for the base Audi A8, customers have to fork out at least 101,900 ($108,772). In the United States, the Genesis G90 carries an MSRP of $88,400 and is available with two powertrains, the 3.5Tand 3.5T E-Supercharger AWD, with 375 and 409 horsepower, respectively.Powering the European specification is a single lump, the 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 gasoline unit equipped with a 48-volt electric supercharger. The total system output is rated at 415 ps (409 hp/305), and it is good for 549 Nm (405 lb-ft) of torque. The all-wheel-drive system is standard no matter which version you opt for, and it is an eight-speed automatic transmission that delivers the thrust to both axles.Besides deciding which wheelbase length suits their needs better, with the longer variant offering an extra 190 mm (7.5 in) of legroom, customers can also choose between ten exterior colors, five interior colorways, and six garnishes. Both models are well equipped, sporting stuff such as the Ergo Motion seats with heating, cooling, and massage functions, two 10.2-inch touchscreen displays, and an 8-inch screen used to operate the climate control, adjust the ambient lighting, set the sunblind position, and access the massage settings and seating position.Its future owners can brag about their 2023 G90 having an onboard fragrance system, a UV-C light disinfection compartment, a Mood Curator, a 12.3-inch infotainment system, an equally-sized digital instrument cluster, fingerprint authentication, premium audio from Bang & Olufsen, wood trim, and many others. The brand's flagship sedan also comes with a host of safety systems, including lane-change oncoming, rear blind spot collision avoidance assist, forward collision avoidance assist, blind spot view monitor, surround view monitor, and others. As we already mentioned, the 2023 Genesis G90 will go on sale in Germany and Switzerland one week from today, on September 26.
Otilia believes that if its eco, green, or groundbreaking, people should know about it (especially if it's got wheels or wings). Working in online media for over five years, she's gained a deeper perspective on how people everywhere can inspire each other.
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The all-new MINI Countryman Electric has just made debut in North America. It is the first time the model with zero emissions sets wheels on American soil.
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MINI chose just the right moment to bring the Countryman Electric to the US: during Climate Week NYC, the largest annual event of its kind. The car is on display at the special panel called Driving Forward: The Transformation of Future Mobility, hosted by URBAN-X, the urban tech startup platform by MINI.The new electric MINI was unveiled at the IAA Mobility in Munich, Germany, at the beginning of this month. With the electric version of their largest model, the brand takes one more step towards an entirely electric portfolio. That is set to happen by 2030, which is five years before European regulators ban the-powered cars.The MINI reps credit the Countryman Electric with characteristics that keep the "fun to drive" spirit going. It comes in two variants, the E and SE ALL4. The E gets 201 horsepower (204 PS) and 184 lb-ft (250 Nm), delivered to the front axle for a run from 0 to 62 mph (0-100 kph) in 8.6 seconds and a top speed of 106 mph (170 kph). The front-wheel drive electric MINI Clubman drives for 287 miles (462 kilometers) before it needs to be plugged in again, according to thetesting cycle.The SE ALL4 benefits from the presence of two electric motors that generate 308 horsepower (313 PS) and 364 lb-ft (493 Nm) in an all-wheel drive setup, runs from 0 to 62 mph (100 kph) in 5.6 seconds and hits 112 mph (180 kph). The all-wheel comes with a range of 269 miles (433 kilometers).Together with the, BMW brought the CE-04 battery electric scooter and a BMW iX5 Hydrogen prototype to confirm the brand's devotion to developing models with alternative propulsion. The crossover has recently returned from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, where it underwent hot-weather testing and passed with flying colors.And that was just a stage of the tests carried out around the world by BMW. In February, a pilot fleet of nearly 100 cars was deployed around the world. They were spotted in Europe, Japan, Korea, China, the United States, and the Middle East.The BMW iX5 Hydrogen is powered by a system that integrates the hydrogen fuel cell stack, capable of generating 167 horsepower (170 PS) from hydrogen, emitting only pure water. An electric motor brings along 228 horsepower (231 PS) for a total of 396 horsepower (401 PS). The iX5 Hydrogen can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (0-62 mph) in under 6 seconds. The total range of the model is of 313 miles (504 kilometers), also by WLTP standard.
Like all of America's military branches, the U.S. Navy has a series of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) assets in operation, but only one is high-altitude, long-endurance, and also offers targeting capabilities: the MQ-4C Triton. And the platform is as of last week fit for duty.
The Triton is a product of Northrop Grumman, and it has been tested with the American Navy for a while now. Five such drones have been deployed in recent months with the Navy's Pacific Fleet for maritime ISR, being put through their paces to see if they can fulfill sailors demands.The drone made its first flight about a decade ago, but it wasn't until May 2020 that it got early operational capability for Navy use. It took another two years or so for it to receive initial operating capability (IOC), a milestone announced last week by Northrop Grumman.IOC means that a military asset can now be used at least in the minimum deployable form. For the Triton , that translates into a flight time of 24 hours and a maximum altitude of ten miles (16 km).Triton has proven to be invaluable for the maritime patrol and reconnaissance mission in the Indo-Pacific. Now that the system has achieved initial operating capability, commanders will be able to fully leverage Tritons powerful sensor suite to detect and deter potential adversaries around the world, said in a statement Rho Cauley Bruner, Northrop Grumman Triton program director.The single Rolls-Royce turbofan engine it is fitted with allows it to travel at speeds of up to 357 mph (575 kph). While doing so, it spies on things below, and can even lock targets, with the help of a myriad of sensors and cameras that give it a 360-degree field of view.The drone can be sent on a mission either alone or in conjunction with crewed aircraft. The maximum distance it can reach is 9,400 miles (15,000 km), which is roughly the distance that separates New York from Sidney.All of the above means that in a single 24-hour mission this mighty drone can look at a total of 4.6 million miles (7.4 million km) of sea and land thats about as much as the entire surface area of the United States in square miles.The many uses envisioned for the Triton, which was derived from the Global Hawk, includes anything from patrolling the seas to search and rescue and comms relay. It can also be used to spot and track maritime targets from well outside the enemy ships reach.The MQ-4C Triton is being put together by Northrop Grumman for both the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The production run planned for the drones initial years on the market is capped at about 70 units. The cost of a single such drone is estimated at $180 million.
Dubbed 'Silverback,' this reborn quarter-mile dragstrip fighter is now an integral part of Team Soul Snatcher (the name of his beloved, now defunct, Dodge Challenger SRT Demon) alongside other crazy machines like a 'Last Call' Dodge Challenger, now rechristened as 'Black Ghost' and packing around 1,200 horsepower of tire-burning love.However, currently, the accent is on Silverback because Young is trying to get as many races as possible behind it ahead of various competitions. So, it is no wonder he is constantly visiting his home venue of Texas Motorplex home of the NHRA Texas Fall Nationals and setting up races left and right. Besides, he's a patriot and never misses a chance to give the 'domestic versus import' brawls an opportunity to shine.In the latest feature embedded below, he is at the quarter-mile drag racing facility located in Ennis, Texas (40 miles south of downtown Dallas), and during 'Race Wars,' he chose to fight it out with a twin-turbo Honda Civic hot hatchback and a "nasty," tuned Nissan GT-R driven by a fellow lady racer.First on call was the R35, and the white Nissan GT-R sure looked ready for great things when it lined up at the quarter-mile marker. However, the 2009 Dodge Charger a salvaged and rebuilt Mopar proved too much to handle, and the nitrous-fed monster rocked the dragstrip with a spectacular victory. Secondly, the little red Civic was ready for the brawl, even though its driver and team probably saw what happened with the tuned GT-R.We hoped their confidence wasn't just cockiness and bravery to not back out of a losing deal. However, the Charger again proved to be more than the small hatchback could chew upon, so it was another win for Team Soul Snatcher. Now that we see his rides are some of the nastiest out there, we sure hope that Herman will take the time to invest in some decent cameras we really want to see the ETs and trap speeds of his projects!Anyway, if you are not done with 'domestic versus import' drag racing, may we also recommend taking a quick peek at the recent video (embedded second below) from the Wheels Plus channel on YouTube, where The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway was visited by an aggressive BMW 3 Series and a Dodge Challenger Scat Pack. Interestingly, it seems these quick Bavarians are always something to behold, even when they don't sport the M3 badges of honor!
Living off the grid and being self-sufficient can be a rewarding and freeing experience. It is a choice to distance oneself from the tech-ladden modern life in one way or another and connect more deeply with nature while also minimizing your carbon footprint.
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Photo: Solido Tiny House
Photo: Solido Tiny House
Photo: Solido Tiny House
Photo: Solido Tiny House
Off-grid tiny homes on wheels are a great choice for those who want to lead a more sustainable lifestyle, regardless of whether they decide to put down roots in a remote location or travel wherever the wind takes them.Today, there are countless tiny home designs that allow you to disconnect from the restrictive mainstream and offer a liberating way of life, and the Solido Escape A17 is one of them. Built by a Romania-based company, the fully off-grid version of the Escape A17 tiny home is crafted with high-quality materials and features a thoughtful layout that maximizes space and functionality.Solido Tiny House has been manually manufacturing tiny homes since 2018, and their business is constantly growing, despite the fact that the Escape is the only tiny dwelling structure they offer. Both On and Off-grid models of the prefabricated tiny home are available, and they can be installed or removed from a trailer, which can be registered in any country in Europe and can be towed with anIn this piece, we will focus on the off-grid version of the Escape A17. This mobile dwelling sits on a double-axle trailer, measures 21.6 feet in length, and is designed for those seeking a cozy and functional downsized living space that allows them maximum flexibility and mobility.With an extensive rooftop solar panel array, an inverter, and two batteries, this charming tiny house can generate its own electricity, allowing owners to still enjoy all the comforts of home without being tethered to public utilities.Apart from the photovoltaic system, the Solido Escape A17 also comes with a gas heater and a wood stove for heating, a built-in water tank for collecting and storing rainwater, and an eco-friendly dry toilet, so inhabitants won't have to worry about connecting to a sewage system or using traditional plumbing.This home's off-grid capabilities mean that you can put it in the best or most beautiful place on your land, you can install it near a lake, on a mountain hill, or deep in a forest, or you can take it with you on your adventures.Besides being self-reliant, the Escape A17 is also beautiful and cozy. It boasts an eye-catching exterior clad in a combination of wood and metal siding, complemented by a solar panel-lined split roof. From the outside, it looks like a cute cabin that would feel right at home in the middle of nature.Full-light French doors invite you inside, where you are welcome by a no-frills, Scandinavian-inspired interior. Wood panels cover the walls and ceilings and are matched by the wooden flooring, a combination that gives the interior an intense modern rustic vibe.The open-plan main floor comprises a cozy living area, the dining space, and the kitchen, with a private bathroom at one end of the house, while the sleeping space is in the lofted area.The living room is furnished with a sofa that can also serve as a sleeping space for one adult, a coffee table, and a ledge where the owners can display framed photos and other decorations. A large gable window takes up the entire wall behind the couch, meaning natural light floods the space and the owners can enjoy the vistas.A fold-down table between the sofa and the kitchen cabinets serves as the dining area. It can seat two people with ease and, when not in use, it frees up a lot of space for moving around.The Escape A17 has a full kitchen that is accountered with everything you need for cooking, including a two-burner cooktop, an oven, and a sink. The standout feature here is the wood-fired stove that serves for both cooking and keeping the house cozy and warm during chilly days. Wooden countertops and numerous cabinets complete the kitchen design.The bathroom hides behind a pocket door and is equipped with a full shower, a vanity with sink and mirror, and plenty of storage solutions. There is also the Separett dry toilet, which is an easy-to-maintain waterless and odorless composting toilet, and an instant gas water heater unit.The bedroom of this tiny home is in the loft and can be accessed via a storage-integrated staircase. It is commodious enough to fit a king-size bed, a table-mounted television, and a storage unit.With its small footprint, off-grid equipment, and thoughtful configuration, the Solido Escape A17 tiny house is a perfect choice for people looking to adopt a sustainable and minimalist lifestyle. Not to mention, it is also surprisingly affordable, considering everything it has to offer, with a price tag of only $68,000.
One of the best things about tiny homes is that you can take them anywhere and change the scenery whenever you want. A house on wheels can become a beach house or a cabin in the woods, integrating seamlessly into any natural setting. This model designed by Handcrafted Movement brings the ocean to you. Built a few years ago, it's still one of the most inspirational tiny homes for those who love coastal style.
Photo: Handcrafted Movement
Photo: Handcrafted Movement
Photo: Handcrafted Movement
Some tiny homes are designed specifically to function as beach homes either for the owner's family or for rental guests. Others, like the gorgeous Outer Banks by Handcrafted Movement, seem to bring to the ocean in, no matter where their final location is, thanks to a carefully styled interior design.Beyond the relaxed, inviting beauty of its interiors, this tiny home reflects the signature craftsmanship of the young American brand. A harmonious mix of form and function translates to a smart layout for generous accommodation with unexpected perks. High-quality furniture, premium finishes, and carefully selected appliances add a touch of luxury. Outer Banks is like a dream beach house that can fit in anywhere and offer full comfort to its guests.Outer Banks is neither too flashy nor so modest that it goes unnoticed. The board and batten siding with Pacific Cedar accents give it a contemporary, chic look. You'll notice all the different-sized windows that are, together with the large glass doors, part of the same beach house esthetics, all about bringing the outdoors in. The tiny Cedar deck with a wooden awning system is a thoughtful addition that extends the indoor/outdoor flow.This eye-catching tiny sits on a 30-foot (9.1 meters) trailer. It's not just any trailer, but one made specifically for tiny homes by Iron Eagle and fitted with three axles, built-in leveling jacks, brakes, and road lighting. Once delivered to its destination, the Outer Banks is ready to reveal its ocean-inspired interiors.The color palette adds relaxing teal and dark brown accents to the traditional bright white for the walls and ceilings. This strong contrast is specific to coastal styles, where vibrant colors with dark accents create a fresh, striking result. Various natural materials are used for adding texture, together with a skillful mix of copper, brass, and matte black hardware.The wide-plank Oak hardwood floors with a distressed look are particularly reminiscent of beach houses. The walnut countertops match the furniture in deep shades of brown, bringing out the Zen-like quality of the teal blue accents beautifully. A striking contrast was also obtained thanks to the dark wooden beams on the ceiling, which also create depth and add visual interest.Like any home inspired by the ocean, Outer Banks was made for enjoying the fabulous views. Its compact lounge is surrounded by them and bathed in natural light throughout the day. A surprisingly spacious dining table with three seats is also strategically placed in front of the window. On the opposite side, the kitchen countertops seem to highlight the maritime-inspired window with a hexagonal shape.The open-plan main floor seems more spacious than its actual size. Thanks to the custom-made cabinets, drawers, and floating shelves, all the basic items can be neatly stored, keeping the area clutter-free. A "secret room hides in the back, behind beautiful teal doors. The team at Handcrafted Movement designed it as a "flex area" that can be configured for various uses.It could be a beautiful main bedroom. It's large enough for a queen-sized bed, with natural light coming through a big window. It could just as well be a spacious home office, with enough room for a full-size desk and all the additional furniture. Either version would benefit greatly from the overhead storage shelves, cleverly painted white so that they blend in with the walls.Having a separate room with full privacy and easy access emphasizes the idea of a relaxing cocoon by the beach. It also makes Outer Banks particularly suitable as a vacation rental. A medium-sized loft can provide extra accommodation. Big enough for a king-size mattress, it's also airy and bright thanks to the addition of multiple large windows.The loft sits above the bathroom, which is just as remarkable as the rest of the house in terms of functionality and style. It's fitted with all the basics, but what catches the eye is the large, elegant vanity with deep drawers. Speaking of function, the Outer Banks cleverly hides power hookups for a washer/dryer unit and a big closet with room for 50 hangers.Apart from its stylish looks, this ocean-inspired home on wheels is prepared for full-time living, including premium insulation and a high-efficiency mini split air conditioning/heating system. It even comes with a big smart TV and a base cabinet placed in the corner, facing the cozy armchairs. The compact kitchen was designed to integrate a large, energy-efficient fridge and a stainless steel LP gas range.This 2019 model is no longer available in the Handcrafted Movement range but continues to be a fine example of coastal-style design for timeless beauty.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk with Israelian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Fremont, California. The two discussed artificial intelligence, Twitter, social unrest in Israel, and the measures needed in a world where robots could take over and deep fakes confuse unsuspecting people. The meeting ended with a tour of the EV maker's factory and a ride in the much-hyped Cybertruck.
Photo: IsraeliPM on YouTube
LIVE: Speaking with @elonmusk about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization. https://t.co/XiAQwOXzcP Benjamin Netanyahu - ?????? ?????? (@netanyahu) September 18, 2023
Elon Musk and Bibi Netanyahu discussed the challenges brought forward by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. They also touched on the subject of deep fakes and intricate image alterations that could lead to social problems and confusion, given how fast something can become viral nowadays."Technology is improving at a hyper-exponential rate, and we obviously want to make sure that technology is something that benefits humanity to the greatest extent possible," pointed out Musk.The pair also debated freedom of speech and antisemitism. The latter is an important topic for Twitter (X) owner Elon Musk, who is in an open fight with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The organization accused him of enabling users to spread hatred on the platform. In turn, the social media mogul argued that ADL is at fault for Twitter not having any success. He said the organization pressured advertisers to leave.The American business tycoon also asked the politician about the protests in Israel and requested clarification about what was happening in the Middle Eastern country.At one point, the meeting took an uncomfortable turn when Tesla 's CEO said that we must draw a clear limit to establish who is in charge - the human or the computer - as we move forward to more technologically advanced societies.Netanyahu replied that the fast-tracked evolution of technology can be a blessing or a curse, but it's up to humans to make the right choice. He underlined that the pace of change has increased dramatically, mirroring what the Twitter owner uttered. Afterward, he added, "I know you can not be the President of the US, but assume you are." Elon Musk replied, "Not officially." The Israeli PM smiled and told his dialogue partner and the audience, "Then you're the unofficial President. What should we do?"Netanyahu wanted to find out Elon Musk's ideas for a safe tech-ladden future. He pointed out that China's ahead of everyone, and the Asian country should be the first to take the right safeguarding measures. But it felt more like a warning for the US and its allies which seem to lag behind the Chinese.But Tesla's boss also met with Turkey's President before seeing Israel's prime minister. The official invited the executive to consider building a Gigafactory in his country. The public offer came two months after the plans to open one in Spain did not materialize.At the same time, a media report coming right after the meeting with Turkey's Erdogan stated that Saudi Arabia and Tesla started discussing the possibility of building a Gigafactory in the Arab country. However, Tesla's CEO took to Twitter to say that was untrue.Netanyahu did not openly ask Elon Musk to consider Israel a possible location for Tesla's next manufacturing plant, but they rode together in a Cybertruck showing no imperfections. The pickup truck can be seen in the video below wearing Texas plates. Musk even gave it the beans on that track, putting the vehicle's capabilities on display. When returning from the short drive, he also showed the rear-wheel steering in action.It looks like a very busy period for Elon Musk and Tesla. Even though the brand's existing factories aren't working at their maximum capacity, the brand might need an extra plant because manufacturing the Semi, the Cybertruck , the Optimus robot, and the upcoming two-seater robotaxi would take up too much space in existing facilities.
Jetson One continues to be the world leader in electric personal jets. Although this year didn't bring spectacular milestones in terms of development or production, the Swedish-designed eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) is still insanely popular, and we can see why. Jetson One was specifically designed for private use and doesn't require a pilot license.
The air mobility company's 2023 production is entirely sold out. Precisely 200 units will be going to eager customers all over the world. A quick look at the order book will reveal that most of them are, however, in the US. Americans were willing to pay an $8,000 deposit for this $98,000 personal jet that is delivered to their doors and that needs to be assembled.This increase in US orders might have something to do with the fact that Jetson One moved its headquarters to Palo Alto, California, after originally being founded in Poland and then relocating to Sweden. Last summer, one of the company's co-founders, Tomasz Patan, flew his own futuristic creation from his home to work, completing what he claimed was the first eVTOL commute in the world.The pioneering flight, part of which we got to watch on the company's social media platforms, cut the usual time it would take to cover that route by a whopping 88%. It was one more reason for people to dream about owning their private single-seat, zero-emission aircraft.Despite the intimidating costs, nearly all the delivery slots for next year were also filled. Only three are left, probably not for long. This is a continuation of the company's incredible success right from the start. In the first month of 2022, Jetson had already sold out all the units for that year, reaching more than 3,000 purchase requests since October 2021.Although technically not a flying car (it doesn't combine flying capabilities with riding on roads), the Jetson One is pretty close to a winged alternative to personal vehicles. It's small and lightweight and fitted with eight motors that can propel it at 63 mph (102 kph).At the same time, it claims to offer exceptional safety, starting with the race car-inspired frame, down to state-of-the-art safety systems, including a triple-redundant flight computer, terrain tracking, and obstacle avoidance.This unusual personal aircraft comes pre-assembled and can be flown by almost anybody after basic training - no pilot license required. Compared to other eVTOLs on the market, the Jetson One is literally in a league of its own. The specifics of its structure and purpose place it in a separate category in terms of regulations, which drastically simplifies the road to certification.Despite Jetson One's crazy success, the Swedish company has a much bigger vision for the future. It envisions an aircraft version that can include passengers, culminating with a four-seat flying car by the end of this decade.
By Bereket Alemayehu
Foreign participants operating tour and travel companies were among those attending a ceremony proclaiming Seoul's Tourism Future Vision plan to attract 30 million visitors by 2026, held at Some Sevit Floating Island, Sept. 12.
One of the three speakers giving a "talk concert" during the event was Oh Sinan Ozturk,
. He is also founder and chairman of the Global Business Alliance (GBA), a unique nonprofit business organization established under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The GBA provides a platform for Korean and foreign entrepreneurs along with diplomats and trade counselors, startups and startup traders from over 64 countries.
"My talk was focusing on how foreigners who live in Korea can help in promoting the Korean tourism sector and how important is their involvement if opportunities are provided," he told The Korea Times. "The number of foreigners chasing the Korean dream is now estimated at about 2.5 million, which in 10 years will reach up to 4 million. So, it's very important to accept them as a part of Korea's diverse and multicultural community."
He added that the GBA includes people from diverse backgrounds, both Korean and foreign, who are corporate executives, diplomats and trade counselors, startup founders and startup traders, global influencers, artists, YouTubers and content developers who are interested to engage with the city's tourism plan.
"I would like to deliver that important message that because we live in Korea, we know the country well, so foreign residents' engagement is important," he said.
"It would be vital in attracting the targeted 30 million visitors to Seoul as well as making great efforts to pave the way for World Busan Expo 2030 together, as many foreigners are doing travel and tourism business here."
He recommended the city place more focus on the medical tourism industry to attract more visitors from around the world.
Ozturk also offered ways to utilize foreign influencers and international students living in the city by appointing them as ambassadors for Seoul tourism. In addition, he suggested the need for more methods to be used to collect tourists' experiences and opinions.
EV charging networks have started to build bigger and bigger stations, sometimes with hundreds of charging stalls. Intriguingly, it's not Tesla that operates the largest charging station in the world, but Shell. The oil giant just announced opening a 258-stall fast-charging station in China.
EV
As electric vehicles become more popular, the need for charging stations increased. Some have started building their own charging networks, with Tesla Supercharger and Rivian Adventure Network as the best examples. Others have relied on third-party service providers like Electrify America, Blink, EVGo, and others. Governments have stepped in, offering incentives to install and operate charging stations. This attracted even oil companies into the market, so we have Shell, BP, and others providingcharging services.Regardless of their ownership and objectives, all of them are dwarfed by Tesla's Supercharger network. It has the largest number of DC fast-charging stations in the world, expands the fastest, and has the best availability among its peers, with an uptime of 99.95%. Recently, Tesla started building bigger charging stations, with dozens and, sometimes, more than a hundred stalls. The largest so far is planned in Coalinga, California, with 164 stalls. That could have been the world's largest DC fast charging station, but Shell stole the show and opened a bigger station.The world's largest gas retailer has just opened a 258-stall charging station near the Shenzhen Airport terminal in China. The station could charge more than 3,300 EVs per day during the trial period. In addition to EV charging, the facility offers a convenience store, a Shell Cafe, vending machines, and a driver lounge. The rooftop solar panels installed at the station generate about 300 MWh of electricity per year, helping Shell provide renewable energy to EV owners in the Shenzhen Airport area.The station is operated by a joint venture between Shell and EV maker BYD. The two companies partnered in May 2022 to develop an EV charging network in China and Europe. The joint venture currently operates more than 13,000 charge points in Shenzhen. Shell is quite popular among EV owners in the region, with its stations utilized at two to three times the industry average rate, according to Shell.Shenzhen is home to BYD headquarters, which explains why Shell's fast-charging push started there. About 860,000 new energy vehicles (that is, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric) are registered in Shenzhen. Shell and BYD also intend to expand their partnership in Europe, as BYD entered the market with its electric vehicles.BYD is not the only Chinese carmaker that Shell is doing business with. The oil giant also signed a strategic agreement with NIO to jointly build battery swap stations in China and Europe. The first NIO-Shell swap station opened last August in Xiamen in southeastern China, while the first in Europe went online in the Netherlands on May 16, 2023.
The most problematic Tundra of all three generations, the XK70 has been recalled yet again. But as opposed to previous recall campaigns, number 23V-633 is about a small noncompliance with section 10.2 of federal motor vehicle safety standard 110.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
As implied, we're dealing with incorrect load carrying capacity modification labels. According to documents filed with the, only trucks produced for the 2023 model year with spray-on bed liners are called back. The population comprises 21,781 vehicles Both combustion-only and hybrid-assisted Tundras are recalled, namely pickups manufactured at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas in San Antonio between February 24 and July 7. The company told the federal watchdog that system errors are to blame for the incorrect weight information on the subject labels.Loading a vehicle beyond its maximum capacity increases the risk of a crash, whereas the values mentioned on said labels have to be accurate within one percent of the added weight. Toyota became aware of this blunder during a training exercise. Dealers have already been instructed to replace the labels with updated ones at no cost whatsoever to the owners. Known owners will be informed via first-class mail between October 29 and November 12.In production since December 2021 for the 2022 model year, the XK70 is the first-ever Tundra to forego V8 power. The XK50 came with either a naturally-aspirated V8 or V6, and the same applies to the first generation. Part of the reason for adopting a twin-turbocharged V6 and hybrid assistance is the constant pursuit to improve fleet-average fuel economy, which needs to be improved dramatically through model year 2026 under CAFE regulations.49 miles per gallon (4.8 liters per 100 kilometers) is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy's average target for MY26, which is reportedly achievable if automakers increase flee-wide fuel economy by 8 percent for model years 2024 and 2025, then 10 percent for model year 2026. It will be tough, but then again, those who cannot reach said targets will offset them by spending top dollar on compliance credits.While on the subject of gas mileage, there's no denying the 2022-and-newer Tundra has the edge on its V8-powered forerunner. The least efficient XK70 in production today averages 19 miles per gallon (12.4 liters per 100 kilometers) combined, whereas the most efficient nets 22 mpg (10.7 l/100 km). By comparison, the 2021 model year Tundra with its thumpin' great 5.7-liter V8 is rated at 15 to 14 miles per gallon (15.7 to 14.7 liters per 100 kilometers).Now available to configure for the 2024 model year, the Tacoma's full-size brother kicks off at $39,965 for the SR 2WD Double Cab with the 6.5-foot bed. Excluding the destination freight charge, the hybrid-only TRD Pro and Capstone are listed with base prices of $72,130 and $78,845, respectively.
This right here is one of the most exciting, driver-focused supercars ever made, the Lamborghini LP 640-4 Performante, unveiled by the Raging Bull brand at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. Its sole purpose is to dominate the race track, albeit more during track days and not necessarily an FIA-sanctioned race.
Photo: Bring a Trailer
Visually, a keen-eyed observer should spot the differences between a Performante and a regular Huracan straight away. The Performante has different front and rear bumpers, loads of carbon fiber (including on that massive rear wing), plus the exhaust is positioned above the rear diffuser.The Spyder variant came out a year after the Coupe, at the same Geneva Motor Show, and while it is identical to its fixed-roof sibling from a technology standpoint, its 0-60 mph time took a 0.1 second hit, which lets face it, should be imperceptible.Hitting 60 mph in 3.1 seconds is still incredible. However, the Performante Spyder will require an extra 0.4 seconds to hit 124 mph from a standstill, which is maybe somewhat perceptible.Anyway, there is an easy workaround for all these performance-related issues, and weve just found the perfect car to demonstrate all that. This is a 2018 Huracan Performante Spyder, and its getting auctioned off to the highest bidder.The exterior is finished in Rosso Bia, featuring Italian tricolore side stripes, forged-composite front and rear spoilers and a black soft top. The car is also fitted with the Style Package, which adds high-gloss black mirror housings and side skirts, on which youll find the name Heffner Performance. More on that in a second.Other visual goodies include the black 20 Loge forged wheels with red center-lock nuts, the Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires (245/30 front, 305/30 rear), and the black Lambo-branded calipers hugging those carbon-ceramic rotors.Moving on to the interior, theres Nero Cosmus Alcantara with red contrast stitching everywhere (seats, dashboard, center console, door panels), while the seats also come with Performante-branded bolsters. Other highlights include the forged composite trim, Lamborghini Sensonum sound system, sat-nav, a rear-view camera, cruise control, climate control, and an Alcantara-wrapped steering wheel with column-mounted paddle shifters.Now, the engine. Remember the name Heffner Performance? Its relevant because the tuner went to town on the cars 5.2-liter V10 engine , which is normally good for 631 horsepower and 443 lb-ft of torque.Modifications to the power unit include 69 mm twin-turbochargers, stainless-steel exhaust housings, custom downpipes and midpipes, 50 mm blow-off valves, custom water-to-air intercooler system, twin high-flow air filters, plus a few other welcomed changes. The car now runs on E85 flex-fuel and according to the seller, it produces, and this is a quote, well over 1,000 WHP.You can take that to mean a lot of things. But conservatively speaking, 1,000 horsepower at the wheels, on an all-wheel drive car, should translate to about 1,200 horsepower at the crank. If so, this Huracan should easily hit 60 mph in the 2.5-second range, maybe even 2.0 seconds flat. Thats nearly Tesla Plaid turf.Let's hope Scuderia Ferraris Charles Leclerc doesnt see this ad, or he might find himself toying with a dilemma. All joking aside, we'd actually love to see Lamborghini join Formula 1 at one point in the future.
The protesters, who included refugees from Karabakh, blamed Pashinian for the Azerbaijani offensive and demanded that Armenia intervene to prevent a mass killing and deportation of Karabakhs ethnic Armenian population.
Some participants of the spontaneous rally scuffled with security forces guarding the prime ministers office located in Yerevans central Republic Square. The latter fired stun grenades to try to push the crowd away from the building.
The Armenian Ministry of Health said that several protesters and police officers were injured and hospitalized as a result.
Armenias Investigative Committee launched a criminal investigation into calls for violent overthrow of the constitutional order which it said were made by some of the little-known speakers at the rally. The committee said it made an unspecified number of arrests in connection with such calls.
It warned that law-enforcement authorities will counter any attempts to topple the Armenian government by force. The National Security Service issued a similar warning in a separate statement.
Appealing to Armenians earlier in the day, Pashinian claimed that external and internal forces are trying to draw Armenia into the military escalation in Karabakh and calling for a coup detat in the country. He did not name them.
Pashinians critics believe that he emboldened Baku to tighten its blockade of Karabakh and then take the military action with his decision to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over the Armenian-populated region. The prime minister insisted on Tuesday that he did not give anyone a mandate to carry out ethnic cleansing in Karabakh.
The rally continued peacefully at Republic Square. Andranik Tevanian, an opposition politician who joined it after the first scuffles, urged the demonstrators to camp out in the sprawling square and keep protesting there until Pashinian agrees to step down.
Nikol Pashinian is the biggest threat to Armenias security, declared Tevanian. His exit is the only way to ensure the security of Armenia and Artsakh.
The police intervened again at midnight to stop the protesters from pitching tents there. The crowd tried to push back, chanting Nikol traitor!
19 September 2023 11:35 (UTC+04:00)
Rena Murshud Read more
Another truck blew up on a mine planted by Armenians in the Khojavand district of Azerbaijan. Some 7 employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan were killed, Azernews reports.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Garabagh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, Elshan Hasanov, Seyfi Abdullayev, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
This is stated in a joint statement by the Prosecutor General's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Service.
Recall that a criminal case has been opened on the fact of a terrorist act committed against employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva
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19 September 2023 13:24 (UTC+04:00)
On September 19, at about 11:45, formations of the Armenian armed forces in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, using mortars and various caliber weapons subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army stationed in the Aghdam region.
As a result, two servicemen of the Azerbaijan Army were wounded. The wounded servicemen were immediately provided with first medical aid, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.
The Azerbaijan Army Units took retaliatory measures.
To recall, On September 18, at about 23:50, members of illegal Armenian armed detachments in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, using small arms subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of the Aghdam district, and On September 19, around 04:00, a Howo truck belonging to AAYDA hit an anti-tank landmine on the 58th kilometer of the newly built Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway in the Khojavand district.
The ministry said that 2 employees of the agency, the driver and passenger of the Howo truck, died on the spot. The fallen employees are Samir Sadikhov, born on 21.11.1970, and Farhad Guliyev, born on 02.05.1965.
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19 September 2023 15:21 (UTC+04:00)
Local anti-terrorist activities carried out by the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan are ongoing, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.
As part of the activities, only legitimate military installations and infrastructure are targeted and incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
Considering the deployment of firepower by Armenias armed forces formations near residential areas, we urge the civilian population to stay away from military facilities and not support the formations of Armenias armed forces. Related information was sent to Armenian residents of the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan via mobile SMS service. At the same time, the population is warned through loudspeakers, and information leaflets are distributed.
The protection and security of administrative, social, educational, medical, religious, and other facilities will be organized in line with the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms of international humanitarian law.
Women, children, elderly people, as well as people with disabilities and the sick will be rendered necessary medical aid and other assistance. They will be provided with drinking water and food.
Humanitarian corridors and reception stations have been created on the Lachin road and in other directions to ensure the evacuation of the population from the danger zone.
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19 September 2023 15:14 (UTC+04:00)
The Azerbaijan Army Units are precisely destroying combat positions, long-term firing points, combat equipment, and military facilities of the Armenian armed forces formations in the direction of Khojaly district and Qirmizi Bazar, Azernews reports.
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19 September 2023 08:30 (UTC+04:00)
Elnur Enveroglu Read more
The 30-year Armenian invasion does not end only with the destruction of cities, villages, historical and cultural monuments; this also means that more than one million people were left homeless, as well as separated from their children, parents and relatives. The humanitarian damage inflicted by Armenia on Azerbaijan is the most painful event in history, resulting in the loss of more than 4,000 people.
By ending the 30-year occupation, Azerbaijan is fulfilling a great obligation. This obligation is for finding the whereabouts the missing children and relatives of mothers and parents who have been kept in prison after the First Garabagh War. Although the Patriotic War in 2020 made the return to the native lands possible, it could not put an end to all grieves. There is still no information about the dead or alive of thousands of missing people in war and non-war conditions in the 90s. As a result of the vandalism and genocide committed by Armenia during the First Garabagh War, Azerbaijani civilians together with the soldiers held as captive were killed with special torture. Today, Armenia, which tries to hide the massacres and atrocities of history, refuses to provide information about the missing persons.
According to the most recent data, during the First Garabagh war, as a result of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories, a total of 3,890 citizens went missing. There is irrefutable evidence that 872 of the total number of missing persons were captured or remained in previously occupied territories.
The above facts prove that the Armenians committed a crime against Azerbaijan by cruelly treating prisoners during the war and in non-war times. There is no even doubt that most of Azerbaijani missing servicemen were killed in internment camps, not on battlefield.
Although Armenia tried to hide all these facts, it did not succeed. Because the exhumed human remains and the conducted forensic searches reveal all the evidence. However, it should be noted that Armenia is trying to mislead Azerbaijan in this matter as well as in mine maps. At the same time, the fact that the areas are not completely cleared of mines also complicates and slows down the processes related to the search for mass graves.
Also at the international conference themed "Increasing national and global efforts to clarify the fate of missing persons" held in Baku yesterday, discussions were held on search of the missing and killed people as a result of the crimes committed by Armenia. The joint participation of the Armenian side in gathering information about the fate of those people was also a topic of discussion at the conference. But the question arises: can we really trust Armenia by involving them in this work? Will they be so honest and admit the crimes they committed on their behalf?
As I mentioned, Armenia has been hiding the true mine maps from Azerbaijan for 3 years. There are various reasons for this: to prevent the construction and infrastructure works going on in Garabaghh, to delay the big return project that is being implemented, and finally to keep the crimes they committed in those areas under the threat of landmines. In order to help Azerbaijan in this field, Armenia should first of all show the exact locations of mines buried in Aghdam, Khojavend, Fuzuli and Kalbajar areas. It is no coincidence that mass graves are very common in those areas.
For example, mass graves have been discovered in the villages of Sariqali of Agdam district, Dashalti of Shusha district, Edilli of Khojavend district, Farrukh of Khojaly district, Yukhari Seyidahmedli of Fuzuli district, Kalbajar, Aghdam and other settlements in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.
During the occupation by Armenia, the detention of Azerbaijani prisoners and hostages in Shusha prison, their torture and inhuman treatment are facts confirmed by various witness statements. One of the mass graves was discovered in June this year on the territory of Shusha prison. Investigations were conducted near the cemetery where the remains of four human bodies were found. It was determined that more human remains were buried in that area. As a result of the excavations conducted from August 1 to 15, the human remains believed to belong to 17 people exhumed in the mass grave discovered in the Shusha prison area in the city of Shusha. 11 of them are whole, and 6 are in the form of parts of the skeleton.
The facts about the discovered mass grave are terrible. On each of the human remains, there are marks of torture and suffering inflicted by the Armenians on them. Nails were found in the abdomen of the remains of the skeletons of 6 people. At the same time, during the preliminary examination of the remains, it was found that there were marks of shooting on the bodies of those persons, various blunt blows were inflicted, cutting and piercing tools were used. It was discovered that their heads were buried separately from their bodies.
The revealed facts are once again a clear manifestation of Armenia's malice and hatred against Azerbaijani Turks. This is also a wild and cruel trait that the Armenian people carry in their genes and will never be able to erase.
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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1
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All elementary schools in Seoul will be installed with telephone recorders to record calls from parents, while a chatbot will be introduced across elementary to high schools to deal with parental complaints on behalf of teachers, the Seoul education chief said Tuesday.
The plan, announced by Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, marks the latest in a series of measures aimed at helping block teachers' direct exposure to abusive complaints from parents in the wake of several distressed teachers' suicide deaths.
Under the plan, a pilot chatbot service will go into operation in December to deal with simple, repetitive complaints 24/7 from school parents before it will be adopted across all elementary to high schools in the capital in March.
Other parental complaints that require personal attention will be diverted to the education office's call center or personal chatting service for settlement, while parents with issues specific to their children's schools will be guided to seek help via the school's main telephone number, according to the office.
By the end of 2024, all elementary schools in Seoul will also be installed with phone recorders, while parents will be required to get prior approval via a mobile app for meetings with teachers starting in September next year. A video monitoring system will also be installed at schools' meeting rooms to prevent any occurrence of verbal assaults or violence by parents.
In line with the measures, the Seoul education office also plans to introduce a legal support system, under which a lawyer will be designated to each school to provide legal counseling and advice to teachers legally accused of abusing students. (Yonhap)
19 September 2023 17:45 (UTC+04:00)
Rena Murshud Read more
The situation in the South Caucasus, mainly in the Garabagh region, is becoming more tense lately. This tension is felt not only in the region, but also in the brotherly country Turkiye. Thus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement on the way to the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani issue in Garabagh at a press conference held in Istanbul before leaving for the UN General Conference. President Erdogan proposed a tripartite meeting with Azerbaijan and Armenia on the Garabagh issue. In addition to the tripartite meeting, he also sent a proposal to Russia for a quadrilateral meeting.
It should also be noted that before this speech, a bilateral meeting between the President of Turkiye and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin took place. It is no secret that the Garabagh issue was also touched upon in that meeting.
As we know, except for Russia, the Western countries that do not belong to the region also have a special interest in the South Caucasus, especially in the Armenia-Azerbaijan issue. However, this interest mostly consists of pro-Armenian and biased policy against Azerbaijan. It is likely that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is aware of this, put forward a proposal to Russia, not the West, to resolve the Garabagh issue. If this is the case, the reaction of the West is extremely important.
Also, the European Parliament presented a report on Turkiye's withdrawal from the European Union. Most likely, this report is related to Turkiye's legitimate concern about the Garabagh issue. However, Erdogan, in his turn, also noted that Turkiye can part ways with the European Union in the future if necessary.
"First of all, I would like to note that a big risk is emerging in the region. Especially the so-called elections held by Armenia in Garabagh, the collection of weapons and ammunition, 10,000 soldiers stationed in Garabagh, the militarization of the civilian population into terrorists, the armed conflicts that occur day by day, all have a meaning. President Erdogan's speech is an effort intended to eliminate the risk arising from all this. I hope this threat will be averted. However, I would like to point out that the situation is extremely delicate and critical. I think this has already reached a very dangerous level."
Turkish expert Abdullah Aghar mentioned these words in his comment to AZERNEWS while clarifying the ongoing processes.
According to him, the goal is to build peace through negotiations. That is, it means the restoration of full sovereignty of the territories returned by Armenia after the 44-day war. Otherwise, the matter will be extremely sensitive. Because the processes have become so dangerous that they hinder Azerbaijan's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unitary structure. All this should be taken into account.
As for the interest of the West in the processes in the region and the fact that President Erdogan invited Russia, not the West, to discuss the solution of the Garabagh issue, the expert noted that the Western countries are keen to take the initiative in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. However, the West should not forget that it does not belong to this region. Therefore, this issue should be discussed first by countries living in the same geography.
"This approach of the West makes the problem worse. Moreover, it leads to the emergence of greater risks. Therefore, it is extremely important to try to resolve this process in some way through countries that have influence, effectiveness and borders in the region," the expert said.
In conclusion, the Turkish expert clarified the report on Turkiye at the EU Parliament.
"The European Parliament recently published a report. The report stated that it is impossible for Turkiye to become a member of the European Union under their certain required conditions. However, they want to exclude Turkiye from normal membership and proposed to develop real and parallel cooperation. I think this is not an accepted membership forum. Turkiye's declaration of will regarding the European Union, especially at the Vilnius summit, is not limited only to the European Union. This is an extremely important geopolitical development that builds trust and strengthens the geopolitical and strategic partnership with the West. But it seems that the EU's behavior with double standards does not meet the requirements of this report. If the European Union continues to behave like this, Turkiye may eventually have to approach from a completely different paradigm," Abdullah Aghar added.
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Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva
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19 September 2023 19:45 (UTC+04:00)
Elnur Enveroglu Read more
Provocations continued by Armenian separatist forces for months have greatly aggravated the situation in the region. On the eve of the steps taken in the process of peace negotiations, Armenia has again ignited the threat of war. For more than a month, the terrorist groups, which have been continuously firing at the positions of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces from the areas where the peacekeeping units are temporarily located in Azerbaijans Garabagh territory, have more gone astray this time and tried to violate the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by preparing a provocative attack plan.
In addition, terrorist military units belonging to the separatist regime in Garabagh and engaged in secret mining caused the death of 7 Azerbaijani police officers and 2 employees of AAYDA (an Azerbaijani agency of road construction) working in the area as a result of a mine explosion.
It should be noted that since the signing of the capitulation document on November 10, 2020, Armenian terrorist groups have been engaged in aggressively mining in Garabagh. As a result of these provocations, a total of 314 Azerbaijanis have become victims of landmines. The unfortunate fact is that almost half of the victims were civilians.
Another problem is that Armenian separatist groups are wreaking havoc in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan, in front of the peacekeepers. Armenia, trying to avoid peace talks under various pretexts, did not hesitate to resort to all dangerous means. And finally, at the last moment, it made Azerbaijan to start anti-terrorist activities.
The military situation that arouse today in the morning showed that the Armenian side is once again engaged in provocations in the region and that despite the so-called recognition of Azerbaijani territories, it is always prone to armed terrorism in the region. Not content with its destructive policy, Armenia also opened fire on civilian areas in Garabagh, and as a result, civilians lost their lives from the mortars fired in the direction of Azerbaijans Shusha.
Separatists' dens were blown up
The tense and dangerous situation in Garabagh forced the Azerbaijani Army to strengthen its anti-terrorist activities. Attack attempts of the other side were successfully silented, and as a result, a number of illegal military facilities secretly built by Armenian terrorists were destroyed by the Azerbaijani Army. The Azerbaijani side also warned the population living in Garabagh during military interventions. It should be noted that during the Armenian provocations, non-military units armed themselves and tried to fire against the Azerbaijani army.
In general, the attacks of the separatist regime and attempts to claim territory against Azerbaijan in the last few months, as well as the artificial hunger games created in Garabagh constitute the core of all this tension. This was actually a scenario created by both Armenia and some external governing forces, which once again was destroyed by the victorious Azerbaijani Army.
Turkiye's objectivity and Wests ambiguity
As always, the first reaction to the processes in the region came from brother Turkiye. President Erdogan's 4-way negotiation proposal was actually aimed at ensuring peace and stability of the interested parties in the region. However, it is a pity that the European Union, which openly expressed its opinion in favour of the invader Armenia, tried to use more means of pressure instead of supporting Turkiye in this direction. However, Turkiye insists on the security of the region and supports the coming together of the parties regarding the peace talks.
As for the headlines in the Western media, the situation is not as encouraging as usual. Unfortunately, Europe, which does not take a single step back from its biased position, tries to show events in a way that suits them, not as they are. Such an inadequate step also shows once again that in the future, the participation of Europe and the West in general in the processes is useless.
Thus, the events that took place today showed that Azerbaijan is not only honest in words, but also in deeds. The retaliatory measures of the Azerbaijani Army proved once again that terrorism and arbitrariness are unacceptable on the territory of Azerbaijan.
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Elnur Enveroglu is AzerNews deputy editor-in-chief, follow him on @ElnurMammadli1
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19 September 2023 11:15 (UTC+04:00)
Abbas Ganbay Read more
On October 2, 2023, a series of events dedicated to World Habitat Day will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, Azernews reports, citing Executive Director of the United Nations (UN) Programme for the Promotion of Sustainable Human Settlements Development (UN-Habitat) Maimuna Moht Sharif telling at a press conference in New York.
Delivering a speech at a joint press conference with Turkiye's Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change Mehmet Ozhaseki on the sidelines of the UN Sustainable Development Summit, Sharif said that 70 percent of the world's population lives in cities, so it is cities that are the future of humanity.
World Habitat Day is an annual event held on the first Monday of October to recognize the basic right of all to adequate shelter and to remind the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat. The theme for this year's World Habitat Day is Accelerating Urban Action for a Carbon-Free World, which focuses on the need for cities to reduce their carbon emissions in order to protect the planet.
The events in Baku will include the Global Observance of World Habitat Day, the Second National Urban Planning Forum, and other events attended by officials and experts from dozens of countries. These events will provide an opportunity for representatives of international and non-governmental organizations to exchange experiences on topics related to sustainable urban economies and the role of cities as centers of development.
The UN-Habitat Scroll of Honour Award was also launched in 1989 to recognize individuals and institutions that have made outstanding contributions to urban development. The award aims to acknowledge initiatives that have made outstanding contributions in various fields such as shelter provision, highlighting the plight of the homeless, leadership in post-conflict reconstruction, and developing and improving the human settlements and the quality of urban life.
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19 September 2023 20:18 (UTC+04:00)
Laman Ismayilova Read more
National Music Day has been celebrated at Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Uzbekistan.
The event participants first viewed the exhibition of the photos and publications dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, Azernews reports.
Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Friendship Society, management of Tashkent State Pedagogical University, professors and teachers of higher schools, students, science, culture and art figures, local Azerbaijanis took part in the celebration.
The National Leader Heydar Aliyev's views on the contributions of Uzeyir Hajibayli to national culture, the creativity of the genius composer, events held in Shusha with the participation of President Ilham Aliyev were discussed as part of the event. Next, the guests also enjoyed a video material on the Kharibulbul Music Festival.
In his speech, director of the Heydar Aliyev Cultural Center in Uzbekistan Samir Abbasov emphasized that the National Music Day was established on the occasion of the birthday of Uzeyir Hajibayli, the founder of the modern Azerbaijani professional music and the first opera in the Muslim East.
He outlined that September 18 has been marked in Azerbaijan by the National Music Day by the presidential order.
The center director spoke about the Azerbaijani rich culture and musical art, which has made unparalleled contributions to human culture.
Other speakers, including Executive director of the Uzbekistan-Azerbaijan Friendship Society, professor Erkin Nuriddinov, associate professor of the Faculty of Music of Nizami Tashkent State Pedagogical University Davron Kadyrov spoke about friendly relations between the Uzbek-Azerbaijani peoples.
They underlined that the Azerbaijani music is well-known, beloved and played all over the world.
It was brought to attention that after 30 years, Shusha, the homeland of the world-famous composer Uzeyir Hajibayli and the Cultural Capital of the Turkic World 2023 was liberated from the Armenian invaders.
As a result of the successful policy of the Azerbaijan state, extensive restoration and construction works are being carried out in liberate Shusha, international cultural events and festivals are held, and the bust and statue of genius Uzeyir Hajibayli has been re-erected in Azerbaijan's cultural capital.
Note that the National Music Day in Azerbaijan is celebrated on September 18 each year. The music feast marks the birthday of the outstanding composer, founder of Azerbaijani professional musical art and opera, Uzeyir Hajibayli.
The tradition of celebrating the great composer's birthday as a holiday was laid by eminent conductor Niyazi Hajibayov, who used to celebrate this day each year after Uzeyir Hajibayli's death. This tradition continues till nowadays.
Numerous cultural events, including gala concerts and festivals, are being held nationwide as part of the celebration.
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19 September 2023 17:33 (UTC+04:00)
Rena Murshud Read more
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Azernews reports.
About this North Macedonian Foreign Minister wrote on his page on X.
"As OSCE, I am deeply concerned by reports of military operations and the related danger for civilians in Khankendi. I call for an immediate de-escalation. Peaceful dialogue should be the only option and humanitarian concerns must prevail.
Today I will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York and renew my call to continue diplomatic engagement and prioritize efforts towards sustainable peace." Bujar Osmani wrote.
As @OSCECiO I am deeply concerned by reports of military operations and the related danger for civilians in Stepanakert/Khankendi. I call for immediate deescalation. Peaceful dialogue should be the only option and humanitarian concerns must prevail. (1/2) Bujar Osmani (@Bujar_O) September 19, 2023
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Rena Murshud is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @RenaTagiyeva
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
19 September 2023 15:43 (UTC+04:00)
Turkiye is playing an active and productive role in the peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, according to Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan made this statement at a meeting with representatives of US think tanks in New York, in response to a question from American journalist Paolo von Schirach. Von Schirach is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Schirach Report News Agency, and he visited Azerbaijan in June this year, Azernews reports.
"We have repeatedly negotiated with the Armenian side and taken steps to speed up the peace process," the Turkish leader noted.
I went to Garabagh at the invitation of your brotherly country, Azerbaijan, and I was very impressed by what I saw in the region, the journalist said, asking Erdogan about the steps Turkiye has taken to achieve peace between the two countries.
In response, the president said that Ankara very much hopes for the establishment of lasting peace in the region and welcomes Azerbaijans efforts to resolve the problem.
We, along with our Azerbaijani brothers, continue our efforts to establish peace in the region. Turkiye has mobilized all its capabilities to solve this problem and is in close contact with both sides. We hope that the restoration of peace between the two countries will contribute to the region, Recep Tayyip Erdogan emphasized.
Turkiye has been working to resolve the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia and has been in close contact with both sides. Erdogan has expressed hope that the restoration of peace between the two countries will contribute to the region.
Turkiye has a unique role in the peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. The country has experience in mediating conflicts in the Middle East and the Caucasus and is an acknowledged Black Sea power.
Turkey's role in the peace negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia is an opportunity for the country to improve its relations with both Russia and the West. If Turkiye is successful in helping to resolve the crisis, it will secure its status as a first-level power in the region.
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19 September 2023 13:05 (UTC+04:00)
Abbas Ganbay Read more
On September 19th, 2023, a delegation consisting of Chandra Arya, a Member of the Canadian House of Commons, Ron East, the publishing director of the influential Canadian Jewish media platform Thej.ca, and Nigar Aliyeva, co-founder of the Garabagh Azerbaijan weekend school operating in Ottawa, visited the Guba Genocide Memorial Complex, Azernews reports, citing Diaspora.
According to a report from the State Committee for Work with Diaspora, the guests wrote their heartfelt words in the memorial book, calling the March genocide cruelly committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis as barbarism against humanity.
The Canadian delegation also visited the Red Village, where the mountain Jews live compactly, and got acquainted with the activities of the synagogues and the History and Ethnography Museum of Mountain Jews. The visit was part of the project Informing the International Community about the Facts of Azerbaijan, organized by the State Committee for Work with Diaspora.
The Canadian parliamentarian's visit to Azerbaijan was carried out within the framework of the project "Informing the international community about the facts of Azerbaijan" of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora.
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the Crown, the Senate, and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as members of Parliament (MPs). Chandra Arya is one such Member of Parliament, representing a riding in Canada.
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19 September 2023 15:50 (UTC+04:00)
On September 19, a telephone conversation took place between the First Deputy Minister of Defense Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijan Army, Colonel General Karim Valiyev and the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Turkiye, Army General Metin Gurak, Azernews reports.
Local anti-terrorist activities carried out in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan were discussed during the telephone conversation.
It was emphasized that the fraternal Turkiye, as always, stands by Azerbaijan.
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19 September 2023 23:50 (UTC+04:00)
A President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Susan Pointer, the Vice President of Amazon Corporation, in New York, Azernews reports, citing Kabar.
During the conversation with a representative of the world's largest technology company, they discussed opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation in the development of cloud technologies and the construction of data centers.
The President drew attention to Kazakhstan's achievements in the field of e-government, emphasizing that further improvement of the digital sphere in our country will require best-in-class infrastructure solutions.
The company expressed interest in strengthening cooperation with Kazakhstan with the prospect of covering the entire Central Asian region.
During the meeting, an agreement was signed between the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan ("NIT" JSC) and Amazon Web Services to acquire the Outpost cloud solution and launch a pilot project to integrate it with the QazTech platform.
This step will create the conditions for global players to locate data centers in Kazakhstan. It will also realize the country's potential as a regional IT hub.
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19 September 2023 23:20 (UTC+04:00)
In the city of Jeddah, a meeting was held with the manager of the employment company International Recruitment Company in Saudi Arabia, Ahmad Muhammad Ibrahim, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency.
During the conversation, issues of creating jobs for Uzbek citizens in the private sector of the kingdom and ensuring legal work for Uzbek labor migrants were discussed.
In turn, Ahmad Ibrahim expressed great interest in attracting labor migrants from Uzbekistan.
According to him, the International Recruitment Company is located in Jeddah and has 37 branches throughout the kingdom. One of the five largest employment companies in Saudi Arabia. The main goal of the company is to attract qualified workers in all areas.
At the same time, Ahmad Ibrahim expressed his readiness to attract Arabic or English-speaking specialists from Uzbekistan.
Following the meeting, the parties agreed on the practical implementation of the proposals.
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By Kim Se-jeong
More than 50,000 citizens have called on the legislative body to take action to better protect teachers' rights following a recent assault of a day care center staff member after a parent threw a diaper with baby excrement.
The alleged assault began to gain attention after the worker's husband posted a petition on the National Assembly's website, Sept. 12, to call for public support for legal protections for workers and teachers at day care centers and education facilities.
Earlier this month, the parents in question claimed that their two-year-old child received insufficient care at the center in Sejong, which resulted in an injury after a scuffle with another child. As the injured child was hospitalized for treatment, the worker and the head of the center visited the hospital to apologize for their oversight. The mother then threw the childs diaper containing excrement at the worker's face.
The worker's husband then took the humiliating case to the Assembly's website, and his petition gained more than 50,000 endorsements from the public in four days, which will oblige the relevant Assembly committee to review the petition.
"I've witnessed many unpleasant incidents involving teachers and education workers, but never something like this: a baby's excrement on a worker's face. And the worker is my wife," stated the petition filed by the husband who is also a teacher. "Inadequate teachers can be reprimanded, but how about inadequate parents? Do we have measures to hold them accountable? Teachers and education workers need protections and I seek your help."
The worker filed a complaint with the police against the parent for assault leading to an injury. The parent apologized to the worker for her behavior but insisted she had good reason to be upset.
"My child said he had gotten scared when left alone in the dark. Astonished, I asked the day care center what had happened but initially, they didn't tell the truth. Only when I obtained evidence in CCTV footage, did they admit to leaving him alone, saying the boy had wanted it," the mother was quoted as saying by Yonhap.
She also requested the police to investigate the worker and the center over child abuse, accusing them of repeatedly mistreating her child.
The incident took place as Korea has been grappling with teachers who have had enough of being pushed around by students' parents and who are demanding legal protection for their rights at school, following a number of teachers' suicides allegedly related to abusive parents.
Tens of thousands of teachers have staged protests in front of the Assembly almost every weekend since July.
19 September 2023 22:15 (UTC+04:00)
On September 18, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received MD of the International Monetary Fund Kristalina Georgieva at his residence in New York, Azernews reports, citing Kun.uz news agency.
Detailed views on the global economic situation were exchanged. The issues of further expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation with the IMF, including the agreements reached at the bilateral meeting held in Samarkand in June of this year, were considered.
The head of the fund praised the results of the reform program in Uzbekistan and expressed his readiness to cooperate closely in the promotion of effective reforms in the country.
During the meeting, issues related to comprehensive analysis of the stability of the IMF financial sector, providing consulting support in the development of proposals for the improvement of economic policy and the participation of specialists of the countrys agencies in the implementation of the capacity building program were discussed.
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19 September 2023 20:35 (UTC+04:00)
The leaders discussed the current state and prospects for expanding bilateral cooperation, as well as current issues on the international agenda. Sadyr Japarov focused on the development of Kyrgyz-Finnish relations in all priority areas of partnership, expressing interest in deepening joint cooperation, Azernews reports, citing 24.kg news agency.
In turn, Sauli Niinisto reaffirmed the readiness to develop bilateral relations in areas of mutual interest. He noted the importance of strengthening cooperation with Kyrgyzstan for the development of economic and business relations between the two countries.
The leaders of the states also exchanged views on regional and international security issues. The parties, despite the geographical remoteness of the two countries, outlined the readiness to step up contacts for further cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Finland, the statement says.
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19 September 2023 21:10 (UTC+04:00)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has granted a $20 million loan to TBC Bank, one of Georgias largest banks, for women-led enterprises outside the capital city of Tbilisi, Azernews reports, citing Agenda.
The EBRD said on Tuesday the loan was part of its Women in Business programme, supported by the European Union and Sweden.
Building an inclusive and sustainable economy remains one of the EBRDs priorities, and women entrepreneurs are an important driver of economic growth in Georgia. With todays signing, we look forward to seeing more female leaders bringing their business ideas to life, Francis Malige, the EBRD Managing Director for Financial Institutions, said.
The EBRD is a leading institutional investor in Georgia, with over 5 billion across 287 projects in the country to date.
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Delano Vice Mayor Salvador Solorio-Ruiz has launched a campaign for the Fourth District seat on the Kern Board of Supervisors in the 2024 election.
The poster for Art Festival Seoul / Courtesy of Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture
By Jung Da-hyun
Art Festival Seoul, showcasing a diverse range of art performances and works, is set to kick off on Saturday, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Tuesday. The event will run until Oct. 22.
Art Festival Seoul, introduced last fall, is an art festival brand of the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture (SFAC). It brings together prominent art festivals in Seoul and presents them throughout the four seasons, with the fall edition being the largest in scale.
The details and lineups for each performance were also unveiled.
The Seoul Community Arts Festival at Jamsil Arena in southeastern Seoul will mark the beginning of Art Festival Seoul. This festival, now in its second year, has expanded significantly compared to last year, with over 1,000 citizens from all 25 districts of Seoul participating.
The opening ceremony will feature performances by the Seoul Citizen Choir and an orchestra composed of both citizens and individuals with developmental disabilities. The Seoul Citizen Choir will showcase a wide range of musical genres, including pop music and lyric song cycles with orchestral accompaniment. Additionally, the choir and orchestra will present a joint performance.
Unlike last year, experts and an evaluation group comprising citizens will evaluate club performances, generating increased interest among audiences. A variety of genres, from street dance and K-pop dance to performances featuring Korean traditional musical instruments is expected.
Following the kickoff, the Seoul Street Arts Festival, representing Seoul's outdoor performing arts scene, will take place around Seoul Plaza, Cheonggye Plaza and Mugyo Road in downtown Seoul from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.
This festival will engage approximately 170 artists and present various genres through 34 artworks including street art. Except for eight specific art pieces, which will require advanced reservations starting Wednesday, all other exhibitions are free to the public.
Nodeul Island Classic will enchant audiences with ballet and opera performances at Nodeul Island in the Han River. "Swan Lake," a ballet performance, is scheduled for Oct. 14 and 15 at 6 p.m., while "The Barber of Seville," an opera, is scheduled on Oct. 21 and 22 at the same time.
Nodeul Island Classic is part of the "Great Han River" project, which aims to develop various leisure spots near the Han River. The city hopes to enhance the appeal of Nodeul Island and leverage this event as an opportunity to showcase the allure of Seoul and the Han River, targeting not only the general public but also diplomats in Korea and international tourists.
In particular, this year's event will offer enhanced convenience to families visiting Nodeul Island, providing 1,800 seats, a 50 percent increase from last year.
All seats are free of charge, and individuals aged 7 or older can attend. For those interested, 700 seats can be reserved in advance through Interpark starting Wednesday, and applications can also be made on site.
Mexican actor Eduardo Verastigui is running a populist campaign for Mexican president as an independent, drawing heavily from Reagan and Trump. He recently made an appearance at CPAC Hungary to speak to conservatives in Europe. Reading his campaign materials, he could almost be using a Make Mexico Great Again slogan. The election is in 2024.
"The same political class has not only destroyed the economy, the environment, and jobs, but now they want to destroy the institutions of the family, destroy our values,, and pervert your children.", Verastigui declared. "Now they want to destroy our faith, pulling God out of our homes, our schools, and our lives. They have robbed us of the material wealth of Mexico, and now they want to steal our souls. We will not allow it. Lets build the Mexican Dream together."
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/mexicos-royal-eagles-on-verasteguis-christian-patriotism/
Dear Friend of the Christian Action League,
Give me just a few minutes of your time and let me explain something very, very important. The Christian Action League really needs your help!!!
During the current legislative session, there has been a formidable endeavor to significantly expand gambling in our state. The initiative would authorize 4 new casinos and place thousands of video lottery terminals ( video poker machines ) all over the state. The state would get a sizable cut of the revenue.
The pressure on lawmakers to support this proposal has been intense. The Republican leadership in both chambers supports it, and the Senate leadership seems completely obsessed with making it happen, no matter what!
The process hasnt been transparent either. Too much plotting and clandestine activity by various key legislative leaders has been going on in the shadows for months with the gambling industry. In my estimation, even though I am a Republican, whats been happening is a stain on the integrity of the Republican Party a party that a large portion of our citizens believe is the last bastion of traditional values in the public arena.
First, the proposal for gambling expansion was to be included in the state budget. This way, a lot of lawmakers would have been forced to vote for gambling, even if they were against it, so things included in the budget could get to their constituents. Moreover, the public couldnt know who supported the gambling initiative because the vote wouldnt be for a stand-alone bill on gambling, it would be a vote on the budget. This removes accountability and allows supporters of gambling some of which have already received thousands of dollars in campaign donations to hide their support.
But recently, the wheels fell off the leaderships plan when some stalwart Republicans told them that they wouldnt vote for any budget with gambling in it. This meant there wouldnt be enough Republican votes to pass the budget.
But even then, gambling proponents kept the pressure on by coming up with a new plan for getting the gambling initiative over the goal line. They decided to put forward a bill separate from the budget, a measure that combines Medicaid expansion with the gambling expansion. In other words, if a legislator wants to vote for Medicaid expansion in the state, he/she has to vote for gambling. Yes, Medicaid is being held hostage to a gambling initiative.
I rarely agree with Governor Roy Cooper, but he was right when he tweeted Sunday night:
GOP demand for passage of their backroom casino deal in exchange for a state budget and Medicaid expansion is the most brutally dishonest legislative scheme Ive seen in my 3+ decades. People are right to be suspicious. Something has a grip on Republican leaders and its not the people of NC. RC
Senate and House Democrats have followed up the Governors remarks with their own statements, saying they are opposed to the way things are being handled and will not cooperate with such political shenanigans. Good for them!
What is more, our state is very much in debt to the few Republicans who are bravely standing up against their own leadership to prevent the sea change gambling will bring to North Carolina. But they need your help. They need you to call your legislators and ask them to vote against gambling expansion in any form.
Here are seven ways in which the introduction of gambling establishments impacts a community and its culture: Economic benefits from gambling are not typically evenly distributed, with most jobs in the industry being low-wage positions. Local businesses that are not affiliated with the casino suffer as consumer spending shifts to the casino. The gambling culture leads to increased problem gambling, addiction, and associated social problems, such as family breakdowns, crime, and bankruptcy. Studies have shown a correlation between the presence of casinos and certain types of crime, such as theft and embezzlement. Over-reliance on gambling revenue can lead to budgetary problems if the gambling industry experiences fluctuations, which often happens. It also creates an incentive for the government to prioritize gambling interests over the well-being of its citizens. The arrival of casinos erodes a community's traditional character, as it becomes associated more with gambling than with its original cultural identity. Gambling enterprises rely heavily on tourism and can make communities vulnerable to economic downturns, such as those caused by natural disasters or changes in travel trends. The promotion of gambling conflicts with certain community values, particularly in areas where it is viewed for what it really is - a vice and an issue of moral concern. This should be of the greatest concern to communities where the House and Senate Republican leadership has indicated they want the casinos to be located rural areas Anson, Nash, Rockingham, and Robeson counties. When gambling is introduced, it is truly not hyperbole to say corruption follows. I implore you to help us turn gambling back and send it to the pit of hell from which it came.
Heres what you can do. Lawmakers will be voting this week, probably Wednesday and Thursday. Please pray for the defeat of the gambling legislation. Pray for our lawmakers. Pray for those who are standing up to this predatory industry. Pray for our great state. Pray for the Christian Action League. Contact your legislator in the State Senate and House. Ask him/her to vote, NO, on any gambling expansion. (You are free to use any of the talking points above.) Its better to phone them than send an email. Emails are often lost in the shuffle of the hundreds of emails that they can get daily. Call them! If you dont know who represents you in the North Carolina House and Senate, go to the following link and get their contact information: https://www.ncleg.gov/FindYourLegislators
Please pray and act swiftly. Time is of the essence. This matter is likely to be settled before the end of this week. You must act right away!
Thank you,
Rev. Mark Creech
Executive Director
www.christianactionleague.org
rev.markcreech@christianactionleague.org
919.915.3033
6325 Falls of Neuse Rd.
Suite 35-106
Raleigh, NC 27615
P.S. Would you consider a generous gift to the Christian Action League at this time? Your gifts keep the Christian Action League working to represent your Christian values every day the North Carolina General Assembly is in session. We would appreciate your help. To give, please go to this link on our web page, where your gift may be safely given online. If you choose to mail your contribution, please send it to: Christian Action League, 6325 Falls of Neuse Rd. Suite 35-106, Raleigh, NC 27615. Thank you!
Here are 14 hospitals and health systems that have faced controversies in the last seven days, reported by Becker's since Sept. 12:
1. Richard Duvall, CEO of Carthage (N.Y.) Area Hospital and Ogdensburg, N.Y.-based Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center, said they received a demand from hackers but will not be paying the ransom. The two New York hospitals were hit by a ransomware attack that forced them to divert ambulances to other local hospitals and reschedule most appointments.
2. Julie DeVuono, a nurse practitioner and owner and operator of Amityville, N.Y.-based Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare, pleaded guilty to forging COVID-19 vaccination record cards and illegally obtaining prescriptions for oxycodone for herself in the name of relatives.
3. Federal investigators alleged that Clinicas del Camino Real a 16-location clinic chain headquartered in Camarillo, Calif. illegally terminated its former CFO in an act of retaliation in 2021. Investigators claim that former CFO Christina Velasco was fired after she complained to company leaders that Clinicas' board violated financial guidelines, including bypassing the bidding process and awarding contracts to friends and colleagues.
4. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a lawsuit against IU Health and IU Healthcare Associates, alleging that the Indianapolis-based academic medical center failed to train employees and protect personal health information a year after a physician spoke to the media about a 10-year-old patient's abortion.
5. Police are investigating the death of an infant who was found dead in a patient's room at Covenant Health Hobbs (N.M.) Hospital.
6. A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Eduardo Lopez, an executive at three different healthcare staffing agencies in the Las Vegas area, charging him with wage fixing and wire fraud.
7. Dawn Drum, RN, a former Wisconsin nurse, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and one year of supervised release and fined $30,000 for stealing fentanyl from her hospital and replacing it with saline.
8. Months after the closure of Stone Academy, a for-profit healthcare college in West Haven, Conn., former nursing students who were unable to finish their education are coming forward, suing the school for $10.35 million.
9. Tacoma, Wash.-based Virginia Mason Franciscan Health denied claims that it shared patients' protected health information with third parties after a lawsuit claimed the health system used pixels on its website and patient portal, which allowed Meta to intercept patient data.
10. Dawna Miller, the former CFO of Mercy Iowa City, and Judy Andronowitz, its former clinic chief operating officer, sued the hospital for allegedly shorting their severance payments. Both were terminated in August 2022 as the hospital announced its search for a new strategic partner had failed and that it would keep its affiliation with Des Moines-based MercyOne. The pair allege the hospital has not responded to their demands or provided an explanation for withholding payment.
11. Current and former employees accused Midvale, Utah-based Highland Ridge Hospital of allowing assaults on patients and pressuring staff not to report them to police. Police have responded to more than 100 assault cases at the hospital since 2019. According to one police report, an employee told officers that hospital staff members "are threatened with being 'fired' if they report such incidents, due to it affecting the hospital reputation."
12. Seattle-based UW Medicine lost a patient's tumor before it could be tested for cancer, according to a lawsuit filed by the patient, who is suing the hospital for medical negligence.
13. Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente health system was ordered to pay the state $49 million to settle allegations of illegally dumping hazardous waste, medical supplies and patient information.
14. A nurse at Providence-based Rhode Island Hospital is in critical condition after a patient attacked him. The nurse was violently assaulted while working in the inpatient unit of the hospital's psychiatric department.
Here are four physician fraud cases Becker's has covered since Aug. 28:
Joplin, Mo.-based pain management physician Heather Stelling, MD, was convicted for healthcare fraud and must pay $146,026 to Medicare and Medicaid. Dr. Stelling, who owned and operated a practice, had her license suspended in 2018 after she failed to file or pay any state income taxes for three years. She continued to practice medicine despite having been informed she needed to obtain a certificate of tax compliance to do so. Morgantown, W.V.-based physician David Anderson, MD, has been charged with filing a false tax return. Chicago physician Benjamin Toh, MD, has been convicted for his participation in a $9.5 million healthcare fraud conspiracy. Dr. Toh and others submitted over $9.5 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid for cancer genetic tests between March and September 2019, which were ordered despite never reviewing test results and never meeting the patients either in-person or via telehealth. Samson Orusa, MD, was sentenced to seven years in prison and to pay more than $1 million in restitution for 13 counts of healthcare fraud. Dr. Orusa, 61, billed federal health insurers $1,885,245 for hundreds of medically unnecessary services, including requiring patients to visit his clinic in Clarksville, Tenn., as many as six times per month to obtain their prescriptions.
Optum, the largest employer of physicians in the country, has secured several major deals in 2023.
Here are six things Optum's done in 2023:
1. In April 2024, the Everett Clinic and the Polyclinic in Seattle will rebrand to Optum. Karrie Spitzer, an Optum spokesperson, said changes will include "Optum branding on exterior signage, patient communication and new employee badges."
2. In August, former Optum employees took to social media about a number of layoffs that allegedly occurred across the company. Here's what you need to know.
3. In June, Optum agreed to merge with Amedisys, a home health and hospice provider, in a deal valued at $3.26 billion. The merger "unites two organizations dedicated to providing compassionate, value-based comprehensive care to patients and their families," according to a news release from Amedisys.
4. In February, Optum acquired Middletown, N.Y.-based multispecialty group Crystal Run Healthcare.
5. Also in February, UnitedHealth Group closed on a multimillion-dollar deal to acquire home health and hospice company LHC Group, adding to Optum's value-based care services.
6. In January, Optum formed two partnerships with health systems to add nearly 2,000 revenue cycle management and IT employees to their ranks. Optum partnered with Northern Light Health in Brewer, Maine, and Owensboro (Ky.) Health to take over administrative functions so the systems could focus on patient care. Around 1,400 Northern Light Health employees and 575 Owensboro Health employees are transitioning to Optum.
Peter Rentrop, MD, reached an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office to settle a False Claims Act lawsuit.
As part of the settlement, Dr. Rentrop will pay $6.5 million, relinquish ownership of his New York City cardiology practice and be prohibited from receiving payments from federal healthcare programs, according to a Sept. 18 news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
From 2010 to 2021, Dr. Rentrop and his practice, Gramercy Cardiac, entered into inflated office space rental agreements with other physicians to have them refer their patients to Gramercy Cardiac, providing kickbacks to the physicians in exchange for the referrals.
Gramercy Cardiac of which Dr. Rentrop is the founder, owner and president previously had four offices in New York City.
Dr. Rentrop and Gramercy Cardiac will pay $4,510,678 to the U.S. and pay $1,989,362 to the state of New York under the agreement, the release said.
Edison, N.J.-based Hackensack Meridian Health CIO Kash Patel told Becker's that the health system has created a process to ensure that its artificial intelligence algorithms are equitable.
"We've set up a very formal governance group where we have ethics, compliance and legal in the room. So everything I said has gone through that group multiple times. The math is one thing, science is one thing but how it is adopted, interpreted, safety, access, fairness, all of those things are debated."
The health system has partnered with Google to create AI algorithms that can be used for both clinical decision-making and to reduce administrative workload. The health system is working on developing algorithms for safety events, early delirium intervention, capacity planning and palliative care.
Mr. Patel said the health system is working to formalize equitable concerns in all of its AI algorithms. Hackensack Meridian keeps full-time bioethicists on staff and brings them into the AI algorithm creation process, according to Mr. Patel.
"We are trying to be respectful of different voices. Every time we create an algorithm, there are questions that the team will ask us around the underserved community. Is there a bias that I'll be going off of commercial insurance people? Are we making sure we don't take into account the type of insurance they have or what type of socio-economic factors they have into the model?"
Google Health officials have expressed similar concerns that without proper training, healthcare AI models could replicate current healthcare disparities.
"There's going to be an opportunity for people to have even better access to services, [and] to great quality services," Google Health Chief Health Officer Karen DeSalvo, MD, told The Guardian. "But we're a ways to get there. We have a lot of things to work out to make sure the models are constrained appropriately, that they're factual and consistent, and that they follow these ethical and equity approaches that we want to take but I'm super excited about the potential, even as a doc."
When Amazon bought primary care company One Medical in February for nearly $4 billion, the tech giant also picked up several new health system partners.
Some of those health systems told Becker's the collaboration has helped improve access to primary care in their markets and that patient volumes ticked up after the acquisition by Amazon.
"This partnership with One Medical is a prime example of Mass General Brigham's commitment to working with world-class partners that complement our strengths," said Lynn Stofer, president of Mass General Brigham Community Physicians, part of the Somerville, Mass.-based health system. "One Medical offers a broad primary care network with tight connections to our entire team of Mass General Brigham specialists, providing outstanding services for our patients and increasing access to care at a time when demand continues to outpace supply."
One Medical, which has more than 200 clinics in nearly 30 markets, signs agreements with local health systems for specialty referral rights. It provides concierge primary care, with longer appointments and no wait times, as well as 24/7 virtual care for a yearly membership of $199. One Medical also offers corporate memberships to companies that give them to employees as a benefit.
When Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center began talks with One Medical in the late 2010s, it was interested in its virtual care capabilities, getting into direct-to-employer care, and expanding primary care in the Columbus area.
Because of the timing of the partnership's launch the first clinic opened amid the pandemic in December 2021 patient volume and corporate memberships have grown a little slower than expected, said Ryan Haley, OSU Wexner's senior director of ambulatory services. However, Amazon's purchase of the company coincided with an uptick in memberships, though those have leveled off, he said.
"It will be interesting to see what Amazon brings to the table," he said. "It's so early since they've acquired One Medical that they probably haven't fully leveraged their capabilities. But I do think it's appealing for people who have Prime memberships to be able to see, 'Hey, you can get a membership at One Medical for a discounted rate.'"
OSU Wexner reimburses One Medical for providing care on its behalf and collects the fee-for-service revenue from the patient visits, Mr. Haley said. A One Medical spokesperson said the specific financial terms of the partnerships are confidential, though the contracts differ by health system.
Mr. Haley said One Medical's healthcare operation acumen "shines through." The company's incoming and outgoing CEOs are both hospital veterans, as are several members of its C-suite. OSU staff often visit the four local clinics and have been impressed with the setup, with Mr. Haley describing them as "boutique" and "spa-like."
"They don't utilize medical assistants or clinical support. The doctor rooms the patient, but they spend a longer amount of time with the patient," he said. "It brings about a little bit of a different flavor for people who want to be part of the Ohio State University network of services but may want a different type of primary care."
Another benefit of the collaborations is more symbiotic care, leading to "reductions in duplicative testing and excessive delays often seen across uncoordinated healthcare settings," the One Medical spokesperson said. The company and its health system partners also integrate their EHRs, allowing them to seamlessly share data, and work together on expansion plans for clinics in a given service area.
"Our partnership with One Medical continues, offering patients another option for primary care and improved access to our vast network of specialists," said a spokesperson for Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care, One Medical's partner for its eight clinics in the Chicago area.
University of Miami offers One Medical memberships to all of its employees and dependents as a benefit. Its health system also credentials One Medical's providers.
Since cutting the ribbon on its first clinic with University of Miami Health in December, One Medical has opened three more in South Florida with plans for another six, said Roy Weiss, MD, PhD, chief ambulatory officer at UHealth. The sites have already enrolled thousands of patients, referring more than 900 of them to UHealth for specialty care.
"There has been no change in our partnership or plans with One Medical since the acquisition by Amazon," Dr. Weiss said. "We look forward to continuing our relationship to provide the best possible medical care to our community."
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday signed off on a motion requesting parliamentary consent to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung's arrest over bribery and other charges, his office said.
Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has been accused of breach of trust, bribery and other charges in connection with a scandal-ridden land development project and his alleged involvement in a company's illegal cash remittance to North Korea.
Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Lee on Monday, shortly after the opposition leader was taken to a hospital due to deteriorating health on the 19th day of a hunger strike staged to protest the Yoon government's running of state affairs.
The request was sent to the Seoul Central District Court, which delivered it to the government. Yoon signed off on the motion from New York, where he is set to attend the U.N. General Assembly, according to a presidential official.
Following Yoon's approval, the justice ministry submitted the motion to the National Assembly later Tuesday.
By law, the Assembly speaker is required to report the motion at the first plenary session to be held thereafter, and a vote should take place within 72 hours after it is reported. That means the motion is expected to be reported Wednesday and put to a vote the following day.
The Assembly's consent is necessary to arrest Lee, because by law, legislators are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session, a measure designed to shield lawmakers from political persecution.
In order for the motion to pass, it requires a majority of the Assembly members to vote and a majority of those voting to cast their ballots in favor.
The motion can be rejected if DPK lawmakers vote against it, as the party holds a majority in the Assembly.
If the motion passes, a court hearing will be held to decide whether to issue a warrant to arrest Lee. Prosecutors will likely indict Lee without detention if the motion is rejected in the National Assembly.
Yoon also signed off on the appointments of Kim Dong-cheol, a former four-term lawmaker, as the new CEO of state utility firm Korea Electric Power Corp., and Bang Moon-kyu, the current minister of government policy coordination, as minister of trade, industry and energy.
Kim's appointment is effective Tuesday, while Bang's is effective Wednesday, the presidential office said. (Yonhap)
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, paid a visit to New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health this week.
Mr. Zelensky stopped by Northwell's Staten Island University Hospital in New York City before the 78th United Nations General Assembly, according to a Sept. 19 news release from the health system. While there, he met with wounded Ukrainian soldiers receiving prosthetics and rehabilitation for injuries sustained during the Russian invasion.
Mr. Zelensky also presented Michael Dowling, the health system's president and CEO, with the Ukrainian Order of Merit: "a special distinction awarded to individuals for outstanding achievements to honor his exceptional leadership in providing vital medical care to Ukraine," per the release.
Eugene Holuka, MD, the hospital's vice president of physician development and outreach, and senior physical therapists Rebecca Gonzalez and Peter Leone, also received the Order.
Northwell Health has supported Ukraine in various ways throughout the conflict with Russia. The Staten Island hospital has been working with Kind Deeds, a nonprofit, to facilitate and provide care for injured Ukrainian soldiers. In addition, the health system set up a Ukraine relief fund; sent pallets of medical supplies to the country; donated medical equipment including an ambulance and machinery; extended its telemedicine offerings to assist Ukraine's front-line medical providers; and built an operating room at a hospital in the city of Uzhhorod.
Across its efforts, Northwell has donated more than $1.5 million to the cause.
"Thank you to the staff and doctors who gave them the possibility for one dream: to live and to come back to us home," Mr. Zelensky said at the award ceremony. "Thank you very much for your support."
A Superior Court judge has granted a temporary restraining order against the union whose members are on strike at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J.
Judge Thomas Daniel McCloskey granted the hospital's request for the order on Sept. 18. It prohibits union members from engaging in acts including obstructive picketing and blocking entrances and exits to parking decks.
"The issue is not about noise or restricting a peaceful demonstration, which we fully support," Hospital spokesperson Wendy Gottsegen said in a statement shared with Becker's. "The judge issued the order in response to the increasingly aggressive activities that began last week. This order is needed to prevent injury or worse from the increasingly dangerous activities of the picketers."
The restraining order comes amid an ongoing strike that began Aug. 4 by members of United Steelworkers Local 4-200, which represents about 1,700 nurses at the facility. It also comes weeks after Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital temporarily suspended healthcare benefits, effective Sept. 1, for striking workers who would no longer be eligible since they are no longer working in the hospital. Unionized workers on strike against the hospital also held a march Sept. 9 in Maplewood, N.J., where RWJBarnabas Health President and CEO Mark Manigan resides, amid their labor dispute with the hospital.
Most recently, union members had two separate options for ending the strike accepting the hospital's offer from Aug. 2 or agreeing to enter binding arbitration. The union voted to reject both a proposed three-year contract with the hospital and the binding arbitration offer, according to the hospital's statement.
"Short staffing remains our number one priority, and our members clearly don't believe this contract went far enough in this area," Local 4-200 President Judy Danella, RN, said in a news release shared with Becker's. "We need better staffing so that we can keep workers safe on the job and continue providing top-quality care for our patients."
Ms. Gottsegen expressed disappointment about the union's decision and said the offer would have ensured New Jersey's highest staffing standards and nurse compensation.
"It is clear by today's action that the union does not share in our commitment to reaching a resolution that ends this strike immediately and prioritizing the well-being and livelihood of their nurses and families," she said.
The union encouraged management to come back to negotiations "with an offer that reflects our dedication and prioritizes safety and health."
The hospital, in its statement, said it "did everything it could to avoid a strike and urges the union to work with us to reach a resolution."
Meanwhile, the judge may lift the restraining order at his discretion.
The American Hospital Association and American Medical Association are urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to uphold a lower court's ruling that invalidated a No Surprises Act final rule which they say favors insurers in the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process.
Texas federal judge Jeremy Kernodle ruled in February that the revised arbitration process "continues to place a thumb on the scale" in favor of insurers and "that the challenged portions of the final rule are unlawful and must be set aside." The lawsuit was filed by the Texas Medical Association and was supported by the AMA and AHA.
The federal government appealed the court's decision. In a friend-of-the-court brief, the AMA and AHA argue that overturning Mr. Kernolde's ruling "will harm not only physicians and hospitals, but also the very patients the [No Surprises Act] is intended to protect."
"A reinstated final rule would threaten across-the-board harms for providers including in-network providers," the groups argue in the Sept. 18 amicus curiae brief. "This is because when insurers know they can rely on the IDR process to obtain a below-market payment amount for out-of-network items and services, that, in turn, will change their approach to in-network contracting. If an in-network provider refuses to accept a near-[qualifying payment amount] rate during contract negotiations, an insurer can simply terminate the in-network contractforcing that provider out-of-network so that they can obtain their desired rate through IDR arbitration."
The Texas Medical Association filed four lawsuits challenging provisions of the No Surprises Act. Mr. Kernodle has overseen all four lawsuits and handed the organization wins in all four cases.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita faces a misconduct complaint for statements he made last year about the case of a 10-year-old patient's abortion and the physician who performed the procedure, according to media reports.
The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission filed the complaint on Sept. 18.
The majority of the complaint stems from statements he made about IU Health physician Caitlin Bernard, MD, on a Fox News show in 2022, according to the Indianapolis Star. During the appearance, Mr. Rokita made allegations that Dr. Bernard had a history of failing to report abortions.
Mr. Rokita's office went on to file an administrative complaint against Dr. Bernard for violating reporting requirements and for violating patient privacy laws, after reports of the patient's abortion made the news. Dr. Bernard did receive a reprimand and fine from the state medical board for violating patient privacy rules, but the board rejected the other accusations.
The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission alleges Mr. Rokita's remarks, which include calling Dr. Bernard an "abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failure to report," violate professional conduct rules for lawyers, the Indianapolis Star reported. Specifically, the rules state that an Indiana lawyer who is participating in an investigation may not make statements that have a likelihood of "materially prejudicing" the proceeding and cannot "use means that have no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay or burden a third person."
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the complaint also alleges that Mr. Rokita improperly disclosed on national television that his office was investigating Dr. Bernard and alleges he broke another professional rule by making the disclosure before filing an administrative complaint that resulted in the state medical licensing board conducting a hearing and finding in May that Dr. Bernard violated HIPAA.
The commission requested that Mr. Rokita be disciplined "as warranted for professional misconduct" and that the court order him to pay relevant fees, according to The Hill.
In a statement Sept. 18, Mr. Rokita responded to the complaint, arguing that public statements and letters about seeking certain versions of Termination of Pregnancy Reports did not concern anything confidential and that his statements were consistent with his official duties.
He also argues that he has a duty to keep the public informed of the attorney general office's actions and decisions and that it is unclear if the confidentiality statute referenced in the complaint applies to the elected attorney general.
"Hoosiers, in the largest number on record, elected me attorney general because they knew they were getting a passionate fighter who like them is beating back the culture of death, grievance and transanity being pushed by radicals in workplaces, schools, media and government," Mr. Rokita said in his statement.
"This work certainly includes vindicating vulnerable children (our most precious gift) for having their privacy rights unlawfully violated without consent by healthcare providers to further their political agenda and their 'bottom line.' I won't stop in this and my other work."
The complaint comes days after Mr. Rokita filed a lawsuit against IU Health and IU Healthcare Associates, alleging that the Indianapolis-based academic medical center failed to train employees and protect personal health information a year after Dr. Bernard spoke to the media about the abortion.
California has a significant edge when it comes to combating the nursing shortage. The state saw about 30,000 more registered nurses move in than out during the first two years of the pandemic, according to a Sept. 19 Los Angeles Times report.
There are two key factors that attract nurses to the state, nurses and industry leaders told the news outlet: workplace protections and high pay. While the state has a high cost of living, it's also the top-paying state for nurses. BLS data shows the average RN salary in the state is more than $133,000 50 percent higher than the national average.
Meanwhile, California is the only state to mandate specific minimum nurse staffing levels across different hospital units, which nurses credit with managing workloads and preventing burnout.
"I don't know if I could work anywhere else," Lynsey Kwon, RN, a nurse who recently moved to California from Virginia, told the news outlet.
While working at a Virginia hospital, she said the policy was to have one nurse for every three stroke patients, but more often than not, she was responsible for more patients. Now, after two years as a nurse at a 412-bed hospital in California, Ms. Kwon said she's never had more patients than what's mandated in the ratios and makes nearly twice her previous earnings.
Overall, California still has a nursing shortage, but the influx of nurses to the state boosted its nurse population 8.3 percent from 2019, according to a University of California San Francisco report cited by the LA Times.
Nurse-to-patient ratios continue to be a point of contention between nursing groups and hospital groups nationwide, with hospital officials affirming mandating staffing minimums is not a one-size fits all approach and that they do not take into account team-based nursing models. Several other states on the West Coast have recently adopted their own versions of nurse staffing ratios, which tend to be more flexible by requiring hospitals to establish committees to set their own staffing ratios.
National Nurses United's recent scrutiny over the CDC's proposed masking standards in hospitals is the latest example of the two entities not seeing eye to eye on infection control.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic's start in 2020, the largest U.S. union of registered nurses has led several calls urging the CDC to clarify or strengthen infection control guidance related to isolation and masking.
In the latest instance, the NNU has expressed concern over draft CDC guidance that, if finalized after a November vote, would put surgical masks on par with N95s. An advisory committee released a draft of its proposals in June, which concluded there is no difference in protection offered by N95s compared to surgical masks. In response, NNU delivered a petition supported by 45 organizations that called the proposed updates "anti-science" and failed to recognize the aerosol transmission of respiratory pathogens. The CDC told KFF News it welcomes feedback and clarified the draft proposals are not final.
As the BA.5 omicron subvariant began to fuel a rise in cases and hospitalizations in July 2022, NNU called on the CDC to strengthen what it called "lax" public health guidance and communications regarding the virus' spread and when to implement mitigation measures such as masking. Specifically, NNU took issue with the CDC's community levels metric, which recommended masking indoors when community levels which were mostly based on hospitalizations were high.
In December 2021, National Nurses United condemned the agency's recommendation to trim the isolation period for asymptomatic healthcare workers with COVID-19 from 10 days to seven days, and guidance that said exposed workers who were vaccinated no longer needed to quarantine.
In response to a comment request regarding NNU's calls for changes to infection control guidance, the CDC sent a link to a webpage that explains its advisory committee's role in developing isolation precautions guidance. The Healthcare Infection Control Advisory Committee is made up of experts "across the continuum of care" including members with expertise in nursing and clinical operations, the site says.
Requests to bolster infection control protocols from the union come amid broader calls from the nursing industry for hospitals to improve workplace safety and other efforts to recruit and retain nurses.
For Katherine Bianco, MD, director of the maternal congenital heart program at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, the path to healthcare started with an important role model: her mother.
Dr. Bianco grew up in Caracas, Venezuela, with a single mother who practiced as an OB-GYN.
"Not only did I get my passion for women's health and reproduction from my mother, but I learned about the importance of work ethic, education and representation," she told Becker's.
Now, Dr. Bianco, also an OB-GYN, is using her knowledge and leadership role at Stanford Medicine Children's Health to help address disparities in maternal and fetal outcomes among the Palo Alto, Calif.-based system's patient population.
Becker's recently connected with Dr. Bianco to learn more about these efforts and discuss the importance of representation in healthcare in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: Why did you pursue a career in the medical field especially in maternal fetal medicine?
Dr. Katherine Bianco: Growing up with a single mother from Venezuela, I learned about breaking down cultural barriers at a young age. My mother was an OB-GYN, so I spent a great deal of time in the hospital observing her work.
My clinical interest in complicated pregnancies with birth defects, recurrent miscarriages, maternal congenital heart defects and hypertension disorders of pregnancy led to my underlying research interests in genomic abnormalities in the human trophoblast carrying to faulty placentation. When I arrived in the United States to pursue the American dream, I learned that knowledge is power and how I could be a voice for my patients, improving understanding of their reproductive disorder through applied science with my diversity lens. I realized that the doctors who don't understand the soul won't cure the body, thus I do believe bringing personalized care to my patient population makes a big difference in their pregnancy outcomes and their health in general.
Q: Are there any unique factors that influence high-risk pregnancies in diverse populations?
KB: Racial disparities and the long-standing inequities in maternal and infant health is a national issue. When it comes to caring for diverse maternal populations, it's important to understand underlying social and economic inequities, many of which are found in rural and suburban areas of our country. The more we as doctors educate ourselves and understand these biases, the more we can understand potential factors that may impact diverse populations.
I take a collaborative approach to provide the highest-quality care for women experiencing both normal and complicated pregnancies. Along with a multispecialty group of healthcare providers at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, we are constantly researching to understand the unique factors, such as maternal cardiac disorders or high blood pressure, that influence high-risk pregnancies in diverse populations to provide better care. The ample geographic area that we cover through Stanford Children's Perinatal Diagnostic Centers allows us to reach out to vulnerable populations hours away from a main medical center. Also, being able to understand the importance of culture, humility and a patient's preferred language can help alleviate the health disparities in this marginalized population.
Q: What ignited your passion about diversity and the importance of representation in the healthcare field?
KB: Not only did my passion for maternal fetal medicine stem from my mother, but I learned about the importance of work ethic, education and representation.
As a Latina woman in academic medicine, I feel strongly about equal opportunity for education, career development and compensation. Studies have shown that when representation is reflected in healthcare providers, they are often better able to relate to, understand and empathize with their patients, especially those in more vulnerable and underrepresented communities. It is one of my personal drives to form medical teams composed of caregivers from diverse backgrounds to create a more diverse workforce, boost employee morale and create a stronger feeling of community and inclusion.
A recent report showed that even though the Latino population comprised almost 18 percent of the U.S. population during the study period, only 6 percent of U.S. physicians were Latino, and Latinas made up only 2 percent of the U.S. physician population. Non-Hispanic white physicians made up 66 percent.
The study also showed Latinas are severely underrepresented in the California physician population. In California, Latinos represent 39 percent of the state population, but Latinas made up less than 3 percent of California's physician population.
As a founding member and director of Stanford Medicine's OB-GYN diversity, equity and inclusion committee, embracing diversity is not only crucial for the future of maternal fetal medicine and obstetrics, but also the entire healthcare organization.
Q: What advice would you give emerging Latino leaders?
KB: In California, 40 percent of the population is Latino. Within this group, the English proficiency ranges, and in many cases, is limited. In today's healthcare leadership environment, improving representation and equitable treatment of racial and ethnic diversity requires significant social change and empathy, especially among Latino American healthcare leaders. These leaders have the ability to encourage more individuals to pursue a career in the health sciences. The healthcare industry can open doors for more diverse leaders through recruitment, mentorship programs, and increasing employee retention incentives and education.
As physicians, we work to provide the best possible care for our patients. When medical professionals understand the language and cultural background of their patients, they will build a better bond with patients, make patients more comfortable and help reduce their fears, distrust or the stress of coming to seek medical attention.
A new report from the Lown Institute, an independent healthcare think tank, measures how well more than 3,100 U.S. hospitals serve people of color in their surrounding communities.
The report, published Sept. 19, is based on traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage claims and the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey from 2021.
Lown said each hospital's racial inclusivity score "reflects how well the demographics of the hospital's 'community area' (containing people who the hospital could serve) compare to the demographics of the patient population (who the hospital does serve)." The community area is based on the ZIP code tabulation area from which a hospital's Medicare patients come and includes a travel time adjustment. Researchers used census data to determine the proportions of racial/ethnic groups in the 65+ population in both the hospital patient population and community area.
Racially inclusive hospitals served more patients of color than expected based on the demographics of their service area. More information about the methodology is available here.
The following hospitals are the most racially inclusive, per Lown:
1. Boston Medical Center
2. John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital (Chicago)
3. UChicago Medicine
4. Penn Presbyterian Medical Center (Philadelphia)
5. Metro Nashville General Hospital (Nashville, Tenn.)
6. South Coast Global Medical Center (Santa Ana, Calif.)
7. St. Charles Madras (Ore.)
8. Grady Memorial Hospital (Atlanta)
9. Methodist Hospitals (Gary, Ind.)
10. Emory University Hospital Midtown (Atlanta)
To view Lown's full list of most racially inclusive hospitals, click here.
Two spine surgeons with Plano-based Texas Back Institute debuted DeGen Medical's Solar AM implant, the medtech company said Sept. 18.
Peter Derman, MD, and Alexander Satin, MD, performed the first cases with the 3D-printed device, according to a news release. Solar AM is designed for anterior lumbar interbody fusions and comes in a variety of sizes and lordotic options. It uses DeGen Medical's proprietary PuriTI material, a 3D-printed titanium.
"Solar ALIF incorporates a proprietary additive manufacturing process and superior instrumentation that will be the new industry standard," Scott Blumenthal, MD, a spine surgeon with Texas Back Institute, said in the release. "The enhanced imaging characteristics compared to standard titanium implants is a major advantage by generating less image artifact."
Travis Scott performing at the Astroworld Music Festival at NRG Park on November 5, 2021, in Houston (Amy Harris/Invision/AP/PA)
Rap superstar Travis Scott was questioned on Monday in a deposition he is giving in connection with hundreds of lawsuits that were filed against him and others over the deaths and injuries at the 2021 Astroworld festival.
Scott was questioned in Houston during a deposition that could take several days to complete, two people with knowledge about the litigation said.
Lawyers and others connected to the lawsuits are under a gag order, preventing them from saying little beyond what happens during court hearings.
A lawyer for Scott did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Scott said a statement about Mondays deposition was being prepared.
Travis Scott was performing at the Astroworld Music Festival in 2021 where 10 people died (Amy Harris/Invision/AP/PA)
This was the first time Scott was questioned by lawyers for those who have filed lawsuits since a crowd surge at his concert in Houston on November 5 2021 killed 10 festivalgoers.
Those killed, who ranged in age from nine to 27, died from compression asphyxia, which an expert likened to being crushed by a car.
Scotts deposition comes as a judge earlier this year scheduled the first trial from the lawsuits for May 6, 2024. That first trial would take place nearly two and a half years since the deadly concert.
Documents filed in court in April listed more than 1,500 active cases, many of which were filed against Scott and Live Nation, the concert promoter.
Of these, 992 were cases with physical injuries and 313 were cases of emotional distress, pain, suffering and mental anguish. Orthopedic surgeries have been completed in 17 of these cases, with other surgeries recommended in another 21.
Some of the lawsuits have since been settled, including those filed by the families of three of the people killed during the concert.
In June, a grand jury in Houston declined to indict Scott and five other people on any criminal charges related to the deadly concert.
Scotts deposition on Monday took place on the same day that hip-hop artist Drake, who performed several songs with Scott during the Astroworld concert, was performing in Houston. Drake was also sued in connection with the deadly concert.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo will attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, later this week, according to his office on Tuesday.
Han will leave for China on Saturday and attend the opening ceremony the following day, the office said.
Vice Culture Minister Jang Mi-ran, a former Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting, is scheduled to accompany Han, according to a presidential official.
Asked about the possibility of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Han said there could be a meeting that Xi hosts for chief delegates from participating countries.
"But I am not sure whether there could be a separate meeting," he said.
Han emphasized the Seoul government's efforts to maintain an amicable relationship with China, citing ongoing initiatives to arrange a trilateral summit with Japan and China.
"It would be appropriate to consider this as a signal that the prime minister is taking a trip to enhance Korea-China relations," Han said.
Korea has usually sent the culture minister to such events. (Yonhap)
A performance of Brands tour due to go ahead on Tuesday at the Theatre Royal Windsor in Berkshire was postponed (Jonathan Brady/PA)
The remaining shows on Russell Brands Bipolarisation tour have been postponed as the Metropolitan Police said it has received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
The 48-year-old has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films.
Brand has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
The Met Police said in a statement on Monday they had received an allegation of sexual assault in 2003.
The force said: On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
A performance of Brands tour scheduled for Tuesday at the Theatre Royal Windsor in Berkshire was postponed, with the shows promoters saying in a statement shared by the theatre: We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we dont like doing it but we know youll understand.
Performances had been scheduled for two more venues this month The Pavilions in Plymouth on Friday and The Civic At The Halls in Wolverhampton next Thursday.
Brand usually posts a new show on the video platform Rumble on weekdays at 5pm, but there was no new episode on Monday with his most recent appearance a short clip on Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
A joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4s Dispatches includes allegations Brand assaulted one of the women when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl and another woman has claimed he raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles.
The Times reports several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about the Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
She said: He started talking about Ian Huntley, the paedophile and child killer, and mentioned it quite a few times, like in a joking way, but also made up a whole song about it.
I just couldnt understand why you would be able to have sex and talk about a child killer at the same time.
Russell Brand leaves the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set (James Manning/PA)
Another woman, known as Esme, told the Times Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herrings Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been promiscuous but that all of his relationships have been consensual.
The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
Downing Street urged the broadcasters to set out the results of their investigations into Brand transparently.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks official spokesman called the allegations very serious and concerning.
Channel 4 announced it has removed content featuring Brand from its streaming service while it looks into the claims and will remind production companies of its code of conduct.
It comes after Brand was accused of pursuing audience members for sex while presenting Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum and Big Brothers Big Mouth on Channel 4.
Screengrab taken from footage issued on the YouTube page of Russell Brand during his denial of the accusations made against him (Russell Brand/PA)
Banijay UK, which bought Endemol in 2020, said it has launched an urgent internal investigation and encouraged anybody who feels that they were affected by Brands behaviour to come forward.
The BBC is facing questions after one of the women, who was 16 when she claims Brand began a relationship with her, alleged he used the corporations car service to pick her up from school to take her to his home.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4s Womans Hour on Monday, the woman, known as Alice, said Brands denial was laughable and insulting.
In 2020, the same woman contacted Brands literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of talent agency Tavistock Wood.
A spokesman for the agency said Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegations at the time but they now believe they were horribly misled and have terminated all professional ties with the comedian.
Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Caroline Dinenage said the group will be looking for the same reassurance from the BBC which has been provided by Channel 4.
In a statement to the PA news agency Brands publisher, Bluebird, said that all future publishing with the comedian had been paused.
As Dispatches aired on Saturday Brand performed a sold out comedy gig at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told PA they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirmed there have been no arrests following two allegations concerning claims that are said to have happened in the US.
Samuel L Jackson has brought his Hollywood dramatics to a new advertising campaign for British baking firm Warburtons.
In the two-minute clip, which will premiere on ITV on Friday evening, the Pulp Fiction and Marvel star, 74, can be seen impersonating the chairman of the baking company, Jonathan Warburton.
The Hollywood heavyweight follows in the footsteps of George Clooney, Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, who have all previously starred in adverts for the breadmaker.
Jackson said it was a pleasure to meet the man at the helm of Britains biggest family bakery.
And what an honour to follow in the footsteps of Bolton alumni George Clooney and Robert De Niro, he said.
We had a lot of fun on set so I hope people enjoy the finished product the ad and toastie loaf.
Mr Warburton said of the advert: Samuel L Jackson was a pleasure to work with and is welcome back at our bakeries any day.
Not many people can be that commanding and so charming at the same time, and I love his hilarious take on why our toastie loaf is the real deal.
Quality will always be at the core of our fifth-generation family run business, and our new ad highlights this commitment to freshness and quality in all that we bake.
Inviting the big-screen hero of Samuel L Jackson into the business was a uniquely memorable experience, and we hope to bring some light-hearted humour to viewers at home while reminding the nation that our toastie truly offers our customers the best of the best.
The advert opens in Warburtons HQ in Bolton where Jackson is seen taking over the office of chairman Mr Warburton.
Dressed in a blue shirt and orange tie, Jackson says: Hi, Im Jonathan Warburton, chairman of the UKs largest family bakery.
Hollywood actor Samuel L Jackson stars in the new Warburtons advert (Ian West/PA)
Looking to camera, Jackson then shares a social post in which a person called Steve has questioned the similarity of Warburtons much-loved toastie loaf with other shelf contenders.
This prompts anger from Jackson, who says: Hell hath no fury like a baker scorned, Steve.
A montage then follows which shows the effort that goes into making the perfect toastie loaf before Jackson appears on the doorstep of Steves parents house at breakfast time, where he swaps out their toast for the Warburtons toastie loaf.
Also in the advert, Jackson is seen testing for softness, butter-ability and bounce-back-ability.
The clip ends with the Hollywood star knocking down the door of the chairmans office where he finds the real Mr Warburton, who says: I couldnt have said it better myself.
The bread-baking business is run by the fifth-generation of Warburtons, having been set up in 1876 as a grocery shop in Bolton by Thomas and Ellen Warburton.
The new advert will go live on social media on Thursday and will premiere on ITV 1 on Friday evening.
Mobile App of the Year
In the ever-evolving landscape of global tech powerhouses, one local company has been blazing a trail of innovation, growth and success.
Headquartered in Belfast, Options has risen to become an illustrious tech leader with ambitious plans to generate 200 new jobs over the next three years. As a world leader in delivering financial sector infrastructure, Options boasts all 30 of the top global banks as its esteemed clients.
Beyond this, the company beckons with promising career trajectories, substantial investments in cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence, a steadfast commitment to nurturing personal and professional growth, and a tantalizing array of travel prospects for its growing team.
As if thats not enough, Options is all set to launch its award-winning graduate and placement programme on October 18 at The National in Belfast.
Options journey to becoming a market leader is nothing short of extraordinary. Founded in 1993 and steered by the visionary Wall Street tech entrepreneur Danny Moore, the company has consistently pushed boundaries to provide unparalleled solutions to its clients alongside powerful career paths for its people.
As president and CEO, Danny brings his no-nonsense approach and passion for financial technology, software development, and nurturing talent to the forefront. The recent announcement of 200 new job opportunities, in addition to the 100 created in 2022/23, a testament to the companys commitment to growth and faith in Belfasts talent pool. Options is more than just a workplace; its a launch pad for success. The companys dedication to employee development is evident in its emphasis on up-skilling. With significant investment in certification programmes in cloud solutions, software development, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, alongside a supportive work environment and a culture that promotes continuous innovation, learning and excellence, employees can build meaningful, long-lasting careers.
Options understands the value of global exposure in todays interconnected world. For this reason, the company offers graduates and new starts the chance travel to London, New York, Paris, Chicago, Toronto, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Dubai, Austin or Minneapolis as part of the training programme. Options commitment to fostering emerging talent is evident in its award-winning Graduate and Placement Programme. The programme offers a unique opportunity for aspiring professionals to kickstart their careers and travel the world in a dynamic and supportive environment.
The programme provides participants with hands-on experience, mentorship from industry experts, and exposure to cutting-edge technology and practices, solidifying Options reputation as a forerunner in fostering the tech leaders of tomorrow.
Options is proud to collaborate with prestigious institutions such as Queens University Belfast, Ulster University, and Belfast Metropolitan College in its commitment to developing the workforce of tomorrow through placement students and apprenticeships.
Danny Moore, president and CEO of Options, said: Our decision to expand our workforce in Belfast reflects the exceptional talent weve found in this vibrant city. We are proud to continue investing in the local community and provide opportunities for ambitious young professionals, regardless of their course of study.
The last two years has seen Options invest in our largest-ever intake of new graduates and placement students, cementing our reputation as one the most exciting tech employers in the sector. Our programme offers graduates the chance to forge a career at the intersection of financial technology and capital markets, and I would encourage all graduates, to apply.
To enter the Belfast Telegraph IT Awards, go to www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/itawards/enter Options graduate and placement programme 2023/24: https://www.options-it.com/careers/graduate-and-placement-programme/ For more on Options, please visit www.options-it.com, follow us on Twitter at @Options_IT, and visit our LinkedIn page.
Craniosacral therapist Jane Shaw on her experience with the medical condition
Jane has been living with alopecia areata for years and says that, along with the acute anxiety she experienced as she came to terms with losing her lovely, thick dark hair, it also gave her an insight into how others dont accept people as they are.
The director of Elmfield Estate a wellness centre and retreat facility based in her childhood family home in Craigavon was in her late 40s when she first noticed a bald patch on her head.
She says it was particularly upsetting at the beginning, when people were trying to fix me, to cover me up, hide me or make me look as they think I should look.
Alopecia is not life-threatening, but it can have a profound psychological impact, as sufferers have to come to terms with their own reactions as well as those of everyone else.
Janes alopecia journey began in 2013 when she first noticed the bald patch. She explains that her hair came and went for three years. Sometimes it grew back really well and then it all fell out in 2016.
Jane Shaw before losing her hair
Though she was in her late 40s, she acknowledges that it would be much harder to experience this [if] I was younger.
She remembers it as an extremely vulnerable time and her first thoughts were How can I go out into the world with no hair?
It forever changed Janes relationship with her looks.
It was horrible. I can no longer hide behind my long, beautiful hair. I have had to come out and say, This is who I am on the inside. I have nowhere to hide.
Jane has learned to live with the condition in her own way, discovering that she actually hates having things on my head.
So, instead of wigs, which may well make other people feel comfortable, she prefers to embrace her natural look, only choosing to wear a woolly hat on a cold day or a turban on a special occasion, although she has also found that having her eyebrows micro-bladed has been a game changer in helping to restore confidence and frame her face.
Surprisingly, it also gave her a new perspective. She says she met many new people whilst she was travelling: They would come and talk to me about my hair and assumed I had cancer. It actually made me realise I was lucky.
For Jane, one of the most unexpected aspects of living with alopecia areata was the reaction from friends and colleagues as they struggled to come to terms with her new appearance, concerned that it gave the wrong impression in promotional flyers and websites, or that she needed to be covered up with wigs and hats in an attempt to fix it or maybe expel it from their own thoughts.
Of course, she acknowledges that they meant well and understands that there is a fine line between pacifying and patronising, but Jane chose to push against that, determined not to be ashamed or defined by it.
Jane initially had a diagnosis from her GP and was referred to a dermatologist, but she was always aware that there was no cure for alopecia and wasnt expecting anything remarkable from the traditional medical route.
She acknowledges that the NHS has other priorities and so she decided to utilise her professional background in health to focus on investigating the condition herself, researching how the body regulates its own nervous system, examining alternative health insights and using her resources to explore the roots of the condition and gain a better understanding of it.
Read more Co Tyrone mum campaigns to promote way to avoid hair loss during breast cancer treatment
What is alopecia?
Alopecia is a long-term chronic inflammatory condition which affects hair follicles and leads to hair loss. Alopecia UK explains that there are many types of alopecia, ranging from thinning hair to complete hair loss, and it can affect men, women and children.
It usually causes small, coin-sized, round patches of baldness on the scalp, although hair elsewhere, such as the beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, body and limbs, can be affected. It is thought to be an autoimmune condition (where the bodys immune system mistakes a part of the body as foreign).
Immune (defence) cells attack the growing hair roots, causing them to become inflamed and hair to fall out.
According to Alopecia UK, the exact cause of hair loss may not be fully understood, but its usually related to one or more of the following factors: family history (heredity), hormonal changes, medical conditions or medications.
About one in five people with alopecia areata have a family history of the condition.
In terms of demographics, there is no gender split, but, in most cases, alopecia areata will start before the age of 40.
Jane Shaw
Raising awareness
September is Alopecia Awareness Month and Alopecia UK encourages the alopecia community to educate others and raise awareness about the impact alopecia has on the lives of those living with it.
Hair loss is not just a cosmetic issue; living without hair is a huge shock. It is a mentally and emotionally challenging disease to cope with as, although it can be treated, there is no actual cure, and it can drastically affect the quality of a sufferers life as they struggle with anxiety, diminished self-confidence or negative self-identity.
In fact, a study published in 2022 reported that adults with alopecia areata were 30-38% more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
It continued: Depression doesnt cause the disease, but the disease can cause depression. People with alopecia areata have reported that they may feel alone, withdrawn, isolated.
Learning to live with it
Alopecia UK provides detailed information on the treatment plans that are available, such as steroid creams, injections and tablets, as well as practical everyday solutions to help people adjust to their condition, including remembering to wear sun cream or protecting their scalps from low doors or cupboards. Alopecia UK also suggests that support groups and meeting other people can make the process easier.
Alopecia Northern Ireland runs a Facebook group to support adults and children on their alopecia journey. It can be contacted via northernireland@alopecia.org.uk
A three-year Probation Order was today imposed upon a man who recorded livestreams where he masturbated in front of children.
Jacek Pacyno appeared at Belfast Crown Court where he was sentenced for over 30 offences committed over a period from October 2014 to January 2019.
The charges he admitted include multiple offences of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child, making indecent images of children and possessing prohibited images of children.
During today's sentencing, it emerged that police attended Pacyno's home at Yukon Street in Belfast on January 16, 2019.
A total of 13 devices were seized and when they were examined by the PSNI's Cyber Crime Unit, indecent images of children were located along with nine livestream recordings of Pacyno pleasuring himself while female children on the livestream watched.
Read more Burglar caught with TV taken from Belfast student accommodation block is jailed
Crown prosecutor David Russell revealed there were "a total of 17 children" who witnessed this behaviour and who were "watching in real time."
On one occasion, one of the children pulled up her top at the request of Pacyno - which resulted in a charge of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
When the Polish national was interviewed in April 2022 about what was found on his devices, he gave a 'no comment' response to police - but he later pleaded guilty to all 37 charges levelled at him.
Defence barrister Blaine Nugent spoke of a delay in the case which he said had caused his client "stress, anxiety and the fear of having this matter hanging over his head."
Mr Nugent also pointed out his 59-year old client had no previous convictions either here or in Poland, and that the offences were "non-contact and committed remotely."
Read more Jury acquits man accused of sexually abusing partners two daughters
Judge Donna McColgan KC spoke of "aggravating features" in the case, one of which she said was the "recording and retention" of the material.
She also noted there were multiple child victims - none of whom have been identified.
Judge McColgan made Pacyno the subject of a three-year Probation Order and imposed a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order.
Before leaving the dock, Pacyno was also told he will be on the Sex Offenders Register for the next five years.
Thomas Coleman, 31, admitted carrying out the raid at Botanic Studios on New Years Eve last year. (stock image)
A burglar discovered on the street with television sets taken from a student accommodation block in Belfast has been jailed for nine months.
Thomas Coleman, 31, admitted carrying out the raid at Botanic Studios on New Years Eve last year.
Belfast Magistrates Court heard police were alerted to a man on the Dublin Road, close to the halls of residence, with two television sets beside him.
Prosecutors said he was roused at about 8am and initially claimed to have paid for the TVs.
But based on labels located on the sets and CCTV footage, Coleman was arrested at the scene.
Further inquiries established that the televisions had been taken from Botanic Studios, which offers accommodation to students attending nearby university campuses.
Read more Couple convicted of savage Pat Ward killing appear in court ahead of sentencing
Pool cues and glass doors in the building were smashed during the break-in.
Coleman, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to burglary and possessing a quantity of Class C drugs, namely pregabalin.
His barrister argued that he should be given maximum credit for making admissions at an early stage.
Imposing nine months custody, District Judge Steven Keown told Coleman he was lucky the case had not gone to the Crown Court.
Mr Keown also warned him: If you dont want to be looking at time in jail being measured in years rather than months, now is the time to try and make changes to your life.
A cross-border investigation team is set to meet in The Hague over the killing of a woman in Limerick, a Belfast court heard today.
Agencies from Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic are involved in the international effort to prosecute the man accused of stabbing Geila Ibram to death during a sexual exchange earlier this year.
Habib Shamel, 32, remains in custody at HMP Maghaberry charged with carrying out the murder on April 4 this year.
The 27-year-old victims mutilated body was discovered at an apartment block in the Dock Road area of Limerick.
Ms Ibram, who was originally from Romania, died from multiple stab wounds inflicted to the neck, face and abdomen in what police described as a vicious and frenzied attack.
Shamel, an Afghani national with an address at Cecil Street in Limerick, was later arrested in the Malone area of south Belfast.
He is charged with Ms Ibrams murder under the Criminal Jurisdiction Act 1975, which allows the PSNI to prosecute in Northern Ireland if a suspect travelled from another jurisdiction.
A previous court heard claims that he had arranged a sexual exchange with the victim on the day she died.
Read more PSNI charge 26-year-old man with murder of Geila Ibram from Romania
CCTV footage allegedly showed him arriving at her property and then leaving again less than two minutes later.
Detectives claim he injured his hand during the suspected encounter and attended hospital in Limerick before travelling north by bus.
With the PSNI providing assistance in the murder investigation, a formal International Letter of Request (ILOR) for information has been sent to the Republic of Ireland.
Shamel appeared remotely at Belfast Magistrates Court today where a Crown lawyer disclosed new details of ongoing contact with the Department of Justice in Dublin.
A joint investigation team has been formed to try to speed it up, which comprises a number of different agencies from both jurisdictions, she said.
District Judge Steven Keown was also told the process is due to be taken to the Dutch city where the International Criminal Court is seated.
There was a meeting scheduled in The Hague but that hasnt occurred yet, the prosecutor added.
Despite acknowledging the complexities of the case, defence barrister Chris Sherrard questioned the level of progress being made.
What it boils down to is a lot of sound and fury not amounting to much, he claimed.
Shamel did not apply for bail at this stage and was remanded in continuing custody.
Adjourning the case to next month, Judge Keown indicated: I want a specific update about the meeting in The Hague.
However, Christina Connor (40) denied deliberately damaging an airport police van by urinating in it.
Connor appeared in the dock of Antrim Magistrates Court, siting in Ballymena, to plead guilty to disorderly behaviour at the Aldergrove airport on August 14 this year.
However, Connor (40), from Ballymacoss Hill in Lisburn, denied a second charge causing criminal damage to a cell van belonging to Belfast International Airport Constabulary, intending to damage such property or being reckless as to whether such property would be damaged alleged to have been committed on the same date.
It is understood that charge relates to Connor urinating in the cell van.
Her defence counsel said that, while Connor had brought a bundle of documents to court regarding medical evidence, none addressed the issues in the case, as the officer said it was deliberate urination.
Her defence is that its a medical issue, he told the court, applying for the case to be adjourned to allow the Public Prosecution Service to examine any medical reports.
District Judge Nigel Broderick put the case back to October 3 to fix a date for the contest.
The blue-green algae on Lough Neagh is just a visible sign of a much bigger problem that is killing water courses, a scientist has warned.
Ulster University academic Joerg Arnscheidt said the crisis has been building since the 1950s.
This is the legacy of decades of neglect and is going to take decades to fix, the senior environmental scientist told the Belfast Telegraph.
There is no quick solution, unfortunately.
You cant take out the lake bed and extract the nutrients which are feeding the bacteria.
It comes after dozens of protesters carried a coffin during a weekend wake at the lough due to fears that it is slowly dying.
Campaigners have been highlighting concerns about the blue-green algae, which is lethal to wildlife and birds.
Mr Arnscheidt said the cyanobacteria did not suddenly appear overnight, and attributed the main cause to the sustained increase of nutrients mainly as a result of agriculture.
The warmer temperatures and wind direction are factors that have made the blooms more visible, but the bacteria is always there, he explained.
Numbers have been going up for decades because of the nutrients in the lake.
That has accumulated so much that it can sustain bacteria for quite some time to come, at least a couple of decades.
Lough Neagh supplies 40% of our drinking water and is home to the biggest commercial wild eel fishery in Europe.
NI Water maintains there is no risk as a result of the algal bloom, despite the potential for tap water to smell and taste unusual.
Mr Arnscheidt agreed that there is no risk to the water supply or commercial food supply because, despite its appearance, the lough is still relatively healthy.
It benefits from the wind bringing in oxygen. Im more worried about smaller rivers and lakes which are dying, but no one notices because they are less accessible, he said.
Lough Neagh is just the biggest sign that something is very wrong with our waterways.
Mussels and crayfish are dying in smaller lakes and will continue to die.
There is also less insect life, which means the entire ecosystem will be impacted because fish have less to eat. That leads to declining stocks.
Former Agriculture and Environment Minister Edwin Poots previously claimed the cause of the toxic algae was largely due to an invasive species of zebra mussels and expressed doubts about whether there was a scientific solution.
However, Mr Arnscheidt believes that significant progress has been made to mitigate the transfer of nutrients and determine critical source areas where soil connects with waterways.
What we need is a country-wide approach where the relevant agencies and bodies work directly with farmers, he added.
Remedies include things like having effective drainage schemes and buffer strips installed along riversides and edging agriculture away from wetlands.
The rise in living costs means farmers have been more resourceful with slurry, but limited storage capacity can be detrimental.
But the damage has been done, and while algal blooms will disappear over the winter, the bacteria will remain.
Testing of Lough Neagh fish for poison begins 10 days after full extent of pollution crisis revealed
Government laboratory in England is to examine samples after outcry, but so untried is method being used it could take a long time to validate the results
Swathes of Lough Neagh are a swamp of toxic cyanobacteria sludge. Photo: Martin Hardy
Sam McBride Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 21:10
Ten days after the Belfast Telegraph revealed the scale of devastating pollution afflicting Lough Neagh, the authorities are finally starting to take fish samples to test for the toxins which are killing swans, dogs and foxes.
Former President Moon Jae-in paid a visit to opposition leader Lee Jae-myung at a hospital on Tuesday and urged him to end a hunger strike he has been on for nearly three weeks in protest against government policies.
Lee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) began his fast on Aug. 31 in protest of what he has called the "incompetent and violent" government of President Yoon Suk Yeol. He was taken to a hospital on Monday due to deteriorating health.
"Now is the necessary moment to regain strength and fight in a different approach," Moon said while holding Lee's hand at the hospital bed.
It marks the first time that Moon had an official schedule in Seoul since leaving office last May. He is scheduled to participate in a ceremony commemorating the inter-Korean summit agreement signed on Sept. 19, 2018.
Despite an escalating political standoff, Yoon signed off on a motion requesting parliamentary consent to Lee's arrest over bribery charges, and his alleged involvement in a company's illegal cash remittance to North Korea.
The motion is scheduled to be put to a vote during a plenary session on Thursday.
The Assembly's consent is necessary to arrest Lee, because by law, legislators are immune from arrest while the parliament is in session, a measure designed to shield lawmakers from political persecution.
In order for the motion to pass, it requires a majority of the Assembly members to vote and a majority of those voting to cast their ballots in favor.
The motion can be rejected if DPK lawmakers vote against it, as the party holds a majority in the parliament. (Yonhap)
A lack of local government is preventing funding measures put in place elsewhere in the UK to deal with the winter rush.
The UK Government last week announced 200 million in funding for the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales
The winter vaccination programme for Covid-19 and flu was rolled out ahead of schedule on Monday
Northern Ireland healthcare staff are fearful the system does not have the capacity to sustain a winter of pressure or cope with an unexpected surge in infections.
Dr Alan Stout, Chair of the BMAs NI General Practitioners Committee (NIGPC), also said the lack of local government is preventing specific measures being implemented to cope with winter surges.
It comes as this years flu and Covid-19 vaccination programme gets under way ahead of its original schedule after a new Covid-19 variant known as BA.2.86 was discovered last month.
Read more Jody Corcoran: Covid is back and so too is the extreme fatigue
Dr Stout said the knock-on effects from the variants spread will hit healthcare workers hardest.
Its still being monitored and were not entirely clear of the impact its going to have but its important that we have broken that cycle between the really severe illness and death with the Covid infections, he said.
One of the big areas where it is going to have an impact and one of the only groups still advised to be testing regularly is healthcare workers.
We are seeing staff numbers struggling with people testing positive, taking precautions and having to take time off. Initially, the biggest impact will be on staff numbers in an already struggling system to begin with.
When we look at the wider population, the intent of bringing the vaccine programme forward was to make sure all of those that we know are most vulnerable to infection are as protected as possible.
Dr Alan Stout, Chair of the BMA's NI General Practitioner Committee
With what were traditionally winter pressures now being experienced all year round, Dr Stout said any unexpected outbreak like that seen with Strep A last year would heap further stress on a system that is already over capacity.
The pressures right throughout the system are huge. There is no space for any more. If we see an upturn in infections which we do see over the winter its going to put immense pressure on the whole system, he said.
There is always a risk. It [Strep A] did catch us by surprise and we didnt really anticipate it coming as a problem.
It was a good example of how one thing can very rapidly overwhelm the service, whether it is the Childrens Hospital, adult ED or even general practice.
We are always going to be vulnerable to an outbreak of an infection, but of which one it is, we can never be entirely sure. Some of the best preparation we could do is actually make sure we have capacity in the system.
Thats our greatest fear at the moment, that we are short-staffed in just about every part of the system and in every component of staff, be that GPs, consultants or nurses. Health is by definition relatively unpredictable, but if we dont have capacity, we will always struggle.
The UK Government last week announced 200 million in funding for the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales
Last week, the UK Government announced a 200 million winter resilience funding package to assist the NHS throughout the winter months.
Dr Stout said a lack of local government is hampering local healthcare efforts and lowering staff morale. The staff who are there are put under more pressure, but theyre also flat and their motivation is suffering.
Read more PHA to bring forward flu and Covid vaccinations after new variant identified
Meanwhile, the PHAs Director of Public Health Dr Joanne McClean said the vaccination programme would protect the public from the double threat of Covid-19 and flu this winter.
Vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases as they teach our immune system how to recognise and fight viruses. Being vaccinated against both viruses will not only help to protect you and those around you from flu and Covid-19, but will help protect everyone from a potentially devastating double threat this winter.
The Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life have been shortlisted for five awards at the Media Freedom Awards 2023.
The prestigious accolades, which are organised by the Society of Editors, set the benchmark for a celebration of UK public interest journalism and shine a light on the crucial role that UK journalists play in promoting media freedom, championing the publics right to know and holding power to account.
Representing the Belfast Telegraph for the 2023 awards, Kirsten Elder has been nominated for Photo Journalist of the Year, Sam McBrides extensive work into the Mobuoy dumping scandal has been shortlisted for Regional Investigation of the Year, while Sharon ONeill, news editor with Sunday Life, has been shortlisted for Regional Journalist of the Year. Both the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life have also been shortlisted for the Regional News Media Organisation of the Year award.
To earn five nominations across the entire newsroom is well-deserved recognition for the consistent quality of our unique journalism, said Eoin Brannigan, editor-in-chief of the Belfast Telegraph and Sunday Life. Well done to Kirsten, Sam and Sharon who, like the Sunday Life investigations team last year, would all be worthy winners in their categories. To pick up these nominations in the face of such stiff competition is very rewarding.
Last year, the Sunday Life was recognised for its investigative journalism at the inaugural Media Freedom Awards, winning Investigation Of The Year (Regional) for its revelations about the South East Antrim (SEA) UDA, one of Northern Irelands biggest crime gangs.
The investigation included photographs showing the paramilitary group, which was blamed for the murder of Glenn Quinn in Carrickfergus in 2020, holding a Remembrance Sunday show of strength at Carnmoney Cemetery last year.
The terror gang, which controls turf stretching from north Belfast to Larne and pockets of Newtownards, has been linked to a spate of threats against journalists and politicians in Northern Ireland.
Award winners for the 2023 event will be announced at a ceremony on November 8, at the iconic Banking Hall in London, with over 200 journalists from throughout the UK attending last years convention.
Meanwhile, the Belfast Telegraphs podcast has been shortlisted in three categories of the upcoming Irish Podcast Awards.
The BelTel, which has been produced since May 2022, is in the running in the true crime, history and news and current affairs categories.
Police are appealing for information and witnesses after two fireworks incidents in west Belfast on Monday
Around 9.15pm, a fire was reported at retail premises in the Stewartstown Road area.
PSNI officers attended, along with colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service, who extinguished the blaze.
It was reported that a teenage boy threw a lit firework into the premises which ignited under the till, causing damage to stock and electrical equipment.
None of the staff who were present reported any serious injuries, however they have been left shaken.
A short time later, a report was received that a lit firework was thrown in through the door of a Glider bus in the Stewartstown Road area. Enquiries remain ongoing.
Read more Two officers injured in Enniskillen after firework thrown at police
Reminding people about the dangers of fireworks, Sergeant Hakin said: This type of activity needs to stop and people need to understand that fireworks are made from explosive material and, if misused, can cause serious and life-changing injuries.
The law is also very clear regarding the use of fireworks it is illegal to possess, sell, handle or use them if you do not hold a valid licence to do so. If you are found breaking the law, you could be fined up to 5,000.
I would appeal to those involved in this activity to consider for a moment the community they are affecting by their behaviour, and refrain immediately from doing so.
People have a right to live in peace and to feel safe where they live. Those who choose to engage in anti-social and disorderly behaviour are only hurting their own communities, neighbours and friends.
We ask parents and guardians to also speak to their young people and to know where they are to prevent them from engaging in behaviour which could result in injury or a criminal record.
Police have asked anyone with information to contact them via 101.
PMs American XL Bully ban will not apply in Northern Ireland
There are concerns that Northern Ireland could become a dumping ground for American XL Bullies if a ban is implemented in other parts of the UK.
The Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is braced for an influx of the dogs which have been branded dangerous by the Prime Minister.
Siobhan McHaffie, the charitys director of operations and development, said problems will arise even if Rishi Sunak doesnt completely outlaw the breed in England, Scotland and Wales.
We would expect that Northern Ireland will become a dumping ground, but even if it doesnt there will be ramifications, she warned.
An XL Bully is a status dog and is hard to look after.
People have been relinquishing them before the ban was even announced.
We have been inundated with requests from worried owners.
There are currently dozens of the dogs available for sale across NI ranging from 300 to 3,000 in price.
Eight of the dogs listed on one website are aged between eight weeks and 22 months old and located in Newry, Ballymena, Cookstown, Coleraine, Lurgan and Newtownabbey.
Many of the ads state that the friendly pets get along with children.
The USPCA boss expects that many of the dogs will end up in its care due to the negative perception of them after a man was mauled to death in Staffordshire last week.
It happened days after an 11-year-old girl and two men were attacked in Birmingham.
I suspect many of the dogs will end up with us. There is already a long waiting list for people wanting to give up their pets, Ms McHaffie said.
That creates a risk of people taking matters into their own hands which will see dogs abandoned and goodness knows what else.
We really struggle to rehome animals, but a breed that people are wary of will be more difficult.
As we never put a healthy dog down they will end up in pens for a long time.
Read more Dozens of dangerous XL Bullies advertised for sale on NI websites
Ms McHaffie said the XL Bully is not necessarily dangerous and accused the Prime Minister of taking the wrong approach.
Some breeders breed them to be aggressive and there is no way to know when buying one, she explained.
A lot it comes down to responsible ownership and consulting with qualified animal behaviourists if there are problems.
We would never recommend buying a dog online because you dont know anything about its history.
Mr Sunak said he shared the nations horror at recent attacks that he warned cannot be allowed to continue.
However, plans to ban the breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act which includes a ban on sales will not apply to Northern Ireland.
Its a bad idea and it hasnt worked in the past, Ms McHaffie said.
It is a knee-jerk response.
We absolutely agree that something needs to be done to protect the public from any dog that poses a danger.
That should focus on forcing owners to use muzzles and acting responsibly.
Read more No cull expected under American XL bully dogs ban, says chief vet
The Dog Control Coalition which includes the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association has previously said the biggest priority is to protect the public as it warned a ban will be ineffective.
And in a statement, the Dogs Trust said: It is currently unclear if the ban on American XL Bully types will extend to the whole of the UK to include Northern Ireland. The Government has confirmed it will engage with the relevant devolved administrations about adopting a UK-wide approach.
For now, we ask owners to wait to hear details of what dogs will be covered by the ban, and what steps they need to take.
It may be the case that many American XL bully type dogs will be able to remain at home with their families, subject to certain conditions, including being kept on a lead and muzzled when out in public, and restrictions on breeding and rehoming.
Policing Board leaders appeared before the NI Affairs Committee on Tuesday afternoon.
Policing Board Chair Deirdre Toner was among those who appeared before the NI Affairs Committee on Tuesday
The current leadership of the PSNI have not yet decided whether to appeal a High Court ruling that officers were unlawfully disciplined in the wake of arrests made at a 2021 memorial service.
The incident occurred on the Ormeau Road in Belfast in February 2021 during a commemoration marking the anniversary of the February 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers attack, in which five people were murdered.
Two officers faced action in 2021 after the arrest of Mr Sykes, a survivor of the loyalist gun attack.
Policing Board chair Deirdre Toner, chief executive Sinead Simpson and vice-chair Edgar Jardine have appeared before the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee chaired by Simon Hoare MP at Stormont to face scrutiny over how it dealt with the data breach last month.
The PSNI has been rocked by a series of recent controversies, including a significant data breach and a critical High Court ruling around the disciplining of two junior officers, which led to the then chief constable Simon Byrne announcing his resignation.
Questioning Ms Toner on the political influence on operational policing referenced in Judge Scoffields ruling, DUP MP Carla Lockhart said: Do you realise the magnitude of that within the community I would predominantly represent?
I appreciate that, replied Ms Toner, before indicating an ongoing appeal meant she had to be mindful of legal issues.
Pressing Ms Toner, Simon Hoare MP, who was chairing the Committee, asked if the right of appeal was still on the table with the deadline for doing so fast approaching.
Ms Toner confirmed that the PSNIs senior team would decide on whether to appeal the ruling.
The Board also told MPs that legal constraints were preventing the appointment of a temporary PSNI Chief Constable.
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton has assumed the responsibilities of chief constable, although the Police Federation for Northern Ireland has passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership.
Ms Toner said the Board had considered legal advice on options available following Mr Byrnes resignation and found current legislation did not provide for a scenario in which Northern Ireland had no Assembly, or a Justice Minister to ratify a new chief constable.
"It is fair to say that the matters we have been grappling with have been far from straightforward, she said.
"The board considered legal advice on a range of options including the appointment of an interim chief constable, either from within or outside the service.
The Committee was chaired by Simon Hoare MP
"In spite of significant commentary in this regard, this option was simply not one that was open to us. The office of chief constable is a significant one, with significant powers and responsibilities.
"The legal framework for appointing a person into that office is clear and we simply did not have the power to do it. Had we chosen to do so we would have left any decisions taken by that person open to significant challenge."
The Committee was told Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton was giving authority where necessary but was not in office full-time.
Mr Hamilton has been on sick leave after undergoing an unplanned medical procedure, an arrangement Alliance MP Stephen Farry described as dipping in and out from his sickbed.
After being asked if the current arrangements were robust enough to handle a new crisis, Mr Jardine told MPs that the relevant assistant chief constables were leading on operational matters.
Read more Seized explosives enough to make four New IRA car bombs
Following a suggestion from Ms Lockhart that the Policing Boards credibility was in tatters, Mr Jardine says the Board would have been more damaged if they had moved outside legislative constraints to make a temporary appointment.
Responding to an observation from Mr Hoare that there appeared to be no sense of urgency, Ms Toner said the board was working at pace to expedite the recruitment of a permanent chief constable.
"The board also continues to explore other options, including a temporary appointment to coincide with the Secretary of State (Chris Heaton-Harris) having the power to ratify such an appointment and such options will continue to be discussed in the coming weeks, she said.
"We are making decisions against a difficult political backdrop in the absence of ministers to ensure the police service continues to function in a robust and legal manner."
Simon Hoare also raised concerns around the speed at which the PSNI had concluded the breach was down to human or system error, saying it was a peculiar set of circumstances.
Mr Jardine said the Board had seen no evidence to suggest a conspiracy theory, with Ms Simpson adding that experts would help the Board analyse any subsequent report.
Suspending the session due to time constraints, Mr Hoare said Westminster were holding the Committee to account in the absence of the Stormont Assembly.
"We would love not to be doing this job, but we are where we are, he added.
The SDLP has tabled a Stormont recall petition to address the ongoing ecological crisis on Lough Neagh.
The party said their MLAs submitted a petition on Tuesday, proposing the nomination of ministers to urgently establish an independent Environmental Protection Agency with robust enforcement powers to address pollution, the impact of invasive species and the durability of waste water infrastructure.
The party is also calling for a short term mitigation plan to address the immediate effects of ecological breakdown on the Lough alongside a long term-recovery strategy.
Lough Neagh: Blue-green algae is 'visible sign of a much bigger problem'
A motion has been sent to the Assembly Business Office, which reads: We, the undersigned, give notice to the Speaker, under Standing Order 11, that the Assembly should meet to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speakers, to nominate a First Minister and deputy First Minister, and to debate the following motion: That this Assembly declares an ecological crisis in Lough Neagh...
There were five Stormont recalls last year, with the Northern Ireland Assembly failing at each one to elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
The DUP has consistently said they will not vote for the election of a Speaker until issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol are resolved.
Speaking on Tuesday, SDLP Assembly Leader Matthew OToole MLA said: The ecological crisis unfolding in front of our eyes on Lough Neagh is a catastrophe on a level that far outstrips any other were facing right now. It demands intense, coordinated and cooperative action at every level in response.
The impact of blue green algae, caused by a toxic mix of agricultural runoff, invasive species, waste water treatment capacity and higher temperatures, is suffocating Britain and Irelands largest freshwater lake. It poses an unique and critical threat to biodiversity, animal and human health that we have to work together to address.
Political leaders have an obligation and an opportunity to set aside our differences and work together in the substantial common interests of our people and our environment. I understand that the choice is unenviable for some but the alternative - doing nothing - will condemn the lough, the people who rely on it and future generations.
We are urging all political parties to agree to recall the institutions to address the crisis and to show people that we can work together to meet the needs of our people and our planet.
https://twitter.com/MatthewOToole2/status/1704177150452994251
Northern Ireland gets more than 40% of its drinking water from Lough Neagh, but the great lake is currently polluted with a deadly cyanobacteria.
Both wildfire and pets have died after being poisoned due to the blue-green algae, which release toxins when they decay or degrade.
Eamonn Holmes has said that people have been mocking him on social media for using a mobility scooter.
The Northern Irish presenter, 63, lost full mobility after he underwent spinal surgery last year following chronic issues with back pain.
GB News presenter Holmes told Best magazine about his mobility issues and said: Some people were mocking me on social media
Oh, look at Eamonn, hes in a mobility scooter!. I replied, saying, I would prefer if I wasnt in it but how else would I have got around?.
The alternative is I dont go anywhere, and I sit in my armchair, work in the office. So, I go out Its mentally uplifting to get out.
Holmes also spoke about how it has made him feel to receive physical help from people and said: Humble, helpless but grateful. However, its truly draining when you have to say, do you mind? Could you? Thank you, Im sorry.
The good news is the op last year cured me of my back pain I lost full mobility. Im doing everything I can to get better. But its slow.
He added: I now accept life is easier with help from others. Getting around with crutches is exhausting. I wish I could walk further but, for now, I cant.
Speaking on what he likes to do to get out of the house, he added: Some people think Im fixed but it just looks like that on TV I like getting out.
Going to the cinema is a terrible effort but worth it. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning was great.
Prior to his surgery in 2022, Holmes had undergone a double hip replacement in 2016, which he previously said he had been putting off for years.
Holmes is married to Loose Women star Ruth Langsford and the duo presented This Mornings Friday show until ITV confirmed in November 2020 that the duo would be replaced by Dermot OLeary and Alison Hammond.
The full interview with the broadcaster features in the new issue of Best, now on sale.
The Taoiseach has voiced concern following revelations around orthopaedic surgery at a Dublin childrens hospital.
An external review into spinal surgery at Temple Street Hospital has been ordered by the Health Service Executive (HSE) following a number of poor outcomes including the death of a child.
It follows the publication of a Childrens Health Ireland (CHI) report on spinal surgery for spina bifida patients at the hospital.
Speaking to media in New York on Tuesday, Leo Varadkar said the more he reads about it, the more concerned he is.
I dont want to jump to conclusions because this will have to be investigated properly and thoroughly. I know theres going to be an examination by the Medical Council as well, he said.
Concerns had been raised over poor clinical outcomes of some complex spinal surgeries including a high incidence of post-operative complications and infections.
That probe was prompted after two serious post-operative surgical incidents in spinal surgery were reported in CHI at Temple Street in July and September.
CHI commissioned serious incident investigations into these two events which are currently in progress.
In addition, concerns about spinal surgery outcomes had also been raised by members of the Spina Bifida Multi-Disciplinary Team (MDT) to their Clinical Director (CD) and the CHI Chief Medical Officer (CMO) between September and November 2022.
The HSE said these reviews examined the care provided by one consultant to 17 children who had complex spinal surgery in CHI at Temple Street.
Of these 17 children, one child sadly died since, and a number of other children suffered significant post-operative complications.
A further two families were affected by the issue of unauthorised devices being used in a small number of spinal surgery procedures, bringing to 19 the total number of families contacted by CHI over the issues.
In its report, CHI said an analysis of 16 case files showed that 13 of the 16 patients (81.2%) required further unplanned surgery.
Patients with minor complications that did not need further surgery had superficial wound problems that were managed with oral antibiotics or nurse-lead wound care in the outpatient department.
The internal analysis showed the overall infection rate for these 16 cases was 73.4% based on microbiology and clinical findings; and the overall rate of wound complication requiring further surgery was 75%.
Overall, nine of the 16 of cases (56%) had mechanical complications of metal work requiring removal.
Ireland has one of the highest incidences of spina bifida in the world, with an overall incidence of approximately one in 1,000 live births.
It is estimated that there are currently just under 500 children with spina bifida in Ireland.
The HSE said it had commissioned a UK expert to lead an external review into paediatric orthopaedic surgical services at Temple Street.
CHI has opened a helpline for patients and their families who are on spinal surgery lists at Temple Street.
The helpline, 01 409 6117, will be open on Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm.
Diane Abbott said she was being smeared by Labour following suggestions she made antisemitic comments (Ian West/PA)
Former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott has launched a broadside on Sir Keir Starmers Labour leadership and accused the party of smearing her with accusations of antisemitism.
The veteran MP, who was stripped of the Labour whip in April for comments she made on race, said the five-month party investigation into her remarks was fraudulent.
She said: There is a widespread sentiment that as a black woman, and someone on the left of the Labour Party, that I will not get a fair hearing from this leadership.
Ms Abbott suggested in the open letter published on Twitter, now known as X, that she believes the current Labour leadership is looking to oust her from Parliament by ensuring she cannot stand for the party.
Labour said it would not provide a running commentary on the independent process reviewing Ms Abbotts case.
Ms Abbott, who became the first black woman elected to Parliament in 1987, had the Labour whip suspended after comments she made suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism all their lives.
In a letter at the time to The Observer, the Hackney North and Stoke Newington MP said that although white people with points of difference suffer prejudice, they have not suffered the same racism as black people.
Following a backlash, including from Jewish MPs, she apologised for any anguish caused, suggesting errors arose in her initial draft letter to the newspaper.
A day after the whip was removed, Sir Keir condemned the comments as antisemitic and said they would never be accepted in the party.
Ms Abbott, in an attack on the party on Tuesday, said: The internal Labour Party disciplinary against me is fraudulent.
I was told by the chief whip to actively engage with an investigation. But the Labour whips are no longer involved it is run entirely out of the Labour Party HQ, which reports to Keir Starmer and there is no investigation.
This is the same Keir Starmer who almost immediately pronounced my guilt publicly.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Diane Abbotts comments amounted to antisemitism (Gareth Fuller/PA)
This completely undermines any idea that there is fairness or any natural justice.
It is procedurally improper.
The Independent MP continued: The Labour Party has not charged me with antisemitism because they know it is untrue.
As someone who has fought all forms of racism all my life, I would consider it a very serious allegation.
Instead, it has been used to smear me, my reputation, and decades of anti-racist work.
The 69-year-old accused the leadership of taking over her Constituency Labour Party, saying it had decapitated the local leadership to install its own, hand-picked personnel and replace me as the candidate prior to the next election.
Ms Abbott, a close ally of former leader Jeremy Corbyn who also lost the whip in 2020 after his response to an equalities watchdog report into antisemitism in the Labour Party during his tenure, said blocking her from standing in her long-held seat was what some have clearly wanted all along.
Following publication of the open letter, Mr Corbyn tweeted: The latest stitch-up represents yet another flagrant attack on local democracy.
A lifelong anti-racist campaigner, Diane deserves so much better. So do party members being treated with contempt.
Momentum, a left-wing pressure group, said Ms Abbotts treatment by the Labour leadership was nothing short of disgraceful.
A spokesman for the group, which was prominent under Mr Corbyns leadership, said: In a new low, it seems that in their factional vendetta to force a black socialist woman out of Parliament, the Labour leadership have exploited horrific crimes to shut out local Labour members and undermine due process.
If there is any semblance of democracy and due process in Starmers Labour, a fair and proper process should rapidly be concluded and the whip restored.
Shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said he entirely rejected Ms Abbotts assertions.
Weve had some issues to sort out in the Labour Party, we wouldnt be where we are as a potential next government in this country if we hadnt addressed them, he told Sky News Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge.
Diane had a well-publicised incident that resulted in the disciplinary action that has happened. She did that, no-one forced her to write that letter. Theres a process thats now followed.
I dont know where that investigation is at but I do think the public expect political parties to exercise high standards and to police those standards.
A Labour Party spokeswoman said: The Labour Party rightly expects the highest standards of behaviour from its elected representatives, and has introduced an independent complaints process to investigate cases.
We do not give a running commentary on ongoing investigations.
Grant Shapps pledged the UKs unwavering commitment to Ukraine with tens of thousands more artillery shells as he met the countrys new defence minister for the first time.
The Defence Secretary attended the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) at the US Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany, alongside Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin.
The group brings together ministers and senior officials from nearly 50 nations to co-ordinate international support for the war-torn nation.
Grant Shapps has pledged unwavering support for Ukraine (Jordan Pettitt/PA)
It marks Mr Shapps first meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, after being promoted in a Cabinet mini-reshuffle in August.
The UK has delivered more than 300,000 artillery shells to Ukraine, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Following the meeting, Mr Shapps said: Today weve demonstrated the UKs unwavering commitment to Ukraine and set out more military support, including pledging tens of thousands more artillery shells to enable Ukraine to defend itself against Russias unprovoked invasion and to retake illegally occupied territories.
To ensure Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself as we approach winter, we have also set out how the UK will go further in the coming months in our priority support areas, including air defence and long-range strike capabilities, and training.
Sir Tony said: With representatives from 50 nations gathered in Ramstein today, President Putin should be worried. This is a tangible demonstration of the international communitys continued resolve to back Ukraine with the military support it requires through the winter and into 2024.
The United Kingdom will continue to work with our allies and partners to help build Ukraines long-term resilience so it can fulfil its potential as a secure and prosperous sovereign nation.
Breathtaking aerial views of Duolang Canyon in NW China's Xinjiang
People's Daily Online) 13:48, September 19, 2023
Captivating autumn scenery unfolds in the colorful pinewoods of Duolang Canyon in Zhaosu county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo/Batenasheng)
As September arrives, the pine forests of Duolang Canyon in Zhaosu county, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, transform into a vibrant and mesmerizing palette." Amidst the usual colors, the yellow birch, red shrubs, and green pine trees create a stunning contrast of fall colors.
Nestled deep in the Tianshan Mountains, Duolang Canyon is a haven of untouched forests and a labyrinth of ravines. The canyon serves as a natural arboretum, where pine trees coexist with various other tree species, creating a harmonious blend of nature's beauty.
(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
gettyimagesbank
Concerns grow as suspects in recent crimes believed to have lived in seclusion
By Jun Ji-hye
The government unveiled a set of new welfare policies on Tuesday that aim to reach out to young people who are living in social isolation.
Socially isolated people are those who do not have meaningful interactions with others, except family, for more than six months, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
According to the report written by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs in May, the number of socially isolated young people was 5 percent in 2021. When the ratio is applied to the youth population of 10.8 million in that year, the population of isolated young people is estimated to be at 538,000.
The welfare ministry said it has prepared various channels, such as telephone and text messages, through which isolated youth can ask for help, along with psychological consultation and other programs, such as cooking classes, to help them form relationships with others.
Cohousing programs will also be offered that will enable isolated youth to live with others who face similar situations and learn how to manage everyday life together.
Specialized institutions will be established in four cities and provinces next year to offer community care to such people. These institutions will be expanded across the country in 2026.
The new measures were finalized during a policy meeting between the conservative ruling People Power Party and the government.
Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyoo-hong, second from left, speaks during a policy meeting between the conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the government at the National Assembly, Tuesday. At left is Rep. Park Dae-chul, the PPP's chief policymaker. Yonhap
Former president Donald Trump has refused to endorse a federal ban on abortion (Luis Magana/AP)
Former president Donald Trump is copping backlash from Republicans after he launched a direct attack on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his legislative ban on abortion for pregnancies beyond six weeks of gestation.
Mr Trump appeared on NBCs Meet the Press programme to discuss the run-up to the 2024 presidential election and his policies for his possible second term.
Whilst on the programme, Mr Trump condemned the Bill signed by Mr DeSantis, which prohibits abortions after six weeks; before many women even know that they are pregnant.
Mr Trump said: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.
Mr Trump repeatedly refused to be drawn into a discussion as to whether he would support a federal ban on abortion but did say he could live with the procedure being banned by individual states or nationwide through federal action.
However, he said, from a legal standpoint, I think its probably better for abortion legislation to be handled at the state level.
Mr Trump has so far dominated the 2024 campaign field and has, at times, spurned anti-abortion groups that traditionally have a major influence on the Republican primaries.
But his direct attack on the Florida Governor could give his Republican opponent new fodder as Mr DeSantis tries to regain momentum in his campaign and solidify his second-place standing.
Speaking to an Iowa radio station on Monday, Mr DeSantis said he was proud to have signed the Florida legislation, which he called noble and just.
Mr DeSantis told Radio Iowa: I dont know how you can even make the claim that youre somehow pro-life if youre criticising states for enacting pro-life protections for babies.
He went on to slam the former US presidents statement that both sides of the abortion debate could be worked with to come up with the best possible policy.
Mr DeSantis said: I think all pro-lifers should know that hes preparing to sell you out.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (Bryon Houlgrave/AP)
On Monday, Republican senator for South Carolina Tim Scott specifically named Mr Trump while discussing abortion legislation at a campaign stop in Mason City, Iowa.
He mentioned other unnamed Republican candidates but specifically accused Mr Trump of retreating on the issue.
Mr Scott said: Frankly, those pro-life folks that we really want to stand with us are not standing.
President Trump said he would negotiate with Democrats and walked back away from where I believe we need to be, which is a 15-week limit on the federal level.
Other Republicans in some key states, including those backing his rivals, expressed displeasure after the interview with NBC.
South Carolina state representative John McCravy, who sponsored the most recent, restrictive abortion measures, said he was certainly disappointed with Mr Trumps words.
Mr McCravy said: It sounded completely out of step with his staunch support for life while he was president.
Rescuers and relatives of victims set up tents in front of collapsed buildings in Derna (Muhammad J. Elalwany/AP)
The Prime Minister of Libyans eastern administration said authorities have divided the flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks.
It comes a day after thousands of angry protesters demanded the citys rapid reconstruction.
Last week, two dams collapsed during Storm Daniel, sending a wall of water gushing through Derna.
Government officials and aid agencies have given death tolls ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000.
Now the affected areas are completely isolated, the armed forces and the government have begun creating a buffer out of fear of the spread of diseases or epidemics, Prime Minister Ossama Hamad said in a telephone interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV.
Rescue teams look for flash flood victims in the city of Derna (Yousef Murad/AP)
No further details were given.
On Monday, the United Nations said a disease outbreak could create a second devastating crisis.
Libyan protesters gathered in central Derna on Monday in the first mass demonstration since the flood.
Outside the citys al-Shabana mosque, thousands called for a rapid investigation into the disaster, the urgent reconstruction of the city and other demands.
On Monday evening, the former mayor of the city, Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, said his home was set on fire by protesters.
Public prosecutors opened an investigation on Saturday into the collapse of the two dams, built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds for them.
That same day, Mr al-Gaithi was suspended pending the investigation.
Many of the citys residents see politicians as the architects of the crisis.
The destruction caused by a flash flood is seen in Derna (Yousef Murad/AP)
The country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014.
Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias whose influence in the country has ballooned since a Nato-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Both authorities have deployed humanitarian teams to the city but have struggled to respond to the large-scale disaster.
The recovery operation, with help from international teams, has been poorly co-ordinated and residents say aid distribution has been uneven.
Conflicting death tolls and statistics have been released by various official bodies.
Libyas Red Crescent has said at least 11,300 people have been killed and an additional 10,000 are missing.
After earlier reporting the same death toll, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs is now citing far lower numbers about 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing.
Polish President Andrzej Duda likened the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the Second World War occupation and partition of his own country by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and urged the world to hold Moscow accountable for its barbaric actions.
Poland lost its independence, was wiped (off) the map of the world, and subjected to an extremely brutal occupation. This is precisely why we understand the tragedy of Ukraine better than any other country, Mr Duda told the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ukraine, he argued, was acting like a homeowner defending his home against a mugger, and required continued international support to pursue its own defence.
Mr Duda added: Today, the victim is Ukraine. Tomorrow, it could be any one of us.
Mr Dudas country took in more Ukrainian refugees than any other in the first few months of the war, though Germany now has more Ukrainian citizens registered.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres acknowledges the audiences applause after addressing the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (Mary Altaffer/AP)
Leaders of a world fractured by war, climate change and persisting inequality have gathered under one roof to hear the UN chief summon them to take united action on humanitys huge challenges and to start delivering their own assessments on the most global of stages.
Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond, Antonio Guterres told the people who run the worlds nations on Tuesday.
He said the United Nations and the ways that countries co-operate must evolve to meet the era.
The world has changed. Our institutions have not, Mr Guterres said before the opening of the UN General Assemblys General Debate.
Mr Guterres addresses the General Assembly (Richard Drew/AP)
We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions dont reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem.
He said the world needs action now not merely more words to deal with the worsening climate emergency, escalating conflicts, dramatic technological disruptions and a global cost-of-living crisis which is increasing hunger and poverty.
This years week-long session, the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the Covid pandemic disrupted travel, has 145 leaders scheduled to speak.
It is a large number, reflecting the multitude of crises and conflicts.
But for the first time in years, US President Joe Biden, who will speak soon after the UN chief, will be the only leader from the five powerful veto-wielding nations on the UN Security Council to address the 193-member assembly.
Chinas Xi Jinping, Russias Vladimir Putin, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Rishi Sunak are all skipping the UN this year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens to speakers (Seth Wenig/AP)
That should put the spotlight on Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will be making his first appearance at the assemblys podium later on Tuesday, and on Mr Biden, who will be watched especially for his views on China, Russia and Ukraine.
The absence of leaders from the four Security Council powers has sparked grumbling from developing countries who want major global players to listen to their demands including for money to start closing the growing gap between the worlds haves and have-nots.
The G77, the major UN group of developing countries that now has 134 members including China, lobbied hard to make this years global gathering focus on the 17 UN goals adopted by world leaders in 2015.
Those are badly lagging at the halfway point to their 2030 due date.
At a two-day summit to kick-start action to achieve the goals, Mr Guterres pointed to grim findings in a UN report in July.
He said 15% of some 140 specific targets to achieve the 17 goals are on track.
Many are going in the wrong direction and not a single one is expected to be achieved in the next seven years.
The wide-ranging goals include end extreme poverty and hunger, ensure every child gets a quality secondary education, achieve gender equality and make significant inroads in tackling climate change all by 2030.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres speaks at the start of the session (Seth Wenig/AP)
At the current rate, the report said, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children will not even be going to primary school in 2030 and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women.
Mr Guterres told leaders at Mondays opening of the summit he called to rescue the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) that they promised in 2015 to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all people and to pay for it.
Soon after he spoke, leaders from the 193 UN member nations adopted a 10-page political declaration by consensus which recognises that the goals are in peril.
But it reaffirms more than a dozen times, in different ways, leaders commitment to achieve the SDGs, reiterating their individual importance.
The declaration is short on specifics but Mr Guterres said he was deeply encouraged by its commitment to improving developing countries access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance.
He pointed to its support for an SDG stimulus of at least 500 billion US dollars (about 403.2 billion) a year, aimed at offsetting challenging market conditions faced by developing countries.
US President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York before attending the United Nations General Assembly (Susan Walsh/AP)
At the summit, leaders are supposed to make pledges to meet the SDGs.
As an example, Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who chairs the UN group of least developed countries, said they need massive scaling up of affordable finance, including through the SDG stimulus.
He said foreign investment to the least developed countries fell about 30% in 2022 compared to 2021, and he urged developed countries to be more generous in helping the worlds poorest countries.
There are also hundreds of side events during the high-level week.
The European Unions top diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters after a closed meeting to try to revive the decades-old peace process between Israel and the Palestinians that there was a strong commitment to the two-state solution.
He said there were 60 participants at the meeting organised by the EU, the Arab League and several other countries, and called it a good starting point.
There was an injection of new political will, Mr Borrell said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has questioned why the United Nations has allowed Russias Sergei Lavrov to attend the world body as the Kremlin continues its assault on his nation.
While touring a hospital in New York, where Ukrainian soldiers are having their maladies tended to as the invasion by Russian forces still rages on, Mr Zelensky said the body of world leaders should answer for their decision to allow Russias minister of foreign affairs to attend.
Mr Zelensky said: For us, its very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners.
And if in the United Nations still its a pity, but still there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/AP)
He added: I think its a question to all the members of the United Nations.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president will address world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
He will also speak about the war in Ukraine on Wednesday at a UN Security Council meeting.
Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding council member, and Mr Lavrov is expected to make remarks at the meeting.
When Mr Zelensky was asked if he would stay in the room to listen to what Mr Lavrov had to say, he said: I dont know how it will be, really.
Mr Zelensky is in the United States to appeal to politicans and US President Joe Biden to continue their support in financing Ukraines defence against the Russian invasion, a war that is now in its 19th month.
After what looks to be a heavy few days with the UN, Mr Zelensky is scheduled to spend some time on Capitol Hill on Thursday and meet with Mr Biden at the White House.
Coming out as a lesbian to my children was hands down the most difficult thing I have ever had to do
Environmental activists Jhed Tamano (third from left) and Jonila Castro (to Tamanos left) arrive at the Commission on Human Rights headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, Sept. 19, 2023.
Two Filipina environmental activists who went missing early this month resurfaced on Tuesday and claimed they had been abducted by troops in Bataan province who accused them of being linked to leftist insurgents.
Jhed Tamano and Jonila Castro, who have been protesting China-backed reclamation projects in Manila Bay, took officials of a government task force by surprise when they spoke out at a news conference it organized for the two to publicly say that they voluntarily surrendered to the military.
The truth is, we were kidnapped by the military onboard a van, Castro told reporters at the news conference organized by the governments National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
We were coerced to surrender and our lives were threatened.
The NTF-ELCAC had organized the press meet to disprove leftist groups accusations that the activists had been abducted, but the task forces ploy failed as the two spoke out while surrounded by military and other officials.
The task force had on Sept. 15 said it had detained the two activists who voluntarily walked into a military base after deciding to leave the underground movement.
NTF-ELCAC is an agency tasked with implementing the governments strategy of ending the communist insurgency which began in 1969.
Castro noted that they were under duress when they signed a statement saying they voluntarily surrendered, because at the time, we couldnt do anything else.
The two activists, who are university students, were walking in Orion town in Bataan province on the evening of Sept. 2 when men aboard a van coerced us to come with them.
Thats the truth, she said, adding they thought they had been abducted by a criminal syndicate.
On Tuesday afternoon, the two women were handed over to the Commission on Human Rights, which last week was among the agencies that went public with concerns about the missing activists.
Castro said they are opposed to the reclamation projects because fishermen could lose their livelihoods. She is a community volunteer for a group opposed to projects in Manila Bay, while Tamano is a coordinator at a community and church program for the bay.
Environmental activists Jhed Tamano (left) and Jonila Castro are seen at the Commission on Human Rights headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines, Sept. 19, 2023. [Gerard Carreon/BenarNews]
We were hoodwinked
The military on Tuesday insisted that the activists had surrendered via an informant.
The duo went through a correct process and made their statements in the presence of their lawyer, said Lt. Col. Ronnel dela Cruz, the 70th Infantry Battalion commander.
The task force said it stood by the militarys report that Castro and Tamano surrendered.
It said it was deeply saddened by the turn of events and accused the women of parroting the propaganda line of the leftist insurgents, the task force said in a statement later on Tuesday.
We felt betrayed. We were hoodwinked. Whatever caused their sudden change of heart is beyond us, the task force said.
Earlier engagements by task force officials with the two students regarding the veracity and truthfulness of their affidavits were convincing enough to merit their public appearance.
It said the womens statements at the news conference will definitely be looked into with the support of the other civilian agency members.
NTF-ELCAC noted that its legal department was looking into how to proceed.
The government last month suspended reclamation projects in Manila Bay as it ordered a study on their environmental impacts. The United States Embassy and environmental organizations had spoken out about the projects destroying the bay.
More than a dozen Manila Bay projects many linked to Chinese construction firms were approved during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022).
Basilio Sepe in Manila contributed to this report.
Seoul's Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin, right, speaks with Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik in Seoul on Sept. 19. Yonhap
The South Korean foreign ministry summoned the top Russian envoy to the country Tuesday to lodge a complaint over Moscow's discussions of arms deals and military cooperation with North Korea.
Seoul's Vice Foreign Minister Chang Ho-jin called in Russian Ambassador Andrey Kulik earlier in the day and called for Moscow to comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions, the ministry said in a message to reporters.
The summons came after North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week and toured a series of key military sites amid growing concerns about a possible arms deal between the two nations.
Chang called for Russia to "immediately" end moves to seek military ties with North Korea.
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Reactor 4 at the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates / Courtesy of Korea Electric Power Corp
By Ko Dong-hwan
A U.S. court ruling in favor of two Korean state-run utility companies on Monday (local time) is expected to boost Korea's bid to export nuclear reactors to the Czech Republic and other countries, according to industry officials and experts, Tuesday.
The District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit filed last October by Westinghouse Electric, a Pennsylvania-based American energy firm, against Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power (KHNP), the country's nuclear reactor operator, and Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), the state-run utility firm. The U.S. court, upon the ruling, said Westinghouse lacks a "private cause of action" to enforce Part 810 and thus has failed to state a claim.
Westinghouse filed the suit to prevent KHNP from transferring technical information on reactor designs to other countries including the Czech Republic and Poland. The U.S. firm claimed it has licenses which prevent its Korean rival from the intellectual properties in accordance with the U.S. Department of Energy's export control regulation called "Part 810 Assistance to Foreign Atomic Energy Activities" under the U.S. Atomic Energy Act.
Professor Jim Mahon, Williams College student Elain He and state Rep. John Barrett present a project by He and fellow student Christopher Rodriguez on Monday. The two students launched a website that was a result of a summer's worth of research into Northern Tier rail expansion.
OTIS Former police Chief Roberta Sarnacki received a $62,500 settlement from the town following her whistleblower lawsuit that included waiving any rights to reinstatement.
Under the six-page settlement agreement reached last October, Sarnacki may not apply for any job in the Town of Otis or its police department for five years.
The Berkshire Eagle obtained a copy of the settlement agreement through a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Sarnacki sued the town in Berkshire Superior Court for illegally discharging her and for unlawful retaliation on Jan. 14, 2020. Sarnacki served as part-time police chief in Otis from Aug. 13, 2009, to June 30, 2018.
She alleged in her lawsuit that then-Select Board Chair William Hiller tried to unlawfully bribe and influence her with a corrupt purpose and purely for private gain in connection with a police matter in which Hiller had a personal interest.
Sarnacki alleged in the lawsuit that her non-reappointment constituted retaliation in two ways: for disclosing to the Attorney Generals Office alleged violations of the open meeting law and for providing information about the violations.
The Massachusetts whistleblower law allows for triple damages on lost wages, benefits and other remuneration, and interest.
In Sarnacki's whistleblower claim, triple damages were estimated at exceeding $175,000 and attorney fees were placed at $25,000. She calculated her total loss at $49,621, including $45,785 in wage and benefits, $3,151 in unpaid benefits, and $685 in unreimbursed phone charges. Statutory interest was calculated at about $17,000.
The towns payment included the following breakdown:
$35,000 in lost wages;
$10,815 in whistleblower and consequential damages;
$685 in expense reimbursement;
$16,000 in prejudgment interest.
The settlement includes a section on confidentiality, barring Sarnacki from publicizing or disclosing the terms of the agreement or the amount of the payment other than to her spouse, accountants, financial advisors and attorneys.
It also states, Upon inquiry regarding the Litigation, Sarnacki shall state only that, "The matter has been resolved and I am satisfied.'"
The settlement states that the town, known as the releasee, has denied all of Sarnackis claims and allegations. It also releases and forever discharges the town from a laundry list of claims under both Massachusetts General Laws, federal civil rights and federal employment laws.
Sarnacki signed the agreement Oct. 12, 2022. It was witnessed by David Sarnacki. Brandi Page, town administrator, signed the agreement for the town. Lyn OBrien, town clerk, witnessed the signature.
In June 2018, the Select Board voted not to reappoint Sarnacki, giving her less than a month's notice. Her contract specified one years notice of non-reappointment. At the time, Sarnacki said she believed the move stemmed from her decision to file charges against a juvenile and the youth's father.
The dispute with Hiller began in the summer of 2017, when a juvenile, who was related to a well-known Otis family, led Officer Chip Whiting on a chase before ditching his motorcycle in a barn, Sarnacki told The Eagle in 2017.
She said the boys father returned to the barn later to retrieve the motorcycle.
After a witness came forward and identified the teenager as Jack OBrien, officers tried to speak to the family but received no cooperation. Eventually, the department moved to file charges in Southern Berkshire District Court, which prompted Hiller to call Sarnacki several times requesting her not to do so, she said.
Hiller had both personal and business connections to the OBriens, according to legal filings, and he asked Sarnacki to drop the charges in exchange for the juveniles family agreeing not to sue [her].
She filed complaints with the State Ethics Commission pertaining to Hillers actions. No public decisions have been filed, and a spokesman for the State Ethics Commission could not confirm or deny whether a complaint was received.
Sarnacki also filed complaints, first with the Otis Select Board, then with the Division of Open Government at the state Attorney Generals Office, alleging that the Otis Select Board violated the open meeting law.
Select Board members voted not to renew Sarnackis contract for reasons unrelated to the whistleblower claim, according to a joint pretrial memorandum. Specifically, for non-retaliatory reasons including responding to public complaints, a belief that it was time for a change in leadership of the police, and the belief by one Selectboard member that the Plaintiff had allowed his foster children to be shown in the media, endangering their placement with him.
Immediately following her non-reappointment, Sarnacki took a position as Blandford police chief for a few months. She currently teaches full-time at Mount Everett Regional High School in Sheffield, which she did when she was police chief in Otis, as well.
Advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data.
Paul Johansen is an adjunct faculty member (math) at Berkshire Community College. He is also the biostatistician at Berkshire Medical Center and has worked as a psychiatric researcher. Lisa Mattila is a licensed mental health counselor and has been a personal counselor at Berkshire Community College for nearly 30 years. Previously, she worked as an outpatient therapist at the Brien Center.
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A U.S. district court on Monday dismissed a lawsuit that an American energy firm filed to stop two Korean state-run companies from exporting nuclear power plants, determining it is not qualified to take the legal move.
The District Court for the District of Columbia rejected the complaint that Westinghouse Electric filed against Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP) and Korea Electric Power (KEPCO) last October.
The U.S. firm filed the suit to prevent the Korean companies from transferring technical information on reactor designs, which it claims have been licensed by it, to Poland and other countries under a U.S. export control regulation, called Part 810.
"The court holds that Westinghouse lacks a private cause of action to enforce Part 810 and therefore has failed to state a claim," the ruling read.
The dismissal came as the defendants have claimed the Atomic Energy Act does not contemplate "private" enforcement and delegates to the attorney general the "exclusive authority" to enforce relevant provisions. Part 810 is designed to implement the act.
Part 810 sets forth regulations governing the transfer of technology for development, production, or use of nuclear reactors, equipment and materials.
The lawsuit came in the midst of a debate over whether Korea's export of reactors that its companies have domestically mastered with the initial technological assistance from the U.S. firm should be subject to U.S. export control regulations. (Yonhap)
As South Africa eagerly celebrates Heritage Day on 24 September 2023, the nation's vibrant tapestry of culture and heritage comes to life through fascinating insights derived from an extensive market research survey produced by Bateleur Brand Planning as part of its Vantage Point Insights series. Gathered in August 2023, these findings from over 1,500 South Africans offer a captivating glimpse into the diverse traditions, intriguing superstitions, and mouth-watering culinary delights that define this unique and dynamic nation.
Embracing cultural practices
South Africa's rich cultural diversity is a testament to its unique heritage. Among the survey findings, a prevailing theme emerges South Africans are deeply rooted in traditions of warmth, inclusivity, and respect. Politeness, friendliness, and a welcoming spirit are values cherished by a significant 60% of respondents, reflecting the nation's strong sense of community and hospitality.
Humour also plays a significant role, with 41% of South Africans able to find laughter in their own embarrassments and shortcomings, indicative of their resilience and ability to find joy in life's challenges. The importance of family bonds shines through, as 36% express a deep closeness with both immediate and extended family members, fostering a sense of unity and togetherness.
In everyday interactions, South Africans demonstrate courtesy by apologising and offering simple acknowledgements when someone stumbles, a gesture embraced by 29% of respondents. Additionally, the practice of baptising one's baby holds special significance for 27% of South Africans, symbolising the continuation of cherished traditions.
Community engagement is another hallmark of South African culture, with 24% of respondents always ready to help uplift their neighbourhoods and share food and treats with the local community. These practices reflect the deep sense of unity and interconnectedness that defines South African society.
Superstitions: A glimpse into beliefs
Superstitions are woven into the fabric of South African life, reflecting a fascinating blend of beliefs and values. From the belief that an itchy palm heralds impending financial fortune to the association of specific numbers with good or bad omens, these superstitions offer insights into the nation's psyche.
Animal symbolism is also prevalent, with 31% of respondents believing that encountering an owl foretells impending doom, while 26% associate black cats with bad luck, especially if they cross one's path. Everyday superstitions include avoiding eating directly from the pot to avert misfortune on one's wedding day (31%), and the belief that whistling at night invites malevolent spirits (18%).
Symbolic actions hold significance for many, with 29% making wishes using the wishbone of a chicken and 14% avoiding purchasing salt at night to ward off potential poverty.
Intriguingly, some superstitions transcend cultural boundaries, with beliefs like the notion that opening an umbrella indoors brings bad luck, the concept of beginner's luck, and the superstition that Friday the 13th is a day of ill fortune resonating across diverse cultural groups.
Culinary delights: A feast for the senses
In South Africa, food is a cherished avenue for cultural expression, offering a delectable journey into the nation's diverse heritage. The respondents shared recommendations enticing tourists to South Africa via SAs culinary delights. This is what they came up with
Experience the quintessential South African barbecue, where a variety of meats, sausages, and vegetables are expertly grilled over an open flame. The braai is a celebration of community, smoky flavours, and the joy of sharing.
Let your senses dive into a world of savoury delight with thinly sliced, air-dried meats marinated to perfection. Biltong offers a taste that's both authentic and addictive, a South African snack that captures the heart.
Explore the aromatic blend of spiced ground meat baked with an egg-based custard topping this is Bobotie. A savoury-sweet masterpiece that's both comforting and deeply flavourful.
Savour the magic of bunny chow, a fast-food sensation where a hollowed-out bread loaf becomes the vessel for delectable curry. It's South Africa's answer to fast food with a flavourful twist.
Indulge in the comforting combination of hearty maize porridge paired with flavourful sausage, a classic South African comfort food known as pap and wors. It's a taste of tradition that warms the heart.
Delight in the slow-cooked symphony of flavours that is potjiekos a stew prepared in a cast-iron pot over an open flame. Each bite is a journey through South Africa's culinary history.
Embark on a culinary adventure with Cape Malay cuisine, where a diverse array of curries and traditional dishes showcases South Africa's cultural diversity and love for rich flavours.
For those with a sweet tooth, koeksisters await a sweet, syrup-soaked pastry that's a beloved South African treat, offering a taste of the country's sweet side.
Let your taste buds dance with the creamy, custard-filled dessert that is melktert. It's a sweet embrace of South African culinary tradition, offering a delightful conclusion to any meal.
Explore the vibrant world of Durban curry and other curry dishes, where an explosion of flavours awaits your eager palate. It's a journey into South Africa's love affair with spices and robust flavours.
South Africa's Heritage Day celebrates the nation's rich cultural heritage, offering a captivating blend of traditions, superstitions, and culinary delights that showcase the nation's unity in diversity. It's a day to savour the essence of South African culture, where every gesture tells a story, every belief reflects values, and every dish carries the spirit of a nation.
Even a cereal box can be a useful teaching tool.
Nine-year-old Uthmaan and his sister Munashrah Blake from Grassy Park participate in a writing with children workshop at the Early Literacy Festival hosted by Wordworks on 16 September. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks
A few hundred caregivers, teachers, parents, and children attended the Wordworks Word Early Literacy Festival on 16 September. The event highlighted early literacy and language development. Many of the participants came from communities on the Cape Flats such as Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha, Grassy Park, Philippi and Elsies River.
In May 2023, the Progress on International Reading Literacy Study results revealed that 81% of South African grade 4 children cannot read for meaning. In 2016 it was 78%.''
Wordworks, an organisation founded in 2005, works with a network of partners countrywide to bolster early literacy development in under-resourced communities.
Volunteer Mariam Petersen hosts an interactive story telling workshop with children and parents.
On Saturday, several workshops were held, each to teach parents and caregivers games to help children improve their vocabulary. Some of the methods included creating picture cards, puzzles, dice games, and board games.
Weve got things that parents can easily find they dont have to buy anything, said Faith Shabangu, a Wordworks literacy specialist.
She advised parents to not throw away cereal boxes. Rather use them to create board games.
The event aimed to inspire parents to be more involved in their childrens literacy development.
Munashrah Blake, a teacher from Grassy Park, hosted one of the workshops with her nine-year-old brother, Uthmaan. Blake said teaching literacy to her grade 2s and 3s involves encouraging them to use their imagination to bring their ideas to life. You need them to take the lead and you should just be there as a guide, she said.
She urged parents and teachers to be creative when teaching literacy. With literacy, you have to find different ways. The same recipe doesnt work with every child, said Blake.
Bukiwe Genu of Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Centre host playgroups for children in Khayelitsha. She was one of the many literacy vendors who presented their work at the event.
Bukiwe Genu of Sikhula Sonke Early Childhood Development Centre said they host playgroups for children in Khayelitsha. She said they mostly cater for ages three to six, whose parents or guardians are unemployed, and who depend on the child support grant.
She said many of the children live in shacks. Some of the informal settlements are not safe for the kids, she said. This is why they try and create safe spaces at playgroups for these children.
Ten-year-old Kyle Hartley and his grandmother Wilhelmina Hartley from Elsies River create colourful paper dice during the resource making with parents workshop.
Mammuso Makhanya, executive director at Wordworks, said the festival wanted to show the vital role ordinary play has in understanding the importance of early literacy.
Nangamso Mtsatse, a Wordworks board member, said the country needs this kind of intervention. Literacy and numeracy are the currencies which enable you to participate in the economy. If you dont have basic literacy skills, that impacts your academic trajectory.
Ten-year-old Kyle Hartley and his grandmother Wilhelmina Hartley from Elsies River create colourful paper dice during the resource making with parents workshop.
Published originally on GroundUp.
Smile FM has embarked on an ambitious plan to ensure that thousands more families enjoy Christmas this year, by helping 10,000 unemployed Capetonians find gainful employment, all before the 25th of December.
While having recently seen a marginal improvement, South Africa's unemployment rate has remained sky-high for many years. Smile FM is determined to tackle the status quo, taking positive action to make a difference in people's lives - staying true to its name by putting smiles on faces.
Ryan O'Connor, who hosts The Ryan O'Connor Breakfast Show, weekdays on Smile FM, says that he is on a mission to find jobs for those who are unemployed. "We are calling on companies to let us know when they have jobs available and we will connect them with job seekers in their area who have the required skills, says O'Connor.
"Having a job allows families to put meals on their table and a roof over their heads. It enables kids to go to school and get a good education while building self-esteem and regaining dignity - something that many of us all too often take for granted. This is the most powerful way to break the cycle of poverty."
Over the next 12 weeks, Smile FM will showcase the companies that participate in this life-changing campaign, as well as share the heart-warming stories of newly employed listeners who will have received their first paycheck in ages.
This campaign is supported by Leelyn Management in association with the City of Cape Town, which continues to provide work readiness programmes to thousands of job seekers.
Said Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town: "The City is pleased to partner with Smile FM to facilitate thousands more employment opportunities for Capetonians using our Jobs Connect platform. We call on businesses to support this initiative and for jobseekers to make use of the support on offer, including help with CV formulation."
Said Alderman James Vos, "The City is working on multiple fronts to create an environment that gives businesses the space to grow while creating employment opportunities for Capetonians. The metro's unemployment rate fell by 7% year-on-year thanks to the projects and programmes we have enacted such as our work with partners in Cape Town's high growth industries to drive skills development that makes people more employable. We are also proud to lead the Jobs Connect workforce development programme in which unemployed people are able to find training and work opportunities on a platform that is easy to use and comes at a minimal cost. In the past three years, almost 89,000 people have signed up to the platform and completed the assessment. By working together with businesses and industries, the City can help thousands more Capetonians find the dignity of a job."
Says Lois O'Brien, managing director at Smile FM, "Cape Town is gearing up for what promises to be a busy and exciting holiday season, which brings thousands of employment opportunities - specifically within the tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors.
"As the go-to radio station in Cape Town, we're proud to be able to leverage our network and audience to connect deserving job seekers with employers, helping improve the lives of families all across the Cape Town metropole."
About Smile FM:
Smile FM is a bilingual (English and Afrikaans) adult contemporary radio station, broadcasting to the greater Cape Town Metropole and surrounding areas, including Paarl, Stellenbosch, and Somerset West on 90.4 FM.
Smile FM's listeners are affluent, family orientated, enjoy a healthy lifestyle, have a sense of humour, care for the community at large and enjoy all aspects of life.
Smile FM prides itself on delivering content that is entertaining, informative and relevant. It is the new home of the Ryan O'Connor Breakfast Show - Monday to Friday 6 - 9 am and plays more 80s than anyone else in Cape Town.
Google says searches for artificial intelligence, or AI, are at an all-time high in South Africa. Search trends show that people have searched for AI more than ever in 2023 so far, with interest rising 230% since last year - and 700% over the last five years.
Searches for what is AI technology? (+1,700%), how to invest in AI? (+950%), who created AI? (+650%) and how does artificial intelligence work? (+500%) are all trending this year.
Responsible AI
Google, which released their conversational AI service Bard in South Africa in March, sees AI as having huge potential to help people, businesses and communities. Google has committed to pursuing AI responsibly, which includes advocating for responsible regulation, working in partnership with others to get AI right, and prioritising the technologys purpose for public good.
As well as turning to Google Search to better understand AI, people in South Africa have begun to look to use AI to increase their productivity, capture their imagination and build their careers. Search interest in AI in relation to CV or resumes increased by 1,050%. Searches for AI song generator (+5,850%), AI logo generator (+5,560%), AI photo editor (+4,500%), AI video editor (+3,100%) and AI story writer (+1,400%) all also increased.
Alistair Mokoena, country director, Google South Africa said: "It's heartening to observe the surge of interest in AI among South Africans. As with many across the African continent and the world at large, South Africans are keenly exploring and reaping the benefits of conscientiously developed AI tools. The technological landscape is evolving at an unprecedented rate, bringing forth a myriad of innovations. As we navigate this transformative era, our focus in South Africa remains clear: to collaborate closely, act with utmost responsibility, and ensure that we harness the vast potential of AI to its fullest, always prioritising its responsible application.
The trends, released today, also show that people in South Africa are increasingly interested in building their careers and learning new skills.
Building careers
People in South Africa are also turning to Google looking for resources to build their careers. Searches for how can I start a business with no money have increased by 1,250% since last year - while searches for how to make a website for your business have increased by 200% and how to start [an] online business from home have increased by 150%.
People in South Africa are also looking to gain new certifications, particularly in digital skills - with searches for courses in business management, teaching, health and safety and cyber security all trending in 2023. Searches for digital marketing courses have doubled in 2023 so far, while search interest in machine learning courses have increased by 1,500%.
Cybersecurity and misinformation
The trends released by Google today also show that people in South Africa continue to be concerned about protecting their cybersecurity. Searches for spear phishing (+4,050%), SMS phishing (+950%) and rogue security software (+350%) are all trending, having increased significantly over the past five years. People across South Africa are also taking active steps to protect their cybersecurity, with search interest in internet safety tripling this year alone.
Search interest in misinformation has also increased: with searches for fact-checking increasing by over 450% over the past five years, while South Africa is one of the top 10 countries worldwide searching most for misinformation and information literacy this year. Trending searches on misinformation include what is fake news?, how to spot fake news, and why do people spread fake news?.
Google is using AI to address security challenges and misinformation. Gmail automatically blocks 99.9% of malware, phishing and spam, and protects more than 1.5bn inboxes using AI - while through the Google News Initiative, engineers are working directly with fact-checkers and publishers to use AI-enabled tools to find and tackle misinformation.
Meanwhile, Jigsaw, a team within Google that develops technology to counter online harms, has partnered with local experts and academics to develop approaches to both directly counter disinformation and help people more easily identify and refute it.
Yellow Door Energy has appointed Wilco de Villiers as its new energy solutions director for South Africa. With over two decades of experience in the renewable energy, mining, and telecommunications sectors, de Villiers is expected to drive the company's commitment to delivering secure, affordable, and cleaner energy sources. His appointment is seen as a significant step in transforming the energy landscape in South Africa.
Wilco de Villiers
We are delighted to welcome Wilco to the Yellow Door Energy family. His remarkable journey in the energy sector and his deep understanding of both the technical and strategic aspects of energy solutions make him a perfect fit for our team. We are confident that his leadership will help our customers find the best energy solutions as we continue to transform the energy landscape in South Africa, says Jeremy Crane, CEO and founder of Yellow Door Energy.
The company serves businesses in the Middle East and Africa to provide sustainable energy solutions for the entire life cycle of their customers energy system; from the initial financing stage all the way to the asset management stage.
Prior to joining Yellow Door Energy, Wilco held pivotal roles in several prominent companies, including spearheading the growth of the mining energy division at DRA Global in South Africa. His visionary leadership led to the development of bespoke energy solutions for the mining sector, demonstrating his ability to design and implement strategies that align with specific industry requirements.
Wilco's expertise also extends beyond mining energy solutions, as he also specialised in battery energy storage systems (BESS) and hybrid solutions during his tenures at SMA Solar Technology, Powermode, and Powertech Battery Technologies.
With an MBA from Stellenbosch University and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from North-West University in South Africa, coupled with his hands-on experience, Wilco is well-positioned as a formidable leader to advance Yellow Door Energy's mission to provide clean energy solutions that empower businesses while minimising their environmental footprint.
Climate change made the heavy rainfall that led to deadly floods in Libya up to 50 times more likely, scientists said on Tuesday, 19 September 2023.
A view shows destroyed buildings, in the aftermath of the floods in Derna, Libya - 18 September 2023. Reuters/Ahmed Elumami
The powerful 10 September storm caused two dams to break, inundating Libya's eastern city of Derna and killing thousands of people. Residential blocks built along a typically dry riverbank toppled, as the swollen river undermined foundations.
Building in flood plains, poor dam condition, long-lasting armed conflict and other local factors played a role in the disaster.
But climate change caused up to 50% more rain during that period, according to scientists with World Weather Attribution, an international research collaboration that works to determine how much climate change plays a role in specific weather events.
The scientists warned that as climate change pushes weather to new extremes, it would remain risky to build homes on flood plains or to use substandard materials.
"The interaction of these factors, and the very heavy rain that was worsened by climate change, created the extreme destruction [in Libya]," the scientists wrote in a statement.
They used climate and computer simulations to compare weather events today with what they might have been if the climate had not already warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius above the average preindustrial temperature.
Rainfall can increase or become more erratic with climate change, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more water vapour allowing more moisture to build up before clouds finally break.
The "extremely unusual" storm event delivered 50% more rain than it would have if there was no global warming, according to the scientists' research. Such an event can be expected once every 300-600 years in the current climate, they said.
Meanwhile, climate change also caused up to a 40% increase in the amount of rain that fell in early September across the Mediterranean, causing floods that killed dozens in Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.
"The Mediterranean is a hotspot of climate change-fueled hazards," said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, citing heatwaves and wildfires in the region over summer.
Start talking about vehicle valuations if you want to start an argument at your next braai. In an industry that's constantly evolving, the one thing we still seem to struggle with is accurately determining the true worth of a vehicle.
Stephen de Blanche, chief revenue officer | image supplied
Its an issue that shapes the experiences of consumers, affects the ability of insurers to manage risk and set premiums correctly, impacts the profitability of dealers, and ultimately drives the ability of the industry to sell new cars.
In short, every role-player in the industry is affected by the accuracy of vehicle valuations. An incorrectly priced vehicle could lead to financial strain for buyers, who end up paying more than a car is worth.
On the flip side, motorists selling their vehicles will stay out of the market if theyre offered a price that doesn't align with market trends and their perceived value of their vehicle. And in the event of a write-off, its critical that their insurer pays out an amount that allows them to replace their vehicle and stay in the market.
We all know why vehicle valuations arent black and white. Every vehicle is different. Its age, its colour. Its service history. The demand for that vehicle in a certain region. Fluctuating economic conditions. Changing trends and consumer preferences.
These are all elements that impact the value of a vehicle. Getting it right demands a keen understanding of market dynamics, technological advancements, and consumer behaviour, to name but a few.
Under pressure to sell new cars
Why is this so important? The fact is, everyone in the industry is under pressure to sell new cars right now. But nine times out of 10, to buy a new car, you first need to sell a used car. The better dealers are at valuing used cars, the more new cars they will sell.
This is critical in a South African market where cars are often being sold on affordability, with long financing periods and big balloon payments being used to bring instalments down. The sooner you can meet a motorists settlement value, the quicker they get back into the market. And the better used car data you have, the more accurately you can price the car, and get the customer into a new one.
Obviously, we have data available as a guide. And that data is steadily getting closer to real-time. Advanced analytics can provide insights into market trends, consumer preferences, and the impact of technology on vehicle values. Real-time data and predictive modelling can help dealers to make informed pricing decisions.
Why data is critical
Apart from getting vehicle pricing right, data is also a critical tool for the industry to fight the scourge of double discounting (where two levels of discounts are applied to the price) and fraud.
This is a massive issue. Criminal organisations are hugely advanced, with contacts that reach directly into the critical systems that track and license vehicles in South Africa. Weve got to get back to a place where every single manufacturer and dealer in the country collects and shares data to help manage these risks.
And thats the challenge. Data only works when its available. The more data we collect, the more relevant our insights, the better decisions we make, the better we fight fraud.
Gathering that data used to be a tedious manual process that involved spreadsheets and in some cases, handwritten notes. No more. Today, practically every dealer in the country has a dealer management system (DMS).
Pulling their data is as easy as tapping directly into the DMS. The process doesnt pull any personal identifying information about clients: it simply extracts vehicle information. All a dealer has to do is give permission to the data provider. Its the same with OEMs.
The bottom line? Valuing vehicles is an intricate dance between market forces, technological progress, and consumer expectations all of which need to be balanced to arrive at the most accurate valuation possible.
And fighting fraud and double discounting is critical to our ability to thrive as an industry. The solution for both issues starts with the data. By sharing data better and faster, the auto industry can navigate these challenges and drive towards the future we all deserve.
Mass test drive event across all Kia dealerships in KwaZulu-Natal set to benefit several disadvantaged communities across the province Kia will donate R100 per completed test drive to Gift of the Givers
Gary Scott, CEO of Kia South Africa, with Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of The Gift of the Givers Foundation, at Kia South Africas leadership conference at the beginning of September, where Kia South Africa pledged a R100,000 donation to the organisation.
Kia South Africa this week launches a unique Test Drive for Good campaign in the KwaZulu-Natal province, inviting all residents in the province to help raise funds for acclaimed Pietermaritzburg-based humanitarian aid organisation, Gift of the Givers. Open to all residents in the province, Kia South Africa, with its 12-strong dealer network in the province, is committing a donation of R100 to Gift of the Givers for every test drive completed over the Heritage Day weekend in September.
The Kia brand is celebrating its 25th anniversary in South Africa this year and has had a presence in the KwaZulu-Natal province right from the beginning, comments Gary Scott, CEO, Kia South Africa. As we celebrate the success of the brand over this period, we want to give back to the communities we serve and, in the spirit of our brand slogan 'movement that inspires', Kia wants to partner with the residents of the province, whether they are Kia owners or not, to achieve this goal by blending a brand experience with collaborative fundraising in a fun and highly relevant, localised manner.
Kia South Africa is a long-standing supporter of Gift of the Givers, individually and as part of Motus Holdings. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, Motus Holdings donated four vehicles to further aid the life-saving work Gift of the Givers do. In March 2021, Kia also donated a Sportage 2.0 CRDi EX AWD to the organisation, used primarily by Dr Sooliman as he travelled across South Africa on various humanitarian missions in execution of the organisations mandate.
As South Africans doing business with South Africans in South Africa, it is critical to us that the Kia brand is trusted and loved by all South Africans, adds Scott. Our desire to facilitate change while providing mobility resonates with Gift of the Givers position of providing assistance unconditionally and assisting the needy, irrespective of human or animal, race, religion, colour, class, political affiliation or geographic location.
The Test Drive for Good campaign follows a donation of R100,000 to the organisation at the beginning of September. The donation was presented to Dr Imtiaz Sooliman during Kia South Africas 2023 Kia Leadership Conference, where Dr Sooliman delivered a message of hope and resilience to the 120-plus audience. Gift of the Givers Foundation is the largest indigenous disaster response NGO (non-governmental organisation) on the African continent, with the essence of its presence being to bring hope and restore dignity to the most vulnerable. Its primary focus is on disaster response, hunger alleviation, water provision, healthcare, education and social upliftment.
Kia has 12 dealerships in the KwaZulu-Natal province, specifically in Newcastle, Vryheid, Empangeni, Ballito, uMhlanga, Durban Central, Springfield, Amanzimtoti, Port Shepstone, Pinetown, Hillcrest and Pietermaritzburg. All of these dealers, with the exception of Kia Durban Central, will be open throughout the Heritage Day weekend, and collectively have the ambitious target of completing at least 3,000 test drives between Friday, 22 September, and Monday, 25 September.
We believe that our exclusive partnership with Gift of the Givers, itself a KwaZulu-Natal-based organisation, will ensure that all funds raised through the campaign are utilised to the direct benefit of the provinces residents, adds Scott. Its as simple as completing a test drive of any Kia model at any KwaZulu-Natal Kia dealership, a simple act that guarantees a donation of R100 to Gift of the Givers by Kia. Lets unite this Heritage Day weekend and collectively create a movement that changes an immeasurable number of lives for the better.
For more information, visit www.kia.co.za/testdriveforgood.
The 3rd Annual Southern Africa Oil and Gas Conference concluded at the CTICC last week and emphasised the urgent need for South Africa to explore and produce upstream oil and gas resources. The conference, jointly hosted by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), the South African Oil and Gas Alliance (SAOGA), alongside the Petroleum Agency South Africa (PASA), brought together industry experts, policymakers, and stakeholders. Discussions focused on onshore exploration and production, policy considerations, upstream technologies, strategies for achieving net-zero emissions, and the impact of the just energy transition on the oil and gas value chain in the SADC region.
Source: Lindsey Schutters/Bizcommunity
In her keynote address, Deputy Minister in the Presidency Ms Pinky Kekana called on all sectors of South Africa to work together to realise the potential of South Africas oil and gas sector. She encouraged South Africa to take lessons from our neighbours, Namibia, and Mozambique, which have realised substantial oil and gas investments.
South Africa wake up. We have seen the abundance that oil and gas has brought to Mossel Bay. We have new discoveries. We need the active participation of various stakeholders, including the private sector, institutions of higher learning, TVET colleges, and local municipalities. We must work together to ensure that development benefits the communities where it takes place. Lets build better, she said.
Achieving this would require a coordinated approach among government departments and consistent regulations and policies that do not hinder processes.
From the perspective of planning, monitoring, and evaluation, our government's role is to create an enabling environment for investors. We should explore ways to attract investors to manufacture locally, create jobs, and collaborate with educational institutions to address skills gaps and promote reskilling and upskilling.
Gas master plan
Thabang Audat, chief director planning in the DMRE presented the Gas Master Plan, which serves as a strategic roadmap for South Africa's energy future. This plan is set to guide policy decisions and advocate for an energy mix that includes natural gas as a pivotal component.
Renewables are not enough for South Africa to meet its energy demands. Oil and gas are integral to a just energy transition in South Africa and is an important step on a proposed road to decarbonisation, he said.
An array of speakers on day two stressed the urgency for South Africa to prioritise the exploration and production of upstream oil and gas, especially as renewables alone may not meet the country's energy demands. Oil and gas are integral to a just energy transition in South Africa. Globally, gas usage as a primary energy source is around 24%, while in South Africa, it's less than 3%.
Streamline policies
Gas utilisation has the potential to stimulate economic growth, job creation, infrastructure rejuvenation, and lower business costs.
Reflecting on the conference Dr Tshepo Mokoka the acting CEO of PASA said: There are many lessons from the last two days that we as the upstream oil and gas sector can take away from this conference include the need to streamline policies and regulations and remove obstacles to development."
"Our goal should be to create an enabling environment to attract investors for local manufacturing, job creation, and skill development and we must prioritise inclusive development by collaborating with stakeholders, including the private sector, educational institutions, and local municipalities to ensure that oil and gas development becomes a force for positive change in the communities where it takes place."
Business Talk is South Africa's leading business podcast and continues to grow in popularity.
Business Talk with Michael Avery has reached over 2.5 million views and continues to grow from strength to strength.
This latest milestone confirms that Business Talk is South Africas leading business podcast and the best place to find the latest insights into a wide range of industries.
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A refueling tanker fuels HMM's container ship at Busan New Port, Friday. Courtesy of HMM
Shipping industry slowdown causes concerns over failure in bidding
By Park Jae-hyuk
LX International, Dongwon Industries and the consortium of Harim Holdings and JKL Partners appear to be going all out to secure cash to win in a bid to acquire a controlling stake in HMM, which is estimated to be up to 6 trillion won ($4.5 billion), according to industry officials, Tuesday.
Earlier this month, creditors led by the Korea Development Bank (KDB) shortlisted the three as the candidates qualified to conduct due diligence for about two months and participate in the main bid in November.
Since then, market insiders have kept a close watch on how the bidders will raise money for the acquisition, as the companies do not necessarily hold enough cash and cashable assets to attain the HMM shares that have been put up for sale.
LX International is expected to issue new shares to secure up to 2.7 trillion won, because the trading firm modified its articles of association in March to increase the company's authorized shares to 160 million from 80 million. The decision has been viewed as a preparatory step to acquire HMM because this was the first time since 1999 that the company has raised its authorized shares.
At this moment, LX International is considered the strongest candidate. LX Group, which the trading firm belongs to, held 2.4 trillion won worth of cash and cashable assets as of the end of June.
However, the company's belated participation in the bid is said to have caused difficulties in hiring a financial adviser for the deal, because Samjong KPMG and EY Hanyoung signed contracts with Dongwon and Harim, respectively. Samil PwC is the seller's adviser, while Deloitte Anjin is LX's auditor.
"We cannot comment on our plans to acquire HMM," an LX International spokesman said.
Harim, which had 1.5 trillion won worth of cash and cashable assets as of the end of the first half, is expected to sell its property and land, including the site for its logistics center in Yangjae-dong, southeastern Seoul, which were valued at 850 billion won as of the end of last year. The company also seems to be borrowing money from financial firms, including JKL Partners, major commercial banks and securities firms.
Dongwon, which hired Bain & Company as another adviser, was reportedly considering listing Dongwon Home Food, StarKist and Dongwon Loex on the stock market. However, the initial public offerings (IPOs) will take several years, so the company is likely to borrow money from financial firms and then pay its debt with the money it will raise via the IPOs.
"An IPO process takes at least four years, so it is not a reasonable way to raise money to acquire HMM," a Dongwon Group official said.
Dongwon may collaborate with Korea Investment Holdings, which is managed by the older brother of Dongwon Vice Chairman Kim Nam-jung.
Korea Investment Holdings Chairman Kim Nam-goo, however, told reporters last Thursday that his company had not received a request from Dongwon to lend money for the HMM acquisition.
"Although Dongwon Group currently has 500 billion won worth of cashable assets, it can securitize other assets," the chairman said.
There remain concerns that the preliminary bidders may not participate in the main bid or the KDB may delay or cancel the sale procedure in the aftermath of the recent shipping industry slowdown. The Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, the world's most widely used trade index for sea freight rates, which had surpassed 5,100 in January last year, stood at around 1,000 throughout this year.
"The seller can cancel or modify the sale procedure, and the potential investor cannot object to the decision," the KDB said in its notification of the sale.
KDB Chairman Kang Seog-hoon also told the press in June that the bank wants to sell HMM to a company that has sufficient capital, management ability and willingness to contribute to the Korean shipping industry.
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Update: Armed Man Impersonated U.S. Marshal at Robert Kennedy Jr. Campaign Event, Police Say
Police detained, but did not arrest, A second man who arrived with Aispuro and had a backpack containing a handgun, multiple knives and extra ammunition.
Via: Los Angeles Times:
A man was arrested at a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. campaign event in Los Angeles on Friday after he allegedly impersonated a U.S. Marshal while carrying a loaded gun, police said.
The event took place at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in the 4400 block of West 8th Street, where Kennedy was giving a speech to mark Hispanic Heritage Month by discussing the need for a comprehensive policy to secure the border and ease immigration pressure, according to a news release.
The man appeared at a side entrance to the theater, claimed to be part of Kennedys security team and told personnel that he needed to be taken to the candidate immediately, Kennedys team said in a subsequent news release. Security guards detained him and called police, the release said.
Police received a radio call at about 4:30 p.m. reporting a man with a loaded gun, a shoulder holster and a badge that stated he was a U.S. Marshal, said J Chavez, public information officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. The man did not brandish a gun or threaten anyone, he added.
The man was arrested and taken to Wilshire Station, then booked on suspicion of a felony charge of carrying a concealed firearm, Chavez said. Police identified him as Adrian Paul Aispuro, 44. He remained jailed Saturday in lieu of $35,000 bail, booking records state.
Kennedys team said that police also took custody of a second man who arrived with Aispuro and had a backpack containing a handgun, multiple knives and extra ammunition. Police said they had no record of a second arrest.
Heres a video of the man who was arrested, impersonating RFKs security. pic.twitter.com/LIdcGwtXFW Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 16, 2023
Via: The Hill:
An armed man impersonating a U.S. marshal was arrested at a Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. campaign event on Friday, the candidate said.
Kennedy said a man with two holstered weapons carrying a U.S. Marshals badge and federal ID approached him at a Los Angeles campaign event on Friday. The man claimed to be part of Kennedys security detail.
Kennedy said his security identified the man and apprehended him until Los Angeles Police arrived.
Im very grateful that alert and fast-acting protectors spotted and detained an armed man who attempted to approach me at my Hispanic Heritage speech at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles tonight, Kennedy posted on social media.
Los Angeles Police confirmed that a man was arrested for posing as a federal agent at the event. The department said the man did not brandish the weapon or threaten anyone at the event.
Seen above is an image showing Hyundai Mobis' one-touch memory parking assist system. Courtesy of Hyundai Mobis
By Lee Min-hyung
Hyundai Mobis has developed a state-of-the-art parking technology that enables drivers to park their vehicles simply by touching a button, the car parts manufacturer said Tuesday.
The technology is the latest version of the firm's Mobis Parking System (MPS). The MPS 1.0 Premium features the memory parking assist system. When a driver parks their vehicle by operating a path-learning mode, the car automatically learns the specific parking maneuver sequence. This allows automatic parking with just one touch the next time they are at the same site.
Hyundai Mobis converged an ultrasonic sensor with a surround-view monitor for the memory parking system. It can trace a parking distance of up to 100 meters, according to the company.
The company expects the technology to attract particular attention from Europe and China where private garages and reserved parking are prevalent.
The next-generation parking system comes with price competitiveness in that the Hyundai affiliate did not use pricey radars or light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensors, Hyundai Mobis said. The company expects the system to win massive orders from its global clients. The system is also forecast to be commercialized rapidly even for mid- to low-priced vehicles, according to the firm.
Hyundai Mobis also upgraded its remote smart parking assist (RSPA) system to make the latest memory parking assistance more accurate.
The company plans to showcase the latest achievement at the AutoSens Brussels 2023 conference which runs for three days from Sept. 19 in the capital of Belgium.
Hyundai Mobis plans to keep garnering related research efforts until it achieves a higher technological level of auto valet parking. The company has also promoted a series of high-tech urban autonomous driving technologies, such as the e-corner system that features a multi-axis driving function that enables vehicles to move left and right.
"The one-touch memory parking assist system is a major elemental technology on our path to developing a completely automatic valet parking system," an official from the company said. "We will keep gaining an upper hand in developing more advanced technologies in line with the rapid rise of autonomous driving and electrification in the global car industry."
President Joe Biden expressed his appreciation Monday to Korea and other countries for helping achieve the return of five American citizens who were detained in Iran.
Biden issued a statement celebrating their release under a rare swap deal with Tehran that reportedly saw around $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen in Korean banks under U.S. sanctions unlocked.
"I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the Governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, and South Korea," he said, noting the detainees endured "years of agony, uncertainty and suffering."
Biden gave special thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, and the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, for helping facilitate the deal.
He also reminded U.S. citizens of the "serious risks" of traveling to Iran, while stressing reuniting "wrongfully" detained Americans with their loved ones has been a priority for his administration.
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken also thanked Korea.
"We also thank the Republic of Korea for its close coordination and partnership," he said, referring to the East Asian ally by its official name.
The Iranian funds in two Korean banks -- the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) and Woori Bank -- had been frozen under U.S. sanctions that were reimposed after then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran in 2018.
Seoul's foreign ministry issued a statement confirming the successful transfer of the Iranian funds to a third country under close cooperation between relevant nations.
It also expressed hope for the development of relations with Korea and Iran following the transfer of the funds.
Tensions arose between Korea and Iran as the Islamic republic had demanded the transfer of its frozen money. The demand posed a diplomatic challenge to Seoul, which has been striving to strengthen its treaty alliance with Washington and its economic partnership with Tehran. (Yonhap)
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Eamonn Holmes has said that people have been mocking him on social media for using a mobility scooter.
The Belfast-born presenter (63) lost full mobility after he underwent spinal surgery last year following chronic issues with back pain.
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GB News presenter Holmes told Best magazine about his mobility issues and said: Some people were mocking me on social media
View this post on Instagram Advertisement A post shared by Eamonn Holmes OBE (@eamonnholmes)
Oh, look at Eamonn, hes in a mobility scooter!. I replied, saying, I would prefer if I wasnt in it but how else would I have got around?.
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The alternative is I dont go anywhere, and I sit in my armchair, work in the office. So, I go out Its mentally uplifting to get out.
Holmes also spoke about how it has made him feel to receive physical help from people and said: Humble, helpless but grateful. However, its truly draining when you have to say, do you mind? Could you? Thank you, Im sorry.
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The good news is the op last year cured me of my back pain I lost full mobility. Im doing everything I can to get better. But its slow.
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He added: I now accept life is easier with help from others. Getting around with crutches is exhausting. I wish I could walk further but, for now, I cant.
Speaking on what he likes to do to get out of the house, he added: Some people think Im fixed but it just looks like that on TV I like getting out.
Going to the cinema is a terrible effort but worth it. Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning was great.
Prior to his surgery in 2022, Holmes had undergone a double hip replacement in 2016, which he previously said he had been putting off for years.
Holmes is married to Loose Women star Ruth Langsford and the duo presented This Mornings Friday show until ITV confirmed in November 2020 that the duo would be replaced by Dermot OLeary and Alison Hammond.
The full interview with the broadcaster features in the new issue of Best, now on sale.
The owner of a well-known estate in Co Cavan has brought fresh High Court challenges over a decision allowing a nearby agri-food plant to extend its manufacturing facility.
The actions have been brought by John Morehart, who owns the historic Bellamont Castle in Cootehill, Co Cavan and surrounding 1000 acres of forestry, grounds and waterways arising out of Monaghan County Council's decision to allow Abbott Ireland to extend its facility in Dromore, Co Monaghan.
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The facility is located approximately one kilometre from Mr Morehart's property.
The company, which makes milk products for infants at its facility, applied to the council for permission to expand its laboratory, office space, car park and warehouse facilities.
It also seeks to change existing warehouse facility to accommodate its industrial processes, relocate existing water tanks and install four powder silos and a new wastewater treatment plant.
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The council granted permission for the proposed development in February, but the decision was appealed by Mr Morehart to An Bord Pleanala.
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Mr Morehart, who has concerns about the impact the proposed development will have on his property, brought two sets of judicial review proceedings over the decision.
In his first set of proceedings against the council, Mr Morehart seeks an order quashing the council's decision to grant permission, claiming the permission is "seriously flawed".
It should be set aside on grounds including that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report concerning the proposed development fails to consider the impacts on emissions, climate change, cultural heritage, local development plans and hydrology, he claims.
Mr Morehart further submits that a part of the proposed works, relating to the extraction of water from local waterways, requires the use of lands he owns.
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He claims he was never asked for, nor has he given, his consent for any of these proposed works to carried out on his property.
Appeal
In the second set of proceedings, Mr Morehart, who failed to make a submission to the council on the planning application within the prescribed period to time, seeks to challenge An Board Pleanala's refusal to allow him to seek to appeal the council's decision to grant permission.
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A third party, An Taisce, has been allowed to appeal the council's decision.
He claims the board's decision, made last March, is flawed as it failed to give proper reasons for its refusal. He also submits that it failed to consider or engage at all with his submissions regarding his bid to appeal.
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He further claims in that action that a report was furnished to the board that stated he met all the requirements for the making of an application for permission to appeal the council's decision.
Abbott Ireland is a notice party to both actions, while the council is also a notice party to his action against the board.
The applications both came before Mr Justice Liam Kennedy during Tuesday's vacation sitting of the High Court.
Following submissions by Michael O'Donnell Bl, instructed by Harrington and Company Solicitors, for Mr Morehart, Mr Justice Kennedy directed that the applications for permission to bring the actions be made on notice, or in the presence of the other parties.
The judge adjourned both actions to a date in November.
Earlier this year, Mr Morehart resolved a separate High Court action he had brought in 2022 against the board over a decision granting Abbot permission to extend its Dromore facility.
Mr Morehart acquired the property in 2015, which was developed in the 18th century by the renowned architect Edward Lovett Pearse for then Lord Chief Justice of Ireland Thomas Coote.
The UK's Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he hopes the Irish Government will do all it can to support a new legacy body established to examine hundreds of unresolved Troubles deaths.
Mr Heaton-Harris described the granting of royal assent for the UK governments Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill on Monday as a significant milestone.
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The controversial legislation will provide a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
It will also prevent future civil cases and inquests.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Irish Government is seeking legal advice over the UKs new legacy Bill (Brian Lawless/PA)
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The Bill was opposed by all major Stormont parties, the Irish Government and victims campaign groups.
Several families of Troubles victims have already launched legal challenges to the new laws.
The Irish Government said it has requested legal advice as it considers taking a case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.
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But Mr Heaton-Harris said the legacy of the Troubles was one of the key issues left unaddressed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
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He added: Yesterdays royal assent of the Northern Ireland (Troubles & Reconciliation) Act marks a significant milestone as the government aims to deliver on our pledge to deliver better outcomes for those most affected by the Troubles, while helping society to look forward.
I recognise getting to this juncture has been a hugely difficult task for all.
The legislation contains finely balanced political and moral choices.
It presents us all with a real opportunity to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families, moving away from established mechanisms that have left far too many empty-handed.
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The Bill formally establishes the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which will be led by former lord chief justice Sir Declan Morgan with former senior police officer Peter Sheridan as its commissioner for investigations.
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Mr Heaton-Harris said: I know Sir Declan and his team of commissioners will approach the task with the rigour, integrity and professionalism required.
If we are truly to provide greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families of the Troubles and help society to move forward in the spirit of reconciliation, we must build a legacy process founded on integrity, expertise and fairness.
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Now that the legislation has become law, the UK government will do all it can to support the ICRIR, consistent with its operational independence, as it establishes itself and seeks to deliver effectively for victims and families.
I hope that others, including the Irish government, can do the same.
A former waitress in the Stardust complex has said she was shocked to read that a statement she made in 1981 quoted her as saying she did not remember ever seeing exit doors locked and chained during her time there.
Phyllis Cobbe, who worked as a waitress in the Lantern Rooms section of the Stardust, told the jury at the Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday that there were always chains and locks on the doors.
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Her original statement to Gardai made in 1981 was read into the record by the court registrar, during the inquest into the blaze that swept through the Stardust nightclub in the early hours of February 14th, 1981, killing 48 people.
The last part of this statement read: I have worked in the Lantern Rooms for the last one and a half years. I know that there are chains on the doors, but the bouncers usually open them before the crowds come in. I dont remember ever seeing a door locked and chained during my time there.
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The coroner, Dr Myra Cullinane, asked Ms Cobbe if the statement just read was correct according to what she remembered, to which the witness replied that it was not.
'I know that there are chains on the doors,' which is correct. But then it goes on to say: The bouncers usually open them before the crowds come in. I dont remember ever seeing a door locked and chained during my time there. I do not remember saying that, Ms Cobbe said.
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In response to a question from a member of the coroners legal team, Simon Mills SC, Ms Cobbe said: There were always chains and locks on the doors.
She said she did not know anything about when or whether the doors were locked or unlocked, nor did she know anything about the policy that was in place at the time about locking or unlocking doors. She also said she could not say anything about the doors being locked or unlocked on the night of the fire.
In response to a question from Des Fahy KC, representing nine of the families of the victims, Ms Cobbe confirmed that her evidence now is that there were always chains and locks on the doors.
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The doors always had chains on them around the bars, or the chains would be hanging with locks on them. I would never know if they were opened or closed, she said.
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I got this (statement) on Friday, and I was shocked to read that. I was a 16-year-old waitress, how would I know if doors were being locked or unlocked? Ms Cobbe said.
'Wall of flame'
Another former waitress, Paula Foy, who was 17 at the time of the fire, also gave evidence to Mr Mills that she remembered the chains were always on the doors, but she said she did not know anything about when they were locked or unlocked.
She told Bernard Condon SC, representing a number of the families, that there were locks on the doors and skips containing bottles in front of doors in the Stardust.
The evidence of an unavailable witness, Elizabeth Hunter, was also read into the record.
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In her statement to Gardai made in 1981, Ms Hunter, who was working at the bar between exits four and five in the Stardust, said she saw a complete wall of flame near where the curtain was. She said she ran out of the door beside the bar, and she was one of the first people out.
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When I went outside, I was choking with the smoke. I stayed outside for a while looking. After a while, the people that were coming out had their faces blackened, Ms Hunter said.
I then heard a number of explosions; I dont know how many. They were loud. I thought it was gas cylinders exploding. I then became terrified and started to run, she added.
She said that by the time the fire brigade arrived there were bodies everywhere.
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There was definitely nobody coming out through exit number four or six, Ms Hunter said.
She said there was a bouncer working beside the bar where she was working that night, and he went to exit number five about eight or nine times during the night and checked the chain by pulling it out.
These doors were locked together and chained, but it was the first door opened when the fire started. A young boy who collects the glasses passed some remark to me about the bouncer examining the chain so often, Ms Hunter said.
She said that during the night, the staff threw all their empty bottles into a big, blue, plastic container and one of these containers was usually in front of exit number five. She said these containers could be easily moved around as they were on wheels.
The jury also heard the conclusion of the evidence of another unavailable witness, doorman John Fitzsimons.
Evidence given by Ms Fitzsimons at the tribunal before Mr Justice Ronan Keane in 1981 was read into the record by Mark Tottenham BL.
Mr Fitzsimons said that on a number of occasions he complained about a shortage of doormen at the Stardust, and confirmed it was his view there was an inadequate number to ensure the safety of patrons.
He said he was aware of the practice of looping chains and locks around the bars of exit doors so as to give the impression that the door was locked. He accepted that this could have been a very unsafe practice from a safety point of view.
The inquest continues in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital on Thursday.
Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.
Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence.
If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said.
Trudeau said Canada has declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Trudeau said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canadas allies on the case.
In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter, he said.
Trudeau said he knows there are some members of the Indo-Canadian community who feel angry or frightened, and he called for calm.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canadas national security adviser and the head of Canadas spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.
He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Joly said Trudeau also the raised the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true they represent an outrageous affront to our sovereignty.
Opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging Indias record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined, Singh said.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.
Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies, the statement said. (AP)
Russia has launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv, burning down a warehouse said to be storing humanitarian supplies and killing a man, Ukrainian authorities have said.
Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the air force said on Tuesday.
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But drones that got through air defence systems sparked a blaze at the industrial storage facility, governor Maksym Kozytsky said.
The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine condemned the drone strikes and said they burned down a charitys warehouse containing vital relief supplies.
Denise Brown said the attack violated international humanitarian law protecting workers, facilities and supplies.
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Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine 19 September 2023.
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/wN3SDU2h5D
#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/yAcwFfJcIa Advertisement Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) September 19, 2023
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Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war, Ms Brown said.
Direct attacks or indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited. International humanitarian law is not an option, it is an obligation and must be upheld.
In other Russian strikes, an artillery strike in Kherson in the south hit a bus, killing a police sergeant and wounding two men, said Ihor Klymenko, Ukraines minister of internal affairs.
That strike also set a warehouse on fire.
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The developments in the war front come as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy is in New York to address the UN General Assembly and Security Council before going to Washington on Thursday to meet with politicians and US president Joe Biden.
Firefighters working after a Russian attack in Lviv on Tuesday (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)
Mr Zelenskiy has continued to drum up funding and support for new weapons as the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June approaches what could be its final weeks before wet weather slows progress.
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Ukraine has made small advances but no major breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said, while in Germany attending the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, that the 31 M1 Abrams tanks it promised will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as was expected.
Norway said it will donate approximately 50 tracked cargo carriers to Ukraine.
In a statement on Tuesday, Norwegian defence minister Bjorn Arild Gram said they will help get supplies to areas without roads.
Americans detained for years in Iran have arrived in the US after being freed as part of a deal that saw US President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent, is one of the prisoners.
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The successful negotiations for the Americans freedom brought Mr Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of Americas top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, Mr Biden said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
In the early hours of Tuesday, a plane carrying the Americans landed in the United States, according to a US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the matter publicly.
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US secretary of state Antony Blinken at a news conference where he said five Americans jailed for years in Iran had been freed (Craig Ruttle/AP)
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Mr Raisi told journalists.
However, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the US and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear programme and other matters.
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Iran says the programme is peaceful but now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of US troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
After the plane slowed to a stop in Doha, three of the prisoners Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Mr Tahbaz emerged.
They hugged the US ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others.
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The three then threw their arms over each others shoulders and walked off towards the airport.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi (Jonathan Ernst/AP)
In a statement issued on his behalf, Mr Namazi said: I would not be free today if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
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Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison.
The US did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans.
All were released in exchange for five Iranians in US custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea.
The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to US national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, were also on the plane.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the US.
Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Irans security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap.
Family members greet Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi (Jonathan Ernst/AP)
Nour News identified the two in Doha as Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the US to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
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The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil bought before the US imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The US maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food.
Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear programme.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The deal has already opened up Mr Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others, who say the administration is helping to boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Middle East allies.
That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former US president Donald Trump, currently the lead Republican challenger in that race, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on his Truth Social social media site.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell accused Mr Biden of rewarding and incentivising Tehrans bad behaviour.
Irans President Ebrahim Raisi meets United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres at the UN headquarters on Monday (Craig Ruttle/AP)
Mr Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
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In his statement, Mr Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago.
The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian ministry of intelligence.
The US government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans include Mr Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges, Mr Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years, and Mr Tahbaz, who was arrested in 2018 and also got a 10-year sentence.
In a statement, Mr Sharghis sister Neda said she cant wait to hug my brother and never let him go.
This is my brother, not an abstract policy, she added.
We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.
Iran and the US have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 US embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
Argentina on Tuesday welcomed a decision by a United Nations conference to include a former clandestine detention and torture centre as a World Heritage site.
A Unesco conference in Saudi Arabia agreed to include the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory in the list of sites considered to be of outstanding value to humanity, marking a rare instance in which a museum of memory related to recent history is designated to the list.
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The former Navy School of Mechanics, known as ESMA, housed the most infamous illegal detention centre that operated during Argentinas last brutal military dictatorship that ruled from 1976 through to 1983.
It now operates as a museum and a larger site of memory, including offices for government agencies and human rights organisations.
The ESMA Museum and Site of Memory in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Rodrigo Abd/AP/PA)
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The Navy School of Mechanics conveyed the absolute worst aspects of state-sponsored terrorism, Argentinas President Alberto Fernandez said in a video message thanking Unesco for the designation.
Memory must be kept alive so that no one in Argentina forgets or denies the horrors that were experienced there.
It is estimated that some 5,000 people were detained at the ESMA during the 1976-83 dictatorship, many of whom were tortured and later disappeared.
It also housed many of the detainees who were later tossed alive from the death flights into the ocean or river in one of the most brutal aspects of the dictatorship.
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The ESMA also contained a maternity ward, where pregnant detainees, often brought from other illegal detention centres, were housed until they gave birth and their babies later snatched by military officers.
This international recognition constitutes a strong response to those who deny or seek to downplay state terrorism and the crimes of the last civil-military dictatorship, Argentinas Human Rights Secretary Horacio Pietragalla Corti said in a statement.
The designation is a tribute to the thousands of disappeared individuals in our continent, Mr Pietragalla said, adding that this is an event of unique significance within Argentine and regional history, setting a precedent for continuing to lead by example in the world with policies of memory, truth and justice.
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Argentina has held almost 300 trials relating to crimes against humanity since 2006.
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Transparent photographs of people who disappeared during Argentinas dictatorship cover a window at the ESMA Museum and Site of Memory (Rodrigo Abd/AP/PA)
Among the reasons for deciding to include the ESMA in the World Heritage list was a determination that the site represents the illegal repression that was carried out by numerous military dictatorships in the region.
The designation of a former detention and torture centre as a World Heritage site comes at a time when the running mate of the leading candidate to win the presidential election next month has harshly criticised efforts to bring former military officials to trial.
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Victoria Villaruel, the vice presidential candidate to right-wing populist Javier Milei, has worked for years to push a narrative that the military junta was fighting a civil war against armed leftist guerrillas.
Mr Milei rocked Argentinas political landscape when he unexpectedly received the most votes in national primaries last month.
Former president Donald Trump is copping backlash from Republicans after he launched a direct attack on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his legislative ban on abortion for pregnancies beyond six weeks of gestation.
Mr Trump appeared on NBCs Meet the Press programme to discuss the run-up to the 2024 presidential election and his policies for his possible second term.
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Whilst on the programme, Mr Trump condemned the Bill signed by Mr DeSantis, which prohibits abortions after six weeks; before many women even know that they are pregnant.
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Mr Trump said: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.
Mr Trump repeatedly refused to be drawn into a discussion as to whether he would support a federal ban on abortion but did say he could live with the procedure being banned by individual states or nationwide through federal action.
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However, he said, from a legal standpoint, I think its probably better for abortion legislation to be handled at the state level.
Mr Trump has so far dominated the 2024 campaign field and has, at times, spurned anti-abortion groups that traditionally have a major influence on the Republican primaries.
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But his direct attack on the Florida Governor could give his Republican opponent new fodder as Mr DeSantis tries to regain momentum in his campaign and solidify his second-place standing.
Speaking to an Iowa radio station on Monday, Mr DeSantis said he was proud to have signed the Florida legislation, which he called noble and just.
Mr DeSantis told Radio Iowa: I dont know how you can even make the claim that youre somehow pro-life if youre criticising states for enacting pro-life protections for babies.
He went on to slam the former US presidents statement that both sides of the abortion debate could be worked with to come up with the best possible policy.
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Mr DeSantis said: I think all pro-lifers should know that hes preparing to sell you out.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (Bryon Houlgrave/AP)
On Monday, Republican senator for South Carolina Tim Scott specifically named Mr Trump while discussing abortion legislation at a campaign stop in Mason City, Iowa.
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He mentioned other unnamed Republican candidates but specifically accused Mr Trump of retreating on the issue.
Mr Scott said: Frankly, those pro-life folks that we really want to stand with us are not standing.
President Trump said he would negotiate with Democrats and walked back away from where I believe we need to be, which is a 15-week limit on the federal level.
Other Republicans in some key states, including those backing his rivals, expressed displeasure after the interview with NBC.
South Carolina state representative John McCravy, who sponsored the most recent, restrictive abortion measures, said he was certainly disappointed with Mr Trumps words.
Mr McCravy said: It sounded completely out of step with his staunch support for life while he was president.
The prime minister of Libyans eastern administration said authorities have divided the flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks.
It comes a day after thousands of angry protesters demanded the citys rapid reconstruction.
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Last week, two dams collapsed during Storm Daniel, sending a wall of water gushing through Derna.
Government officials and aid agencies have given death tolls ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000.
Now the affected areas are completely isolated, the armed forces and the government have begun creating a buffer out of fear of the spread of diseases or epidemics, Prime Minister Ossama Hamad said in a telephone interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV.
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Rescue teams look for flash flood victims in the city of Derna (Yousef Murad/AP)
No further details were given.
On Monday, the United Nations said a disease outbreak could create a second devastating crisis.
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Libyan protesters gathered in central Derna on Monday in the first mass demonstration since the flood.
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Outside the citys al-Shabana mosque, thousands called for a rapid investigation into the disaster, the urgent reconstruction of the city and other demands.
On Monday evening, the former mayor of the city, Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, said his home was set on fire by protesters.
Public prosecutors opened an investigation on Saturday into the collapse of the two dams, built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds for them.
That same day, Mr al-Gaithi was suspended pending the investigation.
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Many of the citys residents see politicians as the architects of the crisis.
The destruction caused by a flash flood is seen in Derna (Yousef Murad/AP)
The country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014.
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Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias whose influence in the country has ballooned since a Nato-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Both authorities have deployed humanitarian teams to the city but have struggled to respond to the large-scale disaster.
The recovery operation, with help from international teams, has been poorly co-ordinated and residents say aid distribution has been uneven.
Conflicting death tolls and statistics have been released by various official bodies.
Libyas Red Crescent has said at least 11,300 people have been killed and an additional 10,000 are missing.
After earlier reporting the same death toll, the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs is now citing far lower numbers about 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing.
Lawyers for FTX Trading have filed a lawsuit accusing the parents of its founder Sam Bankman-Fried of exploiting their influence over their son to syphon millions of dollars from the company.
They are accused of spending lavishly on a luxury home in the Bahamas and funnelling contributions to their pet causes and Stanford University.
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The complaint filed on Monday against Allan Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried in the collapsed cryptocurrency exchanges bankruptcy case in Delaware seeks to recover damages allegedly caused by the couple to the company.
FTX entered bankruptcy in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves a Manhattan federal court in New York (Bebeto Matthews/AP/PA)
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Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits to make lavish real estate purchases, campaign contributions to politicians, and risky trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm.
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His trial on federal fraud charges is scheduled to begin October 3 in Manhattan.
Several other former FTX executives have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and are co-operating with investigators.
The lawsuit alleges that Bankman, a Stanford University law professor and expert in tax law, and Fried, a retired Stanford law professor, participated in the wrongdoing that led to the collapse of FTX and resulted in both criminal and civil investigations.
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Despite presenting itself to investors and the public as a sophisticated group of cryptocurrency exchanges and businesses, the FTX Group was a self-described family business, the lawsuit states.
Bankman played a key role in perpetuating this culture of misrepresentations and gross mismanagement and helped cover up allegations that would have exposed the fraud committed by the FTX insiders, the complaint adds. And together, Bankman and Fried syphoned millions of dollars out of the FTX Group for their own personal benefit and their chosen pet causes.
Lawyers for Bankman and Fried issued a statement denying the allegation and taking aim at John Ray III, who was named chief executive when FTX sought bankruptcy protection.
This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins, lawyers for Bankman and Fried wrote.
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These claims are completely false. Mr Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better.
Among other things, the lawsuit alleges that the couple helped orchestrate a scheme in which their son gave them a nontaxable gift of $10 million.
The scheme involved Bankman-Fried receiving a loan from Alameda, then transferring the money to his parents. The lawsuit describes the transaction as part of a scheme and pattern to enrich and otherwise benefit themselves.
The complaint also states that more than $18.9 million in FTX funds was used to purchase a 30,000-square-foot luxury residence in the Bahamas for Bankman and Fried, who also benefited from more than $90,000 in FTX-funded expenses to furnish and maintain the property.
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Meanwhile, the lawsuit alleges, Bankman directed more than $5.5 million in charitable contributions from FTX to Stanford University in what the complaint describes as naked self-dealing in an attempt to curry favour with and enrich his employer at the FTX Groups expense.
Fried is accused of encouraging her son and other FTX insiders to make unlawful political contributions, including to Mind the Gap, or MTG, a political action committee she co-founded and for which she served as president and chairwoman.
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Fried focused heavily on masking Bankman-Frieds identity as a political donor. She regularly raised this issue in email communications with Bankman-Fried and advised him on avoidance of such disclosure, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh was used as conduit through which funds from Alameda were used to make political contributions to recipients who were hand-selected by Fried and rubber-stamped by Bankman-Fried.
Singh pleaded guilty in February to charges including conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and to defraud the Federal Election Commission. According to FEC records, Singh contributed roughly $9.7 million in 2022 and in late 2020 to various candidates and committees.
Earlier this month, Ryan Salame, former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets pleaded guilty to making tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to US politicians and engaging in a criminal conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Bankman-Fried argued to a federal appeals court panel Tuesday that his free-speech rights and ability to prepare for trial have been impaired by a judges decision to revoke his $250 million bail and hold him in pretrial detention.
The judge revoked Bankman-Frieds bail last month after finding probable cause that he had tampered with witnesses.
India has expelled a senior Canadian diplomat after dismissing allegations its government was linked to the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada.
It comes a day after Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations its government may have had links to the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
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Mr Nijjar was organising an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of his death.
Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Mr Nijjars arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
In a statement, Indias ministry of external affairs said the decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
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Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers a statement in the House of Commons (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/AP)
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The duelling expulsions come as relations between Canada and India are tense.
Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled a trade mission to India which was planned for the autumn. Protests by pro-Sikh independence groups in Canada have angered Prime Minister Narendra Modis government.
The Sikh independence or Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat.
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But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as countries like Canada and the United Kingdom, which are home to a sizeable Sikh diaspora.
Mr Trudeau told Parliament he brought up the slaying with Mr Modi at the G20 last week.
He said he told Mr Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and asked for co-operation in the investigation.
He said: Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
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A photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar is seen on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP)
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In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to co-operate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
On Tuesday, Indias foreign ministry released a statement dismissing the allegation as absurd and motivated.
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The ministry said Mr Trudeau had made similar allegations to Mr Modi.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, the statement noted, referring to the proposed name of a Sikh homeland.
Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said a top diplomat, who she said was the head of Indian intelligence in Canada, has been expelled as a consequence.
If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Ms Joly said.
As a consequence, we have expelled a top Indian diplomat.
Mr Modi expressed strong concerns over Canadas handling of the Punjabi independence movement among the overseas Sikhs during a meeting with Mr Trudeau at the G20, according to Indias response.
The statement described the Sikh movement as promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora.
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Protests by pro-Khalistan groups in Canada have angered Mr Modis government, prompting it to summon the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi in March.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India arrives to a welcoming ceremony during the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India (Dan Kitwood/PA)
Public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canadas national security adviser and the head of Canadas spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.
He called it an active murder investigation led by the royal Canadian mounted police.
Ms Joly said Mr Trudeau also raised the matter with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.
We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Ms Joly also said she would raise the issue with her peers in the G7 on Monday evening in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Canadian opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking.
Mr Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging Indias record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
But to hear the Prime Minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined, he said.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he received a briefing from Canadas spy agency about the assassination of Mr Nijjar and is deeply disturbed by what he was told.
The World Sikh Organisation of Canada called Mr Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.
Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies, the statement said.
Mr Nijjars New York-based lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, said Mr Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by mercenaries before he was shot.
Janice Stein, a political scientist and international relations expert at the University of Toronto, said to kill a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is astounding.
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Its tragic for Canada because we have issues of foreign interference with the two largest economies in Asia, China and India. And we have two very large diaspora from both countries. This is not what we want, Ms Stein said.
Indian authorities have targeted Sikh separatism since the 1980s, when an armed insurgency for an independent Sikh state took off in Punjab state.
In 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple in the states Amritsar city to flush out Sikh separatists, who had taken refuge there. The controversial operation killed around 400, according to official figures, although Sikh groups estimate the toll to be higher.
The prime minister who ordered the raid, Indira Gandhi, was killed after by two of her bodyguards, who were Sikh. Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive.
Mr Modis government has intensified the pursuit of Sikh separatists. When farmers camped out on the edges of New Delhi to protest agriculture laws in 2021, Mr Modis government initially tried to discredit Sikh participants by dismissing their concerns by calling them Khalistanis.
Police also arrested a 22-year-old climate activist for supporting the farmers and accused her of being in touch with Sikh independence supporters.
Earlier this year, supporters of the Khalistan movement vandalised Indian consulates in London and San Francisco.
In April, Indian police arrested a leader who had become popular for speeches that called for an independent Sikh homeland after a month-long hunt.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in Moscow City Court on Tuesday, seeking release from jail on espionage charges, but the court declined to hear his appeal and returned the case to a lower court to deal with unspecified procedural violations.
The decision means Mr Gershkovich, 31, will remain jailed at least until November 30, unless his appeal is heard in the meantime and he is released.
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Before the session was closed, Mr Gershkovich appeared in the glass defendants cage, smiling at fellow journalists and wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans.
He was detained in March while on a reporting trip to the city of Yekaterinburg, about 2,000km (1,200 miles) east of Moscow.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court (mitry Serebryakov/AP/PA)
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There was initial confusion about the outcome when the state news agency Tass reported the court had rejected Mr Gershkovichs appeal, but it later changed its report to say the case was sent to the lower court.
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The court proceedings are closed because prosecutors say details of the criminal case are classified. Mr Gershkovich last appeared in court in August when a judge ruled he must stay in jail until the end of November. Tuesdays hearing stemmed from that decision.
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her fourth visit to Mr Gershkovich on Friday, two days after the reporters parents appeared at UN headquarters and called on world leaders to urge Russia to free him. Ms Tracy said later that Mr Gershkovich remains strong and is keeping up with the news, including his parents appeal.
The plight of US citizens wrongfully detained in Russia remains a top priority for me, my team at the embassy, and the entire US government, Ms Tracy told reporters outside court.
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Russias Federal Security Service alleged Mr Gershkovich, acting on the instructions of the American side, collected information constituting a state secret about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military-industrial complex.
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy speaks to the media after a hearing on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovichs case at the Moscow City Court on Tuesday (Dmitry Serebryakov/AP/PA)
Mr Gershkovich and the Journal deny the allegations, and the US government declared him to be wrongfully detained. Russian authorities have not detailed any evidence to support the espionage charges.
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He is being held at Moscows Lefortovo prison, notorious for its harsh conditions.
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Mr Gershkovich is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986, when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for US News and World Report, was arrested by the KGB.
Analysts have pointed out that Moscow may be using jailed Americans as bargaining chips after US-Russian tensions soared when Russia sent troops into Ukraine. At least two US citizens arrested in Russia in recent years including WNBA star Brittney Griner have been exchanged for Russians jailed in the US.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has said it would consider a swap for Mr Gershkovich only after a verdict in his trial. In Russia, espionage trials can last for more than a year.
Britain's King Charles' state visit to France, from Wednesday to Friday, may be seen politically as a chance to rebuild ties between the two countries, but some Parisians said they were not impressed, and that they missed the glamour of the late Queen Elizabeth.
The 74-year-old king, and his wife Queen Camilla, will be guests of honour at a state banquet in the gilded Versailles palace, where the menu will feature blue lobster, Bresse French poultry, and a selection of French and English cheeses.
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Charles, a fluent French speaker like his mother, is keen to walk in her footsteps and is likely to refer to his mother's deep affection for France during the visit, officials said.
Still, Parisians were sceptical.
"He's just the son, they are old already, we don't have a long history," retiree Mireille Mauve said.
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His wife is "not so enchanting, she's a bit dull with her discourse. All this combined together doesn't create much interest," said the 88-year-old, who liked Queen Elizabeth and her horses.
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As part of the visit, Charles and Camilla will drive down the Champs-Elysees and view restoration works at the Notre-Dame cathedral following a massive blaze in 2019 that destroyed its roof.
There will be wreath laying at the Arc de Triomphe, with France's Patrouille acrobatique and Britain's Red Arrows, the aerobatics display teams of both nations' air forces, conducting a flypast at the start of the trip in celebration of the countries' shared history and values.
The trip is also a chance to rebuild ties that have been frayed by Britain's chaotic exit from the EU in 2020.
But 15-year-old Alexia Aubert said: "I think since Elizabeth died, the Royal family isn't as important as it was, King Charles isn't as important and symbolic as Elizabeth, so it doesn't really matter if he comes or not."
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In Britain, polls suggest Charles is less popular than his mother, who had strong support from much of the public. Still, a YouGov survey released in September found 60 per cent held a favourable view of him compared to 32 per cent with a negative one.
Younger Britons, however, tend to be more negative, also with the concept of the monarchy itself.
In Paris, carpenter Edouard Val de Lievre said of the British monarchy: "It's a part of the folklore in England, for me it's just that.
"He (Charles) represents the English population but that's all, nothing special for me."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has questioned why the United Nations has allowed Russias Sergei Lavrov to attend the world body as the Kremlin continues its assault on his nation.
While touring a hospital in New York, where Ukrainian soldiers are having their maladies tended to as the invasion by Russian forces still rages on, Mr Zelensky said the body of world leaders should answer for their decision to allow Russias minister of foreign affairs to attend.
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Mr Zelensky said: For us, its very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners.
And if in the United Nations still its a pity, but still there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service/AP)
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He added: I think its a question to all the members of the United Nations.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian president will address world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
He will also speak about the war in Ukraine on Wednesday at a UN Security Council meeting.
Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding council member, and Mr Lavrov is expected to make remarks at the meeting.
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When Mr Zelensky was asked if he would stay in the room to listen to what Mr Lavrov had to say, he said: I dont know how it will be, really.
Mr Zelensky is in the United States to appeal to politicans and US President Joe Biden to continue their support in financing Ukraines defence against the Russian invasion, a war that is now in its 19th month.
After what looks to be a heavy few days with the UN, Mr Zelensky is scheduled to spend some time on Capitol Hill on Thursday and meet with Mr Biden at the White House.
Five Americans detained for years in Iran walked off a plane and into freedom Monday, most arm-in-arm, as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets owed by a third country, Korea.
The successful negotiations for the Americans' freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of America's top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, Biden said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar. A plane carrying the Americans home to the United States was due to land Monday night.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested Monday's exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
However, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of all oil shipments pass.
After the plane slowed to a stop in Doha, three of the prisoners walked down the stairs. They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others.
The three ? Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz ? then threw their arms over one another's shoulders and walked off to a building in the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans, all of whom were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans' family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane. The women, too, clasped arms and kissed on the tarmac in Qatar.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Irans security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap.
Nour News identified the two released Iranians in Doha as Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money Korea owed Iran ? but had not yet paid ? for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, where Raisi will speak.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, currently the lead Republican challenger in the polls against Biden's 2024 re-election bid, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of rewarding and incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior.
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden urged Americans not to travel to Iran and demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
In a statement, Sharghis sister, Neda, said she cant wait to hug my brother and never let him go.
This is my brother, not an abstract policy," she added. "We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Qatar, Switzerland, Korea and Oman for helping make the deal happen. Biden pledged in a statement to keep pressing for accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution. Their most recent major exchange happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for easing sanctions.
The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners ? including those with dual nationality ? as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.
Negotiations over a major prisoner swap faltered after then-president Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018. From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions.
Iran also supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine in its war on Kyiv, which remains another major dispute between Tehran and Washington. (AP)
Flight Centre boss Graham Turner has called for the competition watchdog to be consulted on how foreign airlines gain access to Australian airspace, after the federal government rejected Qatar Airways request to double its flights to the country.
Turner told a Senate inquiry hearing on Tuesday that the government should consider introducing more open skies agreements with other countries to encourage airlines to increase the number of services to the country, which would lower airfares.
Open skies agreements allow airlines from the two countries to put on as many flights as they chose between their respective airports.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is generally involved with code share determinations. We believe it should also be consulted on bilateral agreements, Turner said, and pointed to the ACCCs involvement on decisions pertaining to the travel industry.
Opponents of a Voice to parliament frequently label its backers as elitist, out of touch, Canberra bubble types.
Credit: John Shakespeare
But we can think of few things more elitist and Canberra than Country Liberals senator and leading No campaigner Jacinta Nampijinpa Price billing taxpayers $76,509.19 for 76 business-class flights between her election last May and July 2023.
She spent 67 nights in hotels, in the same period, at a cost of $19,062, according to data released under freedom of information laws.
Now, Price is fully entitled to taxpayer-funded travel while performing her parliamentary duties. And as a senator for the Northern Territory, that travel involves covering more distance than most. Her predecessor, Sam McMahon, was frequently parliaments biggest spender on travel and accommodation.
Olivia Rodrigo has cancelled her Australian promotional tour just days before it was set to begin, leaving local fans of the US pop star sour and others out of pocket.
The 20-year-old Good 4 U singer was scheduled to arrive in Sydney on Friday to promote her second album, Guts. The visit would have been Rodrigos first time down under, in which she had planned a variety of media appearances such as on Nines Today show interviews, an exclusive fan Q&A and meet-and-greets.
Rodrigo performs during the MTV Video Music Awards earlier this month. Credit: AP
Fans who wanted to meet Rodrigo during her visit had to pre-order the Guts album from the singers Australian store, upload proof of purchase and follow the prompts to be in the running to win a ticket. Those who missed out on the meet-and-greet were put in the running for passes to the exclusive Q&A.
These kinds of promotional activities have become a common way for artists and labels to help boost album sales. Presales of Guts helped contribute to the album debuting at No.1 on the ARIA album charts this week.
Rallies opposing the Indigenous Voice to parliament planned around Australia this weekend are being organised by a pro-Kremlin activist and anti-vaccination campaigner living in the Russian consulate in Sydney.
The official No campaign has distanced itself from the latest iteration of the world freedom rallies, which have long been organised by Simeon Boikov, who is also known online as the Aussie Cossack.
NSW Liberal Democrat MP John Ruddick says Putin sympathiser Simeon Boikov (pictured) has been important in organising a No rally in Sydney this weekend. Credit: Wolter Peeters
While posters for the rallies were originally framed around opposing Australian aid to Ukraine and an array of conspiracy theories, they have now been rebranded as anti-Voice events and are expected to draw crowds in the thousands.
A spokesman for the major No outfit, Fair Australia, said the events scheduled for Saturday were not supported, endorsed or funded by us in any way.
The NSW Rural Fire Service has warned todays fire conditions are representative of whats to come over the summer, as 68 fires continue to burn across the state.
Spokewoman for the Rural Fire Service Angela Burford said as of 8pm, there were 68 fires burning and just under 30 were not contained.
The good news is all the fires are back at advice level, she said.
A helicopter dumps water on a bushfire that NSW Rural Fire Service are controlling from a property on Silverdale Road in Wallacia. Credit: Kate Geraghty
The firefighters did an incredible job keeping the fires at bay today considering some of the extreme conditions we were facing. Some of the winds were gusting at over 100km per hour which definitely had potential to destroy properties.
The coming days will be a welcome reprieve for firefighters as the cooler temperatures mean remaining fires from today can be extinguished, however it will not be for long.
We will be seeing a return to fire conditions in early next week according to the advice were getting at this stage, Burford said.
We are definitely going to see warm, windy conditions this year and its going to be very challenging.
The news
Strip searches that are failing to make womens prisons safer in Queensland are often re-traumatising and counterproductive to everything else the justice system seeks to do, staff have told a major review.
The harrowing Queensland Human Rights Commission report also raised the need for a further look at such searches in police watch houses, which were even more invasive, inhumane and degrading.
A trial of body scanners to replace strip searches in womens prisons is planned for next year. Credit: Queensland Human Rights Commission/Unsplash, Queensland Corrective Services
Titled Stripped of our dignity and published on Wednesday, the review of strip-search use in the states womens prisons found the inconsistent and ineffective practice was also leading women to forgo family visits to avoid them.
Developers hold more than 60,000 lots of land in south-east Queensland that have been approved by councils but not yet brought to market.
But as housing remains high on the state political agenda, the property industry says the issue is not simply about land banking.
Bells Creek Arterial Road in Calounda South opened on Tuesday, eight years after the estate opened. Credit: Queensland Government
These 60,121 approved lots of land, described as closing stock, are identified in the residential land supply data of the Queensland Government Statisticians Office.
Closing stock is land approved by councils for residential house lots but not yet turned into actual house lots by the developer.
Liam Lees was fascinated by the locks on the heavy metal doors of the cells in what was once Victorias most notorious prison block.
H Division at the former Pentridge Prison in Coburg was once so brutal it was known as Hell Division. For 9-year-old Liam, who wants to be a policeman, its old and cool.
Liam Lees looks for clues in a rock breaking yard during a tour in the former Pentridge Prison. Credit: Darrian Traynor
Liam was part of a new tour aimed at children, focusing on the block that once housed Victorias baddest and maddest criminals, according to crime reporter John Silvester.
Its former residents include multiple murderers Julian Knight, Paul Steven Haigh, Gregory John Brazel and standover man Mark Brandon Chopper Read.
The Voice will help to improve wasteful and expensive Indigenous programs, according to Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, who will highlight precise examples of how she would consult the Voice as she pitches the proposed advisory body as a solution to day-to-day problems.
Labor HQ chief Paul Erickson told party members on Tuesday the Yes side had developed positive momentum off the back of weekend city walks, as he launched a donation-matching drive to boost advertising spending and said the pathway to victory is still open despite many poor polls.
Linda Burney and former AFL player Eddie Betts at a weekend Yes event. Credit: Chris Hopkins
Burney will use a speech in Perth, where the Yes campaign is focusing its effort this week, to cast the No side as having no solutions in contrast with Yes which wants outcomes via a new body she said would have a two-way relationship with government.
As the minister, I will go to the Voice and say: this school attendance program isnt working, Burney will say at the Committee for Economic Development of Australia, according to draft speech notes.
Defining full employment will be at the heart of the Albanese governments white paper as a debate rages over whether job losses are good for the economy during near-record-low unemployment.
The federal government has committed to delivering full employment as one of five key objectives in the employment road map, to be released on Monday, which it will use to inform intersecting policies including migration and education to bolster the economy amid a global skills race.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says more needs to be done to put the benefits of employment within reach of more of our people. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
[The white paper] outlines our vision for a more dynamic and inclusive labour market in which more people have opportunities for secure, fairly paid work in a country where workers, employers and communities can be beneficiaries of change and thrive, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said ahead of its release.
The other four key objectives are promoting job security and strong, sustainable wage growth; productivity growth; filling skills gaps; and overcoming barriers to employment faced by many Australians.
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Libya's disaster-hit Derna on Monday, accusing the authorities of neglect after a huge flash flood devastated the coastal city and swept thousands to their deaths.
Demonstrators gathered outside the city's grand mosque and chanted slogans against the parliament in east Libya and its leader Aguilah Saleh.
"The people want parliament to fall", "Aguila is the enemy of God", "The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain" and "Thieves and betrayers must hang", they shouted.
A statement read on behalf of the protesters urged "a speedy investigation and legal action against those responsible for the disaster."
They also demanded a United Nations office in Derna and the start of "the city's reconstruction, plus compensation for affected residents" and a probe into the current city council and previous budgets.
"Those who survived from the city, in what's left of the city, against the ones who brought death and destruction to the city," posted analyst Anas el-Gomati on X, formerly Twitter, under pictures of the destruction.
Some protesters marched on a house reportedly owned by Derna's unpopular mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi and set it on fire, according to images shared on social networks and by Libyan media.
Al-Masar television reported that the head of the eastern-based government, Oussama Hamad, had dissolved Derna council and ordered an investigation into it.
Politicians and analysts say the chaos in Libya since the 2011 fall and killing of Moamer Kadhafi has relegated the maintenance of vital infrastructure to the background.
On September 10, two dams in which cracks were reported as far back as 1998 burst after Storm Daniel hit eastern Libya, unleashing the devastating and deadly torrent that swept through the city of 100,000 people.
It killed more than 3,330 people and left thousands more missing.
Tens of thousands of traumatized residents are homeless and badly need clean water, food and basic supplies amid a growing risk of cholera, diarrhea, dehydration and malnutrition, U.N. agencies have warned.
Disease outbreaks
On Monday the U.N. warned disease outbreaks could bring "a second devastating crisis."
Local officials, aid agencies and the World Health Organization "are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation", the U.N. said.
Libya's disease control center warned that mains water in the disaster zone is "polluted".
Rescue teams from European and Arab countries kept up the grim search for bodies in the mud-caked wasteland of smashed buildings, crushed cars and uprooted trees.
The waters submerged a densely populated six-square-kilometer (2.3-square-mile) area of Derna, damaging 1,500 buildings of which 891 were totally razed, according to a preliminary report by the Tripoli government based on satellite images.
"We grew up here, we were raised here... But we've come to hate this place, we've come to hate what it has become," said one bereaved Derna resident, Abdul Wahab al-Masouri.
Bulldozers cleared roads of mud, including at a mosque where a foul smell hung in the air and a woman prayed for children and grandchildren killed in the disaster.
Amid the chaos, the true death toll remained unknown, with untold numbers swept into the sea.
The health minister of the divided country's eastern administration, Othman Abdeljalil, said Monday 3,338 people were now confirmed dead in Derna.
Officials and humanitarian groups have warned that the final toll could be much higher.
Field hospitals
Emergency response teams and aid have been deployed from countries including Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt has sent a helicopter carrier to the eastern Tobruk military base to serve as a field hospital with more than 100 beds, Egyptian media reported Monday.
France has set up a field hospital in Derna.
On Monday, the U.N., which has launched an emergency appeal for more than $71 million, said nine of its agencies were delivering aid and support to survivors.
The European Union said it was releasing 5.2 million euros (around $5.5 million) in humanitarian funding for Libya, bringing total EU aid so far to more than 5.7 million euros.
In the face of the tragedy, rival Libyan administrations appear to have set aside their differences for now after calls to collaborate in the aid effort.
Libya has been split between two rival governments -- a U.N.-backed administration in the capital Tripoli and another in the disaster-hit east -- since the NATO-backed uprising 12 years ago.
On Monday the Tripoli-based government said it began work on a temporary bridge over the river that cuts through Derna.
U.N. experts have blamed the high death toll on climatic factors as the Mediterranean region has sweltered under an unusually hot summer, and on the legacy of Libya's war. (AFP)
Australian sporting icon Cathy Freeman has thrown her weight behind the Voice referendum and will be used by the Yes campaign in promotion leading up to voting day on October 14.
In arguably the most high-profile Indigenous endorsement, Freeman has recorded a minute-long video message imploring Australians to stand with me and show our support for Australians who need it the most.
I cant remember a time when change has felt so urgent. When momentum has been so strong. From small towns to big cities, something is in the air. I know all Australians feel it too, she said.
We have the chance to be part of a moment that brings people together, to work hard for something that we can all believe in.
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 We spoke to six people to get their reactions to NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookheys NSW budget. Here is what they had to say. The patient Dr Michela Brennan, 35, is a GP, but became a patient herself when she was diagnosed with mouth cancer this year. She is also a mother of two young children. She hoped the budget would tackle overloaded emergency rooms and understaffing at hospitals, but is happy the state government has made a commitment to womens health. Dr Michela Brennan with her husband Sean Brennan and their children Lilliana and Nicholas. Credit: Nikki Short It is great to see money being set aside for so many womens health. As always, though, it is important to see how this money is being spent, she said. We need to see that money translating into action and outcomes.
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The commuter Parramatta resident Zeke Irving, 22, is a trainee freight forwarder who catches public transport every day. He usually takes the bus to his work at Blacktown and other western suburbs. In the budget was an increase in Opal prices with a trip from Parramatta to Central rising from $5.42 to $5.72 during peak times. However, Irving said he wont be affected by the increase in Opal travel, as he always reaches the $50 cap, which is staying. Zeke Irving, 22, commutes every day, in all directions. Credit: Kate Geraghty He also doesnt think the extra cost for Opal will push people to drive, as the cost of fuel is also going up. Its a massive part of my weekly budget, he said. Without the cap rate, I would easily spend $100.
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The homebuyer Charys Caldarella and her husband Shane Rizkallah are small business owners who have found it next to impossible to get into the property market. The couple, who have three children, hoped to see more done for small business owners, as the cost-of-living crisis has eaten away at their profits, making it nearly impossible to get a mortgage. Charys Caldarella, Shane Rizkallah with their children Cataleya, 9, Anja, 7, and Sebastian, 6. Credit: Steven Siewert Caldarella said she was disappointed most of the housing affordability measures in the budget were related to regional NSW. The pairs children have special needs, meaning the family is unable to simply up and leave for a more affordable market. We did have a look at Batemans Bay, but theres just not enough infrastructure there, and not just for special needs families but for most families, she said.
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Most schools in regional areas go into one class in year 3 to 6. My children would just end up a number in the system. Its absolutely a no-go zone. The job seeker Evelyn Sommer, 29, moved to Sydney from Argentina on a working visa in December last year and babysits once a week, but has been applying for work in kitchens, waitressing and housekeeping. Sommer is qualified as a drama teacher in Argentina but said it was difficult to find a way to convert her qualification and work in Australias education sector. Evelyn Sommer, 29, moved to Sydney from Argentina on a working visa in December. Credit: Edwina Pickles She said she was happy to see such a commitment to teachers but said the budget would negatively affect her due to the increase in public transport costs. Both my partner and I take sometimes one or two buses, and then [afterwards] two or even three trains a day depending on if we are going to an event, and where it is located, she said.
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The family Lara Dignam and husband Mike Dhinse have two young daughters and own Papa Gedes Bar in the CBD. As the cost of living continues to rise, the pair said they were finding it harder and harder to pay for childcare while also paying off a mortgage. Bar owners Lara Dignam and Mike Dhinse with their children Ada (eldest) and Nina. Credit: Rhett Wyman However, the childcare relief released in this budget wont help. Their daughters are two and seven, meaning that, due to their ages, they both miss out on the new and existing subsidies. The family also use the Creative Kids voucher to put their daughters in dance, but it is being reduced from $100 to $50. I started using them this year, and its a huge help. Especially when the kids are doing stuff basically every day. It all really adds up, Dignam said.
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Gwendal Poullenec, the director of the guides, said in an interview that although the company accepts partnership money to offset the expenses of the review process, the decision about whether a region merits its own Michelin guide is determined solely by the companys inspectors, who assess the maturity of the culinary scene as a preliminary step. Since publishing its first American guide to New York City in 2005, Michelin has moved into California, Washington, DC, Chicago and Florida. Poullenec said that vibrancy and dynamic potential are also taken into consideration, as an explanation of why rapidly growing Florida and Colorado and Atlanta, coming next year have guides, while New Orleans and New England do not. A Michelin announcement about its Colorado guide last month declared, Our anonymous Inspectors combed the Centennial State for the most delicious spots. But in fact, only restaurants in Denver, Boulder, Aspen, Vail, Snowmass and Beaver Creek were being considered. Michelins inspection process, and the firewall it long maintained between the guides and the restaurant industry no free meals, no sponsors, no advertising have given it a special status. It is a costly undertaking (which used to be financed by the sales of hundreds of thousands of hardcover guides per year), but it has convinced consumers and chefs that Michelin makes all its decisions impartially.
For Michelins first century that was largely true, including for the first New York City guide, in 2005, and the San Francisco Bay and Napa Valley guides in 2007. But only since 2019, when Visit California paid Michelin $US600,000 ($930,000), have top restaurants in Los Angeles and elsewhere in the state earned stars. Loading So while it is still true that individual restaurants cant buy stars, tourism boards and hotel owners can buy the possibility. In 2010, after the guides had been losing money for years, the parent company hired consulting giant Accenture to assess their future. Soon, the Michelin Guide began to transform itself from an elite, arms-length critic of the restaurant industry to a financial partner. Michelin began accepting money from sponsors such as food brands, liquor distributors, hotel chains and tourism agencies. Michelin guides in Thailand, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore were all published with financial backing from local tourism authorities. Companies such as Nestle and Lavazza now sponsor Michelin awards including Rising Star Chef, Sommelier of the Year and Pastry Chef of the Year.
Tim Wolfe, the director of the Colorado Tourism Office, led the effort to bring Michelin to his state. Among Colorados tourism boards and even its state restaurant association, the notion of restaurants rather than ski slopes or rock faces as travel destinations is rather new. But, he said, he knew that international visitors to Colorado spend five times more than domestic ones so it was an easy call. To get the guide, his agency agreed to contribute $US100,000 a year for three years. Following suit were four tourism boards (Denver, Boulder, Aspen, Vail) and two resort companies (Snowmass and Beaver Creek); they told The New York Times that they each paid Michelin $US70,000 to $US100,000. Aurora and Colorado Springs, among others, declined to participate. I love all my children equally, Wolfe said. But if Colorado Springs wanted to get involved, they have to get involved. Visit Aurora and Visit Colorado Springs declined to comment on their decisions. Chef Brother Luck, the owner of three restaurants in Colorado Springs and a former Top Chef contestant, was appalled to see his city passed over. How do you leave out the second-largest city in the state? he said. It feels like a slap in the face.
Poullenec said Colorado Springs and other places left out of the guide have the option of joining next year. Changing tastes In Florida, which received its first round of Michelin stars in 2022, a similar situation played out. That states guide was funded with more than $US1.5 million from state and city tourism budgets, according to an investigation by The Miami Herald. As a result, only restaurants in the Miami, Tampa and Orlando areas were eligible for stars. Im beyond disappointed after the years Ive put in carrying the torch for South Florida, said Timon Balloo, a chef who cooked in and around Miami for 35 years, creating the successful national chain Sugarcane Bar & Grill and Downtown Miamis popular Balloo before the pandemic forced him to move to Fort Lauderdale. He said that if he had known the move would make him ineligible for Michelin consideration, he would have fought harder to keep his footing in Miami. Even some Miami chefs were disappointed at the inaugural ceremony, though. Michelin gave no restaurant three stars, and named only one with two stars: LAtelier de Joel Robuchon, in Miamis Design District, an outpost of a global restaurant chain founded by a French chef who had been dead for four years.
You could hear the air go out of the room, chef Niven Patel said. It was utter shock. Amid decades of expansion, Michelin has maintained that its stars transcend geography, taste and trends; that a one-star restaurant in Hangzhou can (and must) have the same value as a one-star restaurant in Hamburg or Honfleur or Hialeah. Loading The star system one, worth a stop; two, worth a detour; three, worth a journey was devised more than a century ago to guide business owners as they motored around France on the companys tires. Today, when someone is flying from Germany to San Diego to eat at your restaurant, the stakes are much higher, said William Bradley, the chef-owner of Addison, Southern Californias only three-star Michelin restaurant. So are the costs. Michelin inspectors are full-time employees, and are sent around the world to perform evaluations, ensuring that no inspectors can privilege relationships or preferences in their own regions.
The challenge for Michelin seems to be balancing the high standards that give the brand its power with the imperative to expand into markets that may not have many restaurants that meet those standards. Poullenec said that Michelins culinary and editorial judgments far outweigh financial considerations. We need to grow, not compromise, he said. One way Michelin is trying to meet that challenge is adding new awards. Restaurants noted for their environmental sustainability can now get a green star. Those that offer good value can earn the Bib Gourmand. In 2017, Michelin introduced a new category for restaurants deemed good, but not good enough for a star: briefly called Michelin Plate, but now simply Recommended. The terms Michelin-recommended and Michelin-recognised have become a common plaudit for the more than 16,600 restaurants that appear in the guide at every level. Of those, only 3,400 have stars, and just 142 have three. In some ways, this expanding of the honours is a win-win. Unlike a James Beard award or a spot on the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list, Michelin stars are something any number of restaurants can win, and keep on winning. More restaurants in more places get to flash the Michelin credentials, and Michelin gets to expand its reach and become a more widely recognised arbiter of quality. But when thousands of vaguely recommended restaurants can call themselves Michelin destinations, Michelin may risk diluting its brand.
Chasing the validation Chefs began to publicly push back against Michelin around the turn of the 21st century, rejecting what they saw as its focus on luxurious trappings such as foie gras and caviar, crystal glassware and linen hand towels. In 1999, celebrated British chef Marco Pierre White renounced his three stars, citing the pressure and monotony of maintaining them, and questioning the authority of inspectors. Next came the 2003 suicide of French chef Bernard Loiseau, who believed that his restaurant was being demoted from three stars to two. Recent objections have focused on the elaborate, multicourse menus that draw Michelin stars. They have historically relied on long hours of low-paid (sometimes unpaid) labor, raising questions about the human cost of fine dining. Rene Redzepi, the chef of Noma, in Copenhagen, Denmark, decided to close the restaurant soon after it finally won its third star, citing the unsustainability of the business model. Luck, the Colorado Springs chef, said the mental health costs of the restaurant business are already too high, without worrying about Michelin stars. We have to protect the next generations, he said, adding. I worry that chasing the validation of these standards and these stars can be dangerous.
Niki Nakayama of n/naka in Los Angeles said that while she longs to rise from two stars to three, she cant afford the upgrades she believes it would take: more courses, matching uniforms, more carefully arranged plates. Plating is a trajectory of how money has influenced the business, she said. The more labor you can afford for the tweezer work, the matching uniforms, the spotless glasses, the more Michelin stars you can hope for. Many chefs and diners see a creeping sameness among Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, and not only in the consistently excellent ingredients and techniques that the guide says it rewards. Long menus of pre-composed mouthfuls, tiny proteins and the ostentatiously arranged small plates satirised in The Menu have become the rule. Loading At this point, we can all serve Japanese fish, we can all do knife work, we can all make a gelee, said Charlie Mitchell, the chef and co-owner of Clover Hill, in Brooklyn Heights in New York City. He said that since winning a star last year, he has had to fight the urge to make his food ever more Michelin-friendly rather than following his own instincts.
Baku: Azerbaijan sent troops backed by artillery strikes into Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday in an attempt to bring the breakaway region to heel by force, raising the threat of a new war with its neighbour Armenia.
Karabakh, a mountainous area in the volatile wider South Caucasus region, is internationally recognised as Azerbaijani territory. But part of it is run by separatist Armenian authorities, who say the area is their ancestral homeland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in November. Credit: AP
Karabakh has been at the centre of two wars the latest in 2020 since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Azerbaijan to halt its operation immediately, saying it was worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Karabakh a reference to a lengthy de facto blockade of the region by Baku.
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A Perth-based brokerage and financial advisory firm has raised over $100,000 for childhood heart disease support and an organisation supporting education in Kenya.
TAG Financial held its 15th Annual TAG 1% Fundraising Lunch in August, drawing support from more than 400 business contacts, clients, and guests, with a total of $101,692 being raised.
Andrew Browne (pictured above), director of TAG Financial, said the funds raised at this year's event would have a profound impact, touching lives both locally and abroad through charities HeartKids WA and Nakuru Hope.
Giving back to move forward is a vision we take very seriously at TAG, Browne said. Through this underlying belief, weve been able to make a meaningful difference to many organisations in Australia and abroad.
Brownes work was recognised when he won Community Champion Award on behalf of his company at the MFAA National Excellence Awards in July.
It makes us feel good to know that a little small business in Applecross Western Australia can have such a profound impact on communities as far reaching as Kenya and the slums of Cambodia.
Giving back to move forward
Having supported Nakuru Hope for seven years and Heart Kids WA for five, Browne said the continued to closely track their significant impact at both organisations.
In Kenya at Nakuru Hope, we initially supported a small school that has since grown to 300 students, added an orphanage, school hall, commercial kitchen, farm, and water tower that also supplies heavily discounted water to the town and subsequently provides a small revenue stream to the school, Browne said.
For Heart Kids WA, Browne said TAG aligned itself with the charity after witnessing firsthand the unwavering support the charity had provided to a family that TAG had worked with for many years.
Heart Kids WA is the only national charity dedicated to supporting and advocating for all people impacted by childhood heart disease, he said. If we didnt support the same organisations on an ongoing basis, we would miss out on seeing the impact we are having.
The idea for the lunch originated when Browne and his brother rallied 13 finance professionals from across Australia for a three-week humanitarian expedition in rural Cambodia.
It had such a profound impact on all of us we pledged to continue this passion. Initially we were running the lunches to try to recruit people to be part of a similar humanitarian experience, Browne said.
As time went on, the fundraising lunch gained popularity and soon involved guest speakers such as dual premiership AFL player Wayne Carey (pictured below), stand-up comedians, and a new location at the Beaumonde on The Point on the Swan River.
While the lunch itself changed focus, Browne decided to support Cambodian organisations in other ways.
We continue today in supporting some of these groups by providing water filtration systems and solar power, said Browne. We actually involve our clients in this initiative by giving them the option to choose either a solar light or water filter in return for a successful finance transaction. It works well.
A glimpse of the future: Continuing the legacy
Looking ahead, Browne said he was committed to visiting Nakuru in 2024, eager to witness the tangible impact of TAG's efforts firsthand.
The annual fundraising lunch will continue to evolve, building on each year's successes through small improvements and delightful surprises. The same venue is already locked in for the next event, and excitement is already brewing about the guest speaker.
Although it only happens once per year, Browne said TAG Financial was built around the philosophy that to move forward in business, you need to be giving back to the community.
This fundraising lunch is a key pillar in our calendar. It takes about a month to organise and is a day that all the staff are fully invested in, Browne said. They all work hard on the day and take pride in the result.
See LinkedIn post here.
S. Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (Photo: Jeon Han/Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY -SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0))
South Korea's political scene has intensified following the government's tacit approval of Japan's decision to release treated radioactive water into the sea, aligning itself closer to the U.S.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, began a hunger strike on August 31 to protest President Yoon Suk Yeol. One of Lee's grievances was Yoon's administration's lack of opposition to Japan's decision.
By Monday, after 19 days of fasting, Lee's health deteriorated, leading to his emergency hospitalization. Despite medical treatment, Lee remained steadfast in his hunger strike.
Lee's actions not only targeted Yoon's government but also aimed to deflect from corruption investigations against him. Lee is under investigation by the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office for three cases of corruption and perjury. Hours after Lee was hospitalized, prosecutors sought a court warrant for his arrest.
While preparing for the United Nations General Assembly in the U.S., President Yoon approved the arrest request for Lee on the 19th. In response, the Democratic Party declared a "full-scale resistance" against Yoon's administration, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Han Deok-soo and the entire cabinet.
Will Lee be Arrested?
Under South Korean law, sitting members of the National Assembly have immunity from arrest during their term, a provision designed to protect lawmakers from political persecution. Thus, even with Yoon's approval, it doesn't guarantee Lee's arrest.
For authorities to arrest Lee, they need the National Assembly's approval. Reports suggest that the Ministry of Justice will submit the arrest request to a full session of the National Assembly on Wednesday, with a vote expected on Thursday.
The National Assembly operates under a unicameral system. Of its 300 seats, Yoon's ruling party, the People Power Party, holds 114, making it a minority. The Democratic Party, led by Lee, holds 167 seats.
For the arrest request to be effective, a majority of the National Assembly members must approve it. Given the Democratic Party's majority, if all its members vote against it, the request will be nullified.
Although Yoon's administration opposes Lee's hunger strike, the arrest request doesn't pertain to the strike. Currently, Lee is under investigation for various charges, including corruption related to real estate development, alleged solicitation of false testimony, and a case involving remittances to North Korea.
Political Struggle Intensifies
With National Assembly elections set for next April, the Democratic Party, led by Lee, slightly leads in polls over Yoon's conservative People Power Party. If the Democratic Party gains more seats, Yoon's governance will face challenges.
The two parties have always been fierce rivals. The People Power Party, a merger of several parties, including the one of former President Park Geun-hye, contrasts sharply with the Democratic Party, which was affiliated with former President Moon Jae-in.
Even without major incidents, the rivalry between the two parties never ceased. The release of radioactive water by Japan, Yoon's declining approval ratings, and the upcoming elections have heightened tensions.
Lee's hunger strike, which began a week after Japan started releasing the treated water and just before he was again questioned over corruption, has been a focal point. Lee has accused Yoon's administration of undermining democracy, destroying the middle class, and failing to oppose Japan's actions.
Lee's demands for Yoon include an apology to the nation for undermining democracy, a complete cabinet reshuffle, opposition to Japan's water release, and suing the Japanese government under international maritime law.
While hunger strikes as a form of political protest are not uncommon in South Korea, most have not prevented government actions, but some have boosted the protester's popularity.
A poll released by Realmeter on Monday showed Yoon's approval rating dropping to 35.5%, while the Democratic Party's support rose to 46%. As both parties gear up for next year's elections, the People Power Party has started targeting officials from Moon's tenure.
On Friday, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested investigations into 22 former officials, including those from Moon's office and former ministers. The board accused them of pressuring statistical departments to manipulate key economic data.
The Democratic Party, on Monday, submitted a motion in the National Assembly demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Han Deok-soo and the entire cabinet. They also announced a "full-scale resistance" against what they termed Yoon's "tyrannical government."
Former President Moon Jae-in, now retired, has also started making public appearances. On Tuesday, he attended an event in Seoul commemorating the fifth anniversary of the "919 Pyongyang Joint Declaration." After the event, Moon visited Lee in the hospital.
Lamian noodle maker shares stories of Qinghai's thriving Lamian noodle business
People's Daily Online) 13:58, September 19, 2023
My name is Ma Xueming, and I'm one of the hundreds of thousands of Lamian noodle makers in northwest China's Qinghai Province. I'm delighted to share with you my story of the 4,000-year-old craft of Lamian noodle making.
My hometown is mountainous, with frequent droughts and limited transportation. It used to be a poverty-stricken area. In the 1980s, to make a living, 110,000 people from the Hui Autonomous County of Hualong, Qinghai ventured out of the mountains and started their own businesses, relying on their noodle-making skills.
This photo taken on April 5, 2023 shows three bowls of Lamian noodles at a noodle restaurant in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province. (Xinhua/Geng Huihuang)
In 2002, I started my own Lamian noodle business in Shanghai with a meager 7,000 yuan ($960) that I managed to gather. I opened a Lamian noodle restaurant which covered about 30 square meters. Recognizing the potential of the Lamian noodle industry, I later opened Lamian noodle restaurants in Anhui Province, Tianjin Municipality, Hebei Province, and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. During peak seasons, I could earn between 700,000 and 800,000 yuan a year.
In 2018, I returned to my hometown and devoted myself wholeheartedly to the Lamian noodle industry. I started building factories and opening chain stores. Through continuous exploration and improvement, I introduced a new generation of Qinghai Lamian noodles that received high praise from young people. Nearly half of our customers come specifically for the new flavors.
These days, more and more villagers like me are living a better life, thanks to Lamian noodles.
The success of our noodle business would not have been possible without the efforts of Party organizations and government departments at all levels.
The county has established 46 Lamian noodle offices nationwide and appointed officials as directors of these offices. When we encounter difficulties in opening shops outside our hometown, the staff members at these offices help us obtain business licenses and resolve issues related to our children's education in the local area.
The county government rolled out many favorable policies to support the Lamian noodle industry.
For instance, lack of startup capital can be overcome by applying for special loans and support funds. Individuals can borrow up to 200,000 yuan, while partnerships can borrow up to 2 million yuan. Furthermore, if a Lamian noodle restaurant is recognized as a brand experiential restaurant, it will receive an additional reward of 50,000 yuan.
For those who do not have technical skills, they can attend the Lamian noodle school established in the village. Alternatively, they can work and learn in Lamian noodle restaurants recommended by the government.
As a result, nearly 200,000 people from different ethnic groups in Qinghai have emerged from the mountains and valleys, opening over 30,000 Lamian noodle shops in 337 cities across China and abroad. They have deeply integrated and harmoniously coexisted with local communities. Today, the Lamian noodle industry has become a business with an annual turnover of more than 10 billion yuan.
Qinghai is an important gateway on the southern route of the ancient Silk Road, forming deep and long-lasting connections and cultural ties with Central Asian countries and the Arab world.
With the advancement of the Belt and Road Initiative, many of my friends have opened Lamian noodle restaurants in 11 countries and regions, including Russia, Malaysia, South Korea, and Turkey, allowing people from different countries to enjoy the delicious taste of Qinghai.
(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
Close on the heels of its historic outreach to African nations and the successful launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA), India will soon welcome delegations from countries like Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda who are keen to replicate Indias ethanol blending and biogas initiatives, senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas have confirmed.
Launched on the sidelines of the recent Group of Twenty (G20) summit, the GBA aims to reshape the global landscape and expedite the uptake of biofuels worldwide, set standards for biofuel, expand the size of formal biofuel markets, and better map demand and supply.
Apart from G20 member South Africa, non-G20 nations like Kenya and Uganda also made up the list of 19 signatory nations.
Faced with increasing oil import bills for a growing population, both these nations have shown keen interest in adopting ethanol blending in petrol for transportation after learning about the benefits and success of Indias programme, said a senior official.
The visiting teams will interact with oil-marketing companies (OMCs) and other stakeholders during their upcoming visit, an official said. While in India, the countries may also sign government-to-government memoranda of understanding on collaboration and information sharing with Indian agencies and OMCs, he added. Officials said talks on finalising the visit are at an advanced stage.
In countries like Kenya, ethanol is already being used as a cooking fuel. Ethanol with 93 per cent purity is imported by Kenya from Brazil and used for cooking purposes and is marketed by Gandhinagar-based KOKO Networks. The company has 1 million customers in Kenya, another official said.
The nations have expressed particular interest in replicating the model of government incentives that central government schemes have used to attract investments for necessary infrastructure in the sector. This includes the Pradhan Mantri Jaiv Indhan-Vatavaran Anukool Fasal Awashesh Nivaran Yojana, which provides financial support to OMCs for setting up integrated second-generation bio-ethanol projects.
Also Read We will bring vehicles that will run 100% on ethanol soon: Nitin Gadkari Ethanol blending programme may hit supply bottleneck after successful run FCI stops rice supply for ethanol production amid concerns over crop Elections to ethanol blending: Sugar production drop weighs on stakeholders Industry wants GST relaxation, fuel-price guarantee for flex-fuel vehicles Kashmiri activist lambasts Pak at UNHRC for targeting ethnic minorities Canada must take action against anti-India elements active on its soil: BJP HC reserves orders on Naidu's plea seeking quashing of FIR in scam case Nipah outbreak under control but threat is not over yet, says Kerala CM Better late than never: Mufti calls Women's Reservation Bill important step
The ministry also plans to showcase the Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) scheme that aims to set up new solid waste management plants that produce energy from organic waste.
The Kerala government has decided to conduct a surveillance study on Nipah virus and directed its Health Department to prepare a detailed report on it, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Disaster Management Department in Kerala's Kozhikode has relaxed the restrictions in the district as no new cases of Nipah virus infection were reported in the state.
The district collector A Geetha informed that shops and establishments in the above containment zones can operate till 8 pm, while all banks can function till 2 pm as per the Nipah protocol. Masks and sanitisers must be used, social distancing must be followed and gatherings must be strictly controlled, the district collector said. As per the officials, other restrictions will continue till further order.
The District Collector also informed that those who are on the contact list and under observation should follow strict restrictions and remain in quarantine till the period prescribed by the Health Department.
Earlier on Monday, Health Minister Veena George said that no fresh cases of the Nipah virus were reported in the state as 61 samples taken of 'high-risk' contacts including healthcare workers tested negative.
She further said that the Nipah strain found in Kerala has been identified as the Indian Genotype, or I Genotype, which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh.
Six cases of the Nipah virus have been so far found in the state of which two persons died while four others, including a nine-year-old boy, are under treatment. The health minister said that ICMR and WHO had conducted studies and found that Kerala and eight other states in India have the probability of Nipah occurrence.
"Also after 2018, we conducted surveillance and we found that the source of Nipah infection is bats. The virus we found in Kerala is identified as Indian Genotype or I Genotype which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. We have two strains of Nipah Virus one is Malaysian and the other from Bangladesh," the Kerala health minister told ANI.
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Google on Tuesday enabled its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, Bard, to scan user data from its popular applications (apps) like Gmail, Maps, YouTube, Docs, and Drive based on user consent for more personalised use cases. While still at the experimental level, this marks the biggest move yet in combining generative AI capabilities with the consumer services of the search giant.
The new features allow users to utilise Bard as a one-stop solution for tasks such as double-checking responses and summarising emails. Additionally, it can retrieve relevant information from various apps, including Maps, YouTube, Drive, Docs, as well as Travel with Google (Flights, Hotels).
Google initially announced these features at its annual developer conference in May. However, it took the company around four months to roll out the update, ensuring a safe and trustworthy experience. Bard currently responds in more than 40 languages and serves users in over 230 countries and territories. Nevertheless, the new extension will only be available in English initially.
Yury Pinsky, director of product management at Bard, stated in a blog post, Were rolling out Bards most capable model yet. Bard now integrates with Google apps and services for more helpful responses. We have also improved the Google it feature in Bard to double-check Bards answers and expanded access to more places.
Launched in March this year, Bard, Googles conversational AI tool, was viewed as a move to compete with the popular tool ChatGPT by Microsoft-backed OpenAI. Data from Similarweb, a data analysis firm, shows that nearly 200 million users have visited Bard, although it still lags far behind ChatGPT in terms of usage.
In May, Microsoft introduced its early access program for the Microsoft365 co-pilot tool, integrating OpenAIs image generator tool, DALL-E, into PowerPoint to create custom images to support their content, among other features. This program remains in the invitation-only paid preview version.
Google Bards new feature will also enable shared conversations. Users can create a public link to share Bards chat and allow others to continue the conversation and ask Bard additional questions on that topic or use it as a starting point for their ideas.
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Some interesting use cases for the extensions shared by Google include organising a group trip. Users can enquire about available dates that work for everyone, based on data from their apps, and also access real-time flight and hotel information. It can also provide directions to the airport using Google Maps and offer informative YouTube videos on the same subject.
Google emphasises that the entire process will continue to prioritise user privacy. Pinsky added in his blog, If you choose to use the Workspace extensions, your content from Gmail, Docs, and Drive is not seen by human reviewers, used by Bard to show you ads, or used to train the Bard model. And, of course, youre always in control of your privacy settings when deciding how you want to use these extensions, and you can turn them off at any time."
All of these new features will work with the latest version of Googles foundational AI model, PaLM 2. The company stated that it has been enhancing the system based on user feedback and implementing new learning techniques to make it more intuitive and imaginative.
President Joe Biden will use his annual address before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to make the case to world leaders and the 2024 US electorate that he's reestablished US leadership on the world stage that he says was diminished under former President Donald Trump.
White House officials said Biden would make a robust case to members of the world body to continue to back Ukraine's effort to repel a nearly 19-month old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.
Biden previewed his thinking in a pair of fundraisers on Monday evening, telling supporters that he stood up to Vladimir Putin's invasion, and questioning whether Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, would have even attempted to help Ukraine stop the Russian land grab if he were in power.
I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won't, Biden told supporters at a Broadway fundraiser.
There will be notable absences as the president makes his case before the General Assembly: British Prime Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin are all skipping the gathering.
For Biden, the more important audience for Tuesday's speech could be closer to home as he looks to make the case to voters that he's skilfully handled a complicated foreign policy agenda and that the experience that comes with age has proved to be an asset. It's an argument that the 80-year-old president is likely to continue to make to try to counter scepticism even in his own Democratic Party among voters who are concerned about his age.
We rallied the world to support Ukraine and united NATO because I was convinced from the beginning that Putin's counting on NATO not being able to stick together, Biden said at another Monday fundraiser. He's still trying. And our allies know once again, the United States can be counted on.
Biden's message of unwavering support for Ukraine will play out as Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Kyiv.
Biden has sought a package of USD 13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and USD 8.5 billion for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.
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In addition to underscoring continued US support for Ukraine, Biden is expected to touch on mobilising global resources to combat climate change and bolstering multilateral organisations to help poor and middle-income countries, according to senior administration officials.
Biden aims to send a message that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is in violation of the UN charter and to emphasise that every country has a stake in defending a nation's sovereignty, especially when it is under attack, said the officials, who previewed Biden's activities in New York this week on condition of anonymity.
After his speech, Biden will meet with Antnio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, as well as leaders from the so-called C5 group of Central Asian nations, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The meeting is expected to focus on regional security, trade, climate change, ongoing reforms to improve governance and other issues.
Xi has stepped up his own courting of those countries. During his own summit in May with the Central Asian leaders, Xi promised to build more railway and other trade links with the region and proposed jointly developing oil and gas sources.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters last week that Biden's meeting with those leaders should not be seen as an effort to counterbalance Chinese influence in the region.
Look, this summit is not against any country, Sullivan said in previewing the meeting. It is for a positive agenda that we want to work through with these countries.
The officials played down the fact that the leaders of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council - the UK, France, Russia and China won't be in New York this week and instead emphasised the importance that Biden attaches to showing up at the annual diplomatic forum.
However, Biden does not plan to attend a special summit on climate that Guterres will host on Wednesday, where countries are encouraged to bring new ideas and proposals on how to further cut emissions and combat climate change.
Officials played down Biden's absence at the climate summit, saying the issue will be interspersed through the president's remarks and events throughout the week. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, is to attend in Biden's place.
Biden plans to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Incio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior administration officials said the two leaders will discuss issues including Iran but declined to elaborate further.
Biden is scheduled to host talks Thursday at the White House with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
By Alex Millson
India-Canada ties hit their lowest point in recent memory this week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indias government of orchestrating the killing of a prominent Sikh leader outside a temple in British Columbia in June.
India completely rejected the accusation, which comes after years of simmering tensions between the two countries over the issue of Sikh separatism in India. Heres how an uneasy relationship quickly spiraled into recriminations:
Who was murdered and why?
On June 18, unknown assailants shot and killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who supported the formation of an independent homeland known as Khalistan for Sikhs in northern India. While its unclear who pulled the trigger in a parking lot outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia, Trudeau went on the record Monday to state that Canada believed Indias government was linked to the killing. He said he had raised the issue with Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the Group of 20 meeting the previous week, and subsequently Canadas foreign minister said she had expelled an Indian diplomat the head of Indias intelligence agency in Canada from the country. India, in turn, told Canada it would expel a senior diplomat based in the South Asian country.
What is the Khalistan movement?
The so-called Khalistan movement was the fight for an independent state for Indias Sikh population in the Punjab region. The violent secessionist movement paralyzed the state in the 1980s, leading to bombings, assassinations and thousands of deaths, including of police and civilians. The main flash point came in 1984, when Indias army entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar and killed the leader of the insurgency, who had taken refuge in Sikhisms holiest shrine. Months later, in an act of revenge, then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot and killed by two Sikhs who were part of her security detail. The assassination triggered bloody anti-Sikh riots in New Delhi, as well as a government crackdown that prompted many to take refuge in other countries, including Canada, which has the largest population of Sikhs outside India.
Why have India and Canada been at loggerheads?
Indian officials have long accused Canada of being too comfortable with Sikh separatists, who have emerged as a political force particularly in districts around Toronto and Vancouver. Back in 2015, Trudeaus appointment of four Sikh ministers to his cabinet led Indian officials to accuse Canada of supporting calls for separatism. Canada has always maintained it supports a united India.
How has Trudeau been involved?
In 2018, Trudeau embarked on a much-criticized trip to India, zig-zagging the country in what was seen as a bid to court the votes of the Indo-Canadian diaspora. During the visit, on which Trudeau was accompanied by a large Sikh contingent, he was widely chided for preaching liberal values and wearing over-the-top Indian attire. He also came under fire when his delegation met a man once convicted in Canada of the attempted murder of a visiting Indian cabinet minister. The trip was characterized as being light on business and heavy on photo ops, while doing nothing to quell the feeling that Canada sympathized with Sikh separatists.
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Whats happened since?
While the issue of Canadian sympathy for Sikh separatism never went away, it looked like fences were being mended, as Canada warmed to the idea of boosting ties with India to counter its crumbling relationship with Beijing. Trade talks that had intermittently rumbled on for a decade were being ramped up as Trudeau sought to diversify Canadas economy away from China. Canadas recently released Indo-Pacific strategy stated: Indias growing strategic, economic and demographic importance in the Indo-Pacific makes it a critical partner in Canadas pursuit of its objectives under this strategy. Even as recently as May this year, both sides appeared optimistic that an early-progress trade agreement, focusing on automobiles, agriculture and information technology, would be signed.
Where did things really begin to break down?
In September the Canadian government requested a pause in trade talks as Trudeau prepared to travel to India for the G-20 leaders summit. A government spokesman said the break would most likely allow for further consultation with stakeholders. But then things took a turn for the worse.
What happened at the G-20 summit?
Trudeau and Modi didnt hold a formal bilateral meeting at the summit, instead having a brief conversation on the sidelines. Trudeau claims to have brought up Nijjars killing, while Modi criticized Canada for allegedly allowing Sikh secessionist groups to operate in the country, according to Indias Foreign Ministry. In a further embarrassment for Trudeau, his plane then broke down at the airport, stranding him in India for another night after the frosty exchange.
How did Canada react?
Several days later, in a sign of a further deterioration in relations, Canada canceled a trade mission to India penned in for early October. No reason was given. At this time, we are postponing the upcoming trade mission to India, said Alice Hansen, spokesperson for Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng. In the next year we will be taking businesses to Japan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam. Then came Trudeaus statement on Indias involvement in Nijjars killing.
What comes next?
Now attention will turn to the evidence Canada produces to support its allegations that the Indian government was involved in Nijjars assassination. Depending on what is revealed, tensions could erupt further and potentially strain Indias ties with other Western governments. The US, in particular, has eagerly courted India as a rising counterweight to China, and has largely ignored concerns about worsening human rights and press freedoms in India.
For many journalists from across the world who were here to cover the G20 Summit, sharing working space at the International Media Centre from September 8-10 made them experience the spirt of "one family".
On these three days, scribes and camerapersons from Italy to Singapore and Turkiye to Brazil worked from the facility at the newly built Bharat Mandapam -- the summit's venue.
In between work, they chatted over cups of coffee and Indian meals, and also learned about cultures of different countries from each other.
"It's interesting here to see that journalists who come from different countries and different cultures work in a similar way," Michael Hoefele, who works with German news agency dts, said on September 10.
The International Media Centre, a temporary working space, was spread over two floors in Hall No. 5 of the sprawling Bharat Mandapam complex.
G20 logos were splashed across huge decorative panels put up in the hall on the theme of 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' -- 'One Earth. One Family. One Future'.
On September 9, on the ground floor of the hall, in a corner, a TV journalist from Turkiye was doing a live broadcast while, near her desk, a German photographer was busy filing photos after the press conference of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
On the second day of the summit, an Indian TV journalist in a saree interacted with a delegate while a reporter from Italy, sitting at a terminal close by, filed stories on a laptop.
"We all have been working here for the last three days, from pre-summit briefing on September 8 to the main summit on September 9 and the closure of the event today. What I liked about the working space was that it has no walls to segment the space. A person sitting on one corner can see the person sitting at the other end," TV journalist from Istanbul, Asli Bilger Kutludag, said on September 10.
It has been very tiring but a different experience of India, she said.
The theme of G20 was depicted in the design of the working space too, with working zones linearly divided into segments named after Indian rivers -- Ganga, Yamuna, Brahmaputra, Krishna and Godavari on the ground floor and Narmada, Indus and Kaveri on the first floor.
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Rooms were named after mountain ranges such as Vindhya and Niligiri on the ground floor while the main briefing room on the first floor bears the name Himalaya.
It is fitting that these segments have been named after India's rivers, some of which which meet each other at a confluence, said a Delhi-based journalist covering the G20 Summit.
Journalists from Italy, the US, Singapore and many other countries echoed similar sentiments.
Many of the hospitality staff who served them for those three days, felt a similar vibe.
"At one table is a journalist from say Brazil, while sitting at another desk is a reporter from Germany. They are all doing the same thing, even though they are from a different cultural and nationality. It was like a 'one big global family' for the last three days. Truly 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam'," a staffer said on the condition of anonymity.
The G20 Summit hosted at the Bharat Mandapam ended on September 10.
The leaders on September 9 had adopted the New Delhi Declaration, and the next day, the ceremonial gavel was handed over to Brazil by India, amid cheers from Brazilian journalists.
Iran's president on Monday denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, even as the United States accuses Iran of not only providing the weapons but helping Russia build a plant to manufacture them.
"We are against the war in Ukraine," President Ebrahim Raisi said as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the world's premier global conference, the high-level leaders' meeting at the UN General Assembly.
The Iranian leader spoke just hours after five Americans who had been held in Iranian custody arrived in Qatar, freed in a deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to unlock nearly $ 6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Known as a hard-liner, Raisi seemingly sought to strike a diplomatic tone. He reiterated offers to mediate the Russia-Ukraine war despite being one of the Kremlin's strongest backers. And he suggested that the just-concluded deal with the United States that led to the prisoner exchange and assets release could "help build trust" between the longtime foes.
Raisi acknowledged that Iran and Russia have long had strong ties, including defense cooperation. But he denied sending weapons to Moscow since the war began. "If they have a document that Iran gave weapons or drones to the Russians after the war," he said, then they should produce it.
Iranian officials have made a series of contradictory comments about the drones. US and European officials say the sheer number of Iranian drones being used in the war in Ukraine shows that the flow of such weapons has not only continued but intensified after hostilities began.
Despite his remarks about trust, Raisi's tone toward the United States wasn't all conciliatory; he had harsh words at other moments.
Raisi said his country "sought good relations with all neighbouring countries" in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"We believe that if the Americans stop interfering in the countries of the Persian Gulf and other regions in the world, and mind their own business the situation of the countries and their relations will improve," Raisi said.
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The United Arab Emirates first sought to reengage diplomatically with Tehran after attacks on ships off their coasts that were attributed to Iran. Saudi Arabia, with Chinese mediation, reached a dtente in March to re-establish diplomatic ties after years of tensions, including over the kingdom's war on Yemen, Riyadh's opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad and fears over Iran's nuclear program.
Raisi warned other countries in the region not to get too close with US ally Israel, saying: "The normalization of relations with the Zionist regime does not create security.
As a prosecutor, Raisi took part in the 1988 mass executions that killed some 5,000 dissidents in Iran.
The Iranian leader was dismissive of Western criticism of his country's treatment of women, its crackdown on dissent and its nuclear program, including over protests that began just over a year ago over the death in police custody last year of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested for allegedly violating Iran's mandatory headscarf law.
He compared the protests in Iran to labor strikes and demonstrations by ethnic minorities in the United States and Western Europe. He noted that many people are killed each year in the US at the hands of police, and criticized the media for not focusing on those deaths as much as the treatment of demonstrators in his country. The deaths of Americans at the hands of police are widely covered in US media.
Raisi has sought, without evidence, to portray the popular nationwide demonstrations in Iran as a Western plot.
"The issue(s) of women, hijab, human rights and the nuclear issue," he said, "are all pretexts by the Americans and Westerners to damage the Islamic republic as an independent country.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area.
The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said.
He said the five-day exercise in Indonesia's Natuna waters aims to boost military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drills also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention.
ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries including both the United States and China but this week's drills are the first involving just the bloc and are being read by many as a signal to China.
China's nine-dash line, which it uses to demarcate its claim to most of the South China Sea, has brought it into tense standoffs with rival claimants Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in the disputed waters.
The line also overlaps with a section of Indonesia's exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna Islands. Margono initially said the exercises would take place in the North Natuna Sea at the edge of the South China Sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the US and China, following meetings of ASEAN defence officials in Bali in June.
However, Indonesia, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, decided to move the drills to the South Natuna Islands, away from the disputed area, apparently to avoid any reaction from Beijing.
China and ASEAN signed a nonbinding 2002 accord that called on rival claimant nations to avoid aggressive actions that could spark armed conflicts, including the occupation of barren islets and reefs, but violations have persisted.
China has come under intense criticism for its militarisation of the strategic South China Sea but says it has the right to build on its territories and defend them at all costs.
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Those who carry out any exploration or activities in that area must not violate state territory, Margono said after an opening ceremony for the exercise attended by ASEAN military leaders on Batam island next to Singapore.
That has been clearly regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Asked whether ASEAN was sending a stronger message against China's competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, Margono replied, "We have had a firm stance.
He told reporters that ASEAN has agreed to hold military exercises annually. In the future, they will be expanded to full war drills involving the army, navy and air force, he said.
Indonesia and China enjoy generally positive ties, but Jakarta has expressed concern about what it sees as Chinese encroachment in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Increased activities by Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats in the area have unnerved Jakarta, prompting its navy to conduct a large drill in July 2020 in waters around Natuna.
Despite its official position as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, Indonesia renamed part of it the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to underscore its claim that the area, which includes natural gas fields, is part of its exclusive economic zone. Similarly, the Philippines has named part of what it considers its territorial waters the West Philippine Sea.
Vietnam, one of the four ASEAN claimant states, has been vocal in expressing concerns over China's transformation of seven disputed reefs into man-made islands, including three with runways, which now resemble small cities armed with weapons systems.
Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, both Chinese allies, have opposed the use of strong language against Beijing in the disputes.
A global first, the Alipay+-in-China (A+China) Program makes it possible for users of 10 leading mobile wallets in Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, to use home e-wallets in the Chinese mainland, covering a total population of over 175 million. It also represents the expansion of Alipay+ cross-border mobile payment ecosystem to tap into the mass merchant network of China.
A+China Program is Ant Groups initiative to help introduce international mobile payment services in China in collaboration with e-wallet partners and international card organizations ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Under the Program, travelers may also choose to bind their international bank cards to an updated international version of Alipay to enjoy mobile payment and digital life services while in China.
Ant Group officially welcomes seven new leading e-wallets and payment apps from Asia to the Alipay+-in-China Program (A+China Program). Users of mPay (Macao SAR, China), Hipay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand) will be able to use their familiar home e-wallet on their own phone to enjoy seamless mobile payment experience in the Chinese mainland across Alipays vast merchant network.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918947937/en/
(Photo: Business Wire)
The new additions bring the total number of overseas e-wallets accepted in the Chinese mainland to 10. AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), Touch n Go eWallet (Malaysia) and Kakao Pay (South Korea) piloted the Program in late 2022. In total, these payment methods reach a population of over 175 million in Southeast and East Asia.
Users of these e-wallets may use their own payment app wherever Alipay works, to enjoy secure, smooth and cashless payment, and transparent and competitive exchange rates. They can also enjoy additional promotional deals via Alipay+ Rewards, a digital cross-border marketing hub integrated into select wallet apps. The wallets teams are also providing familiar customer support to their roaming users, backed by Alipay+s smart payment tech capabilities.
With the A+China Program, Alipay+ also officially welcomes five new mobile payment partners, including Hipay, Changi Pay, OCBC, Naver Pay and Toss Pay to its global merchant network.
A suite of cross-border mobile payment, marketing and digitalization solutions developed by the International Business Group of Ant Group, Alipay+ enables payment partners to connect global and local merchants to cross-border digital consumers.
Outside of China, Alipay+ covers 5 million merchants in 56 markets, and works with over 20 mobile payment partners across Asia which together serve over 1.4 billion consumer accounts. The A+China Program now extends Alipay+ service to tap into the massive merchant network of China with tens of millions of points of sales (POS).
The A+China Program is made possible by the guidance of the Peoples Bank of China and support from NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, e-wallet partners, international card organizations as well as other partner financial institutions in China. Travelers may also choose to bind their international bank cards to an updated international version of Alipay to enjoy mobile payment and digital life services while in China.
Ant Group is rolling out extensive merchants education and marketing campaigns across the Chinese mainland, especially in the top tourist cities, to welcome Asian athletes, fans and travelers.
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services, said expanding partners and merchant network, and enhancing digital operational capabilities of SMEs are key to Alipay+s future strategy.
A growing variety of mobile payment providers are joining this ecosystem of cross-border digital commerce, from mobile wallets, to banking apps, independent merchant apps and super-apps. We will invest faster and deeper in payment and digital marketing technologies to help our partners and merchants achieve robust, omni-channel growth, said Feagin.
As the chartered clearing institution of the People's Bank of China, NetsUnion Clearing Corporation provides secure and efficient transaction information interchange and fund clearing services for cross-border mobile payments of Ant Group and overseas digital wallets. We are committed to providing robust support for important cross-border mobile payment scenarios and events such as the Hangzhou Asian Games, to help nurture an open and inclusive cross-border consumption environment in China, and promote high-quality dual circulation of domestic and global economic cycles, said the NetsUnion Clearing Corporation of China.
We are deeply grateful for the guidance of the Peoples Bank of China, the support of the NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, and the assistance from financial institutions and major international card organizations, for helping bring the worlds mobile wallet users and overseas bank card users to China as the Official Payment Partner of the Asian Games, said Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of Ant Group. It is incredibly inspiring to see such regional multi-party partnership help travelers enjoy greater choice and convenience, and small businesses thrive in cross-border commerce with unprecedented innovations. We look forward to building wider and deeper collaboration to fulfill our shared mission to make the world a better place with the power of digital technologies.
The total number of payments made in China through the pilot A+China wallets Kakao Pay, Touch n Go eWallet and AlipayHK grew 47 times in six months between March and August 2023. Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the favorite cities for travelers from South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong SAR. Food and beverage, retail and transportation are the three most common scenarios for these transactions.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers1, by 2030 the number of cashless transactions will be about double to triple. While China leads the region in digital wallet usage, the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, has become the world's fastest growing mobile payment market. FIS research2 shows that between 2018 and 2023 digital wallets in the region (excluding China) more than doubled their share of e-commerce transaction value and share of payment transaction value at point-of-sales grow six folds.
About Ant Group
Ant Group aims to build the infrastructure and platforms to support the digital transformation of the service industry. Through continuous innovation, we strive to provide all consumers and small and micro businesses equal access to digital financial and other daily life services that are convenient, sustainable and inclusive.
For more information, please visit our website at www.antgroup.com or follow us on Twitter @AntGroup.
About Alipay+
Alipay+ is a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing and digitalization solutions that help connect global merchants to consumers. Consumers enjoy seamless payment and a broad choice of deals using their preferred payment methods while travelling abroad. Small and medium-sized businesses may use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.
1https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/publications/financial-services-in-2025/payments-in-2025.html
2https://www.fisglobal.com/en/global-payments-report
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918947937/en/
Recharge Capital, the leading $6B thematic-first private investment firm, today announced former Executive Director and Head of Bridgewater Associates Singapore, Margaret Wang, has been appointed Managing Partner focused on leading its Womens Health Strategy. Wang will lead the firms Singapore office and spearhead the firms operations in the APAC region.
Wang joins Recharge Capital with experience in senior leadership positions at global asset managers and financial services firms. Prior to leading Bridgewater Associates Singapore, Wang served as Director of Strategic Initiatives at Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure provider, and as Head of Product Partnerships at Squarespace (NYSE: SQSP), leading partnerships across payment, content, and business management with Apple, Google, Facebook, PayPal, Chownow, Acuity Scheduling, and Zola. She began her career in strategy and business development at Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.
Margarets appointment is a catalytic moment for our firm, said Lorin Gu, Founding Partner of Recharge Capital. She brings tremendous experience to our thematic-first investment framework and maintains a track record as one of the worlds best-in-class asset managers across sectors. Were excited for this next phase of growth which is solidified with Margarets expertise.
Upon joining Recharge Capital, Wang is set to play a crucial leadership role in the firms thematic strategies, including Rhea Holdings Co., a $200M womens healthcare-focused investment vehicle launched in June 2023. With a novel private equity structure, the vehicle leverages cross-asset class strategies to drive transformative growth in the womens healthcare industry.
Im thrilled to join the Recharge team and drive value creation across key international markets," said Wang. The firms thematic strategy is well-positioned to foster innovation and societal impact across the value chain, and Im excited to tackle the crucial challenges our world faces through our unique approach to investing in and building meaningful businesses.
At Bridgewater Associates, Margaret led the firms on-ground operations and managed the buildout of its Singapore office to strengthen its foothold in the APAC region.
Over the past several years, Margaret has played an important role in furthering our presence in Singapore by establishing and leading our office there, said Kyle Delaney, President & Chief Commercial Officer of Bridgewater Associates. Were thrilled to watch Margaret take on her new role and grateful for her contributions to the Bridgewater community.
Margaret joins Recharges thematic investment team as a key growth driver for the firms innovative and incentive-aligned investment structures. Recharge Capital remains an active investor in sectors such as fintech democratization, womens healthcare, digital assets, and semiconductor enablement.
About Recharge Capital:
Recharge Capital is a leading thematic-first private investment firm focused on driving innovation and impact across various sectors. With a strong emphasis on women's healthcare and fertility, the firm leverages its expertise and strategic partnerships to invest, scale, and optimize transformative businesses. Recharge Capital operates from its offices in New York and Singapore, serving as a catalyst for positive change in the global investment landscape. For further information about Recharge Capital and its women's healthcare and fertility initiatives, please visit our website at www.rechargecapital.com or contact our press office at [email protected].
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918472466/en/
The LYCRA Company, a global leader in developing durable, sustainable and innovative fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries, announced today the publication of its second annual Planet Agenda Update and its abridged Global Sustainability Scorecard for fiscal year 2022. These documents report on the company's progress toward achieving its 2030 sustainability goals announced in last year's publication. Download them today on lycra.com/update.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919391381/en/
The LYCRA Company reports on its sustainability progress in the 2022 Planet Agenda Update. (Photo: Business Wire)
Planet Agenda is the name of The LYCRA Companys sustainability framework that touches every aspect of its business and is built on three pillars: product sustainability, manufacturing excellence and corporate responsibility. The sustainability goals outlined in these documents are organized around these pillars and align with five of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This update tracks 2022 performance against 2030 targets.
Planet Agenda guides our evolution as we strive to contribute to the sustainability of the apparel and personal care industries by delivering products that add value and conserve resources at all levels of the value chain, said Steve Stewart, chief brand and innovation officer, The LYCRA Company. We are proud of the advances we have made in pursuit of our 2030 goals. At the same time, we recognize the challenges in front of our industry are great, and we can only meet them by working together with our customers, suppliers, and third-party partners.
Highlights of the 2022 Planet Agenda Update include news on innovative products for sustainable fashion offering durability benefits, recycled and renewable inputs; a notable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions driven in part by the companys Maydown, Northern Ireland site converting its purchased electricity to renewable sources through Energy Attribution Certificates (EACs); and three manufacturing sites achieving third-party verified top-quartile performance in the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM), with two achieving the same level in the Higg Facility Social & Labor Module (FSLM).
We see Planet Agenda as a shared endeavor with our customers and partners, united in the belief that to have a healthy business we must have a healthy planet, said Jean Hegedus, The LYCRA Companys director of sustainable business development. Our heritage of working together with our customers and other third parties, along with the urgent need for collaboration throughout the value chain in order to meet the industrys goals, inspired the theme of the 2022 Planet Agenda Update: Together, we go further.
To download a copy of the 2022 Planet Agenda Update or 2022 Global Sustainability Scorecard, visit lycra.com/update.
About The LYCRA Company
The LYCRA Company innovates and produces fiber and technology solutions for the apparel and personal care industries and owns leading consumer and trade brands: LYCRA, LYCRA HyFit, LYCRA T400, COOLMAX, THERMOLITE, ELASPAN, SUPPLEX, and TACTEL. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, The LYCRA Company is recognized worldwide for its innovative products, technical expertise, sustainable solutions, marketing support, and LYCRA ONE marketplace. The LYCRA Company focuses on adding value to its customers products by developing unique innovations designed to meet the consumers need for comfort and lasting performance. For more information, visit lycra.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919391381/en/
Europes leading patent pool operator has unveiled a new mission statement to accompany the presentation of a redesigned corporate image and website today. Sisvels message, We power innovation, replaces the previous We protect ideas slogan, as the firm places itself at the heart of the innovative activity that will drive the global economy for the remainder of the 21st century.
We are proud to have built strong relationships with companies and research institutions that are dedicated to delivering world class technological solutions in areas such as connectivity, broadcasting and coding, says Sisvel President Mattia Fogliacco. Our commitment to them and to those who deploy their technologies is that we will do all we can to facilitate fair returns on R&D investments while speeding new products to market.
Sisvel has dozens of partners, including the BBC, Dolby, GE, Huawei, Microsoft, Philips, RAI, Samsung and Sony. They hold pivotal patents that underpin key technologies in 5G, C-IoT, DVB-T2, VP9, AV1 and Wi-Fi 6. The firm has a reputation for building flexible, market-focused licensing programmes that benefit pool members who invest substantial sums in R&D, as well as the entities that implement the results of this work.
Founded by Roberto Dini in Italy in 1982, Sisvel now has offices across Europe, as well as in North America and Asia. It has created programmes that have returned billions of dollars to partners whose inventions underpin industries that enhance tens of millions of lives around the world.
It is so gratifying to reflect on the success that Sisvel has enjoyed over the last four decades. I cannot wait to see what the coming years will bring, says Mr Dini. One thing is certain: we will be at the centre of whatever happens, offering solutions that are tailored to the markets we serve.
The new website is the result of six months of development work. Its modern, dynamic visual language has been designed to encapsulate both the firms heritage and its future ambitions, says Giulia Dini, Sisvels Head of Communications.
The updated brand messaging underscores Sisvel's 40 years of unwavering commitment to supporting innovation across diverse industries that drive the 21st-century economy, while highlighting the company's own spirit of creativity, flexibility and fairness, Ms Dini adds.
The Sisvel website can be found at www.sisvel.com
About Sisvel
Sisvel is driven by a belief in the importance of collaboration, ingenuity and efficiency to bridge the needs of patent owners and those who wish to access their technologies. In a complex and constantly evolving marketplace, our guiding principle is to create a level playing field with the development and implementation of flexible, accessible, commercialisation solutions.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919780984/en/
A new generation of communists is being forged by capitalisms crises and catastrophes. He who has the youth, has the future, Lenin famously proclaimed. We call on radical young people to get organised and join us in the fight for revolution.
[Originally published at socialist.net]
Every quarter, polling company YouGov surveys peoples views towards well-known figures, past and present. This includes Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. The results are illuminating.
Amongst the older generation, those born between 1946-64, opinion is unenthusiastic. A mere 4% of Baby Boomers give Lenin the thumbs up.
Younger people, by contrast, hold a far more favourable view of the Russian revolutionary. The Bolshevik leader is popular amongst 40% of Millennials (those born between 1981-96).
Unfortunately data is not available for Gen Zs (born 1996-2012). But no doubt support for Lenin would be even higher for younger generations.
This revolutionary outlook was confirmed by another poll published earlier this year by the Fraser Institute. This conservative think-tank was shocked to find out that nearly a third of young people in Britain (18-34 year-olds) believe that communism is the ideal economic system.
Again, this survey did not include school students, who are even more radical. Nevertheless, these findings equate to about 4.5 million youth in Britain who are open to communism.
Generation crisis
Society has been wracked by instability, austerity, and catastrophes over the past decade-and-a-half / Image: Socialist Appeal
The reason for this radicalisation is clear and understandable. This generation has grown up in the wake of the capitalist slump of 2008, the deepest since the Great Depression, where the system has lurched from one crisis to another.
Society has been wracked by instability, austerity, and catastrophes over the past decade-and-a-half. Young people today have never known anything but disaster and decline.
Older layers have been burnt out by past defeats and difficulties. They have grown sceptical towards the idea of radical change.
The youth, however, see their parents struggling on a daily basis: cutting back on essentials, skipping meals, and turning off the lights and radiators in order to scrape by.
Millions of children in Britain are in food poverty. Students school buildings are literally crumbling to bits. Upon graduation, they are faced with dead-end jobs, poor pay, and growing unemployment; with little hope or future.
Added to this is the climate crisis and the horrors of imperialism. Capitalist corporations plunder and pollute the world. Conflict and war tear countries apart. Millions die every year of starvation and disease. All the while, the super-rich sit idly and luxuriously upon an enormous pile of wealth.
No wonder young people today want a revolution. How can they not?!
Broken system
This is a global phenomenon. The crisis of capitalism is international. And in all countries, it is the youth who are bearing the brunt of this broken system.
In Italy, Spain, and Greece, for example, youth unemployment rates are at 32%, 34%, and 40%. In South Africa, the figure is 53%.
In China, although accurate figures are difficult to come by, all the evidence suggests that the youth are increasingly swelling the ranks of capitalisms reserve army of labour.
Everywhere, young people have been on the frontlines of the struggle: from Sri Lanka to the United States; from Palestine to France.
Hammer blows
Older folk, with memories of a halcyon age, might yearn for a return to better times. But they are living under an illusion. Such conditions are never coming back, as the continual hammer blow of events will prove.
Even the strategists of capitalism see no way out / Image: Socialist Appeal
Even the strategists of capitalism see no way out. Attendees of the recent meeting of central bankers and establishment officials at Jackson Hole, for example, talked about a shock-prone, fragmented environment, where global debt has become unsustainable.
The ruling class is terrified of another world slump, which is on the cards. They are unsure about whether the state can afford to bail out the capitalist system once again.
I dont think they [governments] can do it again, stated IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. We dont have an insurance policy anymore. We are at the edge.
Absolutely. They are at the edge of an abyss.
Lenin or Labour?
The old reformist left parties are blind to what is happening. They have no perspective of revolutionary change. Instead, they hope to patch up capitalism.
Starmers Labour Party has become an obedient tool of the ruling class / Image: World Economic Forum, Flickr
These lefts have completely bought into the system. But capitalism is in a blind alley, and can no longer offer reforms only counter-reforms.
Starmers Labour Party has become an obedient tool of the ruling class. The Labour leaders are keen to do the dirty work for capitalism. In power, they will act little differently from the Tories.
No wonder young people feel betrayed. They are looking for fundamental change. They are looking for revolution: nothing more, nothing less. They are looking towards Lenin and communism.
The only way forward is the overthrow of this rotten system.
Road of revolution
It is the new generation that holds the key. Through their dynamism and militancy, they can revive the more passive and inert layers, break down their scepticism, and rejuvenate the movement.
The movement is revitalised by the youth, who are free of responsibility for the past, Trotsky explained in the late 1930s, in a period of revolution and counter-revolution.
The Fourth International [the revolutionary international] pays particular attention to the young generation of the proletariat, Trotsky continued. All of its policies strive to inspire the youth with belief in its own strength and in the future.
Only the fresh enthusiasm and aggressive spirit of the youth can guarantee the preliminary successes in the struggle; only these successes can return the best elements of the older generation to the road of revolution. Thus it was, thus it will be.
Join the communists!
It was not for nothing that Lenin asserted that he who has the youth, has the future. The Bolshevik Party was originally built upon the youth. It was they who provided the cadres for the success of the October Revolution in 1917.
To overthrow capitalism, we need to build a revolutionary party / Image: Socialist Appeal
To overthrow capitalism, we need to build a revolutionary party with the same perspective, energy, and determination as the Bolsheviks.
That means forging a genuinely communist force, in Britain and internationally: as Lenin attempted 100 years ago, and as we the International Marxist Tendency are doing today.
Join us to end the scourge of poverty, hunger, and war; to overthrow capitalism; to struggle for a communist future, based upon Marxs principle: from each according to their ability, to each according to their need.
We are the real Marxists; the real Leninists; the real Communists. Join us, get organised, and fight for revolution!
On 16 August, the Syrian regime issued a new resolution to deepen the suffering of the Syrian people, 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, by increasing fuel prices by up to 200 percent. This decision has led to a reduction in purchasing power such that many Syrians are unable to even buy bread. It was the straw that broke the camels back, and pushed the poor in Syria to start to take to the streets after a long period of inactivity.
A strike began several weeks ago in the Sweida governorate in southern Syria, which completely paralysed daily life. Demonstrations peaked in the second week to include thousands of participants. The start of these demonstrations sparked protests in other Syrian cities such as Daraa, Idlib, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.
The protests remain concentrated in the Sweida governorate. In this province, 95 percent of the population are made up of the Druze religious minority, who did not participate significantly in the protests of 2011 due to the role played by the liberal (secular and Islamic) leadership, represented by the Syrian National Council, and later the opposition coalition. This leadership was backed by imperialism, and acted as a tool to advance the imperialist agenda inside Syria.
The consequences of the imperialist intervention in Libya, Iraq and Afghanistan still haunt the minds of the masses. Demands for foreign intervention were raised from the first months of the revolution. The Assad regime was easily able to exploit these demands, taking into account the popular anti-imperialist mood of the majority of the Syrian people, as well as the fears of religious and ethnic minorities, and fear of the penetration of jihadists which actually happened later. These tactics are still being used today to cut across the class struggle.
The class struggle between 2011 and 2023
In 2011, the movement in Syria was influenced by the revolutionary tide coming from neighbouring countries / Image: syriana2011, Wikimedia Commons
In 2011, the movement in Syria was influenced by the revolutionary tide coming from neighbouring countries. But even if the Arab Spring had not broken out, revolution would have broken out in Syria eventually, because of the capitalist measures that Bashar al-Assad adopted since he came to power in 2000 of liberalising the market and privatising the economy. These measures destroyed a lot of state-run industries that were providing jobs. Ten years after the adoption of these measures, agriculture and industry collapsed.
In 2011, the first demonstrations started in informal residential areas, located on the outskirts of cities. These areas were inhabited by victims of the capitalist policies of the regime, people who left the countryside because of the loss of their source of income, but who at the same time cannot afford to live in big cities. However, due to the absence of any revolutionary leadership, the class struggle in 2011 was smothered, and limited to one slogan: the people want to overthrow the regime.
Now, the situation is different. Following the experience of defeat, political demands are starting to be combined with economic demands. Over the past 12 years, class consciousness has advanced among the masses in Syria, which has become visible on the slogans raised at the recent protests. Protesters held banners reading: the suffering of Syrians is the same: tyranny, poverty, unemployment; and, the good of my country is my right and the right of my children. Other banners called for the exit of all imperialist occupiers from Syria. The slogan was clearly: no to the Turkish, Russian, Iranian and American occupation: all means all.
Another important thing that distinguishes this protest is the significant presence of women in the front ranks. One of the participants held up a sign that read: I didn't give birth to my son to abandon him, expressing the fact that millions of Syrian youth are now forced to travel due to unbearable economic conditions. Notably, in the city of Tartus, a pro-Syrian regime event was organised. The organisers of this event drove their luxury cars through the streets of the city of Tartus with pictures of Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile, anti-regime demonstrations are carried out by the poor.
The counter-revolution is on the streets again
The class lines in society are becoming clear on the streets, but the problem so far is that there is no organisation capable of galvanising the interests of workers, peasants and the poor. As a result, the masses are still under the influence of religious, ethnic, nationalist and reformist currents. This has also led to a clear rise of counter-revolutionary forces seeking to exploit the mood.
Haitham Al-Maleh, known for his affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, published an announcement calling for a demonstration. We stand against the Muslim Brotherhood and any call issued by them, not because they are Muslims, but because they are a reactionary political organisation who have nothing in common with the interests of the Syrian people or their demands. They served as a loyal opposition in the past, and played a counter-revolutionary role throughout the Middle East after 2011.
Haitham Al-Maleh, known for his affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, published an announcement calling for a demonstration / Image: , Wikimedia Commons
The Muslim Brotherhood is opposed to the ruling elite for now, but they are not opposed to the capitalist system. They are terrified of the possibility of the movement developing in the direction of overthrowing the regime, and they are keen to keep it within acceptable limits. This explains their manoeuvres to hijack the protests.
On the other hand, the religious leadership of the Druze community also issued a statement raising demands for superficial reforms to the government, the security apparatus and the police. The leading Druze body consists of a three-person committee. Two of them issued the statement, and the third did not sign it, then went to adopt the demands of the protesters, namely Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri.
These demands, which are not unified and do not yet constitute a clear programme, having spontaneously emerged from the protests, include: restore the fuel subsidies, overthrow the Syrian regime, release the detainees, and implement International Resolution 2254.
This latter demand (opportunistically adopted by the Stalinist party Popular Will) reflects the immature character of the present movement. It stipulates the formation of a government consisting of representatives of the regime, the opportunist opposition and civil organisations. In other words, the three groups that destroyed the Syrian revolution of 2011. There can be no illusions in any of these ladies and gentlemen.
The rise of Islamist movements in Syria in the last decade has caused religious minority groups to become more insular. In the absence of a class-based leadership to cut across sectarian divisions, the protesters in Sweida have pushed forward Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri as their leader. For their part, liberal oppositionists have also appeared on the street. They put forward their usual solutions in several forms, one of which is foreign military intervention.
What is to be done?
The movement is still developing spontaneously. The leadership is for now limited to religious figures, which only a few weeks ago were part of the Syrian regime. The absence of a revolutionary organisation to provide leadership has led to the rise of reformist and reactionary currents on the street, and the isolation of demonstrations within the Sweida governorate.
What we are witnessing is the very early signs that the Syrian masses are starting to move once again, after the enormous trauma of the counter-revolution and imperialist war that destroyed their homes, livelihoods and living conditions. For now, these green shoots of class struggle are divided and cut across by all manner of reactionary trends. This is only to be expected, given the utter absence of any sort of class-based party or organisation giving the masses a lead.
If the terrible defeats of the past are to be avoided in the future, then the Syrian masses can only trust their own strength. Organisations of struggle must be built from the ground up, and a programme of radical economic and social demands promulgated that can tap into the mood in society, drawing in the whole of the poor and exploited layers, overcoming superficial ethnic and religious lines. Absolutely no faith can be placed in the so-called liberal opposition, who are nothing but imperialist stooges. Meanwhile, the forces of religious obscurantism must be countered with a clear, class-based programme.
Ultimately, only building a revolutionary communist party with an internationalist perspective, capable of leading the masses in victorious combat against the regime and all the forces of imperialist and religious reaction, will offer a road out of the quagmire of war, chaos and poverty.
The development of the next chapter of the Syrian revolution will not proceed in a straight line. There will be ups and downs, advances and retreats. Allied with their class brothers and sisters of the region, the Syrian masses will renew the fight for communism and freedom in the whole of the Middle East and North Africa.
The Executive MBA, sometimes known as the EMBA, is a postgraduate management program for individuals who are already in high-level employment. The Executive MBA program is designed for working individuals with extensive job experience who want to advance their careers. It is of shorter duration (15 to 18 months) and is frequently taught part-time. To get admitted to an Executive MBA program, candidates must take entrance exams such as the CAT, XAT, GMAT, and others. Top business institutions, such as the IIMs, offer campus placement to Executive MBA students.
Although the prices for an Executive MBA program (INR 10 lakh to INR 40 lakh) are higher than those for a conventional MBA program, the advantage of studying the former is that the employer firm frequently gives financial support by sponsoring its personnel for the program. More graduates now want to work for a few years before doing an Executive MBA rather than a Regular MBA because it gives them a competitive advantage. After completing the Executive MBA program, the average income provided is INR 13 lakh and higher.
Executive MBA Course Details
Executive MBA is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after degrees in the business world. A person with an Executive MBA degree is respected, and his or her chances of becoming successful and obtaining a decent career at a higher level are increased. The Executive MBA proves that a person is capable of dealing with job-related problems and challenges, as well as having the requisite understanding in corporate decision-making and strategic thinking.
Students who are interested in the Executive MBA program can find all the information they need in the table below.
Executive MBA Highlights
Course Name
Executive MBA
Course Level
Post Graduation
Course Suitability
Working Professionals
Eligibility
Graduation and 2 to 5 years of work experience
Course Fees
INR 4 lakh to INR 25 lakh
Entrance Exams
CAT, XAT, NMAT by GMAC, CMAT etc.
Job Profiles
Senior HR Manager, HR Director, Vice-President, Business Development Manager
Average Starting Salary
INR 10 lakh to INR 15 lakh
Top Recruiters
Infosys, HCL, TCS, Reliance, Nokia, Airtel, KPMG, etc.
Everything You Need to Know About Executive MBA
The Executive MBA is the most advanced level of management education. They are generally aimed at working professionals with some knowledge of the business sector and project management. Top Executive MBA Colleges in India provide programs to help students comprehend the modern corporate ecosystem. The chance to advance one's career is one clear benefit of enrolling in an Executive MBA program.
Candidates for such programs have prior experience in their organizations. Because prior experience is important in these decisions, these graduates are more likely to be promoted, given greater responsibility, and paid more for their work.
Why Should You Pursue An Executive MBA?
Executive MBA programs place a significant emphasis on working together to achieve a common goal. Students at the best MBA programs in India will study management principles such as marketing, human resource management, international business, microfinance, and business regulations. This curriculum focuses on business and is intended for working professionals with extensive expertise. Its primary goal is to educate future employees, managers, entrepreneurs, and other corporate leaders.
Who Should Study for an Executive MBA?
Candidates for the Executive MBA program must have a BSc, BBA, or BCom degree with at least 50% grades from a recognized university and at least two years of professional experience. Students with strong IT abilities, analytical thinking, and management industry experience can also apply for this course. The training will also benefit professionals who wish to climb the corporate ladder and work in some of the top management roles. It is also advantageous for those who wish to start their own business and become entrepreneurs. The Executive MBA program helps applicants improve their people management skills.
Executive MBA Eligibility Criteria
Students who seek Executive MBA programs have a higher chance of advancing in their careers than those who do not. The eligibility requirements for an Executive MBA are comparable to those for a regular MBA. The only distinction is work experience, which is heavily weighted during the selection process. Consider the following fundamental eligibility criteria for Executive MBA:
Any candidate who has finished a bachelor's degree from a recognized university with a minimum of 50% aggregate or equivalent. There are no minimal cut-off grades for Executive MBA admission at several institutes. The candidate must have at least two years of managing or executive level experience. Part-time work experience is not accepted by any MBA program. The amount of working years, or job experience, varies for each institute and ranges from two to five years. Before applying, the candidate should examine the eligibility conditions of the desired B-schools.
Executive MBA Entrance Exams 2023
MBA entrance exam scores are used to determine admission to the majority of Executive MBA programs in India. Candidates must obtain a high score in order to be admitted to the Executive MBA program. They can study Question Papers and take Mock Tests to better prepare for the entrance exams.
The top Executive MBA admission examinations are listed below:
Name of Exam
Registration Details
Exam Dates
CAT
Begins from 2-Aug-2023
26-Nov-2023
MAT
MAT 2023 Registration Process PBT till 29-Aug-2023
2-Sep-2023
XAT
Begins on 15-July-2023
7-Jan-2024
NMAT
First week of August, 2023
Oct-Dec '23
SNAP
First week of August, 2023
Dec' 23
GMAT
Throughout the Year
Throughout the Year
Different Types of Executive MBA Programs
Executive MBA programs are available in full-time, part-time/weekend, and distance learning formats. Students can choose from a variety of courses based on their interests. The Executive MBA program focuses a heavy emphasis on working together to achieve a common goal. Marketing, organisational behaviour, human resource management, international business, financial management, and microfinance are just a few of the top management topics covered by students at India's top MBA programs.
Executive MBA on a Full-Time Basis
It is a one-year program for working professionals with four years of experience. The majority of Executive MBA programs are offered on-campus. The course is designed by top industry professionals to improve the managing skills of persons who already hold respected positions. The primary goal of the curriculum is to sharpen the executive skills essential for effective management functioning as individuals go up the career ladder. Students with good IT expertise, intelligence, critical thinking, and managerial skills are most suited for this course.
The following colleges offer Executive MBA Courses in Distance Mode, along with eligibility and tuition information:
Name of College/Name of Programme & Duration
Eligibility/Exams Accepted
Fees (in INR)
IIM, Ahmedabad
PGPX-1 Year Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience. GMAT score accepted.
31 lakh
IIM, Bangalore
E-PGP-1 Year Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience. GMAT score accepted.
23 lakh
IIM Calcutta
MBA Ex-1 Year Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience. GMATscore +Personal Interview
31 lakh
XLRI, Jamshedpur
EMBA-3 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks and minimum 5 years of work experience. XAT/GMAT scores accepted.
21.7 lakh
MIT College of Management, Pune
EMBA-2 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks and minimum 2 years of work experience.
1.4 lakh
Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
EMBA-2 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks and minimum 3 years of work experience.JMI Entrance test
1.17 lakh
International Management Institute, Delhi
EPGDM-18 months Duration
Graduation with at least 50% aggregate. CAT, MAT, GMAT, XAT scores accepted.
12 lakh
Shailesh J Mehta School of Management, Mumbai
EMBA-18 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks and minimum 5 years of work experience.
42 lakh
MIT-WPU, Pune
EMBA-15 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 60 per cent marks and minimum 2 years of work experience. XAT, CAT, MAT, NMAT scores accepted.
9.6 lakh
IIM, Shillong
PGP-Ex-2 Years
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience. CAT, GMAT scores accepted.
20 lakh
Part-Time/Weekend Executive MBA
Part-time In India, executive MBA classes are often held on weekends (for a longer period of time throughout the day) or on a few weekday evenings. Students are not required to leave their employment and can continue to work while learning in this manner. Students may have to take a few weeks off from work. While some universities have defined timeframes for Executive MBA programs, others allow students to finish in three to five years.
Part-time/weekend Executive MBA programs are offered at the following colleges:
Name of College/Name of Programme & Duration
Eligibility/Exams Accepted
Fees (in INR)
IIM, Lucknow
PGPWE-2 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. GMAT, CAT scores accepted.
11 lakh
IIM, Bangalore
EPGPM-1 Year Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. CAT/MAT scores accepted.
20 lakh
IIM, Indore
PGPMX-2 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. 5 years of work experience. Aptitude Test/Interview from Institute.
17.6 lakh
IIM, Kozhikode
EPGP-2 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 3 years of work experience. CAT/GMAT/EMAT Entrance Test (Executive Management Aptitude test held by IIM Kozhikode).
12 lakh
IIM, Shillong
MBA Working executives-2-3 Years Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience. CAT/GMAT scores accepted.
20 lakh
Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune
MBA Executive-30 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 2 years of work experience. Entrance Test by College.
4 lakh
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi
EPGDIB-18 months Duration
Graduate with 55 per cent marks or PG Degree/Engineering Degree Work Experience. Students selected on the basis of qualification and work experience.
4.5 lakh
Indian School of Business, Hyderabad
PGP Pro-18 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Over 5 years of work experience. Personal Skills, Professional Qualities, Interview.
5 lakh
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
PGXPM-20 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 50 per cent marks. Minimum 8 years of work experience. CAT, XAT, EA by GMAC scores accepted.
11.10 lakh
University of Engineering and Management, Jaipur
EMBA-15 months Duration
Bachelor's degree with 55 per cent marks. Minimum 5 years of work experience.
4.3 lakh
Executive MBA Syllabus
The Executive MBA curriculum is nearly identical to that of a regular MBA program. The only distinction is that topics in Executive MBA are presented in a more focused manner. The curriculum covers core and elective subjects, allowing the candidate to specialise if desired. The executive MBA program provides students with practical and academic competence in a variety of disciplines such as operations management, financial accounting, strategic leadership, marketing management, human resource management, and so on.
Some of the subjects covered in every Executive MBA Curriculum are listed below:
Semester
Syllabus
Semester-1
Operations Management
Human Resource Management
Marketing Management
Managerial Economics
Semester-2
Decision Sciences
Organisational Behaviour
Financial Management
Financial Reporting and Analysis
Semester-3
Sales Management
Project Management
Designing Organisations
Macroeconomics
Semester-4
B2B Marketing
Product Management
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Executive MBA Careers: Job Profiles, Salaries & Top Recruiters
Students in the Executive MBA program receive both theoretical and hands-on training in a range of subject areas, including operations management, accounting management, strategic management, marketing management, and human resources management, among others. Executive MBAs can pursue careers in a wide range of professions or businesses, including banking, healthcare, education, and information technology, in both the public and private sectors.
Top Executive MBA Recruiters
The demand for Executive MBAs is growing. The average pay provided to graduates of executive education programs at IIMs and other top B-Schools is INR 13 lakh per year and higher. Executive MBA graduates are best suited for top management positions and entrepreneurship. Such candidates are engaged by all types of firms and business houses for senior management positions in fields such as finance, marketing, sales, human resources, information technology, digital marketing, business analysis, operations, banking, insurance, consulting, and so on.
The following are some of the firms that participate in the campus placement process to hire Executive MBAs:
Executive MBA Top Recruiters
HCL
Infosys
Vedanta
Trident Group
Grey Orange
KPMG
Reliance Industries
Larsen & Toubro (L&T)
Cadbury
Hindustan Unilever (HLL)
Fees (in INR)IT, Operations Management, Business Analytics, Marketing, HR, etc."What is more valuable, an MBA or a PGDM?" This question has long caused consternation among management candidates. Both the Master of Business Administration (MBA Full Form) and the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM Full Form) are two-year management programs. The main distinction between the two programs is that the MBA is a degree, whilst the PGDM is a diploma.
The MBA curriculum is more theoretical and designed by institutions, but the PGDM curriculum is more focused on industry demands and market trends. Students who are interested in learning more about the distinctions between MBA and PGDM courses and how to choose the best course for their needs should continue reading.
MBA vs PGDM: Highlights
Students interested in management courses can review the table below to learn about the essential highlights of MBA and PGDM programs. The following are the key data about course level, entrance tests, course costs, career profiles, and average annual salary:
Parameters MBA PGDM Full Form Master of Business Administration Post Graduate Diploma in Management Course Level Degree Diploma Entrance Exams Through national and state-level entrance examinations like CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, NMAT, etc Through CAT, MAT, XAT, ATMA and some state-level examinations like TSICET, MAH-CET, etc. Accreditation University Grants Commission (UGC) All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Validity Valid Post Graduate Degree. Valid and equivalent to Postgraduate Degree. Syllabus The syllabus is prepared by universities and gets updated less frequently Syllabus is dynamic, AICTE approved and gets updated frequently as per industry needs. Course Fee (in INR) INR 2 lakh to 27 lakh and above INR 3 lakh to INR 15 lakh Average Salary (in INR)
INR 5 lakh to 25 lakh per annum INR 5 to INR 15 lakh Specialisations Sales and Marketing, Operations, Finance, Human Resources, Digital Marketing, etc. IT, Operations Management, Business Analytics, Marketing, HR, etc. Top Job Profiles Finance Manager, Marketing Manager, Sales Manager, Project Manager, etc. HR Recruiters, Sales Manager, Public Relations Manager, Research Analyst etc. Top Recruiters Boston Consulting Group, Mckinsey, Bain & Co, Morgan Stanley, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Amazon, Facebook, Google, Adobe, etc. HDFC Bank, Dell, Myntra, Amazon, Lifestyle etc. Top Colleges IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Indore, IIM Kozhikode, etc. IIM Indore, IIM Calcutta, XLRI Jamshedpur, etc.
What Is the Difference Between an MBA and a PGDM?
MBA institutes are part of universities (both public and private), whereas PGDM programs are primarily administered by autonomous institutes that are AICTE-approved. The expanding number of firms has underlined the value of an MBA, since it provides students with essential managerial abilities for running a business.
PGDM, on the other hand, imparts the abilities essential to expand a firm or lead a successful organisation. Students with a PGDM can advance their careers in a variety of fields such as hotels, banks, law firms, educational institutions, marketing agencies, and consultancies.
What is a MBA?
MBA is a two-year postgraduate degree that students undertake after graduating with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks. MBA programs provide students with significant management skills, hence many BTech, BBA, BCom, BA, BSc, and BCA graduates pursue an MBA after graduation.
CAT, CMAT, XAT, and MAH CET are among the most popular MBA entry tests. Among the popular universities that offer MBA programs in various specialisations are IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, FMS Delhi, and XLRI.
What is PGDM?
The Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) is a two-year curriculum given by top management B-schools in India. PGDM is an alternative to MBA that is nearly equivalent to the MBA degree. It is provided by AICTE-approved institutes/universities or independent B-schools.
The PGDM program is designed to meet industry needs and assist students in developing the necessary skills. The PGDM curriculum is also designed to take into account market trends and evolving needs. Candidates who complete the PGDM program are awarded certificates rather than degrees. The cost of a PGDM program ranges from INR 3 lakh to INR 15 lakh.
MBA vs PGDM: Eligibility
MBA programs are available in a variety of formats, including Part-Time MBA, Distance MBA, Online MBA, Executive MBA, and Integrated MBA. As a result, the eligibility conditions for each program vary. Similarly, the PGDM eligibility criteria may differ by institute. Candidates should always check the institute's official website for comprehensive PGDM course eligibility criteria.
The table below contains the eligibility requirement for Full-time MBA and PGDM programmes.
Parameters MBA PGDM Education Graduate in any stream Graduate in any stream Minimum Percentage Average 50 per cent marks (45 per cent for Reserved category) Minimum 55 percent aggregate marks Entrance Exams CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, etc CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, etc Work Experience Some courses and colleges demand work experience of 3 to 5 years NA
MBA vs PGDM: Entrance Exams
For admission to management programmes such as MBA and PGDM, some of the best B-schools have their own entrance examinations or accept national/state entrance examination scores. Students must meet the following eligibility criteria and take the following entrance tests to be admitted to MBA and PGDM programs:
Parameters MBA PGDM Conducting Body UGC AICTE Mode of Exam Online and Offline Online and Offline Entrance Exams CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, SNAP, etc. CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT, SNAP, etc. Entrance Exams Syllabus CAT Syllabus, MAT Syllabus, CMAT Syllabus, SNAP Syllabus Same as MBA
MBA vs PGDM: Syllabus
MBA curricula are more theoretical and change less frequently because they are established by institutions. On the other hand, the AICTE sets the PGDM syllabus, which is based on evolving industry needs.
Here is a broad summary of the semester-by-semester MBA and PGDM curriculum in India:
Parameters MBA PGDM Semester-1 Organisational Behaviour
Quantitative Methods Managerial Economics
Human Resource Management Semester-2 Organisation Effectiveness and Change
Management Science Cost and Management Accounting
Financial Management Semester-3 Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
Legal Environment of Business International Business
Operations Management Semester-4 Project Study
Strategic Management Business Law
Strategic Management
MBA vs PGDM: Top MBA/PGDM Colleges
Several prominent management institutes, including the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), XLRI-Jamshedpur, and SP Jain Institute of Management and Research-Mumbai, offer MBA and PGDM programs. Interested individuals should review the tables below to learn about the top universities that offer MBA and PGDM programs.
Top MBA Colleges
In India, there are over 5,000 MBA colleges. The MBA college predictor can assist students in selecting the best-fitting colleges. The following are some of the most expensive colleges:
Name of College Fees (in INR) IIM Ahmedabad 24.6 lakh IIM Bangalore 20 lakh IIM, Calcutta 21 lakh IIM, Indore 20 lakh IIM Bodh Gaya 19 lakh IIM Rohtak 20 lakh MDI Gurgaon 12 lakh XLRI, Jamshedpur 25 lakh NMIMS 17 lakh IIFT Delhi 12 lakh
Top PGDM Colleges
Candidates can choose a PGDM institute based on a variety of aspects such as accreditation, candidate requirements, placement, curriculum, global exposure, and so on. Students can find popular PGDM colleges in the table below:
Name of College Fees (in INR) XLRI, Jamshedpur 27 lakh MDI Gurgaon 10 lakh SP Jain (SPJIMR), Mumbai 9.5 lakh International Management Institute, New Delhi 18 lakh Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune 15.9 lakh IIT, Delhi 10.5 lakh IIM, Calcutta 23-25 lakh IIM, Kozhikode 12-20 lakh IIM, Indore 17-35 lakh IIM, Ahmedabad 12-24 lakh
MBA vs PGDM: Jobs and Salaries
A profession in management can lead to a wide range of work opportunities. Students nowadays are more interested in launching their own businesses. Students pursue MBA or PGDM programs to hone their managerial abilities. Students with a Bachelor's Degree in any field and the required percentage can enrol in management programs to advance their professional development.
MBA Job Descriptions and Average Salary
MBA compensation is heavily influenced by the MBA specialisation chosen. Finance, Marketing, General Management, Business Analytics, and Entrepreneurship are some of the top MBA specialisations that typically result in the highest income after graduation.
In India, the highest-paying employment following an MBA ranges from INR 5 to 30 LPA. Given below are some of the popular job options Some of the most popular employment opportunities are listed here.
Job Profile Average Annual Salary (in INR) Finance Manager 9.6 LPA Marketing Manager 10 LPA Sales Manager 10.2 LPA Operations Manager 7 LPA Product Manager 15 LPA
PGDM Job Profiles and Average Salary
After completing a PGDM program, there are several job opportunities available in both the public and commercial sectors. Young entrants can earn between INR 5 and 10 LPA at first, increasing their pay-scale as they gain experience.
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In what comes as a bit of a shock, Mazda has announced that will cease production of the CX-8 in its home market of Japan by December 2023. ...
EXCLUSIVE: For the second time in three years, DNEG, the largest employer in the vfx industry, claims that it cannot pay employees their full salaries. It is asking its employees to take paycuts of up to 50% for the next seven months, while introducing a loan program that would compensate for some of the lost salary and make DNEG employees indebted to the studio for years to come.
The vfx giant, which has over 10,000 global employees and whose credits include Oppenheimer and the Dune franchise, blames its inability to pay workers their full salaries on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. According to internal documents that Cartoon Brew reviewed, DNEG has told workers that even when the strikes end we would expect there to be a six- to eight-month delay while the industry returns to normal.
The initial salary reduction proposal that DNEG offered its workers, which was first revealed last Friday in a Deadline report, caused outrage and frustration among employees at the company, according to multiple DNEG workers that Cartoon Brew spoke with, all of whom have requested anonymity.
In response, the company revised its proposal over the weekend, and adding a third option that doesnt reduce the salary but rather the number of hours worked. The new proposal also includes an additional paid leave structure that compensates for some of the lost wages.
A DNEG spokesperson told Cartoon Brew that it added the reduced hours option and the additional paid leave after close consultation with our teams on how we can best make the proposal work. The company further added, Our proposal is designed to allow us to keep more employees on payroll than we could otherwise support Were proposing solutions that are designed to sustain jobs and keep as much money as possible in our employees pockets during this difficult period, while positioning the company to meet the current economic challenges, and be ready to get straight back to work on new projects for our clients once this disruption passes.
Here are the three options as of this afternoon:
1 Take a straight salary reduction of 20% to 25% for a period of seven months. The reduction is based on a sliding scale, with those earning more money taking the higher percentage cut. The company will offer 30 days of paid leave to compensate for the salary reduction (6 days in 2023, 12 days in 2024, and 12 days in 2025).
2 Take a temporary salary reduction of 50%, but the company will loan the worker an additional amount (DNEG calls it a salary top-up), that would put the worker at 90% of their current salary. The loaned amount will be repaid over a period of three years, which would then equal the 25% cut over seven months in option 1. The company will offer 30 days of paid leave to compensate for the salary reduction (6 days in 2023, 12 days in 2024, and 12 days in 2025).
3 Hours reduced to a 3-day working week for seven months, with no reduction to hourly rate.
Cartoon Brew has reviewed an internal calculator provided to employees, and in instances #1 and #2, DNEG will have reduced a workers salary by around 10% for calendar year 2023. Those who take the heftier reduction in option 1 wont be saddled with debt for the following three years, which is what would happen in the second option.
Who does this affect? DNEGs new salary proposal broadly affects all DNEG vfx employees in Canada, U.K, and U.S.who earn above a certain threshold $60,000 in Canada (Usd$44,324). It also impacts workers at DNEG-owned ReDefine. (Employees at ReDefines studios in European cities like Barcelona and Sofia, Bulgaria, wont have their salaries reduced due to EU labor law protections.)
Does it affect DNEG Animation? The companys animation division, which is responsible for the recent feature Nimona as well as the Emmy-nominated Entergalactic, is not expected to be affected by the paycuts. DNEG told employees at a recent townhall that budgets for its animation shows are more transparent with clients and there is no need to reduce salaries.
How long do employees have to decide? DNEG has asked all employees to make a decision on whether they will accept the salary reduction by Friday, September 29, with the reductions going into effect on October 1st. The company has threatened a deeper headcount reduction to employees who dont take the salary reductions, meaning that they will likely be laid off.
Why is the move so unpopular? The salary reduction impacts thousands of workers who have financial commitments such as mortgage renewals and child support payments that are based on their annual compensation. Additionally, many employees had balked at doing the same amount of work for less pay, which the newly-introduced reduced workweek option addresses. DNEG had initially resisted cutting back on work days and said in an information letter to employees that four days a week would not save the company enough money and would not be sustainable for the crew from a financial and productivity standpoint.
What if someone doesnt accept the paycut? The company has threatened to lay off any employee who doesnt accept the cut, telling them that if costs cannot be brought down by these measures then we may unfortunately have to propose further options, including deeper headcount reduction.
So there wont be any layoffs if everyone accepts the cuts? Not necessarily. According to one worker, during a townhall that took place last week, when a worker asked whether taking the salary reductions would guarantee no more layoffs, DNEG VFX and ReDefine Canadas managing director Rohan Desai promised that there would be no more layoffs, but he was quickly interrupted by DNEGs general manager Adriano Rinaldi, who said that the company couldnt guarantee that there would be no additional layoffs.
It was revealed a couple months ago that the company had laid off approximately 70 employees, but one worker tells Cartoon Brew that there have been layoffs beyond these reported figures and the company has been reducing headcount continually for the last few months.
Why cant DNEG use profits from previous years to cover the salaries? The company told workers that, We have been reinvesting earnings into the company from expanding our technical capabilities (like render farms) to opening new studios to win additional work and improving our other physical locations. We will benefit from those investments when the industry normalizes, but for now we need to find significant cost reductions to avoid deeper headcount reductions.
If employees take a loan on their salary, will they have to pay interest? The loan will be interest-free in the U.K. and Canada, but American employees will be on the hook for interest. According to DNEG, In the U.S., for tax reasons we are unable to make a loan interest free, and so will need to charge interest on any loans at the federally mandated rate.
What will happen to pay raises and merit increases? The company broadly halted pay raises earlier this year, and it is now postponing merit increases until the industry situation normalizes. It told workers that it will only comment on merit increases once we have more visibility and information on the resolution of the strikes.
What happened the last time DNEG did this? When the company cut salaries in 2020, it promised that it would start an equity fund to help employees repay their loans more quickly, however some employees say that nothing came of the equity fund and theyve had to pay back their full loans. In a SEC statement, the company touted that it had been able to generate savings of $24.5 million from the salary reductions in 2020, in addition to receiving $26.2 million from Canadas emergency wage subsidy program.
What DNEG is saying: A company spokesperson told Cartoon Brew:
All of us at DNEG are keenly aware of the tremendous challenges facing the feature film and television industries at the moment, and the visual effects and animation studios that support them have been forced to confront those challenges. DNEG is not immune to the impact of the current industry disruption, and we are not alone. These challenges are impacting all filmmaking departments, and our global clients are facing suspension or postponements of projects that represent meaningful revenue to all companies and professionals working in this industry. As a result, we are continuously and proactively reviewing all areas of our business to ensure that we can continue to deliver the highest quality work while protecting as many of our employees positions as possible. In order to do that, weve asked employees and team members earning above certain salary thresholds, including the most senior executives and creative leaders, to assume short-term pay cuts that will enable us to maintain the maximum number of jobs through this period. This is not a decision we have made lightly, and we understand that it has caused concern and uncertainty among our valued teams and community. We want to address these changes directly and honestly.
What unions are saying: BECTU, a U.K. union that represents creative workers and has been working towards organizing the vfx industry, issued a statement through its chief officer Philippa Childs:
Blending live action and stop motion was the way to go at this years Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where two films that mixed the techniques won significant prizes from the Short Cuts competition.
Daria Kashcheevas Electra was the jurys favorite short animation or live action. In addition to a CAD $10,000 prize for winning best short film, Electra has now qualified for the 2024 Oscars. Kashcheeva is no stranger to the Academy; her film Daughter was nominated for best animated short in 2020.
Electra had loads of buzz coming off competition screenings at Cannes and Annecy and will screen in competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival. The film is told from the first-person perspective of its adult titular protagonist, who recalls her 10th birthday and the lasting trauma it caused. Her memories become intertwined with dreams and imagination, represented in the films off-kilter mix of animation techniques. Complicated parental relationships are alluded to, and while Electra may be an unreliable narrator regarding the facts of her youth, there is no doubt that her pain is authentic.
According to the TIFF jury:
Singular and accomplished, this sickly-sweet nightmare of a film packs a mighty final punch. Visceral and infinitely textured, it leads us down a contorted rabbit hole with thematic and visual prowess. With great pleasure, the jury presents the Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film to Electra, directed by Daria Kashcheeva. Electra resonates with under-the-skin discomfort long after the film is over.
Electra wasnt the only mixed-media film to capture the Short Cuts jurys attention. Renee Zhans She (Snake) won the Share Her Journey Award at the Canadian festival.
A combination of horror, comedy, and teenage anxiety, Snake unspools as stress mounts on a young violinist in a London youth orchestra, causing her internalized monsters to take on corporeal forms.
Said the jury:
For this films incredibly original and surreal creativity, which is matched with beautiful acting, the jury is thrilled to give the Short Cuts Share Her Journey Award to Renee Zhan for She (Snake). Its not common to be bewitched by grotesque creatures in a film, but here, they captured the hearts of the audience thanks to their humor and charm.
In the films primarily live-action trailer, we can quickly glimpse one of the charming grotesque stop-motion creatures sitting at a dinner table.
Hayao Miyazakis The Boy and the Heron, which opened this years TIFF, was second runner-up in the feature competition. It will screen next at the San Sebastian Festival on September 22 before its U.S. debut on October 1 at the New York Film Festival.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is urging India to take allegations that the country had a role in the death of a Canadian citizen seriously, after New Delhi called the claims "absurd and motivated."
Trudeau revealed in the House of Commons on Monday that Canadian intelligence services are investigating "credible" information about "a potential link" between India's government and the death of British Columbia Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau said India's government "needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness" but would not say whether it is co-operating.
"One of the things that is so important today is that India and the government of India take seriously this matter," Trudeau told reporters Tuesday on Parliament Hill.
"It is extremely serious and it has far-reaching consequences in international law."
Trudeau said he waited until he was able to raise the issue with allies and with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month before telling the public about the possible link.
"We wanted to make sure that we had a solid grounding in understanding what was going on in analysis and indeed in facts," Trudeau said.
"We wanted to make sure we were taking the time to talk with our allies, to share what we knew. We wanted to make sure that we fully shared with the government of India, the seriousness and the depths of our preoccupations and indeed conclusions."
On Monday,Ottawa ordered a senior Indian diplomat to leave Canada, and India responded by sending an unnamed Canadian diplomat packing, citing unspecified "interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
India's ministry of external affairs said it rejects Trudeau's accusations, arguing they mean to distract from Sikh separatists in Canada that New Delhi argue pose a security risk.
"The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," reads a statement from the ministry.
A senior government source who is close to the prime minister said Trudeau was confident enough in the allegations that he opted to raise them directly with Modi in New Delhi.
The source, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the matter publicly, said Trudeau opted to share the news after to clear the air after mounting questions from the media and rumours in communities about India's involvement.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Trudeau ought to share more information about what led him to make his Monday statement in Parliament. He said the prime minister did not share more details with him than what he had said in the House of Commons.
"We need to see more facts. The prime minister hasn't provided any facts," he told reporters on Parliament Hill.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is in New York for events at the United Nations. Her office has not disclosed the name of the diplomat India has decided to expel. Joly said Monday that Canada's high commission has taken extra steps to protect its staff.
Nijjar was shot outside his gurdwara in Surrey, B.C., on June 18. Members of the Sikh community have accused the Indian government of being behind the killing and attempting to silence voices advocating for an independent Sikh country.
Trudeau said he does not want to make things worse for relations with India.
"We're going to follow the evidence and make sure that the work is done to hold people accountable," he said Tuesday.
"We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear."
Treasury Board President Anita Anand said it's "a very difficult time" for South Asians of any religion, noting her parents are from India.
"We need to be empathetic because this is a time that families who come from India, regardless of religion, are going to find is difficult," she said, urging people to "be prudent" and remain calm.
Photo: Shane MacKichan. Police investigate a pedestrian hit-and-run that critically injured a 69-year-old man near the intersection of Gilley Avenue and Beresford Street in March 2018.
Burnaby RCMP had to go undercover to get proof that retired Burnaby machine operator Lyle Murray Fraser was driving his car the day it hit Nedzad Hadzismajlovic and changed his life forever, according to information presented at a sentencing hearing Monday.
Fraser, 71, was in Vancouver provincial court for sentencing after pleading guilty in June to failing to stop at the scene of an accident involving a pedestrian on a marked crosswalk in the 7400 block of Gilley Avenue on March 4, 2018.
Fraser had originally been charged with the more serious criminal offence of failing to the stop at the scene of an accident involving bodily harm but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge as part of a plea deal.
It took nearly four years for Fraser to be charged at all.
Undercover operation
Using paint chips and debris from the accident scene, police quickly located the vehicle involved (a red Toyota Matrix) parked behind Fraser's house, just 550 metres away from the accident scene.
Fraser was the registered owner of the car, but investigators weren't able to establish who was driving the vehicle at the time of the crash.
"The RCMP subsequently initiated an undercover operation to identify the driver of the motor vehicle, which struck Mr. Hadzismajlovic in March 2018," said Crown prosecutor Jim Cryder, reading out a statement of agreed facts. "Three years later, in April 2021, the RCMP interviewed a friend of Mr. Fraser's who confirmed that Mr. Fraser left the residence on the night of March 4, 2018, was driving the red Toyota and confessed to them that he had hit something driving home."
Fraser was finally charged in February 2022, nearly five years after the accident.
'Cowardly choice'
Hadzismajlovic, who was 69 years old at the time, was carried 33 metres after being hit by the Matrix and suffered catastrophic injuries, including a traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, vascular injuries and broken bones, including a fractured pelvis.
He spent a total of eight months in hospital.
"His life continues to be compromised," Cryder said.
In a victim impact statement, Hadzismajlovic's wife of 43 years said the impact the injuries has "indescribable and unimaginable" on her, her husband a retired engineer and their only son.
"I miss my husband Ned more than I can convey," she said.
She said the family has had to create a "microworld" in which they try to find "bits of meaning."
"Sometimes we succeed," she said.
She thanked Amanda Ribeiro, a driver directly behind Fraser's vehicle, who stopped to help the unconscious Hadzismajlovic and called 911.
Hadzismajlovic's wife also thanked the staff at Royal Columbian Hospital and the Burnaby RCMP.
"They didnt give up until the person responsible for the tragedy Ned and our family have suffered faced the consequences of his actions despite his initial cowardly choice to flee and hide," said the victim impact statement.
Probation, driving ban, $2,000 fine
In a joint sentencing submission, Cryder and defence lawyer Joel Whysall called for two years of probation, including house arrest and a curfew, a two-year driving ban and a $2,000 fine.
In handing down that sentence, B.C. provincial court Judge David St. Pierre noted there was no evidence from Ribeiro or security video footage of the crash that Fraser had been speeding or driving unsafely when he hit Hadzismajlovic.
"The sentence is solely for leaving," St. Pierre said.
On that note, however, St. Pierre said drivers are responsible for operating "incredibly dangerous machinery" and society "cant tolerate an incident happening and the person just leaving the scene."
But St. Pierre ended the sentencing on a hopeful note
"As you said in your (apology) letter, it's not your finest moment," St. Pierre said. "That's probably not the way you raised you children, but that decision that you made, that doesn't define you as a person."
CEMEX joins UN Forward Faster initiative
19 September 2023
CEMEX has reaffirmed its commitment to the UNs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a series of collaborative efforts that seek to accelerate progress and inspire others in the private sector. Among these efforts are CEMEXs participation in the UNs Forward Faster initiative.
Launched in September 2023 during the UN General Assembly week, the Forward Faster initiative aims to bring businesses together to accelerate their contribution to society in five action areas gender equality, climate action, living wage, finance & investment, and water resilience. CEMEX was invited to join due to its leadership on Sustainable Finance, Just Transition, Climate, and other issues, according to the company.
Our company is committed to building a better future, one that is more sustainable, circular, and creates a supportive environment for people to thrive, said Fernando A Gonzalez, CEO of CEMEX. The SDGs provide a great blueprint to effect this change, but progress is not happening fast enough. The public and private sectors must join to map an equitable transition to the sustainable world of tomorrow.
CEMEX is also leading the UN Global Compact (UNGC)s Sustainable Supplier Impact Program, which aims to increase the contribution to sustainable development of small and medium enterprises in CEMEXs supply chain. From April to August of this year, over 100 of CEMEXs suppliers came together to learn about the UNGCs ten principles, identify gaps, and build action plans to close them.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi Amid frenzied speculations within political circles since Monday morning and incessant demands from MPs across party lines, seeking passage of women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha, the Union Cabinet is learnt to have given its consent to the much awaited legislation. There is a likelihood that a few other key legislations may also have been reportedly cleared by the Union Cabinet.
Many opposition leaders have been questioning the real intent of the government in convening a special session of Parliament just a month after the monsoon session had ended. As several government functionaries remained tight-lipped over the agenda of the cabinet meeting, unconfirmed reports claimed that the bill had been passed.
The Union Cabinet had met on Monday evening, and its meeting lasted for a couple of hours.
The bill ensures reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies.
In May 2008, the womens reservation bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha and was referred to a standing committee. It was passed in the upper house in 2010 and then it was sent to Lok Sabha. However it could not be passed and lapsed with the 15th Lok Sabha.
Speculations were rife since Monday morning about the bill, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing the media outside Parliament before the commencement of the special session, had said that "the special session of Parliament might be a short one, but it holds great importance in terms of historical decisions".
During the discussions on 75 years of Parliament earlier in the day, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, NCP's Supriya Sule and many other lawmakers sought passage of the women's reservation bill during the special session.
On Sunday, the Congress had passed a resolution in the CWC meeting that the women's reservation bill should be passed in the upcoming special session.
Meanwhile prior to the cabinet meeting, a series of meetings took place among the BJP leaders. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi met Home Minister Amit Shah. BJP chief J.P. Nadda was also present in the meeting.
Should a business consider whether its practices have a negative effect on its community? Is it even possible to use business and investing for positive social change?
Those questions will be addressed on Thursday, Sept. 28, in the opening lecture of the University of Tennessee at Chattanoogas Probasco Fall 2023 Lecture Series.
Presented by the Probasco Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise, Dr. Ramon DeGennaro, professor emeritus of banking and finance in the Haslam College of Business at UT Knoxville, will discuss Stakeholder Theory and Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance. Why Should I Care?
The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 5:30-7 p.m. in the UTC University Center Auditorium.
Click here to register for the event.
Stakeholder theory stresses the relationships between a business and its customers, suppliers, employees, investors, communities and shareholders and how their relationships can affect society.
Dr. DeGennaro, an internationally recognized expert in business administration and financial practices, has served as a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta, and Cleveland, Ohio, and the American Institute for Economic Research.
His articles have appeared in more than 50 scholarly journals on economics, business and finance. He also has written books on such subjects as how the stock market works and globalism vs. nationalism.
To learn more about Probasco Distinguished Chair of Free Enterprise, click here.
A robotics team from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga recently traveled to the 15th International MoNe Robotic Competition in Bursa, Turkey, and returned home with its first international award.Mechatronics student Juan Pena, a senior from Spring Hill, won Best Design and Jury Special Award for robots in health care for Pneumatic Actuated Wearable Soft Robotics System for Mirror Hand Rehabilitation. The design focused on a wearable hand rehabilitation system that supports both mirror and task-oriented therapy for patients who have suffered from a stroke and lost motor function.Mr.Pena worked on the design with May 2023 mechatronics graduate Christopher Winters.Accompanied to Turkey by project advisor Erkan Kaplanoglu, associate professor of mechatronics and interim department head, Mr. Pena was awarded a plaque, a cash prize and a large 3D printerwhich he and Dr. Kaplanoglu donated to a Turkish high school.The prosthetic device is comprised of a pair of gloves, one for each hand. The glove on the working hand contains sensors, so movements on that hand are mirrored through the glove on the non-working one. Make a fist on the working hand, for instance, and the non-working hand also will make a fist.We aim to test this robotic system on patients in the coming semester, Dr. Kaplanoglu said.About 1,200 participants and 4,000 robots competed in 12 different categories in the competition, which has been hosted by the General Directorate of Technical and Vocational Education for the Republic of Turkey since 2007.
A Chattanooga resident and Tennessee Realtors member is being recognized nationally for his community service, giving back to the Chattanooga area. Steven Sharpe, 2023 president of Greater Chattanooga Realtors, is the recipient of the 2023 Tennessee Realtors Good Neighbor Award for his work with Camp Horizon, receiving a $5,000 donation to Camp Horizon.After winning the state Good Neighbor Award, Mr. Sharpe was selected as a Top 10 Finalist in the National Association of Realtors Good Neighbor Award.As a Top 10 Finalist, Mr. Sharpe and Camp Horizon now compete for the "Web Choice Favorite," where the public may vote. The three candidates with the most votes will receive an additional $2,500 towards their nonprofit.You do not have to be a realtor to vote, and you may vote as often as you'd like through Oct. 1.On Sept. 22, Mr. Sharpe will be honored in an ad in the Wall Street Journal, which promotes the Good Neighbor Award and the Web Choice Favorite Voting. He will also receive recognition for his work with his Chattanooga-based nonprofit."We would like to recognize Steven Sharpe in his hometown community of the Chattanooga area to promote his success in the NAR Good Neighbor Award Process, encourage community members to vote for him in the Web Choice Favorite portion and showcase his work with the Chattanooga-based nonprofit, Camp Horizon," officials said. "Mr. Sharpe co-founded Camp Horizon with his wife, Lindsey, to offer a summer camp experience to kids with physical disabilities like paralysis, spina bifida and cerebral palsy. Since 2005, the camp has engaged more than 500 kids in accessible activities such as canoeing, horseback riding and fishing. To ensure the childrens happiness and safety, the camp has more than 50 volunteer counselors, many with medical training."
Betty Sue Worley Martin, 91, known as Sue, passed away peacefully on the morning of September 16, 2023, at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga.
Born in 1932 in Old Hickory, Tennessee, Sue was the daughter of Charles N. and Lucille Roberts Worley, and the sister of James C. Worley, all of whom predeceased her. She moved to Chattanooga as a teenager when her father was transferred to the Dupont de Nemours plant that opened in Chattanooga in the 1940s. Everyone in her immediate family, including Sue, was employed for some period of time by Dupont.
In 1955 Sue married Jack W. Martin, who had returned to Chattanooga after a stint in the United States Marine Corps. They were married for 52 years until Jacks death in 2007 after a long struggle with Alzheimers disease. Prior to his illness, Jack had been Vice-President of Sales at Modern Maid, Inc., in Chattanooga, where he had developed motivational travel programs for customers that allowed Sue and Jack to travel extensively to destinations around the world.
Sue is survived by her son Scott W. Martin and his wife Christiane Sheid, of La Jolla, California, and her daughter Kerri Martin Bartlett and her husband Richard A. Bartlett, of New York, New York, as well as by four grandchildren, Julianne Martin, Hilary Bartlett, William Bartlett and Mary Claire Bartlett, and by identical twin great-grandsons.
Throughout her long life, Sue devoted herself completely to her family, loyally nurturing her aging parents for as long as they lived, steadfastly caring for Jack as his disease advanced, and in countless ways demonstrating extraordinary support and affection for her children and grandchildren. A woman of her generation, she urged her children to pursue educational and professional opportunities that she herself never had and rejoiced in her familys accomplishments as if they were her own.
Until declining health impeded her, Sue was an active member of the Lake Hills Church of Christ, where she volunteered in the churchs hospital meals program and ran its used clothing closet. She lived the last years of her life at Everlan of Hixson, a senior living community, and the family wishes to thank the staff and residents of Everlan for making those years such happy ones. The family also wishes to thank Sues team of caregivers over the last six months, as well as the staff at CHI Memorial for their kindness and care.
Graveside services will be private, but the family will receive visitors on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, from 1-2:30 p.m. at the North Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Sues memory to a charitable organization that is meaningful to you.
Please visit www.chattanooganorthchapel.com to share your memories.
Amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada, New Delhi on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat based here, who has been asked to leave within the next five days. The High Commissioner of Canada to India (Cameron Mackay) received summons on Tuesday during which the Government of India conveyed its decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat currently stationed in the country. The concerned diplomat has been officially instructed to depart from India within the next five days, a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said.
"The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement said.
The decision came after Canada had earlier expelled a high ranking Indian diplomat.
These developments have occurred after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in an emergency statement in Parliament accused the Government of India of involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau had said that the Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
India has rejected claims by the Canadian government that it had an involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Terming them as "absurd and motivated", the external affairs ministry in a statement said, "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated."
POW-MIA Day was commemorated on the Hamilton County Courthouse lawn POW-MIA Day was commemorated on the Hamilton County Courthouse lawn POW-MIA Day was commemorated on the Hamilton County Courthouse lawn POW-MIA Day was commemorated on the Hamilton County Courthouse lawn Previous Next
The Executive Board of the Chattanooga Area Veterans Council, Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter # 203, Honor Guard and members of Hamilton County Government gathered on Friday on the South Lawn of the Hamilton County Courthouse to commemorate POW-MIA Day.
Following a opening invocation by Vietnam veteran Bill Norton, USMC, CAVC Chairman Wayne Belk, USAF welcomed attendees with reminder of the significance of the day. On this day, we pause to honor the devotion and courage of those American patriots who remain missing. We renew our commitment to their families and promise that we will never rest until every man is brought home. We do not leave a man behind
Chattanooga-Hamilton County Historian and CAVC Secretary Linda Moss Mines offered comments about the history of the day. From the earliest days of the American Revolution, our nation has suffered the loss of men who have died in captivity or have suffered an unknown fate at the hands of enemy combatants. Today, more than 81,000 men from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts remain lost to their families and their nation. With modern technology and DNA analysis, each year we reclaim the remains of members of our armed forces and return them to their families in a bittersweet Welcome Home but too many are still identified as MIAs. No member of our military serves alone and their families deserve to know their fate. This day reminds us that the work is not finished. We have not forgotten.
Special recognition was paid to Bo Cline, World War II US Army Air Corps POW, and John Sparks, Vietnam Conflict POW, both Hamilton County residents.
Following a moment of silence for POWs and MIAs, the VVA Chapter # 203 Honor Guard hoisted the POW-MIA flag and it will remain flying until Friday. Hamilton County Commissioner Jeff Eversole lead the Pledge of Allegiance as participants renewed resolve to keep the issue of MIA recovery before the U. S. government.
The concept of disruptive innovation is often misunderstood and misapplied in education. However, any disrupted innovation must be carefully crafted with specific academic goals in mind. We need to make sure that any changes we make are in the best interests of students. We also need to involve educators in the innovation process, so that they can share their expertise and insights.
It is important to remember that education is not a business, and the goal is not to simply sell a product or service. The goal is to educate children and prepare them for the future.
Public education is critical for a strong economy. Educators are the frontline of those efforts. Educators are the ones who must enact education policies. Too many of our teachers suffer from top-down management structures and lack of reward, and many have reached an apparent career plateau and become susceptible to a loss of creativity and drive. We cannot allow that to happen.
There must always be room for innovation in education. Education is an evolving field, and as society changes and technology advances, new opportunities for innovative approaches to teaching and learning emerge. We can use new technologies to make learning more engaging and effective. We can also find new ways to personalize learning and meet the needs of all students.
We can find a balance between innovation and stability in education. We can create a constantly evolving and improving system without sacrificing the quality of education our children deserve. Here are some specific ways to innovate in education:
Use technology to personalize learning. There are many ways to use technology to personalize learning. For example, we can use online learning platforms to allow students to learn at their own pace and in their way. We can also use adaptive learning software to tailor instruction to each student's individual needs.
Empower teachers to be innovators. Teachers are the experts in education, and they should be given the freedom to innovate in their classrooms. We can do this by providing teachers with professional development opportunities, encouraging them to take risks, and rewarding them for their successes. This is where we fall short in public education.
Collaborate with businesses and other organizations. Businesses and other organizations can provide valuable resources and expertise to help schools innovate. For example, businesses can donate technology or provide funding for new programs. They can also offer internships and other opportunities for students to gain real-world experience.
Use data to improve instruction. Data can be used to identify areas where students are struggling and to target interventions accordingly. We can also use data to track student progress and ensure that all students meet the learning standards.
We can and we must innovate in education. Innovation is essential for education to keep up with the changing world. We need to find new ways to teach students the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century. We need to support teachers who want to be innovative. Schools and districts must create an environment where teachers are empowered to be innovative and can ultimately enhance the educational experience for their students.
JC Bowman
Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee
$1.28 million in state funds have been secured to expand the Collegedale Municipal Airport and support future economic growth, state Rep. Greg Vital said.
The grant, provided by the Tennessee Department of Transportations (TDOT) Aeronautics Economic Development Fund, will be used to build a new 12,000-square-foot facility capable of storing three mid-sized jet aircraft. The project will also include an apron and parking area as well as an adjoining taxiway easement.
The Collegedale Municipal Airport is an important asset to our community, Rep. Vital said. This expansion will bring new jobs and additional tax revenue to the area, which will benefit the local economy. I appreciate everyone involved in this project, including TDOTs partnership in helping us secure this investment for the airport and east Hamilton County.
The project is expected to create 48 new jobs by 2026.
Established in 1965, Collegedale Municipal Airports main operations include flight training, aircraft maintenance and sport aviation. The airport also accommodates various business, corporate and charter operations.
Captain Sandy Yawn from Below Deck Mediterranean and longtime girlfriend Leah Shafer are engaged! The couple made it official on a gorgeous beach and Yawn got down on one knee to propose.
This happened!! Shafer shared on Instagram along with a series of photos. We are officially ENGAGED. My heart is soooo happy! I love you beyond [Sandy Yawn].
The beach proposal was likely in the works for a while. When the couple discussed marriage and a proposal Shafer let Yawn know she was hoping for something romantic and Yawn certainly delivered.
Captain Sandy and Leah got engaged after a magical proposal
Yawn and Shafer talked about marriage for years. I have been thinking about marrying Leah for years, Yawn told E! I knew from the minute I met her, but the timing had to be right. I wanted to make sure we could truly do life together first.
Yawn then needed to deliver on that fairytale proposal. Leah wanted the fairytale, and to me, Leah represents elegance, she added. I planned a boat ride to a beautiful cove. I had it decorated with flowers with a path to a small table accompanied by three violinists where we could sit and have a small date.
She added, I truly could not wait! I shared my vision list of love I had written and wanted, then got on one knee. Then, she said yes! The look on her face was priceless, and my heart exploded! It was filled beyond capacity of anything I could ever imagine. Somehow I feel closer than I did before, and I cant explain it. There is an energy that I have never experienced in my life. I love her beyond; as Leah says Yawn beyond.
Sandy and Leah are building a life together
Showbiz Cheat Sheet originally broke the news in 2019 that Yawn found love with Shafer. The couple settled down in Colorado, but plan to move to Jacksonville, Florida when the new home they are building is complete.
Shafer told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that finding Yawn was like being home. When I met Sandy I just knew. I knew who I was and she brought out what I was pushing down inside of me. I feel I can be free of who I am now, she said.
And when I met Sandy she showed me a different kind of love, she added. One love wasnt better than the other. Meeting Sandy is a love that connected to me in a way that was organic and a fit for where I was in my life currently.
Shafer also shared how the couple keeps communication and love front and center in their relationship. Things are amicable because that is who we are as individuals, she said. We like peace and kindness. Sandy has been nothing but kind, loving and supportive and allows me to just be me. Sandy and I are completely opposite in many ways, and thats what makes it even more beautiful.
She is the one, Shafer said. I know Sandy and I want forever [with this relationship].
Meghan Markle and Prince William are not exactly on good terms, but the duchess recently accompanied Prince Harry to Germany and might have subtly extended an olive branch to Prince William in the process.
Meghan Markle hasnt been on the best terms with the royal family since she and Prince Harry left their working royal roles back in 2020. The Duchess of Sussex has only returned to the United Kingdom a handful of times since leaving, which included twice in 2022 to honor Queen Elizabeth (once for the queens Platinum Jubilee, and another for her funeral).
Meghan recently returned to Europe to accompany her husband to the Invictus Games in Germany, and one subtle visit might have actually been a secret olive branch to her brother-in-law, Prince William.
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Prince William, and Kate Middleton | Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images
Meghan Markles subtle nod to Prince William
The Duchess of Sussex has continued to do charitable work despite that she is no longer in the royal family, and while in Germany with Harry, Express reports that she visited Trebe Cafe, which provides a space where women and girls experiencing homelessness can feel safe and receive help. The visit, which went unreported other than being posted to Instagram by a fan account, might have been a subtle olive branch extended to Meghans brother-in-law, William, who has made it his mission as the future king to try to combat homelessness in the UK. While Meghans visit didnt occur in the UK, some saw it as her way of not only giving back but also indirectly commending Williams charitable focus.
Not much is known about Meghans visit, but William recently announced that he launched Homewards, an initiative to help combat homelessness. Hes chosen to make it a major focus of his work in the royal family moving forward, and while its unlikely that William and Meghan have talked, its possible that she was quietly showing her support for at least one of the princes actions.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Germany in 2023 | Joshua Sammer/Getty Images
Meghan Markle doesnt have much of a relationship with the royal family
Even if this were an attempt by Meghan to show support for one of the royals, it likely wont change Harry and Meghans overall relationship with Harrys family. The two left the royal family due to bullying by the media and the familys unwillingness to defend the duchess. That, along with general disagreements between the Sussexes and the other royals, led to Harry and Meghan stepping down. While the couple did what they felt was necessary to improve their lives, it has led to plenty of tension between them and the royals.
With that said, it doesnt seem like the royals have done much, either, to try and fix what has been broken. Harry has said in the past that he does ultimately want to work things out with his father and brother, but if neither side is willing to take the first step, then its unlikely that they will be able to repair the relationships.
Harry and Meghan currently live in California with their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Its possible the kids will someday be the reason that Harry reunites with his brother, given that they have five total kids all within eight years of each other, but time will tell.
People gather for a rally outside of the White House in support of imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in Washington.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau India's relations with Canada nosedived on Tuesday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia's Surrey in June. Canada also expelled "a senior Indian diplomat" for India's alleged involvement in the killing.
Nijjar, who was spearheading the Khalistani referendum in Canada, was gunned down by two persons on June 18 in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Trudeau told the House of Commons that the "agents of the Indian government" carried out Nijjar's killing.
The Canadian Prime Minister, who was snubbed in India during his recent visit, said: "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
Trudeau said: "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
Trudeau said that he brought the issue to the notice of the Indian Prime Minister during his visit. "Canada declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government last week at the G20. I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi."
He said because of Nijjar's killing, Canadians are now "angry" and "perhaps frightened right now". "Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental."
Expelling the senior Indian diplomat, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said: "My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this."
She said Canada has informed US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about its decision.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under whom the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the killing, said: "We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice."
New findings have determined that long before saber-toothed tigers and dire wolves became extinct, their population was struggling with a bone and joint disease, an indication that they may have been inbreeding.
Scientists came to this conclusion after inspecting bones from the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. Many animals were drawn to the tar pits as the tar would often collect rainwater on top of it. Those who went in for a drink would sometimes fall into the pits and get stuck.
As a result, the tar pits are treasure troves for paleontologists since thousands of animal bones have been preserved in the pits.
After analyzing hundreds of saber-toothed tiger and dire wolf bones for a bone disease called osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD), researchers found that approximately six percent of the saber-toothed cats femurs showed signs of defects.
Additionally, 2.6 percent of the dire wolves femurs exhibited abnormalities related to the bone disease. OCD is brought on when small pieces of bone beneath the cartilage of a joint break down.
OCD can occur in modern dogs, cats, and humans. It can also increase the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
The illness is especially common in domestic dog breeds that have been extensively inbred. Nine percent of border collies are affected by OCD.
So, the presence of the disease in the fossilized remains seems to indicate that the species were suffering from inbreeding. In the wild, inbreeding typically is a result of a dwindling population.
As the species grew more isolated from one another and the number of available mates decreased due to the last ice age, it is likely that inbreeding rates went up. Therefore, OCD became more prevalent toward the end of their existence.
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Blind dates are pretty risky because you have no idea what the other person is like. Going on a date with someone you dont know at all is a huge gamble, and those who decide to take a chance often dont win the lottery.
TikToker Melissa Martin (@melissamartin338) is talking about how she went on a blind date with a guy, during which she was verbally attacked and ended with a wild car chase.
So, her mom had met this guy at a bar and thought he was cute. She decided to give him Melissas phone number so they could go on a date.
Melissa and the guy went out to a nice Italian restaurant where they were seated next to the window and had dinner, drinks, and conversation. All was going well until a woman walked past the window with a toddler in tow. When the woman spotted Melissa and her date sitting together, she did a double take.
At the moment, Melissa didnt think much of it. Melissas date got up to use the restroom. Afterward, he asked the server for the check. Thats when the woman stormed into the restaurant.
She started screaming at Melissa, calling her names and accusing her of being a home wrecker. She claimed that the guy Melissa was on a date with had been in her bed four days ago.
Melissa didnt say a word since she had no idea what the woman was talking about. But she continued to make a scene, causing everyone in the restaurant to stop and stare.
The server brought Melissa another drink, which she gulped down while her date tried to get a handle on the situation. He managed to get the hysterical woman out of the restaurant and finished paying for their meals. Then, they went their separate ways.
As Melissa got into her car to leave, she realized that the woman had been waiting outside in her vehicle with the toddler in the backseat. She proceeded to tail Melissa, attempting to hit the back of Melissas car with her front bumper as they sped down the four-lane road.
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Jack Sara sees buses of American Christians pass by his house as they tour around his homeland. He sees them stop, get out for a few minutes to take photos, and then get back on their buses and leave.
He wonders why they never come talk to him.
The land of Christ is not just a museum, said Sara, an evangelical pastor and the president of Bethlehem Bible College. There is still a church they could meet and pray and fellowship with and get encouraged from.
As many as 400,000 Americans visit religious sites in Israel each year. They go to walk where Jesus walked and see the land of the Bible: from the river Jordan to the Sea of Galilee to the traditional site of the Nativity, with stops at Mount Carmel, King Davids tomb, and the Mount of Olives, where Christ is said to have ascended. Yet few of these religious pilgrims connect with modern-day Christians in the Holy Land.
About 180,000 Christians live in Israeljust under 2 percent of the population. Three out of four of them are Arab. They include Byzantine, Roman, and Maronite Catholics; Eastern Orthodox; Coptic Orthodox; Armenian Christians; and a small number of Protestants like Sara.
Sara is a Palestinian who grew up in a nominal Christian home in Jerusalems Old City. He made a personal profession of faith and committed his life to Christ at Jerusalem Alliance Church in the early 1990s. Nowas president of the school he attended to grow deeper in his Christian faithhe hopes to connect more Christians from around the globe with the vibrant evangelical churches in Israel.
The Bible college is offering online classes to allow people to Discover Jerusalem, Discover Bethlehem, and Discover Galilee. The school also trains local Christians as tour guides and is working with an American ministry to facilitate different kinds of trips to the Holy Land.
Others also want to broaden peoples experiences in Israel. The Christian HolyLand Foundation is an Independent Christian Churchaffiliated nonprofit ministry that supports church leaders in Israel and helps fund church and community projects. They are also organizing trips.
The Christian HolyLand Foundation wants to invite believers to think a little differently about the idea of walking where Jesus walked, said executive director Matt Nance. As a Palestinian Christian once pointed out to him, Jesus promised to be with those who gather in his name. He didnt care about the dead stones at his feet. But he cared a lot about those whom one of his disciples would later call living stones (1 Pet. 2:5).
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People are totally missing where Jesus is walking today, Nance recalled the Arab Christian telling him. Hes not walking with dead stones. Hes walking among the people, and hes experiencing our trials and our pain and our opportunities to participate in the mission of the kingdom.
Nance, who is based in Knoxville, Tennessee, personally knows how powerful a trip to the Holy Land can be. When he was a university student, he studied for a year in Germany and during a break went to Israel and Jordanbackpacking, hitchhiking, sightseeing, eating a lot of street-food falafel, and absorbing as much about life and the culture as he could.
I fell in love with that part of the world, Nance told CT, and decided I wanted to go live there if I could.
In 2012, he moved to Jordan with his wife, Susan, and they made their home there for the next eight years. They immersed themselves in a local Christian community, and Nance worked under a local church.
That time in Jordan gave him another perspective on Holy Land tours, which often include extension packages that take Christians to Jordan and Egypt. Nance, like Sara, saw all these buses of believers that never stopped to connect with a local congregation. He felt kind of sorry for them.
They just are not experiencing what life is like in this place today, Nance said. If you are only on your tour bus, tourist restaurants, and tourist hotels, you are missing a beautiful culture and youre also missing getting to learn about the challenges and trials of what it means to live in this part of the world.
Moneymaking Holy Land tours, of course, are constrained by the need to turn a profit. And they cater to consumers, responding to demand, not telling tourists what they should want to do on their trips to Israel. Nance wondered if a nonprofit that emphasized the spiritual value of connecting with Christians could draw believers to a different kind of experience.
Now back in the US, he is working with the Christian HolyLand Foundation, arranging trips that place a high value on these Christian connections.
As travel has opened up after the pandemic, the Christian HolyLand Foundation is organizing trips for churches that will allow them to worship with fellow believers in Israel. They will share a meal and perhaps even help with an olive harvest.
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Ken Nelson, a retired TV news anchor in Indianapolis who went to Israel with the Christian HolyLand Foundation before COVID-19, said participating in an olive harvest was an especially memorable part of the trip. He beat the branches of the trees with a stick, as he was taught, to knock down ripe olives.
It wasnt just walking in the footsteps of Christ, he said. We met Arab Christians. Real, real people who have dedicated their lives, right here in the Holy Land, to Jesus Christ. We attended a local church service with their local pastors. We clapped our hands with them. We sang with them. And you know what was there in the room with us? The Spirit of Christ.
Each trip includes about 10 to 15 people, typically all from one congregation. The groups see some of the famous religious sites, as they would with other tour packages. They are led around by Christian tour guidesincluding those trained at Bethlehem Bible Collegeand interact with historical, theological, and archaeological experts, as well as local Christians.
Dave Mullins, pastor of Colonial Heights Christian Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, went on one trip and came back valuing the personal connections.
Seeing their hearts for the kingdom has been really impactful, he said. All of the people I have interacted with have just been extremely warm, loving people.
The experience also added to the complexity of his understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He doesnt think he has an answer to the ongoing crisis, but the trip made him pause and think, Oh, wait a minute, these are my brothers and sisters in Christ who go through an awful lot in a land where they were born, Mullins said.
He especially loved hearing about the ways Christians have helped facilitate reconciliation between Arabs and Jews. Hes hoping to bring a group from his church to the Holy Land next year.
Sara said he loves how many American Christians are praying for peace in Jerusalem, his city. But when he sees those buses come and go, he worries they are not praying for all the residents.
You see them sympathizing with a certain group of people against anothertaking a stand on the Israeli or Jewish side and opposed to the Palestinians, he said.
If he can connect them to the lived experience of Christians in Jerusalem and the rest of Israel, they will meet Palestinians who are not enemies of peace but in fact love Jesus and have preached the good news of the Prince of Peace for many years.
When you talk about Palestinian Christians, youre talking about Christians who have been here for 2,000 years, Sara said. Christianity never left this country.
Adam MacInnis is a reporter in Canada.
[ This article is also available in Francais. ]
Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Senator Chuck Grassley is concerned that World Vision International may have funded terrorism with US taxpayers money.
The long-serving legislator from Iowa sent the Christian humanitarian aid organization a letter last month asking for answers to a number of questions about funding, current programs, and accountability. World Vision received $491 million from US Agency for International Development (USAID) in 2022.
Congress and the American people deserve transparency with respect to the steps World Vision has taken to ensure taxpayer money is used as intended and not for illegal activity, Grassley wrote. Please provide answers.
The humanitarian organization told CT that it sent a reply to Grassley on September 9. On the larger point, the group is unequivocal: World Vision does not support any form of terrorism.
The senators inquiry comes a year after a World Vision employee was sentenced to 12 years in prison in Israel. According to prosecutors, the former director of aid to Gaza diverted $50 million meant for hungry children and farmers to Hamas, which the US State Department has designated a terrorist organization. Little of the evidence used to convict Mohammed el-Halabi was made available to the public, beyond a confession that Halabis lawyers say was coerced. Four United Nations experts raised concerns about what they called egregious violations of Halabis right to a fair trial.
World Vision continues to defend the former Gaza aid director. The organization says his conviction was unjust and the Israeli courts ruling is in sharp contrast to the evidence and facts of the case.
In 2016, the humanitarian aid organization commissioned an independent audit of the aid to Gaza and found no irregularities.
Brett Ingerman, the lawyer who headed up the audit, told CT in 2022 that the investigation did not find even a hint of funds being diverted to Hamas or any schemes or collusions involving other World Vision employees or third parties. The investigators looked at more than 280,000 documents and interviewed more than 180 people but couldnt find any material evidence that the World Vision employee was affiliated with, or works for Hamas.
Investigations by USAID and the German and Australian governments came to the same conclusions. The Australian government said only a court could determine Halabis guilt, but its internal review uncovered nothing to suggest any diversion of government funds.
Grassley, however, is not convinced. In his letter addressed to Andrew Morley, World Vision president and CEO, the senator asked for a copy of the full audit, which has not been made available to the public.
Grassley asked about steps the humanitarian organization has taken to prevent further money being sent to terrorist organizations.
The senator also wants information about the humanitarian organizations current work in Gaza. A 2023 report from World Vision mentions $9.6 million dollars were budgeted for Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza, but did not mention any specifics about local partners or vetting practices.
When Halabi was directing the Gaza effort, World Vision reported helping 40,000 children with food, medical supplies, and other assistance annually. All aid to the area was suspended when Halabi was arrested. Critics of the Israeli governments policies toward Palestinians said the arrest and prosecution was intended to have a chilling effect on humanitarian aid.
Grassley is not particularly concerned with Israel and Palestinians. He is concerned with terrorism and the misuse of foreign aid. He has been investigating places where taxpayer funds might end up in the wrong hands. In another letter last month, he asked USAID head Samantha Powers to account for the governments relationship with World Vision, noting the Christian group is the sixth-largest implementor of USAID grants. Grassley asked for documents showing the agency has worked to prevent funds from going to terrorism.
It is paramount that US dollars do not, in any way, shape, or form, fund or encourage terrorism, the senator said. My goal is to improve transparency and make sure every cent of taxpayer money is used as intended and not for illegal activity.
Grassley is also currently asking Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen for information about $6 billion in US assets released by the Biden administration to Iran in exchange for American detainees.
In 2020, the senator investigated World Visions relationship with the Islamic Relief Agency. In a subsequent US Senate Finance Committee Report, the humanitarian organization was accused of failing to properly vet organizations it partnered with. The senate committee said that while the funds given to the Islamic Relief Agency were not likely used to directly fund terrorism, the money inevitably aids their terrorist activities. World Vision was accused of being borderline negligent.
The humanitarian organization denies it did anything wrong working with Islamic Relief Agency, but it has also made changes to its vetting process as a result.
Now, World Vision has sent their response to Grassleys most recent questions, saying they addressed his concerns within the timeline previously agreed with his office.
In the meantime, the humanitarian aid organization said it will continue to fulfill its Christian mission, ensuring our resources provide maximum benefit to the vulnerable children we serve.
Divided church in Alaskan city with bitter winters nixes cold weather shelter for the homeless 'There was more loitering. There was more drug dealing, not in the shelter, but that was happening around the shelter.'
After opening their doors for two years to help a growing population of homeless people find emergency shelter during dangerously cold periods of the year, the small congregation of Resurrection Lutheran Church in Alaskas capital, Juneau, voted not once but twice against using their property to help keep the homeless warm.
The church's pastor, Karen Perkins, who ran the shelter along with her husband, Brad, told The Christian Post that she is now worried that some of the most vulnerable residents of Alaskas capital wont have a place to go in the community that can only be accessed via boat or plane when the climate gets unbearably cold.
Juneau, which spans 3,255 square miles, is the largest capital city in the United States by land area but has a population of just over 32,000, according to Travel Juneau. Its climate is described as subarctic which means it has severe winters, no dry season, and cool short summers with strong seasonality.
In late June, when the congregation, which has 54 voting members, first decided on whether they would apply to be a warming shelter for the homeless for the third consecutive year, the congregations President Karen Lawfer reported that voting was split 14-14, according to a letter to the congregation dated Aug. 30.
The city did not receive any bids for the CWES this season. RLC was approached by the city and borough of Juneau asking us to discuss the bid, so Pastor Karen, Brad Perkins (CWES manager for two seasons at RLC), and I met with them on Aug. 3. We discussed items that were of concern for us, but also shared that there were multiple opinions at RLC unrelated to the details of the bid, Lawfer said in the letter, noting that no organization in the city had applied to be an emergency cold weather shelter.
She added that if no organization offered their property to house the homeless, the only available option the city has is a decommissioned bus.
The city has explored many options, and, at the last Assembly meeting, they presented their final option. That was to idle a decommissioned bus during cold weather days. The bus would fit 35 people and they would have to sit (not lay down) for the night. This was not well received but they are out of options, Lawfer said.
She noted that the city asked to talk with congregants about the situation directly again and on Sept. 10, Deputy City Manager Robert Barr made his case to them, explaining why the city is unable to provide emergency cold weather shelter, Alaska Public Media reported.
This time even more people voted against the idea. Of the 31 congregants who voted, 18 opposed the shelter.
Im really very sad and disheartened, Lawfer told APM.
Now that theres nobody else to do it, I dont know what theyre thinking, she added. I honestly dont know what theyre thinking.
When asked why the congregants would suddenly oppose running the emergency shelter after doing it for two years in a row, Perkins told CP most of the congregants were away from the church due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years that they ran the shelter.
She said even though the members did not openly voice them, she suspects that when they returned to in-person worship there were some concerns about how operating the shelter had impacted the church space and the neighborhood around it.
When the eviction moratorium ended, all of a sudden, there were a lot of people who were homeless, so there was just this sudden spike, and the staff was not able to manage as well, keep things clean, keeping an eye on people as much, Perkins said.
And so, what happened was, there was more loitering. There was more drug dealing, not in the shelter, but that was happening around the shelter. There was more debris around the shelter that was harder to manage, she added.
Most of our model is prevention, and when there are 70 people, it's really hard for staff to keep an eye on it. ... I was getting called in a lot in the middle of the night because I needed to be there. And I think all those things together made it look overwhelming and shocking. The building was not being respected the way a church facility [should], she said.
Despite these problems, Perkins told CP she still supports the church operating the shelter because she believes the concerns are not insurmountable. The cost of not providing it, she said, would likely come at a greater cost to the community.
The Juneau pastor, who has been serving the congregation since 2017, explained that because the city does not have counties that provide certain services, nonprofits are contracted to provide emergency cold weather shelters that are completely funded by the government or by a combination of government money and donations. Each nonprofit is also allowed to set their own criteria for acceptance into their shelter.
The church, says Perkins, operates what is known as a low-barrier shelter, which according to Law Insider, does not require a criminal background check, credit check or income verification, identification, sobriety, or participation in a specific program, for anyone in need of housing to stay.
She said many of the homeless served by the churchs shelter are individuals with significant behavioral health issues or addictions that other organizations reject from long-term shelters.
The emergency shelter is a low barrier shelter and low barrier shelters are very different from a lot of other shelters because low barrier specifically means that we are taking people. We are removing as many barriers as possible because we want to keep people from freezing to death, she said.
Whether or not you're intoxicated we want to keep you from freezing to death. Whether or not you're obnoxious. A lot of the people who end up coming to our shelter are people who for one reason or another are not able to comply with the requirements or they either don't fit in, Perkins said.
The Resurrection Lutheran Church pastor explained that the contract that they had with the city is that the shelter would at a minimum, be open whenever the temperature falls below 32 degrees Fahrenheit. She said they found themselves operating the whole year because they calculated that it would have turned out to be more expensive and disruptive for the community, to turn the homeless out of the shelter for a few days.
We were open the whole season from Oct. 21 through April 21 when the temperatures drop to 32 or below but the contract is that we are at a minimum open when it's 32 or below. And there are people who, I think, were frustrated that we didn't close, Perkins said.
There are people that we serve that have missing fingers and or get hospitalized for a month because of frostbite or trench foot or something like that, which the city does own the hospital and so that is a community cost. And so trying to estimate what it is worth to close versus what is it worth to stay open is just how we have to make those judgments, she added.
Perkins wants to find a solution to balance the needs of her congregation and her passion for the most vulnerable in her community because she understands that everybody is grieving because everybody lost during COVID.
People came out of COVID grieving and lonely and a place that people want, I think wanted to go and feel safe was the church, she said.
To have your church be dramatically changed, I think is a grief issue, Perkins continued. That's one of those things that I said isn't said out loud and I can't, I can't speak for what's going on in somebody's heart. You want your church to be the way you want it to be.
Democratic candidate performed sex acts with husband online for tips
Editor's note: This article contains sexually graphic depictions that some readers may find disturbing.
A Democratic candidate running for state office in Virginia performed sex acts online with her husband for tips, assuring viewers that the money would go to a "good cause." It remains unclear if she was referring to her House of Delegates campaign.
Susanna Gibson, a nurse practitioner and a mother of two children, is running to represent the 57th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. Gibson is running against Republican David Owen in the general election on Nov. 7.
As The Washington Post reported, Gibson posted the videos on the website Chaturbate. The footage of the candidate and her husband, attorney John David Gibson, was later archived on other sites. While the outlet noted that the date of the stream is unclear, the most recent videos of Gibson were archived on Sept. 30, 2022.
The outlet viewed the archived footage after an unnamed Republican operative alerted the newspaper to the existence of the videos. In several videos, Gibson asks viewers to provide tips, which users can do by buying tokens through the site, and she promises to perform certain sex acts if the viewers buy more.
"I need, like, more tokens before I let him do that," Gibson said in one video in response to a request. "One token, no. More. Raising money for a good cause."
Susanna Gibson did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.
In response to the exposed videos, Gibson argued that this was an "illegal invasion" of her privacy and accused her political opponents of attempting to "intimidate" her.
"My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they're willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there's no line they won't cross to silence women when they speak up," she stated.
Gibson claims that she had not authorized the videos posted to Chaturbate to be made available to the public on other websites.
Gibson's opponent stated Monday that he and his team only heard about the videos after The Washington Post covered the story. While he expressed sympathy for Gibson and her family, Owen indicated that he would remain focused on his campaign.
According to Gibson's lawyer, Daniel P. Watkins, the candidate did not authorize, nor was she aware, that Chaturbate's material is available on other websites. On the site where Gibson originally posted the live stream, she and her husband had more than 5,700 followers, according to The Post.
Watkins contends that disseminating videos online is a Class 1 misdemeanor under Virginia's revenge porn law, revealing that he and his client are working with state and federal law enforcement.
On Monday, The Daily Wire noted that it had reviewed the videos that Gibson posted on Chaturbate under the name "HotWifeExperience." In one of the videos, the candidate promises that she will have anal sex with her husband in a private room if someone wanted to pay.
In another video, Gibson tells viewers they could watch her urinate if they pay, reminding them that she was "raising the money for a good cause." Another video posted on Sept. 11, 2022, depicted the candidate saying she likes it when she's choked or hit.
At one point, Gibson encouraged viewers to buy 500 tokens if they wanted to see her order room service and allow the employee who came to her door to see her naked, stating that she is "definitely a slut."
The candidate reportedly revealed that she once had sex with three men in one day, and later, Gibson's husband is heard saying he doesn't like sharing his wife with others, but sometimes she makes him.
According to public filings in Virginia, Gibson's husband donated $5,000 to his wife's campaign around the time that the videos were filmed.
On her campaign website, Gibson informs voters that she will focus on issues such as affordable healthcare and abortion, vowing to "fight for you, our families, and our community" if elected as a delegate.
Pro-lifers slam Trump for calling 6-week abortion ban 'terrible': 'Shouldn't be the GOP nominee'
Former President Donald Trump is facing renewed criticism from pro-life activists after he called Florida's six-week abortion ban signed into law by his 2024 Republican campaign rival Gov. Ron DeSantis "terrible."
In an interview with Kristen Welker on NBC's "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday, the 77-year-old Trump shared his vision for abortion policy should he win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and the ensuing general election.
He predicted that "both sides are going to like me," adding, "What's going to happen is you're going to come up with a number of weeks or months, you're going to come up with a number that's going to make people happy."
The former president insisted that "92% of the Democrats don't want to see abortion after a certain period of time" and that "Democrats don't want to be radical on the issue."
When asked if he would sign a 15-week abortion ban supported by other GOP nominees, Trump asserted, "I'm not going to say I would or I wouldn't."
"I would sit down with both sides, and I would negotiate something, and we'll end up with peace in that issue for the first time in 52 years," Trump claimed.
Trump took a shot at DeSantis, his chief rival for the Republican nomination, noting that "DeSanctus is willing to sign a five-week and six-week ban."
When Welker pressed whether or not he would sign such legislation, Trump characterized DeSantis' approval of a six-week abortion ban in Florida as a "terrible thing and a terrible mistake."
Trump's criticism of Florida's law that bans abortion once a heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks of gestation, did not sit well with pro-life activists.
Lila Rose, the founder and president of the pro-life group Live Action, took to X to describe the former president's remarks as "pathetic and unacceptable."
"Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roe's overturning," Rose wrote. "Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies. But Trump wants to compromise on babies' lives so pro-abort Dems 'like him.'"
Pathetic and unacceptable.
Trump is actively attacking the very pro-life laws made possible by Roes overturning.
Heartbeat Laws have saved thousands of babies.
But Trump wants to compromise on babies lives so pro-abort Dems like him.
Trump should not be the GOP nominee. https://t.co/oYRz3rNmre Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) September 17, 2023
"Trump should not be the GOP nominee," Rose declared.
Kristan Hawkins, the president of the pro-life organization Students for Life of America, also reacted to Trump's comments on "Meet the Press." She wrote on X that "protecting human life at 5 or 6 weeks isn't a 'terrible thing'... it's the right thing."
Hey @realDonaldTrump, protecting human life at 5 or 6 weeks isn't a "terrible thing"... it's the right thing. pic.twitter.com/CFEwRVcJQL Kristan Hawkins (@KristanHawkins) September 17, 2023
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh criticized Trump's remarks as "an awful answer from a moral perspective" and "also stupid politically." Walsh proclaimed in a tweet that "there is no compromise on abortion that everyone will like."
"It's delusional to think otherwise. And contrary to Trump's claims, almost all Democrats are indeed extreme on this issue," he added. "You will be hard pressed to find more than maybe two or three on the national stage who don't want abortion until birth or beyond. You can't win over Democrats by going squishy on this issue. Republicans have tried that brilliant strategy for decades and accomplished exactly nothing by it."
Brian Burch, president of the advocacy group CatholicVote, said in a statement that Trump's comments "have sparked concerns among Catholics over whether he is committed to leading on this issue like he did during his first term."
"Pro-life Catholic voters helped deliver him the White House in 2016 and a record number of votes in 2020," Burch said.
"He cannot expect to win again without these same voters. Any Republican presidential hopeful must draw a clear contrast to the extreme, taxpayer-funded, unlimited abortion agenda of Biden."
During a recent appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show," Trump hesitated to answer a question asking, "Can a man become a woman?" After initially responding with an "umm," the former president identified the issue of "birth" as the determinative factor as to whether or not a man can become a woman.
"Can the man give birth? No, no. Although, they'll come up with some answer to that also someday," Trump said. "I heard just the other day they have a way that now that the man can give birth. No, I would say I'll continue my stance on that."
Kristen Waggoner of the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom addressed both comments in a statement on social media.
"Laws protecting the unborn are not a 'terrible mistake.' They are the hallmark of a just and moral society," Waggoner wrote. "Governors who protect life should be applauded, not attacked. And while we're at it, men can't become women. This is also based on a simple biological reality and one necessary for a just and moral society."
Laws protecting the unborn are not a terrible mistake. They are the hallmark of a just and moral society. Governors who protect life should be applauded, not attacked.
And while were at it, men cant become women. This is also based on a simple biological reality and one https://t.co/1NBSE4zhwn Kristen Waggoner (@KWaggonerADF) September 17, 2023
Earlier in his interview with Welker, Trump also referred to Democrats as "the radical people" on abortion for supporting laws allowing late-term abortion. He claimed that "nobody wants to see abortion after five months and six months and seven months."
Trump vowed that under his proposed compromise, "Democrats won't be able to go out at six months, seven months, eight months and allow an abortion." He believes compromise could be achieved at either the state or the federal level. Trump signaled support for the idea of leaving abortion policy up to the states while reiterating his opposition to late-term abortion. He expressed a desire to serve as a "mediator" on the issue.
Could A Major Caucus Upset From DeSantis Dismantle Trump's Iowa Lead? The Inside Story
link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 09:08 09:08
With the 2024 election shaping up to be truly unique in every way, one evangelical activist believes there's a chance for an Iowa caucus upset.
Bob Vander Plaats, the president of the Iowa-based advocacy group The FAMiLY Leader, told The Christian Post's Ryan Foley he believes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has run a strong ground game, despite former President Donald Trump's domination in the polls.
"When asked which candidate was best positioned to win the Iowa caucuses, Vander Plaats responded, 'It would have to be Ron DeSantis,'" Foley recently wrote. "He said DeSantis has received endorsements from 40 state legislators and 130 county chairs."
Listen to Foley break it all down on this week's episode of the show.
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With the 2024 election shaping up to be truly unique in every way, one evangelical activist believes there's a chance for an Iowa caucus upset.
Bob Vander Plaats, the president of the Iowa-based advocacy group The FAMiLY Leader, told The Christian Post's Ryan Foley he believes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has run a strong ground game, despite former President Donald Trump's domination in the polls.
"When asked which candidate was best positioned to win the Iowa caucuses, Vander Plaats responded, 'It would have to be Ron DeSantis,'" Foley recently wrote. "He said DeSantis has received endorsements from 40 state legislators and 130 county chairs."
Listen to Foley break it all down on this week's episode of the show.
Christian venues cancel Evangelical men's outreach Promise Keepers over gender ideology
What happens when "cancel culture" infects the Church?
Promise Keepers, an Evangelical organization founded in 1990 that holds men's rallies in stadiums nationwide, has seen several scheduled events at churches and other venues canceled in recent months.
As recently as June, Belmont University, a private Christian university in Nashville, canceled a Promise Keepers event after the national Christian men's ministry posted a blog criticizing LGBT pride month. The university accused the organization of "unnecessarily fan[ning] the flames of culture wars."
The event, which was part of the group's Daring Faith tour, is one of several events that were later canceled by Christian venues, including Hope Church in Cordova, Tennessee, and The Fountain of Praise in Houston.
Despite Promise Keepers decades-old legacy challenging Christian men to live out Gods calling, chairman and CEO Ken Harrison says much has changed since the 1990s when the group first launched.
While some have cited concerns about offending people with biblical truth, said Harrison, others were less clear in their reasons.
One venue was worried that we would offend people by expressing our belief, rooted in Scripture, about gender and sexual identity, he told The Christian Post via email. Others said they didn't want to draw protesters or simply didn't give us a reason.
Harrison said the cancellations were disheartening given that they came not from secular groups, but overtly Christian ones.
It's disheartening to us that churches don't want to offend people with the truth of the Word, something we've come to expect from the culture, but which dismays us coming from Christian institutions, he said.
As part of its mission, Promise Keepers offers guidance to men on how to respond to the current gender-identity crisis in our society.
And despite the rash of cancellations, Harrison says he wont be deterred by Christian cancel culture.
We are optimistic our events will be held because other churches and organizations have contacted us after hearing about the cancellations, he said. They'd be happy to host an event that champions helping men grow stronger in their understanding and application of God's Truth.
Promise Keepers has drawn both praise and criticism for its bold message of biblical masculinity, especially at a time when complementarianism is losing influence among even some of the more conservative Evangelical ministries.
In 2021, a USA Today editor called on the Dallas Cowboys organization to bar Promise Keepers from holding a men's conference at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, over Harrisons views on men competing in women's sports.
So why does Harrison believe this pushback is happening now?
The spirit of the age we live in is fear of being criticized, disliked, canceled. As Promise Keepers, we refuse to give into that fear, he said. We choose pursuing and sharing Gods truth over being liked by all as if that were even possible.
We make no apologies for boldly declaring Gods truth to a culture and a church that needs to hear it.
Local churches and other ministries who may be interested in hosting a Promise Keepers event can contact the group at (303) 964-7600 or visit their website.
Disciples of Christ lost one-fifth of its membership from 2019-2022: report
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) has lost about one-fifth of its members from 2019 to 2022 as the mainline Protestant denomination's membership is only a fraction of what it was in 2000, according to a new report.
Jeffrey Walton, the Anglican Program Director and communications manager for the theologically conservative think tank Institute on Religion & Democracy, wrote an analysis published last week on the recently released statistics from the Disciples of Christ.
Drawing from the subscription-based Disciples of Christ database ALEX, Walton found that the denomination had approximately 350,500 members in 2019 to nearly 278,000 members in 2022, representing a loss of about 70,000 people.
Additionally, the mainline Protestant denomination saw its average worship attendance drop from approximately 126,000 in 2019 to a little below 90,000 in 2022, or a loss of more than 35,000.
While noting that decline can be found in some theologically conservative denominations, Walton contends that the Disciples of Christ has "firmly moved in a theologically revisionist direction on matters of human sexuality, gender expression, and radical individual moral autonomy."
"Close to IRD's offices in downtown Washington, the beautiful National City Christian Church was constructed in the 1930s as the denomination's national church," he continued.
"Built to accommodate more than a thousand worshippers, the John Russell Pope-designed neoclassical structure is festooned with various iterations of pride/progress flags and Black Lives Matter signage."
Walton added that what National City Christian Church "lacks is members, with online participants seeming to be the majority of those counted as attending services. Total membership dropped from 664 in 2019 to 275 in 2021."
The Christian Post contacted the Disciples of Christ for comment on the report. However, a spokesperson for the denomination declined to provide comment.
Over the past several years, the Disciples of Christ have seen a considerable decline in attendees and members. For example, from 2007 to 2017, membership in the denomination dropped from approximately 689,500 members to a little over 411,000 members.
The 2022 statistics represent a decline of more than a half million members compared to 2000, when the denomination reported having approximately 820,000 people, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives.
"Multiple religious landscape studies show increasing numbers of both 'nones' and non-denominational Christians," Walton wrote. "Not all denominations will survive this time period. The DoC is in a spiral and will likely halve its membership again by the close of the decade."
At the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), which concluded last month, the denomination reelected the Rev. Teresa Hord Owens to a second term as general minister and president.
The first African American to lead the denomination, Owens told the General Assembly in a sermon that they needed to "imagine new ways of being church and to stay at the table no matter what we face."
"Our commitment to staying at the table is grounded in our covenant relationship with God and with one another," said Owens. "Let's be the church we say we are. It is in being who we say we are that we actively bear witness to God's limitless love for all."
Ciara is an accomplished CFO and people leader with extensive and highly relevant experience in media, telecommunications and retail. She is currently CFO at TVNZ, a role she has held for four years, was previously CFO at Mediaworks and before that held a number of finance leadership roles at Vodafone in New Zealand and globally.
Chief Executive Sophie Moloney said: Ciara is a highly-regarded leader and finance professional with a strong background in media, and we are thrilled that she will be joining the Sky team. We have just delivered solid results for FY23, building on the positive results of recent years, and we have a strong and ambitious plan for the coming three years and beyond. I am personally delighted to have someone of Ciaras calibre and experience joining the team at this exciting time. I look forward to the contribution that she will make as we look to grow revenue, increase customer satisfaction and employee engagement, and double our dividend by FY26.
With Ciara joining Sky in March 2024, Sophie has also confirmed interim arrangements for the CFO role, noting that Deloitte Partner Andrew Hirst, who has been Interim CFO since May 2023, is due to return to Deloitte at the end of September. Former Foxtel CFO James Marsh will be Interim CFO from October 2023 until Ciara joins Sky.
Sophie said: I am very grateful to Andrew for his excellent stewardship of the CFO role over the last five months. He has made a significant contribution during this time, and I anticipate a seamless transition to James Marsh as interim CFO.
James is well known to the Sky team, having successfully undertaken a number of Finance leadership and advisory projects for Sky in the last 2 years. James and Ciara have also worked together previously, and we are pleased to be able to draw on his expertise until Ciara joins us in early 2024.
We look forward to welcoming Ciara to the team, as we continue to strive to be Aotearoa New Zealands most engaging and essential media company.
ENDS
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Federal jury convicts 3 more pro-life activists for DC abortion clinic blockade
A federal jury convicted three more pro-life activists involved in the October 2020 blockade of a Washington, D.C., abortion facility. The group faces the possibility of over 11 years in prison.
The defendants Jonathan Darnel, Jean Marshall and Joan Bell were found guilty of federal civil rights conspiracy and violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act after they planned to block the Washington Surgi-Clinic entrance to stop the facility from performing abortions that day.
The convictions come after other activists Lauren Handy, John Heather Idoni, William Goodman and Herb Geraghty were convicted on the same counts in August. Another activist, Jay Smith, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months in prison, while another, Paulette Harlow, is awaiting trial.
According to a Department of Justice statement, Marshall and Bell traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the blockade Handy is believed to have directed. Once inside the facility, several activists used chains, ropes and bike locks to tie themselves together, and they used the waiting room furniture to create a barricade.
While the activists established the blockade, Darnel live-streamed their activities on Facebook. A video posted to Facebook in October 2020 shows authorities talking to the activists and Darnel urging people to share the footage.
Following the verdict, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered the three defendants detained until sentencing, which will be scheduled at a later date. The five activists convicted in August were also immediately taken into custody after the verdict, as they were convicted of a crime of violence.
Caroline Taylor Smith, executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU), believes the activists punishment is excessive. She called for a repeal of the FACE Act.
The FACE Act, signed into law in 1994, makes it a federal crime to block or use intimidation to prevent people from receiving an abortion or reproductive health services.
This overreaching of power and authority by Bidens DOJ is egregious and must be stopped, Smith said in a statement provided to The Christian Post. Nonviolent pro-life actions should not be a federal crime, and peaceful people with a desire to save lives should not be jailed for over a decade. Some of these Rescuers could be facing death by incarceration.
Handy is the director of activism and mutual aid for PAAU, the group that recovered 115 human remains from the Washington Surgi-Clinic in March 2022, which is the same month that Handy was indicted for the blockade.
PAAU has repeatedly called for an investigation into five of the full-term aborted babies obtained from the clinic, as the group believes they may have been aborted in a manner that violated federal law.
Handy sought permission during the trial to share the images of the five babies. However, Kollar-Kotelly denied this request, describing the photos as particularly incendiary and entirely distracting.
The Thomas More Society, a nonprofit law firm representing Handy, filed an emergency motion last month, requesting that the activist be released from jail as she awaits sentencing.
In the motion, Handys defense team argued that the activist and her fellow defendants have been on pre-trial release since their arrest in March 2022. The attorneys noted that the group is not a flight risk or a dangerous threat to the community and should be granted pre-sentencing release.
The nonprofit law firm shared in a statement earlier this month that it had filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after a lower court denied Handys release.
Jack Hibbs says the 'silent' Church to blame for America being a 'post-Christian nation'
WASHINGTON California Pastor Jack Hibbs told a crowd of Christian conservative activists over the weekend that the "silent" Church is to blame for the United States being a "post-Christian nation."
Hibbs, the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, spoke at the Family Research Council's Pray Vote Stand Summit at the Omni Shoreham Hotel last Friday. The annual event gathered hundreds of Christian conservative leaders and pastors who heard from many of the leading 2024 Republican presidential candidates.
The pastor said gatherings like the summit are essential because the Church "has been marginalized" and "set aside" in the United States. The 64-year-old stressed that now "more than ever [the Christian] faith needs to take a stand."
"We need to do this Church family like never before," Hibbs said.
"The Church has been viewed as something irrelevant. And listen, let's be honest. Much of that accusation against us is true. Somehow, the Church has gotten out of the lane of being the salt and light that God has called us to be."
Hibbs noted that he is "constantly labeled" as a "Christian nationalist."
"I don't accept labels. I don't accept intimidation. I don't accept bullying," he said. "Did God bring this nation into existence? To deny that is to deny God's work and to deny God's history. The nation of this country of ours is history."
"Do you want to be upset with me? I believe Jesus could come back tonight. I'm waiting for Him to return. But, if He doesn't return, I've got grandkids. And I've got to leave this nation in the right hands," Hibbs continued.
"[You might say]: 'But, pastor, that's political.' Let's talk about that. Should pastors be into politics? Yes, especially if they're going to run for office. I know a lot of pastors that have run for office. Many of them have been elected. God bless them. But, let's remember something," Hibbs added.
"God established His sacred institutions. Israel is one of them. The Church is one of them. Marriage is one of them. The family, right? And listen to this: according to your Bible, God established the government. Did you know that? He didn't invent politics. That's what man invented. When man doesn't want God involved in government, he turns it around, throws God out and makes it political."
Giving an example of someone he believes is an elected leader who is operating without God's guidance and direction, Hibbs mentioned California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has been in office since 2019.
"California is under attack. The freeways are falling apart. We've got fentanyl and homelessness everywhere. And the state used to be one of the most iconic places on earth. But, [it has been] under a constant Democrat leadership of godlessness, hyper-driven on abortion," he said.
Throughout the 33 years Hibbs has been in pastoral leadership at his church, he said he has received pushback and criticism about his preaching on the idea of the importance of God playing a role in politically charged topics.
"'You can't talk about marriage because that's a political issue.' Really? I thought that was in my Bible. 'You can't talk about abortion because that's a political issue.' Really? I thought that was in my Bible. 'You can't talk about gender. It's a political issue.' Really? I thought that was in my Bible. Do you kind of get the hint of what I'm talking about here," Hibbs said.
"Everything that you do as a human being and as an American is based in the Scripture. There is no place to set both aside. Jesus said to 'Go into all the world and preach this Gospel, the Good News.' Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Let's admit it. Our nation is a nation of sin, and we also are sinners," he continued.
"That's how we qualify for salvation, for crying out loud. Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And this nation used to preach the cross. Now, you raise Jesus in the public square, and you better have a helmet on. Why? We are a post-Christian nation, and we are starting to reap the detriment of that position. But how did we get here? We got here by being silent."
The pastor added that "all blame must be laid at the foot of the Church."
"When the pulpit waivers, the congregation waivers. When the congregation waivers, then the community waivers," he added. "Then evil fills the void. Then you wonder why in California there is a new majority that we have to deal with that constantly throws us against our faith, our freedom of worship to gather together."
"And then our governor said: 'all marijuana dispensaries are essential. Strip clubs are essential. All bars and liquor stores are essential," he added, referring to state shutdown mandates and designations amid the heightened stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Then, he shuts down other places and curtails Home Depot and other things like this. And he never answers about the church. He didn't mention the Church. The Church is not essential or non-essential. The Church is transcendent. The Church is a living, breathing organism, born by the Holy Spirit, purchased by Jesus Christ and His blood."
Earlier in his sermon, Hibbs noted that the U.S. is living in "an age of fear" and an "age of worry."
"And yet, we as a nation, we should be, above all nations, able to take on fear because the founding of this nation was not upon some great government idea, was not upon some great political idea. Let's be honest. It was about the Pilgrim fathers crafting that Mayflower Compact of only basically two paragraphs," he added.
"In those paragraphs of our nation's birth certificate, William Bradford and others wrote what the nation's purpose would be. ... They were announcing that to the shores. They had brought themselves to be ones who propagate the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why they came."
Hibbs said, "History is full of the move of God," and it's vital for Christians to reflect on historical events to be inspired by servants of God who did the work that God blessed them with.
"Go back to 1605. When Pastor Hunt on the Massachusetts shores put up a tent from a broken sail from his ship and he preached the Gospel to the natives. Who wants to talk about that?" Hibbs said.
Just the beginning: North Carolina megachurch baptizes 282 people in 1 day
A multisite megachurch based in North Carolina has baptized 282 people in a single day, with all but three of the baptisms taking place at an outdoor ceremony.
Biltmore Church, a congregation with seven campuses in the Tar Heel State, held a mass baptism event at a property in Fletcher on Sunday, baptizing 279 people there. The church baptized three others at their morning worship services.
Devin Goins, who serves as pastor of Culture and Engagement at Biltmore, told The Christian Post that he believes this can only be attributed to God moving in peoples lives.
Additionally, our team has worked through numerous personal conversations, and we devoted a large portion of the sermon a few weeks ago to the subject of baptism, said Goins.
Each person was individually counseled to ensure they understood the Gospel and professed Jesus as the Lord of their life. We hope to always be ready for when God moves so that as many can take their next steps as a disciple of Jesus.
Goins also told CP that it was amazing both to see hundreds of people profess Jesus as Lord and to hear each story of God at work in each persons life.
Baptism is a great step for a Christ-follower, but it is often just the beginning, he added. Our staff will continue to connect with each person to get involved in biblical community and additional ways to develop as a follower of Jesus. Were excited to continue to guide each person as they continue their discipleship journey.
Biltmore traces its origins to the 1889 founding of Fern Hill Baptist Church, which was located at the Biltmore Estate and originally had 25 congregation members.
In 2008, Bruce Frank became lead pastor, with the church opening multiple satellite locations during the 2010s, and welcoming Brevard Community Church as a member campus in 2021.
In addition to serving as lead pastor of Biltmore, Frank recently served as chair of the Southern Baptist Conventions sexual abuse task force, where he pushed for reform in response to reports that the denomination was failing to properly process claims of sexual misconduct.
It will take a few years to change the culture and direction, Frank said in a speech at the SBC Annual Meeting last year when messengers voted to approve a series of recommendations to combat abuse. But without action to act differently, there is no repentance."
Radical Fulani herdsmen kill 15 Christians, kidnap 32 others in Nigeria In 4 years, 23 pastors slain in Kaduna state, church leader says
ABUJA, Nigeria Fulani herdsmen on Friday killed 15 Christians in southern Kaduna state, Nigeria, sources said.
The attack on Dogon Noma village, Kajuru County came amid disclosure that such attacks have led to the death of 23 pastors and the closure of 200 worship buildings in Kaduna state in the past four years.
Besides taking 15 lives, the assailants also kidnapped 32 Christians from Dogon Noma village, area residents said.
Fulani herdsmen surrounded the village in their hundreds, shooting anybody in sight; the attack occurred at about 7 a.m., David Musa told Morning Star News in a text message. Pray for Dogon Noma community.
Moses Ishaya said he lost two relatives in the massacre.
It is with a heavy heart that I notify you about an attack on our community, Dogon Noma village, by Fulani herdsmen on the morning of Friday, Ishaya told Morning Star News in a text message. The attack has resulted in the killing of two of my family members, who include our sister from Karamai village, who got married at Dogon Noma village, and the second victim, the daughter of my relation, Mr. John Zango.
He identified other Christians killed as Bala Laya and Gimbiya Coaster. Among others kidnapped, he named three abducted as Set Alkali, Saviour Christopher and Sico Nicholas.
Ernest Maidawa, a youth leader in the area, urged government officials to urgently take action.
We are saddened with these renewed acts of attacks and gruesome killings of innocent Christians in Dogon Noma community by Fulani herdsmen, Maidawa told Morning Star News in a text message. We are urging law enforcement agencies as a matter of urgency to check the spate of these attacks on innocent Christians in our communities. Governments, both at state and federal levels in Nigeria, must also be seen to be doing more as they have not shown capacity in their core mandate and responsibilities to protect lives and properties.
On Tuesday, Christian leaders in Kaduna state met with police officials in the city of Kaduna and advised them that attacks by armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen and other terrorists have resulted in the killing of 23 pastors, the abduction of 215 Christians still in captivity and the closure of 200 church worship buildings in four years.
The Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), and Christian leaders from 23 Local Government Areas told Kaduna State Commissioner of Police Musa Garba and other senior officers that Christians have faced fierce persecution.
The meeting between Christian leaders and police officials was held at Albraka Baptist Church in the city of Kaduna. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the relationship between the police and Christian leaders, and for police to listen to their challenges and together find solutions, Garba said.
Security is the responsibility of all and not only that of the government, Garba told the Christian leaders. While the government takes the lead in the protection of lives and property, individuals are also expected to play their parts, particularly in the area of providing information.
Nigeria led the world in Christians killed for their faith in 2022, with 5,014, according to Open Doors 2023 World Watch List (WWL) report. It also led the world in Christians abducted (4,726), sexually assaulted or harassed, forcibly married or physically or mentally abused, and it had the most homes and businesses attacked for faith-based reasons. As in the previous year, Nigeria had the second most church attacks and internally displaced people.
In the 2023 World Watch List of the countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian, Nigeria jumped to sixth place, its highest ranking ever, from No. 7 the previous year.
Militants from the Fulani, Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and others conduct raids on Christian communities, killing, maiming, raping and kidnapping for ransom or sexual slavery, the WWL report noted. This year has also seen this violence spill over into the Christian-majority south of the nation. Nigerias government continues to deny this is religious persecution, so violations of Christians rights are carried out with impunity.
Numbering in the millions across Nigeria and the Sahel, predominantly Muslim Fulani comprise hundreds of clans of many different lineages who do not hold extremist views, but some Fulani do adhere to radical Islamist ideology, the United Kingdoms All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom or Belief (APPG) noted in a 2020 report.
They adopt a comparable strategy to Boko Haram and ISWAP and demonstrate a clear intent to target Christians and potent symbols of Christian identity, the APPG report states.
Christian leaders in Nigeria have said they believe herdsmen attacks on Christian communities in Nigerias Middle Belt are inspired by their desire to forcefully take over Christians lands and impose Islam as desertification has made it difficult for them to sustain their herds.
TikTok fined nearly $370 million for weak safeguards protecting underage users
TikTok was fined around $370 million following an inquiry from a European supervisory authority that found the social media app does not have safeguards to protect underage youth using the platform.
The Irish Data Protection Commission is a national independent authority that protects the personal data of individuals in the European Union, and the group also regulates TikTok.
The commission announced in a press release on Friday that, in addition to the fine, it had issued TikTok a reprimand and ordered the China-run social media giant to bring itself into compliance within three months.
The regulator conducted an investigation into the platform between July 31, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, before making a final decision regarding TikTok earlier this month.
Following the inquiry, the commission found that the social media site failed to comply with multiple General Data Protection Regulation rules, the EUs privacy and security law, by placing child users accounts on a public setting by default. As a result, anyone using the platform can view a child's posts. The regulator noted that TikTok failed to take into consideration the danger imposed on users aged 13 and younger by having their account placed on a public setting.
TikToks Family Pairing setting is also a violation of GDPR, according to the commission, as it reportedly allows adult users to pair their account with a childs without first verifying that the adult is the minors parent or guardian.
This allowed the non-child user to enable Direct Messages for child users above the age of 16, which posed severe possible risks to child users, the commission stated.
TikTok did not respond to The Christian Posts request for comment for this article.
This is not the first time that a report has raised concerns about abusers exploiting loopholes on TikTok and exposing children to harmful content.
As CP reported last November, TikTok influencer and child sex abuse survivor Seara Adair told Forbes in an interview at the time that users on the platform can post illegal child sex abuse material if they use a private posting login. The influencer discovered the loophole last March after someone took advantage of the loophole to post a video of a naked pre-teen doing inappropriate things, tagging Adair.
"There's quite literally accounts that are full of child abuse and exploitation material on their platform, and it's slipping through their AI," Adair told Forbes. "Not only does it happen on their platform, but quite often it leads to other platforms where it becomes even more dangerous."
A TikTok spokesperson told CP at the time that the platform has "zero tolerance" for child sex abuse material, claiming that this "abhorrent behavior" is prohibited. The spokesperson explained that the platform removes such content when made aware of it, and it also moves to ban the accounts responsible and make a report to The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, a child protection organization.
Forbes noted that the vast number of post-in-private accounts it had identified in its reporting and how fast new ones appear after the previous ones are banned appear to highlight what it described as a blind spot in TikToks moderation. Despite the platforms claim that it has a zero tolerance policy for child sex abuse material, Forbes reported that TikTok seemed to be struggling to enforce its guidelines.
Lina Nealon, director of corporate and strategic initiatives for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told CP at the time that the situation is not unique to TikTok.
"No matter where children are on the internet, predators can and will find a way to reach them. What is happening on TikTok is not exclusive to that platform. Instagram, Snap, Discord, and others have vulnerabilities and parents must be aware and diligent," she said.
Nealon suggested that solutions such as the "Kids Online Safety Act" and "Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act are necessary to hold tech platforms accountable. She also urged parents to protect their children by utilizing parental controls and having age-appropriate conversations with their children.
Revelation 16: When the great river runs dry
Rivers, great moving bodies of water, serve us in so many ways. They supply humanity and wildlife with water necessary for drinking, and habitat, without which neither could survive. They help us with transportation and a source of energy. Rivers provide us with fish of various varieties to eat, along with crayfish, mollusks, and certain waterfowl. Plants that grow on the river banks and floodplains are good for making teas, medicines, and wonderful-smelling perfumes. Rivers support agriculture and farming.
There is one thing, however, most people never think of a river providing necessary political boundaries. For example, the Mekong River furnishes a divide between Laos and Thailand. Rivers create borders between nations. In Europe, the Bidasoa River establishes the borderline between France and Spain. In South America, the Amazon River forms the borders between Columbia, Peru, and Brazil. Many rivers around the world and throughout history have served as political boundaries between countries.
The Euphrates River is one of the most significant rivers in history. It holds enormous historical, cultural, and religious significance, playing a vital role in the formation of ancient civilizations. Its mentioned in the Bible numerous times and is connected to prophetic events.
Dr. David Jeremiah, senior pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, writes in his book, The Book of Signs:
The Euphrates is one of the greatest rivers in the world. It flows from the mountains of western Turkey through Syria, and continues on right through the heart of Iraq, not far from Baghdad. It eventually unites with the Tigris to become the Shatt al-Arab, and finally empties into the Persian Gulf. The entirety of the Euphrates flows through Muslim territory. In Genesis 15 and Deuteronomy 11, the Lord specified that the Euphrates would be the easternmost border of the promised land. It serves both as a border and a barrier between Israel and her enemies.
When a sixth angel pours out his bowl of Gods wrath on this rebellious world, it is emptied on the Great River Euphrates. Here is how the prophecy reads:
Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies toward the west without hindrance. And I saw three evil spirits that looked like frogs leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty. Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed. And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.
In this passage, there is provided another important reason for interpreting the prophecies of Revelation by the literal method.
J. Dwight Pentecost, who authored, Things to Come, correctly defines the literal method of interpretation in this way:
The literal method of interpretation is that method that gives to each word the same exact basic meaning it would have in normal, ordinary, customary usage, whether employed in writing, speaking or thinking.
Pentecost then adds:
Inasmuch as God gave the Word of God as a revelation to men, it would be expected that His revelation would be given in such exact and specific terms that His thoughts would be accurately conveyed and understood when interpreted according to the laws of grammar and speech. Such presumptive evidence favors the literal interpretation, for an allegorical method of interpretation would cloud the meaning of the message delivered by God to men. The fact that the Scriptures continually point to literal interpretations of what was formally written adds evidence as to the method to be employed in interpreting the Word. Perhaps one of the strongest evidences for the literal method is the use the New Testament makes of the Old Testament. When the Old Testament is used in the New it is used only in a literal sense. One need only study the prophecies which were fulfilled in the first coming of Christ, in his life, his ministry, and his death, to establish that fact. No prophecy which has been completely fulfilled has been fulfilled in any way but literally.
Without question, Pentecosts assertions are true. The theological system that would spiritualize this text, negates the covenants that God has made with Israel, one that sees this crossing of the Euphrates by the kings of the east as a representation of the forces of evil amassing for the final battle but denies the specifics of geographical locations only as metaphors for broader spiritual realities, are mistakenly muddying the clear and apparent teaching of the passage.
All of the other plagues were real, some of them paralleled the plagues that occurred in Egypt, which were real. There is no reason not to see this drying up of the Euphrates River as real, too.
Did not God literally open up the Red Sea so the children of Israel could escape from Pharoah and his chariots? Did not God literally part the waters of the Jordan so that the people could pass over into the land of Canaan? These are historical facts. Therefore, there is no reason not to believe that God will make the Euphrates dry so the kings of the East may cross over and assemble with all the armies of the world at a place called Armageddon.
It is easy to understand the previous afflictions mentioned in Revelation chapter 16 as plagues: bodily sores, the corruption of the sea and fresh waters, intense heat from the sun, and regional darkness. However, the sixth bowl, which describes a massive gathering of armies to do battle, almost seems out of place.
Nevertheless, has there ever been a plague through the ages which has brought more misery to mankind than war? Certainly not.
While the word plague may not be commonly found in ancient texts to describe war, many ancient writings, including those from various cultures and historical periods, describe war as a calamity and a scourge. These descriptions reflect the recognition of the devastating impact of war on societies, and in effect similar to that of a terrible plague.
In more modern times, the famous Russian author of War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy had strong anti-war sentiments. In his novel and essays, Tolstoy portrayed war as a senseless and destructive force that afflicted humanity like a plague. He explored the human suffering and moral dilemmas caused by armed conflict.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against the Vietnam War, and in his famous Beyond Vietnam speech delivered in 1967, he referred to the war as a plague, stating, A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Humanity has always had a penchant for war. Its inconceivable the world as described in Revelation chapter 16 would even have the energy for combat, but its obvious that even in the most deplorable conditions the human race is ready to take up arms.
This is unquestionably a moment when God is sovereignly directing the course of human affairs, allowing evil, but overruling and redirecting it to accomplish His righteous ends. As Pentecost notes:
[T]his period is peculiarly the time when Gods wrath and judgment fall on earth. This is not wrath from men, nor from Satan, except as God may use these channels for the execution of His will This period differs from all preceding tribulation, not only in intensity but also in the kind of tribulation, since it comes from God himself.
One may ask, what is driving this passionate pursuit of war foretold in Revelation? The apostle John answers, saying he witnessed three evil spirits leap from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. He said these revolting spirits looked like frogs, not that they were frogs, but that they looked like frogs.
Frogs are mentioned in the biblical account of the Ten Plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus. In Exodus 8:1-15, frogs make up one of the plagues that God sends upon Egypt as a punishment for Pharaohs refusal to release the Israelites. Frogs infested Egypt, covering the land and even entering peoples houses. Frogs are associated with judgment from God.
Frogs were also considered unclean animals, as outlined by the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament. Leviticus 11:9-12 lists various creatures that are unclean and should not be eaten, including frogs. So, this classification associates frogs with impurity or evil.
In the context of Revelation, the use of frog-like spirits emerging from the mouths of evil entities is meant to convey the idea of unclean, deceptive, or demonic influences. These frog-like spirits are agents of deception and manipulation, working in alignment with the dragon (Satan), the beast (the Antichrist), and the false prophet (a false religious authority).
What evil is being communicated in Word and miracles by these unclean and demonic spirits? Gary G. Cohen and Salem Kirban in Revelation Visualized suggest:
In verse 13 we see that from the Infernal Trinity, there goes out a clamor for the armies of this world to gather together in northern Palestine, the approach valley-plain to Jerusalem, Armageddon (verse 16). Why? We do not yet know the Satanic reasons that these three will give to the world. Some have suggested that the Western world will desire to have a showdown against the eastern armies marching to Palestine. This may be it. Perhaps both East and West are coming as a United Nations force to once and for all settle the Middle East by totally annihilating Israel; and representative armies from all over the world are to participate in this necessary for the good of mankind, genocide? This would certainly fit the circumstances of Joel 3 and Zechariah 12-14.
But in reality, we cant say with certainty what these wicked spirits are communicating to draw the nations into conflict. Neither is it clear what specific enemy the kings of the east are crossing the dried Euphrates River to fight.
Some scholars propose the reference to the kings of the east crossing the Euphrates signifies a military movement in a specific region, such as the Middle East or Asia. This interpretation suggests the kings of the East may be involved in regional conflicts or power struggles rather than a global war.
Others suggest the kings of the East will go to war against the Antichrist and his global forces of evil in the end times. It is believed that they will take part in the final battle of Armageddon, joining forces with other nations against the Antichrists regime.
Still, others say the kings of the east will wage war against Israel in the end times. This theory suggests they may be motivated by geopolitical or religious reasons to engage in a conflict with Israel.
What is clear, however, is whatever the reason, God sees it as an assault on his Sovereignty. Whatever the reason, God, the maestro of history, is orchestrating the sound of every flat note to blend with the sharp notes of his melodic masterpiece. God is bringing about judgment by allowing evil and turning it in its course. He is corralling these nations into one place, Armageddon, also known as the Mount of Megiddo, to destroy them, and paving the way for Christ and his people to rule and reign.
It is beyond futile to oppose the Lord.
Finally, there is a caveat, a warning. The Lord says:
Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed (vs. 15).
J. Vernon McGee in his Read Thru the Bible series says:
The Lord Jesus Christ does come as a thief to the world at the end of the Great Tribulation As we saw at the beginning of the Revelation, the whole earth will mourn because of him. They dont want him to come. They would like to shut him out from ever returning to the earth.
The late W.A. Criswell, who was the famous senior pastor of the First Baptist Church, Dallas, said:
If a man will not hear the voice of God, he lays his heart open to listen to the voice of destruction, evil, and damnation. When the kings and the people and the armies of the earth will not listen to God, then they lay themselves open to listening to the persuasive voice of the spirits of darkness and evil Oh, listen to the voice of God! There is salvation in none other.
In her book, Everyday Faith for Everyday Life, author Jan White tells a remarkable story.
While President Dwight Eisenhower was vacationing in Denver, he came across a letter-like article in a newspaper that was written to him by a local reporter. The article was about a young boy named Paul Henry Haley, who was battling cancer.
The Rocky Mountain News featured a picture of six-year-old Paul dressed as a cowboy, his arm around his mother. The article began with, Im writing this story to you, Mr. President, for a young fellow who hasnt learned to write. He wants to see you, Ike, and although he doesnt know it, thats his dying wish. To young Paul, President Eisenhower was a greater hero than even Hopalong Cassidy, a popular cowboy figure at the time.
After reading the article, the President turned to one of his aides and said, Lets go see Paul Haley. The presidential limousine, adorned with American flags on the fenders, pulled up one August Sunday morning in front of Paul Haleys residence. President Eisenhower approached the front door and knocked. Pauls stepfather, Donald Haley, answered the door in worn blue jeans, a dirty shirt, and a days worth of beard. He asked, Can I help you? President Eisenhower responded, Is Paul here? Tell him the president would like to see him.
Little Paul, filled with wonder, appeared and met the President, who knelt and shook his hand. Paul, described as wide-eyed and unbelieving, accompanied the President into the living room. Eisenhower smiled and said, Paul, I understand you wanted to see me. They spent about five minutes visiting. Afterward, Paul had the chance to inspect the presidential limousine. President Eisenhower shared that he had a grandson around Pauls age, named Dwight David Eisenhower, II. They exchanged a hug and a handshake before saying their goodbyes and the President departed.
The Haley family experienced an unforgettable surprise that Sunday morning. Donald Haley later reflected, saying, How can I ever forget standing there dressed as I was in those jeans and old, dirty shirt and an unshaven face to meet the President of the United States?
Consider carefully. Everything taking place nowadays is in motion for the return of Christ. He truly is coming again, suddenly and unexpectedly. Dont be caught unaware, naked and ashamed (v.15). Be sure that youve trusted him for the forgiveness of your sins and that youre prepared and properly clothed in his righteousness.
Trump, abortion and the pro-life movement
Donald Trumps biggest enemy isnt the Democrats, the media, or the deep state. Donald Trumps biggest enemy is Donald Trump.
There isnt a single person more committed to disparaging his greatest accomplishment helping to overturn Roe v. Wade than Trump himself.
In an interview with NBCs "Meet The Press" yesterday, Trump suggested he wouldnt sign a federal bill that would completely ban abortion. When the interviewer asked him if he would sign a federal bill banning abortion at 15 weeks, he refused to answer saying, I would sit down with both sides (Republicans and Democrats) and negotiate something. Im not going to say I would or I wouldnt.
He also said he doesnt support Ron DeSantis Heartbeat Protection Act (a bill that bans most surgical abortions in Florida after 6 weeks gestation), saying: I think what he did is a terrible thing.
Trumps words surprised many of his evangelical and conservative voters, but this is just the latest in a series of attacks against the pro-life movement. After the 2022 midterm elections, Trump blamed pro-life Republicans for the partys poor results. Since then, hes consistently downplayed the injustice of abortion throughout his campaign.
This is particularly disappointing because Trump is the reason why Republicans have been able to pass many pro-life bills over the last year. He kept his promise from the previous presidential campaign that he would nominate pro-life Justices to the Supreme Court. Those Justices made up half of the deciding vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Trumps latest position on abortion doesnt change the great things he did for pre-born babies. Next to his crucial role in helping to overturn Roe v. Wade, he reinstated the Mexico City policy, stripped Title X funding from Planned Parenthood, and he is the first sitting president to speak at the March for Life.
However, despite what some of his followers want us to believe, that doesnt justify his depraved words. Trumps words suggest hes more interested in pleasing Democrats than protecting children from murder.
Overturning Roe v. Wade was a vital step, but it wasnt the final step. It made pro-life bills like DeSantis Heartbeat Protection Act possible. But they arent the final step either. Republicans should introduce pro-life bills at every opportunity until every unwanted baby is protected from murder.
Shamefully, however, some of Trumps most loyal followers including some Christians are deflecting to blame the pro-life movement. One of their many absurd excuses for Trump is that his position on abortion is identical to the pro-life movements incremental approach to abolishing abortion. So according to them, pro-life people who criticize Trump are hypocrites.
But that just doesnt make any sense. Its completely illogical. If Trumps position on abortion was identical to the pro-life movements, he wouldnt be criticizing the pro-life movement.
After all, his words were in response to the pro-life movements heartbeat laws. Also, theres a major difference between introducing incremental bills that will receive enough votes to pass and only signing bills that will make Democrats happy as if any pro-life bill will make the Democrats happy.
So Trumps latest position on abortion isnt identical to the pro-life movements position on abortion. Which is why the pro-life movement has denounced his words.
Lila Rose from Live Action said, [Trumps words] are pathetic and unacceptable Trump should not be the GOP nominee.
I agree. I hope Trumps anti-abortion voters also agree.
Originally published at Slow to Write.
Christian marriage clerk told to pay $100k damages in same-sex case
A former county clerk is to appeal after a jury ruled she should pay $100,000 in damages over her refusal to sign a same-sex marriage licence.
The verdict against Kim Davis was handed down by a federal jury last week.
She was sued by David Ermold and David Moore after refusing to sign their marriage licence in Rowan County, Kentucky in 2015.
The jury awarded Ermold and Moore $50,000 each.
Speaking to National Public Radio, their legal counsel Joe Buckles, said, "The Supreme Court says that my clients have a constitutional right to marry under the 14th Amendment.
"But this case isn't really about [Davis'] religion. The case isn't really about our clients' right to marry.
"The case is about a government official that just refused to do her job. It's a pretty simple case."
Davis was represented by Liberty Counsel, who argued that there was insufficient evidence to justify the damages awarded to Ermold and Moore.
"Plaintiffs are required to provide evidence of damages and it cannot be based on speculation or guesswork," it said.
"Because the plaintiffs provided the jury with no evidence whatsoever to give the jury any basis upon which to enter a damages verdict, the judge should never have given the case to the jury."
Liberty also argues that her religious beliefs should have been accommodated.
"She was entitled to a religious accommodation from issuing marriage licenses under her name and authority that conflicted with her religious beliefs," it said.
The legal group continued, "When the newly elected Republican Governor Matt Bevin took office in December 2015, he granted religious accommodation to all clerks by Executive Order.
"Then in April 2016, the legislature unanimously granted religious and conscience accommodation to all clerks from issuing marriage licenses that conflict with their religious beliefs."
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Nigeria: 23 pastors killed, 200 churches shut down in 4 years
(CP) Terrorists have killed 23 pastors and forced the closure of more than 200 churches in Nigeria's Kaduna State over the past four years, according to the Rev. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State.
Rev. Hayab shared these figures during a meeting with Commissioner of Police Musa Garba and other pastors, according to Sahara Reporters, adding that the meeting was organized to discuss the ongoing crisis affecting the Christian community in the state.
"A pastor who was kidnapped on Aug. 8 told the CAN leadership that there are over 215 Christians abducted by the bandits in Birnin Gwari forest. They are still there," Hayab said at the meeting, according to Vanguard. He then urged the commissioner of police to address these and other issues to restore public confidence.
Former Secretary General of the Evangelical Church Winning All, the Rev. Yunusa Nmadu, and other pastors at the meeting also called for action against religious leaders promoting hate speech. They urged the police to investigate those selling hard drugs, linking substance abuse to criminal activities in the state.
Commissioner Garba responded by emphasizing that criminality has no religious affiliation. "Security is the responsibility of all and not only that of the government," he was quoted as saying. Garba added that the meeting was aimed at strengthening the relationship between the police and religious leaders and to discuss potential solutions to the ongoing issues.
Kaduna State is one of six states in North-West Nigeria severely impacted by bandit activities. Hundreds have been killed and several others kidnapped in the last four years.
Hayab specifically mentioned that over 115 Baptist churches were forced to shut down in areas ranging from Birni Gwari to Chukun and Kajuru. "When you go to many churches now you will see many pastors who come from churches that have been shut down because they cannot continue," he said.
The crisis has forced various denominations, including ECWA, Assemblies of God and the Catholic Church, to close their doors. "We are forced to shut down because of insecurity in Kaduna State," Hayab said in a statement.
Late last week, the house of a Catholic priest inside St. Rachael's Parish was set ablaze in a suspected terrorist attack near a major highway and a military checkpoint in Kaduna state's Fadan Kamantan area, resulting in the death of a young seminarian, Naam Ngofe Danladi, trapped in the fire, The Punch reported.
Two priests managed to escape the blaze, but the seminarian perished.
The military arrived only after the assailants fled and the church was destroyed, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern said in a statement.
Last month, two Christians were kidnapped in Kaduna state, two days after gunmen described as terrorists killed a Baptist pastor in another area of the state.
Terrorists invaded the predominantly Christian community of Wusasa, Zaria, and kidnapped the two Christians, brothers Yusha'u Peter and Joshua Peter, staff members of St. Luke's Anglican Hospital in Wusasa, a community leader in the area said at the time.
The persecution of Christians in Nigeria is particularly severe, with 90% of the over 5,600 Christians killed for their faith worldwide last year being Nigerian, according to persecution watchdog group Open Doors.
In its latest International Religious Freedom Report, the U.S. State Department noted a spike in deadly violence impacting both Christians and Muslims in Nigeria. The NGO Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project reported there were 3,953 civilian deaths from violence across the country in 2022.
"There continued to be frequent violent incidents, particularly in the northern part of the country, affecting both Muslims and Christians, resulting in numerous deaths," the State Department's report on Nigeria said.
"Kidnappings and armed robbery by criminal gangs increased in the South as well as the North West, the South, and the Southeast. The international Christian organization Open Doors stated that terrorist groups, militant herdsmen, and criminal gangs were responsible for large numbers of fatalities, and Christians were particularly vulnerable."
Nigerian Christians and human rights groups have voiced concerns for years that the violence carried out against predominantly Christian farming communities in the Middle Belt states by radicalized herdsmen has reached genocidal levels, as thousands have been killed in recent years.
However, the Nigerian government has rejected claims that the violence is influenced by religious conflicts and insists it's part of decades-old farmer-herder clashes. Data cited by the U.S. State Department suggests that violence targeting Christians accounts for a small fraction of the killings.
The Christian Post
A group of female students from Superior Collegiate and Vocational Institute watched a demonstration on building a toolbox and then built their own toolbox project at the Carpenters Union Local 1669 earlier this year.
In a high-stakes development, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused the government of India of involvement in the fatal shooting of a Canadian Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was brazenly shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18, reigniting tensions in an already fragile bilateral relationship.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and supporter of a Sikh homeland in the form of an independent Khalistani state, had been labeled as a terrorist by the Indian government and accused of leading a militant separatist groupan accusation vehemently denied by his supporters.
Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was brazenly shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C. on June 18.
Trudeau made the startling announcement that Canadas national security apparatus had credible reasons to believe that agents of the Indian government were responsible for Nijjars killing. Nijjar also served as the president of Surreys Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau stated during a speech to the House of Commons. He went on to emphasize the severity of foreign government involvement in a Canadian citizens killing on Canadian soil, calling it an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Trudeau has taken the matter seriously, informing leaders of Canadas closest allies, including U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and U.S. President Joe Biden. He also urged the Indian government to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.
However, India swiftly rejected Trudeaus allegations, dismissing them as absurd and emphasizing their concern about Khalistani terrorists and extremists finding shelter in Canada while threatening Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Trudeaus actions have further heightened diplomatic tensions, with Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat, Pavan Kumar Rai, who headed Indias foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in Canada. In retaliation, India has expelled a Canadian diplomat with a five-day notice to leave the country.
Canadas Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly emphasized the need for India to cooperate fully in the investigation. In a statement, Indias foreign ministry accused Canadian diplomats of interference in Indias internal matters and involvement in anti-India activities.
As tensions rise and allegations fly between the two nations, the international community watches closely, hoping for a peaceful resolution to this increasingly complex diplomatic situation.
EQS-Ad-hoc: Talanx Aktiengesellschaft / Key word(s): Capital Increase
Talanx Aktiengesellschaft: Talanx AG announces cash capital increase by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process
19-Sep-2023 / 17:45 CET/CEST
Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
AD-HOC ANNOUNCEMENT
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, PUBLICATION OR TRANSMISSION (IN WHOLE OR IN PART), DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN WHICH SUCH PUBLICATION, RELEASE OR TRANSMISSION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. FURTHER RESTRICTIONS APPLY. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICES AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
Publication of inside information pursuant to Article 17 (1) of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on Market Abuse (Market Abuse Regulation - MAR)
Talanx AG announces cash capital increase by way of an accelerated bookbuilding process
Talanx AG ("Talanx") today initiated a capital increase of up to EUR 300 million against cash contributions by partially utilizing the authorized capital to increase the free float. The proceeds will further enhance the already solid capitalization of the group to support further organic and inorganic growth in line with the disciplined approach for the execution of strategic acquisitions. The share capital of Talanx is expected to increase through the issuance of new no-par value registered shares (the "Primary Shares") against cash contributions with exclusion of subscription rights for existing shareholders pursuant to and in accordance with the statutory requirements of Section 186 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG). The Primary Shares will carry full dividend rights for the current financial year from 1 January 2023. Talanx is reaffirming its earnings guidance for the current year as well as its medium-term goals, also on the basis of the increased equity base going forward. This applies in particular to the target dividend payments to shareholders. Talanx AG continues to plan to pay its shareholders a dividend of more than EUR 2.00 per share for the financial year 2023. The expected positive effects in relation to the recent acquisition of Liberty Mutual in Latin America are not yet reflected in the medium-term-goals which are set to achieve a profit of 1.6bn by 2025.
In addition, the majority shareholder of Talanx AG, HDI V.a.G., currently the largest shareholder of the company with 78.9 %, has decided to offer for sale additional Talanx shares in the amount of up to EUR 100 million (approx. 0.6 % of the current share capital) from its own holdings (the "Secondary Shares") in order to further enhance the free float. Consequently, the free float of the shares will increase from currently 21.1 % to approx. 23.2 % post completion of the transaction[1]. This will reduce HDI V.a.G.'s shareholding to approx. 76.8 %.
The Primary and Secondary Shares will be exclusively offered to qualified investors in a private placement by way of an accelerated bookbuilding procedure. The private placement will be initiated immediately after this announcement. The final number of Primary Shares to be issued as well as the Secondary Shares to be sold, the placement price and the final gross proceeds will be determined and announced after the completion of the accelerated bookbuilding process. Following the private placement, Talanx and HDI V.a.G. will, subject to certain customary exceptions, be subject to a 180-day lock-up, i.e. an obligation not to, inter alia, issue any further shares or financial instruments convertible into shares or to carry out a further capital increase or to sell any further Secondary Shares.
The prospectus-free admission of the Primary Shares to trading in the sub-segment of the regulated market with additional post-admission obligations (Prime Standard) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Hanover Stock Exchange is expected to take place on 25 September 2023. The first trading day of the Primary Shares and the delivery of both the Primary and the Secondary Shares to investors are expected to take place on or about 27 September 2023.
Important notice
This announcement may not be published, distributed or transmitted, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America (including its territories and possessions), Canada, Japan or Australia or any other jurisdiction where such announcement could be unlawful. The distribution of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons who are in possession of this document or other information referred to herein should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, securities of Talanx Aktiengesellschaft or of any of its subsidiaries in the United States of America, Germany or any other jurisdiction. Neither this announcement nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, an offer in any jurisdiction. The securities offered will not be and have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements under the Securities Act.
In the United Kingdom, this announcement is only directed at persons (i) who are investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (as amended) (the "Order"), (ii) are falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawfully communicated (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons")). This document must not be acted on, or relied upon, by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this document relates is available only to Relevant Persons and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons.
In member states of the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom the placement of securities described in this announcement (the "Placement") is directed exclusively at persons who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 (Prospectus Regulation).
No action has been taken that would permit an offering or an acquisition of the securities or a distribution of this announcement in any jurisdiction where such action would be unlawful. Persons into whose possession this announcement comes are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.
This announcement does not constitute a recommendation concerning the Placement. Investors should consult a professional advisor as to the suitability of the Placement for the person concerned.
This release may contain forward looking statements, estimates, opinions and projections with respect to anticipated future performance of Talanx Aktiengesellschaft ("forward-looking statements"). These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "may," "will" or "should" or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are based on the current views, expectations and assumptions of the management of Talanx Aktiengesellschaft and involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Any forward-looking statements included herein only speak as at the date of this release. We undertake no obligation, and do not expect to publicly update, or publicly revise, any of the information, forward-looking statements or the conclusions contained herein or to reflect new events or circumstances or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent subsequent to the date hereof, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. We accept no liability whatsoever in respect of the achievement of such forward-looking statements and assumptions.
Information to Distributors
Pursuant to EU product governance requirements, the shares have been subject to a product approval process, under which each distributor has determined that such shares are: (i) compatible with an end target market of retail investors and investors who meet the criteria of professional clients and eligible counterparties, each as defined in MiFID II; and (ii) eligible for distribution through all distribution channels as are permitted by MiFID II. Any distributor subsequently offering the shares is responsible for undertaking its own target market assessment in respect of the shares and determining appropriate distribution channels.
[1] Calculated based on XETRA closing price of Talanx shares from 18 September 2023.
Contact:Bernd SablowskyHead of Investor RelationsHDI-Platz 130659 HannoverTel: +49 511 3747 2231
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Transparenta Consiliului Superior al Procurorilor, intre a fi sau a nu fi. Ce constatari se regasesc intr-un raport prezentat de CRJM?
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 had several negative effects on the Russian economy. One of the less obvious ones is a labor shortage. As Russia mobilized more and more young men, it deprived many manufacturing or maintenance facilities of key staff. Military-age men who had manufacturing or equipment maintenance skills were forced into the military, even though their employers warned that this would disrupt production if items needed by the military. Such exemptions were granted during World War II, but now the government decided that additional soldiers were more important than production of weapons and military equipment. What the government did not take into account was that, since the war began, nearly a million military age Russians have left the country. This continued even after the government outlawed the migration of military age men from Russia. Corruption in the government and military made it possible for military age men to get out of Russia. The government was told by employers that unless the government took action on the problems, production of key military items would continue to decline.
Sanctions led to the loss of key components normally imported from Western suppliers. It took nearly a year for Russia to line up alternative suppliers as well as smuggling routes to get banned items to Russian factories or existing equipment like armored vehicles, warplanes and warships. There was little success in dealing with the labor shortage.
Ukraine has identified Russian plants that produced key electronic components and recently began attacking them with armed UAVs, severely disrupting or halting production of key electronic components. Now Russia has to devote air defense systems to many of these plants. This is what the Ukrainians did for defense manufacturing plants after the war began. That led Russia to concentrate on urban areas and infrastructure targets like power plants and water distribution facilities. The sanctions plus Ukrainian attacks have reduced the number of land-attack missiles Russia can produce and use against the Ukrainian military. That led to Russia shifting its missile attacks to less well prepared and defended civilian targets.
Russian plans to increase production of tanks, other armored vehicles and combat aircraft could not be met. Armored vehicles production was less than half what was needed and production of military and civilian jet aircraft were reduced even further. Aircraft require even more imports of high-tech items, some of them bulky, closely monitored and difficult to smuggle in.
Three Conservative MPs have criticised Girlguiding UKs decision to shut down its activity centres and cease overseas operations, ahead of a Westminster debate this afternoon.
The debate on the role and future of youth programmes and Girlguiding was secured by Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Dinenage said the proposed closure of all five Girlguiding outdoor activity centres in the UK, as well as the shutdown of British Girlguiding Overseas, was deeply concerning.
Now is not the time to be pulling away from providing those opportunities, but we should instead be providing more opportunities for young people to have fun, spend time outdoors, socialise and be children, she said.
Girlguiding last month confirmed its decision to close its five activity centres and put an end to its 100-year-old British Girlguiding Overseas operations, despite tens of thousands of signatures asking for the charity to reconsider.
Its activity centres in Blackhand Farm, Foxlease, Glenbrook, Waddow Hall and Ynysgain will remain open until the end of 2023.
MPs: Selling activity centres is clearly wrong
Two other MPs criticised the decision to sell the activity centres.
Nigel Evans, whose Ribble Valley constituency is home to the Waddow Hall activity centre, said he was incredibly disappointed by the recent decisions which have been taken by Girlguiding.
At a time where we need to be seeing more investment and energy put into getting girls and young people to enjoy the great outdoors, after they were cooped up for so long, to be selling off the facilities which enable just that is clearly wrong.
Whilst of course financials must be considered, it very much appears to me that Girlguiding have chosen the simple, easy route, at the expense of their members.
I have urged them to reconsider their decision, in writing and in person. It is wholly disheartening to see that there has been no willingness to reconsider this approach and I know many guides feel very let down. As they know, once these centres are sold, they will be gone forever.
I have given my wholehearted backing to the new groups set up to try and save these sites as activity centres, particularly the Waddow Hall Trust in my constituency, and I wish them all the best.
Robert Largan, whose High Peak constituency is home to Glenbook, said: Glenbrook is a much loved centre and has been an important Hope Valley facility for many years.
I sincerely hope that a way forward can be found that keeps the centre open and available for the community to use and enjoy.
Charities being set up to purchase centres
A spokesperson for Save Our Centres, a group which has been campaigning against the centre closures, said it is very disappointed that Girlguiding trustees have not altered their original proposal to close the centres despite receiving thousands of messages of protest from the charitys members, both girls and volunteers.
They added: We remain committed to helping members manage the practical and emotional impacts these decisions have had on all members of Girlguiding.
The spokesperson added that the group is committed to helping and supporting the groups attempting to set up charities to purchase the training and activity centres (TACs).
To secure a positive legacy for the TACs, we are asking Girlguiding to give preference to potential buyers who intend to keep the TACs as activity centres, to invest the sales proceeds from the TACs and using all the associated investment income to support future outdoor adventure for Girlguiding members, they said.
Girlguidings board of trustees has a responsibility to make decisions for Girlguiding that enable it to further its charitable objectives for girls. Our board of trustees regularly review our strategy, risk and assets and how to use our charity resources most effectively, so we can reach more girls and continue our core mission to help all girls know they can do anything.
The charity said: Our board of trustees recently made two strategic decisions regarding the future of British Guiding Overseas (BGO), and the charitys five UK-owned activity centres.
We understand that the announcements regarding the closure of British Guiding Overseas and our activity centres are sad and difficult news for our members and we thank everyone involved in British Guiding Overseas and with the activity centres.
The operating environment has changed substantially in recent years and both these areas of work are no longer viable owing to the financial and operational risks.
We do not receive any core recurring revenue funding from government. We rely on member subscriptions, grants, a small amount of investment income and fundraising.
Like many charities, Girlguiding has had to make difficult decisions in challenging times with limited resources, but it is always important to be focused on our core mission, vision and purpose. For over 100 years, we have focused on what drives, challenges and excites girls and we remain committed to giving all girls opportunities.
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Seven years ago, Amit Schejter, a professor of communication studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, gave a talk accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of an assault on what Schejter called four pillars that provide a check on the Israeli government: the court system, academia, cultural institutions, and the media. This is what is happening now, Schejter recalls saying. Netanyahu is trying to create a political system where there is no criticism of government actions. This year, Netanyahus efforts to overhaul one of these pillarsthe judiciary; by weakening its oversight of executive decisions, among other thingshave plunged Israel into turmoil. Protesters have gathered in the streets week after week. The political opportunity has come for him to fulfill a plan that has been in the works for quite a few years, Schejter said.
More recently, Netanyahus government has set out its intentions to overhaul another of Schejters pillars: the media industry. In July, Shlomo Karhi, the communications minister, laid out a sprawling and complicated set of proposals to reform Israels broadcast sector. Among other measures, if the legislation is passed, the two independent bodies that currently regulate the sector will be merged into a single authority, many of whose members will now be appointed by the government. The new regulator will begin collecting and overseeing TV ratings, a function currently performed by a private company. The current requirement that broadcast companies establish a firewall between their commercial and editorial arms will be dissolved. And public radio will no longer be allowed to run advertisements.
Karhi has insisted that the proposals will deregulate and democratize Israels media landscape, boosting competition and opening it up to new voices and perspectives. But the many critics of the legislation see it very differently. One analyst predicted that the proposals would do nothing to boost competition; others said that they would weaken the public broadcaster while boosting Channel 14, a network known for favorable coverage of Netanyahu. A pair of rival commercial channels accused Karhi of wanting to make the independent media weak, docile, and, above all, subordinated to the political interests of the government; the Jerusalem Journalists Association accused him of trying to eliminate the press and turn Israel into a fake news powerhouse. This is a time of emergency, the head of the ethics tribunal at the Israel Press Council told Haaretz. The free media is now on a front line that could turn outmore than people thinkto be a battle for its survival. Various observersincluding Schejter, who recently coauthored a paper criticizing Karhis proposalshave warned that Israel could be the next Hungary, where Prime Minister Viktor Orban has all but wiped out independent media.
Its not yet clear whether the proposals will pass in their present form. Israeli politics are chaotic and fast-moving at the moment; Schejter told me that he doesnt think Netanyahu has the votes for the full package, but that he could yet pass a version of it. The judicial overhaul, which is currently facing a challenge before Israels Supreme Court, is still eating up time and attention and remains the focal point of many protesters grievances. Still, Schejter and others told me that parts of the protest movement have lately shown greater concern about the planned media overhaul, including after Schejters paper started to circulate among them and in the press.
And, whatever their fate, the proposals have already illuminated several important facets of Israels political crisis. As various critics have argued, they show that Netanyahus ambitions to undermine Israels current democratic pillars dont stop at the judiciary. The proposals have also illuminated Netanyahus contentious history with Israels pressa relationship that is intimately bound up with his relationship to the legal system. Andas he prepares to meet with President Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York tomorrowthey show how the nexus linking Netanyahu, his legal headaches, and the press isnt just an Israeli story, but one that implicates the US, too.
The latter is not a new development. As a child and young man, Netanyahu spent many years in the US, where he became something of a public figure; according to Schejter, he was better known there than in Israel when he returned to the latter country to kickstart his political career. Netanyahu was known as the Israeli JFK, Itai Zilber, the head of journalism studies at Tel Aviv University, told me. He brought American methods of using the media for his own political purposes. On the whole, the media liked this, Zilber added, since Israeli politicians at the time were kind of gray, a little bit boring. Netanyahu brought something else, something from America. Israel loves America. Israelis love America.
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As Ruth Margalit wrote for CJR in 2019, if the Israeli media was obsessed with Netanyahu, he was obsessed with the Israeli media. Early on, their relationship was almost symbiotic. Over time, however, it frayed. Per Margalit, after an election loss in 1999, Netanyahu told associates, I need my own media. Years later, Sheldon Adelson, the US billionaire, launched Israel Hayom, a free tabloid with a pro-Netanyahu bent; the network that would become Channel 14 followed. But Netanyahu wanted more, and his efforts to get it would land him in legal jeopardy. In 2019, he was indicted in two corruption cases on charges that he pledged regulatory benefits to the owners of media companies in exchange for favorable coverage. (He denies wrongdoing, as well as the allegation that the cases against him are the true motivation driving his judicial overhaul.)
In recent years, Netanyahu has leaned into Trumpian attacks on journalists, blasting them as fake news and making foils of individual reporters by putting their faces on campaign billboards. He was replaced as prime minister in 2021 but returned to office following elections late last year, at the head of one of the most right-wing coalition governments in Israels history. Since then, Margalit told me in an email, there has been an escalation in Netanyahus antagonistic relationship with Israeli media outlets.
From the start of his most recent administration, this antagonism has not been limited to cheap rhetoric. In January, a lawmaker in Netanyahus party (and former editor in chief of Israel Hayom) introduced a bill aimed at banning the publication of the sort of private recordings that routinely form the basis of journalists stories (and had formed the basis of at least two particular stories that were embarrassing to Netanyahu). The same month, Karhi, the communications minister, suggested that he wanted to kill the public broadcaster outright, though this proposition was reportedly shelved as the political battle over the judicial overhaul grew all-consuming. As that battle raged, Netanyahu accused journalists of willfully distorting it, at one point suggesting that they should focus on pressing stories like the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
In March, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahus hard-line national security minister, ordered a ban on the operations inside Israel of Voice of Palestine, a radio station affiliated with the Palestinian Authority. Over the summer, Israeli forces conducting operations in the West Bank twice shot at journalists documenting their activities, hitting two Palestinian photojournalists with rubber bullets and breaking the equipment of a film crew, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Then came the Karhi proposals, and the intensifying media opposition to them.
Since his comeback as prime minister, Netanyahu has also stonewalled Israels media; as of August, according to figures collected by Haaretz, he had done just three interviews domestically, two of them with Channel 14. By contrast, he had, to that point, spoken more than twenty times with outlets outside of Israeloften in the US, including NBC, ABC, CBS, NPR, and Fox. If Netanyahu has been accustomed to bashing the domestic press, when he sat down for his first televised interview since returning to office, with CNNs Jake Tapper, he was a study in folksy ingratiation. Before Tapper could get a question in, Netanyahuwho, like Tapper, spent part of his childhood in Philadelphiacongratulated him on the Eagles making the Super Bowl. Asked about the criticism of his judicial overhaul, Netanyahu again invoked Philadelphiathis time situating his proposals in the tradition that crafted the US Constitution. In his other interviews, he has projected a similar high-minded reasonableness.
Theories abound as to why Netanyahu appears so regularly on US television. The American media lets you speak, a Netanyahu adviser once said. You start a sentence and finish it. Various domestic critics see a related, if less benign, motivation: that Netanyahu thinks US interviewers are more likely to let him expound at length on his favored geopolitical topics, and that they lack the detailed knowledge of Israeli politics to grill him on his domestic controversies. Zilber told me that Netanyahu knows his remarks to US networks will be quoted by Israeli media, without him having to navigate Israeli interviewers to get there. For Schejter, Netanyahu uses the interviews to impress his right-wing base back homegesturing to them that Israeli media is biased and parochial, and that he is still Bibi, the big world man.
If the interviews send a domestic signal, however, they also send an outward one: Netanyahu is clearly preoccupied with how his politics are playing on the world stage, not least among investors (Israels economy has deteriorated amid the recent turmoil) and advisers to Biden, for whom tomorrows UN meeting follows months of hand-wringing about the appropriateness of granting Netanyahu an audience given his far-right lurch. I was told during recent reporting that Netanyahu begins his day by reading the Financial Times and the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, Margalit says. It makes a kind of strange sense that he would turn to US networks to try to salvage his own reputation and calm the markets. Ironically, the more he does that, the more it sends out panic signals, and the less his reassurances are believed.
If he goes ahead with his proposed overhaul of the media landscape, Netanyahu would prompt both further domestic outrage and international condemnation. Members of the protest movement are already hoping for the latter: according to Schejter and other observers with whom I spoke, representatives from within the movement planned to trail Netanyahu to the US this week and to highlight his planned media overhaul for American observers. (My follow-up questions to one of the representatives went unanswered.) While the judiciary has dominated international news coverage of Israels crisis, its intricacies can be hard for outside observers to grasp. By contrast, Schejter says, the protest movement believes that the attack on the media is easier to explain abroad when you want to explain the threat to Israeli democracy.
Other notable stories:
ICYMI: No New News
Jon Allsop is a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Review of Books, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, among other outlets. He writes CJRs newsletter The Media Today. Find him on Twitter @Jon_Allsop.
DERNA, Libya (AP) The United Nations Support Mission in Libya warned Monday that an outbreak of diseases in the country`s northeast, where floods have killed over 11,000 people, could create a second devastating crisis, with Libyan authorities reporting the spread of diarrhea among over 100 people who drank contaminated water.
In a statement, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya said it was particularly concerned about water contamination and the lack of sanitation after two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel sending a wall of water gushing through the eastern city of Derna on Sept.11. Some 11,300 city residents were killed and a further 10,000 people are missing, presumed dead, the country`s Red Crescent said.
The mission said there were nine U.N. agencies in the country responding to the disaster and working on preventing diseases from taking hold that can cause a second devastating crisis in the area. It added the World Health Organization sent 28 tons of medical supplies to the devastated country.
Haider al-Saeih, head of Libyas Center for Combating Diseases, said in televised comments Saturday that at least 150 people suffered diarrhea after drinking contaminated water in Derna. No further updates have been given.
The disaster has brought some rare unity to oil-rich Libya, which has been divided between rival administrations since 2014. Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias whose influence in the country has ballooned since a NATO-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Residents from the nearby cities of Benghazi and Tobruk have offered to put up the displaced, while volunteers have been looking for survivors buried beneath the rubble.
The opposing governments have both deployed humanitarian teams to the port city and other affected areas country but had initially struggled to respond to the crisis. Their efforts have been hampered by poor coordination, difficulty getting aid to the hardest-hit areas, and the destruction of Dernas infrastructure, including several bridges.
The Health Minister from Libya`s eastern government, Othman Abduljaleel, said Sunday that his ministry had begun a vaccination program against diseases that usually occur after disasters such as this one. He didn`t elaborate further.
With rescue efforts still ongoing, the death toll given by Libyan government officials and aid agencies has been varied.
The Red Crescent said last week that at least 11,300 people were killed and 10, 000 missing. Late Saturday, The U.N. said in a statement that more than 9000 people are still missing, having previously quoted the Red Crescents figures. It added the World Health Organization teams are working with Libyan officials to track the dead and missing, confirming that 3,958 bodies have been recovered and identified, and death certificates issued
East Libyas Health Minister Othman Abduljaleel said at least 3,283 dead bodies were buried as of Sunday night. He didnt give an exact figure for the bodies retrieved so far. However, previously, on Thursday, he said more than 3,000 bodies were buried while another 2,000 were still being processed.
Last week, the Mayor of Derna, who was suspended following the devastation, said the toll could reach 20,000 dead.
Meanwhile, the floods have also raised concerns about the ancient ruins of Ceyrene with UNESCO saying on Monday the ancient Greco-Roman city lies roughly 37 miles east of Derna.
UNESCO is in contact with archaeologists on the ground and its satellite imaging team is also trying to establish what the damage might be, the agency said in a statement sent to the Associated Press.
Cyrene is one of five Libyan UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Also Monday, UNESCO said it was concerned about the state of ruins of Cyrene, an ancient Greco-Roman city that lies roughly 37 miles east of Derna.
UNESCO is in contact with archaeologists on the ground and its satellite imaging team is also trying to establish what the damage might be, the agency said in a statement sent to the Associated Press.
Cyrene is one of five Libyan UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Associated Press writers Jack Jeffery and Samy Magdy contributed to this report from London and Cairo respectively.
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Private equity firm Advent International is exploring a sale of CCC Intelligent Solutions Holdings Inc., a provider of software to the car insurance industry that has a market value of $7.1 billion, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Investment bank Morgan Stanley is advising CCC on its talks with potential acquirers, which include other buyout firms, the sources said, adding that no deal is certain.
CCC representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while Advent, which holds a 56% stake in the company, declined to comment. Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CCC shares jumped on the news in afterhours trading in New York on Friday, rising 8.6% to $12.50.
Founded in 1980, CCC provides software to 35,0000 companies involved in automotive claims and collision repair, including insurance firms, parts suppliers and car manufacturers.
Advent, which acquired CCC from private equity firms TPG Inc TPG.O and Leonard Green & Partners in 2017, took CCC public through a merger with a blank-check company in 2021 at a $6.5 billion equity valuation.
CCC shares have risen 32% year-to-date, more than the broader market but less than the S&P 500 software application index, which has risen 43%. CCC suffered from a drop in car insurance claims during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since seen business gradually recover.
CCC reported total revenue of $211.7 million for the second quarter of 2023, up 10% from $192.8 million a year earlier. Adjusted gross profit was $162.0 million, compared with $148.4 million a year ago.
Wanted in South Carolina: $1 million in liquor liability coverage at an affordable premium to prevent closure of establishment.
Thats the type of advertisement one can imagine bars and bistros across the Palmetto State running this fall, as the full impact of state laws become painfully clear. The mandatory liquor insurance requirement, along with South Carolinas joint-and-several tort statute that can hold a dram shop liable for millions in damages plus the result of some recent high-profile lawsuits has had insurance agents and brokers scrambling to find coverage for some of the states favorite watering holes and restaurants.
Its just out of hand. Its a crazy thing, said Tom Bates, market president of the Stokes-Farnham Insurance Agency in Greenville. Ive tried to go to the standard market first, but if you have any kind of hair on your account, you have to go to the excess and surplus market.
Bates told the story of a locally-owned, popular wing restaurant. Liquor sales are only about 30% of the restaurants total sales, well below the 50% alcohol sales threshold that would trigger the requirement for $1 million in liability coverage. But because the eatery had a claim recently, carriers have become leery. Five standard carriers have declined to write a policy, and the wing place cant afford the much-higher E&S lines premiums.
The wing shop is now about to go out of business, Bates said.
Others across the state are in same position, according to local news reports, insurance leaders and restaurant trade representatives. Some establishments have said their premiums have more than tripled, to as much as $350,000 a year for a relatively small bistro, said Susan Cohen, president of the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association. News reports have quoted other bars as saying that their rates increased by 10-fold.
The issue began in 2017, when the South Carolina General Assembly mandated the million-dollar minimum following a car crash by a drunken driver that killed two people and severely injured a police officer. Neither the driver nor the drinking establishment had liability insurance, leaving the officers county employer to pay the medical expenses.
Few at the time realized what an impact the law would have on mom-and-pop bars and restaurants. The $1 million minimum liquor liability coverage is not unusual. Several states, including Florida, have statutes requiring that much or more.
But in South Carolina, insurance had never been required by law before 2017. Some dram shops carried it, others did not.
Any time you have coverage that was an option that then becomes a mandated coverage by law, its either going to keep you in business or put you out of business, Bates said. And its putting a lot of people out of business right now.
The hospitality industry also has long complained about South Carolinas joint-and-several statute, which can hold a business mostly responsible for damages even if it was only peripherally involved. Some states have modified their liability and tort laws. The Florida Legislature this year, for example, drastically limited what a plaintiff can recover in a lawsuit if the plaintiff is shown to be partly responsible.
South Carolinas joint liability law was highlighted this year by two well-publicized cases. In June, a woman was charged with felony DUI and reckless homicide after she crashed her car into a Charleston woman who had just been married. The drivers blood-alcohol level was three times the legal limit, authorities said.
Four drinking and eating establishments are now being sued for their role in providing alcohol to the driver, although it has yet to be shown which bar actually caused the intoxication, according to Cohen and local news reports.
Also this year, the famous saga of convicted South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh and his family included a convenience store chain agreeing to pay $15.5 million to settle a civil lawsuit. Parkers Kitchen, near Charleston, was shown to have sold beer to Murdaughs underage son in 2019. The youth, Paul Murdaugh, showed the identification card of his similar-looking, older brother. Paul then crashed a boat into a bridge, killing a 19-year-old girl who was thrown from the craft. Three insurers will pay the bulk of the settlement.
The attorney for Parkers owner said the settlement was necessitated by South Carolinas joint-and-several liability law.
The application of the joint and several liability laws in South Carolina meant that, if Parkers was found even 1% at fault, it would have paid for the entirety of any verdict rendered against the Murdaugh family, attorney PK Shere told the Associated Press in July. The unfairness of that caused Parkers insurance carriers to resolve these suits to avoid paying the likely award intended to punish Alex Murdaugh.
And litigation is on the rise. Perkins Coie, a law firm that tracks class-action lawsuits, said in August that 214 suits were filed against food and beverage companies in 2022 and 101 were filed in the first six months of this year. In 2010, just 45 suits were filed, the Associated Press reported.
All of the above appear to have created a perfect storm in South Carolina, making a number of insurance companies non-renew many policies, raise premiums for others, or pull back from the market altogether.
The joint-and-several liability problem its not just about bars and restaurants now. Its also about the homeowner who serves someone a glass of wine at their home, Cohen said. Weddings and concert venues also have been affected.
It affects multiple lines of insurance, said Frank Sheppard, president of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of South Carolina.
The plight of bars and restaurants may earn little sympathy from elected leaders in a Bible-Belt state where, even though the majority of lawmakers are considered pro-business Republicans, trial lawyers have a strong influence, Sheppard explained. On the other hand, coastal Carolina, with its famous Myrtle Beach and history-rich Charleston, depend heavily on tourist-generated revenue at bars and restaurants.
Food and beverage establishments have tasted a little bit of hope lately.
The Alcohol Beverage Licensing Division of the state Department of Revenue this month posted an advisory opinion, noting that a liquor liability policy providing total, aggregate coverage of $1 million not $1 million per incident as many had thought would satisfy the requirements of the 2017 law. That could make it somewhat more affordable for smaller establishments to afford coverage, Sheppard and Bates said.
And a bill was introduced in the state legislature earlier this year that would significantly alter the joint-and-several liability landscape. Senate Bill 533, with multiple sponsors, would allow juries to apportion fault in more cases. The bill did not make it past a Senate committee last spring, but it and a companion House bill can be considered when lawmakers convene again in 2024.
We wish the Legislature would do something about it, said Scott Moseley, with Irmo Insurance Agency, near Columbia. Otherwise, South Carolina is going to be an outlier among all the states.
Lawmakers this year did ask the state Department of Insurance to look into the business communitys concerns. The DOI in June held a data call, seeking information from carriers on why liability insurance costs have soared. The data was still being analyzed as of last week and the department does not yet have an estimate on when a report will be completed, a DOI spokesperson said.
Even if more palatable liability laws or regulations are put in place, those may not be enough to bring down liability premiums, Bates, the Greenville agent, said. He has called for a type of state-backed, assigned-risk fund or association, perhaps similar to residual workers compensation insurance funds that cover hard-to-insure businesses in some states, or wind associations that cover vulnerable homeowners that cant find coverage in the primary market.
The state needs to come up with something, Bates said.
An insurer that reached a settlement with a motorist who caused a crash cannot deny a underinsured motorist claim on the basis that its policyholder failed to comply with the terms of her auto policy by not filing a subrogation lawsuit on her own, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled.
In a unanimous decision Friday, the high court reversed a trial court ruling that granted summary judgment for State Farm in a lawsuit. The high court also awarded attorney fees and costs to the policyholder because State Farms defense was frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation.
Indeed, we cannot overstate how unacceptable State Farms arguments and conduct have been in this case, the opinion says.
Kelly Lynn Christmann, a resident of Idaho, was injured and suffered property damage in a three-car crash in Spokane, Washington in January 2016. The car behind her slowed to stop at an on-ramp on Interstate 90, but a vehicle driven by Bryan Booth rear-ended the vehicle and caused it to crash into Christmanns car.
Christmann had an insurance policy with State Farm with underinsured motorist limits of $100,000 per person. Booths insurer, USAA, paid the full $25,000 policy limit available under Booths policy. Christmann told State Farm about the offer and said she intended to pursue additional underinsured motorists benefits from State Farm. She asked State Farm to waive its subrogation claim against Booth.
State Farm refused and paid Christmann the $25,000 offered by USAA. State Farm also paid $10,000 in medical coverage and $18,800 underinsured motorists benefits a total of $53,800.
Christmann asked for additional money from State Farm to cover the cost of continued medical treatment. State Farm told her that her policy required her to file a subrogation lawsuit against Booth the third-party tortfeaser if she wanted additional benefits.
State Farm sued Booth to recover the total amount it paid for the claim and eventually settled for $25,000. After the three-year statute of limitations passed, State Farm told Christmann that she was not entitled to any more benefits because she had not filed a lawsuit against Booth as required by the terms of her policy. A provision titled Deciding Fault and Amount requires policyholders seeking underinsured motorists benefits to file a lawsuit against any person responsible for the injury or damage.
In June 2020, Christmann filed a lawsuit against State Farm. She did not name Booth as defendant.
State Farm filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that by failing to sue Booth, Christmann had not complied with the terms of her policy. The insurer did not disclose that it had filed a lawsuit against Booth and reached a settlement agreement that released him from all claims.
Kootenai County District Court Judge Cynthia K.C. Meyer granted a motion for summary judgment filed by the insurer finding Christmann did not comply with the policy. Christmann appealed.
The Supreme Court said in order to prevail, State Farm would have to show that it was prejudiced by Christmanns failure to file a lawsuit against Booth. The carrier, however, had failed to disclose during discovery that it had sued on its own and reached a settlement, the opinion said. State Farm should have provided a copy of Booths release of claims during discovery in the case, the court said.
No additional subrogation rights could have been pursued even if Christmann had complied with her policy by naming Booth in her complaint because no subrogation rights remained to be protected, the opinion says. Estoppel would bar any subsequent action between State Farm and Booth resulting from the 2016 accident.
The Supreme Court also directed State Farm to pay Christmanns legal fees and costs on appeal. The opinion says State Farm continuously asserted that Christmann had prejudiced its subrogation rights even though it has waived those rights itself when it settled with Booth.
This argument was neither legally nor factually supportable, and State Farm knew as much when it made the argument, the high court said.
CLEVELAND, Ohio Im having a hard time writing about this game.
Especially after watching Nick Chubb carted off the field with what appeared to be a devastating knee injury. For all the talk about Deshaun Watson, what gave the Browns a chance to have a very special season is the combination of Chubb and good QB play.
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Sister Christine De Vinne, who has served the past eight years as president of Ursuline College and who spent the 14 years prior as a faculty member at the school, has announced that she will retire in June.
De Vinne made the announcement during the colleges Board of Trustees meeting Sept. 14.
Its been an honor to serve Ursuline College -- my beloved alma mater -- as president, De Vinne said in an Ursuline College news release.
I will celebrate my 50th college reunion here with the Class of 1973 next month. The timing is right for me to relinquish my keys to a new president, ready to lead our incredible faculty and staff and build on the momentum of their accomplishments.
Better known on campus as Sister Chris, the 73-year-old member of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland added: Our undergraduate enrollment has rebounded to pre-pandemic growth levels. Weve created new in-demand graduate degrees to meet the areas workforce needs, including a physician assistant program, a nurse anesthetist program in our Doctor of Nursing Practice degree and a re-imagined MBA for online learners.
Our graduates go on to serve Northeast Ohio as the regions most dedicated nurses, entrepreneurs, educators, artists and scientists.
While at Ursuline College, De Vinne also served as a dean. Additionally, her resume includes a five-year stay at Notre Dame of Maryland University as vice president of academic affairs.
During her tenure, Ursuline College increased undergraduate student retention, launched a Student Success Center, renovated the Dauby Science Center and opened the Besse Library Learning Commons.
Ursuline was named the No. 1 college in the nation for student upward social mobility in a study by the American Enterprise Institute, while the National League of Nursing named Ursuline College a Center of Excellence for nursing education.
With De Vinne at the helm, the college also initiated an Anisfield-Wolf Faculty Fellowship in partnership with the Cleveland Foundation and launched an annual Juneteenth Celebration in collaboration with the City of Pepper Pike.
Ursuline College students best know Sister Christine De Vinne as Sister Chris. (Photo Courtesy of Ursuline College)
Sr. Christine has driven the college forward under two strategic plans, undeterred even by a global pandemic, said John Jack M. Newman Jr., chair of the colleges Board of Trustees.
Under her leadership, the college has carried out its mission in new and transformative ways. She has left an indelible mark on this campus.
I am grateful that we have had the opportunity to serve Ursuline College together and appreciate that she has created a dynamic launching pad for her successor.
A search committee to find the colleges next president will be led by Board Vice Chair Teri Corletzi, Class of 1990.
A little over a year ago, we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the founding of Ursuline College, Corletzi said. Sister Chris has positioned Ursuline and its new president to be ready for our next century of service to Northeast Ohio.
Said De Vinne: The college is proud of its role in Catholic higher education and grateful to the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland for their sponsorship and support. The commitment of the colleges leadership and the whole campus community will ensure that our 18th president begins a new era from a strength rooted in pride and history.
De Vinne will retire effective June 30. After taking a break, De Vinne said she looks forward to finding fresh ways to continue her ministry as an Ursuline Sister.
Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- While City Council has nixed the Noble Station affordable housing project, the dialogue about revitalizing the north side of town continues.
Some of that conversation Monday night (Sept. 18) included the continuing efforts of the Rev. Dr. Jimmie Hicks Jr., whose Start Right community development corporation (CDC) had signed on as a nonprofit partner to the Noble Station development proposal.
When I saw that Start Right was partnering on the project with TWG, I felt a great deal of hope and optimism, Mayor Kahlil Seren said.
That was not always the case. Seren recalled some skepticism several years ago when Start Right, with a church in the Caledonia neighborhood, wanted to enter the field of infill housing construction.
Based on numerous comments from neighbors opposed to the Noble Station apartment complex in recent weeks, area residents would rather stick with infill, mixed-income or even market-rate housing as another approach to build capacity.
Councilman Tony Cuda noted that the single house that Start Right has completed so far sold for $250,000. It is believed to be the first new construction in the neighborhood since the first and only phase of the Greyton Court townhouses around 2002.
In all, 23 infill homes are planned, with the Start Right CDC requesting funding from the citys American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation for pandemic relief for new construction, as well as the ministrys Good Neighbor program, which rehabs homes as well.
Just over two years ago, Councilwoman Davida Russell sponsored legislation setting aside $2 million apiece in ARPA funds for the Noble and Taylor neighborhoods, with another $1 million to go toward local business districts hit hard by the pandemic.
Residents attending the recent round of Noble Station meetings have asked the city to expedite those proposed ARPA funds, some of which could cover down payment assistance or what was later referred to as an appraisal gap program.
Meanwhile, Assistant Economic Development Director Brian Anderson explained at the Sept. 12 public presentation that TWG contacted the city in mid-2022, inquiring about a variety of sites for a potential affordable housing, with the company identifying the old McDonalds site as the most feasible.
It wasnt a site that the city specifically put out there for affordable housing, Anderson said, adding that it just happened to be the first to come forward in the city, with the overall goals of additional density, economic activity and investment in a newly-constructed, professionally-managed facility.
Formed in 2007, TWG has over 100 developments and about 11,500 units in 18 states, with $2.1 billion in development costs.
At the same time, Hicks and his son, Start Right Development Coordinator Jimmie Hicks III -- also a pastor, but who at last check was working on a masters degree in urban affairs at Cleveland State University -- also saw the need for affordable apartment units, including at the city-owned former McDonalds site where Noble Station would have been built.
We drilled down to this specific census tract and determined this area is currently experiencing a deficit in housing that were looking to build on, Hicks III told councils Planning and Development Committee Sept. 12, using a rental affordability gap analysis.
Ryan Kelly, TWG vice president of tax credit development, said developers were refining the project based on recommendations and concerns from residents.
Officials said that a development agreement defines what a project is, not what its going to look like.
As TWGs nonprofit partner, Start Right never would have signed off on a project we felt would have done a disservice to the community, Hicks III said.
In fact, his father grew up on the adjoining side street to the property, along Woodview Road.
This project has been an uphill battle since it was first introduced, Hicks III said. Frustration has been voiced about a lot of other things that came to a head. But the data supports the need for this project.
He added that Start Right is uniquely positioned to engage with the community about further developments -- on both sides of the border in Cleveland Heights and East Cleveland.
And thats something his father wishes they would have done sooner on Noble Station.
As seen from Woodview Road in Cleveland Heights, this is one of the most recent renderings of the proposed Noble Station affordable housing project prepared by developer TWG, using some of the suggestions and addressing some of the concerns voiced by residents, City Council, the Planning Commission and the Architectural Board of Review. Courtesy of the City of Cleveland Heights
Weve been a part of this project since November, and thats when we should have started meeting with people and presenting the Noble Station proposal, the former city councilman said at Mondays meeting.
The elder Hicks said he considered holding a public meeting in his church but decided against it.
Councilman and fellow pastor Anthony Mattox Jr., still amazed at last weeks turnout for the City Planning Commission meeting where the Noble Station proposal was unveiled, commended Hicks as well.
Rev. Hicks saw an opportunity to change the community where he pastors, focusing on what he can do to improve these neighborhoods, with a relationship built on trust.
After Mondays 5-2 council vote against moving forward with the development agreement, Kelly said TWG would need to review the elements of the decision before considering any future ventures in Cleveland Heights.
Read more from the Sun Press.
PARMA, Ohio -- With the holiday shopping season just around the corner, those looking to get a jump-start may want to consider Parmas Community Craft Fair.
The annual affair returns from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday (Sept. 21-23) around the community.
Im glad to see the continuation of the Parma Community Craft Fair, which originally started in September 2020 when such fairs were not occurring due to the pandemic, Mayor Tim DeGeeter said.
A Ward 4 resident approached former Councilwoman (Kristin) Saban, and the city supported the idea. Its a creative approach to allow crafters and buyers to come together. Now, the fair continues on with the work of a Ward 2 resident and Councilwoman (Deborah) Lime.
Similar to the citys garage sale, various crafters sign up to host a Community Craft Fair site. The Community Craft Fair Facebook page lists close to 30 participants.
Parmas Jacquie Soap Lady McGrath, who sells Scentsational Soap, is participating in the Parma Community Craft Fair. (Photo Courtesy of Jacquie McGrath)
One seller is Jacquie Soap Lady McGrath, who sells Scentsational Soap.
The citywide craft fair is wonderful for small business owners and crafters, because we get to showcase our products and really get to talk to our customers, she said.
The setting is more laid back than the hustle and bustle of a one-day craft show.
These shows are important, because there is a lot of talent in Parma and people need to know there are alternatives to always shopping big corporations.
Lime is looking forward to the show. She not only helps organize the event, but is also an avid shopper.
I like having a homemade item vs. having a store-bought item, she said. I also like being able to support local small businesses, so Ill be out to all of the Ward 2 vendors.
Theres no telling what Ill come home with.
Read more news from the Parma Sun Post.
SOLON, Ohio -- City Council has approved an amendment to deed restrictions regarding two parcels on Hawthorn Parkway to help facilitate plans to develop eight homes on 16 acres there.
On Monday (Sept. 18), council amended an ordinance passed in 2013 regarding a lot split and consolidation requested by the parcels owners -- Burton Insurance Agency Inc. and Mary Lambert -- including a specified declaration of deed restrictions.
The new ordinance changes some of those deed restrictions, at the request of Burton Insurance Agency and Lambert, who serves as the agencys secretary.
The parcels are located in the area of Ridge Lane and Birch Circle.
The amended declaration of deed restrictions was introduced to council Aug. 23.
On Aug. 15, the citys Planning Commission recommended that council approve the amended ordinance.
Vice Mayor and Ward 5 Councilwoman Nancy Meany said she was fairly comfortable moving forward with the changes.
Its pretty much been vetted, and I think most of the residents are somewhat exhausted and kind of just want to move on, she said.
All this does is amend the ordinance from 2013. If theres a development or (Lambert) sells it to someone else, she would still have to go through planning and council.
Ward 3 Councilman Jeremy Zelwin added: This property still needs to follow the Planning Commission process. So before any construction occurs, it has to be vetted and approved through our Planning Commission.
In 2013, council voted to grant variances and split lots on a 47-acre parcel off Hawthorn Parkway -- then owned by Burton Insurance Agency and Lambert -- that resulted in 30 acres being added to the Cleveland Metroparks.
This approval allowed Burton Insurance and Lambert to proceed on a sales agreement with the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, which then turned that 30-acre parcel over to the Metroparks.
Sixteen of the remaining acres were consolidated into two eight-acre parcels for residential development.
Lambert submitted an application to the city in July, along with a sketch plan showing what she and Burton Insurance Agency feel is the best-case scenario for development of the property.
One of the changes to the deed restrictions, Meany noted, is altering the 400-foot setback limit from Hawthorn Parkway to 600 feet.
Another change will allow utilities to come in from the Metroparks, which had not been permitted previously.
The conceptual plan that was presented will be a part of this new ordinance, Meany said.
A key for me was we added the language giving the neighboring properties legal rights to enforce deed restrictions. Thats usually never done.
City Law Director Thomas Lobe said the amended ordinance was well vetted by city officials through multiple meetings.
Most importantly, this is just a more specific plan than the general plan that was provided in 2013, he said. The residents will have a 100-foot buffer, which is almost double what the law requires.
Concerns about transportation
Also on Monday, a resident expressed concerns about the citys transportation options for senior citizens.
Anthony Pizzino, who lives in the citys Sherbrook neighborhood in Ward 4, noted that if Ward 4 Councilman Mike Kan had not picked him up at his request and driven him to the meeting, he would not have been able to attend.
How about taking care of the senior citizens, along with the young adults? Pizzino asked council.
Pizzino, a 63-year city resident, said that at age 94, he can no longer drive.
I find that when I talk to a lot of older citizens, they have the same problem, he said. They cant drive, and it means we cant get out on the weekends.
Pizzino noted that the Solon Senior Center does a great job of servicing the citys seniors. But the transportation it provides to them -- at no charge, within city limits -- is available only from 9 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. Monday through Friday.
There is no service for the seniors to go out on Saturday or Sunday, unless they hire a taxi cab, he said.
And what do you do after 4 (p.m.) if youre a senior and you want to go out and eat? You cant do it, unless you hire a taxi cab, and you may have to wait two hours to get it.
Another issue, Pizzino said, is that some seniors are unable to get in and out of the senior centers vans without assistance.
That means the driver has to get out and get something for them to stand on, he said. If you look at some of the other transportation and their bus system (such as RTA), we can get in and out of that bus without any problem.
I had talked to the mayor earlier and to his assistant, and I said it was an accident waiting to happen, the way the bus system is made right now. So that has to be changed.
Pizzino suggested creating a bus system for the entire city, just like Cleveland has.
Theyve got the RTA; we need an RTA in Solon, he said. The people that work here would love to have it.
The answer is create a subsidy or a fund for busing in Solon seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Lets think about it.
Pizzino then told Mayor Ed Kraus, Mayor, Im putting it in your hands to figure out how to do it.
Kraus thanked Pizzino for his comments and told him his concerns would be addressed.
Youre lucky you live in a community with the finest senior center in Northeast Ohio and the finest senior director, Kraus said.
Kraus said the city has a tremendous working relationship with RTA.
They have the 41 bus that comes down and services our industrial area, and theyve just expanded their RTA route that now goes through the city, he said.
Were putting in different shelters and benches. We continue to work a lot with RTA and their director.
Kan told Pizzino that he had spoken with Jill Frankel, the citys director of senior services, about the issues and that he will follow up with her again.
I hope we can do something to help with the bus situation, Kan said. Its a good service that we provide.
I believe a community can be judged on one hand on how it treats its seniors, so Mr. Pizzino, Im happy to do everything I can to help aid in that process.
Kan said he believes the city needs multimodal transportation options, including biking, walking and public transportation, especially with a lot of road construction going on in the next year or two.
I think it would be wise for us to consider how to make Solon less car dependent, he said. As we look ahead to budget hearings, there are some promising initiatives that I see coming up, and I hope we can provide these options.
Read more from the Chagrin Solon Sun.
CLEVELAND, Ohio Three men are accused of running a largescale cocaine dealing network in Lorain tied to Mexican drug suppliers.
Maurice Payne, 41, and Joel Irizarry, 43, both of Lorain, are charged in an indictment unsealed in federal court in Cleveland. Another man-- Alfredo Estrada, 40 of Edinburg, Texas-- is accused of working as a courier for the suppliers, court records say.
ELYRIA, Ohio A Lorain man has been charged with murder in connection with a fatal shooting earlier this month in a newspapers parking lot.
Police say Antoine Richardson, 25, shot and killed Isael Eduardo Rios on Sept. 2 in the parking lot of the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram on East Avenue. Richardson also has been charged with felonious assault.
The Chronicle-Telegram noted that surveillance footage showed that the shooting happened just before 2:30 a.m., after three vehicles pulled into the parking lot. It is unclear what led to the shooting.
Chronicle-Telegram employees found Rios after the early morning press run and alerted authorities, according to the newspaper. Rios was pronounced dead at University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center.
The U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force is assisting with the search for Richardson, police say.
Anyone with information call U.S. Marshals at 866-492-6833.
STREETSBORO, Ohio A 25-year-old Streetsboro woman is being held in jail in Portage County after police say she tried to intentionally ram her vehicle into a policemans patrol car, but ended up going off the road and crashing into a house.
Shelby Bowen is charged with felonious assault on a police officer, a first-degree felony, following the incident Monday afternoon.
According to police, a patrol car was driving east on Ohio 303 at about 12:30 p.m. Bowen is accused of intentionally cutting through side streets and then trying to crash her 2014 Ford Fusion into the patrol car as it went north on Page Road.
Police accuse Bowen of traveling at high speeds when she ran a stop sign at the intersection of Root and Page roads and tried to hit the patrol car. Bowen ended up going behind the patrol car, over a driveway and drainage ditch, then through a yard before crashing into a home on the 9300 block of Page Road, police say.
No one was in the home, but the residence was damaged by the crash. Police say the motive for the incident remains unknown.
No injuries were reported.
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday, Sept. 19 recognized 19 schools in Ohio as part of a group of 353 schools honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2023.
The recognition is based on a schools overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups on assessments.
The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to raise the bar in education, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
The Department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:
Exemplary High-Performing Schools are among their states highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their states highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a schools student groups and all students.
Nominated schools also complete an extensive narrative application describing their school culture and philosophy, curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership structures and parent and community involvement.
Of the 19 schools honored in Ohio, 13 are public and six are private parochial. The Ohio schools named as National Blue Ribbon Schools are:
Akron Saint Sebastian Parish School, Diocese of Cleveland.
Ashville Walnut Elementary School, Teays Valley Local Schools.
Berlin Center Western Reserve Elementary School, Western Reserve Local Schools.
Boardman - Robinwood Lane Elementary School, Boardman Local Schools.
Canal Fulton Northwest Middle School, Northwest Local School District.
Chesterland Robert C Lindsey Elementary School, West Geauga Local Schools.
Cincinnati Saint Mary School, Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Walnut Hills High School, Cincinnati Public Schools.
Fort Recovery Fort Recovery Middle School, Fort Recovery Local Schools.
Granville Granville Middle School, Granville Exempted Village Schools.
Lakewood Lakewood Catholic Academy, Diocese of Cleveland.
Loveland Saint Margaret of York Elementary School, Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
Mount Vernon East Elementary School, Mount Vernon City Schools.
Parma Heights Incarnate Word Academy, Diocese of Cleveland.
Rocky River Kensington Intermediate School, Rocky River City Schools.
Solon Orchard Middle School, Solon City Schools.
Sugarcreek Ragersville Elementary School, Garaway Local Schools.
Uniontown Lake Middle/High School, Lake Local School District.
Westlake Saint Bernadette Elementary School, Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
While the honored schools represent the diverse fabric of American schools, they also share some core elements, the Education Department said. National Blue Ribbon School leaders articulate a vision of excellence and hold everyone to high standards. They demonstrate effective and innovative teaching and learning, and the schools value and support teachers and staff through meaningful professional learning.
Up to 420 schools may be nominated each year by the top education official in each state, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and the Bureau of Indian Education. Private schools are nominated by the Council for American Private Education.
COLUMBUS, Ohio The campaign group working to defeat the Ohio abortion-rights ballot issue in November has a new local leader, reflecting Gov. Mike DeWines unease about how a warm-up campaign transpired earlier this summer.
Protect Women Ohio has hired Ryan Erwin, a Nevada Republican political operative with Ohio roots and ties to DeWines political team, as its new general consultant. The addition of Erwin adds a new, high-ranking layer in the groups multi-level leadership structure, which also includes a local coalition of Ohio anti-abortion groups and national anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Protect Women Ohio is thrilled to have the expertise of Ryan Erwin and his team at RedRock Strategies in the fight against Issue 1 this November to protect parental rights and keep painful, late-term abortion on demand out of Ohios Constitution, Amy Natoce, a Protect Women Ohio spokesperson, said in a statement. An Ohio native and longtime advisor to Governor DeWine, Ryan and his team bring decades of experience running successful political campaigns and ballot measure efforts to PWO, including the overwhelming passage of Marsys Law in 2017, a critical ballot initiative that gave constitutional rights to victims of crime in Ohio.
Erwins hiring coincides with DeWines decision to take a direct, hands-on role opposing the abortion measure in November, titled State Issue 1. DeWine insisted that Protect Women Ohio hire Erwin, who has performed political work for DeWine in the past, including running an outside group supporting his 2022 reelection campaign, as a condition of his involvement with the campaign, according to multiple sources. Erwins company, RedRock Strategies, also is running Republican Supreme Court Justice Joe Deters campaign to get elected to his seat next year after DeWine appointed him there at the end of last year.
The governor had been privately concerned with Protect Women Ohios direction, including how it handled the campaign surrounding the proposal to make it harder to amend the state constitution that voters soundly rejected last month. That proposal would have required all future state constitutional amendments, including the abortion-rights measure, to get 60% voter support in order to pass, compared to the current 50% plus one vote standard. The measures failure, a rare electoral loss for Ohio Republicans, set off a circular round of finger-pointing among backers who had hoped to use it to foil the abortion measure in November.
DeWine has expressed his concerns directly to Protect Women Ohios leadership, sources said, conversations that eventually led to Erwins hiring.
In a brief interview on Tuesday, DeWine didnt directly say whether hed insisted on Irwins hiring, but said that as a practice, he doesnt get involved with the inner-workings of campaigns, including his own. He also praised Erwins political resume.
Ryan is someone that has been involved in Ohio politics for many, many years. So hes someone that we think people can feel comfortable with, DeWine said.
Protect Women Ohio is the main campaign group opposing the November abortion-rights measure, called State Issue 1. But it also ended up taking a prominent role in the 60% constitutional amendment proposal last August after in-state fundraising stalled. The group spent $13 million in an unsuccessful attempt to convince voters to pass the measure, with nearly all of its funding coming from two sources in Washington, D.C.: the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Fund, and the Concord Fund, dark-money group with ties to conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo.
Protect Women Ohios summer ads referenced the November ballot issue, describing the measure as a way to defeat it. But rather than tying the issue to abortion access, which polls show most Ohioans support, the ads instead tied the proposal to progressive views on sexuality and gender, featuring images drag queens, and said the measure would allow children to undergo gender-reassignment surgery without their parents permission.
Legal experts have met these claims with great skepticism, describing them as a misdirection, particularly in light of Ohios conservative legal climate. Some supporters of the amendment called the ads transphobic.
While DeWine said he supported the 60% proposal, he didnt play a visible role in the campaign pushing for its passage. But DeWine, a longtime abortion opponent, already has gotten more directly involved with the campaign trying to defeat the November abortion-rights measure, including headlining a fundraiser in Cleveland last month hosted by businessman with a long history of contributing to DeWines campaigns.
Ahead of the fundraiser, DeWines political team met with CRC Advisers, a national political consulting firm backing Protect Women Ohio, in what Peter Range, another Protect Women Ohio leader who is executive director for Ohio Right to Life, described as a merging between the two operations, according to an internal email obtained by cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
Issue 1 would enshrine legal protections for abortion into the state constitution, generally protecting the procedure through fetal viability, around 22 to 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The amendment language says the state can regulate abortion after that point. However, abortions after that cutoff could be permitted if in the professional judgment of the pregnant patients treating physician it is necessary to protect the pregnant patients life or health, the amendment text reads.
Examples of laws that would be affected include Ohios fetal heartbeat law banning abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy, although the law is currently on hold as its being litigated in the state court system.
Abortion opponents have painted the proposed amendments text as too broad, and said the exemptions could allow for abortions later into pregnancy beyond what Ohioans support. Theyve also said the language would undermine state laws requiring minors to get their parents permission to get an abortion, an argument again met with skepticism from legal experts.
Andrew Tobias covers state politics and government for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer
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WASHINGTON, D. C. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Tuesday said a lawsuit that Hunter Biden filed against the Internal Revenue Service over whistleblowers disclosing his tax information to Republican investigators may be designed to try to intimidate and keep others from coming forward.
Youre not supposed to retaliate against whistleblowers, and this is not the government retaliating, but it seems to be trying to send a message, the Champaign County Republican told cleveland.com.
The presidents son filed a lawsuit Monday in Federal District Court in Washington that says the I.R.S. investigators violated the agencys rules on taxpayer privacy and targeted and sought to embarrass Mr. Biden via public statements to the media in which they and their representatives disclosed confidential information about a private citizens tax matters.
The whistleblowers - Kirtland native Joseph Ziegler and his IRS supervisor, Gary Shapley, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee that Hunter Biden got preferential treatment from prosecutors in a probe of his tax misdeeds and that politics influenced how the case was handled.
Jordan, whose committee is one of three participating in an impeachment inquiry thats examining whether President Joe Biden played any role in his sons improper activities, said he expects its members will ask impeachment-related questions on Wednesday when Attorney General Merrick Garland comes before his committee.
He anticipates theyll raise questions about the unorthodox way that U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware David Weiss handled the case, Jordan said. Last month, the Justice Department named Weiss a Special Counsel in the case so he could pursue charges against Biden outside Delaware.
Heres a question for him, said Jordan. Did you consider anyone else for Special Counsel? Was it just David Weiss? He asked for it, you gave it to him? Did you consider maybe the guy who screwed this case up over the last five years, maybe we should think about someone else. I think thats a fair question.
Jordan said Weiss is expected to testify before his committee on October 11. Weiss this month indicted Hunter Biden on charges that stemmed from his making false statements on a federal firearms purchasing form by denying that he used illegal drugs.
Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohios Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are the nations newest UNESCO World Heritage site, a collection of sophisticated ancient Native American properties that showcase outstanding universal value.
A United Nations committee meeting in Saudi Arabia approved the designation early this morning.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks become just the 25th World Heritage site in the United States, and the first in Ohio.
The Ohio History Connection and National Park Service have been working for more than a decade on the nomination, which includes eight sites in Licking, Ross and Warren counties built between 1,600 and 2,000 years ago.
They are complex masterpieces of landscape architecture and are exceptional among ancient monuments worldwide in their enormous scale, geometric precision and astronomical alignments, according to a press statement released early this morning by Ohio History Connection.
Inscription on the World Heritage List will call international attention to these treasures long known to Ohioans, said Megan Wood, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection.
Among the properties included:
--Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service, which is made up of six sites near Chillicothe, including Mound City Group, where the park service maintains a visitors center and small museum.
--Fort Ancient Earthworks near Oregonia, owned by the state of Ohio.
--Newark Earthworks, a collection of three sites just west of downtown Newark, including Octagon, Great Circle and Wright earthworks, all owned by the Ohio History Connection.
Though different, the earthworks share similar features -- enclosures built in the form of circles, squares and other geometric shapes, some to monumental scale, up to 500 feet long, 180 feet wide and 30 feet high. They were used for ceremonial or social purposes, and include numerous burial sites.
Some places are so important, it doesnt matter what country you live in you should want them to endure. You should want to know about them, said Jennifer Aultman, chief historic sites officer for the Ohio History Connection, earlier this month.
The designation will bring international recognition to the sties, which arent well known even to many Ohioans. Tourism officials are expecting a huge increase in visitation to the sites in the coming years.
Todays inscription of Ohios Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks as a UNESCO World Heritage Designation will ensure that the earthworks created by American Indian Tribes over 2,000 years ago will get international attention, drawing even more visitors to see these amazing places, said Governor Mike DeWine. I encourage Ohioans and people from across the globe to visit these eight sites to experience the awe-inspiring earthworks that are such a special part of Ohios history.
In an interview earlier this month, Glenna J. Wallace, chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe, said she hopes the inscription prompts a rethinking of American Indians in Ohio and across the country that her ancestors were geniuses, not savages. I hope we can review the history of the tribes in Ohio and surrounding areas, review and reflect upon history without rancor, to acknowledge that my/our ancestors had to be brilliant and that we give them the honor, the recognition they deserve.
Wallace, Wood and Aultman were among a delegation of about a dozen who traveled to Saudi Arabia in support of the nomination.
The Ohio nomination was one of 50 considered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Committee this week.
The World Heritage program was created in 1972 in an effort to recognize and preserve cultural and natural sites that showcase outstanding universal value. There are more than 1,000 locations on the World Heritage list, including some of the most well-known and historic cultural and natural attractions in the world. Among them: the Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu and Independence Hall.
Several commemoration events are planned in the coming weeks at the Ohio sites, including programs and tours at Fort Ancient on Oct. 7 and 8; on Oct. 14 at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe; and at Newark Earthworks on Oct. 15. For more information: hopewellearthworks.org.
Read more:
Ohios Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks likely to become states first UNESCO World Heritage Site this month
NGOWANE Initiation into gangs, in particular the notorious 26 and 28 members, is now taking place in schools.
This was revealed by Hhohho Regional Commissioner Simangele Motsa, who represented the national commissioner (NATCOM) of police during the Special Police Sunday Service hosted by former Senator Bishop Mavovo Mkhonto at Ngowane Alamathiya Church in Zion. Motsa called upon parents to monitor their childrens activities and behaviour, so as to early identify those undergoing initiation into gangs and deal with the situation beforehand. She was unpacking the prevalent crimes that have gripped society and further appealed for assistance from the brethren in the fight against crime.
As a parent, you must constantly monitor your child. Those who are undergoing initiation into the 26 and 28 gangs, it is a requirement that the number of the gang they are joining is inscribed on their bodies. Once you note that your child has that inscription, know very well that they will kill a person, as it is another requirement of the initiation, said Motsa.
She urged parents to also pay attention on how their children walked as she mentioned that a slant walk (for boys) was a sign of becoming a criminal. Motsa said it was important for parents to also search their childrens schoolbags as many now carried weapons to school. Our visits to various church denominations for Police Sunday services like this one, are within the framework of community outreach activities we are engaged in as a police service.
Aim
The aim of these activities, among others, is to bring police services closer to communities, and to make people aware of crimes that are problematic in the country and how police can be assisted in bringing them under control, said Motsa. She said crimes they wished to bring to the attention of the brethren were domestic abuse and violence cases, drug dealing and cultivation, human trafficking and people smuggling as well as theft of non-ferrous metals (copper) and livestock. We are also noting with concern the culture of violence that is taking hold of society. This culture is reflected in the proliferation of cases of violence manifesting themselves in various ways, including passion killing and brutal murders, sexual assaults, child abuse and domestic violence, as well as numerous other forms of violence, she said.
The regional commissioner said drug cultivation and dealing was also one of the problematic crimes in the country as a whole. She said it had been proven that proceeds from drugs were known to fund the operations of terrorist organisations. It is also closely associated with crimes such as possession of illegal firearms and murder. There has been countless cases of violence emanating from drug deals gone sour. As a church and society, we must stand up against people who are involved in drug dealing and feed such poisonous substance to our children, she said. Motsa said this could be done by reporting to the police and praying for the repentance of all those involved in the practice. Another challenge she said the country was faced with was that of copper theft.
Steal
She said this form of crime was prevalent in remote rural areas, where criminal elements had ample time to cut and steal cables containing copper wire without being easily noticed and detected. On another note, the regional commissioner warned that they were now planning to arrest those who negligently placed the poisonous Master 900 pesticide. Motsa said too many lives had been lost due to the deadly chemical, which most people use to commit suicide. She reported that at the Piggs Peak Police Station, every weekly report indicated that at least three people had died after consuming Master 900. She asked the church members to safely keep the chemical and out of childrens reach. She said not too long ago, a boy died after drinking water from a container, which contained Master 900. She said the boy had been playing soccer and unknowingly fetched water to drink using the container, which contained the deadly chemical.
MBABANE - Government says Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) President Mbongwa Dlamini incited teachers to engage in a go-slow.
It alleged that the SNAT president did this so that he could be reinstated to work. These averments were made by the Executive Secretary of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), Nhlanhla Dlamini. This is in the matter where Mbongwa is inter alia seeking an order to set aside his letter of dismissal, dated August 28, 2023, and to be reinstated as a teacher. He was dismissed from work after he was found guilty of absenting himself for 109 days, without reporting to his immediate supervisor. Respondents in the matter are the chairperson of the Teaching Service Commission (TSC), TSC, Ministry of Education and Training and the minister of Education and Training.
In his application, Mbongwa wants the court to review and set aside the decision of the chairperson of the TSC of proceeding with the hearing against him in his absence. The matter was due to be heard at the Industrial Court yesterday. Government, through Assistant Attorney General (AG) Mbuso Simelane, raised points of law, which included that Mbongwa was approaching the court with dirty hands. Simelane urged the court not to entertain his application.
Axe
The matter cannot be heard while there is an axe in a form of a go-slow strike hanging over the courts head, whose purpose is to have Mbongwa reinstated, while he also approached the Industrial Court for a similar remedy of reinstatement, he argued. He told the court that on September 15, 2023, the applicant (Mbongwa) allegedly incited teachers to engage in a go-slow, so that he could be reinstated to work. These are allegations whose veracity is yet to be tested in court. The assistant AG was referring to the extraordinary urgent general council meeting held at the SNAT Centre last Friday, where teachers reportedly vowed to make operations abnormal in schools and also sensitise pupils about Mbongwas dismissal. It was reported that the destabilisation of operations in schools would be done legally through effecting go-slows in schools. It was also during that meeting that they resolved to hold vigils at government officials homes, where they would be delivering petitions containing their grievances until they got responses.
In his submission, the assistant attorney general told the court that Mbongwa had already served the application to them on September 14, 2023, but never advised the SNAT membership about the court application. He is again seeking the same order that his union is pushing for, contended the assistant attorney general. Simelane said Mbongwa should choose the forum he wanted the matter to be argued in. It was his contention that, Mbongwa was putting pressure, that in the case his matter was not upheld, then the membership of SNAT would destroy the childrens future. He argued that the environment was not conductive for the matter to be heard under the circumstances. I submit that the external exams are starting on September 18, 2023 (yesterday) when the matter is set for arguments. Today (yesterday) widely circulating newspapers (Times of Eswatini and Observer) are carrying stories by SNAT, National Public Service and Allied Workers Union and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel that the learners are on their own on the external exams, submitted Simelane.
He brought it to the attention of the court that the people who issued the statements reported for work religiously yet Mbongwa had not been reporting for work. He submitted that the members of the aforementioned unions once carried the applicant to work, but before they reached their workplaces, the applicant had left school only to resurface at the Industrial Court to demand his salary. He submitted that the Swaziland Association of Schools Administrators (SASA) had also shown a concern in the manner the SNAT members were dealing with the matter by putting the welfare of the learners in jeopardy. He said strangely, the other union was supporting the go-slow, which would cause intellectual anarchy. We can only remind those in support of the go-slow and means to influence the outcome of the court matter that they were at work when the applicant missed 109 days of work, he argued. Meanwhile, in his answering affidavit, the executive secretary of the TSC related to the court that on August 28, 2023, Mbongwa went to the offices of the regional education officer in Manzini instead of attending school.
Salary
Nhlanhla (executive secretary of the TSC) told the court that it was a complete lie that Mbongwa had gone there to fetch his salary slip, because same was fetched by head teachers from the REO not teachers. He pointed out that all members of the civil service did not fetch salary advices, but it was the head of departments who were mandated to do so. I submit that the applicant was successful in court, he ought to give the courts a chance to deal with his matter instead of blackmailing the courts by pushing for a go-slow in order to obtain a favourable decision, submitted the TSC executive secretary.
He said, Mbongwa should be rebuking his membership and the public sector unions from destroying the learners academic future. He argued that to declare that pupils would be on their own during exams was very unfair. On the issue of urgency of the matter, Nhlanhla said the certificate of urgency was irregular because it was premised on financial loss to be occasioned by the applicant, yet that could not be a ground of urgency in court. He contended that Mbongwa failed to state why he had to wait 17 calendar days to bring his application and thereafter demand that the respondents should be given six hours to respond. According to Nhlanhla, the SNAT president paid a lip service why his matter had to overtake all matters that awaited determination of all those who believed had been hard done in the conduct of their disciplinary hearings.
May I state that the applicant, walked out of his disciplinary hearing when given a chance to mitigate. It is far worse that on the date of the disciplinary hearing he sought not to appear yet the date had been set by consent. There are no exceptional circumstances that exist why the matter should be enrolled, he argued. The matter will return to court on September 28, 2023 for argument. The matter is before Judge Manene Thwala. The SNAT president is represented by senior Lawyer Lucky Howe.
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Block logo displayed on a phone screen and Block website displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland.
The CEO of Square, a unit of fintech company Block , will leave the company, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.
Alyssa Henry will leave on Oct. 2 after more than nine years with the company, the filing said.
Block Inc's shares were down 2.7% at $49.86 after the bell.
Henry was previously vice president at Amazon Web Services and on the boards of Intel and software firm Unity Technologies.
Jack Dorsey-led Block, which offers merchant payment services and an app that lets people trade cryptocurrency reported a rise in quarterly revenue helped by higher payment volumes last month.
A Canadian union early on Tuesday extended its deadline in labor talks with Ford in an effort to reach a contract deal, even as the Detroit Three automakers still face a separate coordinated U.S. strike by the United Auto Workers union.
Canadian union Unifor, which represents about 5,600 Ford workers at three plants, said after the contract expired at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Monday (0359 GMT on Tuesday) it received a "substantive offer" from the company and was extending the deadline to reach a deal by 24 hours.
Unifor said bargaining with Ford was continuing throughout the night and asked its members to continue to maintain strike readiness.
Ford did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Unifor has been seeking improved wages and pensions, as well as support in the transition to electric vehicles and additional investment commitments by Ford.
Hours earlier, Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a video posted on the union's website that Ford needed to do more to meet members' expectations and demands.
"If there is a strike, this will be a total strike," she said. "Every single one of Unifor's 5,600 members at Ford in Canada will be on picket lines."
The last-minute negotiations were being held less than a week after the UAW launched a U.S. strike against Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis , targeting one assembly plant at each company.
UAW said it plans to announce on Friday more plants to strike if no serious progress was made in talks with the Detroit Three automakers.
Former US President and 2024 Presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks at the CWA (Concerned Women for America) Summit 2023 in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2023.
Former President Donald Trump is planning to visit Detroit next week to speak with current and former union members instead of attending the Republican primary debate, his campaign told CNBC on Monday.
A campaign spokesman confirmed reporting in The New York Times that Trump, the clear front-runner in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, intends to counterprogram the second primary debate as his rivals compete to catch up to him.
The former president's travel plans emerged just days after thousands of United Auto Workers members went on strike at three major plants after the union and Detroit carmakers failed to reach a deal.
A campaign source noted that Trump wants to speak to a crowd of more than 500 current and former union members that will include not only autoworkers but also plumbers, pipefitters and electricians.
But the autoworkers' union itself reacted sharply to the news of Trump's latest campaign strategy.
"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement shared with CNBC.
"We can't keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don't have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class," Fain's statement said.
Fain has previously said that a second Trump term in the White House would be a "disaster."
Trump's anticipated absence at the upcoming debate, set for Sept. 27 at the Reagan Library in California, did not come as a major surprise. He skipped the first primary debate last month, opting instead to sit for a pre-taped interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson that aired as the debate kicked off.
The plan to undermine the second debate shows Trump once again shrugging off his GOP rivals, and instead favoring the idea of positioning himself for a general election rematch against incumbent President Joe Biden, a vocal champion of U.S. labor unions.
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Naba Banerjee, Airbnb Source: Prashant Joshi | Airbnb
Naba Banerjee is a proud party pooper. As the person in charge of Airbnb's worldwide ban on parties, she's spent more than three years figuring out how to battle party "collusion" by users, flag "repeat party houses" and, most of all, design an anti-party AI system with enough training data to halt high-risk reservations before the offender even gets to the checkout page. It's been a bit like a game of whack-a-mole: Whenever Banerjee's algorithms flag some concerns, new ones pop up. Airbnb defines a party as a gathering that occurs at an Airbnb listing and "causes significant disruption to neighbors and the surrounding community," according to a company rep. To determine violations, the company considers whether the gathering is an open-invite one, and whether it involves excessive noise, trash, visitors, parking issues for neighbors, and other factors. Banerjee joined the company's trust and safety team in May 2020 and now runs that group. In her short time at the company, she's overseen a ban on high-risk reservations by users under age 25, a pilot program for anti-party AI in Australia, heightened defenses on holiday weekends, a host insurance policy worth millions of dollars, and this summer, a global rollout of Airbnb's reservation screening system. Some measures have worked better than others, but the company says party reports dropped 55% between August 2020 and August 2022 and since the worldwide launch of Banerjee's system in May, more than 320,000 guests have been blocked or redirected from booking attempts on Airbnb. Overall, the company's business is getting stronger as the post-pandemic travel boom starts to fade. Last month, the company reported earnings that beat analysts' expectations on earnings per share and revenue, with the latter growing 18% year over year, despite fewer-than-expected numbers of nights and experiences booked via the platform.
Turning parental party radar into an algorithm
Courtesy: Airbnb
Airbnb says the pandemic and hosts' fears of property damage are the main drivers behind its anti-party push, but there have been darker incidents as well. A Halloween party at an Airbnb in 2019 left five people dead. This year between Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, at least five people were killed at parties hosted at Airbnbs. In June, the company was sued by a family who lost their 18-year-old son in a shooting at a 2021 Airbnb party. When Banerjee first joined Airbnb's trust team in summer 2020, she recalls people around her asking, "How do you solve this problem?" The stream of questions, from people above and below her on the corporate ladder, contributed to her anxiety. Airbnb's party problem was complex, and in some ways, she didn't know where to start. As a mother of five, Banerjee knows how to sniff out a secretive shindig. Last summer, Banerjee's 17-year-old daughter had a friend who wanted to throw an 18th birthday party and she was thinking about booking an Airbnb to do it. Banerjee recalls her daughter telling her about the plan, asking her whether she should tell her friend not to book an Airbnb because of the AI safeguards. The friend ended up throwing the party at her own home. "Being a mother of teenagers and seeing teenage friends of my kids, your antenna is especially sharp and you have a radar for, 'Oh my God, okay, this is a party about to happen,'" Banerjee said. "Between our data scientists and our machine learning engineers and us, we started looking at these signals." For Banerjee, it was about translating that antenna into a usable algorithm. In an April 2020 meeting with Nate Blecharczyk, the company's co-founder and chief strategy officer, Banerjee recalls strategizing about ways to fix Airbnb's party problem on three different time scales: "right now," within a year, and in the general future. For the "right now" scale, they talked about looking at platform data, studying the patterns and signals for current party reports, and seeing how those puzzle pieces align. The first step, in July 2020, was rolling out a ban on high-risk reservations by users under age 25, especially those who either didn't have much history on the platform or who didn't have good reviews from hosts. Although Airbnb says that move blocked or redirected "thousands" of guests globally, Banerjee still saw users trying to get around the ban by having an older friend or relative book the reservation for them. Two months later, Airbnb announced a "global party ban," but that was mostly lip service at least, until they had the technology to back it up. Around the same time, Banerjee sent out a series of invitations. Rather than to a party, they were invites to attend party risk reduction workshops, sent to Airbnb designers, data scientists, machine learning engineers and members of the operations and communications teams. In Zoom meetings, they looked at results from the booking ban for guests under 25 and started putting further plans in motion: Banerjee's team created a 24/7 safety line for hosts, rolled out a neighborhood support line, and staffed up the customer support call center. One of the biggest changes, though, was to remove the option for hosts to list their home as available for gatherings of more than 16 people.
Courtesy: Airbnb
Now that they had a significant amount of data on how potential partiers might act, Banerjee's team had a new goal: Build the AI equivalent of a neighbor checking on the house when the high-schooler's parents leave them home alone for the weekend. Around January 2021, Banerjee recalled hearing from Airbnb's Australia offices that disruptive parties at Airbnbs were up and coming, just like they were in North America, as travel had come to a relative standstill and Covid was in full swing. Banerjee considered rolling out the under-25 ban in Australia, but after chatting with Blecharczyk, she decided to experiment with a party-banning machine-learning model instead. But Banerjee was nervous. Soon after, she phoned her father in Kolkata, India it was between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. for her, which was mid-morning for him. She is the first female engineer in her family, she said, and her father is one of her biggest supporters; he is typically the person she calls during the most difficult moments of her life. "I remember talking to him, saying, 'I'm just very scared I feel like I'm on the verge of doing one of the most important things of my career, but I still don't know if we are going to succeed,'" Banerjee said. "'We have the pandemic going on, the business is hurting ... We have something that we think is going to be great, but we don't know yet. I'm just on this verge of uncertainty, and it just makes me really nervous.'" Banerjee recalled her father telling her that this has happened to her before and that she'd succeed again. He'd be more worried, he told her, if she were overconfident. In October 2021, Banerjee's team rolled out the pilot program for their reservation screening AI in Australia. The company saw a 35% drop in parties between regions of the country that had the program versus those that did not. The team spent months analyzing the results and upgraded the system with more data, as well as safety and property damage incidents and records of user collusion.
How the AI system works to stop parties
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Listings on Airbnb Source: Airbnb
Imagine you're a 21-year-old planning a Halloween party in your hometown. Your plan: Book an Airbnb house for one night, send out the "BYOB" texts and try to avoid posting cliched Instagram captions. There's just one problem: Airbnb's AI system is working against you from the second you sign on. The party-banning algorithm looks at hundreds of factors, including the reservation's closeness to the user's birthday, the user's age, length of stay, the listing's proximity to where the user is based, how far in advance the reservation is being made, weekend vs. weekday, the type of listing and whether the listing is in a heavily crowded location rather than a rural one. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that uses neural networks that is, the systems process information in a way inspired by the human brain. The systems are certainly not functionally comparable to the human brain, but they do follow the pattern of learning by example. In the case of Airbnb, one model focuses specifically on the risk of parties, while another focuses on property damage, for instance. "When we started looking at the data, we found that in most cases, we were noticing that these were bookings that were made extremely last-minute, potentially by a guest account that was created at the last minute, and then a booking was made for a potential party weekend such as New Year's Eve or Halloween, and they would book an entire home for maybe one night," Banerjee told CNBC. "And if you looked at where the guest actually lived, that was really in close proximity to where the listing was getting booked." After the models do their analysis, the system assigns every reservation a party risk. Depending on the risk tolerance that Airbnb has assigned for that country or area, the reservation will either be banned or greenlit. The team also introduced "heightened party defenses" for holiday weekends such as the Fourth of July, Halloween and New Year's Eve.
Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Airbnb's reservation screening system in action. Source: Airbnb
In some cases, like when the right decision isn't quite clear, reservation requests are flagged for human review, and those human agents can look at the message thread to gauge party risk. But the company is also "starting to invest in a huge way" in large language models, or LLMs, for content understanding, to help understand party incidents and fraud, Banerjee said. "The LLM trend is something that if you are not on that train, it's like missing out on the internet," Banerjee told CNBC. Banerjee said her team has seen a higher risk of parties in the U.S. and Canada, and the next-riskiest would probably be Australia and certain European countries. In Asia, reservations seem to be considerably less risky. The algorithms are trained partly on tickets labeled as parties or property damage, as well as hypothetical incidents and past ones that occurred before the system went live to see if it would have flagged them. They're also trained on what "good" guest behavior looks like, such as someone who checks in and out on time, leaves a review on time, and has no incidents on the platform. But like many forms of AI training data, the idea of "good" guests is ripe for bias. Airbnb has introduced anti-discrimination experiments in the past, such as hiding guests' photos, preventing hosts from viewing a guest's full name before the booking is confirmed, and introducing a Smart Pricing tool to help address earnings disparities, although the latter unwittingly ended up widening the gap. Airbnb said its reservation-screening AI has been evaluated by the company's anti-discrimination team and that the company often tests the system in areas such as precision and recall.
Going global
Courtesy: Airbnb
Almost exactly one year ago, Banerjee was at a plant nursery with her husband and mother-in-law when she received a call from Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky. She thought he'd be calling about the results of the Australia pilot program, but instead he asked her about trust in the platform. Given all the talk she did about machine-learning models and features, she recalled him asking her, would she feel safe sending one of her college-bound kids to stay at an Airbnb and if not, what would make her feel safe? That phone call ultimately resulted in the decision to expand Banerjee's team's reservation screening AI worldwide the following spring. Things kicked into high gear with TV spots for Banerjee, some of which she saw on the gym television between pull-ups. She asked her daughter for advice on what to wear. The next thing she knew, the team was getting ready for a live demo of the reservation screening AI with Chesky. Banerjee was nervous. The team sat down with Chesky after working with front-end engineers to create a fake party risk, showing someone booking an entire mansion during a holiday weekend at the last minute and seeing if the model would flag it in real time. It worked. Chesky's only feedback, Banerjee recalled, was to change the existing message "Your reservation cannot be completed at this point in time because we detect a party risk" to be more customer-friendly, potentially offering an option to appeal or book a different weekend. They followed his advice. Now, the message reads, "The details of this reservation indicate it could lead to an unauthorized party in the home. You still have the option to book a hotel or a private room, or you can contact us with any questions." Banerjee remembers a frenzy of activity over the next few months, but also feeling calm and confident. She visited her family in India in April. She told her father about the rollout excitement, which happened in batches the following month. Over Labor Day weekend, Banerjee was visiting her son in Texas as the algorithm blocked or redirected 5,000 potential party bookings. But no matter how quickly the AI models learn, Banerjee and her team will need to continue to monitor and change the systems as party-inclined users figure out ways around the barriers. "The interesting part about the world of trust and safety is that it never stays static," Banerjee said. "As soon as you build a defense, some of these bad actors out there who are potentially trying to buck the system and throw a party, they will get smarter and they'll try to do something different."
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to the White House from Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 17, 2023.
President Joe Biden warned that Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans are "determined to destroy democracy."
Biden blasted former president Trump at a fundraiser in New York City on Monday night.
Given current public opinion polls, the two men are likely in 2024 to reprise their 2020 election contest, which Biden noted.
"I don't think anyone today doubts our democracy was at stake in 2020. Thank God because of people like you we won," Biden said.
"I'm running because democracy is at stake, because in 2024, democracy is on the ballot once again," he said, adding that if he is reelected, "we will have saved American democracy."
"Let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy," Biden said. "And I will always defend, protect and fight for our democracy."
Biden also drew a contrast between how he views Russian President Vladimir Putin and how Trump does.
"I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down, but I won't," Biden said.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, in a statement in response to Biden's fundraiser comments suggested Biden was the real threat to democratic values.
"Crooked Joe Biden is the one who has weaponized his Justice Department to go after his main political opponent President Trump," Cheung said.
"He has directed these illegal witch-hunts to interfere in an election where President Trump is leading him in the polls."
Trump has been indicted four times on criminal charges since the spring, with two of those cases lodged by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed to that role by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
Smith's office is prosecuting Trump in federal court in Washington, D.C., for alleged crimes related to his effort to undo his loss in the 2020 election, and in Florida federal court for retaining classified records after leaving the White House and allegedly trying to hide them from government officials.
Trump is charged in state court in Atlanta with alleged crimes related to his attempt to reverse Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. He also is charged in New York state court with allegedly falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden made comments about his plan to work with competitors around the world "to ensure we harness the power of artificial intelligence for good while protecting our citizens from this most profound risk."
"Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence hold both enormous potential and enormous peril," Biden said at the U.N. on Tuesday. "We need to be sure they're used as tools of opportunity, not as weapons of oppression. Together with leaders around the world, the United States is working to strengthen rules and policies so AI technologies are safe before they're released to the public, to make sure we govern this technology, not the other way around, having it govern us."
His comments come as U.S. policymakers have endeavored to learn more about how the technology works to determine the proper guardrails to protect Americans without stifling positive innovation. The discussion is taking place with the backdrop of an intense competition with China, which is also seeking to be a world leader in the technology.
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hosted prominent tech CEOs including Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, as well as labor and civil rights leaders, to speak with senators about AI as the lawmakers contemplate legislative protections. Following the meeting, Schumer told reporters that everyone in the room agreed that government needs to play a role in regulating AI.
How exactly that will look is still up for debate. Lawmakers differ on which is the proper body to regulate AI, as well as how light a touch policymakers should apply with regulation. Schumer warned it would be counterproductive to move too fast, pointing to the European Union, which has quickly created the AI Act.
But, Schumer said, "on a timeline, it can't be days or weeks, but nor should it be years. It will be in the general category of months."
In the meantime, several agencies have asserted their ability to rein in the abuses of AI with existing legal power. The National Institute of Standards and Technology in the U.S. Department of Commerce released a voluntary risk management framework for AI earlier this year.
The Biden administration has also secured voluntary commitments from leading AI companies to test their tools for security before they release them to the public.
WATCH: How China, Russia, AI, and inflation threaten economic stability: Jeffrey Sachs
Looking for investment opportunities outside the U.S.? CNBC's Tanvir Gill quizzed North of South Capital's Kamil Dimmich on investing in global stocks such as chip giant TSMC , Chinese tech behemoth Alibaba and South Korea's Samsung Electronics . These stocks and more are held in Dimmich's fund, the $1.5 billion Pacific North of South Emerging Markets All Cap Equity fund. The fund aims to identify undervalued stocks in emerging markets and Dimmich says they are "always looking for great companies with strong cashflows that are not correctly reflected in the market." Current themes that Dimmich likes include Taiwan's tech hardware, which he says is an opportunity but mispriced due to "AI excitement," and Chinese internet companies which he describes as "deep value" stocks. He also sees the global energy transition leading to higher medium-term oil prices but undervalued oil companies. The Pacific North of South EM All Cap Equity fund aims to outperform its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, by between 3% to 5% annually. Data provided by the firm shows the fund has achieved annualized returns of 5.5%, versus the 1.2% achieved by the benchmark index. Kamil has been at North of South Capital since 2009 and has managed the Pacific North of South EM All Cap Equity fund since 2017. Related coverage from CNBC Pro Talks: S & P 500, Treasurys or Berkshire Hathaway? Here's how value investor Guy Spier would invest This U.S. stock is a 'formidable business' with a 'really exciting runway' for growth, analyst says This global chip giant is set for an 'outsized' growth opportunity from A.I., fund manager says Related coverage from Pro: How this aggressive growth fund beat the S & P 500 without Nvidia or Big Tech These 10 China-focused ETFs are up this year and one is expected to rise by a further 40% Apple bear says he's not shorting the stock just yet despite China concerns. Here's why
Uninsured Americans can now get the newest Covid vaccines for free at certain locations across the country, just days after U.S. regulators greenlit those shots for most people.
The updated jabs from Pfizer and Moderna began to roll out late last week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended them to all Americans ages 6 months and up last Tuesday.
Patients can now find locations with appointments for the new shots using the federal government's search tool, Vaccines.gov. The website also includes a filter for locations that are providing Covid vaccines at no cost to those who are uninsured, including several CVS and Walgreens pharmacies.
That filter specifically shows locations participating in the Biden administration's Bridge Access Program, which will provide free Covid vaccines and treatments to uninsured people through December 2024.
The Bridge Access Program aims to maintain broad access to Covid products after a big shift in how the U.S. covers them. Previously, the federal government purchased Covid vaccines directly from manufacturers at a discount to distribute to all Americans for free.
But now that the U.S. Covid public health emergency has expired, the government is shifting shots to the commercial market. That means manufacturers will sell their new jabs directly to health-care providers at more than $120 per dose.
The vast majority of Americans will be able to get the new vaccines at no cost through private insurance or government payers such as Medicare. Meanwhile, the Bridge Access Program is aiming to fill the gap for the estimated 30 million uninsured Americans.
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A charging port is seen on a Mercedes Benz EQC 400 4Matic electric vehicle at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2019. Mark Blinch | Reuters
There's a looming problem with the auto industry's grand EV plans. Automakers are spending huge sums to bring a slew of new electric vehicles to market over the next few years. Ford Motor alone expects to spend more than $50 billion through 2026 to ramp up EV production around the world. General Motors said it will spend $35 billion through 2025, and Volkswagen said it expects to spend almost $200 billion on EVs and related software through 2028. But Americans are still hesitant to buy in, and largely because of concerns around charging. Survey after survey has shown that worries about charging specifically, public charging is holding buyers back from electric vehicles. A June study by Cox Automotive found that 32% of consumers who were considering an EV cited a "lack of charging stations in my area" as a barrier to purchase. A Consumer Reports study in April found that "charging logistics" and "purchase price" were the two biggest factors holding consumers back. And an April poll by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 47% of U.S. adults said it's not likely they would buy an EV as their next car, with nearly 80% saying that a lack of charging stations was a factor. Despite the United Auto Workers' concerns about Detroit's transition to EVs, and the union's ongoing strike, there's a groundswell forming to expand and improve the U.S. charging landscape. President Joe Biden has pushed the issue, working with Congress to deliver major incentives to improve public charging, and rival automakers have struck rare partnerships to help establish a single charging standard and reduce pain points for EV drivers. But the question remains, how long and how severely will charging hamper the EV revolution, right as its finally picking up steam?
How and where do I charge my EV?
Public charging stations aren't quite like gas stations, in the sense that many EV owners only use them occasionally. Most EV owners do most of their charging at home, with a Level 2 home charger provided by the automaker or a third party. That won't work for everyone, of course. And even EV owners who charge at home use public chargers on occasion. Some EV motorists charge at work. Workplaces that have employee parking often have chargers available, as do a growing number of hotels, shopping centers and other places where people might park an EV for a few hours. Often called "destination chargers," these charge at rates similar to what you'd get with home chargers, adding around 35 miles of range per hour. You may need an app from a charging company to use them, but the process is mostly painless assuming the chargers are working. Destination chargers can be a great way to add some range if you're planning to be parked for a while. But on a road trip, you'll want a fast charger.
A guide to charging your EV at home The vast majority of EV owners about 83%, according to a JD Power study in March do most of their charging at home. Home chargers that can fully charge your EV overnight aren't expensive, and they aren't hard to set up. Here's what you need to know. First, know your chargers: Most EV makers, and several third-party manufacturers, offer so-called "Level 2" chargers that plug into 240-volt outlets. A Level 1 charger plugs into a regular 110-volt household outlet and is really only applicable for emergencies. Next, know your needs: A portable Level 2 charger, which you can install yourself, provides about 20 miles of range per hour and can work well for overnight charging at home. A dedicated 240-volt Level 2 home charging station, installed by an electrician in your garage or other covered area, will give you around 35 miles of range per hour. Third, know your price point: A portable Level 2 charger will run you anywhere from $300 to $700, while a professionally installed 240-volt Level 2 could cost upwards of $1,000.
Modern fast chargers deliver much more power to your car's battery than the chargers that most EV drivers use at home or work, enough to charge your car to 80% in roughly half an hour, more or less. While the cost of fast-charging varies with time of day and location, it's usually cheaper than a tank of gas. And though Tesla drivers have it relatively easy, finding a charger that works with other EVs away from home and specifically, finding one that is working can be a frustrating experience.
Why do Teslas have it so much easier?
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, almost 21,000 of the roughly 33,000 public fast chargers currently up and running in the U.S. are Tesla Superchargers. Those chargers, like Tesla's own destination chargers, use a unique plug design called NACS, short for North American Charging Standard. Tesla originally built its Supercharging network to overcome potential buyers' concerns about charging on road trips, back when there were few fast chargers available in the country. The network's extent and reliability became a key part of Tesla's early sales pitch to customers hesitant to take the leap to a fully electric EV, and it has continued to play an important role in its success.
A view of Tesla Superchargers on February 15, 2023 in San Rafael, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The charging option for most everyone else called the Combined Charging System, or CCS is harder to come by and often unreliable. The shortcomings of CCS have been a growing concern for global automakers and the Detroit companies in particular as they spend billions on new EVs. Simply put, America's patchwork of CCS chargers offers spotty coverage, hard-to-use devices, and, too often, chargers that are broken. CCS charging operators like ChargePoint and EVgo have recently begun taking major steps to improve the "up time" of their chargers, or the percentage of time the charger is available for use. But the reliability issue remains a big one. In a study last year, researchers at the University of California at Berkeley checked 675 CCS fast chargers in the Bay Area and found that almost a quarter of them weren't functional. More recently, an August 2023 study by JD Power found that customer satisfaction with public CCS chargers both destination chargers and fast chargers has fallen sharply over the last few years, with reliability ranking as a key issue. "The reliability of public chargers continues to be a problem," said Brent Gruber, who leads JD Power's EV practice. "The situation is stuck at a level where one of every five visits ends without charging, the majority of which are due to station outages." Notably, that JD Power study also found customer satisfaction with Tesla's proprietary fast-charging network to be much higher than the CCS alternatives. Not to mention, there are fewer than 12,000 CCS fast chargers across the U.S. today.
What about a single charging standard?
Tesla has begun bringing its rivals into the fold. The EV leader and Ford surprised the automotive world in May when they announced they had struck a deal to give Ford EV owners access to more than 12,000 Tesla superchargers in the U.S. and Canada starting in early 2024. Ford also said that it will make the NACS charging port standard on its EVs starting in 2025. (Owners of older Ford EVs will be able to use the Tesla chargers with an adapter.) It might seem strange for one of the world's oldest automakers to partner with the EV maker Tesla instead of building its own charging network. But as Ford finance chief John Lawler explained at a June conference that the tie-up makes sense for Ford and its customers. "We're going to build things where we think we can be differentiated," Lawler said. "We're going to partner where it's really good for our customers and where we can scale quickly. Opening up the Tesla charging network to our customers, that's about them and it scales very quickly for them. Their options are much greater." A flurry of similar deals between Tesla and other EV makers, including GM, Volvo Cars, Polestar and Rivian, were announced in the weeks that followed. "We're deeply honored that Ford, GM, Mercedes and many other [automakers] have signed up to use our connector and gain access to our charging network," Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the company's most recent earnings call. "We strongly believe in helping other car companies to accelerate the EV revolution and just trying to do the right thing in general."
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The broad uptake of Tesla's charging tech is generally good news. The company's network consistently scores well for reliability. Its NACS plugs are also considerably smaller and lighter than CCS fast-charging plugs, which can be cumbersome for older or disabled drivers to use. What's more, Tesla's chargers all work the same way, whereas CCS chargers from rival companies may have very different procedures. And, unlike most CCS fast chargers, Tesla's billing is simple and seamless: Owners simply plug in, charge up and drive away, with no special apps or credit cards required. While it's not yet clear how the process will work for drivers of other EVs, it's expected to be similarly painless once the driver (or the car) is signed up with Tesla. Meanwhile, progress is being made on formalizing the NACS plug design as an industry standard. SAE International, which sets key engineering standards for the auto industry, said on June 27 that it's working on official performance and safety standards for NACS charging plugs and that it expects to issue them within six months. Charging networks and charger manufacturers are also responding. EVgo said in June that it will start deploying NACS connectors on the high-speed chargers in its U.S. network later this year. ABB, a Swiss maker of industrial equipment including commercial EV chargers, said on June 9 that it will offer NACS plugs as an option on its chargers as soon as testing and validation of the new connector is complete, likely in a few months. And ChargePoint, which installs and manages chargers for other businesses, said its clients can now order new chargers with NACS connectors and that it can retrofit its existing chargers with the Tesla-designed connectors as well.
Long road ahead
MANZINI- A prophet has been accused of raping a 17-year-old girl while praying for her.
Felix Mfezi Fezile Tfwala (41) of Ekutsimuleni, who is known to be a prophet at Bhekinkhosi, is allged to have raped the minor girl while on her way home at Ekutsimuleni. According to a source, the girl was on her way home when the prophet met her along the way and started prophesying to her. It is alleged that he then prayed for the girl, ordering her to take off her clothes as he was reportedly led by the spirit. Tfwala appeared before Acting Manzini Magistrate Sicelo Lokothwayo on the charge of contravening Section 3(1), 3 (b), (6) as read with (9) (b) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act 15 of 2018.
Forced
According to the charge sheet, the accused unlawfully and intentionally forced *Cynthia into sexual intercourse. This happened at Ekutsimuleni on August 14. Aggravating factors as envisaged by Section 185 of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act 67 of 1938 include that the accused did not use protection, exposing the minor to sexually transmitted diseases such as STIs and HIV. It was also stated that he caused trauma to the alleged survivor by the act, as well as that she was a minor. Meanwhile, a 17-year-old scholar was arrested and charged for allegedly raping a 14-year-old whom they attend the same school with.
The duo is doing Form II at a school based at Hlatikhulu. It was gathered that they, along with others, attended an event in Mbabane and when they returned, the accused allegedly forced himself on the survivor. The accused was charged for contravening Section 3 (1) of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act of 2018. In court, the accused came with his mother. It was said in court that cases that included the one the minor was faced with were now prosecuted at the High Court. He was then warned and released to her parent for December 18, 2023, pending his court appearance.
*Not real name to protect the survivor.
Public electric vehicle charging infrastructure remains "critical" in driving further EV adoption, said analysts at investment bank TD Cowen. The bank's analysis shows that the number of public charging ports in the U.S. must grow to 1.7 million by 2030 to keep pace with a growing EV fleet. But questions around funding and installation remain. "A ubiquitous and reliable network of public EV charging infrastructure remains critical in driving further adoption to curtail CO2 emissions from the transportation sector," said TD Cowen. "If our estimate of 1.7MM public chargers does manifest we think the industry would be a healthy one with several winners." The bank concluded that the world will require a "massive and rapid" buildout of charging infrastructure and installation that it estimates would require a total U.S. investment of $104 billion through 2030. Here are some areas that will take up the bulk of that opportunity, as well as stocks that could benefit, according to TD Cowen. Passenger EV charging hardware The bank estimates that $91 billion in investment is required for publicly available U.S. EV charging hardware and installations for passenger vehicles, and another $14 billion for commercial vehicles by 2030. Charging providers such as ChargePoint Holdings , Wallbox , Blink Charging , Tritium , and automation services firm ABB , will compete for those funds in the United States, said TD Cowen. It estimates that of the 20.8 million passenger ports it expects to be installed by 2030, 83% will be home chargers, while the rest are set to be public ports at workplaces for instance. However, the public ports will take up the bulk of the investment (76%), thanks to higher power needs and complex installations. Heavy-duty fleets An extensive network of public charging infrastructure for trucks is also needed, said TD Cowen, which estimates that commercial heavy duty vehicles will account for 6% of total charging demand by 2030. That separate network is needed as such fleets will cause intense energy spikes on the grid, which today's power grids are unable to handle, said the bank. "Ultimately, we think the next wave of EV charging companies will have a keen focus on the fleet /medium/heavy-duty sector," it said. It highlighted names that could benefit: Gage Zero, WattEV, TeraWatt, Voltera and Greenlane. They're not publicly listed, however. Software TD Cowen estimates that the market for charging software and warranty could reach about $6.6 billion in the U.S. by 2030 a growth of about 31% CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) from 2022. That will be driven by rising demand in areas such as re mote monitoring and maintenance. Such software can track charging throughput, overall usage, connectivity issues, payments and others, according to the bank. Those services will be directly related to increased charging demand, which the bank expects to grow at 41% CAGR in the same period. Passenger electricity sales The market for selling electricity to passenger EV drivers is set to grow to $18.2 billion by 2030, with 73% coming from public fast ports, TD Cowen estimates. EVgo , Blink , Electrify America and others will likely have to compete for that pie with Tesla, which has the largest DC fast network a charging network in the U.S. and is beginning to open it, said the bank. It noted, however, that many locations may give away electricity for free as supermarkets, retailers and other venues look to attract foot traffic rather than monetize drivers. Top picks Overall, TD Cowen said, ChargePoint remains its top pick given its hardware and subscription-based model, first mover advantage and an "impressive" customer list. It gave ChargePoint an outperform rating and a price target of $11, or around 95% upside. "Minimal capex is required in the ChargePoint business model as the company relies on its commercial, hospitality, parking, fleet, and other customers to effectively crowdfund the buildout of EV-charging infrastructure," said TD Cowen. "This capital-light plan also attaches software to every charging station sold with a nearly ~100% attach rate, offering the company strong visibility into recurring revenue streams." When it comes to operators, it likes fast charging station network EVgo as charging trends improve and it shows "underappreciated operating leverage." It also gave Evgo an outperform rating, and a price target of $6, or potential upside of more than 50%. CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, and arrived at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S., September 19, 2023. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Five Americans who were released after being wrongfully imprisoned in Iran for years have arrived back on U.S. soil. A plane carrying the five Americans and two of their relatives touched down at a military airfield near Washington, D.C. early Tuesday. They had flown from the Gulf state of Qatar, which helped facilitate the transfer. The group were freed as part of a prisoner exchange agreement that allowed Tehran to access $6 billion in oil revenues frozen under U.S. sanctions and also saw five Iranian nationals released from U.S. custody.
U.S officials arrange a group photo after freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees not yet named by the U.S. government who were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, arrived at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S., September 19, 2023. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Freed Americans Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi smile as U.S officials arrange a group photo after they and three others who were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, arrived at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S., September 19, 2023. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Emad Shargi, 59, an Iranian-born businessman who moved to the U.S. as a young man, was arrested in 2018. Despite being released and cleared of all charges in 2019, Iranian authorities retained his passport, before he was charged again in 2020 and convicted of espionage charges without a trial. A third former prisoner, Morad Tahbaz, 67, is an Iranian-American who also has British citizenship. Part of a group of environmental activists carrying out research on Iran's endangered cheetah population, he was arrested in 2018 and convicted of espionage in 2019. The families of the two other former prisoners have requested that their identities remain private, U.S. officials said.
U.S officials arrange a group photo after freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi as well as two returnees not yet named by the U.S. government who were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, arrived at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, U.S., September 19, 2023. Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
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2023 Ford Super Duty F-350 Limited Ford
DETROIT Ford Motor 's labor troubles could become an international issue that affects U.S. production of some pickup trucks, as Canadian union Unifor and the company have only hours to reach an agreement for roughly 5,600 autoworkers. The sides have to reach a deal before an extended 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline to avoid a potential strike. The initial deadline for the talks was Monday night, but the sides announced a 24-hour extension after the union received a "substantive offer" from Ford "minutes before the deadline." The potential Canadian work stoppage adds to pressure facing Ford days after the United Auto Workers called for targeted strikes against Ford and its crosstown rivals, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis . A Unifor strike would disrupt Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant that produces the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus crossovers. It would also affect two engine plants that produce 7.3-liter and 5.0-liter V8 gasoline engines used in highly profitable products such as the Ford F-Series Super Duty and F-150 pickups and the Mustang muscle car.
An aerial view shows Ford's Oakville Assembly Plant in Oakville, Ontario, Canada May 26, 2023. Carlos Osorio | Reuters
If Unifor strikes against Ford, it would be the first time both unions have simultaneously gone on strike against a Detroit automaker over national contracts marking another unprecedented labor move after the UAW struck all three of the Detroit automakers last week for the first time. "Ford doesn't want a strike anywhere. Having the extra pressure of Unifor is pushing Ford very hard to get a deal," said Art Wheaton, a labor professor at the Worker Institute at Cornell University. Unifor, whose auto members were part of the UAW until a split in the mid-1980s, confirmed talks are ongoing after they continued past the deadline into Tuesday morning.
F-Series, Mustang could be disrupted
If a prolonged Canadian strike occurs, the work stoppage could eventually impact U.S. production of the vehicles. The breadth of the effect depends on Ford's engine stock and how much the company would want to focus on non-V8 gasoline engine models. For F-150 and Mustang, Ford could increase production of four-cylinder and V6-powered engines, including EcoBoost ones that have made up the majority of sales since 2018. The company also could increase production of diesel engines for its larger Super Duty trucks. Gasoline V8 models make up about 50% of Mustang and 20% of F-150 models sold in the U.S. Large F-Series trucks exclusively have V8 engines. But a majority of those vehicles sold have diesel V8 engines rather than gasoline, according to the company. Those engines are made at a plant in Mexico, not Canada.
Lana Payne speaks on stage as Unifor, Canada's largest private sector union, announced her as their new president to replace outgoing leader Jerry Dias in Toronto, Ontario, Canada August 10, 2022. Cole Burston | Reuters
"We will continue to work collaboratively with Unifor to create a blueprint for the automotive industry that supports a vibrant and sustainable future in Canada," Ford said in a statement about the talks early Tuesday. Unifor, which represents 18,000 Canadian workers at the Detroit automakers, took a more traditional approach to its negotiations than its U.S. counterpart did. The Canadian union picked Ford as its "target" company instead of following the UAW's new strategy of bargaining with all three automakers. It also announced a traditional national strike, if needed, instead of targeted ones. Hours before the initial deadline, Unifor National President Lana Payne said the union and Ford were "not where we need to be on key priority issues," including wages and pensions. She noted the last time Canadian automakers went on strike was in 1990. "We need Ford to deliver more to meet our members' expectations and demands, it's as simple as that," she said.
UAW connection
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his economic agenda at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland, September 14, 2023.
Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the Oversight Committee chair, said Tuesday that he plans to subpoena the personal bank records of Hunter Biden , the president's son, and his brother James Biden.
"The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the President 's involvement in corruption and abuse of public office," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The House Oversight Committee will hold the first hearing on the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden on Sept. 28, a committee spokesperson said Tuesday.
UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 13: Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., arrives for the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing titled "Unsuitable Litigation: Oversight of Third-Party Litigation Funding" in Rayburn Building on Wednesday, September 13, 2023.
A spokesperson for the oversight committee said the subpoenas could come as early as this week.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, last week directed three GOP-led committees to launch an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
McCarthy claimed during a press conference that the president had lied to the American people about his knowledge of his family's business dealings.
The impeachment inquiry is being led by Comer on the Oversight Committee, Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith of Missouri.
Comer said he is still finalizing the details the impeachment inquiry with McCarthy, Jordan and Smith: "Once all the i's are dotted, t's are crossed, I expect to issue a subpoena to Hunter and James Biden's personal bank records," Comer said Tuesday as he left a GOP conference Meeting.
The Oversight Committee opened an investigation in January into allegations that Biden profited from his son Hunter's business dealings while he was vice president.
Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said last week that Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months and have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the ranking Democrat on the oversight committee, has called that GOP investigation into Biden a "complete and total bust."
A man check his phone near an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China September 13, 2023. Aly Song | Reuters
Apple is facing a number of issues in China, with geopolitical risks mounting and the economy still not firing as many would have hoped. But the biggest challenge of all, according to analysts, could be a resurgent Huawei after a purported major semiconductor breakthrough that flew in the face of U.S. sanctions. The latest chip, made by China's biggest semiconductor manufacturer SMIC , has sparked concern in Washington and raised questions about how it was possible, without the company being able to access critical technologies. But there is also scrutiny on whether the process being used to make these new chips is efficient enough on a large scale to sustain a Huawei comeback.
What has happened to Huawei so far?
What's the big deal about Huawei's new chip?
Alongside Apple and Samsung, Huawei is one of only a few companies that has designed its own smartphone processor. This was done through the Chinese firm's HiSilicon division. The chip, however, was manufactured by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. , or TSMC. U.S. export restrictions, which effectively barred Huawei from using American technology anywhere along the chipmaking process, meant the Chinese company could no longer source its chips from TSMC.
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The Taiwanese chipmaker is the most advanced semiconductor manufacturer in the world. There is no Chinese company that can do what TSMC does. That's why shock waves were sent through the political and tech world when Huawei quietly released the Mate 60 Pro in China this month, with analysis showing a chip inside made by SMIC. Along with Huawei, SMIC is on a U.S. trade blacklist called the Entity List. Companies on this list are restricted from buying American technology. Meanwhile, SMIC's technology is seen as generations behinds the likes of TSMC. So how could this have been done with the huge amount of sanctions on both Huawei and SMIC?
What we know about Huawei's chip
Huawei's smartphone chip is called the Kirin 9000S, which combines the processor and components for what appears to be 5G connectivity. 5G refers to next-generation mobile internet that promises super-fast speeds. Huawei has not confirmed the phone is 5G capable, but reviews have shown the device is capable of hitting download speeds associated with 5G. The semiconductor has been manufactured using a 7 nanometer process by SMIC, according to an analysis of the Mate 60 Pro by software company TechInsights. The nanometer figure refers to the size of each individual transistor on a chip. The smaller the transistor, the more of them can be packed onto a single semiconductor. Typically, a reduction in nanometer size can yield more powerful and efficient chips. The 7 nm process is seen as highly advanced in the world of semiconductors, even though it is not the latest technology. For years, SMIC struggled to make 7 nm chips. That's in part because it couldn't get its hands on a very expensive and crucial device called an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine. These are made by Dutch firm ASML , but the company has been restricted by its government from sending these machines to China.
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Many thought this would hold back SMIC's ability to make advanced chips. But it seems to have made it happen without these tools. In a blogpost this month, Dan Hutcheson, vice chair of TechInsights, said the 7 nm chip "demonstrates the technical progress China's semiconductor industry has been able to make without EUV lithography tools." Huawei was not immediately available for comment regarding this story when contacted by CNBC.
Is this a big deal or just posturing?
From a technology perspective, it is significant that SMIC has manufactured chips using a 7 nm process without ASML's EUV machines. Pranay Kotasthane, deputy director of the Takshashila Institution, told CNBC that it is likely that equipment used for older manufacturing processes are being "repurposed" for these more advanced chips. But he believes the process is likely being undertaken with "lower efficiency" than if SMIC were to use cutting-edge equipment. And that's a key point. While SMIC is able to create 7 nm chips, it's unclear how efficient, profitable and sustainable that is on a bigger scale. A closely watched metric is "yield" the number of chips made out of a specific wafer. If a chip manufacturer's yield is low, then the process is not seen as efficient and can be costly. While the yield of SMIC's 7 nm process for Huawei chips is not known, it is "probably low," Kotasthane said. It is a waiting game to see if SMIC can produce the number of chips that Huawei requires at a profitable scale.
What will the U.S. do next?
The technology advancement has certainly rattled Washington. The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a statement this month saying it is looking to get more information on Huawei's chip. SMIC's 7 nm manufacturing process has also exposed some of the weaknesses in the U.S.' export restriction strategy, which could lead to further curbs. "There will be pressure on the U.S. to reconsider its export controls strategy, which was based on the assumption that controls would prevent Chinese companies from producing advanced-edge chips, while the business-as-usual approach would continue at the trailing-edge nodes. It is increasingly becoming clear that this distinction doesn't work in reality," Kotasthane said. He added that Washington may look at other areas of the chip design and manufacturing process to enact further restrictions.
Apple's China headwinds grow with Huawei chip
The Wall Street Journal reported this month that Chinese central government staffers had been banned from using iPhones and other foreign-branded phones for work and even prohibited them from being brought into the office. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last week there weren't any regulations prohibiting the purchase and use of foreign phones. As geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China continue to bubble under the surface, it is perhaps a potential Huawei resurgence that poses the biggest threat to Apple.
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Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, arrives at federal court to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges of willfully failing to pay income taxes, Wilmington, Delaware, July 26, 2023.
Hunter Biden will plead not guilty during his initial court appearance for three federal felony gun charges, his attorney said Tuesday as he denied that the son of President Joe Biden is asking for "special treatment" at his first court appearance in the case.
Hunter's lawyer Abbe Lowell revealed that planned plea as he asked a judge to hold the court appearance by video conference instead of in person at U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Delaware.
Biden, who lives in California, "will waive reading of the indictment, which is merely a few pages and could easily be read at a video conference," Lowell wrote in a two-page letter to Judge Christopher Burke.
"Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference," Lowell wrote.
The court appearance has not yet been scheduled.
Biden, 53, was indicted last week on three criminal counts related to his possession of a firearm while being an unlawful drug user.
Biden, who has been open about his substance abuse struggles, is charged with two counts of lying about his illegal drug use in connection with his purchase of a Colt Cobra revolver. The third count accuses him of possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful drug user.
Lowell wrote in Tuesday's letter that Biden was "not seeking any special treatment" by requesting the video conference for his first appearance in court on the charges.
Conducting the court hearing via video would "minimize an unnecessary burden on government resources and the disruption to the courthouse and downtown areas" in Wilmington from Secret Service agents accompanying Biden, Lowell argued.
"Without getting into specifics, numerous agents and vehicles are required for what would have to be a two-day event (for a proceeding that may be very short in duration)," the attorney wrote.
Federal prosecutors oppose Biden's bid for a virtual appearance, the judge noted in a court order Monday that directed them to respond by Wednesday.
Lowell's letter called prosecutors' opposition "puzzling," arguing that he was making a "common-sense request in seeking a video appearance.
Biden in late July pleaded not guilty to separate misdemeanor charges of failing to pay federal taxes on more than $1.5 million in annual income in 2017 and 2018.
He had intended to plead guilty to those charges, but his deal with prosecutors fell apart in court under scrutiny from a judge.
Biden also expected to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement on a gun-related crime at that time that could have seen him avoid being criminally charged with a firearm count if he complied with the deal's conditions for two years.
After the plea deal on the tax charges collapsed, U.S. Attorney David Weiss said that the gun charge diversion agreement had been withdrawn.
But Lowell argues that the deal took effect and thus bars Biden from being charged with the gun crimes. Lowell also has said the charges are unconstitutional as a result of a 2022 Supreme Court ruling knocking down a New York gun law. All six conservatives on the Supreme Court, three of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump, voted in favor of that decision.
Lowell noted in a court filing earlier this month that Biden "has been following and will continue to follow the conditions of that Agreement."
Bottles of olive oil and sunflower oil at a Mercadona SA supermarket in Barcelona, Spain. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Olive oil prices spiked to fresh records as severe droughts in major producing countries crimp supplies and drive up thefts in cooking oil. Global prices for olive oil surged to $8,900 per ton in September, driven by "extremely dry weather" in the Mediterranean, according to a recent report by the United States Department of Agriculture. Already, the average price in August was 130% higher compared to the year before, and showed "no sign of easing," USDA said. Spain, the world's largest producer and exporter of olive oil, has been battered by an intense drought for months. The country also just recorded its third hottest summer, with the average summer temperature 1.3C higher than normal, according to state meteorological agency AEMET.
Further complicating matters is Turkey's decision to suspend bulk olive oil exports The suspension has worsened the already limited volumes in Spain. Kyle Holland oilseeds and vegetable oils analyst at Mintec
According to data from commodity market intelligence firm Mintec, Spain's olive oil production in the recent season has slumped to around 610,000 tonnes that's a drop of more than 50% compared to the usual 1.3 to 1.5 million tonnes. "Adding to the complexity of the situation are concerns about reduced production in other major European olive oil-producing countries, including Italy and Greece, where drought conditions prevail," Mintec's oilseeds and vegetable oils analyst, Kyle Holland, told CNBC. Greece and Italy are the second and third largest producers of olive oil, according to the International Olive Council, an intergovernmental organization made up of members that make up more than 98% of olive production globally.
Olive oil thieves
Prices of olive oil in Spain's Andalusia soared to 8.45 ($9.02) per kilogram in September, Mintec's benchmark showed. It marks the "highest price ever recorded for Spanish olive oil" based on the company's data spanning over 20 to 30 years, and represents a year-on-year jump of 111%. The soaring prices, on what's sometimes referred to as "liquid gold," have led some to steal it.
About 50,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil in one of Spain's oil mills, Marin Serrano El Lagar, were stolen in the early hours of Aug. 30, according to local media reports. That's more than 420,000, or about $450,000, worth of olive oil that the family business lost. There have been no arrests so far. That's not all. Shortly before that, thieves made off with 6,000 liters of extra virgin olive oil worth 50,000 from Terraverne oil mill, Spanish newspaper El Munco said. The company's computers, tables, fans and chairs were also reportedly looted during the heist. The companies in question did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.
When will it end?
Former Vice President Mike Pence argued Tuesday that the Biden administration's push toward electric vehicles was to blame for the historic United Auto Workers strikes underway at the Big Three Detroit carmakers' plants.
"I guarantee you that one of the things that's driving that strike is that Bidenomics and their green energy, electric vehicle agenda is good for Beijing and bad for Detroit, and American autoworkers know it," Pence said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."
The strikes are a "reflection of the failed economic policies of the Biden administration," said Pence, whose campaign to win the 2024 Republican presidential has struggled to gain traction in the polls.
"This drive toward electric vehicles, driving people away from gasoline-powered vehicles, any auto worker that's paying attention would know that's not in their long-term interest," he said.
Pence's stance on the strikes echoed the one pushed by his former boss, ex-President Donald Trump, the current front-runner in the GOP nomination contest.
The victory column and TV tower are pictured in front of the sunrise in Berlin, Germany.
Germany finds itself at a crossroads of global issues as it deals with an economic contraction, according to Peter Oppenheimer, chief global equity strategist and head of macro research EMEA at Goldman Sachs.
"The predicament that the economy is facing at the moment is really down to a number of factors," Oppenheimer told CNBC Tuesday, with challenges in the manufacturing sector, a disappointing China reopening boost and higher energy costs contributing to the recession in Europe's largest economy.
"It's not a deep recession but it's obviously been more hit by obvious headwinds," Oppenheimer said.
The comments reflect the latest projection by the Bundesbank, which estimated Monday that the German economy is likely to shrink this quarter thanks to slow private consumption and industry stuttering.
Barbara Fried, the mother of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, arrives for his arraignment and bail hearings at Manhattan Federal Court on December 22, 2022 in New York City.
The mother of former cryptocurrency king Sam Bankman-Fried is being accused in a new lawsuit of acting as a key advisor to her son and his allies for political campaign contributions that later led to criminal charges against him and others.
The complaint, filed on Monday by the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, accuses Barbara Fried of being a "point person" for her son Bankman-Fried's "political contribution strategy."
It says that Fried, out of concern about the optics of her son helping finance causes she supported, encouraged Bankman-Friend and those close to him to "to avoid (if not violate) federal campaign finance disclosure rules by engaging in straw donations or otherwise concealing the FTX Group as the source of the contributions."
Attorneys for Fried and her husband, Sam Bankman, told CNBC that "these [FTX] claims are completely false."
FTX's lawsuit in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware seeks to recover millions of dollars it claims were fraudulently transferred to Fried and Bankman, who are Stanford Law professors.
Their son Bankman-Fried was the CEO of FTX before being criminally charged with, among other things, misappropriating customer funds to make tens of millions of dollars in political contributions and making donations in other people's names.
A superseding indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried used customer funds to make more than $100 million in campaign contributions for the 2022 midterm elections.
He has pleaded not guilty in the case, which is set to go to trial next month in in federal court in Manhattan.
Fried is not named as a defendant in any of the criminal indictments against her son.
But according to FTX's new civil complaint she was a critical influencer to her son's political campaign donation strategy.
Fried, according to the FTX complaint, described "herself as Bankman-Fried's 'partner in crime of the noncriminal sort.' "
The suit said that "Bankman-Fried made known to several FTX Group employees his intent to rely on his mother's direction regarding political contributions contribution recipients, amounts, and disclosure requirements and encouraged them to likewise follow Fried's advice."
FTX alleges that Fried used her influence over her son and others close to him to help finance her own prior political operation in a political action committee called Mind the Gap, and its affiliated causes.
Fried helped run that PAC before she resigned last year on the heels of her son's arrest.
Marissa McBride, the executive director of Mind the Gap, told CNBC in a statement late Tuesday that the committee had no knowledge of any of the alleged activities described in FTX's complaint.
"Mind the Gap was completely unaware of the illegal activities alleged in this new lawsuit," McBride said.
The PAC reportedly acts as a donor advisory group. In 2021, it received a $1 million donation in the name of former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh, according to Federal Election Commission records.
That contribution may not have been from Singh himself, but instead, from Bankman-Fried, according to the complaint.
The suit quotes an email in 2021 from Fried to Singh and her son, suggesting that donation be under Singh's name instead of Bankman-Fried's.
"Since this is going to our 527, and hence is disclosed, I'm assuming that Nishad would be the better person to have his name on it," Fried wrote in the email, according to the complaint.
"We'd have a slight preference for that on our end, now that my connection to Sam is publicly known, because we don't want to create the impression that funding MTG is a family affair, as opposed to a collective effort by many people (including some mystery guy Nishad Singh :))," Fried wrote, adding a smiley face emoji, according to the suit.
Bankman-Fried responded to that email by writing: "Works for me on all fronts."
Singh replied, "sounds good, I'm happy to pledge the $1m for MTG operating, agreed on optpics [sic]. Mind sending the wire instructions?" according to the complaint.
There are no recorded contributions to Mind the Gap under Bankman-Fried's name in FEC records.
McBride told CNBC that the PAC has moved to "isolate Nishad Singh's contribution, and we look forward to fully complying with the law."
Singh pleaded guilty in February to criminal charges, including violating campaign finance laws.
The complaint say that Mind the Gap relied on Bankman-Fried, Singh and the FTX Group for funding the group and the causes tied to it.. Bankman-Fried's mother is being accused of requesting her son and Singh to help finance Mind the Gap or their supported causes.
"MTG relied on the FTX Group, Bankman-Fried, and Singh as sources of funding, often 'dunning' Bankman-Fried or Singh for money they had previously committed, and in at least one instance, for money that Fried had committed unilaterally on Bankman-Fried's behalf," the suit says.
"At Fried's explicit request, Bankman-Fried and Singh contributed tens of millions of dollars to MTG or MTG-supported causes," the suit says.
"At times, Fried committed Bankman-Fried and Singh to backstop MTG-supported programs to ensure that MTG would meet its funding goals, and repeatedly called upon these guarantees," according to the suit.
MANZINI As allegations are being levelled against personnel at the Treasury Department, some suppliers are blaming their counterparts for paying bribes in order to be awarded tenders.
This publication yesterday published an article, wherein some entrepreneurs were narrating their challenges when seeking to be paid by government. The service providers and suppliers insinuated that they were frustrated at the Treasury Department, when they were not willing to succumb to the unscrupulous means which would propel them to receive their payments on time. The businesspeople claimed that some officers demanded a hand lotion of 10 per cent of whatever amount the supplier would be receiving. Others claimed that they paid E20 000 for the officials to facilitate their payment. As these claims by the entrepreneurs surfaced and many were willing to share their frustrations with this publication, others within the business community called for an introspection within the sector.
Corruption
They claimed that the corruption had reached such levels because those who were eager to be awarded any available tender had at instances committed to paying 10 per cent bribes in order to succeed. One of the entrepreneurs said they (businesspeople) were to blame because they compromised their ethics when seeking to win a tender and even arranged to inflate the prices of their commodities with the said percentile, in order to appease those who facilitated their victories at that instance. He said: Some of the people responsible and or within the various ministries who regularly seek goods and or services disclose that some of the suppliers have committed a certain amount in order to win the tender. If you fail to beat that amount, chances are you will lose.
In fact, the businessman said the bidding started among them before the tender documents were even opened and evaluated. He said this was because, among them, they were willing to engage in any behaviour just to get business. He said given this culture, which was started by their counterparts, the chain within the procurement system had grown accustomed to a certain amount in order to facilitate what was expected of them. I was once informed that a competitor had committed a certain amount and when I informed the officer that my company only offered E250 for lunch when the meeting was held outside the office; the officer seemingly felt insulted.
Arrested
The entrepreneur said the corruption issue within the procurement sector was so imbedded that even entrepreneurs had to be arrested in order to curb the rot. On the other hand, other businesspeople raised varying testimonies on the challenges they faced at the Treasury Department. They claimed that Tuesdays and Thursdays were the worst as it was when the department was making payments. One of the entrepreneurs supposed that some of the personnel at the department had agents who made the run-arounds and collected the money needed in order to facilitate the payments. The businessman said the hand lotion was within all critical stages of the payment chain, such that when they did not succumb to the demand, they were frustrated, for periods in excess of three months.
The testimonies of the varying experiences by the entrepreneurs were subsequent to an article wherein it was reported that corruption and rot at the Treasury Department was said to have escalated to a point whereby suppliers had to solicit assistance from influential members of society for them to be paid. Some of the suppliers who had to resort to external intervention in order for them to be paid for services rendered had to request members of the royal family and or Cabinet ministers as they were supposedly given a run-around by officials. One of the aggrieved parties, who contacted this publication following its report on a female civil servant, who was allegedly siphoning money from government coffers by transferring large amounts into her childs bank account, said getting a payment from government through the Treasury Department was a huge challenge.
BE to suppliers: Report corruption cancer to police
MANZINI Business Eswatini (BE) has encouraged suppliers with incontrovertible evidence to approach the police as corruption was a cancer. BE was responding to a questionnaire seeking to establish if there had been any of their members, who had reported and/or raised concerns of being frustrated at the Treasury Department with demands for a hand lotion.
In response to this, BE Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nathi Dlamini, said they were not aware of any specific complaint of corruption against the Treasury Department and as such, none of their members had approached their offices to lodge a complaint .
However, Dlamini said: If this be true and is supported with incontrovertible evidence, we would, therefore, encourage them to go straight to the police because corruption is a cancer that needs to be uprooted wherever it is. Dlamini said as a private sector, they were not blind to the fact that corruption was rampant in the country, and this was really sad, because study after study had shown that corruption was one of the major causes of poverty in most countries; which was why it was something that had to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. He said: Corruption is antithetical to the values and ideals which BE stands for.
Meanwhile, after the Minister of Finance, Neal Rijkenberg, in July announced that government had paid suppliers E2.8 billion in a week, Dlamini said BE embarked on an exercise to verify the assertions by the minister. He said they did this by making random enquiries with their members, specifically those known to be owed by government. While BEs findings were interesting, according to Dlamini, they confirmed that many of their members received payments, while some received partial payments and others nothing at all. That was odd. We dug deeper into the matter and discovered that some of the invoices that were not paid seem to have not been sent to the Treasury Department by the other ministries, for whatever reasons which are unbeknown to us. In other cases, it seems ministries had sent partial invoices, while leaving others behind, which perhaps explains why other creditors were not paid.
Example
One verifiable example, he said, was of a property rental company that received only six months rentals out of 12. He said the same company had business dealings with other institutions, which in turn could not meet rent payments as they too, had not received payment from government. Dlamini said the domino-effect of these liabilities, both public and private, were far-reaching in terms of the havoc they wreak in the economy; which was why BE encouraged government ministries to search for possible invoices in their drawers and have them dispatched to the Treasury Deparetment as a matter of urgency. Invoices stacked in the drawers of officials may possibly conceal the magnitude of governments indebtedness to the public, he added.
Ministry appeals for proof from entrepreneurs
MANZINI The Ministry of Finance is appealing for proof from entrepreneurs, of officers seeking bribes, in order to get to the bottom of the matter. Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg requested the entrepreneurs to assist with credible information in order for government to weed out any acts of corruption. Rijkenberg said it was hard to deal with rumours if there was little or nothing substantiating them. At Treasury at the moment, the best way to stop these claims of corruption, is by paying all the outstanding bills, he said. This, he said, would curtail the need for some suppliers to supposedly request being moved from the bottom of the list to the top. The minister wondered why suppliers would be willing to pay a bribe when they were paid within 30 days.
Rijkenberg said government was dealing with arrears and were being paid without having to wait a longer period now. The minister said most of the suppliers had been paid and government was doing almost everything possible to ensure that they were being paid on time. It is worth noting that at the beginning of July, this publication reported that government had reportedly paid all its suppliers arrears of about E2.8 billion. Rijkenberg announced the settling of the money owed to suppliers and service providers of the various services provided to government in a press briefing.
Barbara Fried, mother of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, leaves the courthouse, after a U.S judge revoked Bankman-Fried's bail, New York, Aug. 11, 2023.
Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX is looking to claw back luxury property and "millions of dollars in fraudulently transferred and misappropriated funds" from the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange's disgraced ex-CEO and founder.
In a Monday court filing, lawyers representing the bankruptcy estate of the failed exchange alleged that Allan Joseph Bankman and his wife, Barbara Fried, "exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars."
The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, goes on to claim that "despite knowing or blatantly ignoring that the FTX Group was insolvent or on the brink of insolvency," Bankman and Fried discussed with their son the transfer of a $10 million cash gift and a $16.4 million luxury property in the Bahamas.
The suit alleges that as early as 2019, Sam's father also directly participated in efforts to cover up a whistleblower complaint that threatened to "expose the FTX Group as a house of cards." The filing also details emails written by Bankman in which he complained to the FTX U.S. Head of Administration that his annual salary was $200,000, when he was "supposed to be getting $1M/yr."
That grievance was ultimately elevated to his son in an email, according to the lawsuit: "Gee, Sam I don't know what to say here. This is the first [I] have heard of the 200K a year salary! Putting Barbara on this."
The filing characterizes the correspondence as Bankman lobbying his son to "massively increase his own salary." Within two weeks, the suit claims that Bankman-Fried had collectively gifted his parents $10 million in funds coming from Alameda, and within three months, the couple was deeded the $16.4 million property in the Bahamas.
According to the partially redacted filing, Bankman-Fried's parents also "pushed for tens of millions of dollars in political and charitable contributions, including to Stanford University, which were seemingly designed to boost Bankman's and Fried's professional and social status."
Fried is also accused of encouraging her son and others within the company to avoid, if not violate, federal campaign finance disclosure rules by "engaging in straw donations or otherwise concealing the FTX Group as the source of the contributions."
Bankman-Fried's parents are legal scholars who taught at Stanford Law School. His mother is an expert on ethics, while his father specializes in taxes. Bankman-Fried himself independently faces multiple wire and securities fraud charges related to the alleged multibillion-dollar FTX fraud.
Federal prosecutors and regulators allege that Bankman-Fried was the driver of "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history," in the words of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. The U.S. Department of Justice has charged the former FTX CEO with using billions of dollars in customer money to fund VC investments, buy property and make political donations. Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to all charges, and his criminal trial kicks off Oct. 3 in Manhattan.
Bankman and Fried "either knew or ignored bright red flags revealing that their son, Bankman-Fried, and other FTX Insiders were orchestrating a vast fraudulent scheme," the lawsuit said.
FTX's new leadership team has spent months trying to piece together billions of dollars in missing assets belonging to the digital asset exchange.
The exchange's lawsuit against Bankman-Fried's parents asks for a mix of compensatory relief, including punitive damages resulting from Bankman and Fried's "conscious, willful, wanton, and malicious conduct," as well as the return of any property or payments made to the pair from FTX. If a judge rules in favor of the bankrupt exchange, it is unclear how the clawbacks might affect Bankman and Fried's ability to pay for their son's legal fees as he heads to trial next month.
Legal counsel for Bankman and Fried said in a written statement to CNBC that FTX's Tuesday's filing "is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their child's trial begins," adding that "these claims are completely false."
"Mr. Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better," continues the statement from Bankman and Fried's attorneys.
Stanford University did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
Investors should be cautious on Starbucks stock, according to TD Cowen. The firm downgraded the coffee behemoth to market perform from outperform in a Tuesday note and lowered its price target to $107 from $117. TD Cowen's forecast implies nearly 11% upside from Monday's $96.76 close. Starbucks stock has slipped more than 2% from the start of the year and was off 1.45% in premarket trading Tuesday. SBUX YTD mountain Starbucks stock has pulled back 2.4% from the start of 2023. Analyst Andrew Charles pinned the downgrade to a "worrisome" macroeconomic picture in China due to slower consumer spending, which he said could slam the breaks on share growth and hit the company's multiple. "While we forecast consensus 2023-25E EPS is achievable, in our view the multiple isn't discounted enough vs the 5Y [average] that leads us to expect shares will be in a holding pattern," Charles said. "We like the long-term story but move to the sidelines as we monitor China macro & competitive dynamics." Charles also noted U.S. headwinds associated with slower month-over-month nonfarm payroll increases, which could be reflected in Starbucks' morning business. "Starbucks' morning-oriented business tracks changes in payrolls as changes in the number of commuters naturally impacts morning routines," Charles said. "As a result, our 2024-25E aligns with 6% annual [average] comps in 2011-19 during the prior cycle of economic expansion." CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
A United Auto Workers member on a picket line outside the Ford Motor Co. Michigan Assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, on Sept. 15, 2023.
The Biden administration is no longer sending two key officials to Detroit this week to potentially help broker a deal between striking autoworkers and the Big Three car companies, a White House official told NBC News.
President Joe Biden last week said he would dispatch White House senior advisor Gene Sperling and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su to support discussions between the companies and the United Auto Workers union.
But the White House and the UAW mutually agreed it would be better to speak virtually via Zoom, the official said Tuesday.
Sperling and Su could still go to Detroit next week but there are no firm plans for them to do so, the official added. "We'll continue to assess travel timing based on the active state of negotiations," the White House official said.
Biden largely sided with the striking autoworkers in an address Friday. The president called on Ford , General Motors and Stellantis to share record profits with their workers.
Despite that, Biden has received a relatively cold reception from the UAW.
The union's president, Shawn Fain, told MSNBC on Monday that he does not see a major role for the White House in resolving the dispute.
"This battle is not about the president," Fain said. "It's not about the former president or any other person prior to that. This battle is about the workers standing up for economic and social justice and getting their fair share because they're fed up with going backwards."
Nearly 13,000 UAW members are on strike at three key plants in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio. It is the first time the union has targeted all three automakers at the same time.
Fain said late Monday that the UAW would launch additional strikes at more Ford, GM and Stellantis plants if "serious progress" is not made in negotiations by midday Friday.
"Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big Three. We're not waiting around, and we're not messing around. So, noon on Friday, Sept. 22, is a new deadline," Fain said in a video released by the union.
Biden, who often touts his middle-class upbringing, has sought to closely associate himself with the labor movement. But the strikes could test the president's commitment to organized labor if the work stoppages expand and threaten broader economic disruption as he seeks a second term in office.
Former President Donald Trump had called on the UAW to endorse his 2024 bid to retake the presidency, while at the same time attacking the union's leadership.
Trump is planning to skip the GOP primary debate next week and instead travel to Detroit to speak with union members.
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Blue Cross Blue Shield employees show their support to members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union as they march through the streets of downtown Detroit following a rally on the first day of the UAW strike in Detroit, Michigan, on September 15, 2023. Matthew Hatcher | AFP | Getty Images
DETROIT The United Auto Workers union will announce additional strikes at General Motors , Ford Motor and Stellantis plants if the sides don't make "serious progress" in negotiations by noon ET Friday, UAW President Shawn Fain announced Monday night. The timing of the additional plants would come just over a week after the union announced targeted strikes at assembly plants for each of the Big Three Detroit automakers, sending about 12,700 workers to picket lines. "Autoworkers have waited long enough to make things right at the Big Three. We're not waiting around, and we're not messing around. So, noon on Friday, Sept. 22, is a new deadline," Fain said in a video released online by the union. Fain previously said the union planned to increase the work stoppages, based on how negotiations with the companies were going. The announcement follows the union meeting with each of the automakers since the targeted strikes began Friday.
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Unlike the original contract deadlines, Fain did not say tentative agreements needed to be reached at the companies to avoid additional strikes, just "serious progress." A union spokesman did not immediately respond for comment regarding what defines that aside from a tentative deal. Currently on strike are workers from GM's midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Ford's Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis' Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio. The union selected the plants as part of targeted strike plans, as Fain and UAW leaders unconventionally negotiate with all three automakers at once. It's calling the work stoppages "stand-up strikes," a nod to historic "sit-down" strikes by the UAW in the 1930s.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 19, 2023.
U.S. President Joe Biden used a Tuesday speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to call on world leaders to continue to support Ukraine against Russia's "illegal war of conquest."
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said.
"If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I'd respectfully suggest the answer is no. We must stand up to this naked aggression today to deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow," he said, to applause.
"Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. Russia's price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also set to speak and the event, where he could come face to face with top Russian officials.
Despite some calls for its removal, Russia is a permanent member of the UN and one of five permanent members of the U.N.'s Security Council.
The recently inaugurated Phase 1 of the India International Convention & Expo Centre (IICC) worth Rs. 5,400 crores in Delhi boasts impressive features, including 10.7 lakh square meters of total built-up area, a 9,000 square meter LED screen, and India's largest media facade, designed to provide live event broadcasts.
The Auditorium uses Canadian technology for automated hydraulic seating to convert flat floor into tiered seating for different configurations, and 13 meeting rooms spread across eight floors are envisaged to hold meetings of different scales.
With an integrated pneumatic solid waste management, the campus has also been conferred a Platinum rating by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC). Additionally, the Grand Ballroom can host around 2,500 guests, with an extended open area to seat up to 500 people.
With the order book full for next one year, the government has termed the response as "excellent" for marketing of the venue.
The government had issued a global bid for operation of the facility, with an aim to get the best of global talent which can harness their contacts to get bookings.
DPIIT Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the selected operator, Kinexin Convention Management Private Limited, is an established Korean company which runs a facility outside Seoul, and has already managed to secure over 100 bookings for large exhibitions and conferences with 500-plus people.
The bidding parameter was percentage revenue, which implied payment of 33 percent of revenue share by the winning bidder to the government.
Phil Chung, CEO of Kinexin Convention Management, operating company of the IICC, termed Yashobhoomi as an integrated development model replete with deluxe hotels and commercial facilities apart from convention halls.
Pointing to India's regional leadership and strength of the economy, he sounded confident that the world-class venue will be able to attract trade shows and conferences.
Stating that there's a shortage of MICE venues in India, he said that a bigger supply of venues like Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi in Delhi NCR will help attract more demand and hence more events.
With the facility able to the host all types of trade shows, he termed this as an amazing opportunity to boost trading opportunities while clarifying that the issue of issue of breaking or making profits comes much later.
While he said that the venue has a potential to host thousands of events every year, he pointed out that for now a mobile conference has been slated for mid-October, followed by international concerts, trade shows and events by the furniture, digital and automobile industry.
However, he said that India can do 10 times more than its current number of MICE events, stating that the number of exhibitions in India aren't more than South Korea despite 25 times more population.
India currently ranks 28th in world's MICE market with a market share of less than 1 percent. Chung said that many Indian cities can develop their potential to host MICE events, pointing out that Chennai can host automobile events and Mumbai can host financial events to capitalise on their existing industries.
As small and medium size events are also coming on an ad-hoc basis, he sounded that Indian cities can make several Singapores by developing their potential to host MICE events.
While the 1st phase was funded by the government, the 2nd phase will be funded by land monetisation, no deadline for which has been fixed so far. The DPIIT Secretary said that the idea is to generate revenue and the government will start bidding out properties.
Canada accounts for one of the largest Indian diaspora in the world. People of Indian origin account for 3 percent of Canada's population. The country has 1.6 million people of Indian origin and more than 700,000 NRI's.
Recently, Canada postponed a trade mission to India that was due to travel in October. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has already confirmed that trade talks between India and Canada have been paused due to increasing pro-Khalistani activities and the Canadian government's sympathies with Khalistani activists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also delivered a strong message to PM Justin Trudeau that such acts impacted bilateral relations.
Canada's Ontario Teachers Pension Plan has invested over $3 billion in India and recently said that India was one of the key markets the fund was focused on to reach $300 billion in net assets. In 2022, Ontario Techers invested in National Highways Infra Trust, Mahindra Susten and Sahyadri Hospitals.
In 2022, bilateral trade in goods amounted to $10.5 billion, with India exporting goods worth $6.40 billion and importing goods worth $4.10 billion. The bilateral trade in services in 2021 was $5.88 billion.
More than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India and over 1,000 companies are actively pursuing business in the Indian market, according to the Indian embassy.
In a notable demographic shift in Japan, over 10 percent of its population is now aged 80 or above, according to the latest government data released on Sunday to mark the annual Respect for the Aged Day. The Ministry emphasised in a press release that Japan holds the highest proportion of elderly population globally.
Reports underline Japan's leading position in terms of the highest percentage of elderly citizens and the ongoing challenge of coping with a swiftly aging population. Official data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications reveals that the proportion of Japan's elderly, aged 65 and older, has also reached a record high, making up 29.1 percent of the populationthe highest rate worldwide, as reported by CNN.
The data showed a notable increase in the number of people in this age group, with a rise of 270,000 from the previous year, constituting 10.1 percent of Japan's total population of approximately 124.6 million, as added by the ministry. Furthermore, Japan's overall population witnessed a decline by about half a million to 124.4 million, with projections indicating a drop to under 109 million by 2045.
Italy and Finland secured the second and third positions, respectively, with individuals aged 65 and over accounting for 24.5 percent and 23.6 percent of their respective populations.
How Japan became world's oldest country
Japans persistently low birthrate and long lifespans made it the oldest country in the world in terms of the proportion of people aged over 65, Bloomberg reported.
Japans population has been in steady decline since its economic boom of the 1980s, CNN reported. It added that deaths have outpaced births in Japan for more than a decade, posing a growing problem for leaders of the worlds third-largest economy.
Besides, the country has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, contributing to the ballooning elderly population.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg added that Japans move to bolster the birthrate havent been successful. Citing data, the report said that last year, the number of babies born fell to less than 800,000 for the first time since records began in the 19th century.
The impact
Ballooning social security spending has added to Japans massive debt and the shortage of young people has left many industries short of labour not least carers for the elderly.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said earlier the country risks losing its ability to function if it does not take radical measures.
Steps taken by Japan
The Japanese government encouraged more seniors and stay-at-home mothers to re-enter the workforce in the past decade to cope with the growing labour shortage.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported that authorities have been hesitant to accept large numbers of migrant workers to make up the shortfall.
According to reports, workers age 65 and above now make up more than 13 percent of the national workforce, the internal affairs ministry said Monday.
Aging in other countries
China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan are facing similar problems. South Korea is expected to take over as the worlds grayest nation in the coming decades. Chinas population began to shrink in 2022 for the first time in 60 years.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 18) The Senate finance committee on Monday approved a 15.54 billion budget for the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for 2024.
The budget deliberation for DMW resumed after it was suspended last Sept. 11 as the agency requested to realign its budget of 5.1 billion from the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to its Office of the Secretary.
The realignment came after senators flagged OWWAs unutilized funds.
DMW Usec. Maria Anthonette Allones earlier explained that OWWA has a low utilization rate because the remaining funds were standby funds for repatriation operations.
As of the end of August 2023, were actually at 70% budget utilization. On track naman kami (Were on track), Allones told senators.
Rest assured na (that) between now and the end of the year, we will be able to utilize the remaining budget with our catch-up plans, she added.
Were asking you to give us flexibility on how we spend the funds. With the flexibility were asking for, we can fully complement our support to the DMW, OWWA Administrator Arnell Ignacio said during the same hearing last Sept. 11.
Despite requesting a 29.49-billion budget, DMW was only granted 15.54B, the same amount the Department of Budget and Management allocated in the 2024 National Expenditure Program.
Senator Raffy Tulfo earlier pushed to restore the confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) proposed by the DMW and even double it to 20 to 25 million to address human trafficking and job scams. However, the requested CIF was not included in the approved budget of the Senate.
READ: Tulfo wants DMW intel funds restored, doubled to address trafficking, scams
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) vowed to resolve cases on nuisance candidates before the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said the agency wants a speedy resolution of these cases at the highest level, to ensure that decisions are final and executory.
Ang commitment ng Comelec before mag-election all nuisance cases will be resolved up to the en banc level para walang nakakatakbo na nuisance candidates. Kasi kami rin ang namomroblema, Garcia assured on Tuesday.
[Translation: The Comelec's commitment is to resolve all the nuisance cases before the elections up to the en banc level, so that there would be no nuisance candidates who are able to run. Because then it's going to be our problem.]
He cited the case in Negros Oriental in the 2022 elections, which involved the removal of sitting governor Pryde Henry Teves.
During that time, Comelec invalidated the win of Teves after it resolved a petition against a nuisance candidate who used the name Ruel Degamo in the ballots.
Roel Degamo, who was later proclaimed governor, filed a petition to count nearly 50,000 votes for "Ruel Degamo" as his.
The poll body approved the petition, as it declared Ruel Degamo a nuisance candidate.
READ: Comelec invalidates Teves win in Negros Oriental; Degamo to return as governor
Last February, the Supreme Court upheld the victory of Degamo, weeks before he was gunned down in his home.
The poll body said it wanted to avoid a repeat of this incident not just in the BSKE, but also in the national and local elections.
Pagdating po ng national elections by 2025, bago mag-print ng balota, all nuisance cases will be resolved, Garcia added.
[Translation: Come the national elections in 2025, before ballots are printed, all nuisance cases will be resolved.]
The poll body chief reiterated his call for the House of Representatives and Senate to criminalize nuisance candidates.
Dineclare mong nuisance ngayon, susunod na election tatakbo na naman, he said.
[Translation: You declare them as nuisance candidates today, but theyll run again in the next election.]
Aside from imprisonment, Garcia proposed stiff penalties, including a fine of P500,000 and perpetual disqualification from running for public office.
MBABANE The Industrial Court has ordered former directors of Eswatini Meat Industries (EMI) to pay the 200 employees of the company their terminal benefits.
This was after the employees, whose services were terminated, ran to court to demand the payment of their terminal benefits, following the takeover of EMI by Inyatsi Group Holdings (Pty) Ltd, at a price of E120 million. They demanded a over E17.2 million from the former directors of EMI as their terminal benefits. Yesterday, Judge Faith Ngandu ordered the former directors to pay all the workers their terminal benefits in compliance with Section 33 bis of the Employment Act of 1980 within 30 days of the judgment. The former directors were also ordered to pay costs of the application on an attorney and own client scale.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Judge Ngandu stated that the sale and takeover of all shares and assets of EMI by Inyatsi Group Holdings triggered the operation of Section 33 of the Act. This section provides that an employer shall not sell his business to another person or allow the takeover of the business to another person unless he first pays all benefits accruing and or due for payment to the employees at the time of the sale or takeover. Judge Ngandu noted that the former directors of EMI had undertaken to comply with Section 33 before the takeover of the company. However, according to the court, the former directors failed to ensure compliance with Section 33 of the Act. The judge said the court was called upon to determine if Section 33 applied to the agreement that the parties labelled a share purchase agreement. Did this sale of shares fall squarely within the provisions of Section 33 bis, thus entitling the applicants (workers) to demand payment of their terminal benefits by the employer as provided for in the above section?
Section 33 bis clearly states two conditions or transactions that attract the liability of the employer to pay the terminal benefits. It is when the employer sells the business to another person, the payment of terminal benefits is immediately activated. The second condition is where the employer allows the takeover of the business by another person, then the terminal benefits of the employees ought to be paid, said the judge. Judge Ngandu said in the agreement between the shareholders of EMI and Inyatsi Group Holdings, despite it being labelled a share purchase agreement in terms of Clause 2(b) thereof, the purchaser was acquiring all the issued share capital held by the former shareholders in the company. Indeed the 10th respondent (EMI) is a legal entity that enjoys a legal personality apart from the shareholders. It had the right and duties and was the employer of the applicants herein. Further, the 10th respondent was separate from the shareholders. However, the sale of the entire shares in the 10th respondent by the first to ninth respondents (former directors) to the purchaser, allowed the takeover of its business by another as envisaged by Section 33 bis. Not only is that read from the terms of the sale agreement, but also can be seen from the event that followed thereafter, further stated the judge.
The court also pointed out that as a clear indication of all the parties understanding of the transaction falling in the ambit of Section 33 bis, and not at the Board meeting of EMI, the Board also discussed the payment of the employees severance benefits by the company in terms of Section 33 bis of the Employment Act. On July 17, 2023, EMI wrote to the labour commissioner, notifying him of the sale by the former directors of all their shares to Inyatsi Group Holdings. In the said letter, mentioned the judge, it clearly highlighted to the commissioner Clause 12 (b) of their agreement as follows; The parties will abide by the relevant Section of the Employment Act as set out in Clause 4(a) (vi). Furthermore the seller (former directors) shall ensure that the company (EMI) shall pay to all eligible employees the benefits payable in terms of Section 33 bis, being the difference between the amount payable between the provident fund benefit and the amount due in terms of Section 33 bis.
In court, the 200 employees submitted that the shareholders of the company had sold all their shares to Inyatsi Group Holdings and left without paying them all their benefits, amounting to E17 268 956.90. They told the court that Jonathan Williams, who was the Managing Director (MD) of EMI and a major shareholder, had resigned from the company and was believed to be planning to relocate overseas. Respondents in the matter were Williams, Kjott-OG Fjorfebransjens Landsforbund, Ben Dlamini, Vincent Lukhele and Sipho Shongwe. Others were Richard Dlamini, Mguntu Dlamini, Howe Investments (Pty) Ltd, TWK Agriculture Limited and EMI. In their founding affidavit, Derrick Shongwe submitted that on July 21, 2023, the EMIs Board served them with a letter, allegedly informing them about the sale of the company to a third party. He stated that in the letter, the respondents advised the employees that their contracts of employment would terminate on July 31, 2023. Derrick informed the court that the letter also stated that EMI would use each employees contribution to Eswatini National Provident Fund (ENPF) for the severance portion of their terminal benefits.
Addressed
The letter was addressed to the staff association. According to the letter: The Board and management would like to inform you that the company shareholders have concluded a sale of shares agreement with Inyatsi Group Holdings, effective July 21, 2023. As a result of the sale, all contracts of employment will be affected. This means that your current contract of employment shall be terminated effective July 31, 2023, in accordance with Section 33 bis of the Employment Act, reads part of the letter. In the answering papers, Williams denied that the company was sold to Inyatsi Group Holdings. He said the shareholders had sold their shares. He also stated that there was a difference between the sale of shares and the sale of a business.
In the workers replying papers, Derrick submitted that while the title of the agreement was a share purchase agreement, its contents clearly showed that this was a sale of not only shares, but of the business. The applicants were represented by Modicai Donga and Banele Gamedze. EMI was represented by Derrick Jele, while John Henwood appeared for the former shareholders.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) Sen. Risa Hontiveros is calling on China to pay damages after the East Asian country was suspected of harvesting and destroying coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), saying it can be figured through calculations done by academic institutions.
There's really a way of computing the monetary value of such damaged or destroyed ecosystems, she told CNN Philippines The Source on Tuesday, adding that it was shocking to see the state of marine life and reef ecosystem in the video presented by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
On Sept. 16, the military said the suspected damaged corals at Rozul Reef, also known as Iroquois Reef, in the WPS were spotted by Navy personnel during an initial assessment after they drove away Chinese vessels from the reef in July.
On Monday, PCG spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela confirmed the "severe damage" in marine environment and coral reef in the seabed of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal areas frequented by Chinese maritime militia.
RELATED: Concerning resurgence: AFP reports more Chinese fishing vessels swarming West PH Sea
Hontiveros said the government must sum up all the environmental damage in the WPS, stressing this was just the latest [incident] of abuse done by China to the Philippines along the contested waterway.
She also recalled a similar incident in 2013 when a United States vessel ran aground at the Tubbataha Reef, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and damaged 2,346 square meters of coral reefs. Washington paid Manila a total of 87 million in 2015.
The pending Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Loren Legarda, will put into law the calculation used by international marine scientific institutes, Hontiveros said.
In a Senate resolution in April 2020, Hontiveros said unlawful Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea are estimated to have caused at least 33 billion pesos of damage annually to marine ecosystems within the Philippines' continental shelf and exclusive economic zone since Philippines vs. China was filed in 2013."
This was, at the time, Hontiveros bid for China to pay the expenses of the Philippines COVID-19 response.
In the resolution, the senator said the annual baseline value per hectare of coral reef was at $335,429 based on a 2012 study published in the international academic journal Ecosystem Services.
She said satellite images showed that Chinese activities had caused ecological damage to a total of 1,850 hectares of reef ecosystem in Panatag and the Spratly Islands.
On top of what China owes the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue), for example, in taxes on the POGOs and thats just on land, dito naman sa karagatan medyo humahaba yong listahan ng utang ng Tsina sa atin [Chinas list of debts regarding marine matters becomes longer] in terms of damaging or destroying or illegally harvesting for example, giant clams in other parts of the West Philippine Sea, she said during the interview.
Jay Batongbacal, executive director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said continued damage to these marine ecosystems could lead to a "collapse" of fisheries in the area.
Hontiveros also noted that areas where Chinese vessels frequently swarm have big deposits of oil and natural gas that the Philippines should have the exclusive right to benefit from.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) Sen. Risa Hontiveros, one of the two Senate minority lawmakers, said she is determined to question the controversial transfer of 125 million to the Office of Vice President (OVP) for confidential funds in 2022 when the chamber conducts plenary debates for the country's proposed 2024 budget.
Hindi ko talaga bibitawan ito [I will not let go of this], Hontiveros told CNN Philippines The Source on Tuesday.
Hontiveros said Vice President Sara Duterte should explain how the Office of the President (OP) was able to transfer 125 million to the OVP, as well as how the funds were spent.
Its not about her alone, the way shes behaving dapat talagang ipaliwanag [should be explained], she added.
On Monday, Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo, vice chairperson of the House appropriations panel, said there was nothing improper with the OPs transfer of funds as this was allowed under the 2022 General Appropriations Act through the use of its contingent fund.
This was supported by documents submitted to the committee and budget briefings by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) with lawmakers, she added.
But Hontiveros said the explanations were nagkakabuhol (knotted), asking if its actually confidential funds that were transferred from the OPs savings to augment the OVPs budget, or if contingent funds were released. She also flagged officials from the Executive department for changing the technical terms they are using to defend the issue.
Kung straightforward yan at above board ang nangyari, the explanation should have been as straightforward, easy, and simple. Hindi parang ganitong namamaluktot talaga sila para sa balu-baluktot na paliwanag, she added.
[Translation: If it was straightforward and above board, the explanation should have been as straightforward, easy, and simple. Not like this theyre contorting over a twisted explanation.]
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro from the Makabayan bloc was the first to raise the issue during the budget briefing of the House of Representatives for the Commission on Audits proposed budget.
She said the transfer of funds was illegal as former Vice President Leni Robredo did not have an allocation for confidential funds in 2022.
RELATED: Pimentel, Drilon question OP's release of 125M in 2022 for OVPs confidential funds
Hontiveros said shes counting on Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, as well as the slowly growing number of colleagues in the majority, to support the proposed amendment in next years national budget to move confidential funds of civilian agencies, such as the OVP, to line items in their budget instead.
She also said the major part of the confidential funds must be moved to true intelligence and national security agencies, such as the Philippine Coast Guard, which is facing a clear and present danger in the West Philippine Sea.
For 2024, Duterte is asking Congress for 500 million in confidential funds for the OVP, and 150 million for the Department of Education, which she concurrently heads.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the government is considering imposing a fishing ban in certain areas of the country to address overfishing.
He said this may be enforced in sites particularly intended for fish breeding and propagation.
Kung minsan, kailangan wag uubusin yung isda para sa next season mayroon pa. Kaya yun yung tinitignan natin ngayon, the president said, as quoted by the Presidential Communications Office in a release.
At may mga lugar na hindi dapat gawin palaisdaan dahil ito nga ay para sa breeding.para dumami ang population ng mga isda. Kaya yun ang ating pinaplano, he added.
[Translation: Sometimes, theres a need to limit fishing so that there is still supply during the next season. Thats what were looking at now. And there are areas that shouldnt be fishing sites, because these are supposed to be for breeding, to increase fish population. So, thats what were planning.]
Marcos, who is concurrently Agriculture secretary, also said his administration will put up more cold storage facilities and provide ice machines to help fisherfolk prevent spoilage of their catch.
Tapos ang isusunod natin after that ay yung processing na para doon lang sa isang lugar ang magiging processing," he added. "Yun ang ating mga pinaplano para sa fisheries."
[Translation: After that, we also want to put up fish processing facilities so the processing could be done in just one area. These are what we are planning for the fisheries sector.]
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Sara Duterte has appealed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cover the expenses of public schools used as polling centers.
She raised the issue before the Comelec en banc on Monday, citing the burden placed on public schools as they spend for electricity and repair of damage during elections.
"Hindi pa namin alam kung paano namin matutupad ang pagiging libre ng paggamit ng tubig at kuryente sa aming mga paaralan, at yung mga repairs ng mga nasra na gamit kapag tapos na ang eleksyon," Duterte said.
"Ito po ay china-charge sa MOOE (maintenance and other operating expenses) ng paaralan na hindi naman parte ng aming mandato," she added.
[Translation: We still don't know how we can achieve free use of water and electricity in our schools, and the repairs of damaged items when elections are over. These are charged in the MOOE of schools, which are not part of our mandate.]
The DepEd chief said the concern is similar to when schools are being used as evacuation centers.
Comelec utilizes public schools all over the country during elections, specifically classrooms as polling precincts.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said he was surprised by Duterte's remarks but agreed that poll-related expenses should not be shouldered by DepEd.
"Siyempre 'yun ay hindi naman activity ng DepEd. Nauunawaan ko siya doon. Activity 'yun ng Commission, activity 'yun patungkol sa election and, therefore, marapat na 'yun ay makarna sa pag co-conduct ng halalan," he said.
[Translation: Of course, I understand that this is not the activity of DepEd but the Comelec since it is an election-related activity and, therefore, it is right to include it in the budget for conducting elections.]
Garcia said Comelec will raise the concern to the Department of Budget and Management and study revisions in the Omnibus Election Code.
"Ang solusyon po diyan ay amendment sa provision ng Omnibus Election Code," Garcia said.
"Kung doon pu-pwedeng maisama na mismo yung item na 'yun, automatically may appropriation para sa bagay na 'yun," he added.
[Translation: The solution to that is to amend the provision of the Omnibus Election Code. If that item can be included then, automatically, there is an appropriation for that.]
Garcia also said the budget provided to them only covers the honoraria of teachers and the purchasing of ballot boxes and ballots.
However, the poll chief said these changes may not be done in time for the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections.
DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa said they are still getting an estimate of the damage from past elections before they can determine how much additional funds will be downloaded for their MOOE.
Poa added that the coordination of expenses for evacuation centers is already being done with the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
The education chief also asked the poll body to ensure the timely release of the honoraria of the over 826,000 teachers who will serve as electoral board members.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 19) Two foreign ambassadors have expressed alarm over reports of destruction of marine resources in the West Philippine Sea, with the Philippine military saying Chinese vessels were likely behind it.
United States Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to express her concern.
"Troubling @CoastGuardPH and @TeamWESCOM reports on coral destruction around Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal," she said Tuesday, referring to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines' Western Command.
"Habitat damage harms ecosystems and negatively affects lives and livelihoods. We are working with our #FriendsPartnersAllies to protect [the Philippines] natural resources," she added.
Meanwhile, Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa described the development as "very alarming news," as he urged everyone to protect "these vital ecosystems."
"Our oceans are the lifeblood of our planet, and coral reefs are its colorful heartbeats," he said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila was quick to respond to Koshikawa's social media post, even quoting the latter's sentiment on X.
China then dismissed the Japanese envoy's post as "disinformation."
"Oceans are indeed the lifeblood of our planet. So stop the release of contaminated nuclear water from Fukushima," it said, criticizing Japan's wastewater release late in August.
On Monday, the PCG said it would tap experts from the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute to assess the damaged coral reefs in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal.
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela noted that from Aug. 9 to Sept. 11, they monitored 33 Chinese maritime militia vessels in Rozul Reef, and another 15 in Escoda Shoal.
With Colorado's first mountain snow comes a grim reminder of avalanche danger. Colorado Avalanche Information Center (CAIC) recently published a detailed recap of last winter's slides that claimed 11 lives. According to CAIC records, the toll was four more than average over the decade that has seen the state continue to lead the nation in avalanche deaths by a wide margin.
Air connectivity in the Middle East stands out with a 26% growth in total connectivity in 2022 vs 2019, with direct links to destinations in North America, Asia-Pacific and Africa, says a report.
Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific and Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) launched the Airport Connectivity Report at the opening of its Middle East office in Riyadh.
The report, developed in partnership with PwC, said air connectivity witnessed the strongest recovery post Covid 19, with low-cost carriers (LCCs) driving the growth. On the contrary, Asia-Pacific has seen a decline in air connectivity by -38% in the same period.
The report measures passengers ability to access the global air transport network, capturing both direct and indirect routes, and also factoring in the quality of service of each connection, such as destination choice, service frequency, onward connectivity and price, contributing to the passenger experience.
It covers a sample of 100 airports that accounts for almost 60% of the combined passenger traffic in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East in 2019.
Several key factors contribute to the decline in air connectivity, including extended travel restrictions due to Covid-19, limitations on air traffic rights, constraints on airport slots, rising airfares, economic downturns, and geopolitical tensions.
This decline in air connectivity, coupled with increasing airfares, illustrates its negative impact on the recovery of air travel and the resultant inconvenience to passengers. From the passengers perspective, connectivity is essential for mobility, providing significant economic and social advantages. Nevertheless, preliminary rankings for 2023 suggest a positive outlook for the region.
Key Observations
The Last Region to Recover: Direct connectivity from APAC to other regions was still lagging behind as of 2022, although low-cost carriers are driving capacity growth. Airports with annual passenger volumes of 1 to 40 MPPA led the recovery, while larger airports were impacted by China's Zero-Covid strategy with a blanket ban on international travel. Middle-sized airports, such as King Khalid International Airport (Riyadh) with a +75% recovery and Hamad International Airport (DOH) with a +42%, stood out.
Preliminary 2023 connectivity rankings show significant improvements in seat capacity to China from selected 100 airports, rebounding by a remarkable +937% in August 2023 compared to August 2022, but still with a large margin to grow in 2024. Dubai Airport and Incheon Airport leads the preliminary direct connectivity ranking for 2023 in Middle East and Asia-Pacific, respectively.
Advantages of Air Transport Liberalisation: The gradual liberalisation of the aviation industry in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions has been a boon for the sector. Dubai International Airport retains No 1 ranking and Doha Hammad Airport is second in Total Connectivity ranking in 2022 across Asia-Pacific and Middle East. Tokyo Haneda Airport is at No 3. Singapore has been particularly active in air liberalisation, enjoying benefits such as reduced airfares and a strong passenger traffic base. This success is attributed to a high market share of foreign airlines, extensive international routes, numerous air service agreements, and a streamlined visa policy.
Recently, Asean has emerged as the most proactive aviation bloc in promoting air liberalisation. It has been focusing on both internal liberalisation among its member states and broader agreements, such as the EU-Asean bloc-to-bloc initiative. However, there are some key aviation markets such as Australia, Indonesia, and the Philippines that could benefit from the further liberalisation of the market.
Impact of Increasing Airfares: The cost of travel from the selected Asia-Pacific and Middle Eastern airports has increased by up to 50%, threatening the recovery of the industry, according to our recent study on airfares. 69 out of the selected 100 airports experienced a decrease in airfare affordability, which correlates with the airports decrease in available flights, routes, and seat capacities. As measured by average airfare in relation to per-capita income, air transport became 34% less affordable across the two regions.
Economic Impact of Aviation: Aviation plays a key role in socio-economic development by attracting foreign investment, supporting international trade and tourism, and creating jobs. In the Asia-Pacific, it contributed $1 trillion (3.3% of GDP) and employed 56 million people, while in the Middle East, the sector generated $260 billion (9.5% of GDP) and employed 4.6 million. Regression analysis confirms a correlation between GDP and seat capacity. Specifically, a 10% increase in seat capacity is linked to short-term GDP growth of 3 to 3.8% in the Asia-Pacific and 6.4% in the Middle East.
Large margins for the increase in propensity to fly and macroeconomic factors suggest a robust outlook for connectivity.
If Macao, Hong Kong, and Singapore topped the list in 2019, 2022 saw Oceania countries like French Polynesia, Australia, and New Zealand, along with Middle Eastern countries' such as Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain at the forefront.
On the contrary, key aviation markets like China and India, along with fast-growing markets such as the Philippines and Vietnam, have a much lower flying propensity than Europe and North America. Favourable factors like GDP growth, large populations, a rising middle class, and ramping e-commerce position in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East for long-term air connectivity growth between 2030-2040.
However, there is a need for infrastructure development and the easing of airspace congestion to accommodate the expected growth in traffic.
Commenting on the release of the study, Stefano Baronci, the Director General of ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East said: This study provides an invaluable tool to the industry and policy makers to adopt the use of air connectivity indicators to appraise the performance and sustainable development of the aviation industry and its economic and social impact on countries.
In addition, it also shows how to prioritise positive outcomes for consumers rather than simply focusing on the price-determination function for the benefit of all aviation stakeholders and the travelling public. The next step will be for ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East to work closely with each government to promote aviation market liberalisation, visa simplification, investment in the development of infrastructure with a focus on the environment, and innovation of services.
Recommendations to improve connectivity
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Google has once again sought to overturn a 2.4 billion ($2.6 billlion) fine imposed by the European Union in 2017 after it found the company had violated antitrust rules by using its dominant position in the search engine market to illegally promote its comparison shopping service.
Google originally appealed the fine the ruling in the General Court the EUs lower court in 2021, but the decision was upheld. The company has now again sought to challenge the fine, this time in Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), arguing that the EU had failed to demonstrate how its practices were anticompetitive.
Companies do not compete by treating competitors equally with themselves, said Thomas Graf, a lawyer for Google, according to a report by Bloomberg. The whole point of competition is for a company to differentiate itself from rivals. Not to align with rivals so that all are the same.
CJEU Advocate General Juliane Kokott said she would issue her non-binding opinion on January 11, with the CJEU set to rule in the months following her recommendation.
The original 2017 ruling against Google was the first of three penalties handed out to the company for anticompetitive practice in the EU. In total, fines levied against the company have totaled 8.25 billion in the last decade. The other cases for which Google was found to be in breach of EU regulations were related to its Android mobile operating system in which Google lost an appeal last year and its AdSense advertising service.
As a result of the AdSense case, regulators earlier this year issued a threat that they would try to break up the company if Google did not attempt to regulate its behavior.
Googles ongoing antitrust woes in the US
Last week, Google found itself in court on the other side of the pond, defending itself against the first of two major lawsuits brought forward by the US government. In these cases, the government alleges that Google has illegally used its dominance in search to quash competition, to the detriment of the public at large.
The case that opened last week is targeted at Google's search business, with a second trial against the tech giant, focusing on advertising, scheduled for next year.
This case is about the future of the internet, whether the Google search engine will ever face meaningful competition to protect that future, said Kenneth Dintzer, deputy director in the DOJ's civil division, during opening arguments last week in the search case.
The trial is expected to last 10 weeks.
Afghan police discover arms, ammunition in Afghanistan
Gardez, Sep 19 (UNI) Police have discovered arms and ammunition including three pieces of AKM-type assault rifles in east Afghanistan's Paktia province, said a statement of provincial police on Tuesday.
The arms and ammunition, including three pieces of AKM Kalashnikovs, one pistol, 13 hand grenades, and thousands of bullets and cartridges, were found in a house outside the provincial capital of Gardez on Monday, and police have arrested an individual on the charge of keeping arms illegally, the statement added.
Tokyo, Sep 19 (UNI) The next meeting of G7 foreign ministers will take place in person in Japan from November 7-8, a spokesperson for the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.
"Japan will hold the next meeting of G7 foreign ministers from November 7-8 in Japan, it will not be virtual, but in person," the spokesperson told reporters.
UNI/SPUTNIK AKS
If you ever find yourself hunting through songs and books for hidden messages, congratulations, youre a crazy person.
Oh, stories have hidden lessons, both intended and unintended, but were referring here to actual hidden communication. Were talking about words that have been split into their constituent letters and then encoded into publicly accessible media. Many people will overlook the message, but the secret recipients will not.
No ones out there burying those kind of messages in plain sight. Except for the people who do.
5 James May Lost His Job for Sticking a Message in a Car Retrospective The show Top Gear is currently on hiatus, its future uncertain. Presenter Andrew Flintoff crashed a race car filming an episode late last year, and right now, the rest of the team are thinking of pulling out permanently. Maybe it will return later, with a whole different lineup of hosts. Its had quite a few hosts in the past, including James May, who was on the show for more than a decade. Earlier in his career, May wrote for the magazine Autocar. In 1992, he had the job of writing their end-of-the-year retrospective, which wasnt so much a writing job as a summarizing job. He had to condense 100 of the years reviews down to 150 words each. He spent months working on this creatively unfulfilling task. To stop his brain from total atrophy, May assigned himself an optional objective. He wrote the extracts so the first letters combined to form a message: Autocar So you think its really good? read the message. Yeah, you should try making the bloody thing up. Its a real pain in the arse. If youre spacing out and wondering what it is, well, hes talking about the hidden message itself. The magazine fired May for this stunt. Which might make this sound like a sad story, but it really hearkens back to the golden age of print media. Back then, a writer could devote months to one piece reworking old content. Readers had no way to mock the result, and theyd even pay to read it. Advertisement
4 The Colombian Government Placed Morse Code in a Pop Song In the first decade of this century, guerrillas in Colombia managed to kidnap a whole lot of soldiers to keep them as hostages. Their captors generally did give them radios, so the government sent messages to the hostages over the airwaves. Families would send over I love yous, and the station broadcast them, hoping theyd reach the right ears. The guerrillas heard these messages as well and cackled at them, evilly. In 2010, the government had some new messages, which they wanted to send to the hostages but not to the captors. The military had managed to rescue several hostages, and they wanted the remaining ones to know this and take hope. Plus, they wanted some hostages to try fleeing. Normally, fleeing is a terrible idea you might escape your prison, but the jungle will soon kill you but with rescue operations underway nearby, a breakout suddenly made sense. Advertisement If they simply broadcast the message over the radio, the guerrillas would hear it and kill the hostages. The government instead sent it in Morse code, which all soldiers knew but which the guerrillas surely didnt. They embedded this Morse code in a song, so the dots and dashes would sound like a European dance beat to the untrained ear. The result was called Better Days: Advertisement Advertisement Oops, sorry. That was the music video for the 1999 song Better Days by Citizen King. Below is the actual Better Days song that they produced: Even without the Morse Code, the lyrics are about someone in captivity. Although I'm tied up and alone I feel as if Im by your side / Listen to this message brother. Then comes the encoded part: Nineteen people rescued. Youre next. Dont lose hope. Advertisement Hostages really did get the message, theyd later reveal after being rescued. Plus, millions of people enjoyed the song without detecting any hidden meaning. This was 2010, and the world was otherwise listening to Tik Tok by Kesha, so in a way, we were all hostages. Advertisement
3 A Headmaster Announced a Teachers Retirement by Calling Him a Wanker Orley Farm School is a prep school in London, and teacher Roger Clark retired from there in 2013. The headmaster, Mark Dunning, announced Clarks departure to parents with this notice: We all now know every really great teacher has to finish one day, and Mr. Clark will do so at the end of this term. Advertisement Notice anything awkward or forced about those first words? Its because they were chosen so their first letters spell out another word: wanker. People concluded that Dunning considered Clark a wanker, which is the sort of opinion headmasters are usually supposed to keep to themselves. Singing in the Rain is hopefully not also a wanking reference Once parents noticed the hidden word and complained, the school edited the newsletter, removing the words We all now know. This retained some of the awkwardness but none of the joke. The school's governors next convened, and Dunning announced his retirement right after. If Harry Potter has taught us anything about how British schools work, Dunning returned later, in triumph, for unclear reasons. And Harry Potter did teach us about how British schools work in Orley Farm School, students are divided into four houses, each named after some illustrious old alum. Advertisement
2 A Student Got the Official Chinese Newspaper to Call for the Leaders Resignation In 1991, Chinas Communist Party newspaper printed a submission from a graduate student in Los Angeles. It was a poem about birds and the Moon and wind and a bunch of statements about how we must all serve China. I shall not fail to live up to lifelong aspirations to serve my country, read one line, while another said, We must do all we can to catch up and reinvigorate China. Advertisement Not terribly inspiring stuff, artistically. Even the communists who selected the piece surely werent inspired by it; they just selected the pro-China poem because that was their job. Mechanically, however, creating a poem like this took a lot of skill because these werent just dull words like they sound in English. Each line consisted of exactly seven characters. And now see what happens when you read the poem diagonally starting in the top right and working your way down: via Sniggle.net Advertisement Whats that? Youre not a scholar in written Chinese? Okay, well translate the diagonal message for you: Li Peng, step down, mollify the peoples anger. Li Peng was the Premier of China at the time; you might know him best for the Tiananmen Square massacre. Encoding those words werent easy at all. Peng, for example, relied on a double meaning, a word that also meant plum. The poet escaped punishment because he submitted the poem under a false name. One editor of the newspaper was fired, though. He might also have been executed. We dont know. The Communist Party newspaper didnt mention it.
The Honeymooners may, at first glance, seem like a simple comedy about two working-class Brooklynites yelling at or complaining about their wives, but the 1955 show was more than just its cringe catchphrases. Not only did Jackie Gleasons sitcom inspire myriad iconic TV programs to come, but it also featured two childless couples (in the 1950s, gasp) and stripped away the idyllic portrait of marriage many shows back then were trying to push.
To really understand the significant influence of The Honeymooners today its main character, bus driver Ralph Kramden, has his own statue in New York, after all heres a look at the making of the single-season show and the legacy those Classic 39 episodes left behind...
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15 The Honeymooners Inspired The Flintstones As The Flintstones co-creator William Hanna once explained, At that time, The Honeymooners was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, it was the funniest show on the air. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with The Flintstones. The Honeymooners was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept. Mel Blanc remembered being asked to voice Barney as a pre-historic Art Carney, and Gleasons lawyer told him he could probably sue and get The Flintstones pulled, but Gleason didnt want to be the guy responsible for killing the show.
14 The Show Was a Spin-Off of Gleasons Variety Show The Honeymooners was a sketch first performed in Gleasons variety show, Cavalcade of Stars, and after finding success at CBS with The Jackie Gleason Show, the actor took the sketch series and pitched it to the network. They agreed to do the show but with one ultimatum
13 No Commies Pert Kelton originally played the character of Ralphs wife, Alice Kramden, in Cavalcade of Stars, but CBS pushed Gleason to drop her after she was accused of being a communist. Kelton was blacklisted in the 1950s and didnt get much work for the next decade.
12 Futurama Called Out the Shows Controversial Catchphrase Ralph Kramdens (in)famous catchphrase was the violent threat: One of these days, Alice Pow! Right in the kisser! Hed sometimes change it up with, BANG, ZOOM! or Youre going to the moon! because Ralph apparently craved variety in his abusive outbursts. Futurama, of all shows, poked fun at the what-the-hell of it all in an episode where Fry accompanies Leela on a Lunar Exploration tour and learns that the future somehow thinks Kramden was the first space pioneer. Advertisement Advertisement
11 Audrey Meadows Defended Ralph Kramdens Verbal Threats He never did touch her, Meadows, who played Ralphs wife Alice Kramden, told Phyllis George on The CBS Morning News when the controversial catchphrase was brought up. There was no violence there. It was his way of letting off steam, and thats it. Other critics have argued that the two characters devotion toward each other trumped Ralphs recurring rants.
10 The Simpsons Rip-Off The episode The Ten-Per-Cent Solution saw the Simpsons take a trip to the Museum of Television. While there, they see an exhibit and clip from The Adventures of Fatso Flanagan, a parody of The Honeymooners with Itchy & Scratchy-level violence. Advertisement Advertisement
9 Ralph Kramdens Original Job The writers initially wanted Kramden to be a police officer, but Gleason didnt dig the idea, fearing that putting Kramden in a position of power would alienate viewers. He insisted that Kramden be a bus driver instead.
8 The Bus Driver Who Never Drove an Actual Bus Due to being filmed in a live studio, Ralph Kramden was never shown working his job at New York Citys Gotham Bus Company (except in promotional photos). Wed never see Kramden in a bus until Cedric the Entertainer played the brash fella in the 2005 reboot. Advertisement Advertisement
7 Ed Norton Was Originally a Cop, Too In the initial sketches for Cavalcade of Stars, Art Carney portrayed his character, Ed Norton, as a cop who gets flour-ed when Alice dumps a bag of it out the window. The character, of course, would go on to be a sewer worker in the sitcom instead.
6 The Kramdens Home Address The street address, 328 Chauncey Street, was the same address of Gleasons childhood home in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The show changed the neighborhood to Bensonhurst because they thought itd be better recognized. Advertisement Advertisement
5 That Time the Gang Got Turned into Looney Tunes The Looney Tunes did a series of animated shorts that featured the Kramdens (and Ned and Trixie) as the Crumdens, a married pair of cartoon mice.
4 No One Thought Jackie Gleason Would Make It in Hollywood While Gleason was doing bit parts in films during the early 1940s, he reportedly didnt make much of an impression on Hollywood. To earn a living, he combined comedy and music and developed his own nightclub act, and when he wasnt performing, he hosted nightly ragers in his hotel suite. Anyone who knew Jackie Gleason in the 1940s would tell you The Fat Man would never make it, CBS historian Robert Metz once wrote. His pals at Lindys watched him spend money as fast as he soaked up the booze. Advertisement Advertisement
3 The Honeymooners Inspired The King of Queens Not only did The Honeymooners inspire The King of Queens, but the Kevin James series had him fall asleep to an episode of the 1950s sitcom, leading to a dream sequence of him as Ralph Kramden.
2 On and Off While Gleason pulled the plug on the show following the first seasons eventual drop in ratings, he kept doing Honeymooners sketches for his variety show. When Art Carney called it a day in 1957, Gleason dropped it for good for a while, at least. In 1962, he revived his variety show and did sketches whenever Carney was available for work. However, new actresses played Alice and Trixie since Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph didnt want to relocate to Miami, where the new sketches were filmed. Advertisement Advertisement
Ah, sweet soda, the liquor of the child. A dedication to unadulterated, pure sugar, throwing nutrition to the wind. Perhaps one of the great culinary achievements of our age, one that, sent back in time, would be considered a genuine elixir of the gods. I have no doubt I could barter an ice-cold Coca-Cola with the pharaohs for at least one of the Great Pyramids. Even such an unassailable product, though, occasionally goes far enough to find at what point their wings are made of wax.
Lets look back at 10 sodas that didnt survive their day in the sun.
10 Surge Probably the most immediate candidate of collective nostalgia is Surge. It was initially conceived by Coca-Cola as an attempt to steal away market share from Pepsis big green market monster, Mountain Dew. Mountain Dew still rides high today in a million variations, and has somehow, in a muted victory, become the official soda of gamers everywhere. Surge, meanwhile, is all but gone, unless you feel like forking out a premium for a probably-spoiled can of a soda that didnt inspire confidence in its drinkability from day one. Not that people dont miss it.
9 Orbitz Public Domain No possible way this isn t a choking hazard. Advertisement The tapioca-balled tea known as boba has started to gain a foothold in the U.S., but its still an unsure textural journey for a lot of drinkers. Personally, Im not a fan, as I like tea just fine without it feeling like a child is firing a series of soft BBs into the roof of my mouth. So, years before, when a soda-maker attempted something similar in a fizzy soft drink filled with small edible balls, it was an even harder sell. The soda was called Orbitz, and looked more like an indication that you need to change your Brita filter than a fun twist on a beloved beverage.
8 Josta Advertisement Advertisement Some people exhibit surprise that massive soda companies werent the ones to crack the energy drink market before Red Bull flew in on a reformulated Thai energy tonic recipe and took over the market. Im sure no one hates this more than the companies in question, as theyd made many attempts at energy sodas over the years, none of which got lucky enough to take. Despite Josta debuting in 1995 with both the backing of cola giant PepsiCo and the magic ingredient of guarana thats essential in any modern energy drink, it was simply ahead of its time. It didnt even make enough of an impression to become a go-to nostalgia mention, at least until Marvels Loki stirred it loose for a lot of people.
7 Vault Advertisement Advertisement The more you look into sodas past, the more obvious it becomes that the continued success of Mountain Dew is squarely stuck in Coca-Colas craw. Pepsis weird little green goblin continually haunts the dreams of Coke executives as the cold one that they cant seem to crack (dont even mention Mello Yello to me, we all know thats a joke). Years after Surge failed, they decided to take another shot at the Green King, this time with a heavily caffeinated soda called Vault. Again, they were found wanting. A sorrow for me personally, as I will admit, I genuinely loved Vault, and it probably inspires the most yearning of any drink on this list.
6 Jolt Cola Advertisement Advertisement If the Big Two couldnt make the world ready for energy drinks, what hope did independent soda makers have? Despite the challenge ahead, C.J. Rapp forged ahead, seeing an opening in the market for a soda that could rival the red-eye potential of coffee. It didnt see much need for subtlety in marketing, and it was a less health-conscious age, so they slapped a clear value prop on the can: All the sugar and twice the caffeine. For what was basically a small local soda maker, in an era where specialty wasnt a selling point, Jolt actually achieved a remarkable level of success, but when youre crowded between Pepsi and Coke, remarkable isnt enough.
5 Bawls Public Domain The number one soda that looked sort of like a sex toy. Advertisement One particular market Jolt found a home with was the computer nerd, who took a quantitative approach to caffeine to keep them awake through long coding hours or gaming sessions. The undisputed King of the LAN Party, though, was a drink that maybe came the closest to settling into Red Bull territory: Bawls. It came in an iconic tall blue bottle, studded like a her-pleasure condom, and was so embedded in computer culture that website ThinkGeek sold it direct. Its still occasionally spotted today, but to actually find it is a quest that would feel right at home in a JRPG.
4 Super Mario Soda Advertisement Advertisement Given the recent massive success of the Super Mario movie, its almost surprising no one thought to dust off the recipe for the strange soda that was released alongside the first movie. Companies dont often miss a chance to double-dip in nostalgia like that, even if todays parents arent exactly as laissez-faire about handing strange drinks to their children. The soda line, including Mario Punch, Luigi Berry, Yoshi Apple and Princess Toadstool Cherry, has inspired a Change.org petition, but odds arent looking good for the manufacturer, Shasta, to make it reality.
3 Pepsi Blue Advertisement Advertisement Over the years, Pepsi and Coca-Cola seem determined not to learn one repeated lesson: Dont mess with the classics. Soda spin-offs have found success here and there, but when it comes to their flagship products, any minuscule change is usually met with doubt and confusion. Its a tantalizing catch-22 theyre faced with they own two of the most recognizable beverages in the world, but any variation they try is immediately treated as almost an off-brand knockoff. So when Pepsi decided to put the tooth enamel of the world at risk with a bright blue Pepsi called, bluntly, Pepsi Blue, they should have predicted its trajectory. The most they ever achieved was getting their commercial backing track, Sevs Same Old Song, onto the Rio MP3 player of a young me.
2 Coke Blak Advertisement Advertisement Coca-Cola and coffee might be two of the worlds most beloved beverages. When they share a can, though, somehow nobody wants part of either one. At least in the U.S. Coke Blak (stylized in an even more obnoxious, 1990s fashion that I dont think keyboards can even do anymore) was Cokes attempt to court the coffee market. It landed with the grace of a fat loogie on the American market, and was immediately on its last legs. Outside the U.S., the drink was fairly popular, which was maybe the impetus for Coke to recently try (and fail) to launch a Coke-coffee chimera again.
When Abe Simpson warned Simpsons fans that, one day, what theyre with wont be it, he was talking to his writers, too.
The Simpsons has been on television since 1989, and, in that time, the topicality of the show has lead to some hilarious moments that will have modern fans who werent even born when we found out who shot Mr. Burns scratching their heads. At this point, many of the early season references sound about as sane to a contemporary audience as if an old man walked into their place of work and asked them, Id like to send this letter to the Prussian Consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 auto-gyro?
In the DVD commentary for the Simpsons Season Eight DVD set, prolific Simpsons writer and producer Josh Weinstein once said that the sign outside the Cypress Creek Elementary School in the iconic Simpsons episode You Only Move Twice was the most dated joke in the shows history because, in 1996, a school having its own website was still a novelty. However, the Simpsons subreddit recently discussed their own favorite dry-aged deep cuts that havent been hip since Bill Clintons first term.
Here are the fans picks for the most dated references in Simpsons history.
The Falklands have been invaded!
Jay Sherman Outing MacGyver
The VHS Village
What kind of man wears Armour Hot Dogs? Advertisement Advertisement
Who made Steve Guttenberg a star? We do, we do!
My bologna has a first name Advertisement Advertisement
It was sponsored by that guy from Apple Computers!
What computers?
Sheriff Lobo! They never should have canceled that show! Advertisement Advertisement
Oh, I don't know, a little show called Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman???
Cybersecurity startup Discern Security has announced the launch of a new AI-powered security policy management platform. The California-based company operates as "policy intelligence hub" that leverages AI capabilities to monitor and optimize security controls across multiple cybersecurity tools, it said as part of its stealth emergence announcement.
Security policy has always been important for security leaders, but with the growth and implementation of diverse security technologies and services, it's never been more vital. According to Microsoft, large organizations use an average of 75 security solutions, with a growing recognition among cybersecurity leaders that managing multiple vendors and tools can be burdensome for IT teams. What's more, patchwork solutions can create dangerous blind spots by leaving valuable security insights siloed in separate dashboards, providing an opportunity for threat actors.
The advancement of AI adds complexity, particularly the explosive emergence of generative AI and its application by a growing number of security vendors in their offerings. Given generative AI's unique capabilities as well as its significant risk factors, some argue that organizations need to implement security policies dedicated to the use of the technology.
Platform addresses three common security policy challenges
Discern's platform is designed to address three security policy challenges commonly faced by businesses, the firm said in a press release. First, it empowers organizations to maximize the efficacy of their security investments by enhancing the performance of existing products. Second, it alleviates the industry-wide shortage of cybersecurity expertise by taking on the operational heavy lifting, enabling teams to focus on strategic initiatives. Third, it tackles the inherent issue of standalone security products by simplifying the complex configuration process, enhancing security and productivity.
Discern Security's solution is available globally, with pricing based on customer size and number of users, starting from $5,000. Meanwhile, it has secured a $3 million funding round, which will be used to expand the product offering, according to the company.
J.M. Tyree at Bennington Review:
The previous week, Id traveled with two of these American friends, both philosophers, Steven and Morgan, from Berlin to Hamburg to Lubeck because, again, why not. We ate chicken tikka on jacket potatoes at outdoor tables overlooking the warehouses near the city gates used as the abandoned building where Nosferatu lives in Murnaus classic 1922 film. Just as Id lined up my shot in my best imitation Expressionist light, with the setting sun pouring through a keyhole shape in the building, a paddle-boarder glided into the frame to ruin the picture, a 10/10 German prank on a film location tourist.
Never go on holiday with two philosophers, especially if one is a Hegelian. The dialectical reversals about where to get breakfast will make your head spin. Only the tour of the port container in Hamburg finally shut them upglobal capitalism is infinitely complex and would continue to run on its own without us for a very long time. All kidding aside, these are lovely old friends, especially when they arent reminding you constantly that arts profs like me learn next to nothing about the history of aesthetic theory in the course of their education.
more here.
Cloud-native security firm CrowdStrike has announced a re-architected release of its Falcon platform, dubbed Falcon Raptor. The next-generation product adds generative AI-powered incident investigation capabilities and extended detection and response (XDR) features. The Raptor release, according to CrowdStrike, can work at "petabyte scale" with faster data collection, search, and storage.
Also introduced was Falcon Foundry, which CrowdStrike calls "the cybersecurity industry's first no-code application development platform." Foundry provides the ability to quickly build no-code apps with full access to data and threat intelligence across the Falcon platform, the company claims.
Finally, CrowdStrike announced enhancements to its unified Falcon platform that target data protection, exposure management, and IT automation.
What's new in the CrowdStrike Falcon Raptor release
The Raptor release adds the following components to the Falcon platform:
Charlotte AI Investigator: This new AI-powered tool automates incident creation and investigation. According to CrowdStrike, it can automatically correlate related context from a "seed" of information into a single incident. From there it generates an incident summary for security analysts.
This new AI-powered tool automates incident creation and investigation. According to CrowdStrike, it can automatically correlate related context from a "seed" of information into a single incident. From there it generates an incident summary for security analysts. XDR for All: This component essentially upgrades CrowdStrike EDR customers to native XDR for faster investigations.
This component essentially upgrades CrowdStrike EDR customers to native XDR for faster investigations. XDR Incident Workbench: CrowdStrike characterizes this feature as a "re-imagined and lightning-fast user experience for EDR/XDR" to speed up investigation and response times.
CrowdStrike characterizes this feature as a "re-imagined and lightning-fast user experience for EDR/XDR" to speed up investigation and response times. Collaborative Incident Command Center: This feature provides a "unified source of truth" for security analysts to work incidents in real-time from any location, according to the company.
Crowdstrike also promises faster searches on large data sets with sub-second latency to identify adversaries and risks more quickly. The company will roll out the Raptor release to all current CrowdStrike customers starting this month and extending over the next year.
Secure no-code application development with Falcon Foundry
The Falcon Foundry no-code application development platform draws on other tools in the Falcon product family to build custom apps to solve security and IT problems. It leverages data from the CrowdStrike platform, the Falcon Fusion SOAR framework, and cloud-scale infrastructure, according to the company. Applications created in Foundry integrate with the Falcon platform. Foundry features include:
Great Rooms A visual diary by Design Editor Wendy Goodman. Donald Judd with, from left to right: permanent installation, Frank Stella, Valparaiso Green, 1963; temporary installation, John Chamberlain, five works, 1964; Hollywood John, 1962; chairs by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, photo 1971. Photo: Doris Lehni-Quarella/Antonio Monaci. John Chamberlain, Mr. Press, 1961: 2023 Fairweather & Fairweather LTD / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Frank Stella, Valparaiso Green, 1963: 2023 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Earlier this year, I stopped by the Judd Foundations launch of Donald Judds Dinner Service, an eight-piece collection of dinner, bread, soup, salad, and dessert plates, along with a serving bowl and cup that Judd had designed in drawings. The collection had never been realized until his son, Flavin who, along with his sister, Rainer, runs the Judd Foundation worked with Puiforcat to bring it to life. During that visit to their fathers inimical house at 101 Spring Street, I was reminded of the book Donald Judd Spaces, featuring many photographs that had never been published before.
The New York City 101 Spring Street home of Judd has always been one of the most brilliant and somehow mysterious of his residences for me. The first time I went to 101 Spring Street, it felt like a house frozen in amber; this was before the 20102013 renovation that was needed to get the cast-iron 1870 building up to code in order to open it to the public to visit. Judd wrote about the house in the following essay which was published originally in 1989, five years before he died. This is what Judd, who had all sorts of opinions about how we should live our lives certainly how he should live his wrote in 1989 about 101 Spring, five years before his death.
In November 1968 I bought a cast-iron building in the Cast Iron District of New York City. The building was built in 1870 and designed by Nicholas Whyte, whose only other cast-iron building is in Brazil. I dont know the first purpose of the building but suppose that something of cloth was made on the upper floors and sold on the lower ones, since many buildings in the area were stores, since the facade is fancy not like that of a warehouse, and since it is mostly glass. The building is on a corner and is a right angle of glass. The facade is the most shallow perhaps of any in the area and so is the furthest forerunner of the curtain-wall. The lot is only twenty-five by seventy-five feet. As usual, there are five stories and two basements, which originally were well-lit through the ground-level clerestory and the sidewalk.
The interior of the building was ruined. There had been a separate business on each floor, most with machines leaking oil. The trash was so much that Arman could have bought the building and left it alone. Around 1930, more than ten years after the Triangle fire, in which perhaps 140 women died because the fire escape doors were locked, which was a good reason to reform the building code, but which, as usual in the United States, was applied in excess and after the fact they not only lock the barn door after the horse has been stolen, but burn the barn down to make sure it doesnt happen again a fire escape was constructed on the facade, requiring the removal of some of the detail, a concrete wall was built round the open stairway, destroying most of the mahogany railings, and a sprinkler system was installed against the inside of the facade. This was for a small building with few employees. The building had been treated badly, as most in the area had been, as most are. The entire Cast Iron District had been doomed for decades by the possibility of the Lower Manhattan Expressway cutting through it.
I thought the building should be repaired and basically not changed. It is a nineteenth-century building. It was pretty certain that each floor had been open, since there were no signs of original walls, which determined that each floor should have one purpose: sleeping, eating, working.
The given circumstances were very simple: the floors must be open; the right angle of windows on each floor must not be interrupted; and any changes must be compatible. My requirements were that the building be useful for living and working and more importantly, more definitely, be a space in which to install work of mine and of others. At first I thought the building large but now I think it small; it didnt hold much work after all. I spent a great deal of time placing the art and a great deal designing the renovation in accordance. Everything from the first was intended to be thoroughly considered and to be permanent, as, despite several, it still is. The renovation and installation was begun in 1969 and was known by some who later used permanence to hide impermanence.
The building finally contained more work of others than of mine, but I thought of many works in regard to it, primarily rejected because they were elaborate and took too much space, and so went against the nature of the building. Other than leaving the building alone, then and now a highly positive act, my main inventions are the floors of the fifth and third floors and the parallel planes of the identical ceiling and floor of the fourth floor. The baseboard of the fifth floor is the same oak as that of the floor, making the floor a shallow recessed plane. There is no baseboard, there is a gap between the walls and the floor of the third floor, thus defining and separating the floor as a plane. These ideas were precedents for some small pieces and then for the 100 mill aluminum pieces in the Chinati Foundation. The renovation of the building and the permanent purpose of the building are precedents for the larger spaces in my place in Texas, La Mansana de Chinati, for the Chinati Foundation, and will be for Ayala de Chinati. Donald Judd
Julie Finch Judd with Flavin Judd and Rainer Judd. Photo 1970. Photo: Donald Judd/Judd Foundation
Elevator. Photo 1984. Photo: Doris Lehni-Quarella/Antonio Monaci
Kitchen with furniture by Donald Judd. Photo 2018. Photo: Matthew Millman/Judd Foundation
Donald Judd. Photo 1984. Photo: Doris Lehni-Quarella/Antonio Monaci.
Donald Judd with the Whitney Independent Study Program; Ron Clark seated to the left of Judd and Julian Schnabel seated to the right. Photo 1974. Photo: Courtesy of the Judd Foundation
Alison Abbott in Nature:
Graca Raposo was a young postdoc in the Netherlands in 1996 when she discovered that cells in her laboratory were sending secret messages to each other. She was exploring how immune cells react to foreign molecules. Using electron microscopy, she saw how cells ingested these molecules, which became stuck to the surface of tiny intracellular vesicles. The cells then spat out the vesicles, along with the foreign cargo, and Raposo captured them. Next, she presented them to another type of immune cell. It reacted to the package just as it would to a foreign molecule1.
It was a demonstration that these extracellular vesicles (EVs, also known as exosomes) might be transmitting information between cells. We knew that exosomes existed, but at that time they were generally thought to be a way of getting rid of a cells trash, says Raposo. It was exciting to find that some could have important biological functions even if not everyone believed it at first. Just two years later, together with her colleagues, Raposo, who is now at the Curie Institute in Paris, found that exosomes derived from antitumour immune cells could be enlisted to suppress cancers in mice2.
Other scientists jumped on the concept, and began to find exosomes being spat out from all kinds of cell. Interest exploded after researchers discovered that the little packages could contain not only proteins, but also nucleic acids. In 2007, for instance, a Swedish team found that the vesicles harboured small RNA molecules3. That implied that exosomes might influence gene expression when they reached their destination cells. The number of EV-related publications rose steeply, and has tripled in the past five years.
More here.
The President of France, defying advice against meddling in another country's domestic affairs, gave the leader of the Opposition a morale-boosting audience. Red carpet. Sentries in toy-soldier kepis. Garlicky air-kisses. 'Bienvenue a l'Elysee, mon ami!' The visitor was an adenoidal plodder but the president agreed to help because they had much in common on European matters and it was always fun to annoy Downing Street. 'The tide is turning,' crowed Labour spin doctors. An unpopular Tory PM was 'isolated' and 'discredited'.
That was 11 years ago. Ed Miliband rode to Paris on Eurostar, posed for over-excited snaps and was given a few minutes with President Francois Hollande. Leftwingers claimed the French saw Miliband as a winner. 'Britain's place is firmly in Europe,' cried Miliband to Gallic cheers.
Things did not work out terribly well for Miliband so now we have had 'take two': Sir Keir Starmer in the French capital to see Emmanuel Macron. Back in 2012, Macron was one of Hollande's aides. M Macron has never liked the perfidious British and recent events have only worsened his temper. Mention Brexit and it's like Chief Inspector Dreyfus hearing the name of Clouseau in the Pink Panther films. One eye starts twitching terribly. Dreyfus ends up in a loony bin.
Now we have had 'take two': Sir Keir Starmer in the French capital to see Emmanuel Macron (pictured together)
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer attends a breakfast meeting in central Paris ahead of his bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron on September 19
Sir Keir, accompanied by the Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy (ah, the brains of the operation) arrived in Paris on Monday and were photographed striding out of the Gare du Nord. In the background a few onlookers kept their distance. They possibly feared the nasal knight le chevalier congestionne might try to start speaking French.
Labour spinners set up one of those call-of-destiny shots they love. The trio tilted their heads upwards in the same direction, like cyclists waiting for a red traffic light to change colour. Further photocalls ensued yesterday morning. One was a beaut'. Sir Keir, Ms Reeves and Brains stood overlooking the Arc de Triomphe and 'shared a joke' while standing at a wobbly table with coffee cups. Wooden as Silas Wegg's leg it all was. Sir Keir was also photographed meeting French technocrats at breakfast. Croissants.
Then came the great encounter at the Elysee palace. It lasted 45 minutes and (phew) was conducted in English. As when you want poodles to mate, the door was closed and they were left to it by themselves, with no onlookers present. How they managed without Mr Lammy's foreign-policy expertise, we can but wonder.
Sir Keir presented M Macron with an Arsenal FC shirt emblazoned with his name and the number 25 because he is the 25th French president. Straight into the 'raffle prizes' drawer that'll go. M Macron, having possibly forgotten to buy anything, palmed Sir Keir a box containing cufflinks.
A slightly breathless Sir Keir afterwards gushed that it had been a 'very, very good meeting, very political'. Political? The meeting certainly gave Sir Keir a chance to project an image of statesman-in-the-making, an understandable ambition at this stage in the electoral cycle. Owing to lockdown and his political inexperience, he has done little of this sort of thing. That was why he jetted to Canada last weekend to join a dreary conference of Left-wing political figures including Justin Trudeau and such has-beens as Tony Blair, David Miliband and the ex-premiers of New Zealand, Finland and Sweden.
It is also why he travelled to The Hague last week to unveil his immigration policy to EU lawyers. That trip betrayed Sir Keir's naivety in international dealings. Barely was he out of the door at Europol, looking all shiny-chinned, than EU sources rubbished his trip and said he hadn't a hope of extracting concessions from Brussels.
Sir Keir presented M Macron with an Arsenal FC shirt emblazoned with his name and the number 25 because he is the 25th French president
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer (left) speaks with Vivendi CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine (right) and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves (centre) during a breakfast meeting ahead of their bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron
'But I'm one of the good people,' Sir Keir may squeak. 'I tried to stop Brexit for you. I wear underpants decorated with blue EU flags.' Little good it will do him. Before entering that private room with handsy Emmanuel, Sir Keir spoke of his desire to renegotiate the deal whereby Boris Johnson, to his enormous credit, finally extracted us from the EU. Brussels did not play hardball simply because it hated Boris.
For their own survival, eurocrats wanted to punish Britain, even if in the process the bloc hurt itself. The main EU economies are tanking. The continent is blighted by terrible security and social problems. We really are well shot of it. Macron was here trying to take ownership of innocent Sir Keir and milk him about his plans.
The only way Sir Keir could extract any 'improved' Brexit deal would be to give some of our hard-won freedoms back to Brussels. It would have to be a big gesture; even then it would probably not be enough. Next time he might not even get a box of cufflinks.
All he may achieve by this flurry of baby-steps diplomacy is electoral self-harm. British voters are seeing what he is made of. Once a Euro-fanatic, always a Euro-fanatic. But now he has lost his blushes to a notoriously anglophobic French president. He's been had.
Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer thinks, has been a disaster. But he has a plan to fix it.
No, not to rejoin the EU. He suggested that in the run-up to the 2019 general election, and it earned Labour its worst result since 1935. In any case, Brussels would not allow Britain back in except on punitive terms: the euro, the borders-free Schengen Area, even higher budget contributions than before.
So, if not full membership, what? Well, details are thin, but Sir Keir wants to adopt EU 'technical standards' and possibly also take a share of its illegal immigrants, with the long-term goal of becoming an associate member an idea proposed yesterday by France and Germany.
The Labour leader's starting assumption is worth pondering, if only because it is so rarely questioned.
'Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal it's far too thin,' Sir Keir told (who else?) the Financial Times.
Brexit, Sir Keir Starmer thinks, has been a disaster. But he has a plan to fix it. Pictured: At the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal
Starmer suggested rejoining the EU in the run-up to the 2019 general election, and it earned Labour its worst result since 1935. Pictured: with French President Emmanuel Macron
If by 'almost everyone', Sir Keir means 'almost everyone here with me at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal' a love-in for centre-Left politicians from around the world then I'm sure he is right. We might also throw in the BBC, House of Lords, charities, universities, quangos and civil servants.
But let's analyse what Sir Keir takes for granted, namely the notion that Britain has been stand-offish towards the EU for ideological reasons. And, while we're about it, let's analyse his associated belief that Brexit has hurt our economy, and that the best way to fix it is to cosy up to Brussels again.
The idea that Britain was peevishly seeking maximum divergence from Brussels goes back to the disengagement talks. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator at the time, used to brandish a chart with flags showing that, by rejecting various degrees of association with the EU, Britain was choosing a Canada-style, fat-free deal.
Oddly enough, the moment Boris Johnson took him at his word and asked for a Canada-style deal, Barnier demanded all sorts of alignment, from social policy to environmental targets. In fact, for reasons of geography and history, Britain was never going to have a trade-only relationship with the EU. There was a legitimate debate about where to draw the line between access and divergence.
The more closely we aligned our technical standards to the EU's, the easier trade would be. But conversely, we might end up having to apply standards that didn't suit us and that made us a less attractive trading partner to non-EU states.
I argued at the time that we should keep significant elements of the single market, thereby easing the transition and solving many of the issues that arose around the Irish border. But we instead went for more autonomy though, having paid a high price for it in the talks, we now seem perversely reluctant to use it.
These were, as I say, legitimate arguments. What is not legitimate is to pretend we ended up with a minimalist deal. Not only does our Trade and Cooperation Agreement scrap all tariffs, it has chapters relating to aviation, social policy, criminal justice and healthcare, as well as a joint parliamentary committee (on which I happen to sit).
You would never guess it from the coverage, but this is by far the deepest and most ambitious deal the EU has signed with a country not aiming to become a full member.
But let's analyse what Sir Keir takes for granted, namely the notion that Britain has been stand-offish towards the EU for ideological reasons. Pictured: In Paris
The Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal' was a love-in for centre-Left politicians from around the world, Daniel Hannan says. Pictured: Starmer speaks to the BBC in Canada
Then there is Sir Keir's assumption that Britain wounded itself economically by recovering its trade policy that is, by leaving the EU's customs union.
Britain has indeed wounded itself economically since Brexit, first by imposing needlessly long and harsh lockdowns, and then by refusing to let spending fall back to pre-pandemic levels.
But the pandemic hit Europe, too. To show that Britain is worse off because of Brexit, you need to compare us to the EU's main economies: Germany, France, Italy, Spain. Until the start of this month, such a comparison did seem to show Britain lagging behind. But that was before the Office for National Statistics issued its whopping revision of our growth figures.
It turns out that our economy at the end of 2021 was not in fact 1.2 per cent smaller than it had been two years earlier; it was 0.6 per cent larger. Overnight, Britain went from EU laggard to mid-table.
Of course, some Remainers are so locked in their negativity that they will continue to cite the provisional figures rather than the actual ones. They have done so with every previous negative forecast that ended up being surpassed in real life. They start from their conclusion Brexit Has Failed and then cast around for ways to justify it. The successes of Brexit are left unremarked and unreported.
We had the fastest vaccine rollout in the world as a result of staying out of the EU scheme. We have joined the world's most dynamic economies in the Pacific trading bloc, and seem set to become the first Western country to sign a trade deal with India.
We are outside the EU's bailout funds, and can ignore 80 per cent of the directives passed since we left. We admit whom we please into our country. We make our own laws.
Of course, for some Europhiles, everything is still our fault.
For reasons of geography and history, Britain was never going to have a trade-only relationship with the EU. Pictured: Starmer, Rachel Reeves and David Lammy meet with business leaders in Paris
Starmer arrives at the Gare du Nord in Paris with Rachel Reeves and David Lammy ahead of his bilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron
When, for example, Britain took the decision to rejoin the EU's Horizon scheme for scientific research, Labour's response was 'Why did it take so long?'
The party was not interested in the real answer, namely that the EU, which had agreed to go ahead with Britain as a member in 2020, went back on its word and blocked our participation for more than two years. It is simply not credible to argue that, if we are nice to the EU, it will reciprocate. Consider the existing asymmetries in our relationship. EU financial services firms here are granted equivalence, but British firms in Europe are denied it.
We have not conducted any checks on EU goods imports, though we will soon start applying some minimal ones but the EU insists on the full panoply, not least in Ireland. We allow EU tourists to use our passport e-gates, but not the reverse.
It would be in the interests of all sides to resolve these issues, but it is the EU, not Britain, that is blocking progress. The idea that Brussels should be rewarded for its petulance or offered more concessions to desist from doing the wrong thing is a terrible approach to diplomacy.
What would Sir Keir put on the table? Further access to our fishing grounds? A unilateral promise to accept EU food and veterinary standards in future, however they evolve? Direct contributions to the EU budget?
I have no doubt the EU would pocket these concessions in exchange for getting Britain to do what it wants us to do anyway, namely to join various EU common policies.
Eurocrats could not believe their luck when Sir Keir spoke last week of joining the EU scheme on sharing out illegal immigrants a scheme we were not part of even as full members, and a scheme, moreover, which several existing states say they want to leave.
What we are seeing is political posturing. Sir Keir wants to recover the Red Wall without losing his Eurozealots to the Lib Dems. To do so, he will put things on the table that Brussels likes, but stop short of full membership.
The danger is that, instead of making a hard-headed appraisal of what is in our interests, we end up getting the worst of all worlds: being run from Brussels as non-members. Eurocrats will be putting the champagne on ice.
From today till October 16, you can grab a free slice of Gregg's pizza
Pizza lovers can delight this month - as Greggs has just announced a limited-edition offer giving customers free slices from today until October 16.
The bakery chain has become a British staple - and with thousands of locations dotted around the country the chain is hard to avoid.
And all you need to get a free slice of pizza from the bakery is Gregg's app.
Pizza slices on offer include the margherita, pepperoni, spicy Mexican chicken, fiery pepperoni hot shot or spicy veg pizza, satisfying both vegetarians and meat eaters alike.
If you haven't already got the app, don't panic - new customers that sign up to the Greggs App will also be gifted a free pizza slice and any free regular hot drink - with options including their new pumpkin spice latte.
Pizza lovers can delight this month - as Greggs has just announced a limited-edition offer giving customers free slices from today until October 16
All bases are made with Italian foccacia bread and topped with Greggs pizza sauce and a blend of cheeses.
The margherita pizza - made by putting this pizza sauce and blend of cheeses on a focaccia style base - is a popular veggie option.
Another veggie rendition is the spicy veg pizza slice - which is made with the same base as the margherita and then topped with sliced peppers, red onion, and jalapenos.
However, it's worth noting that the spicy pizza is only available on click + collect and Just Eat.
And meat lovers haven't been left behind - you'll have the chance to try two pepperoni pizzas, as well as Greggs' spicy Mexican chicken offering.
Greggs' pepperoni pizza is topped with sliced pepperoni. If you fancy something with more of a kick, the pepperoni hot shot pizza covered with jalapenos and red onions may be a winner.
And last but not least is the spicy Mexican chicken pizza which incorporates all the features every Greggs base has - but is topped with Mexican-style chicken, sliced jalapenos and sliced red onions.
Customers are also welcome to order via click + collect through the Greggs App or official website.
Pizza slices on offer include the margherita, pepperoni, spicy Mexican chicken, fiery pepperoni hot shot or spicy veg pizza, satisfying both vegetarians and carnivores alike
It comes after a Greggs superfan was left speechless after discovering the bakery's outlet version, where prices are much cheaper than on the high street.
Cory, from Barry, Wales, took his TikTok followers on a tour of one of the 30 Greggs outlet shops the chain counts across the country, where they sell their items for 75 per cent less than in regular shops.
The Greggs enthusiast, who insisted he had not been paid by the bakery chain to promote the outlet, could not get over how cheap everything in the store was, from 55p doughnuts to 1.25 deal for two pastries.
While most parents wake up at the crack of dawn and begin the morning routine to send their children off to school, one father has revealed he bucks the trend in order to sneak in more beauty sleep.
The anonymous father from the US posted on told Reddit's Am I the A****** thread that he didn't want to wake up earlier to help his 'overwhelmed' wife by sharing the parenting duties - but insisted that he was 'an engaged and active parent' nonetheless.
The disgruntled father-of-three, 38, revealed he shares three children with his 37-year-old wife. The children are eight, 10 and 12 years old.
As he posted about his preference for a lie in, the father said he and his wife had recently come to blows after she asked him to wake up at 6.45am to get the children ready for the 7.45am school bus. In response to her request, he argues they're old enough to get ready themselves.
Responding to his predicament, readers branded him 'lazy' and unwilling to help his wife - although many agreed with him that his children should be able to get themselves ready for school.
Most parents have to get up to send their children off for school - and that often means early mornings - but one father wasn't so willing to give up his beauty sleep (stock image)
The man told Reddit 's Am I the A*shole thread that he couldn't be bothered to kiss his little ones goodbye - but insisted that he was 'an engaged and active parent'
As it stands, the anonymous father refuses to help his children get ready for school in the morning, meaning his wife has to wake up early and help them instead.
He argues she should be doing less for the children in order to encourage them to be independent - but in response, she berates him for his lack of involvement.
While complaining about his wife's parenting techniques, the man added he thinks she is too strict with screen time, explaining she only allows the children to look at screens for two hours each week.
He argued: 'As long as homework is done, why not [allow them screen time] until bed?'
He grumbled about his wife's 'constant state of overwhelm' which leaves her 'very easily irritated' but claimed the stress comes from 'self created holes' that he is then asked to remedy.
He complained that, when he suggested his children can make breakfast for themselves because they know how to prepare cereal, his wife hit back and argued that cereal is not 'substantial' enough for a breakfast meal.
Happy to do his 'fair share for the kids or household', the husband feared it was never enough 'because her standards are too damn high'.
He asked the people of Reddit if he was being unreasonable in encouraging his wife to do less around the house, for his sake as well as her own.
In response, some people slammed the father-of-three for being 'lazy' and urged him to 'become an actually engaged parent like your wife is'.
One parent even chimed in to say that she changed her entire job 'to do the school run again' which led to others commending her for being a 'loving and caring parent'.
Another expressed: 'It makes me sad for the kids that OP could be a part of the morning and is just choosing not to when so many parents dont even get a choice'.
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And one user poked fun at the dad's claims that he is an engaged and active parent, saying: 'I want to sleep in so my eight-year-old should be able to get up and ready for school by themselves. Also they can watch TV all day'.
Another Redditor likened their own childhood experience to that of the father's three children and said they were getting themselves ready for school from grade 1. However, the person added this was not right, and that they had an 'abusive mother'.
The person explained: 'I'd get myself home from school, make my own dinner, do my homework and get myself to bed.
'But that's because I had an abusive mother who only had me to get child support. So OP, think about what kind of parent you want to be and adjust accordingly'.
A more sympathetic user told him: 'Cereal is a healthy breakfast if you buy the right cereals' but still felt 'a parent has to be up'.
A man who is married to a 2ft 10in woman has candidly revealed how he and his mom refused to speak to each other for months after getting into a bitter feud when she voiced severe disapproval of his wife.
Bryan, 36, and Yesi, 34, from Palmdale, California, appeared on a recent episode of Truly's Love Don't Judge to explain the realities of their mixed-height relationship.
The couple, who have been together since 2017, have laid bare the fierce backlash they face on a daily basis over their three-foot height difference.
Bryan's mom was among the more vocal objectors and even asked her son: 'Are you sure you want to be with someone [if] you're gonna wipe their butt for the rest of your life?'
Bryan, 36, and Yesi, 34, from Palmdale, California, appeared on a recent episode of Truly's Love Don't Judge to explain the realities of their mixed-height relationship
The couple, who have been together since 2017, have laid bare the fierce backlash they face on a daily basis over their three-foot height difference
Bryan and Yesi then moved in together the following year before officially tying the knot in the Bahamas in 2021
Bryan's mom (seen) was among the more vocal objectors and even asked her son: 'Are you sure you want to be with someone [if] you're gonna wipe their butt for the rest of your life?'
Bryan, who is 5ft 9in, first met Yesi, who is 2ft 10in, on a dating app in 2017.
He said that she thought she was 'very pretty' from the start and 'knew she was a little person because it was a full-body photo.'
The pair eventually agreed to go on a dinner date and Yesi said that Bryan made her feel comfortable right away.
Having hit it off, Bryan and Yesi then moved in together the following year before officially tying the knot in the Bahamas in 2021.
Yesi suffers from a rare type of dwarfism known as diastrophic dysplasia - with only one in a million people being diagnosed.
She candidly revealed that despite her condition leaving her with short limbs and degenerating joints, the 'main thing' she struggles with is society and discrimination.
'People stare, some people think it's okay to come and ask very personal questions or take pictures without even asking,' Yesi said, before Bryan added that people also regularly 'pat her on the head.'
She continued: 'There's some parents that will come and tell their kids to come and look. They start pointing and that's upsetting.
Yesi suffers from a rare type of dwarfism known as diastrophic dysplasia - with only one in a million people being diagnosed
Yesi, who said she had 'never dated a little person in her life,' stated that people most often make the assumption that Bryan was her caregiver rather than her husband
What is diastrophic dysplasia? Diastrophic dysplasia is a rare disorder that affects the normal development of cartilage and bone. The condition results in abnormal development of joints and bones as well as short statue and limbs. It is caused by a genetic mutation and is hereditary - meaning it can be passed down in families. The mutation affects a gene that's important to the development of cartilage. Most cartilage turns to bone as a baby develops - but when this mutation occurs, the gene cannot properly contribute to the formation of cartilage and bones. Source: Cleveland Clinic Advertisement
'I don't mind the kids being curious, that's normal but the ignorance of adults is a trigger for me.'
Yesi, who said she had 'never dated a little person in her life,' stated that people most often make the assumption that Bryan was her caregiver rather than her husband.
But it isn't just strangers who have criticized the couple's height difference as Bryan revealed his own mother was 'reserved about it' at first.
Upon first being told about the pairing, mom Maggie asked Bryan: 'Are you sure you want to be with someone that you're gonna wipe their butt for the rest of your life?'
And that led to the mother and son not speaking for more than six months.
Maggie told the program: 'I had a lot of concerns. I never met anybody who was small.
'The way Bryan put it at the beginning, it was like she was totally dependent. She's in a wheelchair.
'And I just let him think about what he was getting himself into.'
She has since said that her hesitation was not about 'disapproval,' but about concerns that Yesi would be fully reliant on Bryan, adding that her doubts were about his 'commitment to do what it takes.'
But Maggie, following a reconciliation, is now accepting of their marriage.
Hitting back at all the criticism, Yesi concluded: 'All I will say is respect our relationship, respect me as a person and that's it.'
She claims that the number has zero significance to her or her home address
A woman has embarked on a search for answers after a DoorDash driver scrawled the numbers '514' on the facade of her house during a delivery.
'Ordered food today the dasher came and dropped it off, but then wrote 514 above my garage in permanent marker,' a Reddit user known as yellowenthusiastt wrote alongside a photo of the baffling instance of vandalism.
She added: 'It's all caught on camera. I'm just really confused lol.'
In a separate post, the user shared the seven-second clip of security footage documenting the food-delivery man's actions, which took place during the day.
A confused DoorDash customer took to Reddit in search of answers after a driver for the food-delivery service wrote the numbers '514' on the facade of her house
The driver took the time to fetch a permanent marker from his car after delivering her order, which he used to committed the odd act of vandalism
In the video, the DoorDash driver can be seen walking up to the house carrying a black plastic bag containing the delivery order.
But rather than simply driving off, the man reportedly returned to his vehicle and grabbed the marker before walking back up to the house and inscribing it with the numerals.
Only after he'd tagged the house with '514' did he finally leave the premises, according to the user.
Among the most popular speculation in the 3,500-plus comments was a theory that the number was some sort of symbol marking the residence as prime pickings for would-be robbers.
As one top-voted comment put it: 'As someone from a South American s**thole, here in my country when a thief sees a house that can have stuff of value, they mark it to rob it later, usually with more people, they use different symbols and code to inform about what's in the house (ex: dog, armed owner, high end tech, art, etc..).'
'I don't know how probable that is where you live at, but that's the first thing that crossed my mind when I saw it, stay safe,' the user added.
The original poster (OP for short) responded: 'I've heard of things like this and I'm not gonna lie it crossed my mind. I don't live in the nicest/safest of places but I can't imagine someone doing this here. But thank you so much, thankfully I don't live alone.'
However, in a different comment, she confirmed that she had reported the incident to police just to be safe - as well as to DoorDash.
The Redditer, who goes by u/yellowenthusiastt, was totally in the dark as to the significance of the number
Redditors put forth a variety of theories on the significance behind the DoorDash driver's action - but few could hold water in light of the observable facts surrounding the incident
Others speculated that perhaps the delivery man, acting on decidedly misguided good intentions, had endeavored to scrawl OP's house number on the front of the residence after noticing that none was visible.
Yet while OP admitted that they 'don't have our house numbers up (this was an old house we're still trying fix up),' she continued on to emphasize that '514 is not our address.'
She went on to speculate: 'I could see if he was trying to be helpful and put house numbers up for us but I don't want the wrong number up in sharpie on the side of my home. Hopefully this is all just a misunderstanding.'
Someone else suggested that perhaps the driver hadn't felt like making his next delivery - if it were hypothetically to an address beginning with '514' - then perhaps they'd written the number to 'just staged a fake delivery photo.'
But that theory didn't hold either as the security footage didn't show the man pausing after the deed to snap a photo of his artistic endeavor.
One amateur sleuth pelted OP with various ideas about the number's significance.
'I want to ask you. Does 514 mean anything to you? Was that the time of delivery? Was it your number? Your address? How much you tipped? Anything you can think of? Do you have 5 of anything visible from the street? Is 514 your door codes?' they wrote.
'I've thought of everything , and to all of those: no. i have no clue,' the OP replied.
To this thread, another speculator chimed in, pointing out that, according to a Google search, '514 is a "guardian angel number" so they could be a religious nut , which would align with writing it above the entrance to a house like religion often did to ward off evil. Always a chance he was in his mind "doing you a religious favor."'
In any case, the real reason behind the DoorDash driver's odd act remains a mystery.
DailyMail.com has contacted DoorDash for comment on the matter.
McDonald's customers have revealed an ultra-secretive off-menu burger than can only be procured from the fast food chain if you happen to request it at a very specific time of day.
While the fast food eatery offers an array of burgers on its publicly-available menu, several fans of the chain have now brought to light a new special dish that blends elements from its breakfast and lunch menus to create the aptly-named 'McBrunch Burger'.
Made with sesame buns, two cheeseburger patties, bacon, eggs, and a hash brown, the elusive McBrunch Burger can only be requested at McDonald's locations at 10:35AM - the so-called sweet spot when most chains change over from breakfast to lunch service and therefore have items from both menus available.
McDonald's fans have been sharing theories about the McBrunch Burger on TikTok - prompting food-focused content creator Tommy Winkler, who is known online as 'The Food Guy', to attempt to track down the off-menu item, which he said is only available between 10:30 and 11AM each day.
McDonald's customers have revealed an ultra-secretive off-menu burger than can only be procured from the fast food chain if you happen to request it at a very specific time of day
Made with sesame buns, two cheeseburger patties, bacon, eggs, and a hash brown, the elusive McBrunch Burger can only be requested at McDonald's locations at 10:35AM
In a video shared to his account, he documented his experience of securing - and then trying out - the burger, which he purchased from his local chain for just $5.
'Catch me here at 10:35 every morning,' he captioned the video - which showed him trying to order the McBrunch Burger at the drive-thru.
While the staff member who dealt with Tommy's initial order seemed somewhat perplexed by his request - asking him to 'hold on a minute' - he revealed that he ultimately managed to get hold of the burger, albeit with egg whites instead of scrambled eggs because the chain had 'run out'.
He quickly inhaled the tasty treat, pausing only to give a thumbs up to the camera as his only form of review.
However, Tommy isn't the only fan of the if-you-know-you-know secret item.
Foodie and content creator Jordan The Stallion - who is famous for his videos that focus on life hacks and secret menu reveals - also shared his thoughts on the burger in his own TikTok clip.
While responding to a post shared by another user who expressed her shock that you can get a 'whole basket of fries' at McDonald's, Jordan said: 'I don't think you guys understand how much knowledge I have about fast food secrets.
'I literally started a club in college called the Fast Food Secrets Club.
'You can absolutely get a basket a fries at McDonald's... but do you know what else you can get?'
Several TikTok users - including Jordan The Stallion (seen) - have shared videos in which they discuss the burger, which can only be ordered as a special request
Foodies flocked to the comments to give their feedback on the rare McBrunch burger and their attempt at ordering it
He went on: 'McDonald's has a secret menu. If you go to McDonald's around the time breakfast ends and lunch begins, you can order what is called a McBrunch Burger.
'Yes they are probably annoyed if you order it but it is a real thing, right. Do with that information what you will. Share with your closest friends.'
Fascinated foodies flocked to the replies - with many revealing that they had attempted to order the McBrunch Burger, only for their local McDonald's staff to refuse their request.
One person wrote about their experience attempting to get the burger: 'I tried to order a McBrunch Burger at the drive thru and bro said: "Imma be honest I ain't doin all that."'
Another added: 'Why y'all lying to be [because] I'm in line now and they told me: "No TikTok orders."'
Several users claiming to be McDonald's workers also weighed in on the trend, with many noting that the availability of the McBrunch Burger is based on the location at which you're requesting it.
'That McBrunch burger hits hard. As a former McDonald's employee I used to do this during my break,' said one commentator that completed the taste-test.
'I work there. This must not be at all locations cause we don't have this,' another said.
Former McDonald's corporate chef Mike Haracz believes the secret to getting one is how well you know the crew or the manager since 'that is not something that is normally on the menu'
'Me a McDonald's manager: "WE DON'T DO THAT HERE," wrote one annoyed employee.
Other commentators mentioned that the rare food item was a part of the regular menu in Texas and Australia and was even openly advertised in stores.
A former McDonald's corporate chef also spoke about what some refer to as the 10:35 burger.
Mike Haracz believes the secret to getting one is how well you know the crew or the manager since 'that is not something that is normally on the menu,' he warned in his TikTok video.
The Illinois-based chef has been asking for a burger with eggs on it for a long time 'especially with all-day breakfast,' however, his food request was always denied and he was 'vetoed by all the powers.'
He suggested to make your own version if you can't purchase the item.
You simply order a side of scrambled eggs, one hash-brown, a bacon quarter pounder and put everything together to create the huge meal.
Jenna Bush Hager has revealed that her three children have already picked out their Halloween costumes and her four-year-old son, Hal, wants to be a New York City rat.
The Today host was chatting with Hoda Kotb about the 'nip in the air' on Friday's show when she opened up about how excited she is to put on a cozy sweater and carve pumpkins.
'We've already been talking about what everyones going to be for Halloween in our household,' Bush Hager, 41, admitted.
'What are we looking at?' Kotb, 59, asked.
Jenna Bush Hager, 41, revealed her family's Halloween costumes on the Today show Friday
The host shared that her four-year-old son, Hal, wants to be a New York City rat with pizza hanging out of his mouth
Bush Hager took a breath before sharing her son's unusual costume choice that had both the audience and her co-star laughing.
'Hal wants to be a New York City rat,' she explained. 'Not just a rat, but a New York City rat. That's a special kind of breed.'
'So bigger than normal?' Kotb asked.
'Large, maybe pizza in half of its mouth,' Bush Hager replied.
Meanwhile, her daughters Mila, ten, and Poppy, seven, have been inspired by two pop culture icons for their respective costumes.
'Poppy is going to be the character from Clueless, which shes never seen,' Bush Hager shared. 'And Mila, the last I checked, was going to be one of Taylor Swifts albums. I think Lover.'
Mila's costume idea may have come about after she attended one of Swift's Eras Tour shows with her younger sister and parents last spring.
'That's a cute idea to be an album cover. Brilliant,' gushed Kotb, who is mom to daughters Haley, six, and Hope, four.
Bush Hager and her husband, Henry Hager, are also parents to daughters Mila, ten, and Poppy, seven, who were inspired by pop culture icons for their costumes
Bush Hager said Poppy wants to go as 'the character from Clueless' - even though she has never seen the 1995 film - while Mila plans on dressing up as one of Taylor Swift's albums
Bush Hager then brought up the Today show's annual Halloween extravaganza, asking, 'What are we going to be? We don't know yet.'
'I don't know, but you know it's going to be good,' Kotb said. 'It's going to be really, really good.'
Last October, the Today stars transformed into famous Las Vegas performers for their Sin City-themed Halloween show.
Kotb and her co-anchor Savannah Guthrie dressed as Cirque du Soleil stars while Bush Hager took on the role of singing legend Celine Dion.
The Today with Hoda & Jenna hosts got their fair share of candy last week when they ranked their favorite chocolate bars ahead of National Choose Your Chocolate Day on September 16.
'Heres the other question, how do you eat a Twix?' Kotb asked Bush Hager after they gave the chocolate bar the top spot.
'This is how I like to do it,' the former first daughter said as she grabbed the candy bar. 'I like to break 'em, pull the caramel, [and then bite it].'
But Kotb disagreed with her technique, saying, 'No, no. Thats not how you do it.'
Later in the show, Bush Hager was left horrified by the strange way her co-star Hoda Kotb eats a Twix bar
'That is so gross!' Bush Hager said after watching Kotb bite the caramel off the candy bar. She then shook her head in amusement, concluding, 'Wow, this show has really hit a new high'
'Please, dont eat around the corners. Please, don't eat it like corn,' Bush Hager begged her, causing her to burst into laughter.
'No, thats a Pop-Tart,' Kotb corrected her.
'Please, don't eat around it. Please, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?' Bush Hager continued.
Kotb couldn't stop laughing and struggled to compose herself before she demonstrated the way she eats a Twix.
'Okay, you bite the caramel off the top,' she said, raising the chocolate bar to her mouth while the audience groaned.
'That is so gross!' Bush Hager insisted.
Kotb explained that she eats the caramel first to 'get the cookie bar by itself.'
Bush Hager shook her head in amusement, concluding, 'Wow, this show has really hit a new high.'
One of Australia's top young chefs has revealed the secret menu item she gets at McDonald's and where to get the best takeaway nuggets of all time.
Kimberly Tang, 27, confessed she heads to McDonald's semi regularly despite cooking up a storm at Chatswood's Chef's Table as the sous at night.
Speaking to Good Food she confessed she likes to order a double cheeseburger when she visits the popular chain - but adds her own chef's twist.
She replaces the tomato sauce and mustard which comes on the burger with Big Mac sauce and opts for a steamed bun.
But this Mc-Meal isn't the 'least cheffy' thing Kimberly eats.
Kimberly Tang, 27, confessed she heads to McDonald's semi regularly despite cooking up a storm at Chatswood's Chef's Table as the sous at night
She revealed she loves chicken nuggets.
'Two Peck Crispy Chicken nuggets and wings in plum salt,' to be exact.
She also said she likes to head to Top Ryde Baker's House for their famous Bahn Mi - suggesting people go outside of peak times to avoid the long lines the bakery has become notorious for.
Kimberly continues to win awards for her food. She was named the Golden Chef of the Year in 2021 and being named in the 30 under 30 list compiled by Melbourne Food and Wine.
She also won the Pamela Bakes award at this year's HostPlus Awards.
The Duchess of Sussex made a surprise visit to a community cafe for girls and women who are homeless before leaving Germany at the end of the Invictus Games.
In photos that surfaced just as the Prince of Wales commenced his Earthshot trip in New York City, Meghan, 42, is pictured beaming with a woman who is thought to be named Aylin Aydemir at TrebeCafe.
The images, which were shared by fan accounts on social media, were undated but are believed to have been taken before the Duchess left Germany after the Invictus Games last week.
Opting for another monochrome outfit, the Duchess donned a 300 grey cable knit long sleeved top from Toteme and a pair of 300 pleated wide-leg trousers from the same brand.
As she met with workers and women who visit the community cafe before the end of the Sussexes' joint trip to Germany, Prince William landed in the couple's home country of the US as he touched down at Newark Airport ahead of a week of Earthshot events.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, visited TrebeCafe in Dusseldorf before heading back to the US after the Invictus Games
During her visit to the cafe, the Duchess shared a sweet moment with a little girl who appeared to present her with a dish
While at the cafe, which employs social workers to help women who visit, Meghan was pictured in a sweet moment with a little girl who appeared to present her with a dish.
In the snaps, the Duchess can be seen wearing gold bracelets on her wrist, and wearing her thick brunette locks loose and hanging past her shoulders.
She beams as she stands with her arm around one woman at the cafe.
The community space provides support and resources for women and girls who are homeless and has recently launched a campaign against period poverty.
This is an issue Meghan has spoken out on in the past: in 2017, the then-35-year-old girlfriend of Prince Harry penned an essay for Time magazine about how the shame associated with menstruation and the lack of access to appropriate sanitation hinders girls from pursuing an education in developing nations.
Meghan stressed that in order to remedy the problem of period poverty, girls need Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), access to toilets and sanitary pads.
She wrote: 'Beyond India, in communities all over the globe, young girls' potential is being squandered because we are too shy to talk about the most natural thing in the world.
'To that I say: we need to push the conversation, mobilize policy making surrounding menstrual health initiatives, support organizations who foster girls' education from the ground up, and within our own homes, we need to rise above our puritanical bashfulness when it comes to talking about menstruation.'
Photos of Meghan's visit to the cafe emerge days after the closing ceremony for the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf (pictured: Meghan and Harry attend the Games' closing ceremony)
Meghan was glowing in an 830 Cult Gaia dress laser-cut with floral patterns, along with 525 leather pumps from Aquazzura at the closing ceremony
The Sussexes are snapped chatting as they watch the closing ceremony which celebrated the 6th Invictus Games
Meghan and Harry enjoying the closing ceremony at the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf
Dominic Reid, chief executive of the Invictus Games, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Elke Bundenbender and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president of Germany, at the Invictus Games closing ceremony in Dusseldorf
The photos emerge just days after the Invictus Games' closing ceremony, during which Prince Harry gave an emotional speech.
His five-minute speech saluted those who have taken part in the week-long games, which were founded in 2014 for veterans to represent their county and compete in.
Meghan stood alongside her husband. She wore a 830 Raylene dress from Cult Gaia, laser-cut with floral patterns.
She paired the frock with 525 Purist leather pumps from Aquazzura, 595 Kimai diamond earrings made with lab-grown stones, a 5,000 Cartier bracelet and a 50,000 Lorraine Schwartz emerald cut diamond pinky ring.
Meanwhile Prince William, who has just arrived in the US where the Sussexes are returning to, has been busy with his own worthy causes.
Last night, William, 41, met with UN secretary general Antonion Guterres to discuss 'efforts required to accelerate the fight against climate change and protect the environment'.
The Prince of Wales and the UN Secretary-General appeared in high spirits as they toured the 93-member world body where world leaders have gathered for their annual summit.
After telling reporters it was 'so good to be back' in the US as he got waist deep in the Hudson at an Oyster project, he took a trip to the UN ahead of a 'no nonsense' climate summit being hosted by Guterres on Wednesday.
After their meeting, a UN spokesperson said the pair also 'discussed efforts to enhance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as financing for development'.
Guterres warned that the goals 'need a global rescue plan.'
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales speaks to students from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School about the Billion Oyster Project on Governors Island in New York on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)
Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales arrives at a waiting boat ahead of a trip to meet students from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School regarding the Billion Oyster Project on Governors Island on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, Pool)
Earlier, William heaped praise on the US, saying 'no-one does optimism and ingenuity like the American people' as he arrived at Newark airport last night on the two day trip.
William, who flew commercial and was traveling without the Princess of Wales, went straight from the airport to Governor's island, which sits in New York Harbour.
There he was due to learn about the Billion Oyster Project, which aims to make the waters around New York clean by putting a billion oyster shells in them by 2035 to act as natural filters.
Tomorrow William will announce the 15 finalists for this year's Earthshot Prize, which awards companies and projects focusing on climate solutions.
There appears to be no plans to see his estranged brother while in the US - just days after Prince Harry's Invictus Games came to a close in Dusseldorf, Germany.
During their time in Dusseldorf, the Sussexes were a hit with athletes at the Invictus Games, as well as their families and other spectators.
Much like Harry's brother William, the couple made their own diplomatic visits - including to a NATO meeting one morning before they headed to the sitting volleyball event.
A woman has revealed how she made almost 1,000 by simply selling Polaroid photos at Notting Hill Carnival - and now plans to take her business global.
Amma Antwi, from Battersea in south London, took to the streets at the Caribbean carnival over August bank holiday weekend and snapped photos of the public charging a fiver a shot.
The 32-year-old also sold bundle deals charging 10 for three Polaroid pictures that she took on her Instax Mini 11 camera.
In total, Amma said she made 900 and sold more than 200 instant pictures, which resulted in a profit of 573 after subtracting the set-up costs of the camera, film and card reader.
She said she was happy with her trading skills over the two days but hopes to make a bigger turnover selling photos at the next event she attends as she now has all the photography kit.
Amma Antwi, from Battersea in south London , pocketed almost 1,000 by simply selling Polaroid photos at Notting Hill Carnival - and now plans to take her business global
Amma said she felt like a candidate on the BBC One series The Apprentice as she had to deal with a lot of rejection.
However, the freelance photographer, known as BSG, said the majority of Carnivalgoers loved her entrepreneurial idea and Amma said she saw rejection from passers-by as 'redirection'.
Amma said: 'I love Notting Hill Carnival and as I have recently started doing photography I wanted a way to strengthen these skills but also network and speak to people I may not get to speak to every day.
'As much as I wanted to use my digital camera, I thought using my Polaroid would be the golden touch.
'I felt like I was on The Apprentice because I had to go up to people and sell and with this I had to handle a lot of rejection too.
'I knew I was going to get rejected. It was understandable. But I was ready for it.
'The first person I asked I got rejected by but this gave me that rush to sell and get a yes.
'I thought if I got nos it wasn't a bad thing, I saw it as redirection.
She took to the streets at the Caribbean carnival over August bank holiday weekend and snapped photos of the public charging a fiver a shot
The 32-year-old also sold bundle deals charging 10 for three Polaroid pictures that she took on her Instax Mini 11 camera
In total, Amma said she made 900 and sold more than 200 instant pictures, which resulted in a profit of 573 after subtracting the set-up costs of the camera, film and card reader
'Using a Polaroid, you are really capturing the moment so there was a bit of pressure too.
'It sounds weird but I liked getting the rejection. It made me think what I could change to make a sale, which made me feel like I was on the show.'
Amma said she accepted cash and card payments at the carnival to attract as many buyers as possible.
To advertise her Polaroid printing, she created 'walking billboards' by wearing white tops from Primark with printed iron-on letters outlining the prices of her photo business.
She said she also used a giant megaphone to vocally promote her trading too and said almost everyone she spoke to loved her photo idea and encouraged her to keep selling.
Amma said: 'I'd say 95 per cent of people, whether they bought a Polaroid photo or not, loved the idea and my entrepreneurial skills and told me to keep going.
She said she was happy with her trading skills over the two days but hopes to make a bigger turnover selling photos at the next event she attends as she now has all the photography kit
She said she also used a giant megaphone to vocally promote her trading and said almost everyone she spoke to loved her photo idea and encouraged her to keep selling
Amma said she accepted cash and card payments at the carnival to attract as many buyers as possible
After the success of this year's Polaroid sales, Amma says she will definitely be doing it again at next year's Carnival and hopes to take the business global if she can form a partnership with Polaroid or Instax
'This made me feel good. I didn't see it as a hustle, I just saw it as a fun thing to do.'
After the success of this year's Polaroid sales, Amma says she will definitely be doing it again at next year's Notting Hill Carnival and hopes to take the business global if she can form a partnership with Polaroid or Instax.
Amma said: 'I am 100 per cent doing it again.
'Carnival weekend is one of the last bank holidays in the UK so next year I'm going to do it again at the Carnival and then maybe fly to New York for the Labour day Celebrations.
'This will be a completely different crowd to the London crowd.
'I'd love to get a partnership with Polaroid or Instax and take the business global.
'We could then take the business to places like Brazil. There are so many carnivals in the world.
'They haven't got back to me yet [these companies] but we're pushing for it and I'm ambitious.'
Prince William 'really enjoyed' wading in the East River during a trip to an environmental water project in New York.
The 41-year-old royal is currently in the States on a solo trip during which he will announce the finalists for his 2023 Earthshot Prize.
William founded the awards in 2020, saying he wanted to turn 'current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism by celebrating the people and places driving change.
Every year between 2021 and 2030, an awards ceremony will honour winners in the prize's five categories who are creating innovations which tackle environmental issues. Each winner is given 1million to support and scale their work.
Upon his arrival in the US on Monday, the Prince of Wales went straight to Governors Island in New York Harbor to visit the Billion Oyster Project, which aims to make the waters around New York clean by putting a billion oyster shells in them by 2035 to act as natural filters.
Prince William waded in the East River, which he is said to have 'really enjoyed', during a visit to the Billion Oyster Project in New York yesterday (pictured)
While visiting the initiative (pictured) Prince William learnt about the work the Project is doing to clean the waters around New York
During the engagement, the royal donned waders and took to the water - an experience he 'really enjoyed', according to the Billion Oyster Project's Director of Community Engagement Robina Taliaferrow.
Speaking about the royal's visit, Robina said in a video clip: 'He really enjoyed it, especially after an eight-hour flight, so he was excited to get into the natural environment.'
During the visit, William met schoolchildren who are studying marine biology and spoke with employees of the Billion Oyster Project, which was founded in 2014 by Murray Fisher and Pete Malinowski.
He also saw the giant pile of oyster shells that are donated by 75 restaurants in New York rather than being sent to landfill sites.
And afterward - despite the gray skies and rain - he waded into the East River from a small beach and put some oysters into the water.
Prince William is set to announce the Earthshot finalists today. Arriving at the airport yesterday, he said: 'It's so good to be back in United States.
'No one does optimism and ingenuity like the American people, so it's only right we unveil this year's Earthshot finalists in New York City.
'80 years ago, the world came together in this great city to find a new way, through the UN, to solve our shared challenges.
The Prince talks with members of the project as he walks along the New York foreshore
William stands up to his waist in the water as he mucks in - putting in oysters in a bid to clean the waterway
On Governor's Island, Prince William met schoolchildren (pictured) who are studying marine biology
The Prince of Wales can be seen chuckling as he speaks with children as he visits Billion Oyster Project
He asked questions and listened intently as volunteers told him more about an area with thousands of oyster shells at the Billion Oyster Project
William set off on a boat with executive director and co founder of Billion Ouster Project Pete Malinowski
'I know our generation can take the bold action we need to make changes towards a healthy and sustainable world. The challenge may feel huge, but as John F Kennedy taught us, we rise to the challenge not because it is easy, but because it is hard. And vital'.
Ahead of William's arrival, a Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'The prince was incredibly appreciative for the love and support shown by the American people during that time.
'He is very much looking forward to being back in New York this week and hopefully meeting as many New Yorkers as possible'
The Prince left the Princess of Wales at home with the children as he travelled to the US - with Kate also not expected to join him for the Earthshot Awards ceremony in Singapore in November.
There appears to be no plans to see his estranged brother while in the US - just days after Prince Harry's Invictus Games came to a close in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Jana is currently the only Duggar sister over the age of 18 to remain single
'I try and not like meddle too much in my siblings' lives,' Jill said in a livestream
Little is known about where Jill, 32, stands with her only older sister, 33
Jill Dillard Duggar has opened up about her difficult relationship with her older sister, Jana, and other siblings who remain under the locus of control wielded by her family's cult-like religion.
The 32-year-old 19 Kids And Counting star was responding during a fan Q&A held last week when she spoke about where she currently stands with her 33-year-old sister.
'Do you worry about Jana and her lack of being able to leave your father's hold, or hold to Bill Gothard's teachings?' one submission asked.
'I try and not meddle too much in my siblings' lives,' Jill responded in the livestream, held to publicize her newly released memoir, Counting The Cost.
Jill Dillard Duggar, 32, and husband Derick, 34, addressed the state of her relationship with older sister Jana, 33, in a Q&A with fans that streamed live last week
Jill and Derick held the livestream to publicize their newly released memoir Counting The Cost, which documents her upbringing in the Duggar family
'I don't know where they're all at. I don't want to speak about their stories and everything. I'll let them tell their story or figure it out themselves.
'But, I think anyone who has grown up in IBLP, it's definitely a process and it's one that's very hard to come away from and kind of sort through,' she continued.
'I love how my sister, Jinger, in her book talked about disentangling your faith and what a process that is and how hard it is,' Jill added of her sibling's memoir, titled Becoming Free Indeed, which hit shelves in January.
'You really have to have support around you to make that happen.'
Jill, along with her siblings, were raised by their parents, Jim Bob, 58, and Michelle, 57, according to the hyper-strict rules of the fundamentalist Christian sect Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Their upbringing was documented on reality TV hit 19 Kids And Counting, which aired from 2008 to 2015.
Seated at her side throughout last week's Q&A, Jill's husband Derick, 34, chimed in to voice his agreement.
'It's hard whenever you're in something to see something from the outside. So the book starts out talking about the bewilderment that people saw looking at a family in this culture,' he said.
The older Duggar daughters include, from left to right: Joy-Anna, 25; Jinger, 29; Jessa, 30; Jill, 32; and Jana, 33
Jana and Jill entered the national spotlight as the eldest and second-eldest of the Duggar daughters respectively on the reality TV hit 19 Kids And Counting
Jim Bob, 58, and Michelle Duggar, 57, raised their 19 children in adherence to the strict principles of the cult-like Christian fundamentalist organization IBLP
'After a while, as you establish your own identity, you kind of realize what it is the further you get away from something. Kind of if you were leaving Earth, and Earth looks very different, when you're not standing right on top of it.'
Of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's 19 kids, Jill is the second-eldest daughter of the nine girls.
As seen on the show, Michelle and Jim-Bob relied heavily on their older daughters - who also include Jessa, 30, and Jinger, 29 - to help look after the younger spate of Duggar siblings.
While Jill was the first of the girls to tie the knot back in 2014 at age 23, Jana is the only Duggar daughter to remain single well into adulthood.
Jill recalled how Jana helped her get through the tumultuous period leading up to her wedding to Derick in Counting The Cost
'If it hadn't been for my sister Jana offering to take my phone and handle all the wedding stuff for me in the final days, I'd have spun out completely,' she wrote.
Jill and Derick share Israel, eight, Samuel, six, and 14-month-old Frederick. The couple is pictured here with their two older sons
Beyond coordinating the wedding and the logistics of filming it for 19 Kids And Counting, Jill and Derick were also grappling with the reality that his mother was seemingly losing her battle to stage 4 cancer (though she'd later miraculously pull through).
The couple have since welcomed three children: Israel, eight, Samuel, six, and 14-month-old Frederick.
Elsewhere in her memoir, Jill narrated the horrifying story around Samuel's birth, during which both mother and son almost lost their lives after she suffered a uterine rupture and the then-newborn was found to have a brain bleed.
Meanwhile, the fifth-eldest Duggar daughter, 25-year-old Joy-Anna, spoke out with her husband on their family vlog this month about how the couple has 'never' been involved with IBLP since getting together.
Back in her late teens, Jana had been the only Duggar kid to be invited by since-disgraced IBLP founder Bill Gothard to work at the organization's Chicago headquarters.
Gothard, 88, resigned from the helm of IBLP in 2014 after dozens of women spoke out accusing him of sexual abuse - much of which allegedly happened to young women he'd handpicked to work for him at IBLP's offices.
It's unclear whether Jana took up Gothard on the offer of employment.
Earlier this year, the explosive Duggar docuseries Shiny Happy People dropped on Amazon Prime Video.
In the series, Jill and Derick explained that the couple's relationship with the rest of the core Duggar family had become deeply strained.
Jill said that her relationship with her dad, Jim-Bob, had gotten 'pretty toxic,' adding that 'everything within the family dynamic has shifted - and not for the better.'
'We're very much on the outside with the family,' Derick echoed.
The Dutch royals ramped up the glamour for one of the Netherlands' most ceremonious celebrations on Tuesday.
Today marks Prince's Day (Prinsjesdag), the opening day of the Dutch parliament, which takes place every year on the third Tuesday in September - and sees the royals take to the balcony of Noordeinde Palace to wave to crowds below.
The royal family, including King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and their daughters, Crown Princess Alexia, 18, and Crown Princess Amalia, 19 - who's heir to the throne - certainly donned their finery for the occasion.
While mother-of-three Queen Maxima, 52, opted for a peach trouser suit ensemble and a regal-looking brown floral dress coat, her daughters went for bold colour, with Amalia wearing a royal blue dress, suede heels and sapphire drop earrings, with her blonde hair wrapped neatly in an up-do.
Meanwhile her younger sibling, Alexia, also opted for a charged colour; wearing a stylish ankle-length cerise dress, wearing her brunette locks tousled and pinned back on the left side.
It's believed the King and Queen's youngest daughter, Crown Princess Ariane, is away studying at the Italian school she attends, UWC Adriatic.
Netherlands' Crown Princesses Amalia, 19, and Alexia, 18, took centre stage on the balcony of Noordeinde Palace in The Hague on Budget Day after their father, King Willem-Alexander, delivered the Speech from the Throne in the Royal Theater on Prince's Day
The glamourous sisters clearly take after their mother as they smiled at crowds
King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands, Queen Maxima, Princess, Princess Alexia, Princess Laurentien and Prince Constantijn of The Netherlands at the balcony of Palace Noordeinde at Prinsjesdag
The teenage royal accessorised with a maroon leather clutch bags and matching gloves.
The royals attended the Prinsjesdag 2023 celebrations at the Noordeinde Royal Palace before driving to Nieuwe Kerk where King Willem-Alexander delivered the throne speech to the members of the Upper and Lower Chamber.
The King looked impeccably smart, wearing a a black suit jacket with tails for the government address as well as a light grey waistcoat.
He finished off the outfit with a pair of grey trousers with subtle stripes and a white and grey striped tie.
After arriving at the Royal Theater, a suited and booted Willem-Alexander solemnly delivered the speech written by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, as his wife looked on.
The Dutch equivalent of the State Opening of Parliament, Prinsjesdag sees the monarch give details of the government's programme for the next financial year, as well as budget allocations.
Thousands of well-wishers gathered on Prince's Day as the Dutch royals took to the balcony to offer a wave. Pictured from left: King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, his wife Queen Maxima, Princess Amalia, Princess Alexia, Princess Laurentien and Prince Constantijn
The family lingered to offer another wave before making their way inside on Tuesday afternoon
Queen Maxima and her oldest daughter - who will one day be Queen - take to the balcony
Queen Maxima of The Netherlands waves to royal fans ahead of the ceremony at the Hague's Royal Theater to celebrate Prinsjesdag ('Prince's Day')
The ceremony is traditionally serious, with all eyes on King Willem-Alexander as he delivered the throne speech to the members of the Upper and Lower Chamber
Fanfare: Queen Maxima delicately descends the carriage to stand with her husband and daughters Crown Princesses Amalia and Alexia (far right)
The Dutch King and Queen's youngest daughter Princess Alexia, 18, wore a bold bright pink dress for the annual occasion - flanked by King Willem-Alexander's younger brother Prince Constantijn and his wife Princess Laurentien
Meanwhile, Crown Princess Amalia, 19, wearing a bright purple dress and her blonde hair wrapped neatly in an up-do
King Willem-Alexander and daughter Princess Amalia seen leaving the Noordeinde Royal Palace ahead of the drive to the Royal Theater for the throne speech
A little helping hand? Princess Alexia takes the arm of a footman as she descends from the carriage
The King looked impeccably smart, wearing a a black suit jacket with tails for the government address as well as a light grey waistcoat
The royal couple are seen leaving Noordeinde Palace ahead of Tuesday's Prince's Day
Although there were some protesters in the crowds gathered, the mood was largely jubilant
Typically the pair are joined by other members of the royal family for the event, and this year was no different with King Willem-Alexander's younger brother Prince Constatijn and his wife Princess Laurentien in attendance - who escorted in their niece Princess Alexia.
The royal, who recently celebrated her 18th birthday, is the second child of Queen Maxima and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
Her eldest sister Catharina-Amalia is the heir - but that hasn't stopped the Dutch royals from making sure Amalia gets her time in the limelight.
The royal recently underwent her first solo engagement, as she christened the Vox Alexia, a ship by Dutch manufacture Van Oord, in Rotterdam.
Rather than shy away from the spotlight, the princess looked poised and professional throughout the solo event.
Following the christening, Alexia gave a tour of the ship and chat to the crew, as well as speak to members of the Young Van Oord association.
Alexia recently graduated from UWC Atlantic College in South Wales in May this year, with her parents travelling to the prestigious school to celebrate.
The school is often referred to as 'Hippie Hogwarts' thanks to its progressive approach to education and picturesque castle setting.
Hong Kong: Winnie Ho views construction tech
Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho today visited Zhuhai and Shenzhen to gain an understanding of Multi-trade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing (MiMEP) in the Greater Bay Area.
Ms Ho visited the digital pavilion and production lines of the China Overseas Innovation & Technology (Zhuhai) Company and was briefed on the production processes of the MiMEP modules.
By applying the modular integrated method, it integrates multi-trade building services components into a single assembly of prefabricated modules, which are manufactured in a factory and then transported to the site for connection of modules to complete various trades of building services installations on-site more effectively and efficiently.
Ms Ho said a wide adoption of MiMEP can help address the labour shortage while reducing the time of installing electrical and mechanical installations on-site.
This can further enhance site safety and building quality as well as reduce construction waste, and is conductive to enhancing the speed, efficiency, quantity and quality of housing supply, she added.
The housing chief then proceeded to Qianhai, Shenzhen. Accompanied by Party Secretary and Housing & Construction Bureau of Shenzhen Director-General Xu Songming, she toured the Qianhai Exhibition Hall and the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base to understand the urban planning which includes indemnificatory housing.
Ms Ho also shared with leaders of local housing and construction offices Hong Kong's public housing development and management experience. She also exchanged views with Shenzhen's professional teams to draw on each other's experience when setting future directions.
This story has been published on: 2023-09-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
However, she was blasted when she revealed she covered the exit signs
She boasted her lavish wedding reception and ceremony on TikTok
Bridget, 39, tied the knot to her husband Michael on the streets of New York
An influencer bride has been accused of putting her wedding guests' lives at risk after she covered up the 'ugly' exit signs at her reception in order to maintain a picture-perfect aesthetic.
Fashion influencer Bridget Bahl, 39, took to the streets of New York City to tie the knot to her husband, Texas-based plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Chiodo.
The bride was praised for her iconic style that saw her and her guests dining on the streets of Soho, traveling across the city on a tour bus, and being a part of a stunning rooftop ceremony.
However, Bridget's attempt to turn her special day into a scene from a movie backfired when her TikTok followers noticed she had hidden the exit signs in her wedding, which was held at The Plaza, because they were 'ugly' - prompting many people on the web to slam her for caring more about the 'aesthetic' then the safety of her guests.
A fashion influencer bride has been slammed for covering up 'ugly' exit signs at her wedding to help maintain her picture-perfect aesthetic
Fashion influencer Bridget Bahl , 39, took to the streets of New York City to tie the knot to her husband and Texas-based plastic surgeon Dr. Michael Chiodo
However, Bridget's attempt to turn her special day into a scene from a movie backfired when her TikTok followers noticed the entrepreneur had hidden the exit signs in her venue
Throughout the last two weeks, Bridget has shared a slew of videos that capture her glamorous wedding.
In one of the clips, which has so far amassed over 1.2 million views, Bridget twirled around the cobblestone streets of Soho in her vintage Christian Dior gown.
The lavish bride showed off her classy rehearsal dinner set up, which featured a white table complete with white flowers and plenty of seats in the middle of the street.
Fans gushed over her dream wedding after viewing other viral videos that boasted her ceremony and featured a touching group prayer, birds, and more.
However, when Bridget shared a clip of herself in her wedding venue, she was blasted by her followers.
She boasted about her decision to cover up all of the emergency exit signs to maintain the theme of her wedding.
The bride branded the safety signs 'ugly' and used a copper plaque to cover them.
In the video, which she has since deleted, she said: 'Covered all of the ugly red exit signs to save the wedding photos.'
Throughout the last two weeks, Bridget has shared a slew of videos that capture her glamorous wedding (photos from her reception shown)
Fans gushed over her dream wedding after viewing other viral videos that boasted her ceremony and featured a touching group prayer, birds, and more
However, when Bridget (shown with guests at her reception) shared a clip of herself in her wedding venue, she was blasted by her followers
She boasted about her decision to cover up all of the emergency exit signs to maintain the theme of her wedding
The bride captioned the clip: 'Probably not up to code.'
Despite quickly taking the video down, people on the video-sharing platform were quick to stitch it and share their thoughts, including a photographer.
Vermont-based photographer Madison Anne shared her reactions to the safety violation.
'Literally speechless, and I promise you, exit signs are not a big deal [for photographers to edit out of images],' she captioned the clip.
In the video, she showed off how 'easy' it was to photoshop exit signs out of wedding photos.
She added: 'Imagine investing in a good photographer instead of breaking safety codes.'
Another user, who goes by Tom Hanks, also stitched the bride's video.
Tom shared the history of the exit signs as a way to put the fashion influencer on blast.
In the video, which she has since deleted, she said: 'Covered all of the ugly red exit signs to save the wedding photos'
The bride (shown with her bridesmaids) captioned the clip: 'Probably not up to code'
According to Total Fire Protection, exits to the outside, hallways, stairwells, and doors leading to exits must be clearly marked with an approved exit sign' (Bridget's rehearsal dinner shown)
The history of exit signs dates back to 1911, when 146 Manhattan garment factory workers were killed during a huge fire.
The blaze - and the deaths that is caused - prompted the National Fire Protection Association to come up with a way to quickly get people out of buildings in case of an emergency.
People flooded the comments sections of both Madison and Tom's videos and shared their thoughts.
One person said: 'Her videos show the centerpieces having huge open flame candles too!'
Another user said: 'As an event producer this gives me hives.'
'If I walk into a room and cant see an exit I have a panic attack,' someone else said.
'How selfish! To not consider the safety of others. Just photoshop it out! Its red and big for the visually impaired too,' another user commented.
Someone else wrote: 'She obviously doesnt pay attention enough to the logistics of safety.'
Vermont-based photographer Madison Anne shared her reactions to the safety violation
Many viewers also questioned which venue allowed the bride to cover the safety signs
Many viewers also questioned which venue allowed the bride to cover the safety signs.
According to Elle, Bridget's wedding was planned by Laurie Arons and Birch Event Design and it was held at The Plaza Hotel.
Bridget previously praised The Plaza for allowing open flames, so that she didn't have to put candles in hurricane holders.
According to Total Fire Protection, in New York City, all points of egress including exits to the outside, hallways, stairwells, and doors leading to exits must be clearly marked with an approved exit sign.'
'When purchasing exit signs, it is important to understand that New York City has very specific design requirements,' the website continues, noting that all approved exit signs must feature the word 'exit' in red letters.
'The letters for the word Exit must be red in color and 8 inches tall, with a 1-inch stroke, or line width.
'The sign itself, not including the letters, must be white, translucent, or aluminum (light grey) in color. For signs that are internally lit, the lighting must be red, not white, with a luminescence of at least 250 foot-lamberts.'
It is unclear whether Bridget was approved to cover up the exit signs at her reception.
DailyMail.com has reached out to The Plaza for a comment.
Sarah Ferguson looked typically stylish as she opted for a sleek black dress with a butterfly pattern on Sunday as she posed with actress Kristin Davis at a charity gala in Sweden.
The Duchess of York, 62, wore her red locks long and loose at the Perfect World Foundation event in Gothenburg.
She was joined by Kristin Davis, who is best known for playing Charlotte in Sex and the City and it's spin-off And Just Like That.
Wearing a bright pink floor length gown, the actress presented an award at the Gothenburg-based non-profit nature conservation organisation.
She later took to Instagram to thank the Duchess for 'being so kind'.
Sarah Ferguson looked typically stylish as she opted for a sleek black dress with a butterfly pattern on Sunday as she posed with actress Kristin Davis at a charity gala in Sweden
The Duchess of York, 62, wore her red locks long and loose at the Perfect World Foundation event in Gothenburg
It comes after Fergie paid a sweet tribute to the late Queen on the first anniversary of her death.
The Duchess of York described her former mother-in-law as a 'wonderful friend, mentor and a second mother' in a touching Instagram post.
Sarah, who was married to the Queen's 'favourite son' Prince Andrew for 10 years, shared a sweet photo of the late monarch in her youth.
'You were a wonderful friend, a mentor, a second mother to me and grandmother to my daughters who share so much of your courage and heart.
'You will always be loved and missed by our family and our nation,' she wrote.
Sarah, who goes by Fergie, often talks about her closeness to the Queen.
Paying tribute to her former mother-in-law last year following her death, she praised the Queen as a 'fantastic example of duty and service and steadfastness.'
On a personal note, she thanked the Queen for being 'the most incredible mother-in-law and friend', adding: 'I will always be grateful to her for the generosity she showed me in remaining close to me even after my divorce.'
She was joined by Kristin Davis, who is best known for playing Charlotte in Sex and the City and it's spin-off And Just Like That
It comes after Fergie paid a sweet tribute to the late Queen on the first anniversary of her death
Sarah Ferguson continues to live at the Royal Lodge in Windsor with her estranged husband Prince Andrew.
Following news of the Queen's death, Fergie wrote: 'I am heartbroken by the passing of Her Majesty the Queen.
'She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy: the most fantastic example of duty and service and steadfastness, and a constant steadying presence as our head of state for more than 70 years.
'She has given her whole life selflessly to the people of the UK and the Commonwealth.
'To me, she was the most incredible mother-in-law and friend. I will always be grateful to her for the generosity she showed me in remaining close to me even after my divorce. I will miss her more than words can express.'
The Duchess of York who divorced the Duke of York in 1996, has sparked a raft of royal scandals over the years, but said the monarch was her 'greatest mentor' and had always believed in her.
Sasha Obama has been spotted sporting a figure-hugging crop top and baggy jeans as she pumps gas.
The former First Daughter, 22, kept it casual as she filled up her Subaru sedan car at the station in Los Angeles.
She flashed her midriff in the understated ensemble that allowed for a glimpse of a belly-button piercing.
It comes just days after Sasha was photographed puffing on a cigarette following a solo trip to a luxury spa.
Sasha Obama has been spotted sporting a figure-hugging crop top and baggy jeans as she pumps gas
She flashed her midriff in the understated ensemble that allowed for a glimpse of a belly-button piercing
Sasha, who appeared to be on her own, got hands on as she pumped her own gas at the service station
Sasha, who appeared to be on her own, got hands on as she pumped her own gas at the service station.
As she stepped out of the car, she casually swept her long, braided locks out of the way of her face.
The student opted for a natural makeup look, alongside a pair of statement glasses and a selection of dazzling rings.
The pitstop comes just days after Sasha was spotted stepping out of the lavish Los Angeles wellness center following some R&R.
The spa describes itself as 'a sanctuary, a place of wellness and beauty, inspiration and optimism' and offers a slew of classic treatments such as messages, facials, and manicures.
An onlooker told DailyMail.com that the University of Southern California graduate spent more than three hours at the self-care center on Thursday.
But, before driving off, the youngest daughter of President Barack Obama stopped to enjoy a cigarette.
It comes after con man Larry Sinclair alleged that dad Barack performed oral sex on him twice in Chicago in 1999, and that he witnessed him buying and smoking cocaine during an appearance on former Fox host Tucker Carlson's show.
As she stepped out of the car, she casually swept her long, braided locks out of the way of her face
The student opted for a natural makeup look, alongside a pair of statement glasses and a selection of dazzling rings
Sasha, 22, looked to be focused as she headed back behind the wheel after filling up the car's tank
Larry - who has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions on forgery, fraud and larceny charges, and has served prison time in Arizona, Florida, and Colorado - first made the claims in 2008, while Barack was gearing up to run for president.
At the time, his accusations were roundly condemned as an attempted political hatchet-job. He has never offered any proof of his claims against the former president.
Larry's claims were given a new lease of life last month, however, after The New York Post released a letter written by Barack in 1982, when he was 21 years old, to his girlfriend Alex McNear.
In it, he wrote that he 'loves making love to men daily, but in the imagination,' according to the publication.
Sasha relocated to the West Coast in 2022 after she transferred to USC from the University of Michigan, and she is now living in LA with sister Malia.
Malia - who is currently on a trip to New York City - moved there in 2021 to pursue her career as a screenwriter, after she finished her studies at Harvard University.
Back in November, their mom, Michelle, gushed over how her two daughters became each other's 'best friends' after going through a period of not being able to 'stand each other.'
'The thing that I love the most is that those two girls are each other's best friends,' she told Today hosts Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager.
The pitstop comes just days after Sasha was spotted stepping out of the lavish Los Angeles wellness center following some R&R
Sasha relocated to the West Coast in 2022 after she transferred to USC from the University of Michigan, and she is now living in LA with sister Malia
Sasha, who kept it low-key for the occasion, strode forward with purpose after pumping her own gas
'There was a period of time when they couldn't stand each other, and I said, "You wait, you are going to wake up one day and you're going to look over at that other person, and you're going to know that you two share something very unique," especially given what they've been through.
'To see them in that place where they're one anothers support systems and they've got each other's backs, it's the thing that a mother would want.'
The pair seem to have spent some time apart of late however - with Malia making a recent trip to New York City, where she was seen strolling around with a close pal last week.
Photographers caught the eldest daughter of former President Barack Obama taking a walk through Manhattan on Wednesday.
The Harvard graduate, 25, seemed in great spirits as she accompanied a pal on a dog walk. It's unclear whether she made the trip for business or pleasure, but she was wearing a wide grin throughout her outing.
Malia has hit the ground running as far as her career is concerned - landing a spot on the writing team for an Amazon Prime project being helmed by Donald Glover - however younger sister Sasha has yet to reveal her post-college plans publicly.
Last week, Sasha was spotted puffing on a cigarette while donning a crop top and bright green sweatpants during a solo spa visit
The USC graduate (seen with her family) has yet to publicly reveal what she plans to do in the future - while her older sister Malia is pursuing a career in TV writing
The 22-year-old graduated from the University of Southern California back in May, with proud parents Barack and Michelle watching on from the stands alongside her sister Malia.
Malia had been working on a project called Swarm, a series about a 'Beyonce-type character' that premiered on Amazon Prime earlier this year. Prior to that, the Ivy League grad worked as an intern on Lena Dunham's HBO series Girls in 2015 and at The Weinstein Company in 2017.
Thus far, Sasha's employment history has remained much more under-the-radar - with reports revealing in 2016 that the then-15-year-old had secured a summer job working at a seafood shack on Martha's Vineyard.
Photos taken at the time showed the former First Daughter working at Nancy's while wearing her uniform of a blue T-shirt and hat and khaki banks, and ringing up take-out orders for hungry customers.
'She's been working downstairs at takeout,' said a server at the restaurant. 'We were wondering why there were six people helping this girl, but then we found out who it was.'
A man has shared the 'secret' sign language all Australians use and says foreigners should familiarise themselves with it before a trip Down Under.
Paul, from Brisbane, is a comedian and audience specialist who goes by @bartsimpsonfan69 online.
He recently revealed all the ingrained Aussie mannerisms thousands expect others to know - such as tilting your head up in a nod when you see someone you know in public, but tilting it down in a nod when it's an acquaintance.
Paul listed out several other situations where people might use cultural gestures - such as seeing a friend while driving or letting someone in during traffic.
'If you're in a car and you're greeting someone, there are a few levels to it - and they get more intense depending on how well you know them,' he said.
Paul started simple with what you should do if you're walking past someone on the street.
'If you see someone on the street and you know them, you tilt your head up slightly,' he said. 'But if you see someone you don't know as well, or you know them from work or school, you tilt your head down.'
Being in a car opens you up to a whole new world of Aussie gestures - such as the 'finger wave'.
A finger wave is when your hand is on the wheel but you only lift your index finger in a small wave.
'You do this when you've been driving for a while and haven't seen another car in ages - you give them a finger wave 'hello'.'
Aussies lift their whole hand in a wave when they're driving to thank people - usually for letting them in during traffic or giving way
It is different when you lift your whole hand in an actual wave, which is reserved for thanking people.
'Usually if someone lets you in during traffic, you do the 'thank you' wave,' Paul said.
He went on, 'If you're driving and you see a friend, you might wave but ideally you honk. If they're a close friend, you drive behind them and flash your headlights and honk.'
Paul then revealed some signs for bidding farewell.
'If you're saying goodbye to someone and you're in a car, you give a little double honk,' he said.
'And if they're not in a car, you give them a finger gun.'
What are unique Aussie gestures? * Tilting your head up in a nod when you see a friend * Tilting your head down in a nod when you see an acquaintance * Doing a finger wave when you see another car after an empty stretch * Raising your hand in a 'thank you' wave when someone lets you in traffic * Honking when you see someone you know while driving * Honking twice to say goodbye Advertisement
Many agreed with Paul and thanked him for the comprehensive list.
'This is so accurate,' one said.
'New Zealand has the same rules as well!' another added.
'This reminds me of when I was in an Uber in Costa Rica and the driver explained that there are three distinct types of honks,' a man recalled. 'One is 'thank you', one is 'I recognise somebody out there on the street', and one is 'hey I'm here bud'.'
TikTok comedian acts out how Aussies tend to behave in America
An Australian has left thousands in stitches after acting out how Aussies tend to behave when visiting America.
Tamz Jade poked fun at how Australians usually amp up their accents overseas to make it known where they're from.
In a skit shared on TikTok, she acted out two scenes to compare the habit - how an Australian would order McDonald's back home compared to abroad.
She highlighted how Australians call hot fries 'chips', the difference in pronunciation of 'water' and 'no', and mention that 'American money is only one colour'.
TikTok comedian Tamz Jade (pictured) poked fun at how Australians usually amp up their accents overseas to make it known where they're from when visiting America
In the video, Tamz acted as if she was ordering a Quarter Pounder meal, soft serve ice cream and bottle of water in Australia.
But her accent changed significantly when pretending she was in America.
'G'day, g'day, g'day, how are ya? How ya goin'? Could I get a Quarter Pounder meal and a soft serve ice cream, and could I get some extra salt on the chips?' she said and placed emphasis on the word 'chips'.
She then paused, looked around with a smile on her face and said 'chips' again.
'Oh sorry - "fries" - I'm from Australia. We call it chips in Australia,' she said with a laugh.
Tamz then asked for a bottle of water and repeated this request several times, before saying it one more time in an American accent.
She also made fun of how Australians pronounce 'oh no' and how McDonald's is shortened to 'Macca's.'
She mocked how Australians call hot fries 'chips', the difference in pronunciation of 'water' and 'no', and how American money is all one colour
The funny video has since exceeded more than 796,000 views and many admitted they to behave the same way.
'Whenever I hear and American accent my Aussie accent gets 10x Aussier,' one said.
'My accent goes full Julia Gillard when i go to USA. They love our accent,' another said.
'They lost their minds whenever I would say "water",' a third wrote.
Someone else said: 'My mum legit talks like the most normal Australian accent yet my dad had to translate for her in America. Never realised she even had an accent.'
'My husband never says "mate" in Australia but it's like every second word when he's in the US,' another added.
'I'd never said "G'day" in my life until I was in America, and I'd forgotten how to say "hi" apparently,' someone else wrote.
Read more: I moved to Australia from Canada and didn't expect it to be so hard: 'It's a crisis'
American expat 'blown away' by everyday kitchen essential that everyone in Australia and New Zealand has
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She always packs slippers and a shower cap from hotels
Kashlee Kucheran goes on more than 100 flights per year
A travel expert has shared the two items she always takes from hotel rooms before a flight.
Kashlee Kucheran, from Canada, goes on more than 100 flights each year and to make the journey more comfortable she relies on two free hotel essentials.
The holiday pro, who's the CEO of media agency Travel Off Path, ensures she packs slippers to wear on the flight and a shower cap to prevent dirty shoes from touching clean clothes.
'No matter what, you will always find me with both items in my luggage at all times,' Kashlee captioned a TikTok video.
Kashlee Kucheran, from Canada, has shared her go-to tips when preparing for flights. She always takes free slippers and shower cap from hotels
Kashlee said most airlines will provide socks for long-haul flights, but not slippers unless travelling in first class.
The travel pro encouraged other passengers to use the slippers because the floor on planes is usually filthy.
'If you have a long-haul flight coming up, most airlines will give you socks for long flights,' she said, adding: 'But they are super thin and trust me you don't want to wear them to the bathroom.'
'If you brought hotel slipper you can confidently walk around the plane with them instead.'
Hotel guests are also usually offered a range of complimentary items - such as shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and hand wash - which can come in handy when travelling.
The holiday pro, who's the CEO of media agency Travel Off Path, ensures she packs slippers to wear on the flight and a shower cap to prevent dirty shoes from touching clean clothes
In addition to slippers, the savvy traveller recommends using the shower cap too - but not in a way you may think.
Kashlee uses the bathroom item to cover the bottom of her shoes.
'These are an amazing way to keep your dirty shoes from touching the rest of your clothes especially when you are making a quick change at the airport and you need to put them in your luggage,' she said.
'They cover all the dirty parts of the shoe like a charm.'
Alternatively a plastic bag or laundry bag could be used.
'No matter what, you will always find me with both items in my luggage at all times,' Kashlee said
The video has since gone viral and others thanked Kashlee for sharing the lesser-known tips.
'I'm a pilot and these hacks are genius!! especially the shoes,' one commented.
'I do the same with the slippers, didn't think about the shower cap cover for shoes,' another said.
A third wrote: 'Never take shower caps, because I have no use for it. Now I will.'
Read more: I moved to Australia from Canada and didn't expect it to be so hard: 'It's a crisis'
American expat 'blown away' by everyday kitchen essential that everyone in Australia and New Zealand has
How I make an extra $1,400 a month from home on top of my regular job - and anyone can do it
Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton said Monday she won't run for reelection after being diagnosed with a brain disorder she described as 'Parkinson's on steroids'.
The Democrat from Virginia had revealed in April she had Parkinson's disease, which sees parts of the brain gradually waste away, affecting movement and speech.
Doctors later changed her diagnosis to progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a similar but much rarer disorder that impacts just 20,000 people in America.
For comparison, around 1 million people in the US have Parkinson's.
The main difference is that PSP causes patients to deteriorate much more rapidly, causing harsher symptoms, particularly with speech, coordination and eating.
People diagnosed with PSP die within a decade of their diagnosis, whereas Parkinson's patients can expect to live between 10 and 20 years after diagnosis.
Rep Jennifer Wexton is pictured above with her family. The congresswoman revealed her new diagnosis this week of a rare neurological condition called progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)
PSP is different from Parkinson's in that it usually begins later in a person's life and worsens quickly. Problems with speech and swallowing are much more common and severe in PSP patients compared to those with Parkinson's and it is rare for PSP patients to develop a tremor, a hallmark sign of Parkinson's disease
PSP, a form of 'Parkinson's on steroids,' may be under- or misdiagnosed because its symptoms closely resemble those of Parkinson's disease. However, there are several symptoms that can differentiate the two.
Problems with speech and swallowing are much more common and severe in PSP patients compared to those with Parkinson's and it is rare for PSP patients to develop a tremor, a hallmark sign of Parkinson's disease.
Another distinction is that some treatments successful in symptom management for Parkinson's patients often fail in PSP patients.
While people with Parkinson's disease may respond to medications or deep brain stimulation, those treatments are rarely helpful in people with PSP.
PSP symptoms worsen very quickly, leaving sufferers severely disabled within five years. With Parkinson's disease, there are five stages that progress much slower, approximately every two to five years. Most people who have had the disease for 18 to 20 years are in a wheelchair.
The cause of PSP is unknown, but some research suggests it involves damage to cells in specific areas of the brain, mainly the brain stem, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
PSP often occurs randomly without a known cause, though in extremely rare cases, it arises from a gene mutation that provides faulty instructions to brain cells.
Other theorized causes include exposure to unknown environmental factors that damage the brain and cellular damage caused by free radicals, or reactive molecules produced by cells.
Virginia Democratic Rep. Jennifer Wexton, 55, reveals she has 'Parkinson's on steroids' and won't seek reelection Rep. Jennifer Wexton announced she won't seek reelection after receiving a diagnosis of a rare form of progressive Parkinson's Disease. Advertisement
Parkinson's disease occurs when nerve cells or neurons in an area of the brain that controls movement, called the basal ganglia, become damaged or die. Normally these cells produce dopamine, but when they deteriorate and produce less of the hormone, it causes movement problems.
Similar to PSP, scientists do not know what causes these neurons to die.
PSP symptoms can include difficulty controlling eyes and eyelids, loss of balance, slurred speech, difficulty walking or swallowing, changes in judgment, forgetfulness, personality changes and difficulty finding words.
The condition can lead to serious complications such as pneumonia, choking or head injuries from falls.
Aspiration pneumonia, when food or liquid is breathed into the airways or lungs instead of being swallowed, is the most common cause of death in people with PSP.
People with the condition also have a higher risk of falls and head trauma that could lead to death.
There are no current tests or brain imaging to definitively diagnose the condition and a doctor will often review your medical history and perform physical and neurological tests.
Additionally, doctors will perform thorough exams to help rule out other similar disorders.
In few cases, brain imaging of a PSP patient may show shrinking at the top of the brain steam, which can help doctors examine brain activity in certain areas.
At this time, there is no cure for the condition. There are also no effective treatments to stop or slow the progression of PSP and symptoms usually do not respond well to drugs.
However, walking aids can reduce the risk of falling, special glasses called prisms can reduce difficulty looking down and supervised physical activity can keep joints limber.
Ms Wexton revealed in April she had received a Parkinson's diagnosis, but in a statement issued Monday, said her symptoms were failing to be managed. With addition medical opinions and tests, doctors modified her diagnosis to PSP.
The congresswoman said: 'This diagnosis is a tough one. There is no 'getting better' with PSP. I'll continue treatment options to manage my symptoms, but they don't work as well with my condition as they do for Parkinson's.'
Ms Wexton said she will not seek reelection when her term is up and will instead 'spend my valued time' with her husband and sons.
It was discovered after weeks of headaches, feeling lethargic and being clumsy
A mother has detailed how a routine eye test saved the life of her 14-year-old daughter after it led to the discovery of a brain tumour.
For several weeks, Molly Holman, from Herefordshire, had been feeling lethargic, clumsy and complaining of headaches.
But her mother, Naomi Holman, dismissed her symptoms as being caused by hormones, a recent bout of hot weather and her phone use.
It wasn't until Molly saw her GP in May this year about an ingrown toenail that the doctor spotted inflammation in the back of her eye, which they thought may have been triggered by the infection in her foot.
However, after a routine trip to get Molly's eyes tested, medics discovered she had a brain tumour behind her optic nerve. While the teenager has now had the tumour removed, she has been left with limited sight.
Mrs Holman is now urging others to ensure they have had a recent eye check, warning that Molly's case could have been 'catastrophic' if it was spotted any later.
For several weeks, Molly from Herefordshire, pictured with her mother Naomi Holman and father Nigel, was feeling lethargic, clumsy and complaining of headaches. But these symptoms of a brain tumour were dismissed at first, until she had an eye test
There was only a few weeks between Molly's initial symptoms and her visit with the GP, who suggested a trip to see her optician.
Her doctor thought her clumsiness and headaches were a sign that she needed a new prescription for her glasses and also noticed some inflammation behind her eye.
Molly's father Nigel took her to see an optometrist at Vision Express, where they noticed a lot of inflammation behind her optic nerve.
He was advised to immediately take Molly to the local A&E.
There, she underwent an MRI scan and a thorough examination of her eyes.
Mr Holman said: 'A mix of parental instinct and previous experience working in healthcare told us something wasn't right as we watched the medical team check the screens in the consulting room.'
Initially, the family were told to go home and wait for the results to come through.
But when they got in their car, they were called back by the consultant.
The doctor ushered them into the family room and told them that Molly had a brain tumour Grade 2 meningioma and needed to be transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital for surgery.
Within 48 hours of doctors finding a brain tumour Molly has two surgeries to remove the Grade 2 meningioma. It caused a huge amount of damage to Molly's optic nerve, resulting in irreparable damage to her sight, now her parents Naomi and Nigel Holman, pictured at her hospital bed, are helping her with her life-changing sight loss
Meningioma is one of the most common types of brain tumours, accounting for around a quarter of all of those spotted in the UK and US. It starts in the layers of tissue, known as the meninges, that cover and support the brain and spinal chord.
They are either non-cancerous (Grade 1), atypical, meaning it may become cancerous at some point (Grade 2) or cancerous (Grade 3).
Headaches, seizures, speech and visual problems, as well as difficulties balancing and weakness in the arms and legs are common signs of the tumour.
Around six in 10 of those diagnosed survive for 10 years after the cancer is spotted.
Just 48 hours after her diagnosis, Molly underwent her first surgery to remove the tumour and had a second surgery a month later.
What is a meningioma and what are the symptoms? Meningiomas are tumours that start in the layers of tissue (meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord. Most meningiomas are not cancerous. The meninges are membranes that support and protect the brain and spinal cord. It is the most common type of benign brain tumour diagnosed in the UK. Symptoms include: Fits (seizures)
Weakness in your arms or legs
Loss of eyesight
Hearing loss
Headaches Source: Cancer Research Advertisement
Each surgery lasted several hours and she had to spend some time in the intensive care unit after each operation.
Due to its position, the tumour still caused significant damage to her sight.
Mrs Holman said: 'Molly's tumour was nearly a quarter of the size of her brain, and its growth not only had a significant impact on her optic nerve but was dangerously close to her brain stem, making it difficult to remove.
'If we had not discovered it sooner, the impact on her may have been catastrophic.'
Molly underwent several procedures over the course of two months to remove the tumour and is now considered tumour-free.
Her meningioma caused a huge amount of damage to her optic nerve, resulting in irreparable damage to her sight.
Her visual impairment is considered severe, with almost zero vision in left eye and 20 per cent in her right.
It has meant she has missed considerable time in the classroom in the run up to the start of her GCSE's.
'She now requires qualified support to help her learn not only a curriculum but a way of navigating life in general', says Mrs Holman.
She added: 'In order that she can successfully navigate; physically, emotionally and educationally, her new world, this should preferably take place in a specialist school setting because many of the basic everyday tasks that she requires to live independently are best learnt onsite, in an environment that is task driven.'
Molly is now under regular consultation with both her hospital team and Vision Express, who are working to prescribe new glasses to help improve her remaining sight.
'We have a long way to go, and Molly is now classed as severely visually impaired. She has lost almost all sight in her left eye and has significant damage to her right - all of which is a small price to pay to have her still with us', says Mrs Holman.
Mrs Holman said her friends and family have all booked eye tests, and she stresses that it's one appointment you shouldn't miss.
Dan McGhee, clinical services director, from Vision Express said: 'Molly's example highlights the importance of both regular eye checks and having your eyes checked when there are any symptoms.
'As Optometrists we are more highly trained and more equipped than ever to perform a very thorough eye test to detect and manage serious eye and health conditions; as well as your spectacle needs.'
In a UK first, three Brits have been infected with Brucella canis a disease usually confined to dogs imported from Eastern Europe.
The unidentified cases caught the bacterial infection after contact with infected pets, with at least one requiring hospital treatment for their symptoms.
But officials also revealed that the bug is spreading between UK canines for the first time, raising the prospect of further human infections.
A record 91 cases in dogs were detected in the first six months of this year alone.
Here, MailOnline answers all your questions about the bacterial infection including how to protect yourself and your pet.
Brucella canis can infect both people and dogs but produces different symptoms
What is Brucella canis?
Brucella canis is a bacterial infection mainly found in dogs.
However, other canines, such as foxes, wolves and coyotes, are also susceptible.
It was first identified in 1960s after breeders in the US reported that their dogs were suffering miscarriages.
Brucella canis is considered an incurable disease in dogs and is also capable of infecting humans in rare cases.
While an infection is not a death sentence for animals, the bacteria can remain dormant in a dog, meaning the animal is at risk of transmitting the infection to others for the rest of its life.
Historically, the vast majority of cases of Brucella canis in the UK have come from imported dogs, mainly from Eastern Europe, where the disease is more common.
However, health chiefs this week warned the disease is now spreading in the UK.
Is Brucella canis reportable in the UK?
Yes.
In 2021 Brucella canis was made a reportable animal pathogen throughout the UK.
This means people are legally obliged to report a case to the Government's Animal and Plant Health Agency.
In practise this is mainly done by vets treating suspected Brucella canis cases or labs that carry out testing for the disease.
If people don't report Brucella canis cases they risk legal penalties from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
How do dogs get Brucella canis?
Brucella canis is spread primarily through contact with an infected dog's reproductive fluid.
This means canines can get it through mating with an infected animal or coming into contact with infected semen, vaginal or menstrual secretions.
If an infected dog is pregnant, it can transmit the bacteria to its puppies in the womb, during birth or while they're drinking its milk.
Brucella canis infection is also possible via exposure to other infected biological material like blood, faeces, saliva, or snot, though this is considered to be less common.
How do people get Brucella canis?
People can get Brucella canis via contact with fluids produced by infected dogs.
This most commonly happens when a dog gives birth, with vets and dog breeders most at risk.
Infection occurs when material infected with Brucella canis comes into contact with people's mucous membranes, such as their eyes and mouth, or via an open cut on their skin.
People can also get Brucella canis from other biological material produced by infected dogs, such as urine or faeces, though this is far less likely.
However, repeated exposure over a long time does increase the risk.
The bacteria can also spread through droplets in the air during very specific veterinary procedures with an infected animal.
Human-to-human transmission of Brucella canis is technically possible through a transfusion of infected blood or an organ transplant but no such cases have been recorded.
In general, people with compromised immune systems, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, are considered to be at greater risk of developing severe disease from a Brucella canis infection.
Officials have broken down where dogs behind the 43 Brucella canis infections were recorded, with animals from Romania being the biggest contributor. This data was measured by officials as 22 individual incidents with could involve multiple animals each
Brucella canis is a dog disease found mainly in animals imported from Eastern Europe. It can also infect people (stock image)
What are the symptoms in dogs?
Symptoms can include general infertility in both male and female dogs and miscarriage in the latter.
Other signs of an infection in both sexes include lethargy, a loss of libido, premature aging and walking difficulties, most commonly due to back pain.
However, many dogs can show no obvious signs of a Brucella canis infection for years while still being infectious.
What are the symptoms in people?
Brucella canis mostly produces general flu-like symptoms in people.
These include fever, a headache, generally feeling unwell, aches and pains and unexplained weight loss.
Symptoms typically develop within three to four weeks of infection.
However, like dogs, some people who are infected can go years without showing any signs.
This, combined with symptoms that could belong to many conditions can lead to problems in diagnosing the disease.
People with Brucella canis can also suffer from recurrent infections over several years.
Is a test available?
Yes. Tests for Brucella Canis in both dogs and people are available, though they are not 100 per cent accurate.
Testing in dogs has skyrocketed in the UK with 5,773 carried out between January and July this year, compared to just 1,332 in 2018.
How is it treated?
For dogs, there is no cure. Euthanasia is the only recognised treatment if the dog is suffering from their infection.
While antibiotics can be used to treat the infection, this dog can still transmit the infection to other animals and people.
Human cases are treated with antibiotics, though this has not always been successful.
Pervious cases in people have also required surgical procedures if the infection becomes severe.
This graph shows the number of Brucella canis tests carried out in the UK each year
How can I reduce the risk of becoming infected?
People adopting an adult dog from a Brucella canis hotspot, such as Romania, should pay for a Brucella canis test to be carried out, experts say.
If adopting a puppy from Eastern Europe, checks should also be carried out when the dog reaches adulthood, as there is an increased risk of a false negative result when the animal is very young.
Brucella canis is technically incurable meaning a dog with the disease will be an infection risk for the rest of their life.
To reduce the risk of becoming infected yourself an owner will need to follow several precautions.
These include using PPE, such as gloves and goggle when dealing with material soiled by a dog's urine, menstrual blood or birth fluids, and deep cleaning the environment where the dog lives regularly.
Neutering infected dogs and giving them antibiotics is recommended to reduce the risk of it transmitting the infection to other animals and people.
Both owners of infected dogs and the general public are advised to not let dogs lick their face to reduce the chance of catching the infection.
How can I protect my dog from infection?
Preventing dogs from mixing with dogs that have Brucella canis is the best way to lower their risk of infection.
For example, keeping them on a lead in public spaces can help limit such contact.
However, official guidance states that a one-off 'transient' contact between animals is unlikely to result in an infection on a single occasion.
But multiple or sustained contact will increase the risk.
If you already have a dog and are looking to adopt from overseas, you are strongly encouraged to pay for a Brucella canis test, especially if the animal is from hotspots such as Romania.
People with dogs infected with Brucella canis should inform holiday kennels of their pet's infection before having their dog stay there, in case it passes the bacteria on to other pets.
Is a Brucella canis infection dangerous?
The vast majority of Brucella canis infections in people are mild.
No human deaths from Brucella canis have been reported globally.
However, severe illness, while rare, has been recorded.
Serious infections of the heart, bone, brain tissue and blood have been reported in people following Brucella canis infection.
Of the three cases detected in people in the UK, one was found after in an immunocompromised person who needed hospitalisation for treatment.
In the second case, a person working at a vet took a test after contact with an infected dog. Results showed they were positive but they did not develop any symptoms.
Details have not been shared for the third case.
The bacterial infection can jump to people though severe disease is rare. Pictured the Brucella canis bacteria under a microscope
What is being done about the rise in cases?
In addition to the three human cases, there has been a sharp rise in cases detected in dogs in the UK.
Human Animal Infections and Risk Surveillance (HAIRS), a cross-Government group, recently published a report on Brucella canis in the UK.
This report detailed how 43 cases were found in dogs in the UK in the first quarter of 2023, more than double the comparable figure for last year.
A further 48 cases have been identified as of the end of July, taking this year's total to 91.
In comparison, a total of 143 dogs tested positive between 2020 and 2022.
HAIRS have said that the rise in cases is likely linked to a rise in testing due in part to increased awareness of the disease.
While transmission of Brucella canis among dogs born in the UK has been confirmed, the majority of cases are still being imported into Britian.
Dr Christine Middlemiss, DEFRA's chief veterinary officer, has said the Government is considering introducing a mandatory testing requirement for dogs imported from Brucella canis hotspots.
'We are gathering the evidence, various risk assessments are contributing to that evidence and we will consider it,' she said.
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An independent panel advising the FDA will discuss trials of artificial wombs
A panel of Government health advisors will meet today to discuss the ethics of growing babies in artificial wombs.
The technology has successfully developed in several animals in recent years, prompting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider whether it should be trialed in humans.
Many experts believe it could be a game-changer if used to mimic the conditions of a womb and help treat health complications in the growing number of premature babies in the US.
Before the advance can be used in humans, researchers will have to show that the device helps infants grow and develop with lower chances of health issues than with existing technology.
In a 2017 study, a group of researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia tested the technology for the first time and kept a premature lamb alive for 28 days in a sterilized plastic bag filled with fluid
America's preterm birth rate has risen to its highest level since records began, a report from March of Dimes says. About 10.5 percent of infants are now born early, putting them at higher risk of development and mental problems. This was a rise of four percent or 18,000 babies on 2020, with the Covid pandemic thought to be the driving force
The Pediatric Advisory Committee, an independent panel of health experts, are meeting today and Wednesday via teleconference.
Though the two-day meeting will help guide the agency, the FDA will make its own decision and is not required to follow the advisors' guidance.
At this stage, artificial wombs aren't designed to grow a baby from scratch - although advances in the field have led some to believe that is on the horizon.
Instead, they would be used to care for the one in 100 infants born before 28 weeks gestation, which is considered extremely preterm.
It could also combat the infant mortality rate in the US, which experts have warned is 'so much higher' than in other developed countries.
Unlike conventional incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), this technique uses an 'extra-uterine support device,' which mimics the conditions in a real womb.
The infant's heart circulates blood through the umbilical cord into a machine that takes the place of the mother's placenta.
Synthetic amniotic fluid enriched with nutrients flows in and out of the temperature-controlled, near-sterile 'biobag.'
The aim is to provide an environment in which tiny premature babies can safely develop their lungs and other organs during the critical period from 23 to 28 weeks after conception.
The above map shows the preterm birth rates across all US states for last year and the nation as a whole (top right). The rates are shown in brackets on each state, with the color revealing what rating they were given. A key showing how each grade was awarded is shown on the right-hand-side
The map above shows infant mortality rates by states. Rates fell in 2021, but medical experts still warned that the US was one of the worst countries for infant mortality
This technology is still new and has mostly been used in animals.
In a 2017 study, a group of researchers at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia tested the technology for the first time and kept a premature lamb alive for 28 days in a sterilized plastic bag filled with fluid.
Before these artificial wombs, researchers had only been able to keep a lamb alive in an artificial system for 60 hours, and those lambs suffered severe brain damage.
Later that year, a team in Australia replicated the device and named it 'ex-vivo uterine environment,' or EVE.
In 2021, researchers at the University of Toronto tested an artificial placenta in fetal pigs, but they recorded blood circulation and heart issues.
Earlier this month, a team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel grew an entity close to a human embryo without using sperm, eggs, or a womb.
The embryo even released enough of the hormone pregnant women produce that turns a pregnancy test positive, resulting in a positive test result in the lab.
Artificial wombs could reduce complications of premature births, which have reached record highs in the US.
A report published last year by nonprofit group March of Dimes found that 10.5 percent of US births were premature, meaning they occurred before 37 weeks gestation.
This is a four percent increase since 2020 and is the highest figure to date.
The researchers warned that the country was at a 'critical moment,' and experts sounded the alarm that the US was 'failing moms and babies.'
Mississippi had the highest preterm birth rate in the nation, at 15 percent of all births, followed by Louisiana at 13.5 percent, and then Alabama at 13.1 percent.
Rising rates of obesity and associated conditions such as type 2 diabetes are thought to be behind the rise, as well as the strain on healthcare services due to the Covid pandemic.
An infant's lungs and brain finish developing late in pregnancy, so those born prematurely are at risk for health problems like trouble breathing, gastrointestinal issues, vision and hearing problems, and developmental delays.
The report also showed that America's infant mortality rate dropped 3.7 percent last year to 5.4 per 1,000, but experts warned this remained 'so much higher' than other developed countries. The UK, France, Sweden and many other European nations have significantly lower rates.
The first day of panel's hearings will be open to the public, but the second will be closed due to proprietary information being discussed, the FDA said.
A third of trans children treated with puberty blockers had their mental health deteriorate while on the medication, a new analysis of a landmark study reveals.
The original study found that 44 children, aged 12 to 15, who took the controversial drugs experienced no change good or bad to their mental health.
This report, produced by experts from the NHS's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at Tavistock and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) in 2021 eventually led to a lowering of the age children could access puberty blockers.
But a fresh analysis of the data used in the report found 34 per cent of the gender-questioning youth saw their mental health deteriorate while using the drugs.
This compared to 29 per cent who had their mental health improve and 37 per cent who experienced no change.
The new analysis casts doubt on the findings produced by experts from the NHS 's Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) at Tavistock and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) in 2021
The reason for the difference in results is the original study looked at the overall average of participants' mental wellbeing over a 12-month period.
This resulted in patients whose mental health deteriorated and improved essentially cancelling each other out, producing the overall no change finding.
The re-analysis instead tracked individual patient scores to produce its results and showed greater variation among participants taking the medication.
According to the authors, this method allowed a finer sense of how individual patients were faring in a study and is approach that should be adopted in the future.
'It is possible, using this approach, to look at patterns, such as who is benefitting and who is not,' they wrote.
'We recommend that these approaches be incorporated into new gender dysphoria services being established in the UK as well as new research studies being designed.'
Like the original study, the new analysis is limited.
It concerns an overall small group of participants for which there was no control group, a cohort of children not taking puberty blockers.
As such, while children's mental health could change while on puberty blockers, it cannot be proven this due to the medication and not other external factors.
The new analysis, which was uploaded to the preprint service for health studies medRxiv, has yet to be peer reviewed.
Puberty blockers are a controversial medication used in treatment of trans children to stop the physical changes of puberty like breast development or facial hair.
They are given under strict criteria for children with gender dysphoria, a condition where they suffer unease or distress from their gender identity not matching their biological sex.
Feelings of gender dysphoria can become heightened during puberty as the body undergoes changes in tune with the person's biological sex.
Puberty blockers are also the pathway for teenagers to eventually be given opposite sex hormones to change their bodies to fit their gender identity.
The NHS acknowledges that little is known about the long-term effects of puberty blockers on children.
Although the physical effects of pausing puberty can be reversed if medication is stopped, the psychological effects are still unknown.
There is also some concern about the potential impact of puberty blockers on the development of the teenage brain and children's bones.
In June, NHS England announced that puberty blockers will now only be given to adolescent gender dysphoria sufferers as part of clinical research.
The announcement was made as part of the health service's new gender incongruence service for children and young people, which will replace the clinic at Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
Tavistock was heavily criticised in an interim review carried out by paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass in July last year, which called its model 'unsustainable'.
The clinic has been accused of rushing children onto puberty blocking drugs by former patients who feel they weren't challenged enough.
Dr Cass has called for 'rapid' research on the use of the drugs after she found 'insufficient evidence' on their benefits.
Tavistock is due to close in May 2024, to be replaced by two regional hubs in the north and south of the country.
The Cass review was commissioned by NHS England in 2020 amid concerns there was 'scarce and inconclusive evidence to support clinical decision making'.
There have also been concerns about the sharp rise in referrals to GIDS.
More than 5,000 referrals have been made in recent years, compared to just a few hundred a decade ago.
On the new analysis a Tavistock and Portman Trust spokesperson said: 'We are grateful to all of the clinicians and academics who have contributed to this study over the years, and we welcome new peer-reviewed analyses of the evidence around how to support these young people.
'The analysis plan for the original study was independently produced by experts in medical statistics, and the underlying data was published so that other researchers might conduct further analyses.'
While the Cass Review has put out an interim report to the NHS a final version is expected by the end of this year.
A spokesperson told MailOnline the new analysis would taken into account in its final recommendations.
READ MORE: Now the CDC wants to monitor your POOP to track flu outbreaks
Cases are still on the rise in the Northeast and Midwest, the data suggests
Covid cases in the US may have already peaked just weeks into the latest upswing in infections, data suggests.
Scientists tracking the virus' spread by testing sewage nationwide say the number of samples coming back positive has dropped 5 percent in the past week.
Dr Cristin Young, an epidemiologist involved in the wastewater surveillance project, said: 'All fingers crossed this wave is plateauing and may be declining.'
If true, it would bring an end to several months of rising infection levels - spurred on by two highly infectious new variants, Eris, or EG.5, and Pirola, or BA.2.86.
The sharp uptick - which never translated into a big rise in deaths or ICU admissions - spooked many hospitals, schools, and businesses into requiring masks again.
Americans wear face masks as they wait in line to vote in the 2020 presidential election. Some colleges and businesses are reinstating mask mandates as Covid cases rise in the US
Scientists tracking the virus' spread by testing sewage nationwide say the number of samples coming back positive has dropped 5 percent in the past week (shown)
The decline was driven by dips in positive samples in mid-Atlantic states like Virginia and Maryland . Collection sites in the Midwest and Northeast, on the other hand, show a steady increase in Covid spread
Dr Young and his team at Biobot Analytics are using the wastewater from 257 sites across the country to track the spread of the virus - a technique pioneered during the pandemic.
Their results show that in the week to September 13, daily new Covid cases were estimated to be at around 60,000, down around 5 percent in a week.
The decline was driven by dips in positive samples in mid-Atlantic states like Virginia and Maryland.
Collection sites in the Midwest and Northeast, on the other hand, show a steady increase in Covid spread.
Biobot's findings are backed up from surveillance in North Carolina, said Jessica Schlueter, an associate professor in the department of bioinformatics and genomics at the University of North Carolina Charlotte.
She is responsible for testing wastewater at a dozen sites in her state.
The increase in Covid wastewater samples during the last six months 'seems to be peaking and starting to taper off,' she said, which could spell a fall in cases.
Official data shows the rate of increase in Covid hospitalizations has also slowed, after they rose by 7.7 percent over the most recent week that data is available marking the slowest uptick since early July when hospitalizations were at a record low.
Latest data shows there were 20,538 Covid admissions to US hospitals in the week to September 9.
There are also signs that Covid deaths are beginning to level off.
A total of 844 were recorded in the week to August 19, the latest available. Data for the following week is incomplete, but it currently suggests 860 fatalities linked to the virus were recorded over this period an increase of 1.8 percent.
But not everyone is so optimistic.
Dr Amy Kirby, head of the CDC's wastewater monitoring program, told NBC News: 'We have seen enough data over the years to know that around the time when school starts, we will start seeing some increases.'
These are expected to 'plateau and then come back down' before another winter surge, she warned.
Wastewater surveillance has 'demonstrated benefit as a robust, highly adaptable platform for community-level surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 transmission,' a report by the CDC said last week.
Weekly Covid hospitalizations are increasing, according to the latest CDC data
Deaths are starting to decrease again, but are rising from near historic lows
Now that testing for Covid has largely been scrapped, wastewater surveillance is one of the only ways officials are tracking the spread of the virus in the US.
In a pilot study during last year's flu and RSV season, concentrations of the RSV and flu in wastewater samples from three major Wisconsin cities were collected and compared to the number of ER department visits related to the viruses in the area.
Flu and RSV are not universally tested for, so wastewater could be an important early warning sign.
Anybody infected with a virus sheds tiny fragments of its DNA in their poop.
Higher concentrations in sewage were linked to more ER department visits to do with flu and RSV.
Higher concentrations of the viruses in wastewater often preceded ER visits and indicated that a rise was on its way, the CDC said.
This could be used as an effective warning system for ER medical staff of a forthcoming outbreak in the area.
'Hopefully with updated vaccinations, we will not see a big winter surge as we have in the past,' Dr Kirby said. 'But it's really too early to tell.'
On the surface, the town of Chippenham seems a rather unlikely place for a rebellion, with its genteel High Street of Georgian buildings, peaceful atmosphere and regular farmers market.
Yet this spot in Wiltshire has become the home of an uprising against online fraud. In response to a spiralling number of cases in the area, the local community is taking a stand to kick fraud out of the town.
Leading the charge is an unlikely figure. Step forward great-grandmother of two, Sandie Webb.
Blonde, 70 years old, 5ft 2in and equipped with a sturdy pair of hiking shoes she is far from the stereotypical image of a vigilante.
Sandie founded Chippenham Community Hub in 2021 in a bid to help the town pull together during the pandemic. Today, the hubs focus has shifted its now the towns centre for fighting fraud.
Scambuster: Sandie Webb, 70, (pictured, left, with reporter Jessica Beard), founded Chippenham Community Hub in 2021 to help the town pull together during the pandemic
More than 45 per cent of all crime in Wiltshire relates to cases of fraud, she says. And the police say 80 per cent of those cases are preventable.
Thats why weve taken the fight into our own hands, says Sandie. We know the police have a small budget for handling fraud and it has become everyones problem.
The community is saying, Go away, we wont be scammed by you. Fraudsters have no business in our town.
The community hub is open 9am to 3pm five days a week and all are welcome.
But after seeing a rise in the number of scam victims coming into the hub, Sandie says dedicated help is needed.
In testament to her fighting spirit, next month, on October 7, she will open the doors to a fraud surgery, thanks to a 3,000 grant awarded by the local Police and Crime Commissioner.
On the day, scam victims will be able to voice their grievances and report crimes. The local polices fraud officer will be there to deliver educational sessions and High Street banks have been invited.
From next month, the hubs volunteers will be equipped with new training and protocols in order to welcome scam victims in to share their burden.
Volunteers have been carefully selected for their ability to deal with sensitive and traumatic topics and offer a comforting shoulder.
They have also received training from the police about how to report cases and provide support to those who need it the most.
HOW THIS IS MONEY CAN HELP What you need to know about money every week: This is Money podcast
Volunteers will give advice on how to prevent fraud and warn people about scam trends.
Sandie says: We will teach people how to handle this epidemic of fraud through educational sessions and keep them up to date on the latest tricks.
We will signpost these around the community and on social media, too. We must stop fraud in its tracks.
Fighting back: Sandies community leaflet which encourages fraud victims to come forward
Sandie understands the feelings of shame and embarrassment that so often stops scam victims from reporting crime or even telling their family.
We will become the human face for those who suffer from this dreadful crime and do what we can to get the message out about how different types of scams work, she says.
So many people who have fallen victim to a scam need support because theyre on their own. We offer a safe space where no one judges.
Many have already sought comfort and support at the hub, but Sandie expects cases to soar. She says a growing number of social media and online scams are catching out the people of Chippenham.
Ive seen all sorts, from buying and selling scams to dodgy investments, but the worst are the heartless romance scams that tend to start on Facebook or dating sites. Ive seen a few cases, including one widow who I struggled to get through to.
She told me she had this fantastic online friend who told her how gorgeous she was. Its so easy to be flattered by it but I know that when she comes crashing down to earth she is going to feel worthless. All we can do is support her.
The Police are limited
DC Rachel Davies, Wiltshire Polices sole fraud prevention officer, has been Sandies biggest helper and advocate. She is dealing with around 80 cases a week.
The police officer has toured the county giving talks on online scams and sharing her advice on how to spot fraudsters.
Its her day off when Money Mail visits but she is busy at the hub. Its clear from her rapport with volunteers that she dedicates a lot of her time to the centre.
However, as a team of one, there is only so much she can do. Police have struggled to deal with the fraud epidemic in recent years as social media scams have become rampant.
Last month, Money Mail revealed that across the UK, 1.1 million people are falling victim to scams that originate on social media every year.
Yet the House of Commons Justice Committee warned last autumn that only 2 per cent of police funding was being dedicated to combating fraud despite fraud making up 41 per cent of reported crimes in England and Wales.
DC Davies, whose role was set up at the start of 2021, acknowledges that the police and community need to work together if they are to turn the tide of the tsunami of fraud cases.
She says: This hub is 100 per cent needed alongside the police effort it is great that the community is coming together to fight fraud. We are all in this together. There is no one person who is less likely to be a victim of fraud.
Scamdemic: Last month, we revealed that across the UK, 1.1 million people are falling victim to scams that originate on social media every year.
The reason Im working with the hub is because its a great place to speak to local people. They come in here because they dont necessarily want to go to the police station.
That can be more daunting and victims dont always know how it works. So this is a great safe place for them to come.
Sandie agrees, and believes residents must step in to help the community when the police cannot. She says: We save police time because we can pass cases on to them and warn them about trends we are seeing. We can be an early warning system for the police.
Budgets have been so tight that Sandie has had to dig into her own pocket to produce anti-scam brochures to hand out in the police station.
Sandie fears the 3,000 grant wont go far. Its going to pay for staffing, heating, electricity, rent, social media and brochures. Its stretching a long way but well do miracles with it.
Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson, who introduces himself as the one funding all of this, says it is crucial to rebuild trust in the police.
We need to support victims and let them know that we care for them in order to build trust and confidence in the police force.
We know from whats happened elsewhere that that is sadly lacking. So we need to reassure them that we care.
Already, the surgery has attracted attention. Officials in the neighbouring town of Trowbridge have contacted Sandie to ask how they can set up their own fraud surgery.
DC Davies says she would like to build one in every town in Wiltshire but first wants to establish a blueprint in Chippenham.
Online scamdemic
Social media websites have become one of the biggest facilitators of fraud. And DC Davies warns that 15 to 24-year-olds are among the most vulnerable to scammers because of how much they share on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and TikTok.
Whether we like it or not, most of our lives are online now and everyone needs to understand the risks that are involved with that. In my presentations I tell members of the public not to be forced online, she says.
A lot of big companies are forcing them to pay for bills or monitor their accounts online and its not helping our most vulnerable in society. I tell people that if you dont understand it, you have to have the confidence to tell these companies and push back.
Money Mails Stop the Social Media Scammers campaign has revealed the shocking scale of the problem.
Our investigations have found that scams on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram all owned by social media giant Meta account for an astonishing 16 per cent of all crime recorded in the UK.
Our investigations have found that scams on Facebook, WhatsApp or Instagram - all owned by social media giant Meta - account for an astonishing 16% of all crime recorded in the UK
Last week, the Prime Minister backed our calls to force tech giants into doing more to protect their users from the surge in scammers, as their platforms have become a breeding ground for fraud.
The Governments anti-fraud champion and MP Anthony Browne says community groups can help provide important local support in a way that national government cant.
He says: It is good to see communities protecting themselves. We are working hard with tech firms to put the fraudsters out of business but while there is still widespread fraud, it is in everyones own interest to learn how to avoid having their money stolen.
In the brochures handed out at the Chippenham police station and community hub, the overwhelming message is to beware while online.
It asks: Is the bargain you have seen online far cheaper than one you have seen elsewhere? and Have you really won that prize in a draw you didnt even enter?
Walk-in victim who lost 7,000
On the sunny September afternoon when Money Mail visits Chippenham, its clear that fraud isnt just a fear for the townspeople its a reality.
One 80-year-old woman who walks in is reticent at first, but wants to share her story. She tells a volunteer that scammers have charged 7,000 to her credit card and made off with the money.
She doesnt know how they got hold of her details, who did it or how they pushed the payment through and she has not told her family. Volunteer Ian Spyre asks her to fill in a fraud questionnaire.
It asks for details of what happened, how much the victim lost, whether they would like to report it and if they want support.
He suspects the woman must have clicked on a fraudulent link online or unintentionally shared her details on social media. She agrees to report the crime to Action Fraud, the reporting hotline run by the City of London Police. But she is quick to turn down support.
Ladonna Watts, the full-time community hub manager, says it is very difficult for victims to open up.
A lot of people feel embarrassed and stupid for falling for the trick Ive watched people disintegrate. The older generation in particular doesnt feel they need or deserve the help they should be getting.
Ladonna, a 57-year-old mother of one who used to work in recruitment, is clearly disappointed the team couldnt convince the woman to opt in for help. She told me she was strong enough.
When you report a crime to Action Fraud, it is added to the national database of fraud cases. However, it is only when someone opts for victim support that the case gets logged as a Wiltshire crime with the local police. This is crucial for officers like DC Davies, who can then get involved.
She says: There can be a lot of frustration with Action Fraud because people dont always understand that it is just a reporting hotline.
Sandie adds: People go to Action Fraud because they want action to be taken about their personal experience of fraud and then it doesnt happen.
So we are here to put them in touch with DC Davies or social services depending on their needs.
Above all, the hub is there to listen. It should serve as a wake-up call to banks, tech companies and government that at the other end of criminal gangs who thrive on social media are everyday people who are fighting back. As the people of Chippenham say: We deserve so much more.
n How have you fought back against online fraudsters? Tell us your story at j.beard@dailymail.co.uk
If the sound of breaking china a much-loved cup, plate or dish makes you immediately dread how much it will cost to replace, then help is at hand, beyond the usual dustpan and brush.
Follow our expert tips for seamless china repairs or embrace the Japanese art of kintsugi to create a new ceramic.
A keen fan of make-do-and-mend is Emma Bradshaw who has made pottery conservation her business at Bradshaw Ceramic Restoration in Newport, Essex.
She handles up to 300 projects a year anything from a 5 cracked Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee mug or a favourite 20 vase to 10,000 hand-painted plates by the artist Grayson Perry.
She says if pottery gets chipped or broken, theres no need to simply throw it away.
Expert help: Reporter Toby Walne visited ceramics restorer Emma Bradshaw (pictured together) who handles up to 300 projects a year at her studio in Essex
Ms Bradshaw says that the price of a favourite piece of pottery is often less important than its sentimental value.
One of her favourite memories is of a headteacher who came in with a shopping bag of smashed pottery up to 50 pieces that used to be a five-inch vase but had accidentally been knocked off a windowsill.
She says: It had been made by his wife who had died a couple of years earlier. The restoration bill for this pottery was 1,000 but he wept with gratitude as he believed this piece could never be repaired.
Ms Bradshaw says there has been a growing trend of people coming to fix their DIY repairs undertaken in Covid lockdown.
Ornate pieces including plates and cups kept in display cabinets are falling out of fashion.
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But there is a growing trend for early to mid-20th Century vases made in simple clean styles from craft potters such as Lucie Rie to manufacturers like Moorcroft which customers want to have restored.
Ceramics with sentimental or monetary value can usually be repaired. Anyone can give it a go if they have the confidence, though they must also be aware it requires a level of skill and not just a squirt of super glue.
If items are used regularly as kitchenware and might be used for containing hot liquids or put in a dishwasher they should be replaced instead.
Invisible restoration
The best glue for pottery is usually a two-in-one epoxy not super glue because it provides a firmer fix and allows you at least four minutes to ensure the pieces are correctly aligned rather than rushing to get it done in seconds.
Ceramics restorer Lakeside Pottery recommends a brand such as PC-Clear that can be purchased from a website like Amazon for 9. It does not yellow over time.
Ms Bradshaw says: Most people put too much glue on to begin with so you might like to practise on other pottery first.
It is a skill that has taken me 30 years to perfect. She often adds a colour pigment powder to match the colour of the glue with the pottery at this stage. These can be purchased from an art shop, such as Jacksons, for about 2.
Patience and a good eye are required when mixing and a toothpick can be used as the glue application tool.
Toby puts the finishing touches on his repaired bowl. Colour pigment powder can be used to match the colour of the glue with the pottery
You can speed up the drying process by putting the pottery about ten inches from a 60-watt bulb lamp, according to Lakeside Pottery.
You might also like to hold pieces together while drying using 3 painters tape, depending on the size of the object.
For chips or larger cracks also consider a professional filler, such a PC-11 paste epoxy (8). Another is Milliput epoxy putty (5) that comes in a variety of colours and can also be mixed with colour pigment powder to match the pottery shade.
After at least 24 hours the treated area can be gently sanded. Rough grain sandpaper would scratch any glazing. Rub with a wet-and-dry 400-grit sandpaper dipped in water, followed by a smoother 2,000-grit paper. These can be purchased from Halfords for 1 a sheet.
If you have decoration on the piece, match it using modelling paints such as 1.25 Humbrol pots. To blend with a ceramic glaze, a 7 clear varnish from an art shop can provide the finishing touch.
How to undo a botched fix
One of the biggest challenges faced by a professional like Ms Bradshaw is undoing previous DIY repair attempts. Over-zealous application of super glue is the main culprit.
Ms Bradshaw says: A bug bear of mine is undoing the damage done from a previous fix. It may take twice the time and cost of a repair from scratch.
A typical repair charge from a professional like Ms Bradshaw starts at 120, but can be 200 or more.
The first task is to put the ceramic in hot, distilled water about 60 degrees Celsius because this warms up the old glue so that it softens and becomes easier to remove. You can buy distilled water for around 6 from a pharmacist.
You must then carefully pull the broken pieces apart and strip off the old glue. A scalpel knife tool for 5 can scrape off any remaining glue.
Crackpot: If items are used regularly as kitchenware - and might be used for containing hot liquids or put in a dishwasher - they should be replaced instead
After, use acetone, a clear nail varnish remover, and rub along the broken edges to dissolve remaining gunk with cotton buds. Boots sells 50ml of acetone for 3.
You can also rub down the sides of broken pottery even if not previously glued to ensure the piece is clean and prepared for a professional fix.
There are plenty of online YouTube tutorials that can help, including by Lakeside Pottery, which suggests you wipe surfaces with a clean cloth dipped in about 90 pc alcohol. These antiseptic alcohol solutions can be bought for 7.
Ms Bradshaw says a simple chip or crack can turn a 1,000 vase into something worth a fifth of the value perhaps 200. Try repairing it yourself and it might be worth just 50.
With a great professional restoration, you might not restore it to its full former glory but could still hold a piece of pottery worth 600 to 700.
Enjoy kintsugi
The Japanese art of kintsugi (pronounced kindsugee) involves a broken old pot, plate or cup being transformed into a work of art.
Breakages, cracks and chips are shown off as a virtue rather than flaws to be hidden. The Japanese term roughly translates as joining with gold.
You do not have to melt down the family jewellery but simply use a glue that looks like the precious metal, or perhaps silver if you prefer.
You can purchase kits from as little as 30, such as from the Design Museum in London.
These packages include glue, putty, gold powder, a paint brush and bamboo mixing sticks and can be used for as many as ten broken pots, so you can practice on old junk first.
As with any repairs, it is for decorative purposes only, so cups for hot drinks and plates and bowls that might get thrown in the dishwasher are not suitable for kintsugi.
The good news is that you do not have to worry about getting it wrong this is art, after all. But YouTube channels such as Traditional Kintsugi Tutorial provide an enjoyable way to learn more about celebrating broken old pots.
The glue traditionally used is mugi urushi typically a mix of flour and tree sap. It follows the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi which embraces all of nature and finds beauty in imperfection.
toby.walne@dailymail.co.uk
As BP contemplates the future without Bernard Looney, the cash machine which the former BP boss referred to last year is ramping up again.
Saudi Arabian oil exports plummeted to their lowest level for two years in July as ruler Mohammed Bin Salman, in concert with Moscow, sought to prevent oil prices subsiding by cutting production.
The squeeze on oil importing nations is working. The benchmark price for Brent crude has jumped to around $95-per-barrel and prices are rising at the fastest pace since Putin invaded Ukraine.
With prices at elevated levels, oil majors are in for another profits bonanza.
The change in market conditions is likely to be a big factor as BPs chairman Helge Lund, and a divided and ineffectual board, search for a new chief executive.
Undervalued: BP has a reputation as one of the more nimble exploration and production companies
When the oil price was last at present levels, Looney found himself under pressure to cut back on his green ambitions and improve payouts to shareholders.
The lowering of BPs ambitious carbon reduction targets, from 35 per cent-40 per cent by 2050 to 20 per cent-30 per cent, angered the green lobby and Labours Ed Miliband, but didnt go far enough to assuage disgruntled investors.
Lund will need to decide whether, after the curtailed Looney leadership, even the more modest climate change targets will be sufficient to restore investor faith.
BP has a reputation as one of the more nimble exploration and production companies, and in spite of setbacks in recent decades is almost certainly undervalued.
Indeed, the possibility that it could find stake builders on its share register, or even become a takeover target, are very real.
With a current market value of 85.6billion it is a tiddler in a world of whales. Top of the league is Saudi Aramco, worth $2.2 trillion (1.78 trillion), followed by Exxon, valued at $465.2billion (375billion).
Not for the first time, UK-based rival Shell, valued at 172.6billion, could potentially see the opportunity for a bear hug.
Looking further afield, the worlds most shrewd investor, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, has made no secret of his interest in big oil.
He has already shelled out $13.5billion (10.9billion) for a strategic stake in second tier US oil group Occidental.
A raid on BP would require some quick thinking in Whitehall given the special status it has enjoyed down the decades.
A long period of uncertainty without a defined leadership plan and a refresh of the balance between profits, dividends and share buybacks could leave BP vulnerable.
Full details of the personal drama which led to Looneys departure are still unknown. With every party lawyered up to the hilt Looney has engaged legal sharp shooters Mishcon de Reya details may be slow to emerge.
But it is unfinished business which is doing reputational damage to BP and has done personal damage to Looney.
The immediate upheaval is far from over.
Nuclear summer
As a supporter of renewing Britains fading infrastructure, it is good to see the Government pressing on with fundraising for a new 3.23 gigawatts nuclear power station Sizewell C.
The UK has committed 700million to the Electricite de France project and is now seeking support from private sector investors.
Nevertheless, having spent the summer in Walberswick on the Suffolk coast, where the existing Sizewell plant dominates the skyline in a largely unspoilt corner of England, one can understand reservations about such an out-of-scale project in Constable country.
Posted minutes of Walberswick councils most recent meeting seemed reconciled to the idea as long as there are local jobs and economic benefits.
But years of construction trucks on narrow country roads, together with water contamination fears, loom large. A friend, a nuclear scientist, quipped that swimmers on that coastal stretch would no longer need their wetsuits. What a terrifying thought.
New age
Sir Martin Sorrell is an executive and entrepreneur in for the long game as followers of the ups and downs of WPP, which almost came to grief in a 1990s credit crunch, will recall.
Revenue woes of Sorrells quoted digital advertising vehicle S4 Capital have seen the shares plummet from a peak of 870p in 2021 to less than 74.8p in latest trading.
Sorrell is a force of nature and younger than the gerontocracy fighting it out in Washington DC. But even Sorrell must have doubts as to whether he, alone, can pull S4 out of its nosedive.
I have been reading worrying stories about fatal dog attacks in Britain - in particular those from the 'XL Bully' breed.
I am a dog owner myself - of a four-year-old lurcher, Max, who is a very sweet and gentle dog.
But it does seem like the issue of dogs biting people is very much on everyone's minds.
I want to be responsible and prepare for the absolute worst-case scenario of Max ever biting anybody. Is it possible to get insurance to cover the cost of a dog bite? Via email
You decide: Dog insurance is not compulsory for most breeds, unlike car cover
Sam Barker of This is Money replies: The tragic recent dog attacks have certainly put the problem of aggressive dogs and irresponsible owners into the spotlight.
Home secretary Suella Braverman last week said the popular XL Bully breed could be banned after a dog attack in Birmingham.
While your own dog is among the vast majority of canines that are perfectly friendly, it cannot hurt to be prepared.
While the emotional impact of a dog bite cannot be insured against, the financial impact to the dog owner can be.
So the short answer to your question is yes, you can get insurance against the cost of your dog biting someone else - and in fact it is included as standard on 90 per cent of pet insurance deals.
This sort of insurance is called third party liability. In a pet insurance context this normally covers any compensation you have to pay if your dog attacks someone and a court finds you legally responsible.
It also pays out if your dog accidentally damages something outside your home, for example someone's property.
Insurers tend to pay a maximum of 500,000 to 10million for third party liability claims depending on the policy, according to financial data firm Defaqto.
Defaqto found that 419 of 467 available dog insurance deals, or 90 per cent, include third party liability as standard.
There are 22 dog insurance deals that can be upgraded to include third party liability, and 20 that do not cover it at all.
So if you currently have pet insurance, check the small print - likewise if you do not have it but are thinking of buying a policy.
Not all third party liability covers dog bites
But even policies with third party liability may not pay claims if your dog bites someone.
Firstly, while most insurers offer third party liability as standard, some reserve the right to withdraw that cover if your dog is aggressive.
For example, insurance documents from the UK's largest pet insurer, PetPlan, say the firm can 'limit or remove third party liability cover from the start of your policy based on your pets veterinary and behavioural history'.
The insurer can also 'limit or remove third party liability' based on behaviour such as 'aggressive tendencies' when you renew one of its Covered For Life, Classic, Classic Plus, Ultimate or Pet Insurance policies.
Pet insurers do not normally pay out if your dog attacks you, your family members or anyone working for you, or if a dog attack is connected to what you do for work.
Not allowed: The dogo Argentino is one of four canine breeds banned in the UK
Dog insurance can be compulsory
Normally, dog insurance is the decision of the owner.
But if you own a dog that is one of the four banned breeds in the UK then you must get at least third-party insurance for it.
The Dangerous Dogs Act bans four breeds: the American pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.
Owners of banned dogs can have their pet taken off them by the police automatically, unless they have a lifetime certificate of exemption from a court to prove their dog is not a risk to the public.
Third party liability is a requirement for getting one of these exemption certificates.
Other requirements are for it to wear a muzzle and be on a lead in public, be neutered, microchipped and kept in a secure home.
On the watchlist: The American pit bull terrier is also banned in the UK, and is one of the breeds behind the controversial Bully XL
Insurers can refuse to cover some breeds
Many insurers will not cover the four breeds on the banned dogs list, while some go even further.
For example, Kennel Club Pet Insurance will not cover 16 dog breeds, including American Bullies and pitbull terriers, as well as any dog crossed with one of the 16 breeds on its banned list or any dog crossed with a wolf.
Angela Pilley, a pet insurance expert at Defaqto, said: 'Each individual insurer will have their own list of excluded breeds which they will not provide any element of cover for. This differs from one provider to another.
'Typically, as a minimum, excluded breeds will be those that must be registered under the Dangerous Dogs Act or an animal that is crossbred or mixed with any of these breeds, but some providers' lists are much more extensive.'
You own a lurcher, which is not one of the banned breeds, being a sighthound crossed with a working dog breed.
However, some pet insurers will not offer third party liability to dogs that hunt, race, are used for security or take part in hare coursing, so if your dog does fit any of these categories you may require specialist cover.
Allianz UK, the owner of PetPlan, would not comment. Kennel Club Pet Insurance has been approached for comment.
The CBIs boss has been sidelined as the beleaguered business organisation explores a merger with manufacturing body Make UK, the Mail understands.
A source close to the discussions said Rain Newton-Smith has had very little involvement in the talks, which come as the CBI faces a cash crisis.
Talks have included plans to merge the two organisations backroom operations with significant redundancies likely in finance and HR departments, the Mail has been told.
The CBI and Make UK both declined to comment.
Newton-Smith was parachuted in as CBI director-general in April after it became engulfed in a series of sexual misconduct allegations.
Talks: Rain Newton-Smith was parachuted in as CBI director-general in April after it became engulfed in a series of sexual misconduct allegations
This resulted in a wave of businesses including John Lewis, Aviva and NatWest quitting as members. and prompting Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to declare there was no point in talking to it as the firms left in droves.
Now it faces a financial crunch, with the Sunday Times reporting that the CBI was racing to raise 3million from its remaining members within days. And it emerged earlier this month that it was in talks with Make UK over a tie-up.
The Mail understands that, under the plans, Make UK would effectively take over the CBI and that the CBI only has six weeks of cash left.
The merger would take place next spring with Stephen Phipson, Make UKs chief executive, running the overall group.
The CBI would continue to exist within this structure, led by Newton-Smith, with Ben Fletcher, chief operating officer at Make UK, replacing Phipson at that organisation.
It was not clear why Newton-Smith has been sidelined in the talks or who is representing the CBI at the discussions.
CBI members will be given an update this week. Its annual general meeting is due to be held tomorrow.
On reports about it seeking to raise new funds from members, a CBI spokesman said: As has been widely reported, the CBI has experienced some short-term cash flow challenges following an incredibly difficult year for the organisation.
A number of options are being explored to resolve this issue and secure the footing of an organisation that remains in a strong medium-to-long- term position.
Although the cost of living squeeze is hitting families in the pocket, Britons are still keen to splash out on winter getaways, says the boss of P&O Cruises.
Britains biggest cruise lines company has seen passengers flock back to its ships, while parent company Carnival has revealed bookings are at an all-time high.
People trade down on supermarkets or cars or eating out, but they dont sacrifice their holidays, Paul Ludlow, president of Carnival UK, told the Mail.
Carnival carried 5.7m passengers in the first six months of 2023 close to the 6m who travelled with it in the same period of 2019 and the 5.8m in 2018 before the pandemic hit.
And ships are projected to be full for the rest of the year.
All aboard: Paul Ludlow (pictured), president of P&O Cruises parent company Carnival UK, has been on a mission to get youngsters onto their vessels.
Cruises across the Caribbean are proving particularly popular for this winter, Ludlow said, as well as jaunts in the Med.
The cruise giant, meanwhile, continues to hike its prices, with the average P&O trip costing cruisers an average 120 a night.
A 14-night Caribbean cruise over Christmas on board the Britannia starts at 1,499 but can be considerably more expensive depending on the cabin and other options.
Despite the stereotypical image of those who go on cruise ship holidays, Ludlow, 44, has been on a mission to get youngsters onto their vessels, investing in alternative restaurants such as sushi or vegan food as well as gimmicky escape rooms across newer ships.
His efforts have seen the median age of a cruise goer drop to 46, having fallen every year for the past decade.
Carnival was founded in Florida in 1972 by businessman Ted Arison, who was also behind Norwegian Cruise Lines. The P&O brand, however, dates all the way back to the 1830s when it was a shipping firm.
Carnival has since grown into an industry behemoth with 9 separate brands and over 90 ships in its fleet, including seven P&O Cruises vessels, sailing to the four corners of the world.
But a major obstacle that is likely to put off many eco- conscious youngsters is the industrys well-documented impact on the environment.
The cruise business is a major global polluter, with studies suggesting that one large ship releases a carbon footprint greater than 12,000 cars.
In 2016, Carnival-owned Princess Cruises agreed to pay a 31million penalty in the US for illegally dumping oil-contaminated waste into the sea and acts by employees to try to cover up the incident.
Three years later, Carnival agreed to pay an additional 16million for violating probation terms.
Ludlow said he always invites conversation about climate change but said that the industry had made consider-able strides.
But aside from environmental concerns, Ludlow has had a busy in-tray to deal with.
It was his job to steer P&O through the various Covid lockdowns, where cruise liners were being branded plague ships.
Speaking from his nautical-themed office at P&Os Southampton headquarters, Ludlow said this coverage was unfair during an incredibly difficult time for the 200-year-old brand.
Expansion: Carnival now has 24 ships in its fleet, including seven P&O vessels, sailing to the four corners of the world
The cruise industry initially made the news unfairly I think because, at the time, there were a lot of people who were very scared, he said.
The logistical operation was nothing Id ever seen before.
We were working day and night with big maps on the wall and plotting how we could repatriate people to their homes.
To make matters worse, this all coincided with the business trying to get to grips with the changes caused by Brexit.
Visa rules were overhauled when ships docked and guidelines about onward passage had to be revamped.
Carnival lost an estimated 7billion in 2020 because of the pandemic, with a further 6billion blow the following year.
But just when the company thought it was out of the woods with Covid, it was hit with another tornado the P&O Ferries debacle.
Despite being an entirely separate business, P&O Cruises suffered a backlash when the ferries company illegally sacked nearly 800 workers over Zoom in March 2022.
People misattributed cruises with ferries, he said.
Clearly still frustrated by the drama of it all, Ludlow added: We had to work really hard to try and dispel that myth.
His team even ran a large-scale campaign at the time, distancing itself from the ferries business out of fear that consumers may boycott the brand. A statement at the time made clear that: Our names may both begin with P&O. But thats where the similarity ends.
P&O Cruises became part of the Carnival group in 2003. P&O Ferries is owned by Dubai-based DP World.
Ludlow said: We had to ride through it. It was unhelpful. It was difficult to deal with post- pandemic when we thought we were moving through it with brighter times.
Having grown up between the Isle of Wight and London, Ludlow was hooked on travel straight out of university when he became a Tui representative.
He spent nine months in the sun in Cyprus, booking customers excursions and arranging airport transfers.
What I learned is that I love the travel industry and working for a business where you inherently sell happiness and holidays are really important for that, he said.
He later joined the Carnival graduate scheme in 2001, working his way up from the sales team to president of Carnival UK, which means he runs Cunard, Carnivals luxury business, and P&O cruises globally, managing 2,000 staff at the Southampton office and 14,000 employees at sea.
And despite the challenges that have been thrown at him in the past two decades, Ludlow remains largely upbeat about the future of his industry and specifically P&O Cruises place in the British psyche.
He said: Brands like us are part of the DNA of Britain they have incredible history and weathered storms in the past and people can put trust in us.
Two pubs a day disappeared in England and Wales during the first half of this year.
Some 383 pubs were demolished or converted for other uses such as offices or homes between January and June.
The overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and on the market to let, dropped to 39,404 at the end of June.
Last orders: The overall number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and on the market to let, dropped to 39,404 at the end of June
Campaigners say the data, compiled by commercial real estate specialists Altus Group, underscores the need for the Government to support venues at the up- coming autumn Budget.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said: These figures are a stark reminder of the realities facing pubs.
Businesses at the heart of communities gone forever, loyal staff losing their jobs and one less place for locals to eat and drink this is the real cost of the economic turmoil many are facing.
UK Hospitality is calling on the Government to extend business rates relief ahead of an almost billion-pound hike in rates next April.
B&Q owner Kingfisher has lowered its profit forecast for the year, citing low consumer confidence.
Kingfisher, which also owns Screwfix, has lowered its profit guidance for the year from 634million to 590million.
The London-based DIY retailer said that statutory pre-tax profit was down by 33 per cent to 317million for the six months ending 31 July, falling short of the expected 356million.
The London-based company said that statutory pre-tax profit was down by 33 per cent to 317million for the six months ending 31 July
Kingfisher group said that this reflected lower operating profit, which fell more than per cent to 367m in the period.
Although like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland were up 1.7 per cent, its Polish and French arms saw drops of 10.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively.
The FTSE 100 business also said that overall, like-for-like sales were 'slightly ahead of expectations' despite being down by 2.2 per cent for the first half of the year.
In the UK and Ireland, the firm saw an increase in operating costs caused due to higher pay and energy rates, and the impact of the weather saw seasonal sales down by 5.9 per cent.
Kingfisher shares were down by 5.98 per cent to 221.50p in morning trading on Tuesday.
Thierry Garnier, chief executive officer, of Kingfisher said: 'Our like-for-like sales in H1 were slightly ahead of expectations, against a backdrop of unseasonal weather and ongoing macroeconomic challenges in our markets. We saw good growth in our UK banners, with Screwfix gaining significant market share.
'At the same time, we faced strong comparatives and a weaker trading environment in Poland, while consumer confidence in France is at a 10-year low.
'Overall, demand for our core and "big-ticket" categories was healthy, and we were pleased to see an improving volume trend in these categories through the half.'
In May, the group blamed bad weather for hitting purchases of seasonal products during the first quarter of the financial year.
The firm reported an 11.3 per cent fall in like-for-like revenues from seasonal categories for the three months ending April, as well as a 1.2 per cent drop in sales of 'big-ticket' and core items.
Ousted: Edward Tilly has stepped down from his job at Cboe Global Markets
The boss of a major Chicago exchange operator has become the latest chief executive to lose his job for failing to disclose personal relationships with colleagues.
Just a week after Bernard Looney was forced out of BP, Edward Tilly stood down from his job at Cboe Global Markets.
The company said the 60-year-old who started out on the trading floor of its predecessor, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, in 1987 did not disclose personal relationships with colleagues, which violated Cboes policies and stands in stark contrast to the companys values.
It marked the end of a long career that saw Tilly work his way up from a clerk on the trading floor to become chief executive in 2013. He received a pay packet of 9.6million last year.
His departure follows an investigation by Cboes board and external lawyers that kicked off last month.
Fredric Tomczyk, a board member at Cboe, which runs the largest exchange for US equity options, will take over as chief executive.
Looney, 53, left BP over his own failure to disclose the extent of past personal relationships at the oil giant.
BP has come under fire for appointing him as its boss in 2020 despite his reputation for relationships apparently being widespread.
Banks have not closed any current accounts over customers' political views, the financial regulator said today - despite a fierce political firestorm around the issue.
Earlier this year the issue of banks closing accounts, known as 'debanking', hit the headlines when former UKIP leader Nigel Farage claimed Coutts shut his current account due to his right-wing views.
In response, the Government asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulator to step in and investigate.
Today the FCA published a report saying it had found no evidence any bank had closed a current account due to political views.
Instead, the FCA said banks were only closing accounts for reasons such as suspected fraud and abuse of bank staff.
Back for seconds: The FCA is carrying out a second review specifically into the case of Nigel Farage's Coutts bank account being closed
The FCA quizzed 34 banks about how many current accounts they closed, and why.
However, the regulator also said its report was rushed, and that the data supplied by banks was messy and incomplete.
FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi claimed 'no bank, building society or payment firm reported to us that they had closed accounts primarily due to someones political views'.
Banks told the FCA that up to 6.7 per cent of current account applications were denied.
Around 2.3 per cent of current accounts get suspended, while around 3.4 per cent were shut in the period the FCA looked at, July 2022 until June 2023.
However, these figures are far worse for basic bank accounts - the no-frills accounts available for people who do not qualify for - or want - a full current account.
Of this group, up to 35.7 per cent of applications were rejected, 1.8 per cent were suspended and another 1.8 per cent shut during the period.
The FCA today announced plans to do more investigation into why so many basic bank account applications are shot down by banks.
When can a bank account be closed?
By far the most common reasons providers gave for refusing, suspending or closing an account were because it was inactive or dormant, or because there were concerns about financial crime.
The FCA's Rathi said: 'While no bank, building society or payment firm reported to us that they had closed accounts primarily due to someones political views, further work is needed for us to be sure.
'As we undertake that work, the time is also right for a debate on how we balance access to bank accounts with the threat of financial crime, as well as firms reasonable risk and commercial appetites.
'An important question for policy makers is whether all individuals, businesses and organisations should have the right to an account, as is the case in some other countries.
'Whats more, international comparisons suggest robust digital identities could play an important role not only in countering financial crime but also in aiding financial inclusion.'
This is the chilling moment a stepfather confessed to shooting his wife dead in front of her teenage daughter - by pointing to the word 'yes' after he was left unable to speak due to a botched suicide bid.
Cheryl Gabriel-Hooper, 51, was shot twice with a double-barreled shotgun by her ex-partner Andrew Hooper as she sat in her car after being subjected to years of domestic abuse.
Her daughter Georgia, who was just 14-years-old at the time, was standing by the front of the Land Rover Evoque when she witnessed her stepfather firing an antique gun at her mother in January 2018.
Hooper fled the scene and turned the shotgun on himself after the attack. His face remains severely disfigured and he can no longer speak. He was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 31 years.
Never-before-seen footage has now emerged showing him in hospital admitting to the murder by pointing at the word 'yes' on a board with his trembling finger when asked in a police interview if he was responsible for his wife's death.
Cheryl Gabriel-Hooper, 51, was shot twice with a double-barreled shotgun by her ex-partner Andrew Hooper
In the clip, which is part of a new ITVX documentary A Murder in the Family, a police officer says the investigation was an 'emotional rollercoaster for 18 months full of unexpected twists and turns'.
By the time police got to interview Hooper it was 10 months down the line - he didn't have a mouth or a nose and the interview was described as 'extraordinary'.
Georgia's stepfather, Andrew Hooper, had already been convicted of previous domestic abuse offences before he met her mother. But Cheryl never knew this when the relationship began.
Georgia spoke to MailOnline back in December 2020, saying: 'I wish there could have been a domestic abuse register when my mum was alive.
'My stepdad had a history of domestic abuse before even meeting my mum so if there had been a register, it could have prevented her from entering into a relationship with him.'
Hooper pointing to the word yes in a police interview when asked if he was responsible for Cheryl's death
Cheryl Hooper, with her daughter Georgia, who was 14 when she witnessed the shooting
'A register would save lives because it would potentially stop someone from entering a relationship with an abusive partner,' Georgia added at the time. 'A lot of abusers turn into serial abusers, attacking every woman they go out with. It's rarely an isolated incident so we need that register to keep women safe.'
'Something needs to be done. We have a sex offenders register, so why don't we have a domestic abuse register?'
Police said the investigation was an 'emotional rollercoaster for 18 months full of unexpected twists and turns'
Andrew Hooper who was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of murdering his estranged wife Cheryl Hooper
Cheryl, who had been abused by the 'cowardly' farmer for seven years, had moved out of their shared house at Guild of Monks Farm, near Newport, Shropshire, in December 2017 and moved to another house with Georgia in the town.She was murdered six weeks later on January 26, 2018.
Georgia and her mum had just parked in the driveway of their new home when Hooper, who had earlier confronted Cheryl at a pub after putting a tracking device on her car, pulled up behind them in his truck.
'My mum said 'Oh my god he's here',' Georgia previously told.
Knowing instinctively that something didn't feel right, the 14-year-old schoolgirl got out of the car.
'But by the time I got to the front of the car he had shot through the car window to break it and then he shot at mum again,' she said.
'I tried to find a pulse or get a reaction from her, but there was nothing.
'I never thought he was going to kill her. I never thought he would take it that far.'
A Murder in The Family lands exclusively on ITVX on Thursday 5th January.
If you have been affected by the issues in this story, Women's Aid offers a free support line: 01708 765200
Questions are being asked about training and recruitment of female prison guards after a spate of officers have been sacked and in some cases jailed for having affairs with inmates.
Last week saw prison guard Joanne Hunter, 28, jailed for three years after having a relationship with an inmate and smuggling him cannabis at HMP Forest Bank in Salford.
Elsewhere, HMP Berwyn in North Wales is in a staffing crisis after dismissing no fewer than 18 female members of staff for inappropriate relationships with prisoners.
Mark Fairhurst, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association (POA), cited poor training and vetting procedures as being responsible for many officers succumbing to corruption.
Mr Fairhurst said the number of female prison guards had risen 27 per cent over five years in line with diversity requirements, but staff were often recruited centrally with interviews conducted over Zoom.
Ayshea Gunn, 27, exchanged more than 1,200 phone calls, including explicit video calls, and smuggled her underwear into her lover Khuram Razaq's cell
HMP Berwyn - Britain's largest male jail in Wrexham, North Wales, where 18 female guards have been fired or resigned for having illicit affairs with inmates
He told LBC: 'It's inexperienced staff being conditioned by very experienced prisoners.
'The initial training they receive on corruption prevention is not fit for purpose combined with a low wage and high cost of living. It is tempting for people. We need to toughen up recruitment procedures.'
He said also that the number of inexperienced prison officers in frontline roles had gone up due to staff shortages.
READ MORE: Prison officers go through guards' social media to make sure they are not having illicit affairs Advertisement
Officers who lose everything by having relationships with inmates do so because of 'a mix of emotional vulnerability and the thrill of the forbidden', experts have said.
Looking over the cases, forensic scientist Dr Carole Lieberman told the Mail: 'Female prison officers are sitting ducks for male inmates.
'This is because women who become prison officers have not typically had a bustling social life. Many are not comfortable wearing sexy clothes or chatting up men in the usual outside arenas, from pubs to parties.
'In prison, these women have a literally captive audience and less female competition than in the outside world.
'Some women are attracted by these perks and choose to work in this environment on purpose, whereas it is an unconscious motivation for others.
'A lot of women are attracted to bad boys, the heartbreakers. When they find themselves mixing with the same bad boys day after day, most of whom are charming sociopaths, their loneliness gets the better of them.'
Psychologist Bayu Prihandito said: 'It's evident that some of these relationships come from a place of vulnerability.
'Some of these guards might not fully grasp the consequences or believe they can manage the situation without getting caught.
'Inmates can identify staff members who seem more susceptible to manipulation, such as those who appear to be naive, vulnerable, or seeking validation.
'By building a relationship, they might aim for certain privileges, reduced punishments, or even to obtain contraband items. It's a power play.'
Counsellor Matthew Schubert agreed that the power balance often acted as an 'aphrodisiac', adding: 'The vast majority of prison guards who have been jailed for affairs with prisoners are young and inexperienced in their new job.
'There is a power difference in the prison system between the guards and inmates. The female guards hold status over their charges and this can be an aphrodisiac.'
Another officer, Emily Watson, 26, had intercourse with her jailbird lover and performed a sex act on him on two other occasions - one on Christmas day
In a new Independent Monitoring Boards report, staffing issues were highlighted as the 'biggest destabilising factor' at HMP Berwyn, which is home to more than 2,100 medium-risk category 'B' and 'C' prisoners.
While the 18 cases have taken place since 2017, three female guards, Jennifer Gavan, 27, Ayshea Gunn, 27 and Emily Watson, 26, were all jailed in the last year for relationships with the inmates.
Watson arranged three trysts with her jailbird lover in his cell, having full intercourse with him during one meet up and performing a sex act on him on two other occasions - including on Christmas Day.
Gunn made more than 1,200 phone calls - including explicit video calls - and smuggled a pair of underwear to her lover Khuram Razaq's cell in her bra lining.
Both officers were jailed for 12 months in 2019 for misconduct in public office.
In April 2020, Gavan began a relationship with offender Alex Coxon. She gave him a phone with which she had made sexually explicit videos.
In December of last year, she was jailed for eight months after pleading guilty to misconduct.
The most recent report, according to The Sun, looked at the period between March 2022 and February this year.
It said the jail had been gradually 'opening up' since Covid, adding that 'progress has been adversely affected by shortages of operational staff and probation officers'.
It also said that many staff were inexperienced and that the Prison Service was actively recruiting more members.
Prison officer, Ayshea Gunn with inmate Khuram Razaq in a cell at the prison
Khuram Razaq, then 29, had previously been jailed for armed robbery and in 2015 had been given a subsequent 12-year sentence for conspiracy to rob
As a response to the scandal, which was said to be a result of naive, vulnerable and poorly educated staff, the prison oversaw 500 of its staff undertake corruption prevention training.
Crime and security expert Chris Phillips told The Sun: 'It beggars belief that so many female officers could be involved in relationships with inmates.
'Where is the supervision of these officers?'
A spokesman for The Prison Officers' Association told the paper: 'At Berwyn, staff there for only three or four months are teaching new staff.
'When you put young staff in and they mix with experienced prisoners a lot of them wealthy they are cultivating them.'
Joanne Hunter, 28, conducted the relationship with Connor Willis while working at HMP Forest Bank in Salford
Hunter - described as 'naive' and 'vulnerable' in court - believed Willis was 'in love' with her and agreed to smuggle packages, including cannabis, into prison for him
Rachel Widdicombe, prosecuting, told the court how Hunter (pictured) had agreed to smuggle packages into the prison for Willis, one containing a juice carton and another coating a Red Bull can
Joanne Hunter, 28, conducted a relationship with Connor Willis while working at HMP Forest Bank in Salford.
Hunter - described as 'naive' and 'vulnerable' in court - believed Willis was 'in love' with her and agreed to smuggle packages, including cannabis, into prison for him. She also sent him explicit photographs, which were later found on her phone.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Hunter, who has a master's degree in Childhood and Youth studies, began working at the prison in December 2018.
In December 2020, prison authorities received information that she was taking items inside and when she was interviewed by security managers she admitted having a relationship with Willis.
She smuggled packages, including some containing cannabis, inside the prison by passing them on to another prisoner - whom she knew as a 'big player' and a member of a crime gang - for Willis. Willis offered to pay her 200-300 for each package, but she refused to take the money.
Hunter, from Bury, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and bringing or conveying cannabis into the prison at a hearing in March.
She pleaded not guilty to bringing or conveying an unauthorised mobile phone into the prison and that charge was laid on file.
Richard Orme, defending, said that Hunter was a 'naive, impressionable and vulnerable young woman'.
'She was ripe for picking for an unscrupulous criminal to take advantage of her in her first job out of education,' he said.
Aisha Golsby, 23, was working at HMP Portland in Dorset when she became involved with convict Deano Harrison
Mr Orme said Hunter had never had a serious relationship or boyfriend because 'she was focused on her education'.
The judge, Recorder Paul Hodgkinson, jailed her for three years, saying her actions had 'struck at the heart of criminal justice system' and discipline and order at the prison had been 'severely undermined', putting the public, fellow prison officers and other inmates at risk.
Aisha Golsby, 23, was working at HMP Portland in Dorset when she became involved with convict Deano Harrison.
Harrison, who was 21 at the time and who has convictions for robbery and drug dealing, struck up the illicit relationship with glamourous Golsby by messaging her on Instagram with a phone illegally smuggled into jail.
The besotted pair called and messaged each other, with the prisoner gushing he had 'never felt love like it' before while she wrote of how she trusted him with her heart.
While Golsby filed reports about other inmates having mobile phones, she failed to do so for Harrison because of her feelings for him - event tipping him off about cell searches so he could hide his phone.
Besotted Golsby told her prison boyfriend that she trusted him with her whole heart - as she shielded him from cell searches by her colleagues
The crooked prison officer has now been jailed for 16 months over her illicit affair with an inmate at HMP Portland. Golsby is pictured leaving Poole Magistrates' Court
His mobile was finally found and a search of it by Golsby's shocked colleagues revealed the relationship between her and Harrison.
Golsby, from Weymouth, Dorset, was arrested and interviewed. She was suspended from her job before handing in her resignation two months later.
She pleaded guilty to three counts of misconduct in a public office and was jailed at Bournemouth Crown Court.
Golsby started working at the HMP Portland in April 2020, when she was just 19 years old. Harrison initially made contact with her through Instagram in August 2021.
In one message Harrison wrote to her: 'I have not felt like this about anyone. I never thought it would get deep, I didn't think I would get attached to you. I've never felt love for someone in such a small amount of time.'
The search of his phone showed Golsby sent Harrison a message in January 2022, when she was concerned someone had found out about them saying 'I trusted you with my whole f***ing heart, I really hope what you are saying is true'.
There were also 11 phone calls logged between them from January 23 until the phone was discovered in a cell search on January 28.
Harrison was moved to another prison but made several attempts to contact Golsby, with letters being intercepted by the prison service.
Golsby also sent him messages printed through Free Prints saying she was thinking of him in 'affectionate terms'.
Hollie Gilbery, defending, told the court Golsby was a hardworking young woman with no previous convictions and very clear remorse 'at her own stupidity'.
She sought to persuade judge Jonathan Fuller to give Golsby a suspended sentence. But in jailing her for 16 months he said misconduct in the prison service must be dealt with seriously by the courts.
Katie Loxton would spend a large portion of her time on the block where Higgs was housed, which raised the suspicions of a number of her colleagues
Katie Loxton was a serving prison custody officer at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire when she first met Adam Higgs, 32.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that Loxton, 27, would spend a large portion of her time on the block where Higgs was housed, which raised the suspicions of a number of her colleagues.
Further checks revealed that the pair had bypassed the prison's security system and were communicating via a fake contact on Higgs' telephone in his cell. Higgs made 3,451 calls to the number and spoke with Loxton for more than 380 hours.
The calls cost him a total of 798 between July 7, 2021 and January 13, 2022.
He also hid a mobile phone, which he then used to communicate with Loxton through social media.
Adam Higgs made a total of 3,451 calls to the number and spoke with Loxton for more than 380 hours. The calls cost him a total of 798 between July 7, 2021 and January 13, 2022
Loxton was a serving prison custody officer at HMP Oakwood in Staffordshire when she first met Higgs
The court heard that the pair would often 'perform sexual acts to each other' while speaking on the phone.
Loxton was arrested and her home searched on January 27 last year. During the search, three handwritten letters from Higgs were found inside.
Higgs, of Grantham, Lincolnshire, was interviewed about the findings in prison in March 2022. The pair later admitted their offences in court.
Loxton, of Sandwell, West Midlands, also admitted transmitting or causing the transmission of an image/sound by electronic means from within a prison.
She was jailed for 12 months for misconduct in a public office.
Elsewhere, prison nurse Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, met Harry Pullen, 25, at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales while he was serving a five-year sentence for drug offences.
Hibbs was jailed for six months last year after she admitted misconduct in a public office following the discovery of her relationship with the 'manipulative' prisoner.
The healthcare worker was discovered to have exchanged Instagram messages with Pullen and held 'flirtatious' calls over the phone.
A disciplinary tribunal has now handed the medic a 12-month suspension order, meaning she will not be allowed to practice her profession until the order expires.
Prison nurse Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, (pictured) was jailed for entering a relationship with an inmate
Harry Pullen, 25, (pictured) was jailed for five years in 2019 for flooding the streets of South Wales with cocaine and heroin
Hibbs claimed she was 'pressurised' into flirting with Pullen, who was sentenced to five years in prison in 2019 for flooding the streets of South Wales with cocaine and heroin.
She was one of two prison workers in HMP Parc accused of having relationships with Pullen, alongside prison officer Ruth Shmylo who is set to face trial this September.
Hibbs attended a Nursing Midwifery Council disciplinary hearing following her release from jail to decide if she was fit to carry on in her career.
The hearing found that her 'fitness to practise' was impaired by her conviction, and she was handed a 12-month suspension order.
A court heard 'manipulative' Pullen came into contact with Hibbs while in custody at HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales.
Hibbs met the prisoner while giving him medical treatment in her jail before he contacted her on Instagram.
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said jail chiefs suspected the inmate was involved in an inappropriate relationship at the prison so transferred him to HMP Manchester.
But investigators then found Hibbs' phone number on his approved calls list for inmates.
A disciplinary hearing barred Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, from practicing nursing for 12 months
Mr Cobbe said: 'Having been moved the inmate's calls were monitored in HMP Manchester and it was quite plain the relationship this defendant had was being nurtured by the inmate.
'He contacted the defendant very many times and the bulk of it occurred when she was employed at HMP Parc.'
Mr Cobbe said the inmate used his mother and a friend to initiate contact with Hibbs after he searched for her on Instagram.
He said: 'The calls between them were flirtatious. They talk about the prison, staff within the prison, he tells her that he loves her and she tells him he doesn't know her to love her.
'He tells her that he loves her and she tells him that she loves him too. The calls included references to the defendant's existing partner and the inmate continuously suggested he would replace him and be in a relationship with her.'
Cardiff Crown Court heard the two swapped messages on Instagram by contacting each other through an account held by the inmate's friend.
Hibbs quit her post at HMP Parc in July 2021 and was arrested a week later and admitted exchanging messages with the prisoner.
She told police she was scared to end the contact after he had previously threatened her.
Mr Cobbe said: 'She explained that she and the inmate were never in a sexual relationship of any kind at all.
'She accepted she should have reported the matter but that she got in too deep and couldn't get out.'
Elyse-May Hibbs, 25, was jailed for six months after admitting misconduct in a public office
Hibbs, of Newbridge, Gwent, admitted misconduct in a public office.
Adam Sharp, defending Hibbs, said the prisoner was known within the system to be a 'particularly manipulative individual'.
He said: 'She was young, impressionable, inexperienced and vulnerable to the malign influence of the inmate who sought to exploit her.'
Mr Sharp said Hibbs had 'dedicated a significant part of her adult life' to nursing but her conviction meant she would be banned from the profession.
Recorder of Cardiff Tracey Lloyd-Clarke, told Hibbs: 'You knew what you were doing was wrong, you had training but nevertheless you went ahead and formed what was clearly an emotional relationship with this prisoner.
'Although you were young you held a position of responsibility as a nurse and as a member of prison staff. You failed to report initial contact despite advice from a colleague and training you had had.
'You engaged in a flirtatious relationship initially, you failed to report the ongoing contact and you failed to report that this inmate had upon him and in custody an unlawful device.'
Roxanne Walker, 34, was spotted by colleagues giggling with 'manipulative' prisoner Daniel Carter at the 250million HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, North Wales. She later confessed to police: 'I've made a mistake. I've fallen in love with Daniel Carter; it's completely wrong.'
Walker, whose marriage has now broken down, received a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, in addition to 200 hours of unpaid work.
The prison opened in 2017 and has been dubbed 'Britain's cushiest jail' for its unconventional approach to incarceration, which includes referring to cells as 'rooms'.
Roxanne Walker, 34, (pictured) will avoid prison after engaging in 'sexually explicit' chats with an inmate at HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, North Wales
Walker admitted misconduct in a public office and cannabis possession.
In August 2022, Walker was spoken to in a support meeting - and she said she was 'disappointed' that her colleagues had reported her.
But the following month, Carter's use of the prison's phone system was investigated, and it emerged he'd added a female called 'Leanna Baker' to his list with whom he'd engaged in explicit conversations. It was in fact Walker.
Officers arrested Walker and searched her home, finding 'personal use' cannabis.
Andrew McInnes, defending, said: 'In her words, she'd fallen in love with Daniel Carter; a prisoner who has, it seems, a history of conditioning behaviour towards staff members.
'She realised she'd been manipulated. He told her what she wanted to hear. Her marriage was in difficulties and this was perhaps a vulnerable time in her life.'
In May, Judge Niclas Parry sentenced Walker to nine months - but was persuaded to suspend it for two years due to two 'exceptional' features in the case.
He ruled that her relationship had not resulted in any illegal items or assistance being given to the prisoner - and she is the single mother to a young dependent child.
Police and army veterans working undercover for Co-op are catching shoplifters only to have to let them go because police are ignoring 80 per cent of cases, a senior executive claimed today.
The chain has witnessed a 41 per cent rise in incidents of shoplifting in the first eight months of the year compared to the last, MailOnline can exclusively reveal.
Paul Gerrard, the chain's campaigns and public affairs director, said the number of cases of violence being used against staff had also increased by 25 per cent.
The chain recently revealed it had invested in undercover security guards who perform citizen's arrests on thieves.
But Mr Gerrard - who used to work in law enforcement - today admitted that in the majority of cases they had to be let go because officers never turn up.
'These are highly trained expert guards - often ex-police and ex-forces - who work undercover in stores where there's a particular problem,' he told MailOnline.
'They will intervene and make a citizen's arrest and detain the individual. But even in those cases when we've detained an offender and called for police assistance the police don't attend in 80 per cent of cases.
Co-op has previously released footage of its staff grappling with shoplifters in stores
Team leader Charlene Corbin was bottled by a shoplifter at the Co-op where she works
'That's despite us having the offender in our control in the store, with CCTV evidence.
'We'll keep them until we know if the police are going to turn up or not - that could be 15 minutes or an hour.
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'But if they're not going to turn up they let them go.
'In some ways it's even worse than not intervening in the first place because they know that even if they're caught they can still get out.'
Mr Gerrard is the latest retail executive to warn of a dramatic increase in shoplifting across the UK high street, which John Lewis chair Sharon White recently described it as an 'epidemic'.
He continued: 'We are running at about a thousand incidents of shoplifting a day across our two and a half thousand stores.
'Four or five colleagues will be physically attacked every day. We've seen syringes, knives and we even saw a medieval mace a couple of years ago.
'This isn't just a bit of pushing and shoving - it's serious violence leading to broken bones.
'What's behind the increase isn't opportunism. The majority of the rise is down to gangs and individuals who are targeting our stores to steal large volumes of products.'
Pictured is the wound Ms Corbin sustained after being bottled by a thief at her store
Paul Gerrard, the chain's campaigns and public affairs director, said there has been a 41 per cent rise in incidents of shoplifting in the first eight months of the year
Reported retail thefts have risen by 27 per cent year on year across ten of the UK's largest cities - and were up by 68 per cent in some, according to the British Retail Consortium.
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The trade body added that incidents of violence and abuse against retail staff have nearly doubled from more than 450 per day in 2019/2020 to more than 850 last year - with crimes including racial or sexual abuse, assault and threats with weapons.
Mr Gerrard said the Co-op had invested heavily in store security but needed tougher enforcement to confront the problem.
'Some forces are really good at coming out and some are really bad. There's no consistency at all.
'If you're to look at Essex Police, Sussex or Nottinghamshire Police you'll see that they've worked with us to get dozens of prolific offenders off the streets. That shows it's a solvable problem - this is about some specific regular offenders.
A shoplifter has a tug of war with a Co-op worker in Liverpool
'We want police forces to take this seriously and recognise the impact it has on shop workers and the viability of shops so we can fix this... and work with retailers.
'Because at the minute most police forces don't treat it as a priority and ask us to report it to 999 and 101 instead.'
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Today the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) said it is facing a 12million jump in the cost of shoplifting as bosses at the retail giant blamed a surge in organised crime.
Dame Sharon, chairwoman of the department store owner, told reporters that the recent spate in shoplifting at stores was driven by 'crime groups' rather than thefts linked to the soaring cost of living.
The boss said she met with Sir Mark Rowley, commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, earlier this week to discuss shoplifting.
The retailer called on the Government to change legislation in England and Wales to make it a criminal offence to abuse shopworkers, in line with current rules in Scotland.
Last month, the group's supermarket arm Waitrose said it was offering free tea and coffee to police officers in an effort to boost their presence around stores.
The company said it mainly saw a rise in the cost of crime due to theft, as well as 'related wastage'.
Ms White said: 'Like other retailers, we have seen more activity linked to organised crime.
'We have raised the issue because the safety of our staff is incredibly important, as a business we also feel this is an important issue from a societal point of view.'
German discount supermarket chain Lidl said separately on Thursday that it was stepping up investment in store security amid increasing rates of shoplifting, by ramping up CCTV coverage and rolling out more body-worn cameras in its outlets.
Ryan McDonnell, chief executive of Lidl's British business, said it was a 'social issue' that the industry is working together to address.
He said: 'There's no doubt that it's affecting the whole industry and we are not immune to it. The safety and security of our workers is a priority.
'We are working with the British Retail Consortium with the rest of our competitors in the sector coming together to look at how we can tackle it.
'We welcome the engagement from the Government and the police.'
EXCLUSIVE: The former Dancing on Ice star was bizarrely mentioned as the former chief adviser was giving evidence to the official inquiry today, saying that restricting travel in and out of the UK would have been ideal as soon as the virus was discovered. Mr Cummings pointed to an example where Caprice asked on TV why the entry of people into the UK was not being restricted and was derided as an 'idiot' for doing so. She received a spate of backlash for the comments which she made during appearance on Jeremy Vine on March 16 2020. But Mr Cummings later admitted that a drastic tightening of travel as soon as the virus was discovered would have had a 'much better outcome' in tackling the pandemic, backing up the point put forward by Caprice at the time. A friend of Caprice told MailOnline that she now has 'vindication for the backlash she received at the time' and 'it's now evident that she knew what all of the experts and politicians didn't know'. They added that anyone looking to stereotype the model in future 'should think again' as the incident proves that 'she is not just a pretty face'.
A woman says her Facebook account was taken over by hackers to post fake car adverts - using her profile to legitimise their attempts to extract thousands of pounds from unwilling victims and locking her out of treasured memories.
Ellie White Turner, 20, says the social media giant has done nothing to help her get her account back after fraudsters stole her five-year-old profile and used it to flood the Marketplace selling platform with illicit ads purporting to offer cars at knock-down prices.
In reality, the pictures and details on the ads have been lifted from real classifieds - but the scammers, offering to 'deliver' the car with a money-back guarantee, simply disappear with the cash after it has been sent over in advance by a victim.
And Ms Turner's profile - filled with personal photos, private family memories and personal contact details - is among those to have been drawn into the scam, which she suspects happened after she clicked on a used car ad.
More than 220 fake listings have been posted on her profile using legitimate used car photos - each and every single one a bid by scammers to defraud innocent would-be car buyers.
Ellie White Turner, whose Facebook account was taken over by hackers and has been used to list fake car adverts on the Marketplace selling platform
More than 200 fake car adverts have been posted to her Facebook Marketplace profile since the account was hacked earlier this week
One of the fake car listings on Ms Turner's Facebook profile after her account was compromised by hackers
And the real advert, from which the details and pictures have been unwillingly taken
Ms Turner's father Mathew White said Facebook was 'enabling' fraudsters by doing little to act on reports of scams or hacked accounts
She told MailOnline: 'It seems like they (Facebook) don't really care about their members. It's too easy for hackers to get in and so many people are getting hacked.
'I'm only 20 years old so it's not like I've had any other account - this was the only Facebook I've ever had and it's got everything I've ever posted.
'I was tagged in so many things like when I passed my driving test, turned 20, all my birthdays - all gone.'
However, hackers could also have access to personal contact details attached to the profile - sparking fears that they could be used for other nefarious deeds.
Ms Turner's profile was compromised earlier this week as she looked for a used car for her boyfriend - possibly through an illicit Marketplace listing, or a page posing as Facebook itself or a legitimate used car website.
She says that the email address and phone number linked to her account have been changed by the hackers since they gained access - locking her out altogether, even when using Facebook's account recovery tools.
Her emails to the social network's support centre, pleading for help in getting the account back, have gone unanswered.
She added: 'I've tried contacting Facebook to get my account back, but I've had nothing back.
'On other social media platforms, even your Gmail, they get you to put in two email addresses so you can recover your account, or you get an email to say someone has accessed your account. I didn't get any of that.
'I've had to make a new Facebook. We've tried reporting the adverts as scams but that hasn't worked.'
The hackers who have taken control of Ms Turner's profile follow the same template as other scammers exposed in our previous investigation.
As with other car scams on Facebook, the fraudster who had taken control of Ms Turner's account claimed to work for a transport company and asked for money upfront - but the company's name has been 'borrowed' for the fraud
Another fake ad posted on Ms Turner's profile, purporting to sell a Toyota Prius for just 2,600
The real advert reveals the car is being legitimately sold by a secondhand car website for five times the price at 13,000
Cybersecurity expert Jake Moore says the con artists behind scams such as those on Facebook Marketplace are 'professionals' using every trick in the book to swindle innocent victims
Our probe found that legitimate-looking profiles were being used to list hundreds of fraudulent car ads, seemingly with impunity, with the adverts only being deleted after we contacted Facebook parent company Meta.
After speaking to Ms Turner, we enquired with 'her' profile about a used Mercedes-Benz seemingly on offer for 5,600.
In reality, the car is being sold by a used car dealer in Scotland for almost five times that - but the photos and details have been stolen from the real listing in their entirety.
Top tips to dodge the Facebook second-hand car scammers 1. Always arrange to see the vehicle in-person Fraudsters will often steal photos and videos from legitimate car sellers and use them to create fake listings in online marketplaces. The best way to know if a seller really owns the vehicle they're claiming to sell is to arrange a viewing and see it for yourself. 2. Avoid making bank transfer payments to anyone you don't know and trust Instead, use services like PayPal, or a credit/debit card, as they will offer you more protection if things go wrong. 3. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is If you come across a vehicle being sold online at an unbelievably good price, but the seller cannot do in-person viewings, and they're also asking for payment via bank transfer It's probably a scam. Source: ActionFraud Advertisement
Responding to a message from a reporter, the fraudster controlling her profile asked us to contact an unrelated email address - a common tactic used by swindlers to take the conversation off of Facebook, in order to avoid its scam detection filters.
The email said the car was in 'great shape', and was 'acquired from an auction', hence the too-good-to-be-true price.
Our would-be fraudster also purported to represent a transportation firm, A J Kelly Transport Ltd based in Orpington, Kent.
Tony Kelly, owner of the real A J Kelly Transport Ltd, has previously warned anyone who gets a message from someone offering to a car under the guise of his firm that it will be a scam.
When we asked the would-be scammer if they had stolen Ms Taylor's account, and showed them the details of the real advert they had taken the photos from, they stopped responding.
Jake Moore, global cybersecurity advisor at internet safety firm ESET, previously shared his belief that Facebook is reluctant to deal with Marketplace scams because they add to the number of page views on the platform - increasing the amount that Meta can charge advertisers.
He added: 'Marketplace is a huge part of Facebook's business - it's one of the components that keeps people having a Facebook account and they are desperate to keep people on it.
'They will do small amounts to limit scams but I don't see them reducing it to zero because they can display adverts on these listings - so the best they offer is buyer awareness and putting warnings up.
'We saw it with cryptocurrency scams, and there was much made of the fact these were adverts Facebook was happy to take the money for while burying their head in the sand.'
Mathew White, Ms Taylor's father, is incandescent at what he sees as a lack of action and empathy from Facebook - and believes that there are greater problems at hand for the website if accounts belonging to real people continue to be compromised.
Mr White, 43, said: 'You don't even get to speak to a human anymore. It's all AI-controlled, and it always says "we don't see a problem with that" when you report it. It's ridiculous.
'This hack is an invasion of my daughter's privacy, data protection, everything, and for a megalith of a company like that that's not good enough.
'They should be fined or brought to court for the number of people this is happening to. It's enabling these scammers, is what it is.'
After being contacted by MailOnline Meta confirmed it had restored access to Ellie's account - but it was left to the 20-year-old to delete the ads and messages the account had received herself.
A Meta spokesperson said: 'We dont allow fraudulent activity on our platform and we are investigating the account brought to our attention.
'Were constantly working to improve our systems, and encourage anyone who sees content they believe breaks our rules to report it using our in-app tools so we can investigate and take action.'
Banks have called on Meta and other Facebook companies to shoulder some of the blame for people falling victim to fraud on social media.
A survey published on Thursday by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) in collaboration with building society Nationwide found that nearly six in ten people supported the idea of social media firms being held liable for scams.
Jim Winters, Nationwide's director of economic crime, said: 'Social media has become fertile ground for scammers, with controls seemingly yet to catch up with other industries, allowing criminals to all but freely target victims across their platforms.
'We will continue to reimburse those who have had their money taken through no fault of their own, but we need social media platforms, and other industries where scams start, such as big tech and telecoms to take more responsibility for reimbursement.'
The impact of the migrant crisis across Europe has been laid bare in a map - as experts warned that public opinion is turning against open-door policies.
With the political row raging in the UK, figures show that numbers of asylum seekers were higher in Germany, France, Austria, and Spain last year.
Keir Starmer has been accused of risking turning Britain into a 'dumping ground' for migrants coming to the EU after he mooted joining a 'burden-sharing' scheme to distribute arrivals.
There have been claims that could mean taking 100,000 to secure a returns deal for Channel crossers, although the Labour leader has since tried to play down the prospect.
There have also been warnings that the EU's arrangements are in chaos, amid bitter internal wrangling on how to cope with the numbers trying to reach the continent from destinations such as Syria and Libya.
Even Germany seems to be stepping away from its previous open-door approach to taking asylum seekers.
EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited the Italian island of Lampedusa with PM Giorgia Meloni on Sunday as the bloc struggles to maintain a united front.
Italy has been bearing the brunt of an upsurge in numbers crossing the Mediterranean this year amid more global political turmoil.
The impact of the migrant crisis across Europe has been laid bare in a map - as experts warned that public opinion is turning against open-door policies
Data highlighted by the House of Commons Library this month put the UK lower down the table when population size was taken into account
EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visits the Italian island of Lampedusa with PM Giorgia Meloni on Sunday as the bloc struggles to maintain a united front
Migrants are brought ashore on the Italian island of Lampedusa yesterday
According to government figures, 99,939 people sought asylum in the UK in 2022.
In contrast the number making initial applications for Germany was over 243,000, while France saw 156,000 and Spain around 117,000, according to Eurostat.
Austria also had more asylum seekers at 112,000 - although Italy's total of 84,300 was lower than Britain.
In total, EU27 countries had more than 965,000 asylum seekers in 2022, up from 677,000 in 2017.
The figures do not cover most arrivals from Ukraine, with the UK and EU countries operating separate visa routes. There are also distinct schemes for those wanting to come to Britain from Afghanistan and Hong Kong.
Data highlighted by the House of Commons Library this month put the UK lower down the table when population size was taken into account.
How numbers of asylum seekers compared in 2022 Germany 243,800 France 156,500 Spain 117,900 Austria 112,200 UK 99,900 Italy 84,300 Greece 37,400 Netherlands 37,000 Belgium 36,700 Cyprus 22,200 Source: Eurostat/Home Office Advertisement
Cyprus had 250 asylum seekers per 10,000 population in 2022. The UK was on around 20, below the EU average.
Syria has made up most of the first-time asylum applicants for the EU since 2013.
Last year there were 136,000 applications by people of that nationality, around 14 per cent of the overall numbers.
There were 124,925 applications from Afghanistan - 12.9 per cent of the total - while Venezuela, Turkey and Colombia made up the rest of the top five.
In terms of the UK, in 2022 the most asylum seekers came from Albania at 14,200, while there were 10,000 from Afghanistan not on the resettlement route, 7,600 from Iran, 4,100 from Iraq and 3,700 from Syria.
Peter Walsh of the Oxford University Migration Observatory told MailOnline the picture across Europe was 'quite varied'.
He said that countries with small boat arrivals seem to have a more 'charged' reaction, possible because the issue is more visible.
'The countries that are most readily comparable are Italy and Spain, because they are also experiencing quite high numbers of irregular boat arrivals - more than we do,' Dr Walsh said.
Dr Walsh said Germany had previously maintained 'very porous' borders, taking the view that the Schengen area meant free movement.
However, with asylum numbers running near 300,000 a year it was becoming a 'bigger issue' in Berlin.
'Other countries take a different approach like France and Poland. But there's increasing pressure in Germany now on that approach,' he said.
'I wouldn't be surprised if within a year or two they begin to enforce their border more seriously.'
On the mood in the UK, Dr Walsh said: 'It is more charged here and I don't know why. I could try to psychologise it, [being an] island might be a part of that and [the idea of] invasion by sea.
'There seems to be something about boat crossings that have a stronger pull on the imagination. Of course it is visible, more visible than lorry drops...
'But I think the gap is narrowing. In other countries like Germany - certainly it has been the case in Italy and Spain for a while and I think also in France - attitudes are hardening.
'I think the numbers and the nature of the arrival... there is increasingly more pushback against that.'
Ms Meloni claimed on Sunday that Europe's future is at stake unless the EU can stop the surge of uncontrolled migration across the Mediterranean.
Syria has long dominated the asylum applications in the EU, while in the UK Albania has been the source of many cases
The leader of the populist Brothers of Italy party made the declaration alongside Ms von der Leyen, on the Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of irregular migrants have landed on their journeys to Europe.
'The future that Europe wants for itself is at stake here,' Ms Meloni told a press conference.
'The future of Europe depends on its ability to tackle epoch-making challenges of our time and the challenge of illegal immigration is for sure one of them.
She said that Italy could not shoulder the full weight of responsibility for fighting irregular migration: 'We all stake our future on this issue. At the very least we need an EU naval mission against smugglers.'
'If we don't work seriously all together to fight the illegal departures, the numbers of this will not only overwhelm the border countries, but all of the others,' she warned.
Ms von der Leyen revealed a ten-point immigration support plan to support the island of around 7,000 residents.
The EU has pledged to move the 8,500 or so migrants that currently live on the island to other parts of the bloc.
It will also step up border surveillance by beefing up Frontex, the EU's border agency, with more equipment.
Ms von der Leyen is shown some of the small boats that have been arriving at Lampedusa
Ms von der Leyen also vowed to increase migrants' access to legal routes, telling the press conference: 'The better we are with legal migration the stricter we can be with irregular migration.'
She added: 'Irregular migration is a European challenge and it needs a European answer. We will decide who comes to the EU and under what circumstance and not the smugglers and traffickers.'
Ms Meloni is looking to get the EU to accelerate a migration deal with Tunisia worth 785million (676million) that would help the country return migrants to their countries of origin and beef up its coastguard with new and better equipment.
The EU's latest pledge also comes days after France stepped up its border security and Germany had suspended a voluntary programme for the reallocation of migrants, complaining that Italy was not respecting the EU's rules on accepting returned migrants.
The German government later reinstated the programme after von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel intervened.
European sentiment towards migrants has soured as data from Frontex revealed that the EU has faced a 96 per cent increase in irregular crossings via the central Mediterranean route to Italy this year.
Nearly 128,000 migrants have arrived in the EU via Italian soil this year so far, twice as many as last year.
Princess Beatrice was a guest of honour at last week's gala dinner at the Victoria & Albert Museum to celebrate its new Chanel exhibition.
The princess will no doubt have been intrigued to see one small item in particular among the many magnificent artefacts from the most famous fashion house in the world: a letter from her own grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.
It was written to thank her husband's chief of staff for a gift of Chanel no 5.
For more than 100 years, since Mademoiselle Gabrielle Chanel launched it on May 5, 1921, no 5 has been the indisputable queen of all scents.
Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, founder of the most famous fashion house in the world - pictured here in 1929. Chanel no 5 was the first scent she launched
The Victoria & Albert Museum is hosting a major exhibition about the Chanel fashion house
The exhibition features this letter from Queen Elizabeth in which she praises Chanel no 5 as 'just the very thing I particularly wanted'
It was addressed to 'Boy', the nickname of Sir Frederick Browning, who ran Prince Philip's private office
Year after year it is voted the top fragrance of all time and a bottle is bought every 60 seconds.
It has long been reported that Elizabeth wore Guerlains LHeure Bleue, but in the new exhibitions third room about Parfums Chanel - titled The Invisible Accessory - sits the thank you note from Elizabeth for the present she received on her 29th birthday in 1955.
And she praises it in glowing terms.
Written on Windsor Castle notepaper and dated 26th April 1955, the letter is addressed to Boy, who was Daphne du Mauriers husband - Frederick Browning.
A senior officer in the Army who, upon retiring, ran Prince Philips private office as part of the Royal Household.
The Queen writes to Boy that that he had, as usual discovered just the very thing I particularly wanted and that she is already using it, hoping that she is smelling all the better for it!
The exhibition, Gabrielle Chanel - Fashion Manifesto, is a co-venture with Pariss Palais Galliera.
The late Queen's letter has been lent by Justine Picardie, an expert on Chanel and author of Coco Chanel - The Legend and the Life.
In 2019, Justine's husband discovered the letter in a Rowley's auction house sale relating to the Du Maurier family, and they purchased it.
Princess Elizabeth in 1948 pictured with her correspondence in Buckingham Palace
Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo attend the private view of Gabrielle Chanel - Fashion Manifesto at the V&A
Coco Chanel, right, pictured with actress Ina Claire in 1931
Apparently the Queen and Prince Philip stayed with Daphne du Maurier and her husband at Menabilly House a few years later in 1962.
Of course the house was the inspiration behind Manderley in the author's iconic novel, Rebecca.
Photos from their visit were also in the sale at the Cambridgeshire auction house.
Chanel no 5 was the first scent launched by Gabrielle Chanel.
It was created by the Russian born, French perfumeur (or nez as they say in the industry) Ernest Beaux.
It is said that Coco chose the fifth vial of the ten samples he prepared for her, because the number had had particular significance ever since she was twelve years old and moved to live in an orphanage in Aubazine.
The number five was thought to be the purest embodiment of a thing, both spiritually and mystically.
She also decided that no 5 would be its name after all, she showed her collections on 5th May, the 5th month of the year this number five will bring it good luck she has long been quoted as saying.
The scent, which went on sale in 1921, was innovative in that it didnt have the heavy overtones of roses, which most female fragrances were based upon, up until then.
The signature note was and still is jasmine, along with the tropical flower ylang-ylang, vanilla, sandalwood and alcohol derivatives called aldehydes. It was also extremely expensive to produce, which perhaps added to its luxuriant appeal.
The iconic flacon, in which the scent is bottled, was also novel Mlle Chanel wanted something that would distinguish it from what she thought were the ostentatious bottles of Baccarat and Lalique; and just as she dressed women in trousers she wanted it to be more masculine, than feminine.
In the exhibition we see one of the original bottles, that is slightly different to the one we are so used to the shoulders of it were rounded whereas now they are faceted. One of the first influencers (she was the first face of the fragrance in a 1936 Harpers Bazaar advertising campaign), she was also an early marketeer.
She misted the perfume throughout her Rue Cambon boutique, and was thrilled when passers-by, stopped to inhale the scent lured by its enticing and sensual smell.
Daphne Du Maurier with husband Sir Frederick Browning - the 'Boy' of Queen Elizabeth's letter
At first, it was only available to special clients, the flacons were beautiful but not well made and therefore hard to commercialise.
But at the races in 1924 she met Pierre and Paul Wertheimer, who owned Bourjois et Cie, and who promised to assist her in the bottling of the fragrance.
They then became the major shareholders in the new company Parfums Chanel something which Gabrielle regretted for years afterwards.
The late Queen, was not the only royal who loved no 5.
Lady Diana Spencer adored it, too, and sprayed the scent all over the inside of her gown before she walked down the aisle of St Pauls Cathedral in 1981.
Unfortunately in her exuberance and nerves, she spilled more than she wanted and when she arrived at the altar to become the Princess of Wales, tried to cover up the stain in the silk with her hand.
Vivek Ramaswamy's wife Apoorva said it was a 'bummer' when Eminem's legal team told the 2024 hopeful to stop publicly rapping his music.
Apoorva Ramaswamy, 34, told DailyMail.com in her first print interview that in the long run her husband's ability to recite one of Eminem's most popular songs isn't important. But that didn't stop the biotech millionaire from being a bit disappointed by the news.
During the Iowa State Fair in August, Gov. Kim Reynolds asked 2024 candidates what their favorite hype-up song is. Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, said he likes to walk-out to Lose Yourself by rapper Eminem.
As Reynolds' team started playing the song when wrapping up her 'Fairside Chat' with Ramaswamy, he held onto the mic and started rapping the lyrics in a moment that has now gone viral.
But Eminem apparently didn't want the Republican candidate using his music and had his music licenser BMI send a cease and desist letter to Ramaswamy's campaign lawyers to revoke the team's license to use his music.
Apoorva Ramaswamy told DailyMail.com her husband and 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was 'bummed' when Eminem sent a cease a desist for him to stop rapping his music publicly. Pictured: Vivek and Apoorva Ramaswamy in 2015 the night before their wedding
Vivek Ramaswamy, 38, rapped Lose Yourself by Eminem during the Iowa State Fair in August after Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds asked the candidate what his favorite walk-out song is and followed-up by playing it for the crowd
'For what it's worth, Vivek and the campaign didn't turn on the music,' Apoorva explained in her interview on Sunday. 'It was from the folks of Iowa who turned on the music so there was nearly nothing for us to cease and desist from.'
'We're in it for the long run,' she added of her husband's campaign. 'He loves that song so it was a bummer.'
'But that's not at all an important part of this.'
The couple are of the millennial generation, which grew up listening to Eminem's music in the 1990's and 2000's. If elected, Ramaswamy would be the youngest president in U.S. history at 38.
He has flouted his age during campaign events as an asset and has not shied away from those who claim he is too inexperienced to be President.
Some suggest that Ramaswamy is auditioning with his presidential run to be on the ticket with former President Donald Trump as the vice president.
But Apoorva insists this is not true.
'He's not used to not being the boss. He runs companies,' she told DailyMail.com.
'I've known this man for a while now,' she added. 'There's a reason why he's an entrepreneur and didn't climb to CEO from within a big company.'
When asked whether she has any deviations from her husband's political positions, Apoorva merely joked that she likely wouldn't 'rap as much as he does' if she were the one running for President.
The throat surgeon and mother-of-two also admitted that they are a family full of opinions.
'We are both very strong people and on principles and the ideas we agree 100%,' Apoorva noted.
She joked: 'Certainly I would not rap as much as he does.'
'I think I'm very proud of what he's doing. And I think if people take the time to actually listen to his whole message, he does it with a sense of respect for all Americans, and true regard for our autonomy and our ability to rise above, which I'm really proud of him for.'
Apoorva and Vivek met at Yale when she was studying medicine and he was studying law. They married in 2015
Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy (left) has been notified that rapper Eminem (right) no longer wants him rapping to his music on the campaign trail
At one point, Apoorva's one-year-old son Arjun could be heard crying as they traveled through Iowa on the campaign bus.
'Sorry, our littlest man is going crazy right now,' Apoorva said. 'He has lots of opinions too.'
The couple's other son is Karthik, four.
Apoorva and Vivek met at Yale when he was studying law and she was studying medicine. They married in 2015 and now share two children. Both of them come from a household with one brother and two Indian immigrant parents.
While Vivek Ramaswamy went on to co-found a handful of businesses specifically in the asset management, hedge fund and biotech sphere Apoorva is now a throat surgeon and assistant professor in Ohio.
Apoorva's father was also a surgeon.
Sydney's LGBTQI+ community has demanded the NSW Labor government deliver on its promise to set up an advisory body for issues specific to gay and transgender people.
A renewed bid for better representation for LGBTQI+ groups in NSW follows the establishment of the landmark Faith Affairs Council this month.
The council, established this month, will play a direct advisory role to the NSW government concerning faith-related issues, programs, and policies. It will be made up of representatives from a diverse range of religious faiths.
Now Equality Australia legal director Ghassan Kassisieh has called on NSW Premier Chris Minns to deliver on his commitment to forming an LGBTQI+ specific council.
Mr Kassisieh said almost every other state and territory already had a process in place that allowed the government to better engage with LGBTQI+ groups.
'All groups deserve to be heard by the government on matters affecting their lives, including people of faith, LGBTQI+ people and those of us who belong to both groups,' Mr Kassisieh told Daily Mail Australia.
'The Minns Government committed to doing the same at the last election with an LGBTIQ+ advisory council and a whole-of-government LGBTIQ+ inclusion strategy.'
Equality Australia legal director Ghassan Kassisieh is pushing for an LGBTQI+ advisory body following the creation of the NSW Faith Affairs Council this month
LGBTQI+ groups in NSW have called for their own advisory body to help guide the government on issues specific gay and transgender residents
Mr Kassisieh said the state could achieve better outcomes if the LGBTQI+ community had direct input on the policies that affect their lives.
'We look forward to the NSW government honouring its commitment and developing a strategy to cover service delivery across all areas of government, from health care and education to housing and justice, to address the needs and improve the lives of LGBTIQ+ people,' he said.
Government leader in the Legislative Council Penny Sharpe confirmed the state was still committed to establishing an LGBTQI+ council.
'The government remains committed to establishing an LGBT advisory council and we will be working closely with community advocates from across our state as we work to deliver it,' she said.
Independent MP Alex Greenwich has welcomed the initiative, which he says would promote better engagement with LGBTQI+ organisations across NSW.
Talk about dressing down.
The United States Senate has lowered itself to the whims of one member, a so-called 'distinguished senator' from Pennsylvania who refuses to appear on the Hill or with the president of the United States in anything else but a grubby hoodie, billowing shorts, and drab sneakers.
No one signals the death of American decorum like Democratic Senator John Fetterman. Except, perhaps, for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who rarely misses a Sunday morning in front of television cameras, but who, over the weekend, very quietly dropped the suit-and-tie requirement on the Senate floor.
The hypocrisy is staggering: Fetterman insists he can do this very big job despite suffering a stroke that has left him with difficulty speaking and processing voices, that resulted in a six-week stay at Walter Reed for depression yet he can't expend the effort to look like a presentable member of Congress.
Actually, the question here is: Fetterman can't, or won't?
If we are to accept that everything is fine with Fetterman, then reasonable people can conclude that he simply doesn't care.
We can assume that he is lazy, a slob, and is happy to present himself as someone who is not bringing 100 percent to the job. That he is a narcissist who thinks that a centuries-old dress code for members of Congress should not apply to him, that D.C. should lower its standards to meet his slovenliness, and laughably, as a source close to Fetterman once claimed, that 'his relaxed, comfortable style is a sign that the senator is making a robust recovery.'
Sure. Nothing says you've beaten back depression by dressing as though you haven't gotten off the couch for a week. Nothing says self-respect like showing up to the Hill in clothes you'd wear to scrub the tub. Most of us dress better for a coffee run.
The United States Senate has lowered itself to the whims of one member, a so-called 'distinguished senator' from Pennsylvania who refuses to appear on the Hill or with the president of the United States in anything else but a grubby hoodie, billowing shorts, and drab sneakers.
The hypocrisy is staggering: Fetterman insists he can do this very big job despite suffering a stroke that has left him with difficulty speaking and processing voices, that resulted in a six-week stay at Walter Reed for depression yet he can't expend the effort to look like a presentable member of Congress .
And by the way, nothing insults working-class people like insisting you dress poorly even though you come, as Fetterman does, from such great wealth that he was financially supported by his father through his 40s because you are like them.
If anyone knows the importance of dressing for success, it's people who are actively trying to become successful.
How's that for championing the working men and women of America? This updated 'dress code', such as it is, only applies to members of Congress. The people who work for them and that means every member of Fetterman's staff, who used to beg him to always, always wear a suit must still follow the old dress code.
Formality for thee, not for me. How democratic.
Somehow, some way, this country has stopped demanding or expecting what's required of our elected officials. Dignity, on both sides of the aisle, is a relic.
And so we have Colorado's Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert at a Denver theater production of the kid-friendly 'Beetlejuice,' kicked out for refusing to stop vaping after being asked to by the pregnant woman seated directly behind her.
Boebert later denied that she had been vaping until surveillance video showed otherwise video that also caught Boebert groping her date's crotch while he fondled her breast. She's big on moral standards and traditional mores, don't you know.
'These people in front of us were outrageous,' the pregnant woman told the New York Post. 'I've never seen anyone act like that before.'
As she was escorted out of the theater, Boebert was caught on camera giving what looked like the middle finger. 'I simply fell short of my values,' Boebert said days later.
To paraphrase the old saying: The true test of someone's character is what they do when no one's watching or when they think no one's watching.
We have Colorado's Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert at a Denver theater production of the kid-friendly 'Beetlejuice,' (seen above) kicked out for refusing to stop vaping after being asked to by the pregnant woman seated directly behind her.
Boebert refused to stop, then later denied that she had been vaping until surveillance video showed otherwise video that also caught Boebert groping her date's crotch (above, right) while he fondled her breast. (above, left)
And what about those leaders whose limitations are out in plain sight? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell freezes up twice for nearly 30 seconds during two separate televised press conferences, yet we're told the 81-year-old is completely fine.
'I'm going to finish my term as leader,' he later announced.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, gave power of attorney to her 66-year-old daughter in August but is still wheeled into Congress, where staffers tell her whether to vote yea or nay. This follows last year's report that Feinstein asks the same questions over and over and repeatedly forgot the name of a longtime colleague over an hours-long meeting.
Her cognition, that colleague told the San Francisco Chronicle, was gone. 'She was an intellectual and political force not that long ago, and that's why my encounter with her was so jarring,' the source said. 'Because there was just no trace of that.'
Which brings us to the Big Guy. A new Wall Street Journal poll has found that a whopping 73 percent of Americans think President Joe Biden 'is too old to run for president.' Even Democrats agree, with an Associated Press-NORC poll last week finding that 69 percent said he was 'too old to effectively serve' another term.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, 90, gave power of attorney to her 66-year-old daughter in August but is still wheeled into Congress, where staffers tell her whether to vote yea or nay.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell freezes up twice for nearly 30 seconds during two separate televised press conferences, yet we're told the 81-year-old is completely fine.
A new Wall Street Journal poll has found that a whopping 73 percent of Americans think President Joe Biden 'is too old to run for president.' Even Democrats agree, with an Associated Press-NORC poll last week finding that 69 percent said he was 'too old to effectively serve' another term. (Above) President Biden falls on stage at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Falcon Stadium on June 1, 2023
Of course. Despite repeated denials by this White House, we all see what's before us: Biden tripping up the (now-shortened) stairs to Air Force One, or falling over completely; trailing off-mid-sentence; wandering off during a recent Medal of Honor ceremony, leaving a mystified Vietnam veteran alone; seeming to forget where is or why or what he's supposed to be talking about, often losing his train of thought.
Even prominent voices in left-leaning media have begun encouraging Biden to step aside and let someone else, younger but definitely not Kamala Harris, be the party's nominee in 2024. In the last few weeks alone, Democratic strategist James Carville, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, columnist Andrew Sullivan, and The Washington Post's David Ignatius have all publicly called on Biden to consider his age and cede the nomination.
'Democrats, off the air, will say: Joe Biden's too old why is he running'? Scarborough said to Ignatius last week. 'On the air? They won't say that.'
As Sullivan wrote earlier this month, every time Biden speaks, he's 'just a little off, eyes now visible in the ancient, botoxed, fillered face, words often slurred, a ghostly white mane peeking over his collar in the back, occasionally rallying to the point, or strangely loud-whispering . . . This is the man the Democratic party says will be able to function as president for five more years through the age of 86. No one rooted in human reality believes it, or should believe it.'
Nor should we accept it. It's not fusty or old-fashioned to believe that appearance counts for something, that the way you dress for a high-powered, extremely important job shows a level of respect or disrespect, as the case may be. Nor is it ableist or ageist to demand that America's leaders possess the mental acuity and cognitive function necessary for the job.
Make no mistake: In the halls of power, clothes do make the man or woman. And sometimes, as with Biden, the emperor simply has no clothes at all.
The paedophile who murdered seven-year-old Nikki Allan has launched an appeal against his conviction and 29-year prison sentence.
David Boyd, 55, lured the young schoolgirl away and brutally murdered her in October 1992 before escaping justice for 30 years.
Her skull was smashed with a brick and her body stabbed 37 times by Boyd, a man she knew well from the block of flats in Sunderland where they lived.
Her body was found inside a derelict building the next day by local residents searching for the missing girl.
Boyd had a previous history of sexual offences involving young girls. He was found guilty in 2022 at Newcastle Crown Court of murder and sentenced to a minimum term of 29 years.
David Boyd, 55, who murdered seven-year-old Nikki Allan has launched an appeal against his conviction and 29-year prison sentence
Nikki, from Sunderland, was horrifically murdered in 1992 by Boyd, who was not arrested until 2017
Nikki's body was found inside a derelict building the next day by local residents searching for the missing girl
He has now lodged an appeal against his conviction and the length of his sentence, which may have been even longer if the murder had taken place more recently.
Nikki's mother Sharon Henderson has spoken out against Boyd, expressing her shock to find out he is appealing.
'He had his opportunity to protest his innocence in court. But he did not say a word,' she told The Mirror.
Northumbria Police Commissioner Kim McGuinness, who reportedly spoke with Ms Henderson about the appeal, said that Boyd has put Nikki's family through a 'horrendous ordeal' and must 'face his actions'.
'I hope the courts do the right thing and throw out this appeal and end this woman's torment,' she told the paper.
Nikki's brutal murder shook residents on the Wear Garth estate in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
Boyd, then aged 25, gave a 'false alibi' and admitted he was the last man to see her alive.
But police suspected a different man, George Heron, who was found not guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court in 1993.
Mr Heron, who was 23 years old at the time, was subjected to oppressive questioning by police and made a false 'confession' which was ruled inadmissible by a judge.
He later told how his life was 'destroyed' by the false accusations and demanded answers over why it took so long for justice.
Convicted paedophile David Boyd (pictured), 55, was found guilty of Nikki Allan's murder
Seven-year-old Nikki Allan (pictured) was lured to her death more than 30 years ago
Years on, advances in science helped to reveal that Boyd's DNA was on Nikki's clothing in four areas.
Almost 25 years after he murdered her, police went to his home in 2017 to obtain a fresh DNA sample - which matched the Y DNA on the clothing.
During Boyd's trial in June this year, the court heard that Boyd, now 55, had a girlfriend who was a regular babysitter for Nikki.
Prosecutor Richard Wright KC told the court that on the night of her murder, Nikki was playing after dark in the courtyard.
At 9.30pm she had visited the nearby Boars Heard pub, telling a local she was 'waiting for her mam'. A witness then saw her skipping along with what they assumed was her father.
She was last captured on CCTV at 9.57pm close to the derelict building where her body was found the next day.
Shortly after 10pm a woman described hearing what she thought were two screams from a girl while another described the noise as a 'cat wailing'.
A search mission was launched soon after Nikki failed to return home.
Her coat and shoes were found outside the derelict building and her dead body was in the basement.
Mr Wright said evidence found that she was first attacked outside before being forced through a high window into the basement.
Nikki (picutred) had been playing outside the Garth flats where she lived and was seen skipping behind a suspect, now known to be Boyd
The crime scene in the Old Exchange Building in Sunderland's East End where Nikki was brutally murdered in 1992
Sharon Henderson and David Allan at the funeral of their daughter Nikki in October 1992
She had been stabbed 37 times in the heart and lungs.
The court heard that Boyd had struck Nikki in the face 'to shut her up' and then killed. 'Her fear, as she saw you lurching towards her in the dark, is unimaginable,' Boyd was told in court. 'It must have been a truly terrifying experience for this seven-year-old girl.'
During police investigations, Boyd told officers he had gone out to buy fish and chips after 9.30pm and by 10pm he was home. At trial the prosecution argued he had changed the timings to give himself an alibi.
Police did not treat him as a suspect at the time and it was not until April 2018 that he was finally arrested for Nikki's murder.
Elon Musk declined to address anti-Semitism on X when Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu broached the subject during their live-streamed discussion on Monday.
The duo spoke for almost an hour about the Twitter tsar's plans to establish a paywall on the platform, Netanyahu's controversial proposals to reform the judicial system in Israel, and artificial intelligence.
Their meeting in Silicon Valley, California, came amid escalating tensions between Musk and the Anti-Defamation League, which has accused him of being anti-Semitic, and mass protests in Israel over judicial reforms.
But Musk swerved the topic of anti-Semitism other than saying he is 'obviously against' it, and spoke more generally about 'hate speech' instead.
Netanyahu previously came to Musk's defense when he was accused of repeating discriminatory tropes about Jewish financier George Soros, and he introduced the subject by reiterating his belief that the Tesla boss does not have anti-Jewish views.
Elon Musk has declined to address anti-Semitism on X when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broached the subject during their live-streamed discussion
A huge crowd of protesters gathered in San Francisco's Union Square close to where Musk and Netanyahu were meeting on Monday to demonstrate their opposition to his reforms - and to Musk giving him a platform
'I know of your opposition to anti-Semitism,' the 73-year-old Israeli leader told Musk during their X discussion.
'All I can say is I hope you can find within the confines of the First Amendment the ability to stop not only antisemitism or roll it back as best you can, but any collective hatred of a people that anti-Semitism represents.'
'Obviously I'm against anti-Semitism,' Musk replied. 'I'm anti really anything that promotes hate and conflict, and I'm in favor that which helps society and takes us to a better future for humanity collectively.'
But the SpaceX boss didn't elaborate or defend his controversial statements about Soros, including comparing him to X-Men supervillain Magneto - a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge rather than humans.
Speaking about hate speech generally on X, he said: 'It's important to bear in mind that there are 550 million monthly users, now maybe going to 600 million monthly users.
'On any given day there's on the order of 100 to 200 million posts to the system. This is a lot of material. Some of those are going to be bad.
'You can't police it in advance, but you can say after the fact 'oh it's getting reported as hate speech'.
'We're not going to promote speech because that's probably not what people want to hear.'
Netanyahu (pictured) has previously come to Musk's defense after he was accused of repeating discriminatory tropes about Jewish financier George Soros, despite an outcry in Israel
The SpaceX founder's anti-Semitism woes began when he compared Soros, 92, to X-Men supervillain Magneto - a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge rather than humans
He also revealed he plans to charge X users, claiming it's the only way to protect against bot accounts dominating the platform.
'I'd say the single most important reason we're moving towards having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is that it's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,' Musk said.
'A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something... you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.
'Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we're actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. We want it to be a small amount of money.
'It's a longer discussion, but in my view this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it's getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans.'
Netanyahu is also embroiled in his own domestic controversy over his move to radically revamp the country's judicial system, which opponents say will push the country toward authoritarian rule.
The Israeli PM wants to curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians greater powers over the selection of judges.
A huge crowd of protesters gathered in San Francisco's Union Square close to where Musk and Netanyahu were meeting on Monday to demonstrate their opposition to his reforms - and to Musk giving him a platform.
Netanyahu is also embroiled in his own domestic controversy over his move to radically revamp the country's judicial system, which opponents say will push the country toward authoritarian rule
Musk asked Netanyahu about his reforms during their X conversation, admitting he 'got the most negative pushback from people at Tesla about this interview that anything else I've ever done' as people protested the policies in Union Square, SF (pictured)
Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Tel Aviv in June to stand against Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul
Musk asked Netanyahu about his reforms during their X conversation, admitting he 'got the most negative pushback from people at Tesla about this interview that anything else I've ever done'.
Netanyahu dismissed activists who were against his reforms, claiming 'many of them don't know what they're protesting about' adding that 'there's a concerted effort to make sure they don't know'.
'The way you rule and the way you balance democracy, majority rule and individual rights, is a balance between the three branches of government,' he said.
'In Israel that balance 30 years ago began to change. And we have the most activist judicial court on the planet... so it steadily arrogated to itself the powers of the executive and the legislature where it basically decides.
'Democracy is supposed to be checks and balances of the three branches on each other.
'In Israel the judiciary has no checks and no balances, it just has power, and so there is a request to try to bring it back into line, and that has been sort of boiling all the time.'
Chis Kenny has slammed Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price accusing her of deceiving the public over what an Indigenous Voice to Parliament means.
The Sky News host ripped into Ms Price saying she needed to 'correct her erroneous scaremongering' and to stop 'misleading the public'.
Ms Price is firmly against the Voice labelling it the 'biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced', claiming an advisory body would be a 'step backwards' and that the referendum will create a 'wall between Australians'.
Kenny, who is a prominent supporter of the Voice, lashed out at the Opposition Indigenous Australians senator in a scathing takedown.
'The whole point of the No campaign has been to promote fear about the Voice,' he said on Monday night.
Sky News host Chis Kenny has slammed Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (pictured), accusing her of deceiving the public over what an Indigenous Voice to Parliament means
'Opposition politicians have been out there saying "It's not really about a Voice, it's really about a treaty or reparations or even changing the date of Australia Day."
Kenny said the No side's claim that the Voice will have executive power is a 'scare that should be put to bed.'
'In the official referendum pamphlet the No case uses the word "risky" and it also highlights the Voice as a first step towards treaty.'
The presenter said there were two main points to why he said the No campaign is based around fear.
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'First and foremost, the Voice is advisory only, so whatever it recommends on all these matters, only governments can act. Only Parliament has the power.
'And secondly, all these issues are happening anyway. All these pushes will be made regardless of the Voice. In fact, state governments are negotiating treaties as we speak,' he said.
Kenny said Ms Price 'is completely wrong to deny that the Voice will be advisory only.'
'This flies in the face of the constitutional wording, the Solicitor General's advice, and the advice of former chief justices of the High Court and law professors who all confirm it's advisory only,' he said.
He added that 'it's on this deception that the No campaign hangs all of its scares'.
The Sky host said leading No campaigner Warren Mundine had exposed 'the pretense of these scare campaigns' in an interview on Sunday.
He said Mr Mundine 'admitted firstly that he is one of the of the ones that wants to change the date of Australia Day.
'So even though they run change the date as a Voice scare campaign, some in the No camp actually want to do the same thing.'
Kenny said the fear of treaties being made with Indigenous Australians has 'probably been (the No side's) most effective scare ... but it turns out that Mundine supports treaties too'.
He said a lot of No campaigners, including Coalition MPs, are very angry with Mr Mundine over his interview on ABC's Insiders show and are now 'trying to tidy up for (him)'.
'He's upset their campaign, so where is the scare campaign now? What do they want us to be scared about now?'
The conservative commentator said the Yes side needs to spend the remaining days before the vote on October 14 fighting harder to 'expose the errors and the deliberate deceptions of the No campaign'.
'The day the Coalition decided to oppose the Voice and run hard against it, that was the day this campaign became hyper-partisan, a real battle, a do or die struggle between Labor and the Coalition,' he said.
Kenny (pictured) who is a prominent supporter of the Voice, said the No side's claim that the Voice will have executive power is a 'scare that should be put to bed'
Kenny said Warren Mundine (pictured) 'should be featured in Yes campaign ads because he has revealed that two of the No campaign's big scares are just pretense'
'But most in the media, and many in the Yes campaign have instead focussed on a pointless culture war debate about whether colonisation has led to lasting trauma for Indigenous people or not ...
'We are not voting for or against colonisation. The question before us is whether or not we should recognise Indigenous people in the Constitution through the practical reform of a Voice.'
Kenny finished by saying Mr Mundine, 'should be featured in Yes campaign ads because he has revealed that two of the No campaign's big scares are just pretense.
'This debate needs to get serious. It needs to be about the facts, rather than the scare campaigns and the culture wars.'
The votes cast by over 700,000 Australians - including 86,000 indigenous people - will be worth less than other Aussies in next month's Voice referendum.
The proposal to change the constitution to include an Indigenous advisory body to the Australian parliament would only happen if two majorities are reached in the October 14 poll.
Those are a majority of all voters and a majority of states in favour of the proposal. Collectively this is known as 'a double majority'.
But it gives extra weight to votes cast by people whose home addresses are in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania.
That means the ballots from residents of Australia's 'non-states' - the ACT and Northern Territory - with a total combined population of 714,654, count only towards the overall national majority but not the second.
While it's a technicality, its impact is especially real for the people arguably most affected by the outcome of the October 14 poll, Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
The rules of the referendum give extra weight to votes cast by people whose home addresses are in Australian States but not in the ACT or Northern Territory. Pictured Anthony Albanese with Yothu Yindi board member Djaawa Yunupingu in East Arnhem Land in 2022
The votes cast by over 700,000 Australians - including 86,000 indigenous people - will be worth less than other Aussies in next month's Voice referendum
It means that the votes of 86,012 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live in both territories (76,487 of them from the NT) mean less than other Australians.
Almost 31 per cent of the the NT's population are indigenous.
University of NSW law professor Paul Kildea said many people considered this current situation 'unfair and hard to justify' in a column in The Conversation.
'State and territory ballots are not treated equally [so] territory voters dont have a huge influence over referendum outcomes,' Mr Kildea, associate professor in the UNSW Faculty of Law and Justice, wrote.
'To many, this seems unfair and hard to justify ... should we change the rules so territory voters are treated like everybody else?'
He did acknowledge that a referendum would have to be very close for territory votes to make a difference.
READ MORE: Call for 36 (not one) Voice bodies Leading Voice architect Professor Marcia Langton called for one national Voice advisory body and a further 35 'local and regional bodies' to work together with all levels of government. Advertisement
Mr Kildea pointed out that throughout Australia's history territorians haven't had a decisive say in any of the nation's 44 referendums.
The last one, in 1999, asked voters whether Australia should become a republic.
The republic referendum was defeated, due to division among republicans on the method proposed for selection of the president.
The reason territory votes count for less is because when the Constitution came into being at federation in 1901, the NT was part of South Australia and the ACT was within NSW.
Mr Kildea said one argument to keep the status quo and not give territorians' votes more power is that territories are different from states.
States are sovereign bodies with full powers of self-government, while territories are under the control of the Commonwealth.
He also said a change to the amendment procedure would give territory voters too much influence over constitutional reform.
The argument for change, he said, is that the current model gives the votes of 572,000 Tasmanians more power than 714,000 Territorians.
The lead-up to the proposed Voice to parliament has descended into divisive debates in recent weeks amid bitter disagreements over racism and whether indigenous people would be better or worse off.
On Monday veteran rocker Gary 'Angry' Anderson gave an impassioned explanation of why he will vote No.
The Rose Tattoo frontman said after listening to Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and others, he does not believe the referendum's success will help address 'the real problems' facing Aboriginal people.
The ballots from residents of the ACT and Northern Territory - total combined population 714,654 - count only towards the first majority needed, the overall national count, but not the second, a majority of states
University of NSW law professor Paul Kildea (pictured) said many people considered the current situation where referendum votes from States outweigh those from Territories 'unfair and hard to justify'
He also hit out at criticism that anyone opposed to the establishment of the advisory body to inform government is merely 'racist'.
Meanwhile in an emotional speech, shadow Inidgenous Affairs Minister Jacinta Price broke down in tears as she described the referendum as the 'biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced'.
The architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which underpinned the Voice, are holding a series of public discussions to help voters in the lead-up to the referendum.
Alyawarre woman Pat Anderson and Cobble Cobble woman Megan Davis will visit Australian cities to talk about the history of the Uluru Statement and origins of the Voice proposal, starting in Melbourne this week.
Neighbours of an incest horror house where three babies were found rotting in the basement claim they heard the daughter moaning and screaming as she had sex with her 'swearing and cursing' father.
Piotr Gierasik, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest after three babies' remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki, northern Poland.
The father and daughter - who are said to have been in a relationship for four years - were only found out when the girl's vigilant colleagues discovered she was pregnant.
Colleagues of Paulina at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa say she started wearing loose clothes as if she were trying to hide her belly.
And after coming back from holiday the shocked workers saw she totally transformed despite being away for just a week - as she was thinner, weaker, constantly tired and was forced to keep sitting down.
But she was finally discovered when her workmates noticed her covering her nipples with tissues because her milk was leaking.
Paulina Gierasik, 20 (pictured), was arrested along with her father Piotr after the babies' remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki
The house where the remains of three newborns were found is seen in this general view
One colleague - who Polish newspaper Fakt said was visibly distressed - claimed it was because of them that the couple were found out. 'We were all shocked,' he said.
The father and daughter were said to have 'lived like a couple' and 'walked around hand-in-hand'.
And shocking testimony has now told how her father 'shaved her head so that other boys wouldn't look at her' and that she looked up to him 'as if he were God'.
The father and daughter were each charged with multiple counts of murder and each of incest.
It comes after the first two babies were found on Friday but further investigations revealed a third body in an 'advanced state of decomposition' on Saturday.
Two of the infants belonged to Paulina, investigators said, and the mother of the third is her sister.
Paulina's colleagues said they became suspicious that she was pregnant after she started to wear large, loose-fitting clothes. She then took three weeks off work but returned a week later.
One fellow shop worker told the Super Express newspaper: 'We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.
'When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland, September 16, 2023
Police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house
'When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.'
Another local told Fakt newspaper: 'They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.
'A few months ago, he shaved her head so that other boys wouldn't look at her.
'She looked up to him as if he were God.'
Addressing the arrests earlier, Mariusz Duszynski from the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk said: 'The woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.
'The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter.'
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father.
The third baby was from a relationship he had with another daughter after forcing her into sex.
The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services. One of Paulina's work colleagues is reported to have alerted social services after seeing a 'disturbing' text message the 20-year-old had sent to her father.
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland
Police found the three infant bodies in the basement of the house, each in various states of decomposition. The ground was covered in dirt and there was no solid floor where they were buried.
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died.
One local told the Super Express newspaper: 'The father was left alone with the children.
'There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.
'Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.
'There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms.
'Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.'
But other locals told Fakt that while he 'seemed calm' he 'had the devil under his skin'.
It comes as the small town of Czerniki - with a population of less than 180, located 50km from Gdansk - has been accused of holding a 'conspiracy of silence' over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter.
Locals said they 'always suspected something was wrong' with the family.
One neighbour said: 'We often heard him shouting at the children. His verbal abuse was shocking. Sometimes we'd hear one of the girls screaming.
'What people say now is that he used to go for walks with them. Maybe he did, but the whole village knew that something like this was happening.
'It's a tiny village, so everyone knew about these things.
'Around ten years ago, the police were told that he was sleeping with one of his daughters. But after they investigated they couldn't find any concrete evidence.
'The older daughter, who we suspected he had slept with was so scared she refused to say anything.
'He [the father] has such a personality that everyone in this village was afraid of him. That's why this case didn't appear for so long.
'She later moved away, as did many of his other children. There were about twelve of them.'
A neighbour of the older daughter told Super Express: 'She now lives in our village.
'She has a decent husband. As far as I remember, everyone said that she ran away from that father.
'If I were her husband, I would kill that monster. If someone hurt my wife like that, I would kill him too.'
Police have so far discovered the remains of three babies buried in the family's house.
Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death.
Katarzyna Matyszczak, the manager of the confectionery shop where Paulina worked, said: 'Everyone was gossiping about it.
'His youngest daughter Paulina is a beautiful girl. Everyone said she was pregnant. So I asked about it directly.
'She denied it. One of her friends didn't believe it. I won't say who, but she was the one who informed the relevant services about the whole matter, because she suspected that she had given birth to a child.'
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died. Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues.
Workers are often tested to see if they click on spam emails
A boss of a major finance firm says workers should be fired if they're caught clicking on spam emails too many times.
Frank Lombardo, Chief Operating and Technology Officer at Insignia Financial, said companies increase their chances of being subjected to a major hack if staff are not aware of the risks.
He said employees who repeatedly fail security tests, such as clicking on fraudulent emails, should potentially cost workers their jobs.
Staff who click on dodgy emails that appear on their work email address should be sacked, according to a boss of a major financial firm
'You need to recognise that if you've done everything that you can and if there's a weakness, and if it's at that human level and the human just isn't getting it, then you do need to take the appropriate action,' Mr Lombardo told the Australian Financial Review.
'It may even lead to performance management and exiting individuals who are just not getting it,' he said.
Mr Lombardo said it's all part of educating workplaces on their preparedness against hackers and other forms of online criminal activity.
He said he tests his staff almost every day by sending out emails designed to mimic hackers and forms of dodgy emails.
It's an exercise that gives experts like Mr Lombardo an idea of who is likely to click on emails and other forms of phishing attacks.
Phishing is a form of online hack which tricks users of electronic devices such as phones and computers to click on a link and download software.
It then allows hackers to gain access to users' personal information.
Hackers often target workplaces' email addresses to get access to personal information of employees, and have conducted a spate of cyber attacks on several major Australian companies.
In 2022, hackers stole the private data of 30,000 current and former staff of Telstra.
Almost 10 million Aussies had their personal data stolen, when a hacker infiltrated the systems of telco giant Optus and raided the details of its current and former customers, in a separate attack.
Around the same number of Aussies also had their data breached, after Russian hackers accessed the personal information of current and former customers from insurer Medibank.
Frank Lombardo (pictured), Chief Operating and Technology Officer at Insignia Financial, said he tests his staff almost every day to see if they click on phishing emails
Martin Boyd, CEO of Vertex Cyber Security told Daily Mail Australia that various companies are already working to reduce the amount of times employees fail key security tests.
The ethical hacker and former executive manager of cybersecurity at Commonwealth Bank say's it forms part of their attempts to reduce threats and risks of major security breaches.
'When you look at it who are the most likely people to be the cause of an incident and what's the cost of that to a business,' Mr Boyd said.
'You can predict...the weak people in your company so the question you have to ask yourself is, is it...worth keeping people who aren't valuing cybersecurity'.
Mr Boyd said that cybersecurity has become a norm rather than a precautionary measure that's implemented across workplaces.
'Right now it's people that are having to get used to the change that this [cybersecurity] is an important thing,' he said.
'it's important that people show that they actually are up to a certain level to stay in that business'.
He said that workers who rush through cybersecurity tests are the one's that often fail.
'It's the minority of people [who fail]'.
'It's kind of like asking people to do OH&S [Occupational Health and Safety] training and then showing the behaviours that they've rushed [in the] training, so that they're not...leaving wet things on the floor [causing] people to hurt themselves'
'It's the same kind of idea'.
Companies are increasing their security and preparedness against cybercrime after hackers stole the data of millions of Aussies who were customers of Telstra and Medibank in major breaches
Experts say the best defence against hacks is staff buying into cybersecurity preparedness by being aware of potential threats, rather than companies relying on a build up in security technologies.
The latest report by competition watchdog ACCC estimated Aussies lost more than $3billion in a range of online and digital scams in 2022 alone.
More than $24million was lost to phishing scams.
The devastated family of a primary school teacher who took her own life says the education system failed her when she needed its help most.
Nicole Naeslund, 36, had taken stress leave from her job at Middle Swan Primary School in Perth, Western Australia, before finally quitting just before her death.
Her family claim she had been suffering ongoing issues in her job which had sent her mental health spiralling into decline before she took her own life in early September.
They say she had battled with mental health problems earlier in her life, but they had dramatically escalated in the last five years.
Although she had quit the teaching post at the school, her family insisted she fully intended to return to her career at a later date.
And they attacked the state's education department for not providing the vital support which could have helped her through her mental health crisis.
Nicole Naeslund, 36, (pictured with partner Norm Santich) had taken stress leave from her job at Middle Swan Primary School in Perth , Western Australia , before finally quitting just before her death
Her family claim Nicole Naeslund had been suffering ongoing issues in her job which had sent her mental health spiralling into decline
Im not saying the Education Department is 100 per cent to blame but she just didnt get any support when she needed it the most,' her mother Noeleen Hamilton told The West Australian.
'She was just a beautiful person and she cared about so many people and especially children.
'She loved teaching and she always wanted to go back to teaching at some stage but the system let her down.
'Im not saying that Nicole has never struggled with mental health beforehand, but the last five years when she was teaching it just went downhill so bad.'
Ms Naeslund's cousin Liz McDougall also slammed education chiefs for failing to acknowledge the tragedy properly.
'Im just disappointed because it feels like she meant nothing in the world,' she added.
'She gave her life to helping other people and she dedicated herself and now shes being disregarded as a person.
'The department preaches about R U OK Day but wont even acknowledge one of their staff members who took their own life because of the system.'
Parents posted tributes to the teacher as she was fondly remembered as 'kind, caring and understanding' who made a huge positive impact in their children's lives.
'Im completely heartbroken and devastated to hear about Nicole,' said one.
'She was the kindest teacher during some of our hardest years for my son medically and without her I dont think I would have survived.
'I cant express how much this world has lost with her going.'
Her partner Norm Santich posted a picture of the pair together in a field of flowers on Facebook after her death two weeks ago.
Ms Naeslund had changed her profile picture to a similar pic just days earlier.
It sparked an outpouring of grief from their friends and family.
'This is a beautiful photo of a happy day,' said one. 'Hold your happy memories close. Sending love and strength to you at this sad time.'
Parents posted tributes to the teacher as Nicole Naeslunf was fondly remembered as 'kind, caring and understanding' who made a huge positive impact in their children's lives
The WA education department said they provided Ms Naeslund with support and access to specialist services while she employed at Middle Swan Primary School (pictured)
The WA education department said they provided Ms Naeslund with ongoing support and assistance with access to specialist services.
They said she raised mental health concerns with her colleagues in 2021 but it's understood no formal complaints or grievances were filed by Ms Naeslund.
'The Department of Education is aware of the death of a former Middle Swan Primary School staff member and sends its condolences to her family, friends and colleagues,' the department added in a statement.
'The staff member had resigned from her position prior to her death.
'Support has been offered to staff and students at the school for as long as it is needed.'
If this story has raised issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
When Keir Starmer claimed that he would not try to unpick Brexit if he became prime minister, this paper warned his words should be taken with a large pinch of salt.
Despite solemnly promising to respect the referendum result, he was at the forefront of the parliamentary chicanery to overturn it, led the disgraceful 'People's Vote' campaign and plotted with European Union chiefs to foil our departure completely.
So how sincere was the Labour leader when he vowed not to drag the UK back into the ambit of Brussels? The answer, we learn unsurprisingly, is: 'Not very.'
Sir Keir glibly speaks about negotiating a 'much better' deal, based on a 'closer trading relationship', if he wins power.
Best of luck with that! We know from the excruciating days of the Brexit talks that the EU is institutionally incapable of being reasonable. And, true to form, Sir Keir is squirmingly evasive about which of our sovereign rights he'd be ready to sacrifice.
Keir Starmer glibly speaks about negotiating a 'much better' deal, based on a 'closer trading relationship', if he wins power
But no one should be under any illusion Brussels never gives without taking more, usually much more, in return.
Of course, Sir Keir insists Labour would not rejoin the single market and customs union. But can this evangelic Remainer really be trusted to stand up for democracy on behalf of 17.4million Leavers?
Or would he heed the Europhile ultras, Whitehall 'Blob' and big business clamouring for Britain to go back to shadowing the EU's rules and regulations, as a prelude to full realignment? Only the most credulous amongst us could think the former.
While the Government has seemed depressingly reluctant to properly embrace it, Brexit has not been the economic disaster Sir Keir and his stooges gleefully claim.
Free from Brussels interference, we have signed exciting trade deals with some of the world's most dynamic and fastest growing economies. Inward investment is booming. Britain has, so far, avoided a slump.
By contrast, the Eurozone teeters on the brink of recession. Germany, once its engine room, is on its knees. Far-Right parties are on the rise. The supposedly mighty Brussels project Remainers revere is imploding.
Yet Labour, dogmatically, is determined to tie its growth strategy more closely to a stagnating continent. Sir Keir either thinks pro-Leavers are too stupid to notice this betrayal of Brexit or so disillusioned with the Tories they no longer care.
Great train disaster
If Rishi Sunak does, as reported, bring down the axe on the Birmingham-to-Manchester leg of HS2, the high-speed railway will be in danger of becoming Britain's most catastrophic white elephant.
The public is aghast at the ballooning bill (more than twice the initial estimate of 33billion), which has already seen the project scaled back enormously.
And today we reveal a staggering 424million of taxpayers' money has been spent buying up properties along the at-risk line north of Birmingham uprooting hundreds of families for no reason.
If Rishi Sunak does, as reported, bring down the axe on the Birmingham-to-Manchester leg of HS2, the high-speed railway will be in danger of becoming Britain's most catastrophic white elephant
If ministers persevere with HS2, it promises to fuel economic development and spread prosperity along the lines. But they must get the colossal cost of the project, managed ferociously badly by hubristic, overpaid incompetents, urgently under control.
If they are going to build this new railway, they must do so fully and properly. If not, it will be a national disgrace it was ever allowed to get this far.
Delays receiving passports or driving licences because staff refuse to return to the office might be frustrating, but it's not a matter of life and death.
It is, though, when home-working leads to probation officers making mistakes in assessing the risks posed by offenders.
Such blunders can lead to horrific crimes, so watchdogs are right to condemn the practice. Probation officers' first duty should be public protection not their own pampered work-life balance.
Lauren Boebert has revealed her romance with an Aspen bar owner was over after DailyMail.com revealed he was a Democrat who hosted drag shows.
The Colorado congresswoman and Quinn Gallagher sparked outrage on September 10 after they were caught on camera fondling each other at a Denver performance of Beetlejuice, and were kicked out of the theatre.
On Monday, she told TMZ she would not be going on a second date with him. 'I have learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date,' she said.
She called him a 'wonderful man', but said they would not be going out again together.
'He's a private citizen, and we have peacefully parted at this time,' she said. 'Great man, great friend, and I wish him all the best.'
Lauren Boebert is seen on Monday arriving at a Washington DC airport, and revealing she and Quinn Gallagher have split
Boebert is seen on surveillance camera footage giving ushers the finger on September 10 at a Denver theatre, after she was kicked out
Boebert 's new beau, who was caught on camera fondling her breasts at a Beetlejuice musical, owns a gay-friendly bar that hosts drag shows
DailyMail.com revealed on Wednesday that Boebert, and Gallagher (pictured), a divorced father of a 16-year-old son, have been secretly dating for several months
Boebert, who announced in May she was divorcing her husband of 18 years, was seen taking selfies during the performance, dancing wildly in her seat, and vaping. When a pregnant lady seated behind her asked her to stop, she called her a 'sad and miserable woman'.
Boebert and Gallagher were kicked out of the theatre by ushers - with an embarrassed Gallagher offering to buy the pregnant woman cocktails by way of apology.
Boebert gave the ushers the finger as she left.
It then emerged that Gallagher, identified by DailyMail.com, was a registered Democrat whose bar hosted drag shows - which Boebert has described as immoral.
The 36-year-old grandmother said drag shows offend her Christian beliefs, tweeting: 'Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars.'
The Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen, co-owned by Gallagher, staged 'a winter Wonderland Burlesque & Drag Show,' according to social media posts.
Aspen Gay Ski Week hosted 'an evening of cocktails, appetizers, and laughs' at Hooch in January 2020 according to a Facebook post.
The Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen, co-owned by Quinn Gallagher, staged 'a winter Wonderland Burlesque & Drag Show'
Performers from Hooch's drag show pose in the gay-friendly bar earlier this year
Boebert has been an outspoken critic of drag, claiming it offends her Christian beliefs and tweeting statements such as: 'Take your children to CHURCH, not drag bars'
Gallagher's bar is a gay-friendly spot in Aspen
Gallagher owns the Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar on the outskirts of Aspen with partner Pat Flannigan
It is not clear when Gallagher and Boebert's relationship became romantic, but the bar owner originally comes from the congresswoman's hometown of Rifle, Colorado, and he still has family there.
It is just a stone's throw from the controversial congresswoman's home in Silt.
Boebert initially denied the claims of vaping, claiming the smoke was actually from a fog machine, and issuing a sarcastic statement playing down the anger.
But she made a startling U-turn on Friday night, blaming her behavior on her 'public and difficult divorce.'
'The past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I'm truly sorry' she wrote in a statement.
'There's no perfect blueprint for going through a public and difficult divorce, which over the past few months has made a challenging personal time for me and my entire family.'
Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert can clearly be seen vaping during the performance
Boebert, 36, denied vaping - despite doing so in full public view, and on camera. Her spokesman said there had been 'a misunderstanding from someone sitting near her' who hadn't noticed the 'heavy fog machines and electronic cigarettes used during the play'
She also danced in her seat, to the annoyance of other theatre-goers - including the pregnant woman sitting behind her, who asked her to stop, and was called a 'sad and miserable woman'
Ushers were angered by Boebert taking selfies during the performance
Security personnel are seen speaking to the congresswoman and Gallagher inside the theater before escorting them out
Boebert is seen with Quinn Gallagher being kicked out of a touring performance of the musical 'Beetlejuice' over the weekend in Denver
Defending her actions, Lauren Boebert said: 'I was a little too eccentric. I am very known for having an animated personality. Maybe overly animated personality'
She then told One America News Network her behavior was due to her 'overly animated personality'.
'I was a little too eccentric,' she said.
'I am very known for having an animated personality. Maybe overly animated personality.
'I was laughing, I was singing, having a fantastic time.
'Was told to kind of settle it down a little bit, which I did but then my next slip up was taking a picture.'
Protesters have branded those who plan to vote No in the upcoming Voice to Parliament referendum 'racist dogs' after gatecrashing a rally for the No campaign.
More than 1,000 people, many wearing 'No' supporter T-shirts, packed into the Adelaide Convention Centre to hear Jacinta Nampijinpa, Nyunggai Warren Mundine, South Australian Senator Kerrynne Liddle and other No campaigners speak at the Fair Australia rally on Monday.
But Yes supporters gatecrashed the event, confronting those attending the rally as they entered the building.
Liberal senator Alex Antic filmed a crowd of protesters as he walked into the convention centre, with many shouting expletives towards him.
'F**k you, you racist dog!' one shouted.
'Racist pig!' screamed another. 'Crazy w****rs!'
Mr Antic shared the video to social media, saying: 'Is this the 'unity' the Australian Labor Party promised us their referendum was going to bring?'.
Liberal senator Alex Antic filmed a crowd of protesters as he walked into the convention centre, with many shouting expletives towards him
Many of the Yes supporters were also seen holding up banners with messages like 'no pride in genocide' and 'always was, always will be'.
In an emotional speech, Senator Price broke down in tears when she spoke of her role as a 'vessel' for Indigenous people, who she said had been ignored by mainstream politics and media.
'I was a vessel for the women sitting in that room, the cousin of a young girl murdered, hanging from a tree,' she said, referencing her address at the National Press Club last week.
'They are the voices the media ignores, they are the voices Labor ignore, they are the voices the Greens ignore, they are the voters the Teals ignore.
'And they are the voices this bloody Voice to Parliament will ignore.'
Senator Price called the Voice referendum the 'biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced' (pictured, the crowd at the Adelaide Convention Centre)
The crowd erupted in loud applause, rising to their feet and cheering enthusiastically.
Senator Price called the Voice referendum the 'biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced.'
'We are sick to death being told how racist we are, how horrible we are. Our own children are being taught not to be proud to call themselves Australians in this country,' she said.
Senator Price argued a Voice would 'constitutionally enshrine' a victimhood mentality in the country and degrade the future of Indigenous Australians.
She also said racial politics from the United States such as the Black Lives Matter movement had begun to filter into Australia.
'It doesn't belong here,' she said.
A second person campaigning against the Indigenous Voice to Parliament has said a No vote could help progress a treaty between Australia and First Nations people.
Michael Mansell, the chairman of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, said if the referendum fails on October 14, conversation within the Indigenous community could move toward treaty by November.
'By November, Aboriginal people will be going to the Prime Minister and saying - let's establish a national treaty convention in early 2025 to begin the process of truth telling and also to look at the ideas behind a national treaty,' he told ABC News Breakfast.
The comments come just days after prominent No campaigner Warren Mundine revealed he supports treaty negotiations between the government and Indigenous people.
Michael Mansell, the chairman of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania, said if the referendum fails on October 14, conversation within the Indigenous community could move toward treaty by November
He also said a No vote in the referendum would help to progress treaty discussions around Australia.
Mr Mansell conceded that he does agree with Mr Mundine, but said he is 'certainly not my fellow traveller'.
'But I do agree with Warren Mundine - if the referendum is successful, an election is due at the end of 2024 or early 2025 - nothing else will be dealt with other than the implementation of a successful referendum.
'If, however, it goes down, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can't just walk away and say - well, I've done my bit, I'm not going to talk about treaty and truth telling, which were part of the Uluru Statement.'
Mr Albanese has promoted all three pillars of the Uluru Statement from the Heart - Voice, Treaty and Truth
Mr Mansell said progress toward treaty and truth telling would not need to be taken to a public vote, like a referendum or plebiscite, and it could progress through parliament
Mr Mansell said progress toward treaty and truth telling would not need to be taken to a public vote, like a referendum or plebiscite, and it could progress through parliament.
'The Prime Minister has got the majority in the lower house and with the Greens and other support in the upper house, he can get a treaty, or any legislation, through the federal parliament.
'That's the beauty of it.'
Mr Mansell argued the government had set aside $5.8million to progress discussions toward treaty through a Makarrata Commission.
'So they can hardly walk away and say - on the one hand, we've set aside the money.
'Now the referendum has failed, Aboriginal people want a national treaty convention to consider what land is going to be returned, what rights Aboriginal people would have over that land? How can we establish a national representative Aboriginal body that would give priority to Aboriginal needs and disperse a guaranteed revenue every year?
My thoughts - it sounds like Warren Mundine is the same, that if the referendum fails, the next step by February/March, would be a national treaty convention.'
Warren Mundine (pictured) also called for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights and said the country has 'got to talk to racists'
The Prime Minister has been at pains to separate treaty discussions from the Voice to Parliament.
Australians will not be voting on treaty at the referendum, but the Uluru Statement from the Heart does call for three pillars to be established, the constitutionally enshrined Voice, plus a Makarrata Commission to progress treaty-making and truth-telling.
Mr Albanese has repeatedly said he supports the Uluru Statement 'in full'.
Labour is under pressure for seeking the endorsement of Russell Brand ahead of the 2015 election.
The party's former leader Ed Miliband notably sat down with the controversial comedian to try and garner votes from the young.
Mr Miliband, now in Sir Keir Starmer's shadow cabinet, finally broke his silence over the allegations made against Brand, 48, yesterday.
But he failed to address why he decided to cosy up with the celebrity and self-confessed sex addict. Meanwhile, the Labour Party has remained silent over the episode.
A spokesman for Mr Miliband said: 'The allegations of rape and sexual assault made against Russell Brand are appalling. They must be fully investigated.
'Ed stands with all victims of sexual violence, and in solidarity with the women who have come forward.'
Russell Brand had been touring his Bipolarisation show when allegations were first published by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches. The tour has now been suspended
A spokesperson for Ed Miliband said the ex-Labour Party leader 'stands with all victims of sexual violence, and in solidarity with the women who have come forward'
Brand has vehemently denied the 'very, very serious criminal allegations', insisting that all his sexual relationships have been consensual.
The accusations span from 2006 until 2013, though there is no suggestion the Labour frontbencher was aware of them when he appeared on his show.
Mr Miliband won the endorsement of Brand following the interview in April 2015 where he said Britain needed to 'confront' the 'richest and most powerful'.
But it came weeks after the celebrity had told young people not to register to vote prompting widespread ridicule.
Months earlier, Mr Miliband claimed that Brand was 'saying what a number of people are thinking'.
Speaking in Brand's east London home in 2015, Mr Miliband said that Britain needed to 'confront' the 'richest and most powerful'.
The comedian ended the interview saying: 'We learned a lot about Labour and a lot about Ed Miliband. I found it a very interesting experience.
'It says a lot about Ed Miliband, he understands the way the media works now, the way the country feels, that he was prepared to come round here and talk to us.'
While allegations of sexual abuse only came to light last weekend Brand has long been a controversial figure.
Labour has not commented on why the party chose to cosy up to Russell Brand ahead of the 2015 election, by which time his history of drug usage and sex addiction was well-known
Russell Brand has vehemently denied the allegations made against him by a number of women in reports by The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches (pictured: Brand leaving the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre on Saturday after performing a stand-up show)
He jokingly told Jimmy Savile he would bring him his female assistant naked live on his BBC Radio Two show in 2007. It emerged five years later that Savile was a serial abuser.
Brand was eventually fired by the BBC in 2008 after he and Jonathan Ross left obscene messages on the answerphone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
The celebrity joked about sleeping with Sachs' granddaughter in a series of vile messages recorded live on air that horrified the nation.
Despite this Mr Miliband decided to appear on Brand's YouTube show called The Trews which castigates so-called mainstream media.
Pat McFadden, a Labour shadow minister, was challenged over Mr Miliband's previous association with Brand during an interview with GB News on Sunday.
Asked by host Camilla Tominey whether the shadow climate secretary should apologise for 'cosying up' to Brand ahead of the 2015 election, he did not address the question directly.
He replied: 'These allegations have just emerged and they're really serious. What I would say is they illustrate the need for the criminal justice system to take allegations of violence against women and girls really seriously.'
Labour has been approached for comment.
Probation officers are potentially putting the public at risk by continuing to work from home, a watchdog has warned.
Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell pin-pointed remote working as a key factor in poor performance and warned it had led to face-to-face rushed assessments of criminals.
Publishing his annual report, Mr Russell said the Probation Service's policy requiring staff to come into work only three days a week was contributing to 'very disappointing' performance.
The study found management oversight of probation officers' work was 'insufficient' in 72 per cent of cases, meaning 'mistakes are being missed'.
The risk posed to the public by offenders was only assessed accurately in a third of cases, with the service showing 'consistently poor' performance, it said.
Sexual predator Jordan McSweeney was left free to kill aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena in June last year after being wrongly assessed as a 'medium risk'
Chief Inspector of Probation Justin Russell pin-pointed remote working as a key factor in poor performance
The report comes after a series of cases in which blunders by probation officers led to horrific crimes.
Sexual predator Jordan McSweeney was left free to kill aspiring lawyer Zara Aleena in June last year after being wrongly assessed as a 'medium risk' case rather than 'high risk'.
Blunders left predator free to murder A sexual predator described as a 'ticking timebomb' was left free to kill a law graduate due to a catalogue of blunders by probation staff. Jordan McSweeney murdered Zara Aleena, 35, while she was walking home from a night out with friends. The 29-year-old had been released on licence from prison nine days before committing the murder in Ilford, east London, in June last year. A review found McSweeney should have been recalled to prison six days before the attack and could have been back in his cell by the time of the murder if probation staff had followed procedures. Officials had wrongly classified McSweeney as a 'medium-risk' rather than 'high- risk' case. A report found that probation officers' lack of professional curiosity was a 'critical omission'. Three murders or serious sex crimes are committed every week by offenders on probation. Nearly 700 convictions for murder have been handed to known criminals who were already on probation since 2010 one a week. A further 950 convictions for serious sex offences have been secured against known offenders over the same period. Advertisement
In another case, 'psychopathic' Damien Bendall was also wrongly classed as 'medium risk' before murdering three children and his pregnant partner in Killamarsh, Derbyshire 2021. A review found failings 'at every stage'.
Mr Russell's report, published today, said inspections of 31 local probation areas across England and Wales rated only one as 'good' with 15 'inadequate' and 15 as 'requires improvement'.
Mr Russell said of the Probation Service's work from home policy: 'They've moved to a model where the expectation is three days a week in the office when you're expected to do face-to-face appointments.
'That does restrict the opportunities particularly for new staff to interact with more experienced colleagues and to learn from them.And that's following on from having to do all of their training online.
'That combination is probably a big driver for why we're seeing some of these scores.
'The time you can spend on face-to-face appointments has become quite restricted... some being not much more than 'check-ins'.
'I personally would like to see staff going into the office more days, and I think they would benefit from doing that.
'It might be an interesting piece of work for the Probation Service itself to do to see if there's a correlation between staff time in the office, and the quality of work that gets done.'
Some probation teams had seen existing staff resign because they 'did not want to return to face-to-face working', his report said, while the service was also suffering 'chronic staff shortages' and high sickness rates.
Public protection was the service's 'weakest area of performance before the pandemic' and has become 'even worse' since 2021, it added.
The chief inspector called for an independent review of whether the 'struggling' service should return to local control to boost standards.
A Probation Service spokesman said: 'We have made major progress in addressing the concerns raised in this report with the most recent data showing improved performance in key areas.'
Philadelphia has seen a drastic rise in drug related crime under the Democrats
A Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurant has hired guards armed with assault rifles as zombified homeless drug addicts continue to plague the city.
The original Jim's Steaks has reopened under the new name Jim's West, and have added stricter security measures.
It comes as the city has become overwhelmed by drug-fueled crime under Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner, a self-described 'progressive prosecutor.'
His failure to crack down led to his impeachment in 2022 for 'dereliction of duty', however he has remained in office after his trial was indefinitely postponed.
Jim's West co-owner Cortez Johnson told WPVI: 'The violence has spiked. It goes up and down.
'You want people to feel safe and be safe. So when they come out and eat, they don't have to worry about no type of harm.'
Other ex-military, police and others with law enforcement backgrounds have moved on to certified security work for the state of Pennsylvania
The original Jim's Steaks in west Philadelphia has made a comeback under a their new name Jim's West, and have added stricter security measures along with their new identity
The drug and crime ridden streets of sunny Philadelphia have taken a dramatic toll on the safety of the community on a daily basis
Jim's West owners hope that the presence of the armed guards with assault rifles will deter the violence from entering their turf
The drug and crime ridden streets of sunny Philadelphia have taken a dramatic toll on the safety of the community on a daily basis.
Kensington, a neighborhood just a little over eight miles from Jim's West is known as 'ground zero' for the city's drug epidemic and has become an open air drug market.
Many of these drug addicts have been forced to turn to crime in order to survive and to sustain their habits.
Jim's West owners hope that the presence of the armed guards with assault rifles will deter the violence from entering their turf.
Each week, from Thursday to Sunday, the guards are assigned to stand outside of the eatery, reported WPVI.
Some customers understood the need for the new heightened security measures, like resident Mario Maiale who said: 'If it deters it, I can't complain. I'm not a big fan of guns, but I get it.'
Others are not too keen about their favorite comfort food spot being posted up with armed guards.
'Now North Philly, where that gas station is, where the guy is out there with a machine gun, I can understand that. Here, it's a little overkill. Even if you have an armed guard, okay. But, walking around with a machine gun, it's not family-friendly,' West Philadelphia customer William King said.
Other local businesses, including the Karco gas station in North Philadelphia have also hired advanced security to combat the crime ridden community.
Some customers understood the need for the new heightened security measures, like resident Mario Maiale who said: 'If it deters it, I can't complain. I'm not a big fan of guns, but I get it.'
Philadelphia has become overwhelmed by drug-fueled crime under Democratic District Attorney Larry Krasner, a self-described 'progressive prosecutor'
Kevin Darden, who owns Presidential Protection Services can be seen in all black with a bullet proof vest on guard outside of Jim's West.
'It's not just myself. It's usually other agents who are sworn and certified by the state of Pennsylvania to do security work when they're off duty. All of us are former military, police, and law enforcement background,' said Darden.
Other businesses in Philly have installed booby traps like hidden sprinkler systems to ward off drug users and violent citizens.
Philadelphia cheesesteak restaurants have long been a place for the community to come together over good, greasy food, but now that has to take place under tactical supervision.
Each week, from Thursday to Sunday, the guards are assigned to stand outside of the eatery, reported WPVI
Customer William King described the presence of the armed guards as 'overkill' and 'not family-friendly'
'I'm here to protect you,' said Darden. 'I'm not here to cause any trouble or be that guy with a rifle.'
The CFO of Jim's West, Saul Landers told WPVI: 'Our lines are down the block, so while you're standing here in line, connecting with other people you may not know, we have security right here just to keep you guys safe.'
Landers also admitted that if the need to secure and protect your business and its customers meant spending extra money for extra safety, then he will do just that.
Shocking footage shows thousands of migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas - despite Joe Biden vowing to crack down on the influx.
More than 2,200 people crossed the river from Coahuila into Eagle Pass in a tactic pushed by drug lords to deliberately overwhelm U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
By tying up crucial resources, it leaves Mexico's cartels free to carry out human trafficking and smuggling operations uninterrupted.
Shocking footage shows thousands of migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas - despite Joe Biden vowing to crack down on the influx
As midnight approached the group could be seen heading down the river bank to the Rio Grande
The group waded through the deep waters to reach the other side, much to the surprise of some local Mexican residents
Upon reaching the U.S. side of the border, the group waited underneath a bridge until morning
U.S. Border Patrol were on scen as they were forced to deal with the thousands of migrants
By the time daylight arrived, the group were being rounded up by Border Patrol as they huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass
Border Patrol were on scene by daybreak together with buses to process the influx
More than 2,000 migrants crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas, in one of the largest documented instances of mass illegal border crossings - as seen from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico
Hundreds of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, whether a thunderstorm along the banks of the Rio Grande
Douglas and David assist Leon, a migrant from Venezuela, as he carries his handicapped cousin Luis as the migrants search for an entry point into the US after crossing the river
It was March 2021 when Biden pleaded with those thinking of making the journey to the U.S. 'do not come' with the threat of 'consequences' for those crossing illegally
BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to pic.twitter.com/NDFX17r4vU Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 18, 2023
As midnight approached the group could be seen wading through the deep waters to reach the other side, much to the surprise of some local Mexican residents.
One could be heard on camera exclaiming how only a small portion of the group were crossing at that one moment - with hundreds more following behind.
By the time daylight arrived, the group were being rounded up by Border Patrol as they huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass.
The footage was shot in Piedras Negras, the Mexican town which lies directly across the river from Eagle Pass.
The flagrant breaking of immigration rules took place next to the port of entry as those crossing the border thumbed their noses at the Biden Administration.
It was March 2021 when Biden pleaded with those thinking of making the journey to the U.S. 'do not come' with the threat of 'consequences' for those crossing illegally.
'I can say quite clearly: Don't come. We're in the process of getting set up, don't leave your town or city or community,' Biden said.
This latest wave of migrants who are mainly Venezeulan are believed to have travelled up through Panama.
Similar scenes have been witnessed along the border with towns and federal processing centers are now at overcapacity as a crush of crossings cripples the nation.
BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to pic.twitter.com/NDFX17r4vU Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 18, 2023
Davey, a 20-year-old migrant from Venezuela, carries 3-year-old compatriot Lilliana while searching for an entry point into the United States
The Puente Negro Ferrocarril train bridge is seen in the background as a migrant family from Peru, including 10-year-old Luis, is held by his mother as thunderstorms approach while they await with hundreds to surrender to authorities after wading across the Rio Grande into the US
BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to pic.twitter.com/NDFX17r4vU Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 18, 2023
Last week there were more than 7,000 illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border on several days.
Nearly 500 miles away from Eagle Pass in El Paso, a similar surge was experiences as 1,700 migrants crossed in a 24-hour period.
The migrants would then line up along the border wall and surrender to officers to then claim asylum in the US.
About 500 asylum-seekers mainly from Venezuela lined up at El Paso on Monday, reported KVIA.
Over the last week the region has seen a spike in encounters with 1,200 on average coming over each day. 4,200 migrants are being housed in local hotels rather than shelters.
Across the border as a whole, as many 9,400 migrants have crossed into the US in a single 24-hour period - almost equalling figures seen in May before the end of Title 42 which saw 10,000 people come into the country each day.
'The way it's being orchestrated through the cartels, I believe it's meant to overwhelm the system. The [places] that are being impacted the most are border communities,' former El Paso City Councilmember Claudia Rodriquez told The New York Post.
BREAKING: One of the largest mass illegal crossings we have ever seen took place in Eagle Pass, TX this morning, w/ Border Patrol sources telling us over 2,200 people crossed there since midnight. It happened right next to the port of entry, as illegal immigrants continue to pic.twitter.com/NDFX17r4vU Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 18, 2023
Jose, a 23-year-old migrant from Venezuela, takes rest with his 4-year-old niece Ilaea while searching for an entry point into the United States
Paola, a 20-year-old migrant from Venezuela, takes rest along the bank of the Rio Grande
No street releases have been made in the El Paso region unlike in California and Arizona.
Last week, photos depicted at least three white unmarked Border Patrol buses filled with migrants parked in San Diego.
It led to several hundred people being released onto the streets. One migrant was even told by an agent: 'You're free to go on and do wherever you want. You're free.'
He asked: 'It's no problem if I go to Chicago?'
'You can do whatever you want,' the official replied.
Border Patrol in San Diego has reportedly been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody last week - 5,000 more than facilities can manage.
It can't accommodate more than 15,000 migrants and migrants are being released onto the streets to fend for themselves after being processed at the border.
Similar migrant releases took place in Tucson, Arizona, with agents coming across 2,000 people a day and dealing with packed shelters.
A group of migrants remains on one side of the border with the United States guarded by National Guard personnel in Juarez City, Chihuahua, Mexico
Violence against migrants on the border is increasing, due to the razor wire barricades placed on the river between Mexico's Juarez City and on the US side in El Paso, Texas
The migrants are mostly Venezuelans who hope to apply for asylum in the US
Since Friday, large groups of hundreds of people have been turning themselves over to Border Patrol agents in El Paso, Texas
In Texas, State Representative Eddie Morales says the migrants made the trek by hopping on trains.
'It's obviously a security issue, we have concerns over their safety and we need to address this in the most - expeditious manner,' Morales said to News4SA.
'Under U.S. immigration laws, most non-citizens coming to our border are not eligible to remain in the United States. Asylum laws do not provide for relief solely for economic reasons or for general violence,' U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tweeted on Monday.
After the public health order known as Title 42 was lifted in May 11, CBP says the U.S. 'returned to fully enforcing Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully and do not have a legal basis to stay.'
Texas Congressman also Terry Gonzales also shared similar frustrations.
'Eagle Pass is completely overrun right now. El Paso is getting overwhelmed right now. Arizona is getting overwhelmed right now.
'The only way we can regain control of the southern border is by enforcing the laws that are on the books. That's exactly what the administration needs to do. That's exactly what Congress needs to focus on.
'All Americans deserve to feel safe in their own communities and right now they do no. A lot of folks see it on TV and they think it will never happen to them. Well I'm here to tell you it's already happening, whether you're in New York, whether you're in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles.
'These folks that are coming over illegally, they're coming to all parts of the country. It's only going to get worse.'
A freight train, packed to capacity with migrants, has been captured on video as it travels at full speed toward the Mexican border with the United States
A freight train, packed to capacity with migrants, has been captured on video as it travels at full speed toward the Mexican border with the United States
One day earlier, a cargo train filled to the brim with migrants was spotted speeding toward the Mexican border with the United States.
Astounding footage of the FerroMex train was shot as the locomotive with hundreds in tow could be seen coming out of the Central Mexican city of Zacatecas as it made its way northbound on the 750-mile journey toward the U.S.
Container after container could be seen filled with migrants getting an easy ride as the goods train zoomed by.
There was whistling and cheering from those on board as the group hitched a ride. Some of the travelers could even be seen hanging out from the sides of the train.
The train was headed for the U.S. southern border - where in the southwest, roughly 2 million migrants have already made their way into America in 2023. Border towns have been crushed by the influx thanks to the lax border policies of the Biden administration.
The migrants looked to have prepared themselves for a long journey with many having erected tents and canvas over portions of the containers in a bid to shield themselves from the elements.
Migrants travel on a train, with the intention of reaching the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, seen last month
Migrants help one another climb over a barbed wire fence into the U.S. from Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, last month
Migrants seeking asylum in the United States gather near a border fence on the banks of the Rio Bravo river, the border between the U.S. and Mexico, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on Saturday
The videos comes as the latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show a rise in the number of encounters with migrants at the Southern Border.
In July there were almost 184,000 migrant crossings into the U.S. - up from 144,000 encounters with border patrol from June.
Although the figures rose on a month-by-month basis, the numbers are still well below that of previous years when in 2021 and 2022 more than 200,000 crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.
The U.S. border has seen a flood of migrants from across the world, not just Central and South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico. There have been migrants from China and other places entering via the porous southern border.
The video comes as recent data from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reveals an increase in encounters with migrants at the Southern Border between June and July of this year
In an aerial view, immigrants line up to be processed to make asylum claims at a makeshift migrant camp, in May, in El Paso, Texas
Security forces watched on as migrants tried to enter the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande River, in Matamoros, Mexico ahead of the end of Title 42
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has shuttled over 35,000 migrants from his state to 'sanctuary cities' across the U.S., including over 13,300 to New York City
Venezuelan migrants gather at the Vineyard Haven ferry terminal in Massachusetts . The group was transported to Joint Base Cape Cod in Buzzards Bay
Migrants line up outside Roosevelt Hotel while waiting for places inside a shelter as asylum seekers camp outside the hotel as the Manhattan relief center is at full capacity in New York
Blankets are brought to St. Anthonys Croatian Parish Center in Los Angeles for migrants who were bused to Los Angeles from the Texas border with no food or water (file photo from June)
The 2022 fiscal year saw record-breaking numbers of encounters with migrants at the Southwest border with 2,378,944 reported crossings from October to September.
In 2023, through July, there have been 1,973,092 - many of them coming as Title 42 expired.
The number of migrant crossings in August is set to exceed 230,000, according to Fox News.
Most migrant encounters are single adults, at 64.9 percent, but almost 600,000 are individuals in a family unit and there have been 109,298 unaccompanied minors crossing the border.
Issues of overcapacity are happening all across the southern border. Along with Tucson - street releases are happening in the San Diego sector and in Santa Cruz County, California.
Border Patrol agents in San Diego have set hundreds of migrants free from buses as the US-Mexico border crisis continues to overwhelm California
The city is struggling to deal with a surge of migrants in the area and footage captured shows them being let go from overflowing facilities
Texas has also been using razor wire to block migrants illegally entering as it battles a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.
The Lone Star State has also been busing migrants to 'sanctuary cities' such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in order to give border towns some relief.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott argues that Texas cities have carried the weight of illegal immigration and 'sanctuary cities' need to share that burden.
'Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities,' he wrote earlier this month on Twitter.
'Over 11,300 to D.C., over 13,300 to NYC, over 6,700 to Chicago, over 2,600 to Philadelphia, over 1,000 to Denver, over 480 to LA.'
Border Patrol in San Diego has reportedly been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody over the last week - 5,000 more than facilities can manage
There have been over 7,000 illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border on multiple days this week
People from the African nations of Senegal, Mauritania, Ghana, Sudan are part of the migrants who have recently made crossings into the U.S. from Mexico.
Cochise County, Arizona, is being slammed with waves of migrants bussed from other counties after crossing the border amid President Joe Biden's lax policies.
'The intellectual avoidance and abandonment with intended consequences' by those leaders in Washington, DC, reference our southern border continues to be a slippery slope for those doing everything we can to protect our quality of life here in Cochise County!' Sheriff Mark Dannels said.
'The migrants being released are from outside Cochise County but were bussed to Cochise County, processed and then released,' Daniels noted in a Facebook post.
'I applaud the local [Customs and Border Protections] agents and their leadership for doing all they legally can during this on-going crisis.'
It's unclear exactly how many migrants the processing facilities in Tucson can accommodate or how many have been transported to other locations such as Cochise County.
A former model has claimed Russell Brand stalked her through streets in London demanding sex after they met in a bar, forcing her to run away from him in fear.
Revealing the distressing incident that took place in 2005, the woman - who remains anonymous - alleged that Brand followed five paces behind her for what 'felt like a lifetime' and shouted to her: 'Let's just f*** right here.'
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she met Brand at a bar in Primrose Hill in London. She told of how despite telling him not to leave with her, Brand followed her into the street and became 'creepy'.
'It felt like he was hunting me down. It wasn't flirty or fun. The word "predator" is absolutely spot-on.
'He was dead set on his goal. His intention was to have sex with someone, anyone,' she told The Sun.
Brand, pictured in Soho in 2013, has been accused of following a woman in the street while demanding sex in 2005
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, has claimed that Brand was five paces behind her as she walked and shouted: 'Let's just f*** right here' (file image)
On Saturday, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches reported allegations of abusive and predatory behaviour including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse said to have been committed by the presenter between 2006 and 2013.
Brand 'absolutely denies' the allegations and insists all his relationships have been consensual.
The woman, now in her 40s, said that since watching the documentary she 'has not been able to sleep', having realised 'other women had not been so lucky' as she was to get away from Brand.
She is now preparing to speak to police, after the Met urged any alleged victims of Brand to come forward.
Meanwhile, staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour during filming of the spin off show.
One senior executive even admitted that the title of the Dispatches documentary In Plain Sight fits the scandal perfectly. 'We all knew he was a predator. There is no denying that he was involved in a lot of complicated sexual situations,' they told the Times.
Another staff member said Brand's behaviour appeared 'seedy' and the allegations of him 'taking things too far' were 'unsurprising'. 'He was a hot ticket back then. It was gross but it was all consensual as far as we knew,' they said.
Staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour
A third senior producer told the paper that it was common knowledge that Brand was having a relationship with a runner on the show. The pair were even caught engaging in sexual intercourse on the company's premises.
Despite staff recognising his 'abuse of power' they admitted at the time that no alarm bells were ringing as it was 'just part of working with Russell'.
It comes as the BBC is facing 'urgent questions' after it was claimed that Brand, 48, used his company-provided car service to pick up a 16-year-old girl up from school. She has since told of how he allegedly assaulted her.
Former colleagues who had worked with him have also made lurid claims about his behaviour, including acting as 'his pimps' to pass messages to attractive audience members.
Both the BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behaviour by Brand towards staff and audience members during the time of his employment.
But the BBC has failed to answer any Freedom of Information requests regarding concerns raised by staff about Brand's predatory behaviour, who was a presenter on BBC Radio 2.
The cooperation said it could not publish information as it could include some of Brand's 'personal data' and that 'even confirming or denying whether or not that information exists would be unfair', the Times reported.
Yesterday the Metropolitan Police said it is investigating a report of sexual assault in Soho in 2003 after allegations were levied against Russell Brand - and the comedian suspended the remaining dates of his latest tour.
Despite the scathing investigation released by The Times and Channel 4 being released on Saturday, Brand still took to the stage in a Wembley theatre for his Bipolarisation tour.
But on Monday promoters for the tour confirmed that the remaining dates in Windsor, Plymouth and Wolverhampton had been postponed.
They said in a statement: 'We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don't like doing it - but we know you'll understand.'
The comedian released a video last week refuting all the allegations against him. Pictured: Brand leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre after a gig on Saturday night
Russell, now 48, is currently facing allegations of sexual assaults and abusive and predatory behaviour between 2006 and 2013. Pictured: Russell Brand hosting Big Brother's Little Brother in May 2006
The comedian's new stand up tour has been postponed following the allegations
The alleged sexual assault in Soho took place three years before the four sexual assaults' that Brand has been accused of between 2006 and 2013.
The Met police said: 'On Sunday, September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
'Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
'We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday, September 16, and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.
Russell Brand's stand up comedy show 'Bipolarisation' at the Theatre Royal Windsor on Tuesday night has been postponed
'We continue to encourage anyone who believes they may have been a victim of a sexual offence, no matter how long ago it was, to contact us.'
The Bipolarisation tour was touted as a show that would 'reach conclusions from mass confusion by polling the live audience'.
But the Theatre Royal Windsor has scrubbed all mention of the tour from its website.
A statement from the theatre management said: 'Theatre Royal Windsor will be offering ticket refunds in line with our terms and conditions of sale.'
Plymouth Pavilions in Devon also said its management had been 'in talks with the tour promoters' over the comedian's scheduled performance at the venue on Friday night.
A statement from the venue, reported by the i, said: 'All tickets will be refunded direct from point of purchase, tickets purchased from The Ticket Store will automatically be refunded.'
The Times and Sunday Times claim 'several women' have come forward with undisclosed allegations about Brand's behaviour during the early 2000s in wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 which was published on Saturday.
It is understood the investigation spoke to more women than the four alleged victims who featured in the documentary, but the others eventually decided they did not want to take part.
The latest allegations - which the newspaper says have not been investigated, but will now be 'rigorously checked' - follow accusations from four women, including one who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship with him when she was 16 and still at school.
Channel 4 has since removed all programmes linked to Brand from its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother's Big Mouth in which he was featured, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, titled Re:Birth, from its streaming catalogue.
The maverick actor and stand-up comic has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and blamed the 'mainstream media' for the 'litany of astonishing rather baroque attacks'.
BBC chiefs scrambled to investigate Brand last night after the comedian was accused of rape.
Their probe was announced minutes before Scotland Yard piled on the pressure by announcing that detectives would like to speak to the comedian's alleged victims.
It came as the Brand scandal threatened to spiral into a 'MeToo' crisis for comedy, especially after other comedians were dragged into the scandal as an unverified 'MeToo' blacklist circulated online.
Russell Brand pictured leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre on Saturday night after allegations about the comic broke
Brand performed on Saturday at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, hours after The Sunday Times published its first article about the allegations against him. He opened the show by saying there were 'things I can't talk about'
Claims it was an 'open secret' he was a predator prompted senior MPs to warn broadcasters they face a 'full-on inquiry'.
Brand, a former star of the BBC and Channel 4, faces bombshell claims from women alleging sexual assaults, abuse and predatory behaviour including one who was a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
But the claims from one businesswoman who alleged Brand raped her when she refused a threesome and another who said she was 16 when he choked her during a sexual act, prompted a firestorm yesterday.
The businesswoman known as Nadia, who alleged to The Times she was raped against a wall by the star, told of her relief that others were now coming forward, saying: 'He cannot hurt me any more and hopefully he will not hurt anybody else.
'I'm super-proud of all the women who have come forward. I know how hard it is, thinking "I'm the only one" and "who is going to believe me".'
Among the complaints raised in the investigation were allegations by a woman, referred to as Alice to protect her identity, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand as a 16-year-old.
She alleges he was 'preoccupied' with her being 'innocent and pure', and often referred to her as 'The Child'.
Alice described his behaviour towards her as 'grooming' as Brand would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him. She also claimed he would send his 'BBC car' to her secondary school to pick her up.
'The first time I used it, he told me it was booked to take him to his radio show but he had a friend taking him instead so I should use that car,' she told The Times.
She claimed the chauffeur once took her from Brand's home to her grandmother's house and that on a separate occasion the same car 'picked me up from school'.
Alice added: 'It was the same car...I knew that that was a BBC car.'
The BBC did not initially commit to an inquiry but amid the growing outcry, it shifted its position last night and a spokesman said it was 'urgently looking into the issues'.
In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: 'The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.
'Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.'
One accuser, Alice (pictured), alleges that Russell Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old. She claims he would send a car to pick her up from secondary school, which she has since claimed was a 'BBC car'
The broadcaster yesterday launched an internal investigation into what was known about Brand's alleged behaviour following claims that at least one senior executive was aware of complaints against the comedian and seemingly dismissed them.
Pressure for police to act also came from the chairman of the Commons' Women and Equalities Committee, Caroline Nokes, who told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'These allegations are incredibly shocking and criminal. I would very much hope that complaints will be made both to the Metropolitan Police and indeed in the States, because this merits and needs a criminal investigation.
'For too long we have seen men and the perpetrators of these sorts of crimes are almost invariably men not being held to account for their behaviours and their actions.'
Later, she told Times Radio that the women who have come forward with allegations against Brand 'need to be brave again' and go to the police.
'I think what matters most is that there is a formal police investigation and that if there is good cause, criminal charges be brought,' she said.
Meanwhile Spencer Kuvin, a Florida lawyer who represented nine victims of US financier Jeffrey Epstein, said American police could investigate a rape case if the businesswoman Nadia opted to pursue it.
Nadia has claimed Brand raped her at his home in Los Angeles in July 2012 when she refused to join him in a threesome with 'a friend'.
She told how she was treated at a rape crisis centre that same day, and kept a text message from Brand allegedly apologising for his 'crazy and selfish' behaviour.
The rape centre also informed the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Brand denies the claims.
Mr Kuvin said: 'If the facts are accurate as stated then it would appear that police would likely have a case.'
There has been no sign of Brand at his 5million riverside home in Henley-on-Thames, but his father Ron Brand (pictured with Brand in 2014), 80 who introduced his son to prostitutes aged 17 called the accusations 'unproven'
Mark Bederow, a criminal defence lawyer in New York, added: 'Russell Brand should be very concerned about an LAPD investigation. Also you have statements [allegedly] made in texts by Russell Brand which are not helpful for him.'
Over the weekend, his literary agent Tavistock Wood dumped him while the Trevi Women and Children's Charity also cut ties.
Yesterday Noreen Oliver, the director of drug and alcohol rehabilitation charity BAC O'Connor, said it too had severed links.
There has been no sign of Brand at his 5million riverside home in Henley-on-Thames, but his father Ron Brand, 80 who introduced his son to prostitutes aged 17 called the accusations 'unproven'.
He declared: 'Is this seriously the most important thing happening in this world?'
He suggested dark forces including the BBC were pursuing a 'vendetta' against his son.
Social media star Andrew Tate, who has also been accused of rape, also leapt to Brand's defence.
Caroline Dineage, chairman of the Commons' culture committee, told Times Radio there could be 'a full-on inquiry into this kind of behaviour at the heart of television'.
A representative for Russell Brand has been approached by MailOnline for comment.
Russell Brand is seen in resurfaced footage calling Morning Joe's Mika Brzezinski a 'shaft grasper' for the way she holds her water bottle - forcing her to cut to a break.
Brand was 38 at the time and promoting his Messiah Complex stand-up tour, which begun in Abu Dhabi in August 2013.
He appeared to enjoy the awkward interview, in which he pretended to do the hosts' jobs and mocked them for their dress sense, later tweeting: 'This is me on a mad American program. Quite funny.'
But after he was accused in a bombshell report on Sunday of rape and sexual assault, Brand's comments are being seen in a new light.
Brand has now been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women during the peak of his fame, following a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
The explosive allegations are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013, while Brand was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4. He has denied the claims.
Russell Brand is seen in an awkward appearance on Morning Joe from the summer of 2013
Brand is seen on Saturday night leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after a comedy set. He has denied the allegations, but has been dropped by his management
The comedian and actor opened with a riff on the media and said that he enjoyed stand-up because it gave him a direct connection to audiences.
'Don't think about what I'm wearing - these things are just a distraction,' said Brand, in response to Brian Shactman joking that he intended to come into work the next day dressed like Brand, with an open shirt and multiple necklaces.
'I'm distracted,' interjected host Mika Brzezinski. 'Be distracted,' Brand said. 'What do you think that gesture means - the way you're touching that bottle? What's the subtext of that?'
To loud laughter from the studio, Schactman said: 'We've got to go to a break.'
Brand continued: 'You need to lose that ring, Mika, because it don't mean nothing to ya'. She's grasping for the shaft. She's a shaft-grasper.'
Brzezinski looked somewhat stunned, and picked up her coffee mug to hide her shock.
'Russell...' began the other woman on the panel, fellow Briton, Katty Kay. Schactman, laughing, said: 'That was free, but it was great. We'll buy tickets.'
The clip resurfaced on the same day that another similarly uncomfortable encounter with Brand, from the same year, re-emerged.
Singer Katherine McPhee was seen in 2013 bouncing up and down on Russell Brand's lap during her appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Brand, now 48, appeared on the talk show a decade ago and tried to flirt with the married actress, which to onlookers left her appearing visibly uncomfortable.
But on Monday the singer - who has been married twice - poured cold water on such suggestions. 'This specific incident was over 10 years ago and it was harmless,' she said.
Video footage of Russell Brand suggestively bouncing Katharine McPhee on his lap has been unearthed in the wake of bombshell allegations
The comedian, now 48, appeared on Jimmy Fallon 's Tonight show back in 2013 where he tried to flirt outrageously with the married actress, 39 - and it left her looking uncomfortable
Controversy: Jimmy tried to intervene as Russell started bouncing Katherine on his lap
'I didn't know you were married!': Russell continued to flirt with Katharine throughout the interview, before coming to the realisation that she was married to actor Nick Cokas, 58
During the Jimmy Fallon interview, Brand refused to move out of the interview chair as McPhee stepped up to talk to the host.
He told Fallon: 'She's welcome to sit here', then grabbed her and suggestively bounced a shocked-looking McPhee on his lap - before she quickly leapt up.
After Fallon referenced McPhee's husband, Brand interjected: 'I didn't know you were married. I'm going to f**k off now.'
It comes as The Times and Sunday Times claim 'several women' have come forward with undisclosed allegations about Brand's behavior during the early 2000s in wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 which was published on Saturday.
The maverick actor and stand-up comic has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and blamed the 'mainstream media' for the 'litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks'.
The latest allegations - which the newspaper says have not been investigated by police, but will now be 'rigorously checked' - follow accusations from four women, including one who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand during a three-month relationship with him when she was 16 and still at school.
Brand has lashed out at 'aggressive' media claims as he insisted any relationships he had 'during his time of promiscuity' were 'consensual' in a 2min 45sec monologue
Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four women. Alice (pictured) alleges Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old
The BBC is now also facing 'urgent questions' after it was claimed Brand used his company-provided car service to pick the girl up from school.
Both BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behavior by Brand towards staff and audience members during the time of his employment.
Channel 4 has since removed all programs linked to Brand from its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother's Big Mouth in which he was featured, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, titled Re:Birth, from its streaming catalogue.
The BBC's probe was announced minutes before Scotland Yard piled on the pressure by announcing that detectives would like to speak to the comedian's alleged victims.
Among the complaints raised in the investigation were allegations by one woman, who alleged Brand raped her against the wall in his Los Angeles home.
Another woman alleged the comedian sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles and that he threatened her with legal action if she told anyone.
While the third claimed she was sexually assaulted by Brand who she alleges was physically and emotionally abusive towards her.
The fourth woman, referred to as Alice to protect her identity, said she was 16 when he choked her during a sexual act.
She alleges he took her virginity, was 'preoccupied' with her being 'innocent and pure', and often referred to her as 'The Child'.
Alice described his behavior towards her as 'grooming' as Brand would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him. She also claimed he would send his 'BBC car' to her secondary school to pick her up.
'The first time I used it, he told me it was booked to take him to his radio show but he had a friend taking him instead so I should use that car,' she told The Times.
She claimed the chauffeur once took her from Brand's home to her grandmother's house and that on a separate occasion the same car 'picked me up from school'.
Alice added: 'It was the same car...I knew that that was a BBC car.'
The BBC did not initially commit to an inquiry but amid the growing outcry, it shifted its position and a spokesman said it was 'urgently looking into the issues'.
In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: 'The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.
'Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programs between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.'
Brand has lashed out at 'aggressive' media claims as he insisted any relationships he had 'during his time of promiscuity' were 'consensual' in a 2min 45sec monologue to his 11 million followers on X and 6.5million subscribers on YouTube.
He accused the news organizations of coordinating an attack on him, telling his followers: 'Is there another agenda at play?
'Particularly when we've seen coordinated media attacks before, like with Joe Rogan, when he dared to take a medicine that the mainstream media didn't approve of, and we saw a spate of headlines from media outlets across the world using the same language.'
A spring time affair in Paris should be enshrined in memory, sacrosanct from the trembling hand of time. That first kiss in a Renault cab under rear-view mirror eyes, the hip-hugging walks along the Seine, the throat-clutching glass of Pernod, all the makings of a cinematic cliche, they cannot surely become blurred with age?
And they aren't. Everything else about those weeks in Paris in 1974 remains in my mind as if yesterday. A memory etched more deeply and more painfully than most is that of Marie-Aude.
An introduction from a fellow journalist in a bar on the Rue de Berri off the Champs-Elysee, a handshake offered with that gracious word enchantee, a glance from grey-green almond eyes, a few words and then she was gone. She had to go back to the office. 'Desole,' she said.
She was beautiful. A pale oval face framed by brown hair that fell to her shoulders in curls, a figure that complimented the dress sense seemingly possessed by all French women (another cliche but definitely true).
She worked as a secretary for a big British company in Paris and thus spoke much better English than my passable schoolboy French.
James MacManus pictured in Africa in 1980. He dedicated his new book to a French lover he met in the 1970s
We tumbled out of bed at weekends for dawn visits to the gorgeous flower markets, there to drink strong, steaming coffee and plot a quick way back to her apartment (File Photo)
And so it began.
I am getting ahead of myself. When was all this? The first week of April. President Pompidou had just died. Flags were flying at half mast, but Paris is not a city to dress itself in mourning for long. There was certainly no great sense of loss in the city in those spring days. Every joyous moment brought fresh sights and sounds: the morning flow of gurgling gutter water in the streets, old ladies with dachshunds on impossibly long leads, the special aroma of coffee and croissants wafting from every cafe and so it went on.
Above all there was Marie-Aude. She was in her mid-20s with the sophistication bestowed on every young woman in Paris then and now. I was a 29-year-old journalist whose arrival in Paris had been gifted by the death of a president.
My predecessor, who had neither a phone nor a radio in his apartment, had failed to notice the passing of Georges Pompidou.
The newspaper sent me, a mere home reporter, in his place.
After that first introduction, there followed a rather more romantic meeting with eyes colliding across a candlelit table. The affair began.
Affair. Such a banal name for the flow of passion that took us into her Paris, not the guide book city. We went to that strange floating swimming pool on the Seine where the girls sunbathed topless in the warm spring sunshine. My embarrassment amused her. 'You English,' she said.
We tumbled out of bed at weekends for dawn visits to the gorgeous flower markets, there to drink strong, steaming coffee and plot a quick way back to her apartment.
For three weeks we behaved or, rather, acted because we were surely players in a film, as lovers do. I showed her my small rented apartment in Levallois-Perret, then a working-class suburb across the Peripherique.
She preferred her small place tucked under the eaves of an old house in the Rue de Rome, one of those streets in the 17th arrondissement with a history going back to the barricades of the 1848 revolution.
Every thing about Marie-Aude was stylish. Watching her get dressed in the morning was as if invited to a private performance. She was always in a hurry, but never hurried; the choice of clothes, from underwear to the final twist of a silk scarf, was chosen as a priest might choose the sacraments for Mass; the stockings pulled up slowly with care; the colours carefully coordinated; the make-up applied with finesse; the shoes held up, inspected, put aside and a fresh pair taken from a cupboard.
She was seated at a small dressing table facing a mirror. I would watch her reflection. She flicked her eyes in the mirror to watch me watching her. She was often late for work.
And then it all changed. On April 24 to be exact, just three weeks after we met. A military coup removed the Salazar regime in Portugal and I found myself in Lisbon.
I left at a moment's notice and never saw my apartment or my white Triumph Spitfire again. I called Marie-Aude from the airport promising to return. She was crying.
But I did return. While the old regime in Portugal was being peacefully dismantled, a presidential election in France pitted the wily Giscard D'Estaing against the resistance hero Jacques Chaban-Delmas.
I flitted between the two capitals that summer, scooping up Marie-Aude when in Paris for fleeting meals, drinks and nights in the Rue de Rome. My flat had been repossessed and the police had removed my Spitfire to a distant compound.
Pictured, the cover for Love In A Lost Land, by James MacManus (10.99, Whitefox), which is out now
That summer we were birds on the wing, lovers lost in a whirlwind. We didn't talk much about what might happen next, because neither of us wanted to admit what we both probably knew.
Nor did we question our feelings for each other; were we in love? Why try and wrap emotions in that tired old cliche? What did it matter? Let the future look after itself and let's raise a coupe de rouge to the present. We were tourists in our own country and Paris was ours.
I knew she came from Brittany and she was pleased to learn that I had ancestral Irish roots. A lot of rain in those places, she said. That was it.
My brief time as Paris correspondent was ending. Portugal's African colonies were being unshackled from colonial rule. It was clear the relatively peaceful transfer of power in Portugal wasn't going to be repeated in Mozambique and Angola.
I left for Mozambique in September to find a bloody revenge being exacted on the terrified white community in the capital. It was a big story. I was now Africa correspondent. I had leapfrogged more senior and probably more gifted colleagues. I was a rising star. Paris began to recede into the distant past.
Marie-Aude and I arranged to meet that autumn in the grand Tivoli Hotel in the centre of Lisbon. She would take an early flight from Paris, I would take a break from the stories in Africa, and we would have a romantic lunch of grilled prawns and a bottle of vinho verde at the famed rooftop restaurant.
The hotel was a hangout for foreign correspondents, and I had been there a few days arranging visas. We were a self-important group convinced of our superior mission to tell the world of the tidal wave of revolution engulfing Africa. We had the story. I was not alone in succumbing to the arrogance born of success.
Marie-Aude arrived on a Saturday morning into this gung-ho world of alpha male hacks, and waited in the lobby while a porter found me. She was wearing a pleated tartan skirt and a blue silk shirt under a jacket of sorts. I remember that clearly.
A warm smile, a cheek kiss, a murmured lover's greeting and she vanished to the ladies, leaving me with the little suitcase packed with enough clothes for the weekend. We went to the restaurant, but instead of our rooftop lunch a deux, I gestured to a table at which my colleagues sat.
Her face was stamped with irritation. Why were we joining a throng of other journalists? I garbled an apology. 'Really sorry, darling, I am just so busy right now; the desk want a piece on Angola, I've got a flight out to Luanda tomorrow morning early and there's a guy coming to change money. You know what it's like.'
Marie-Aude did not know what it was like, nor did she want to know. Her face turned to stone. With a thin smile to my colleagues, she took her place at the table.
I introduced her briefly. We drank a lot of wine but Marie-Aude quickly switched to water. She didn't look at me. She understood and she didn't wait long. Just before she left, she picked up my glass of red wine and threw it over me. I tried to catch her up and followed her across the lobby uttering platitudes of apology.
But when I got to the hotel entrance, she had the door of a taxi open, her suitcase in her hand. Her last look of heartbroken fury was one I will not forget. It went through me like an arrow. I never heard from her or saw her again.
Back at the table, American correspondent Robin Wright, who is now a writer for The New Yorker, handed me a fresh glass of wine, and succinctly summed up in one word what I have felt about this shameful episode ever since.
'A**hole,' she said.
If revenge is a dish best served cold, Marie-Aude has exacted a chilly price for the callous behaviour of her long ago lover. I have never forgotten her, nor has my guilt lessened. That one word flung at me by Ms Wright stuck. My older self looks back in bewilderment at the behaviour of my younger self.
I have been to Paris several times since and was always tempted to take a long walk and find myself by surprise in the Rue de Rome. There I would maybe buy some flowers and climb the stairs to the small room below the eaves.
But even if she was still there, which grew less and less likely with the passing of the years, what would I say? More to the point what would she say? A few words of abuse and another flung glass of red wine? Why would I put myself through such humiliation?
Anyway, since I was always with my first wife, whom I met and married in London seven years after Marie-Aude, the idea was impractical. But I smuggled the fantasy away to the back of my mind.
The heart keeps its secrets. I was more in love with Marie-Aude than I cared to admit. That has been my secret. At the time I felt no shame because, as I told myself, it was only a casual summer fling and that is how they end.
And yet it was no casual affair. Those months in Paris in 1974 unlocked far deeper emotions. That must be why Marie-Aude occupies such a lasting place among my memories. That, and the guilt I still feel.
She had flown at her expense from Paris to Lisbon for a romantic weekend only to find her lover more in thrall to the macho glamour of his job. Horrible behaviour.
It was easy to explain to myself at the time. After all, I was a journalist at the whim of distant paymasters in London. But that was a lie, too. The foreign desk gave me complete freedom of action. The truth was that I didn't want any commitment that would obstruct the career unfolding before me in Africa. Ambition trumped love.
I had long wanted to write a novel based on my experiences in Africa. I had not thought of including Marie-Aude, until she stepped out of my dreams one night, still in that tartan skirt, and demanded to be heard. The ghostly presence at the back of mind for all these years suddenly became real again.
She's there now on the pages as 'Marie Claire', a minor character compared with those around her. She threads her way through the text as a spectral nemesis. I wake her up with late night calls; she puts the phone down. I call again a week later. She calls me 'un salopard minable egoiste' which roughly translates as 'pathetic selfish b*****d'. There is one final revenge she exacts in the book.
I did not write the novel to expiate the callous way I treated her. But that is why I have dedicated the book to her. You might say this is merely a cynical way of satisfying a Catholic desire for redemption. I say it is genuine repentance.
The dedication is shared with my wife Sally. She is a beautiful 64-year-old divorcee with a romantic past quite as turbulent as mine, or so she says. She has cast a cold eye on these words. She thinks that to share a dedication with her husband's long ago girlfriend is a little odd, but has accepted that all writers are selfish eccentrics.
She also says there is one word missing in this story. Sorry.
Love In A Lost Land, by James MacManus (10.99, Whitefox), is out now.
A 49-year-old man is fighting for life after a horrifying home invasion in Merewether, Newcastle.
Police were called to a residence on Coane Street at about 3am on Tuesday following reports of a home intrusion.
Four teenage intruders entered the home, leading to a confrontation with the homeowners.
A 49-year-old man is fighting for his life in hospital after he was stabbed by teenage intruders in his home
Police were called to a residence on Coane Street (pictured) at about 3am on Tuesday following reports of a home intrusion. Four teenage intruders entered the home, leading to a confrontation with the homeowners
During the scuffle, the 49-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen, and the intruders fled.
The injured man was rushed to John Hunter Hospital in critical condition, while a 75-year-old woman with minor injuries also received treatment.
Shortly after, police arrested five teenagers, two boys and three girls, believed to be connected to the incident.
They are currently cooperating with authorities at Newcastle Police Station.
President Joe Biden blasted former President Donald Trump and the so-called 'MAGA Republicans' at a Broadway fundraiser Monday night, claiming they are 'determined to destroy American democracy' and 'bow down' to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The president is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly but also used his time in the Big Apple to raise funds for his 2024 reelection campaign.
Biden joined first lady Jill Biden onstage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre at the conclusion of an event that featured Broadway greats including Josh Groban, Ben Platt, Sarah Bareilles, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andrew Rannells and more.
The first couple were played on to the zippy tune All That Jazz, from the musical Chicago.
The 80-year-old president then hammered his likely general election competitor, warning those in the audience what a second Trump term could mean.
Cameras were not allowed into Broadway for Biden that took place at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre Monday night, but there was a large billboard posted outside
President Joe Biden arrives in New York Sunday night ahead of the UN General Assembly and participated in fundraisers Monday night
Marine One is captured Sunday night landing at the Wall Street landing zone as President Joe Biden arrives in New York for the UN General Assembly and a fundraising spree
'I'm running because democracy is at stake. Because [in] 2024 democracy is on the ballot once again. And let there be no question, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy,' Biden said. 'And I will always defend, protect and fight for our democracy.'
The fired-up president recalled how he had planned to stay retired from politics but changed his mind after Trump seemed to equate neo-Nazis, KKK members and other white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017 to the counter-protesters who confronted them.
He spoke about how democracy was at stake in the 2020 race.
'And thank God because of people like you, we won,' the president said. 'And I might add, we won convincingly, clearly, without question, by seven million votes.'
Biden boasted that his win stood firm after '60 legal court challenges and an insurrection on January the sixth.
'So now I'm running again,' the 80-year-old president said. 'You may have noticed, a lot of people seem focused on my age. Well I get it. Believe me. I know better than anyone,' Biden said to laughs.
'I'm running because - hear this - I want the entire nation to join me in sending the strongest, clearest, most powerful message possible that political violence in America is never, never, never acceptable,' the president also said.
He touted how he was able to 'rally the world' around Ukraine - and pushed that electing Trump again could let that backslide.
'I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won't ...' the president said.
Biden also challenged Trump's doomsday rhetoric about the country's current state.
'I don't believe America is a dark, negative nation, a nation of carnage driven by anger, fear and revenge. Donald Trump does,' Biden said.
'To his supporters he says, "I am your retribution." I am your retribution?' the president mused. '"We're a failing nation," he says. "Either they win or we win and they win we no longer have a country." Did you ever hear the president of the United States speak like that?
'Well, I believe we are hopeful optimistic nation driven by a simple proposition that everybody deserves a fair shot, just a shot,' Biden said.
The president exited to West Side Story's Tonight.
Because the event was a fundraiser, cameras were not allowed in the room to capture the president's speech.
A man accused of attacking four students at a university campus has been charged with a string of offences.
Alex Ophel, 24, was arrested by police after two young female students were allegedly stabbed with a knife at Australian National University in Canberra on Monday afternoon.
Police also allege he hit a male student on the head with a frying pan at nearby Fellows Oval and later attacked a second male student in the face.
Ophel, who is an ex-student, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault and one count of possessing an object to be used to kill on Tuesday.
Ex-student Alex Ophel spent the night police custody and has been charged over an alleged attacking spree
Forensics officers scour for evidence at the ANU in Canberra where two students were allegedly stabbed while another two were attacked
'No motive for the incident has been identified and police do not believe the victims knew the offender,' ACT Police said in a statement.
The two women who were allegedly stabbed, both aged 20, remain in hospital with one in a serious but stable condition.
Police opposed bail when Ophel briefly appeared in ACT Magistrates Court.
Ophel's lawyer was unsure he could accurately take instructions from his client due to his mental state and asked the court for more time so he can get instructions and 'see if he can understand me'.
The matter was adjourned until later on Tuesday.
Police are yet to determine why Ophel was at the campus on Monday.
'We have been unable to establish a motive at this time, the man's movements and how he came to be at ANU are currently subject of the police investigation,' Acting Superintendent Stephanie Leonard said.
Two women, both aged 20 who were allegedly stabbed remain in hospital. Pictured are paramedics treating patients at the scene
Police are still trying to determine the motive behind the alleged attacked which rocked ANU
'Obviously any violent offence is concerning. The ANU and Canberra are usually very safe places and and incidents like this are extremely rare.'
She was unable to comment on Ophel's mental health state.
Police inquiries into the incident continue as ANU praised the swift response from emergency services, its security unit and bystanders who rushed to the aid of injured students.
'I understand this incident may have caused distress among members of our community and I want to remind you that support is available. In times like these, it is essential we support one another and stay connected as a community,' ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said in a statement.
'I know a number of members of our community stopped to render assistance to those injured or stepped in to shepherd people away from danger.'
Anyone who witnessed or has footage of the incident and have not already spoken to police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
EXCLUSIVE
Racing identity Robbie Waterhouse has accused rival betting companies of shying away from taking punts on the Voice because it's 'politically sensitive'.
Multiple opinion polls show the Yes case trailing in most states, which means the odds of success on October 14 are very low.
But during state and federal election campaigns, the likes of Sportsbet, TAB and Ladbrokes routinely take bets on political parties and publicise the odds.
This sees gamblers put money on the side that is consistently behind hoping to make a bonanza on long odds.
But Waterhouse, Australia's best-known bookmaker, said that with the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to parliament, the big betting agencies were reluctant to open the books on something 'politically sensitive'
'I think they're regarded as being a very sensitive thing to bet on,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
'People have actually said to me that I shouldn't be betting on it, "This is just not a nice thing to do".'
Racing identity Robbie Waterhouse (pictured with horse trainer wife Gai) has accused rival betting companies of shying away from taking punts on the Voice because it's 'politically sensitive'
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Waterhouse also suggested offering bets on the Yes or No side winning would make betting companies appear like they were favouring one side of the referendum.
This is occurring as big corporations, from Qantas to mining giant Rio Tinto, back the Yes case, making it unfashionable for a company to be regarded as opposing or not endorsing the Voice.
'They think that if you actually offer both bets on either side, that you're taking a view,' Waterhouse said.
'They think, "Oh, no, you must be saying it can't win, the Yes side".'
Waterhouse is offering gamblers the chance to bet on the Voice referendum, but he can't attract any bids despite offering odds of 9:1 for a successful Yes vote, which means someone who successfully bets $1 gets back $10, including the $1 they put in.
This is unlike a traditional election, where political insiders bet on their party if internal polling shows the underdog winning a close, marginal seat race that could go either way.
Waterhouse suggested even supporters of the Voice were pessimistic about their chances.
'There's no appetite on the part of punters to back Yes,' he said.
'I can't find customers to back the Yes case - I've gone from five to four, $2.25, three weeks ago to now $10 or nine to one.
'The Yes supporters say they're very vocal and very confident but won't risk a cent of their own money.
'There are very few Yes backers, which makes me think, contrary to what everyone says, they're resigned to the fact they're going to lose.'
While the 9:1 odds for the Voice are long, they are nowhere near as long as the Victorian election of 1999 where Labor leader Steve Bracks was regarded as an outside 20:1 chance of defeating Liberal premier Jeff Kennett on polling day.
'A good example was Kennett who was one to 20,' Waterhouse said.
'When he lost, it was thought to be a certainty but he wasn't.'
Waterhouse said with the Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum, the big betting agencies were reluctant to open the books on something 'politically sensitive' (pictured is a Yes case rally in Sydney)
Waterhouse also suggested offering bets on the Yes or No side winning would make betting companies appear like they were favouring one side of the referendum (he is pictured far right with son Tom Waterhouse, far left; daughter-in-law Hoda Waterhouse, second left; and wife Gai Waterhouse, second right)
Only BlueBet is listing odds for the Voice, with $1.15 offered for No and $4.75 for Yes.
Sportsbet is taking money for the Voice, but only for the TV talent show of the same name, with Guy Sebastian the favourite at $1.50 to be the winning judge on October 1, ahead of Jessica Mauboy and Jason Derulo, both on $4.33, and Rita Ora on $8.50.
TAB is also taking bets on The Voice Australia program on Seven, offering similar odds.
Just eight out of 44 referendums to amend the Constitution have passed since the first Yes or No vote was taken in 1906, with victory requiring a national majority and a majority in four out of six states.
A Yes case hasn't triumphed since 1977 and a Labor prime minister hasn't convinced the electorate to back constitutional change since 1946, when Australians agreed with Ben Chifley's call for the Commonwealth to provide welfare.
A Resolve Strategic poll published this month in Nine newspapers showed the No vote leading 57 per cent to 43 per cent, with support for the Voice now behind in NSW and Victoria.
Only Tasmania is producing a majority for the Yes case.
A New England Patriots season ticket holder has been 'beaten to death' by a Miami Dolphins fan at the Gillette Stadium, according to witnesses.
Father-of-two Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, died following an incident in the 300-tier segment of the arena just before 11pm on Sunday.
The Norfolk County DA's Office said cops responded to calls for medical aid in the section at 10.57pm and 'the matter remains under active investigation'.
A photo from the Foxborough, Massachusetts, stadium show EMTs scrambling to revive someone who is out of shot on the ground as worried fans watch on.
Videos also show security trying to break up a scuffle, and medics administering CPR a short time afterwards.
Father-of-two Dale Mooney (pictured), 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, died following an incident in the 300-tier segment of the arena just before 11pm on Sunday
The Norfolk County District Attorney's Office said cops and firefighters responded to calls for medical aid at the Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts at 10.57pm on Sunday and 'the matter remains under active investigation'
Videos from the Foxborough arena show security trying to break up a scuffle, and medics administering CPR a short time afterwards as worried fans watched on
One witness from the scene, Joseph Kilmartin, described the alleged attack by a Miami Dolphins fan as 'hard to watch'.
'They started tussling around for a few minutes,' Kilmartin told WCVB.
'At one point another Dolphins fan walked over. He punched him three times, and the man just went out. It was pretty hard to watch.'
Several other anonymous witnesses gave similar descriptions of the 'brutal' attack which caused Mooney to 'crumble', while speaking with Boston 10 at the scene.
'One word I can really use is shocking,' one bystander said. 'My thoughts go out to that man's family. It's awful what happened,' another person commented.
Mooney's devastated wife said she felt 'numb' after hearing the horrific news about her husband and father-of-two, who has been a dedicated Patriots season ticket holder for three decades.
'I just feel numb I can't even believe this is for real,' Lisa Mooney told WCVB.
'I don't understand why people have to go to that extreme. Why can't it just be fun? That's all it's supposed to be, just a fun family event.'
Devastated wife Lisa Mooney said she felt 'numb' after hearing the horrific news about her husband's death. 'I can't even believe this is for real,' she said. (Pictured: Lisa and Dale Mooney)
Several anonymous witnesses gave descriptions of the 'brutal' attack which caused Mooney to 'crumble'
She added that her husband had no known medical condition that could cause him to pass out, and he 'has the patience of a saint'.
'I don't know what happened... it takes a lot to get him mad,' she said.
The District Attorney's Office said the investigation into his death was following 'normal protocol' with an autopsy due to take place in the coming days.
No arrests have been made over the incident.
Ventura and her cousin-in-law have now been arrested and charged with murder
Before dialing 911 Ventura called her husband, her husband's cousin and a friend
The owner of the Bronx daycare where a one-year-old boy died after inhaling fentanyl called two alleged drug operation accomplices before calling 911.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, reportedly called a trio of people before she phoned cops after Nicholas Feliz Dominici and three other children were exposed to fentanyl on Friday afternoon.
The New York Post reported the daycare owner called her husband, who has been a 'main player' in the drug ring, her cousin-in-law and neighbor Carlisto Acevedo Brito, and a friend before she called for medical attention around 3.30pm.
By the time emergency personnel arrived and got the one-year-old to the hospital, he was pronounced dead after his first week at the daycare.
A police source said: 'She wasted precious minutes, worrying about herself and the drug dealers.
'When she should've been most concerned about saving these innocent babies lives.'
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, reportedly called a trio of people before she called for help after Nicholas Feliz Dominici and three other children were exposed to fentanyl on Friday afternoon
It was Nicholas Feliz Dominici's (PICTURED) first week at the Divino Nino Daycare and his parents had him on a waitlist for it after it was recommended to them
After the Bronx daycare was raided on Friday, cops 'discovered a kilogram of fentanyl in an area that was used to give the children naps,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny told The New York Post on Monday
The investigation is ongoing and authorities believe that the basement of the daycare was used as the main hub for the drug operation
According to a source, Ventura's husband was seen on surveillance footage as he showed up to the daycare through the back door, stayed for a little while, and then exited with a big bag full of what is believed to 'several kilos of illicit drugs'.
Her and her husband then spoke multiple times over the phone after he left.
The three other children who 'ingested fentanyl' were taken to the hospital and survived, though one of them is in critical condition according to police.
Brito, 41, and Ventura have both been arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, drug possession and child endangerment.
The whereabouts of Ventura's husband are unknown. The daycare on Morris Avenue in Kingsbridge had just passed an inspection, according to The New York Post.
The boy's grief-stricken father said: 'Apparently, the place passed all of the inspections and supposedly that apartment was only for daycares, but the rumor is, from what we have heard, they also rented rooms.'
Prior to his son going there, he was put on a waitlist after the home-based-daycare center came highly recommended to him and his wife Zoila Dominici.
Ventura's neighbor and cousin-in-law Carlisto Acevedo Brito and her were arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, drug possession and child endangerment
An NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Monday they are still looking for De Ventura's husband, w ho also lived with her next door to the daycare
The boy's grief-stricken father said: 'Apparently, the place passed all of the inspections and supposedly that apartment was only for daycares, but the rumor is, from what we have heard, they also rented rooms'
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday: 'They [inspectors] did their job. Who did not do their job were the people who were there to protect the children. Everything appeared normal based on the standards we put in place to make sure, surely not in a safe environment'
After the Bronx daycare was raided on Friday, cops 'discovered a kilogram of fentanyl in an area that was used to give the children naps,' NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny told The New York Post on Monday.
Three 'kilogram press devices' were also found, which are used to package bulk amounts of drugs.
As the drugs were cut at the daycare center and released into the air, the innocent children inhaled them.
Narcan was administered to some of the effected children.
Multiple neighbors reported that the daycare itself was known to be a drug front as they rarely saw children entering and exiting, and mainly saw adults.
A 69-year-old neighbor who remained anonymous told The New York Post: 'A day-care with no children and men coming in and out. Yes, we knew something. We knew something, something was not good happening there,' she said.
The daycare on Morris Avenue in Kingsbridge had just passed an inspection, according to The New York Post
As the drugs were cut at the daycare center and released into the air, the innocent children inhaled them. Narcan was administered to some of the effected children
Anna Ortiz, 73, who lives in the building next door to the drug invested daycare exclusively told DailyMail.com that she is 'sick over' over the fatal situation.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said on Monday: 'They [inspectors] did their job. Who did not do their job were the people who were there to protect the children.
'Everything appeared normal based on the standards we put in place to make sure, surely not in a safe environment.'
An NYPD spokesman told DailyMail.com on Monday they are still looking for De Ventura's husband, who also lived with her next door to the daycare.
The investigation is ongoing and authorities believe that the basement of the daycare was used as the main hub for the drug operation.
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, says he 'doesn't love' what he has heard about Hunter Biden benefiting from his father's position.
But he attacked Republican efforts to impeach Joe Biden as a 'joke' and like 'student government'.
He also said that 'voters have every right to be concerned' about the president's age, but added: 'I want a seasoned pro that knows how to get things done.'
In an interview with CNN, Newsom, 55, also offered unequivocal support for Kamala Harris, saying she should 'absolutely' be Biden's running mate again in 2024.
His declarations came as a CBS News/YouGov poll showed only one third of voters believe Biden, 80, would complete a second term, and as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi failed to offer clear backing for Harris.
Gavin Newsom said Biden and Harris would be the Democrat ticket in 2024
Biden faces an impeachment inquiry launched by Republicans who have been investigating his son Hunter's foreign business dealings in countries including China and Ukraine while his father was vice president.
Newsom said: 'I dont know enough about the details of that. I mean, Ive seen a little of that. If thats the new criteria, there are a lot of folks in a lot of industries, not just in politics, where people have family members and relationships and they are trying to parlay a little, get a little influence and benefit in that respect, thats hardly unique.
'I dont love that any more than you love it or other people, I imagine, love that. We want to see a lot less of that.'
But he added: 'An impeachment inquiry? Give me a break, This is student government This is a joke. Ready, fire, aim. I mean, this is a perversity with what the Founding Fathers ever conceived of and imagined. So if thats the best they can do, give me a break.'
A potential Newsom 2024 candidacy has become a focus for Democrats worried about Biden's advanced age and anemic poll numbers.
President Joe Biden and California Gov. Gavin Newsom in San Francisco in June
Kamala Harris will 'absolutely' be Joe Biden's running mate, Newsom said
The California governor has raised his profile recently, making appearances in other states, embarking on an official trip to china, and agreeing to debate Republican 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis.
But on running himself in 2024 Newsom said: 'The answer is no. No ambiguity. Im not that guy. Im just not.'
He also said Harris should 'of course' remain on the ticket.
'Biden-Harris administration...a masterclass in terms of performance, bipartisan deals on infrastructure, bipartisan deals on guns and debt ceiling, on the CHIPS and Science Act,' he said.
'She gets to lay claim and credit to a lot of that success. The answer is absolutely.
He added that Democrats should stop 'navel-gazing about Joe Biden' and 'get going'.
'Lets get on the train. This train has left the proverbial station,' Newsom said.
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He is believed to be travelling in NSW
A massive manhunt is underway for an alleged gunman who is believed to be on the run in New South Wales after a police pursuit injured two officers in Victoria.
Stanley Turvey allegedly fired a gun as police attempted to arrest him at a property at Katandra West, in Victoria's north, at midday on Monday.
He then allegedly led police on a pursuit before cops 'lost control' of their car causing the vehicle to roll over and leave two officers with minor injuries.
Police continued their manhunt on Tuesday and released a photo of Turvey showing the fugitive with a distinctive grenade tattoo inked on his face.
The photo comes as a series of disturbing social media posts emerge which includes a video of Turvey holding a dog's leash tied to a collar around a man's neck.
A massive manhunt is underway for Stanley Turvey (pictured) who is believed to be on the run in NSW after injuring two officers in Victoria
Residents have been warned not to approach him with police believing Turvey could be armed.
Police allege Turvey approached detectives with a gun when they arrived at property in Katandra West near Shepparton, in northern Victoria, on Monday.
Officers challenged Turvey to drop his weapon but he allegedly fired a shot into the air before fleeing the property in a car.
Neighbour Dianne said Turvey was shirtless and yelling as he faced off with police.
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'All the police were crouched down with their guns pulled,' she told 9News.
'They kept saying to him, 'Put your weapon down and put your hands behind your head.'
'And then he just walked back and he said, 'I'm not f***ing going back to jail again'.'
Two officers pursued Turvey but lost control of their vehicle on Creighton Road before it rolled.
The officers were taken to Goulburn Valley Health hospital with minor injuries and have since been released.
Turvey then stopped at a random residence in Youanmite where he allegedly forced a man at gunpoint to drive him to Finley in NSW.
The man was not harmed and he was released when the pair arrived at their location.
Turvey regularly boasts on social media about being part of an outlawed motorcycle gang, according to the Herald Sun.
In one video shared to Facebook, shows Turvey holding a dog's leash which is tied to a collar around a man's neck.
He is seen holding a knife in the other hand while he shouts orders at the man, who is on all fours, and threatens to cut his tongue out.
When the man does not comply with Turvey's orders, he is seen pulling on the leash sharply.
Two officers pursued Turvey but lost control of their vehicle on Creighton Road before it rolled and was left partially crushed (pictured)
In another video shared to Facebook, Turvey is seen threatening a man, asking him to meet him in Shepparton for a gunfight.
'Any time you want to have a go, come to Shepparton,' the post reads.
'Bring whoever you like and whatever little cap gun you like because if you don't pull the trigger and kill me, I'll bash you to death really f- easy.'
Turvey claimed to be part of the Finks OMCG after sharing photos of the dead bikie gang boss Brent Reker to his Facebook page in February.
'That's my big brother Finks MC Australia is my club and my brother is my fam,' Turvey wrote.
'I'll give my life to back up my brother and have a happy death.'
Police believe Turvey is travelling in an allegedly stolen white Toyota Hi-Lux Dual cab utility with registration 1RA-8AN.
It comes after police responded to reports a man armed with a gun assaulted a woman and stole her car on Witt Street, Yarrawonga just before 10am on Tuesday.
Police have urged anyone with information that would help in locating him to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
He is also being urged to turn himself in at any police station.
John Fetterman and Marjorie Taylor Greene have waged war with each other after she called him out for sparking changes to the Senate's dress code.
Greene, 49, slammed Fetterman, 54, after it was reported his casual attire - usually shorts and a hoodie - were deemed acceptable attire for the Senate floor.
Greene posted on X: 'The Senate no longer enforcing a dress code for Senators to appease Fetterman is disgraceful.
'Dress code is one of society's standards that set etiquette and respect for our institutions. Stop lowering the bar!'
Fetterman replied: 'Thankfully, the nation's lower chamber lives by a higher code of conduct: displaying ding-a-ling pics in public hearings.'
He was referring to her displayed explicit images of Hunter Biden's genitals during a House Oversight Committee hearing in July.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has removed the dress code for members of the Senate in what's seen as a way of appealing to the often casually dressed Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman (pictured in June)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held up posters at an Oversight hearing in July showing explicit images of hunter Biden from his laptop allegedly with prostitutes
Senator John Fetterman and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene got into a spat after the Georgia Rep. called him out for his lax dress sense that sees him in hoodies and shorts
Fetterman's response to Greene's criticism was in relation to her previous questioning of IRS whistleblower Joseph Ziegler during a House Oversight Committee hearing earlier in the summer.
During that July hearing, Greene displayed explicit images of Hunter Biden and suggesting he had violated federal anti-human trafficking laws.
The Georgia congresswoman warned parents watching at home before her time questioning IRS whistleblowers that 'discretion is advised.'
The shocking moment went out on the C-SPAN live stream as well as other cable network channels airing the hearing, including Fox News.
'Should we be displaying this?' Democratic Ranking Member Jaime Raskin questioned at one point during crosstalk with other members of the panel.
The images from Hunter's laptop hard drive were printed on poster board that Rep. Greene held up at the hearing that showcased President Joe Biden's son engaged in sex acts with prostitutes.
'Before we begin, I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home that parental discretion is advised,' Greene said.
The reason for showing the images, other than to shock viewers, was for Greene to ask about Hunter Biden writing off taxes for costs related to escorts, prostitutes and sex clubs.
Greene warned in July at the hearing: 'Before we begin, I would like to let the committee and everyone watching at home that parental discretion is advised'
Staff in the room at the hearing on Wednesday reacted with giggles and shock to the images Greene displayed on her poster board of the naked First Son
There are a slew of damning images from Hunter Biden's laptop that show him naked or shirtless, doing drugs and engaging in sex acts with what are allegedly escorts
Fetterman, meanwhile, who won the Pennsylvania Senate seat last year, giving Democrats a 51-49 majority in the upper chamber, has unapologetically been wearing shorts as he goes about his duties.
The senator has faced a number of health challenges, including being in hospital for lightheadedness and clinical depression earlier this year.
He is still said to suffer auditory processing issues stemming from a stroke he experienced in May 2022.
But the updated dress code now allows Fetterman to cast his votes on the Senate floor while being visible to the clerk and C-SPAN cameras. Previously he would have to shout 'Aye' or 'Nay' from the doorway of the chamber.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer clarified in a statement that senators can now choose their attire on the Senate floor, though he said he personally intended to continue wearing a suit.
'There has been an informal dress code that was enforced,' Schumer said in a statement. 'Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit.'
Fetterman (seen here in May), made headlines coming forward about his six-week hospital stay for depression earlier in 2023
Schumer confirmed on Sunday that he had directed the Senate's sergeant-at-arms to stop enforcing the dress code for senators, which previously required men to wear jackets and ties.
He did not mention Fetterman in his statement about the dress code, which will only apply to senators, not staff.
The change has humorously been dubbed the 'Fetterman Rule' due to Fetterman's preference for a far more casual wardrobe.
However, there has also been outrage from some of the chamber's more formal members, eroding a bit of the good will that first-term Fetterman had earned earlier this year when he checked himself into the hospital for clinical depression.
He won bipartisan praise for being honest about his diagnosis, which came in the wake of a stroke he suffered on the campaign trail last year.
When he returned from treatment, he started donning the more casual clothes, which he says make him more comfortable.
Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall, a Republican, said 'It's a 'sad day in the Senate' and that the people who Fetterman and Schumer represent should be embarrassed.
'I represent the people of Kansas, and much like when I get dressed up to go to a wedding, its to honor the bride and groom, you go to a funeral you get dressed up to honor the family of the deceased,' Marshall said. Senators should have a certain level of decorum, he added.
Fetterman stands out in his hoodie during a press conference in May while his four Democratic colleagues were dressed in traditional suits and ties
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine agreed, arguing that the relaxed rules debase the institution of the Senate. 'I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor,' Collins joked.
Walking to Monday evening's vote in a short-sleeved button-down shirt and shorts, Fetterman said he wasn't sure if he'd take advantage of the new rules just yet.
'It's nice to have the option, but I'm going to plan to be using it sparingly and not really overusing it,' he said.
Asked about the criticism, Fetterman feigned mock outrage.
'They're freaking out, I don't understand it,' he said of his critics. 'Like, aren't there more important things we should be working on right now instead of, you know, that I might be dressing like a slob?'
When Fetterman reached the Senate floor, he still voted from the doorway. 'Baby steps,' he told reporters as he got on the elevator to go back to his office.
Not all Republicans were upset about the change. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley was wearing jeans, boots and no tie on Monday evening, an outfit he says he normally wears when he flies in from his home state for the first votes of the week.
'Now I can vote from the Senate floor on Mondays,' Hawley said, noting that he usually wears a suit and tie every other day.
Nearby, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy was also tieless. The Democrat said hes been reprimanded by Sergeant-at-Arms staff in the past for not wearing a tie on the floor.
'They would tell us when we were doing it wrong,' Murphy said.
'Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit,' Schumer said in a statement
It's unclear if the rules for more formal attire were actually written down anywhere, but Schumers directive means that staff will no longer scold senators for their choice of clothing or ask them to vote from the doorway.
For Fetterman, his signature hoodies and gym shorts were a sign of his recovery. Before he checked himself into the hospital, his staff had asked him to always wear suits, which he famously hates.
But after a check with the Senate parliamentarian upon his return in April, it became clear that he could continue wearing the casual clothes that were often his uniform back at home in Pennsylvania, as long as he didn't walk on to the Senate floor. He still wears suits to committee meetings when they are required.
In recent weeks, the Pennsylvania senator has become more comfortable joking around in the hallways and answering reporters questions.
His words are still halting sometimes due to his stroke and an auditory processing disorder that makes it harder to speak fluidly and process spoken conversation. He uses iPads and iPhones in conversations that transcribe spoken words in real time.
'I think we should all want to be more comfortable,' Fetterman told a group of reporters on Monday. 'And now we have that option, and if people prefer to wear a suit, then thats great.'
Magda Szubanski has hit back at trolls who vilified her after she showed her support for the Yes campaign.
The comedian has signalled her support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, with a referendum due to be held on October 14.
But many who are planning on voting No have lashed out at the TV star, with one being accused of 'fat shaming'.
The Twitter user, who has since deleted her comment, had made a comment about Szubanski's health.
'Her life is at risk!!! The HEALTH of our DEMOCRACY is also at risk if celebrities like Magda decide it is their right to INTIMIDATE those who dare to DIFFER,' they wrote in response to Szubanski advocating for the Yes vote.
Magda Szubanski has hit back at trolls who vilified her after she showed her support for the Yes campaign
Szubanski rejected the remark and questioned why it was OK for the No campaign to 'heap abuse' on her.
'It's not intimidation. It's an attempt to safeguard the truth for the sake of a functioning democracy,' the comedian replied.
'And unless you're lying you shouldn't be at all worried. Curious, do you think it's ok for the No campaign to heap personal abuse on me? You don't think THAT's intimidation?'
The comedian replied to one No voter who had made a comment about Szubanski's health
Earlier this week Szubanski attracted criticism from No voters when she asked her followers to screenshot any 'lies' being shared by them.
'YES voters and reasonable undecidedsa favour,' she began.
'Please could you screen cap and document any misinformation, defamation and lies being putting about by the NO campaign?
'Accounts they are coming from etc. Just for future reference. Thanks muchly.'
While some supported the comedian and said they'd be happy to do so, others took offence.
'What, are you now the thought police. Another person who runs away from people who have alternative opinions,' one person replied.
Earlier this week Szubanski attracted criticism from No voters when she asked her followers to screenshot any 'lies' being shared by them
'Magda, do yourself a favour, it's not lies when all the details haven't been released. It's not lies when we have people within the community telling us they think the 'Voice' is garbage,' another said.
'Magda wants to create a list of anyone with opposing views,' one tweeted. 'How very tolerant of her.
'Magda, In all honesty, I really hate personal attacks and I don't think anyone should be attacking you for your looks/weight etc, no-one should HOWEVER, when you antagonise people and make insidious remarks like asking your followers to screen shoot information that could be mis/disinformation and ask them to send them to you, you're putting yourself into a similar light' another wrote.
A mother who died after a nine-hour stand-off was killed when a bean bag round fired by officers pierced her chest and struck her heart, according to an interim post-mortem.
Krista Kach, 47, died in hospital on Thursday night following an incident in which she barricaded herself inside her unit in Stockton, Newcastle, about two hours north of Sydney.
NSW Police were called to the unit at about 12.30pm that day following reports Ms Kach had threatened real estate agents with an axe over a dispute about a barber shop at the bottom of her building.
Ms Kach barricaded herself in her home before specialist tactical officers forced entry into the property at about 9.45pm and used a bean bag round and Taser to arrest her.
Krista Kach, 47, died in hospital on Thursday night following an incident in which she barricaded herself inside her unit in Stockton, Newcastle, about two hours north of Sydney
Ms Kach had livestreamed parts of her nine-hour stand-off with police on Thursday
She was able to walk to an ambulance, which transported her to John Hunter Hospital as her condition deteriorated. She died in hospital later that night.
Bean bag rounds consist of small fabric bags filled with lead pellets. They are fired through a shotgun but are considered to be 'less lethal' munitions designed to briefly immobilise individuals during arrests.
NSW Police Acting Commissioner David Hudson revealed the coroner's interim post-mortem test results indicate Ms Kach had suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.
'It would appear that the bean bag round has entered the body of the deceased and ended up striking her heart,' Commissioner Hudson said.
He said bean bag rounds had been used by NSW police 15 times this year, without the 'tragic outcome' that occurred on Thursday.
'The bean bag or supersoft round is used internationally thousands of times per year. It is used by all tactical groups within Australia and on very few occasions we have tragic outcomes as we have seen last Thursday,' he said.
Ms Kach's family have disputed police's version of events, saying they begged for her to receive medical help before she was arrested
'Unfortunately in this case, which happens in a small number of cases, it has proven fatal.
Commissioner Hudson said all uses of bean bag rounds had been stopped in NSW while a review was underway.
He said the makers of the device don't specify a range for use, and safe firing distances would form part of the review.
He said police were also examining how to deal with incidents where the presence of uniformed officers might escalate the situation.
Ms Kach had livestreamed the stand-off for hours where she rambled about topics like sovereign citizens, fraud and espionage.
While she appeared to be mostly calm, Ms Kach became visibly upset when police outside her door tried to negotiate.
'You're trespassing, you're illegal,' she shouted in the livestream, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
'They are terrorists. This is terrorism. Trying to settle on the porch when you're not invited. What are you going to collect illegal tax revenue? They're not stating any reason they're here ... I haven't done anything.
'I was safe before they arrived.'
It's unclear who if anyone was watching the footage.
Greens MP and justice spokeswoman Sue Higginson called for a parliamentary inquiry into NSW Police after she obtained four hours of footage from Ms Kach's livestream leading up to the arrest.
She said the footage showed Ms Kach was scared, alone, unarmed and experiencing a mental health episode while police in riot gear 'hovered' on the veranda outside her window.
'Krista was lying on her bed watching a children's movie for at least an hour before the police broke into her home,' Ms Higginson said.
'You have to ask what the hell was the purpose of the police operation?
'The police are not equipped to deal with such situations. That's why we keep seeing vulnerable people killed at the hands of police.'
A 47-year-old woman has died following a nine-hour standoff with police (pictured, tactical officers entering the property)
Ms Kach's family have disputed police's version of events, saying they begged for her to receive medical help before she was arrested.
Her family said Ms Kach was stressed because she had been told that day she was being evicted from her home.
It's understood she had a dispute with her landlord over the barber shop, resulting in her being handed a 14-day eviction notice.
'We told the police in no uncertain terms that she was not well that day and she needed medical help,' the family said in a statement.
'We were assured that the police would look after our mother and that she would be cared for by a hospital and qualified medical professionals.
'What happened on Thursday was a disturbing and heartbreaking response by the police to a vulnerable person that had been told that she would soon be homeless.'
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said the woman suffered injuries during the confrontation but was able to walk to an ambulance.
'Shortly thereafter her condition deteriorated. She was taken to John Hunter Hospital and, unfortunately, she later died that evening.'
An autopsy will confirm the woman's cause of death.
Commissioner McKenna said she had no 'significant' history with police with only a 'minor matter many years ago' on record.
He did not comment on whether she suffered a mental health episode.
The unit has been declared a crime scene with Homicide Squad officers investigating the incident.
An independent critical investigation of the NSW Police operation is underway.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
The 47-year-old Stockton woman's death follows the tasering of great-grandmother Clare Nowland.
Gavin Newsom has been effusive in his praise of Joe Biden, claiming the 80-year-old had delivered 'a masterclass' in governance and brushing aside fears over his age.
The California governor is suspected of harboring White House aspirations, but on Monday was adamant the president was the best man for the job, laughing off questions as to whether he was considering challenging him.
Only a third of voters think Biden will remain in office through a second term, if re-elected, and CNN's Dana Bash asked Newsom whether voters should be worried.
'Voters have every right to be concerned,' he said. 'But Bobby Kennedy said it best: what the world needs are the qualities of youth, not a time of life but a state of mind. A quality of imagination.
'I couldn't imagine this, three years ago, that this president could accomplish so much in such a short period of time.' He said he wanted 'a season pro, who knows how to get things done.'
Gavin Newsom on Monday told CNN that he was not concerned about Joe Biden's age, and wanted 'a seasoned pro' in the White House
What does CA Governor @GavinNewsom think of concerns about President Biden's age as he seeks reelection? "I want a seasoned pro that knows how to get things done." He also gives an unequivocal answer about @vp Kamala Harris. Here's more of our conversation: pic.twitter.com/mVzfX7m3cY Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) September 19, 2023
President Joe Biden and California Governor Gavin Newsom are pictured in San Francisco in June
Newsom continued: 'And the results are in: it's been a masterclass. There's simply been no administration in my lifetime that has been more effective in producing more substantive results.'
Biden, 80, is the oldest person ever elected president, and his age is worrying many voters across the political spectrum. A poll last month reveals 77 percent of Americans including 69 percent of Democrats think Biden is too old for a second term.
He said that Kamala Harris was vital to Biden's success - despite her widespread unpopularity.
Newsom, 55, and Harris, 58, both Californians, are old friends. Newsom was mayor of San Francisco and won two elections as lieutenant governor of California before becoming governor.
Harris was a San Francisco prosecutor who won two local elections for attorney general, before becoming a U.S. senator in 2016.
Some have suggested Biden should ditch Harris, but Newsom said she was 'absolutely' the best person to be his running mate in 2024. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Californian representative, last week would not say, and demurred when asked.
'By definition, if I think this administration in the last two or three years has been one of the most outstanding administrations in the last decades, and she's a member of the administration, she gets to claim credit. 'The answer is yes: absolutely.'
Newsom admitted he 'doesn't love' what he has heard about Hunter Biden benefiting from his father's position, but he attacked Republican efforts to impeach Joe Biden as a 'joke' and like 'student government'.
Kamala Harris will 'absolutely' be Joe Biden's running mate, Newsom said
Gavin Newsom said Biden and Harris would be the Democrat ticket in 2024
CA Governor @GavinNewsom told me in an exclusive interview that House Republicans' impeachment inquiry is like student government - "ready, fire, aim," - but he also said that he doesn't love Hunter Biden parlaying his father's influence in his business dealings. First clip here: pic.twitter.com/9UHNgmy0U3 Dana Bash (@DanaBashCNN) September 18, 2023
Newsom said he did not like Hunter Biden trading off his father's name, but said it was a widespread problem across many sectors of society - and did not merit impeachment
Biden faces an impeachment inquiry launched by Republicans who have been investigating his son Hunter's foreign business dealings in countries including China and Ukraine while his father was vice president.
Newsom said: 'I don't know enough about the details of that. I mean, I've seen a little of that.
'If that's the new criteria, there are a lot of folks in a lot of industries, not just in politics, where people have family members and relationships and they are trying to parlay a little, get a little influence and benefit in that respect, that's hardly unique.
'I don't love that any more than you love it or other people, I imagine, love that. We want to see a lot less of that.'
But he added: 'An impeachment inquiry? Give me a break, This is student government This is a joke. Ready, fire, aim. I mean, this is a perversity with what the Founding Fathers ever conceived of and imagined. So if that's the best they can do, give me a break.'
A potential Newsom 2024 candidacy has become a focus for Democrats worried about Biden's advanced age and anemic poll numbers.
The California governor has raised his profile recently, making appearances in other states, embarking on an official trip to china, and agreeing to debate Republican 2024 candidate Ron DeSantis.
But on running himself in 2024 Newsom said: 'The answer is no. No ambiguity. I'm not that guy. I'm just not.'
He added that Democrats should stop 'navel-gazing about Joe Biden' and 'get going'.
'Let's get on the train. This train has left the proverbial station,' Newsom said.
Bash asked Newsom to comment on Donald Trump's equivocating over abortion rights.
On Sunday, Trump said he did not support six-week bans, and called some of the state policies 'terrible'.
'I would sit down with both sides and I'd negotiate something and we'll end up with peace on that issue for the first time in 52 years,' said Trump.
Gavin Newsom is seen talking to CNN's Dana Bash
Trump accused Democrats of supporting abortion 'up to and after birth'.
Newsom replied: 'What does that mean? After birth? It's made up - it's a political thing. People are not seeking abortion after birth.
'It's not up to Donald Trump or me. It's up to women, who need that. The reality is that it's a political canard: it's BS.'
At present, California allows abortion until 24 weeks. 'It's not our role to make that decision,' added Newsom.
'They don't believe in fundamental choice and freedom for women. I'm not surprised Donald Trump is saying this.'
Newsom said it was 'offensive' to exploit 'terrible pain' when a baby was not viable, and had to be aborted late term.
'No one wants to see late term abortions. In those extremely rare and personal circumstances, one thing I absolutely believe is that Donald Trump shouldn't be making that decision, I shouldn't be making that decision.
'It is for a woman and her doctor.' Kayleigh McEnany, who served as Trump's White House press secretary, condemned Newsom for his remarks.
'Gavin Newsom refuses to say there should be ANY limit on abortion whatsoever,' she wrote on X.
'A baby feeling pain is totally irrelevant in his calculus. It's all a 'political canard.' This is Democrats endorsing abortion until birth.'
A leadership mentor has been left shocked after receiving a vile and racist letter slamming them for supporting the Voice referendum.
Dr Richard Hodge found the letter in the mailbox of his house at Sunbury, in Melbourne's north-west, on Monday.
The letter was filled with a number of vile racial slurs calling Dr Hodge a 'fake c**n' and 'virtue signaller' before levelling several insults at Indigenous Australians.
'What do the A*** do for Australia, besides suck $34billion from the Australian taxpayer every year,' it read.
Dr Hodge was shocked after learning the letter had been sent from Northgate - a suburb in Brisbane that is 1,800km from his house.
A leadership mentor who has a Vote Yes sign on his lawn (pictured) has been targeted with vile racist abuse for showing his support for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Dr Hodge was shocked to realise that the letter (pictured) was posted to his Sunbury, Victoria home from the Brisbane suburb of Northgate, 1,800km away
'So this is an organised campaign,' the former Australian Defence Force scientist told Daily Mail Australia.
'This isn't some upstart who is upset in the neighborhood.'
Dr Hodge believes a disgruntled local told someone in Queensland that he had put up a Vote Yes sign, leading to the distressing letter being sent to his house.
The letter was postmarked September 13 - a week after Dr Hodge put up the sign.
READ MORE: Yes campaign rolls out stunning ad with Indigenous boy The Yes campaign for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament has launched a new ad as part of a $20million TV blitz. Advertisement
He said the letter left him feeling like he had been 'kicked in the guts' and compared it to his feeling years ago when his home was broken into.
'Things were destroyed within the house then, and that empty feeling was the only other time I'd felt like this,' Dr Hodge said.
'But this was in fact, even worse because of the vile nature of the abuse.'
Dr Hodge has contacted the police about the letter, and slammed the message in a fiery Twitter post.
'The behaviour we walk past is the behaviour we accept,' he wrote.
He said the kind of debate that leads to abusive letters being sent to people for their views on a referendum question 'has been brought in from Trump's playbook in America.'
'It catalyzes people to shout all of the vile things and ignore common sense. I'll call out Peter Dutton in particular, he has done nothing but amplify it by continually pouring fuel on the flames.
'This is a symptom of the lack of leadership at the political level,' he said.
With 25 days to go before the referendum on October 14, there is a fear that the hostility between residents with opposing views will worsen.
The Yes campaign is hoping its latest ad campaign featuring a young Indigenous boy asking simple questions will change how people intend to vote, as all recent polling figures say its headed for a big defeat.
Dr Richard Hodge (pictured) tweeted the anonymous letter, which called him a 'Fake c**n', to show the abuse being used in the campaign for the October 14 referendum
Labor-aligned advertising expert Dee Madigan said the ad 'empowers the viewer' and that using a child in a TV ad was 'smart because parents instinctively listen when they hear a child's voice - so it cuts through.'
The end line - 'yes makes it possible' - is 'particularly powerful, she said, before going on to deem it a 'good ad'.
The most recent Resolve Political Monitor survey showed just 43 per cent of voters supported a plan to enshrine the Voice into the Constitution, down 20 percentage points from a year ago.
It remains to be seen if the ad featuring the young boy has the same effect as the one using the John Farnham song You're The Voice - that people like the ad, but it doesn't make them more likely to vote Yes.
For the first time in eight decades, explorers have pictured a Japanese aircraft carrier sunk during World War II's Battle of Midway.
Japan's aircraft carrier Akagi was pictured for the first time since it disappeared under the water in 1942 during the battle that helped during the Pacific campaign in America's favor.
'This expedition is not only rewriting history and our understanding of these special places, but also pushing the limits of what we thought was possible in terms of interdisciplinary collaboration,' said Daniel Wagner, chief scientist for Ocean Exploration Trust.
The trust led the exploration efforts from September 8 to September 12 to photograph the Akagi along with other vessels sunken during the pivotal battle that saw 3,000 Japanese fighters perish.
The group also surveyed in detail the USS Yorktown, which was the lone US carrier sunk during Midway and not found until 25 years ago.
The USS Yorktown, lost during the Battle of Midway, was found three miles below the surface 25 years ago, but has now been photographed in detail for the first time
The battle of Midway took place between June 4 and June 7, 1942 - six months after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Pictured: USS Yorktown photographed after being hit by Japanese bombs just after midday on June 4. This view was taken shortly after the ship lost power. Note the F4F-4 fighters are still spotted forward, their location during the attack
For the first time, deep-sea explorers have given a detailed survey of Japan's aircraft carrier Kaga. The ship was sunk during the Battle of Midway and is now pictured with a gun still in tact
The Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi - before it was sunk during the Battle of Midway
The Battle of Midway began on June 4, 1942, and lasted until the 7th. The naval campaign has gone down in US lore for its ability to flip the momentum in America's favor.
Four Japanese aircraft carriers -including the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu - were sunk along with a heavy cruiser. The Americans lost the carrier Yorktown and the destroyer Hammmann.
The loss of the four carriers by Japan proved difficult to overcome. The Imperial Empire also lost well-trained pilots in the battle. Meanwhile, America's industrial capabilities grew allowing it to replace the losses.
In total, Japan lost more than 3,000 men during the fight. The US lost only 362,
The sunken ships were lost to the sea for years, until deep-sea explorers helped find some of the ships.
The Akagi was found in 2019, but this month's exploration marked the first complete survey of the vessel.
Japanese aircraft carriers - the Soryu and Hiryu - and the cruiser Mikuma are still unaccounted for.
The Battle of Midday occurred some 1,300 miles northwest of Hawaii - and served as a turning point for the Pacific campaign
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga is seen on the open waters of the Pacific
This is one of the very first close-up photographs of a Japanese aircraft carrier since its sinking in 1942. The Japanese Imperial Navy Akagi
The USS Yorktown was discovered three miles below the surface in May 1998 The USS Yorktown was discovered 25 years ago in May 1998 during a joint US Navy and National Geographic Society expedition led by Robert Ballard, the founder of Ocean Exploration Trust, in conjunction with the Navy.
For the most recent exploration, remote-controlled vehicles were utilized to capture images of the shipwrecks with the mission involving more than 100 experts from various countries who 'helped guide the mission and providing valuable real-time interpretations throughout the surveys.'
The expedition team also conducted 'non-invasive visual surveys' of the wrecks during three deployments at depths exceeding 16,700 feet - the deepest remotely operated vehicle dive ever completed by the Exploration Vessel Nautilus.
'On this occasion, we meet on those same Pacific waters in which Japan and the U.S. once met in battle, but this time as allies and fellow researchers,' said Kosei Nomura, Minister, Head of Economic Section, Embassy of Japan.
'We are reminded that todays peace and tomorrows discoveries are built on the sacrifices of war, and so in my view, it is meaningful that Japan and the U.S. are now deepening their cooperation at Midway, utilizing such cutting-edge technology.'
The strong starboard list of USS Yorktown on the seafloor can be seen in the flight deck, also collapsing towards the starboard side at the bow with an anti-aircraft gun tub below
One of the guns from the side of the USS Yorktown is clearly visible in this photo
The USS Yorktown has now been revealed in even greater detail
The team was able to conduct the first detailed surveys of the USS Yorktown
The wreck of the USS Yorktown lies at the bottom of the Pacific but it still appears to be relatively intact
In this June 4, 1942 file photo provided by the U.S. Navy the USS Astoria steams by USS Yorktown shortly after the carrier had been hit by three Japanese bombs in the battle of Midway
A US Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter preparing to launch off USS Yorktown to attack a target in the Japanese-controlled Marshall Islands
'During over 43 hours at depth, we methodically circumnavigated these historic wrecks, bringing to light many features in great detail, including their armament, battle, and sinking-related damage,' said Daniel Wagner, the chief scientist for the Ocean Exploration Trust.
The wrecks were meticulously examined and included looking for damage related to battles they fought and their subsequent and sinking.
'Many anti-aircraft guns were still pointing up, providing clues about the final moments on these iconic ships,' Wagner explained.
Each dive ended with poignant ceremonies paying tribute to those who lost their lives in the Battle of Midway.
Frank Thompson, a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington, D.C., who is onboard the Petrel said: 'We read about the battles, we know what happened. But when you see these wrecks on the bottom of the ocean and everything, you kind of get a feel for what the real price is for war.
'You see the damage these things took, and it's humbling to watch some of the video of these vessels because they're war graves.'
Part of the hull of the Akagi can be seen here
Part of the Kaga can be seen here following a lengthy underwater dive
A metal chain on the top of the Kaga can be seen in this photo
The Japanese carrier Akagi, pictured, was found in 2019 but has only been photographed in detail now
Warplanes are seen gathered on the deck of the Akagi
Although Akagi sustained only one direct hit it proved to be a fatal blow
Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga before her destruction during the Battle of Midway
Aircraft sit ready to go into battle on the deck of the the Japanese carrier Kaga
The loss of Kaga and three other IJN carriers at Midway was a crucial setback for Japan, and contributed significantly to Japan's ultimate defeat
Retired Navy Capt. Jack Crawford, who died in April 2022 at the age of 103, was among the Yorktown's 2,270 survivors.
Japanese dive bombers left the Yorktown badly damaged, with black smoke gushing from its stacks, but the vessel was still upright. Then the torpedoes hit, Crawford recounted in an interview about the battle.
'Bam! Bam! We get two torpedoes, and I know we're in trouble. As soon as the deck edge began to go under, I knew . she wasn't going to last,' said Crawford, whose later military career was with the naval nuclear propulsion program.
The Yorktown sank slowly, and a destroyer was able to pick up Crawford and many others.
'An important part of our mission here at the Naval History and Heritage Command is to locate, interpret, and protect lost U.S. Navy ships and aircraft, particularly those that represent the last resting place of American sailors,' said Samuel Cox, Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, and one of the explorers to photograph the Yorktown during the recent mission.
Researchers scouring the world's oceans for sunken World War II ships have honed in on debris fields deep in the Pacific. Rob Kraft, left, looks at images of the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, off Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Inside the online room where the team is able to view warships underwater
Researchers examine a blueprint for the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga, off Midway Atoll
The Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga is shown in the Pacific Ocean off Midway Atoll
The Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga is shown in the Pacific Ocean off Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
The researchers used an autonomous underwater vehicle, or AUV, equipped with sonar to find the ship
The vehicle collected data from the surface giving explorer a location to send down the sub to examine the wreck in greater detail
An autonomous underwater vehicle which initially helped find the Akagi in 2019
The entire exploration of the Midway ships was streamed live in real-time, giving the public its first chance to see the vessels along with researchers.
The surveys were non-invasive at about 16,600 feet below the surface.
It is illegal to otherwise disturb the underwater US military gravesites, and their exact coordinates are kept secret. The battle was found about 1,000 miles from Hawaii at about the halfway point between Japan and the US.
A scene on the flight deck of USS Yorktown shortly after it was hit by two Japanese aerial torpedoes. Men are balancing themselves on the listing deck as they prepare to abandon ship.
The USS Yorktown is seen listing heavily to port after being struck by Japanese bombers and torpedo planes in the Battle of Midway
Crewmen aboard the USS Yorktown battle fire after the carrier was hit by Japanese bombs. Later the vessel had to be abandoned and was sunk by a Japanese submarine torpedo hit
The Yorktown was damaged heavily by Japanese aircraft June 4, 1942 in the Battle of Midway
An aerial photo of a Japanese carrier maneuvering in a complete circle in an effort to escape in the Midway Islands, Hawaii
The exploration effort involved more than 100 experts from US, Japan and across the globe.
The goal of the exploration was to help document and assess the important site for both America and Japan.
During the battle, American forces broke Japan's naval code and prepare for a counter attack. That allowed the US the upper hand in what became a turning point in the war.
The USS Yorktown under aerial and submarine attack during The Battle Of Midway. The ship was later sunk by a submarine torpedo
Smoke billows from the bridge of the USS Yorktown, damaged by aerial attacks on the second day of the battle on 4 June 1942
The Japanese cruiser Mikuma burning after being bombed by American planes during the battle
The Mikuma is seen listing having suffered a fatal blow
He met soldiers at the Staten Island University Hospital and handed them medals
Volodymyr Zelensky has visited his country's wounded soldiers at the Staten Island University Hospital ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
Zelensky will speak at the annual UN General Assembly for the first time since the war on Ukraine began.
He wasted no time as he went to visit his own wounded soldiers after he arrived in New York, as he shook their hands as he walked into the press conference.
He then proceeded to hand out honorary medals to the soldiers and members of the hospital staff.
Some of the soldiers he visited were bound to wheelchairs, as others had prosthetic limbs. The President even helped one soldier, confined to a wheelchair, get on his feet to pose for a picture together.
Zelensky will speak at the annual UN General Assembly for the first time since the war on Ukraine began
He wasted no time as he went to visit his very own wounded soldiers right after he arrived in New York, as he shook each of the soldiers hands as soon as he walked into the press conference
The President even helped one soldier, confined to a wheelchair, get on his feet to pose for a picture together
Some of the soldiers he visited were bound to wheelchairs, as others had prosthetic limbs
During his visit, President Zelensky told reporters at Staten Island University Hospital: 'For us it's very important that all our words, all our messages will be heard by our partners.'
'And if in the United Nations still... there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me I think, it's a question to all the members of the United Nations,' he added.
He also toured the facility with Michael Dowling, the CEO of Northwell Health, who own the hospital. Dowling said that 18 Ukrainian soldiers have received treatment there since March.
'We have an obligation to help with this situation in Ukraine as much as we possibly can,' said Dowling in live footage from Sky News.
In a large hospital room, the Ukrainian president watched as several soldiers in khaki uniforms practiced walking and lifting weights with newly acquired prosthetic legs and arms.
Nine Ukrainian soldiers are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. The clinic has helped a total of 35 servicemen over the past year, according to hospital staff and the Ukrainian-American NGO Kind Deeds, which supplies prostheses for war amputees.
Kyiv does not disclose war casualty figures, but US officials estimate that the number of dead and wounded Ukrainian soldiers is nearing 500,000, the New York Times reported last month.
According to a post by Zelensky he and his wife Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine, arrived in the US for the UN General Assembly and to visit Washington DC.
In a large hospital room, the Ukrainian president watched as several soldiers in khaki uniform practiced walking and lifting weights with newly acquired prosthetic legs and arms
He also toured the facility that Michael Dowling, the CEO of Northwell Health, who owns the hospital. Dowling said that 18 Ukrainian soldiers have received treatment there since March
Nine Ukrainian soldiers are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. The clinic has helped a total of 35 servicemen over the past year
During his visit, President Zelensky told reporters at Staten Island University Hospital: 'For us it's very important that all our words, all our messages will be heard by our partners.' 'And if in the United Nations still... there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me I think, it's a question to all the members of the United Nations,' he added
He then listed his itinerary of events that he will attend, including the General Assembly, the SDG Summit, the Security Council meeting at the UN, and 'a number of important bilateral talks'.
In Washington DC he will meet with President Joe Biden, leaders of the US Congress' chambers and parties, military leadership, American businesses, journalists, and Ukrainian community members.
He ended his tweet with: 'I will thank the United States on behalf of Ukraine for its assistance in our struggle for independence and freedom.' His text was followed by emojis of the Ukrainian flag and the US flag.
As he left the hospital he said: 'I wish you victory and to come back home.'
The Pentagon is facing urgent questions over how it lost an $80million aircraft that was finally found crashed in a field just 80 miles from its base following a frantic 28-hour search.
The Marine pilot of the F-35B Lightning II took off on Sunday from Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina - but an unexplained issue forced him to eject.
The plane was flying in tandem with another jet, which returned to base after the mishap rather than following the pilot-less aircraft.
The second F-35 pilot, who had also been on the training mission, landed without any problems, base spokesman Tech. Sgt. James Cason said.
The stealth jet's transponder, which usually helps locate the aircraft, was not working 'for some reason that we haven't yet determined,' said Jeremy Huggins, another spokesman at Joint Base Charleston.
It forced the base to issue a humiliating appeal for assistance in finding the jet - even launching a hotline for tips, which was mercilessly mocked online. 'So that's why we put out the public request for help,' said Huggins.
Scorched earth from the crashed fighter jet is seen on Monday in South Carolina
The F-35 went down only around 80 miles from its base, north of Charleston, South Carolina
The jet appeared to crash through trees before catching fire in the field
He said the aircraft's sophistication made it even more complicated to find.
'The aircraft is stealth, so it has different coatings and different designs that make it more difficult than a normal aircraft to detect,' Huggins said.
Meanwhile, it emerged on Monday night the Pentagon in 2019 was concerned the plane could be vulnerable to attack by hackers - which may have sparked panic during the 28-hour search mission.
Marine Corps Commandant Eric Smith issued a two-day stand-down for all aviation units both inside and outside of the United States, which was set to take place at some point this week.
No units will be allowed to fly until they have a two-day discussion about safety measures and procedures, according to an email seen by ABC News.
The plane was finally found on Monday afternoon in a county only 85 miles north of the base, with wreckage of the plane located in a well-tended field.
Aerial footage showed debris in a copse beside the field, where trees had been knocked over. The field had a large area of blackened scorched earth.
It is not known whether locals informed the military of the crash, which did not appear to have happened in a remote region.
A neatly-kept farm appeared to be the focus of Monday's search
The plane crashed in a field only 80 miles from the air base
A helicopter is pictured during the search on Monday for the wreckage
Search and rescue teams are pictured on Monday amid the hunt for the plane
Nancy Mace, a South Carolina representative, said on Monday she had been briefed on the search, but described the incident as extremely embarrassing.
She said there were urgent questions which needed answering as to how one of the world's most sophisticated fighter jets could vanish.
'And guess what: They didn't have any answers,' she told local news station WMBF.
'They don't know if the plane is in the air or under the water. They could not tell me the precise location of where the pilot ejected or where the pilot landed.
'And we're talking about an $80 million jet. How does it just disappear? And how does the Pentagon ask for the public's help in finding it?
'It's just a huge embarrassment.' Several hours later, it was confirmed the plane had been found - but questions remained.
'Personnel from Joint Base Charleston and @MCASBeaufortSC, in close coordination with local authorities, have located a debris field in Williamsburg County,' the base wrote on X.
'The debris was discovered two hours northeast of JB Charleston.
'Members of the community should avoid the area as the recovery team secures the debris field. We are transferring incident command to the USMC this evening, as they begin the recovery process.'
It now emerges that US defense officials raised concerns about safety issues concerning the F-35 as far back as 2019.
A report from the US government's General Accountability Office (GAO) four years ago warned the $80 million aircraft's system 'provided a back door for hackers.'
The jet operates on Lockheed-Martin's Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), which watchdogs said can be infiltrated by malware that spoofs the system to stealthily feed false information, taking perfectly serviceable aircraft out of service.
Meanwhile, a report by a Government watchdog warned that the F-35's weapons systems could be overtaken by 'relatively simple tools and techniques.'
Lockheed Martin was tight-lipped on Monday about the crash, but said in a statement: 'We are aware of the mishap involving an F-35B from Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort and are thankful the pilot ejected safely. We are supporting the government's investigation.'
The military has not shared details about the cause of the incident, but the 2019 report sheds light on the flaws plaguing the Department of Defenses' most expensive weapon system.
POGO, a watchdog, released a report in 2019 showing that nearly every software-enabled weapon system tested between 2012 and 2017 can be hacked - including the F-35.
The agency wrote: 'Despite years of patches and upgrades, the F-35's most combat-crucial computer systems continue to malfunction, including the Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS) maintenance and parts ordering network; and the data links that display, combine, and exchange target and threat information among fighters and intelligence sources.'
'As in previous years, cybersecurity testing shows that many previously confirmed F-35 vulnerabilities have not been fixed, meaning that enemy hackers could potentially shut down the ALIS network, steal secret data from the network and onboard computers, and perhaps prevent the F-35 from flying or from accomplishing its missions.'
Military officials appealed in online posts Sunday for any help from the public in locating the aircraft
A Director, Operational Test and Evaluation report from 2017 showed a 26 percent fully mission capable rate across the entire F-35 fleet.
POGO's Dan Grazier shared: 'The fully integrated nature of all F-35 systems makes cybersecurity more essential than for any other aircraft.'
In the report, he noted that the jet has low 'fully mission capable' rates, which means it is 'rarely ready for combat.'
The Marine Corps Air Station at Beaufort - where the pilot took off from on Sunday - is about 35 miles south west of Charleston.
It is home to several units of 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, including the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 which flies F-35B Lightning IIs.
About 4,700 military personnel serve at the 6,900 acre site which uses a large air-to-air combat area off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, along with an air-to-ground combat and bombing range in Georgia's McIntosh County.
It was home to a heavily-decorated Marine Corps pilot who died last month when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
Major Andrew Mettler was piloting an F/A-18D Hornet when it went down at just before midnight on August 24 near Marine Corps Air Station Miramar.
That crash was the fifth Class-A aviation mishap - meaning damage totaling over $2million or fatality - in the current fiscal year.
It was the first involving a Marine Corps plane, according to Task & Purpose.
Centrelink veteran Jez Heywood has demanded the government stop forcing the unemployed to look for a job while they receive welfare payments.
The president of the Australian Unemployed Workers' Union hit the headlines earlier this year after he was embroiled in an on-air row with 2GB's Ben Fordham when the radio host tried to find him a job.
But on Tuesday, Mr Heywood testified before the House of Representatives select committee into Workforce Australia Employment Services and used it to call for an end to Jobseeker's 'mutual obligations'.
Workforce Australia requires the unemployed to earn up to 100 points each month by applying for jobs, going on courses, turning up for job interviews and keeping appointments.
Anyone failing to hit their target can have their Jobseeker payments axed.
But Mr Heywood said being forced to try to find work was too stressful for the unemployed and it should be stopped immediately.
Centrelink veteran Jez Heywood (pictured) has demanded the government stop forcing the unemployed to look for a job while they receive welfare payments
He admitted having a 'massive' mental breakdown during his decade on the dole and was allowed to skip his mutual obligations for three months at a time on medical advice.
But Mr Heywood said that even that was too stressful to bear.
'I had this massive breakdown, stayed in bed and cried for a week,' he told committee chair and Labor MP Julian Hill.
'I got mutual obligation exemption - medical certificates - but that was anxiety-inducing in itself...
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'Every three months I had to run the risk of some Centrelink person with no medical experience overruling a doctor's medical certificate.'
Centrelink eventually stopped accepting his medical certificates, he said, after they said his condition was permanent and put him back to signing on every fortnight.
'So now it's a two week anxiety cycle of meeting my obligations under the looking for jobs and everything else and then having my fortnightly meetings with them,' he said.
'And you know, it's just, like, unemployment's, like, not-fun enough as it is. We don't need all this other s*** on top of it.'
He said his best time on the dole was when the pandemic hit Australia in 2020 and mutual obligations were put on hold for six months and Jobseeker payments almost doubled.
Mr Heywood was called to testify before the select committee into Workforce Australia Employment Services (pictured) and called for an end to Jobseeker's 'mutual obligations'
He said the Covid package was a 'breath of fresh air for everybody involved'.
'The relief that people felt when they were living above the poverty line finally, and when they didn't have the government breathing down their necks,' he added.
'It made such a difference to people's mental health.'
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He claimed his employment services provider enlisted him on a barista course in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne, 125km from his home near Frankston in Melbourne's south-east.
'That was the only site they offered a barista course,' he told the hearing.
'I went on the internet and found the barista courses nearby that weren't through Matchworks [the associated provider]. They wouldn't do it...just, no. Sorry.'
He said one of the few jobs he had been offered was working the phones for Centrelink.
'I said, sure,' he told the hearing. 'If you don't mind running the risk that I'll become a whistleblower.
'I never heard anything more back from that.'
His comments come after Mr Heywood joined the social media pile-on attacking Rich List business boss Tim Gurner for calling workers arrogant and saying the unemployment rate needed to rise by 40 to 50 per cent.
Heywood posted a photograph of Mr Gurner from a Daily Mail Australia article about the backlash over Mr Gurner's comments, showing him beside a woman in front of an electric blue Porsche 911 Carrera valued at $320,000.
In a troubling call-out to his 3000-plus followers, Mr Heywood posted on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'Pretty distinctive blue Porsche you got there, Tim.
'Can't be many of them driving about Melbourne. Wonder how much a set of tyres are for it?'
Jez Heywood posted a photograph of Mr Gurner from a Daily Mail Australia article showing him posing for a photo with a business associate in front of a Porsche 911 Carrera valued at $320,000
The Porsche features on Ms Reid's highly successful Her Supercar Life Instagram account which has just spun off its own business
But in a fail, Porsche doesn't belong to Mr Gurner - and the woman beside him is not Mr Gurner's wife, Amee Gurner.
The woman pictured is actually Gold Coast mum-of-three Rachael Reid, a former model and racecar driver, who was photographed meeting Mr Gurner for business.
The Porsche belongs to her and the picture features on her Instagram account, Her Supercar Life, which boasts more than 100,000 fans and has now spawned its own business.
A telltale sticker in the back window of the Porsche in the picture would have alerted Mr Heywood - but even after it was pointed out, he continued regardless.
When it was suggested the car might be a rental, he added: 'Ah, damn. Still, there is always the insurance excess.'
But by then, it was too late and his followers were already plotting ways to vandalise the Porsche.
One follower suggesting it should be sprayed with paint-stripping brake fluid, while another said a bottle of coke would have the same effect on the pristine bodywork.
Others warned it could be keyed or scratched, or have all its tyres let down by using a lentil under the valve cap.
One ominously researched the cost of a new Porsche tyre and found it to be $967 a time, while another instructed would-be vandals to only damage three tyres because 'if it's all four, insurance will pay out'.
Other followers tagged in extremist environmental activist group Tyre Extinguishers who target 4x4 SUVs by deflating their tyres to protest against carbon pollution.
One follower though warned Heywood he had gone too far and advised: 'I'd be deleting this post', but his suggestion was ignored.
The family of four who were massacred in their Illinois home along with their three dogs have been pictured for the first time as cops continue to hunt for the killer.
Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, her husband Alberto Rolon - also known as Roberto - and their children Adriel, 10, and Diego, seven, were shot in their family bungalow in Romeoville, a suburb of Chicago, on Sunday.
Romeoville Police Department investigators have ruled out a murder-suicide and warned the murderer is still on the loose.
Their family said they have no idea why anyone would want to kill them, and Zoraida's devastated sister has issued a plea for answers.
Sharing a photograph of the family on Facebook, Bryana Bartolomei said: 'I want to know what happened to my nephews, my sister, her husband, and WHY?
The family of four who were massacred in their Illinois home at the weekend have been pictured for the first time as cops continue to hunt for the killer
Romeoville Police Department investigators have ruled out a murder-suicide and warned the murderer is still on the loose
Zoraida's mother Lydia from Puerto Rico previously told DailyMail.com that they were 'so happy' and had only just bought their $250,000 Romeoville home five months ago
'They were shot and killed in their home.'
The picture shows Zoraida and Alberto beaming with their two sons, one playfully holding a strand of his mother's hair.
A fundraiser created to cover funeral expenses was created on Monday, describing their children as 'the sweetest most innocent angels'.
Friends described them as 'hardworking people that had just bought their first home'.
'Their kids were the sweetest most innocent angels who could hug your worries away,' the fundraiser says.
'In just a few hours their lives, their family's lives completely changed. The world is going to be a much dimmer place without them.'
They pleaded for anyone with information about the gunman to contact police.
Zoraida's mother Lydia from Puerto Rico earlier told DailyMail.com they were 'so happy' and had only bought their $250,000 Romeoville home five months ago.
Zoraida Bartolomei, 32, her husband Alberto Rolon, and their children Adriel, 10, and Diego, seven, were shot by a mystery gunman in their cozy family bungalow on Concord Avenue in the Chicago suburbs on Sunday
Romeoville Police cops found the slain family after they were asked to conduct a welfare check when one of the parents failed to turn up for work at 6am on Sunday and no-one answered their landline
She last spoke with her daughter shortly before her death on the weekend as the family settled down to watch a movie, and she could not understand why they had been targeted.
Romeoville cops found the slain family after they were asked to conduct a welfare check when one of the parents failed to turn up for work at 6am on Sunday.
Officers were confronted by a scene of carnage when they arrived at 8.40pm that evening.
The family appear to have moved to the US in recent years, possibly from Puerto Rico where Zoraida's mother is based.
Zoraida was a licensed cosmetologist, while her husband's age and occupation is unknown.
Romeoville Police Deputy Chief Chris Burne revealed few details at a press conference on Monday citing the 'sensitivity of the case and the need to protect the integrity of the investigation'.
But he was confident that none of the dead were responsible and that the gunman left the scene.
A fundraiser created to cover funeral expenses and to raise awareness for their case was created on Monday, describing their children as 'the sweetest most innocent angels'
'Due to the time that has gone by, more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted, we are not asking anybody shelter in place,' he added.
'We are not actively looking for anyone in the area but we do always ask our residents to have a sense of selfawareness and report anything they might see as suspicious.'
Police believe the killings took place in the Chicago suburb between 9pm on Saturday, September 16, and 5am on Sunday.
Crime scene technicians removed several brown and pink bags along with part of a window from the three-bedroom home as the investigation got underway yesterday.
The Met Office has issued fresh weather warnings this morning with more torrential downpours and flooding expected across Britain, with commuters facing travel chaos.
The forecaster issued a yellow warning for today and Wednesday, after more than a month's worth of rain fell within 24 hours on Sunday - bringing the country's record breaking heatwave to an end.
A map showed that heavy downpours will affect Wales and the North of England with 150-200mm of rain expected to fall over the course of 36 hours in some areas.
The warning has been place from 6am this morning and will remain until 6pm tomorrow evening. The forecaster said: 'Outbreaks of rain, heavy at times, will affect many parts of the UK on Tuesday and Wednesday. The heaviest and most persistent rainfall during this period is expected to affect the high ground of northwest England, northwest Wales and south Wales.'
Chief Forecaster Steve Willington said: 'The weekend's severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, and their associated impacts, have marked a transition between the heat of last week and the more Atlantic-dominated weather in the forecast for the coming week.'
Maps from the Met Office show torrential rain is set to hit part of the country with yellow weather warnings remaining in place for some
Temperatures will remain mild up and down the country ranging from 11C to 19C further south
MANCHESTER: A woman braced torrential downpours this morning and battled with strong winds in Manchester city centre
BRIGHTON: Huge waves bashed against Brighton Marina this morning as strong winds and rain continue to batter parts of Britain
DORSET: Storms raged on Chesil Beach in Portland this morning, creating huge waves
CAMBRIDGE: Torrential downpours yesterdays brought the end to the long heatwave, seeing people getting soaked
NEWHAVEN: Coastal gales are expected in some parts of the country today as a yellow weather warning remains in place
In the north west coastal gales are expected, with some gusts being as strong as 40-45mph at times
The forecaster warned of heavy downpours in Wales and the North of England with travel disruption and flooding expected
While bright spells are expected in some parts of the south others are at risk of strong coastal gales, with some gusts being up to 40-45mph.
Across the country, 11 flood alerts have been put in place by the Environment Agency, including parts of the Humber estuary, River Severn and River Mease.
Later in the week, heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected in places during Thursday and Friday, the Met Office has said.
Deputy Chief Forecaster David Oliver said: 'Although the forecast contains the potential for further thundery showers later in the week, these are not expected to be of the magnitude of those seen over the weekend, but some localised impacts should be expected.'
Over the weekend, Britons can expect to see a mixture of sunny spells and showery downpours, with temperatures remaining cool.
Britain's mini heatwave came come crashing to a close as thunderstorms and torrential downpours swept in on the tail end of an Atlantic storm.
Britain is being hit by the remnants of Hurricane Lee, which pounded north-eastern US and Canada with 70mph winds at the weekend.
After temperatures hit 28C (82F) in central London on Saturday, forecasters say we have now seen the 'last breath' of summer and are facing a fortnight of topsy-turvy weather.
Shocking footage shows a house (pictured) in Corfe Fullen, Dorset, being struck by lightning in the early hours of this morning before the property becomes engulfed in flames
There was 'a loud explosion' and a flash of white light as the 400,000 home suffered a direct hit to the tiled roof
Yesterday a huge clean up operation was underway after monsoon-like conditions hit parts of the South West on Sunday causing flash flooding.
It saw Exeter Airport forced to close its doors - with all flights cancelled - while landslips elsewhere closed roads, including the M5.
Butlin's holiday park was forced to shut for four days after heavy rainfall caused severe damage when it poured through the ceiling and left rooms under water.
The venue, which can accommodate 7,500 people on its 165-acre site, will remain closed until Friday when repairs can be done.
A Butlin's spokesperson said: 'We've taken the difficult decision to close due to several important venues being impacted by the weather.'
Shocking footage showed one house in Corfe Fullen, Dorset, being struck by lightning in the early hours of this morning before the property becomes engulfed in flames. There was 'a loud explosion' and a flash of white light as the 400,000 home suffered a direct hit to the tiled roof.
Thirty firefighters rushed to the residential area in Corfe Mullen, near Poole, Dorset, at 12.10am today to tackle the blaze which spread to an adjoining home.
The lone female occupants of the two properties, one a young woman and the other middle aged, were awoken by the strike during last night's thunderstorms.
Six crews battled for two-and-a-half hours to put out the inferno. They remained at the scene for another three hours as a precaution.
Neighbour Warren Windebank, 47, a graphic designer, said: 'I saw the roof was on fire and did not know if anyone was inside.
'The door was open so I looked inside but tiles started to fall off the roof and it looked like it was about to collapse so I got out of there.'
Another neighbour said: 'I was in my lounge and heard a massive explosion sound, which caused me to panic.
'I rushed outside but there was no sign of a fire, so I went back in my flat. But five minutes later I saw black smoke so I looked out of the window and saw the house on fire.
'I went outside and saw the front door to the home was open so I shouted 'is anyone in there', and a woman said she had come out.'
A wedding has gone from delight to disaster when over half the 300 guests were affected by a suspected gastro outbreak.
Family and friends were celebrating at The Park Melbourne on September 16 when they began to fall violently ill.
Witnesses said a flower girl was one of the first to get sick.
In the days that followed, a procession of guests who attended, from toddlers to the elderly, began to suffer from vomiting, high fevers and in some cases, hallucinations.
One estimate said 'at least 30' people got sick while another source claimed half the guests became unwell.
Bahaa Harb, The Park and River's Edge venue manager, told Daily Mail Australia it was investigating the cause of the 'reported outbreak'.
Family and friends were celebrating at the Albert Park Wedding Reception & Ceremony venue at The Park Melbourne on September 16 when they began to fall violently ill
In the days that followed, a procession of guests who attended, from toddlers to the elderly, began to suffer from vomiting, high fevers and in some cases, hallucinations
'We are working closely with event guests and with council to determine the cause of the outbreak,' Mr Harb said.
It is understood children at the wedding ate hamburgers, while adult guests were served chicken and pork.
Mr Harb said Port Phillip Council approved a 'precautionary deep clean' at the venue.
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Victoria's Department of Health also confirmed it was involved in investigating the outbreak.
'The department is aware of a gastroenteritis outbreak involving guests who attended an Albert Park reception centre on Saturday,' it said in a statement.
'Were working with Port Phillip Council to investigate the source of the outbreak and to ensure all appropriate infection prevention and control measures are in place.'
A handful of guests are understood to have become so distressed they were taken to the Sunshine and Royal Melbourne hospitals.
Two were released from hospital on Tuesday.
The Department of Health said the incident was not linked to the ongoing cluster of listeria cases in the state.
Contaminated food is believed to be the source of a listeria outbreak at up to three Queensland hospitals.
Cases were also reported in Victoria and NSW.
Vandals were out in force once again yesterday, with one camera being covered in expanding foam while elsewhere a man held a anti-ULEZ sign on top of ladder trying to block a camera's view.
It comes weeks after Sadiq Khan expanded his controversial policy to cover the whole of London - clobbering thousands more drivers with a 12.50 charge.
The protester scaled the ladder blocking the camera that sat on top of a Transport for London van on Rainham Road in east London, trying to stop cars to pass and avoid the ULEZ charge.
Locals rallied around the man, with one writing on Facebook: 'Let's hear it for the lad sitting on the ladders blocking the Ulez camera on Rainham Road. This made my morning power to the people.'
Elsewhere in Ickenham, in the borough of Hillingdon, vigilante vandals sprayed foam used for sealing cracks and insulating lofts over two cameras, blocking it from catching drivers out.
In Hillingdon, protesters covered a camera with expanding foam in a protest to the expansion of Sadiq Khan's unpopular Ulez charge
One protester scaled the ladder blocking the camera that sat on top of a Transport for London van on Rainham Road in east London , trying to stop cars to pass and avoid the ULEZ charge.
In Ickenham, in the borough of Hillingdon, vigilante vandals sprayed foam used for sealing cracks and insulating lofts over two cameras, blocking it from catching drivers out
Local resistance against the unpopular policy, that hopes to improve air quality and reduce pollution in the capital, has been growing since the expansion was announced.
Some online have supported the most recent vandalism. One person wrote: 'These people deserve to be on the news for their good work well done. FAB-U-LOUS!'
Someone else on the group chimed in saying 'Quality effort from a quality guy! Thank you.'
Another lamented that they weren't able to do this themselves: 'I wish I had the time to do this also.' In one comment he was hailed as a hero with the writer saying: 'Not all heroes wear capes.'
On one occasion, a camera appeared to be targeted by an arsonists, with a photo shared online appearing to show the black box filled with what appeared to be powder from an extinguisher.
Meanwhile, other cameras have been wrapped up in orange tape or covered in cardboard boxes, with the words 'NO ULEZ' scrawled over it.
In one part of southeast London, nine out of ten of the Ulez cameras have been vandalised according to crowd-sourced data. Only 29 of the 185 cameras that have been installed in Sydenham are working.
The expansion of the ULEZ has received opposition from campaigners who have claimed the 12.50 charge is a tax on the poor and working class who cannot afford to pay the charge or replace their older cars.
Last week, a group of supercar protesters took the streets of central London to challenge the London's mayor's expanded scheme
One social media post showed a van being towed away on a recovery truck
Anti-Ulez campaigners have turned their fire on mobile camera vans trying to enforce the rules, by letting down the tyres and
Last week, a group of supercar protesters took the streets of central London to challenge the London's mayor's expanded scheme.
The motorcade was led by Petrolheadonism Club founder Ciro Ciampi from Milton Keynes who brought modified, classic vehicles and supercars to parade along Whitehall.
The long line of cars passed from Regents Park to Downing Street in a bid show the perceived hypocrisy that some of their 'supercharged monster' cars do not have to pay the charge.
The event - one of many Ulez protests in the capital in recent months - was filmed by motoring journalist Shahzad Sheikh, who calls himself the 'Brown Car Guy'.
Mr Ciampi told Mr Sheikh: 'We've got to celebrate this moment. For people that are here protesting, wow, amazing, because they've been affected big time because they live within the M25. It's just absolutely stupid that it's been extended.
'I've got a big event in Wembley, it's going to affect my event next year. For me I've got a couple of cars that are not Ulez complaint and I've got to pay 12.50 if I come into London for my meetings and stuff like that.
'But then I've got a V12 in the garage or my mate's got this eight-litre V8 supercharged monster that is Ulez free. It's not about clean air.
The Ulez zone expanded to include all of Greater London at the end of last month
Anti-Ulez campaigners, known as the Blade Runners, claim to have disconnected or destroyed at least 500 of the 2,700 static cameras
A string of anti-Ulez protests to have taken place in the capital over the last few months. Pictured: People protest against Ulez in Tooting, London, last month
'It's absolutely somebody being a narcissist, jumped up, bloody-minded egotistical, arrogant mayor that just won't listen to anybody.'
Mr Stephens, whose car is Ulez compliant, said: 'It is saying 'you are OK to drive your polluting car if you give me 12.50'.
'It is all about money, otherwise they would ban petrol and polluting cars.'
There has also been an increase in the so-called ULEZ 'blade runners' with images posted on social media showing some of the TfL vans, with cameras in place, being covered in graffiti.
On other occasions, tyres have been deflated or the vehicle's cameras have been covered in bags.
Meanwhile, more than 4,000 people on Facebook have joined a group which encourages people to report sightings of vans.
Out of 2,700 cameras appeared to be marked as out of action, missing or damaged, according to a map generated by Facebook group 'Ulez Camera Locations'.
A TfL spokesperson said: 'Vandalism is unacceptable and all incidents on our network are reported to the police for investigation.
'Criminal damage to ULEZ cameras or vehicles puts the perpetrators at risk of prosecution and injury, while simultaneously risking the safety of the public. Camera vandalism will not stop the ULEZ operating London-wide. All vandalised cameras are repaired or replaced as soon as possible.
'We have an extensive camera network which is sufficient to support the effective operation of the scheme.
'Anyone driving a non-compliant vehicle within the expanded zone will be detected and we advise everyone to check whether their vehicle is compliant and to consider the various support that is available to help transition to greener modes of transport.'
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said: 'People are of course entitled to show their opposition to policies peacefully and lawfully.
'But causing criminal damage is never acceptable.
'All incidents of ULEZ camera vandalism are reported to the police for investigation, arrests have been made and the Met and TfL are using new methods to catch those responsible.'
A woman studying at an Australian university has died after she was allegedly murdered by her husband in Singapore.
Sewwandi Diyawinnage, 32, was on a holiday with her partner Eshan Tharaka Koottage when she was allegedly stabbed to death on September 9.
An argument is understood to have erupted between the pair before Mr Koottage allegedly knifed her.
He handed himself into police before officers discovered his wife's lifeless body next to a blood-stained knife at the Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong.
Ms Diyawinnage was studying chemical science at La Trobe University, in Melbourne, and reunited with her husband during a quick getaway in Singapore.
She had told friends she was excited to see him again after living away from him for more than a year.
A woman studying at an Australian university has died after she was allegedly murdered by her husband in Singapore
Mr Koottage was charged with murder with the offence carrying the death penalty.
Ms Diyawinnage's classmate Elizabeth Campher said Ms Diyawinnage hadn't seen her husband in more than a year.
'He was working in Sri Lanka while she was studying here,' she said.
'It was their first time seeing each other in more than a year so she was really excited to go on a holiday with him.'
Ms Diyawinnage was described as 'warm and genuine'.
'She was a friend to many and always had kind words and a smile to give,' Ms Campher said.
'It didn't matter who it was, she would always ask everyone how they were going, she always had a genuine personal interest in people.'
'She got the best marks and was happy to help people with hard chemistry questions.
'She really had a lot of potential, it's just devastating.'
La Trobe University held a memorial for Ms Diyawinnage on Monday.
'We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of one of our students, Sewwandi Diyawinnage, while she was on holiday in Singapore,' a spokesman said.
'Our thoughts and condolences are with her family and we have been in regular contact with them, as well as with her student peers and colleagues at La Trobe.
'The university has been providing wellbeing support and other assistance as her family and friends grieve.'
The Ford Ranger is set to become Australia's first ute available as a hybrid from early 2025 - as carmakers scramble to offer more environmentally-friendly workhorses.
This is the biggest shake-up in the diesel-dominated ute market in decades, with Ford getting in early with an announcement before Elon Musk's Tesla company launches its fully-electric Cybertruck.
Ford will offer customers, including its big following of tradies, a plug-in, petrol-electric hybrid version of the Ranger ute from early 2025, making it the first top-selling ute available with something other than a fully diesel or petrol engine.
While Toyota offers hybrid versions of its RAV4, Corolla and Camry, it is yet to do so on the HiLux ute, Australia's perennial bestseller, but that could change next year - putting extra pressure on Ford.
China's GWM is exploring importing into Australia a hybrid version of its Shanhai Cannon ute as early as 2024, which means Ford is facing extra competition to be first with a hybrid ute.
The Chinese LDV eT60 last year became the first fully-electric ute available in Australia but its $92,990 price tag makes it even dearer the much fancier $86,790 Ford Ranger Raptor with a special suspension.
The all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning pick-up truck isn't coming to Australia, because demand is outpacing supply in the U.S., but Ford is offering the next best thing with the Ranger.
The Ford Ranger will become Australia's first ute available as a hybrid from early next year
Ford will offer customers a plug-in hybrid version of the Ranger ute from early 2025, making it the first ute in Australia to be available with something other than a diesel or petrol engine
Andrew Birkic, the president and chief executive of Ford Australia and New Zealand, said the plug-in hybrid version of the Australian-designed Ranger would give motorists performance and zero tailpipe emissions.
'The Ranger Plug-in Hybrid is a best-of-both-worlds solution for work, play, and family offering customers zero-tailpipe emissions EV driving for short trips, or hybrid performance that delivers incredible on- and off-road performance,' he said
Ranger Plug-in Hybrid will deliver more torque than any other Ranger, thanks to a 2.3-litre Ford EcoBoost turbo petrol engine paired with an electric motor and rechargeable battery system.
It can be driven in pure electric mode for more than 45km without using a drop of fuel or producing tailpipe emissions, helping customers save at the pump.
The targeted maximum braked towing capacity of the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid is 3.5 tonnes the same as the rest of the Ranger line-up.
The Ranger Hybrid's 'Pro-Power On-board' technology will also enable tradies to power work sites and camping equipment from their ute's electric battery
Plug-in hybrid cars have been more common among SUVs, with Mitsubishi offering an Outlander PHEV and MG selling an HS '+EV'.
The Thai-built Ranger was Australia's second most popular car in August, behind the Toyota HiLux, with 5,762 sales or just two more than the Ford's 5,760 tally.
But the Ranger was No. 1 in July for the fourth time in 2023.
The targeted maximum braked towing capacity of the Ranger Plug-In Hybrid is 3,500 kg the same as the rest of the Ranger line-up.
This is the biggest shake-up in the diesel-dominated ute market in decades, with Ford getting in with an announcement before Elon Musk 's Tesla company launches its fully-electric Cybertruck
While the Ranger would be the first hybrid ute, in August hybrids made up 10.5 per cent of vehicle sales, compared with 6.4 per cent for fully-electric cars, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries data showed.
This year is the 90th anniversary of Ford Australia inventing the ute after Louis 'Lewis' Bandt designed the Ford 'coupe utility' in Geelong.
Bandt in 1933 famously conceptualised a car with a tray at the back, after a woman from Gippsland wrote to Ford Australia asking for a comfortable passenger car which her farmer husband could drive to church on Sunday and carry pigs to market on Monday.
'My husband and I can't afford a car and a truck but we need a car to go to church on Sunday and a truck to take the pigs to market on Monday. Can you help?'
During the Great Depression, farmers could only afford one car.
The managing director of the Ford Motor Company of Australia, Hubert French, passed that handwritten letter on to Lewis Bandt, then a 23-year old design engineer.
His solution is now regarded as one of Australia's great inventions alongside the Victa lawnmower, Hills Hoist clothesline and WiFi, with utes almost without fail the top selling cars every month.
This year is the 90th anniversary of Ford Australia inventing the ute after Louis 'Lewis' Bandt designed the Ford 'coupe utility' in Geelong
Lewis Bandt, who died in 1987, was also the great uncle of Greens leader Adam Bandt, who wants to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030.
This is even more ambitious than the European Union's plan to ban petrol and diesel cars by 2035.
Adam Bandt last year also pushed for government fleets to buy fully-electric cars instead of hybrid petrol-electric cars.
On the top ten list of Australian bestsellers in August, only the Tesla Model Y in eighth place was fully electric, with the MG ZS available as an EV in fifth place.
The Toyota RAV4 was third, the Corolla was seventh and the Mitsubishi Outlander was tenth, being the only bestsellers available as a hybrid until the new Ford Ranger model arrives in 2025.
A Danish court yesterday ordered an artist to refund a museum which gave him 70,000 euros in cash for art - only for him to deliver blank canvasses.
Jens Haaning was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum in the western city of Aalborg to reproduce two works using the cash - Danish kroner and euros - to represent the annual salary in Denmark and Austria.
But Haaning simply returned empty canvasses to the museum and said his work was entitled 'Take the Money and Run'.
Museum director Lasse Andersson previously said he laughed out loud when he first saw the two blank canvasses in 2021, and decided to show the works anyway.
He said they have a 'humoristic approach' and were 'a reflection on how we value work', but confirmed the museum would take Haaning to court if he didn't pay back the money, which he refused to do.
A Copenhagen court on Monday ordered the artist, 58, to refund the museum equivalent to the sum it had given him minus the artist's fee and the mounting cost.
But in an interview with TV2 Nord television on Monday, Haaning said the museum had made 'much, much more' money than what it invested thanks to the publicity surrounding the affair.
'It has been good for my work, but it also puts me in an unmanageable situation where I don't really know what to do,' he added.
The museum thought the artist planned to include the bank notes in an installation they had commissioned him to create. But when the artwork was revealed for the first time, museum staff were horrified to find nothing but a big, empty frame
The museum nonetheless decided to display the empty frames, admitting that Haaning had created an 'interesting artwork', but ultimately a Danish court ordered the artist to return the money
Jens Haaning, a 58-year-old artist living in Copenhagen, was given 534,000 kroner in cash by the Kunsten Museum in Aalborg for use as part of an artwork, but he instead sent the museum empty frames and took the cash
The museum initially thought the artist planned to include the bank notes they provided him in an installation they had commissioned him to create.
But when the artwork was revealed for the first time, museum staff were horrified to find nothing but a big, empty frame.
Speaking shortly after the canvasses were revealed for the first time, Haaning said: 'It's not theft. It is a breach of contract, and breach of contract is part of the work,' he said.
'The work is that I have taken their money.'
Haaning, who was born in Hoersholm in 1965, gained popularity in the 1990s for his art which focuses on power structures and differences between social groups, and had previously created artwork in which he used banknotes to represent workers' annual salaries.
The museum expected Haaning to use the money it lent him to recreate his previous artwork by arranging the bank notes into two picture frames, which would visualise the average annual income of a person in Denmark and Austria and form part of the 'Work It Out' exhibit.
Running from Sept. 28 to Jan. 16, the exhibit features new and existing works from about 20 artists and occupies the majority of the museum.
But just as the installation was set to open for the first time, the museum received an email from Haaning who confirmed he had taken the money and would not pay it back.
'Subsequently, we could ascertain that the money had not been put into the work,' a museum spokesperson said.
The Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aarlborg, northern Denmark, plays host to Haaning's artwork as part of the installation 'Work it Out'
Take the Money and Run' by Danish artist Jens Haaning, on display at the museum Kunsten in Aalborg, Sweden, 28 September 2021. The frame should have been filled with around 550.000 Danish kroner in cash, which is supposed to match the average annual salary in Austria and Denmark
In 2021, Kunsten director Lasse Andersen told DR that he agreed Haaning had created an interesting artwork and that the museum would continue to display the empty frames, but would take legal action if the artist did not return the money by the contracted date of January 16, 2022.
'I would agree with Jens that a work in its own right has been created, which actually comments on the exhibition we have. But that's not the agreement we had,' he said.
'Right now we wait and see. If the money is not returned on January 16 as agreed, we will of course take the necessary steps to ensure that Jens Haaning complies with his contract.'
Andersen claimed the artist's contract with the museum included a display fee for his work of around 1,340, but that the museum would cover any expenses up to 6,000.
For his part, Haaning said that he took the money in response to his poor working conditions, alleging that the museum's paltry pay meant he would've had to sacrifice are 2,850 of his own money to complete the installation.
'[Returning the money] is not going to happen. The work is that I have taken their money,' he told Danish broadcaster DR.
'I encourage other people who have working conditions as miserable as mine to do the same.
'If they're sitting in some sh***y job and not getting paid, and are actually being asked to pay money to go to work, then grab what you can and beat it,' he said.
China has been accused of trying to spy on a civil servant by hiding a listening device in a teapot.
The pot was given as a gift to a worker at the British embassy in Beijing and was only found to have a bug in it when the teapot smashed.
An insider told The Sun: 'They were given a tea set as a parting gift by their hosts.
'They thought this was very lovely and took the tea set home with them to Britain.
'Whenever they were having a Chinese meal they would get this tea set out and use it. One day, they were doing the washing up and accidentally knocked the teapot over and it smashed on the floor.'
China has been accused of trying to spy on a civil servant by hiding a listening device in a teapot (File image)
The bug is not believed to have collected any private information. Pictured: Chinese President Xi Jinping
The source explained that when they bent over to pick up the broken pieces of the pot they discovered a recording device was hidden inside.
The bug is not believed to have collected any private information, The Times reported.
The news of this spy device comes just a week after a Chinese spy was revealed to be working in Westminster.
The man, in his 20s, was arrested under the Official Secrets Act after he allegedly passed top secret documents to China.
The arrest was disclosed last week but he was detained in March this year.
Now fresh fears have been raised over Parliament's security following claims of the alleged 'Chinese spy' who was able to access the Palace of Westminster for months without being vetted.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently read the riot act to his Chinese counterpart over 'unacceptable' interference by Beijing in British democracy.
Poll Would YOU pay for Twitter (X) if it stopped being free? Yes No Depends how much it cost Would YOU pay for Twitter (X) if it stopped being free? Yes 42 votes
No 329 votes
Depends how much it cost 26 votes Now share your opinion
Elon Musk has said he will charge people to use X because it is the 'only way to protect against bot accounts'.
The billionaire owner of the platform - formerly known as Twitter - says users will face a 'small monthly payment'.
However, experts have warned that the change could be the 'final push' for some users to delete the app.
Speaking to MailOnline, Jake Moore, a cybersecurity expert at ESET, said: 'Bots have been an issue on the platform since the beginning but when Musk laid off mass numbers of employees including security staff, the issue rose to rather uncontrollable lengths.
'Requesting payment from all users could potentially mitigate this problem but he could have a bigger problem in his hands with a mass exodus of users.
'With many similar alternatives already set up such as Threads and Mastadon, this could be the final push for some users to crossover to the competition.'
The billionaire owner of the platform - formerly known as X - says users will face a 'small monthly payment'
Elon Musk (left) revealed his plans to charge users during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu (right)
Ben Foster, CEO at Sheffield-based digital marketing agency, The SEO Works, was also scathing of the plan.
'If a pure subscription really is the only feasible model moving forward, this could sound the death knell for X,' he said.
'Most people will not be prepared to pay for something they can get elsewhere for free. Without people and debate, the platform loses its impact.
'Even with the change of name, the brand is toxic for some advertisers, and with a massively reduced audience it will be even less appealing.'
Musk revealed his plans to charge users during a livestreamed conversation with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
'I'd say the single most important reason we're moving towards having a small monthly payment for use of the X system is that it's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,' Musk said.
'A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something... you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.
'Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we're actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing. We want it to be a small amount of money.
'It's a longer discussion, but in my view this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it's getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans.'
While further details on the charge remain unclear, several furious users have taken to the platform following the news.
'Would be a great excuse to give up using Twitter for good,' one user wrote.
While further details on the charge remain unclear, several furious users have taken to the platform following the news
Another added: 'More power to whoever is ok paying for Twitter. But for me, the day Twitter becomes a pay only service is the day I move on.'
And one vented: 'And I'm out. Along with millions of others.'
The meeting between Musk and Netanyahu in Silicon Valley, California, also saw the Tesla owner refuse to discuss the issue of anti-Semitism on X when Netanyahu broached the subject.
It comes amid escalating tensions between Musk and the Anti-Defamation League, which has accused him of being anti-Semitic, and mass protests in Israel over judicial reforms.
But Musk swerved the topic of anti-Semitism other than saying he is 'obviously against' it, and spoke more generally about 'hate speech' instead.
Netanyahu previously came to Musk's defense when he was accused of repeating discriminatory tropes about Jewish financier George Soros, and he introduced the subject by reiterating his belief that the Tesla boss does not have anti-Jewish views.
'I know of your opposition to anti-Semitism,' the 73-year-old Israeli leader told Musk during their X discussion.
A huge crowd of protesters gathered in San Francisco's Union Square close to where Musk and Netanyahu were meeting on Monday to demonstrate their opposition to his domestic reforms
'All I can say is I hope you can find within the confines of the First Amendment the ability to stop not only antisemitism or roll it back as best you can, but any collective hatred of a people that anti-Semitism represents.'
'Obviously I'm against anti-Semitism,' Musk replied. 'I'm anti really anything that promotes hate and conflict, and I'm in favor that which helps society and takes us to a better future for humanity collectively.'
But the SpaceX boss didn't elaborate or defend his controversial statements about Soros, including comparing him to X-Men supervillain Magneto - a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge rather than humans.
Speaking about hate speech generally on X, he said: 'It's important to bear in mind that there are 550 million monthly users, now maybe going to 600 million monthly users.
'On any given day there's on the order of 100 to 200 million posts to the system. This is a lot of material. Some of those are going to be bad.
'You can't police it in advance, but you can say after the fact 'oh it's getting reported as hate speech'.
'We're not going to promote speech because that's probably not what people want to hear.'
Netanyahu (pictured) has previously come to Musk's defense after he was accused of repeating discriminatory tropes about Jewish financier George Soros, despite an outcry in Israel
The SpaceX founder's anti-Semitism woes began when he compared Soros, 92, to X-Men supervillain Magneto - a character who manipulates the world and thinks mutants should be in charge rather than humans
Netanyahu is embroiled in his own domestic controversy over his move to radically revamp the country's judicial system, which opponents say will push the country toward authoritarian rule.
The Israeli PM wants to curtail the authority of the Supreme Court and give politicians greater powers over the selection of judges.
A huge crowd of protesters gathered in San Francisco's Union Square close to where Musk and Netanyahu were meeting on Monday to demonstrate their opposition to his reforms - and to Musk giving him a platform.
Musk asked Netanyahu about his reforms during their X conversation, admitting he 'got the most negative pushback from people at Tesla about this interview that anything else I've ever done'.
Netanyahu dismissed activists who were against his reforms, claiming 'many of them don't know what they're protesting about' adding that 'there's a concerted effort to make sure they don't know'.
Netanyahu is also embroiled in his own domestic controversy over his move to radically revamp the country's judicial system, which opponents say will push the country toward authoritarian rule
Musk asked Netanyahu about his reforms during their X conversation, admitting he 'got the most negative pushback from people at Tesla about this interview that anything else I've ever done' as people protested the policies in Union Square, SF (pictured)
Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Tel Aviv in June to stand against Netanyahu and his nationalist coalition government's judicial overhaul
'The way you rule and the way you balance democracy, majority rule and individual rights, is a balance between the three branches of government,' he said.
'In Israel that balance 30 years ago began to change. And we have the most activist judicial court on the planet... so it steadily arrogated to itself the powers of the executive and the legislature where it basically decides.
'Democracy is supposed to be checks and balances of the three branches on each other.
'In Israel the judiciary has no checks and no balances, it just has power, and so there is a request to try to bring it back into line, and that has been sort of boiling all the time.'
Demand for the drug jumped up 63 per cent in the weeks following the invasion
Last batch went on sale in June amid sanctions, supplies are almost exhausted
Russians are getting more depressed about the crisis triggered by Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine - but have run out of Prozac to treat the condition.
The drug is available in only four out of 2,400 pharmacies and outlets in Moscow, and two out of 1,300 in St Petersburg.
Sanctions mean the last Prozac batch went on sale in June and supplies are almost exhausted, said a report by news outlet RBC.
Russians have relied on the drug since 1991 - the end of the Soviet era - but its sales grew a record amount in 2022 when Vladimir Putin declared his illegal war on Ukraine.
Demand for the drug jumped up 63 per cent in the weeks following the invasion.
'Experts attribute the increase in sales of antidepressants in general to the anxiety of Russians due to the news and economic background, the special military operation in Ukraine and the consequences of sanctions,' said the RBC report.
Families have been put under deep strain by Putin's forced mobilisation of tens of thousands of Russian men to the war, while huge numbers have returned from the conflict maimed or dead.
Sanctions mean the last Prozac batch went on sale in June and supplies are almost exhausted, said a report by news outlet RBC. The website reads 'not in stock'
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 18 September 2023
Families have been put under deep strain by Putin's forced mobilisation of tens of thousands of Russian men to the war, while huge numbers have returned from the conflict maimed or dead
Putin's health ministry has approved around a dozen alternative anti-depression medicines containing fluoxetine.
The ministry claimed there was 'no shortage' of other drugs despite the absence of Prozac.
Russians also face increasing shortages of top Western goods due to sanctions and self-imposed curbs on sales.
US company Eli Lilly, which produces Prozac, announced it was leaving the Russian market in March amid Putin's ongoing military operation.
Russia is also suffering a shortage of cardiovascular drugs as Western companies limit supplies.
Medicines to treat drugs for viral hepatitis C have vanished from the Russian market due to Putin's aggression, as have medicines for epilepsy.
'Only 30 per cent of people with HIV in Russia will be able to receive antiretroviral therapy with the money remaining in the 2023 budget,' reported Verstka.
Pro-war commentators hit back at Russians relying on anti-depressants.
'Let them go to the special military operation, the depression will disappear there,' said one comment.
'Drink vodka,' said another, as a man named Andrei urged depressed Russians to rely on 'sex, vodka and meat'.
Ski enthusiasts were seen lining up for dismal patches of snow ahead of a double-whammy hot weather warning from the Bureau of Meteorology.
Desperate Aussies trying to enjoy the last of the year's cold weather headed for the slopes at Mount Perisher on Tuesday.
However, they were greeted with little-to-no snow with photos showing disappointed skiers queueing to glide down the smallest patches of ice.
Meanwhile, other parts of Australia are sweltering through searing September heat and dangerous fire conditions with meteorologists warning the worst is yet to come.
The Bureau of Meteorology has formally declared both an El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean, to Australia's east, and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), to the country's west.
Skiers headed to the slopes at Mount Perisher (above) to enjoy the last of this winter's snow
El Nino events typically deliver drier conditions for much of the country, particularly eastern Australia, as well as above-average temperatures.
A positive IOD often results in less rainfall than average over parts of Australia.
When the two patterns coincide, it can magnify the drying effects.
'Both these climate drivers have a significant influence on the Australian climate, in particular favouring warmer and drier conditions, particularly over spring, but also into early summer,' bureau manager of climate services Karl Braganza said on Tuesday.
'Those conditions are accompanied by an increase in fire danger and extreme heat risk.
'It's really up to individuals and communities now to prepare for a summer of heat and fire hazards.'
Dr Braganza said the hot conditions are not as bad as they were leading into the catastrophic fires of Australia's Black Summer, but he also warned things are rapidly drying out after three consecutive years of wet conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology has formally declared an El Nino event which will drive hot and dry weather
'Leading into Black Summer in 2019 ... we had years of preceding drought,'' he said.
'We do have a wetter landscape out there, [but] it is drying out more rapidly than has occurred in recent years.
'We are already seeing extreme conditions in some parts of the continent, particularly in the duration of heat, so we've had an extended period of warm and dry weather to start spring.
'Today, we've had catastrophic fire conditions on the south coast of NSW, just to underscore that risk.'
Dr Braganza said Victoria, in particular, tended to dry out under a positive IOD influence in spring.
'That tends to really have an influence on Victoria's rainfall,' he said.
'Coupled with El Nino, we'd expect to see conditions, probably out to mid-summer for Victoria, looking warm and dry.
'NSW similarly ... has a large influence with a positive IOD over the spring. We're already seeing that extended period of warmth since the start of the month in those two states.'
The declarations coincide with severe weather warnings for swathes of Australia's southeast, including very hot spring conditions, elevated fire dangers and strong winds fuelled by an approaching cold front.
Large parts of NSW and eastern Victoria are enduring maximum temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above the September average.
A heatwave warning is in place for the NSW south coast, and a catastrophic fire danger warning is also current for the far south coast.
Damaging winds, driven by a cold front, are compounding the danger.
Swathes of Australia's southeast have received several severe weather warnings, including very hot spring conditions, elevated fire dangers and strong winds fuelled
The front has triggered severe weather warnings for parts of South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and southern NSW, with the possibility of showers, storms, small hail and snow in some areas.
While that will bring welcome relief from the heat in Victoria and NSW, the front will drive the extreme heat further north into Queensland, with the effects most pronounced there on Thursday.
Fire dangers will also pick up across the state, particularly in the south, with the Channel Country expected to reach extreme fire dangers on Thursday and Friday.
YouTube has stopped Russell Brand from being able to earn any money through his channel for 'violating our Creator Responsibility policy'.
The 48-year-old produces around five videos a week for his 6.6million subscribers, earning him an estimated 1million a year.
Under the terms of his suspension Brand - whose net worth has been estimated between 15million and 40million - will still be allowed to post videos on the platform but will not receive any of the advertising revenue.
YouTube said in a statement: 'If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community. This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.'
Other channels associated with his main YouTube page include Football Is Nice, which has some 20,000 subscribers, Awakening With Russell, which has 426,000 subscribers, and Stay Free With Russell Brand, which has 22,200 subscribers.
Advertisers pay YouTube to show their adverts before, during or after videos that are posted on the platform. Most YouTube content creators will not get a say in what ads are served.
The advertising revenue is then split between the platform, owned by YouTube, and whoever made the video. Each receives around half.
On Saturday, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches reported allegations of abusive and predatory behaviour including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse said to have been committed by the presenter between 2006 and 2013.
Today, it emerged the BBC has removed shows which feature Russell Brand from its iPlayer site. An 2018 episode of QI featuring Brand as a panellist and a Joe Wicks podcast where he was a guest in 2021 have been unavailable since Monday evening.
Russell Brand has around six million subscribers on YouTube, which earn him an estimated 49,000 a month
The clips regularly touch on conspiracy theories, including the idea that the pandemic, the Ukraine war and climate change distract from the activities of the global elite
The news comes after the remaining shows of Brand's Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
Brand 'absolutely denies' the allegations and insists all his relationships have been consensual.
How does YouTube monetisation work? Advertisers pay YouTube to show their adverts before, during or after videos that are posted on the platform. Most YouTube content creators will not get a say in what ads are served. The advertising revenue is then split between the platform, owned by YouTube, and whoever made the video. Each receives around half. Tech journalist Chris Stokel-Walker estimates Brand could have been making between $70,000 to $1million a year before YouTube decided to stop sharing revenue with him. Advertisers generally pay based on a measure known as cost per mille (CPMs), meaning the cost of a thousand advert views. Certain types of content that are seen as less 'ad safe', such as the Ukraine war, generally attract lower CPMs than others. Advertisement
The scandal has already seen Channel 4 remove all programmes linked to Brand on its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother's Big Mouth in which he was featured. Brand's PR firm MBC PR and talent agent Tavistock Wood no longer advertise him as a client, and his publisher Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has suspended their relationship.
And Netflix has now been urged to remove his comedy special, Re:Birth, from its catalogue.
Brand's YouTube account has been suspended from YouTube's Partner Programme 'following serious allegations against the creator', meaning his channel is no longer able to make money from advertising.
YouTube added that suspending a creator from the YouTube Partner Programme means they are 'prohibited from using a new or alternate channel to circumvent our enforcement decision'.
Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where his channel has 1.4million followers and he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday.
His most video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
The Rumble channel description reads: 'Everybody knows that the old ideas won't help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when we're facing a mental health epidemic and ecological meltdown.'
Critics claim Brand has 'set up a cult' online to back him since the birth of the Me Too movement in 2017 by giving a platform to conspiracy theories including the idea that the pandemic, the Ukraine war and climate change distract from the activities of the global elite.
He also has 11million followers on Twitter, four million fans on Instagram and a hugely popular podcast with a lucrative 'Stay Free' merchandise range. While no longer being able to make money on YouTube will be a blow to Brand, 48, it will do little to dent his overall net worth - which has been estimated to be as high as 40million.
He remains on Locals, an online community platform where members can pay a minimum of 48 a year for bonus content.
His Instagram has a link to a merchandise store, which leads to a webpage saying the site it currently under review. Meanwhile, his personal website is still selling tickets to a wellness festival scheduled for next summer, hosted by him and his wife. Laura Gallacher.
Some weekend tickets costing between 160 and 195 each have sold out.
Brand's personal company which he earns with his wife - Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm Ltd - saw its net assets more than double from 2m to 4.1m in 2021, according to Companies House filings.
The comic has received support online from the likes of Andrew Tate and Elon Musk and his fans were out in force at a gig in Wembley on Saturday to show their backing.
Far-right radio host a Alex Jones, who owes $1.5billion in damages to the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, said: 'The matrix is coming after Russell Brand, anybody that challenges the globalists, anybody that challenges Big Pharma, anybody that's popular, that comes out against the establishment is going to be accused of assaulting women. Now, because he comes out against the New World Order, suddenly the allegations are happening to him'.
One fan said after allegations he abused women: 'Somewhere along the way Russell Brand woke up and became a powerful dissenting voice who no longer served their agenda. No wonder they are desperate to destroy him'.
PR guru Mark Borkowski believes Brand has built a 'cult following' online who may be willing to back him despite the 'horrendous' accusations about his treatment of women.
Brand, pictured at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre on Saturday night, looks set to keep a large amount of his fanbase despite the allegations against him
Russell Brand pictured with his wife Laura Gallacher shortly before the allegations against him emerged
Russell Brand's subscription and video views on YouTube have exploded since 2017
Comedian Rosie Holt said: 'I guess the lesson is kids, if sexual misconduct rumours have been swimming about you for ages, set up a cult on YouTube to support you when the allegations become public'.
One American writer said: 'Russell Brand has known this day was coming for him since October 2017.
'Since then, he's strategically cultivated and groomed a new mentally-malleable cult following that distrusts both women and the media so he can continue getting high on his other drug of choice the spotlight'.
The investigation by Channel 4, The Times and Sunday Times began four years ago. Around the same time he stepped back from much of his TV and movie work.
His net worth has been estimated between 15m and 40m - with YouTube experts claiming he makes $61,000-a-month from YouTube plus another $100k-a-month from merchandise and paid subscriptions to his podcast.
He lives with his wife Laura Gallacher in their 3million riverside home in Henley, Oxfordshire.
PR experts have said that this army of fans means that he will never be cancelled.
Mark Borkowski believes that the comedian, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women, has declared war on the mainstream media.
He said: 'The crimes he's been accused of are horrendous, and are damaging for him and for the people who were looking after him at the time'.
Brand hosting Big Brother's Little Brother in May 2006 - which is another one of the show's Channel 4 has removed from its website containing the comedian
Channel 4 has since removed shows from its site linked with Brand. Pictured: Brand on Celebrity Great British Bake Off
The PR guru said some of his fanbase will stay intact thanks to the 'unfettered unregulated world of social media' - and raises serious questions for the BBC and Channel 4.
He added that the comedian's denial of the accusations was reminiscent of how Donald Trump deals with accusations of improper behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'I think there will be a profound amount of people who will stand by him. Normally with allegations like this your career would be over, but not in this case, which is interesting.
'He's a great content generator. He didn't get to the top of his profession because he's mediocre. He has the power to bewitch his audience.'
Brand was accused of attacking four women between 2006 and 2013 when he was working a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and later as an actor in Hollywood. Other women have made a range of accusations about controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'It throws up questions against someone who has been allowed a certain amount of power because of his talent and his meteoric rise.
'It questions Russell Brand but also those in governance in TV. There will be a lot of people looking at themselves this morning - those people in power today won't be the same ones in power that presided over this.'
Brand has since been dropped by a women's charity he was working with, while TV production companies and channels have launched probes into his alleged behaviour.
Mr Borkowski added: 'There's a question whether he's going to face police action, but the question at the moment is of social media - the man isn't going to get a fair trial when the police have the evidence to prosecute him.
'More people may come forward, other people might see an opportunity. It's a very complex case, mixed between old media and social media'.
A joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches includes allegations Brand assaulted one of the women when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl and another woman has claimed he raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles.
The Times reports several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about the Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
She said: 'He started talking about Ian Huntley, the paedophile and child killer, and mentioned it quite a few times, like in a joking way, but also made up a whole song about it.
'I just couldn't understand why you would be able to have sex and talk about a child killer at the same time.'
Staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour
The comedian released a video last week refuting all the allegations against him. Pictured: Brand leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre after a gig on Saturday night
Another woman, known as Esme, told the Times Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
Celebrities who have been banned from YouTube, from Andrew Tate to Donald Trump Russell Brand has been suspended from YouTube's Partner Programme 'following serious allegations against the creator', meaning his channel is no longer able to make money from advertising. He joins a long list of celebrities who have been censured by the platform. They include - ANDREW TATE: The 'King of Toxic Masculinity' was permanently banned from YouTube last year. He had been regularly accused of misogyny and hate speech. DONALD TRUMP: The president was suspended from YouTube after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The suspension took place for two years before he was permanently banned. ALEX JONES: The host of InfoWars was banned from YouTube in 2018. He had played a leading role in spreading conspiracy theories around events such as the 9/11 attacks and Sandy Hook school shooting. DAVID ICKE: The notorious conspiracy theorist had his YouTube account deleted in 2020 after he made false claims about coronavirus, including that it was linked to 5G. Advertisement
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been 'promiscuous' but that all of his relationships have been 'consensual'.
The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
Downing Street urged the broadcasters to set out the results of their investigations into Brand 'transparently'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman called the allegations 'very serious and concerning'.
Channel 4 announced it has removed content featuring Brand from its streaming service while it looks into the claims and will remind production companies of its code of conduct.
It comes after Brand was accused of pursuing audience members for sex while presenting Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum and Big Brother's Big Mouth on Channel 4.
Banijay UK, which bought Endemol in 2020, said it has launched an 'urgent internal investigation' and encouraged 'anybody who feels that they were affected by Brand's behaviour' to come forward.
The BBC is facing questions after one of the women, who was 16 when she claims Brand began a relationship with her, alleged he used the corporation's car service to pick her up from school to take her to his home.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Monday, the woman, known as Alice, said Brand's denial was 'laughable' and 'insulting'.
In 2020, the same woman contacted Brand's literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of talent agency Tavistock Wood.
A spokesman for the agency said Brand 'categorically and vehemently denied the allegations' at the time but they now believe they were 'horribly misled' and have terminated all professional ties with the comedian.
Yesterday a former model claimed Brand stalked her through streets in London demanding sex after they met in a bar, forcing her to run away from him in fear.
Revealing the distressing incident that took place in 2005, the woman - who remains anonymous - alleged that Brand followed five paces behind her for what 'felt like a lifetime' and shouted to her: 'Let's just f*** right here'.
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she met Brand at a bar in Primrose Hill in London. She told of how despite telling him not to leave with her, Brand followed her into the street and became 'creepy'.
'It felt like he was hunting me down. It wasn't flirty or fun. The word 'predator' is absolutely spot-on.
'He was dead set on his goal. His intention was to have sex with someone, anyone,' she told The Sun.
As Dispatches aired on Saturday Brand performed a sold out comedy gig at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirmed there have been no arrests following two allegations concerning claims that are said to have happened in the US.
The Met police said: 'On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
'Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
'We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.'
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
She was apart of multiple local community organisations
Tributes have been shared for a beloved mother-of-three
A heartbroken family and a tight-knit community have been left in mourning following the unexpected death of a mother-of-three and local organiser.
Claire Cunliffe, 42, who was the president of the Bulimba Community Centre, suddenly died at her family's Brisbane home on Thursday night.
The cause of her mysterious death is yet to be made public.
She leaves behind her husband Ian Cunliffe and their three children - Paddy, Mia and Layla.
Besides her role as the head of the community centre, she also founded the community organisation Glad Rags Markets which sells second-hand clothing that's been donated by residents in a bid to reduce landfill.
Claire's loved ones, the local community and even politicians have shared moving tributes to the beloved mother, environmentalist and organiser.
Claire Cunliffe (pictured), 42, unexpectedly died at her family's Brisbane home on Thursday night
'She'll be missed by a lot of people,' Claire's business partner and close friend Sarah Leal told 7News.
'She was big on life, she was vibrant, and always checking in on everyone else.'
The Bulimba Community Centre released a statement where they announced the tragic loss on Sunday.
'It is with great sadness that I share the loss of our dear friend, mentor, vivacious and talented friend and President Claire Cunliffe,' the post read.
'Claire suddenly passed away on Thursday evening.
'We will miss this amazingly generous and kind friend who went beyond the call of duty to support and love others in her community.'
Claire (left) leaves behind her husband Ian (right) and their three children - Paddy, Mia and Layla
Claire was the president of the Bulimba Community Centre and the founder of Glad Rags Markets (pictured, Claire on the right with Morningside councillor Lucy Collier)
The state member for Bulimba, Di Farmer, passionately described Claire's positive qualities and the numerous roles she juggled within the community in a tribute.
'This week a beautiful local family lost their wife and mother and our community lost an angel, a leader, someone who made a difference to the people around her every day of her life,' she wrote in a Facebook post.
'Claire Cunliffe was the president of Bulimba Community Centre, founder of Glad Rags Markets, and helper to all who needed it.
'To her husband Ian, children Paddy, Mia and Layla we send all our love to you at this dreadful time. Thank you for loaning Claire to us all so often.'
Morningside councillor Lucy Collier said: 'I am completely heartbroken that Claire Cunliffe has suddenly passed away, she was my friend and friend to so many others.'
Friends, family and the local community have shared moving tributes to Claire who was described as 'vibrant', 'talented', 'loving', 'caring' and a 'leader'
Ms Leal has started up a GoFundMe page to support the Cunliffe family.
'Claire was loving, caring and most of all the life of every party (even if it wasn't a party),' Ms Leal wrote on the page.
'From her dance moves to her singing at karaoke and party tricks, Claire knew exactly how to bring a smile to everyone around her.'
'She loved her family so much and was always talking about how proud she was of each of her children.'
'She has left a lasting impression on so many around her both near and far.'
The GoFundMe page started up by Ms Leal has raised more than $21,000.
It can be found here.
Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing has been fined nearly 200 and handed penalty points after he was caught using his mobile phone while riding a moped.
The TV personality, 34, was driving his Piaggio Vespa along High Holborn, central London on February 15 when he was stopped by police.
Laing admitted breaking the law by holding his phone in two hands as he drove, according to a report by the Evening Standard.
The star, also the founder of confectionary company Candy Kittens, was prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure in a case dealt with privately.
He received six penalty points and was told to pay a fine of 192 as well as 110 costs and a 76 court fee.
Jamie Laing, 34, (pictured) has been convicted and fined after he was caught using his mobile phone while riding his moped
The TV personality was driving his Piaggio Vespa along High Holborn, central London on February 15 when he was stopped by police (File image)
PC Alexandra Day said in a statement: 'I noticed that the rider of this vehicle was using a hand-held mobile device whilst driving.
'The device was being held in both their hands to the front, in front of themselves.
'I stopped the vehicle and spoke with the rider. I confirmed they weren't making emergency contact to the 999 service.'
Laing is not believed to have made any official comment at the scene of the offence.
The star, a former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, was initially posted a fixed penalty fine to the home he shares with his wife and TV star Sophie Habboo in Notting Hill.
In July Habboo, 29, admitted she has been piling on the pressure to her husband to start having children soon.
Laing, 34, tied the knot with his wife and fellow Made in Chelsea star Sophie Habboo, 29, (left) in April at Chelsea registry office and again in a grand ceremony in Spain in late May
Habboo, another Made In Chelsea star, tied the knot with Jamie at Chelsea registry office in April and again in a grand ceremony in Spain in late May.
Habboo joked that she wants to have 20 kids and has been asking her new partner 'when can we get started?'.
Speaking to OK! magazine, she said: 'All of Jamie's friends have babies so they're all like, ''So when are you starting?'' I'm like to Jamie, ''So when are we starting?'' '
TV star Michael Barrymore has appeared to express support for Russell Brand who claimed his sexual assault allegations were part of a 'coordinated attack' to 'control' his voice.
He joins a group of public figures, including Elon Musk, Andrew Tate and Laurence Fox, who all seem to have backed the comedian after he took to social media to 'absolutely deny' the 'criminal allegations made against him'.
The accusations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse were first made against the 48-year-old on Saturday while the Met Police announced yesterday it was investigating a report of sexual assault that allegedly took place in Soho in 2003.
Re-sharing a video, where Brand insisted all relationships he had were consensual before calling the allegations a 'coordinated media attack', Barrymore said: 'This is what they do...'
The 71-year-old's Tweet of seeming support had been published before the allegations were made public.
It comes as all YouTube adverts on Brand's channel, which has more than six million sponsors and makes him an estimated 1million a year, have been suspended.
TV star Michael Barrymore (pictured on Good Morning Britain in 2020) has appeared to have expressed support for Russell Brand
Tweeting on Saturday morning, ahead of the allegations of sexual assault being made public, Barrymore shared Brand's denial video, claiming 'this is what they do'
The scandal has also seen Channel 4 and the BBC launch internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behaviour by Brand towards staff and audience members when he was employed by the channels.
Brand's PR firm MBC PR and talent agent Tavistock Wood also are no longer advertising him as a client.
Netflix has also been urged to remove Brand's comedy special Re:Birth from its streaming site.
The fallout follows a four-year investigation carried out by the Channel 4 Dispatches team and The Sunday Times, which documented the alleged harming of four women between 2006 and 2013.
Harrowing claims were made throughout the reports, including one woman alleging she was sexually assaulted by Brand while she was 16 and still attending school.
Another claimed that she was raped against the wall of his home in Los Angeles in 2013.
The Times and Channel 4 have since said more women have come forward with fresh claims about the comedian.
The latest allegations have not yet been investigated but the newspaper said they would be 'rigorously checked'.
One accuser, Alice, alleges that Russell Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old. She claims he would send a car to pick her up from secondary school, which she has since claimed was a 'BBC car'
Elon Musk appeared to back Brand's video, ahead of the report, taking to X to respond, telling the comedian 'They don't like competition'
Responding to the Tweet, tech mogul Elon Musk told Brand: 'Of course. They don't like competition'
Ahead of the explosive claims, Brand rushed to his YouTube and social media channels to share a video denying all allegations made.
Amidst his denial of the allegations the comedian and actor said 'we have seen coordinated media attacks before', referring to Joe Rogan announcing he had taken anti-parasite drug Ivermectin to treat his Covid-19 infection during the pandemic.
Brand said he was 'aware of newspapers making phone calls' and 'sending letters' to people he knows for 'ages and ages', claiming he feels that 'there's a serious and consorted agenda to control these kind of spaces', referring to his YouTube channel.
It led to billionaire tech mogul Musk and self-proclaimed misogynist Tate rallying around the father-of-two, before the allegations came to light.
Tesla and X owner Musk responded to the video, claiming: 'Of course. They don't like competition.'
Meanwhile YouTuber Andrew Tate, who is facing charges of rape and human trafficking, responded to Brand's video calling it a 'Matrix attack'.
In a separate Tweet, Tate said 'Welcome to the club Russell Brand' accompanied by a cartoon meme of a knight preparing for battle, captioned: 'On my way to fight the crazy b***h allegations'.
As more details surrounding the shocking investigation emerged, including allegations that the BBC and Channel 4 knew of his 'sinister' behaviour towards women, Brand also seemed to garner support from actor Laurence Fox.
YouTuber and self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate took to X yesterday to seemingly show his support for Brand
Tate took to X, posting a cartoon meme of a knight preparing for battle, captioned: 'On my way to fight the crazy b***h allegations'
In a separate Tweet responding to Brand's video he called the allegations made against the comedian a 'Matrix attack'
Actor Laurence Fox posted a video questioning the allegations made against Brand
He posted a video questioning the allegations raised against Brand, The Telegraph reported.
Fox said: 'It's fascinating to see some parts of the legacy media talking about Russell Brand like we are going to believe anything they say about anything.
'Whatever Russell Brand got up to, and I can guarantee it because I was around, everything he would have done, would have been sort of acceptable.
'Because otherwise his producers would have called him out and fired him.
'Now that may be an uncomfortable thing to deal with for people but that's how the world was then.'
His sister-in-law, model and TV star Kirsty Gallacher, initially appeared to be in support of Brand, who is married to her younger sister Laura.
She shared his video to her Instagram story with a huge red love heart - but just a few hours after the full investigation was published the post, which is scheduled to remain up for 24 hours, had disappeared.
Since the allegations came to light more women have come forward with claims.
A former model alleged that Brand stalked her through the streets in London demanding sex after they met in a bar, forcing her to run away from him in fear.
Brand performed on Saturday at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre, hours after The Sunday Times published its first article about the allegations against him. He opened the show by saying there were 'things I can't talk about'
The comedian's new stand-up tour has been postponed following the allegations
Russell, now 48, is currently facing allegations of sexual assaults and abusive and predatory behaviour between 2006 and 2013. Pictured: Russell Brand hosting Big Brother's Little Brother in May 2006
Revealing the distressing incident that allegedly took place in 2005, the woman - who remains anonymous - claimed that Brand followed five paces behind her for what 'felt like a lifetime' and shouted to her: 'Let's just f*** right here.'
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she met Brand at a bar in Primrose Hill in London. She told of how despite telling him not to leave with her, Brand followed her into the street and became 'creepy'.
'It felt like he was hunting me down. It wasn't flirty or fun. The word "predator" is absolutely spot-on.
'He was dead set on his goal. His intention was to have sex with someone, anyone,' she told The Sun.
The woman, now in her 40s, said that since watching the documentary she 'has not been able to sleep', having realised 'other women had not been so lucky' as she was to get away from Brand.
She is now preparing to speak to police, after the Met urged any alleged victims of Brand to come forward.
Ahead of the explosive claims, Brand rushed to his YouTube and social media channels to share a video denying all allegations made
Staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour
Last night staff at Big Brother producer Endemol said many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour during filming of the spin-off show Big Brother's Big Mouth.
One senior executive even admitted that the title of the Dispatches documentary In Plain Sight fits the scandal perfectly. 'We all knew he was a predator. There is no denying that he was involved in a lot of complicated sexual situations,' they told The Times.
Another staff member said Brand's behaviour appeared 'seedy' and the allegations of him 'taking things too far' were 'unsurprising'. 'He was a hot ticket back then. It was gross but it was all consensual as far as we knew,' they said.
A third senior producer told the paper that it was common knowledge that Brand was having a relationship with a runner on the show. The pair were even caught engaging in sexual intercourse on the company's premises.
Despite staff recognising his 'abuse of power' they admitted that at the time that no alarm bells were ringing as it was 'just part of working with Russell'.
Both the BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations.
Following the scathing investigation Brand took to the stage in a Wembley theatre continuing his new live show, the Bipolarisation tour, where his fans were out in force, greeting him with applause.
But yesterday, promoters for the tour confirmed that the remaining dates in Windsor, Plymouth and Wolverhampton had been postponed.
They said in a statement: 'We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don't like doing it - but we know you'll understand.'
Tory Ewan Mackey said this as it was revealed official was working in firm's office
Senior politicians at 'bankrupt' Birmingham Council have called for a police investigation into the authority's cosy relationship with a school taxi firm charging 200 a day to take one pupil three miles to school.
This comes after MailOnline revealed a senior official at the council worked for two years from the same tiny West Bromwich community centre as Green Destinations Ltd, who were later at the centre of the 11million overcharging probe.
Deputy opposition leader at Birmingham City Council, Ewan Mackey, told MailOnline that there should be an 'independent investigation which, if necessary, involves the police [or other authorities] depending on what they uncover'.
The Tory councillor said it should find out if the council was 'awarding contracts unfairly' and that the law was not broken when spending taxpayer money.
And now Michael Gove has announced he will appoint commissioners to take over Birmingham City Council and will launch a local inquiry into the authority. The Communities Secretary said he was 'satisfied that Birmingham City Council is failing to comply with its best value duty' after it issued a Section 114 notice.
This also comes amid reports that the council could be forced into a fire sale of its crown jewels, including the Library of Birmingham, the city's Museum and Art Gallery and the authority's stake in Birmingham Airport.
Birmingham Council is currently in turmoil over issues including:
Green Destinations billing 11million over the odds for home to school transport, including bills in excess of 200 to drive one pupil three miles to school and back.
Senior Council official Jay Shimano was revealed to be working in the same building as this taxi firm as their profits rose by 1,900% to more than 1.6million.
The council has gone 'bankrupt' as they face an at least 750million equal pay bill.
The debt-ridden council, the largest in Europe, now faces a shortfall of 87million.
Costs of troubled Oracle IT system balloon from 13million to up to 100million.
Council leader John Cotton took a trip to New York to celebrate his 50th birthday while the city was falling into disarray.
The council may now be forced to sell off prized assets including the Library of Birmingham and their stake in Birmingham Airport.
'Bankrupt' Birmingham City Council could be forced to sell prized assets to balance the books
Deputy leader of the opposition Ewan Mackey (pictured) at 'bankrupt' Birmingham has called for a police investigation into the city council's cosy relationship with a school taxi firm
Jay Shimano (left), compliance manager at the Birmingham City Council's children and young people's travel service, worked out of the same offices as major school taxi contractor Green Destinations Ltd, owned by Jameel Malik (right)
Green Destinations has grown to be the most dominant school travel supplier in Birmingham since 2020. As of 2023, it charges approximately 17million to run about 460 of the council's 1,300 routes, around a third more than in 2022, leaked data suggests (pictured: a minibus at their depot in Hockley, Birmingham)
MailOnline revealed on Sunday that Jay Shimano, whose job it is to ensure school taxi safety, and his boss Sarah Norman, directed drivers at rival firms to collect ID badges - without which they would be banned from driving children - from the address on Beeches Road.
On arrival, it was suggested to drivers that it might be more lucrative for them to work for GDL, conveniently based in the same building, competitors claimed.
A previous MailOnline investigation showed Green Destinations was charging Birmingham City Council more than 210 to ferry one child just three miles to school and back, journeys a Hackney Carriage would charge less than 20 for.
Cllr Mackey also said that any investigation into the council needs to be 'rigorous and quick' due to the 'escalating financial crisis' - as he slammed the Labour-run administration which has gone effectively bankrupt.
He said: 'This potential conflict of interest raised by MailOnline is concerning in the extreme.
'There must be an investigation to find out if Birmingham City Council were awarding contracts unfairly, that every penny of taxpayers money was spent appropriately, and that no laws were broken.
'The investigation needs to be not only rigorous but also quick, given the escalating financial crisis in the Birmingham Labour Administration.
'This service assists some of the most vulnerable children in the City, whose parents must already be worried sick after the financial ineptitude and mismanagement of the Labour Administration has resulted in the Council declaring itself essentially bankrupt, with nearly all spending that is non-essential ceasing and future agreed spend being placed in doubt.'
Shimano, who was promoted from compliance officer to manager at the Labour-run council's children and young people's travel service, worked at the same office as the major contractor - which is not in Birmingham but neighbouring authority Sandwell - from 2020 until at least early last year, the council have admitted.
The seven-room building, where GDL still rent a room, is a convenient two-minute walk from the home of Green Destinations owner Jameel Malik, 45, and is believed to be near the home of self-employed council worker Shimano.
A senior official at now-bankrupt Birmingham City Council worked for two years in the same tiny church community centre on Beeches Road, West Bromwich (pictured) as a school transport firm that it was his job to regulate
Eye-watering home to school transport fares charged to Birmingham City Council by Green Destinations Ltd (figures have been rounded)
Malik's firm has grown to be the dominant school travel supplier in Birmingham since 2020. As of 2023, it charges approximately 17million to run about 460 of the council's 1,300 routes, around a third more than in 2022, leaked data suggests.
READ MORE: Birmingham City Council will be taken over by commissioners appointed by Michael Gove - and inquiry will be launched after it declared itself effectively bankrupt Advertisement
Green Destinations, which was founded by Malik in 2013, recorded occasional losses and meagre profits of no more than a few thousand pounds until the end of the 2018/19 financial year, where they bagged 83,250, according to accounts published on Companies House.
In 2020, their business with Birmingham Council grew and profits shot up, more than doubling to 171,900.
And a year later profits more than quadrupled to 769,060 as council worker Shimano worked alongside them. GDL's latest accounts until April 2022 show a profit of a whopping 1,646,700.
This investigation lays bare the intimate relationship Green Destinations had with senior council staff in charge of school transport services, as the firm became the dominant contractor in the city.
If GDL's pricing mirrored that of competitors such as HATS, which works with Birmingham and dozens of other councils, analysis suggests the cost could be closer to 6million - an 11million difference.
Birmingham City Council said in July that all contracts were 'tendered in accordance with the council's procurement processes and in a legally compliant manner'.
On the use of the Beeches Road office, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson previously said: 'Previously the city council's Children and Young People's Travel Service's compliance team had rented a room on a few occasions in 2020 and 2021 at the Old Church Building, of the Beeches Road Community Enterprise Centre in West Bromwich, for training purposes and issuing licence badges.
'The team has not used the site since early 2022 and is now based at a council office in Erdington.'
Council auditors Grant Thornton declined to comment on calls for an investigation, but MailOnline understands a complaint has been made to the firm.
MailOnline has reached out to Birmingham City Council and Green Destinations Ltd for comment regarding calls for a police investigation into school transport.
As Birmingham Council went essentially bankrupt, reports have said it may be forced into selling off major assets to balance the books - and now an inquiry has been launched into the council.
The Levelling Up Secretary said today added: 'In line with the Local Government Act 1999 therefore, I can announce that I am today writing to the council to set out my proposal to intervene and to appoint commissioners and that I intend to launch a local inquiry in due course.
'I do not take these decisions lightly, but it is imperative in order to protect the interests of the residents and taxpayers of Birmingham, and to provide ongoing assurance to the whole local government sector.'
Michael Gove has announced he will appoint commissioners to take over Birmingham City Council and will launch a local inquiry into the authority
The authority is set to put together a financial recovery plan on September 25 and ask the government for 'exceptional financial support' - most likely allowing them to borrow money to service debts or selling assets.
Important assets which could be on the table include an 18.68% share in Birmingham Airport, the Alexander Stadium - which hosted the 2022 Commonwealth games after 72million of investment.
Also up for sale could be the Library of Birmingham, which opened in 2013 at a cost of 189million. It is thought to the be the largest public library in Europe.
Another key cultural asset, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, could also face being sold off. It is a grade II* listed building and holds the largest public collection of Pre-Raphaelite work in the world.
The 250-year-old Sarehole Water Mill, which is near where Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien grew up could also be up for sale. In 2019 thousands of pounds were raised for restoration after one of its wheels broke. It now operates as a museum.
Council leader John Cotton said the council was 'having to review all of council activity' and where spending is made, when asked on BBC Politics Midlands about the sale of the city's assets.
He added: 'But my priority is that we continue to focus on frontline service delivery and the things that matter most to the people of the city in making those decisions.'
India has expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move after Justin Trudeau accused its government of assassinating a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.
A diplomatic row between the two countries is deepening as Ottawa investigates 'credible allegations' the Indian government may have had links to the assassination of a Canadian citizen.
Canada's premier said he believes Narendra Modi's administration could be behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Sikh temple on June 18.
Trudeau has since acted by expelling a top Indian diplomat - the head of Indian intelligence in Canada - with foreign affairs minister Melanie Joly vowing yesterday that 'we will get to the bottom of this.'
Trudeau has raised the issue both with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Joly added.
Soon after, India's ministry of external affairs said in a statement that its expulsion 'reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities'.
Justin Trudeau has accused the Indian government of assassinating a Sikh separatist leader on Canadian soil. He told Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his suspicions 'personally and directly' during their meeting at the G20 in New Delhi earlier this month (pictured)
Singh Nijjar, 46, was a strong supporter of the Khalistan separatist movement, which calls for the creation of a new independent homeland for Sikhs in the Punjab district of north India
Canadian security services believe Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was assassinated by Indian agents when he was gunned down in British Columbia on June 18
It comes as tensions between the two countries grow, with Hindu nationalist leader Modi calling for Trudeau to crack down on Sikh protesters in Canada who want their own independent homeland in the Punjab district of north India, called Khalistan.
Trudeau made a statement about the death of Singh Nijjar, 46, who was a strong supporter of the Khalistan movement, while addressing the Canadian House of Commons on Monday.
'Today I'm rising to inform the house of an extremely serious matter,' he told MPs.
'I just informed the leaders of the opposition directly, I want now to speak with all Canadians.
'Over a number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.'
Trudeau said security services were working to ensure the 'continued safety of all Canadians' and vowed that 'all steps will be taken to hold perpetrators of this murder to account'.
'Canada has declared its deep concern to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government,' he said.
'Last week at the G20 I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms,' Trudeau added.
'Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.'
He urged the Indian government 'in the strongest possible terms' to 'cooperate with Canada and get to the bottom of this matter'.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said 'if proven true' the assassination would be a major violation of the 'most basic rule of how countries deal with each other'.
'As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat,' she said.
People mourn the death of Singh Nijjar during Antim Darshan, the first part of day-long funeral services for him, in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 25
Sikh separatists want their own independent homeland called Khalistan in the Punjab district of north India
Canada is home to one of the largest overseas communities of Indian origin, which number approximately 1.4 million out of an overall Canadian population of 40 million.
Around 770,000 people reported Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 Census.
The two countries, which earlier this year said they could agree the outlines of a trade deal by end-2023, have now frozen talks on the agreement. Canada gave few details while India cited 'certain political developments.'
Bilateral trade in 2022 amounted to just C$13.7 billion out of a total of C$1.52 trillion, according to Statistics Canada.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said several senior Canadian government officials had visited India recently to express Ottawa's concerns.
Singh Nijjar was president of the Surrey Gurdwara in BC and Chief Coordinator of the Canadian Chapter of global Khalistan Referendum.
The latter is an initiative of secessionist group 'Sikhs For Justice' (SFJ) in which Sikhs across the world are voting on the question 'Should Indian Governed Punjab Be An Independent Country?'
In his final address to the community hours before he died, he urged people to continue supporting the Khalistan Referendum campaign - and spoke about threats to his life allegedly from the Indian government.
Thousands of people attended his funeral at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara in Surrey where he was killed.
Trudeau made a statement about the death of Singh Nijjar, 46, who was a strong supporter of the Khalistan movement, while addressing the Canadian House of Commons on Monday
A diplomatic gulf has opened up between Canada and India over growing numbers of Sikh separatists in Canada, who want to establish their own homeland in the north India region of Punjab. Modi (right) has accused Trudeau's administration of failing to quash the protesters
Mourners carry the casket of Singh Nijjar during Antim Darshan, the first part of a day-long funeral service for him, in Surrey, Britsih Columbia, on June 25
Sikh supporters of the Khalistan movement want to establish their own homeland due to tensions between their people and the Hindu nationalist rulers of India.
These hostilities have historic roots dating back to the British colonial policies of the late 1800s and early 1900s which sought to divide believers of the two religions, according to the Hindu American Foundation.
Sikhs were recruited to the British army to help subdue the Hindu rulers who rebelled against the British Raj.
When India gained independence in 1947, tensions between the Sikh-dominated Punjab region and the central Indian government persisted.
Amarinder Singh, the former chief minister of Punjab, blamed Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and 'Khalistani sympathizers' in Canada, Italy and the UK for a recent surge in popularity for the separatist movement.
Khalistan separatists are also active in the US. One group attempted to set fire to the Indian consulate in San Francisco in June - though there was no major damage or injuries.
Trudeau has urged the Indian government 'in the strongest possible terms' to 'cooperate with Canada and get to the bottom' of Hardeep Singh Nijjar's suspected murder. He spoke about it with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 in New Delhi earlier this month (pictured)
US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller strongly condemned the reported vandalism and attempted arson, though he did not address the reasons for the protest.
Similar scenes have broken out in Brisbane, Australia, and in in London, England, where protesters carrying 'Khalistan' banners detached the Indian flag from the diplomatic mission's building in the capital.
India responded by asking Britain for increased monitoring of UK-based supporters of the Sikh separatist movement, and trade talks between the two nations appeared to stall as a result.
Video has emerged of an outback stockman casually picking up a snake and ushering it off a dirt road even as it rears back and comes perilously close to striking his bare feet and legs.
The barefoot man, who wishes to be known by his nickname of 'Bouta', can be seen grabbing the writhing serpent by the tail on Saturday night while driving on a Northern Territory bush track heading into Darwin.
All the while a beer in a stubbie holder sits in the dust beside him as he wrangles the snake in the illumination of his four-wheel-drive's headlights.
'Stop, stop, stop, stop,' Bouta says soothingly as the snake wriggles in his grasp.
Stockman Bouta casually removes a snake that was blocking his vehicle on its way back to Darwin
READ MORE: Queensland family film skin-crawling moment a massive python slithered across the roof of their home Advertisement
The snake rears back at him and comes within millimeters of biting Bouta's calf and foot.
'Nearly got me on the foot,' is the simple summation he gives the video, that he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Bouta, who identifies himself as a 'proud blackfella', lets go off the snake it and starts slithering off the road towards the bush.
'Cmon mate. Get off the road. C'mon buddy, off the road buddy,' the man says as calmly escorts it.
He gives the snake a brief touch near its tail to hurry it up and it disappears back into scrub.
Bouta, 46, told Daily Mail Australia on Monday that the snake was a non-venonous python, which he called 'harmless'.
It was blocking he and his mate's vehicle as they were coming home from a day out pig hunting.
'I've been around snakes my whole life,' he said.
Bouta said he has been handling snakes all his life as he ushered the 'harmless' python off the road
'I handle venomous snakes as well.'
A person commenting on the video asks: 'Bare feet snake wrangling, the go is it?'
Bouta replies 'yes' and then simply: 'It is what it is.'
Earlier on Saturday Boula posted a picture of himself and another man standing perched on either side of the driver's cabin of a vehicle almost entirely submerged in brown water.
'F*** this was a mad day with good mates,' he wrote about the expedition.
'Pulses were raised. Adrenaline was present.'
A social media user asked Bouta if there were crocodiles present.
'Of course. That's why we were on the roof,' he said.
Bouta works on the giant Tipperary group of cattle stations, which are located almost 200km south of Darwin.
Fake folk costumes that let festivalgoers flaunt their bodies are degrading the cultural value of Oktoberfest, a Bavarian prince has claimed.
The 72-year-old Prince of Bavaria, Luitpold Rupprecht Heinrich, whose great-grandfather was the last Bavarian king, said that cheaply made costumes turn the historic festival into a 'carnival'.
'When I see Chinese-made folk costumes made of plastic, pseudo-costumes with tight dirndls, then the whole thing becomes a carnival,' Heinrich told a local radio station.
'We all talk about cultural appropriation today. Here it's happening to us Bavarians!'
He added: 'If the whole thing is just about wearing a costume to get drunk in... you lose a lot of culture and tradition in the process.'
The Bavarian prince lashed out at cheaply made dirdls
He said they were a form of 'cultural appropriation' that devalued Bavarian culture
Cheaply made dirndls have been criticised as 'cultural appropriation'
A Bavarian prince says it cheapens the culture and traditions of the German region
Dirndls are a traditional dress that consists of a low-necklined bodice, a blouse and a high-waisted skirt
Gents are often seen in lederhosen, while ladies don 'dirndls', a traditional dress that consists of a low-necklined bodice, a blouse and a high-waisted skirt.
Traditionalists have argued that in recent years, Oktoberfest, which has been held in Munich for 213 years, has become less of a celebration of Bavarian culture, and more a chance for people to drink huge quantities of beer and wear low-cut and cheap fancy dress.
But this year's festival isn't only facing a reckoning about dresses. Traditionalists are worried that Oktoberfest will turn into a 'Woke Wiesn', a play on the local name for the festival, after one major tent decided to serve all-organic chicken that costs 50 per cent more than normal.
One Oktoberfest regular, Andrea Koerner, told the Wall Street Journal that while she usually orders a hen, she paled when she saw that the price of one organic half hen was 20.50 (17.70).
'We don't know the taste because it costs too much to try,' 56-year-old Koerner said.
But a younger guest told the newspaper that he didn't care about this price increase.
The Bavarian prince called the use of fake and cheaply made dirndls 'cultural appropriation'
Munich's Oktoberfest brings in millions of visitors every single year
Luitpold Rupprecht Heinrich (pictured), whose great-grandfather was the last Bavarian King, said that cheaply made costumes turn the historic festival into a 'carnival'
The Bavarian prince said of the modern-day festival: 'If the whole thing is just about wearing a costume to get drunk in... you lose a lot of culture and tradition in the process'
Millions of litres of beer are expected to be sold at this year's festival
The first-ever Oktoberfest began as a celebration of the wedding of Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria, the later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810
This year's Oktoberfest is set to be a record-breaking one
Jake Williams, 32, said: 'I don't care at all. I guess it is good if people care about the chickens.'
The major food price hike comes as beer served in nearly all tents at the festival increased by 6 per cent to an average of 14.50, according to a city survey.
This is on top of a marked rise in food prices after Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
The first-ever Oktoberfest began as a celebration of the wedding of Prince Regent Ludwig of Bavaria, the later King Ludwig I, and Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810.
Festivities for the wedding, which took place almost exactly 213 years ago, saw Bavarian citizens celebrate with an enormous horse race.
The region's population liked the race so much that they decided to do another one every year after that, with the festival evolving to include fairground rides and attractions in the years to come.
Alien investigators have claimed that new tests show two 'non-human' bodies are 'single skeletons' rather than being assembled from various remains - with scans allegedly also showing eggs inside one corpse.
UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan unveiled the pair - which he has named Clara and Mauricio - to Mexico's congress last week, describing their discovery as one of the most important in human history.
His associate, Dr Jose Zalce Benitez, has now claimed scans showed the specimens are each 'a single skeleton' and 'complete organic being', contrary to suggestions they were made up of 'different parts as some assumed'.
His team have also said their latest studies indicate Clara 'was alive, was intact, was biological and was in gestation,' pointing to the presence of large lumps in her abdomen which they said could be eggs.
Most in the scientific community are not convinced by the findings however, with multiple UFO and forensics experts coming out to slam the claims as 'unsubstantiated' and a 'hoax'.
A CT scan revealed what could be 'eggs' inside the body, according to a team behind claims that a pair of corpses could be extraterrestrial beings
Radiologist technician Guillermo Ramirez prepares to do a CT scan on a tiny body of a specimen, that UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan says is not related to any known Earthly species
Maussan's team yesterday declared that their latest studies indicate that Clara 'was alive, was intact, was biological and was in gestation'
The tiny body was put through a CT scan, at Noor Clinic, in Huixquilucan, Mexico yesterday
The scan was performed by technicians and scientists on the project at the Noor Clinic, in Huixquilucan, Mexico, on Monday. It was livestreamed on Maussan's YouTube channel, Infobae.com reports.
The team behind the UFO claims previously showed apparent X-rays of the specimens to Mexico's congress, saying that they showed one of the beings had carried 'eggs' with embryos inside them.
The pair of corpses have elongated heads with three fingers on each hand - but otherwise somewhat humanoid in shape, including two arms and two legs.
Their retractable necks and long skulls show characteristics more 'typical of birds', El Pais reported.
They were also found to have strong, light bones and no teeth, the presenters said.
They said they had implants of cadmium and osmium metals, with osmium one of the most scarce elements in the Earth's crust and considered the rarest precious metal.
But most scientists have rebuked claims that the bodies are from another world, with a number saying they are more likely to be mummies made up of various earthly beings.
The corpses' retractable necks and long skulls show characteristics more 'typical of birds'
The pair of corpses have elongated heads with three fingers on each hand
Mexican journalist and UFO enthusiast Jaime Maussan, claims the tiny bodies that he presented to Mexico's Congress earlier this week are not related to any known Earthly species
Forensic scientist Dr Jose Zalce Benitez challenged scientists to take samples of the alleged alien bodies and conduct their own studies
Julieta Fierro, a scientist at Mexico's National Autonomous University's (UNAM) Institute of Astronomy who reviewed the specimens, said samples were related to brain and skin tissues from mummies who died at different times.
Dr Benitez, who presented the findings alongside Maussan, earlier challenged scientists to take samples of the alleged alien bodies and conduct studies themselves before labelling it a hoax.
'Based on the DNA tests, which were compared with more than one million species... they are not related to what is known or described up to this moment by science or by human knowledge,' he told journalists.
But Fierro, looking at Maussan's test results for Reuters, said her observations 'do not show anything mysterious that could indicate life compounds that do not exist on Earth.'
Elsa Tomasto-Cagigao, a respected Peruvian bio-anthropologist, has also revealed her frustration at the claims, citing similar alleged finds that were found to be frauds.
'What we said before still stands, they are presenting the same rehash as always and if there are people that keep believing that, what can we do?,' she said.
'It is so crass and so simple that there is nothing more to add.'
Suspicion has also arisen after a previous purported 'discovery' by Maussan and Dr Benitez was debunked.
In 2015, they claimed that a mummified body found near Nazca in Peru belonged to an alien.
Following tests, it was later to discovered to be the remains of a human child.
Russell Brand was today accused of deliberately building an online cult to make him uncancellable and insulate the millions in income from his 'wellness' and conspiracy theory videos.
The comedian, actor and wellness guru has added 5million YouTube subscribers and seen his content viewed more than 1billion times since the launch of the Me Too movement in 2017, MailOnline can reveal.
Experts believe that by making five short videos a week, he will have been making 1million-a-year from YouTube via advertising without taking into account merchandising and sponsorships.
Today the streaming giant cut off his income by stopping him from being able to earn any money through his channel for 'violating our Creator Responsibility policy' - but he can still make films for his legion of fans.
Critics, fellow comedians and experts have accused Brand of 'grooming' a 'cult' online and claim it was deliberate because he knew he would be accused of abusing women.
Canadian feminist author and social activist Naomi Klein tweeted: 'Of course Russell Brand's followers deny the allegations. He has groomed an audience to deny/disbelieve everything they see and hear, which is very different from healthy skepticism.
'This knee-jerk denialism is precisely why people with plenty of skeletons in the closet love conspiracy culture: they have a built-in defense against accountability. It's all a conspiracy, always. I have met Brand, been on his show (years ago). It took a hell of a lot of courage for these women to come forward. They have all my solidarity'.
Comedian Rosie Holt said: 'I guess the lesson is kids, if sexual misconduct rumours have been swimming about you for ages, set up a cult on YouTube to support you when the allegations become public'.
The comedian has strenuously denied allegations that he raped, sexually assaulted and emotionally abused multiple women. Pictured: Brand in a video released on social media denying the claims before they were released
Critics believe Brand's online presence and choice of topics including conspiracy theories is a ploy
Fans insist that Brand is the victim of a conspiracy
One American writer tweeted: 'Russell Brand has known this day was coming for him since October 2017.
'Since then, he's strategically cultivated and groomed a new mentally-malleable cult following that distrusts both women and the media so he can continue getting high on his other drug of choice the spotlight'.
The comic has received support online from the likes of Andrew Tate and Elon Musk and his fans were out in force at a gig in Wembley on Saturday to show their backing.
Far-right radio host a Alex Jones, who owes $1.5billion in damages to the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, said: 'The matrix is coming after Russell Brand, anybody that challenges the globalists, anybody that challenges Big Pharma, anybody thats popular, that comes out against the establishment is going to be accused of assaulting women. Now, because he comes out against the New World Order, suddenly the allegations are happening to him'.
One fan said after allegations he abused women: 'Somewhere along the way Russell Brand woke up and became a powerful dissenting voice who no longer served their agenda. No wonder they are desperate to destroy him'.
PR guru Mark Borkowski believes Brand has built a 'cult following' online who may be willing to back him despite the 'horrendous' accusations about his treatment of women.
Another said: 'I'm aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, watch out, Russell. They're coming for you. You're getting too close to the truth.' A third said: 'I've never seen women throw themselves at anybody like him [...] Nobody ever accused him of assault. Now, because he comes out against the New World Order, suddenly the allegations are happening to him.' Then, for clarity: 'I stand with Russell Brand, he's completely innocent'.
The investigation by Channel 4, The Times and Sunday Times began four years ago. Around the same time he stepped back from much of his TV and movie work.
In that time his YouTube subscribers has gone from around 1million to 6million. His total video view could has gone from around 100million to over 1billion since 2019.
His net worth has been estimated between 15million and 40million - with YouTube experts claiming he makes $61,000-a-month from YouTube plus potentially another $100k-a-month from merchandise and paid subscriptions to his podcast.
Russell Brand's subscription and video views on YouTube have exploded since 2017
He lives with his wife Laura Gallacher in their 3million riverside home in Henley, Oxfordshire.
READ MORE: Police urge victims to come forward as Russell Brand is accused of rape Advertisement
PR experts have said that this army of fans means that he will never be cancelled.
Mark Borkowski believes that the comedian, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women, has declared war on the mainstream media.
He said: 'The crimes he's been accused of are horrendous, and are damaging for him and for people were looking after him at the time'.
The PR guru says some of his fanbase will stay intact thanks to the 'unfettered unregulated world of social media' - and raises serious questions for the BBC and Channel 4.
Mr Borkowski said that Brand has 11million followers on Twitter alone, 6.6million subscribers on YouTube and a hugely popular wellness podcast. These fans could choose to back him.
'He [Brand] has an audience and lots and lots of people who are engaged in his content'.
Russell Brand, pictured at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre on Saturday night, looks set to keep a large amount of his fanbase despite the allegations against him
He added that the comedian's denial of the accusations was reminiscent of how Donald Trump deals with accusations of improper behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'I think there will be a profound amount of people who will stand by him. Normally with allegations like this your career would be over, but not in this case, which is interesting.
'He's a great content generator. He didn't get to the top of his profession because he's mediocre. He has the power to bewitch his audience.'
Brand, 48, was accused of attacking four women between 2006 and 2013 when he was working a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and later as an actor in Hollywood. Other women have made a range of accusations about controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'It throws up questions against someone who has been allowed a certain amount of power because of his talent and his meteoric rise.
'It questions Russell Brand but also those in governance in TV. There will be a lot of people looking at themselves this morning - those people in power today won't be the same ones in power that presided over this.'
Brand has since been dropped by a women's charity he was working with, while TV production companies and channels have launched probes into his alleged behaviour.
Mr Borkowski added: 'There's a question whether he's going to face police action, but the question at the moment is of social media - the man isn't going to get a fair trial when the police have the evidence to prosecute him.
'More people may come forward, other people might see an opportunity. It's a very complex case, mixed between old media and social media'.
Stonehenge was built by black people, a new children's history book has claimed.
Readers of Brilliant Black British History, by the Nigerian-born British author Atinuke, are told the neolithic monument in Wiltshire was built while Britain was a 'black country'.
The book, which is aimed at children aged seven and above, also tells readers that 'every single British person comes from a migrant' and that the 'very first Britons were black'.
The introduction adds that Britain has been 'mostly a white country for a lot less time than it has been mostly a black country'.
Atinuke also claims that the remains of the 10,000-year-old Cheddar Man belonged to someone who had 'skin as dark as dark can be'.
Stonehenge was built by black people, a new children's history book has claimed. Readers of Brilliant Black British History, by the Nigerian-born British author Atinuke, are told the neolithic monument in Wiltshire was built while Britain was a 'black country'
Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, was constructed by Neolithic Britons around 5,000 years ago
A facial reconstruction of Cheddar Man depicted him as having dark skin in 2018, although one expert involved in the project insisted it was a 'probable profile' rather than a certainty.
Brilliant Black British History is published by Bloomsbury and promoted by literacy charity The Book Trust, which itself is funded by the Arts Council.
The book takes readers through an overview of the presence of black people in Britain.
It says that Britain was 'a black country more than 7,000 years before white people came and during that time the most famous British monument was built, Stonehenge'.
But research published in 2019 suggested the Neolithic farmers who built Stonehenge had paler skin and were descended from populations originating in Anatolia in what is now Turkey.
They also likely had brown eyes and black or dark-brown hair.
Atinuke's book also features illustrations of Britain during various periods of its history.
One page shows an image of a black Roman legionary fighting a white Celt.
The author claims the Romans had 'turned back to Europe and pushed north' after trying and failing to conquer the African kingdom of Nubia.
By the Middle Ages, Britain was a 'hodgepodge of people', according to the author.
The population was made up of 'original British migrants, Celts, Romans, Britons, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Africans and Normans'.
They also spoke 'a hodgepodge language too - English'.
A page on the Black Lives Matter movement says that although race 'does not scientifically exist', black people suffer 'institutional racism'.
The book is billed in its blurb as an 'eye-opening history of Britain' that focuses on 'a part of our past that has mostly been left out of the history books: the brilliant black history of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland'.
It adds: 'Did you know that the first Britons were black? Or that some of the Roman soldiers who invaded and ruled Britain were black, too?
'Join this fascinating journey through the ages to meet those first Britons, as well as the black Tudors, Georgians and Victorians who existed in every walk of life here.'
The book was published on August 31.
Brilliant Black British History is by Nigerian-born author Atinuke, who has written several books for children
The research into Cheddar Man was carried out by a team from University College London.
Cheddar Man's remains - the oldest near-complete human skeleton ever found in Britain - were unearthed in 1903 in Gough's Cave, in Somerset's Cheddar Gorge.
DNA tests suggested he had black skin, dark curly hair and blue eyes.
Geneticist Susan Walsh at Indiana UniversityPurdue University Indianapolis, who helped create the reconstruction of Cheddar Man's face, said soon afterwards that although it was 'probable' he had dark skin, DNA testing was not advanced enough to say for certain.
The new book comes after campaign group Don't Divide Us revealed in a report how children are being exposed to controversial 'anti-racism' theories.
The investigation exposed a book that tells children racism started when 'white people wanted more control'.
Another encouraged teachers to tell children 'what white privilege is'.
Keir Starmer posed in front of the Arc de Triomphe today ahead of a controversial meeting with Emmanuel Macron - as a battle raged in Britain over his plan to recast its relationship with the EU.
The Labour leader wooed Parisian business leaders over croissants and coffee in front of the monumental tribute to Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Austerlitz.
But it comes amid a growing row at home over his plans to alter the UK's relationship with the EU.
The Opposition leader at the weekend pledged to get 'a much better deal' for the UK if he becomes prime minister, with the trade agreement signed by Boris Johnson facing its first five-yearly review in 2025.
But he was given a cold dose of reality by Brussels, with sources warning the Labour leader that unless he is willing to bring the UK back into the EU customs union it will make no meaningful concessions.
Sir Keir, who campaigned for a second referendum and supported the return of free movement, has previously told Brexit voters he would not seek 'major changes' to the deal struck by Mr Johnson.
It came at the end of what critics have suggested was his own triumphal procession of meetings with international leaders including Canada's Justin Trudeau.
Sir Keir is to hold an off-camera meeting with Mr Macron later this morning as he seeks to bolster his image as a prime minister-in-waiting, with Labour boasting a healthy poll lead.
Sir Keir, Rachel Reeves and David Lammy posed for pictures in front of the Arc de Triomphe commissioned by Napoleon, ahead of talks with Emmanuel Macron today
The Opposition leader at the weekend pledged to get 'a much better deal' for the UK if he becomes prime minister, with the trade agreement signed by Boris Johnson facing its first five-yearly review in 2025.
But he was given a cold dose of reality by Brussels, with sources warning the Labour leader than unless he is willing to bring the UK back into the EU customs union it will make no meaningful concessions.
Ahead of talks with French president Emmanuel Macron (pictured) tomorrow, the Labour leader said he wanted to secure 'much better' arrangements with the EU
'Unless Starmer is prepared to take a quantum leap and change Labour's position on membership of the customs union then any renegotiation will really be not much more than a housekeeping exercise,' one EU source told The Times.
Downing Street ruled out a renegotiation, saying Rishi Sunak was focusing on 'maximising opportunities' outside the EU.
Ahead of talks with French president Emmanuel Macron this morning, the Labour leader said he did not want to reverse the referendum result and was focused on trying to 'make it work'.
But Tories warned Sir Keir could take Britain 'back to square one' while Brussels observers said a closer deal would be possible only by signing up to EU laws.
It comes as the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) research group publishes a new report that finds using the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to reduce trade barriers will be 'very challenging'.
UKICE said the onus will be on Britain to give the EU an incentive to shift its position, given the bloc is 'relatively happy' with the existing partnership.
Closer alignment on veterinary standards in order to ease trade, which Labour has cited as a priority, is highlighted in its report as one of the potential changes which would benefit the UK.
But it adds that any new negotiations would potentially be lengthy and complex, and that time-consuming domestic issues like the economy and the NHS are likely to leave 'limited bandwidth' for a major reassessment.
Experts also warn that a review could even 'inflame tensions' over implementation issues and that the EU is likely to prefer a lighter, technical re-evaluation.
Anand Menon, director of UKICE, said: 'Keir Starmer's desire to secure a "much better" Brexit deal for the UK is all well and good.
'However, he failed to explain how tinkering with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement will make a meaningful economic difference. Moreover, he runs the risk of demanding more than the European Union is willing to give.
'The UK is not a priority for the EU, which remains relatively happy with the TCA. The key for a Labour government will be figuring out a way to provide the EU with an incentive to restart negotiations over Brexit.'
Keir Starmer posted a glossy video showing him meeting and greeting Left-wing politicians including Justin Trudeau (right) at a summit in Montreal over the weekend
David Jones, a Conservative former minister, said Labour's leader appeared to be intent on 'unpicking Brexit'.
He added: 'He is clearly cosying up to the EU and to Macron, who is the most Europhile member of a Europhile bunch, and who would not be seeing him unless he thinks he can get something out of Labour to his advantage.
'My big concern with Starmer is that he is preparing the ground to sign us up to perpetual alignment with EU standards.
'We would become a rule-taker and lose the freedom to strike better trade deals around the world.
'There is no doubt that free movement would also have to come back on to the table before the EU would consider a new deal. I'm surprised even Starmer thinks it's a good idea.'
Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative member of the Commons European scrutiny committee, warned that Sir Keir would 'betray' Brexit if he won power.
'This is the same Keir Starmer who called for a second referendum,' he said.
'He is someone who wants Britain to be in the EU. If he gets into No 10 then he will betray the ideals and advantages of Brexit. We will end up with more alignment with the EU, but no say over the rules it would be the worst of both worlds.'
A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'Seven years on from the referendum, Keir Starmer wants to take Britain back to square one on Brexit, reopening the arguments of the past all over again.
'Keir Starmer backed Remain, then wanted a second Brexit referendum, yet now he says he accepts it.'
Sir Keir arrived in Paris last night with Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of talks at the Elysee Palace with President Macron.
Labour sources were tight-lipped about the agenda for today's talks. But Sir Keir is expected to discuss both his hopes for fresh Brexit arrangements and his plan to create a new immigration framework with Brussels.
Last week he faced a backlash after suggesting he was willing to discuss accepting thousands of asylum seekers from the EU as a 'quid pro quo' for a deal that would allow the UK to return some Channel migrants to Europe.
Yesterday Sir Keir insisted Labour would not rejoin the single market or customs union but said the UK could get a 'much better' deal. 'I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well,' he said. 'That's subject to further discussion.'
Sir Keir said he owed it to his children, aged 12 and 15, to get a better deal. 'I'm not going to let them grow up in a world where all I've got to say to them about their future is, it's going to be worse than it might otherwise have been,' he said.
'Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal it's far too thin. As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.'
Downing Street said that Mr Sunak would not reopen the trade and co-operation agreement brokered with Brussels in 'any way, shape or form'.
A statutory review of the deal is due in 2025, but government sources said this would be focused on technical issues.
The PM's spokesman said: 'We're not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form. Obviously there is a set statutory review period but beyond that we're very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public.'
Brussels expert Wolfgang Munchau said Sir Keir's plan was 'based on a delusion of a similar kind, that it is possible to stay outside the single market and the customs union, and get a better deal'.
Sir Keir did a panel event with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stre (left) at the summit in Montreal
He added: 'This is a political lie.' Mr Munchau, director of the Eurointelligence website, said Sir Keir's 'repeated assertion that there is a better deal with the EU out there... is simply not true'.
He added: 'If the EU plays hardball, as it surely will, pressure will grow from inside the Labour Party for another referendum.'
Mike Gapes, a former Labour chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed Sir Keir's push for closer ties.
But he warned the UK would not be able to have its cake and eat it and said Labour would have to make major concessions to secure a closer deal. 'Now comes the hard bit,' he said. 'The EU is treaty and rules-based. So drop the cakeism. The UK will not be able to cherry-pick our relationship.'
For all the latest news on Russell Brand, see MailOnline's liveblog , here
Russell Brand's media empire has taken a hit after YouTube removed monetisation on his lucrative 1million-a-year channel - but the star still has plenty of options to make money, MailOnline can reveal.
YouTube has stopped Brand from earning cash from his account after reportedly 'violating' the Google-owned video-sharing firm's creator responsibility policy. The 48-year-old comic had produced around five videos a week for his 6.6million subscribers, earning him an estimated 1million a year.
Under the terms of his suspension he will still be allowed to post videos on the platform, but will not receive any of the advertising revenue - in what is expected to come as a significant blow to Brand's bank balance.
While Brand would be 'reeling' from the financial hit, the comedian has been described as 'financially uncancellable' by PR and reputation guru Andy Barr.
For now that Brand has paused producing content on his Rumble podcast account - which has more than a 1.4million followers - his most popular videos have a potential of earning up to 80,000 each over the course of its lifetime, it is understood.
YouTube has demonetised his account, but Brand could still in theory make a deal with a third party company willing to sponsor his videos, meaning he could still be paid directly by advertisers.
And on his own website, he advertises a $60 (50) a year subscription service to his self-produced podcast called 'Stay Free with Russell Brand', where fans can become one of his 'awakened wonders' by signing up to the platform.
For now that Brand has paused producing content on his Rumble podcast account - which has more than a 1.4million followers - his most popular videos have a potential of earning up to 80,000 each over the course of its lifetime, it is understood
Russell Brand has around 6million subscribers on YouTube, which earn him an estimated 1million a year
The clips regularly touch on conspiracy theories, including the idea that the pandemic, the Ukraine war and climate change distract from the activities of the global elite
Meanwhile, the comic has an army of millions of followers on social media - which opens the doors for companies or individuals to pay for sponsored content, which can be a lucrative cash spinner.
Top-earning celebrities like Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Justin Bieber and Beyonce Knowles - who all have hundreds of millions of fans each - can earn upwards of 1million a post.
Mr Barr said: 'His earning power will be significantly dented in that the sponsorship deals and fees he could have commanded this time just one week ago will now be dramatically reduced.
'What is interesting is that his follower numbers have gone up across several platforms despite the serious allegations and this will give him and his commercial team hope that he can still generate income, despite the crisis that he currently finds himself in.
'The likes of Elon Musk appear to have come out in support of Brand and obviously there are revenue earning opportunities on Twitter/ X.com that Brand could also explore.
'Will his audiences stay and remain engage though, especially with the story evolving seemingly every day. You can have the largest audience in the world, but if your engagement rate falls, this is when the majority of brands start to turn away and stop offering big money deals.'
The news comes after an explosive expose reported allegations of abusive and predatory behaviour including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse said to have been committed by former Hollywood star between 2006 and 2013.
Brand 'absolutely denies' the allegations and insists all his relationships have been 'consensual'.
Russell Brand pictured on Saturday evening leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing his Bipolarisation comedy set. Future dates for the show have since been suspended
This site shows how people can pay $60 to become part of Brand's 'Awakened Wonders Community' and receive exclusive content
Russell Brand still has the potential to earn money on other platforms, a PR expert has said (Brand is pictured in 2014)
Following the claims, made in a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches, Brand's remaining shows for his Bipolarisation tour were postponed as the Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
Despite the allegations and the move to halt his earnings on YouTube, Brand still sits on an estimated fortune of about 16million.
Since his meteoric rise to fame, he has starred in feature films such as Death on the Nile, Minions: The Rise of Gru, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him To The Greek.
The 48-year-old lives in a 3.3million seven-bedroom Oxfordshire mansion with his wife Laura and their two children.
The stunning thatched cottage is based in the affluent riverside town of Henley-on-Thames, which is a popular haunt with the rich and famous,
Near to his country pile, Brand owns the Crown Inn pub in Pishill. He and his wife bought the Grade II listed building for about 850,000 in December 2021. It's thought to now be worth about 1million.
However, Brand's village boozer - which has been closed since he bought it - went 'into lockdown' as it was sealed by security fencing in the wake of his rape and sexual assault allegations.
Brand owns the Crown Inn at Pishill, Oxfordshire, with wife Laura Gallacher
Locals claim the hessian-coated barriers were put up around the grade-II listed pub this morning, with three security guards outside and as many as six men inside
Planning permission is needed if you wish to erect a new fence if it is next to a highway used by vehicles and exceeds one metre in height or if part of the site is within the curtilage of a listed building
Locals claimed a series of hessian-coated barriers were put up around the pub on Sunday, with three security guards outside and as many as six men inside.
Brand has invested in a number of properties during his time in Hollywood, buying a $6.5million (5.2million) Los Angeles mansion with his ex-wife Katy Perry in 2011. After the couple split, the 8,835-sq ft home was sold for more than $5.5million (4.4million). The pair also bought a penthouse in $2.75million New York which was also later sold.
In 2020, Brand snapped up a palatial pad in the Hollywood Hills for a reported $3million (2.4million). The sprawling 2,700sq ft Hacienda-style home was built in the 1950s and sits behind huge gates that lead to an open-air garage. The luxury pad even comes with its own music studio.
The maverick comedian also runs his own companies which helps to keep his bank balance healthy. Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm Ltd, which he co-owns with his wife, for instance, saw its cash reserves balloon by 2million last year to 4.1million. He also runs film production firm 90 Ninety Films Limited.
Online, Brand has built up a loyal and lucrative fanbase on social media - he has 3.8million followers on Instagram, 6.6million subscribers on YouTube, 11.2million followers on Twitter and 5.9million on Facebook.
His YouTube account - which has since been suspended for 'violating' its responsibility policy - is also thought to have been a solid earner for the under-fire comic.
The channel, which features a number of vaccine-sceptic videos and conspiracy theory videos, has more than 1.1billion views. Individual videos tend to get between 500,000 and one million views.
Estimates on how much cash he rakes in from it vary. However, social media expert Sara McCorquodale claimed the comedian and self-styled wellness guru could easily be pocketing thousands of pound with each video - which is now in jeopardy following is suspension.
It comes after accusations published in The Sunday Times and on Channel 4 's Dispatches saw multiple women accusing him of abusive and predatory behaviour, including rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse, between 2006 and 2013
Ms McCorquodale, who is the chief executive of social media analysis agency CORQ, told The Guardian: 'He is most likely making 2,000 to 4,000 per video, not taking into account any affiliate deals and brand sponsorships that might be running in the background.'
Based on five videos a week, Brand could easily be earning the best part of 1million a year from his channel. But some estimates have claimed he could earn as much as 2.92million.
The actor has previously been demonitized by YouTube. It led to him joining alternative video-sharing platform Rumble, where he rose to become one of the site's most popular podcasters.
His daily show - which has paused since allegations of rape and sexual abuse were levelled at Brand over the weekend - has a following of more than 1.4million people.
Videos on the platform earn cash in similar way as YouTube, with content makers getting a share of the profits made through advertising or by giving up rights to their clips to potentially earn up to $1,000 a video from the firm.
It's not known how much Brand makes from his Rumble account, but sources say top earner can rake in anything from $3 to $20 per 1,000 views. It means his most-watched video, with more than five million views, could potentially have netted him anything from $15,000 to $100,000 (12,000 to 80,000).
The Rumble channel description reads: 'Everybody knows that the old ideas won't help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when we're facing a mental health epidemic and ecological meltdown.'
Russell Brand's subscription and video views on YouTube have exploded since 2017
Brand has since been dropped by his PR team and book publishers following the allegations
Critics claim Brand has 'set up a cult' online to back him since the birth of the Me Too movement in 2017 by giving a platform to conspiracy theories including the idea that the pandemic, the Ukraine war and climate change distract from the activities of the global elite.
Sponsorship is also an area Brand is prominent in, with many of his videos featuring a product mention and link to it at the top of the video's written description, from which earnings for prominent YouTubers can be significant.
As part of his media empire, Brand also advertises his own self-produced podcast called 'Stay Free with Russell Brand'. Fans of the comedian can become one of his 'awakened wonders' by signing up for $60 (48) to receive exclusive content, guided meditations and even go on virtual walks with Brand.
Luminary, the subscription podcast firm, also produces Brand's interview show Under the Skin with Russell Brand. The company has not yet commented on whether it still has a business relationship with the 48-year-old.
His Instagram account includes a link to a merchandise store although the webpage says the store is currently under review and his website is currently selling tickets to a wellness festival scheduled for next summer and hosted by Brand and his wife, with several tiers of weekend tickets costing between 160 and 195 each having already sold out.
The link to the merchandise store on Instagram and a message on Brand's website note that profits from both the store and festival will go to the Stay Free Foundation an organisation Brand chairs which works with charities helping people with addiction and mental health issues.
In addition, Brand uses his social media presence to promote his other work, including tickets to his now-postponed live stand-up comedy tour and the range of podcasts he hosts.
Back in 2008, Brand signed a 1.8million deal with publishers Harper Collins for two books following the success of his Sunday Times best-seller, My Booky Wook.
He followed this up with Revolution in 2015 and a children's book The Pied Piper of Hamelin the year before. In 2018, Brand published Recovery: Freedom from our Addictions with Pan Macmillan.
Back in 2008, Brand signed a 1.8million deal with publishers Harper Collins for two books following the success of his Sunday Times best-seller, My Booky Wook
Brand's litany of book deals have seen him write autobiographies, political manifestos and wellness (pictured: 2017 book Recovery)
A new version was set for release in 2024, according to Variety. But this has now been paused after Pan Macmillian imprint Bluebird decided to cut ties and 'pause all future publishing' following the allegations against the comic.
In a statement, Bluebird said: 'These are very serious allegations and in the light of them, Bluebird has taken the decision to pause all future publishing with Russell Brand.'
Literary agency Tavistock Wood dropped Brand as a client over the weekend and the Trevi Women & Children's Charity, a domestic abuse organization, announced Sunday it had ended its association with Brand and his charity, the addiction-related Stay Free Foundation.
The damning allegations also led to Channel 4 removing all programmes linked to him on its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother's Big Mouth in which he was featured.
Streaming giant Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, Re:Birth, from its catalogue.
Meanwhile, promoters of Brand's latest standup show, Bipolarisation, have pulled his next appearances as the investigation into what the actor said were 'serious criminal' allegations continues.
He was due to perform his Bipolarisation show at the Theatre Royal Windsor on Tuesday, Plymouth Pavilions on Friday and the Halls Wolverhampton next Thursday.
A statement from the promoters issued on Monday afternoon said: 'We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we don't like doing it but we know you'll understand.'
The venues had been locked in talks most of the day over what to do about the Brand show after he was accused of rape and sexual assault.
Russell Brand, pictured at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre last night, could keep a large amount of his fanbase despite the allegations against him, a PR expert has said
Channel 4 has since removed shows from its site linked with Brand. Pictured: Brand on Celebrity Great British Bake Off
Brand hosting Big Brother's Little Brother in May 2006 - which is another one of the show's Channel 4 has removed from its website containing the comedian
Staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour
In the wake of the scandal, it today emerged Brand had stood down as the director of two companies, performing arts firm One Arm Bandit Limited, and Mayfair Film Partnership Limited.
PR experts have now questioned whether the sex scandal facing the star could lead to his fans turning their backs on him.
PR guru Sean O'Meara says the allegations against Brand were hugely damaging - although potentially not career ending.
Mr O'Meara, managing director of communications and PR consultancy Essential Content, told MailOnline: 'From a reputational point of view, mainstream platforms would be crazy to consider working with Brand again.
'But that doesn't mean he can't have a career after this.
'He now has no choice but to fully embrace his persona as a conspiracist crusader against the 'establishment', using social media and his own platforms, if he wants to continue being a public figure and performer.
'That's his only path to recovery. People will still pay to see him, but I doubt he'll be getting the support of powerful booking agents and promoters.'
Despite the 'horrendous' allegations facing Brand, some claim Brand's 'cult following' online may be willing to back him
PR expert Mark Borkowski says some of Brand's fanbase will stay intact thanks to the 'unfettered unregulated world of social media'.
But he also questioned whether Brand would have enough of a following to maintain his millionaire lifestyle - as he claimed he was uncertain about how much cash the comedian was raking in now.
'I've no idea how he makes his money. I'm still bewildered about how he generates cash. It's always been bewildering for me,' he added.
Brand received support online from the likes of Andrew Tate and Elon Musk and his fans were out in force at a gig in Wembley on Saturday to show their support.
Russell Brand pictured with his wife Laura Gallacher recently before the allegations against him emerged
Mr Borkowski said that Brand has 11million followers on Twitter alone, 6.6million subscribers on YouTube and a hugely popular wellness podcast. These fans could choose to back him.
'He [Brand] has an audience and lots and lots of people who are engaged in his content'.
He added the comedian's denial of the accusations was reminiscent of how Donald Trump deals with accusations of improper behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'I think there will be a profound amount of people who will stand by him. Normally with allegations like this your career would be over, but not in this case, which is interesting.
'He's a great content generator. He didn't get to the top of his profession because he's mediocre. He has the power to bewitch his audience.'
Brand, 48, was accused of attacking four women between 2006 and 2013 when he was working as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and later as an actor in Hollywood. Other women have made a range of accusations about controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Brand has since been dropped by a women's charity he was working with, while TV production companies and channels have launched probes into his alleged behaviour.
In recent years Brand has found work as a stand-up comedian, podcaster and actor. Pictured: The 48-year-old in the 2022 film Death on the Nile
Alice (pictured) alleges that Russell Brand sexually assaulted her when she was 16 years old. She claims he would send a car to pick her up from her secondary school lessons, which she has since claimed was a 'BBC car'
Bosses at Netflix have been urged to remove his comedy special, Re:Birth from its streaming catalogue
BBC chiefs scrambled to investigate Brand last night after the comedian was accused of rape.
Their probe was announced minutes before Scotland Yard piled on the pressure by announcing that detectives would like to speak to the comedian's alleged victims.
Brand, a former star of the BBC and Channel 4, faces bombshell claims from women alleging sexual assaults, abuse and predatory behaviour including one who was a 16-year-old schoolgirl.
But the claims from one businesswoman who alleged Brand raped her when she refused a threesome and another who said she was 16 when he choked her during a sexual act, prompted a firestorm yesterday.
Among the complaints raised in the investigation were allegations by a woman, referred to as Alice to protect her identity, who claims she was sexually assaulted by Brand as a 16-year-old.
She alleges he took her virginity, was 'preoccupied' with her being 'innocent and pure', and often referred to her as 'The Child'.
Alice described his behaviour towards her as 'grooming' as Brand would allegedly provide her with scripts on how to deceive her parents into allowing her to visit him. She also claimed he would send his 'BBC car' to her secondary school to pick her up.
The comedian released a video last week refuting all the allegations against him. Pictured: Brand leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre after a gig on Saturday night
'The first time I used it, he told me it was booked to take him to his radio show but he had a friend taking him instead so I should use that car,' she told The Times.
She claimed the chauffeur once took her from Brand's home to her grandmother's house and that on a separate occasion the same car 'picked me up from school'.
Alice added: 'It was the same car...I knew that that was a BBC car.'
The BBC did not initially commit to an inquiry but amid the growing outcry, it shifted its position last night and a spokesman said it was 'urgently looking into the issues'.
In a statement, a BBC spokesman said: 'The documentary and associated reports contained serious allegations, spanning a number of years.
'Russell Brand worked on BBC radio programmes between 2006 and 2008 and we are urgently looking into the issues raised.'
The broadcaster yesterday launched an internal investigation into what was known about Brand's alleged behaviour following claims that at least one senior executive was aware of complaints against the comedian and seemingly dismissed them.
Banijay UK, which produced Big Brother's EForum and Big Brother's Big Mouth in the early 2000s, revealed it had also 'launched an urgent investigation' into the 'very serious' allegations from former staff who worked alongside Brand when he hosted the programmes between 2004 and 2006.
The ex-staffers have claimed that Brand got them to 'act like pimps' by getting the numbers of women in the audience and passing notes to them from the presenter.
Channel 4 has also said it is conducting its own internal investigation following allegations of predatory behaviour against Brand.
They said: 'We have asked the production company who produced the programmes for Channel 4 to investigate these allegations and report their findings properly and satisfactorily to us.
'Channel 4 is also conducting its own internal investigation, and we would encourage anyone who is aware of such behaviour to contact us directly.'
The statement added: 'We will be writing to all our current suppliers reminding them of their responsibilities under our Code of Conduct, as we are committed to ensuring our industry has safe, inclusive and professional working environments.'
The network also confirmed to the Telegraph that it has 'taken down all content featuring Russell Brand while we look into the matter'.
Among the most devoted fans are listeners to his podcast, on which he rails against 'Big Pharma' and the mainstream media, as well as promoting conspiracy theories.
The allegations of 'sinister' behaviour towards women made against him have the potential to end careers in showbusiness.
These include claims he made runners on Big Brother's EFourum, which was later known as Big Brother's Big Mouth, 'act like pimps' by demanding they get the numbers of women in the audience for him.
One staff member claimed she felt she was 'groomed' for sex by the presenter, while another said they had reported concerns about his behaviour to managers at production company Endemol. Banijay UK, which bought the firm in 2020, has launched an investigation into the claims.
In the investigations, one woman alleged Brand raped her against the wall in his Los Angeles home when she was in her 30s. Another whom he allegedly referred to as 'the child' told how the presenter targeted her when was 16 years old and still at school, and he was aged 30.
Andrew Pierce and Beverley Turner have continued their spat over the ongoing Russell Brand scandal after clashing in a furious on-air row yesterday.
The GB News star and Daily Mail columnist said that he has been 'overwhelmed' with messages of support after he challenged his co-host for calling the comedian a 'hero' in the wake of rape, sexual assault and abuse allegations.
On Saturday, The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches reported allegations that Brand had raped a woman in his LA home, attacked two others and groomed a 16-year-old girl between 2006 and 2013 at the height of his fame.
The Met Police said on Monday it had received a report of sexual assault against Brand which allegedly took place in London's Soho district in 2003. The maverick actor and comic has now had his YouTube account suspended from making money.
Hours after Pierce branded Turner 'shameful' for defending Brand in a heated row live on air, the presenters continued their public spat. Others have also appeared to weigh in, including James Cracknell's wife who took a thinly veiled swipe at the athlete's GB News host-ex partner Turner.
Linking to an opinion piece she wrote on her reasons for defending Brand, Turner tweeted late last night: 'I didn't know that my co-host was going to do this today. I knew we'd be discussing this topic of #RussellBrand of course, but I wasn't prepared for the personal onslaught which is why I look caught off-guard.'
But Pierce hit back this morning, posting: 'I'm afraid this is just not true. @bevturner was told in explicit terms I would challenge on air her deeply offensive defence of #russellbrand who she describes as her 'hero'. I've been overwhelmed with supportive messages for calling her out.'
Andrew Pierce and Beverley Turner have continued their spat over the ongoing Russell Brand scandal after clashing in a furious on-air row yesterday
Turner accused Pierce of carrying out a 'personal onslaught' but the Daily Mail columnist said he was 'overwhelmed' with messages of support for 'calling her out'
Russell Brand pictured on Saturday evening leaving the Troubadour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set
Last night, Jordan Cracknell, who is James Cracknell's new wife after his split from ex Beverley Turner in 2019, also took to Instagram to share her thoughts on the accusations against Brand - and described the women who have spoken as the 'heroes'.
She posted: 'My heart goes out to the brave women who came forward with their stories about Russell Brand.
'The allegations are stomach churning. I'm sure it wasn't easy, and the misogynistic backlash is intense in these cases (one only has to look at Twitter). They are the heroes in all of this.'
During Monday's GB News show, Pierce said that Turner was 'behaving like an idiot' as she continued to defend amid the fallout.
On Saturday following the reports, Ms Turner tweeted that Brand was being 'attacked' by 'establishment media' and encouraged him to keep going with his YouTube channel which often rails against these outlets, hailing him 'a hero'.
But Pierce said on Monday: 'That is shameful. You have dismissed in one tweet a four-year investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4, contemptuously, the mainstream media.'
He asked: 'Don't you think before you say he is a hero you should establish whether these very serious allegations are true?'
She replied: 'Before I tweeted that, I had spoken to several sources close to Brand, close to The Times... I was confident that there is no smoking gun in this regard.
'I remain confident having watched the Dispatches [episode].'
She added: 'Of course everybody has the right to not be sexually assaulted.
The feud started after Beverley Turner described Russell Brand as a 'hero' following the reports of allegations made against Brand
Yesterday, James Cracknell's wife Jordan (pictured together here) also took a thinly veiled swipe at his GB News host ex-partner Beverly Turner as she slammed the 'misogynistic backlash' towards Russell Brand's accusers
Jordan Cracknell wrote on Instagram that her 'heart goes out to the brave women who came forward' as she described them as 'the heroes in all of this'
Controversial comedian Brand at 'The Today Show Concert Series' TV programme pictured in June 2010
Russell Brand on Big Brother's Little Brother on May 31, 2006. Brand presented Big Brother's Big Mouth for three years before choosing not to return for the eighth series of the show
'Anybody who has been sexually assaulted, my heart goes out to them.
'This happens every single day.'
Pierce countered that he did not feel there was 'sympathy' in her tweet for the four women who have raised these allegations adding that he was 'shocked' at her statement.
In the post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Turner wrote: 'You are being attacked @rustyrockets.
'Establishment media don't know what to do with the fact that you have six million subscribers & generate autonomous, knowing and original content.
'You are welcome on my @GBNEWS show anytime. We are mainstream media. But we are not Establishment media. There's a difference.
'Keep going. This proves you are winning. You're a hero.'
In recent years Brand has seemingly become a prominent conspiracy theorist, using his YouTube channel with more than 6.6million subscribers to cover topical news stories, including alleged misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and being an outspoken sceptic of vaccinations.
Reflecting on Brand's platform, Turner said: 'Let me tell you why he's winning.
Screen grab taken from Channel 4 Dispatches trailer of Nadia - or an actress playing Nadia - speaking about her harrowing experience of allegedly being raped in LA by Brand
'He's winning because here's a man who generates his own content, under his own steam, under his own expense.
'He is a threat to all of these newspapers.'
A furious row also erupted over whether Brand's wife's sister Kirsty Gallacher deleted a message of support for the comedian after seeing the claims revealed in the Channel 4 Dispatches programme.
The night before, Brand had posted a two-minute video denying any criminal wrongdoing. TV star Gallacher shared the video with a large red heart but later deleted it after the documentary was released.
Pierce told viewers: 'Interestingly his wife's sister Kirsty Gallacher tweeted in support of him and then she saw the Dispatches programme.
But a furious Ms Turner interrupted, shouting: 'No, that's not true Andrew.' She claimed that Pierce did not know why she took down the post, adding: 'I'll tell you why. Because people like you are saying that you cannot defend this man.'
She claimed that Ms Gallacher was frightened of speaking out and 'only idiots like me' have.
Pierce then interrupted: 'Well there's a true word to use there Bev because you are behaving like an idiot. You are behaving like an idiot.'
Turner added: 'I will always stand by my principles. This man is innocent until proven guilty.'
After Brand was hit with accusations of rape and sexual assault, more women have come forward with allegations about how he treated them, it has emerged.
The comedian, actor and internet personality has told his 6.5million subscribers that there are 'very, very serious criminal allegations' made against him which he 'absolutely refutes'
The Times and Sunday Times claim 'several women' have come forward with undisclosed allegations about Brand's behaviour during the early 2000s in wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 which was published on Saturday.
The latest allegations - which the newspaper says have not been investigated, but will now be 'rigorously checked'.
The BBC is now also facing 'urgent questions' after it was claimed that Brand, 48, used his company-provided car service to pick the girl up from school.
It comes as both BBC and Channel 4 have launched internal investigations into separate accusations of predatory behaviour by Brand towards staff and audience members during the time of his employment.
Channel 4 has since removed all programmes linked to Brand from its website, including episodes of The Great British Bake Off and Big Brother's Big Mouth in which he featured, The Daily Telegraph reported.
Netflix has since been urged to remove his comedy special, titled Re:Birth, from its streaming catalogue.
And now, YouTube has topped Brand from being able to earn any money through his channel for 'violating our Creator Responsibility policy'.
The 48-year-old produces around five videos a week for his 6.6million subscribers, earning him an estimated 1million a year.
Under the terms of his suspension he will still be allowed to post videos on the platform but will not receive any of the advertising revenue.
YouTube said in a statement: 'If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.'
Brand has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and blamed the 'mainstream media' for the 'litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks'.
A man who deliberately coughed in the direction of colleagues having tested positive for Covid-19 in Singapore has been hit with a short jail sentence despite arguing the stunt was 'just a joke'.
Tamilselvam Ramaiya, 64, an employee at the investment holding firm Leong Hup Singapore, was sentenced on Monday to two weeks behind bars for putting his coworkers in harm's way and infecting one of them with the virus.
The incident took place during a period of heightened restrictions in autumn 2021, leading to charges under Singapore's Covid-19 Temporary Measures Act.
Singapore was known for its strict measures throughout the pandemic and only rolled back some of its more restrictive measures in February of this year.
Tamilselvam Ramaiya, 64, an employee at the investment holding firm Leong Hup Singapore, was sentenced on Monday to two weeks behind bars for putting his coworkers in harm's way and infecting one of them with the virus in 2021 (File image: Covid vaccination centre in Singapore October 2021)
On October 18, 2021, Ramaiya, employed as a cleaner at Leong Hup Singapore, reported for work at the firm's logistics office, according to The Straits Times.
He was instructed to undergo an antigen rapid test, which returned a positive result.
Following protocol, he was told to leave the building immediately but Ramaiya instead decided to stay in the building and engage with the assistant logistics manager, 40, and a 56-year-old female clerk with a litany of health problems, including severe kidney issues which had required her to undergo dialysis.
'The accused [Ramaiya], who was initially wearing his mask, walked towards the office door and exited the office,' Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said in a statement.
'However, he then opened the office door and coughed into the office with his mask on. The accused did this twice, before the [logistics supervisor] closed the office door with his leg.'
After being ushered out of the room, Ramaiya opened the door again, this time lowering his mask to cough in the direction of the logistics manager and clerk.
Ramaiya was instructed to undergo an antigen rapid test, which returned a positive result. He then proceeded to cough on colleagues, including one who suffered severe heart and kidney issues
He then headed out for good but, still seeking to make his colleagues uncomfortable, opened a window from the outside and coughed through the gap.
Ramaiya's lawyer argued his client was not acting out of malice and requested he pay a fine, but the court ultimately chose to send him behind bars given the serious health issues of the 56-year-old clerk, which were known to Ramaiya.
The World Health Organisation reports that Singapore has witnessed over 2.5million Covid cases between January 3, 2020, and September 13 of this year, resulting in approximately 1,870 deaths.
The Singapore Ministry of Health has declared that roughly 81 per cent of its population has received some form of vaccination protection.
Ex-president Donald Trump will not attend the next Republican primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, California, and will instead travel to Detroit to meet with autoworkers.
In addition, Trump, 77, will deliver a prime time address to coincide with the debate.
His visit comes as striking workers in Motor City are at loggerheads with the nation's biggest car makers. Trump has been critical of the union's leadership in Detroit, accusing them of selling out their members.
During the last debate in August, Trump sat for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
He said in an interview with another former Fox host Megyn Kelly that he would debate Biden but was unlikely to appear at a Republican debate. 'I don't see it. Why would I do it?,' he said.
At the time of the first debate in Milwaukee, Trump wrote on Truth Social: 'The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had.'
Among those who will meet with Trump are over 500 blue-collar workers including auto workers, plumbers, pipe-fitters and electricians, reports the New York Times.
Donald Trump announced this week that he is skipping the second Republican presidential debate in order to meet with striking auto workers in Detroit
It is the first time in history all three of America's unionized automakers have gone on strike at the same time
United Auto Workers member Brian Rooster Heppner raises his fist as he cheers during a rally in Detroit, on Friday
United Auto Workers members march through downtown Detroit on Friday. The UAW is conducting a strike against Ford, Stellantis and General Motors
Trump has yet to publicly pick a side in the dispute between the Union of Auto Workers, which is 150,000 strong, and the car companies.
A source close to his campaign said that it's unlikely that the former Apprentice host will go to the picket lines because of security issues. The union is seeking a 36 percent pay increase over four years and equal pay for new workers.
Trump won Michigan in 2016, flipping it from 2012, one of the many states where he upset Hillary Clinton. Bin 2020, President Joe Biden carried the state by more than 150,000 votes.
A recent CBS News poll shows that in a potential general election match-up, Trump holds a one percent lead over the incumbent.
The Times report mentions that a new Trump TV ad has launched in Michigan and in Ohio.
'All theyve ever wanted is to compete fairly worldwide and get their fair share of the American dream. Donald Trump calls them great Americans and has always had their backs,' the narrator says in the ad.
In response to Trump's announcement, a spokesperson for Biden's 2024 campaign said that the real estate mogul is 'going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn.'
During an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, Trump accused UAW's members of being 'sold down the river by leadership.'
He was also heavily critical of UAW president Shawn Fain.
Trump has said that UAW president Shawn Fain is 'not going a good job'
Members of the UAW union march through the streets of downtown Detroit following a rally on the first day of the UAW strike in Detroit
Biden, the self-described 'most pro-union president in American history,' spoke with UAW boss Shawn Fain and the three auto company CEOs in a futile last-ditch bid to avoid a strike
'I dont know the gentleman, but I know his name very well, and I think hes not doing a good job in representing his union. Because hes not going to have a union in three years from now. Those jobs are all going to be gone, because all of those electric cars are going to be made in China,' Trump said.
Trump made similar claims on his Truth Social platform over the weekend calling electric cars a 'disaster for both the United Auto Workers and the American Consumer.'
'If this happens, the United Auto workers will be wiped out, along with all other auto workers in the United States,' Trump added.
Fain has said that it would be a 'disaster' if Trump were to win in 2024 but has refused to endorse Biden over issues related to electric cars. In an appearance on CBS Face the Nation, Fain said that his union's endorsement is 'going to be earned, not freely given. We expect action. Not words.'
Speaking about Trump's Detroit visit, Fain told the Times that 'every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers.'
'We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class,' Fain continued.
Biden has expressed support for the striking workers, calling on Ford, Stellantis and General Motors, to improve their pay proposals.
Since 2020, Biden has 'appointed labor allies to the National Labor Relations Board and federal judgeships,' reports the Washington Post. A 2021 legislation gave unions more bargaining power.
Trump's biggest challenger in the Republican primaries Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently vetoed a piece of pro electric vehicle legislation that had bipartisan support in the Sunshine State.
DeSantis took aim at Trump's decision not to attend the first GOP debate saying: 'You have got to earn the nomination, and ... doing things like these debates, theyre important parts of the process.'
The next debate will by moderated by Stuart Varney and Dana Perino of Fox News alongside Univision's Ilia Calderon.
The parents of a baby who was born in India with 26 fingers and toes have called her the reincarnation of a Hindu goddess.
The young girl, who was born at a hospital in Bharatpur, in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, has seven fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot.
While doctors have described her condition as a genetic anomaly, her family are reportedly delighted and have publicly called her the reborn version of Dholagarh Devi, a well-known local deity whose temple is near where the girl was born.
Statues of the deity reveal she is a young girl with several arms.
The baby's mother, named as Sarju Devi, 25, is said to be delighted.
Her brother, who has not been named, told local media: 'My sister has given birth to a baby who has 26 fingers, and we are considering it to be the incarnation of Dholagarh Devi. We are very happy.'
The newborn girl (pictured) was born with 26 toes and fingers
She was born with two extra fingers on each hand
She was also born with an additional toe on each foot
Her family are delighted, and believe she is a reincarnation of a well-known local deity called Dholagarh Devi
A doctor at the hospital she was born in said that she's a healthy baby, despite her additional digits
The baby's father, Gopal Bhattacharya, is a police constable in the Central Reserve Police Force and he is also said to be very happy.
Dr BS Soni, a medic at the hospital where the baby was born, said: 'There is no harm of any kind in having 26 fingers, but it is a genetic anomaly. The girl is otherwise absolutely healthy.'
It is not currently known whether the family are planning to have their newborn girl undergo surgery to reduce the number of digits on each limb.
The baby's birth comes just a few weeks after a traveller left his fellow plane passengers horrified when he slipped off his shoes and socks, revealing his extra toe.
A TikTok of the shoeless man went viral, garnering a huge 8.1million views and over 14,000 comments, most of which are poking fun at the unusual clip and re-igniting the debate of whether it's acceptable to go barefoot in public.
After zooming in on their fellow jetsetter's foot, the camera pans out to the window as the plane takes off.
One commenter joked 'Flying out of Torontoe,' while another added 'you know he's not lack toes intolerant'.
The victims of an alleged stabbing rampage at one of Australia's most prestigious universities have been identified as Ilysha Perry and Isabelle Vasudeva.
Alex Ophel, 24, was arrested by police on Monday afternoon after he allegedly stabbed two 20-year-old female students with a knife.
He also allegedly struck two other foreign students in the head with a frypan during a 30-minute period marauding over the Canberra campus.
Ms Perry is a second-year ANU student from the southern NSW coastal town of Batemans Bay. She remains in a critical condition in ICU.
Isabelle Vasudeva remains in a stable condition.
Ilysha Perry, a 20-year-old ANU student, is fighting for her life in a critical condition in hospital
Isabelle Vasudeva, another 20-year-old ANU student allegedly stabbed in the attack, is in a stable condition
New photos have emerged of an AFP officer forcing Ophel to the ground before placing him in handcuffs at the ANU's Fellows Oval.
Ophel has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault and one count of possessing an object to be used to kill.
The two foreign students Ophel allegedly struck with a frypan on the head and the face have not been named but were aged 24 and 34.
ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Sally Wheeler praised the bravery of ANU staff and students who kept people out of harm's way.
'Certain members of students and staff stepped in to shepherd others away from the course that this person was taking across campus,' Professor Wheeler told Nine News on Tuesday night.
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Stephanie Leonard said the incident shattered the normally peaceful campus environment.
Photos show the dramatic arrest of Alex Ophel, 24, who is accused of going on stabbing rampage on ANU's Canberra campus
Former ANU student Alex Ophel has been denied bail and is set to undergo a mental health assessment
'Obviously any violent offence is concerning,' she said.
'ANU and Canberra are usually very safe places and instances like this are extremely rare.'
Police previously stated they had not identified a motive for the attack and believed the victims were not known to Ophel.
Ophel briefly appeared in ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday and has been denied bail.
He is set to have a mental health assessment on 17 October.
ANU Vice Chancellor Brian Schmidt urged those who had been truamatised by the incident to seek help.
'I understand this incident may have caused distress among members of our community and I want to remind you that support is available,' Professor Schmidt said.
AFP officers lead Ophel away after he was arrested on the ANU's Fellow Oval on Monday afternoon
'In times like these, it is essential we support one another and stay connected as a community,' ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt said in a statement.
'I know a number of members of our community stopped to render assistance to those injured or stepped in to shepherd people away from danger.'
Anyone who witnessed or has footage of the incident and have not already spoken to police is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
U.S. President Joe Biden will use his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to make a full-throated appeal for world leaders to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders - and he hopes Republicans in Congress will take notice too.
Biden's address at the annual gathering is the centerpiece event of his three-day visit to New York, which will include meetings with the heads of five Central Asian nations, and the leaders of Israel and Brazil.
Biden has made rallying allies to support Ukraine a leading component of U.S. foreign policy, arguing the world must send a clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will not be able to outlast the West.
'We rallied the world to support Ukraine and united NATO because I was convinced at the beginning that Putin was counting on NATO not being able to stick together and that would be enough' for victory, Biden said at an election campaign fundraiser in New York on Monday.
But Biden has faced criticism from some Republicans who want the United States to spend less money there. Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP nomination in 2024, has argued he would seek a quick end to the war if he is elected again.
President Joe Biden is expected to make a plea to United Nations members to stick with Ukraine during his General Assembly address on Tuesday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Biden at the White House on Thursday and meet with some congressional leaders as well
House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the U.S. should keep sending billions in weaponry to Ukraine.
Biden has already been under scrutiny over his families ties to Ukraine. In August, the ex-Ukrainian prosecutor fired at Joe Bidens insistence claimed the then-Vice President wanted to stop him investigating his son and even planned to haul Hunter in for questioning.
Former Ukraine chief prosecutor Viktor Shokin, 70, made the shocking claims in a little-known video from around 2019.
The video has recently resurfaced, along with fresh evidence supporting the theory that Joe had him fired to kill a probe into Burisma, the allegedly corrupt gas firm on whose board Hunter served.
In his speech, Biden plans to argue that Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and occupation of territory is a violation of the founding UN Charter, a main principle of which is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
'He will make a very full-throated defense of why supporting Ukraine really does matter, not just for our national security but for the maintenance of the UN Charter and the idea of sovereignty and territorial integrity and what all that means,' a senior administration official said.
Another administration official said Biden and U.S. officials would also focus on mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development and fighting climate change.
The Ukrainian president will also address the the summit in New York City on Tuesday where he will discuss his country's food security and defense efforts
House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the top Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the U.S. should keep sending billions in weaponry to Ukraine
Former Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Viktor Shokin is reiterating accusations of corruption against Joe and Hunter Biden in recent statements
Solid majorities of Americans support providing weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia and believe that such aid demonstrates to China and other U.S. rivals a will to protect U.S. interests and allies, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey in June.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to visit Biden at the White House on Thursday and meet with some congressional leaders as well.
The United States is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine to coincide with his visit, and has asked Congress to approve billions more in security assistance for the rest of the year.
'We have confidence that there will be bipartisan support for this. I think President Zelenskyy does as well,' White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
The Ukrainian president will also address the the summit in New York City on Tuesday where he will discuss his country's food security and defense efforts against the invasion, according to the Washington Post.
'We are now at a critical juncture in time, as Ukraine continues to advance on the battlefield, and it is critical to sustain and strengthen worldwide support for Ukraine,' Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the newspaper.
After his speech, Biden will sit down with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss world hotspots.
Later, he will attend a summit with the presidents of five Central Asian nations, a first. They are Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
On Wednesday, Biden will meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Lula, and join him in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States.
Also on Wednesday, Biden will have his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu regained power last December.
Sullivan said they would discuss 'a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.'
Britain must prepare for the 'trauma and chaos' of Donald Trump becoming US president for a second time, Lord William Hague has warned.
The ex-foreign secretary, also a former Tory leader, put the chances of Mr Trump returning to the White House at '50/50'.
It is widely expected the 77-year-old - who served in the Oval Office between 2017 and 2021 - will be the Republican candidate for next year's election and will once again challenge Joe Biden for the presidency.
Lord Hague cautioned businesses and other Western nations they can't 'just wait' and see whether Mr Trump is successful with a third election campaign.
He warned that Mr Trump, in a second spell as president, would appoint 'spineless placemen' to the FBI or other top jobs and imperil the 'fragile crockery' of American institutions.
Mr Trump could also withdraw US support for Ukraine, 'disengage' from NATO, resume a 'naive fondness' for global dictators, or scrap America's climate policies, Lord Hague added.
Britain must prepare for the 'trauma and chaos' of Donald Trump becoming US president for a second time, Lord William Hague
The ex-foreign secretary, also a former Tory leader, put the chances of Mr Trump returning to the White House at '50/50'
Lord Hague swiped that Joe Biden, at the age of 80, would probably 'best help' efforts to prevent Mr Trump returning as US president by 'standing aside' in 2024
'A selection of these items alone would add up to the biggest geopolitical upheaval since the end of the Cold War,' he wrote in a column for The Times.
Lord Hague added that a 'radical isolationism' in parts of American politics was being encouraged by Mr Trump and would 'outlive him, and eventually come to power'.
He also warned that countries such as Russia and China were 'preparing now' for Mr Trump to return to power.
Russian president Vladimir Putin will 'play for time' and hope Mr Trump's return as US president will see Western unity over Ukraine fall apart, while China will see 'uncertainty and erratic signals' from the White House as an opportunity to seize control of Taiwan, Lord Hague suggested.
'Autocrats the world over will now be preparing their strategies with Trump in mind, and in some cases helping to get him into power,' he added.
'if dictators are preparing for Trump by playing it long and sowing discord, free nations need to speed up and reinforce their unity, as well as fortify their resilience in the event of shocks.
'While we must persuade Americans that they need us, we also have to show them we can do more for ourselves.
'The rest is up to them, and in particular for them to spare the world the trauma and chaos of a second Trump term.'
Lord Hague called for Western nations to prepare for a possible return of Mr Trump as US president by stepping up efforts to block 'divisive social media material designed to weaken democracy', to further increase military aid for Ukraine, and boost defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP for all NATO members.
He also outlined how a 'coherent Western strategy for stability across north Africa' should be drawn up - with or without US involvement - and demanded stronger defence ties with South Korea and Japan, and deeper foreign policy cooperation between Britain and the EU.
Carbon border taxes 'ready for launch if the US abandons its net zero commitments', reforms of the World Bank to help poorer countries, and international controls over the use of Artificial Intelligence should be developed, Lord Hague added.
He swiped that Mr Biden, at the age of 80, would probably 'best help' efforts to prevent Mr Trump returning as US president by 'standing aside' as the Democrat candidate in 2024.
This is the shocking moment that three female youths launched a terrifying attack on two people on a London station platform, punching them both in the head after a robbery on board a train.
The group of women are seen cornering the first victim and screaming at them as shocked onlookers watch on from inside a train at Penge East railway station in south-east London.
Video footage filmed from one of the train carriages shows one of the attackers, dressed in a matching grey tracksuit, swinging her right fist at the victim and connecting with their head.
As the other two youths trap the 22-year-old woman up against a Lion King West End poster, she then walks around the other side and lands another blow on the victim.
A second woman then joins in and throws a punch at the helpless woman who has been treated for minor injuries in hospital, according to British Transport Police.
The third woman then swings a shocking blow with her left arm before the trio finally leave the first victim alone. The terrifying assault took place at around 9.20pm on Sunday. Officers said a robbery on board a train and at the station took place.
This is the shocking moment that three women launched a terrifying attack on two passengers on a south London station platform after a robbery on board a train. Here, they are seen trapping the victim up against the wall
The woman in the grey tracksuit can be seen attacking from the right hand side and then walking around to the left to land another blow
The three attackers then leave the injured woman and walk down the platform before attacking a second victim
As they walk back down the train platform, the attacker in the grey tracksuit then turns to a second person in an orange hoodie and punches them in the head.
The other two attackers then follow suit and both land brutal blows on the victim in quick succession as they cower up against the wall. One attacker punches their victim in the stomach and the other swings at their head.
The three culprits then appear to approach the train to get on before the video cuts off.
The shocking 29-second clip was filmed by one of the passengers on a train. One onlooker is heard saying: 'Oh my god.'
After the video was widely circulated online, outraged social media users condemned the attack.
One user said: 'Absolutely out of control!'
Another posted: 'Out of control with no sense of wrongdoing. No police on patrol. No security at the station. This will get much much worse.'
A third added: 'Thats horrific, absolute gang mentality on that poor girl.'
The out-of-control attacker brutally punches the passenger in orange in the face before walking off
A second attacker then punches the cowering victim in the stomach and she is followed by the third
The third attacker punches the victim in the face before all three flee and the video cuts off
British Transport Police told MailOnline that there had been a robbery on the train and at the station.
A spokesman said: 'Officers were called to Penge East Railway Station at around 9.20pm on Sunday (17 September) following reports of an assault and robbery on board a train and at the station.
'The victim, a 22-year-old woman, later went to hospital with minor injuries.'
MailOnline understands no arrests have been made.
China's former top envoy to Washington was abruptly ousted from his post as minister for foreign affairs after an internal Communist Party investigation found he had fathered a child during an extramarital affair in the US, a report claims.
Qin Gang, 57, disappeared from public view in July and was stripped of his title as foreign minister without explanation.
But senior party officials were told the former envoy to the United States was removed from his prestigious post as minister of foreign affairs for 'lifestyle reasons', a euphemism for sexual misconduct, after CCP investigators found he had fathered a child with his mistress in the US.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that the names of the woman and child were not disclosed to party officials when they were briefed.
It is also not known exactly how long the affair was, when it was said to have taken place, or how old the child is.
Qin Gang (pictured) reportedly fathered a child with a mistress in the US
He was abruptly sacked in July with no explanation
READ MORE: China is accused of trying to spy on a civil servant at the British embassy in Beijing by hiding a listening device in a teapot Advertisement
The sources added that the CCP is now looking to see whether the affair or other misconduct by Gang compromised China's national security.
Intelligence officials from across the world were reportedly involved in Gang's downfall, who was removed from his position after just seven months.
According to Western intelligence officials who spoke to Intelligence Online, Russian spies told the CCP that Gang was at the heart of a spying operation on behalf of the United States.
On top of this, intelligence officials from Taiwan reportedly told the publication that the CCP was investigating at least two of his mistresses, the one in the US and another based in the UK.
Gang was seen as a measured and careful diplomat in intelligence circles.
CCP leader Xi Jinping reportedly handpicked him as China's foreign minister just two years after he was made Beijing's top envoy to the US, an unusually fast promotion.
Xi Jinping reportedly handpicked Gang to be China's top diplomat
He was replaced by another career diplomat, Wang Yi (pictured)
READ MORE: Chinese SPIES could be using the southern border to get into the U.S. top Republican warns Advertisement
Despite this, he was quickly replaced by another career diplomat, Wang Yi.
Yi, 69, has served in several important posts, including as foreign minister from 2013 to 2022.
He was also China's envoy to Japan, and headed up the country's Taiwan Affairs Office for several years.
Gang's removal came as part of a major crackdown on CCP officials suspected of spying.
Earlier this month, China's defence minister Li Shangfu, whose prime responsibility is military relations with other countries, was taken away for questioning by CCP authorities.
And in July, both the political and civil service head of China's Rocket Force, which controls the country's strategic missiles, were dismissed without any public reason.
MailOnline has contacted China's Foreign Ministry for comment.
Frogmen searching a lake in rural France as part of a major investigation into the disappearance of a two-year-old boy that has been compared to the hit BBC show The Missing have revealed that their search was fruitless.
Emile Soleil, whose parents live in Marseilles, disappeared without trace on July 8 from Haut-Vernet, an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble where he was staying with his grandparents.
A major search operation was launched involving 800 gendarmes, firefighters, volunteers, helicopters, thermic camera drones, and sniffer dogs to try to find the toddler.
The case drew a dark comparison with hit BBC drama The Missing, starring James Nesbitt and Frances O'Connor, in which a young boy vanishes while on holiday with his family in France.
Divers from the local police force inspected a lake next to a public swimming pool in the tiny hamlet for a second time, going back to make sure they have investigated it properly.
On July 8 two-year-old Emile Soleil (pictured) disappeared without trace from Haut-Vernet, an Alpine hamlet south of Grenoble
Frogmen are understood to be diving in this lake, located by the hamlet's public swimming pool
Gendarmes meticulously searching the outskirts of the village of Vernet back in July. The search has now been renewed
Sadly, Aix-en-Provence prosecutors office revealed that their latest search did not yield any results.
'The searches are completed and have remained in vain,' prosecutors said.
It comes as police investigating the disappearance of a two-year-old French boy who went missing two months ago renewed their search last week by digging up a large concrete slab at a neighbour's house.
After an apparent lull in the investigation, detectives have now turned their attention to a house just a few hundred metres away from the family home, BFM DICI reports.
They reportedly used a jackhammer to destroy a concrete slab at the property, which is believed to have been laid during work carried out by a construction company this summer.
French media outlets are reporting that shortly after Emile went missing, a sonar device detected an anomaly on the slab.
Searches of the area have since been made, with the mayor of Vernet telling BFMTV that they were a 'simple check' by police so the homeowner could finish work on the house.
Last month, mayor Francois Balique speculated that Emile must have been moved from the village by one or more adults.
He told CNews: 'When we see that we have not found Emile in the town, it means that he has necessarily been moved. It cannot be otherwise. [He] could only have been moved by adults, by one or more adults.
'Either we are dealing with a madman, or we are dealing with someone Machiavellian.'
After days of thorough searches over the summer, a spokesman said: 'Either the body was concealed after an accident, or it was removed.'
His comments sparked wild speculation.
Two gendarmes meticulously search the surroundings of a house for the young boy who has vanished
Some have speculated that Emile may have been hit by a car on the small, unsighted country roads of Haut Vernet, and that his panicked killer may have taken away his body after accidentally running him down.
The public prosecutor has previously stressed that 'no element characterises a criminal offence likely to be at the origin of this disappearance.'
After weeks of scouring the area, there is still no trace of the two-year-old.
Police have carried out searches of the 20 or so houses in the small Alpine hamlet, as it stands to no avail.
French investigators called off their initial search after five days of excavations 'yielded nothing'.
Remy Avon, public prosecutor of Digne-les-Baines, said that 97 hectares had been scoured by 100 investigators, while volunteers turned out to cover more ground.
They face life imprisonment for murder and incest, after three bodies were found
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, were in an allegedly incestous relationship
Harrowing images taken from inside Poland's incest house of horror have revealed the dingy basement where depraved Piotr Gierasik allegedly threw the newborn babies of his own daughter to die while they continued their four-year relationship.
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest after the remains of three infants were discovered at the property in the village of Czerniki, in northern Poland, last week.
Police had conducted a visit at the property after receiving a disturbing tip-off from social services, but while combing the property for evidence discovered a filthy stench emanating from a basement inside the house.
Upon further inspection, they made the horrific find - the rotting corpses of three children who had been tossed into the pitch-black pit.
Two of the babies were stuffed in plastic bags and buried in a shallow grave in the soft ground beneath the house. A third - believed to belong to another of Piotr's daughters - was simply left to decompose.
Inspectors were forced to pick their way along a dank corridor crudely held together by cement and crumbling brickwork before lowering themselves into the gloom to make their gruesome discovery.
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, allegedly dumped all three of the incest-born children in their basement
Two babies were buried in shallow graves in the basement, while a third is understood to have been left in a bag
The infants were found in the basement of their family's home in Czerniki, northern Poland
Paulina Gierasik, 20 (pictured), was arrested along with her father Piotr after the babies' remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property in the village of Czerniki
Piotr was allegedly in a sick incestous relationship with his daughter for four years
Locals interviewed by local media told how the father and daughter were in a relationship for four years and 'walked around hand-in-hand'.
Colleagues of Paulina at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa have now told how her father 'shaved her head so that other boys wouldn't look at her' and that she looked up to him 'as if he were God'.
The father and daughter - who are said to have 'lived like a couple' - were each charged with multiple counts of murder and each of incest.
Paulina's colleagues said they became suspicious that she was pregnant after she started to wear large, loose-fitting clothes. She then took three weeks off work but returned a week later.
One fellow shop worker told the Super Express newspaper: 'We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.
The front door has been shut as Polish police continue their investigation
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father
Prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died
The tiny rural village in the middle of northern Poland has just 180 residents
'When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.
'When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.'
Another local told Fakt newspaper: 'They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.
'A few months ago, he shaved her head so that other boys wouldn't look at her.
'She looked up to him as if he were God.'
Addressing the arrests earlier, Mariusz Duszynski from the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk said: 'The woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.
Czerniki's citizens have been accused of holding a 'conspiracy of silence' over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter
Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, are facing life in prison for murder and incest
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues
'The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter.'
According to prosecutors, two of the murdered children came from his relationship with the 20-year-old who they say was in a consensual relationship with her father.
The third baby was from a relationship he had with another daughter after forcing her into sex.
The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.
Grazyna Wawryniuk from the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk told the Polish Press Agency: Our system's data shows that in recent years, proceedings have been conducted regarding abuse of other family members.
Even earlier, proceedings were conducted on suspicion of incest.
All these proceedings were ended at the stage of the prosecutor's office due to the lack of data sufficient to justify the suspicion of committing the offences.
She added that prosecutors would now re-examine the previous evidence.
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services. One of Paulina's work colleagues is reported to have alerted social services after seeing a 'disturbing' text message the 20-year-old had sent to her father.
Moving to the village around 15 years ago, Piotr was left to bring up his children after his wife died.
The house where the remains of three newborns were found is seen in this general view
Czerniki is just 50km (31 miles) away from Gdansk
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died
A family friend has said that Piotr Gierasik who lives off social benefits used to beat his former wife.
Described as a loving and caring mother, the friend told Fakt newspaper that Hania, who died 15 years ago on 18 September, was regularly abused by her husband.
The friend said: She was a caring mother and a very good woman.
But he was picking fights with her every day. The whole village could hear him shouting at her. Hania was regularly beaten up.
He had sex with his daughters when Hania was alive, she was not able to defend them.
She was never sick, but suddenly she lost weight, her hair fell out, she was hospitalised and never came out alive, her death was never explained, I don't believe she just died like that, she was only 38 years old.
Hania was very important to her daughters, the children regularly visit her at the cemetery.
One local told the Super Express newspaper: 'The father was left alone with the children.
'There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.
'Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.
'There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms.
'Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.'
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland, September 16, 2023
Police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house
But other locals told Fakt that while he 'seemed calm' he 'had the devil under his skin'.
It comes as the small town of Czerniki - with a population of less than 180, located 50km from Gdansk - has been accused of holding a 'conspiracy of silence' over the allegedly known relationship between the father and daughter.
Locals said they 'always suspected something was wrong' with the family.
One neighbour said: 'We often heard him shouting at the children. His verbal abuse was shocking. Sometimes we'd hear one of girls screaming.
'What people say now is that he used to go for walks with them. Maybe he did, but the whole village knew that something like this was happening.
'It's a tiny village, so everyone knew about these things.
'Around ten years ago, the police were told that he was sleeping with one of his daughters. But after they investigated they couldn't find any concrete evidence.
'The older daughter, who we suspected he had slept with was so scared she refused to say anything.
'He [the father] has such a personality that everyone in this village was afraid of him. That's why this case didn't appear for so long'.
'She later moved away, as did many of his other children. There were about twelve of them.'
Police work at the site where the bodies of three newborns were discovered in the basement of a house in Czerniki, municipality of Stara Kiszewa in Kashubia, northern Poland
A neighbour of the older daughter told Super Express: 'She now lives in our village.
'She has a decent husband. As far as I remember, everyone said that she ran away from that father.
'If I were her husband, I would kill that monster. If someone hurt my wife like that, I would kill him too.
Police have so far discovered the remains of three babies buried in the family's house.
Unconfirmed reports say that one of the bodies wrapped in a black plastic bin liner was about three weeks old at the time of death.
Katarzyna Matyszczak, the manager of the confectionery shop where Paulina worked, said: 'Everyone was gossiping about it.
'His youngest daughter Paulina is a beautiful girl. Everyone said she was pregnant. So I asked about it directly.
'She denied it. One of her friends didn't believe it. I won't say who, but she was the one who informed the relevant services about the whole matter, because she suspected that she had given birth to a child.'
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died. Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues.
The bulldog-cross was known to be aggressive and put down the following day
A pregnant carer's nose was left 'hanging off' her face after she was mauled by a bulldog-cross during a visit to a patient's home.
Home-care assistant Rebecca Scobie, 24, from Androssan, North Ayrshire, Scotland was attacked by the dog which was owned by her patient's son - just minutes after walking into their family home on July 25.
The family had failed to warn Ms Scobie about the bulldog cross-breed - despite it being known to be aggressive and having to wear a muzzle on walks - before she was brutally mauled after trying to pet the family's dog.
Following the attack, the carer was rushed to A&E while holding a chunk of her own nose and has since undergone surgery to help reconstruct her face at Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Ms Scobie has, however, said she is 'distraught' the bulldog was put down the day after the attack, and claims she is saddened by the Government's plans to ban American XL Bullies as she believes 'a breed should never be judged'.
Rebecca Scobie, 24, (pictured) was rushed to A&E holding a chunk of her nose after being mauled by the bulldog-cross
The carer said: 'I had only just walked in and introduced myself and said "Hi, I'm Rebecca".
'One of the dogs had jumped onto the back of the couch so I reached out just to pet it, as I would any other dog.
'I was stood at the back of the couch, so I went to touch it and it all just happened really quickly. I'd only been in the house for around two minutes.
'It snapped at my face and took away some of my nose.
'My nose just felt really numb. There was a lot of adrenaline and I think because of nerve damage I couldn't really feel much of it.
'I just held my nose and turned to face the wall. It felt more like it had broken my nose with the impact.
'The woman's son said "Did she manage to get you there?"
'I moved my hand away and the blood just started pouring.
'Even at that point I didn't know it had bitten me, it just felt like it had knocked me.
The bulldog-cross, which was owned by her patient's son, attacked the carer just minutes after she walked into their family home
'He [the woman's son] offered to call an ambulance and that's when I realised how serious it was.
'I opened my phone camera to have a look and saw a chunk had been taken out of nose. That's when I broke down.
'I phoned my partner and said "My nose is hanging off".
'It was terrifying.'
Since the attack Ms Scobie was told the bulldog was known to be 'unpredictable' and 'aggressive' and had to be put down the next day.
But despite the damage to her face and wary disposition around dogs, Ms Scobie still loves all breeds and is deeply upset by Rishi Sunak's recent announcement banning XL bullies.
The 24-year-old, who has been a home-care assistant for five years but also works as a beauty practitioner, said: 'I've found out since then that the dog is quite unpredictable and aggressive around other people.
'It usually gets muzzled when it goes out on walks and things like that.
Rebecca Scobie, 24, (pictured) was attacked by a bulldog-cross during a visit to her patient's home
'I didn't know that as a new carer, nothing was said [to me] at the time.
'It was put to sleep the following day after it happened. I was really upset and distraught for them [the family] about that.
'I'm definitely a lot more wary of dogs in general but I've never been like that.
'I've loved every kind of dog all my life. I have two dogs of my own, I've got a cocker spaniel and a cockapoo and even when they're near me I'm a bit wary of them now.
'Any dog in general I'm a bit more taken aback. The whole experience has given me a different perspective, but I still love dogs.
'I'm so saddened about the news about XL bullies, I'm dead upset by that. It should never be the breed that's judged, it's the way it's brought up and what the owner does.'
Since the attack, the carer has undergone surgery that has seen doctors take a skin graft from the back of her head to reconstruct the tip of her nose.
Ms Scobie says despite difficulties looking in the mirror, with help of a psychologist, a loving partner, and a baby boy on the way, she's learning to help cope with the traumatic experience.
Rebecca Scobie, who owns a cocker spaniel and a cockapoo (pictured), says she is now more wary around dogs
The mother-to-be now vows to be more cautious with her new baby around dogs, including her own spaniels, and wants to remind other survivors to keep a positive mindset as they aren't alone.
She said: 'I'd just found out I was pregnant a few weeks prior and so I was just in this baby bubble.
'It's ruined the way I felt during my pregnancy but now my baby is the thing that's keeping me going and my partner is absolutely amazing as well.
'There's not a single day that goes past where I don't think about the situation or that moment. It isn't nice looking in the mirror. It's sort of a reminder of what happened.
'It's absolutely affected the way I've felt about my baby being around dogs too.
'I've always said I'd never let my baby pull on its ears or something, I'd never have done that anyway but even more so now.
'I'll be extra cautious because even family-friendly dogs can go at any time, it doesn't matter where you are or what kind of dog it is.
'I'd tell any other dog-attack survivors to keep a positive mindset and just know that looks aren't everything. What's important is how you feel inside.
'Things do get better. Since I posted it online, I've found so many people who have been attacked by dogs so you definitely aren't alone.'
Two holiday planes crashed into each other on the tarmac of Palma airport in Mallorca this morning.
The incident happened at around 9am and caused the wingtip of one of the aircraft to break.
It is understood no one has been injured and the operation of the busy airport has not been affected.
Spanish newspapers say a plane from the Condor company, which covers the Palma-Frankfurt route, and another from the Air Europa company were doing ground manoeuvres at the Son Sant Joan airport.
The crash apparently occurred when the Air Europa plane, which had flown the Barcelona-Palma route, was arriving at the terminal and collided with the rear of the Condor plane, which was stationary and waiting for permission to taxi off.
The crash apparently occurred when the Air Europa plane, which had flown the Barcelona-Palma route, was arriving at the terminal and collided with the rear of the Condor plane (pictured), which was stationary and waiting for permission to taxi off
Two holiday planes crashed into each other on the tarmac of Palma airport in Mallorca this morning. Pictured: The scene
The incident happened at around 9am and caused the wingtip of one of the aircraft to break Pictured: The Air Europa plane (white) collided with the rear of the Condor plane (in orange and white)
The crash happened at a low speed, with a passenger onboard the Frankfurt-bound Condor aircraft describing hearing a 'loud noise as the plane braked before the impact'.
Reports say both planes were damaged and debris was visible on the tarmac, while the airport's emergency services were immediately activated.
The Air Europa plane was able to continue along the tarmac after the collision until it reached the terminal and the passengers were able to disembark as normal.
Sources from the airport authority, Aena say the incident will be analysed by the corresponding body, in this case the Civil Aviation Accident and Incident Investigation Commission (CIAIAC).
The crash apparently occurred when the Air Europa plane (left), which had flown the Barcelona-Palma route, was arriving at the terminal and collided with the rear of the Condor plane (right), which was stationary and waiting for permission to taxi off
One of the passengers on the Palma-Frankfurt flight told Ultima Hora: 'We heard a loud noise from the plane braking before impact. We have experienced it calmly and there have been no injuries or scenes of panic.
'Emergency teams have immediately come to examine the plane and they have asked us passengers to wait inside the cabin before being transferred by bus to the terminal.'
The incident has not affected the operation of the rest of the flights at the airport.
The Condor plane bound for Frankfurt was due to leave at 9.15am and was delayed until 10.30am.
Prince William praised Ecuador for the 'crucial' work the nation is doing in the battle against climate change as he met President Guillermo Lasso Mendoza ahead of unveiling this year's Earthshot Prize finalists on his solo trip to New York.
The Prince of Wales confidently strode into the bilateral meeting, beaming as he walked past an Andy Warhol print of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
The heir to the throne was pictured shaking hands with President Lasso before they sat down together at the the British Consul General's official residence at 50 UN Plaza overlooking the UN building and with panoramic views of the Hudson River.
His engagements in the US coincide with Climate Week in New York and the 78th UN General Assembly where nearly 200 countries are meeting. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is among those in attendance.
Although Prince William will not address the assembly, he met UN chief Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday and discussed 'efforts required to accelerate the fight against climate change and protect the environment'.
Today, he will also host business leaders, climate activists and policymakers, with those present including UN Special Climate Envoy Michael Bloomberg, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Prince William has met with the President of Ecuador ahead of unveiling this year's Earthshot Prize finalists on his solo trip to New York
The Prince of Wales confidently strode into the meeting and smiled as he walked past an Andy Warhol print of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II
William was speaking with Lasso Mendoza ahead of unveiling this year's Earthshot Prize finalists on his solo trip to New York
President Lasso told William the environment had always been important to his country.
Ecuadorians voted in a recent referendum to ban oil drilling in Yasuni National Park, located within the Amazon rainforest, and one of the most biodiverse places in the world.
The country is also pursuing other measures to promote sustainability from protecting its waters to mobilising green finance.
William, speaking in the shadow of the print of his late grandmother, said: 'It's amazing. This is really important it is historic what you are doing.'
The prince also remarked on yesterday's weather saying it was 'pouring down' when he arrived on Monday. With blue cloudless skies above Manhattan, William said: 'We could have done with this weather.'
He went on to praise Ecuador for the 'fantastic work' it has done for environment. Although he admitted it takes a 'business brain' to understand the finances.
William, who flew commercial and was travelling without the Princess of Wales, went straight from the airport to Governor's island, which sits in New York Harbour, yesterday.
Prince William walks past an Andy Warhol print of his late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II
William speaks with the President of Ecuador at the Consul General Official Residence in New York City this afternoon
The Prince of Wales was deep in conversation. He is on a two-day visit to the US and arrived last night
The Prince of Wales is in New York to announce the 15 finalists of this year's Earthshot Prize, which awards companies and projects focusing on climate solutions
Prince William shakes hakes hands with First Lady of Ecuador, Maria de Lourdes Alcivar
The heir to the throne laughs as he holds a climate meeting on Tuesday afternoon in the US
The Prince of Wales (left) with the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, at the UN General Assembly in New York
With William away on business, Princess Kate continued with her own engagements as she was this morning pictured visiting a charity back home in east London.
The Prince of Wales is in New York to announce the 15 finalists of this year's Earthshot Prize, which awards companies and projects focusing on climate solutions.
He helped found the awards in 2020 and each year five winners get 1million towards their project.
Upon arrival to the US, William said: 'It's so good to be back in United States. No one does optimism and ingenuity like the American people, so it's only right we unveil this year's Earthshot finalists in New York City.
'Eighty years ago, the world came together in this great city to find a new way, through the UN, to solve our shared challenges.
'I know our generation can take the bold action we need to make changes towards a healthy and sustainable world. The challenge may feel huge, but as John F Kennedy taught us, we rise to the challenge not because it is easy, but because it is hard. And vital'.
Before the main event, William yesterday met with UN chief Antonio Guterres. The Prince of Wales and the UN Secretary-General appeared in high spirits as they toured the 93-member world body where world leaders have gathered for their annual summit.
On Governor's Island, William met schoolchildren who are studying marine biology and spoke with employees of the Billion Oyster Project.
Prince William met with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres at United Nations headquarters in New York City on Monday
Despite the grey skies and rain William waded into the East River from a small beach and put some oysters into the water on Monday
William changed into a suit for his meeting with Guterres at the UN Headquarters yesterday
On Governor's Island William met schoolchildren who are studying marine biology and talk with employees of the Billion Oyster Project
The Prince of Wales signed a book while meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the United Nations Headquarters
William seemed to enjoy his visit at the Billion Oyster Project on Monday as he smiled brightly
He was due to see the giant pile of oyster shells that are donated by 75 restaurants in New York rather than being sent to landfill sites.
And afterwards - despite the grey skies and rain - he got waist deep in the East River from a small beach and put some oysters into the water.
He then changed into a suit for a trip to the UN ahead of a 'no nonsense' climate summit being hosted by Guterres on Wednesday.
After their meeting, a UN spokesperson said the pair also 'discussed efforts to enhance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as financing for development'.
Leaders are also meeting at the United Nations on Monday and Tuesday on the Sustainable Development Goals, a 2015 'to-do' list that includes wiping out hunger and extreme poverty, battling climate change and achieving gender equality.
Guterres warned that the goals 'need a global rescue plan.'
Despite being in America, there appears to be no plans for William to see his estranged brother - just days after Prince Harry's Invictus Games came to a close in Dusseldorf, Germany.
The Prince left the Princess of Wales at home with the children as he travelled to the US - with Kate also not expected to join him for the Earthshot Awards ceremony in Singapore in November.
William was in Boston last year to announce the winners of the 2022 Earthshot Prize.
The Prince of founded the awards three years ago, saying he wanted to turn 'current pessimism surrounding environmental issues into optimism by celebrating the people and places driving change'.
Every year between 2021 and 2030, an awards ceremony will honour winners in the prize's five categories who are creating innovations which tackle environmental issues. Each winner is given 1million to support and scale their work.
But this is William's first visit to New York since 2014 and was postponed from last year due to the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II.
Ahead of William's arrival, a Kensington Palace spokesman said: 'The prince was incredibly appreciative for the love and support shown by the American people during that time.
William, who flew commercial and was travelling without the Princess of Wales, went straight from the airport to Governor's island, which sits in New York Harbour
At Governor's island he was due to learn about the Billion Oyster Project, which aims to make the waters around New York clean by putting a billion oyster shells in them by 2035 to act as natural filters
This is William's first visit to New York since 2014 and was postponed from last year due to the death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II
William set off on a boat with executive director and co founder of Billion Ouster Project Pete Malinowski
The Prince was due to see the giant pile of oyster shells (pictured) that are donated by 75 restaurants in New York rather than being sent to landfill sites
'He is very much looking forward to being back in New York this week and hopefully meeting as many New Yorkers as possible'
On the trip William is scheduled to visit a fire station in Manhattan and meet with first responders and talk about mental health - his trip is just a week after the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
A meeting with US President Joe Biden, who is attending, is 'unlikely', the Kensington Palace spokesman said - the two men met last year in Boston.
It comes just days after his brother, Prince Harry, told veterans they 'should not feel lost without a uniform' during an emotional closing speech at the Invictus Games - three years after he was stripped of his military titles in the wake of Megxit.
The Prince of Wales can be seen chuckling as he speaks with children as he visits Billion Oyster Project
The Prince talks with members of the project as he walks along the New York foreshore
Prince of Wales interacts with others from the Billion Oyster Project to learn more about their work to revitalize New York's waterways
William stands up to his waist in the water as he mucks in - putting in oysters in a bid to clean the waterway
William was in Boston last year to announce the winners of the 2022 Earthshot Prize
The Prince of Wales meets Pete Malinowski - executive director and co founder of Billion Oyster Project
William is in the US announce the 15 finalists for this year's Earthshot Prize, which awards companies and projects focusing on climate solutions
William is also meeting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres during the week where the UN General Assembly is meeting
On the trip William is scheduled to visit a fire station in Manhattan and meet with first responders and talk about mental health - his trip is just a week after the 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Pictured: A US Coast Guard boat waits the arrival of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales speaks to students from the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School about the Billion Oyster Project
William was shown tanks indoors and pointed to different equipment used at the project site on Governor's island
He asked questions and listened intently as volunteers told him more about an area with thousands of oyster shells at the Billion Oyster Project
William was shown the facilities and spoke to students from the Urban Assembly Harbour School
Learning more about the Billion Oyster Project's work to revitalise New York's waterways seemingly excited the Prince of Wales
The Duke of Sussex was visibly emotional in a heartfelt speech last at the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games.
The 39-year-old said during his five-minute closing speech that they 'don't need to rely on a uniform' nor should they 'feel lost without one'.
Prince Harry himself has not worn a uniform since he and Meghan moved away from the UK in 2020 and he was stripped off his military titles.
At the Queen's funeral last year, Harry was pictured wearing a suit while his father King Charles and his older brother Prince William were wearing their uniforms.
Prince Harry has said not to define people by their past pain or back story in an emotional farewell speech during the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games in Dusseldorf, Germany
Harry and Meghan stood clapping each of the teams. He was sat next to Elke Budenbender the wife of the German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier
She looked on adoringly as the team walked on stage to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. Meghan clapped along to the song as it reverberated around the Merkur Spiel-Arena and blew kisses to the team
At the Invictus Games, Harry added in his speech on why veterans don't need rely on their uniforms: 'Why? Because everything you need is already within you. Tomorrow you will each walk away with memories that are different and unique to you.
'But my hope is that every memory made, brings a smile to your face through a sense of belonging and an opportunity for you and your family to look forward with price and purpose. '
Harry also said to the competitors how their 'vulnerability' had 'opened the hearts' of millions of people all over the world.
Meghan Markle stood alongside her husband in the crowd in a glowing green dress. During the ceremony she couldn't hide her pride as she beamed at Team USA when they took their place for the closing ceremony of the Invictus Games.
READ MORE: Trump calls Biden 'dumb as a rock' and Republicans accuse him of 'funding terrorism' and 'embarrassing appeasement' over prisoner swap
Iran agreed to release them for $6billion and five of its own prisoners
The five Americans being held prisoner in Iran arrived home early this morning after having their freedom bought by President Biden for $6billion and the release of five Iranians in the US.
Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and a man and a woman who have not yet been publicly named, touched down at Davison Army Airfield in Virginia on Tuesday morning after flying overnight from Doha.
Their release was part of a 'humanitarian' trade with Iran, one of the country's fiercest adversaries, that involved the unfreezing of $6billion in assets that President Trump seized in 2018.
Biden's team of negotiators also agreed to release five Iranian men being held in the US, including some who were jailed for selling missile materials from America back to the Iranians.
Siamak Namazi (far right), Morad Tahbaz (middle) and Emad Shargi (left) arrive at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, September 19
Family members embrace the freed Americans at the airfield on Tuesday morning. They arrived via private jet from Doha
Some of the men had been in prison in Iran for as long as eight years
Emad Shargi is welcomed home by relatives and friends in Virginia on Tuesday morning
Now the Biden administration is facing tough criticism of the deal, which many say is another example of the US overpaying.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken insisted yesterday that the US would retain 'absolute control' over the $6billion in unfrozen funds and insist it was being used on humanitarian goods and not to fund terrorism.
The swap also foreshadows the UN General Assembly.
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi says the swap was a 'step in the direction of humanitarian action between us and America.'
'It can definitely help in building trust,' Raisi told journalists. Relatives cheered and cried as the former detainees stepped off the plane this morning.
Tahbaz, left, Chargi, center, and an unidentified male prisoner (far right) who the US is not naming
U.S officials arrange a group photo after freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi
A family member embraces freed American Siamak Namazi on the tarmac
'The whole family went through a lot of ups and downs knowing what he's going through in prison,' Hushang Namazi, Siamak's uncle, said.
'Then to finally see him come down the plane, I mean no words can describe it.
'Because really the whole family has been through hell, and praying for this moment. Finally it's arrived. We're all so jubilant, that the moment has come.
'There were so many occasions when we thought that he's going to be released. And then our hopes were dashed. Finally we realized, no.
'There's no point in being happy about the prospects of him being released until he's really out of the air space of Iran. And this came about. And really it's for the whole family it's greatest news we could have ever expected,'
He said he hasn't yet spoken with his nephew since the freed American arrived after midnight.
He added that Siamak is going to have a breakfast with his mother and other immediate family members for the first time in eight years.
Mehrdad Ansari, who was convicted of supplying Iran with materials to be used in missiles, and Reza Sarhangpour, who was convicted of assisting the Central Bank of Iran by supplying it with computer equipment and software, are among those being freed by the US
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said yesterday: 'I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.'
THE FIVE IRANIANS BEING RELEASED AS PART OF BIDEN DEAL Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, an Iranian charged in 2021 with allegedly failing to register as a foreign agent on Iran's behalf while lobbying U.S. officials on issues like nuclear policy Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear Amin Hasanzadeh, an Iranian and permanent resident of the United States whom prosecutors charged in 2019 with allegedly stealing engineering plans from his employer to send to Iran Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran; and Kambiz Attar Kashani, an Iranian-American sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for purchasing 'sophisticated, top-tier U.S. electronic equipment and software' through front companies in the United Arab Emirates Advertisement
'Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison.'
He thanked President Biden for securing his release and 'putting the lives of American citizens above politics.'
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans. All were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans' family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Irans security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap.
Nour News identified the two in Doha as: Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran - but had not yet paid - for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
Kambiz Attar-Kashani, Kaveh Afraisiabi, and Amin Hasanzadeh have decided not to return to Iran. Two are staying in the US, and one is going to another country. They were all convicted of acting against the US
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi says the swap was a 'step in the direction of humanitarian action between us and America.' 'It can definitely help in building trust,' Raisi told journalists
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Middle Eastern allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, currently the lead Republican challenger in that race, called it an 'absolutely ridiculous' deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of 'rewarding and incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior.'
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
In a statement, Sharghis sister, Neda, said she 'cant wait to hug my brother and never let him go.'
'This is my brother, not an abstract policy,' she added. 'We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.'
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
McPherson County Sheriff's Office confirmed they have launched an investigation into their deaths
The family had been staying in their camper at the Inma motocross track in Kansas
A pregnant mother and her two sons were found dead inside their camper at a motocross track in Kansas.
Felecia Richey, 31, and her two sons, Tysin, 13, and Bentley, 10, were discovered on Sunday afternoon at the Inman Motocross track.
Family members say that the three died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, but no further details have been released.
McPherson County Sheriff's Office confirmed they have launched an investigation into their deaths with the assistance of the Inma Police Department.
Felecia leaves behind her husband Jason and their three-year-old son, though it is unclear if they were in the camper at the time.
Felecia Richey, 31, and her two sons, Tysin, 13, and Bentley, 10, were discovered on Sunday afternoon at the Inman Motocross track
Family members say that the three died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning, but no further details have been released
Jason, a professional motocross racer, paid tribute to his wife and the boys as a 'blessing' to him in an emotional post, adding 'I love you all'.
He wrote: 'I love you so much baby girl I miss you and the boys beyond words this just aint real baby I need my family back so bad I love you all miss you so damn much!!!
'God I'm gonna miss you guys so much I love you all so much. My baby's they were truly a blessing to me I love you all.'
A fundraiser has been launched for the family, raising 440,424 of a $30,000 goal since it was set up on Sunday. It confirmed that Felecia was pregnant.
In a post online Jason thanked two friends for helping to save his wife's dog and 'bringing her back' to him, describing it as a 'miracle from momma and the boys'.
Felicia's great-uncle John told KWCH: 'This was an unexpected tragedy and it's just a huge loss for, I think, everyone that knew them and knew [Felicia] but especially the family is just devastated by it.
'A real kind, tender-hearted lady that loved her boys. They were really the focus of her life.
'They're two boys that had a lot of energy and a lot of fun, and of course what 10-year-old and 13-year-old wouldn't want to ride a motorcycle.'
Felecia leaves behind her husband Jason and their three-year-old son, though it is unclear if they were in the camper at the time
Bar2Bar, near Maize, plans to hold a celebration of life for Felicia and her sons on September 30, which will include a full motocross practice day and a dinner, with all proceeds going to help the family
A fundraiser has been launched for the family, raising 440,424 of a $30,000 goal since it was set up on Sunday. It confirmed that Felecia was pregnant
Bar2Bar, near Maize, plans to hold a celebration of life for Felicia and her sons on September 30, which will include a full motocross practice day and a dinner, with all proceeds going to help the family.
Motocross Track Operations Manager Bruce Richardson described the incident as a 'tragic accident', saying that it 'affected everyone' in the community.
In a statement McPherson County Sheriff's Office said: 'The Sheriff's Office responded to the Inman Motocross track for a report of three deceased persons in a camper.
'Members of the Inman Fire Dept. and McPherson EMS arrived on scene and confirmed that the three people were deceased.
'This tragedy is being investigated by the Sheriff's Office with the assistance of the Inman Police Dept. Further details of the investigation will be released at a later time.'
The breeder of one of the rottweilers that nearly killed a woman in a savage attack says she knew the dog to be 'placid' and believes the owner's actions must have triggered the attack.
Nikita Piil, 31, was rushed to Royal Perth Hospital with severe injuries to her arms and legs shortly before 5pm on Saturday after being set upon by her pets.
She was viciously attacked by her two Rottweilers, seven-year-old Bronx and four-year-old Harlem, at her Success home in the city's south.
Ms Piil's horrified neighbours tried banging on her fence with a bat and spraying a hose on the large dogs in an attempt to stop the attack, but to no avail.
Police arrived at least 10 minutes after the neighbours first heard Ms Piil's screams and officers shot Bronx. The dog was later euthanised by a vet.
Nikita Piil (pictured cuddling a Rottweiler) suffered severe bites and major blood loss after her two rottweilers attacked her on Saturday
Seven-year-old Bronx was shot by police to stop the attack while four-year-old Harlem is awaiting his fate at a local pound (pictured, the two dogs together)
Harlem was secured in Ms Piil's garage and taken to a local pound. As of Tuesday, he remains there while the investigation into the attack continues.
Doctors are fighting to save one of Ms Piil's arms after she suffered major blood loss and serious bite wounds to her limbs.
Since the nightmare attack, she and the breeder who sold Bronx have faced cruel criticism online.
The breeder, who wants to stay anonymous, said Bronx came from a family of show dogs and was known for being a 'placid' pup.
'It's not likely that a Rottweiler would attack anybody for no reason,' she told The West on Tuesday.
'In this instance, there must have been a dog fight between the two dogs and I feel that maybe the owner has gotten involved to try and separate the dogs and somehow gotten in between it.
'Watching any two dogs having a fight is traumatic for any owner. Especially trying to separate them on your own.'
Ms Piil (above) is receiving treatment from the Royal Perth Hospital in the hopes of saving one of her arms
The breeder also hit back at claims Bronx was bred for violence.
'We don't breed dogs for fighting. We don't breed dogs for security. We mainly breed them for show and to place them in family units,' she said.
'The bloodlines of that dog are from show lines so they are absolutely not known to [attack].'
She added online trolls accusing Ms Piil of neglecting the dogs were wrong, saying both dogs were 'very well-kept and very well-loved'.
Neighbour Bryn Spencer said he and another nearby resident heard Ms Piil's screams several minutes before they tried to breakup the attack.
However, the pair couldn't access her backyard without putting themselves in danger.
'I was hearing 'help, help, please help!',' Mr Spencer told Nine News
'I was contemplating jumping the fence and getting in there to try to rescue her but, obviously, there were two rottweilers in there.
'I didn't have a knife, I didn't have anything really good to take this dog out.
'I only had a bat. All I could really do was watch this girl get mauled apart while I am smacking the fence.'
Another neighbour turned a hose on one of the dogs, which succeeded in momentarily distracting it.
Neighbours tried banging Ms Piil's fence and using a hose to distract the attacking dogs (pictured, emergency services outside Ms Piil's home on Saturday)
Bronx's breed described Ms Piil (above) as a good owner, saying the rottweilers were 'very well-kept and very well-loved'
'The dog stopped for a bit and it was looking at me deciding what to do next,' Mr Spencer said.
'I kept screaming at it and smacking the fence and then it decided, 'Stuff you' and it got the girl and dragged her behind the back corner.'
Officers only shot Bronx after first trying to taser and lead both dogs from Ms Piil.
Ms Piil was a renowned dog lover and had a sign on her door which read: 'Beware of the Rottweiler'.
Her Facebook page is also largely dedicated to her beloved rottweilers.
In one photo where the two dogs posed in front of some dug up artificial turf, Ms Piil wrote, 'My babies' alongside a black heart.
In a birthday post of Bronx, Ms Piil wrote: 'I couldn't ask for a more incredible, cheeky, loyal, intelligent and protective little mate.
'You're my whole world.'
Ms Piil's Facebook page was largely dedicated to her two rottweilers (above) with the 31-year-old describing Bronx as 'incredible, cheeky, loyal, intelligent and protective'
Ms Piil was a renowned dog lover and had a sign on her door which read: 'Beware of the Rottweiler'
WA Premier Roger Cook said on Sunday that dog attacks were 'always traumatic for anyone involved' and thanked emergency services.
'We'll continue to make sure we monitor the situation,' he said.
'What we need to do is continue to educate dog owners and people in the community about dangers - potential dangers - of these sorts of breeds but we'll just monitor the situation.
'But thanks to everyone who responded to that difficult situation and my condolences to anyone impacted by the event.'
Immigration centre detainees were mistreated in 'prison-like' conditions where staff made dehumanising comments and were quick to use force, a damning inquiry has found.
Brook House immigration removal centre (IRC) was 'not sufficiently decent, secure or caring for detained people or its staff', a report into abuse suffered at the 'toxic' institution in 2017 concluded.
A total of 19 incidents of mistreatment took place at the detention centre near Gatwick Airport in West Sussex between April and August that year, inquiry chairwoman Kate Eves said.
She claimed an 'environment flourished', where 'unacceptable treatment' became more likely as part of a 'toxic culture' at the site, run by security firm G4S.
Migrants lived in dirty, harmful conditions, suffered from mental health problems and were mistreated, including one incident where a man had pressure applied to his neck by a staff member when he was in distress.
In that incident, a detention custody officer placed his hands around the neck of a detainee and said: 'You f*****g piece of s***t, because I'm going to put you to f*****g sleep.'
People held at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre at Gatwick respond to demonstrators from groups protesting against plans to send migrants to Rwanda. Picture date: Sunday June 12, 2022
Brook House immigration removal centre (IRC) was 'not sufficiently decent, secure or caring for detained people or its staff', a report into the West Sussex-based centre concluded
The shocking conditions later prompted three Afghan refugees to sue the Home Office after claiming to have been locked in the removal centre 'cells' for 11 hours every night.
Ms Eves issued 33 recommendations that must be implemented 'to ensure that other detained people do not suffer in the same way as those at Brook House did'.
The inquiry was launched in 2019, two years after BBC's Panorama programme broadcast undercover footage showing alleged abuse towards detainees.
Ten members of staff were dismissed or resigned in the wake of the broadcast.
No prosecutions were brought after a police investigation but two former detainees successfully argued a full independent investigation was needed.
G4S - which made 14.3million in profit from Brook House between 2012 and 2018, according to the National Audit Office - pulled out of running any more IRCs in 2019 and the Brook House contract has since been taken over by outsourcing giant Serco.
The report, published on Tuesday and running to three volumes totalling around 800 pages, detailed a 'toxic' culture amongst G4S staff who had been running the centre at the time.
Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock described some of the evidence as 'utterly harrowing' and showed the Government had 'delivered neither control or compassion'.
'Some of the accounts provided to the inquiry are utterly harrowing; they illustrate the impact of a Government that's delivered neither control or compassion.'
A 2017 BBC Panorama report showed undercover footage of alleged assaults, humiliation and verbal abuse of detainees at the hands of Brook House officers
Ms Eves said: 'Under the Home Office and its contractor, G4S, Brook House was not sufficiently decent, secure or caring for detained people or its staff at the time these events took place.
'An environment flourished in which unacceptable treatment became more likely.'
She said she 'rejected the narrative portrayed by both the Home Office and G4S in their evidence that the events at Brook House were primarily the result of a small minority of G4S staff', saying such a narrative 'seeks to distance both organisations from their responsibility for the prevailing culture at the the time'.
READ MORE: Groups of migrants awaiting deportation at Gatwick centre scuffle over how SPICY the food should be Advertisement
A lawyer representing people who were held at Brook House had told the inquiry it should be shut down, but Ms Eves stopped short of calling for it to close.
Among her recommendations, the chairwoman said the Government should introduce a time limit of 28 days maximum for a person to be held at an IRC.
She described the environment at Brook House as 'harsh' and 'prison-like', saying it was 'entirely unsuitable for detaining people for anything other than a short period of time'.
The report noted that in July 2017, the average stay at the centre was 44 days, but five people had been there for between one and two years.
Ms Eves referred to one Home Office manager who had told the inquiry that if someone spent more than 24 hours at Brook House 'you're going to develop mental health issues', adding 'it's not a nice place to be'.
There was 'significant understaffing' and the senior management team was 'dysfunctional', the report found.
It was 'common' for staff to use 'racist and derogatory language' when speaking about detainees and 'unacceptable, often abusive behaviour was dismissed as banter', Ms Eves said.
A total of 19 incidents of mistreatment took place at the detention centre near Gatwick Airport in West Sussex between April and August that year, inquiry chairwoman Kate Eves said
Evidence of use of dehumanising language included repeated use of the mocking phrase 'if he dies, he dies', Ms Eves said, while there was 'considerable evidence' that staff were 'too quick to employ force' and that it was at times used to provoke or punish.
Among the 19 incidents of mistreatment which involved 16 men, the report cited a 'terrifying' moment - which had been part of the Panorama programme - where a detention custody officer put his hands around a detainee's neck and called him a 'f***ing piece of s***', adding: 'I'm going to put you to f***ing sleep'.
Other instances included men being forcibly moved when naked or near-naked, physical violence and staff who initially 'stood and looked' at a detainee who had been found unconscious having attempted to self-harm 'without trying to help him'.
READ MORE: Protesters target immigration removal centre in anger over Government scheme to send migrants to Rwanda Fact-box text Advertisement
The chairwoman recommended that 'new comprehensive and mandatory rules for how force is used in IRCs is urgently needed'.
Ms Eves called on the Home Office to pay 'more than mere lip service' to her findings, noting a 'dark thread' running throughout her report of a failure to act on previous recommendations.
She warned that, with the Government having made clear its intention to expand the use of immigration detention, 'any expansion or other change should be considered in the context of learning lessons from past failures'.
Concluding her report, she added: 'Many of the safeguards designed to protect vulnerable detained people failed at Brook House during the relevant period and I remain concerned about how those safeguards are operating currently.'
Ms Eves has requested that the Government responds to her recommendations within six months.
A G4S spokesperson said they were 'appalled when, in 2017, a number of former employees acted in a way that was contrary to our values, policies and their training, and for this we are sorry'.
The Home Office described the abuse at Brook House in 2017 as 'unacceptable' and added it is 'carefully considering every recommendation' of the inquiry report.
A spokesman added: 'We remain committed to ensuring safety and security in all immigration removal centres and to learn lessons from Brook House to ensure these events never happen again.'
Ohmed Azizi and an accomplice also stole his phone, bank cards and jewellery
A model who was mugged for his 20,000 Rolex by a convicted rapist who pretended to flirt with him has quit the UK for Spain after the incident left him suicidal, a court has heard.
Dylan Davey, the CEO of a talent agency called The Social Inc, was brutally mugged for his designer timepiece along with Cartier bracelets and necklace in Richmond Mews, in London's Soho district.
In a heart wrenching statement read to the court Mr Davey said he attempted suicide after the robbery and has since emigrated to Spain.
The Rolex belonged to his father and was given to Mr Davey for his 21st birthday, Southwark Crown Court heard.
Afghan Ohmed Azizi, 31, - who was convicted of rape in 2016 and has been released on license - also took Mr Daveys iPhone and bank cards during the attack on April 29 along with an unknown associate.
Dylan Davey (pictured), the CEO of a talent agency called The Social Inc, was brutally mugged for his designer timepiece along with Cartier bracelets and necklace in Richmond Mews, in London's Soho district
Convicted rapist Omed Azizi (pictured) has been jailed for nearly seven years after mugging Mr Davey
Carol Summers, prosecuting, said: 'This was a violent robbery committed by this defendant and another male unknown. It occurred in the early hours of 29 April this year. 46,000 worth of property was stolen.'
Mr Davey's friend had noticed two men looking at the victim's jewellery before he was robbed. 'The defendant pretended to be flirting with Mr Davey,' said Ms Summers.
They tried to take refuge in the Freedom Bar, but the security guard said only one of them could go in, the court heard.
CCTV footage shows Azizi leading Mr Davey to a secluded place and punching him in a terrifying assault. The court heard that one of the bracelets had been cut from Mr Davey's arm.
Azizi was caught on CCTV inhaling nitrous oxide at the scene. His DNA was later found in a balloon discarded shortly before the robbery.
Richard Paton-Philip, defending Azizi, said after fleeing Afghanistan as a child in the 1990s, he had 'fallen in with the wrong crowd'.
Azizi has previous convictions for burglary, carrying an imitation firearm, and rape in 2016, the court heard. He was still on licence after being released for rape when he attacked Mr Davey.
In a heart wrenching statement read to the court Mr Davey (pictured above) said he attempted suicide after the robbery and has since emigrated to Spain
The Rolex belonged to his father and was given to Mr Davey for his 21st birthday, Southwark Crown Court heard
Mr Davey told the court: 'You just never accept that it would happen to you.
'Several days after the incident I attempted suicide and tried to take my own life by overdosing on tablets.
'Luckily I have a lovely supportive family who stopped me and I realised it was not the answer.
'This has obviously had a wider effect on my family too.'
Mr Davey's mother also read a statement saying: 'Dylan told me he no longer wanted to live in London any more.
'After the attack he flew out to Spain and decided he would work there for the foreseeable future.
'It is very hard for me to accept as his mother that the people who attacked him have forced my son to move away to a different country.'
Sentencing Azizi, Judge Alexander Milne said: 'Mr Davey had been at a bar and by the early evening found himself isolated in the street of central London.
Mr Davey (pictured) told the court: 'You just never accept that it would happen to you. 'Several days after the incident I attempted suicide and tried to take my own life by overdosing on tablets'
Mr Davey's friend had noticed two men looking at the victim's jewellery before he was robbed. 'The defendant pretended to be flirting with Mr Davey,' said Carol Summers, prosecuting
'He was clearly prevailed upon to go down a side street where he appears to have been pranged on the face before being violently attacked, chased, then attacked again by this man Omed Azizi and one other who had not been identified and remains at large.
'The upshot of the robbery that evening in April in financial terms is the loss to Mr Davery of a considerable amount of expensive personal possessions.'
Judge Milne added that the attack 'would have been distressing to anybody but in this case the psychological impact on the victim was pronounced and ongoing'.
Azizi, of Harrow, north-west London, sat with his head bowed for most of the hearing, occasionally weeping.
He admitted one count of robbery and was jailed for six years and nine months.
Detective Constable Harriet Barby, who led the investigation, said: 'Azizi is a dangerous offender, who targeted a young man enjoying a night out with his friends in Soho.
'This type of behaviour is intolerable and the lasting impact that such an unprovoked and violent attack can have on a victim is huge.
Azizi was caught on CCTV inhaling nitrous oxide at the scene. His DNA was later found in a balloon (pictured in his hand) discarded shortly before the robbery
Police were unable to track down Azizi's associate (pictured) who was involved in the mugging. The judge said he 'remains at large'
'I am pleased that Azizi has received a custodial sentence. Hopefully this will offer the victim and his family some sense of justice.
'This is another example of officers working hard to take dangerous individuals off the streets of London. We are committed to tackling robbery within our communities and keeping Londoners safe.'
Detective Chief Inspector Scott Ware said: 'This was a complex investigation that required a huge amount of hours of CCTV footage to be reviewed.
'This outcome should act as a warning to anyone else thinking of committing such an offence, that we will do all we can to identify you and bring you to justice.'
Despite the extensive enquiries, the other man has not yet been identified. We are releasing two images of him and ask anyone who recognises him to call 101 quoting reference 6530451/23.
Gillian Keegan jetted off to her Spanish holiday home four days after being advised to close schools with crumbling concrete.
The Education Secretary continued with her summer getaway despite knowing that hundreds of schools would likely close, it has been revealed.
Baroness Barran told MPs today that Mrs Keegan was given the advice to shut buildings with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) on August 21.
But the Secretary of State carried on her summer plans, travelling to her 300,000 retreat on the Costa del Sol for her father's birthday four days later.
She was today accused of 'doing nothing' and keeping the headteachers in the dark over the concrete crisis for ten days.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan jetted off to her Spanish holiday home four days after being advised to close schools with crumbling concrete
The Secretary of State is accused of carrying on with her summer plans, travelling to her 300,000 retreat on the Costa del Sol for her father's birthday four days later
In an urgent question, Shadow Secretary of state for Education Bridget Phillipson said: 'She did nothing, for four days. And then she acted decisively.
'She went on holiday. For the best part of a week. Ten days passed, from the day she received the crucial advice, to the day the headteachers were told to close their schools.
'Just a fortnight ago the Secretary of State's response to questions about the management of the department's own building, was simple and proud, the motto she has made her own: "Nothing to do with me".
'She had done a good job, while others had been sat on their backsides.'
Ms Keegan claims to have returned from holiday when the Department for Education (DfE) made the announcement to shut down buildings containing crumbling concrete in more than 100 schools.
In a day of turmoil just four days before the start of the school year, children were banned from buildings while parents scrambled for emergency childcare.
The Education Secretary has maintained that she was working throughout her trip between August 25 and August 31.
Defending her decision to continue with her holiday, she said: 'I went abroad because that was the first time I could go abroad.
Buttsbury Junior School in Billericay, Essex, is one of 27 further schools and colleges which have been identified with RAAC on site
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan pictured leaving Downing Street, London, following a Cabinet meeting
'I went abroad for my father's birthday, knowing that I [would] still be chairing the meetings, which I did on the Saturday, on the Sunday, on the Monday and then I made the decision to come back from holiday immediately.
'And I came back one day delay because of the air traffic control incident and I got back to announce the decision on Thursday.'
Her holiday emerged after she was caught on camera suggesting that 'everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing' as she tackled the crisis.
In footage released by ITV News she said: 'Does anyone ever say, you know what, you've done a f****** good job because everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing? No sign of that, no.'
Ms Keegan later apologised and admitted she was 'frustrated with the interviewer' who was 'making out it was all my fault'.
Today, new figures revealed that 174 education settings in England have been found to have failing concrete.
The updated list suggests 24 schools in England have had to offer some remote learning because of RAAC issues.
And that 148 of the 174 education settings confirmed to have the collapse risk concrete are offering full-time, face-to-face learning to all pupils.
Work takes places to fix issues related to reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) at Hornsey School for Girls in London
Construction workers appeared to be on scaffolding dismantling bricks from a chimney at Sale Grammar School as the concrete crisis gripped schools
Almost 250 temporary classrooms have been ordered by at least 29 schools in response to the crisis.
Baroness Barran told the education committee that Ms Keegan was given the advice days before a third collapse took place at a school in England.
She said: 'The advice went to the Secretary of State, I think it was the third week of August and that was when she took the decision which was obviously finally ratified through No10.'
Asked to clarify the timeline, she added: 'So the advice went to her on the 21st and then the final event [collapse] was two or three days later.
'I genuinely think the answer to that is we couldn't have acted quicker.
Temporary classrooms at Crossflatts primary in Bradford which has been affected with sub standard reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete
'Because clearly the advice we received went through a range of options from immediate closure to staged closure and a kind of like warning period.
'And as ministers, our advice for the Secretary of State was that we should take the most cautious route.'
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said a 'clear plan' was needed to deal with the crisis.
While Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said the number of schools impacted was 'certain to grow'.
The DfE was contacted for comment.
The majority of American voters are still highly concerned about Joe Biden's age and mental fitness, a new poll reveals.
Additionally, the Harvard HarrisX Poll released this week shows that three GOP candidates would beat the president in a hypothetical general election former President Donald Trump, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley.
While most polls, including the most recent, show Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in second place to Trump, he surprisingly does not beat out Biden in a head-to-head matchup.
Meanwhile, 69 percent of registered voters polled September 12-14 say Biden is too old to run for President again at the age of 80 and 58 percent think he is mentally unfit for office.
Trump, 77, is only three years younger than Biden. But he is still the far-favorite for the 2024 GOP nomination.
Americans are increasingly concerned with age, especially with Biden and Trump both on board to beat the previous record of being the oldest President ever inaugurated a record that was set by Biden when he was elected in 2020.
A new poll shows 69% of registered voters think Joe Biden is too old to serve another four years as President
Biden, 80, is the oldest President ever inaugurated in U.S. history. He would break that record again in 2024 if elected for a second term
A previous poll showed an astounding 77 percent of Americans who think Biden is too old to serve another four years in the White House.
Still, there are no serious contenders for the Democratic nomination against the incumbent President. But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Marianne Williamson both launched longshot bids to take on Biden.
The Republican field, however, is crowded with candidates trying to take a spot most feel is already guaranteed for Trump.
If the Republican primary election were held today, a whopping 57 percent say they would vote for the former President, while DeSantis comes in a distant second with just 10 percent. Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is in third with 8 percent.
But DeSantis doesn't beat Biden in a match-up despite other candidates who are polling lower than him besting the President in hypothetical general elections.
When Trump is put up against Biden, the ex-President wins by 4 percent. But DeSantis, the poll shows, would lose by 4 percent.
Meanwhile, both candidates from South Carolina Nikki Haley and Tim Scott are shown beating Biden if they were in a general election with him.
Haley, 51, was Trump's Ambassador to the United Nations but is now one of his bigger critics on the campaign trail. If put up against Biden, Haley earns 41 percent to the President's 37 percent. This is the same 4 percent gap that Trump beats Biden.
Sen. Scott would beat Biden with just a 2 percent gap, according to the poll that shows the GOP hopeful ahead 39 to 37 percent.
The latest poll shows that three GOP candidates would beat Joe Biden in a general election matchup but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not one of them
The Harvard HarrisX poll shows that Trump South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley would all beat Biden in a hypothetical general election match-up
In the GOP primary race, Haley is polling fourth with just 6 percent support, while the same poll has Scott in seventh place with just 2 percent of the vote.
Meanwhile, even though Ramaswamy is polling third among preferred Republican nominees, he would lose to Biden by 2 percent with 37 percent saying they would vote for the biotech boss in a general match-up compared to the 39 percent that would cast their ballot for Biden.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, however, has the largest gap with the President. The HarrisX poll shows him losing by six-points with 36 percent support to Biden's 42 percent.
Pence is polling fifth in the GOP race with 4 percent a 3 percent drop since the last poll.
Nine percent of Republican registered voters are still unsure who they will cast their ballot for in the 2024 primary.
If Trump were taken out of the primary race, DeSantis and Ramaswamy are neck-to-neck in support with the Florida governor's edge over the political newcomer at just 1 percent.
A San Francisco McDonald's is being sued by a woman in her 80s after she claims she received 'severe burns' from scalding hot coffee that fell on her lap from an unsecured lid.
Mable Childress filed the suit against the fast-food giant for physical pain and emotional distress. She asks for an unspecified amount of money - but lawyers said it was in the 'seven figures' range.
In June, she was allegedly served scalding hot coffee with the lid lightly closed by employees at the drive-through of 1100 Fillmore Street in San Francisco. When she attempted to drink the coffee, the lid opened and fell all over her groin and legs.
Childress claims she suffered third-degree burns to her groin, legs and abdomen due to the employees' 'failure to properly secure the coffee cup lid.'
The lawsuit also claims that Childress spent 20-25 minutes waiting for a manager to assist her but no one at the Fillmore McDonald's offered help.
Mable Childress was allegedly served scalding hot coffee with the lid lightly closed by employees at the drive-through of 1100 Fillmore Street in San Francisco. When she attempted to drink the coffee, the lid opened and fell all over her groin and legs
She asks for an unspecified amount of money as a result of the June 2023 incident
Her lawyer, Dylan Hackett, blasted McDonald's for the incident.
'She was injured severely from McDonalds negligence,' Hackett told SFGate. 'They did not properly cover the cup of coffee, and the coffee was also scalding.
'Shes an elderly lady, and she was waiting for over an hour to speak to a manager, and a manager never spoke to her,' Hackett said. 'They didnt give her the time of day. Nobody helped her whatsoever. She had to get to the hospital herself.'
MailOnline.com has reached out to Hackett for further information about the lawsuit.
Peter Ou, the owner and operator of the San Francisco franchise told TODAY.com: 'My restaurants have strict food safety protocols in place, including training crew to ensure lids on hot beverages are secure.
'We take every customer complaint seriously and when Ms. Childress reported her experience to us later that day, our employees and management team spoke to her within a few minutes and offered assistance. Were reviewing this new legal claim in detail.'
The incident isn't the first time McDonald's has faces lawsuits over hot food.
In July 2023, McDonald's paid $800,000 to a Florida mom after her daughter received second-degree burns from a piping hot McNugget that fell on her lap in 2019.
The jury reached the verdict after less than two hours of deliberation and allotted $400,000 in damages for the past four years, and $400,000 for the future.
An image of Philana Holmes being handed the Happy Meals moments before her daughter was burned
The family's attorney had asked for an award of $15million.
The mother of the child, Philana Holmes, said she was happy that the court had been receptive to her daughter's story, adding she felt the jury's award was fair.
'Im happy with that. I honestly had no expectations, so this is more than fair for me,' she told reporters outside the courtroom.'
Holmes testified her daughter Olivia, now eight years old, calls the scar on her inner thigh her 'nugget' and hopes to get it removed.
Holmes and her daughter Olivia listen to the final witness in their case at the Broward County Courthouse. A separate jury determined weeks ago that McDonald's and the franchise owner of the drive thru could be held responsible for the burn
But the most famous lawsuit the fast-food chain has ever faced was by Stella Liebeck in 1992.
Stella Liebeck, then 79, sustained third-degree burns when a hot coffee from a New Mexico-based McDonalds spilled onto her lap. She was severely burned on her groin and legs and spent more than a week in the hospital. Liebeck initially requested $20,000 from McDonalds for her hospital expenses.
When McDonalds refused, the case went to trial and a jury awarded her $2.7 million in punitive damages.
The jury found that the coffee was served nearly 40 degrees hotter than coffee served by other restaurants at the time.
Ultimately, a judge reduced Liebeck's $2.7 million award to $480,000 and then the two parties later settled for a confidential amount.
Money should be found to remove statues of Americas founding fathers despite a $12billion migrant crisis that will destroy New York City, its mayor has been told.
The citys Cultural Affairs Committee has demanded the eviction of George Washington and Christopher Columbus and others from public spaces because of links to slavery, along with the establishment of a reparations task force.
The plans before the city council on Tuesday come after Mayor Eric Adams warned that New Yorkers face a financial tsunami from the cost of providing for more than 10,000 new migrants a month.
But they have prompted fury as the city scratches around for resources with libraries, meals for senior citizens and childcare all now at risk.
This is little more than an attempt by the radical left to rewrite our nations history, said City Councilor Joann Ariola.
The George Washington statue at the Federal Hall National Memorial in New York City is among those at risk
Mayor Eric Adams has warned the crisis will cost the Big Apple $12 billion over next three years
Asylum seekers, denied a hotel room, line the side walk of the Roosevelt Hotel
The Founding Fathers and the others who worked so hard to establish this great country should be celebrated, not eliminated from memory.
The Committee plans to remove any public statue or work of art that depicts a person who owned enslaved persons or directly benefited economically from slavery, or who participated in systemic crimes against indigenous peoples or other crimes against humanity.
Dozens of prominent statues across the city are at risk including those depicting Thomas Jefferson and former governor Peter Stuyvesant.
Anti-racism training would be introduced for contractors and city employees, and a task force would consider the impact of slavery and past injustices for African Americans in New York City and reparations for such injustices.
Explanatory plaques would be installed next to any statue not removed and on schools named after them.
Meanwhile an injunction was filed overnight against the Mayors plans to set up a shelter for migrants at the historic Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
More than 110,000 asylum seekers have arrived in the city since the Spring of 2022 with New Yorkers paying an average of $385 a night per migrant family.
Mayor Adams has pleaded for federal help in footing the bill and lashed out at Greg Abbott as a madman after the Texas governor bussed thousands from his state.
Former governor Peter Stuyvesant has a statue in the square named after him on 2nd Avenue at 16th St
Immigrants queue up to be processed on arrival at New York's Roosevelt Hotel
Adams recently admitted the crisis is threatening to 'destroy' the Big Apple - but he blasted a lack of federal support, a 'broken' nationwide immigration system and Republicans bussing refugees from their own states into the city
New York City's migrant crisis is expected to cost the city $4.7billion this year. Above is a list of some of the landmarks that have been turned into emergency shelters as officials struggle to house nearly 60,000 migrants in the city's care
Christopher Columbus has been singled out because of his treatment of natives in Hispanolia
Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to, the Mayor said earlier this month. We are about to experience a financial tsunami that I dont think the city has ever experienced.
Every service in this city is going to be impacted, from child service to our seniors to housing.
'This issue will destroy New York City.
City planners have estimated the cost at $4.7billion this year alone, equal to the budgets for the city's sanitation, fire and parks departments combined.
Jacques Jiha, the city's budget director, has told the police department, fire, sanitation and corrections all to drastically reduce overtime.
No details of the reparations plan were revealed ahead of todays meeting but San Franciscos city council is debating plans for a $5 million payout to each of its long-term black residents.
The removal of contentious statues of civil war figures has transfixed southern states for more than a decade and some New Yorkers are baffled at the bid to open a new front of the culture war in their city.
More than 110,000 migrants have arrived in New York City after crossing the southern border in the last two years
The Thomas Jefferson statue was removed from its pedestal inside the City Council chambers in 2021
The left-wing Democrats backing today's bid have not singled out any of the statues they want to see fall, but they are thought to include America's first president who freed his slaves on his death and has a prominent memorial in the city's Washington Square.
A statue of Thomas Jefferson was previously removed from City Hall in 2021 despite his role in drafting the declaration of independence, but another sits outside Colombia University.
Peter Stuyvesant has a statue in the square named after him on 2nd Avenue at 16th St, and Christopher Columbus has several prominent monuments including a 41-foot column in he middle of Manhattan's Columbus Circle.
Columbus was a migrant! Angelo Vivolo of the Columbus Heritage Coalition told the New York Post.
The Italian-American community will come out strongly against this move to ban Columbus, a symbol of Italian-American accomplishment.
But its not just Columbus. Youre going against Washington, Jefferson. Youre going against the people who contributed greatly to America.
This woke group wants to cancel our culture. Im here for the fight.
San Francisco's overdose deaths continue to rise - soaring in August with an additional 84 deaths, 66 involving fentanyl - to become the city's deadliest month since 2021.
More than 849 people are expected to die of drug overdoses in 2023, on pace to exceed the current record of 720 deaths in 2020 when substance abuse treatment programs were forced to reduce capacity or shut down during the pandemic.
The city has struggled with an overdose epidemic partially driven by the spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and lethal even in very small doses.
Open-air drug markets, overdose deaths, prolific shoplifting and violence have characterized the coastal city's 'doom loop' as companies shut down stores and tech employees opt to work from home.
San Francisco Police have attempted to shut down drug markets in the hard-hit Tenderloin and SoMa areas of the city where Mayor London Breed declared an official state of emergency in December 2021.
More than 849 people are expected to die of drug overdoses in 2023, on pace to exceed the current record of 720 deaths in 2020
The city has struggled with an overdose epidemic partially driven by the spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl
San Francisco Police have attempted to shut down open-air drugs markets in the hard-hit Tenderloin and SoMa areas of the city
The force has seized 42 kilograms of fentanyl between 29 May and 17 September.
Arrests for narcotics use and sales also racked up to 1,106 in the same period, according to police statistics.
In 2020 and 2021, about 23 percent of the overdose deaths occurred in the Tenderloin district and about 18 percent in SOMA, with many of the deaths occurring outdoors and on sidewalks in front of buildings.
Fentanyl was involved in 73 percent of accidental overdose deaths in 2020, most often in combination with other drugs.
The synthetic opioid, which is manufactured in labs, is 'often added to other drugs because of its extreme potency, which makes drugs cheaper, more powerful, more addictive and more dangerous,' according to the CDC.
Most deaths by accidental overdose have been by men, and around 70 percent of the deaths in 2020 were men between the ages 35 and 64.
'Our joint efforts to shut down the open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin and SoMa are paying off,' San Fran police said in a statement.
City officials were met with calls for tougher law enforcement and more police on the streets by angry citizens at a public safety town hall on Monday night.
Fentanyl related deaths and other overdoses are spiking in San Francisco once again
Most deaths by accidental overdose have been by men, and around 70 percent of the deaths in 2020 were men between the ages 35 and 64
A map reveals the major businesses which have left, or plan to leave, San Francisco in recent months
City Attorney David Chiu also promised resources to fight a federal court injunction that limits the citys ability to clear homeless encampments
Supervisor Matt Dorsey, whose District 6 includes several drug-dealing hotspots, laid out his plans to boost police staffing with an extra $30 million a year.
'Right now, we have a city that's been lacking in accountability,' District Attorney Brooke Jenkins told the crowd.
'We have created a culture, not just in San Francisco but quite frankly around the country, that people (believe you can) walk into a store, take what you want and walk out, while the rest of us stand there waiting to pay,' Jenkins said to applause.
City Attorney David Chiu also promised resources to fight a federal court injunction that limits the citys ability to clear homeless encampments, often hotbeds of drugs.
The city's downtown has continued to battle the loss of businesses and services.
Retail stalwart Old Navy announced they would be shuttered their flagship store in the area in July.
It comes after retail giant Nordstrom announced they would be closing all of their locations in the city.
The company said that due to the 'changing dynamics' of San Francisco it would be exiting the city by the bay over the next few months.
H&M, Marshall's, Gap and Banana Republic have also abandoned the city's downtown.
In April, Whole Foods announced it was closing all their locations, with Anthropologie and Office Depot having also made the same decisions.
Whole Foods had opened a new 'flagship' location at Trinity Place in the city's Tenderloin District in March of last year.
A recent report showed 95 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent.
Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city's Union Square area, just 107 are still operating, a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
Vanderbilt University's leaders have blasted the US News college rankings after it fell five spots to number 18 because of 'many flaws' in the methodology - while students mocked the school's 'rich privilege'.
Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and Provost C. Cybele Raver of the private, $58,130-a-year Tennessee university sent an email to alumni slamming the latest rankings, claiming the removal of traditional factors was the reason for the school's demotion.
This year, US News placed more emphasis on social mobility and included factors like first-generation graduation rates and Pell grant recipient graduation rates.
They eliminated factors that look at proportion of graduates who borrowed federal loans, high school class standing, alumni giving rate, terminal degree faculty and class size.
The Chancellor's message did not go down well with many Vanderbilt students, however, who branded the reaction as 'embarrassing'.
Vanderbilt University ranks number 18 on the national college rankings list and is number one in the state of Tennessee
Vanderbilt University Chancellor and Provost penned an email to the community in response to the lower ranking
The email to the Vanderbilt community blamed the removal of factors like 'faculty with the highest degrees attainable in their fields' and 'the percentage of entering students who are in the top 10 percent of their high-school class.'
'US Newss change in methodology has led to dramatic movement in the rankings overall, disadvantaging many private research universities while privileging large public institutions,' they wrote.
'To look at just a few examples, The University of Chicago slid from sixth to 12th. Dartmouth is down six. Berkeley and UCLA jumped five places, tying for 15th. UNC advances seven places to 22nd.
'[...]Specifically, U.S News made significant methodological changes that reduce the emphasis on metrics that ensure faculty and student quality, while increasing the emphasis on social mobility, which it measure using incomplete and misleading data.
'Measuring social mobility is an important consideration, to be sure. Vanderbilt is profoundly committed to offering access to qualified students from all backgrounds through our Opportunity Vanderbilt financial aid program and more.'
'But it is deeply misleading to commingle this policy concern with measures of education quality,' the email went on.
'As a research university, it is particularly distressing to see the incompetence and lack of rigor that have increasingly characterized the U.S News rankings, and it is deeply troubling that many families may continue to rely on them for one of the most important decisions in their families' lives.'
According to the Vanderbilt website, the university has a $10.25 billion endowment. While the university dropped in the national rankings, Vanderbilt is listed at the top of the list for the state of Tennessee.
Some students took to the internet mocking the email from the chancellor, calling out the notes of 'rich privilege.'
On X, formerly Twitter, one user shared a meme expressing that the university would rather blame poor people than improve the school in reaction to the rankings drop.
Another wrote: 'I guess when you've spent so many years and such exorbitant sums of alumni money buying your way to the top of these rankings, falling even a few spots really stings!'
'Vanderbilt's chancellor dropping an email response because of student and faculty outrage of dropping from 13 to 18 in US News ranking is so embarrassing,' shared a different user.
One Vanderbilt student known only as Jen on TikTok said: 'Maybe you should consider why, with your eight billion dollar endowment, you have not figured out how to accept poor people and matriculate them into the school.'
Online, people posted mocking the email from the Vanderbilt chancellor and provost for complaining about the change in methodology rather than make changes to accept lower-income applicants
The US News and World Report's Best Colleges rankings is an annual report that provides prospective students with an analysis of schools to help them make the right choice for their education.
The US News and World news report said they made the changes in methodology to keep up with changing desires of prospective students.
'With college costs soaring, we want to ensure the educational resources we provide emphasize the outcomes for graduates of the schools in our rankings,' said Eric Gertler, executive chairman and CEO of U.S. News
'This, in conjunction with the other outcomes-focused measures we are adopting, will further support a students decision-making process when they are making one of the most important decisions of their lives.'
Yale Law School and major medical schools such as Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and University of Pennsylvania have all dropped out of the college rankings.
In June, Columbia University announced it would drop out of the US News Report's undergraduate survey citing concerns over the 'outsized influence' the rankings play with prospective students.
Last year, Columbia was under fire after it plummeted 16 spots on the list for incorrectly reporting data.
Prior to the new methodology, Yale Law pulled out of the list claiming the ranks put more weight on schools that give aid to high test scores rather than low-income applicants.
Harvard, Stanford, Columbia and University of Pennsylvania medical schools all withdrew from the rankings saying it placed to much preference on wealth and prestige of schools.
The switch to LED lightbulbs reportedly will save $3billion in energy cost a year
The federal ban on traditional incandescent lightbulbs came into force in August
Kevin Szmyd, 25, stockpiled incandescent lightbulbs in Manchester, New Hampshire, because he doesn't like the glow from LED ones
Talk about a bright idea!
A New Hampshire software engineer spent $1,700 on 4,800 incandescent lightbulbs, so he has them for the next 75 years and can avoid a federal ban on the devices.
Kevin Szmyd, 25, is a member of a Facebook group named Antique Incandescent lamp/light bulb collectors, vintage lightbulb enthusiasts who have no interest in energy-saving LEDs.
'It's the gold standard at producing a sunlight-quality color, whereas LEDs . . . often they're casting out more of a bluish-green light, which is just terrible,' Szmyd told the Washington Post.
The man's lightbulb idea came months before the Biden administration's ban on incandescent devices went into effect in August. The ban was to force switches to the more expensive, but also more energy-efficient, LED models.
Kevin Szmyd(pictured), 25, spent $1,700 on 4,800 incandescent lightbulbs before the federal government ban them in favor of more eco-friendly LED lightbulbs
Szmyd is obsessed with the soft-pink glow that Sylvania 10576 (pictured) gives. He found it down his parents' basement and bought probably the last ones in the US after months of searching
Szmyd is a member of a Facebook group named Antique Incandescent lamp/light bulb collectors, vintage lightbulb enthusiasts who have no interest in energy-saving LEDs
Szmyd found his passion in lightbulbs earlier this year and began searching for incandescent bulbs fervently after he became aware of the federal ban
Szmyd spent six weeks stockpiling as many lightbulbs he could find on the Facebook group, Facebook marketplace, Craigslist and eBay.
'I'm trying to get a lifetime collection before the ban,' he said.
The ban requires new light bulbs to emit a minimum of 45 lumens per watt setting a standard of brightness that ensures the least efficient bulbs are phased out.
In practice, it means that old-fashioned incandescent bulbs which work by passing an electric current through a thin filament which heats up and glows would be consigned to history in favor of LED bulbs.
Szmyd found his passion just in time. When he became aware of the ban earlier this year, he began searching for incandescent bulbs fervently.
'I think I must have contacted everyone who sells light bulbs within 250 miles of me,' Szmyd said.
He eventually ended up on an incredibly rare find in his parents' basement - a soft-pink Sylvania 10576. He spent months finding more of them and bought 11 Sylvanias that were probably the last ones in the US.
'It was probably the highlight of my year,' he said.
The price of lightbulbs that Szmyd collected has skyrocketed ever since. A $15 box he bought in June is now selling for $150.
But he decided to use all the lightbulbs himself.
If he sold all the now-illegal lightbulbs on black market, he could face up to $2.6million fines by the Energy department.
Szmyd (pictured) was tempted for selling lightbulbs on black market, but decided to use himself as he could face up to $2.6million fines
Szmyd spent $15 on a box of lightbulbs in June and it has skyrocketed to $150 now
The Biden administration is scrapping old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs (pictured), an effort aiming to save $3billion a year in energy costs
Last year, around 30 percent of the 2billion bulbs sold in the US were incandescent.
LED bulbs are more expensive, costing nearly $4 each as opposed to $1 for an incandescent bulb. But they save energy and utility bills in the long run, the Democrats said.'
Biden administration officials said the rules will save $3billion a year in energy costs and cut U.S. carbon emissions by 222million metric tons over the next three decades.
But Szmyd countered, saying incandescent bulb consist of glass that can break down to sand, while LED bulbs are made of plastic.
The ban triggered an angry response from conservative media channels and some Republicans.
Rep. Andy Barr said on Twitter: 'President Biden continues to push liberal fantasies through his weaponized federal agencies.
'The Department of Energy should be focused on American energy independence, not on what lightbulbs you can or can't purchase for your home or business.'
A Vatican investigation has found a longstanding Catholic bishop of Broome allegedly sexually assaulted four Aboriginal boys and young men and groomed dozens more.
Christopher Saunders allegedly hosted 'bunga bunga' parties at church properties and spent thousands of dollars of church money on cash payments, mobile phones, alcohol and cigarettes, Seven Network and The Australian newspaper have reported.
The bishop has denied the allegations and has not been charged by Western Australia Police but he resigned in 2020 after alleged sexual misconduct and bullying claims emerged.
The 200-page Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation, the first in Australia, identified 67 Aboriginal boys and young men who may have been subjected to sexual assault or grooming by the bishop.
It's understood that some or all of the alleged offences happened in other states or territories.
A Vatican investigation has found a longstanding Catholic bishop of Broome allegedly sexually assaulted four Aboriginal boys and young men and groomed dozens more
'It has been established through the interview of witnesses and examination of documentary and other evidence that Bishop Christopher Saunders has developed a modus operandi of grooming young Aboriginal men for sex during his time within the Kimberley region, both as a Priest and as Bishop,' the report said.
It said interviewed witnesses described the bishop as being 'a wonderful orator and strong leader' but also a sexual predator preying on vulnerable Aboriginal boys and young men.
The report was also critical of the WA police investigation into the bishop's alleged offending and the decision not to press criminal charges due to difficulties in establishing the ages of victims at the time of the alleged offending.
WA Premier Roger Cook said it was a 'blight' on the Catholic Church, that the incidents had not been reported earlier.
'I'm pleased the Vatican has undertaken this inquiry and investigation,' he told reporters on Tuesday.
'We want these situations, these investigations to get to the bottom of the matter so we can find some redress and some comfort for the victims of this sort of sexual abuse.'
The Vatican report stated that Mr Saunders spent thousands of church funds on gifts and extravagant 'bunga bunga' parties for the targets he was grooming
He called on the report's authors to provide any new evidence to police for potential use in a prosecution case
WA Police said it had requested a copy of the Vatican's report and if further information comes to light it will investigate.
The force said it had carried out two investigations into a number of complaints regarding a member of the Catholic Church in the Kimberley region between 2018 and 2020.
There was insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges.
'Offences of a sexual nature are complex and challenging to prosecute,' a spokeswoman said.
'In all instances, the welfare of complainants is of the utmost importance.'
In a statement Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, who is president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, said the allegations against Bishop Saunders were 'very serious and deeply distressing' and it was proper they were thoroughly investigated.
He said the church's investigation was overseen by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge and entrusted to an experienced and independent specialist investigations organisation.
The report was provided to the Holy See, with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith continuing the investigation, Archbishop Costelloe said.
'We will respect the enduring confidential nature of this process by not commenting on specific allegations that have been raised,' he said.
Mr Saunders quit being a bishop in 2020 but denied all allegations of sexual misconduct and bullying brought against him
'In due time, the Holy See will make its determinations. It is hoped that this will not be unduly delayed.'
Archbishop Costelloe said that only after 'a just and authoritative finding' had been made could the process of rebuilding the church community in Broome under the leadership of Bishop Michael Morrissey continue to make progress and bring healing.
No new complaints have been made to WA Police since its second investigation was completed.
The area's Yawuru traditional owners welcomed the Vatican investigation, and called for the National Redress Scheme to include survivors of abuse that occurred after 2018.
'Any act on a child or vulnerable person is abhorrent,' Nyamba Buru Yawuru chief operating officer Taliah Payne said in a statement to AAP.
'These acts are detrimental to any human being, especially if they are done by a person in trust. Our children and next generation are crucial to the success of our communities.'
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028.
Keir Starmer boasted of having a 'very political discussion' with Emmanuel Macron in Paris today - as a battle raged in Britain over his plan to recast its relationship with the EU.
The Labour leader spent 45 minutes behind closed doors with the French president today discussing what he said was a 'wide range' of mutual issues - and vowed to improve Franco-British relations if he wins the next election.
He presented Marseille fan Mr Macron with a football shirt from his beloved Arsenal, personalised with his name and 25 - he is the 25th president since the revolution. In return he received a pair of cufflinks.
The controversial meeting in the French capital - Macron usually only meets opposition politicians from his own political family - came after Sir Keir had earlier posed for cheesy pictures in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
But it comes amid a growing row at home over his plans to alter the UK's relationship with the EU.
The Labour leader at the weekend pledged to get 'a much better deal' for the UK if he becomes prime minister, with the trade agreement signed by Boris Johnson facing its first five-yearly review in 2025.
But he was given a cold dose of reality by Brussels today, with sources warning the Labour leader that unless he is willing to bring the UK back into the EU customs union it will make no meaningful concessions.
Meanwhile Macron has floated a plan for greater EU integration which could see the UK handed 'associate membership' as a close ally.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace in Paris
The pair spent 45 minutes behind closed doors and discussed a 'wide range' of mutual issues
Sir Keir made the trip to Paris alongside shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow foreign secretary David Lammy
Sir Keir presented Mr Macron with a football shirt from his beloved Arsenal, personalised with his name and 25 - he is the 25th president since the revolution. In return he received a pair of cufflinks.
The Labour leader would not be drawn on certain details of the discussion but said he was 'very pleased with the outcome'.
He said the meeting began with an 'exchange of gifts' and covered topics including 'the relationship between our two countries' and future 'prosperity and security'.
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Sir Keir said: 'We had a very constructive and positive meeting, which as you can imagine covered a wide range of issues.
'It was my first opportunity to say how much I value the relationship between our two countries, particularly when it comes to prosperity and security and how, if we are privileged enough to be elected into power, intend to build on that relationship and make it even stronger than it is today.'
Sir Keir added: 'We had a very political discussion covering a lot of issues to do with global politics but also it was that opportunity to look at future prosperity, future security, some of the most pressing issues on my mind, on the president's mind.'
Sir Keir, who campaigned for a second referendum and supported the return of free movement, has previously told Brexit voters he would not seek 'major changes' to the deal struck by Mr Johnson.
The Opposition leader at the weekend pledged to get 'a much better deal' for the UK if he becomes prime minister, with the trade agreement signed by Boris Johnson facing its first five-yearly review in 2025.
But he was given a cold dose of reality by Brussels, with sources warning the Labour leader than unless he is willing to bring the UK back into the EU customs union it will make no meaningful concessions.
It came at the end of what critics have suggested was his own triumphal procession of meetings with international leaders including Canada's Justin Trudeau.
'Unless Starmer is prepared to take a quantum leap and change Labour's position on membership of the customs union then any renegotiation will really be not much more than a housekeeping exercise,' one EU source told The Times.
Downing Street ruled out a renegotiation, saying Rishi Sunak was focusing on 'maximising opportunities' outside the EU.
The Labour leader said he did not want to reverse the referendum result and was focused on trying to 'make it work'.
But Tories warned Sir Keir could take Britain 'back to square one' while Brussels observers said a closer deal would be possible only by signing up to EU laws.
It comes as the UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE) research group publishes a new report that finds using the existing Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to reduce trade barriers will be 'very challenging'.
UKICE said the onus will be on Britain to give the EU an incentive to shift its position, given the bloc is 'relatively happy' with the existing partnership.
Closer alignment on veterinary standards in order to ease trade, which Labour has cited as a priority, is highlighted in its report as one of the potential changes which would benefit the UK.
But it adds that any new negotiations would potentially be lengthy and complex, and that time-consuming domestic issues like the economy and the NHS are likely to leave 'limited bandwidth' for a major reassessment.
Experts also warn that a review could even 'inflame tensions' over implementation issues and that the EU is likely to prefer a lighter, technical re-evaluation.
Anand Menon, director of UKICE, said: 'Keir Starmer's desire to secure a 'much better' Brexit deal for the UK is all well and good.
'However, he failed to explain how tinkering with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement will make a meaningful economic difference. Moreover, he runs the risk of demanding more than the European Union is willing to give.
'The UK is not a priority for the EU, which remains relatively happy with the TCA. The key for a Labour government will be figuring out a way to provide the EU with an incentive to restart negotiations over Brexit.'
Keir Starmer posted a glossy video showing him meeting and greeting Left-wing politicians including Justin Trudeau (right) at a summit in Montreal over the weekend
David Jones, a Conservative former minister, said Labour's leader appeared to be intent on 'unpicking Brexit'.
He added: 'He is clearly cosying up to the EU and to Macron, who is the most Europhile member of a Europhile bunch, and who would not be seeing him unless he thinks he can get something out of Labour to his advantage.
'My big concern with Starmer is that he is preparing the ground to sign us up to perpetual alignment with EU standards.
'We would become a rule-taker and lose the freedom to strike better trade deals around the world.
'There is no doubt that free movement would also have to come back on to the table before the EU would consider a new deal. I'm surprised even Starmer thinks it's a good idea.'
Craig Mackinlay, a Conservative member of the Commons European scrutiny committee, warned that Sir Keir would 'betray' Brexit if he won power.
'This is the same Keir Starmer who called for a second referendum,' he said.
'He is someone who wants Britain to be in the EU. If he gets into No 10 then he will betray the ideals and advantages of Brexit. We will end up with more alignment with the EU, but no say over the rules it would be the worst of both worlds.'
A Conservative Party spokesman said: 'Seven years on from the referendum, Keir Starmer wants to take Britain back to square one on Brexit, reopening the arguments of the past all over again.
'Keir Starmer backed Remain, then wanted a second Brexit referendum, yet now he says he accepts it.'
Sir Keir arrived in Paris last night with Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of talks at the Elysee Palace with President Macron.
Labour sources were tight-lipped about the agenda for today's talks. But Sir Keir is expected to discuss both his hopes for fresh Brexit arrangements and his plan to create a new immigration framework with Brussels.
Last week he faced a backlash after suggesting he was willing to discuss accepting thousands of asylum seekers from the EU as a 'quid pro quo' for a deal that would allow the UK to return some Channel migrants to Europe.
Yesterday Sir Keir insisted Labour would not rejoin the single market or customs union but said the UK could get a 'much better' deal. 'I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well,' he said. 'That's subject to further discussion.'
Sir Keir said he owed it to his children, aged 12 and 15, to get a better deal. 'I'm not going to let them grow up in a world where all I've got to say to them about their future is, it's going to be worse than it might otherwise have been,' he said.
'Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal it's far too thin. As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.'
Downing Street said that Mr Sunak would not reopen the trade and co-operation agreement brokered with Brussels in 'any way, shape or form'.
A statutory review of the deal is due in 2025, but government sources said this would be focused on technical issues.
The PM's spokesman said: 'We're not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form. Obviously there is a set statutory review period but beyond that we're very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public.'
Brussels expert Wolfgang Munchau said Sir Keir's plan was 'based on a delusion of a similar kind, that it is possible to stay outside the single market and the customs union, and get a better deal'.
Sir Keir did a panel event with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Stre (left) at the summit in Montreal
He added: 'This is a political lie.' Mr Munchau, director of the Eurointelligence website, said Sir Keir's 'repeated assertion that there is a better deal with the EU out there... is simply not true'.
He added: 'If the EU plays hardball, as it surely will, pressure will grow from inside the Labour Party for another referendum.'
Mike Gapes, a former Labour chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, welcomed Sir Keir's push for closer ties.
But he warned the UK would not be able to have its cake and eat it and said Labour would have to make major concessions to secure a closer deal. 'Now comes the hard bit,' he said. 'The EU is treaty and rules-based. So drop the cakeism. The UK will not be able to cherry-pick our relationship.'
The mother of accused 'Moscow Mule murderess' Kouri Richins repeated the same narrative that her daughter had scripted in a letter found in her prison cell as she spoke for the first time exclusively with DailyMail.com.
Lisa Darden told us she believed her late son-in-law Eric Richins had bought fentanyl-laced drugs and simply overdosed, just as Kouri had spelled out her instructions in her jailhouse note.
And she repeated Kouri's line that her husband would buy drugs abroad and slip them into her luggage without her knowledge.
Darden, 64, spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com on Friday, after steadfastly refusing media requests for interviews since her daughter's arrest.
Now it turns out, virtually everything she told us mirrored the instructions laid out in a six-page letter that prison authorities found in Kouri's cell after she was sent to the hospital following a seizure behind bars.
Kouri Richins, a Utah mother of three who authorities say fatally poisoned her husband, Eric Richins, then wrote a children's book about grieving, appeared in court earlier this month
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Richins's mother Lisa Darden (pictured right at her daughter's 2013 wedding) said she believed her late son-in-law bought fentanyl-laced drugs and simply overdosed
Richins is accused of poisoning husband Eric (pictured), 39, by slipping him five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into the drink in March 2022
Richins, 34, was arrested in May and charged with first degree aggravated murder for allegedly killing her husband by slipping fentanyl into his Moscow Mule a vodka-based cocktail.
She is also charged with multiple counts of second-degree possession of a control substance with intent to distribute.
Eric died in March last year and following his death Kouri wrote a children's book on dealing with grief.
Now wallowing in the Summit County Jail, she fell ill on Thursday after taking prison-administered medication, allegedly for the sixth time since her arrest.
While she was in the hospital, guards searched her cell and found a copy of the bombshell letter Kouri had written to her mom, instructing her to fan conspiracy theories that Eric had a drug problem and overdosed.
In the letter, Richins asks her to get her brother, Ronney, to concoct a story that Eric, a year before his death, secretly told him that he'd get pain pills and fentanyl from a ranch in Mexico. Kouri wrote that she would back him up and say that Eric, 39, later told her about this conversation with Ronney.
She wrote that she'd also say that her husband asked if their caretaker a drug dealer named Carmen Lauber could hook him up with some more.
In her hour-long interview with DailyMail.com, Darden repeated the overdose narrative.
'I think Eric bought some pills off the street and they were laced, and he didn't know it,' she told DailyMail.com.
She then proceeded to bash her daughter's dead husband, calling him a controlling, sometimes violent, man who cheated on his wife and once punched her in the face after she confronted his mistress.
It turns out virtually everything Darden told DailyMail.com mirrored the instructions laid out in a six-page letter that prison authorities found in Kouri's cell after she was sent to the hospital following a seizure behind bars.
On Friday, Richins 'had an incident' when given the wrong medication and was taken to the hospital after seizing up at Utah's Summit County Jail
And despite Kouri's initial claim that Eric didn't take drugs other than the occasional pot gummy, the mom said he ate gummies daily, and brought marijuana and possibly other drugs home from international trips.
'I know two occasions he bought in another country and put the stuff in Kouri's bag and didn't tell her there were drugs in her bag till they were up in the air,' said Darden, who lives in Heber City, Utah.
She said Eric, whom she described as a hypochondriac, even stopped by a few times to ask her for prescription pain pills, after she had surgery.
'I had several surgeries, so he thought I would have Oxy,' she said, referring to the prescription opioid Oxycodone.
'He'd come by, say 'Lisa, have you got anything for pain? Got anything for pain?'
She added, cryptically: 'He'd ask these workers, got anything for pain?'
'Do I know that he went out on the street?' she added, suggestively. 'I know what people have told me.'
Darden's comments came as she struggled to understand exactly why her daughter had a seizure an incident the mom described as 'absolutely terrifying.'
A spokesman for Erc's family told DailyMail.com: there was 'n truth to any' of what Darden had said.
'But I wish she was a little bit more sensitive to his children when she publicly slanders their father.
'Too bad we can't request a polygraph test,' he added.
She blamed it on the jail for giving her the wrong medication.
She was initially kept in the dark about the cell search, which led prosecutors to accuse the daughter of witness tampering, and to ask a judge to bar Kouri from having any further contact with her mother or brother, who are both slated to be witnesses to the trial.
On Friday, Darden was still in communication with her daughter, relieved to report that her daughter was feeling better, though awaiting blood test results to learn exactly what happened.
DailyMail.com previously reported that Eric Richins (pictured with Kouri, her brother Ronney, and her mother) had even left a letter to his family instructing them to 'check out' Kouri in the event that something happened to him
Eric's family told investigators shortly after he died they suspected his wife had killed the father-of-three
The Kamas, Utah, home where police say Kouri Richins killed her husband Eric in March 2022 with a fentanyl-laced Moscow Mule cocktail
Contacted after news of the letter broke, Darden on Monday refused to comment.
'Sorry, I'm not giving no comments to no one,' she texted DailyMail.com, and rejected a visit, saying she would be 'gone all day.'
But on Friday she was anxious to try to reverse the public narrative of her daughter as a cold, calculated murderer.
Prosecutors say Kouri, a Mormon raising three sons with Eric outside Salt Lake City, purchased fentanyl from her caretaker who moonlighted as a drug dealer.
Kouri allegedly poisoned her husband in March 2022, then waged a legal battle within weeks of his death in a bid to secure an estate valued in excess of $3.6million.
She later published a picture book to help children cope with losing a loved one.
'This case is so bizarre, you couldn't write a story this good,' Darden told DailyMail.com, standing in the doorway of her home in a desolate Utah mountain town. 'I've lived it.'
She said she's convinced of her daughter's innocence, and proceeded to unload on her deceased son-in-law as well as the caretaker/drug dealer who is expected to be a star witness in a future trial.
Darden said Eric, who came from a prominent Mormon family in Kamas, would cheat on his wife and left her with a black eye after she confronted his former mistress.
Darden also claimed Eric would cheat on his wife and identified his mistress as Jennifer White, 40 (pictured) - who denied the affair
She identified the mistress as Jennifer White, 40, who like Eric worked in the masonry business.
Darden said her daughter grew suspicious when her husband's phone rang at home. She picked it up, and the woman on the other end instantly hung up.
Kouri quizzed her husband, who confessed to the affair, according to Darden.
Kouri then phoned the alleged mistress the next day, shouting at her and demanding she leave her husband alone, the mom said.
'Eric responded angrily, and this wasn't the first time,' Darden said. 'He's push her, he'd punch her.'
Approached by DailyMail.com, White acknowledged the confrontational call, but said she denied the affair and that was the end of it.
'She asked me and I said no, and that was it,' White told DailyMail.com. 'I don't know why they're even saying my name now. I haven't even talked to Eric in over four years. There was nothing. He was my friend through work, that's it.'
Eric was an avid outdoorsman and hunter, but Darden said he'd take it to the extreme, sharing a time he allegedly shot a hapless giraffe in South Africa as his wife screamed for him to stop, then joined the guides in cutting off its legs to display in his trophy room.
Kouri - pictured in court in June - is also facing a fresh lawsuit from the sister of her late husband over alleged myriad financial interferences with his finances including stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his accounts
A family attorney revealed Eric Richins was considering divorce at the time he died, but chose to stay married to wife Kouri for their three young sons
'They got into an argument,' Darden said. 'He said we didn't spend this kind of f**king money to come out here and to not take home a giraffe.
'And then, of course, there was the racial thing,' she continued, claiming he treated the local guides like second-class citizens, upsetting his wife who invited support staff to join them for meals and sit with them in their warm truck when the crew had been shivering in the back cab.
'And Eric just psycho'd and he said 'no, this is how they do it here,' Darden said.
She claimed Eric was bipolar, and that the couple struggled with their relationship.
'They went to marriage counseling to try to solve their problems,' she said. 'They worked it out, to agree to disagree, that's about how it turned out.'
Prosecutors say Kouri purchased fentanyl from the caretaker, Carmen Lauber.
Lauber, on probation for several prior felony drug convictions, has not been charged with any crimes connected to the death.
Lauber, who had worked for the Richins family and for Kouri's real estate business, has been cooperating with the prosecution. She admitted to supplying her 15-30 fentanyl pills on two occasions, a month before Eric's death, charging $900 each time, according to a search warrant affidavit.
But Kouri's mother dismissed Lauber's account, calling her a 'habitual liar' who 'will do anything to save her own ass in any possible way.
'If her mouth is moving, she's lying,' Darden continued. 'She worked for my sister for nine years, and she would steal money out of a client's home.
'The cops were called on a couple occasions because big money came out missing. She's a thief, she's a liar. She's that person you don't want to know, to be honest with you.'
Prosecutors say Kouri purchased fentanyl from the caretaker, Carmen Lauber. Althuogh she is now fitted with an ankle bracelet, Lauber has not been charged with any crimes connected to Eric Richins's death
Kouri is said to have bought four life insurance policies on her husband totaling $2million in the years prior to his death
Reached by DailyMail.com, Lauber, wearing an ankle monitor as required under probation for a prior conviction, declined to comment, declaring, 'There is a gag order on this case.'
Kouri's mom said she believes Lauber, to avoid prosecution on potential new felony charges, is framing her daughter to avoid prison.
'I don't think the fentanyl (that killed Eric) had anything to do with Carmen, personally,' Darden said.
Darden has maintained daily contact with her daughter in jail, speaking by phone and video, and visiting twice a week. That could soon change if prosecutors get their way.
Police discovered Kouri's letter to Darden hidden in the pages of a book. Prosecutors say that earlier in the week, Richins during another video conference held up a different letter for her mother to read silently to herself.
In this latest note, Kouri shared her new marching orders for her brother Ronney, adding that he can 'reword' this story however he'd like, but 'to make the point just include it all.'
'Tell Ronney I need him to do this,' she writes her mom, warning her to only speak to him about this in person because she believes the mom's home and phone have been bugged.
Speaking with DailyMail.com, Darden said she continues to see her daughter as a 'wonderful person' who 'gives far more than she ever in life receives.'
Richins had written a book following her husbands passing. and appeared on TV promoting it
Kouri is seen promoting her book on a local Utah station in April this year. 'We have three little boys,' she told the interviewer, 'And my kids and I kind of wrote this book on the different emotions and grieving processes that we've experienced in the past year'
'And I'm not saying that because I'm her mother,' she added. 'I see it on a daily basis, all the things she has done.'
She highlighted several.
'She's a Boy Scout leader, and during flood season, she has them fill sandbags and give them away to the people whose areas are flooding,' she said.
'And for the firefighters who work 20 hours a day during fire season, she takes them ice, water, cookies. And at Christmas time, she buys all these presents to supply three families, thousands of dollars.'
'I know my daughter,' she continued. 'I could name you 50 people that I think could do it, but not her.'
'She lives and dies for her boys,' she said, stating that Kouri still speaks twice a week with her three children, ages 11, 9 and 6.
'Her boys are her world,' Darden said. 'And you think she would jeopardize that for this? Absolutely not. She would have divorced him first.'
She's expecting a full acquittal.
'I think she's going to walk out of there, quickly,' the mom said.
'I'm hoping all 12 jurors agree. But even if they don't, you can't tell me that half of them won't agree. It's not there. She did not do this.'
Evidence included receipts from the cash transfer company and waybills sporting the Delta logo, which were recovered in a car allegedly driven by Okon
Quincy Thorpe and Emmanuel Asuquo Okon were accused of stealing a bag of cash from a Delta flight
A former Delta Airlines worker and his close friend stood accused of stealing nearly $300,000 from a Miami-bound flight - but were cleared of all charges after a jury deliberated for less than an hour.
Quincy Thorpe, 40, and Emmanuel Asuquo Okon, 32, walked into Brooklyn Federal Court on September 18 only to leave soon after, as the jury was unconvinced by evidence including security footage and receipts found in a car belonging to Okon's partner.
The money was part of a cash shipment from a cruise ship to be loaded onto Delta Flight 1225 from Kennedy Airport to Florida. Thorpe was responsible for loading eight bags packed with US and foreign currency onto the plane.
When the cash went missing, investigators accused Thorpe of driving away with one of the stolen bags and transferring it to a white van, before meeting Okon in the public side of the airport and swapping the bag out.
The FBI found the car with documents including a Delta waybill five days after the heist and arrested both men. Thorpe appeared in federal court the same day he was arrested at his home in Brooklyn.
The pair would have faced 10 years in prison if convicted - but walked free on Monday.
Quincy Thorpe, a former Delta baggage handler, walked into Brooklyn federal court for closing arguments in his moneybag trial on September 18
He was joined by longtime friend Emmanuel Okon, who was accused of smuggling the cash from the airport
Attorneys were also seen entering the courthouse. The jury deliberated for less than an hour before reaching the not guilty verdict
The defense argued that the duo had been falsely accused, with Thorpe's lawyer blaming the airline for making a scapegoat out of his client for the 'embarrassment' it suffered.
The story started on September 24 2019, when authorities claimed Thorpe stole the money on the tarmac while the plane was being loaded and transferred it to a van in a remote part of the airport.
The van was driven by a third person, James Hollingsworth, who was not a defendant in the case. Hollingsworth and Thorpe left the money with Okon, who then smuggled it out of JFK.
Prosecutors relied heavily on security footage that tracked the men's movements around the airport - but the jury decided the video was not incriminating.
'The videos worked against them. It just didnt show what they claimed that the video showed,' Thorpes attorney, Lonnie Hart Jr., told the New York Post following the verdict.
Court documents allege that Thorpe, a luggage handler for the airline, scanned and loaded seven bags onto the flight before swiping the eighth one from an armored truck.
Employees from Loomis, the cash handling company, realized one of the bags was missing once the flight landed in Miami. This prompted an investigation by Port Authority police and the FBI.
Thorpe was identified after co-workers said he went home sick around the time of the theft. Over the next two days, Thorpe called Delta Ground Services to say he would not be coming to work.
He appeared briefly in court and was released on $80,000 bond co-signed by his sister.
Delta released a statement after Thorpe was suspended, reading in part: 'The alleged actions of this employee are unacceptable and in no way reflect the professionalism and values we expect from Delta team members.'
The airline confirmed it was working with authorities as well as conducting a separate internal investigation.
Authorities found documents in the car allegedly driven by Okon including receipts from cash transfer company Loomis
A 'manifest recap' reading '$257,991' was among the files recovered
An air waybill reading 'Piece 8 of 8' with the Delta logo was also retrieved
The bill showed that the cargo was travelling from New York to Miami and belonged to Loomis
Photos of the receipts in the car were presented to the jury, intended to show the men's guilt
Okon was positively identified by a witness as the man driving the blue Nissan Sentra
Documents allege the car belonged to his partner, Ayanna Giddens, an NYPD cop with nearly 30 years of experience
Surveillance footage showed Thorpe's movements on the day of the alleged heist
The defense argued that the videos did not show any criminal acts, particularly in relation to Thorpe, who was on the tarmac at the time
Okon, the alleged getaway driver, was positively identified by a witness who pointed out his telltale beard.
Security surveillance showed that he was driving a blue Nissan Sentra. Okons domestic partner, Ayanna Giddens, owned the same car.
Her name appears on search warrants from the US Attorney's Office.
According to court documents filed September of last year, Okon 'intentionally and unlawfully' took 'a stolen bag containing United States and foreign currency of approximately $258,205 in value,' which he intended to use himself.
Giddens, an NYPD sergeant with 26 years of experience, consented to a search of her car.
It yielded an envelope containing a Delta Airlines Cargo Air Waybill for Delta Flight 1226 that read 'Piece 8 of 8' as well as receipts from Loomis International.
Okon's filed a motion in March 2021 to suppress the fruits of the September 29, 2019 search but it was swiftly denied.
The men appeared in court on September 13 of this year.
Prosecutor John Vagelatos said the defendants made a 'tremendous mistake' in leaving behind 'hard evidence of the crime.'
He alleged Thorpe snatched the eighth bag, drove it in a trailer to a remote airport parking lot with no cameras around and transferred it to the van.
He and Hollingsworth drove the van to meet Okon on the public side of the airport and handed him the money. Okon then drove Thorpe back to the airport to finish his shift, the prosecutor said.
However, Hart argued that his client was 'a scapegoat for someone elses incompetence.'
'Someone has to pay for it and the convenient person in this case is my client, Quincy Thorpe, because he was, in fact, in charge of loading that particular flight,' he said.
The lawyer instead pointed a finger at Hollingsworth, the driver of the van, calling him the 'actual perpetrator.'
Okons lawyer, Douglas Rankin, also argued that his client had been mistakenly accused despite the car belonging to his partner.
'Whether it was Miami, whether it was New York, money got stolen. A quarter of a million dollars, somebody gets arrested and prosecuted, and its not always the right somebody,' Rankin said.
Five witnesses took the stand, including three Delta Airlines workers.
One had been loading the plane the day of the theft; another was a station manager who was called to the plane in Miami after the eighth bag was found to be missing; and the third was a director of operations who explained how the company tracks which employees scan cargo.
Also present was a Port Authority officer who watched the surveillance footage showing the cars used to smuggle the bag from the airport and the Loomis Armored Truck guard who took the bags to JFK before they were swiped.
The prosecution relied heavily on a series of videos that tracked Thorpe and Okon's movements the day of the theft.
An historian has blasted men dressed as Nazi SS guards as being 'flabby wannabes' whose outfits add no historical value after furious locals clashed with the Swastika-clad group at a popular 1940s war weekend.
Guy Walters, a historian and author of nine books on the Second World War, said people who dress up as Nazis 'deserve the utmost ridicule' after the group in SS uniforms caused an outcry at the festival in Sheringham, Norfolk.
Mr Walters wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'People who dress like comedy SS clowns from 'Allo 'Allo teach us nothing, absolutely nothing, about the Second World War. They're just flabby Nazi wannabes, who deserve the utmost ridicule.'
Trouble broke out when crowds of horrified locals confront the group during the annual WWII-themed festival at the weekend, which sees people don wartime outfits and watch aircrafts fly overhead.
Police were forced to escort the group of up to 15 people away from the family-friendly festival to stop trouble escalating.
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The men were confronted by crowds on Sheringham High Street in Norfolk during the resort's annual Second World War-themed festival
Guy Walters, a historian and author of nine books on the Second World War, said people who dress like Nazis 'teach us nothing' after the group of men in SS uniforms disrupted the festival in Norfolk
The annual event drew up to 25,000 people across both days, many of them in period dress, with photos and videos online showing dancing in the streets and family celebrations
A spokesman for festival organisers claimed the incident had been a 'misunderstanding'
The annual event drew up to 25,000 people across both days, many of them in period dress, with photos and videos online showing dancing in the streets and family celebrations.
But the popular festivities were marred when the group in Nazi-era German uniforms assembled outside a local pub and 'marched in unison' through the jovial crowds.
Some of the uniforms had SS markings on their collars, representing Hitler's infamous death squad, as well as badges featuring the 'death's head' symbol and swastikas.
Their presence angered many locals with onlookers shouting at them and telling them they were not welcome.
Event marshals stepped in to ask the men to leave before police also intervened to shepherd the group away from the angry crowds.
Witnesses said the group congregated outside The Lobster pub, where they were confronted by locals.
Mike Keller, who lost family members in the Holocaust and whose father escaped Nazi Germany in the Kindertransport, was among those appalled by the sight of the uniforms.
He said: 'It was a lovely family atmosphere and very friendly, when suddenly from nowhere there were 10-15 men dressed in authentic SS uniform literally marching in unison.
'It was deeply offensive. These men were not milling about and blending in among people. They were marching and making a demonstration. It was frightening.
'My father was from a Jewish family who lost his parents and brothers and sisters in death camps. He was fortunate to escape with my uncle via Kindertransport, so having to see this with my son was mortally offensive and a disgraceful act.'
Another witness said: 'When the group gathered outside of the pub, the family-friendly atmosphere of the day fell tense. There was so much tension and shock in the air.
A spokesman for the group who attended in Nazi-style uniforms admitted members wore Waffen-SS infantry uniforms but claimed they did not portray Germans
'There were many jeers and heckles from onlookers. While the group stood proud, one man at the pub confronted them.
'That's when the police arrived and swiftly escorted the group out of town. It all happened quite quickly.'
Commenting online, visitor Julie Jones said: 'Loved the effort of people dressing up plus their dogs. An enjoyable atmosphere too until I spotted a group dressed in German uniform.
'I was surprised how upset I felt and think it was totally inappropriate at a joyous occasion celebrating the good of the 40's era.'
The incident has prompted calls to ban Nazi uniforms from future weekends and the town council has agreed to discuss proposals to make the event Allied-uniform only.
German military clothing from the period is not currently banned - although the North Norfolk Railway, which runs an associated event over the same weekend, does not permit such garments.
A spokesman for festival organisers said German uniforms are permitted, as long as they do not 'promote the Nazis'.
He claimed the incident had been a 'misunderstanding' and that the group was there to 'commemorate the German people'.
The popular festivities were marred when the group in Nazi-era German uniforms (original uniforms pictured) assembled outside a local pub and 'marched in unison' through the jovial crowds
Pictured are people with gun as part of the battle reenactments by the Eastern Front Living History Group
But an updated statement issued on the group's website said the spokesman's comments 'are not representative of the Committee's views about offence caused by a group in SS uniforms'.
It added: 'Our volunteer marshals immediately took action with the help of the police and our volunteers escorted the group out of the town.
We are working collaboratively with Sheringham Town Council, the police and NNR [North Norfolk Railways] to reflect on what happened and prevent any future disruption to this event.'
Sheringham Town Council have said that they will discuss with Norfolk police a way to avoid a repeat situation at future weekends.
A spokesman said: 'Sheringham Town Council has been made aware that on the Saturday there was an incident in the town that was managed by the police.
'Sheringham Town Council will consult with the police, North Norfolk Railway and others to determine what happened and what action may be taken to prevent a recurrence.'
However, a spokesman for the Eastern Front Living History Group said the incident has been exaggerated, claiming local people were 'shaking hands' with them and taking photos.
The group said they have been attending the Sheringham 1940's weekend for years, raising money for military veterans, and have never experienced any negative behaviour towards them before.
The spokesman said: 'We do battle re-enactments, displays and educational visits across the UK, raising money for charity for wounded soldiers so they can have artificial limbs.
'We represent the western European nations that fought against Stalin and communism during WWII.
A spokesman for the Eastern Front Living History Group (pictured are badges used) said the incident has been exaggerated, claiming local people were 'shaking hands' with them and taking photos
A spokesman for festival organisers said German uniforms are permitted, as long as they do not 'promote the Nazis' (pictured are original uniforms)
'We were wearing Waffen-SS infantry uniforms displaying national shields and insignia of the countries portrayed. Not one member of the group portrayed a German.
'The uniforms were supplied by Germany, as were the weapons, to the foreign volunteers from 1941 - 1945. They're as close to authentic as you can get.
'As a group we've been attending the Sheringham 1940's weekend for four or five years running and never had any problems before.
'We were walking down Sheringham high street and people were stopping us, shaking our hands and wanting to take photos. It was a brilliant vibe. There was no one upset or offended at all. It was good-natured fun as it should be.
'We were a quarter of the way down the high street when a guy who was highly intoxicated approached a member of the group and assaulted him. He was foaming at the mouth - it was very scary.
'He then attacked me and pushed me screaming about Jewish persecution and his heritage saying it was disrespectful.
'I said to him I understood his point of view, but what we portray is a million miles from the point which was upsetting him.
'As a group we do not tolerate any politics or any form of religious persecution. We simply won't have it. That behaviour disgusts us and tarnishes what we do.
'We were not asked to leave. We were leaving anyway to go back our campsite. We felt it was the right thing to do.'
A spokesman for Norfolk Police said: 'A police officer on patrol in Sheringham came across a confrontation in the high street on Saturday at about 5.30pm, involving a man and a group of people who had been attending an event.
'The officer intervened and quickly resolved the incident. One man reported being assaulted and this is being investigated further. No one was injured during the incident.'
President Joe Biden fears he may die before his son Hunter's legal issues are resolved as the family worries the situation may become worse before it gets better, a new report out on Tuesday revealed.
Biden, 80, has spoken about his fear of death behind closed doors, sources close to the Bidens told NBC News.
It's a contrast to Biden's public persona, where he has joked about being the oldest president in American history. At a fundraiser in New York on Monday night, Biden cast his age as experience.
'A lot of people seem focused on my age. Believe me, I know better than anyone,' he said. 'When this nation was flat on its back, I knew what to do.
'I am more optimistic about the future of this country than in the 800 years I've served,' he added to laughter.
The president has a clean bill of health from his doctor and the best medical care in the world. Still, he at times has trouble walking and has made verbal stumbles.
President Joe Biden, 80, fears he will die before his son's legal issues are resolved, a new report claimed
If Biden wins a second term in next year's election, he would be 86 when he leaves office.
And polls show voters are concerned Biden is too old for four more years in the White House.
Additionally some Democrats are worried that the president, who defeated Donald Trump, 77, in the 2020 election, may not have the energy to do it again next year.
'He is in a period of his life where passing and death is imminent,' Sharon Sweda, the leader of the Democratic Party in Lorain County in Ohio, told The Washington Post . 'We are all on a ticking clock. But when you're at his age or at Trump's age, that clock is ticking a little faster, and that's a concern for voters.'
Compounding the age issue, some aides are worried Hunter's legal troubles could divide the president's attention when he needs to focus on running the country and campaigning for re-election.
Aides say both the president and first lady Jill Biden are reluctant to hear about any political implications about the matter and have accepted the fact that Hunter's legal problems will probably get worse in the months ahead, NBC News reported.
A source told the news network the topic of Hunter is so sensitive that 'everybody walks around on eggshells in the West Wing' and don't like to raise the matter.
Hunter Biden, meanwhile, is going on the offensive after being hit with three federal charges related to his 2018 purchase of a handgun and facing an investigation into his taxes. He has sued the IRS for releasing his tax information, which he claims should have remained confidential.
President Biden has not publicly addressed his son's latest legal woes. But he did tell MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle earlier this year he was proud of Hunter's recovery from his drug and alcohol addiction.
'It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him,' Biden said.
President Joe Biden with wife Jill, son Hunter, Hunter's wife Melissa and their son Beau in November 2022
Hunter with President Joe Biden in June 2023 - aides worry his son's legal troubles may distract the president
The Biden family took another blow earlier this summer when Hunter's plea deal with federal prosecutors fell apart.
U.S. Attorney David Weiss and Hunter's lawyers reached a plea deal in July that called for the president's son to plead guilty in Delaware federal court to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for prosecutors' recommending probation.
A separate felony gun charge of illegally owning the Colt Cobra .38 special handgun would have been dropped in two years if Biden honored the terms of what is known as a diversion agreement.
The plea deal, which Republicans blasted as a 'sweetheart deal' fell apart in a Delaware courtroom when the presiding judge started to question some of its details, including one that including would theoretically protect Hunter Biden from other tax-related crimes in the same period.
Prosecutors said it would not. Hunter's lawyers said it would. The agreement fell apart. The three federal charges related to the gun purchase were announced on earlier this month.
Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years, while the third has a maximum of five years. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
Additionally, now Biden, himself, faces an impeachment inquiry. House Republicans charge the Biden family benefitted from Hunter Biden's business deals, which, they say, came about because Joe Biden was vice president.
President Biden has said he has never been involved in his son's business matters.
He brushed aside the impeachment inquiry, telling donors last week that: 'I got a job to do. Everybody always asked about impeachment. I get up every day, not a joke, not focused on impeachment. I've got a job to do. I've got to deal with the issues that affect the American people every single solitary day.'
Republicans claim Joe Biden talked to Hunter's business associates, who called him the 'big guy.'
The White House said those conversations were casual and did not involve business deals.
President Biden with first lady Jill Biden, son Hunter and grandson Beau in July 2023
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, facing heavy pressure from the right wing of the Republican Party, launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden
Hunter's former business partner Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee in testimony this summer that Hunter had put his father on speakerphone during business meetings about 20 times.
At the time of Archer's closed-door testimony, Democrats in the room said Archer described the calls as personal.
'The witness indicated that Hunter spoke to his father every day, and approximately 20 times over the course of 10-year relationship, Hunter may have put his father on the phone with any number of different people, and they never once spoke about any business dealings,' Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York said at the time.
'As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, what's going on. There wasn't a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had,' Goldman noted.
But Republican Chairman James Comer of Kentucky said Archer testified that Joe Biden 'joined Hunter Biden's dinners with his foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone over 20 times' and was put on the phone to sell 'the brand.'
Comer said the testimony shows 'Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge about his son's business dealings and was not involved. Joe Biden was 'the brand' that his son sold around the world to enrich the Biden family.'
The White House has accused Republicans of election-year politics with its impeachment inquiry.
A 22-year-old man who had his penis lopped off in a botched circumcision at age ten has had a compensation award of 500,000 reduced to just 20,000 after the Malay government successfully appealed against his claim.
The unnamed victim reportedly lost roughly 90 per cent of his penis during the op that took place at the local hospital in his hometown of Kuala Lipis, Malaysia, on December 13, 2010.
The medics who reportedly severed his privates were not qualified in microsurgeries, and the decision was made to transfer the boy to Selayang Hospital where better qualified surgeons could attempt to rectify the horror botch job.
But the delay meant he was only operated on ten hours later, at which point all hope for reattaching his penis was lost.
Afterwards, he remained hospitalised for over a month amid an agonising and desperate recovery process after which he filed a lawsuit against the government and hospital directors with the help of his mother.
On April 7, 2022, Justice Datuk Akhtar Tahir ruled in his favour and awarded him MYR 3.1 million (532,409) in damages.
Judge Akhtar said in June of last year: 'The delay by the medical personnel in attending to the plaintiff's injury had extinguished all hopes of a successful surgery in saving the injured part of the plaintiff.
'The Selayang Hospital had been informed about the transfer of the plaintiff, yet the medical personnel did not take steps to prepare for a possible surgery.
'It is clear that no amount of financial award given by the court will compensate the loss suffered by the plaintiff.
'All the shame and humiliation the plaintiff suffers comes as a result of this terrible loss.
'His mother had testified that since the age of ten, the plaintiff has entered into a shell and finds it hard to interact with others, let alone develop the courage ever to marry.'
The amount sought by the plaintiff was north of 500,000, including a litany of general, special and severe damages collectively owed by all the defendants.
But the payout was greatly reduced after the government filed an appeal that the Putrajaya Court of Appeal accepted.
A three-judge panel ruled unanimously that general damages of MYR 2 million (GBP 343,432) obtained by the plaintiff were excessively high during a hearing earlier this month.
Justice Ravinthran Paramaguru, who chaired the panel, said the amount was not supported by any documentation.
Paramaguru was quoted as saying: 'Therefore, the general damages of MYR 2 million are reduced to MYR 100,000 (17,172).
'The special damages are reduced from to MYR 23,556 (4,045).'
Bogus medic Torben K, 46 has been jailed for five years after performing a botched penis enlargement surgery which killed his patient
The drastic reduction in the plaintiff's damages came just weeks after a German man who posed as a cosmetic surgeon was jailed for five years for performing a botched penis enlargement surgery which killed his patient.
Bogus medic Torben K, 46, a catering worker from Solingen, Germany, had injected the patient's manhood and scrotum with silicone oil during what was supposed to be a 'girth-enhancing' procedure.
Judges in Wuppertal District Court jailed him on August 28 after he was found guilty of causing death by grievous bodily harm.
The 32-year-old victim - not named in court - died of sepsis seven months after the agonising operation in July 2019.
The court heard how the bogus doctor had no medical qualifications and offered his penis enlargement services online.
The Walt Disney Company has announced it will spend $60billion over the next decade on its parks and cruise lines.
The move comes as Disney discusses selling off ABC and finding a partner with ESPN, potentially moving it away from TV and more toward a new core of theme parks, movies and cruises.
Disney has also faced criticism from some for moving too far to the left and pushing a 'woke' agenda.
Now, the company is focusing on its investment in experiences and the products side of the company. The plans were revealed in an SEC filing Tuesday - and showed that Disney is 'prioritizing projects anticipated to generate strong returns,' including their parks and cruises.
In the last 12 months to July 2023, Disney turned over $32.3 billion in revenue thanks to its lucrative experiences.
Disney has announced it will spend $60billion over the next decade on its parks and Disney Cruise Line. The plans were revealed in an SEC filing Tuesday - and showed that Disney is 'prioritizing projects anticipated to generate strong returns'
Disney has proposed and expansion of its Disneyland park in California that includes growth in the theme park areas, retail and parking
Disney's newest cruise ship is set to launch in 2024 and can hold 4,000 passengers
The filing read: 'We believe that the companys financial condition is strong and that its cash balances, other liquid assets, operating cash flows, access to capital markets and borrowing capacity under current bank facilities, taken together, provide adequate resources to fund ongoing operating requirements, contractual obligations, upcoming debt maturities as well as future capital expenditures related to the expansion of existing businesses and development of new projects.'
The company's shares were down more than 3 percent by midday Tuesday after the plans were revealed.
Disney has not yet fully said how it plans to spend the $60billion at its parks and cruises.
Josh DAmaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, told the New York Times that films such as 'Coco,' 'Zootopia' and 'Encanto' have not yet been incorporated into its parks.
'Imagine bringing Wakanda to life,' D'Amaro told the outlet about bringing the 'Black Panther' setting to the real-world. 'In terms of bringing the latest Disney-Marvel-Pixar intellectual property to the parks, we havent come close to scratching the surface. And we have learned that incorporating Disney I.P. increases the return on investment significantly.'
The parks business has become a reliable profit engine for the company and has helped cushion losses in the Disney+ streaming business, which is expected to become profitable only next year.
In the last 10 years, Disney opened the Shanghai Disney Resort and more than doubled its cruise line capacity.
Its parks in Paris and Hong Kong have also been pumped with investment.
Recently, Disney announced plans to expand its Disneyland in California, and the city of Anaheim released an environmental impact report on the proposal this week, according to ABC7.
The expansion of the California park includes growth in the theme park areas, retail and parking.
The report found that the expansions biggest impacts will be to air quality, greenhouse gas emissions and noise.
A public hearing on the expansion plan is set for October 9.
Disney has not fully disclosed how it fully plans to spend $60 billion. But, officials suggest creating Wakanda from the movie 'Black Panther' to life
Josh DAmaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products said that films such as 'Coco,' 'Zootopia' and 'Encanto' have not yet been incorporated in its parks. Pictured: A scene from the movie 'Coco'
Journey of Water, a new walk thru attraction Inspired by the film Moana, Opening at Epcot Center at Disney World in Florida
Disney's cruise line expansion is already underway with the company's sixth ship set to set sail from Florida in December 2024. The Disney Treasure is currently being built in Germany.
The 4,000-passenger ship, which measures 1,119ft (341m) in length and weighs approximately 144,000 gross tons.
The vessel, a sister ship to Disney Wish, which launched last year, promises to unlock the far-reaching realms of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel and embrace dynamic tales from beloved Disney Parks attractions, through captivating and immersive experiences on the high seas. A statement adds that Disney Treasure will harness a design concept that calls upon the bold and heartwarming stories of beloved Disney characters.
First-of-its-kind features on board include a restaurant inspired by the film Coco, an Aladdin-themed 'grand hall' and a Zootopia-inspired sweet shop.
The overriding theme of the ship is adventure, a decision made to honor Walt Disneys legendary passion for travel and exploration.
It's said that most of the ships 1,256 staterooms will offer an ocean view, and 70 percent will feature a verandah space.
There are four different styles of royal suites on board that are designed to pay tribute to the faithful feline companions of daring Disney characters. For instance, the Bagheera Royal Suites are inspired by the panther from The Jungle Book and the lush forests he calls home.
A new addition to the cruise line will be Sarabi, a two-story entertainment hub named after the lioness matriarch from The Lion King
Guests can take a spin on the ship's AquaMouse ride, which follows Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse on a zany misadventure into an ancient temple
A statement says the luxurious accommodations aboard the Disney Treasure will strike an inviting balance between modern design and nostalgic charm
Bob Iger's tenure as CEO has not been smooth sailing, however. He has come to face legal battles in Florida concerning Disney World and Ron DeSantis.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Disney dropped a massive chunk of its federal lawsuit against Florida's Governor - leaving only a fight over if the media-giant's First Amendment rights were violated.
The Walt Disney Corp. asked a federal judge for permission to file an amended complaint focusing just on the First Amendment claim, which has been approved.
The claim contends the House of Mouse was retaliated against because of its criticism of the so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill.
After Disney criticized the DeSantis' backed law, the governor shot back against the company and Chairman Bob Iger and accused them of being 'woke.'
DeSantis targeted Disney's special tax district that basically let the company self-govern the land of its Disney World theme park.
DeSantis led the charge to change the name from the Reedy District to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District - as he also replaced the board with his allies.
However, before the new board took control, Disney created development contract for future investments. Those were thrown-out when the DeSantis board took control.
That led to the federal lawsuit.
Bob Iger's tenure as CEO has not been smooth sailing, however. He has come to face legal battles in Florida concerning Disney World and Ron DeSantis
The parks business has become a reliable profit engine for the company and has helped cushion losses in the Disney+ streaming business, which is expected to become profitable only next year
Iger has also been left to pick up the pieces from former CEO RObert Chapek as the company has lost $900million in box-office flops that some have called too 'woke.'
According to an analysis by Valliant Renegade, which aims to look at the business and financial side of Hollywood, the last eight studio releases put out by the company have not performed as well as expected.
Guardians of the Galaxy and its most recent endeavor, a live-action version of The Little Mermaid, have failed to meet expectations, while two other recent films, Strange World and Lightyear were complete failures.
The 'Little Mermaid' remake was controversial right from the start, with the casting of 23-year-old Black actress Halle Bailey as the title character, Ariel.
The casting led to a wave of racist remarks, claiming her casting wasn't accurate to the character from the original 1989 animated film, voiced by white voice actress Jodi Benson.
Benson herself defended the casting, revealing in July 2019, 'The most important thing is to tell the story.'
'And we have, as a family, we have raised our children, and for ourselves, that we don't see anything that's different on the outside,' Benson added.
The film was produced on a budget of reportedly $250 million, with reports claiming the film would need to earn $560 million worldwide before turning a profit, after considering other costs including a massive marketing spend.
In other recent films, Lightyear, released one year ago with a reported budget of $200 million, brought in a modest $226.7 million in worldwide ticket sales and received a decidedly mixed critical reception.
By contrast, The Incredibles 2 in 2018, which was reported to have had a similar production budget, had worldwide box office sales of $1.2 billion.
Lightyear could not be shown in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries because of its depiction of a same-sex relationship. That also had an impact on its global box office performance.
Iger - who previously served as the CEO from 2005 to 2020 - took over from fired ex-boss Bob Chapek (pictured) in November after two years of complaints from fans
Disney has also talked about selling off ABC and finding a partner for ESPN.
Iger has previously said that the two 'may not be core' to the future of the company.
'Theres clearly creativity and content that they created at its core to Disney, but the distribution model, the business model that forms the underpinning of that business and that has delivered great profits over the years, is definitely broken,' Iger said.
When Iger had first left the company - in 2020 before returning following Chapek's departure- he had a 'very pessimistic' view of the future of traditional TV. He has since come to find that not only was he right, but it's worse than he every imagined.
He said the future of TV is worse than he expected.
'We've gotten a lot done very quickly, significant cost reductions and significant realignment of the company,' Iger said to CNBC. 'But dealing head on with some of our biggest challenges.'
Two statues paying homage to prominent City of London figures William Beckford and Sir John Cass are set to have plaques fixed to them to explain their links to slavery.
The City of London Corporation's Policy and Resources Committee had voted in 2021 to remove them from their historic Guildhall headquarters.
But officials then opted to keep the statues and instead install plaques to explain how the two men were involved in the slave trade.
Now, the corporation has been granted planning permission to fix a plaque to Beckford's statue early next year.
A plaque will also be added to the depiction of Cass, but planning permission is not needed because it does not reside in the Grade I listed Great Hall.
However, the decision to keep the statue of Beckford has been slammed by a theologian whose descendants were enslaved by him.
Writing in The Guardian, Robert Beckford branded the move a 'moral failure', saying it 'underplays the radical evil of slavery's racial capitalism and its continuing destructive consequences for people racialised as Black.'
Two statues paying homage to prominent City of London figures William Beckford and Sir John Cass are set to have plaques fixed to them to explain their links to slavery. Above: The statue of William Beckford is inside the Guildhall HQ of the City of London Corporation
Beckford was a two-time Lord Mayor of London in the late 1700s who accrued wealth from 13 sugar plantations in Jamaica that were made productive by 3,000 slaves.
He had inherited large sums of money from his grandfather Peter Beckford, who had originally established the family's plantations.
The decision to keep the statue of Beckford has been slammed by theologian Robert Beckford
And Cass was a merchant, MP and philanthropist active in the 17th and 18th centuries.
He also profited from the slave trade due to the fact he held shares in the Royal African Company.
With money from his will, trustees set up Sir John Cass's Foundation to support education in London in 1748.
His charity funded the Sir John Cass Foundation School. Through a series of moves and mergers this became part of the City of London Polytechnic - now London Metropolitan University.
The City of London Corporation's Policy and Resources Committee initially recommended the two statues' removal in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
But then a new statues working group rejected the plan and said they should stay.
The City has since worked with Culture&, an arts and heritage charity, to commission designers, writers, poets and an inter-generational panel to decide how to update the statues.
But, airing his criticism of the decision to keep the Cass statue where it stands, Mr Beckford wrote: 'To me a descendant of the people he enslaved the decision feels like a moral failure.'
John Cass was a merchant, MP and philanthropist active in the 17th and 18th centuries. Above: His statue in the Guildhall
He added: 'As a Jamaican-British man and a descendant of those whom Beckford exploited and murdered, I believe that leaving the statue in a prestigious place, even with a note of explanation, is morally reprehensible.
'Or, in the words of my Jamaican grandparents, it is "devilish".'
Munsur Ali, the chair of the City Corporation's culture, heritage and libraries committee, said: 'Whether cast in lead or sculpted in marble, the statues to Beckford and Cass signify a deeply shameful period in the City's history.
'My colleagues at Guildhall are working closely with many talented individuals and organisations to ensure that this project is handled very sensitively and that, no matter how we try to contextualise this period in our history, these two men's actions are called out and condemned in the strongest possible terms.'
City Corporation policy chairman Chris Hayward added: 'This is the next step in our journey in addressing, in an open and honest way, the City of Londons historic involvement in the horrific slave trade.
'We have been reflecting upon, and recognising, this terrible chapter in our history, and we are united in our commitment to ensuring that people from all backgrounds feel safe and welcome in a modern, inclusive and forward-looking City.'
Dr Errol Francis, the artistic director of Culture&, said: 'It has been an honour to work with City Corporation representatives, and the designers, fabricators, poets, writers, and the intergenerational panel to make this important project happen.
'We look forward to the unveiling of the plaques when the public can gain a better understanding of the historic links of the City of London with the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans.'
A transgender former Labour MSP candidate has today defended her decision to use an airport's disabled toilet to do dilation exercises following her gender reassignment surgery.
Heather Herbert shared the image of herself lying on the floor at Gatwick Airport.
She was returning to Scotland from London after male to female surgery, which she referred to as 'V Day' on Twitter.
Ms Herbert was a Labour member who stood for the party and voted for Scottish Independence but has now joined the Greens, claiming Sir Keir Starmer's Party took 'no interest' in tackling transphobia among members.
She posted an image of herself lying on the floor of a disabled loo at Gatwick doing 'dilation' exercises, which doctors say need to be done daily to promote healing. She said: 'Found a disabled toilet... not the most fun I've had.'
Earlier she had tweeted: 'Dilation, day two, let's play. Where in an airport can I locate a clean, dry, private place I can lie down, take my knickers off and spread my legs?'
Her tweets led to criticism, including several claiming it was 'the wrong idea' to share it. One critic said: 'You should delete it,' to which Heather replied: 'Why?'
Justifying it to another critic, she replied that she was 'sharing a photo of how I was forced to perform a medical procedure due to all the other facilities being airside [beyond passport and customs control]'.
Heather Herbert shared the image of herself lying on the floor at Gatwick Airport in a disabled toilet, claiming there were no other facilities
Heather was a Labour member who stood for election and voted for Scottish Independence but has now joined the Greens
Patients having gender reassignment surgery spend at least three days in the hospital and two weeks banned from doing any strenuous physical activity.
Male to female reassignment. What is dilation? Some surgeons use a method called penile inversion. This creates a tunnel which turns into the new vagina. The tunnel is lined with skin from the scrotum, the penis or both. If there isn't enough skin there, the surgeon may take skin from somewhere else on the body. Removal of the testicles is required as part of a vaginoplasty. The surgery is done under general anesthesia and the majority of people spend three days in hospital afterwards. Recovery from the procedure can take up to three months and needs intensive post-operative care. Patients will need to dilate daily. Advertisement
The body initially treats the vaginoplasty like a wound, meaning that dilation must be performed by the patient so the new vagina does not close up.
Daily dilation ends after week 12 in some cases. Other doctors recommend daily dilation for the rest of the patient's life.
Heather was born in Leicester but moved to Scotland in 2013.
She voted for independence four years later and joined Scottish Labour, saying that she was 'hoping to move the party to the Left' but 'failed'.
Her personal website states: 'In November 2018 she was elected trans officer for LGBT+ Labour Scotland where she worked with members at all levels of the party to try and eradicate transphobia, through education.
'One of the areas Heather identified, where trans visibility could play a major role in winning the normalisation of trans identity, is that of elected members and so with that she stood in the 2019 general election for the Gordon constituency where she ran as a paper candidate and was unsurprisingly not elected.
'She ran again in 2021, for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Donside, where again she ran as a paper candidate for the Labour Party.
'In late 2021 she left Scottish Labour and joined the Scottish Greens and shortly afterwards was elected, along with Beth Douglas, co-convenor of the Rainbow Greens'.
Death row Tinder murderer Aubrey Trail has been charged with extorting a prison nurse with the help of a true crime author after demanding $25,000 from the nurse in a hitman extortion plot.
Trail was jailed in 2019 for the brutal murder of Sydney Loofe, a woman he'd met on the popular dating app. He was sentenced to death in 2021 and has been on death row at the Nebraska Reception and Treatment Center ever since.
According to new court documents, he enlisted the help of Samantha Al-Rekabi, a self-proclaimed true crime expert who was working on a book about Trail.
Aubrey Trail weaponized true crime author Samantha Al-Rekabi (right) to help him in his extortion plot against an unnamed female guard at the Nebraska prison where he is waiting to be executed
The pair befriended the unnamed nurse, convincing her to smuggle contraband like a cellphone and chewing tobacco into the prison for Trail, before turning on her.
Sydney Loofe was murdered by Trail and his girlfriend in 2017 after being lured to his trailer over Tinder
The nurse had confided in them about her troubled marriage, according to court documents.
Trail then turned on her, telling her he'd hired someone to murder her husband.
To call off the hit, he demanded $25,000 from her.
The scheme unraveled when the nurse, who has since quit, confessed her friendship with him.
In 2021, before he was sentenced to murder, Trail told the nurse to withdraw $25,000 from the bank or her husband would be killed.
According to prosecutors, Rekabi escorted the nurse to the bank. She was then paid $10,000 herself.
Rekabi was arrested on September 11 and remains in custody on extortion charges.
Trail is awaiting execution in Nebraska. He had planned to convince the prison nurse to bring him a gun
She was recorded on phone calls with Trail discussing smuggling a gun to him behind bars so that he could 'kill everyone', and gloating about how the nurse planned to withdraw her pension for the pair.
The nurse told bosses she feared Trail was going to harm her son, who is also behind bars, unless she helped him.
She also admitted to acting as a go-between for Trail and his girlfriend Bailey Boswell.
Boswell was also charged in Loofe's murder for helping him dismember her body.
She narrowly avoided the death penalty at her own trial in 2021, and is now serving life without parole.
Russell Brand is yet to break his silence since shocking allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse were made against him over the weekend.
But the maverick actor and comic has liked one bizarre tweet featuring a meme of Phillip Schofield who stepped down from ITV following his admission to an 'unwise but not illegal' relationship with a much younger colleague earlier this year.
Brand has refrained from posting to his 23million followers across his various social media accounts since denying 'very serious criminal allegations' during a time when he was 'very, very promiscuous' in a video message on Friday night.
But the 48-year-old, who is accused of raping a woman at his LA home, attacking two others and grooming a 16-year-old girl at the height of his fame, has set tongues wagging by liking a cryptic tweet featuring a 'Dispatches' hashtag.
In a post on Friday at 8.04pm - just over 24 hours prior to the Dispatches documentary airing - one Twitter user shared a GIF of Schofield smiling and dancing with the caption: 'If only #Dispatches'.
It is understood Brand liked the post between Friday night and Saturday and he has only interacted with one other tweet since - a picture of a group at a jiu-jitsu lifestyle summit.
Russell Brand has liked a cryptic tweet of Phillip Schofield. Brand has not spoken since his statement before the Dispatches documentary aired
Brand is accused of raping a woman at his LA home, attacking two others and grooming a 16-year-old girl at the height of his fame
Schofield was ousted from ITV's flagship daytime TV programme This Morning in after he admitted to lying to the MoS about having an affair with a much younger This Morning runner behind his wife Stephanie Lowe's back in May.
Friends have revealed to the Mail that Phil has turned to regular counselling to try to come to terms with losing his job, many friendships and status as one of the UK's top presenters. 'He is spending a lot of time talking to a therapist, at least once a week,' said the friend.
But the man now at the centre of a media storm is Russell Brand - who is facing a litany of allegations including rape and sexual assault against up to nine difference women.
The first allegations from four women, across both the UK and US, came in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches over the weekend.
They are said to have taken place between 2006 and 2013 at the height of Brand's fame when he was working as a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4 and later as an actor in Hollywood.
But since the documentary was aired on Saturday night, more women have come forward with further claims against the controversial figure. The Metropolitan Police has launched an investigation into a report of an alleged sexual assault in Soho, London, in 2003.
An ex-girlfriend of Brand, Jordan Martin, made the first public allegations against the comedian after accusing him of sexual assault in a book published in 2014.
Brand has since been dropped by his managers Tavistock Wood, banned from making money on YouTube and cancelled the rest of his tour amid the allegations, as broadcasters including the BBC launch probes into his reported behaviour.
The Corporation has also removed all content featuring Brand in another major blow to the comedian.
Controversial comedian Brand at 'The Today Show Concert Series' TV programme pictured in June 2010
Russell Brand on Big Brother's Little Brother on May 31, 2006. Brand presented Big Brother's Big Mouth for three years before choosing not to return for the eighth series of the show
Brand has fiercely denied all the allegations against him, releasing a lengthy video on Friday to his 11.2 million Twitter followers. He also has 6.6million YouTube subscribers, 3.8 Instagram followers and 1.4million more on right-wing video platform Rumble.
Despite the YouTube ban, Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday.
His most recent video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
Downing Street urged the broadcasters to set out the results of their investigations into Brand 'transparently'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman called the allegations 'very serious and concerning'.
PR expert Mark Borkowski said: 'It throws up questions against someone who has been allowed a certain amount of power because of his talent and his meteoric rise.
The comedian, actor and internet personality has told his 6million subscribers that there are 'very, very serious criminal allegations' made against him which he 'absolutely refutes'
'It questions Russell Brand but also those in governance in TV. There will be a lot of people looking at themselves this morning - those people in power today won't be the same ones in power that presided over this.'
Brand has since been dropped by a women's charity he was working with, while TV production companies and channels have launched probes into his alleged behaviour.
Mr Borkowski added: 'There's a question whether he's going to face police action, but the question at the moment is of social media - the man isn't going to get a fair trial when the police have the evidence to prosecute him.
'More people may come forward, other people might see an opportunity. It's a very complex case, mixed between old media and social media'.
The investigation includes allegations Brand assaulted one of the women when she was a 16-year-old girl - who was picked up from school by a BBC chauffeur - and another woman has claimed he raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles.
The Times reports several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about the Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
She said: 'He started talking about Ian Huntley, the paedophile and child killer, and mentioned it quite a few times, like in a joking way, but also made up a whole song about it.
'I just couldn't understand why you would be able to have sex and talk about a child killer at the same time.'
Another woman, known as Esme, told the Times Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
Yesterday a former model claimed Brand stalked her through streets in London demanding sex after they met in a bar, forcing her to run away from him in fear.
Revealing the distressing incident that took place in 2005, the woman - who remains anonymous - alleged that Brand followed five paces behind her for what 'felt like a lifetime' and shouted to her: 'Let's just f*** right here'.
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she met Brand at a bar in Primrose Hill in London. She told of how despite telling him not to leave with her, Brand followed her into the street and became 'creepy'.
'It felt like he was hunting me down. It wasn't flirty or fun. The word 'predator' is absolutely spot-on.
Russell Brand leaves the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre in north-west London after performing a comedy set on September 16
'He was dead set on his goal. His intention was to have sex with someone, anyone,' she told The Sun.
As Dispatches aired on Saturday Brand performed a sold out comedy gig at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour. His three remaining gigs were postponed yesterday.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirmed there have been no arrests following two allegations concerning claims that are said to have happened in the US.
The Met police said: 'On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
'Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
'We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.'
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
Azerbaijan has launched what it has called an 'anti-terrorist operation' targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, sparking fears a full-scale war may be on the horizon.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the region which is disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Officials in the capital Stepanakert this morning reported heavy artillery fire on the outskirts of the city.
The ministry did not immediately give details but said 'positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenia's armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities, are incapacitated using high-precision weapons'.
The Azerbaijani statement said: 'Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.'
But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said Stepanakert and other villages are 'under intense shelling'.
Drone strikes and artillery shells are reportedly pounding areas around Stepanakert
Smoke rises into the air following a strike this morning
In this photo taken from video released by Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, explosion flame rises over an area which Azerbaijan says hosts Armenian forces' positions in the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan
Damaged buildings and cars are pictured following strikes
The Azerbaijani defence ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the region which is disputed by Azerbaijan and Armenia
Earlier on Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people died in two separate explosions in the region, which is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijan's interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highways department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Nagorno-Karabakh and sizeable surrounding territories had been under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a six-week war in 2020.
That war ended with an armistice which placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.
But Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then.
The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open.
The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia.
Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes committed in Ukraine as well as the deportation of Ukrainian children across the border.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijan's intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only 'a few minutes' before it began.
Nagorno-Karabakh, a small landlocked region in the South Caucasus, has been a focal point of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan for decades and has a complex history of cultural and ethnic diversity.
Historically, it was inhabited by Armenians but was incorporated into Soviet Azerbaijan in the 1920s by Joseph Stalin.
This move sowed the seeds of the later conflict.
A general view of Stepanakert, called Khankendi by Azerbaijan, in the Nagorno-Karabakh region as gunfire and explosions are heard there, September 19, 2023
In this Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 file photo, an ethnic Armenian soldier stands guard next to Nagorno-Karabakh's flag atop of the hill near Charektar in the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh at a new border with Kalbajar district turned over to Azerbaijan
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives an interview to AFP in Yerevan on July 21, 2023
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev poses for an official photograph before a meeting with Armenia's Prime Minister and the President of the European Council at the European Council in Brussels on May 14, 2023
During the Soviet era, Nagorno-Karabakh remained an autonomous region within Azerbaijan, though with a predominantly Armenian population.
Tensions simmered beneath the surface, and ethnic clashes erupted sporadically.
But the situation escalated dramatically in 1988 when Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian population began demanding unification with Armenia.
This led to violent clashes and ultimately a full-scale war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, lasting until 1994. The war claimed thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands.
Multiple peace talks under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group have occurred since, but a comprehensive resolution has remained elusive.
Then in September 2020, a new conflict erupted. It lasted six weeks until a ceasefire was brokered by Russia in November 2020.
But the conflict reshaped the map on the ground, with Azerbaijan gaining control of some territories around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watched President Joe Biden warn that no nation is safe if Ukraine is 'carved up' by Russia.
Biden was addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, with both Zelensky - dressed in his traditional military fatigues - and Russian Amb. Vaisily Nebenzya in the audience.
The U.S. president hammered Russia's 'naked agression' and vowed to keep funding Kyiv as he again called the present moment 'an inflection point in world history.'
Biden noted that 'for a second year in a row, this gathering dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflict is darkened by the shadow of war.'
The president called it 'an illegal war of conquest' and one that was 'brought without provocation' by Russia into Ukraine.
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday morning in New York City. In his speech, he went after Russia's 'illegal war of conquest' in Ukraine and recommitted the U.S. to the cause of assisting Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watched as President Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly that no nation is safe if the world allowed for Ukraine to be 'carved up' by Russia
Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vaisily Nebenzya was captured looking at his phone as President Joe Biden addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and slammed Russia over the invasion of Ukraine
'Like every nation in the world, the United States wants this war to end,' he said. 'No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine. And we strongly support Ukraine and its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that delivers just and lasting peace.'
But he added: 'Russia alone, Russia alone bears responsibility for this war.
'Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it's Russia alone that stands in the way of peace because the Russians' price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children,' Biden said.
'Russia believes that the world will grow weary and will allow it to brutalize Ukraine without conseqence,' the president added.
Biden then laid out what he thought would be the cost of that weariness.
'But I ask you this, if we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?' he asked.
'If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?' the president mused.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applauds as President Joe Biden blasts Russia for the war in Ukraine during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday in New York
'I respectfully suggest the answer is no,' Biden said. 'We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.'
He didn't call out Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.
'That's why the United States, together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom,' Biden said.
He received applause from the audience for this pronouncement.
However the pool reporter in the room also observed UNGA attendees on their phones checking Instagram and Google maps during the president's address.
Nebenzya was also spotted on his phone during Biden's speech.
Biden called sovereignty and territorial integrity a 'fixed foundation of this noble body.'
'And universal human rights, its north star.'
He touched on that concept thoughout that speech, including by advocating for LGBTQ people globally.
'These rights are part of our shared humanity ... when they are absent anywhere, their loss is felt everywhere,' he said.
The president also reiterated that the U.S. didn't want conflict with China.
'When it comes to China I want to be clear and consistent, we seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries, so it does not tip into conflict,' Biden said. 'I've said we are for derisking not decoupling with China.'
Biden also pledged to keep foreign aid coming, despite some segments of the Republican Party wanting it on the chopping block.
'And as we work together to recover from global shocks, the United States will also continue to be the largest single community, country donor of humanitarian assistance at this moment of unparalleled need in the world,' the president said.
Biden started his address by speaking about his trip to Vietnam last week - a taste of what post-war relations could look like if Russia withdrew from Ukraine.
'Nothing about that journey was inevitable,' Biden said. 'For decades, it would have been unthinkable for an American president to stand in Hanoi, alongside a Vietnamese leader, and announce a mutual commitment to the highest level of countries' partnership.'
'But it's a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future,' the president said. 'With the concerted leadership, careful effort, adversaries can become partners, overwhelming challenges can be resolved and deep wounds can heal.'
Disgraced South Carolina legal scion turned convicted killer Alex Murdaugh is set to plead guilty to nearly two dozen federal charges for stealing millions of dollars from his clients, months after the double murder of his wife and son.
Murdaugh accepted guilty pleas to 22 federal charges, including bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud. The plea agreement was signed and filed in South Carolina US District Court on Monday.
Days earlier, on Thursday, dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and looking weathered, the embattled lawyer appeared in court for the first time since he was sentenced in March to life without parole for the June 2021 execution-style murders of his wife Margaret, 52 and younger son, Paul 22.
During his testimony in his six-week murder trial, Murdaugh, 55, admitted to stealing millions from his law firm for his personal gain, including using the proceeds to pay off loans and for personal expenses as well as cash withdrawals.
His admission marks the first time that he has ever pleaded guilty to committing a crime, The Independent reported.
A federal judge still has to sign off on the deal.
Alex Murdaugh is pictured last week for this first time since he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his wife Margaret, 52 and son, Paul, 22
Murdaugh is seen in the courtroom surrounded by his legal team during his double murder trial at the Colleton County Courthouse in Waterboro, South Carolina, on March 1
The Murdaugh Family Saga: Disgraced legal scion turned convicted killer Murdaugh (pictured right) together in this undated photo before he fatally shot his wife Margaret, 52 and son, Paul, 22, (second to right). The eldest son, Buster's life was spared (left)
There were two co-conspirators, Cory Fleming, a former lawyer and college roommate, and Russell Laffitte, an ex-banking CEO, involved in his purported financial schemes.
According to prosecutors, Murdaugh's alleged accomplices aided him in schemes to defraud clients out of money from at least 2005 to 2021, NBC News reported.
One of the alleged schemes he was accused of involved a bank employee who assisted him in defrauding his personal injury clients and laundering more than $7 million of funds, according to the charges.
If Murdaugh complies with the conditions of the plea agreement, federal prosecutors agreed to recommend in court that his sentence on the federal charges would be served concurrently to any state conviction he receives for the same alleged crimes, CNN reported.
The charges carry a maximum punishment of 20 years in federal prison, with some carrying a maximum of 30 years.
The once-prominent attorney is also facing a slew of other state and federal cases.
He is scheduled in November to stand trial on charges stemming from stealing settlement money from the family of late housekeeper, Gloria Satterfield. The first of dozens of victims that were defrauded.
Some of the multi-million dollar financial crimes he is accused of that went on for more than a decade, include embezzlement, computer crime, money laundering and tax evasion.
Murdaugh looking grim as a guilty verdict on the murder charges was reached March 2 after a six-week trial at the Colleton County courthouse
In September, Murdaugh's defense team filed a court motion demanding jury tampering and requested a new trial after they alleged that a clerk of court tampered with the jury, CNN reported.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is now investigating those claims at the request of the South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson.
Last week, Wilson asked the court to order Murdaugh's defense team to correct their motion due to several 'procedural defects.'
Though prosecutors did not dispute the motion, they said the investigation being conducted has already 'revealed significant factual disputes' that undermine the credibility of Murdaugh's claims.
In August, Buster Murdaugh, 26, broke his silence six months after his father was jailed for the murders of his mother and brother during an interview on Fox Nation's The Fall of the House of Murdaugh. The show aired August 31.
Buster said he does not think it is possible that his father killed his brother and mother at their hunting estate in 2021.
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. He claimed the jury ultimately found his father guilty of the shootings because of 'everything they had the ability to read prior to the trial.'
'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,' he said.
Buster spoke about his father's murder trial. 'I was there for six weeks studying it, and I think it was a tilted table from the beginning.'
'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.'
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly today confirmed Britain had invited China to an international summit on Artificial Intelligence despite the Parliament 'spy' row.
The Cabinet minister insisted the UK had to 'engage' with Beijing when it is in the 'national interest'.
But the invite sparked anger among Tory MPs who had called for China to be banned from the meeting - being convened by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - due to the 'threat' posed by the country.
It was recently revealed how two men had been arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for China.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of the leading China critics in the House of Commons, told MailOnline he was 'disappointed' that China had been invited to the upcoming AI summit.
China's invite sparked anger among Tory MPs who had called for Beijing to be banned from the meeting - being convened by Rishi Sunak - due to the 'threat' posed by the country
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of the leading China critics in the House of Commons, told MailOnline he was 'disappointed' that China had been invited to the upcoming AI summit
It was recently revealed how two men had been arrested under the Official Secrets Act amid allegations that a parliamentary researcher spied for China.
The AI summit is due to take place in November at Bletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire estate which became the home of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War
Mr Cleverly, who is currently attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, today confirmed China's invitation to the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit.
The gathering is due to take place in the first week of November at Bletchley Park, the Buckinghamshire estate which became the home of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War.
The Foreign Secretary said in a statement: 'We cannot keep the UK public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech.
'That's why China has been invited to our AI Safety Summit in November.
'The UK's approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners and engage where it is in the UK'ss national interest.'
But confirmation of China's invite to the summit drew anger from senior Conservatives.
Sir Iain told MailOnline: 'I am disappointed. China is busy trying to merge biotechnology with AI creating a huge threat to members of the free world.
'Getting them to the meeting would act as an endorsement of their model of control of people through this technological process.'
But Tim Lougton, another Tory MP who has been sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out over human rights abuses, said: 'Like it or not China has to be part of an international protocol on regulating AI.
'That is not to say we have to trust them to comply with it.'
The parliamentary researcher alleged to be a 'Chinese spy' is claimed to have had links to several senior Tory MPs, including security minister Tom Tugendhat and Alicia Kearns, the chair of the Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee.
But, in a statement released by his lawyers Binberg Peirce, the man has said he is 'completely innocent'.
A woman has reportedly suffered serious burn injuries after her hoard of deodorant cans ignited and caused a huge explosion in her apartment.
Residents of a high-rise building in Oberhausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany, were jolted awake on Friday night as a deafening noise came from the fifth floor of the block of flats.
Windows in several rooms were blown out, causing glass splinters to be shot towards a car park 100ft away, damaging several cars.
On top of this, several other flats inside the building were damaged, as well as a stairwell.
One mother told German newspaper Bild that the explosion tore a huge hole in her kitchen wall and threw out insulating material.
A massive hole was torn in her neighbour's kitchen
The explosion also tore through part of a plaster wall in the block of flats
Emergency services were called to the building, and firefighters determined that the explosion was caused by the ignition of propellant gas found in deodorant cans.
They initially believed that a thermal bath had exploded, but quickly figured out that the building had no gas heaters.
Police and the public prosecutor's office have not yet determined exactly how or why the gas was ignited.
They have boarded up the flat with chipboard.
The woman, known only as Melissa G due to Germany's privacy laws, is reportedly responsive but not yet ready for questioning.
Her boyfriend, known only as Jonathan G, was physically unharmed.
Their neighbours painted a picture of a lonesome couple that kept themselves to themselves.
One fellow tenant said: 'They are strange loners, didn't say hello and often seemed absent. There was often drama in the apartment at night.'
Firefighters have since said that despite the extensive damage to the building and neighbouring flats, it is safe for tenants to return to their homes.
House Republicans will hold their first hearing in the impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden next Thursday - and plan to subpoena the president's son Hunter's and brother James's bank records.
The GOP has accused Biden of corruption and abuse of power over his alleged links to Hunter's foreign business deals while he was vice president.
They hope the new records will shed more light on the Biden family finances and help the next stage of the investigation.
Republicans say bank records show that Biden family and associates raked in more than $20 million from China, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Romania.
There are also WhatsApp messages Hunter sent to an associate claiming Joe was in the room while they were discussing business, and damning testimony from IRS and FBI whistleblowers.
House Republicans will hold their first hearing in the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden next Thursday - and plan to subpoena son Hunter's and brother James's bank records
The White House insists Republicans have no evidence to back up their claims and have called the investigation a sham.
On Tuesday, the West Wing upped its attacks and claimed the Republican plan is to 'declare guilt first, figure out the "evidence" later.'
White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams called the hearing a 'political stunt' days before an anticipated government shutdown in a statement Tuesday.
'Extreme House Republicans are already telegraphing their plans to try to distract from their own chaotic inability to govern and the impacts of it on the country,' said Sams.
He accused the Republicans of being more focused on 'baseless personal attacks' on President Biden than governing the country.
A House Oversight Committee spokesman confirmed the first hearing on September 28 to DailyMail.com.
'The House Oversight Committee will hold its first hearing on the impeachment inquiry next Thursday, September 28.
'The hearing will focus on constitutional and legal questions surrounding the Presidents involvement in corruption and abuse of public office.
'The Committee also intends to subpoena Hunter and James Bidens personal and business bank records as early as this week.
'The Oversight Committee will continue to follow the evidence and money trail to provide the transparency and accountability that Americans demand from their government.'
Last Tuesday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy opened a formal impeachment inquiry into President Biden for his alleged connections to Hunter's business dealings, which Republicans say is likely to have a long-term impact on his political career.
Days after the impeachment inquiry announcement, Hunter was indicted on three felony charges for lying about his crack cocaine addiction when buying a gun.
A Delaware grand jury returned three charges against him, including two counts of false statements on his gun forms, and one of possessing a firearm while addicted to illicit drugs.
The prosecution is being led by Special Counsel U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who is also investigating Hunter for tax crimes connected to his foreign business dealings.
It is a shattering blow for President Joe Biden who has stood by his son and is running for reelection in 2024.
Biden is said to be worried he might die before Hunter's legal issues are resolved - and thinks they could get even worse.
Republicans allege that Hunter is guilty of even more felonies and that Weiss' indictment on just the gun charges is insufficient.
The maximum time in prison would be 25 years total if he is convicted on all of the counts, although federal sentences are usually less than the maximum. Hunter could also be slapped with a max $250,000 fine and three years probation.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., who is leading an investigation into the Biden family's business dealings, reacted to the indictment saying the charges are a 'very small start.'
'Unless U.S. Attorney Weiss investigates everyone involved in the fraud schemes and influence peddling, it will be clear President Biden's DOJ is protecting Hunter Biden and the big guy,' he continued.
Earlier this summer, the president's son had reached a deal after the five-year investigation that would have allowed him to avoid trial for the firearms charges if he abided by parole conditions over 24 months.
Republicans in Washington complained that the president's son had gotten himself a 'sweetheart deal' designed to protect President Biden.
However, the plea deal spectacularly fell apart in court in July, opening Hunter up to new charges.
Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned the 'diversion agreement' of Hunter's plea deal - a clause that gave him blanket immunity for a wide range of other potential charges, including illegal foreign lobbying - killing the deal.
In August, Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss to special counsel status after increased scrutiny.
Garland's decision to promote Weiss came after IRS whistleblower allegations that Hunter received 'special treatment' during the criminal probe.
IRS agents Joe Ziegler and Gary Shapley testified under oath to House Republicans that their investigation into the president's son 'supported felony and misdemeanor tax charges,' which were ultimately not brought against Hunter due to political pressures.
Weiss tried to bring felony charges against him in Washington, D.C., they said, but was blocked by the district's top federal prosecutor Matthew Graves, a Biden appointee.
The 'special treatment' for Hunter became a pattern that kept happening, said the whistleblowers, who were told they would get in 'hot water' if they tried to speak with President Joe Biden's adult children and grandchildren over the course of their investigation.
Shapley also shared handwritten notes from a meeting from October 2022 in which he quoted Weiss saying he was 'not the deciding person' on charging Hunter Biden with tax crimes, raising questions about potential improper handling of the case by DOJ.
Hunter's legal team sued IRS whistleblowers Shapley and Ziegler yesterday, alleging they illegally made his tax information public.
The president's son is seeking all the documents involving the disclosure of his tax information, $1,000 for each unauthorized disclosure and attorneys fees.
The GOP has accused Biden of corruption and abuse of power over his alleged links to Hunter's foreign business deals while he was vice president
Republicans plan to subpoena son Hunter's and brother James's bank records
The White House and the president himself have maintained that he has never been involved in Hunter's business dealings
The collapse of Hunter Biden's original plea deal also presented more problems for his father, Joe Biden.
As part of the GOP-led probe, they spoke with Hunter's ex-business partner Devon Archer, who testified that President Biden was in fact aware of his son's dealings and sat in on at least 20 calls and multiple dinners with his son's business partners.
Additionally, Republican have uncovered over a dozen shell companies that Hunter and at least 12 members of the Biden family used to funnel in foreign money.
Joe Biden also used various private email addresses from which he would sometimes send, receive and forward government correspondence according to emails found on Hunter Biden's now-infamous laptop.
'Robin Ware,' 'Robert L. Peters' and 'JRB ware' were three pseudonyms used on emails that were about both official and family business.
The president is now facing more headlines and questions involving his drug-addict son's case as he hits the 2024 campaign trail.
The White House and the president himself have maintained that he has never been involved in Hunter's business dealings.
A group of migrant rushed an asylum office in southern Mexico, trampling over each in an attempt to demand legal documents.
The migrants, mostly Haiti nationals, were seen on video knocking down metal barricades and storming the office in Tapachula on Monday.
Some of the migrants were able to get past National Guard officers and the municipal police who were guarding the center, which is operated by the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid.
The group, which also includes migrants from Cuba and Honduras, have grown frustrated with the Mexican government's ability to process their asylum requests.
Papers that they're seeking would allow them to travel freely and eventually reach the United States southern border region with Mexico.
Migrants upset with the amount of time it is taking to legalize their stay in Mexico as refugees stormed the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid in Tapachula, Chiapas on Monday
Migrants wait to get documents at the facilities of the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees in Tapachula, a border city in the southern state of Chiapas across from Guatemala
Some people have complained that they have had to wait weeks just to get an appointment in Tapachula, a municipality in the southern state of Chiapas that borders with Guatemala.
Miguel Argoten, of Cuba, told The Associated Press that he has been waiting in Tapachula for a week to begin his asylum process at the office, which recently has been inundated with up to 2,000 application appointments every day.
'It's very complicated, there are too many people here, the Haitians get desperate,' Argoten said. 'They knock over the barricades and that only makes the process slower.'
Two weeks ago, Daniela Gonzalez abandoned Cuba with her husband and 2-year-old daughter because their work wages were not enough to support the family.
They also seek to legalize their stay in Mexico before they can trek north to the Mexico-United States border.
The Mexican government estimates they will receive 150,000 asylum requests this year, surpassing the record of 129,000 set in 2021
Migrants, most of them from Haiti, are caught in the middle of stampede moments after a security barricade was knocked over outside the Mexican Commission for Aid to Refugees in Tapachula on Monday
She cancelled the family's visit to the refugee office last Wednesday because migrants were restless and stormed the site. The government responded by deploying National Guard officers.
'We just want to resolve the paperwork, but calmly, without problems,' Gonzalez said.
Andres Ramirez, who oversees the Mexican Commission for Refugee Aid, last week said that agency expects to receive 150,000 asylum requests this year, eclipsing the record of 129,000 that they came across in 2021.
Through August they already had 100,000 - 25% above the same period in 2021. More than half of the requests were received by the agency at Mexico's shared border with Guatemala.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows border agents have reported 1,973,092 encounters with migrants for unlawful entry at the southern border in fiscal year 2023, which spans from October 2022 to September 2023. Figures for August have still not been released.
In comparison, 2,378,944 encounters were reported in the fiscal year 2022, an increase from 1,734,686 the previous fiscal year and just 458,088 in all of fiscal year 2021.
The highly anticipated Fontainebleau Las Vegas hotel - that cost $3.7 billion and was 23 years in the making - is set to open this winter.
Standing at 67 stories tall, the new palace comes complete with seven swimming pools, 36 restaurants and bars, as well as a private club on the top floor.
Real estate mogul Jeffrey Soffer acquired the land in 2000 but lost control of the project during the financial crisis in 2008.
After the land changed hands twice more, Soffer, the former husband of Elle Macpherson, managed to reacquire the still unfinished building in 2021 for a fraction of the original cost.
Slated to open on December 13, the 3,644-room hotel will be the tallest building on the Vegas strip.
The 67-story tall Fontainebleau hotel is just months away from opening, after a 23-year battle to build the Vegas complex
The hotel, which opens in December, comes with seven swimming pools and 36 restaurants and bars
Jeffery Soffer attends the Russell Simmons Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation Art For Life at Fontainebleau Hilton on March 14, 2009 in Miami
Speaking to Bloomberg, Soffer, who is worth $1.7B, said: 'Its one of the great, crazy stories in real estate. Theres always one crazy one in your career. This is definitely it.'
With room prices starting at $300 per night, this is the second Fontainebleau location following the expansion of the Miami Beach location.
Once inside, guests will have immediate access to registration and can go directly to their rooms without having to pass through the casino.
The rooms and suites come with a color palette of blue and silver water tones with dashes of coral-pink.
Silver-grey wood veneer, silver-leaf details, pearlescent shagreen inlaid surfaces, and Arabescato marble define the case-goods and other hard surfaces, while custom brass bowtie-shaped drawer-pulls represent a nod to Fontainebleaus history.
The rooms also feature custom carpeting in a linear, art-deco pattern of dove-grey and shades of blue.
Bookings are now open for the palace, with rates in the first week exceeding $500 per night before dropping to around $340 per night.
Soffer also told Travel and Leisure to expect the 'mold to be shattered' at Fontainebleau with a casino stretching to over 150,000 square under 42-foot high ceilings.
The gaming area will be crowned with a 80-feet-wide and 60-feet-tall chandelier composed of bowtie-shaped glass columns.
Beyond the pool, wellness takes center stage within the 14,000-square-foot fitness center and 55,000-square-foot Lapis Spa.
Guests will have immediate access to registration and can go directly to their rooms without having to pass through the casino
Bookings are now open for the palace, with rates in the first week exceeding $500 per night before dropping to around $340 per night
The rooms and suites come with a color palette of blue and silver water tones with dashes of coral-pink
The facilities will feature 44 treatment rooms, a salt cave, an herbal inhalation room, and multiple saunas.
The Fontainebleau will be one of the closest hotels to the city's convention enter, bringing with it business guests.
Guests will have access to most of the property through a bank of elevators, with Soffer saying his loyal and wealthy customers aren't interested in going from one casino to another, telling Bloomberg: 'Money doesn't walk.'
Fontainebleau Development President Brett Mufson said: 'The opening of Fontainebleau Las Vegas marks a significant milestone in our companys legacy, as we look to create an era-defining moment in Las Vegas history,'
The gaming area will be crowned with a 80-feet-wide and 60-feet-tall chandelier composed of bowtie shaped glass columns
In 1967, Soffer's father Donald, now 90, bought an undeveloped plot of marshland in Miami-Dade County for $6million.
The area was originally named Turnberry - the name of the family business - but was later changed to the Spanish word Aventura, which means adventure.
Donald ultimately developed the swampland north of Miami into Aventura, a high-end community.
An Ecuador cartel boss was buried with dozens of gun in an attempt to 'protect himself in the afterlife.'
Manuel Julian Sevillano Bustamante, aged 39, believed to be the leader of 'Los Fatales', was buried with a huge cache of weapons.
His underlings stuffed his coffin with machine guns, shotguns and even a revolver so that he would be 'armed to the teeth in the afterlife and could defend himself'.
They also gave him a hat to wear so he could look his best at the Gates of St. Peter.
It is understood that the leader of 'Los Fatales', which operates in the Los Rios region of Ecuador, died after being shot at a carwash in Mocache, Ecuador, with his 20-year-old daughter and a security guard in tow.
Manuel Julian Sevillano Bustamante, (pictured) believed to be the leader of 'Los Fatales', was buried with a huge cache of weapons
His underlings stuffed his coffin with machine guns, shotguns and even a revolver so that he would be 'armed to the teeth in the afterlife and could defend himself'
He was reportedly shot dead while at a carwash with his daughter and a security guard
The drug trafficker's daughter was also shot and later died in hospital.
Bustamante was caught out after his assassins realised he regularly frequented one carwash.
No one has claimed responsibility for the death of Bustamante and his daughter.
Authorities suspect that the attack could be the result of clashes between rival gangs in the lucrative world of drug trafficking.
According to local media, Los Fatales are in a war against the Los Cornejos cartel for control of the drug trade in the provinces of Manabi and Los Rios.
The investigation is ongoing.
Cartel violence has spiked in Ecuador. The country saw 4,600 violent deaths in 2022, double the previous year, and it is set to break the record again with 3,568 violent deaths in the first half of 2023.
Earlier this year, three political killings, all of which were allegedly linked to cartel violence, rocked the country in less than four weeks.
Presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, an outspoken critic of organised crime and corruption was shot in broad daylight last month.
His death followed the fatal July shooting of the city of Mantas mayor, Agustin Intriago, 38, who had recently been re-elected for a term that began in May.
And just a week after Villavicencio died, local political organiser Pedro Briones died in a fatal shooting.
De Jesus was pronounced dead on the scene and Felix Andres was rushed to a hospital, where he died
A 33 year-old woman on vacation died alongside a hammock seller when both were struck by lightning on a Mexican beach during a storm.
Elvia de Jesus and the seller, named locally as Felix Andres, were seen being killed while walking on the sands of Maruata Beach when the bolt struck them Friday afternoon.
Aquila municipal authorities said de Jesus was following her 34-year-old husband, Roberto de Jesus, after the couple walked out of the water.
While he managed to seek refuge under the canopy from the incoming storm, de Jesus was struck by lighting.
Andres, was walking several feet to the left when he was shocked less than a second later.
The electric shock's impact sent a beach worker and other swimmers running for their safety.
Elvia de Jesus and Felix Andres (seen left and right, respectively, in the circle) were spotted walking on a beach in Michoacan, Mexico when they were struck by lightning and killed Friday
Hammock merchant Felix Andres (circled) is seen walking on a beach in Mexico just as lightning struck and killed Elvia de Jesus several feet away from him moments before he was shocked, too, and later died at a hospital
Lightning strikes a woman at beach in Mexico just seconds before a man near her was also shocked. Both individuals were confirmed dead
De Jesus' husband performed CPR and paramedics and navy officers arrived to provide additional support before pronouncing her dead.
Felix Andres was rushed to a local hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
Aquila Mayor Jose Valencia revealed that de Jesus was a resident from the central state of Guanajuato. He also said Felix Andres, who sold hammocks on the beach, resided in the nearby state of Guerrero.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 40 million lightning strikes hit the ground in the United States each year.
Although the chances of being struck by lightning each year are less than one in a million, close to 90 percent of the victims do survive.
The chances of a person being struck multiple times is way less, with it happening seven times in a lifetime.
National Weather Service data shows that in 2023, 11 people have been killed by lightning strikes in the United States, including two people in separate boating and swimming incidents.
In comparison, 19 people died after they were struck last year, an increase from 11 in 2021.
Beachgoers seek cover at a beach in Michoacan, Mexico, on Monday after two people were struck by lightning. One of the victims was declared dead on the scene and the other died at an area hospital
Two people were struck and killed by lightning at a beach in Aquila, a town off the Pacific coast in the Mexican state of Michoacan on Monday
Elvia de Jesus Torres Rangel was one of two people killed after being struck by lightning on a Mexican beach
The federal weather agency says there are five ways in which lightning can strike people.
A direct strike happens in open areas. While it's not considered the most common, it can be the deadliest.
'In most direct strikes, a portion of the current moves along and just over the skin surface (called flashover) and a portion of the current moves through the body -usually through the cardiovascular and/or nervous systems,' the National Weather Service explains.
A person can also received a jolt from a lighting bolt from a side flash. Lightning tends to strike an object that is taller than a victim - for example a tree - and parts of the current is transmitted from the object to the victim.
Convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir was killed Tuesday by a cellmate in a Texas prison.
Chemirmir, 50, was convicted last year of killing two people, but was accused in the deaths of nearly two dozen others. He was given two life sentences in prison without parole.
He was found dead early Tuesday morning in his cell. His cellmate, who is serving a sentence for a Dallas-area murder, was identified as the assailant.
The killer's name was not released.
During multiple trials, prosecutors alleged that Chemirmir, a suspected serial killer, targeted people inside their homes or at senior living facilities. He often smothered his victims with pillows in order to steal jewelry.
Convicted murderer Billy Chemirmir, 50, was killed Tuesday by a cellmate in a Texas prison
Chemirmir was killed in his cell at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas. Officials have not disclosed the murderer's manner of death
The families of Chemirmir's victims were notified of his death early Tuesday.
Most of the killer's victims were initially believed to have died of natural causes, despite family members claiming the circumstances of their deaths were odd and that jewelry had been stolen.
It wasn't, however, until a victim survived an attack that law enforcement reopened the cases and indictments were filed against Chemirmir.
He was eventually charged with killing 22 North Texas women over two years. He was found guilty of capital murder last October for the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
In April of 2022, he was convicted of the same charge for the murder of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris. His first trial for her death ended in a mistrial.
Officials did not say how Chemirmir was killed. He was murdered in the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas, about two hours southeast of Dallas.
His attorney, Phillip Hayes, confirmed the killer's death in a statement: 'Despite how you feel about him, no one deserves to be murdered in prison.'
The Office of the Inspector General is investigating the killing.
Last month, the Collin County District Attorney opted not to pursue the death penalty in 11 of the pending cases against Chemirmir.
During multiple trials, prosecutors alleged the suspected serial killer targeted people inside their homes or at senior living facilities. He often smothered his victims with pillows in order to steal jewelry
Chemirmir listens to motions in his capital murder trial at the Frank Crowley Courts Building in Dallas on November 19, 2021
Authorities believe Chemirmir, who once worked as a senior living caregiver, began his killing spree in April of 2016.
According to court records, he was accused of killing at least three women in Dallas' upscale Edgemere community, and at least nine at The Tradition-Prestonwood, located in Far North Dallas.
He was ultimately arrested the day after an elderly woman, Mary Bartel, survived an attack at Plano's Preston Place Retirement Community in March of 2018 and proceeded to report her missing jewelry.
Throughout his trials, Chemirmir maintained his innocence, repeatedly saying he was 'not a killer' and was 'not at all what they're saying I am.'
'I am a very innocent person. I was not brought [up] that way. I was brought [up] in a good family. I didnt have any problems all my life.'
One month before his April 2022 conviction, he said he was '100% sure' he would not go to prison.
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner can now be charged in Germany over separate rape and sexual abuse offences allegedly committed in Portugal, a court ruled today in a new blow for the convicted rapist.
Brueckner, 45, who is currently languishing in a German prison for the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal, could now face a trial over a string of alleged sex offences committed between 2000 and 2017.
He had been charged in Germany last year with the sex offences, including the rape and sexual abuse of two children in Portugal, but the charges were dropped in April after a state court in Braunschweig ruled it had no jurisdiction to hear the case.
But now, in a major blow to Brueckner, the higher regional court in the northern city overruled the state court's earlier decision that it had no jurisdiction.
This means Brueckner can now be charged in Germany over the separate rape and sexual abuse cases allegedly committed in Portugal and potentially face a trial.
Madeleine McCann (left) suspect Christian Brueckner (right) can now be charged in Germany over separate rape and sexual abuse offences allegedly committed in Portugal, a court ruled today in a new blow for the convicted rapist
For more than a decade, her anguished parents Gerry and Kate (pictured together in 2017) have waited in vain for any news - any clue - that their little girl is somehow alive after all this time
The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Madeleine vanished
Brueckner was named as the key suspect in the disappearance and murder of Madeleine last year, who vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007 - just a few days before her fourth birthday. But he has still not been charged regarding her abduction and he denies his involvement.
The Braunschweig state court had argued in April that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the case because the region of Lower Saxony where it is located isn't the last place where Brueckner had lived in Germany.
In the German legal system, a court must decide after it receives an indictment from prosecutors whether to take a case to trial.
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The state court said Brueckner had produced evidence that he had lived in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was registered as the owner of a property that he kept after going abroad.
But today, the higher regional court said that the last domestic residence of Brueckner should be determined on the basis of a variety of evidence - in particular earlier statements of the accused - which showed him living within Lower Saxony state.
The court's decision comes just days after it was claimed that Brueckner has written begging letters to his former friends asking them to talk about what a 'good guy' he is in court in a bid to clear his name.
Brueckner moaned in one letter to a friend that prosecutors were making him out to be a 'monster'.
Brueckner, who prosecutors say is responsible for Madeleine's 2007 kidnap and murder, begged two of his friends to support him in court if he has to stand trial on separate rape and child sex charges.
'I know of two people who got the messages from Chris,' Brueckner's former friend who is still in touch with those who knew Brueckner in the Algarve told the Mirror.
'It really freaked them out. They hadn't heard from him in years and then these letters suddenly arrived in the post from Germany.'
The source added: 'He was asking them to speak in his defence, about what a good guy he is. He said the German police and prosecutors have it in for him, that they are saying he is a monster.
'It's outrageous for Chris to ask for help because now we all know about his past. Back when we were hanging with him in the early 2000s it was all a secret. We didn't know he was a paedophile. But now he doesn't stand a chance of anybody speaking up for him in court.'
Brueckner is currently languishing in a German prison for the rape of a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal just 18 months before Madeleine was abducted.
His trial heard he planned the sex attack having broken into the victim's house with a rope to tie her up. She was blindfolded and gagged before being raped and robbed.
In June, Brueckner attacked the police investigation against him as groundless in a handwritten letter, seen by the MailOnline.
In the letter he attacked informant Mr Busching. The two men had been pals in Portugal in the early 2000s but as Brueckner explained in his latest missive he says they fell out after a drugs deal went wrong the year Madeleine went missing and never spoke again.
Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal's Algarve coast in May 2007 - where Brueckner was living at the time - and has never been seen since.
Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, spearheaded a high-profile campaign for information about her disappearance.
The case, unsolved for the past 16 years, remains a mystery as no body has ever been found.
In June, German forensic experts searched a reservoir 30 miles from Praia da Luz as part of their ongoing investigation. Bruecker had called the Arade reservoir his 'little paradise' after receiving 'certain tip-offs'.
The reservoir is located near the town of Silves, where a lorry driver had claimed to see a woman passing off a child resembling Madeleine's description to a man two days after the toddler disappeared.
Investigators cleared a large area of woodland at the reservoir and dug eight deep holes to collect samples, which were sent for forensic and DNA testing in Germany.
But German police have reportedly hit a 'roadblock' after being left 'disappointed' over the items they found during the search of the reservoir.
The reservoir lies about 45 minutes from Praia da Luz - where Madeleine vanished without a trace in 2007 aged three
An area of around 160 square feet had been flattened and cleared of grass and shrubs with several holes dug into the ground to a depth of around two feet during the latest Madeleine McCann search in the Algarve, Portugal, on May 25, 2023
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the case, confirmed that a 'number of items' were seized during the search.
However, sources have now told The Sun that the items retrieved have not helped them in their efforts to solve the 16-year mystery.
A source told the paper: 'Sadly, it's looking increasingly like the search of the reservoir will not provide any answers or fresh leads.
'It's too strong to say it was a waste of time, but officers are naturally really disappointed.'
The three-day scour of the reservoir was the first major search for the toddler in nine years and comes after German police discovered photos of Brueckner at his self-described 'little paradise' in the Portuguese region, it is understood.
Brueckner would camp by the reservoir at weekends and is understood to have set up a base there to 'cleanse himself', it emerged last month.
A former friend of Brueckner, who has lived on Algarve for nearly 30 years and has been helping police with their investigation, claims the criminal would visit the reservoir 'often' but was 'always secretive about it'.
The German mother-of-three, whose identity has not been made public, recalled how Brueckner would drive his campervan to the edge of the lake because he 'liked to be near the water'.
She claimed he always camped in the same location and 'there was usually no one else around'.
'This was his exact special spot that he said he liked to come to cleanse himself,' she said of his campsite, telling The Sun: 'I don't know what he did there as he was very secretive.'
Details of Brueckner's secret lair came to light as a British couple told The Mail on Sunday how they spotted a bizarre 'shrine' to Madeleine in the reservoir just seven months after she vanished.
Amanda Knox has appealed her conviction for defaming a barman who she falsely accused of murdering a British student.
Knox, 36, initially told investigators innocent barman Patrick Lumumba had killed Meredith Kercher, 21, by slitting her throat and leaving her bleeding to death.
She had claimed she had seen the Congolese barman at the house she shared with Meredith, 21, in the Italian hilltop town of Perugia in November 2007.
It led to the innocent father-of-two being arrested and held by police for two weeks before being released without charge.
Key to his freedom was testimony from a Swiss lecturer who had visited his Le Chic bar the night of the murder, and who had kept a receipt showing Lumumba was working at the time.
Amanda Knox (pictured at her parents' home in Seattle in 2015) has appealed her conviction for defaming a barman who she falsely accused of murdering a British student
The innocent father-of-two was arrested and held by police for two weeks before being released without charge
Knox has filed the appeal to definitively annul the sentence on the basis of a European Court of Human Rights ruling that her defence rights were violated during the initial investigation, judicial sources said.
The American was initially convicted of murdering Meredith and served three years with her then boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito before their convictions were quashed.
However, her conviction for slander was not dismissed and she was given an additional year taking the sentence to three years, but she was released for time served.
She said she had made the statement implicating Lumumba - who was the manager of a bar where she worked at the time of the murder because she was 'stressed and agitated' during police questioning.
She had wrongly told detectives that she had 'covered' her ears to drown out Meredith's screams while he murdered her.
British student Meredith Kercher was in Italy as part of her Univeristy of Leeds degree course and had only been in the country for less than two months before she was murdered
Lumumba, who has since moved to Krakow in Poland with his wife and two children, has filed to oppose the suit from Seattle-born and based Knox, who recently got pregnant with her second child.
Speaking from there he said:'Through my legal team I will be opposing Amanda Knox's request because I wish to respect truth and justice and the memory of Meredith Kercher.'
The case is due to be heard in chambers by Italy's Court of Cassation in Rome later this year and Knox is not expected to attend as she is pregnant.
Ivory Coast drifter Rudy Guede was recently released from prison after serving 16 years for murder but has continued to protest his innocence.
Meredith, from Coulsdon, south London, was in Italy as part of her Univeristy of Leeds degree course and had only been in the country for less than two months before she was murdered.
A Delta flight managed to land safely after it was likely struck by lightning mid-flight before it was taken out of service and inspected by crews on arrival.
Delta flight 2346 left Chicago O'Hare Airport at 8:54 pm CDT on Monday and landed at Boston's Logan Airport at 11:45 pm EST after a stressful journey across the country that likely involved the plane being struck by lightning.
Airport crews inspected the plane when the Airbus A220 arrived at Logan Airport's Terminal A with 85 passengers on board.
Delta Airlines said in a statement: 'As safety is always Delta's top priority, the aircraft is being taken out of service for evaluation in line with our typical procedures.'
The company did not confirm whether the plane had been struck by lightning during the journey.
A Delta flight safely landed on Monday night after possibly being hit by a bolt of lightning mid-flight
The Airbus A220 had 85 passengers on board who were travelling from Chicago O'Hare Airport to Boston Logan Airport
After the plane safely landed in Boston at 11:45 pm the airport crew inspected the plane for any damage or warning signs after the potential lightning strike but didn't find anything worrying
MassPort - Massachusetts Port Authority - had emergency crews standing by on Monday night who could be seen on a cherry picker inspecting the outside of the aircraft.
The former MassPort CEO Tom Kinton said: 'It's not common in that it occurs every time because air traffic controllers and pilots all take precautions to avoid storms and go around them, particularly when they're severe in nature.'
Kinton said 'The aircraft is designed to take the hit and then have the electricity follow through the fuselage and exit the aircraft. So, you may have some disruptions -- lights will flicker, avionics will go on and off in the cockpit. Things get restored fairly quickly within seconds'.
Commercial transport passenger planes are hit by lightning on average once or twice a year, according to the National Weather Service.
Lightning isn't the only weather condition to effect the East Coast this week. This incident comes in the midst of a very busy Atlantic hurricane season that has been affecting the weather om the Southeast coast over the past few weeks.
The weather channels warned on Tuesday that Hurricane Nigel could become a a subtropical depression or storm.
The National Hurricane Center forecasts Hurricane Nigel to eventually reach Category 3 which sustains 111-129 mph winds and has the power to damage homes, snap trees and affect electricity and water.
In June an American Eagle plane full of passengers was struck by lightning moments after it landed during a storm in Arkansas.
The airport crew inspected the plane at Terminal A but aircrafts are designed to take the hit and the Delta plane didn't appear to be damaged
The former MassPort CEO Tom Kinton (pictured) said: 'It's not common' that planes get struck because 'air traffic controllers and pilots all take precautions to avoid storms and go around them, particularly when they're severe in nature'
Commercial transport passenger planes are hit by lightning on average once or twice a year, according to the National Weather Service.
The Embraer E175 was waiting for the storm to pass before travelling to the gate when the terrifying flash of electricity blasted the aircraft yesterday afternoon.
The cameraman, named in Viral Press as Jason William Hamm, can be heard talking about a previous bolt which struck moments earlier, saying: 'I don't think it hit the plane, it still would have made an amazing video though.'
Just seconds later another ferocious flash hits the tail of the aircraft, causing people behind Mr Hamm to hoot with excitement.
Another flight was struck by lightning in Panama during a storm in 2021.
The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft was flying at approximately 30,000 ft and was coming in to land at the Tocumen International Airport in Panama City.
Dramatic footage captured from within the cockpit shows a powerful lightning bolt strike the nose of the plane as the pilots navigate a heavy storm.
Earlier in September Category 5 Hurricane Lee saw the cancellation of over 200 flights out of JFK, Newark and LaGuardia airports because of the severe thunderstorms the East Coast was already experiencing.
Adnan Syed has called a press conference from his Maryland living room, one year after his murder conviction was overturned and he was released from prison.
Exactly a year ago, a judge ordered Syed's release from his life sentence for strangling Hae Min Lee - after serving 23 years - because they could no longer justify keeping him locked up based on new information.
He was tried in 2000 and found guilty of burying his high school sweetheart's body in a shallow grave in Baltimore's Leakin Park. His case was popularized by the podcast Serial - with thousands of people across the globe gripped by the story.
On Tuesday, Syed sat with his mother and his brother at his family's home in Windsor Mill for an impromptu two-hour press conference - organized without a spokesperson or his attorney.
He called for an investigation into his case, 'to essentially understand how our rights as a family have been violated.'
Adnan Syed has called a last-minute press conference from his Maryland living room, one year after his murder conviction was overturned and he was released from prison
On Tuesday, Syed sat with his mother and his brother at his family's home in Windsor Mill for an impromptu press conference - organized without a spokesperson or his attorney
He said that he called the conference on the one year anniversary of his release from prison to highlight 'two new pieces of information' that he wants the Attorney General to be made aware of.
He urged the AG Anthony Brown to open a probe into his case. He alleged that there had been prosecutorial misconduct - specifically by Kevin Urick and Kathleen Murphy.
Syed said that he has always pushed for justice for his 'friend' Lee, and her family.
'We have the upmost respect and concern for Lee's younger brother,' Syed told the room.
He said that there is evidence that Urick committed a Brady violation and that the AG ought to probe him for it.
A representative for the MD Office of the Public Defender said: 'Out of respect for our client's autonomy, Adnan Syed's legal team is not providing any comment at this time.'
In March this year, his conviction was reinstated by an appellate court panel and deemed that his hearing would have to be re-heard.
Hae Min Lee's brother, who represents the victim in this case, has long argued that he was not given enough time to attend the vacation hearing. The Baltimore city state's attorney gave him less than one business day, he claims.
The 42-year-old was serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2000 of strangling Hae Min Lee and burying her body in a shallow grave in Baltimore's Leakin Park
Syed was convicted of strangling Lee (with him above at junior prom in 1998). The two were high school classmates who had dated. He went to prison for the crime - but in 2022 a judge ruled that it was no longer justifiable keeping him behind bars because of new information
The panel ruled in his favor. The circuit court judge did indeed violated the rights of Young Lee in how it conducted Syed's vacation hearing. But it Syed was still freed.
Syed's sensational release from jail in September 2022 was due to work by Becky Feldman, the chief of the State's Attorney's Office's Sentencing Review Unit.
Feldman started investigating Syed's case in June 2022 after a new Maryland law allowed prosecutors to modify sentences for offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes and had served at least 20 years in prison.
Syed fit the criteria because he was 17 in 1999 and imprisoned since 2000.
Short-term deal has no chance of passing the Senate as end of the fiscal year looms 11 days away
Internal strife is playing out in the open as negotiators demand to know what right-wing opposers actually want
House will not vote on rule to advance short-term resolution brokered between right-wing Freedom Caucus and the pragmatic conservative Main Street Caucus
House GOP leadership yanked a vote to advance a short-term spending deal Tuesday in a sign of the dwindling chances for the federal government to avoid a shutdown by September 30.
The vote cancellation Tuesday is the latest sign of massive internal strife within the GOP that is likely to be the cause of a looming government shutdown.
The short-term deal, brokered between the right-wing Freedom Caucus and the pragmatic conservative Main Street Caucus, would have held Defense and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding at 2023 levels and triggered an eight percent cut to all other agencies.
It would also institute the provisions of House Republicans' border bill, H.R. 2, aside from E-Verify. The bill leaves out funding for Ukraine and disaster relief.
The short-term continuing resolution (CR) would have punted the funding deadline to October 30, giving Congress an extra month to pass appropriations bills and fund the government for fiscal year 2024.
But still it triggered opposition from over a dozen Republicans, largely from within the Freedom Caucus, as those who worked on the deal demanded to know what exactly it is that they want.
House GOP leadership yanked a vote to advance a short-term spending deal Tuesday in a sign of the dwindling chances for the federal government to avoid a shutdown by September 30
McCarthy in a closed-door meeting demanded those who opposed the deal march up to Majority Whip Tom Emmer's office and explain what they were opposed to.
A number of those opposed were seen walking into the whip's office after the meeting to lay out their gripes.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus member who helped author the deal, sounded off about the opposition: 'I find it extremely difficult to explain or defend opposition to an eight percent cut over 30 days in exchange for the most conservative and strong border security measure we've ever passed out of this body.'
At other times, Roy has found himself on the same side as the deal opposers, most of whom have actively opposed Speaker McCarthy and his legislative priorities in the past.
He said there are some who are trying to 'advance themselves' in saying the deal is 'malpractice,' but 'the true malpractice is to head into a shutdown without a coordinated and concerted message [from] the entire Republican conference.'
Failure to get conservatives on board with a spending bill leaves the door open to a motion to vacate - which GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz has threatened to bring forward to oust McCarthy repeatedly.
If McCarthy can't get Republicans on board with a spending deal, he may have to put forward one that Democrats could vote for, a move sure to draw the ire of his far-right caucus.
Some of those who oppose the deal say the House must stick to its original plan and pass 12 separate appropriations bills to fund each agency individually. That way members could vote for one and not the other rather than having to vote up-or-down whether the government gets funded.
But with less than 12 days until the end of the fiscal year this feat would be nearly impossible, especially since the Senate would also have to approve 12 bills and reconcile them with the House proposals.
The House is teeing up a vote on the defense spending bill for Tuesday that was tabled last week amid conservative opposition.
Despite conservative policy riders that will turn away Democratic votes, some right-wing members voted against it in protest - arguing they wanted to see the top line costs of all 12 appropriations bills before voting for one.
Others, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., claim the bill includes funding for Ukraine and funds special counsel Jack Smith's investigations into Donald Trump.
'That's just petty, petty internal politics,' GOP Rep. Byron Donalds, Fla., lead author on the deal, told DailyMail.com. 'We're cutting the Department of Justice eight percent in our legislation - who thinks it's better to just shut down?'
'Shutdowns do not shut down special counsels,' he went on. 'There's a history now where the special counsels that are in operation continue their work, no matter how stupid and disastrous it is. During a shutdown they continue that work, because the DOJ considers them essential services.'
Rep. Chip Roy , R-Texas, a Freedom Caucus member who helped author the deal, sounded off about the opposition: 'I find it extremely difficult to explain or defend opposition to an eight percent cut over 30 days in exchange for the most conservative and strong border security measure we've ever passed out of this body'
McCarthy also warned about the impacts a shutdown would cause while denying members in his conference wanted that outcome.
'Nobody wants a shutdown,' he told reporters. 'That stuff's not true. Think for one moment what a shutdown does - it stops paying our troops. How do you have more leverage in that situation?'
He's previously warned the right flank that a shutdown would also impede the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
Even if the CR deal were to pass the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has vowed the bill will fail in the Senate, calling it an 'insult' to Ukraine the same week President Volodymyr Zelensky is planning a visit to the Capitol.
Ukraine is another point of internal strife within the GOP.
As U.S. aid to Ukraine tops $100 billion in taxpayer dollars, a swelling cadre of House Republicans have grown tired of doling out cash for the Eastern European nation's war with Russia - while senators largely stress the importance of funding the war efforts.
Asked if he would commit to a supplemental bill to aid Ukraine while meeting the Ukrainian president this week, McCarthy said: 'Is Zelensky elected to Congress? Is he our president? I have questions for him. Where is the accountability for the money we've already spent?'
The White House has asked Congress to authorize an additional $24 billion for Ukraine.
A letter the White House Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young sent to Senator J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and a number of other Republicans included a spread sheet of the over $100 billion the U.S. has sent to Ukraine.
Ukrainian-born Rep. Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., said she appreciated the need for oversight of Ukraine aid but cautioned her colleagues against falling victim to Russian propaganda.
'Don't underestimate Russian propaganda. Russians are very good at it,' she told reporters. 'They try to destabilize. You saw that within our elections.'
'They spend an enormous amount of time and money to .... to be able to get people agitated.'
The congresswoman tore into McCarthy as a 'weak' leader on Monday, and on Tuesday signaled she respects democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders more than she does the Republican leader.
'Don't say to people that "I'm going to be fighting for you" and "I'm going to do this and that." You know what, just say we don't have the backbone. We're afraid to challenge the big machine.'
On Monday she had demanded a formal commission to investigate cutting spending.
'When Bernie Sanders says "I am a socialist," you know what? At least he's honest about that.'
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday, seeking release from Russian jail as he appeals his espionage case.
However, the Russian court rejected his effort to be released and returned the case to a lower court for 'procedural violations.' The move leaves Gershkovich, 32, in jail until at least November 30.
During the hearing, Gershkovich could be seen in the glass defendants' cage, smiling at fellow journalists, wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans.
Gershkovich was detained in March during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow, and has been held in Russian prison since.
Russian authorities accuse him of collecting classified information, a claim Gershkovich, the Journal and the US government deny - and that could result in him being sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich appeared in a Moscow court Tuesday, seeking release from jail on espionage charges
The court declined his appeal and returned the case to a lower court due to unspecified 'procedural violations'
Dozens of journalists and supporters at the courthouse caught their first glimpse in weeks of the Wall Street Journal reporter, who is the first US correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia for alleged spying.
The US government has declared him wrongfully detained, while Russian authorities haven't provided evidence to support the espionage charges.
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her fourth visit to Gershkovich on Friday, emphasizing the importance of his case.
He is currently held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, known for its harsh conditions, and is the first American reporter to face such charges in Russia since 1986.
He is the first American reporter to face espionage charges in Russia since 1986 when Nicholas Daniloff, a Moscow correspondent for U.S. News and World Report, was arrested.
Some analysts speculate that Moscow might be using jailed Americans as leverage amid heightened US-Russian tensions, with previous exchanges involving American citizens detained in Russia.
However, the Russian Foreign Ministry has claimed it would consider a swap only after Gershkovich's trial, which could last over a year in Russia.
Gershkovich was charged with espionage in Russia and has entered his official denial in April
Gershkovich, 32, will likely remain in jail until November 30
Gershkovich was detained in March during a reporting trip to Yekaterinburg, about 1,200 miles east of Moscow
During the hearing, Gershkovich could be seen in the glass defendants' cage, smiling at fellow journalists, wearing a yellow sweater and blue jeans
Russian authorities accuse him of collecting classified information, a claim both Gershkovich, the Journal and the US government deny
US ambassador Lynne Tracy speaks to the media outside the Moscow City Court after a hearing to consider an appeal of US journalist Evan Gershkovich
US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy made her fourth visit to Gershkovich on Friday, emphasizing the importance of his case
In the meantime, Gershkovich is being held at a notorious prison in Moscow, Lefortovo, which was once host to mass executions during Stalin's Great Purge
Gershkovich last appeared in court in August when a judge ruled he must remain in jail until the end of November.
Gershkovich arrived at court for a hearing to extend his arrest in a white prison van and was led handcuffed out of the vehicle wearing jeans, sneakers and a shirt.
Journalists outside the court were not allowed to witness the proceedings, which were held behind closed doors due to details of the criminal case being classified.
His parents called on world leaders to urge Russia to free him. They appeared in an interview with ABC back in July.
The parents of Gershkovich said Joe Biden promised he will 'do whatever it takes' to free their son.
Parents of the 32-year-old reporter also said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made similar assurances and claimed he 'would not rest' until their son was returned.
Gershkovich has spent more than five months in Moscow's notorious Lefortovo prison since his arrest on espionage charges on March 29 while reporting on the Wagner Group.
Mikhail Gershkovich and Ella Milman met while working in New York after fleeing the Soviet Union in 1979, and raised Evan and his sister in New Jersey.
Gershkovich parents said President Joe Biden had assured them he would 'do whatever it takes' to free their son from Russian imprisonment
Ella Milman, mother of Gershkovich, leaves a Russian court after a hearing to consider an appeal against her son's detention on June 22
Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on June 22
Gershkovich in Russia. Gershkovich was put in Moscow's Lefortovo prison, which dates from the czarist era and has been a terrifying symbol of repression since Soviet times
Pictured, second from right, Gershkovich
In an interview with ABC News, the pair gave an update on Gershkovich's wellbeing and their ongoing conversations with US officials.
'President Biden spoke to us and gave us a promise to do whatever it takes. He talked to us as a parent and he told us he understands our pain,' said Millman.
Mikhail Gershkovich reiterated the support the couple had received from Biden and suggested the president's commitment was reassuring and credible.
'President Biden did say it's a personal matter for him, because of his son, and we take a lot of comfort in that,' he said.
Millman indicated that it was not just Biden whom they had spoken with since their son's arrest.
'We also met secretary of state Mr. Blinken as well. He showed us his card with the names of all the wrongfully detained Americans around the world,' she said.
'Evan's name was on that list as well, and he promised us he was not going to rest until all the names are crossed out from his card.'
Since his arrest in March, the parents made multiple trips to Russia. They attended a court hearing last month in which it was ruled that he would remain in jail until at least last August.
The El Paso port of entry with Mexico is shut down while personnel at that crossing point are diverted to assist with processing the massive surge of illegal migrants who arrived between entry ports in Texas.
In a Friday statement, Custom and Border Protection (CBP) announced 'temporary suspension' at the busy Bridge of the Americas (BOTA) port shared between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.
There was no specification in the statement on when the port will return to normal operation, just a note that CBP would do so 'as quickly as feasible.'
'The temporary suspension at BOTA will allow CBP's Office of Field Operations officers to assist the U.S. Border Patrol in processing noncitizens who have arrived between the ports of entry including vulnerable populations like families and unaccompanied children,' CBP said in the Friday statement.
The statement continued: 'CBP regularly plans for and executes contingency measures, such as this, to support the overarching agency mission and ensure the safety and wellbeing of those in the agency's custody.'
Shocking footage emerged Monday showing thousands of migrants illegally crossing the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas in Eagle Pass - despite President Joe Biden's new program allowing asylum seekers to apply for entry at legal ports.
Chaos continues at the border with a slew of illegal crossings in recent weeks. Pictured: Migrants pass a baby as they climb through barricades of razor wire and shipping containers from Piedras Negras into Eagle Pass, Texas
The El Paso port is 'temporarily' closed as personnel at the bridge with Juarez are being diverted to help with processing migrants that entered illegally between other ports of entry in Texas. Pictured: Army officials talk with migrants on Wednesday arriving at the U.S. border to claim asylum in Ciudad Juarez
Nearly 500 miles away from Eagle Pass in El Paso, a similar surge was experienced as 1,700 migrants crossed in a 24-hour period.
The migrants would then line up along the border wall and surrender to officers to then claim asylum in the US. About 500 asylum-seekers mainly from Venezuela lined up at El Paso on Monday, reported KVIA.
Biden vowed nearly since taking office to crack down on the influx of migrants at the southern border and flaunted earlier this year the new CBP One app as a fix to the flux in between ports of entry.
It was March 2021 when Biden pleaded with those thinking of making the journey to the U.S. 'do not come' with the threat of 'consequences' for those crossing illegally.
'I can say quite clearly: Don't come. We're in the process of getting set up, don't leave your town or city or community,' Biden said as his administration was breaking records monthly for the number of illegal crossings.
The new CBP One app allows migrants to apply for asylum on their phones and schedule an appointment to legally enter the U.S. at a port of entry to make their asylum claims.
For months the program worked at avoiding the shocking images of illegal entrances, but did little to actually decrease the number of migrants entering the country.
BOTA usually operates from 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. from Monday through Friday. But
CBP notes that 'during the suspension of service, members of the trade community may consider the nearby Ysleta, Santa Teresa, or Marcelino Serna (Tornillo) cargo facilities as alternative entry points.'
More than 2,200 people crossed the river from Coahuila into Eagle Pass in a tactic pushed by drug lords to deliberately overwhelm CBP.
By tying up crucial resources, it leaves Mexico's cartels free to carry out human trafficking and smuggling operations uninterrupted. As midnight approached, the group could be seen in the video wading through the deep waters to reach the other side, much to the surprise of some local Mexican residents.
Migrants line-up against the southern border wall near the bank of the Rio Bravo River between El Paso and Juarez, Mexico
The video comes as recent data from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol reveals an increase in encounters with migrants at the Southern Border between June and July of this year. Biden vowed CBP One would quell illegal immigration, but it only temporarily decreased the shocking images from the border
Shocking footage shows thousands of migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas. As midnight approached the group could be seen heading down the river bank to the Rio Grande. The group waded through the deep waters to reach the other side
Upon reaching the U.S. side of the border, the group waited underneath a bridge until morning
One could be heard on camera exclaiming how only a small portion of the group were crossing at that one moment - with hundreds more following behind.
By the time daylight arrived, the group were being rounded up by Border Patrol as they huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass.
The footage was shot in Piedras Negras, the Mexican town which lies directly across the river from Eagle Pass.
The flagrant breaking of immigration rules took place next to the port of entry as those crossing the border thumbed their noses at the Biden Administration.
This latest wave of migrants who are mainly Venezuelan are believed to have traveled up through Panama.
Similar scenes have been witnessed along the border with towns and federal processing centers are now at overcapacity as a crush of crossings cripples the nation .
Last week there were more than 7,000 illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border over several days.
Over the last week the Rio Grande region has seen a spike in encounters with 1,200 on average coming over each day. 4,200 migrants are being housed in local hotels rather than shelters.
By the time daylight arrived, the group were being rounded up by Border Patrol as they huddled under a bridge in Eagle Pass while buses arrived to transport them
More than 2,000 migrants crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Texas, in one of the largest documented instances of mass illegal border crossings - as seen from Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico
Hundreds of migrants, mostly from Venezuela, whether a thunderstorm along the banks of the Rio Grande
Across the border as a whole, as many 9,400 migrants have crossed into the US in a single 24-hour period - almost equalling figures seen in May before the end of Title 42 which saw 10,000 people come into the country each day.
'The way it's being orchestrated through the cartels, I believe it's meant to overwhelm the system. The [places] that are being impacted the most are border communities,' former El Paso City Councilmember Claudia Rodriquez told The New York Post.
No street releases have been made in the El Paso region unlike in California and Arizona.
Last week, photos depicted at least three white unmarked Border Patrol buses filled with migrants parked in San Diego.
It led to several hundred people being released onto the streets. One migrant was even told by an agent: 'You're free to go on and do wherever you want. You're free.'
He asked: 'It's no problem if I go to Chicago?'
'You can do whatever you want,' the official replied.
Border Patrol in San Diego has reportedly been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody last week - 5,000 more than facilities can manage.
It can't accommodate more than 15,000 migrants and migrants are being released onto the streets to fend for themselves after being processed at the border.
Similar migrant releases took place in Tucson, Arizona, with agents coming across 2,000 people a day and dealing with packed shelters.
It was March 2021 when Biden pleaded with those thinking of making the journey to the U.S. 'do not come' with the threat of 'consequences' for those crossing illegally
A group of migrants remains on one side of the border with the United States guarded by National Guard personnel in Juarez City, Chihuahua, Mexico
In Texas, State Representative Eddie Morales says the migrants made the trek by hopping on trains.
'It's obviously a security issue, we have concerns over their safety and we need to address this in the most - expeditious manner,' Morales said to News4SA.
'Under U.S. immigration laws, most non-citizens coming to our border are not eligible to remain in the United States. Asylum laws do not provide for relief solely for economic reasons or for general violence,' U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tweeted on Monday.
After the public health order known as Title 42 was lifted in May 11, CBP says the U.S. 'returned to fully enforcing Title 8 immigration authorities to expeditiously process and remove individuals who arrive at the U.S. border unlawfully and do not have a legal basis to stay.'
Texas Congressman also Terry Gonzales also shared similar frustrations.
'Eagle Pass is completely overrun right now. El Paso is getting overwhelmed right now. Arizona is getting overwhelmed right now.
'The only way we can regain control of the southern border is by enforcing the laws that are on the books. That's exactly what the administration needs to do. That's exactly what Congress needs to focus on.
'All Americans deserve to feel safe in their own communities and right now they do no. A lot of folks see it on TV and they think it will never happen to them. Well I'm here to tell you it's already happening, whether you're in New York, whether you're in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles.
'These folks that are coming over illegally, they're coming to all parts of the country. It's only going to get worse.'
A freight train, packed to capacity with migrants, has been captured on video as it travels at full speed toward the Mexican border with the United States
One day earlier, a cargo train filled to the brim with migrants was spotted speeding toward the Mexican border with the United States.
Astounding footage of the FerroMex train was shot as the locomotive with hundreds in tow could be seen coming out of the Central Mexican city of Zacatecas as it made its way northbound on the 750-mile journey toward the U.S.
Container after container could be seen filled with migrants getting an easy ride as the goods train zoomed by.
There was whistling and cheering from those on board as the group hitched a ride. Some of the travelers could even be seen hanging out from the sides of the train.
The train was headed for the U.S. southern border - where in the southwest, roughly 2 million migrants have already made their way into America in 2023. Border towns have been crushed by the influx thanks to the lax border policies of the Biden administration.
The migrants looked to have prepared themselves for a long journey with many having erected tents and canvas over portions of the containers in a bid to shield themselves from the elements.
Migrants travel on a train, with the intention of reaching the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, seen last month
Migrants help one another climb over a barbed wire fence into the U.S. from Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, last month
The videos comes as the latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol show a rise in the number of encounters with migrants at the Southern Border.
In July there were almost 184,000 migrant crossings into the U.S. - up from 144,000 encounters with border patrol from June.
Although the figures rose on a month-by-month basis, the numbers are still well below that of previous years when in 2021 and 2022 more than 200,000 crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.
The U.S. border has seen a flood of migrants from across the world, not just Central and South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico. There have been migrants from China and other places entering via the porous southern border.
Security forces watched on as migrants tried to enter the U.S. after crossing the Rio Grande River, in Matamoros, Mexico ahead of the end of Title 42
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has shuttled over 35,000 migrants from his state to 'sanctuary cities' across the U.S., including over 13,300 to New York City
The 2022 fiscal year saw record-breaking numbers of encounters with migrants at the Southwest border with 2,378,944 reported crossings from October to September.
In 2023, through July, there have been 1,973,092 - many of them coming as Title 42 expired.
The number of migrant crossings in August is set to exceed 230,000, according to Fox News.
Most migrant encounters are single adults, at 64.9 percent, but almost 600,000 are individuals in a family unit and there have been 109,298 unaccompanied minors crossing the border.
Issues of overcapacity are happening all across the southern border. Along with Tucson - street releases are happening in the San Diego sector and in Santa Cruz County, California.
Texas has also been using razor wire to block migrants illegally entering as it battles a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.
The Lone Star State has also been busing migrants to 'sanctuary cities' such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in order to give border towns some relief.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott argues that Texas cities have carried the weight of illegal immigration and 'sanctuary cities' need to share that burden.
'Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities,' he wrote earlier this month on Twitter.
'Over 11,300 to D.C., over 13,300 to NYC, over 6,700 to Chicago, over 2,600 to Philadelphia, over 1,000 to Denver, over 480 to LA.'
Border Patrol in San Diego has reportedly been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody over the last week - 5,000 more than facilities can manage
There have been over 7,000 illegal crossings across the U.S.-Mexico border on multiple days this week
People from the African nations of Senegal, Mauritania, Ghana, Sudan are part of the migrants who have recently made crossings into the U.S. from Mexico.
Cochise County, Arizona, is being slammed with waves of migrants bussed from other counties after crossing the border amid President Joe Biden's lax policies.
'The intellectual avoidance and abandonment with intended consequences' by those leaders in Washington, DC, reference our southern border continues to be a slippery slope for those doing everything we can to protect our quality of life here in Cochise County!' Sheriff Mark Dannels said.
'The migrants being released are from outside Cochise County but were bussed to Cochise County, processed and then released,' Daniels noted in a Facebook post.
'I applaud the local [Customs and Border Protections] agents and their leadership for doing all they legally can during this on-going crisis.'
It's unclear exactly how many migrants the processing facilities in Tucson can accommodate or how many have been transported to other locations such as Cochise County.
San Francisco is trying to recruit cops from Texas as it faces a shortage of officers, after businessman Marc Benioff slammed the city's homeless and drug problems.
The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is visiting four Texas university campuses throughout the month as part of a new recruitment drive.
Candidates from outside of the state of California will take a written test, a physical ability test and an interview to see if they make they cut.
A police spokesperson told the San Francisco Standard that the number of estimated applications this year is 2,104, nearly a 20 percent increase from 1,756 last year.
The recruitment push comes as the department faces staffing issues, causing it to pay out high amounts of overtime.
Representatives for the California force are currently on a recruitment drive, visiting four Universities in Texas
As part of the move, the SFPD is visiting four universities, with the poster for Sam Houston State seen here
The four Texan universities are Texas Southern University, Sam Houston State University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
The Standard reported that between 2017 and 2022, cops spent $88.9 million more on its employees, despite working fewer hours.
The four Texan universities being targeted are Texas Southern University, Sam Houston State University, Prairie View A&M University and Texas A&M University Corpus Christi.
Following widespread calls for reforms that swept the nation following the murder of George Floyd, the department in the California city had it funding cut.
Mayor London Breed was one of the first to openly speak out in support of defunding the police.
During a July 2020 press conference, Breed said: 'We chose to change how this city and how this country treats our young Black men.'
Breed announced $120 million would be cut from the police and sheriff's departments to reinvest in programs that help black and brown communities.
The following year, Breed u-turned on the decision and increased the police budget as the city faced a rampant rise in property crime and looting.
At the time, she said: 'More aggressive with the changes in our policies and less tolerant with all the bulls*** that has destroyed our city.'
Mayor London Breed speaks during the celebration of the 9th Annual Chinatown Night Out in San Francisco, California, United States on September 6, 2023
Latest figures up until Sunday show that there have been more homicides so far this year than the whole of last year
Last year the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a $50 million increase in SFPD's budget.
Latest figures up until Sunday show that there have been more homicides so far this year than the whole of last year.
So far, there have been 40 murders in the city in 2023, while there was just 36 last year.
Likewise, the number of robberies in the city is also higher now than for the whole of last year, with 1,989 reported incidents this year, compared to just 1,704 last year.
The number of total crimes this year is also closely catching up with last year's full total, with 36,573 crimes committed this year, compared to 37,674 in 2022.
It comes after Salesforce Inc. CEO Marc Benioff said that he had pushed officials in the city to clean the place up before the company's annual conference.
AI convention Dreamforce, which draws 40,000 people from around the world according to the company, was held in the city last week.
During a press event on Wednesday, Benioff said: 'We put a lot of pressure on the city this year. It looks great. Its very safe right now. Were moving in the right direction.'
Benioff, 58, held the event at the Moscone Center, which is in an area that is currently facing issues including homelessness, crime and open air drug markets, according to Kron4.
Benioff also posted on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: 'San Francisco has been incredibly clean, beautiful, and safe for the last 3 days of Dreamforce.
'It is great that the city is able to put its best foot forward for this major event that brings in 40K people from around the world, and $80M to the economy.
'It is important to ask why the city cannot be this clean and safe every single day?'
Salesforce Inc. CEO Marc Benioff, pictured here, said he had pushed officials in the beleaguered California city to clean the place up
The AI convention, which draws 40,000 people from around the world according to the company, was held in the city over the past few days
Benioff had previously warned that the company could pull the large scale convention from the city due to the ongoing problems it is facing.
He told The San Francisco Chronicle: 'If this Dreamforce is impacted by the current situation with homelessness and drug use it may be the last Dreamforce.'
Mayor London Breed responded to Benioff's claim that Dreamforce made the city's transformation possible.
She told ABC7 News: 'It's not just because of Dreamforce. There are other conventions. This is what we do for every convention that comes to SF.
'My pushback is San Francisco changing. Things are getting better.'
Despite this, Mayor Breed did concede that some areas of the city, particularly the Tenderloin and South of Market, did still present challenges.
The city has struggled for years with rampant fentanyl use and fatal overdoses, and is on pace for its deadliest year yet.
More than 849 people are expected to die of drug overdoses in 2023, on pace to exceed the current record of 720 deaths in 2020
In the first five months of 2023, preliminary reports show there were 346 overdose deaths in the city - an increase of more than 40 percent from the same period in 2022.
Latest figures show that overdose deaths are continuing to rise, soaring in August with an additional 84 deaths, 66 involving fentanyl.
Economists have warned the city is spiraling into an 'urban doom loop' - a vicious circle of interconnected trends and forces that send cities into economic and social ruin.
Over the past few months, dozens of retailers announced they would be vacating the downtown area of the city.
Drug addicts and the homeless congregate in the Tenderloin District of the California city
Open drug use is now common in the city, something which the police are cracking down on
San Francisco Police have attempted to shut down open-air drugs markets in the hard-hit Tenderloin and SoMa areas of the city. Pictured: 64-year-old Deliada Valdez who has been homeless for four years is seen in Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California, United States on August 28, 2023
Retail stalwart Old Navy announced they would be shuttering their flagship store in the area last month, becoming the latest chain to exit the city.
Nordstrom also announced they would be closing all of their locations in the city.
The company said that due to the 'changing dynamics' of San Francisco it would be shuttering all remaining stores in the next few months.
In April, Whole Foods announced it was closing all their locations, with Anthropologie and Office Depot having also made the same decisions.
High theft has proved a problem in the area recently, with a Walgreens in the city center resolving to chaining their freezers to stop shoplifters.
A map reveals the major businesses which have left, or plan to leave, San Francisco in recent months
A disturbing recent report showed 95 retailers in downtown San Francisco have closed since the start of the COVID pandemic, a decline of more than 50 percent.
Out of 203 retailers open in 2019 in the city's Union Square area, just 107 are still operating, a drop of 47 percent in just a few pandemic-ravaged years.
One Target store in the city has been forced to lock up more of its products to stave off thieves.
An employee at the location previously said it was being robbed as often as 'every ten minutes.'
Video footage of another Target has been shared on social media and shows large quantities of their stock now behind barriers.
A nursery worker will face trial over the death of a nine-month-old baby who fell ill while in her care.
Genevieve Meehan suffered a 'medical episode' at Tiny Toes Children's Day Nursery in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, in May last year and was rushed to hospital but later died.
Kate Roughley, 36, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and child cruelty at Manchester Crown Court in relation to Genevieve's death.
She is due face trial on April 15, next year after a further hearing set to take place on December 21.
Kate Roughley (pictured), 36, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, appeared today at Manchester Crown Court charged in relation to Genevieve's death
Genevieve Meehan suffered a 'medical episode' at Tiny Toes Children's Day Nursery (pictured) in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, on May 9, last year. She was taken to hospital but later died
The public gallery was packed by members of Genevieve's family and Roughley's parents were also in court.
Her family paid tribute to the 'wonderful, unique' in a statement released at the time of her death. They said: 'On the afternoon of May 9, 2022 our world turned very dark.
'We are devastated beyond words at the loss of our beloved Genevieve. She was so wanted and so treasured. Her absence is the wound that will never heal.
'Genevieve was not just a baby. She was a wonderful, unique and special person.'
An inquest into Genevieve's death, opened last month, heard that she died due to an 'unsafe sleep environment'.
Police coroner's officer Alison Catlow told the inquest that a pathologist had determined the cause a death as 'a combination of asphyxia and patho-physiological stress, imparted by an unsafe sleep environment'.
Roughley (pictured) entered not guilty pleas to charges of unlawful act manslaughter and child cruelty and is due face trial on April 15, next year. A further hearing will also take place on December 21
Two women, aged 35 and 34, were arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter a few days after the incident.
A 24-year-old woman was also arrested on suspicion of child neglect.
All three were later bailed, pending further enquiries.
The nursery has since closed after its registration was suspended by Ofsted last May amid concerns children 'maybe at risk of harm'.
Following the suspension, Ofsted carried out three regulatory visits at the nursery on September 2, 5 and 28 and found it 'was not meeting some of the requirements' placed on it as a result of those visits.
The owners of the nursery had appealed the suspension decision, but then withdrew its Ofsted registration.
A map has shown how remnants of Hurricane Nigel will sweep across the UK from the Atlantic later this week to bring more heavy rain, as the Met Office issues yet more weather warnings.
The Met Office issued fresh flood warnings for today and Wednesday, after more than a month's worth of rain fell within 24 hours on Sunday - bringing the country's record breaking heatwave to an end.
The tail end of Hurricane Lee prompted fresh the yellow warnings in parts of northern England and Wales, but just as it subsides it will be replaced by 'unsettled weather' from Hurricane Nigel at the weekend.
Maps from WXCHARTS show how the wet weather will travel across the UK between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening, seemingly reaching its peak at around midday on Wednesday.
Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesperson, said: 'On Sunday, we will start to see the influence of ex-tropical Hurricane Nigel, which will be offshore in the mid-Atlantic.
'These systems have a long reach, it will increase rainfall rates and also winds to bring unsettled weather to the UK.'
A map has shown how remnants of Hurricane Nigel will sweep across the UK from the Atlantic later this week to bring more heavy rain, as the Met Office issues yet more weather warnings
Maps from WXCHARTS show how the wet weather will travel across the UK between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday evening, seemingly reaching its peak at around midday on Wednesday
LONDON: Commuters struggle with umbrellas as they cross London Bridge during wet and windy weather in central London
Maps from the Met Office show torrential rain is set to hit part of the country with yellow weather warnings remaining in place for some
BRIGHTON: Huge waves bashed against Brighton Marina this morning as strong winds and rain continue to batter parts of Britain
The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for rain from Tuesday until 6pm on Wednesday, adding some homes and businesses could face flooding though it is not anticipated to be 'widespread'.
Bus and train services will 'probably' be affected by longer journey times, a forecaster added.
READ MORE: Met Office issues fresh weather warnings across the UK today for heavy rain and travel chaos as map shows where flooding could hit Advertisement
Western regions are expected to see between 50mm to 100mm of rainfall, with higher altitude areas such as Snowdonia in Wales potentially seeing up to 200mm.
Mr Madge said: 'Although we've indicated that there could be flooding associated with the reasonably high levels of rainfall, that's not something anticipated to be widespread.
'It's something that may be a consequence of a catchment that suddenly gets more inundated or there are blockages in drainage.'
The showers can be linked to remnants of Hurricane Lee which brought over 'moisture' and 'higher temperature air' to the UK.
'It's fair to say that it (Hurricane Lee) has brought more moisture with it, and also higher temperature air,' Mr Magde explained.
'When this air comes across us (the UK) it will deliver more in the way of rainfall than a normal system.'
The yellow warning is not to be compared to the 'intense amounts' of rainfall seen over the weekend, when more than 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the UK and downpours forced a Butlin's holiday resort in Minehead, Somerset, and Exeter Airport to close temporarily.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms may hit parts of the UK on Thursday and Friday but the Met Office said they are not expected to be as severe as those on Sunday.
A map showed that heavy downpours will affect Wales and the North of England with 150-200mm of rain expected to fall over the course of 36 hours in some areas.
Chief Forecaster Steve Willington said: 'The weekend's severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall, and their associated impacts, have marked a transition between the heat of last week and the more Atlantic-dominated weather in the forecast for the coming week.'
Temperatures will remain mild up and down the country ranging from 11C to 19C further south
ABERYSTWYTH: Strong wind, heavy rain and huge waves hit the Welsh coast at Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, Wales
MANCHESTER: A woman braced torrential downpours this morning and battled with strong winds in Manchester city centre
DORSET: Storms raged on Chesil Beach in Portland this morning, creating huge waves
CAMBRIDGE: Torrential downpours yesterdays brought the end to the long heatwave, seeing people getting soaked
NEWHAVEN: Coastal gales are expected in some parts of the country today as a yellow weather warning remains in place
In the north west coastal gales are expected, with some gusts being as strong as 40-45mph at times
The forecaster warned of heavy downpours in Wales and the North of England with travel disruption and flooding expected
While bright spells are expected in some parts of the south others are at risk of strong coastal gales, with some gusts being up to 40-45mph.
Across the country, 11 flood alerts have been put in place by the Environment Agency, including parts of the Humber estuary, River Severn and River Mease.
Later in the week, heavy showers and thunderstorms are expected in places during Thursday and Friday, the Met Office has said.
Deputy Chief Forecaster David Oliver said: 'Although the forecast contains the potential for further thundery showers later in the week, these are not expected to be of the magnitude of those seen over the weekend, but some localised impacts should be expected.'
Over the weekend, Britons can expect to see a mixture of sunny spells and showery downpours, with temperatures remaining cool.
Britain's mini heatwave came crashing to a close as thunderstorms and torrential downpours swept in on the tail end of an Atlantic storm.
After temperatures hit 28C (82F) in central London on Saturday, forecasters say we have now seen the 'last breath' of summer and are facing a fortnight of topsy-turvy weather.
Shocking footage shows a house (pictured) in Corfe Fullen, Dorset, being struck by lightning in the early hours of this morning before the property becomes engulfed in flames
There was 'a loud explosion' and a flash of white light as the 400,000 home suffered a direct hit to the tiled roof
Yesterday a huge clean up operation was underway after monsoon-like conditions hit parts of the South West on Sunday causing flash flooding.
It saw Exeter Airport forced to close its doors - with all flights cancelled - while landslips elsewhere closed roads, including the M5.
Butlin's holiday park was forced to shut for four days after heavy rainfall caused severe damage when it poured through the ceiling and left rooms under water.
The venue, which can accommodate 7,500 people on its 165-acre site, will remain closed until Friday when repairs can be done.
A Butlin's spokesperson said: 'We've taken the difficult decision to close due to several important venues being impacted by the weather.'
Shocking footage showed one house in Corfe Fullen, Dorset, being struck by lightning in the early hours of this morning before the property becomes engulfed in flames. There was 'a loud explosion' and a flash of white light as the 400,000 home suffered a direct hit to the tiled roof.
Thirty firefighters rushed to the residential area in Corfe Mullen, near Poole, Dorset, at 12.10am today to tackle the blaze which spread to an adjoining home.
The lone female occupants of the two properties, one a young woman and the other middle aged, were awoken by the strike during last night's thunderstorms.
Six crews battled for two-and-a-half hours to put out the inferno. They remained at the scene for another three hours as a precaution.
Neighbour Warren Windebank, 47, a graphic designer, said: 'I saw the roof was on fire and did not know if anyone was inside.
'The door was open so I looked inside but tiles started to fall off the roof and it looked like it was about to collapse so I got out of there.'
Another neighbour said: 'I was in my lounge and heard a massive explosion sound, which caused me to panic.
'I rushed outside but there was no sign of a fire, so I went back in my flat. But five minutes later I saw black smoke so I looked out of the window and saw the house on fire.
'I went outside and saw the front door to the home was open so I shouted 'is anyone in there', and a woman said she had come out.'
In another blow to Brand, YouTube have stopped him from being able to earn any money through his channel for 'violating our Creator Responsibility policy'.
Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon has written to Ms Dinenage to say that the broadcaster has carried out 'extensive document searches' but 'thus far have found no evidence to suggest the alleged incidents were brought to the attention of Channel 4 management at the time'.
Today, the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Dame Caroline Dinenage wrote to the BBC, Channel 4 and TikTok to request for further details on what actions they are taking in response to the allegations and to GB News in relation to their coverage of the claims.
'And I feel that love is the knowledge that there is a oneness beneath apparent separation.'
Brand told Wicks: 'Everyone knows who it is. Human beings have got a complex and sometimes conflicting set of values within us but of them the thing that feels transcendent to me is love.
Among the programmes removed by the BBC was a Joe Wicks podcast in which the fitness guru - beloved during lockdown - interviewed the comedian, who told him that 'love is real'.
The 48-year-old produces around five videos a week for his 6.6million subscribers, earning him an estimated 1million a year. Under the terms of his suspension Brand - whose net worth has been estimated between 15million and 40million - will still be allowed to post videos on the platform but will not receive any of the advertising revenue.
YouTube said in a statement: 'If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community. This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.'
Other channels associated with his main YouTube page include Football Is Nice, which has some 20,000 subscribers, Awakening With Russell, which has 426,000 subscribers, and Stay Free With Russell Brand, which has 22,200 subscribers.
Advertisers pay YouTube to show their adverts before, during or after videos that are posted on the platform. Most YouTube content creators will not get a say in what ads are served.
The advertising revenue is then split between the platform, owned by YouTube, and whoever made the video. Each receives around half.
Brand, pictured at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre on Saturday night, looks set to keep a large amount of his fanbase despite the allegations against him
Russell Brand pictured with his wife Laura Gallacher shortly before the allegations against him emerged
The news comes after the remaining shows of Brand's Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
Brand 'absolutely denies' the allegations and insists all his relationships have been consensual.
Brand's PR firm MBC PR and talent agent Tavistock Wood no longer advertise him as a client, and his publisher Bluebird, an imprint of Pan Macmillan, has suspended their relationship.
And Netflix has now been urged to remove his comedy special, Re:Birth, from its catalogue.
Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where his channel has 1.4million followers and he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday.
His most recent video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
The Rumble channel description reads: 'Everybody knows that the old ideas won't help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when we're facing a mental health epidemic and ecological meltdown.'
Critics claim Brand has 'set up a cult' online to back him since the birth of the Me Too movement in 2017 by giving a platform to conspiracy theories including the idea that the pandemic, the Ukraine war and climate change distract from the activities of the global elite.
He also has 11million followers on Twitter, four million fans on Instagram and a hugely popular podcast with a lucrative 'Stay Free' merchandise range. While no longer being able to make money on YouTube will be a blow to Brand, 48, it will do little to dent his overall net worth - which has been estimated to be as high as 40million.
He remains on Locals, an online community platform where members can pay a minimum of 48 a year for bonus content.
His Instagram has a link to a merchandise store, which leads to a webpage saying the site it currently under review. Meanwhile, his personal website is still selling tickets to a wellness festival scheduled for next summer, hosted by him and his wife. Laura Gallacher.
Some weekend tickets costing between 160 and 195 each have sold out.
Brand's personal company which he earns with his wife - Pablo Diablo's Legitimate Business Firm Ltd - saw its net assets more than double from 2m to 4.1m in 2021, according to Companies House filings.
The comic has received support online from the likes of Andrew Tate and Elon Musk and his fans were out in force at a gig in Wembley on Saturday to show their backing.
Far-right radio host Alex Jones, who owes $1.5billion in damages to the families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting, said: 'The matrix is coming after Russell Brand, anybody that challenges the globalists, anybody that challenges Big Pharma, anybody that's popular, that comes out against the establishment is going to be accused of assaulting women. Now, because he comes out against the New World Order, suddenly the allegations are happening to him'.
Russell Brand's subscription and video views on YouTube have exploded since 2017
Among Russell Brand's supporters following the allegationsare X and Tesla boss Elon Musk (left) and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (right)
One fan said after allegations he abused women: 'Somewhere along the way Russell Brand woke up and became a powerful dissenting voice who no longer served their agenda. No wonder they are desperate to destroy him'.
PR guru Mark Borkowski believes Brand has built a 'cult following' online who may be willing to back him despite the 'horrendous' accusations about his treatment of women.
Comedian Rosie Holt said: 'I guess the lesson is kids, if sexual misconduct rumours have been swimming about you for ages, set up a cult on YouTube to support you when the allegations become public'.
One American writer said: 'Russell Brand has known this day was coming for him since October 2017.
'Since then, he's strategically cultivated and groomed a new mentally-malleable cult following that distrusts both women and the media so he can continue getting high on his other drug of choice the spotlight'.
The investigation by Channel 4, The Times and Sunday Times began four years ago. Around the same time he stepped back from much of his TV and movie work.
His net worth has been estimated between 15m and 40m - with YouTube experts claiming he makes $61,000-a-month from YouTube plus another $100k-a-month from merchandise and paid subscriptions to his podcast.
He lives with his wife Laura Gallacher in their 3million riverside home in Henley, Oxfordshire.
PR experts have said that this army of fans means that he will never be cancelled.
Mark Borkowski believes that the comedian, who has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women, has declared war on the mainstream media.
He said: 'The crimes he's been accused of are horrendous, and are damaging for him and for the people who were looking after him at the time'.
Brand hosting Big Brother's Little Brother in May 2006 - which is another one of the show's Channel 4 has removed from its website containing the comedian
Channel 4 has since removed shows from its site linked with Brand. Pictured: Brand on Celebrity Great British Bake Off
The PR guru said some of his fanbase will stay intact thanks to the 'unfettered unregulated world of social media' - and raises serious questions for the BBC and Channel 4.
He added that the comedian's denial of the accusations was reminiscent of how Donald Trump deals with accusations of improper behaviour.
Mr Borkowski said: 'I think there will be a profound amount of people who will stand by him. Normally with allegations like this your career would be over, but not in this case, which is interesting.
'He's a great content generator. He didn't get to the top of his profession because he's mediocre. He has the power to bewitch his audience.
'It throws up questions against someone who has been allowed a certain amount of power because of his talent and his meteoric rise.
'It questions Russell Brand but also those in governance in TV. There will be a lot of people looking at themselves this morning - those people in power today won't be the same ones in power that presided over this.'
Brand has since been dropped by a women's charity he was working with, while TV production companies and channels have launched probes into his alleged behaviour.
Mr Borkowski added: 'There's a question whether he's going to face police action, but the question at the moment is of social media - the man isn't going to get a fair trial when the police have the evidence to prosecute him.
'More people may come forward, other people might see an opportunity. It's a very complex case, mixed between old media and social media'.
The Times reports several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about the Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
She said: 'He started talking about Ian Huntley, the paedophile and child killer, and mentioned it quite a few times, like in a joking way, but also made up a whole song about it.
'I just couldn't understand why you would be able to have sex and talk about a child killer at the same time.'
Staff at Big Brother producer Endemol admitted last night that many feared Brand's 'predatory' behaviour
The comedian released a video last week refuting all the allegations against him. Pictured: Brand leaving the Troubabour Wembley Park theatre after a gig on Saturday night
Another woman, known as Esme, told the Times Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
Celebrities who have been banned from YouTube, from Andrew Tate to Donald Trump Russell Brand has been suspended from YouTube's Partner Programme 'following serious allegations against the creator', meaning his channel is no longer able to make money from advertising. He joins a long list of celebrities who have been censured by the platform. They include - ANDREW TATE: The 'King of Toxic Masculinity' was permanently banned from YouTube last year. He had been regularly accused of misogyny and hate speech. DONALD TRUMP: The president was suspended from YouTube after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. The suspension took place for two years before he was permanently banned. ALEX JONES: The host of InfoWars was banned from YouTube in 2018. He had played a leading role in spreading conspiracy theories around events such as the 9/11 attacks and Sandy Hook school shooting. DAVID ICKE: The notorious conspiracy theorist had his YouTube account deleted in 2020 after he made false claims about coronavirus, including that it was linked to 5G. Advertisement
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been 'promiscuous' but that all of his relationships have been 'consensual'.
The BBC, Channel 4 and Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, have all launched investigations into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
Downing Street urged the broadcasters to set out the results of their investigations into Brand 'transparently'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's official spokesman called the allegations 'very serious and concerning'.
Channel 4 announced it has removed content featuring Brand from its streaming service while it looks into the claims and will remind production companies of its code of conduct.
It comes after Brand was accused of pursuing audience members for sex while presenting Big Brother spin-off shows EFourum and Big Brother's Big Mouth on Channel 4.
Banijay UK, which bought Endemol in 2020, said it has launched an 'urgent internal investigation' and encouraged 'anybody who feels that they were affected by Brand's behaviour' to come forward.
The BBC is facing questions after one of the women, who was 16 when she claims Brand began a relationship with her, alleged he used the corporation's car service to pick her up from school to take her to his home.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Monday, the woman, known as Alice, said Brand's denial was 'laughable' and 'insulting'.
In 2020, the same woman contacted Brand's literary agent at the time, who was also the co-founder of talent agency Tavistock Wood.
A spokesman for the agency said Brand 'categorically and vehemently denied the allegations' at the time but they now believe they were 'horribly misled' and have terminated all professional ties with the comedian.
Yesterday a former model claimed Brand stalked her through streets in London demanding sex after they met in a bar, forcing her to run away from him in fear.
Revealing the distressing incident that took place in 2005, the woman - who remains anonymous - alleged that Brand followed five paces behind her for what 'felt like a lifetime' and shouted to her: 'Let's just f*** right here'.
The woman, who was in her 20s at the time, said she met Brand at a bar in Primrose Hill in London. She told of how despite telling him not to leave with her, Brand followed her into the street and became 'creepy'.
'It felt like he was hunting me down. It wasn't flirty or fun. The word 'predator' is absolutely spot-on.
'He was dead set on his goal. His intention was to have sex with someone, anyone,' she told The Sun.
As Dispatches aired on Saturday Brand performed a sold out comedy gig at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in north-west London as part of his Bipolarisation tour.
A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said they do not have an open investigation into Brand, and another confirmed there have been no arrests following two allegations concerning claims that are said to have happened in the US.
The Met police said: 'On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
'Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
'We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.'
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
Taxpayers are stumping up 8million a day to keep Channel migrants in hotels, official figures revealed yesterday.
Campaigners described the sum as 'horrendous' and urged ministers to 'get a grip' on the spiralling costs.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman cited a figure on Monday of 6million a sum not updated since January despite there being nearly 24,000 clandestine crossings since then.
But the Home Office's annual report, published yesterday, highlighted the 'unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels which is costing the taxpayer around 8million a day'. Total expenditure on the asylum system is more than 3billion a year, it added.
The report also revealed a surge in the number caught trying to enter Britain irregularly by air. It said 4,569 'inadequately documented' passengers were identified at UK airports last year such as foreign nationals who require a visa to enter Britain. It was up from 2,561 in the previous 12 months.
A group of people thought to be migrants crossing the Channel in a small boat traveling from the coast of France and heading in the direction of Dover, Kent. Picture date: August 29, 2023
The Britannia Hotel in Wigan on September 1 2023, which has been used to house migrants
The document said the surge could represent a 'change in route by those seeking to evade controls'. A government source said of the 8million-a-day hotel costs: 'This is why we've got to get migrants out of hotels and stop the boats.
'We're confident our Rwanda scheme, which is awaiting a judgment from the Supreme Court, will break the people smugglers' business model.'
Yvette Cooper, Labour's Shadow Home Secretary, said: 'This report illustrates the staggering costs of the Tories' asylum chaos, with the taxpayer spending an astronomical 8million a day on hotels and the costs still going up and up.
'That is the price of the Conservatives' utter failure to get a grip on this issue now costing over 3billion a year. Shockingly, the cost of hotel accommodation has gone up by a third since Rishi Sunak promised to end hotel use.
'The Tories have busted the Home Office budget, they've broken the asylum system, and the British people are paying the price.' Data published last week showed that at the end of June 117,450 asylum seekers were receiving taxpayer-funded support with most receiving free accommodation.
The Mail revealed earlier this month that the Home Office had 215,518 asylum cases 'in progress' at the end of June, up 30 per cent year on year. It included more than 41,000 failed asylum seekers awaiting removal.
The 300-page Home Office report also showed the department paid out 16.1million in compensation for wrongful detention during the year 2022-23. It was up from 12.7million the previous year.
Ministers have looked to provide cheaper alternative housing for migrants who are waiting for their asylum application to be processed, with barges, such as the Bibby Stockholm (pictured on September 19, 2023) in Dorset, and former military sites converted into accommodation
Nine top Home Office civil servants received bonuses on top of their salaries during the year.
Up to 110,000 was paid out in bonuses in total. This included between 15,000 and 20,000 for Emma Churchill, director general of migration and borders.
All Afghans resettled in the UK under official schemes have now been moved out of bridging hotels. Cabinet Office minister Johnny Mercer told MPs yesterday the Government had met its target, set earlier this year, to relocate around 8,000 Afghans who were being put up in 55 hotels.
More than 85 per cent of Afghan households who were still in bridging hotels in March are now either housed or matched to housing, the Government said, with the remainder being looked after by councils or in interim accommodation for medical reasons.
Mr Mercer said the long-term settlement plan meant the Aghans could start to 'put down roots in the community'.
Firefighters had to cut four people from wreckage after a car ploughed into a charity shop.
The car backed in through the front window of the British Heart Foundation shop in Chichester, West Sussex, and carried on through racks of clothes.
Police said three pedestrians suffered serious injuries after the incident just before 12.15pm on Tuesday.
Firefighters using specialist cutting equipment were called out to free people pinned under the Skoda Fabia.
The driver, believed to be an older woman, also suffered serious injuries. All four are being treated in hospital, police said.
North Street was closed all afternoon and a cordon was in place around the charity shop.
Fire crews rescued one person who had become trapped due to the incident while ambulance crews treated three others for serious injuries
Emergency services, including Sussex Police, SECAmb paramedics and the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, were called to the incident
Emergency services, including Sussex Police, SECAmb paramedics and the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service all attended the incident.
A spokesperson for Sussex Police said 'their injuries are believed to be serious but not life-threatening or life-changing at this time.'
The force is appealing for witnesses.
North Street was closed all afternoon and a cordon was in place around the charity shop
A spokeswoman for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: 'We were called at 12.14pm to reports that a car had collided with a charity shop on North Street in Chichester.
'Firefighters worked to release one person who was trapped as a result of the incident.
'There were a number of emergency service vehicles in attendance and people were urged to avoid the area to allow firefighters to work safely.
'The last fire crew left the scene shortly after 1.30pm.'
A 69-year-old beloved educator in New York City died days after being struck by a rider of an e-bike - and the cops inexpiably let the suspect go.
Now, as the family demands answers, police are asking the public for help finding the man.
Priscilla Loke, the assistant director of Chinatown Head Start, was on her way to work when a cyclist crashed into her earlier this month. Three days after being hit, Loke died at the hospital.
However, in the immediate aftermath of the crash, the suspect spoke to police before they allowed him to ride away on his Citibike e-bike.
NYPD recently released surveillance footage of the hit-and-run suspect and asked for help identifying him.
Priscilla Loke, the assistant director of Chinatown Head Start, was on her way to work when a cyclist crashed into her earlier this month
Grainy surveillance video shows the man heading north on Chrystie Street and hitting Loke who was crossing the intersection at Grand Street at around 10.27am
Video shows the man heading north on Chrystie Street and hitting Loke who was crossing the intersection at Grand Street at around 10.27am. The suspect tried to prop her up against a plastic barrier after the collision.
The suspect is then seen in the video walking over to a NYPD vehicle across the street and talking to police officers.
He then walked away, and as the officers approached, the suspect got back on his e-bike and left the scene. He passed by an officer who did not seem to stop him in the video.
Loke was sent to Bellevue Hospital and died three days later.
The Loke's family wants to know why the police let the suspect away without even getting his name.
'Does this person know that he hit somebody, and that person is dead now?' Liz Ouyang, Loke's long-time friend, asked.
Ouyang organized a group called the Committee to Support Priscilla, which is composed of Loke's family and supporters.
The group is requesting a meeting with senior NYPD officials including Commissioner Edward Caban, the police report and videos from the NYPD's surveillance cameras at the crash's location.
Loke did not have children, she was like a grandmother and mother to generations of families at Head Start preschool program, Loke's family told PIX11 News.
Weng Wai Ho, Loke's nephew, said: 'If only the cyclist had been more responsible, this wouldn't have happened.'
The police fell short in handling Loke's case, according to the family.
The suspect was seen talking to police after the crash
However, NYPD officers did not detain him and allowed him to go back to his bike and leave the area
Now, as Loke's family demands answers, police are asking the public for help finding the man.
The suspect is described as Black with short hair and a slim build, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt and was carrying a light blue shoulder bag
The Collision Investigation Squad didn't shut down the intersection until an hour after the crash to collect evidence, the family said.
The family also demands to see the records from Citibike.
The suspect is described as Black with short hair and a slim build, wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt and was carrying a light blue shoulder bag.
NYPD has been reached for comments.
Loke is not the first victim of e-bikes in the big apple.
Brian Boyd, 25, fled the scene after he hit Gone Girl actress Lisa Banes on Manhattan's Upper West Side. He rushed to get his bike repaired, leaving the savaged star bleeding on the floor.
He was charged with reckless manslaughter last year and faced one to three years in prison.
At least 119 people died while riding electric scooters or e-bikes from 2017 through 2021, according to a study by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.
In other cases, lithium-ion batteries found in e-bikes, e-scooters and electronic vehicles are bursting homes into flames.
In June, the garage of a home in Bass Hill in Sydney's southwest erupted into flames after a man accidentally charged a faulty battery for his e-bike, which he'd bought off a friend.
On the same day in Orange, in NSW's central west, another fire broke out in a garage after a lithium battery a man had been using to charge his drone, exploded.
Hawaii's legendary 150-year-old banyan tree has begun to show signs of life after suffering massive damage due to Maui's catastrophic wildfires that left 97 dead.
Known as the 'Heartbeat of Lahania', the tree was completely singed from the August 8 fire and initially did not show any signs of returning back to its original state.
Recently, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said the tree's multiple trunks had begun to show recovery.
Multiple volunteers arranged for water tankers to come by and douse it with hundreds of gallons of water every few hours after the damage. Maui arborists, landscapers, and volunteers formed a hui to care for the tree.
The department confirmed that new leaves are appearing on trunks and branches. The signs of new life indicate positive signs for the tree's long-term recovery.
Steve Nimz of Tree Solutions Hawaii found 'found no significant signs of singeing, charring or cracking on the main trunk or most of its more than 40 aerial roots,' according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The Hawaii department of Land and Natural Resources said the tree's multiple trunks had begun to show recovery
Steve Nimz of Tree Solutions Hawaii found 'found no significant signs of singeing, charring or cracking on the main trunk or most of its more than 40 aerial roots'
He also found 'live tissue in the trees cambium beneath the bark layer' and discovered that the soil beneath the tree had not been affected.
The tree was being fed a compost tea, which is a mix of natural ingredients that are being shot into the ground around the circumference of the base. Volunteers have also chopped up small blocks of alfalfa, a legume, and spread it around on the ground to see if the nutrients will help the tree.
Landscape contractor Chris Imonti explained: 'We did root samples last week and we had very good news as far as new life in the roots. A lot of new roots shooting off.
'We tested the moisture and arborist Steve Nimz, who is the unofficial leader of the Banyan Tree hui has analyzed all the treatments and he is out today putting sensors on the tree to measure growth rates.'
'With the compost tea we are seeing good results and as long as we give it enough love, I think its going to be fine.'
Lahainas banyan, near the town's historic courthouse building, is known as the oldest living banyan tree in the US.
The tree was imported from India and planted in front of the courthouse in 1873 at just 8 feet tall.
The 150-year-old tree in Lahaina is over 60 feet tall and covered almost two acres of land near the courthouse. After the Aug 8 fire, it was badly damaged and wasn't expected to make a full recovery
The historic tree remained standing amid the carnage but appeared badly burnt in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui
More than 3,000 people registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and expected that number to grow
The tree now stands at over 60 feet tall with 47 major trunks, and spans nearly two acres, according to the Lahaina Town website.
The tree is a member of the fig tree family and its aerial roots drape towards the ground, which allow the tree to grow vertically and horizontally.
It is also host to hundreds of mynah birds, which were introduced to Hawaii in 1865 to control army worms.
The banyan tree holds special place in the Lahanian community and acted as a place for parties and proposals before its devastation. Lahania's banyan has also hosted countless holiday celebrations, hula and craft fairs. In April 20234, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation held a 150th birthday celebration for the tree.
The wildfires resulted in deaths of at least 97 people and the displacement of 11,000.
Maui County officials have alleged in a lawsuit that the 'intentional and malicious' mismanagement of power lines by Hawaiian Electric had allowed flames to spark which caused the fire to spread.
The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina destroyed nearly every building in town of 13,000 people.
Around 86 percent of the roughly 2,200 ruined buildings were residential and the value of wrecked property has been estimated at more than $5 billion.
Even where the fire had retreated, authorities warned residents that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames released poisonous fumes. That left hundreds unable to return home.
More than 3,000 people registered for federal assistance, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and expected that number to grow.
Hawaiian Electric Co. Inc. will cooperate with the state's investigation as well as conducting its own, President and CEO Shelee Kimura said.
Kimura said many factors go into a decision to cut power, including the impact on people who rely on specialized medical equipment. She also noted that shutting off power in the fire area would have knocked out water pumps.
A psychopathic killer who bludgeoned a doctor to death in 1990 could be moved to an open prison after the High Court ruled Dominic Raab's decision to keep him locked up to be unlawful.
Reginald Wilson, then 26, carried out one of the country's most notorious murders when he randomly killed consultant David Birkett in 1990.
Wilson - who had tattoos across his forehead reading 'psychopath' and 'chaos' - bludgeoned the father-of-three to death with a hammer after tricking his way into the house in Middlesbrough.
He was described by psychiatrists as a dangerous man who 'killed for the hell of it' and jailed for life with a minimum of 30 years.
When parole bosses last year recommended that Wilson, 59, transfer to open conditions - paving the way for his potential release - justice secretary Dominic Raab dramatically stepped in to block the move.
Reginald Wilson (pictured), then 26, carried out one of the country's most notorious murders when he randomly killed consultant David Birkett in 1990
Wilson tricked his way into Dr Birkett's (pictured) six-bed home in the Linthorpe area of Middlesbrough by pretending to be a motorcycle courier delivering a package
But Wilson - whose one aim in life was to commit the perfect murder - has now moved a step closer to freedom after the High Court ruled Mr Raab's refusal was 'unlawful'.
The King's Bench Division of the Administrative Court heard that how his decision was made at 'breakneck speed' without vital parole board information being sought.
The Royal Courts of Justice, in central London, heard that two hours and 17 minutes after being sent a bundle of papers, including a 41-page psychological report on Wilson, a prison service civil servant delegated decision-making powers by Mr Raab refused the transfer.
HM Prisons and Probation Service director Gordon Davison replied in an email: 'I agree with your analysis in full. I am rejecting the Parole Board's recommendation, as the criteria in the test are not met.'
Deputy High Court judge Dexter Dias, KC, ruled: 'I am bound to say that it is difficult to grasp how these complex matters could have been fairly and properly considered and decided upon in two hours and 17 minutes, even by someone familiar with making such decisions.
'[The] proforma itself extends to 11 pages of mostly dense factual material.
'The psychological report...runs to 41 pages and is once more a detailed and demanding read. These and the other reports must be considered with great care. Some passages require re-reading.
The judge added: 'I emphasise that I do not find that the decision is unlawful because of the breakneck speed of the decision-making.
When parole bosses last year recommended that Wilson, 59, transfer to open conditions - paving the way for his potential release - justice secretary Dominic Raab (pictured) dramatically stepped in to block the move
'However, the sheer rapidity of the decision...adds to the court's unease about the way this decision was made.'
Wilson tricked his way into Dr Birkett's six-bed home in the Linthorpe area of Middlesbrough by pretending to be a motorcycle courier delivering a package.
He was beaten to the ground by Wilson with a hammer, dragged into his study and subjected to a second sadistic attack.
A post mortem showed the 56-year-old consultant had been struck at least 17 times.
A parole panel recommended in November that Wilson move from category C HMP Warren Hill to open prison conditions after serving 32 years of a 30-year minimum jail sentence.
It concluded Wilson was a 'low risk' of absconding and had reduced his risk to 'circumstances where, in open conditions, he may be in the community, unsupervised, under licensed temporary release.'
Mr Raab stepped in and in December sent a letter to Wilson refusing his prison move.
It read: 'The benefits of a transfer to open conditions should not outweigh the risk posed to the public and, in any event, the criteria for a transfer to open conditions has not been met.'
Wilson, who brazenly taunted police with a series of sick letters after slaying Dr Birkett, appealed the decision at the High Court.
The judge concluded Mr Raab's decision was unlawful, ruling that he had not made sufficient attempts to obtain oral evidence from the parole hearing upon which to base his decision.
Wilson was caught five months after the murder of Dr Birkett (pictured) when a fingerprint was discovered at the scene
Judge Dias said: 'It would not have been arduous or taxing to obtain the necessary evidence. My answer to the question...'Did the Secretary of State take reasonable steps to acquaint himself with the relevant information?' is no.
The court quashed Mr Raab's decision and ordered him to remake it 'in accordance with the law'.
The judge added: 'This court is not deciding whether [Wilson] should be transferred to open conditions. It strictly and exclusively examines whether the decision of the Secretary of State for Justice to refuse such a transfer was lawful. It was not; it was unlawful.'
Wilson was caught five months after the murder of Dr Birkett when a fingerprint was discovered at the scene.
A sawn-off shotgun and 73 cartridges was found during a search of his home. Police also found hammers, a crossbow, knives and knuckledusters, together with survival gear.
There was also evidence that he read and wrote poetry about death and killing, and he had told his girlfriend he intended to kill a policeman.
Wilson was sentenced to life in prison at Durham Crown Court in July 1991 but this was later reduced to a 30-year minimum tariff in 2008.
In 1996, he made an escape attempt from Frankland Prison in Durham and then tried to stab a prison officer in 1999.
A producer from the controversial film the Sound of Freedom has now been accused of groping the breasts of a young trafficking victim, just days after Tim Ballard, the anti-trafficking activist whose life inspired the film, denied other allegations of misconduct.
Paul Hutchinson, who was among the earliest investors in the film, is said to have groped the young girl's breasts during a 2016 undercover operation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Hutchinson runs his own charity - the Child Liberation Foundation - and is the co-founder of Bridge Investment Group, which he claims controls $40billion in funds.
Paul Hutchinson, who was among the earliest investors in the film, is said to have groped the young girl's breasts during a 2016 undercover operation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Hutchinson with Tim Ballard, the man whose own story inspired the film
According to documents obtained by VICE that were part of an investigation into OUR and Ballard, he felt the girl's breasts while in Mexico on a human trafficking sting.
It's unclear exactly what led up to it, but VICE claims it was video-recorded by OUR.
According to VICE, Hutchinson and others believed the girl was underage. He however maintains that he thought she was 18 and that he has a sworn affidavit from Mexican police stating that she is of age.
In a statement to DailyMail.com, OUR said: 'An Operation Underground Railroad employee flagged the incident involving Mr. Hutchinson to Matt Osborne, and he promptly notified the Mexican federal police.
'The Mexican police investigated the incident and did not press charges as the woman was an adult. Mr. Hutchinson has never been employed by O.U.R. in an official capacity and O.U.R. ceased any affiliation with him shortly thereafter.
'The actions by Mr. Hutchinson do not represent O.U.R.s standard operating procedure and were inappropriate, regardless if the woman was an adult or not.'
Now, both men stand accused of sexual misconduct against the women and girls they say they were trying to protect through the organization.
According to VICE, Hutchinson did not always follow 'best practices' while investigating human trafficking.
The outlet claims he posed sometimes as a sex tourist looking for young girls and asked for them to be 'mas fresca' than adults.
Ballard is played by Jim Caziel in the new hit movie about sex trafficking stings
Hutchinson insists he did nothing wrong. He and Ballard parted ways several years ago, before the film became a Hollywood hit.
Ballard has been rebuked by the Church of the Latter Day Saints since the film made headlines. Many now believe it wanted to distance itself from him because of the allegations against him.
He has been accused of exploiting seven women and taking advantage of a Mormon elder while working with OUR. He stepped down in light of the allegations, before they became public.
Hutchinson did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries.
In a statement denying the allegations against him, Ballard said: 'As with all of the assaults on my character and integrity over many years, the latest tabloid-driven sexual allegations are false.
'They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children.'
An NHS nurse who allegedly claimed to have sedated a stroke unit patient to 'within an inch of her life' has told a jury she showed 'nothing but care and devotion' to patients and their families.
Catherine Hudson, 54, is alleged to have drugged patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital for her 'own amusement' and an 'easy life' during work shifts.
The mother-of-three also targeted a number of her alleged victims if she disliked them or their relatives, according to prosecutors, who produced WhatsApp messages Hudson is said to have sent that exposed a 'culture of abuse'.
In one message, Hudson wrote: 'I sedated one of them to within an inch of her life lol. Bet she's flat for a week haha xxx.'
In another she said: 'If bed 5 starts he will b getting sedated to hell pmsfl (pissing myself f****** laughing).'
Catherine Hudson (left, alongside co-defendant Charlotte Wilmot) wrote in WhatsApp messages that she sedated a stroke unit patient 'to within an inch of her life'
The alleged offences took place at Blackpool Victoria Hospital (pictured) between 2017 and 2018
Giving evidence at Preston Crown Court on Tuesday, Hudson apologised for the messages, but denied that it reflected on her work as a nurse.
She said: 'I would say my behaviour in private was appalling, absolutely appalling, and I can do nothing but apologise for my behaviour in terms of the text messages.
'My behaviour towards patients and families was nothing but with care and devotion.'
Hudson said she wanted to work in the specialist area of treatment after her father became unwell following a number of strokes. She qualified as a nurse in 2010 and 'loved' her job at Blackpool Victoria.
Hudson said: 'It was just fulfilling. To see a patient through a journey following a stroke... and to see them through their rehab stage and then hopefully see them leave with their families.'
Her barrister, Mark Rhind KC, asked: 'Do you understand that some people reading these messages and how you refer to people may raise an eyebrow that you found your job fulfilling and enjoying?'
Hudson replied: 'I understand, yes.'
Asked if there were occasions when she did not enjoy her job, Hudson said: 'It was very difficult at times.
'The lack of staff was absolutely appalling to a completely dangerous level. Terrible understaffing, three trained nurses for 40 patients.'
Catherine Hudson, 54, (right) and Charlotte Wilmot, 48, (left) are on trial for allegedly ill-treating patients while nurses
Preston Crown Court (pictured) heard denials from Hudson that her 'appalling' private messages reflected her attitude towards patients
Jurors heard her employment was terminated in May 2020 and that the Band 5 qualified nurse expected to be struck off following the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
Hudson, of Coriander Close, Blackpool, has admitted the theft of medicine and conspiracy to steal medicine from the hospital.
She denies ill-treating four patients and stealing another medicine, Mebeverine, intended for an end-of-life care patient.
Fellow nurse Charlotte Wilmot, 48, of Bowland Crescent, Blackpool, denies encouraging Hudson to sedate one of those patients.
Both defendants have also pleaded not guilty to conspiring to ill-treat another patient.
The alleged ill-treatment offences are said to have taken place between February 2017 and November 2018.
A schoolgirl has died after being knocked down by a tractor while riding her bike.
Naomi Sarah Ferrans, nine, was struck down during her school lunch break near New Cumnock in Ayrshire.
She had been riding her bike in Castle Place when the crash with a tractor towing a trailer occurred on Monday afternoon.
Emergency services attended but Naomi was pronounced dead at the scene. Police Scotland said the driver stopped after the crash, with enquiries ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what happened.
Dozens of tributes have poured in for the youngster following her death, with one person describing her as 'one of a kind' with a 'cheeky personality'.
Undated handout photo issued by Police Scotland of Naomi Sarah Ferrans who has died after being knocked down while riding her bike
Another said: 'I'm absolutely heartbroken, totally devastated.
'I can't begin to imagine how you all as a family are feeling right now, Naomi was one of a kind, anyone who knew her knows of her little cheeky personality, no matter where she was she brought smiles to people's faces.
'May you rest in peace little angel, sending you all big hugs and my deepest sympathy.'
Another wrote: 'No words. My heart breaks for you. Thinking of you all at this terrible time.'
A third added: 'The wee soul. My heart's absolutely breaking for you all.'
Castle Place in New Cumnock was closed for more than seven hours while officers carried out investigations.
Scene at New Cumnock where Naomi Ferrans was killed by a tractor. Tributes have since flooded in for the youngster
Police have now appealed for anyone with dashcam footage to come forward as they continue their probe into the tragedy.
Inspector Craig Beaver of Ayrshires Road Policing Unit said: 'Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Naomi at this difficult time and we ask that their privacy is respected.
'Our enquiries are ongoing and we are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident and who hasn't already spoken to officers to get in touch.
'I would also appeal to anyone who was in the area around the time and who may have dash-cam footage which could assist to contact us.'
Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 1311 of 18 September, 2023.
He entered her home and torched her possessions before locking door behind him
A married New York man is facing a minimum of 27 years in jail after he stalked and threatened to kill his mistress before setting her house on fire because she threatened to end things.
Steven Somerville, 52, became obsessed with his victim after the two met at work in 2021.
They began a short relationship in October of that year, but things soon turned sour after he began bombarding her with unwanted attention.
His wife discovered the affair and contacted his lover with concerns for her safety and urged her to contact police.
On December 4, the woman attempted to end her relationship with controlling Somerville and he threatened to kill her.
Steven Somerville, 52, torched the home of his former mistress when she tried to break up with him
She fled her Forest Hills apartment with her three children to a domestic violence shelter.
Whilst there, Somerville hounded her with more than 100 phone calls in a 24 hour period.
He also sent menacing text messages which read: 'I want you to know that I'm really going to kill you;' and 'There is no where I won't find you now. I'm gonna devote my whole life to finding you and killing you.'
Three days later, he entered her empty apartment and piled up two mattresses along with all her possessions before setting them alight.
Somerville escaped out of a window and locked the door to ensure any occupants would be trapped.
The chilling incident has echoes of the famous 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction in which Glenn Close's character develops a dangerous and violent obsession with and Michael Douglas'.
The incident bore similarities to the 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction starring Glenn Close (left) and Michael Douglas (right)
Somerville was was convicted by a jury in July 2023 of arson in the second degree, burglary in the second degree, reckless endangerment, criminal contempt in the first degree and stalking in the third and fourth degrees.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Peter Vallone, Jr. sentenced Somerville to 27 to 29 years in jail on Thursday.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said: 'Access to a domestic violence shelter may very well have saved this woman's life.
'I urge victims of domestic violence who need safety planning services, or help in securing an order of protection or shelter placement, to call our 24-hour DV Helpline at (718) 286-4410.'
Former President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that 'nobody' showed up to watch President Joe Biden's United Nations General Assembly 'surrender' speech, despite footage showing a nearly full house for the Democratic president.
Biden's address, which clocked in under 30 minutes, was met by some delegates scrolling Instagram and Google maps on their phones, according to a pool reporter in the room.
But he wasn't laughed at - as Trump was when he appeared before the body in 2018 and boasted that 'my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.'
'Didnt expect that reaction, but that's OK,' Trump said at the time.
On Tuesday Trump posted to Truth Social: 'Biden just finished his surrender ("speech") at the United Nations, and nobody, despite all we give them, showed up.'
Former President Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social Tuesday that 'nobody' showed up to watch President Joe Biden speak at the United Nations General Assembly
President Joe Biden attracted a nearly full house when he addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, despite former President Donald Trump saying otherwise
Biden's address, which clocked in under 30 minutes, was met by some delegates scrolling Instagram and Google maps on their phones, according to a pool reporter in the room
'No respect for America any longer!' the ex-president and 2024 White House hopeful added.
A number of world leaders did skip UNGA this year.
However some of Biden's closest allies saw the U.S. president just last week during the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi, India.
Both French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided against making the trek to New York, meaning only one country, the U.S., out of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council had a head of state at the meeting.
The other two members, Russia and China, also didn't have leaders present.
Chinese President Xi Jinping often skips global conferences and also missed last week's G20.
Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't left Russia since the International Criminal Court in March issued a warrant for his arrest over war crimes, including the removal of Ukrainian children to Russia.
Biden used his UNGA speech Tuesday to reiterate the U.S.'s support for Ukraine in the war against Russia, as both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's ambassador to the U.N. looked on.
The president hammered Russia's 'naked agression' and vowed to keep funding Kyiv as he again called the present moment 'an inflection point in world history.'
Biden noted that 'for a second year in a row, this gathering dedicated to peaceful resolution of conflict is darkened by the shadow of war.'
The president called it 'an illegal war of conquest' and one that was 'brought without provocation' by Russia into Ukraine.
President Joe Biden went after Russia's 'illegal war of conquest' in Ukraine and recommitted the U.S. to the cause of assisting Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watched as President Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly that no nation is safe if the world allowed for Ukraine to be 'carved up' by Russia
Russian ambassador to the United Nations Vaisily Nebenzya was captured looking at his phone as President Joe Biden addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and slammed Russia over the invasion of Ukraine
'Like every nation in the world the United States wants this war to end,' he said. 'No nation wants this war to end more than Ukraine. And we strongly support Ukraine and its efforts to bring about a diplomatic resolution that delivers just and lasting peace.'
But he said that 'Russia alone, Russia alone bears responsibility for this war.'
'Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it's Russia alone that stands in the way of peace because the Russians' price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children,' Biden said.
'Russia believes that the world will grow weary and will allow it to brutalize Ukraine without conseqence,' the president added.
Biden then laid out what he thought would be the cost of that weariness.
'But I ask you this, if we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?' he asked.
'If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?' the president mused.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky applauds as President Joe Biden blasts Russia for the war in Ukraine during his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday in New York
'I respectfully suggest the answer is no,' Biden said. 'We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.'
He didn't call out Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.
'That's why the United States, together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom,' Biden said.
He received applause from the audience for this pronouncement.
However the pool reporter in the room also observed UNGA attendees on their phones checking Instagram and Google maps during the president's address.
Nebenzya was also spotted on his phone during Biden's speech.
Biden called sovereignty and territorial integrity a 'fixed foundation of this noble body.'
'And universal human rights, its north star.'
He touched on that concept thoughout that speech, including by advocating for LGBTQ people globally.
'These rights are part of our shared humanity ... when they are absent anywhere, their loss is felt everywhere,' he said.
The president also reiterated that the U.S. didn't want conflict with China.
'When it comes to China I want to be clear and consistent, we seek to responsibility manage competition between our countries, so it does not tip into conflict,' Biden said. 'I've said we are for derisking not decoupling with China.'
Biden also pledged to keep foreign aid coming, despite some segments of the Republican Party wanting it on the chopping block.
'And as we work together to recover from global shocks, the United States will also continue to be the largest single community, country donor of humanitarian assistance at this moment of unparalleled need in the world,' the president said.
Biden started his address by speaking about his trip to Vietnam last week - a taste of what post-war relations could look like if Russia withdrew from Ukraine.
'Nothing about that journey was inevitable,' Biden said. 'For decades, it would have been unthinkable for an American president to stand in Hanoi, alongside a Vietnamese leader, and announce a mutual commitment to the highest level of countries' partnership.'
'But it's a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future,' the president said. 'With the concerted leadership, careful effort, adversaries can become partners, overwhelming challenges can be resolved and deep wounds can heal.'
The man was caught breaking into his own car after locking his keys inside, according to neighbors
Detroit Police Deputy Chief Melissa Gardner said they are investigating the officers involved after footage of the incident was uploaded online
A black man was tackled by police men who pulled a gun on him during the brawl
A black man was tackled in a violent arrest by armed police officers who caught him breaking into his own car after locking the keys inside.
Video footage has surfaced of an unidentified 34-year-old black man from Detroit, Michigan, being dragged to the ground by several police officers who repeatedly punched him while his neighbors yelled and tried to intervene.
The video was shared to Facebook by De'trey Jackson via Facebook Live at about 5:30 pm on Monday.
Jackson captioned his post: 'He locked his keys in the car and was trying to get his keys out of the car with a hanger the police pull up in this happen.'
Detroit's Deputy Police Chief Melissa Gardner said in a press conference on Tuesday that the individual was no longer in custody.
Video footage shows several Detroit police officers tackling a black man and pulling out their guns in a heated altercation
Neighbors watched the incident take place and tried to tell the officers that the man was innocent - some members of the group tried to intervene but the police pulled out their guns to control the crowd
The 34-year-old-man was arrested after the cops saw him breaking into his own car after looking his keys inside when they were on routine patrol of the area
Jackson - who videoed the altercation - screamed at the police asking what they were doing and tried to inform them that the suspect had been breaking into his own car. He repeatedly told the police: 'let him go!'
The incident appeared to take place on the front porch of a house in the 1400 block at State Fair near Gratiot on Detroit's east side.
Before pulling out handcuffs to arrest the unidentified black man one of the officers violently tugged the man's black hoodie - which said Black Lives Matter on the front - over his face so he couldn't see.
When the cop tried to handcuff the black man he became visibly anxious and tried to resist the confinement which resulted in the police becoming more aggressive.
The man was seen trying to grab something out of one of the officer's vest which sparked a physical struggle between all of the men.
A brawl broke out between the individual and the multiple officers as he tried to struggle against their force while the police dragged him down.
One officer repeatedly punched him at least three times in the side of his body as he was forcibly brought to the ground by the other officer.
The police officers used their guns to try and control the crowd of neighbors who were defending the man being arrested
Neighbors tried to pull the officers of the individual but they were pushed away by the law enforcement officers
Meanwhile the other officers began to get physical with the spectators who were getting angrier and trying to defend the unidentified individual.
The surrounding officers stood on the porch, took their guns out of their holsters and pointed them in the direction of other bystanders standing at the bottom of the porch stairs.
The police officer kept telling the rest of the group to back up while the man behind the camera repeatedly asked 'or what?' before saying 'I can stand in the street. I pay my taxes.'
The Facebook livestream continued as the local residents kept trying to explain that he had been trying to break into his own car. They claimed the officers had put the man in a chokehold for no reason.
Detroit Police officials announced in a Tuesday press release that they're continuing to investigate what happened.
Detroit Police Department spokesperson Jackson Vidaurri said: 'The Department is in possession of video depicting several officers using force to effect the arrest of an individual on the east side of Detroit,
'This matter has been referred to the Department's Professional Standards Bureau for further investigation into the facts and circumstances of the incident, including the reason for the initial stop, the tactics employed by the officers, and the reasonableness of the force used,
One officer pulled the man's hood over his head so that he couldn't see as he tried to handcuff the individual
'The Department will remain fully transparent in its inquiry into this troubling incident and will provide an update as soon as practicable.'
The Detroit Police held a press conference at 4 pm on Tuesday to address the video of the officers arresting the man.
The Deputy Chief of Police Melissa Gardner said that the police officers were completing a routine patrol when they saw what appeared to be an individual committing a crime.
She reported that the individual the officers saw looked to be trying to get into a vehicle using a jamming device.
Many police officers arrived at the scene after their colleagues witnessed what they believed to be a crime during their routine patrol
The police investigated and found that a crime had occurred or was occurring and so they tried to detain the individual who continued to resist and refused to reveal his identity.
She confirmed that there is body cam footage that needs to be looked at as part of the ongoing investigation.
After reviewing the footage Gardner said they will decide if situations of training need to be addressed or if discipline needs to be administered.
The Deputy said she could only provide limited information as the investigation is ongoing.
Locals in a Polish village where a father and daughter have been charged with incest and the murder of three babies fear there could be more victims.
Piotr Gierasik, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, were arrested and face life in prison after the rotting remains of three babies were found in the basement of the family home in the village of Czerniki, in northern Poland, last week.
Police uncovered the dingy basement where Piotr Gierasik allegedly threw the newborn babies of his own daughter to die, wrapped in plastic and buried in shallow graves, while they continued their four-year relationship in secret.
Authorities also identified that one of the corpses belonged to another of Piotr's four daughters.
Locals now fear there could be even more dead babies from another daughter, allegedly raped by the father.
A woman described by local media as being 'close to the family' told Fakt newspaper: 'One of the daughters once gave birth to twins, the circumstances of this case are unexplained, the children disappeared.'
Piotr was allegedly in a sick incestuous relationship with his daughter for four years
Paulina Gierasik, 20 (pictured), was arrested along with her father Piotr after the babies' remains were discovered in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at the property
The infants were found in the basement of their family's home in Czerniki, northern Poland
Speaking to Fakt, the woman added: 'About 2-3 years ago, one of Piotr's daughters was pregnant with twins. Now we start to remember everything.
'He took the girl to another province supposedly to give birth, to Torun [90 miles away] or Ciechocinek [100 miles].
'He assured social workers that everything was fine and they believed him, but now no one knows what happened to these children.
'Why did he take her such a long way? Why not to Gdansk? [35 miles].
Police had conducted a visit at the property after receiving a disturbing tip-off from social services, but while combing the property for evidence discovered a filthy stench emanating from a basement inside the house.
Two of the babies had been stuffed in plastic bags and buried in a shallow grave in the soft ground beneath the house.
A third - believed to belong to another of Piotr's daughters - was simply left to decompose.
According to prosecutors there 'is no doubt that the children were murdered'.
Joanna Mikoajska, head of the Social Welfare Centre in Stara Kiszewa said: 'We, as social services, cannot enter homes by force.
'We would have to have a specific report to have a basis for action. We always appeal for these reports. They can be anonymous.
'Now we have received such a signal and our action was immediate, but on a human level we analyse everything. We wonder whether we did everything right, whether we could have done something more.
Piotr, 54, and Paulina Gierasik, 20, allegedly dumped all three of the incest-born children in their basement
Police uncovered the dingy basement where Piotr Gierasik allegedly threw the newborn babies of his own daughter to die, wrapped in plastic and buried in shallow graves
'On a human level we are shocked. None of us expected that we would have to deal with such a tragedy.'
According to local mayor Marian Pick, when social workers arrived at the house, Paulina was lying on the bed, fully clothed, saying that she felt bad and her stomach hurt.
The mayor said that after hearing fears that 'something bad' might have happened the social worker arrived the following afternoon, having previously been sent to investigate reports about the family,
He added that the previous suspicions had been rejected by a court.
The front door has been shut as Polish police continue their investigation
Pick told Fakt newspaper: 'The social worker went there in the afternoon and met Paulina and her disabled brother.
'At the beginning, their father was listening to the conversation, but our employee asked him to leave them alone, he must have lost his guard because he agreed.
'Paulina was lying on the bed fully clothed, she said that she lied down because she didn't feel well and her stomach hurt a bit.
'A few days later, the police came to Czerniki, took Paulina to the hospital, the doctor confirmed that she had been pregnant, but there was no baby.
'Then the police took the girl into custody and she said that the body was buried in the basement, but she added that there were two more bodies, i.e. three babies buried in the basement.
'We are all shocked, this father can only be called a degenerate, nothing else.'
The owner of a New York City day care where a 1-year-old boy died from fentanyl exposure has been hit with federal drug conspiracy charges along with her husband's cousin.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner of Divino Nino Daycare and her alleged accomplice Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were charged on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court with one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death.
Prosecutors said the pair 'used the day care center front to cloak their true operation: a fentanyl drug mill.'
Nicholas Feliz Dominici, a 1-year-old boy, who had only been at the center for a week, died from fentanyl exposure. Three other children fell ill and were hospitalized with one in critical condition.
The alleged drug duo were reportedly cutting up the drugs near the area where the children nap. De Ventura reportedly stood on the sidelines as her cohort cut the opioids. Some fentanyl particles kicked into the air and the children are believed to have inhaled the deadly drug, sources said.
Divino Nino owner Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, is seen on Sunday after her arrest outside of the 52nd Precinct. She was charged on Tuesday with one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death
De Ventura's alleged co-conspirator Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, (pictured) kept his head down as he left NYC's 52nd precinct after also being arrested in connection to the overdose
Pictured: Nicholas Feliz-Dominici, 1, died on Friday after ingesting fentanyl at a Bronx day care
Both Da Ventra and Brito are being held without bail on multiple charges, including state counts of manslaughter, depraved indifference to murder and criminal possession of narcotics.
A third suspect is still being sought. Police have launched a manhunt for Da Ventura's husband, who is believed to be the 'ring leader' in the drug operation, officials said.
An NYPD spokesperson told DailyMail.com on Tuesday the investigation is ongoing.
On Friday, before police arrived at the Morris Avenue apartment, Da Ventura had called several people, including her husband, before calling 911 to get help for the children.
Detectives said they had also recovered video of both the husband and other people fleeing the day care with bags of unknown contents in the initial confusion, ABC7 News reported.
Da Ventura, 36, opened the Bronx day care earlier this year, and on September 6 passed a surprise inspection.
Divino Nino Daycare was registered under the city's Department of Children and Family Service since it was considered a home-based business. The day care was registered to care for up to 8 children, between 6 weeks to 12 years old, records show.
Nicholas Feliz-Dominici's grief-stricken parents Zoila Dominici and Otoniel Feliz said the day care was recommended by Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
The heartbroken couple, who are parents to four other children, were trying to come to terms with the unexpected and tragic death of their youngest child.
The boy's grief-stricken mother told CBS News in Spanish: 'Look at what happened. If I had known, I wouldn't have taken him.'
Law enforcement sources believe that the basement under the day care where Brito lived was actually a front for drugs
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joe Kenny said on Monday that police discovered 'a kilogram of fentanyl in an area that was used to give the children naps.'
He further explained, the fentanyl was 'laying underneath a mat where children had been sleeping earlier.' And, explained that the area where the children supposedly napped is located in a back room in the apartment.
Officials said nearly a kilo of fentanyl and a kilo press, a device typically used to combine fentanyl with either cocaine or heroin was discovered.
According to Kenny, 'one grain, two grains of fentanyl can take down a grown man so even the residue itself for a small child, would cause the death.'
According to reports, there were no previous complaints made against Divino Nino Daycare.
But, some neighbors had their concerns about what was taking place behind the doors of the apartment. One longtime neighbor said she never saw any children - arriving or leaving- the residence.
'It was a day care for a year with no children. For one year, she had a day care with no children but people go in. But no babies?,' she told The New York Post.
Frank A. Tarentino III (pictured) Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York Division covering the State of New York spoke at a press conference on Monday about fentanyl and the babies that were exposed to the deadly chemical at a Bronx day care
US Attorney for the Southern District, Damian Williams spoke at Monday's announcement of the new federal charges
She also revealed Da Ventura would not allow her own child to stay in the apartment where other children were being cared for.
'A day care with no children and men coming in and out. Yes, we knew something. We knew something, something was not good happening there.'
'We all said, 'Drogas.' How could you not know?'
She alleged that Da Ventura's day care started getting busier two months ago when she started getting some children, including a baby two months ago, and then two more children a few weeks before the tragedy.
Even the Hollywood actress playing the title role has described the upcoming live-action Snow White remake as politically correct.
The son of the director of the 1937 Disney original has also branded it woke over the replacement of the famous seven dwarves with a group of multi-ethnic magical companions.
Now it can be revealed that the film has effectively cost UK taxpayers 30million on account of tax breaks on filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and on location across Britain.
The vast figure, awarded under a lucrative tax credit scheme designed to boost the British film industry, would have been enough to buy 30 MRI scanners - or pay for more than 7,600 hip operations.
Due to be released next March, Snow White is Walt Disneys latest live-action reimagining of 20th century classic animations rewritten for modern audiences.
Even Hollywood actress Rachel Zegler (pictured) who is playing the title role has described the upcoming live-action Snow White remake as politically correct
Due to be released next March, Snow White is Walt Disneys latest live-action reimagining of 20th century classic animations rewritten for modern audiences
The film has effectively cost UK taxpayers 30million on account of tax breaks on filming at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire (pictured) and on location across Britain
It features West Side Storys Rachel Zegler in the title role along with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen.
Ansu Kabia plays the Huntsman and Andrew Burnap is Jonathan, a new character who replaces Prince Charming from the original movie.
However its production has been beset with controversy, with Zegler - a Latina actress of Colombian descent saying in a now-deleted tweet that she was not bleaching my skin for the role.
Meanwhile, Disney announced that magical creatures would replace the seven dwarves to avoid reinforcing stereotypes after Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage criticised the f****** backwards story last year.
Addressing criticism that the film was trying to be politically correct, Zegler said the story needed refreshing.
People are making these jokes about ours being the PC Snow White... yeah, it is - because it needed that, she said.
This summer images from the production showed the troupe - a mix of genders, ethnicities and heights striding across a Bedfordshire meadow.
It prompted David Hand, whose father directed the original animated Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, to brand the changes insulting and woke claiming that both his father and Walt Disney himself would be turning in their graves.
The adaptation features West Side Storys Rachel Zegler (pictured) in the title role along with Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen
The son of the director of the 1937 Disney original has also branded it woke over the replacement of the famous seven dwarves with a group of multi-ethnic magical companions
The finances of blockbuster movies are usually a closely-guarded secret but those filmed in the UK are an exception.
They benefit from the Governments Film Tax Relief scheme which gives studios a cash reimbursement of up to 25 per cent of the money spent in the UK provided that it represents at least 10 per cent of the productions total costs.
In order to do so, international studios set up separate companies and file accounts showing everything from staff numbers to the amount of tax relief they receive.
Snow White was made by Disneys UK subsidiary Hidden Heart Productions whose recently-filed accounts show that over the three years to July last year, Disney spent 150.5million on making the movie.
That included 29.5million in tax relief which was reinvested into the production.
Last year it was revealed that the first four series of Netflix TV series The Crown benefited from Government tax breaks totalling almost 60million despite being widely condemned for its far-fetched depictions of the Royal Family.
Supporters say the scheme benefits the UK as studios use production firms and staff from this country.
According to the British Film Institute, before the pandemic every 1 of tax relief generated 8.30 for the UK economy either through direct expenditure or in creating new opportunities.
Sources stressed that Disney has spent billions on production in the UK since 2019, directly supporting tens of thousands of jobs on projects including dozens of feature films.
The studio declined to comment on tax relief payments towards making Snow White.
Voters are split on whether they support House Republicans' impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden but more than one-third of Democrats agree with the proceedings.
Forty-eight percent of voters surveyed in a new Morning Consult poll support the impeachment probe, while 42 percent oppose it and 10 percent aren't sure how they feel.
A shocking 36 percent of Democratic voters agree with the impeachment inquiry. Unsurprising are the 63 percent of Republicans who also think impeachment is the right move.
By nearly a 10 percent margin, independent voters support more than oppose the impeachment inquiry.
When the House came back into session last Tuesday after August recess, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy immediately announced the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden and his family's shady business dealings.
A new Morning Consult poll reveals that more than a third of Democrats support the House Republicans opening an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden
House Republicans will hold their first impeachment hearing into the Biden family corruption next Thursday
It follows months of pressure from MAGA Republicans pushing McCarthy to impeach Biden.
Democrats claim it is a 'silly' revenge mission for the two impeachment charges against former President Donald Trump. But Republicans claim it is to hold Biden and his family accountable for widespread corruption.
Morning Consult's latest poll, taken September 15-17, shows two-thirds of Democrats believe impeachment was launched as a way to damage Biden's political standing. Only 16 percent of Democrats despite agreeing at a much larger rate to the inquiry think that impeachment was opened due to evidence of wrongdoing.
But 74 percent of Republicans think there was wrongdoing and that's why the inquiry was started.
With the opening of an official impeachment inquiry into Biden, House investigators now have more subpoena powers to get to the bottom of their probe. This could include calling President Biden and his son Hunter, 53, to testify.
House Republicans will hold their first impeachment hearing next Thursday. As part of the first proceedings, Republicans plan to subpoena the bank records of Hunter and President Biden's brother James.
The GOP has accused Biden of corruption and abuse of power over his alleged links to Hunter's foreign business deals while he was vice president.
Republicans say bank records show that Biden family and associates raked in more than $20 million from China , Ukraine , Kazakhstan and Romania.
As part of the first proceedings, Republicans plan to subpoena the bank records of Hunter and President Biden's brother James (right)
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced last Tuesday the opening of an impeachment inquiry into Biden and his family's shady business dealings. The inquiry provides investigators expanded powers, including a higher ability to subpoena documents and individuals like President Biden and his son Hunter
White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations Ian Sams called the hearing a 'political stunt' days before an anticipated government shutdown in a statement Tuesday.
The House Oversight Committee, chaired by Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), is taking lead on the inquiry, which is mostly used to gather evidence for formal charges to be voted on by panels before going to the House floor for a vote.
The Judiciary and Ways and Means Committees, chaired respectively by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jason Smith (R-Mo.), are also helping with the impeachment probe.
Once the House Judiciary panel votes on the charges, the matter of impeachment will go to the floor where a simple majority vote will result in Biden being impeached.
Children's author Gillian Philip is to appeal a tribunal ruling after being dropped by her publisher for using her pen name to publicly support controversial JK Rowling's views on transgender rights.
Former fantasy fiction writer Ms Philip, 59, will tomorrow appeal a previous employment tribunal ruling that denounced her 'worker' status - and thereby unprotected from unlawful discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.
Ms Philip claims she was 'discriminated' against by book packaging business Working Partners and publisher HarperCollins after adding #IStandWithJKRowling, in support of the Harry Potter creator, to her Twitter bio. Rowling had widely been accused of being transphobic.
Within a month of adding the hashtag to her profile, the author was told by her agent that Working Partners, which commissions authors to pen titles for major publishers, had ended her contract, under instruction from HarperCollins.
Ms Philip claimed she was dropped because the publisher had 'caved in to this toxic community', however Working Partners instead said it was because she had associated her pen name with personal beliefs online - regardless of what those beliefs were.
Children's author Gillian Philip has launched a legal fight after being 'sacked' for supporting controversial JK Rowling in her view on transgender rights
JK Rowling at the 'Fantastic Beasts The Secrets of Dumbledore' film premiere at the Royal Festival Hall, London, in March 2022
In recent days, Ms Philip shared a tweet about the appearance of gender critical Amanda Abbington on Strictly Come Dancing which appeared to liken transgender people to the Taliban, calling them 'the TRAliban'.
She also shared a picture of trans woman Dylan Mulvaney that read 'Isn't there supposed to be a trans genocide happening?' as well as replying 'Yay Glinner' to a tweet from Graham Linehan that read: 'Dungeon-based pervert who wants you think there's such a thing as 'trans kids'.'
Ms Philip was one of several authors writing under the name Erin Hunter on popular animal fantasy series including Warrior Cats, Survivors and Bravelands.
After her tweet in support of JK Rowling, Ms Philip claims she received abuse and death threats. She later tweeted 'Bring it on, homophobes and lesbian-haters'.
In light of her tweets, James Noble, the managing editor of Working Partners, responded to complaints from the public regarding her gender critical views.
Ms Philip claims she was 'discriminated' against by book packaging business Working Partners and publisher HarperCollins after adding #ISTANDWITHROWLING, in support of the Harry Potter creator, to her Twitter bio (pictured)
He wrote: 'The worlds created by Erin Hunter are meant to be inclusive for all readers and we want to let you know that Gillian Philip will no longer be writing any Erin Hunter novels.'
Speaking at the time of her dismissal, Ms Philip refuted claims she was 'transphobic', saying: 'It is concerning that my concerns about womens legal rights and spaces have been presented as "transphobia", and that this accusation has been allowed to stand by my former employers.'
Working Partners, said in a previous statement: 'Erin Hunter is not a single person but a diverse team of creatives and writers.
'We recently became aware that Gillian Philip had associated the Erin Hunter pen-name with her personal views on Twitter, thus associating them with the whole collective.
'In light of this situation, the decision was taken to no longer work with Gillian Philip. The decision taken was not in direct response to the nature of Gillians personally expressed views.'
Ms Philip was one of several authors writing under the name Erin Hunter on popular animal fantasy series including Warrior Cats, Survivors and Bravelands
HarperCollins UK attempted to distance itself from the row and that it had no contact with the author. A spokesperson said it had 'only an arrangement' with Working Partners.
An earlier employment tribunal held in April last year ruled Ms Philip was not a 'worker' of Working Partners - a ruling she now hopes to overturn on appeal at the Edinburgh Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Her lawyers will argue many factors point to her 'worker' status - including the influence and control her employer had over her and her body of work. Ms Philip claims the appeal will 'provide better employment protection for workers in publishing and creative industries'.
Shah Qureshi, partner at law firm Irwin Mitchell and Ms Philip's legal advisor, said: 'Non-traditional employment relationships are now commonplace, and it is important that those working under such arrangements, like Gillian, get the same protections as others.
'This includes the right not to be discriminated against for one's beliefs. There are many workers in publishing and the creative industries with unorthodox working arrangements who nevertheless have mutual obligations with their employers akin to that required to be classed as a worker or employee.'
Labour was in chaos over HS2 today after its policy on the future of the high-speed rail project changed four times within days.
Tulip Siddiq became the latest shadow minister to contradict what her colleagues had said just hours previously by refusing to commit to delivering the project in full.
Farcically, she even suggested that one of her colleagues who did commit to it in full potentially 'knows something I don't know'.
The fiasco started on Friday when in a blueprint for the party's next manifesto it committed to building HS2 in full.
On Sunday, however, Labour's election campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said the party would not commit to the project until it knew the full extent of the cost overruns.
Tulip Siddiq (pictured) became the latest shadow minister to contradict what her colleagues had said just hours previously by refusing to commit to delivering the HS2 project in full
Yesterday this changed again, when shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds and transport spokesman Louise Haigh pledged that the party would build HS2 in 'in full'.
But today Ms Siddiq poured cold water on this position.
Asked whether Labour would build HS2 'in full' as Mr Thomas-Symonds had pledged, she said: 'I wouldn't be a very responsible shadow Treasury minister if I didn't look at the final costs and if I didn't make sure that the taxpayer was getting that value for money.'
Pressed on why Mr Thomas-Symonds had promised to build it in full, she added: 'Well, maybe he knows something I don't know, but I want to see the full costs of how much is actually going to be the ultimate figure.
'I need to see what the cost is going to be, because it's not just about the cost, it's also about the practicalities. If there's a genuine reason why some parts of HS2 are now being abandoned, we want to know that.
'And there might be lots of revised costs as well. I just wouldn't be very responsible if I said at this point that we want to commit to everything without knowing the full facts.' Building HS2 in full would mean not only connecting London with Birmingham and Manchester, but also linking Birmingham with Leeds via an 'eastern leg'.
This was scrapped by the Government in 2021 to save money amid concerns that completing it would send the overall bill well above 100billion.
However, there are question marks over whether high-speed trains will run into Manchester.
Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been in discussions about scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg in a bid to save up to 34billion. (Pictured, an aerial view of the HS2 Wendover viaduct works near Jones Hill Wood in the Misbourne Valley)
Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt have been in discussions about scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg in a bid to save up to 34billion.
The proposals have been given a special codename, Project Redwood, the Independent reported. However, the website also reported that senior ministers had become 'spooked' to the reaction to the proposals, with the Government being accused of 'abandoning' the North.
Ending the line into London early has also been under consideration.
Instead of terminating at London Euston, trains could stop at Old Oak Common, six miles away.
It would mean passengers having to alight at the west London station and connect to the new Elizabeth Line, also known as Crossrail, to take them into central London.
Government sources said no final decisions had been made.
A budget of 55.7billion for the whole of HS2 was set in 2015. But the target cost has ballooned to up to 71 billion, excluding the eastern leg axed in 2021. This was axed amid fears the final cost would soar well above 100billion.
Delays also mean high-speed trains won't reach Manchester until at least 2040 even if the connection with Birmingham is pressed ahead with.
Labour was contacted for comment.
The Treasury directed the Independent to Mr Hunt's comments last week, in which he said: 'You would expect the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to be having discussions as to how to manage those cost overruns.'
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy demanded 'accountability' on U.S. aid to Ukraine and vowed to question President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, amid heightening tensions among Republicans over funding the country's defense.
'Is Zelenskyy elected to Congress? Is he our president? I don't think I have to commit anything and I think I have questions for him,' McCarthy said Tuesday, in just the latest remarks exhibiting skepticism about billions in U.S. military and other support.
'Where's the accountability on the money we've already spent? What is the plan for victory? I think that's what the American public wants to know,' he said, ABC News reported.
McCarthy spoke at length on the topic as Zelensky attended UN General Assembly meetings in New York, and was on hand for President Joe Biden's speech where he blasted Russia's invasion and blasted its ''illegal war of conquest.'
McCarthy spoke days before U.S. government funding is set to run out, setting up a possible government shutdown amid howls of protest form conservative Freedom Caucus members about a temporary spending measure.
The Biden administration is hoping to cut through the tensions to deliver a $24 billion aid package amid Ukraine's counteroffensive.
'Look what Russia has done -- invade -- is wrong,' McCarthy.
'It's an atrocity, we want to make sure that ends. I also have always said from the beginning, no matter what the issue is, I want accountability for whatever the hardworking taxpayers spend their money on. I want to plan for victory. So no, I will listen to the American public. I will follow what happens in Congress, but I will have questions for President Zelensky,' he added.
'I will have questions for President Zelensky,' said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, amid deep skepticism within his caucus about funding Ukraine's war to turn back Russia's invasion
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky watched as President Joe Biden told the United Nations General Assembly that no nation is safe if the world allowed for Ukraine to be 'carved up' by Russia
President Joe Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday morning in New York City. In his speech, he went after Russia's 'illegal war of conquest' in Ukraine and recommitted the U.S. to the cause of assisting Ukraine
It came as a key alley, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, continued to fume about Ukraine aid on X, the site formerly known as Twitter.
'I will not vote to fund a single penny to the war in Ukraine, COVID anything, and the political weaponized government,' she said.
She also agreed with Trump ally Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) that she would oppose a temporary measure negotiated between conservatives and more centrist Republicans that would still slash domestic non-defense funding by 8 per cent.
'Oh absolutely. I'm a NO! Funding [special counsel] Jack Smith's persecution of Trump is one of my red lines. No money for Ukraine or COVID insanity either. And continuing Pelosi's policies for even one day is unacceptable.'
Biden warned at the UN that no nation can be secure if 'we allow Ukraine to be carved up.'
'I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?' Biden said. 'If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
'I'd respectfully suggest the answer is no,' he said.
Biden has an ally in Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is pushing to continue U.S. funding.
'Helping Ukraine retake its territory means weakening weakening one of America's biggest strategic adversaries without firing a shot,' McConnell said recently on the Senate floor.
Conservatives are warring over the spending bill, called a CR, and the Ukraine aide.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), promoted the short-term bill in part by touting its lack of Ukraine funding.
'The 30 day CR does 2 things: 1. Secure the southern border. 2. Cut government spending by 8%. **There is NO Ukraine $$$** The truth is Congress needs more time to do the necessary spending cuts and reforms to stop the weaponization of our government and save our country,' he wrote.
Said Gaetz, who has threatened to push essentially a no-confidence vote in McCarthy, 'Lumping disparate agencies of Goverment [sic] into one big vote is a terrible idea. My friend Byron left off his list that the Donalds CR funds the election interference of Jack Smith. I am a NO. We must be better than this.
Georgia authorities have figured out the culprit in the 1972 murder case of nine-year-old Debbie Lynn Randall.
This week, the Cobb County District Attorney's Office named William B. Rose as the suspected killer more than 50 years of Debbie's abduction, rape and brutal murder.
'I learned over the years that it does you no good to hate or hold grudges,' her brother, Melvin, said at a Tuesday press conference.
Melvin Randall is the only family member alive who heard the news. Debbie's mom died of leukemia in 2018 while her father died last year.
'I would like to say that I wish my mother was here, but I know she knows in heaven now that its finally over and we just want to say we thank all of you for what youve done to make this day come to pass,' he said.
Debbie was walking home from a laundromat on January 13, 1972, in Marietta, Georgia, late at night when she was kidnapped and murdered. Fifty years later, police say they have solved her cold case
'I learned over the years that it does you no good to hate or hold grudges,' her brother, Melvin, said
'After a while I blamed myself for it because I was her big brother, and I battled with it for a while, but then I realized that there was nothing I could have done, and it just happened, and it wasn't my fault. I'm just grateful for the community .'
Debbie was walking home from a laundromat on January 13, 1972, in Marietta, Georgia, late at night when she was kidnapped.
At the time, 4,000 people started looking for her and her body was found 16 days later near an intersection of Windy Hill and Powers Ferry Road.
Two young locals said a dark pickup truck backed up in a parking lot near the Debbie's house and drove away quickly. All that was left in the parking lot was laundry detergent.
An autopsy determined she died by strangulation. While the case has baffled investigators for decades, crucial pieces of evidence, namely a hair and a piece of cloth with a flowery design, from her body had been kept safe.
This week, the Cobb County District Attorney's Office named William B. Rose as the suspected killer more than 50 years of Debbie's abduction, rape and brutal murder
An autopsy determined she died by strangulation. While the case has baffled investigators for decades, crucial pieces of evidence, namely a hair and a piece of cloth with a flowery design, from her body had been kept safe
Thanks to DNA testing, the piece of cloth was sent to a lab in 2015 which resulted in a profile of an unknown man.
Further DNA testing in 2023 brought up Rose, who was 24 years old at the time of killing and lived in the same apartment complex.
Rose died by suicide two years after Debbie's death.
Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady said in the same conference: 'It may take us some time but with the new technologies that are coming out every day, were going to do everything we can to solve our cold cases, to make sure we bring people to justice.
'The answer we are providing today won't bring her back. We can't extract justice from the perpetrator, but I know he must answer to a higher power.'
Ron Alter, a cold case investigator with the district attorneys office said Rose had previous arrests for alcohol-related incidents and possibly killed himself due to fear of being caught by the police at the time, even though he was not a suspect.
'If he drove by, Im sure he saw her. I believe that was a crime of opportunity. He saw her by herself and abducted her,' Alter said.
The investigator confirmed investigators used ancestry websites to find familial matches to Rose from distant relatives and narrowed their suspect list from there.
The process is known as genetic genealogy and allows investigators to use family members DNA to help identify a suspect or the identity of a cold-case victim. It was a process made famous when it was used to catch the BTK killer in Kansas.
Crediting modern technology, Morris Nix, a retired detective with the Cobb County Sheriffs Office who worked the case told WXIA: 'Technology does not get old, it does not retire, it does not get sick. And it doesnt quit. Technology was seeking William Rose and it found him in the grave.'
Almaraz faced multiple charges after he gave conflicting statements, the sheriff's office said
The baby was found unresponsive and remains in critical condition
Antonio Almaraz, a 31-year-old sheriff's deputy, was arrested after he locked his two-month-old daughter in car as the outside temperature soared to 90F
A Texas sheriff's deputy was fired after he left his own two-month-old infant in a car for three hours as it was 90F outside on Monday.
Antonio Almaraz, 31, was arrested on charges of injury to a child, endangering a child and abandoning a child, the Bexar County Sheriff's Office said.
The sheriff's office said Almaraz took his baby to a routine pediatrics appointment at 9am Monday.
After he returned at around 10am, he left his baby inside the vehicle and went back home himself as the outside temperature soared to 90F.
An ambulance arrived at Almaraz's home in the 5000 block of Mansions Bluff at 1.07pm - three hours after the baby had been trapped inside the car.
Antonio Almaraz(pictured), a 31-year-old sheriff's deputy, was arrested after he locked his two-month-old daughter in car as the outside temperature soared to 90F
The sheriff's office said Almaraz took his baby to a routine pediatrics appointment at 9am Monday. When he returned home, he went inside but left the newborn in the car
The two-month-old was found unresponsive. She was rushed to Methodist Hospital, where she still remains in critical condition, the sheriff's office said.
Almaraz gave contradictory narratives about the incident when the sheriff's office investigated the case and he was arrested.
His bail has been set at $80,000.
The incident led to his termination as a probationary deputy.
The sheriff's office also confirmed Almaraz will not be able to appeal his dismissal or seek reemployment no matter the outcome of the criminal case.
'Given the amount of awareness in the community regarding leaving children unattended in vehicles, there is absolutely no valid excuse for this to have occurred,' Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said.
'My family and I are praying for the best possibly outcome for this precious baby.'
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stated the inside of a vehicle can jump 20 degrees in ten minutes.
The temperature inside the car could reach as high as 137F when the baby was found, according to a temperature calculator. A child's body temperature rises three to five times faster than an adult, which can lead to heat stroke and death.
An ambulance arrived at Almaraz's home in the 5000 block of Mansions Bluff at 1.07pm - three hours after the baby had been trapped inside the car
The incident led to Almaraz's firing from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office
Being trapped in a car during Texas' recent extreme weather is a life-threatening situation.
Last week, Texas firefighters saved a 10-month-old baby trapped inside a car in 107F heat within just four minutes after its mother accidentally locked her keys inside.
After a minute of unsuccessful attempt to unlock the car, the firefighters decided to break the backdoor window.
The baby got out safe and unharmed after being locked in for four minutes.
He then turned the gun on himself while deputies pleaded from a distance
Berry is alleged to have shot and killed his mother, leaving her body in a driveway before chasing after her boyfriend
Police persuaded Adeem Berry to spare his own life after a 16-minute standoff
Bodycam footage captured the moment Florida cops convinced a 14-year-old boy accused of shooting and killing his mother to lower the gun from his own head in a standoff that lasted nearly 20 minutes.
Following an argument, Adeem Berry allegedly shot his mother and left her for dead, then pursued her boyfriend, who fled on foot to a neighbor's house.
Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded to reports of a shooting in Riverview on September 16.
Dispatchers simultaneously received multiple calls reporting a young male running through the Summerfield subdivision with a handgun.
As police arrived on Lynmoor Drive, they encountered Berry, clad in a red t-shirt and jeans, who stood at a distance and repeatedly raised the gun to his head, threatening to shoot himself.
Police responded to several calls on September 16 reporting a young male running around with a handgun
They arrived to find 14-year-old Adeem Berry, who is accused of shooting and killing his mother and wounding her boyfriend
For 16 grueling minutes, deputies spoke Berry out of taking his own life as he threatened to turn the gun on himself
Berry threatened to shoot himself as one deputy urged him to stand down, saying, 'Adeem, put it down, buddy'
Berrys brother later told them that the teen and his mother had been fighting before several gunshots rang out. Fearing that he was next, the sibling fled the home.
However, Berry's next target was allegedly his mother's boyfriend. After leaving her dying in a driveway, Berry ran around the subdivision to search for the man.
The boyfriend had also been hit by a bullet but managed to escape and was hiding in a neighbor's house.
In the footage, a deputy repeatedly told Berry that he didn't want to shoot him as they stood with several parked cars between them.
'You dont want to end it this way,' the cop said, his voice hoarse. 'You dont want to end it this way, brother. I promise you.'
Berry continued to point the gun at his head as the officer pleaded for him not to fire.
'Whatever happened today it can be fixed,' he said. 'Don't pull the trigger.'
At one point, he uttered the child's name, saying: 'Adeem, put it down, buddy.'
The deputy instructed Berry to walk forward with his hands raised all the way in the air as he moved slowly toward him, gun still pointed.
'My gun is only out 'cause I don't know what you're gonna do,' the cop said. He assured the boy that once he got closer, he would put the gun in its holster.
Berry put the gun down before reaching for it again.
'Please don't pick that back up,' the deputy said.
Officers then fired a 40mm launcher at Berry. The bullet, described as a 'less lethal round,' that struck him in the hand.
The deputy continued to urge him to walk forward, waving him on encouragingly. He instructed the boy to lay down in the grass because the pavement would be too hot.
Eventually, the teen obliged and police rushed to handcuff him.
The deputy rolled the boy over and patted his pockets to check for other weapons. He asked Berry twice who he shot but the boy refused to answer.
After being shot in the hand, the teenager was handcuffed and taken into custody
Sheriff Chad Chronister praised the deputies for recognizing that the boy wanted to commit suicide instead of posing a threat to them
The teen is charged with several felony counts including committing second-degree murder and attempting to commit first-degree murder
With Berry standing and in handcuffs, the officer told the teen to look at him in the eye. The t-shirt the boy wore had Mario from the Super Mario games printed on it.
'I dont have a clue what just happened in there,' the officer said. 'Were going to find out.
'But whatever choices you made thats the best choice you made all day,' he added, referring to Berry's decision to spare his own life. 'Thank you.'
As the teen was taken into custody, the deputies discovered his mother sprawled on a driveway down the street. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the de-escalation, other deputies rushed to rescue the mother's boyfriend. They were able to get him to EMS personnel and he was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.
Sheriff Chad Chronister praised the deputies who negotiated with Berry for keeping their composure during the grueling 16 minutes.
'They used their remarkable intuition and expertise to determine this suspect was not looking to harm them, but was contemplating suicide,' he said.
Though the sheriff acknowledged the horrific aftermath of the crime.
'This scene is one of nightmares and absolute heartbreak. This familys life is forever changed,' he said.
'A victims life was taken, and because of his actions, the suspects life, as he knows it, is over. He will never see the outside of a detention facility for his crimes.'
Berry was charged with a string of felonies: murder in the second Degree with a weapon, attempted murder in the first degree premeditated firearm - discharge, and aggravated assault with deadly weapon.
Christine Baumgartner has been seen for the first time since officially closing the book on her marriage to Kevin Costner in a shock settlement.
DailyMail.com spotted the mom-of-three Tuesday morning casually dressed in black leggings, sneakers and a green top grabbing salsa from Vons supermarket near her $40k-per-month Montecito rental.
Her outing came just after the surprise news that the couple settled their divorce with the prenup enforced and a large monetary penalty should it be challenged.
A friend of Christine now tells DailyMail.com, 'Christine didn't really have a choice but to settle because Kevin had all the power. Had she continued fighting, she would risk losing everything.
'Christine said it is what it is. That she won't miss going to court and having sleepless nights. She said for the kids it's a win because no child wants to go thru this, let alone in public.
'She was the one who wanted to settle things outside of court in the first place. She never wanted any of this circus. It's been a living nightmare and now she just wants to move on and start fresh and begin making her new house a home.'
DailyMail.com spotted Christine Tuesday morning picking up $6.99 Casa Sanchez medium salsa containers at Vons supermarket
Christine was seen briefly leaving the store with her salsa in hand dressed in black leggings, sneakers and green top as she stepped out near her $40k per month Montecito rental
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner's bitter divorce was settled with the prenup enforced and a massive monetary penalty if it is challenged
A friend of Christine tells DailyMail.com, 'Christine said she didn't really have a choice but to settle because Kevin had all the power'
The 68-year-old actor and his 49-year-old wife of nearly 20 years have been embroiled in a months-long legal war which has met a surprise end after it was reported that Baumgartner had received more than $400,000 to pay the costs of the contentious courtroom battle.
A joint statement from Costner and Baumgartner provided to DailyMail.com read: 'Kevin and Christine Costner have come to an amicable and mutually agreed upon resolution of all issues pertaining to their divorce proceedings.'
Kevin seemingly responded to the settlement being signed over the weekend as he shared a throwback photo of himself looking into the distance from 1999 flick Message In A Bottle with the caption: 'Happy Monday, friends. Wishing health and happiness for all of you'
According to TMZ, if Christine challenges the judgment 'she would have to repay Kevin more than $1 million and pay his attorney's fees for the prenup fight.'
Upon hearing this, the mother-of-three 'agreed over the weekend to the terms of a 3-page settlement letter.'
Although the prenup is enforceable, Christine got more than what was prescribed in the agreement.
Kevin's legal team - which was headed by 'disso queen' Laura Wasser - had won a series of legal battles leading up to the settlement.
Wasser had recently submitted paperwork to the court saying Kevin's monthly obligation should be $63K-a-month according to the publication.
However, Baumgartner wanted $248K-a-month and after a two-day evidentiary hearing in Santa Barbara earlier this month the Judge Thomas Anderle ultimately sided with Kevin.
Kevin seemingly responded to the settlement being signed over the weekend as he shared a throwback photo of himself looking into the distance from his 1999 classic romantic drama film Message In A Bottle with the caption: 'Happy Monday, friends. Wishing health and happiness for all of you.'
Last week DailyMail.com reported that Baumgartner had already received more than $400,000 to pay the costs of her legal battle with the actor.
The mom-of-three was locked in a court fight with her ex over a fresh award of $855,000 to cover fees for the former couple's upcoming trial over whether the prenuptial agreement they signed 18 years ago can still be enforced.
Baumgartner, 49, had asked for $575,000 to pay her lawyers John Rydell and Susan Wiesner and another $280,000 for her forensic accountant Jill Bombino which would take the combined total to an eye-watering total of $1.26million.
But documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Baumgartner has so far already received $405,000 in legal, attorney, and 'forensic accounting fees' disbursed in July this year.
In an excoriating legal filing lodged in court in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday, Wasser hit back at the 'whopping' request describing the fees as 'inflated' and saying that it would be 'unconscionable' for the Yellowstone star to be made to pay.
'Disso queen' Wasser also accused Baumgartner of being 'unreasonable' and said her constant legal maneuvers the majority of which have failed had inflated costs for both parties.
Costner's attorney Laura Wasser seen arriving at court with the actor earlier this month hit back at the request describing the fees as 'inflated' and 'outrageous'
In an excoriating legal filing lodged in court in Santa Barbara, California, Costner's attorney Laura Wasser hit back at the 'whopping' request
Last week, Baumgartner found herself on the hook for a payment of $14,000 after Judge Thomas Anderle decided to sanction her for failing to give proper answers to questions from Costner's legal team.
The setback came shortly after Judge Anderle halved Baumgartner's monthly child support payments a decision she later described as a 'joke' according to a pal.
The friend told DailyMail.com: 'Christine is shocked. She said even Kevin looked shocked. Everyone looked shocked.
'To say Christine is disappointed is an understatement. She described the ruling is a complete joke.'
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Brett Ward, a partner at New York legal firm Blank Rome and an expert in family law, said a party requesting fees isn't unusual, although the potential size of the award was.
He also said judges tend to take a dim view of what they see as excessive requests and generally want to prevent drawn out cases like the Costner divorce was becoming.
He said: 'There is certainly a legal basis for [Baumgartner's] request. However, a judge will examine the reasonableness of the fees requested.
'Judges generally do not want to encourage additional litigation by providing one side with a war chest of future legal fees.
The mom-of-three had been enjoying a temporary monthly payment of $129,000 and had wanted it bumped to $161,000
In July Baumgartner was court-ordered to vacate the former couple's $145million lavish California mansion
DailyMail.com previously revealed that Baumgartner, 49, moved into the luxury four-bedroom home after a judge in Santa Barbara, California, slashed her child support payments
'Courts generally balance the less wealthy party's right to carry on the litigation in a fair manner against the concern that a party with a significant fee award will take that money and use it to make every possible argument available, no matter the merit or lack thereof for each claim.'
Ward said the enormous legal bills the pair were racking up were unusual in family court but added that much of the money can be explained by the value of the assets being wrangled over and expected the eventual tab to be much higher.
He said: 'At this pace, and without a settlement in the near future, I would not be surprised if the combined legal fees approach or exceed $5 million.'
Much of Baumgartner's testimony during the evidentiary hearing had hinged on her being able to provide a lavish lifestyle for her three children comparable to the one they enjoy while with their father.
Despite renting a $40,000-a-month property in tony Montecito, Baumgartner said her new home is inadequate because sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, would have to share a bathroom while daughter Grace, 13, would need 'to share hers with the house.'
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz is daring Kevin McCarthy to sign a subpoena to compel Hunter Biden to testify before the House as the Florida congressman ramps up his war with the speaker.
'.@SpeakerMcCarthy, after eight months of inaction, I have taken the liberty of drafting a subpoena to Hunter Biden. It simply requires your date and signature. Millions of Americans are wondering if you're serious,' Gaetz posted on X.
Tensions between Gaetz and McCarthy are reaching the boiling point as Gaetz continues to threaten to oust the GOP leader from the speaker's office.
McCarthy's decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden has done little to quell the tension.
Rep. Matt Gaetz wants Speaker Kevin McCarthy to sign a subpoena for Hunter Biden
McCarthy and Gaetz's rivalry dates back to January when McCarthy was trying to secure enough Republican votes to be speaker. To garner enough support from the conservative wing of the party, McCarthy agreed to their demand to give them the ability to call a quick vote to 'vacate the chair' and remove him from office.
Gaetz has been threatening to use that power.
This week, the Florida Republican and other members of the House Freedom Caucus are angry about McCarthy's plan to put forward a Continuing Resolution, known as a CR, to fund the government as both sides negotiate on a larger spending package.
Gaetz responded that putting a CR on the floor would be 'shot, chaser' where he would immediately move to push the speaker out of his job.
'Move the f***ing motion,' McCarthy said in response.
Gaetz and the conservatives may have the upper hand, however. McCarthy held a test vote on Tuesday to see what kind of support he has among his own party on a budget vote. It failed.
The speaker brought up for a vote a massive defense spending bill. But five Republicans voted with Democrats on a procedural motion that killed the bill, putting in danger McCarthy's plan to pass the CR.
That defense bill was one of 12 appropriations bills Congress has to pass to fund the government for the next fiscal year.
If neither a CR nor the 12 appropriations bills are passed by September 30th, the government shuts down.
'I got a small group of members who don't want to vote for CR, don't want to vote for individual bills and don't want to vote for an omni. I'm not quite sure what they want,' the speaker told Punchbowl News earlier.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed 'I never quit'
However, whatever Republicans come up with in the House is nearly certain to be rejected by the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.
McCarthy has made it clear he is getting fed up with the threats and antics from his own conservative wing. And their threats to remove him from office.
'I never quit,' he wrote on X on Tuesday, posting a video of him vowing to stay on the job.
But if Republicans go around their own conservatives, make a deal with Senate Democrats, pass a budget and it gets signed by Biden, the consequences could be dire for McCarthy.
'It'd be the end of his speakership,' said Representative Ralph Norman, a member of the conservative wing of the GOP. 'The balls in Kevin's court.'
Meanwhile, House Republicans are pushing forward with their impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
The first hearing will be on Thursday. House investigators have issued a subpoena for Hunter's bank records. But Gaetz is challenging McCarthy to approve a subpoena for the president's son to appear before Congress.
Republicans have charged Biden and his family made millions off shell companies Hunter Biden formed when his father was vice president. Hunter had business deals with an energy company in the Ukraine, received a discounted stake in a private-equity firm in China, and did consulting for a Romanian real-estate magnate.
The president has denied any involvement in his son's business dealings. But Republicans claim at least a dozen Biden family members could be involved in a scheme to benefit financially from Biden's public office.
The GOP also claim Biden sat in on at least 24 calls with Hunter's business partners and was referred to as 'the big guy' by Hunter's business associates. And they say Joe Biden used pseudonyms to discuss his activities related to Ukraine with his son Hunter during his time as vice president.
The White House has repeatedly denied Biden has conducted any wrongdoing. The president himself has said he was not involved with any of Hunter's business deals.
Hunter Biden is under investigation for his foreign business deals
Some of Hunter's former associates, however, have testified that Joe Biden spoke to Hunter's business associates but the president's defenders say it was quick conversation and merely cordial, not related to any dealmaking.
Joe Biden also used various private email addresses from which he would sometimes send, receive and forward government correspondence according to emails found on Hunter Biden's now-infamous laptop.
'Robin Ware,' 'Robert L. Peters' and 'JRB ware' were three pseudonyms used on emails that were about both official and family business.
The White House argues it's common for public figures to use false names.
Suella Braverman has blasted tech giant Meta after it 'failed to provide assurances' that it will protect children from online paedophiles.
The Home Secretary said the owner of social media sites Facebook and Instagram had failed to persuade ministers that its rollout of 'end-to-end encryption' can be achieved without aiding internet sex abusers.
Britain's FBI the The National Crime Agency said up to 92 per cent of leads will be lost due to Meta's decision.
Mark Zuckerberg's firm has said it will introduce the technology in the name of online privacy by the end of the year, meaning messages including images will only be visible to the sender and the recipient.
Ministers fear it will allow paedophiles to keep their activities secret, and could even lead to more children being raped.
Suella Braverman arrives for a Cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in London, Britain, 12 September 2023. The Home Secretary blasted Meta over online child safety guarantees
Following months of negotiation with the Facebook owner, Mrs Braverman said: 'Meta has failed to provide assurances that they will keep their platforms safe from sickening abusers.
READ MORE: Sexual abuse survivors and experts demand big tech leaders take action to ensure their services are safe for children Advertisement
They must develop appropriate safeguards to sit alongside their plans for end-to-end encryption.
'We all have a responsibility to do what we can to tackle this devastating crime, and I urge them to work with the Government.'
Susie Hargreaves, of the Internet Watch Foundation which combats online abuse, said Meta was 'knowingly switching off the lights on detecting child sexual abuse'.
Sources said child sex abuse was taking place at a 'fairly terrifying scale' on mainstream internet sites such as Facebook.
Currently, Meta scans its users' content for child sex abuse and reports potentially illegal material to the US-based National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
It passes UK-related leads to the NCA, which last year prompted about 20,000 criminal investigations, sources said.
However, the introduction of encryption will mean private messages can no longer be scanned.
The NCA estimates 92 per cent of referrals from Facebook will evaporate overnight, and 85 per cent from Instagram.
Meta is the parent company for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus
A Meta spokesman said: 'The overwhelming majority of Brits already rely on apps that use encryption to keep them safe from hackers, fraudsters and criminals.
'We have spent the last five years developing robust safety measures to prevent, detect and combat abuse, while maintaining online security.
'We expect to continue providing more reports to law enforcement than our peers due to our industry-leading work on keeping people safe.'
Controversial former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who earned the nickname 'Red Ken' for his left-wing politics, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease aged 78.
The one-time figurehead of the Labour left, who ran the capital from 2000 until 2008 when he was defeated by Boris Johnson, is being 'well cared for by his family and friends' as he retires from public life.
The news comes after other high-profile figures such as journalists Alastair Stewart and Fiona Phillips decided to share their own battles with the disease.
'Red Ken', as he is widely known, had fierce clashes with Margaret Thatcher's government as head of the Greater London Council (GLC) in the 1980s, which eventually led to the authority's abolition.
He then became Labour MP for Brent East in 1987 before being elected as the first modern-day Mayor of London, during which time he introduced the Congestion Charge, supported the capital's bid to host the 2012 Olympics and led the response to the London bombings in 2005.
But latterly Mr Livingstone was at the centre of a number of scandals around antisemitism, most recently in 2016 when he was suspended from the Labour Party for suggesting that Adolf Hitler supported Zionism - the movement supporting the creation of a Jewish state in what is now modern-day Israel.
Ken Livingstone (pictured here in 2012) has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and is now retiring from politics
'Red Ken', as he was often known, had a number of high-profile clashes with Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government while head of the Greater London Council
Then London mayor Boris Johnson pictured with his predecessor Ken Livingstone at the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Paralympic Games
In a statement, Mr Livingstone's family announced the news early this morning.
They said: 'The Livingstone family today announce that Ken Livingstone, ex-MP for Brent and former mayor of London, has been diagnosed with and is living with Alzheimer's disease.
'Although a previously prominent public figure, Ken is now retired and lives a private life. He will no longer be available for any media interviews or requests and we will not be responding to any media questions or enquiries.
'Ken is being well cared for by his family and friends and we ask you for your understanding and to respect his privacy and that of his family.'
Ken Livingstone during his time as leader of Greater London Council (left, and right: picking up the Gold Joker Award from the Cartoonist Pub)
Ken Livingstone pictured in 2019. His family says he is being 'well cared for' as he enters political retirement following his Alzhemier's diagnosis
Kate Lee, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'We are really sorry to hear that Ken Livingstone is living with Alzheimer's disease. Our thoughts are with him and his family.
What is Alzheimer's and how is it treated? Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain, in which build-up of abnormal proteins causes nerve cells to die. This disrupts the transmitters that carry messages, and causes the brain to shrink. More than 5 million people suffer from the disease in the US, where it is the 6th leading cause of death, and more than 1 million Britons have it. WHAT HAPPENS? As brain cells die, the functions they provide are lost. That includes memory, orientation and the ability to think and reason. The progress of the disease is slow and gradual. On average, patients live five to seven years after diagnosis, but some may live for ten to 15 years. EARLY SYMPTOMS: Loss of short-term memory
Disorientation
Behavioral changes
Mood swings
Difficulties dealing with money or making a phone call LATER SYMPTOMS: Severe memory loss, forgetting close family members, familiar objects or places
Becoming anxious and frustrated over inability to make sense of the world, leading to aggressive behavior
Eventually lose ability to walk
May have problems eating
The majority will eventually need 24-hour care HOW IT IS TREATED? There is no known cure for Alzheimer's disease. However, some treatments are available that help alleviate some of the symptoms. One of these is Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors which helps brain cells communicate to one another. Another is menantine which works by blocking a chemical called glutamate that can build-up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease inhibiting mental function. As the disease progresses Alzheimer's patients can start displaying aggressive behaviour and/or may suffer from depression. Drugs can be provided to help mitigate these symptoms. Other non-pharmaceutical treatments like mental training to improve memory helping combat the one aspect of Alzheimer's disease is also recommended. Source: Alzheimer's Association and the NHS Advertisement
'We can see from the high profile individuals who have recently spoken about their dementia diagnosis, including Alastair Stewart and Fiona Phillips amongst others, how prevalent dementia is. One in three people born in the UK today will go on to develop this devastating condition.
'We're grateful to Ken's family for being open about his diagnosis which will really help increase public understanding. It's crucial we get people talking because a problem of this scale won't go away on its own.'
Alzheimer's Research chief executive Hilary Evans said: 'We hope this will put a further spotlight on the desperate need to find new treatments for all forms of dementia.
'As it stands, there are no treatments available to slow or stop dementia. But in recent months, we have seen the tide beginning to turn on Alzheimer's disease, with the first ever drugs that can slow its progression showing positive results in clinical trials.
'However while we wait to hear from regulators on whether these drugs are safe and effective, we know more needs to be done, and we'll work tirelessly to bring about a world free of the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia.'
While having largely retreated from public life in recent years, Mr Livingstone was a prominent figure in London politics for more than four decades starting in the 1970s.
Born in south London, to a working-class family, Mr Livingstone, the son of an acrobatic dancer and a ship's master in the Merchant Navy, he became a councillor in 1971.
As the head of the Greater London Council (GLC) he frequently went head-to-head with Margaret Thatcher when he became involved in national issues, supporting everyone from striking miners to Sinn Fein's leaders at the height of the IRA's bombing campaign.
He goaded Mrs Thatcher across the Thames in Parliament during the turbulent 1980s by displaying the unemployment figures on City Hall.
The Conservatives resorted to legislation to dissolve the GLC, distributing its powers among the London boroughs.
However, with the creation of the Greater London Authority under Tony Blair's Labour government, Mr Livingstone saw a chance to return to his political spiritual home.
Attempts by Labour to see off Mr Livingstone by throwing its weight behind Frank Dobson - with the backing of trade unions - failed after the public overwhelmingly backed him as an independent candidate, for which he was expelled from the party.
Mr Livingstone ultimately had the last laugh, being welcomed back into the fold as the official Labour candidate for the 2004 election.
His time as London mayor led to sweeping changes across the capital, not all of which were popular - his decision to phase out the original Routemasters and replace them with 'bendy buses' was derided, while the Congestion Charge laid the groundwork for other charges such as the LEZ and ULEZ.
But during his second term, Mr Livingstone won widespread praise for the way he stood up for London after the July 2005 suicide bombings and he helped win the 2012 Olympic Games for the capital.
However, his his time in the party ended ignominiously, when he quit the Labour Party in 2018 amid furious demands for his removal over allegations of antisemitism.
In 2006 a High Court judge said he made 'unnecessarily offensive' and 'indefensible' remarks likening a Jewish reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
Ken Livingstone's time as Mayor of London saw him oversee the city's successful bid for the 2012 Olympics
Mr Livingstone was praised for his response to the terror attacks in the capital in 2005 (pictured here unveiling The Spirit of London, a bus that replaced the vehicle blown up in one of the attacks)
His time in office was ended in 2008 when he was defeated by an equally maverick and colourful opponent in Boris Johnson and a failed bid to return to City Hall in 2012 marked the end of his electoral ambitions.
The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader in 2015 appeared to have given him a fresh lease of life politically, as he enthusiastically backed the policies of his old ally on the left.
However, he found himself at the centre of a new storm the following year when he came to the defence of MP Naz Shah who had been suspended over offensive social media posts.
Mr Livingstone insisted that, while her remarks were 'over the top', she was not antisemitic, and that he had never encountered antisemitism in 40 years in the Labour Party.
He then sparked fury by going on to claim in a radio interview that Hitler 'was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews'.
Ken Livingstone standing in a traffic monitoring centre in 2003 on the first day of the congestion charge in London - a measure that laid the groundwork for other measures such as the low emission zone and ULEZ
Ken Livingstone outside his house in northwest London in 2018
Ken Livingstone with his dog Coco as he leaves his home in northwest London in 2016
Despite being suspended by the party, he insisted he stood by the comments which he said referred to an agreement in 1933 between the Nazis and some German Zionists to resettle Jews in Palestine.
He caused further anger by talking about 'collaboration' between the Nazis and Zionists.
After the protest against antisemitism outside Parliament in March, campaigners demanded his permanent expulsion as proof the Labour leadership was serious about dealing with the issue.
Mr Livingstone announced his resignation from Labour on May 21 2018, although he maintained his support for Mr Corbyn as leader of the party.
Nearly four years later, in January 2022, Mr Livingstone announced his intention to join the Green Party, although at the same time urging other socialists to remain with Labour, but his application was rejected.
Police officers have been accused of failing to respond to violent attacks on retail staff because the criminal has already fled amid a spiralling shoplifting epidemic.
Now a powerful coalition of industry leaders is calling on the police to help retailers and get tough on shoplifters and tackle unprecedented levels of theft.
Thefts are up by 24 per cent year on year with the cost to stores approaching 1billion a year.
The group has written to police and crime commissioners in England and Wales calling on forces to make it easier to pass on evidence and boost efforts to find repeat and violent offenders.
Currently, officers will not attend where the value of items stolen is under 200, while retailers say even violent attacks on innocent staff are being ignored.
The coalition is made up of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which speaks for big supermarkets, as well as the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), the British Independent Retail Association, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Federation of Independent Retailers and shopworkers' union Usdaw.
Thefts are up by 24 per cent year on year with the cost to stores approaching 1billion a year
Team leader Charlene Corbin was bottled by a shoplifter at the Co-op where she works
The group has written to police and crime commissioners in England and Wales, calling on forces to prioritise gathering evidence related to violent attacks and make it easier for retailers to report crimes.
It comes after a shop worker showed the extent of her injuries after being botted by a shoplifter.
Charlene Corbin, 28, has since shared pictures of her gruesome head wound to highlight the danger retailers face from increasingly brazen and violent thieves.
The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) chief executive James Lowman said: 'The unprecedented levels of shop theft being faced by retailers cannot be allowed to continue.
'We have set out a three-pronged approach for police forces across the UK to adopt and make it clear that they are committed to tackling the problem.
'Theft and abuse are a blight on communities, with addicts and criminal gangs repeatedly targeting hardworking retailers and their colleagues.
'These are not victimless crimes, and they must be investigated to bring the most prolific offenders to justice.'
A recent study found 54.4 per cent of shoplifting involved supermarkets, with Co-op the worst affected, ahead of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi.
The John Lewis group, which includes the supermarket Waitrose, recently put its shoplifting losses at 12million.
And the group of businesses and workers now says it is time for police to make it easier to report a crime and submit evidence, identify prolific offenders behind anti-social behaviour sprees and to prioritise gathering evidence related to violent attacks.
The letter says: 'We often see scenarios where violence against shopworkers is not responded to by the police because incidents do not meet forces' threat, harm and risk criteria as offenders have left the premises after committing an offence.
'In the vast majority, if not all, of retail businesses there will be CCTV footage available to support police lines of enquiry into violent incidents.
'We would like to see the proactive collection of evidence prioritised by police forces.'
The group want forces around the country to follow the example of Nottinghamshire and Sussex, where action is being taken to identify, prosecute and lock up prolific offenders.
The John Lewis group, which includes the supermarket Waitrose, recently put its shoplifting losses at 12million. Pictured: Blatant shoplifters caught stealing speakers and clothes at John Lewis
The Co-Op has introduced anti-theft display boxes in a bid to help curb bulk-shoplifting
A recent study found 54.4 per cent of shoplifting involved supermarkets, with Co-op the worst affected, ahead of Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Aldi. Pictured: Co-Op now even locks baby milk in security boxes
A shoplifter has a tug of war with a Co-op worker in Liverpool
Both Home Secretary Suella Braverman and policing minister Chris Philp have already called on police to be tougher on shoplifting.
The National Police Chiefs' Council has been approached for comment.
It comes after dramatric video showed security at a Co-op store attempting to keep out a gang of youths kicking at the sliding doors.
In another clip looters brazenly walk behind the supermarket till with an open rucksack as they empty spirit shelves into their bags.
And the problem dates back years - with footage from 2020 showing the bizarre moment a supermarket worker and an alleged shoplifter have a tug of war with a bicycle over a bag of meat.
And shocking incidents that left three Iceland staff HIV positive after shoplifters attacked them with hypodermic needles.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, added: 'Retail crime is getting worse - thieves are becoming bolder, and more aggressive. Violent and abusive behaviour is on the rise.
'These confrontations might be over in a matter of minutes, but for many victims, their families and colleagues, the physical and emotional impact can last a lifetime.
'Retailers are working hard to reduce crime, investing nearly 1 billion into crime prevention measures in the last year.
'But now we need the police to do more to prioritise retail crime and bring levels of violence, abuse and theft down for good.'
The Mail On Sunday has launched a campaign urging authorities to act against shoplifting.
It has highlighted how organised criminal gangs are behind half of all shop theft.
Currently, officers will not attend where the value of items stolen is under 200, while retailers say even violent attacks on innocent staff are being ignored. Pictured: Sainsbury's introduces contactless, checkout-free shopping
The campaign has revealed how a lack of police action has forced retailers to spend tens of millions of pounds on their own security measures, including hiring private companies to bring prosecutions
Pedestrians pass brand name retail outlets on Oxford Street in London on September 5, 2023. A coalition of retailer groups have joined to call on police to crack down on shoplifters
The campaign has revealed how a lack of police action has forced retailers to spend tens of millions of pounds on their own security measures, including hiring private companies to bring prosecutions.
Katy Bourne, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners lead for business and retail crime, said PCCs are working at a national level to improve the police response.
She said: 'I completely understand the sectors' frustration and their concerns for their members.
'I've seen for myself the fear, the harm and the damage that too many shop staff and retailers are experiencing.
'From the many businesses I have met it is sadly evident that, too often, the policing response they have received - assuming they got one - is not what they expect.
'However, we also cannot overlook the fact that police forces face a huge daily demand on their finite resources so they will have to prioritise a physical response based on the threat posed to staff and customers and the likelihood of catching up with the offender.'
Some forces are reviewing ways to make reporting shoplifting easier, while Sussex already has a number in place including one that reduces the time needed from 30 minutes to two.
There is also Operation Pegasus, a scheme to gather intelligence about organised crime groups who shoplift.
Ms Bourne, who is Sussex PCC, added: 'I'd also like to see prolific shoplifters monitored with electronic tags, as happens with persistent domestic abuse perpetrators and burglars, so I'll be raising this with ministers and officials.
'If we want to retain our villages and high streets and shopping malls as pleasant places to shop and visit we have to be more proactive, more imaginative and more robust. We can't retreat and give up or our stores will close up.'
Danny Masterson's wife Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 30 years in jail for rape.
Masterson, 47, was put behind bars last week three months after he was found guilty of attacking two women in 2003. His wife Bijou, 43, was by his side during the trial.
Bijou - who wed the actor in 2011 and shares nine-year-old daughter Fianna with him - filed divorce papers on Monday in a California court.
The pair started dating in 2004 after meeting at a poker tournament in Las Vegas, and they got engaged in 2009 before saying 'I do' at a castle in Ireland in 2011.
Masterson had two trials. His first, six months earlier, resulted in a mistrial after a different jury were hopelessly deadlocked on all three rape charges.
Danny Masterson 's wife Bijou Phillips has filed for divorce, less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 30 years to life in jail for rape. (Pictured: the couple arriving together at court for his trial)
Masterson, 47, was put behind bars last week - three months after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women in 2003, and his wife Bijou, 43, was by his side through the trial
Phillips began sobbing in court as her husband, and the father of her young daughter, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the rape of two women
He was freed on a $3.3million bail throughout both, but that freedom ended with his double conviction on May 31.
The actor has been locked up in the notorious Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles since then.
Bijou, who had faithfully stood by her husband of 12 years throughout his two sexual assault trials, was consoled by brother-in-law Jordan Masterson following the sentencing last week.
Her lawyer Peter A. Lauzon said the case has been 'unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family'.
'Ms. Phillips has decided to file for divorce from her husband during this unfortunate time,' Lauzon said in a statement seen by TMZ.
'Her priority remains with her daughter. This period has been unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family.
'Mr. Masterson was always present for Ms. Phillips during her most difficult times of her life.
'Ms. Phillips acknowledges that Mr. Masterson is a wonderful father to their daughter.'
The pair started dating in 2004 after meeting at a poker tournament in Las Vegas , and they got engaged in 2009 before saying 'I do' at a wedding ceremony inside a castle in Ireland in 2011
Father daughter: The couple share one child together, a nine-year-old daughter called Fianna Francis
Bijou has reportedly said their date of separation is 'TBD', citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their divorce, according to freelance journalist Yashar Ali.
She has asked for spousal support and attorney fees and wants her legal name changed back to Phillips rather than Masterson.
Phillips will have custody of their daughter as expected given Masterson will be behind bars potentially for the rest of his life - but Ali said she will allow their daughter to visit him in jail.
Formerly a devoted wife, she accompanied Masterson to his court cases in a show of solidarity for the now-disgraced actor.
Seeming to believe his protestations of innocence, she even sent a letter to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo begging for leniency ahead of his sentencing.
In her letter, obtained by DailyMail.com, Phillips claimed Masterson was a 'life-saving' partner who dedicated himself to farming to support his family when the accusations about him started to emerge and he lost his acting career.
Phillips wore a large pair of dark glasses at points during the testimonies to hide her emotions
New future: Bijou is coming to terms with the prospect of raising her child alone
In May, Masterson was convicted on two of three rape charges, but the jury was hung in regards to the third, which involved the rape of a former longtime girlfriend
She also noted Masterson's aversion to drugs - a common principle of Scientology - and his apparent dedication to helping young actors escape the downfalls of wealth and fame.
But as she heard the heartbreaking testimonies of his victims in court in a harrowing trial, Phillips seems to have reconsidered her marriage.
The victims, known to the court as Jane Doe #1, #2 and #3, focused not only on the disturbing details of the sexual assaults but also described how they were intimidated and driven from their community as the church of Scientology punished them for speaking up against the That 70s Show's star.
While Masterton was convicted of raping the first two, the jury was deadlocked over a third charge for the rape of Jane Doe #3, who is his ex-girlfriend Chrissie Carnell-Bixler.
Phillips wore a large pair of dark glasses at points during the testimonies to hide her emotions.
Masterson did not react to his sentencing - but he blew Phillips a kiss as he was escorted to the slammer.
But Phillips sobbed as she sat amid a grim group of Scientology friends and family members in the public gallery. At one point, she held a handkerchief up to her face.
Phillips' lawyer Peter A. Lauzon said the case has been 'unimaginably hard on the marriage and the family'
Masterson blew Bijou a kiss in the court room when he was sentenced to 30 years behind bars
A close friend revealed to DailyMail.com at the time that Phillips felt 'like she is grieving a death' as she awaited her husband's sentencing.
'Currently Bijou is circling the drain and is filled with all the emotion and no emotion at all,' they said.
'She is a shell of who she has been. She is really trying to be strong for her daughter as she is trying to figure out life and what it will be like for her.
'It can only be compared to a divorce or a death for her not being able to be with Danny the way they were.'
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa became the second sitting U.S. senator to turn 90, joining a powerhouse senior caucus of two with a combined age of 180.
Grassley, born Sept. 17, 1933 during the Roosevelt administration in the midst of the Great Depression, celebrated inside the institution he has served for 43 years with sweets, tweeting out a photo of an array of Dairy Queen Blizzards.
He also dropped by the office of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, to pick up some Hershey's Kisses, and got treated to an extra large one.
Grassley joins California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in the over-90 club. Her age has been the subject of considerable commentary due to her struggles answering questions around the Senate hallways.
It comes as President Joe Biden, 80, faces persistent doubts from voters about his age in opinion surveys.
Sen. Charles Grassley celebrated turning 90 in the Senate, where he has served for 43 years
Grassley, who has focused for years on oversight powers and previously ran the powerful Senate Finance Committee, became an influential Donald Trump backers and has pushed inquiries into Hunter Biden.
He continues to visit the Iowa farm in an area his family has farmed for generations, and is known for early morning runs. He also fancies the oatmeal served in the Senate Dining Room.
He was elected to his eighth term in November, 2022.
Grassley is accustomed to answering questions about his age, in an institution that critics call the center of a gerontocracy, where some members linger beyond their sharpest years to enjoy camaraderie, purpose, and health care plus regular meals.
He got a giant Hershey's kiss when dropping by the office of Sen. Mitch McConnell, 81
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, faces questions about her ability to fulfill her duties
Asked about his age by Fox News on a visit to his farm, he said, 'It seems to me this is something that Americans decide whether a Biden ought to be reelected or some Republican ought to be elected instead.' He pointed to his own reelection, saying, 'The voters of Iowa made a sound decision and that's what you have to go by when you have a democracy.
'I don't feel any different than I did on any other birthday,' he said before going on a local ice cream run.
Acting Temple University president JoAnne A. Epps has died aged 72 after collapsing on stage at an event on Tuesday afternoon.
Epps was transported to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia where she was pronounced dead around 3.15pm.
She was taking part in a memorial service for Charles L. Blockson, the curator emeritus of the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at the university, when she suddenly collapsed on stage.
A uniformed police officer carried her off the stage and the ceremony was temporarily suspended.
Footage showed her getting off her seat before running off the stage, where she was later rushed to hospital in an ambulance
She could be seen being stretchered out of the theater before being rushed to hospital in the ambulance
Acting Temple University president JoAnne A. Epps has died aged 72 after collapsing on stage at an event on Tuesday afternoon
Her death was confirmed by the university in a statement which read: 'It is with deep heartbreak that we write to inform you that Temple University Acting President JoAnne A. Epps suddenly passed away this afternoon.'
'There are no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss,' Temple board chairman Mitchell Morgan said in the statement.
'President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple.
'She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come.'
Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Temple, declined to speculate about Epps' health prior to her collapse.
'We are not aware that President Epps had any health issues,' Kaiser said at a news conference.
Epps was taking part in a memorial service at Temple University (pictured) when she suddenly collapsed while on stage
Temple University Provost Gregory Mandel choked up as he described Epps.
'We are all in deep grief and at a loss for words. To know Joanne is to be her friend,' Mandel said at the news conference.
'She was one of the most remarkably compassionate and caring individuals I've ever known.'
Mandel said the university's Board of Trustees would be meeting tomorrow to 'put together a plan for us as we work through this transition.'
Epps was speaking at a memorial event for Blockson, who had died on June 14 aged 89, before she collapsed.
Temple University Provost Gregory Mandel choked up as he described Epps. 'We are all in deep grief and at a loss for words. To know Joanne is to be her friend,' He said at a news conference
The event was temporarily suspended when she collapsed but resumed with Kimmika Williams Witherspoon, a former faculty senate president, who stepped in to read Epps' remarks.
Epps, Temple's former law school dean and provost, was named to the post in April following the resignation of Jason Wingard who resigned in March after leading the 33,600-student university since July 2021.
Wingard, the university's first Black president, stepped down after less than two years in charge following a surge of violence that affected the campus.
Epps' tenure began after Temple University officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, was shot dead in February after pursuing three people dressed in black and wearing masks in an area where there had been a spate of robberies.
She was transported to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia where she was pronounced dead around 3.15 pm, the university said
Kaiser said Epps started out working at Temple's bookstore 40 years ago and dedicated herself to improving the university.
Epps vowed to focus on enrollment and safety due to spiraling crime near the north Philadelphia campus and other issues during her predecessor's tumultuous tenure.
She told The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported enrollment was down 14 percent since 2019, that she believed she was selected in part for her 'ability to sort of calm waters.'
'I am obviously humbled and excited and really looking forward to being able to make a contribution to the university that I so love,' Epps told the newspaper. She said she would not be a candidate for the permanent position.
The Temple Association of University Professionals labor union recalled Epps' personal touch.
Temple University police officer Christopher Fitzgerald, 31, was gunned down on Saturday night allegedly by 18-year-old Miles Pfeffer, 18, who was arraigned on a slew of charges
'I remember her walking into my office this April, and chatting with me one-on-one about how we could work together to make Temple a better place,' union president Jeffrey Doshna said in a statement.
Gov. Josh Shapiro described Epps as 'a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades.'
'Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia,' Shapiro said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Lori and I are holding JoAnne's loved ones in our hearts right now. May her memory be a blessing.'
Kaiser recalled leaving the office when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Temple was shutting down.
'It was our last day in the office, we were together and I said, 'OK, I'll see you in a couple weeks,' and I didn't really see her for two years,' Kaiser said.
He later told her that if he had known they wouldn't see each other for two years, he would have given her a hug.
The mother-son duo hasn't worked together in two years on the same flight
This is the heartwarming moment a United Airlines pilot gave his flight attendant mother a shout-out as they worked together for the first time in two years.
Cole Doss, 31, praised mom Moya Hagerty Doss during the flight from Virginia to Madrid on July 25.
In front of all of the passengers, Doss read his speech from a tablet as he was applauded by passengers.
His mother, who was right next to him as he spoke, visibly got choked up and emotional from her son's kind words.
Doss has been with United Airlines as a pilot for two years and his mother, Moya has been a flight attendant for more than 45 years
Pilot Cole Doss, 31, made a special announcement after he shared the expected weather conditions, and shouted out his mother Moya Hagerty Doss on July 25
'One of these flight attendants in particular working with us today is not only an exceptional flight attendant but also my exceptional mom.
'Today is the first time in two years at United we're able to work together. She's been one of my biggest supporters in life and my career in becoming a pilot ever since my very first flight lesson.'
Doss has been a pilot for United for two years and took to his Instagram to share the emotional moment on August 8.
Moya, his mother, has been employed for the airline for more than 45 years.
Doss continued: 'I'm especially honored and excited to be able to fly her for the first time today and to be able to share this experience with all of you on our flight to Madrid. To my mom, I love you and to everyone on board, welcome aboard our family-friendly skies.'
The caption that accompanied Doss's Instagram post tugged at the heartstrings as well.
'The highlight of my career came to life when I was able to work a trip with my mom and fly her for the first time! She's been my biggest supporter in becoming a pilot.
'We had the best trip to Madrid together. I'll never forget this experience and everyone who helped make this possible,' said Doss.
United Airlines even commented on the post and said: 'Family that flies together stays together! Thanks mom!'
Moya told TODAY.com that her son's announcement truly surprised her. 'I was taken aback. It was really, really sweet,' she added.
Although it was a sweet moment, Doss was a bit 'thrown off' as he heard his mom assist passengers
Besides spending time together on the flight, the mother-son duo made the most of their trip to Spain and explored during their 26-hour layover
Passengers gave Doss and his mother a standing ovation for his heartfelt speech to her from the flight from Virginia to Spain back in July
Aviation has run in the family, as Doss's father and sister are also flight attendants like his mother.
'I don't know my schedule until about 24 hours prior and when I was assigned a flight to Madrid, I told my mom. She was originally booked on a flight to Tokyo and was able to rearrange her schedule to work with me. She had never been to Madrid, so she was super excited,' Doss told TODAY.com.
Although it was a sweet moment, Doss was a bit 'thrown off' as he heard his mom assist passengers.
'While on break, Cole would hear me and think I was talking to him,' said Moya.
Besides spending time together on the flight, the mother-son duo made the most of their trip to Spain and explored during their 26-hour layover.
The two made stops at the El Palacio Real de Madrid and The Plaza Mayor, two major landmarks in the area.
Above all, Doss wanted his mother to receive the recognition that he thought she deserved as he said: 'My mom has so many years of dedicated service as a flight attendant and also as a mom.
'Those two groups sometimes don't receive the appreciation they deserve.' Doss and Moya are already trying to coordinate their next work trip together in the sky.
Hunter Biden plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges according to a new court filing.
The filing Tuesday also said the president's son is requesting to have his first appearance in court remote, conducted via video conference.
Last week, Hunter was hit with three felony charges after allegedly lying about his crack cocaine addiction when buying a gun in 2018 and faces up to 25 years in prison.
If the president's son does not strike a new plea deal with Special Counsel David Weiss' prosecutors he will face a jury trial, which would be a huge political liability for his father Joe Biden's 2024 reelection run.
Hunter Biden plans to plead not guilty to federal gun charges
Attorney Abbe Lowell wrote in a letter Tuesday to Magistrate Judge Christopher Burke saying that Hunter will plead not guilty to the three charges.
He added that Hunter is 'not seeking any special treatment' in making the request for the remote first appearance.
'He has attended and will attend any proceedings in which his physical appearance is required.'
'Mr. Biden also will enter a plea of not guilty, and there is no reason why he cannot utter those two words by video conference,' the letter continues.
'In short, Mr. Biden is satisfied that his constitutional rights will be met by conducting his initial appearance by video conference.'
According to the indictment made public last week, Hunter lied about his drug use when he purchased a gun in 2018.
The First Son purchased a 0.38 Colt Cobra caliber pistol in Delaware, a state that makes any buyer answer a series of questions before they can lay their hands on a weapon.
One from the 2018 application asks if the applicant uses or is addicted to drugs. The box is clearly checked 'no.'
Hunter has admitted that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of the gun purchase.
Video discovered on Hunter's laptop computer shows him naked and brandishing a handgun in a hotel room in 2018, allegedly five days after buying the gun.
About two weeks later his lover and brother's widow Hallie Biden found it 'unlocked' in his truck and threw it in a grocery store trash can. Its discovery sparked a police investigation.
In addition, now-President Biden sounded close to tears in the voicemail left on Hunter's abandoned laptop on October 15 - three days after Hunter bought the gun and lied about being a drug addict - begging him to get help.
'It's Dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world pal,' Joe said in the October 15 message. 'You gotta get some help. I know you don't know what to do, I don't either.'
He faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if he is convicted on all of the counts and could be slapped with a $250,000 fine.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has ruled out President Biden issuing a pardon for Hunter.
Hunter Biden is shown holding a gun from pictures recovered on his abandoned laptop
Hunter faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if he is convicted on all of the counts
Hunter has admitted that he was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of the gun purchase
The White House is not commenting on the new felony charges for the president's son, and Biden joked last week that he would get in 'trouble' if he answered press questions at the end of an economics speech.
Earlier this summer, Weiss' team put together a plea deal that got the president's son off the hook for serving any jail time for the alleged firearm crime and also two tax misdemeanors.
Republicans quickly slammed it as a 'sweetheart deal' designed to protect Joe.
However, the plea deal spectacularly fell apart in court in July, opening Hunter up to new charges.
Judge Maryellen Noreika questioned the 'diversion agreement' of Hunter's plea deal - a clause that gave him blanket immunity for a wide range of other potential charges, including illegal foreign lobbying - killing the deal.
The rumored mother of China's ex-foreign minister's love child is seen interviewing him - as fears grow for them after they vanished a year later when their affair was uncovered.
Fu Xiaotian, a US-based reporter for Chinese-language station Phoenix TV, is rumored to be the mother of Qin Gang's child.
The pair are thought to have grown close during his 18-month spell as China's ambassador to Washington, the CCP's top diplomat abroad.
Fears have since grown for the pair, after they both disappeared around the time the affair was uncovered.
Xiaotian penned a chilling final post on X, formerly know as Twitter, on April 10 showing a picture of her son, the back of a plane and her during an interview.
She wrote: 'Last time flying alone with this aircraft was from LA to DC for a work visit, and that both happily and sadly turned to be the very last interview I did with Talk with World Leaders.'
She added: 'This time to fly out with this aircraft was also from LA, but with precious baby son Er-Kin.'
Fu Xiaotian, a television reporter for Phoenix TV, is seen in her March 2022 interview with Qin Gang
Fu's final post on X, on April 10 this year, showed her on a plane with her baby son, Er-Kin
Fu's final post on X shows her flying somewhere with her baby, and interviewing Qin
Qin, 57, served as Chinese ambassador to the United States from July 2021 until January this year, when he returned to Beijing to take up the role as China's top diplomat.
His promotion was seen as exceptionally swift, and a sign of his closeness to President Xi Jinping.
But Xi has attempted to rein in his senior ministers and diplomats, ending the trading of lavish gifts and frowning on ostentation.
He has taken a hard line on corruption, rapidly removing anyone who could be seen as vulnerable to bribery.
Qin's removal and replacement with Wang Yi, a member of the party's elite Politburo and China's top foreign-affairs official, was initially described as being 'for health reasons'.
But on Tuesday The Wall Street Journal reported that senior officials had been told that Qin was fired due to 'lifestyle issues' - a common euphemism for sexual misconduct.
Qin is seen meeting Antony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, on June 18, shortly before he was removed from his post
Qin is pictured with Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, in March this year at the G20
Qin, far left, is seen being elected as a state councillor on March 12 this year
Qin applauds on March 13 during the closing ceremony for China's National People's Congress
They said Qin was discovered to have carried out the affair throughout his stay in DC.
The names of the woman and the child were not revealed, and the paper was unable to confirm their identity.
An investigation has been launched and, with Qin's cooperation, officials are looking at whether the affair or other conduct by Qin might have compromised China's national security.
Qin's fathering of a U.S.-born child was deemed problematic, sources told the paper, because it could render him less impartial in foreign policy.
Fu has not been seen since the April 10 post - three months after Qin himself left the U.S.
'Last time flying alone with this aircraft was from LA to DC for a work visit, and that both happily and sadly turned to be the very last interview I did with Talk with World Leaders,' she said.
'This time to fly out with this aircraft was also from LA, but with precious baby son Er-Kin.'
Her show, Talk with World Leaders, broadcast on Phoenix TV, saw her interview figures such as Pfizer chairman Albert Bourla; fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg; and the Syrian ambassador to the U.S.
In March 2022 she interviewed Qin. The YouTube link to the interview has now been taken down - unlike any of her other interviews.
Some Chinese social media users who saw the interview before it was removed said it was flirtatious, The New York Post reported.
Talk on Chinese social media platform Weibo about their demeanor in the interview has been censored, and posts removed.
Fu is also believed to have maintained a private Instagram account, The Post reported, on which she posted celebratory photos of her son's 100th day of life March 4.
The pictures appeared to have been place at a rented Los Angeles residence.
Her whereabouts are not known, with her X account unable to accept messages and her website taken down.
Tony Blair helped broker Keir Starmer's meeting with Emmanuel Macron yesterday as part of secret plans to 'reverse Brexit', it emerged last night.
A Whitehall source said the former prime minister had used his extensive EU contacts book to arrange the meeting on a day when the bloc released plans that could see Britain effectively rejoin the EU as an 'associate member'.
The source said Sir Tony was 'convinced that Brexit is now a vote-winner for Labour' and was pushing his successor to open the door to reversing it.
'Blair is trying to convince Starmer that the more he edges towards saying Brexit is a disaster, the better Labour will do,' the source said.
'He believes that reversing Brexit can be a vote-winner and he is pushing that message very hard.'
Sir Tony and Labour both declined to comment last night.
Face to face: Sir Keir and Mr Macron on September 19 with the gifted Arsenal shirt on the table
Parisienne walkabout: Labour leader Keir Starmer with French telecoms boss Arnaud de Puyfontaine yesterday
Tony Blair speaks onstage during the 2023 Concordia Annual Summit at Sheraton New York on September 19, 2023
The 'associate membership' proposal, championed by Paris and Berlin, would involve Britain observing EU law and accepting a form of free movement in return for access to the single market.
One EU source said the deal had been drawn up with Labour in mind and was 'carefully balanced politically to be a potential place for Britain without the need to ever rejoin the EU or to hold a referendum'.
Sir Keir, who campaigned for a second referendum, has denied he wants to take Britain back into the EU or the single market, saying only that he wants a 'closer' relationship and believes he can get a 'much better' deal with Brussels.
But senior Tories warned he was preparing to take Britain back into the EU by the back door.
Former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: 'Keir Starmer has always been a starry-eyed Europhile, he's the champion of the second referendum, and now he wants to do it by stealth.'
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said: 'Starmer's position is quite remarkable. He said he would respect the Brexit deal. Now he wants to reopen the Brexit deal.
'Now he wants to give control of immigration policy to the EU let them decide who comes into the country.
'The EU themselves are saying he'd have to rejoin the single market. So the position he's setting out, once again, is a flip-flop.
'It's clearly not consistent he keeps changing his mind on what he wants.
'We're clear we've got a deal on Brexit and we want to move forward.
'Starmer seems in the past to have called for a second referendum. Now he wants to go the full distance and reopen the deal.'
The idea of a 'multi-speed' Europe has been championed by Mr Macron as a way of rapidly enlarging the bloc. Under the proposals, Britain could join the third tier as an 'associate member'.
The UK would not have to sign up to 'ever closer union' and would pay a reduced membership fee. But it would have to accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and accept free movement in return for access to the single market.
A document commissioned by France and Germany stated: 'The basic requirement would be the commitment to comply with the EU's common principles and values, including democracy and the rule of law.
'The cost areas of participation would be the single market.'
Associate members would be able to raise issues at the European Commission and European Parliament but would have no voting rights on EU laws.
Starmer arrives at the Gare du Nord in Paris with Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves (R) and Shadow Foreign Sec David Lammy (L) ahead of his meeting with Macron, on September 18
The document said the plans could offer a new form of membership 'for even the UK'.
Labour declined to comment on whether Sir Keir had discussed the proposal with Mr Macron.
A Labour spokesman said Sir Keir would use a planned review in 2025 to improve the Brexit deal, but added: 'Labour will seek a better deal for Britain. This does not involve any form of membership.'
After the discussions, Sir Keir said the talks with the French president had been 'very political'.
'It was my first opportunity to say how much I value the relationship between our two countries, particularly when it comes to prosperity and security and how, if we are privileged enough to be elected into power, intend to build on that relationship and make it even stronger than it is today.'
He added: 'We had a very political discussion covering a lot of issues to do with global politics but also it was that opportunity to look at future prosperity, future security, some of the most pressing issues on my mind, on the president's mind.'
Stella Creasy, chairman of the Labour Movement for Europe, which is pushing for renewed access to the single market, said Brexit 'cannot be made to work'.
The prominent Labour MP acknowledged that becoming a full EU member again would take years, but added: 'None of that means we can't aim high for 2025 if we start now. That is what we are seeing today with Keir in Paris.'
Labour declined to comment on whether Sir Keir (pictured during a breakfast meeting on September 19) had discussed the proposal for a new form of membership with Mr Macron
Starmer (C), Reeves (L) and Lammy (R) speak during a breakfast meeting ahead of their meeting with Macron on September 19, in Paris, France
Downing Street said Rishi Sunak was not interested in pursuing associate membership of the EU.
A report by the think-tank UK in a Changing Europe yesterday warned that Sir Keir would find it 'challenging' to negotiate better terms with the EU.
Director Anand Menon said the UK was 'not a priority for the EU, which remains relatively happy' with the Brexit deal.
As such, a Labour government would have to 'provide the EU with an incentive to restart negotiations over Brexit'.
Four siblings who mysteriously disappeared from western Sydney remain missing as the desperate search enters a fifth day.
Azaiah El-Hajj, 12, Judah El-Hajj, 9, Mikael El-Hajj, 12, and Malaika El-Hajj, 16, were last seen on Earle Street, in Doonside around 6.45pm on Saturday.
Their worried family haven't seen or heard from the kids from since.
NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday morning that the siblings are still missing amid growing fears for their welfare.
'The children remain missing and police are continuing the search,' a spokeswoman said.
'Information has been received since the public appeal and police are following up a number of lines of inquiry. Inquiries are ongoing.'
A desperate search continues for three boys and one girl reported missing from Sydney's west
Hours earlier, their desperate mother begged for her missing kids to make contact as soon as possible.
Azaiah El-Hajj, 12, Judah El-Hajj, 9, Mikael El-Hajj, 12, and Malaika El-Hajj, 16, were last seen on Earle Street, in Doonside, at 6.45pm on Saturday
'My babies whereabouts is still unknown!!' she said through Facebook page, Islamic Sound Vision.
'Malaika, ya albi, please call me in any way possible!! Let me know you're ok! I just want to hear your voice!'
'It's ok if you contact me mama, I won't be in trouble and they won't put me in jail, I promise! Please call me mama asap, please.
'I miss you so much my beautiful people.'
She added: 'Ya Allah bring my children back to me safe and sound.
'Protect them and guide them back to me, fill their souls with courage and strength and lead them to my soul.'
On Tuesday, their desperate mother begged for them to get in touch as soon as possible through post on Facebook page, Islamic Sound Vision
Malaika El-Hajj was last seen wearing black tights, black jumper with picture of female on the back and pink shoes
Police and family hold serious concerns for the welfare of the four children due to their young age
NSW Police launched a public appeal on Monday which has attracted more than 2,300 Facebook shares and hundreds of comments praying they will be found safe and well.
Police and family hold hold serious concerns for the welfare of the four children due to their young age.
Azaiah was last seen wearing blue jean shorts, a blue shirt and black shoes.
Judah was wearing blue track pants, red long sleeve shirt and black shoes while Mikael was dressed in blue shorts, black shirt and red Jordan sneakers.
Malaika was last seen wearing black tights, black jumper with picture of female on the back and pink shoes.
Police believe the children could be in the Bankstown or Sutherland area.
Anyone with information has been urged to come forward and contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A teenage boy has been seriously injured in a horror work accident in Adelaide.
The 15-year-old boy was injured at the intersection of Stebonheath and Hewittson roads in Edinburgh North, about 40km from the CBD, at about 4.30pm on Tuesday.
The teenager suffered serious leg injuries after he reportedly became trapped underneath a three-metre-long concrete slab.
Work was underway to transfer the concrete barriers when the incident occurred.
Emergency services quickly responded to the scene and the injured teenager was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for treatment.
It comes just a day after a man died at a worksite in Parawa, about 75km south of Adelaide, after being critically injured while moving logs in a harvesting vehicle.
The teenager suffered serious leg injuries after he reportedly became trapped under a three-metre-long concrete slab at a worksite in Adelaide on Tuesday afternoon
Police said the 59-year-old man died at the scene.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
A man believed to be aged in his 30s died at a Perth worksite last Wednesday after a steel beam fell on top of him.
The workplace incident occurred at Schneck Process Australia, on Marriot Road in Jandakot in the city's south.
It's alleged there was an equipment failure at the worksite and several beams fell onto the man and crushed him.
Australian Manufacturing Workers Union WA state secretary Steven McCarthy said an investigation had been launched.
A young woman has died and three people have been hospitalised following an incident at an Ocean Grove beach in Victoria overnight.
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics assessed four people at the beach on the Bellarine Peninsula at about 6pm on Tuesday night.
A man in his 40s, a woman in her 30s, and a teenage girl were rushed to University Hospital in Geelong.
A young woman has died and three people have been hospitalised following an incident at an Ocean Grove beach in Victoria overnight (pictured)
Victoria Police said the death was believed to be non-suspicious.
Volunteers from the Bellarine Unit of Victoria SES were also present to assist.
Ocean Grove is a popular holiday destination, with school holidays currently underway in Victoria until Monday, October 2.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
New Zealanders have been shaken by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake in the centre of South Island.
The quake was centred in the Ashburton Lakes region of Canterbury, about 120km west of Christchurch, with a shallow depth of 10km.
Originally categorised as a 5.8 magnitude at 9.14am on Wednesday, it was upgraded to 6.4 and revised again to 6.2 by monitoring agency GeoNet shortly after.
'That was not light shaking,' dairy farmer Craig Hickman said on social media platform X.
The earthquake was felt by thousands of New Zealanders, including those in Christchurch and Dunedin, 300km south.
A magnitude 6.2 earthquake has hit New Zealand's South Island on Wednesday morning
Kiwis described the quake as rolling shaking lasting more than a minute.
Former Green MP Mojo Mathers was nearby, calling it 'way too close for comfort!'
READ MORE: Why Australia is set for its worst bushfire season for years - and why you should act NOW to save your property and maybe your life Advertisement
'Peel Forest pretty close to epicentre - whole house shook, cupboard doors swung open, flashbacks to the (Christchurch) quakes.'
The devastating 2011 Christchurch earthquake, in which 185 people died, was a similar profile - a 6.2 magnitude at five kilometres underground - to Wednesday's tremor, but much closer to the South Island's biggest city.
That quake continues to haunt many Kiwis, with novelist Rachael King, in Christchurch, expressing a common sentiment of concern with her post.
'That was the kind of #eqnz that makes you worry there's a really big one happening somewhere far away,' she said.
Kineta Booker said it was a 'biggie' that caused signs to sway in Riccarton Mall in Christchurch.
GeoNet also registered eight aftershocks in the following 30 minutes, all which were indiscernible to humans.
Brexit supporters have often been ridiculed as paranoid for suggesting Sir Keir Starmer would manoeuvre Britain into rejoining the EU if he won power. Today, those concerns don't seem so absurd.
A day after Labour's leader an irreconcilable Remainer vowed he would rewrite the trade deal brokered by Boris Johnson, and as he met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, plans aimed at drawing the UK back into Brussels' orbit emerged.
With cynical timing, France and Germany proposed we become an 'associate member' of a new, expanded, four-tier Europe.
True, we would not be bound by 'ever closer union' to the sclerotic bloc. That, though, is where any good news ends.
To participate in the single market, we would have to pay billions, accept free movement and observe EU law.
As Keir Starmer met President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, plans aimed at drawing the UK back into Brussels' orbit emerged
And we would be forced to align with Brussels' rules (while having no say in making them), torpedoing our ability to strike better trade deals around the world.
This would be catnip to Sir Keir, who could sign up without a referendum. But it would be a disgraceful betrayal of the millions who voted to take back control. What part of Brexit doesn't the EU understand? Why would we now rejoin by the back door?
Contrary to what embittered Remainers claim, Brexit has not been a disaster. Successes include trade agreements with fast-growing economies, delivering the quickest Covid vaccine and arming Ukraine.
But ministers must do more to seize the huge opportunities it offers and prevent any danger of our departure being reversed.
Yes, Sir Keir insists he respects Brexit. But given all his previous flip-flops, this must be taken with a pinch of salt. If he becomes PM, he surely would have no qualms about surrendering our hard-won sovereignty.
Doctors play with fire
By spitefully striking together for the first time in NHS history, consultants and junior doctors finally prove they have lost sight of the defining virtues of their profession: Compassion, altruism, integrity.
This irresponsible abandonment of their duties has meant thousands more appointments and operations cancelled prolonging patients' suffering and, in tragic cases, hastening their deaths.
Yet far from being motivated by a noble cause, these walkouts are about nothing more elevated than naked self-interest.
Instead of accepting the reasonable pay rises on offer, the hard-Left BMA seeks to extract 35 per cent hikes, supposedly to reverse salary erosion since 2008. This is a preposterous demand and, with UK finances in disrepair, completely unaffordable.
These walkouts are about nothing more elevated than naked self-interest (File Photo: Junior doctors strike outside Downing Street in August)
The union could moderate its claim, but it's obviously determined to harm the NHS to undermine a Tory government it loathes.
But Britain's doctors need to know they are playing with fire. The Health Service has thrived on the respect and trust between doctors and their patients. Once lost these are not easily regained.
Let's show intelligence
A surveillance state which spies on the rest of the word and launches aggressive cyber attacks, China undermines democratic governments at every turn.
So for the Foreign Secretary to invite Beijing to the Artificial Intelligence Safety Summit is depressing proof of how naive we remain to its threat. AI is an exciting tool with potential to do enormous good. But in the hands of a malign actor, it represents a terrifying danger to global security.
When will our leaders grasp China cannot be trusted? David Cameron and George Osborne sucking up to the regime, letting it embed apparatchiks in our universities and critical industries, was foolish enough.
Ministers ushering this dictatorship into the nest to discuss AI is just as witless and proves we have learned no lessons.
KATHRYN BATTE: There will be more concern given the defender has already suffered two head injuries this year. The Lionesses bench looked immediately worried when Greenwood went down, with six paramedics and four members of England's medial team attending to the defender, who was given oxygen. Greenwood was placed in a neck brace before being taken off on a stretcher, but was seen squeezing the hand of team-mate Millie Bright as she left the pitch. The defender was said to be conscious and talking at half-time. ...read
Pink Floyd legend David Gilmour has been forced to drop the asking price on his home by an astonishing 5m.
The rock star and and his wife, writer Polly Samson, put their luxury seafront home on sale more than a year ago for an eye-watering 15m.
But with house prices tumbling the couple were this week forced to drastically lower the asking price to 10m.
Neighbours living close to the seafront home in Hove, East Sussex said the couple had struggled to attract attention for the property and had been forced to take action.
Nicknamed 'Polly's Folly', the couple only bought the property in 2015 and launched a lavish rebuild of the former Victorian Turkish bathhouse.
Pink Floyd legend Dave Gilmour and his wife Polly Sampson are seeking 10m for their five-bed home, Medina House, pictured centre. The former Victorian Turkish Bath was demolished and rebuilt by the couple on the seafront in Hove, despite the opposition of locals
It look 10 workmen five hours to lift in Gilmour's piano into his new property
The reconstruction of Medina House sparked fury among residents and historical conservationists when they announced plans to bulldoze the baths.
Gilmour, 77, who is worth an estimated 140million, and Samson, 61, were slammed and their plans branded 'appalling and disrespectful.'
One group, 'Save Hove from Property Tycoons' pinned a message to the building wall reading: 'We don't need no demolition, we don't need no thoughtless plans, no tall dark shadows across our windows. Leave Medina House Alone.
'Hey Gilmour, leave our hood alone. All in all it's just another betrayal of us all, to you it's just another brick in the wall.'
The only surviving building from the famous King's Esplanade in Hove, the bathhouse first opened in 1894 offering women slipper baths and steam rooms.
Inside the property, which has had 5m slashed from the asking price, the five bedrooms have remarkable sea views
The Pink Floyd legend and his wife demolished the old Victorian structure and rebuilt it
The slipper baths were opened for people with no baths at home and were designed to improve hygiene and sanitation.
During the Second World War it saw service as a makeshift hospital, before being turned housing a diamond cutting business.
READ MORE: Local outrage over Pink Floyd redevelopment plan Advertisement
Interrupted by the Covid pandemic, the building work took years to completeby which time the couple decided it no longer met their needs.
The home boasts five bedrooms, three bathrooms, an open plan sitting room, kitchen and dining room, a library, music room, gym and sauna as well
Gilmour joined Pink Floyd in 1967, performing on albums such as 'The Dark Side of the Moon' 'Wish You Were Here' and 'The Wall'.
He also performs as a solo artist, and is a champion of several environmental causes.
Ms Samson has collaborated with Pink Floyd on a number of songs, and her most recent novel, 'A Theatre for Dreamers' (2020) was a bestseller.
The property was reportedly given to the couple in 2015 by the developer Sirus Taghan, who had been denied planning permits on a number of occasions.
The original bathhouse was demolished in 2018, and Keb Garavito Bruhn, a founding partner of the architecture firm Pilbrow & Partners, was brought in to design the residence.
The luxury property features three bathrooms, according to a brochure advertising its sale
The firm took inspiration from the bathhouse, mimicking its crow-stepped gable, as well as the half-moon shaped window at the top.
In addition, glazed ceramic tiles that were originally part of one of the pools were retained.
The open floor plan has doors to the courtyard, creating an indoor-outdoor space for the family in the summer.
According to Perry Press, the founder of Pereds, the London-based property consultancy, the couple said: 'The main bedroom, with sea views in all directions, is a beautiful place from which to watch the sunrise and sunset across the sea.'
'When you wake up in the morning, the view is always a surprise: the sea and sky are never the same. At night, it's intoxicating to watch from bed the moon reflected in the water.'
Other amenities include hardwood flooring and underfloor heating throughout, polished plaster ceilings and walls, log-burning and gas-operated open fires and a host of sustainability and smart-home features, including a remote-controlled door entry system with biometric fingerprint access, the listing said.
Brits will be treated to a spectacular natural light display tonight and throughout the rest of this week the Northern Lights.
Also known as the aurora borealis, the dazzling phenomenon could be visible as far south as Cumbria, although it's best viewed further north, according to the Met Office.
The Northern Lights is most commonly seen over places closer to the Arctic Circle such as Scandinavia and Alaska, so any sighting over the UK is a treat for skygazers.
On average, the aurora can be seen in the far north of Scotland every few months, but becomes harder to see as you get further south.
In one rare instance, an aurora was captured by a Cornish photographer only last week.
British skygazers could be treated to a spectacular natural light display tonight and throughout the rest of this week in the form of the Northern Lights. The natural light display is pictured here at the Cantick Head Lighthouse Cottage on the Scottish island of South Walls, September 12
READ MORE Stunning snaps show Northern Lights over Cornwall A photographer from Camborne in Cornwall snapped the spectacular photos Advertisement
Auroras are created by disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere due to powerful activity on the sun and are usually centred around the Earth's magnetic poles.
The Met Office said the display this week stems from a coronal mass ejection (CME) a massive expulsion of plasma from the sun's corona, its outermost layer.
This CME defined as a type of 'solar storm' left the sun on Saturday (September 16) and has travelled at hundreds of miles per second to hit the Earth's system of magnetic fields, causing the aurora.
A Met Office animation shows the auroral oval the ring-like range of auroral activity that determines the range of the Northern Lights and where it will be most visible.
It suggests the aurora will be discernible on Wednesday and Thursday nights too, in case anyone misses the opportunity tonight.
'The coming three-day period is likely to see some enhanced auroral displays at high geomagnetic latitudes, with aurora perhaps visible overhead for northern Scotland to start Tuesday following recent CME (coronal mass ejection) arrival,' it said.
'Activity could extend overnight into early Wednesday, though conditions unfortunately look unfavourable for prolonged clear skies for most regions at present.'
According to the Met Office, the display should be visible as far south as Northern Ireland and northern England, but cloud will likely limit any view further south than this.
A spokesman told MailOnline that the furthest south the aurora could be seen in England will likely be Cumbria, the North Pennines and the Cheviot Hills.
A Met Office animation shows the auroral oval - the ring-like range of auroral activity that determines the range of the Northern Lights
The Met Office said the display this week stems from a coronal mass ejection (CME) - a massive expulsion of plasma from the Sun's corona, its outermost layer (artist's depiction)
Spectacular pictures of the Northern Lights from the Hell's Mouth area of the north coast near Camborne earlier this month
The northern lights (aurora borealis) over St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the north-east coast of England. Picture date: Monday April 24, 2023
A display of aurora borealis over fisherman on Workington Pier, Cumbria, looking towards Scotland. Picture taken September 14, 2023
Aurora: A stunning natural display The Northern and Southern Lights are natural light spectacles triggered in our atmosphere that are also known as the 'auroras'. There are two types of aurora: Aurora Borealis ('dawn of the north') and aurora australis ('dawn of the south'). The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the Sun enter the Earth's atmosphere. Usually the particles, sometimes referred to as a solar storm, are deflected by Earth's magnetic field, but during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles such as hydrogen and helium. These collisions emit light. Auroral displays appear in many colours, although pale green and pink are common. Advertisement
In the Earth's northern hemisphere, the Northern Lights are officially known as the aurora borealis, while in the south, the event is called aurora australis.
In the southern hemisphere, auroral activity 'will probably peak during Tuesday but could extend overnight into early Wednesday'.
'However, there is some uncertainty in arrival timing,' Met Office added.
The US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) also detected the event and has rated the solar storm 'G2' (on a scale of one to five), so it's considered 'moderate'.
But this does mean it could disrupt satellites in space and power grids, including 'possible widespread voltage control problems'.
CMEs are just one type of solar storms, but other types include solar flares explosions on the Sun that happen when energy stored in 'twisted' magnetic fields is released.
NASA explains: 'There are many kinds of eruptions on the Sun.
'Solar flares and coronal mass ejections both involve gigantic explosions of energy, but are otherwise quite different.
'The two phenomena do sometimes occur at the same time indeed the strongest flares are almost always correlated with coronal mass ejections but they emit different things, they look and travel differently, and they have different effects near planets.'
The US's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has rated the solar storm 'G2' (on a scale of one to five), so it's considered 'moderate'
A faint glow from the northern lights (aurora borealis) over Derwentwater looking towards Skiddaw mountain in the Lake District, Cumbria, during the early hours of September 8, 2021
Evacuees from Yellowknife, Canada, are met by the aurora borealis as they arrive to a free campsite in High Level, Alberta, August 18, 2023
Aurora borealis is seen above WW2 beach defenses on February 20, 2021 in Lossiemouth, Scotland
Particles from solar events can travel millions of miles, and some may eventually collide with the Earth.
According to Royal Museums Greenwich, most of the particles are deflected, but some become captured in the Earth's magnetic field.
They're accelerated down towards the north and south poles into the atmosphere, which is why an aurora is best seen nearer the magnetic poles.
'These particles then slam into atoms and molecules in the Earth's atmosphere and essentially heat them up,' said Royal Observatory astronomer Tom Kerss.
'We call this physical process "excitation", but it's very much like heating a gas and making it glow.'
This results in beautiful displays of light in the sky, known as auroras, which come in all sorts of different colours.
Oxygen gives off green and red light, while nitrogen glows blue and purple.
The aurora has fascinated and even frightened Earthlings for centuries, but the science behind it has not always been understood. Earth has an invisible forcefield, the magnetosphere, that protects us from dangerous charged particles from the sun. While it shelters us, it also creates the impressive natural phenomena
Earth-based observatories allow experts to detect CMEs and other solar activity as it happens and forecast when aurora will occur.
'Information on the CME's entire path opens the door to understanding why any given characteristic of the CME near the sun might lead to a given effect near Earth,' NASA says.
'Each additional piece of the puzzle helps us better understand just what causes these giant eruptions and whether or not any particular CME could pose a hazard to astronauts as well as technology in space and on the ground.'
One-in-four also keep passwords and login details written on a piece of paper
Around 23% of over-65s struggle to switch on or log into a computer device
Almost half of over-65s across the UK struggle to use the internet, alarming research has unveiled.
A new study by AgeUK claims that nearly six million Britons are unable to conduct a handful of basic yet crucial tasks to stay safe online.
One-in-five over-65s find it difficult to use web browsers like Google and Safari, while another 23 per cent can't switch on their devices at all.
Adjusting font sizes, volume and even screen brightness are also problems for more than a quarter, contributing to heightened exclusion in a digital age.
'The figures we are releasing today should be a wake-up call for policymakers, because they show the alarming extent to which the rush towards 'digital by default' is excluding our older population,' said Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK.
Around 23 per cent of over-65s struggle to switch on or log into a computer device (stock)
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'It is well known that millions of older people are not online and that's bad enough, but now it is also clear that even among those who are online in this age group, the majority only have relatively limited digital skills.'
As part of their research, AgeUK compiled data from the Office for National Statistics and examined patterns from 2020.
Startlingly, this showed that 21 per cent of over-65s are unable to use their mouse, trackpads and keyboards while struggling with touchscreen functions.
Around 35 per cent can't manage to set up Wi-Fi connections too - whether it be at home, work or visiting family and friends.
One-in-four also wrote their passwords and login details on a piece of paper that was often left next to their device.
While this seem like an easy option, Jake Moore, a Global Cybersecurity Advisor, warns that it isn't the most secure route to take.
He told MailOnline: 'Passwords are often the bane of people's online lives but the key to keeping accounts secure is to make sure all passwords are unique and long.
'For ease and best protection, the best way is to use an online password manager which is fully encrypted which will only allow the owner and their chosen device to enter this secure vault of passwords.
'It may sound less secure but it is in fact the safest way and then you can simply just copy and paste the password into the site without having to remember them or write them down.
One-in-four also kept passwords and login details written down on a piece of paper (stock)
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'Furthermore, it is important that people use a form of two factor authentication to bolster on extra protection to their accounts should anyone ever get hold of their password. This feature is usually straightforward to follow and in the security settings area of most apps.'
Amid these revelations, AgeUK has launched a new #OfflineandOverlooked campaign which seeks to persuade the Government to offer more offline services.
Letters, phone calls and face-to-face communication are encompassed in this, as the charity argues that people shouldn't be 'forced down a digital route'.
'At Age UK we think it's time that everyone has the right to access public services offline,' Ms Abrahams continued.
'This is not being Luddite, far from it as a Charity we run some brilliant digital inclusion programmes around the country but rather a recognition that online methods simply are not working for millions of older people now and never will, and they should be able to choose to access public services in more traditional ways by phone, letter and face to face, as appropriate.'
We've all been there - you hear the 'Classic' ringtone playing out, and immediately reach for your iPhone.
But the days of realising it's not your phone ringing after all could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to Apple's latest iOS 17 update.
The tech giant has quietly added 24 new ringtones in the udpate, as well as 12 new text tones.
Several impressed users have taken to Twitter to discuss the new ringtones, with one joking: 'Yoooo the iOS 17 arpeggio ringtone goes so hard.'
Here's how you can access the new ringtones on iOS 17.
We've all been there - you hear the 'Classic' ringtone playing out, and immediately reach for your iPhone . But the days of realising it's not your phone ringing after all could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to Apple's latest iOS 17 update
is nobody gonna mention ios 17 has the final fantasy theme for a ringtone pic.twitter.com/FMkK1THuoy ryley (@ryl333y) September 19, 2023
To access the new ringtones, you'll first need to make sure your iPhone has been udpated to iOS 17.
To do this, open the Settings app, then General > Software Update. If this does not say iOS 17.0, you'll need to update your iPhone.
Once the update is complete, you can find the new ringtones by opening the Settings app and then Sounds & Haptics.
Tap Ringtone and you'll be able to scroll through the list of 24 new ringtones.
Meanwhile, tapping Text Tone will let you browse the 12 new text tones.
Many users have already played around with the new tones.
One user shared a video of the 'Journey' ringtone, writing 'is nobody gonna mention ios 17 has the final fantasy theme for a ringtone.'
Another noticed that the iPhone's default ringtone, 'Reflection', has been updated, with one writing: 'I just love the slight improvement to the iPhone ringtone on iOS 17.'
Several impressed users have taken to Twitter to discuss the new ringtones, with one joking: 'Yoooo the iOS 17 arpeggio ringtone goes so hard'
Aside from the new ringtones, iOS 17 has several other exciting features:
1. Check In
With Apple's new Check In feature, you'll automatically be notified when a family member or friend gets to their destination safely.
'After a user initiates a Check In, their friend or family member will automatically be notified as soon as the user arrives,' Apple explained.
'If they are not making progress toward their destination, useful information will be temporarily shared with the selected contact, such as the device's location, battery level, and cell service status.
'Any information shared is end-to-end encrypted.'
The days of having to manually type a new friend's contact details into your iPhone are a thing of the past in iOS 17. The update includes the ability to share your contact details, simply by bringing your iPhone close to another
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2. Live Voicemail
If you're over a certain age, you'll remember old-school voicemail machines the kind that let you pick up the phone in the middle of the message if you decided the call was worth answering.
Apple's bringing that back with the Live Voicemail feature, which transcribes the message in real time and lets you take the call.
'Live Voicemail gives users the ability to see real-time transcription as someone leaves a voicemail, and the opportunity to pick up while the caller is leaving their message,' Apple said.
'Calls identified as spam by carriers won't appear as Live Voicemail, and will instead be instantly declined. With the power of the Neural Engine, Live Voicemail transcription is handled on-device and remains entirely private.'
3. NameDrop
The days of having to manually type a new friend's contact details into your iPhone are a thing of the past in iOS 17.
The update includes the ability to share your contact details, simply by bringing your iPhone close to another.
'NameDrop allows users to easily share contact information by simply bringing their iPhones together, or by bringing an iPhone and Apple Watch together,' Apple said.
'With the same gesture, users can also share content or start SharePlay to listen to music, watch a movie, or play a game while in close proximity between iPhone devices.'
4. StandBy
If your iPhone is charing across the room, it can be annoying having to stand up to check what notifications are coming through.
But a new feature in iOS 17 called StandBy will make it much easier to glance over at your device.
The Live Voicemail feature transcribes the message in real time and lets you take the call
'StandBy gives users a full-screen experience with glanceable information designed to be viewed from a distance when iPhone is on its side and charging,' Apple said.
'StandBy is perfect on a nightstand, kitchen counter, or desk, and can be personalised to display a range of beautiful clock styles, favourite photos, or widgets, including Smart Stacks, which surface the right widgets at the right time.'
5. Screen Distance
The Screen Time tool has a new feature called Screen Distance, which will alert you if you're holding your iPhone too close to your face.
'Screen Distance uses the TrueDepth camera to encourage users to move their device farther away after holding it closer than 12 inches from their face for an extended period of time,' Apple said.
6. Autocorrect improvements
iOS 17 will keep Apple's autocorrect feature from correcting one of the English language's favoured expletives to 'ducking.'
'Autocorrect receives a comprehensive update with a transformer language model, a state-of-the-art on-device machine learning language model for word prediction improving the experience and accuracy for users every time they type,' Apple said.
'It also receives a refreshed design to better support typing, and sentence-level autocorrections can fix more types of grammatical mistakes.'
A huge leak shows Microsoft is gearing up to release a range of new products next year.
Internal documents accidentally released in court filings reveal that a redesigned version of the Xbox Series X is set to be released in October 2024.
The new console will be cylindrical in shape not cuboid like the current Series X and is described as 'all-digital', meaning it will have no disc drive.
It will be followed by the release of a new immersive controller and a revamped version of the Series S with double the storage capacity, according to the leak.
If all goes to schedule, it would mark the first major Xbox product release since the original Series X and Series S hit the shops in November 2020.
Microsoft calls its upcoming revamp of Xbox Series X 'the most powerful Xbox ever' and 'adorably all digital' because it will not take discs
Microsoft's upcoming release schedule May 2024 - New immersive controller ('Sebile') August 2024 - Revamped Series S ('Ellewood') October 2024 - Cylindrical Series X ('Brooklin') Advertisement
Details of the devices including images were accidentally revealed in a FTC v. Microsoft' court document, entitled 'Roadmap to 2030'.
The document refers to the revamped version of Series X with the codename 'Brooklin'.
The tech giant calls it 'the most powerful Xbox ever' and 'adorably all digital' because it will not take discs, instead relying on digital downloads to load games.
'Brooklin will deliver 4K console gaming with more internal storage, faster Wi-Fi, reduced power, a more immersive controller and a beautiful redesign, it says.
According to the leak, the new cylindrical machine will also come with a USB-C port at the front and 2TB of storage, up from 1TB currently on the Series X.
Despite the storage boost, it will be sold at the 'same great price' as the Series X is already $499 or 449.
Brooklin will hit the shops in October next year, according to the document, which will about five months after the release of the new 'immersive' controller.
Codenamed 'Sebile', the $69.99 (56) controller will have a two-tone design, with a white top and black handles, images show,
Codenamed 'Sebile', the controller will have a two-tone design, with a white top and black handles
Both the Xbox Series X (left) and Series S (right) were released in November 2020. The leak suggests the new version of the Series X will be cylindrical, not cuboid
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These handles will house haptic components that will provide tactile sensations such as vibrations during gameplay and also 'double as speakers'.
Sebile will also have 'quieter buttons and thumbsticks' and be fitted with gyro sensors, which let the device track what direction the player is turning, for a more immersive experience.
It could mean that gamers playing a first-person shooter, for example, will be able to turn left or right to move their character, instead of moving the thumbstick.
And in an push for 'sustainability' that could reduce e-waste, Sebile will be made from recyclable materials, have a swappable and rechargeable battery, and be capable of 'repair and disassembly'.
Lastly, Microsoft is also planning to release a revamped version of the cheaper Series S, codenamed 'Ellewood', which will come with 1TB of storage (up from 500 on the current Series S).
Ellewood will be the same shape as its predecessor and renders suggest it looks pretty much the same.
Likewise, it will retail at the same price as the current Series S ($299/249).
It will apparently be released in August 2024 sandwiched in between the release dates of the Sebile controller and the Brooklin cylindrical console.
The new controller ('Sebile') will get a launch in May 2024. The updated version of the Series S ('Ellewood') will follow in August and the cylindrical Series X ('Brooklin') will come in October
The leak comes less than three years after Microsoft released its Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, as joint successors to the Xbox One.
Microsoft said the Series X is the most powerful console it has ever made featuring processing power twice that of the Xbox One X before it.
Both the Series X and Series S have backwards compatibility, which allows them to play games from older consoles.
Upon release in November 2020, the consoles went head-to-head with the PlayStation 5 from rival Sony.
A revamped version of PlayStation 5 is also rumoured to be arriving this year or next, but the PlayStation 6 isn't expected until 2028 or later.
A former US defense official who has warned about F-35 safety issues for years said a software glitch or cyberattack could have caused the missing jet to malfunction over South Carolina this weekend.
Former Marine Dan Grazier, who works at a Defense watchdog, authored a report in 2019 warning that the Department of Defenses' most expensive weapon system is plagued with cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
He told DailyMail.com today: 'There are thousands of penetration points, weaknesses in the entire enterprise that a hacker could access the software.'
Grazier also claimed that the Pentagon has been aware of the software flaws since the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) office conducted testing in 2017 but has yet to rectify the problems.
The same DOT&E investigation showed a 26 percent fully missional capable rate across the entire F-35 fleet, which may have impacted Sunday's incident.
The $145 million jet went missing for hours over South Carolina when the pilot ejected during a training exercise and was found 28 hours later.
These flaws could let bad actors brick entire fleets, stop software upgrades, take over weapons and steal critical performance data, which occurred in a 2007 breach of the plane
Former Marine Dan Grazier, who works at a Defense watchdog, authored a report in 2019 warning that the Department of Defenses' most expensive weapon system is plagued with cybersecurity vulnerabilities
DailyMail.com has approached the Department of Defense and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing for comment.
A spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Program told DailyMail.com: 'For operational security concerns, we will not discuss cyber capabilities or protection measures.'
The Pentagon has refused to detail what caused what it called a 'mishap.'
But Grazier said: 'It is possible this aircraft was hacked, but we will only know with the investigation.
'If I had to bet on this, it was a malfunction with that particular aircraft, and it could be a larger issue with the fleet - this one just crashed now. '
Grazier shared that the software is a 'back door to hackers,' as it is a massive information network connected to the broader internet that can be accessed with the correct attacks.
These flaws could let bad actors brick entire fleets, stop software upgrades, take over weapons and steal critical performance data, which occurred in a 2007 breach of the plane.
The plane was flying in tandem with another jet, which returned to base after the mishap rather than following the pilot-less aircraft.
'The fact that the other F-35 flew in formation safely and only one had a mishap, if there was a bad actor who could hack, I doubt they would have done in this case,' he said.
'I would not show my cards on random a Sunday. I would only break that out when it could really make a difference.'
The $145 million jet went missing for hours over South Carolina when the pilot ejected during a training exercise and was found 28 hours later
After a 28-hour search, debris from the missing F-35 jet was found about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston
Grazier also explained that a general emergency is still on the table of scenarios.
The technology in the jet is highly classified, but it operates on Lockheed-Martin's Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS), the 'backbone' for pilots.
ALIS integrates various capabilities, including operations, maintenance, prognostics, supply chain, customer support services, training and technical data.
The system was created by Lockheed Martin, specifically for the F-35.
The American aerospace company's 'revolutionary' software came under attack in 2012 by a special team of US Navy hackers who accessed the advanced logistics system.
In 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan government agency, highlighted ongoing security concerns among ALIS personnel, especially when transferring data between classified and unclassified servers and how CPEs and the ALOU are single points of failure.
Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a statement: 'The big concern about ALIS is that it is so interconnected and pulls data together from all F-35 users globally that there are lots of potential entry points for a would-be hacker to get in there.'
Grazier also claimed that the Pentagon has been aware of the software flaws since the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) office conducted testing in 2017 but has yet to rectify the problems
And then, in 2017, ALIS prompted F-35 pilots flying out of Yuma Air Station with 'anomalies,' forcing the team to ground the plane.
GAO also uncovered in 2020 that crucial data meant to be automatically collected by ALIS was often inaccurate or misleading.
Grazier and others have warned that ALIS can be infiltrated by malware that spoofs the system to stealthily feed false information, taking perfectly serviceable aircraft out of service.
He also said that officials just patch flaws in the software as they find them.
'It is like a digital quilt with patches all over the place, which creates a lot of potential attack factors,' Grazier said.
The Marine Corps F-35 fighter jet went missing after its pilot ejected over South Carolina Sunday, leaving the craft flying in a 'zombie state.'
The pilot ejected and parachuted safely into a residential area in North Charleston around 2pm ET Sunday.
He was taken to a local hospital, where he was in stable condition, said Maj. Melanie Salinas. The pilot's name has not been released.
After a 28-hour search, debris from the missing F-35 jet was found about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston.
'Normally, when a pilot ejects, the aircraft lands or crashes close to where they landed, but this aircraft continued to fly,' said Grazier.
'Since the transponder was not functioning, they had a hard time finding it.
'I suspect they had a hard time because [the F-35] probably only crashed after it ran out of fuel. There wasnt a big fireball it crashed into trees.'
Grazier served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan during the War on Terror, where he was a tank officer.
'I was protected, but if there were a hole in the tank, I would ask questions,' he said.
'We created a digital version of that with the F-35.'
Grazier told DailyMail.com about an event on Capitol Hill he attended in 2017 hosted by Lockheed Martin to show off the F-35.
'As soon as you walked in, there was a welcome table, and the first thing you encountered was a print-out map detailing suppliers and money invested in each political state F-35,' he said.
'This was to remind all staffers about the economic impact if the program were to be canceled and [Lockheed Martin] makes these lavish claims on its website.
Reported flaws in the F-35 span back to 2007, when computer hackers breached the program and stole data on the craft's design and electronics system.
'Per federal law, the F-35 program should have been canceled, but Senator Robert Gates signed a national security waiver to keep it going that doubled the budget and extended the schedule,' Grazier said.
He explained that the F-35 program has continued to exist because it is 'politically engineered.'
'They get a program approved and spread money around the country before anyone knows about the program, like who it works and any problems,' Grazier said.
'By the time we start, cyber vulnerabilities, flaws, weapons do not work. If the leading argument for the program is the economic impact, then there is an indication the item has no military value.'
Lockheed Martin's website has an interactive US map that shows how many suppliers, direct and indirect jobs and economic impact associated with the F-35 program.
For example, Texas has 110 supplier locations, creating 75,120 jobs with an economic impact of $12.435 billion.
'With all of this money that has been invested, politicians and suppliers are reluctant to vote against the F-35 program, Grazier said.
'Next time an official is up for re-election the vote to cancel the program, their opponent can make the stand that they support it because of the jobs and money it brings to the state.
'On top of that, there are the direct political contributions Lockheed spreads a lot of money around. They give campaign contributions.
'I dont like to see unemployed people, but that is an ancillary benefit taxpayers fund these programs to build effective weapons systems.'
X, formally known as Twitter, was hit with a worldwide outage - the second time the platform has crashed in 24 hours.
Issues appeared around 10am ET and plagued the website, app and server connection - but the glitch appeared to be fixed about one hour later.
Users reported posts were not loading properly - the same problem they experienced on Monday.
Tuesday's outage came as Musk said he would start charging everyone to use X.
X, formally known as Twitter , was hit with a worldwide outage - the second time the platform has crashed in 24 hours
DownDetector, a site that monitors online outages, showed the outage was hitting major cities across the US, including Boston, New York City and Los Angeles.
Other countries like the UK and parts of Europe and Asia were also experienced problems.
DownDetector showed a majority of users were experiencing issues with the website, followed by the app and server connection.
What triggered the outage is unknown.
Users saw error messages that read: 'Something went wrong, but don't fret - it's not your fault.'
Musk revealed Monday that 'the only way to protect against bot accounts' is to charge everyone who uses X - but 'a small monthly payment.'
Users report posts were not loading properly - the same problem they experienced on Monday
Tuesday's outage came as Musk said he will start charging everyone to use X
X currently charges $8 a month for its Blue Membership, which gives paying users the verification checkmark and access to premium features.
It is unclear how much Musk would charge for those without the blue tick and what benefits they would receive.
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Musk revealed his plans to charge users during a live-streamed conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
'I'd say the single most important reason we're moving towards having a small monthly payment for the use of the X system is that it's the only way I can think of to combat vast armies of bots,' Musk said.
'A bot costs a fraction of a penny, but if somebody has to pay a few dollars or something... you have to get a new payment method every time you have a new bot.
'Prioritizing posts that are written by X premium subscribers, we're actually going to come up with a lower tier pricing.
'We want it to be a small amount of money.
'It's a longer discussion, but in my view, this is the only defense against vast armies of bots. As the AI gets really good it's getting better at passing the captcha tests than humans.'
However, Musk's news has sparked a movement among X users who are not threatening to delete their accounts if they are forced to pay.
'The day Twitter becomes a pay only service is the day I move on,' one person wrote on X.
Another added: 'I am done with Twitter the minute Musky tries to charge me for spending a minute here. Find me on Threads. It's free.'
'If Musk starts to charge for twitter, I'm out of here,' some else chimed in. 'Start using Threads exclusively. Twitter will lose a few hundred million of users.'
Sarah Waite, 25, travelled from Los Angeles to Athens with a layover in Paris
A fuming traveller claims 1,000 ($1,200) worth of items went missing after an airline 'lost' her luggage for two months - despite her AirTag tracker revealing that it was at the airport.
Sarah Waite, 25, travelled from Los Angeles to Athens, with a layover in Paris.
But when she landed in the Greek capital, she discovered her suitcase had not made it on to the plane and would arrive later.
A week later, Sarah, who is originally from Los Angeles, received a notification from her AirTag, a tracking device by Apple, saying her bag had left Paris and was finally in Athens.
When she went to pick it up, she claims Air France staff told her they didn't have it despite the AirTag showing its location at the airport.
When Sarah landed in Athens she discovered her suitcase had not made it on to the Air France plane and would arrive later. In the end she waited two months to be reunited with it
The registered nurse spent two months without her luggage after the flight on May 14.
And when she was finally able to retrieve it, Sarah claims her suitcase had been damaged and 1,000 ($1,200) worth of items were missing, including shoes and makeup.
Sarah described the whole experience as 'horrible and traumatising'.
It was the trip of a lifetime for Sarah, who travelled to Athens to pursue her dream of learning modern and ancient Greek literature.
So her dream trip wasn't off to a good start when she landed in Athens with no luggage.
She said: 'I went to claim my luggage and almost all of the passengers were informed that it was arriving later.
'We all had to make a claim at the Air France desk at 2am local time.
'There were probably about 60 people that stayed to file the claim, me being one of them.'
Sarah claims her suitcase had been damaged and 1,000 ($1,200) worth of items were missing, including shoes and makeup
In the hope of speeding things up, Sarah filed a claim online while waiting in the physical queue.
At 5am in the morning, three hours after landing, she finally left Athens International Airport - without her luggage.
Sarah had an AirTag inside her suitcase so she could see that the item was in Paris, where she'd had her layover.
She said: 'Luckily I had an AirTag inside my luggage so I could see that Air France was not lying and it really was still in the Paris airport.'
Sarah kept in touch with airline staff over the next few days but found the communication difficult.
She said 'I kept in contact with Air France about my claim and they were not communicative at all, leaving me on hold for long periods, not connecting me with someone who spoke English.'
A week later, on May 20, Sarah's AirTag sent her a notification revealing that her luggage had left Paris Charles de Gaulle and was finally in Athens.
She decided to make her way to the airport but when she arrived, she was unable to reclaim her belongings.
Sarah documented her lost-luggage frustrations on TikTok, revealing on one clip that she received $600 (485) in compensation from Air France
Sarah said: 'I went to the help desk and then finally to the lost and found with lots of effort and back-and-forth argumentation about my claim number.
'It was not there and there was nothing I could do, even though my AirTag said it was there.'
As she found herself without her suitcase, Sarah, who suffers from Graves' disease, had to buy a number of items including her thyroid medications.
The condition is an autoimmune disorder that can cause hyperthyroidism or overactive thyroid.
She said: 'I lost hope but I continued my communication with the airline every day, sending them receipts of the items I had to purchase.'
Two months later, on July 20, Sarah was still able to track her AirTag, so she made a final attempt and travelled to the airport again.
When she arrived, Sarah went to the airline desk and confronted the staff.
She said 'The people helping me were very rude, yelling at me when I expressed frustration, telling me there is nothing they can do even though they work at the airport and can take me to the AirTag location.
'They even threatened to call the police on me because I started video recording the situation.'
A video shows the interaction between herself and the staff, where an argument breaks out.
According to Sarah, the staff eventually agreed to take her to the lost and found where she was finally able to retrieve her luggage.
When she was reunited with her suitcase, Sarah claimed that it was clear it had been damaged and items lost.
She explained: 'I got my bag, but again with extreme frustration.
'I went to the help desk and got permission to access the lost and found.
'I went to the lost and found and then the other lost and found but my bag was not there.
'I finally broke down and cried in front of the entire staff and that is when someone said, "Oh we called you, okay stay here."'
She added: 'It took extreme emotional expression to get the people to understand who I was and that I was contacted, even though I was telling everyone who helped me out that my name is Sarah Waite and I was called because my bags were found.
'A young man took me to the customs area where my AirTag was tagged and I got my bag.
'My luggage was completely ripped open, shoes were gone, makeup gone, bags were missing and the original lock on the zippers is not on it.
'I am devastated still, but at least my medication, which is in a liquid form, if you have Graves' disease then you know, is viable.'
Sarah documented her lost-luggage frustrations on TikTok, revealing on one clip that she received $600 (485) in compensation.
Air France has yet to respond to requests for comment.
Kanye West's 'wife' Bianca Censori has accused concerned friends of being 'jealous' of her newfound fame when they raised questions about her relationship - amid ongoing fears that the rapper is manipulating her into a 'radicalized' version of his ex-wife Kim Kardashian.
The couple, who were first pictured together in January, have been exhibiting a slew of bizarre behavior in recent weeks - sparking scandal after scandal, not least because of the incredibly raunchy outfits that the 28-year-old architect was seen sporting during the couple's trip to Italy.
They further enraged Italians during a recent trip to Venice after they were caught allegedly engaging in a lewd act on a boat, with the 46-year-old rapper baring his naked buttocks in public.
Now, a source has exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that concerned friends have been desperately trying to reach out to the Australian beauty - only to be told they should 'f**k off' when they finally managed to connect with her.
Kanye West 's 'wife' Bianca Censori has accused concerned friends of being 'jealous' of her newfound fame. Bianca is pictured in Germany with the rapper
A source exclusively revealed to DailyMail.com that friends have been told they should 'f**k off' when they reached out to her about their concerns in recent weeks
Bianca (seen before she began her romance with Kanye) has undergone a dramatic makeover since the pair started dating - and friends say she is doing it to 'grab headlines' and gain 'fame'
'A few of her friends were finally able to reach her but she wasnt interested in talking, nor was she interested in anyones concerns for her,' a close friend told DailyMail.com.
'Shes shut everyone out and told one of her former friends to "f*** off" when they tried to ask if she was okay. She is saying that her friends are just jealous of her stardom.'
The insider further claimed that Kanye's wife is fully aware of how to draw international attention, saying: 'Bianca knows how to grab headlines now and she loves being Kanyes muse because it gives her what she has always wanted - fame.
'Her friends are done trying because she is a thirsty lost cause.'
The comments came after Bianca was pictured in Florence wearing nude tights and carrying a purple pillow to cover her breasts.
Bianca, who was hired as the Head of Architecture for Yeezy, was first linked to the controversial rapper back in January 2023 - just months after his divorce from ex-wife Kim was finalized.
During his marriage to Kim, Kanye often referred to her as his 'muse' and heavily influenced her fashion choices. Friends feel that he is doing to same to Bianca, but acknowledged that their pal is also doing what she can to garner attention.
The insider claimed: 'Every day she and Kanye are figuring out ways to make her look more raunchy and revealing than the previous day.
'She is brainwashed in the same way that he had his church followers brainwashed, those who worked for Donda academy, those who worked for Yeezy, and especially Kim.'
The insider claimed that Kanye's 'wife' is fully aware of how to draw international attention as she continues to step out in extremely revealing outfits
It has now reached the point where frustrated pals no longer see the point of trying to help their friend. Bianca is pictured in Italy wearing a bizarre ensemble
Friends have been 'extremely concerned' after a police investigation into her lewd behavior with Kanye on a boat ride in Venice, Italy (pictured)
DailyMail.com has contacted Kanye and Bianca's spokespeople for comment.
Rumors that Kanye and Bianca were an item first swirled in December when the musician released a song called 'Censori Overload'.
Then on January 9, they were both spotted wearing gold bands at lunch in Beverly Hills.
After news of their supposed nuptials broke, which DailyMail.com has reported is not official because they never actually obtained a marriage certificate, Bianca's social media presence completely disappeared.
On Facebook, an account existed under the username 'bibi.censori' and the page name 'Bibi Bonk', but it was inactive after their non-legally-binding union. It has not been confirmed if the account belonged to Bianca.
The account features one photograph of her, uploaded as a profile picture on October 26, 2021, but it does not appear to have been active since then.
There is further confusion surrounding her online presence as a link to an interview with Bianca and Yeezy's Tanil Raif and Abe Salman appears to have been removed.
When clicking on the link that took users to her Instagram, it now reads: 'Page Not Found. Sorry the page you were looking for cannot be found'.
At the time, Bianca's resemblance to Kim was uncanny, including striking similarities in their faces and figures.
The couples' over-the-top outfits and behavior has not only sparked fury from Italian locals, but has also ignited fierce concern for Bianca's wellbeing among social media users
Friends have claimed that 'Kanye is trying to make Bianca into a radicalized version of his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian'
Bianca (left) has dyed her hair blonde, but as a brunette she was a dead ringer for Kanye's ex-wife Kim (right)
However, shortly after the pair 'wed', Bianca chopped her long brown hair off and dyed it blonde. Her outfit choices became increasingly risque, seemingly in keeping with Kanye's over-the-top fashion preferences.
In October 2022, Kanye's fall from grace began when he wore a White Lives Matter T-shirt to his YZY SZN 9 fashion show in Paris.
The following month, he began a tirade of horrific anti-sematic remarks on Twitter, which saw him dropped by Adidas and Gap, whose lucrative collaboration with Kanye led to billions of dollars in profit.
On the surface, it appears that the rapper's 'charm' has worn down for Bianca in recent weeks; images of her taken during their recent Italian getaway show her looking somber and often with her face turned down.
Meanwhile, Bianca's fashion choices and the couple's public behavior caused issues with the Italians during their recent visit.
The couple were investigated by the police after they were caught on-camera in compromising positions during a boat tour.
In photos published by DailyMail.com, Kanye exposed his buttocks while on a river taxi tour with Bianca who was seated in between the rapper's legs with her head on his lap.
Police have since identified the driver of the taxi to question him on what he saw.
The couple, who first started dating in January 2023, were both spotted wearing gold bands that month
Police have since asked for photographers to hand over the images that went around the world.
A Venice police source told DailyMail.com: 'There are standards of public decorum that have to be followed by tourists and locals alike and any breaches are severely punished.
'The images of West with his trousers down while in a taxi as he and his partner crossed the lagoon were seen all over the globe.
'You could clearly see his trousers were half down and we have received complaints from people who witnessed it. Now we have identified the driver of the boat and we will be asking him what he saw as well.
'The images show the couple clearly in a state of intimacy and if the local prosecutor decides to press charges then we will notify the couple, most probably through the relevant embassies.
'The offence being investigated is acts contrary to public decency which is punishable by an administrative sanction.'
Venetian officials also expressed outrage - hardly surprising considering the city issues fines for infractions like swimming in the canals, open air picnics and sprawling on the steps of public buildings.
Elisabetta Pesce, councillor for public security in Venice, told DailyMail.com: 'Without any shadow of doubt what we saw from the couple was a lack of respect for Venice, which is the most enchanting city in the world.'
The couple were later pictured enjoying a kebab in Germany, as they continue their summer travels around Europe.
Channel 4 called in lawyers after the cast of its controversial reality show Married At First Sight UK ran riot during a night out despite their welfare team being present.
The network threatened to axe three individuals appearing on the dating series this year over their 'wild partying.'
Bosses at the broadcaster were left so incensed by the 'rule breaking' that a legal team was put in place to draw up new contracts banning all contestants from venturing into central London, permitting them to stay in Wembley, the location of their shared apartment block.
It sparked fury among the cast who had not attended the 'outrageous bash', held in one of the flats, causing them to hit out at producers for 'treating them like children' after being 'stripped' of their privileges.
The incident took place at Wembley's Box Park after two weeks of filming and the cast, who had married their partners having met them for the first time at the altar, were keen to let off some steam.
Channel 4 called in lawyers after the cast of its controversial reality show Married At First Sight UK ran riot during a night out despite their welfare team being present
The network threatened to axe three individuals appearing on the dating series this year over their 'wild partying'
Bosses at the broadcaster were left so incensed by the 'rule breaking' that a legal team was put in place to draw up new contracts banning all contestants from venturing into central London
A TV insider told MailOnline: 'The cast had been getting to know each other better during a night out after two weeks of filming and were chaperoned by the welfare team.
'They continued the party at their home in one of the apartments in Wembley, where producers put them up during the series to live with their new spouse.
'But the night took an unexpected turn, and three cast members were reprimanded the next day for their actions.
'The entire cast were spoken to either as individuals or in their couples by CPL Productions and were warned about how serious the situation was and to not do the same again.
'But the contestants who weren't involved felt the decision to punish them as a group was 'unfair' and they ended up being treated like children.'
Married At First Sight UK sees singletons marry after meeting on their wedding day and begin living together as husband and wife at an apartment building in Wembley.
Viewers saw divorcee Laura Vaughan marry Arthur Poremba, both 34, on Monday night's launch episode as well as sales manager Jay Howard, 31, say 'I do' to Luke Worley, 30.
The cast this year includes Ella Morgan, 29, who is the first transgender contestant to take part and in Tuesday's instalment she marries pansexual model and reality star Nathanial Valentino, 36.
Sales manager Jay Howard said 'I do' to Luke Worley and the newlyweds appeared to hit it off after meeting for the first time on their wedding day
Viewers saw divorcee Laura Vaughan (pictured) marry Arthur Poremba on Monday night's launch episode
The cast this year includes Ella Morgan, who is the first transgender contestant to take part and in Tuesday's instalment she marries pansexual model and reality star Nathanial Valentino
Last week, MailOnline told of how the reality series had sparked a 'fakery' row after pretending that Nathanial was not aware he was marrying a trans woman.
The broadcaster admitted that they told the groom in advance of the TV ceremony despite him acting shocked at the revelation.
During last year's series former contestant George Roberts was accused of being emotionally abusive by three ex-girlfriends, claims which he denies.
His TV wife, former Miss Great Britain April Banbury confessed that she needed therapy after marrying George and said the 'traumas' from being on the E4 show had been 'ruining her life.'
Speaking last October, she said: 'People say Love Island is brutal, but MAFS is 100 per cent worse.
'No one should apply to take part until they put in place more stringent background checks.'
A Channel 4 Spokesperson told MailOnline: 'The welfare of all contributors on Married At First Sight UK is of paramount importance.
'Each individual agrees to a standard of behaviour before commencing filming and we take appropriate action on a case-by-case basis if contributors fall below that standard.'
Rio de Janeiro Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton officially married his high school sweetheart Ella Walter over the weekend.
The Aussie swimmer, 27, tied the knot with Walter on Saturday, September 16 at Stones of the Yarra Valley in Victoria.
Walter looked stunning in a white voluminous Mariana Hardwick gown and her brown hair was tied back in a tight bun with a middle part.
The bride wore black pumps with diamond detailing on the tips.
As for Horton, the athlete looked dapper in a black suit, while his hair was neatly styled.
Photos by Oli Sansom of Briars Atlas. Instagram @briarsatlas
The newlyweds shared several photos to their Instagram account showing off their special day.
'Married,' they captioned their post.
In one photo, Horton tears up as he watches his bride walk down the aisle.
'And now Im going to cry again,' one friend commented.
'This moment was everything,' added another.
Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton officially married his high school sweetheart Ella Walter over the weekend. Both pictured
A friend also wrote: 'The most amazing wedding and the couple took everyones breath away.'
Among the stars who attended the nuptials were fellow swimming champions Cody Simpson and his girlfriend Emma McKeon.
Meanwhile, several swimming greats flooded the comments to send their well wishes, including Olympic gold medallists Gian Rooney, Bronte Campbell and Grant Hackett.
The Aussie swimmer, 27, tied the knot with Walter on Saturday, September 16 at Stones of the Yarra Valley in Victoria Among the stars who attended the nuptials were fellow swimming champions Cody Simpson and his girlfriend Emma McKeon. Both pictured
'@___ellawalter you stunner! So happy for you both,' Rooney wrote.
Horton and Walter announced their engagement in January 2022, with the swimmer sharing a gorgeous photo to his Instagram page of Walter beaming as she showed off her stunning trilogy diamond engagement ring.
'To the rest of our lives,' Horton captioned the snap alongside a Champagne emoji.
In the photo, Walter, who works as a nurse, appeared to have just emerged from the surf with wet brunette tresses and a beach setting in the backdrop.
Horton and Walter announced their engagement in January 2022, with the swimmer sharing a gorgeous photo to his Instagram page of Walter beaming as she showed off her stunning trilogy diamond engagement ring
She looked understandably elated as she rested her head in the palms of her hands, proudly showing off her elegant three-stone engagement ring.
Horton made headlines back in 2021 when he clocked the slowest leg for Australia in the heats of the men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics.
The athlete, who won gold in the 400m freestyle at the previous Games in Rio de Janeiro, was dropped from the team for the final, where Australia claimed bronze behind Great Britain and Russia.
He had predicted his omission from the relay final, moments after the heats, where Australia qualified second fastest.
Horton made headlines back in July when he clocked the slowest leg for Australia in the heats of the men's 4x200 metre freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics
The athlete, who won gold in the 400m freestyle at the previous Games in Rio de Janeiro, was dropped from the team for the final, where Australia claimed bronze behind Great Britain and Russia. Pictured during the devastating heat
'Probably not as good as I was hoping,' Mack told Channel Seven afterwards.
'It was probably not good enough to get through to the final team which is heartbreaking but we got the team through and that's all that matters.
'It was a privilege to be part of it.'
Mack left Tokyo with a bronze medal for his swim in the relay heats.
Despite a disappointing showing in Tokyo, Mack indicated he plans to continue swimming and has his sights set on a third Olympics in 2024 in Paris.
Nicole Kidman's adopted daughter Bella Kidman Cruise made a rare social media appearance on Monday.
The artist, 30, posted an image of herself in a white dress that exposed her arms and showed off her numerous tattoos as she gazed into the camera.
Bella, who was adopted by Nicole and then-husband Tom Cruise in 1992, captioned the image, 'what a summer'.
Bella and her brother Connor (born in 1995) have both endured a strained relationship with the To Die For actress over the years.
However Nicole, 56, reportedly hopes to have all her children present when she is handed the Life Achievement Award at the The American Film Institute (AFI) ceremony.
Nicole Kidman's adopted daughter Bella Kidman Cruise made a rare social media appearance on Monday. Pictured
Touted by the institute as 'America's highest honor for a career in film' Nicole will be the first Australian actor to be given the nod.
The Oscar winning actress is reportedly hoping to have all her children present, including her two adopted kids with ex-husband Tom.
'Nicole knows Connor is extremely loyal to his dad so she doesn't expect him to come, but the invitation is there for both of them,' an alleged source tells New Idea.
'It's an event they have every right to celebrate along with the rest of Nicole's family,' they continued.
Nicole, 56, reportedly hopes to have all her children present when she is handed the Life Achievement Award at the The American Film Institute (AFI) ceremony. Pictured this month
'Nicole is trying to limit her expectations, but is clinging to hope Bella might make it'.
The event was originally set to take place on June 10, but has since been postponed to a later date.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to representatives for Nicole Kidman for comment.
Isabella, known as Bella, and Connor, are the only children Tom, 60, and Nicole, 55, share together.
Connor was adopted by Kidman and the action star not long after he was born in 1995, but the exact timeline remains unclear.
Sister Isabella was adopted by the couple three years earlier in 1992.
Bella and her brother Connor (born in 1995) have both endured a strained relationship with the To Die For actress over the years
'Nicole knows Connor is extremely loyal to his dad so she doesn't expect him to come, but the invitation is there for both of them,' an alleged source tells New Idea. Connor is pictured
The last photo of Nicole in public with her two oldest children was taken in March 2007 at the Kids' Choice Awards in LA
The Hollywood pair - who got married in 1990 - divorced in 2001.
The Top Gun: Maverick actor also shares daughter Suri Cruise, 17, with ex-wife Katie Holmes.
Meanwhile, the Moulin Rouge actress shares daughters Sunday Rose Kidman Urban, 14, and Faith Margaret Kidman Urban, 12, with husband Keith Urban.
Tom and Connor have been spotted out on occasion attending sporting events together.
Nicole has said in the past that she prefers to keep her relationship with her kids private.
Isabella, known as Bella, and Connor, are the only children Tom, 60, and Nicole, 55, share together. Bella pictured with her parents and brother Connor in 1996
Lily James looked typically chic as she arrived at the Vogue 100 x Erdem dinner at the National Portrait Gallery during London Fashion Week on Monday.
The actress, 34, was joined by Billie Piper, Alexa Chung and Erin O'Connor who all looked glamorous as they arrived at the lavish event.
Lily flashed her washboard abs in a black crop top, teamed with a polka dot cropped blazer and skirt.
She boosted her height in a pair of stilettos and styled her brunette locks up in a messy bun.
Meanwhile, Billie donned a stylish blue denim jacket and maxi skirt co-ord, teamed with white leather nee-high boots.
Gorgeous: Lily James looked typically chic as she arrived at the Vogue 100 x Erdem dinner at the National Portrait Gallery during London Fashion Week on Monday
Glamorous: The actress, 34, was joined by Billie Piper , Alexa Chung and Erin O'Connor who all looked glamorous as they arrived at the lavish event
Alexa turned heads in an eye-catching yellow maxi dress, teamed with sheer tights and heels.
Meanwhile, Erin looked elegant in a figure-hugging green embellished dress and leather knee-high boots.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw showed off her incredible figure in a green skin-tight gown as she arrived at the venue.
Lily recently gave fans a glimpse at her week away with pal Poppy Delevingne and another friend at the Sha Wellness Clinic in Alicante, Spain, last month.
The star took to Instagram to share a number of pictures from her trip, including one of the trio each wearing white dressing gowns as they sat in front of a beautiful view.
Lily captioned her post: 'What a wonderful week. I feel totally rejuvenated - thank you to all the doctors & therapists who so kindly took care of me.
'And I got to do it with two of my besties and the BEST girls. It was so special. A week to remember - beyond grateful.'
In her romantic life, the actress reportedly rekindled her relationship with rocker Michael Shulman this summer, just five months after they split.
Lily was seen backstage as she supported Queens of the Stone Age bassist Michael, 37, during his band's performance during Glastonbury Festival in June.
Chic: Lily flashed her washboard abs in a black crop top, teamed with a polka dot cropped blazer and skirt
Incredible: Billie donned a stylish blue denim jacket and maxi skirt co-ord, teamed with white leather nee-high boots
Bold: Alexa turned heads in an eye-catching yellow maxi dress, teamed with sheer tights and heels
Glam: Erin looked elegant in a figure-hugging green embellished dress and leather knee-high boots
Gorgeous: Ella Richards wowed in a black and purple patterned midi dress
Stunning: Gugu Mbatha-Raw showed off her incredible figure in a green skin-tight gown as she arrived at the venue
The couple were said to have split in February after growing apart following a two-year romance.
A source told the Mirror: 'Lily and Mikey have always adored each other and have lots of fun together.
'Time apart has made them realise how much they missed each other and now they're picking up where they left off.
'They looked close at Glasto. Neither is putting any pressure on it they're just seeing how it goes.'
Ashley Judd after shattering her leg in a 2021 hiking accident walked the stage on Monday to deliver remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City.
The 55-year-old actress wore a long blue floral print dress with short sleeves as she took the stage after being introduced by Chelsea Clinton, 43.
Ashley showed a little leg with a small slit in her dress and completed her outfit with silver flats.
She accessorized with a earring, bracelets and ring for the event held at the Hilton Midtown Hotel.
Ashley had her dark hair down around her shoulders and accentuated her natural beauty with full makeup including rosy cheeks and pink lipstick.
On stage: Ashley Judd after shattering her leg in a 2021 hiking accident walked the stage on Monday to deliver remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York City
Ashley also stood on the stage standing next to Chelsea as Hillary Clinton, 75, addressed the audience.
The Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also spoke at a podium during the event.
Ashley in August gave fans a health update on Instagram and shared that she was walking again after suffering the serious leg injury in February 2021.
She posted images of herself standing and walking in Switzerland.
Ashley wrote in a caption, 'Walking. Switzerland. After 5 breaks in right leg, a paralyzed foot, possible amputation, all while hemorrhaging, my leg and I have come far in 2.5 years since my accident in Democratic Republic of Congo.'
The carousel of images featured the star smiling from ear-to-ear as she stood in front of a waterfall in the Alps.
'We came far up these Alps, for the sheer joy of it, confidently. Ongoing gratitude of profound proportions to the Congolese who saved me, and the surgeons, neurologist, and physical therapist who set me up for this stunning recovery,' Ashley added in the note.
She then asked her audience, 'How are you celebrating your blessings?'
Walking again: The 55-year-old actress wore a long blue floral print dress with short sleeves as she strode on the stage after being introduced by Chelsea Clinton, 43
Midtown meeting: Chelsea looked on as Ashley spoke onstage during the meeting
Hair down: Ashley had her dark hair down around her shoulders and accentuated her natural beauty with full makeup including rosy cheeks and pink lipstick
Cute smile: The actress smiled as Chelsea introduced her at the event
Ashley in a recent essay in The New York Times described finding her mother, country star Naomi Judd, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The actress wrote how her mother's suicide in April 2022 was 'the most shattering day of my life.'
'The trauma of discovering and then holding her laboring body haunts my nights,' she wrote.
The need to 'Keep Going' is the theme of this year's Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, as Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea have convened political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conferences return last year after a six-year hiatus.
'Giving up and giving in is a surefire guarantee that we will not make progress on the major challenges that face us,' Bill Clinton said in his opening statement. 'Being distracted and majoring in the minors may be momentary good policy, but its a terrible way to run a railroad - or a country.'
Late mother: Ashley is shown in Los Angeles in March 2013 with her late mother Naomi Judd who died of suicide in April 2022
Center stage: Hillary Clinton took center stage and spoke as Chelsea and Ashley looked on
UN ambassador: The Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) also spoke at a podium during the event
Walking again: Ashley in August gave fans a health update on Instagram and shared that she was walking again after suffering the serious leg injury in February 2021
Harrowing essay: Ashley in a recent essay in The New York Times described finding her mother, country star Naomi Judd , suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head
Maintaining progress: The need to 'Keep Going' is the theme of this year's Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, as Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea have convened political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conferences return last year after a six-year hiatus
CGI announced numerous new programs Monday that it hopes will gather new monetary commitments and engagement, including gender equality and continued support for the people of Ukraine.
Hillary Clinton announced that gender equality will now be the fourth pillar of CGI's activities, along with fighting climate change, economic inclusion and public health issues.
'It is time to close the wage gap once and for all,' Hillary Clinton said. 'It is time to protect and expand access to reproductive health care, abortion and quality maternity care once and for all. It is time to ensure that every girl everywhere can get the education she deserves.
CGI plans to announce the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, as well as numerous financial pledges, to support nonprofits working in the country.
The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday.
In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference.
The Real Housewives of Orange County's Shannon Beador - ahead of her DUI arrest in Newport Beach, California on Saturday evening in which she drove into a house - had gossiped about castmate Gina Kirschenheiter's past drinking and driving arrest in a recently-aired episode of the Bravo series.
In the episode that aired last month, the 59-year-old reality star was seen in a scene in which she spoke about Kirschenheiter's 2019 DUI arrest in a discussion with Jennifer Pedranti, 46.
Beador said that Kirschenheiter, 39, was 'about to get arrested' and that the three kids she shares with ex-husband Matthew Kirschenheiter - Nicholas, 10, Sienna, eight, and Luca, six - 'would've gone to Child Protective Services' if she hadn't intervened with her contacts with prosecutors.
The uncomfortable topic came up in the next week's show, as the ladies were carving pumpkins, as Tamra Judge, 56, told Beador that Kirschenheiter was aware she had been talking about the four-year-old incident.
Judge said: 'So I will have to tell you, Gina took me aside evidently, um, Jenn told her you brought up CPS at your party? That CPS was coming for her kids?'
The latest: The Real Housewives of Orange County's Shannon Beador, 59, had gossiped about castmate Gina Kirschenheiter's past drinking and driving arrest in a recently-aired episode of the Bravo series. Beador was arrested in connection with DUI Saturday
Beador disregarded that her earlier words had been filmed for the Bravo reality series, and claimed that Pendranti had lied about the claims she had made in the prior episode.
Beador said: 'Jenn, you said that I said CPS was coming for Gina's kids? What are you talking about? I would never say that!'
'God strike me dead, that's when I know I didn't say something, OK? So stop stirring s*** up, Jen - Jesus Christ.'
In the segment, Kirschenheiter said that she was never in jeopardy of losing custody of her children following the drunken driving arrest.
'It is not true,' Kirschenheiter said. 'Nobody gets a DUI and then their kids are taken from them! Let's let this go.'
Kirschenheiter also refuted the notion that Beador said, claiming that police officers 'were scheduled to be' at her home to arrest her.
Kirschenheiter said: 'No they weren't, they weren't scheduled. How do you know? Did you clock in with the cops?'
Kirschenheiter said in a confessional segment on the show that she was upset by Beador propagating the untrue information about her.
In the episode that aired last month, the reality star was seen in scenes in which she spoke about Kirschenheiter's 2019 DUI arrest
Kirschenheiter, 39, shares with ex-husband Matthew Kirschenheiter - Nicholas, 10, Sienna, eight, and Luca, six
The uncomfortable topic came up in the show as the ladies were carving pumpkins, as Tamra Judge , 56, told Beador that Kirschenheiter was aware she had been talking about the four-year-old incident
'Shannon says s*** and then she wants to pretend that she didn't do it, and if you can say things that are that f***ing hurtful and not even remember you said it, you need to go f***ing check yourself into rehab,' she said.
In Kirschenheiter's 2019 arrest, she missed a court hearing and a bench warrant was subsequently issued for her arrest.
The no show was explained that Kirschenheiter's lawyer was not notified that a request to delay the hearing; a criminal defense lawyer Beador helped Kirschenheiter acquire got the warrant overturned.
In the confessional, a weepy Kirschenheiter explained why she was so upset about the claims.
'I have put my children before f***ing everything, so to insinuate the authorities would remove my children, that they would see me as an unfit parent, is f***ed up,' she said.
According to TMZ, Beador was arrested Saturday in the luxe Orange County city, as authorities said she hit a house, parked in the middle of a street and pretended she was walking her dog.
She was taken into custody in connection with DUI alcohol and hit and run, and subsequently released without bond. Her vehicle was seized by authorities.
The Real Housewives of Orange County can be seen on Bravo every Wednesday at 8/7c.
Kim Kardashian confidently showcased her toned frame in a slew of throwback vacation photos that she uploaded to Instagram on Monday.
The SKIMS founder, 42, who recently unveiled her daughter, North West's, latest painting masterpiece, was joined by close pals Natalie Halcro and Olivia Pierson for the tropical getaway.
The TV personality uploaded the head-turning snaps to her 364 million fans and followers that had been taken once the bright sunshine had set below the horizon.
She could be seen flaunting her slim waist wearing a plunging, black bikini top as well as low-waisted, loose-fitting ripped jeans that were left unbuttoned for a sultry flare.
The businesswoman slipped into a pair of nude-colored, open-toed sandals to stay comfortable during the nighttime excursion.
Fashionable: Kim Kardashian, 42, confidently showcased her toned frame in a slew of vacation throwback images that she uploaded to Instagram on Monday
Memorable getaway: The SKIMS founder was joined by close pals Natalie Halcro and Olivia Pierson for the memorable, tropical getaway
Her long, dark locks were slicked back into a stylish up do, preventing any loose strands from falling onto her face.
The reality star could be seen easily holding her smartphone in her hand while pausing for an assortment of snaps with her friends during the girls trip.
Media personality and WAGS star, Natalie Halcro, stunned in a nude-colored bikini top as well as comfortable sweatpants.
She threw on a matching, hooded sweatshirt on top that she chose to leave unzipped and draped the outer piece down towards her elbows. Her voluminous locks were parted in the middle, and effortlessly flowed down past her shoulders.
Fellow WAGS alum, Olivia Pierson, flaunted her toned frame wearing a silver, two-piece swimsuit that was made from a shiny material.
The TV personality threw on a long-sleeved, black sheer dress on top to show off the bikini underneath. She completed her look by slipping into a pair of dark brown, open-toed shoes.
The fashionable trio struck a pose while using what appeared to be a ping-pong table as a prop. The mother of four sat on the edge of one side as she flashed a small smile towards the camera.
While Natalie fully sat on the other side, Olivia opted to place her hands on top of the table and casually leaned forward as she puckered her lips.
Vacation style: She could be seen flaunting her slim waist wearing a plunging, black bikini top as well as low-waisted, loose-fitting ripped jeans that were left unbuttoned for a sultry flare
Having a blast: The businesswoman slipped into a pair of nude-colored, open-toed sandals to stay comfortable for the memorable beach trip
Scenic: In one of the photos, Kim and her close pals could be seen strolling outdoors with a large vacation home in the near distance
In another photo, the group gathered close together as they looked through Natalie's phone. They were also captured strolling along the bricked patio with a scenic vacation home lit up in the near distance.
Kim simply captioned the Instagram carousel by typing out, 'Vacation vibes,' and the post has currently garnered a whopping 1.6 million likes.
The Kardashians star has been holding onto the summer season with fall quickly racing in. On Sunday, she uploaded a separate photo series where she showcased her toned abs in a dark, skimpy bikini as she snapped a quick selfie.
The beauty lounged on a large towel near a shimmering swimming pool, and also included breathtaking views of the ocean as well as a colorful sunset.
The mother of four also jumped to her Instagram stories to proudly show her daughter, North's, latest painting of an ocean sunset earlier Sunday. She added text towards the bottom of the snap and wrote, 'North's new painting.'
Two years earlier in 2021, the reality star had previously shared seven-year-old North's impeccable, landscape oil painting that included a mountain, river and also trees.
However, social media users accused North of painting the piece by numbers, while others accused the seven-year-old of not being 'the actual artist' of the piece.
At the time, the reality star came to her daughter's defense, while others did as well, including the CBO of Kim's KKW Brands, Tracy Romulus.
Soaking up the sun: On Sunday, she uploaded a separate photo series where she showcased her toned abs in a dark, skimpy bikini as she snapped a quick selfie
Breathtaking view: The beauty lounged on a large towel near a shimmering swimming pool, and also included breathtaking views of the ocean as well as a colorful sunset
Proud: The mother of four also jumped to her Instagram stories to proudly show her daughter, North's, latest painting of an ocean sunset
Kim and her family have been filtering through a busy schedule, and North not only made a milestone in regards to her artwork, but will also make her debut on the big screen later this month.
The 10-year-old was cast to voice the character of Junior Patroller Pomeranian, Mini, while her mother tackled the role of a poodle named Dolores in the upcoming animated film, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.
The project is slated to hit theaters in the U.S. later this month on September 29, and next month in the U.K. on October 13.
Kim will also appear in the 12th season of the hit anthology series, American Horror Story: Delicate, which will premiere on Wednesday, September 20 on FX.
The anticipated season is based on the novel titled, Delicate Condition, written by Danielle Valentine - with Kardashian portraying the character of Siobhan Corbyn.
Previous work: Two years earlier in 2021, the reality star had previously shared seven-year-old North's impeccable, landscape oil painting that included a mountain, river and also trees
Keeping busy: Kim will also appear in the 12th season of the hit anthology series, American Horror Story: Delicate, which will premiere on Wednesday, September 20 on FX
The star-studded cast also includes Emma Roberts, Cara Delevingne, Billie Lourd, Denis O'Hare, Leslie Grossman, Matt Czuchry, Michaela Jae Rodriguez, as well as Zachary Quinto.
Back in May while attending the 2023 MET Gala, the reality star briefly opened up about her appearance in the show and told Variety at the time, 'We start shooting my stuff at the end of this month. But production has already started and I'm so excited.'
'It's really fun to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new and grow. I'm so excited for the experience,' she gushed, adding that she also took acting classes to prepare for the role. 'It's a challenge. I like to challenge myself.'
Also later this month, Kim and her family will appear in the fourth season of the Hulu hit series, The Kardashians, which is slated to release on September 28.
Nine years after the first John Wick movie became a surprise hit, John Wick: Chapter 4 seemingly closed the book on the film franchise... but there's a chance he could return.
Reeves, 59, was seemingly killed off in John Wick: Chapter 4, which hit theaters in March and took in a franchise-best $187.1 million domestically and $426.5 million worldwide from a reported $100 million budget.
The end of the film seems to indicate Reeves' title character is dead, with Winston (Ian McShane) and The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburn) even visiting John's grave.
The franchise will continue with the prequel TV series The Continental, debuting on the Peacock streaming service on September 22.
Producer Basil Iwanyk revealed in a new interview with Collider that Reeves wanted to be 'definitively killed off' in the fourth movie... but added there is a '10% little opening' that he could return.
Franchise: Nine years after the first John Wick movie became a surprise hit, John Wick: Chapter 4 seemingly closed the book on the film franchise... but there's a chance he could return
Return: Producer Basil Iwanyk revealed in a new interview with Collider that Reeves wanted to be 'definitively killed off' in the fourth movie... but added there is a '10% little opening' that he could return
'After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movie, making these films is so exhausting and it destroys Keanu, physically and emotionally,' Iwanyk began.
'By the end, hes always like, "I cant do this again," and we agree with him. The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes off and goes for it,' he added.
'He was like, "I wanna be definitively killed at the end of this movie." We were like, "You know, well leave a 10% little opening,"' Iwanyk revealed.
'We all want another John Wick. We dont know what it looks like and when it will happen, but we love each other and we love this world," he continued.
'Its gonna be all hands to try to figure it out. Have we figured it out? No. And if we cant figure it out, will there be one? No, of course not. No one is gonna try to just jam it for the sake of jamming it,' Iwanyk admitted.
The producer added that himself, Reeves and director Chad Stahelski (who was Reeves stunt double on The Matrix) have become such good friends they want to keep making John Wick movies just to work with each other again.
'Weve all become such good friends and we all like each other so much and were all so tickled by the success of these movies, critically and commercially that we all think to ourselves, "Okay, how do we get the band back together, in a way that merits a good story in the next evolution of John,'"' Iwanyk said.
'At this point, its Keanu and Chad [Stahelski] getting together to figure out what that story is. The way I describe it is that theyre like Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and Im Ringo. Theyll call me and let me know, "All right, were showing up. Heres where you show up, and heres what our story is,"' he admitted.
Exhausting: 'After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movie, making these films is so exhausting and it destroys Keanu, physically and emotionally,' Iwanyk began
Going off: 'By the end, hes always like, "I cant do this again," and we agree with him. The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes off and goes for it,' he added
Good friends: 'Weve all become such good friends and we all like each other so much and were all so tickled by the success of these movies, critically and commercially that we all think to ourselves, "Okay, how do we get the band back together, in a way that merits a good story in the next evolution of John,'"' Iwanyk said
The John Wick franchise has grossed over $1 billion worldwide, and is one of the few franchises that improves both its domestic and worldwide gross after each film.
The first John Wick movie - directed by Stahelski and David Leitch - was produced on just a $20 million budget and earned $43 million domestic and $86 million worldwide.
The second movie - John Wick: Chapter 2 - earned $92 million domestic and $174.3 million worldwide from a $40 million budget.
The third movie - John Wick: Chapter 3 - took in $171 million domestic and $328.3 millon worldwide from a $75 million budget.
Dakota Fanning was effortlessly stylish as she stepped out for some retail therapy on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood on Monday.
The actress, 29, made a fun fashion statement in a bold striped black-and-white maxi dress, which she wore with black flip flops.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star - who recently joined Denzel Washington on the big screen once again, 20 years after their hit film Man on Fire - slicked her blonde tresses back in a bun for the outing.
Dakota shielded her eyes with a pair of black sunglasses, and sported a black shoulder bag on one arm, and a white tote bag on the other.
The star appeared to go makeup-free for the outing, and was spotted chatting on her cellphone while making her way through the shopping district.
Bold stripes! Dakota Fanning was effortlessly stylish as she stepped out for some retail therapy on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood on Monday
The outing comes after Dakota enjoyed a reunion with her Man On Fire co-star Denzel.
Dakota and the Oscar winner, 69, appeared together in the third and final part of the Equalizer trilogy: The Equalizer 3.
Fanning portrays a CIA agent sent to Italy to investigate mafia activity when she meets up with Robert McCall (Washington).
The former government assassin has relocated to Southern Italy in an attempt to move on with his life and reconcile some of the atrocities he has committed in his past.
McCall enjoys the slow pace of life and quickly builds friendships in the sleepy village and for a while it appears that he has managed to fulfil his wish to start afresh.
But McCall soon realises that his new community is under the control of local crime bosses and of course, he feels compelled to act on their behalf.
The Equalizer 3 is currently out in cinemas, after being released on August 31.
The fan favorite pairing previously starred in 2004 action/thriller Man on Fire with Denzel playing a CIA officer turned bodyguard who sacrifices himself for his kidnapped young ward.
Monochrome: The actress, 29, made a fun fashion statement in a bold striped black-and-white maxi dress, which she wore with black flip flops
Reunited: The outing comes after Dakota enjoyed a reunion with her Man On Fire co-star Denzel Washington, in their new film The Equalizer 3; pictured during photocall in Italy
20 years in the making: The fan favorite pairing previously starred in 2004 thriller Man on Fire with Denzel playing a CIA officer turned bodyguard who sacrifices himself for his kidnapped young ward; seen in a still
Leading lady: Fanning is keeping her schedule busy, and has also signed on to star in the upcoming thriller feature The Watchers; she is seen in 2020
Fanning is keeping her schedule busy, and has also signed on to star in the upcoming thriller feature The Watchers.
The movie will also serve as Ishana Night Shyamalan's directorial debut, according to Deadline.
The Watchers will be adapted from A.M. Shine's novel of the same name, which was published in 2021.
The movie will be centered on an artist named Mina, who finds herself lost in a forest located in western Ireland.
The character then becomes trapped with three strangers who are the subjects of nightly stalking from various creatures.
Ishana's father, M. Night Shyamalan, will serve as one of The Watcher's executive producers.
Rebel Wilson is holidaying in her native Sydney alongside American fiancee Ramona Agruma.
And the Wilsons embraced Ramona as one of the family on Monday, when she dined out with Rebel's extended relatives.
Rebel, 43, Ramona and the family were celebrating her lookalike sister Annachi's birthday at an upscale restaurant.
The Pitch Perfect star couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she sat with Ramona and celebrated Annachi.
The star shared a group photo of the happy-looking bunch as they ate a set menu at the Sydney restaurant.
Rebel Wilson introduced fiancee Ramona Agruma to her extended family as they all celebrated her lookalike sister Annachi's birthday in Sydney on Monday. All pictured
Rebel was seen in a polka dot blouse alongside Ramona, who opted for a pretty floral dress for the occasion.
'Happy birthday Annachi Wilson,' Rebel wrote. She also shared a close-up photo of Annachi with the Instagram sticker, 'Birthday Girl.'
Rebel, whose full name is Rebel Melanie Elizabeth Wilson, is the eldest of her three siblings.
'Happy birthday Annachi Wilson,' Rebel wrote. She also shared a close-up photo of Annachi with the Instagram sticker, 'Birthday Girl'
Fans were left shocked after discovering the names of her family, including her younger sister Liberty, born two years later in 1982.
Also in the family is her brother Ryot, who was born in 1988; and Annachi, who was born in 1992.
Rebel grew up in the Sydney suburb of Castle Hill and attended the University Of NSW, where she graduated with a law degree.
Rebel and Ramona have been spotted around Sydney all week, including at The Rebel Theatre, a venue the comic actress helped build, in Dawes Point.
Rebel and Ramona have been spotted around Sydney all week, including at The Rebel Theatre, a venue the comic actress helped build, in Dawes Point
The actress grew up in Sydney and graduated from the University of NSW with a law degree
It comes after Rebel opened up about the possibility of adding another child to her family.
The performer expressed that she had considered the idea of becoming a mom-of-two during an interview with E! News and also stated that she was considering undergoing IVF treatments.
The actress, who recently spoke about her attraction to women, also remarked that she was perfectly fine being the mother of a single child if she would not be able to welcome another one into her life.
Wilson began by expressing that she had often considered the idea of welcoming a sibling for her daughter Royce, aged one.
The Senior Year actress shares her daughter with her fiancee Ramona whom she initially met in 2021. Pictured
She stated: 'I'm definitely thinking about it, yeah. I would like to have another child.'
The Senior Year actress shares her daughter with her fiancee Ramona whom she initially met in 2021.
The pair eventually began dating, and they made their red carpet debut in March of last year.
Wilson subsequently revealed that she had welcomed Royce via surrogate in November.
The Pitch Perfect actress shocked many when she announced her engagement via Instagram this past February.
Jordyn Woods showcased her incredible curves in a revealing ensemble while making an appearance as part of London Fashion Week on Sunday.
The 25-year-old social media star looked effortlessly cool in an all-black look that featured an edgy crop top constructed of belts covering her chest that she wore to MAC Cosmetics' The Face show.
She shared more views of her sizzling outfit to her Instagram on Monday while writing that, 'It's almost Libra season.'
The skimpy look left little to the imagination and barely covered her prominent bust, though she also had on a blazer to make it slightly more modest.
It was a busy trip to the fashion destination for Jordyn, who also made appearances at the Chet Lo show in London, as well as a party thrown by Valentino.
Stunner: Jordyn Woods, 25, shared photos to Instagram on Monday from her appearance at MAC's The Face show for London Fashion Week from Sunday
Risque: The 25-year-old social media star looked effortlessly cool in an all-black look that featured an edgy crop top constructed of belts covering her chest
Jordyn opened with some photos of herself seated at a table at the MAC show.
Jordyn showed off her brilliant white smile wearing her straight red hair in a side part as her long locks cascaded down her shoulders.
She had on a stylish set of barely tinted glasses over her impeccably made-up face, and she also held up her hands to highlight her long pale pink nails.
She removed the $30 Giant Vintage 'Lithium Futuristic' sunglasses for a better view of her face in a follow-up snap, and subsequent steamy photos highlighted her skimpy outfit.
Her strappy crop top appeared to have one large belt running across her bust, while two thinner belts were tied above and below it over chest and midriff.
Jordyn covered up the rest of the top with her edgy black blazer, which had an image of jeans printed on it.
She complemented the jacket and belted top with a simple black midi skirt, and she added some more flash with a set of pointy silver heels that glowed in the light.
The one-time nemesis of the KardashianJenner clan also accessorized with several thick rings and large hoop-like earrings.
Showing off: The skimpy look left little to the imagination and barely covered her prominent bust, though she also had on a blazer to make it slightly more modest
Long hair, don't care: Jordyn opened with some photos of herself seated at a table at the MAC show. Jordyn showed off her brilliant white smile wearing her straight red hair in a side part as her long locks cascaded down her shoulders
Barely there: Her strappy crop top appeared to have one large belt running across her bust, while two thinner belts were tied above and below it over chest and midriff
On point: She complemented the jacket and belted top with a simple black midi skirt, and she added some more flash with a set of pointy silver heels that glowed in the light
Sparkler: The one-time nemesis of the KardashianJenner clan also accessorized with $30 Giant Vintage 'Lithium Futuristic' sunglasses, several thick rings, and large hoop-like earrings
Jordyn has been making the most of her time at London Fashion Week with several other eye-catching ensembles.
She showcased her hourglass figure in a sheer textured lavender dress with black gloves at the David Koma show also on Sunday before debuting a pale orange crop top and mini skirt with a conical non lastyle hat, all of which was covered in what looked like tiny horns, at the Chet Lo show on Monday.
She also toned things down a bit at Monday's Perfect X Valentino party with a multicolored mini dress and a long black duster with scarlet heels.
She flew out for London Fashion Week shortly after making an impression on the US East Coast for New York Fashion Week.
Jordyn's prominence at the major fashion shows comes after she cemented her renewed friendship with Kylie Jenner after a years-long break in their friendship.
The two cut ties in 2019 after Tristan Thompson, the then-fiance of Kylie's sister Khloe Kardashian, kissed Jordyn at a party.
After news of the kiss broke, Khloe and Tristan split and Kylie broke off contact with Jordyn.
However, Jordyn and Kylie shocked their fans in July of this year when they were spotted reuniting over a sushi dinner in Los Angeles.
Fashion star: Jordyn has been making the most of her time at London Fashion Week with several other eye-catching ensembles
No fuss: She also toned things down a bit at Monday's Perfect X Valentino party with a multicolored mini dress and a long black duster with scarlet heels
No beef: Earlier this month, she highlighted her renewed friendship with Kylie Jenner in their first TikTok in four years
Since then, the two have taken the process of renewing their friendship slowly.
Earlier this month, they showed their fans that things were still going well when they filmed their first TikTok in four years.
Kylie filmed herself and Jordyn in a series of mirror selfie videos as they did some retail therapy at Acne studios.
Jordyn looked chic in a green-tined denim skirt with a brown sport coat, while Kylie wore a partially unbuttoned striped white shirt with black jeans.
Australian vegan activist Tash Peterson has been mysteriously booted off Instagram.
The Perth-based star's account, @vganbooty, disappeared from the social media site on Monday with her 22,000 followers unable to see her content.
When directed to her account on Instagram's website, the page error reads: 'Sorry, this page isn't available.'
The vegan OnlyFans star appears to still be active on other social media apps, however, as she recently posted on X and Facebook.
Tash has been travelling with her boyfriend Jack Higgs in Norway and she recently posted a photo of them gazing at the Northern Lights.
Australian vegan activist Tash Peterson (pictured) has been mysteriously booted off Instagram
'Northern lights and animal abuse free wood fired pizza on a veganic permaculture farm,' she wrote.
Her last racy photo shared to X was on September 11, where she stood in a hottub while wearing a skimpy string bikini and flashed her backside to the camera.
Tash made headlines a few months ago when she was issued with a 12-month ban from entering any venues that serve alcohol after becoming involved in an ugly exchange with chef John Mountain at his Perth restaurant Fyre on June 30 and July 8.
The Perth-based star's account, @vganbooty, disappeared from the social media site on Monday with her 22,000 followers unable to see her content
Tash has been travelling with her boyfriend Jack Higgs in Norway
She later released shocking footage of her burning a police notice banning her from all pubs and restaurants in Western Australia.
John had banned vegans from his restaurant prompting Tash to stage protests outside his venue.
She disturbed diners by playing loud audio of squealing pigs while shouting about the 'animal apocalypse'.
'I don't comply to this any more, I don't accept this serving notice,' the model and vegan protestor said, before burning a piece of paper.
Tash has gained nationwide fame with her racy public protesting
Tash also plugs her OnlyFans handle on her other social media accounts
In doing so Tash not only rejected the police order, originally issued by Joondalup Police, she challenged the authority of WA's court system.
'I will continue to go into restaurants and places with liquor licenses if they are profiting and serving animal abuse, torture, enslavement and murder,' she said.
'No-one can stop me from bringing to light the largest holocaust in history where trillions of non-human people are brutally murdered simply for human pleasure.'
In the clip, which she posted to her social media channels, she claimed the notice was 'a complete misuse of the law'.
'This notice is designed for disorderly, drunken and violent people not animal rights activists.
Tash was issued with a 12-month ban from entering any venues that serve alcohol after becoming involved in an ugly exchange with chef John Mountain at his Perth restaurant Fyre on June 30 and July 8
'They are using it in an attempt to silence me, to stop me from bringing light to the animal holocaust in many venues.
John is now suing Tash for defamation, claiming she trashed his business online and harassed his diners during angry protests.
Countless social media posts combined with in-person demonstrations inside his restaurant have left him with no other option, he told A Current Affair last week.
'I constantly get daily death threats, and terrible emails and its just too much,' John said.
John has lived in Australia for seven years after arriving from Britain where he was a celebrity chef who shared an agent with kitchen superstar Jamie Oliver, he also starred in cooking shows the Great British Menu and Chef Race UK v US.
Kate Winslet went above and beyond to make sure she could finish her new film Lee, including paying crew salaries herself.
The 47-year-old actress plays model-turned-WWII-photographer Lee Miller in the biopic, adapted from 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose.
Winslet and producer Kate Solomon opened up about the film to Vogue (the outlet the real Miller photographed for during the war), where it was revealed that Winslet - who hit the red carpet for Vogue World last week - not only paid for crew salaries but even fought through injuries.
The first day on set, Winslet was rehearsing a sequence where Lee was running down the streets of the French city Saint-Malo while it was under bombardment in 1944, when she slipped and injured her back.
'I had three massive hematomas on my spine, huge. I could barely stand up,' Winslet revealed, with the actress somehow still sticking to the grueling schedule while working through the pain.
Above and beyond: Kate Winslet went above and beyond to make sure she could finish her new film Lee, including paying crew salaries herself
Model-turned-photographer: The 47-year-old actress plays model-turned-WWII-photographer Lee Miller in the biopic, adapted from 1985 biography The Lives of Lee Miller by Antony Penrose
As for the actress paying crew salaries, it was revealed that the film's financing was 'precarious,' and at one point during pre-production, she, 'personally covered two weeks of wages to keep things going.'
Producer Kate Solomon described Winslet as, 'indefatigable,' adding, 'Kate held the film in her.'
'If you spoke to her about any aspect of it, she knew what her opinion was. And when you have that, you can galvanize everyone behind that person,' Solomon added.
'It looks effortless, but having lived with her, you can say: My God, it is a lot of work to get to that point.
Antony Penrose, the real Lee Miller's son and biographer, revealed that he thought Winslet would have made a great Lee Miller when he saw Titanic.
'When I saw Kate all those years ago in Titanic, what I loved was that she wasnt afraid to get wet, to get dirty, to fall in the water, to get roughed up. I thought she would make a fantastic Lee Miller,' Penrose said.
Winslet was said to be involved in every stage of the production, even in bringing on female writers in Liz Hannah (The Post) and Marion Hume, a former editor-in-chief of Vogue Australia and an expert on Miller.
She even worked closely on casting, bringing on comedian Andy Samberg to play Life photographer David Scherman, Miller's close friend, in Samberg's first dramatic role.
Precarious: As for the actress paying crew salaries, it was revealed that the film's financing was 'precarious,' and at one point during pre-production, she, 'personally covered two weeks of wages to keep things going'
Kate's film: Producer Kate Solomon described Winslet as, 'indefatigable,' adding, 'Kate held the film in her'
A great Lee: Antony Penrose, the real Lee Miller's son and biographer, revealed that he thought Winslet would have made a great Lee Miller when he saw Titanic
'I couldnt say no to acting opposite Kate Winslet,' Samberg admitted, adding, 'Shes incredible. I knew this [movie] would be of a certain quality, no matter what, because of her.
She even helped coordinate Samberg's flights so he could minimize his time away from his children in Los Angeles.
'She said: "Were going to make it happen for you, dont worry." She was just thorough somehow able to sway the creative flow of things in a positive way,' Samberg added.
Lee debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, though it is unclear when it will get a theatrical release.
Judge, 56, commented Monday on the arrest on her podcast Two Ts in a Pod
Tamra Judge said that Shannon Beador didn't say a word about her DUI arrest when they spoke Sunday, a day after Beador was arrested in connection with DUI alcohol and hit-and-run in Newport Beach, California.
'I talked to Shannon yesterday, she didn't say a word to me - nothing,' The Real Housewives of Orange County star, 56, said of Beador, 59, Monday on her Two Ts in a Pod podcast with Teddi Mellencamp.
An emotional Judge added: 'She said, "It's been a rough couple of days," and that's all she told me.'
According to TMZ, Beador was arrested Saturday in the luxe Orange County city, as authorities said she hit a house, parked in the middle of a street and pretended she was walking her dog.
Beador's vehicle was seized by authorities, and she was was subsequently released without bond.
The latest: Tamra Judge, 56, said that Shannon Beador, 59, didn't say a word about her DUI arrest when they spoke Sunday, a day after she was arrested in connection with DUI alcohol and hit-and-run in Newport Beach, California.
Judge said that when she heard about Beador's arrest 'at first, [she] didn't think it was true' and was 'shook' and nauseous as she continued to learn the details of the incident.
'I feel like I'm going to throw up,' Judge said on Monday's edition of the podcast, which also featured Cynthia Bailey, 56.
Judge said she didn't know any further details about Beador's arrest, adding, 'All I'm seeing is what's in the press.'
Judge appears in a traveling comedy tour titled 'Tres Amigas' with Beador and RHOC mainstay Vicki Gunvalson, 61. She said that Beador was 'extremely quiet' as they were promoting the show on a conference call Sunday.
Judge characterized the impact of Beador's arrest as 'life-changing,' adding that she was relieved there were no injuries in the incident.
'I feel bad for her, and I'm just happy nobody got hurt,' said Judge, who posted an image of herself with Beador and Gunvalson embracing on Instagram Monday in a show of support.
Mellencamp, 42, said she didn't understand why Beador didn't call for a ride after consuming alcoholic beverages.
Mellencamp said 'there is absolutely no reason in this day and age to ever drink and drive,' noting that she will not drive after drinking under any circumstance.
'I will not even have one drink and get into the car,' she said, 'because you don't know how an alcoholic beverage is going to hit you.'
Judge and Beador were seen in a spirited exchange on a recently-aired episode of RHOC
Beador had been 'arrested at 1:17 a.m. on Sept. 17 after fleeing the scene from a collision that caused property damage,' police said. Pictured in LA in October
Bailey said she hoped Beador would 'stay strong' as she faces the fallout of the crash and her arrest.
Beador's lawyer Michael Fell told DailyMail.com Monday: 'Shannon is extremely apologetic and remorseful.
'We will be awaiting the official information on this case as it becomes available, and Shannon is prepared to accept full responsibility for her actions.'
The Newport Beach Police Department told People Monday that Beador had been 'arrested at 1:17 a.m. on Sept. 17 after fleeing the scene from a collision that caused property damage.'
She was 'booked for two misdemeanors - hit-and-run and DUI alcohol;' and 'released on a citation.'
Bravo personality Jeff Lewis, who is a friend of Beador's, said that Beador 'was injured' and is 'going to be recovering' in the aftermath of the incident.
'Shannon and I have been friends for a very long time,' Lewis said on his SiriusXM show. 'I was shocked - she called me yesterday and we talked for awhile - and I was shocked because I've never known Shannon to ever, ever drink and drive.
'I will tell you she's accepting full accountability. She is ashamed, she's embarrassed. I personally, as her friend - cause people are like, "Oh she needs rehab," "Oh she's an alcoholic" - I don't think Shannon is an alcoholic.'
Judge posted an image of herself with Beador and Vicki Gunvalson embracing, in a show of support
Judge appears in a traveling comedy tour titled 'Tres Amigas' with Gunvalson and Beador
He added: 'I think she's been going thorough a lot of personal struggles right now, and I think she has been leaning on alcohol - but I don't think she's an alcoholic.'
Lewis said that Beador is 'going to be entering counseling this week' following the accident and arrest.
The Real Housewives of Orange County can be seen on Bravo every Wednesday at 8/7c.
Dr Trisha Stratford was allegedly in the 'happiest stage of her life' right before she died at the age of 72 on Monday.
Friends of the former Married At First Sight expert made the heartbreaking admission on Tuesday when they opened up about her well-being in her final days.
The neuropsychotherapist had 'so much planned' for her future and was excited to begin a new chapter of her life before she passed, reported Yahoo Lifestyle.
Trisha's 'heartbroken' former MAFS co-star John Aiken shared a post about her tragic passing on Monday, saying he was 'devastated' over the news.
'We shared an amazing seven seasons of MAFS together. She loved everything: New Zealand, relationships, the All Blacks, the Black Caps, French wine and travelling the world. I'll miss you Tish,' he said.
Dr Trisha Stratford (pictured) was allegedly in the 'happiest stage of her life' right before she died at the age of 72 on Monday
Nine also said in a statement: 'We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Dr Trisha Stratford.
'Our sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathies go out to her family and those closest during this difficult time.'
Stratford's cause of death has still not been revealed.
Several former MAFS participants have since taken to Instagram to express grief at the loss of their former confidante.
Friends of the former Married At First Sight expert made the heartbreaking admission on Tuesday when they opened up about her well-being in her final days. Pictured with her partner Roger
Elizabeth Sobinoff, who appeared on the show in season six and seven, commented: 'She was so genuine and so kind to me. She was so bright and a safe space.'
Season five star Sarah Roza also commented: 'Ohhh my gosh, this is such awful and unexpected news! Rest in peace Trisha. You were ALWAYS just so lovely to me.'
Trisha, who hailed from New Zealand, joined the Nine show in its first season in 2015, starring alongside relationship gurus John Aiken and Sabina Read.
The neuropsychotherapist had 'so much planned' for her future and was excited to begin a new chapter of her life before she passed, reported Yahoo Lifestyle
Sabina was later replaced by current expert Mel Schilling.
During her time on the show, Trisha was known for her 'pheromones test' and for asking participants whether they had been 'intimate' with each other.
Trisha announced her decision to leave the franchise in 2020.
'After seven seasons of Married At First Sight I have decided to step back from the television series to focus on my writing, research and neuropsychotherapy,' she said in a statement at the time.
Anya Taylor-Joy was classically chic as she stepped out with her 'husband' Malcolm McRae for a lavish shopping trip in Beverly Hills on Monday.
The Queen's Gambit actress, 27, who recently stunned at the star-studded opening of a flagship Tiffany & Co store in Tokyo, joined the musician, 29, as they stopped by luxurious shops on the iconic Rodeo Drive.
The Golden Globe winner opted for stylish comfort wearing a short-sleeved, little black dress that was partially unbuttoned around the neckline.
She slipped into a pair of black loafers to coincide with the monochromatic color scheme of her outfit.
The beauty was seen carrying a black purse in her hand by the straps to hold a few items she needed during the weekday outing.
Stylish: Anya Taylor-Joy, 27, was classically chic as she stepped out with her 'husband' Malcolm McRae for a lavish shopping trip in Beverly Hills on Monday
Her blonde locks were parted in the middle, and effortlessly cascaded down past her shoulders in light waves.
Anya threw on a pair of oval-shaped, black shades for a fashionable flare and to protect her eyes from the bright, California sunshine.
A black hair tie was placed around her right wrist in case she wanted to toss her long locks into an up do later in the day.
Malcolm stayed close to The Menu actress during their relaxing shopping outing and was seen sporting a black, turtleneck sweater as well as loose-fitting trousers.
The music artist slipped into a pair of sleek, brown shoes and easily held his smartphone in his hand as they strolled along a busy sidewalk.
The star was first linked to McRae in 2021, and the lovebirds officially confirmed their relationship by making their red carpet debut in March 2022 while attending the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party.
Soon after, Anya notably broke her silence on her relationship during an interview with British Vogue.
At the time, she gushed, 'I've finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading. We're basically 80 years old and 7 at the same time, and it works really well.'
Classic: The Golden Globe winner opted for stylish comfort wearing a short-sleeved, black dress that was partially unbuttoned around the neckline
Lavish outing: Malcolm stayed close to The Menu actress during their relaxing shopping outing and was seen sporting a black, turtleneck sweater as well as loose-fitting trousers
She also sweetly expressed, 'I said to my partner the other day that he was my hobby,' while also stating that the couple do long distance at times which she admitted was 'hard.'
'But it's also kind of great because when you're together you're really valuing the time that you have,' the star explained.
'Everyday mundane activities are so full of joy. I love going to the petrol station with him and filling up the car and going to get breakfast.'
Rumors later arose that the pair have already secretly tied the knot, with Page Six reporting that Anya and Malcolm said 'I do' in July 2022 during an intimate courthouse wedding after one year of dating.
The couple have yet to publicly comment or confirm reports that they have tied the knot.
While spending quality time with McRae, the actress has also been filtering through a busy schedule of her own.
Earlier this month, she whisked herself away to Tokyo to celebrate the grand opening of a Tiffany & Co flagship store. She joined other A-listers at the festivities, such as Hailey Bieber and Florence Pugh.
Anya turned heads and exuded Old Hollywood style wearing a strapless, figure-hugging white gown with sculptural details on the fabric for a dramatic flare.
Lovebirds: Rumors later arose that the pair have already secretly tied the knot, with Page Six reporting that Anya and Malcolm said 'I do' in July 2022 during an intimate courthouse wedding; seen in April in NYC
Keeping busy: Earlier this month, she whisked herself away to Tokyo to celebrate the grand opening of a Tiffany & Co flagship store
Her locks were pulled back into a chic bun to prevent any loose strands from falling onto her face.
The Emma actress accessorized her look with a glittering, rhinestone necklace as well as a dainty bracelet on her right wrist.
She slipped into a pair of open-toed, white strappy heels to coincide with the color scheme of her ensemble for the glitzy event.
Anya is notably a global brand ambassador for the luxurious jewelry company and has also starred in campaigns for Tiffany & Co.
The Kardashians producer-star Kourtney Kardashian showed off her strong bond with stepson Landon Asher Barker while sweetly helping him promote his new song Friends With Your Ex, which drops this Friday.
The not-so-typical teenager - turning 20 next month - reportedly wrote his upcoming single about his famous girlfriend Charli D'Amelio's ex-boyfriend Chase Hudson.
Landon and the expecting 44-year-old lip-synched the lyrics: 'I was friends with your ex / you were with him when we met / guess he hasn't found out yet / but I know he's going to kill me when he sees me with you.'
Barker - who boasts 7.4M social media followers - ended his TikTok on Sunday by performing his secret handshake with Kourtney.
In the comments, TikTok users marveled 'the handshake is everything' and 'he loves his step mama and you can tell' and 'she really treats him like her own.'
'We had to run it up!' The Kardashians producer-star Kourtney Kardashian showed off her strong bond with stepson Landon Asher Barker while sweetly helping him promote his new song Friends With Your Ex
Drops this Friday! The not-so-typical teenager - turning 20 next month - reportedly wrote his upcoming single about his famous girlfriend Charli D'Amelio's ex-boyfriend Chase Hudson
She's also grown close with 17-year-old stepdaughter Alabama Luella Barker, who enlisted Kardashian's 11-year-old daughter Penelope Scotland Disick to appear in one of her TikTok videos last year.
'I just think having another family member is always awesome,' Alabama gushed to E! News last Saturday.
'Getting to know a new person, it's gonna be so fun and so exciting!'
The Poosh founder also has two sons - Mason, 13; and Reign, 8 - from her on/off nine-year relationship with Talentless CEO Scott Disick, which ended in 2015.
Kourtney's husband - Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker - also raised 24-year-old stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya during his second marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler, which ended in 2008 after three years.
The Calabasas neighbors-turned-married couple of 16 months suffered a health scare earlier this month when Kardashian had life-threatening emergency fetal surgery for their first child together, a son.
The half-Armenian socialite also showed emoji love to her 47-year-old hubbie's Grammy-nominated rock band, who release their new single One More Time this Thursday followed by the album on October 20.
Blink-182 - including bassist-vocalist Mark Hoppus and guitarist-vocalist Tom DeLonge - will next bring their 93-date world tour to Prague's O2 Arena this Tuesday.
Landon and the expecting 44-year-old lip-synched the lyrics: 'I was friends with your ex / you were with him when we met / guess he hasn't found out yet / but I know he's going to kill me when he sees me with you'
Skin, fist bump, snap! Barker - who boasts 7.4M social media followers - ended his TikTok on Sunday by performing his secret handshake with Kourtney
'This is a huge flex!' In the comments, TikTok users marveled 'the handshake is everything' and 'he loves his step mama and you can tell' and 'she really treats him like her own'
'When somebody asks us if we like pineapple on pizza': She's also grown close with 17-year-old stepdaughter Alabama Luella Barker (R), who enlisted Kardashian's 11-year-old daughter Penelope Scotland Disick (L) to appear in one of her TikTok videos last year
2020 family portrait: The Poosh founder also has two sons - Mason, 13; and Reign, 8 - from her on/off nine-year relationship with Talentless CEO Scott Disick (L), which ended in 2015
His ex: Kourtney's husband - Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker - also raised 24-year-old stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya (R, pictured in 2019) during his second marriage to Miss USA 1995 Shanna Moakler (L), which ended in 2008 after three years
'I am eternally grateful': The Calabasas neighbors-turned-married couple of 16 months suffered a health scare earlier this month when Kardashian had life-threatening emergency fetal surgery for their first child together, a son
Three hearts! The half-Armenian socialite also showed emoji love to her 47-year-old hubbie's Grammy-nominated rock band, who release their new single One More Time this Thursday followed by the album on October 20
'If you keep one more secret from me, I'm going to have a meltdown': Landon will next appear in the 10-episode third season of his 19-year-old TikTok star girlfriend's (R) reality show The D'Amelio Show, which premieres this Wednesday on Hulu
Kourtney will eagerly await Travis' next big break, which takes place between October 23-February 7.
Kardashian will next executive produce and star in the 10-episode fourth season of The Kardashians, which premieres September 28 on Hulu.
On May 7, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians spin-off triumphantly won the best docu-reality series trophy at the 2023 MTV Movie & TV Awards.
The University of Arizona grad was the first member of her family to star in a reality show - The Simple Life-inspired eight-episode series Filthy Rich: Cattle Drive, which aired in 2005 on E!
Meanwhile, Landon will next appear in the 10-episode third season of his 19-year-old TikTok star girlfriend's reality show The D'Amelio Show, which premieres this Wednesday on Hulu.
She's a Hollywood actress and one of the new stars of the Neighbours reboot.
But Mischa Barton has revealed she is no stranger to Australia.
The 37-year-old British born actress, who rose to fame in The O.C., first came Down Under as a teen, and has been back many times since.
'I have spent a bit of time here prior to this year,' the actress told Who Weekly.
Mischa was 15-years-old when she made a Disney movie A Ring of Endless Light on the Gold Coast in 2002.
Mischa Barton has revealed she is no stranger to Australia. Pictured
The 37-year-old British born actress, who rose to fame in The O.C., first came Down Under as a teen, and has been back many times since. Pictured on the set of Neighbours
'My character could talk to dolphins, which was very funny and sweet. We filmed at Sea World and in the ocean, which was fun.
'I've been back for many things - I've done the outback, I like to go to Sydney quite a bit and I have friends in Melbourne.'
Mischa began her career as a child actress in Hollywood films like The Sixth Sense and Notting Hill, which were both released in 1999.
However, she became a bona fide superstar when she was cast as troubled teenager Marissa in the hit TV series The O.C., which ran from 2003 to 2007.
Mischa was 15-years-old when she made a Disney movie A Ring of Endless Light on the Gold Coast in 2002. Pictured
It comes after Mischa revealed it was Neighbours veteran Kylie Minogue who inspired her to accept a role on the iconic Australian soap.
'I was familiar with it, probably the same things that most people recognise about the show, like Kylie Minogue and the fun stuff,' she told the Herald Sun.
'So when the producers approached me about the role, I thought the character of Reece Sinclair was a very good fit.'
The Amazon Prime reboot of Neighbours is already screening on Channel 10 and 10Play and is set to drop on the streaming giant on September 25.
Terri Irwin recently joined Instagram and has now recruited her two-year-old granddaughter Grace Warrior to help her gain more followers.
The Irwin matriarch, 59, shared a video to the social media platform on Monday capturing both Grace and her son Robert, 19, spruiking her account.
'Bunny has Instagram!' young Grace tells the camera before Robert jumps into frame and explains that Bunny is what the toddler calls Terri.
'That's right! And the Bunny in question is right here,' Robert says before he is joined by Terri who thanks her family for promoting her account.
'I'm so excited to be joining. I'm new at this so Robert's going to help me. I'll sneak in a few baby Robert stories and we'll have a great time. I'm one of the cool kids now,' Terri tells the camera.
Terri Irwin recently joined Instagram and has now recruited her two-year-old granddaughter Grace Warrior to help her gain more followers. Pictured: Terri Irwin and her son Robert
Terri currently has 250,000 followers on the platform, well behind her daughter Bindi's 5.5million fans and Robert's 4.2million, both of whom have been on the platform much longer than her.
The Oregon born conservationist also shared a photo of Grace resting on her knee as the pair relaxed at a scenic riverside location.
Grace was born in March 2021 and is the daughter of Terri's daughter Bindi and her American husband Chandler Powell.
Bindi and Chandler first met in November 2013 when Chandler, who hails from Florida, was touring Australia for a wakeboarding competition.
The young couple were married on March 25, 2020 and Grace was born exactly one year later, on their first wedding anniversary.
The Irwin matriarch, 59, shared a video to the social media platform on Monday capturing both Grace (pictured) and her son Robert, 19, spruiking her account
'Bunny has Instagram!' young Grace tells the camera before Robert jumps into frame and explains that Bunny is what the toddler calls Terri
Earlier this year, it was reported that Bindi's daughter is set for television stardom and one family insider believes the two-year-old could become even more famous than her grandfather Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin.
'She is an absolute natural in front of the camera. It's believed she could be an even greater entertainer than Steve. She's so bright and funny,' the source told New Idea.
Grace is the granddaughter of legendary Wildlife Warrior Steve 'The Crocodile Hunter' Irwin, who died at 44 in 2006, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray while filming a documentary in Batt Reef, off the coast of Queensland.
'I'm so excited to be joining. I'm new at this so Robert's going to help me. I'll sneak in a few baby Robert stories and we'll have a great time. I'm one of the cool kids now,' Terri said
The noise his latest red carpet appearance inevitably generated had died down on Monday as Woody Allen enjoyed a day out in Barcelona with his family.
The controversial director, 87, was greeted by a mixture of boos and cheers while promoting his latest movie at the Venice Film Festival on September 5.
But he welcomed a more subdued response from onlooks while taking in the sights with wife Soon-Yi Previn, 52, and their adopted daughters Bechet and Manzie Tio in the Catalan city.
Allen linked arms with Bechet, 24, while Previn walked alongside 23-year old Manzie Tio as the family made their way to a local art gallery after enjoying a lunch date with friends.
The filmmaker was seen taking the weight off his feet by stretching out on the gallery steps as oblivious visitors milled past.
Stepping out: The noise his latest red carpet appearance inevitably generated had died down on Monday as Woody Allen enjoyed a day out in Barcelona with his family
In good company: The controversial director took in the sights with wife Soon Yi-Previn and their adopted daughters Bechet and Manzie Tio in the Catalan city
Allen was hand-in-hand with Previn as they arrived at the Venice Lido ahead of his latest film's 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.
Previn is the adopted daughter of Woody's ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow.
Farrow and Allen had been together since 1979, but that all changed 13 years later when the director, then 55, and Previn, then 21, were caught having an affair.
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.
Helping hand: Allen linked arms with Bechet, while Previn walked alongside Manzie Tio as the family made their way to a local art gallery
Don't mind us: Allen and Previn mingled with fellow visitors as they made their way around the Catalan gallery on Monday
That's better: The filmmaker was seen taking the weight off his feet by stretching out on the gallery steps as oblivious visitors milled past
'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.
'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.
Controversy: Allen's wife Previn is the adopted daughter of his x-girlfriend Mia Farrow
Helena Christensen looked sensational as she joined stunning Charli Howard to host the Coco de Mer 2023 Icons even in London during Fashion Week.
The former Victoria's Secret Angel, 54, wore a ruffled black mini dress with tinsel detail that glistened under the lights.
The quirky number featured a plunging neckline that showed off her lace bra top, while she boosted her height with some strappy heels.
Charli, 32, also opted for an all-black look, wearing a silk cami dress with a cowl neck and lace detailing.
She topped her outfit off with a pair of opaque stockings and some black stiletto heels.
Helena Christensen, 54, looked sensational as she joined stunning Charli Howard, 32, to host the Coco de Mer 2023 Icons even in London during Fashion Week
Chic: The former Victoria's Secret Angel (L) wore a ruffled black mini dress with tinsel detail that glistened under the lights while Charli (R) also opted for an all-black look
The duo posed for photos together before showing off the lingerie brands latest collection and mingling with the guests.
Alongside her work, Helena is currently an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The mother-of-one has made two trips to Colombia on behalf of UNHCR in Vogue, the first being in 2015.
After her returned from her second trip in September, Helena wrote a piece in Vogue about her experiences.
She wrote: 'Last month, when UNHCR asked me to return to Colombia, I immediately agreed. Since I was on Colombian soil for the first time, more than 2.4 million refugees from Venezuela have arrived.'
Helena finished with a request: 'I invite you to show support and solidarity...for all the people who have been forcibly displaced in the world.'
On Instagram, she said: In Colombia there are 6.8 million people internally displaced by violence and persecution.
'UNCHR works in hard-to-reach areas across Colombia which makes a difference for the communities affected by forced displacement.'
Glitzy: The quirky number featured a plunging neckline that showed off her lace bra top, while she boosted her height with some strappy heels
Sophisticated: Charli wore a silk cami dress with a cowl neck and lace detailing
Pose: She topped her outfit off with a pair of opaque stockings and some black stiletto heels
Incredible: The model posed for a slew of sultry photos by the window
Pals: Charli was joined by Alex Scott (L) and Jess Glynne (R) at the event
Dapper: Josh Smith was also in attendance
VIP: The model posed for a photo with CEO & Owner of Coco de Mer Lucy Litwack
Girls: Helena's mother Elsa (L) wore a black embroidered dress as she joined her daughter and Lucy
Stylish: Laura Whitmore looked chic in a pair of wide leg trousers with a matching asymmetric top and cowl neck shawl neck coat set from Leem
Sleek: Alex stunned in a cardigan top and fitted black leggings
Beauty: Faiith Lynch put on a leggy display in a halterneck gown
Guest: Hello! editor Jill Wanless wore an elegant satin two-piece
When Helena is not working, she is hanging out with long-term friends Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington or fellow European Eva Herzigova.
Helena's career has seen her strut down catwalks around the world and pose in her underwear, but she also said she was a very shy child.
She revealed how it was down to her mother that she became the more confident woman she is today after she sent her to acting classes to 'learn how to express myself more', she told The Sunday Times.
From then on, she did child modelling and was crowned Miss Denmark as a teenager before becoming an icon of the fashion world, heralding the era of the supermodel along with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista.
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Joel Edgerton and Christine Centenera always cut chic figures when they head out on the town.
The Australian actor and his Vogue editor partner attended the Burberry show at London Fashion Week on Monday and made a fine pair.
The 49-year-old star opted for a white shirt matched with loose trousers in the same tone.
He added a bomber jacket and a pair of chunky sneakers as well as designer sunglasses.
His 40-year-old partner chose a velvet top with pointed shoulders and a cinched in waist.
Joel Edgerton and Christine Centenera always cut chic figures when they head out on the town. Both pictured
She added a pencil skirt with a daring split as well as unusual blue heels with a floral design.
The couple stuck close together as they posed for photos before taking their front row seat at the show.
The sighting comes after Christine recently replaced Edwina McCann as Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Australia.
The tastemaker, who also has her own label Wardrobe.NYC, has worked for the magazine since 2012.
The Australian actor and his Vogue editor partner attended the Burberry show at London Fashion Week on Monday and made a fine pair
The 49-year-old star opted for a white shirt matched with loose trousers in the same tone
He added a bomber jacket and a pair of chunky sneakers as well as designer sunglasses
His 40-year-old partner chose a velvet top with pointed shoulders and cinched in waist
She added a pencil skirt with a daring split as well as unusual blue heels with a floral design
She will continue to report to McCann, who was promoted to Vogue Australia's Editorial Director and Publisher.
Meanwhile, Joel revealed that he and Christine had welcomed twin babies together in an interview with Oprah Daily in May last year.
He also confessed he'd been 'very nervous' he'd miss the babies' births in Sydney, because he was working in Queensland at the time.
They're the first children for the notoriously private couple, who started dating back in 2018.
Montana Brown has revealed she is currently using a leg brace after undergoing surgery recently.
The former Love Island star, 28, told how she has been 'horizontal all day everyday' since suffering an injury which she did not specify.
The reality star, who welcomed her son Jude with her fiance Mark O'Connor in July, shared snaps of herself lying in her hospital bed on Monday.
She wrote: 'Long road to recovery but taking this time where I'm not mobile to focus on gratitude and trying to be present.
'A week of needing assistance to go to the toilet and being horizontal all day everyday as I'm in agony has been hard.
Health: Montana Brown has revealed she is currently using a leg brace after undergoing surgery recently
Injury: The former Love Island star, 28, told how she has been 'horizontal all day everyday' since suffering an injury which she did not specify (pictured with fiance Mark O'Connor)
'But I'm v excited for recovery, getting back on my feet and getting back into my fitness as I've not been able to properly train since being pregnant. Onwards and upwards!'
Montana also shared several heartwarming snaps of herself cradling her son Jude along with one of her and Mark.
It comes after Montana was praised by social media followers after showing off her incredible postpartum figure in an orange and white bikini earlier this month.
The star took to Instagram to proudly show off her figure while enjoying a sunshine break in Marbella.
She captioned her post: 'Affirmation for the day: Im a hot mum'.
Montana was promptly praised for sharing an honest, unfiltered snap of herself, just seven weeks after giving birth.
She later thanked her friends, family and fans for being so kind and positive after she shared the empowering post.
She added: 'I actually have the best hype friends and community'.
Recovery: The reality star, who welcomed her son Jude with her fiance Mark O'Connor in July, shared snaps of herself lying in her hospital bed on Monday
Adorable: Montana also shared several heartwarming snaps of herself cradling her son Jude along with one of her and Mark
Montana wrote: 'Long road to recovery but taking this time where I'm not mobile to focus on gratitude and trying to be present'
Gorgeous: Montana showed off her incredible postpartum figure in an orange and white bikini in Marbella earlier this month
Taking to Instagram,, one fan wrote: 'And this is what we need to see more of whilst scrolling the gram!! Looking hot'
A second responded: 'Yeah she is!!!!'
While a third commented: 'Gorgeous gorgeous mummy. My body has changed so much after giving birth to my 4th baby, I feel seen.'
In response, a fifth wrote: 'You are!!'
Gorka Marquez shared a slew of adorable family snaps on Monday as he enjoyed his 'last weekend' at home before the first live Strictly Come Dancing.
With the BBC show kicking off on Saturday, the professional dancer, 33, will be plenty occupied in the next few weeks, training hard with his partner Nikita Kanda, 28.
Taking to Instagram on Monday, Gorka enjoyed every last minute of his special family time with fiancee Gemma Atkinson, 38, and their two children, Thiago, two months and Mia, four.
In one sweet picture, Gorka posed with daughter Mia before getting into the car.
The star kept things casual in a white T-shirt and black cap whilst snapping the selfie.
Sweet: Gorka Marquez shared a slew of adorable family snaps on Monday as he enjoyed his 'last weekend' at home before the first live show of Strictly Come Dancing
In another adorable snap, Gemma can be seen holding up her newborn son, with daughter Mia next to her.
Both Gemma and Mia can be seen gazing at Thiago adoringly, with Gemma showcasing her makeup-free beauty.
Also in the collection of pictures was Gemma busy on the phone, Mia watching TV in her pyjamas and giving her baby brother a sweet kiss on the cheek.
Captioning the post, Gorka wrote: 'Last one at home for a while...'
It comes after Gorka admitted that he thought about quitting Strictly due to missing out on time with his newborn son Thiago.
The professional dancer welcomed his second child Thiago in July.
But just days after the birth of his son, Gorka had to leave his family in Manchester to head to London to start rehearsals for the upcoming 2023 series of Strictly.
On last week's episode of their reality show Gemma and Gorka: Life Behind the Lens, Gorka told how he thought about quitting Strictly to be with his family.
Adorable: Taking to Instagram, Gorka enjoyed every last minute of his special family time with fiancee Gemma Atkinson, 38, and their two children, Thiago, two months and Mia, four
Cheeky: Gorka showed off his partner's behind as she chatted on the phone
Omg! Another adorable picture showed Mia giving her baby brother a kiss on the cheek
Cute: Clearly smitten by his family, Gorka also posted a photo of his daughter watching TV
In scenes filmed before the birth of Thiago, an upset Gorka admitted he was 'heartbroken' at having to leave Gemma and their newborn baby to go and rehearse.
'It's quite heartbreaking you know, to have to leave again a few days after Gemma gives birth and not be at home,' he confessed.
'In my head, it makes me think I want to quit and just be at home for the next three months, but at the same time, I need to do my job and work.'
Gorka also told how he missed out on the early days with his daughter Mia, four, as well because the Strictly rehearsals clashed with the birth of his first child.
Earlier in episode, Gorka admitted he was worried about missing the birth of their son Thiago, as Gemma remained pregnant just 12 days before he had to leave.
'I really don't want to miss the arrival of my son, so I am on a mission to speed things up,' Gorka said before heading to the shops to buy food in a bid to speed up the labour, including pineapple and dates.
Thankfully, Gemma went into labour just four days later and Gorka was able to be there for Thiago's birth via an elective caesarian section after a 28-hour labour.
After a few days of quality time together as a family, Gemma was left in tears as an emotional Gorka had to leave for London for five days for Strictly rehearsals.
Gemma admitted: 'Normally I'm fine with him going away and I will be fine this time, but I feel bad more for Mia now because she misses him so so much.
Cha cha charming! Gorka is partnered Nikita Kanda, 28, on the new series of Strictly
'I always say to him "she's fine, she's fine" but sometimes she'll cry for him and stuff but I don't tell him because I don't want him to be distracted at work, it won't change anything.
'So we do the whole "everything's fine" and then when he looks the other way I go [fakes crying].'
Filming himself from the car, Gorka said: I'm going to leave now, all packed, bags and luggage and everything. Come on Gorka don't be such a sad person, let's go.'
After waving off her partner, Gemma broke down in tears as she filmed herself, but told how she knows Gorka struggles more with leaving them than she does.
She said: 'That's him gone, five days, five days. I'm always like making jokes with Gorks because I know it's harder for him. Just hormones. Mia bless her will miss him loads, but this is the reality for so many families.'
Gorka and Gemma fell in love after meeting on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017 and have gone on to welcome two children together.
Linda Evangelista has claimed that ex-husband Gerald Marie abused her during their five-year marriage.
The Canadian supermodel, 58, was married to Marie, 73, between 1987 and 1993, during which time he was the European chief of Elite Model Management.
Discussing their relationship in Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models, Evangelista said: 'I learned that maybe I was in the wrong relationship.
'It's easier said than done to leave an abusive relationship. I understand that concept, because I lived it. If it was just a matter of saying, 'I want a divorce, see ya'... it doesn't work that way.
'He knew not to touch my face, not to touch the money-maker, you know?'
Accusations: Linda Evangelista has claimed that ex-husband Gerald Marie abused her. The pair were married between 1987 and 1993 (pictured in 1991)
She continued: 'I married him when I was 22 and I got out when I was 27 and he let me out as long as he got everything. But I was safe and I got my freedom.'
In 2020, Marie was accused of rape and sexual misconduct by seven women, with Evangelista admitting she believed their claims while praising their 'courage and strength'.
She went on to reveal that they had given her the 'courage' to speak out but that their allegations had 'broke my heart.'
She stated in the documentary: 'Thanks to the power of all these women coming forward, God bless all of them, it gave me the courage now to speak...
'I would love that justice be served. I would love for aholes like that to think twice and be afraid and I would love women to know that they're not alone.'
In a statement to Apple TV+, Marie denied the claims of abuse and said he 'has never committed the slightest act of violence'.
Marie's legal representatives told MailOnline: 'Gerald Marie firmly objects to the defamatory and false allegations made against him. He refuses to participate in this dishonest media controversy.'
Evangelista previously claimed that due to her 'own experiences' with Marie she believed allegations that he raped and sexually assaulted models in the 1980s and 1990s.
Marie was reported to have carried out the crimes while working for Elite modelling agency amongst other Paris agencies.
In a 2020 interview with the Guardian, she said: 'During my relationship with Gerald Marie, I knew nothing of these sexual allegations against him, so I was unable to help these women.'
Speaking to the Guardian's Weekend magazine, Evangelista said: 'Hearing them [the alleged victims] now, and based on my own experiences, I believe that they are telling the truth.
'It breaks my heart because these are wounds that may never heal, and I admire their courage and strength for speaking up today.'
One to watch: Evangelista made the claims while discussing their relationship in Apple TV+ documentary The Super Models
Accusation: One of at least 13 former models accusing Marie of rape, 53-year-old American model Carre Sutton says she was repeatedly assaulted by the model boss in 1985, when she was 16
Last year it was claimed that during their marriage, Marie ran a sordid sex ring from within his multinational modelling agency - where he allegedly raped more than a dozen models as young as 14.
He was accused of raping at least 13 Elite models - reportedly targeting younger women because he thought that 'virgins were not photogenic,' a former staffer said.
Marie also kept tabs on the models he and others had slept with, the whistleblower said, grading them on a points-based system, according to their ages and whether or not they were virgins.
He denied all allegations made against him.
Accusers also said the Frenchman would ply his victims with a daily stipend of cocaine to keep them thin while engaging in the abuse - with one alleged victim saying she was 'prescribed' a vial of the drug a day to keep her weight down.
One of at least 13 former models accusing Marie of rape, 53-year-old American model Carre Sutton says she was repeatedly assaulted by the model boss in 1985, when she was 16.
At the time, Marie was dating Evangelista - with Sutton claiming in a lawsuit against her ex-employer, filed last year, that several of the assaults took place in the Paris apartment the mogul shared with the model.
In February, French prosecutors closed the investigation into rape and sexual assault after concluding that the alleged crimes in the Eighties and Nineties took place too long ago to be prosecuted under French law which sets time limits for offences to be tried in court.
'The case was closed on 13 February because of the statute of limitations for public action,' the justice ministry said in a statement.
A lawyer for the businessman, Celine Bekerman, said her client 'welcomed the closing of this case. The justice system has finally triumphed despite the outrageous media campaign that Gerald Marie has suffered for two years.
'With this decision, it is now established that Gerald Marie is and will remain innocent.'
Journalist Lisa Brinkworth went undercover as a model for a BBC expose in the Nineties and previously said materials she filmed while working for Donal MacIntyre Investigates in 1998 could help in her legal action against Marie.
Lawyers for Brinkworth and the other accusers filed papers to the Paris prosecutor arguing the statute should not apply due to factors that prevented them reporting Marie sooner and a judge is currently assessing their evidence.
Brinkworth said she was hopeful that Evangelistas comments would boost their case and that she was grateful to the model for supporting their cause.
The journalist claims Marie sexually assaulted her in 1998 while she was working undercover alongside Donal MacIntyre to expose sex crimes in the industry for a BBC documentary.
She said: We understand how difficult it is to stand up to an abuser and to go public with our allegations; it must be even more so when you were married to that abuser.
Lindas courage has given us renewed hope that our journey has not been in vain. Linda should know that our hearts break all over again, for what we now know she endured.
She added: We hope that the bravery she has shown will encourage others to follow. Evangelista said the allegations from other women broke my heart, adding: I would love that justice be served. I would love for aholes like that to think twice and be afraid and I would love women to know that theyre not alone.
Evangelista has hit the headlines recently with her string of candid confessions in The Super Models, which sees the runway queen open up about her illustrious career alongside fellow supermodels - Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington - as they reflect on how they came to dominate the fashion industry.
The four-episode project also covers many of the struggles faced by the ladies - including Evangelista's battle with depression after she suffered from a rare reaction to the procedure known as CoolSculpting, which was designed to decrease her fat cells, but instead, made them become enlarged.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the project's directors Roger Ross Williams and Larissa Bill revealed how the mother-of-one, 58, could be seen 'processing her emotions in real time, on camera' as she reflected on her ordeal.
Roger, who won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film in 2009, explained: 'Larissa and I were in tears, and so was everyone in the crew. It was like an emotional interview from beginning to end, we were crying all the time. I'm surprised we even got anything.
'She was letting so much out that she had never talked about before. You see her feeling guilty and processing in real time on camera, and that was an incredible interview.'
Earlier this month, Evangelista revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and quietly underwent a double mastectomy five years ago.
In an interview with WSJ Magazine, the supermodel spoke out about her December 2018 diagnosis that led to her having a bilateral mastectomy before she found another lump in her chest last year.
Procedure: The model suffered from a rare reaction to a procedure known as CoolSculpting which was designed to decrease her fat cells, but instead, made them become enlarged (left 1995, right 2022)
Evangelista's first brush with cancer was detected during her yearly mammogram.
'The margins were not good, and due to other health factors, without hesitation, because I wanted to put everything behind me and not to have to deal with this, I opted for a bilateral mastectomy. Thinking I was good and set for life. Breast cancer was not going to kill me,' she said.
The supermodel said 'only a handful of people knew' about her cancer ordeal.
It's unclear if she had a breast reconstruction after her bilateral mastectomy.
Sam Armytage has recalled encountering a 'very touchy-feely' Russell Brand during a 2009 interview on Australian breakfast show Sunrise.
The former host of the Channel Seven program interviewed the British comedian during his tour of the country that year during what was described as an 'infamous and intimate encounter'.
Russell, now 48 and married to Laura Gallacher, was this week embroiled in a Dispatches expose that uncovered allegations of misconduct, rape and sexual assault - all of which he denies.
'Obviously he was always rather outrageous in his persona,' the 47-year-old Armytage told The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.
'But I do recall him being very touchy-feely and thinking it was pretty full-on given I didn't know him.'
Sam Armytage (pictured) has recalled encountering a 'very touchy-feely' Russell Brand during a 2009 interview on Australian breakfast show Sunrise
During the 2009 segment with Armytage, Brand seductively chewed on a banana and flirted with the blonde TV star, who was left blushing.
'If you was on my telly when I was a teenage boy, it would mess me up. I think you are gorgeous,' he quipped.
Armytage replied that the comment was 'kind' but Brand replied, 'It ain't kind it is just a bit rude.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Armytage asked Brand if he was a sex addict, to which he replied in mock shock, 'No! What? Sex addiction?'
During the 2009 segment with Armytage, Brand (pictured) seductively chewed on a banana and flirted with the blonde TV star, who was left blushing
Samantha interviewed the British comedian during his tour of the country that year during what was described as an 'infamous and intimate encounter'
Brand did admit he previously had a drug addiction, telling the host he used drugs, 'morning, noon and night' but had at that stage been sober for six years.
The clip is just one of many that have resurfaced days after Russell was accused of rape and sexual assault by four different women.
The allegations were laid bare in a joint investigation between The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches, which revealed a litany of accusations against the comedian-turned-wellness influencer.
The Metropolitan Police said it will speak to the media outlets in the wake of the accusations to probe Russell's alleged treatment of women, but added that at this time the force has 'not received any reports in relation' to the claims of sexual assault detailed in the article or documentary.
Russell strenuously denied the allegations in a YouTube video posted the day before the Dispatches special aired, in which he described the claims as 'serious' and 'disturbing'.
The clip is just one of many that have been resurfaced days after Russell was accused of rape and sexual assault by four different women. Pictured: Russell Brand in 2014
The comedian, actor and internet personality told his 6.5 million subscribers late on Friday night that there had been 'very, very serious criminal allegations' made against him which he 'absolutely refutes'
The comedian, actor and internet personality told his 6.5 million subscribers late on Friday night that there had been 'very, very serious criminal allegations' made against him which he 'absolutely refutes'.
Russell said he had received two 'extremely disturbing letters' from a 'mainstream media TV company' and a newspaper.
The father-of-two said the letters listed 'a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, which are untrue'.
Posting the video on X, where he has 11 million followers, he said: 'These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies. And as I've written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous.
'During that time of promiscuity the relationships I had were absolutely always consensual. I was always transparent about that then and I am being transparent about it now as well.
'And to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal that I absolutely deny makes me question is there another agenda at play,' he added.
Naomi Campbell made a low-key departure from the Perfect x Valentino party with Mohammed Al Turki during London Fashion Week on Monday night.
The supermodel, 53, shielded her eyes with a pair of large sunglasses as she left No.1 Mayfair, with the film producer, 37, leading the way.
She looked as glamorous as ever in a slinky, black halterneck gown with a tasseled coat.
Naomi boosted her height with a pair of black stiletto heels and added a slick of lipgloss to top off her look.
Meanwhile, Mohammed looked smart in an oversized white jacket with some smart trousers and a pair of black and white patent shoes.
Busy week: Naomi Campbell, 53, made a low-key departure from the Perfect x Valentino party with Mohammed Al Turki, 37, during London Fashion Week on Monday night
It comes after Naomi had a 'pre-menopausal hot flush' in a candid moment featured in the upcoming documentary, The Super Models.
The Apple TV+ docuseries sees the runway icon open up about her game-changing career alongside fellow super models Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington - as the legendary stars reflect on how they came to dominate the fashion industry.
During the start of the fourth episode, Naomi is seen getting flustered on the set of a photoshoot as she exclaims: 'I think Im going through menopause. Its pre-early menopause.'
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com about getting to capture the fashion superstar in such a candid moment, director Larissa Bill stated: 'It's such a real moment, isn't it? To see these women in these moments where you're like, "Oh, that's so relatable...and that's Naomi Campbell". It's so amazing.'
The London-born model is seen looking sweaty and flustered in the relatable moment as she huffs: 'I just got into a furnace.'
A male voice is then heard asking if she is okay, to which she responds: No, I think Im going through menopause. Its pre-early menopause. Pre-menopause.
When asked if she would like a little bit of wind to help her cool down, the model replies: Theres nothing you can do. It just happens. S**t, Lord.
One minute, Im fine. Next minute, just this furnace comes up why do men not get menopause?
Pals: The supermodel, 53, shielded her eyes with a pair of large sunglasses as she left No.1 Mayfair, with the film producer, 37, leading the way
On screen: It comes after Naomi had a 'pre-menopausal hot flush' in a candid moment featured in the upcoming documentary, The Super Models
Co-director Roger Ross Williams added: 'Naomi obviously goes through menopause, like every woman.'
Perimenopause is the stage before the menopause. During this time your hormones start to change but your periods have not yet stopped for good.
It usually happens in women between the ages of 45 and 60 and can last for a few months or several years. Once you havent had a period for 12 months or more, youve officially reached the menopause.
The mother-of-two is also heard saying in a confessional interview: Aging, your body changes and everything changes'
Vick Hope looked in good spirits as she stepped out for the first time since returning from her honeymoon with husband Calvin Harris.
The TV presenter, 33, cut a casual figure in a dark orange crop top that highlighted her toned midriff during an outing in London on Monday.
The broadcaster put on a leggy display as she slipped into a pair of denim shorts which she paired with Chanel flats.
Also wearing an open white shirt, Vick carried a denim jacket and sported a pair of stylish sunglasses.
Wearing her locks in a ponytail, the star completed her look for the outing with gold dangly earrings.
Radiant: Vick Hope looked in good spirits as she stepped out for the first time since returning from her honeymoon with husband Calvin Harris
Looking good: The TV presenter, 33, cut a casual figure in a dark orange crop top that highlighted her toned midriff during an outing in London on Monday
Vick and Calvin went on their honeymoon last week as they boarded a 25million private jet as they flew to Brindisi in Italy.
The chart topping DJ and the BBC Radio host married in a lavish Glastonbury-themed wedding on Saturday, September 9.
The couple are yet to officially release any pictures from their big day, however photos from the morning after the wedding show a glimpse inside the luxury and picturesque venue.
It looked like an incredible event as white teepees were dotted around the grounds alongside 80 lavish tents where guests stayed the night.
Food stands were set up for the after-party, with one for pizza, one for burgers and a Nigerian stall, as Vick is half Nigerian on her mother's side.
Calvin and Vick partied with their celeb pals, including Big Brother presenter AJ Odudu and BBC radio DJs Vernon Kay and Scott Mills and Vick's Radio 1 co-presenter Jordan North.
Laminated signs placed around the grounds guided guests on where to go, while one declared mobile phones were strictly prohibited to ensure the couple's privacy.
Nile Rodgers and Chic, who had been flown in from the US, performed at the raucous reception, with their equipment still left out.
Couple: Vick and Calvin went on their honeymoon last week as they boarded a 25million private jet as they flew to Brindisi in Italy (pictured in
Gorgeous: The couple went all out for the big day as they set up loads of white teepees and tents for the event housing dance floors, food tents and accommodation for the guests
Dating: Vick was jetting back and forth between Ibiza and the UK all summer to support her beau at his summer DJ season on the Island (pictured right with friends at Ushuaia last month)
Celebrations: Just two weeks ago, Vick enjoyed her boozy hen do as she partied with pals and even enjoyed a cheeky lap dance from some hunky men
A taped-up sign showed their setlist for the event, beginning with Luther Vandross's 1981 song Never Too Much.
The rest of the set included classic dance anthems, including hits from Madonna, Beyonce and Sister Sledge.
An insider revealed details of the couple's romantic vows to The Sun, which a source said were 'really emotional'.
They added that the marriage ceremony included poems like Ernest Hemingways If Theres Empty Spaces In Your Heart and Lori Eberhais Devoted.
The publication also revealed that the reception included a ten-minute firework display.
They play on-screen lovers in Netflix's intense crime drama, Top Boy.
But Adwoa Aboah and Jasmine Jobson were worlds away from their gritty fictional land on Monday as they attended the Perfect Magazine party with Valentino during LFW.
Dressed to impress for the chic soiree, Adowa, 30, looked nothing short of sensational in a figure-hugging red latex dress.
The socialite and Vogue cover girl wowed in the daring number, which clung to every inch of her enviable frame.
She paired the look with black strappy heels and carried a red clutch bag in hand.
Stunning: Adwoa Aboah and Jasmine Jobson were worlds away from their fictional world on Monday as they attended the Perfect Magazine party with Valentino during LFW
The beauty proved her model status as she posed up a storm ahead of the anticipated show.
Meanwhile, Jasmine, 28, looked incredible in a plunging blue-sequin playsuit.
The actress commanded attention in the racy piece, which cinched in at her slender waist with a large belt.
Complementing her look, she wore statement red heels and carried a baby blue bag over her shoulder.
Adwoa and Jasmine play lovers Jaq and Becks in Netflix's Top Boy.
The pair were lauded for their role in season four, in which their characters were attacked by a homophobic group of teens while on a date one evening.
Top Boy fans praised the 'powerful' ending to the last ever series that landed on Netflix last week.
The show originally aired in 2011 on Channel 4 before the station dropped it after two seasons.
Gorgeous: Adowa, 30, looked nothing short of sensational in a figure-hugging red latex dress
Sensational: The socialite and former Vogue cover girl put on a busty display in the daring number, which clung to every inch of her enviable frame
Stylish: She paired the look with black strappy heels and carried a red clutch bag in hand
Incredible: The beauty proved her model status as she posed up a storm ahead of the anticipated show
Jaw-dropping: Adwoa put her enviable frame on full display
Racy: Meanwhile, Jasmine, 28, looked incredible in a plunging blue-sequin playsuit
Chic: The actress commanded attention in the racy piece, which also featured a belt and clinch at the waist
Following interest from rapper Drake, the show was revived by Netflix in 2018, with the rapper and his team serving as executive producers.
Set on the fictional east London estate of Summerhouse, Top Boy is a crime drama that takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the lives of those who live in the ends.
To conclude this year's LFW, fashion A-listers gathered at the brand new eco-conscious 1 Hotel Mayfair to celebrate the launch of Perfect Issue Five and the hotel's official opening.
Co-hosted by Katie Grand and Valentino, the who's who of fashion, music and film descended onto the iconic London postcode for cocktails, canapes and dancing.
Guests enjoyed zero-waste Belvedere cocktails and canapes from two Michelin-starred chef Tom Sellers alongside DJ sets from Bessi, YoYo and Joe Goddard.
London Fashion Week 2023 took place from September 15-19, showcasing both menswear and womenswear.
After the pomp and ceremony came the hard graft as Zara McDermott prepared for another round of grueling Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals on Tuesday.
The former Love Island contest, 26, made her ballroom debut at Elstree Studios over the weekend, where she was partnered with Italian hunk Graziano Di Prima for the returning BBC show's twenty-first series.
But the glad-rags were traded for tight-fitting shorts and the heels ditched in favour of comfortable UGG slippers as she arrived at a local dance studio.
The TV personality completed her relaxed look with a black gym vest and appeared to go make-up free ahead of her latest rehearsal session.
With water bottle in hand, Zara was ready for a long day in the studio ahead of Saturday evening's show, when the competition kicks off and voting begins.
Here we go: After the pomp and ceremony came the hard graft as Zara McDermott prepared for another round of grueling Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals on Tuesday
Casual: The glad-rags were traded for tight-fitting shorts and the heels ditched in favour of comfortable UGG slippers as she arrived at a local dance studio
Let's do it: With water bottle in hand, Zara was ready for a long day in the studio ahead of Saturday evening's show, when the competition kicks off and voting begins
Fans were quick to hail Zara and her professional partner Graziano, 29, 'the hottest paring ever' as the couple's were revealed for the first time.
Viewers joked the Love Island star's boyfriend Sam Thompson 'must be sweating' at home as they heaped praise on the 'absolute fire' partnership.
Zara and Graziano will dance the Cha Cha Cha for their first performance, and the TV personality admitted her nerves were already getting the better of her.
'I think Im probably the most nervous Ive been in my life. Im not a natural born performer, Im not an extrovert, so this is the biggest challenge of my life,' she said during Saturday evening's launch show.
Graziano added: 'It is going to exotic, Latin and is the Cha Cha Cha darling.'
Sharing their thoughts on Twitter one fan wrote: 'Zara and Graziano look gorgeous together. Backing them all the way.'
'Zara and Graziano might be the hottest pairing theres ever been?! good lord,' another agreed.
A third echoed: 'Zara and Graz could be absolute fire!'
Lovely: The TV personality was seen carrying an elegant silk gown into the studio
Incoming: Fellow contestant Angela Scanlon was also seen making her way to Strictly rehearsals in London on Tuesday
Getting involved: Amanda Abbingdon carried a bag into rehearsals as she prepared for her first dance on the BBC show
Main man: Professional dancer Giovanni Pernice greeted onlookers as he made his way into a local dance studio on Tuesday
Make way: Layton Williams flashed a beaming smile as he reported for rehearsals
Someone else joked: 'I know Sam Thompson is crying at home right now watching Zara and Graziano.'
With other viewers writing: 'Bet Sam Thompson is sweating now Zaras been partnered with gratz' and 'Zaras boyfriend currently crying in the green room.'
On Friday, Zara appeared on Lorraine to discuss the show - letting slip a tiny detail about her partner in the process.
The Love Island star chatted to the TV legend, 63, about her training and asked about her partnership on the upcoming show.
She said: 'He is amazing, he's so nice. Training is tougher than I thought it would be. It's arms and legs and feet, all these things you have to put together in my brain all at once, but it is an amazing experience.'
Zara made history by becoming the first former Love Island contestant to win a place on Strictly - but insisted she won't be drawing inspiration from any of her former cast mates when the show gets underway.
The TV personality found fame after featuring on the ITV2 dating show in 2018, during which her romance with villa lothario Adam Collard became one of its more dominant narrative lines.
She's since reestablished herself as a BBC documentarian, with hard-hitting expose's on revenge porn, rape culture and eating disorders winning her a new army of fans - and a nomination for Authored Documentary at the National Television Awards.
Rhian Sugden put on a busty display as she slipped into a cut out swimsuit for a racy Instagram snap on Wednesday.
The glamour model, 37, has spoken out this week on her short-lived fling with Russell Brand after Saturday's bombshell Dispatches documentary.
The show saw the comedian, 48, accused of sexual assaults and abusive and predatory behaviour between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame. He has denied the allegations.
Rhian, who insisted nothing untoward happened when they were together, did however claim Russell joined the No More Page 3 campaign in 2014 after failing to 's**g his way through' its list of models.
In her first post since speaking out, Rhian asked fans if she was 'too old' to be flaunting 'underboob' as she seductively posed in the daring ribbed thong one-piece.
Daring: Rhian Sugden put on a busty display as she slipped into a cut out swimsuit for a racy Instagram snap on Wednesday
Opinion: Rhian said: 'Am I too old for underboob? In fact, dont answer that! Im rolling with it only 37 once right? #you'renot19foreverpullyourselftogether'
Rhian said: 'Am I too old for underboob? In fact, dont answer that! Im rolling with it only 37 once right? #you'renot19foreverpullyourselftogether.'
It comes days after Rhian talked about her brief romance with Russell on X - formerly known as Twitter.
She wrote: 'I had reporters and Dispatches knocking on my parents door months back asking for information on Russell Brand as we briefly dated when I was younger.
'He was always very pleasant to me and treated me well.'
The model did however claim Russell joined the No More Page 3 campaign in 2014.
The Get Him To The Greek star previously came out in support of the crusade claiming the love of a 'good woman' [wife Laura Brand] had slain his 'sexist teenage' self.
She wrote: 'Despite him attempting to s**g his way through other page 3 girls and getting declined he soon went full circle and joined a "No More Page 3 campaign" to get us shut down.
'I can't comment on the allegations that have been made against him, I've no scoop on the fella except his hair used to smell bad and he definitely wasn't the one that got away.(sic)'
Allegations: The glamour model, 37, has spoken out this week on her short-lived fling with Russell Brand after Saturday's bombshell Dispatches documentary
Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by multiple women, including one who says she was 16 at the time.
One woman has alleged Brand raped her in his Los Angeles home, while another accused him of grooming her as they were involved in an allegedly 'emotionally abusive and controlling relationship' for three months when she was just 16 and still at school, and he was 31.
A third accuser claimed the comic sexually assaulted her while she worked with him in Los Angeles, and that he threatened to take legal action if she told anyone else about her allegation, and a fourth detailed the alleged sexual, physical and emotional abuse she was subjected to.
Brand posted a video on YouTube and Twitter refuting the allegations and insisted relationships at the time of his promiscuity' were 'consensual'.
Speaking out: Rhian, who said nothing untoward happened when they were together, did claim Russell joined the No More Page 3 campaign after failing to 's**g' its list of models
EX: Taking to Twitter, Rhian wrote: 'I had reporters and Dispatches knocking on my parents door months back asking for information on Russell Brand as we briefly dated'
Good cause? The Get Him To The Greek star came out in support of the campaign claiming the love of a 'good woman' [wife Laura Brand ] had slain his 'sexist teenage' self
Russell's behaviour is alleged to have been common knowledge among female performers on the comedy circuit, who are said to warned each other about him and his attitude towards women is alleged to have been an open secret in radio and TV production, according to sources who briefed The Sunday Times.
Bosses at the BBC and Channel 4 are accused of turning a blind eye towards the entertainer's behaviour while he worked for them as a presenter between 2006 and 2013.
The broadcasters have insisted they took all necessary steps over him, but executives could still be called before a Government select committee where MPs will grill them over what they knew.
He also has a history of making high-profile and controversial remarks about women on his shows - including calling newsreader Andrea Simmons a 'sex bomb' and describing her as 'erotic' and saying he wanted to 'go under the desk' while she was reading the news.
In 2008 a ferocious public backlash was sparked after Brand and Jonathan Ross called the much-loved Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs during Brand's show and left lewd messages on his answerphone - including bragging about sex with Sachs's granddaughter Georgina Baillie, with whom he had a brief relationship.
According to The Sunday Times many believe the BBC should been awake to the concerns about Brand's behaviour on his show well before the Sachsgate scandal.
Shocking: The comedian has been accused of sexual assaults and abusive and predatory behaviour between 2006 and 2013. He has denied the allegations (pictured on Saturday)
Investigation: Alice - not her real name - claims that Brand assaulted her when he was 31 and she was 16 and his 'sex addict personality is just a smokescreen for his dark behaviour'
Reportedly, a serious complaint was made by BBC staff to the station's Controller Lesley Douglas about Brand's behaviour in the studio, in December 2007.
The Times has reported that the complaint followed an 'alarming display of aggression and disrespect' by the radio host where he hurled objects in a fit of rage.
It also reported he urinated in a bottle in full view of production staff and a guest - who 'appeared to be a minor' - and had been invited to appear on Radio 2 by a charity.
This alleged complaint and any others that had been made were not mentioned in subsequent official reports into Sachsgate.
Douglas' lawyers have said she 'did not at any time encourage, enable and/or fail herself to take any adequate steps within her power with regard to the conduct of Russell Brand of which she was aware'.
'She is presently unable to provide any further information which may be relevant to the matters raised in this article due to the obligations owed by her to her former employer,' her lawyers added.
Brand left the BBC after the serious editorial breach in 2008 as did Douglas.
Chris Evans has spoken out on why he walked away from his multi-million dollar contract as Marvel's Captain America.
The actor, 42, gained huge recognition and became one of the highest paid film stars in Hollywood, before he stepped down after Avengers: Endgame in 2019.
Now in an interview with GQ Magazine for their October issue, Chris reflects on his decision to hang up his superhero mask and why he may turn his back on the industry for good.
The actor says: 'I was really apprehensive about taking the role initially. I I remember in my late 20s having a real shift in how I felt on set, how I felt promoting films: a little more anxiety, a little more uncertainty.
'You always end up questioning, Is this what I should be doing?'
Hollywood superhero: Chris Evans has spoken out on why he walked away from his multi-million dollar contract as Marvel's Captain America
Marvel: The actor, 42, gained huge recognition and became one of the highest paid film stars in Hollywood when he took on the role (pictured in 2015)
Chris says as his fame grew so did his anxiety, which at times became crippling.
Eventually he moved out of Los Angeles and back to his hometown just outside Boston, Massachusetts.
He says: 'I just wasnt sure if I was moving closer to myself or further away. And something inside me kept saying that I was getting further away that something about this industry wasnt healthy.
Of the upheaval to return to where he grew up, Chris adds: '[It] takes me back to a place when life was not just simpler - thats too reductive - but to a time where I was more pure, I guess; where my ego and my insecurities werent such a dominant force that I had to push against.'
Chris nearly quit acting due to severe anxiety, which was exacerbated by the magnitude of the iconic blockbuster franchise.
Asked if he would ever returns to the Marvel Universe, Chris replies: 'Ill never say never, just because it was such a wonderful experience. But Im also very precious with it. Its something that I am very proud of.
'And like I said, sometimes I cant believe it even happened. And I wouldnt want the black eye if it felt like a cash grab or if it didnt live up to expectations or if it just felt like it wasnt connected to that original thing.'
Changes: Now in an interview with GQ Magazine for their October issue, Chris reflects on his decision to hang up his superhero mask and why he may turn his back on the industry for good.
Second wedding! It's been a time of exciting change for Chris, who has tied the knot with actress Alba Baptista, 26, over the weekend
The worldwide fame has had an impact on Chris who admits he is having doubts about whether he wants to continue acting.
He says: 'I could just make furniture for nobody and be happy. I dont want to waste too much time in this industry, but that doesnt really feel.... That doesnt sound correct. I dont want to occupy too much space in an industry that Ive already poured 20 years into.
'Sometimes I wonder if Im lacking some sort oflike, I think Im a very driven person. I have a lot of energy. I wake up early, I get a lot done in a day, but its not always focused on acting. Sometimes reading a script is the last thing I want to do.'
It's been a time of exciting change for Chris, who tied the knot with actress Alba Baptista, 26, over the weekend.
A source revealed that the pair's wedding was 'locked down tight' and attendees were asked to 'sign NDAs and phones were forfeited,' according to Page Six.
The insider also revealed that the happy couple's star-studded guest list included his Marvel co-stars, like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Jeremy Renner.
Additionally, John Krasinski, his wife Emily Blunt, Elsa Pataky and Susan Downey were seen 'in nearby Boston for the wedding,' according to People.
The couple are reportedly planning to say 'I do' once again.
The Captain America star and the actress will have a second wedding celebration in Baptista's native Portugal, as per Page Six.
The event will allow a number of her family members, who couldn't make it to the American wedding on Saturday, celebrate the occasion with the newlyweds.
'There is going to be a second gathering in Portugal for members of Albas family who couldnt be in Massachusetts,' a source told the publication.
'Sometime this week, I believe. Then they'll depart from Portugal for their honeymoon.'
In January, Evans officially confirmed his relationship with Alba in a cute video in which he and his love were trying to scare each other.
In the caption he said he was looking back on 2022 as he added three red heart emojis that made it clear he had love for the budding star.
The October issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on September 26th.
Strictly favourite Angela Scanlon has hit back at 'fix ' claims over her Irish dancing past, insisting it has given her no advantage when it comes to 'salsa hips.'
The BBC presenter prompted calls from fans that she had an unfair edge over her fellow contestants because she had trained professionally with the O'Shea Irish Dance company in 2001.
But Ms Scanlon, 39, pointed out to the Mail that her previous routines were solo, while on Strictly she has a partner, Carlos Gu.
She said: 'Most people, you grow up in Ireland, you do Irish dancing. But I've never done ballroom, I've certainly never done a rumba or any of this style of dancing.
'You dance on your own and it's very stiff.'
Having her say: Strictly favourite Angela Scanlon has hit back at 'fix ' claims over her Irish dancing past, insisting it has given her no advantage when it comes to 'salsa hips'
Fix: Ms Scanlon, 39, pointed out to the Mail that her previous routines were solo, while on Strictly she has a partner, Carlos Gu
'So the salsa hips, I don't know how we're going to achieve that. I have to take into consideration my partner's limbs and presence - so we'll see.'
Originally from Co Meath in Ireland, Ms Scanlon trained with the O'Shea Irish company when she was 18 years old in 2001.
The dance troupe competed internationally and Ms Scanlon represented them in competitions - qualifying her as a professional dancer.
She was later hired to perform in the Irish Thunder show - a celebration of culture through dance - in Virginia US.
But Ms Scanlon, who is partnered with the professional Carlos Gu, gave up her dance career for one in the media.
She also revealed that she has also kicked her fake tan habit for 15 years, saying: 'I did see a little flash earlier on of my legs, and they are see-through, which I'm usually fine with.
'But they may go tomorrow, 'We need to put a lick of paint on ya,' as I'm very pale.
'I feel like it's good to see all colours and flavours, so I'm just going to stick to tan-less.'
The One Show presenter's response to 'fix' allegations came as Billy Elliot star, Layton Williams, also in this year's line-up had to defend his professional dance past on social media.
New venture: Ms Scanlon, who is partnered with the professional Carlos Gu, gave up her dance career for one in the media
The 29-year-old is reportedly 'already annoying' Strictly fans for his 'overly camp' demeanour in the Strictly launch show last weekend.
One person pointed out on Twitter: 'He's already a professional dancer,' referring to his role as Billy Elliot on the West End when he was 12, for which he was professionally trained.
The actor hit back on social media: 'Babes, they did not teach me Latin dance. So check your facts.
'I just think it's funny when people think they 'know' but they're just being a hater.'
Mr Williams also starred in the musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie from 2019 to 2022.
James Corden cut a casual figure as he enjoyed an afternoon stroll with his wife Julia Carey in London on Tuesday.
The former chat show host, 45, wrapped up for the outing in an eye-catching multi-coloured jacket which he wore with a pair of jeans.
Also sporting a pair of sunglasses, the Gavin and Stacey star completed his look with white trainers.
Julia also opted for a laid back look as she sported a navy long-sleeved top along with a pair of black leggings.
Styling her blonde locks into a ponytail, the TV producer also wore a black cap and matching trainers.
Couple: James Corden cut a casual figure as he enjoyed an afternoon stroll with his wife Julia Carey in London on Tuesday
Casual: The former chat show host, 45, wrapped up for the outing in an eye-catching multi-coloured jacket which he wore with a pair of jeans
James lived in southern California for eight years while serving as host of The Late Late Show With James Corden.
It aired its last episode in April 2023 and James subsequently moved back to London with Julia and their three children.
James now appears to be taking a break from showbiz as he has no scheduled appearances in film or television.
The TV personality and his wife are looking to make London home once again by building a new home on the plot of a 1960s property.
James and Julia have been given the green light to demolish an the 8million pad and replace it with a modern six-bedroom home, complete with an outdoor pool, sauna and steam room.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2012, share three children - Max, 11, Carey, eight, and Charlotte, four.
James has previously faced objections from the local council and English Heritage, but has now been given the go-ahead for the works.
A source told The Sun: 'James and his team have made sure everyone is happy with the plans and he cannot wait to have a proper base for his family.
Laid back: Also sporting a pair of sunglasses, the Gavin and Stacey star completed his look with white trainers
Outfit: Julia also opted for a laid back look as she sported a navy long-sleeved top along with a pair of black leggings
Hand-in-hand: Styling her blonde locks into a ponytail, the TV producer also wore a black cap and matching trainers
Return: James lived in southern California for eight years while serving as host of The Late Late Show With James Corden before moving back to London
'It's been a long road but the place will be incredible when completed.'
Now, James hopes to move into the house, which is based in Oxfordshire, with his family as soon as possible.
They have reportedly had to make a number of concessions in the planning, including a lighting project to protect bats, badgers and glow worms.
There is also landscaping to keep safe 45 granite megalithic stones on the grounds.
She's famous for her reputation as a diva, which she has said 'empowers her'.
And Gemma Collins once again channelled her alter-ego, The GC, on Tuesday as she headed to the TikTok offices in London in another incredible outfit.
The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 42, looked sensational in a lilac blouse with feather-detailing on the hem.
She teamed it with a pair of coordinating purple trousers and added a matching belt to cinch her in at the waist.
Gemma oozed glamour from head to toe as she strutted along the street in a pair of black slide-on sandals.
Too glam to give a damn! Gemma Collins once again channelled her alter-ego, The GC, on Tuesday as she headed to the TikTok offices in London in another incredible outfit
Purple reign: The former The Only Way Is Essex star, 42, looked sensational in a lilac blouse with feather-detailing on the hem
Looking good: She teamed it with a pair of coordinating purple trousers and added a matching belt to cinch her in at the waist
She toted her essentials in a turquoise quilted designer handbag and hid her eyes behind a pair of black sunglasses.
Her outing comes after Gemma got to witness a piece of soap history on Thursday as she visited the immersive Neighbours experience.
Iconic pieces from the Australian series have gone on display in the capital ahead of its return on Amazon Freevee next week, with the highlight being the ivory dress that Kylie Minogue wore during her on-screen wedding.
Charlene Mitchell, played by Kylie, wore the dress to marry her sweetheart Scott Robinson, played by Jason Donovan, back in 1987.
Over 20 million people tuned into watch the famous wedding, and now the dress, along with several other pieces of Neighbours memorabilia, is being showcased at Protein Studios.
Posing for snaps next to the famous gown, Gemma beamed in a long-sleeved gold dress with a plunging front.
Her shoulder-length blonde hair was styled into bouncy waves and she carried a metallic gold handbag.
The wedding dress will be alongside Guy Pearce's character Mike Young's leather jacket which he wore throughout his three year stint on the show.
Stylish: Gemma oozed glamour from head to toe as she strutted along the street in a pair of black slide-on sandals
Shady lady: She toted her essentials in a turquoise quilted designer handbag and hid her eyes behind a pair of black sunglasses
Meanwhile, a much talked about Salvation Army outfit belonging to Harold Bishop - played by Ian Smith - will also go on show.
Also featuring will be a red jumpsuit worn by Ramsay Street favourite Jane Harris - played by Annie Jones.
Fans will be able to see parts of the Neighbours set which have been recreated for an immersive experience at the Protein studios in East London, starting on Friday.
As well as Harold's Cafe, it features fictional hotel Lassiters, Karl and Susan Kennedy's living room, as well as a number of unseen scripts and photographs.
Neighbours returns on Monday after it was sensationally axed last July after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes.
The grand finale saw the return of Kylie, Jason, Guy, as well as Margot Robbie, Holly Valance and Natalie Imbruglia making appearances too.
The return will air on Amazon's Freevee streaming platform on Monday and it will feature characters including Susan and Karl Kennedy and Paul Robinson.
There will also be a guest role for The OC actress Mischa Barton as the programme hopes to crack America for the first time.
Big fan: Her outing comes after Gemma got to witness a piece of soap history on Thursday as she visited the immersive Neighbours experience
Famous: Iconic pieces from the Australian series have gone on display in the capital ahead of its return on Amazon Freevee next week, with the highlight being the ivory dress that Kylie Minogue wore during her on-screen wedding
Leonardo DiCaprio has given a rare interview with British Vogue ahead of the release of Apple TV+'s 160million film, Killers of the Flower Moon.
The actor, 48, stars alongside Lily Gladstone, 37, in the Martin Scorsese film, based on David Grann's 2017 book about the FBI's investigation into a string of murders among the Osage Indian community in the early 1920s in Oklahoma.
Leonardo fronts the publication's October issue and talks about why he was recast from playing head FBI investigator Tom White to real-life husband Ernest.
The Western true-crime thriller stars DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, who arrived in Fairfax, Oklahoma, and married Mollie Kyle, played by Gladstone at the behest of his uncle, William Hale played by Robert De Niro.
Leonardo, who rocks a black polo and suit for the shoot, says of Scorsese tearing up the original script: 'It just didn't feel like it got to the heart of it.
Speaking out: Leonardo DiCaprio has given a rare interview with British Vogue ahead of the release of Apple TV+'s 160million film, Killers of the Flower Moon
Critical acclaim: The actor, 48, stars alongside Lily Gladstone, 37, in the Martin Scorsese film, set for release on Apple TV+ on Oct 20
One to watch: The Western true-crime thriller stars DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, who arrived in Fairfax, Oklahoma, and married Mollie Kyle, played by Gladstone
'We weren't immersed in the Osage story. There was this tiny, small scene between Mollie and Ernest that provoked such emotion in us at the reading, and we just started to penetrate into what that relationship was, because it was so twisted and bizarre and unlike anything I've ever experienced before.'
The Osage Nation is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains and developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC.
Scorsese and his team worked closely with Osage Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear and his office, and hundreds of Osage were involved in making the film.
The Hollywood legend sings his praises about co-star Lily, who wears a Christian John Rogers wool sweater dress and sweater for the cover shoot.
'Lily is absolutely astonishing in this movie, she carries the entire film and the story,' he says.
Of his and Martin's first meeting with the actress over Zoom, Leo adds: 'There was no reading, Marty just instinctively knew Lily was the one.. There was a truthfulness in your eyes that he saw even over a computer screen.'
'I've never known [Scorsese] meet somebody and then immediately afterwards have this gravitational pull and instinct to say, 'Let's not wait another minute.''
In May, Killers of the Flower Moon received a rapturous nine-minute standing ovation when it premiered at Cannes Film Festival.
Big fan: The Hollywood legend sings his praises about co-star Lily, who wears a Christian John Rogers wool sweater dress and sweater for the cover shoot
Film: Leonardo, who rocks a black polo neck, says of Scorsese tearing up the original script: 'It just didn't feel like it got to the heart of it'
As early reviews for the three and a half hour epic roll in, it was safe to say the iconic director's first ever Western would go down as a 'triumph' when it hits cinemas.
'Hollywood has a long history and chequered past in its depiction of Native American people,' Leonardo says.
'We need to do more. You know, we are coming towards a great reckoning of our past. The more that these stories can be told in a truthful way, the more it can be a healing process.'
A wide array of film critics have already given the DiCaprio led movie five stars across the board, with one even hailing it as the best of its genre.
Words like 'searing and 'masterpiece' were bandied about by critics who managed to get their hands on a ticket to the first screening.
IndieWire said DiCaprio gives 'his best-ever performance,' while The Guardian awarded five stars for a 'remarkable epic about the bloody birth of America'.
The three-hour epic will receive a limited theatrical release, including on Imax screens, on Oct 6, before streaming globally on Apple TV+ on Oct 20.
See the full feature in the October issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 26 September.
Jack Whitehall and Roxy Horner have named their daughter Elsie.
The comedian, 35, and his model partner, 32, welcomed their first child into the world earlier this month.
A spokesperson for Jack confirmed the tot's name - which means 'pledged to God' - to MailOnline.
The couple, who have been in a relationship for three years, are said to have taken their time settling on Elsie's name.
A source told The Sun: 'Elsie is a gorgeous baby and Jack and Roxy have picked a gorgeous name to fit. Everyone is thrilled.'
Adorable: Jack Whitehall and Roxy Horner have named their daughter Elsie
Family: The comedian, 35, and his model partner, 32, welcomed their first child into the world earlier this month
Jack and Roxy took Elsie home from the Lindo Wing at St Mary's in London earlier this month.
The Lindo Wing has seen a host of Royal births including The Princess of Wales who welcomed her three children there, as well as many other famous faces.
After taking their baby home, Jack was full of love on as he praised 'amazing' Roxy and shared the first photos of their newborn daughter.
Taking to Instagram, Jack admitted the experience was both 'utterly overwhelming' and 'joyous' in ways he 'couldn't have imagined'.
He wrote: 'Well this just happened! Utterly overwhelming and joyous in ways I couldn't have even imagined.
'In awe of my partner @roxyhorner who has been amazing throughout this journey and is going to be the greatest mum ever. So excited to have started a family of my own.
'Having vowed I'd never be that guy I am now 100% going to be the parent that shows everyone endless pictures of their kid. I also wore skechers to hospital, I think I must accept I am a full blown dad now.
'Name wise after this weekend I think 'rice, rice, baby' has a nice ring to it.'
Moniker: The couple, who have been in a relationship for three years, are said to have taken their time settling on Elsie's name
A source said: 'Elsie is a gorgeous baby and Jack and Roxy have picked a gorgeous name to fit. Everyone is thrilled'
After returning home from hospital, Roxy took to Instagram to share some snaps with her little one laid across her chest.
Roxy propped herself up on some pillows and showed off her pink baby girl-themed manicure to celebrate the new arrival.
She captioned the sweet update: 'Snuggles at home,' and a heart emoji.
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner's very bitter divorce has met a shocking end as the two sides have settled with the prenup enforced and a massive monetary penalty if it is challenged.
The 68-year-old actor and his 49-year-old wife of nearly 20 years have been embroiled in a months-long legal war which has met a surprise end after it was reported that Baumgartner had received more than $400,000 to pay the costs of the contentious courtroom battle.
A joint statement from Costner and Baumgartner provided to DailyMail.com read: 'Kevin and Christine Costner have come to an amicable and mutually agreed upon resolution of all issues pertaining to their divorce proceedings.'
According to TMZ, if Christine challenges the judgment 'she would have to repay Kevin more than $1 million and pay his attorney's fees for the prenup fight.'
Upon hearing this, the mother-of-three 'agreed over the weekend to the terms of a 3-page settlement letter.'
Kevin's legal team - which was headed by 'disso queen' Laura Wasser - had won a series of legal battles leading up to the settlement.
It's over! Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner 's very bitter divorce has met a shocking end as the two sides have settled with the prenup enforced according to TMZ; the former couple are seen in 2006
Kevin seemingly responded to the settlement being signed over the weekend as he shared a throwback photo of himself looking into the distance from 1999 flick Message In A Bottle with the caption: 'Happy Monday, friends. Wishing health and happiness for all of you'
Wasser had recently submitted paperwork to the court saying Kevin's monthly obligation should be $63K-a-month according to the publication.
However, Baumgartner wanted $248K-a-month and after a two-day evidentiary hearing in Santa Barbara earlier this month the Judge Thomas Anderle ultimately sided with Kevin.
Kevin seemingly responded to the settlement being signed over the weekend as he shared a throwback photo of himself looking into the distance from his 1999 classic romantic drama film Message In A Bottle with the caption: 'Happy Monday, friends. Wishing health and happiness for all of you.'
Last week DailyMail.com reported that Baumgartner had already received more than $400,000 to pay the costs of her legal battle with the actor.
The mom-of-three was locked in a court fight with her ex over a fresh award of $855,000 to cover fees for the former couple's upcoming trial over whether the prenuptial agreement they signed 18 years ago can still be enforced.
Baumgartner, 49, had asked for $575,000 to pay her lawyers John Rydell and Susan Wiesner and another $280,000 for her forensic accountant Jill Bombino which would take the combined total to an eye-watering total of $1.26million.
But documents obtained by DailyMail.com reveal Baumgartner has so far already received $405,000 in legal, attorney, and 'forensic accounting fees' disbursed in July this year.
In an excoriating legal filing lodged in court in Santa Barbara, California, on Tuesday, Wasser hit back at the 'whopping' request describing the fees as 'inflated' and saying that it would be 'unconscionable' for the Yellowstone star to be made to pay.
'Disso queen' Wasser also accused Baumgartner of being 'unreasonable' and said her constant legal maneuvers the majority of which have failed had inflated costs for both parties.
Court filings obtained by DailyMail.com revealed last week Baumgartner pictured last month has so far already received $405,000 in legal, attorney, and 'forensic accounting fees'
Estranged husband Kevin Costner's attorney Laura Wasser seen arriving at court with the actor earlier this month hit back at the request describing the fees as 'inflated' and 'outrageous'
Baumgartner, 49, was hoping to void the spousal support section of their prenuptial agreement at trial in November so she can be awarded alimony
Last week, Baumgartner found herself on the hook for a payment of $14,000 after Judge Thomas Anderle decided to sanction her for failing to give proper answers to questions from Costner's legal team.
The setback came shortly after Judge Anderle halved Baumgartner's monthly child support payments a decision she later described as a 'joke' according to a pal.
The friend told DailyMail.com: 'Christine is shocked. She said even Kevin looked shocked. Everyone looked shocked.
'To say Christine is disappointed is an understatement. She described the ruling is a complete joke.'
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Brett Ward, a partner at New York legal firm Blank Rome and an expert in family law, said a party requesting fees isn't unusual, although the potential size of the award was.
He also said judges tend to take a dim view of what they see as excessive requests and generally want to prevent drawn out cases like the Costner divorce was becoming.
He said: 'There is certainly a legal basis for [Baumgartner's] request. However, a judge will examine the reasonableness of the fees requested.
'Judges generally do not want to encourage additional litigation by providing one side with a war chest of future legal fees.
In an excoriating legal filing lodged in court in Santa Barbara, California , on Tuesday, Costner's attorney Laura Wasser hit back at the 'whopping' request
Legal woes: Last week, Baumgartner found herself on the hook for a payment of $14,000 after Judge Thomas Anderle decided to sanction her for failing to give proper answers to questions from Costner's legal team; seen in 2015
'Courts generally balance the less wealthy party's right to carry on the litigation in a fair manner against the concern that a party with a significant fee award will take that money and use it to make every possible argument available, no matter the merit or lack thereof for each claim.'
Ward said the enormous legal bills the pair were racking up were unusual in family court but added that much of the money can be explained by the value of the assets being wrangled over and expected the eventual tab to be much higher.
He said: 'At this pace, and without a settlement in the near future, I would not be surprised if the combined legal fees approach or exceed $5 million.'
Much of Baumgartner's testimony during the evidentiary hearing had hinged on her being able to provide a lavish lifestyle for her three children comparable to the one they enjoy while with their father.
Despite renting a $40,000-a-month property in tony Montecito, Baumgartner said her new home is inadequate because sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, would have to share a bathroom while daughter Grace, 13, would need 'to share hers with the house.'
The mom-of-three had been enjoying a temporary monthly payment of $129,000 and had wanted it bumped to $161,000
DailyMail.com previously revealed that Baumgartner, 49, moved into the luxury four-bedroom home on Friday after a judge in Santa Barbara, California, slashed her child support payments
In July Baumgartner was court-ordered to vacate the former couple's $145million lavish California mansion
She also bemoaned the pool house guest accommodation saying visitors would need to come into the main house to shower and hit out at the lack of beach access to which her children are accustomed.
In his testimony, Costner said the property was comparable to his own luxury home in nearby Carpinteria and said it even has features he would like in his own house.
According to the mom-of-three's friend, her objections also include her being 'removed' from the community she had enjoyed while living with Costner.
The friend added: 'Christine said they [Costner and his legal team] painted the picture of this shallow, greedy gold-digger and that if Kevin could get past his anger and revenge, he would see how this is hurting their kids.
'She said Kevin is ripping her apart from her community by making it impossible to live in the tight-knit neighborhood. 'Christine said this was never about beach views and Kevin knows this. He knows how much the community means to Christine, and that this is his way of punishing her.
Estranged wife: Bizarre: Despite renting a $40,000-a-month property in tony Montecito, Baumgartner said her new home is inadequate because sons Cayden, 16, and Hayes, 14, would have to share a bathroom while daughter Grace, 13, would need 'to share hers with the house' (seen in August 2023)
Bitter: She also bemoaned the pool house guest accommodation saying visitors would need to come into the main house to shower and hit out at the lack of beach access to which her children are accustomed; pictured in 2014
'Christine said the fight is far from over.'
The court also heard details of the family's lavish spending which totaled $240,000-a-month in 2022.
Expenses included $40,000 spent each month on flowers and gifts alone, although Costner's forensic accountant Tracy Katz pointed out the figure is for the entire family, including Baumgartner.
Katz said the 49-year-old was responsible for a host of big-ticket items, including $18,000-a-month on medical bills, $18,855 on clothing and $3,377 on beauty treatments.
In his testimony, Costner said the property was comparable to his own luxury home in nearby Carpinteria and said it even has features he would like in his own house (seen in 2015)
On top of that, Baumgartner was responsible for the lion's share of the $8,886 in cash taken out at ATM machines according to Katz.
In May 2023, Baumgartner filed for divorce from the Yellowstone star after 18 years of marriage and three children together due to 'irreconcilable differences.'
'It is with great sadness that circumstances beyond his control have transpired which have resulted in Mr. Costner having to participate in a dissolution of marriage action,' Costner's rep said in a statement, at the time.
'We ask that his, Christine's and their children's privacy be respected as they navigate this difficult time,' the statement concluded.
Costner was previously married to Cindy Silva from 1978 to 1994 and they share three children - Annie, 39, Lily, 36, and Joe, 35.
He also shares a son Liam Costner with Bridget Rooney, who he dated after his split with Silva.
Major age gap: In court documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com over the summer, Baumgartner described how she was instantly wowed when she first met 'the handsome, charming movie star' when she was just 18 and he was 37 (seen in 2014)
In court documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com over the summer, Baumgartner described how she was instantly wowed when she first met 'the handsome, charming movie star' when she was just 18 and he was 37.
Baumgartner recalled the magic moment they met in 1992 in support of her bid for more child support for the couple's three teenagers.
Baumgartner wrote: 'I met Kevin on the golf course at the Alisal Ranch (an exclusive "dude" ranch in Solvang, California) when I was eighteen years old,' she wrote in papers filed in Santa Barbara Superior Court, California.
'We played our first game of golf six years later and started dating shortly thereafter.
'Kevin was handsome, charming and a movie star. We traveled the world in private planes, stayed in luxurious hotels and private homes.'
She also said she was the driving force for the Field of Dreams star to realize his own dreams, writing: 'During our marriage, I encouraged Kevin to wear many hats and live his dreams, even if that meant spending time away from our family.
'I encouraged him to reconnect with his former bandmates from college and to start a new band. He became a singer/songwriter and toured for weeks at a time in many countries. He became an investor in several companies, some of which were through my connections.'
She added: 'Despite all of Kevin's commitments, I made sure to always keep him and the children connected as much as possible. I never questioned the time or commitment it took for him to do what he loved.'
Lila Moss suggested her chosen career isn't the only similarity she shares with her supermodel mother while partying with a group of friends on Monday evening.
The 20-year old daughter of catwalk veteran Kate Moss and her former partner Jefferson Hack was in attendance as Perfect magazine collaborated with Italian couture brand Valentino for a London Fashion Week party.
But while she's inherited Kate's natural sense of style, the young model confirmed she's also adopted one of her less wholesome traits by lighting up a cigarette as she chatted to pals outside 1 Hotel Mayfair.
Lila was seen having a smoke break after joining boyfriend Yoni Helbitz and Jude Law's model daughter Iris at the celebratory event.
Her supermodel mother, 49 - once hailed the 'greatest smoker of all time' - was originally thought to have kicked the habit after being spotted with a vape.
Fag ash Lil: Lila Moss suggested her chosen career isn't the only similarity she shares with her supermodel mother while smoking a cigarette at London Fashion Week on Monday evening
Smoke break: While she's inherited Kate's sense of style, the young model confirmed she's also adopted one of her less wholesome traits by lighting up a cigarette outside 1 Hotel Mayfair
Old habits die hard: Kate was originally thought to have kicked the habit after being spotted with a vape, but was recently seen smoking a cigarette outside Mayfair restaurant Cecconis
In good company: Lila was joined by boyfriend Yoni Helbitz (pictured) at the event on Monday
Close: Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed that she was dating after pair were seen out in London together over recent months
But she recently confirmed that old habits die hard when she was seen smoking a cigarette outside Mayfair restaurant Cecconis, where she was attending a family lunch.
Stepping out on Monday, Lila put on a leggy display in a chic floral minidress, which she wore with a black over-the-shoulder bag and towering heels as she made her latest public appearance.
The cover girl wore her blonde hair scraped back as she worked her magic in front of the camera.
The Perfect Magazine x Valentino party was held to conclude this year's London Fashion Week, which kicked off on September 15.
Lila's attendance at the event comes after she was pictured sharing a kiss with her boyfriend while out for a leisurely stroll in London at the weekend.
Last month, MailOnline exclusively revealed that she was dating after pair were seen out in London together over recent months.
A source confirmed the pair, who were first pictured together as friends two years ago, have been dating for around 12-months.
Yoni's official job title is e-commerce coordinator and fashion marketer for clothing brand Self Portrait, where he has been working for just two months.
Before that, he served as an e-commerce co-ordinator for James Lakeland Ltd and he also had a six months stint as an estate agent.
Wow! Lila looked as stunning as she attended the Perfect Magazine and Valentino LFW Party, which marked the official opening of the new eco-conscious 1 Hotel Mayfair on Monday
Gorgeous: The model made sure to capture attention in a black and gold mini dress, embroidered with floral embellishments
The happy couple had kept their romance relatively under wraps, yet Instagram posts by Yoni reveal that they have been enjoying each other's company for quite some time.
They've even been to Disneyland together, with one picture showing them enjoying a lavish dinner with friends at the theme park in 2021.
Lila seen dressed as Tinkerbell, while Yoni was suited and booted as her Prince Charming.
They also headed on a countryside staycation last June, with Yoni documenting the trip by sharing a snap of his girlfriend sunning herself in a bikini as she relaxed in a field.
Stylish: Lila put on a leggy display in the chic dress, which she wore with a black over-the-shoulder bag and towering heels
Beauty: The cover girl wore her blonde hair scraped back as she worked her magic in front of the camera
Big night: Lila styled her blonde locks in a slicked-back look and appeared to be in jovial spirits as she left the event in a taxi
Helena Christensen turned heads in an eye-catching ensemble at the BFC x AlUla Creates: Atelier Hekayat and Aram Designs Presentation during London Fashion Week on Monday.
The former Victoria's Secret Angel, 54, put on a glamorous display in a purple mesh ruffled robe while posing at The Twenty Two private members' club.
She completed the look with matching lace tights, a plunging bodysuit and chic handbag.
Helena swept her brunette locks back into a neat bun while sporting a dewy bronzed makeup look.
London Fashion Week 2023 took place from September 15-19, showcasing both menswear and womenswear.
Stunning: Helena Christensen turned heads in an eye-catching ensemble at the BFC x AlUla Creates: Atelier Hekayat and Aram Designs Presentation during London Fashion Week on Monday
Stylish: The former Victoria's Secret Angel, 54, put on a glamorous display in a purple mesh ruffled robe while posing at The Twenty Two private members' club
Alongside her work, Helena is currently an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
The mother-of-one has made two trips to Colombia on behalf of UNHCR in Vogue, the first being in 2015.
After her returned from her second trip in September, Helena wrote a piece in Vogue about her experiences.
She wrote: 'Last month, when UNHCR asked me to return to Colombia, I immediately agreed. Since I was on Colombian soil for the first time, more than 2.4 million refugees from Venezuela have arrived.'
Helena finished with a request: 'I invite you to show support and solidarity...for all the people who have been forcibly displaced in the world.'
On Instagram, she said: In Colombia there are 6.8 million people internally displaced by violence and persecution.
'UNCHR works in hard-to-reach areas across Colombia which makes a difference for the communities affected by forced displacement.'
Glam: She completed the look with matching lace tights, a plunging bodysuit and chic handbag
Beauty: Managing Director of the British Fashion Council, Caroline Rush posed for a stunning snap with Helena
When Helena is not working, she is hanging out with long-term friends Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington or fellow European Eva Herzigova.
Helena's career has seen her strut down catwalks around the world and pose in her underwear, but she also said she was a very shy child.
She revealed how it was down to her mother that she became the more confident woman she is today after she sent her to acting classes to 'learn how to express myself more', she told The Sunday Times.
From then on, she did child modelling and was crowned Miss Denmark as a teenager before becoming an icon of the fashion world, heralding the era of the supermodel along with the likes of Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista.
Eye-catching: Roksanda Ilincic opted for a bold red midi dress, teamed with chunky black sandals
This Morning's Dr Zoe Williams has opened up to her followers after revealing she's been in hospital for a painful procedure.
The TV doctor, 43, had gone into hospital to receive spinal steroid injections and took to Instagram to share the details with her followers.
The star snapped a picture of herself in her gown in the morning as she wrote 'Just waiting to go into theatre for my spine injections. Wish me luck'.
Dr Zoe is now back home after the procedure and reassured her fans that she was feeling well so far.
Talking to her followers whilst she chilled out on the sofa with her son Lisbon, two, she shared: 'Just to say a huge thanks for your well wishes, your prayers and your love. It's been felt warmly and is very much appreciated.
Candid: This Morning star Dr Zoe Williams, 43, opened up about her recent hospital procedure as she urged fans not to be 'fearful' over on her Instagram on Monday
Health update: The TV doctor had gone into hospital to receive spinal steroid injections and took to Instagram to share the details with her followers
'I am back home with my boy...We're eating biscuits and oranges and watching Toy Story.'
The star went on to answer her fans questions explaining she was sedated throughout the procedure so didn't feel or remember anything, admitting she was 'just a bit drowsy afterward.'
She also said 'The pain so far is better than it was this morning but the thing is with these injections is that they don't work for everybody and things can get worse before they get better.'
Along with the help of her son she then reassured her fans that if anyone is booked in for a steroid injection, 'do not fear'.
Dr Zoe then promised to get into more detail about steroid injections in a future post, acknowledging that her having a good experience isn't always the total picture.
A regular face on the ITV daytime show, Zoe paved her media career on her passion for fitness and health after graduating medical school in 2007.
Originally from Burnley, Lancashire, she had her first experience on TV with the 2009 reboot of Sky 1's Gladiators.
She is now a GP based in London with regular appearances on the ITV daytime show.
Supportive: Along with the help of her son Lisbon, two, she then reassured her fans that if anyone is booked in for a steroid injection, 'do not fear'
Opening up: The star went on to answer her fans questions explaining she was sedated throughout the procedure so didn't feel or remember anything, admitting she was 'just a bit drowsy afterward
Career: A regular face on the ITV daytime show, Zoe paved her media career on her passion for fitness and health after graduating medical school in 2007
Dr Williams has also presented BBC shows including Trust Me I am a Doctor and a Horizon episode about the contraceptive pill.
The media medic has also had several non-clinical GP roles, including acting as Public Health England's lead clinical champion for their physical activity postgraduate education programme and RCGP clinical priority of physical activity and lifestyle.
In addition, she has also been the Southwark CCG clinical lead for lifestyle medicine and social prescribing and a director and founding member of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
She also helps young people from challenging backgrounds by using activity programmes to improve their health and wellbeing, through her not-for-profit organisation Fit4LifeCIC, which was founded in 2017.
RuPaul's Drag Race UK is preparing to return to screens for season five with brand new queens finally being announced.
The hit BBC show will feature a number of fabulous queens who will hope to impress judges RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Alan Carr and Graham Norton.
Recently the series five guest judges were confirmed and include the likes of Yasmin Finney (Doctor Who, Heartstopper), Suranne Jones (Gentleman Jack, Doctor Foster) and Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Taskmaster).
Carol Vorderman and Alexandra Burke have also been named as the famous faces that will take part in the show's fan-favourite Snatch Game challenge.
But for now lets meet the 2023 queens of Drag Race UK.
Seasons 1-3 of RuPaul's Drag Race UK is available now only on Stan.
Exciting! RuPaul 's Drag Race UK is preparing to return to screens for season five with brand new queens finally being announced
Alexis Saint Pete
Wow: First up is Alexis Saint Pete, 29, who dubs herself as the 'polish Billy Elliot'
First up is Alexis Saint Pete, 29, who dubs herself as the 'polish Billy Elliot'.
Since moving to the UK aged 12, Alexis said it has allowed her to 'grow, spread my wings and be my fabulous self'.
She describes drag self as 'silly, sexy, hungry, showstopping and delicious'.
Alexis said: 'I'm 29 years old and Im your favourite Polish Princess living in London - Im the Polish Billy Elliot!'
Banksie
Amazing: Next up is Banksie, 23, who is a 7-foot supermodel from Manchester
Next up is Banksie, 23, who is a 7-foot supermodel from Manchester.
She couldn't contain her excitement about being picked for the fifth series of Drag Race UK and described it as a 'dream come true'.
Banksie revealed she is from the same Manchester drag family as Drag Race UK finalist Cheddar Gorgeous.
She explained: 'I like to describe myself as the bin baby of the family - I run around being a bit of a prat.'
Cara Melle
New series: Cara Melle, 26, described herself as 'the Beyonce of the drag scene' and gushed that she is a 'legend' in the industry
Cara Melle, 26, described herself as 'the Beyonce of the drag scene' and gushed that she is a 'legend' in the industry.
She moved to the UK from Atlanta, Georgia to study at the London College of Fashion before becoming a drag queen.
She said: 'I was raised by a bunch of UK drag sisters, and so my drag was born and bred in London, where Im well-known as the Beyonce of the drag scene.
'Ive been on TV, billboards, and numerous ad campaigns. The CV is lengthy! I'm a legend - Google me!'
DeDeLicious
Turning heads: DeDeLicious, 20, is from Kent and describes her drag as 'polished, ridiculous, gargantuan, stupid and boobs'
DeDeLicious, 20, is from Kent and describes her drag as 'polished, ridiculous, gargantuan, stupid and boobs'.
She also has a connection to 'bestie and drag sister' Krystal Versace, who came out on top of Drag Race UK series three.
She said: 'Weve known each other since we were 11 years old when we met at school. But DeDe is DeDe, and I just can't wait for everyone to fall in love with me!'
Ginger Johnson
Exciting: Ginger, 24, is from County Durham and describes herself as 'a helium balloon in the shape of a woman'
Ginger, 24, is from County Durham and describes herself as 'a helium balloon in the shape of a woman'.
She said: 'My game plan is to trick the other queens into thinking Im a bit of an idiot, when in fact I am an absolute idiot'.
Kate Butch
Sensational: Kate Butch, 26, and 'the face, the body, the fashion and the liar of series five'
Kate Butch, 26, and 'the face, the body, the fashion and the liar of series five'.
She said: 'I am a silly goose from Buxton in Derbyshire, and in homage to my namesake, Kate Bush, I took to the wily, windy moors and landed here on RuPauls Drag Race UK.'
Michael Marouli
'It's going to be everything': Michael Marouli, 39, is the series self-professed 'Geordie tart with a heart'
Michael Marouli, 39, is the series self-professed 'Geordie tart with a heart'.
She said ahead of the show: 'I am so excited for this ride. It's going to be everything. I've waited my whole life for this and I'm bringing my endgame.
'This is going to be the best series of Drag Race UK ever.'
Miss Naomi Carter
Iconic: Miss Naomi Carter, 23, is from Doncaster and is ready to bring 'beauty, fashion, sassy, gobby and Northern' to the hit BBC series
Miss Naomi Carter, 23, is from Doncaster and is ready to bring 'beauty, fashion, sassy, gobby and Northern' to the hit BBC series.
Discussing her drag name, she explained: 'Well, 'Naomi' comes from the absolute icon that is supermodel Naomi Campbell. 'Carter' for the absolute icon that is Beyonce Carter, and the 'Miss' is to let the boys know that I'm single!'
Tomara Thomas
'This energy is unmatched': Tomara Thomas, 25, comes from Hartlepool and first got into drag as a 14-year-old at dance school
Tomara Thomas, 25, comes from Hartlepool and first got into drag as a 14-year-old at dance school.
She has promised viewers 'high kicks and splits and a lot of dancing'.
She said: 'This energy is unmatched. What other lady has an energy like this and looks like this?'
Vicki Vivacious
Famous connections: Vicki Vivacious, 36, from Cornwall has quite the CV and has worked with Little Mix, toured with Dannii Minogue, sang in the West End and has even been in a girl band
Vicki Vivacious, 36, from Cornwall has quite the CV and has worked with Little Mix, toured with Dannii Minogue, sang in the West End and has even been in a girl band.
She says she has gone from 'farmland to fabulous' and promises to rep the Cornish queens.
Vicki said: 'I can sing, I can dance and I can make people laugh. I can whip up a crowd, and I can also eat a pasty in less than five seconds. Now that deserves a prize, right?'
Barenaked Ladies have delighted fans by releasing their 18th studio album and announcing an upcoming tour of the UK.
The iconic Canadian band, who formed in 1988 and are comprised of Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan, Tyler Stewart and Kevin Hearn - released album In Flight recently and revealed they will hit the road in April in support of the new record.
The band will perform at nine venues across the UK from April 4-15 2024, taking in cities including London, Glasgow and Cambridge,
They will also perform two Hometown Holidays shows in December in the US - performing at Motor City Casino in Detroit, MI on Tuesday, December 5th and at Mystic Lake Casino in Prior Lake, MN on Thursday, December 7.
Drummer Stewart said: 'From Edinburgh in the north to Brighton down south, were coming back to rock the UK, Barenaked Ladies always love playing in Ol Blighty, and this time, Manchester, itll be more than just Ed and Tyler!
Wow: Barenaked Ladies have delighted fans by releasing their 18th studio album and announcing an upcoming tour of the UK
Record: The iconic Canadian band, who formed in 1988 and are comprised of Ed Robertson, Jim Creeggan, Tyler Stewart and Kevin Hearn - released album In Flight recently and revealed they will hit the road in April in support of the new record
'Our In Flight UK Tour 2024 will feature tasty new songs from the album and of course, a whole slew of BNL hits spanning 35 years.
'So come on Subjects! Its time to ring in spring with your favourite Canadians, Barenaked Ladies. We look forward to seeing your happy faces.'
VIP and Artist pre-sale for the tour starts on Sept 20 at 10am BST and tickets are on sale Sept 22 at 10am BST.
The band marked the 25th anniversary of their song One Week on September 15, while October 1 will mark the 35th anniversary of the bands first ever live show in Toronto.
The band has been nominated for two Grammy Awards over the course of their career and have sold over 15 million albums and singles.
They formed in Toronto in 1988 and scored mainstream success in Canada when their debut with Reprise Records, Gordon, featuring the singles If I Had $1000000 and Brian Wilson, was released in 1992.
Their fourth studio album Stunt was released in 1998, with the album spawning hots One Week and Call and Answer.
In the 2010s the band became well-known for creating the theme song for the sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Cindy, 57, recalled: 'I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard'
The young model was making her first appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
Cindy Crawford has called out Oprah Winfrey over their 1986 interview, in which the famous TV host asked the then 20-year-old model to show off her body on national television.
The beloved supermodel, 57, opened up about the interaction in the new Apple TV+ docu-series, The Super Models, which sees Cindy and fellow 'supers' Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington reflect on how they came to dominate the fashion industry.
However, before Cindy became a household name, she was given an introduction to the nation when she made her first ever appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency rep, John Casablancas.
In the snippet shown in the documentary, Oprah is heard introducing the stunning young model before she asks: 'Did she always have this body? Stand up just a moment, now this is what I call a BODY.'
Cindy Crawford has called out Oprah Winfrey for an 1986 interview where the host asked the then 20-year-old model to show off her body on national television.
A then 20-year-old Cindy made her first ever appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show alongside her Elite Modeling Agency rep, John Casablancas
In the snippet shown in the documentary, Oprah is heard introducing the stunning young model before she asks: 'Stand up just a moment, now this is what I call a BODY'
Cindy proceeded to smile nervously as she stood up and allowed the audience - and viewers at home - to take a look at her statuesque frame.
Reflecting on how she felt in that moment, Cindy admitted: 'I was like the chattel or a child, be seen and not heard.
'When you look at it through today's eyes, Oprah's like, 'Stand up and show me your body. Show us why you're worthy of being here.''
The mother-of-two continued: 'In the moment I didn't recognize it and watching it back I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that was so not okay really.' Especially from Oprah!'
The clip had been available on Oprah's YouTube channel until Tuesday evening, hours before the documentary was due to drop.
Elsewhere in the clip, Oprah directed several questions towards John who spoke on Cindy's behalf.
When Oprah quizzed him about whether the agency had to put the model through a 'training period', he responded: 'With Cindy, it was much more psychologically she was not sure she really wanted to model little by little, her ambition is growing.
'She's getting a sense, and I'm saying it now on this program, if she wants to she can be number one in the business.'
John's prediction certainly came true, but in the docu-series, Cindy highlighted just how hard she was working to make it during the early days of her career.
The former House of Style presenter admitted she would often 'pass out' from hunger during grueling shoot days.
The beloved supermodel, 57, opened up about the interaction in the new Apple TV+ docu-series, The Super Models
Cindy landed her debut Vogue cover (pictured) the same year that she appeared on Oprah for the first time
She stated: 'I was 20 years old, I had dropped out of college to model in Chicago and it was great. I was making $1000 a day.
'The main business there was catalog. There was one main photographer, Victor Skrebneski, and he was the big fish in a little pond. Victor was definitely mentor in the fashion industry, when Victor said don't move you didn't move.'
Cindy continued: 'I passed out there more than once. Especially right before lunch, you pass out and you would faint. And then they would prop you back up and you would do it all over again.'
The supermodel's comments about her Oprah appearance closely echo those made by fellow star Brooke Shields who last year spoke out about her own awkward on-air encounter with Barbara Walters.
During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Brooke, now 58, slammed Walters for the 'probing' questions she asked her when she was just 15 years old.
Brooke - who had just starred in The Blue Lagoon at the time of her interview with Walters - explained: 'She asked me what my measurements were and asked me to stand up, and I stand up and she's like comparing herself to this little girl, and I thought, 'This isn't right. I don't understand what this is.'
'But I just, I behaved and smiled and felt like so taken advantage of in so many ways.
'But over the years, you know when you've been in the public eye and have been commented on all the time, everybody has an opinion, and you all get to say it, and now that's where social media I think can be dangerous. Then you learn to say no this is my truth.'
The candid series sees the runway icon open up about her game-changing career alongside fellow super models Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell
Cindy's candid comments about her Oprah interview offer an intriguing glimpse into the scandals that may emerge from Apple TV+'s new four-part documentary, which charts the rise of the women who earned millions, dated movie stars and cemented their status of supermodels after that iconic music video for George Michael's track, Freedom, in 1990.
It's the first time all four of the surviving icons, Tatjana Patitz died earlier this year of breast cancer, have come together to discuss the phenomenon in depth.
While the Apple TV+ series basks in the exceptional beauty of the women it doesn't shy away from the uglier issues they faced, such as addiction, domestic abuse and racial inequality.
Typically reserved Linda Evangelista is seen in tears and she opens up about being left disfigured by a failed cosmetic procedure.
Meanwhile the Canadian beauty also shares claims that ex-husband Gerald Marie abused her during their five-year marriage.
Elsewhere, Naomi Campbell reveals she is perimenopausal after being captured suffering a 'hot flush' during a photoshoot in the docu-series.
The Super Models is available to stream on Apple TV+ from September 20.
Nicolas Cage is considered a dreamboat by many of his fans, but the actor is taking that to the next level is his latest film.
The actor, 59, who promoted Dream Scenario at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, is receiving accolades for his comedic talents.
The Oscar winner plays a low key college professor who, unbeknownst to him, suddenly begins turning up in the dreams of people he doesn't even know.
The funny film was written and directed by Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli.
Nicolas plays Paul Matthews, a typical nerdy dad of two, married to his wife, Janet, played by Julianne Nicholson.
Dream man: Nicolas Cage is a college professor who mysteriously begins showing up in people's dreams in the new dark comedy Dream Scenario
He first finds out about his midnight forays into others' subconscious when a friend tells him, 'you've been on my mind recently. You keep popping up in my dreams.'
She tells him, 'You don't do anything. You're just there.'
Others begin sharing their own experience with the 'remarkable nobody' in their dreams and word begins to get out.
After a television interview about the unusual phenomenon, Paul becomes a bit of a star, and the dreams seem to take on a more frightening tone and the teacher becomes the subject of some bullying and he begins to experience a real-life nightmare.
For his professorial role, Nicolas is anything but glamorous.
The versatile star was styled with a balding head, a graying beard and glasses.
The consensus of critics who have seen the movie resulted in an 86-percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Candice Frederick from the Huffington Post said, Dream Scenario is 'A darkly funny, and often truthful, look at the rapid hysteria of our real-world cancel culture, Borglis latest helps cement him as a provocative and wildly entertaining voice for our times.'
Costume: For his professorial role, Nicolas is anything but glamorous. The versatile star was styled with a balding head, a graying beard and glasses
Star: After a television interview about the unusual phenomenon, Paul becomes a bit of a star in his local community
Nightmare: Paul becomes the subject of some bullying and he begins to experience a real-life nightmare while the dreams begin to take on a more frightening tone
Wife: Julianne Nicholson stars as Paul's wife Janet
Co-stars: Michael Cera and Tim Meadows co-star. The dark comedy has received and an 86-percent approval rating from the critics at Rotten Tomatoes
Debut: Nicolas called the film a 'masterpiece' during its debut at the TIFF. Dream Scenario opens in theaters November 10
Peter Howell of the Toronto Sun said, the dark satire gives 'Cage one of the best roles of his career as he rages from comic to horrific, sometimes in the same moment.'
At TIFF, the actor told Global News he thought the film was a 'masterpiece.'
'I think Kristoffer did something so inventive, so original, and it's a perfect vision he created.'
Nicolas has been able to promote the film during the actors strike because the distributor, A24, is not associated with the major Hollywood studios, and received a waiver from the union after agreeing to the guild's demands.
'I'm here in gratitude,' the star explained.
Michael Cera, Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula and Dylan Baker also co-star.
Dream Scenario will open in limited release November 10.
Lala Kent has branded Rachel Leviss a 'coward' after she blocked ex lover Tom Sandoval on Instagram after their months-long affair.
The Vanderpump Rules star, 33, called Leviss, 29, 'beyond helpless' and slammed her for not returning to the show after Scandoval in an Amazon Live segment on Monday.
Earlier this month Sandoval, 41, posted a groveling birthday message to her as she turned 29, leading her to share a screenshot of his Instagram page which showed a red circle with a slash around his profile picture and a hot pink sticker on it, which read: 'Ok bye!'
Opening on a sarcastic note, Lala said: 'I see that the mental health facility really helped her. She's just come so far. She's just so removed from this world,
'You know, I really tried, dude. Rachel, I really tried. And you are just beyond, like, helpless.'
Outburst: Lala Kent has branded Rachel Leviss a 'coward' after she blocked ex lover Tom Sandoval on Instagram after their months-long affair
Trio: The Vanderpump Rules star, 33, called Leviss, 29, 'beyond helpless' and slammed her for not returning to the show after Scandoval in an Amazon Live segment on Monday (pictured with Ariana Madix)
Adding that she 'can't believe' Leviss blocked Sandoval, she said: 'Honey, we've moved on. That happened 500 years ago, right? And if you had something to say, you should've strapped on your ovaries and you should've [returned to] the show after you blew everyone's world up, and you should've addressed it.'
She added Leviss was a 'coward' for not returning for the show's 11th season.
'I still wish the best for her. I hope she's doing good, and I hope she finds her happiness.'
In his bizarre comment, Sandoval wrote: 'Happy birthday Rachel, I really hope you're finding peace and happiness. Miss u friend.'
His comment was immediately roasted by her followers as many slammed having 'the audacity to call her friend' after 'she blew up her entire life for' him.
'This type of comment really shows the type of emotional abuse he does to people,' one fan wrote.
Another added: 'Could this not have been a direct message? A text maybe?'
A third suggested that the 'best birthday gift he could give is to just leave her alone.'
Shock: Opening on a sarcastic note, Lala said: 'I see that the mental health facility really helped her. She's just come so far. She's just so removed from this world'
On screen affair: The pair conducted an illicit romance
Blocked! After thanking her 623,000 Instagram followers for all the birthday wishes, the TV personality, 29, shared a screenshot of her former lover's Instagram page showing that she had blocked him
Birthday message: Four months after their split, the reality star left a sweet note to his former lover, who checked into a mental health treatment facility in April amid the fallout from their affair, which read: 'Happy birthday Rachel, I really hope you're finding peace and happiness. Miss u friend'
'This is the most text book narcissist move,' another said on the comment, which it seems either he or she deleted.
The pair split four months ago, during her stay at a mental health facility, after receiving public backlash over their affair, which ended his nine-year relationship with their Vanderpump Rules costar Ariana Madix.
Leviss, who is now going by her birth name of Rachel, 'decided against' returning for season 11 of their reality show, to focus on healing from past trauma, according to ET.
'Rachel is focused on her mental health journey and knew going back to the show would open her up to trauma she's been working on healing. Rachel is looking forward to what the future holds for her,' an insider told the outlet, last month.
It has been a tumultuous year for Leviss after she became embroiled in one on of the biggest scandals to hit reality television.
She seemingly confirmed she had no plans to return to the show during her tell-all chat with Bethenny.
'I feel like I've been portrayed as the ultimate villain. My mistakes that I've made on camera live on forever. And you mentioned something about the addiction of doing reality TV and the way that they always dangle that carrot in front of you, like, 'Well, you need to tell your side of the story otherwise it's gonna be written for you.'
'And that's terrifying. So I almost went back, I know just because of that.'
She did not expand further on what she meant by 'almost went back' but the star has remained in her home state of Arizona - while filming for season 11 of the highly-popular Bravo reality series has been underway since late June.
Betrayal: Leviss became embroiled in controversy after her affair with Tom Sandoval led to the end of his relationship with Ariana Madix
Smiling Rachel looked healthy and in good spirits after recently checking herself into a mental health facility after facing the wrath of her co-stars during the show's three-part reunion that taped in March.
She since checked out of the facility in mid-July and has reportedly to be staying with family in Arizona.
Opening up about why she chose to take a step back from the public eye , the Bravo star told Bethenny: 'It's been a whirlwind, it's been chaos. But I've taken some time to myself to reflect and try to understand my actions. And I finally have come to the place where it makes sense to me.
'Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online.'
The reality star then explained that she chose to spend time in a treatment facility in an attempt to 'understand my behaviors'.
Tell-all: Leviss seemingly confirmed plans she would not be returning to VPR during her interview with Bethenny Frankel but was vague
She stated: 'But then the other part of the reason why I wanted to go to a treatment facility was to understand my behaviors and my goal was to really get down to the bottom of, 'OK why am I choosing men that are unavailable, why do I keep finding myself in unhealthy relationships, what are the things that I need to change about my behavior.'
'And in knowing that I needed to make a change, I first had to know what leads to those behaviors.'
Bethenny explained that she had felt sympathy for Rachel while witnessing the Scandoval backlash and stated that she felt the star's life was being 'exploited' without compensation.
The former RHONY star stated: '[The backlash] seemed disproportionate to me. I was watching clips on social media and hearing about this Scandoval that had a name, was being marketed and it was being pumped through the PR machine. And I did say 'Everybody's gonna be more well known than they were before because of this.'
'And my mind was, 'They're on a reality show. It's set in a bar, is what I think. It's fueled by alcohol and partying and multiple affairs. So what respectfully, what the hell is the big deal that everyone's talking about?' And I said your name just as an example of what I imagined to be somebody who had been exploited. And for the rest of your life, that content will be out there without compensation.'
Scandal: She faced backlash for her role in the affair from fans and her castmates alike
Thankful Rachel responded: 'It's so nice to have you validate that experience because for a moment I thought I was going crazy. And it's true, reality TV is edited, it is contrived to create a certain storyline. So it's not all factual.
'As a viewer tuning in, it's easy to get wrapped up in that. Then the concept of an affair hits really hard to a lot of people. So I think there was a lot of projection happening, a lot of emotions that came up for people, and unfortunately I was the punching bag for a lot of that.'
The TV star made it clear that she understood why there was so much rage from both her co-stars and viewers as she continued: 'I do want to take a moment though to just acknowledge the hurt that I brought to a lot of people. I was not careful in my actions and I was not thinking long-term. I was completely wrapped up in heartbreak and wanting to get certain needs met.'
Reflecting on the true reason for her behavior, she claimed: 'Looking back now, I can see that I was still healing from a relationship from someone I thought I was going to marry. And in ending that, I still haven't healed yet.'
Rachel then confirmed that she had been turning to alcohol to try and get through the tough time, something she stated was not the best solution to her problem.
'When I was filming, I was drinking a lot to ease that anxiety and in a reality TV environment, I wasn't getting that safe space for me to express my emotions in a healthy way.'
When Bethenny stated that viewers - and Bravo producer Andy Cohen - had no true understanding of what it feels like to be part of a big reality show scandal that continues to manufactured unrealistic scenarios, Rachel agreed.
'Part of the reason why I wanted to take some time away is just because it was so chaotic and loud, and there was such vitriol online,' she said of why she is not coming back for season 11
The reality star then breathed an audible sigh of relief over getting the chance to share her side of the story and she told Bethenny: 'It feels like I have this opportunity to share how much I've grown, and how hard I'm trying to be a better person.
'That person that I saw watching back on my TV is someone who is completely out of character from who I truly am. I feel like having this opportunity to represent myself in a way that I feel like is true to who I am is all I could ever ask for'.
The star took time to explain her name changes as she stated: 'I changed my name Raquel in first grade, there was a few other Rachel's in my class and I wanted to be special. I also feel like, deep down, I wasn't comfortable in my own skin and I wanted to be somebody better - in my eyes.'
She claimed changing the name allowed her to 'be that person' but confirmed that her family never stopped calling her 'Rachel'.
Rachel explained that her therapist told her that she was Rachel 'to her core' but put up a wall by being called Raquel.
The star explained that this persona may have manifested due to her long-term struggles with 'social anxiety' and being judged by other people.
She explained that she is now introducing herself by her birth name as a way to return to her roots.
Sunrise has suffered an awkward malfunction in the studio just a month after moving from Martin Place to their high-tech facility in South Eveleigh.
On Wednesday morning, the breakfast show's studio lights shut down for about 20 seconds during their live broadcast.
The blunder occurred while newsreader Monique Wright delivered the morning news and crossed to reporter Teegan Dolling.
Wright, 50, effortlessly read from the autocue prompt in the dark before interrupting herself to call out the lighting fault.
'Can we get the lights back up, maybe?' she said, pulling a face.
The lights finally lit up again right before Monique crossed to Teegan, sparking cheers from the host.
'There we go! Hallelujah!' Monique sang, while laughter was heard coming from the studio off-camera.
The Seven Network officially opened their newsroom and studios in Sydney last month after relocating from Martin Place in the CBD.
The anticipated high-tech facility located at South Eveleigh is now the home of Seven's Sydney and national news operations, including 7NEWS, Sunrise, The Morning Show, The Latest and Spotlight.
On Wednesday morning, Sunrise's studio lights shut down for about 20 seconds during their live broadcast, forcing Monique Wright to read the news in the dark
But it's not all state-of-the-art as previously thought, with a number of flaws pointed out since the breakfast show's first broadcast.
Earlier this month, it was revealed Sunrise films its outdoor broadcasts in the loading dock.
Viewers took to forum Media Spy to share their disappointment with the flawed layout as hosts Natalia Barr, Matt Shirvington, Edwina Bartholomew and Mark Beretta presented in the driveway.
The segment featured traditional Greek dancers and plates being smashed as part of a giveaway for one lucky viewer's chance to win a trip to the Greek Islands.
The Seven Network officially opened their newsroom and studios in Sydney last month after relocating from Martin Place in the CBD
'In the carpark this morning - must have wanted to protect the new studios floor,' one fan wrote to the forum.
'Not the best location for an OB. It looks like a loading bay,' another added.
'[I] Miss Martin Place for these types of set ups.'
Another disgruntled viewer said it was 'the second time' they have used the loading dock for an OB.
But it's not all state-of-the-art as previously thought, with a number of blunders occurring since the breakfast show's first broadcast. Earlier this month, it was revealed Sunrise films its outdoor broadcasts in the loading dock
'Hopefully its not a regular occurrence,' they added.
Sunrise ushered in a new era in July as Channel Seven officially relocated its studios to nearby South Eveleigh after 19 years of broadcasting from Sydney's Martin Place.
According to an official press statement, 'The world-leading studio space is five times larger than Martin Place and allows for permanent sets for all programs, with two complete control rooms and more than 40 square metres of LED screens.'
But not all fans are enamoured with Brekkie Central's new look.
Critics rushed to social media to slam the state-of-the-art studio, with many claiming it looks 'sterile' compared to the iconic Martin Place studio, which featured a large window facing onto the busy footpath outside.
'Sorry but Martin Place was loads better. Loved being able to see the actual world go by in the background. This new place seems like a windowless, dark, damp, basement dwelling,' one viewer complained.
Critics rushed to social media to slam the state-of-the-art studio, with many claiming it looks 'sterile' compared to the iconic Martin Place studio, which featured a large window facing onto the busy footpath outside
'The new Sunrise set at Channel 7 Sydney is much too sterile - almost unfriendly - unlikely the lively view of people in Martin Place in the CBD,' another agreed, while someone else described the studio as looking 'all boxed in'.
Naysayers have also taken aim at the set's new colour palette, which introduces brighter hues of yellow and orange as well as more white space.
'Way too bright. Too much orange and white,' one complained, as another wrote: 'It is very in your face and it takes over. Very glary. Just too much.'
There has also been some backlash online about the apparent lack of camera operators visible in the studio, amid reports Seven is phasing in robotic cameras.
Sunrise revealed in June that Matt Shrivington (right) would be replacing David Koch to co-host alongside Natalie Barr (left)
'It's a shame. The people who worked last week in Martin Place on [the cameras] likely no longer have a job on the show now,' one viewer commented Media Spy.
However there was plenty of positive feedback for Sunrise's refreshed look.
'It's very cohesive. All elements seem to work together and look great on screen,' someone said.
During their first show at Everleigh, host Matt told viewers that the studio paid homage to its Martin Place predecessor.
'We are in our brand-new home this morning, it's quite amazing. It has a lot of inspiration from the Martin Place Brekky Central but it has some new things as well,' he said.
A woman gave birth to a baby girl while attending 50 Cent's concert in Ridgefield, Washington earlier this month.
A source told Page Six on Tuesday about the unlikely scenario, which occurred at the rapper's show on September 6 at the RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater.
'The baby girl was born on site, and the mother and child were then transported to the hospital,' a source told the outlet. 'As of last report, all are well.'
Medical staff sought to tend to the woman who 'appeared to be in distress,' the source told the outlet, when they discovered that she was already in labor and couldn't be safely relocated from where she was at.
Staffers congregated around the woman to form what the source described as a 'human curtain' before finding sheets they could hold up around the baby delivery.
The latest: A woman gave birth to a baby girl while attending 50 Cent's concert in Ridgefield, Washington earlier this month. The rapper, 48, was pictured in Clarkston, Michigan Sunday
The unlikely occurrence took place at the rapper's show on September 6 at the RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
The rapper is currently on his international tour titled The Final Lap, featuring Busta Rhymes and, on the North American dates, Jeremih.
The tour began at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 21 and is slated to extend through November 12 with a date at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.
The tour, which is produced by Live Nation, commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the rapper's megahit album Get Rich or Die Tryin, which spawned hits such as In da Club, P.I.M.P. and If I Can't.
Having wrapped up the North American leg of the tour Sunday with a show at Detroit's Pine Knob Music Theatre, 50 Cent is slated to resume the tour September 28 in Amsterdam.
Dailymail.com has reached out to reps of the rapper for comment.
The rapper had a chaotic show August 30 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, as he launched a broken microphone into the crowd.
The projectile hit Bryhana Monegain, a radio host for Power 106, in the head, injuring her. She subsequently filed a police report, according to TMZ.
Lil Wayne had been slated to take the stage at the show, but left early after a tour member pushed him out of the way backstage, apparently unaware who he was, Page Six reported.
The venue advertised the Candy Shop rapper's concert this past May on Instagram
The tour commemorates the 20-year anniversary of the rapper's megahit album Get Rich or Die Tryin, which spawned hits such as In da Club, P.I.M.P. and If I Can't. Pictured in Michigan Sunday
'He just stormed out,' an eyewitness told the outlet. 'He was in the building for about 20 minutes total.
A number of similar incidents have been reported in recent years involving women going into labor while attending a concert.
Last month, a woman named Angela Mercer began going into labor while attending a Pink concert a Boston's Fenway Park, and walked to a nearby hospital to complete the process.
In May of 2022, a woman named went into labor at in Curitiba, Brazil's Couto Pereira Stadium while Metallica was launching into their signature hit Enter Sandman.
Ashley Judd has claimed she was fired from a major job after quoting Donald Trump's infamous 'grab them by the p***y' remarks during a speech at the 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C.
Judd, 55, who is a global goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund and campaigner to end sexual violence against women, revealed she lost a 'life-changing' job during an appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Monday.
Saying she had been branded a 'man hater' in the past and subjected to death and sexual assault threats on social media, Judd said: 'This will be what it will be because we're here to tell the truth. This is telling truth to patriarchy.
'Just like when I lost a big job after the Women's March. I quoted the president. He said it, he got elected. I quoted him, I got fired and lost income that would've changed my life.'
Judd's 2017 speech - given to half a million people during former President Trump's first day in office - saw her compare the businessman to Hitler and say: 'I am nasty like Susan, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Amelia, Rosa, Gloria, Condoleezza, Sonia, Malala, Michelle, Hillary! And our p*****s aint for grabbing.'
Comment: Ashley Judd has claimed she was fired from a major job after quoting Donald Trump 's infamous 'grab them by the p***y' remarks during a speech at the 2017 Women's March in Washington D.C (pictured Monday at the Clinton Global Initiative)
Vile: The 2005 tape of Trump bragging about groping and having sex with women was recorded on an open microphone while Trump was about to tape a segment of a television show 'Access Hollywood.' He can be heard saying: 'Grab them by the p**sy. You can do anything' (pictured Friday)
The 2005 tape of Trump bragging about groping and having sex with women was recorded on an open microphone while Trump was about to tape a segment of a television show 'Access Hollywood.'
He can be heard saying: 'Grab them by the p**sy. You can do anything.'
Judd's speech on Monday also saw her call for an end to male sexual violence and describe how porn had normalized violent practices towards women, such as choking.
She said: 'Male sexual violence is the up with which we will not put, and, for me, it's just the hill on which I'm willing to die.
'I've seen too much agony, too many shattered souls, and too many women controlled and held back as farmers, as civil servants, as contributors to their community because they couldn't plan and space the births of their children because when they introduce family planning they get beaten, or used for household labor and fetching water and cooking and cleaning while their sons eat more than they do.'
'And still, some say boys will be boys, but we say here today that we love them and they will be held accountable for their actions, their attitudes, their sins of omission.
'And frankly, I'm fed up with the emphasis being on building resilience in girls and women because we've gotta look upstream and see from whence this need for resilience comes,'
Judd said she hoped for a 'solution for ending male entitlement to female bodies' which include more support for female political candidates and getting women equal access to schooling.
Adding she had met a Syrian refugee who was raped, she added: 'So join her and me in telling the truth about male sexual violence. Tell it in your workplaces. Tell it on the streets. Tell it in public transportation. Tell it in your bedrooms.'
She said: 'Just like when I lost a big job after the Women's March. I quoted the president. He said it, he got elected. I quoted him, I got fired and lost income that would've changed my life'
Judd has claimed Harvey Weinstein harassed her in a Los Angeles hotel room in 1997 and went on to 'destroy' her career when she rebuffed his advances. The pair are pictured together in 1997
Judd has previously spoken openly about being raped on three occasions, falling pregnant once after one of the assaults and undergoing an abortion.
In October 2015, Judd told Variety that she had been sexually harassed by a studio mogul but did not name the person.
In October 2017, she claimed the person was Harvey Weinstein and said that the sexual harassment occurred during the 1997 filming of Kiss the Girls - she claimed Weinstein repeatedly asked her to watch him shower.
Weinstein has previously said he wants to 'earn the forgiveness' of Judd, but did deny some of the claims she made in her interview with the Times.
Weinstein, now 71, was found guilty of rape and two other counts of sexual assault offered by an unidentified Russian-born, Italy-based model, referred to as Jane Doe 1 in December 2022.
Weinstein was already serving a 23-year sentence for separate rape and sexual assault convictions in New York when he was found guilty of rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by foreign object of an unnamed Russian-born Italian model.
Tyson Fury has admitted he tried to pay Netflix to pull out of his family documentary while half way through filming.
The undefeated heavyweight champion, 35, has revealed that he tried to 'pay his way out' of the series, At Home With The Furys.
The show that followed the retired boxer and his childhood sweetheart wife Paris, 33, and their six children.
The couple have now welcomed their seventh child, a baby boy on Monday.
Tyson told Queensberry promotions: 'I wanted to get rid of the filming. I couldn't take it any more, it was overwhelming.
'It was overwhelming': Tyson Fury has admitted he tried to pull out of his family Netflix documentary while half way through filming
'We got through it': The undefeated heavyweight champion, 35, has revealed that he tried to 'pay his way out' of the nine episode series, At Home With The Furys
'I tried to pay my way out of it, but I couldn't, so we got through it.
'I was happy I didn't because it's turned out to be a number one hit and a fantastic show a fantastic insight in[to] a crazy family and the mind of a mental, crazy person.'
Despite actually enjoying the final Netflix docu-series, Tyson did complain that the streaming service didn't film 'the whole reality'.
He added: 'You need to film me in the bath,' which Netflix declined.
Tyson and Paris, who met as teenagers and married in 2008, are parents to Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, four, two-year-old Athena and they recently welcomed a baby boy but have yet to announce his name.
It comes after Netflix has reportedly confirmed a second season of runaway hit At Home With The Furys is on the way, The Sun revealed.
Famous heavyweight boxer Tyson has given the green light to renew the successful show despite controversies.
The insight series - which drew 2.6million viewers only on the first episode - follows the life of the British champion, his wife Paris and their six kids.
Tyson said: 'I wanted to get rid of the filming. I couldn't take it any more, it was overwhelming. I tried to pay my way out of it, but I couldn't, so we got through it.'
The Furys: The show that followed the retired boxer and his childhood sweetheart wife Paris, 33, and their six children - Venezuela, 13, Prince John James, 11, Prince Tyson II, seven, Valencia, five, Prince Adonis Amaziah, four, two-year-old Athena
An inside source told The Sun that crew members have already been asked about their availability to work on the upcoming season, and revealed Netflix was very keen to work on a follow-up.
'Tyson had some reservations but has finally said he'd be up for inviting the cameras back into his life.'
It comes after Tyson shared the first photo of his newborn son after announcing the happy news on Monday that they have welcomed their seventh child.
And proud dad Tyson followed the announcement by sharing a sweet photo of the couple with their baby boy standing in front of a sunflower wall in hospital.
'Hes here and hes perfect,' he captioned the post.
Tyson's celebrity friends flooded his Instagram comments with congratulatory messages, with Wayne Rooney, Mark Wright and Piers Morgan offering their best wishes.
Announcing the birth of her seventh child to OK! Magazine, Paris revealed her son was born at 2.29am weighing 6lb 13oz, but hasn't yet revealed his name.
Paris said: 'We're over the moon to have welcomed our baby boy to the Fury family. His brothers and sisters can't wait to meet him and create lots of Fury fun!
'Our boy is the most perfect addition and we're bursting with love for him. It's crazy how you can love someone so quick.'
Family: It comes after Tyson and wife Paris announced they have welcomed their seventh child, a baby boy
She shared a glimpse of her newborn wrapped in a white blanket while they posed against a sunflower backdrop.
Prior to her birth, Paris teased her upcoming due date as she prepared her home for the arrival of baby number seven last week.
And despite the family being worth an estimated 50M Paris was washing and reusing her older children's baby clothes as hand me downs for the newborn.
She shared a snap to her Instagram Stories of items drying on a rack and captioned the post: 'Just washed all baby blankets they smell so lovely'.
Before adding: 'It's getting close'.
Consumers can consider protecting their homes from natural disasters instead
Home insurance deductibles have shot up in the last five years, data reveals
Americans are taking out home insurance polices with increasingly large deductibles in a bid to mitigate rocketing premiums - but experts warn that the strategy carries risk.
A home insurance deductible is the amount a homeowner will have to pay out of pocket before the insurer will contribute to the cost of a claim.
Higher deductibles generally mean lower premiums, but you could end up being caught out if your home is vulnerable to damage.
In 2023 new home insurance policies with deductibles greater than $2,000 were up 44 percent on the year prior, while those with deductibles of just $500 were down 16 percent, according to data from insurance agency Matic.
'Deductibles have become a very big issue,' said Charles Nyce, an associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University's College of Business. 'But it's dangerous, there will be people who who have losses they cannot afford to have.'
In 2023 new home insurance policies with deductibles greater than $2,000 were up 44 percent on the year prior, while those with deductibles of just $500 were down 16 percent, according to data from Matic Insurance
The shift in the market comes as the national average for home insurance premiums is rocketing. According to Bankrate, the average cover on a $250,000 home is up 20 percent from 2022 to $1,428 a year.
Homeowners in natural disaster-prone areas such as Florida are having to pay an even more inflated rate - with some people being charged up to $6,000 a year for coverage - as companies are increasingly struggling to profit.
'In Florida, we have a huge hurricane exposure, number one, and number two, we were having some fraud issues in the market as well. So insurance companies were suffering substantial losses,' said Nyce.
In July, national insurer Farmers Insurance became the latest firm to announce it would no longer cover homes or cars in the state, citing the rising risk of hurricanes.
Charles Nyce, an associate Professor of Risk Management and Insurance at Florida State University's College of Business, suggested consumers should consider protecting their homes from natural disasters to reduce premiums
For new policies effective in 2023, the proportion with deductibles between $1,000 and $1,500 was down by 10 percent on the year prior, while those between $2,000 and $2,500 were up 46 percent, according to Matic data.
Nonetheless, the $1,000 to $1,500 bracket remained the most common in 2023 - with 70.75 percent of homeowners still having deductibles in that range.
Rising premiums are leading some people to give up insurance altogether.
As of June of this year, 88 percent of homeowners were insured across the country, down from 95 percent in 2016, according to the Insurance Information Institute.
For homeowners, boosting their deductible can be a strategy to reduce their premium - while ensuring they still have cover.
While some homeowners are taking it upon themselves to increase their deductible, others are actively urged to do so by their insurer, according to Matic.
'The agent will often be the one that makes the suggestion first,' said Nyce.
'That's important, he said, because an agent is unlikely to be familiar with the specifics of a customer's financial situation.
'Individuals that are not well versed in insurance probably aren't aware of all the options that are available so it comes to the agent to be able to inform them of all the different choices,' he said.
But people have to be prepared to cover the promised portion of a deductible if and when a loss occurs, he warned.
Many deductibles are given in fixed dollar amounts, but others are given as a percentage of the home's insurance premium - typically ranging between 1 and 2 percent of its value.
There are also various types that consumers can opt for. While standard insurance covers wind and hail damage from storms and hurricanes, separate natural disasters are usually covered by their own deductibles.
In Florida, one of the most frequently imposed on homeowners insurance is a 2 percent deductible for hurricane losses.
That means homeowners will be responsible for the first 2 percent of the insured value of the home in the event of a claim. For a $500,000 home, that will be $10,000.
'There are studies in the United States that say things like 50 percent of households cannot afford a $500 unexpected loss. They just don't have that rainy day fund to cover it. And when you start talking about 2 percent of a $500,000 home, that's a big pay day,' said Nyce.
In Florida, one of the most frequently imposed on homeowners insurance is a 2 percent deductible for hurricane losses. Pictures are rescue personnel performing a search in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael in Mexico Beach, Florida, in 2018
He suggested that there are alternative things consumers can do in order to fair best when insuring their homes.
Firstly, he advised going out of the way each year to actively look for new new coverage. 'You may be able to find an insurer offering a lower premium,' he said.
He also said consumers should pay attention to their limit, which is the highest amount the insurer will pay for a claim. While it's important to make sure that the amount would cover the cost of a rebuild or a repair, it need not be unnecessarily high.
Finally, homeowners should inquire into which discounts are available and what steps they need to take to access them. For example, Nyce said that in Florida discounts are available for taking steps to protect a house against hurricanes, and that there may be grants to fund undertaking that work.
Operation Vijay I was dexterously planned. India employed an overwhelming tri-service force to defeat the Portuguese garrison of 7000 personnel in Goa
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Goa, unlike its masters in Delhi who rule Bharat that is India, is not running a campaign to cleanse itself of colonial rule: that is why it is peaceful and civilised through recent invasions from the North have disturbed the market. But harmony has prevailed, thanks to leaders like Manohar Parrikar, offshore casinos, heritage fish markets duty liquors and Peoples rice beer. The Portuguese Consulate sits at the base of Altino hill from where Goa is ruled today as it was for 451 years earlier. Portugal, which had occupied Goa, Daman and Diu was the last colonizer to be evicted from Indian soil on 19 December 1961 in the first Op Vijay. Last Sunday, the 76th anniversary of Operation Polo, the defeat of Nizams forces in Hyderabad, was commemorated but the event was politicised.
India has not eschewed the use of force in national integration. Of the 562 princely states under the suzerainty of the British Crown, all were persuaded to accede to India except three: J&K, a Muslim majority state ruled by a Hindu raja; Junagadh with a Hindu majority ruled by a Muslim Nawab; and Hyderabad, a Hindu majority state ruled by the Muslim Nizam. In July 1946, Mr Nehru said no princely state could stand against independent Indias Army. In May 1947 they were told that those who did not integrate would be treated as enemy states. Nawab of Junagadh fled to Pakistan on 26 October 1947 after he acceded to it. It was militarily coerced by 1 Armoured Division and by 9 November India assumed its administration. The J & K ruler signed the Instrument of Accession on 27 October 1947 after tribal raiders from Pakistan had begun the first war over Kashmir which has not ceased to this day. The Hyderabad Nizam insisted on remaining neutral, forcing India to launch Op Polo on 13 September 1948in which my battalion 2/5 Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force) , winner of three Victoria Crosses (equal to PVC) , participated. Hyderabad was liberated on 17 September.
What remained were French and Portuguese enclaves on the East and West Coasts. While France vacated occupied territories in 1956, Portugal refused, necessitating Op Vijay (Kargil is Op Vijay II). I was fortunate to visit the surrender site last week on Altinho Hill where the 2 Signal Training Centre (STC) of the Army is currently partly located. Vijay Vatika is well marked and indicates the place where Gen Vassalo e Silva surrendered to Lt Col Sucha Singh on 19 December 1961. Op Vijay was meticulously planned by GoC Southern Command, Lt Gen JN Choudhary (also led Op Polo). It was Indias first tri-service operation involving the 17 Infantry Division and 50 Para Brigade led by Maj Gen KP Candeth and Brig Sagat Singh. Indian Navys Op Chutney entailed recce and surveillance. On 11 December, the 17 Infantry Division was ordered to advance and capture Panaji and Mormugao. The assault began with artillery bombardment under air cover at 0400 hrs with the Portuguese opting to offer resistance. 50 Para Brigade of 1st Para Punjab and 2nd Para Marathas captured Panaji and Ponda the next day.
India employed an overwhelming tri-service force to defeat a Portuguese garrison of 7000 personnel, one Frigate and three Offshore Patrol boats. Casualties were on both sides 22 Indian soldiers killed while the Portuguese lost 30 soldiers and 570 wounded with one frigate disabled and the remaining 4668 personnel captured. On 18 December Portugal urged the UNSC for a ceasefire and ending hostilities. The US disapproved of Indias military action while the USSR used its veto to ensure surrender. By the evening of 18 December, most of Goa was in Indian hands, even as Portuguese soldiers were ready to defend the port town of Vasco da Gama, according to Op Plano Sentinel. The Portuguese President ordered a scorched earth policy but the Governor General refused to implement it. He ordered a ceasefire and surrender at 2030 hrs on 19 December. The surrender of the garrison marked the end of 451 years of Portuguese rule of Goa.
Just above the Portuguese Consulate is the Army House, the erstwhile residence of the Military Commander, Gen Vassalo e Silva. It is a 400-year-old Portuguese construction later acquired by the Governor General. It must have commanded a 360-degree view of Panaji. After the Signals Commandantwas allotted the heritage house, many Chief Ministers who also live on Altinho (anyone who rules Goa lives there)
have had an eye on the houses including Parrikar. 2 STC residents dispersed in the pockets of Panaji. Like the British, the Portuguese chose the best land for cantonments as well as several hill stations, especially in Himachal after the British CinC chose to initially live in Simla. Many of todays popular hill resorts were strategic locations covering Simla.
Many Goans have kept their links with Lisbon. Prime Minister Antonio Costa is half-Goan and has helped rev up India-Portugal amity. People in Goa affectionately call him Baboush (in Konkani, a young loved one). The Signals Army Unit in Goa maintains high standards of pride and decorum, co-habiting with Goans who look up to their Army for liberating Goa. Portuguese surrender should be commemorated befittingly as the first tri-service campaign at a time when theorisation is on the anvil.
(The writer, a retired Major General, was Commander, IPKF South, Sri Lanka, and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the Integrated Defence Staff. The views expressed are personal)
India gains from Chinese imports as it allows for value addition in the country and helps create jobs
It is often asked why despite Indias enmity against China, is there still a $136 billion business between them. It is a fact that India shares quite unpalatable & hostile terms with China as its one of the closest neighbours in Asia. But despite several border issues & dicey security threats to India flowing from China, the last years (2022) bilateral trade between them was of $136 billion. And just because of these high-yielding business figures, people tend to fall in ambiguity about India-China bilateral relations which are still financially affluent despite border disputes & China was being marked as Covids epi centre by India.
So, the story is, actually India wants to subvert Chinas economic, diplomatic & geopolitical power and presence across the globe but Indias economic stance & stature are not very competitive to send China out of the doors. Even in the contemporary era, no nation can afford to attack its enemy straightaway because the world has already witnessed a situation of stalemate between Russia & Ukraine where not a single solution has come out.
The reason why India still opens its gates customs department to let Chinese products come inside is that, first of all, whatever products China exports to India are tangible items, not services. So, India has a hidden & special foreign trade policy to tackle Chinas abundance of exports to India, out of all those tangible products imported that India makes from China, a substantial part of it is of those goods that India imports in the form of raw material for shaping & polishing them further into finished goods. For example, the mics that news readers use are majorly manufactured inside China yet India imports them Even though the metal stick used in eyeglasses is also from China, it is still being imported by companies like Lenskart to procure just the raw material at a cheap cost from China & further convert that metal stick into stylish eyewear having more final value than its raw materials cost.
Another question the public raises is whose economy is dicer for India, the USA or China? So, it has already been propounded about the reason for India still being a bilateral trading partner with China. But Indians have less discourse about the nasty effects of the USAs economy on India. India in its bilateral trading ties with the USA is an importer because of the current account deficit. The sorts of goods & services India imports from the USA are unlike of Chinas which anyhow lead to some value addition in India. Brands like McDonalds & KFC have their genesis in the USA & India buys eatables from such multi-national food chains, but the crux is, that India cannot add any further value addition in a burger or a chicken bucket for selling it to some other party just like the case of China, where India remains with a scope of doing 3 times valuation addition in a product imported as a raw material from China.
So, India has been more at the loss side in trading bilaterally with the USA in comparison to China because products India imports from the USA are directly consumed by the final customer, it may be a US Polo shirt, KFCs chicken, McDonalds burger, etc. Thus, there is no value addition in India. In questing about the ideology of Indias foreign trade policy, it was found that India restricts itself to importing completely manufactured products from others, it always nods to those products only having a scope of more value addition even when they are imported into India. It is so in the policy because it results in employment & income for Indians while they further process those unfinished products that were imported earlier.
(The writer is an expert on international business issues and has been featured in the International Business Times. Views are personal)
SS Rajamouli on Tuesday announced that he will be presenting the upcoming feature film "Made In India", a biopic on 'Father of Indian Cinema' Dadasaheb Phalke.
The "RRR" filmmaker said the script moved him emotionally when he heard the narration.
"When I first heard the narration, it moved me emotionally like nothing else. Making a biopic is tough in itself, but conceiving one about the FATHER OF INDIAN CINEMA is even more challenging. Our boys are ready and up for it.. With immense pride, Presenting 'MADE IN INDIA'," Rajamouli wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He also shared the announcement teaser, which described the upcoming feature as the "biopic of Indian cinema".
"Made In India" will be directed by Nitin Kakkar, known for films such as "Filmistaan","Mitron" and "Jawaani Jaaneman". The venture also marks Rajamouli's son SS Karthikeya's debut as a film producer. He was credited as line producer of "RRR".
"It's been years since I wanted to fulfill my dream of becoming a producer. The moment has come. 'MADE IN INDIA'... With utmost responsibility, taking this up as a challenge," Karthikeya wrote on X,
Varun Gupta is also attached as a producer.
Dadasaheb Phalke, referred to as the Father of Indian Cinema', made the first-ever full-length Indian feature film titled "Raja Harishchandra" in 1913. Born in Trimbak in present-day Maharashtra, the filmmaker's real name was Dhundiraj Govind Phalke.
He went to London to learn filmmaking from Cecil Hepworth and made his directorial debut in 1913 with "Raja Harishchandra", India's first full-length feature. In his career spanning over 19 years, he made 95 movies and 27 short films.
In 1969, the central government paid homage to the visionary filmmaker by dedicating an award in his name, Dadasaheb Phalke Award, which recognises lifetime contributions to Indian cinema.
"Made In India" marks Rajamouli's first project as a presenter after the global success of his Telugu period action drama "RRR", which won the best original song award for "Naatu Naatu" at the Academy Awards earlier this year.
The makers are yet to announce the cast and other details about the film.
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "credible allegations" of the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat."
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement in New Delhi.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said.
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
"The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry said.
The MEA said Canadian political figures have "openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
"The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new," the MEA said.
"We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," it said.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," it added.
In his speech, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
"It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves, he said.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added.
He also disclosed that he had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month.
Trudeau urged the Indian government to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter."
During the bilateral meeting with Trudeau on September 10, Prime Minister Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism, inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
"My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this," Joly said.
Citing a senior government source, CBC News reported that Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadian citizens "must be safe from extrajudicial killings".
"Canadians deserve to be protected on Canadian soil. We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as authorities investigate this murder. The truth must come out," Poilievre said.
New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh said that he'd use "every tool" at his disposal to "bring those responsible to justice."
"We will ensure that no rock is unturned, that every possible link is examined," Singh said, adding that the public inquiry into foreign interference, which was prompted by allegations of Chinese meddling, should also look at India and its actions in Canada.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is leading the murder investigation.
"We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice," he said.
The Mounties' Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is responsible for the Nijjar file.
"It's progressing," RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme told CBC News when asked about the investigation.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000 (about 2 per cent of its total population).
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.
Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries.
"There were certain political developments in Canada on which India has raised its objections. India has shown a strong resentment against certain political developments in Canada, and therefore, for the time being, till these political issues are settled, we have paused the negotiations," the official said in New Delhi.
In a chilling incident that has sent shock waves through Moga district in Punjab, local Congress leader Baljinder Singh Balli (45) was shot at his residence in Dala village late on Monday. The assailants, believed to be two in number, arrived on a motorcycle, with one entering Ballis home while the other kept watch outside.
Hours after the gruesome incident, fugitive gangster and Canada-based Khalistani terrorist Arshdeep Singh Gill, notoriously known as Arsh Dala, claimed responsibility for Ballis murder through a Facebook post.
Dala, in his post written in Punjabi, attributed his actions to Ballis alleged involvement in crime and harassment of his mother. The post alluded to a longstanding vendetta fueled by personal and political grievances.
In disturbing CCTV footage capturing the incident, a gunman can be seen forcefully entering the premises just as Balli, also known as namberdar in the community, stood on his porch. Without hesitation, the assailant opened fire, striking Balli twice once in the chest and once in the thigh. The injured leader was rushed to the hospital, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries, according to the police.
Arsh Dala wrote: I am responsible for the murder of Balli in Dala village because it was my own villages politics which had made me tread this path. This man (Balli) was responsible for keeping my mother in CIA (police) custody for a week and he also got my friends arrested. He was hand in glove with police. He destroyed my home just to gain his own afsar shaahi
Notably, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had designated Arsh Dala a terrorist earlier this year due to his involvement in a range of heinous crimes.
A massive dispute has flared up between Canada and India. In a retaliatory move, New Delhi expelled a Canadian diplomat shortly after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asserted in Parliament that there were credible allegations of a potential connection between Indian Government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada in June. Canada also expelled a high-ranking Indian diplomat.
Taking exception to this, India on Tuesday asked a Canadian diplomat to leave the country within five days and rejected Trudeaus statement.
In a strongly worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs(MEA) termed as absurd and motivated the Canadian Prime Ministers allegations late on Monday in the House of Commons that there were potential Indian links to the killing of the Khalistani separatist leader.
That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new... We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA said.
In a strong reaction to remarks by Trudeau and the Canadian Foreign Minister, the MEA said such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity.
However, on Tuesday Trudeau said, We are not looking to provoke or escalate the issue.
Canadian High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned and informed about the decision to expel the senior official, with the MEA saying the move reflects New Delhis growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
The Congress backed the Governments action and said the countrys interests and concerns must be kept paramount and its fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising. The Indian National Congress has always believed that our countrys fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens Indias sovereignty, unity and integrity, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. Our countrys interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times, he added.
Though the MEA did not divulge the name of the Canadian diplomat who has been asked to leave India within five days, people familiar with the matter said it is the Canadian intelligence agencys station chief in New Delhi Olivier Sylvestre.
The Indian action to expel the Canadian diplomat came hours after Canadas Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat has been expelled from Canada in view of the alleged links to the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Khalistani leader. He was shot dead by two gunmen in Surrey in June.
Jolys office said the diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to Canadian broadcaster CBC news.
Prime Minister Trudeau said in the House of Commons, Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau said Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty... It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves, he said. As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter.
He also said he had raised with Prime Minister Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month. Trudeau urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
The ties between India and Canada have come under strain in view of New Delhis concerns over increasing activities of Khalistani elements in that country. Last week, the talks on a bilateral free trade agreement were frozen apparently in view of the deteriorating ties.
The high commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days, the MEA said, adding, We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian PM, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister.
Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, the MEA said before announcing the expulsion of the Canadian diplomat.
The MEA said the inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been long-standing and of continuing concern.
In his talks with Trudeau on September 10, Modi conveyed Indias strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of Indias senior diplomats serving in Canada surfaced in certain areas in that country.
In June, a video emerged on social media that showed a float depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It was reportedly part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who headed the Khalistani Tiger Force and the Canadian arm of Sikhs For Justice (SFJ), was shot dead by unknown attackers near a gurdwara in Surrey in June. Nijjar, who was from Jalandhar, moved to Canada in 1997. He was wanted in India for being the mastermind of the Khalistani Tiger Force, a designated terror group in India.
Last July, the Indian anti-terror agency announced a cash reward of `10 lakh on Nijjar in connection with the murder of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar, Punjab. Nijjar was also accused in the 2007 bombing of a cinema in Punjab. The NIA is also probing the recent attacks on Indian diplomatic missions in Canada, UK and US.
Meanwhile, soon after Prime Minister Trudeaus statement, the US said it is deeply concerned about the allegations. The US was deeply concerned about the allegations disclosed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in an emailed statement. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Ms Watson said.
The UK Government said the serious allegations over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada will not impact its own ongoing trade negotiations with India.
We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations, a UK government spokesperson said.
It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, the spokesperson said.
Later, when Sunaks spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India continue as before.
India and the UK earlier this month agreed to continue to work at pace towards a landmark free trade agreement (FTA).
After an inordinate delay, the much awaited and long-pending demand of several political parties, the Centre on Tuesday introduced a Bill to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The Bill, known as the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was introduced and became the first Bill to be taken up for discussion and passage in the new Parliament building.
Officials said even if the Bill is passed during the ongoing Special Session, its implementation may still take some time and is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed.
The Bill will need to overcome several hurdles before becoming a reality, including support cutting across political lines and early census and delimitation exercise.
Lok Sabha data shows that women MPs account for nearly 15 per cent of the lower Houses strength while their representation is below 10 per cent in many State Assemblies.
In the present Lok Sabha, 82 women members were elected which account for less than 15 per cent of the total strength of 543. In the Rajya Sabha also, womens representation is about 14 per cent, according to the data shared by the Government with Parliament last December.
The provisions in the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill make it clear that the womens reservation will come into effect only after the delimitation exercise or the redrawing of constituencies taking into account the data of the census conducted once the bill becomes a law.
Constitutional experts said after the passage of the Bill by both Houses of Parliament, it will also have to be approved by at least 50 per cent of State Assemblies to become a law.
According to Article 82 of the Constitution, amended in 2002, the delimitation process can be carried out based on the first Census taken after 2026.
The first Census after 2026 was to be carried out in 2031, which would be followed by delimitation or redrawing of constituencies.
The Government postponed the 2021 census exercise in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will have to be put on a fast track by the Government for the Womens reservation to be turned into reality before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. In 2011, the census was carried out in February-March and the provisional figures were released on March 31 that year.
There have been several attempts to introduce the Womens Reservation Bill in the the Lok Sabha and State legislative Assemblies since 1996. The last such attempt was made in 2010, when the Rajya Sabha had passed a Bill for womens reservation, but the same could not be passed in the Lok Sabha.
The current Bill proposes that the reservation will continue for a period of 15 years and there will be a quota for SC/STs within the reserved seats for women.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was listed for introduction in the Lower House through a supplementary list of business.
The reservation of as nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each subsequent delimitation exercise, according to the bill.
In the Lok Sabha, Home Minister Amit Shah rejected Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhurys claim that the 2008 brought by the Manmohan Singh Government was still live after being passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010. Later, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the Bill had lapsed after the dissolution of the 15 Lok Sabha as after being passed by the Rajya Sabha it had become the property of the lower house.
Then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi first introduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation in panchayats and nagarpalikas in May 1989. It was passed by Lok Sabha but failed in Rajya Sabha in September 1989. Later, Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao reintroduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas in April 1993. Both bills became law.
One of the longest counter-terrorist operations in Kashmir Valley in recent times ended on its seventh day with the recovery of the dead body of Lashkar-e-Tayeeba (LeT) commander Uzair Khan from inside the Garol forest area of Kokernag in the South Kashmir district of Anantnag on Tuesday.
A massive manhunt was launched by the joint team of security forces in the dense forest area after three senior officers, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Jammu & Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat, were martyred in action during an intense firefight with a group of terrorists on September 13.
On Monday, the security forces recovered the body of Sepoy Pardeep Singh, who went missing after the operation was launched.
A total number of four security personnel sacrificed their lives in the Kokernag encounter.
According to police records, Uzair Kham, a resident of Nagam area of Kokernag, was A Plus category terrorist and carried a reward of `10 lakh on his head.
He joined the ranks of a pro-Pakistan terrorist outfit in June 2022 after he went missing from his residence in the same month.
Since October 2021, a total number of 31 soldiers, including senior officers have made supreme sacrifices in seven operations.
In contrast, only four terrorists were neutralised in only two out of these seven operations. In five other operations, the search and combing operations were called off after different intervals without any major success.
However, in the Kokernag operation, the Indian Army mobilised massive resources after suffering huge losses to hunt down the terrorists, believed to be hiding inside the natural cave-like structures.
To counter the challenges of tough terrain, the Army authorities also resorted to the use of Heron drones and other surveillance equipment to smoke out the hiding terrorists. To avoid any collateral damage the joint teams relied more on surveillance equipment before zeroing in on the target.
Briefing media persons after the operations were called off on Tuesday, Additional Director General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, Lashkar-e-Tayeeba (LeT) commander Uzair Khan was among the two terrorists killed in a gunfight in Jammu & Kashmirs Anantnag district that ended after seven days, on Tuesday.
Till now, LeT commander Uzair Khans body has been recovered. The dead body of another terrorist is visible, but it has not been possible to retrieve it yet, the ADGP told reporters in Anantnag.
He said the gunfight, which began in the Garol forest area of the south Kashmir district on Wednesday last week, is over, but the search operation will continue. There is a huge area that remains to be searched. There can be a lot of unexploded shells which will be recovered and destroyed. We appeal to the people not to go to the area, he added.
The ADGP said security forces had reports that two to three terrorists were there. There is a possibility that the third dead body may be somewhere. It will be known after the search is complete, Kumar said.
During the last week, the entire Garol forest area was cut off from the district headquarters after the anti-terrorist operations were launched.
Reinforcements were rushed in to plug the possible escape routes of terrorists.
Timeline of Terror attacks on Indian army
October 11, 2021: Five Army soldiers including a JCO were martyred in an encounter with terrorists at Chamrer forests in Surankote tehsil of Poonch district.
October 16, 2021: Four soldiers including another JCO were killed in action with the same group of terrorists at Bhatta Durrian in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch.
August 11, 2022: Five Army jawans were killed and two fidayeens were eliminated during an attack on an Army camp at Pargal in Darhal area of Rajouri district.
January 1, 2023: Seven civilians of the minority community, two of them minors, were killed in firing and IED blast triggered by two foreign terrorists at village Dhangri in Rajouri district.
April 20, 2023: Five Indian soldiers were charred to death after a moving truck was ambushed in the Poonch district
May 5, 2023: Five elite commandos of Para Special forces were killed in action by a group of heavily armed terrorists in the thickly forested belt of Kotranka in the frontier district of Rajouri.
August 4, 2023 : 3 soldiers of 34 RR were killed in action in the Kulgam district
September 13, 2023: Three officers and one sepoy killed in action in the Kokernag forest area of Anantnag
Despite Jharkhand being more than 33 per cent green, the effects of climate change are beginning to be seen here. In the north-western districts of Garhwa, Latehar and Palamu, increase in average temperature and forest fires and decrease in rainfall are some of the impacts of climate change are being seen. The state government has started working to reduce the impact of climate change. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Dr. Sanjay Srivastava informed this to the delegates at the 2-day International Climate Summit held in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
The International Climate Summit was organised through collaboration of various Ministries of the Central Govt with Indo-Nordic cooperation and PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry on the issue of Sustainability through green growth. Various partners of the Summit were Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, office of Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India, NITI Aayog etc. along with participating States and industry representatives.
Dr. Sanjay Srivastava was invited as the sole representative of the Indian Forest Service in the country in this Summit to share views on climate responsible actions, policies and legislations. He said in the conference that keeping in view the challenges of climate change viz. greenhouse gases, fossil fuel use, fragmentation of forest habitat, and pollution, many initiatives have been taken in Jharkhand towards green hydrogen, biofuels and renewable energy. The State Industries Department has signed an MoU with Tata Group to set up a hydrogen engine manufacturing unit in Jamshedpur. A new solar energy policy has also been launched to contribute to the field of renewable energy, he said.
Ranchi is going to get the gift of Ranchi Howrah Vande Bharat Express very soon. Preparations for this are also being completed by the Railways. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information to MP Sanjay Seth during his meeting today. During the special session of Parliament, MP Sanjay Seth met Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav in Delhi on Tuesday.
He was informed about the request letter given earlier for expanding rail passenger facilities in Ranchi Lok Sabha constituency. He also urged to take positive initiative on this. In light of this, the Union Railway Minister told Seth that Ranchi Howrah Vande Bharat Express will be given to Ranchi very soon. There is every possibility that the Prime Minister himself will flag off and inaugurate it. After this gift, Seth has expressed his gratitude to the Union Railway Minister and has also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the course of this meeting, the Ranchi MP requested the Union Railway Minister to come to Ranchi and hold a review meeting of the ongoing railway projects here, so that the railway work here can be given more momentum. On this, the Union Railway Minister assured the Parliament that he is planning to come to Ranchi very soon. All plans will be reviewed. It will be given more momentum.
Seth also urged the Union Railway Minister to re-stop the trains running before the Corona period in McCluskieganj, Muri and Tatisilve. On this, the Union Minister told the MP that stoppage of many trains has been given to Ranchi Lok Sabha constituency. The stoppage of other trains will also start soon. Apart from this, the Union Railway Minister has also assured that positive initiatives will be taken in the matter of construction of the overbridge in Chutiya.
After the meeting, MP Sanjay Seth said that there is great news for Ranchi that Vande Bharat Express running between Ranchi and Howrah will run on the tracks very soon. The journey between Ranchi and Kolkata will become even more smooth, pleasant and easy. Apart from this, the Union Railway Minister has also shown seriousness regarding the expansion of rail passenger facilities in Ranchi Lok Sabha constituency.
It is a matter of utter shame and deep concern that young women who have completed the statutory age of 18 are being declared dead by their parents by way of performing their Sudhikriya (death rituals) because they dared to have their love marriage against their parents' consent.
As reported widely, Deepanjali Mallick, 20, of Demal village under Aul PS of Kendrapada, did her love marriage on 28.08.2023 in a local temple defying her parents. Her father Muna Mallick and her father-in-law Ananta Mallick are residents of the same Village Demal and incidentally they belong to the same SC Kandara caste.
The young man Rajendra whom Deepanjali married out of love is 23 years old. He is studying B.Tech course. Before her marriage with her Lover she Eloped with him, a missing case was filed in the Aul Police Station. Police traced her. She was handed over to her parents.
Deepanjali found that her parents were planning to get her married to some other young man. This forced her to leave the house of her parents and reached her lovers house on the same day. She married her lover in a traditional way in a temple. This did not go well with her parents. So they did the Sudhikriya. This is totally unfair and insulting to the image of their living daughter Deepanjali.
The other case was reported in Gajapati district. Chandini Sahu, a +2 Science student who belongs to Khandayat Caste and is a resident of Chandiput village under Mohana PS, deserted her parents to marry
her lover Dhanyaja Nayak, 28, a +3 Arts student of Christian Community of the same village. The duo reached AMOFOI Office on September 5. They married by exchange of garlands after having deep love affairs for nearly 10 years.
This caused a great deal of heart-burning for Chandinis parents Sahadev Sahu and Sanju Sahu. So to keep their caste image intact, they performed Chandinis Sudhikriya on 11.09.2023 in total violation of the Right to Life as guaranteed to every citizen of India under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. Her parents might have done it to prevent themselves from social ostracisation by their Khandayat community. This social evil is very much rampant in many parts of Odisha, more so in Ganjam and Gajapati districts.
It is a matter of great worry that after 73 years of launching of the Constitution of India, parents are still considering their grown-up daughters as their slaves, not being treated as individuals of dignity. In the Kerala Hydia case, the Supreme Court of India has made it clear on March 8, 2018 that any woman of India who has completed the age of 18 enjoys absolute autonomy over her person. It means that parents have no role at all to interfere in the personal life of their own daughter. She has all freedom to choose her life partner and marry him as per her wish. This being the law of the land, civil authorities, the State and the district administration must see to it that no young woman is dishonoured in any manner for doing her love marriage.
(The writer is general secretary, Freethought Party of India; Mob: 9238878280)
The All India Students' Association (AISA) on Tuesday launched its manifesto for the upcoming Delhi University Students Union (DUSU) elections promising to take up issues like fee hike, rollback of the scheme for internal assessments, and free metro passes for students.
"With the introduction of the National Education Policy (NEP), DU has seen policies like Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) being imposed on students. The NEP 2020 resulted in massive fee hikes in various colleges and has failed to resolve the issues of lack of hostels for students.
"Similarly, the price rise has contributed to escalating costs for students, thereby making the long-standing demand of free metro passes important," AISA's manifesto read.
The left-backed group also promised to focus on the need of gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment on campus.
The election is slated to take place on September 22 after a gap of four years. It could not be held in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 while disruptions to the academic calendar prevented their conduct in 2022.
AISA candidate Aiyesha Ahmad Khan filed her nomination for the post of president, Anushka Choudhary for the post of vice president, Aditya Pratap Singh for the post of secretary, and Anjali Kumari for the post of joint Secretary.
While Aiyesha Ahmad Khan is a student of Miranda House College and hails from Patna, Anushka Choudhary is a student of the Law Faculty at Delhi University and is a resident of Bahadurgarh in Haryana. Aditya Pratap Singh enrolled in the University in 2019 and has been an AISA activist since and Anjali Kumari is a first-year student from Miranda H
The BJP on Tuesday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for granting 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislative bodies and said it would help them participate in public life while the AAP alleged that the Women's Reservation Bill is a bill to befool women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"The BJP is not interested in the wellbeing and welfare of women. A closer reading of the provisions of the bill shows that it is 'Mahila Bewakoof Banao' bill," Delhi Minister Atishi said while addressing a press conference. Delhi Commission For Women chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday congratulated the Centre on its decision to introduce the Women Reservation Bill.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving a bill pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties. According to the bill, the reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise.
The Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, " I thank the Prime Minister for this historic decision. The decision will herald a change in the otherwise male-dominated politics of the country". "Do not underestimate women candidates. The belief that women belong to the confines of their houses has ended," Bidhuri added.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that the people of the country are today proud that the Narendra Modi government has chosen to present the most important Bill in the political history of India as the first Bill on the table of the new Parliament of India that too on the auspicious Ganesh Chaturthi day.
"It was BJP led Government of PM Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee which forcefully tried to get the Women Reservation Bill passed four times between 1998 to 2003 but the Congress and its clans oriented regional parties colleagues scuttled the Government's efforts. Now, PM Narendra Modi whose Government has an absolute majority in the Parliament has chosen the day of Ganesh Chaturthi to give enhanced representation in the public life to the women of India. The passing of this Reservation Bill will also mean that the participation of the women not only in the law making process, but in Governance will also increase," he said.
Taking a dig at the BJP, Atishi said BJP's grandiose plan for women's reservation will not come into effect until 2027-28. It is clear from the provisions of the bill that the BJP is attempting to deceive the women of the country by befooling them in the name of reservation just to gain votes in the 2024 elections. Atishi questioned, "Why can't PM Modi provide reservations to women in the 2024 elections without waiting for the census and delimitation. If he truly cares about women, why doesn't he implement the bill on the existing 543 seats in the Lok Sabha?" Demanding the provisions of delimitation and census be done away with and the women's reservation be implemented for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi said : '"Why have the provisions of delimitation and census been included? This means that women reservation won't be implemented ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls".
Earlier in the day, Atishi had stated that if such a bill comes, the AAP will welcome it, but underlined that the party would have to study its specifics. "The AAP supports women's reservation in-principle. If such a bill comes, we will welcome it. No Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha member of the party has got a copy of the bill, and so its specifics and what impact it will have need to be studied," the AAP leader had said.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Tuesday congratulated the Centre on its decision to introduce the Women Reservation Bill. "After 76 years of independence, the government has accepted that unless women are in the Parliament and Legislative Assembly, the country's progress will only be on paper. "Women's issues are a burning topic in the country today due to which the Centre is bringing #WomenReservationBill in the country. I congratulate the government and hope that the likes of Brij Bhushan will now be replaced by women in Parliament!" she said in a post in Hindi on X.
AAP's Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha demanded immediate implementation of reservation for women.Targeting the central government, he posted on X, "We will bring women reservation but won't reveal the date.
As per Clause 5 of the #WomenReservationBill, the reservation will kick in only AFTER a delimitation exercise and a fresh census - post the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Act, 2023."
"Does this imply: 1 No women reservation for the 2024 Elections 2 The nation and the women will have to wait for fresh Census and delimitation for women reservation 3 The BILL has been framed without the WILL to execute it We demand immediate implementation of #WomenReservation without further delay," he said.
Night Domination Campaign by Hry Police: 42,000 Vehicles inspected
Chandigarh: As part of the Night Domination campaign initiated by the Haryana Police to prevent criminal activities, about 42,000 vehicles were inspected across the state on Sunday night. In addition, 1,093 vehicles got challans, 105 vehicles were seized, and 97 FIRs were registered. Consequently, a total of 1,283 vehicle drivers faced action in accordance with the rules. The Night Domination campaign was conducted in the state on the night of September 16.
Vishwakarma Yojana will greatly benefit skilled workers, says Arun Sood
Chandigarh: BJP Chandigarh State president Arun Sood on Tuesday said that Vishwakarma Yojana will greatly benefit the skilled workers in Chandigarh. Addressing the gathering at a programme in Chandigarh, Sood said that this scheme will motivate the youth for self-employment. Under this scheme, apart from getting training at government institutions, 18 types of skilled workers will get bank loans ranging from Rs one lakh to Rs 10 lakhs to start their own work.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks security has been augmented with creation of a dedicated anti-sabotage check team.
As per official sources, the dedicated team will mainly be used during the CMs visits for attending garlanding events and to public meetings.
The team will consist of two deputy commandant-rank officers, two assistant commandants, four armed sub-inspectors, havildars and sepoys.
The security at CMs residence has also been increased. Now 91 personnel, including a group of armed sub-inspectors, will be deployed.
Sources said a decision to increase the security cover for the CM was taken after concerns were expressed over the works of Personal Security Officers (PSOs) following the murder of Health Minister Naba Das in January this year.
Besides, a dedicated security training centre will also be set up for which new posts have been created.
Apart from the CM, the security cover for Assembly Speaker, Deputy Speaker and Ministers has also been revised. Around 72 additional police personnel will be deployed. A total of 203 new posts have been created for the purpose.
Home Department Special Secretary Santosh Bala has informed the Accountant General (AG) regarding the approval of the Odisha Governor for the strengthening of the security wing under the Intelligence Directorate by the creation of new posts, the sources informed.
Reacting sharply to the comments made by the BJP State president Mahendra Bhatt on its MLAs, the State Congress has said that instead of commenting on others Bhatt should look into the incidents of indiscipline in his own party. The chief spokesperson of Uttarakhand Congress Garima Dasauni said on Tuesday that Bhatt should inform about the disciplinary action taken by him in the last two years. She said that six councillors of the BJP attacked the residence of a trader Pravin Bhardwaj in Ansal Green Valley. They misbehaved with Bhardwajs wife and vandalised his house. Instead of taking action on these councillors the police registered a case against Bhardwaj. She said that Bhatt should tell what action was taken by the State party unit on these councillors. She added that cabinet minister Prem Chand Agarwal was seen mercilessly beating a worker in Rishikesh in a video but no action was taken against him. Dasauni said that in a similar incident a person was beaten by supporters of cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi in his presence but again Bhatt took no cognisance of the issue. She said that one office bearer of BJP Mahila Morcha is an accused in murder of an NRI but Bhatt has not removed her from the party. Dasauni said that instead of commenting on any MLA of opposition, Bhatt should do introspection and set his own house in order. The Congress leader also cornered the BJP government and BJP State president for failing to organise a single programme to offer condolence to Ankita Bhandari on her death anniversary. She said that it shows that the Uttarakhand BJP is standing with Pulkit Arya, the accused in the Ankita murder and his father.
A conman masquerading as a doctor in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh was apprehended by authorities on Tuesday. The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of AIIMS Rishikesh, Harish Thapliyal informed that the Sewa Veers (service volunteers) of the hospital noticed that a man donning the uniform of a doctor was standing near the department of radiology. They found his activities suspicious and informed about him to the hospital administration. Thapliyal said that this man had placed a nameplate of Dr Sachin Kumar on his uniform and claimed that he is a senior resident in the neurology department of the hospital. On being questioned the person tried to mislead but later told that he had worked as a hospital attendant in the DRDO hospital managed by the AIIMS Rishikesh during the pandemic of Covid 19. The accused is class X pass. Thapliyal said that the phone record of Sachin Kumar showed details of 70 to 80 registrations of patients done in the hospital. His phone has some dubious money transactions also. It is believed that Kumar used to dupe the patients and their relatives by posing as a doctor. The PRO of AIIMS Rishikesh said that the issue has been brought to the notice of the police. The accused has been apprehended and the police have started an investigation in the case, he said.
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on the city government's challenge to a single judge bench order of no coercive action against six PWD officials who were issued show cause notices over "gross violation" of rules in the renovation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's official residence.
The appeal filed by the Directorate of Vigilance and Special Secretary (Vigilance) Y.V.V.J. Rajasekhar sought setting aside of a September 15 interim order of a single judge of the high court which said no coercive steps shall be taken by any authority against the petitioner PWD officials till October 12. The appeal came up before a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula which reserved its verdict.The single judge had passed the interim order after taking serious exception to the city authorities failing to exercise restraint and taking contravening steps despite an undertaking given by its counsel that no coercive steps will be taken against the officials. Earlier, senior advocate Rahul Mehra and Delhi government standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi had given an undertaking to the single judge that no coercive action will be initiated against the petitioner officials. The Directorate of Vigilance, in its appeal filed through advocates Yoginder Handoo and Mananjay Mishra, contended the order was passed without appreciating the fact that the alleged assurances were without any authority.
Senior advocate Kirti Uppal, representing the appellants, apprised the division bench of an office memorandum of the Department of Law and Justice according to which "all Standing Counsel(s)/Additional Counsel(s) and empanelled Counsel(s) to ensure that written and verbal submissions made by them shall have to be strictly in consonance with the written instructions given to them with the approval of the Administrative Secretary of the concerned Department".
He claimed no statement could be made without written instructions from the competent authority. On the other hand, Mehra argued they had proper instructions from the PWD minister to assist the court. He said the minister had given them written instructions to defend the case in the high court and to state that no coercive action will be taken against the petitioner officials.
The single judge had earlier issued a notice and sought the response of the Delhi government through the Directorate of Vigilance, Special Secretary (Vigilance) and the PWD on the main petition challenging the show cause notices. The Directorate of Vigilance had issued show cause notices to six PWD officials over alleged violation of rules in the renovation of Kejriwal's official residence. The notices issued to the chief engineers concerned and other PWD officials asked them to explain their actions.
The single judge of the high court was hearing the petition by the six officials, filed through senior advocate Mohit Mathur, seeking quashing of the show cause notices issued to them on June 19 by the Special Secretary (Vigilance) on the grounds that they were issued by the top officer "without jurisdiction and competence, with premeditation and with closed mind in complete abuse of the process of law".
It said the notices were the "outcome of a political tussle between the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and the ruling party in NCT of Delhi" in which the petitioners were made "scapegoats".
The PWD officials said in their petition they did not violate any rule, statute or office order and the work undertaken with regard to the official bungalow was in full discharge and in due course of their official duties.
"The petitioner(s) followed the instructions of the minister of PWD, GNCTD (Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi) and have consistently performed his duties under his vigilant supervision. It will not be out of place to emphasise that the petitioner all along acted in good faith, with no default, lapse or negligence on his part," their petition said.
The show cause notices to the officials, however, said the old structure was demolished without a survey report and no building plan was sanctioned for the new building constructed by the PWD. The notices asked the PWD officials to explain their version "as all such acts have been done by them in gross violation of general financial rules, CPWD manual and CVC guidelines".
The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday took suo moto cognizance over encroachment of areas around water bodies at the same time sought action plan from Ranchi Municipal Corporation on tackling water crisis in State Capital, as the region has witnessed scanty rainfall. The Jharkhand High Court has sought a reply from the State Government and the Municipal Corporation within four weeks.
The court has asked the state government that there has been less rainfall so far in the monsoon this year, what is the action plan so that the people of Ranchi do not face drinking water problems. The court has sought response from Ranchi Municipal Corporation regarding removal of encroachment from around the city's water sources such as Kanke Dam, Dhurwa Dam, Getalsud Dam, Hinoo river and directed the civic bodies to ensure that solid and liquid waste entering these water sources are checked.
Earlier, Amicus Curiae Inderjit Singh told the court that this year there has been 27 percent less rainfall in Ranchi in the monsoon, the problem of drinking water will start happening in Ranchi from December this year, in such a situation, it should be clarified how the government will tackle the problem. A division bench headed by High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra scheduled the hearing of the case on October 31. Advocate LCM Shahdeo appeared on behalf of Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
In the last hearing, the court had asked the state government and Ranchi Municipal Corporation to remove encroachment from around the dam, Dhurva Dam, Getalsud Dam, Hinoo River and Bada Talab. If the encroachment is not removed, the court has also said that it will pass a strict order. . The court had also taken suo motu cognizance of the case of encroachment of land of Ranchi's water sources like Kanke Dam, Dhurva Dam and Getalsud Dam.
Meanwhile, in a big relief to citizens, most places across Jharkhand are expected to experience light to moderate rain today, said a bulletin issued by IMDs Ranchi Meteorological Centre. The Met Centre also issued an alert of heavy rain at a few isolated places in southern Jharkhand today.
The monsoon trough at mean sea level was passing through Jaisalmer, Ajmer, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Daltonganj, Digha and thence southeast to the east-central Bay of Bengal. The cyclonic circulation over the east-central and adjoining Northeast Bay of Bengal was lying over the northeast and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level.
Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the northwest Bay of Bengal and the neighbourhood during the next 24 hours. Monsoon activity was weak over Jharkhand during the past 24 hours.
Light to moderate rain was observed at isolated places. Weathermen did not rule out the possibility of heavy rainfall at isolated places over the west and central parts of the state tomorrow. Met statistics suggested that Jharkhand state as a whole was still facing a rainfall deficit of 34 per cent.
n a chilling incident that has sent shockwaves through Moga district, a local Congress leader, Baljinder Singh Balli (45), was fatally shot at his residence in Dala village late Monday night. The assailants, believed to be two in number, arrived on a motorcycle, with one entering Balli's home while the other kept watch outside.
Hours after the gruesome incident, fugitive gangster Arshdeep Singh Gill, notoriously known as Arsh Dala, claimed responsibility for Ballis murder through a Facebook post. Dala, in his post written in Punjabi, attributed his actions to Ballis alleged involvement in crime and harassment of his mother. The post alluded to a longstanding vendetta fueled by personal and political grievances.
In disturbing CCTV footage capturing the incident, a gunman can be seen forcefully entering the premises just as Balli, also known as namberdar in the community, stood on his porch. Without hesitation, the assailant opened fire, striking Balli twice once in the chest and once in the thigh. The injured leader was rushed to the hospital, but tragically, he succumbed to his injuries, according to the police.
Arsh Dala, who also hails from the same village (Dala), is believed to be presently hiding in Canada. The post, loosely translated, read: I am responsible for the murder of Balli in Dala village because it was my own villages politics which had made me tread this path. This man (Balli) was responsible for keeping my mother in CIA (police) custody for a week and he also got my friends arrested. He was hand in glove with police and got my home vandalized. He destroyed my home just to gain his own afsar shaahi My lifes aim was not to live my own life but to kill him. If we wished, we would have killed his child too but that child was nowhere at fault. those who are sympathizing with him, their homes are also not far for us
Notably, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had designated Arsh Dala a terrorist earlier this year due to his involvement in a range of heinous crimes, including murder, extortion, targeted killings, and terrorist activities.
Moga's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) J Elanchezhian maintained that an investigation was underway. At the same time, he said that the authenticity of the Facebook post purportedly from Arsh Dala's account was being verified, and an FIR for murder was being filed at the Mehna police station.
Reacting on the shocking incident, senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring vehemently condemned the assassination.
Bajwa, in his post on X (formerly Twitter), said: In a harrowing incident, the Congress president from Ajitwal block of district Moga, Baljinder Singh Balli (45) was shot dead at his residence today. I condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms. My heart goes out to the family of the victim.
Also criticizing the state's law and order situation, Bajwa blamed the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led government for its deterioration. He also called for immediate action by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who also holds the home portfolio, and warned of a struggle if the culprits were not apprehended promptly.
Ever since @AAPPunjab formed the government in Punjab, the law and order situation has collapsed completely. Gun crime in the state has been on the rise. CM @BhagwantMann, who also holds the home portfolio is directly responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. @AAPPunjab govt must swing to action and arrest the culprits. Otherwise, Punjab Congress will launch a struggle, added Bajwa.
Jharkhand State Minority Commission's Vice Chairman Jyoti Singh Matharu has strongly condemned the news of the brutal murder of Sikh youth Malkit Singh in Khursipar, Bhilai, Chhattisgarh and has expressed his deep condolences towards the deceased Malkit Singh.
Matharu talked to Mahendra Singh Chhabra, Chairman, Minority Commission, Chhattisgarh and took complete information about the incident. Chhabra said that after watching Ghadar movie and fighting over its scene, an innocent Sikh youth was brutally beaten due to which he died.
Chairman of Minority Commission Chhattisgarh told Matharu that in the meeting of Sikh Panchayat, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh was demanded by the government to the family of the deceased and to give a government job to one member of the family, which the government immediately accepted. The movement being carried out by the society has now ended. Matharu has demanded from the Chairman of the Minority Commission that arrangements should be made for complete security of the Sikhs of Chhattisgarh state and the government should instill confidence in the Sikh community that such incidents should not be repeated.
Armed robbers struck at a private bank on Tuesday and looted cash and gold ornaments valued at Rs 5.62 crore after injuring its manager in Raigarh city in Chhattisgarh.
The incident took place at around 9.30 am at the Jagatpur branch of Axis Bank, Bilaspur (Range) Inspector General of Police Ajay Kumar Yadav told The Pioneer.
Seven robbers entered the bank and kept the employees hostage in a room.
They attacked the manager with a sharp weapon on his leg while demanding keys for the strong room.
The miscreants escaped after looting the Rs 4.19 crores in cash and gold ornaments valued at Rs 1.43 crores.
The manager was rushed to a hospital where his condition is said to be stable.
Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said social conscience, social awareness and social responsibility need to be understood comprehensively to curb domestic violence.
Asserting that the academia should focus on the need to grasp the impact of social context of the domestic violence and counseling could be the way forward in resolving family disputes, the role of education and social environment on the state of mind should also be studied scientifically.
While emphasising the need for the respect for the law on the hand and fear for it on the other hand is necessary, Gadkari recalled the recent assertion of Bhutanese Prime Minister on the concept of Domestic Happy Human Index for holistic social fabric.
Value-based family and education system have been the hallmarks of the Indian society but the current problem of thoughtlessness with emphasis on spirituality and sensitivity for creating an overarching awareness for social responsibility, Gadkari spoke at an event to launch a book titled Broken Brides: Domestic Violence in India written by Dr Shobha Vijender.
Speaking through an online mode from Nagpur, Gadkari stressed on the need to develop a life approach where efforts should be made to enhance the good traits and minimize the limitations of individuals.
On relations, he cited the contexts provided the Hindi movies Anand starred by Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan, and Amol Palekar starrer Rajnigandha to under the psyche of people.
The author of the book Shobha Vijender said supportive services and counseling, as emphasized in the book are the need of the hour check violence and help create a gender just society. She said there is a need to appreciate the real needs and felt needs of the victims. To take it forward, there is also a neef or premarital counseling and supportive system for those facing domestic violence.
IAS officer and Commissioner, Jammu and Kashmir administration, Rashmi Singh also addressed the event and asserted that creating awareness about the social schemes related to women empowerment would go a long way in achieving financial self sufficiency that could further help the women, especially those undergoing victimization to take independent decision.
Member Secretary Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts said while women in India have been revered for both knowledge and strength traditionally but at the same time they have also been subjected to domestic violence.
The causes for such violence need to be comprehended to remedy the situation.
Delhi University Vice Chancellor Prof Yogesh Singh said the role women has been increasing as a mark of the progress, as the number of girl students in the Delhi university is over 50 percent. The Women's reservation bill tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday will buttress the numbers in the Parliament and assemblies.
The proposed women reservation bill was given the nod by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and today it was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The BJP leaders from State have hailed the decision terming it as a historic decision for half the population of the Country.
The proposed bill, which has been pending for nearly 27 years, seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The proposed legislation seeks 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. While the government is yet to confirm the news and give out details of the proposed legislation, here's what the structure of the bill was when it was last introduced in Parliament in 2008.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the introduction of 'Nari Shakti Vandan Act' in the Lok Sabha today. He said that this is a decision by which our Nari Shakti will get their rights in the true sense. Under the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, there is a provision for reservation of 33 percent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Out of this 33 percent, one-third seats are to be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Munda said that out of 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly, 27 seats will be reserved for women. At present the total number of members in the Lok Sabha is 543. At present the number of women MPs is 82. After the bill is passed, the number of women MPs in the Lok Sabha will increase to 181. On behalf of crores of countrymen, I congratulate Modi ji from the bottom of my heart for this historic decision.
BJP national vice president and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das welcoming the women reservation bill said that by introducing Shakti Vandan Act 2023 Prime Minister has taken big steps for women empowerment since 2014, which has given women the right to live with dignity and security.
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, toilets were built across the country, women were given houses through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Women were given relief from smoke through the Ujjwala scheme, the sex ratio was vastly improved by running the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was started to promote savings in the name of daughters. Similarly, when there was a double engine government in Jharkhand led by the Prime Minister, at that time also many works were done for women power. Right to registry of property for one rupee, free stove and refill under Pradhan Mantri Yojana, 40 thousand rupees under Sukanya Yojana from the birth of the daughter till the age of 18 years and 30 thousand rupees separately on the marriage of the daughter under the Chief Minister Kanyadaan Yojana. Rs. were being given. Women were being linked to employment by forming Sakhi Mandal. Under the Tapaswini scheme, girls from tribal areas were being linked with employment by developing their skills. Rani Mistry status was given for house construction under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Apart from this, women were added by nominating Ujjwala Didi and Poshan Sakhi.
WordPress Bhopal, in collaboration with GDSC-SOIT at RGPV Bhopal, recently organized an eventful Study Jam, leaving around 200 attendees inspired and equipped with valuable knowledge.
The event featured a dynamic agenda, including a hands-on workshop by Aditya Shah and a session on AI by Kripesh Adwani, both industry experts in their respective fields.
Aditya Shah, Hosting Support Manager at WPMU DEV (Incsub LLC) and the Organizer of WordCamp Bhopal 2023, conducted an engaging workshop on creating websites using WordPress. This session provided students with practical insights into the world of Wordpress, giving them the skills to craft their own websites.
Kripesh Adwani, a celebrated content creator and youtuber and an Organizer of WordCamp Bhopal 2023, had an enlightening session on AI, focusing on Chat GPT and Prompt Engineering, expanded attendees' horizons in the realm of artificial intelligence. The exploration of AI's applications in web content left participants with a deeper understanding of this rapidly evolving field.
Students attending the event responded enthusiastically to the opportunities to learn about WordPress and AI, showcasing their eagerness to embrace new technologies and skills.
As the Study Jam came to a close, attendees were informed about the most anticipated upcoming WordCamp Bhopal, scheduled for October 07 and 08, 2023 at the Radisson Hotel Bhopal.
This WordCamp promises a wealth of opportunities for WordPress enthusiasts and anyone interested in exploring this dynamic field, and would have national and international participation. This conference organised by WordPress community is anticipated to be a boon for the bhopal city and the Madhya Pradesh state in regard to its tech culture.
This Study Jam was organised in collaboration between WordPress Bhopal and GDSC-SOIT, along with the efforts of their sponsors WPMU DEV and Tech Sim, showcasing the power of community and its positive impact. events like such pave the way for students of the city to explore possibilities in domains of their interest and exposes them to the industry experience.
India on Tuesday outrightly rejected as "baseless" and "motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a "potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader, and sought prompt legal action against anti-India elements operating from Canada.
After Trudeau made the comments in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat has been expelled from Canada.
Joly's office said the diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to Canadian broadcaster CBC news.
In a statement in Parliament, Trudeau claimed there were "credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
In strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are "absurd and motivated".
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian prime minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister," it said.
It said "such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the MEA said.
The MEA said similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and were completely rejected," it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trudeau had a bilateral meeting on September 10 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the MEA said.
It said Canadian political figures have "openly expressed sympathy" for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
"The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new," the MEA said.
"We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments," it said.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," it added
In a statement in the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been "actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he said.
Separately, Canadian Foreign Minister Joly said she has ordered the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
In his talks with Trudeau' on September 10, Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
ASM International NV, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, manufacture, marketing, and servicing of equipment and materials used to produce semiconductor devices in the United States, Europe, and Asia. Its products include wafer processing deposition systems for single-wafer atomic layer deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, epitaxy, silicon carbide, vertical furnace systems, and low pressure chemical vapor deposition and diffusion products, as well as provides spare parts and support services. The company also manufactures and sells equipment, which is used in wafer processing, encompassing the fabrication steps in which silicon wafers are layered with semiconductor devices. It offers its products to semiconductor manufacturers. The company was formerly known as Advanced Semiconductor Materials International NV. ASM International NV was incorporated in 1968 and is headquartered in Almere, the Netherlands.
Carrier Global Corporation provides heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security, and building automation technologies worldwide. It operates through three segments: HVAC, Refrigeration, and Fire & Security. The HVAC segment provides products, controls, services, and solutions to meet the heating, cooling, and ventilation needs of residential and commercial customers. Its products include air conditioners, heating systems, controls, and aftermarket components, as well as aftermarket repair and maintenance services and building automation solutions. The Refrigeration segment offers transport refrigeration and monitoring products and services, as well as digital solutions for trucks, trailers, shipping containers, intermodal applications, food retail, and warehouse cooling; and commercial refrigeration solutions, such as refrigerated cabinets, freezers, systems, and controls. The Fire & Security segment provides various residential, commercial, and industrial technologies, including fire, flame, gas, smoke, and carbon monoxide detection; portable fire extinguishers; fire suppression systems; intruder alarms; access control systems; video management systems; and electronic controls. Its other fire and security service offerings comprise audit, design, installation, and system integration, as well as aftermarket maintenance and repair and monitoring services. The company offers its products under the Autronica, Det-Tronics, Edwards, Aritech, Fireye, GST, Kidde, LenelS2, Marioff, Onity, and Supra; Carrier, Toshiba, Automated Logic, Bryant, CIAT, Day & Night, Heil, NORESCO, and Riello; and Carrier Commercial Refrigeration, Carrier Transicold, and Sensitech brands. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Howmet Aerospace Inc. provides advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries in the United States, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Italy, Canada, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Engine Products, Fastening Systems, Engineered Structures, and Forged Wheels. The Engine Products segment offers airfoils and seamless rolled rings primarily for aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines; and rotating and structural parts. The Fastening Systems segment produces aerospace fastening systems, as well as commercial transportation, industrial, and other fasteners; and latches, bearings, fluid fittings, and installation tools. The Engineered Structures segment provides titanium ingots and mill products, aluminum and nickel forgings, and machined components and assemblies for aerospace and defense applications; and titanium forgings, extrusions, and forming and machining services for airframe, wing, aero-engine, and landing gear components. The Forged Wheels segment offers forged aluminum wheels and related products for heavy-duty trucks and commercial transportation markets. The company was formerly known as Arconic Inc. Howmet Aerospace Inc. was founded in 1888 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Sylvamo Corporation produces and markets uncoated freesheet, cutsize, offset paper, and pulp in Latin America, Europe, and North America. The company operates through Europe, Latin America, and North America segments. The Europe segment offers copy, tinted, and colored laser printing paper under REY Adagio and Pro-Design brands; and high-speed inkjet printing papers under the brand Jetstar; as well as produces uncoated freesheet papers. This segment also operates paper and pulp mill. The Latin America segment focuses on uncoated freesheet paper under Chamex, Chamequinho and Chambril brands, as well as produces HP papers. This segment also operates integrated mills and nonintegrated mills. The North America segment offers imaging, commercial printing, and converting papers, as well as uncoated papers under Hammermill, Springhill, Williamsburg, Accent, DRM and Postmark brand names. It distributes its products through a variety of channels, including merchants, e-commerce, agents, resellers, and paper distributors. The company was founded in 1898 and is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.
Synchrony Financial, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a consumer financial services company in the United States. It provides credit products, such as credit cards, commercial credit products, and consumer installment loans. The company also offers private label credit cards, dual cards, co-brand and general purpose credit cards, short- and long-term installment loans, and consumer banking products; and deposit products, including certificates of deposit, individual retirement accounts, money market accounts, and savings accounts to retail and commercial customers, as well as accepts deposits through third-party securities brokerage firms. In addition, it provides debt cancellation products to its credit card customers through online, mobile, and direct mail; and healthcare payments and financing solutions under the CareCredit, Pets Best, and Walgreens brands; payments and financing solutions in the apparel, specialty retail, outdoor, music, and luxury industries. The company offers its credit products through programs established with a group of national and regional retailers, local merchants, manufacturers, buying groups, industry associations, and healthcare service providers; and deposit products through various channels, such as digital and print. It serves digital, health and wellness, retail, home, auto, powersports, jewelry, pets, and other industries. The company was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut.
AutoZone, Inc. retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs. In addition, the company offers maintenance products, such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluids; brake drums, rotors, shoes, and pads; brake and power steering fluids, and oil and fuel additives; oil and transmission fluids; oil, cabin, air, fuel, and transmission filters; oxygen sensors; paints and accessories; refrigerants and accessories; shock absorbers and struts; spark plugs and wires; and windshield wipers. Further, it provides air fresheners, cell phone accessories, drinks and snacks, floor mats and seat covers, interior and exterior accessories, mirrors, performance products, protectants and cleaners, sealants and adhesives, steering wheel covers, stereos and radios, tools, and wash and wax products, as well as towing services. Additionally, the company provides a sales program that offers commercial credit and delivery of parts and other products; sells automotive diagnostic and repair software under the ALLDATA brand through alldata.com and alldatadiy.com; and automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through autozone.com. It has stores in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Memphis, Tennessee.
The following companies are subsidiares of Emerson Electric: A.P.M. Automation Solutions Ltd., AE Valves, AGI Mexicana S.A. de C.V., ALCO CONTROLS spol. s.r.o., APM Automation Solutions, ASC Investments Inc., ASCO (Japan) Company Limited, ASCO L.P., ASCO Numatics (India) Private Limited, ASCO Numatics Holding Inc., ASCO SAS, ASCO Valve (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ASCO/JOUCOMATIC s.r.o., ATX SAS, Advanced Protection Technologies, Aegir Norge Holding AS, Alliance Compressors LLC, American Governor, Aperture, Apple JV Holding Corp., Appleton Electric LLC, Appleton Electric S.A. de C.V., Appleton Group, Appleton Group Canada Ltd., Appleton Grp LLC, Appleton Holding Corp., Appleton Holding Sarl, Artesyn Embedded Technologies, Artesyn Hungary Elektronikai Kft., Artesyn Technologies, Asco AB, Asco Controls AG, Asco Controls B.V., Asco Joucomatic Ltd., Asco Joucomatic ZA B.V., Asco Magnesszelep Kft., Asco Numatics GmbH, Asco Numatics S.A., Asco Numatics Sirai S.R.L., Asco Numatics Sp. z o.o., Ascomatica S.A. de C.V., Ascomation (NZ) Ltd., Ascomation Pty. Ltd., Ascotech S.A. de C.V., Ascoval Industria e Commercio Ltda, Automatic Switch Company, Aventics, Aventics, Aventics AB, Aventics AG, Aventics AS, Aventics ApS, Aventics B.V., Aventics Corporation, Aventics Holding S.A.S., Aventics Holding S.a.r.l., Aventics Hungary Kft, Aventics Inc., Aventics India Private Limited, Aventics Limited, Aventics Ltd., Aventics Oy, Aventics Pneumatics Equipment (Changzhou) Co. Ltd., Aventics Pneumatics Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Aventics S.A.S., Aventics S.R.L., Aventics Services Germany GmbH, Aventics Singapore Pte. Ltd., Aventics Sp. z.o.o., Aventics Spain S.L., Aventics spol. s.r.o., Avtron LoadBank, Bannerscientific Limited, Beckman Industrial B.V., Beijing Rosemount Far East Instrument Co. Ltd., Bettis Canada Ltd., Bettis Holdings Limited, Bettis UK Limited, Biffi Italia S.r.l., Bioproduction Group, Branson Korea Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonic S.A., Branson Ultrasonics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Branson Ultrasonics B.V., Branson Ultrasonics Corporation, Branson Ultrasonics a.s., Branson Ultrasonidos S.A.E., Branson Ultrasons SAS, Branson Ultrasuoni S.R.L., Branson de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Bray Lectroheat Limited, Bristol Babcock Limited, Bristol Inc., Buehler Europe Limited, Buehler UK Limited, CR Compressors LLC, CSA Consulting Engineers Ltd., California Emerson LLC, Cascade Technologies, Cascade Technologies Holdings Limited, Cascade Technologies Limited, Chemat GmbH Armaturen fur Industrie - und Nuklearanlage, Chloride Koexa S.A., Componentes Avanzados de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Computational Systems, Computational Systems Incorporated, Conception et Representation de Technologies de Controle C.R.T. Controle SAS, Control Products Inc., Controles de Temperatura S.A. de C.V., Cooligy Inc., Cooper-Atkins, Cooper-Atkins Corporation, Cooper-Atkins Pte. Ltd., Copeland Access + Inc., Copeland Compresores Hermeticos S.A. de C.V., Copeland Corporation, Copeland Corporation LLC, Copeland Limited, Copeland Redevelopment Corporation, Copeland Scroll Compresores de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copeland de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Copesub Inc., Crosby Valve LLC, Damcos A/S, Damcos Holding A/S, Daniel Automation Company, Daniel Europe Limited, Daniel Industrial Inc., Daniel Industries, Daniel Industries Canada Inc., Daniel Industries Inc., Daniel Industries Limited, Daniel International Limited, Daniel Measurement Solutions Private Limited, Daniel Measurement and Control Inc., Daniel Measurement and Control S. de R.L. de C.V., Danmasa S.A. de C.V., Dar Ibtikar Al Iraq for General Services and General Trade LLC, Decision Management International, Dieterich Standard Inc., Digital Appliance Controls (UK) Limited, Dixell North America Inc., Dixell S.R.L., Do+Able Products, E. Business Development E.B.D.Com Ltd., E.G.P. Corporation, EECO Inc., EGS Comercializadora Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., EGS Private Ltd., EMERSON CLIMATE TECHNOLOGIES s.r.o., EMR (Asia) Limited, EMR (Mauritius) Ltd., EMR Emerson Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, EMR Europe Holdings Inc., EMR Foundation Inc., EMR Holdings (France) SAS, EMR Holdings Inc., EMR Worldwide B.V., EMR Worldwide Inc., EMRSN HLDG B.V., EMRSN Process Management Morocco Sarl, ENPDOR2012A Limited, ENPESNA Inc., EPM Tulsa Holdings Corp., EPMCO Holdings Inc., ETC International Holdings Ltd., Easy Heat Europe SAS, Easy Heat Inc., El-O-Matic B.V., El-O-Matic Valve Actuators (F.E.) Pte. Ltd., Electrische Apparatenfabriek Capax B.V., Emerald Advanced Technology Limited, Emerson (Philippines) Corporation, Emerson (Taiwan) Limited, Emerson (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Arabia Inc., Emerson Argentina S.A., Emerson Asia Pacific Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Holdings Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions Actuation Technologies Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Sichuan) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Taiwan) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control (Thailand) Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Czech Republic s.r.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Denmark A/S, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control France SARL, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Germany GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hong Kong Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Hungary Kft, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Italia S.r.l., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Middle East FZE, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Netherlands B.V., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Polska Sp. Z.o.o., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Sales Holding LLC, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK II Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control UK Ltd, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control US LP, Emerson Automation Solutions Final Control de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Automation Solutions GmbH, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms Private Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Intelligent Platforms do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Automation Solutions Ireland Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions Isolation Valves Inc., Emerson Automation Solutions SSC UK Limited, Emerson Automation Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Beijing Instrument Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Services LLC, Emerson Climate Technologies (India) Private Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies (Shenyang) Refrigeration Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies (Suzhou) Trading Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Solutions (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies - Transportation Solutions ApS, Emerson Climate Technologies Arabia Limited Co., Emerson Climate Technologies Australia Pty. Ltd., Emerson Climate Technologies FZE, Emerson Climate Technologies GmbH, Emerson Climate Technologies Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Climate Technologies Refrigeration S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Europe S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions Inc., Emerson Climate Technologies Retail Solutions UK Limited, Emerson Climate Technologies S.A., Emerson Climate Technologies S.R.L., Emerson Climate Technologies Sarl, Emerson Commercial & Residential Tools LLC, Emerson Commerical & Residential Asia Limited, Emerson Comres de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson DHC B.V., Emerson Dietzenbach GmbH, Emerson Dominicana Srl, Emerson Egypt LLC, Emerson Electric (Asia) Limited, Emerson Electric (China) Holdings Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Electric (Mauritius) Ltd., Emerson Electric (South Asia) Pte. Ltd., Emerson Electric (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Electric (Tongling) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation, Emerson Electric (U.S.) Holding Corporation (Chile) Limitada, Emerson Electric (Zhuhai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Electric CR Limitada, Emerson Electric Canada Limited, Emerson Electric Company (India) Private Limited, Emerson Electric Company Lanka (Private) Limited, Emerson Electric Holdings (Switzerland) GmbH, Emerson Electric II C.A., Emerson Electric International Inc., Emerson Electric Ireland Limited, Emerson Electric Korea Ltd., Emerson Electric Nederland B.V., Emerson Electric Overseas Finance Corp., Emerson Electric Poland Sp. z o.o., Emerson Electric U.K. Limited, Emerson Electric de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Emerson Electric do Brasil Ltda, Emerson Energy Systems (UK) Limited, Emerson FZE, Emerson Final Control US Holding LLC, Emerson Finance LLC, Emerson Fusite Electric (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Gabon SARL, Emerson Hazardous Electrical Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Holding Company Limited, Emerson Holding Sweden AB, Emerson InSinkErator Appliance (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., Emerson Industrial Automation USA Inc., Emerson International Holding Company Limited, Emerson Japan Ltd., Emerson Junkang Enterprise (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Korea Limited, Emerson LLC, Emerson LLP, Emerson Machinery Equipment (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Emerson Mexico Finance S.A. de C.V. SOFOM ENR, Emerson Middle East Inc., Emerson Network Power DHC B.V., Emerson Paradigm Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management (India) Private Limited, Emerson Process Management (South Africa) (Proprietary) Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Tianjin) Valves Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management (Vietnam) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management A/S (Denmark), Emerson Process Management AB, Emerson Process Management AG, Emerson Process Management AS, Emerson Process Management Angola Lda, Emerson Process Management Arabia Limited, Emerson Process Management Australia Pty Limited, Emerson Process Management B.V., Emerson Process Management Chennai Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Distribution Limited, Emerson Process Management Europe GmbH, Emerson Process Management Flow B.V., Emerson Process Management Flow Technologies Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Process Management Holding AG, Emerson Process Management Holding LLC, Emerson Process Management Kft., Emerson Process Management LLLP, Emerson Process Management Lda, Emerson Process Management Limited, Emerson Process Management Ltda, Emerson Process Management Magyarorszag Kft., Emerson Process Management Manufacturing (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Korea Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Solutions Singapore Pte. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Marine Systems (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management NV, Emerson Process Management New Zealand Limited, Emerson Process Management Nigeria Limited, Emerson Process Management Oy, Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions Inc., Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions India Private Limited, Emerson Process Management Qatar W.L.L., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Inc., Emerson Process Management Regulator Technologies Tulsa LLC, Emerson Process Management Romania S.R.L., Emerson Process Management S.A., Emerson Process Management S.A. de C.V., Emerson Process Management S.L., Emerson Process Management S.R.L., Emerson Process Management SAS, Emerson Process Management Shared Services Limited, Emerson Process Management Sp. z o.o., Emerson Process Management Ticaret Limited Sirket, Emerson Process Management UAB, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (M) Sdn Bhd, Emerson Process Management Valve Automation (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., Emerson Process Management Valve Automation Inc., Emerson Process Management Verwaltung GmbH, Emerson Process Management d.o.o., Emerson Process Management de Colombia SAS, Emerson Process Management del Peru S.A.C., Emerson Process Management s.r.o., Emerson Professional Tools (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson Puerto Rico Inc., Emerson Retail Services Europe GmbH, Emerson S.R.L., Emerson Sales UK Limited, Emerson Saudi Arabia LLC, Emerson Scroll Machining (Thailand) Limited, Emerson Sice S.R.L., Emerson Sweden AB, Emerson TOV, Emerson Technologies GmbH & Co. OHG, Emerson Technologies Verwaltungs GmbH, Emerson Tool Company de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Tool and Appliance Company S. de R.L. de C.V., Emerson Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Emerson UK Trustees Limited, Emerson USD Finance Company Limited, Emerson Valves & Controls Japan Co. Ltd., Emerson Ventures Inc., Emerson Vulcan Holding LLC, Emerson Xi'an Engineering Center, Emersub 1 LLC, Emersub 10 LLC, Emersub 11 LLC, Emersub 12 LLC, Emersub 14 LLC, Emersub 15 LLC, Emersub 16 LLC, Emersub 3 LLC, Emersub 4 LLC, Emersub 5 LLC, Emersub 7 LLC, Emersub 8 LLC, Emersub 9 LLC, Emersub CII Inc., Emersub CV Inc., Emersub Italia S.R.L., Emersub LXXXIV Inc., Emersub LXXXVI Inc., Emersub Mexico Inc., Emersub Treasury Ireland Unlimited Company, Emersub XLVI Inc., Emersub XXXVI Inc., Emirates Techno Casting FZE, Emirates Techno Casting Holding Limited, Emirates Techno Casting LLC, Enardo, Endura-Greenlee Tools, Energy Solutions International (India) Private Limited, Energy Solutions International GP LLC, Energy Solutions International Ltd., Energy Solutions International SAS, Energy Solutions International Sub LLC, F-R Tecnologias de Flujo S.A. de C.V., FC QSF LLC, FMC Technologies, Fiberconn Assemblies Morocco Sarl, Fincor Holding LLC, Fire & Safety Group.Com Ltd., Fisher Controles de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Fisher Controls International LLC, Fisher Jeon Gas Equipment (Chengdu) Co. Ltd., Fisher Regulators (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fisher Sanmar Limited, Fisher-Rosemount Systems Inc., Flow Control Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Flow Control Holding Verwaltungs GmbH, Flow Control US Holding Corporation, Francel SAS, Fromex S.A. de C.V., Fusite B.V., Fusite Corporation, Fusite Land Company, GSEG LLC, General Equipment and Manufacturing Company Inc., Generale de Robinetterie Industrielle et de Sytemes de Surete, GeoFields, GeoFields Inc., Greenex Ltd., Greenfield (UK) Limited, Greenlee, Greenlee Communications, Greenlee Tools Inc., Gulf Valve FZE, Gustav Klauke GmbH, H.T.E. Engineering Limited, HD Electric Company, HTE Engineering Services Limited, Hindle Cockburns Limited, Hiross India Private Limited, Hiter Industria e Comercia de Controles Termo-Hidraulicos Ltda., Humboldt Hermetic Motor Corp., Hytork International Ltd., I Solutions Inc., ICC Intelligent Platforms GmbH, ISE-MagTech, Industrial Controls Canada ULC, Industrial Group Metran JSC, Instrument & Valve Services Company, Intelligent Platforms LLC, Intellution, International Gas Distribution SA, Intrinsic Safety Equipment of Texas Inc., JCF Fluid Flow India Private Limited, JSC Metran-Export, Joucomatic S.A., K Controls Limited, Keystone Germany Holdings Corp., Keystone Valve (Korea) LLC, Keystone Valve (U.K.) Limited, Klauke, Klauke (Jiangsu) Electrical Connection Technology Co Ltd., Klauke France SARL, Klauke Handelsgesellschaft mbH, Klauke Iberia S.L., Klauke Polska Sp. z.o.o., Klauke Slovakia s.r.o., Klauke UK Ltd., Knurr, Liebert, Liebert Swindon Limited, Locus Solutions LLC, Locus Traxx Worldwide, Locus Traxx Worldwide Europe BVBA, MDC Technology Limited, MDC Technology Trustees Limited, METCO Services Limited, MYNAH Technologies, Management Resources Group Inc., Mecafrance (Deutschland) GmbH, Metallurgical Services Laboratories Limited, Metaserv Limited, Metco Services Venezuela C.A., Micro Motion Inc., Mobrey Group Limited, Motores Hermeticos del Sur S.A. de C.V., NetworkPower Ecuador S.A., Nippon Fisher Co. Ltd., Novel Environmental Technologies Ltd., Novel Extinguishing Agent Technology Ltd., Numatics Incorporated, Nutsteel DHC B.V., Nutsteel Industria Metalurgica Ltda, O.M.T. Officina Meccanica Tartarini S.r.l., Open Systems International, P I Components Corp., PT Emerson Solutions Indonesia, PT. Emerson Indonesia, PT. Paradigm Geophysical Indonesia, Pactrol Controls Limited, PakSense, PakSense Inc., Paradigm, Paradigm (UK) Holding Limited, Paradigm B.V., Paradigm France S.A., Paradigm Geophysical (India) Private Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (KL) Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical (Nigeria) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical (U.K.) Limited, Paradigm Geophysical B.V., Paradigm Geophysical Corp., Paradigm Geophysical Italy SRL, Paradigm Geophysical LLC, Paradigm Geophysical Limited, Paradigm Geophysical Pty Ltd, Paradigm Geophysical S.A., Paradigm Geophysical Sdn. Bhd., Paradigm Geophysical Spain S.L., Paradigm Geophysical de Venezuela C.A., Paradigm Geophysical do Brasil Ltda., Paradigm Geoservices Canada Ltd., Paradigm Geotechnology (Egypt) S.A.E., Paradigm Kazakhstan LLP, Paradigm Middle East FZ-LLC, Paradigm Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Parex Industries Limited, Pentair Valves & Controls, Pentair Valves and Controls India Private Limited, Permasense, Permasense Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd, Permasense Limited, ProSys, ProTeam Inc., Progea, RAC Technologies (Israel) Ltd., RIDGID Inc., RPP Europe GmbH, RPP LLC, Rey-Lam S. de R.L. de C.V., Ridge Tool (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Ridge Tool Company, Ridge Tool Europe NV, Ridge Tool GmbH, Ridge Tool GmbH & Co. OHG, Ridge Tool Manufacturing Company, Ridge Tool Pattern Company, Ridgid France SAS, Ridgid Italia S.R.L., Ridgid Online Inc., Ridgid Scandinavia A/S, Ridgid Werkzeuge AG, Rosemount China Inc., Rosemount Inc., Rosemount Measurement Limited, Rosemount Nuclear Instruments Inc., Rosemount Specialty Products LLC, Rosemount Tank Gauging India Pvt. Ltd., Rosemount Tank Gauging Middle East SPC, Rosemount Tank Gauging North America Inc., Rosemount Tank Radar AB, Rosemount Tank Radar Properties AB, Roxar, Roxar AS, Roxar Flow Measurement AS, Roxar Flow Measurement Sdn Bhd, Roxar Limited, Roxar Maximum Reservoir Performance W.L.L., Roxar Saudi Co., Roxar Services AS, Roxar Services OOO, Roxar Software Solutions AS, Roxar Technologies AS, Roxar Vietnam Company Ltd., Roxar de Venezuela C.A., Rutherfurd Acquisitions Limited, S.F.T. Group Ltd., SABO-Armaturen Service GmbH, Safety Systems UK Pte. Ltd., Sakhi-Raimondi Valve (India) Limited, Scroll Compressors LLC, Scroll Mexico LLC, Sempell GmbH, Shanghai Virgo Valves Technology Consulting Co. Ltd., Sherman + Reilly, Soluciones 0925 C.A., Spectra-Tek Holdings Limited, Spectra-Tek International Limited, Spectra-Tek UK Limited, Spectrex, Spectrex Inc., Spectronix Ltd., Spensall Engineering Limited, Steel Support Systems Limited, Stratos Lightwave, System Plast International B.V., System Plast Ltda, System Plast USA de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TDM-avtomatizatsiya, TV&C GP Holding LLC, Taiwan Valve Co. Ltd., TechnipFMC, Termocontroles de Juarez S.A. de C.V., Tescom Corporation, Tescom Europe GmbH & Co. KG, Tescom Europe Management GmbH, The Automation Group Inc., The J.R. Clarkson Company LLC, Therm-O-Disc Europe B.V., Therm-O-Disc Incorporated, Thunderline Z Inc., TopWorx UK Limited, Tranmet Holdings B.V., Tranmet Holdings Limited, Verdant Environmental Technologies, Vilter Manufacturing LLC, Virgo Valves & Controls (ME) FZE, Virgo Valves and Controls Sdn Bhd, Von Arx AG, Vulsub 1 Limited, Vulsub Brasil Holding, Vulsub Brasil Ltda., Vulsub Chile SpA, Vulsub Gulf Holding Limited, Vulsub Holding III (Denmark) ApS, Vulsub Holding Ltd, Vulsub Holdings A LLC, Vulsub Holdings B LLC, Vulsub Holdings C LLC, Vulsub Holdings D LLC, Vulsub Italia S.r.l., Vulsub Middle East Holdings LLC, Vulsub Peru S.A.C., Vulsub Property Holding LLC, Vulsub Property Limited, Vulsub S.A., Vulsub South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Vulsub VZ C.A., Westinghouse Electric Pvt. Limited, Westlock Controls Limited, Westlock Equipamentos de Controle Ltda., Woodstock Land Company LLC, epro GmbH, iSolera Inc., iSolutions Private Limited, and intelliSAW.
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Brunswick Corporation designs, manufactures, and markets recreation products worldwide. It operates through three segments: Propulsion, Parts & Accessories, and Boat. The Propulsion segment provides outboard, sterndrive, and inboard engines for independent boat builders and governments through marine dealers and distributors, specialty marine retailers, and marine service centers; and propulsion-related controls, rigging, and propellers to original equipment manufacturers and aftermarket retailers, distributors, and distribution businesses. This segment offers its products under the Mercury, Mercury MerCruiser, Mariner, Mercury Racing, and Mercury Diesel brands. The Parts & Accessories segment provides engine parts and consumables, electrical products, boat parts and systems, engine oils and lubricants, marine electronics and control systems, instruments, trolling motors, fuel systems, and electrical systems, as well as specialty vehicle, mobile, and transportation aftermarket products for aftermarket retailers, distributors, and distribution businesses, as well for as for the original equipment manufacturers in marine and non-marine markets; and supplies parts and accessories. This segment offers its products under the under the Mercury, Mercury Precision Parts, Quicksilver, and Seachoice brands. The Boat segment provides Sea Ray sport boats and cruisers; Bayliner sport cruisers, runabouts and Heyday wake; Boston Whaler fiberglass offshore boats; Lund fiberglass fishing boats; Crestliner, Cypress Cay, Harris, Lowe, Lund, Princecraft aluminum fishing, Veer recreational and fishing, utility, pontoon, and deck boats; and Thunder Jet heavy-gauge aluminum boats, as well as the freedom boat club, dealer services, and technology to the marine industry through dealers and distributors. Brunswick Corporation was founded in 1845 and is headquartered in Mettawa, Illinois.
EMCOR Group, Inc. provides electrical and mechanical construction, and facilities services primarily in the United States and the United Kingdom. It offers design, integration, installation, start-up, operation, and maintenance services related to electrical power transmission, distribution, and generation systems; energy solutions; premises electrical and lighting systems; process instrumentation in the refining, chemical processing, and food processing industries; low-voltage systems, such as fire alarm, security, and process control systems; voice and data communications systems; roadway and transit lighting, signaling, and fiber optic lines; heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration, and geothermal solutions; clean-room process ventilation systems; fire protection and suppression systems; plumbing, process, and high-purity piping systems; controls and filtration systems; water and wastewater treatment systems; central plant heating and cooling systems; crane and rigging services; millwright services; and steel fabrication, erection, and welding services. The company also provides building services that cover commercial and government site-based operations and maintenance; facility management, maintenance, and services; outage services to utilities and industrial plants; military base operations support services; mobile mechanical maintenance and services; services for indoor air quality; floor care and janitorial services; landscaping, lot sweeping, and snow removal services; vendor management and call center services; installation and support for building systems; program development, management, and maintenance for energy systems; technical consulting and diagnostic services; infrastructure and building projects; small modification and retrofit projects; and other building services. It offers industrial services to oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. The company was incorporated in 1987 and is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.
GE is a multi-national conglomerate that was originally incorporated in 1892. The company was founded by Thomas Edison as the Edison General Electric Company and shortened its name to General Electric following a merger with two other early electric pioneers. The name was later shortened again to GE. The company is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts but has operations on a global scale. One of the original 12 Dow stocks, the company was a component of the index for 122 years until its ousting in 2018.
Originally intended to make and market Edisons incandescent lamp and following products, the company grew over the years through mergers, acquisitions, and natural expansion into newly created fields. Among the many early accomplishments is the creation of RCA and NBC which will both become forces of their own. Other major innovations include the worlds first turbine superchargers, industrial gas turbine engines, and the first jet engine. In the field of computing, General Electric Company is credited as being one of the 8 major computer companies of the 1960s and shares responsibility for todays digital world. In regard to its employees, two were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work with the company.
Today GE operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through four segments including Power, Renewables, Aerospace, and Healthcare although there are plans in the works to split the company into three separate entities. The three new companies would be GE Vernova (power and renewables), GE Health, and GE Aerospace. The spin-offs are expected to be completed by 2025.
The Power segment offers a variety of turbine engines for power production as well as the full range of services from plant construction to retrofit and refit. The Renewables segment is focused on solutions for renewable energy including wind and hydro and the technology to operate them. The Aviation segment manufactures aircraft engines of all varieties and the Healthcare segment offers technology for imaging, monitoring, diagnostics, and drug discovery to health and medical facilities.
General Electric is committed to helping the world transition to a greener way of life and is exiting the new-build coal-fired power industry. Instead, its advancements in wind, grid efficiency, and natural gas are being deployed around the world helping to reduce emissions and generate cleaner energy for businesses, industry, and communities. The company is targeting 2030 for its own carbon neutrality and 2050 for net zero emissions.
Top Glove Corporation Bhd. engages in the investment holding and provision of management services in Malaysia. The company offers medical examination, surgical, vinyl, and nitrile gloves; concentrate and synthetic latex, formers, chemicals and chemical compounds, rubber dental dams, exercise bands, condoms, and rubber related products; packaging materials, boxes, and cartons; and disposable and medical face masks, engineering parts and rubber glove machinery, functional fillers, healthcare products, and homecare and personal care products. It also provides property investment, consultancy services, and electrical engineering works; clinical and specialist medical services; analytical, emergency medical, advisory, general management, and value added services; management services in plantation sector, and processing of plantation produce; general trading; and industrial forest plantation, as well as forestry and industry services. In addition, the company trades in healthcare related products; distributes medical devices and other hospital related products; operates as a special purpose vehicle solely for issuance of Perpetual Sukuk; organizes in-house trainings and public trainings/programs; and establishes and maintains fitness related business, including healthcare, slimming centers, gymnasiums, and other related activities. Further, it generates and supplies energy and electricity using biomass technology; and offers e-commerce services for glove trading and other healthcare products. The company also exports its products to 195 countries worldwide. Top Glove Corporation Bhd. was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Shah Alam, Malaysia.
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.
MDU Resources Group, Inc. engages in the regulated energy delivery, and construction materials and services businesses in the United States. It operates through five segments: Electric, Natural Gas Distribution, Pipeline, Construction Materials and Contracting, and Construction Services. The Electric segment generates, transmits, and distributes electricity for residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming; and operates 3,400 miles of transmission lines, 4,800 miles of distribution lines, and 84 transmission and 294 distribution substations. The Natural Gas Distribution segment distributes natural gas for residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming; and offers related value-added services. The Pipeline segment provides natural gas transportation and underground storage services through a regulated pipeline system primarily in the Rocky Mountain and northern Great Plains regions; and cathodic protection and other energy-related services. The Construction Materials and Contracting segment mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates; produces and sells asphalt; supplies ready-mixed concrete; and sells cement, finished concrete products, merchandise and other building materials, and related contracting services. The Construction Services segment constructs and maintains electrical and communication wiring and infrastructure, fire suppression systems, mechanical piping, and services; overhead and underground electrical, gas, and communication infrastructure construction and maintenance services; and manufactures and distributes transmission lines construction equipment and tools. It serves manufacturing, commercial, industrial, transportation, institutional, and renewable and government customers, as well as utilities. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. holds concessions to operate, maintain, and develop airports in the southeast region of Mexico. The company operates airports that are located in the cities of Cancun, Cozumel, Merida, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Tapachula, and Minatitlan. It provides aeronautical services, which include passenger, aircraft landing and parking, passenger walkway, and airport security services. The company also offers non-aeronautical services, such as leasing of space at its airports to retailers, restaurants, airlines, and other commercial tenants; catering, handling, and ground transportation services, as well as engages in the various commercial operations. In addition, it holds concessions to operate the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and various airports in Colombia, including the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin, the Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Rionegro, the Los Garzones Airport in Monteria, the Antonio Roldan Betancourt Airport in Carepa, the El Carano Airport in Quibdo, and the Las Brujas Airport in Corozal. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.
Unum Group, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial protection benefit solutions primarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and internationally. It operates through Unum US, Unum International, Colonial Life, and Closed Block and Corporate segments. The company offers group long-term and short-term disability, group life, and accidental death and dismemberment products; supplemental and voluntary products, such as individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products; and accident, sickness, disability, life, and cancer and critical illness products. It also provides group pension, individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, and other miscellaneous products. The company sells its products primarily to employers for the benefit of employees. Unum Group sells its products through field sales personnel, independent brokers, consultants, and independent contractor agency sales force. Unum Group was founded in 1848 and is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Digital Realty is a real estate investment trust focused entirely on data centers. The company owns, acquires, develops, and operates a network of global data centers and the cloud-based solutions cloud service providers need to access and maximize them. The company has set itself apart from the traditional data center REIT by unifying its holdings across one digital platform called PlatformDIGITALR which provides seamless control of data flow.
The company was formed in 2004 when GI Partners contributed 24 newly acquired data centers to help form the business. Later that same year, the company went public through an IPO that provided the capital to begin a campaign of acquisition. The company has been steadily adding square footage and new locations to its network ever since and it is still not done. The expansion has helped to deliver a 10% FFO CAGR and fuel a steadily rising dividend distribution. The company made its 16th consecutive annual dividend increase in 2022 and additional increases are expected each year.
Digital Realty's global footprint provides access to connected businesses in more than 284 facilities in 23 countries. As of mid-2022, it had more than $53 billion in assets and was listed as the US 8th largest publicly traded REIT.
Digital Realty supports the world's IT infrastructure by providing a full range of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. Businesses can choose to rely solely on Digital Realty for their data center needs or use Digital Realtys propriety cloud-based solutions to interconnect multiple data centers, and clouds, or connect to a private network.
PlatformDIGITALR is the company's global data center platform. It provides customers with a proven solution for operating on the cloud, scaling a digital business, and managing its data flow. The platform allows for seamless connection to providers and services that are in demand by todays rapidly changing digital businesses.
Digital Realty Trust is a key member of the Green Grid, a consortium of industry insiders and policy makers focused on making data centers more efficient and sustainable. Digital Realty Trust offers industry-leading efficiency alongside its world-class quality data centers. Digital Realty Trust data centers require fewer building materials and provide industry-leading power usage levels or PUEs.
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. is a financial technology company that provides software, services and solutions to financial institutions, merchants and other businesses worldwide. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, with operations in more than 110 countries. FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is one of the largest global providers of banking and payment technologies.
FIS offers a wide range of products and services, including core banking and payment processing solutions, risk management, fraud detection, compliance services, mobile banking, digital wallets and other consumer-facing products. The company serves diverse customers, including banks, credit unions, merchants, governments and corporations.
Stephanie Ferris is the CEO and President of FIS. She joined the FIS team after FIS purchased WorldPay. At WorldPay, she specialized in revenue synergies and long-range strategic planning. Other notable team members include John Durrant, the President of Banking Solutions. John has focused on enterprise payment systems, product experience and small-business banking for over a decade.
Over the past few years, FIS has seen a weak financial performance. The company has been reporting losses for approximately three years. FIS's debt levels have increased in recent years due to the company's acquisition of Worldpay in 2019, which added roughly $16 billion in debt to FIS's balance sheet. Since 2019 FIS has maintained a debt level of around $35 billion. With a price-to-earnings ratio higher than the industry average and a price-to-book ratio lower than the industry average, FIS's valuation metrics suggest that the company is trading at a premium compared to its peers. FIS's stock price has performed poorly in recent years, consistently falling since Q2 of 2020.
FIS operates in the financial technology industry, which is experiencing significant growth and disruption. The rise of digital banking and payments has led to increased competition, innovation in the industry and regulatory and cybersecurity challenges.
FIS's primary competitors include global financial technology companies like Fiserv, Square and PayPal. In addition, FIS competes with traditional banks and payment processors investing in digital technology.
FIS has several growth opportunities, including new product launches, acquisitions and expansions into new markets. In 2020, the company launched several new products, including a real-time payments solution and a digital wallet. FIS also acquired the payments technology company Worldpay for $43 billion in 2019. The acquisition has positioned FIS as one of the largest payment processors in the world and has expanded the company's global footprint. It is important to note that in 2023 FIS began discussing spinning WorldPay off into a separate entity.
FIS is also exploring opportunities to expand into new markets, particularly in emerging economies such as Asia and Africa. The company has partnered with regional financial institutions to provide digital banking and payment solutions.
While FIS has seen strong financial performance and growth opportunities, the company has several potential risks and challenges. One significant risk is the increasing competition in the financial technology industry, particularly from new entrants and non-traditional players such as tech companies and fintech startups.
In addition, regulatory and compliance challenges could impact FIS's operations and growth. The financial technology industry is highly regulated, and changes in regulations or compliance requirements could increase costs and limit growth opportunities for FIS.
Cybersecurity threats are another significant risk facing FIS and the financial technology industry. As the company processes and stores sensitive financial data, any breaches or cyber-attacks could significantly damage FIS's reputation and financial performance.
Changes in consumer preferences and behavior could impact FIS's growth and profitability. As digital banking and payment solutions evolve, consumers may prefer alternative solutions, such as cryptocurrency or blockchain-based systems, which could impact FIS's traditional business model.
For more than half a century, however the international landscape evolves, China and Zambia stay committed to deepening friendship and cooperation, becoming "all-weather friends," as well as an exemplar of China-Africa friendship. LUSAKA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- For Fidelity Sindolo, who runs a hair salon in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, power outages used to be a big headache, rendering her business in an on-and-off cycle. In March this year, the Chinese-built Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station, about 90 km south of Lusaka, was put into operation, generating stable electricity that powers the lives of local residents. Not just Sindolo's salon thrived; new shops sprang up all over the town, a sign of vibrant economic activity stimulated by the hydropower plant. Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, who officially commissioned the plant, said the completion of the project was not only good for the country's energy sector but for the economy as a whole as energy is critical to drive an economy. He said the project showed the friendly relationship between the two countries, and his government is committed to further growing the relationship with China. Last week, at the invitation of President Xi Jinping, Hichilema paid a state visit to China. The two leaders announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, opening a new chapter in their traditional friendly ties. ABIDING FRIENDSHIP China and Zambia share an enduring, traditional friendship, which was forged by the leaders of the two countries of past generations. Early in the 1960s, the Chinese people firmly supported the Zambian people in pursuing national independence. Zambia was the first country in southern Africa to establish diplomatic relations with China. For more than half a century, however the international landscape evolves, both sides stay committed to deepening friendship and cooperation, making China and Zambia "all-weather friends," as well as an exemplar of China-Africa friendship. In the 1970s, at the request of Tanzania and Zambia, China and Africa jointly built the Tanzanian Railway, known as the Road of Friendship and the Road of Freedom, on the vast African grassland. Some engineers and workers even gave their lives. In 2022, the TAZARA Memorial Park officially opened in Lusaka. In the center of the Memorial Park stands a towering monument inscribed with the words "The Chinese Martyrs Who Aided to Zambia Will Be Immortalized Forever." Rows of tombstones are finely engraved with the names of the dead. "We remember our fallen heroes," said Hichilema at the opening ceremony, who laid a wreath in tribute to the Chinese personnel who sacrificed their lives for the construction of the TAZARA Railway and other projects. GREATER COOPERATION The Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station is a striking testimony to close cooperation between China and Zambia to improve local livelihoods. In recent years, China and Zambia have carried out all-round cooperation in a wide range of fields, at various levels and in a practical and innovative manner within the framework of the "Belt and Road" and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). China and Zambia have jointly built a new modern terminal at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport and the new Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport, equipping Zambia with new aviation hubs; Chinese-built state-of-the-art milling plants have improved the supply of food and stabilized food prices for Zambian people; the Kafue Bulk Water Supply Project has been successfully delivered to ensure that about 500,000 people in the Zambian capital have access to clean and safe water. In 2022, China and Zambia signed protocols on the export of stevia and soybean meal to China, and the zero-tariff treatment granted by China to Zambia for 98 percent of the taxable export products exported to China came into full effect. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Zambia reached 6.73 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 30.2 percent, which is an all-time high. During last week's visit to China, Hichilema highly praised the guiding philosophy and principles of Chinese modernization and expressed the hope to learn from China's development experience. For his part, Xi said during their talks that the success of Chinese modernization shows the diversity of modernization models in the world, and China's high-quality development and modernization process will continue to bring new opportunities to all countries including Zambia.
Special Parliament Session to take place in new parliament building.
New Delhi: In a momentous occasion, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the lower and upper houses of the Indian Parliament, will convene their first session in the newly inaugurated Parliament building today. The new building was officially inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28, 2023, and will now serve as the permanent legislative home for India's lawmakers.
Yesterday marked a poignant farewell as lawmakers gathered for the final session in the old Parliament building, sharing cherished memories and bidding adieu to the historic location that had served as the seat of Indian democracy for decades.
The decision to hold a Special Session on this particular day was made by the Central government, with Prime Minister Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) selecting September 19 as the symbolic date for Parliament proceedings in the new edifice. Ganesh Chaturthi, dedicated to the elephant-headed deity Lord Ganesha, is considered highly auspicious for new beginnings.
New Dress Code for Parliament Staff
In addition to the significant change in venue, a new dress code has been introduced for Parliament staff. A circular issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat mandates that marshals, security personnel, officials, chamber attendants, and drivers will now don uniforms featuring a floral motif, effective from today.
Bureaucrats' traditional 'bandhgala' suits will be replaced with magenta or deep pink Nehru jackets, paired with shirts adorned with floral designs. Khaki-colored pants will complete the ensemble. The attire for marshals in both houses will now include Manipuri turbans, while the Parliament Security Staff will be attired in army camouflage pattern fatigues, replacing the previous blue safari suits. Female officers have been assigned bright-colored sarees with jackets for the winter months.
Notable Speakers in the Joint Sitting
The joint sitting of Parliament, scheduled for this afternoon in the new Parliament building, will feature prominent speakers. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to address the assembly for five minutes, as reported by the ANI news agency. Joining him are BJP MP Maneka Gandhi and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren, who will also deliver brief speeches.
Central Hall Function to Commemorate Parliamentary Legacy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, will lead a special function in the Central Hall of Parliament today. The hour-and-a-half-long ceremony will commence and conclude with the national anthem and will culminate with the country's top leaders guiding all Members of Parliament to the new Parliament building, symbolizing the transition to this modern legislative hub.
Tomorrow's joint sitting of Parliament in the new building is expected to witness speeches by Maneka Gandhi, Shibu Soren, and Manmohan Singh, each reflecting on their extensive parliamentary careers and the historical significance of the occasion.
The inauguration of the new Parliament building represents a moment of great historical import, marking a new chapter in India's democratic journey and showcasing the country's commitment to progress and change while preserving its rich heritage.
Ministry of External Affairs, India.
In a tit-for-tat move, the Indian government expelled a seniot Canadian diplomat after Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged that the Indian government's link to the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and expelled a senior Indian diplomat.
A statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs read:
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Security personnel during a search operation at Kokernag area, in Anantnag district, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (PTI Photo)
SRINAGAR: Uzair Khan, one of the most wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders, was along with another militant gunned down by the security forces as an intense anti-terror operation in the woods of Kokernag in Kashmir Valleys southern Anantnag district entered its seventh day on Tuesday.
A heavily armed group of militants led by Khan had last Wednesday killed two Army officers Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of the Armys 19 Rashtriya Rifles (12 Sikh Light Infantry) and Major Ashish Dhonack and deputy superintendent of the J&K police Humayun Bhat and injured a couple of more security personnel soon after they had entered the Gadool hamlet of Kokernag to flush it out.
On Friday, one of the injured soldiers died in a military hospital here. On Sunday, the corpse of another Army jawan Pradeep Singh, who had gone missing amidst the initial exchange of fire between the two sides on September 13 was recovered from the encounter site. Another charred body beyond recognition was found lying in the forested area on Monday, the officials said.
"Uzair Khan has been killed and his body has been retrieved. There is another body lying on the ground. We had information about the presence of two to three terrorists in the area," Additional Director General of Police, Vijay Kumar, told reporters here. He added that the security forces may go for DNA sampling of two bodies beyond recognition.
The ADGP, however, also said that even as Khan who had been involved in or was the mastermind of a series of the terror attacks carried out by militants in the southern Kashmir in the recent past including the killing of three Army jawans in the Hallan forest area of Damhal Hanjipora area of the Kulgam district on August 4 will continue "till it is ensured that no more terrorists are hiding in the region."
Mr. Kumar said, "The operation will go on for some more time. I urge the locals not to go closer to the encounter site as unexploded grenades or shells may cause harm to them."
In the operation, one of the longest carried out against militants in J&K, apart from hundreds of men from different infantries of the Army, the counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the special forces of the Armys Mountain Division trained for high-altitude warfare and their airborne counterparts from its Parachute Regiment have been taking part.
They have used latest weaponry and other equipment including combat helicopters, IAI Heron, a medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the Malat division of Israel Aerospace Industries, Hexacopters , quad copters, RPGs, grenades and drone-fitted guns to track down the militants who were frequently changing locations, the police sources said.
J&Ks DGP, Dilbagh Singh, had last week said that given the tough terrain and huge risks involved, the security forces were following "a proper plan to track down the terrorists" and, therefore, it was taking more time than expected to come to logical conclusion.
He and the commander of the Armys Srinagar-base Chinar Corps Lt. Gen. Rajiv Ghai and other senior Army and J&K police officers spent quite some time in the area to oversee the operation.
On Saturday, Army's Northern Command chief Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi also visited the area to "review the operational situation near the site of the gunfight." "He was briefed by the ground commanders on the high-intensity operations, in which hi-tech equipment is being used for surveillance and delivery of firepower, along with the high impact of precision fire being used by the forces," a defence spokesman had said here. End it
Late Tuesday, ADGP Vijay Kumar told reporters that the family of Muhammad Uzair Khan has identified one of the bodies recovered from the encounter site as that of their kin.
"The family members have identified LeT commander Uzair's body", he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi walks towards the new Parliament building, in New Delhi, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi: Hailing the new Parliament building as the "beacon of parliamentary democracy" in the country and a "symbol of a new beginning," Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called on MPs to forget all past bitterness and start a new chapter, asserting that whatever they are going to do in the new complex should be an inspiration for every citizen of the country.
The PM also mentioned the presence of the sacred "Sengol", which was installed on the day the building was inaugurated in May, as a link between the old and the new and as a witness to the first light of freedom.
Appealing in both Houses of Parliament to pass the "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam" (bill), the PM said the bill will further strengthen Indian democracy. Mr Modi also extended greetings on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Samvatsari Parva, a festival of forgiveness, and Michhami Dukkadam, a festival of Jains.
Earlier at the Lok Sabha, the PM noted that India, at the dawn of the Amrit Kaal, is moving forward with a resolve for the future by heading into the new Parliament edifice and highlighted some of the recent achievements of the country, including the successes of Chandrayaan-3 and the successful completion of the G-20 and its impact on the global level.
Referring to the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, Mr Modi said that Lord Ganesh is the God of prosperity, auspiciousness, reason and knowledge and "it is the time to accomplish the resolutions and begin the new journey with renewed enthusiasm and energy."
Remembering Lokmanya Tilak on the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi and the new beginning, Mr Modi said that during the freedom struggle, Lokmanya Tilak turned the festival into a medium for igniting the flame of swaraj in the entire country.
"Today we are moving with the same inspiration," said the PM.
On Samvatsari Parva, the PM said the festival is about asking for forgiveness for any intentional and unintentional acts that might have hurt somebody.
Calling the Sengol a link between the old and new and a "witness to the first light of freedom," Mr Modi said it was touched by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and "therefore, Sengol links us with a important part of our past," Mr Modi said.
The Prime Minister said that the grandeur of the new Parliament building anoints the Amrit Kaal and remembered the hard work of the "shramiks and engineers" who kept on working on the building even during the pandemic. He also informed the gathering that more than 30,000 "sharmiks" contributed to the building and mentioned the presence of a digital book carrying the full details of the shramiks.
"Bhawan (building) has changed, bhav (feelings) should also change The Parliament is the supreme place to serve the country," said the PM as he underlined that the House is not meant for the benefit of any political party but only for the development of the nation.
Later at Rajya Sabha, Mr Modi said, "September 19 is a memorable as well as a historic day" as both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha moved to the new Parliament building It is not just a new Parliament building, but a symbol of a new beginning."
The Prime Minister also stressed that the country needs to meet goals in a time-bound manner as the new generation is restless.
In his speech, Prime Minister Modi also highlighted the various measures taken by his government in the last nine years for women's empowerment.
Noting that the Rajya Sabha is considered the Upper House of Parliament, the PM underlined the intentions of the makers of the Constitution that the House becomes a centre for serious intellectual discussions rising above the ebb and flow of political discourse while giving direction to the nation.
Quoting Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan that Parliament is not just a legislative body but a deliberative body, the PM said it is always a pleasure to hear quality debates in the House. "The new Parliament is not just a new building but is also a symbol of a new beginning. At the dawn of Amrit Kaal, this new building will infuse new energy into 140 crore Indians," said Mr Modi.
Stressing the need to achieve goals in a set time frame as the nation is "no longer ready to wait," Mr Modi said the time has come to move with new thinking and style to meet the aspirations of the people and that will require expanding the scope of work and thought process. He said that the House can be a "source of inspiration for the legislative bodies all over the country with regard to parliamentary probity".
Noting that the country celebrated 75 years of Independence in the "Samvidhan Sadan" (old building), the PM said when the country will celebrate the century in the new building in 2047, "it will be a celebration in viksit Bharat."
Health minister T. Harish Rao
Hyderabad: Finance minister T. Harish Rao on Tuesday said that if the Congress came to power, Bangaluru would become the "second high command" to monitor the Telangana Congress.
The minister, who participated in several programmes in Sangareddy, also discussed the six guarantees of Congress made at the Vijayabheri meeting in Tukkuguda.
"The Congress only provides Rs 600 pension to old people in Karnataka. If Congress comes to power, all the schemes which are introduced and implemented by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao will vanish," he said.
Taking another dig, Harish Rao said that Congress MLAs will go to Delhi to meet their high command via Bengaluru, as it would be from there that the party leaders indulge in Telangana state Congress activities.
Speaking during the inauguration of a minority function hall in Sangareddy, where several Congress leaders also joined the BRS in Harish Raos presence, he said that new districts, mandals, and villages were demarcated by the government as Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao wanted to bring governance closer to the people in Telangana state.
Harish Rao said that the Chief Minister sought to decentralise governance by forming new districts, mandals and villages. "Following the decentralisation decision, the Narayankhed is transformed into a developing place having a revenue division, new mandals. We have made 100 new gram panchayats, forming a total of 223 gram panchayats. The credit of increasing the number of revenue divisions from 43 to 74, the number of mandals from 459 to 612 and the number of gram panchayats to 12,769 goes to the Chief Minister," Harish Rao said.
"When Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy was chief minister, he promised free power supply, but nothing was done. The ruling BRS government provides round-the-clock free power supply for farmers and 24 hours power supply to other sectors without interruption. The Congress leaders are propagating falsehoods and lies. The Chief Minister also undertook Mission Bhagiratha project to provide water to every house in the state," Harish Rao said
Congress workers distributing brochure of six guarantees in Telangana. Pic courtesy: Twitter
Hyderabad: Heeding the call given by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party leaders on Tuesday started fanning out to constituencies across the state to create awareness about the six guarantees announced at the Vijayabheri meeting in Tukkuguda on Sunday.
Leaders said voters in most constituencies received their message enthusiastically, evincing confidence in the Congress repeating the Karnataka Assembly election result in Telangana too.
Charging Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and his family of controlling 11 ministries, CWC member Gurudeep Singh and adviser to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who visited Sangareddy, said, "I assure that we will implement our promises once we come to power in the state. The BJP, which had demanded special status for Andhra Pradesh when the Telangana Bill was passed, failed to keep its word for that state. Only KCRs family has benefitted with the formation of a separate state. The meeting at Tukkuguda has been a roaring success. We will remove Dharani once we come to power in the state and replace it without a better website. Petrol prices will be reduced."
"Every woman will get Rs 2,500 per month. Gas cylinders will be given for Rs 500 from the present Rs 1,000. Rs 5 lakh will be given to the homeless for construction of houses. Sir (Gurudeep Singh) is explaining what was conveyed to the people by Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge at the Tukkuguda meeting," Sangareddy MLA Jagga Reddy, who was accompanying Gurudeep Singh, told the public.
While the campaign was largely smooth, one-upmanship was witnessed at a few places, like in Husnabad, where supporters of Ponnam Prabhakar and Praveen Reddy both of whom are vying for an Assembly seat from there came to blows.
Social media chairperson for AICC Supriya Shrinate visited Jangaon and distributed the abhaya hastam literature to the residents there and explained the six guarantees to the residents.
"Sonia, who delivered Telangana, has personally given these guarantees. 200 units power will be given to all eligible families. Rs 15,000 will be given to farmers and Rs 12,000 to farm labourers per year as Rythu Bandhu. Rs 4,000 to the poor per month and bus service will be free to all women. The Karnataka government is giving what we promised we will deliver here also," Shrinate said.
Jangaon DCC president Kommuri Pratap Reddy, who accompanied Shrinate, told people: "The promises made in Karnataka are being implemented now. We had kept our promises earlier in the YSR government and implemented 24 hours free power for farmers."
BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao. (Photo:Twitter)
Hyderabad: BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao on Tuesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of duping the countrys unemployed by promising to create two crore jobs annually.
Rama Rao was addressing a gathering at Telangana Bhavan, where BJPs Bhadradri Kothagudem district chief Koneru Chinna Satyanarayana and his followers joined the BRS.
Addressing the gathering, Rama Rao alleged that the BJP was indulging in religious politics to secure its vote bank. The leaders and cadre, who are unable to continue with BJP, chose to join the BRS in Telangana, he said.
Rama Rao said that the BJP government at the Centre deliberately merged five mandals from Telangana with Andhra Pradesh, by violating the law. The BJP promised to set up the Bayyaram steel plant but failed.
"The Prime Minister, who failed to provide jobs to youth, took decisions to privatise public utilities by creating confusion among government employees on job security. Interestingly, Union minister and BJP state chief G. Kishan Reddy stages protest seeking jobs for youth in Telangana," Rama Rao said.
Rama Rao accused the Prime Minister of being partial to Adani by privatising government companies.
Nijjar, whom India had declared a wanted terrorist, was gunned down on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver that is home to a major Sikh community. Pic: Twitter
New Delhi/Toronto: In a dramatic development that holds wider implications for ties between India and the West, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India on the floor of the Canadian Parliament on Monday of involvement in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan radical whom India regarded as a terrorist and the alleged head of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), after which Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat, with India later retaliating and expelling a senior Canadian diplomat.
New Delhi swiftly rubbished the Canadian PMs allegations, calling them "absurd", adding India was a "democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law" It also turns out that Mr Trudeau had raised the matter pertaining to Nijjars killing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent G-20 summit in New Delhi and Mr Modi had rejected his claims. Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was gunned down in June this year in the parking lot of a gurdwara at Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
Media reports from Toronto said Canada had expelled Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, who is learnt to be the head of the RAW station in Canada, while India expelled Canadian diplomat Olivier Sylvester, believed to be the head of the Canadian intelligence unit in New Delhi. Canadas high commissioner to New Delhi Cameron MacKay was also summoned to the external affairs ministry and told about Indias decision, with New Delhi accusing Canada of granting shelter to pro-Khalistan terrorists and extremists threatening Indias sovereignty and giving space to a "range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organised crime", adding that "the inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern".
In a fierce reaction to the Canadian allegations, the MEA said: "We have seen and reject the statement of Canadas Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian PM to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law."
The MEA added: "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities, including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil."
In a second statement, New Delhi said: "The high commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
Mr Trudeau informed the House of Commons in Ottawa on Monday (early Tuesday IST): "I am rising to inform the House of an extremely serious matter. I have also informed the leaders of the Opposition directly Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental. Our top priorities have been one, that law enforcement and security agencies assure the continued safety of all Canadians; and two, that all steps be taken to hold the perpetrators of this murder to account."
Mr Trudeau further said: "Canada has declared its top concerns to the top security and intelligence officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G-20, I brought them (up) personally and directly to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free open and democratic societies conduct themselves. As you would expect, weve been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, quoting unnamed government sources, said Mr Trudeau had briefed some key foreign leaders, including US President Joe Biden, British PM Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron on the matter.
The Canadian PM added in Parliament: "In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the Government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter. I also expect it to reiterate that its position on extra judicial operations in another country is clearly and completely in line with international law. I know many Canadians, particularly members of the Indo-Canadian community, are feeling angry or perhaps frightened right now. Let us not allow this to change us. Let us remain calm and steadfast inour commitment to democratic principles and adherence to the rule of law. This is who we are and what we do as Canadians."
Assurant, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business services that supports, protects, and connects consumer purchases in North America, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates through two segments: Global Lifestyle and Global Housing. The Global Lifestyle segment offers mobile device solutions, and extended service products and related services for consumer electronics and appliances, and credit and other insurance products; and vehicle protection, leased and financed solutions, and other related services. The Global Housing segment provides lender-placed homeowners, manufactured housing, and flood insurance; renters insurance and related products; and voluntary manufactured housing insurance, voluntary homeowners insurance, and other specialty products. The company was formerly known as Fortis, Inc. and changed its name to Assurant, Inc. in February 2004. Assurant, Inc. was founded in 1892 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates warehouse clubs on the eastern half of the United States. It provides perishable, general merchandise, gasoline, coupon books, promotions, and other ancillary services. The company sells its products through the websites BJs.com, BerkleyJensen.com, and Wellsleyfarms.com, as well as the mobile app. The company was formerly known as Beacon Holding Inc. and changed its name to BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. in February 2018. BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Westborough, Massachusetts.
The following companies are subsidiares of Lennar: 360 Developers LLC, Alliance Financial Services Inc., Ann Arundel Farms Ltd., Aquaterra Utilities Inc., Arbor Mill Veteran Project 2018 LLC, Asbury Woods L.L.C., Astoria Options LLC, Autumn Creek Development Ltd., Aylon LLC, Azusa Associates LLC, B2 Milpitas LLC, BB Investment Holdings LLC, BCI Properties LLC, BMR Communities LLC, BMR Construction Inc., BMTD LLC, BPH I LLC, Bainebridge 249 LLC, Bay Colony Expansion 369 Ltd., Bellagio Lennar LLC, Belle Meade LEN Holdings LLC, Belle Meade Partners LLC, Black Mountain Ranch LLC, Blue Horizons Estates LLC, Bonterra Lennar LLC, Bramalea California Inc., Bressi Gardenlane LLC, Breton Park Lennar LLC, CAP IL 1 LLC, CL Ventures LLC, CML INACTIVE LLC, CML-MO HAF LLC, CML-MO HAF PARKING LLC, CP Block 6aS LLC, CP Block 8aS LLC, CP Block 9aS LLC, CP Center Apartments LLC, CP Center Garage LLC, CP Red Oak Partners Ltd., CP Vertical Development Co. 1 LLC, CP/HPS Development Co. GP LLC, CP/HPS Development Co.-C LLC, CPFE LLC, CPHP Development LLC, CalAtlantic Financial Services Inc., CalAtlantic Group, CalAtlantic Group Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Arizona Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Georgia Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Texas Inc., CalAtlantic Homes of Washington Inc., CalAtlantic Mortgage Inc., CalAtlantic National Title Solutions LLC, CalAtlantic Title Agency LLC, CalAtlantic Title Group LLC, CalAtlantic Title Inc., CalAtlantic Title LLC, CalAtlantic Title of Maryland Inc., Camarillo Village Park LLC, Cambria L.L.C., Candlestick Retail Member LLC, Cardiovascular Medical Specialists LLC, Carolina Blue LLC, Carson 175 LLC, Cary Woods LLC, Casa Marina Development LLC, Central Park West Holdings LLC, Cherrytree II LLC, Club Bonterra Lennar LLC, Coco Palm 82 LLC, Colonial Heritage LLC, Columbia National Risk Retention Group Inc., Commonwealth Incentive Fee LLC, Concord Station LLP, Coventry L.L.C., Creekside Crossing L.L.C., Crest at Fondren Investor LLC, DBJ Holdings LLC, DCA Financial LLC, DTC Holdings of Florida LLC, Darcy-Joliet L.L.C., Durrell 33 LLC, EL Ventures LLC, EV LLC, Eagle Bend Commercial LLC, Eagle Home Mortgage LLC, Estates Seven LLC, Evergreen Village LLC, F&R QVI Home Investments USA LLC, FLORDADE LLC, Faria Preserve LLC, Fidelity Guaranty and Acceptance Corp., Fidelity Land LLC, Fox-Maple Associates LLC, Friendswood Development Company LLC, GDI MANAGER LLC, Garco Investments LLC, Greystone Construction Inc., Greystone Homes of Nevada Inc., Greystone Nevada Holdings LLC, Greystone Nevada LLC, Greywall Club L.L.C., HCC Investors LLC, HPS Development Co. LP, HPS Vertical Development Co. LLC, HPS Vertical Development Co.-B LP, HPS Vertical Development Co.-D/E LLC, HPS1 Block 1 LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-1B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-2B LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3A LLC, HPS1 Block 48-3B LLC, HPS1 Block 50 LLC, HPS1 Block 51 LLC, HPS1 Block 52 LLC, HPS1 Block 53 LLC, HPS1 Block 54 LLC, HPS1 Block 55 LLC, HPS1 Block 56/57 LLC, HSP Arizona Inc., HTC Golf Club LLC, Hammocks Lennar LLC, Harbor Highlands Group LLC, Harveston LLC, Haverton L.L.C., Heathcote Commons LLC, Heritage Pkwy East Holdings LLC, Heritage of Auburn Hills L.L.C., Hewitts Landing Trustee LLC, Hingham Properties LLC, Huntley Venture L.L.C., Inactive Companies LLC, Independence L.L.C., Independence Orlando LLC, Isles at Bayshore Club LLC, KMC Real Estate Investors LLC, Kendall Hammocks Commercial LLC, Kentuckiana Medical Center LLC, Kingman Lennar LLC, LB/L Duc III Antioch 330 LLC, LCD Asante LLC, LCI Downtown Doral Investor LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor GP LLC, LCI North DeKalb Investor LP LLC, LEN - Belle Meade LLC, LEN - OBS Windemere LLC, LEN - Palm Vista LLC, LEN BPT Investor LLC, LEN Mirada Investor LLC, LEN Notarize Investor LLC, LEN OT Holdings LLC, LEN Paradise Cable LLC, LEN Paradise Operating LLC, LEN-CG South LLC, LEN-Cypress Mill LLC, LEN-Ryan 1 LLC, LEN-Touchstone LLC, LENH I LLC, LENNAR HOMES OF TENNESSEE LLC, LFS Holding Company LLC, LH Eastwind LLC, LHI Renaissance LLC, LMC 10th & Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 144th and Grant Investor LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Holdings LLC, LMC 2401 Blake Street Investor LLC, LMC 360 Acoma Holdings LP, LMC 410 S Wabash Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Holdings LLC, LMC 808 Gateway Investor LLC, LMC 8th Avenue Apartment Investor LLC, LMC 990 Bannock Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Holdings LLC, LMC Axis Westminster Investor LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Holdings LLC, LMC Berry Hill Lofts Investor LLC, LMC Block 42 Holdings LLC, LMC Build to Core III Investor LLC, LMC Build to Core III LLC, LMC Burnside Holdings LLC, LMC Burnside Investor LLC, LMC Chandler and McClintock Holdings LLC, LMC Charlestowne Holdings LLC, LMC Charlotte Ballpark Developer LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Holdings LLC, LMC Cityville Oak Park Investor LLC, LMC Cobalt Holdings LLC, LMC Costa Mesa Holdings LP, LMC Crest at Park West Holdings LP, LMC Denver Gateway I Investor LLC, LMC Denver Gateway II Holdings LLC, LMC Development LLC, LMC Downtown Doral South Holdings LLC, LMC Durham Gateway Holdings LP, LMC Evans School Holdings LLC, LMC Gateway Investor LLC, LMC Gateway Venture LLC, LMC Gilman Square Investor LLC, LMC Horton Street Holdings LLC, LMC Huntington Crossing Holdings LLC, LMC Inactive Companies LLC, LMC Lakeside Holdings LP, LMC Leya Holdings LLC, LMC Living Illinois LLC, LMC Living Inc., LMC Living LLC, LMC Living TRS LP, LMC Millenia Investor II LLC, LMC NE Minneapolis Lot 2 Holdings LLC, LMC New Bern Investor LLC, LMC North Park Holdings LP, LMC Parkfield Holdings LLC, LMC Parkfield Investor LLC, LMC Righters Ferry Holdings LLC, LMC River North Holdings LLC, LMC Spring Street Investor LLC, LMC Stonewall Station Investor LLC, LMC Triangle Square Investor LLC, LMC Venture Developer LLC, LMC Verbena Holdings LLC, LMC West Loop Investor LLC, LMCFX Investor LLC, LMCPNW Marymoor Holdings LLC, LMI - Jacksonville Investor LLC, LMI - South Kings Development Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle Holdings LLC, LMI - West Seattle Investor LLC, LMI - West Seattle LLC, LMI Cell Tower Investors LLC, LMI City Walk Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale Investor LLC, LMI Collegedale LLC, LMI Contractors LLC, LMI Glencoe Dallas Investor LLC, LMI Lakes West Covina Investor LLC, LMI Largo Park Investor LLC, LMI Las Colinas Station LLC, LMI Naperville Investor LLC, LMI Pacific Tower LLC, LMI Park Central Two LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners Investor LLC, LMI Peachtree Corners LLC, LMI-JC Developer LLC, LMI-JC LLC, LMV 1640 Broadway REIT-DC LP, LMV 1701 Ballard REIT-DC LP, LMV 19H REIT-DC LP, LMV 2026 Madison REIT-DC LP, LMV 85 South Union REIT-DC LP, LMV ATown REIT-DC LP, LMV Annapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Apache Terrace REIT-DC LP, LMV Block 42 REIT-DC LP, LMV Bloomington REIT-DC LP, LMV Bolingbrook REIT-DC LP (DE), LMV Central at McDowell REIT-DC LP, LMV East Village I REIT-DC LP, LMV Edina REIT-DC LP, LMV Fremont WS I REIT-DC LP, LMV Glisan REIT-DC LP, LMV Grand Bay REIT-DC LP, LMV II Grand Bay Pod V Holdings LP, LMV II Kierland Holdings LP, LMV II NoMo Holdings LP, LMV II Venture Developer LLC, LMV II Wynwood Holdings LP, LMV Kirkland REIT-DC LP, LMV Little Italy REIT-DC LP, LMV M Tower REIT-DC LP, LMV Millenia II REIT-DC LP, LMV Milpitas REIT-DC LP, LMV NE Minneapolis REIT-DC LP, LMV Oak Park REIT-DC LP, LMV One20Fourth REIT-DC LP, LMV QR Build to Core Manager LLC, LMV Rio Bravo REIT-DC LP, LMV Scottsdale Quarter REIT-DC LP, LMV Tysons REIT-DC LP, LMV Vallagio III REIT-DC LP, LMV Victory Block G REIT-DC LP, LMV Warren Street REIT-DC LP, LNC Communities II LLC, LNC Communities IV LLC, LNC Communities V LLC, LNC Communities VI LLC, LNC Communities VII LLC, LNC Communities VIII LLC, LNC Pennsylvania Realty Inc., LNC at Meadowbrook LLC, LNC at Ravenna LLC, LS College Park LLC, LS Terracina LLC, LV Opendoor Investor LLC, LV Opendoor JV LLC, LW D'Andrea LLC, Lagoon Valley Residential LLC, Lakelands at Easton L.L.C., Legends Club LLC, Legends Golf Club LLC, Len - Little Harbor LLC, Len FW Investor LLC, Len Paradise LLC, Len-Angeline LLC, Len-Hawks Point LLC, Len-Land LLC, Len-Land West LLC, Len-MN LLC, Len-Verandahs LLP, LenCom LLC, LenFive LLC, LenFive Opco GP LLC, LenFive Sub III LLC, LenFive Sub LLC, LenFive Sub Opco GP LLC, Lenalto CMBS LLC, Lencraft LLC, Lennar Aircraft I LLC, Lennar Arizona Construction Inc., Lennar Arizona Inc., Lennar Associates Management Holding Company, Lennar Associates Management LLC, Lennar Avenue One LLC, Lennar Berkeley LLC, Lennar Bevard LLC, Lennar Bridges LLC, Lennar Buffington Colorado Crossing L.P., Lennar Buffington Zachary Scott L.P., Lennar Carolinas LLC, Lennar Central Park LLC, Lennar Central Region Sweep Inc., Lennar Chicago Inc., Lennar Cobra LLC, Lennar Colgate Urban Renewal Development LLC, Lennar Colorado LLC, Lennar Colorado Minerals LLC, Lennar Commercial LLC, Lennar Communities Development Inc., Lennar Communities Inc., Lennar Communities Nevada LLC, Lennar Communities of Chicago L.L.C., Lennar Concord LLC, Lennar Construction Inc., Lennar Cory Road LLC, Lennar Courts LLC, Lennar Developers Inc., Lennar Ewing LLC, Lennar Financial Services LLC, Lennar Flamingo LLC, Lennar Fresno Inc., Lennar Gardens LLC, Lennar Georgia Inc., Lennar Greer Ranch Venture LLC, Lennar Heritage Fields LLC, Lennar Hingham Holdings LLC, Lennar Hingham JV LLC, Lennar Homes Holding LLC, Lennar Homes LLC, Lennar Homes NJ LLC, Lennar Homes of Arizona Inc., Lennar Homes of California Inc., Lennar Homes of Indiana Inc., Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction Ltd., Lennar Homes of Texas Sales and Marketing Ltd., Lennar Homes of Utah Inc., Lennar International Holding LLC, Lennar International LLC, Lennar Lakeside Investor LLC, Lennar Layton LLC, Lennar Living LLC, Lennar Lytle LLC, Lennar MF Holdings LLC, Lennar MPA LLC, Lennar MPA WIP LLC, Lennar Mare Island LLC, Lennar Marina A Funding LLC, Lennar Massachusetts Properties Inc., Lennar Middletown LLC, Lennar Monmouth Redevelopers LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture GP Victory Block G Mezz LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II GP Subsidiary LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture II Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture LP LLC, Lennar Multifamily BTC Venture Manager LLC, Lennar Multifamily Builders LLC, Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC, Lennar Multifamily Venture DC LP, Lennar New Jersey Holdings LLC, Lennar New Jersey Properties Inc., Lennar New York LLC, Lennar Northeast Properties LLC, Lennar Northwest Inc., Lennar OHB LLC, Lennar PI Acquisition LLC, Lennar PI Property Acquisition LLC, Lennar PIS Management Company LLC, Lennar Pacific Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Inc., Lennar Pacific Properties Management Inc., Lennar Plumsted Urban Renewal LLC, Lennar Point LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core GP LLC, Lennar QR Build to Core LP LLC, Lennar Realty Inc., Lennar Reno LLC, Lennar Riverwalk LLC, Lennar Sacramento Inc., Lennar Sales Corp., Lennar Sierra Sunrise LLC, Lennar Spencer's Crossing LLC, Lennar Sun Ridge LLC, Lennar Texas Holding LLC, Lennar Ventures LLC, Lennar West Valley LLC, Lennar Winncrest LLC, Lennar at Franklin LLC, Lennar at Jackson LLC, Lennar at Marlboro 79 LLC, Lennar at Monroe LLC, Lennar.com Inc., Longleaf Acquisition LLC, Lori Gardens Associates II LLC, Lori Gardens Associates III LLC, Lori Gardens Associates L.L.C., Lorton Station LLC, Lyons Lennar Farms LLC, Madrona Ridge L.L.C., Madrona Village L.L.C., Madrona Village Mews L.L.C., Majestic Woods LLC, Maple and Broadway Holdings LLC, Menifee Development LLC, Mid-County Utilities Inc., Miralago West Lennar LLC, Mission Viejo 12S Venture LP, Mission Viejo Holdings Inc., Motomic Diagnostics LLC, Multibank 2009-1 CML-ADC Venture LLC, Multibank 2009-1 RES-ADC Venture LLC, NC Properties I LLC, NC Properties II LLC, North American Asset Development LLC, Northbridge L.L.C., OHC/Ascot Belle Meade LLC, One SR L.P., PD-Len Boca Raton LLC, PG Properties Holding LLC, POMAC LLC, PT Metro LLC, Pace Drive Holdings LLC, Palm Gardens At Doral Clubhouse LLC, Palm Gardens at Doral LLC, Palm Springs Classic LLC, Palm Vista Preserve LLC, Patuxent Infrastructure Inc., Pioneer Meadows Development LLC, Pioneer Meadows Investments LLC, Plaza Condominium Ventures LLC, Portside Marina Developers L.L.C., Portside SM Associates L.L.C., Portside SM Holdings L.L.C., Portside Shipyard Developers L.L.C., Prestonfield L.L.C., Quail Roost Lennar LLC, RCCF GP II LLC, RCCF GP III LLC, RCCF GP IV LLC, RCCF GP LLC, RES-FL EIGHT LLC, RES-FL SEVEN LLC, RES-FL VISION ONE LLC, RES-FL VISION TWO LLC, RES-GA CASCADE LLC, RES-GA DIAMOND MEADOWS LLC, RES-GA KAP LLC, RES-GA SOUTHERN PLANTATION LLC, RES-GA THIRTEEN LLC, RES-GA TWELVE LLC, RES-GA WEST LLC, RES-IL ONE LLC, RES-NC ONE LLC, RES-PA LSJ LLC, RES-PA POM LLC, RES-TX BOULEVARD LLC, RH Insurance Company Inc., RH MOA BBCMS 2017-C1 LLC, RH MOA CF 2017-C8 LLC, RH MOA LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C4 LLC, RH MOA U 2017-C6 LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 CLASS B LLC, RIAL 2014-LT5 LLC, RL BB FINANCIAL LLC, RL BB INACTIVE LLC, RL BB-AL LLC, RL BB-FL ALHI LLC, RL BB-GA LLC, RL BB-GA RMH LLC, RL BB-IL LLC, RL BB-IN AA LLC, RL BB-IN KRE LLC, RL BB-IN KRE OP LLC, RL BB-IN KRE RE LLC, RL BB-MS LLC, RL BB-NC LLC, RL BB-OH LLC, RL BB-SC BROOKSA LLC, RL BB-SC CLR II LLC, RL BB-SC CLR III LLC, RL BB-SC CLR IV LLC, RL BB-SC CLR LLC, RL BB-SC CRRC LLC, RL BB-SC RACEDAY LLC, RL BB-TN BRISTOL LLC, RL BB-TN LLC, RL BB-TN RACEDAY TOWER LLC, RL BB-TX LLC, RL BB-WV LLC, RL CMBS Holdings LLC, RL CML 2009-1 Investments LLC, RL REGI ARKANSAS LLC, RL REGI Alabama LLC, RL REGI FINANCIAL LLC, RL REGI Florida LLC, RL REGI GEORGIA LLC, RL REGI INACTIVE LLC, RL REGI KANSAS LLC, RL REGI MISSISSIPPI LLC, RL REGI MISSOURI LLC, RL REGI NORTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI SOUTH CAROLINA LLC, RL REGI TENNESSEE LLC, RL REGI VIRGINIA LLC, RL REGI-AL HP LLC, RL REGI-AL VRC LLC, RL REGI-FL CRC LLC, RL REGI-FL ESH LLC, RL REGI-FL FT. PIERCE LLC, RL REGI-FL GDL LLC, RL REGI-FL ITALIA LLC, RL REGI-FL MRED LLC, RL REGI-FL RDI LLC, RL REGI-FL SARASOTA LLC, RL REGI-FL TPL LLC, RL REGI-FL VARC LLC, RL REGI-GA DRAD LLC, RL REGI-GA HAY DB LLC, RL REGI-GA MHU LLC, RL REGI-GA MPD LLC, RL REGI-GA RLR LLC, RL REGI-MO GMB LLC, RL REGI-MO MOSCOW MILLS LLC, RL REGI-MS Double H LLC, RL REGI-MS OCEAN SPRINGS LLC, RL REGI-NC CIL LLC, RL REGI-NC LITTLE WING LLC, RL REGI-NC MLD LLC, RL REGI-NC Mland LLC, RL REGI-NC RALEIGH LLC, RL REGI-NC SUGARM LLC, RL REGI-NM LLC, RL REGI-SC CTL LLC, RL REGI-SC LAKE E LLC, RL REGI-SC TDG LLC, RL REGI-SC TIG LLC, RL REGI-TN OAK LLC, RL REGI-TN SEVIERVILLE LLC, RL RES 2009-1 Investments LLC, RMF Alliance LLC, RMF Commercial LLC, RMF PR New York LLC, RMF Partner LLC, RMF SUB 1 LLC, RMF SUB 2 LLC, RMF SUB 3 LLC, RMF SUB 4 LLC, RMF SUB 5 LLC, RMV LLC, Raintree Village II L.L.C., Raintree Village L.L.C., Ral-Len BM LLC, Ral-Len LLC, Rannel Capital WeWork Series D LLC, Rannel Holdings LLC, Rannel Interests LLC, Rannel Investments LLC, Rannel Mortgage Investments LLC, Rannel Proprietary Investments LLC, Renaissance Joint Venture, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove II LLC, Reserve @ Pleasant Grove LLC, Reserve at River Park LLC, Reserve at South Harrison LLC, Rialto Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Rialto Credit Partnership GP LLC, Rialto Mezz Partners GP LLC, Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC, Rialto Partners GP II LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Debt LLC, Rialto Partners GP III - Property LLC, Rialto Partners GP LLC, Rialto RSSF GP LLC, Riverwalk at Lago Mar LLC, Rocking Horse Minerals LLC, Rutenberg Homes Inc. (Florida), Rutenberg Homes of Texas Inc., Rye Hill Company LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada Holdings LLC, Ryland Homes Nevada LLC, Ryland Homes of California Inc., S. Florida Construction II LLC, S. Florida Construction III LLC, S. Florida Construction LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve LLC, SC 521 Indian Land Reserve South LLC, SPIC CPCO Inc., SPIC CPDB Inc., SPIC CPRB Inc., SPIC Del Sur LLC, SPIC Dublin LLC, SPIC Mesa LLC, SPIC NC Fremont LLC, SPIC Otay LLC, SPIC Springs LLC, San Felipe Indemnity Co. Ltd., San Lucia LLC, San Simeon Lennar LLC, Schulz Ranch Developers LLC, Seminole/70th LLC, Siena at Old Orchard L.L.C., Sierra Vista Communities LLC, Silver Springs Lennar LLC, South Development LLC, Southbank Holding LLC, Spanish Springs Development LLC, St. Charles Active Adult Community LLC, St. Charles Community LLC, Standard Pacific 1 Inc., Standard Pacific Investment Corp., Standard Pacific of Colorado Inc., Standard Pacific of Florida, Standard Pacific of Florida GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Las Vegas Inc., Standard Pacific of Orange County Inc., Standard Pacific of Tampa GP, Standard Pacific of Tampa GP Inc., Standard Pacific of Tonner Hills LLC, Standard Pacific of Walnut Hills Inc., Standard Pacific of the Carolinas LLC, Stoney Holdings LLC, Storey Lake Club LLC, Storey Park Club LLC, Strategic Holdings Inc., Strategic Technologies LLC, Summerfield Venture L.L.C., SunStreet Energy Group LLC, SunStreet Manager LLC, TCO QVI LLC, TICD Hold Co. LLC, TIH Hold Co. LLC, Talega Associates LLC, Temecula Valley LLC, Terra Division LLC, Terra/Winding Creek LLC, The Baywinds Land Trust, The Bridges Club at Rancho Santa Fe Inc., The Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe Sales Company Inc., The LNC Northeast Group Inc., The Oasis Club at LEN-CG South LLC, The Preserve at Coconut Creek LLC, The Vistas Club at LEN-CG South LLC, Titlezoom Company, Treasure Island Holdings LLC, Treasure Island Member LLC, Treviso Holding LLC, Two Lakes Lennar LLC, U.S. Home Corporation, U.S. Home Realty Inc., U.S. Home of Arizona Construction Co., U.S. Insurors Inc., U.S.H. Realty Inc., UAMC Holding Company LLC, UB 2018C14 MOA LLC, USH - Flag LLC, USH Equity Corporation, USH LEE LLC, USH Leasing II LLC, USH Leasing LLC, UST Lennar HW Scala SF Joint Venture, VII Crown Farm Investor LLC, Venetian Lennar LLC, Vineyard Land LLC, Vineyard Point 2009 LLC, Vista Palms Clubhouse LLC, WCI Communities, WCI Communities Inc., WCI Communities LLC, WCI Towers Northeast USA Inc., WCI Westshore LLC, WCP LLC, WIP Lennar OHB LLC, Waterview at Hanover LLC, West Lake Village LLC, West Seattle Project X LLC, West Van Buren L.L.C., Westchase Inc., Westchase Ltd., Westfield Homes USA Inc., White Course Lennar LLC, Wild Plum JV LLC, Willowbrook Investors LLC, Winncrest Natomas LLC, Woodbridge Multifamily Developer I LLC, Wright Farm L.L.C., and YLRichards4Acres 2015 LLC.
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The following companies are subsidiares of Laboratory Co. of America: 1957285 Ontario Inc. dba Quality Underwriting Services, 2089729 Ontario Inc., 2248848 Ontario Inc., 3065619 Nova Scotia Company, 3257959 Nova Scotia Company, 8165335 Canada Inc., 8348596 Canada Inc., 896988 Ontario Limited, 9279-3280 Quebec Inc., Accupath Diagnostic Laboratories Inc., Assets of Pathology Inc, Beacon LBS IPA Inc., Beacon Laboratory Benefit Solutions Inc., CannAmm GP Inc., CannAmm Limited Partnership, Center for Disease Detection International, Center for Disease Detection LLC, Centrex Clinical Laboratories Inc., Chiltern, Clearstone Central Laboratories (U.S.) Inc., Clearstone Holdings (International) Ltd., Clinical Outreach Laboratory Services, Clipper Holdings Inc., Colorado Coagulation Consultants Inc., Colorado Laboratory Services LLC, Correlagen Diagnostics Inc., Covance Inc., Curalab Inc., Cytometry Associates Inc., Czura Thornton (Hong Kong) Limited, DCL Acquisition Inc., DCL Medical Laboratories LLC, DCL Sub LLC, DIANON Systems Inc., DL Holdings Limited Partnership, Decision Diagnostics L.L.C. (aka DaVinici/Medicorp LLC), Diagnostic Services Inc., DynaLifeDX, Dynacare - Gamma Laboratory Partnership, Dynacare Company, Dynacare G.P. Inc., Dynacare Holdco LLC, Dynacare Laboratories Inc., Dynacare Laboratories Limited Partnership, Dynacare Northwest Inc., Dynacare Realty Inc., DynalifeDX Infrastructure Inc., Envigo's nonclinical contract research services business, Esoterix Genetic Counseling LLC, Esoterix Genetic Laboratories LLC, Esoterix Inc., Execmed Health Services Inc., FirstSource Laboratory Solutions Inc., GDML Medical Laboratories Inc, Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratories GP Inc., Gamma Dynacare Central Medical Laboratory Limited Partnership, HHLA Lab-In-An-Envelope LLC, Health Testing Centers Inc., Health Trans Services Inc., Home Healthcare Laboratory of America LLC, IDX Pathology Inc., Impact Genetics Corporation, Impact Genetics Inc., Kaleida LabCorp LLC, Lab Delivery Service of New York City Inc., LabCorp BVBA, LabCorp Belgium Holdings Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (Canada) Inc., LabCorp Central Laboratories (China) Inc., LabCorp Colorado Inc., LabCorp Development Company, LabCorp Employer Services Inc., LabCorp Health System Diagnostics LLC, LabCorp Indiana Inc., LabCorp Japan G.K., LabCorp Limited, LabCorp Michigan Inc., LabCorp Nebraska Inc., LabCorp Neon Ltd., LabCorp Neon Switzerland S.a.r.l., LabCorp Specialty Testing Billing Service Inc., LabCorp Specialty Testing Group Inc., LabCorp Staffing Solutions Inc., LabCorp Tennessee LLC, LabCorp UK Holdings Ltd., LabWest Inc., Laboratoire Bio-Medic Inc., Laboratory Corporation of America, Lifecodes Corporation, LipoScience Inc., Litholink Corporation, MEDTOX Scientific Inc., MNG Laboratories, MedAxio Insurance Medical Services GP Inc., MedAxio Insurance Medical Services LP, Medical Neurogenitics LLC, Medtox Diagnostics Inc., Medtox Laboratories Inc., Monogram Biosciences Inc., Monogram Biosciences UK Limited, Myriad Autoimmunes Vectra Testing Business, NWT Inc., National Genetics Institute, New Brighton Business Center LLC, New Imaging Diagnostics LLC, New Molecular Diagnostics Ventures LLC, Orchid Cellmark ULC, Ovia Health, PA Labs Inc., Paclab LLC, Path Lab Incorporated, Pathology Associates Medical Lab LLC, Pee Dee Pathology Associates Inc., Personal Genome Diagnostics Inc., Persys Technology Inc., Pixel by LabCorp, Princeton Diagnostic Laboratories of America Inc., Protedyne Corporation, SW/DL LLC, Saint Josephs-PAML LLC, Sequenom Biosciences (India) Pvt. Ltd., Sequenom Inc, Sequenom Inc., Tandem Labs Inc., Toxikon Corporation, Tri-Cities Laboratory LLC, Viro-Med Laboratories Inc., Visiun, and Yakima Medical Arts Inc..
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Internationally renowned actor, Roma Downey, has paid tribute to her brother, Rev Fr John Downey, who passed away on Monday.
Posting on Facebook, the 'Touched By An Angel' star said: "Friends, My family has suffered a terrible loss . Our beloved brother Fr John has passed away in the night . We are grateful for all your prayers . His passing was peaceful and thats a blessing . May he rest in peace."
Fr Downey's death was announced by The Parish of Ballinascreen.
The notice said: "It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death, earlier today in Antrim Hospital, of Fr John Downey, RIP.
Please pray for the happy repose of his soul as we thank the Lord for his many years of devoted service as a priest in our parish.
Our Lady of Fatima intercede for him. May he rest in peace."
Rev. Fr. John Downey (Moneyneena) was the beloved brother of Pat, Ann, Jacinta, Roma and the late Lawrence.
His funeral arrangements will be updated when available.
The Tower Museum has unveiled a fascinating collection of local film footage showcasing Derry through the decades, brought together as part of a special project to digitise and preserve old footage.
The Tower Museum Northland Broadcast Film Collection has been created as the result of a collaboration between Derry City & Strabane District Council, Northland Broadcast and Northern Ireland Screens Digital Film Archive, and aims to catalogue and digitise material considered to be at risk.
A selection of the collection will go live online from today, launched by Council in partnership with Northern Ireland Screen.
Developed and curated by the Derry-based filmmaker, Vinny Cunningham, the wide ranging collection features a medley of footage and programmes that Cunningham made or helped produce, along with older footage shot on film in the 1960s and 1970s by third parties.
Many of the films were created by Vinny Cunningham under his production company, Open Reel Productions Ltd and the Museum of Free Derry also assisted in reviewing and selecting items to feature.
All of the footage is deeply connected to the city of Derry, whether through subject, location or theme, and the project has been funded through the National Archives Covid 19 Collections at Risk Grant Programme.
Looking ahead to the launch, archivist at the Tower Museum, Bernadette Walsh, said: This collection provides a range of unique footage of Derry down through the years, capturing moments from Halloween and other local events, which will be of interest to both film buffs and anyone interested in local history.
We are delighted that Vinny Cunningham offered to share this archive, I think its so important that we capture these snapshots of local history and ensure they are properly preserved for posterity. Making the clips accessible online opens them up to everyone, and they will become an important resource for future generations.
The online launch with Northern Ireland Screen will focus on a small selection of material as a preview to the wider collection which will be available later in the year via an online catalogue. Any queries on the collection can be directed to Bernadette at the Tower Museum collections@derrystrabane.com
The Tower Museum Northland Broadcast Film Collection is now available to view online at https://digitalfilmarchive.net/collection/tower-museum-and-northland-broadcast-205
A photography collection featuring people from a wide range of cultures who call the North West home will be premiered at this weekends One World Festival in Derry city centre.
The exhibition has been developed by Derry doctor Mukesh Chugh with support from Derry photographer Gerry Temple and features portraits of individuals wearing attire from their background and holding something culturally significant to them.
The collection in the Guildhalls Main Hall will feature people from the traditional Unionist and Nationalist backgrounds in the city but also people from all over the world who have settled here.
The idea came from my daughter Gouri Riya who has been very active in promoting Indian culture to local people through Henna tatoos and Bollywood dance, Mukesh, a consultant anaesthetist in Altnagelvin Hospital, explained.
I hope that by people being photographed with something of cultural importance to them or in their classic attire that it will promote their culture to the wider public and they will appreciate and respect the unity in diversity.
The North West Multicultural Festival - One World, hosted by Derry City and Strabane District Council, will take place in and around the Guildhall from midday on Saturday September 23rd and will showcase the vibrant tapestry of global cultures that exist locally.
The comprehensive programme is a colourful celebration of worldwide music, song, dance and cuisine and includes performances, workshops, arts and crafts, storytelling, enlightening exhibitions and engaging dialogues.
A performance space will be created in Guildhall Square along with food stalls and arts and crafts including Beijing Mask Making and Thai Fan Making.
The space will feature dance and music performances from a wide range of genres including Hip Hop, Bollywood Indian, and Ghana from midday until 4.30pm.
Inside the Guildhall, the Main Hall will feature the World of Workshops initiative where people can try India Saree tying, Polish and Latvian crafts and Chinese Dragon making.
The Guildhall foyer area will play host to a range of displays of worldwide traditional costumes while the Whittaker Suite will have dance performances from Africa, India and Asia.
Next door in Harbour House the beautiful Obon Fest Lanterns and an Indian Culture Exhibition will be on display and people can pop into a number of discussion events about the experience people from all over the world have had in relocating to the city and district.
To access the full programme for the One World Festival visit www.derrystrabane.com/oneworldfestival.
This festival has been supported by District Councils Good Relations Programme.
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Kaiserslautern, Germany, September 19, 2023 - Creonic GmbH, a leading provider of IP cores for communication systems, proudly introduces its DVB-S2X Multi-Carrier Demodulator IP core. Designed to enhance satellite communication systems, this innovative addition to Creonic's SATCOM IP core portfolio offers unparalleled versatility.
What sets the DVB-S2X Multi-Carrier Demodulator IP core apart is its capability to support a design-time configurable number of carriers, ranging up to 36. Furthermore, the VLSNR (very-low signal-to-noise ratio) modes of DVB-S2X are optionally supported, allowing for operation at SNR levels below -8 dB. This configurability empowers users to adapt the core to their specific needs.
On top of that, the core offers on-the-fly configuration per carrier, enabling users to dynamically adjust and optimize their satellite communication systems during runtime. Individual carriers can be turned on or off and furthermore differ in terms of roll-off, symbol rate, and modulation / coding (MODCOD). All roll-offs (5% to 35%) and all MODCODs (from BPSK to 256-APSK) are supported.
As part of Creonic's commitment to advancing satellite communication technologies, this IP core is designed to streamline error correction by integrating seamlessly with the Creonic DVB-S2X LDPC/BCH decoder IP core using an additional glue logic that is also readily available.
For licensing and additional information, please contact Creonic or visit the product page.
About Creonic GmbH
Creonic is an ISO 9001:2015 certified provider of ready-for-use IP cores for wired, wireless, fiber, and free-space optical communications. All relevant digital signal processing algorithms are covered, including,
but not limited to, forward error correction, modulation, equalization, and demodulation.
The company offers the richest product portfolio in this field, covering standards like 3GPP 5G, DVB-S2X, DVB-RCS2, CCSDS, and WiFi.
The products are applicable for ASIC and FPGA technologies and comply with the highest requirements with respect to quality and performance.
HIGHLIGHTS According to Google Trends, the iPhone 15 is the one that has been searched by most people.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is also expected to be sold at an increased amount this year.
The least popular iPhone 15 model, this could be the iPhone 15 Plus.
Last week, Apple launched the most awaited iPhone 15 series along with the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra second generation. As usual, the tech giant has rolled out four models in the iPhone 15 series. They are the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. Similar to last year, the iPhone 15 Plus appears to have been sidelined by the users. On the contrary, it seems that the iPhone 15 and the high-end Pro Max have become the favored models in the series. Let's take a look at which iPhone 15 models are the most and least popular among users.
According to Google Trends, the iPhone 15 is the one that has been searched by most people. However, some users might also use the iPhone 15 term to look for other models if they are not familiar with the specific names. Additionally, The Economic Times revealed in a report that the new iPhone 15 series has won many hearts. If compared to last year, then about 20-25 percent more pre-bookings have been done this year.
Also read: Why you should buy the iPhone 15 or skip it altogether and save your money
The iPhone 15 gave all the reasons to users to love it. Being the standard model, the smartphone is offering a lot this year, and that too at the same prices as last year. However, the iPhone 15 is not the only favourite smartphone among users. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is also expected to be sold at an increased amount this year. Apple is also said to have increased launch stock up to 3,00,000 units.
Also read: Get the iPhone 15 for as low as 12,100 with the Apple Trade-in program
Now lets get to the least popular iPhone 15 model. Being the middle child, this could be the iPhone 15 Plus. Why? Because people either look to purchase the standard model or the high-end variants. The iPhone 15 Plus is the same smartphone as the iPhone 15. The only difference is that it has a bigger battery and display on which even I dont want to spend 10,000 more.
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BYD's overseas expansion drives Yusin Holding Group's Fuzhou subsidiary operation
China-based EV maker BYD has been scaling up in overseas markets. Besides the competition with Tesla, its entry into the Thai market has garnered much attention. Support from Taiwan-based automotive parts suppliers has become essential for the carmaker's ambition in foreign markets.
According to DIGITIMES Research, BYD was the top EV seller and accounted for the most market share in 2022 and the first half of 2023. Moreover, the International Energy Agency data showed that China-made EVs took up only 4.2% of global EV exports in 2018. The proportion surged to 35% in 2022.
Due to their development constraints in the US market, Chinese EV makers focus on building a reputation in Europe. Up to 40% of EVs were made by BYD and other top carmakers in the EVs exported from China to Europe in 2022. BYD also develops the emerging Southeast Asian market aggressively, with Thailand being the center.
In August, BYD's Thai dealer Rever Automotive announced that it will set up new storage space to hold over one million components. The company can distribute the parts to dealers across the country within one to four days to meet the Thai market's growing need for BYD cars.
Taiwan-based Yusin Holding Group is a leading manufacturer of brake master cylinders and brake wheel cylinders. Chairman Ching Te Chi said BYD is the core customer of Fuzhou-based Assured Brake Systems, Yusin's China subsidiary.
He said EV products are expected to account for 40% of Assured Brake Systems' sales by the end of 2023. Sales from BYD also take up 30% to 40% of the component supplier's overall sales. Assured Brake Systems has offered parts for BYD's Seagull and Yuan Plus, developing those for the Qin model. The company also supplies GAC Aion's Y, V, S and LX models.
Chi said Assured Brake Systems' revenues are expected to reach CNY170 million (US$23.8 million) in 2023 and CNY200 million in 2024. The company's gross profit rate is about 30%, with the rate of EV brake pads achieving 35%. As EVs take up more of the company's sales, its revenues will keep increasing.
As BYD expands to Thailand, Chi said supplies will be sent from Fuzhou to the automaker before Yusin's subsidiary in Malaysia ramping up.
International satellite service startups visit Taiwan's industry and academia as part of SMEA's TAcc+ program
The Taiwan Accelerator Plus (TAcc+) program is supported by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA). The 2023 International SpaceTech Startup Supporting Program organized by Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and TAcc+ aims to pair international SpaceTech startups with Taiwan's industries to promote collaborative innovation.
Submissions for the program were available from February 24 to April 30, 2023. Through collaborations with international partners such as Satcom Industry Association India (SIA-India), IIT Bombay SINE, SpaceSeed, and the European Space Resources Innovation Centre in Luxembourg (ESRIC), the program received submissions from 46 international SpaceTech startups. After two stages of reviews, 16 startups were selected as the final lineup.
These 16 companies are divided into four groups based on the products and services they offer. These groups are space infrastructure and microgravity applications, satellite services, satellite and launch vehicle manufacturing, and space mission operations. This article will cover four companies in the "satellite service" group.
GalaxEye Space
GalaxEye Space is an Indian company founded in 2021 by five Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) alumni. The team encompasses expertise from a variety of domains, including defense, aerospace, geospatial, and EVs.
GalaxEye's core offerings cover satellite imagery, processing, ML/DL analytics, and insights derived from in-house sensor tech. This includes a unique Earth observation (EO) data set that's harvested from its "Drishti Sensor," the world's first multi-sensor that combines synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and multi-spectral instrument (MSI) data.
The Drishti Sensor hosts a small satellite constellation that assures worldwide coverage within 12 hours and offers high-resolution and near-real-time imagery on-demand. The Drishti Sensor capitalizes on the complementary nature of SAR and optical, allowing the two to cover for each other's weaknesses. Applications of this data include crop growth monitoring, mineral deposit identification, urbanization monitoring, surface change detection, and more. This data captured can assist businesses and governments in making better and more informed decisions.
GalaxEye's competitive edge is rooted in the fact that it's the only company to fuse SAR and optical sensors onto a single satellite platform. Thus, it's able to generate a far more comprehensive data set. Moreover, it has a soon-to-be-patented innovation that ensures unmatched resolution for both optical and SAR.
GalaxEye was able to design, build, and fly a multi-sensor SAR+Optical imager on a drone, the first Asian company to do so. This is meant to act as a tech demonstration for when the technology is applied to satellites. The company's ambition is to unlock the value of EO data in sectors like insurance, utilities, agriculture, marine, and the public sector.
The team's Taiwan visit aims to foster connections with Taiwan's burgeoning Private Space industry and leverage Taiwan's robust semiconductor ecosystem to ensure a reliable supply of space components and services. Furthermore, Taiwan's unique landscape means that there are business opportunities for GalaxEye's satellite imagery technology and analytics solutions.
For instance, it has introduced its remote monitoring system GalaxEye Blue to Taiwan's aquaculture industry. Lead engineer Raageshver Sood said that their solution only needs one satellite to be able to offer extensive insight into the health of water bodies. He also mentioned that many Taiwanese companies have expressed great interest in remote sensing and may be willing to supply customized components. At the same time, a research unit at NCU has also expressed interest.
At the upcoming Taipei International Aerospace & Defense Industry Exhibition (TADTE), GalaxEye plans to showcase the SAR+Optical imager drone mentioned above.
Hikade Technologies
Hikade Technologies is a Czech company founded by Tomas Hikade and Marek Melichar in 2022. Tomas Hikade is the visionary behind the company's proposal, overseeing conceptual design, device production, and establishing business connections. Meanwhile, Marek Melichar brings his expertise in numerical calculations and simulations to validate the design. Besides these two founders, project manager and Senior R&D Technician Pavel Filip is a 20-year industry veteran who oversees project management, R&D engineering, and supply chain leadership.
Hikade's main product offering is a two-axis position device (gimbal) suitable for harsh stratospheric environments, where high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) operate. This gimbal supports a range of payloads, including transmitters and cameras.
With the gimbal being their own design and production, it allows them to perform quick changes to outer dimensions and weight to adapt to broad payload demands. It can become a tool to enhance data bandwidth, reduce signal latency, and improve coverage and observation capabilities.
Hikade's competitive edge is that there are no gimbals suited for stratospheric conditions in the existing market. The ones available are limited to ground or low-altitude applications such as UAVs and helicopters. No manufacturer is known to offer a gimbal for stratospheric conditions (1525km above ground). While there are prominent industry players (e.g., Airbus) with the general knowledge and technology to develop such equipment, no commercially available product has been released so far.
The company boasts strong collaborations with leading HAPS manufacturers in the US. It has received multiple letters of intent and secured letters of commitment. They are also actively involved in several space projects that are primarily focused on space observation initiatives. One notable example is their involvement in the Solar Eclipse Observation Project.
For their trip to Taiwan, the team is particularly interested in R&D collaboration opportunities. Specifically, they are highly attracted to collaborating with TASA. While they certainly are interested in business cooperation and potential investors, the company's pre-seed status and a technology readiness level of 4 (tech validated in a lab) meant that at this stage, the company's primary focus will be R&D.
Head of business development David Nevrivy also stated that they hope to find suppliers in Taiwan too, as Taiwan is known for its manufacturing capabilities. As of now, the company is looking to sign a collaboration agreement with 5G mmWave solution provider TMYTEK.
At TADTE 2023, they plan to showcase their gimbal designed for stratospheric conditions. This device enables mounting optical devices like high-resolution cameras for Earth observation as well as data transmitters for things like telecommunication. The company expects to see interest in traffic management, agriculture, security, industry, and environmental study/protection.
Xovian Aerospace
Xovian Aerospace is an Indian startup founded by Ankit Bhateja and Raghav Sharma in 2019. The two founders previously built a space education technology startup and have worked on a satellite mission. The team is backed by former scientists of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) with years of experience in satellite technology development.
Xovian is deploying a radio-based nanosatellite infrastructure to provide 24x7, real-time geospatial (GEOINT) and signal intelligence (SIGINT) data services. By capturing multiple radio frequencies through a single satellite platform and utilizing AI-driven data analysis, it's able to provide real-time insights and predictions to sectors like maritime, aviation, BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance), agriculture, and defense through a customizable, subscription-based API service platform.
Xovian's competitive edge over existing solutions is that it offers a comprehensive end-to-end solution that covers data acquisition to delivery. This allows for full control over quality, scale, and innovation cycles. Additionally, it's also cost-efficient and has low latency, higher accuracy, and the ability to capture multiple datasets using just a single platform. With every dollar spent Xovian can generate up to six times more datasets compared to conventional solutions.
The startup has gained traction with pilot customers in the maritime and aviation sectors. It is targeting the second quarter of 2024 for the launch of its first commercial space mission, followed by the launch of its API platform for pilot customers. Eyeing emerging markets in maritime and aviation, Xovian will deploy its B2B services for enterprise customers, gradually expanding its reach to other sectors.
For this trip, Xovian wants to tap into Taiwan's industrial expertise in electronics and radio frequency (RF) technologies. It's also seeking potential collaborations with Taiwan's academic institutions for R&D in satellite technologies.
Co-founder Ankit Bhateja visited several prominent Taiwanese companies. The first was Rapidtek Technologies, where they discussed the possibility of using off-the-shelf electronic components on satellites to achieve more cost-effective satellite solutions. Additionally, he also visited Aegiverse to discuss the potential use of Aegiverse's Fiber Optic Gyro Inertial Measurement Unit (FOG-IMU) on satellites.
It's worth noting that Xovian Aerospace is in discussions with several other companies to form partnerships and explore potential synergies in satellite technology development.
At TADTE 2023, Xovian Aerospace plans to showcase its key technology developments and future plans.
3IPK
3IPK is a Slovakian company that currently employs 30 global team members and has a growing presence in Europe (France, Slovakia) and Asia (Taiwan, Indonesia). It is also the only startup in this program with headquarters in Taiwan. Co-founder Juraj Zamecnik has a background in aerospace engineering and executive management experience at Airbus Defense & Space.
3IPK refers to itself as a "product-centric blockchain company" that provides data security and validation applications for the aerospace industry. It closely collaborates with major players such as Thales Alenia, Airbus Defense & Space, the European Space Agency (ESA), and TASA. 3IPK's technology addresses bottlenecks in EO (Earth Observation) data, supply chain, and process management.
The team's competitive edge lies in its unique blockchain system that enables data verification in isolated product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. They have also partnered with Thales Alenia to co-develop an EO data validation platform for ESA's "Destination Earth" initiative, demonstrating their expertise in technology transfer across the aviation and space industries.
Other notable achievements include being the first blockchain company from Central and Eastern Europe to secure a contract with ESA, as well as being a part of technology innovation MOU signings between Slovakia and Taiwan.
During their visit to Taiwan, the team aims to create collaboration opportunities between their European partners and Taiwan. They also intend to tap into and leverage the expertise of the Taiwanese space industry, along with exploring co-investment opportunities with their current lead investor in Europe.
Ashley Reeves, 3IPK's Head of the APAC region, stated that their blockchain technology can prevent satellite data from being hacked during the distribution or reception process after the data is transmitted to the ground. For the semiconductor industry, 3IPK's solutions can help external suppliers connect to the supply chain systems without worrying about being hacked.
At TADTE 2023, 3IPK plans to showcase their co-developed EO data security project with Thales Alenia, expand discussions with their Taiwanese partners, and promote their solutions for Taiwan's ecosystem.
International SpaceTech Startups Launchpad Recap Party.
Photo: TAcc+
Sinn Fein TD for Louth has said that Government must act urgently to reduce unacceptably large class sizes.
New figures from the Department of Education, show that there were 27 primary schools with classes with 30 or more students in Louth for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Deputy O Murchu said:
Government has failed to plan and properly fund schools, which has resulted in unacceptably large class sizes including in Louth.
This has been raised as a concern for many years now, by unions, parents and headteachers yet government has failed to act despite these warnings.
Starkly, the new figures highlighted that there are many students in classes of 30 or more spread across 27 different schools in Louth. This is clearly unacceptable.
The problem is particularly acute in the North Louth area, with schools in the Cooley peninsula showing largest class sizes of 28 at Ardaghy NS, 29 at Monksland NS Omeath; 30 at Dulargy NS in Ravensdale and Rampark NS and 31 at St Olivers in Carlingford.
The issue is not confined to North Louth. In Blackrock, Scoil na Creagha Dubha, St Furseys NS and St Francis NS all have largest class sizes of 32.
Large class sizes have a detrimental impact on the quality of education teachers can deliver. This undermines the teaching environment and children's ability to learn to the best of their ability.
I am urging the Minister to urgently address this issue. There can be no more delays or excuses. All our children deserve the best chance in life, through high quality education that should be a right and not subject to a postcode lottery.
Sinn Fein wants to put an end to classes of over 30 pupils and ensure standards never slip to this stage again.
We are committed to working towards the EU average of 20 children per class which supports education and learning, and allows for children who may need additional support or guidance to have that opportunity.
"Government need to get their act together and cut class sizes to fair and appropriate levels so children in Louth get the education they deserve."
A company that is planning a solar farm on 300 acres of land near Castlebellingham, is to hold a community information event between 2pm and 8pm on 26th September 2023 at the Darver Community Centre, Darver.
Lightsource bp, a subsidiary of BP, and understood to be one of the largest developers of solar energy projects in the world is planning the solar development.
It will be outlining its proposal at the event to fund, develop and build a 80MWac solar installation on 300 acres of land at the townlands of Derrycammagh and Bawn, near Castlebellingham, County Louth.
Lightsource bp is inviting residents from the surrounding area to attend the community information event, where further information will be made available on the proposals.
The community information event will be held at the Darver Community Centre and residents are invited to drop in at any time between 2pm and 8pm.
The Lightsource bp team will be on hand to discuss the planning proposal and gather feedback from the local community.
The proposed solar installation will provide enough clean renewable energy to 21,100 homes, saving 32,200 tonnes of carbon emissions every year, the equivalent of taking 29,900 large family cars off the roads.
Lightsource bp says that this project is a key facet of its mission to rapidly accelerate the transition to a low carbon future.
As well as generating clean energy, Lightsource bp says that its solar installations are designed so that they also act as a haven for local wildlife.
A bespoke Biodiversity Management Plan will be developed in conjunction with the planning application, and this will ensure that the plan enhances the site as much as possible for local wildlife.
As part of this initiative, Lightsource bp says that its planting, seeding and habitat creation plans will focus on native species.
The company says it is also eager to hear from wildlife enthusiasts and local schools who may be interested in playing a role in the ongoing monitoring of wildlife on the site, as part of the companys drive to contribute positively to all the communities hosting its projects.
The proposed layout for the solar installation at Derrycammagh has been designed so that most of the open grassland on the site will be suitable for grazing small livestock, allowing the land to retain the potential for agricultural use.
Lightsource bp says it is committed to supporting the rural economy and benefitting local communities, and this site has been designed with these priorities in mind.
Wide grassy avenues will be left between the rows of solar panels, to reduce shading and optimise the amount of sunlight each row of panels receives.
This will leave around 70% of the solar installation as open grassland, suitable for grazing livestock, while the panels can provide shade, shelter and protection for sheep, geese or chickens.
The proposed fields have been chosen because they are close to the required 110kV overhead lines, and are in a flat landscape with excellent mature hedgerow screening which would limit any surrounding views of the solar installation.
Katy McGuinness, Head of Environmental Planning UK & Ireland, Lightsource bp said: Solar energy is not only clean and renewable, but it also generates domestic electricity.
This makes solar an important part of meeting the global rise in energy demand efficiently and more sustainably, which is a core aspect of Lightsource bps sustainability mission.
We want to ensure that local communities in and around the proposed location have all the information they need about this project.
Were holding this information event to speak to elected representatives, local businesses and residents of the local community, and to gather feedback.
This event is also a great way for the community to ask any questions they may have about the project or solar energy in general.
Residents can obtain further information on the project, at any time, by getting in touch with the Lightsource bp team via ireland@lightsourcebp.com quoting Derrycammagh.
Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) is urging people who are thinking about getting back into education and applying for college, to consider its Headstart programme, a course that has been specifically developed and designed to assist in the journey back into learning and formal education with ease.
Working in collaboration with Louth Local Development and with support funding from Social Inclusion and Community Activation Programme (SICAP), DkIT says that the programme is aimed at those with an interest in pursuing Higher Education and comprises of a nine week part-time exploration of study skills which includes academic writing, presentation skills, group work, time management, learning to learn, career guidance and assignment feedback.
This course is open to everyone and anyone who has ever thought that they would like to go to college but thought it wouldnt be possible for them, and DkIT says that the focus of it is to support people and remove as many obstacles as possible to allow them access to life changing education.
DkIT says classes at the Institute are in a "warm, engaging and non-judgemental environment with one-to-one support to help you overcome any obstacles that you may feel stand in your way".
The weekly classes will focus on the main study skills people will need for college, and they will also receive one to one guidance on the process of applying for a place in college.
Johdi Quinn (DkIT Pathways & Headstart Co-ordinator and Community Development and Spanish Lecturer) said: The biggest impact for me is that learners who are now studying at DkIT are telling me that going to college was beyond their wildest dreams before they did Headstart.
"We have reached people and communities who have always thought that education wasnt for them. But its not just about people returning to education, I believe this course has given people confidence, resilience, the courage to dream again and more than anything, hope."
To date 66 people have graduated from the Headstart Programme. DkIT says it is thrilled to report that Headstart graduates are in all four years of their DkIT degrees including programmes such as Social Care, Community Youth Work, Arts, Audio & Music Production, Creative Media, Hospitality Management, General Nursing and Mental Health Nursing. Many graduates have also secured employment because of having completed the programme.
Christina King, Youth & Education Coordinator, Louth Local Development said: This course is for those who have thought about going back to education, but felt too overwhelmed or intimidated at just trying to figure out how you could manage it or whether youd be fit for it?
"DkIT and Louth Local Development through our Headstart programme would love to assist you and help you on your journey to make the decision and then action it. Our focus is to support you and your self-confidence and remove as many obstacles as possible to allow you access to life changing education and help you fulfil your dreams.
The Headstart program is starting once again on campus this October, and all are welcome to apply. The course starts on Wednesday 4 October 2023. Please email christina.king@lldc.ie to register your interest.
MAIN Street, Ballydehob, is prettied up with flower baskets and bright window displays. Outside the charming post office, an array of colourful postcards lure the tourists inside.
Ive lived here all my life, says postmistress Bridie Roycroft, who has been a mainstay for 43 years in the post office.
I love the village and I love the post office, adds Bridie, who went beyond the call of duty to keep working in the place she loves so well.
Bridie has rallied the community to support their local post office, and going a step further, she bought the building.
The previous postmistress was Peg Coughlan, says Bridie.
I was very fond of her. I came to the post office taking a temporary job as a telephonist and to help out with the accounts.
When Pegs son tragically passed away, she was no longer able to continue at the time. Peg told me to do the best I could with the post office and thats when I moved from the telephonist side of things to handling the post.
When Peg passed away 16 years ago, I applied for the position of postmistress, says Bridie.
I was really happy when I was appointed postmistress here.
Bridie always strived to promote the post office and keep it open.
In 2018, she refused an exit package as scores of others did in parts of rural Ireland. In a hatch next to the shop, she displayed a signpost declaring The post office needs your business to make it viable, and encouraging people to call in to collect welfare payments such as pensions and child benefit, rather than having it paid into bank accounts.
Bridie stressed also on the signpost that people could do their online banking, pay their bills, get their phone credit, or use An post Bill Pay there.
Bridie Roycroft, postmistress at Ballydehob post office. Picture; Eddie O'Hare
I pointed out that the local post office offers a variety of services and just to ask me about them, and to support me by using these services.
I am relying on local people who have rallied to support the post office in Ballydehob, says Bridie, who is a mother of four.
If we went out of business, people would have to travel to bigger towns to avail of An Post services that we provide here.
The loss of the local post office would be detrimental for people.
The closure of the post office would be a death sentence for our village, adds Bridie.
I appealed to people not to let this happen. It was their choice; use it or lose it.
Bridie was delighted with the amount of people who congratulated her when she purchased the building so that she can continue to serve her community for many years to come.
Bridie greets every customer by name and the atmosphere is friendly, warm and welcoming. She loves her place of work.
I am happy every day I go into work, says Bridie, the postmistress who has been at the heart of her community for more than four decades, doing all she can to keep the doors open.
Six years ago, I was offered a comfortable retirement through voluntary redundancy, which would mean permanently closing the post office down.
Bridie wasnt going to let that happen.
There was nobody to take over from me, she says.
I made an offer to buy the building, the reason being to keep the post office open.
After some consideration, Bridie gathered the community to a packed-out town hall meeting and informed them she would need their support to keep the business going. And then she got some - and more.
The locals of Ballydehob didnt let me down. Even though in the past six years weve sadly lost a lot of older people, says Bridie.
The pension clientele has diminished somewhat, but plenty of people support the post office which is great.
Being here 43 years, Ive seen children come in who are now mothers themselves with babes in arms. I know all my customers and we enjoy a chat together. Ive formed personal relationships with many of my customers and we are able to share things in private which is important.
Ballydehob is a popular village.
Many people from England and Dublin have holiday homes here, says Bridie.
And we have a lot of passing trade through the village. Travellers often stop by to get directions and the post office is generally a nice place to stop off and break a long journey.
Bridie Roycroft, postmistress at Ballydehob post office. Picture; Eddie O'Hare
We have a craft shop with all Irish-made crafts. Our local knitters are busy knitting hats and scarves.
Ballydehob Post Office has lots of nice things to entice people in, apart from using An Post services.
We sell postcards, we stock scented candles, handcrafted jewellery, and books by local authors and CDs by local musicians too, says Bridie who believes in keeping community spirit alive and well.
I made the decision that I was only going to do Irish-made - locally if possible, and its been very successful.
Ballydehob Post Office is a good place to browse and have a bit of a chat.
People remark how nice it is inside, says Bridie.
She feels lucky.
Its just lovely to be surrounded by all these wonderful things when I come to work every day. I just love it.
"Ive seen the effect on local communities when they lose their post office. Once a post office is gone, the life of the village is gone, says Bridie.
People arent aware of that; they dont realise it until its gone.
Bridie knows full well that the local post office is an essential part of Irish life.
Post offices provide the community with a vital service that many people arent even aware of, she says.
The Government are aware of it now and theyve provided special funds to keep rural post offices open as there are still many people who arent computer-wise yet.
Its our job to help those people, which we do very willingly, especially in a small place like this where we get to know everybody.
Bridie gets support from many places.
I get an awful lot of support from people who have moved back here from places like England that have seen local post offices close and the effect that has on rural villages. They realise the seriousness of the closures.
Bridie has help come in on her half-day off in the week.
I only live a mile and a half out the Bantry road, says Bridie. I go home at lunch-time which is handy.
Bridie, four decades working in the post office, has no notion of retiring.
I have no plans whatsoever to retire, she declares.
There is never a day that I didnt want to go into work.
It is the biggest blessing. Im here so long now, I consider myself one of the oldies!
AN immediate priority for Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke is ensuring there will be enough hospital beds for patients to meet the growing demand every winter.
A huge aim for me would be to make sure that we plan properly for the winter months. I believe that we should enter into a contract in Cork where we should contract 100 beds in one of the private hospitals. I firmly believe that we need to block book 100 private hospital beds in Cork now.
We have challenges in healthcare, acknowledged Deputy Burke.
There are a number of issues. People are living longer, and a higher degree of care must be provided as we all get older. We need to ensure that the services and back up support are there. We are finding it very difficult to recruit people in relation to homecare because there is such a demand in all areas such as restaurants, factories, colleges, schools.
There are vacancies everywhere now. It is a demanding job. We need to look at how we encourage more people into it. If we dont have the people to provide homecare how are we going to deal with the greater demand for nursing home beds and do we have an adequate number? he added.
Colm Burke, Fine Gael TD
Speculation is already gathering as to a likely date for the next General Election which must be held before March 2025.
GENERAL ELECTION
Fianna Fail TD for Cork East James OConnor agreed that next year will be a big year in Irish politics with local elections and a European election scheduled to be held in June along with the possibility of a general election later in the year.
2024 will be a big year. It is the last full Dail term before the next election. The general election will either take place in next autumn or else in early in 2025. It is more than likely the next election will come in the autumn. It is going to be a very busy year.
Deputy OConnor who is currently the youngest TD in the Dail said he has been working at full capacity throughout the summer. This was the busiest summer I ever had in politics. Most public representatives would acknowledge that. We have been working at full capacity.
"School bus problems are huge and are affecting the entire county. This is something the Department of Education will have to give further consideration on."
He has a number of key priorities he wants to see progressed in the coming weeks and months.
James O'Connor, Fianna Fail TD. Picture: John Hennessy
The main things I want to get done is to see design consultants being appointed in Castlemartyr for the new road. I want to see a new secondary school construction happening in Youghal. I want to see that progressed. We also need to improve day care facilities for the elderly. We need to see more capacity on this.
Sinn Fein TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould said he will be a voice for Cork people.
'SOMEONE NEEDS TO FIGHT FOR CORK'
I am looking forward to the Dail resuming because it is vital that someone is up there fighting for Cork and raising important issues for Cork. I will be a voice. I will be in the Dail fighting and standing up for Cork people. Someone needs to be fighting for Cork, not just for the northside, but throughout the city, because the government ministers and TDs are not doing it, he said.
Deputy Gould and his party colleagues intend to prioritise issues such as housing and health in the coming weeks and months.
I will be raising issues in relation to the delivery of housing which remains a big issue. Housing maintenance is a big issue for council houses.
Thomas Gould, Sinn Fein TD
"We also have issues with the number of children with disabilities getting places, getting therapy, and getting transport to school. We are inundated with parents contacting us about having to fight to get school places."
Deputy Gould said: This government is not working, and people want change. People are really struggling. We are seeing huge issues with people struggling to pay their mortgage due to continuous mortgage interest rises, and people are struggling to pay rent.
"I think the Dail will run into late next year maybe after next years budget. We know the government TDs are not keen on having an election because a lot of them know they will not be re-elected. They will hang on as long as possible.
Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry promised to go in hard on topics such as the cost-of-living crisis and housing on the first day the Dail resumes.
Socialist Party TD Mick Barry.
On Wednesday I aim to go in hard in the tackle on the issues that most concern my constituents. These are the cost-of-living crisis and the housing super shambles. Im looking forward to a general election where Fianna Fail and Fine Gael can be shown the door. Im not hearing Sinn Fein ruling out deals with these parties and Id like to hear something on that.
More than 1 million on footpath claims has been paid out by Cork City Council over the past five years, according to correspondence received by a local representative under a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
The breakdown of figures shows that 773,462 was spent in payouts in 2019; 276,092 was spent in payouts in 2020; 61,313 was spent in payouts in 2021; 95 was spent in payouts in 2022; and there had been no payouts in 2023 as of March 15.
There were 70 claims registered in 2019; 64 claims registered in 2020; 53 claims registered in 2021; 39 claims registered in 2022 and five claims registered in 2023 as of March 15.
Labour Local Area Representative in Cork city Peter Horgan received the correspondence and said: "Over 1 million is a significant sum in anyone's books and underpins the need to ensure that all our footpaths are in a proper condition. It is noticeable the dropping amount of payout since 2020 but it is unclear whether this is from contested claims or footpath conditions.
Either way, we need to see footpaths around the city - old side and new side - funded under active travel to be repaired for all users. We especially need to see an accessibility audit undertaken on our footpaths. You have to view the city through more than one set of eyes.
Fianna Fail councillor Sean Martin echoed the call for more funding.
Myself and Terry Shannon have been looking for additional funding for the old footpaths," he said. At the moment, theres funding available for new footpaths but if were talking about sustainable travel, I would argue that more people walk on footpaths than cycle or anything else, thats the reality of our city. He described some of the footpaths as not fit for purpose and called for more money to be invested in the footpaths that are already in place and need upgrading.
There are places in the city where there are no footpaths.
"Two in my own ward where were looking at putting new footpaths and that's fine, but I think the older footpaths need an investment as well and we have looked for it and we are looking for it.
City Must Be Accessible
Mr Horgan said the city must be accessible for everyone, whether they have limited mobility, have young children and need to use a buggy or for any other reason.
You just have to look at the pedestrian crossing on Albert Road which is dropped on one side and has a huge kerb on the other. Has anyone from City Hall ever looked at this crossing and thought maybe we should fix this?, he said. You have areas where road resurfacing has been done and residents cannot open their cars because of the depth of the footpath to road ratio. That puts huge pressure on people on how they get in and out of their own cars. Mr Horgan also made fresh calls for what he described as a transparency overhaul for Cork city.
It would be good to see these figures published online more regularly for all to see and not need the FOI process to uncover them.
In 2019, I called for a transparency overhaul for Cork City whereby all spending fines etc would be published on the website, similar to what you see in South Bend, Indiana.
I still call for that transparency process to be looked at and examined. It would be a huge step forward.
An audit would identify what needs to be done rather than any piecemeal approach in the city and the wider suburbs.
Cork City Council said in the FOI correspondence that payment of compensation arises when the City Council incurs a legal liability for footpath defects giving rise to injury/loss where the Council is not in a position to offset liability to a third party or defend the accident loss.
Cork City Council has been contacted by The Echo for further comment.
MORE than 86,000 people have been recorded on hospital waiting lists in Cork as the Irish Hospital Consultants Association (IHCA) questions claims by the Department of Health that the Governments Waiting List Action Plan is running ahead of target.
A total of 86,424 patients, including children, are on waiting lists in Cork, according to National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) figures.
The 443m Waiting List Action Plan set a target to reduce waiting lists for outpatient appointments and inpatient and day case treatment by 10% (-69,000) by the end of the year, compared with the number waiting at the start of 2023.
The latest figures confirm that nationally almost 18,200 additional people have been added to these waiting lists, resulting in a shortfall of 63,700.
The IHCA said while the number of patients treated or removed from the waiting lists may be above target, additions to waiting lists in the same period have been much higher than projected.
Cork figures
The NTPF figures show there were 69,782 adult patients on waiting lists for outpatient appointments in Cork as of August 31. There were 1,068 adult patients awaiting outpatient appointments at Bantry General Hospital (BGH); 31,613 at Cork University Hospital (CUH); 2,690 at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH); 3,647 at Mallow General Hospital; 6,040 at the Mercy University Hospital (MUH); and 24,724 at South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH).
Children awaiting appointments
There were also a total of 8,976 children on outpatient waiting lists in Cork, including 5,473 at CUH; 43 at CUMH; 372 at Mallow General Hospital; 400 at MUH; and 2,688 at SIVUH.
The number of adults on inpatient waiting lists in Cork was 7,129 as of August 31. There were 176 adult patients awaiting inpatient treatment at Bantry General; 1,306 at CUH; 820 at CUMH; 288 at Mallow General Hospital; 949 at MUH; and 3,590 at SIVUH.
There were also a total of 537 children on inpatient waiting lists in Cork, including 236 awaiting inpatient treatment at CUH; 71 awaiting treatment at MUH; and 230 awaiting treatment at SIVUH.
IHCA president Robert Landers called on the Government to commit the estimated 4bn in capital funding in Octobers budget to build and open essential additional hospital beds, theatres, diagnostics, and other facilities announced by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly in order to cut waiting lists.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the Emergency Department Taskforce, which was attended by Mr Donnelly, took place yesterday. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation had called for the meeting following concerns about significant hospital overcrowding coupled with unmet recruitment and retention targets.
THREE men who appeared in court yesterday via video link from prison following last months seizure of over 4m worth of cocaine in Dunkettle were remanded in custody until October 2.
Sergeant Pat Lyons said directions were awaited from the DPP. Judge Olann Kelleher remanded all three accused in custody at Cork District Court.
Gentjan Dodaj, aged 39, and Donatel Dodaj, aged 22, who are brothers with an address at Paradise Rd, Athlone, Co Westmeath, were represented by solicitor Shane Collins-Daly. Daniel Afedoaei, of Sli an Aifreann in Athlone, who is also aged 22, was represented by barrister Cliodhna Buckley.
The three accused were told that if they succeeded in an appeal for bail at the High Court, having previously been refused at the District Court, then they would be required to appear in Cork District Court in person on October 3.
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.
The seizure 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 Revenue Customs Service. Revenue officers seized approximately 60kg of cocaine with an estimated value of 4.2m.
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A motorist deliberately drove his van at two security staff outside a premises in East Village in Douglas following an argument with them and now he has been jailed for five months.
43-year-old Colum Buckley of Rose Cottage, Pauds Cross, Blarney, County Cork, pleaded guilty to dangerous driving and related charges.
Judge Olann Kelleher said the defendant deliberately drove his van while drunk at two men and that this was not acceptable. The judge also remarked that the defendant's previous criminal record was so bad that he could not suspend the sentence in this case.
The judge sentenced him to five months for dangerous driving, a concurrent two months for threatening behaviour and fined him 200 for being so drunk that he was a danger to others.
Sergeant Pat Lyons said that on August 7 Garda Eoghain OCallaghan attended East Village, Douglas.
On arrival he observed Colum Buckley being restrained by two security personnel. Garda OCallaghan spoke to him and he immediately became aggressive and volatile towards gardai. He was unsteady on his feet and slurring his words.
Garda OCallaghan had to handcuff him due to his aggression and he was conveyed to Togher garda station.
A number of witnesses informed him that Colum Buckley had driven deliberately at them and tried to knock down two members of the public shortly before the arrival of gardai.
Earlier he was asked to leave after getting into an argument in the premises (with another customer). He remained outside and got in to an argument with the two men.
Having undertaken this manoeuvre (dangerous driving) he tried to drive away but they got him out of the van and held on to him (until gardai arrived), Sgt Lyons said.
Joseph Cuddigan solicitor said the accused had chronic alcohol difficulties and other addiction difficulties but had now faced up to those and was clear of intoxicants.
Founded in 2005 as an Ohio-based environmental newspaper, EcoWatch is a digital platform dedicated to publishing quality, science-based content on environmental issues, causes, and solutions.
Recent satellite data from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that Antarctic sea ice extent is far below any level ever recorded.
The continents sea ice is an important regulator of Earths temperature by not only lowering the temperature of the water below, but also reflecting the suns rays back into the atmosphere.
Its so far outside anything weve seen, its almost mind-blowing, Dr. Walter Meier, a sea ice monitor with the National Snow and Ice Data Center, told BBC News.
Right now Antarctic sea ice is less than 17 million square miles, which is 1.5 million square miles less than the average for September, much lower than the average record low for winter.
The missing ice is approximately five times as big as the British Isles.
Scientists believe the decrease in sea ice is primarily because of human-caused global heating from the burning of fossil fuels. Ocean currents, temperature and winds also affect sea ice extent.
The bottom line is that we dont know for sure [the cause] the Antarctic system is complex and poorly sampled, professor Martin Siegert, a University of Exeter glaciologist, told MailOnline. It would be good to have a definitive answer, but it doesnt actually matter that much. We certainly cant afford to assign it to variability as some excuse for not stopping fossil fuel burning that would be crazy.
Krill is a species largely depended on by other species, but according to environmental activists, the fast pace of warming in the region has changed the keystone species distribution.
Meier said the sea ice in the Antarctic may not significantly recover.
We can see how much more vulnerable it is, said Dr. Robbie Mallett, a sea ice researcher with the University of Manitobas Centre for Earth Observation Science, who is based on the Antarctic peninsula, as BBC News reported.
Sea ice forms from March to October, during the Antarctic winter, then melts during the summer months.
According to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, Antarctica and its ocean have been warming faster than the rest of the planet, with ice shelves melting six times as fast as in the 1980s.
Last years Antarctic heat wave caused temperatures to be 40 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
When I started studying the Antarctic 30 years ago, we never thought extreme weather events could happen there, Siegert said, as reported by BBC News.
A 2020 study published in Nature Climate Change found that land ice loss in Antarctica since the 1990s has contributed more than a quarter of an inch to sea-level rise. Just moderate sea-level rise can cause hazardous storm surges that have the potential to destroy communities along the coast.
Are we awakening this giant of Antarctica? Siegert asked, according to BBC News. If so, it would be an absolute disaster for the world.
US Midwest weather inhibits American soybean output - and to Brazil's benefit
A recent report by LMC International Ltd. shed light on the US soybean sector: the industry's total economic impact on the American economy averaged US$124 billion, including US$85.7 billion from soy production and US$9.8 billion from soybean processing in the crop years from 2019/20 to 2021/22.
This amount tallies what the president of the National Oilseed Processors Association (which commissioned the study) described as "substantial" economic contributions by the US soybean processing and refining sectors.
According to Meagan Kaiser, the chair of the United Soybean Board (another backer of the study), the report known as "The Economic Impact of the U.S. Soybeans & End Products on the U.S. Economy" "allows soy as an often invisible ingredient to become a visible contribution and sustainable solution for our future."
But, can the US produce enough soybeans to realise bountiful economic gains for the next crop season? This answer hinges on "weather-driven" markets for soybean and corn which "have rapidly fluctuated since early May amid weather concerns," S&P Global stated in a June 30 report.
"Both soybean and corn crops in the US for MY 2023-24 have been under dryness stress for the better part of May and June, leading to a notable decline in crop conditions, especially in the eastern Corn Belt," the report added.
In another report released on the same day, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) revealed that for marketing 2023-24 (September-August), estimates for soybean acreage were significantly lower from March. Referring to USDA data, S&P Global pointed out that "Soybeans planted area has been estimated 4.6% lower from the March report to 83.5 million acres, which is also 4.5% lower on the year."
By this month, the USDA has cut its forecast for US soybean production, yield and ending stocks this year in its September Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates reports. Soybean production was forecast at 4,146,036,000 bushels (112,836.65 tonnes), a 1% drop from 4,205,450,000 bushels (114,453.63 tonnes) forecast in August and down 0.7% from 4,276,123,000 bushels (116,377.04 tonnes) in 2022.
Weather looms as the chief factor. "We're seeing the effects of August weather reflected in these numbers, a smaller decline in corn than soybeans, but that's to be expected," said Bill Lapp, founder and president of Advanced Economic Solutions. Indeed, as a recent Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network pointed out most soybean crops are still in the critical pod-setting phase that depends on August moisture. Stubbornly dry conditions are hindering yield and raising concerns about the availability of supplies.
"Corn is more of a July crop, soybeans more an August crop in terms of when crops can be most adversely impacted by disadvantageous climatological conditions," Lapp added.
However, while the USDA previously revealed concerning marketing 2023-24 (September-August) much lower estimates for soybean acreage from March in late June, it looks like more soybean acres were planted this year "than previously thought," he noted.
Other than weather, man-made events can potentially put a damper on the US soybean market. Such a case was a September 10 fire and explosion incident at an Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) facility in Decatur, Illinois, which has seriously curtailed crop processing operations, including corn and soybeans.
The extended downtime of the plant could exert downward pressure on crop prices, Reuters reported. This development arrived at a juncture when US Midwest farmers were preparing to harvest corn and soybeans. Falling export demand has only exacerbated a situation of lower US crop prices.
On the flipside, soybeans in the Midwest could risk a sharp spike in prices if the weather has its way. "If hot and dry conditions continue in the Midwest and yield loss for soybeans increases, the US soybean supply will tighten further," Tanner Ehmke, lead grains and oilseeds economist for CoBank, told the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network. "That will result in stronger interior cash basis and lower exports."
The trouble for Midwest soybean only seems to grow as heat and dryness humbled yield estimates, which plunged 3.7% from May estimates to 49.1 bushels/acre by September, based on USDA data.
Despite the tremendous economic value of soybean as boasted by the LMC International report, the reality is that US soybean output has stagnated "over the last 10 years averaging 113 million (tonnes) owing to limited acreage expansion and mostly unfavourable weather conditions," S&P Global stated.
Meanwhile, "The US' loss is Brazil's gain," remarked Peter Meyer, S&P Global's crops and feedstocks economist. In terms of soybean output, Brazil has managed to overtake the US in the past decade.
The USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service foresaw the South American nation's soybean exports to experience continuing strong growth next year.
"While in MY 2014-15, Brazil's soybean production was seen at 97.1 million (tonnes) on an area of 79 million acres, it is forecast to jump 68% from then, to 163 million (tonnes) in MY 2023-24 on 112.7 million acreage," S&P Global said, citing USDA data.
- Terry Tan, eFeedLink
Potential government action threatens to scale down salmon industry in Tasmania, Australia
The salmon farming trade of Tasmania, Australia, is under threat following a debate in Australia's federal parliament over the $1.3 billion industry.
The state's largest aquaculture export is at the centre of Australia's seafood market, with salmon lovers across the country relying on Tasmania as their primary source for the fish.
However, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee recently warned endangered species, like the Maugean Skate, will go extinct unless salmon farm impacts are reduced in the Macquarie Harbour.
In the wake of the advice, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek announced $2.1 million captive breeding programme amid pressure for her to reconsider 2012's federal approval for salmon farming in the harbour.
There are now growing fears thousands of workers could lose their job if the government decides to wind back the industry, with nine out of 10 jobs based in regional areas.
Shadow environment minister Jonathan Duniam - who is from Tasmania - said he's "very concerned" Plibersek is only focusing on the environment rather than the economy and people's jobs.
"We should protect our fragile environment... but at the same time, as our economy starts to slow, as the cost of living becomes harder, and people's jobs become more uncertain... she has to take into account the economic fallout of any decision she makes for environmental considerations," he told SkyNews.com.au. "With Macquarie Harbour, Im very concerned about where the government is heading in relation to that.
"If that industry shuts down that rips the heart out of that economy, and it will never come back.
Duniam has called on Plibersek to "back in the science" and work with the industry to support the thousands of jobs in Tasmania.
Salmon Tasmania chief executive officer Luke Martin welcomed the $2.1 billion captive breeding programme from the federal government but reiterated more work needs to be done to protect both the industry and environment.
The salmon industry equates to about one in five jobs on the west coast of Tasmania, and in the town of Strahan where just 700 people live, 120 of them work in the aquaculture sector.
Plibersek responded to these concerns through a statement, placing responsibility on the Tasmanian government.
"The Tasmanian Government has primary responsibility for managing aquaculture and river flows," a spokesperson for Plibersek told SkyNews.com.au. "We will work sensibly with the Tasmanian Government and the salmon industry to get a good outcome."
- Sky News
B.S., Biology, University of Missouri in Columbia
How much do you know about endangered species? Test your knowledge with this quiz. Answers can be found at the bottom of the page.
1. An endangered species is _____________ that will become extinct if its populations continue to decline.
a. any species of animal
b. any species of plant
c. any species of animal, plant, or other living organism
d. none of the above
2. What percentage of the species listed as endangered or threatened by extinction have been saved by conservation initiatives resulting from the Endangered Species Act?
a. 100%
b. 99%
c. 65.2%
d. 25%
3. In what ways do zoos help endangered animals?
a. They educate people about endangered animals.
b. Zoo scientists study endangered animals.
c. They establish captive breeding programs for endangered species.
d. All of the above
4. Due to the success of recovery efforts under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, what animal is being taken off the endangered species list in the United States in 2013?
a. gray wolf
b. bald eagle
c. black-footed ferret
d. raccoon
5. In what ways do people try to save rhinos?
a. fencing rhinos into protected areas
b. cutting off their horns
c. providing armed guards to ward off poachers
d. all of the above
6. In what U.S. state are half of the world's bald eagles found?
a. Alaska
b. Texas
c. California
d. Wisconsin
7. Why are rhinos poached?
a. for their eyes
b. for their nails
c. for their horns
d. for their hair
8. What did whooping cranes follow from Wisconsin to Florida in a simulated migration?
a. an octopus
b. a boat
c. a plane
d. a bus
9. Just one plant may provide food and/or shelter to more than how many species of animals?
a. 30 species
b. 1 species
c. 10 species
d. none
10. What once-endangered animal is the national symbol of the United States?
a. grizzly bear
b. Florida panther
c. bald eagle
d. timber wolf
11. What are the greatest threats facing endangered species?
a. habitat destruction
b. illegal hunting
c. introducing new species that can cause problems
d. all of the above
12. How many species have disappeared in the last 500 years?
a. 3,200
b. 1,250
c. 816
d. 362
13. The Sumatran Rhino's total population is estimated at:
a. under 80
b. 250-400
c. 6001,000
d. 2,5003,000
14. As of October 2000, how many plants and animals in the United States were listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act?
a. 1,623
b. 852
c. 1,792
d. 1,025
15. All of the following species have gone extinct except the:
a. California condor
b. dusky seaside sparrow
c. dodo
d. passenger pigeon
16. How can you help protect endangered animals from extinction?
a. reduce, recycle, and reuse
b. protect natural habitats
c. landscape with native plants
d. all of the above
17. Which member of the cat family is endangered?
a. the bobcat
b. the Siberian tiger
c. the domestic tabby
d. the North American cougar
18. The Endangered Species Act was created to ___________?
a. make people like animals
b. make animals easier to hunt
c. protect plants and animals that are at risk of becoming extinct
d. none of the above
19. Of the 44,838 species that have been studied by scientists, about what percentage is threatened with extinction?
a. 38%
b. 89%
c. 2%
d. 15%
20. Nearly ________ percent of mammal species are globally threatened with extinction?
a. 25
b. 3
c. 65
d. none of the above
Answers:
Manger is a regular French -er verb, but it is also a spelling-change verb. This means that it takes all the regular -er endings, but a small spelling change is made to the stem for consistency of pronunciation. The stem: the infinitive mangerminus the -er ending, which leaves the stem mang-. All endings are added to this stem.
Spelling-Change Verb
Here's how the spelling change works: Verbs like manger that end in -ger change spelling slightly before endings that begin with the hard vowels a or o. Because g followed by a or o makes a hard g sound (as in gold), an e has to be added after g to keep a soft g (like the j in je). In short, wherever the g is not followed by an e, an e must be inserted so that the g remains soft throughout the conjugations.
For example, in the present tense and the imperative, this g-to-ge spelling change is found only in the nous conjugation: mangeons. It is needed for the present participle, mangeant, but not for the past participle, mange.
It occurs in the following tenses/moods:
Imperfect: singular conjugations plus the third person plural
Passe simple: all conjugations except the third person plural
Imperfect subjunctive: all conjugations
There is no spelling change in the conditional, future or subjunctive. The table below summarizes the spelling change conjugations. You might want to take a look at manger conjugated in all tenses to get the full picture of how often an e is needed after each g.
Use and Expressions of Manger
The food-conscious French have plenty of expressions using manger. Note that in familiar, everyday language, people frequently use the synonym bouffer, another regular -erverb that means "to eat," as in On a bien bouffe. ("The food was great." / "We ate well.") Here are a few expressions with manger:
Elle mange de tout: She eats everything
On en mangerait: It looks good enough to eat (Notice how much meaning was conveyed here by the simple use of the conditional)
manger de la vache enragee: to have a hard time of it
Il a mange du lion aujourd'hui: He's full of beans today
Il ne mange pas de ce pain-la: That's not his cup of tea
Elle est mignonne. On le mangerait! She's so cute; I could eat her up!
On peut toujours essayer; ca ne mange pas de pain: We can always try; it won't cost us anything
manger a sa faim: to eat one's fill
Je veux a manger: I want something to eat
As-tu eu assez a manger? Did you get enough to eat?
Que veux-tu que je fasse a manger ce soir? What would you like me to cook / make for dinner tonight?
Conjugations of Manger
Present Future Imperfect Present participle je mange mangerai mangeais mangeant tu manges mangeras mangeais il mange mangera mangeait nous mangeons mangerons mangions vous mangez mangerez mangiez ils mangent mangeront mangeaient
Passe compose Auxiliary verb avoir Past participle mange
Subjunctive Conditional Passe simple Imperfect subjunctive je mange mangerais mangeai mangeasse tu manges mangerais mangeas mangeasses il mange mangerait mangea mangeat nous mangions mangerions mangeames mangeassions vous mangiez mangeriez mangeates mangeassiez ils mangent mangeraient mangerent mangeassent
Imperative (tu) mange (nous) mangeons (vous) mangez
Other Verbs Ending in '-ger'
All verbs that end in -ger undergo this spelling change, including:
Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Thursday noon to pay a state visit to Denmark and attend the 7th leaders summit of Group of 20 in Los Cabos,365 betting tips premium apk Mexico.
Hus tour was invited by Denmarks Queen Margrethe II and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, respectively.
Hus entourage includes his wife Liu Yongqing, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, Ling Jihua, member of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and director of the General Office of CPC Central Committee, Wang Huning, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and director of the Policy Research Office of the CPC Central Committee, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Zhang Ping, Finance Minister Xie Xuren, Commerce Minister Chen Deming, Peoples Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai and Song Tao, and director of the Presidents Office Chen Shiju.
Xinhua
President Hu Jintao leaves Beijing to visit Denmark, attend G20 summitadded by chinatimesonline on
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Theall jackpots casino nzy say poker is a game of skill. As they do blackjack. And even roulette to an extent. But slots? Well thats a game you just put a nickel in, pull the one-armed bandit and hope youre greeted with three lemons right?
Well, not quite. In fact, the gaming control board in Nevada are actually working on rules to introduce elements of skill into the Strips vast amount of slot machines, in a bid to offer something different and introduce an arcade-style element to the bright lights of the worlds biggest casinos.
It could be revolutionary for the Strip, which has seen a downturn in revenue over the last few years, and is in desperate need for a shake-up. In the first five months of the year, the Strip has been down 3.25%, and has been a growing trend with the rise of the online industry.
Online poker has become huge over the last few years with the rise of technology, enabling users to play on mobile or desktop, whilst online slots are also having a similar effect, replicating those of Las Vegas toe-to-toe with the likes of Kitty Cabana, a cat themed slot game, even offering fun themes just as you would find in the likes of the Luxor or Excalibur.
The decision to implement skill is hoped that the new slots will counteract this and bring in a new generation of gamers.
Chairman of the Gaming Control Board, A.G. Burnett said, Really, what we are looking at is attempting to steer the state onto a new path, onto a new road, in terms of gaming.
The idea is that it will attract a younger audience who have been brought up on console games, with the skill elements appealing to the Xbox and PlayStation gamers of this world.
That could mean that gamblers could be paid out for scoring a goal, or blasting a UFO in outer space. Anything which you might necessarily find on a console.
Marcus Prater, executive director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers said, Its certainly not your fathers one armed bandit anymore.
Thats certainly for sure. The next generation of gamers arent necessarily going to be standing still playing traditional slots, they can now do that at home, so by Las Vegas offering something different, it could see waves of new revellers arrive for the new attractions.
Of course if that pays off for the Nevada gambling haven, other states will surely follow. The increasingly dwindling Atlantic City will no doubt become an adopter, whilst the likes of Macau, Vegas eastern twin could also welcome the machines.
It marks a new wave of gaming, and is certainly a huge move away from traditional gaming. Of course that was bound to happen. Were more technological than ever before, playing slot games on our phones, tablets, and desktops. This will undoubtedly reinvigorate land-based slot machines, but will skill games be harder than a simple game of chance?
Category: Casino Blog
Definition of Comparatives
Every day,exclusive casino no deposit bonus free chip people compare things, places, and people. They compare things and objects using specific words such as than, more, or less, etc. This comparison is called comparative form. In grammar, a comparative is an adjective or adverb form used to make a comparison between two nouns, such as people, places, or things, to describe actions (verbs), or the words describing verbs (other adverbs).
For instance, in the excerpt Take some more tea, the March Hare said to Alice, very earnestly. Ive had nothing yet, Alice replied in an offended tone, so I cant take more . You mean you cant take less , said the Hatter: its very easy to take more than nothing. (Alices Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll) See that all underlined words in the above lines are comparatives.
Characteristics of Comparatives
One Syllable Comparatives/Adjectives
One syllable comparatives are made by adding -er to the base form of the adjective, or one-syllable adverb. For instance: This dress is brighter than that dress. They may reach higher than us. Two Syllables Comparatives/Adjectives
Two syllables comparatives/adjectives are made by replacing -y with -ier, if the base form of a two-syllable comparative ends in-y. For instance: She is funnier than you. Two, three, or more Syllables Comparatives/Adjectives
These comparatives are made by adding more or less before three-syllable adjectives, or adverbs ending in -ly. For instance: This book is more expensive than that book. He plays more beautifully now that he is grown.
Common Use of Comparatives
This house is better than that one. They are looking happier Today the shops are more crowded than yesterday. English lessons are more enjoyable than mathematics lessons. She is taller than her sister.
Examples of Comparatives in Literature
Example #1: Right Ho, Jeeves(By P.G. Wodehouse)
He had been looking like a dead fish. He now looked like a deader fish, one of last years, cast up on some lonely beach and left there at the mercy of the wind and tides.
In this example, the comparative is shown underlined as deader. This presents a single syllable adjective or comparative, to which -er has been added at the end.
Example #2: Ill Mature When Im Dead(by Dave Barry)
[W]e did learn some important life lessons from sports. I learned, for example, that even though I was not as big, or fast, or strong, or coordinated as the other kids, if I worked really hardif I gave 100 percent and never quitI would still be smaller , slower , weaker , and less coordinated than the other kids.
This is another good instance of single syllable and two or more syllable comparatives. The single syllable adjectives are small, slow, and weak. The example of a two or more syllable comparative is less coordinated.
Example #3: Lost Worlds(by Michael Bywater)
Keg beer poured at random, got everywhere, and always ran out. But in its benign gleam, the music sounded better , the lights were softer , the girls more beautiful and potentially yielding, oneself manlier , ones friends friendlier , the night darker , the stars brighter , the moon fuller, the air warmer, the hour later, the future brighter, the present aching with that particular adolescent promise which does not need to be fulfilled to make it miraculous.
This excerpt presents an excellent example of all types of comparatives, the single-syllable comparatives include better, softer, darker, brighter, fuller, warmer, and later. The two-syllable comparatives are manlier and friendlier. Two or more than two syllables comparative include more beautiful.
Example #4: The Sacred and Profane Love Machine(by Iris Murdoch)
After a second of shock he had recognized Edgar Demarnay. They had not met for several years. An Edgar grown fatter and grosser and older , but Edgar still, with his big pink boys face and his fat lips and his copious short fluffy hair now pale grey instead of pale gold.
There are three comparatives in this example: fatter, grosser, and older. Through the given comparatives, the author has described the physical features of a character, Edgar.
Function of Comparatives
The basic function of comparatives is to a make comparison between two people or things. They help define and describe people, things, and actions. By comparing two things, in fact, comparatives highlight the good or bad qualities of the two things being compared, and let the audience see it. Also, they give a better understanding of the things and people.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao is games to win real money no depositto attend the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio De Janeiro, and pay official visits to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile from June 20 to 26, it was announced on Saturday.
During the conference, Wen will deliver a speech to elaborate on Chinas policies in sustainable development, and call on the international community to enhance cooperation. And he will meet with leaders attending the conference to exchange views, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
While on the Latin America tour, Wen will meet with leaders of the four nations to exchange views on bilateral ties as well as regional and international affairs of common concern.
He will also deliver a speech in Chile at the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Liu said Wens visits will further deepen relations between China and the four countries, and reinforce partnerships between China and Latin America.
Wen was invited to make the visits by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Uruguayan President Jose Mujica, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera.
Xinhua
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He says this will provide key support for greater sci-tech self-reliance, strength As international competition increases for cutting-edge technologies and talented people, and particularly amid some countries' attempts in recent years to suppress China's development, the Chinese leadership has emphasized building the country into a leader in education, which in turn will contribute to a stronger nation. President Xi Jinping, who attaches great importance to the country's progress in the sectors of education, science and technology, and human resources development, has pointed out that making the nation a leader in education will serve as a strategic precursor to building a great modern socialist country in all respects. "Building a leading country in education is an important support for achieving greater self-reliance and strength in science and technology, an effective approach to promoting common prosperity for all, and a fundamental project to advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization," he said. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on May 29. The speech that Xi gave at the group study session was published on Saturday in the 18th issue of Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee. Xi's remarks on education came as the world is undergoing a new round of technological evolution and industrial transformation. Against such a backdrop, China is facing increasing challenges arising from geopolitical competition and attempts by United States-led Western countries to suppress and blockade its economic and technological progress. On many occasions, including his inspection tours nationwide, Xi has highlighted the importance of seeking scientific and technological independence and strength in advancing the nation's modernization drive in all respects. In a reply letter sent on Friday to the faculty and students at Northeastern University in Shenyang, Liaoning province, which celebrated its 100th anniversary on Saturday, Xi expressed the hope that the university could cultivate more high-caliber talent based on the country's strategic needs, expand its leading edge in strong disciplines, and continue to produce high-level scientific research results. In the speech published on Saturday by Qiushi Journal, Xi explained how China will make itself a leader in education. "Only when basic education enjoys sound development, can we make steady progress in building up our country's strength in education and sustaining its momentum," Xi said. He emphasized that higher education is the key to China's becoming a leading nation in the field of education. "Priority must be given to the building of world-class universities and superior disciplines, and the development of basic, emerging and interdisciplinary subjects must be strengthened." "Education in science and technology and engineering should be furthered. Greater efforts should be made to nurture China's top-notch and innovative talent on our own to provide support for achieving breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields," Xi said. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CPC Central Committee has considered education to be of great significance to the future of the country and the Party. It also has made important decisions to accelerate the modernization of education and develop the country as a leader in this regard. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, released an education modernization plan in February 2019, outlining blueprints for the sector's modernization and development by 2035, the year by which the country is determined to basically achieve socialist modernization and become an education powerhouse. Yu Yongyue, a professor at Wuhan University's School of Marxism, said that to accelerate the development of China as a leading country in education, the focus should be fixed on the process of the nation's modernization drive. "We need to comprehensively consider the challenges and opportunities brought by the world's major development, transformation and adjustment to the nation's modernization in the education sector, while aligning with national strategies of building a technology powerhouse, developing a quality workforce in the new era and promoting rural vitalization," Yu said. China has established the largest education system in the world and joined the ranks of upper- to middle-level countries in terms of the overall level of modernization in education. China ranks 23rd in a global education index, up 26 spots from 2012, with the fastest progress in the world.
The implementation of the controversialPoint of Consumption Taxmade all UK-based gambling operators think of an approach for resisting the increased taxes and remaining competitive on the gambling market.
The above-mentioned taxation method has been a subject of a lot of debates and regardless of operators resentment, it was implemented anyway.
Warwick Bartlett, the CEO of Global Betting & Gaming Consultants, made an attempt for clarifying which are the positive and negative effects of the widely disputed Point of Consumption Tax.
According to Mr. Bartlet, the current situation indicates that the rates are likely to increase instead of decrease.
The implementation of the Point of Consumption Tax made it obligatory for operators to obtain a UK gambling license, which, to a certain extent, makes them forget that the gambling industry is not concentrated solely in the United Kingdom and there are many untapped markets that can become a source of decent revenues.
What made operators particularly discontent was the fact that the UK government has become really creative when it comes to taxation. Market analysts suspected that UK officials wanted to impose regulations as stern as those in China, Brazil or Russia.
Once obtaining a UK license, gambling operators realize that entering foreign markets would not be really profitable since repatriating profits can be a really challenging mission.
Obviously, UK businesses have learned invaluable lessons over the years and instead of following the example of other countries that are currently changing the outdated gambling rules and regulations. The government of the United Kingdom opted for restriction of offshore financial centers.
What is more, Mr. Bartlett said that given the circumstances, new amendments are expected and taxes will be increased. Actually, Ed Miliband, the leader of the Labour opposition said that if he had the power, he would immediately introduce a black list containing all those offshore financial centers with the aim of ensuring the necessary transparency.
As for the expected changes in the tax rates UK-based operators will be supposed to pay, it is likely for the government to follow the example of Japan.
The Japanese government has adopted an innovative approach with the aim of keeping the taxpayers and prevent them from establishing headquarters in the neighboring countries where taxes are significantly lower.
Mr. Bartlett is absolutely convinced that the new government of the United Kingdom will have no hesitations in increasing the current taxes.
As a matter of fact, more and more countries are increasing the gambling-related taxes. But the curious thing is that all those countries which have increased the taxation were famous for already making their operators pay considerably high taxes. Nevertheless, those that dared to put forward theidea for implementing a tax on players winningsare few.
What Is Money Management?the king slots
Money management refers to the processes of budgeting, saving, investing, spending, or otherwise overseeing the capital usage of an individual or group. The term can also refer more narrowly to investment management and portfolio management.
The predominant use of the phrase in financial markets is that of an investment professional making investment decisions for large pools of funds, such as mutual funds or pension plans.
Key Takeaways
Money management broadly refers to the processes utilized to record and administer an individual's, household's, or organization's finances.
Financial advisors and personal finance platforms such as mobile apps are increasingly common in helping individuals manage their money better.
Poor money management can lead to cycles of debt and financial strain.
Understanding Money Management
Money management is a broad term that involves and incorporates services and solutions across the entire investment industry.
In the market, consumers have access to a wide range of resources and applications that allow them to individually manage nearly every aspect of their personal finances. As investors increase their net worth, they also often seek the services of financial advisors for professional money management. Financial advisors are typically associated with private banking and brokerage services, offering support for holistic money management plans that can involve estate planning, retirement, and more.
In the growing financial technology market, personal finance apps exist to help consumers with nearly every aspect of their finances.
Investment company money management is also a central aspect of the investment industry. Investment company money management offers individual consumers investment fund options that encompass all investable asset classes in the financial market.
Investment company money managers also support the capital management of institutional clients, with investment solutions for institutional retirement plans, endowments, foundations, and more.
Top Money Managers by Assets
Global investment managers offer retail and institutional investment management funds and services that encompass every investment asset class in the industry. Two of the most popular types of funds include actively managed funds and passively managed funds, which replicate specified indexes with low management fees.
The list below shows the top 5 global money managers by assets under management (AUM) as of Q1 2021:
BlackRock Inc.
In 1988, BlackRock Inc. was launched as a $1 division of the BlackRock Group. By the end of 1993, it boasted $17 billion in AUM, and, by 2020, that number swelled to a whopping $8.68 trillion. BlackRock's exchange-traded fund (ETF) division, called iShares, has more than $2 trillion in AUM globally, amounting to roughly a quarter of the group's total assets. Overall, the firm employs approximately 13,000 professionals and maintains offices in more than 30 countries around the world.
The Vanguard Group
The Vanguard Group is one of the most well-known investment management companies, catering to over 30 million clients across 170 countries. Vanguard was founded by John C. Bogle in 1975, in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, as a division of Wellington Management Company, where Bogle was previously chair. Since its launch, Vanguard has grown its total assets to beyond $7 trillion, becoming the world's second-largest asset manager thanks to the popularity of its low-cost investment funds.
Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Management & Research Company was founded in 1946 by Edward C. Johnson II. As of Dec. 2020, Fidelity had more than 35 million customers with $9.8 trillion in total assets and $4.9 trillion in AUM. The firm offers hundreds of mutual funds, including domestic equity, foreign equity, sector-specific, fixed-income, index, money market, and asset allocation funds.
PIMCO
Global asset management firm Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO) was co-founded in 1971, in Newport Beach, California, by bond king Bill Gross. Since its inception, PIMCO has grown its AUM to $2.21 trillion. The firm houses over 775 investment professionals, each averaging 14 years of investment experience. With over 100 funds under its banner, PIMCO is widely regarded as a leader in the fixed income sector.
Invesco Ltd.
Invesco Ltd. has been offering investment management services since 1978. In February of 2021, the firm announced that it had $1.35 trillion in AUM, across its 100-plus mutual fund products. Invesco also offers over 100 ETFs through its Invesco Capital Management LLC division.
If youve ever let unworn clothes clutter your closet just because they were expensive,free real money no deposit bonus casinos or followed through on plans you were dreading because you already bought tickets, youre familiar with the sunk cost fallacy.
The sunk cost effect is the general tendency for people to continue an endeavor, or continue consuming or pursuing an option, if theyve invested time or money or some resource in it, says Christopher Olivola, an assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellons Tepper School of Business and the author of a 2018 paper on the topic published in the journal Psychological Science. That effect becomes a fallacy if its pushing you to do things that are making you unhappy or worse off.
This idea often applies to money, but invested time, energy or pain can also influence behavior. Romantic relationships are a classic one, Olivola says. The longer youve been together, the harder it is to break up.
Humans get caught in this psychological trap for several possible reasons, Olivola says. Sticking with the plan, even when it no longer serves you, could be an attempt to correct cognitive dissonance: the mental disconnect between paying for something and not getting the expected return on investment. It could also be a knee-jerk reaction to regret. Or, Olivola says, it could be an attempt to convince others, and ourselves, that were not wasteful.
All of these things are irrational, in the sense that you should realize the money is gone, Olivola says. But I do think people do these things because they want to convince themselves that theyve managed to recapture the loss.
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You still feel the guilt of wasting money even when its not your own. Olivolas paper found that we feel that need to honor other peoples sunk cost in the same way that you feel the need to honor your own even if the person who paid the cost isnt a close friend or family member. If you got sick on the day of a concert, Olivolas research suggests youd be just as likely to force yourself to go if a coworker gifted you pricey tickets as if you had bought them yourself.
To reach that finding, Olivola designed a series of experiments constructed to measure the extent to which the sunk cost effect would sway people to make hypothetical decisions. Nearly across the board, the results affirmed the existence and strength of the phenomenon, both as it applies to individuals and others.
In one scenario, people were asked to imagine that they were accidentally scheduled to take two trips one to Montreal, and one to Cancun during the same weekend, forcing them to choose one. When they were told one flight cost $200 and the other cost $800, people were significantly more likely to opt for the pricey trip even if they would have preferred the cheaper destination. This effect held true whether people imagined that they had booked the flights, or that friends had given them the tickets as gifts.
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Other experiments further illustrated how the sunk cost fallacy applies to others. Participants were asked to imagine that they felt full after eating a few bites of rich cake at a potluck party. Some were told the cake had been purchased from a local bakery on sale, while others were told the cake was expensive and had come from a shop almost an hour away. Depending on the scenario, participants were asked to imagine that they had bought the cake themselves, or that someone else had purchased it. They were then asked whether theyd finish the cake, despite feeling full. Regardless of who had bought the cake friends, strangers or the participants themselves people were far more likely to say theyd keep eating the expensive cake, according to the study.
Olivola says its not totally clear why we feel so compelled to honor others investments about as much as we honor our own, even when they work against us. But people should try to overcome both versions of the sunk cost fallacy, he says.
Whats done is done, Olivola says. Theres nothing you can do to regain money thats lost and pursuing something that makes you unhappy not only isnt going to get your money back, but its also going to make you worse off. Youre just digging a deeper hole.
English, like all languages, contain homophones, or words that sound alike, but dont have the same meaning. Two such words, bail and bale, can be potentially disastrous if misused.
For example, if you ask someone to bale you out of a situation and he or she takes you literally, you may find yourself in the back of a truck, packed into a tight bundle, and tied securely with twine.
In order to avoid embarrassing predicaments like the one above, continue reading for an explanation of the differences between homophones bail and bale.
What is the Difference Between Bail and Bale?
In this article, I will compare bail vs. bale. I will use each word in an example sentence, so you can see them in the proper context.
I will also explain a mnemonic device that you can use to help you remember when to choose bail or bale in your own writing.
When to Use Bail
What does bail mean? Bail can be a verb or a noun.
As a verb, bailmeans to remove waterby using a bucket. It can also be used less literally, as in the phrase bail [someone or something] out, meaning to give aid in a difficult situation.
For example,
Jon, help me bail out the canoe, before we sink.
I dont know the answer to this question, can someone from H.R. bail me out? Sheila said on the conference call.
Creditors have pumped in billions of dollars to bail out STX Offshore, which logged a 314 billion won ($265.6 million) operating loss last year, following a 1.5 trillion won loss in 2014. The company owes financial institutions nearly six trillion won. The Wall Street Journal
As a noun, bailmeans the temporary release of a prisoner.
For example,
The judge set the bail impossibly high.
Much to the chagrin of the populace, the accused criminal was released on bail.
When to Use Bale
What does bale mean? Bale can also be used as a verb or a noun.
As a verb,balemeans to pack something into tight bundles.
For example,
Today, specialized machines bale things like hay, cotton, and paper.
The hay baler baled 99 bales of hay, then blew a gasket.
As a noun, bale refers to the tight packages of material that are the end product of the above process.
For example,
Pa ordered 100 bales of hay, and ordered me to toss them into the loft.
A bale of cotton fell from the truck and onto the highway.
On Bovina Farm Day, where the photo of the children on the hay bales was taken, everyone came out and mingled. The New York Times
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is helpful trick to remember balevs. bail.
Both words are homophones, and each can be used as a noun or a verb. Since in its verb form, bail refers to removing water with a bucket, or pail, you can use the similar spellings of bail and pail to remember where to use this word.
You use a pailto bailout your boat.
Summary
Is it bail or bale? The homophones bail and bale are sometimes used as nouns, and sometimes used as verbs.
Bail is a way to remove water from an area, and also the temporary release of a prisoner.
Bale refers to both the process of packaging material into tight bundles, as well as the end product of this action.
Since bail and pail are spelled nearly the same, you can remember that a pail is often the best way to bail out something that is in danger of sinking.
Next time you are stuck in a challenging situation involving English, remember to bail yourself out of trouble by checking this site.
Hyphens are a tricky bit of English grammar. Some phrases are hyphenated sometimes but not others, and hyphens are often confused with another thorn in grammarians sides, the dash.
The hyphen that makes the difference between follow-up and follow up is one such source of confusion. The phrase is correct both with and without, but when should you use each?
Continue reading to find out.
What is the Difference Between Follow Up and Follow-Up?
In this article, I will compare follow up vs follow-up. I will use each of these variants in an example sentence, so you can see them in context. I will also show you a helpful mnemonic that you can use to remember whether you need follow up or follow-up.
When to Use Follow Up
What does follow up mean? The unhyphenated follow up functions as a verb, where it means to pursue or to check.
I have included a few examples here,
Please follow up with the county to make sure our funding is in place.
The private detective will follow up on these leads and find more clues.
I should follow up on my package, to see if it has been delivered yet.
Joliet will hire an animal compliance coordinator to follow up on dog attacks and other pet disturbances in the city. The Herald News
When to Use Follow-up
What does follow-up mean? Follow-up is the noun version of this phrase, meaning a review or continuation. It can also be used as an adjective to describe such an event.
Here are some examples,
The follow-up for the safety audit has been pushed back another week, and we are now out of compliance with state regulations. (Noun)
Marta, schedule a follow-up meeting with the interns to review company dress code. (Adjective)
Timothy sent a follow-up email on Monday, but our delegate never responded. (Adjective)
In a follow-up tweet to his insulting missive Tuesday, Knicks president Phil Jackson indicated Thursday the original was misunderstood and pleaded for an end to discord by invoking the Beatles peace song Let it Be. New York Post (Adjective)
Occasionally, you will see follow-up spelled as a single word, forming followup. This spelling variant is not accepted in formal English, but it has risen slightly in general use.
In this chart, I have isolated the use of follow-up and followup as adjectives. It is not scientific or precise, but it shows that follow-up is much more widely used.
As you can see, it still pales in comparison to follow-up, so its best to avoid it in your writing.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is a helpful trick to remember follow-upvs. follow up.
These words are different parts of speech, so your choice depends on how you use each phrase in a sentence. If you are using the term as a verb, separate it into two words. For an adjective or a noun, hyphenate them to form follow-up. The single-word followupis not currently an accepted variant.
In English, when two or more words form a single idea and work together to modify a noun, they are called hyphenated adjectives. Since follow-up is hyphenated, like state-of-the-art and second-to-last, remembering to use it as an adjective should be simple.
Summary
Is it follow up or follow-up? Follow up is a verb phrase that means to pursue or to checkonsomething. Follow-up is a noun or an adjective that refers to a continuation or review.
Follow upis a verb.
Follow-upis a noun or an adjective.
Follow-up is a hyphenated adjective, so you can use its hyphen as a reminder not to use it as a verb.
Be sure to check this site for all of your confusing grammar and writing-related needs.
What Is a Hybrid Fund?bookie bet australia pty ltd
A hybrid fund is an investment fund that is characterized by diversification among two or more asset classes. These funds typically invest in a mix of stocks and bonds. They may also be known as asset allocation funds.
Key Takeaways
A hybrid fund is a classification of a mutual fund or ETF that invests in different types of assets or asset classes to produce a diversified portfolio.
Balanced funds, which hold typically 60% stocks and 40% bonds are a common example of a hybrid fund.
Blended funds, which mix growth and value stocks, are another hybrid fund example.
Understanding Hybrid Funds
Hybrid funds offer investors a diversified portfolio. The term hybrid indicates that the fund strategy includes investment in multiple asset classes. In general, it can also mean that the fund uses an alternative mixed management approach.
Hybrid funds are commonly known as asset allocation funds. In the investment market, asset allocation funds can be used for many purposes. These funds offer investors an option for investing in multiple asset classes through a single fund.
Hybrid funds evolved from the implementation of modern portfolio theory in fund management. These funds can offer varying levels of risk tolerance ranging from conservative to moderate and aggressive.
Balanced funds are also a type of hybrid fund. Balanced funds often follow a standard asset allocation proportion, such as 60/40.
are also a type of hybrid fund. Balanced funds often follow a standard asset allocation proportion, such as 60/40. Target date funds or lifecycle funds also fit into the hybrid category. These funds invest in multiple asset classes for diversification. Target date funds vary from standard hybrid funds in that their portfolio portions begin with a more aggressive allocation and progressively rebalance to a more conservative allocation for use by a specified utilization date.
or lifecycle funds also fit into the hybrid category. These funds invest in multiple asset classes for diversification. Target date funds vary from standard hybrid funds in that their portfolio portions begin with a more aggressive allocation and progressively rebalance to a more conservative allocation for use by a specified utilization date. A blend fund(or blended fund) is a type of equity mutual fund that includes a mix of both value and growth stocks. These funds offer investors diversification among these popular investment styles in a single portfolio.
In all cases, hybrid funds will include some mix of two or more asset classes. In risk-targeted and balanced funds, allocations will typically remain at a fixed proportion. In funds targeting a specified utilization date, the proportion of asset mix will vary over time. In all of the funds, the investment manager may actively manage the individual holdings within each asset category to respond to changing market conditions and potential capital appreciation opportunities
Examples of Hybrid Funds
Investment managers offer a wide range of options for hybrid funds. Below are two examples.
Vanguard Balanced Index Fund (VBIAX)
This fund has a 60/40 balance among stocks and bonds. The stock portion of the portfolio seeks to replicate the CRSP U.S. Total Market Index. The bond portion of the portfolio seeks to replicate the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Float Adjusted Index. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.06% as of Q2 2021.
T. Rowe Price Retirement 2060 Fund (TRRLX)
The T. Rowe Price Retirement 2060 Fund is a hybrid target-date fund. As of May 2021, it had more than 90% of the portfolio in stocks and approximately 8% in bonds and other fixed-income securities. The fund uses a fund of funds approach with 19% of the portfolio in a growth stock fund. The fund has an expense ratio of 0.71% as of Q2 2021.
A fleet of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy on Saturday morning carried out search and rescue drills, together with a helicopter, in the western Pacific Ocean, according to a Navy officer onboard.
Four Navy warships, namely Hangzhou, Ningbo, Zhoushan and Maanshan as well as a ship-borne helicopter participated in the drills, separately in two sea areas, Fan Zaijun, deputy chief of staff of a destroyer, told Xinhua.
The drills were based on the scenario of some local law-enforcing vessels being confronted by foreign warships while carrying out their duties, resulting in two Chinese law-enforcers falling into the sea. Upon receiving a simulated plea for help from civil law-enforcement vessels, the Chinese navy fleet rushed to the site for the rescue.
The helicopter was firstly sent to the area to search for the victims and then it guided the warships in rescue operations. Two search and rescue drills were successfully carried out as both of the overboard law-enforcers were saved.
The drills proved quite difficult, said Fan, because of bad weather that caused three-meter-high tides in the areas, though their successful completion was helpful for the navy to improve its capabilities in non-combat tasks and for the local law-enforcers to improve their professional abilities.
Xinhua
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What Is the Annualized Income Installment Method?caesars casino online game
Taxpayers who are self-employed typically pay quarterly installments of their estimated tax in four even amounts as figured by the regular installment method. Additionally, taxpayers should pay estimated taxes if they receive substantial dividends, interest, alimony, or other forms of income that are not subject to income tax withholding.
When a taxpayer has a fluctuating income, it often causes them to underpay on one or more of the quarterly estimates leading to underpayment penalties. The annualized income installment method calculates the taxpayer's estimated tax installment payments and helps to decrease underpayment and corresponding underpayment penalties related to fluctuating income. Through the use of the annualized income installment method, taxpayers may estimate their taxes based on known information from the beginning of the tax year through the end of the period paid.
Key Takeaways
Self-employed taxpayers must pay quarterly estimated tax payments.
Typically, these estimated tax payments are made in four equal installments under the regular installment method.
The annualized income installment method refigures estimated tax payment installments so it correlates to when the taxpayer earned the money in the year.
It is designed to limit underpayment and corresponding underpayment penalties related to uneven payments when a taxpayer's income fluctuates throughout the year.
How the Annualized Income Installment Method Works
The purpose of the regular installment method is to figure in quarterly tax installments. It divides the annual estimated tax into four equal segments. The resulting payments are appropriate for the quarterly estimated taxes of taxpayers with a steady income, but this does not work as well for taxpayers whose income fluctuates. Some taxpayers may have a hard time finding the cash to pay estimated taxes in slower months.
Consider, for example, taxpayers Jane and John. Each of them owes $100,000 in annual estimated tax. Jane pays her estimated payments in four $25,000 installments per the regular installment method. She evenly earned her income, 25% each quarter, so the quarterly portions paid her estimated tax in full and on time.
John's earnings were uneven, with each tax quarter at 0%, 20%, 30%, and 50%, respectively. John may have a difficult time coming up with the cash necessary to make his first and second quarter estimated tax payments when his earnings are low. Using the regular installment method, if John were to pay less estimated tax in the first two quarters and more in the second two quarters, he would owe an underpayment penalty for the first two quarters.
The annualized income installment method allows John to refigure his installments, so they correlate to his income as he earns it. It does so by annualizing Johns installments over four overlapping periods. Each period begins on Jan. 1. The first period ends on March 31, the second ends on May 31, the third on Aug. 31, and the fourth period ends on Dec. 31. Each period includes all the previous periods, with the final period encompassing the entire year. It allows John to estimate his tax payments based on his income to that point in the year.
In this example, we know the exact percentage of John's annual earnings from each tax quarter. John pays $0 in March, $20,000 in May, $30,000 in August, and $50,000 in December. John now has four installments of different amounts that, when added together, equal his full annual estimated tax of $100,000. John's refigured installments are now paid on time, his underpayment penalties abated.
IRS Publication 505 has forms, schedules, and worksheets that guide taxpayers desiring to refigure their installments using the annualized income installment method. However, figuring installments this way is complicated and best done on an IRS worksheet by your favorite tax professional.
How do I annualize my income for the annualized income installment method?
Unlike our scenario above, in real life, you will not already know your full annual tax payment when your quarterly estimated tax payment is due. Instead, you will have to estimate your annual tax payment by annualizing your income from the beginning of the year until the end of the period in which you are paying taxes. Because the "quarters" do not always fall on actual calendar quarters, year-to-date (YTD) income through May 31 is annualized by multiplying by 2.4, through Aug. 31 YTD by 1.5, and through Dec. 31 YTD by 1.
What is the tax form for the annualized income installment method?
The annualized method can be calculated using IRS Form 2210.
I owed $500 when I filed my tax return. Do I need to file Form 2210?
No, there is no underpayment penalty if the difference between your total tax on your return and the amount of tax you paid through withholding is less than $1,000.
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) holds a welcoming ceremony for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2012. Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin review the guards of honor during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2012. Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during a welcoming ceremony in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2012. Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) holds a welcoming ceremony for his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing, capital of China, June 5, 2012. Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). (Xinhua/Liu Jiansheng)
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What Is Early Exercise?golden goddess
Early exercise of an options contract is the process of buying or selling shares of stock under the terms of that option contract before its expiration date. For call options, the options holder can demand that the options seller sell shares of the underlying stock at the strike price. For put options it is the converse: the options holder may demand that the options seller buy shares of the underlying stock at the strike price.
Key Takeaways
Early exercise is the process of buying or selling shares under the terms of an options contract before the expiration date of that option.
Early exercise is only possible with American-style options.
Early exercise makes sense when an option is close to its strike price and close to expiration.
Employees of startups and companies can also choose to exercise their options early to avoid the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
Understanding Early Exercise
Early exercise is only possible with American-style option contracts, which the holder may exercise at any time up to expiration. With European-style option contracts, the holder may only exercise on the expiration date, making early exercise impossible.
Most traders do not use early exercise for options they hold. Traders will take profits by selling their options and closing the trade. Their goal is to realize a profit from the difference between the selling price and their original option purchase price.
For a long call or put, the owner closes a trade by selling, rather than exercising the option. This trade often results in more profit due to the amount of time value remaining in the long option lifespan. The more time there is before expiration, the greater the time value that remains in the option. Exercising that option results in an automatic loss of that time value.
Benefits of Early Exercise
There are certain circumstances under which early exercise may be advantageous for a trader:
For example, a trader may choose to exercise a call option that is deeply in-the-money (ITM) and is relatively near expiration. Because the option is ITM, it will typically have negligible time value.
Another reason for early exercise may be a pending ex-dividend date of the underlying stock. Since options holders are not entitled to either regular or special dividends paid by the underlying company, this will enable the investor to capture that dividend. It should more than offset the marginal time value lost due to an early exercise.
Early Exercise and Employee Options
There is another type of early exercise that pertains to company awarded stock options (ESO) given to employees. If the particular plan allows, employees may exercise their awarded stock options before they become fully vested employees. A person may choose this option to obtain a more favorable tax treatment.
However, the employee will have to foot the cost to buy the shares before taking full vested ownership. Also, any purchased shares must still follow the vesting schedule of the company's plan.
The money outlay of early exercise within a company plan is the same as waiting until after vesting, ignoring the time value of money. However, since the payment is shifted to the present, it may be possible to avoid short-term taxation and the alternative minimum tax (AMT). Of course, it does introduce the risk that the company may not be around when the shares are fully vested.
Early Exercise Example
Suppose an employee is awarded 10,000 options to buy company ABC's stock at $10 per share. They vest after two years.
The employee exercises 5,000 of those options to purchase ABC's stock, which is valued at $15, after a year. Exercising those options will cost $7,000 based on a federal AMT rate of 28%. However, the employee can reduce the federal tax percentage by holding onto the exercised options for another year to meet requirements for long-term capital gains tax.
What Is New Growth Thekeno payouts qld tote horse racingory?
The new growth theory is an economic concept, positing that humans' desires and unlimited wants foster ever-increasing productivity and economic growth. It argues that real gross domestic product(GDP) per person will perpetually increase because of people's pursuit of profits.
Key Takeaways
The new growth theory presumes the desire and wants of the populace will drive ongoing productivity and economic growth.
A central tenet of new growth theory is that competition squeezes profit, forcing people to constantly seek better ways to do things or invent new products in order to maximize profitability.
The theory emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship, knowledge, innovation, and technology, rejecting the popular view that economic growth is determined by external, uncontrollable forces.
Knowledge is treated as an asset for growth that is not subject to finite restrictions or
diminishing returns like other assets such as capital or real estate.
Understanding New Growth Theory
The new growth theory offered a fresh take on what engineers economic prosperity. It emphasizes the importance of entrepreneurship, knowledge, innovation, and technology, challenging the view of exogenous growth in neoclassical economics that economic progress is determined by external, uncontrollable forces.
Competition squeezes profit, so people have to constantly seek better ways to do things or invent new products in order to maximize profitability. This concept is one of the central tenets of the new growth theory.
The theory argues that innovation and new technologies do not occur simply by random chance. Rather, it depends on the number of people seeking out new innovations or technologies and how hard they are looking for them. People also have control over their knowledge capitalwhat to study, how hard to study, etc. If the profit incentive is great enough, people will choose to grow human capital and look harder for new innovations.
A significant aspect of the new growth theory is the idea that knowledge is treated as an asset for growth that is not subject to finite restrictions or diminishing returns like other assets such as capital or real estate. Knowledge is an intangible quality, rather than physical, and can be a resource grown within an organization or industry.
New Growth Theory Example
Under the new growth theory, nurturing innovation internally is one of the reasons for organizations to invest in human capital. By creating opportunities and making resources available within an organization, the expectation is that individuals will be encouraged to develop new concepts and technology for the consumer market.
For example, a large enterprise might allow part of its staff to work on independent, internal projects that may develop into new innovations or companies. In some ways, the enterprise lets them function like startups being incubated inside the organization.
The desire of the employees to launch a new innovation is spurred by the possibility of generating more profits for themselves and the enterprise. This can be especially true in the United States, as commerce is increasingly driven by service-type companies. Software and app development may take place within companies, following the new growth theory.
Achieving such knowledge-driven growth requires a sustained investment in human capital. This can create an environment for skilled professionals to have an opportunity to not only fulfill their primary jobs but also explore the creation of new services that can be of benefit and use to the broader public.
Special Considerations
New growth theorists believe that companies generally undervalue the usefulness of knowledge and, as a result, argue that it is mainly up to governments to invest in human capital. Governments are encouraged to facilitate access to better education, as well as provide support and incentives for private-sector research and development (R&D).
Connotation Definition
Connotation refers to a meaning that is jackpot casino mortonimplied by a word apart from the thing which it describes explicitly. Words carry cultural and emotional associations or meanings, in addition to their literal meanings or denotations.
For instance, Wall Street literally means a street situated in Lower Manhattan, but connotatively it refers to wealth and power.
Positive and Negative Connotations
Words may have positive or negative connotations that depend upon the social, cultural, and personal experiences of individuals. For example, the words childish, childlikeand youthfulhave the same denotative, but different connotative, meanings. Childishand childlikehave a negative connotation, as they refer to the immature behavior of a person. Whereas, youthfulimplies that a person is lively and energetic.
Common Connotation Examples
Below are a few connotation examples. Their suggested meanings are shaped by cultural and emotional associations:
Hes such a dog. In this sense, the word dogconnotes shamelessness or ugliness.
That woman is a doveat heart. Here, the dove implies peace or gentility.
Theres no place like home. While homemay refer to the actual building someone lives in, connotatively, it most often refers to family, comfort, and security.
What do you expect from a politician? Politicianhas a negative connotation of wickedness and insincerity. To imply sincerity, the word statespersonmight be used.
That woman is so pushy! Pushyrefers to someone who is loud-mouthed, insisting, and irritating.
My mom and dadworked hard to put me through college. The words Momand Dad, when used in place of motherand father, connote loving parents, rather than simply biological parents.
Difference Between Connotation and Denotation
In simple terms, a denotation means only a single meaning of a word used in some context. It is also called direct or explicit meanings. However, a connotation means a word has various meanings when it is used in a context. It evokes various feelings which are, sometimes, not associated with it. It is also that sometimes a word used only in one sense is used in some other sense at some other place, or in some other context. We can also say that denotation means literal meanings and connotation means emotional nuances. To put it concisely, a denotation means meanings given in the dictionary and connotation means the meanings having emotional and imaginative undercurrents or undertones.
Use of Connotation in Sentences
Although he has seen swarms of bees, the swarming of news on the screen is another phenomenon for him. John is skinny while his wife, Jane is slender. Both are, however, of similar physical features. Sometimes you think and thoughts pour down and sometimes you pour water on your head and your mind refuses to think. Now going to the city is an easy task than going to dogs. Hannah is such a dove in her heart but you do not cross her while shes reading.
Examples of Connotation in Literature
In literature, it is a common practice among writers to deviate from the literal meanings of words in order to create novel ideas. Figures of speech frequently employed by writers are examples of such deviations.
Example #1: Sonnet 18(By William Shakespeare)
Metaphors are words that connote meanings that go beyond their literal meanings. Shakespeare, in his Sonnet 18, says:
Shall I Compare Thee to a Summers Day
Here, the phrase a Summers Day implies the fairness of his beloved.
Example #2: The Sun Rising(By John Donne)
Similarly, John Donne says in his poem The Sun Risingsays:
She is all states, and all princes, I.
This line suggests the speakers belief that he and his beloved are wealthier than all the states, kingdoms, and rulers in the whole world because of their love.
Example #3: The Merchant of Venice(By William Shakespeare)
Irony and satire exhibit connotative meanings, as the intended meanings of words are opposite to their literal meanings. For example, we see a sarcastic remark made by Antonio to Shylock, the Jew, in William Shakespeares play The Merchant of Venice:
Hie thee, gentle Jew.
The Hebrew will turn Christian: he grows kind.
The word Jew generally had a negative connotation of wickedness, while Christian demonstrated positive connotations of kindness.
Example #4: The Animal Farm(By George Orwell)
George Orwells allegorical novel Animal Farmis packed with examples of connotation. The actions of the animals on the farm illustrate the greed and corruption that arose after the Communist Revolution of Russia. The pigs in the novel connote wicked and powerful people who can change the ideology of a society. In addition, Mr. Jones (the owner of the farm), represents the overthrown Tsar Nicholas II; and Boxer, the horse, represents the laborer class.
Example #5: Julius Caesar(By William Shakespeare)
Metonymy is another figure of speech that makes use of connotative or suggested meanings, as it describes a thing by mentioning something else with which it is closely connected. For example, Mark Anthony, in Act III of Shakespeares Julius Caesar, says:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
Here, the word ear connotes the idea of people listening to him attentively.
Example #6: Out, Out(By Robert Frost)
Read the following lines from Robert Frosts poem Out, Out:
As he swung toward them holding up the hand
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The lifefrom spilling
In the line The life from spilling, the word life connotes blood. It does make sense as well because the loss of blood may cause loss of life.
Example #7: As you Like It(By William Shakespeare)
Connotation provides the basis for symbolic meanings of words because symbolic meanings of objects are different from their literal sense. Look at the following lines from Shakespeares play As you Like It:
All the worlds a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts
Here, a stageconnotes the world; playerssuggest human beings, and partsimply different stages of their lives.
Function of Connotation
In literature, connotation paves way for creativity by using figures of speech like metaphor, simile, symbolism, and personification. Had writers contented themselves with only the literal meanings, there would have been no way to compare abstract ideas to concrete concepts, in order to give readers a better understanding. Therefore, connotative meanings of words allow writers to add to the dimensions of their work that are broader, more vivid, and fresher.
Synonyms of Connotation
A connotation has various synonyms. Some are very close in meanings such as overtone or undertone as well as an undercurrent. A few more distant synonyms include implications, nuances, flavor, feeling, aura, coloring, hint, echo, association, and suggestion.
What Is the Money Market Yield?youtube video poker 2021
The money market yield is the interest rate earned by investing in securities with high liquidity and maturities of less than one year such as negotiable certificates of deposit, U.S. Treasury bills, and municipal notes. Money market yield is calculated by taking the holding period yield and multiplying it by a 360-day bank year divided by days to maturity. It can also be calculated using a bank discount yield.
The money market yield is closely related to the CD-equivalent yield and bond equivalent yield (BEY).
Key Takeaways
The money market yield is what money market instruments are expected to return to investors.
The money market involves the purchase and sale of large volumes of very short-term debt products, such as overnight reserves or commercial paper.
An individual may invest in the money market by purchasing a money market mutual fund, buying a Treasury bill, or opening a money market account at a bank.
Money Market
Understanding the Money Market Yield
1:25
The money market is the part of the broader financial markets that deals with highly liquid and short-term financial securities. The market links borrowers and lenders who are looking to transact in short-term instruments overnight or for some days, weeks, or months, but always less than a year.
Active participants in this market include banks, money market funds, brokers, and dealers. Examples of money market securities include Certificates of Deposit (CD), Treasury bills (T-bills), commercial paper, municipal notes, short-term asset-backed securities, Eurodollar deposits, and repurchase agreements. To earn a money market yield, it is thus necessary to have a money market account. Banks, for example, offer money market accounts because they need to borrow funds on a short-term basis to meet reserve requirements and to participate in interbank lending.
Money market investors receive compensation for lending funds to entities that need to fulfill their short-term debt obligations. This compensation is typically in the form of variable interest rates determined by the current interest rate in the economy. Since money market securities are considered to have low default risk, the money market yield will be lower than the yield on stocks and bonds but higher than the interest rates on standard savings accounts.
Calculating the Money Market Yield
Although interest rates are quoted annually, the quoted interest may actually be compounded semi-annually, quarterly, monthly, or even daily. The money market yield is calculated using the bond equivalent yield (BEY) based on a 360-day year, which helps an investor compare the return of a bond that pays a coupon on an annual basis with a bond that pays semi-annual, quarterly, or any other coupons.
The formula for the money market yield is:
Money market yield = Holding period yield x (360/Time to maturity)
Money market yield = [(Face value Purchase price)/Purchase price] x (360/Time to maturity)
For example, a T-bill with $100,000 face value is issued for $98,000 and due to mature in 180 days. The money market yield is:
= ($100,000 - $98,000/$98,000) x 360/180
= 0.0204 x 2
= 0.0408, or 4.08%
The money market yield differs slightly from the bank discount yield, which is computed on the face value, not the purchase price. However, the money market yield can also be calculated using the bank discount yield as seen in this formula:
Money market yield = Bank discount yield x (Face value/Purchase price)
Money market yield = Bank discount yield / [1 (Face value Purchase price/Face value)]
Where bank discount yield = (Face value Purchase price)/Face value x (360/Time to maturity)
What Is an Indirect Loan?betus mobile login bovada clippers
An indirect loan can refer to an installment loan in which the lender either the original issuer of the debt or the current holder of the debt does not have a direct relationship with the borrower.
Indirect loans can be obtained through a third party with the help of an intermediary. Loans trading in the secondary market may also be considered indirect loans.
By allowing borrowers to obtain financing through third-party relationships, indirect loans can help to improve funding availability and risk management. Often applicants who don't qualify for a direct loan can opt for an indirect loan instead. Indirect loans tend to be more expensive carry higher interest rates, that is than direct loans are.
Key Takeaways
With an indirect loan, the lender does not have a direct relationship with the borrower, who has borrowed from a third party, arranged by an intermediary.
Indirect loans are often used in the auto industry, with dealers helping buyers facilitate funding through their network of financial institutions and other lenders.
Indirect loans are typically more expensive than direct loans, as they are often used by borrowers who might not otherwise qualify for a loan.
Understanding an Indirect Loan (Dealer Financing)
Many dealerships, merchants and retailers that handle big-ticket items, such as cars or recreational vehicles, will work with a variety of third-party lenders to help their customers obtain installment financing for purchases. Dealerships often have lending networks that include a variety of financial institutions willing to support the dealerships sales. Oftentimes, these lenders may be able to approve a wider range of borrowers due to their network relationship with the dealer.
In the indirect loan process, a borrower submits a credit application through the dealership. The application is then sent to the dealerships financing network, allowing the borrower to receive multiple offers. The borrower can then choose the best loan for their situation. The dealership also benefits, in that, by helping the customer receive financing, it makes the sale. Because the interest rate on the dealer is likely to be higher than from a credit union or bank, it's always best for buyers to check other financing options before agreeing to finance their car through a dealer.
While this sort of indirect loan is often known as "dealer financing," it's actually the dealer's network financial institutions that are approving the loan (based on the borrowers credit profile), setting its terms and rates, and collecting the payments.
Although an indirect loan is offered through a dealer or retailer, the consumer is actually borrowing from a separate financial institution.
How an Indirect Loan Works (Secondary Market)
Loans not originated directly by the lender that holds them can be considered indirect loans. When a lender sells a loan they are no longer responsible for it or receive any interest income from it. Instead, everything is transferred to a new owner, who assumes the burden of administering the loan and collects the repayments.
Read any indirect loan contract very carefully: If the dealer cannot sell the loan the buyer signed to a lender, it may have the right to cancel the contract within a specified period of time and require the buyer to return the car. The buyer is then entitled to get back the down payment and trade-in (or the value of the trade-in) if a trade-in was involved. In this situation, the dealer may try to pressure a car buyer to sign another contract on less favorable terms, but the buyer is not required to sign it.
Indirect Loan Examples
Auto dealerships are one of the most common businesses involved with indirect loans; in fact, some authorities even call indirect loans a type of car loan.
Many consumers use dealer-financed loans for the convenience of being able to apply on-premises and to easily compare offers. On the downside, obtaining an auto loan directly from a bank or credit union on his own gives the buyer more leverage to negotiate, as well as the freedom to shop around among dealers. And the interest rates might be better. But if a buyer has a spotty credit history or low credit score, an indirect loan may be their best option.
Loans actively trade on the secondary markets as well specifically, a pool of loans that have been combined rather than individual loans. Often a bank or credit union sells its consumer loans or mortgages; doing so allows lenders to acquire new capital, reduce administrative costs and manage their level of risk.
In the home-lending market, for example, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac) support the secondary trading of mortgages through their loan programs. These two government-sponsored enterprises buy home-backed loans from lenders, package them and then re-sell them, in order to facilitate liquidity and increased availability of funds across the lending market.
What Is a Japanese Government Bond (JGB)?roulette live app slot money games
A Japanese Government Bond (JGB) is a bond issued by the government of Japan. The government pays interest on the bond until the maturity date. At the maturity date, the full price of the bond is returned to the bondholder. Japanese government bonds play a key role in the financial securities market in Japan.
Key Takeaways
Japanese government bonds (JGBs) are bonds issued by the Japanese government and have become a key part of the country's central bank efforts to boost inflation.
There are three key types of JGBsgeneral bonds, Fiscal Investment and Loan Program bonds, and subsidy bonds.
JGBs are similar to U.S. Treasuries in that they are backed by the national government and low-risk.
Understanding Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs)
Japanese government bonds (JGBs) have various maturities ranging from 2 years to 40 years. Fixed coupon payments are determined at the time of issuance and are paid on a semi-annual basis until the security matures.
There are four kinds of Japanese government bonds (JGBs):
General bonds, such as construction bonds and debt financing bonds. Fiscal Investment and Loan Program (FILP) bonds, which can be used to raise funds for the investment of the Fiscal Loan Fund. Reconstruction bonds. Refunding bonds.
Special Considerations
A decline in liquidity in the JGB market has been observed in recent years due to the aggressive monetary actions of the central bankthe Bank of Japan (BoJ). In 2013, the Bank of Japan began buying up billions of dollars of Japanese government bonds, flooding the economy with cash in an effort to propel the countrys low annual inflation rate toward its 2% target. To keep the yield on ten-year JGBs close to zero, a rise in the yield of these bonds triggers a buy action from the BoJ.
As of 2020, the central bank owns over 48% of Japanese government bonds. There is an inverse relationship between interest rates and bond prices, which are dictated by supply and demand in the markets. Heavy buying of JGBs increases the demand for the bonds, which leads to an increase in the price of the bonds. The price increase forces down the bond yield, an essential element of the central banks ultra-loose yield curve control (YCC) policy, which was designed to help increase the profits that Japanese banks could earn from lending money.
The Bank of Japan implemented the yield curve control in 2016 in an effort to keep the yield on its ten-year JGB at zero and to steepen the yield curve. The yield curve steepens when the spread between short-term interest rates, which are negative in Japan, and long-term rates increase. The wider spread in interest rates creates opportunities to arbitrage profits, which is advantageous for banks in Japan.
In 2021, the Bank of Japan reduced its bond-buying and began announcing purchases on a quarterly, rather than a monthly, schedule. Reportedly this happened because the policy of aggressively targeting 0% yields had led to stagnant trading in the bond market. By reducing intervention in the bond market, the bank hoped to encourage more active trading.
Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) vs. U.S. Treasuries
Japanese government bonds (JGBs) are very much like U.S. Treasury securities. They are fully backed by the Japanese government, making them a very popular investment among low-risk investors and a useful investment among high-risk investors as a way to balance the risk factor of their portfolios. Like U.S. savings bonds, they have high levels of credit and liquidity, which further adds to their popularity. Furthermore, the price and yield at which JGBs trade is used as a benchmark against which other, riskier debt in the country is valued.
Play money poker is ambra italian kitchen mgm grandwhere you play poker for free, using chips that cant be exchanged for real cash. When you join a play money table, youre not risking any of your own money, making it much more relaxed and less daunting for beginners. The reality is that if youre a new poker player, youre probably going to lose money when playing at cash tables. Using play money games is a great way to learn the rules and understand the game better as theres less pressure. However, while it is easier, does it really prepare you for real money games?
The simple answer is that yes, youll gain more experience in poker while playing for free. However, while it can provide a good foundation of poker knowledge, it doesnt really prepare you for real money games. New players can start off with play money, but if you want to develop your skills, youll need to try out real money tables. That said, there is still a lot you can learn playing with play money online poker, especially if you follow these tips.
Get a Grasp of the Basics
The main reason why you should play poker with play money is that youre still learning the game. You want to spend most of your games learning, with little attention given to trying to win or collect fake chips. Because the chips dont matter, you have a lot more freedom to learn through mistakes and improve your game. The basics that you should be looking to improve on include learning how position affects strategy and calculating the pot odds. Additionally, youll also learn that even with the best decisions and strategy, you can still lose. Learning this will help you stay calm when playing for real money.
Keeping Things Tight
When people play poker with play money, theres often the temptation to play aggressively and play every hand since it doesnt matter if you win or lose. However, this is a bad habit to get into. If you play like this with real money, youll be punished for it. You want your learning experience to be as close to real money poker as possible, so try to play tight and dont get carried away. Playing tight is important as you should have a good understanding of which hands to fold and which to play by the time you get to the real money tables. Youll have a much higher chance of reaching showdowns with better hands than your opponent if you play this way over time.
Measured Aggression
While playing tight is important in poker, aggression in the right situations can make a big difference. Learning when you should raise will give you a good chance of making the most money, and youll need to get into the habit of building the pot yourself when you have a good hand. Compared to play money tables, the real money tables are much more passive, so this is a good habit to develop. You should avoid playing good hands slowly, raising when possible, and ensuring that your opponents call.
Category: Casino Blog
What Is Japan Inc.?casino divine fortune
Japan, Inc. is a descriptor for that countrys modern, highly centralized economic system and development strategy of export-led growth. In a sense, Japan since the 1980s has been defined by a corporate culture of capitalism and export profits. Despite its rapid growth of corporatism, the country experienced prolonged periods of economic stagnation with low GDP growth and low interest rates.
Key Takeaways
Japan, Inc. describes Japan's conversion into a corporate capitalist culture from the 1970s and 1980s until the 1990s.
This culture is also defined by a centralized economic system encouraged by the government and central bank.
Despite Japan, Inc., the country fell into a "lost decade" in the 1990s as it experienced sluggish economic growth and periods of deflation.
The Basics of Japan Inc.
Japan, Inc. gained notoriety in the 1980s when western perception was that the alliance of Japan's government bureaucrats and corporations established and implemented unfair trade policies. However, Japan's prolonged 1990s recession diminished the reputation and power of Japan Inc. Since then, Japan has undergone major changes that made the Japan Inc. stereotype less prominent in the country's business culture.
A primary feature of Japan, Inc. was the key role of Japan's trade ministry, which guided Japan's development in the postwar years in a strategy of export-led growth, known as the Japanese Miracle. This growth was due to American investment immediately after the war and government regulation of the economy. The Japanese government restricted imports and promoted exports at the same time as the Bank of Japan (BoJ) undertook aggressive lending to companies to stimulate private investment. Close collaboration between corporate executives and government officials enabled the government to create winners. Another major characteristic of Japan Inc. was institutionalized business alliances among companies, known as keiretsu, which dominated Japans economic activity. The Japanese miracle created Japan, Inc. and lasted until the 1991 Japanese financial crisis.
Japan Inc. to Japan in Crisis
Japan produced the second-largest gross national product (GNP) after the United States in the 1970s, and by the late 1980s, ranked first in GNP per capita worldwide. In the early 1990s its economy stalled, causing what is known as Japans lost decade. It was largely due to speculation during a boom cycle.
Record-low interest rates ignited the stock market and real estate speculation, which inflated valuations in the 1980s. The government unsuccessfully attempted to stimulate the economy through public works projects. And, the BOJ was slow to intervene, which may have instigated the crisis. Japan's Finance Ministry finally raised interest rates to stem speculation, which caused a stock market crash and debt crisis when borrowers defaulted on debt backed by speculative assets. This caused a banking crisis that led to consolidation and government bailouts.
During the lost decade, the economy stagnated amid low growth and deflation, with the stock markets near record lows and the property market remaining below pre-boom levels. Amid the crisis, Japanese consumers saved more and spent less, which reduced aggregate demand and produced deflation. Consumers further conserved money, resulting in a deflationary spiral. The countrys aging population along with Japans hesitance to raise the retirement age and increase taxes together with unrealistic monetary policy also were blamed for the lost decade.
What Is Net Income (NI)?sugar casino no deposit bonus
Net income (NI), also called net earnings, is calculated as sales minus cost of goods sold, selling, general and administrative expenses, operating expenses, depreciation, interest, taxes, and other expenses. It is a useful number for investors to assess how much revenue exceeds the expenses of an organization. This number appears on a company's income statement and is also an indicator of a company's profitability.
Key Takeaways
Net income (NI) is calculated as revenues minus expenses, interest, and taxes.
Earnings per share are calculated using NI.
Investors should review the numbers used to calculate NI because expenses can be hidden in accounting methods, or revenues can be inflated.
NI also represents an individual's total earnings or pre-tax earnings after factoring deductions and taxes in gross income.
Net income also refers to an individual's income after taking taxes and deductions into account.
Calculating Net Income
Understanding Net Income (NI)
1:24
Businesses use net income to calculate their earnings per share. Business analysts often refer to net income as the bottom line since it is at the bottom of the income statement. Analysts in the United Kingdom know NI as profit attributable to shareholders.
Net income (NI) is known as the "bottom line" as it appears as the last line on the income statement once all expenses, interest, and taxes have been subtracted from revenues.
Calculating NI for Businesses
To calculate net income for a business, start with a company's total revenue. From this figure, subtract the business's expenses and operating costs to calculate the business's earnings before tax. Deduct tax from this amount to find the NI.
NI, like other accounting measures, is susceptible to manipulation through such things as aggressive revenue recognition or hiding expenses. When basing an investment decision on NI, investors should review the quality of the numbers used to arrive at the taxable income and NI.
Personal Gross Income vs. NI
Gross income refers to an individual's total earnings or pre-tax earnings, and NI refers to the difference after factoring deductions and taxes into gross income. To calculate taxable income, which is the figure used by the Internal Revenue Service to determine income tax, taxpayers subtract deductions from gross income. The difference between taxable income and income tax is an individual's NI.
For example, an individual has $60,000 in gross income and qualifies for $10,000 in deductions. That individual's taxable income is $50,000 with an effective tax rate of 13.88% giving an income tax payment $6,939.50 and NI of $43,060.50.
NI on Tax Returns
In the United States, individual taxpayers submit a version of Form 1040 to the IRS to report annual earnings. This form does not have a line for net income. Instead, it has lines to record gross income, adjusted gross income (AGI), and taxable income.
After noting their gross income, taxpayers subtract certain income sources such as Social Security benefits and qualifying deductions such as student loan interest. The difference is their AGI. Although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, net income and AGI are two different things. Taxpayers then subtract standard or itemized deductions from their AGI to determine their taxable income. As stated above, the difference between taxable income and income tax is the individual's NI, but this number is not noted on individual tax forms.
NI on Paycheck Stubs
Most paycheck stubs have a line devoted to NI. This is the amount that appears on an employee's check. The number is the employee's gross income, minus taxes, and retirement account contributions.
Raul Castro Ruz,videoslots xp odibet livescore cz president of Cubas Council of State and the Council of Ministers, is to pay a state visit to China from July 4 to 7, at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin made the announcement in Beijing on Monday.
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Definition of Catachresis
Catachresis paddy power commentaryis a figure of speech in which writers use mixed metaphors in an inappropriate way, to create rhetorical effect. Often, it is used intentionally to create a unique expression. Catachresis is also known as an exaggerated comparison between two ideas or objects.
Features of Catachresis
Mixed metaphors are good examples of catachresis, and writers often use them to create rhetorical effect. They are used to express extreme alienation or heightened emotions. Catachresis is considered as a mistake in language, as it may change the meanings of words. It is a combination of different types of figures of speech. It is prominently used in post-structuralist literary works, since those writers were expert in using wordplay, and creating confusion in literary texts, which is an important part of catachresis.
Some Forms of Catachresis
Sometimes a word is used to indicate something completely different from the literal meaning of that word. Such as in this example, Tis deepest winter in Lord Timons purse; that is, one may reach deep enough, and find little (Timon of Athens, by William Shakespeare).
Sometimes a word is used to indicate something whose actual name is not used like, A chairs arm.
Sometimes a paradoxical statement is used to create illogical strained metaphors. Such as, Take arms against a sea of troubles.
Abusio is a subtype of catachresis, which results from the combination of two metaphors.
Examples of Catachresis in Literature
Example #1: On Revenge(By Francis Bacon)
A man that studies revenge keeps his own wounds green
Bacon uses metaphorical language by comparing revenge with wounds. The writer has made a connection between seemingly unconnected topics. However, catachresis is creating a rhetorical effect in this serious text.
Example #2: King John(By William Shakespeare)
I do not ask much:
I beg cold comfort
We can find numerous catachresis examples in Shakespeares works, as he regularly used mixed metaphors intentionally in his literary writings. Here, he has used catachresis, cold comfort.
Example #3: Poem 640(By Emily Dickinson)
With just the Door ajar
That oceans are and Prayer
And that White Sustenance Despair
In the first and second lines, we can see the paradox in phrases that are shown in bold. These describe two differing distances that spread hopelessness. In the same way, white sustenance means colorless nourishment that actually does not nourish the body.
Example #4: Hamlet(By William Shakespeare)
Hamlet:
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And, by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep
Here, Hamlet is just thinking futilely after facing a sea of problems. In this way, Shakespeare has used a straight metaphor, albeit taken as a catachresis here.
Example #5: somewhere i have never travelled, gladly beyond(By E. E. Cummings)
The voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses
nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands
In this extract, the poet is making an illogical comparison between the voice of his beloveds eyes, and roses and rain with the hands. The poet is trying to express the power of his beloved over him, and her importance to him.
Example #6: The Tempest(By William Shakespeare)
His complexion is perfect gallows
In the given line, the character Gonzalo is implying that Boatswain looks like a criminal, and must be hanged. Here, perfect gallows is used as a mixed metaphor. The two objects are compared, though there is no obvious similarity between them.
Example #7: Peri Bathous(By Alexander Pope)
Mowthe beard,
Shavethe grass,
Pinthe plank,
Nailmy sleeve
In the above example, the metaphoric words are shown in bold. The literal and metaphorical meanings can be understood in the context, which the poet is describing as: know-how, capacities, dispositions, and skills.
Function of Catachresis
Catachresis can be used both in poetry and prose. In poetry it is used by misusing a phrase or word to deliberately create a mixed metaphor. Poets use catachresis to achieve a stylistic effect, or to exert great compression in both comic as well as serious writing. Also, sometimes it is used to create a reference that did not exist, but the major reason of using this technique is to express the ideas in a unique and creative way.
University of California
University of Washington
Jennifer Kyrnin is a professional web developer who assists others in learning web design, HTML, CSS, and XML.
A soft outside glow added to an element on your web page makes the element stand out to the viewer. Use CSS3 and HTML to apply a glow around the outside edges of an important object. The effect is similar to an outside glow added to an object in Photoshop.
Create the Element to Glow
Glow effects work on any background, but they look best on dark backgrounds because then the glow seems to shimmer more. In a rounded-corner rectangular box example, a DIV element is placed in another DIV element with a black background. The outer DIV is not necessary for the glow, but its hard to see the glow on a white background.
Set the Size and Color of the Element
After you choose the element youre going to embellish with a glow, add styles to it, such as background color, size, and fonts.
This example is a blue rectangle; the size is set to 147px by 90px; and the background color is set to #1f5afe, a royal blue. It includes a margin to place the element in the middle of the black container element.
Round the Corners
Creating a rectangle with rounded corners is easy with CSS3. Add the border-radius style property to your glow class. Just remember to use the webkit and moz prefixes for the highest compatibility.
-webkit-border-radius: 15px;
-moz-border-radius: 15px;
border-radius: 15px;
Add the Glow With a Box Shadow
The glow itself is created with a box shadow. Because it halos the entire element without projecting the glow off one side like a shadow, set the horizontal and vertical lengths to 0px.
In this example, the blur radius is set to 15px and the spread of the blur is 5px, but you can fiddle with those settings to determine how wide and diffuse you want the glow to be. The color rgb(255,255,190) is a yellow color with RGBa alpha transparency set to 75 percentrgba(255,255,190, .75). Choose a glow color that works best for your project. As with rounding the corners, dont forget to use the browser prefixes (webkit and moz) for the best compatibility.
-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px 5px rgba(255, 255, 190, .75);
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px 5px rgba(255, 255, 190, .75);
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px 5px rgba(255, 255, 190, .75);
What Are Net Tangible Assets?how do i login to my hollywoodbets account
The term net tangible assets refers to the total physical assets of a company minus all intangible assets and liabilities. In other words, net tangible assets focus on physical assets such as property, plant, and equipment (PP&E), as well as inventories and cash instruments. Physical assets are anything that is listed on a company's balance sheet while intangible assets are those without a physical form. A company's net tangible assets can help it secure financing and determine how much risk it carries.
Key Takeaways
Net tangible assets are all the physical assets a company owns less any intangible assets and liabilities.
They are listed on a company's balance sheet and indicate its book value.
To calculate a company's net tangible assets, subtract its liabilities, par value of preferred shares , and any intangible assets, such as goodwill, patents, and trademarks from its total assets.
and any intangible assets, such as goodwill, patents, and trademarks from its total assets. Net tangible assets allow analysts to focus on a firm's physical assets in isolation.
Companies can access financing and determine how much risk they carry based on the value of their net tangible assets.
Net Tangible Assets
Understanding Net Tangible Assets
1:17
As noted above, net tangible assets are any physical assets less intangible assets and liabilities. In order to calculate this, a company takes the fair market value (FMV) of its tangible assets and subtracts the fair market value of its liabilities. Remember that physical assets refer to anything that can be touched and can be found listed on a company's balance sheet, such as:
PP&E
Raw materials
Inventory
Accounts receivable
Finished goods
Cash
Intangible assets, on the other hand, are those that have no tangible form, such as trademarks, goodwill, patents, and copyrights. Liabilities, of course, refer to any debts the company owes, whether that's current or non-current, including accounts payable, long-term debt, and other similar obligations.
For example, if a company has total assets of $1 million, total liabilities of $100,000, and intangible goodwill of $100,000, its net tangible asset amount is $800,000. This is derived by subtracting $200,000 (the sum of both liabilities and goodwill) from the value of the company's total assets of $1 million.
The value of a company's net tangible assets may also be referred to as its net asset value (NAV) or book value. This value is important to a company as it provides a window into how much risk it carriesnotably, its liquidity and solvency. It can also be used to help it access financing to meet its future goals.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Net Tangible Assets
This measurement of a company's tangible assets is important because it allows a firm's management team to analyze its asset position without including obsolete or difficult to value intangible assets. A company's return on assets (ROA), for example, is often more accurate when net tangible assets are used in the calculation.
The usefulness of deriving net tangible assets, however, varies across industries. Medical device manufacturers, for example, have high levels of valuable intangible assets. This means it's important to look at a company's price-to-book (P/B) value and compare it against similar companies to gauge performance.
Companies can assess asset position without including intangible assets
Usefulness can vary across industries, especially those with higher intangible asset values
Net Tangible Assets vs. Net Tangible Assets Per Share
ProsCons
Some companies use their net tangible assets per share value in lieu of the net tangible assets measurement. To calculate a company's net tangible asset per share of common stock, divide its net tangible assets figure by the number of outstanding common shares. If a company has net tangible assets of $1 million and 500,000 shares outstanding, its net tangible asset value per share is $2.
This value is useful when conducting a comparative analysis of companies within an industry. Auto manufacturers, for example, may have high net tangible assets per share, while a software company with a high level of intangible assets may have a much lower number per share. It is therefore important to use this measure only when analyzing companies within the same industry.
Real-World Examples of Net Tangible Assets
Let us look at some actual data for Amazon and Meta and calculate the net tangible assets for each using their annual 10-K filings.
best app to buy and trade cryptocurrencyshows grade level based on the word's complexity. dark reaction New Word List Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
nounthe phase of photosynthesis, not requiring light, in which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide.
Words nearby dark reaction
How to use dark reaction dark reaction nounbotany the stage of photosynthesis involving the reduction of carbon dioxide and the dissociation of water, using chemical energy stored in ATP: does not require the presence of lightCompare light reaction Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Scientific definitions for dark reaction dark reaction Any of the chemical reactions that take place during the second stage of photosynthesis and do not require light. During the dark reactions, energy released from ATP (created by the light reactions) drives the fixation of carbon from carbon dioxide in organic molecules. The Calvin cycle forms part of the dark reactions. As long as ATP is available, the dark reactions can occur in darkness or in light. Compare light reaction. See more at Calvin cycle photosynthesis. The American Heritage Science Dictionary Copyright 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Questiondark mineral, dark money, dark nebula, darkness, dark of the moon, dark reaction, darkroom, dark slide, darksome, dark star, dark tourismDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
The emblematic Four Winds Casinos have a new chief operating officer. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians appointed Frank Freedman as a successor of Matt Harkness. According to the information included in a special press release on the matter, Mr. Harkness has parted ways with Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and started a venture on his own.
The newly appointed Frank Freedman has considerable experience in the casino industry as he used to work as an assistant general manager of Four Winds New Buffalo, Four Winds Hartford and Four Winds Dowagiac.
John P. Warren, the chairman of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, commented on the appointment and said that both the leaving and the newly-appointed managers played a key role in the development of Four Winds Casinos and contributed to the popularization of the properties.
He went on to say that all Pokagon citizens as well as the gaming authorities and the members of the tribal council are really thankful to Mr. Harkness and they do appreciate his excellent leadership skills and the efforts he put into developing the property. In conclusion the chariman said that Matt Harkness will be truly missed.
However, Mr. Warren did not miss to comment on the appointment of Frank Freedman and said that casino executives were delighted to have such an invaluable asset in charge of Four Winds Casinos. Harkness and Freedman have been working in collaboration for almost two decades, which means that the latter is well prepared to handle the challenging work environment and ensure the organization is successful and prosperous.
Mr. Harkness also commented on his leaving and said that it has been a wonderful experience to be a part of the Pokagon Band team and to contribute to the development of the three properties he used to work at.
Mr. Freedman said that he is thankful for the opportunity to be the leader of Four Winds and admitted that Matt Harkness has been his mentor and friend for 20 years and he wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.
As already mentioned, Four Winds Casinos can take pride in being a well-recognized brand that has been givennumerous awards because of the gambling, dining and entertainment facilities it features. As for Four Winds New Buffalo, it has recently been ranked among the best casinos outside Las Vegas.
What Is a J-Curve?helium coin mining bloomberg shiba
A J-curve is a trendline that shows an initial loss immediately followed by a dramatic gain. In a chart, this pattern of activity would follow the shape of a capital "J".
The J-curve effect is often cited in economics to describe, for instance, the way that a countrys balance of trade initially worsens following a devaluation of its currency, then quickly recovers and finally surpasses its previous performance.
J-curves are observed in other fields including medicine and political science. In each case, it depicts an initial loss followed by a significant gain to a level that exceeds the starting point.
J-Curve Effect
Understanding the J-Curve
1:16
The J-curve is useful to demonstrate the effects of an event or action over a set period of time. Put bluntly, it shows that things are going to get worse before they get better.
Key Takeaways
A J-curve depicts a trend that starts with a sharp drop and is followed by a dramatic rise.
The trendline ends in an improvement from the starting point.
In economics, the J-curve shows how a currency depreciation causes a severe worsening of a trade imbalance followed by a substantial improvement.
In economics, it is often used to observe the effects of a weaker currency on trade balances. The pattern is as follows:
Immediately after a nation's currency is devalued, imports get more expensive and exports get cheaper, creating a worsening trade deficit (or at least a smaller trade surplus).
Shortly thereafter, the sales volume of the nation's exports begins to rise steadily, thanks to their relatively cheap prices.
At the same time, consumers at home begin to buy more locally-produced goods because they are relatively affordable compared to imports.
Over time, the trade balance between the nation and its partners bounces back and even exceeds pre-devaluation times.
The devaluation of the nation's currency had an immediate negative effect because of an inevitable lag in satisfying greater demand for the country's products.
When a countrys currency appreciates, economists note, a reverse J-curve may occur. The countrys exports abruptly become more expensive for importing countries. If other countries can fill the demand for a lower price, the stronger currency will reduce its export competitiveness. Local consumers may switch to imports, too, because they have become more competitive with locally-produced goods.
The J-Curve in Private Equity
The term J-curve is used to describe the typical trajectory of investments made by a private equity firm.
The J-curve is a visual representation of the plain fact that sometimes things will get worse before they get better.
Private equity firms have a different path to profitability than public companies or the funds that invest in them.
Their portfolios, by design, are made up of companies that were performing poorly when they were purchased. The firm then spends substantial amounts of money retooling the company before spinning it off as a renewed company.
That means an initial decline in performance followed, at least theoretically, by a steep improvement in performance.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that the Far Eastern city of Vladivostok was ready to host the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in September.
On the whole,bubble bonus bingo ultimate x poker the situation with the preparations for the APEC summit is absolutely normal. There are of course some nuances, which should be corrected in the next two months, but the city itself and facilities are ready for the summit, Medvedev told journalists.
The prime minister promised to continue all-embracing development of the Far East and to regularly visit the region.
Medvedev arrived in Vladivostok on Monday to inspect facilities built for the APEC summit.
The Sept. 8-9 summit will cost Russia about 600 billion rubles (18.5 billion U.S. dollars) in construction for more than 50 facilities and to rebuild public utility networks.
Xinhua
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What Is the Risk-Free Rate of Return?by 2's x 3 wagers ipad betting apps
The risk-free rate of return is the theoretical rate of return of an investment with zero risk. The risk-free rate represents the interest an investor would expect from an absolutely risk-free investment over a specified period of time.
The so-called "real" risk-free rate can be calculated by subtracting the current inflation rate from the yield of the Treasury bond matching your investment duration.
Key Takeaways
The risk-free rate of return refers to the theoretical rate of return of an investment with zero risk.
In practice, the risk-free rate of return does not truly exist, as every investment carries at least a small amount of risk.
To calculate the real risk-free rate, subtract the inflation rate from the yield of the Treasury bond matching your investment duration.
Risk-Free Rate of Return
Understanding the Risk-Free Rate of Return
1:14
In theory, the risk-free rate is the minimum return an investor expects for any investment because they will not accept additional risk unless the potential rate of return is greater than the risk-free rate. Determination of a proxy for the risk-free rate of return for a given situation must consider the investor's home market, while negative interest rates can complicate the issue.
In practice, however, a truly risk-free rate does not exist because even the safest investments carry a very small amount of risk. Thus, the interest rate on a three-month U.S. Treasury bill (T-bill) is often used as the risk-free rate for U.S.-based investors.
The three-month U.S. Treasury bill is a useful proxy because the market considers there to be virtually no chance of the U.S. government defaulting on its obligations. The large size and deep liquidity of the market contribute to the perception of safety. However, a foreign investor whose assets are not denominated in dollars incurs currency risk when investing in U.S. Treasury bills. The risk can be hedged via currency forwards and options but affects the rate of return.
The short-term government bills of other highly rated countries, such as Germany and Switzerland, offer a risk-free rate proxy for investors with assets in euros (EUR) or Swiss francs (CHF). Investors based in less highly rated countries that are within the eurozone, such as Portugal and Greece, are able to invest in German bonds without incurring currency risk. By contrast, an investor with assets in Russian rubles cannot invest in a highly rated government bond without incurring currency risk.
Negative Interest Rates
Flight to quality and away from high-yield instruments amid the long-running European debt crisis has pushed interest rates into negative territory in the countries considered safest, such as Germany and Switzerland. In the United States, partisan battles in Congress over the need to raise the debt ceiling have sometimes sharply limited bill issuance, with the lack of supply driving prices sharply lower. The lowest permitted yield at a Treasury auction is zero, but bills sometimes trade with negative yields in the secondary market.
And in Japan, stubborn deflation has led the Bank of Japan to pursue a policy of ultra-low, and sometimes negative, interest rates to stimulate the economy. Negative interest rates essentially push the concept of risk-free return to the extreme; investors are willing to pay to place their money in an asset they consider safe.
Why Is the U.S. 3-Month T-Bill Used as the Risk-Free Rate?
There can never be a truly risk-free rate because even the safest investments carry a very small amount of risk. However, the interest rate on a three-month U.S. Treasury bill is often used as the risk-free rate for U.S.-based investors. This is a useful proxy because the market considers there to be virtually no chance of the U.S. government defaulting on its obligations. The large size and deep liquidity of the market contribute to the perception of safety.
What Are the Common Sources of Risk?
Risk can manifest itself as absolute risk, relative risk, and/or default risk. Absolute risk as defined by volatility can be easily quantified by common measures like standard deviation. Relative risk, when applied to investments, is usually represented by the relation of price fluctuation of an asset to an index or base. Since the risk-free asset used is so short-term, it is not applicable to either absolute or relative risk. Default risk, which, in this case, is the risk that the U.S. government would default on its debt obligations, is the risk that applies when using the 3-month T-bill as the risk-free rate.
What Are the Characteristics of the U.S. Treasury Bills (T-Bills)?
Treasury bills (T-bills) are assumed to have zero default risk because they represent and are backed by the good faith of the U.S. government. They are sold at a discount from par at a weekly auction in a competitive bidding process. They don't pay traditional interest payments like their cousins, the Treasury notes and Treasury bonds, and are sold in various maturities in denominations of $1,000. Finally, they can be purchased by individuals directly from the government.
Definition of Burlesque
Thepoker 888 live two daily sure odds term, burlesque, has its roots in Italian as well as French language in which it was in use during the 16thcentury. In French, it meant odd or grotesque, while in Italian it meant ludicrous. It is a derivative ofburlathat means joke or fun.
In literature, it means to ridicule the people to mock the low strata by becoming a low one, or mimic a great person by becoming unlike him. During the 19thcentury, it was considered travesties and satire on the classic or accepted ideas.
In literary terms, it means to mock or make fun of a subject through imitation, irony, or sarcasm, resulting in comedy. As it is almost equal to parody, parody is also a type of burlesque.
Essentials of Burlesque
A burlesque in literature has following essential elements in it.
It intends to create a disparity that is incongruous and ridiculous. Parody and travesty are its two important ingredients. Not all burlesque techniques or strategies are the same in all such literary pieces.
Examples of Burlesque in Literature
Example #1
The R*pe of the Lock by Alexander Pope
And thus in Whispers said, or seemd to say.
Fairest of Mortals, thou distinguishd Care
Of thousand bright Inhabitants of Air!
If eer one Vision touchd thy infant Thought,
Of all the Nurse and all the Priest have taught,
Of airy Elves by Moonlight Shadows seen,
The silver Token, and the circled Green,
Or Virgins visited by Angel-Pow rs,
With Golden Crowns and Wreaths of heavnly Flowrs,
Hear and believe! thy own Importance know,
Nor bound thy narrow Views to Things below.
Pope has beautifully used burlesque in this mock epic poem to show how the low are satirized, using initial capitals to present them as proper nouns such as Whispers that hardly means said in a loud voice. The presentation of the people through airy and metaphysical language shows how he intends to present the travesty of the manners and attitudes of the high-ups of his times. In this type of poetic recitation, Pope has tried to satirize the manners of the gentry of his times.
Example #2
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
Though her countenance did not denote much natural sweetness of temper, yet this was, perhaps, somewhat soured by a circumstance which generally poisons matrimonial felicity; for children are rightly called the pledges of love; and her husband, though they had been married nine years, had given her no such pledges; a default for which he had no excuse, either from age or health, being not yet thirty years old, and what they call a jolly brisk young man.
Not only the language but also the use of high terms for marriage such as matrimonial felicity and twist in the language shows that Henry Fielding is satirizing the marriages of those times. Although he presents Mrs. Debora Wilkins not showing the sourness that comes or creeps into such relations, yet the term Fielding has used for children as pledges of love show how he has satirized the high thoughts held by the people about marriage, life and siblings in general.
Example #3
Possession: A Romance by A. S. Byatt
Since our pleasant and unexpected conversation, I have thought of little else. Is there any way in which it can be resumed, more privately and at more leisure? I know you go out in company very little, and was the more fortunate that dear Crabb managed to entice you to his breakfast table. How much I owe to his continuing good health, that he should feel able and eager, at eighty-two years of age, to entertain poets and undergraduates and mathematical professors and political thinkers so early in the day, and to tell the anecdote of the Bust with his habitual fervour without too much delaying the advent of buttered toast.
The second sentence shows how Michell shows the discovery of the letters of Ash and how he addresses the lady. It presents him as if he has a very important person despite his being a very insignificant in the literary circles of those times. This is a type of ludicrous situation, a sort of parody that Byatt presents to his readers.
Example #4
A Beggars Opera by John Gay
PEACHUM. A lazy Dog! When I took him the time before, I told him what he would come to if he did not mend his Hand. This is Death without Reprieve. I may venture to Book him. [writes] For Tom Gagg, forty Pounds. Let Betty Sly know that Ill save her from Transportation, for I can get more by her staying in England.
FILCH. Betty hath brought more Goods into our Lock to-year than any five of the Gang; and in truth, tis a pity to lose so good a Customer.
This conversation between Peachum and Filch shows that John Gay wants to satirize Bettys habit of senseless ness, howing that even Filch wants not to lose her as a good customer that she purchases so much. This shows the funny side of the ladies specially when it comes to shopping and doing other such things.
Functions of Burlesque
Although the major function of a burlesque as a literary technique is to create a situation where it evokes a wry or otherwise smile, it mocks and satirizes the people as well as manners to show the readers how such mannerisms in people make others smile and laugh. However, inwardly, the author is, sometimes, didactic, as he does not want to see such manners in the people. Therefore, such authors, who use burlesque in their writings, often means to correct the people for those little follies and foibles for the betterment of the society.
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Starting this who got best actor oscarmonth, Betly customers in West Virginia can place a sports bet and play online casino games from one app: Betly Casino and Sportsbook.
This week, Delaware North, which operates two casinos in Mountaineer State, announced it relaunched Betly after switching platform providers from International Gaming Technology (IGT) to Belgium-based Gamewise.
Delaware North Regional Director of Marketing David Morris said in a press release:
We are thrilled to make the online and mobile Betly Casino and Sportsbook available to our many loyal patrons in West Virginia. Now they can experience the excitement of casino gaming from the convenience of their homes and anywhere in the state.
What Is an Indexed Annuity?neue online casinos bangshotcasino
An indexed annuity is a type of annuity contract that pays an interest rate based on the performance of a specified market index, such as the S&P 500. It differs from fixed annuities, which pay a fixed rate of interest, and variable annuities, which base their interest rate on a portfolio of securities chosen by the annuity owner. Indexed annuities are sometimes referred to as equity-indexed or fixed-indexed annuities.
Key Takeaways
An indexed annuity pays a rate of interest based on a particular market index, such as the S&P 500.
Indexed annuities give buyers an opportunity to benefit when the financial markets perform well, unlike fixed annuities, which pay a set interest rate regardless.
However, certain provisions in these contracts can limit the potential upside to only a portion of the market's rise.
How Indexed Annuities Work
Indexed annuities offer their owners, or annuitants, the opportunity to earn higher yields than fixed annuities when the financial markets perform well. Typically, they also provide some protection against market declines.
The rate on an indexed annuity is calculated based on the year-over-year gain in the index or its average monthly gain over a 12-month period.
While indexed annuities are linked to the performance of a specific index, the annuitant won't necessarily reap the full benefit of any rise in that index. One reason is that indexed annuities often set limits on the potential gain at a certain percentage, commonly referred to as the "participation rate." The participation rate can be as high as 100%, meaning the account is credited with all of the gain, or as low as 25%. Most indexed annuities offer a participation rate between 80% and 90%at least in the early years of the contract.
If the stock index gained 15%, for example, an 80% participation rate translates to a credited yield of 12%. Many indexed annuities offer a high participation rate for the first year or two, after which the rate adjusts downward.
Yields and rate caps
Most indexed annuity contracts also include a yield or rate cap that can further limit the amount that's credited to the accumulation account. A 7% rate cap, for example, limits the credited yield to 7% no matter how much the stock index has gained. Rate caps typically range from a high of 15% to as low as 4% and are subject to change.
In the example above, the 15% gain reduced by an 80% participation rate to 12% would be further reduced to 7% if the annuity contract specifies a 7% rate cap.
If you're shopping for an indexed annuity, ask about its "participation rate" and rate caps. Both can reduce your potential gains from any rise in the markets.
In years when the stock index declines, the insurance company credits the account with a minimum rate of return. A typical minimum rate guarantee is about 2%. Some can be as low as 0% or as high as 3%.
Adjusted values
At specific intervals, the insurer will adjust the value of the account to include any gain that occurred in that time frame. The principal, which the insurer guarantees, never declines in value unless the account owner takes a withdrawal. Insurers use several different methods to adjust the account's value, such as a year-over-year reset or a point-to-point reset, which incorporates two or more years' worth of returns.
As with other types of annuities, the owner can begin receiving regular income by annuitizing the contract and directing the insurer to start the payout phase.
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East China's Zhejiang Province in late July decided to take new safety rules. Authorities said that food and beverage outlets engaged in online food delivery should gradually show real-time disclosure of food processing with videos on a third-party platform. Such attempts will be constructive to promoting the overall improvement of food safety in the whole online meal ordering industry. Special importance should be attached to food safety since it matters a lot in daily life. Apart from local authorities?introducing rules and ramping up supervision, related businesses and individuals should pay attention to this issue from deep down of their heart.
About 30 minutes. Thats how long 17-year-old Cedric C.J. Lofton was pinned to the floor with multiple adults holding him down at a youth carceral facility in Kansas. It may have been closer to 40. Thecaptain jack casino phone number medical examiner ruled his death on Sept. 26, 2021, a homicide resulting from [c]omplications of cardiopulmonary arrest sustained after physical struggle while restrained in the prone position, but the DA concluded that he would not charge the employees of the facility where C.J. died.
Even though an officer changed his answer on an intake form in a way designed to ensure C.J. would stay at the county Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center instead of a mental-health facility, even though C.J. was restrained for more than 30 minutes, and even though the center had allegedly ignored recommendations set down by the Kansas Department of Corrections years before, no one has been held accountable for his death.
Instead, the system rushed to blame C.J. himself for his death, with both the sheriff and the DA raising the possibilitylater found to be utterly unsubstantiatedthat drugs were to blame.
The DA defended his decision by pointing to Kansas stand your ground law and maintained that employees at the facility acted in self-defense. According to the DA, an unarmed child who weighed approximately 135 pounds posed an imminent threat of death or bodily harm to the multiple adults who forced him face-down into a prone position.
C.J.s case is far from isolated and illustrates how the juvenile justice system in the U.S. harms children. The past decade alone has taken a grim toll. Loyce Tucker, Cornelius Frederick, Gynnya McMillen, and Elord Revolte are among those who died in youth facilities at the hands of adults or while entrusted to their custody. Suicides in youth carceral facilities have included a 17-year-old in North Carolina, a 13-year-old in Texas, and a 16-year-old transgender boy housed in a girls unit in Maine. There has been institutional negligence associated with the deaths of Andre Sheffield, 14, and Robert Wright, 17. Finally, there are the deaths in youth carceral facilities that remain unsolved or receive little attention: the 16-year-old girl in Georgia, the 16-year-old boy in California, the 16-year-old in Texas.
In this May 18, 2004 photo, inmates sit in one of the cottages at the Circleville Juvenile Correctional Facility in Circleville, Ohio. A report released Friday April 23, 2021 that looked at the death of 17-year-old Robert Wright in August of 2020, indicated that two juvenile prison guards slept while on duty. One of them failed to properly conduct overnight rounds, and two others failed to conduct timely CPR on the Ohio youth found unresponsive who later died, according to an investigation into the youth's death. Tim RevellThe Columbus Dispatch/AP
Even when youth do not die in youth carceral facilities, they are at risk of abuse and neglect by adult staff. In California, probation staff have been accused of sexually assaulting young girls. There have been horrific allegations of an officer permitting a fight game in Georgia, guards putting bounties on imprisoned youth in Tennessee, and security guards using excessive force in Texas. In Colorado, staff have reported other staff for alleged violations including drug smuggling and harassment. Youth facilities have been grossly understaffed since the pandemic began, a problem that continues in states like Louisiana and Texas. Notably, in some facilities, youth had to use water bottles and lunch trays as toilets because there was no one to take them to the restrooms.
Moreover, many youth are detained and confined in private facilities, which are not subject to open record laws in the same ways as public ones. However, even employees of public facilities are often protected by the system. These devastating harms to detained youth are a major reason that so many states, including California, Maine, and New Hampshire, are considering closing all youth carceral facilities or significantly reducing reliance on them.
Carceral facilities blame lack of staffing and increasingly violent children for these incidents. But it is not that. Its not bad apples or agencies, understaffing, or solely the position in which Gynnya McMillen, Cornelius Frederick, and C.J. Lofton were restrained that is to blame for their deaths.
It is a carceral system that is committed to treating youth like criminals instead of recognizing that youth in crisis need care and resources.
To solve this problem, we need to listen to those most impacted by the systems, those who have experience within those systems: youth of color, youth with disabilities, queer and gender non-conforming youth, youth in foster care, medically vulnerable youth, and especially those at the intersections of multiple oppressions (e.g., queer youth of color, disabled youth of color) who are more likely to become incarcerated.
Currently and formerly incarcerated youth are telling us, with the backing of research, that the youth carceral system does not deliver racial justice, safety, or quality education. Instead carceral systems compound the violence youth have experienced in their personal lives, making them subject to violence by systems run by the state.
It doesnt have to be this way. There are alternatives to detention and confinement that we know work. There are restorative pathways connecting youth with community resources that make youth less likely to reoffend than those that go through the courts. There are crisis response teams that respond to mental-health issues, like the one C.J. had, while reducing police violence and saving money in cities like San Francisco, but they are severely underfunded.
We need to abolish the youth carceral system, and all carceral systems, because they do more harm than good, are extremely costly, and do not keep us safe. Instead, we need to move the resources that we currently commit to carceral facilitiesmoney, time, and peopleinto systems that focus on care and support for youth in need of help.
A year after C.J. Loftons death, there was a protest at the facility where he died, organized, in large part, by formerly incarcerated youth and C.J.s family who are demanding #JusticeForCJ.
Formerly incarcerated youth know how terrifying it is to be transferred to a carceral facility while in distress, to face armed police officers and guards who suddenly have control of every aspect of their lives, to be under constant surveillance with the threat of violence if they do not comply no matter how unfair the request, to be met only with punishment even when in crisis.
Formerly incarcerated youth know that C.J.s Black life matters so they are fighting for C.J. We need to fight too. We owe that to C.J., to the formerly incarcerated youth fighting for him, and to all youth who deserve to be cared for instead of criminalized. How many more can we lose?
Americans and the British spell many words differently. Americans omit the U that appears in some British words as a second vowel directly before a consonant. This rule doesnt extend to every such word, though, so it can be confusing to remember which words have different spellings.
Moldand mouldare alternative spellings of the same word. Continue reading to find out in which context each would be appropriate.
What is the Difference Between Mold and Mould?
In this article, I will compare moldvs. mould. I will use each spelling in a sentence and explain its proper context.
Finally, I will discuss a helpful trick to use when you arent sure whether to choose mouldor moldin your own writing.
When to Use Mold
What does mold mean? Moldcan be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, moldsometimes means a fungus that grows on organic matter.You can see the word mold used in this sense in the following sentences.
I wanted to eat the quiche I made two weeks ago, but it had mold on it.
Mold grew on the damp wood in the frame of the house.
Moldcan also mean a container that shapes molten liquid as it solidifies, like in these sentences:
The machine poured the iron into a mold, to form its final shape.
We need a new mold for the redesigned parts.
The shop bends flat glass by placing it on a mold the company has 4,000 shapes and heating both pieces in a kiln. This causes the glass to soften and slump into the desired shape. The Washington Post
Sometimes, moldis used figuratively to refer to a recognizable convention or form. See the examples below.
The new author is very much a dramatist in the mold of his 17th century British forebears.
The candidate broke the mold for campaign financing.
As a verb, moldmeans to form something into a new shape.The sentences below are examples:
I will mold you into a new woman.
Take your anger and mold it into determination.
When to Use Mould
What does mould mean? Mouldis a British English spelling of mold. It is used in all of the same contexts as mold.
Where Americans use mold, British English writers would use mould. The words differ only in the language communities in which they are accepted.
At one time they were made in a variety of sizes and in decorative moulds of different shapes. The Guardian
In the ngram below, you can see the usage of moldand mouldin both American and British English, respectively.
These graphs chart words used in books written in English since 1800. Even though they are not scientific or precise, they can easily illustrate long-term trends in usage.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is a helpful trick to remember mouldvs. mold.
Its easy to remember whether to use moldor mould.
Mold is the preferred spelling in American English.
Mould is preferred spelling in British English.
Since mouldcontains a U, like United Kingdom, you can easily keep these words straight in your mental vocabulary.
This goes for all variations of mold/mould.
For example,
Crown molding = American English
Crown moulding = British English
Summary
Is it mold or mould?Moldand mouldare alternative spellings of the same word, which can refer to fungus or a container for molten liquid as a noun, or the act of shaping something as a verb.
Americans use mold, but the British use mould.
You can remember to use mould in the U.K. since both mouldand United Kingdomcontain a U.
Now that you know the difference between these two words, be sure to check this site for all your other word choice questions.
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Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
If you're carrying money, a drivers license, or credit cards, you're carrying around holograms. The dove hologram on a Visa card may be the most familiar. The rainbow-colored bird changes colors and appears to move as you tilt the card. Unlike a bird in a traditional photograph, a holographic bird is a three-dimensional image. Holograms are formed by interference of light beams from a laser.
How Lasers Make Holograms
Holograms are made using lasers because laser light is "coherent." What this means is that all of the photons of laser light have exactly the same frequency and phase difference. Splitting a laser beam produces two beams that are the same color as each other (monochromatic). In contrast, regular white light consists of many different frequencies of light. When white light is diffracted, the frequencies split to form a rainbow of colors.
In conventional photography, the light reflected off an object strikes a strip of film that contains a chemical (i.e., silver bromide) that reacts to light. This produces a two-dimensional representation of the subject. A hologram forms a three-dimensional image because light interference patterns are recorded, not just reflected light. To make this happen, a laser beam is split into two beams that pass through lenses to expand them. One beam (the reference beam) is directed onto high-contrast film. The other beam is aimed at the object (the object beam). Light from the object beam gets scattered by the hologram's subject. Some of this scattered light goes toward the photographic film. The scattered light from the object beam is out of phase with the reference beam, so when the two beams interact they form an interference pattern.
The interference pattern recorded by the film encodes a three-dimensional pattern because the distance from any point on the object affects the phase of the scattered light. However, there is a limit to how "three-dimensional" a hologram can appear. This is because the object beam only hits its target from a single direction. In other words, the hologram only displays the perspective from the object beam's point of view. So, while a hologram changes depending on the viewing angle, you can't see behind the object.
Viewing a Hologram
A hologram image is an interference pattern that looks like random noise unless viewed under the right lighting. The magic happens when a holographic plate is illuminated with the same laser beam light that was used to record it. If a different laser frequency or another type of light is used, the reconstructed image won't exactly match the original. Yet, the most common holograms are visible in white light. These are reflection-type volume holograms and rainbow holograms. Holograms that can be viewed in ordinary light require special processing. In the case of a rainbow hologram, a standard transmission hologram is copied using a horizontal slit. This preserves parallax in one direction (so the perspective can move), but produces a color shift in the other direction.
Uses of Holograms
The 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to the Hungarian-British scientist Dennis Gabor "for his invention and development of the holographic method". Originally, holography was a technique used to improve electron microscopes. Optical holography didn't take off until the invention of the laser in 1960. Although holograms were immediately popular for art, practical applications of optical holography lagged until the 1980s. Today, holograms are used for data storage, optical communications, interferometry in engineering and microscopy, security, and holographic scanning.
Interesting Hologram Facts
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Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Mass percent composition of a molecule shows the amount each element in a molecule contributes to the total molecular mass. Each element's contribution is expressed as a percentage of the whole. This step-by-step tutorial will show the method to determine the mass percent composition of a molecule.
An Example With Potassium Ferricyanide
Calculate the mass percent composition of each element in a potassium ferricyanide, K 3 Fe(CN) 6 molecule.
The Solution
Step 1: Find the atomic mass of each element in the molecule.
The first step to finding mass percent is to find the atomic mass of each element in the molecule. K 3 Fe(CN) 6 is made up of potassium (K), iron (Fe), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Using the periodic table:
Atomic mass of K: 39.10 g/mol
Atomic mass of Fe: 55.85 g/mol
Atomic mass of C: 12.01 g/mo
lAtomic mass of N: 14.01 g/mol
Step 2: Find the mass combination of each element.
The second step is to determine the total mass combination of each element. Each molecule of KFe(CN)6 contains 3 K, 1 Fe, 6 C and 6 N atoms. Multiply these numbers by the atomic mass to get each element's mass contribution.
Mass contribution of K = 3 x 39.10 = 117.30 g/mol
Mass contribution of Fe = 1 x 55.85 = 55.85 g/mol
Mass contribution of C = 6 x 12.01 = 72.06 g/mol
Mass contribution of N = 6 x 14.01 = 84.06 g/mol
Step 3: Find the total molecular mass of the molecule.
The molecular mass is the sum of the mass contributions of each element. Simply add each mass contribution together to find the total.
Molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 = 117.30 g/mol + 55.85 g/mol + 72.06 g/mol + 84.06 g/mol
Molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 = 329.27 g/mol
Step 4: Find the mass percent composition of each element.
To find the mass percent composition of an element, divide the mass contribution of the element by the total molecular mass. This number must then be multiplied by 100% to be expressed as a percent.
For K:
Mass percent composition of K = mass contribution of K/molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 x 100%
Fe(CN) x 100% Mass percent composition of K = 117.30 g/mol/329.27 g/mol x 100%
Mass percent composition of K = 0.3562 x 100%
Mass percent composition of K = 35.62%
For Fe:
Mass percent composition of Fe = mass contribution of Fe/molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 x 100%
Fe(CN) x 100% Mass percent composition of Fe = 55.85 g/mol/329.27 g/mol x 100%
Mass percent composition of Fe = 0.1696 x 100%
Mass percent composition of Fe = 16.96%
For C:
Mass percent composition of C = mass contribution of C/molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 x 100%
Fe(CN) x 100% Mass percent composition of C = 72.06 g/mol/329.27 g/mol x 100%
Mass percent composition of C = 0.2188 x 100%
Mass percent composition of C = 21.88%
For N:
Mass percent composition of N = mass contribution of N/molecular mass of K 3 Fe(CN) 6 x 100%
Fe(CN) x 100% Mass percent composition of N = 84.06 g/mol/329.27 g/mol x 100%
Mass percent composition of N = 0.2553 x 100%
Mass percent composition of N = 25.53%
The Answer
DEFINITION of Heteroskedastic
Heteroskedastic refers to a condition in which the variance of the residual term,texas tea free slots or error term, in a regression model varies widely. If this is true, it may vary in a systematic way, and there may be some factor that can explain this. If so, then the model may be poorly defined and should be modified so that this systematic variance is explained by one or more additional predictor variables.
The opposite of heteroskedastic is homoskedastic. Homoskedasticity refers to a condition in which the variance of the residual term is constant or nearly so. Homoskedasticity (also spelled "homoscedasticity") is one assumption of linear regression modeling. Homoskedasticity suggests that the regression model may be well-defined, meaning that it provides a good explanation of the performance of the dependent variable.
BREAKING DOWN Heteroskedastic
Heteroskedasticity is an important concept in regression modeling, and in the investment world, regression models are used to explain the performance of securities and investment portfolios. The most well-known of these is the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which explains the performance of a stock in terms of its volatility relative to the market as a whole. Extensions of this model have added other predictor variables such as size, momentum, quality, and style (value vs. growth).
These predictor variables have been added because they explain or account for variance in the dependent variable, portfolio performance, then is explained by CAPM. For example, developers of the CAPM model were aware that their model failed to explain an interesting anomaly: high-quality stocks, which were less volatile than low-quality stocks, tended to perform better than the CAPM model predicted. CAPM says that higher-risk stocks should outperform lower-risk stocks. In other words, high-volatility stocks should beat lower-volatility stocks. But high-quality stocks, which are less volatile, tended to perform better than predicted by CAPM.
Later, other researchers extended the CAPM model (which had already been extended to include other predictor variables such as size, style, and momentum) to include quality as an additional predictor variable, also known as a "factor." With this factor now included in the model, the performance anomaly of low volatility stocks was accounted for. These models, known as multi-factor models, form the basis of factor investing and smart beta.
Definition of Analytical Essay
Analytical implies the breaking down of something into parts,blackjack table zitobox real money or the discussion of something in a way that it becomes a dissection of the whole. An analytical type of essay differs from other types of essays in that its primary goal is to explain something bit by bit to enhance understanding. Most of the times, an analytical essay is written about the analysis of a text, or a process, or an idea. In literature, however, it is a critical analysis of some literary text which is done to enhance its understanding.
Difference Between an Analytical Essay and a Critical Essay
An analytical essay is just an analysis of a literary text. By contrast, a critical essay involves, not only an analysis of the text in question, but also dissection of the literary terms and devices used by the author to make his meanings clear. The critical essay also explains the functions of the literary terms used, and evaluates their usage, and whether they have achieved the intended purposes or not.
Types of Analytical Essay
Cause and Effect: One way of analyzing something is to discuss the cause of something, and its effect on other things. Comparison and Contrast: Another way of analyzing something is to compare and contrast things among themselves. Classification: Classification is yet another method of analyzing things, to learn of their nature. Process: Process is also a type of analysis writing. Definition: Defining things is also a way of analyzing the nature of things.
Examples of Analytical Essay in Literature
Example #1:Liposuction: The Key to Energy Independence(by Barbara Ehrenreich)
I say to my fellow humans: Its time to stop feeding off the dead and grow up! I dont know about food, but I have a plan for achieving fuel self-sufficiency in less time than it takes to say Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The idea came to me from reports of the growing crime of French fry oil theft: Certain desperate individuals are stealing restaurants discarded cooking oil, which can then be used to fuel cars. So the idea is: why not skip the French fry phase and harvest high-energy hydrocarbons right from ourselves?
This is an excerpt from the essay of Barbara Ehrenreich, in which she has made comparison and contrast between human beings and animals, regarding food choices. This is a good analysis of the food we use.
Example #2: Freedom(by Joyce M. Jarett)
On the first day of school, I was escorted by hordes of national guardsmen. Like a funeral procession, the steady stream of official-looking cars followed me to the campus. Some patrolmen were parked near campus gates, while others, with guns strapped to their sides, stood near building entrances. Though many of my escorts had given me smiles of support, still I was not prepared for what I encountered upon entering my new school.
This is a paragraph from a process analysis. The author, Joyce M. Jaret, has beautifully described her experience of the security in this paragraph, and how it is deployed when an important figure faces security issues in his life. This is an analysis of the process of security deployment.
Example #3: The Ways of Meeting Oppression(by Martin Luther King, Jr.)
The third way open to oppressed people in their quest for freedom is the way of nonviolent resistance. Like the synthesis in Hegelian philosophy, the principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two oppositesthe acquiescence and violencewhile avoiding the extremes and immoralities of both. The nonviolent resister agrees with the person who acquiesces that one should not be physically aggressive toward his opponent; but he balances the equation by agreeing with the person of violence that evil must be resisted. He avoids the nonresistance of the former and the violent resistance of the latter. With nonviolent resistance, no individual or group need submit to any wrong, nor need anyone resort to violence in order to right a wrong.
This is the analysis by classification that Marth Luther King, a famous human rights activist, has done regarding oppression against African Americans.
Function of Analytical Essay
An analytical essay dissects something such as a concept, an idea, a thing, or even a character. Its major aim is to enhance the understanding of readers. An analysis could be done through a process, definition, classification and division, or comparison and contrast. The thing or idea is broken into several parts, through classification and division, and then analyzed. A process is broken into several steps for analysis. Not only do analytical essays enhance understanding, but they also make readers aware of minute details of things.
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A Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) delegation led by Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the PLA Cai Yingting left China Monday for an official visit to the United States.
Theaxie price no deposit blackjack delegation is making the visit at the invitation of the U.S. military.
Cais entourage includes Wang Ning, chief of staff of the Beijing Military Area Command, Zheng Qunliang, deputy commander of the Jinan Military Area Command, Jia Xiaowei, chief of staff of the Guangzhou Military Area Command and Chen Shoumin, deputy head of the strategic planning department of the PLA General Staff Headquarters.
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The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced on Monday that it has authorized one more online gaming and sports betting operator.
Since the official launch of online gaming and sports betting in the state last month, the Michigan Gaming Control Board approved various operators and platform providers. The Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, which operates under the Four Winds brand in Dowagiac, Hartford and New Buffalo along with its platform provider Pala Interactive LLC are joining the group.
The platform received its permission this Monday.
MGCBs executive director, Richard Kalm stated: We welcome the addition of Four Winds Casinos and Pala Interactive to Michigans growing online gaming and sports wagering market. Their participation will generate revenue to support education, economic development and the Pokagon Bands tribal community.
Four Winds will the 11th operatorto offer both online gaming and sports betting in Michigan. The 12th operator is Lac Vieux Desert Tribe and its platform PointsBet, but they are only authorized for internet sports bettingfor now.
The Other Operators
Among the other platform providersare DraftKings, William Hill, Barstool Sportsbook & Casino, TwinSpires, Golden Nugget, Rush Street Interactive, Met MGM, PokerStars and FoxBet, Fanduel and WynnBET.
Ten of the operators were announced at the end of January, right on track for the official launch.
PokerStars and FoxBet are one of the latest editions to the platform providers list. In the beginning of February, the two platforms were allowed to provide online poker within the states border.
Michiganders are currently only allowed to play legally in the state and only with fellow residents. However, the MGCB announced that later this year it will approve interstate play. Until now, Michigan is the fifth state that allows real money poker games.
Richard Kalm made a statement regarding the addition of PokerStars and FoxBet to the platforms list saying that PokerStars is the very first operator to offer peer-to-peer poker gamesin Michigan.
The process of legalizing online gambling in Michigan took a long time. According to the legislation, only states licensed casinosare allowed to offer online gaming and sports betting. The platforms need to partner with those casinos.
The legislation is one of the measures in the state that are supposed to compensate for financial losses experienced in the past year. According to MGCBs report from January, the launching was successfulfor it started bringing big enough revenue.
Although the numbers have not been issued yet, industry observers as well as operators and platform providers have signaled online gambling got off to a strong startamid a jam-packed schedule of major sporting events since the launch.
Source:Michigan Gaming Control Board authorizes Pala Interactive as latest to launch online gambling, Detroit News, February 16, 2021
The Chinese authorities have banned a hundred songs from Internet music portals, including those of global stars as Lady Gaga or the Backstreet Boys.
The Chinese Ministry of Culture says the ban is intended to restore order of the online music market that needs to be purged from songs which are harm the security of the state culture.
Beyonce Knowles, Katy Perry and Britney Spears, the Canadian group Simple Plan and the British group Take That are on this blacklist of banned songs on the network.
Lady Gaga has six titles in the red zone: The Edge of Glory, Hair, Marry the Night, Americano, Judas, and Bloody Mary. The Chinese Ministry of Culture does not explain why the songs of Lady Gaga are under a ban which is in force since August 19.
Beijing has set a limit on 15 September for the portals to eliminate the one hundred banned songs. Those who do not abide by the rule will be taken to court. Since 2010, China requires prior authorization for the songs broadcasted on the Web.
China Bans Lady Gagas Music from Internetadded by chinatimesonline on
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Regulated online gambling in the Argentinian province of Buenos Aires is nearly a done deal after the local gambling regulator, Instituto Provincial Loteria y Casinos (IPLyC), has disclosed the seven preferred bidders for iGaming and digital betting licenses.
The names of the seven partnerships that will be allowed to provide online gambling services on the territory of the province were revealed in the Buenos Aires executive gazette on December 31.
The provinces digital gambling legalization process kicked off in late 2018 when Buenos Aires lawmakers approved Decree 181. The measure called for the introduction of rules and regulations enabling interested companies to apply for and obtain licenses from IPLyC and operate in a regulated environment.
After gaining quite some momentum throughout the better part of 2019, plans for the legalization of online gambling in Argentinas largest and most populous province were put on hold in August 2019due to major turbulences and changes in Buenos Aires political scene.
Important progress was finally made late last year when IPLyC disclosed the names of the approved candidates for iGaming and digital wagering licenses.
Under Decree 181, IPLyC can issue up to seven online gambling licenses. The regulator is also tasked with ensuring that license holders and their operations are taxed at 5% on turnover.
The Approved License Applicants
IPLyC said late last year that it had received 14 license applications from partnerships formed between local gaming operators and international gambling companies. The seven approved ventures were ArgenBingo BA and William Hill, which recently bought a Colombian companyto expand in that market, too, Pasteko SA and bet365, Hotel Casino Tandil and Playtech, Boldt SA and 888, Atlantica de Juegos and Flutter, Binbaires SA and Intralot, and Casino de Victoria and Betsson.
Notable candidates that did not receive regulatory approval to operate in the province included Spanish operators Luckia and Codere and LatAm betting operator BetCris.
IPLyC will aim to open its online gambling market ahead of the regulation of digital gaming and bettingin the city of Buenos Aires. The gambling regulator informed the approved ventures that they would have 10 days from December 31 to present compliance guarantees in order to be issued licenses.
The companies will also be required to pay ARS65 million (approx. $773,000)in order to be allowed to conduct online gambling services on the territory of the province.
While IPLyC is working to finalize the licensing process, local news outlets reported that the Buenos Aires Governor, Axel Kicillof, could hamper the launch of the provinces regulated market. Gov. Kicillofs administration is reportedly dissatisfied with the provinces recently drafted gambling laws and welfare fundcommitments made by his predecessor, Maria Eugenia Vidal.
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What Are Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS)?best betting tips on telegram
The term long-term equity anticipation securities (LEAPS) refers to publicly traded options contracts with expiration dates that are longer than one year, and typically up to three years from issue. They are functionally identical to most other listed options, except with longer times until expiration.
A LEAPS contract grants a buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase or sell (depending on if the option is a call or a put, respectively) the underlying asset at the predetermined price on or before its expiration date.
Key Takeaways
Long-term equity anticipation securities are listed options contracts that expire in more than a year.
These contracts are ideal for options traders looking to trade a prolonged trend.
LEAPS can be listed on a particular stock or an index as a whole.
They are often used in hedging strategies and can be particularly effective for protecting retirement portfolios.
The premiums for LEAPS are higher than those for standard options in the same stock, but lower than the cost of shares of the underlying stock.
Understanding Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities (LEAPS)
LEAPS are no different from short-term options, except for the later expiration dates. Lengthier times until maturity allow long-term investors to gain exposure to prolonged price movements. As with many short-term options contracts, investors pay a premium or upfront fee for the ability to buy or sell above or below the option's strike price. The strike is the decided-upon price for the underlying asset at which it converts at expiry.
For example, a $25 strike price for a GE call option would mean an investor could buy 100 shares of GE at $25 at expiry. The investor will exercise the $25 option if the market price is higher than the strike price. Should it be less, the investor will allow the option to expire and will lose the price paid for the premium. Also, remember each put or call options contract equates to 100 shares of the underlying asset.
Investors must understand that they will be tying funds up in these long-term contracts. Changes in the market interest rate and market or asset volatility may make these options more or less valuable, depending on the holding and the direction of movement.
Index LEAPS
A market index is a theoretical portfolio made up of several underlying assets that represent a market segment, industry, or other groups of securities. There are LEAPS available for equity indexes. Similar to the single stock LEAPS, index LEAPS allow investors to hedge and invest in indices such as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500).
Index LEAPS give the holder the ability to track the entire stock market or specific industry sectors and take a bullish stance using call options or a bearish stance using put options. Investors could also hedge their portfolios against adverse market moves with index LEAPS puts.
LEAPS Premiums
Premiums are the non-refundable cost associated with an options contract. The premiums for LEAPS are higher than those for standard options in the same stock because the further out expiration date gives the underlying asset more time to make a substantial move and for the investor to make a healthy profit. Known as the time value, option marketplaces use this lengthy timeframe and the intrinsic value of the contract to determine the value of the option.
Intrinsic value is the calculated or estimated value of how likely the option is to make a profit based on the difference between the asset's market and strike price. This value may include profit that already exists in the contract before purchase. The contract writer will use fundamental analysis of the underlying asset or business to help place the intrinsic value.
As mentioned earlier, the option contract has a basis of 100 shares of the asset. So, if the premium for Meta (META), formerly Facebook, is $6.25, the option buyer will pay $625 total premium ($6.25 x 100 = $625).
Other factors that can affect the premium price include the volatility of the stock, the market interest rate, and if the asset returns dividends. Finally, throughout the life of the contract, the option will have a theoretical value derived from the use of various pricing models. This fluctuating price indicates what the holder may receive if they sell their contract to another investor before expiration.
LEAPS were first introduced by the Cboe in 1990, and are now ubiquitous.
Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities vs. Shorter-Term Contracts
LEAPS also allow investors to gain access to the long-term options market without needing to use a combination of shorter-term option contracts. Short-term options have a maximum expiration date of one year. Without LEAPS, investors who wanted a two-year option would have to buy a one-year option, let it expire, and simultaneously purchase a new one-year options contract.
This process, which is called rolling contracts over, would expose the investor to market changes in the prices of the underlying asset as well as additional option premiums. LEAPS provide the longer-term trader with exposure to a prolonged trend in a particular security with one trade.
Types of LEAPS
Calls
Equity LEAPS call options allow investors to benefit from potential rises in a specific stock while using less capital than purchasing shares with cash upfront. In other words, the cost of the premium for an option is lower than the cash needed to buy 100 shares outright. Similar to short-term call options, LEAPS calls allow investors to exercise their options by purchasing the shares of the underlying stock at the strike price.
Another advantage of LEAPS calls is that they let the holder sell the contract at any time before the expiration. The difference in premiums between the purchase and sale prices can lead to a profit or loss. Investors must also include any fees or commissions charged by their broker to buy or sell the contract.
Puts
LEAPS puts provide investors with a long-term hedge if they own the underlying stock. Put options gain in value as an underlying stock's price declines, potentially offsetting the losses incurred for owning shares of the stock. In essence, the put can help cushion the blow of falling asset prices.
For example, an investor who owns shares of Company XYZ and wishes to hold them for the long term might be fearful that the stock price could fall. To allay these concerns, the investor could purchase LEAPS puts on XYZ to hedge against unfavorable moves in the long stock position. LEAPS puts help investors benefit from price declines without the need to short sell shares of the underlying stock.
Short selling involves borrowing shares from a broker and selling them with the expectation that the stock will continue to depreciate by expiry. At expiry, the shares are purchasedhopefully at a lower priceand the position is netted out for a gain or loss. However, short selling can be extremely risky if the stock price rises instead of falling, leading to significant losses.
Advantages and Disadvantages of LEAPS
There are several key benefits and drawbacks of investing in long-term equity anticipation securities. We've listed some of the main ones below.
Advantages
The long timeframe of a LEAPS contract allows you to sell the option.
You can use a LEAPS contract to hedge your bets against fluctuations in your overall long-term portfolio.
There are plenty of LEAPS options available for investors who want to invest in equity indices, which means that you can hedge your bets against any drastic moves in the market. And by doing so, you can also take a bearish or bullish stance on the market as a whole rather than individual equities.
The prices for LEAPS are not as sensitive to the movement of the underlying asset. If the underlying asset's price changes, the price for the contract won't necessarily make a big move itself.
Disadvantages
The premiums for LEAPS are much costlier than other types of investments.
Because you're investing your money for the long term, your money is tied and locked up for the duration of the contract. This means that if you find another great investment opportunity, you may not be able to take advantage of it.
You may be susceptible to adverse movements in the market or individual companies, which can affect your overall position.
The prices for LEAPS are highly sensitive and subject to market volatility and interest rate fluctuations.
Long time frame allows selling of the option
Used to hedge a long-term holding or portfolio
Available for equity indices
Prices less sensitive to the movement of the underlying
Costlier premiums
Long time frame ties up the investment dollars
Markets or company movements may be adverse
Prices more sensitive to changes in volatility and interest rates
Real-World Example of LEAPS
ProsCons
Let's say an investor holds a portfolio of securities, which primarily includes the S&P 500 constituents. The investor believes there may be a market correction within the next two years and, as a result, purchases index LEAPS puts on the S&P 500 Index to hedge against adverse moves.
The investor buys a December 2021 LEAPS put option with a strike price of 3,000 for the S&P 500 and pays $300 upfront for the right to sell the index shares at 3,000 on the option's expiration date.
If the index falls below 3,000 by expiry, the stock holdings in the portfolio will likely fall, but the LEAPS put will increase in value, helping to offset the loss in the portfolio. However, if the S&P 500 rises, the LEAPS put option will expire worthless, and the investor would be out the $300 premium.
Are LEAPS a Good Investment?
LEAPS are simply long-date call or put options listed on stocks or indexes. As such, they will have higher initial premiums than shorter-dated options and lose value over time, all else equal. Like any investment, LEAPS will change in value - in the case of a call, it will rise and fall along with the underlying security (and for a put, inversely). For some investors, LEAPS may provide a more affordable way to take a long position than purchasing the actual stock.
When Should You Buy LEAPS?
If you have a medium-term time horizon, then a LEAPS call may be a good speculative bet on a stock that you think will rise. You can also buy LEAPS puts as a medium-term downside hedge against existing positions.
Can You Lose Money With LEAPS?
Yes, LEAPS involve risk and you can lose up to your full investment when purchasing one if it ultimately expires worthless. Selling LEAPS is also risky as you are exposed to theoretically unlimited losses if the underlying security moves against you.
The Bottom Line
Launched in 1990 by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) to meet investor demand, LEAPS are now a mainstay of options trading. LEAPS, which stand for Long-Term Equity Anticipation Securities, are simply listed equity call and put options that have initial expiration dates that are greater than one year, and up to 39 months into the future. As with all options, LEAPS come with unique risks and investors should understand the potential risks and rewards of trading in them.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on his official visit to China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Nov 4, 2022. Photo:Xinhua
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrived in Beijing on Friday for an official visit to China. In the morning, Chinese President Xi Jinping met him at the Great Hall of the People and held a banquet for him at the Golden Hall. In the afternoon, Premier Li Keqiang held talks with Scholz. The German chancellor's entire visit to China was compact and efficient, and the two sides had friendly, frank and pragmatic exchanges. Although the visit was not long, it was very significant.This is Scholz's first visit to China since he took office, and he is also the first European leader to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The trip means that the exchange of high-level visits between China on one side and Germany and Europe on the other has restarted. It will not only promote China-Germany relations to increase trust, clear doubts and deepen cooperation, but also help China-Germany and China-Europe relations continue playing their roles as the "ballast stone" in a turbulent world.It is clear from this meeting that China and Germany expressed many common views. For example, they both emphasized increasing mutual understanding and trust, adhering to economic globalization, promoting practical cooperation, adhering to dialogue and consultation, opposing bloc confrontation, and stepping up coordination and cooperation in international affairs. Scholz again made clear his opposition to "decoupling." China and Germany are influential forces in Asia and Europe, respectively. Their consensus not only meets the fundamental interests of both sides, but is also essential to the stability of the global economy and security.It is worth mentioning that Xi and Scholz also exchanged views on the Ukraine crisis and issued an initiative stating that the international community should support all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, oppose the use or the threat or use of nuclear weapons, work together to keep global industrial and supply chains stable, make joint efforts to tide civilians in areas affected by the crisis through the winter, and improve the humanitarian situation. These four proposals not only conform to what China has consistently advocated, but also reflect the general wishes of China, Germany, and the international community. They also show sincerity and commitment to promoting the de-escalation and even resolution of the Ukraine crisis as soon as possible.These indicate that China and Germany are not only highly complementary in their economies and have broad space for cooperation, but that they also share a lot of common language in their views on the trend of the times and the international situation. Consensus far outweighs differences, and cooperation largely outweighs competition. The two sides are partners rather than rivals, and both have benefited from each other's development and pragmatic cooperation. This is a tangible summary of China-Germany ties, China-EU relations, and even China's relationship with most countries in the world. It is on this solid and broad foundation that China's diplomacy stands with open arms.We have also noticed that Scholz's visit to China this time has become a key target for some forces. Who, in the end, does not welcome, does not want, or even opposes Scholz's visit to China? Most ordinary people in China, Germany, and Europe welcome it, because the practical cooperation between the two countries benefits them. And the business community is certainly even more welcoming. Those who create a buzz and pile pressure on Scholz are those who play with ideology as a profession, outdated European elites obsessed with their presumed superiority, and geopolitical manipulators in Washington.Actually, the exchange of high-level visits between China and Germany and between China and Europe is returning to normal. Former German chancellor Angela Merkel visited China 12 times during her tenure. The current unique background of the times and the complex international environment make Scholz's visit to China "special." This also reflects the unsound tendency of Europe's political ecology and mentality toward China, which morally coerces European diplomacy. This is what Germany and Europe need to strive to discard. As Scholz said in an article he wrote before visiting China, "Germany of all countries, which had such a painful experience of division during the Cold War, has no interest in seeing new blocs emerge in the world."China always regards Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner, supports the EU's strategic autonomy, and hopes that Europe will be stable and prosperous. This position is highly stable and consistent. "Both sides should keep to the overall direction of bilateral ties from a strategic height, pursue the largest common ground in a constructive manner, and advance practical cooperation with an open mind to create conditions for long-term and steady growth of bilateral ties. There should be no self-imposed restrictions or unrealistic expectations." This is what President Xi expects from China-Germany relations and is also worthy of reference for other European countries. To cope with the current changes and chaos and promote world peace and development, China on one side and Germany and Europe on the other need to better seek common ground while reserving their differences and working together.
From May 14,poker at star casino juaraqq pkv 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA and sports betting legalization began to spread beyond Nevada, through the end of 2022, two NFL players received suspensions for violating the leagues gambling policy.
From April through July of 2023, 10 NFL players received suspensions for violating the leagues gambling policy.
Seven of those are indefinite suspensions (which has, to this point, typically meant one full season) for betting on NFL games, and three of them are six-game suspensions for wagering on other sports markets while located in a league or a team facility or setting.
What Is a Highly Leveraged Transaction (HLT)?crypto reels casino no deposit bonus codes 2022
A highly leveraged transaction (HLT) is a bank loan to a company that has a large amount of debt. They were popularized in the 1980s as a way to finance buyouts, acquisitions, or recapitalizations.
Key Takeaways
Highly leveraged transactions are financing arrangements extended to companies that are already deeply in debt.
Highly leveraged transactions are undertaken for the purpose of recapitalizing, buying out a company, or even acquiring another company.
Highly leveraged transactions pay the financiers much higher rates of interest to compensate them for the additional risks posed by the large debt load.
Understanding Highly Leveraged Transactions (HLTs)
Highly leveraged transactions are risky in that they add to a company's debt load and often result in an unattractive debt-to-equity ratio, but the interest income generated from these transactions is significant enough to make them attractive to investors and financial institutions.
Highly leveraged transactions are thought of as being similar to junk bondsand junk bonds may well be issued as part of the deal structure. Both junk bonds and highly leveraged transactions face significant default risk, but HLTs are more secure because they have stronger debt covenants due to their structure. Leveraged buyouts (LBOs) are an example of a highly leveraged transaction.
Highly leveraged transactions often include some type of debt restructuring regardless of what the intention is for the financing. This is simply because the existing debt levels of the company must be dealt with for any chance of future success. The end result is usually a complicated debt structure with several types of subordinated debt. In the restructured entity, the lenders behind the highly leveraged transaction often end up with an equity stake in the new enterprise.
Guidance for Highly Leveraged Transactions
Guidance for highly leveraged transactions is set out by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve Board, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The OCC broadly considers a highly leveraged transaction as one where the borrowers post-financing leverage, when measured by debt-to-assets, debt-to-equity, and cash flow-to-total debt significantly exceeds industry norms for leverage. Depending on the particulars of the industry in question, customized industry metrics can be substituted for these broader measures.
For a loan to be defined as an HLT, it generally has to fit some combination of the following conditions:
Proceeds used for buyouts, acquisition, and recapitalization.
The transaction results in a substantial increase in the borrowers leverage ratio. Industry benchmarks include a twofold increase in the borrowers liabilities, resulting in a balance sheet leverage ratio (total liabilities/total assets) higher than 50%, or an increase in the balance sheet leverage ratio of more than 75%. Other benchmarks include increasing the borrowers operating leverage ratios (debt-to-EBITDA or senior debt/EBITDA) above defined levels.
Transactions are designated as an HLT by the syndication agent.
The borrower is rated as a non-investment-grade company with a high debt to equity ratio.
Loan pricing indicates a non-investment-grade company. This generally consists of some spread over the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) that fluctuates as a function of market conditions.
The guidance on highly leveraged transactions isn't a legal regulation. There is an implied high-water mark of 6 times debt-to-EBITDA for the restructured entity, but this amount has been exceeded many times. With highly leveraged transactions, as with almost everything, the limit is what the market will buy.
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I Ran (So Far Away) Listen online A Flock of Seagulls
About I Ran (So Far Away)
"I Ran (So Far Away)",sims 2021 blockchain games also released as "I Ran", is a song by English new wave band A Flock of Seagulls. It was released in 1982 as their third single and it was the second single from their self-titled debut album. It topped the chart in Australia, and reached numbers seven and nine in New Zealand and the United States respectively, although the single did not enjoy similar success in the band's home country (United Kingdom), failing to make the top 40. In an article for Rolling Stone titled, Anglomania: The Second British Invasion, Parke Puterbaugh wrote of the impact of the song's music video on its US chart success, "Fronted by a singer-synth player with a haircut stranger than anything you'd be likely to encounter in a month of poodle shows, A Flock of Seagulls struck gold on the first try. " more
Year: 1994 3:47 96 Views Playlists: #1
Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer
I walk along the avenueI never thought I'd meet a girl like youMeet a girl like youWith auburn hair and tawny eyesThe kind of eyes that hypnotize me throughYou hypnotize me throughAnd I ranI ran so far awayI just ranI ran all night and dayI couldn't get awayA cloud appears above your headA beam of light comes shining down on youShining down on youThe cloud is moving nearer stillAurora Borealis comes in viewAurora comes in viewAnd I ranI ran so far awayI just ranI ran all night and dayI couldn't get awayReached out a hand to touch your faceYou're slowly disappearing from my viewDisappearing from my viewReached out a hand to try againI'm floating in a beam of light with youA beam of light with youAnd I ranI ran so far awayI just ranI ran all night and dayAnd I ranI ran so far awayI just ranI ran all night and day
The Higher Peoples Court (HPC) in east Chinas Zhejiang province on Monday handed businesswoman Wu Ying a death penalty with a two-year reprieve for fundraising fraud after retrial.
The court also ordered that all Wus personal property be confiscated, and stripped her of political rights for life in final judgement.
In December 2009, Wu, the 31-year-old former owner of the Zhejiang-based Bense Holding Group, was sentenced to death by the Jinhua Intermediate Peoples Court for cheating investors out of 380 million yuan (60.2 million U.S. dollars).
Wu raised 770 million yuan by promising investors high returns between May 2005 and February 2007, the intermediate court found. She still had 380 million yuan as well as a large amount of unpaid debt with creditors when the case was uncovered.
The intermediate court said Wu amassed the fortune for illegal possession by fabricating facts, deliberately hiding the truth, and promising high returns as an incentive.
The Zhejiang HPC upheld the death sentence on Jan. 18, but the Supreme Peoples Court overrode the judgement and sent the case back to the Zhejiang HPC for re-sentencing on April 20.
Xinhua
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Casino content provider Red Rake Gaming is set to further extend its Italian foothold through a recent deal with local developer and provider Microgame.
Under the terms of the deal, Red Rake Gaming will provide its new partner with access to its diverse range of online casino titles. Microgame will be able to distribute these to its network of operators that service Italian gambling customers.
The recently inked content distribution deal follows several similar commercial agreements penned by Red Rake Gaming as part of its strategy to cement itself and its content in multiple regulated markets.
Italy has been among the most recent markets Red Rake Gaming has entered with its portfolio of online slots. The deal with Microgame enables the game supplier to extend its footprint in the lucrative Italian market.
Red Rake Gamings newest partner operates as both an application service provider as well as a developer and provider of content distribution platforms and integrated service systems. Microgame was established in 1996 in Italyand was among the pioneers in the countrys online gambling and sports betting markets.
Of their alignment with Microgame, Nick Barr, Managing Director for Red Rake Gamings recently established Malta operations, said that the deal is very important for their expansion in the Italian market. Mr. Barr went on that Microgame has a strong present in Italy and has established ties with a number of locally licensed gambling operators.
Launch of Red Rake Content to Take Place in the Coming Weeks
Microgame said that their strategy is to be market leaders and introducing exciting new content like Red Rake Gamings titles fits perfectly their objectives. The company also revealed that they are set to roll out Red Rake Gamings titles in the coming weeks.
As pointed out earlier, the Microgame deal is the latest of a series of agreements signed by Red Rake Gaming in recent months as part of its expansion strategy. Last month, the provider announced that its library of slots has gone live with Betzest, an online casino and betting website that was launched last year and has extended significantly its offering since its inception.
Through several deals inked earlier this year, Red Rake Gaming was also able to enter and extend its footprint in Portugals regulated gambling market. Casino Portugal, Bet.pt, and French gambling group Betclicwere among the locally licensed operators that have gained access to the providers range of online slots. The content supplier also secured entry or expansion into Greece, Spain, and Ukraine, among other markets.
It was earlier this year again when Red Rake Gaming obtained a license from the Malta Gaming Authority. The move enabled the company to extend significantly its footprint across multiple markets. Red Rake Gaming received its license shortly after it opened an office in the Mediterranean island nation that has over the years established itself as one of the major online gambling hubs.
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Definition of Asyndeton
Asyndeton is www sportingbet grderived from the Greek word asyndeton, which means unconnected. It is a stylistic device used in literature and poetry to intentionally eliminate conjunctions between the phrases, and in the sentence, yet maintain grammatical accuracy. This literary tool helps in reducing the indirect meaning of the phrase and presents it in a concise form. It was first used in Greek and Latin literature.
Types of Asyndeton
Asyndeton examples may be classified into two types:
Used between words and phrases within a sentence
For example:
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils, Shrunk to this little measure?
(Julius Caesar, Act 3, Scene 1, by William Shakespeare) Used between sentences or clauses
For example:
Without looking, without making a sound, without talking
(Oedipus at Colonus, by Sophocles)
Difference Between Syndeton and Asyndeton
Syndeton and asyndeton are opposite to one another. Syndeton includes the addition of multiple conjunctions, such as in this example: He eats andsleeps anddrinks. On the other hand, asyndeton is the elimination, or leaving out, of conjunctions, such as in this example: He eats, sleeps, drinks.
Each creates a completely different effect. Syndeton slows down the rhythm of speech, and makes it moderate, whereas asyndeton speeds up the rhythm of the speech.
Difference Between Asyndeton and Polysendtone
Asyndeton is a rhetorical device where the omission of conjunction is marked by a comma. On the other hand, a polysyndeton is opposite to it. It rather connects the clauses with a conjunction. For example, I came, I saw, I conquered, is asyndeton which becomes I came and I saw and I conquered as a polysyndeton. In other words, whereas the first one is marked by the insertion of commas, the second one shows the omission of commas and the use of conjunctions.
Use of Asyndeton in Sentences
They observe, they take up, they complete it. Once he is lazy, second he is lethargic, third, he is a failure. Once they leave, they leave forever, they disappear. The more you talk, the more you listen, the more you absorb. Going fast, they leave the road, they enter the fields.
Examples of Asyndeton in Literature
Example #1: Othello(By William Shakespeare)
IAGO
Call up her father.
Rouse him. Make after him, Poison his delight,
Proclaim him in the streets. Incense her kinsmen,
And, though he in a fertile climate dwell
In this excerpt, Shakespeare has eliminated conjunctions deliberately. There is a shortage of the conjunctions and, for, or, and but, which are required to join the sentences. Due to this, the words have been emphasized, and feelings of anger and jealousy are articulated explicitly.
Example #2: The Scholar-Gipsy (By Matthew Arnold)
Go, shepherd, and untie the wattled cotes!
No longer leave thy wistful flock unfed,
Nor let thy bawling fellows rack their throats,
Nor the croppd herbage shoot another head
Thou hast not lived, why shouldst thou perish, so?
Thou hadst oneaim, onebusiness, onedesire;
Else wert thou long since numbered with the dead
This is a good example of asyndeton. The conjunctions are missing in the sentences, such as the second and sixth lines are not connected with adjoining words. However, it produces speed in the poem.
Example #3: The Winters Tale(By William Shakespeare)
Is whispering nothing?
Is leaning cheek to cheek? is meeting noses?
Kissing with inside lip? stopping the career
Of laughter with a sigh? (a note infallible
Of breaking honesty!) horsing foot on foot?
In this excerpt, we can observe both types of asyndeton. The first type (between the words) such as from is removed between the words leaning and cheek and similarly the second type (between the sentences) with the sentences not being joined by conjunctions.
Example #4: Rhetoric(By Aristotle)
This is the villain among you who deceived you, who cheated you, who meant to betray you completely
The word and is not featured in the given lines, which could have functioned as a conjunction here. Aristotle believed that asyndeton could be effective if used in the ending of the texts. Here he himself employed this device.
Example #5: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man(By James Joyce)
Consciousness of place came ebbing back to him slowly over a vast tract of time unlit, unfelt, unlived
Joyce has also used this device, omitting the conjunctions in order to give rhythm and pace to the text. Here, we can see the elimination of conjunctions, which could have joined the words unlit, unfelt, and unlived. This creates are creating a frantic and hurried effect.
Function of Asyndeton
Asyndeton helps in speeding up the rhythm of words. Mostly this technique is employed in speech but can be used in written works too. It helps in attracting readers to collaborate with the writers since it suggests that words, phrases, and sentences are incomplete, and the readers would have to do some work to deduce meanings. This version creates immediate impact, and the readers are attuned to what the author is trying to convey.
Asyndeton is often applied intentionally in order to give a unique emphasis to the text, thereby drawing the attention of readers towards a particular idea the author wants to convey.
Synonyms of Asyndeton
Asyndeton does not have any synonyms that could be used interchangeably, as the omission of conjunction is equated with the omission of some other letters of words. The closest relating words to Asyndeton are omission, elision, aphesis, apocope, ellipsis, and gapping. However, they cannot be used interchangeably for asyndeton as it has its own rhetorical features.
What Is a Rider?cleopatra gold slot machine free play
A rider is an insurance policy provision that adds benefits to or amends the terms of a basic insurance policy. Riders provide insured parties with additional coverage options, or they may even restrict or limit coverage. There is an additional cost if a party decides to purchase a rider. Most are low in cost because they involve minimal underwriting. A rider is also referred to as an insurance endorsement. It can be added to policies that cover life, homes, autos, and rental units.
Key Takeaways
A rider is an insurance policy provision that adds benefits to or amends the terms of a basic insurance policy to provide additional coverage.
Riders tailor insurance coverage to meet the needs of the policyholder.
Riders come at an extra coston top of the premiums an insured party pays.
Riders come in various forms, including long-term care, term conversion, waiver of premiums, and exclusionary riders.
In some cases, a policyholder may not be able to add a rider after the policy has been initiated.
Understanding a Rider
Some policyholders have specific needs not covered by standard insurance policies, so riders help them create insurance products that meet those needs. Insurance companies offer supplemental insurance riders to customize policies by adding varying types of additional coverage. The benefits of insurance riders include increased savings from not purchasing a separate policy and the option to buy different coverage at a later date.
Say an insured person has a terminal illness and adds an accelerated death benefit rider on a life insurance policy. This rider would provide the insured with a cash benefit while living. The insured may use these funds how they wish, perhaps to improve their quality of life or to pay for medical and final expenses. When the insured passes away, their designated beneficiaries receive a reduced death benefitthe face value less the portion used under the accelerated death benefit rider.
Buying an insurance rider is up to the insured party, who should weigh the cost against their individual needs. Although riders may sound appealing, they come at a coston top of the premiums for the policy itself. Certain homeowner insurance policies come with extra earthquake riders, but someone who doesn't live near a fault line probably doesn't need this additional coverage. Another thing to consider: a rider may duplicate coverage, so it's important to look over the basic insurance contract.
Before adding a rider to an insurance policy, the holder should weigh the cost of the rider and decide whether they really need it. It is also wise to check that the rider does not duplicate coverage already included in the basic policy.
Types of Riders
Riders come in various forms, including long-term care, term conversion, waiver of premiums, and exclusionary.
Long-Term Care Rider
Long-term care (LTC) coverage is often available as a rider to a cash value insurance product such as universal, whole, or variable life insurance. A rider can address specific long-term care issues. The funds reduce the policy's death benefit when they are used. Designated beneficiaries receive the death benefit less the amount paid out under the long-term care rider.
In some cases, the policyholder's needs may exceed the total benefit of the life insurance policy. So it may be more advantageous to purchase a stand-alone LTC policy. If the LTC rider is unused, the policyholder saves in costs when compared to purchasing a stand-alone LTC policy.
Term Conversion Rider
Term life insurance provides coverage for a limited time, typically 10 to 30 years. Once the policy expires, the policyholder is not guaranteed new coverage at the same terms. The policyholder's medical condition may make it difficult or impossible to obtain another policy.
A term conversion rider allows the policyholder to convert an existing term life insurance to permanent life insurance without a medical exam. This is typically favorable to young parents seeking to lock in coverage to protect their families in the future.
Waiver of Premium Riders
This rider is generally available only when the policy begins and may not be available in every state. Under the waiver of premium rider, the insured party is relieved of premium payments if the policyholder becomes critically ill, disabled, or seriously injured. There may be certain requirements to add this rider, such as age limits and certain health requirements.
Exclusionary Riders
Exclusionary riders restrict coverage under a policy for a specific event or condition. Exclusionary riders are mainly found in individual health insurance policies. For example, coverage can be restricted for a preexisting condition detailed in the policy provisions.
As of September 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibited exclusionary riders from being applied to children. Exclusionary riders have not been permitted in any healthcare insurance since 2014.
Example of a Rider
A typical homeowners insurance policy includes coverage for structural damage, personal property damage or loss, and personal liability coverage. However, each standard protection is also subject to coverage limits or restrictions. A rider broadens the standard coverage.
For example, an expensive piece of jewelry can be protected by extending personal property coverage through a scheduled personal property rider. A homeowners policy may have a coverage limit of $50,000 for personal property, but it might also have a sub-limit of $1,500 for jewelry. If valuable jewelry is stolen or damaged by a fire, the policyholder would only be reimbursed up to $1,500 to help replace it. A rider would extend the reimbursement amount for certain valuable items.
A standalone insurance policy will typically offer more coverage than a rider. Thus, check with an insurance expert whether you should invest in a whole new policy rather than rely on a rider for coverage.
Rider Insurance FAQs
What Is a Rider in Insurance?
An insurance rider is an adjustment or an add-on to a basic insurance policy. Riders are designed to provide additional benefit over the stated coverage in the basic policy. A rider is useful for tailoring an insurance policy to the precise needs of the insured entity.
Does a Rider Cost More Money?
A rider is added to an existing policy in exchange for a fee payable to the insurer.
What Are the Benefits of a Rider?
Riders allow insurance policies to be tailored to meet the needs of the policyholder. For example, a homeowner might need additional personal property insurance if they have certain valuable items, or they may need additional structural insurance if they live in a region where inclement weather is a threat to their home. Life insurance riders allow policyholders to purchase more insurance as they age. Doing so might be cheaper than going through the typical underwriting process required for a new policy. Also, some insurance policies allow for the accumulation of cash value for the policy on a tax-deferred basis.
What Are Home Owners Insurance Riders?
Riders for homeowners include the following:
Scheduled personal property coverage.This rider extends coverage for valuables, such as jewelry and antiques, and protects them against additional risks that a standard homeowners policy does not cover, for example, loss or misplacement.
Water backup coverage.A homeowner's policy may not cover water damage from a backed-up drain or sump pump. This type of rider would cover the cost of backed-up drains and water damage.
Building code coverage. If a home is not up to building code standards when damage occurs, the owner may have to pay out of pocket to bring the structure up to code. This type of rider will pay the additional cost of bringing the home up to code after a covered claim.
Business property coverage.If you run a business out of your home, you may need additional coverage to protect business equipment or products stored in your home.
Identify theft restoration coverage.Having your identity stolen can incur costs such as legal fees. This type of rider would ensure that the policyholder is reimbursed for any expenses should their identity be stolen.
How Can I Drop an Insurance Rider?
Most insurance companies will allow you to drop a rider from a policy simply by filling out a form that authorizes its removal.
It being a little darkish, I staid not to take notice of him, but we went directly back again. Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete|Samuel Pepys
The Harry Longlegsdubbed with darkish brown hair, and a brown hackle over it, head rather large. The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland
This extract has a darkish brown colour, and tastes and smells strongly of cubebs. Cooley's Cyclopdia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I|Arnold Cooley
Reports emerged late last week that Kindred Group may be eyeing further expansion of its operations through the acquisition of Danish state-owned gambling operator Danske Spilfor around DKK4 billion ($570 million). The news first appeared in Danish business news outlet Brsen and was conveyed to English-speaking readers by Calvin Ayre.
It was last week again when Kindred Group announced that it would purchase smaller gambling operator 32Redfor the amount of 175.6 million. The acquisition deal is set to further consolidate Kindred Groups presence in one of its core markets the UK.
As for the Malta-headquartered companys bid to buy Danske Spil, its interest could be explained with the fact that Denmark has turned into an attractive jurisdiction for international iGaming operatorsafter it regulated its market back in 2012. What is more, as Kim Olesen, Kindred Group General Manager for Denmark, told Brsen, Danske Spil has remained a force to reckon with in the local market, although a number of major international operators have entered Denmark since 2012.
However, it is rather doubtful whether a deal would eventually take place. It seems that key Danish officials are more keen on Danske Spil remaining a state-managed entity.
First news that the country was contemplating on the possibility to sell the gambling operator emerged last spring. It was reported back than that Danske Spils assets might be splitand its online betting and gaming operations might be sold to interested private gambling operators. As for its highly profitable lottery assets, they were to remain under state control.
Split opinions emerged on the sale of the state-run company and, as mentioned above, MPs do not seem very convinced that the move would be the right one.
The Danish gambling regulator reported on Monday that the amount of DKK3.7 billion was generated from online gambling operationsin 2016, up from DKK3.4 billion in 2015. Sports betting was the most lucrative segment last year with gross gaming revenue of DKK2.2 billion. The amount of DKK2 billion was reported for 2015. Online casino games, excluding poker, generated the total amount of DKK1.4 billion, up DKK1.3 billion from a year earlier. Online poker operations contributed DKK148 million last year. Revenue from that particular game dropped slightly from DKK165 million in 2015.
In an apartment surrounded by gardens in the heart of Greenwich Village in New York, the Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng Sunday began his new American life, enjoying a bittersweet freedom thousands of kilometers away from the country he wanted to change from the inside.
Chens family is settled in a building of the New York University (NYU) who offered him a scholarship to study law. At the foot of the building, childrens games facilities should bring happiness to his 6 year old daughter and her 8 year old son.
For his first day, he had nothing special planned, according to his entourage.
On his arrival in New York, Chen Guangcheng, smiling, took the time to talk to the press, a freedom he would not have imagined in isolation from his village of Dongshigu in Shandong Province, where he was still under house arrest a month ago.
The blind self-taught lawyer, made especially famous for exposing the campaigns of sterilization and forced abortions in China, expressed his gratitude to the U.S. embassy where he found refuge in Beijing shortly after his incredible escape from his village in late April and also thanked the Chinese authorities have handled the situation with restraint and calm.
But he also expressed concern that the retaliation does not appear to have declined in his village, where there are still members of his family. We hope a thorough investigation into this, he added.
I think the central governments promises are true and they do not lie to me, he added. Chen also mentioned that Chinese authorities had promised to protect their rights as citizens in the long term.
Arriving in New York with his wife and their children, after Beijing had finally decided to let them go, Chen had repeatedly said before his departure he would not be granted asylum in the U.S. he got passport and visa for studies and he hopes to return to China as soon as possible.
Saturday night, he seemed more aggressive than ever, calling to continue the fight for good in the world and against injustice. Equality and justice have no borders, he added.
But according to advocates of human rights, nothing says he can easily return to his country.
Dissident Chen Guangcheng began his new life in New Yorkadded by chinatimesonline on
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mobilautomatenshows grade level based on the word's complexity. death adder New Word List Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
nouneither of two highly venomous elapid snakes of the genus Acanthophis, of Australia and New Guinea, having a stout body and broad head.
Words nearby death adder
How to use death adder death adder nouna venomous Australian elapid snake, Acanthophis antarcticus, resembling an adder Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question death adderFirst recorded in 185560dear me, dearth, deary, deasil, death, death adder, death and taxes, certain as, death angel, death anxiety, deathbed, death bellDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
What Is a Risk-Adjusted Return?safemoon crypto reddit
A risk-adjusted return is a calculation of the profitor potential profit from an investment that takes into account the degree of risk that must be accepted in order to achieve it. The risk is measured in comparison to that of a virtually risk-free investmentusually U.S. Treasuries.
Depending on the method used, the risk calculation is expressed as a number or a rating. Risk-adjusted returns are applied to individual stocks, investment funds, and entire portfolios.
Key Takeaways
A risk-adjusted return measures an investment's return after taking into account the degree of risk that was taken to achieve it.
There are several methods of risk-adjusting performance, such as the Sharpe ratio and Treynor ratio, with each yielding a slightly different result.
In any case, the purpose of risk-adjusted return is to help investors determine whether the risk taken was worth the expected reward.
Risk-Adjusted Return
Understanding Risk-Adjusted Return
1:17
The risk-adjusted return measures the profit your investment has made relative to the amount of risk the investment has represented throughout a given period of time. If two or more investments delivered the same return over a given time period, the one that has the lowest risk will have a better risk-adjusted return.
Some common risk measures used in investing include alpha, beta, R-squared, standard deviation, and the Sharpe ratio. When comparing two or more potential investments, an investor should apply the same risk measure to each investment under consideration in order to get a relative performance perspective.
Different risk measurements give investors very different analytical results, so it is important to be clear on what type of risk-adjusted return is being considered.
Examples of Risk-Adjusted Return Methods
Sharpe Ratio
The Sharpe ratio measures the profit of an investment that exceeds the risk-free rate, per unit of standard deviation. It is calculated by taking the return of the investment, subtracting the risk-free rate, and dividing this result by the investment'sstandard deviation.
All else equal, a higher Sharpe ratio is better. The standard deviation shows the volatility of an investment's returns relative to its average return, with greater standard deviations reflecting wider returns, and narrower standard deviations implying more concentrated returns. The risk-free rate used is the yield on a no-risk investment, such as a Treasury bond (T-bond), for the relevant period of time.
For example, say Mutual Fund A returned 12% over the past year and had a standard deviation of 10%, Mutual Fund B returns 10% and had a standard deviation of 7%, and the risk-free rate over the time period was 3%. The Sharpe ratios would be calculated as follows:
Mutual Fund A: (12% - 3%) / 10% = 0.9
Mutual Fund B: (10% - 3%) / 7% = 1
Even though Mutual Fund A had a higher return, Mutual Fund B had a higher risk-adjusted return, meaning that it gained more per unit of total risk than Mutual Fund A.
Treynor Ratio
The Treynor ratio is calculated the same way as the Sharpe ratio, but uses the investment's beta in the denominator. As is the case with the Sharpe, a higher Treynor ratio is better.
Using the previous fund example, and assuming that each of the funds has a beta of 0.75, the calculations are as follows:
Mutual Fund A: (12% - 3%) / 0.75 = 0.12
Mutual Fund B: (10% - 3%) / 0.75 = 0.09
Here, Mutual Fund A has a higher Treynor ratio, meaning that the fund is earning more return per unit of systematic risk than Fund B.
Special Considerations
Risk avoidance is not always a good thing in investing, so be wary of over-reacting to these numbers, especially if the timeline being measured is short. In strong markets, a mutual fund with a lower risk than its benchmark can limit the real performance that the investor wants to see.
Beware of over-reacting to these numbers, especially if the timeline being measured is short. Greater risks can mean greater rewards over the long-term.
A fund that entertains more risk than its benchmark may experience better returns. In fact, it has been shown many times that higher-risk mutual funds may accrue greater losses during volatile periods, but are also likely to outperform their benchmarks over full market cycles.
gods unchained magic the gatheringshows grade level based on the word's complexity. aberration [ ab-uh-rey-shuhn ]/ b re n / New Word List Save This Word!See synonyms for: aberration / aberrational on Thesaurus.comThis shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.[ ab-uh-rey-shuhn ]/ b re n /Save This Word!See synonyms for: aberration / aberrational on Thesaurus.comThis shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
They were also an aberration from conventional music industry logic. How TikTok is changing the music industry|Stacey Anderson|February 21, 2021|Quartz
How TikTok is changing the music industry|Stacey Anderson|February 21, 2021|Quartz January 6th was a culmination of the presidents actions, not an aberration from them. I was skeptical of Democrats pursuing a second impeachment. I was wrong.|Karen Tumulty|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
I was skeptical of Democrats pursuing a second impeachment. I was wrong.|Karen Tumulty|February 11, 2021|Washington Post We will also be investigating any aberrations and issues in the mail-in voting process as we find them, and telling the stories of the people and communities impacted most. Millions of Mail-In Votes Have Already Been Cast in Battleground States. Track Their Progress Here.|by ProPublica|October 15, 2020|ProPublica
Millions of Mail-In Votes Have Already Been Cast in Battleground States. Track Their Progress Here.|by ProPublica|October 15, 2020|ProPublica Our current era of seesawing power is the historical aberration, and as political scientist Frances Lee argues in her book Insecure Majorities, it has reshaped Congress and made bipartisan compromise nearly impossible. The definitive case for ending the filibuster|Ezra Klein|October 1, 2020|Vox The citys death statistics reveal an aberration, ProPublica found. Sent Home to Die|by Annie Waldman and Joshua Kaplan|September 2, 2020|ProPublica
Sent Home to Die|by Annie Waldman and Joshua Kaplan|September 2, 2020|ProPublica The Civil War was clearly an aberration in American society and of profound significance. The Man Who Made America: Simone Winchester Talks New Book|Eric Herschthal|October 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The Man Who Made America: Simone Winchester Talks New Book|Eric Herschthal|October 17, 2013|DAILY BEAST In fact, the very notion of restraint has become an aberration. The 1 Percent Army: Andrew Bacevich on How America Lost the Military|Phil Klay|September 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The 1 Percent Army: Andrew Bacevich on How America Lost the Military|Phil Klay|September 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST His actions may have been an aberration but his thinking, sadly, is not. How To Take Purim Seriously|Shaul Magid|February 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
How To Take Purim Seriously|Shaul Magid|February 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST But as the report pointed out time and time again, that dark era of violence in America was not some aberration. Sorry, But Dont Expect Any Change After Newtown|Buzz Bissinger|December 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Sorry, But Dont Expect Any Change After Newtown|Buzz Bissinger|December 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST How did this aberration come to pass and why has it persisted until now? Victory for Pot Means Beginning of the End of Our Crazy Drug War|Martin A. Lee|November 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Victory for Pot Means Beginning of the End of Our Crazy Drug War|Martin A. Lee|November 8, 2012|DAILY BEAST Even a thinking machine must have its moments of aberration. The Secret Witness|George Gibbs
The Secret Witness|George Gibbs But this easiness is only possible, in promiscuity, which is possibly a worse ill than aberration. The Natural Philosophy of Love|Remy de Gourmont
The Natural Philosophy of Love|Remy de Gourmont Nevertheless it would be imprudent wholly to rule out this form of sexual aberration from the causes of variability of species. The Natural Philosophy of Love|Remy de Gourmont
The Natural Philosophy of Love|Remy de Gourmont The spiritual culture of Greece an aberration of the amazing political impulse towards . We Philologists, Volume 8 (of 18)|Friedrich Nietzsche
We Philologists, Volume 8 (of 18)|Friedrich Nietzsche His instinct, which was stronger than his intelligence, told him that such an aberration was possible. The Fourth Estate, vol. 2|Armando Palacio Valds noun
British Dictionary definitions for aberration
aberration/ (bren) /
noundeviation from what is normal, expected, or usualdeparture from truth, morality, etca lapse in control of one's mental facultiesoptics a defect in a lens or mirror that causes the formation of either a distorted image or one with coloured fringesSee also spherical aberration, chromatic aberrationastronomy the apparent displacement of a celestial body due to the finite speed of light and the motion of the observer with the earth
Scientific definitions for aberration
aberration[ ab-rashn ]
A deviation in the normal structure or number of chromosomes in an organism.A defect in a lens or mirror that prevents light rays from being focused at a single point and results in a distorted or blurred image. Aberration that results in distortion of color is called chromatic aberration. Aberration that is caused by imperfections in the surface or shape of a spherical mirror or lens is called spherical aberration. See also astigmatism coma2.
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012The American Heritage Science Dictionary Copyright 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Have you ever seen a sign for a holistic massage parlor and wondered exactly what kinds of services are offered there?
The word holistic appears in many odd places, and it can be somewhat confusing. Despite its spelling, it doesnt have anything to do with holes. Many writers think it should be spelled wholistic, and given its meaning, their argument makes a certain kind of sense. Still, ever since the word was first used in the first half of the 20th century, holistic has been the preferred spelling.
But is wholistic a word unto itself? Continue reading to find out.
What is the Difference Between Wholistic and Holistic?
In this post, I will compare wholistic vs. holistic. I will use each of these words in at least one example sentence, so you can see them in context.
Plus, I will show you a memory tool that makes choosing wholistic or holistic much easier.
When to Use Holistic
What does holistic mean? Holistic is an adjective that means dealing with every aspect of something. Holistic medicine, for example, considers the mind and spirit in addition to the body, seeing them as inseparable parts of a whole.
The sentences below are additional examples.
Marnie adopted a holistic approach to cleaning out the refrigerator: he threw out everything that had been in there for more than a week.
Aurie opened a holistic healing practice downtown, but hasnt healed many customers yet.
She moved to Clearwater, Fla., where, she told investigators, she became interested in holistic healing and an organic lifestyle. The New York Times
Holistic has unclear origins, but according to Merriam-Webster, it was first recorded in English in 1926. Its root word, holism, was invented by a South African official to express the notion that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. This person could have saved English writers a lot of trouble if he had put a little more thought into the spelling of his new word.
When to Use Wholistic
What does wholistic mean? Wholistic is a common misspelling of holistic. Its easy to see how the mistake comes about, since holistic means considering the whole, not considering the hole. Wholistic seems to make much more sense, given the words actual meaning, but it is a misspelling nonetheless.
Holistic is the standard spelling of this word and has been since its creation. The chart below, which graphs holisticvs. wholisticin English books since 1800, clearly shows holistic is the correct spelling.
This chart isnt 100 percent exhaustive in its scope (it only deals with books), but it is accurate enough to illustrate a clear, long-term usage trend.
Trick to Remember the Difference
You should always use holistic, since wholistic is a misspelling of the word.
Holistic vs. Wholistic Check:Wholistic and wrong both begin with the letter W, so remembering that wholistic is wrong should be easy to do.
Summary
Is it holistic or wholistic? Holistic is an adjective that means considering all the parts of something as a cohesive whole. While it seems that wholistic would make more sense, holistic is the only accepted spelling.
In summary,
If you were referring to some event in the past, would you call it a historic event or a historical event?
Similarly, if the Supreme Court hands down a landmark decision, is this a historic or historical decision?
What is the Difference Between Historic and Historical?
In todays post, I want to clear up any confusion you might have on the uses of historic vs. historical.
I will outline their uses and their definitions; I will provide example sentences using each word; and I will give you a handy trick to remember the difference between the two.
When to Use Historic
What does historic mean? Historic is an adjective that means famous or important in history, or potentially so.
The signing of the Declaration of Independence was a historic moment for all of humankind.
We are standing on a historic site; this is where the battle of Gettysburg took place.
Authorities say a fire that destroyed a historic New Jersey synagogue appears to be accidental. The Washington Post
In other words, a historic event is an event that has great significance. A historic building is a building that has great significance and so on and so forth.
Now that we know this, if we reexamine our example from the very beginning about the Supreme Court, we can clearly see that a landmark decisionwould properly be called a historic decision, since both indicate a decision of great importance and significance.
When to Use Historical
What does historical mean? Historical is also an adjective and is defined as of or relating to history; concerned with past events.
The new law removed historical protections that were given to small businesses.
Countless historical documents and artifacts were destroyed during the bombing of Berlin
BBC Americas powerful new historical drama The Last Kingdom tells the story that made England possible, and with it the flourishing of Anglo-Saxon culture and law that underpin America as well. The Wall Street Journal
Something that is historical is simply something that happened in the past, regardless of its significance.
As William Safire once said, Any past event is historical, but only the most memorable ones are historic. This is a good way to think about the difference between these two words.
Common Mistakes When Using Historic and Historical
The usual mistake involving these two words is to use historicwhen the writer actually means to use historical.
There are good historic correlations between high interest rates and low rates of inflation. (Incorrect)
There are good historical correlations between high interest rates and low rates of inflation. (Correct)
The opposite mistake is much more uncommon.
No one expected such a historical ruling from the Supreme Court Justices. (Incorrect)
No one expected such a historic ruling from the Supreme Court Justices. (Correct)
A Historic Event vs. An Historic Event
There is some conflict as to which indefinite article should precede historic/historical in a sentence. Is it a historical event or an historical event? A historic or an historic?
To answer this, we need to understand the rule regarding a vs. an, which is as follows,
Use the article a when followed by a word with a consonant sound .
. Use the article an when followed by a word with a vowel sound.
This means that for words like hourand honor, the correct choice is an.
An hour.
An honor.
The h is silent in both of these words, so an is the appropriate choice.
This is not the case with the words historic and historical, however. Both of these words have a clear h sound at their beginning, so the appropriate choice is a historic, notan historic.
For a more in depth discussion on these two words, visit the full page on A vs. An.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Heres a trick I came up with to remember historical vs. historic. Let me know what you think.
Historical ends in an L. Think of this L as standing for a Long time ago. Historical events are simply events that took place in the past, regardless of their significance.
Summary
Is it historical or historic? This all depends on your subject matter.
Historicrefers to something that is very important or significant in history.
Historicalrefers to something that took place in the past, regardless of importance
Photo: VCG
A male teacher who had repeatedly molested a 10-year-old schoolgirl was given a prison sentence for the crime of child molestation and was banned for life from any occupation that has close contact with minors,the first case of its kind in China, a court in Beijing ruled on Tuesday.Surnamed Wang, the criminal was hired by a school in Beijing as an extracurricular instructor. Wang took advantage of the one-on-one tutoring opportunities to touch the private part of the girl multiple times, local media reported.Wang was caught in March after the girl's family members reported the matter to the police. The juvenile court of Beijing Municipality Haidian District People's Court held the trial in accordance with the laws and made the ruling on Tuesday.This is the first case in China concerning a teaching personnel who sexually assault minors to be banned for life from jobs that have close contact with minors.According to the court, Wang's behavior of molesting a female child under 14 constituted the crime of child molestation and should be punished. Besides, Wang seriously violated professional ethics, corrupted the morality of teachers, destroyed the normal order of education and teaching, and hurt the overall good image of teachers.The court said Wang's behavior had an obvious malicious intent and a huge harmful effect on the society.The case became the first of its kind after the guideline on the implementation of the employment ban issued by China's Supreme People's Court, Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Education that was enacted on Tuesday.According to the guideline, teachers and faculty members who commit crimes of sexual assault, abuse, human trafficking, violent injury, should be banned from any occupation related to minors.Global Times
What Is the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO)?online bingo and casino real money
The National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) is a quote that reports the highest bid price and lowest ask (offered) price in a security, sourced from among all available exchanges or trading venues. The NBBO, therefore, represents the tightest composite bid-ask spread in a security.
The Securities Exchange Commission's (SEC) Regulation NMS requires brokers to trade at the best available ask and bid price when buying and selling securities for customers and guarantee at least the NBBO quoted price to its customers at the time of a trade.
Key Takeaways
The NBBO shows the best available (lowest) ask price and best available (highest) bid price available to customers from multiple exchanges.
The SEC's Regulation NMS requires brokers to guarantee at least the NBBO quoted price to its customers at the time of a trade.
The NBBO is calculated and disseminated by Security Information Processors (SIP).
While it ensures that all investors receive the best possible prices when executing trades, NBBO may not always reflect the most up-to-date data, resulting in trades that may not match investor price expectations.
Understanding the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO)
The NBBO is calculated and disseminated by Security Information Processors (SIP) as part of the National Market System Plan (NMSP), which is used to process security prices. There are two SIPs responsible for this task. The Consolidated Quotation System (CQS) gives the NBBO for securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NY-ARCA, and NY-MKT, whereas the Unlisted Trading Privileges (UTP) Quote Data Feed gives the NBBO for securities listed on the Nasdaq.
The NBBO updates throughout the day with the highest and lowest offers for a security among all exchanges and market makers. The lowest ask price and the highest bid price are displayed in the NBBO and are not required to come from the same exchangethe best bid and ask price from a single exchange or market maker is called the best bid and offer, rather than the NBBO. Dark pools and other alternative trading systems may not always appear in these results, given the less transparent nature of their businesses.
Traders that want to execute orders larger than those available through the NBBO should use an exchange or market makers depth of book data or Level II market maker screens to identify the other potential bid and ask prices that they could use to execute their order.
Advantages and Disadvantages of the NBBO
The NBBO helps ensure that all investors receive the best possible price when executing trades through their broker without worrying about aggregating quotes from multiple exchanges or market makers before placing a trade. This helps level the playing field for retail traders, who may not have the resources to always seek out the best prices across multiple exchanges.
The drawback is that the NBBO system may not reflect the most up-to-date data, which means that investors may not get the prices they were anticipating when trades are actually executed. This is a major concern for high-frequency traders (HFT), who rely on quotes to make their strategies work since they profit from extremely small price changes at volume.
Regulation NMS is also difficult to enforce because of the fast pace of trading and the lack of recorded NBBO prices. This makes it difficult for a trader to prove whether or not they received the NBBO price on a given trade.
Investors should keep in mind that the prices may be stale in some cases and that not all prices may be reflected, since dark pools and other alternative trading systems may not have listed bid/ask prices.
NBBO and High-Frequency Trading (HFT)
High-frequency traders generally invest in specialized infrastructure in order to directly connect to exchanges and process orders faster than other brokerages. In effect, they do not rely on SIP data for their buy/offer bids and take advantage of the latency between calculation of the NBBO and its publishing to mint profits. Research has focused on whether this enables them to front-run others.
According to a 2013 University of Michigan study, traders profited by as much as $21 billion by taking advantage of this latency. "By anticipating future NBBO, an HFT algorithm can capitalize on cross-market disparities before they are reflected in the public price quote, in effect jumping ahead of incoming orders to pocket a small but sure prot. Naturally, this precipitates an arms race, as an even faster trader can calculate an NBBO to see the future of NBBO, and so on," the study's authors wrote.
Example of the NBBO
Suppose a broker receives the following orders to offer to sell stock for company ABC:
200 shares for $1,000
300 shares for $1,500
100 shares for $1800
350 shares for $1,600
At the same time, the following are available bid prices for the same company's stock:
100 shares for $900
200 shares for $800
150 shares for $950
The NBBO for ABC is $950/$1,000 because they are the best bid/offer prices available to traders within the given range.
Definition of Balanced Sentence
A balanced sentence is worlds biggest casinosmade up of two segments which are equal, not only in length, but also in grammatical structure and meaning. It could be a periodic or cumulative sentence. A reader finds both parts equal when he goes through such a sentence.
For instance, Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg speech, government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth, gives us an example of parallel forms. In writing, both parts are clearly parallel forms, and they appear grammatically parallel. If there are multiple parts of a balanced sentence, then they are separated by a semicolon or adjoining words, such as but, or, and, etc. Since balanced sentences always have parallelism, writers need to use parallelism with similar grammatical forms, structure, and word order.
Use of Balanced Sentence in Presidential Address
While the Inaugural Address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war, insurgent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war, seeking to dissolve the Union and divide effects by negotiation and All dreaded it, all sought to avert it. [Abraham Lincolns Second Inaugural Address, 1865]
Lincoln has used balanced syntax in this address, with a combination of short and long sentences, which evokes an idea of a united and balanced nation. This difference in sentence lengths represents differences between North and South, and by combining them he emphasizes on the unity of the divided nation.
Use of Balanced Sentence in Advertising
Light is faster, but we are safer. (Global Jet Airlines advertising slogan)
Buy a bucket of chicken and have a barrel of fun. (KFCs advertising slogan)
Examples of Balanced Sentence in Literature
Example #1:Coon Tree(by E.B. White)
On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet socks, it cools the hot little brain.
This is a good example of a balanced sentence. The last two clauses are parallel in this sentence, having the same length and the same grammatical structure. The two identical pieces are giving rhythmical flow to the lines.
Example #2: In Cold Blood(by Truman Capote)
Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there.
This balanced sentence is also a periodic sentence, as the main action happens at the end. There are parallel grammatical structures in each part of this sentence which makes its rhythmic and clear to understand.
Example #3: The Life of Samuel Johnson(by James Boswell)
Every man has a right to utter what he thinks truth, and every other man has a right to knock him down for it.
This is another very simple and clear example of a balanced sentence. Both clauses have the same length and word order, emphasizing the idea of truth and adding pleasing rhythm.
Example #4: Pride and Prejudice(by Jane Austen)
and though the mother was found to be intolerable, and the younger sisters noted worth speaking to, a wish of being better acquainted with them was expressed towards the two eldest.
Austen is famous for using balanced sentences to illustrate contrast between things, people, or duality of situations. In these lines, she does the same and compares Bennet sisters and their mother.
Example #5: The Scarlet Letter(by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the Governor; military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked the babys little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and moulder away, in the coffins of the dead.
By using a series of parallel clauses, narrator compares members of government, military, and religion to rotting dead and infants. This balanced syntax makes a commentary on the corruption and blindness of governing bodies.
Function of Balanced Sentence
A balanced sentence gives rhythmical flow to the text. It draws attention of the readers to the sentence and makes it stand out among the rest. Writers use balanced sentences to emphasize particular ideas to make meanings clear, as well as to create pleasing rhythms. In fact, it puts a spotlight on a series of clauses or a sentence. Hence, it helps the writers to make their work stand out from the rest of the text. On the other hand, public speakers, singers, and advertising agencies use it, because its rhythmical qualities have a good impact on the audience.
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With a successful launch in China and nearly 26 million dollars in revenue, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 retained for the fourth consecutive week the head of the international box office outside the United States. David Yatess film generated $ 62 million on 15,632 screens in 61 countries.
Harry Potter overshadows the Smurfs
Besides China, the other four largest markets are the United Kingdom ($ 4.2 million), Japan (4.8 million), Germany (4.3 million) and France (4 million). The international total has now reached 791.1 million dollars, plus 342.8 million raised in the U.S., thats $ 1.13 billion in total, making it the third highest grossing film in history behind Avatar and Titanic.
Smurfs, the little blue creatures did not have to blush. The film combines live action and animation, moved into second place after coming out in 35 countries with 45.2 million dollars. The biggest market is Brazil (6.65 million) followed by France with $ 5.9 million in 714 theaters.
The Apes strong start
Third, Captain America: The First Avenger breaks the 100 million internationally with 103 million in total, with a weekend of $ 27.5 million in 41 countries. The film beat Rise of the Planet of the Apes, who signs a good first weekend in 25 countries with $ 23.4 million raised.
Cars 2 took fifth place this weekend with $ 20.1 million for its seventh weekend internationally, for a total of 258.4 million and 443.1 million after revenue in North America taken into account. Transformers 3 beat the sixth this weekend with $ 17.5 million in 62 countries, while Super 8 points in seventh place thanks to its French release, which has contributed $ 5 million to its revenues of the weekend, at $ 15.5 million.
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What Is a Commercial Bank?download free slot machine games
The term commercial bank refers to a financial institution that accepts deposits, offers checking account services, makes various loans, and offers basic financial products like certificates of deposit (CDs) and savings accounts to individuals and small businesses. A commercial bank is where most people do their banking.
Commercial banks make money by providing and earning interest from loans such as mortgages, auto loans, business loans, and personal loans. Customer deposits provide banks with the capital to make these loans.
Key Takeaways
Commercial banks offer consumers and small to mid-sized businesses with basic banking services including deposit accounts and loans.
Commercial banks make money from a variety of fees and by earning interest income from loans.
Commercial banks have traditionally been located in physical locations, but a growing number now operate exclusively online.
Commercial banks are important to the economy because they create capital, credit, and liquidity in the market.
Commercial Bank
How Commercial Banks Work
1:36
Commercial banks provide basic banking services and products to the general public, both individual consumers and small to mid-sized businesses. These services include checking and savings accounts, loans and mortgages, basic investment services such as CDs, as well as other services such as safe deposit boxes.
Banks make money from service charges and fees. These fees vary based on the products, ranging from account fees (monthly maintenance charges, minimum balance fees, overdraft fees, non-sufficient funds (NSF) charges), safe deposit box fees, and late fees. Many loan products also contain fees in addition to interest charges.
Banks also earn money from interest they earn by lending out money to other clients. The funds they lend comes from customer deposits. However, the interest rate paid by the bank on the money they borrow is less than the rate charged on the money they lend. For instance, a bank may offer savings account customers an annual interest rate of 0.25%, while charging mortgage clients 4.75% in interest annually.
Commercial banks have traditionally been located in buildings where customers come to use teller window services and automated teller machines (ATMs) to do their routine banking. With the rise in internet technology, most banks now allow their customers to do most of the same services online that they could do in person including transfers, deposits, and bill payments.
A growing number of commercial banks operate exclusively online, where all transactions with the commercial bank must be made electronically. Because these banks don't have any brick-and-mortar locations, they can offer a wider range of products and services at a lower costor none at allto their customers.
Significance of Commercial Banks
Commercial banks are an important part of the economy. Not only do they provide consumers with an essential service, but they also help create capital and liquidity in the market.
They ensure liquidity by taking the funds that their customers deposit in their accounts and lending them out to others. Commercial banks play a role in the creation of credit, which leads to an increase in production, employment, and consumer spending, thereby boosting the economy.
As such, commercial banks are heavily regulated by a central bank in their country or region. For instance, central banks impose reserve requirements on commercial banks. This means banks are required to hold a certain percentage of their consumer deposits at the central bank as a cushion if there's a rush to withdraw funds by the general public.
Special Considerations
Customers find commercial bank investments, such as savings accounts and CDs, attractive because they are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and money can be easily withdrawn. Customers have the option to withdraw money upon demand and the balances are fully insured up to $250,000. Therefore, banks do not have to pay much for this money.
Many banks pay no interest at all on checking account balances (or at least pay very little) and offer interest rates for savings accounts that are well below U.S. Treasury bond (T-bond) rates.
Consumer lending makes up the bulk of North American bank lending, and of this, residential mortgages make up by far the largest share. Mortgages are used to buy properties and the homes themselves are often the security that collateralizes the loan. Mortgages are typically written for 30 year repayment periods and interest rates may be fixed, adjustable, or variable. Although a variety of more exotic mortgage products were offered during the U.S. housing bubble of the 2000s, many of the riskier products, including pick-a-payment mortgages and negative amortization loans, are much less common now.
Automobile lending is another significant category of secured lending for many banks. Compared to mortgage lending, auto loans are typically for shorter terms and higher rates. Banks face extensive competition in auto lending from other financial institutions, like captive auto financing operations run by automobile manufacturers and dealers.
Bank Credit Cards
Credit cards are another significant type of financing. Credit cards are, in essence, personal lines of credit that can be drawn down at any time. Private card issuers offer them through commercial banks.
Visa and MasterCard run the proprietary networks through which money is moved around between the shopper's bank and the merchant's bank after a transaction. Not all banks engage in credit card lending, as the rates of default are traditionally much higher than in mortgage lending or other types of secured lending.
That said, credit card lending delivers lucrative fees for banksinterchange fees charged to merchants for accepting the card and entering into the transaction, late-payment fees, currency exchange, over-the-limit, and other fees for the card user, as well as elevated rates on the balances that credit card users carry from one month to the next.
Commercial Banks vs. Investment Banks
Both commercial and investment banks provide important services and play key roles in the economy. For much of the 20th century, these two branches of the banking industry were generally kept separate from one another in the U.S., thanks to the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which was passed during the Great Depression. It was largely repealed by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999, allowing for the creation of financial holding companies that could have both commercial and investment bank subsidiaries.
While it tore down the commercial and investment bank wall, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act did maintain some safeguards: It forbids a bank and a nonbank subsidiary of the same holding company from marketing the products or services of the other entityto prevent banks from promoting securities underwritten by other subsidiaries to their customersand placed size limitations on subsidiaries.
While commercial banks have traditionally provided services to individuals and businesses, investment banking offers banking services to large companies and institutional investors. They act as financial intermediaries, providing their clients with underwriting services, merger and acquisition (M&A) strategies, corporate reorganization services, and other types of brokerage services for institutional and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs).
While commercial banking clients include individual consumers and small businesses, investment banking clients include governments, hedge funds, other financial institutions, pension funds, and large companies.
Examples of Commercial Banks
Some of the world's largest financial institutions are commercial banks or having commercial banking operationsmany of which can be found in the United States. For instance, Chase Bank is the commercial banking unit of JPMorgan Chase. Headquartered in New York City, Chase Bank reported about $3.2 trillion in assets as of June 2021. Bank of America is the second-largest bank in the United States, with more than $2.35 trillion in assets and 66 million customers including both retail clients and small and mid-sized businesses.
Is My Bank a Commercial Bank?
Possibly! Commercial banks are what most people think of when they hear the term "bank." Commercial banks are for-profit institutions that accept deposits, make loans, safeguard assets, and work with many different types of clients, including the general public and businesses. If your account is with a community bank or credit union, it would probably not be a commercial bank, however.
What Role Do Commercial Banks Play in the Economy?
Commercial banks are crucial to the fractional reserve banking system, currently found in most developed countries. This allows banks to extend new loans of up to (typically) 90% of the deposits they have on hand, theoretically growing the economy by freeing capital for lending.
Is My Money Safe at a Commercial Bank?
For the most part, yes. Commercial banks are heavily regulated and most deposit accounts are covered up to $250,000 by FDIC insurance. Moreover, commercial banking and investment banking funds cannot be commingled by law.
Thereal money earning poker games Peoples Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Monday called on the government to extend its civil responsibility and spirit.
The paper said in a commentary that governments at all levels should reflect on the growing importance of civil responsibility following a massive rainstorm that hit the Chinese capital Saturday night.
The municipal government said 37 people died in the heaviest rains to hit the city in 61 years. Many local residents volunteered to help each other during the crisis, helping to drag vehicles out of flooded areas and transporting stranded people back to their homes.
The commentary highlighted a lack of social awareness within the government, adding that the government should improve its awareness and ability to provide civil service.
The paper said that the modernization of a city is reflected not only by the skyscrapers on the ground, but also by the sewage system underground, adding that municipal authorities should enhance their awareness of civil responsibility.
The local government could have extended more care to flood victims by opening stadiums to use as shelters, providing free bus rides for stranded people and creating a more complete emergency and rescue plan.
Xinhua
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What Is Hindsight Bias?majestic bingo
Hindsight bias is a psychological phenomenon that allows people to convince themselves after an event that they accurately predicted it before it happened. This can lead people to conclude that they can accurately predict other events. Hindsight bias is studied in behavioral economics because it is a common failing of individual investors.
Key Takeaways
Hindsight bias is a psychological phenomenon in which one becomes convinced they accurately predicted an event before it occurred.
It causes overconfidence in one's ability to predict other future events and may lead to unnecessary risks.
Hindsight bias can negatively affect decision-making.
In investing, hindsight bias may manifest as a sense of frustration or regret at not having acted in advance of an event that moves the market.
One key to managing hindsight bias involves documenting the decision-making process via a journal (e.g., an investment diary).
Understanding Hindsight Bias
Hindsight bias is when a person looks back at an event and believes they predicted the outcome, even if they failed to act on that "prediction." Unfortunately, this leads people to think that their judgment is better than it is. The idea is that once we know the outcome, its much easier to construct a plausible explanation. With this, we become less critical of our decisions, leading to poor decision-making in the future. Hindsight bias is caused by:
Memory distortion
Foreseeability
Inevitability
The bias occurs when we remember something we believe we predicted and view it at the present time as an inevitable event we knew would happen.
Investors often feel pressure to perfectly time buying or selling stocks to maximize their returns. When they suffer a loss, they regret not acting earlier. With regret comes the thought that they saw it coming all along.
In fact, it was one of the many possibilities that they might have anticipated. Whichever one of them pans out, the investor becomes convinced that they saw it coming. This allows them to make poor decisions in the future unknowingly. Preventing hindsight bias involves being able to make predictions beforehand, such as keeping a decision-making journal, allowing the investor to compare later.
Keeping an investment journal or diary may allow investors to avoid some issues tied to hindsight bias.
What Causes Hindsight Bias?
Hindsight bias occurs when new information comes to light about an experiencechanging how we recall that experience. We selectively remember only the information that confirms what we know or believe to be true. Then, if we feel we already knew what would happen all along, we fail to carefully review the outcome (or the reason for the outcome).
Hindsight bias involves revising the probability of an outcome after the fact. After knowing the outcome, people tend to exaggerate the extent of their prediction of the event. These biases can be found in just about any situation, including predicting the weather or elections.
Hindsight bias is rooted in overconfidence and anchoring. After an event occurs, we use the knowledge of the outcome as an anchor to attach our prior judgments to the outcome. The issue may be partly science-based as well. Hindsight bias might not be tied to only the ineffective processing of information but be rooted in adaptive learning.
People are susceptible to hindsight bias because its comforting to think that the world is predictable and thus somewhat orderly. As a result, we seek to see unpredictable events as predictable. We desire a positive view of ourselves and therefore try to make sense of it by creating a story or narrative that shows we knew the outcome.
How to Avoid Hindsight Bias
Investors should be careful when evaluating their own ability to predict how current events will impact the future performance of securities. Believing that one can predict future results can lead to overconfidence, and overconfidence can lead to choosing stocks or investments on a hunch, not for financial performance or value. Here are some tips to help you avoid this bias:
Brainstorm alternative outcomes : Think about other things that might have happened in the situation you're considering. Because circumstances change, this can help you in the future if you encounter similar situations.
: Think about other things that might have happened in the situation you're considering. Because circumstances change, this can help you in the future if you encounter similar situations. Keep a journal or diary : This will create a record of the decision-making process, allowing you to revisit the reasons you came to certain conclusions. In large part, such a document will help ensure you can accurately reflect on a situation. These decision journals help detail when and how decisions were made. This allows you to understand better what you thought would happen when making the decision. Additionally, weighing all information is essential, including placing more weight on valuable information.
: This will create a record of the decision-making process, allowing you to revisit the reasons you came to certain conclusions. In large part, such a document will help ensure you can accurately reflect on a situation. These decision journals help detail when and how decisions were made. This allows you to understand better what you thought would happen when making the decision. Additionally, weighing all information is essential, including placing more weight on valuable information. Review your journal entries: A decision journal can help allow for better decision-making in the future, as well as prevent second-guessing. Analyzing the results of your decisions will help you understand what went right or wrong and help you identify other solutions or opportunities.
Professions that require a lot of feedback, such as accounting, are less prone to hindsight bias.
Intrinsic Valuation
Hindsight bias can distract investors from an objective analysis of a company. Sticking to intrinsic valuation methods helps them decide on data-driven factors, not personal ones. Intrinsic value refers to the perception of a stocks true value based on all aspects of the businessit may not coincide with an investment's current market value.
To avoid hindsight basis, it's best to use a mathematical model. This takes much of the guesswork and bias out of analyzing a company. Quantitative factors, such as financial statements and ratios, are much more indicative of performance than opinions based on personal experience. Quantitative aspects such as financial statement analyses offer insights into whether the current market price is accurate or the company is overvalued or undervalued.
An intrinsic valuation will also take into account qualitative factors such as a companys business model, corporate governance, and target market.
Notably, there's no universal intrinsic value calculation. There are many different models or valuation tools to use. Some assumptions must be plugged into any model, which can open that model up to bias.
Examples of Hindsight Bias
Financial bubbles are always subject to substantial hindsight bias after they burst. For example, following the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s and the Great Recession of 2008, many pundits and analysts demonstrated their precise knowledge of how events that seemed trivial at the time were harbingers of future financial trouble.
They were right, but other concurrent events reinforced the assumption that the boom times would never end. In fact, if a financial bubble were easy to spot as it occurred, it would likely have been avoided altogether.
The 80s Computer Debut
The usual subjects of hindsight bias are not on that scale. For instance, many investors in the 80s were interested in technology, industrials, and materials, but computer software and hardware were only making their debutmany didn't see the industry amounting to anything. As a result, there are quite possibly millions of investors from that time who deeply regret not buying stock in Microsoft or Apple when they "saw it coming."
Professionals and Executives
Business professionals will often use hindsight bias in decision makingassuming because a strategy worked previously, it will continue to work. Unfortunately, hindsight bias means executives can and might make risky or poorly analyzed decisions. Anyone that's heard the old sayings, "It worked before, it should work again" or "this is how we've always done it" at work has experienced an example of hindsight bias in the professional space.
What Causes Hindsight Bias?
Hindsight bias is caused by memory distortion, foreseeability, and inevitability, where we remember something we believe we predicted and view it at the present time as an inevitable event we knew would happen.
Why Is Hindsight Bias Important in Psychology?
It is important because it clouds our ability to learn from experiences and make future decisions.
What Is the Difference Between Hindsight Bias and Confirmation Bias?
Confirmation bias is when you look for information to support your beliefs, while hindsight bias is the belief that you predicted an event in the past.
The Bottom Line
Hindsight bias is a natural human response to past events in which we believe we knew the event would happen. We then associate that belief with new events, even when circumstances that can affect the outcome are different. It can be difficult to identify when you're affected by hindsight bias, but using tools to analyze events to find solutions can keep you from falling for this psychological trick your mind plays on you.
Keeping and revisiting journals, discussing the event with peers, and analyzing the surrounding circumstances while imagining alternate outcomes are ways you can avoid making decisions when under the influence of hindsight bias.
Ezugi, a live dealer online casino game provider has attained license certificationfrom the Gaming Commissionin Great Britain. The company with offices in Bucarest, Romania, and studios in several locations, was acquired by world leader Evolution beginning in late 2018 for about $12m in an all-cash deal with the possibility of tacking on another half of that amount based on certain performance.
Ezugi was already operatingin several US markets as well as Europe, LatAm, and South Africa prior to the buyout, and Evolution already operated in the US and Romania. At the time, only Ezugi and Evolution were operating live dealer offerings in the disparate regulated US markets and Evolution had eight global studios with one in New Jerseys Atlantic City.
Ezugi was founded in 2012 andentered the US market in 2016prior to the acquisition by Evolution.
Cricket War Live Coming Under UKGC License
Ezugi will bring 11 of its most popular games to the highly regulated UK marketplace having secured three certifications from the UKGCincluding games, security, and studio certificates. The company will operate under the Evolution UKGC license.
In recent times the operator has focused on offering native language games and tables as well as region-specific games. In addition to launching with blackjack, roulette, auto-roulette, Lucky 7, and Dragon Tiger, games from the Ezugi Indian Catalog like Andar Bahar, Teen Patti, Bet on Teen Patti, and Cricket War will also debut.
The game selection is expected to appeal to a broad cross-section of Brits with the added attraction of specific, localized titles.
UKGC Certificates Mark Milestone of Excellence
Pang Goh, Business Development Director at Ezugi said: This is a very significant step for Ezugi and its growth. Obtaining the UKCG certificates signifies our continuous efforts to reach the absolute highest industry standards. Our license is acquired under Evolution Malta Limited, and we are pleased to have our best games finally certified.
I believe that UK operators will benefit from Ezugis expertise in not only localised content and markets, but also from our large and innovative games offering. We are looking forward to this next chapter and to provide our best performing games to UK players.
While quietly establishing itself as the worldslargest and best-known supplierof live casino games, the Stockholm-based Evolution [EVVTY:(OTCMKTS)]
has also acquired other prominent companies, not the least of which is NetEnt. They also bought out Big Time Gaming PTY Ltd., the creator, and owner of the Megaways slot mechanic. The game enhancement has been licensed and utilized by several other developers with the Megaways portfolio now numbering more than 100 titles.
Source: Ezugi opens new chapter of growth and enters UK market, Ezugi News, January 6, 2022
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Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
Have you ever wondered why the ocean is salty? Have you wondered why lakes might not be salty? Here's a look at what makes the ocean salty and why other bodies of water have a different chemical composition.
Key Takeaways: Why Is the Sea Salty?
The oceans of the world have a fairly stable salinity of about 35 parts per thousand. The main salts include dissolved sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate. In water, these are sodium, magnesium, and potassium cations, and chloride, sulfate, nitrate, and carbonate anions.
The reason the sea is salty is because it is very old. Gases from volcanoes dissolved in the water, making it acidic. The acids dissolved minerals from lava, producing ions. More recently, ions from eroded rocks entered the ocean as rivers drained into the sea.
While some lakes are very salty (high salinity), some do not taste salty because they contain low amounts of sodium and chloride (table salt) ions. Others are more dilute simply because the water drains toward the sea and is replaced by fresh rainwater or other precipitation.
Why the Sea Is Salty
Oceans have been around a very long time, so some of the salts were added to the water at a time when gases and lava were spewing from increased volcanic activity. The carbon dioxide dissolved in water from the atmosphere forms weak carbonic acid which dissolves minerals. When these minerals dissolve, they form ions, which make the water salty. While water evaporates from the ocean, the salt gets left behind. Also, rivers drain into the oceans, bringing in additional ions from rock that was eroded by rainwater and streams.
The saltiness of the ocean, or its salinity, is fairly stable at about 35 parts per thousand. To give you a sense of how much salt that is, it is estimated that if you took all the salt out of the ocean and spread it over the land, the salt would form a layer more than 500 feet (166 m) deep. You might think the ocean would become increasingly salty over time, but part of the reason it does not is because many of the ions in the ocean are taken in by the organisms that live in the ocean. Another factor may be the formation of new minerals.
Annual mean sea surface salinity from the 2009 World Ocean Atlas. Salinity is listed in practical salinity units (PSU).Plumbago
Salinity of Lakes
So, lakes get water from streams and rivers. Lakes are in contact with the ground. Why aren't they salty? Well, some are! Think of the Great Salt Lake and the Dead Sea. Other lakes, such as the Great Lakes, are filled with water that contains many minerals, yet doesn't taste salty. Why is this? Partly it is because the water tastes salty if it contains sodium ions and chloride ions. If the minerals associated with a lake don't contain much sodium, the water won't be very salty. Another reason lakes tend not to be salty is because water often leaves lakes to continue its trip toward the sea. According to an article in Science Daily, a drop of water and its associated ions will remain in one of the Great Lakes for around 200 years. On the other hand, a water droplet and its salts may remain in the ocean for 100-200 millionyears.
The most dilute lake in the world is Lae Notasha, located near the crest of the Oregon Cascade in Oregon, United States. Its conductivity ranges about 1.3 to 1.6 uS cm-1, with bicarbonate as the dominant anion. While a forest surrounds the lake, the watershed appears not to significantly contribute to the ionic composition of the water. Because the water is so dilute, the lake is ideal for monitoring atmospheric contaminants.
Sources
What Are Soft Skills?casino royale woody pinball online
Soft skills are character traits and interpersonal skills that characterize a persons relationships with other people. In the workplace, soft skills are considered to be a complement to hard skills, which refer to a persons knowledge and occupational skills. Sociologists may use the term soft skills to describe a persons emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) as opposed to intelligence quotient (IQ).
Soft skills have more to do with who people are than what they know. As such, they encompass the character traits that decide how well one interacts with others and usually are a definite part of an individuals personality. In a competitive labor market, employees who demonstrate that they have a good combination of hard and soft skills often see a greater demand for their services.
Key Takeaways
Soft skills include attributes and personality traits that help employees interact with others and succeed in the workplace.
Examples of soft skills include the ability to communicate with prospective clients, mentor your co-workers, lead a team, negotiate a contract, follow instructions, and get a job done on time.
Hard skills are measurable and usually obtained through formal education and training programs.
Workers with good soft skills can help companies achieve higher levels of efficiency and productivity.
In contrast to hard skills, soft skills are more difficult to acquire through training.
Understanding Soft Skills
Employers look for a balance of hard skills and soft skills when making hiring decisions. For example, employers value skilled workers with a track record of getting jobs done on time. Employers also value workers with strong communication skills and a strong understanding of company products and services. When communicating with prospective clients, workers with soft skills can put together compelling presentations even if their specific job is not in sales or marketing. Another valued soft skill is the ability to coach fellow co-workers on new tasks.
Company leaders often are most effective when they have strong soft skills. For example, leaders are expected to have good speaking abilities, but great leaders are also good at listening to workers and to other leaders in their fields.
Negotiation is a big part of the job for many company leaders. When negotiating with employees, clients, or associates, leaders need to be skilled in staying considerate of what others want while remaining focused on pushing for what they want. Good leaders also need to know how to make their own work most efficient by strategically delegating tasks to workers.
Companies often like to hire employees who possess soft skills that mesh well with the rest of the staff, considering them to be a good cultural fit for the company.
Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills
Workers acquire hard skills through formal education, training programs, and concentrated effort. Hard skills are the quantifiable skills that workers need to have to successfully perform a specific job. Employers often test or evaluate a candidates hard skills before hiring. Examples of hard skills include computer programming, writing, web development, and graphic design. Some hard skills are more in demand than others, and employers may need to hire recruitment agencies or headhunters to fill jobs that require high-level skills.
Coaching is one of the most common and effective methods for improving soft skills.
Hard skills can be learned and perfected over time, but soft skills are more difficult to acquire and change. The soft skills required for a doctor, for example, would be empathy, understanding, active listening, and a good bedside manner.
Alternatively, the hard skills necessary for a doctor would include a vast comprehension of illnesses, the ability to interpret test results and symptoms, and a thorough understanding of anatomy and physiology.
Valuable Soft Skills for Employees
Soft skills benefit businesses when they are practiced on a company-wide basis. For example, a collaborative spirit among workers is important. Team members who are able to work well with people of different generations and backgrounds are generally more productive and better able to focus on common priorities. Efficiency and output improve when workers collaborate by sharing knowledge and tools to get jobs done. The ability to learn new methods and technologies is also a desired soft skill for all workers.
Companies that value learning as a soft skill recognize various learning styles and encourage workers to pursue the methods that work best for them. Good troubleshooting is a soft skill that also is valuable to companies. For example, companies can operate more efficiently and increase productivity when all workers know how to troubleshoot software problems instead of relying on the information technology (IT) department for every fix.
Soft skills can also be thought of as people skills. These can include good communication and interpersonal skills, leadership, problem solving, your work ethic, time management, and teamwork. These are characteristics that can be carried over to any position.
What is the difference between a soft skill and a hard skill?
Hard skills are the measurable skills acquired through training, education, and practice. They are the abilities needed to perform a specific task or job. Soft skills are behavioral and interpersonal skills that relate to how effectively people interact with others and handle situations.
Why are soft skills important?
How well you interact and treat others is crucial for career success. Trust develops through positive interactions and relationships, and productivity increases in environments where soft skills flourish.
How do I improve soft skills?
Although not customarily acquired through formal training, soft skills can be learned. To improve soft skills, the person must be open to feedback and make decisions to change behaviors. Training can provide tips and strategies for developing better practices, such as active listening and empathizing with others. And practicing can strengthen areas where deficiencies exist.
What is soft skills training?
Soft skills training is training to help develop or improve interpersonal skills. It consists of lessons to improve communication, increase active listening, resolve conflicts, and more.
What Is Section 1245?soccabet app casino classic slots
Section 1245 is codified in the United States Code (USC) at Title 26-Internal Revenue Code (IRC), Subtitle A-Income Taxes, Chapter 1-Normal Taxes and Surtaxes, Subchapter P-Capital Gains and Losses, Part IV-Special Rules for Determining Capital Gains and Losses, Section 1245-Gain from dispositions of certain depreciable property. This (lengthy!) taxonomy usefully informs us that Section 1245 covers the applicable tax rate for gains from the sale or transfer of depreciable and amortizable property. Lets dig deeper to learn what kind of property is covered and what tax rate applies to it.
Key Takeaways
Section 1245 is a way for the IRS to recapture allowable or allowed depreciation or amortization the taxpayer has taken on 1231 property.
This recapture occurs at the time a business sells certain tangible or intangible personal property at a gain.
Section 1231 allows a business that sells a property to apply a higher ordinary income rate on losses and a lower capital gains rate on gains.
However, if a business has already gotten favorable tax treatment by taking depreciation deductions on their property and then sells that property for a profit, Section 1245 recaptures depreciation at ordinary income tax rates.
Understanding Section 1245
Section 1245 recaptures depreciation or amortization allowed or allowable on tangible and intangible personal property at the time a business sells such property at a gain. Section 1245 taxes the gain at ordinary income rates to the extent of its allowable or allowed depreciation or amortization.
Section 1245 Property
The IRS defines Section 1245 property as the following:
Section 1245 property includes any property that is or has been subject to an allowance for depreciation or amortization and that is any of the following types of property.
Personal property (either tangible or intangible). Other tangible property (except buildings and their structural components) used as any of the following:
An integral part of manufacturing, production, or extraction, or of furnishing transportation, communications, electricity, gas, water, or sewage disposal services.
A research facility in any of the activities listed above.
A facility in any of these activities for the bulk storage of fungible commodities.
Section 1245 Recapture Feature
Section 1245 is a mechanism to recapture at ordinary income tax rates allowable or allowed depreciation or amortization taken on section 1231 property. Allowable or allowed means that the amount of depreciation or amortization recaptured is the greater of that taken or that could have been taken but was not.
Going forward, this article will simplify references to depreciation and amortization to just depreciation with the reminder that section 1245 applies to depreciated and amortized personal property.
Section 1245 Background
Section 1245 defines section 1245 property by telling us what it is not. This definition by exclusion confuses even tax experts. Perhaps section 1245 property will be easier to identify if we instead focus on the reason why Congress enacted section 1245. The answer boils down to the adjustment of the propertys basis by depreciation and the character of gain or loss on the propertys disposition.
Conceptually, a lower tax rate on gain means less tax payable and a higher tax rate on loss means a larger offset of taxable income and less tax payable. For this reason, tax planning strategies seek lower capital gains rates for gains and higher ordinary income rates for losses.
Congress enacted IRC Section 1231 to favor businesses by allowing them to apply a lower capital gains rate on gains and a higher ordinary income rate on losses recognized from the sale of their property. However, many businesses had already gotten favorable tax treatment by taking depreciation deductions on these properties. So, Congress enacted Section 1245 to recapture depreciation at ordinary income rates on properties sold at a gain.
The wording of Section 1245 implies that it covers a new or different class of propertysection 1245 property. But, in reality, section 1245 property is merely section 1231 property that has been depreciated. Section 1245 property is section 1245 property only as long as it has unrecaptured depreciation. Once its depreciation is fully recaptured, it becomes section 1231 property.
Tax Picture of a Sale of Section 1245 Property
With this understanding, lets look at the tax picture of a sale of section 1245 property. If section 1245 property is sold at a loss, it converts to section 1231 property for tax purposes, and the loss is ordinary (subject to netting and look-back). If section 1245 property is sold at a gain, it remains section 1245 property and, to the extent of depreciation, the gain is taxed at ordinary income rates. Once depreciation has been recaptured, it converts to section 1231 property, and any remaining gain is taxed at capital gains rates.
Example of a Sale of Section 1245 Property
Here is an example that may help clear the fog. A business owns a $100 widget and takes $75 of depreciation. The widgets adjusted tax basis is its $100 cost minus $75 of depreciation, or $25. The business sells the widget for $150. The gain is the $150 sale price minus the $25 adjusted tax basis, or $125. Of that $125, $75 is section 1245 gain taxed at ordinary income rates, and $50 is section 1231 gain taxed at capital gains rates.
If the business sells the $100 widget for $20, you have a loss of $20 sale price minus $25 adjusted tax basis, or $5. Since there is a $0 gain, Section 1245 does not apply, and the $5 loss is a section 1231 loss that is ordinary.
The International Taoism Forum drew its curtain with a blessing ceremony for the world harmony at Hengshan Mountain on the afternoon of Oct. 25. Wang Zuoan, president of the China Religious Culture Communication Association, Li Weiwei, director of the Organizing Committee of the forum, and Ren Farong, president of the Chinese Taoism Association, delivered speeches at the closing ceremony.
During the forum, eminent priests with different backgrounds and distinguished guests from all over the world interpreted the application and value of the main tenets of Taoism in the modern age and expounded the connotation, functions and prospects of Taoism culture. Their statements reflected the great attention of the Taoist community to the contemporary world and real life.
At the closing ceremony, the organizing committee granted the classic Taoism document Complete Work of Lao Tzu to over 30 organizations present, and all guests there chanted the Nanyue Declaration and conveyed their best wishes of promoting harmony between the nature and human and achieving the peace of the whole world with concerted efforts.
Guo Yan
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Jose W. Fernandez, U.S. assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs, will visit Taiwan Aug. 5-7, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Taiwan said Aug. 1.
During his time in Taiwan, the State Department official will pay courtesy calls on Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou and other government officials such as Foreign Minister Timothy Chin-tien Yang and Francis Kuo-hsin Liang, deputy minister of economic affairs, according to the MOFA.
The ministry said it welcomes Fernandezs visit, which clearly shows that the U.S. fully respects Taiwans market and potential for economic development.
Nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama in August 2009, Fernandez was sworn in as assistant secretary in December the same year.
The MOFA noted that the U.S. has dispatched several senior administrative officials to Taiwan over the past year, including Suresh Kumar, assistant secretary of commerce for trade promotion, Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Daniel Poneman, deputy secretary of energy, and Dawn McCall, coordinator of the State Departments Bureau of International Information Programs.
These visits fully demonstrate that ROC-U.S. relations are close and friendly, the ministry said.
Taiwan Today
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Online casino games maker and supplier iSoftBet has drawn inspiration from the Far East to craft its latest online slot Ancients of Korea.
The game had its industrywide premiere this week to further enrich the providers already hefty portfolio of proprietary products.
Ancients of Koreais a 64 slot that, with its stunning visuals and atmospheric sounds, sweeps players into a thrilling journey through the lands of Korea. The game offers up to 4,096 winways per spinand a nice mix of features. Five ancient heroes grace the reels to represent the premiums, while symbols from this great nations past act as the titles lower-paying icons.
Three or more gold coin scatters activate the Free Spins mode. Six scatters award a whopping 50 free spins.
During the bonus game, any wilds that pop into view offer multipliers of 2x or 3x. They also have another important role as some of them help players form winning combos even if they are located on non-adjacent reels.
If two or more scatters appear in a spin in the bonus game, more free spins are added to the total, offering players more opportunities to land big wins while playing iSoftBets newest exciting title.
Creating Immersive Environments
Commenting on the latest addition to their games library, iSoftBet Head of Games Mark Claxton said that Ancients of Koreaenables them to craft incredibly immersive, artistic environmentsin an incredibly interesting part of history.
Mr. Claxton went on to note that with its engaging theme, huge win potential, and a giant number of free spins availableas well as its wild multipliers and high paying symbols paying out on non-adjacent reels, players can enjoy a legendary experience.
Ancients of Koreajoins iSoftBets ever-growing portfolio of online slots and follows the recent release of hit titles Pyramid Paysand Hot Spin Megaways, the hugely popular Hot Spin series sequel.
It should also be noted that the new game has been released shortly after iSoftBet won a Game Narrative recognition in the inaugural CasinoBeats Developer Awards.
In addition to producing new games, the studio has also been busy expanding its products exposure by teaming up with a growing number of major operators. Earlier this year, the company unveiled a content supply deal with William Hill and its online gaming operation.
It was also not long ago when iSoftBets titles went live with OlyBetin a move that expanded the providers presence in the Baltics as well as with BetOle, Lobbet, Winfest, Casino Days, and more. All these deals saw the games maker significantly increase its foothold across European and other markets.
We tend to make a big deal out of how to pronounce English words. Why dont we worry about pronouncing the names of letters in the same way?
English uses a Latin alphabet, which derives many of its letters, including Z, from Greek. The Greeks called Z zeta, and other languages that feature this letter also use its Greek name.
Not English, though. Writers rarely need to spell out the names of letters, but if you are listening to an English speaker spell out a word, you might hear him or her using either zee or zed to refer to the letter Z. As it turns out, both of these pronunciations are correct, and which you use depends on where in the world you live.
What is the Difference Between Zee and Zed?
In this post, I will compare zed vs zee. I will use outline when each of these pronunciations is used and in what language communities.
I will also show you a mnemonic device that makes remembering whether to use zed or zee a little easier.
When to Use Zee
What does zee mean? Zee is the American English pronunciation of the letter Z.
Z is the 26th and final letter of the English alphabet. It is also the letter with the lowest frequency of use in English words.
Like I said, writers rarely need to spell out the pronunciations of letters. We would normally either just use the letter itself (like Z) or use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent the speech sounds (in this case, /zi:/).
Still, there are a few rare instances when you might want to spell out letter pronunciations in standard English characters, like these:
The new prep school teacher said zee instead of zed, like a shabby American cowgirl.
Zee! said Margot triumphantly, when her mother asked her what the last letter in the alphabet is.
When to Use Zed
What does zed mean? Zed is the British English pronunciation of the letter Z.
Zed is closer to the original Greek zeta, which is probably why some speakers use it. This pronunciation is common in England and other places that use British English, like Australia and Canada.
You can substitute zed for zee in the sentences above without changing the meaning.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Zee and Zed are two different ways to pronounce the name of the letter Zout loud.
As a writer, you would be more likely to use the letter itself or the IPA in writing. Still, if you are trying to capture the way some individuals speak, you can use zee for American English and zed for British English.
Zee vs. Zed Check:Zed rhymes with Gateshead, a borough in England near Newcastle upon Tyne, so it should be easy to link zed with Britain in your mind.
Summary
Is it zee or zed? Zee and zed are alternative pronunciations of the name of the letter Zin American and British English, respectively. They are otherwise equivalent.
Writers would be more likely to use Zitself or the IPA to represent this character, but it is still important to know the difference between zee and zed in case you ever do need to use them.
Definition of Aphorismus
Aphorismus is bidet mixer with pop up wasteborrowed from a Greek word that means marking off, banishment, or rejection. It is a figure of speech that brings into question the meaning of words, in case the words are used inappropriately. Aphorismus often appears as a rhetorical question used to create a difference between the current situation being discussed and the general idea of the subject. Aphorismus examples are found both in casual conversations and in literary pieces.
Difference Between Aphorismus and Aphorism
Aphorismus should not be confused with aphorism, because aphorismus is challenging the meaning of words by pointing out a question such as,
I am Pozzo! (Silence.) Pozzo! (Silence.) Does that name mean nothing to you? (Silence.) I say does that name mean nothing to you?
(Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett).
However, Aphorismis a totally different figure of speech, which is a brief statement containing personal truth, or a phrase that conveys a principle of thought. In these lines, Francis Bacon has said:
Praise is the reflection of the virtue. But it is the reflection glass or body which giveth the reflection.
(Of Praise, by Francis Bacon).
Examples of Aphorismus in Literature
Example #1: Broken Love(By William Blake)
He scents thy footsteps in the snow
Wheresoever thou dost go,
Thro the wintry hail and rain.
When wilt thou return again? Dost thou not in pride and scorn
Fill with tempests all my morn,
And with jealousies and fears
Fill my pleasant nights with tears? Oer my sins thou sit and moan:
Hast thou no sins of thy own?
Oer my sins thou sit and weep,
And lull thy own sins fast asleep.
Blake uses different lines that appear as rhetorical questions at the ends of each stanza. Here, the speaker expresses his feelings to his lover, who finally repudiates his love. Hence, he asks questions like, Is she not the cause of his mourning? This calls into question the meaning of the ideas or words.
Example #2: A Dream(By Edgar Allan Poe)
Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past? That holy dream that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding. What though that light, thro storm and night,
So trembled from afar
What could there be more purely bright
In Truths day-star?
Poe also uses aphorismus in this poem. At the end of the first and third stanzas, there is a rhetorical question that is about the meaning of the ideas discussed before these lines, and the two questions are shown in bold.
Example #3: Paradise Lost(By John Milton)
If such astonishment as this can seize
Eternal spirits; or have ye chosn this place
After the toyl of Battel to repose
Your wearied vertue, for the ease you find
To slumber here, as in the Vales of Heavn?
Or in this abject posture have ye sworn
To adore the Conquerour?
Milton makes a difference between the current situation, To slumber here, as in the Vales of Heavn, and about the general idea of the subject, by calling into question its meaning. It helps in laying emphasis on the meaning.
Example #4: Richard II(By William Shakespeare)
For you have but mistook me all this while.
I live with bread like you, feel want,
Taste grief, need friends: subjected thus,
How can you say to me I am a king?
This is among the perfect examples of aphorismus. The speaker explains his living standard, then raises a question about how he can be called a king because he lives like a common man. The comparison is made between the two situations by challenging the meaning of phrase I am a king.
Function of Aphorismus
The role of aphorismus is to emphasize the meanings of a sentence or phrase by challenging or raising questions about it. It brings into question the underlying meanings words and phrases, since the meaning of words can have a variety of connotations that help extend and enrich the language. Therefore, the role of aphorismus is important in literary texts, to challenge meanings by questioning one of its forms. Also, it makes a phrase memorable and arouses emotions by raising questions.
What Is Alpha?aztec art resorts at catskills
Alpha () is a term used in investing to describe an investment strategy's ability to beat the market, or its "edge." Alpha is thus also often referred to as excess return or abnormal rate of return, which refers to the idea that markets are efficient, and so there is no way to systematically earn returns that exceed the broad market as a whole. Alpha is often used in conjunction with beta (the Greek letter ), which measures the broad market's overall volatility or risk, known as systematic market risk.
Alpha is used in finance as a measure of performance, indicating when a strategy, trader, or portfolio manager has managed to beat the market return over some period. Alpha, often considered the active return on an investment, gauges the performance of an investment against a market index or benchmark that is considered to represent the markets movement as a whole.
The excess return of an investment relative to the return of a benchmark index is the investments alpha. Alpha may be positive or negative and is the result of active investing. Beta, on the other hand, can be earned through passive index investing.
Key Takeaways
Alpha refers to excess returns earned on an investment above the benchmark return.
Active portfolio managers seek to generate alpha in diversified portfolios, with diversification intended to eliminate unsystematic risk.
Because alpha represents the performance of a portfolio relative to a benchmark, it is often considered to represent the value that a portfolio manager adds to or subtracts from a fund's return.
Jensens alpha takes into consideration the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and includes a risk-adjusted component in its calculation.
Trading With Alpha
Understanding Alpha
1:29
Alpha is one of five popular technical investment risk ratios. The others are beta, standard deviation, R-squared, and the Sharpe ratio. These are all statistical measurements used in modern portfolio theory (MPT). All of these indicators are intended to help investors determine the risk-return profile of an investment.
Active portfolio managers seek to generate alpha in diversified portfolios, with diversification intended to eliminate unsystematic risk. Because alpha represents the performance of a portfolio relative to a benchmark, it is often considered to represent the value that a portfolio manager adds to or subtracts from a fund's return.
In other words, alpha is the return on an investment that is not a result of a general movement in the greater market. As such, an alpha of zero would indicate that the portfolio or fund is tracking perfectly with the benchmark index and that the manager has not added or lost any additional value compared to the broad market.
The concept of alpha became more popular with the advent of smart beta index funds tied to indexes like the Standard & Poor's 500 index and the Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index. These funds attempt to enhance the performance of a portfolio that tracks a targeted subset of the market.
Despite the considerable desirability of alpha in a portfolio, many index benchmarks manage to beat asset managers the vast majority of the time. Due in part to a growing lack of faith in traditional financial advising brought about by this trend, more and more investors are switching to low-cost, passive online advisors (often called roboadvisors) who exclusively or almost exclusively invest clients capital into index-tracking funds, the rationale being that if they cannot beat the market they may as well join it.
Moreover, because most traditional financial advisors charge a fee, when one manages a portfolio and nets an alpha of zero, it actually represents a slight net loss for the investor. For example, suppose that Jim, a financial advisor, charges 1% of a portfolios value for his services and that during a 12-month period Jim managed to produce an alpha of 0.75 for the portfolio of one of his clients, Frank. While Jim has indeed helped the performance of Franks portfolio, the fee that Jim charges is in excess of the alpha he has generated, so Franks portfolio has experienced a net loss. For investors, the example highlights the importance of considering fees in conjunction with performance returns and alpha.
The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) postulates that market prices incorporate all available information at all times, and so securities are always properly priced (the market is efficient.) Therefore, according to the EMH, there is no way to systematically identify and take advantage of mispricings in the market because they do not exist.
If mispricings are identified, they are quickly arbitraged away and so persistent patterns of market anomalies that can be taken advantage of tend to be few and far between.
Empirical evidence comparing historical returns of active mutual funds relative to their passive benchmarks indicates that fewer than 10% of all active funds are able to earn a positive alpha over a 10-plus year time period, and this percentage falls once taxes and fees are taken into consideration. In other words, alpha is hard to come by, especially after taxes and fees.
Because beta risk can be isolated by diversifying and hedging various risks (which comes with various transaction costs), some have proposed that alpha does not really exist, but that it simply represents the compensation for taking some un-hedged risk that hadn't been identified or was overlooked.
Seeking Investment Alpha
Alpha is commonly used to rank active mutual funds as well as all other types of investments. It is often represented as a single number (like +3.0 or -5.0), and this typically refers to a percentage measuring how the portfolio or fund performed compared to the referenced benchmark index (i.e., 3% better or 5% worse).
Deeper analysis of alpha may also include "Jensens alpha." Jensens alpha takes into consideration the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) market theory and includes a risk-adjusted component in its calculation. Beta (or the beta coefficient) is used in the CAPM, which calculates the expected return of an asset based on its own particular beta and the expected market returns. Alpha and beta are used together by investment managers to calculate, compare, and analyze returns.
The entire investing universe offers a broad range of securities, investment products, and advisory options for investors to consider. Different market cycles also have an influence on the alpha of investments across different asset classes. This is why risk-return metrics are important to consider in conjunction with alpha.
Examples
This is illustrated in the following two historical examples for a fixed income ETF and an equity ETF:
The iShares Convertible Bond ETF (ICVT) is a fixed income investment with low risk. It tracks a customized index called the Bloomberg U.S. Convertible Cash Pay Bond > $250MM Index. The 3-year standard deviation was 18.94%, as of Feb. 28, 2022. The year-to-date return, as of Feb. 28, 2022, was -6.67%. The Bloomberg U.S. Convertible Cash Pay Bond > $250MM Index had a return of -13.17% over the same period. Therefore, the alpha for ICVT was -0 12% in comparison to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index and a 3-year standard deviation of 18.97%.
However, since the aggregate bond index is not the proper benchmark for ICVT (it should be the Bloomberg Convertible index), this alpha may not be as large as initially thought; and in fact, may be misattributed since convertible bonds have far riskier profiles than plain vanilla bonds.
The WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Fund (DGRW) is an equity investment with higher market risk that seeks to invest in dividend growth equities. Its holdings track a customized index called the WisdomTree U.S. Quality Dividend Growth Index. It had a three-year annualized standard deviation of 10.58%, higher than ICVT.
As of Feb. 28, 2022, DGRW annualized return was 18.1%, which was also higher than the S&P 500 at 16.4%, so it had an alpha of 1.7% in comparison to the S&P 500. But again, the S&P 500 may not be the correct benchmark for this ETF, since dividend-paying growth stocks are a very particular subset of the overall stock market, and may not even be inclusive of the 500 most valuable stocks in America.
Alpha Considerations
While alpha has been called the holy grail of investing, and as such, receives a lot of attention from investors and advisors alike, there are a couple of important considerations that one should take into account when using alpha.
A basic calculation of alpha subtracts the total return of an investment from a comparable benchmark in its asset category. This alpha calculation is primarily only used against a comparable asset category benchmark, as noted in the examples above. Therefore, it does not measure the outperformance of an equity ETF versus a fixed income benchmark. This alpha is also best used when comparing the performance of similar asset investments. Thus, the alpha of the equity ETF, DGRW, is not relatively comparable to the alpha of the fixed income ETF, ICVT. Some references to alpha may refer to a more advanced technique. Jensens alpha takes into consideration CAPM theory and risk-adjusted measures by utilizing the risk-free rate and beta.
When using a generated alpha calculation it is important to understand the calculations involved. Alpha can be calculated using various different index benchmarks within an asset class. In some cases, there might not be a suitable pre-existing index, in which case advisors may use algorithms and other models to simulate an index for comparative alpha calculation purposes.
Alpha can also refer to the abnormal rate of return on a security or portfolio in excess of what would be predicted by an equilibrium model like CAPM. In this instance, a CAPM model might aim to estimate returns for investors at various points along an efficient frontier. The CAPM analysis might estimate that a portfolio should earn 10% based on the portfolios risk profile. If the portfolio actually earns 15%, the portfolio's alpha would be 5.0, or +5% over what was predicted in the CAPM model.
New Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Yang Xiuping () presented credentials to ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan here on Monday.
During the talk following the presentation of the credentials, Surin extended welcome to Yang as the new Chinese ambassador and highly praised the positive growth in volume of trade between ASEAN and China and the steady development of bilateral relations.
Yang, who is Chinas third and also the first resident ambassador to ASEAN, said Chinas deployment of a permanent mission to ASEAN reflects the importance of relations with the Southeast Asian group.
Im honored to be the first resident Ambassador of China to ASEAN, said Ambassador Yang, adding that her Mission would like to serve as a bridge of communication, linkage of cooperation, and a messenger of friendship, to promote ASEAN-China strategic partnership to a new height.
The two leaders updated each other on ASEAN-China cooperation, and pledged to work closely to further strengthen the strategic partnership. Both the Secretary-General and the Ambassador are optimistic that total two-way trade will surpass the 500 billion U. S. dollar mark by 2015.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced the plan to establish Chinese Mission to ASEAN on the 14th China-ASEAN Summit which commemorated the 20th anniversary of China-ASEAN dialogue relations in November last year.
Yang arrived in Jakarta on July 27. Prior to this assignment, Yang severed as ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Xinhua
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What Is Double Taxation?aura24 exch bet365 casino dealer
Double taxation is a tax principle referring to income taxes paid twice on the same source of income. It can occur when income is taxed at both the corporate level and personal level. Double taxation also occurs in international trade or investment when the same income is taxed in two different countries. It can happen with 401k loans.
Double Taxation
Key Takeaways
Double taxation refers to income tax being paid twice on the same source of income.
Double taxation occurs when income is taxed at both the corporate level and personal level, as in the case of stock dividends.
Double taxation also refers to the same income being taxed by two different countries.
While critics argue that dividend double taxation is unfair, advocates say that without it, wealthy stockholders could virtually avoid paying any income tax.
How Double Taxation Works
1:03
Double taxation often occurs because corporations are considered separate legal entities from their shareholders. As such, corporations pay taxes on their annual earnings, just like individuals. When corporations pay out dividends to shareholders, those dividend payments incur income-tax liabilities for the shareholders who receive them, even though the earnings that provided the cash to pay the dividends were already taxed at the corporate level.
Double taxation is often an unintended consequence of tax legislation. It is generally seen as a negative element of a tax system, and tax authorities attempt to avoid it whenever possible.
Most tax systems attempt, through the use of varying tax rates and tax credits, to have an integrated system where income earned by a corporation and paid out as dividends and income earned directly by an individual is, in the end, taxed at the same rate. For example, in the U.S. dividends meeting certain criteria can be classified as "qualified" and as such, subject to advantaged tax treatment: a tax rate of 0%, 15% or 20%, depending on the individual's tax bracket. The corporate tax rate is 21%, as of 2022.
Debate Over Double Taxation
The concept of double taxation on dividends has prompted significant debate. While some argue that taxing shareholders on their dividends is unfair, because these funds were already taxed at the corporate level, others contend this tax structure is just.
Proponents of double taxation point out that without taxes on dividends, wealthy individuals could enjoy a good living off the dividends they receive from owning large amounts of common stock, yet pay essentially zero taxes on their personal income. Stock ownership could become a tax shelter, in other words. Supporters of dividend taxation also point out that dividend payments are voluntary actions by companies and, as such, companies are not required to have their income "double taxed" unless they choose to pay dividends to shareholders.
Certain investments with a flow-through or pass-through structure, such as master limited partnerships, are popular because they avoid the double taxation syndrome.
International Double Taxation
International businesses are often faced with issues of double taxation. Income may be taxed in the country where it is earned, and then taxed again when it is repatriated in the business' home country. In some cases, the total tax rate is so high, it makes international business too expensive to pursue.
To avoid these issues, countries around the world have signed hundreds of treaties for the avoidance of double taxation, often based on models provided by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (IECD). In these treaties, signatory nations agree to limit their taxation of international business in an effort to augment trade between the two countries and avoid double taxation.
What Is an Allowance for Doubtful Accounts?purple casino login
An allowance for doubtful accounts is a contra account that nets against the total receivables presented on the balance sheet to reflect only the amounts expected to be paid. The allowance for doubtful accounts estimates the percentage of accounts receivable that are expected to be uncollectible. However, the actual payment behavior of customers may differ substantially from the estimate.
Key Takeaways
The allowance for doubtful accounts is a contra account that records the percentage of receivables expected to be uncollectible.
The allowance is established in the same accounting period as the original sale, with an offset to bad debt expense.
The percentage of sales method and the accounts receivable aging method are the two most common ways to estimate uncollectible accounts.
Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Understanding the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
1:22
Regardless of company policies and procedures for credit collections, the risk of the failure to receive payment is always present in a transaction utilizing credit. Thus, a company is required to realize this risk through the establishment of the allowance for doubtful accounts and offsetting bad debt expense. In accordance with the matching principle of accounting, this ensures that expenses related to the sale are recorded in the same accounting period as the revenue is earned. The allowance for doubtful accounts also helps companies more accurately estimate the actual value of their account receivables.
Because the allowance for doubtful accounts is established in the same accounting period as the original sale, an entity does not know for certain which exact receivables will be paid and which will default. Therefore, generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) dictate that the allowance must be established in the same accounting period as the sale, but can be based on an anticipated or estimated figure. The allowance can accumulate across accounting periods and may be adjusted based on the balance in the account.
Recording the Allowance for Doubtful Accounts
Two primary methods exist for estimating the dollar amount of accounts receivables not expected to be collected.
Percentage of Sales Method
The sales method applies a flat percentage to the total dollar amount of sales for the period. For example, based on previous experience, a company may expect that 3% of net sales are not collectible. If the total net sales for the period is $100,000, the company establishes an allowance for doubtful accounts for $3,000 while simultaneously reporting $3,000 in bad debt expense.
If the following accounting period results in net sales of $80,000, an additional $2,400 is reported in the allowance for doubtful accounts, and $2,400 is recorded in the second period in bad debt expense. The aggregate balance in the allowance for doubtful accounts after these two periods is $5,400.
Accounts Receivable Aging Method
The second method of estimating the allowance for doubtful accounts is the aging method. All outstanding accounts receivable are grouped by age, and specific percentages are applied to each group. The aggregate of all group results is the estimated uncollectible amount.
For example, a company has $70,000 of accounts receivable less than 30 days outstanding and $30,000 of accounts receivable more than 30 days outstanding. Based on previous experience, 1% of accounts receivable less than 30 days old will be uncollectible, and 4% of those accounts receivable at least 30 days old will be uncollectible.
Therefore, the company will report an allowance of $1,900 (($70,000 * 1%) + ($30,000 * 4%)). If the next accounting period results in an estimated allowance of $2,500 based on outstanding accounts receivable, only $600 ($2,500 - $1,900) will be the adjusting entry amount.
A mainland delegation left Beijing Wednesday morning for a new round of cross-Strait talks in Taipei.
Theantique poker table surewins tips negotiators, headed by Chen Yunlin (), president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), will meet with their Taiwan counterparts led by Chiang Pin-kung (), chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), on Thursday.
The two sides are expected to discuss and endorse an investment protection agreement and an agreement on customs cooperation, according to a press release issued by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee earlier this month.
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Boarder police approach Chinas research vessel Xuelong, where the crews re-entry paperworks will be handled, in east Chinas Shanghai Municipality, April 7, 2012. The research vessel has just returned to Shanghai from Chinas 28th Antarctic expedition. The crew travelled some 28,000 nautical miles in five months, with 47 tasks performed during the expedition. (Xinhua/Pei Xin)
A boarder policeman handles crew members re-entry paperworks on board the research vessel Xuelong in east Chinas Shanghai Municipality, April 7, 2012. The research vessel has just returned to Shanghai from Chinas 28th Antarctic expedition. The crew travelled some 28,000 nautical miles in five months, with 47 tasks performed during the expedition. (Xinhua/Pei Xin)
Chinas research vessel Xuelong is anchored at a port in east Chinas Shanghai Municipality, April 7, 2012, after returning from its latest polar expedition. The research vessel has just returned to Shanghai from Chinas 28th Antarctic expedition. The crew travelled some 28,000 nautical miles in five months, with 47 tasks performed during the expedition. (Xinhua/Pei Xin)
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What Is a Secondary Market?fctables today predictions
The secondary market is where investors buy and sell securities they already own. It is what most people typically think of as the "stock market," though stocks are also sold on the primary market when they are first issued. The national exchanges, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ, are secondary markets.
Secondary Market
Understanding Secondary Market
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Though stocks are one of the most commonly traded securities, there are also other types of secondary markets. For example, investment banks and corporate and individual investors buy and sell mutual funds and bonds on secondary markets. Entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also purchase mortgages on a secondary market.
Transactions that occur on the secondary market are termed secondary simply because they are one step removed from the transaction that originally created the securities in question. For example, a financial institution writes a mortgage for a consumer, creating the mortgage security. The bank can then sell it to Fannie Mae on the secondary market in a secondary transaction.
Key Takeaways
In secondary markets, investors exchange with each other rather than with the issuing entity.
Through massive series of independent yet interconnected trades, the secondary market drives the price of securities toward their actual value.
Primary vs. Secondary Markets
It is important to understand the distinction between the secondary market and the primary market. When a company issues stock or bonds for the first time and sells those securities directly to investors, that transaction occurs on the primary market. Some of the most common and well-publicized primary market transactions are IPOs, or initial public offerings. During an IPO, a primary market transaction occurs between the purchasing investor and the investment bank underwriting the IPO. Any proceeds from the sale of shares of stock on the primary market go to the company that issued the stock, after accounting for the bank's administrative fees.
If these initial investors later decide to sell their stake in the company, they can do so on the secondary market. Any transactions on the secondary market occur between investors, and the proceeds of each sale go to the selling investor, not to the company that issued the stock or to the underwriting bank.
Secondary Market Pricing
Primary market prices are often set beforehand, while prices in the secondary market are determined by the basic forces of supply and demand. If the majority of investors believe a stock will increase in value and rush to buy it, the stock's price will typically rise. If a company loses favor with investors or fails to post sufficient earnings, its stock price declines as demand for that security dwindles.
Multiple Markets
The number of secondary markets that exists is always increasing as new financial products become available. In the case of assets such as mortgages, several secondary markets may exist. Bundles of mortgages are often repackaged into securities such as GNMA pools and resold to investors.
What Is a Horizontal Line?daikicoin today price
In technical analysis, a horizontal line is often drawn on a price chart to highlight areas of support or resistance.
In geometric analysis, a horizontal line proceeds parallel to the x-axis. Put another way, on a perfectly horizontal line, all values on the line will have the same y-value.
Key Takeaways
A horizontal line is commonly used in technical analysis to mark areas of support or resistance.
A horizontal line runs parallel to the x-axis.
In technical analysis, the horizontal line is typically drawn along a swing high, or a series of them, where each high in the series stopped at a similar level. The same concept applies to swing lows.
Understanding a Horizontal Line
Horizontal lines are commonly used in technical analysis to highlight areas of support, where the price stopped falling and then bounced on prior occasions, or resistance, which is where the price stopped rising and then proceeded to fall on prior occasions.
The horizontal line is drawn by connecting similar swing lows in price to create a horizontal support line. For a horizontal resistance line, similar swing highs are connected.
The horizontal line is then used for analytical or trading purposes. For example, if the price of an asset is moving between support and resistance horizontal lines then the price is considered to be range-bound.
A move below the support horizontal line could indicate a further price decline, but if support holds and the price bounces higher then prices could be forthcoming. The same concepts apply to a resistance horizontal line. If the price moves above resistance, higher prices could be forthcoming. If the price reaches resistance and then starts to decline, the horizontal line has held and traders will watch for lower prices.
In more simple terms, a horizontal line on any chart is where the y-axis values are equal. If it has been drawn to show a series of highs in the data, a data point moving above the horizontal line would indicate a rise in the y-axis value over recent values in the data sample.
Fundamental Horizontal Analysis
Horizontal analysis is used to compare values or prices over time. This is an aspect of fundamental analysis in which an analyst will compare various earnings reports and statements over time. In this kind of analysis, time functions as the horizontal x-axis and allows analysts to calculate percentage changes over time, a useful tool for representing the degree of change.
Horizontal analysis looks at the trend of financial statements over multiple periods, using a specified base period, and typically shows the changes from the base period in dollars and percentages.
The percentage change is calculated by first dividing the dollar change between the comparison year and the base year by the item value in the base year, then multiplying the quotient by 100. For example, when you hear someone saying that revenues increased by 10% this past quarter, that person is using horizontal analysis.
Horizontal analysis can be used on any item in a company's financials, from revenues to earnings per share (EPS), and is useful when comparing the performance of various companies.
A Horizontal Line as it Relates to Supply and Demand Curves
Supply and demand curves are drawn with price on the vertical axis of the graph and quantity demanded on the horizontal axis. When looking at supply and demand curves, a perfectly horizontal line indicates that an item has perfect elasticity, or that its demand is immediately responsive to changes in price. When the price of a perfectly elastic good or service increases above the market price, the quantity demanded falls to zero. With perfect elasticity, consumers simply are not willing to spend more than a specific price for a good or service.
Example of How to Use the Horizontal Line in Technical Analysis
Drawing a horizontal line is one of the simplest forms of technical analysis, but it also provides important information. On the chart below, a horizontal line is drawn on the SPDR S&P 500 (SPY) exchange traded fund (ETF).
Image by Sabrina Jiang Investopedia 2021
An uptrend is when a price makes higher swing highs and higher swing lows. Therefore, a horizontal line can highlight when price is making a new high, in this case, thus showing signs of an uptrend. On the SPY chart above, the price is moving above the horizontal line indicating an uptrend. If the price falls back below the horizontal line, it could warn that uptrend has failed and lower prices may be forthcoming.
In this sense, the horizontal line acts like a line in the sand, where moving above the line is bullish.
The Difference Between a Horizontal Line and a Trendline
Both these terms could refer to the same thing: drawn lines on a chart. While a horizontal line is specifically horizontal, a trendline is typically angled and drawn along rising swing lows during a price uptrend or drawn along dropping swing highs during a downtrend.
Limitations of Using a Horizontal Line in Technical Analysis
A horizontal line is not an actual barrier for price. It is a technical tool which may help traders determine whether they should be more bearish or bullish.
Where a horizontal line is drawn is subjective. Not all traders may place the horizontal line at the same price.
At highly important prices, where a horizontal line may be drawn, it is possible the price will whipsaw around it. This could cause confusion or some potential losing trades until the price makes a more decisive move above or below the line.
The Catawba Indian Nation announced going forward with the plan to establish a Las Vegas style casino in Kings Mountain. This week it reached a key agreement with the state of North Carolina to proceed with establishing the facility that is expected to be only 35 minutes away from Charlotte.
The Catawba Indian Nation celebrated the North Carolina lawmakersapproval as significantly important since without it, class III gaming will not be allowed in the future Two Kings Casino Resort that includes blackjack and slots.
Only Class III games need official approval, unlike games Class I and Class II, which are bingo and poker games.
According to Chief William Harris, the timeline of the project is still uncertain and the opening date is impossible to predict, but he stated that an introductory casino gaming facility is expected to open right this fall.
In the meantime, Charlottle Business Journal reported that the grading of the 17-acre site is almost complete.
Details of the agreement
The agreement between the Catawba Indian Nation and the North Carolina government includes important casino revenue shareand tax benefit that will help with states financial problems.
According to the plan, the future casino facility will cost$273 millionand will represent a 195,000-square-foot mixed use development with over 75,000 square feet of gaming space. The casino will have 1,796 slots, 54 table games, and a players club, along with restaurants and bars with a total of 940 seats. Itll be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to Harris, there will not be just financial benefits for the state since the whole project from start to finish will open thousands of job opportunitiesfor the people in the whole area.
The Catawba Indian Nations proposal was approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior last March but the coronavirus pandemic caused a significant set back. Still the approval was the first major stepforward to making the casino complex on 16.57 acres in Kings Mountain.
It is still unclear if the project will move forward without any other problems on the way, but it is certain that the construction will take several years, meanwhile Philadelphias players experienced an exciting event last week with the opening of Live! Casino & Hotel in the state.
The new facility opened for exclusive club members only and the full opening is scheduled for February 11. It is situated just 6 miles from the Brooklawn Shopping Center and it is worth $700 million. The New Live! Casino & Hotel Philadelphia is located next to Stadium Holiday Inn, which was demolished for the purposes of the new facility.
The new facility is supposed to benefit the city by bringing $2 billion in economic stimulus, $100 million to Philadelphia tax revenues in the first 5 years and $25 million to the school district.
Source:Vegas-style casino in Kings Mountain moves forward, Charlotte Agenda, January 28, 2021
Littering a nasty side effect of our convenience-oriented disposable culture. To highlight the scope of the problem, consider that California alone spends $28 million each year cleaning up and removing litter along its roadways. And it doesn't stop thereonce trash gets free, wind and weather move it from streets and highways to parks and waterways. One study found that 18% of litter ends up in rivers, streams, and oceans, resulting in trash islands like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
Cigarettes Are a Major Cause of Litter
Cigarettes are some of the most commonly littered items, and they are also one of the most insidious forms of litter. Each discarded butt takes 12 years to break down, all the while leaching toxic elements such as cadmium, lead, and arsenic into soil and waterways.
Litter Is Typically Viewed as a Local Problem
The burden of litter cleanup usually falls to local governments or community groups. Some U.S. states (Alabama, California, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia) are taking strong measures to prevent litter through public education campaigns, and dedicate millions of dollars yearly to cleanup efforts. In Canada, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland also have strong anti-litter campaigns.
Keep America Beautiful and Litter Prevention
Keep America Beautiful (KAB) has been organizing litter cleanups across the United States since 1953. Generally speaking, KAB has a strong track record of success in litter prevention. In the past, it has been criticized for helping its founders and supporters (which include tobacco and beverage companies) by downplaying the issue of litter from cigarettes and opposing mandatory bottle- and can-recycling initiatives over the years. Nonetheless, they do make an impact. Over one million KAB volunteers picked up 24.7 million pounds of litter in KABs annual Great American Cleanup in 2018.
Litter Prevention Around the World
A more grassroots-oriented litter prevention group is Auntie Litter, which started in 1990 in Alabama to educate students about the importance of a healthy and clean environment. Today the group works internationally to help students, teachers, and parents eliminate litter in their communities.
In Canada, the nonprofit Pitch-In Canada (PIC), founded in the late-1960s in British Columbia, has since evolved into a professionally run national organization with a tough anti-litter agenda and annual "Pitch-In Week" cleanup events.
Only You Can Prevent Litter
Doing your part to keep litter to a minimum is easy, but it takes vigilance. For starters, never let trash escape from your car, and make sure household garbage bins are sealed tightly so animals cant get at the contents. Always remember to take your garbage with you upon leaving a park or other public space. And if youre still smoking, isnt saving the environment a compelling enough reason to finally quit? Also, if that stretch of roadway you drive on every day is a haven for litter, offer to clean it up and keep it clean. Many cities and towns welcome Adopt-A-Mile sponsors for particularly litter-prone streets and highways. As an added bonus, your employer might even want to get in on the act by paying you for your volunteer time.
Edited by Frederic Beaudry
Officials from The Meadows Racetrack and Casino in North Strabane Township presented on Wednesday a plan to attract high roller players from neighboring statesat a license renewal hearing with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
Every three years the state gaming regulator meets casino officials to determine as to whether the facilities are to have their licenses renewed.
William Paulos, Principal at gaming operator Cannery Casino Resorts, which currently owns The Meadows, pointed out that the venue has been posting a drop in gaming revenue for several years now. Back in 2009, The Meadows generated record slot revenue of almost $264.5 million. Last year, the amount of $220.8 million was posted.
Mr. Paulos commented that at present Pennsylvania-based casinos have no incentive to attract high-roller slot players from neighboring states, as under the current law, the gambling venues have to pay a 55% gross gaming revenue tax to the state. Furthermore, players of this rank are usually offered additional privileges, such as free hotel rooms or flights, tickets for certain events, etc.
As Mr. Paulos pointed out, once casinos pay for the perks offered to high rollers and contribute the required portion of their revenue to the state, they might end up losing money instead of generating a profit.
On the other hand, neighboring states attract Pennsylvanian high-roller players, due to the fact that they have been imposed lower slot machine taxes.
During the Wednesday hearing, Mr. Paulos and his colleagues called for The Meadows and the other state casinos to have expenses for high roller perks deducted from the revenue earned from those players before the application of the 55% tax. Casino executives emphasized that their proposal should be seen as a means for additional revenue to be brought to the state and not as an attempt to have their tax liability cut.
Yesterday, The Meadows casino officials also expressed their support for proposals that call for slot machines to be permitted at off-track betting parlors and the state international airports, as this would attract more players and would create a revenue stream.
However, the North Strabane-located casino objected to the proposed legalization of video display terminalson the territory of the state as well as to any changes in the current casino smoking laws, arguing that this would have quite a negative effect on existing gambling venues across Pennsylvania.
The state gaming regulator is to vote on the renewal of The Meadows license within the next two to three months.
Dignified participation in the international community is free credits wizard of oz slotsa common goal for all of Taiwan society, the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan said July 29.
Only when Taiwan and mainland China face cross-strait realities, find agreement among their differences, and agree not to recognize each others sovereignty while not repudiating their respective jurisdictions can their relations proceed on a stable basis, MAC added.
MACs comments came after the eighth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum in mainland Chinas Harbin issued 17 joint suggestions the same day.
As it is a consensus of the ruling and opposition parties, as well as the general public, that Taiwan take part honorably in the global community, the nation will continue to expand its participation in international organizations and activities, MAC said. It hopes that the two sides of the strait can operate with mutual respect and friendship, including in nongovernmental bodies, so that a virtuous cycle will result in greater contributions worldwide.
The cross-strait forum, held primarily between Taiwans ruling Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party, said in one of its points that as cross-strait ties are not state-to-state relations, the two sides ought to avoid infighting and should instead negotiate on equal footing.
MAC also reiterated the governments position of promoting the institutionalization of cross-strait relations under the framework of the ROC Constitution, the 1992 consensus and the principles of no unification, no independence and no use of force, while dealing with economics before politics and easily resolved issues before difficult ones.
The 1992 consensus is an informal, oral agreement that there exists one China, inclusive of the mainland and Taiwan, with both sides agreeing to differ on its precise political definition.
The Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum is a long-running exchange of views among political parties on both sides of the strait, MAC noted. The government is willing to learn from suggestions resulting from all types of interaction among civic organizations that can contribute to peaceful and stable cross-strait ties and are in accord with national interests, it added.
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What Is IRS Publication 590-B?jimmy crute odds good crypto games
IRS Publication 590-B explains the tax implications of withdrawing money from any type of individual retirement account (IRA) before or after retirement. It specifies when you can't withdraw money without paying a penalty and when you mustwithdraw money.
Key Takeaways:
IRS Publication 590-B calculates the taxes you'll owe when you withdraw money from any type of IRA account.
If you have a traditional IRA, see Chapter 1.
If you have a Roth IRA, see Chapter 2.
The publication includes three chapters, several appendices, and worksheets to assist the taxpayer. Publication 590-A covers the tax rules for contributing to retirement accounts.
Understanding IRS Publication 590-B
There are several types of IRAs, including the traditional IRA and the Roth IRA, the SEP, and the SIMPLE IRA. But the big distinction is between the traditional and the Roth IRA:
A traditional IRA permits a taxpayer to contribute pre-tax earnings up to a certain amount each year. The wage-earner gets an immediate tax break, and taxes on the amount paid into the account are deferred until the taxpayer withdraws money.
A Roth IRA allows a taxpayer to contribute post-tax earnings up to a certain amount each year. The wage-earner pays the income taxes upfront, so withdrawals taken after retirement will not be taxed.
An IRA distribution for higher education expenses or a first-time home purchase is not subject to the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
IRS Publication 590-B is organized to explain the different tax implications of these two types of IRA accounts:
Chapters 1 and 2 of IRS Publication 590-B explain all the rules for the traditional IRA and the Roth IRA, respectively. It covers when you can withdraw money and at what age you must withdraw money. It also includes penalties for early withdrawals from traditional IRAs.
Chapter 3 covers permitted early withdrawals used to pay for damage caused by natural disasters. These exceptions in 2021 were extended only to people with losses attributed to four 2017 disasters, including Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria, and the California wildfires. Also, in 2020 the IRS introduced Coronavirus-related distributions. All of these distributions require repayment of the money to avoid a penalty down the line.
An introductory section includes a table clarifying the differences between traditional and Roth IRAs, rules for required distributions, taxation of these accounts, and regulations for filing Form 8606. This is the form that must be filed to report distributions from any type of IRA.
Chapter 4 provides general information on getting help with tax-related issues.
Appendix A is a worksheet for determining your required minimum distribution, and Appendix B contains a life expectancy table needed to calculate recommended minimum distributions.
Penalties and Exemptions
Keep an eye on the penalties detailed in Publication 590-B, and the exceptions to those penalties. For example, most early distributions trigger a 10% penalty. The penalty goes up to 25% if money is withdrawn during the first two years of participation in a SIMPLE IRA. However, a withdrawal for qualified higher education expenses or first-time home purchase is not subject to the penalty.
Other Publications
The IRS has numerous publications explaining the ins and outs of qualified retirement plans.
Definition of Archetype
An archetype is sugarhouse casino online reviewsa literary device in which a character is created based on a set of qualities or traits that are specific and identifiable for readers. The term archetype is derived from the studies and writings of psychologist Carl Jung who believed that archetypes are part of humanitys collective unconscious or memory of universal experiences. In a literary context, characters (and sometimes images or themes) that symbolically embody universal meanings and basic human experiences, independent of time or place, are considered archetypes.
For example, one of the most common literary archetypes is the Hero. The hero is generally the protagonist of a narrative and displays ubiquitous characteristics such as courage, perseverance, sacrifice, and rising to challenge. Though heroes may appear in different literary forms across time and culture, their characterization tends to be universal thus making them archetypal characters.
Common Examples and Descriptions of Literary Archetypes
As a rule, there are twelve primary character types that symbolize basic human motivations and represent literary archetypes. Here is a list of these example literary archetypes and their general descriptions:
Lover: character guided by emotion and passion of the heart
character guided by emotion and passion of the heart Hero: protagonist that rises to a challenge
protagonist that rises to a challenge Outlaw: character that is rebellious or outside societal conventions or demands
character that is rebellious or outside societal conventions or demands Magician: powerful character that understands and uses universal forces
powerful character that understands and uses universal forces Explorer: character that is driven to explore the unknown and beyond boundaries
character that is driven to explore the unknown and beyond boundaries Sage: character with wisdom, knowledge, or mentor qualities
character with wisdom, knowledge, or mentor qualities Creator: visionary character that creates something significant
visionary character that creates something significant Innocent: pure character in terms of morality or intentions
pure character in terms of morality or intentions Caregiver: supportive character that often sacrifices for others
supportive character that often sacrifices for others Jester: Character that provides humor and comic relief with occasional wisdom
Character that provides humor and comic relief with occasional wisdom Everyman: Character recognized as average, relatable, found in everyday life
Character recognized as average, relatable, found in everyday life Ruler: Character with power of others, whether in terms of law or emotion
Examples of Archetype in Shakespearean Works
William Shakespeare utilized archetype frequently as a literary device in his plays. Here are some examples of archetype in Shakespearean works:
Lover: Romeo (Romeo and Juliet), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet), Antony (Antony and Cleopatra)
Hero: Othello (Othello), Hamlet (Hamlet), Macduff (Macbeth)
Outlaw: Prince Hal (Henry IV), Edmund (King Lear), Falstaff (Henry IV)
Magician: Prospero (The Tempest), The Witches (Macbeth), Soothsayer (Julius Caesar)
Sage: Polonius (Hamlet), Friar Laurence (Romeo and Juliet), Gonzalo (The Tempest)
Innocent: Viola (Twelfth Night), Ophelia (Hamlet), Hero (Much Ado about Nothing)
Caregiver: Nurse (Romeo and Juliet), Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet), Ursula (Much Ado about Nothing)
Jester: Touchstone (As You Like It), Feste (Twelfth Night), Fool (King Lear)
Everyman: Lucentio (The Taming of the Shrew), Valentine (The Two Gentelmen of Verona), Florizel (The Winters Tale)
Ruler: King Lear (King Lear), Claudius (Hamlet), Alonso (The Tempest)
Famous Examples of Archetype in Popular Culture
Think you dont know of any famous archetypes? Here are some well-known examples of archetype in popular culture:
Lovers: Ross and Rachel (Friends), Scarlett OHara (Gone with the Wind), Jack and Rose (Titanic)
Heroes: Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings), Luke Skywalker (Star Wars), Mulan (Mulan)
Outlaws: Han Solo (Star Wars), Star-Lord/Peter Quill (Marvel Universe), Ferris Bueller (Ferris Buellers Day Off)
Magicians: Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings),Dumbledore (HarryPotter), Doctor Strange (Marvel Universe)
Explorers: Huck Finn (The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn), Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones), Captain Kirk (Star Trek)
Sages: Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), Jiminy Cricket (Disneys Pinocchio), Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars)
Creators: Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein), Willy Wonka (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
Innocents: Tiny Tim (A Christmas Carol), Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz), Forrest Gump (Forrest Gump)
Caregivers: Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins), Alice (The Brady Bunch), Marge Simpson (The Simpsons)
Jesters: Donkey (Shrek), Kramer (Seinfeld), Eric Cartman (Southpark)
Everyman Characters: The Dude (The Big Lebowski), Homer Simpson (The Simpsons), Jim Halpert (The Office)
Rulers: Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones), TChalla/Black Panter (Marvel Universe), Don Corleone (The Godfather)
Difference Between Archetype and Stereotype
It can be difficult to distinguish the difference between archetype and stereotype when it comes to literary characters. In general, archetypes function as a literary device with the intent of complex characterization. They assign characters with specific qualities and traits that are identifiable and recognizable to readers of literary works. Stereotypes function more as limited and often negative labels assigned to characters.
For example, the movie The Breakfast Club features characters that are far more stereotypical than archetypal. This movie features five representations of typical teenagers such as a dumb jock, conceited rich girl, skinny nerd, misunderstood rebel, and disaffected slacker that are forced to spend time together. These representations include what may appear to be archetypes in that they are identifiable by the audience. However, they function much more as stereotypes in the sense that their characterization is oversimplified and primarily negative. The characters assume their given stereotypical roles rather than display the complex characterization generally demonstrated by archetypes.
Writing Archetype
Overall, as a literary device, archetype functions as a means of portraying characters with recurring and identifiable traits and qualities that span time and culture. This is effective for readers in that archetypes set up recognizable patterns of characterization in literary works. When a reader is able to identify an archetypal character, they can anticipate that characters role and/or purpose in the narrative. This not only leads to expectations, but engagement as well on the part of the reader.
Its essential that writers bear in mind that their audience must have a reasonably clear understanding of how the character reflects a particular archetype in order for it to be effective. If the characterization of the archetype is not made clear to the reader, then that level of literary meaning will be lost. Of course, archetypal characters can be complex and fully realized. However, they must be recognizable as such for the reader on some level.
Here are some ways that writers benefit from incorporating archetype into their work:
Establish Universal Characters
Archetypal characters are recurrent when it comes to human experience, especially in art. A literary archetype represents a character that appears universal and therefore gives readers a sense of recognition and familiarity. This ability to relate to an archetypal character alleviates a writers burden of excessive or unnecessary description, explanation, and exposition. Due to a readers experience, they are able to understand traits and characteristics of archetypes in literature in an almost instinctual way without detailed explication.
Establish Contrasting Characters
Archetypes can also help writers establish contrasting characters, sometimes known as foils. In general, a literary work does not feature just one archetypal character. Since readers have an awareness of the inherent and typical characteristics of an archetype, this can create contrast against other characters in the narrative that are either archetypes themselves or not. Therefore, writers are able to create conflict and contrast between characters that are logical and recognizable for the reader.
Examples of Archetype in Literature
Archetype is an effective literary device as a means of creating characters with which the reader can identify. Here are some examples of literary archetypes and how they add to the significance of well-known literary works:
Example 1: Nick Carraway: Everyman (The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald)
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that Ive been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing any one, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world havent had the advantages that youve had.
In this passage, Fitzgerald establishes for the reader that Nick Carraways character is not just the narrator of the novel, but an everyman archetype as well. Though Nicks father reminds him of advantages that hes had, Nick is nevertheless considered the novels most relatable and average character. Therefore, as an everyman archetype, the reader is able to identify with Nick and consequently trust his observations and narration of the events of the story. This allows Nicks character to influence the way in which the reader engages with the novels characters and events, as his everyman actions and interactions become vicarious experiences for Fitzgeralds audience as well.
Example 2: Ma Joad: Caregiver (The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck)
Her hazel eyes seemed to have experienced all possible tragedy and to have mounted pain and suffering like steps into a high calm and a superhuman understanding. She seemed to know, to accept, to welcome her position, the citadel of the family, the strong place that could not be taken. And since old Tom and the children could not know hurt or fear unless she acknowledged hurt and fear, she had practiced denying them in herself.
In Steinbecks heart-breaking novel, the female characters represent a life force. This is epitomized by Ma Joads character as a caregiver archetype. Ma Joad is not only literally a caregiver in the sense that she is the mother of the protagonist and cares for her family, but she is also an archetypal caregiver in the sense that she makes sacrifices in order to care for others. Readers recognition of the characterization of Ma Joad as a caregiver allows Steinbeck to portray her as a traditional and symbolic mother figure.
However, Steinbeck elaborates on this archetype by portraying the effects of these caregiver traits on Ma Joads character. Rather than establishing her as a passive maternal character which would be identifiable and understood by a collective readership, Steinbeck reveals the universal consequences of this archetypes traits on the character herself. Ma Joad is a universal character, yet her character also has a universal understanding and experience of tragedy and suffering. This makes her role and sacrifices as a caregiver even more meaningful.
Example 3: Sancho Panza: Jester (Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes)
The most perceptive character in a play is the fool, because the man who wishes to seem simple cannot possibly be a simpleton.
In Miguel de Cervantes novel, Sancho Panza reflects the complexity and importance of the jester archetype. As Don Quixotes sidekick, Sancho Panza provides humor and comic relief as a contrast to the title characters idealism. However, as Sancho Panzas character becomes more developed in the novel, his jester archetype develops as well into a voice of reason and example of empathy and loyalty. This is beneficial for the reader in that, though they are contrasting characters, Sancho Panza as a jester beside Don Quixote becomes a more legitimate and influential character. In turn, the jester archetype legitimizes the protagonist as well, making the novels fool the most perceptive character.
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What Is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)?doubledown casino free chips and spins
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also known as the Dow 30, is a stock market index that tracks 30 large, publicly-owned blue-chip companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq. The Dow Jones is named after Charles Dow, who created the index in 1896 along with his business partner Edward Jones.
Key Takeaways
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a widely-watched benchmark index in the U.S. for blue-chip stocks.
The DJIA is a price-weighted index that tracks 30 large, publicly-owned companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.
The index was created by Charles Dow in 1896 to serve as a proxy for the broader U.S. economy.
The DJIA's composition can change over time based on economic trends.
The Dow Divisor is a constant that was created to address the simple average issue.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average
Understanding the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)
1:36
The DJIA is the second-oldest U.S. market index; the first was the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA). The DJIA was designed to serve as a proxy for the health of the broader U.S. economy. Often referred to simply as the Dow, the DJIA is one of the most-watched stock market indexes in the world. While the Dow includes a range of companies, all can be described as blue-chip companies with consistently stable earnings.
When the index initially launched in 1896, it included only 12 companies. Those companies were primarily in the industrial sector, including railroads, cotton, gas, sugar, tobacco, and oil.
In the early 20th century, the performance of industrial companies was typically tied to the overall growth rate in the economy. That cemented the relationship between the Dow's performance and the overall economy. Even today, for many investors, a strong-performing Dow equals a strong economy (while a weak-performing Dow indicates a slowing economy).
As the economy changes over time, so does the composition of the index. A component of the Dow may be dropped when a company becomes less relevant to current trends of the economy, to be replaced by a new name that better reflects the shift.
A company that loses a large percentage of its market capitalization due to financial distress might be removed from the Dow. Market capitalization is a method of measuring the value of a company by multiplying the number of shares outstanding by its stock price.
Stocks with higher share prices are given greater weight in the index. So a higher percentage move in a higher-priced component will have a greater impact on the final calculated value. At the Dow's inception, Charles Dow calculated the average by adding the prices of the twelve Dow component stocks and dividing by twelve. The result was a simple average. Over time, there have been additions and subtractions to the index, such as mergers and stock splits that had to be accounted for. At that point, a simple mean calculation no longer made sense.
The Dow Divisor and Index Calculation
The Dow Divisor was created to address the simple average issue. The divisor is a predetermined constant that is used to determine the effect of a one-point move in any of the approximately 30 stocks that comprise the Dow. There have been instances when the divisor needed to be changed so that the value of the Dow stayed consistent. As of 2022, the Dow Divisor was 0.15172752595384.
The Dow is not calculated using a weighted arithmetic average and it does not represent its component companies' market capitalization (unlike the S&P 500). Rather, it reflects the sum of the price of one share of stock for all the components, divided by the divisor. Thus, a one-point move in any of the component stocks will move the index by an identical number of points.
DJIA Price = SUM (Component stock prices) / Dow Divisor
Dow Index Components
The Dow is often re-evaluated to replace companies that no longer meet the listing criteria with those that do. By 1928, the index grew to 30 components. Its composition has changed many times since then.
The first change came just three months after the 30-component index was launched. In its first few years until roughly the Great Depression, there were numerous changes to its components. The first large-scale change was in 1932 when eight stocks in the Dow were replaced.
The most recent large-scale change to the composition of the Dow before 2020 took place in 1997. At this time, four of the index's components were replaced:
Travelers' Group replaced Westinghouse Electric
Johnson & Johnson replaced Bethlehem Steel
Hewlett-Packard took over Texaco's spot
Walmart replaced Woolworths
Two years later, in 1999, four more components of the Dow were changed, when Chevron, Sears Roebuck, Union Carbide, and Goodyear Tire were dropped while Home Depot, Intel, Microsoft, and SBC Communications were added.
On June 26, 2018, Walgreens Boots Alliance replaced General Electric Company. In addition, United Technologies merged with Raytheon Company and the new corporation entered the index as Raytheon Technologies, while DowDuPont spun off DuPont and was replaced by Dow Chemical Company in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
On Aug. 24, 2020, Salesforce, Amgen, and Honeywell were added to the Dow, replacing ExxonMobil, Pfizer, and Raytheon Technologies.
The table below alphabetically lists the companies included in the DJIA as of 2022:
Dow Jones Industrial Average Components Company Symbol Year Added 3M MMM 1976 American Express AXP 1982 Amgen AMGN 2020 Apple AAPL 2015 Boeing BA 1987 Caterpillar CAT 1991 Chevron CVX 2008 Cisco Systems CSCO 2009 The Coca-Cola Company KO 1987 Dow DOW 2019 Goldman Sachs GS 2013 The Home Depot HD 1999 Honeywell HON 2020 IBM IBM 1979 Intel INTC 1999 Johnson & Johnson JNJ 1997 JPMorgan Chase JPM 1991 McDonald's MCD 1985 Merck & Co. MRK 1979 Microsoft MSFT 1999 NIKE NKE 2013 Proctor & Gamble PG 1932 Salesforce CRM 2020 The Travelers Companies TRV 2009 UnitedHealth Group UNH 2012 Verizon VZ 2004 Visa V 2013 Walgreen Boots Alliance WBA 2018 Walmart WMT 1997 The Walt Disney Company DIS 1991 30 DJIA companies as of 2022
Historical Milestones
The following are some important historical milestones achieved by the Dow:
March 15, 1933: The largest one-day percentage gain in the index happened during the 1930s bear market, totaling 15.34%. The Dow gained 8.26 points and closed at 62.10.
Oct. 19, 1987: The largest one-day percentage drop took place on Black Monday. The index fell 22.61%. There was no evident explanation for the crash, although program trading may have been a contributing factor.
Sept. 17, 2001: The fourth-largest one-day point dropand the largest at the timetook place on the first day of trading following the 9/11 attacks in New York City. The Dow dropped 684.81 points or about 7.1%. However, it is important to note that the index had been dropping before Sept. 11, losing more than 1,000 points between Jan. 2 and Sept. 10. The DJIA started to make traction after the attacks and regained all of what it lost, closing above 10,000 for the year.
May 3, 2013: The Dow surpassed the 15,000 mark for the first time in history.
Jan. 25, 2017: The Dow closed above 20,000 points for the first time.
Jan. 4, 2018: The index closed at 25,075.13, the first close above 25,000 points.
Jan. 17, 2018: The Dow closed at 26,115.65, the first close above 26,000 points.
Feb. 5, 2018: The Dow fell a record 1,175.21 points.
Dec. 26, 2018: The Dow recorded its largest one-day point gain of 1,086.25.
July 11, 2019: The Dow broke above 27,000 for the first time in its history.
Feb. 12, 2020: The Dow hits its pre-pandemic high of 29,551.
March 2020: The Dow Jones crashes with back-to-back record down days amid the global coronavirus pandemic, breaking below 20,000 and falling 3,000 points in a single day amid several 2,000 and 1,500 up and down moves. It officially entered bear market territory on March 11, 2020, ending the longest bull market in history that began in March 2009.
Nov. 16, 2020: The Dow finally breaks its pre-COVID-19 high, reaching 29,950.44 points.
Nov. 24, 2020: The Dow breaks the 30,000 level for the first time, closing at 30,045.84.
July 2021: On July 12, 2021, the Dow trades above 35,000 for the first time. On July 23, 2021, it closes above 35,000 for the first time.
November 2021: The Dow trades above $36,000 for the first time.
Jan. 2022: The Dow hits an all-time high of 36,952.65.
Individuals can invest in the Dow, which would mean gaining exposure to all of the companies listed in it, through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA).
Limitations of the DJIA
Many critics of the Dow argue that it does not significantly represent the state of the U.S. economy as it consists of only 30 large-cap U.S. companies. They believe the number of companies is too small and it neglects companies of different sizes. Many critics believe the S&P 500 is a better representation of the economy as it includes significantly more companies, 500 versus 30.
Furthermore, critics believe that factoring only the price of a stock in the calculation does not accurately reflect a company, as much as considering a company's market cap would. In this manner, a company with a higher stock price but a smaller market cap would have more weight than a company with a smaller stock price but a larger market cap, which would poorly reflect the true size of a company.
The Dow is also a price-weighted index, as opposed to being weighted by market capitalization. This means that stocks in the index with higher share prices have greater influence, regardless if they are smaller companies overall in terms of market value. In a price-weighted index, a stock that increases from $110 to $120 will have the same net effect on the index as a stock that increases from $10 to $20, even though the percentage move for the latter is far greater than that of the higher-priced stock. This also means that stock splits can have an impact on the index, whereas they would not for a market cap-weighted index.
The S&P 500 has outperformed the DJIA on an annualized basis over the last three-, five-, and 10-year periods.
What Does the Dow Jones Measure?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) tracks the price movements for 30 large companies in the United States. Such companies include Microsoft (MSFT) and Home Depot (HD). The selected companies are from all major U.S. sectors, except utilities and transportation.
When Did the DJIA Top 10,000 for the First Time?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) hit 10,000 for the first time in March 1999. The DJIA then hit 11,750 in January of 2000, before falling to below 7,200 in October 2002 after the dot-com crash.
The DJIA Is Based on the Prices of How Many Stocks?
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is made up of 30 large stocks. All the stocks are based in the United States. The DJIA is also known as the Dow 30.
How Does the Dow Differ from the S&P 500?
The S&P 500 and DJIA are the two most-watched stock indexes in the U.S. However, these two benchmarks are very different:
The Dow Jones Industrial Index tracks 30 large-cap stocks, the S&P 500 tracks the largest 500 stocks in the U.S. market
The Dow Jones index is price-weighted; the S&P 500 is market-cap weighted
The stocks in the Dow are chosen by a committee; the stocks in the S&P 500 are added according to a formula
The Dow Jones uses a divisor; the S&P 500 is expressed versus a base year
The Bottom Line
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock index of 30 U.S. blue-chip large-cap companies, which has become synonymous with the American stock market as a whole. The index, however, only has 30 companies, and the index itself is price-weighted, meaning that it does not always present an accurate reflection of the broader stock market.
Companies in the DJIA are also chosen by a committee and are balanced to try to represent the state of the overall economy. This means that certain companies may be added to or deleted from the index periodically without much in the way of being able to predict when or which stock will be changed. Despite its limitations, however, the Dow still holds a special place in American finance.
On Thursday, March 24th, 2022 Italy has been knocked out of the 2022 World Cup hosted in Qatar following their disappointing 1 to 0 loss to North Macedonia. This is devastating news for Italian football and their fans of the usually dominant football national team that has been dominant in the past.
Italyhas now been denied the right to qualify for the last 2 possible World Cup tournaments. It would be one thing if they were eliminated early on in the World Cup, but for Italy to not even qualify for the biggest international football tournament is a disgrace to the sport and the nation.
The Italians were just recently crowned the champions of the European Championship only 8 months ago, can basically only blame themselves for missing out on this years rapidly approaching 2022 World Cup inQatar.
Italy tragically failed to convert on literally dozens of scoring opportunities during the 1 0 semifinal playoff loss to North Macedonia on Thursday, March 24th, 2022 with Aleksandar Trajkovskiscoring during injury time in order to secure a surprising win for North Macedonia that is presently ranked as the 67th best in the world at the moment.
Italys loss in Palermodefinitely shocked so many that follow European football as it was also somewhat foreseeable for a national team that has been in a downward spiral lately especially since they defeated England on penalty kicks in order to win the 2020 2021 European Championshiptitle last July of 2021.
This Italian national team that was record setting for winning last season has won just 2 of their 8 games since they lost their 1st contest in over 3 years to Spain in the Nations League.
Missed scoring chances absolutely cost them greatly over the course of those matches, especially versus Bulgaria, in which the Italians had 27 shot attempts in relation to their opponents 4 as well as a possession percentage of 71 % but ultimately, they ended up drawing against Bulgaria with a final tally of 1 to 1.
Blown scoring opportunities was apparently an identical issue for Italy during the playoffs match versus North Macedonia this past Thursday. Against North Macedonia the Italians had an astonishing 32 shots on goalwhereas the visiting side had just 4, and fortunately for North Macedonia one of those shot attempts they recorded found the back of the net which allowed them to advance to their upcoming playoff final versus Portugal on Tuesday, March 29th, 2022.
Italys lack of goal scoring has so involved very concerned as the head coach of the Italian national team Roberto Mancinithat he had felt the need to call up Mario Balotellifor a 3 day training camp the past January of 2022, which was just 3 years after his last professional football appearance for the normally dominant super power of the Azzurri. Mancini eventually decided to leave out the somewhat controversial forward for their latest World Cup playoff though.
Media Statements
Our triumph at the Euros was fully deserved. But then some of the fortune we had in the tournament transformed into total and complete bad luck, Italys head coach of their national team, Roberto Mancini, stated.It almost feels like conceding a last minute goal was fitting. I dont know what to say. Maybe we shouldnt even have got to this point.
Honestly, its difficult because we have to look at the reality, and I put myself in there, too, says Jorginho following Italys game last Thursday, March 24th, 2022.It hurts when I think about the two penalties, because I do still think about them and Ill think about them for the rest of my life, unfortunately.Stepping up there twice and not being able to help your team and your country is something that I will carry with me forever, and it weighs on me so much. People say now we need to move on, but it still hurts.
Its clear that there is always great resistance from the clubs towards the national team, the Italian federation president Gabriele Gravina explained.The national team is seen more as an annoyance than something that unites an entire country. The loss this evening makes us understand that something needs to be done in Italian soccer.For example, lets start by figuring out what we can do for the many youngsters who dont get opportunities across our leagues and how we can fill this gap.
Sources:
Matar, Daniella. Disaster again as Italy fails to qualify for World Cup. The Associated Press. March 25, 2022.
Ph.D., Philosophy, Columbia University
M.A., Philosophy, Columbia University
B.A., Philosophy, University of Florence, Italy
Beauty itself is but the sensible image of the infinite, said the U.S. historian George Bancroft (18001891). The nature of beauty is one of the most fascinating riddles of philosophy. Is beauty universal? How do we know it? How can we predispose ourselves to embrace it? Nearly every major philosopher has engaged with these questions and their cognates, including the great figures of ancient Greek philosophy such as Plato and Aristotle.
The Aesthetic Attitude
An aesthetic attitude is a state of contemplating a subject with no other purpose than appreciating it. For most authors, thus, the aesthetic attitude is purposeless: we have no reason to engage in it other than finding aesthetic enjoyment.
Aesthetic appreciation canbe carried on by means of the senses: looking at a sculpture, trees in bloom, or Manhattans skyline; listening to Puccinis "La boheme;" tasting a mushroom risotto; feeling cool water in a hot day; and so on. However, senses may not be necessary in order to obtain an aesthetic attitude. We can rejoice, for instance, in imagining a beautiful house that never existed or in discovering or grasping the details of a complex theorem in algebra.
In principle, thus, the aesthetic attitude can relate to any subject via any possible mode of experiencesenses, imagination, intellect, or any combination of these.
Is There a Universal Definition of Beauty?
The question arises of whether beauty is universal. Suppose you agree that Michelangelos "David" and a Van Gogh self-portrait are beautiful: do such beauties have something in common? Is there a single shared quality, beauty, that we experience in both of them? And is this beauty the very same that one experiences when gazing at the Grand Canyon from its edge or listening to Beethovens ninth symphony?
If beauty is universal, as for example, Plato maintained, it is reasonable to hold that we do not know it through the senses. Indeed, the subjects in question are quite different and are also known in different ways (gaze, hearing, observation). If there is something in common among those subjects, it cannot be what is known through the senses.
But, is there really something common to all experiences of beauty? Compare the beauty of an oil painting with that of picking flowers in a Montana field over the summer or surfing a gigantic wave in Hawaii. It seems that these cases have no single common element: not even the feelings or the basic ideas involved seem to match. Similarly, people around the world find different music, visual art, performance, and physical attributes to be beautiful. Its on the basis of those considerations that many believe that beauty is a label we attach to different sorts of experiences based on a combination of cultural and personal preferences.
Beauty and Pleasure
Does beauty necessarily go along with pleasure? Do humans praise beauty because it gives pleasure? Is a life dedicated to the quest for beauty one worth living? These are some fundamental questions in philosophy, at the intersection between ethics and aesthetics.
If on the one hand beauty seems linked to aesthetic pleasure, seeking the former as a means to achieve the latter can lead to egoistic hedonism (self-centered pleasure-seeking for its own sake), the typical symbol of decadence.
But beauty can also be regarded as a value, one of the dearest to humans. In Roman Polanskis movie The Pianist, for instance, the protagonist escapes the desolation of WWII by playing a ballade by Chopin. And fine works of art are curated, preserved, and presented as valuable in themselves. There is no question that human beings value, engage with, and desire beauty -- simply because it is beautiful.
Sources and Further Information
Investopedia / Michela Buttignol
What Is Altcoin?monkey bites
Altcoins are generally defined as all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (BTC). However, some people consider altcoins to be all crytocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) because most cryptocurrencies are forked from one of the two. Some altcoins use different consensus mechanisms to validate transactions and open new blocks, or attempt to distinguish themselves from Bitcoin and Ethereum by providing new or additional capabilities or purposes.
Most altcoins are designed and released by developers who have a different vision or use for their tokens or cryptocurrency. Learn more about altcoins and what makes them different from Bitcoin.
Key Takeaways
The term altcoin refers to all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin (and for some people, Ethereum).
There are tens of thousands of altcoins on the market.
Altcoins come in several types based on what they were designed for.
The future value of altcoins is impossible to predict, but if the blockchain they were designed for continues to be used and developed, the altcoins will continue to exist.
Click Play to Learn All About Altcoins
Understanding Altcoins
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"Altcoin" is a combination of the two words "alternative" and "coin." It is generally used to include all cryptocurrencies and tokens that are not Bitcoin. Altcoins belong to the blockchains they were explicitly designed for. Many are forksa splitting of a blockchain that is not compatible with the original chainfrom Bitcoin and Ethereum. These forks generally have more than one reason for occurring. Most of the time, a group of developers disagree with others and leave to make their own coin.
Many altcoins are used within their respective blockchains to accomplish something, such as ether, which is used in Ethereum to pay transaction fees. Some developers have created forks of Bitcoin and re-emerged as an attempt to compete with Bitcoin as a payment method, such as Bitcoin Cash.
Others fork and advertise themselves as a way to raise funds for specific projects. For example, the token Bananacoin forked from Ethereum and emerged in 2017 as a way to raise funds for a banana plantation in Laos that claimed to grow organic bananas.
Dogecoin, the popular meme coin, was apparently created as somewhat of a joke. It forked from Litecoin, which itself forked from Bitcoin in 2011. Whatever the intent behind its creation, it was still designed to be a digital payment method.
Altcoins attempt to improve upon the perceived limitations of whichever cryptocurrency and blockchain they are forked from or competing with. The first altcoin was Litecoin, forked from the Bitcoin blockchain in 2011. Litecoin uses a different proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism than Bitcoin, called Scrypt (pronounced es-crypt), which is less energy-intensive and quicker than Bitcoin's SHA-256 PoW consensus mechanism.
Ether is another altcoin. However, it did not fork from Bitcoin. It was designed by Vitalik Buterin, Dr. Gavin Wood, and a few others to support Ethereum, the worlds largest blockchain-based scalable virtual machine. Ether (ETH) is used to pay network participants for the transaction validation work their machines do.
Types of Altcoins
Altcoins come in various flavors and categories. Heres a brief summary of some of the types of altcoins and what they are intended to be used for.
It is possible for an altcoin to fall into more than one category, such as TerraUSD, which is a stablecoin and utility token.
Payment Token
As the name implies, payment tokens are designed to be used as currencyto exchange value between parties. Bitcoin is the prime example of a payment token.
Stablecoins
Cryptocurrency trading and use have been marked by volatility since launch. Stablecoins aim to reduce this overall volatility by pegging their value to a basket of goods, such as fiat currencies, precious metals, or other cryptocurrencies. The basket is meant to act as a reserve to redeem holders if the cryptocurrency fails or faces problems. Price fluctuations for stablecoins are not meant to exceed a narrow range.
Notable stablecoins include Tether's USDT, MakerDAO's DAI, and the USD Coin (USDC). In March 2021, payment processing giant Visa Inc. (V) announced that it would begin settling some transactions on its network in USDC over the Ethereum blockchain, with plans to roll out further stablecoin settlement capacity later in 2021.
Security Tokens
Security tokens are tokenized assets offered on stock markets. Tokenization is the transfer of value from an asset to a token, which is then made available to investors. Any asset can be tokenized, such as real estate or stocks. For this to work, the asset must be secured and held. Otherwise, the tokens are worthless because they wouldn't represent anything. Security tokens are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission because they are designed to act as securities.
In 2021, the Bitcoin wallet firm Exodus successfully completed a Securities and Exchange Commission-qualified Reg A+ token offering, allowing for $75 million shares of common stock to be converted to tokens on the Algorand blockchain. This was a historic event because it was the first digital asset security to offer equity in a United States-based issuer.
Utility Tokens
Utility tokens are used to provide services within a network. For example, they might be used to purchase services, pay network fees, or redeem rewards. Filecoin, which is used to buy storage space on a network and secure the information, is an example of a utility token.
Ether (ETH) is also a utility token. It is designed to be used in the Ethereum blockchain and virtual machine to pay for transactions. The stable coin USTerra uses utility tokens to attempt to maintain its peg to the dollarwhich it lost on May 11, 2022by minting and burning two utility tokens to create downward or upward pressure on its price.
Utility tokens can be purchased on exchanges and held, but they are meant to be used in the blockchain network to keep it functioning.
Meme Coins
As their name suggests, meme coins are inspired by a joke or a silly take on other well-known cryptocurrencies. They typically gain popularity in a short period of time, often hyped online by prominent influencers or investors attempting to exploit short-term gains.
Many refer to the sharp run-up in this type of altcoins during April and May 2021 as "meme coin season," with hundreds of these cryptocurrencies posting enormous percentage gains based on pure speculation.
An initial coin offering (ICO) is the cryptocurrency industrys equivalent of an initial public offering (IPO). A company looking to raise money to create a new coin, app, or service launches an ICO to raise funds.
Governance Tokens
Governance tokens allow holders certain rights within a blockchain, such as voting for changes to protocols or having a say in decisions of a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Because they are generally native to a private blockchain and used for blockchain purposes, they are utility tokens but have come to be accepted as a separate type because of their purpose.
Pros and Cons of Altcoins
Improve upon another cryptocurrency's weaknesses
Higher survivability
Thousands to choose from
Lower popularity and smaller market cap
Less liquid than Bitcoin
Difficult to determine use cases
Many altcoins are scams or lost developer and community interest
Pros of Altcoins Explained
Altcoins are "improved versions" of the cryptocurrency they derived from because they aim to plug perceived shortcomings.
Altcoins with more utility have a better chance of surviving because they have uses, such as Ethereums ether.
Investors can choose from a wide variety of altcoins that perform different functions in the crypto economy.
Cons of Altcoin Explained
Altcoins have a smaller investment market compared to Bitcoin. Bitcoin has generally hovered around 40% of the global cryptocurrency market since May of 2021.
The altcoin market is characterized by fewer investors and less activity, resulting in thin liquidity.
It is not always easy to distinguish between different altcoins and their respective use cases, making investment decisions even more complicated and confusing.
There are several "dead" altcoins that ended up sinking investor dollars.
Future of Altcoins
ProsCons
Discussions about the future for altcoins and cryptocurrencies have a precedent in the circumstances that led to a federally issued dollar in the 19th century. Various forms of local currencies circulated in the United States. Each had unique characteristics and was backed by a different instrument.
Local banks were also issuing currency, in some cases backed by fictitious reserves. That diversity of currencies and financial instruments parallels the current situation in altcoin markets. There are thousands of altcoins available in the markets today, each one claiming to serve a different purpose and market.
The current state of affairs in the altcoin markets is unlikely to consolidate into a single cryptocurrency. But it is also likely that a majority of the thousands of altcoins listed in crypto markets will not survive. The altcoin market will likely coalesce around a bunch of altcoinsthose with strong utility, use cases, and a solid blockchain purposewhich will dominate the markets.
If you're looking to diversify within the cryptocurrency market, altcoins can be less expensive than Bitcoin. However, the cryptocurrency market, regardless of the type of coin, is young and volatile. Cryptocurrency is still finding its role in the global economy, so it's best to approach all cryptocurrencies cautiously.
What Is the Best Altcoin to Invest in?
The best altcoin to invest in depends on your financial situation, goals, risk tolerance, and the market's circumstances. It's best to speak to a financial advisor to help you decide which one is best for you.
What Are the Top 3 Altcoins?
By market cpacity, the top three altcoins are Ethereum, USD Coin, Tether (USDT).
Is It Better to Invest in Bitcoin or Altcoins?
Which cryptocurrency is better is a subjective argument based on an investor's financial circumstances, investing goals, risk tolerance, and beliefs. You should talk to a professional financial advisor about investing in cryptocurrency before buying any.
Investing in cryptocurrencies and other Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Investopedia or the writer to invest in cryptocurrencies or other ICOs. Since each individual's situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions.
Marking 100th Anniversary of the 1911 Revolution
President Li Wenxing,
MPs, My Lords,
Chinese community leaders,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I very much welcome you to this photographic exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the 1911 Revolution.
This exhibition is part of a collection of events hosted by the Chinese Embassy to remember the 1911 Revolution.
These photos provide vivid records of how this history-making revolution came about in China one century ago. The images can help us grasp what the 1911 Revolution meant to the Chinese people and how it left a lasting mark on China.
Following its first leg in London, the exhibition will go on a UK tour. It will be in Liverpool later this month and Edinburgh in early November, with assistance from the Chinese Consulates in Manchester and Edinburgh.
I must thank the Xinhua News Agency London Bureau and the Confederation of Chinese Associations UK for your contribution to the exhibition. And my thanks also go to China Ocean Shipping Company UK for your kind support.
This year is the centenary of the 1911 Revolution in China. The Chinese people at home and in many parts of the world are commemorating this epoch-making event.
People may ask: what does this revolution mean to China?
President Hu Jintao gave a precise answer during recent celebrations in China. He said:
The revolution of 1911 greatly freed the minds of the Chinese people, opened the flood gates for progress in China and explored a path for the development and progress of the Chinese nation.
Some compare history to a great river, flowing day and night unceasingly.
Some say the progress of history is like mountaineering. To climb higher and reach the summit, you must go step by step.
The 1911 Revolution is important in the sense that it represents an irresistible current and a significant step in the course of the Chinese history.
Its remembered as a seminal event that carried the Chinese revolution into a new stage.
To be specific, the 1911 Revolutions importance is three-fold.
First, the revolution overthrew the corrupt Qing Dynasty.
This action removed a major hurdle holding back Chinas progress:
It put an end to more than 2000 years of autocratic monarchy in China.
It set the Chinese people on a course to build a republic.
All these were great achievements that in hindsight have utterly transformed China during the past one hundred years.
Second, as President Hu Jintao observed, the revolution was a significant political event that freed peoples minds. For the first time ever, a set of modern, democratic thoughts were brought forward by the revolutionaries. This new thinking included these concepts:
The Chinese nation;
ethnic equality;
serving public interests;
and putting people first.
These ideas awoke the Chinese people to the path forward.
This force of new thinking guided the movement and pushed forward sweeping changes.
This swept away the outdated way of life and added momentum to great social transformation. Men in China happily shaved off their pigtails, which were imposed by the Qing rulers. Women threw away the cloth that bound their feet. The Chinese society took on a new and modern look.
A new chapter was thus written in Chinas history.
Third, the revolution ushered in the era of a new democratic revolution in China.
However, for all its achievements, the 1911 revolution failed to bring fundamental changes to China.
China remained a weak, poor country divided by warlords and ravaged by internal conflicts.
China continued to be exploited and suppressed by imperial powers, and the Chinese people still lived in great misery and desperation.
Its in this context that the Communist Party of China moved to the front stage of the modern development of the Chinese people.
It was the Communist Party of China that led China toward real change.
It has been this leadership that has revolutionised the lives of all in China.
The 1911 Revolution was the first tipping-point on Chinas path toward revolution and rebirth. In the following decades, the Communist Party of China steered the nation through another two great transformations.
The first huge change was the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. This established the socialist system, and achieved national independence and peoples liberation.
And the second great transformation was the reform and opening-up in late 1970s, which brought China and its people closer than ever to the goal of prosperity.
Only with such a journey of exploration, could China become what it is today. And the Chinese people have every reason to be proud of how far their country has come.
Today, China is the worlds number two economy and a prosperous and stable country. Its success story has caught the eye of the world. Looking forward, the Chinese people are devoting their best efforts to continue this national development and rejuvenation.
I believe that history will record two broad themes arising out of the 1911 Revolution.
Firstly, the Communist Party of China inherited the ideals and vision of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and the 1911 revolutionaries.
Then secondly, the Communist Party has also taken their revolutionary cause forward in a way that is unprecedented.
Todays exhibition shows photos that capture many facets of the 1911 Revolution. The pictures offer a unique window into understanding Chinas progress over the past century.
The images offer the best example of the patriotism of the overseas Chinese in that period one hundred years ago. The photos symbolise the shared aspiration of the people across the Taiwan Straits for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Just under a hundred years ago a British journalist wrote a book called Chinas Revolution: 1911-1912. His name was Edwin Dingle.
His book was based on his first-hand observation of the 1911 revolution. Dingle outlined the potential deep implications of the revolution for Chinese society and international relationships.
He wrote:
No one will doubt that, with such excellent qualities of common sense and eminent industry as the Chinese possess, we shall see a nation move that may move the world with it. The day will assuredly come, perhaps it is not so very far distant, when the Occidental observer will look around to see the globe girdled with an indissoluble bond of Chinese peoples, no longer too weak for aggression, but independent in all department of national life.
Clearly Edwin Dingle had remarkable foresight. What he wrote of China has become reality today.
In closing, I hope you will draw inspiration from this exhibition.
It is a fine way to learn about the 1911 revolution and its far-reaching significance.
Thank you for your interest and attention!
Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming At the Opening Ceremony of the Photographic Exhibitionadded by chinatimesonline on
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What Is a Collar?barstool sportsbook indiana promo
A collar, also known as a hedge wrapper or risk-reversal, is an options strategy implemented to protect against large losses, but it also limits large gains.
An investor who is already long the underlying creates a collar by buying an out-of-the-money put option while simultaneously writing an out-of-the-money call option. The put protects the trader in case the price of the stock drops. Writing the call produces income (which ideally should offset the cost of buying the put) and allows the trader to profit on the stock up to the strike price of the call, but not higher.
Key Takeaways
A collar is an options strategy that involves buying a downside put and selling an upside call that is implemented to protect against large losses, but that also limits large upside gains.
The protective collar strategy involves two strategies known as a protective put and covered call.
An investor's best-case scenario is when the underlying stock price is equal to the strike price of the written call option at expiry.
What is a Protective Collar?
Understanding a Collar
2:53
An investor should consider executing a collar if they are currently long a stock that has substantial unrealized gains. Additionally, the investor might also consider it if they are bullish on the stock over the long term, but are unsure of shorter-term prospects. To protect gains against a downside move in the stock, they can implement the collar option strategy. An investor's best-case scenario is when the underlying stock price is equal to the strike price of the written call option at expiry.
The protective collar strategy involves two strategies known as a protective put and covered call. A protective put, or married put, involves being long a put option and long the underlying security. A covered call, or buy/write, involves being long the underlying security and short a call option.
The purchase of an out-of-the-money put option is what protects the trader from a potentially large downward move in the stock price while the writing (selling) of an out-of-the-money call option generates premiums that, ideally, should offset the premiums paid to buy the put.
The call and put should be the same expiry month and the same number of contracts. The purchased put should have a strike price below the current market price of the stock. The written call should have a strike price above the current market price of the stock. The trade should be set up for little or zero out-of-pocket cost if the investor selects the respective strike prices that are equidistant from the current price of the owned stock.
Since they are willing to risk sacrificing gains on the stock above the covered call's strike price, this is not a strategy for an investor who is extremely bullish on the stock.
Collar Break Even Point (BEP) and Profit Loss (P/L)
An investor's breakeven point (BEP) on a collar strategy is the net of the premiums paid and received for the put and call subtracted from or added to the purchase price of the underlying stock depending on whether there is a credit or debit. Net credit is when the premiums received are greater than the premiums paid and net debit is when the premiums paid are greater than the premiums received.
The maximum profit of a collar is equivalent to the call option's strike price less the underlying stock's purchase price per share. The cost of the options, whether for a net debit or credit, is then factored in. The maximum loss is the purchase price of the underlying stock less the put option's strike price. The cost of the option is then factored in.
Maximum Profit = (Call option strike price - Net of Put / Call premiums) - Stock purchase price
Maximum Loss = Stock purchase price - (Put option strike price - Net of Put / Call premiums)
Collar Example
Assume an investor is long 1,000 shares of stock ABC at a price of $80 per share, and the stock is currently trading at $87 per share. The investor wants to temporarily hedge the position due to the increase in the overall market's volatility.
The investor purchases 10 put options (one option contract is 100 shares) with a strike price of $77 and a premium of $3.00 and writes 10 call options with a strike price of $97 with a premium of $4.50.
Cost to implement collar (Buy $77 strike Put & write $97 strike call) is a net credit of $1.50 / share.
Breakeven point = $80 + $1.50 = $81.50 / share.
The maximum profit is $15,500, or 10 contracts x 100 shares x (($97 - $1.50) - $80). This scenario occurs if the stock prices goes to $97 or above.
Conversely, the maximum loss is $4,500, or 10 x 100 x ($80 - ($77 - $1.50)). This scenario occurs if the stock price drops to $77 or below.
* At the China-ASEAN Expo, there's a palpable excitement about China's growing appetite for durian, the pungent "king of fruits."
* Last year, China imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, about four times the figure of 2017. The fruit has emerged as a prominent symbol of the booming China-ASEAN cooperation and China's vast market potential.
* Fruit dealers are rejoicing at tariff-free policies, expanding market access, and improving transportation infrastructure as a result of close China-ASEAN cooperation.
by Xinhua Writers Yao Yuan, Pan Qiang and Zhu Lili
NANNING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Seated behind a stack of durian-flavored snacks at the Malaysian pavilion of the China-ASEAN Expo, two livestream ers were introducing the Southeast Asian country's iconic thorny fruit.
"Malaysia is home to more than 200 durian varieties, but I know the Musang King is the favorite in China," said one of the livestream ers, who is a Malaysian fruit exhibitor, to hundreds of viewers on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
At the expo currently underway in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, there's a palpable excitement about China's growing appetite for the pungent fruit, with many booths selling a motley of durian products, ranging from durian ice cream to durian coffee, while seeking cooperation with Chinese partners.
Lau Hieng Seng, hailing from Malaysia, brought more than 600 servings of durian-pulp ice cream to this year's exhibition, after missing out on three editions of the expo due to COVID-19.
"Anything with durian in it is hugely popular among Chinese consumers. Our only concern is whether our stock is sufficient," he said.
The Chinese market made up 91 percent of the world's demand for durian in the past two years, according to an HSBC report. Last year, the country imported 825,000 tonnes of durian, about four times the figure of 2017, according to customs and industry association data.
As the vast majority of durians sold in the Chinese market are imported from Southeast Asia, the "king of fruits" has emerged as a prominent symbol of the booming China-ASEAN cooperation and China's vast market potential.
SUPER BIG MARKET
Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday said that China-ASEAN relations have become the most successful and dynamic model for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, and a clear example of building a community with a shared future for all.
With a total population of more than 2 billion, China and ASEAN countries constitute a huge market, with its expansion and integration continuing to inject new impetus into the regional economy.
The flow of goods in this regional market has continued to benefit from tariff-free policies and expanded market access under the frameworks of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
"A decade ago, ASEAN fruits like durian, mangosteen and golden coconut were rare in China, but now they can be seen in fruit stalls in almost every big Chinese city at increasingly affordable prices," said Wang Zhengbo, president of a Guangxi-based fruit company.
Durians in China used to be predominantly from Thailand and Malaysia and were expensive due to limited supplies. Last year, Vietnamese durians , known for their longer harvest season and lower prices, gained market access to China under the RCEP framework, which was followed by the import of fresh durians from the Philippines starting in January this year.
Jumping onto the bandwagon of Vietnamese durian imports, Wang's company last year signed contracts with Vietnamese durian farms covering nearly 3,000 hectares.
"We plan to import more than 3,000 containers, or 60,000 tonnes, of Vietnamese durians this year to cater to the demand of the Chinese market," Wang said.
Official data from Vietnam showed the country earned more than 500 million U.S. dollars from durian exports in the first five months of the year, up 18 times from a year ago. Vietnam exported more than 65,000 tonnes of durian during the period, with China buying 97 percent of the shipment.
Wong Kok Loong from Malaysia has been closely following China's durian craze. The entrepreneur started attending the China-ASEAN Expo in 2015 to sell durian pastries and candies. Seeing China's e-commerce boom in recent years, he opened stores on the country's leading e-commerce platforms like JD.com and Tmall.
"Now my durian products have expanded from four categories to over 80, including durian custard roll and durian cheese," he said.
"China's durian market still has plenty of potential, as only a small proportion of Chinese, mainly living in large cities, have had durian and durian products," said Wong, expressing optimism regarding the market prospects in China.
In August, China's retail sales of consumer goods reported a 4.6-percent increase after a three-month slowdown, indicating an improving consumer sentiment as the country's economic recovery gained momentum .
REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY
In recent years, the development of transportation infrastructure amid the China-ASEAN cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has significantly boosted the durian trade, as there are specific requirements for the fruit due to its short shelf life.
On June 11, a train loaded with about 500 tonnes of fresh Thai durians reached southwest China's Chongqing. Traveling on the China-Laos Railway, a flagship BRI project, the entire journey took only four days, compared with eight to 10 days via previous land-sea routes.
"Durian imports have now become faster with more transportation options," said Guan Caixia, a Guangxi-based durian importer, whose Thai durians are either shipped through road-rail passage via Youyiguan land port or through sea-rail route via Qinzhou Port in the Beibu Gulf, a key knot for China-ASEAN trade.
But it is not just tropical fruits that have benefited from the improved connectivity. In Qinzhou, China-made auto parts, soda ash, and mechanical and electrical products are waiting to be shipped to ASEAN countries.
"We handle about 20 rail-sea intermodal trains every day, and our cargo delivery volume has increased from 27,000 tonnes in 2017 to nearly 3.3 million tonnes in 2022," said Huang Jiangnan, head of Qinzhou Port's east railway station.
According to China's Ministry of Commerce, trade between China and ASEAN countries rose from more than 100 billion U.S. dollars in 2004 to 975.3 billion dollars in 2022. The two sides have been each other's largest trading partners for three years in a row.
"Against the backdrop of sluggish world economic recovery, China-ASEAN trade and cooperation have maintained robust growth, which is of both regional and global significance," said Zhang Jianping, a deputy director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
At the opening ceremony of the China-ASEAN Expo, Premier Li said China is willing to import more specialty products from ASEAN countries, upgrade regional connectivity, and build a more stable and smooth regional industrial and supply chain system based on comparative strengths.
"China will continue to firmly support the ASEAN-centered regional cooperation architecture, better synergize the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of other countries, and help ASEAN countries realize their development goals. China will work with ASEAN countries to advance regional economic integration," Li said.
(Video reporters: Wu Siyu, Qin Guanghua, Huang Kaiying, Liang Shun, Hao Xiaojiang, Xu Ning; video editors: Hong Ling, Luo Hui, Zhang Yucheng, Li Qin)
International ratings agency Fitch Ratings warned that the United Kingdom government may impose more stringent betting restrictions on in-store gaming machinesin the months to follow the completion of its triennial review. According to the agency, the introduction of stricter regulations may have a negative effect on major UK gaming operators William Hill and Ladbrokes Coral.
Fitch Ratings analysts Patrick Duncan and Paula Murphy commented UK legislators would likely propose incremental tightening of betting regulations, which would have adverse impact predominantly on independent companies where the revenue streams are less varied. In the worst case scenario, stricter regulations would significantly affect the revenue of major gaming companies as well.
If the changes in regulations are more drastic than expected, major retail gaming operators, like Ladbrokes Coral and William Hill, are most likely to suffer a negative effect on revenue. The analysts explained the two gaming operators would be hit by the regulation changes because they offer the largest portfolios of regulated betting offices. Half of the operators profits result from retail gaming machines with a maximum betting limit of 50.
The rating agencys experts predict that Ladbrokes profits from gaming machines are likely to drop by around 35%. Despite that, the industrys dynamics and the growing importance of online betting may lessen the impact of the regulation changes. Gambling operators place greater stress on improving their online platforms, allowing traditional in-store bettors to make a smooth transition from retail to web-based channels.
Several Members of Parliament are also among the proponents of introducing stricter betting regulations. The campaigners are in favor of dramatically reducing the maximum stake amounts on gaming machines to 2. Their main argument rests on the idea that gambling operators offering in-store gaming machines are depriving families from poorer areas of their money.
Jim Mullen, Chief Executive of Ladbrokes Coral, responded that such a substantial reduction in maximum bet limits would have a drastic impact on the operators revenue. In London, alone, there are 1,800 betting shops, with the number of employees exceeding 9,000 people.
The agencys analysts went on the explain the steep reduction of maximum stake limits aims to slow down the betting speeds in retail gaming shops. However, the maximum bet reduction may not be as substantial as the GBP2 maximum stake per spin, the Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (FOBT) All Party Parliamentary Group proposed in January.
Children train at the Shandong Luneng Table Tennis Club in Jinan, East China's Shandong Province. Photo: VCG
Who is the Communist Party of China (CPC)? What is the CPC's role in the new era?The CPC has grown into one of the largest ruling parties in the world in the process of leading the Chinese people in seeking liberation and happiness, making China as strong and prosperous as it is today.As the CPC ushers the nation into a new era of development, the past decade has witnessed great achievements in national strength and prosperity, with people's confidence and recognition of this path rising to unprecedentedly high levels.With more than 96 million members, the CPC concluded its 20th National Congress in October, which has realized the goals of unifying thinking, fortifying confidence, charting the course for a new era, and boosting morale. The Global Times is publishing a series of stories to help the world understand the CPC in this new era, through stories from CPC members working on the frontlines of various fields, as well as through observations made by respected scholars.This installment tells the story of an outstanding table tennis player and delegate to the 20th CPC National Congress from Beijing, whose experiences reflect China's continued breakthroughs in sports over the past decade.Over the past decade, Ding Ning has made tremendous gains in competitive sports on the global arena, and in promoting mass fitness in her home country.As one of the most successful female table tennis players to have ever won a Grand Slam singles title, over her 26-year career, Ding has been a source of countless inspirational stories in the history of Chinese table tennis.But Ding's source of pride isn't just from being an exemplary professional athlete.From being a Party delegate and experiencing the successful conclusion of the CPC National Congress in the Great Hall of the People, to returning to academia after her retirement, and working as a guest commentator while witnessing China claiming its fifth consecutive title at the 2022 ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals... After taking a step back from the competitive arena of professional table tennis, Ding has taken the initiative to apply her champion spirit in more areas."These new identities are both opportunities and challenges for me, and I will continue to uphold the same passion that I had when I fought in many of the table tennis matches, to promote campus sports culture and public fitness, and inspire more people to cultivate a love for the sport," she told the Global Times.
Ding Ning. Photo: Courtesy of Ding
"My table tennis dream is closely related to the development of China as a sports powerhouse," Ding said.Ding started playing table tennis at the age of 5, joining the national team at 13 and becoming captain of the women's national team at 27. Over the course of her career, she won a total of 21 world championships, but she has always attributed these glittering honors to her team's and country's support.In 2001, when Beijing won the Olympic bid, the 11-year-old Ding was earmarked by the Beijing table tennis team as a seed player for future training. Ever since then, Ding sporting a buzz cut has made it her life's dream to compete for her country and win as many championships as she could.At the Beijing 2008 Olympics, as a spectator, Ding witnessed the Chinese table tennis team winning the at the Peking University Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium, and was touched by the moving scene of her compatriots singing the national anthem together.Ding joined the CPC in 2012 just before attending the London 2012 Olympics, and won the women's team table tennis title. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Ding won two gold medals in the women's table tennis singles and women's team, earning her Grand Slam title.This year, Ding became a torchbearer for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics to cheer on the participating athletes in a different way.Ding's story is a microcosm of the emergence of hundreds of thousands of elite Chinese athletes. "The playing field is always about winning and losing. Trying to win the highest honors is both a testament to the athletes' own prowess and one of the most fascinating parts about competitive sports," she said.From China winning incredible big in the AFC Women's Asian Cup, extending the 9th title since the last championship in 2006, to the Chinese men's volleyball team winning the first championship of the Asian Cup in 10 years, and Su Bingtian becoming Asia's fastest man to set an Asian record of 9.83 seconds at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games held in 2021, the last decade has seen a series of breakthroughs showcasing China's high-level comprehensive development of competitive sports.According to the General Administration of Sport of China, from 2012 to 2021, Chinese athletes won 986 world championships and set 127 world records.In Ding's view, elite athletes' success cannot be achieved without government support. "We are fully immersed in the good training and competitive environment provided by our country, and we are also always ready to repay our country with excellent results."Ding mentioned that the Chinese table tennis team has a tradition of actively joining the CPC. She recalled that when she was an athlete, the team would hold a weekly training summative meeting to emphasize the importance of defending and carrying on China's sports legacy."The Chinese table tennis team also has another good tradition." Ding revealed. "Bootcamps are conducted in the coldest time of the year, to cultivate the collective consciousness and patriotism of the athletes."Although table tennis is more of an individual sport on the court, every player on the national team is well aware of their responsibilities, Ding noted."The interests of the country and the team are paramount to us," she said."From the motto of 'One World, One Dream' of the 2008 Beijing Olympics to 'Together for a Shared Future' at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, China has not only cultivated many outstanding athletes, but also demonstrated to the world that it is confident and strong by successfully hosting various sporting events," Ding said.In the process of Ding's transition from athlete to student and coach, she was also delighted to see her country more actively and proactively take international center stage. "For example, the success of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics served as an inspirational guide for countless athletes in their training, and truly established a bridge of communication to the world in a complex and turbulent global context," Ding said.Ding believes that the development of Chinese sports is inextricable from the nation's opening up and progress. Taking table tennis as an example, Ding told the Global Times that the "little white ball" has inspired many stories that have promoted the development of friendship between China and foreign countries.In November 2018, backed by the Shanghai University of Sports, a table tennis college center was established in Butuka Academy, a Papua New Guinea (PNG) and China friendship school, in Port Moresby, PNG. After less than a year of training, in July 2019, the PNG table tennis team members won two silver medals at the Pacific Games, setting the best record in the country's history at the time,History also was made in Houston, Texas, in November 2021, as Chinese and US players joined forces at the 2021 World Table Tennis Championships Finals in the year marking the 50th anniversary of "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" and continued the legacy cooperation and interaction between the two countries.Ding pointed out that in recent years, Chinese sports have further presented a confident, inclusive, and international image. In this context, in addition to the pursuit of performance, Chinese athletes have also shown more multidimensional and positive characteristics in various fields.In the field of table tennis, over the years, many former Chinese players have actively participated in international table tennis affairs, adding to China's international sports contributions and showing the world that "we want to enjoy sports with players from all over the world," Ding said.As China's national sport, table tennis enjoys high popularity, and players represented by Ding and Ma Long have been young people's idols.In the face of the attention in and out of the arena, Chinese table tennis players are stricter on themselves, constantly improving their comprehensive abilities, and positively contributing to various public welfare activities, while enriching the public's cognition of sports.The new generation of young athletes, such as the current world No.1 women's singles player Sun Yingsha, and reigning world champions Wang Manyu and Wang Chuqin, are more able to express their own personalities, better communicate with the outside world, and show a greater range of skills on the court, Ding said.In September 2021, then 31-year-old Ding began to study for a master's degree in physical education at Peking University after her retirement. While studying, she also works as a teacher in the campus' advanced table tennis class.After retiring from the arena, Ding has now fully adapted to campus life."When I was an athlete, I maintained an intensive daily training schedule," Ding said. Now back on campus, Ding enjoys more stability and a shifted focus.From discussions with teachers and fellow students, Ding believes that campus sports are currently receiving greater attention.Ding has been focused on the promotion of youth campus sports, hoping to apply her specialization in physical education and contribute to national fitness."This process is blissful to me; I look forward to working with more people to inspire discovery and understanding of sports from a different perspective, so that Chinese people can exercise better and benefit from it long-term," Ding said.In 2014, Fitness-for-All activities was made a key national strategy.
A child learns to skate at the National Speed Skating Oval. Photo: Xinhua
"Focusing on meeting people's demands, we must build more facilities for Fitness-for-All activities and establish a higher-level public service system for Fitness-for-All programs," said Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, who has on many occasions expounded on his understanding of sports and laid down principles for the cause.By the end of 2020, 37.2 percent of people in China were recorded as regularly participating in physical exercise, and 90.4 percent had passed the country's standard physical fitness examination. By the end of 2021, there have been more than 2.7 million certified social sports instructors in China.From the pursuit of "peak competition" to the promotion of public fitness, and now as a student, Ding not only teaches professional table tennis skills but passes on the tenacious spirit of sportsmanship to her students."I hope to make more people feel and obtain the resilience that sports bring, to 'hold on a little longer' when they encounter difficulties and setbacks," Ding said."The Party and the country have provided diversified choices for the future development of the youth, and I believe that the Chinese youth will emerge on the world stage in more fields and gain more 'champions' in the future," she said.
Definition of Apostrophe
As a literary device,conqueror login an apostrophe is a poetic phrase or speech made by a character that is addressed to a subject that is not literally present in the literary work. The subject may be dead, absent, an inanimate object, or even an abstract idea. A literary apostrophe is designed to direct a reader or audience members attention to the entity being addressed as a means of indicating its importance or significance. In addition, apostrophe is also utilized as a way for a character to express their internal thoughts and feelings to someone or something that is not able to respond.
For example, in John Donnes poem Death, be not proud, the poet addresses Death as if it is a living, present person:
Death, Be Not Proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou are not so;
By using an apostrophe, the poet is able to share their thoughts and feelings about death as an abstract idea by speaking to Death as if it could hear or understand. In turn, this literary device also allows the poet to share their innermost emotions and ideas about death with the reader to create a greater impact.
Common Examples of Apostrophe in Everyday Speech
When we speak to something that is inanimate, abstract, or absent, we are using apostrophes. People may do this internally or by speaking aloud. Here are some common examples of an apostrophe in everyday speech:
Love, who needs you?
Come on, Phone, give me a ring!
Chocolate, why must you be so delicious?
Alarm clock, please dont fail me.
Seven, you are my lucky number!
Thank you, my guardian angel, for this parking space!
Heaven, help us.
Examples of Apostrophe in Song Lyrics
Apostrophe is often utilized in song lyrics as a means of addressing something that is inanimate or an abstract idea. This adds to a songs entertainment value and meaning for the listener. Here are some examples of the apostrophe in well-known song lyrics:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star / How I wonder what you are
O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree / How lovely are thy branches
Hey, hey, set me free / Stupid Cupid stop picking on me
Its up to you / New York, New York
Little Red Corvette / You need a love thats gonna last
Hello darkness, my old friend / Ive come to talk with you again
Dont tell my heart, my achy breaky heart / I just dont think hed understand
Oh Charles, Prince Charles, can you hear my heartbreak / Can you hear me telling you, marrying her is a big mistake
Well, the big black horse said Look this way
He said, Hey lady, will you marry me?
But I said No, no, no, no, no, no
I said No, no, youre not the one for me
He said, Hey lady, will you marry me? But I said No, no, no, no, no, no I said No, no, youre not the one for me Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone / without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own
Examples of Apostrophe in Shakespeare
William Shakespeare utilized apostrophe in many of his plays as a device to allow characters to convey their emotions and/or internal viewpoints. By allowing the speaker to express their thoughts and feelings to an absent or inanimate third party, the audience becomes more aware of the characters motivations and personal truth. Here are some examples of apostrophes in Shakespeares literary works:
O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? (Romeo and Juliet)Juliet addresses an absent Romeo, unaware that he is nearby.
Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy (Hamlet)Hamlet addresses the skull of Yorick, former jester to the king, which has been unearthed by gravediggers.
Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, more hideous when thou showst thee in a child than the sea-monster! (King Lear)King Lear addresses the abstract idea of ingratitude as it is displayed, in his mind, by his daughter Goneril.
Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still. (Macbeth)Macbeth addresses a dagger that he envisions is in front of him, but it is not actually there.
Difference Between Apostrophe as Literary Device and Punctuation
Most people have heard of apostrophes in terms of punctuation. As a punctuation mark, an apostrophe indicates possession (the students book) or an intentional omission of letters or numbers (theyre studying). Though it may appear that apostrophe as punctuation is entirely different from apostrophe as a literary device, there is a similar foundation to their functions. A literary apostrophe is used by writers to allow a character or speaker to address an absent entity as if it/they were present. Like the punctuation mark, the apostrophe in literature is therefore related to an intentional omission. Rather than the omission of letters or numbers, a literary apostrophe refers to an intentional absence of a subject being addressed, thereby calling attention to what is not there.
Difference between Apostrophe and Personification
Apostrophe and personifications are two different terms, but it seems that they are almost the same. The reason is that sometimes poets use apostrophes for inanimate objects or even for abstract ideas. In that sense, it seems that the abstract ideas or things have been personified as the poets bless them with human qualities. Otherwise, an apostrophe is a call to somebody or something absent, but personification is the attribution of human emotions and sentiments to inanimate objects.
Use of Apostrophe in Sentences
O cow! You shouldst have lived in this age / When grass is absent from the land. O, my boy! Where should I find you after you have left us? We have become destitute, miserable, and poor. O, Wordsworth! You should have lived in this age when nature is absent from everywhere. O, father! I wish you were here with me to help me out of this conundrum. O saber, my saber! I would have rather with me at this hour to fight in the battle.
Examples of Apostrophe in Literature
As a literary device, apostrophe is used in literature to allow a character to speak to an object, abstract idea, absent person, or someone who doesnt exist as if it is a living, present person. Apostrophe is effective in a literary work for its dramatic effect, to demonstrate the importance of the object, idea, or absent person, and to allow readers to witness a characters personal and intimate expression. Here are some examples of apostrophes in literature:
Example 1: The Raven (Edgar Allan Poe)
Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend! I shrieked, upstarting
Get thee back into the tempest and the Nights Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken!quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!
Quoth the Raven Nevermore. And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demons that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light oer him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be liftednevermore!
In Poes well-known poem, the poet speaks to a visiting raven. Though the Raven is present in the poem and does repeatedly respond with the word nevermore, Poe still incorporates apostrophe as a literary device on behalf of the speaker/poet. The Raven in this instance functions more as an abstraction or symbol than a literal bird with powers of awareness and understanding of human speech. Therefore, Poes use of apostrophe in his poem is effective in allowing the reader to hear the poets internal thoughts and feelings as he projects them onto the Raven by conversing with it. This serves to emphasize the poets feelings of loneliness and isolation, which provides insight and meaning for the reader.
Example 2: The Glass Menagerie (Tennessee Williams)
Oh, Laura, Laura, I tried to leave you behind me, but I am more faithful than I intended to be !
I reach for a cigarette, I cross the street, I run into the movies or a bar, I buy a drink, I speak to
the nearest stranger -anything that can blow your candles out !
for nowadays the world is lit by lightning ! Blow out your candles, Laura and so good-bye.
In Williamss play, Tom Wingfield suddenly leaves his home behind, along with his mother Amanda and sister Laura, in an attempt to escape their suffocating and dysfunctional family dynamic. Williams utilizes apostrophe at the close of the play to reveal that Laura is still very much a part of Toms thoughts and existence. This indicates that, though Tom has physically escaped his mother and sister, he is still tethered to them psychologically and emotionally. Tom speaks directly to Laura, though she is not there. This passage allows the audience to hear and understand what Tom is prevented from saying to Laura in person in the play.
Example 3: The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
Dear God, They put Sofia to work in the prison laundry. All day long from five to eight she washing clothes. Dirty convict uniforms, nasty sheets and blankets piled way over her head. Us see her twice a month for half an hour. Her face yellow and sickly, her fingers look like fatty sausage. Everything nasty here, she say, even the air. Food bad enough to kill you with it. Roaches here, mice, flies, lice and even a snake or two. If you say anything they strip you, make you sleep on a cement floor without a light. How you manage? us ast. Every time they ast me to do something, Miss Celie, I act like Im you. I jump right up and do just what they say.
Much of the narration of Walkers novel is done with the use of an apostrophe, as Celie addresses her thoughts, feelings, and observations to God. This literary device is very effective in its use because the reader is allowed the most intimate view into Celies character as she openly expresses her private self to God in her letterssomething she is not able to do with any of the characters who are actually present in the literary work. In addition, by writing/speaking to God, the reader is able to implicitly trust Celies narration of the events and other characters in the novel. Therefore, Celies eyes and ears become those of the readers, and the expression of her thoughts and feelings to God allows for the reader to have similar omniscience in terms of the story.
Synonyms of Apostrophe
There are no direct synonyms for apostrophe. However, there are nearest synonyms such as a footnote, aside, deflection, departure, divagation, or divergence when it comes to the delivery of an apostrophe in dialogs used in a drama or dramatic poetry.
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One of the key appeals of online gaming establishments is cryptocurrency drop todaythe opportunity to interact with other players and dealers, creating a sense of community and camaraderie that mimics the atmosphere of a traditional brick-and-mortar casino. Nowadays, you can easily find a UK live casino that offers table games with live dealers so you wont have to go to a real casino just to play one. This social aspect sets these gaming platforms apart from other online gambling options, fostering a more engaging and immersive experience for players. In this article, we delve into the social dynamics of online casinos, exploring the role of chat functionality, the impact of the gaming environment on player behavior, and strategies for promoting responsible gambling and fostering a positive gaming community.
Bridging the Gap: Chat Functionality in Online Casinos
One of the main features that contributes to the social aspect of live casino gaming platforms is the chat functionality. This feature allows players to communicate with dealers and fellow players during the gaming session, creating a more interactive and engaging experience. Key aspects of chat functionality in online casinos include:
Real-Time Interaction: Chat features enable players to communicate with dealers and other players in real-time, allowing them to ask questions, share strategies, and celebrate wins together. This real-time interaction fosters a sense of camaraderie and enhances the overall gaming experience.
Multilingual Support: To cater to the diverse player base of online gaming platforms, chat functionality often includes multilingual support, allowing players from different regions and cultures to interact and communicate with ease.
Moderation and Etiquette: To ensure a positive and respectful gaming environment, chat features are often moderated by the casino staff, who enforce rules and guidelines for appropriate behavior. This helps to maintain a friendly atmosphere and prevent any issues arising from offensive or disruptive behavior.
Creating the Right Atmosphere: The Impact of the Gaming Environment on Player Behavior
The live gaming environment plays a crucial role in shaping the social dynamics of online casinos. From the layout and design of the platform to the demeanor of the dealers, various elements contribute to the overall atmosphere and influence player behavior. Key factors that impact the social aspect of online casinos include:
Themed Gaming Rooms: Many online gaming establishments offer a variety of themed gaming rooms, each with its own unique aesthetic and atmosphere. These themed environments can influence player behavior by creating a more immersive experience and appealing to different player preferences.
Professional and Friendly Dealers: Dealers are the face of online casinos and play a pivotal role in fostering a positive gaming environment. Skilled dealers who maintain a professional yet friendly demeanor can help to create a welcoming atmosphere, encouraging interaction and camaraderie among players.
Background Music and Sound Effects: The use of background music and sound effects can also impact the social dynamics of online casinos. The right combination of music and sound can create a lively and engaging atmosphere, while excessive noise or inappropriate music choices can detract from the overall experience.
Promoting Responsible Gambling and Fostering a Positive Gaming Community
Online gaming establishments have a responsibility to promote responsible gambling practices and foster a positive gaming community. This involves implementing policies and strategies aimed at preventing problem gambling and ensuring a supportive and enjoyable experience for all players. Key strategies for promoting responsible gambling and fostering a positive gaming community include:
Self-Exclusion Tools: Online casinos can offer self-exclusion tools that allow players to take a break from gaming if they feel it is becoming a problem. These tools can help to promote responsible gambling practices and prevent addiction.
Deposit Limits: Implementing deposit limits can help to prevent players from spending beyond their means and encourage responsible gambling habits.
Age Verification: Ensuring that players are of legal gambling age is essential for maintaining a responsible and reputable gaming platform. Online casinos must have strict age verification processes in place to prevent underage gambling.
Community Guidelines: Establishing clear guidelines for player behavior and interaction can help to create a positive and respectful gaming environment. These guidelines should outline expectations for respectful communication, as well as the consequences for inappropriate or offensive behavior.
Support and Resources: Providing players with access to support and resources related to responsible gambling can help to promote a healthy gaming community. This may include information on problem gambling, contact details for support organizations, and educational materials to help players make informed decisions about their gambling habits.
Monitoring and Intervention: Online casinos should actively monitor player behavior to identify potential problem gambling or other issues within the community. This may involve tracking betting patterns, monitoring chat interactions, and providing support or intervention as needed.
The Future of Social Interaction in Online Casinos
As technology continues to advance and player preferences evolve, the social aspect of online gaming platforms is likely to become even more important. Some potential future developments that could further enhance the social dimension of online casinos include:
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR): The integration of VR and AR technologies has the potential to revolutionize the social aspect of online casinos, providing an even more immersive and interactive gaming experience for players.
Voice and Video Chat: The introduction of voice and video chat features could allow players to communicate with each other and the dealer in a more natural and personal manner, further enhancing the sense of community and camaraderie.
Gamification and Social Rewards: The incorporation of gamification elements, such as achievements, leaderboards, and social rewards, could encourage players to interact with one another and engage in friendly competition.
Collaboration and Team Play: The development of collaborative and team-based games could foster cooperation and communication among players, reinforcing the social aspect of online casinos.
The social aspect of live online casino gaming establishments plays a crucial role in their appeal, allowing players to interact with each other and the dealer in a way that mimics the experience of a traditional brick-and-mortar casino. By leveraging chat functionality, creating engaging gaming environments, and promoting responsible gambling practices, online casinos can foster a positive and supportive gaming community that enhances the overall player experience. As technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more innovative and immersive social interactions in the world of online gaming.
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What Is Income Smoothing?cryptocurrency betting game
Income smoothing uses accounting techniques to level out fluctuations in net income from one period to the next. Companies indulge in this practice because investors are generally willing to pay a premium for stocks with steady and predictable earnings streams as opposed to stocks whose earnings are subject to more volatile patterns, which can be regarded as riskier.
Income smoothing is not illegal if the process follows generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Talented accountants are able to adjust financial books in an above-board way to ensure the legality of income smoothing. However, many times income smoothing is done under fraudulent methods.
Key Takeaways
Income smoothing is the act of using accounting methods to level out fluctuations in net income from different reporting periods.
The process of income smoothing involves moving revenues and expenses from one accounting period to another.
Though legal if performed within the guidelines of GAAP, income smoothing can be done fraudulently.
Reasons for income smoothing include reducing taxes, attracting investors, and as part of a business strategy.
Understanding Income Smoothing
The goal of income smoothing is to reduce the fluctuations in earnings from one period to another to portray a company as if it has steady earnings. It's intended to smooth out periods of high income vs. periods of low income or periods with high expenses vs. periods of low expenses. Accountants do this by moving around revenues and expenses in a legal fashion.
Examples of income smoothing techniques include deferring revenue during a good year if the following year is expected to be a challenging one or delaying the recognition of expenses in a difficult year because performance is expected to improve in the near future.
Companies might also delay expenses in specific years with plans to raise funding from venture capital or private equity investors. Having a high EBITDA thanks to income smoothing might translate into high valuation through EBITDA multiple calculation methods.
While deliberately slowing revenue recognition in good years may seem counterintuitive, in reality, entities with predictable financial results generally enjoy a lower cost of financing. So it often makes sense for a business to engage in some level of accounting management. But it's a fine line between taking what the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows and outright deception.
Income smoothing does not rely on "creative" accounting or misstatements which would constitute outright fraud, but rather on the latitude provided in the interpretation of GAAP. By managing expectations fairly and ethically, businesses that employ a touch of income smoothing do not generally raise a red flag.
Reasons for Income Smoothing
There are many reasons why a company would choose to engage in income smoothing. These may include decreasing its taxes, attracting new investors, or as part of a strategic business move.
Reduce Taxes
Depending on the country, companies pay a progressive corporate tax rate; meaning that the higher the income earned, the higher the taxes paid. To avoid this, companies may increase provisions set aside for losses or increase donations to charities; both of which would provide tax benefits.
Attract Investors
Investors look for stability in their investments. If a company's financials show volatile earnings, an investor may be turned off by the risk and uncertainty of investing in this company. A firm that can show consistent returns from year to year is more likely to attract investors who feel more at ease when they see steady returns over a longer time period.
Business Strategy
A business strategy a company can use when they have high profits is to increase expenses. In this case, it might increase bonuses paid out to employees or hire more workers to increase the cost of payroll. If income was expected to be lower for the year, they could employ the strategy in reverse; laying off workers or reducing bonuses to reduce expenses. These moves not only smooth out income but allow a company to operate more efficiently depending on the circumstances.
Example of Income Smoothing
An often-cited example of income smoothing is that of altering the allowance for doubtful accounts to change bad debt expense from one reporting period to another. For example, a client expects not to receive payment for certain goods over two accounting periods; $1,000 in the first reporting period and $5,000 in the second reporting period.
If the first reporting period is expected to have a high income, the company may include the total amount of $6,000 as an allowance for doubtful accounts in that reporting period. This would increase the bad debt expense on the income statement by $6,000 and reduce net income by $6,000. This would thereby smooth out a high-income period by reducing income. It's important for companies to use judgment and legal accounting methods when adjusting any accounts.
Relevant authorities are seriously investigating the report that the flag of the Japanese ambassadors vehicle was ripped off in Beijing,card counting betting strategy Foreign Ministry Spokespersons office told the press on Monday evening.
The Chinese government always conscientiously fulfill the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect the safety of foreign embassies and personnel, the office said.
It was reported that the Japanese flag of a car carrying the Japanese ambassador Uichiro Niwa was pulled off by an unidentified person in Beijing on Monday afternoon.
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Diploma in Translation (IoLet Level 7, Russian), Chartered Institute of Linguists
The names of the months in Russian come from Latin and can sound similar to English. As with all other Russian nouns, month names change according to the case they are in.
Russian months are masculine in gender. They are never capitalized unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence.
Russian Months Translation Pronunciation Example January yanVAR' - (nastooPEEL janVAR')
- January began February fyvRAL' - (ya priYEdu ffyevraLYEH)
- I will arrive in February March mart - (vas'MOye MARtuh)
- 8th of March April ahpRYEL' - - (PYERvaye ahpRYElya - DYEN' SMYEkha)
- April 1st is April Fools' Day May ah - y (as in 'my') - (DYEN' paBYEdy PRAZnuyetsya VMAyeh)
- Victory Day is celebrated in May June ee-YUN' - - (eeYUN' - shysTOY MYEsyats GOduh)
- June is the 6th month of the year July ee-YULE - (V eeYUly oo myNYA OHTpusk)
- My vacation is in July August AHVgoost - (AHVgoost VYdalsya ahSOHbynuh ZHARkim)
- August was particularly hot September synTYABR' - (fsyntyabRYE nachyNAyytsa ooCHEBny GOHD)
- The academic year starts in September October akTYABR' - (aNEE ooyeZHAHyut v aktybRYE)
-They leave in October November naYABR' - - (naYABR' - haLODny MYEsyats)
- November is a cold month December dyKABR' - (SNYEG paSHYOL f dyekabRYE)
- It began to snow in December
Using Prepositions With Names of Months in Russian
- In (Prepositional Case)
The preposition means "in" and is used to indicate that something happens during a certain month.
- in January
- in February
- in March
- in April
- in May
- in June
- in July
- in August
- in September
- in October
- in November
- in December
Example:
- .
- I started to work here in January.
- For (Accusative Case)
The names of all months remain unchanged when using the preposition "."
Example:
- .
- His tests have been arranged for March.
- From, Since and - Until (Genitive Case)
/ - since / until January
/ - since / until February
/ - since / until March
/ - since / until April
/ - since / until May
/ - since / until June
/ - since / until July
/ - since / until August
/ - since / until September
/ - since / until October
/ - since / until November
/ - since / until December
Example:
- .
- I will be on vacation from May until July.
Abbreviations
Russian names of months are often shortened in writing (such as calendars or diaries) using the following abbreviations:
- January
- February
- Marcf
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
Russian Calendar
Russia has been using the Gregorian calendar since 1940, as well as for a short time from 1918 until 1923. However, the Russian Orthodox Church continues to use the Julian calendar. That is why the Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7 and Easter is usually celebrated later than in the West.
During the Soviet years, two more calendars were introduced and then canceled. The first one, named The Eternal Calendar, or the Russian Revolution Calendar, abolished the official Gregorian calendar that had been brought in by Vladimir Lenin in 1918. The Eternal Calendar went into effect in the 1920s, with the exact date debated by historians. All religious celebrations were abolished and five new national public holidays were established instead. The main goal of this calendar was to increase workers' productivity, it was decided that the weeks would have five days each, with rest days staggered. However, this did not work as planned, with many families affected by the staggered weeks. T
he Eternal Calendar was replaced with another 12-month system which retained the same holidays but increased the number of days in a week to six. The rest day was now on the 6th, 12th, 18th, 24th, and 30th of each month. This calendar functioned until 1940 and was replaced by the Gregorian calendar.
The Illinois Gaming Board on Thursday approved the transformation of Hawthorne Race Course, the states oldest horse racing track, into a full-blown casino with slots and table games.
Aside from securing permit to add Las Vegas-style casino options, Hawthorne was also approved for sports betting by the state gambling regulator. This means that the racetrack would also feature a sportsbook.
In fact, sports betting is expected to arrive at Hawthorne sooner than its planned casino. Property management said Thursday that they are looking to launch wagering in time for the new NFL season.
Founded in the late 1800s in the Chicagoland area, Hawthorne is Illinois oldest racetrack and the states longest-running gambling venue. It is now the first state racetrack to have been approved to add casino gamingoptions under a sweeping gambling reform passed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in the summer of 2019.
Under that reform, racetracks converting into full-fledged racinos will have to contribute 18% of their gaming revenue to the states struggling horse racing industry.
Commenting on the recently secured regulatory approval, Tim Carey, President and CEO of the racetrack, said that its really hard to put into context what this means for the very hardworking people of the Illinois racing industryas they will be able to keep their businesses and families in Illinois.
Mr. Carey went on to say that adding casino options will enable them to showcase the historic sport of horse racing to a new generation of fans.
Planned Expansion
In addition to slot machines and table games, Hawthornes owners also plan to add a state-of-the-art sportsbookthat will be developed and operated in partnership with Australian bookmaker PointsBetas well as dining facilities showcasing well-known Chicago culinary experiences, a multi-level parking garage, and a new racing experience with upgraded wagering facilities.
Construction is set to kick off in September and the casino is expected to open doors in late 2021.
Hawthorne CEO of Gaming Kevin Kline said that a lot of people may have expected us to simply put some slot machines and tablesinto our existing facilitybut the property is actually planning to substantially raise the bar on the Chicagoland casino experience.
Mr. Kline added that they are going to lead with innovation, excitement, and a culturethat celebrates our customers and empowers our team members every day.
And while Hawthorne is set for major expansion, Arlington Park, the Chicago areas other racetrack, could be sold, the CEO of the propertys corporate owner Churchill Downs Inc. revealed Thursday.
Churchill Downs Chief, Bill Carstanjen, told shareholders that the land hosting the racetrack could be soldas the long-term solution is not Arlington Parkand that land will have a higher and better purpose for something else at some point.
Mr. Carstanjens comments came after the coronavirus delayed the start of the horse racing season while contract negotiations with horse trainers pushed it back further until July 23.
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What is bingo bonanzaEconomic Life?
Economic life is the expected period of time during which an asset remains useful to the average owner. When an asset is no longer useful to its owner, then it is said to be past its economic life. The economic life of an asset could be different than its actual physical life. Thus, an asset can be in optimal physical condition but may not be economically useful. For example, technology products often become obsolete when their technology becomes obsolete. The obsolescence of flip phones occurred due to the advent of smartphones and not because they ran out of utility.
Estimating the economic life of an asset is important for businesses so that they can determine when it's worthwhile to invest in new equipment, allocating appropriate funds to purchase replacements once the equipment's useful life is met.
Understanding Economic Life
The economic life of an asset under the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) requires a reasonable estimate of the time involved. Businesses can shift their measurements based on the anticipated daily usage and other factors. The concept of economic life is also connected to depreciation schedules. Accounting standard setting bodies usually set generally accepted guidelines for estimating and adjusting this time period.
Finance and Economic Life
Financial considerations regarding the economic life of an asset include the cost at the time of purchase, the amount of time the asset can be used in production, the time at which it will need to be replaced, and the cost of maintenance or replacement. Changes in industry standards or regulations may also be involved.
New regulations may render current equipment obsolete or raise the required industry standards for an asset beyond the specifications of a business's existing assets. Further, the economic life on one asset may be tied to the useful life of another. In cases where two separate assets are required to complete a task, the loss of one asset may render the second asset useless until the first asset is repaired or replaced.
Key Takeaways
The economic life of an asset is the period of time during which it remains useful to its owner.
Financial considerations required for calculating the economic life on asset include its cost at the time of purchase, the amount of time an asset is used in production, and existing regulations pertaining to it.
There may be interdependencies in the economic life of two assets in which the life of one depends on the lifespan of another.
Economic Life and Depreciation
Depreciation refers to the rate at which an asset deteriorates over time. The depreciation rate is used to estimate the effects of aging, daily use, and wear and tear on the asset. When related to technology, depreciation can also include the risk of obsolescence.
In theory, businesses recognize depreciation expenses on a schedule that approximates the rate at which economic life is used up. This is not always true for tax purposes, however, as owners may have superior information about specific assets. The economic life used in internal calculations may differ significantly from the depreciable life required for tax purposes.
Many businesses evaluate depreciation expenses differently based on management's goals. For example, a business might want to recognize costs as quickly as possible in order to minimize current tax liabilities and may do this by choosing accelerated depreciation schedules.
Lianne Kraemer had been living with metastatic breast cancer for more than a year when I met her in December 2017 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. Throughout the week,bovada no deposit bonus 2017 more than 7,000 doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical-company representatives would descend on the city for the countrys most important breast-cancer conference. Inside the main exhibition hall, it seemed that every major pharmaceutical company was putting on its best come-hither show. A pair of young, lithe dancers whipped flowing fabric through the air at a booth for the drug Faslodex, a new injectable from Astra-Zeneca used to treat women with estrogen-fueled advanced breast cancer. Novartis had free cupcakes. Tesaro, a company developing new drugs for BRCA-linked breast cancer, had Nutella-branded ice cream cones. Espresso was available at Eli Lilly, and Pfizer had put out small cups of frozen yogurt. Medtronic, a medical-device company, had breasts of raw chicken at its booth so surgeons could test the PlasmaBlade, its new soft-tissue-dissection knife.
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Although I had worked as a health-care journalist for nearly a decade, I had never attended this particular conference. I was there to report on the latest scientific advances in breast cancer, but I was also an interested party. Three years earlier, at the age of 35, I had been diagnosed with breast cancer and begun what would be more than a year of treatment. My cancer responded well to the chemotherapy and targeted drug therapy my doctors prescribed, and I was, according to the evidence, cancer-free. I was grateful, but I wanted to learn more about women with metastatic disease whose breast cancer had managed to carry on despite treatment and spread to other parts of their bodies.
Kraemer, a smiling, energetic woman with dark brown hair and eyes, sat at a table in the back of the hall. There was no complimentary coffee or ice cream, just brochures stacked in neat rows and a small sign that said METAVIVOR. Founded in 2009, METAvivor is a nonprofit organization run by and advocating for metastatic-breast-cancer patients. In recent years, the group and others like it have tried to turn public attentionoften focused on feel-good survivor storiesto the more than 160,000 women in America living with metastatic breast cancer. Having a presence at major conferences is part of a strategy to increase research funding for metastatic disease and raise awareness that for all the strides made in treatment, some 40,000 American women still die from breast cancer every year.
Despite the billions of dollars collected and spent on breast-cancer research over the past half-century, relatively little has been devoted to studying metastatic-breast-cancer patients or their particular forms of the disease. Doctors do not know why some breast cancers eventually form deadly metastases or how to quash the disease once it has spread. Patients with metastatic disease are typically treated with one drug after another, their doctors switching the medications whenever the disease stops responding to treatment. Eventually, nearly all patients with breast-cancer metastases run out of options and die, although in recent years, many have been living longer. Of the four metastatic-breast-cancer patients who founded METAvivor in 2009, three have died, but one is still alive, 13 years after discovering that her disease had spread.
Diagnosed with estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer in January 2014 at the age of 37, Kraemer had a double mastectomy, chemotherapy, lymph-node removal, radiation and hormone treatment. She emerged from the yearlong ordeal relieved she had acted quicklyshed felt a lump in her breast and was diagnosed the next month. Then, in June 2016, Kraemer was doing laundry when she felt a tingling in the right side of her lips. The next day, the right side of her gums and tongue started to feel weird too. During that day, the crease on my right index finger felt like someone had put a slight rubber band around it, Kraemer told me.
Kraemer emailed her oncologist, who recommended she get a brain MRI, and she asked her uncle, a neurologist, to review the scan. When he broke the news that it looked as if her breast cancer had spread and formed about a dozen small tumors inside her brain, she was stunned.
Three-quarters of women with metastatic breast cancer were originally diagnosed with early-stage disease. The idea that the breast cancer came back after initial treatment is a bit misleading. Women who undergo traditional chemotherapy shortly after an early-stage diagnosis, as I did, do so because their doctors believe they may have micrometastasescancer growths outside the breast that are too small to appear on scans. Breast cancer that is treated and later metastasizes into larger tumors around the body somehow managed to survive the initial treatment. Women who declare themselves cancer-free have no way of knowing if they really are. Sometimes breast cancer continues to grow during treatment. Other times, breast-cancer cells remain alive and go dormant but then begin multiplying years or even decades later.
I believed the narrative that is pushed on women, that if you check your breasts and if you catch it early, youre fine.
Often, though not always, newly diagnosed breast-cancer patients get abdominal scans, but they almost never have brain scans unless a symptom appears. (About a year after I finished treatment, I had a debilitating two-day headache and my oncologist recommended I get a brain MRI, which turned up nothing. I was diagnosed with a migraine.) Even if Kraemer had had a brain scan when she was diagnosed, its possible the tumors inside her skull were so small that they would have been invisible on an MRI.
When we first spoke by phone a few months after we met in San Antonio, it was clear that Kraemer had thought through every possible diagnostic scenario. Could her doctors have done more? Did the month that passed between the time she found a lump in her breast and her diagnosis make a difference? Kraemer had complications with her double mastectomy that delayed the start of her chemotherapy. Did this give the cancer time to spread to her brain? She will never know, but she believes that most likely, her metastatic breast cancer could not have been prevented.
You can do everything right and still end up metastatic, Kraemer said. I just assumed that could never be me because I would catch it early, because I was on top of things. I believed the narrative that is pushed on women, that if you check your breasts and if you catch it early, youre fine. That surely the women who are not O.K. must not have gotten good treatment or must not have caught it when they should have. I believed what I was told.
Existing breast-cancer-treatmentprotocols fail in tens of thousands of women like Lianne Kraemer every year. In some cases, breast-cancer patients dont have access to high-quality treatment or they ignore signs of the disease until its incurable. But more women who die of breast cancer succumb to the disease for no other reason than that it manages to outwit the protocols.
Pharmaceutical companies and researchers often test new drugs on metastatic patients before anyone else. These are women who are dying anyway, and they are the ones most willing to be part of experiments. But the goal for most drug development is to treat early-stage patients successfully and eradicate breast cancer before it spreads.
According to Cyrus Ghajar, a cancer biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, 25% to 40% of early-stage breast-cancer patients already have cancer cells in their bone marrow, and these patients are, on average, three times more likely than those who dont to develop other metastases later. Its impossible to know if a patient has cancer cells in her bone marrow without driving a long needle into a large bone and aspirating marrow from inside. Ghajar, one of a relatively small number of scientists studying metastatic breast cancer full time, said that, in theory, patients could give consent to have their marrow drawn when they are placed under general anesthesia for lumpectomies or mastectomies. The results could tell doctors which women were more likely to face a recurrence of their breast cancer and therefore might need more treatment up front. We dont have a way to further stratify people, because we havent studied it enough, Ghajar told me. We dont have enough samples.
Ghajar pointed out that the Cancer Moonshot, a National Cancer Institute initiative launched by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, does not explicitly provide funding to address the challenges of metastatic cancer. How can you have a moonshot trying to cure cancer and not mention people dyingof cancer? he said.
Alana Welm, a molecular biologist, runs a lab at the University of Utahs Huntsman Cancer Institute devoted to studying breast-cancer metastases. One of her research projects compares breastcancer cells from a patients original tumor against cancer cells found elsewhere in the body after the disease spreads. The idea is to determine the differences between the cells to find clues about why some migrated and how they may then be affected by microenvironments inside the body. Think about how hard this research is, Welm said. By the time a woman is diagnosed with metastatic disease, her original biopsy tissue may no longer be available. In addition, its often hard to get a sample of a metastatic tumor, which may be buried inside the brain or located in a place that is difficult to access safely, as opposed to the readily available breast tissue that gets biopsied in early-stage patients. I sometimes wait for years in between to try to get these samples, Welm said. Welm and other researchers encourage metastaticbreast-cancer patients to consider making plans to have an autopsy done immediately after they die so that cells can be harvested, preserved and studied before they degrade.
After I finished my treatment for early-stage disease in February 2016, I did not celebrate. I did not feel cured. I felt scared. Although it is unlikely, my disease could recur. Some researchers estimate that breast cancer recurs in 20% to 30% of patients either locally or elsewhere in the body, but the odds vary significantly depending on the specific type of the disease a woman has and her treatment outcome. I was unnerved when I learned that I would not get even annual scans to look for signs of metastases. Studies published in the 1990s showed that detecting metastases through scheduled scans, rather than when a symptom appears, did not change survival rates, prognosis or quality of life. Scanning every breast-cancer patient posttreatment would be expensive and would undoubtedly lead to unnecessary medical intervention.
How can you have a moonshot trying to cure cancer and not mention people dying of cancer?
But imaging has gotten much better since the 1990s, with MRI, positronemission tomography (PET) and CT scans able to detect tumors as small as a few millimeters. A 2017 study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute found that some 11% of women under 65 diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer live for 10 years or more. The year prior, George Sledge, chief of oncology at Stanford, had published a paper in the Journal of Oncology Practicecalled Curing Metastatic Breast Cancer. In it, he suggested that the existing paradigm around metastatic breast cancerthat it is incurable and not worth looking forshould be updated in the face of new science. If some patients are cured, he wrote, might not we cure more?
About a month after her diagnosisof metastatic breast cancer, Kraemer was going through her belongings, hoping to save her parents the agony of discarding her possessions after she died, when her hands settled on a photograph. It was a picture of a smiling couple: Kraemer and an exboyfriend, a Nebraska native named Eric Marintzer. After he had unceremoniously dumped her more than a decade earlier, Kraemer had thrown out every physical reminder of him. He had given her a waffle iron as a gift, and she had smashed it to bits in an alley. But somehow, this photograph had survived the reckoning.
Like any modern woman, Kraemer picked up her iPhone and found Marintzers Instagram profile. She scrolled through images, her thumb moving so quickly that she accidentally liked one. Panicked, she threw her phone across the room so hard that the screen shattered. Then she decided to come clean. She had just been diagnosed with a terminal disease. What did she have to lose?
Kraemer sent Marintzer a message, saying she had seen his photographs and accidentally liked one. To her surprise, he wrote back. They started texting, and eventually he asked her out for drinks. She was living in St. Louis but often traveled to Chicago, where Marintzer lived. Whenever she went, they got together. It was refreshing to be with someone who didnt know about her disease. Everybody in my life was treating me with kid gloves, Kraemer said.
After spending New Years Eve together, they talked about whether they should officially be a couple again. Theres something you need to know, Kraemer said. Marintzer listened and then said her metastatic breast cancer was no reason to change their plans. Before long, she moved into his condo and they picked up where they had left off.
Women who have breast cancer that has spread to the brain often die within a year or two of the diagnosis. To shrink the tumors inside Kraemers brain, one oncologist recommended she undergo whats known as whole brain radiation, an extreme but common procedure for patients with multiple brain tumors. Such treatment can cause debilitating fatigue and permanent cognitive damage. Kraemer instead enrolled in a clinical trial to test whether a relatively new drug called Verzenio could beat back brain tumors in women with estrogen-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer. Kraemer went on the drug, and most of her tumors stayed the same size for eight months, a good sign. The largest even shrank. The drug also kicked Kraemer into chemical menopause, which her oncologist thought might help cut off the supply of estrogen her type of breast cancer was feeding on.
But the drug had side effects, including chronic diarrhea that required Kraemer to get IV fluids to prevent dehydration. Her oncologist decreased the dose of the trial drug, which stopped the diarrhea but also the menopause. Soon her tumors began growing again. The clinicaltrial protocol dictated that Kraemer had to stop taking Verzenioif her cancer was growing, the drug was not working. But a new oncologist had a different take. Nancy Lin, a metastatic specialist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, speculated that the drug actually was working and that the estrogen produced by Kraemers ovaries was canceling out its effects. The problem was that the clinical-trial rules did not allow patients to start hormone therapy in the middle of the study. I said, I dont care what I have to sell or do, someones going to get me that damn drug back, Kraemer told me. Lin lobbied the drugmaker Eli Lilly to allow Kraemer to have Verzenio and begin hormone therapy. Miraculously the company agreed to sponsor a new trial with just one patient, Kraemer.
The treatment kept Kraemers brain tumors stable for six months. But in January 2018, a scan showed they were growing. Still worried about the cognitive side effects of whole brain radiation, Kraemer began specialized radiation treatment that would hit only her largest tumor. Her brain tumors remained stable for a few months, but eventually they started growing again. Kraemer enrolled in yet another clinical trial, this one testing whether a drug that has been shown to work against certain types of liver and kidney cancer might help women with metastatic breast cancer.
In September 2018, I flew to Chicago to see Kraemer. I met her and Marintzer for breakfast the day after I arrived and couldnt help thinking they looked entirely, astonishingly normal, their predicament hidden inside a relationship they were trying hard not to define by the fact that Kraemer was battling a disease that would most likely cut her life short.
Later that day, I asked Kraemer how her disease affects her everyday life. She said her largest tumor in her brain had begun to impede her ability to use her right hand. She could no longer hold chopsticks or write legibly. She also had frequent migraines and once burned herself on a hot pan because she couldnt feel that her hand was on it. She said ever since her targeted brain radiation, she had had trouble multitasking and struggled to have a conversation if music was playing in the background. I asked if she felt like she was dying. Yes and no, she said. She had a loving boyfriend, a tight-knit family and a good life, but her symptoms were getting worse. I am in a decline, she said.
Kraemer babysat in high school, worked as a nanny in college and chose a career as a speech pathologist for kids. All I wanted to do was be a mother, she told me. After her early-stage diagnosis, Kraemer froze eggs harvested from her ovaries, and every three months, she pays to keep them in storage. I know Im not going to use them, but I cant stop paying for them and just throw them away, she said.
In December 2017, Kraemer had told me that the upcoming Christmas holiday would probably be her last. But in December 2018, she and Marintzer went shopping for a Christmas tree and picked out the biggest one they could find. It was so large, they had to move most of their furniture out of their living room. We know that the number of Christmases Lianne has are limited, Marintzer told me. Lets do it up.
A scan in January 2019 showed that several of Kraemers tumors were growing again. In the months since, she has been treated with multiple types of chemotherapy and more specialized radiation. But her symptoms are becoming more pronounced. Kraemers right hand and arm are now mostly useless. Her right foot and leg are also not working properly, and she walks with a noticeable limp. She is weighing whether to allow a neurosurgeon to try to excise the largest tumor inside her brain. The surgery would be risky, so Kraemer and Marintzer decided to take one more big vacation. In August, they traveled to the Greek islands and stayed on the cliffs of Santorini.
All things considered, Im really lucky, Kraemer, now 43, told me recently. It has been more than three years since she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in her brain. She has survived longer than most women like her, thanks to new drugs, clinical trials and creative thinking by her doctors. Kraemer is proof that research and science can change the fates of metastatic-breast-cancer patients. We just need more of it.
Excerpted with permission from Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America, by Kate Pickert. Copyright 2019 by Kate Pickert.
WELLINGTON,vegaskings casino bonus codes Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Less than one third of alcoholic beverages sold online in New Zealand display mandatory health information and warnings, according to a new study from the University of Auckland.
New Zealand law requires that manufacturers display specific health information on their products to meet the relevant food standards code, but there is currently no obligation for retailers to make this information visible to customers, according to the study published on Friday in the journal of Drug and Alcohol Review.
Researchers said this is a significant policy gap that needs to be addressed, and noted that voluntary health warnings, such as those relating to drink-driving and pregnancy, were rarely visible online.
Given the individual and societal harm caused by alcohol, alcohol beverages in many countries are required to display health information and warnings on all product packaging, said Natalie Walker, an associate professor of the University of Auckland, who was the author of the study.
This study examines the presence, type and location of mandatory and voluntary health information and warnings consumers are exposed to when entering online alcohol retail shopping environments in Britain and New Zealand, Walker said.
Using an observational study design, 1,407 randomly sampled alcoholic beverages from 14 online alcohol retailers (7 per country) were reviewed to ascertain the visual presence or absence of mandatory and voluntary health information and warnings, she said.
The result showed that British online alcohol retailers were more compliant than New Zealand retailers in showing mandatory health information. For instance, alcohol by volume percentage was visible on 92 percent of alcoholic beverages sold online in Britain, compared to 31 percent in New Zealand.
Online retailers in both countries had a low proportion of alcohol products with viewable mandatory information, and voluntary health warnings were rarely present or viewable, according to the study.
"Mandatory health information and warnings for alcoholic beverages are not fully adhered to within the Britain and New Zealand online retail environments, impacting the ability of consumers to make informed purchase decisions," Walker said.
Alcohol policies in both countries need to stipulate that mandatory health information and warnings should be "clearly viewable on the product page and product imagery of online alcohol retailers," the study suggested.
(Yi Xianrong) Premier Wen Jiabaos recent remarks, during his trip to Guangdong province in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Southern Tour Speeches made by former leader Deng Xiaoping, transmitted the unequivocal message to the outside world that the key to Chinas successful settlement of its problems lies in continued reform and opening-up.
Deng, the architect of Chinas reform and opening-up, made an inspection tour of Wuchang, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shanghai from Jan 19 to Feb 21, 1992 and made a series of remarks targeted at domestic misgivings over the countrys reform and development. During the month-long tour, he repeatedly told local officials that China should remain unwavering in its push for reform and opening-up otherwise it would come to a dead end. These remarks marked a milestone in the history of Chinas reform and opening-up initiative.
By adopting and adhering to reform and opening-up, China is aiming to change its unreasonable laws and institutions to emancipate and boost productivity and promote the development of its economy and society. Chinas enormous achievements and progress over the past three decades have been attained by means of this policy.
Dengs biggest contribution lay in his push for the establishment and improvement of systematic arrangements through the reform and opening-up policy that offered every Chinese citizen the right to self-development and the creation of wealth, no matter whether urban employees or farmers, government officials or ordinary people. This has served as the driving force for Chinas economic growth and the fundamental way for Chinese people to improve their living conditions.
However, slow steps in institutional reform have changed not only growth modes of residents wealth, but their concepts of wealth increase as well. Many people, especially young people, seem to expect their pockets to bulge overnight rather than pursuing wealth through long-term individual efforts. With such a twisted mentality, speculation, power-money deals and corruption remain rife. The emergence of the defiant and widely condemned second generation of officials and the rich is also the result of this social atmosphere. The prevalence of a get-rich-quick mentality will erode peoples belief that they can realize the increase of their wealth through their own efforts and will cause the whole country to forfeit its original driving force for economic and social development.
In adhering to reform and opening-up, China should review all its institutional arrangements in a bid to ensure all citizens enjoy an equal chance to carry out their economic and social activities. As concrete moves toward this, the country should gradually rescind its current unreasonable residence registration system so that farmers and dwellers in small and medium-sized cities can move freely at their own discretion. There also needs to be a sweeping overhaul of the current unequal education system in an endeavor to give every citizen equal access to better education.
Practical measures should also be taken to change the long-established appointment and removal system of officials to effectively check corruption and block the non-supervisory promotion of the second generation to higher positions disproportional to their performance.
Further reform and opening-up will also usher in some major adjustments and even a zero-sum game in the interest relations among the countrys different social groups. Any significant measures will inevitably result in the transfer of interests from one group to another, thus possibly inviting dissatisfaction and opposition from the affected groups.
For example, when the government adopted some regulatory measures to deflate the bubbles in the real estate market, some interest groups voiced disapproval and even took measures to try and foil the governments efforts.
Reform and opening-up remain the driving force for Chinas sustainable and healthy economic and social development, and serve as the fundamental way to offer all Chinese people an equal chance for self-development.
What the country should do is break the long-established interest relations among different social groups and prevent some interest groups from pursuing the institutionalization and legalization of their vested interests.
The author is a researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
China Daily
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What Is the Mumbai Interbank Offered Rate (MIBOR)?betsy ross flag girl
The Mumbai Interbank Offer Rate (MIBOR) is one iteration of India's interbank rate, which is the rate of interest charged by a bank on a short-term loan to another bank. As India's financial markets have continued to develop, India felt it needed a reference rate for its debt market, which led to the development and introduction of the MIBOR. MIBOR is used in conjunction with the Mumbai interbank bid and forward rates (MIBID and MIFOR) by the central bank of India to set short-term monetary policy.
Key Takeaway
The Mumbai InterBank Overnight Rate, or MIBOR, is the overnight lending offered rate for Indian commercial banks.
MIBOR is calculated based on input from a panel of 30 banks and primary dealers.
MIBOR was first established in 1998, and modeled after the more famous London InterBank Overnight Rate (LIBOR).
Understanding the Mumbai Interbank Offered Rate
Banks borrow and lend money to one another on the interbank market in order to maintain appropriate, legal liquidity levels, and to meet reserve requirements placed on them by regulators. Interbank rates are made available only to the largest and most creditworthy financial institutions.
MIBOR is calculated every day by the National Stock Exchange of India (NSEIL) as a weighted average of lending rates of a group of major banks throughout India, on funds lent to first-class borrowers. This is the interest rate at which banks can borrow funds from other banks in the Indian interbank market.
The Mumbai Interbank Offer Rate (MIBOR) is modeled closely on London InterBank Overnight Rate (LIBOR). The rate is used currently for forward contracts and floating-rate debentures. Over time and with more use, MIBOR may become more significant.
The History of MIBOR
The MIBOR was launched on June 15, 1998, by the Committee for the Development of the Debt Market, as an overnight rate. The NSEIL launched the 14-day MIBOR on November 10, 1998, and the one-month and three-month MIBORs on December 1, 1998. Since the launch, MIBOR rates have been used as benchmark rates for the majority of money market deals made in India.
MIBOR vs. MIBID
The Mumbai Interbank Bid Rate (MIBID) is the interest rate that one participating bank would pay another to attract the deposit of funds. The MIBID rate would be lower than the interest rate offered to those wanting to borrow funds, known as Mumbai Interbank Offered Rate (MIBOR), one iteration of an interbank rate, which is the rate of interest charged by a bank on a short-term loan to another bank. This is to provide the bank a profit from the spread of interest earned and paid.
The MIBID is usually lower than the MIBOR because. Banks will try to pay less interest after taking loans and will try to get more interest while offering loans. Together, the MIBID and MIBOR constitute a bid-offer spread for Indian overnight lending rates.
What Is Intangible Personal Property?betika winners 2021 betvictor 5 30
The term intangible personal property refers to an item of value that cannot be touched or physically held. These assets can be held by both individuals and corporations. Intangible personal property can be anything that has image, social, and reputational capital, along with digital, copyrights, patents, and investments. Intangible personal property or intangible assets are the opposite of tangible personal property, which can be physically touched and come with a degree of value, such as machinery, jewelry, and electronics.
Key Takeaways
Intangible personal property has no physical shape but represents something else of value.
Intellectual property is one of the most common forms of intangible personal property.
Some examples of intangible personal property include image, social, and reputational capital, as well as personal social media pages and other personal digital assets.
Companies also have intangible property, such as patents, copyrights, life insurance contracts, securities investments, and partnership interests.
It is the opposite of tangible personal property, such as machinery, jewelry, electronics, and other items can be physically touched and have some level of value assigned to them.
Understanding Intangible Personal Property
Personal property can be divided into a few different categoriesnotably tangible and intangible personal property. Tangible personal property is anything that can be held and has definitive value while intangible personal property is anything that doesn't have any obvious value and can't be touched. We discuss the differences between the two a little further down.
The value in intangible personal property lies in the associated benefits and value recognition. Intellectual property is one of the most common forms of this type of property. Other types of intangible personal property include life insurance contracts, securities investments, royalty agreements, and partnership interests. The most common forms of intangible property for companies include goodwill, research and development (R&D), and patents.
Some forms of these intangible items are known as capital assets and appear on a company's financial statements while others are not included. For example, a company would list a trademark or patent as an asset on its balance sheet.
The company may need to do in-depth research to determine a realistic market price for intangible objects. Once a value is assigned to this property, the company may write off some of the cost of creating the object. An example may be the cost associated with compiling a customer or client mailing list or hiring a lawyer to file a patent application.
Intangible personal property may often be referred to as incorporeal property.
Special Considerations
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does impose capital gains taxes on any tangible property that individuals and corporations sell. But it can be cloudy when it comes to intangible assets. Since there is no actual physical shape to this type of property, it doesn't have an assigned or hard value, which makes it hard to account for and evaluate. As such, not all forms of intangible personal property are taxable.
Some types of intangible assets are, though, making them eligible for capital gains or losses. Capital gains are realized when they're sold at a higher price while capital losses result from a lower price than the original purchase price. The value is determined by any intellectual or non-physical attributes. For instance, a musical composition may be taxed when it is sold to someone else at a different price than when it was originally purchased.
While tangible assets may be depreciated, the IRS requires that property owners amortize "over 15 years the capitalized costs" any intangibles that were purchased before August 1993. That's because they are commonly given a 15-year life. These refer to any assets held for the purpose of trade or business.
Certain intangible assets may be taxed as ordinary income, though, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This may include things like intellectual property, digital assets, or patents. Make sure you consult a tax professional about how to handle your intangibles.
Intangible Personal Property vs. Tangible Personal Property
As noted above, intangible personal property is anything without obvious value that can't be physically manipulated. Tangible personal property, on the other hand, is anything that can be held and anything with discernable value. As such, it can be moved around.
Tangible assets can be used in the day-to-day operations of a business or by individuals in their daily lives. Examples include machinery, vehicles, jewelry, art, electronics, and furniture. Things like smartphones and collectibles also fall in this category.
This kind of personal property is subject to depreciation. either on an accelerated basis or using the five- or seven-year periods. Taxation occurs on an ad valorem basis, which requires the use of an appraiser to assess the value. It can also be taxed on the actual valuethe difference between the sale and the purchase price.
Real estate is not considered personal property because it cannot be moved, which is a determining factor in identifying personal property.
Examples of Intangible Personal Property
Let's say Firm XYZ invented a liquid, that when rubbed on a tattoo, causes it to blend into the surrounding skin rendering it invisible. There is also a solvent used to remove the tattoo obstructing solution. Firm XYZ issues a patent for both formulas. The patent, which keeps others from copying the formulas, gives the company sole ownership rights over this invention for the duration of the patent.
The firm enjoys the financial benefits of being the sole seller of this breakthrough tattoo obstructing concoction. Those financial benefits can be represented by the patent, which does not have any inherent value itself but is valuable because of these future benefits. The company will include the patents as a capital asset and may write off some of the expenses required to list the patent
What Types of Assets Are Considered Intangible Personal Property?
Intangible personal property is anything with no obvious and assigned value and can't be physically held. Examples include copyrights, patents, intellectual property, investments, digital assets, along with anything that has image, social, or reputational capital.
What's the Difference Between Intangible and Tangible Personal Property?
Intangible personal property is any type of asset that has value but isn't physical in nature. Examples of intangible personal property are copyrights, patents, intellectual property, and investments. Assets that can be represented with social or reputational capital also qualify as intangible personal property. Tangible personal property, on the other hand, refers to assets that can be touched and have an assigned value, such as jewelry, art, machinery, and electronics.
Is Intangible Property Taxable?
Intangible personal property has no physical shape and, as such, has no assigned value. This makes it hard to account for and properly evaluate them. But there are certain forms of intangible personal property that are subject to capital gains taxes. This happens when they are sold at a higher price than when they were purchased. An asset's value and, therefore, any capital gains that result from its sale are based on its physical attributes and intellectual content. Things like music compositions are assets that have great value and may result in capital gains when/if they are sold. Some assets may be taxed as ordinary income, such as patents or other forms of intellectual property.
What Is a Nest Egg?bet365 similar websites
A nest egg is a substantial sum of money or other assets that have been saved or invested for a specific purpose. Such assets are generally earmarked for longer-term objectives, the most common being retirement, buying a home, and education.
The term can also refer to money kept aside as a reserve to deal with unexpected emergencies such as a medical problem or urgent housing repairs. Nest egg has been used to refer to savings since the late 17th century. The term is believed to have been derived from poultry farmers tactic of placing eggsboth real and fakein hens nests to induce them to lay more eggs, which meant more income for these farmers.
Money Tips To Stretch Your Retirement Nest Egg
Nest Eggs Explained
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The foremost investment objective of a nest egg is generally preserving capital, since it represents funds that have been accumulated over a considerable time. However, the portfolio should also have a growth component to offset the effects of inflation over time. A nest egg should typically be invested in relatively conservative instruments such as certificates of deposit, bonds, and dividend-paying blue chips. The exact allocation of these securities within a nest egg should be based on asset allocation principles as well as the investors risk tolerance, time horizon, and investment objectives.
Key Takeaways
A nest egg is a substantial sum of money or other assets that have been saved or invested for a specific purpose.
Such assets are generally earmarked for longer-term objectives, the most common being retirement, buying a home, and education.
A nest egg should typically be invested in relatively conservative instruments such as certificates of deposit, bonds, and dividend-paying blue chips.
It would be folly to invest nest egg proceeds in certain volatile investments in hopes of achieving a high rate of return. These investments include commodities, small-cap stocks, and currencies since their inherent volatility makes them less suited for conservative investing.
The Importance of a Nest Egg
For many years, a common objective for individuals was to save a nest egg of at least $1 million in order to live comfortably in retirement. Reaching that sum would, in theory, allow the individual to sustain themselves on their retirement investment income generated annually. Based on annual inflation, however, the ideal size of a nest egg continues to increase as the purchasing power of the dollar diminishes.
A nest egg should typically be invested in relatively conservative instruments such as certificates of deposit, bonds, and dividend-paying blue chips.
In addition to cash and securities, other assets that are expected to grow in value and generate a positive return on investment over time might make up part of a nest egg. Prized artwork and other rare collectibles may be held as assets to appreciate and later possibly sold to provide the hard currency for retirement.
Real estate in a prime location that is likewise held in ownership with the expectation of the property value increasing could also be part of a nest egg. Even if they do not develop the property themselves, a landowner might hold on to real estate anticipating its value will increase and that a buyer will offer them the return they seek. The proceeds from the sale could then go towards their retirement.
Leaders of countries within the first meeting of the European Political Community pose for a photo in Prague, Czech Republic on October 6, 2022. Photo: VCG
Leaders from 44 European countries - the whole of the continent except Russia and Belarus - met on Thursday in Czech capital Prague to attend the inaugural meeting of the European Political Community, a new regional group proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron this May.While eyeing issues from Europe's security to soaring energy prices and a looming economic recession, analysts said the gathering could be just another "grand show of solidarity," a talking shop without any actual content. They warned that such a group could develop into a new bloc confrontation with Russia, further worsening Europe's security situation.The inaugural meeting included all 27 members of the European Union, plus 17 other nations including the UK, Ukraine and Turkey. The only two nations not invited were Russia and its neighboring ally Belarus, according to media reports.In remarks at the opening, Macron said the group's existence is aimed at "sending a message of unity to all European nations by building a strategic closeness and finding common strategies," media reported on Thursday.Despite the rhetoric, critics questioned if any concrete results could be delivered, as no formal policy statements, resolutions or declarations were expected."The purpose for this freshly born European Political Community is to reshape the geopolitical landscape of Europe in the context of the Russian-Ukraine conflict, a reflection of France's vision for Europe's future political map. As it's still an idea lacking concrete plans, the inaugural meeting aims to establish and strengthen a so-called European identity, but it is difficult to say how far it can go," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times on Friday.Its sheer size - a group of 44 countries - will be a major obstacle in delivering concrete results, as traditional rivalries, from Armenia and Azerbaijan to Greece and Turkey, remain among its members, the analyst said.It is impossible to take any concrete action before reaching a consensus, while the latter itself could be a very long and difficult process, noted Cui.Skepticism has risen among countries pushing to join the EU - Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova and the Western Balkan states - expressing concern that it could end up being a "consolation prize" replacing serious membership discussions, media reports said.Cui said the European Political Community could be a "placebo" to appease countries that are eager to join the EU but could not do so in the short term, as different voices have risen within the EU as to the accession of these countries, for example, France's reluctance to accept Ukraine's joining in an accelerated manner.Thursday's summit featured a series of meetings where leaders discussed the key challenges Europe faces, including security, energy, climate, the economy and migration.The most pressing issue of the day and the one topic that discussions revolved around, analysts said, is the devastating energy crisis, dashed most recently by leaks at the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe via the Baltic Sea.The French government on Thursday launched a package of measures aimed at cutting the country's energy consumption in the hope of getting through the winter without power cuts. One of the measures is to cap indoor temperatures at 19 C, meanwhile providing heat two weeks later than usual for households, businesses and administrations and ending it two weeks earlier, France 24 reported.Germany announced it will spend up to 200 billion euros ($197.50 billion) to help consumers and businesses cushion the pain from soaring gas bills.The scheme, however, caught Brussels and the other capitals off guard, reported Euronews, as concerns mounted that it might trigger a negative spill-over effect beyond borders and distort competition in the single market."Without a common European solution, we seriously risk fragmentation. So it is paramount that we preserve a level playing field for all," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the weekend.Apart from energy talks, the meeting is intended to send a strong signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighting Moscow's isolation, media reported.However, experts warn that the signal of political rejection toward Russia could be developed into a bloc confrontation on the European continent, which would not help maintain regional stability but further worsen the security situation of Europe.Former German chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, Europe can achieve lasting peace only with the involvement of Russia, TASS reported on Friday.
The Covid-19 pandemic will inevitably delay the planned expansion of Singapores two casino resorts, the Chief Executive of the city-states Tourism Board, Keith Tan, said in a recent interview.
Mr. Tan said that delays are inevitable because of the circuit breaker we have experienced earlierand the overall slowdown in construction activity in Singapore. The tourism official further pointed out that the city-states construction sector is facing many challenges with workers and workforce that are too stemming from the world health panic to have gripped the world in many years.
In his recent interview with Bloomberg Television, Mr. Tan noted that the operators of Singapores two casino resorts have not indicated any slippageof their investment commitmentsin the city-state, despite the turbulences caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Las Vegas casino giant Las Vegas Sands and Genting Singapore, a subsidiary of Malaysian gaming and hospitality operator Genting Group, operate Singapores two integrated resorts with full-scale casinos. The former company manages Marina Bay Sands, while the latter runs Resorts World Sentosa.
The government of Singapore last year extended the two operators casino duopoly through 2030. In exchange, each committed to investing S$4.5 billion(approx. $3.3 billion) in expanding and upgrading their properties.
Domestic Tourism Not Enough to Fill Gap Opened by Coronavirus
In his recent comments, Mr. Tan said that the city-states recently launched campaign to encourage domestic tourism would not be enough to fill the holethat the absence of international visits has left this year in the face of the pandemic.
International visitors spent more than S$27 billionlast year. However, that figure has dropped significantly in 2020 as the number of international arrivals plunged 65.7% year-on-year to 2.66 million during the first five months of the year.
The Singapore Tourism Boards Chief said that they have been making efforts to ensure that when international tourists come back to Singapore, special attention would be paid to smaller tour groups as well as high-value customers.
The expansion of the city-states two casino resorts would be one of the initiatives that would be hoped to improve metrics when tourism actually resumes.
Genting Singapore said last year that it would implement its Resorts World Sentosa expansion plan in phases, launching new experiences every year from 2020 through 2025.In June, the company said that there would likely be delays in its timetable for the expansion of its Singapore-based property, yet it reaffirmed its commitment to the project.
Late last month, the CEO and Chairman of Las Vegas Sands, billionaire businessman Sheldon Adelson, said that the expansion of Marina Bay Sands would still happen, but might face certain delays that are principally related to the impact of the pandemic.
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The Nanjing University to celebrate its 110th anniversary on 20th of May, students from Department of Chemistry use UVinduced blue fluorescence to express their love to alma mater.
Nanjing University is one of the oldest and most prestigious institutions of higher learning in China. It was established as a modern new-type school in 1902 in the end period of Qing Dynasty, and became a modern university in the early 1920s, the early years of Republic of China, and is the first Chinese modern university with the combination of education and research.
Official website of Nanjing University 110th anniversary: nju110.nju.edu.cn
NJU Anniversary: blue fluorescence of love & gratitudeadded by chinatimesonline on
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Chinas political reform must be made under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and within the framework of socialism with Chinese characteristics, a spokesman said Friday.
Zhao Qizheng, spokesman for the annual session of the National Committee of Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks at a press conference ahead of the top political advisory bodys annual session.
Since the country adopted the reform and opening up, political and economic reforms have not been completely separated from each other, otherwise economic reform would not have progressed so smoothly, said Zhao.
Political advisors have talked a lot about the countrys political reform, but it is up to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to work on the final policies, he said.
Chinas political reform will be implemented only after careful deliberation and seeking opinions from all sectors, Zhao said.
I believe you will be able to see progress in Chinas political reform, the spokesman said.
Xinhua
Chinas political reform must under CPC leadership: CPPCC spokesmanadded by chinatimesonline on
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What Is a Debenture?demo bonanza gems bandar hoki slot
A debenture is a type of bond or other debt instrument that is unsecured by collateral. Since debentures have no collateral backing, they must rely on the creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer for support. Both corporations and governments frequently issue debentures to raise capital or funds.
Key Takeaways
A debenture is a type of debt instrument that is not backed by any collateral and usually has a term greater than 10 years.
Debentures are backed only by the creditworthiness and reputation of the issuer.
Both corporations and governments frequently issue debentures to raise capital or funds.
Some debentures can convert to equity shares while others cannot.
Debentures
Understanding Debentures
1:23
Similar to most bonds, debentures may pay periodic interest payments called coupon payments. Like other types of bonds, debentures are documented in an indenture. An indenture is a legal and binding contract between bond issuers and bondholders. The contract specifies features of a debt offering, such as the maturity date, the timing of interest or coupon payments, the method of interest calculation, and other features. Corporations and governments can issue debentures.
Governments typically issue long-term bondsthose with maturities of longer than 10 years. Considered low-risk investments, these government bonds have the backing of the government issuer.
Corporations also use debentures as long-term loans. However, the debentures of corporations are unsecured. Instead, they have the backing of only the financial viability and creditworthiness of the underlying company. These debt instruments pay an interest rate and are redeemable or repayable on a fixed date. A company typically makes these scheduled debt interest payments before they pay stock dividends to shareholders. Debentures are advantageous for companies since they carry lower interest rates and longer repayment dates as compared to other types of loans and debt instruments.
Types of Debentures
Registered vs. Bearer
When debts are issued as debentures, they may be registered to the issuer. In this case, the transfer or trading in these securities must be organized through a clearing facility that alerts the issuer to changes in ownership so that they can pay interest to the correct bondholder. A bearer debenture, in contrast, is not registered with the issuer. The owner (bearer) of the debenture is entitled to interest simply by holding the bond.
Redeemable vs. Irredeemable
Redeemable debentures clearly spell out the exact terms and date by which the issuer of the bond must repay their debt in full. Irredeemable (non-redeemable) debentures, on the other hand, do not hold the issuer liable to repay in full by a certain date. Because of this, irredeemable debentures are also known as perpetual debentures.
Convertible vs. Nonconvertible
Convertible debentures are bonds that can convert into equity shares of the issuing corporation after a specific period. Convertible debentures are hybrid financial products with the benefits of both debt and equity. Companies use debentures as fixed-rate loans and pay fixed interest payments. However, the holders of the debenture have the option of holding the loan until maturity and receive the interest payments, or convert the loan into equity shares.
Convertible debentures are attractive to investors that want to convert to equity if they believe the company's stock will rise in the long term. However, the ability to convert to equity comes at a price since convertible debentures pay a lower interest rate compared to other fixed-rate investments.
Nonconvertible debentures are traditional debentures that cannot be converted into equity of the issuing corporation. To compensate for the lack of convertibility investors are rewarded with a higher interest rate when compared to convertible debentures.
Features of a Debenture
When issuing a debenture, first a trust indenture must be drafted. The first trust is an agreement between the issuing corporation and the trustee that manages the interest of the investors.
Interest Rate
The coupon rate is determined, which is the rate of interest that the company will pay the debenture holder or investor. This coupon rate can be either fixed or floating. A floating rate might be tied to a benchmark such as the yield of the 10-year Treasury bond and will change as the benchmark changes.
Credit Rating
The company's credit rating and ultimately the debenture's credit rating impacts the interest rate that investors will receive. Credit-rating agencies measure the creditworthiness of corporate and government issues. These entities provide investors with an overview of the risks involved in investing in debt.
Credit rating agencies, such as Standard and Poor's, typically assign letter grades indicating the underlying creditworthiness. The Standard & Poors system uses a scale that ranges from AAA for excellent rating to the lowest rating of C and D. Any debt instrument receiving a rating lower than a BB is said to be of speculative grade. You may also hear these called junk bonds. It boils down to the underlying issuer being more likely to default on the debt.
Maturity Date
For nonconvertible debentures, mentioned above, the date of maturity is also an important feature. This date dictates when the company must pay back the debenture holders. The company has options on the form the repayment will take. Most often, it is as redemption from the capital, where the issuer pays a lump sum amount on the maturity of the debt. Alternatively, the payment may use a redemption reserve, where the company pays specific amounts each year until full repayment at the date of maturity.
Pros and Cons of Debentures
Debentures are the most common form of long-term debt instruments issued by corporations. A company will issue these to raise capital for its growth and operations, and investors can enjoy regular interest payments that are relatively safer investments than a company's equity shares of stock.
Debentures are unsecured bonds issued by corporations to raise debt capital. Because they are not backed by any form of collateral, they are inherently more risky than an otherwise identical note that is secured. Because of the increased risk, debentures will carry a comparatively higher interest rate in order to compensate bondholders. This also means that bond investors should pay careful attention to the creditworthiness of debenture issuers.
The relative lack of security does not necessarily mean that a debenture is riskier than any other bond. Strictly speaking, a U.S. Treasury bond and a U.S. Treasury bill are both debentures. They are not secured by collateral, yet they are considered risk-free.
A debenture pays a regular interest rate or coupon rate return to investors.
Convertible debentures can be converted to equity shares after a specified period, making them more appealing to investors.
In the event of a corporation's bankruptcy, the debenture is paid before common stock shareholders.
Fixed-rate debentures may have interest rate risk exposure in environments where the market interest rate is rising.
Creditworthiness is important when considering the chance of default risk from the underlying issuer's financial viability.
Debentures may have inflationary risk if the coupon paid does not keep up with the rate of inflation.
Debenture Risks to Investors
ProsCons
Debenture holders may face inflationary risk. Here, the risk is that the debt's interest rate paid may not keep up with the rate of inflation. Inflation measures economy-based price increases. As an example, say inflation causes prices to increase by 3%. Should the debenture coupon pay at 2%, the holders may see a net loss, in real terms.
Debentures also carry interest rate risk. In this risk scenario, investors hold fixed-rate debts during times of rising market interest rates. These investors may find their debt returning less than what is available from other investments paying the current, higher, market rate. If this happens, the debenture holder earns a lower yield in comparison.
Further, debentures may carry credit risk and default risk. As stated earlier, debentures are only as secure as the underlying issuer's financial strength. If the company struggles financially due to internal or macroeconomic factors, investors are at risk of default on the debenture. As some consolation, a debenture holder would be repaid before common stock shareholders in the event of bankruptcy.
The three main features of a debenture are the interest rate, the credit rating, and the maturity date.
Example of a Debenture
An example of a government debenture would be the U.S. Treasury bond (T-bond). T-bonds help finance projects and fund day-to-day governmental operations. The U.S. Treasury Department issues these bonds during auctions held throughout the year.
Some Treasury bonds trade in the secondary market. In the secondary market through a financial institution or broker, investors can buy and sell previously issued bonds. T-bonds are nearly risk-free since they're backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. However, they also face the risk of inflation and interest rates increase.
How Is a Debenture Different From a Bond?
A debenture is a type of bond. In particular, it is an unsecured or non-collateralized debt issued by a firm or other entity and usually refers to such bonds with longer maturities. Secured bonds are backed by some sort of collateral in the form of property, securities, or other assets that can be seized to repay creditors in the event of a default. Unsecured debentures have no such collateralization, making them relatively riskier.
Are Debentures Risky Investments?
Because debentures are debt securities, they tend to be less risky than investing in the same company's common stock or preferred shares. Debenture holders would also be considered more senior and take priority over those other types of investments in the case of bankruptcy.
Because these debts are not backed by any collateral, however, they are inherently riskier than secured debts. Therefore, these may carry relatively higher interest rates than otherwise similar bonds from the same issuer that are backed by collateral.
In fact, strictly speaking, a U.S. Treasury bond and a U.S. Treasury bill are both debentures. They are not secured by collateral, yet they are considered risk-free securities.
How Are Debentures Structured?
All debentures follow a standard structuring process and have common features. First, a trust indenture is drafted, which is an agreement between the issuing entity and the entity that manages the interests of the bondholders. Next, the coupon rate is decided, which is the rate of interest that the company will pay the debenture holder or investor. This rate can be either fixed or floating and depends on the company's credit rating or the bond's credit rating. Debentures may also be either convertible or non-convertible into common stock.
Is a Debenture an Asset or a Liability?
This depends on whose perspective is considered. As a debt instrument, a debenture is a liability for the issuer, who is essentially borrowing money via issuing these securities. For an investor (bondholder), owning a debenture is an asset.
The Bottom Line
Debentures are a common form of unsecured bonds issued by corporations and governments. In contrast to secured bonds, which are backed by collateral, unsecured bonds are relatively riskier since they do not offer any sort of backstop of assets if the issuer defaults: they rely solely on the creditworthiness of the issuer. Strictly speaking, a U.S. Treasury bonds are, in this way, debentures.
An overview of igaming revenue in New Jersey,dogecoin game unblocked Pennsylvania, Michigan, West Virginia, Delaware, and Connecticut, the six states where online gambling is legal in the U.S.
National
Total igaming revenue for August 2023 in the six igaming states totaled $516.3 million compared to August 2022s $394.7 million, a year-over-year increase of 23.6%. It was also the first time in history that the six states combined for a total win of more than a half-billion dollars.
1. Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania leap-frogged from third place in July to first in August in online gaming revenue. Last month, the Keystone state hit $171.9 million, achieving the second-highest win since igaming was introduced in late 2017. It didnt quite measure up to the record, set in March 2022, of $181.5 million. But it was a major 37.6% more than August 2022 revenue of $107.2 million.
Total revenue from online slots nearly doubled to $132.2 million from $75.7 million in the previous period; the total also put revenue from i-slots over $1 billion year to date. Internet table-game revenue came in at $37.2 million compared to last years $28.7 million (22.8%). Only online poker showed a decline in August, with $2.4 million in rake compared to last years $2.7 million.
Hollywood Casino Penn National earned $42.8 million, down slightly year over year from $43.9 million, while Rivers Casino Philadelphias $24.7 million was up slightly from last years $26.8 million.
Tax revenue generated from August igaming in Pennsylvania was $63.2 million, a jump of 27.4% over August 2022s $45.9 million.
2. New Jersey
For the month of August 2023, the igaming win reported by online casinos was $155.3 million, reflecting growth of 18.1% compared to $131.4 million in August 2022.
Resorts Digital took top revenue honors for the month, earning $42.3 million, a substantial 37.6% increase year over year, while second-place Golden Nugget Online climbed from $31.4 million to $40.8 million (30%). Perennial frontrunner Borgata dropped to third in August, with $40.2 million, down nearly 4% from last years $41.8 million.
New Jersey collected its 15% of igaming revenue in taxes, totaling $22.2 million, 11.3% higher than last years $19.7 million.
3. Michigan
Michigans online casinos generated $152.2 million in revenue in August compared to $130.9 million year over year, up 14%. The state collected $40.8 million in taxes, putting total tax payments over $1 billion since igaming launched in January 2021. It took 32 months to hit the billion, surpassing Pennsylvanias 36 months to set a new record for that milestone.
BetMGM remains the board leader, earning $44 million, though that was down nearly 11% over $49.3 million in the prior period.
4. Connecticut
Connecticuts two main online-casino operators, DraftKings and FanDuel, in August earned a smidge less than $25 million, up 12.4% compared to $21.9 million in August 2022. The two paid $4.5 million in taxes to the Constitution State, up a commensurate 29% year over year.
Connecticut has two other igaming operators, the Mashantucket (Western) Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe On-Reservation, but even combined, their revenues are a rounding error.
5. West Virginia
The Mountain States igaming revenue for August 2023 was $10.8 million, essentially flat year over year. The reporting period was the same, July 31 to September 3, a full five weeks (West Virginia reports its online-gaming results weekly).
6. Delaware
Delawares internet casinos slid a bit year over year with $1.1 million in revenue, down from $1.3 million, which set a record.
Online video lottery (slot) games, likewise, earned $952,437, down slightly from the $1 million and some change in August of last year. Table games plunged to $122,088, down a whopping 45% from last years $221,330. Poker also declined 12.4% to $32,607 from August 2022s $37,168.
Definition of Homophone
A homophone can be defined as a word that,betvictor oscars coingecko pi coin when pronounced, seems similar to another word, but has a different spelling and meaning. For example, the words bear and bare are similar in pronunciation, but are different in spelling as well as in meaning. Sometimes the words may have the same spelling, such as rose, the past tense of rise, and rose, the flower. Mostly, however, they are spelled differently, such as:
carrot
caret
carat
In literature, homophones are used extensively in poetry and prose to make rhythmic effects, and to put emphasis on something. They are also used to create a multiplicity of meanings in a written piece.
Types of Homophone
There are five different types of homophone:
Homograph Some homophones are similar in spelling, but different in meanings. They are called homographs. For instance, hail meaning an ice storm, and hail meaning something that occurs in large numbers, such as a hail of bullets. Homonym Some words have the same pronunciation but different meanings. These are called Homonyms. For instance, cite, sight, and site. Heterograph Homophones that have different spellings but are pronounced in the same way are called heterographs. For instance, write and right. Oronym Homophones that have multiple words or phrases, having similar sounds, are called oronyms. For instance, ice cream and I scream. Pseudo-homophone Homophones that are identical phonetically are called pseudo-homophones. In this type of homophone, one of the pair of words is not a real word, such as groan and grone.
Examples of Homophone in Literature
Example #1: Where Truths Wind Blew(By Venicebard)
Soleowner am I of this sorry soul
pourout corruptions slag from every pore
wholeslates scrape clean! they leave no gaping hole.
Rolethat Ive played, loose grip! while back I roll,
ordodge each wave, or with firm grip on oar
borethrough this sea, snout down, just like the boar
This poem is filled with examples of homophone, which are marked in bold. They create a humorous effect in the poem through their same pronunciations but altogether different meanings.
Example #2: A Hymn to God the Father (By John Donne)
When Thou hast done,
Thou hast not donefor I have more.
That at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore
And having donethat, Thou hast done;
I fear no more.
John Done has used the name of his wife Anne and his own name Donne as homophones. In addition, he makes use of the word son instead of sun, to refer to Christ. They are also homophones.
Example #3: The Importance of Being Earnest(By Oscar Wilde)
On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, Ive now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest I always told you, Gwendolen, my name was Ernest, didnt I? Well, it is Ernestafter all. I mean it naturally is Ernest.
In these excerpts, Oscar Wilde used the word earnestas a homophone. Here, Jack Earnest is talking to his Aunt Augusta and mocks his family. Jack finds out that his fathers name makes him really earnest.
Example #4: Romeo and Juliet(By William Shakespeare)
MERCUTIO:
Nay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance. ROMEO:
Not I, believe me. You have dancing shoes. With nimble soles; I have a soulof lead. So stakes me to the ground I cannot move
Some of Shakespeares famous literary pieces are rich with homophone examples. One of which is the above excerpt where he uses the words sole and soul as homophones. Romeo talks about soles of his shoes, and the soul of his heart, which is heavy with sorrow.
Example #5: Richard III(By William Shakespeare)
Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this Sonof York.
Here, Shakespeare uses two words similar in pronunciation, sun and son, which are homophones. The Duke of York has a son named Edward, who is also taken as a sun whose rising power would create trouble for Richard.
Function of Homophone
The purpose of homophones in literature is to create humorous effect by using words that have two or more meanings. In everyday life, these words are employed intentionally in witty remarks. In addition, these give meaning to a literary piece of work, and writers reveal the ingenuity of their characters through the use of homophones.
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Online games are everywhere. In fact,shibu token price gold fish casino the gaming industry has become one of the most profitable industries in the world. And while video games were once played by only a few, nowadays, everyone is playing online games right from their own home. So, why are online games so popular? Here are some reasons why you should consider adding an online game to your list of hobbies:
Image: Pixabay
You can learn a lot by playing online games
Online games are a great way to learn. You can learn how to interact with others, solve problems, work together and be creative.
Online games are also great for kids to become more competitive and learn how to lead or follow.
Image: Pixabay
Online games connect people across the globe
Online games are a great way to meet people from all over the world. You can chat with your teammates and opponents, make friends, or even meet new people. Online games make it possible to learn about other cultures and customs and share yours with others!
In addition to playing WAGMI Crypto Casinowith those in your country, you can also play with people who live on the other side of the globe! It will be interesting for you to speak in English or another language when playing an online game.
You can make money by playing online games
Many games offer in-game currency that you can trade with other users who want to buy it. You can also sell your game account and start a new one, as long as its not against the rules. In some games, you can earn money by competing in tournaments and winning prizes or money.
You might wonder if playing online games is worth your time and effort when so many other activities exist. But many people enjoy playing these games because they interact with others worldwide in real-time. This allows them to meet like-minded people from different countries who share similar interests or hobbies, such as sports or music.
Online games are fun and stress-relieving
Games are a great way to relax and unwind after a long day. They can be played alone or with friends, and they come in all different genresfrom sports games to puzzles and even RPGs (role-playing games).
Games are also an excellent opportunity to learn new skills. If you want to get better at something, why not just play? Practice makes perfect!
As if it wasnt enough that online games are fun and stress relieving, playing them can also help you stay fit by getting your heart pumping. And if you play in groups with other players, theres always someone nearby who also wants to play catch in real life.
Online games can help you connect with others, relax, and even make some money
Online games offer a great way to learn new things, connect with others and make some extra cash. There are many benefits of playing online games, including:
They're fun! The internet has opened up a whole new world of entertainment, and online gaming is one of the most popular ways of having fun in this new world. You can play with friends or meet new people from all over the world while you play.
They can help you relax after work or school by allowing you to unwind at your own pace without any pressure on yourself or others around you. Your mind will be free from stress while playing because no one else knows your score, so there's nothing competitive about it, which makes for a very relaxing pastime.
Category: Casino Blog
What Is an Asset Class?myvegas slots on facebook free
An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations. Asset classes are thus made up of instruments that often behave similarly to one another in the marketplace.
Key Takeaways
An asset class is a grouping of investments that exhibit similar characteristics and are subject to the same laws and regulations.
Equities (e.g., stocks), fixed income (e.g., bonds), cash and cash equivalents, real estate, commodities, and currencies are common examples of asset classes.
There is usually very little correlation and in some cases a negative correlation, between different asset classes.
Financial advisors focus on asset class as a way to help investors diversify their portfolios.
Asset Class
Understanding Asset Classes
1:48
Simply put, an asset class is a grouping of comparable financial securities. For example, IBM, MSFT, AAPL are a grouping of stocks. Asset classes and asset class categories are often mixed together. There is usually very little correlation and in some cases a negative correlation, between different asset classes. This characteristic is integral to the field of investing.
Historically, the three main asset classes have been equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and cash equivalent or money market instruments. Currently, most investment professionals include real estate, commodities, futures, other financial derivatives, and even cryptocurrencies in the asset class mix. Investment assets include both tangible and intangible instruments which investors buy and sell for the purposes of generating additional income, on either a short- or a long-term basis.
Financial advisors view investment vehicles as asset class categories that are used for diversification purposes. Each asset class is expected to reflect different risk and return investment characteristics and perform differently in any given market environment. Investors interested in maximizing return often do so by reducing portfolio risk through asset class diversification.
Financial advisors will help investors diversify their portfolios by combing assets from different asset classes that have different cash flows streams and varying degrees of risk. Investing in several different asset classes ensures a certain amount of diversity in investment selections. Diversification reduces risk and increases your probability of making a return.
Asset Class and Investing Strategy
Investors looking for alpha employ investment strategies focused on achieving alpha returns. Investment strategies can be tied to growth, value, income, or a variety of other factors that help to identify and categorize investment options according to a specific set of criteria. Some analysts link criteria to performance and/or valuation metrics such as earnings-per-share growth (EPS) or the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio. Other analysts are less concerned with performance and more concerned with the asset type or class. An investment in a particular asset class is an investment in an asset that exhibits a certain set of characteristics. As a result, investments in the same asset class tend to have similar cash flows.
Asset Class Types
Equities (stocks), bonds (fixed-income securities), cash or marketable securities, and commodities are the most liquid asset classes and, therefore, the most quoted asset classes.
There are also alternative asset classes, such as real estate, and valuable inventory, such as artwork, stamps, and other tradable collectibles. Some analysts also refer to an investment in hedge funds, venture capital, crowdsourcing, or cryptocurrencies as examples of alternative investments. That said, an asset's illiquidity does not speak to its return potential; It only means it may take more time to find a buyer to convert the asset to cash.
What Are the Most Popular Asset Classes?
Historically, the three main asset classes have been equities (stocks), fixed income (bonds), and cash equivalent or money market instruments. Currently, most investment professionals include real estate, commodities, futures, other financial derivatives, and even cryptocurrencies in the asset class mix.
Which Asset Class Has the Best Historical Returns?
The stock market has proven to produce the highest returns over extended periods of time. Since the late 1920s, the CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) for the S&P 500 is about 7.63%, assuming that all dividends were reinvested and adjusted for inflation. In other words, one hundred dollars invested in the S&P 500 on Jan. 1, 1920, would have been worth about $167,500 (in 1928 dollars) by Dec. 31, 2020. Without adjusting for inflation the total would have grown to more than $2.2 million in 2020 dollars. By comparison, the same $100 invested in 10-year Treasuries would have been worth only a little more than $8,000 in today's dollars.
Why Are Asset Classes Useful?
Financial advisors focus on asset class as a way to help investors diversify their portfolios to maximize returns. Investing in several different asset classes ensures a certain amount of diversity in investment selections. Each asset class is expected to reflect different risk and return investment characteristics and perform differently in any given market environment.
Definition of Homograph
Thebahar game crypto earn coinbase word homographoriginated from the Greek word homos, which means the same, and graph, which means to write, and it is used extensively in language. It can be defined as words that are used in such a manner as to give two or more different meanings, where the words have the same spelling, but different meanings, and sometimes different pronunciations as well.
For instance, the word bear (verb) means to endure, and bear (noun) is the name of an animal. This can be considered one example of homograph. This literary device is one of the types of pun (paronomasia).
Similarity with Homonym
Homonym is a bigger category of which homographs are a part. All homograph examples are also identified as homonym examples, since a homograph is a specific term, but a homonym is a generalized term. Homographs are words with different meanings but the same spelling, such as tire (fatigue), and tire (wheel tire).
Difference Between Homograph and Homophone
The basic difference between homophone and homograph is that homographs are words that have the same spelling, such as He is my closerelative, and Please closethe door. Homophones, on the other hand, are words that sound the same and are spelled differently, such as That speech was read, and That dress was red.
Examples of Homograph in Literature
Example #1: Great Expectations(By Charles Dickens)
They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to pointthe conversation to me, every now and then, and stick the pointinto me
Here, in this excerpt, both words in bold are identical in spelling, but they have different meanings. The first point means direction, and second point means the idea.
Example #2: When Words Dont Fit A Multiple Meaning Words Poem (By Unknown)
I have such a fit (tantrum)
When these words dont fit (match)!
Like when all through the Spring (season)
All the deer jump and Spring (bounce),
And the lions feel they might (perhaps)
Want to show I have such a fit (tantrum)
When these words dont fit (match)!
Like when all through the Spring (season)
All the deer jump and Spring (bounce),
And the lions feel they their strength and might (power),
When the monkeys swing (sway)
From a vine like a swing(hanging seat),
And the roar of the bear (animal)
Is too loud for me to bear (endure),
And I cant try to pet (stroke)
One, since its not a pet (domesticated animal)!
Im not trying to be mean (cruel),
But what do these words mean (imply)?
This poem is probably the best piece to use if you are teaching Homographs 101, as the words used are very familiar. Using context clues, the meanings (enclosed in parentheses) of the homographs are easy to decipher.
Example #3: Lolita(By Vladimir Nabokov)
Vladimir Nabokov has used multilingual and unique homographs in his novel Lolita. For instance, a characters name, Humbert, is used as a pun in different languages. In Spanish, its meaning is man, and in French its meaning is shadow. Similarly, the name of the character Lolita is changed to Dolores. In Latin its meaning is pain, and the meaning of her nickname Dolly is a toy in English.
Example #4: A Hymn to God the Father(By John Donne)
When Thou hast done, Thou hast not done for I have more.
That at my death Thy Son
Shall shine as he shines now, and heretofore
And having done that, Thou hast done;
I fear no more
Donne has played on both his and his wifes last names, Donne, and More, with the words done and more. These are homographs that have the same pronunciations. Donne has used it for wry effect.
Example #5: Much Ado About Nothing(By William Shakespeare)
Beatrice:
The count is neither sad, nor sick,
nor merry, nor well: but civil, count; civilas an
orange, and something of that jealous complexion
Here, Beatrice is mocking Claudio, saying he is civil like a bitter orange, which describes the bitter feelings of Claudio. This is a pun on the name Seville, which is pronounced as ci-VIL, and is the place from where these oranges had come.
Function of Homograph
Homographs are used as a word play to create humorous and comic effects in literary writings, in theater, and in limerick form of poetry. Frequently, in literary works, these make readers think and laugh, and increase the clarity of text by playing with specific words. Generally, it is done voluntarily to create humor and wryness. It also increases the vocabulary of readers by introducing secondary or multiple meanings of the terms.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Weimin on Thursday urged countries to take tangible measures to guarantee the security of overseas Chinese people and institutions.
Although the abduction of Chinese workers by Sudanese anti-government forces was an isolated incident, it harmed their physical and mental health and caused wicked effects, Liu told a regular press conference.
China firmly opposed the abduction, Liu said, noting that the abduction of civilians for political purposes is condemned by the international community as a whole.
Chinese enterprises have made positive contributions to the economic and social development of African countries and benefited their people in recent years, said the spokesman.
A camp of a Chinese company operating at a road construction site near Sudans Al-Abbasiya Tagali town in the volatile South Kordofan state was attacked by a group of gunmen belonging to the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement north sector on Jan. 28.
In the camp at the time were a total of 47 Chinese, 29 of whom were abducted by the assailants while the other 18 managed to flee. Among the latter, 17 were later found by the Sudanese army and transferred to a safe place, and one was confirmed dead after having been missing for days.
The 29 workers were released on Tuesday and arrived in Beijing on Thursday afternoon.
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What Is a Quid?saganing hotel and casino
"Quid" is a slang expression for the British pound sterling, or the British pound (GBP), the currency of the United Kingdom (U.K.). A quid is equal to 100 pence, generally believed to come from the Latin phrase quid pro quo, which translates into "something for something," or an equal exchange for goods or services. However, the exact etymology of the word relating to the British pound is still uncertain.
Key Takeaways
"Quid" is a slang expression for the British pound sterling, or the British pound (GBP), the currency of the United Kingdom (U.K.).
A quid equals 100 pence and is believed to come from the Latin phrase quid pro quo, meaning "something for something."
The quid, as it describes one pound sterling, is thought to have first come into use sometime in the late 17 th century.
century. In 1489, under Henry VII's rule, it was initially called a sovereign.
The modern-day pound sterling is no longer comprised of silver.
Understanding the Quid
The quid, as it describes one pound sterling, is thought to have come into use sometime in the late 17thcentury, but no one is quite certain why this word became synonymous with the British currency. Some scholars believe that Italian immigrants may have originated the word thanks to "scudo," the name for gold and silver coins of various denominations that were used in Italy from the 16thcentury through the 19thcentury.
Another possibility is that the word traces back to Quidhampton, a village in Wiltshire, England, that once was home to a Royal Mint paper mill. Any paper money made in this mill might have been called a quid. Although the words origin continues to be a mystery, the pound sterling has a rich history of more than 12 centuries as the world's oldest currency still in use.
The U.K. is made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
History of the Pound Sterling
Historians trace the pound sterling back to 775 A.D., when Anglo-Saxon kings used silver pennies, called sterlings, as currency. Someone who collected 240 of them had 1 pound of sterlings, hence the name "pound sterling. In Latin, Libra means " weight," and Libra Pondo translates to pound weight, which is why the British pound bears a fancy "L" or symbol.
Two hundred forty pence in one pound sterling remained the standard for nearly 1,200 years until 1971. This was when the British Parliament instituted decimalization to make 100 pence equal to one pound sterling.
An actual pound coin, called a sovereign, did not exist until 1489, when Henry VII was king. In addition to the United Kingdom, the British pound has previously served as currency in many of the colonies of the British Empire, including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
Shillings were first minted in 1504, with 12 pence in 1 shilling and 20 shillings in one pound. Gold coins started in 1560. Between 775 A.D. and 1971, British coins were made into many denominations. Some of these coins were called pennies, halfpennies, farthings, half-crowns, and double-florins. Other coins included groats, threepenny bits, and twopence. Most of these denominations are no longer in circulation, while others became banknotes.
History of Banknotes and Coins
English banknotes were created during the rule of King William III after he started the Bank of England in 1694. They were handwritten at that time. The main bill in use during that time was a 10-pound note. However, a lengthy period of severe inflation or rising prices later forced the monarchy to issue five-pound notes. By 1717, the term "pound sterling" became nearly obsolete when Europe moved from the silver standard to the gold standard.
Contemporary pound sterling, whether in coins or bills, has no silver even though it retains the word often associated with silver, "sterling."
Currently, the U.K.. has eight coins and four notes circulating:
1 penny
2 pence
5 pence
10 pence
20 pence
50 pence
1 coin
2 coin
5 note
10 note
20 note
50 note
Other British Monetary Slang Terms
Quid is only one of the more common slang terms for the British poundinterestingly, there is no plural form of the word. It is simply "quid," not "quids." Here are a few more terms used to refer to the pound:
Smackeradd an "s" to use the plural
Fiver, for the 5 note
Tenner, for the 10 note
Doshno plural
What Is a Quid Meaning?
A quid is an alternative term for the British sterling pound, the official currency of the United Kingdom. Although its exact origin is unknown, historians date its use back to 775 A.D when sovereign leaders used silver coins.
How Much Is a Quid in Dollars?
The value of one quid in U.S. Dollars as of 9/16/2022 was $1.14. Supply and demand cause the monetary exchange rate to fluctuate. Therefore, the value of one quid in U.S. Dollars will also fluctuate.
How Many Pounds Is a Quid?
A quid equals 1, or one pound sterling.
What Is a Quid vs. a Pound?
Quid is a slang term for the pound sterling issued by the United Kingdom. Pound is the name of the currency issued by the U.K., like "dollar" is for the currency issued by the U.S.
The Bottom Line
The pound sterling is regarded as the oldest currency still in use today. It is often referred to by its nickname, quid, of whose origins are lost to time. Quid is a slang term for the U.K. currency, and can be used to refer to any amount of currency. However, there is no plural term, so any reference to an amount of U.K currency using the term is "quid" as opposed to "quids."
What Is a Correction?did anyone win the megabucks
In investing, a correction is usually defined as a decline of 10% or more in the price of a security from its most recent peak. Corrections can happen to individual assets, like an individual stock or bond, or to an index measuring a group of assets.
An asset, index, or market may fall into a correction either briefly or for sustained periodsdays, weeks, months, or even longer. However, the average market correction is short-lived and lasts anywhere between three and four months.
Investors, traders, and analysts use charting methods to predict and track corrections. Many factors can trigger a correction. From a large-scale macroeconomic shift to problems in a single company's management plan, the reasons behind a correction are as varied as the stocks, indexes, or markets they affect.
Key Takeaways
A correction is a decline of 10% or greater in the price of a security, asset, or a financial market.
Corrections can last anywhere from days to months, or even longer.
While damaging in the short term, a correction can be positive, adjusting overvalued asset prices and providing buying opportunities.
Click Play to Learn What a Correction Is
How a Correction Works
1:37
Corrections are like that spider under your bed. You know it's there, lurking, but don't know when it will make its next appearance. While you might lose sleep over that spider, you shouldn't lose sleep over the possibility of a correction.
According to a 2018 report from CNBC and Goldman Sachs, the average correction for the S&P 500 lasted only four months and values fell around 13% before recovering. However, it is easy to see why an individual or novice investor may worry about a 10% or greater downward adjustment to the value of their portfolio assets during a correction. Many do not see it coming and don't know how long the correction will last. For those who remain in the market for the long term however, a correction is only a small pothole on the road to retirement savings. The market will eventually recover, so they should not panic.
Of course, a dramatic correction that occurs in the course of one trading session can be disastrous for a short-term or day trader and those traders who are extremely leveraged. These traders could see significant losses during times of corrections.
No one can pinpoint when a correction will start, end, or tell how drastic of a drop prices will take until after it's over. What analysts and investors can do is look at the data of past corrections and plan accordingly.
Charting a Correction
Corrections can sometimes be projected using market analysis, and by comparing one market index to another. Using this method an analyst may discover that an underperforming index may be followed closely by a similar index that is also underperforming. A steady trend of these similarities may be a sign that a market correction is imminent.
Technical analysts review price support and resistance levels to help predict when a reversal or consolidation may turn into a correction. Technical corrections happen when an asset or the entire market gets overinflated. Analysts use charting to track the changes over time in an asset, index, or market. Some of the tools they use to determine where to expect price support and resistance levels include Bollinger Bands, envelope channels, and trendlines.
Preparing Investments for a Correction
Before a market correction, individual stocks may be strong or even outperforming. During a correction period, individual assets frequently perform poorly due to adverse market conditions. Corrections can create an ideal time to buy high-value assets at discounted prices. However, investors must still weigh the risks involved with purchases, as they could well see a further decline as the correction continues.
Protecting investments against corrections can be difficult, but doable. To deal with declining equity prices, investors can set stop-loss orders or stop-limit orders. The former is automatically triggered when a price hits a level pre-set by the investor. However, the transaction may not get executed at that price level if prices are falling fast.
The second stop order sets both a specified target price and an outside limit price for the trade. Stop-loss guarantees execution where stop-limit guarantees price. Stop orders should be regularly monitored, to ensure they reflect current market situations and true asset values. Also, many brokers will allow stop orders to expire after a period.
Investing During a Correction
While a correction can affect all equities, it often hits some equities harder than others. Small-cap, high-growth stocks in volatile sectors, like technology, tend to react the strongest. Other sectors are more buffered. Consumer staples stocks, for example, tend to be business cycle-proof, as they involve the production or retailing of necessities. So if a correction is caused by, or deepens into, an economic downturn, these stocks still perform.
Diversification also offers protection if it involves assets that perform in opposition to those being corrected, or those that are influenced by different factors. Bonds and investment vehicles have traditionally been a counterweight to equities, for example. Real or tangible assets, like commodities or real estate, are another option to financial assets like stocks.
Although market corrections can be challenging, and a 10% drop may significantly hurt many investment portfolios, corrections are sometimes considered positive for both the market and for investors. For the market, corrections can help to readjust and recalibrate asset valuations that may have become unsustainably high. For investors, corrections can provide both the opportunity to take advantage of discounted asset prices as well as to learn valuable lessons on how rapidly market environments can change.
Creates buying opportunities into high-value stocks
Can be mitigated by stop-loss/limit orders
Calms overinflated markets
Can lead to panic, overselling
Harms short-term investors, leveraged traders
Can turn into prolonged decline
Real-World Examples of a Correction
ProsCons
Market corrections occur relatively often. Between 1980 and 2020, the S&P 500 experienced 18 corrections. Five of these corrections resulted in bear markets, which are generally indicators of economic downturns. The others remained or transitioned back into bull markets, which are usually indicators of economic growth and stability.
Take 2018, for example. In February 2018, two major indexes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the S&P 500, both experienced corrections, dropping by more than 10%. Both the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 also experienced corrections in late October 2018.
Each time, the markets rebounded. Then another correction occurred Dec. 17, 2018, and both the DJIA and the S&P 500 dropped over 10%the S&P 500 fell 15% from its all-time high. Declines continued into early January with predictions that the U.S. had finally ended a bear market abounding.
The markets began to rally, erasing all the year's losses by the end of January. And by April 2019, the S&P 500 was up about 20% since the dark days of December.
online free spins real moneyshows grade level based on the word's complexity. daff 1[ daf ]/ df / New Word List Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.[ daf ]/ df /Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
verb (used without object) Scot. and North England.to make sport; dally; play.
How to use daff C16: from obsolete daff fool, of uncertain origin
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question daffFirst recorded in 15901600; alteration of doffDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Early this winner casino 99 free spinsmorning, Chinas first aircraft carrier experimental platform sailed to the sea again.
This is the 5th sea trial of the aircraft carrier Varyag since the first test completed in 2011. The test programs of this time is not clear yet.
Varyag sailed to the sea.
Navigational warnings released by the Maritime Authority.
Navigational data (plotted on map).
Personally,beta carotene recommended daily intake it is hard for me to believe the allegations that were announced against my father, because they contradict everything I have come to know about him throughout my life. Although the policies my father enacted are open to debate, the father I know is upright in his beliefs and devoted to duty. He has always taught me to be my own person and to have concern for causes greater than ourselves. I have tried to follow his advice. At this point, I expect the legal process to follow its normal course, and I will await the result.
29TH SEP 2012
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dynastic [ dahy-nas-tik; British also dih-nas-tik ]/ dans tk; British also dns tk / New Word List Save This masvidal odds baccarat in englishWord! [ dahy-nas-tik; British also dih-nas-tik ]/ dans tk; British also dns tk /Save ThisWord!
adjectiveof or relating to a dynasty, a sequence of rulers or other powerful or wealthy people, usually from the same family: Democracy, by definition, can't prohibit dynastic or corrupt rulers but it offers ways to correct or alter the situation.Artifacts found in the Royal Nubian burials at Qustul bear the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the white crown of Egypt and the falcon.
OTHER WORDS FROM dynastic
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question dynasticFirst recorded in 162030, for an earlier sense; dynast(y) + -icdynastically, adverbantidynastic, adjectiveantidynastical, adjectiveantidynastically, adverbnondynastic, adjectivenondynastical, adjectivenondynastically, adverbDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo and top political advisor Jia Qinglin mourned the death of Cambodias former King Norodom Sihanouk at the Cambodian Embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.
Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress (NPC), expressed deep condolences on behalf of the NPC.
Wu said Sihanouk was an outstanding leader of Cambodias people as well as a great friend of the Chinese people, adding that the friendship created and cultivated by Sihanouk and the older generation of Chinese leaders was deeply rooted in the two peoples and yielded great results.
He said China will work with Cambodia to push forward bilateral ties.
Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), mourned Sihanouks death on behalf of the CPPCC and conveyed his sympathies to the President of Cambodias Senate Chea Sim.
Jia also hailed Sihanouks contributions to the people of Cambodia and to the bilateral friendship, saying Sihanouk will long be remembered by the Chinese people.
He said he believes the bilateral friendship will see continuous development through the two sides joint efforts.
Upon arriving at the embassy, both Chinese leaders were silent and bowed three times in front of Sihanouks portrait.
They each signed the book of condolences.
Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Royal Palace Kong Sam Ol and Cambodian Ambassador Khek Caimealy Sysoda expressed gratitude for the condolences.
Born on Oct. 31, 1922, Norodom Sihanouk reigned from 1941 to 1955 and again from 1993 until his voluntary abdication on Oct. 7, 2004 in favor of his son, the current King Sihamoni. He died of illness at the age of 90 early Monday morning.
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Definition of Frame Story
Frame story is lasalantisa story set within a story, narrative, or movie, told by the main or the supporting character. A character starts telling a story to other characters, or he sits down to write a story, telling the details to the audience. This technique is also called a frame narrative, and is a very popular form of the literary technique employed in storytelling and narration.
Frame story usually is found in novels, plays, poems, television, films, musicals, and opera. It is a unifying tale within which one or more related stories appear. For instance, in Homers Odyssey, Odysseus tells about his wandering experience in the court of King Alcinous or his visit to the island of a sorcerer.
How to Write a Frame Story?
When you want to write a frame story, consider the following points in mind.
Create a plot and storyline in your mind. Think about another parallel story that could be its allegory or even extended metaphor. Join both of them but put the small story as the frame story in the beginning and make it go side by side with the main story. End both at the same point having clear similarities.
How does the Frame Story Structure Create Tension?
The main question with the use of the frame story is how to create tension in the story which is the critical component of story writing skills. As tension is created through suspense that builds up gradually around or with the actions of the protagonist as the situation changes. The information is either released or withheld to create this tension. In the case of the frame story, however, the same information is either released, withheld, or kept secret so that the tension continues. There are three major steps to create tension in the frame story.
Relate the frame story with the main story. Create a tense moment between its characters. Keep that moment or tension parallel to the main story and continue it unresolved.
Examples of Frame Story in Literature
Example #1:Frankensteinby Mary Shelley
There are several examples of this technique used by Mary Shelley in her novel, Frankenstein.She has given multiple framed stories in this novel. For example, Robert Walton describes a story told by Frankenstein, in the letters that he writes to his sister. Frankensteins story contains the tale of a creature, and the creatures story briefly contains the story of the family with which he has been living.
Example #2: Inceptionby Christopher Nolan
In the film, Inception, Leonardo DiCaprio enters into a dream of Cillian Murphy to embed an idea into his subconscious. Leonardo puts him to sleep in a dream, following him to a second layer of the dream that soon gives way to another dream. In the innermost dream, Leonardo is blown out and enters into an endless dream limbo which could last for eternity, but only a few seconds pass in the real world. Leonardo, eventually wakes up through layers of dreams, feeling as though years have passed away, returning to his waking life.
Example #3: Titanicby James Cameron
In the movie, Titanic, an elderly woman Rose begins the movie by telling a story of her voyage in the Atlantic Ocean. When the reader gets into her narrative, he finds himself in the year 1912, where the story begins. Only a few times do readers return to the elderly Rose to get in touch with her experience; however, the movie ends as it begins. This is called the framing technique in which the writer tells a story within a story.
Example #4: The Canterbury Talesby Geoffrey Chaucer
In Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer has used frame narrative, bringing different characters, each of whom tells a story. This pilgrimage frame story brings together a number of storytellers, who appear with vivid personality traits, and build up dramatic relationships with one another and with the tales they tell. General Prologue is the section of this poem that deals with a frame narrative.
Example #5: Wuthering Heightsby Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights, like Frankenstein, also has frame stories. Emily Bronte introduces Mr. Lockwood as the first narrator, who depicts his visit to Wuthering Heights, and the narration switches to the perspective of Mr. Dean, who describes the estates history. Readers are introduced to all the major characters.
This switching in narration is very helpful, as it connects the present with the past. Mr. Lockwood tries to find out what could have happened in the past that made the current dwellers of the estate depressed and stubborn. Mrs. Dean, however, provides information about the past, which caused the characters to transform in this way.
Example #6: Heart of Darknessby Joseph Conrad
In Conrads novel, Heart of Darkness, there are two narrators: (1) the anonymous passenger traveling on a pleasure ship, listening to the story of Marlowe; and (2) Marlowe himself. The first narrator, on the behalf of four other passengers, uses the first person plural. Marlowe, on the other hand, narrates his story in the first person, describing whatever he has seen and experienced. This provides a commentary on the entire story, acting as a frame story.
Function of Frame Story
This literary technique uses embedded narratives, which provide readers with a context about the main narrative. Frame story leads the readers from the first story to the other one. This is a sort of guidance, which establishes the context for an embedded narrative, helping the writer to create a context for interpreting a narrative. It also offers multiple perspectives to the readers within a story, as well as about the story. These multiple perspectives give the readers more information about the characters regarding their feelings, thoughts, and motivations.
Synonyms of Frame Story
Frame story is a phrase with no direct or indirect meanings. However, there are synonyms that are close to the device such as frame tale, frame narrative, secondary story, or the main story.
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Thewinstar chickasaw second volume of the selected works by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin has been published in five foreign languages by Chinas Foreign Languages Press.
Versions in English, French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese, translated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Compilation and Translation Bureau, are now available.
The second volume included Jiangs important works from Sept. 12, 1997, to Feb. 1, 2000.
The Chinese version of Jiangs works has already been published by Chinas Peoples Publishing House in 2006.
Foreign versions of the first volume of the three-volume works were published in Feb. 2010, and the last volume will be released later.
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COVID-19 vaccines were designed primarily to prevent severe disease and deathtwo purposes for which they continue to work very well. But when the shots first rolled out,asu point spread today many people also hoped they would block or even reverse symptoms of Long COVID, such as fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, chronic pain, and neurological issues.
By now, its clear that even people who are fully vaccinated and boosted can get Long COVID, and recent research suggests that vaccines arent the Long COVID shields people wished for.
Studies have come to very different estimates about the degree of protection vaccines offer against Long COVID. But some of the latest findings point to fairly disappointing protection. In one July report from the U.K.s Office for National Statistics, more than 4% of vaccinated and boosted adults in the U.K. who were infected by Delta, Omicron BA.1, or BA.2 still had symptoms at least 12 weeks later. A preprint posted online on Sept. 6 (which has not yet been peer-reviewed) suggests the situation isnt any better in the U.S. Researchers surveyed people from June into July, as the BA.5 variant was taking over. Among those who said theyd had COVID-19 at least a month earlier, roughly 20% had symptoms that lasted at least four weeks, with little difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Thats not to say vaccines are useless against Long COVID. A research review published in eClinical Medicine in August analyzed a mix of peer-reviewed and preprint studies, six of which looked at whether people who were vaccinated before they got infected had a lower chance of developing Long COVID than unvaccinated people who got sick. All six studies concluded that vaccinated people are at lower risk.
Read More: Should You Mix and Match Omicron Boosters? Heres What to Know
At first, it appeared that vaccines were pretty protective against Long COVID. Some 2021 research suggested vaccinated people were up to 50% less likely to develop Long COVID after a breakthrough infection, compared to unvaccinated people who got COVID-19. But a large study published in Nature Medicine in May reached a less-encouraging conclusion: it found that vaccinated people were only about 15% less likely to develop Long COVID than their unvaccinated counterparts.
Studies have reached a wide range of estimates because of differences in how they were designed, how long they tracked people, and how they defined Long COVID, says Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System, a clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis, and a co-author of the Nature Medicine study. But regardless of the exact numbers, the common thread is vaccines do offer some protection, but its never complete, he says. Its partial.
That makes sense, Al-Aly explains. The shots werent designed with chronic symptoms in mind, but rather to reduce the severity of acute disease, which offers some secondary benefits for Long COVID prevention. Though anyone can develop the condition, people who have severe initial cases of COVID-19 are at highest riskso the fact that vaccines tend to keep cases milder hopefully means fewer people will develop lasting complications.
Early in vaccine distribution, some anecdotal reports also sparked hope that the shots could improve symptoms among people who already had Long COVID. But its still not clear whether thats true. The authors of the eClinical Medicine research review couldnt find a strong consensus in the 11 studies they analyzed on this topic: seven found that Long COVID patients symptoms improved after vaccination, while four found that they stayed the same or worsened. In rare cases, people have also reported developing Long COVID-like symptoms after getting vaccinated, even if they hadnt knowingly had the virus.
The new Omicron-specific boosters only raise more questions about vaccination and Long COVID, Al-Aly notes, since researchers havent had a chance to study them yet. In the future, he says he hopes researchers will develop vaccines that provide longer-lasting protection against all variants, block viral transmission, and prevent Long COVID. Some of these efforts are underway, as scientists work to develop nasal vaccines that could reduce the risk of infection and shots that could target many different coronaviruses at once.
For now, though, even vaccinated, boosted, and previously infected people arent immune to Long COVID. Any infection could lead to lingering complications, which underscores the importance of limiting exposure to the virus as much as possible.
By now,funzpoints free play pokerqiu idn its undeniable: regular exercise comes with a range of health benefits for people who stick with it over time. But is it ever too late to start?
Most research hasnt been designed to answer this question, since exercise studies typically record peoples physical activity levels at one point in time: in youth, middle-age or beyond. But Pedro Saint-Maurice, a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and his colleagues wanted to find out whether exercises benefits changed if people remained active for most of their lives, or if, like most of us, they waxed and waned in sticking to their exercise regimen over their lifetimes.
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We dont know much about long-term participation in exercise, he says. How does keeping an active lifestyle, or going down and up again, or remaining at low levels of activity impact health risks?
In a study published in JAMA Network Open, they asked more than 315,000 U.S. adults between ages 50 and 71 about their leisure-time activity at four different points in their lives: when they were 15-18 years, 19-29 years, 35-39 years and 40-61 years.
People who said they exercised anywhere from two to eight hours a week at each time period had a 29% to 36% lower risk of dying from any cause during the studys 20-year period, compared to people who rarely or never exercised. They also lowered their risk of dying from heart disease by up to 42% and cancer by up to 14% compared to inactive people. The more people exercised, the greater their risk reductions.
Given the many health benefits of exercise, thats not shocking. But Saint-Maurice was surprised when he looked at people who were not active when they were younger, but who increased their exercise levels after their 40s beyond levels they had when they were younger. They also showed declines in their risk of dying early that were similar to those of people who exercised consistently throughout their lives a drop of 32% to 35% compared to people who didnt exercise. Drops in heart disease and cancer risk were similar to the steady exercisers, too. For these people as well, those who increased their exercise levels the most saw the greatest benefits.
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So why bother exercising consistently throughout your lifetime? There are other benefits, both mental and physical, to staying consistently active plus, experts say, if you make a habit of exercising when youre young, youre more likely to keep up those patterns later in life. The more important message, says Saint-Maurice, is that the results suggest it may not matter as much when you start a exercise regimen. Even if its later, youll still benefit.
Its good to maintain an active lifestyle at all times regardless of your age, says Saint-Maurice. But one good thing is that if you have not been active, you can still benefit if you start becoming active in your 40s and 50s, based on our results.
Its worth noting that the people were reporting on their exercise habits from decades ago, so there might have been recall errors. And the survey did not ask which types of exercise people were doing. Most of the people who were exercising were getting the government-recommended 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per week. Research shows that physical activity doesnt have to occur in big chunks; even small amounts can add up.
Other studies have hinted at why exercise may be so effective at lowering the risk of early death. Regular physical activity can reduce obesity, as well as Type 2 diabetes, which are both risk factors for heart disease and can contribute to premature aging and death.
Its a great message, says Saint-Maurice, to know that its not too late if you havent been on the right exercise trajectory.
Mansion has announced that it is about to close access to the UK-based customers of its online websites, starting from September fifteenth.The company has send out e-mails to its customers stating the reasons are the changes in the UKs online gaming regulations.
Effective from October the first, a new licensing system will take place in the UK. It is operated by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, which requires from every UK operating online gambling business to prepare an application if it wants to continue to have a license. The application would afterwards require companies to pay a fifteen percent tax to all of its UK generated revenues.
The new regime will be effective from the first of December this year. The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association stands against the new UK gambling laws.If it succeeds, Mansion will be able to continue its business paying less taxes as before.
Mansion is an online gambling company located and licensed in Gibraltar. It was established in 2003 and has acquired a variety of online gaming websites throughout the years. Some of Mansions current websites are Casino.com, Slotsheaven.com, Mansioncasino.com and Mansionpoker.com.
Mansion has been accredited as a socially responsible gambling operator, which identifies and fights against the negative effects of gambling. It is certified by the internationally renowned TST lab, as well as the GamCare Responsible Gaming Organization. It is known for its successful team up with Fox Sports Network to win an Emmy award with the series Poker Dome Challenge. The series consisted of players who are selected from the website MansionPoker.net and were flown to Las Vegas to compete in speed poker games for a prize pool of one million dollars.
Another company that is fighting with the new gambling regulations is Titanbet, Playtech-operated online betting operator. Titanbet announced changing its website name from Titanbet.com to Titanbet.co.uk with licensing under the legislation of Antigua.
The new website will be managed by Playtechs subsidiary PT Entertainment Services. The member database of the old website will be transferred by the eighth of September, a week before the deadline. Titanbet will in this way keep its connection with UKs punters until a new license is acquired. Titanbets UK spokesman explained that the licensing is transferred to a white listed jurisdiction, such as Antigua, so that the UKGC can have enough time to go through the re-application process of Titanbet.
Titanbet offers over seven thousand daily bets in thirty sports categories, starting from football, basketball and tennis. It offers high odds for basketball and tennis, and low odds for football. There is a variety of leagues where you can place different types of bets. On their platform you can also find long-term seasonal bets and bets on entertainment. It offers refunds, bonus winnings, free bets and other features. It accepts deposits through Neteler, Skrill, Bank wires, Credit cards etc.
What Is Economic Depreciation?x lotto results
Economic depreciation is a measure of the decrease in the market value of an asset over time from influential economic factors. This form of depreciation usually pertains to real estate, which can lose value for several reasons such as the addition of unfavorable construction in close proximity to a property, road closures, a decline in the quality of a neighborhood, or other negative influences.
Economic depreciation is different than accounting depreciation. In accounting depreciation, an asset is expensed over a specific amount of time, based on a set schedule.
How Economic Depreciation Works
Depreciation in economics is a measure of the amount of value an asset loses from influential factors affecting its market value. Asset owners may more closely consider economic depreciation over accounting depreciation if they seek to sell an asset at its market value.
Economic depreciation affects the selling value of an asset in the market. It may be followed and tracked by asset owners. In business accounting, economic depreciation is not typically notated on financial statement reporting for large capital assets since accountants usually use book value as the primary reporting method.
There can be several scenarios where economic depreciation is considered in financial analysis. Real estate is one of the most common examples but analysts may also consider it in other situations as well. Economic depreciation can also be a factor in forecasts of future revenues for goods and services.
Key Takeaways
Economic depreciation is a measure of the decrease in the market value of an asset over time from influential economic factors.
Economic depreciation can be analyzed in various scenarios.
Economic depreciation can be important for asset owners seeking to sell an asset in the open market.
Economic depreciation differs from accounting depreciation which decreases value through a set schedule for a specified period of time.
Economic Depreciation vs. Accounting Depreciation
Calculating economic depreciation is not always as simple as in accounting depreciation. In accounting depreciation, a tangible assets value decreases over time based on a set depreciation schedule. With economic depreciation an assets decreases in value are not necessarily uniform or scheduled but rather based on influential economic factors.
Economic depreciation can often occur with real estate. In periods of economic downturn or a general housing market decline, economic depreciation may lead to a decrease in market value. The housing market environment can play a part in real estate valuations but individual valuations may also be affected by unfavorable neighborhood construction, road closures, a decline in the quality of a neighborhood, or other negative influences. Any type of negative economic factors can lead to economic depreciation and therefore a lower appraisal value. The difference in value from one appraisal to the next can show a propertys economic depreciation.
Appraisals can be key to understanding economic depreciation. Appraisals can occur on all types of assets and are often the biggest determinant of economic depreciation.
Financial analysts may also consider economic depreciation when forecasting future projections and cash flows. Economic depreciation in these scenarios would be based on the decreases in the value of revenues expected from goods or services due to negative economic influences.
Accounting Depreciation
When people talk about depreciation, it is often in reference to accounting depreciation. Accounting depreciation is the process of allocating the cost of an asset over the course of its useful life so as to align its expenses with revenue generation. Businesses also create accounting depreciation schedules with tax benefits in mind since depreciation on assets is deductible as a business expense in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) rules.
Most businesses depreciate an asset to $0 in book value because they believe the assets value and expenses have been fully matched with the revenue it generates over its expected useful life. Companies may choose to hold some book value of a depreciated asset after it has been fully depreciated.
The book value of an asset and the market value of an asset are usually very different. The economic value or market value of an asset may not be reported on financial statements but it is the value a company could potentially get if they chose to make an asset sale.
Depreciation vs. Appreciation
In general, both economic depreciation and economic appreciation can affect the market value of an asset. In some instances, one appraisal to another may show an increase in value. This would be the result of negative depreciation or positive appreciation.
During the credit crisis and housing market collapse of 2008, the combination of subprime loans requiring low or no down payments with the dramatic drop in housing values resulted in a significant amount of U.S. homeowners owing more money on their home than it was actually worth due to economic depreciation.
60%
During the housing crisis of 2008, homeowners in the hardest-hit areas, such as Las Vegas, saw the value of their homes depreciate by as much as 60%.
Hypothetically, economic influences can also lead to increases in value or economic appreciation. Following the height of the 2008 financial crisis, regulators and the central bank took steps to improve economic conditions for the housing market that resulted in a housing market rebound and significant economic appreciation in real estate values from one appraisal to the next.
Valuing Assets
All types of assets are subject to the risks of economic depreciation and economic appreciation. Companies and investors may need to analyze and follow these effects differently. A company may not always be concerned with how economic depreciation is affecting the market value of its tangible assets. However, companies and investors will be concerned with how market influences are affecting highly liquid assets like stocks, bonds, and money market accounts.
Companies will follow more closely the depreciation and appreciation of assets that it marks to market on its books regularly since that has a greater impact on its overall performance. Investors certainly follow the economic depreciation and appreciation of assets in their portfolio regularly since it can have a big effect on their net worth from one day to the next.
For asset owners, liquidity can also be a factor in analyzing economic depreciation and appreciation. Real estate assets may see a larger increase or decrease in value from year to year due to economic effects. Investors may view the economic depreciation or appreciation of their more liquid assets differently since economic factors can influence values from one day to the next.
They just reflect the range of breeds that were used to create the Heck cattle in the first instance.
Humans spent a long time domesticating cattle, and what they were trying to do, in essence, was de-domesticate them.
Cases of cattle brucellosis were reported across the country in dairy cattle and an increasing number of range herds.
Tearing apart those carbon-absorbing ecosystems gives the practice a footprint higher than dairy cattle, pigs, or chicken.
A few weeks after returning from England, I was trolling the dairy section and came across the Cotswold Double Gloucester. Biking With the Bard|Kara Cutruzzula|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like Lent, the season of Advent was a period of reflection and fasting, and items such as dairy and sugar were forbidden. One Cake to Rule Them All: How Stollen Stole Our Hearts|Molly Hannon|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Mixing meat and dairy is a kosher rule-breaker, so they switched the cheese for potatoes. I Ate Potato Pancakes Til I Plotzed|Emily Shire|December 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Everywhere cattle were being sold for a trifle, as there was no grass upon which they could feed. The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
"I told them there was not an Indian in this village would steal cattle," said Ramona, indignantly. Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
At length he thought of Cattle as a figure word to enable him to remember the number. Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
And probably you would continue to let sections of it to men that wanted to raise cattle or horses on a small scale. Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
What Is the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)?planet 7 oz casino no deposit bonus codes 2022
The term Institute for Supply Management (ISM) refers to a nonprofit supply management association. Established in 1915, it is the largest organization of its kind. It provides certification, development, education, and research for individuals and corporations in the supply management and purchasing professions. The goal of the ISM is to help advance supply management "to drive value and competitive advantage." The organization publishes the ISM Manufacturing Report on Business.
Key Takeaways
The Institute for Supply Management is a nonprofit supply management association.
The organization was established in 1915 as the National Association of Purchasing Agents before changing its name in 2002.
It provides certification, development, education, and research for the supply management and purchasing industries.
ISM members can earn the Certified Professional in Supply Management or the Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity.
The ISM publishes three Purchase Managers' Indexes as part of its ISM Manufacturing Report on Business, which is considered a leading economic indicator.
Understanding the Institute for Supply Management (ISM)
The Institute for Supply Management was founded in 1915 as the National Association of Purchasing Agents. The organization operated as such until 2002 when it officially changed its name to the ISM. As noted above, it is the largest organization that serves members of the supply management and the purchasing industries.
As of 2021, the organization had more than 50,000 members across 100 countries. The association offers services to industry professionals and corporations. The ISM's leadership is comprised of individuals who work in supply management.
The ISM provides professionals with certifications, career help, training, and peer networking. Members can earn two, highly sought-after designations from the institute and become a Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) and a Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD):
The CPSM represents the highest degree of professional competencies and is built on an in-depth analysis of supply management functions across industries.
The CPSD is designed to create experts that can help guide their companies through supplier diversity issues, harness underutilized, innovative suppliers, and tap into new markets.
Individuals must recertify through continuing education, work experience, volunteering, or exams.
The organization releases its Report on Business, which includes the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and the Services (or non-manufacturing) PMI. These two indexes are published monthly by the ISM Manufacturing and Services business survey committees. They and are considered to be among the most reliable economic indicators. The committees also release a monthly Hospital PMI.
Professionals with a CPSM designation can earn as much as 10% more than their industry peers.
Special Considerations
Supply management is often considered to be the way in which businesses purchase and use the raw materials they need to produce their finished goods. While this is just one part of the definition, there's actually more to it than that.
Supply management is a complex process that requires personnel to tackle the following:
Identifying, sourcing, negotiating, and procuring a service or good that is essential to the ongoing operations of their companies according to the wishes of the organization's leaders and supervisors.
Formulating a strategy for developing and maintaining relationships with suppliers (and then executing on it), as well as holding suppliers accountable.
Utilizing technology and procedures that facilitate the procurement process.
Considering the theories of supply and demand and what influence they have on supply.
Personnel who work in supply management and purchasing must also be adept at coordinating the logistics involved with preproduction, inventory management, budgeting, workforce management, and ensuring that the business runs smoothly.
Winning excellent cards is install jackpot party casinoone thing, but laying down your poker hands is also a good strategy. To keep you informed, when a poker player uses the term "lay down," they are referring to folding a hand.
It is essential to understand when and how to fold in poker. You can do this by ensuring you know what to do if the odds are not in your favor. Furthermore, other factors will contribute to why you have to fold your hands.
The hand is over when you fold in poker and are out of the game. When you withdraw, you can no longer claim the pot and are not obligated to raise your bid for that hand.
What to Consider When Folding in Poker
Poor Starting Hands
Players should always fold some starting hands, some should never be folded, and many should only be folded occasionally. Straightforward advice on which hands to play and which ones shouldn't be played is one thing that is challenging to discuss. But, for beginners, here are cards you should fold, or you can play them as long as you know what you are doing.
Never raise these hands:
Two except for a pair of two's and ace-two suited.
Three-card hand, excluding a pair of threes and an ace with a three-card suited
Four-card hand, excluding a pair of fours and an ace with a four-card suited
Five-card hand, excluding a pair of fives and an ace with a five-card suited
Six-card hand, excluding a pair of sixes and an ace with the same suit as six
Seven-card hand, excluding a pair, an ace-seven suited, and a seven-eight suited
Eight-card hand, except a pair of eights, an ace eight, a seven-eight, an eight-nine, and an eight-ten are all suited.
There is a list of poker hands to play and those that you should fold. Long-term gains come from folding.
Even a lot of the hands you can play should typically be folded. Low pocket pairs and aces with suited cards below face cards can be trap hands that cost you a lot of money. Low-pocket pairs can be risky in numerous scenarios. In many circumstances, the suited connections with a seven, eight, or nine are also poor.
Photo by adamci from FreeImages
Due to Bad Odds
You should call a draw only when the pot odds or implied odds are in your favor; otherwise, don't bother. When selecting whether to draw a card or not, you shouldn't overestimate your chances.
Not just when you're drawing hands, you can fold when you don't have the poker odds to call. Because you can't put your opponent on a single hand either, it's difficult to determine whether you're always on top or behind in a circumstance.
There are instances when you will be behind the other probable holdings and ahead of your opponent's most likely holdings. You can choose whether to call or fold by estimating your chances and comparing them to your pot odds.
Many low-stakes players aren't interested in attempting to bluff the river. In that scenario, a fold would also be prominent.
Anticipated Response
It also impacts the starting hand chosen before the flop. Since there are still a lot of players who can act behind you and raise the pot, it is best to avoid drawing hands from an early position.
This idea holds after the flop. You'll find yourself facing a bet with a relatively weak poker card and one or more opponents still left to act. Remember that you can still be behind one of the other players even though you believe you are ahead of the guy who bets out. Based on this, you should be able to decide whether to fold your mediocre hand.
Additionally, you have to consider the likelihood that a player will keep placing bets on subsequent streets. Is it worthwhile to call another bet after inspecting the flop and calling on the turn? If not, folding on the flop might have been a wiser decision whether you are playing WSOP online or live.
Photo by amab7 from FreeImages
Your Position
Whether or not to fold depends on where you are seated at the table. If you are in the early position or even the blinds, you should fold all other cards unless you have a strong hand, such as pocket aces, kings, queens, an ace-king suited, or, most importantly, an ace-queen suited.
You may continue when you have powerful pocket pairs or even suited high card poker hands when playing in the middle position. But most of the time, folding is still preferable.
In some circumstances, other hands not mentioned above that are in the late position might also be worthwhile. You should fold and play it cautiously if you have a low pair or lower-suited hand and there are already players in the pot who have raised. Although some players decide to take a chance, most would still fold at the flop round.
Conclusion
Folding is an essential skill a player must learn to help them save more chips than lose them. It takes practice for one to know when to fold or when to keep playing. You can enhance your skills by playing at GGPoker, the world's largest poker room. You can play with different opponents and learn how to fold or keep betting when necessary. Sign up at GGPoker today!
Category: Casino Blog
Word Origin for dash C16: perhaps from Fanti
Cultural definitions for dash
dash
A punctuation mark () used to indicate a sudden break in thought, to set off parenthetical material, or to take the place of such expressions as that is and namely: He's running for reelection if he lives until then; Very few people in this class three, to be exact have completed their projects; She joined the chorus for only one reason she loves to sing. In the last example, where the parenthetical material comes at the end of the sentence rather than in the middle, a colon could be used instead of the dash.
a sudden quick movement; darta small admixturecoffee with a dash of creama violent stroke or blowthe sound of splashing or smashingthe dash of the wavespanache; stylehe rides with dashcut a dash See cut (def. 33)the punctuation mark ,used singly in place of a colon, esp to indicate a sudden change of subject or grammatical anacoluthon, or in pairs to enclose a parenthetical remarkthe symbol () used, in combination with the symbol dot (), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codesCompare dahathletics another word (esp US and Canadian) for sprintinformal short for dashboardCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
What Is Economic Collapse?sloto stars
An economic collapse is a breakdown of a national, regional, or territorial economy that typically follows a time of crisis. An economic collapse occurs at the onset of a severe version of an economic contraction, depression, or recession and can last any number of years depending on the severity of the circumstances. An economic collapse can happen rapidly due to an unexpected event, or it may be preceded by several events or signs pointing to fragility in the economy.
Key Takeaways
Economic collapse is not part of the regular economic cycle of expansion and contraction.
An economic collapse is most clearly identified by a widespread breakdown in normal market mechanisms and commerce.
The Great Depression of the 1930s is considered one of the worst economic collapses in history due to its global impact, while the extent of the fallout from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic remains to be seen.
Understanding Economic Collapse
An economic collapse is an extraordinary event that is not necessarily a part of the standard economic cycle. It can occur at any point in the cycle, leading to contraction and recessionary phases. Economic theory outlines several phases that an economy can go through. A full economic cycle includes movement from trough to expansion, followed by a peak, and then a contraction leading back towards the trough. Although an economic collapse should be more likely in an economy that is already contracting, black swan events or trends in the global economy can override any point in the cycle to set off an economic collapse.
Unlike contractions and recessions, there is no agreed-upon guideline for an economic collapse. Instead, the term economic collapse is a label that may be applied by economists and government officialsand it may be applied months or years after the actual event. Governments also tend to speak in terms of economic collapse when crafting large-scale stimulus during market panics. The threat of economic collapse is raised in order to make the case for intervention in the economy.
Responding to Economic Collapse
Although economies can and still do experience economic collapse, there is a strong incentive for national governments to attempt to stave off or lessen the severity of an economic collapse through fiscal and monetary policy. An economic collapse is often combated with several waves of interventions and fiscal measures. For example, banks may close to curb withdrawals, new capital controls may be enforced, billions could be pumped into the economy through the banking system, and entire currencies may be revalued or even replaced. Despite government efforts, some economic collapses result in a complete overthrow of the government both responsible for and responding to the collapse.
Following an economic collapse, there are almost always a number of legislative changes aimed at avoiding a similar situation in the future. These changes are usually informed by a post-collapse analysis aimed at identifying the key factors leading to the collapse and integrating controls in new legislation to mitigate those risks in the future. Over time, the appetite for these financial controls can weaken, leading to the regulation of risky market behavior being relaxed as the memory of the economic collapse fades.
Examples in History
There are many examples of national-level economic collapse throughout history. Each economic collapse typically has its own special circumstances and factors, although some share triggers as with the Great Depression. Oftentimes these factors are mixed with many of the macroeconomic factors that occur in contractions and recessions such as hyperinflation, stagflation, stock market crashes, extended bear markets, and unbalanced interest and inflation rates. Of course, economic collapses can also occur from extraordinary factors like disastrous government policies, a depressed global market, or the old standbys of war, famine, plague, and death.
In the United States, the 1930s Great Depression remains the prime example of an economic collapse, ranking as both the greatest in terms of damage as well as the longest from which to recover. The 1929 stock market crash was a key catalyst for the collapse, but the problems were compounded by policy responses and systematic weaknesses. The multi-year economic collapse of the U.S. economy was followed was sweeping regulatory reforms affecting the investment and banking industries, including the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Many economists have blamed the economic collapse that began in the 1920s on a lack of government involvement in the economy and financial markets.
It took 25 years to fully recover from the Great Depression. In addition, unemployment during the Depression surpassed 24%.
The 2008 financial crisis is not considered an economic collapse in terms of the American economy, but a collapse was believed to be imminent at the time. The freezing of the credit market may well have resulted in a more severe situation if not for the liquidity provided by the Federal Reserve.
The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers was the tipping point for the 2008 financial crisis, but it wasn't the only one. Overall, the factors involved in the 2008 crisis included extremely loose lending and trading policies for institutions. This lack of rigor led to large losses from defaults that were transmitted and amplified by the derivatives market. Similar to the 1920s collapse, the 2008 financial crisis also resulted in legislative reform, primarily in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
The 20072009 Great Recession lasted less than two years and the U.S. experienced six quarters of negative GDP growth with a 5.3% reduction in GDP growth from 2006 to 2009. The 20072009 Recession also resulted in unemployment reaching a high level of 9.6% in 2010.
There are also many international economic collapses that have occurred throughout history. The Soviet Union, Latin America, Greece, and Argentina have all made headlines in this regard. In the cases of Greece and Argentina, both economic collapses were brought about by severe issues with sovereign debt. In both Greece and Argentina, sovereign debt collapses led to consumer riots, a drop in the currency, international bailout support, and an overhaul of the government.
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which spread across the globestarting in China, then Europe, then the Americasis another example of an external shock leading to a global economic downturn.
PokerStars has once again been slapped with a fine from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) after a technical glitch on its platform enabled a self-excluded customer to gamble more than $500,000 with the online gambling operator.
According to a Notice of Violation sent by the DGE to PokerStars parent organization, The Stars Group, in late January, the regulator has imposed a $1,000 civil penalty on the business for failing to prevent two self-excluded gamblers from accessing its New Jersey site.
Only one of the two customers actually gambled. The incident happened back in 2019.
The gambler who staked money with the operator requested a six-month cool-down period in September 2018. In February 2019, he requested to be self-excluded entirelyfrom the online poker and casino site.
In July of that year, he reached out to customer support and asked to be granted access to his account. The PokerStars team reactivated the players account because the originally requested six-month cool-down period had expired. A technical glitch on the platform had failed to place a self-ban flag on the account, which made it possible for him to play again.
When he had his account reactivated, he gambled for ten months between July 2019 and April 2020. Over that period, the player made $11,450 worth of deposits and cashed out $112.97. He placed nearly $550,000 in online casino betsand more than $91,000 in online poker stakes during that time.
PokerStars and its parent organization generated a little over $16,000 in profit from that player, according to the DGE Notice of Violation.
Operator Ordered to Disgorge Profit
As mentioned above, the online gambling operator was ordered to pay a fine of $1,000 for its failure to prevent self-excluded customers from reactivating their accounts. The New Jersey regulator also told PokerStars to disgorge its $16,000-plus profit.
PokerStars parent, which is now part of Irish gambling giant Flutter Entertainment, informed the DGE about the incident in May 2020. It had frozen the players account by that time.
The operator explained that it detected the technical issue during an audit of its player database. It uncovered that the player in question opted to self-exclude on the day the site was upgrading its software. After a failed upgrade attempt, the player was not flagged properly as one that has chosen to self-exclude from gambling on the site.
PokerStars told the DGE that after the failed attempt, it rolled back its build release and reverted to the standby database, which resulted in some transactions being canceled. Subsequently, these did not copy to the standby database.
This is not the first time the operator has been fined by the local regulator. In 2017, it was imposed a $25,000 fine for failing to prevent out-of-state playersfrom gambling on its New Jersey site. In 2019, The Stars Group was fined $10,000 for taking bets on prohibited sporting events.
Source:The Stars Group Fined $1k in NJ After Self-Excluded Gambler Wagered More than $500k, NJ Online Gambling, March 1, 2021
What Is Owner Financing?play to earn games nft
Owner financing is a transaction in which a property's seller finances the purchase directly with the person or entity buying it, either in whole or in part.
This type of arrangement can be advantageous for both sellers and buyers because it eliminates the costs of a bank intermediary. Owner financing can create much greater risk and responsibilities for the owner, however.
Key Takeaways
Owner financing is sometimes referred to as creative financing or seller financing.
Typically, this type of financing is disclosed in the advertising of a property when owner financing is an option.
Owner financing requires that the seller take on the default risk of the buyer, but owners are often more willing to negotiate than traditional lenders.
Owner financing can provide extra income to the seller in the form of interest.
Sometimes, owner financing is known to help a property sell more quickly in a buyer's market.
Click Play to Learn the Pros and Cons of Owner Financing
Understanding Owner Financing
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A buyer might be very interested in purchasing a property, but the seller won't budge from a $350,000 asking price. The buyer is willing to pay that amount and can put 20% down$70,000 that they gained from the sale of their prior home. They would have to finance $280,000, but they can only get approved for a traditional mortgage in the amount of $250,000.
The seller might agree to loan them the $30,000 to make up the difference, or they might agree to finance the entire $280,000. In either case, the buyer would pay the seller monthly, principal plus interest on the loan. These loans are somewhat common when the buyer and seller are family or friends or are associated in some other way outside the deal.
Owner financing is for just a short period of time in many cases until the buyer is able to refinance to pay the owner in full.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Owner Financing
Owner financing is most common in a buyers market. An owner can usually find a buyer more quickly and speed up the transaction by offering financing, but it requires that the seller take on the risk of default by the buyer.
The seller might require a larger down payment than a mortgage lender would compensate for the risk. Down payments can range from 3% to 20% with traditional mortgage lenders, depending on the type of loan. Down payments can be 20% or more in owner-financed transactions.
On the upside, these transactions can offer the seller monthly cash flow that provide a better return than fixed-income investments.
Buyers typically have the greatest advantage in an owner-financed transaction. The overall terms of financing are usually much more negotiable, and a buyer saves on bank-assessed points and closing costs when they make payments directly to the seller.
Requirements for Owner Financing
An owner-financing deal should be facilitated through a promissory note. The promissory note outlines the terms of the arrangement, including but not limited to the interest rate, repayment schedule, and the consequences of default. The owner also typically keeps the property title until all the payments have been made to protect himself against default.
Some do-it-yourself transactions can be fully managed by the owner, but assistance from an attorney is generally advisable to ensure all of the bases are covered. Paying for a title search can be beneficial as well to establish that the owner/seller is, in fact, in a position to sell the property and that they can eventually release the title in exchange for financing some portion or all of the deal.
free picks mlb todayshows grade level based on the word's complexity. dairyland [ dair-ee-land ]/ dr ilnd / New Word List Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.[ dair-ee-land ]/ dr ilnd /Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
nounan area or region specializing in dairy production, as Wisconsin and Minnesota in the U.S.land suitable for growing forage crops for dairy cattle.
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QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question dairylanddairy + -landdairy cattle, dairyer, dairy factory, dairy farm, dairying, dairyland, dairymaid, dairyman, dairywoman, dais, daishikiDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
The Zonbo Media Company recently revealed that film heavyweights Zhang Ziyi (who comes from the mainland), Cecilia Cheung (from Hong Kong) and South Korean actor Jang Dong-gun will join Jin-ho Hurs new war-romance blockbuster Dangerous Liaisons.
Zhang Ziyi, the female lead actress in the film, broke the remuneration record for Chinese female film stars, taking home a 20 million yuan paycheck, according to a report from the entertainment website Mtime.com.
Adapted from the well-known French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, the film was rewritten by Yan Geling, the scriptwriter of Zhang Yimouzis imminent Flowers of the War.
Set in 1930s Shanghai, the story revolves around the three-way relationship between Mo Jieyu (Cecilia Cheung), Xie Yifan (Dong-gun Jang) and Du Yufen (Zhang Ziyi).
Reportedly, the shooting will start in October this year.
By Liu Shuai
Three Megastars to Star in Dangerous Liaisonsadded by chinatimesonline on
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Online gaming supplier iSoftBet is set to help lottery business Jinni Lotto into the lucrative online casino market
Supplier of online casino games and related software for the industry iSoftBet has announced that its hefty list of clients has a new exciting addition.
The provider has penned an agreement to supply its products to online lottery operation Jinni Lotto, which has recently unveiled its online casino expansion effort. The partnership will see Jinni Lotto grant its customers access to the gaming content featured on iSoftBets Game Aggregation Platform (GAP).
The platform includes online casino games by major studios, with Evolution Gaming, Pragmatic Play, and Red Rake Gamingbeing just few of those.
Jinni Lotto will also gain access to iSoftBets full portfolio of marketing tools, including the brand-new real-time gamification innovation In-Game.
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With years of experience in the industry, iSoftBet has cemented a reputation for the creation and distribution of innovative content. All of its in-house developed gaming titles are built with the latest technology and are available via desktop and mobile devices.
The company is licenced in the UK and Alderney and is also authorized to supply its content in Spain, Italy, Belgium, and Portugal, among others.
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As mentioned earlier, iSoftBet has been selected by Jinni Lotto to assist and facilitate its first foray into the world of online casino gaming. The lottery operator has recently been granted a license by Isle of Man authoritiesto hop into the lucrative market.
Commenting on adding a new client, iSoftBet Chief Commercial Officer Michael Probert said that Jinni Lotto has an excellent proprietary platform [and]
operates in a number of exciting markets. The official further praised their new partner for sharing the same values of providing customers with the best possible experience with a firm focus on mobile.
Jinni Lotto founder Liroy Tisona added that their ecstatic to have iSoftBet as a partner in their innovative approach toward conducting online casino activities.The operations founding father also stressed on the fact that their strategy for further growth in the competitive gambling industry involves customer-centric day-to-day management of operations.
The integration of content has recently been completed, it also became known.
Chinas top political advisor Jia Qinglin Saturday vowed to further efforts in stimulating a steady and robust development of the countrys economy and promoting social stability.
Jia made the pledge in a report delivered at the opening meeting of the Fifth Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body, which opened in Beijing Saturday.
Jia, chairman of the CPPCC National Committee, said the tasks of the CPPCC are heavy in 2012 as it is an important year for carrying forward the implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015). Besides, the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has immense and far-reaching significance, will also be held this year.
Jia promised the CPPCC will play its role well in coordinating relations, pooling strengths, providing proposals and advice to policymakers.
He said the CPPCC will fully understand the historical necessity of the birth and development of the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the CPC and the unique features and advantages of the socialist political system with Chinese characteristics, adhere to the leadership of the CPC more conscientiously, and follow the socialist path with Chinese characteristics more resolutely.
Jia said the CPPCC will make giving impetus to scientific development the top priority when carrying out its duties, vigorously develop the real economy and maintain steady and robust economic development.
The CPPCC will coordinate democratic parties, industrial federations and related organizations in making proposals and suggestions on major economic issues such as expanding domestic consumer demand and maintaining price stability, he said.
Jia called promoting social harmony and stability a bounden duty of the CPPCC. He said a consultative meeting on how to strengthen and make innovations in social administration will be held this year.
The CPPCC will also carry out investigations, studies, deliberation and democratic oversight on major issues in social development, including strengthening the development of institutions and mechanisms for social administration, improving supervision of non-public economic organizations and social organizations, deepening reform of the income distribution system, Jia said.
He also pledged to give impetus to cultural reform and development by taking advantage of the CPPCCs rich pool of people with outstanding cultural talent as well as its substantial quantity of cultural resources.
Jia promised to deepen development of pragmatic exchanges with Taiwan, and get the people of Taiwan, especially young people, to identify more closely with the Chinese nation and culture.
He vowed to make greater use of the CPPCCs special advantages in developing friendly external relations in line with Chinas overall arrangements for its diplomatic work in order to create a favorable external environment and conditions for the smooth implementation of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
We will actively exchange high-level visits with foreign countries, strengthen and develop traditional friendships, increase mutual political trust with relevant countries, and strive to win the international communitys understanding of and support for Chinas concept of scientific, harmonious, peaceful, and cooperative development, said Jia.
He also recalled the work over the past year, saying the CPPCC made important contributions to implementing the 12th Five-Year Plan and winning new victories in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
The annual session of CPPCC National Committee this year is scheduled to conclude on March 13. More than 2,000 members of the CPPCC National Committee will discuss major issues concerning the countrys development during the period.
Top CPC and state leaders Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang, and Zhou Yongkang attended the opening meeting.
Founded in 1949, the CPPCC consists of elite figures of the Chinese society who are willing to serve the think tank for the government and for the legislative and judicial organs.
As an open forum where the ruling CPC, non-Communist parties and people without party affiliation discuss state affairs freely and on an equal footing, the CPPCC has been the manifestation of China s socialist democracy.
The meeting was broadcast live on the China National Radio, China Central Television (CCTV) and China Radio International.
Xinhua
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cryptocurrency in usashows grade level based on the word's complexity. dashing [ dash-ing ]/ d / New Word List Save This Word!See dashingFirst recorded in 180005; dash1+ -ing2 OTHER WORDS FROM dashing dashingly, adverb Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.[ dash-ing ]/ d /Save This Word!See dashingFirst recorded in 180005; dash+ -ingdashingly, adverb
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Words related to dashing dashing/ (d) / adjectivespirited; livelya dashing young manstylish; showya dashing hat Derived forms of dashing dashingly, adverb Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
dashed, dasheen, dasher, dashi, dashiki, dashing, Dashing White Sergeant, dash light, dash off, dashpot, dash someone's hopesDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
Representatives of OPEC member countries attend a press conference after the 45th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee and the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting in Vienna, Austria, on October 5, 2022.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its non-OPEC allies' plan to cut oil output was seen as a "slap in the face" for the Biden administration which has struggled to respond with very limited options.Chinese analysts said none of Washington's options, including releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, would achieve its purpose, but more importantly, the OPEC+ cut is symbolic as more nations are not succumbing to US pressure over issues such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict.After expressing disappointment on Thursday, US President Joe Biden said the US was looking at all possible alternatives to keep prices from rising, Reuters reported.Some of Biden's options include releasing more oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or exploring a curb on energy exports by US companies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that the US is reviewing various options regarding its relationship with Saudi Arabia, according to Reuters.The OPEC+ announced its plans to cut oil production by two million barrels a day from November, as CNN said the cut is the largest since the beginning of the pandemic and could "lead to a dramatic spike in oil prices." The White House is "having a spasm and panicking," CNN quoted a US official as saying.He Weiwen, a senior fellow of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China and former economic and commercial counselor at Chinese Consulates General in San Francisco and New York, told the Global Times on Friday that Biden can hardly do anything effective to respond to the gas price spike.The US has already released much of its Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and releasing the rest of it simply will not temper the price, He said.Instead, soaring oil prices will wound Biden, who has been struggling to deal with high domestic inflation and the midterm elections, analysts said.He said the OPEC+ cut plan annoyed Biden not just because of its domestic crisis, but also because US believes OPEC nations are helping Russia to profit from rising oil prices and mitigate sanctions imposed by the West.But analysts said there is very little the US can do about OPEC+ nations or Saudi Arabia, and He said the US may consider more sanctions against Russia.Lu Xiang, an expert on international relations and a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that US does not have the ability to impose stricter sanctions against Russia right now, after it has done almost everything it can with Russia but failed to achieve its purposes, and any further sanctions may result in the two sliding into a "war."The US has teamed up with its allies from G7 to implement a price cap for Russian oil, however, official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the move was a confirmation that the US and the EU are "devoid of market economic principles," and the "hands-on control and the political pressure on all economic operators," TASS reported.Lu said the OPEC+ nations' plan was a symbolic move that they will not yield to US pressure over issues concerning Russia.Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries are now at a stage where they have lost trust in the US, and OPEC countries will do what they want instead of doing what the US wants, Lu said, noting that the Biden administration will face more chaotic, situations after the midterms since most people predict that the Republicans may win control of the House.This incident is another reflection of the widening cracks between OPEC members and the US, which used to be allies, as the world's major oil producers are growing increasingly impatient with the US' self-centered global strategies, analysts said.OPEC's move came just three months after Biden visited Saudi Arabia to seek an oil production increase, and OPEC+ agreed a few weeks later to a modest 100,000-barrel increase in production, CNN reported.Politicians from the US will only get a polite reception when they visit this region in the future, but US politicians' tricks will no longer work, Lu said.
What Is Equilibrium?online slots for
Equilibrium is the state in which market supply and demand balance each other, and as a result prices become stable. Generally, an over-supply of goods or services causes prices to go down, which results in higher demandwhile an under-supply or shortage causes prices to go up resulting in less demand.
The balancing effect of supply and demand results in a state of equilibrium.
Key Takeaways
A market is said to have reached equilibrium price when the supply of goods matches demand.
A market in equilibrium demonstrates three characteristics: the behavior of agents is consistent, there are no incentives for agents to change behavior, and a dynamic process governs equilibrium outcomes.
There are several types of equilibrium used in economics.
Disequilibrium is the opposite of equilibrium and it is characterized by changes in conditions that affect market equilibrium.
In reality, markets are never in perfect equilibrium, although prices do tend toward it.
What Is Equilibrium?
Understanding Equilibrium
1:09
The equilibrium price is where the supply of goods matches demand. When a major index experiences a period of consolidation or sideways momentum, it can be said that the forces of supply and demand are relatively equal and the market is in a state of equilibrium.
Economists find that prices tend to fluctuate around the equilibrium levels. If the price rises too high, market forces will incentivize sellers to come in and produce more. If the price is too low, additional buyers will bid up the price. These activities keep the equilibrium level in relative balance over time.
Special Considerations
Economists like Adam Smith believed that a free market would trend towards equilibrium. For example, a dearth of any one good would create a higher price generally, which would reduce demand, leading to an increase in supply provided the right incentive. The same would occur in reverse order provided there was excess in any one market.
Modern economists point out that cartels or monopolistic companies can artificially hold prices higher and keep them there in order to reap higher profits. The diamond industry is a classic example of a market where demand is high, but supply is made artificially scarce by companies selling fewer diamonds in order to keep prices high.
As noted by Paul Samuelson in his 1983 work Foundations of Economic Analysis, the term equilibrium with respect to a market is not necessarily a good thing from a normative perspective, and making that value judgment could be a misstep.
Markets can be in equilibrium, but it may not mean that all is well. For example, the food markets in Ireland were at equilibrium during the great potato famine in the mid-1800s. Higher profits from selling to the British made it so the Irish and British market was at an equilibrium price that was higher than what consumers could pay, and consequently many people starved.
Equilibrium vs. Disequilibrium
When markets aren't in a state of equilibrium, they are said to be in disequilibrium. Disequilibrium can happen in a flash in a more stable market or can be a systematic characteristic of certain markets.
At times disequilibrium can spill over from one market to anotherfor instance, if there arent enough transport companies or resources available to ship coffee internationally then the coffee supply for certain regions could be reduced, affecting the equilibrium of coffee markets. Economists view many labor markets as being in disequilibrium due to how legislation and public policy protect people and their jobs, or the amount they are compensated for their labor.
Types of Equilibrium
Economic Equilibrium
Economic equilibrium refers broadly to any state in the economy where forces are balanced. This can be related to prices in a market where supply is equal to demand, but can also represent the level of employment, interest rates, and so on.
Competitive Equilbrium
The process by which equilibrium prices are reached is through a process of competition. Among sellers to be the low-cost producer to grab the largest market share, and also among buyers to snatch up the best deals.
General Equilibrium
General equilibrium considers the aggregation of forces occurring at the macro-economic level, and not the micro forces of individual markets. It is a cornerstone of Walrasian economics.
Underemployment Equilibrium
Economists have found that there is a level of persistent unemployment that is observed when there is general equilibrium in an economy. This is known as underemployment equilibrium, and is predicted by Keynesian economic theory.
Lindahl Equilibrium
Lindahl equilibrium is a special case where, in theory, the optimal amount of public goods is produced and the cost of public goods is fairly shared among everyone. It describes an ideal state rarely, if ever, achieved in reality, but is used to help craft tax policy and is an important concept in welfare economics.
Intertemporal Equilibrium
Because prices may swing above or below the equilibrium level due to proximate changes in supply or demand at a given moment, it is best to look at this effect over time, known as intertemporal equilibrium. The concept is also used in understanding how firms and households budget and smooth spending over longer time horizons.
Nash Equilibrium
In game theory, Nash equilibrium is a state of play whereby the optimal strategy involves considering the optimal strategy of the other player or opponent.
The prisoner's dilemma is a common situation in game theory that exemplifies the Nash equilibrium.
Example of Equilibrium
A store manufactures 1,000 spinning tops and retails them at $10 per piece. But no one is willing to buy them at that price. To pump up demand, the store reduces its price to $8. There are 250 buyers at that price point. In response, the store further slashes the retail cost to $5 and garners five hundred buyers in total. Upon further reduction of the price to $2, one thousand buyers of the spinning top materialize. At this price point, supply equals demand. Hence $2 is the equilibrium price for the spinning tops.
What Happens During Market Equilibrium?
When a market is in equilibrium, prices reflect an exact balance between buyers (demand) and sellers (supply). While elegant in theory, markets are rarely in equilibrium at a given moment. Rather, equilibrium should be thought of as a long-term average level.
How Do You Calculate Equilibrium Price?
In economics, the equilibrium price is calculated by setting the supply function and demand function equal to one another and solving for the price.
What Is Equilibrium Quantity?
The amount supplied that exactly equals demand is the equilibrium quantity. In such a case, there will neither be an oversupply nor a shortage.
The sensational film The Tears () unveiled its first feature posters of lead roles Dongyu Zhou () and Aarif Lee () yesterday. As one of the New Year Movies along with The Flowers of War and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate 3D , The Tears is scheduled to be screened on December 24, 2011, the White Christmas.
Film The Tears tells the moving love story in three sections. Love does not fade away even facing illness, poverty and the times passing by, the film combines the most beautiful images and the most sincere feelings in the time frame of every ten years, restoring the pure emotion of humanity.
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noun, plural dashikis.a loose, usually colorfully patterned, pullover garment originating in Africa and worn chiefly by men.
Words nearby dashiki
British Dictionary definitions for dashiki
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question dashikiFrom Yoruba dansiki, from Hausa dan ciki (with imploded d )dashcam, dashed, dasheen, dasher, dashi, dashiki, dashing, Dashing White Sergeant, dash light, dash off, dashpotDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022C20: of W African originCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
A gas station in the center of Paris is out of service due to fuel shortages on October 10, 2022. A strike at TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil has led to fuel shortages at many service stations in France for ten days. Photo: VCG
New waves of protests against rising living costs amid an escalating energy crisis have hit Europe in recent days, as many people were angry about their governments waging war on their own people by following the US in sanctioning Russia over the Ukraine crisis.Over the weekend, protests filled the streets of Paris, Berlin and Prague with some shouting out "leave NATO" or "Our country first", according to media reports, which analysts said hinted at a deeper crisis that Europe is now facing.In a video shared by Florian Philippot, who leads the French nationalist party "Les Patriotes", hundreds of protesters shouted out "Leave NATO" on Sunday in Paris, waving French national flags and holding large banners reading "Resistance" and "Frexit" - a reference to a demand that France leave the EU, Russian media outlet RT said.The protesters also denounced NATO "warmongering" and economic "disruption" linked to the sanctions that the EU imposed on Russia over the Russia-Ukraine crisis, according to the reports.Similar scenes occurred in countries such as Germany, Czech and Moldova. Supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party gathered in front of Berlin's Reichstag building on Saturday to protest rising prices in the country, German media outlet DW reported. The party's co-leader accused the government of waging war on its own people by sanctioning Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, the media report said.Several thousand people gathered in Prague's Wenceslas Square on Saturday to voice concerns over rising living costs, the Xinhua News Agency said. The country's major trade unions organized the demonstration, calling attention to inflation and declining living standards in the Czech Republic, according to the report.Also, demonstrations against the government in Moldova have been going on for more than a month, Sputnik said on Sunday, as the economic and energy crisis worsens in the country because of energy prices.Currently, Europe is facing rising populism, and the sanctions against Russia have deeply hurt livelihoods, which will further exacerbate populism and become a bigger systemic crisis, Song Luzheng, a Paris-based Chinese scholar, told the Global Times on Monday. "The public demand for livelihoods will be used by far-right parties in local elections, posing a threat to the overall European political system," he said.European countries are preparing to face a severe and tough winter as the energy crisis further escalates amid the worsening Russia-Ukraine crisis and the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines, while the US is trying to use high energy prices to further weaken Europe's economy and force manufacturing industries to escape from the continent, according to observers.Most recently, leaders from major European countries failed to reach a consensus during an informal summit on Friday in Prague on how to cut gas prices, which also cast a shadow over local families and businesses."It's just the beginning," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Monday. The policies of the EU and NATO are not evolving into a direction that could help solve the problem, but Western countries continue fanning the flames on the crisis, leading to a vicious cycle, Sun said.Now it's the energy crisis, and next it's the security crisis, which will continue causing public panic," he said.With European leaders scheduled to meet next week in Brussels to address the energy crisis once again, observers said there is little they can do to stop the crisis even as some countries such as France and Germany have been ramping up efforts to diversify their suppliers, as some purchase energy from the US at much higher prices.Now, European people are suffering, in the future, their manufacturing and industries will suffer, as the impact of the crisis will lower national financial revenues and weaken social benefits, eroding those countries' overall competitiveness, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Monday."The crisis will be a long-term issue. For instance, German manufacturing could have used cheap Russian energy, but the good old days are over now," he said.People in European countries such as Czech, France and Germany already protested in September over rising living costs, as more began to realize that they themselves are swallowing the bitter pill for their governments' "political correctness" strategy in following the US to sanction Russia.While the protests currently reflect social problems, people are more concerned about Europe's security and uncertain future of the Ukraine crisis, which will turn into political problems that deal a blow to European leaders, Sun said. "European political elites should carefully reflect on where they are taking their countries."
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nouna clear fish and kelp broth, used in Japanese cooking.
Words nearby dashi
How to use dashi C20: Japanese
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question dashiFirst recorded in 194550; from Japanese: literally, broth, shortening of dashi-jiru, equivalent to dashi to draw, extract + jiru, shiru broth, juicedashboard, dashcam, dashed, dasheen, dasher, dashi, dashiki, dashing, Dashing White Sergeant, dash light, dash offDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
The photo taken on September 10, 2022 shows a view of BASF Zhanjiang Verbund site in Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province. Photo: VCG
Editor's Note:Decoupling Germany from China would serve only the interests of America and damage Germany's own industry severely, said Dr. Maximilian Krah (Krah), a member of the German Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) in the European Parliament. He said the anti-China forces in Germany represent no interests of Germany and urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to prioritize Germany's economic interests in his upcoming visit to China, in an interview with Global Times reporters Yu Jincui and YanYuzhu about China-Germany relations as well as European energy crisis and the Russia-Ukraine conflicts.GT: German Chancellor Scholz is going to pay a visit to China on November 4 with a delegation of senior business leaders. In an interview with the German media, Scholz said that decoupling from China would be the wrong path. But some radical forces accused Scholz of bending over to China and even intimidated German companies whose executives will visit China with Chancellor Scholz. How do you view this? What's your expectation for Scholz's China visit?Krah: I hope Scholz as German Chancellor could prioritize Germany's economic interests, and further promote the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment to reduce inflation. The deepening of economic, technological and trade cooperation between China and Germany is indispensable for Germany's development. The anti-China forces in Germany do not represent the interests of Germany.China is our largest trading partner, China is a major investor and we do not have any strategic conflicts of interest with China. Decoupling from China would serve only the interests of America and damage our own industry severely. This is not about democracy or human rights, it is about the future conflict between Washington and Beijing - a conflict I would like to remain absent from. We want to build up a multilateral relationship with all countries around the world to serve German state interests.GT: Winter is coming with rising prices and utility costs and Europe is scrambling for solutions to an energy crisis. Do you think energy shortages are or will be triggering a political and social crisis within Europe?Krah: I do not think that, I see that. It is already happening. Look at the election results in the German state of Lower Saxony. In all the industrialized areas, people with working or lower middle class background have voted in large numbers for the AfD - the only party that is openly addressing the energy crisis. I am confident that we will see the same dynamics everywhere in Europe and it will not stop with an energy crisis - we will have a complete deindustrialization crisis following.
Maximilian Krah Photo: Courtesy of Krah
GT: How has the energy crisis influenced Germany, especially the political situation in the country?Krah: Germans realize that energy - both for heating and for electricity - has to come from somewhere. Getting out of nuclear energy, getting rid of coal-powered plants because of climate change and gas turbines and then suddenly, Russian gas is bad too - where will it end? Exactly, nobody will have a reliable source of electricity any more. Renewables are a great thing but we have not been able to come up with a sufficiently effective battery technology to provide a developed society with a constant supply of electric energy, so we need nuclear power. My party has said this for years and the government's shift in this topic has proven us right. This was only possible because people are taking to the streets in the tens of thousands. I think we will have a far more right leaning electorate in the near future than before.GT: Late in August, you mentioned that the EU must urge countries that support banning travel visas for Russians to act rationally, considering the state of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and its consequences. Do you think the current crisis can unite Europe to make the right choices? What is the way out of the energy crisis in Europe?Krah: We condemn Russia for this war officially, and any other acts of war. We insist on solving problems through diplomacy and negotiation. War was not the right answer to the security challenges that the expansion of NATO brought with it for the Kremlin. But now it is time to look forward. Europe needs to unite in the face of the multipolar world and that means being open for constructive dialogue with everyone. The Russian-Ukrainian war has put Europeans at the mercy of the US. This is unbearable. On the other hand, we need to address the security concerns of our Eastern European neighbors.If we manage to produce a European approach to Russia and our security in this theater without American interference, then we will have made the right steps. The same applies to the current energy crisis. We have a crisis precisely because we follow American strategies. Russia is our most reliable and cost-efficient supplier of oil and gas. It would be foolish to plan otherwise. Russia's gas is not our problem; it is our lack of strength and of a cohesive and complete economic, political and military vision for the future.GT: As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, the economic impact is becoming apparent. Do you think there is a change in the public perception of this war? Will the change in public attitudes influence the policies of the EU and the member countries toward Russia and Ukraine?Krah: Yes, war is expensive and wartimes are always times of crisis and change. We will see a change in public perception when people are being confronted with the harsh realities instead of soft words.GT: Do you think more and more Europeans are wakening up to the role Washington plays in Europe's crisis?Krah: Yes, I think many Europeans realize the dangerous situation we are putting ourselves in, if we continue to follow America's leadership.We need to come up with a moral approach. Fighting America's wars is not in our interests and not in the interests of the Ukrainians. Our vision is a vision of peaceful collaboration between various larger players in the world, including Russia, Brazil, China and of course the EU. This vision, I hope, will in the next months become more attractive than a new cold war under the leadership of the US.
When it comes to gambling,france and italy trip it's fair to say that those in Australia are certainly fans. There are numerous land-based casinos to choose from and these are all world-class. They all offer truly spectacular settings as well as an amazing range of games such as slots, blackjack, poker and roulette. For some people, the preference will always be to play online. It's understandable that players prefer the online experience, but thats not to say that land-based casinos have nothing to offer.
Image: Pixabay
Where these land-based settings come up trumps is when they put on events. Youll find that many of these combine the love of music with the popularity of gambling and this can make for a great evening of entertainment. Let's take a look at just a few examples.
Ramble Tamble - The Australian Creedence Show
By heading over to Wrest Point Casino, you can be sure of having a truly amazing night. While Ramble Tamble visit casinos across Australia, its Wrest Point that currently has the pleasure of hosting this world-class four-piece band. If youve yet to come across this band, it is one that gives immaculate performances of Creedence Clearwater songs.
Creedence changes the whole music scene when they rose to prominence in the 60s and 70s. Ramble Table can be found performing some of the very best Creedence hits such as :
Proud Mary
Wholl stop the rain?
Bad Moon Rising
Green River
So, how can you be sure that Ramble Tamble can deliver the goods? Well, this is a band that tours Australian casinos and always brings the house down. The band has also toured with some of the top recording artists in the world. As much as we love playing online pokies for real money wed struggle to recreate this form of entertainment at home.
Chaka Khan
The American singer-songwriter has a career that spans over five decades. Known as the Queen of Funk, Chaka Khan has won an astonishing 10 Grammy Awards and sold around 70 million records around the world. With a career thats still extremely active, and successful, youll now find Khan appearing at a host of Australian casinos.
The fact that an artist as famous as Khan can be found in Australian casinos says a great deal about how seriously they take their events. Its not a case of just putting on any type of entertainment and hoping for the best. Instead, they go for the best knowing that the results will be outstanding.
TiPS for Gaming
Events at Australian casinos arent just about the players. There are also those that are held for those in the industry to help them to offer a better, and safer, experience. The event held by TiPS allows those who run casinos to learn how to deal with guests who may be intoxicated or those who are underage.
The idea is that these events help casinos to promote community relationships. The local community sees the steps being taken and is more likely to be positive about the casinos presence.
Category: Casino Blog
Antimetabole Definition
Antimetabole is nfl bets of the dayderived from a Greek word which means turning about. It is a literary term or device that involves repeating a phrase in reverse order. For example:
You like it; it likes you.
Fair is foul and foul is fair.
Chiasmus and antimetabole are usually expected to be overlapped in usage, and this overlap is also often used as a synonym for epanados (the repeating of a phrase or sentence in reverse order) in modern day books. However, the writer would make them distinct through his use.
Famous Antimetabole Examples
Since the time of Socrates, we see the use of antimetabole. Some of them are:
Eat to live, not live to eat. Socrates
I go where I please, and I please where I go. Attributed to Duke Nukem
In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, Party always finds you! Yakov Smirnoff
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Ask not what your countrycan do for you; ask what youcan do for your country. John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961.
He who questions training only trains himself at asking questions. The Sphinx, Mystery Men (1999)
The great object of [Hamlets] life is defeated by continually resolving to do, yet doing nothing but resolve. Samuel Taylor Coleridge on Shakespeares Hamlet
We do what we like and we like what we do. Andrew W.K., Party Hard
We didnt land on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth Rock landed on us. Malcolm X, Malcolm X
If you cant be with the one you love, love the one youre with. Billy Preston
You stood up for America, now America must stand up for you. Barack Obama, December 14, 2011.
Difference Between Chiasmus and Antimetabole
Antimetabole and chiasmus are very closely related, and some experts even use them interchangeably. However, both the terms still exist to refer to two distinct literary devices. According to scholars, when a sentence is repeated by reversing it, so as to convey an idea or stress a point, it is called chiasmus. Antimetabole is not very much different from chiasmus, only that in an antimetabole the words and grammatical structure is also reversed, because just reversing the meaning is not enough. So in the light of these facts, it can be deduced that all the antimetaboles are chiasmus, but not all instances of chiasmus are antimetaboles.
A chiasmus is a sentence repeated inversely. The only condition of a chiasmic sentence is that the two clauses in the phrase are opposite in meaning. For example, the popular saying by Havelock Ellis: Charm is a womans strength, strength is a mans charm, the sentence is an example of chiasmus, but is not an antimetabole. This is because the two clauses have opposite meanings, but the words and the grammatical makeup are dissimilar.
In an antimetabole the word order in a sentence is reversed to contrast the meanings. One very good example is Mae Wests catchphrase, Its not the men in my life; its the life in my men. As you can see, in this sentence the words, rhythm, and grammatical structure in the second phrase are exactly similar to the first one, but the meaning is opposite. Many experts refer to antimetabole as a subtype of chiasmus.
Functions and Effectiveness of Antimetabole
For antimetabole to be effective, it does not only have to be grammatically correct, but should also be logical. People, after studying literature for a while, start thinking that they can churn out antimetaboles with a snap of a finger. They fail to understand the fact that a sentence cannot be called an antimetabole if it is not based on a logical theme.
Antimetaboles are popular and effective solely because they appeal to reason and are easy to remember. If the first half is relatable, then the reader or listener will automatically make sense of the second half. For example: It is not about the years in your life, but about the life in your years. A sentence like this can be called an antimetabole because it is appealing, correct (logically and grammatically) and has a message to convey to the readers.
What Is Cloud Computing?bonvoy welcome bonus
Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet. These resources include tools and applications like data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.
Rather than keeping files on a proprietary hard drive or local storage device, cloud-based storage makes it possible to save them to a remote database. As long as an electronic device has access to the web, it has access to the data and the software programs to run it.
Cloud computing is a popular option for people and businesses for a number of reasons including cost savings, increased productivity, speed and efficiency, performance, and security.
Key Takeaways
Cloud computing is the delivery of different services through the Internet, including data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.
Cloud storage has grown increasingly popular among individuals who need larger storage space and for businesses seeking an efficient off-site data back-up solution.
Cloud-based storage makes it possible to save files to a remote database and retrieve them on demand.
Services can be both public and privatepublic services are provided online for a fee while private services are hosted on a network to specific clients.
Cloud security has become an increasingly important field in IT.
Understanding Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is named as such because the information being accessed is found remotely in the cloud or a virtual space. Companies that provide cloud services enable users to store files and applications on remote servers and then access all the data via the Internet. This means the user is not required to be in a specific place to gain access to it, allowing the user to work remotely.
Cloud computing takes all the heavy lifting involved in crunching and processing data away from the device you carry around or sit and work at. It also moves all of that work to huge computer clusters far away in cyberspace. The Internet becomes the cloud, and voilayour data, work, and applications are available from any device with which you can connect to the Internet, anywhere in the world.
Cloud computing can be both public and private. Public cloud services provide their services over the Internet for a fee. Private cloud services, on the other hand, only provide services to a certain number of people. These services are a system of networks that supply hosted services. There is also a hybrid option, which combines elements of both the public and private services.
Types of Cloud Services
Regardless of the kind of service, cloud computing services provide users with a series of functions including:
Email
Storage, backup, and data retrieval
Creating and testing apps
Analyzing data
Audio and video streaming
Delivering software on demand
Cloud computing is still a fairly new service but is being used by a number of different organizations from big corporations to small businesses, nonprofits to government agencies, and even individual consumers.
Deployment Models
There are various types of clouds, each of which is different from the other. Public clouds provide their services on servers and storage on the Internet. These are operated by third-party companies, who handle and control all the hardware, software, and the general infrastructure. Clients access services through accounts that can be accessed by just about anyone.
Private clouds are reserved for specific clientele, usually one business or organization. The firm's data service center may host the cloud computing service. Many private cloud computing services are provided on a private network.
Hybrid clouds are, as the name implies, a combination of both public and private services. This type of model allows the user more flexibility and helps optimize the user's infrastructure and security.
Newer forms of cloud computing services include the community cloud, the big data cloud, and the multicloud.
Types of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is not a single piece of technology like a microchip or a cellphone. Rather, it's a system primarily comprised of three services: software-as-a-service (SaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), and platform-as-a-service (PaaS).
Software-as-a-service (SaaS)involves the licensure of a software application to customers. Licenses are typically provided through a pay-as-you-go model or on-demand. This type of system can be found in Microsoft Office's 365. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS)involves a method for delivering everything from operating systems to servers and storage through IP-based connectivity as part of an on-demand service. Clients can avoid the need to purchase software or servers, and instead procure these resources in an outsourced, on-demand service. Popular examples of the IaaS system include IBM Cloud and Microsoft Azure. Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is considered the most complex of the three layers of cloud-based computing. PaaS shares some similarities with SaaS, the primary difference being that instead of delivering software online, it is actually a platform for creating software that is delivered via the Internet. This model includes platforms like Salesforce.com and Heroku.
Advantages of Cloud Computing
Cloud-based software offers companies from all sectors a number of benefits, including the ability to use software from any device either via a native app or a browser. As a result, users can carry their files and settings over to other devices in a completely seamless manner.
Cloud computing is far more than just accessing files on multiple devices. Thanks to cloud computing services, users can check their email on any computer and even store files using services such as Dropbox and Google Drive. Cloud computing services also make it possible for users to back up their music, files, and photos, ensuring those files are immediately available in the event of a hard drive crash.
It also offers big businesses huge cost-saving potential. Before the cloud became a viable alternative, companies were required to purchase, construct, and maintain costly information management technology and infrastructure. Companies can swap costly server centers and IT departments for fast Internet connections, where employees interact with the cloud online to complete their tasks.
The cloud structure allows individuals to save storage space on their desktops or laptops. It also lets users upgrade software more quickly because software companies can offer their products via the web rather than through more traditional, tangible methods involving discs or flash drives. For example, Adobe customers can access applications in its Creative Cloud through an Internet-based subscription. This allows users to download new versions and fixes to their programs easily.
Disadvantages of the Cloud
With all of the speed, efficiencies, and innovations that come with cloud computing, there are, naturally, risks.
Security has always been a big concern with the cloud especially when it comes to sensitive medical records and financial information. While regulations force cloud computing services to shore up their security and compliance measures, it remains an ongoing issue. Encryption protects vital information, but if that encryption key is lost, the data disappears.
Servers maintained by cloud computing companies may fall victim to natural disasters, internal bugs, and power outages, too. The geographical reach of cloud computing cuts both ways: A blackout in California could paralyze users in New York, and a firm in Texas could lose its data if something causes its Maine-based provider to crash.
As with any technology, there is a learning curve for both employees and managers. But with many individuals accessing and manipulating information through a single portal, inadvertent mistakes can transfer across an entire system.
The World of Business
Businesses can employ cloud computing in different ways. Some users maintain all apps and data on the cloud, while others use a hybrid model, keeping certain apps and data on private servers and others on the cloud.
When it comes to providing services, the big players in the corporate computing sphere include:
Google Cloud
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Microsoft Azure
IBM Cloud
Alibaba Cloud
Amazon Web Services is 100% public and includes a pay-as-you-go, outsourced model. Once youre on the platform you can sign up for apps and additional services. Microsoft Azure allows clients to keep some data at their own sites. Meanwhile, Alibaba Cloud is a subsidiary of the Alibaba Group.
What Is an Example of Cloud Computing?
Today, there are several examples of cloud computing applications used by both businesses and individuals. One type of cloud service would be streaming platforms for audio or video, where the actual media files are stored remotely. Another would be data storage platforms like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box.
What Are the Main Types of Cloud Computing?
The main types of cloud computing services include Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platforms-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).
IaaS provides IT infrastructure to end-users via the internet and is commonly associated with serverless computing.
PaaS serves both software and hardware to end-users, who are generally software developers. PaaS allows the user to develop, run, and manage their own apps without having to build and maintain the infrastructure.
SaaS is a software licensing model, which allows access to software on a subscription basis using external servers without having to download and install them locally.
Is Cloud Computing Safe?
Because software and data are stored remotely in cloud computing, data security and platform security are a big concern. Cloud security refers to the measures undertaken to protect digital assets and data stored on cloud-based services. Measures to protect this data include two-factor authorization (2FA), the use of VPNs, security tokens, data encryption, and firewall services, among others.
Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge on Tuesday broke ground on a multi-million dollar project that will see the riverboat operation move onto dry land sometime next year.
The casino is the first in Baton Rouge to take advantage of a 2018 law allowing Indianas riverboat casinos to relocate on land.
The relocation project kicked off with a starting budget of $60 million, up significantly from the $21-25 million investment previously announced by property owner Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (GLPI).
Hollywood Casino Marketing Vice President Aaron Mollura said during Tuesdays groundbreaking ceremony that the riverboat gambling venue has been part of the areas casino scene for 25 years and that going land-based was something we thought would enhance the product, make it better.
Mr. Mollura went on to note that they are definitely looking forward to adding some new business. In addition to moving to land, Hollywood Casino will also modernize its offeringto improve the experience for its customers at almost all levels.
Now as construction is underway, GLPI will transform the parking lot located right next to the existing Hollywood Casino into a land-based gaming and entertainment complex. The future property will occupy 100,000 square feet of land. The single-level casino floor alone will spread over 27,000 square feet.
The gaming facility will feature the existing riverboat casinos 859 slot machines and 12 table games as well as a sportsbook.
Offering All Entertainment on One Floor
The new land-based casino will also feature new dining options, including a Shaquille ONeal Big Chicken Restaurant. It will replace Hollywood Casinos existing Celebrity Grill. Of their new restaurant, Mr. Mollura said that thats what most of our guests are asking, they want to see a celebrity start walking around the property.
The relocated Hollywood Casino will further include a big sports bar to complement the planned sportsbook.
Louisiana was one of several states to approve sports betting during last Novembers election. It is still unknown when athletic gambling will kick off in the state, but hopes are that this will happen by Super Bowl early next year.
When the relocated Hollywood Casino opens doors, all its offering will be on a single floor. Mr. Mollura said that the current riverboat is three stories tall and that means up and down a lot of stairs, land-based is one floor, a lot easier getting in and out and obviously with a boat youre very constricted to the spaceyou can use.
Once the relocation is complete, the vessel will be sold and Viking river cruises will be making stops at the original deck, Mr. Mollura also noted.
Construction work is projected to wrap up in about a year from now and the new land-based Hollywood Casino is expected to open doors in late 2022.
Source:Hollywood Casino breaks ground on new expansion project, WBRZ News 2, August 10, 2021
Chinas top political advisor, Jia Qinglin, has met with the governor of Thailands Phuket Island, Tri Augkaradacha, kicking off a six-day visit to the country.
Jia said Phuket has played a major role in the long friendship between Thailand and China as it has been a key port for bilateral trade. He added that the two countries have established a strategic cooperative partnership, which offers opportunities for exchanges between Phuket and Chinese cities.
The Phuket governor says the island, renowned for its tourism resources, is welcoming more Chinese tourists and businesses to Phuket. Thailand is the last stop of Jia Qinglins three-nation tour, which has already taken him to New Zealand and Brunei.
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Three Chinese astronauts Sunday successfully completed a manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module on June 24,shib crypto price gambling near me 2012, the first such attempt in Chinas history of space exploration.
The Chinese astronauts celebrating on the success of the manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module. (Xinhua/Zha Chunming)
The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module being conjoined again.
Manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module being conducted.
The screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center showing the manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module being conducted.
Manual docking between Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 lab module being conducted.
Shenzhou-9 manned spacecraft conducting the countrys first manual space docking with the orbiting Tiangong-1 space lab. The manual docking has been successful Sunday. It means China has completely grasped the space rendezvous and docking technologies and had the fundamental abilities to build a space station.(Xinhua/Wang Yongzhuo)
The docking ring of the manned Shenzhou-9 spacecraft touching the Tiangong-1 lab module successfully under the manual control of Chinese astronauts.
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Famous for her sweet albeit affected voice and stunning body, model-turned-actress Lin Chiling turned heads when she joined hands with award-winning actor Chen Kun for the movie, Love on Credit. ()
Amid skepticism from the media and audiences, Lin and cast members Chen Kun, Liao Fan, Tony Yang long with the director Leste Chen stepped on stage to answer the question as to whether it will be another B-grade film, or a success story.
The movie, revolving around love and relationships between two twin sisters and three men, held a press conference to announce its premiere yesterday in Beijing.
When asked about whether Lin is right for the character, director Leste Chen applauded in an effort to demonstrate his admiration. He said that Lin had jumped from a building 17 times at night without any complaints. There arent many male actors more professional than Lin, He said.
There is a part in the movie when Lin acts on a bed with her co-star Liao Fan and shows her naked back. Although there is no further physical contact between the two of them, both actors felt shy on the set. Lin thanked Liao for his respect and told the media they finished the scene in a professional manner.
The movie will hit national screens on October 20.
Chen Nan
Chinese Films
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Delegates from North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) arrive in Beijing, capital of China, on October 13, 2022. Photo: Xinhua
The united front is important for the Communist Party of China (CPC) to unite all non-CPC personages within and outside China to gather the wisdom and strength of all Chinese people to realize the great rejuvenation for the Chinese nation, said analysts, as the Xinhua News Agency reported three days ahead of the 20th CPC National Congress that the Party's Central Committee had a crucial meeting with non-CPC personages.The CPC Central Committee held a meeting on August 31 to seek opinions and suggestions from non-CPC personages on the draft report to the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, Xinhua reported on Thursday. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over the meeting and made an important speech.Facing new tasks and requirements of the new era and new journey, the CPC and other political parties in China shall enhance cooperation, consolidate and expand the broadest possible patriotic united front, pool to the greatest extent possible the wisdom and strength of various social strata and aspects, and give full play to the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the whole society and the whole nation to strive for building a modern socialist country in all respects and advancing the national rejuvenation on all fronts, Xi said.At the meeting, Xi introduced the process of issuing the draft report to the upcoming 20th CPC National Congress, and he hoped that the non-CPC personages would speak out freely and be frank and sincere, to present their opinions and advice on the draft report.Participants of the central committees of non-CPC political parties in China, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), and personages with no party affiliation, highly value the performance of and the contributions made by the CPC Central Committee with Xi at its core in the past five years and in the past 10 years since the beginning of the new era.They also presented suggestions in fields including the construction of an international human rights narrative system, high-level opening-up under the structure of Dual Circulation, and improvement of the capability of self-reliant innovation.After listening to the opinions of the participants, Xi noted that seeking opinions from non-CPC personages on the report to the 20th CPC National Congress is an important part of China's political consultation, and an efficacious way for non-CPC figures to contribute to the country's development and national rejuvenation.On behalf of the CPC Central Committee, Xi expressed gratitude and said their opinions will be carefully analyzed and taken into consideration.Promoting the united front is among the key historical experience of the CPC's endeavors over the past century, Xi said. Since China ushered in the new era 10 years ago, the historic achievements and the historic shifts in the cause of the Party and the country are a result of the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the efforts made by the Chinese people of all ethnic groups. It is also a result of the joint efforts made by all non-CPC political parties, the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and non-party personages.Zhang Shuhua, director of the Institute of Political Science of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that the Chinese political system and the relations among political parties are totally different from the Western ones.Western multiparty or two-party systems, in nature, are about political struggles for power and interests, and they confront each other for votes. In fact, they only serve their own interests, rather than the nation as a whole, said analysts, stressing that opposition parties will always make trouble and create obstacles for ruling ones, no matter whether the policy can help the country or not.In China, political parties are working together and non-CPC political parties provide suggestions to the CPC to help the ruling party to improve its governance, so they share the same goals. This is why the achievements that China has made today are thanks to the joint efforts made by the CPC and non-CPC parties, groups and personages, Zhang noted.Seeking opinions from non-CPC personages is routine for the CPC before it issues or releases significant reports, documents and announcements that affect the whole country and every class in China. The release of information on such a meeting on Thursday means that the Party and the whole country are being fully prepared for the upcoming significant political event, analysts said.The opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress is entering the final countdown. Delegates of the congress from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region arrived in Beijing on Thursday, the first delegation group from outside Beijing to arrive in the capital.Groups of delegates from other parts of China, including Sichuan, Guizhou and Heilongjiang provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region arrived in Beijing in succession on Thursday.More than 2,200 delegates from all over the country were elected to attend the upcoming 20th National Congress of the CPC, which is scheduled to convene on October 16. Representing the country's 96 million Party members, the delegates will hear and deliberate a report by the 19th CPC Central Committee and deliberate a report by the 19th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.The delegates are broadly representative, with a reasonable structure and distribution in terms of ages, regions and industries, meeting the requirements set by the CPC Central Committee and winning the support of Party members, Yang Xuedong, a professor of political science at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.He noted that the outlooks of Party members also mirror the elevation of the quality of Party members in recent years, during which the development of Party members, and their ability and ideological construction, were greatly improved.
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo met with a Workers Party of Korea (WPK) delegation from the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Beijing on Sunday .
The delegation was headed by Kim Yong Il, alternate member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the central committee of the WPK.
Dai applauded the traditional friendship between the DPRK and the Chinese sides, saying that China is willing to work together with the DPRK to lead the friendship and cooperation between the two nations to new heights.
Dai said that he was sure the DPRK party, government and people will continue to make new achievements in their aim of building a prosperous country.
During their meeting, Kim Yong Il agreed with Dais appraisal on the DPRK-China relationship. He said the DPRK attaches great importance to the friendship and cooperation with China. He added that the DPRK will follow the instructions by late general secretary Kim Jong Il and first secretary Kim Jong Un of the WPK to make all-out efforts to advance the traditional DPRK-China friendship in a sustainable way.
Xinhua
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debaser [ dih-bey-ser ]/ dbe sr / New Word List Save This supabets login mobile login gmail/com/sign inWord! [ dih-bey-ser ]/ dbe sr /Save ThisWord!
nouna person or thing that reduces the quality, value, rank, or significance or someone or something:Known for his profanity-laced rants, the speaker delights in his reputation as a debaser of the public discourse.
Words nearby debaser
How to use in a sentence When I pressed him closer, he said he had been present at one hanging at Tyburn, but that was of a debaser of coins. Sir Ludar|Talbot Baines Reed
Sir Ludar|Talbot Baines Reed Of Ephraim, the debaser of the coin, we have spoken; also of the king's manner towards Jews. Jewish Literature and Other Essays|Gustav Karpeles
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question debaserdebase + -erdebar, debark, debase, debased, debasement, debaser, debatable, debate, debauch, debauched, debaucheeDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
Anime and manga have become immensely popular in the English-speaking world, and for good reason. These Japanese storytelling media convey rich stories filled with dynamic characters and vibrant settings that are enjoyable for both children and adults.
You would not be alone, though, if you wondered what the difference is between anime and manga. Both forms originated in Japan, and they have similar visual styles. But, there is an important difference between these genres.
Continue reading to learn whether the popular new series you keep hearing about is manga or anime.
What is the Difference Between Anime and Manga?
In this post, I will compare anime vs. manga, and I will try to avoid offending the sensibilities of fans of these styles. I will use each of these words in example sentences.
I will also give you a helpful memory tool that will allow you to distinguish between manga and anime in the future.
When to Use Anime
What is anime? Anime is a particular style of animationthat originated in Japan. It is characterized by high contrast, bright colors, and thematic elements of science fiction and fantasy.
Today, media in the style of anime are created all over the world. Some people only categorize Japanese productions as anime, while others refer to any animations that use this visual style as anime, regardless of where they were produced.
The word anime has an interesting backstory. The Japanese animeshiyonis a loanword from the English animation, which eventually made its way back to English as anime. Essentially, Japanese borrowed a word from English, and then English borrowed it back.
Here are some examples of anime in a sentence,
Sailor Moon is a popular anime among teenage girls.
The anime Howls Moving Castle, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is widely regarded as a hallmark of the genre.
Gao, a 27-year-old cosmetician in Wenzhou, has watched Japanese animation, or anime, since she was a teenager. The Wall Street Journal
When to Use Manga
What is manga? Manga is a style of Japanese comic books and graphic novels. Like anime, it is characterized by exaggerated facial features and bright colors.
For example,
Ashley flipped through the pages of her new manga while riding the bus.
Students in dorms debate the merits of various manga series well into the early hours of the morning.
Hidden amid the manga stores and costume shops in a labyrinthine subculture shopping complex is Bar Zingaro, a cafe that fuses Norwegian exports midcentury Scandinavian furnishings, Fuglen coffee with the colorful art of Takashi Murakami. The New York Times
The word manga originated in Japanese, from man-, meaning aimless, and -ga, meaning pictures.
Trick to Remember the Difference
To oversimplify mangavs. anime, anime are TV shows or movies, while manga are comic books or graphic novels.
The two media share a unique visual style, and many manga serve as the basis for anime. Still, most manga are never made into anime series, and not anime series are based on manga.
Since the word anime is so closely related to the English animation, you will always be able to remember that anime means animated shows or films.
Summary
Is it anime or manga? Anime and manga are two visual media that originated in Japan and share a unique visual style.
Anime refers to animated shows or movies.
Manga refers to comic books or graphic novels.
Both storytelling media use hand- or computer-drawn images that reflect similar visual sensibilities.
What Is Nominal Yield?top visa casino sites
A bond's nominal yield, depicted as a percentage, is calculated by dividing total interest paid annually by the face, or par, value of the bond.
Key Takeaways
A bond's nominal yield, depicted as a percentage, is calculated by dividing total interest paid annually by the face, or par, value of the bond.
Two components combine to determine the nominal yield on a debt instrument: the prevailing rate of inflation and the credit risk of the issuer.
The nominal yield does not always represent the current yield because it is a percentage based on the bond's par value and not the actual price that was paid for that bond.
Understanding Nominal Yield
The nominal yield is the coupon rate on a bond. Essentially, it is the interest rate that the bond issuer promises to pay bond purchasers. This rate is fixed and it applies to the life of the bond. Sometimes it's also referred to as nominal rate or coupon yield.
The nominal yield does not always represent the current yield because it's a percentage based on the bond's par value, and not the actual price that was paid to buy that bond. Buyers who pay a premium that's more than the face value for a given bond will receive a lower actual rate of return (RoR) than the nominal yield, while investors who pay a discount that's less than the face value will receive a higher actual rate of return. It's also worth noting that bonds with high coupon rates tend to get called firstwhen callablebecause they represent the issuer's greatest liability relative to bonds with lower yields.
Take, for example, a bond with a face value of $1,000 that pays the bondholder $50 in interest payments annually. It would have a nominal yield of 5% (50/1000).
If the bondholder bought the bond for $1,000, the nominal yield and the current yield are the same, 5%.
If the bondholder paid a premium and bought the bond at $1,050, the nominal yield is still 5% but the current yield would be 4.76% (50/1050).
If the bondholder got the bond at a discount and paid $950, the nominal yield is still 5% but the current yield would be 5.26% (50/950).
What Determines the Nominal Yield?
Bonds are issued by governments for domestic spending purposes or by corporations to raise funds for financing research and development and for capital expenditure (CapEx). At the time of issuance, an investment banker acts as an intermediary between the bond issuerwhich might be a corporationand the bond buyer. Two components combine to determine the nominal yield on a debt instrument: the prevailing rate of inflation and the credit risk of the issuer.
Trump Plaza, one of the casinos that closed doors for visitors, will change its name pretty soon and the name of Trump is said to disappear from the exterior of the shuttered casino.
Trumps daughter has already informed the media that soon the removal project will start and the letters that spell out the name of Trump will be gone for good.
The reason for that is the complicated situation and thelegal proceedings between Donald Trump, his daughter and Trump Entertainment the company they no longer own. Thats why they insist on removing the letters from the exterior of Trump Taj Mahal casino as well.
Trump and his daughter accused the current owner of neglecting the condition of the casinos and letting them reach the bottom.Such a decay was in contradiction of the agreement both sides have signed. Currently, the situation with the last casino, Taj Mahal, is really complicated and it is likely to close in the middle of November.
Ivanka Trump said that the removal of her fathers name from the exterior is essential. She also added that Trump is associated with luxury, high standard and experience that exceeds customers expectations of excellence but now these factors are not present.
No official announcement was made by Trump Entertainment though.
Despite the fact that Trump wants his name to be completely removed from the name of the last operating casino and from Trump Entertainment Resorts, his daughter shared that her father is still making efforts to save Taj Mahal from bankruptcy.
At an earlier stage, Donald Trump has officially announced that his name should no longer be involved in any venture of the company. He also added that he is bitterly disappointed with the approach the new owners have towards managing the propertiesand the present standards have nothing to do with those, established by Trump.
The Delaware court is in charge of the proceedings of the bankruptcy of Trump Entertainment. Further hearings were scheduled but Donald Trump and the billionaire Carl Icahn are still making attempts to prevent the closure.
As a matter of fact, Taj Mahal may remain open if the requirements of Carl Icahn are satisfied. He said that he might think about converting the debt into ownership but before he does that, the Atlantic City Authorities have to ensure a tax relief for the casino.
Trump owns only 9% of the debt, in other words an insignificant percentage of a company in bankruptcy that also faces up the probability of closing the last casino it owns. Ivanka and Donald Trump are convinced that if people continue to associate them with problematic and closed casinos, that will not have particularly positive impact on the industry.
German supermarket chain Lidl is set to remove all slot machines from its stores in Finland, becoming the first retail chain operating in the country to do so.
Under Finnish gambling law, state-run agency Veikkaus is the only entity allowed to provide gambling services in the nation. As the local gambling monopoly, the company owns and operates slot machines at retail outlets around Finland, including ones owned by Lidl.
The retail chain giant said that it plans to remove the gambling devices from all its Finnish stores over the course of this coming summer. Lidls stores are home to about 250 Veikkaus slot machines.
The German-owned international chain said that its decision to remove the gambling devices was prompted by its desire to show a positive example as a company driven by responsible choices.
Commenting on the announcement, Lidl Finland CEO Nicholas Pennanen said that for them responsibility means deeds, not just speech or slogansand that there are problems with gamingand slot machines in the shops have a role to play here.The executive went on to explain that it is up to each retailer to choose for themselves whether they want to host gaming devices or not and assess their chances of giving these up, and that as a large company we can set an example and lead the way.
Lidl Finland Set to Lose Millions from Nixing Slots
Lidl further noted that its decision to remove the hundreds of slot machines its shops around the nation feature will result in the annual loss of millions of eurosin revenue from commissions paid by Veikkaus.
However, Mr. Pennanen said that they have had to train staff to monitor the slot machines and prevent issues with these, and that he believes the time and money spent on this as well as on cleaning and maintaining the devices can be used to focus on initiatives that would enhance customer experience.
Following massive public outcry over Veikkaus responsible gambling practices, the company last year adopted a series of strengthened responsible gambling policies. As part of these measures, the company significantly reduced the number of slot machines it operates around Finland. At the start of 2020, the company owned approximately 18,500 devices, but rang into 2021 with just 10,500 of them.
It also rolled out compulsory identification verification controls across its slot machine network two years ahead of schedule. Under Finlands amended Lotteries Act, mandatory ID verification for slot machine players was supposed to be introduced from 2023.
Veikkaus first implemented ID verification across slot machines located at third-party sites including restaurants, shops, and petrol stations on January 12. It expects to complete the rollout of the mandatory verification across its own slot arcades by this summer.
Source:Lidl to remove slot machines from all stores in Finland, Yle, April 15, 2021
What Is a Gain?cool cats slots
A gain is a general increase in the value of an asset or property. A gain arises if the current price of something is higher than the original purchase price. For accounting and tax purposes, gains may be classified in several ways, such as gross vs. net gains or realized vs. unrealized (paper) gains. Capital gains may additionally be classified as short-term vs. long-term in nature.
A gain can be contrasted with a loss, which occurs when property or assets held lose value compared to their purchase price. A loss can thus be construed as a negative gain.
Key Takeaways
A gain arises if the current price of something currently owed is higher than the original purchase price.
Investors may talk about gains whenever the market price of an asset exceeds the purchase price they paid, but unrealized gains may come and go many times before an asset is sold.
Once an asset that has seen a gain in value is sold, an investor is said to have realized the gainor, put more simply, made a profit.
Understanding a Gain
A gain refers generally to the positive difference between the price of something at acquisition and its current price. A net gain takes transaction costs and other expenses into consideration. A gain may also be either realized or unrealized. A realized gain is the profit that is received when the asset is sold and an unrealized gain, also known as a paper gain, is an increase in value since purchase while the asset is still owned by the buyer and not yet disposed of.
Another important distinction between gains is when they are taxable or non-taxable, as taxes can have a large impact on how much of a gain actually ends up in an investor's pocket.
For investors and traders, a gain can occur anytime in the life of an asset. If an investor owns a stock purchased for $15 and the market now prices that stock at $20, then the investor is sitting on a $5 gain. That said, a gain only truly matters when the asset is sold and the gains are realized as profit. An asset may see many unrealized gains and losses between purchase and sale because the market is constantly reassessing the value of assets.
Gains and Taxes
In most jurisdictions, realized gains are subject to capital gains tax. As well as applying to traditional assets, capital gains tax may also apply to gains in alternative assets, such as coins, works of art, and wine collections.
Capital gains tax varies depending on the type of asset, personal income tax rate, and how long the asset gets held. Short-term gains are generally taxed as ordinary income, while long-term gains (held longer than one year) are taxed more favorably.
A capital gain can typically be offset by a capital loss. For instance, if an investor realized a $50,000 capital gain in stock A and realized a $30,000 capital loss in stock B, they may only have to pay tax on the net capital gain of $20,000 ($50,000 - $30,000).
If the gains accrue in a non-taxable accountsuch as an Individual Retirement Account in the U.S. or a Retirement Savings Plan in Canadagains will not be taxed.
For taxation purposes, net realized gains rather than gross gains are taken into consideration. In a stock transaction in a taxable account, the taxable gain would be the difference between the sale price and purchase price, after considering brokerage commissions.
Taxable Gain Example
Here is an example of how a taxable gain works:
Jennifer buys 5,000 shares at $25 = $125,000
Jennifer sells 5,000 shares at $35 = $175,000
Jennifers commission is $200
Jennifers taxable gain is $49,800: ($175,000 - $125,000) - $200
Compounding Gains
Legendary investor Warren Buffet attributes compounding gains as one of the key factors to accumulating wealth. The basic concept is that gains add to existing gains.
For example, if $10,000 is invested in a stock and it gains 10% in a year, it generates $1,000. After another 10% return in the following year, the investment generates $1,100 ($11,000 x 10% gain), and after the third year of a 10% gain, the investment now generates $1,210 ($12,100 x 10% gain). Investors who start compounding gains at a young age have time on their side to build substantial wealth.
TCSJOHNHUXLEY,kraken wallet the world renowned supplier of end-to-end live gaming solutions, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Bet Rite, as the exclusive distributor of its portfolio of products across all provinces in Canada.
Founded in 2009 and with a team that has over 40 years gaming experience, Bet Rite is a service-oriented gaming supply company dedicated to the Canadian gaming markets. They work with partners to bring world class gaming products and services through well-established distribution channels to the Canadian casino market.
Phil Lee, Managing Director for TCSJOHNHUXLEY Americas commented, We are very pleased to be working with Bet Rite in Canada. This strategic relationship brings together our industry-leading products with a renowned name in the Canadian gaming market and we are confident this will be a major benefit to all our customers in the region.
We are very excited to be working with world class live gaming manufacturer TCSJOHNHUXLEY, added Bet Rite President, Billy MacLellan. Our well-established distribution network and knowledge of the Canadian gaming market will ensure casino properties right across the region will benefit from this exclusive distribution agreement, and we look forward to hitting the ground running.
Bet Rite will be in attendance at the TCSJOHNHUXLEY booth #3259 at G2E Las Vegas from 10th 12th October, where the full portfolio of products will be showcased.
Photo shows Chinese structural biologist Yan Ning. (Screenshot Photo)
Biologist Yan Ning announced that she will leave the US and return to China. Her announcement,made on Tuesday, aroused lasting attention and discussion. Yan Ning said she will resign from Princeton University and join the establishment of Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) in Shenzhen. She called her return to China her "third dream" after the joint efforts of several generations, Shenzhen will occupy an important place in the global biomedicine field in 10 or 20 years. She also hopes to "create a platform to support more outstanding scholars" and "make truly original breakthroughs."This is Yan's "second return to China." For the domestic public, Yan Ning's reputation has long transcended scientists' circle, and is well known by the public. Yan Ning, known as the "Goddess scientists," is a person who "doesn't take the usual path." She became Tsinghua's "youngest doctoral supervisor" in 2007. Ten years later in 2017, she accepted an invitation from Princeton University to be appointed as the Shirley M. Tilghman Professor of Molecular Biology and was elected as academician of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. A series of extraordinary experiences have made Yan a focus of public opinion many times.For a scientist, it is normal and reasonable to choose the most suitable research environment to achieve innovation and breakthroughs in the professional field. We believe that Yan Ning has her own reasons for making various choices at different stages of her life, which should be respected. China's policy regarding talent always stresses "free movement." Some people made a fuss about Yan's teaching abroad five years ago, but this exactly shows the openness and tolerance of China as a big country.China has always insisted on "gathering talent from all over the world and utilizing them." It creates an environment where talent are recognized, respected and used, and the opening toward talent from abroad has been continuously broadened. In recent years, more and more overseas Chinese scientists have chosen to return home. In 2021, more than 1,400 Chinese scientists gave up their jobs in US academic institutions or companies and returned to China, a 22-percent increase from the previous year. There are also many top scholars who came to China from Britain, Japan and other countries. The reason why talent "return" is that they are attracted by China's overall environment that encourages innovation. When the soil is more fertile and the sunshine is more abundant, the vitality displayed by the whole forest is naturally more vigorous.At the same time, the research environment in the field of innovation in the US is deteriorating. According to a recent report by the Wall Street Journal, "an increasingly hostile political and racial environment" is one of the reasons that drive a growing number of Chinese American scientists and engineers to give up their positions at top US universities and return to China or elsewhere. Washington's wrong policy decision to push decoupling with China has forced itself into certain kind of vicious cycle. The huge uncertainty of its policy and the chilling effect triggered by malicious investigating and suppressing Chinese scholars have made more and more scientists feel uneasy.The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that China will move faster to build world hubs for talent and innovation. It can be expected that the Chinese society will further promote a good atmosphere to encourage and tolerate bold innovation. More talent willingly choosing to return to China shows that China's environment is attractive to talent in many ways. This is a mutual choice. The country which supports innovation and provides opportunities for talent to realize their ideals will be a good stage. Just like Yan Ning's reason for choosing to go to Shenzhen: "Shenzhen is young and vibrant, and there are infinite possibilities." In the new era, China's more active, open and effective talent-related policy will definitely attract more talent, reach higher innovation standard and make more dreams come true.Finally, we welcome Yan Ning back to China, and also welcome high-end talent from all over the world, and wish them success.
Definition of Enumeration
Enumeration is casino slot game with bills authoreda rhetorical device used for listing details, or a process of mentioning words or phrases step by step. In fact, it is a type of amplification or division in which a subject is further distributed into components or parts. Writers use enumeration to elucidate a topic, to make it understandable for the readers. It also helps avoid ambiguity in the minds of the readers.
Examples of Enumeration in Literature
Example #1:I Have a Dream(by Martin Luther King)
[W]hen we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of Gods children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
In this example, if we remove commas, apostrophes, and quotation marks, it would be difficult to understand the text.
Example #2: Hints Toward an Essay on Conversation(by Jonathan Swift)
[A]mong such as deal in multitudes of words, none are comparable to the sober deliberate talker, who proceedeth with much thought and caution, maketh his preface, brancheth out into several digressions, findeth a hint that putteth him in mind of another story, which he promiseth to tell you when this is done; cometh back regularly to his subject, cannot readily call to mind some persons name, holding his head, complaineth of his memory; the whole company all this while in suspense; at length says, it is no matter, and so goes on. And, to crown the business, it perhaps proveth at last a story the company hath heard fifty times before; or, at best, some insipid adventure of the relater.
In this example, by using enumeration, Swift describes a sober, deliberate talker, and then adds details of his qualities, making his message clear to understand.
Example #3: Elegy for Jane(by Theodore Roethke)
I remember the neckcurls, limp and damp as tendrils;
And her quick look, a sidelong pickerel smile;
And how, once startled into talk, the light syllables leaped for her,
And she balanced in the delight of her thought
In the above lines, the speaker recalls how Jane a dead student looked. He gives details by remembering her smile, her hair, and her beautiful spirit.
Example #4: The Atlanta Compromise Address(by Booker T. Washington)
Cast down your bucket among these people who have, without strikes and labour wars, tilled your fields, cleared your forests, builded your railroads and cities, and brought forth treasures from the bowels of the earth, and helped make possible this magnificent representation of the progress of the South. Casting down your bucket among my people, helping and encouraging them as you are doing on these grounds, and to education of head, hand, and heart, you will find that they will buy your surplus land, make blossom the waste places in your fields, and run your factories.
Booker describes people by adding their qualities one by one, which helps the audience to gain a real understanding of the writers ideas.
Example #5: Address to the Jury during the Anti-Conscription Trial in New York City, July 1917(by Emma Goldman)
We say that if America has entered the war to make the world safe for democracy, she must first make democracy safe in America. How else is the world to take America seriously, when democracy at home is daily being outraged, free speech suppressed, peaceable assemblies broken up by overbearing and brutal gangsters in uniform; when free press is curtailed and every independent opinion gagged.
Emma Goldman discusses how America can save democracy while waging war. She lists details about what might happen if America does not make it safe at home.
Function
By using enumeration, writers lay emphasis on certain ideas to elaborate them further. In fact, enumeration easily creates an impression on the minds of the readers. The details and listing make it easy for them to convey the real message they want to impart. However, if there is no use of enumeration in a text, it might become difficult for the reader to get the true meanings of ideas.
As the Chinese film market celebrates the success of its box office revenue, having made 10 billion yuan at the start of 2011, they have found yet another reason to celebrate Chinese actress Xu Qing has been confirmed as having a part in the Hollywood blockbuster Looper.
Actually, Xu Qings participation in a Hollywood project was a positive signal as well as a landmark development. Suddenly, the starters gun had been fired and the door to Hollywood was open for Chinese actresses as never before. Several Hollywood films have recruited them to play important parts in big-budget flicks, which are often reported to have sequels in the works.
Following Xu Qing, award-winning actress Zhou Xun will make her appearance in the Hollywood fantasy epic Cloud Atlas. Shortly afterwards, Yu Nan confirmed she had landed a role in the Expendables 2; the same fate dawned upon Snow Flower and the Secret Fan actress Li Bingbing just last month, who will showcase her charisma in Resident Evil: Retribution. And the good news just keeps coming the creators of the latest 007 flick have chosen a Chinese actress to be the latest Bond girl.
Five Hollywood blockbusters have all selected Chinese actresses. This has come as a bit of a surprise for those involved with the Chinese film industry, as the way to Hollywood has not always been as smooth as today when looking back at the history of Chinese actresses entering Hollywood.
Prior to 2011, at least 10 actresses spanning several generations have made their way to the sunny boulevards of Hollywoods dream factories.
Unfortunately, audiences only saw them appear in various cameo roles. Anna Wong May was regarded as the first Chinese actress in the 1920s and 1930s to play in Hollywood films including The Shanghai Express though she didnt cause much of a sensation. Tsai Chin is the only Chinese actress to appear twice in the 007 series but her parts were of no importance.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Chinese faces Joan Chan, Bai Ling and Michelle Yeoh appeared in Hollywood flicks but not as leading actresses.
In recent years, Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi have indeed picked up leading roles. Hollywood big-budget action flick Miami Vice, which starred Gong was a flop in terms of box office revenue, while Rush Hour 2 starring Zhang Ziyi was a victory at the box office, but largely due to the stand-out performances by Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.
To be fair, Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi have taken a big step towards Hollywood by snagging places as leading actress, when compared to their predecessors.
2011 is being considered by experts from the film industry in China as a turning point for actresses fighting to squeeze their way into Hollywood. The consensus is that good luck is coming their way as the Chinese film market prospers.
Hollywood blockbusters Avatar, Transformers 3 and Expendables have all generated huge wealth in the rapidly growing Chinese market. Businessmen from Hollywood wont neglect the great potential of Chinese audiences, and when their leading roles include Chinese actors and actresses, it is no doubt much easier for them to enter the Chinese market.
Maybe in the near future, Chinese actress will become part of mainstream of Hollywood. Lets wait and see.
Liu Shuai
Chinese Films
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Illustration: Tang Tengfei/Global Times
It seems that the UK policy-making circle isstill exploring a way of pandering to anti-China forces while seeking best interests from China ties.UK Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is "looking to close" Confucius Institutes across UK universities over security concerns, according to media reports on Wednesday.During the Conservative Party leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson in July, Sunak, as a candidate, said he would ban Confucius Institutes in Britain if he became the prime minister. Before the race, however, he was considered to hold a ''pragmatic view'' on China, which led to others and his rival Liz Truss to accuse him of being soft on China."Out of their own interests, the UK security unit wants to pile more pressure on Sunak, in a bid to force him to fulfill his election vow and display a tough stance toward China," Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times. "The China policy within the British government has long been divided. The security sector tends to advocate a hard-line position on China, while the economic and diplomatic units would like to see a more balanced policy towards China."In addition, Tugendhat himself is one of the most prominent proponents of anti-China sentiment among British political circle. He and the Sinophobic China Research Group he helped form were sanctioned by the Chinese government in March 2021 for maliciously spreading lies and disinformation. In recent years, Tugendhat has repeatedly made foul remarks on issues related to China's internal affairs such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang, but failed to provide any evidence. It's clear that the chief of the UK's security sector is deliberately stirring up trouble.Cui noted that another scenario to explain why it is Tugendhat who sent the message, instead of Sunak announcing himself is that Sunak wants to release a trial balloon to see the response at home and abroad. He may want to discuss with the members of his government on how to tackle the issue based on the response from related parties, the UK society, China and the US.Sunak's identity today is different from that when he was a Party leadership candidate after all. If it's announced by himself, it would definitely lead to more negative consequences and further hit Britain's relations with China. It would be unfavorable for him, who just took office.Pressure may also come from Washington, pushing Sunak to follow the US in containing China. With the G20 summit just around the corner, there may be a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Sunak. Britain may want to display its position toward China to the US in this way, said Chinese observers. From London's perspective, targeting the Confucius Institutes would be the least expensive way to demonstrate its coordination with Washington's anti-China strategy, according to Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China.The majority of the international community is fully aware that Confucius Institutes have long served as a bridge and bond between China and other countries including the UK in education and cultural communication and exchange. And the operation and management of the Confucius Institutes is open and transparent. Tom Fowdy, a British political and international relations analyst commented, "The institutes have been transformed into an explicit political bogeyman, transforming something as innocent and benign as Chinese language education into a covert 'threat' in a McCarthyist fashion."The UK is now in a mess at home, with problems such as disunity within the Conservative Party and the UK's society. The country's economy is in bad shape. Against this backdrop, playing tricks on the Confucius Institutes is not a good idea for Sunak. Especially considering that China is one of the UK's largest trading partners, it is difficult for Britain to achieve economic recovery without sound ties with China. Such a trial balloon is pretty dangerous.
Alzheimers disease was first described by Alois start an nft shiba inu news todayAlzheimer in 1906, and now, more than 100 years later, doctors have an effective drug to treat the cognitive disorder.
On June 7, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved aducanumab, developed by the U.S.-based biotech Biogen and Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai. But the drugs approval comes with a caveat. The FDA is requiring Biogen to conduct an additional placebo controlled study of the drug to verify its effectiveness in improving peoples memory and cognitive symptoms.
That request stems in large part from the conclusion of an expert panel convened by the FDA last November, which almost unanimously decided that the evidence presented by the drugs developers did not justify approval. The committees recommendation then went to the FDA, and the agency extended the deadline for making a decision from last March to June 7.
The drugs rocky road of failed and halted clinical trials has generated divided opinions among brain experts about how useful the drug actually is, with some, including the Alzheimers Association, supporting approval as the first treatment for the diseasethe currently approved therapies for Alzheimers only address the symptoms of Alzheimers and not its root causesand others not convinced the data prove that the benefits of the drug outweigh its potential risks.
Aducanumab made headlines in 2016 when an early trial showed the first encouraging results of an Alzheimers treatment in decades. Previous efforts to develop drugs and vaccines to control the expansion of amyloid protein plaques in the brain were frustrating failures. Experts in the field were divided over whether the clusters of amyloid protein in the brain, which are the hallmark of the disease and what doctors use to diagnose it, were even the right target for a drug. Cells in the body make amyloid, but it seemed that in some people, the protein accumulated in the brain at dangerous levels, strangling delicate nerve cells and their connections and ultimately compromising memory and then other body functions. Would removing the plaques be sufficient to save memory and slow the disease?
In the breakthrough study of aducanumab, it seemed the answer was yes. Levels of amyloid in people with mild to moderate Alzheimers who received monthly infusions of the drug for a year were lower than those among people getting placebo. And more encouragingly, the people getting the drug seemed to show improvements in cognitive tests, an important indicator of how well they could perform daily activities like dressing themselves, driving and shopping.
The results were encouraging enough for the company to push ahead with larger late-phase clinical trials in two studies involving more than 3,200 people with mild to moderate disease. In March 2019, however, it started to seem that perhaps the initial excitement had been premature, when Biogen scientists analyzed the data from the trials and found that people randomly assigned to get the drug did no better on cognitive tests than those who got placebo. The company decided that there was no reason to continue the studies, and halted them.
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Neil Corkery, one of the participants in the studies, was devastated by the news. Corkery had finished the 18-month study and, as part of his participation, was set to receive aducanumab for another two yearsand, he says, feeling like his memory was improving. Once the company stopped the trial, he stopped getting the drug. I could sense my memory was affected, says Corkery. I couldnt remember names as quickly as I used to. And I was really frustrated.
Corkery was off the drug for another 18 months. Several months after halting the trials, Biogen and Eisai made the stunning announcement that their initial read of the data was incomplete, and that in fact, the studies showed aducanumab was actually effective. While the companies promised to put people like Corkery who participated in the trials back on the drug, that took many more months to happen.
Biogen and Eisai explained that their two key studies began at different times, and that dosing changed after the trails were started. So people in the first study, in which Corkery participated, may not have received the adequate dose of the drug. One possible side effect of aducanumab is an inflammation of the brain known as ARIA, and the condition is more common among people with a genetic predisposition to developing Alzheimers. When the studies began, these people with the genetic riskcertain forms of the ApoE gene were started on lower doses of the drug to protect them from the inflammation. But as the studies continued, experts at the various hospitals leading the studies learned that the inflammation was manageable as long as they monitored people with regular brain MRIs and then titrated back their doses if they saw any inflammation. So people in the studies with the higher-risk ApoE gene were eventually given the same dose of aducanumab as the other study participants, but this didnt happen until close to the end of the 18-month study period.
In retrospect, the analysis [last spring] was incorrect, Dr. Alfred Sandrock, chief medical officer at Biogen told TIME in Oct. 2019, when the company issued its first report on the re-analysis. The data from participants given lower doses of the drug, the company said, skewed the results to show less effect. However, because the second study started later, it had more people at the correct, adequate dose of the drugand showed more positive results. After consulting with the FDA, Biogen and Eisai decided to apply for approval of aducanumab to treat early Alzheimers disease.
When the companies presented these data in November 2020 to the FDA committee reviewing the application, however, the independent group of experts tasked with analyzing the results and deciding whether to recommend the drug for approval were not convinced. In fact, while the FDA review concluded that aducanumab was effective, the FDAs statistician, as well as the neurology, Alzheimers, aging and biostatistics experts on the committee raised concerns about whether the data actually showed that the drug was effective. In particular, There is no question all of this is terrifically one-sided, Dr. Scott Emerson, professor of biostatistics at University of Washington, and a member of the expert committee, said during the meeting. Im highly critical of the fact that the FDA presentation today was heavily weighted to giving the same conclusions as the sponsor [Biogen].
Many prominent Alzheimers experts, including Dr. Jason Karlawish, co-director of the Penn Memory Center and professor of medicine at the Perlman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, did not think the FDA should approve aducanumab yet. In general the data on the relationship between the amyloid changes and the clinical changes are not as strong as we hoped they would be. We do need to wait for more data. His stance is backed by the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), a nonprofit organization that analyzes medical evidence, which determined that the evidence provided by the two studies was insufficient to determine whether aducanumab could benefit Alzheimers patients or not. Karlawish advocates conducting another randomized, placebo-controlled study with consistent dosing to see if the drug indeed can both lower amyloid levels in the brain, and contribute to improvements in cognitive function before approval.
The FDA is indeed requiring the company to start a new study to verify the drugs effectiveness, even after approval. In a statement announcing the approval, the agency said If the trial fails to verify clinical benefit, the FDA may initiate proceedings to withdraw approval of the drug.
Dr. Stephen Salloway, professor of neurology at Brown University and director of neurology and the memory and aging program at Butler Hospital, is one of the principal investigators for the aducanumab trials, and understands the skepticism. But, he says, I probably have the most experience in the world with this drug, and to me, Alzheimers disease is a terminal illness, and what we are trying to do is to delay the disabling phases of the disease and preserve quality of life. And although the data has issues, this drug offers some chance of doing that.
Dr. Ron Petersen, director of the Mayo Clinic Alzheimers disease research center, agrees. I think the positive results are real. I do think that all five clinical measures in those studies that were positive werent by chance. But while I think there is a clinical effect, I think its modest.
Petersen also points out that it might be possible that the benefits of aducanumab were not completely captured in the relatively short studies. Amyloid builds up over a period of decades in the brain, until it accumulates to levels high enough to damage neurons. If the process takes that long to evolve, is it reasonable that if we reduce part of that or even reverse part of that process by removing amyloid in the brain over 12 to 18 months, that we are likely to see any clinical impact? I think thats a big ask.
He also notes that the amyloid build-up occurs at the same time as other aging processes, making amyloid only one of potentially a handful of things that need to be targeted to slow down the disease. For most people in their 70s and 80s with cognitive impairment, there are likely multiple pathologies going on, he says. If we take all of these into consideration, and we fix or treat one of them, amyloid buildup, what is the likelihood that we are going to have a major clinical impact? Probably small.
But even that small impact is crucial, he says, to moving toward an eventual cure or, at least, a more effective treatment for the disease. I view this as a possible entree into disease-modifying therapy. There will probably be better mouse traps down the road. But I think its time to take the chance and this [drug] may be the entry point into having more disease-modifying therapies. Ultimately, Petersen says, Alzheimers may need to be treated in the same way as infectious diseases like HIV, with a combination of drug treatments that together provide a stronger chance of slowing the damage from amyloid than any one drug alone.
Even then, the drug wont be a slam dunk for everyone with Alzheimers. Salloway notes that aducanumab was only studied in people with the mildest forms of diseasethose who show the first signs of memory or cognitive problems, and have amyloid plaques in their brains. The drug likely wont be as effective, if it is at all, in people who are further along in the disease progression. But that wont stop those patients from asking their doctors if they can try the treatment. There will likely be strict criteria defining which patients qualify to take it; for example, doctors will need to screen people before they get the drug for any microbleeding in the brain, which could make them more vulnerable to complications from the inflammation. Anyone receiving the drug should also be tested for amyloid levels, either through cerebral spinal fluid or with PET imaging, before they start the drug to make sure they indeed have amyloid build up in their brains.
If they dont meet those criteria, says Petersen, how do you tell somebody who has been living with the disease for five or six years, Im sorry you dont qualify to be treated with this drug? Thats a tough conversation and Im worrying about that.
Its important that both doctors and patients understand what aducanumab can, and cannot do. Its also critical that doctors prescribing the drug, which is given in monthly IV infusions, understand how to monitor patients for side effects like the brain inflammationspecifically, patients on the drug must undergo brain MRIs every three months.
Given all the complications, Salloway and Petersen believe that aducanumab should be prescribed by specialists initially, since they are most familiar with the best ways to identify the right patients, early in their disease, and monitor for any complications. I think dementia experts should be managing this treatment, working with radiologists who are familiar with ARIA and detecting it, says Salloway. Both recognize that the approval will also lead to some doctors who are more willing to prescribe it than others. But Salloway anticipates the demand will come from patients and their families. After having the discussion of the risks and the potential benefit, and from their experience with what Alzheimers is, if the drug is something that has a reasonable chance of helping them, and it can be safely administered, many people are going to want it.
Cost will be the other big challenge. For the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and private insurers to reimburse for aducanumab, they would need to be convinced that treating someone with the drug for a year would be more cost effective than leaving that person untreated for decades, and needing increasingly complex medical care as their memory and cognitive functions decline. ICER has determined through modeling that means the drug would need to be priced at $2,500 to $8,300 per patient a year. However, while the companies have declined to comment on potential pricing, pharmaceutical analysts have predicted a price tag as high as $50,000 a year per patient.
The elephant in the room is what the payors will have to say about it, says Petersen. Because the infusion-based therapy is likely to be expensive, we really dont want a society of haves and have nots. That would be a disaster.
In the meanwhile, the drug continues offering hope to people like JoAnn Wooding, whose husband Peter was diagnosed with Alzheimers in 2016, and was among the first group of patients to join the aducanumab trials. Shes realistic about the future, recognizing that the drug may not make a huge difference for Peter, since the suspension and restart of the trial cost him valuable time. When his trial was halted, Peter had completed the 18-month study period and had received five infusions of the drug as part of the two-year follow-up. When the study was stopped, he joined another trial of another promising drug in the hopes of slowing down his disease; it took him longer before he could resume aducanumab, since he needed to wait several months to washout any residual effect of that experimental treatment. Then he was diagnosed with a small melanoma on his foot which prevented him from joining the trial until he was in remission.
In May 2021, about two years after his last infusion, Peter finally started his monthly treatments of aducanumab again. I think its too late for Peter frankly, JoAnn says. Two years is a very long time when someone has Alzheimers. If he had been able to continue two years ago, I think it might have been very valuable, but now his progression is such that Im not sure its going to be very helpful. But were doing it for science. And there is always reason to hope.
What Is an S Corporation (S Corp)?bandar55 slotted screwdriver uses
An S corp or S corporation is a business structure that is permitted under the tax code to pass its taxable income, credits, deductions, and losses directly to its shareholders. That gives it certain advantages over the more common C corp, The S corp is available only to small businesses with 100 or fewer shareholders, and is an alternative to the limited liability company (LLC).
Both S corps and LLCs are known as "pass-through entities" because they pay no corporate taxes but instead pay their shareholders, who are responsible for the taxes due.
Key Takeaways
An S corporation or S corp, also known as an S subchapter, is one type of legal business structure common among small business. A limited liability company (LLC) is another.
Requirements of an S corp give a corporation with 100 shareholders or less the benefit of incorporation while being taxed as a partnership.
Both S corps and LLCs are pass-through entities, meaning that they dont pay corporate taxes, and both offer limited liability protection for their owners/principals. However, LLCs are more flexible.
S corporation shareholders must be individuals, specific trusts and estates, or certain tax-exempt organizations. LLCs arent subject to the same Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules governing the number and type of members, who are typically sole proprietors or small groups of professionals.
Understanding an S Corporation (S Corp)
S corporations get their name from Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code, under which theyve elected to be taxed. The key characteristic of a corporation filed under Subchapter S: It may pass business income, losses, deductions, and credits directly to shareholders, without paying any federal corporate taxmaking it something known as a pass-through entity. This gives it some special tax benefits under 2017s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, it is liable on the corporate level for taxes on specific built-in gains and passive income.
Aside from its tax status, an S corp is similar to any other corporation, or C corporation as theyre officially known. Its a for-profit company, incorporated under and governed by the same state corporation laws. It offers similar liability protection, ownership, and management advantages as a C corporation. It must also observe internal practices and formalities: Have a board of directors, write corporate bylaws, conduct shareholders meetings, and keep minutes of significant company meetings.
The main difference between an S corp and a C corp is how each is taxed: Profits from a C corp are taxed to the corporation when earned, then taxed to the shareholders when distributed as dividends, creating a double tax. An S corp may pass income directly to shareholders without having to pay federal corporate taxes.
IRS Requirements for an S Corp
To qualify for S corporation status, a business has to meet certain Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requirements. It has to be incorporated domestically (within the United States), have only one class of stock, and not have more than 100 shareholders. In addition, those shareholders must meet certain eligibility requirements, which means that they must be individuals, specific trusts and estates, or certain tax-exempt organizations [501(c)(3)]. Partnerships, corporations, and nonresident aliens cannot qualify as eligible shareholders.
S corp shareholders report income, gains, and losses from the corporation on their individual tax returns, and they pay taxes at their ordinary income tax rates. Since the money comes to them free of corporate tax, they avoid double taxation on any income or earnings from the corporation.
How to Set up an S Corp
To create an S corporation, a business must first be incorporated.
It then must file Form 2553 with the IRS. Known officially as Election by a Small Business Corporation, the form states that the IRS will accept the S corp status only if the business meets all the qualifications for the status, all shareholders have signed the consent statement, an officer has signed below, and the exact name and address of the corporation (entity) and other required form information have been provided.
Advantages and Disadvantages of S Corporations
Advantages of Registering as an S Corp
The big advantage is the tax benefit: not having to pay federal taxes at the entity level. Saving money on corporate taxes is beneficial, especially when a business is in its early years.
S corp status can lower the personal income tax tab for the business owners as well. By characterizing money they receive from the business as salary or dividends, S corp owners often lower their liability for self-employment tax. The S corp status generates deductions for business expenses and wages paid to their employees. There are also tax benefits for pass-through entities that apply to S corp owners.
S corp shareholders can be company employees, earn salaries, and receive corporate dividends that are tax free if the distribution does not exceed their stock basis. If dividends exceed a shareholders stock basis, the excess is taxed as capital gainsbut these are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income.
Other advantages include being able to transfer interests or adjust property basis without facing adverse tax consequences or having to comply with complex accounting rules.
S corporation status may help establish credibility with potential customers, employees, suppliers, and investors by showing the owners formal commitment to the company.
Disadvantages of Registering as an S Corp
Because S corporations can disguise salaries as corporate distributions to avoid paying payroll taxes, the IRS scrutinizes how S corps pay their employees. An S corporation must pay reasonable salaries to shareholder-employees for services rendered before any distributions are made.
When it comes to making those distributions to stakeholders, the S corp must allocate profits and losses based strictly on the percentage of ownership or number of shares that each individual holds.
On rare occasions, the IRS may terminate an S corps Subchapter S status if an S corp either doesnt properly allocate profits and losses or makes any other noncompliance moves, such as mistakes in an election, consent, notification, stock ownership, or filing requirement. However, a quick rectification of noncompliance errors can usually avert any adverse consequences.
The business of setting up an S corp requires time and money. The business owner must submit articles of incorporation with the Secretary of State in the state where their company is based. The corporation must obtain a registered agent for the business and pay other fees associated with incorporating itself.
In many states, owners pay annual report fees, a franchise tax, and other miscellaneous fees. However, the charges are typically inexpensive and may be deducted as a cost of doing business. Also, all investors receive dividend and distribution rights, regardless of whether the investors have voting rights.
The limits on the number and nature of shareholders might prove onerous for a business thats growing rapidly and wants to attract venture capital or institutional investors.
Tax benefits: no or lesser corporate and self-employment tax for owner, no double taxation for shareholders
Protections of incorporation: limited liability, transfer of interests
Prestige, credibility
Costs of incorporation
Complex compliance rules
Potentially growth-inhibiting qualifications to maintain status
S Corp vs. LLC
ProsCons
A limited liability company (LLC) is another type of legal business entity. Like the S corp, its a common go-to structure for small businesses.
LLCs and S corps share other characteristics as well. Both are pass-through entities, meaning that they dont pay corporate taxes, and both offer limited liability protection for their owners/principals, meaning that the owners personal assets cant be touched by business creditors, nor can they be held personally responsible in lawsuits filed against the company. As a pass-through entity, LLC owners also have tax benefits under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, just as S corp owners do.
However, LLCs are more flexible than S corps. They arent subject to the IRS regulations concerning the number and type of shareholders/owners (called members) or to other federal or state rules regarding governance, procedure, and distribution of funds. They can allocate their profits and losses in whatever proportions the owners desire.
Easier to establish than S corps, LLCs typically are formed by sole proprietors or small groups of professionals, like attorneys, doctors, or accountants. However, their financing options are more limitedgenerally, to bank loans, as opposed to equity investors. This can limit their potential for growth.
U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation
Although they are largely exempt from corporate taxes, S corporations must still report their earnings to the federal government and file tax returns.
Form 1120-S is essentially an S corps tax return. Often accompanied by a Schedule K-1, which delineates the percentage of company shares owned by each individual shareholder, Form 1120-S reports the income, losses, dividends, and other distributions that the corporation has passed onto its shareholders.
Unlike C corps, which must file quarterly, S corps only file once a year, like individual taxpayers. Form 1120-S is simpler than tax forms for C corporations, too. The version for 2021 ran five pages.
As long as a company elects S corporation status (and the IRS has accepted that election), it must file Form 1120-S. The form is due by the 15th day of the third month after the end of its fiscal yeargenerally, March 15 for companies that follow a calendar year.
Like individuals, S corporations can request a six-month extension to file their tax returns. To do so, they must file Form 7004: Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns by their returns regular due date.
Why would you choose an S corporation (S corp)?
S corporations can be the best of both worlds for a small business, combining the benefits of corporations with the tax advantages of partnerships.
Specifically, S corporations offer the limited liability protection of the corporate structuremeaning that an owners personal assets cant be accessed by business creditors or legal claims against the company. But like partnerships, they dont pay corporate taxes on any earnings and income that they generate. They can also help owners avoid self-employment tax, if their compensation is structured as a salary or a stock dividend.
What does S corporation stand for?
An S corporation is named for Subchapter S of Chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). It is taxed under this provision of the IRC. S corps are also known as S subchapters.
How does an S corp work?
In many ways, an S corp works as any corporation does. Operating under its home states corporation statutes, it establishes a board of directors and corporate officers, bylaws, and a management structure. It issues shares of company stock. Its owners cannot be held personally or financially liable for claims by creditors or against the company.
S corps are distinguished by the fact that they are not federally taxed on most of the earnings that they generate and distribute, leaving more money to pass to shareholders (who do pay taxes on the funds, at their ordinary income rates). The funds must be allocated strictly based on the shareholders equity stake or number of shares.
S corps must restrict their number of shareholders to 100 or less, and these must all be individuals, nonprofits, or trusts. These stockholders, along with the corporation itself, must be U.S.-based.
Come tax time, S corps must distribute the Schedule K-1 form to shareholders, indicating their annual profits or losses from the company, and file Form 1120-S with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Which is better, a limited liability company (LLC) or an S corp?
Whether a limited liability company (LLC) or an S corp is better depends on the size and nature of the business and its aspirations for growth.
An LLC tends to be preferable for sole proprietors or enterprises with just a few partners, due to its flexibility and ease of establishment. If a business is largeror aspires to bethen an S corp might work better. S corps have more financing options: Unlike LLCs, they are allowed to offer equity stakes to investors in return for capital, for example. And if their operations are complex, they would benefit from establishing the formal structures, compliance procedures, and other protocols required of corporations.
What is the difference between an S corp and a C corporation (C corp)?
One key difference between S corps and C corporations (C corps) can be expressed in one word: taxes. In a nutshell, C corps pay them and S corps dont (mostly).
C corps pay corporate taxes on their earnings, the way individuals pay income taxes. (In the U.S., corporations are currently taxed at a flat rate of 21%.) Any dividends or other profits are then distributed to shareholders with after-tax funds. S corps, by contrast, are exempt from federal tax on most earningsthere are a few exceptions on certain capital gains and passive incomeso they can distribute more gains to stockholders.
In return for this tax benefit, S corps face certain IRS-mandated restrictions. They and their shareholders must be domestically based. They can have no more than 100 shareholders, whose ranks are limited to individuals, nonprofits, trusts, and estatesno institutional investors, in other words. And they can issue only one class of stock.
C corps do not have to comply with any of these restrictions. Generally (though not always), an S corp is smaller than a C corp.
The Bottom Line
S corporations are a common type of legal entity recommended for small businesses. They carry the tax advantages of partnerships while providing the limited liability protections of corporations. Sort of a corporate lite structure, they are easy to establish and simpler to maintain than regular C corporations.
S corps require many of the protocols and incur many of the costs associated with regular corporationsstarting with the fees and formalities associated with incorporation. They are definitely more expensive to establish and time consuming to maintain than LLCs, another popular small-business structure.
Though advantageous for fast-growing firms, they are also subject to certain restrictions on their size and shareholders by the IRS, which could eventually inhibit their expansion. The good news is that its relatively easy for an S corp to change to C corp status, should business conditions prove favorable to do so.
What Is a Futures Market?wild north slot free
A futures market is an auction market in which participants buy and sell commodity and futures contracts for delivery on a specified future date. Futures are exchange-traded derivatives contracts that lock in future delivery of a commodity or security at a price set today.
Examples of futures markets are the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT), the Cboe Options Exchange (Cboe), and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.
Originally, such trading was carried on through open outcry and the use of hand signals in trading pits, located in financial hubs such as New York, Chicago, and London. Throughout the 21st century, like most other markets, futures exchanges have become mostly electronic.
Key Takeaways
A futures market is an exchange where futures contracts are traded by participants who are interested in buying or selling these derivatives.
In the U.S., futures markets are largely regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), with futures contracts standardized by exchanges.
Today, the majority of trading of futures markets occurs electronically, with examples including the CME and ICE.
Unlike most stock markets, futures markets can trade 24 hours a day.
The Basics of a Futures Market
In order to understand fully what a futures market is, its important to understand the basics of futures contracts, the assets traded in these markets.
Futures contracts are made in an attempt by producers and suppliers of commodities to avoid market volatility. These producers and suppliers negotiate contracts with an investor who agrees to take on both the risk and reward of a volatile market.
Futures markets or futures exchanges are where these financial products are bought and sold for delivery at some agreed-upon date in the future with a price fixed at the time of the deal. Futures markets are for more than simply agricultural contracts, and now involve the buying, selling and hedging of financial products and future values of interest rates.
Futures contracts can be made or "created" as long as open interest is increased, unlike other securities that are issued. The size of futures markets (which usually increase when the stock market outlook is uncertain) is larger than that of commodity markets and is a key part of the financial system.
Major Futures Markets
Large futures markets run their own clearinghouses, where they can both make revenue from the trading itself and from the processing of trades after the fact. Some of the biggest futures markets that operate their own clearinghouses include the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the ICE, and Eurex. Other markets like Cboe have outside clearinghouses (Options Clearing Corporation) settle trades.
Most all futures markets are registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the main U.S. body in charge of regulation of futures markets. Exchanges are usually regulated by the nations regulatory body in the country in which they are based.
Futures market exchanges earn revenue from actual futures trading and the processing of trades, as well as charging traders and firms membership or access fees to do business.
Futures Market Example
For instance, if a coffee farm sells green coffee beans at $4 per pound to a roaster, and the roaster sells that roasted pound at $10 per pound and both are making a profit at that price, theyll want to keep those costs at a fixed rate. The investor agrees that if the price for coffee goes below a set rate, the investor agrees to pay the difference to the coffee farmer.
If the price of coffee goes higher than a certain price, the investor gets to keep profits. For the roaster, if the price of green coffee goes above an agreed rate, the investor pays the difference and the roaster gets the coffee at a predictable rate. If the price of green coffee is lower than an agreed-upon rate, the roaster pays the same price and the investor gets the profit.
What Is an Envelope?casino royale song 1967
Envelopes are technical indicators that are typically plotted over a price chart with upper and lower bounds. The most common example of an envelope is a moving average envelope, which is created using two moving averages that define upper and lower price range levels.
Envelopes are commonly used to help traders and investors identify extreme overbought and oversold conditions as well as trading ranges.
Key Takeaways
An envelope, in technical analysis, refers to trend lines plotted both above and below the current price.
An envelope's upper and lower bands are typically generated by a simple moving average and a pre-determined distance above and below the moving averagebut can be created using any number of other techniques.
Many traders react to a sell signal when the price reaches or crosses the upper band and a buy signal when the price reaches or crosses the lower band of an envelope channel.
How Envelopes Work
Traders can interpret envelopes in many different ways, but most use them to define trading ranges. When the price reaches the upper bound, the security is considered overbought, and a sell signal is generated. Conversely, when the price reaches the lower bound, the security is considered oversold, and a buy signal is generated. These strategies are based on mean reversion principles.
The upper and lower bounds are typically defined such that the price tends to stay within the upper and lower thresholds during normal conditions. For a volatile security, traders may use higher percentages when creating the envelope to avoid whipsaw trading signals. Meanwhile, less volatile securities may necessitate lower percentages to create a sufficient number of trading signals.
Envelopes are commonly used in conjunction with other forms of technical analysis to enhance the odds of success. For example, traders may identify potential opportunities when the price moves outside of the envelope and then look at chart patterns or volume metrics to identify when a tipping point is about to occur. After all, securities can trade at overbought or oversold conditions for a prolonged period of time.
Example of an Envelope
Moving average envelopes are the most common type of envelope indicator. Using either a simple or exponential moving average, an envelope is created by defining a fixed percentage to create upper and lower bounds.
Let's take a look at a five percent simple moving average envelope for the S&P 500 SPDR (SPY):
Image by Sabrina Jiang Investopedia 2021
The calculations for this envelope are:
Upper Bound = SMA 50 + SMA 50 0.05 Lower Bound = SMA 50 SMA 50 0.05 Midpoint = SMA 50 where: SMA 50 = 50-day Simple Moving Average \begin{ aligned} &\text{ Upper Bound} = \text{ SMA}_{ 50} + \text{ SMA}_{ 50}*0.05\\ &\text{ Lower Bound} = \text{ SMA}_{ 50} - \text{ SMA}_{ 50}*0.05\\ &\text{ Midpoint} = \text{ SMA}_{ 50}\\ \\ \textbf{ where:}&\\ &\text{ SMA}_{ 50}=\text{ 50-day Simple Moving Average} \\ \end{ aligned} where:Upper Bound=SMA50+SMA500.05Lower Bound=SMA50SMA500.05Midpoint=SMA50SMA50=50-day Simple Moving Average
Traders may have taken a short position in the exchange-traded fund when the price moved beyond the upper range and a long position when the price moved below the lower range. In these cases, the trader would have benefited from the reversion to the mean over the following periods.
Traders may set stop-loss points at a fixed percentage beyond the upper and lower bounds, while take-profit points are often set at the midpoint line.
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Words related to dead march dead march nouna piece of solemn funeral music played to accompany a procession, esp at military funerals Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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What Is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)?mr green live casino
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) are delineated by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as having at least one urbanized area with a minimum population of 50,000.
Key Takeaways
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) are delineated by the U.S. OMB as having at least one urbanized area with a minimum population of 50,000.
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is the formal definition of a region that consists of a city and surrounding communities that are linked by social and economic factors.
Metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) serve to group counties and cities into specific geographic areas for population censuses and compilations of related statistical data.
Understanding Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA)
A metropolitan statistical area (MSA), formerly known as a standard metropolitan statistical area (SMSA), is the formal definition of a region that consists of a city and surrounding communities that are linked by social and economic factors, as established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Metropolitan statistical areas serve to group counties and cities into specific geographic areas for population censuses and compilations of related statistical data. Modern MSAs are configured to represent contiguous geographic areas with a relatively high density of human population.
Metropolitan statistical areas usually consist of a core city with a large population and its surrounding region, which may include several adjacent counties. The area defined by the MSA is typically marked by significant social and economic interaction. People living in outlying rural areas, for example, may commute considerable distances to work, shop, or attend social activities in the urban center.
As of March 6, 2020 (latest information), per the OMB BULLETIN NO. 20-1, there are 392 regions that meet the requirements to be designated as metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the U.S. and Puerto Rico (384 in the United States and eight in Puerto Rico).
In contrast to micropolitan statistical areas, which center on towns and smaller communities with populations between 10,00050,000, MSAs must include a city with a population of at least 50,000.
Some MSAs, such as Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, contain multiple cities with populations exceeding 50,000. The most populous MSA in the country, New York-Newark-Jersey City, spans portions of three adjacent states, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
MSA Data Uses
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses MSA data to analyze labor market conditions within a geographical area. Within a metropolitan statistical area, workers can presumably change jobs without having to move to a new location, creating a relatively stable labor force.
Statistical data about MSAs also helps government officials and businesses review information about per capita income, spending patterns, and unemployment rates. The resulting data can be used to formulate policies designed to stimulate economic growth in the region.
For example, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metropolitan statistical area exerts a significant influence on the economic health of the region. It is the most populous area of Georgia. Companies seeking to relocate or establish new companies in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta region can use statistical data about the area to project the viability of their intended business.
Real estate investors also use MSA data to study housing trends and population movement. In addition, applicants for certain social services may need to prove income levels below a fixed percentage of the median gross income in their metropolitan statistical area to qualify for help, including low-income housing and other forms of support.
What Size Is a Metropolitan Statistical Area?
A metropolitan statistical area consists of a location that has at least one urbanized area and a population of at least 50,000 people.
What Is the Difference Between MSA and CSA?
A metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is an area with at least one urbanized area and a population of at least 50,000 people. This includes the core jurisdiction plus adjacent counties that have a high degree of social and economic relations with the core county. A combined statistical area (CSA) is two or more MSAs or micropolitan statistical areas with employment interchange measures of at least 15. "Employment interchange measures" means "the sum of the percentage of workers living in the smaller entity who work in the larger entity and the percentage of employment in the smaller entity that is accounted for by workers who reside in the larger entity."
What Is the Largest Metro Area in the World?
Tokyo is the largest metro area in the world with a total metropolitan population of 36.5 million.
The Bottom Line
A metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is determined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a location with at least one urbanized area and at least 50,000 people. MSAs are typically cities and their linked surrounding areas. MSAs help to group counties and cities into geographic areas for consensus purposes.
Even now,trust dice casino Barry Manilow recalls his first appearance in Las Vegas.
It didnt go well.
It was horrible, he says in a phone chat.
Manilow was Bette Midlers conductor, piano player and arranger in the early days of both entertainers careers. Midler was a favorite of Johnny Carson, who headlined at the Saharas Congo Room from 1964 to 1980, during breaks from The Tonight Show. Carson invited Midler to open for him during a run in 1972.
She was doing so well, the word of mouth was so great, she was a wonderful talent and funny, so she opened for him, Manilow recalls. And she died there. They just hated her. They were offended by her dirty jokes, they didnt know what song she was singing, they didnt understand what she looked like. Then Johnny would come out and tell them how wonderful she was.
Definition of Exaggeration
We all exaggerate. Sometimes by spicing up stories to make them more fun,caesars sportsbook nj support or simply to highlight our points. Exaggeration is a statement that makes something worse, or better, than it really is. In literature and oral communication, writers and speakers use exaggeration as a literary technique, to give extra stress and drama in a work or speech.
Everyday Examples of Exaggeration
This bicycle is a thousand years old.
He snores louder than a cargo train.
My dog only has cat friends.
He is drowning in his tears.
His brain is the size of a pea.
Types of Exaggeration
Overstatement
It is a statement that slightly exaggerates something to convey the meaning. Cole Porters poem Youre the Topprovides a good example:
Youre the Nile,
Youre the Tower of Pisa,
Youre the smile
Of the Mona Lisa
Here, the poet overstates the actual truth and calls his beloved the river Nile, and the tower of Pisa. He also says that her smile like that of the Mona Lisa.
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is an extreme, extravagant, and impossible exaggeration, such as when Flannery OConnor writes in his essay, Parkers Back:
And the skin on her face was thin and drawn tight like the skin on an onion and her eyes were gray and sharp like the points of two ice picks.
Examples of Exaggeration in Literature
Example #1: A Modest Proposal(By Jonathan Swift)
Jonathan Swift has been notorious for employing exaggeration in his writings, to provide social and political commentary. Through his peculiar story, A Modest Proposal, Swift elevates the politics of society to an extent of barefaced absurdity. In this essay, Swift exaggerates by suggesting that the only way to save Ireland from poverty and overpopulation is to kill the children of the poor families. He further suggests that their meat would serve as a delicacy for the nobles of Ireland. He continues to exaggerate, considering ways and recipes to make their skin into handbags and gloves by saying:
Those who are more thrifty may flay the carcass, the skin of which, artificially dressed, will make admirable gloves for ladies and summer boots for fine gentleman.
In fact, Swift exaggerates tenaciously this idea because the people of Ireland have failed to find a logical solution to reduce poverty and overpopulation.
Example #2: Candida (By Voltaire)
I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our more stupid melancholy propensities, for is there anything more stupid than to be eager to go on carrying a burden which one would gladly throw away, to loathe ones very being and yet to hold it fast, to fondle the snake that devours us until it has eaten our hearts away?
In this example, an old woman tells her story how she faced hard times, exaggerating that she wanted to kill herself a hundred times, calling herself a burden.
Example #3: Song(By John Donne)
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devils foot,
Teach me to hear mermaids singing,
Or to keep off envys stinging,
And find
What wind
Serves to advance an honest mind. If thou best born to strange sights,
Things invisible to see,
Ride ten thousand days and nights,
Till age snow white hairs on thee,
Thou, when thou returnst, wilt tell me,
All strange wonders that befell thee,
And swear,
No where
Lives a woman true, and fair
John Donne uses exaggerated expressions in this poem. The first line of this poem, Go and catch a falling star, employs an impossible undertaking. In the remaining stanzas, the poet urges readers to undertake more unachievable tasks, by using extreme exaggeration. These include finding a mandrake root a mythical root in medieval lore, and hearing mermaids songs.
In the second stanza, Donne suggests taking a journey of ten thousand days and nights, to find a faithful woman. In fact, the entire poem is rich with exaggeratedly doubtful tasks.
Example #4: To His Coy Mistress(By Andrew Marvell)
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast;
But thirty thousand to the rest.
Andrew Marvell has employed exceptional exaggeration in this excerpt to praise his beloved. His purpose of using this literary device is to lay emphasis on his point, rather than deception.
Function of Exaggeration
The function of any type of exaggeration, whether it is overstatement or hyperbole, is to lay emphasis and stress on the given idea, action, feature, or feeling by overstating it. Through exaggeration, writers describe an action or a feature in a remarkable and heightened manner. Sometimes, they also use it sarcastically and ironically to bring humor to their works. In poetry, on the other hand, poets use it by adding images, similes and metaphors.
hybrid rice Photo:VCG
China attaches great attention to global food security and Chinese hybrid rice offers a solution to global food shortages,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a press conference on Tuesday.Mao said that half a century ago, hybrid rice was developed and is now popularized in China, helping China feed nearly one-fifth of the world's population with less than 9 percent of the world's arable land.Hybrid rice has been introduced to nearly 70 countries and regions on five continents in the world, making outstanding contributions to increasing grain production and agricultural development in those areas, providing China's solution to food shortages, she said.China's grain production capacity has steadily increased, with output stabilizing at more than 1.3 trillion jin (650 million tons) for seven consecutive years, reaching a record high of 1.3657 trillion jin in 2021, with per capita grain volume reaching 483 kilograms, achieving basic grain self-sufficiency and food security.Mao noted that China attaches great importance to global food security, which has become an increasingly serious problem.China has listed food security as one of the eight key areas of cooperation in its Global Development Initiative (GDI). China has also proposed initiatives on international food security cooperation under the G20 framework and the eight proposals on establishing cooperative partnerships for commodities and safeguarding global food security.China has also reached an important consensus on strengthening cooperation on food supply, access, utilization and stability with participating parties at the just-concluded 25th China-ASEAN summit meeting.Mao said that China will continue to work with other countries for a shared future, advance the GDI, strengthen cooperation on food security and poverty reduction, and make greater contributions to accelerating the implementation of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and building a world free from hunger and poverty.Global Times
Darwin was among the many scientists that have helped society evolve out of mysticism, superstition and faith.
Darwin was a British Scientist who developed the theory of evolution and natural selection.
As a young man, Darwin was deeply religious and even considered being ordained.
If you drink from a flute, do so from a tulip-shape one to concentrate the notes, Simonetti-Bryan says.
Darwin called the same phenomenon the correlation of growth and geneticist today study what they call pleiotropic effects. Why Aristotle Deserves A Posthumous Nobel|Nick Romeo|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Darwin's view that it may have been a result of sexual selection seems the most probable explanation. Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
As regards the pointed ear of man's probable ancestor, Darwin calls attention to what seems a trace in man of the lost tip. Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris
It is unreasonable to accuse Mr. Darwin (as has been done) of violating the rules of Induction. A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive|John Stuart Mill
Mr. Darwin's remarkable speculation on the Origin of Species is another unimpeachable example of a legitimate hypothesis. A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive|John Stuart Mill
Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves, who is part Chinese, will make his directorial debut in the movie Man of Tai-Chi, which is set to begin filming next year.
The inspiration behind Man of Tai-Chi comes from Keanus love for Chinese martial arts. The actor has already spent two years preparing for the movie.
It is believed that the female lead of the movie has not been decided, but Reeves is considering Chinese actresses Zhang Ziyi and Zhou Xun.
It is widely speculated that Zhang has a higher chance of becoming the female lead than Zhou, because Reeves was impressed with Zhang for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Reeves will be heading to Beijing next month to prepare for the shoot.
Li Sha
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Definition of Euphemism
Euphemism is mill bay casino winnersa figure of speech commonly used to replace a word or phrase that is related to a concept that might make others uncomfortable. Euphemism refers to figurative language designed to replace phrasing that would otherwise be considered harsh, impolite, or unpleasant. This literary device allows for someone to say what they mean indirectly, without using literal language, as a way of softening the impact of what is being said. The reason for this would be for the sake of politeness, discretion, and other means of mitigating communication. Euphemisms are used for certain abstractions such as death, sex, aging, getting fired, bodily functions, and others.
For example, in Disneys The Emperors New Groove, the character Kuzco has decided to fire his advisor Yzma. Kuzco begins by stating directly that she is fired, without using a euphemism. However, when Yzma questions his statement, he replies with a string of euphemisms for someone losing their job:
Um, how else can I say it? Youre being let go. Your departments being downsized. Youre part of an outplacement program. Were going in a different direction. Were not picking up your option. Take your pick. I got more.
This is a humorous and ironic twist on the use of euphemism in that the character uses so many to reinforce what he has already said directly.
Common Examples of Euphemism
There are many common examples of euphemism used in everyday conversation and writing. Here are some well-known uses of this figure of speech:
porcelain throne (toilet)
friends with benefits (friends having sex)
pre-owned (something used)
bun in the oven (pregnancy)
number one (urination)
number two (defecation)
roll in the hay (have sex)
see a man about a horse (go to the bathroom)
senior (old)
gentlemens club (strip club)
economically challenged (poor)
put to sleep (euthanize)
between jobs (unemployed)
upchuck (vomit)
big-boned (overweight)
blowing smoke (lying)
split (divorce)
enhanced interrogation (torture)
well-off (rich)
belch (burp)
adult entertainment (pornography)
correctional facility (prison)
go around the bend (to go insane)
thin on top (bald)
had one too many (drunk)
Examples of Euphemism for Death
A very bitter phenomenon of life, death has been glossed over with several words so that its harshness and bitterness could lessen. Using euphemism to express death and dying may be a way to avoid confronting mortality or to gain some emotional distance from a sad circumstance. Here are some examples of euphemism used to express death or dying:
Passed away
Bought The Farm
Kicked the bucket
Departed
Lost
Gone
Pushing up daisies
Resting in peace
Met untimely demise
Meet the maker
Going to a better place
Six feet under
Sleeping with the fishes
Eternal slumber
Over the rainbow bridge (for pets and animals)
Demise
Eternal rest
Departure to heavenly abode
Martyred
Gone
Slipped away
Have left
Breathing ones last
Gone to meet his Lord
Has gone to meet his Maker
God has called him
Euphemism For Fat
There are several euphemistic expressions used for fat persons. Some of them have been used in the sentences below.
He is selling plus-sized undergarments.
They are looking at real women having curves.
She is just big-boned and nothing else.
There is nothing wrong with him. He is just shorter than his weight.
All of his friends are chubby fellows.
She has become a bit plump after two years.
Although she tries, she is not a model material.
Why are you looking lean challenged?
Euphemisms for Propaganda
Propaganda is often glossed over with general euphemistic terms. For example, Americans often call their missions in foreign countries peacekeeping missions, while the civilians killed during skirmishes are collateral damage. Similarly, several other such terms are used to lessen the harshness of the situation such as neutralizing militants instead of killing freedom fighters grave mistakes instead of mistaken deadly attacks, intense competition instead of rivalry, and contain instead of threatening. Some euphemisms are specifically coined for propaganda to spread a certain perspective such as during the war times. Some of them are given below.
The pilot has dropped bombs, causing collateral damage.
The soldiers have neutralized the ultras.
Most of the players are charging the opposite goalpost.
They are in his good books these days.
Euphemism for Attraction
Some euphemisms are specifically used for attractive persons. Some of them are used in the sentences below.
She is full of charm even though in rags.
They are completely bewitched by her aura.
The beguilement of guests lies in her beauty.
The leader has such charisma that the audience were mesmerized.
He is revealing some sort of magnetism.
Some other such words are sexiness, personal appeal, and charm.
Euphemism for Physically Challenged
Challenged
Handicapped
Differently-abled
Disabled
Disability
Special people
Differently-abled person
Out of commission
Disarmed
Infirm
Invalid
Out of ones feet
Dog tired.
Euphemism in Macbeth
Some of the best euphemisms given in Macbeth are as follows.
No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest. (Act-I, Scene-III) Stay, you imperfect speakers. (Act I, Scene-III) His wonders and his praises do contend Which should be thine or his. (Act-I, Scene-III) According to the gift which bounteous nature Hath in him closed. (Act-III, Scene-III.)
These are some euphemisms such as out bosom interest, imperfect speakers, wonders and praises and bounteous nature.
Euphemism For Stubborn
Hell-bent
Inexorable
Persistent
Resolved
Set
Single-minded
Tenacious
Unflinching
Determined
Note: However, some could have negative connotations, depending on the usage and context.
Famous Examples of Euphemism
Euphemism is also found in many famous examples of movie and television quotes, drama, speeches, lyrics, and prose. Here are some famous examples of euphemism and to what they refer:
Perhaps we have been guilty of some terminological inexactitudes. (Winston Churchill, not telling the exact truth)
The question isare you still master of your domain? (Seinfeldepisode about masturbation)
I brought juice boxes! (Will and Graceepisode, boxes of wine)
Oh, fudge. Only I didnt say fudge. (A Christmas Story, profane word)
The love shack is a little old place where we can get together. (Love Shack, B52s, rendezvous place)
Gimme some sugar. (Evil Dead, kiss)
Oh no, shes all there. Too much there is the problem. (Driving Miss Daisy, an older womans mental fitness)
I slipped my moorings. (David Petraeus, extramarital affair)
Another bride, another June / Another sunny honeymoon / Another season, another reason / For makin whoopee (Makin Whoopee, Ella Fitzgerald, having sex)
At least Im housebroken. (The Big Lebowski, uses the bathroom properly)
Difference Between Euphemism and Political Correctness
Some people may have trouble distinguishing euphemism from political correctness. However, there are distinct differences between the two. For example, whereas people used to use the phrase disabled person, it is now considered politically correct to say person with disabilities. This change in phrasing is not meant to be euphemistic or an indirect way of expressing something unpleasant or undesirable. Instead, politically correct phrasing is meant to express something in a more direct and respectful way.
Political correctness differs from euphemism in that it is not a figure of speech and does not utilize figurative language. In fact, political correctness is considered avoidance, almost to an extreme, of expressions or actions that people perceive as exclusive, marginal, or insulting to others who face discrimination or disadvantage of some kind. Therefore, the purpose of politically correct phrasing is not to replace words with others that are less offensive or inflammatory. Instead, the goal of political correctness is to avoid such indirect expression altogether.
Writing Euphemism
Euphemism is a useful literary device for writers. This figure of speech allows a writer to address potentially sensitive, offensive, or unpleasant subjects in a more delicate or less damaging manner than literal words or phrasings would be. In addition, euphemisms can add to the poetic nature of writing as a means of describing something in a more figurative manner. They can also elevate a writers prose.
Its important for writers to understand that overuse of euphemisms can be confusing and lose their meaning for readers. In addition, depending on the tone of a written work, euphemisms can actually be more crass, unpleasant, or offensive than direct and literal wording. Therefore, euphemisms should be carefully and appropriately selected by writers in order to be effective. Here are some benefits of incorporating euphemism into writing:
Communicate Meaning for Painful Subjects
Writers often tackle subjects that can be painful, such as death or heartbreak. Euphemism is an excellent literary device for writers, and poets, in particular, to communicate meaning when it comes to these painful subjects. Figurative language through euphemism can allow readers to feel less confronted as they might by harsh, literal wording. As a result, meaning is enhanced through the figure of speech.
Incorporate Humor for Reader
Euphemism is often inherently humorous. In attempting to replace wording or phrasing that is impolite or offensive, euphemisms can range from being unclear to nonsensical. They have no meaning as stand-alone phrases without the context of the literal abstraction. However, euphemisms can be a way for writers to incorporate the ridiculous in their writing as humor for the reader.
Use of Euphemism in Sentences
Our beloved teacher, Joseph has left us for his heavenly abode today morning. Several rebels were wiped out in the forces action in self-defense. More than two ultras were neutralized. Two air force fighters were involved in surgical strikes. His father passed away yesterday.
Examples of Euphemism in Literature
Euphemism is an effective literary device. Here are some examples of euphemism and how it adds to the significance of well-known literary works:
Example 1: The Wife of Baths Prologue from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
In wyfhod I wol use myn instrument (In wifehood I will use my instrument) As frely as my Makere hath it sent. (As freely as my Maker has it sent.)
In this section of The Canterbury Tales, the Wife of Bath uses a euphemism to refer to her sexuality as a woman. The Wife says she will use her instrument in wifehood, which is figurative language for her lust, physical attributes and nature, and sexual power. Chaucers utilization of this euphemism makes the situation less shocking due to the fact that women were meant to be pure and chasteespecially in wifehood.
Ironically, even though Chaucer uses euphemism as a literary device to avoid the Wife directly describing her instrument of sexual power, he invokes a sense of the divine associated with this socially impolite and scandalous assertion of female sexuality. In the second line, the Wife indicates that her Maker, meaning Creator, has sent this instrument freely. This line underscores the seemingly useless purpose of euphemism in describing something natural. In addition, it underscores the idea that a creator would not freely give someone, including a woman, an attribute that isnt intended for use.
Example 2: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Whatd you do? I said. Give her the time in Ed Bankys goddam car?
In this quote from Salingers novel, the main character Holden Caulfield is questioning one of his fellow students, Stradlater, about his date with a girl named Jane. Holden essentially grew up with Jane, and he knows that Stradlater is something of a sexual predator when it comes to girls. However, Holden cant bring himself to directly ask Stradlater what happened on their date, and especially whether Stradlater and Jane had sex.
Therefore, Holden uses the euphemism give her the time to indirectly indicate what he wants to know. In addition, this euphemism is helpful as a literary device for the reader who wants to know the same information as Holden. By utilizing a euphemism rather than asking outright about the sexual encounter, both Holden and the reader can hope that Stradlater will provide an answer.
Example 3: Afterwards by Thomas Hardy
If I pass during some nocturnal blackness, mothy and warm,
When the hedgehog travels furtively over the lawn,
One may say, He strove that such innocent creatures should come to no harm,
But he could do little for them; and now he is gone.
In his poem, Hardy uses two euphemisms to reference death. The poet refers to his own death by stating If I pass and then refers to how others might reference his death with the phrase now he is gone.' These euphemisms add to the poetic value of this stanza. For example, utilizing the word pass as a figure of speech rather than the literal term die, underscores the feeling in the poem of the passage of time in addition to the passage of the poet.
The use of gone as a euphemistic figure of speech reinforces the permanence of death as a lack of physical presence. However, this figurative language also suggests that though the poet is physically gone, he is still remembered by others. As a result, the poet lives on in the memory of others in the poem and is immortalized by the poem itself.
Synonyms of Euphemism
There are a few synonyms of euphemism but not all words express the same meanings such as polite term, mild term, indirect term, understatement, underplaying, politeness, genteelism, or coy term. None of them, however, is the exact substitute for euphemism.
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Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen,gala bingo slots promo code chair of 2012 ASEAN, said Wednesday China is a major strategic partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) and Cambodia.
Answering reporters questions about the relations between ASEAN and China, the premier criticized some analysts who alleged that China and some ASEAN countries are preparing for a possible war.
That is a completely wrong understanding, in contrast, the ASEAN leaders or ASEAN are all prepared to strengthen strategic partnership of ASEAN and China, he told a press conference after the conclusion of the 20th ASEAN Summit.
Dont forget that ASEAN and China are the strategic partners and China is the ASEANs largest trading partner, he said.
China has substantially helped ASEAN, he said, adding that annually China provides credit to ASEAN member states.
He recalled that during the ASEAN-China Summit in Indonesia last year, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao announced that China will grant ASEAN a credit of 10 billion U.S. dollars. Within the amount, 4 billion U.S. dollars is for concessional loans, and Cambodia has also received it for infrastructure development.
On Cambodia-China ties, Hun Sen said the two countries raised their relations of good neighbors, good friends and good partners to comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation in 2010.
He said Chinas loans to Cambodia are very important to develop roads, bridges, irrigation system, and electricity, which are the key elements to boost economic growth.
He noted that many Chinese investors are in Cambodia with their investments up to 9 billion U.S. dollars.
On some media reports that Chinese President Hu Jintaos visit to Cambodia ahead of the ASEAN Summit was aimed to put pressure on Cambodia on the issue of South China Sea, the premier said that President Hus visit was to further enhance Cambodia-China ties, not pertinent to the ASEAN Summit.
During his visit here, Hu Jintao did not tell me that I have to do this or that; it is not in the practice of Chinese policy. I have been working with China for more than 20 years, I have never faced, never heard that any Chinese leaders ordered Cambodia to do this or that, he said.
Terming as silly media speculation that China had made Cambodia keep the South China Sea issue off the summits agenda, Sen criticized those analysts, saying that they were unaware of the procedures of ASEAN.
There is no hindrance from China to work with ASEAN to solve the South China Sea issue. It cannot be solved with an outside country and Cambodia will resist any attempt by such a nation as well, he said, adding that economic ties between the two countries showed Chinas non-conditional nature in handling international relations.
He said China is a big country, but always respects the decision of other countries unlike some countries which cut assistance when Cambodia did not do as they wish.
Cambodia is a small country, but it is welcomed by China, it is a great honor for us, he said.
Hun Sen said that during the visit of Hu Jintao, the two countries vowed to double their bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 from 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.
In the past, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and I vowed to push the two-way trade volume to 2.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, but just in 2011, we had achieved that targetit was four years earlier than the target, he said.
We have seen the momentum of the bilateral trade between Cambodia and China, so the two countries decided to promote the bilateral trade to 5 billion in 2017.
The development of China brings prosperity to all countries in ASEAN, the region and the world, said the premier.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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What Is an Offtake Agreement?palms hotel las vegas most expensive room
An offtake agreement is an arrangement between a producer and a buyer to purchase or sell portions of the producer's upcoming goods. It is normally negotiated before the construction of a factory or facility to secure a market and revenue stream for its future output.
Offtake agreements are typically used to help the selling company acquire project financing for future construction, expansion projects, or new equipment through the promise of future income and proof of existing demand for the goods.
Key Takeaways
An offtake agreement is an agreement to buy or sell, in advance, some of a producer's goods that haven't yet been made, making it easier for producers to obtain financing.
This type of agreement may be negotiated far in advance, often prior to construction of manufacturing facilities and before actual production has begun.
Offtake agreements can help buyers lock in a price and guarantee supply of a product in anticipation of future demand.
Offtake Agreement
Understanding Offtake Agreements
1:11
Offtake agreements are legally binding contracts related to transactions between buyers and sellers. The provisions usually specify the purchase price for the goods and the delivery date, even though the agreement is reached before any goods are produced and any ground is broken on a facility. However, companies can usually back out of an offtake agreement through negotiations with the other party and with the payment of a fee.
Offtake agreements are frequently used in natural resource development, where the capital costs to extract resources are significant, and the company wants a guarantee that some of its products will be sold.
The offtake agreement serves an important role for the producer. If lenders can see the company has clients and customers lined up before production begins, they are more likely to approve the extension of a loan or credit. So offtake agreements make it easier to obtain financing to construct a facility.
Benefits of Offtake Agreements
In addition to providing a guaranteed market and source of revenue for a company's product, an offtake agreement allows the producer/seller to guarantee a minimum level of profit for its investment. Since offtake agreements often help secure funds for the creation or expansion of a facility, the seller can negotiate a price that secures a minimum level of return on the associated goods, thereby lowering the risk associated with the investment.
Offtake agreements may provide a benefit to buyers as well, functioning as a way to secure goods at a particular price. That means prices are fixed for the buyer before the manufacture of them begins. Doing this may act as a hedge against future price changes, especially if a product becomes popular or a resource becomes scarce, causing demand to outweigh supply. It also provides a guarantee that the requested assets will be delivered: fulfillment of the order is considered the seller's obligation under the terms of the offtake agreement.
Offtake agreements also include default clauses that outline the recourseincluding penaltieseither party has in case there is a violation of one or multiple clauses.
Special Considerations for Offtake Agreements
Most offtake agreements include force majeure clauses. These clauses allow the buyer or seller to cancel the contract if certain events occur deemed outside the control of either party and if one puts unnecessary hardship on the other. Force majeure clauses often provide protection against the negative impact of certain acts of nature, such as flooding or wildfires.
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Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville
B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College
There are several methods of defining acids and bases. While these definitions don't contradict each other, they do vary in how inclusive they are. The most common definitions of acids and bases are Arrhenius acids and bases, Brnsted-Lowry acids and bases, and Lewis acids and bases. Antoine Lavoisier, Humphry Davy, and Justus Liebig also made observations regarding acids and bases, but didn't formalize definitions.
Svante Arrhenius Acids and Bases
The Arrhenius theory of acids and bases dates back to 1884, building on his observation that salts, such as sodium chloride, dissociate into what he termedionswhen placed into water.
acids produce H + ions in aqueous solutions
ions in aqueous solutions bases produce OH - ions in aqueous solutions
ions in aqueous solutions water required, so only allows for aqueous solutions
only protic acids are allowed; required to produce hydrogen ions
only hydroxide bases are allowed
Johannes Nicolaus Brnsted - Thomas Martin Lowry Acids and Bases
The Brnsted or Brnsted-Lowry theory describes acid-base reactions as an acid releasing a proton and a base accepting a proton. While the acid definition is pretty much the same as that proposed by Arrhenius (a hydrogen ion is a proton), the definition of what constitutes a base is much broader.
acids are proton donors
bases are proton acceptors
aqueous solutions are permissible
bases besides hydroxides are permissible
only protic acids are allowed
Gilbert Newton Lewis Acids and Bases
The Lewis theory of acids and bases is the least restrictive model. It doesn't deal with protons at all, but deals exclusively with electron pairs.
acids are electron pair acceptors
bases are electron pair donors
least restrictive of the acid-base definitions
Properties of Acids and Bases
Robert Boyle described the qualities of acids and bases in 1661. These characteristics may be used to easily distinguish between the two sets up chemicals without performing complicated tests:
Acids
taste sour (don't taste them!)the word 'acid' comes from the Latin acere, which means 'sour'
acids are corrosive
acids change litmus (a blue vegetable dye) from blue to red
their aqueous (water) solutions conduct electric current (are electrolytes)
react with bases to form salts and water
evolve hydrogen gas (H 2 ) upon reaction with an active metal (such as alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, zinc, aluminum)
Common Acids
citric acid (from certain fruits and veggies, notably citrus fruits)
ascorbic acid (vitamin C, as from certain fruits)
vinegar (5% acetic acid)
carbonic acid (for carbonation of soft drinks)
lactic acid (in buttermilk)
Bases
taste bitter (don't taste them!)
feel slippery or soapy (don't arbitrarily touch them!)
bases don't change the color of litmus; they can turn red (acidified) litmus back to blue
their aqueous (water) solutions conduct an electric current (are electrolytes)
react with acids to form salts and water
Common Bases
detergents
soap
lye (NaOH)
household ammonia (aqueous)
Strong and Weak Acids and Bases
The strength of acids and bases depends on their ability to dissociate or break into their ions in water. A strong acid or strong base completely dissociates (e.g., HCl or NaOH), while a weak acid or weak base only partially dissociates (e.g., acetic acid).
The acid dissociation constant and base dissociation constant indicates the relative strength of an acid or base. The acid dissociation constant K a is the equilibrium constant of an acid-base dissociation:
HA + H 2 O A-+ H 3 O+
where HA is the acid and A-is the conjugate base.
K a = [A-][H 3 O+] / [HA][H 2 O]
This is used to calculate pK a , the logarithmic constant:
pk a = - log 10 K a
The larger the pK a value, the smaller the dissociation of the acid and the weaker the acid. Strong acids have a pK a of less than -2.
Watch Now: What are the Differences Between Acids and Bases?
Definition of Etymology
Etymology means to find the roots of a word. It is ref dbd01 bet poker stars websitemostly used as a noun, etymology, with its adjective, etymological. As such as it is not a regular literary device; rather, it is a linguistic term and is mostly concerned with the roots, history, evolution, and usage of the words with their semantic implications used during different periods of history.
As a linguistic term or device, it means the investigation of a word and its meanings through history. The reason is that every word has a unique origin, root, history, evolutionary meanings, and above all its topical usage. Therefore, etymology provides full details about the history of the word and its possible usage to provide a guideline for its future usage. In this respect, etymology is not a literary device.
Examples of Etymology in Literature
Example # 1
Word Origin and How We Know Them by Anatoly Liberman
The etymology of breakfast is slightly less trivial than that of Sunday and holiday. (Holiday and breakfast, from brekefast, were trisyllabic words, and in such words the first vowel was shortened; this explains their modern pronunciation.)
This passage occurs in the popular book of Anatoly Liberman. It presents the word etymology and states how it works. Although the passage just traces the origin of breakfast, it demonstrates the effectiveness of this term in explaining the meanings of a word.
Example #2
The Oxford Guide to Etymology by Philip Durkin
Etymology forms part of the wider field of historical linguistic research, that is to say of attempts to explain how and why languages have changed and developed in the ways that they have. However, it does not concern itself exclusively with a particular linguistic level, as does for instance historical phonology (the study of speech sounds and of their deployment in ways which convey distinct meaning), historical morphology (the study of word forms as used to convey grammatical relationships), historical semantics (the study of the meaning of words), or historical syntax (the study of the meaning relations between words within a sentence).
This passage explains the full detail of etymology. It tells that this term is mostly used in historical linguistics and that it explains how language changes over time. The passage also presents different aspects of this study and explains how meanings of a word are unearthed through different investigations. In other words, this passage proves that etymology is not just a term, but a full study.
Example #3
Etymology by Yakov Malkiel
In different times and at different places, etymology has meant slightly for entirely different things to the few or many people who, under varying sets of circumstances, have used that word, applying it to their own spheres of interests. Basically, etymology always meant something approximating to the paraphrase original meaning, or use, of a given lexical unit or proper name. But the cultural implications of this lame descriptive statement can be entirely different. The core meaning of a word can be imagined as something wholly independent of the passage of time and endowed with magic messages or mystic overtones.
Yakov Malkiel has beautifully shed light on the use of etymology and how it shows its transformations. He is of the view that different people have used etymology for different purposes that suit their interests., and adds that it originally means to do approximating paraphrasing that is close to the original meanings. He also sheds light on its core adding that it helps in formulating magic or mystic overtones.
Example #4
Dictionary of English Etymology, Volume 1 by Hensleigh Wedgwood (M.A.)
Etymology is still at the stage where an arbitrary theory is accepted as the basis of scientific explanation. It is supposed that all language is developed from roots or skeletons of articulate sound, endowed with distinct and often very abstract meaning, but incapable of being actually used in speech, until properly clothed in grammatical forms.
Hensleigh Wedgwood has beautifully shed light on the word etymology, placing it in the theoretical perspective. He is of the view that it means that language evolves by giving good meanings to merely skeletons that have nothing but become overloaded with meanings with used judiciously.
Example #5
Forgotten Paths: Etymology and the Allegorical Mindset by Davide Del Bello
Contours are not quite so sharp if one looks at the role etymology is granted today. To be sure, the number of current books involving word origin collections, dictionaries, lexicons would seem to indicate that etymology thrives. And such lasting popular interest in etymology reflects an ongoing interest on the part of lecturers, critics, writers, lawyers, historians, and politicians, who consistently refer to etymology to further their claims. Etymologizing is bound to feature prominently whenever definitions are at stake; not only, but also, and more vehemently in scientific, legal, and political arenas.
Davide De Bello beautifully presents the case of etymology, stating that several books are involved in dilating upon etymology and that it has aroused the interest of academics. In fact, it is because it has rather become a full epistemic driving for the people after which learning about it has widened. In other words, it has become a field but its use as a rhetorical device has become limited.
Functions of Etymology
Despite its limited function in literary texts, etymology helps the readers a great deal in understanding the true meanings of different words. Readers apply different etymological strategies to reach the message that authors convey in their literary pieces. Interestingly, no writer consciously employs etymology as its constant application not only mars the very purpose of writing but also makes it boring and tedious. A reader needs flow and suspense that is hard to come by with the excessive use of etymology. Therefore, it is only used when the context is suitable.
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What Is a Sale?sims slots free slot machines
A sale is a transaction between two or more parties that involves the exchange of tangible or intangible goods, services, or assets for money. In some cases, assets other than cash are paid to a seller.
In the financial markets, a sale can also refer to an agreement that a buyer and seller make regarding a financial security, its price, and specific arrangements for its delivery.
Regardless of the context, a sale is essentially a contract between a seller of a particular good or service and a buyer who is willing to pay for that good or service.
Key Takeaways
A sale is a transaction between two or more parties in which goods or services are exchanged for money or other assets.
In the financial markets, a sale is an agreement between a buyer and seller involving the price of a security and its delivery for agreed-upon compensation.
An item or service transferred by one party to another without an exchange of payment is not considered to be a sale, but rather a gift or a donation.
Sales occur 24 hours a day, across the globe, in all kinds of industries and are a major part of the essential structure of commerce.
A sale can also refer to the reduction in the price of a product or service in an attempt to attract buyers.
What Is a Sale?
How a Sale Works
1:24
A sale occurs when a seller of goods or services transfers ownership of, and title to, a good or service to a buyer in exchange for a specific amount of money or other specified assets. To complete a sale, both the buyer and the seller must agree to the specific terms of the transaction. These terms can include the price of the good to be sold, the quantity of the good, the method of delivery, and time of delivery.
Importantly, the good or service that is being offered must be available to exchange. The seller must have the legal authority to transfer the item or service to the buyer.
If one party transfers a good or service to another without receiving compensation in return, the transaction is more likely to be treated as a gift or a donation, particularly from an income tax perspective.
Every day, millions of people take part in countless sales transactions across the globe. This creates a constant flow of assets and forms the backbone of the world's economies.
Types of Sales
The sale of goods and services within a retail market is a common form of sales transaction. This type of sale might involve a neighborhood business such as a grocery store or a laundromat. It may take place at a big box store or movie theater.
Sales of investment products by financial services institutions are considered to involve more complex exchanges of value. They can take place online or at a bricks-and-mortar location.
A sale can also occur between individuals. For instance, at a yard sale.
Another example of a more complicated sales transaction involving items of great value is the purchase of a vehicle from a car dealership.
Sales can also be transacted between businesses. For example, a raw materials provider might sell available materials to a business that uses those raw materials to produce consumer goods.
To complete a sale, both the buyer and seller must be deemed competent. The good or service in question must be legally available to buy and the seller must have the authority to transfer the item to the buyer. Both parties must agree on the terms of the sale.
Ways to Pay
When people ask the question "What is a sale?" their inquiry may involve the ways to pay. In general, there are three main ways to make the payment of money required in a sales transaction.
An individual or business can take actual cash from a buyer at the time of a sales transaction. They then provide the product or service to the customer.
Buyers may be able to pay on credit. That means the buyer pays sometime after the sale is made. Usually in such cases, the product is still presented to the buyer at the time of the transaction.
Buyers may pay for a good or service in advance, before they've received the actual product or service. A magazine subscription is an example of paying in advance for a product or service.
Example of a Sale
When an individual purchases their first home, a sale occurs when the closing documents are signed, money exchanges hands, and the new owner gets the key.
However, there are various aspects to such a sale that lead up to that final, legal exchange of money for property, and beyond. These include the would-be buyer's initial contact with a realtor and meeting with a representative at a lending institution to obtain financing in the form of a mortgage.
Additional sales can extend from an initial sale process. For example, once a home loan is made to the buyer, the lending institution may then sell that loan to another individual as an investment. What's more, an investment manager could conduct sales by trading bundles of mortgages, called mortgage-backed securities, and other kinds of debt financing.
What Are the Basic Elements of a Sale?
The elements of a sale might involve the request by a consumer to buy an item of interest from a seller. The seller could provide information about the product to the buyer, including price, quality, any warranty, a return policy. The buyer and seller could then agree on the terms of the sale. At that point, the seller would indicate the total amount of money required for the purchase. The buyer would provide payment and then take possession of the item.
When Is a Sale Complete?
Normally, a sale is considered complete when the agreed-upon payment for an item is provided by a buyer and accepted by a seller, and the item is presented to the buyer.
Can a Sale Involve Something Other Than an Exchange of Goods?
Yes, a sale can also refer to the reduction in the price of particular goods or services by a seller in order to make those goods or services more attractive financially to potential buyers.
The Bottom Line
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a sale as the transfer of ownership of, and title to, property from one person to another for a price.
Millions of sales take place every day. The many types of sales transactions made support the financial health of consumers and businesses. Sales drive the well-being of economies and nations all over the world. They are the bedrock of successful commerce.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un (L), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol Ju (), visit the Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un (2nd R Front), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol Ju (1st R Front), visit the Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un (R), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol Ju (L), visit the Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un (R) enjoys himself at the Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK.
DPRK top leader Kim Jong Un (F), accompanied by his wife Ri Sol Ju (L), visit the Rungna Peoples Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, capital of DPRK.
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World War II is still a long way off, but the seeds of conflict are already being sown on the continent.
The Chief who went through World War I and then managed to get back into World War II.
My father was in an intelligence unit for the U.S. Navy, as he had been in World War II.
As Sutton shows in his book, the important shift took place gradually, from the end of the Civil War until World War II.
In particular, it applies to immigrants who lost their U.S. citizenship after their involvement in World War II was discovered. Nazis, Sunscreen, and Sea Gull Eggs: Congress in 2014 Was Hella Productive|Ben Jacobs|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Its culture however was looked upon with the same disapproval by Charles II. Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
We now proceed to learn the eighteen kings intermediate between William II. Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
Buckles were first worn as shoe fastenings in the reign of Charles II. Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
Leo II, pope, died; an able and resolute pontiff; established the kiss of peace at the mass, and the use of holy water. The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
(EyesonSci) Exclusive visit to the construction site of China's science facility 'CRAFT' Pub Date:23-09-19 10:38 Source:Xinhua HEFEI, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China is building a research facility to incubate core technologies used in power generation of fusion energy that powers the sun. The facility in the pipeline, called "Comprehensive Research Facility for Fusion Technology" (CRAFT), is a platform on which engineers develop and test fusion energy reactor's key components. It is expected to be finished in 2025. Editor:Zheng Chen
Related News Update: China's Tianzhou-5 cargo spacecraf... Chip stocks soar after new phone's tech leap China's commercial rocket launches 4 satel... GLOBALink | Smart China Expo 2023: Oversea...
Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo will head to Russia to hold a seventh round of strategic security talks.
He has been invited by Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. Thelos alamitos race tips Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the announcement on Monday.
During the trip, Dai will also pay an official visit to Mongolia at the invitation of the Mongolian government. His trip to Russia and Mongolia will last from Aug. 19 to 25.
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Definition of Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is the north carolina lotterya literary device that can be defined as a technique in which a writer ascribes human traits, ambitions, emotions, or entire behaviors to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena, or objects.
Difference Between Anthropomorphism and Personification
Anthropomorphism is also a type of personification that gives human characteristics to non-humans or objects, especially animals. However, there is a slight difference between these two. Personification is an act of giving human characteristics to animals or objects to create imagery, while anthropomorphism aims to make an animal or object behave and appear like it is a human being.
Pinocchio, the famous wooden doll, was anthropomorphized when he was given the ability to talk, walk, think, and feel like real boy. Fables and fairy tales usually have characters that can serve as anthropomorphism examples.
Examples of Anthropomorphism in Literature
Example #1: The Jaguar(By Ted Hughes)
But who runs like the rest past these arrives
At a cage where the crowd stands, stares, mesmerized,
As a child at a dream, at a dream, at a jaguar hurrying enraged
Through prison darkness after the drills of his eyes On a short fierce fuse. Not in boredom
The eye satisfied to be blind in fire,
By the bang of blood in the brain deaf the ear
He spins from the bars, but theres no cage to him More than to the visionary his cell:
His stride is wildernesses of freedom:
The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel.
Over the cage floor the horizons come.
This poem is based on a jaguar, a fierce animal. Hughes is showing the world to his readers through the eyes of a jaguar that is thinking like a human.
Example #2: Animal Farm (By George Orwell)
Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night. But I will come to the dream later. I have something else to say first. I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall, and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough.
Animal Farm is one of the perfect examples of anthropomorphism. In this excerpt, one of the pigs named Old Major is delivering a political speech to his fellows against the evils imposed by the human rulers. Here, Old Major is instigating them to rise to rebellion against a tyrant human. This entire use is a good example of anthropomorphism.
Example #3: A Dogs Tale(By Mark Twain)
My father was a St. Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian. This is what my mother told me, I do not know these nice distinctions myself. To me they are only fine large words meaning nothing. My mother had a fondness for such; she liked to say them, and see other dogs look surprised and envious, as wondering how she got so much education When I was well grown, at last, I was sold and taken away, and I never saw her again. She was broken-hearted, and so was I, and we cried; but she comforted me as well as she could
The protagonist of this story is a dog, which is describing his life as a puppy. The story is told from the loyal pets perspective. The dog possesses human traits like emotions, shame, fear, anguish, happiness, and hopelessness.
Function of Anthropomorphism
There are various reasons for using anthropomorphism. The primary one is to make a wider appeal to the readers. With the use of objects or animals, the story can become visually appealing and non-threatening to readers. Hence, it could attract the attention of a wide audience (including children) by presenting animated characters in tales and animated movies. In literature, it serves as an effective tool for creating political and social satires. Hence, it has a wider scope than merely to entertain children.
What Is a Reverse ICO?beats wireless earbuds android
A reverse initial coin offering (ICO) is a method used by existing, established real-world businesses to issue a token to decentralize the business ecosystem, raise funds, and get into cryptocurrency. These enterprises have existing products and services and they cater to real-world customers.
Essentially, a reverse ICO acts like an initial public offering (IPO) allowing an existing enterprise to launch cryptocurrency tokens and seek funds through crowdsourcing. In the last several years, this similarity has prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to argue that token issues through ICOs may be securities and not currencies.
Key Takeaways
Reverse ICOs are token sales issued by companies that are already going concerns, in contrast to traditional ICOs that raise funds for a startup for the first time.
During the height of the crypto bubble in 2017, reverse ICOs seemed like a way to raise capital without government oversight.
The U.S. SEC restricts the definition of what can be an unregulated ICO and what is an IPO by another name.
Understanding Reverse ICOs
The process for a reverse ICO works exactly the same way as for a standard ICO. Often, a company launches an ICO when it is looking to secure funding. The company generates crowdsourced funding by selling tokens to investors in a way that is similar to an IPO. The major difference between an ICO and a reverse ICO is that, in the latter case, the company issuing the token is already well-established in another business area and offers a crypto token for sale to raise cash and to enter into the decentralized realm of the digital currency world.
Companies can launch reverse ICOs for a variety of reasons. Pre-existing companies can sell tokens to interested investors as a way to decentralize business, to launch a new business line in the blockchain industry, or simply to raise funds. Because some IPOs are available only to accredited investors, they have a smaller pool of potential funders as compared with a reverse ICO.
Potential Issues With Reverse ICOs
While there are numerous potential benefits to be had for a business launching a reverse ICO, there are also potential issues, some of them significant.
The use of reverse ICO tokens as money is somewhat dubious, as businesses conducting reverse ICOs were able to grow and thrive using conventional fiat currency. The possibility that every business would ask you to convert your fiat money into their proprietary tokenas if you were required to load up your Starbucks gift card before you were permitted to buy a cup of coffeeis not practical to put it generously.
Another problem with reverse ICOs is how to understand their tokens. Are they a medium of exchange, or are they securities? This was the problem the Kik messaging app had when it launched a reverse ICO in 2017 that raised $100 million. The SEC sued Kik over the process, alleging that the company sold tokens to U.S. investors without properly registering the offer and sale.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission brought a suit against Kik claiming that it misled investors because their reverse ICO was actually just another form of security like a stock. But unlike a stock, there is no return on investment in Kik's coin Kin. In 2020, a federal district court entered a final judgment on the SEC's lawsuit against Kik. Among other penalties, Kik was required to pay a $5 million penalty.
The SEC filed a suit against Kik Interactive over the latter's reverse ICO of the Kin token. The suit alleged that Kik sold tokens without properly registering the sale of securities. This suit may have deterred other companies from launching reverse ICOs.
Reverse ICOs: A Fad During the Crypto Bubble
During the height of the crypto bubble in 2017 and 2018, companies that said they were adding blockchain to their businesses increased in value. A notorious example from early 2018 is the Long Island Iced Tea Corp. that changed its name to Long Island Blockchain and saw a huge spike in the value of its shares that were listed on the Nasdaq, despite the fact that the company had no apparent business in blockchain. It has since been de-listed and some of its top shareholders have been charged with insider trading.
Because existing businesses face regulatory hurdles if they want to raise capital by selling stock and banks often have stringent requirements that businesses prove their good credit and viability, the reverse ICO seemed like an easy, unregulated way to raise money with few strings and no oversight. The temptation to do so was even stronger when parody coins like PonziCoin that openly warned investors that the ICO was a scam still made an estimated $250,000.
The SEC went so far as to create a fake ICO page selling a made-up shitcoin called Howeycoina play on the Howey test the SEC uses to determine what constitutes a securityto teach unwary investors to read the fine print before they invest. The agency's suit against Kik may be one reason why the reverse ICO market has dried up since the bursting of the crypto bubble.
The Future of Reverse ICOs
The possibility of a reverse ICO isn't totally dead, however; though Meta's (formerly Facebook) reverse ICO proposal for its Libra token ran into resistance from states and central banks when it was announced in 2019; and as of 2022, it appears that the Libra project appears to have been postponed indefinitely.
Other organizations may also find value in creating a blockchain-based token system that doesn't appear to be an illegal or legally gray attempt to dodge securities regulation, but the appeal of reverse ICOs as they existed in 2017 has largely worn off.
What is a reverse ICO?
A reverse ICO refers to the launch and sale of a cryptocurrency token by a pre-existing company. Reverse ICOs can be used to generate funds for the company, to facilitate decentralizing through the use of a new crypto token, or to expand into the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries.
How does a reverse ICO differ from a regular ICO?
A reverse ICO and an ICO are essentially quite similar. Both involve the launch and sale of a new cryptocurrency token. The company launching the token is what distinguishes these two events: a company launching an ICO is typically just starting out, while one putting on a reverse ICO is usually well-established and looking for additional funds or a new business line.
What are some issues with reverse ICOs?
Reverse ICOs can be fraught with potential legal troubles. The SEC has said that reverse ICOs may constitute the sale of securities and that proper registration is required. During the height of the cryptocurrency craze, some companies used reverse ICOs or investor interest in blockchain more broadly to generate quick funding without necessarily providing an apparent business service relating to the crypto industry. For these reasons, among others, reverse ICOs have become significantly less popular in recent years.
Roxana Maracineanuis the current French sports minister, and Maracineanu publicly expressed the fact that French domestic football is in need of a, radical and immediate,changes after there was a troubling incident with fans on last Sunday, November 21st, 2021 during a league contest featuring Lyon and Marseille. This problematic experience was just the most recent of many alarming violent episodes that have occurred during games in the French League lately as there have been a whole series of these type of incidents.
The game between Marseille and Lyon last Sunday had to abruptly be stopped following an incident in which a spectator hit the Marseille player, Dimitri Payet, in the head with a full water bottle during just the 4th minute of game time during this highly anticipated match.
There have been other problematic violent issues that were comparable to the above mentioned occurrence last Sunday in France, and this type of behavior has tarnished the reputation of the domestic football landscape ever since the beginning of the current soccer season. Several of the many previous altercations have involved Marseille, and the French League had no problem stating that these problems are, destroying the image of the league in France and internationally.
Back in August of 2021 during a game featuring Nice and the 1993 European title champion had to be was stopped and eventually cancelled following the spectators throwing projectiles on the pitch as well as storming the field. During that incident Payet was struck by another bottle that was thrown on the field by fans, and Payet threw it back in the direction of the fans. Also, several football players and members of their staff participated in a large violent brawl. Nicewas consequently punished by receiving a deduction of 2 points, and 1 point suspended.
During another incident that happened earlier this year, the fans of Montpellier began violently throwing shit at the Marseille football players, and this resulted in Valentin Rongiersuffering a gash to his lip. Last September of 2021, Angers and visiting Marseille fans stormed the field and the fans then engaged in fights all over the place.
The Marseille Football Club just so happens to be owned and operated by the American businessman, Frank McCourt, has had his share of crazy moments as the football club owner had to deal with a severe situation last January of 2021 when several hundred fans of his team physically forced their way into the football clubs practice/training facility just a matter of hours prior to a home French League match. In statements made following this dramatic incident, McCourt compared the violent behavior to the January 6th, 2021 insurrection at the United States of America Capitol.
According to sources at the LEquipe newspaper, 4 people, which includes the individual that threw the bottle at Payet, were arrested and charged with crimes in the aftermath of last Sundays contest. The French League condemned the recent assault on Payet, and the French League also proclaimed that Payet was verbally assaulted with, insults of a discriminatory nature.
Prior to Mondays disciplinary commissions emergency meeting, the French Leaguestated that the security provided for these games is the responsibility of the hosting football club and the local authorities.
Other football teams have been afflicted by problems caused by the fans throughout this crazy season of soccer matches. In September of 2021, the spectators stormed the field in Lens in the northern rivalry with Lille, and fights broke out in the crowd all over the place. Also, this season in a match involving Paris Saint Germain vs. Lyon, a teenage child was badly hurt after being struck by a thrown seat.
In October of 2021, during a contest featuring Saint Etienneand Angers had to be delayed for close to an hour due to another invasion of the field and road flares were being thrown on to the field prior to the kickoff of this heated battle.
UEFA may need to step in and regulate if things do not turn around in the right direction during these French football matches.
Media Statements
What happened in Lyon is unacceptable, the French sports minister, Roxana Maracineanu, explained.
Dimitri Payet has my full support, Maracineanu goes on to say. We cannot allow players to be assaulted in this way. Such acts should result in an automatic stoppage of games at the very least.
Sources:
The Associated Press News Services. Sports minister wants sanctions after French soccer violence. The Associated Press. November 22, 2021.
Photo: VCG
COVID-19 cases in the US are still increasing by tens of thousands per day,yet the US government has paid little attention to the epidemic, let alone putting in effort to face another endemic - drug overdose. However, the coronavirus has in fact aggravated drug abuse in the US. In 2021, nearly 108,000 people died of drug overdoses, almost 50 percent higher than the number in 2019.More than two-thirds of the deaths involved fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. Fentanyl is a potent, fast-acting and addictive type of opioid. There is only a short window of time to intervene and save a person's life during a fentanyl overdose. A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study reveals that fentanyl was involved in 77 percent of teen overdose deaths in 2021. From high school baseball players to 15-year-old schoolgirls, any minor can be exposed to the hazard. Tragedies take place too often to make headlines any more, but the government response, especially at the federal level, remains too little, and too late.In September 2021, the Joe Biden administration launched a one-year list of drug policy priorities, in which it put more emphasis on treatment and harm reduction. The fentanyl test strip is on the list. Theoretically, it should help detect the existence of fentanyl in drugs and ameliorate the risk of drug use. In reality, however, the federal government's recommendation has faced resistance from states that regard the device as drug paraphernalia, as well as skepticism from experts who point out a lack of substantial evidence for its effectiveness in saving lives. Even if the kit worked, it cannot easily change the public's over-dependence on strong painkillers to reduce discomfort, or simply to get high.Drug dealers profit from mixing powdered fentanyl into the drugs they sell. Their target is always addicted users, since a small quantity of the chemical goes a long way. Trafficked drugs have also taken a heavy toll on young people, who are often deceived to take on using fentanyl-laced pills by their bad friends or by strangers. In 2021, 9.5 million counterfeit pills were seized in the US, more than the number in the past two years combined. Drug regulators have warned the public against obtaining fake prescription fentanyl from unauthorized medical providers and pharmacies. But the traditional way of detecting and stemming trade on streets lags far behind the illicit underground trade conducted online or even with cryptocurrencies.Criminals will eventually be brought to justice, given enough time and patience. But those raking in huge profits under the cover of legality can often get away from condemnable deeds. A study in early 2019 found that sales representatives of opioid manufacturers spent about $40 million promoting opioid medications to nearly 68,000 doctors from 2013 through 2015, including by paying for meals, trips and consulting fees. It also found that for every three additional payments that companies made to doctors per 100,000 people in a county, overdose deaths involving prescription opioids there a year later were 18 percent higher.Court documents revealed that Richard Sackler, the then president of Purdue Pharma, which is the top manufacturer of OxyContin containing fentanyl, urged that sales representatives advise doctors to prescribe the highest dosage of the powerful opioid painkiller because it was the most profitable. As questions were raised about the risk of addiction and overdoses, Sackler turned to a strategy of diverting the blame onto the people who became addicted to opioids themselves. He wrote in an email, "We have to hammer on abusers in every way possible... They are the culprits and the problem. They are reckless criminals." In 2019, the company faced more than 2,700 lawsuits over the toll of opioids when it started negotiations about its bankruptcy settlement. In the ongoing process, the Sackler family leveraged its financial prowess and pledged to contribute $600 million over time to protect itself from the lawsuits.But the cost on the big pharma and its owners may fail to relieve the pain endured by the bereaved families. Court filings showed the Sacklers took in $10 billion in profit from OxyContin and could recoup much of what they would lose in the settlement. And what they would compensate society, most of which comes from the settlement, falls far short of the more than $1 trillion the opioid crisis costs the US every year, according to the US CDC. More importantly, no amount of money will ever make up for the hundreds of thousands who lost their lives, the millions who became addicted, or the countless families torn apart by this crisis.The US government has been delegating its primary responsibility to protect its citizens to the people themselves. The opioid crisis is just one case in point. Politicians have been ignoring the sedation or even outright poison administered by interest groups to the public, always for selfish political gains. As Americans and democratically elected officials, politicians should feel the cost of drugs on people's lives and the chronic pain inaction could bring to the country.The author is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for CGTN, Global Times, Xinhua News Agency, among others. He can be reached [email protected]
the club bellagioshows grade level based on the word's complexity. darter [ dahr-ter ]/ dr tr / New Word List Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity. Thisshows grade level based on the word's complexity.[ dahr-ter ]/ dr tr /Save This Word!This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
nouna person or thing that darts or moves swiftly.anhinga. any of several small, darting, freshwater fishes of the perch family, inhabiting streams of eastern North America.
Words nearby darter
How to use darter darter/ (dt) / nounAlso called: anhinga, snakebird any aquatic bird of the genus Anhinga and family Anhingidae, of tropical and subtropical inland waters, having a long slender neck and bill: order Pelecaniformes (pelicans, cormorants, etc)any small brightly coloured North American freshwater fish of the genus Etheostoma and related genera: family Percidae (perches) Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
QUIZWILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!Question darterFirst recorded in 155565; dart + -erdarshan, darshana, D'Arsonval galvanometer, dart, dartboard, darter, Dartford, dartitis, dartle, Dartmoor, DartmouthDictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Random House, Inc. 2022
What Is a Qualifying Annuity?coin lite price videopoker near me
A qualifying annuity is similar to any other annuity, except the IRS has approved it for use within a Qualified Retirement Plan or individual retirement account (IRA). These annuities can be fixed, indexed, or variable depending upon the plan sponsor's investment objectives. According to Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) guidelines, contributions made into a qualifying annuity are tax-deductible unless the plan or annuity has a Roth feature.
Key Takeaways
A qualifying annuity is an annuity approved by the IRS for use within an IRA or a qualified retirement plan, similar to other types of annuities.
A qualifying annuity can be variable, fixed, or indexed.
Withdrawals from an annuity before age 59 are subject to a 10% penalty.
However, since a non-qualified annuity is purchased with after-tax dollars, only the earnings would be subject to the penalty.
How a Qualifying Annuity Works
Qualifying annuities are not tax-deductible plans in and of themselves; they must reside within a qualified plan or IRA to enjoy this status. Qualifying annuities can be either the sole vehicle inside the plan or account, or they can be one of several other choices that are offered as well.
In many cases, the qualifying annuity is a variable contract and is the only vehicle offered within the plan, with the variable subaccounts constituting the choices available to plan participants.
There are many types of annuities to choose from depending on a variety of factors from retirement income needs to comfortability with financial risk.
Types of Annuities
Qualified and Non-Qualified
The products that go into qualified and non-qualified annuities are the same. However, the rules for non-qualified annuities are different, which is covered in IRS publication 575. One twist is that when a non-qualified annuity is partially or fully surrendered, the first dollars out are considered earnings for tax purposes and are thus taxed at ordinary income rates. Once all of the earnings have been withdrawn, the remaining moneythe original investmentcan be taken out tax-free.
If payments under a non-qualified plan are taken in the form of periodic payments, part of each payment is treated as a return of the original investment for which no taxes are due. Part of the payout is considered earnings and taxed at ordinary income rates. The exact percentages of earnings versus principal are based on the type of payout and the beneficiary's age.
Fixed and Variable
Annuities can be structured generally as either fixed or variable. Fixed annuities provide regular periodic payments to the annuitant. Variable annuities allow the owner to receive more significant future cash flows if investments within the annuity fund do well and smaller payments if its investments do poorly. This provides for less stable cash flow than a fixed annuity but allows the annuitant to reap the benefits of strong returns from their fund's investments.
Special Considerations
There are many other considerations, including sales fees, commissions, and the length of the annuity. Whether an annuity is qualified or not, withdrawals before age 59 are subject to a 10% penalty. Since the non-qualified annuity is purchased with after-tax dollars, only the earnings would be subject to the penalty.
At Zhuoshui Ancient Town of Qianjiang District, the children who has participated in the activity Painting Your City, the first large painting and calligraphy exhibition for youth. The youth have painted the mountains and waters in their eyes.
Its understood that more than 500 children from the main urban areas go to the Zhuoshui Ancient Town and paint the local mountains and waters and folk customs in their eyes with their brushes. It has attracted wide attention from all levels and also nearly ten thousand young people in our city since it launched in May this year.
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MORE ABOUT DAD JOKE
What does dad joke mean?
A dad jokeis a joke so corny or lame that only a tragically unhip dad would think its funny.
Where does dad jokecome from?
We wish we could point to some prehistoric cave-dad for the very first dad joke, but we only have dad jokesabout cave-dads.
The term dad joke is recorded as early as 1987 in a Pennsylvania newspaper, which noted dad jokesas making kids and wives wince. And, they have been doing so ever since.
In 1998, an internet user, and admitted dad comic, commented about a groan-worthy observation: My son calls this a Dad joke. Seems that only Dads can come up with these. No, sir, but only dads think theyre clever.
The term spread in the 2000s, quickly embraced by dads in need of validationand by content creators seeing some opportunity in their humor. In 2004, Judy Brown edited the book Dad This Jokes For You: The Best Dad Jokes from the Funniest Comedians. The website DadsBadJokes.com launched in 2006. In 2009, a Facebook page, Dad Jokes, started, eventually gaining over 80,000 followers.
The irony, of course, is that all those unfunny dad jokesbecame beloved.
By the 2010s, dad jokecame to signify any corny joke, especially a punny one-liner perhaps associated with grade-schoolers (e.g. Why didnt the skeleton go to the dance? He had no body to gowith).
The popularity of the dad joke coincides with other dadterms such as dad bod(the slight pudge of a middle-age man) and dad jeans (which are unfashionable but practical, usually with a t-shirt tucked into them)all perhaps prompted by millennials starting to have families themselves.
How is dad joke used in real life?
Theres a subtle but important difference between a dad jokeand a bad joke. They can have much in common, yes, but the dad jokeis associated with an out-of-touch but well-meaning and warm older man trying to tease, fool, or downright irritate his family.
Dad jokes, though, have an endearing and nostalgic quality too. And, adad joke, as noted, isnt the exclusive domain of actual fathers.
More examples of dad joke:
Everyone can appreciate a few classic bad dad jokes, especially with Fathers Day looming this weekend.
Peter Terlato, Tech Insider, September, 2015
Note
This content is not meant to be a formal definition of this term. Rather, it is an informal summary that seeks to provide supplemental information and context important to know or keep in mind about the terms history, meaning, and usage.
What Is the Applicable Federal Rate (AFR)?f1 betting odds 2021
The applicable federal rate (AFR) is the minimum interest rate that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows for private loans. Each month the IRS publishes a set of interest rates that the agency considers the minimum market rate for loans. Any interest rate that is less than the AFR would have tax implications. The IRS publishes these rates in accordance with Section 1274(d) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Key Takeaways
If the interest on a loan is lower than the applicable AFR, it may result in a taxable event for the parties involved.
AFRs are used to determine the original issue discount, unstated interest, gift tax, and income tax consequences of below-market loans.
Parties must use the AFR that is published by the IRS at the time when the lender initially makes the loan.
Understanding the Applicable Federal Rate (AFR)
The AFR is used by the IRS as a point of comparison versus the interest on loans between related parties, such as family members. If you were giving a loan to a family member, you would need to be sure that the interest rate charged is equal to or higher than the minimum applicable federal rate.
The IRS publishes three AFRs: short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Short-term AFR rates are determined from the one-month average of the market yields from marketable obligations, such as U.S. government T-bills with maturities of three years or less. Mid-term AFR rates are from obligations of maturities of more than three and up to nine years. Long-term AFR rates are from bonds with maturities of more than nine years.
In addition to the three basic rates, the rulings in which the AFRs are published contain several other rates that vary according to compounding period (annually, semi-annually, quarterly, monthly) and various other criteria and situations.
Example of How to Use the AFR
As of Apr. 2022, the IRS stated that the annual short-term AFR was 1.26%, the mid-term AFR was 1.87%, and the long-term AFR was 2.25%. Please bear in mind that these AFR rates are subject to change by the IRS.
Which AFR rate to use for a family loan would depend on the length of time designated for payback. Let's say you were giving a loan to a family member for $10,000 to be paid back in one year. You would need to charge the borrower a minimum interest rate of 1.26% for the loan. In other words, you should receive $126 in interest from the loan.
In our example above, any rate below 1.26% could trigger a taxable event. For example, let's say you gave the same loan, but you didn't charge any interest. By not charging any interest, you would have "foregone" $126 in interest income, and according to the IRS, it would be considered a taxable gift. Any interest rate charged below the stated AFR for the particular term of the loan would be considered foregone interest and, as a result, be taxable.
Special Considerations
When preparing to make a loan between related parties, taxpayers should consider two factors to select the correct AFR. The length of the loan should correspond to the AFRs: short-term (three years or less), mid-term (up to nine years), and long-term (more than nine years).
If the lender charges interest at a lower rate than the proper AFR, the IRS may reassess the lender and add imputed interest to the income to reflect the AFR rather than the actual amount paid by the borrower. Also, if the loan is more than the annual gift tax exclusion, it may trigger a taxable event, and income taxes may be owed. Depending on the circumstances, the IRS may also assess penalties.
Philippine online gambling technology provider PhilWeb Corporation today announced that it has had its license for the provision of iGaming options extended by the countrys gambling regulatorfor a month.
PAGCOR, or the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., confirmed in a Friday letter that the license, which is due to expire today, July 11, would be extended to August 10, 2016. According to the letter, the license in question was renewed for another month so as for the government to be prevented from losing online gambling revenue.
PhilWeb was first licensed by the gambling regulator back in 2003. Under the Intellectual Property License and Management Agreement, the gambling technology company was allowed to open and operate a chain of outletsproviding online gaming options, with those located across the Philippines.
Local media reported last week that PAGCORs new Chairwoman Andrea Domingo has initiated freeze of new online gambling licenses, following Philippines President Rodrigo Dutertes inaugural cabinet meeting at which he said that he planned to block the provision of online gamblingservices within his countrys borders.
No further information has been provided on how exactly President Duterte and his administration would stop the proliferation of iGaming operations in the Philippines as well as on which companies and games would be impacted most seriously by any future ban.
As understood from the Friday letter by PAGCOR to PhilWebs President Dennis Valdes, the gambling technology company had applied for a license extension until a presentation is held to President Duterte and more details on his directive concerning a potential ban on online gambling operationsemerge.
In May, PhilWeb announced that it was seeking to raise the amount of PHP6 billion in a bid to finance its expansion plans. Following President Dutertes decision to prohibit the provision of online gaming options, the technology companys shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange plunged 22% on July 1. As a result from this and the unverified material information regarding the Philippine Presidents possible campaign against online gambling, PhilWeb decided to suspend trading of its shares as of July 8.
The differences between American and British English are many and varied. Sometimes, the same word will be spelled differently depending on the region, or words may mean different things entirely.
Such is the case with bath and bathe. Both of these words can function as a verb, but that verb will have different connotations to different people. Continue reading to find out about these differences.
What is the Difference Between Bath and Bathe?
In this article, I will compare bath vs. bathe. I will use each of these words in an example sentence. Plus, I will give you a helpful memory tool to use to help yourself remember whether to use bath or bathe in your own writing.
When to Use Bath
What does bath mean? Bath is a noun that refers to either a large container full of liquid or the process of washing oneself in such a container.
Here are some example sentences,
I would love to go cavorting about the countryside with you, but I am going to go home and take a bath instead.
Darling, go upstairs and run a bath for me, said the pampered socialite.
You should never use an electric hairdryer while taking a bath.
Behind that Stradivarius je ne sais quoi, the authors of the new paper suggested, was a bath: the lost art of giving violin and cello wood an extended chemical soak. The Washington Post
In British English, however, bathalso acts as a verb, meaning to wash oneself in a container of water. The below sentences are examples.
Genevieve baths in rose water every evening with a glass of red wine.
Are you going to bath before we leave, or will I need to explain to everyone why my husband smells like a wild animal?
When to Use Bathe
What does bathe mean? Bathe is a verb. In American English, it has the same meaning of the verb sense of bath. In British English, however, it sometimes means to go swimming, especially in the sea. In both British and American English, it could also mean to pour liquid over something.
Here are a few examples:,
While on holiday in Greece, the couple bathed in the Mediterranean Sea.
Im concerned that the children do not bathe often enough, said the school nurse.
Kenneth bathed his wounds in alcohol, to prevent infection.
The employees inside were courteous, but would not let us use the rest room sinks to bathe. The Wall Street Journal
Trick to Remember the Difference
Here is a helpful trick to remember bathevs. bath.
If the word you are using is a noun, then it should always be spelled bath. Only bath is a noun.
If you are looking for a verb, the decision is not as easy, and will depend on your intended audience.
If you are referring to the act of dousing something in liquid, choose bathe for both American and British readers.
I bathed the wound in clean water.
For the act of washing in a tub of soapy water, use bathe for American audiences, and bath for British audiences.
I need to bathe myself. (American English)
I need to bath myself. (British English)
For British audiences, bathe refers to swimming in the sea.
Summary
Is it bath or bathe? Bath and bathe are simple words with a complicated network of meanings. These meanings are rooted in differences in vocabulary between American and British English.
In American and British English, a bath is a tub of water. In British English, it can also refer to washing in such a tub.
In American, people bathe themselves.
In England, people bath themselves.
In American English, bathe means to take a bath. In British English, bathe means to swim in the sea. In both language communities, the verb means to douse something in liquid, usually for cleaning purposes.
Since the words bathe, sea, and England all contain the letter E, you can use the phrase bathe in the sea in Englandto remember this usage case for bathe.
These words can be confusing, so be sure to check this article any time you need a refresher.
Definition of Dissonance
Dissonance is buffalo gold slot videos 2021the use of impolite, harsh-sounding, and unusual words in poetry. In other words, it is a deliberate use of inharmonious words, phrases, or syllables intended to create harsh sounding effects. Dissonance is opposite of assonance, and similar to cacophony, which is also a use of inharmonious sounds. This unpleasant combination of consonants and vowels create an awkward sound, which makes the reading uncomfortable, and adds emotional depth to a situation or moment.
Use of Dissonance in Everyday Life and Music
Dissonant sounds also occur in everyday life. For instance, the sound of a crying baby and a screaming person are dissonant sounds. These sounds are annoying and alarming to the listeners. In music, dissonance might make listeners feel uncomfortable; however, it helps to create a sense of tension in musical compositions.
Examples of Dissonance in Literature
Example #1: Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister(by Robert Browning)
Gr-r-rthere go, my hearts abhorrence!
Water your damned flower-pots, do!
If hate killed men, Brother Lawrence,
Gods blood, would not mine kill you!
What? your myrtle-bush wants trimming?
Oh, that rose has prior claims
St, theres Vespers! Plena gratia
Ave, Virgo! Gr-r-ryou swine!
Browning captures the attention of his readers by beginning and ending the above poem with a word Gr-r-r. While in the rest of the stanza, he has employed dissonance.
Example #2: The Dalliance of the Eagles(by Walt Whitman)
The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling,
In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling.
Whitman has employed dissonance by describing eagles. He has combined assonance and mono and bi-syllabic words to create dissonance.
Example #3: Wind(by Ted Hughes)
At noon I scaled along the house-side as far as
The coal-house door. Once I looked up
Through the brunt wind that dented the balls of my eyes
The tent of the hills drummed and strained its guyrope
The wind flung a magpie away and a black-
Back gull bent like an iron bar slowly.
See how vowel sounds are so different in the following lines that they seem clashing with each another. These harsh sounds create disturbing effect that catches our attention.
Example #4: Sunday Morning(by Wallace Stevens)
Complacencies of the peignoir, and late
Coffee and oranges in a sunny chair,
And the green freedom of a cockatoo
Upon a rug mingle to dissipate
The holy hush of ancient sacrifice.
This is a very good instance of dissonance, where harsh-toned words interrupt the smooth and rhythmical flow of the words and hence create disturbing and jarring effect.
Example #5: Macbeth(by William Shakespeare)
Of all men else I have avoided thee.
But get thee back. My soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.
In the above lines, Shakespeare has used blank verse and variant vowel sounds to create unpleasant effects.
Example #6: Carrion Comfort(by Gerard Manely Hopkins)
Not untwist slack they may be these last strands of man
Can something, hope, wish day come, not choose not to be.
Scan
With darksome devouring eyes my bruised bones?
Hopkins has used alliteration with high accented syllables and dissonance that echo speakers inner turmoil and noise and uncomfortable situations.
Example #7: Princess Ida(by Gilbert and Sullivan)
Women of Adamant, fair neophytes
Who thirst for such instruction as we give,
Attend, while I unfold a parable.
The elephant is mightier than Man,
Yet Man subdues him. Why? The elephant
Is elephantine everywhere but here (tapping her forehead)
These lines have used abrupt and conversational style. Also, the use of dissonance brings more abruptness in its style, causing shock and surprise to the readers.
Function
The use of inharmonious sounds creates unpleasant effects and draws attention of the readers by creating interesting variations. It is found in poetry, plays, advertising, music and everyday life. Its purpose is to depict some sort of discomfort, making the readers or the audience to feel shock and surprise. It helps to describe the situations, which are emotionally turbulent and tumultuous. However, sometimes the poets use dissonance to create humorous effects too. They often use these sounds in an unexpected manner to discover the limits of the language.
US Asia-Pacific Illustration: Chen Xia/GT
China-Vietnam cooperation achieved fruitful results during General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong's visit to China. A joint statement issued by the two countries pointed out that the two sides reached consensus on the text of an agreement on search and rescue at sea and an agreement on establishing a hotline on emergencies in maritime fishing activities,and agree to sign them early. On the same day with the release of the joint statement, the US media, however, brought up old irrelevant news, which appeared to be strange and abrupt. It's reported that in August this year, a fleet of Chinese squid-fishing boats had a "confrontation" with a US Coast Guard cutter in the eastern Pacific waters of South America, and that the Biden administration is considering to sanction relevant Chinese fishing vessels. At this time, as the issue of "illegal fishing" is being hyped up, it is inevitable for people to suspect that it is a deliberate move to stir up trouble.There is another background to the issue. In May, the US-dominant Quad put forward a major maritime initiative: the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) which covers the Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and South Pacific waters in order to monitor and combat activities including illegal fishing. Three months later, for the first time, the US Coast Guard dispatched a heavily armed ship to the eastern Pacific region to implement "law enforcement" and engaged in a "confrontation" with Chinese fishing boats. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the entire operation was aimed at China, in other words, it intended to find fault with China. Even if it can't frame China, it wanted to throw dirty water on China. "Illegal fishing" is the dirty water that the US put in buckets in advance and used it to splash China.China has developed distant-water fishing for decades, and signed a series of bilateral and multilateral agreements and international treaties, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. China also adopts a "zero-tolerance" policy on illegal fishing and implements strict supervision of distant-water fisheries. In recent years, the crackdown on illegal fishing and rectification has achieved remarkable results, and many breakthroughs have been made in international cooperation with relevant countries. But at this time, accusations of "illegal fishing" of China by the US and Western public opinion have surged unexpectedly, and even some Hollywood stars came to fan the flames. This anomaly would not have arisen without the push from Washington.Since the Trump administration, the so-called illegal fishing of China has become an excuse for the US to smear China's image and alienate China's relations with relevant countries. The Biden administration not only took over this "legacy," but also "upgraded" it. On the one hand, it packaged itself with its usual beautiful words such as "global ocean health," but on the other hand, it gave the so-called crackdown on China's "illegal fishing" a strategic connotation of "containing" China and expanding US' global presence.Look at the "old news" hyped by the US media, people can better understand Washington's true intentions. The so-called standoff occurred on the high seas near the Galapagos Islands of the South American country of Ecuador. The US came uninvited and intervened. Ironically, despite US' efforts to slander China, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguin spoke highly of China-Ecuador fishery cooperation on many occasions. In February this year, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso was invited to visit China, and the two sides issued a joint statement in which they agreed to deepen cooperation in the field of fishery. That is to say, the issue is not about intractable problems, but the US tries hard to create trouble out of nothingIt is obviously very targeted that the US makes Southeast Asia, where Vietnam is located, and South America, where Ecuador is located, as two key areas for provoking disputes over "illegal fishing." To put it bluntly, where US' focus on containing China is, the attention on China's "illegal fishing" is there. After China and the Solomon Islands signed a security cooperation framework agreement, the US started to pay high attention to the Pacific Island Countries. Its officials visited there one after another, and the so-called illegal fishing issue has been continuously hyped up and amplified. As Washington is hyping the ''illegal fishing'' issue in South America, it is anxious about its diplomatic "loss of points" in South America. The US has even claimed that South America has become China's "backyard," which is judging others by oneself.The US claims itself to be a "world coast guard," but it is not after all. The US has not yet ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Not only that, the number of days of its seine fishing vessels operating on high seas has far exceeded the number of days specified by relevant fishery management organizations, and it has violated the regulations for many consecutive years. The US is a complete "ocean bully." It may feel a little diffident now, therefore, it incites other countries in order to form a "maritime joint defense team" as a guise. But in any case, the overbearing and selfishness of the US cannot be concealed. It wants to use "illegal fishing" to throw dirty water on China, but in the end, it must be Washington itself who will get dirty.
Theplay free slots for free first rainfall of the year fell in Beijing Tuesday, after weeks of haze, dust and drought.
The citys weather bureau said precipitation averaged 4 mm in the six hours from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. The average volume reached 4.2 mm in downtown areas, and 4.9 mm in the northwestern suburbs.
The Baihepu Reservoir area in the northern suburbs of Beijing received the largest precipitation, totaling 11.8 mm in the six-hour period. Between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m., the downpour measured 5.2 mm.
Most parts of the city had drizzle Tuesday morning, while snow was reported in some rural areas in the northwest.
The rain and snow slowed down traffic during rush hour. Beijing traffic police authorities said the average speed was 36.4 km per hour at 7 a.m., lower than normal.
At least one expressway, which links Beijing and Lhasa, was partially closed Tuesday morning on safety grounds.
The rainfall is expected to ease Beijings drought and clean the air, which has been suffocating due to smog and dust for the past few weeks.
The rain comes just in time for a nationwide forestation campaign, as Tuesday is Chinas tree-planting day. The date was set in 1979 to promote forestation and environmental protection.
Citizens are encouraged to travel to the suburbs on this date to plant trees. Newspapers and TVs often feature officials digging holes and watering saplings.
Beijing authorities said the city plans to plant an additional 30,000 hectares of trees in its suburbs this year. Meanwhile, public green areas in the city proper will be expanded by 1,000 hectares.
Xinhua
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casimba logoshows grade level based on the word's complexity. abeyance [ uh-bey-uhns ]/ be ns / New Word List Save This Word!See abeyance152030;
Chinese President Hu Jintao Wednesday urged the armed forces to constantly reinforce their loyalty and obedience to the Party.
When meeting with delegates to a conference of Communist Party of China (CPC) members in the Beijing Military Area Command, Hu said the armed forces should be equipped with the theories of the socialism with Chinese characteristics and Marxism and better implement the Scientific Outlook on Development.
The president also urged great efforts to develop the military culture and strengthen the will of officers and soldiers to serve the country and the spirit of being brave to fight for victory.
Efforts should be made to improve the capacity of systematic operations based on the information system, raise combat ability and emergency response and prepare the armed forces for defense and non-war military actions, said Hu, also chairman of the Central Military Commission.
Hu also called for improving the management of officers and soldiers so as to ensure the safety and stability of the army.
Hu said the Beijing Military Area Command is of strategic importance, and has a good record of implementing orders from the CPC Central Committee and fulfilling important tasks.
Vice President Xi Jinping also attended the meeting.
Xinhua
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What Is a Cup and Handle Pattern?jv spin promo code
A cup and handle price pattern on a security's price chart is a technical indicator that resembles a cup with a handle, where the cup is in the shape of a "u" and the handle has a slight downward drift.
The cup and handle is considered a bullish signal, with the right-hand side of the pattern typically experiencing lower trading volume. The pattern's formation may be as short as seven weeks or as long as 65 weeks.
Key Takeaways
A cup and handle is a technical chart pattern that resembles a cup and handle where the cup is in the shape of a "u" and the handle has a slight downward drift.
A cup and handle is considered a bullish signal extending an uptrend, and it is used to spot opportunities to go long.
Technical traders using this indicator should place a stop buy order slightly above the upper trendline of the handle part of the pattern.
The pattern was first described by William J. O'Neil in his 1988 classic book on technical analysis, How to Make Money in Stocks.
What's a Cup and Handle?
What Does a Cup and Handle Pattern Tell You?
1:15
American technician William J. O'Neil defined the cup and handle (C&H) pattern in his 1988 classic, How to Make Money in Stocks, adding technical requirements through a series of articles published in Investors Business Daily, which he founded in 1984. O'Neil included time frame measurements for each component, as well as a detailed description of the rounded lows that give the pattern its unique teacup appearance.
As a stock forming this pattern tests old highs, it is likely to incur selling pressure from investors who previously bought at those levels; selling pressure is likely to make price consolidate with a tendency toward a downtrend trend for a period of four days to four weeks, before advancing higher. A cup and handle is considered a bullish continuation pattern and is used to identify buying opportunities.
It is worth considering the following when detecting cup and handle patterns:
Length: Generally, cups with longer and more "U" shaped bottoms provide a stronger signal. Avoid cups with sharp "V" bottoms.
Depth: Ideally, the cup should not be overly deep. Avoid handles that are overly deep also, as handles should form in the top half of the cup pattern.
Volume: Volume should decrease as prices decline and remain lower than average in the base of the bowl; it should then increase when the stock begins to make its move higher, back up to test the previous high.
A retest of previous resistance is not required to touch or come within several ticks of the old high; however, the further the top of the handle is away from the highs, the more significant the breakout needs to be.
How to Trade the Cup and Handle
There are several ways to approach trading the cup and handle, but the most basic is to look for entering a long position. The image below depicts a classic cup and handle formation. Place a stop buy order slightly above the upper trend line of the handle. Order execution should only occur if the price breaks the patterns resistance. Traders may experience excess slippage and enter a false breakout using an aggressive entry.
Alternatively, wait for the price to close above the upper trend line of the handle, subsequently place a limit order slightly below the patterns breakout level, attempting to get an execution if the price retraces. There is a risk of missing the trade if the price continues to advance and does not pull back.
Image by Julie Bang A Investopedia 2020
A profit target is determined by measuring the distance between the bottom of the cup and the patterns breakout level and extending that distance upward from the breakout. For example, if the distance between the bottom of the cup and handle breakout level is 20 points, a profit target is placed 20 points above the pattern's handle. Stop-loss orders may be placed either below the handle or below the cup depending on the traders risk tolerance and market volatility.
Example Trading the Cup and Handle
Now let's consider a real-world historical example using Wynn Resorts, Limited (WYNN), which went public on the Nasdaq exchange near $13 in October 2002 and rose to $154 five years later. The subsequent decline ended within two points of the initial public offering (IPO) price, far exceeding O'Neil's requirement for a shallow cup high in the prior trend. The subsequent recovery wave reached the prior high in 2011, nearly 10 years after the first print.
The handle follows the classic pullback expectation, finding support at the 50% retracement in a rounded shape, and returns to the high for a second time 14 months later. The stock broke out in October 2013 and added 90 points in the following five months.
Image by Julie Bang A Investopedia 2020
Limitations of the Cup and Handle Pattern
Like all technical indicators, the cup and handle should be used in concert with other signals and indicators before making a trading decision. Specifically, with the cup and handle, certain limitations have been identified by practitioners. The first is that it can take some time for the pattern to fully form, which can lead to late decisions. While one month to one year is the typical timeframe for a cup and handle to form, it can also happen quite quickly or take several years to establish itself, making it ambiguous in some cases.
Another issue has to do with the depth of the cup part of the formation. Sometimes a shallower cup can be a signal, while other times a deep cup can produce a false signal. Sometimes the cup forms without the characteristic handle. Finally, one limitation shared across many technical patterns is that it can be unreliable in illiquid stocks.
What Does a Cup and Handle Pattern Indicate?
A cup and handle is a technical indicator where the price movement of a security resembles a cup followed by a downward trending price pattern. This drop, or handle is meant to signal a buying opportunity to go long on a security. When this part of the price formation is over, the security may reverse course and reach new highs. Typically, cup and handle patterns fall between seven weeks to over a year.
How Do You Find a Cup and Handle Pattern?
Consider a scenario where a stock has recently reached a high after significant momentum but has since corrected, falling almost 50%. At this point, an investor may purchase the stock, anticipating that it will bounce back to previous levels. The stock then rebounds, testing the previous high resistance levels, after which it falls into a sideways trend. In the final leg of the pattern, the stock exceeds these resistance levels, soaring 50% above the previous high.
What Happens After a Cup and Handle Pattern Forms?
If a cup and handle forms and it is confirmed, the price should see a sharp increase in the short- to medium-term. If the pattern fails, this bull run would not be observed.
What is the Target for Cup and Handle Pattern?
The target with the cup and handle pattern is the height of the cup added to the breakout point of the handle. Generally, these patterns are bullish signals extending an uptrend.
Is a Cup and Handle Pattern Bullish?
As a general rule, cup and handle patterns are bullish price formations. The founder of the term, William ONeil, identified four primary stages of this technical trading pattern. First, approximately one to three months before the cup pattern begins, a security will reach a new high in an uptrend. Second, the security will retrace, dropping no more than 50% of the previous high creating a rounding bottom. Third, the security will rebound to its previous high, but subsequently decline, forming the handle part of the formation. Finally, the security breaks out again, surpassing its highs that are equal to the depth of the cups low point.
University of Ontario
George Brown College
So maybe you've heard of Tumblr, and you're interested in getting in on the action. After all, it's the hottest blogging platform among the younger crowd and has the potential to completely skyrocket your content in terms of eyeballs and shares if you get the social networking part of it right.
Sign Up for a Tumblr Account and Access Your Dashboard
Tumblr is both a blogging platform and a social network. You can use it strictly for blogging or strictly for social networking with other users or you both. The power of this platform really shines when you use it as both.
Once you start using Tumblr, you'll probably notice a lot of similarities between it and other popular social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and even Instagram. Although "blogging" traditionally tends to involve writing, Tumblr is in fact highly visual and is more about publishing short blog posts that have photos, animated GIFs and videos.
The more you use Tumblr, the more trends you're able to identify on the platform, giving you clues about what users love to see and share. A Tumblr post can go viral in a matter of hours, even spreading across other social networks. Imagine if you could make your posts do that!
Getting started with Tumblr is easy, but you can browse through the following slides to get the main tips and hints for making your Tumblr presence and experience the best they can be.
Navigate to Tumblr.com in a Browser
It's free to sign up for a Tumblr account at Tumblr.com or even through one of the free mobile apps. All you need is an email address, a password, and a username.
Your username will appear as your Tumblr blog's URL, which you'll be able to access by navigating to YourUsername.Tumblr.comin your preferred web browser. Here are some tips on how to choose a unique Tumblr username that hasn't been taken yet.
Tumblr will ask you to confirm your age and that you're human before moving on to ask you about your interests. A grid of GIFs will be displayed, asking you to choose five interests that most appeal to you.
Once you've clicked five interests, which helps Tumblr recommend blogs for you to follow, you'll be taken to your Tumblr dashboard. You'll also be asked to confirm your account by email.
Your dashboard shows you a feed of the most recent posts from users' blogs that you follow along with several post icons at the top for you to make your own posts. There are currently seven types of posts Tumblr supports:
Text posts
Single or multiple photoset posts
Quote posts
Link posts
Chat/dialogue posts
Audio posts
Video posts
If you're browsing Tumblr on the web, you'll also see a menu at the top with all of your personal options. These include your home feed, the Explore page, your inbox, your direct messages, your activity, and your account settings. These options show up similarly on the Tumblr mobile app at the bottom of your device's screen. There are also a number of browser extensions to aid your browsing.
Customize Your Blog Theme and Options
The great thing about Tumblr is that unlike other popular social networks like Facebook and Twitter, you're not stuck with the standard profile layout. Your Tumblr blog themes can be as unique as you want it, and there are a lot of great free and premium themes to choose from.
Similar to the WordPress blogging platform, you can install a new Tumblr blog theme skin with just a few clicks. Check out our overview of free Tumblr themes.
To start customizing your blog and switching to a new theme, click the user iconin the top menu on the dashboard and then click your blog name(under the Tumblrs heading) in the drop-down menu followed by Edit Appearancein the righthand menu on the next page.
On this page, you can customize several different components of your blog:
Mobile blog header:Add a header image, a profile photo, a blog title, a description, and colors of your choosing.
Username:Change your username to a new one any time you like (but keep in mind that this will also change your blog's URL). If you have your own domain name and want it to point to your Tumblr blog, you can refer to our tutorial to set your a custom Tumblr URL.
Website theme:Configure the customizable options of your current theme and see a live preview or your changes, or install a new one.
Encryption:Turn this on if you want an extra layer of security.
Likes: Turn this on if you want other users to be able to see which posts you've liked if they decide to check them out.
Following: Turn this on if you want other users to be able to see the blogs you follow if they decide to check them out.
Replies: If you want users to be able to reply to your posts, you can set this up so anyone can reply, only users who've been in your network for at least a week can reply or only users you follow can reply.
Ask: You can open this up to invite other users to submit questions they want to as you on a specific page of your blog.
Submissions: If you want to accept post submissions from other users to be published on your blogs, you can turn this on so that they're automatically added to your queue for you to approve and publish.
Messaging: To keep your privacy tight, turn this on so only users you follow can message you.
Queue: Adding posts to your queue will automatically publishing them on a drip schedule, which you can set up by selecting a time period for them to be published.
Facebook: You can connect your Tumblr account to your Facebook account so that they automatically get posted on Facebook too.
Twitter: You can connect your Tumblr account to your Twitter account so that they automatically get posted on Twitter too.
Language:If English isn't your preferred language, change it here.
Timezone:Setting your appropriate timezone will help streamline your post queue and other posting activities.
Visibility:You can configure your blog to appear only within the Tumblr dashboard (not on the web), keep it hidden from search results or label it as explicit for its content.
There's an option at the very bottom of this page where you can block specific users or even delete your account entirely if you want.
Explore Tumblr to Follow Blogs You Like
There are lots of different ways to find new Tumblr blogs worth following. When you follow a Tumblr blog, all of its most recent posts show up in your home feed, similar to how Twitter and Facebook news feeds work.
Here are some tips on how to discover more blogs to follow.
Use the Explore page:This can be accessed at any time from your dashboard in the top menu on the web (marked by the compass icon). Or you can simply navigate to Tumblr.com/explore.
Do a search for keywords and hashtags:If you're interested in a particular topic, use the search function to find posts or blogs focused on something specific.
Pay attention to Tumblr's suggestions:In the sidebar of your dashboard on the web, Tumblr will suggest some blogs that you should follow based on who you already follow. Suggestions also appear every so often as you scroll through your home feed.
Look for the "Follow" button in the top right corner of any Tumblr blog:If you come across a Tumblr blog online without finding it through your dashboard first, you'll know it's running on Tumblr because of the Follow button at the top. Click Followto automatically follow it.
Start Posting Content on Your Tumblr Blog
Now you can start publishing blog posts on your Tumblr blog. Here are a few tips for getting your posts noticed by other Tumblr users:
Go visual: Photos, videos, and GIFs are a big deal on Tumblr. In fact, Tumblr recently launched its own GIF search engine to help users out with creating more visually appealing posts.
Use tags: You can add several different tags to any of your posts to help it become more discoverable by people who are searching for those terms. Check out our overview of Tumblr's most popular tags to consider using on your own posts.
Use the "extra" post options:In post text spaces and captions, you'll see a little plus sign icon that appears once you click your cursor in the typing area. Click it to open up a number of media and formatting options you can insert, including photos, videos, GIFs, horizontal lines and read-more links.
Post regularly: The most active Tumblr users post several times a day. You can queue up posts to be published on a drip schedule or even schedule it to be published on a specific date at a specific time.
Interact With Other Users and Their Posts
Just like on any social network, the more you interact with other users, the more attention you'll receive back. On Tumblr, there are lots of different ways to interact.
Interact With Individual Posts
Like a post:Click the heart buttonat the bottom of any post.
Reblog a post:Click the double arrow buttonat the bottom of any post to automatically repost it on your own blog. You can also optionally add your own caption, queue it up or schedule it so that it publishes later.
Interact With Individual Posts
Follow a user's blog:Just click the follow buttonanywhere it shows up either on an existing Tumblr blog you're browsing on the web or on a blog you find within the Tumblr dashboard.
Submit a post to another user's blog:If you can get your post published on a blog that accepts submissions, you'll immediately gain exposure from their audience.
Submit an "ask" to another user's blog:Similar to post submissions, blogs that accept, answer and publish their "asks" (which are questions or comments from other users) publicly may also give you exposure.
Send mail or a message:You can send an inbox message (like email) or a direct message (like a chat) to any user who allows it, depending on their privacy settings.
When you interact with other blog posts and users, they're notified about it in their activity tab, their messages and sometimes even their Tumblr app notifications if they have them enabled.
When two words are homophones, they have similar pronunciations but different meanings.
Plane and plain are two English homophones, which would be confusing enough, but each of them also has a meaning that refers to a flat area. Whats a poor writer to do?
As tricky as these words can be, there is an easy way to remember the difference between them.
What is the Difference Between Plain and Plane?
In this post, I will compare plane vs. plain. I will use each of these words in at least one example sentence, so you can see them in context.
Plus, I will use a helpful memory tool that you can also employ to make choosing plane or plain a little easier.
When to Use Plain
What does plain mean? Plain can be an adjective or a noun.
As an adjective, plainmeans featureless or unremarkable. Plain ice cream has no toppings or extra ingredients, such as fudge or strawberries. Plain pizza is just cheese with no pepperonis, sausage, green peppers, or anything else.
Something that is just plain stupid is stupid with no mitigating factors or other explanations.
Here are a few more examples:
Children often enjoy plain cheese pizza, but as they age, they enjoy pizza with a variety of delicious toppings.
If you want to be an extra in the music video, please wear a brightly-colored, plain shirt with no text or graphics.
The future of Amazon.com Inc. is hiding in plain sight in a San Francisco parking lot. The Wall Street Journal
As a noun, a plainis a geographical feature characterized by a flat landscape and short vegetation, if any.
The central United States is renowned for its rolling, grassy plains. A floodplain is a flat, low-lying area near a river that often floods during wet seasons.
The sentences below are additional examples.
A herd of wild horses used to live on the plains beyond the outskirts of town.
Beyond the plains, a mountain range dominated the horizon for miles in every direction.
When to Use Plane
What does plane mean? Plane is a noun. It has two main senses: it can mean a flying vehicle with wings, or a geometrically defined flat area on which a straight line would lie. Below, you will find examples of plane used to refer to a thing that flies:
Any passengers who have not boarded the plane prior to takeoff will not be able to board.
Planes crisscrossed the sky above the airport.
Hersman said the cockpit recorder revealed that seven seconds before impact there was a call to increase the planes speed. The Washington Post
Here are some sentences that illustrate the usage of plane as a concept in geometry:
In order to solve the equation, you must define two points on the horizontal plane.
Each surface of a perfect cube represents a two-dimensional plane.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Plain and plane can be confusing, especially since each word can sometimes describe a flat area.
Plain refers to a flat area of land,
Plane describes a flat area in geometry.
Since plane and geometry each contain the letter E, keeping them straight should not be that difficult.
Summary
Is it plain or plane? Plane and plain are homophones.
What Is a Stipend?galley betekenis
The term stipend refers to a form of compensation that is paid to certain individuals for services rendered, other work, or while they receive training. Stipends are often provided in lieu of or (in some cases) in addition to a regular salary. They are often used to offset certain expenses and generally come in a fixed amount. Stipends are commonly paid to trainees, interns, students, apprentices, and clergy members. Individuals should be aware of the tax implications of stipends, which are considered income but aren't immediately taxed.
Key Takeaways
A stipend is a form of compensation paid to certain individuals to help cover basic costs while they receive career training.
Stipends may be offered in lieu of or in addition to a salary.
Interns, apprentices, fellows, and clergy are common recipients of stipends.
Most stipends are considered taxable income, which means that recipients may be responsible for their own withholding taxes if they aren't deducted by the issuer.
The government has specific standards and rules for how stipends can be paid and for what reasons, since they may often fall below the minimum wage.
How Stipends Work
A stipend is often offered to individuals as a fixed sum and is commonly paid to the recipient as a lump sum payment. This type of compensation is sometimes called an allowance and is normally provided on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. A stipend is usually offered as compensation for training instead of salaries for employment purposes. That being said, it allows people to pursue work that is normally unpaid by helping defray living expenses.
Interns, apprentices, fellows, and clergy are common recipients of stipends. Rather than being paid for their services, they're given stipends to provide financial support while they engage in the service or task at hand. A stipend often includes other benefits, such as higher education, room, and board.
Rules outlined by the Department of Labor (DOL) exist surrounding how stipends can be used by companies and organizations. Stipends cannot be used to hire students to replace existing staff, and the students must be the primary beneficiary of the employment or trainingnot the company. Also, a stipend may be lower than the minimum wage as long as it's used to pay trainees.
There is no hard-and-fast rule about the amount individuals are paid for stipends. The amount an individual receives often depends on the task they are assigned or the expense that is being offset. For instance, a company may pay a trainee $250 for a week's worth of training or a church may pay a clergy member $1,000 for living expenses.
Most stipends are considered taxable income so you'll have to pay the entire 15.3% withholding tax out of your own pocket. This includes both your portion and the employer's portion.
Special Considerations
If you receive a stipend, there are certain things you must consider. One of the main advantages of this type of compensation is that you get to keep what you earn. That's because people who receive stipends don't have taxes withdrawn to pay for Medicare and Social Security.
But remember, the majority of stipends are considered a form of taxable income. This means recipients need to set aside a portion of their earnings. For the 2022 tax year, the withholding rate for both programs is 15.3%12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.
Recipients should be careful about how their payments are classified. Students and interns should be classified as such. If the company identifies you as an employee, your stipend may be taxed and you won't receive the full amount. And in this case, you're entitled to receive the minimum wage and any overtime pay, if it applies. On the other hand, employees should ensure they aren't considered trainees. This could lead to complications with their pay.
Not all stipends are considered taxable. For instance, fringe benefits like parking are only taxable after a certain amount. Be sure to consult with a tax consultant if you're unsure about the tax implications of your stipend.
Types of Stipends
As mentioned above, stipends are not hourly-based pay and are often used by employers as a lower-cost option to pay interns or to offset the cost individuals bear while executing certain services. As such, stipends can vary depending on the company or organization that pays them. Some companies pay stipends to help cover housing, food, or travel expenses. Here are just a few of the types of stipends that are offered.
Academic Research Stipends
Stipends are commonly offered to researchers at academic institutions or other related organizations to help them focus on their projects. Much like grants, these stipends may be furnished by third parties who wish to see a particular study or form of research advance further without fiscal distractions that may otherwise hamper the researcher. Foundations and comparable entities might also offer stipends on similar terms to support the work of researchers and the projects they are developing.
Expense-Related Stipends
Stipends might also be offered to cover very specific costs and expenses. For instance, students could receive a stipend that must be used toward the purchase or lease of computers during academic semesters. Alternatively, stipends may be issued to help defer the cost of transportation incurred by the recipient to and from the company for training purposes.
Health Insurance Stipends
Since employers don't have to offer health benefits to interns, some of them may offer their workers extra money by adding it to their paycheck to help them with health insurance costs. Individuals can then use this extra cash to put toward paying for their insurance premiums for coverage that can be purchased either through the health care exchange or directly from private insurers.
Wellness Program Stipends
Health and wellness are now an important part of the work-life balance that many employers promote. So it's only natural that a lot of companies also offer stipends for employees that can be used for a variety of fitness expenses, such as gym memberships, yoga classes, or even personal trainers, as part of a wellness program.
Job Training Stipends
Some companies offer stipends to employees who wish to take additional training and classes that may assist them with their jobs and career development. The employee may enroll and pay for classes or additional training, for which the employer provides a reimbursement.
Real-World Examples of Stipends
Many corporations and organizations offer stipends to workers and other individuals. The following are just a few examples that are found in the real world.
The National Endowment for the Humanities offers grants in the form of stipends to support individuals who conduct advanced research that may be of interest to the general public or scholars. The organization has given out $5.6 billion in more than 64,000 grants. The types of research projects eligible to receive such stipends may include books, translations, articles, digital publications, or site reports on archeologic digs. In order to receive a stipend like this, the recipient must ensure the project does more than collect data. Analysis and interpretation of the gathered information must be included.
Health and wellness stipends are growing in popularity. Microsoft (MSFT) offers full-time employees $1,200 per year for wellness-related expenses, such as gym memberships, fitness classes, financial advising, debt management, or massages, for example. The cost of the chosen services is reimbursed to the employee in addition to other healthcare benefits, such as medical, dental, or vision care.
Professional development is another popular employer-sponsored stipend. Apple (AAPL) reimburses employees for formal education expenses related to furthering their career at Apple, including tuition.
How Is a Stipend Different From a Salary?
A salary is compensation for work performed and is a set amount, typically per year. A stipend, on the other hand, is not considered compensation for work, but rather monetary support for a variety of possible factors, such as expenses incurred during traveling or during a training period, or to cover certain living expenses. Stipends are also typically lower in amount. As such, they are often lower than minimum wage and are not regulated by the state but provided at the discretion of the employer.
Is a Stipend Considered Income?
Stipends are not considered as wages so employers will not withhold income tax on any stipends made to employees. However, stipends are often considered income so you as an individual will have to calculate and pay taxes on any stipends received; this includes Social Security and Medicare. It is important to check with your employer on the tax implications regarding any stipends.
How Often Are Stipends Paid to an Employee?
How often stipends are paid out to an employee will vary on the institution and the circumstances. Stipends can be paid out weekly, monthly, or annually, Most often they will not be paid out annually as they are considered a form of support and the individual may need that monetary amount throughout the year. It is common that stipends are paid out as often as an employee's salary.
What Is a Roth 401(k)?vegas betting sports
A Roth 401(k) is an employer-sponsored retirement savings account that is funded using after-tax dollars. This means that income tax is paid immediately on the earnings that the employee deducts from each paycheck and deposits into the account. Withdrawals from the account are tax-free upon retirement.
This type of plan is different from a traditional 401(k) plan, which is funded with pretax money. In this case, payroll deductions come out of the employee's gross income and taxes are due only when the money is withdrawn from the account.
Key Takeaways
A Roth 401(K) is a type of employer-sponsored retirement savings plan.
Contributions made to Roth 401(k) are taxed but earnings and withdrawals made after retirement are tax-free.
You must take at least the required minimum distributions after you turn 72.
Contribution limits are adjusted annually for inflation and are announced each year by the IRS.
Penalties apply if you make withdrawals before you turn 59 or if you had the account for less than five years.
Introduction To The 401(K)
How Roth 401(k)s Work
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Investors have many options when it comes to saving for retirement. One of the most common ways to put money aside is through employer-sponsored plans like the 401(k). Participation is voluntary and those who take part agree to automatic payroll deductions that are transferred into a special retirement account. Some employers even match employee contributions up to a certain amount.
There are several varieties of 401(k)s that exist. The Roth 401(k) option became available as of the beginning of 2006, while the traditional 401(k) has been around since 1978. Both were authorized by Congress as tax-advantaged retirement plans to encourage employees to save for their retirement.
Their tax advantages are different:
A traditional 401(k) reduces the employee's gross income for the year, giving them an instant tax break in addition to a retirement savings vehicle. The employee will owe regular income tax on every withdrawal made during retirement.
The Roth 401(k) requires that the income tax be paid immediately, so the employee's real net income is reduced by the amount earmarked for savings. But no further taxes will be owed on withdrawals of either the contributions or the profits earned over the years.
Roth 401(k) Contribution Limits
A Roth 401(k) is subject to contribution limits based on the individual's age. These limits are adjusted annually for inflation and released by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The contribution limit for individuals in $20,500 in 2022. Individuals 50 and older can contribute an additional $6,500 as a catch-up contribution. In 2023, the contribution limit rises to $22,500, and the catch-up contribution increases to $7,500. Unlike other plans, there is no income limit to participate.
Roth IRA Contribution Limits Year Less than Age 50 50 Years or Older 2021 $19,500 $26,000 2022 $20,500 $27,000 2023 $22,500 $30,000
Note that if your income is very low, you cannot contribute more than your taxable income for that year.
Roth 401(k) Withdrawal Rules
Withdrawals of any contributions and earnings are not taxed as long as the withdrawal is a qualified distribution, which means certain criteria must be met:
The Roth 401(k) account must have been held for at least five years.
The withdrawal must have occurred because of a disability, on or after the death of an account owner, or when an account holder reaches at least age 59.
Distributions are required for people who are at least 72 years old (70 before Jan. 1, 2020) unless the individual is still employed at the company that holds the 401(k) and is not a 5% (or more) owner of the business sponsoring the plan. The first required minimum distribution (RMD) must be taken on April 1 after the account holder turns 72. Keep in mind that individuals can withdraw more than the RMD.
Roth 401(k)s are not available in all company-sponsored retirement schemes. When they are, 43% of savers opt for the Roth over a traditional 401(k). Millennials are more likely to contribute to a Roth 401(k) than Gen Xers or baby boomers.
Unlike a Roth 401(k), a Roth IRA is not subject to required minimum distributions.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Roth 401(k)s
A Roth 401(k) may have the greatest benefit for employees currently in a low tax bracket who expect to move into a higher one after they retire. Contributions made to a Roth 401(k) are taxed at the lower tax rate. Distributions are tax-free in retirement, making them the greatest single advantage. No matter how much the account grows over the years, that money is still exempt from income taxes after the account holder retires.
The downside is a little more immediate financial pain. Because contributions to a traditional 401(k) are not taxed immediately (but effectively reduce the amount of your gross income), the impact on your take-home pay is reduced and your tax break for the year is maximized. But there's no such deal with a Roth 401(k). This means that you are out-of-pocket for (but still taxed on) the deposits you make to it in the year you make them.
Helps people who believe they'll be in a higher tax bracket later in life
Distributions are tax-free during retirement
Earnings grow tax-free
Contributions are made using after-tax dollars
Contributions don't reduce your taxable income
Roth 401(k) vs. Other Retirement Accounts
ProsCons
As noted above, Roth 401(k) accounts are employer-sponsored plans that help people plan for retirement. But it's not the only option available to investors.
401(k) Plans
Like its Roth equivalent, the traditional 401(k) is an employer-sponsored plan. This means you can't set one up on your own. Money is taken out of your paycheck through automatic deductions and transferred into a special account. The money is then invested in a series of mutual funds that you choose.
The IRS sets limits on how much you contribute to the plan each year. This figure is adjusted annually for inflation:
Employees below age 50 cannot contribute more than $20,500 per year for 2022.
Those 50 and over can make a catch-up contribution of $6,500 per year in 2022.
The contribution limit increases to $22,500 in 2023. If you are older than 50, you can make an additional catch-up contribution of $7,500.
Employers can also contribute to their employees' plans, so long as the total contribution does not exceed the employee's annual salary. The 2022 limit for employer-employee contributions is capped at $61,000, or $67,500 including the catch-up contribution. For 2023, those limits rise to $66,000 and $73,500 respectively.
This plan is a defined contribution plan, which means your contributions determine the account balance and how well your account performs. Contributions are made using pretax dollars, reducing the income tax you pay. Withdrawals made during retirement are subject to income tax.
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)
If you don't have the option to invest in an employer-sponsored plan, you may want to consider an individual retirement account (IRA). This kind of account can be set up by anyone through a financial institution or investment firm, which means anyone who has earned income is entitled to one.
You can invest in a variety of investments under an IRA, including stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Just like the 401(k), there are several types of IRA options available:
Traditional IRA: Contributions made to a traditional IRA are tax-deductible, thereby decreasing your taxable income. Withdrawals made during retirement are taxed at your normal income tax rate. For 2022, you can only contribute $6,000 if you're under 50, increasing to $6,500 in 2023. You can make an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution per year if you are over 50.
Contributions made to a traditional IRA are tax-deductible, thereby decreasing your taxable income. Withdrawals made during retirement are taxed at your normal income tax rate. For 2022, you can only contribute $6,000 if you're under 50, increasing to $6,500 in 2023. You can make an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution per year if you are over 50. Roth IRA: Contributions made to a Roth IRA are made using after-tax dollars. This means you can't use them to reduce your taxable income. The limits are the same as traditional IRAs. Any withdrawals you make during retirement are tax-free. Roth IRAs don't require you to take minimum distributionsor any at all. You can leave the money in your account if you choose to do so. You will be hit with a 10% early withdrawal penalty if you take money out before age 59.
You can also choose a SEP IRA or a SIMPLE IRA if you're self-employed or work for a small business.
403(b) Plans
These plans are just like the 401(k) but are sponsored by employers for individuals who work in schools and other tax-exempt organizations. This includes teachers, professors, clergy people, doctors, nurses, government employees, and librarians.
Participants agree to regular payroll deductions. Individuals may also benefit from additional contributions by the employer if they provide 403(b)s.
These plans have the same contribution limits as regular 401(k) plans. If you have one, you can contribute a maximum of $20,500 in 2022, or $22,500 in 2023. People over 50 can make an additional contribution of $6,500 in 2022, or $7,500 in 2023.
How Do Roth 401(k) Plans Work?
Roth 401(k) plans are only available through an employer, which means you can't set one up on your own. Contributions are made using after-tax dollars through payroll deductions. The contributions grow tax-free in your account. Withdrawals are also tax-free as long as you've held the account for at least five years and you're at least 59. The required minimum distribution must be taken for those who turn 72.
Is a Roth 401(k) Better Than a Traditional 401(k)?
Your personal circumstances can help answer that question. The Roth 401(k) is generally a better deal because you only pay income taxes on your contributions. This allows your earnings to grow tax-free and make withdrawals without paying income taxes. If you're cash-strapped now, this option will be a heavier hit to your current annual income.
Contributions to a traditional 401(k) are tax-free but you must pay taxes on your withdrawals. So if you expect to be in a lower tax bracket after retiring, the immediate tax break of a traditional 401(k) may be more useful.
What Are the Criteria for Roth 401(k) Withdrawals?
A withdrawal is only considered a qualified distribution as long as you've held the account for at least five years and you're 59 unless you are disabled or the account holder dies.
You must make the required minimum distributions if you are at least 72 years old unless you still work for the company that holds the 401(k) and don't have at least a 5% ownership stake in the business that sponsors the plan.
Can You Lose Money in a Roth 401(k)?
You can lose money in any investment if the market tanks. That said, most employers offer a choice of funds, including very low-risk options like government bond funds. You can mix and match choices to reach the level of risk you are comfortable taking.
You can also lose money in a Roth 401(k) if you break the rules and take early distributions. If you're considering taking some money out early, check with the fund administrator to find out whether you might owe a tax penalty.
The Bottom Line
Roth 401(k) plans allow a company's employees to start investing for their retirement. Like other 401(k) plans, there may be an employer matching contribution. However, unlike regular 401(k) plans, a Roth is funded using after-tax dollars, meaning that there are no income taxes when you take distributions during retirement.
What Is a Qualified Opinion?top 10 best cryptocurrency to invest
A qualified opinion is a statement issued in an auditor's report that accompanies a company's audited financial statements. It is an auditor's opinion that suggests the financial information provided by a company was limited in scope or there was a material issue with regard to the application of generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)but one that is not pervasive.
Qualified opinions may also be issued if a company has inadequate disclosures in the footnotes to the financial statements.
Key Takeaways
A qualified opinion is one of four possible auditor's opinions on a company's financial statement.
The other auditor's opinions are unqualified, adverse, or a disclaimer of opinion.
A qualified opinion indicates that there was either a scope limitation, an issue discovered in the audit of the financials that were not pervasive, or an inadequate footnote disclosure.
A qualified opinion is an auditor's opinion that the financials are fairly presented, with the exception of a specified area.
Unlike an adverse or disclaimer of opinion, a qualified opinion is generally still acceptable to lenders, creditors, and investors.
The auditor's opinion is usually found in the third and final section of an auditors report.
Understanding a Qualified Opinion
A qualified opinion may be given when a companys financial records have not followed GAAP in all financial transactions, but only if the deviation from GAAP is not pervasive. The term "pervasive" can be interpreted differently based on an auditor's professional judgment. However, to not be pervasive, the misstatement must not misrepresent the factual financial position of the company as a whole and should not have an effect on the decision-making of financial statement users.
A qualified opinion may also be given due to a limitation of scope in which the auditor was not able to gather sufficient evidence to support various aspects of the financial statements. Without sufficient verification of transactions, an unqualified opinion may not be given. Inadequate disclosures in the notes to the financial statements, estimation uncertainty, or the lack of a statement of cash flows are also grounds for a qualified opinion.
How a Qualified Opinion Is Represented
A qualified opinion is listed in the third and final section of an auditors report. The first section of the report outlines managements responsibilities in regards to preparing the financial statements and maintaining internal controls. The second section outlines the auditors responsibilities. In the third section, an opinion is given by the independent auditor regarding the companys internal controls and accounting records. The opinion may be unqualified, qualified, adverse, or a disclaimer of opinion.
A qualified opinion states that the financial statements of a corporate client are, with the exception of a specified area, fairly presented. Auditors typically qualify the auditor's report with a statement such as "except for the following," when they have insufficient information to verify certain aspects of the transactions and reports being audited.
A qualified opinion is not so severe that it indicates that a business is doing poorly or that a company has hidden or falsified information, but rather, that the auditor simply cannot give an issue free report. The auditor may specify that they believe the overall audit to be true and factual but will specify the area that they believe is the issue.
Qualified Opinion vs. Other Opinions
A qualified opinion is a reflection of the auditors inability to give an unqualified, or clean, audit opinion. An unqualified opinion is issued if the financial statements are presumed to be free from material misstatements. It is the most common type of auditor's opinion.
If the issues discovered during the audit result in material misstatements that would affect the decision making of the financial statement users, the opinion is escalated to an adverse opinion. The adverse opinion results in the company needing to restate and complete another audit of its financial statements. A qualified opinion is still acceptable to most lenders, creditors, and investors.
In the event that the auditor is unable to complete the audit report due to the absence of financial records or insufficient cooperation from management, the auditor issues a disclaimer of opinion. This is an indication that no opinion over the financial statements was able to be determined.
Deductive reasoning is 50 free spins mr greendefined as a way of building an argument from general premises to a conclusion. If the principle selected is correct and clear, the rules of deductive reasoning are prepared. It is also called a top to down thinking or taking general statements to specific one sand then to a conclusion. For example, if B = C and C = D, then obviously B = D. First two premises are general while the third conclusion is specific.
Deductive reasoning is a rhetorical device rather than a literary device. However, it is used in literature as well as philosophy to build arguments.
Rules for Deductive Reasoning
There are three major rules in deductive reasoning.
The first is modus ponens, which means law of detachment. This is inference rule in which conclusion is deduced from the first premise that is condition and second premise that is antecedent. The second rule is modus tollens, which is called law of contrapositive. It is based on the first premise as conditional with the second premise as a negation of the result followed by conclusion deduced from them. The third law is that of the Syllogism,which takes two conditionals and then forms a conclusion.
Rule-Based Examples
Premise 1: Johnson is a student.
Premise 2: All students are young men.
Conclusion: Johnson is a young man.
Premise 1: If it rains, it means that the sky is cloudy.
Premise 2: There is not any cloud in the sky.
Conclusion: Therefore, it means that it is raining.
Premise 1: If it is a York, it means it is a dog.
Premise 2: If it is a dog, it is also a mammal.
Conclusion: If the animal is a York, it means that it is a mammal, too.
Common Examples
If you want to find peace of mind, you need to identify what you can control and what you cannot. However, if others think what is not under your control is, it is their thinking. Therefore, you need not worry about what others think about you. When there are two people in this room; Jonny and his brother and you know that both do not wear spectacles, it means that Jonny also does not wear spectacles. Therefore, both have good eyesight. If there is an after two prime number and seven is also a prime number, it means that all odd numbers between two to eight are prime numbers. (Adopted from Patrick Hurleys Concise Introduction to Logic)
Examples from Literature
Example #1
Animal Farm by George Orwell
A birds wing, comrades, he said, is an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation. It should therefore be regarded as a leg. The distinguishing mark of man is the HAND, the instrument with which he does all his mischief. The birds did not understand Snowballs long words, but they accepted his explanation, and all the humbler animals set to work to learn the new maxim by heart. FOUR LEGS GOOD, TWO LEGS BAD, was inscribed on the end wall of the barn, above the Seven Commandments and in bigger letters. When they had once got it by heart, the sheep developed a great liking for this maxim, and often as they lay in the field they would all start bleating Four legs good, two legs bad! Four legs good, two legs bad! and keep it up for hours on end, never growing tired of it.
This paragraph from Animal Farmis an excellent example of deductive reasoning. Snowball is trying to prove that if wings are like legs, it means they are not hands. If they are not hands, it means that birds have four legs. Therefore, they have not two legs but four legs. Through this deductive reasoning, Snowball has proven that birds are actually animals and not human beings.
Example #2
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
They sat on the Terrace, and many of the fishermen made fun of the old man, and he was not angry. Others, of the older fishermen, looked at him and were sad. But they did not show it, and they spoke politely about the current and the depths they had drifted their lines at and the steady good weather and of what they had seen.
This paragraph from The Old Man and the Seais also one of the best examples of deductive reasoning. It shows the logic that as the fishermen make fun of the old man, and yet the old man is not angry. It means Santiago is not angry as he is also a man. Conversely, it also shows that as the older men do not show their anger and they are very patient.
Example #3
The Raven by Thomas Hardy
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
Tis some visitor, I muttered, tapping at my chamber door
Only this, and nothing more.
This stanza from The Raven also shows an example of deductive reasoning used in literature. It shows that when there is tapping on the door, and it is also gentle, it means that there is only one visitor. It also means that there is no other source of tapping except that visitor.
Functions of Deductive Reasoning
Deductive reasoning proves highly useful during discussions, speeches, writings, and literary pieces. They are also included in logical and argumentative novels or plays. The written pieces often become very persuasive and convincing when constructed with deductive reasoning. The use of deductive reasoning makes it easy to convince the audiences, using general examples to reach a specific point. Moreover, deductive reasoning allows the writing and speaking clear, rhetorical, and effective. It removes ambiguities and confusions in the arguments and helps a person become a fluent and eloquent speaker and flawless writer.
What Is a Rollover?bitcoin value over time
A rollover may entail a number of actions, most popularly the transfer of the holdings of one retirement plan to another without creating a taxable event. A rollover may also entail reinvesting funds from a mature security into a new issue of the same or similar security, or moving a FOREX (FX) position to the following delivery date, in which case the rollover incurs a charge.
In the context of retirement assets, the distribution from a retirement plan is reported on IRS Form 1099-R and may be limited to one per annum for each individual retirement account (IRA). The forex rollover fee arising from the difference in interest rates between the two currencies underlying a transaction is paid to the broker.
Rollover
Understanding a Rollover
1:36
Rollovers often occur as a way of making money for a specific purpose, such as immediate income from day trading or for saving on taxes, as with retirement plans. A rollover IRA or IRA rollover is a transfer of funds from a retirement account into a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. As shown by the following examples, the benefits of rollovers vary among different types of investments.
Key Takeaways
A rollover may entail a number of actions but often refers to the transfer of the holdings of one retirement plan to another without having to pay taxes.
When a rollover occurs it may mean a person has reinvested funds from a mature security into a new issue of the same or similar security.
When a direct rollover occurs in a retirement plan, the funds may be sent directly to the new investment vehicle.
Rollover in Retirement Accounts
With a direct rollover, the retirement plan administrator may pay the plans proceeds directly to another plan or to an IRA. The distribution may be issued as a check made payable to the new account. When receiving a distribution from an IRA through a trustee-to-trustee transfer, the institution holding the IRA may distribute the funds from the IRA to the other IRA or a retirement plan.
In the case of a 60-day rollover, funds from a retirement plan or IRA are paid directly to the investor, who deposits some or all of the funds in another retirement plan or IRA within 60 days.
Taxes are typically not paid when performing a direct rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer. However, distributions from a 60-day rollover and funds not rolled over are typically taxable.
Another type of retirement account rollover has emerged as a financing alternative for those who are starting a business. When executed properly, a rollover for business startups (ROBS) allows entrepreneurs to invest their retirement savings into a new business venture without incurring taxes, early withdrawal penalties, or loan costs. However, a ROBS transaction can be complicated to execute, so it's important to work with a competent provider.
Rollover in Forex Positions
Long-term forex day traders can make money in the market by trading from the positive side of the rollover equation. Traders begin by computing swap points, which is the difference between the forward rate and the spot rate of a specific currency pair as expressed in pips. Traders base their calculations on interest rate parity, which implies that investing in varying currencies should result in hedged returns that are equal, regardless of the currencies interest rates.
Traders compute the swap points for a certain delivery date by considering the net benefit or cost of lending one currency and borrowing another against it during the time between the spot value date and the forward delivery date. The trader thus makes money when he is on the positive side of the interest rollover payment.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon to visit China and attend the Beijing summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
During his planet 7 casino no deposit bonus codes 2020visit, made at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Nazarbayev will attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the SCO in Beijing from June 6 to 7. He is also scheduled to meet with Chinese leaders on bilateral ties and other issues of common concern.
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What Is Conditional Probability?encore boston blackjack
Conditional probability is defined as the likelihood of an event or outcome occurring, based on the occurrence of a previous event or outcome. Conditional probability is calculated by multiplying the probability of the preceding event by the updated probability of the succeeding, or conditional, event.
Conditional probability can be contrasted with unconditional probability. Unconditional probability refers to the likelihood that an event will take place irrespective of whether any other events have taken place or any other conditions are present.
Key Takeaways
Conditional probability refers to the chances that some outcome occurs given that another event has also occurred.
It is often stated as the probability of B given A and is written as P(B|A), where the probability of B depends on that of A happening.
Conditional probability can be contrasted with unconditional probability.
Probabilities are classified as either conditional, marginal, or joint.
Bayes' theorem is a mathematical formula used in calculating conditional probability.
Understanding Conditional Probability
Conditional probabilities are contingent on a previous result or event occurring. A conditional probability would look at such events in relationship with one another. Conditional probability is thus the likelihood of an event or outcome occurring based onthe occurrence of some other event or prior outcome.
Two events are said to be independent if one event occurring does not affect the probability that the other event will occur. However, if one event occurring or not does, in fact, affect the probability that the other event will occur, the two events are said to be dependent. If events are independent, then the probability of some event B is not contingent on what happens with event A. A conditional probability, therefore, relates to those events that are dependent on one another.
Conditional probability is often portrayed as the "probability of A givenB," notated as P(A|B).
Conditional probability is used in a variety of fields, such as insurance, economics, politics, and many different fields of mathematics.
Conditional Probability Formula
P(B|A) = P(A and B) / P(A)
Or:
P(B|A) = P(AB) / P(A)
Where
P = Probability
A = Event A
B = Event B
Unconditional probability is also known as marginal probability and measures the chance of an occurrence ignoring any knowledge gained from previous or external events. Since this probability ignores new information, it remains constant.
Examples of Conditional Probability
As an example, suppose you are drawing three marblesred, blue, and greenfrom a bag. Each marble has an equal chance of being drawn. What is the conditional probability of drawing the red marble after already drawing the blue one?
First, the probability of drawing a blue marble is about 33% because it is one possible outcome out of three. Assuming this first event occurs, there will be two marbles remaining, with each having a 50% chance of being drawn. So the chance of drawing a blue marble after already drawing a red marble would be about 16.5% (33% x 50%).
As another example to provide further insight into this concept, consider that a fair die has been rolled and you are asked to give the probability that it was a five. There are six equally likely outcomes, so your answer is 1/6.
But imagine if before you answer, you get extra information that the number rolled was odd. Since there are only three odd numbers that are possible, one of which is five, you would certainly revise your estimate for the likelihood that a five was rolled from 1/6 to 1/3.
This revised probability that an event A has occurred, considering the additional information that another event B has definitely occurred on this trial of the experiment, is called the conditional probability of A given B and is denoted by P(A|B).
Another Example of Conditional Probability
As another example, suppose a student is applying for admission to a university and hopes to receive an academic scholarship. The school to which they are applying accepts 100 of every 1,000 applicants (10%) and awards academic scholarships to 10 of every 500 students who are accepted (2%).
Of the scholarship recipients, 50% of them also receive university stipends for books, meals, and housing. For the students, the chance of them being accepted and then receiving a scholarship is .2% (.1 x .02). The chance of them being accepted, receiving the scholarship, then also receiving a stipend for books, etc. is .1% (.1 x .02 x .5).
Conditional Probability vs. Joint Probability and Marginal Probability
Conditional probability : p(A|B) is the probability of event A occurring, given that event B occurs. For example, given that you drew a red card, whats the probability that its a four (p(four|red))=2/26=1/13. So out of the 26 red cards (given a red card), there are two fours so 2/26=1/13.
: p(A|B) is the probability of event A occurring, event B occurs. For example, given that you drew a red card, whats the probability that its a four (p(four|red))=2/26=1/13. So out of the 26 red cards (given a red card), there are two fours so 2/26=1/13. Marginal probability : the probability of an event occurring (p(A)) in isolation. It may be thought of as an unconditional probability. It is not conditioned on another event. Example: the probability that a card drawn is red (p(red) = 0.5). Another example: the probability that a card drawn is a 4 (p(four)=1/13).
: the probability of an event occurring (p(A)) in isolation. It may be thought of as an unconditional probability. It is not conditioned on another event. Example: the probability that a card drawn is red (p(red) = 0.5). Another example: the probability that a card drawn is a 4 (p(four)=1/13). Joint probability: p(A B). Joint probability is that of event A and event B occurring. It is the probability of the intersection of two or more events. The probability of the intersection of A and B may be written p(A B). Example: the probability that a card is a four and red =p(four and red) = 2/52=1/26. (There are two red fours in a deck of 52, the 4 of hearts and the 4 of diamonds).
Bayes' Theorem and Conditional Probability
Bayes' theorem, named after 18th-century British mathematician Thomas Bayes, is a mathematical formula for determining conditional probability. The theorem provides a way to revise existing predictions or theories (update probabilities) given new or additional evidence. In finance, Bayes' theorem can be used to rate the risk of lending money to potential borrowers.
Bayes' theorem is also called Bayes' Rule or Bayes' Law and is the foundation of the field of Bayesian statistics. This set of rules of probability allows one to update their predictions of events occurring based on new information that has been received, making for better and more dynamic estimates.
Bayes' theorem is well suited to and widely used in machine learning.
How Do You Calculate Conditional Probability?
Conditional probability is calculated by multiplying the probability of the preceding event by the probability of the succeeding or conditional event. Conditional probability looks at the probability of one event happening based on the probability of a preceding event happening.
What Is a Conditional Probability Calculator?
A conditional probability calculator is an online tool that will calculate conditional probability. It will provide the probability of the first event and the second event occurring. A conditional probability calculator saves the user from doing the mathematics manually.
What Is the Difference Between Probability and Conditional Probability?
Probability looks at the likelihood of one event occurring. Conditional probability looks at two events occurring in relation to one another. It looks at the probability of a second event occurring based on the probability of the first event occurring.
What Is Prior Probability?
Prior probability is the probability of an event occurring before any data has been gathered to determine the probability. It is the probability as determined by a prior belief. Prior probability is a component of Bayesian statistical inference.
What Is Compound Probability?
Compound probability looks to determine the likelihood of two independent events occurring. Compound probability multiplies the probability of the first event by the probability of the second event. The most common example is that of a coin flipped twice and the determination if the second result will be the same or different than the first.
The Bottom Line
Conditional probability examines the likelihood of an event occurring based on the likelihood of a preceding event occurring. The second event is dependent on the first event. It is calculated by multiplying the probability of the first event by the probability of the second event.
B.A., Kwansei Gakuin University
The Japanese phrase Ki o tsukete means "take care." It is the phrase you would use when saying goodbye to a friend (whom you expect to see again within a few days) or a boss or coworker (whom you expect to see the next day or after a weekend). But the phrase deserves some explanation.
Many in Western cultures believe that the Japanese use sayounara when saying goodbye. Nothing could be further from the truth, notes FluentU, adding that not only is this stereotyping, but the term sayonaraalso implies a finality, as if you are saying goodbye for good. "Saying sayounara to a boss or loved one may leave them feeling confused or upset," says the language website.
If you plan to study Japanese or visit Japan, it's important that you know how to say goodbye in a socially appropriate way. Read on to learn how to use the phrase Ki o tsukete, including how to pronounce it and in what social context to use it.
Pronouncing "Ki o Ttsukete"
Click the link to bring up an audio file that will let you listen to the correct way to pronounce the Japanese phrase for "take care." As you listen to the pronunciation for "Ki o tsukete," pause after you listen once or twice and practice saying the phrase.
Japanese Characters: Writing "Ki o Tsukete"
It can also help to know how to write the phrase for saying goodbye. Before studying how the phrase is written, it's important to understand the three Japanese writing systems: kanji, hiragana, and katakana.
Kanji is symbolic (or logographic). It is the most common means of written communication in the Japanese language. Hiragana is a phonetic syllabary made up of simplified kanji letters, notes study guide "Japanese Grammar." Hiragana is used primarily to spell words that have Japanese roots or grammatical elements. Katakana is used to spell foreign and technical words ("computer" is one example) or for emphasis. The phrase Ki o tsukete is a combination of kanji and katakana, and is spelled as follows:
Thepi crypto invite parallel nft game phrase can also be translated as "be careful." The saying implies a concern you want to express for the health and welfare of your listener, in that you are wishing her well until you are able to see her again.
Using "Ki o Tsukete" Correctly
The Iidabashi Japanese Language School points out yet another issue to be careful of when using the phrase Ki o tsukete. You are, indeed, telling your listener to "take care" or "be careful" when using this phrase. However, the school notes on the website, Gaijin Pot:
"It is a phrase which signifies that one is praying for the safe trip of another. As such, it is a phrase that only the person watching someone else go is able to use. The person leaving cannot say it to the person staying behind."
In other words, only the person staying behind can use the phrase to, essentially, wish a safe journey to the person who is leaving. So, if youare the one leaving work or home, FluentU suggests the following alternative phrases for saying goodbye in Japanese:
(, itte kimasu) > Im leaving home
(, osaki ni shitsurei shimasu) > Excuse me for leaving first
(, otsukaresama deshita) > Thank you for your hard work
There are also a number of other ways to say goodbye in Japanese, which you will learn as you continue to study the language. So ki o tsukete (be careful or take care) to use the correct phrase when you plan to leave.
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What Is an Offering?888 dragons slot machine wins
An offering is the issue or sale of a security by a company. It is often used in reference to an initial public offering (IPO) when a company's stock is made available for purchase by the public, but it can also be used in the context of a bond issue.
An offering is also known as a securities offering, investment round, or funding round. A securities offering, whether an IPO or otherwise, represents a singular investment or funding round. Unlike other rounds (such as seed rounds or angel rounds), however, an offering involves selling stocks, bonds, or other securities to investors to generate capital.
Key Takeaways
An offering refers to when a company issues or sells a security.
It is most commonly known as an initial public offering.
IPOs can be risky because it's difficult to protect how the stock will perform on its initial day of trading.
How an Offering Works
Usually, a company will make an offering of stocks or bonds to the public in an attempt to raise capital to invest in expansion or growth. There are instances of companies offering stock or bonds because of liquidity issues (i.e., not enough cash to pay the bills), but investors should be wary of any offering of this type.
When a company initiates the IPO process, a very specific set of events occurs. First, an external IPO team is formed, consisting of an underwriter, lawyers, certified public accountants (CPAs), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experts. Next, information regarding the company is compiled, including financial performance and expected future operations. This becomes part of the company prospectus, which is circulated for review.
Sometimes companies will issue what is known as a shelf prospectus, detailing the terms of multiple types of securities that it expects to offer over the next several years. The financial statements are then submitted for official audit, and the company files its prospectus with the SEC and sets a date for the offering.
Why IPOs Are Risky
IPOs, as well as any other type of stock or bond offering, can be a risky investment. For the individual investor, it is tough to predict what the stock will do on its initial day of trading, and in the near future, there is often little historical data to use to analyze the company. Also, most IPOs are for companies that are going through a transitory growth period, which means that they are subject to additional uncertainty regarding their future values.
IPO underwriters work closely with the issuing body to ensure an offering goes well. Their goal is to ensure that all regulatory requirements are satisfied, and they are also responsible for contacting a large network of investment organizations in order to research the offering and gauge interest to set the price. The amount of interest received helps an underwriter set the offering price. The underwriter also guarantees a specific number of shares will be sold at that initial price and will purchase any surplus.
Secondary Offerings
A secondary market offering is a large block of securities offered for public sale that have been previously issued to the public. The blocks being offered may have been held by large investors or institutions, and the proceeds of the sale go to those holders, not the issuing company. Also called secondary distribution, these types of offerings are very different than initial public offerings and don't require nearly the same amount of background work.
Non-Initial Public Offerings vs. Initial Public Offerings
Sometimes an established company will make offerings of stock to the public, but such an offering will not be the first offering of securities for sale by that company. Such an offering is known as a non-initial public offering or seasoned equity offering.
M.L.S, Library Science, Indiana University
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was an Italian Early Renaissance painter. He is best known today for his iconic painting "The Birth of Venus." He was popular enough during his lifetime that he was chosen as part of the team of artists who created the first paintings in the Sistine Chapel.
Fast Facts: Sandro Botticelli
Full Name: Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi Occupation : Painter
: Painter Style: Italian Early Renaissance
Italian Early Renaissance Born : c. 1445 in Florence, Italy
: c. 1445 in Florence, Italy Died : May 17, 1510, in Florence, Italy
: May 17, 1510, in Florence, Italy Parent: Mariano di Vanni d'Amedeo Filipepi
Mariano di Vanni d'Amedeo Filipepi Selected Works: "Adoration of the Magi" (1475), "Primavera" (1482), "The Birth of Venus" (1485)
Early Life and Training
Most of the details of Sandro Botticelli's earliest life are unknown. He is thought to have grown up in Florence, Italy in a relatively poor part of the city where he lived most of his life. Legends about the artist say that one of his four older brothers nicknamed him "Botticelli" which means "little barrel" in Italian.
Sandro Botticelli was apprenticed to artist Fra Filippo Lippi somewhere around 1460. He was considered a conservative painter but one of the most popular in Florence, and was often given commissions by the powerful Medici family. The young Botticelli received a solid education in the Florentine style of panel painting, frescoes, and drawing.
"Adoration of the Magi" (1475).Thekla Clark / Getty Images
Early Florentine Career
In 1472, Botticelli joined a group of Florentine painters known as the Compagnia di San Luca. Many of his early works were church commissions. One of his first masterpieces was the 1476 "Adoration of the Magi" painted for the Santa Maria Novella. Among the portraits in the painting are members of the Medici family and the only known self-portrait of Botticelli.
"Saint Augustine in His Study" (1480).Leemage / Getty Images
The influential Vespucci family, well-known for the explorer Amerigo Vespucci, commissioned a fresco of "Saint Augustine in his Study" dating to approximately 1480. It is the earliest Botticelli fresco that still survives and is located in the church of Ognissanti in Florence.
Sistine Chapel
In 1481, due to his local popularity, Botticelli was one of the group of Florentine and Umbrian artists invited by Pope Sixtus IV to create frescoes to decorate the walls of his new Sistine Chapel in Rome. His work in the chapel pre-dates the better known Michelangelo pieces by nearly 30 years.
Sandro Botticelli contributed three scenes of the fourteen that depict events in the lives of Jesus Christ and Moses. They include "The Temptations of Christ," "Youth of Moses," and "Punishment of the Sons of Corah." He also painted several of the portraits of popes above the larger scenes.
"Temptation of Christ" (1482).Heritage Images / Getty Images
While Botticelli designed the Sistine Chapel paintings himself, he brought a team of assistants with him to complete the work. This was due to the ample space covered by the frescoes and the requirement to complete the job in only a few months.
Birth of Venus
After the completion of the Sistine Chapel pieces in 1482, Botticelli returned to Florence and remained there for the rest of his life. During the next period of his career, he created his two most famous paintings, 1482's "Primavera" and 1485's "The Birth of Venus." Both are in the Uffizi Gallery museum in Florence.
Both "Primavera" and "The Birth of Venus" are notable for depictions of scenes from classical mythology on a massive scale usually reserved for religious subject matter. Some historians see "Primavera" as one of the earliest works designed to make looking at art an act of pleasure.
"Birth of Venus" (1485).Heritage Images / Getty Images
While Botticelli fell out of favor after his death, a revival of interest in "The Birth of Venus" in the 19th century positioned the piece as one of the most revered works of art of all time. The scene depicts Venus, the Goddess of Love, sailing to shore on a giant seashell. Zephyr, the god of the west wind, blows her ashore while an attendant waits to wrap a cloak around her.
One unique element of "The Birth of Venus" was the presentation of a nearly life-size female nude. For many casual observers, the painting is their idea of Italian Renaissance art. However, it stands apart from most of the critical elements of the main threads of art from the period.
Botticelli painted a few other mythological subjects, and they also stand out among his most famous works. The smaller panel painting "Mars and Venus" is in the National Gallery in London, England. The larger piece "Pallas and the Centaur" hangs in the Uffizzi in Florence.
Secular Work
Botticelli focused most of his career on religious and mythologic content, but he also produced many portraits. Most of them are various members of the Medici family. Since the commissions often went to Botticelli's workshop, it is impossible to know for sure which artists worked on which portrait. However, the identification of similar elements is used to try and identify authentic Botticelli work.
"Portrait of Giuliano de Medici" (1478).Francis G. Mayer / Getty Images
Later Years
Sometime during the 1490s, Botticelli rented a small house with a farm in the country just outside of Florence. He lived on the property with his brother Simone. Little is known about Botticelli's personal life, and he never married. The Florentine Archives include an accusation from 1502 that Botticelli "kept a boy" and might have been gay or bisexual, but historians do not agree on this point. Similar allegations were common slander during the era.
"Castello Annunciation" (1490).Hulton Archive / Getty Images
Late in the 1490s, the Medici family lost much of their power in Florence. Religious fervor took over in their place, and it reached a climax with The Bonfire of the Vanities in 1497. Many historians believe that many Botticelli paintings could have been lost.
Botticelli's work after 1500 is more somber in tone and specifically religious in content. Paintings like his 1501 "Mystic Crucifixion" are emotionally intense. No one knows for sure what happened in the last years of Botticelli's life, but he died a poor man in 1510. He is buried in the chapel of the Vespucci family in the church of Ognissanti in Florence.
Legacy
Botticelli's reputation suffered for centuries following his death as Western art critics revered the later artists, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. In the late 1800s, Botticelli surged in popularity. In the first two decades of the 1900s, more books were published about Botticelli than any other artist. He is now considered one of the artists who best represent the linear elegance of Early Renaissance painting.
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Some nouns can be counted individually. A person could count the crayons in a box, the eggs in a carton, or the people on a train. These are called count nouns.
Other nouns cant be counted individually. A person could not count air, dirt, or happiness. These are called mass nouns.
English has specific words to use in reference to the quantity of mass and count nouns. Amountand numberare two such words. Continue reading to discover the difference between them, and to find out whether you should use numberor amount.
What is the Difference Between Amount and Number?
In this article, I will compare amountvs. numberand their uses. I will use each word in an example sentence to illustrate its proper meaning and context.
Then, I will explain a helpful trick to use when deciding whether to choose amountor numberfor your writing, depending on context.
When to Use Amount
What does amount mean? Amountcan be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, it refers to the quantityof something. Amountis used with mass nouns. In other words, amountshould be used with nouns that cannot be counted individually, also called non-count nouns. You cannot count the water in a glass, for instance, or the religious freedom in America.
Here are some examples,
Mark asked Julia to read him the amount of olive oil called for in the recipe.
2016 has seen an increase in the amount of web traffic devoted to travel research.
The WISE findings get astronomers within 0.1 parsec, revealing new insights into both the amount of energy that is released when a star is destroyed and the mechanics of black hole behavior as a whole. TIME
When amount is used as a verb, it means to become or to equal. Here are two examples.
Hes too lazy to amount to much.
Our expenditures for the fiscal third quarter amount to $34,000.
When to Use Number
What does number mean? Numberis also a noun or a verb. Like amount, as a noun it refers to the quantityof something. Unlike amount, however, numberis used with count nouns.
Count nouns are nouns that could be counted individually. You could not count the sand on the seashore, for instance, but you could conceivably count how many grains of sand are in a small jar. Sand is a mass noun, and a grain is a count noun.
Here are some examples of number used as a noun.
A number of small children were playing on the jungle gym.
Julia asked Mark to read him the number of garlic cloves called for in the recipe.
The government in recent months also has enforced curfews to reduce electricity usea practice that has trimmed operating hours at malls and therefore cut back the number of screenings a cinema can squeeze in during a day. The Wall Street Journal
Numbercan also be a verb, where it means to countor to add up to.
See the following sentences,
To number the stars is not a trivial undertaking.
The spectators at the football game numbered in the thousands.
Trick to Remember the Difference
Now that we understand the differences, lets look at a helpful trick to remember number vs. amount.
Amountand numberboth refer to the quantity of something.
Amountis used with mass nouns.
Numberis used with count nouns.
If you arent sure whether to use amount or number, remember that a mount is used with a mass noun. Amount and a mass noun both begin with the letters am. This should help you keep these words straight.
Summary
Is it amount or number?Amountand numberboth refer to quantity, but each word has its own specific use.
Number is used with nouns that can be individually counted, like stars.
Amount is used for nouns that cannot be individually counted, like starlight.
By remembering the M that is part of the words amount and mass, you can be sure to reserve amount for use with mass nouns.
If you still need help, you can reference this article in the future.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (R) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda before holding talks with him in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2012. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (2nd L) holds talks with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda (2nd R) in Beijing, capital of China, May 13, 2012. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)
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What Is an Anomaly?trust dice referral code
In economics and finance, an anomaly is when the actual result under a given set of assumptions is different from the expected result predicted by a model. An anomaly provides evidence that a given assumption or model does not hold up in practice. The model can either be a relatively new or older model.
Key Takeaways
Anomalies are occurrences that deviate from the predictions of economic or financial models that undermine those models' core assumptions.
In markets, patterns that contradict the efficient market hypothesis like calendar effects are prime examples of anomalies.
Most market anomalies are psychologically driven.
Anomalies, however, tend to quickly disappear once knowledge about them has been made public.
Understanding Anomalies
In finance, two common types of anomalies are market anomalies and pricing anomalies. Market anomalies are distortions in returns that contradict the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). Pricing anomalies are when somethingfor example, a stockis priced differently than how a model predicts it will be priced.
Common market anomalies include the small-cap effect and the January effect. The small-cap effect refers to the small company effect, where smaller companies tend to outperform larger ones over time. The January effect refers to the tendency of stocks to return much more in the month of January than in others.
Anomalies also often occur with respect to asset pricing models, in particular, the capital asset pricing model (CAPM). Although the CAPM was derived by using innovative assumptions and theories, it often does a poor job of predicting stock returns. The numerous market anomalies that were observed after the formation of the CAPM helped form the basis for those wishing to disprove the model. Although the model may not hold up in empirical and practical tests, it still does hold some utility.
Anomalies tend to be few and far between. In fact, once anomalies become publicly known, they tend to quickly disappear as arbitragers seek out and eliminate any such opportunity from occurring again.
Types of Market Anomalies
In financial markets, any opportunity to earn excess profits undermines the assumptions of market efficiency, which states that prices already reflect all relevant information and so cannot be arbitraged.
January Effect
The January effect is a rather well-known anomaly. According to the January effect, stocks that underperformed in the fourth quarter of the prior year tend to outperform the markets in January. The reason for the January effect is so logical that it is almost hard to call it an anomaly. Investors will often look to jettison underperforming stocks late in the year so that they can use their losses to offset capital gains taxes (or to take the small deduction that the IRS allows if there is a net capital loss for the year). Many people call this event tax-loss harvesting.
As selling pressure is sometimes independent of the company's actual fundamentals or valuation, this "tax selling" can push these stocks to levels where they become attractive to buyers in January.
Likewise, investors will often avoid buying underperforming stocks in the fourth quarter and wait until January to avoid getting caught up in the tax-loss selling. As a result, there is excess selling pressure before January and excess buying pressure after Jan. 1, leading to this effect.
September Effect
The September effect refers to historically weak stock market returns for the month of September. There is a statistical case for the September effect depending on the period analyzed, but much of the theory is anecdotal. It is generally believed that investors return from summer vacation in September ready to lock in gains as well as tax losses before the end of the year.
There is also a belief that individual investors liquidate stocks going into September to offset schooling costs for children. As with many other calendar effects, the September effect is considered a historical quirk in the data rather than an effect with any causal relationship.
Days of the Week Anomalies
Efficient market supporters hate the "Days of the Week" anomaly because it not only appears to be true, but it also makes no sense. Research has shown that stocks tend to move more on Fridays than Mondays and that there is a bias toward positive market performance on Fridays. It is not a huge discrepancy, but it is a persistent one.
The Monday effect is a theory which states that returns on the stock market on Mondays will follow the prevailing trend from the previous Friday. Therefore, if the market was up on Friday, it should continue through the weekend and, come Monday, resume its rise. The Monday effect is also known as the "weekend effect."
On a fundamental level, there is no particular reason that this should be true. Some psychological factors could be at work. Perhaps an end-of-week optimism permeates the market as traders and investors look forward to the weekend. Alternatively, perhaps the weekend gives investors a chance to catch up on their reading, stew and fret about the market, and develop pessimism going into Monday.
Superstitious Indicators
Aside from calendar anomalies, there are some non-market signals that some people believe will accurately indicate the direction of the market. Here is a short list of superstitious market indicators:
B.A., University of NevadaLas Vegas
Turning the corner off of via Garibaldi, one sees stands lined up along the edge of the piazza. People with plastic bags, children with balloons, and Asian tourists with umbrellas milled about, stopping at a stand every so often to sample a slice of a peach or inquire about the price of a bundle of spinach.
When you visit Italy, its likely youll run into a similar market, and if you want a snack or have the option of cooking, youll want to stop as they are great places to practice your Italian and feed yourself.
To help you out, here are some key phrases and vocabulary words that you can use when buying fruit and vegetables.
Fruit & Vegetable Vocabulary
Almond - la mandorla
Apple - la mela
Apricot - lalbicocca
Artichoke - il carciofo
Asparagus - lasparago
Avocado - lavocado
Basil - il basilico
Beans - i fagioli
Bell pepper - il peperone
Cabbage - il cavolo
Carrot - la carota
Cauliflower - il cavolfiore
Cherries - le ciliegie
Chickpeas - i ceci
Cilantro - il coriandolo
Cucumber - il cetriolo
Eggplant - la melanzana
Fennel - il finocchio
Fig - il fico
Garlic - laglio
Grape - luva
Green beans - i fagiolini
Leek - il porro
Lemon - il limone
Lettuce - la lattuga
Melon - il melone
Mint - la menta
Oregano - lorigano
Parsley - il prezzemolo
Peach - la pesca
Peas - i pisellini
Raspberry - il lampone
Rosemary - il rosmarino
Spinach - gli spinaci
Strawberry - la fragola
Tomato - il pomodoro
Watermelon - l'anguria
Phrases
Vorrei quattro mele per oggi, per favore. - I would like four apples for today, please.
Note: If you say per oggi- for today, it implies that you want to eat these apples today and dont want to wait for any produce to ripen.
Quanto costa al chilo? - How much does it cost per kilo?
- How much does it cost per kilo? Quelli come si chiamano? - What are those called?
- What are those called? Un etto di(fragole). - 100 grams of(strawberries).
- 100 grams of(strawberries). Come si puo cucinare(il finocchio)? - How does one cook(fennel)?
- How does one cook(fennel)? Avete...(il basilico)? - Do you have(basil)?
- Do you have(basil)? Posso assaggiare (il peperone), per favore?- Can I try (the bell pepper), please?
Look but Don't Touch
Heres a quick cultural tip that might save you some embarrassment when shopping for fruits and vegetables. In Italy, you never want to directly touch any of the produce. In supermarkets, they have plastic gloves available so you can choose what you want, and there will be a machine you use to print out a label so the sales clerk can easily scan your purchases. When you go to the market, just ask for help from the venditore(vendor).
In both cases, it helps to bring your own bag from home. In supermarkets, they will charge you for la busta (the bag), but at outdoor markets, theyll typically just give you a plastic one if you dont have your own.
If youre curious about phrases for shopping in other contexts, read this article, and if you still need to learn the numbers so you can understand how much everything costs, go here.
Oulala.com, the popular provider of daily fantasy sports, has inked a partnership agreement with Game Interaction GroupLtd. and now, it is to become available on the Italian market.
The Managing Director of OulalaGames, Benjamin Carlotti, commented on the latest accomplishment the company has achieved and said that entering the Italian market was the most logical step Oulala could have taken. The Italian daily fantasy sports segment still seems largely untapped, but Italian fans are expected to embrace the opportunity to take advantage of the products available at Oulala portfolio.
Mr. Carlotti went on to say that Oulala was pleased to sign a binding agreement with Game Interaction Group as it considers it a prominent partner. He added that apart from being Oulalas official partner in Italy, Game Interaction Group was about to help them popularize their products and servicesthroughout the other European countries.
The CEO of Game Interaction Group, Francesco Arena, also commented on the partnership with Oulala. He said that daily fantasy sports were an emerging industry in Europe and remained hopeful that European and Italian players, in particular, will be excited to try the new products added to the existing platform.
He concluded that according to Game Interaction Group officials, Oulala was the best daily fantasy football platform in the industry as it offers unparalleled experience by providing players with the features and functionalities they need for practicing their passion.
Currently, Oulala is the daily fantasy sports operator of Leicester City, last seasons Premier League champion. It is also worthy of mentioning that the partnership between Oulala and the Foxes was the first white label partnership between a football club and a daily fantasy sports operator ever. In addition, Oulala is expected to become the first daily fantasy sports operator awarded a skill game license by the Maltese Gaming Commission.
The news about Oulalas expansion to Italy came a few weeks after it introduced its real money platform to Australian and Indian customers. That move was a part of the well-thought-out strategy related to becoming a leading provider of daily fantasy sports on a global scale.
As for Game Interaction Group, the company has been on the market for two years now. It features a sportsbook, online and offline affiliates as well as a player management platform. It also holds a license for providing its services on Italian soil.
What Is Lockbox Banking?best blackjack strategy
Lockbox banking is a service provided by banks to companies for the receipt of payment from customers. Under the service, the payments made by customers are directed to a special post office box instead of going to the company. The bank goes to the box, retrieves the payments, processes them and deposits the funds directly into the company's bank account.
How Lockbox Banking Works
For businesses that receive a large volume of payments or large-denomination checks accompanied by remittance documents, a lockbox arrangement can streamline collections and payment processing. Utilizing advanced lockbox technology, banks have established multiple communication hubs for businesses to use to receive payments and deposits.
A business establishes a post office box to receive payments from customers. The bank couriers the day's deposits and communications to its processing center. The business's remittance documents are scanned, payment information is captured, and clearing updates are transmitted to its accounts receivable. Each night, the business's lockbox data is backed up for secure storage and easy access.
What is the Cost of Lockbox Banking?
Lockbox banking services can be costly. The banks charge a setup fee and a recurrent monthly fee. They also charge a fee per transaction. Their rate system is usually not simple and hard to read. Typical lockbox service departments process many thousands of checks a month and charge for the time. The minutes charged add up quickly. Thus, even if the bank might be more efficient than your own back office, they still are relying on a fair degree of manual processing that incur labor costs.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Lockbox Banking
As with most payment processing services, there are both pros and cons to lockbox banking. It provides companies with a very efficient way of depositing customer payments. This is especially beneficial if a company is unable to deposit checks on a timely basis or if it is constantly receiving customer payments through the mail.
On the other hand, lockbox banking can also be very risky. Bank employees who have access to lockboxes are rarely supervised, which opens up the situation to possible fraud. The fraud primarily occurs in the form of check counterfeiting, because the checks that are in the lockboxes provide all the information needed to make counterfeits.
[Important: A company can protect itself from such fraud by using a bank that it trusts and by constantly monitoring its lockbox.]
Special Considerations
Businesses using lockbox banking can substantially lower their internal processing costs, speed up collections and convert their receivables into cash more quickly. There is no need for businesses to prepare their own bank deposits or maintain accounting records because that is done automatically through lockbox banking.
Part of the lockbox processing is done on a daily basis, so businesses can increase their control and efficiency in receivables management while improving audit controls and data security. Businesses benefit from enhanced reporting capabilities with daily access to deposit amounts, fund availability and payment information, including electronic images of processed payments and coupons.
Key Takeaways
On Thursday, September 14th, 2022 one of the ultimate greatest footballers of all time, Cristiano Ronaldo,was included in the Portugal national football club for upcoming Nations League games versus both the Czech Republic as well as Spain.
The head coach of Portugal, Fernando Santos, claimed that he is not concerned with Cristiano not playing much with the Manchester United football during this season.
Nobody here has any doubts about how important he continues to be for the national team,the head coach of Portugals National team Fernando Santos exclaimed.
The following players: Joao Felix, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva, and Bruno Fernandesalso were included in the list of the 26 players called up to play for the Portuguese national team recently, along with defenders Joao Cancelo, Pepe, and their exciting newcomer Tiago Djalo.
Some players that are out of contention to play for the Portugal football club due to injuries at the moment are Otavioand Renato Sanches. Santos also left out Andre Silva, Goncalo Guedesas well as Joao Moutinho, Portugals player with the 2nd most match appearances with the Portuguese national team behind Cristiano.
Portugal is presently scheduled to play at the Czech Republicon Saturday, September 24th, 2022, and then the Portuguese national football club will be hosting Spain just 3 days after that on Tuesday, September 27th, 2022.
Portugalwas the ultimate victor of the inaugural edition of the Nation League back in the year of 2019, and they are presently behind Spainat the moment by only 1 point in Group 2 of the League A. The Portuguese football club is also just 3 points in front of the Czech Republic. So, the upcoming games have a very significant meaning during the group stage of this seasons Nations League.
Earlier on Thursday, September 14th, 2022 the Portuguese soccer federation released their new uniforms for the 2022 World Cupwhich is scheduled to be played in Qatar a few months from now. The newly released Portuguese uniforms include a jersey inspired by the nations red and green flag, and they seem to be quite classy. Moving away from the traditional plain red, the new uniform has both the red and green colors on each side of a diagonal line across the chest.
The 2022 National Team of Portugal
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Rui Patricio (Roma)
Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Joao Cancelo (Manchester City), Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint Germain), Pepe (Porto), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Tiago Djalo (Lille), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund)
Midfielders: Joao Palhinha (Fulham), Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Joao Mario (Benfica), Matheus Nunes (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain), William Carvalho (Real Betis)
Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid), Rafa Silva (Benfica), Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Ricardo Horta (Braga)
Cristiano Ronaldos Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards
Sporting CP
Supertaca Candido de Oliveira: 2002
Manchester United
Premier League: 2006 2007, 2007 2008, 2008 2009
FA Cup: 2003 2004
Football League Cup: 2005 2006, 2008 2009
FA Community Shield: 2007
UEFA Champions League: 2007 2008
FIFA Club World Cup: 2008
Real Madrid
La Liga: 2011 2012, 2016 2017
Copa del Rey: 2010 2011, 2013 2014
Supercopa de Espana: 2012, 2017
UEFA Champions League: 2013 2014, 2015 2016, 2016 2017, 2017 2018
UEFA Super Cup: 2014, 2017
FIFA Club World Cup: 2014, 2016, 2017
Juventus
Serie A: 2018 2019, 2019 2020
Coppa Italia: 2020 2021
Supercoppa Italiana: 2018, 2020
Portugal
UEFA European Championship: 2016
UEFA Nations League: 2018 2019
Individual
FIFA Ballon dOr/Ballon dOr: 2008, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017
FIFA World Player of the Year: 2008
The Best FIFA Mens Player: 2016, 2017
The Best FIFA Special Award for Outstanding Career Achievement: 2021
European Golden Shoe: 2007 2008, 2010 2011, 2013 2014, 2014 2015
FPF Portuguese Player of the Year: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
PFA Players Player of the Year: 2006 2007, 2007 2008
Premier League Player of the Season: 2006 2007, 2007 2008
Premier League Golden Boot: 2007 2008
La Liga Best Player: 2013 2014
Pichichi Trophy: 2010 2011, 2013 2014, 2014 2015
Serie A Footballer of the Year: 2019, 2020
Capocannoniere: 2020 2021
Orders
PRT Ordem de Nossa Senhora da Conceicao de Vila Vicosa Cavaleiro ribbon.svg Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Vicosa (Portuguese Royal Family)
PRT Order of Prince Henry Grand Officer BAR.png Grand officer of the Order of Prince Henry
POR Ordem do Merito Comendador BAR.svg Commander of the Order of Merit
Cordao Autonomico de Distincao
Sources:
The Associated Press News Services. Ronaldo called up to lead Portugal in Nations League. The Associated Press. Friday, September 15, 2022.
Football Reference News Services. Cristiano Ronaldo. Football Reference. Friday, September 15, 2022.
What Is a Reverse Auction?betwaydownload odds to win sb 2022
A reverse auction is a type of auction in which sellers bid for the prices at which they are willing to sell their goods and services. It is the opposite of a regular auction, where a seller puts up an item and buyers place bids until the close of the auction, at which time the item goes to the highest bidder.
Key Takeaways
In a reverse auction, a buyer puts out a request for a specific good or service, inviting businesses to compete on price against each other to deliver what is being requested.
In the end, the contract goes to the seller willing to accept the lowest amount.
A reverse auction is the opposite of a regular auction, where the auction is initiated by the seller and the buyers bid the price up.
Reverse auctions are used by large corporations and government entities as a competitive procurement method for raw materials, supplies, and services like accounting and customer service.
They can help save time and money, albeit sometimes at the cost of quality.
Understanding Reverse Auction
In a reverse auction, the buyer puts up a request for a required good or service. Sellers then place bids for the amount they are willing to be paid for the good or service, with the winner being the seller prepared to accept the lowest amount.
Reverse auctions gained popularity with the emergence of internet-based online auction tools that enabled multiple sellers to connect with a buyer on a real-time basis. Today, reverse auctions are used by large corporations and government entities as a competitive procurement method for raw materials, supplies, and services like accounting and customer service.
Image by Sabrina Jiang Investopedia 2020
Example of a Reverse Auction
Bidding for government contracts is an example of reverse auctions. In this type of auction, governments specify requirements for the project and bidders, who are approved contractors, come up with a cost structure to finish the project.
For instance, when the Department of Defense (DoD) has a need for a certain service or good, such as, say, 50 fighter jets, it posts a message reaching out to potential suppliers. In this message, the DoD outlines what it needs and by when and invites interested contractors to submit price proposals within a set timeframe. The winner is generally the party willing to do the job specified for less.
Reverse auctions are a way for companies and governments to invite competition and push down the price for a good or service they need.
Caveats of a Reverse Auction
It is important to note that the reverse auction does not work for every good or service. Goods and services that can be provided by only a few sellers are not necessarily ideal for reverse auctions. In other words, a reverse auction works only when there are many sellers who offer similar goods and services to ensure the integrity of a competitive process.
In addition, there could be a tendency to focus on the lowest bids by sellers with less regard for the quality of the goods or services. The adage "cheap for a reason," has the potential to apply in such instances where a buyer suffers from the sub-optimal quality of the lowest-priced set of goods or services purchased through a reverse auction.
Last but not least, a buyer must be thorough in communicating all the specifications to the auction participants. A failure to do so could leave the purchaser with a winning bid that does not capture all of the sought-after attributes.
How Does a Reverse Auction Work?
In a reverse auction, a buyer puts out a request for a specific good or service, inviting businesses to compete against each other with bids for the amount they are willing to accept to deliver what is being requested by the specified timeline. In the end, the contract goes to the seller prepared to accept the lowest amount.
What Are the Benefits of a Reverse Auction?
Reverse auctions help buyers to lower purchase costs through increased competition and avoid having to individually negotiate with several different suppliers.
When Should You Do a Reverse Auction?
Reverse auctions generally work best when there are many sellers in the market and price is a key factor.
What Is the Difference Between a Forward Auction and Reverse Auction?
Forward auctions are the opposite of a reverse auction. In a forward auction, the auction is initiated by the seller and the buyers bid the price up.
The Bottom Line
Reverse auctions can make a lot of sense when there are many sellers in the market and price is the most important factor. They save time and money, which is no small thing for a business, although sometimes this can come at the cost of sacrificing quality.
Detailed contract specifications should rule out sub-optimal quality goods and services winning bids. However, depending on the good or service in question, sometimes it is better and generally more efficient over the long run to pay a little more for greater quality.
The old adages you get what you pay for and cheap for a reason apply here. For some goods and services, this may not be an issue. For others, it is a game-changer.
What Is an Irrevocable Beneficiary?best sure bet site novoline casino
An irrevocable beneficiary is a person or entity designated to receive the assets in a life insurance policy or a segregated fund contract. What is irrevocable is the beneficiary status. You cant choose on your own to change the beneficiary or the terms of the policy, and you cant cancel the policy without the beneficiarys consent. The beneficiary must agree to any and all changes in the rights to compensation from these entities.
Key Takeaways
An irrevocable beneficiary is a person or entity designated to receive the assets in a life insurance policy or a segregated fund contract.
An irrevocable beneficiary is a more ironclad version of a beneficiary. Their entitlements are guaranteed, and they often must approve any changes in the policy.
Irrevocable beneficiaries cannot be removed once designated unless they agree to iteven if they are divorced spouses.
Children are often named irrevocable beneficiaries to ensure their inheritance or secure child support payments.
Naming an irrevocable beneficiary can also have estate-planning benefits, especially if the insurance policy is put in an irrevocable trust.
Understanding an Irrevocable Beneficiary
An irrevocable beneficiary has certain guaranteed rights to assets held in the policy or fund. Its a more ironclad status than that of a revocable beneficiary, whose right to assets can be denied or amended under certain circumstances.
With a life insurance policy, the policyholder may designate either an irrevocable or revocable beneficiary to receive a payout in the event of the insureds death. If someone is listed as an irrevocable beneficiary, then denial of income from the policy after the death of the insured is not possible, nor are any changes made to policy payout termsunless the beneficiary agrees to them.
For example, a spouse who is an irrevocable beneficiary has the right to a policy payout even after a divorce. The ex-spouse must agree to changes in the policy before or after the death of the insured. Even the insured cannot change the status of an irrevocable beneficiary once they are named. Irrevocable beneficiaries also have to be notified if either the policy lapses or an attempt is made to cancel it.
In some states, an irrevocable beneficiary has the right to veto any changes to an insurance policy, including cancellation. In other states, they may only challenge items that directly affect them, such as a payout.
Advantages of an Irrevocable Beneficiary
The main advantage to naming an irrevocable beneficiary is that it ensures that money goes where you want it to go. Difficult to change during your life and virtually impossible to alter after your death, its for the bequests that youre 100% sure of and dont want to have to worry about keeping up to date.
Children are often named irrevocable beneficiaries. If a parent wanted to guarantee money to a child, then the parent could designate that child as an irrevocable beneficiary, thus ensuring the child will receive death benefits from the life insurance policy or segregated fund contract. A parent might also make their spouse an irrevocable beneficiary to ensure that they have the means to support their offspring properly and not be dependent on someone else.
As a way to safeguard an inheritance, making a beneficiary irrevocable can be especially important in this era of multiple marriages and blended families. A stepparent cant cut off a child from a previous marriage or alter or challenge a policy after the death of the insured. In case of a messy divorce, naming a child rather than a spouse as the policys irrevocable beneficiary could be preferable.
A beneficiary designation means that the funds in question dont have to go through probate, so the recipient gets them faster.
Irrevocable Trusts
Beneficiaries can protect assets in other ways. A beneficiary designation overrides any sort of bequest made in a will, and it doesnt have to go through probate. The recipient will get funds faster this way.
Irrevocable beneficiaries can also play a role in estate planning. If you name a beneficiary on a life insurance policy and then put that policy in an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), the proceeds are then considered removed from your estatethus avoiding potential estate and gift taxes after your death. An appointed trustee can supervise the trust and distribute the assets, which can be helpful in the case of irresponsible beneficiaries or when the beneficiary is a minor.
Although irrevocable beneficiaries are pretty well-shielded to begin with, irrevocable trusts offer an additional layer of protection against legal challenges. A beneficiary cant be sued by a creditor for these funds because the money is owned by the trust, not the individual, while the beneficiary doesnt own the money until the payout.
Collateral Assignments
Irrevocable beneficiaries also come into play if you want to use an insurance policy as collateral for a loan. The lendersuch as a bankwould become the irrevocable beneficiary of the policy, meaning it would be entitled to the cash value and/or death benefit if you defaulted on the debt or died before it was repaid. This process is called collateral assignment. If the loan is repaid in full while youre alive, the assignment is removed, and the lender is no longer the beneficiary of the death benefit.
Disadvantages of an Irrevocable Beneficiary
The primary disadvantage of having an irrevocable beneficiary is inflexibility. You cant make any changes without the beneficiarys consent. Life has a way of surprising us, so you need to be very sure that circumstances wont make you regret your choice.
As to irrevocable trusts, an additional disadvantage is that you lose control of the assets in the trust, ceding that control to a trustee. If you suddenly need to access the funds due to an emergency, you dont have it.
Irrevocable Beneficiaries and Divorces
A policyholder can be ordered by a court to designate their ex-spouse as a designated beneficiary. Most often, this is seen in cases where there are dependent children, child support, or alimony involved.
In such a case, the ex-spouse can work with a divorce lawyer to persuade a court to make the policyholder designate the ex-spouse as an irrevocable beneficiary to secure child support. However, the court can also have the policy amended if its deemed that the payout is excessive in regard to what is needed to support the child or at a time when the children are no longer seen as dependents.
Its important to note, however, that state law ultimately decides the rights of beneficiaries to an insurance policy, whether they are revocable or irrevocable beneficiaries. Policyholders should be clear with any beneficiary as to what the terms and conditions of a life insurance policy will be.
How Often Should I Review My Beneficiaries?
Some financial planners, including insurance companies themselves, recommend that you review your beneficiaries annually. That might be unnecessary, especially if you have named irrevocable beneficiaries. However, whenever a major life change occursmarriage, divorce, the birth of a child, or deathyou definitely should look over your beneficiaries.
Is an Irrevocable Beneficiary a Primary Beneficiary?
Irrevocable beneficiaries will always be primary beneficiaries. They take priority over revocable beneficiaries, forcing those others into secondary or tertiary status. It would be extremely rare for an irrevocable beneficiary to take second place.
How Can I Remove an Irrevocable Beneficiary?
You cant without difficulty. The point of irrevocable beneficiary status is its permanency. Generally speaking, an irrevocable beneficiary can only be removed if the beneficiary agrees to be displaced, voluntarily surrendering their status.
Chinese State Councilor Ma Kai on Thursday met with delegates to a workshop on corruption prevention in developing countries and some diplomatic envoys in China.
The Chinese government attaches great importance to the anti-corruption push, Ma said, adding China is willing to continue cooperation with developing countries to fight and prevent corruption
Representatives from 14 developing countries from Asia, Africa and Europe participated in the workshop, sponsored by Chinas National Bureau of Corruption Prevention and Ministry of Commerce.
Xinhua
China, developing nations in anti-corruption pledgeadded by chinatimesonline on
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Although betting has always been a popular pastime,betconstruct atlassian the rise of online betting platforms over the last several years has helped elevate the industry to stratospheric new heights.
In fact, according to the most recent figures and industry reports, the online betting and iGaming sector is positively booming! One recent industry report has identified the online gambling market as being worth an estimated $90bn in 2022. Even more staggeringly, this growth is expected to continue into 2023 and beyond, with early predictions identifying a 10% annual growth rate as a very real possibility.
If this continues as predicted, this means we could see the online gambling market valued an estimated $145bn by 2030!
This is a truly staggering figure which gives us a sense of just how popular online casinos and other betting platforms have become in recent years. Even when compared to other more mainstream and traditional forms of entertainment such as video games, the online iGaming sector continues to defy expectations!
One of the ways that online betting platforms across the US and other parts of the world have been able to achieve such steady growth, is by enticing a new generation of players into using their platforms. A big part of this marketing push has come in the form of promotions and bonuses, which help to advertise their platforms and to incentivize players to sign up for accounts.
A popular promotion offered by many online betting platforms is free bets, which are usually given to players in return for setting up an account with them. Out of the many platforms offering this promotion, below are some of the best free bets with no deposit offers available in 2023:
Mr Q
One popular option for iGaming fans looking for a free bet bonus, is Mr Q!
Mr Q is a global betting brand with a strong presence across Europe. Players who successfully complete the verification process will be credited with five free spins directly to their account. These free spins are limited to specific games, so be sure to check out the terms and conditions before you commit any time to the signup process!
Wild West Wins
Another popular choice with online betting fans trying to source the best welcome bonus, is Wild West Wins. This popular online betting platform will give new players signing up for an account a generous 20 free spins on the always fun to play Cowboys Gold. Best of all, you can take advantage of this special offer without having to deposit any cash as the free spins will be automatically credited to your account.
PocketWin
If you are in the mood for pocketing a win, then PocketWin could be just the online casino platform you are looking for! To tempt new users into signing up, PocketWin gives everyone setting up an account with them the opportunity to win a 10 free bonus, in addition to a 200% first deposit match. There are quite literally hundreds of fantastic games ready to use your free bet on here as well.
If this sounds like a good deal to you, we recommend reading up on the wagering requirements and seeing what you can spend your free bet on.
mFortune
If youre looking to turn your fortunes around, then why not try out the unusually named mFortune? This fan favorite online betting platform gives you plenty of opportunities to do just this, with hundreds of casino games available, including video slots, online poker and live casino games.
New players setting up an account with mFortune for the first time will be able to take advantage of a welcome bonus which gives you up to 10 and 100 free spins. The free spins are limited to certain games, as well as having strict wagering requirements. It is always recommended that you do your homework before committing any funds.
Space Wins
If you want to score some wins that will take you to outer space, Space Wins give new players some free spins that might just help you achieve this mission!
New players signing up for an account with Space Wins can take advantage of a welcome bonus that includes five free spins on the always popular Starburst slot. Best of all, you dont need to make an initial qualifying bonus to take advantage of this deal. All you need to do is sign up for an account, and then meet the wagering requirements to claim any wins.
JammyMonkey
Another solid option for those of you looking to score a free bet is JammyMonkey, which is a popular online casino with a distinct sense of humor.
Users signing up for a JammyMonkey account for the first time will be able to take advantage of an excellent welcome bonus, which gives first time users up to 10 just for signing up. Although this is by no means the biggest welcome bonus we have come across, a free bet is a free bet! Given how little time it takes to open an account, JammyMonkey is definitely worth checking out!
Dr Slot
If you have a passion for online slots and fancy recreating some of that Las Vegas magic at home, then the appropriately named Dr Slot could be just what you have been searching for!
Although online slots arent the only type of game available, it is definitely what they do best! So, if you want to gain instant access to an almost endless array of slots, Dr Slot is worth a look.
To sweeten the deal even more, Dr Slot will also throw a total of 20 free spins your way, which is in addition to a no deposit welcome bonus. If this sounds like a sweet deal to you, we recommend reading up on the wagering requirements and giving Dr Slot a try today!
Category: Casino Blog
If you thought we were done learning juicy details about the internal workings of Xbox after this summer's Federal Trade Commission-Microsoft trial wrapped up , hoo boy, you can guess again. A jaw-dropping court document leak has revealed a ton of information about recent goings on within the Microsoft Gaming division, as well as critical details about its future plans. Perhaps the biggest nugget concerned a major Xbox Series X refresh that Microsoft has lined up for next year.
All-digital Xbox Series X refresh
Microsoft via FTC
Over the last few console generations, weve seen the likes of Sony and Microsoft release updated hardware midway through the cycle (the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X spring to mind). And while there are always rumors in the lead up to those new versions, weve never seen legitimate leaks of this magnitude before.
Codenamed "Brooklin," a refreshed Series X will have double the internal storage at 2TB, lower power usage, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity and other tech updates, according to a leaked document. This model will have a cylindrical design, compared with the boxy original Series X .
Critically, Microsoft is planning to ditch the console's disc drive. It's not yet clear as to whether there will be an external disc drive available (as is rumored to be the case for a PlayStation 5 refresh). It would mark a significant shift for Xbox to no longer offer a disc drive as standard and perhaps accelerate the death of physical game discs. What's more, Microsoft plans to sell the updated Series X for $499, the same price as the current console.
Microsoft via FTC
Microsoft is planning to release an updated Xbox controller next year as well, per the unredacted filing. Codenamed "Sebile," the peripheral is slated to have "precision haptic feedback" (perhaps to better compete with Sony's DualSense ), quieter inputs and, like some premium controllers , modular thumbsticks. There's said to be support for "seamless" pairing and switching between devices with the help of new mobile app features.
Intriguingly, a "direct-to-cloud" feature is mentioned in a slide. That suggests Microsoft is focusing on reducing input latency for games streamed from the cloud, like Google tried with the Stadia Controller (RIP).
Sebile is slated to arrive in May, according to the documents. Microsoft is then expected to announce the new Series X (and a Series S refresh) in June, likely at its annual summer showcase . The $299 Series S refresh is now expected to go on sale around August or September 2024, with the beefed-up Series X scheduled to land a couple months later. It seems Microsoft is planning a clearance sale on the current Series S too, as a slide mentions a $199 offer for Black Friday 2024.
The next-gen Xbox could be a 'cloud-hybrid' console
Xbox
It seems we're not yet midway through the current console generation, but of course Microsoft is thinking about what's ahead. The next-gen Xbox, slated to arrive in 2028, is expected to support "cloud hybrid games."
There's not much detail available on that, but it's clear the company has been moving in this direction for a while. Microsoft Flight Simulator, for instance, incorporates real-time weather data that it pulls from the cloud (that's not a pun, I swear). Xbox has been making a major push into cloud gaming over the last few years too.
There's an implication that the next-generation Xbox will have an always-online requirement for certain games. It's entirely plausible that there will still be a sizable digital divide by 2028, which could prevent some folks in rural areas or other regions with poor internet access from properly being able to play games on Microsoft's next major console.
Xbox head Phil Spencer really wants to buy Nintendo
Lucy Nicholson / Reuters
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer thinks it would be, like, super cool if the company bought Nintendo. Spencer suggested in an internal 2020 email discussing acquisition targets that he saw Nintendo as a white whale for the company, and one that he was personally invested in snapping up. He saw that as a potential "career moment," per the email.
The document nods toward other possible acquisition targets, including another highly ambitious one in Valve. Spencer mentioned that his team was in active talks with Warner Bros. Interactive and Bethesda parent ZeniMax Media. Both of those were seemingly open to a deal and while the WB talks didn't work out in Microsoft's favor, the company did scoop up ZeniMax for $7.5 billion .
It seems highly unlikely that Microsoft would ever actually buy Nintendo. Antitrust regulators would surely have a lot to say about that, particularly after Microsofts ZeniMax purchase and its pending $68.7 billion deal for Activision Blizzard (which could close any day now ). Its not hard to imagine that Japanese officials in particular would be none too happy about an American business buying one of the countrys best-known brands. Still, its nice to have dreams, eh, Phil?
Upcoming games
The leak also shed some light on Xbox's plans for upcoming games. It seems that new Doom and Dishonored games are in the pipeline. The latter would see Arkane returning to a successful series after Redfall its most recent attempt to branch out into fresh IP faceplanted this year. Fallout 3 Remaster, Oblivion Remaster and a Ghostwire: Tokyo sequel were also mentioned in the leaked documents.
It's worth noting, however, that this Bethesda roadmap ran from fiscal years 2020 through 2024. A lot has changed since then, including Microsoft buying the publisher. Games get canceled all the time, so it's unclear whether any of these unannounced projects will actually come to light. Still, it's hard to imagine that there isn't some kind of Doom title in development.
Aaron Souppouris/Engadget
This is all the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the leaked documents. There are details on everything from Game Pass revenue to Microsoft leaders' reactions to the PlayStation 5 announcement and Spencer revealing he bought his own PS5 (he had to plump for a bundle with Horizon Forbidden West included).
The timing of this leak could not have been worse for Microsoft, as we're going into the critical holiday period. The company was banking on Starfield being a must-have game ( it isnt, unfortunately ) to help it shift consoles and Game Pass subscriptions in the last few months of the year. This news wont help convince people who were on the fence to buy an Xbox soon either. Knowing that a revamped Series X is on the way next year will surely put some people off of buying one now (raises hand). That could result in Microsoft losing more ground against Sony and Nintendo, which appears set to debut a brand new console in 2024.
Google has prototyped an Augmented Reality Microscope, (ARM) in conjunction with the Department of Defense, which incorporates artificial intelligence enhancements to overlay visual indicators, like heatmaps or object boundaries, in real-time. The AI additions allegedly make it easier to classify samples and identify the presence of cancer cells or pathogens.
The ARM was first teased publicly in 2018 and has not been used to diagnose patients yet. Currently, 13 prototypes of the ARM exist, with significant testing still needed before it can assist everyday clinicians. However, the intention is to create a system that can be "retrofitted into existing light microscopes found in hospitals and clinics," according to Google . ARM-equipped microscopes can then provide a variety of visual feedback, including text, arrows, contours, heat maps, or animations, each tailored to unique assessment goals.
The Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit has reportedly negotiated agreements with Google that will enable ARM distribution through the military, according to CNBC, with the hope that it could be available to some government users sometime this fall. ARM is expected to cost between $90,000 and $100,000 likely well beyond the means of local health providers. We've asked Google for more information on the progress of the program and potential timeline of availability and will update if we hear back.
Weve already seen OpenAI and Salesforce incorporate their standalone chatbots into larger, more comprehensive machine learning platforms that span the breadth and depth of their businesses. On Tuesday, Google announced that its Bard AI is receiving the same treatment and has been empowered to pull real-time data from other Google applications including Docs, Maps, Lens, Flights, Hotels and YouTube, as well as the users own silo of stored personal data, to provide more relevant and actionable chatbot responses.
I've had the great fortune of being a part of the team from the inception, Jack Krawczyk,bproduct lead for Bard, told Engadget. This Thursday marks six months since Bard entered into the world.
Google
But despite of the technologys rapid spread, Krawczyk concedes that many users remain wary of it, either because they dont see an immediate use-case for it in their personal lives or some others are saying, I've also heard that it makes things up a lot. Bards new capabilities are meant to help assuage those concerns and build public trust with the technology through increased transparency and more fully explained reasoning by the AI.
We started off talking about Bard as a creative collaborator because that we saw in our initial testing, that's how people use it, he continued.Six months into the experiment, that hypothesis is truly validating.
The new iteration of Bard, is the first time a language model will not only talk about how confident it is in its answer by finding content from across the web and linking to it, Krawczyk said. It's also the first time the language model is willing to admit that it made a mistake or got something wrong, and we think that's a critical step. Krawczyk notes that feedback provided by the experimental tools users over the past half year has enabled the company to rapidly iterate increasingly robust, more intuitive and imaginative language models.
To that end, the chatbot can now parse and respond to more extensive and complicated prompts, such as Its my first semester in college and I want to get involved, but also would like to get strong grades. Help me formulate a point of view on why its important to balance my involvement in school clubs and extracurriculars, while also focusing on my studies.
In order to provide these more expansive responses, Google is following OpenAI and Salesforces lead in enabling its AI to access the real-time capabilities of the companys other apps including Maps, YouTube, Hotels and Flights, among others. Whats more, users will be able to mix and match those API requests using natural language requests.
That is, if you want to take your partner to Puerto Rico on February 14, 2024 and go sightseeing, youll be able to ask Bard, can you show me flights to Puerto Rico and available hotels on Valentines Day next year? and then follow up with, show me a map of interesting sites near our hotel and Bard should be able to provide a list of potential flights, available hotel rooms and a list of stuff to do outside of said hotel room once you book it.
We believe there's already a high bar for the transparency choice and control that you have with your data, Krawczyk said. It needs to be even higher as it relates to bringing in your private data.
In an effort to improve the transparency of its AIs reasoning, Google is both explicitly linking to the sites that it is summarizing, and introducing a Double Check feature that will highlight potentially unfounded responses. When users click on Bards G button, the AI will independently audit its latest response and search the web for supporting information. If Search turns up contradictory evidence, the statement is highlighted orange. Conversely, heavily referenced and supported statements will be highlighted green.
Google
Users will also be able to opt-in to a feature, dubbed Bard Extensions, that will allow the AI access to their personal Google data (emails, photos, calendar entries, et cetera) so that it can provide specific answers about their daily lives. Instead of digging through email chains looking for a specific important date, for example, users will be able to ask Bard to scour their Gmail account for the information, as well as summarize the most important points of the overall discussion. Or, the user could work with the chatbot to draft a cover letter based specifically on the work experience listed in their resume.
And to allay concerns over Google potentially having even more access to your personal data than it already does, the company has pledged that your content from Gmail, Docs and Drive is not seen by human reviewers, used by Bard to show you ads or used to train the Bard model. Whats more, users will be able to opt in and out of the system at will and can allow or deny access to specific files. The service is initially only available to non-enterprise users in English, though the company is working to expand those offerings in the future.
We think that this is a really critical step, but so much context is required in communication, Krawczyk said. We think really harnessing the healthy and open web is key because what we found in the first six months of Bard is, people will see a response and then follow up with trusted content to actually understand and go deeper. We're excited to provide that for people with this new experience.
When youre making your journey through menopause, a good nights sleep can feel impossible. Sleep disturbances are often a challenging problem for midlife women, according to Mary Rosser, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of women's health in obstetrics and gynecology and the director of Integrated Women's Health Columbia University Irving Medical Center. In fact, the incidence of sleep disorders ranges from 16 to 47 percent at perimenopause (the transition to menopause) and 35 to 60 percent at post-menopause, according to research published in January 2022 in the Journal of Mid-Life Health.
Dr. Rosser says its important to figure out why your sleep is disturbed. Sometimes the cause may be hormonal changes related to menopause, or it could be midlife stresses such as anxiety over work, children, aging parents, or relationship issues. In addition to hormonal changes, stress is a major driver of sleep disturbance, Rosser says.
Hot flashes can also be the reason behind sleepless nights. Fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone that occur during perimenopause and menopause can cause hot flashes in more than 80 percent of women, according to research published in January 2019 also in the Journal of Mid-Life Health. When these occur, they can cause night sweats, which can disrupt sleep. Some women even have to change their clothes or bed linens. This causes an inability to obtain adequate deep or REM sleep, Rosser explains.
Other health conditions, such as loss of bladder control, joint pain, and depression, as well as alcohol and certain medications can contribute to inadequate sleep, she notes. If you already struggle with insomnia, the menopause transition can make it even worse.
If menopause symptoms continually keep you up at night, make an appointment to see your doctor. In the meantime, try these lifestyle changes and smart sleep strategies to rest easy.
1. Consider Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains the gold standard in treating moderate to severe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, which can lead to more restful sleep, according to a research review published in Endocrine in 2017. While there has been some concern about the safety of HRT in the past, the North American Menopause Society released a position paper in 2022 stating that the benefits of hormone therapy use generally outweigh risks for healthy women with bothersome menopause symptoms who are aged younger than 60 years or [are] within 10 years of menopause onset.
But HRT may not be for everyone. Women who are at high risk for breast cancer or have a history of heart disease, stroke, and blood clots should talk to their doctor about whether HRT is right for them. Alternatives, such as low-dose antidepressants, can reduce the severity of hot flashes, per the Cleveland Clinic.
2. Move Your Body During the Day
There are so many studies that indicate that people who have a regular exercise routine tend to be better sleepers, says Deirdre Conroy, PhD, a clinical sleep psychologist at Michigan Medicine in Ann Arbor. So if you're not elevating your heart rate during the day, that may be another contributing factor to your difficulty sleeping.
A research review published in Frontiers in Medicine in 2023 analyzed 17 clinical trials and determined that exercise interventions, such as walking, yoga, and aerobic exercise, significantly reduces severity of insomnia and alleviates sleep problems in menopausal women. In a study published in Frontiers in Medicine in 2022 of 289 perimenopausal women with anxiety, depression, or insomnia, twice weekly hourlong sessions of aerobic exercise for eight weeks led to significant decreases in symptoms across all three disorders.
Timing of exercise is important, however. Dont exercise two to three hours before bedtime, as that can also interfere with rest, Rosser warns.
3. Sip Selectively
Caffeine found in coffee, colas, tea, and chocolate is a stimulant that can take as long as 10 hours to completely leave your system, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Besides keeping you awake, some research suggests caffeine may trigger hot flashes in some women. Its best to avoid it altogether if you are struggling with insomnia or night sweats that repeatedly wake you up, but if you must have it, have it early in the day.
Dr. Conroy notes that tea can be a soothing drink before bed, but its important to pay attention to which varieties contain caffeine. Green tea is very good for your health, but it does have some natural caffeine in it, she says. I encourage people to have herbal teas with no caffeine and make sure that the label says herbal and not just caffeine free, because there might be trace amounts of caffeine that your system may be very sensitive to.
Skip the alcohol before bed, too. Its another possible hot flash trigger, and while it may initially relax you and help you fall asleep, it will likely make it hard for you to stay asleep, Conroy cautions.
4. Keep Cool
To ward off hot flashes and night sweats, make sure the temperature in your bedroom is comfortable and low. Aim for 66 to 68 degrees F, Rosser recommends. Wear breathable cotton sleepwear, whether you prefer pajamas or a nightgown, and choose cotton sheets over synthetic materials. Before bed, consider taking a cool shower. If you wake up because of hot flashes (or for another reason), dont torture yourself by lying awake in bed. Give it about 20 minutes, then get out of bed and do something relaxing, Conroy advises. Move into another room, get a change of scenery, and read a book or do something quietly until you start feeling sleepy, then go back to bed.
5. Try Relaxation Techniques
If anxiety during menopause is keeping you awake at night, relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing can help you to de-stress. The good news is there are so many apps available now that make practicing these techniques very accessible, Conroy says. A study published in January 2021 in PLoS One examined the effectiveness of one such app on sleep. It included 263 adults with insomnia, half of whom were asked to meditate using the Calm app for at least 10 minutes a day for eight weeks, while the other half were asked to go about their normal routine and not use any meditation apps. At the end of the study period, those who meditated reported significantly less daytime fatigue, daytime sleepiness, and pre-sleep arousal, which included both physical and mental symptoms like sweating and intrusive thoughts, than the control group.
6. Stick to a Schedule
You may be tempted to stay up late during the week and then catch up on rest over the weekend, but sticking to the same schedule every night is more conducive to getting quality sleep, Conroy says. That means going to bed and waking up at about the same time every day. Its also helpful to develop sleep rituals, such as reading, meditating, or listening to soft music before bed, Rosser suggests. She advises eliminating screen time one to two hours prior to sleep.
7. See a Specialist
Chronic insomnia can contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, and other lasting medical conditions. It also impacts job performance, your safety, and your overall quality of life. Fortunately, you dont have to just lie back and live with it. If you've been struggling with insomnia for three months or more, it's probably time to talk to your doctor about it, Conroy says. Then hopefully you can get a referral for a qualified sleep medicine professional to figure out why that might be happening.
Bulgaria blows up explosives on drone
A Bulgarian army bomb-disposal team destroyed in a controlled explosion a device attached to a drone that landed in the Black Sea town of Tyulenovo.
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Hello Subscribers - We are working on a transition away from Substack and building a refreshed website for Retail Strategy Group.
While thats in progress, we have a short edition of the newsletter and an invitation to a unique growth experience.
If I Were A Betting Man
Consider the following from the Managing Director of Zacks Investment Management, Mitch Zacks, in a recent blog post:
Among buy and sell-side analysts, theres debate over whether earnings will flip back to positive (year-over-year) in Q3 or Q4 2023. But a broad look at company-level and analyst estimates makes one point fairly clear: companies are positioned to earn more in the second half of the year. The question is how much more, and whether or not those earnings meet or beat expectations.
That sounds encouraging.
Moreover, if you hone in on the presented data, you find that the Consumer Discretionary category leads the way in YoY earnings for Q2.
Break down Consumer Discretionary even further and discover that Hotels, Restaurants, and Leisure shot up 245%.
(Its worth noting that Leisure Products dropped by 57%, Textile, Apparel, and Luxury dropped by 27%, and Household Durables dropped by 20%.)
In the WSJ, there is a fresh article entitled Dont Bet Against the American Consumer Now.
Consumers may not be spending like there is no tomorrow but they are spending like tomorrow is going to be okay.
We currently reside in the Upper East Side of New York - we see crowds at bars and patios are bustling. Over the weekend, a Ralphs Coffee stand had a lineup sprawling onto the sidewalk on 5th Ave.
On our flight in August to NYC from Toronto, we flew business class and all seats were full. As were our other business class flights that we took across Europe in the past year - The lakefront restaurants at Lake Como in 2022 were busy, no doubt its the same this year.
Even as student loan payments in the US are set to resume on October 1st, which could shift over $100 Billion in spending power, economists remain optimistic about consumer spending.
The bottom line? The consumer is spending.
The question for retail is: Will they spend (enough) with you?
A Unique Growth Experienceand Breakfast.
Join us for an in-person breakfast session where we will discuss:
Why speed to market is really an issue of internal culture.
How brands trip over themselves when trying to accelerate.
Examples of removing the roadblocks.
How all of this leads to profitable growth!
Well share fresh insights including the concept of velocity to market.
The floor will be opened up for you to discuss and debate too.
Oh, and well provide the breakfast spread.
All of this for $100.which will be donated to the Fashion Scholarship Fund.
How about that for value?
October 6th starting at 7:30 am in New York City (venue TBD).
Sign up here: www.retailstrategygroupevents.com
Washington, DC 9/19/23. Washington Global Public Charter School, a public charter middle school located in Washington, DC, has been named a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. Washington Global provides students from historically underserved Washington, DC communities with a high-quality, internationally-focused education.
Elizabeth Torres. Ed.D., Co-Founder and CEO of the award-winning school said "We are so thrilled to be recognized for our hard work and commitment to closing the opportunity gap. We founded Washington Global to achieve this very mission and are so proud of our amazing teachers and students."
She added "It's so rewarding to witness how our engaging and innovative model, which introduces students to the world around them while meeting their individual academic needs, has been so successful."
The National Blue-Ribbon Schools Program recognizes elementary, middle, and high schools based on their overall academic excellence or their progress in closing the achievement gap. The U.S. Department of Education describes National Blue Ribbon Schools as, "models of effective and innovative school practices for state and district educators and other schools throughout the nation." Each year, the District has the ability to nominate up to three (3) traditional public, public charter, or private schools for consideration to the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program.
Washington Global Public Charter School educates students grades 6-8. In addition to being named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2023, Washington Global was recognized as a Bold Performance School by EmpowerK12 in 2022.
"I am so proud of our students and teachers this award shows the commitment of our school community to supporting our students' academic growth," said Washington Global 's Principal, Howard Mebane.
Founded in 2014 by Elizabeth Torres, Ed.D. and a team of passionate and experienced local educators dedicated to closing the opportunity gap, Washington Global 's students thrive academically while engaging in an international academic program. The school's program includes service learning, foreign language, and global studies. Washington Global provides specialized research-based academic intervention programs, which target students' specific academic needs. Additionally, students participate in project-based and blended learning. These programs foster student engagement and academic growth.
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For more information, please contact:
Media Coordinator: Diana Gabriel (202) 630-6503 OR Jan Du Plain, President/CEO, Du Plain Global Enterprises at (202) 486-7004
Dozens of sheep have been stolen from farms across Powys in recent weeks, with police urging the public to come forward with more information.
Most recently, Dyfed-Powys Polices rural crime team confirmed a report of 12 sheep being stolen in the Llangurig area.
Seven ewes and five lambs were stolen on 3 September by suspected livestock rustlers.
All the sheep in this theft were "Beulah Speckled, with red JJ pitch marks on rump", the team said.
Before this incident, officers said they were investigating the theft of 20 Brecknock Hill Cheviot yearling ewes.
According to the force, the sheep were taken from common hill ground in the Glasfynydd area, located near Trecastle.
Police said that the crime took place sometime between June and August.
The team called on anyone with information to come forward: "Any info? Contact our rural crime team by calling 101 or reporting online."
The cost of livestock theft in the UK rose by 8.7% in 2022, totalling an estimated 2.7 million, according to NFU Mutual figures.
Overall, the cost of rural theft in the UK shot up by nearly a quarter last year, as highly organised gangs of criminals continued to plague the countryside.
A UK study has for the first time demonstrated in evidence the importance of GWP* for more accurately assessing the climate impact of livestock methane.
The environmental impact of a pasture-based beef system was assessed using an unprecedented range of factors, metrics, assessments and scenarios, including GWP*, which showed a huge effect on results.
When applying GWP*, the study showed that the warming impact of methane emitted by UK livestock could be much less than currently reported.
This supports the long-standing view that current Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) used to assess the environmental impact of foods are too simplistic.
Critics of this system say it fails to acknowledge distinct nuances within agricultural systems, particularly the characteristics of biogenic methane released by livestock.
Current LCAs convert the impact of different greenhouse gases (GHGs) into CO2 equivalents using the internationally agreed GWP100 (Global Warming Potential over 100 years), established at the 2015 Paris Agreement, of which the UK is legally bound.
However, developed and first made public in 2018 by scientists at the University of Oxford, GWP* is an alternative way of calculating the warming effect of methane.
The greenhouse gas is short-lived unlike CO2, dispersing in the atmosphere after 12 years verses CO2s 1,000-year half-life.
Its development has gained extensive academic interest, including from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
In 2021, the panel announced its intention to review the emerging science, acknowledging that the current methodology in accounting for methane is incorrect.
This most recent study provides significant evidence supporting the adoption of GWP* as it appears to better reflect the actual warming impact of methane on the climate.
Responding to the study, AHDB said it could have a significant impact on future recommendations to policy makers and consumers.
AHDBs livestock science director, Chris Gooderham said: AHDB welcomes this acknowledgement of GWP* from the scientific community.
"As an evidence-based organisation, we support emerging scientific debate and discussion to ensure the accurate measurement of our industrys impact on the climate.
Analysis by our experts suggests that when applying the more accurate GWP*, the warming impact of methane emitted by UK livestock could be much less than currently reported, casting serious doubt on the current narrative that UK livestock are causing global warming.
Earlier this year, the NFU called for the wider adoption of GWP* following previous studies on its accuracy.
The union said the government needed to make sure that greenhouse gas emissions were calculated "in as accurate a way as possible".
This would, in turn, help farmers to better understand and reduce methane emissions, the NFU explained.
Published in Environmental Research, the new research was undertaken by UK scientists at eight institutions.
UK agri-food businesses will be able to access advice and guidance on exporting to Canada as part of a new webinar set to launch next month.
The event, run by AHDB, aims to provide an overview of the key points to consider for UK businesses, including tips for route to market, compliance and customs clearances.
Analysis by the levy board has highlighted that Canada is likely to offer improved opportunities for UK red meat exports over the next decade.
In particular, Canada presents further opportunities for premium red meat products that are differentiated from conventional domestic production.
Participants to the 19 October webinar will be given access to information about imports, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures, labelling requirements and documentation.
There will also be checklists to help ensure businesses are in the strongest possible position to maximise the export opportunities that Canada presents for UK pork, beef and lamb.
The webinar will feature a presentation from Ontario-based consultancy MCS Associates Inc, which provides expert advice to companies on regulatory and quality compliance of their products.
It includes the development of regulatory compliant documentation and obtaining required licenses for importation into Canada.
Ouafa Doxon, AHDB market access manager, said it was imperative for UK exporters to continuously meet import requirements to maintain and protect market access to Canada.
She said: "The aim of our webinar is to equip them with the most up-to-date insight and information to help them achieve their export ambitions in this market.
Analysis by AHDB has highlighted that Canada is a net importer of lamb, with low levels of tariff protection for imports.
While consumption per capita is low, there are pockets of high demand, with consumers placing emphasis on quality and naturalness.
Factors such as grass-fed, organic, antibiotic-free and hormone-free will appeal to Canadian consumers, the levy board says.
Similarly for beef, the same attributes will present opportunities for UK exporters where premium products will appeal to Canadian consumers.
Premium is also key for UK pork exports to Canada, with an emphasis on outdoor-bred, organic and hormone-free.
Figures show that the value of beef shipments from the UK to Canada in 2022 were worth 13.1m up 77% on the previous year.
Sheep meat shipped to Canada increased by 160%, up from almost 1.9m the previous year to almost 5m, while pork export value remained stable at 7.7m.
People should exercise in the morning if they want to lose weight.
Morning exercise can help people lose weight
An American study on more than 5,000 middle-aged adults showed that exercising between 7am and 9am was the best time for weight loss.
Those who completed a morning workout had a lower body mass index (BMI) and smaller waist circumference than individuals who exercised at midday or in the evening - despite spending more time sedentary than others.
Scientists feel that morning exercise is better as people are less likely to be distracted by phone calls or meetings.
Dr. Rebecca Krukowski, a clinical psychologist at the University of Virginia, said: "This is exciting new research that is consistent with a common tip for meeting exercise goals.
"That is, schedule exercise in the morning before emails, phone calls or meetings might distract you."
However, she acknowledged that the findings could be attributed to other factors, such as a more predictable schedule or no caregiving responsibilities.
Joe Biden has blasted Donald Trump and "MAGA Republicans" for their attempts to "destroy American democracy".
Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of trying to 'destroy' US democracy
The US president is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and used his time in the city to hold a Broadway fundraiser for his 2024 campaign on Monday (18.09.23) night where he declared that he is standing again to protect the nation from Trump.
Biden told guests including Broadway stars Josh Groban, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sara Bareilles at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre: "I'm running because democracy is at stake. Because (in) 2024 democracy is on the ballot once again. And let there be no question, Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy."
A fired-up Biden promised to "rally the world" in support of war-torn Ukraine and suggested that Trump would "bow down" to Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin if he returns to the White House.
The president declared: "I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won't."
Biden,80, also addressed suggestions that he is too old to run for the presidency again.
He said: "You may have noticed, a lot of people seem focused on my age. Well I get it. Believe me. I know better than anyone.
"I'm running because - hear this - I want the entire nation to join me in sending the strongest, clearest, most powerful message possible that political violence in America is never, never, never acceptable."
Kevin Costner and his estranged wife have settled their divorce.
Kevin Costner and Christine Baumgartner have reached a divorce agreement
The 'Yellowstone' actor has been locked in a bitter dispute with Christine Baumgartner since she filed to end their 18-year marriage in May, but according to TMZ, the pair have finally reached an agreement,
Although details of the settlement have not been revealed, sources told the outlet Christine received more than was outlined in their prenuptial agreement.
A judge had previously warned the prenup would be enforced and if the handbag designer had challenged the terms, she would have had to pay the 68-year-old actor more than $1 million and cover his attorney's fees, but over the weekend, the 48-year-old beauty agreed to the terms of a three-page settlement letter.
It is believed her request for $850,000 in legal fees was removed from the arrangement.
Last month, a judge agreed with Kevin's proposed amount of child support for Cayden, 16, Hayes, 14, and 13-year-old Grace, setting his monthly payments at $63, 209 - falling far short of Christine's request for $175, 057.
She later reduced her request to $161, 592 a month and argued luxury living is in the teenagers DNA at this point as they are accustomed to lavish holidays and private jet travel.
Following his victory over the child support row, the 'Bodyguard' actor admitted the lengthy court battle was "horrible.
He told 'Access Hollywood' following his win: This is a horrible place to be, but this is where were at.
It feels so bad. Were talking about somebody I love on the other side. I just cant.
When the outlet asked whether Kevinstill has love for his estranged wife, he replied: Of course.
The Oscar-winning actor stressed that he wasnt laughing about their divorce proceedings despite cracking a joke on the stand.
Sylvester Stallone feels like "the last of the dinosaurs" after almost 50 years as an actor.
Sylvester Stallone thinks he's 'the last of the dinosaurs' in Hollywood
The 77-year-old star has starred in the likes of 'Rocky', 'Rambo' and 'The Expendables' during a glittering big screen career as one of Hollywood's biggest action movie heroes, and he has weighed in on his "longevity" in the industry.
He told ET Canada: "I consider myself like the last of dinosaurs, you know what I mean? And Im very proud of that
"But yeah, you have to really think about that. Its incredible. Yeah, it is.
"I dont take it for granted, but I really want to spend it with my loved ones. The majority of whats left.
Sylvester was speaking at Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2023 as he stepped onto the red carpet to promote his new documentary 'Sly' about his life and career.
However, he admitted his 10-year-old self would never have imagined the stars aligning for such a memorable event.
He said: "Oh, no, no, no, certainly, no, no. I mean, that would be very immodest. Its like, really, you cant be prepared for this.
"specially with the longevity of this career, [which] is mind-blowing. Its just mind-blowing because I dont know how much longer you can wait..
"Society is changing, the commerciality in cinema.. its faster. So longevity would become a premium."
And the icing on the cake for Sly was to have his family by his side for the special occasion.
He added: "This is the best of all. I was thinking about that. I said, What if it was here alone? Like I had been so many times before, Ive been at premieres, going around doing junkets all over the world alone.
"And I said, Wow, youre really fulfilling yourself and everyones cheering for you. Then I realised it was all vacant.
"That this is my main one. Look over my shoulder [pointing over at wife Jennifer Flavin].
"I go home and talk to her about this, like Im eager to share. Lets share [if theres not] someone to share life with, life is not worth living."
Shannen Doherty is crying constantly as she battles brain cancer.
Shannen Doherty is crying constantly as she battles brain cancer
The Beverly Hills, 90210 actress, 52, made the admission as she got a standing ovation from fans in Tampa, Florida, at the 90s Con on Sunday (17.09.23), at which she spoke about fighting stage 4 of her disease.
Speaking as part of a 90210 reunion panel for the 1990s teen drama alongside co-stars Tori Spelling, Jason Priestley, Jennie Garth, Ian Ziering, Brian Austin Green and Gabrielle Carteris, she teared up while discussing her illness.
She told the crowd: Thank you so much. You guys know how much I love crying constantly. And I do, it seems. So, thank you.
The Charmed star was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and entered remission two years later.
Her cancer returned as stage 4 in 2020 and she revealed in June her breast cancer had spread to her brain.
Shannen also told how she secretly underwent surgery months prior to remove the tumour and begin radiation treatments.
She added at the 90s Con: I have a fight for my life, that I deal with every day. I think I am really great.
The Heathers actress also joked about her divorce from her photographer third husband, Kurt Iswarienko, 49, from whom she split in April after 11 years of marriage.
She said: My other profession is getting engaged, married and divorced, and Im doing that very well.
Her representative told Page Six at the time of Shannen and Kurts split that divorce was the last thing the actress wanted, but added: She felt she was left with no other option.
Shannen said after sharing the news of her break-up: Im doing better than OK. Im doing well. I feel strong and healthy and confident and happy.
Simbu Consoles Grieving Vijay Antony On His Tragic Loss Photo Credit: Behindwoods
Heartbreaking Tragedy Strikes Actor Vijay Antony's Family: Tamil music composer and actor Vijay Antony has been at the centre of heartbreaking news as his 16-year-old daughter Meera tragically passed away this morning.
Media reports suggest that Meera took her own life and was discovered hanging in their Chennai residence. She was quickly transported to a private hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The news has sent shockwaves throughout the Tamil film industry, leading to an outpouring of condolence and sympathy messages for Vijay Antony and his family on social media. This undoubtedly marks a challenging period for the actor and his family.
Simbu's Heartwarming Support To Grieving Vijay Antony
Meanwhile, videos capturing the moment when actor Silambarasan (Simbu) arrived to offer his support to Vijay Antony have emerged. The touching visuals of Simbu comforting Vijay Antony, patting his shoulder, and consoling him while Vijay was grieving beside his daughter's coffin have quickly gone viral.
In the video, the grieving father was seen breaking down in tears as he leaned towards the coffin containing his daughter's mortal remains at home. He was surrounded by his close ones, including Simbu, who was trying to support his dear friend during this challenging phase.
Everybody is grappling with the heartbreaking news of the tragic death of Meera. According to reports, Meera had been struggling with intense stress for an extended period, ultimately leading to this tragic outcome.
Vijay Antony resides with his family on DDK Road in Alwarpet, Chennai. Meera, a bright and promising Plus 2 student at Church Park School, tragically met her untimely end.
Earlier today, the Teynampet police arrived at Vijay Antony's home to commence a thorough investigation. Preliminary reports indicate that Meera had been burdened by severe stress for an extended period, raising concerns about her mental well-being.
Authorities are leaving no stone unturned as they seek to unravel the circumstances surrounding Meera's heartbreaking decision. Forensic experts are meticulously examining the site of the tragedy, diligently collecting any potential clues.
A comprehensive inquiry has been initiated, which includes interviews with Meera's friends, family members, and all the employees working at Vijay Antony's residence. Authorities are diligently probing whether Meera's struggle with depression had reached a point where it drove her to this tragic choice. Furthermore, the police have confiscated Meera's cell phone in the hope of uncovering any insights that may shed light on the incident.
Did Vijay Antony's Father Also Commit Suicide At Young Age? Actor and music composer Vijay Antony used to speak on many platforms that no one should commit suicide in this world. The information that Vijay Antony's daughter Meera committed suicide at the age of 16 has shocked the entire people of Tamil Nadu.
Tragedies In Vijay Antony's Life
It has been reported that actor Vijay Antony's father also died by suicide when he was young. Fans are now sharing the old video where Vijay Antony spoke about his father's suicide. Entire film industry is worried about the tragedies throughout Vijay Antony's life.
Recently, while Vijay Antony met with an accident during the shooting of Pichaikaran 2 and he was reincarnated, now the death of his elder daughter is said to have left him completely depressed.
Vijay Antony was born on July 24, 1975 in Nagercoil. He made his debut as a music composer in Vijay starrer Sukran. SA Chandrasekhar changed named him as Vijay Antony and introduced him in Tamil film world through his film.
Mature And Bold Meera
"When he was 7 years old, my father committed suicide. I don't know why he died. But, I know all the hardships my mother had to go through raising us without a father. The thought of suicide is terrible. I know how much my father's suicide affected me" said Vijay Anotny in the video and it is going viral on social media.
Costume Designer Sowbarnika shared a condolence post for Vijay Antony's daughter. She said, "A year before she came for outfits for her Graduation program in London. I admire the way she decides her choices and is very mature and bold. Strong personality... Could not believe that you are not there, Rest in Peace Meera ! God give strength to Vijay Antony sir and Fatima Ma'am..."
Fans are consoling Vijay Antony to give him the necessary strength and mental strength to recover from this tragedy.
TTF Vasan Arrested: Kanchipuram police arrested popular YouTuber TTF Vasan who met with an accident while wheeling a bike near Kanchipuram. It has been reported that cases were already been registered against him under 3 sections.
Lurking At Friend's Place?
TTF Vasan met with an accident while wheeling his bike on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway near Kanchipuram. He got injured in his hands and feet. CCTV footage related to this was released and created a lot of controversies.
Subsequently, the Kanchipuram and Palusetti Chatram police registered a case against TTF Vasan under two sections (IPC 279/337), which include reckless driving and reckless operation.
Following this, the Tamil Nadu Transport Department has recommended the cancellation of TTF Vasan's driving license. In this situation, Kanchipuram police today arrested Vasan who was lurking in the house of his friend Afees in Chennai. Now new cases has been registered under 2 more sections against TTF Vasan.
YouTuber's Atrrocities
TTF Vasan, a famous bike rider from Coimbatore, travels from town to town on expensive bikes and uploads his experiences on YouTube. He also runs a YouTube channel called Twin Throttlers. He has attracted children and youth by driving his bike at high speed. He has many fans like film actors. His YouTube channel has more than lakhs of subscribers. Also, he has developed a lot of 2K Kids fans through these videos.
The police have already taken action against TTF Vasan several times on complaints of speeding bikes and violating road rules. In this situation, Balusetti Chatram police have again registered a case and taken action. Last June, on his birthday, the announcement of his film 'Manjal Veeran' was released. It is noteworthy that the shooting speed was announced as 299 km per hour.
In what came as a shocking news from the Tamil film industry, Vijay Antony's daughter Meera passed away at the age 16. According to media reports, Meera died of suicide and was found dead at their Chennai residence. The media reports also suggested that Meera was soon rushed to the private hospital wherein she was declared brought dead.
As the news of Meera's unfortunate demise has surfaced, the social media is abuzz with condolence messages. Amid this, there have been speculations about Vijay Antony's daughter's funeral. According to media reports, Meera's last rites will take place this evening at Vijay Antony's house in DDK Road, Chennai. While much details are not available as of now, the media reports suggest that the bereaved father has made a special request.
Vijay Antony's Daughter Suicide: Actor's Wife Fatima's Last Post For Daughter Meera Will Leave You Emotional
Reportedly, as per the information made from Vijay's side, the actor has requested that no one should come to the hospital, instead, they should come to their residence. Needless to say, it is a difficult phase for Vijay Antony and his family.
Meanwhile, it is speculated, Meera was battling stress and was also seeking professional help for the same. It is reported that stress was a reason behind Meera taking the extreme step. The media reports also suggested as the cops are investigating the matter, they are questioning Meera's teachers and friends to know the exact cause behind her drastic step. Besides, Meera's mobile phone is also being examined.
As the news of Meera's untimely demise surfaced, Vijay Antony's wife Fatima's last post for their late daughter has been going viral on social media.
Also Read: Vijay Antony Daughter Meera Suicide; Stress Is The Reason For The Little Girl's Death? Film Industry In Shock
She had shared a beautiful pic of Meera in a white school uniform with a sash to celebrate her achievement. The post was shared on micro-blogging site Twitter (now X), wherein Meera was dressed in while uniform along with a sash dropping hints of her achievement. The post was captioned as, "The Force behind my strength, the consolations to my tears, the reason for my stress (Naughtiness super loaded) my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony, Congrats Baby" along with heart, hug and fire emoticons.
In what came as a heartbreaking news from the Tamil industry, Tamil music composer-actor Vijay Antony's elder daughter Meera was found dead in their Chennai residence. While the news has left everyone in shock, it is reported that the young girl died of suicide.
According to media reports, Meera, who studied at a private school, was battling stress for a while and was even undergoing treatment for the same. The media reports also suggested that stress was a reason behind Meera taking the extreme step. As the reports of Meera untimely demise surfaced, the social media is abuzz with tweets and posts mourning Vijay's loss.
Amid this, Vijay Antony's wife Fatima Antony's last post for her daughter Meera is going viral and is leaving everyone teary eyed. The post was shared on micro-blogging site Twitter (now X), wherein Meera was dressed in while uniform along with a sash dropping hints of her achievement. The post was captioned as, "The Force behind my strength, the consolations to my tears, the reason for my stress (Naughtiness super loaded) my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony, Congrats Baby" along with heart, hug and fire emoticons.
Take a look at Fatima Antony's last post for Meera:
The Force behind my strength,the consolations to my tears,the reason for my stress(Naughtiness super loaded)my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony ,Congrats Baby
pic.twitter.com/yfTTdIiAjL Fatima (@mrsvijayantony) March 12, 2023
For the uninitiated, Vijay and Fatima had two daughters together - Meera and Laara. Meanwhile, actor and politician R Sarath Kumar mourned Meera's demise and tweeted, "The news of the untimely and unfortunate demise of Meera, the daughter of @vijayantony and Fatima is shocking beyond imagination. No amount of consoling and condolences can replace the everlasting grief of Vijay Antony and Fatima. Vijay I hope the almighty gives strength to your family to bear this unfathomable loss. May her soul rest in peace #RIPMeera."
Ace filmmaker Venkat Prabhu also wrote, "Woke up to this shocking news! Deepest condolences Vijay Antony Saar and family RIP Meera".
Trigger Warning: Worried about your mental well-being or of someone you know? Help is just a call away. Reach out to the nearest mental health specialist at COOJ Mental Health Foundation (COOJ)- 0832-2252525, Parivarthan- +91 7676 602 602, Connecting Trust- +91 992 200 1122/+91-992 200 4305 or Sahai- 080-25497777/ [email protected].
Vijay Antony Daughter Meera Suicide: Famous music composer Vijay Antony's daughter comitted suicide by hanging herself. Entire film industry is in shock after knowing this.
Meera Found Dead At 3 AM Today
Vijay Antony has been the lead actor and music composer in many films. He has a special fan base for choosing different scripts. His recently released film Pichaikaran 2 was a huge success. Happy with this success, Vijay Antony helped many people with welfare schemes.
In this case, Vijay Antony's daughter Meera committed suicide by hanging herself from an electric fan around 3 am today. She was studying Plus Two at Church Park School and went to sleep as usual in her room last night. When her father Vijay Antony came to his daughter's room around 3 am, he was shocked to find her hanging from the fan.
Stress Is The Reason For The Little Girl's Death?
She was then taken to the nearby Kaveri Hospital. Doctors who examined Meera confirmed that she had died at home. Thenampet police are investigating on this. Preliminary investigation revealed that Meera was under stress for few days and for this she was also taking medication. However, as the reason behind the suicide is not known, the police have started the next phase of investigation. This incident has caused great sadness in the film circles.
When such suicidal thoughts occurs, isolation should be avoided as much as possible. You need to talk your heart out with someone. If not, it is better to go to the organizations that exist for this purpose and take counselling.
LIBOURNE, France, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- After the success of its first European edition last year, Ceva Sante Animale (Ceva), the #5 global animal health company, present in 110 countries worldwide, is pleased to announce the launch of its highly anticipated 2024 "Call for Projects". This worldwide event aims to discover and support new, innovative solutions for the well-being and care of companion animals and their pet parents.
With a deep commitment and a recognized expertise to improving the lives of companion animals, Ceva knows the important role pets play in our lives and is dedicated to continuing to advance Human-Animal bond, a central piece of the company's One Health approach.
Through the "Call for Projects" program, the company seeks to harness the expertise and creativity of individuals, startups, and organizations to address key issues in animal health and develop groundbreaking solutions that will benefit companion animals worldwide.
The challenge welcomes projects that span a wide range of areas, including but not limited to:
Digital Health Solutions : leveraging technology and data to enhance the monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment of companion animals.
: leveraging technology and data to enhance the monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment of companion animals. Preventive Care : novel approaches to preventive care, such as nutrition, vaccination, and behavior management.
: novel approaches to preventive care, such as nutrition, vaccination, and behavior management. Wellness and Enrichment : innovative products or services that promote physical and mental well-being in companion animals.
: innovative products or services that promote physical and mental well-being in companion animals. Diagnostic Tools: advanced diagnostic tools, including rapid and non-invasive methods for accurate diagnosis and monitoring of animal health.
Objectives are to co-develop innovations to advance pet well-being and support the human-animal bond.
Participants are encouraged to submit their project proposals, detailing their innovative solutions, target audience, and potential impact on Agorize. Projects must be submitted in one (or more) of the categories available on the platform: Devices, Digital or Technology.
A panel of judges, comprising leading experts from Ceva, will carefully evaluate the submissions based on criteria such as innovation, feasibility, scalability, and potential for impact.
Selected projects will receive valuable support from Ceva, including mentorship, access to industry networks, and resources to accelerate the development and commercialization of their innovative solutions. Additionally, the selected projects will gain recognition and visibility within the animal health community, paving the way for future collaborations and partnerships.
We are excited to launch the 2024 'Call for Projects'" said Marc Prikazsky, Chairman and CEO at Ceva. "Companion animals play an essential role in our lives, and we are convinced that by fostering innovation, we can improve their well-being and ensure they receive the care they deserve. With the increasing humanization of pets, our furry companions have become a member of the family. "Pet parents" are increasingly looking for new solutions to provide them with the best possible care. That's why we encourage individuals and organizations from diverse backgrounds to participate and help us discover game-changing solutions for companion animal health."
For more information and to submit a project, please visit: Ceva Open Innovation Hub - Ceva
About Ceva Sante Animale
Ceva Sante Animale (Ceva) is the 5th global animal health company, led by experienced veterinarians, whose mission is to provide innovative health solutions for all animals to ensure the highest level of care and well-being. Our portfolio includes preventive medicine such as vaccines, pharmaceutical and animal welfare products for farm and companion animals, as well as equipment and services to provide the best experience for our customers.
With 6,500 employees located in 47 countries, Ceva strives daily to bring to life its vision as a OneHealth company: "Together, beyond animal health".
2022 turnover: 1.5 billion.
https://www.ceva.com/
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Contact: Emilie Barrail, Head of external communication / emilie.barrail@ceva.com
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Tokyo and Sydney, Sept 19, 2023 - (JCN Newswire) - Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Australia Limited today announced plans to acquire Australian digital transformation (DX) consultancy, MF & Associates. The acquisition will strengthen Fujitsu's management, technology and cyber security consulting capabilities, particularly within the public sector and healthcare industries in Australia.Founded in 2019, Canberra-based MF & Associates marks Fujitsu's fifth acquisition since 2021 in the ANZ region, as part of a strategic global M&A plan to strengthen business delivery capabilities in key areas. MF & Associates will complement Fujitsu's recent acquisitions of Microsoft specialist oobe and cyber security firm InPhySec to bolster Fujitsu's security offerings in Australia.The latest acquisition marks an important development in the strategy for Fujitsu Uvance, which focuses on the resolution of societal issues and contributes to customer growth through cross industry digital solutions. The vision for Fujitsu Uvance includes a significant expansion of its consulting capabilities of up to 10,000 dedicated staff by fiscal year 2025, to create a robust organisation that can quickly address customers' business issues, propose solutions and offerings, and execute on delivery at scale.Graeme Beardsell, CEO, Fujitsu Asia Pacific said, "Fujitsu continues to invest in exceptional DX companies to accelerate our customers' success. We're experiencing a growing demand for consulting and cyber security capabilities, and we are delighted to welcome MF & Associates' team of highly experienced consultants to Fujitsu to support our customers' needs."At Fujitsu we aim to digitally transform businesses to drive positive, lasting change, for our environment, economies and societies and MF & Associates' team of experts will further support us in achieving these goals."Managing Director, Mat Franklin, MF & Associates, said, "We're excited to become a part of one of the leading global technology companies and to introduce Fujitsu's impressive technology innovations to our clients."Like Fujitsu, we pride ourselves on having a strong purpose-led approach to the way we do business and we're thrilled with the synergies this will create for our existing and future clients on their digital transformation journeys."MF & Associates will operate as a standalone Fujitsu company, retaining its independent identity and all team members. It will be re-branded "MF & A, a Fujitsu company" and will operate under the continued leadership of Mat Franklin, Managing Director, who will report to Stuart Kilduff, CEO, oobe, a Fujitsu Company.About FujitsuFujitsu's purpose is to make the world more sustainable by building trust in society through innovation. As the digital transformation partner of choice for customers in over 100 countries, our 124,000 employees work to resolve some of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Our range of services and solutions draw on five key technologies: Computing, Networks, AI, Data & Security, and Converging Technologies, which we bring together to deliver sustainability transformation. Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 3.7 trillion yen (US$28 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 and remains the top digital services company in Japan by market share. Find out more: www.fujitsu.com.About MF & AssociatesMF & Associates is a Canberra-based company, whose strong dedication to fostering an inclusive and empathy-led workforce is making a difference for its clients across management, technology and cyber security consulting. MF & Associates aims to be the most trusted and ethical consulting organisation, doing good work for its clients and doing right by its people. With a young history and a strong focus on diversity, the team at MF & Associates has consistently delivered innovative solutions to its valued clients over the past few years and is showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.Press ContactsFujitsu LimitedPublic and Investor Relations DivisionE-mail: Fujitsu@redhavas.comSource: Fujitsu LtdCopyright 2023 JCN Newswire . All rights reserved.
Oslo, 19 September 2023 - DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, today announced a gas condensate discovery on the Norma prospect in the Norwegian North Sea license PL984 in which the Company holds a 30 percent operated interest.
Preliminary evaluation of the discovery indicates gross recoverable resources in the range of 25-130 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) on a P90-P10 basis, with a mean of 70 MMboe, in a Jurassic reservoir zone with high quality sandstones. Located 20 kilometers northwest of the Balder hub and 30 kilometers south of the Alvheim hub, Norma is situated in an area with extensive infrastructure in the central part of the North Sea, with tie-back options offering potential routes to commercialization.
Also within the same license, DNO has identified additional exploration prospects that have been considerably de-risked by the Norma results.
"Coming on the heels of our six Troll-Gja area discoveries since 2021, three of which were made this year including Carmen, Heisenberg and Rver Sr, Norma opens up an exciting new play for DNO in the North Sea," said Executive Chairman Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. "At the risk of hoodooing our crack explorationists, the string of recent discoveries validates DNO's offshore Norway exploration strategy," he added.
Drilled to a vertical depth of 4,800 meters with the Deepsea Yantai drilling rig, Norma is DNO's first operated high-pressure high-temperature exploration well. At 4,650 meters, the discovery well encountered a 16-meter hydrocarbon column in a 20-meter gross reservoir section in Jurassic sandstones. Several gas condensate samples were collected in the reservoir. In addition, a water sample was acquired. A bypass core of 33.7 meters was secured and an extensive data and sampling program conducted.
This discovery is considered a play-opener for the deep turbiditic sands in this area given the exceptionally good reservoir quality encountered. Plans are underway to further delineate the discovery and the upside potential in the license. Before further appraisal drilling, improved seismic imaging and remapping will be undertaken to identify an optimal location for the next well.
Even with the additional extensive data collection protocols, the Norma well is expected to be finished 15 days ahead of plan and at a cost eight percent below budget. Plug and abandonment operations have commenced this week.
DNO was awarded an interest in PL984 in 2019 through its wholly-owned subsidiary DNO Norge AS. The other partners in the license are Source Energy AS, Equinor Energy AS, Var Energi ASA (20 percent each) and Aker BP ASA (10 percent).
The Deepsea Yantai will move to drill the Company's next well, appraising the 2022 Ofelia discovery (DNO 10 percent).
For further information, please contact:
Media: media@dno.no
Investors: investor.relations@dno.no
DNO ASA is a Norwegian oil and gas operator active in the Middle East, the North Sea and West Africa. Founded in 1971 and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, the Company holds stakes in onshore and offshore licenses at various stages of exploration, development and production in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Norway, the United Kingdom, Cote d'Ivoire, Netherlands and Yemen.
This announcement is considered to include inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This announcement was published by Jostein Lvas, Communication Manager DNO ASA, at the date and time set out above.
New York University's Stern School of Business is the only top US business school offering a full-time MBA program in the Middle East.
The Stern at NYU Abu Dhabi One-year Full-time MBA Program will give students the opportunity to build future careers in the MENA region, with educational modules in both Abu Dhabi and New York.
will give students the opportunity to build future careers in the MENA region, with educational modules in both Abu Dhabi and New York. Applications to open in October 2023; Inaugural class to begin in January 2025 and will graduate in December 2025.
ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The NYU Stern School of Business (NYU Stern), one of the world's premier research and teaching institutions, and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), an exceptional liberal arts and research university, today announced the launch of the Stern at NYUAD One-year Full-time MBA Program.
With 54 credits, the One-year Full-time MBA Program mirrors its two-year counterparts, offering students the ability to complete a comprehensive MBA that blends knowledge and practical experience while benefiting from a shorter time away from the workforce. Experiential internship projects are integrated into the curriculum, with modules designed to provide hands-on learning experiences with local organizations.
The new Stern at NYUAD MBA represents a step change for business education in the MENA region and will help develop a pipeline of globally oriented problem-solvers in the UAE and beyond. It provides a unique opportunity for ambitious, early-career professionals to broaden their experience and take advantage of emerging private and public sector growth in the region.
NYU President Linda G. Mills said, "The establishment of the Stern at NYUAD MBA is truly a landmark occasion. The launch of this program - NYUAD's first professional degree offering, created in collaboration with NYU's Stern School -- is an important new stage in NYU Abu Dhabi's successful development, and a major step forward in fulfilling the vision that NYU and our Abu Dhabi partners have had for this groundbreaking institution from the beginning. It is also a wonderful example of the type of cross-school collaboration that we can expect to see more of in the coming years, and I have no doubt its impact will be felt both regionally and globally."
Stern at NYUAD is scheduled to welcome its inaugural class in January 2025. Distinctive features of the MBA program include spring and fall modules in Abu Dhabi and summer modules in New York City. Students will also benefit from industry expertise from a range of key UAE and global business leaders, ensuring graduates gain invaluable international exposure and have every opportunity to enhance their career prospects.
Commenting on this milestone, Raghu Sundaram, Dean of NYU Stern School of Business, said, "The introduction of this full-time MBA to the MENA region is groundbreaking for students who want to earn an MBA from one of the world's leading business schools in just one year and build a career in a region that is seeing exponential growth. Through this pioneering collaboration with NYU Abu Dhabi, we have a wonderful opportunity to educate the next generation of leaders and enhance the talent pipeline in the UAE."
Tamkeen, NYU's partner in UAE, has supported NYU Abu Dhabi's trajectory as a beacon of academic excellence, both locally and globally. The addition of a one-year full-time MBA program strengthens NYUAD's academic offerings and underscores the UAE's commitment to education as a national strategic priority and an essential enabler of economic, societal, and cultural advancement.
Mariet Westermann, NYUAD Vice Chancellor, expressed her enthusiasm for the MBA program, stating, "The partnership between NYU Stern School of Business and NYU Abu Dhabi marks a pivotal moment for education in the UAE, with far-reaching implications. As NYU Abu Dhabi remains committed to breaking new ground in global education, this collaboration is a remarkable milestone in our relentless pursuit of excellence, distinction, and service to society in the UAE and many other countries around the world. The Stern School's presence at NYUAD will help fuel the knowledge economy in this dynamic crossroads region, respond to the surging demand for global business leaders, and the opportunity to take international business education to the next level."
The Stern at NYUAD One-Year Full-time MBA Program will be led by Robert Salomon, Professor of Management at Stern since 2005, who will be the inaugural Dean of Stern at NYUAD. Rob is an award-winning scholar and educator who has been teaching and conducting research on globalization and global strategy for more than 25 years. In 2016, he published Global Vision: How Companies Can Overcome the Pitfalls of Globalization. Prior to this appointment, Rob was Vice Dean for Executive Programs and Professor and NEC Faculty Fellow of International Management at Stern. He held previous appointments as a Visiting Professor at the IESE Business School in Spain, and as an Assistant Professor at the USC Marshall School of Business.
On successful completion of the MBA program, students will graduate with a fully accredited New York University degree, jointly conferred by NYU Stern and NYU Abu Dhabi.
To learn more about the program and to register interest, please visit: stern.nyuad.nyu.edu
Note to Editors:
One-year Full-time MBA program starting in January 2025.
Abu Dhabi-based with two modules in New York - Doing Business in New York City courses for practical learning.
courses for practical learning. The program consists of 54 credits, similar to standard two-year MBA programs, providing students with comprehensive knowledge and practical experiences to excel in the global business landscape in a shorter time frame.
About NYU Stern School of Business:
New York University's Stern School of Business, located in the heart of Greenwich Village and deeply connected with the City for which it is named, is one of the nation's premier management education schools and research centers. NYU Stern offers a broad portfolio of transformational programs at the graduate, undergraduate and executive levels, all of them enriched by the dynamism and deep resources of one of the world's business capitals. NYU Stern is a welcoming community that inspires its members to embrace and lead change in a rapidly transforming world. Visit www.stern.nyu.edu .
About NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD):
NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world, helping advance cooperation and progress on humanity's shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi's high-achieving students have come from more than 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.
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This year's competition aims to raise awareness of diabetes and highlight the real lives of people living with the condition across the world.
PARSIPPANY, N.J., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascensia Diabetes Care, a global diabetes care company, owner of the CONTOUR Blood Glucose Monitoring (BGM) System portfolio and exclusive distributor of Eversense Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Systems, has opened submissions for its successful art and photo competition in support of World Diabetes Day 2023. This year, Ascensia's global competition is themed around diabetes in real life, aiming to capture the genuine challenges, successes and day-to-day realities of people living with diabetes.
1 in 10 adults is living with diabetes, while an estimated 783 million people will have the disease in 2045.[1] This means that it is more important than ever to raise awareness of diabetes and what real life looks like for those who live with the condition. Ascensia's 'This is Diabetes, This is Real' competition seeks to gather a collection of original artworks submitted by people across the world, with each one telling a personal story about their journey with diabetes.
You can submit illustrations, photographs and digital designs at www.thisisdiabetes.com until October 31, with the winners of the competition announced on World Diabetes Day, a global initiative of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) taking place each year on November 14.
Rob Schumm, CEO of Ascensia Diabetes Care, commented: "World Diabetes Day is an important day to us at Ascensia and we are proud to support IDF on this initiative for the eighth consecutive year.
"This will be the third year that we have run our art and photo competition and I cannot wait to see everyone's submissions," he added. "Each year I am completely awed by the artwork submitted and the powerful stories behind each piece. For our 2023 'This is Diabetes, This is Real' competition we are encouraging people of all ages and abilities to submit a piece that tells a story about what diabetes in real life means to them. Whether you draw, paint, or snap, we want you to capture diabetes without the filter, from your daily struggles to your proudest moments. Let's get creative and show the world diabetes in real life."
Competition winners will be able to donate 6,000, 3,000 and 1,000 for first, second and third place respectively to a diabetes charity of their choice. The judging panel, including members of the diabetes online community, professional artists, Ascensia employees and an Eversense brand ambassador, will be looking for creativity, storytelling, and connection to this year's theme.
This year's competition looks to build upon the success of 2021 and 2022's 'This is Diabetes' campaigns. Last year Ascensia received over 350 entries from around the globe and donated 10,000 to nominated diabetes charities across 4 different continents. For inspiration, you can see previous winners by visiting the Ascensia website, the 2021 campaign page here, or the 2022 campaign page here.
Ascensia Diabetes Care is a PHC Holdings Corporation (TSE: 6523) company.
[1] According to the IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th edition, published 2021
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DUBAI and BERLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Saudi Arabia prepares to celebrate its National Day on September 23, with the theme of "We Dream and We Achieve". This year marks the 93rd year of Saudi Arabia's independence and will be celebrated with festivities and activities to commemorate this historic day. Leading travel marketplace Wingie.com joins in the celebration of this significant occasion and highlights the remarkable increase in flight bookings during this period.
The annual celebration pays homage to the formation of the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, symbolizing the Kingdom's unity and progress. This pivotal holiday is celebrated with numerous events, captivating firework displays, drone shows, special sales, and adorning Saudi cities with celebratory flags.
Saudi Travelers Travel to both International and Domestic Destinations during National Day
According to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development of the Kingdom, National Day is an official holiday for the private and non-profit sectors. Wingie is thrilled to reveal a skyrocketing 70% increase in bookings during this period. Saudi Arabia is a popular destination during National Day and many travelers who want to seize the opportunity to travel benefit from the official holiday to book flights.
Travelers chose to fly both domestic and international routes during National Day. The top countries with the highest number of bookings from Saudi Arabia are Egypt, India, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Morocco, while the top destinations with the most bookings to Saudi Arabia are Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar.
About Wingie Enuygun Group
Wingie Enuygun Group is a popular travel marketplace in the MENA region focusing mainly on flights operating under wingie.com, sa.wingie.com, wingie.ae and enuygun.com domains. The company offers a range of products including flights, bus tickets, hotels, and rental cars. Wingie Enuygun Group has been one of the most innovative players in the MENA online travel space, with the aim of pioneering technological developments and leading the transformation of the travel industry with the approach of thinking digitally. Wingie.com is a leading flight booking platform with its inclusion in the development of virtual interlining for flights, offering a diverse range of airline tickets and other travel content to enhance the user experience by providing the best options.
Wingie.com is available in 6 languages, employs over 300 people, and has around 165 million visitors to its platforms annually.
Media Contact: Wingie - marketing@wingie.com - +1 4378883181
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HPNow, the pioneer in electrification of the hydrogen peroxide industry, announced the successful closing of a 14M round.
The equity round is led by The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) together with Novo Holdings. Other investors in the round include MatiTech - a sustainable water treatment solution provider in Sub Sahara, and existing investors Evonik Venture Capital and AP Ventures.
HPNow's breakthrough electrochemical technology enables the safe and sustainable generation of a powerful green oxidant directly on site, using only water and electricity as inputs. The output solution breaks down to pure water and oxygen following use. HPNow is bringing to market a greener alternative to the conventional fossil-fuel based centralized production, transportation and handling of bulk hydrogen peroxide, offsetting as much as three tons of CO2eq per ton of hydrogen peroxide generated on site, compared to standard production techniques.
With applications across agriculture, process water, and the food and beverage sectors, HPNow's solutions provide not only a sustainable alternative but an economically viable one, with strong payback as compared to traditional chemical-based water treatment. The company's solutions can further be utilized towards the breakdown of hazardous micro-pollutants in drinking water originating from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and O&G industries.
Proceeds from this round of financing will primarily be used towards the scaling up of HPNow's marketing, sales, technical support and production capacity, in order to address growing market demand.
"Danish Power-to-X pioneers like HPNow are leading the way to a more sustainable future. From agriculture to industry, their technology, originally developed at the Technical University of Denmark, represents a multi-billion euro market opportunity for safe, sustainable and affordable water treatment," said Investment Director at EIFO, Jonas Bjaaland.
"For EIFO it is important to ensure that green capex intensive pioneers like HPNow can scale up and make their technology available for the world market. We do that by closing the funding gap with equity for now but will also at a later stage be able to provide debt and export credit in corporation with commercial banks. With this group of investors HPNow can take big steps towards achieving not only the world market goal but also the UN Sustainable Development Goals," he added.
"Water is a vital resource for our planet and the people that inhabit it. With our investment we are striving to benefit people and the planet, so this endeavour into sustainable water treatment is a logical step for us. HPNow's hydrogen peroxide generation technology contributes to the responsible use of one of the most precious resources we have, and we are very pleased to join the company on this journey," Marcus Remmers, Partner at Bioindustrial Investments, Novo Holdings, added.
"This new investment round, led by top-tier investors EIFO and Novo Holdings, represents a strong endorsement of our technology and market offerings, and will enable us to take a major leap forward in our company's development. With the strong backing of new and existing partners, our company is ready to take sustainable on-site peroxide generation to the next level," said Ziv Gottesfeld, CEO at HPNow.
About HPNow
HPNow addresses growing global challenges in clean water and sanitation through its range of on-site, autonomous, safe, and sustainable ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide generation solutions. HPNow was spun out of the Danish Technical University (DTU) in 2015, and is now headquartered in Copenhagen, with sales representation across Europe, the Americas and Asia. HPNow's solutions address water treatment professionals' needs in market segments ranging from agriculture to industrial and drinking water treatment. HPNow is a technology and market leader in on-site generation of hydrogen peroxide and is continuously striving to further advance its technology and products in order to meet growing market needs and rising global demand.
www.hpnow.eu
About EIFO
The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) is the national promotional bank and export credit agency of Denmark combined in one new financial institution. EIFO provides a single point of access for Danish companies as well as for their foreign and domestic business partners who need risk-tolerant government capital. EIFOs main objective is to support Danish companies which can green the globe.
www.eifo.dk
About Novo Holdings
Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development.
As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion.
www.novoholdings.dk
About MatiTech
MatiTech Solutions specializes in transforming water from diverse sources into usable assets for various applications. MatiTech prides itself on offering cutting-edge technologies and expertise in the field of water treatment. MatiTech stands by its commitment to provide sustainable water treatment solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
www.matitechafrica.com
About Evonik Venture Capital
Evonik Venture Capital generates strategic value and growth opportunities through investing and partnering with innovative start-up companies. With a fund size of 400 million, Evonik Venture Capital has made about 50 investments since 2012, both direct and fund investments. The investment scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with an investment volume of up to 15 million per portfolio company. From its office in Germany, the USA and China, EVC invests in innovative technologies in the areas of Nutrition & Care, Smart Materials, Specialty Additives and Digitalization, as well as in technologies to support Evonik's Sustainability Strategy.
About AP Ventures
AP Ventures is headquartered in London and manages venture capital funds with a global mandate to invest in pioneering new technologies and businesses which aim to solve global challenges such as renewable energy integration and resource scarcity. AP Ventures has been investing in the hydrogen industry since 2013 and is recognised as a leading venture capital fund across this value chain. AP Ventures manages USD 395m of assets on behalf of 12 LPs and has invested in more than 20 technology companies across the hydrogen value chain.
Stay in the loop by following HPNow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
www.hpnow.eu
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PARIS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ingenico, a global leader in payments acceptance solutions and Diggecard, a global provider of gift card expertise and technology, have announced that Diggecard's services are now available on PPaaS, Ingenico's innovative cloud Payments Platform as a Service.
The announcement coincides with PPaaS launching gift card services on its platform that enables payments and commerce services to combine seamlessly. Diggecard enables the full range of physical and digital gift card operations at the point of sale, including issuing and redemption as well as details of account balances and expiry. Digital gift cards can be distributed by SMS, E-mail or as a QR code and Diggecard also provides a full range of reporting capabilities that deliver analytical insights for merchants to better understand their customers.
Diggecard's white label technology allows merchants to access a comprehensive suite of self-managed gift card services. By removing the complexity of integration for acquirers, PPaaS opens gift card programs to new categories of retailers, helping to generate new revenue streams and improve consumer engagement. Gift cards are a recognized way for business to drive incremental revenues to merchants. Smaller merchants connected to the PPaaS platform through their acquirer can now benefit from the same capabilities as larger merchants have done in the past, or they can use Diggecard operated gift cards in more innovative ways such as to reimburse customers instead of in cash, ensuring that they capture that revenue when it is spent again.
For Ingenico's clients - Banks, acquirers, merchant services providers and ISVs, for whom payments are increasingly important - services such as gift cards are important levers as they seek to maintain merchant loyalty and grow revenues: PPaaS allows them to do this quickly and at minimal cost.
'In partnership with Ingenico's innovative PPaaS platform we can offer an industry-leading gift card solution not only to large enterprises, but also to small and medium businesses which have traditionally been underserved in the gift card space because of the difficulty and cost of providing robust services at scale. Collaborating with PPaaS gives Diggecard an opportunity for fast and frictionless deployment of our services to merchants worldwide," says Kristian Stlen, co-founder of Diggecard.
Speaking about the tie-up, Giulio Montemagno, General Manager of PPaaS of Ingenico noted: "We share with Diggecard a vision of the market for Gift Card services and the importance of making these available to a wider range of merchants than at present. Our clients want to bring their merchants the services they need to help them compete in today's world, and PPaaS allows them to do that, seamlessly, quickly and cost-effectively."
ABOUT INGENICO
Ingenico is the global leader in payments acceptance solutions. As the trusted technology partner for merchants, banks, acquirers, ISVs, payment aggregators and fintech customers our world-class terminals, solutions and services enable the global ecosystem of payments acceptance. With 45 years of experience, innovation is integral to Ingenico's approach and culture, inspiring our large and diverse community of experts who anticipate and help shape the evolution of commerce worldwide. At Ingenico, trust and sustainability are at the heart of everything we do.
For more information, visit Ingenico.com.
About Diggecard
Diggecard is a global SaaS company delivering end to end gift card solutions to banks, acquirers and technology vendors helping them to enrich value services proposition to their merchants. Diggecard platform allows merchants to establish and manage omni-channel gift card programs, enabling the sale and redemption of both physical and digital gift cards across various sales channels, including in-store and online. By streamlining the merchant onboarding process and offering a self-service back office, Diggecard empowers merchants to independently manage the solution, reducing their reliance on merchant aggregators for customer support and ongoing assistance. This comprehensive suite of features ensures a seamless and frictionless experience for both merchant aggregators and their customers, solidifying Diggecard's position as a trusted and reliable partner in the gift card industry. More information at diggecard.com
Press Contacts
INGENICO
Katuiscia Benloukil
Tel: +33 6 58399502
Email: katuiscia.benloukil@ingenico.com
Giulia Lardini,
Tel: +353 852121893
Email: glardini@hopscotch.eu
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Intravacc and Sanquin Diagnostic Services optimized the in vitro Monocyte Activation Test (MAT) for OMV vaccines
MAT test potential replacement for the traditional rabbit pyrogen testing (RPT) for vaccines
The implementation of the MAT reduces the use of animals for vaccine safety testing
Article published in the peer reviewed journal Scientific Reports
BILTHOVEN, Netherlands, Sept. 19, 2023a Leading Contract Development and manufacturing Organisation for translational research and development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines together with MAT services at Sanquin Diagnostic Services, today announced the publication of a scientific article of an in vitro alternative assay to the replace rabbit pyrogen test for vaccines.
Vaccines play a crucial role in public health by providing immunity against various diseases. However, vaccine safety is of paramount importance, and researchers are continually exploring innovative methods to ensure that new vaccines are both effective and safe. All parenteral vaccine products must be tested for pyrogen/endotoxins to ensure an acceptable safety profile. Currently, often the RPT is used to demonstrate the safety profile. The MAT is an in vitro assay that can replace the rabbit pyrogen test. This study showed that the MAT assay is a robust assay that can be used to determine the reactogenicity of OMV based vaccines, even those which are still in the developmental phase. An OMV based vaccine candidate for Bordetella Pertussis, Avacc 3 demonstrated to have a desired safety profile in terms of systemic reactogenicity, as determined with both MAT and RPT. The article entitled "In vitro alternative for reactogenicity assessment of outer membrane vesicle based vaccines" is published in the peer reviewed journal of Scientific Reports, volume 13, 2023.
Dr. Bernard Metz, Director Product Characterization & Formulation at Intravacc,stated:
"The study showcases a significant step forward in vaccine safety testing, offering the potential to enhance the efficiency and ethical standards of vaccine development. By optimizing the MAT for early-stage testing and demonstrating its comparability with RPT results, this research contributes to our ongoing efforts to create vaccines with optimal safety and efficacy profiles."
This joint development project for advancing vaccine safety evaluation marks a pivotal advancement in vaccine safety assessment. The MAT also proved its applicability to assess reactogenicity levels of pyrogen containing vaccines at multiple stages of vaccine development and could eventually replace RPT. The use of this test may contribute to a significant reduction in the use of animals, currently the standard for vaccine safety profiles.
Dr. Marijke Molenaar, senior scientist MAT services at Sanquin Diagnostic Services, says:
"With our broad knowledge on the MAT we were able to optimise the MAT so that it can be used to determine the reactogenicity of OMV based vaccines from Intravaccc. This paper shows that the MAT is a valuable assay to assess reactogenicity levels of OMV based vaccines at multiple stages of vaccine development and the data presented could help to substantiate the switch from small animal testing to cellular assays at several stages of vaccine development."
About Intravacc's OMV platform technology
For the development of vaccines, Intravacc has designed and developed a platform based on outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) - spherical particles with intrinsic immune-stimulating properties. The OMVs can be designed with immunogenic peptides and/or proteins that stimulate effective adaptive immunity. The OMV carrier has been optimized to induce a more effective immune response against these newly introduced antigens. Intravacc has also developed genetic tools to increase the yield of the OMVs, reduce the toxicity and achieve the desired antigenic composition. Intravacc's OMV platform is scalable and allows rapid and efficient modification of the antigen composition, either through genetic modification of the bacterial host or by associating antigens with stored OMVs.
About Intravacc
Intravacc, located at Utrecht Science Park Bilthoven in the Netherlands, is a leading global CDMO for infectious diseases and therapeutic vaccines. As an established independent CDMO with many years of experience in the development and optimization of vaccines and vaccine technologies, Intravacc has transferred its technology world-wide for many vaccines including polio, measles, DPT, Hib and influenza. Approximately 30% of childhood disease vaccines are based on Intravacc's know-how and proprietary technology. Intravacc offers a wide range of expertise for independent vaccine development, from concept to Phase I/II clinical studies for partners around the world, including biotech and pharmaceutical companies, governmental agencies and NGOs. With its innovative vaccine platforms OMV-VaccT, Cell-VaccT, Con-VaccT, E.co-VaccT and good manufacturing procedures (GMP) facilities the company is well positioned to address the unmet needs in the vaccine and immune therapy market.
About Sanquin Diagnostic Services
Sanquin Diagnostic Services, part of the Sanquin Foundation, collaborates with Sanquin Research to offer diagnostic and bioanalytical CRO services to the healthcare, biotech and pharma community.
Sanquin Diagnostic Services are specialized in Antibody structure and function, disease Biomarkers and Cellular immune responses. These are used to monitor biotherapeutic safety and mode of action and for developing difficult tests on demand. Analyzing intricate interactions among cells, drugs, and blood components, considering both innate and adaptive immune responses. Together this offering is known as 'the ABC of blood'. Sanquin Diagnostic Services applies this expertise in immune disorders, hematology, oncology, immunomodulation therapies, and vaccines. They offer specialized services including assay development, immune response analysis, and toxicity testing. They provide comprehensive support through their decades of experience, specialized solutions, tailored approaches, and access to an extensive network of experts.
Contact info
Intravacc
Dr. Jan Groen, CEO
P: +31 30 7920 454
Sander Hagemans, Media relations
P: +31 30 7920 579
E: press.office@intravacc.nl
Sanquin Health Solutions
Rogier van den Braak, CEO
Marloes Metaal, Press officer
P: +316 2269 2445
E: m.metaal@sanquin.nl
Hoymiles has developed new hybrid inverters for residential solar and storage applications. They support 120 V/240 V backup power without the need for an external transformer.From pv magazine USA Hoymiles has unveiled the HYS-LV-USG1 series of single-phase hybrid inverters. They are designed for residential and small commercial solar-plus-storage projects. The inverters come in sizes ranging from 3.8 kW to 11.5 kW of output power. Hybrid inverters enable two-way conversion of electricity from alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC), as well as DC to AC. The hybrid inverters sport a max ...
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Travel App Visited Compiles Users' Data to Determine the Most Visited Mosques
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023, is published by Arriving In High Heels Corporation the company behind the travel app, Visited. The list is based on over 1.8 million international travellers, and is self-reported.
Visited is a popular travel planningapp that allows users to check off places they've been, browse top travel destinations, discover new places, get custom travel maps, and more. The app is available in over 30 languages including Turkish.
Turkey which is 12th most popular country to visit. Visitors from all over the world come for ancient sites including Istanbul's Basilica Cistern, Ephesus and Cappadocia all of which fall in the top 20 of the most visited ancient sites. Istanbul is also popular with visitors travelling by cruise ships. Shopping, beaches, and hot springs are also reasons why travellers choose Turkey.
Turkish mosques make up 5 out of 10 most visited mosques in the world. The top 10 most visited mosquesin Turkey include:
Hagia Sophia Mosque The Blue Mosque Suleymaniye Mosque Eyup Sultan Mosque The New Mosque Ortakoy Mosque Fatih Mosque Selimiye Mosque Kocatepe Mosque Bursa Grand Mosque
To get more travel stats and learn more about the Visited App, visit https://visitedapp.com.
About Visited App
Visited app allows users to map their travels by country, region or city. Users can discover new places by swiping hundreds of inspiration travel photos, which they can then add to 'been'or 'want' lists. Travel listsa feature which lets users choose destinations that they have visited or wish to visit by category. Since there are over 150 different travel lists, there are no shortage of places and interests for users to choose from. The itinerary feature lets users rank countries based on the number of places and experiences they want to have. Making it the ideal travel planning app.
To see more travel stats and top destinations in the world by different categories, users can download Visited on iOSor Android.
About Arriving In High Heels Corporation
Arriving In High Heels Corporationis a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, X-Rate, and Visited, their most popular app.
Contact Information
Anna Kayfitz
anna@arrivinginhighheels.com
THE HAGUE (dpa-AFX) - Aker Solutions ASA (AKKVF.PK), a Norwegian engineering and energy infrastructure company, Tuesday said it has secured a sizeable contract from British oil and gas major Shell Plc (SHEL, SHEL.L) to provide brownfield modifications services and maintenance support for the Nyhamna facility in Norway. According to the company, a sizeable contract is between NOK 0.5 billion and NOK 1.5 billion. Shell, as technical service provider to Gassco, has executed an option to extend a framework agreement for another four years, or until September 2028. Under the contract, maintenance and modification services will be provided on the onshore Nyhamna natural gas processing plant in Aukra. The plant serves the Ormen Lange field and is connected to the Polarled pipeline in the Norwegian Sea. Aker Solutions will book the contract as part of its third-quarter order intake. Paal Eikeseth, executive vice president and head of Life Cycle, Aker Solutions, said, 'This contract will be included in our already strong backlog built on long-term customer relations. We're pleased that Shell is giving us renewed trust to be its main contractor on this significant facility, and look forward to continuing the successful collaboration.' Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Sydney, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Spa Ceylon, renowned as the world's premier luxury Ayurveda brand, has inaugurated its flagship store at Sydney's historic Queen Victoria Building (QVB). This expansion signifies the brand's strategic vision to introduce authentic Ayurvedic wellness to a global audience.
Originating with a mission to modernize the Ayurvedic experience, Spa Ceylon now boasts over 100 stores across 50 cities in 20 countries. The 2023 statistics project a 15% growth rate for the brand in the upcoming year.
"Sydney's QVB is a symbol of elegance and history. Our presence here mirrors Spa Ceylon's philosophy - merging ancient Ayurvedic traditions with contemporary luxury," commented Spokesperson Niroshen Abbey. "Our flagship store aims to offer a sanctuary of wellness in the heart of the city."
Commitment to Authenticity and Sustainability
Spa Ceylon's product range is formulated with the finest natural ingredients from Sri Lanka. Each product is crafted with care, ensuring quality and ethical production. Niroshen Abbey added, "Our products are inspired by Ayurvedic traditions but tailored for today's global citizen."
As the luxury wellness sector continues to evolve, Spa Ceylon leads with its unique approach to Ayurveda. The brand's growth strategy focuses on emerging markets and solidifying its presence in established ones.
Through Ayurveda, Spa Ceylon offers products unparalleled in the market. The brand's best sellers, "Sleep Intense" and "Destress from the Wellness Body Care," address global consumer needs using Ayurvedic ingredients combined with modern research.
Reflecting on the brand's evolution, Niroshen Abbey observed, "Our journey has been remarkable, and we look forward to the future. We aim to make luxury Ayurveda accessible Australia-wide."
About Spa Ceylon
Spa Ceylon is the pinnacle of luxury Ayurveda, with a presence in over 50 cities across 20 countries. Founded on Ayurvedic principles, the brand offers a holistic wellness experience, blending ancient wisdom with modern luxury. Each product showcases Spa Ceylon's dedication to quality, sustainability, and ethical production. For more details, contact Niroshen Abbey at niroshenabbey@gmail.com or call 0435290162.
Spa Ceylon Contact information:
Name: Niroshen Abbey
Email: niroshenabbey@gmail.com
Website: https://spaceylonaustralia.au/
Instagram: spaceylon.australia
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/180962
Partners Group / Key word(s): Mergers & Acquisitions
Partners Group exits 731.5 MW Dutch offshore windfarm with sale of final 10% stake
19.09.2023 / 10:00 CET/CEST
Baar-Zug, Switzerland; 19 September 2023
The transaction highlights strong demand for high-quality infrastructure assets
Partners Group sold a 20% stake to Swiss Life Asset Managers in 2022 and then 15% to funds managed by Nuveen Infrastructure earlier this year
Partners Group invested in 2018 as part of its next-generation thematic approach to investing in clean power infrastructure and transformed the windfarm through hands-on management of its construction through to full operational status
Partners Group, a leading global private markets firm, acting on behalf of its clients, has completed its exit from 731.5 MW Dutch offshore windfarm Borssele III / IV ("Borssele") by agreeing to sell its final 10% stake to Octopus Energy Generation, one of Europe's largest renewables investors.
Following completion of the latest stake sale, Partners Group will have fully exited from the original 45% stake it acquired in June 2018. Partners Group sold a 20% stake to Swiss Life Asset Managers in November 2022 and 15% to funds managed by Nuveen Infrastructure in July 2023.
Borssele is a fully operational windfarm located 55 kilometers from the Port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands. The windfarm benefits from a feed-in premium regime backed by the Dutch government, which provides highly visible, long-term contracted cashflows. Borssele began operations in 2021. The windfarm is designed to generate 3,000 GWh of energy annually, which is enough to power approximately 825,000 Dutch households.
Partners Group invested in Borssele as part of its next-generation thematic approach to investing in clean power infrastructure. During its holding period, Partners Group transformed Borssele through hands-on management of its construction through to full operational status and successfully implemented several value creation initiatives, alongside other shareholders.
David Daum, Managing Director, Co-Head Private Infrastructure Europe, Partners Group, says: "The sale of Partners Group's remaining stake in Borssele marks the end of our five-year journey with the project. As a fully operational windfarm, Borssele is positioned to make a meaningful contribution towards decarbonization goals in the Netherlands. We are pleased to hand Borssele over to the new shareholder group following a transaction that highlights continued strong demand for high quality infrastructure assets."
After the sale of the final 10% stake is completed, Borssele's new shareholder group will include Shell, Eneco, INPEX, Luxcara, Swiss Life Asset Managers, Glennmont Partners from Nuveen, and Octopus Energy Generation. Completion of the sale to Octopus Energy Generation is subject to customary regulatory approvals. Partners Group was advised by Rothschild & Co as its financial advisor and Clifford Chance LLP as its legal advisor.
Partners Group's Private Infrastructure business has USD 22 billion in assets under management.
About Partners Group
Partners Group is a leading global private markets firm. Since 1996, the firm has invested USD 200 billion in private equity, private real estate, private debt and private infrastructure on behalf of its clients globally. Partners Group seeks to generate superior returns through capitalizing on thematic growth trends and transforming attractive businesses and assets into market leaders. The firm is a committed, responsible investor and aims to create sustainable returns with lasting, positive impact for all its stakeholders. With USD 142 billion in assets under management as of 30 June 2023, Partners Group provides an innovative range of bespoke client solutions to institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and private individuals globally. The firm employs more than 1,800 diverse professionals across 20 offices worldwide and has regional headquarters in Baar-Zug, Switzerland; Denver, USA; and Singapore. It has been listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange since 2006 (symbol: PGHN). For more information, please visit www.partnersgroup.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Partners Group media relations contact
Henry Weston
Phone: +44 207 575 2593
Email: henry.weston@partnersgroup.com
End of Media Release
With only two living females left, the partnership will contribute to the genetic recovery of the northern white rhino from complete extinction. Colossal developed a pioneering toolkit for the challenging task to restore genetic diversity from museum specimens for a living population of critically endangered species.
Colossal Biosciences ("Colossal"), the world's first de-extinction company, and BioRescue, a consortium initiating and leading the scientific rescue mission of the northern white rhino employing advanced assisted reproduction technologies and stem cell associated techniques, have teamed up to save the northern white rhino from extinction. The partnership will also develop a roadmap for future rescue missions of endangered species using the world leading expertise of both organizations. Together they will work to improve, develop, and implement strategies in the fields of wildlife conservation research and wildlife veterinary medicine, providing approaches to reduce the sixth mass extinction.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919136056/en/
Fatu in front and Najin in back are the last two known northern white rhinos alive on the planet. They live at Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is considered to be functionally extinct in the wild as a direct result of poaching. Its natural habitats include parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All these areas were completely emptied out of this charismatic megavertebrate more than a decade ago. The only two living females were born in the Czech ZOO Dvur Kralove and are being cared for at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya since 2009.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, Project Head at BioRescue, Head of the Department of Reproduction Management of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Colossal, has spent over 25 years on a mission to save the northern white rhino species. He has led the efforts with BioRescue to convey how synthetic biology can be used in addition to the genetic rescue techniques that are already in place. "The northern white rhino is the world's rarest large mammal and thousands of species are interlinked to its existence," says Hildebrandt. "With Colossal's advanced genetic technology, we will be able to piece together the missing links of the species' genetic history. Following decades of assisted reproduction and stem cell innovations made by scientists and conservationists, I'm thrilled that the partnership between Colossal and BioRescue will help to establish a sustainable and genetically robust northern white rhino population."
The new partnership will assess the genetic diversity of the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) in historic samples as the basis for ethically evaluated decisions on possibly enhancing the genetic variability of a future northern white rhino population. This groundbreaking conservation strategy is accompanied by exemplary transparency of the project's undertakings to the general public.
The Science Behind the Conservation
Colossal will assist the rescue mission by leveraging genome sequencing and gene editing methods to save the endangered species. The focus on the edits will be to improve genetic diversity in living cells and mitigate impacts of disease or lost adaptability to the changing climate.
Sequencing: The partnership will generate a global catalog of museum samples of northern white rhino specimens from the past, including bones, dry skin, and preserved organs and fetuses, which can be used to extract ancient DNA. The partners will then obtain preserved samples in order to sequence all suitable samples and study the genetic diversity of the species.
The partnership will generate a global catalog of museum samples of northern white rhino specimens from the past, including bones, dry skin, and preserved organs and fetuses, which can be used to extract ancient DNA. The partners will then obtain preserved samples in order to sequence all suitable samples and study the genetic diversity of the species. Genetic Editing: Once loss to gene pools has been identified in preserved specimens, Colossal will use the identified sequences as targets to restore the lost diversity into cell lines that will be used to produce northern white rhino embryos.
Once loss to gene pools has been identified in preserved specimens, Colossal will use the identified sequences as targets to restore the lost diversity into cell lines that will be used to produce northern white rhino embryos. Population Study: The team will conduct a population study of genetic diversity of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) which is the sister taxon of the northern white rhino to identify key aspects of a healthy population. Colossal will leverage FormBio, its technology spinoff, to complete this study. FormBio's comparative genomic tool allows scientists to compare the DNA and genome of the specimens to the northern white rhino population we have today and identify genetic diversity that existed before the massive decline of the species.
"We're very honored to be BioRescue's genetic rescue partner and thus have the opportunity to help save the northern white rhino, as well as other iconic keystone species from the brink of extinction," says Ben Lamm, CEO and Co-Founder of Colossal. "At Colossal we're passionate about species preservation and as part of our larger de-extinction work, we want to leverage our techniques and toolkit for conservation. We are creating tools that will allow us to heal what has been lost and restore ecosystems that will be sustainable for future generations."
The Conservation Paradox
The rate at which species loss is occurring is significantly faster than the restoration efforts of the classical conservation approaches. Between now and 2050, humanity will lose up to 50% of all biodiversity if nothing changes. The vast majority of conservation efforts are focused on preserving landscapes and ending poaching. But, with only two remaining northern white rhinos, the need to add more advanced technologies to preserve the taxon becomes apparent. In order to stop the loss, there is a need for new tools and technologies. The partnership is developing these tools to improve the capacity of the conservation ecosystem.
"We're really thankful to Prof Dr. Hildebrandt and BioRescue for trusting us as a partner to provide de-extinction technologies for the rescue of the northern white rhino," says Matt James, Head of Conservation and Colossal's Chief Animal Officer. "De-extinction is an engine of innovation that leads to tools that are directly applicable to conservation. Together, with some of the leading people in their fields, we will successfully be able to address and remedy specific conservation problems starting with the northern white rhino."
Colossal and BioRescue's partnership is the starting point for future modern conservation networks which will help improve international conservation and conservation research organizations.
"The BioRescue Consortium is a unique model of extensive international cooperation that involves top scientists from Germany, Japan and Italy, conservationists in the field in Africa as well as zoo experts from Europe. This new partnership with Colossal transforms existing conservation approaches to a new level and can serve as a blueprint for other international efforts to save endangered species," says Jan Stejskal, Director of International Projects at Dvur Kralove and coordinator of efforts to save the northern white rhinos.
Colossal's Conservation Toolkit
Colossal's conservation toolkit is a set of resources the company employs to help partner organizations preserve and save species at-risk. The company utilizes its expertise to preserve lost genetic diversity and create the hardware necessary for species rebirth and restoration to improve today's conservation efforts. Now, Colossal will also provide these services as the
genomic arm of BioRescue.
ABOUT COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES
Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church, Ph.D. Colossal creates disruptive technologies for extinct species restoration, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth. Colossal is accepting humanity's duty to restore Earth to a healthier state, while also solving for the future economies and biological necessities of the human condition through cutting-edge science and technologies. To follow along, please visit: www.colossal.com
ABOUT BIORESCUE
The BioRescue Consortium combines assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and stem cell associated techniques (SCAT) to save the northern white rhino from extinction. With the support of international partners the consortium aims to develop new scientific conservation approaches to preserve keystone and umbrella species. This will lead to blueprints which can be used in by conservation initiatives worldwide to halt the loss of biodiversity and preserve ecosystem services for future generations. The Consortium is led by German the Leibniz Institute for Zoo (Leibniz-IZW). Consortium members: Leibniz-IZW, the ZOO DVuR KRALOVE (Czech Republic), Avantea (Italy), Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine (Germany), Osaka University (Japan), and Padua University (Italy). www.BioRescue.org
ABOUT LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH
The Leibniz-IZW is an internationally renowned German research institute of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. and a member of the Leibniz Association. Our mission is to examine evolutionary adaptations of wildlife to global change and develop new concepts and measures for the conservation of biodiversity. To achieve this, our scientists use their broad interdisciplinary expertise from biology and veterinary medicine to conduct fundamental and applied research from molecular to landscape level in close dialogue with the public and stakeholders. Additionally, we are committed to unique and high-quality services for the scientific community. www.izw-berlin.de
ABOUT ZOO DVuR KRALOVE
ZOO Dvur Kralove is a safari park in the Czech Republic. It's one of the best rhino breeders outside of Africa and the only place where the northern white rhino bred in human care both remaining females, Najin and Fatu, were born here. ZOO Dvur Kralove coordinates efforts to save the northern white rhinos. https://safaripark.cz
WEBSITE SOCIALS
Websites: www.colossal.com, www.vertebrategenomesproject.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItIsColossal, https://twitter.com/genomeark
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itiscolossal/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/itiscolossal/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItIsColossal
Hashtag: ItIsColossal
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919136056/en/
Contacts:
Colossal BioSciences
Emily.mailaender@rcpmk.com
pro-colossal@prosek.com
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW)
Steven Seet
Head of Science Communication
Phone: +491778572673
E-mail: seet@izw-berlin.de
ZOO Dvur Kralove
Jan Stejskal
Director of Communication and International Projects
Phone: +420608009072
E-mail: jan.stejskal@zoodk.cz
ISTANBUL, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronesans Group has retained its leading construction company status, recently ranked as 38th largest international contracting company worldwide and 9th largest in Europe on ENR's acclaimed 2023 "World's Top 250 International Contractors" list. Regarded as the most established international construction industry assessment tool, ENR has ranked Ronesans among the top 10 contracting companies in Europe annually since 2015. This year sees no change, with its reputation secured as the leading Turkish construction company in the world.
ENR's list for 2023 of the "World's Top 250 International Contractors" is calculated on revenue acquired by contracting companies outside of their headquartered countries. In 2022, along with its JVs, Ronesans achieved a consolidated turnover of $4.3 billion, with more than 70% of its revenue coming from international projects. The company operates in key sectors such as construction, real estate, health, and energy across over 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and obtained a total turnover of $3.1 billion from abroad, with $2 billion originating from Europe in 2022.
Chair of the board at Ronesans, Ipek Ilicak Kayaalp, states: 'We are very proud to be listed among the 10 largest European international construction companies for the 8th year running. We will maintain our focus on international growth with the invaluable support of our esteemed international partners in the coming years by participating in more ambitious projects worldwide. We will also keep collaborating with international financial institutions and export financing agencies to jointly deliver numerous impressive projects, including clean water and safe infrastructure solutions to developing parts of the world, as we have recently accomplished in Sri Lanka."
Ballast Nedam, Ronesans Holding subsidiary company, executed the Clean Water Supply project in Sri Lanka with support and financing provided by the Dutch government and the Dutch export credit agency, Atradius. This significant project aims to provide clean water access to 17,000 households in seven villages within the Hemmathagama region, contributing broadly to Ballast Nedam and Ronesans' social responsibility and sustainability pillars. Alongside being a driver for Turkish industry growth, Ronesans Holding is keen to implement purposeful campaigns and drive impact in developing communities.
Growing rapidly for the last 30 years, Ronesans Holding, the conglomerate's top investment entity, has an impressive project portfolio, operating as both main contractor and investor in various sectors, including construction, real estate, healthcare and energy. Key projects include the Lakhta Center, the tallest building in Europe; the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel located in the Swiss Alps; the Gaasperdammertunnel, the longest land tunnel in the Netherlands; the Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Hospital in Turkiye, the world's largest seismically isolated building; and the Gas to Gasoline Plant (GTG) Project in Turkmenistan, the world's first and only of its kind.
Under the leadership of its president, Erman Ilicak, and Chair of the board, Ipek Ilicak Kayaalp, Ronesans has been also substantially increasing its investments in renewable energy for Turkiye after a 50% partnership with Total Energies for Ronesans Enerji last month, with the aim of investing a total of 2 GW of installed capacity in the next 5 years. The agreement is the latest in the company's long history of successful strategic partnerships from all around the world, having worked with partners and shareholders including the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Meridiam, a Paris-based infrastructure fund, Japanese trading house Sojitz Corporation, and International Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank Group which is a shareholder in Ronesans, and Samsung C&T, among others.
Ranking amongst the top 10 international construction companies in Europe, and top 40 worldwide, Ronesans will continue to drive forward growth across key sectors in Turkiye and globally.
About Ronesans Group
Ronesans Holding, headquartered in Ankara, is the 38th largest international contracting company globally and the 9th largest in Europe with international operations in 30 countries across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa - including Ballast Nedam in the Netherlands and Heitkamp in Germany, Ronesans has been operating as the main contractor and investor successfully for 30 years across construction, real estate development, healthcare and energy. Putting resilience and growth through innovation at the core of the company, with a priority on sustainability and social development, Ronesans has developed projects supporting students with scholarships, academic platforms and initiatives; been a signatory of the UN Global Compact since 2015; and a signatory of the UN Women's Empowerment Principles since 2016.
Along with its partners GIC, Meridiam Infrastructure, Sojitz, Samsung C&T, TotalEnergies, and IFC, of the World Bank Group (minority shareholder in the group), Ronesans has invested more than EUR7 billion into pioneering projects in Turkiye.
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BERLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CHiQ consistently upholds its "Smart with Style" brand philosophy, dedicated to providing consumers with stylish yet intelligent home appliances. Recently, CHiQ unveiled the enhanced Space Pro series washing machines to European consumers, focusing on Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. Emphasizing their "compact size, large capacity" feature, these products present customers with space-efficient smart home solutions.
Space Upgrade: Compact Design with Large Capacity
The washing machines, with load capacities of 8kg and 10kg, have front-to-back depths of just 52cm and 57cm respectively, maintaining the compact design of Space Pro series. Moreover, these machines feature a sleek build and a generous 530mm drum. These attributes not only ensure the product blends seamlessly into diverse living settings and optimizes space, but they also allow users to launder more garments per cycle, conserving time and energy.
Smart Technology: Intelligent Washing with Multiple Cycle Options
The one-touch smart wash is a distinctive feature of CHiQ washing machines. With this function, the machine automatically senses the load weight, adjusting the water level and temperature intelligently for optimal wash results. Furthermore, the latest Space Pro models come equipped with 15 diverse wash cycles, meeting varied customer preferences. The steam wash cycle employs high-temperature steam infusion to deeply penetrate fabric, eliminating odors and impurities for thoroughly sanitized, refreshed garments.
Elevated Efficiency: Enhancing Product Performance and Energy Savings
Aware of the growing demand for energy conservation and reduced emissions, CHiQ upgraded the Space Pro series. These updated models are now part of Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly program. Customers can benefit from a heightened energy-efficient washing experience, reducing the burden of household energy costs. This push for superior efficiency motivates CHiQ to consistently advance its technological benchmarks, remaining committed to ongoing product innovation and refinement.
Strategic Advancements: Bolstering Growth and Appliance Performance
In 2018, CHiQ invested significantly in a 180,000-square-meter intelligent washing machine industrial park. Since its entry into the European market, CHiQ has consistently broadened its product range, strategically enhanced distribution across digital and brick-and-mortar channels and amplified its branding initiatives. From January to August 2023, the sales volume of CHiQ's white goods business in the European market saw an impressive year-on-year growth of over 140%, and the sales revenue increased by more than 120% year-on-year.
CHiQ will continue to enhance its home appliance technology prowess and product quality, bringing more surprises and value to consumers.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7e-CcI2Xb4
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SINGAPORE, Sept. 19, 2023, the leading Asia Pacific centred biotech CRO with global execution capabilities has just been awarded for the second consecutive year the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy 2023 at the Asia Pacific Cell & Gene Therapy Excellence Awards.
Novotech's Vice President, Clinical Services Dr. Yooni Kim accepted the award at the 7th Cell & Gene Therapy World Asia conference last week in Singapore.
Novotech is also the recipient of the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy2022 award.
Accepting the award, Dr. Kim thanked the organizers IMAPAC and stated "Novotech is proud to be recognised as an exceptional cell & gene therapy (CGT) CRO leader that facilitates rapid advancement in these new therapies."
"One of the biggest challenges in CGT trials is managing regulatory approvals, especially for multi-country studies. This is where Novotech excels. With our considerable experience in the Asia Pacific since 1997, and in recent years in the US and Europe, we navigate the complexities of regulatory processes, ensuring seamless progress for our clients," she remarked.
Dr. Kim also indicated the success of CGT trials also hinges on patient acceptance and understanding cultural nuances. "This means that a patient centric approach in carer engagement is vital for success. Novotech is committed to fostering this engagement throughout the entire clinical trial process."
She remarked "according to our latest CGT clinical trial landscape report the global CGT market is projected to hit $93.78 billion by 2030 and FDA approvals for gene therapy in H2 2022 surpassed the combined total for the previous five years."
Download Recent CGT Report here
"Asia Pacific is playing a significant role in the global CGT trials growth with an increase in percentage share from 41% in 2018 to 48% in 2022, demonstrating the region's commitment to cutting-edge medical research. North America and Europe together had 54% in 2018 but fell to 47% in 2022," she commented.
Dr. Kim noted mainland China and the United States, each with over 600 trials, were the leading locations in CGT trials, while over 450 CGT trials were initiated in European countries.
"From 2018-2022 the APAC region's single country CGT trials share was 90%, North America was 69% and Europe was 35%."
According to the recent reportChina played a significant role in the APAC region, accounting for around 75% share. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia were also substantial contributors, accounting for 9%, 8%, 3%, and 2%, respectively. Other APAC locations, including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Thailand, combined provided 3% of the share of single country CGT trials.
Novotech has more than 3,000 employees operating across 25 geographies with 34 office locations, including Greater China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Europe.
The CRO offers biotechs a unique and unparalleled suite of early to late-phase services across the US and Europe, with a foundation in Asia Pacific where the company has built a reputation for delivering high-quality expedited clinical trials.
Recognized for its industry-leading contributions, Novotech has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CRO Leadership Award 2023 and the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy 2022 and 2023 awards. Additionally, the company was honored with the Asia-Pacific Contract Research Organization Company of the Year Award. Its commitment to collaboration is evident in the 50 Leading Site Partnership agreements it has signed over the past three years.
Media Contact
David James
communications@novotech-cro.com
AU: +61 2 8218 2144
USA: +1 415 951 3228
Asia: +65 3159 3427
About NovotechNovotech-CRO.com
Founded in 1997, Novotech is internationally recognized as the leading Asia Pacific centred Contract Research Organization (CRO) with global execution capabilities.
The Company has established itself as a clinical CRO with labs, phase I facilities, drug development consulting services and regulatory expertise. It has experience in over 5,000 clinical projects, including Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials and bioequivalence studies. Novotech employs over 3,000 staff globally across 34 office locations.
Novotech is positioned to serve as a partner and ally to small and medium-sized biotech, biopharma and pharma sponsors seeking to conduct clinical trials in Asia Pacific, the US and Europe.
For more information visit Novotech CRO
The appointments aim to support atNorth's response to a surge in demand for its services and ongoing expansion plans.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- atNorth, the leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has today announced the appointment of Magnus Dittmer as Director of Bid Management and Kristinn Kristjansson as Director of Accounting as the business continues to experience significant demand for its sustainable, best in class, digital infrastructure solutions.
Magnus brings a wealth of knowledge in business development and bid management garnered over his 25 years' experience in customer relations and sales roles. Prior to joining atNorth, Magnus held senior commercial positions at Atea Sverige, InfoCare Services and Enaco. Based in Sweden he will report to Anders Fryxell, atNorth's new Chief Sales Officer.
Kristinn will focus on developing and maturing the accounting function in line with the company's considerable growth. He brings extensive experience in accounting acquired during his 19 years in the finance industry and 13 as a State Authorized Public Accountant. He joins from Ryni/Baker Tilly in Iceland where he was the Managing Partner and served as atNorth's auditor for the Icelandic entities. Prior to this he was CPA at PwC Iceland. Based in Iceland, Kristinn will report to Eva Soley Gudbjornsdottir, Deputy CEO & CFO at atNorth.
The announcement follows atNorth's acquisition of Gompute a leading provider of High Performance Computing (HPC) and data center services and its recent publication of its annual accounts - both showcasing the substantial expansion of the business and the company's commitment to providing cost efficient, sustainable infrastructure to its clients.
Eva Soley Gudbjornsdottir, Deputy CEO & CFO at atNorth says "as we continue to grow in this fast paced and competitive market it is essential that we have a cohesive and talented team supporting us. I am delighted to welcome Magnus and Kristinn to the business."
atNorth's expansion has been bolstered by the recent appointment of a number of high profile professionals including Anders Fryxell as CSO, Erling Gudmunsson as COO, Fredrik Jansson as Chief Strategy and Marketing & Communications Officer , Stephen Donovan as Chief Development Officer ,
Mardis Heimisdottir as Director of Strategy Implementation, Tracey Pewtner, as Marketing Director, Elisabet Arnadottir, Director of Security and Compliance, David Sandars as Sales Director for the UK, Pekka Jarvelainen as Sales Director for Finland and Michael Endres as Sales Director for the DACH Region and Wayne Allen, Sales Director?-?US. The company's data center footprint also continues to increase with the recent launch of their third operational data center in Iceland.
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About atNorth
atNorth is a leading Nordic data center services company that offers sustainable, cost-effective, scalable colocation and high-performance computing services across Iceland, Sweden and Finland. The company operates seven data centers in strategic locations across the Nordics, with an eighth site to open in Helsinki, Finland in Q3 2024.
With sustainability at its core, atNorth's data centers run on renewable energy resources and support circular economy principles. All atNorth sites leverage innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations to provide long-term infrastructure and flexible colocation deployments. The tailor-made solutions enable businesses to calculate, simulate, train and visualize data workloads in an efficient, cost-optimized way.
atNorth is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, and is trusted by industry-leading organizations to operate their most critical workloads. The business was founded in 2009 and acquired by Partners Group in 2022. For more information, visit atNorth.com or follow atNorth onLinkedIn orFacebook .
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Press Contact:
Caroline Brunton
Kite Hill PR for atNorth
+44 (0) 7796 274 416
caroline@kitehillpr.com
The following files are available for download:
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Apollon Formularies Plc - Execution of Binding LOI with Sproutly Canada, Inc.
PR Newswire
LONDON, United Kingdom, September 19
19 September 2023
Apollon Formularies Plc
Apollon Formularies plc Announces Execution of Binding LOI with Sproutly Canada, Inc.
Apollon Formularies plc (AQUIS: APOL) ("Apollon") is pleased to announce that it has executed a binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") with Sproutly Canada, Inc(CNSX:SPR) (OTC Pink: SRUTF) ("Sproutly") for Sproutly to acquire the global assets of Apollon.
Apollon is a UK-based international natural biologics drug discovery company that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) based technology to develop therapeutics for patients globally. Apollon recently announced successful results of third party independent pre-clinical testing that demonstrated successful killing of breast cancer and prostate cancer cells in their oncology line of products. To date, the company has primarily concentrated on the use of natural cannabinoids, terpenes, and mushroom compounds in their combinatorial formulations which include therapeutics for cancer, inflammatory diseases, addiction, and chronic pain. Apollon has manufacturing and production operations in Jamaica and exclusive license and sales agreements with multiple international companies to sell its products in the US, Canada, Mexico, the European Union with extension to Morocco, Israel, South Africa, and Thailand.
Sproutly is a Canadian company specializing in proprietary natural biologics drug discovery utilizing a proprietary technique known as Aqueous Phytorecovery Process (APP), which extracts high-quality phytonutrients in their complete and proportional profiles. As applied to cannabis, APP can produce water-soluble cannabis solutions that can be stably formulated into traditional beverages without the use of artificial chemical and/or physical means to keep the cannabinoids dissolved in the water base.
The combination of Apollon's AI based therapeutic product formulation with demonstrated success in pre-clinical and clinical testing, clinical trial capability, manufacturing and production laboratories, with Sproutly's APP technology and natural water soluble ingredients, creates a unique opportunity to develop, new natural biologic therapeutic products with increased bioavailability, faster therapeutic response times, lower patient dose requirements and increased product shelf life.
Terms of the Apollon Sale:
Under the terms of the binding LOI dated September 12, 2023, after the successful completion of due diligence as described below, Sproutly will acquire the assets of Apollon pursuant to an Asset Purchase Agreement. In exchange, Sproutly will issue to Apollon a sufficient number of Sproutly shares so that Apollon will own 49% of the enlarged shar capital of Sproutly, post-transaction. If the transaction takes place with the number of outstanding Sproutly shares as are currently in issue, and at an anticpated deemed price of CAD$0.02 (the price at which the trading of common shares of Sproutly was suspended), the effective valuation of the disposal of Apollon's assets will be CAD$7million (approximately 4.2million). If the number of Sproutly shares increases between now and the date of the transaction, the number of shares to be issued to Apollon will increase accordingly.
Sproutly and Apollon have granted each other a 60-day option to conduct due diligence, following which, if agreed to by both companies, the asset acquisition will be completed. The due diligence period may be shortened by mutual agreement. It is understood by the parties that Sproutly must complete one or more audits and take other legal and regulatory steps (the "Steps") to again become active and trading on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE"). The Steps will proceed simultaneously with the due diligence period and the preparation and finalization of necessary transaction agreements for a closing (the "Closing") of the transaction.
The disposal of the assets will likely constitute a fundamental change to Apollon's business, and therefore an explanatory circular will be prepared and a general meeting called in due course, to obtain shareholder approval for the disposal. A further announcement will be made in due course.
Stephen D. Barnhill, MD, Chairman and CEO of Apollon stated, "I am extremely pleased to proceed forward to complete this transaction for Sproutly to acquire Apollon's assets. I believe the combination of assets currently held by the two companies will demonstrate that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Together these assets include multiple synergistic drug discovery technologies, pending patents and proprietary intellectual property, successful pre-clinical and clinical testing, manufacturing and production laboratories, existing exclusive global licenses and sales agreements in numerous countries which we expect to generate significant royalty revenue, and the ability to develop new combinatorial therapeutic products. I look forward to working with Dr. Arup Sen in building what I believe will be a leading natural biologics drug discovery company developing new therapeutic products for near term international distribution and sales".
The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
For additional information, please visit www.apollon.org.uk or contact:
Apollon Formularies
Tel: +44 771 198 0221
Stene Jacobs stene@apollon.org.uk
Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Adviser)
Tel: +44 207 220 9795
Guy Miller gm@peterhousecapital.com
BlytheRay (Financial PR/IR-London)
Tel: +44 207 138 3204
Tim Blythe/Megan Ray apollon@blytheray.com
About Apollon Formularies and Apollon Formularies Jamaica
Apollon Formularies plc is an international medical cannabis company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Apollon Formularies Jamaica Limited is a pharmaceutical company incorporated and operating in the Commonwealth of Jamaica. Apollon Jamaica is licensed by the Jamaican government's Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to cultivate, perform research and development, process, and sell medical cannabis therapeutic products that include legal medical cannabis to treat various illnesses under medical supervision. Apollon and Apollon Jamaica are parties to a Commitment Agreement whereby Apollon is entitled to 95% of Apollon Jamaica's Net Profits, and per a Stock Pledge Agreement that includes Stephen D. Barnhill, M.D., Apollon is to be assigned the entire 49% equity interest of Apollon Jamaica held by Dr. Barnhill, which is the maximum interest in a medical cannabis company allowed to be held by a non-Jamaican, upon the CLA approving the assignment.
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg - Pre-stabilisation Period Announcement
PR Newswire
LONDON, United Kingdom, September 19
19 September 2023
Not for distribution, directly or indirectly, in or into the United States or any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful.
Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank /ISIN XS2694863841
Pre-stabilisation Period Announcement
Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg (contact: Torsten Zittlau; telephone: +49 711 127 74640)
hereby gives notice, as Stabilisation Coordinator, that the Stabilisation Manager(s) named
below may stabilise the offer of the following securities in accordance with Commission
Delegated Regulation EU/1052/2016 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU/596/2014).
The securities: Issuer: Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank (AAA (S&P), Aaa (Moody's), AAA (Fitch)) Guarantor (if any): Federal Republic of Germany Aggregate nominalamount: EUR Benchmark Description: []% September-2033 EUR BMK, Reg S Bearer Bonds,TEFRA C, New Global notelisting: Luxembourg Regulated Market Offer Price: [XX.XXX] Other offer terms: NA Stabilisation: StabilisationManager(s): BofA Securities, Credit Agricole CIB, Landesbank Baden-Wurttemberg, Rabobank Stabilisation periodexpected to start on: 19 September 2023 Stabilisation periodexpected to end nolater than: 30 days after the proposed issue date of the securities Existence, maximumsize and conditions ofuse of over-allotmentfacility: The Stabilisation Manager(s) may over-allot the securities to the extent permitted in accordance with applicable law. Stabilisation tradingvenue: Over the counter (OTC)
In connection with the offer of the above securities, the Stabilisation Manager(s) may
over-allot the securities or effect transactions with a view to supporting the market price of
the securities during the stabilisation period at a level higher than that which might otherwise prevail. However, stabilisation may not necessarily occur and any stabilisation action, if begun, may cease at any time. Any stabilisation action or over-allotment shall be conducted in accordance with all applicable laws and rules.
This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to underwrite, subscribe for or otherwise acquire or dispose of any securities of the
Issuer in any jurisdiction.
This announcement and the offer of the securities to which it relates are only addressed to
and directed at persons outside the United Kingdom and persons in the United Kingdom who have professional experience in matters related to investments or who are high net worth persons within Article 12(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial
Promotion) Order 2005 and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in the United Kingdom.
In addition, if and to the extent that this announcement is communicated in, or the offer of
the securities to which it relates is made in, any EEA Member State that has implemented
Directive 2003/71/EC, as amended (together with any applicable implementing measures in
any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive") before the publication of a prospectus in
relation to the securities which has been approved by the competent authority in that
Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive (or which has been approved by a competent authority in another Member State and notified to the competent authority in that Member State in accordance with the Prospectus Directive), this announcement and the offer are only addressed to and directed at persons in that Member State who are qualified
investors within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive (or who are other persons to whom the offer may lawfully be addressed) and must not be acted on or relied on by other persons in that Member State.
This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale into the United States. The securities have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States.
MONACO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Curtain falls on the 16th Monaco Classic Week - La Belle Classe organised by the Yacht Club de Monaco. The big winner of this edition is The Lady Anne (1912), one of the last three 15 M JIs still sailing alongside Tuiga (1909), flagship of the Y.C.M. and Mariska (1908) which welcomed on board a delegation from the Manhattan Yacht Club led by its Commodore Michael Fortenbaugh. On Saturday Prince Albert the II of Monaco stopped by the quay to greet the crews, the owners and a the volunteers. He then visited the exhibition dedicated to his father Ranieri III entitled 'The Prince and the Sea', that shines a light on some of the beautiful boats owned by a man who loved the sea and boats.
The Monaco Classic Week "is unique in its kind since it brings together the most beautiful classic units in Monaco so that the public can see what yachting was like 100 years ago. If we don't preserve history, what are we left with? History can tell us what the future will be like," commented Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, president of the jury and the first man to complete a solo, non-stop circumnavigation of the world. The Monaco Classic Week Trophy takes into account not only the sporting result but also the quality of the restoration appreciated by a Jury of specialists who noted the respect of the original plans, the materials used for the construction of the boats and the know-how of those who restored them. And the winner was the 'Lady Anne'. Commissioned by George Coats and built in the famous Fife Family shipyard, located in the small Scottish village of Fairlie, by William Fife III, The Lady Anne sailed with a Bermudian rig until the 1920s, subsequently becoming a ketch which was used during the second war for the transport of ammunition. After spending a few years in Spain, The Lady Anne was found on the English River Hamble and completely renovated by Fairlie Restoration near Southampton. In 1999 she was then bought and restored by the present owner, Gonzalo Botin. "We're very happy. It's always difficult to win here in Monaco, the conditions are normally very complicated. We've been coming here for 6-7 year and this is the first time we win so we're very very happy," adds Botin.
130 boats, including around forty traditional sailboats, around ten vintage motor-yachts, around sixty old motorboats and twenty 12' Dinghies, were invited to the unique biennial event created in 1994. They all used their strengths to seduce the jury chaired by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston but also the public who came to stroll through the event village. "This event is an integral part of our traditions and values. The units present have a lot of charm, and already had a certain technology at the time in which they were built. It is therefore our duty to do everything so that these boats can continue to stand the test of time in accordance with their original plan," says Bernard d'Alessandri, Secretary General of the Yacht Club de Monaco.
After a week immersed in maritime heritage, the Yacht Club de Monaco is setting course for the future of yachting on September 24 and 25 on the occasion of the 3rd Monaco Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous organized by Monaco Marina Management and whose objective is to encourage the creation and development of virtuous marinas by connecting the entire ecosystem against a backdrop of sustainable tourism.
For more information:
Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/29f5d15d-6d82-46ff-a664-0ee0b9724a76
A video accompanying this announcement is available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7b688562-33bf-44d3-a09e-4758c02ac1b4
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Eureka Lithium Corp. (CSE: ERKA) (OTCQB: SCMCF) (FSE: S580) ("Eureka Lithium" or "Eureka" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that its common shares have been successfully upgraded from the OTC Pink to the OTCQB Venture Market ("OTCQB") under the symbol "SCMCF", which became effective on September 18th, 2023. The Company continues to trade on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the symbol "ERKA" and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "S580".
The OTCQB is a U.S. trading platform operated by the OTC Markets Group and is the leading marketplace of early-stage and developing U.S. and international companies. To be eligible, companies must be current in their financial reporting, undergo an annual company verification and management certification process, and meet a minimum bid price test. The OTCQB provides key benefits for investors with efficient market standards, transparency, and visibility of companies on the OTCQB market. Streamlined market standards enable Canadian companies to provide a strong baseline of transparency to inform and engage U.S. investors. To learn more, visit www.otcmarkets.com.
About Eureka Lithium Corp.
Eureka Lithium is the largest lithium-focused landowner in the northern third of Quebec, known as the Nunavik region, with 100% ownership of three projects comprising 1,408 sq. km in the emerging Raglan West, Raglan South and New Leaf Lithium Camps. These claims were acquired from legendary prospector Shawn Ryan and are located in a region that hosts two operating nickel mines with deep-sea port access.
Contact Information:
For more information please contact:
Jeffrey Wilson
Chief Executive Officer
info@eurekalithiumcorp.com
Cautionary Statement
Certain statements contained in this news release, including statements which may contain words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "estimates", or similar expressions, and statements related to matters which are not historical facts, such as statements regarding the contemplated completion of the Acquisition and the Concurrent Financing, are forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's expectations and are based on certain factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct, nor that the Acquisition will be completed as contemplated, or at all, or that the Concurrent Financing will be completed as contemplated, or at all. The Company undertakes no obligation to release publicly any future revisions to forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this news or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as expressly required by law.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181067
Obesity and diabetes are high medical need pandemics
BariaTek Medical, a privately held medical device company dedicated to the development of minimally invasive endoscopically delivered solutions to treat obesity and diabetes, founded by Truffle Capital, announced it has secured a non-dilutive DeepTech financing of 1.5 million from Bpifrance, under the "France 2030" plan, to accelerate the company's development towards its imminent human feasibility clinical trials.
Obesity and diabetes are debilitating conditions affecting more than 1 billion patients worldwide; they are the most costly chronic conditions to healthcare systems surpassing cardiovascular diseases and cancer and their prevalence is increasing. Obesity and diabetes are pandemics increasingly affecting patients in every corner of the globe.
Bariatric surgery remains the only sustainable solution to treat obesity and the resulting diabetes, but surgery is invasive, is associated with complexity, complications, and high costs. The new GLP-1 receptor agonists drugs can be effective but very costly, need to be taken long-term, leading to high burden on payors and patient non-compliance.
BariaTek Medical's first product, the BariTon, is a soft, atraumatic, reversible implant that is delivered via an endoscope through the mouth in a few minutes in an outpatient setting. The BariTon is expected to be the first implant of its kind to mimic the efficacy of bypass surgery and surpass it in terms of safety, ease of use, reversibility, and economics.
Youssef Biadillah, CEO of BariaTek Medical said: "This 1.5 million non-dilutive financing provided by Bpifrance is a testament to the potential of BariaTek and its lead product candidate BariTon to address two galloping pandemics, obesity and diabetes, which affect more than 18% of the French adult population, 42% of the US population and a billion patients worldwide. We look forward to bringing the BariTon into clinical trials in the very near term."
Antoine Pau, Chairman of BariaTek Medical said: "Thanks to its experienced team, BariaTek has managed to develop in a short period of time a highly differentiated solution that could radically change the treatment of obesity and diabetes. BariaTek is now initiating a private fundraising to finance the next steps and make BariTon available to patients as soon as possible."
About BariaTek Medical
BariaTek Medical, based in Paris France, is a privately held medical device company dedicated to the development of minimally invasive endoscopically delivered solutions to treat obesity and diabetes. BariaTek Medical was founded by Truffle Capital, a premier life science VC fund based in Paris France and founder or co-founder of various life science companies such as Abivax (Euronext: ABVX), Carmat (Euronext: ALCAR), Carbios (Euronext ALCRB), Vexim (acquired by Stryker), Symetis (acquired by Boston Scientific) and Affluent Medical (Euronext: AFME).
About Truffle Capital
Truffle Capital is an independent European Venture Capital firm specializing in disruptive technologies in the Life Sciences (Biotech, Medtech, BioEcotech) and IT sectors (Fintech and Insurtech). Truffle Capital's mission is to support the creation and development of innovative companies capable of becoming the leaders of tomorrow. Chaired by Patrick Kron and managed by Dr. Philippe Pouletty and Bernard-Louis Roques, Co-founders and Managing Directors, Truffle Capital manages 600 million in assets. It has raised more than 1.1 billion since its creation and has supported more than 75 companies in the life sciences and digital technology sectors.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919587722/en/
Contacts:
armandrigaudy@primatice.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Sun Summit Minerals Corp. (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is pleased to announce surface sampling results from the summer 2023 exploration program at its flagship Buck Project in central B.C. The field campaign focused on exploration at several high-priority targets at the Mount Morice and CR areas and resulted in the discovery of a new zone of copper mineralization.
Highlights:
Strong copper mineralization: Rock samples returned results up to 1.00% Cu and 3.2 g/t Ag, and 0.94% Cu and 4.1 g/t Ag in a new zone that has seen limited exploration. Target areas show strong porphyry-related mineralization and alteration and remain open for expansion.
Exploration aimed at discovery: Reconnaissance field work included detailed mapping, sampling, and prospecting around the Mount Morice and CR target areas.
Completion of step-out drill program at Buck Main: The drill campaign consisted of 3,736 metres over 13 diamond drill holes in high-priority areas aimed at testing the lateral and vertical extents of mineralization (see June 8, 2023, news release). Assays have been released for the first two holes of the program, and remaining assays are being processed at the lab and will be released as they are received and interpreted.
Sharyn Alexander, Sun Summit's President stated: "We are very pleased with the results from our initial exploration efforts at CR, as well as follow-up exploration at Mount Morice. Both of these targets have shown notable mineralized occurrences through previous exploration and warrant detailed systematic follow-up. The detailed geological mapping and geochemical sampling will allow us to continue to define these targets and advance them towards the drill-ready stage. The results provide evidence of the project's ongoing potential for expansion and discovery of new mineralized zones."
Exploration Program
Extensive surface exploration was conducted in the area of Mount Morice and the newly acquired CR project (see June 1, 2023 news release). This work included detailed geological mapping, sampling, and prospecting, with a total of 230 surface samples collected in high-priority areas (203 rock samples, 17 silt samples, and 10 soil samples). See Figure 1 for selected highlights from recent and historic exploration programs.
Figure 1. Surface samples at Mount Morice and CR with selected highlights
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/6142/181059_9bd811fe64399bfc_001full.jpg
Rock sample highlights from the 2023 program include:
Sample J031024: 1.00% Cu & 3.2 g/t Ag, rhyolite/andesite breccia with strong silicification and copper oxide alteration
Sample J030700: 0.94% Cu & 4.1 g/t Ag, similar to sample J031024, strongly Cu-oxidized rhyolite
Sample J030681: 0.64% Cu & 8.1 g/t Ag, drusy quartz veins with disseminated chalcopyrite and strong copper oxides in epidote altered rhyolite
Sample J030756: 0.39% Cu & 2.1 g/t Ag & 81 g/t Mo, hydrothermal breccia with disseminated pyrite chalcopyrite-molybdenite and moderate Cu oxides
Other significant copper results from the 2023 program include:
Sample J030746: 0.36% Cu
Sample J030667: 0.30% Cu
Sample J030755: 0.19% Cu
Sample J030713: 0.19% Cu
Sample J030718: 0.18% Cu
Sample J030719: 0.17% Cu
The Mount Morice target is one of a number of high-priority targets selected for follow-up. This key area is located approximately eight kilometres west of Buck Main on the eastern slopes of Morice Mountain.
Field work at Mount Morice included geological mapping, prospecting, and infill silt sampling. Stream sediment samples from eastern drainages on Mount Morice, downslope from the mapped alteration and vein zones, display highly anomalous gold and silver. Samples from 2022 exploration returned results well above background based on regional stream sediment sampling programs, including 0.26 g/t Au and 0.6 g/t Ag (sample F193428), and 0.25 g/t Au and 0.4 g/t Ag (sample F193427; Figure 1). These results, together with results from mapping and previous selective sampling (see March 1, 2023 news release), suggest the potential of a high-level epithermal system peripheral to a porphyry system. The anomalous gold+silver in silt samples are downstream of widespread propylitic alteration and local zones of strong phyllic alteration with associated quartz stockworks and sulfide-cemented breccias.,
The CR area adjoins the Buck project on its western edge and expands the overall property footprint for a contiguous area of 55 mineral claims totalling 52,000 hectares (520 square kilometres). This year represented the first time the CR area was accessed by Sun Summit after its acquisition (see June 1, 2023 news release), and consisted of a first pass reconnaissance assessment of the geological environment and the known zones of mineralization.
A large IP chargeability anomaly, located in the northern section of CR at the North Zone, has seen limited exploration. The anomaly is associated with strong zinc in soils, as well as historic rock samples that have returned values of up to 0.4 g/t Au and 31.7 g/t Ag (sample 3233760; Figure 1).
Previous exploration campaigns in the CR area included soil, rock, and silt sampling, airborne and ground geophysics, as well as diamond drilling. The most significant drill intercepts to date are reported from the South Zone, and include 68 metres1 at 0.50% Cu, 0.015% Mo in CR05-03; and 168 metres at 0.37% Cu, 0.017% Mo in CR07-142.
The CR area contains priority targets that warrant detailed systematic follow-up. All known targets show strong porphyry-related mineralization and alteration (distal and proximal assemblages) and are open for expansion.
Drill Program Completion
The expansion drill program at Buck Main has been completed, consisting of 13 drill holes for 3,736 metres. These holes were targeting new zones of potential high-grade and bulk-tonnage mineralization in previously untested areas, both laterally and at depth. Updated 3D modelling at Buck Main led to an improved understanding of the geological and structural controls of mineralization, and drill holes were designed to test fault structures and veins that are often associated with high-grade mineralization elsewhere within the Buck Main zone.
Initial drill results indicated significant gold, silver, and zinc mineralization extend laterally and at depth, and support the potential for depth extension of bulk tonnage-style disseminated mineralization being delineated at Buck Main (see September 6, 2023 news release).
The remaining drill holes are being processed for assay and geochemical analysis at the lab. Analytical results will be reported as they become available and undergo QA/QC.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
All sample assay results have been monitored through the Company's quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) program. All sample assay results have been monitored through the Company's quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) program. Rock, silt and soil samples collected in the field were placed in polyethylene bags (rocks), kraft paper sample bags (soils), and spunbonded polyester fabric bags (silts). UTM coordinates of sample locations were recorded using a handheld Garmin GPS device. For soil samples, sample locations were marked in the field with coloured flagging tape with unique sample number identifiers. Rock grab samples were marked using metal tags with unique coloured flagging tape and unique sample numbers. The samples were brought from the field daily to the Company's secure core logging facility in Houston, B.C.
After drying the samples were organized by sample number and type and secured with tamper-proof security seals in rice bags for shipment. Samples were shipped by bonded courier Bandstra Transportation Systems Ltd to ALS Global preparation facilities in Kamloops, B.C., and then on to the ALS Global analytical laboratory in North Vancouver, B.C. for analysis. ALS Global is registered to ISO / IEC 17025:2017 accreditations for laboratory procedures. Rock silt and soil samples were prepared at the lab using standard analytical preparation procedures, including weighting and screening, and for rocks, crushing, pulverizing and splitting.
Rock samples were analyzed for 33 elements by ICP-MS on a 0.25-gram aliquot using a four-acid digestion (method ME-ICP61). Gold was analyzed by fire assay on a 30-gram aliquot with an AAS finish (method Au-AA23). Samples with >10 parts per million (ppm) gold were re-analyzed by fire assay using a gravimetric finish on a 30-gram aliquot. Samples with >100 ppm silver were re-analyzed using an ore -grade four acid digestion and ICP-AES finish. Samples with >10,000 ppm zinc were re-analysed using an ore -grade four acid digestion and ICP-AES finish.
Soil and silt samples were analysed for gold and silver only. Gold was analyzed by fire assay on a 30-gram aliquot with an AAS finish (method Au-AA23). Silver was analyzed using aqua regia digestion followed by an AAS finish (method Ag-AA45).
In addition to ALS Global laboratory QA/QC protocols, Sun Summit implements a rigorous internal QA/QC program that includes the insertion of duplicates, standards and blanks into the sample stream.
National Instrument 43-101 Disclosure
This news release has been approved by Sun Summit's Vice President Exploration, Ken MacDonald, P. Geo., a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has also verified the data disclosed, including sampling, analytical and test data, underlying the technical information in this news release.
Community Engagement
Sun Summit is engaging with First Nations on whose territory the Buck Project is located and is discussing their interests and identifying contract and work opportunities, as well as opportunities to support community initiatives. The Company looks forward to continuing to work with local and regional First Nations as the project continues.
About the Buck Project
The Buck Project is situated in a historic mining district near Houston, B.C., with excellent nearby infrastructure that allows for year-round, road-accessible exploration.
The project is host to the Buck Main intermediate-sulfidation epithermal-related gold-silver-zinc system. Most of the mineralization drilled to date at Buck Main consists of long, continuous zones of disseminated and breccia-hosted, bulk tonnage-style gold-silver-zinc. Vein-hosted, high-grade mineralization has also been intersected near the center of Buck Main.
Exploration at the Buck Project is focused on investigating the lateral and vertical extent of gold-silver-zinc mineralization at the Buck Main system, and to define additional drill targets across the entire land package through systematic exploration programs.
About Sun Summit
Sun Summit Minerals (TSXV: SMN) (OTCQB: SMREF) is a mineral exploration company focused on expanding its gold, silver, and zinc discovery at its flagship Buck Project located in north-central British Columbia.
Sun Summit is committed to environmental and social responsibility, with a focus on accountable development and building respectful and beneficial relationships with Indigenous and local communities.
Further details are available at www.sunsummitminerals.com.
Link to Figures
Figure:
https://sunsummitminerals.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Fig-1-Buck_MoriceMtn_CR_NR.jpg
For further information, contact:
Sharyn Alexander
President
info@sunsummitminerals.com
Matthew Benedetto
Simone Capital
mbenedetto@simonecapital.ca
Tel. 416-817-1226
Forward-Looking Information
Statements contained in this news release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences, without limiting the generality of the following, include: risks inherent in exploration activities; the impact of exploration competition; unexpected geological or hydrological conditions; changes in government regulations and policies, including trade laws and policies; failure to obtain necessary permits and approvals from government authorities; volatility and sensitivity to market prices; volatility and sensitivity to capital market fluctuations; the ability to raise funds through private or public equity financings; environmental and safety risks including increased regulatory burdens; weather and other natural phenomena; and other exploration, development, operating, financial market and regulatory risks. Except as required by applicable securities laws and regulation, Sun Summit disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
1Intervals are downhole core lengths. True widths are unknown.
2Kraft et al, 2019, Year-End Report on Geophysical, Geological and Geochemical Work Conducted During 2019, CR Mineral Tenure, Omineca Mining Division, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, AR 39054, 352 p
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181059
Aquanow, through its investment management subsidiary AQN Digital, has officially launched the AQN Digital Ventures Fund to support the world's most disruptive blockchain technologies and provide investors with early-stage access to the most promising founders and businesses of tomorrow
AQN Digital is the investment management subsidiary of Aquanow, specializing in providing investors with simplified access to digital assets investment strategies, including growth, income, and venture
AQN Digital Ventures Fund has already invested in seven portfolio companies -- including BoomFi and Mash -- and expects to make one to two additional investments per month going forward
Aquanow, the leading digital assets infrastructure provider, today announced the official launch of the AQN Digital Ventures Fund, managed by Aquanow's investment management subsidiary, AQN Digital.
AQN Digital Ventures Fund will support the world's most disruptive technologies and provide investors with early-stage access to the most promising founders and businesses of tomorrow, including companies and projects that can tie into its parent Aquanow's core business and expertise, digital asset infrastructure.
"At Aquanow, we believe in creating scalable crypto systems that will be a vital part of modern financial services," said Phil Sham, Aquanow co-founder and CEO. "AQN Digital Ventures Fund will accelerate this vision by investing in companies that address problems at various parts of the technology stack for financial service businesses building in crypto."
The Fund has invested in seven portfolio companies to date--including participating in the $3.8m seed round of digital currency payment processing platform BoomFi in June. AQN Digital Ventures Fund expects to make one to two additional investments per month moving forward.
"With the support of AQN Digital and Aquanow, we look forward to transforming how crypto and digital currency payments for web3 are processed," said Michael Si, co-founder and COO of BoomFi. "We are both thrilled and grateful to be part of a fund that is at the forefront of leading innovative efforts that will shape the next generation of financial services."
AQN Digital Ventures Fund has also invested in the $6m seed round for Lightning network startup Mash, which helps creators, builders, and developers earn money from the content they publish online.
"AQN Digital's ability to support digital asset technology companies is indicative of Aquanow's strong brand equity that the company has cultivated over the past five years," said Michael Kwok, AQN Digital's Head of Venture Capital. "Aquanow has already demonstrated global leadership in powering financial service providers with crypto liquidity and infrastructure solutions, and we are excited about the future innovations and entrepreneurs that this fund will support."
In June, Aquanow was awarded initial approval by Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), an indication of the company's rapid expansion in the Middle East. The company has also been recognized at CrossTech World as recipient of the Digital Innovation Award for 2022.
About Aquanow
Aquanow is the leading digital assets infrastructure provider enabling crypto financial services for institutional clients. Each month, billions of dollar value pass through the company's platform, facilitating a broad range of use cases. Aquanow serves an international customer base that includes the world's fastest-growing banks, neobanks, brokerages, and payment companies. Established in 2018 and headquartered in Canada, Aquanow currently has 100+ team members. To learn more about Aquanow, please go to https://www.aquanow.io.
About AQN Digital
AQN Digital is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aquanow, and is a registered investment fund manager specializing in digital assets strategies. AQN Digital capitalizes on the leading platform of its parent Aquanow to provide investment solutions for its partners and their clients.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919256027/en/
Contacts:
Chris DeLuca
Marketing Manager, Aquanow
chris@aquanow.io
Developing the first gene therapy to treat diseases caused by cilia dysfunction
AXV101 targets retinal dystrophy for Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS) patients
FDA Orphan Drug Designation and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation achieved
First-in-man study planned to start in late 2024/early 2025
Six potentially transformative therapies for ciliopathies are in its pipeline
LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023, a UK-based, therapeutics-focused venture capital fund, announces the acquisition of Axovia Therapeutics Inc and the launch of a new portfolio company Axovia Therapeutics Ltd.
Axovia is developing the first gene therapies for ciliopathies and has a pipeline of products for these devastating diseases, including Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS).
The ALSA Ventures' investment team has designed an accelerated development plan to take the lead program AXV101 into clinical trials in the next 18-24 months with a rapid path to clinical proof of concept and approval.
AXV101 is an AAV9-based gene therapy targeting retinal dystrophy associated with BBS in patients carrying biallelic mutations in the BBS1 gene. It is designed to halt retinal degeneration, which begins in childhood leading to blindness before 20 years of age.
Revised epidemiological analyses suggest that BBS affects between 1 in 70,000 - 1 in 100,000 in Europe and North America, and there is no treatment for the retinal degeneration.
ALSA Ventures CEO, Alek Safarian, said they were excited to take AXV101 into clinical trials, which will have access to well-characterised and motivated patients. "Especially pediatric patients who need early treatment before permanent vision damage occurs," he said.
"Our investment team was particularly attracted to Axovia Therapeutics as a valuable addition to our growing portfolio of companies because of its striking preclinical results, its Rare Pediatric Disease Designation, and the proven AAV delivery mechanism," he said.
The company is well positioned for an FDA priority review voucher (PRV) which is awarded to sponsors that develop drugs for diseases, including rare paediatric diseases.
Axovia is based on decades of work on ciliopathies at University College London by co-founders Professor Phil Beales and Dr Victor Hernandez.
Axovia Acting CEO Professor Phil Beales said the Axovia gene therapy platform gives hope to BBS patients worldwide.
"In preclinical studies, our BBS1 novel gene therapy modified the underlying disease of BBS, including rescuing vision loss by halting retinal degeneration," stated Professor Beales.
Professor Beales is a renowned scientist and diagnostic leader in ciliopathies, having led research and patient care efforts out of University College London
"Our novel gene therapy utilises an adeno-associated virus (AAV9) to deliver a functional copy of the faulty BBS gene in key tissues," he said.
"Since AAV is not known to cause human disease and can be tightly controlled (it does not replicate like disease-carrying viruses), it has been the gene delivery method of choice for multiple therapies, including Luxturna for retinal disease."
Available clinical data on more than 3,000 people treated over more than 20 years indicate that AAV gene therapy is well-tolerated and efficacious.
We are grateful to Fieldfisher LLP for their assistance on the transaction.
For media inquiries, please contact:
David James
Digital Mantra Group
Team@dmgpr.com
About Axovia Therapeutics
Axovia Therapeutics, an ALSA Ventures portfolio company, is developing the first novel gene therapies for ciliopathies and has a pipeline of products for these devastating diseases, including Bardet-Biedl Syndrome (BBS).
Ciliopathies are a group of more than 40 rare inherited genetic diseases linked to more than 950 genes that impact the function of cilia. These microscopic finger-like organelles protrude from most cells in the body.
The lead program AXV101 is planned to enter clinical trials in the next 18-24 months.
AXV101 is an AAV9-based gene therapy targeting retinal dystrophy associated with BBS in patients carrying biallelic mutations in the BBS1 gene. It is designed to halt photoreceptor cell death and retinal degeneration.
BBS is a rare disease affecting between 1 in 70,000 and 1 in 100,000 in Europe and North America. There is currently no cure.
For further information, please visit https://axoviatherapeutics.com/
About ALSA Ventures
ALSA Ventures is an early-stage investor in life sciences. The firm is building a portfolio of companies founded on innovative insights into disease treatment where current therapeutic options are either limited or non-existent. We work with a broad global network of preclinical and clinical experts to gain a deep understanding of translationally relevant disease biology and then leverage the team's collective knowledge and operational experience to identify opportunities for drug intervention.
Our focus is to improve patient outcomes by unlocking the full potential of clinical-stage assets. Our mission remains clear as we continue to grow our portfolio: to bring life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.
For further information, please visit https://www.alsaventures.com/.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Champion Electric Metals Inc. (CSE: LTHM) (OTCQB: CHELF) (FSE: 1QB0) ("Champion Electric" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of a Light Detection and Ranging ("LiDAR" or the "Survey") and high-resolution aerial imagery survey over its James Bay lithium properties. The new data will be merged with the information collected in 2022 to provide a seamless and complete coverage of the Champion Electric Lithium Project after the Company's newest property acquisition (Figure 1).
Final data from the Survey will be received over the coming weeks, and it is anticipated that ground truthing of the newly interpreted outcrops of interest will be undertaken towards the end of this field season.
Jonathan Buick, President & CEO, comments:
"The high-resolution digital topographic model and aerial imagery enable us to remotely identify small outcrops masked by the thick vegetation and discern them from boulders and other glacial deposits. This ensures that the time spent by the field team is maximised by the field program efficiencies. The Champion Electric Lithium Project has more than tripled in size since we commissioned the first LiDAR survey, and it was one of our priorities to capture this invaluable dataset over the remainder of the property as soon as the wildfire situation eased in the region."
About the LiDAR Survey
The Survey was designed to produce a sub-metric scale topographic model of the ground surface and high-resolution imagery with less than 20 cm pixel resolution. Pegmatites are often relatively more resistive to erosion than their surroundings and can form subtle elongated hills. These discrete topographic highs and other geological features of interest can be identified through analysis of the high-resolution datasets even in areas of thick vegetation (Figure 2).
Figure 1: LiDAR survey coverage
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_001full.jpg
Figure 2. Examples of previously unknown outcrops interpreted from the 2022 LiDAR survey
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_002full.jpg
About the Project
The Company's lithium properties cover the northern extension of the Lac Guyer Greenstone Belt which hosts neighboring Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette and Winsome Resources' Cancet advanced projects in the prolific James Bay region of Quebec (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Champion Electric Lithium Project location map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_003full.jpg
Qualified Person
Dr. Eric Hebert, P.Geo., Senior Geological consultant, is a member (#0842) of the Ordre des Geologues du Quebec (OGQ) and a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this press release.
About Champion Electric Metals Inc.
Champion Electric is a discovery-focused exploration company that is committed to advancing its highly prospective lithium properties in Quebec, Canada and cobalt properties in Idaho, United States. In addition, the Company owns the Baner gold project in Idaho County and the Champagne polymetallic project in Butte County near Arco.
The Company's shares trade on the CSE under the trading symbol "LTHM", on the OTCQB under the trading symbol "CHELF", and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "1QB0". Champion Electric strives to be a responsible environmental steward, stakeholder and contributing citizen to the local communities where it operates, taking its social license seriously, employing local community members and service providers at its operations whenever possible.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF CHAMPION ELECTRIC
"Jonathan Buick"
Jonathan Buick, President and CEO
To learn more, please visit the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca or the Company's corporate website at www.champem.com.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations and Communications
Phone: (416) 567-9087
Email: investors@champem.com
THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION OF SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN THE UNITED STATES IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Cautionary Statements
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company, including closing of the Transactions and the prospectivity of the Projects for lithium. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based on are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
The Projects are at an early stage of exploration, and the Company cautions that the qualified persons who have reviewed and approved this news release have not verified scientific or technical information produced by third parties.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181058
Report reaffirms its commitment to shaping a sustainable future under its We Care approach
(NYSE "DAVA") Endava, a leading next-generation technology services provider, today launched its annual We Care Sustainability Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. Endava constantly seeks to make a positive impact on its people, customers and the communities in which it operates.
Organised around five key areas of focus, the We Care approach articulates Endava's priorities in relation to its people, social impact, environmental impact and operating responsibly, as well as innovation and data integrity.
The report provides a comprehensive view of the company's achievements and continued efforts on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters most relevant to its business. This report is also Endava's Communication on Progress as a UN Global Compact signatory, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
John Cotterell, Endava's CEO, said, "Whilst sustainability has long been central to our business philosophy, we started sharing our approach to sustainability three years ago through our We Care reports. We believe our We Care programmes are an important investment for the future of Endava, benefiting all of our stakeholders. We Care is in our DNA and I'm delighted to see Endavans embracing our sustainability approach. As we continue on our sustainability journey, I am proud to share our progress and our stories through our 2023 Sustainability Report.
Endava has been recently awarded the Silver medal by EcoVadis, one of the world's most trusted providers of business sustainability ratings. Reflecting improvement on the Bronze medal received in 2022, this rating places Endava in the top 25% in its industry for integrating positive ESG practices.
In the fiscal year 2023, Endava took further important steps in its ESG journey. As a growing global organisation, the careers and wellbeing of Endavans are one of the company's key priorities along with continued support through diversity programmes and focus on growing future leaders. Endava is committed to contributing to local communities through relevant partnerships with local NGOs, having a particular focus on technology education projects through its Endava Tech Campus. Endava also contributed to tree planting initiatives through its Endava Thank You Forest, which resulted already in 100,000 trees planted in five countries, across two continents. Endava's Green Software Community is focussed on producing value for clients with energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission in mind. In addition, the company has been advancing its own environmental agenda, aiming to develop emissions reduction targets following the guidance of the Science Based Targets initiative in 2024.
John continued, "We develop smart solutions that reimagine the relationship between people and technology. To support our clients in driving their businesses forward, we are growing our Innovation Community. This year, we launched several new initiatives in this respect, and we are particularly excited about our Green Software Community. In our latest We Care Sustainability Report, we share insights on our accelerated innovation approach and how we leverage the power of data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with examples of our work to help clients build sustainable business models
Endava's 2023 We Care Sustainability Report can be downloaded here.
About ENDAVA PLC
Endava is reimagining the relationship between people and technology. By leveraging next-generation technologies, our agile, multi-disciplinary teams provide a combination of product technology strategies, intelligent experiences, and world class engineering to help clients become digital, experience-driven businesses by assisting them in their journey from idea generation to development and deployment of products, platforms, and solutions. Endava collaborates with its clients, seamlessly integrating with their teams, catalysing ideation, and delivering robust solutions.
Endava services clients in Payments and Financial Services, TMT, Consumer Products, Retail, Mobility and Healthcare. As of June 30, 2023, 12,063 Endavans provided services from our locations in European Union countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden), non-European Union countries (Bosnia Herzegovina, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay), Asia-Pacific (Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam), North America (Canada and the United States), and the Middle East (United Arab Emirates).
For more information, visit www.endava.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "outlook," "may," "will", and other similar terms and phrases. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the statements regarding Endava's ability to be and remain a sustainable and resilient business, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and its goal of making a positive impact on its people, customers and the communities in which it operates. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risk that Endava may not be able to achieve its We Care and other sustainability goals, the risk that standards for tracking and reporting ESG metrics may change over time resulting in significant revisions to our current goals and risks related to Endava's ability to attract and retain highly-skilled IT professionals at cost-effective rates, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Endava's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on September 19th, 2023 and in future filings Endava makes with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Endava's views and expectations as of the date hereof and are based on information currently available to Endava. Endava anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. Endava specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Endava's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918896613/en/
Contacts:
For media inquiries:
Laurence Madsen, Investor Relations
investors@endava.com
TSXV: PGZ | OTCQX: PGZFF
Romana West drilling extends La Romana mineralization 150m to the west
Copper-tin grades increasing to the west
Investor webcast with CEO Tim Moody to discuss results will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time / 8 a.m. Pacific Time. Details at end of this release
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQX: PGZFF) is pleased to announce assay results for the first six holes drilled at the Romana West target, testing extensions to the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery at the Company's 100% owned Escacena Project in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain.
Copper and tin mineralization with good continuity starts immediately below a thin cover of sediments
Moderately north-dipping tabular geometry ideally suited for potential open-pit mining
High value tin grades increasing to the west
LRD162 intercepted 17m at 0.65% CuEq 1 ( 0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) from 50.0m , including 6m at 1.24% CuEq 1 (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag)
0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) , including (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag) LRD166 intercepted 14.5m at 0.75 % CuEq 1 (0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag from 7.5m , including 5m at 1.06% CuEq 1 (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag)
(0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag , including (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag) LRD164 intercepted 16m at 0.70% CuEq 1 (0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) from 37.0m, including 3m at 1.38% CuEq 1 (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag)
(0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag) Mineralization remains wide open at depth and to the west
Drilling ongoing with results pending from six additional completed drill holes with visual copper and tin mineralization
Drill hole locations are shown in Figure 1 below. Drill hole assay results are summarized in Table 1 and collar details are presented in Table 2 below.
"Drilling at Romana West commenced within weeks of being granted surface access. Twelve of our planned 25 drill holes have been completed and assay results for the first six are very encouraging. Our drill program has been highly successful, confirming continuity of the copper-tin-silver mineralization 150 meters to the west of the La Romana discovery. The overall strike length of La Romana is now 1.35 kilometers and is still open, with step-out drilling continuing farther to the west. Results to date show the potential for grades to increase to the west," said Tim Moody, President and CEO of Pan Global.
The Romana West mineralization occurs in two main layers, Zone B and Zone C, commencing directly below a thin cover of post mineral sediments. Sulphide mineralization was intersected in all holes at depths predicted from modelling of previous drilling and geology data. At shallow depths the primary sulphides, including chalcopyrite and pyrite, have been overprinted by supergene chalcocite and copper enrichment.
The assay results also include some of the highest tin grades reported in the Escacena project area, with assays up to 0.62% Sn. Coarse cassiterite was observed in both Zone B and Zone C. Importantly, cassiterite is the only tin mineral observed and is preferred for metallurgical extraction to produce a valuable tin concentrate. Processed tin is a key ingredient in electronics and solar panels and regularly trades at three-to-four times the value of processed copper.
The ongoing drill program aims to test the near-surface La Romana mineralization a further 350m along strike to the west.
Figure 1 - Gravity anomaly map showing the Romana West and La Romana targets, drill hole locations with selected results, and cross-section locations A-A' (Figure 2) and B-B' (Figure 3).
Figure 2 - Cross section 736010m East, A-A', showing selected assay results highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD161, LRD162 and LRD166, with mineralization commencing immediately beneath the post mineral cover to nearly 200m down-dip (to the north).
Figure 3 - Cross section 735900m East, B-B', showing selected highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD163, LRD164 and LRD165.
Hole ID From To Interval CuEq(1) Cu Sn Ag
Au Pb Zn True
Thickness
m m m % % % g/t
g/t ppm ppm (m) LRD161 117.00 130.00 13.00 0.27 0.25 0.01 0.8
0.01 11 72 11.79 Including 126.00 130.00 4.00 0.49 0.46 0.01 1.6
0.01 19 85 3.63 and 150.00 162.00 12.00 0.36 0.28 0.03 1.1
0.01 7 70 10.9 Including 150.00 156.00 6.00 0.60 0.47 0.05 1.9
0.01 12 79 5.44 Including 152.00 153.00 1.00 1.61 1.23 0.14 4.0
0.01 21 87 0.91 LRD162 50.00 67.00 17.00 0.65 0.30 0.13 1.1
0.01 49 81 17.00 Including 52.00 58.00 6.00 1.24 0.47 0.29 1.5
0.01 19 75 6.00 and 95.00 109.15 14.15 0.27 0.18 0.03 0.6
0.02 10 64 14.15 Including 107.00 109.15 2.15 0.63 0.46 0.06 2.1
0.088 36 76 2.15 and 132.50 135.00 2.50 0.89 0.10 0.30 <0.5
0.01 42 58 2.50 Including 134.00 135.00 1.00 1.64 <0.01 0.62 <0.5
0.01 6 47 1.00 LRD163 30.35 32.00 1.65 0.86 0.76 0.03 3.7
<0.01 137 103 1.27 and 60.00 72.00 12.00 0.31 0.25 0.02 2.2
0.01 80 142 9.20 and 122.00 126.00 4.00 0.29 0.23 0.02 0.5
<0.01 3 50 3.07 LRD164 37.00 53.00 16.00 0.70 0.52 0.06 1.6
0.01 7 85 16.00 Including 43.00 47.00 4.00 0.93 0.68 0.09 1.8
0.01 2 91 4.00 Including 49.00 52.00 3.00 1.38 1.06 0.11 3.9
0.02 16 78 3.00 and 87.00 91.00 4.00 0.66 0.52 0.05 0.8
0.02 3 51 4.00 Including 88.00 89.00 1.00 1.59 1.42 0.06 2.0
0.05 8 50 1.00 LRD165 86.25 87.70 1.45 0.64 0.36 0.10 1.2
0.01 5 87 1.24 and 114.00 122.85 8.85 0.59 0.55 0.01 1.4
0.008 6 74 7.58 Including 119.00 122.85 3.85 1.08 1.04 0.013 2.7
0.013 10 80 3.3 Including 122.25 122.85 0.60 5.24 5.06 0.04 13.0
0.034 29 180 0.51 LRD166 7.50 22.00 14.50 0.75 0.36 0.15 1.2
0.012 25 129 13.30 including 17.00 22.00 5.00 1.06 0.48 0.21 1.5
0.018 27 131 4.6 and 72.00 73.20 1.20 1.19 1.04 0.06 1.7
0.024 11 48 1.10
1 Copper Equivalent = CuEq. CuEq is calculated using Cu, Sn, and Ag grades. Metallurgical recoveries of 86% for Cu, 68% for Sn and 56% for Ag are based on preliminary studies performed by Wardell Armstrong International and MinePro. The CuEq calculation assumes commodity prices of US$ 8,693/tonne Cu, US$ 29,069/tonne Sn and US$ 23.72/oz Ag, corresponding to the three-year monthly price averages to July 2023. The effective formula is [CuEq %] = [Cu %] + 2.6440 * [Sn %] + 0.0057 * [Ag ppm]
Hole ID Easting 2 Northing 2 Azimuth (o) Dip(o) Depth (m) LRD161 736025.3 4152813 195 -70 197.45 LRD162 735989.1 4152760 180 -50 182.05 LRD163 735921.6 4152767 180 -90 167.9 LRD164 735921.7 4152766 180 -50 140.35 LRD165 735895.7 4152851 156 -70 222.45 LRD166 736038.8 4152687 156 -55 94.75
2 Coordinate system. UTM29N ERTS89
Romana West drill results summary- Romana West drill hole collar information (6 holes, total 1,004.95m)
CEO Tim Moody will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time to discuss the latest results at the Escacena Project. An open Q&A session will follow a short presentation.
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time | 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Please register in advance: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcumhrzsqE9XnLSo4hLpyYL7Nrdq-utim.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Investors are encouraged to send questions or topics of interest in advance to investors@panglobalresources.com to be addressed following the presentation. A link to the webcast will be available on the Company's website at https://panglobalresources.com following the live broadcast.
The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near operating mines at Las Cruces and Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage with construction anticipated to start in 2023. The Escacena Project hosts the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and a number of other prospective targets, including Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, Romana North, Romana West, Canada Honda, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, and San Pablo.
Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities.
QA/QC Procedures
Core size was HQ (63mm) and all samples were core. Nominal sample size was 1m core length and ranged from 0.5 to 2m. Sample intervals were defined using geological contacts with the start and end of each sample physically marked on the core. Diamond blade core cutting and sampling was supervised at all times by Company staff. Duplicate samples of core were taken approximately every 30 samples and Certified Reference materials inserted every 25 samples in each batch.
Samples were delivered to ALS laboratory in Seville, Spain and assayed at the ALS laboratory in Ireland. All samples were crushed and split (method CRU-31, SPL22Y), and pulverized using (method PUL-31). Gold analysis was by 50gm Fire assay with ICP finish (method Au-ICP22) and multi element analysis was undertaken using a 4-acid digest with ICP AES finish (method ME-ICP61). Over grade base metal results were assayed using a 4-acid digest ICP AES (method OG-62). Over grade tin was determined using peroxide fusion with ICP finish (method Sn-ICP81x).
James Royall, Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information for this news release. Mr. Royall is not independent of the Company.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
www.panglobalresources.com
Forward-looking statements
Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
PLEASE CONTACT: Jason Mercier, VP Investor Relations and Communications, jason@panglobalresources.com, +1 778 372-7101, www.panglobalresources.com
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Silver X announces the immediate resumption of mining operations at its Nueva Recuperada Project in Central Peru
During the brief pause, operational upgrades were completed that expect to enhance efficiency and profitability, including investment in equipment upgrades, workforce training, and safety measures
Freddy Mayor, has been appointed as COO and General Manager of the Company, replacing Mr. Enrique Garay
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSX-V:AGX) (OTCQB:AGXPF) (F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company"), a rapidly expanding silver developer and producer in Central Peru, is pleased to announce the resumption of its mining operations at the Nueva Recuperada Project ("Nueva Recuperada"), effective immediately. The resumption follows a brief mining activity pause, during which the Company made operational upgrades and implemented new protocols to optimize production.
Operational Resumption Highlights at Nueva Recuperada:
A revised production schedule targeting areas of higher certainty. The predominant source of feed will come from the Tangana 1 and Tangana 2 veins, while surface exploration of the Morlupo and Cauca veins has revealed promising high-grade areas that could significantly improve the base case.
The recommencement of milling operations will be executed using stockpiled materials, ensuring a consistent and uninterrupted feed to the mill, thereby enhancing operational stability.
Significant cost reductions have been achieved through a prudent reduction in headcount, the ongoing implementation of the sub-level stopping method (" SLS "), and the addition of operational measures aimed at minimizing underground transportation and mineral handling.
"), and the addition of operational measures aimed at minimizing underground transportation and mineral handling. A stronger alliance with the principal contractor is being established, fostering a collaborative working environment characterized by shared objectives, risk reduction, and economic incentives.
"Today marks a significant milestone in Silver X's journey," said Jose Garcia, CEO of Silver X. "The restart of Nueva Recuperada confirms our commitment to make Nueva Recuperada a profitable operation, based on improved safety standards, efficiency, head grades and costs."
Operational Upgrades and Importance for Investors
While mining activities were paused, the Company seized the opportunity to identify several costs reduction initiatives in key areas such as labour, mining method, mine haulage and milling efficiency. These initiatives are expected to yield improved production rates and decreased unit costs.
The new operational upgrades not only enable the mine's production capabilities but also bolster the resilience of the business model in the face of market fluctuations. The Company is now well-positioned to execute its growth plans, establishing a strong foundation for long-term success.
FIGURE 1: Aerial View of Nueva Recuperada
Management Changes
Silver X is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Freddy Mayor Zevallos as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and General Manager for the Peruvian subsidiary ("Recuperada SAC") of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Mayor takes over these roles following the resignation of Mr. Enrique Garay from his position as COO. Mr. Mayor brings over four decades of mining engineering expertise, garnered through his tenure at numerous companies in Peru. His extensive career has included significant roles such as General Manager at Hochschild Mining, Vice President for Bolivia at Glencore, and General Manager for Silver X Mining between 2019 and 2021.
Jose Garcia, CEO of Silver X Mining Corp. stated, "On behalf of our management team and Board of Directors, I extend a warm welcome to Freddy. Freddy is a distinguished mining professional, and his association with Silver X dates back to our private company days. As a key member of the founding team, Freddy is now assuming leadership of our operations to ensure the preservation of the work culture that underpinned our company's performance in the past. We deeply appreciate Enrique Garay's valuable contributions and insights during his time with us and wish him the very best in his future endeavors."
Qualified Person
Mr. A. David Heyl, B.Sc., C.P.G who is a qualified person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release for Silver X. Mr. A. David Heyl is a consultant for Silver X.
About Nueva Recuperada Project
Nueva Recuperada, situated in Peru's Huachocolpa Mining District, hosts the Tangana Mining Unit, comprising 230 mining concessions spanning 20,472 hectares. Silver X consolidated these concessions from Buenaventura, Pan American Silver, and Peruvian Metals, benefiting from robust local community support in this historically significant mining region. The project features a processing plant with a processing capacity of up to 720 tonnes per day, and over 60-year silver production history. The plant yields two types of concentrates, a gold/silver/lead concentrate, and a zinc concentrate. The Company is actively updating the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), fostering collaborative discussions with stakeholders, and reinforcing its strong social license to operate, committed to minimizing environmental impact while sharing the economic benefits of resource development with the community.
About Silver X Mining Corp.
Silver X is a rapidly expanding silver developer and producer. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead, and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com.
On Behalf of the Board
Jose M. Garcia
President, CEO and Director
For further information, please contact:
Sebastian Wahl
Vice President, Corporate Development
+1 647 259 6901 x 101
s.wahl@silverxmining.com
Paola Ricardo
Investor Relations
ir@silverxmining.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain acts, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". All information contained in this press release, other than statements of current and historical fact, is forward looking information. Forward-looking information contained in this press release may include, without limitation, exploration plans, results of operations, expected performance at the Project, the ability of the new zones at the Project to feed production at the Company's Nueva Recuperada Plant in the near term, the Company's belief that the Tangana system will provide considerable resource expansion potential, that the Company will be able to mine the Tangana Mining Unit in an economic manner, and the expected financial performance of the Company.
The following are some of the assumptions upon which forward-looking information is based: that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner; demand for, and stable or improving price for the commodities we produce; receipt of regulatory and governmental approvals, permits and renewals in a timely manner; that the Company will not experience any material accident, labour dispute or failure of plant or equipment or other material disruption in the Company's operations at the Project and Nueva Recuperada Plant; the availability of financing for operations and development; the Company's ability to procure equipment and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely basis; that the estimates of the resources at the Project and the geological, operational and price assumptions on which these and the Company's operations are based are within reasonable bounds of accuracy (including with respect to size, grade and recovery); the Company's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel and directors; and the ability of management to execute strategic goals.
Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to those risks described in the Company's annual and interim MD&As and in its public documents filed on www.sedarplus.ca from time to time. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
SOURCE: Silver X Mining Corp.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785312/silver-x-resumes-operations-at-nueva-recuperada-provides-update-on-management-transition
BEIJING, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("First High-School Education Group" or the "Company") (OTCQB:FHSEY), an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the first half of 2023 ended June 30, 2023.
First Half 2023 Financial and Operational Highlights - Continuing Operations
Total revenues were RMB161.9 million (US$22.3 million), a decrease of 13.9% from RMB188.0 million in the first half of 2022.
were RMB161.9 million (US$22.3 million), a decrease of 13.9% from RMB188.0 million in the first half of 2022. Gross profit was RMB63.2 million (US$8.7 million), a decrease of 23.7% from RMB82.8 million in the first half of 2022.
was RMB63.2 million (US$8.7 million), a decrease of 23.7% from RMB82.8 million in the first half of 2022. Income from operations was RMB39.7 million (US$5.5 million), a decrease of 18.7% from RMB48.8 million in the first half of 2022.
was RMB39.7 million (US$5.5 million), a decrease of 18.7% from RMB48.8 million in the first half of 2022. Net income was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022.
was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022. Adjusted net income 1 (Non-GAAP) was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022.
was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022. The total number of students enrolled at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of September 1, 2023 was 33,275, an increase of 12.0% from 29,718 as of September 1, 2022.
at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of September 1, 2023 was 33,275, an increase of 12.0% from 29,718 as of September 1, 2022. The total number of school programs at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of September 1, 2023 was 25, an increase of 4.2% from 24 as of September 1, 2022.
1 Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.
CFO Comments
Mr. Tommy Zhou, Chief Financial Officer of First High-School Education Group, commented:
Compared with last year's results of the same period, we experienced declines in revenue and net income, primarily due to continuation of the negative factors as previously disclosed: cost associated with discontinued schools, and reduced student-related services. We adjusted to the decline in revenue by reducing our cost of revenues and net operating expenses in our business operations. As a result, we were able to produce comparable gross margin and net margins with the same period of the previous year.
As of September 1, 2023, we have completed our 2023 fall semester student admission. As of the same date, the total number of students enrolled at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services was 33,275, and the total number of school programs was 25. For this new semester, we welcomed the addition of three new school programs under our management. We look forward to serving these students and school programs with our operating expertise and creating value for all stakeholders.
First Half 2023 Financial Results - Continuing Operations
Total Revenues
Total revenues were RMB161.9 million (US$22.3 million), a decrease of 13.9% from RMB188.0 million in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to mixed factors including reduced sales of education materials and income from meal catering services, and the discontinuance and limited operation of some schools in our network.
Revenues from customers were RMB139.6 million (US$19.3 million), a decrease of 15.2% from RMB164.6 million in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to mixed factors including reduced sales of education materials and income from meal catering services, and the discontinuance and limited operation of some schools in our network.
Revenues from government cooperative agreements were RMB22.3 million (US$3.1 million) which remained relatively stable compared to RMB23.4 million in the first half of 2022.
Cost of revenues
Cost of revenues were RMB98.7 million (US$13.6 million), a decrease of 6.2% from RMB105.2 million in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to reduction in rental expenses for discontinued schools, and decreased staff compensation.
Gross profit
Gross profit was RMB63.2 million (US$8.7 million), a decrease of 23.7% from RMB82.8 million in the first half of 2022.
Gross margin was 39.0%, compared with 44.0% in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to fluctuations in (1) school operating efficiency, such as utility usage limits, and budget control; and (2) the number of staff and their compensations.
Total operating expenses
Total operating expenses were RMB23.6 million (US$3.3 million), a decrease of 30.8% from RMB34.0 million in the first half of 2022.
Selling and marketing expenses were RMB0.9 million (US$0.1 million), a decrease of 62.2% from RMB2.4 million in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the decreased expenses in brand promotion and marketing activities for our relatively mature school operation.
General and administrative expenses were RMB22.7 million (US$3.1 million), a decrease of 28.4% from RMB31.6 million in the first half of 2022. The decrease was primarily due to improved cost control.
Income from operations
Income from operations was RMB39.6 million (US$5.5 million), a decrease of 18.7% from RMB48.8 million in the first half of 2022.
Net Income from continuing operations
Net income from continuing operations was RMB37.6 million (US$5.2 million), a decrease of 15.6% from RMB44.6 million in the first half of 2022.
Net Loss from discontinued operations
Net loss from discontinued operations was RMB0.9 million (US$0.1 million), compared with net loss of RMB1.9 million in the first half of 2022.
Net income
Net income was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022.
Adjusted net income2 (Non-GAAP)
Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP) was RMB36.7 million (US$5.1 million), a decrease of 14.1% from RMB42.7 million in the first half of 2022.
2 Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.
Impact of Implementation Rules for Private Education Laws
On May 14, 2021, the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the amended Implementation Regulations of the Law on the Promotion of Private Education of the People's Republic of China (??????????????????) (the "Implementation Rules"), which became effective on September 1, 2021. The Implementation Rules prohibit social organizations and individuals from controlling private schools that provide compulsory education through, among other methods, mergers, acquisitions and contractual arrangements. Additionally, the Implementation Rules prohibit any private schools providing compulsory education from conducting transactions with its related parties. As a result, the Implementation Rules affected the Company's control over the affiliated entities providing compulsory education as well as the sponsor entities (collectively referred to as the "Affected Entities").
In compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations and based on the relevant accounting standard in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company has determined to cease to recognize revenues for all activities related to schools providing compulsory education and the sponsor entities after September 1, 2021 within China that are affected by the Implementation Rules, and classified such Affected Entities as discontinued operations. The discontinued operations of the Affected Entities had certain impact on the Company's financial conditions for the first half ended June 30, 2023. Net loss from discontinued operations was RMB0.9 million (US$0.1 million) for the first half ended June 30, 2023.
There still exist uncertainties with respect to the interpretation and enforcement of the Implementation Rules. The Company will closely monitor the developments related to the Implementation Rules, and continue to assess the possible impacts on the Company and make any applicable actions to keep in compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations.
Conference Call
First High-School Education Group's management will hold an earnings conference call on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, at 8:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM September 19, 2023, Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Please dial in 15 minutes before the conference is scheduled to begin using below numbers.
International +1-973-528-0011 United States +1-888-506-0062 Hong Kong +852 3018 4049 Mainland China +86 400 120 3199 Passcode 264091 Webcast URL https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2967/49061
A telephone replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until October 3, 2023.
International +1-973-528-0005 United States +1-800-332-6854 Replay Access Code 264091
A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investors relations website at https://ir.diyi.top/
About First High-School Education Group
First High-School Education Group is an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China. The Company aspires to become a leader and innovator of private high school education in China, with the focuses on a comprehensive education management integrating education information consulting, education research project development, education talent management, education technology management, education service management, and general vocational integration development services. For more information, please visit https://ir.diyi.top/.
Non-GAAP Measure
The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. The Company considers and uses one non-GAAP measure, adjusted net income, as a supplemental measure to review and assess its operating performance. Adjusted net income enables the Company's management to assess the Company's operating results without considering the impact of non-cash charges, including share-based compensation expenses, and without considering the impact of donation expenses and transaction costs in relation to previous financing activities. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance.
The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.
Exchange Rate
The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all of the revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD" or "US$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the readers. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to USD are made at the rate of RMB7.2513 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on June 30, 2023. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on June 30, 2023, or at any other rate.
Statement Regarding Preliminary Unaudited Financial Information
The unaudited financial information set out in this earnings release is preliminary and subject to potential adjustments. Adjustments to the consolidated financial statements may be identified when audit work has been performed for the Company's year-end audit, which could result in significant differences from this preliminary unaudited financial information.
We have made rounding adjustments to reach some of the figures included in this earning release. Consequently, numerical figures shown as totals in some tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
For Investor and Media Inquiries Please Contact:
First High-School Education Group
Tommy Zhou
Chief Financial Officer
E-mail: tommyzhou@dygz.com
Customer Service
E-mail: FHS_info@dygz.com
Phone: 010-62555966 (9:30-12:00, 13:30-16:00 CST)
First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income
(All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted)
Six month ended June 30,
2022 2023 2023
RMB RMB US$
Restated
Revenues
Revenue from customers 164,645 139,593 19,251 Revenue from governments cooperative agreements 23,373 22,283 3,073 Total revenues 188,018 161,877 22,324 Cost of revenues (105,219) (98,680) (13,609) Gross profit 82,798 63,197 8,715
Operating expenses and income Selling and marketing expenses (2,416) (913) (126) General and administrative expenses (31,628) (22,652) (3,124) Total operating expenses (34,044) (23,565) (3,250) Income from operations 48,755 39,632 5,465
Other income (expenses) Interest income 367 452 62 Interest expense (2,636) (2,503) (345) Government grants 646 23 3 Others, net 791 897 124 Income from continuing operations before income tax 47,188 38,501 5,310
Income tax expenses (2,602) (889) (123) Income (loss) from continuing operations 44,586 37,612 5,187 Income (loss) from discontinued operations (1,886) (947) (131) Net income (loss) 42,700 36,664 5,056 Foreign currency translation adjustment 1,332 3,356 463 Comprehensive income (loss) - continuing operations 45,919 48,229 6,651 Comprehensive income (loss) - discontinued operations (1,886) (8,209) (1,132) Comprehensive income (loss) 44,032 40,020 5,519
Earnings per share: Basic earnings per share from continuing operation 0.52 0.52 0.07 Basic earnings per share from discontinued operation (0.02) (0.1) (0.01)
Diluted Earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share from continuing operation 0.48 0.49 0.07 Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operation (0.02) (0.09) (0.01)
Weighted average number of ordinary share outstanding Basic 86,838,700 86,838,700 86,838,700 Diluted 92,388,700 92,388,700 92,388,700
First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted)
As of December 31, As of June 30, 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB US$ Restated Current assets Cash 105,258 71,800 9,902 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 87,247 113,290 15,623 Amounts due from related parties 73,450 161,117 22,219 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 144,708 153,985 21,235 Assets related to discontinued operation 65,815 27,875 3,844 Total current assets 476,479 528,067 72,824 Non-current Assets Property and equipment, net 128,163 116,873 16,118 Intangible assets, net 5,995 6,370 878 Goodwill 30,348 30,348 4,185 Deferred tax assets 13,309 12,492 1,723 Amounts due from related parties - - - Other non-current assets 47,176 47,176 6,506 Assets related to discontinued operation 11,010 10,956 1,511 Total non-current assets 236,000 224,215 30,921 Total assets 712,479 752,282 103,744
As of December 31, As of June 30, 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB US$ Restated Current liabilities Contract liabilities 141,574 27,122 3,740 Bank loan 33,572 116,563 16,075 Borrowings under financing arrangements 20,540 19,409 2,677 Accounts payable 13,809 23,737 3,273 Accrued expenses and other payables 52,463 124,268 17,137 Income tax payables 29,622 22,266 3,071 Amounts due to related parties 53,807 52,771 7,277 Liability related to discontinued operation 104,641 74,856 10,323 Total current liabilities 450,028 460,992 63,574 Deferred revenue 113 - - Borrowings under financing arrangements 24,987 18,544 2,557 Other long-term liabilities 1,532 358 49 Deferred tax liabilities 5,155 5,200 717 Liability related to discontinued operation - - - Total non-current liabilities 31,787 24,103 3,324 Total liabilities 481,815 485,095 66,898 Equity/(Deficit) Ordinary shares (US$0.00001 par value; 5,000,000,000 shares authorized; and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2022, and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of June 30, 2023, respectively) 6 6 1 Additional paid-in capital 349,658 348,591 48,073 Statutory reserves 53,833 53,833 7,424 Accumulated other comprehensive income 2,430 3,356 463 Accumulated deficit (175,694) (141,064) (19,454) Non-controlling interests 431 2,466 340 Total equity/(deficit) 230,665 267,187 36,847 Total liabilities and equity/(deficit) 712,479 752,282 103,744
First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.
Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Measure
(All amounts in thousands)
Six month ended June 30,
2022 2023 2023
RMB RMB US$
Reconciliation of net income to adjusted net income:
Net income 42,700 36,664 5,056 Add: Share-based compensation expenses - - - Donation expenses - - - Transaction costs in relation to previous financing activities - - - Tax effects of adjustments* - - - Adjusted net income 42,700 36,664 5,056
*Tax effects were determined based upon the nature, as well as the jurisdiction, of each reconciliation adjustment at the respective applicable income tax rate.
SOURCE: First High-School Education Group
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785314/first-high-school-education-group-announces-first-half-2023-unaudited-financial-results
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. in partnership with Red Cloud Securities (together, "Red Cloud" or the "Company") will host its annual Fall Mining Showcase in-person at the Sheraton Center Toronto Hotel on November 7 and 8.
The two-day event will host over 90 presenting companies, covering 10 commodities of interest, plus five high-profile keynote speakers.
It's the perfect opportunity for mining companies, brokers, and investors to connect with Red Cloud's biggest names in mining. Register now to secure your attendance, and to keep up to date with the upcoming agenda schedule.
"We're excited to be hosting our marquee fall event, live in Toronto, involving our favourite names in mining," said Bruce Tatters, CEO, Red Cloud Securities. "There are plenty of investment opportunities to keep an eye open for - ranging from grass root exploration to junior production. We look forward to hosting investors and our diverse client base."
Keynote speakers include:
Andrew Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Frank Giustra, President & CEO, Fiore Group
Matt Fernley, Editor, Battery Materials Review
Nicolas Carter, Executive Vice President, Uranium, UxC, LLC
Michael Gentile, Founding Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager, Bastion Asset Management
To register, request 1x1 meetings and for more information on the conference, visit the company's website at https://redcloudfs.com/fallminingshowcase2023/
Red Cloud would like to thank our partner, PearTree Securities and all additional sponsors listed on the registration page, for your continued support.
Access to presentation replays will be published following the conference.
Cannot view this video? Visit:
https://youtu.be/SrE7JiQn4oU
For additional information please contact our events team at marketing@redcloudfs.com.
About Red Cloud Securities Inc.
Red Cloud Securities Inc. is an CIRO-regulated investment dealer focused on providing a full range of brokerage services to all investor types focused in the junior resource sector. Our services include Investment Banking, Research, Institutional and Retail Trading, Institutional Sales, and Retail Investment Advisory services.
About Red Cloud Financial Services Inc.
Red Cloud Financial Services Inc. is a globally focused capital markets advisory firm that provides a full range of executive strategy, media, marketing, and corporate access services. Our breadth of services combines with our significant knowledge of the junior mining industry combine for unique product offering. The company was founded by capital markets professionals with extensive experience in the junior mining industry.
For additional information, visit:
www.redcloudfs.com
www.facebook.com/RedCloudFinancialServices
www.twitter.com/RedCloudFS
www.linkedin.com/company/red-cloud-financial-services-inc
www.youtube.com/c/RedCloudFinancialServicesInc
www.instagram.com/redcloudfs
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/180998
ENFIELD, England, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mediq, a leading European provider of medical devices and care solutions, is excited to announce its official brand launch in the UK. This launch marks the culmination of a journey that unites by acquisition H&R Healthcare, Bunzl Healthcare and 365 Healthcare, each with their own legacy of excellence in healthcare solutions.
This landmark moment signals a bright future for Mediq. Expansion into the UK brings together their existing product and distribution solutions, which have a strategic focus on increasing efficiency, improving customer and patient experience and ongoing technological advancement.
Mediq takes pride in working collaboratively with customers to help them achieve their healthcare goals, making the anticipated growth of the business an exciting and welcome opportunity for many. The company's continuous investment into products, services and solutions in the UK, is a meaningful effort to fulfil their mission of delivering the most efficient outcomes for European Healthcare.
Thomas Hinnerskov, CEO of Mediq, emphasised, "Efficiency is central to Mediq's mission to provide the right products, services, and solutions to deliver better healthcare outcomes. We are committed to upgrading warehouse and traffic management systems and optimising our operations for swift and accurate deliveries while ensuring that Mediq in the UK fully aligns with our global ESG strategy and ambitions. Our future plans for investments in technology will positively impact the entire healthcare supply chain, providing better end-to-end healthcare solutions."
Mediq's commitment to meeting evolving customer demands in an increasingly digital world is unwavering. The planned upgrade of their e-commerce platform is a major step in their efforts to enhance accessibility and user experience. This is just one example of Mediq's vast improvements to their online solutions and product offerings.
Richard Cornwell, Managing Director Mediq UK, said: "Today marks the next milestone of an exciting journey. Mediq looks forward to delivering exceptional healthcare solutions to its customers, while supporting NHS England (and various public and private healthcare providers across the four countries of the United Kingdom) with their commitment to reduce inequalities in health outcomes and improve consistency in their service delivery. Our efforts are centred around streamlining processes and doing everything we can to support suppliers and drive down procurement costs".
In conclusion, Mediq's launch in the UK is a pivotal moment for the company and the healthcare industry. With the combined strength of its brands, and a focus on efficiency and innovation, their vision is evident to make a real difference to people's lives and have a lasting impact on the future of the healthcare landscape in the UK.
Note to editors/not for publication
For further information, please contact:
Olga Zhulidova via olga.zhulidova@mediq.com or
+31 (0)6 52 75 59 75
Angela Baxter via angela.baxter@mediq.co.uk or
+44 (0)7912 12 17 09
About Mediq
Every day, millions of patients rely on Mediq's provision of medical devices and healthcare solutions, together with the dedicated professionals who care for them. As a trusted partner for patients, care professionals and health insurers, Mediq focuses on improving care outcomes and the affordability of care. Mediq was founded in 1899, holds leading market positions in 13 European countries and is based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Further information is available at www.mediq.com.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2214845/Mediq.jpg
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Industry-first GenAI analytics platform unlocks actionable business insights with Max, a highly customizable AI data analyst.
AnswerRocket, an innovator in GenAI-powered analytics, today announced new features of its Max solution to help enterprises tackle a variety of data analysis use cases with purpose-built GenAI analysts.
Max offers a user-friendly chat experience for data analysis that integrates AnswerRocket's augmented analytics with OpenAI's GPT large language model, making sophisticated data analysis more accessible than ever. With Max, users can ask questions about their key business metrics, identify performance drivers, and investigate critical issues within seconds. The solution is compatible with all major cloud platforms, leveraging OpenAI and Azure OpenAI APIs to provide enterprise-grade security, scalability, and compliance.
"AI has been reshaping what we thought was possible in the market research industry for the past two decades. Combined with high-quality and responsibly sourced data, we can now break barriers to yield transformative insights for innovation and growth for our clients," said Ted Prince, Group Chief Product Officer, Kantar. "Technologies like AnswerRocket's Max combined with Kantar data testify to the power of the latest technology and unrivaled data to shape your brand future."
Following its March launch, AnswerRocket has been working with some of the largest enterprises in the world to solve critical data analysis challenges using Max. Highlighted applications of the GenAI analytics assistant include:
Automating over a dozen analytics workflows for a Fortune 500 global beverage leader, reducing time to insights by 80% and empowering decision-makers to respond quickly to market share and brand equity changes with data-driven action plans.
Helping a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company generate groundbreaking insights revealing the direct impact of sales activities on market share.
Empowering a global consumer packaged goods leader to quickly respond to macro market trends by generating insights from unstructured market research alongside structured company performance analysis.
"Today's enterprises demand instant insights, and the traditional methods are no longer sufficient on their own," said Alon Goren, CEO, AnswerRocket. "Max is enabling several of the world's most recognizable brands to understand better what's driving shifts in their business performance, effectively turning their vast data lakes and knowledge bases into a treasure trove of business insights."
Max's advanced capabilities solidify its position as the first GenAI assistant for data analysis built for the enterprise. Enhancements to the solution include:
Customizable Analyses: Out-of-the-box Skills used by Max for business performance analysis, including search, metric drivers, metric trend, competitor performance, and more. AnswerRocket also offers support for custom Skills using enterprises' own models. Skills can be configured to reflect unique business rules, processes, language, outputs, etc.
Out-of-the-box Skills used by Max for business performance analysis, including search, metric drivers, metric trend, competitor performance, and more. AnswerRocket also offers support for custom Skills using enterprises' own models. Skills can be configured to reflect unique business rules, processes, language, outputs, etc. Structured and Unstructured Data Support: Max supports both tabular and text-based data analysis, allowing companies to glean insights from vast enterprise data, documents, and multiple data sources seamlessly in a single conversation.
Max supports both tabular and text-based data analysis, allowing companies to glean insights from vast enterprise data, documents, and multiple data sources seamlessly in a single conversation. Automation of Routine Analysis Workflows: Max can execute multi-step analytics processes to free up analyst time for more strategic projects while giving business stakeholders timely analysis and self-service answers to ad hoc follow-up questions.
Max can execute multi-step analytics processes to free up analyst time for more strategic projects while giving business stakeholders timely analysis and self-service answers to ad hoc follow-up questions. Integration with Third-party Tools Embed the Max chat experience into tools like Power BI, Slack, Teams, and CRMs, enabling users to analyze their data in tools they're already using.
"Max brings forward a seismic shift in how companies can transform their data into actionable intelligence with unprecedented speed," continued Goren. "With Max, everyone within the enterprise can have immediate access to an AI analyst, providing them with prescriptive recommended actions and helping to guide them towards data-driven decisions."
AnswerRocket is a Platinum Sponsor of Big Data LDN, taking place on September 20-21, 2023 at Olympia in London. They will be showcasing their revolutionary GenAI analytics assistant, Max, alongside early adopters of the technology in three sessions:
Wednesday, September 20 from 4:40 5:10 p.m. How CPW Scaled Data-Driven Decisions with Augmented Analytics Gen AI (Chris Potter, Global Applied Analytics, Cereal Partners Worldwide; Joey Gaspierik, Enterprise Accounts, AnswerRocket)
(Chris Potter, Global Applied Analytics, Cereal Partners Worldwide; Joey Gaspierik, Enterprise Accounts, AnswerRocket) Thursday, September 21 from 2:40 3:10 p.m. How Anheuser-Busch InBev Unlocked Insights on Tap with a Gen AI Assistant (Elizabeth Davies, Senior Insights Manager, Budweiser Europe, Anheuser-Busch InBev; Joey Gaspierik, Enterprise Accounts, AnswerRocket)
(Elizabeth Davies, Senior Insights Manager, Budweiser Europe, Anheuser-Busch InBev; Joey Gaspierik, Enterprise Accounts, AnswerRocket) Thursday, September 21 from 4:00 4:30 p.m. Maximizing Data Investments with Automated GenAI Insights (Ted Prince, Group Chief Product Officer, Kantar; Alon Goren, CEO, AnswerRocket)
For more information on AnswerRocket's industry-leading solutions, please visit: https://answerrocket.com/max
About AnswerRocket
Founded in 2013, AnswerRocket is a generative AI analytics platform for data exploration, analysis, and insights discovery. It allows enterprises to monitor key metrics, identify performance drivers, and detect critical issues within seconds. Users can chat with Max-an AI assistant for data analysis-to get narrative answers, insights, and visualizations on their proprietary data. Additionally, AnswerRocket empowers data science teams to operationalize their models throughout the enterprise. Companies like Anheuser-Busch InBev, Cereal Partners Worldwide, Beam Suntory, Coty, EMC Insurance, Hi-Rez Studios, and National Beverage Corporation depend on AnswerRocket to increase their speed to insights. To learn more, visit www.answerrocket.com.
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Contacts:
Vivian Kim
Director of Marketing
vivian.kim@answerrocket.com
(404) 913-0212
NANNING, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 17th, the 20th China-ASEAN Expo commenced in Guangxi, China. Nearly 1,700 companies from over 40 countries participated in the event, advancing China-ASEAN economic integration with new innovative and technological products. A standout presence at the expo was NETA Auto, which showcased its stellar lineup of vehicles. Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NETA Auto, attended major forums of this event.
NETA Auto's exhibition booth attracted distinguished guests, including Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Laos, Aung Zeya, Deputy Minister for Myanmar's Ministry of Science and Technology, and several other political dignitaries and company representatives from ASEAN countries. They highly recognized NETA Auto's global development.
NETA Auto will establish a strong presence throughout the entire ASEAN market within the next one to two years, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles (EVs) more accessible to the local population. Renowned for its exceptional intelligent features and top-tier product quality, NETA Auto has emerged as a popular Chinese smart EV brand in global markets. With a user base exceeding 330,000 worldwide, the company is actively pursuing its globalization strategy.
Welcome visitors with all-star product lineup
The potential for mutual success in the ASEAN market has been a key driver of NETA Auto's popularity as a new-energy auto brand in the region. The NETA V, positioned as a trendy intelligent vehicle born for the youth, frequently leading the rankings for pure electric vehicle registrations in Thailand. This model reflects NETA Auto's brand value, "Tech For All", with its feature-rich Level 2 intelligent driver support system, a spacious 14.6-inch intelligent central control screen, and a high-performance 8-core processor. The entire NETA Auto product lineup showcased at the expo garnered significant attention from participants from ASEAN nations and beyond.
Target full coverage in ASEAN as part of the localization-based global strategy
In 2022, NETA Auto made its debut in Thailand, one of the largest car manufacturing nations in ASEAN, marking the beginning of its international expansion. Today, NETA Auto has emerged as a significant player in Thailand's automotive industry. From January to August this year, the NETA V held the second position in the registration charts for pure electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand, with a market share of nearly 20%. As of September, NETA Auto has achieved cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 units in Thailand.
NETA Auto has not only made significant strides in Thailand but has also accelerated its expansion efforts in other ASEAN markets. In Indonesia, the company has established a subsidiary and entered the Indonesian market. In Malaysia, NETA Auto has partnered with local collaborators to rapidly establish a presence. NETA Auto attaches great importance to the ASEAN market. It plans to deliver over 100,000 vehicles annually within approximately three years, solidifying its position as a driving force for the development of new energy in ASEAN and contributing to the creation of a better quality of life in the region.
At the 20th China-ASEAN Expo, NETA Auto continues to expand its global presence, forging multi-level, comprehensive strategic partnerships in the automotive industry with ASEAN and numerous countries worldwide. This move accelerates its transformation from being China's NETA to the world's NETA, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles accessible on a global scale.
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nShift and APG eCommerce team up to help ecom companies reach new markets
LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global retail spend has reached record levels. Expanding to further-afield markets represents a huge ecommerce growth opportunity. But some 42.6% of businesses describe getting parcels to international customers on time as their biggest cross-border challenge.[1]
nShift, the global leader in parcel delivery management software and APG eCommerceSolutions have teamed up to help online retailers and webshops overcome cross-border challenges and deliver for their customers. The presence of APG's network within the nShift carrier library, makes it easier for European businesses to ship to further afield markets such as Australia, Israel and Canada.
In 2022, Australian shoppers spent a record AU$353 billion on retail. This was 9.2% higher than the previous year.[2] In Israel, ecommerce spending is expected to hit US$12.03 billion by 2025,[3] with Canadian spend predicted to reach US$40bn the same year.[4]
Yet considerable logistical difficulties stand in the way of retailers looking to tap into these opportunities. Almost half (44.5%) of global business owners face challenges navigating customs requirements. Cross-border logistics create issues for 37% of business owners while 33.5% struggle with cross-border returns. Over a third (34.5%) came up against issues managing delivery expectations while 27.5% had problems tracking deliveries.[5]
APG offers retailers a combination of a strong partnership network of postal operators and best in class local delivery companies integrated in customer centric solutions backed up by agile and cutting-edge technology. It has established relationships with local carrier companies in key ecommerce regions such as APAC, UK, Europe and North America. APG's services are available to retailers, webshops and retailers through the nShift carrier library.
Johan Hellman, VP Product and Carrier Management at nShift said: "Expanding into new markets is a major source of growth for ecommerce companies. But to encourage new customers to do business with them, retailers and webshops must give shoppers confidence that they can ship items quickly and carefully, regardless of geography. APG's network of carriers in major and emerging markets is available through nShift's carrier library. It enables retailers to deliver for their customers and create a positive impression of their brand."
Hayley Howes, Global Sales and Marketing Director at APG eCommerce Solutions said "Collaborating with nShift represents a pivotal step towards overcoming the challenges that retailers face when expanding into international markets. Our partnership enables online businesses to harness the power of APG's extensive network and cutting-edge technology, seamlessly integrated into nShift's parcel delivery management software. Together, we empower retailers to confidently deliver for their customers, bridging geographical gaps and fostering a positive brand impression."
nShift is the global leader in delivery management software. Its solutions enable frictionless shipment and return of almost one billion shipments across 190 countries annually. nShift connects customers to a library of over 1000 ready-made carrier connections.
APG eCommerce Solutions is one of the leading suppliers of cross-border ecommerce delivery solutions. With an established presence in key global trade lanes, including Asia, Europe and the USA, APG provides end-to-end logistics solutions to a portfolio of iconic global ecommerce merchants. They offer a unique delivery experience thanks to their bespoke platform that combines Australia Post's unrivalled last-mile capabilities with a strong partnership network of postal operators and best-in-class ecommerce delivery companies such as SaiCheng Logistics, Australia Post's joint venture with China Post for China.
https://nshift.com/carriers
About nShift
nShift is the global leading provider of cloud delivery management solutions enabling frictionless shipment and return of almost one billion shipments across 190 countries annually. nShift's software is used globally by e-commerce, retail, manufacturing and 3PL shippers. The company is headquartered in London and Oslo. It has over 500 employees across offices in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, United Kingdom, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Romania.
[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/1379621/cross-border-e-commerce-challenges/
[2] https://auspost.com.au/content/dam/auspost_corp/media/documents/ecommerce-industry-report-2023.pdf
[3] https://urlis.net/u4j4icjs
[4] https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/canada-ecommerce-market
[5] https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/articles/ecommerce/global-commerce/
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BALTIMORE, MD / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / WBX Commerce, an advanced Amazon advertising and technology firm, welcomes Carl Wartzack as its new President and Chief Executive Officer.
WBX Commerce Logo
WBX Commerce Logo
Wartzack is an accomplished leader with a proven track record of using data and insights to build profitable products and businesses and is well-positioned to lead WBX Commerce into a new era of success. Before joining the WBX Commerce team, he spent seven years as CEO of QL2 Software - the world leader in travel and retail pricing data and analytics - where he drove the company to become a premier competitive intelligence firm that grew revenues and profitability for some of the largest companies in the world.
"We are thrilled to welcome Carl Wartzack as our new president and CEO. His strong leadership background and extensive experience guiding successful digital advertising firms make him the clear choice to lead the WBX Commerce team - and our valued clients - to profitable growth." - Hayley Bradway, Chief Operating Officer, WBX Commerce
Wartzack's experience includes pioneering work at the groundbreaking digital media start-ups Advertising.com - the world's leading performance-based digital advertising network - and Millennial Media - the world's largest independent mobile advertising platform that ultimately debuted on the NYSE with a $2 billion IPO. He has also held key leadership roles at media giants such as Yahoo, AOL, Verizon, and the Washington Post, where he guided product management, analytics, and operations.
When asked about why he accepted the position, Wartzack said, "WBX Commerce combines industry-leading Amazon advertising experience and advanced analytics technology to drive undeniable growth for clients. My experience developing innovative advertising strategies backed by powerful insights will give me the opportunity to take WBX to the next level."
Wartzack's vision for the company will be to grow brands on Amazon by leveraging WBX's proprietary intelligence tool, WBX Glass, to unlock unique data sets including insights from the Amazon Marketing Cloud that provide a competitive advantage across ecommerce channels. With this as the focus, WBX will be well-positioned to meet its clients' evolving needs and maintain its position as a leader in the Amazon advertising space.
About WBX Commerce
WBX Commerce is an ecommerce decisioning platform that empowers brands with the insights and expertise needed to grow profitably on Amazon and other key channels. We offer advertising managed services and self-service tools to make your in-house team more powerful.
Contact Information:
Tareea Smith
Director of Marketing
tsmith@wbxcommerce.com
SOURCE: WBX Commerce
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / VERTICAL EXPLORATION INC. (TSX-V:VERT) ("Vertical" or "the Company") wishes to provide an update on its recent activities related to the further development of the Company's premium grade St-Onge wollastonite deposit located near Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec.
Vertical has been approached over the summer by a large European firm interested in developing and testing out the Company's premium wollastonite for use in a number of innovative markets, including the development of value-added products for niche industrial applications. Vertical and the major European firm have been working diligently together on a series of methodologies and protocols to test out and fine tune the potential industrial products intended for European and other international markets.
Further discussions and collaboration with the European firm related to the development of the specific industrial products are continuing, and Vertical is pleased with the progress made to date. The opportunity exists for this current collaboration with the European firm to develop into a potential partnership or offtake agreement in the future. Vertical intends to provide further updates as this important collaboration progresses.
In addition, Vertical would also like to report that its ongoing Research and Cooperation Alliance with Mineraux Mart Inc. (see Vertical's June 22nd, 2023 news release) related to the research, development and testing of innovative products for the Company's St-Onge wollastonite is progressing well. Vertical initially delivered a 29-tonne shipment of its premium wollastonite to Mineraux Mart in early summer for initial testing, and Mineraux Mart is now continuing to sample and further test the St-Onge wollastonite in order to develop high-value products and applications for both the industrial and agricultural markets. Mineraux Mart also continues to check-in with Vertical on a regular basis to discuss the product testing results and potential new market opportunities. The Company looks forward to its further work with Mineraux Mart over the upcoming Fall period and will provide further updates on the progress of the Research and Cooperation Alliance.
ABOUT VERTICAL EXPLORATION
Vertical Exploration's mission is to identify, acquire, and advance high potential mining prospects located in North America for the benefit of its stakeholders. The Company's flagship St-Onge Wollastonite property is located in the Lac-Saint-Jean area in the Province of Quebec.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Peter P. Swistak, President/CEO
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Telephone: 1-604-683-3995
Toll Free: 1-888-945-4770
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at www.sedar.com).
SOURCE: Vertical Exploration Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785229/vertical-exploration-in-discussions-with-major-european-firm-for-the-development-of-industrial-products-for-its-st-onge-wollastonite
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Technology firm Leidos Holdings, Inc. (LDOS) announced Tuesday it was recently awarded a next-generation prime contract to provide the U.S. Army with rapid procurement of information technology (IT) hardware solutions. The contract has a maximum value of $7.9 billion if all options are exercised. The single-award, firm-fixed-price contract was awarded by Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract has a base period of performance of four years with two three-year options. Under the Common Hardware Systems 6th Generation (CHS-6) contract, Leidos will enhance mission readiness through the Leidos Intelligent Logistics Platform. Equipment and services procured under the terms of this contract will be used to support a unified network for Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) and JADC2. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - ArcWest Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AWX) ("ArcWest") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Interra Copper Corp. ("Interra") to negotiate an earn-in and joint venture agreement on ArcWest's Rip porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) project ("the Project") in central British Columbia. A technical presentation for Rip is available for download here.
Rip Project Earn-In Agreement with Interra
Under the terms of the letter of intent, Interra has a two-stage option to earn up to an 80% ownership interest in the Rip project over up to an 8-year period.
To earn an initial 60% interest (the "First Tier Earn-in"), Interra is required to fund $2 million of work expenditures over a 4-year period and make staged cash and share payments to ArcWest totaling $100,000 and 1,050,000 shares, respectively. ArcWest will be the operator during the initial earn-in period.
Upon Interra earning such 60% interest, it can elect, at its sole discretion, to earn an additional 20% ownership interest in the Todd Creek project (for a total 80% interest; the "Second Tier Earn-in") by over a four year period, completing and delivering to ArcWest a Feasibility Study for the Property, in addition to making staged cash payments to ArcWest totaling $1,000,000 ($250,000 per year).
The Second Tier Earn-In period may be extended beyond its initial four year term by up to three years under the following conditions:
Interra sole funding work expenditures of at least CAD $2,000,000 per extension year, and;
Interra paying ArcWest CAD $100,000 per extension year in addition to the $250,000 required to be paid.
Interra does acquire the Second Tier Earn-In, Interra and AWX will fund a joint venture company ("JVCo") in proportion to their interests held in JVCo (that is, 80% and 20% respectively), or dilute.
In the event a production decision is made by the JVCo to place the Property into production, Interra shall arrange project financing for the JVCo, the repayment of which shall be made out of cash flows from the property.
If a Party dilutes to less than a 10% equity interest in JVCo, then that Party will forfeit its interest in JVCo in return for a 2.0% Net Smelter Returns Royalty interest, one percent of which may be purchased by the other Party for CAD $5,000,000 at any time. Any transfer of the royalty holder's interest to another person will be subject to a right of first offer in favor of the royalty payor.
Rip Project
ArcWest's 100%-owned Rip Project (2309 Hectares) is located 63 kilometers south of Houston and 79 kilometers southwest of Burns Lake in central B.C. The Rip Project is situated in Stikine Terrane in a prolific belt of Late Cretaceous (Bulkley Plutonic Suite) porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) deposits, which includes Imperial Metals' Huckleberry Mine, 33 kilometers to the southwest, presently on care and maintenance. In addition to the Huckleberry Mine, the Bulkley porphyry belt includes the Whiting Creek, Poplar, Seel and Ox Cu-Mo (gold-silver) deposits. The fully permitted Rip Project is road accessible from either Houston or Burns Lake.
The Rip Project covers the central axis of a 15 by 6 kilometer window of Early Jurassic Hazelton Group volcano-sedimentary rocks intruded by several small stocks of Late Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic Suite porphyritic granodiorite. Faults bounding this block trend northwesterly and separate the Hazelton Group from surrounding blocks of younger (Late Cretaceous to Eocene) volcanics.
The Rip target was initially advanced by Kennco Explorations between 1975 and 1981. Kennco completed an Induced Polarization survey in 1975 which delineated a significant chargeability high. Although Kennco stated "in the final analysis this area will require an extensive drilling program to determine whether a zone of economic mineralization exists within the sulfide system" (Dorval and Stevenson, 1976), it was tested only by a single, 294 meter-long diamond drill hole (at -45 degree inclination) in 1975. The drill hole intersected intensely quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) altered andesite and quartz diorite to a depth of 115 meters where the zone was cut off by a fault. The QSP altered zone above the fault averaged 0.07% Cu and 0.005% Mo over 70.3 meters (35.3-105.6m). The IP survey was extended in 1980, outlining the 0.8-1.5 by 2.2 kilometer chargeability high, and 36 shallow percussion drill holes totaling 1763 meters were completed (11 of the drill holes failed to reach bedrock). Logging of drill cuttings from these percussion holes delineated a zone of QSP alteration approximately corresponding to the chargeability high. A multi-element analysis of the core cuttings from 26 of the percussion holes in 1981 outlined a central 0.5 by 1.5 kilometer Cu-Mo anomaly coring a broad peripheral lead-zinc-arsenic-manganese anomaly, a geochemical zonation typical of porphyry copper systems. Although most of the Rip property is covered by glacial deposits, near the core of the Kennco chargeability anomaly a small (50 by 100 meter) area of outcrop and shallow trenches exposes strong multistage porphyry-style stockwork veining within altered Hazelton volcanics and feldspar-quartz porphyry. Early magnetite-chalcopyrite-pyrite 'A' veins with white K-feldspar (or albite) halos are cut by later quartz-chalcopyite-pyrite-molybdenite 'B' veins. Veining accompanies pervasive magnetite-biotite (potassic) alteration which is variably overprinted by quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP). Multistage porphyry-style veining locally reaches strong stockwork density. Limited rock sampling of these outcrops in 2017-2018 (8 samples), returned 258-1490 parts per million (ppm) copper, 3-238 ppm molybdenum, 7-69 parts per billion gold, and 0.2-1.5 ppm silver. Deleterious elements occur at very low levels (e.g., zinc <77 ppm, lead <4 ppm, and arsenic <5 ppm).
Tyler Ruks, President and CEO of ArcWest commented, "ArcWest views the Rip Project as containing a highly underexplored porphyry copper system and is looking forward to working with Interra to advance the project."
The Proposed Transaction is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Change of CFO
Effective September 30, 2023, Rebecca Moriarity, CPA, will be replacing John Meekison as CFO of the Company, who has resigned to pursue other interests. We thank Mr. Meekison for his time and dedication to ArcWest and wish him well in his future endeavours.
ArcWest's corporate and project specific technical presentations are available for download from www.arcwestexploration.com.
References
Dorval, D.P., Stevenson, R.W. (1976): Report on Induced Polarization-Resistivity and Magnetometer Survey, RIP NOS. 1 and 2 Mineral Claims, January 30, 1976. B.C. Assessment Report 5818.
QA/QC Statement
Assays from historical exploration programs on the Rip Property have not been verified by ArcWest but have been cited from sources believed to be reliable. Rock samples cited in the text were collected from variably mineralized and altered rock in order to help characterize the tenor of different styles of mineralization. The samples comprise representative grabs from outcrops and locally derived subcrop. Samples were collected in plastic sample bags and sealed with plastic zip ties. Sample locations were recorded by GPS. Samples were bundled in security sealed rice bags and trucked to ALS Minerals laboratory in North Vancouver.
At the laboratory, the samples were dried, crushed and pulverized using standard rock preparation procedures. The pulps were then analyzed for Au using a 30 gram fire assay with ICP-AES finish and for 35 elements by ICP-AES. Aqua regia digestion was utilized for the ICP analyses. Aqua Regia is not a whole rock digestion and may underestimate molybdenum values in particular. Quality control at the laboratory is maintained by submitting blanks, standards and re-assaying duplicate samples from each analytical batch.
About ArcWest Exploration Inc.
ArcWest Exploration is a project generator focused on porphyry copper-gold exploration opportunities throughout western North America. The company is in possession of seven 100% owned copper-gold projects throughout BC's premier porphyry copper-gold districts. These include ArcWest's Todd Creek and Oweegee Dome projects, which are two of the largest and most prospective land positions for copper-gold exploration in BC's prolific Golden Triangle. Oweegee Dome neighbours Seabridge Gold's supergiant KSM-Iron Cap-Snowfield porphyry copper-gold deposit and Todd Creek adjoins Pretium's Brucejack mine property. In March of 2022, Newcrest Mining completed the acquisition of Pretium and its high grade Brucejack gold-silver mine in a transaction valued at $3.5 billion. Three ArcWest projects are currently being advanced by partners through earn-in and joint venture agreements; this includes an agreement with mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to advance ArcWest's 100% owned Todd Creek copper-gold project. By conducting partner funded exploration on multiple exploration projects simultaneously, ArcWest's chances of discovery are enhanced while exposing shareholders to minimal dilution. The company is managed by an experienced technical team with a track record of discovery and a reputation for attracting well-funded senior partners, including Freeport McMoRan, Robert Friedland group companies, ITOCHU, Antofagasta and Teck.
For further information please contact: Tyler Ruks, President and CEO at +1 (604) 638 3695.
Qualified Person
ArcWest's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Bradford, Msc PGeo, Technical Advisor, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
Investors are cautioned that ArcWest Exploration Inc. has not verified the data from the Huckleberry, Whiting Creek, Poplar, Seel and Ox deposits. Further, the presence and style of mineralization on these properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the ArcWest Exploration Inc. property. Historical assays from exploration programs on its properties have not been verified by ArcWest but have been cited from sources believed to be reliable.
This news release contains statements about ArcWest's expectations and are forward-looking in nature. As a result, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although ArcWest believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and ArcWest undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181083
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.
Biden has a busy schedule throughout the day at the UN Headquarters in New York, according to the White House. At 10 AM ET, he is scheduled to speak at General Debate of the 78th Session, which will run through September 26.
He will be delivering his third speech to the U.N. General Assembly of his presidency.
'In that speech, he will lay out for the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to work with others to solve the world's most serious challenges,' a senior administration official said at a brieifng to preview the President's engagements at UN General Assembly.
'He will outline his vision for how countries, working within reformed and modernized international institutions, can harness their efforts to end conflict, defend human rights and the rule of law, and help countries develop their economies'.
The U.S. President will also meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The meeting is scheduled for 11.30 AM ET. They will discuss how they can strengthen their partnership to tackle global issues, including mobilizing resources for development, combating climate change, ending conflicts, and working together to uphold the U.N.'s foundational principles.
Later in the day, Biden will host the first-ever so-called C5+1 presidential summit at the United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
He will meet with the presidents of five Central Asian nations: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The leaders will discuss a range of issues related to regional security, trade and connectivity, climate, and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law.
Tuesday evening, Biden will host the traditional reception with world leaders where he will have the chance to engage with dozens of heads of state and government from around the world.
Wednesday, the President will hold a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as well as join in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States.
Also on Wednesday, President Biden will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues. The leaders will compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran, the White House said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is among a number of leaders who will speak at the General Debate Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending the annual world leaders' gathering at the top U.N. platform.
Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
STAMFORD, CT / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Webster Bank has once again been named a Top Corporate Contributor honoree by the Boston Business Journal in its annual 2023 Corporate Citizenship Awards, a recognition of the region's top corporate charitable contributors.
The Business Journal annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to their communities.
"We are honored to once again be recognized by Boston Business Journal for our ongoing support of organizations that do so much to create opportunity and economic vitality in the Boston area," said Marissa Weidner, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer at Webster.
This year, 100 companies have qualified for the distinction by reporting at least $100,000 in cash contributions to Massachusetts-based charities last year. The honorees this year include companies from such industry sectors as financial and professional services, health care, technology, retail, and professional sports.
Webster Bank, whose contributions in many instances include both the corporation and its charitable foundation, will be honored along with fellow honorees at the BBJ's 18th Annual Corporate Citizenship Awards on Thursday, September 7 at the Seaport Hotel, 1 Seaport Lane, Boston.
"It is with honor that we present our list of the Top Charitable Contributors in Massachusetts - in 2022. Collectively, they gave $423 million in cash contributions - a true example of the business community coming together to help those in need. We are proud to celebrate these organizations who give both money and time to make Boston a stronger and better place for all." said Boston Business Journal Market President and Publisher Carolyn Jones.
About Webster
Webster Bank ("Webster") is a leading commercial bank in the Northeast that provides a wide range of digital and traditional financial solutions across three differentiated lines of business: Commercial Banking, Consumer Banking and its HSA Bank division, one of the country's largest providers of employee benefits solutions. Headquartered in Stamford, CT, Webster is a values-driven organization with more than $70 billion in assets. Its core footprint spans the northeastern U.S. from New York to Massachusetts, with certain businesses operating in extended geographies. Webster Bank is a member of the FDIC and an equal housing lender. For more information about Webster, including our latest annual report, please visit our About page. To find our latest press releases, visit the Webster Newsroom.
View original content here.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Webster Bank on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Webster Bank
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/webster-bank
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Webster Bank
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785425/webster-recognized-on-top-corporate-contributor-list-by-boston-business-journal
LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Tego Cyber Inc. (OTCQB:TGCB), a cybersecurity company focused on developing innovative cyber threat intelligence and autonomous correlation and threat hunting tools, today announced that Mr. Robert E. Mikkelsen has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of the Company through a business advisory and consulting agreement with his firm, Merremia Consulting LLC. Mr. Mikkelsen succeeds Earl Johnson, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
"I am eager to join Tego at this vital point in the company's life-cycle as the Company continues on its growth trajectory," said Bobby Mikkelsen. "As we continue to read news of cyber-attacks, seemingly every day, autonomous threat correlation has never been more critical to protect organizations. The value proposition Tego offers its clients to detect and remediate attacks is game-changing, and I believe it correlates to a significant value proposition for its investors as the Company grows to scale."
"We are pleased to welcome Bobby Mikkelsen to the Tego team," said Shannon Wilkinson, President & CEO of Tego Cyber Inc. "He is an accomplished CFO with extensive experience in the micro-cap space. He understands the challenges of taking a start-up tech company from concept to revenue then profitability and how important that is to increasing shareholder value. We look forward to working with Bobby in executing our business model as well as implementing our market awareness plan to achieve our long-term objectives which include an uplisting to a senior exchange."
Mr. Mikkelsen brings a diverse perspective to Tego, combining seasoned experience in finance and accounting, strategy leadership and investor relations. As a C-Level executive and business advisor, for nearly 20 years, he has been instrumental in developing accounting systems and controls for complex organizations, corporate development, mergers and acquisitions, and fundraising, with total transactions valued over $100 million. Mr. Mikkelsen received his bachelor's degree in accounting in 2004 from the Eller College of Business, University of Arizona. After graduating, Mr. Mikkelsen went on to work as an auditor for Henry & Horne, LLP in Arizona. Mr. Mikkelsen's career in public accounting included working with a client base which was diverse in size and sector, revenue ranging from $100 thousand to $1 billion annuallyincluding those in the health care, pharmaceutical and tech sectors. Mr. Mikkelsen has also served as the Chief Financial Officer for Item Nine Labs Corp ("INLB") since October 2018.
About Tego Cyber Inc.
Tego Cyber Inc. (OTCQB: TGCB) was founded to mitigate the disparity in the rapidly evolving cyber threat hunting, correlation, and threat intelligence market. The Company is focused on developing solutions for threat intelligence and autonomous threat hunting/correlation. Tego's curated threat intelligence feed not only contains a comprehensive list of indicators of compromise, but also provides additional context including specific details needed to counteract threats so that security teams can spend less time searching for disjointed indicators of compromise. Tego's threat correlation engine integrates with top security and data lake platforms to proactively identify threats. The Tego threat correlation engine allows security teams to find threats faster using curated data feeds, powerful and low latency searches across large disparate data sets, and user-friendly visualizations that help reduce the time to detection and response. For more information, please visit https://tegocyber.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
The statements contained in this press release, those which are not purely historical or which depend upon future events, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements regarding the Company's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future constitute forward-looking statements. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements because of various factors. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are based on information available to the Company on the date hereof and the Company assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. Prospective investors should also consult the risks factors described from time to time in the Company's Reports on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K and Annual Reports to Shareholders.
Contact:
Tego Cyber Inc.
8565 S Eastern Avenue, Suite 150
Las Vegas, Nevada 89123
USA
Tel: 855-939-0100 (North America)
Tel: +1 725-726-7840 (International)
Email: info@tegocyber.com
Web: tegocyber.com
Facebook: facebook.com/tegocyber
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/tegocyber
Twitter: twitter.com/tegocyber
SOURCE: Tego Cyber Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785308/tego-cyber-inc-appoints-new-chief-financial-officer
Swiss startup Decommerce invites you to a scavenger hunt at the w3.vision conference DMEXCO23. The solution combines offline and online experiences and shows in a playful way how to host, engage, and reward your community on your own website or app - and can therefore also save costs for digital marketing.
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Swiss startup Decommerce invites you to a scavenger hunt at the w3.vision conference DMEXCO23. The solution combines offline and online experiences and shows in a playful way how to host, engage, and reward your community on your own website or app - and can therefore also save costs for digital marketing.
Decommerce DMEXCO23 Scavenger Hunt
Swiss startup Decommerce invites you to a scavenger hunt at the w3.vision conference DMEXCO23.
On the 20th/21st Europe's leading digital marketing & tech event will take place in Cologne in September 2023. DMEXCO, with around 40,000 visitors, is a meeting point for all the important decision makers from the worlds of digital economy, marketing, and innovation.
w3.vision for digital future areas
For the second time this year, the w3.vision is taking place as an exclusive event. The w3.vision conference delves into the future-oriented digital world from Web3.0, Metaverse, Blockchain, NFT etc. The Swiss company Decommerce was selected as a community technology partner.
Offline experiences in the online profile
During the conference, Decommerce will bridge offline and online worlds, and be responsible for the Scavenger Hunt. With this Web 3.0 use case, Decommerce will show how brands are able to interact with the community in a fun way: Visitors can scan a QR code to complete the Scavenger Hunt with their own profile. You get rewards by completing tasks at different stalls. These offline experiences at the stands become playful in the online world. Included in the Scavenger Hunt are brands such as Jagermeister, Metabrew, DEPT Digital Agency, H&M, Lufthansa, Adidas and more.
Blockchain wallet and community engagement
The special thing about Decommerce: The rewards are automatically sent to you participants' blockchain wallets. These are created seamlessly when the user starts the Scavenger Hunt on a mobile phone. Decommerce is used for the hosting, activation, and analysis of the Scavenger Hunt metrics - a true white label community solution. This has the look and feel of the w3.vision conference. Above all, the solution enables w3.vision to analyze the interests and behavior of the conference community at a granular level, and to reactivate the participants after the conference.
About Decommerce:
Decommerce is a whitelabel community solution that enables brands to collaboratively create the future of commerce with their communities. They allow brands to host, engage, and reward their communities within brand-immersive experiences on their website, campaign microsites, and apps.
Co-founded by Roy Bernheim and Allan Perrottet, the venture is backed by Outlier Ventures, FARFETCH, and renowned individual investors.
Contact Information
Roy Bernheim
Co-founder
roy.bernheim@decommerce.com
Allan Perrottet
Co-founder
allan.perrottet@decommerce.com
SOURCE: Decommerce
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785388/decommerce-is-an-official-community-technology-partner-of-europes-largest-digital-marketing-conference-dmexco-w3vision
ATLANTA, GA and AACHEN GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / INFORM, a global pioneer in AI-driven optimization software, proudly announces the launch of its in-depth "Responsible AI Guidelines" to support the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) while advancing the technology. These guidelines underscore the company's commitment to ensuring AI technology operates with accountability, transparency and upholds an ethical foundation.
As the AI landscape continually evolves, INFORM recognizes the imperative to harness its power responsibly. Driven by the company's deep-rooted values and over 50-year legacy in technology across a wide range of industries, INFORM is positioned to be the leader in AI technologies worldwide. Always having had a dedicated focus on collaborating with customers to optimize business processes through AI, INFORM ensures AI's potential is maximized while its risks are minimized. The guidelines set forth will establish best practices, standards, and protocols to bring a comprehensive approach to AI while prioritizing societal needs and individual rights.
INFORM's commitment to "Trustworthy AI" revolves around several pivotal principles:
Beneficial AI: Ensuring AI systems enrich both users and society, mitigating negative impacts like bias and misinformation. Human-centric AI: Promoting AI's supportive role to humans, enhancing decision-making processes, and upholding human responsibility. Aligned AI: Guaranteeing AI is in sync with human and business values, with clear and understandable AI as a foundation. Privacy-preserving AI: Upholding United States requirements and European Union's GDPR standards, achieving top-tier security standards endorsed by ISO 27001 certifications. Reliable AI: Prioritizing quality, consistency, and transparency in AI applications, especially in vital sectors. Safe AI: Crafting AI algorithms that ensure safety and ward off potential threats.
Dr. Jorg Herbers, co-CEO of INFORM, commented, "We have taken to heart the importance of transparency and providing a human-centered approach. By leveraging the potential of AI and algorithms in close collaboration with our customers, we have created "Responsible AI Guidelines" that mirror our ideals around ensuring AI benefits humanity and is transparent and ethical in application. Our humanitarian ethos and in-depth experience in mitigating risk and optimizing productivity across a multitude of industries from manufacturing and supply chain to fintech and insurance, has contributed to the formulation of these crucial AI guidelines. INFORM's guidelines arrive at a crucial juncture, emphasizing that as we progress, we do so with integrity." They address more than just compliance, touching on the crux of AI development, from data privacy to transparency in decision-making processes in addition to delivering potential opportunities for continuous improvement and safeguarding against AI risks.
Dr. Jorg Herbers, co-CEO of INFORM
Highlighting the global implications of AI, Herbers added, "AI's potential is vast, from industry transformation to redefining work. As it becomes integral to our lives and businesses, a clear ethical compass is essential. Our guidelines serve as a beacon for INFORM and our aim is to encourage the AI community towards conscientious innovation."
The "Responsible AI Guidelines" are available to the public, reinforcing INFORM's dedication to open dialogue and collaborative growth within the AI sector. To download the full guidelines, please visit https://www.inform-software.com/ai-guidelines.
About INFORM
INFORM develops software to optimize business processes using artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced mathematics of Operations Research. Founded in 1969 and headquartered in Aachen, Germany, the company promotes sustainable value creation in various industries through optimized decision-making. Its solutions are tailored to specific industry requirements and help over 1,000 current customers worldwide to operate more resiliently and sustainably with greater success. INFORM's systems serve a range of industries including aviation, automotive, financial institutions, logistics, manufacturing, transportation, telecommunications, and wholesale. The company is committed to ethical AI practices, sustainable customer relations and is increasingly focusing on cloud-based solutions. www.inform-software.com
Corporate Press Contacts
Alexander Jatscha-Zelt
Tel.: +49 (0) 151-17159-505
Sabine Walter
Tel.: +49 (0) 2408-9456-1233
Corporate Communications
E-Mail: pressoffice@inform-software.com
Media Contact
Dawn Fontaine
Ripple Effect Communications
Tel: 617-536-8887
Email: Dawn@RippleEffectPR.com
SOURCE: INFORM GmbH
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785325/inform-spearheads-focus-on-ethical-ai-with-new-guidelines
EU Patent #19846183.2 - A NOVEL BOTANICAL AND TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL ("THC") FORMULATION FOR THE REDUCTION OF CANNABIS-INDUCED NEGATIVE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SIDE-EFFECTS
We believe we can provide a safer alternative to other THC products providing the benefits without the negative psychiatric side effects. Pre-clinical trials have demonstrated the reversal of depression-like and schizophrenia-related symptoms, blockage of memory impairment, hyperactive activity, and gene vulnerability.
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / CanaQuest Medical Corp ("CanaQuest" or the "Company") (OTC:CANQF), a clinical-stage life sciences company focused on drug discovery and development of next-generation targeted cannabinoid therapeutics for the central nervous system (CNS), is pleased to announce it was awarded a European Cannabinoid Patent, a novel Botanical and Tetrahydrocannabinol ("THC") Formulation for the reduction of cannabis-induced negative neuropsychiatric side-effects.
The formulated product is branded as Mentabinol, which addresses various psychiatric disorders. Acute THC consumption can trigger paranoid thoughts in vulnerable individuals.
Mentabinol - Formulation utilizing pharmaceutical-grade botanical extract, L-theanine, and THC molecules extracted from cannabis.
The Scientific Difference - based on pre-clinical trial results at Western University
THC vs Mentabinol
For many users, THC causes:
Memory impairment and possible long-term cognitive side effects,
Depression-like and schizophrenia-related symptoms,
Anxiety and hyperactive activity,
Schizophrenia due to gene vulnerability.
Application of Mentabinol has demonstrated in pre-clinical trials:
Reversal of depression-like and schizophrenia-related symptom effects,
Blockage of memory impairment, hyperactive activity, and gene vulnerability.
The discovery was made by a research team led by Dr. Steven Laviolette, a professor, and neuroscientist at Western University with decades of experience in the fields of mental health and cannabinoids.
Western University's Dr. Steven Laviolette said, "What we found was that by administering L-theanine along with the THC-based formulation, we were able to block several side effects of THC exposure, including changes to schizophrenia-related neurochemical pathways, and abnormalities in behaviors - including cognitive and emotional disturbances." "This will be especially beneficial for those who are taking THC for things like long-term pain, chemotherapy side effects, or reducing anxiety or depression." Western University researchers believe this formulation may mitigate this type of harm to chronic cannabis users. The team also concluded that their research provides evidence for combining the THC-based formulations with L-theanine to make them safer for both recreational and medicinal use.
Paul Ramsay, CEO and Co-Founder of CanaQuest stated, "Our patented THC-based formulation will be a catalyst to complement pending Clinical Studies and to introduce our product, branded as Mentabinol, to the market as a safer alternative to THC by itself."
Physicians, psychiatrists, and healthcare practitioners , interested in joining our network, as well as institutions, clinics, and pharmacies , can register via Join our network.
Domestic and international medical product distributors are welcome to contact us with indications of interest .
For more information, visit https://www.canaquest.com/corporate-profile/about-us/.
About: CanaQuest Medical Corp
CanaQuest Medical,a clinical-stage, life sciences company,is focused on the drug discovery and development of next-generation targeted therapeutics within the endocannabinoid system and specific brain receptors. The Company is focused on treating neurological conditions, such as epilepsy, anxiety, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "PTSD", including addiction. CanaQuest created a game-changing formula derived from cannabidiol "CBD" + IP formula. It has a Drug Candidate, CQ-001, which is positioned for clinical trials, targeting epilepsy. An OTC version of the Formulation, branded as Mentanine, is available for sale via CanaQuest Store in the US without health claims. Pre-clinical trial results and Clinical Studies have demonstrated beneficial effects on several mental and neurological conditions. Its non-psychoactive properties provide a safe and effective alternative to traditional treatments with little to no side effects. The Company recently signed a Master Service Agreement to conduct Clinical Studies on targeted populations, particularly those struggling with transitional issues with Neeka Health. Neeka conducted extensive due diligence on over 90 companies in the cannabinoid space, before choosing CanaQuest. Dr. Hunter Land, the CSO of Neeka, who co-led the clinical development of Epidiolex (FDA-approved prescription CBD) for GW Pharma, will be leading all the studies for Neeka and CanaQuest.
CanaQuest has been awarded the Best Global Medical Cannabinoid Development Company 2023, in its eighth annual Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Awards by Global Health & Pharma,UK.
COMPANY CONTACT:
Paul Ramsay, CEO & Co-Founder
CanaQuest Medical Corp
paul@canaquest.com
SOURCE: CanaQuest Medical Corp.
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785136/canaquest-announces-award-of-european-cannabinoid-patent
New relationships with Labcorp and Comcast NBCUniversal's Forecast Labs bolster Outcomes4Me's mission to democratize access to cancer care and improve health outcomes for all patients living with cancer
BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Outcomes4Me Inc. , the developer of the first direct-to-patient, personalized and evidence-based cancer navigation platform, announced today it has entered into two innovative collaborations and investment structures, which together combine artificial intelligence (AI) technology, treatment awareness and education, diagnostic testing access and mass media to help more patients with cancer connect with the latest treatment innovation relevant to their specific diagnosis.
Labcorp: Through an equity investment and collaboration agreement with Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, Outcomes4Me is supercharging its efforts to improve patient outcomes by disseminating novel precision oncology treatment options through information about and access to specialty biomarker testing, including comprehensive genomic profiling, offered by Labcorp. The results of such tests can provide personalized insights to help guide a cancer patient's treatment plan. As part of this collaboration, Labcorp will also provide Outcomes4Me with marketing services, including point-of-care promotion and marketing services at select Labcorp patient service centers and locations.
Through an equity investment and collaboration agreement with Labcorp, a global leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, Outcomes4Me is supercharging its efforts to improve patient outcomes by disseminating novel precision oncology treatment options through information about and access to specialty biomarker testing, including comprehensive genomic profiling, offered by Labcorp. The results of such tests can provide personalized insights to help guide a cancer patient's treatment plan. As part of this collaboration, Labcorp will also provide Outcomes4Me with marketing services, including point-of-care promotion and marketing services at select Labcorp patient service centers and locations. Forecast Labs: Outcomes4Me and Forecast Labs, a division of Comcast NBCUniversal, have entered into an earned equity investment arrangement to provide access to performance-based TV advertising to accelerate patient acquisition for Outcomes4Me. With a presence in more than 60 geographic markets and multi-device, multi-platform coverage across 170 networks, this collaboration will help ensure that every cancer patient-no matter who they are or where they receive their care-can access free resources and the clinical guidance they need to empower them to take a proactive approach to their care, based upon the latest science.
"This is an important and significant time in our company history," said Maya R. Said, Sc.D., Founder and CEO of Outcomes4Me. "Innovation is useless if it does not reach patients, and our data shows that more than a third of patients diagnosed with cancer in the United States do not have access to the latest treatments and this disparity is increasing as we move into the world of precision oncology. With more than 150,000 cancer-patient members already using our platform, I am incredibly proud that we are bringing together the power of our technology with the reach and influence of the world's largest diagnostic company and the world's largest media company to further build our community and take a major step forward in our goal to democratize healthcare and improve outcomes."
"We can only deliver on the promise of precision medicine if patients have access to advanced diagnostic testing," said Maggie Rougier-Chapman, Labcorp's VP of Marketing, Pharma & Therapeutic Areas. "Through our collaboration with Outcomes4Me, we are able to expand access to guideline-driven biomarker testing options and provide personalized insights and resources that can lead to more targeted treatment plans and improved health outcomes."
"Outcomes4Me is playing a vital role in an incredibly complex healthcare ecosystem by helping cancer patients to not only navigate their care but also to make science-based, informed care decisions," said Arjun Kapur, Managing Director at Forecast Labs. "More patients need to know that they too can play a more active role in managing their cancer care, and we are looking forward to helping Outcomes4Me reach the appropriate cancer patient population via TV advertising. We are excited to have Outcomes4Me as our first oncology-focused portfolio company."
Outcomes4Me is the first and only direct-to-patient platform that integrates with the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) and makes them patient-facing and personalized. Using AI and machine learning, Outcomes4Me gathers the FDA-approved treatment recommendations from the NCCN Guidelines, written by and for oncologists at the world's top cancer centers, as well as clinical trials live from ClinicalTrials.gov, and translates the information into easy-to-understand, actionable guidance for patients.
The Outcomes4Me app is available free to patients for download on iOS and Android . After patients download the app and answer a few questions about their health history, they can immediately gain access to personalized treatment options, genetic and genomic testing opportunities, symptom tracking and management, the latest innovation and clinical trials and health records they can understand.
About Outcomes4Me
Outcomes4Me is an AI-driven patient empowerment platform that helps cancer patients take a proactive approach to their care, gaining access to personalized, evidence-based treatment options and information. The company is on a mission to democratize healthcare by providing real-time, evidence-based clinical information to cancer patients, ensuring they can effectively navigate through their disease and improve their outcomes. In doing so, Outcomes4Me is working to promote health equity by generating deeper insights that improve care, and accelerating research and access to innovation. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Outcomes4Me is a woman-led company of seasoned healthcare, oncology, pharmaceutical, consumer and technology veterans. For more information, visit www.outcomes4me.com .
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/outcomes4me-announces-investments-to-accelerate-life-saving-treatments-for-cancer-patients-301931974.html
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (CFG), a commercial lender, on Tuesday announced $50 billion in sustainable finance target which includes a $5 billion in green financing, by 2030. The company aims to finance and facilitate sustainable environmental and social initiatives, including affordable housing, support for small businesses, and community development projects. Out of the total sum, $5 billion will be used to finance and facilitate green initiatives that support a lower-carbon future such as renewable energy, clean technologies, and green buildings. CFG added that it will engage with corporate clients in high-emitting sectors on climate-related topics. As part of its plans, it will engage all of its oil and gas clients by the end of 2024. In addition, Citizens has committed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2035. The lender noted that its initiatives such as Citizens' Sustainable Deposits and Carbon Offset Deposit Account products allow clients to incorporate their sustainability goals into their banking strategies. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
RCU to showcase its ambitious regreening and rewilding projects as Premium Sponsor of the 10th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, serving to bolster global biodiversity
RCU has successfully integrated over 100,000 seedlings into the wild with a 90 per cent survival rate, with plans to introduce a further 400,000 by 2024
ALULA, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will showcase its extensive environmental regeneration projects at the upcoming Society for Ecological Restoration's 10th World Conference (SER2023) in Darwin, Australia. RCU's participation as a Premium Sponsor of the event will amplify its transformative efforts in AlUla, highlighting its emerging leadership role in the sustainable conservation of natural and cultural landscapes and the rejuvenation of arid, degraded ecosystems.
The importance of this year's event underscores the legacy of SER's World Conferences; serving as a meeting point for experts and scholars, SER events provide vital avenues for knowledge exchange on the latest trends in restoration science, practice, and policy. With the 10th World Conference marking its first in-person gathering since 2019, RCU's contribution to AlUla's comprehensive regeneration will be major highlight of the event, held from 26 to 30 September 2023.
As the custodian of AlUla, a region with a unique ecological footprint, RCU is spearheading responsible and sustainable development at a pivotal moment for global biodiversity. It has established more than 11,000 sq. km of protected areas, totalling more than 50% of land in AlUla County, and launched impressive nursery operations that prioritise native flora, such as peregrina and acacia. By 2035, RCU plans to deliver the ecological restoration of at least 65,000 hectares.
Within AlUla's Sharaan Nature Reserve, which covers an area of 1,200 sq km, a 100-hectare restoration pilot site has become a hallmark of RCU's ecological restoration strategy. By taking an approach that harnesses natural regeneration, RCU has successfully integrated more than 100,000 native seedlings into the wild with an extraordinary 90% survival rate, a remarkable feat in such a harsh climate. As it plans to introduce 400,000 more seedlings by 2024, RCU continues its drive to expand green areas, leading the conversation around best practices in eco-restoration.
"Restoration efforts in the desert landscapes of AlUla are shining examples of how determined action can yield concrete change," said Dr Stephen Browne, Vice President of Wildlife and Natural Heritage at RCU. "RCU's achievements, such as reintroducing native animal species to their natural habitat and rejuvenating native flora, offer the world a message of hope, resilience, and collaboration. Our sponsorship and participation at SER2023 is not only about highlighting our milestones; it is about setting international benchmarks for others to follow."
Beyond its tangible ecological impact, RCU's work emphasises a broader narrative that links nature and culture. A recent RCU study found native flora species are flourishing in 'conservation islands' at the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Hegra, drawing a vivid picture of nature's resilience. RCU envisions AlUla as a blueprint for the protection and rejuvenation of arid ecosystems.
Deep-rooted community involvement is also fundamental to RCU's ecological restoration goals, with 154 Rangers from the AlUla community having been trained and deployed to work across AlUla's network of nature reserves. By entrusting the land's guardianship to those who hold it dear and connecting local wisdom with modern practices, RCU is helping to shape international best practices for protected area management.
Aligning its on-ground efforts with global ambitions, RCU has strengthened its work through strategic partnerships. Its association with entities like the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) underscores its commitment to collaboration. This accentuates RCU's growing prominence in the eco-restoration field and conveys a clear message to the world: restoration is a collective mission, and every initiative is vital to saving our environment.
SER2023 will allow RCU to communicate its overarching agenda of positioning AlUla as a pioneering model for eco-restoration. With achievements ranging from creating expansive protected areas to the detailed conservation of arid ecosystems, RCU stands not just as a participant, but as a leader setting a gold standard for sustainable environmental stewardship worldwide.
Noted for editors:
It is always AlUla / not Al-Ula
About the Royal Commission for AlUla
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established by royal decree in July 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, a region of outstanding natural and cultural significance in north-west Saudi Arabia. RCU's long-term plan outlines a responsible, sustainable, and sensitive approach to urban and economic development that preserves the area's natural and historic heritage while establishing AlUla as a desirable location to live, work, and visit. This encompasses a broad range of initiatives across archaeology, tourism, culture, education, and the arts, reflecting a commitment to meeting the economic diversification, local community empowerment, and heritage preservation priorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 programme.
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SANDHURST, SOUTH AFRICA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / CM Trading, a renowned global leader in the Forex and CFD trading market, is pleased to announce its new website, cmtrading.com. This update reflects CM Trading 's unwavering commitment to providing customers with a better trading experience. And customer-friendly options.
The redesigned website offers traders a streamlined. And intuitive navigation experience. With a modern, responsive design, users can effortlessly access essential trading information, resources, and tools. Whether on a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile device, CM Trading's website. Adapts seamlessly to provide an optimal user experience.
Expanded Educational Resources
CM Trading has enriched its educational resources to empower traders of all levels. Traders can now access a wealth of articles, webinars, and video tutorials to enhance their trading knowledge and skills. The goal is to ensure that traders are well-equipped to make informed decisions in the dynamic world of financial markets.
Empowering Traders with Advanced Tools
The website redesign introduces a suite of advanced trading tools, including improved charting capabilities. Real-time market data, and an enhanced trading platform. These tools cater to traders with varying degrees of expertise. Helping them stay ahead in the competitive trading landscape. CM Trading maintains its commitment to exceptional customer service. The new website includes a dedicated customer support section, ensuring that traders can receive prompt assistance and guidance whenever they need it.
CM Trading CEO,stated, "Our newly redesigned website marks an exciting milestone in our journey to provide traders with the best possible trading experience. We believe that this user-friendly platform, coupled with our expanded educational resources and advanced tools, will empower traders to achieve their financial goals." As part of the website launch celebration, CM Trading is offering exclusive promotions and bonuses to both new and existing clients. This limited-time opportunity allows traders to maximize their trading potential with CM Trading.
About CM Trading:
CM Trading is a globally recognized online Forex and CFD broker. Offering a diverse range of trading instruments and educational resources to traders worldwide. With a strong commitment to innovation and outstanding customer service. CM Trading empowers traders to make informed decisions and achieve their financial objectives.
Media Contact
Organization: CMTrading
Contact Person: Fred Razak
Website: https://www.cmtrading.com/
Email: support@cmtrading.com
Address: 14th Floor, Office Towers, 158 5th St, Sandhurst, Sandton, 2196, South Africa
City: Sandhurst
State: Sandton
Country: South Africa
SOURCE: CMTrading
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WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Elon Musk said X platform, formerly Twitter, is moving to initiate a small, monthly subscription fee for all users. The social network now has 550 million monthly users, he added in a live-streamed discussion with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Musk, who heads Tesla, SpaceX and X Corp., was talking about artificial intelligence, anti-semitism, and his plans for X, which he bought last October.
Regarding X, he noted that the monthly payment for the use of the X system was with a view to combating vast armies of bots off the platform. The details of the plan are yet to be revealed.
During the livestream, Musk detailed that the platform currently has 550 million monthly users, who generate 100 million to 200 million posts each day. In May 2022, Twitter reportedly had an average monetizable daily active usage of 229 million.
Musk recently was criticized by civil rights groups over his approach towards anti-semitic accounts, content, and conspiracies.
He also threatened earlier to sue the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish-led organization, for allegedly trying to kill his social network.
Musk, who acquired Twitter in around $44 billion deal in late October last year, recently changed its name to X. Immediately following the acquisition, he implemented massive job cuts and significant changes to the platform with a view to improve its revenues.
The platform eliminated Twitter's 'blue check' system of verification to identify authentic accounts belonging to public figures and also restored certain previously suspended accounts.
Under the latest changes in the platform, users who make a payment will get premium service, X Blue, with a blue subscriber badge next to their names, and their posts will be prioritized in other users' feeds.
Prior to the acquisition, Twitter had reported a $344 million loss. Earlier this month, Musk said X's advertising revenue was down 60%.
The U.S. Department of Justice or DoJ earlier this week voiced alarm over the acquisition, citing testimony from former Twitter employees suggesting a tumultuous atmosphere within the company, potentially jeopardizing compliance with the 2022 administrative order mandated by the Federal Trade Commission or FTC.
Musk is currently X's largest shareholder, Chief Technical Officer and executive chairman.
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SambaNova unveils an intelligent AI chip capable of running models up to 5 trillion parameters, enabling fast and scalable inference and training, without sacrificing model accuracy
SambaNova Systems, makers of the only purpose-built, full stack AI platform, announces a revolutionary new chip, the SN40L. The SN40L will power SambaNova's full stack large language model (LLM) platform, the SambaNova Suite, with its revolutionary new design: on the inside it offers both dense and sparse compute, and includes both large and fast memory, making it a truly "intelligent chip".
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919534495/en/
SambaNova's SN40L chip is unique on the inside it offers both dense and sparse compute, and includes both large and fast memory, making it a truly "intelligent chip". Rodrigo Liang, co-founder, and CEO of SambaNova Systems, holds the SN40L. (Photo: Business Wire)
SambaNova's SN40L, manufactured by TSMC, can serve a 5 trillion parameter model, with 256k+ sequence length possible on a single system node. This is only possible with an integrated stack, and is a vast improvement on previous state-of-the-art chips, enabling higher quality models, with faster inference and training, at a lower total cost of ownership.
"Today, SambaNova offers the only purpose-built full stack LLM platform the SambaNova Suite now with an intelligent AI chip; it's a game changer for the Global 2000," said Rodrigo Liang, co-founder, and CEO of SambaNova Systems. "We're now able to offer these two capabilities within one chip the ability to address more memory, with the smartest compute core enabling organizations to capitalize on the promise of pervasive AI, with their own LLMs to rival GPT4 and beyond."
The new chip is just one element of SambaNova's full-stack LLM platform, which solves the biggest challenges that enterprises face when deploying generative AI: "We've started to see a trend towards smaller models, but bigger is still better and bigger models will start to become more modular," said Kunle Olukotun, co-founder of SambaNova Systems. "Customers are requesting an LLM with the power of a trillion-parameter model like GPT-4, but they also want the benefits of owning a model fine-tuned on their data. With the new SN40L, our most advanced AI chip to date, integrated into a full stack LLM platform, we're giving customers the key to running the largest LLMs with higher performance for training and inference, without sacrificing model accuracy."
Introducing the SN40L, powering the SambaNova Suite:
SambaNova's SN40L can serve a 5 trillion parameter model, with 256k+ sequence length possible on a single system node. This enables higher quality models, with faster inference and training at a lower total cost of ownership.
Larger memory unlocks true multimodal capabilities from LLMs, enabling companies to easily search, analyze, and generate data in these modalities.
Lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for AI models due to greater efficiency in running LLM inference.
Based on six years of engineering and customer feedback, SambaNova's team thought deeply about customers' challenges with AI implementation the cost of training and inference, limitations on sequence length, and the speed (or latency) of LLMs and designed the LLM platform to be fully modular and extensible. This enables customers to incrementally add modalities, and expertise in new areas, and increase the model's parameter count (all the way up to 5T) without compromising on inference performance.
"SambaNova's SN40L chip is unique. It addresses both HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) and DRAM from a single chip, enabling AI algorithms to choose the most appropriate memory for the task at hand, giving them direct access to far larger amounts of memory than can be achieved otherwise. Plus, by using SambaNova's RDU (Reconfigurable Data Unit) architecture, the chips are designed to efficiently run sparse models using smarter compute," said Peter Rutten, Research Vice-President, Performance-Intensive Computing, at IDC.
New models and capabilities within SambaNova Suite:
Llama2 variants (7B, 70B): state-of-the-art of open-source language models enabling customers to adapt, expand, and run the best LLM models available, while retaining ownership of these models.
BLOOM 176B: the most accurate multilingual foundation model in the open-source community, enabling customers to solve more problems with a wide variety of languages, whilst also being able to extend the model to support new, low resource languages.
A new embeddings model for vector-based retrieval augmented generation enabling customers to embed their documents into vector embeddings, which can be retrieved during the Q&A process and NOT result in hallucinations. The LLM then takes the results to analyze, extract, or summarize the information.
A world-leading automated speech recognition model to transcribe and analyze voice data.
Additional multi-modal and long sequence length capabilities.
Inference optimized systems with 3-tier Dataflow memory for uncompromised high bandwidth and high capacity.
"Recent breakthroughs have highlighted the potential for AI to rapidly improve both our lives and our businesses. While the AI hype cycle drove curiosity for AI's potential, the Fortune 1000 is seeking more than a new capability they are asking for predictability, dependability, and enterprise-grade availability," said GV General Partner and SambaNova Series A Board Director Dave Munichiello. "SambaNova's announcement today underscores the company's commitment to providing reliable access to best-in-class open source models on top of world-class systems, putting the customer in control of their models, their data, and their compute resources."
About the SambaNova Suite
SambaNova Suite is the first full stack, generative AI platform, from chip to model, optimized for enterprise and government organizations. Powered by the intelligent SN40L chip, the SambaNova Suite is a fully integrated platform, delivered on-premises or in the cloud, combined with state-of-the-art open-source models, which can be easily and securely fine-tuned using customer data for greater accuracy. Once adapted with customer data, customers retain model ownership in perpetuity, so they can turn generative AI into one of their most valuable assets.
About SambaNova Systems
Customers turn to SambaNova to quickly deploy state-of-the-art generative AI capabilities within the enterprise. Our purpose-built enterprise-scale AI platform is the technology backbone for the next generation of AI computing.
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, SambaNova Systems was founded in 2017 by industry luminaries, and hardware and software design experts from Sun/Oracle and Stanford University. Investors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Intel Capital, GV, Walden International, Temasek, GIC, Redline Capital, Atlantic Bridge Ventures, Celesta, and several others. Visit us at sambanova.ai or contact us at info@sambanova.ai. Follow SambaNova Systems on Linkedin.
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Contacts:
Virginia Jamieson
virginia.jamieson@sambanova.ai
+1-650-279-8619
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. ("First Quantum" or "the Company") (TSX: FM) is deeply saddened to announce the passing of one of its founders and Chairman, Philip Pascall, on September 19, 2023. Philip passed away peacefully at home in Perth, Western Australia.
Philip co-founded First Quantum in 1996, serving as the Chairman since its inception and Chief Executive Officer until 2022. Under his leadership, Philip instilled an entrepreneurial and bold culture that saw the Company grow from a 10,000 tonnes tailings re-processor with the Bwana Mkubwa project in Zambia to one of the world's largest copper producers with operations spanning five continents and employing more than 20,000 people globally. Amongst the many legacies he leaves behind, the greatest source of Philip's pride were the many programs for the local communities in which First Quantum Minerals operates, bringing improved standards of health and education in often remote places.
The Board of Directors have voted to elect Robert Harding, Lead Independent Director, as the Company's Interim Chairman. Mr. Harding has been a Director of the Company since 2013 and has a full understanding of the Company's operations and unique culture. In his role as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Mr. Harding oversaw the Company's succession planning process that led to the appointment of Tristan Pascall to the role of Chief Executive Officer in May 2022.
"On behalf of the Board of Directors, we extend our sincerest condolences to the Pascall family and friends," said Robert Harding, Interim Chairman. "We are all indebted to Phillip for his extraordinary leadership at First Quantum, setting us firmly on the path to the modern, multi-national mining company that we are today. Philip was a friend and mentor and his passing will be profoundly felt across the Company and the many people and lives he impacted as a result of his vision."
"Whilst this is an enormous loss for all of us at First Quantum, Philip would not want us to dwell too long on his passing. He was always looking forward and was excited by the trajectory of the Company," said Tristan Pascall, Chief Executive Officer of First Quantum. "Philip drove First Quantum's focus on project execution, operational excellence and social responsibility and we intend to continue to build on his substantial legacy."
For further information, visit our website at www.first-quantum.com (http://www.first-quantum.com) or contact:
Bonita To, Director, Investor Relations
(416) 361-6400 Toll-free: 1 (888) 688-6577
E-Mail: info@fqml.com
The rising demand for cosmetic & personal care products globally and the growth in the application in the new field of medicine are projected to drive the growth of the global patchouli oil market during the forecast period from 2023 to 2032. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to be the most dominant by 2032.
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research has recently published a report, titled, "Patchouli Oil Market by Type (LIGHT PATCHOULI OIL, DARK PATCHOULI OIL), by APPLICATION (COSMETICS and PERSONAL CARE, MEDICINE, FLAVORINGS, OTHERS): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report, the global patchouli oil market generated $43.4 million in 2022 and is anticipated to generate $64.4 million by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 4.1% from 2023 to 2032.
Request Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/3119
Prime Determinants of Growth
Various therapeutic benefits associated with the use of patchouli oil, growing demand for personal care & cosmetic products, and the rising adoption of patchouli oil in aromatherapy are the factors anticipated to drive the patchouli oil market growth during the forecast period. However, the high costs of production and the strict import/export laws in various nations may hamper the patchouli oil market growth in the coming period. On the contrary, the increasing application in the field of medicine and the growing adoption of eco-friendly & sustainable products to offer growth opportunities for expansion of the patchouli oil market in the 2023-2032 forecast period.
Report Coverage & Details:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $43.4 million Market Size in 2032 $64.4 million CAGR 4.1 % No. of Pages in Report 290 Segments covered Type, Application, and Region Drivers Increasing demand for cosmetics & personal care products globally Growing adoption of patchouli oil in aromatherapy Rising trend among people for natural remedies to relax and enhance mental wellbeing Opportunities Growing application in the new field like medicine Rising adoption of environmentally friendly and sustainable solutions Restraints Increasing production costs and strict import laws in various nations
COVID-19 Scenario
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the growth of the global patchouli oil market. The epidemic led to disruptions in global supply chains, which affected the availability of raw materials and the delivery of finished products.
With people maintaining social distancing and staying at home there was a significant decrease in demand for fragrance products. The reduced need for cosmetic products and the closure of non-essential businesses further contributed to this declining growth of the patchouli oil market.
However, e-commerce became a key channel for cosmetic sales during the epidemic. Therefore, cosmetic brands with strong online presence were better positioned in the crisis in order to reach consumers.
Procure Complete Report (290 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures): https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/checkout-final/af8ca8223f8e47a29da49b364664785e
Type: Light Patchouli Oil Sub-segment Projected to Hold Major Market Share by 2032
The light patchouli oil sub-segment accounted for the highest market share of 62.8% in 2022 and is expected to continue to dominate during the forecast period. This is mainly because light patchouli oil offers an airer & softer sensation while preserving the essence of the classic aroma. Thus, it is a perfect option for anyone who wants the captivating charm of patchouli without the overwhelming richness. Besides, this type of patchouli oil has several advantages, such as the ability to improve mood, encourage relaxation, and reduce tension.
Application: Cosmetics & Personal Care Sub-segment to Flourish Immensely by 2032
The cosmetics & personal care sub-segment generated the highest patchouli oil market share of 41.6% in 2022 and is predicted to continue to dominate in terms of market share by 2032. This is mainly due to the growing usage of patchouli oil in new ways in the self-care & beauty industries. This oil is a preferred component in fragrances, lotions, and skincare products. Besides, the antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and astringent properties of patchouli oil make it beneficial in cosmetics formulations.
Region: Europe Market to be the Most Dominant by 2032
The Europe region accounted for the highest share of 41.5% in the global patchouli oil market in 2022 and is expected to hold the major market share during the forecast period. This is majorly because patchouli oil is widely used in Europe owing to its unique olfactory profile, which can give odors depth and richness. In addition, patchouli oil is frequently utilized in perfumes, colognes, and other fragrance items in the region. In addition, natural and organic products, including patchouli oil are gaining popularity in Europe as it is one of the many essential oils that have seen a rise in demand for aromatherapy and holistic health methods.
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Leading Players in the Patchouli Oil Market:
Van Aroma
Takasago International Corporation
PT. INDESSO AROMA
Eastern Agencies Aromatics Pvt. Ltd.
Nusaroma
PT. Djasula Wangi
Treatt Plc, Givaudan
Treatt Plc
PT. Botanagra Indonesia
Firmenich SA
The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players of the global patchouli oil 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 market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
Country Reports We Have in this Industry:
U.S. Patchouli Oil Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032
Canada Patchouli Oil Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032
Mexico Patchouli Oil Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032
Europe Patchouli Oil Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032
UK Patchouli Oil Market Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032
About Us:
Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.
We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.
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Registration is now open for the 2023 November medtech event, featuring over 170 exhibitors.
SANTA CLARA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley, the premier West Coast show connecting engineers and cutting-edge medtech device companies, announces a strategic partnership with California Life Sciences (CLS), the state's most influential and impactful life sciences organization.
With support from CLS, BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley will introduce start-up medical device companies from Northern California to potential suppliers, investors and engineers through the Start-up Stadium, Start-up Pavilion and Master Class Conference. The Start-Up Stadium and Pavilion provides a platform for emerging medical device manufacturers to get exposure and highlight their products and services through pitch presentations and product displays.
Taking place November 15-16, the two-day exposition and conference will explore regulatory hurdles in medical devices, commercial strategies for new products, next-generation applications in AI and robotics and showcase the latest technologies shaping the industry's landscape.
"Innovation in medical devices is crucial to the advancement of our highly technical industry," says Adrienne Zepeda, Group Event Director, Informa Markets. "To help bring life-saving solutions to the marketplace, BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley connects visionaries and industry veterans through dynamic education in the heart of technological transformation. The partnership with California Life Sciences allows us to create an outlet for newcomers in the industry and set the stage for future innovation in the business."
In 2021, medtech in California impacted more than $32 million in state revenue . As chronic diseases continue to have a growing presence across the US, the medical device industry increasingly relies on new products and digital solutions. Significant decision makers convene at BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley to connect in-person to develop new healthcare innovations.
Sponsored by CLS, this year's Master Class Conference Series will consist of two days of educational discussions including panel sessions, keynote presentations and expo floor tours. The Conference's carefully curated education focuses on start-up companies and participants looking to develop the latest products. Topics in the series include design and product development, regulation and policy updates, among others. Interested Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are able to sign up for the Conference as a registration add-on.
"CLS continues to partner with best-in-class conference providers who can provide our members with opportunities to access capital, find collaboration partners and source education on the industry's most pressing issues," notes Stacey Bowlin, SVP of Industry Engagement and Marketing, California Life Sciences. "We look forward to supporting our members at this year's BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley and showcasing California's leading transformative technologies."
Registration for BIOMEDevice Silicon Valley is available through? www.biomedevicesiliconvalley.com .
BIOMEDevice Boston, the east-coast based BIOMEDevice event, takes place September 20-21. Visit www.biomedboston.com for registration.
About Informa Markets - Engineering: ??
Informa Markets Engineering portfolio, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LON:INF), is the leading B2B event producer, publisher, and digital media business for the world's $3-trillion advanced, technology-based manufacturing industry. Our print and electronic products deliver trusted information to the engineering market and leverage our proprietary 1.3-million-name database to connect suppliers with buyers and purchase influencers. We produce more than 50 events and conferences in a dozen countries, connecting manufacturing professionals from around the globe. The Engineering portfolio is organized by Informa, the world's leading exhibitions organizer that brings a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit? www.informamarkets.com .??
About California Life Sciences (CLS):
California Life Sciences (CLS) is the state's most influential and impactful life sciences membership organization, advocating for the sector and its diverse innovation pipeline. For more than 30 years, CLS has served the community by supporting companies of all sizes, from early-stage innovators and startups to established industry leaders in the fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology. As integral components of a healthy and collaborative ecosystem, CLS also works closely with universities, academic and research institutions, the investment community, and other critical partners that promote this vibrant sector. With offices in South San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Washington DC, CLS works to shape public policy, improve access to breakthrough technologies, educate lawmakers, and advance equity within our ecosystem by championing innovative solutions for some of the most pressing challenges of our times. In doing so, CLS fulfills its mission to protect and nurture California's life sciences industry, empowering discoveries that lead to healthier lives around the world.
Media Contact: ??
Jordan Douglas??
Informa Markets Engineering??
pr.ime (@) informa.com??
SOURCE: Informa Markets Engineering
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MCALLEN, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / IENTC, a consolidated Mexican telecom company with over 10 years of experience in the Bajio region, is gearing up to reinforce its infrastructure with MDC Data Centers in Eagle Pass. The primary goal of this partnership is to provide an optimized service for its growing market, including the anticipated launch in Saltillo.
With IENTC's upcoming expansion to Saltillo, near Piedras Negras, the need for solid and secure infrastructure is paramount. The prospect of joining MDC Data Center in Eagle Pass, which has already garnered the interest of significant network operators from both Mexico and the U.S., represents a valuable opportunity for IENTC.
By leveraging MDC's BorderConnect Platform, which centralizes key presence points for Mexican and American networks along the border, IENTC aims to elevate its value proposition. This translates into enhanced connectivity for the enterprise segment, backed by reliable connectivity routes. An additional route connecting Dallas with Queretaro, going through Piedras Negras and Saltillo, aligns with IENTC's strategic vision.
"Digital transformation is a cornerstone at IENTC. The opportunity to collaborate with MDC in Eagle Pass aligns with our mission to be flexible, customer-centric, and efficient in all our operations," states Carlos Arguimabu, CEO of IENTC.
The combination of IENTC's trajectory with MDC's innovative BorderConnect Platform foresees a promising future in telecommunications in the region, setting a precedent for more integrated collaboration and connectivity.
About IENTC
IENTC is a robust network operator and telecommunications service provider that is rapidly expanding from the Bajio region to the center and north of Mexican territory. Leveraging a state-of-the-art fiber network, we cater to both wholesale and retail customers, offering a comprehensive range of telecom services across all markets in Mexico. With a vision of national expansion in the coming years, we are steadfastly focused on delivering an outstanding customer experience.
About MDC Data Centers
MDC Data Centers offers the ideal solution for networks seeking efficient and effective connectivity throughout Mexico. Our approach is based on centralizing the core points-of-presence for Mexican and North American networks in our neutral spaces located along the U.S. border. This convergence of northbound and southbound networks creates a dense network ecosystem on the border, which is further strengthened by our unique International Fiber Crossings infrastructure and secure, neutral hosting environment for network connections. Together, these components form our BorderConnect Platform, which aims to facilitate connections that empower customers and communities by uniting networks, countries, and people.
For more information, visit mdcdatacenters.com or follow MDC Data Centers on LinkedIn and Twitter at @mdcdatacenters.
MDC Media Contacts:
PH: +19564293400
Email: mkt@mdcdatacenters.com
Contact Information
Julio Hernandez
Marketing & Innovation
julio.hernandez@mcallendc.com
+19544770404
SOURCE: MDC Data Centers
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'There's No Room for Tobacco in a Net Zero World'
Tobacco Free Portfolios is delighted to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge at a high-level side event at UN Headquarters on September 19, 2023, on the sidelines of the 2023 UN General Assembly. The event is proudly co-sponsored by the governments of France, The Netherlands, and Jamaica, and supported by the United Nations' Environment Program Finance Initiative, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, and the UN Principles for Responsible Banking.
The theme for the side event is 'There's No Room for Tobacco in a Net Zero World' on account of Big Tobacco's outsized negative impact on both people and planet. Global health, finance, and diplomatic leaders will celebrate the progress of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. There are now 200+ leading financial institutions, from more than 20 countries, with >US$16 trillion combined assets under management that are Signatories to the Pledge. Recent notable Pledge Signatories include major French banks Societe Generale and Credit Mutuel, two of Australia's largest banks Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ, and AIMCo, one of Canada's largest pension plans.
Given worldwide focus on Net Zero ambitions combined with tobacco's alarming environmental impacts, Tobacco Free Portfolios encourages investors to embed 'tobacco-free' into Net Zero strategies. To illustrate the rationale, cigarette filters, made from cellulose acetate, are the most littered item on the planet and a top contributor to ocean plastic waste. It's also estimated that the production of tobacco leads to ~5% of global deforestation and results in vast carbon emissions.
Quotes:
Prof Bronwyn King, CEO Tobacco Free Portfolios
"The past five years has seen the rapid mainstreaming and acceleration of sustainability efforts, along with a rise in greenwashing allegations. The Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge speaks to authentic sustainability commitments, that recognize the crucial role of finance in the global transition to a Net Zero future."
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
"Every dollar invested in a tobacco company is an investment in death and disease. We must fight tobacco on every front in kiosks, on billboards, in the courts and on the financial markets."
Minister Aurelien Rousseau, Minister of Health and Prevention, France
"It is my conviction that the environmental dimension constitutes one of the key pillars in the fight against smoking. This is clearly the case with disposable electronic cigarettes, which we plan to ban from sale in France. Highly popular with young people, they are a rapid route to nicotine addiction. Besides, their components, particularly the lithium batteries, are totally at odds with our objectives in the fight against pollution."
Mrs. Marjolijn Sonnema, Director General for Public Health, The Netherlands
"The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is more critical than ever, especially in light of the rising vaping epidemic among youth. The Netherlands stands ready as an important partner, to work towards a sustainable healthy future."
Dr The Hon Minister Christopher Tufton MP, Minister of Health and Wellness, Jamaica
"Jamaica remains committed to investing in tobacco control, for the protection of human health as well as the health of the environment. The 15-year period return on investment for tobacco interventions show that for every dollar invested in tobacco control in Jamaica, one can expect to see 5.37 Jamaican dollars return. We are keen to solidify those gains. Jamaica also encourages the continued engagement and partnership of players from the finance sector in supporting the transition to a net zero world in which tobacco has no place."
Mr Jean-Yves Fillion, Vice-Chair BNP Paribas USA
"BNP Paribas is proud to be a Founding Signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, which is now successfully celebrating its fifth year. Beyond the health implications, a tobacco-free world is instrumental to abate healthcare costs and global environmental harm."
Mr Nicolas Thery, CEO Credit Mutuel
"We formalize today our refusal of the tobacco industry, with the conviction that we must act for the common good, in particular for the preservation of the environment and human health."
Mr Stephane About, CEO Societe Generale USA
"The concepts of responsibility and sustainability are at the core of our strategy," said Stephane About, CEO, Societe Generale Americas. "Being a signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and supporting this event are symbolic of our commitment to improving the health of the people on this planet, as well as the health of the planet itself."
Mr Shayne Elliot,CEOANZ
"ANZ acknowledges the important role that financial institutions can play in addressing global health priorities, including the harmful impacts of tobacco products. For this reason, ANZ is proud to sign the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and pleased to offer our continued support to this important initiative."
Attorney General Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California
"The dangers of smoking to both people and our environment are undeniable. Thanks to initiatives like the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, we're helping to mitigate those dangers around the world by better deploying the power of investments. There's still progress we need to make, and as Attorney General of the state with the fifth largest economy in the world, I look forward to continuing to help in any way that I can."
Mr David Atkin, CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment
"At PRI we're proud to support the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and to see the strong progress the initiative has made over the past five years, with more than 200 financial institutions becoming signatories. As an issue that spans both the social and environmental spectrum, the role investors can play is clear as is the realisation that a net-zero future must also be one that is tobacco-free."
Dr Diana Sarfati, Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health, New Zealand
"Aotearoa New Zealand's goal to be a smokefree nation by 2025 will be realised through our bold Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan. The multi-faceted and world-leading measures we are taking represent our unwavering commitment to our people and our planet.
Tungia te ururua, kia tipu whakaritorito, te tipu o te harakeke
When you clear away the scrub (things that are negative) you enable new growth"
Dr. Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Director General for the United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico
"Tobacco consumption and exposure to its smoke is a serious public health problem; it is even considered the first cause of death in the world that is completely preventable and avoidable. Let's put all our energy into a tobacco-free world."
"El consumo de tabaco y la exposicion a su humo es un serio problema de salud publica, incluso se considera como la primera causa de muerte en el mundo que es totalmente prevenible y evitable. Pongamos toda nuestra energia en un mundo libre de tabaco!"
Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, Qatar
"Qatar warmly congratulates Tobacco Free Portfolios for the success of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. We collectively need to keep the fight against tobacco at the center of our action to protect population health and the environment. Besides implementing well known strategies to reduce tobacco consumption, this initiative underlines the need to go beyond the boundaries of the health and environment sectors towards actions which tackle the financial mechanisms allowing the tobacco industry to operate and prosper".
Ms. Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
"The tobacco industry has caused immeasurable damage to the health and well-being of millions of people around the world, as well as the environment. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is proud to work with Tobacco Free Portfolios and other partners to hold the industry accountable and end the enormous harm it causes."
Rev Horace L. Sheffield III, Executive Director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations Pastor at New Destiny Christian Fellowship Church
"With 8 million tobacco-related deaths per year, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that tobacco companies have been causing devastating harm to people and the environment for far too long. It is time for the community to recognize the grave consequences of tobacco and take action toward divesting from this industry. We need to unequivocally say that there is no room for tobacco in this vision of a net-zero world."
Ms. Katja Iversen, CEO, UN Live Museum for the United Nations
"Popular culture like film and music can shape behaviors positively and negatively. Research shows that exposure to tobacco imagery in movies and television is a key factor in young people picking up smoking. This is also an example of how our decisions are often more based on identity and culture, than on knowledge, even when it concerns our own health. Let's double down on prevention and make sure that popular culture also plays its part."
Ms. Agamroop Kaur, Youth Health Advocate and Documentary Maker
"It is clear that investing in and enabling the tobacco industry creates a future that undermines our collective health and the health of our planet. The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is incredibly important in supporting the vision of young people for a sustainable future for generations to come."
Relevant links
Link to 2023 UN event footage
The Pledge website
LinkedIn
TEDx talk
About Tobacco Free Portfolios
Tobacco Free Portfolios is a not-for-profit organization that encourages financial institutions to reflect on and reconsider commercial relationships with the tobacco industry in light of the alarming impact of tobacco on people and the planet. The organization's flagship initiative, the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, launched in 2018 at United Nations' Headquarters and currently has 200+ signatories, representing >US$16 Trillion in AUM committed to tobacco-free finance. Our aim is to create a tobacco-free future.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919872484/en/
Contacts:
Media
Alaine Gee, CMP ag@tobaccofreeportfolios.org +1 (503) 927 3859
BURBANK (dpa-AFX) - The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Tuesday announced its plan to double capital investment in its Parks, Experiences, and Products segment to roughly $60 billion in around 10 years. The investment will expand its domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity. Disney Parks has seen growth following previous periods of significant investment, which included the additions of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, Star Wars Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland Resort, Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, and others. Disney will explore even more characters and franchises as it embarks on a new period of significant growth in its parks and resorts. Disney's Parks business is a key driver of value creation for the company, and positive segment results in recent quarters through the third quarter have come in part from a strong performance at Disney's international parks, particularly those in Asia. As previously announced, over the next two years, Disney will nearly double the worldwide capacity of its cruise line, adding two ships in fiscal year 2025 and another in 2026. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
QINGDAO, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hisense, the global consumer electronics and appliances corporation, has joined among global enterprises including Leica Camera, Texas Instruments, Nichia and others, in the Fourth Global Laser Display Industry Forum held today in Qingdao, China.
With a speech titled 'Scenarios bloom, laser display open the best era', Dennys Li, President of Hisense Visual Technology, presented Hisense's scenario-driven strategy for the Laser TV. In his keynote, Dennys introduced Hisense's journey in leading a global innovation for the Laser TV, starting with the world's first 100-inch Laser TV in 2014, which was key for global growth of the business. In 2023, Hisense released the world's first 8K Laser TV, bringing the industry into the 8K era, and the company continues to innovate with breakthroughs in consumer-focused products, based on its leading patents, international standards, and quality.
Meeting consumer's needs in various scenarios in daily life through personalized products and services is a core value of the products Hisense manufactured. With a focus on serving an increasing demand for oversized screens at home, Hisense today unveiled the world's first foldable Laser TV L5K, offering true colors powered by the next-gen Laser Engine LPU, consumers can get the theater experience with IMAX Enhanced through large screens for living room that can easily pass through a door, while being friendly on consumers eyes.
The increase of scenarios for smart living also accelerated the collaborative innovation of industrial chains and has increased twice compared with 2021. Last July, Hisense formed a strategic partnership with Leica Camera AG, a leader in in the field of high-quality optical lenses and jointly developed the first Leica Laser TV, and it will soon put on sale the first home theater Laser TV in China this week.
The Laser TV is leading the high-end manufacturing for Hisense's globalization. With a coverage of more than 40 countries and regions, Hisense's Laser TVs are sold in over 250 mainstream channels, such as Bestbuy and COSTCO in the US and BOULANGER in France.
To continuously drive the growth and expansion of the global laser display industry, Hisense will fully leverage its global channel resources, with an unwavering commitment to invest in innovative laser display development, forging deep alliances and creating the future with all partners.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2214803/1.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hisenses-laser-tv-continues-to-extend-boundaries-of-scenarios-for-smart-home-living-with-the-worlds-first-foldable-laser-tv-l5k-301932030.html
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Concerned shareholder Grant Sawiak says that an additional 5 million proxies were received as at the close of business on September 18. This brings the total number of shares voting for the alternate slate to over 80 million representing 42% of the shares eligible to vote at the September 26 annual shareholders meeting. Shareholders' anger is increasing at the entrenched directors for not only destroying shareholder value but also for misusing treasury funds that were supposed to "go into the ground". The current board's extensive efforts to entrench themselves is palpable. "The $5 million private placement done in early 2023 was raised specifically for drilling, metallurgy and upgrading the PEA" said Mr. Sawiak. "The current board's claim that they have no funds to drill in the 2023 season as a result of my actions in trying to replace them is simply false. What they do not want shareholders to know is that the real reason there are no funds for drilling is that the entrenched board made a conscious decision to divert the monies raised on the private placement to pay Bay Street lawyers and high priced consultants in order to entrench themselves".
"The 'weaponization of NWST's treasury' is not only grossly improper, it also breaches the legal duty directors owe all shareholders which is to act in their best interests" added Mr. Sawiak. "The conscious decision by the entrenched directors to spend shareholders' money to ensure that they continue to sit on a board in order to collect fees and grant themselves options is legally indefensible."
IF YOU WISH TO VOTE WITH MR. SAWIAK TO CHANGE THE BOARD OF NWST CONTACT HIM IMMEDIATELY BY:
1. CALLING HIM AT 1.416.917.2816; OR
2. EMAILING HIM AT gvsawiak@hotmail.com
ON OR BEFORE SEPTEMBER 21, 2023.
Information in Support of Public Broadcast Solicitation
The Concerned Shareholder is relying on the exemptions contained in Section 9.2(2) and Section 9.2(4) of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations to solicit proxies from no more than 15 securityholders and by soliciting proxies by broadcast, speech or publication. The Concerned Shareholder may also choose to file a dissident information circular in due course in compliance with applicable securities laws. A copy of the press release and the Nominating Shareholder Notice which collectively contains all information on the Concerned Shareholder's Nominees as required by National Instrument 51-102 and Form 51-102F5 were filed on SEDAR+ on August 4, 2023 and are available for viewing there.
The information contained herein, and any solicitation made by the Concerned Shareholder in advance of the Meeting, is or will be, as applicable, made by the Concerned Shareholder and not by or on behalf of the management of NWST. All costs incurred for any solicitation will be borne by the Concerned Shareholder and by Mr. John Kimmel, provided that, subject to applicable law, Messrs. Sawiak and Kimmel may seek reimbursement from NWST of their out-of-pocket expenses, including proxy solicitation expenses and legal fees, incurred in connection with a successful reconstitution of the Company's board of directors. Other than in respect of their beneficial ownership, control or direction of securities of the Corporation described above, none of Messrs. Sawiak and Kimmel or any of their associates or affiliates has any material interest, direct or indirect, by way of beneficial ownership of securities or otherwise, in any matter to be acted upon at the Meeting other than the election of directors.
A Registered Shareholder who has given a Proxy may revoke the Proxy by: (a) completing and signing a Proxy bearing a later date and depositing it at the offices of Odyssey, 350- 409 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 1T2 or and following the online voting instructions given to you no later than 10:00 a.m. (Vancouver time) on the second Business Day preceding the date of the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof; (b) depositing an instrument in writing executed by the Registered Shareholder or by the Registered Shareholder's attorney duly authorized in writing or, if the Registered Shareholder is a body corporate, by a duly authorized officer or attorney either with Odyssey, 350-409 Granville Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 1T2 at any time up to and including the last Business Day preceding the day of the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof or with the Chair of the Meeting prior to the commencement of the Meeting on the day of the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof; or (c) in any other manner permitted by Law. Such instrument will not be effective with respect to any matter on which a vote has already been cast pursuant to such Proxy. If a Registered Shareholder who has submitted a Proxy attends the Meeting, any votes cast by such Registered Shareholder on a ballot at the Meeting will be counted and the submitted Proxy will be disregarded.
Only Registered Shareholders have the right to revoke a Proxy. Non-Registered Shareholders that wish to change their voting instructions must, in sufficient time in advance of the Meeting, contact their Intermediary to arrange to change their voting instructions.
The Concerned Shareholder has engaged Shorecrest Group Ltd. to act as proxy solicitor in respect of this matter and will incur expenses of up to $120K plus out of pocket expenses. The Concerned Shareholder may engage the services of one or more other agents and authorize other persons to assist in soliciting proxies on behalf of the Concerned Shareholder. Any proxies solicited by or on behalf of the Concerned Shareholder, including by any other agent retained by the Concerned Shareholder, may be solicited in any other manner permitted under Canadian corporate and securities laws. Any such proxies may be revoked by instrument in writing executed by a shareholder or by his or her attorney authorized in writing or, if the shareholder is a body corporate, by an officer or attorney thereof duly authorized or by any other manner permitted by law.
The head office of NWST is located at Suite 1900, 1055 West Hastings Street Vancouver, British Columbia V6E 2E9. A copy of this press release may be obtained on NWST's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.com.
For more information contact:
Grant Sawiak
416.917.2816
SOURCE: Grant Sawiak
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785461/grant-sawiak-says-his-alternative-slate-of-directors-now-has-received-proxies-representing-over-80-million-votes-and-puts-entrenched-directors-of-northwest-copper-tsxv-nwst-on-notice-that-continued-misuse-of-treasury-funds-invites-lawsuits-for-personal
MISSISSAUGA, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Science&Humans (S&H), a consumer-first digital platform for hormone health treatments, will be hosting a major campaign and charity event in support of menopause awareness. This October - Menopause Awareness Month - S&H will be deploying skydivers at various drop zones around North America under the banner "Jump for Menopause" to raise awareness, combat stigma, and provide treatment options.
S&H has developed the "Jump for Menopause" campaign because of its staggering effect on women both personally and professionally. It is currently estimated that one quarter of Canada's 19-million-person work force are women over the age of 40. 10% of these women will be forced out of the workplace because their menopause symptoms are debilitating, leaving senior positions empty and taking their valuable knowledge and experience with them. Of the women who stay and are contemplating leaving, 74% feel their employer is not supportive or don't know if their employer will provide enough support to help them manage this unavoidable stage of life.
As a member of S&H's Medical Advisory Board, Endocrinologist and Geneticist Dr. Fady Hannah-Shmouni MD FRCPC, shares the economic impact of menopause in the United States alone, "With over 1 million women in the U.S. undergoing menopause each year, and a projected 1.1 billion postmenopausal women worldwide by 2025, the potential in the menopause market is immense, particularly for innovative companies offering frictionless and consumer centric-digital products and services."
How women are coping with menopause at home is even more devastating. In today's world it seems as though no subject is off-limits for discussion but, shockingly, half of women feel that menopause is a "taboo" topic and feel unprepared for a phase that could last nearly 10 years .
S&H Co-Founder and COO, Hira Siddiqui, expresses, "Women spend roughly one-third of their lives navigating the unique challenges of menopause-a journey often shrouded in taboo and silence. As a millennial, I'm keenly aware that my generation is on the brink of this milestone, facing a glaring lack of preparedness and a cloud of misinformation. Our mission is clear: to offer unwavering support and empower women, ensuring they not only endure but thrive during this decade-long journey, guided by evidence-based solutions."
Women simply feel alone and helpless while trying to manage their symptoms as 41% of women in Canada attempted to seek out medical advice, but 72% of those found it to be either not helpful or only somewhat helpful . In the United States, 45% of women share that menopause symptoms have affected their lives, but 20% say they experienced symptoms for longer than a year before receiving a formal diagnosis and 34% experiencing symptoms have not sought out a formal diagnosis or received one. These women feel as if there is no reliable support system and that needs to change. Throughout the stages of menopause, women can experience the well-known symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats but a vast majority are unaware that urinary tract infections, heart palpitations, headaches and migraines, anxiety, depression, and memory issues can all be a result as well.
Because of these harsh realities, awareness campaigns are often created in the wake of tragedy, such as the 2022 "Shattered" campaign that ran in the UK and was inspired by a Yorkshire local who had lost his wife to suicide at the age of 56. This is exactly why S&H is determined to bring awareness to the cause in a more positive light that focuses on proactive treatment and preventative action.
So far, S&H has released the locations Clewiston and Sebastian, Florida, and Niagara Falls and Toronto, Ontario, as drop zones with more to come. Skydive Spaceland Clewiston will be leading "Jump for Menopause" as the very first drop zone with co-owners Lisa and Rick Hornsby excited to lend hands-on assistance to lift the campaign off the ground. The team of skydivers at each 'drop' throughout October will be led by Chris Serrano , who is an award-winning creative director and skydiving athlete based in Florida. Additionally, S&H has selected Women's Health Collective Canada ( WHCC ) as the recipient of all donations that will be given on behalf of this campaign. Numerous individuals have already pledged their support to this campaign, as they prepare to launch, it is anticipated many more will contribute.
Entities interested in becoming a sponsor of "Jump for Menopause" will have tiered sponsorship options to choose from and as part of all packages will become a Women's Health Accredited Employer . As an accredited employer, entities will receive a free HR toolkit, education sessions and assistance with navigating access to care that will aid in empowering all employees in an inclusive and informed workplace with the right information to support their hormone health and wellbeing.
For all persons and companies looking to support "Jump for Menopause" on social media, the official campaign hashtags are: jumpformenopause, menopauseawarenessmonth, science&humans, menopause, menopausesupport, menopausehealth, womenshealth, and hormonehealth.
About Science & Humans (S&H)
Science & Humans is a first-of-its-kind platform transforming how individuals fulfill their hormone health and wellness needs. The company's consumer-first digital platform offers treatments for hormone health, longevity, aging, and sexual wellness. Science & Humans is dedicated to providing accessible options and results for individuals living with hormone imbalances in North America.
As S&H grows, the future will have a particular focus on treatments for women as the company has recently expanded from being exclusive to men's health to a gender-inclusive platform.
S&H is excited to release more details of its upcoming "Jump for Menopause" campaign ahead of the October activation and is thrilled to be reaching many more women and supporters with its commitment to championing women and catalyzing menopause awareness in North America.
Patient transformation stories and detailed product information is available on the S&H website at www.scienceandhumans.com, while entities looking to sponsor "Jump for Menopause" are asked to contact S&H directly.
*Disclaimer: The foundations and/or associates acknowledged for their campaigns or research in this press release are entirely independent and not associated with our products or organization in any manner.*
Contact Information:
Aftab Pashaw (Founder & CEO)
Email: communications@scienceandhumans.com
Website: https://www.scienceandhumans.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scienceandhumans/?viewAsMember=true
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scienceandhumans_ca/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
SOURCE: Science&Humans
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785131/jump-for-menopause-sciencehumans-spreads-its-wings-for-over-100-million-women-across-north-america-during-menopause-awareness-month-this-october
ZHENGZHOU, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the profound culture of the Yellow River, promote international cultural exchanges, and expand the influence of Chinese civilization, the 2023 China (Zhengzhou) Yellow River Cultural Month officially kicked off on September 14 in central China's Zhengzhou city, with the "Henan, Cradle of China" Yellow River tour for international and local media launched at the Zhengzhou Site Museum of the Shang Capital.
Media from the U.S., Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Azerbaijan, and more are joining leading Chinese media on a journey of discovery to understand Zhengzhou, Henan, and China through the lens of history. Following the launching ceremony, the media group took a tour of "The Might Capital of Bo: A Paragon of Royal Capitals and Roaring Currents - Exhibition of Stone Inscriptions and Rubbings in the Lu Xun Museum's Collection" at the museum.
"Zhengzhou is a landmark city of the Yellow River culture. In recent years, Zhengzhou is dedicated to building the brand of "Henan, Cradle of China" by hosting various activities in the Yellow River Culture Month for three years, which helps promote the cultural icon of Zhengzhou, 'the Center of Heaven and Earth, the Source of Chinese Civilization, and the City of Kungfu', in an all-around way," said Lv Tinglin, deputy secretary of the CPC Zhengzhou Committee.
The Yellow River, also known as China's "Mother River," is the second largest river in China and one of the longest river systems in the world. The three-day "Henan, Cradle of China" media tour includes visiting Zhengzhou Shang Dynasty National Archaeological Site Park, Zhengzhou Yellow River Cultural Park, the Imperial Mausoleum of the Northern Song Dynasty, Grotto Temple, Du Fu's Hometown Cultural Park, the Yellow River Museum, Shaolin Temple, and more for a comprehensive experience of learning about the Yellow River civilization, Chinese history, and Chinese culture from ancient times to the present.
Henan Province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization; its development and growth are strongly linked to and evolved with the Yellow River culture. Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province with a long history and rich culture, is developing rapidly with vigor and full strength, boasting tremendous potential and opportunities.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213430/yellow_river.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/yellow-river-tour-for-international-media-in-chinas-zhengzhou-promotes-cross-cultural-exchanges-301932088.html
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Bracewell LLP announced today that Kasia Lebiecki has joined the firm's corporate and securities practice as a partner in the Dubai office. Lebiecki most recently was at Shearman & Sterling LLP, where she advised clients on a range of M&A and private equity transactions.
"We are excited to welcome Kasia to the firm," said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp. "Her broad transactional experience brings additional strength to our ability to represent client needs in the UAE and larger Middle East region."
Lebiecki has extensive experience representing sovereign-owned, corporate and private equity clients on global M&A transactions, predominately in the energy sector. She has advised Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), NEOM Company and Investcorp on various M&A, capital markets and general corporate advisory matters. During her tenure with Shearman & Sterling, Lebiecki was seconded to ADNOC, where she helped establish and launch two oil trading units: ADNOC Trading and ADNOC Global Trading. In addition, Lebiecki was seconded with the strategic M&A team of HSBC, Hong Kong.
"Kasia is an outstanding practitioner whose wealth of experience deepens our general commercial offering and will help grow our M&A transactional practice in the Middle East," said Christopher R. Williams, managing partner of Bracewell's Dubai office.
Since its founding in 2007, Bracewell's Dubai office has served as a hub of regional excellence for clients with business interests in the Middle East and Africa. Bracewell has been an "Infrastructure and Energy Projects Team of the Year" finalist five times at the annual Middle East Legal Awards, winning the award twice in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the corporate and general commercial team in Dubai has built a distinguished reputation for advising on complex commercial contracts, joint ventures, M&A and corporate structuring matters in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as throughout Africa.
"I am exciting to join Bracewell's thriving team in the Middle East and work with my new partners in continuing to serve the legal needs of clients in the region," said Lebiecki.
Lebiecki received her LLB, with honors, in 2008 from the University of Manchester, where she won the RG Lawson Prize for Environmental Law. She completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Law, Chester in 2009.
About Bracewell LLP
Bracewell is a leading law and government relations firm primarily serving the energy, infrastructure, finance and technology industries throughout the world. Our industry focus results in comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge of the commercial, legal and governmental challenges faced by our clients and enables us to provide innovative solutions to facilitate transactions and resolve disputes.
###
Contact:
Jay Plum
T: +1.212.508.6197
E: jay.plum@bracewell.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181116
Salt Lake City, Utah--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Snap Finance LLC (Snap), provider of fast, flexible pay-over-time consumer financing solutions, has issued the following response to a complaint filed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Snap has filed a motion to dismiss all claims in the CFPB's complaint. Snap disagrees with the CFPB's factual allegations, and we are eager for the opportunity to disprove them. While we share the CFPB's concerns for transparency and fairness, we believe the lawsuit misrepresents Snap's practices and is a serious overreach against the lease-to-own industry. This is especially true considering the statutes in question apply exclusively to credit products, not lease-to-own financing.
Since our launch in 2012, Snap has diligently followed regulatory norms and industry best practices to provide consumers with a clear understanding of how our financial products work. We have been at the forefront of point-of-sale financing companies in shifting regulatory disclosures, summaries of product and financial terms, and digital signatures to our customers' devices. We honor our customers' rights and pride ourselves on being an industry leader in transparency, ease, and fairness. While we are fighting the CFPB's allegations, we will not be deterred from providing the best-in-class support we are known for as we serve our customers and partners.
About Snap Finance
Snap Finance harnesses the power of data to empower consumers of all credit types to get what they need. Launched in 2012, Snap's technology brings together more than a decade of data, machine learning, and non-traditional risk variables to create a proprietary decisioning platform that looks at each customer through a more holistic, human lens. Snap's flexible, lease-to-own and loan solutions are changing the face and pace of consumer retail finance. For more information, visit snapfinance.com.
Contact details:
Cindy Bouwhuis
cbouwhuis@snapfinance.com
m: +1(801)706-4540
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181047
Mary Kay Inc., a global leader in skin care innovation, recently revealed breakthrough research on a treatment that diminishes the visible effects of pollution and aging on human skin. The findings, which Mary Kay shared at the first International Societies for Investigative Dermatology (ISID) Meeting, significantly improved skin firmness and the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles over the course of the study.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919497711/en/
"Mary Kay scientists have spent years researching the latest ingredient innovations to best defend against free radicals and help delay the onset of premature skin aging," said Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Innovation Officer, Product Science at Mary Kay. (Photo: Mary Kay Inc.)
"Mary Kay scientists have spent years researching the latest ingredient innovations to best defend against free radicals and help delay the onset of premature skin aging from environmental and lifestyle stressors such as car exhaust and air pollution," said Dr. Lucy Gildea, Chief Innovation Officer, Product Science at Mary Kay.
The research was also published in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science.
Scientists at Mary Kay have been investigating the effects of air pollution on skin through multiple academic collaborations since 2016. Previous efforts have analyzed the biochemical responses of human skin cells to various forms of pollution, including diesel exhaust and urban air pollution. Key findings revealed a proprietary blend of antioxidants reduces those responses.
"There is no remaining doubt that air pollution contributes to skin aging," said Dr. Jean Krutmann, a pioneer of environmental medicine, Professor of Dermatology and Director of the IUF Leibniz Research Institute for Environmental Medicine in Dusseldorf, Germany. He has been leading research to determine the effect of air pollution on human skin since publication of the key paper in 2010 to show the effect of airborne particle exposure on skin aging.
The findings presented at the 2023 ISID are just the latest efforts by Mary Kay to reinforce the brand's long-standing commitment to advancing research and development in skin health and beauty. Mary Kay holds more than 1,600 patents for products, technologies, and packaging designs in its global portfolio.
About Mary Kay
Then. Now. Always. One of the original glass ceiling breakers, Mary Kay Ash founded her dream beauty brand in Texas in 1963 with one goal: to enrich women's lives. That dream has blossomed into a global company with millions of independent sales force members in more than 35 countries. For 60 years, the Mary Kay opportunity has empowered women to define their own futures through education, mentorship, advocacy, and innovation. Mary Kay is dedicated to investing in the science behind beauty and manufacturing cutting-edge skincare, color cosmetics, nutritional supplements, and fragrances. Mary Kay believes in preserving our planet for future generations, protecting women impacted by cancer and domestic abuse, and encouraging youth to follow their dreams. Learn more at marykayglobal.com, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, or follow us on Twitter.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919497711/en/
Contacts:
Mary Kay Inc. Corporate Communications
marykay.com/newsroom
972.687.5332 or media@mkcorp.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intech is pleased to announce the appointment of Katherine Hardenbergh as Senior Vice President and Director of Research, effective September 5, 2023. In her new role, Hardenbergh will spearhead efforts to develop novel alpha signals, focusing on a broad application across global markets and strategies. She will report to Dr. Ryan Stever, Deputy CIO, and a former colleague at Acadian Asset Management.
CEO Dr. Jose Marques stated, "Katherine embodies our innovative approach at Intech, bringing a wealth of experience that positions her as an invaluable asset. Her appointment marks a significant milestone in Intech's journey, showcasing our commitment to fostering top-tier talent and ushering in a bright, transformative future."
Dr. Ryan Stever, Deputy CIO, commented, "Katherine's unique blend of academic rigor and practical investment expertise perfectly syncs with our strategic vision, making her an exceptional addition to our team. Our history together reinforces the continuity and innovation we strive for at Intech."
Hardenbergh's appointment is Intech's most recent addition to its investment team since the company's MBO last year, further bolstering its commitment to investment excellence.
Hardenbergh expressed enthusiasm for her new role, saying, "I'm thrilled to join Intech at such a pivotal time post-MBO and look forward to the company's promising future. This is an exciting step in my career that aligns well with my experience and interests."
About Katherine Hardenbergh
Hardenbergh brings over a decade of experience in the investment field, holding instrumental roles at Acadian Asset Management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Her tenure includes positions in responsible investing, global equity research, and equities electronic trading.
Her academic pursuits are also noteworthy, as she serves as an Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, teaching a graduate-level Investment Management course, where she imparts her hands-on investment insights to the next generation of financial professionals.
Hardenbergh holds a Master's Degree in Mathematics in Finance from New York University and two degrees from Lehigh University: a BS in Integrated Business and Engineering and a BS in Information and Systems Engineering.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Media Contact
Andre Prawoto
Chief Marketing Officer
Phone: 1-561-776-2226
Email: aprawoto@intechinvestments.com
About Intech
Intech is a private, employee-owned quantitative asset manager investing on behalf of pension funds, governments, endowments, foundations, and other institutional investors worldwide. Having pioneered the application of Stochastic Portfolio Theory in 1987, Intech continues to seek distinctive alpha sources for clients in alternative equity, defensive equity, sustainable equity, and traditional long-only strategies.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0c0a213b-a927-4439-b4d5-44439070cb29
Merging with Transition and going public will enable Arverne Group to accelerate its growth and create the future French leader in geothermal energy and low-carbon lithium to drive the energy transition
Arverne benefits from a strengthened capital structure and the support of new major strategic and financial investors such as Eiffel Investment Group, ADEME Investissement, Credit Mutuel Equity and Sycomore AM
Renault Group becomes a major shareholder and partner of Lithium de France, a subsidiary of Arverne Group, by signing a lithium supply contract
Regulatory News:
Not to disseminate, publish or distribute, directly or indirectly, in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia or any other jurisdiction in violation of the applicable laws of such jurisdiction.
Arverne Group (ISIN: FR001400JWR8, Euronext Paris: ARVEN) ("Arverne" or the "Company") announces the definitive completion of its business combination with Transition, its listing today on the Professional Segment (Compartiment Professionnel) of the regulated market of Euronext Paris, and its inclusion in the Tech Leaders index.
Arverne is a new French industrial and multidisciplinary player in the energy transition. The Group, founded by Pierre Brossollet in 2018, has unique expertise in geosciences and extensive experience in exploration and drilling operations to access untapped underground resources in order to transform them into renewable energy. Integrated across the entire value chain, Arverne combines geothermal energy, for a local and cost-effective heat production, with the extraction and processing of low-carbon lithium to supply the electric vehicle battery industry. As a mission-driven company, Arverne's ambition is to accelerate the energy transition using local underground geo-resources by becoming a leading player in the renewable energies sector in France.
The combination of Arverne's and Transition's expertise and resources, together with the Company's listing on Euronext Paris, will allow to accelerate the growth of the subsurface resource business to create the future French leader in low-carbon geothermal and lithium energy, driving the energy transition.
"The listing on Euronext Paris is a major step forward for Arverne, enabling us to accelerate our growth and achieve our objectives to begin geothermal energy production in 2025 and lithium production in 2027. By capitalizing on our unique know-how and strategic positioning across the entire subsurface value chain, we will be accelerating our growth in France to support the energy transition," commented Pierre Brossollet, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Arverne Group.
"With Transition, we wanted to play an active role in the energy transition, which is entering a decisive new phase and will see the emergence of a new type of players. By leveraging the power of finance to drive the energy transition, our goal was to support a leading player to evolve into a champion. Thanks to its unique know-how, Arverne has the ideal profile: the Company can unlock the value of geothermal resources and sustainably develop them to drive a pragmatic energy transition that contributes to the prosperity of local territories", added the three founders of Transition, Xavier Caitucoli, Erik Maris and Fabrice Dumonteil, Chairman of Eiffel Investment Group, the management company of the Eiffel Essentiel SLP fund.
Arverne Group's strategy is based on three pillars. Firstly, maximizing value creation by accompanying the fundamental trends in the European energy transition market, which is generating long-term needs for geothermal energy and lithium. Secondly, the pursuit of profitable growth by building on a portfolio of identified strategic projects to transform the Company into a major player, capable of fully exploiting subsurface resources. Finally, optimizing the vertical integration of its activities (from subsurface analysis to drilling to commercialization) in order to multiply its opportunities.
Arverne has now around 162 million to finance its portfolio of projects in the best possible conditions and develop the most appropriate technologies for lithium extraction and processing.
These financial resources come from (i) funds raised by Transition as part of its initial public offering which were not subject to redemption request, (ii) funds raised by Transition as part of the PIPE carried out in conjunction with the business combination between Transition and Arverne Group, and (iii) funds previously invested in Arverne Group by Transition's sponsors in the form of convertible bonds1
Following this operation, Arverne benefits from a strengthened capital structure, with the support of major new strategic and financial investors such as ADEME Investissement, Renault Group, Credit Mutuel Equity and Sycomore AM. Having these new investors just a few months after Hydro and Equinor Ventures invested in Lithium de France (a subsidiary of Arverne Group) at the time its latest financing, highlights the growing interest of leading players in Arverne's projects. In addition, the strategic lithium supply agreement signed between Renault Group and Lithium de France, evidences the relevance of the Company's solutions to tackle the future energy transition challenges, particularly in the field of electric mobility.
To the best of the Company's knowledge and excluding the 15,246,672 Class B preferred shares to be redeemed and cancelled by the Company on October 5, 2023, its share capital and voting rights are currently distributed as follows:
On a non-diluted basis Shareholders Ordinary shares Founders'
Shares % of capital % of voting rights
(4) Pierre Brossollet*(1) 8 545 293 21,5 24,6 Sebastien Renaud*(2) 628 947 1,6 1,8 Sub-total Executive Officers 9,174,240 23 % 26,4 % Xavier Caitucoli*(3) 1 482 062 1 455 901 7,4 4,3 Eiffel Essentiel SLP 2 495 178 1 455 901 9,9 7,2 ADEME Investissement* 3 364 358 340 037 9,3 9,7 Renault SAS* 2 944 736 340 037 8,2 8,5 Sycomore AM 1 900 000 4,8 5,5 Other shareholders 13 425 428 1 455 901 37,4 38,6 Total 34 786 001 5 047 776 100,00% 100,00%
Corporate officers and directors of the Company.
(1) Held through Arosco, Pierre Brossollet's holding company. Mr Pierre Brossollet is the direct beneficiary of the free shares allocated by Arverne Group.
(2) Held through Sebastien Renaud's holding company. Mr. Sebastien Renaud is the direct beneficiary of the free shares allocated by Arverne Group.
(3) Held through Crescendix (or an entity controlled by Crescendix), a French societe par actions simplifiee 100% owned directly by Mr. Xavier Caitucoli.
(4) Excluding class A2 preferred shares, class A3 preferred shares and ;class A4 preferred shares, which do not carry voting rights.
(5) Including the shareholding of Erik Maris, one of the founders of Transition SA.
Arverne Group shares began trading today on the Professional Segment (Compartiment Professionnel) of the regulated market of Euronext Paris under the symbol ARVEN for ordinary shares and ARVBS for warrants.
About Arverne Group
Arverne Group, a mission-driven company, is an industrial and multidisciplinary player in the energy transition, putting its expertise and professional ethics at the service of local communities, in the context of local and ecologically responsible development of subsurface resources, for an innovative energy mix adapted to the needs of future generations.
www.arverne.earth
Advisors:
Arverne Group
Law firm: Jones Day Financial advisors: Rothschild Co Transition SA
Law firm: Bredin Prat Financial advisors: Atlas Financial Solutions et CIC Market Solutions Lead Manager and Bookrunner: CIC Market Solutions
Important notice
The distribution of this document may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Persons in possession of this document are required to inform themselves of such restrictions and to observe them.
This press release is provided for information purposes only. It does not constitute, and shall not be deemed to constitute, an offer of securities to the public, nor a solicitation of an offer of any kind in any jurisdiction, including France.
European Economic Area France
This press release does not constitute a prospectus, but rather a promotional communication of an exclusively informative nature. It does not constitute, and shall not under any circumstances be deemed to constitute, an offer to the public of financial securities by the Company, nor a solicitation of the public for an offer of any kind whatsoever in any country, including France.
Copies of the prospectus prepared by Transition for the admission to listing and trading on the professional segment of the regulated market of Euronext Paris of the ordinary shares to be issued as a result of the completion of the merger of Transition and Arverne Group (the "Merger" and the "Merger Prospectus") and a copy of the prospectus prepared by Transition for the admission to trading on the professional segment of the regulated market of Euronext Paris of the ordinary shares to be issued in connection with the "PIPE" capital increases (the "Prospectus"). prospectus prepared by Transition for the purpose of the admission to trading on the professional segment of the regulated market of Euronext Paris of the ordinary shares to be issued in connection with the "PIPE" capital increases (the "PIPE Admission Prospectus") approved by the AMF on July 27, 2023 under numbers 23-331 and 23-332 respectively, are available free of charge from the Company's registered office at 2, avenue du President Pierre Angot, 64000 Pau, France, as well as on the 'Arverne Group (https://arverne.earth/en/investors) and of the AMF (www.amf-france.org) websites. The Merger Prospectus and the "PIPE" Admission Prospectus include a detailed description of Transition, including a section describing certain risk factors relating to the merged entity Arverne Group, the Merger, and the "PIPE" capital increases. The approval of the Merger Prospectus and the "PIPE" Admission Prospectus by the AMF should not be construed as a favorable opinion on the Company's securities covered by these prospectuses.
Investors may not subscribe for or acquire the securities referred to in this press release except on the basis of the information contained in the Merger Prospectus and the Admission Prospectus, as applicable.
The distribution of this press release may be subject to specific regulations in certain countries. Persons in possession of this press release should inform themselves of and observe any local restrictions.
The Company's shares admitted to trading on the professional segment of the Euronext Paris regulated market are intended solely for Qualified Investors, as defined in Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 of June 14, 2017 and in accordance with the provisions of Article L. 411-2, 1 of the French Monetary and Financial Code.
United Kingdom
This press release does not constitute an offer of securities to the public in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, this press release may only be distributed to, and is only directed at, persons (a) who are "qualified investors" within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the Prospectus Regulations as transposed into UK domestic law by the EUWA and (b) (i) who have professional experience of investments governed by the provisions of Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order"), or (ii) "high net worth entities", "unincorporated associations" or other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated in accordance with Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons being hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons"). In the United Kingdom, no person other than a Relevant Person may act on the basis of this announcement. Any investment or investment activity referred to in this press release may only be made by Relevant Persons. Persons distributing this press release must ensure that such distribution is legally authorized.
United States of America
This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to subscribe for or purchase, or the solicitation of an order to subscribe for or purchase, any securities of the Company in the United States or in any other jurisdiction in which such transaction may be restricted. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). The Company's securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act, and the Company does not intend to make a public offering of securities in the United States.
Canada
This press release and the information it contains do not constitute, and will not constitute, an offer to the public to subscribe for or sell, or the solicitation of an offer to subscribe for or buy, any financial securities of the Company in any province or territory of Canada. Financial securities may not be offered or sold in Canada in the absence of a prospectus registering such financial securities in the relevant provinces and territories of Canada, or a prospectus exemption pursuant to the applicable stock exchange regulations in Canada, it being specified that the Company's financial securities have not been and will not be registered as part of a prospectus pursuant to the applicable stock exchange regulations of any province or territory of Canada, and the Company does not intend to proceed with such a registration of its financial securities or with a public offering of financial securities in Canada.
This announcement is not made, and copies thereof may not be distributed or sent, directly or indirectly, in the United States of America, Canada, Australia or Japan.
Public information
Potential investors in the Company are invited to consult the Merger Prospectus and the "PIPE" Admission Prospectus before making an investment decision in order to fully understand the potential risks and benefits associated with the decision to invest in the Company's securities. In particular, potential investors are invited to read the risk factors described in the Merger Prospectus and the "PIPE" Admission Prospectus approved by the AMF on July 27, 2023.
Copies of the Merger Prospectus and a copy of the Admission Prospectus "PIPE" approved by the AMF on July 27, 2023 under numbers 23-331 and 23-332 respectively, are available free of charge at the Company's registered office, located at 2, avenue du President Pierre Angot, 64000 Pau, France, as well as on the Arverne Group (https://arverne.earth/en/investors) and AMF (www.amf-france.org) websites.
1 In accordance with their terms and conditions, the convertible bonds were converted into ordinary shares (at the same value per share retained in the merger between Arverne Group and Transition) immediately prior to the effective completion of the aforementioned combination.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919691077/en/
Contacts:
Media Relations
communication@arvernegroup.earth
arvernegroup@image7.fr
Investor Relations
investor.relations@arverne.earth
Regulatory News:
CARMAT (FR0010907956, ALCAR), designer and developer of Aeson, the world's most advanced total artificial heart, aiming to provide a therapeutic alternative for people suffering from advanced biventricular heart failure, announces today the participation of various members of its management team in the following scientific and investor conferences during the second half of 2023:
Scientific Conferences
17th EUMS European Mechanical Circulatory Support Summit
September 3 to 6, 2023 (Paris, France)
International Scientific Conference Multidisciplinary Approach to Heart Failure Therapeutic Devices
For more information, click here.
JFIC-CAT
September 21-22, 2023 (Bordeaux, France)
The French-speaking heart failure congress
For more information, click here.
37th EACTS Annual Meeting
October 4 to 7, 2023 (Vienna, Austria)
Scientific conference organized by the European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
For more information, click here.
36th Journees de la Pitie (Pitie-Salpetriere University Hospital Days)
October 18-20, 2023 (Paris, France)
National conference on cardiac surgery organized by the cardiology institute of the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital.
For more information, click here.
7th EACTS Mechanical Circulatory Support Summit
November 2-4, 2023 (Copenhagen, Denmark)
European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery scientific conference on mechanical circulatory assistance.
For more information, click here.
Investor Conferences
Portzamparc BNP Paribas Biotech Health seminar
October 4 and 5, 2023 (virtual event)
Investor forum organized by Portzamparc, the BNP Paribas Group's investment bank specializing in the French small and mid-cap segment.
EuroLand Corporate investor seminar
November 22, 2023
Forum bringing together EuroLand Corporate's client investment funds and listed companies.
About CARMAT
CARMAT is a French MedTech that designs, manufactures and markets the Aeson artificial heart. The Company's ambition is to make Aeson the first alternative to a heart transplant, and thus provide a therapeutic solution to people suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure, who are facing a well-known shortfall in available human grafts. The world's first physiological artificial heart that is highly hemocompatible, pulsatile and self-regulated, Aeson could save, every year, the lives of thousands of patients waiting for a heart transplant. The device offers patients quality of life and mobility thanks to its ergonomic and portable external power supply system that is continuously connected to the implanted prosthesis. Aeson is commercially available as a bridge to transplant in the European Union and other countries that recognize CE marking. Aeson is also currently being assessed within the framework of an Early Feasibility Study (EFS) in the United States. Founded in 2008, CARMAT is based in the Paris region, with its head offices located in Velizy-Villacoublay and its production site in Bois-d'Arcy. The Company can rely on the talent and expertise of a multidisciplinary team of more than 200 highly specialized people. CARMAT is listed on the Euronext Growth market in Paris (Ticker: ALCAR ISIN code: FR0010907956).
For more information, please go to www.carmatsa.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Name: CARMAT
ISIN code: FR0010907956
Ticker: ALCAR
Disclaimer
This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe to, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe to, shares in CARMAT (the "Company") in any country. This press release may contain forwardlooking statements that relate to the Company's objectives and prospects. Such forwardlooking statements are based solely on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company's management and involve risk and uncertainties including, without limitation, the Company's ability to successfully implement its strategy, the rate of development of CARMAT's production and sales, the pace and results of ongoing and future clinical trials, new products or technological developments introduced by competitors, changes in regulations and risks associated with growth management. The Company's objectives as mentioned in this press release may not be achieved for any of these reasons or due to other risks and uncertainties.
The significant and specific risks pertaining to the Company are those described in the Universal Registration Document ("Document d'Enregistrement Universel") filed with the Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF, the French stock market authorities) under number D. 23-0323. Readers and investors' attention is, however, drawn to the fact that other risks, unknown or not deemed to be significant or specific, may or could exist.
Aeson is an active implantable medical device commercially available in the European Union and other countries that recognize CE marking. The Aeson total artificial heart is intended to replace the ventricles of the native heart and is indicated as a bridge to transplant in patients suffering from end-stage biventricular heart failure (INTERMACS classes 1-4) who are not amenable to maximal medical therapy or a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) and are likely to undergo a heart transplant within 180 days of the device being implanted. The decision to implant and the surgical procedure must be carried out by healthcare professionals trained by the manufacturer. The documentation (clinician manual, patient manual and alarm booklet) should be read carefully to understand the characteristics of Aeson and information necessary for patient selection and the proper use of Aeson (contraindications, precautions, side effects). In the United States, Aeson is currently exclusively available within the framework of an Early Feasibility Study authorized by the Food Drug Administration (FDA).
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919780206/en/
Contacts:
CARMAT
Stephane Piat
Chief Executive Officer
Pascale d'Arbonneau
Chief Financial Officer
Tel.: +33 1 39 45 64 50
contact@carmatsas.com
Alize RP
Press Relations
Caroline Carmagnol
Tel.: +33 6 64 18 99 59
carmat@alizerp.com
NewCap
Financial Communication Investor Relations
Dusan Oresansky
Quentin Masse
Tel.: +33 1 44 71 94 92
carmat@newcap.eu
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares
PR Newswire
LONDON, United Kingdom, September 19
For immediate release
19 September 2023
FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC
(the "Company")
MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES
The Company announces that it has today purchased 100,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 869.61 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.
The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 17 January 2023.
Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 19,758,379; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 205,232,924.
The figure of 205,232,924 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
For and on behalf of
Frostrow Capital LLP
Company Secretary
For further information, please contact:
Victoria Hale
Frostrow Capital LLP
Tel: 020 3 170 8732
EQS-News: PlusPlus Capital Financial S.a.r.l. / Key word(s): Bond
PlusPlus to hold adjourned bondholders meeting for EUR 2022/2026 bonds on 26 September 2023
19.09.2023 / 19:00 CET/CEST
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
PlusPlus to hold adjourned bondholders meeting for EUR 2022/2026 bonds on 26 September 2023
Tallinn, Estonia, 19 September 2023. PlusPlus Capital ("PPC"), a leading Pan-Baltic and Finnish technology-driven receivables management group, has previously communicated that it did not pay interest on the Bonds which was due on 31 July 2023.
For this purpose, PlusPlus convened a meeting of the bondholders to propose to agree on a standstill period with regard to the obligation of PlusPlus to pay the Interest in order to work on raising necessary funding through a share issue. The meeting of the bondholders, which was scheduled on 29 August 2023, did not take place because the required quorum was not reached. However, PlusPlus notes that 81.00 per cent of the votes cast was in favour of the proposal.
Currently, PlusPlus is actively working on a restructuring solution which may, subject to the bondholders deciding against the termination of the Bonds and the enforcement of the Guarantees, include a buyback offer of the Bonds and securing funding for operational activities of the company over the coming years. PlusPlus will reach out to the bondholders in a timely manner with respect to such solution.
As a consequence of the aforementioned and upon request from Greenmarck Restructuring Solutions GmbH as Agent under the Terms and Conditions, PlusPlus asks the bondholders whether they intend to (i) terminate the Bonds and (ii) instruct the Security Agent to enforce the Guarantees and the Transaction Security Documents.
PlusPlus recommends that the bondholders decide against the termination of the Bonds and the enforcement of the Guarantees and the Transaction Security Documents.
All the necessary documents for the voting are available on the website of PlusPlus Capital:
https://pluspluscapital.eu/investor-relations/reports-and-presentations/
Contact:
PlusPlus Capital AS
Kaarel Raik, Member of the Management Board
Email: kaarel.raik@plusplus.ee
Phone: +372 56 606 148
About PlusPlus Capital:
PlusPlus is a pan-Baltic and Finnish technology-driven receivables management company with offices in Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, and Helsinki. The Company acquires overdue loans and other non-performing exposures from financial institutions and non-financial sector merchants. With its core competence in handling claims against private individuals, PlusPlus prefers diversified portfolios balanced by geography, portfolio type, and other metrics.
Since its inception in 2010, PlusPlus has bought over 117 thousand claims with nominal value of approximately EUR 289 million as at 31 December 2022. The Company offers its clients affordable recovery solutions and aims to avoid litigious scenarios. In doing so, PlusPlus pursues win-win solutions that allow sellers to focus on their core business, provide affordable solutions for borrowers, and ensure adequate returns for investors.
PlusPlus is a transparent and socially responsible company set to assist people in resolving problems connected with their insufficient solvency. The ambition of PlusPlus is to increase its market share and further strengthen its position as a leading player in its regional market.
pluspluscapital.eu
19.09.2023 CET/CEST Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.eqs-news.com
The company's contribution promotes cybersecurity and STEM education for high school and UAH students
RESTON, VA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / CACI International Inc (NYSE:CACI) announced today that it has donated a flight simulator to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to teach and demonstrate the principles of cybersecurity to both high school students and more than 2,000 UAH students who are pursuing cyber-related degrees.
"This flight simulator has served CACI's mission well, and now it's time to give it a second life. This simulator will help train students who may choose a career to support our government customers and industry workforce of tomorrow," said Meisha Lutsey, CACI President of Operations Support and Services. "We are proud to be able to provide such a unique and educational resource to the students of UAH."
This recent donation is part of the company's dedication to supporting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, especially when it comes to developing a future cybersecurity workforce.
The flight simulator, which is a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved Redbird King Air 350 Advanced Aviation Training Device (AATD), was used by CACI to provide scenario-based training to over 100 pilots before deployment to Afghanistan. Going forward, the interactive, state-of-the-art training device will be in the UAH Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education Laboratory.
This donation is the second commitment CACI has made in the pursuit of STEM education in the Huntsville area, following a partnership with the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE).
To learn more about CACI Cares, visit https://www.caci.com/caci-cares.
ABOUT CACI
CACI's approximately 22,000 talented employees are ever vigilant in providing the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address our customers' greatest enterprise and mission challenges. Our culture of good character, innovation, and excellence drives our success and earns us recognition as a Fortune World's Most Admired Company. As a member of the Fortune 1000 Largest Companies, the Russell 1000 Index, and the S&P MidCap 400 Index, we consistently deliver strong shareholder value. Visit us at www.caci.com.
# # #
Corporate Communications and Media:
Lorraine Corcoran
Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications
(703) 434-4165, lorraine.corcoran@caci.com
Dr. David Puleo, Dr. Tommy Morris, Mr. Austin Smith, Congressman Dale Strong, and Mr. James Johnson stand in front of the Redbird King Air 350 Advanced Aviation Training Device at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from CACI on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: CACI
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/caci
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: CACI
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785572/caci-donates-flight-simulator-to-the-university-of-alabama-in-huntsville
WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - While the Commerce Department released a report on Tuesday showing a much sharper than expected pullback in U.S. housing starts in the month of August, the report also showed a much bigger than expected surge in U.S. building permits.
The report said housing starts plunged by 11.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.283 million in August after jumping by 2.0 percent to a revised rate of 1.447 million in July.
Economists had expected housing starts to decrease to an annual rate of 1.440 million from the 1.452 million originally reported for the previous month.
With the substantial pullback, housing starts tumbled to their lowest level since hitting an annual rate of 1.266 million in June 2020.
Single-family housing starts slumped by 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 941,000, while multi-family housing starts plummeted by 26.3 percent to an annual rate of 342,000.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said building permits surged by 6.9 percent to an annual rate of 1.543 million in August after inching up by 0.1 percent to a revised rate of 1.443 million in July.
Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, were expected to rise to an annual rate of 1.445 million from the 1.442 million originally reported for the previous month.
With the sharp increase, building permits reached their highest level since hitting an annual rate of 1.555 million last October.
While single-family permits jumped by 2.0 percent to an annual rate of 949,000, multi-family permits soared by 15.8 percent to an annual rate of 594,000.
'August's home construction data appear to be showing some cracks in the armor of what has been one of the few strong indicators in the housing market recently,' said Nationwide Economist Daniel Vielhaber. 'Still, it's important to note that that there could be a noise component here as much of the sharp decline in starts came from the multifamily sector, which is notoriously volatile.'
He added, 'However, the decline in builder sentiment - particularly the fall in expected sales in the next six months - could lead to more slow paces in the months to come.'
On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders released a separate report showing homebuilder confidence in the U.S. has unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of September.
The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index slumped to 45 in September after tumbling to 50 in August. Economists had expected the index to come in unchanged.
The housing market index dropped below the key breakeven measure of 50 for the first time in five months, as persistently high mortgage rates above 7 percent continue to erode builder confidence.
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MUNICH, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The next Service Business Forum is set to take place in Vienna on September 28 and 29. With the slogan "Service Business Drives Profits", the focus is on the challenges and opportunities involved in the transition from a product-centered to a customer-oriented business model for services. The event is being organized by Noventum Service Management. Event partners are Syncron and GMS.
The Service Business Forum acts as a platform for decision-makers and managers of manufacturing companies. The aim of the event is to analyze and discuss global business and technology trends, debate relevant service transformation topics, and share service best practices.
Syncron workshop for service transformation at one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction machinery
A Syncron workshop entitled "Define the steps to manage risks in developing customer business related services" is planned for the second day of the event. During the workshop, attendees will gain insights into case studies and findings, based on the example of a leading, internationally active manufacturer of construction machinery. Together with Syncron, the manufacturer has developed service-oriented business models. Representatives from Syncron will talk about the challenges, successes and lessons learned from the collaboration.
Sarang Sambare, Senior Director at Syncron, will then talk about the steps and strategic best practices required to achieve the transition to a result-oriented business model. To conclude, strategies for the successful introduction of services related to customer business, and the associated management of risks, will be discussed.
Inspiration for transformation
"The service economy is a megatrend that is developing dynamically. It is therefore especially important for manufacturing companies to stay up to date and position themselves strategically with a view to new market requirements. The Service Business Forum is an ideal starting point in this regard.
Syncron has been helping companies develop service-centric business models for many years. In our workshop, we provide insights into customer success stories and give attendees tried-and-tested ideas for achieving their own transformation. I am looking forward to inspiring discussions with numerous experts and industry representatives."
- Sarang Sambare, Senior Director at Syncron
More information about the event: https://noventum.eu/Service-Business-Drives-Profits
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Phenom Resources Corp. (TSXV: PHNM) (OTCQX: PHNMF) (FSE: 1PY0) ("Phenom" or the "Company") is pleased to provide its best estimated target date of October 1, 2023, for the commencement of drilling on its Carlin Gold-Vanadium Project, Nevada. The drill contractor has been engaged. Drill hole RC23-17, a 2000' hole is planned to test the gold system at depth. The drill site is located where near-surface gold of up to 1.4g/t Au (0.044oz Au/t) in outcrop is considered geochemical "leakage" above the deeper target zone and flanking the confluence of the north-south graben fault and a northwest trending splay fault. North-south and northwest oriented faults are the most significant fault orientations influencing gold mineralization in the Carlin gold trend. Hole RC23-17 will drill into a funnel-shaped IP anomaly.
Paul Cowley, President & CEO states, "Dave Mathewson and I are excited to drill Hole RC23-17 which has been delayed until now due to availability of drill rigs in the region. Hole RC23-17 follows the impressive findings in hole RC22-16 from last summer which encountered the best features of the gold system to date; the most intense alteration and gold mineralized (dolomite-silica-pyrite) Popovich limestone starting at a 1680' depth."
About Phenom Resources Corp.
Phenom has 100% interest in the Carlin Gold-Vanadium Project, located in Elko County, 6 miles south from the town of Carlin, Nevada and Highway I-80 which hosts the Carlin Vanadium deposit, North America's largest highest grade primary vanadium resource. The Project lies in the Carlin Gold Trend. Approximately 9 million ounces comprised of multiple gold deposits, including past producing mines, are present near the Phenom property (5-15km).
ON BEHALF OF PHENOM RESOURCES CORP.
per: "Paul Cowley"
CEO & President
(604) 340-7711
pcowley@phenomresources.com www.phenomresources.com
Technical disclosure in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Paul Cowley, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and President, CEO and director of the Company.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-looking information
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking" statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance. All such statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to vary from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties, they should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and they will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions on the date of this news release, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities regulations.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181144
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Carol Cone ON PURPOSE
Words by Carol Cone
The term ESG is fine, according to a recent poll of 1,000 Americans. Despite continued polarization related to the acronym, which stands for environmental, social and governance, the majority of Americans believe it's the best way to describe a company's approach to improve business, society and the environment. Before we get to the data, though, it's important to understand why we asked this question in the first place.
How did we get here?
Over the past year, a rising chorus of conservative U.S. voices have claimed that ESG is "woke capitalism," or corporate virtue signaling about social and environmental concerns which they see as beyond the bounds of business.
The issue drew President Joe Biden's first presidential veto in March of this year, defending legislation related to ESG investing and bringing the issue into the national spotlight. ESG is facing such a significant backlash that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, long one of the financial industry's staunchest proponents for purpose and ESG, doesn't even want to use the term - though BlackRock's policies around society, the environment, and business governance remain unchanged.
It's also important to establish that whatever you call them, sound ESG practices are not new, and are indeed vital to operating a responsible, ethical, and profitable business. As Fortune sustainability reporter Eamon Barrett observed, "major corporations documenting their environmental, social, and governance policies for investor scrutiny is actually a decades-old process." At its core, ESG is a means to broaden the lens on what constitutes key drivers of business value, accompanied by efforts to measure and report on what matters for individual company operations via standardized reporting frameworks.
Americans say ESG is a-okay
We partnered with Purpose Collaborative member Reputation Leaders, a global research and thought leadership consultancy, to ask Americans what term they feel best describes "the approach companies take to improve business, society and the environment."
ESG and sustainability are tied for the top, at 23 percent each. Corporate social responsibility is second, at 21 percent, followed by purpose (11 percent), corporate citizenship (8 percent), stakeholder capitalism (7 percent) and stewardship (5 percent).
Across demographic groups, ESG and sustainability are the favored terms among men, while women prefer "corporate social responsibility," a phrase that connotes a sense of obligation. ESG is also the top choice for younger audiences, particularly those aged 25 to 34, while consumers aged 55 to 64, prefer the term "sustainability." There are regional differences, as well. People living in the Northeast prefer sustainability, while their Southern and Midwestern counterparts prefer ESG.
Reputation Leaders also analyzed the tone of media coverage related to Americans' top three terms: ESG, CSR and sustainability. CSR garnered the largest share of positive sentiment at 37 percent, with sustainability in second place at 32 percent and ESG trailing at 20 percent. ESG was the only term to have a significant amount (10 percent) of negative sentiment.
What now?
This study can help support companies in exploring the terms they will use to discuss the impact their business has on society. It is important to develop a clear, shared perspective and take a long-term view.
From the United Nations to the World Economic Forum, global leaders are advocating for businesses to embed a net-positive approach into their operating models to accelerate innovation and impact. Increasingly, employees, customers, supply chain partners, and others are asking about the ESG commitments of the companies they work for or with. Business leaders need to have answers and a strong point of view on which issues are most important to their business, and why. Our best advice? Don't worry about what you call it - stick to your organization's long-term, strategic commitments to stakeholders, society and the environment.
When it comes to communications, here are three ways to help depolarize the conversation:
Be clear about the goals of ESG. ESG is not about imposing a set of values on business. It provides a framework for companies to assess and optimize their value and impact.
ESG is not about imposing a set of values on business. It provides a framework for companies to assess and optimize their value and impact. Increase transparency around ESG data and metrics. This will help to ensure that investors and other stakeholders are making informed decisions.
This will help to ensure that investors and other stakeholders are making informed decisions. Embrace standardized reporting frameworks. This will make it easier to compare companies' ESG performance - think: the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) or the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).
Yes, the polarization will continue, especially as the 2024 presidential election nears. As the world continues to endure climate impacts from extreme heat and flooding to record-breaking wildfires, there also will be greater demand for businesses to address environmental challenges.
Scores of studies suggest that ESG - done right - drives sustainable competitive advantage and can accelerate organizational growth over the long-term. An impressive 80 percent of investors believe that companies with strong ESG practices can generate higher returns and make for better long-term investments, according to research from Morgan Stanley.
By continuing to show a link between ESG issues and the business, we can help to make the debate around ESG more constructive and less polarizing. This will ultimately benefit businesses, investors and society as a whole.
Reputation Leaders is a global thought leadership consultancy. Our people are passionate about business as a force for good, believing that profit and purpose can co-exist by aligning brand purpose with responsibility towards the environment, society and corporate citizenship. Reputation Leaders Ltd managed the study which ran with 1,000 nationally representative respondents in the U.S. in July 2023.
The Purpose Collaborative is a global group of 45+ firms and subject matter experts in 20+ countries with 500+ professionals, all developing breakthrough work to help organizations accelerate their purpose, ESG, and sustainability commitments. Member capabilities include research and data analytics, employee engagement, sustainability strategy and reporting, digital marketing, creative programming and storytelling, and video production. Learn more here.
Image credit: blacksalmon/Adobe Stock
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Carol Cone ON PURPOSE on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Carol Cone ON PURPOSE
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/carol-cone-purpose
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Carol Cone ON PURPOSE
View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/785623/we-asked-americans-what-they-think-about-the-term-esg-their-answers-were-eye-opening
BEIJING, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, the People's Government of Beijing Municipality co-hosted a thematic side-event on "Digital Empowerment of Cultural Heritage". Lazare Elondou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Li Qun, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and Administrator of the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, and Tan Xuxiang, Vice Mayor of Beijing, attended the event and delivered speeches.
China's innovative practice in "Digital Empowerment of Cultural Heritage" was highly recognized by the participants and international organizations. "From virtual tours to heritage lists and 3D models of archaeological sites, heritage digitization is thriving." commented Lazare Elondou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "China's heritage managers share their good practices through regular reports, such as 3D digital scanning virtual restoration, real-time monitoring of visitor volumes, etc., which are crucial for heritage conservation and management." He believes that China has considerable experience and expertise in the field of heritage protection and could share a number of good practices in the use of digital technology to protect heritage with other countries.
Led by the establishment of a large national database of cultural relics resources, China has carried out a lot of work in the digital protection of cultural relics, the digitalization of business management, the digitalization of public services, and the digitalization of exhibitions. A series of digital practices such as the Digital Forbidden City, Digital Dunhuang, Digital Great Wall, and Digital Beijing Central Axis provide useful references for countries to use digital technology to enhance the level of protection and management of world cultural heritage.
As one of the organizers of this event, Beijing, the capital of China, has a city-building history of more than 3,000 years and a capital-building history of more than 800 years. While fully implementing the overall protection of the old city, many attempts have been made in digitally empowering cultural heritage. Through the "Digital Time-teller at night" project, Beijing encourages the public to take photos to participate in cultural heritage monitoring; It has presented the "Tanyuan Platform", through the cooperation with Tencent and successively launched the Beijing Central Axis, the Capital Museum, the Sanxingdui Museum, and inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty, and has accumulated more than 50 cultural heritage units and more than 1,000 cultural heritage digital resources.
The Beijing Cultural Heritage Photography Exhibition and the International Youth Painting Exhibition and the Digital Beijing Cultural Experience Activities were held simultaneously at the side-event, attracting guests from all over the world to visit and interact with each other.
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital Clinica Biblica, the largest private hospital in Costa Rica, has joined the Global Provider Network (GPN), a step that widens access to affordable and world-class healthcare offerings in Costa Rica for American consumers and self-funded employers.
The GPN is a network comprising the world's leading hospitals, offering comprehensive and easy access to complex bundled and transparent medical packages for facilitators, insurance companies, self-funded employers, government referrals, and individual healthcare consumers.
GPN ensures that referral organizations can now swiftly tap into a network of healthcare providers with pre-negotiated discounts and commissions. Simultaneously, healthcare providers can expand their reach and patient base, courtesy of the swift access to a robust global network of referral organizations, and consumers through Global Healthcare Resources.
"Our partnership with the Global Provider Network is a huge watershed moment for us and for Costa Rica," said CEO of Hospital Clinica Biblica, Gerardo Sanchez Cordero. "Clinica Biblica has a long history of treating medical tourists and providing a high level of healthcare. Joining the Global Healthcare Resources demonstrates our commitment to and capacity to provide quality care to American medical tourists, taking our business to the next level."
Sanchez added that the hospital staff are excited about the opportunities GPN brings, as it opens the door to strategic collaborations with self-funded employers' services and opens the door to new opportunities.
Clinica Biblica Hospital is accredited by Joint Commission International. This accreditation has been maintained for 15 years, and it is based on the international standards of hospital quality established by JCI. The hospital has also attained the seal and accreditation of the Global Healthcare Accreditation, demonstrating its strong capacity and commitment toward excellent patient experience and quality healthcare.
This milestone partnership achieved by Clinica Biblica Hospital is part of the strategic planning of the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica, which seeks to position Costa Rica at a highly competitive level in terms of medical services worldwide.
"Not only are we backed by the trajectory we have in our country, but with this collaboration, we are able to assure our users that the processes are coordinated and efficient and that they are based on high standards of knowledge and culture of quality," Sanchez added.
This comes as the hospital has begun rapid expansion with the construction of a new branch on the east side of the city of San Jose. It will be a medical tower located in a mini-city, with spaces such as a hotel, office centers, restaurants, and shops, as it prepares to attract international patients.
Clinica Biblica has become a driving force of excellent healthcare in Costa Rica, with numerous testimonials locally.
"I have been treated like a King," says Rodrigo Salazar, who reports receiving excellent care in the hospital's intensive care unit, where he said the patient experience was out of this world. Other patients have also shared their experiences of truly personalized care from the well-trained and skilled hospital staff.
Clinica Biblica, they've all said, is one hospital that truly cares about and prioritizes excellent patient outcomes and treats their patients as whole human beings with families, hopes, and dreams, and not just as medical cases.
GPN, launched by Global Healthcare Resources, the leading authority in medical travel, provides targeted and innovative solutions to challenges that stakeholders face in accessing world-class healthcare and scaling profitability.
GPN essentially solves the problem of access, allowing referral organizations and healthcare providers to access each other easily and seamlessly, thus, allowing each to access more patient volumes and clients.
GPN also solves some of the challenges faced by referral organizations and healthcare providers, including:
Limited time and resources to establish and expand their provider network
Limited knowledge or purchasing power to negotiate the best discounts or commissions
Long wait times to secure a contract with healthcare providers
Lack of knowledge in identifying the right healthcare providers, who provide top-quality services and are committed to excellent patient experience and global best practices.
Difficulty in accessing user-friendly technology and payment models that make transactions simple and accessible.
"I have personally known Clinica Biblica for almost 20 years and it was one of the first hospitals we collaborated with when we launched the Medical Tourism Association. My family members and I experienced firsthand the high-quality healthcare and the amazing patient experience that the hospital has to offer. We are excited to take that long-lasting relationship and move it to another level," said Jonathan Edelheit, CEO & Co-founder of Global Healthcare Resources and the Medical Tourism Association.
The American market is already at the breaking point with costs of healthcare. Costa Rica and Clinica Biblica present a safe, high quality and affordable option for major medical procedures, such as bariatric care, orthopedics and heart surgery," Jonathan added.
Besides having access to a wider pool of patient population, health payers, and referral organizations for healthcare providers, as well as access to world-class healthcare providers for buyers, GPN also features participants in the annual publication delivered to top market players and executive decision makers around the globe, increasing their visibility and stake.
GPN also offers greater training opportunities in medical travel, access to digital solutions, and increased collaboration with leading healthcare providers and medical tourism experts.
About Global Healthcare Resources
Global Healthcare Resources is a marketing consulting firm specializing in business development and marketing strategy and penetration services in the employer health care, benefits, well-being, and medical travel industries. We leverage thought leadership, educational training, and virtual and live events to connect buyers and providers of services together to scale business opportunities.
In the last couple of years, we have focused on utilizing the connection between personal and professional motivation to build a business and launched three moonshots in key areas necessary for industry growth. Cost, Culture, and Care. Through these moonshots, we anticipate building a movement that inspires growth through the shared vision, mission, and values inextricably linked between employer and employees. For us, this means virtual and in-person opportunities for business and personal connection, training and certification programs developed through partnerships with key thought leaders across each moonshot mission and leveraging our publication and podcast to drive thought leadership and demonstrable success with each moonshot.
About Hospital Clinica Biblica
Hospital Clinica Biblica is the largest private hospital in Costa Rica, offering services across more than 80 specialties, including orthopedic surgery, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, and bowel surgery, head and neck surgery, and neurosurgery. Founded in 1929, the hospital has grown to become a major Center of Excellence in Latin America, providing advanced care for many patients across the region.
Clinica Biblica Hospital is accredited by the Global Healthcare Accreditation, demonstrating its capacity in Quality, Safety, Environmental Impact, Employee Wellbeing.
The mission of the Hospital is to offer a humanitarian service to all those who need it. We believe in the life and health of the people. Throughout its 94 years of existence, the Hospital has facilitated access to comprehensive health care for populations with cultural, geographic and socioeconomic vulnerability factors.
To learn more about the hospital, click here.
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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - The Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE" or "the Exchange") today announced market statistics for August 2023.
August 2023 Operating Statistics
Trading volume of CSE-listed securities totaled 1.16 billion shares;
Trading value of CSE-listed securities was $599 million;
CSE issuers completed 70 financings that raised an aggregate $60 million; and
The CSE welcomed listings from three new companies, including two fundamental changes of existing issuers, bringing total listed securities to 830 as at August 31, 2023.
"The diversity of the Canadian Securities Exchange continues to be a tremendous strength, as companies across many different sectors are currently benefiting from their CSE listings," said Richard Carleton, CEO of the CSE. "Thus far in 2023, financing activity is broadly distributed among a wide range of sectors including mining, technology, cannabis and hemp, life sciences, oil and gas, and cleantech. The CSE continues to demonstrate that it is the go-to option for entrepreneurs to achieve their capital market objectives, regardless of industry."
What's On at the CSE
The CSE is pleased to announce its participation in an exclusive family office roadshow on September 21 in London, England that is hosted by Global Partnership Family Offices. The event, which is also presented by International Deal Gateway, provides an ideal opportunity to bring the CSE and its listed companies together with valuable sources of capital abroad. Four of the six companies presenting at the event are CSE issuers: Discovery Lithium Inc. (DCLI), Li-FT Power Ltd. (LIFT), Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. (HEAT), and Gemina Laboratories Ltd. (GLAB).
The CSE will be attending the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference in Chicago on September 27-28, one of North America's leading cannabis business conferences. The speaker line-up includes senior executives from many of the world's top cannabis companies, as well as a diverse group of industry experts. The CSE team looks forward to connecting with clients and other delegates at the conference.
On September 13, the Exchange presented a special CSE Policy Update webinar focused on the recent amendments to its listing policies. The session provided a comprehensive overview of these amendments for securities lawyers, chartered accountants, and other service providers that help companies go public. The webinar was hosted by Mark Faulkner, Senior Vice President of Listings & Regulation, and Rob Cook, Senior Vice President of Market Development. It can be viewed on CSE TV here.
The CSE sponsored and participated in the Precious Metals Summit Beaver Creek from September 12-15 at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado. The event featured nearly 200 of the world's leading explorers, developers and emerging producers of gold, silver and platinum group metals. The event also had a track focused on the "critical minerals": nickel, copper, zinc, cobalt and rare earths. CSE issuers participating in the conference included Asante Gold Corporation (ASE), Core Assets Corp. (CC), E79 Resources Corp. (ESNR), Exploits Discovery Corp. (NFLD), Headwater Gold Inc. (HWG), and Sitka Gold Corp. (SIG).
New Listings in August 2023
Affinity Metals Corp. (AFF)
PlasCred Circular Innovations Inc. (PLAS) - Fundamental Change
MTL Cannabis Corp. (MTLC) - Fundamental Change
About the Canadian Securities Exchange:
The Canadian Securities Exchange is a rapidly growing exchange invested in working with entrepreneurs, innovators and disruptors to access public capital markets in Canada. The Exchange's efficient operating model, advanced technology and competitive fee structure help its listed issuers of all sectors and sizes minimize their cost of capital and enhance global liquidity.
Our client-centric approach and corresponding products and services ensure businesses have the support they need to confidently realize their vision.
The CSE offers global investors access to an innovative collection of growing and mature companies.
STAY CONNECTED WITH THE CSE
=============================
Website: https://thecse.com/
Blog: https://blog.thecse.com/
CSE TV on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/csetv
CSE's "The Exchange for Entrepreneurs" Podcast: https://blog.thecse.com/category/cse-podcast/
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/canadian-securities-exchange
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CSE_News
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canadianexchange/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CanadianSecuritiesExchange/
Contact:
Richard Carleton, CEO
416-367-7360
richard.carleton@thecse.com
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MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, is making a last-ditch effort to contest a hefty 2.42 billion euro or $2.6 billion antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission in 2017. The fine, arising from allegations of market abuse through Google's online shopping service, has been the subject of a prolonged legal battle. While Google initiated its appeal in February 2020, it suffered a setback in November 2021 when the EU's General Court dismissed its arguments. Now, Google has taken its case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Europe's highest court, for what appears to be its final attempt to overturn the penalty. Google's primary contention is that EU regulators failed to establish that its business practices were anticompetitive. According to Google's legal team, treating competitors differently is inherent in competition and innovation, not an antitrust violation. On the opposing side, Commission lawyer Fernando Castillo de la Torre argued that Google had unfairly promoted its own price comparison shopping service through its algorithms, breaching EU antitrust laws. While Google had the right to use algorithms to enhance user experience, Castillo de la Torre asserted that it went too far by leveraging its dominance in general search to favor its own services. The CJEU is expected to provide its final ruling in the coming months, following advocate general Juliane Kokott's non-binding opinion, which will be issued on January 11, 2024. This 2.42 billion euro fine is just one of several penalties Google has faced in Europe for alleged anticompetitive practices, totaling 8.25 billion euros over the past decade. Google's ongoing legal battles, including an investigation into its digital advertising business, continue to have significant implications for competition and antitrust regulation in the tech industry. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The expected launch of various emerging therapies shall fuel the growth of the Niemann-Pick disease type C market during the forecast period, i.e., 2023-2032. The Niemann-Pick disease type C market size is expected to increase at a significant CAGR
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, Niemann-Pick disease type C emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into 7MM [the United States, the EU-4 (Italy, Spain, France, and Germany), the United Kingdom, and Japan].
Key Takeaways from the Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
As per DelveInsight analysis, the Niemann-Pick disease type C market is expected to grow positively at a significant CAGR during the study period (2019-2032).
Type C1 is by far the more common type, accounting for 95% of cases. As per the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (2021), the epidemiology data on NPC are scarce, although prevalence has been estimated to be approximately 1 in 150,000 live births in Western Europe based on the cases identified over a 15-year period in France, Germany, and the UK.
of cases. As per the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (2021), the epidemiology data on NPC are scarce, although prevalence has been estimated to be approximately live births in Western Europe based on the cases identified over a 15-year period in France, Germany, and the UK. Leading Niemann-Pick disease type C companies such as Azafaros A.G., Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., ZevraDenmark, Genzyme, IntraBio Inc, Mandos Health, and others are developing novel Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs that can be available in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market in the coming years.
and others are developing novel Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs that can be available in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market in the coming years. Some key therapies for Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment include AZ-3102, Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, Arimoclomol, GZ402665, IB1001, VTS-270 , and others.
and others. In January 2023, Azafaros received IND approval and is currently conducting Phase II trials to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic profile in NPC patients.
received IND approval and is currently conducting Phase II trials to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic profile in NPC patients. In July 2021, Mandos closed the acquisition of VTS-270. The company states that the FDA has not found the drug to be safe and effective for use to treat NPC1 or for any other use.
Discover which therapies are expected to grab the major Niemann-Pick disease type C market share @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Overview
Niemann-Pick disease type C is a rare progressive hereditary condition defined by the body's inability to transport cholesterol and other fatty substances into cells. This incapacity results in an inappropriate buildup of these chemicals in numerous body tissues including brain tissue. Niemann-Pick disease type C varies according to the age of onset, and symptoms can change from person to person. The visceral, neurological, and mental aspects of this hereditary disease distinguish it. Niemann-Pick disease type C is caused by a mutation in the NPC1 or NPC2 genes and is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Niemann-Pick disease type C has a highly variable clinical presentation, with significant heterogeneity in the onset of type C symptoms (enlarged liver, enlarged spleen, or jaundice) and the development of the disease. Niemann-Pick disease type C is diagnosed based on symptoms such as psychiatric disorders, neurologic abnormalities, and so on. This condition is sometimes misinterpreted as another linked neurological disorder.
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Epidemiology Segmentation
The Niemann-Pick disease type C epidemiology section provides insights into the historical and current Niemann-Pick disease type C patient pool and forecasted trends for individual seven major countries. It helps to recognize the causes of current and forecasted trends by exploring numerous studies and views of key opinion leaders.
The Niemann-Pick disease type C market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 2019-2032 in the 7MM segmented into:
Total Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Prevalent Cases
Total Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Diagnosed Prevalent Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Gene-specific Diagnosed Prevalent Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treated Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment Market
Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment necessitates the collaborative efforts of a team of professionals. Pediatricians, neurologists, ophthalmologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, and other healthcare providers may be required to arrange a child's therapy systematically and comprehensively. Psychosocial assistance for the entire family is also vital. Affected individuals and their families benefit from genetic counseling. Current Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment focuses on the specific symptoms that each person is experiencing. Niemann-Pick disease type C has no cure, however, patients can benefit from palliative therapies. Occupational therapy can aid in the improvement of posture, speech, and movement. Physical therapy is a crucial element of treatment that can help you keep your mobility for as long as possible.
ZAVESCA/BRAZAVES [miglustat], a substrate reduction medication created by Actelion Pharmaceuticals, is the sole approved medicine in Europe and Japan. The FDA denied its approval for the treatment of NPC due to a lack of data. The US FDA wanted further data, which would take years to obtain and would be nearly difficult to meet the FDA's high standards, owing to the restricted or lack of patient population that could be enrolled in the studies. However, because the medicine is already approved in the United States for the treatment of Gaucher's disease, it is being prescribed to NPC patients as an off-label therapy. Miglustat inhibits the synthesis of glycosphingolipids, one of the chemicals that build in the brains of people with NPC, and hence slows the progression of neurological symptoms. However, this medication is not appropriate for every affected individual.
To know more about Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment, visit @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment Drugs
Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Therapies and Companies
AZ-3102: Azafaros A.G.
Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin: Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc.
Arimoclomol: ZevraDenmark
GZ402665: Genzyme
IB1001: IntraBio Inc
VTS-270: Mandos Health
Learn more about the FDA-approved drugs for Niemann-Pick disease type C @ Drugs for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Dynamics
The Niemann-Pick disease type C market has historically been limited due to the rarity of the disease, several significant dynamics have been shaping its evolution. One of the most notable dynamics is the increasing awareness and diagnosis of NPC. Advances in genetic testing and improved understanding of the disease have led to earlier and more accurate diagnoses. This has driven a growing demand for therapies, as early intervention can significantly improve patient outcomes.
Furthermore, research and development in the field of NPC have seen promising progress. Pharmaceutical companies and research institutions have been actively exploring novel therapeutic approaches, including enzyme replacement therapies, substrate reduction therapies, and gene therapies. This has attracted investment and attention to the Niemann-Pick disease type C market, with a focus on developing effective treatments to address the unmet medical needs of patients.
Additionally, regulatory agencies have recognized the urgency of addressing rare diseases like NPC. Expedited pathways for drug approvals and orphan drug status designations have facilitated the development and commercialization of potential treatments. These regulatory incentives have encouraged pharmaceutical companies to invest in NPC research and development.
While there are positive dynamics in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market, several significant barriers also exist that can hinder progress. The rarity of NPC poses a substantial challenge for pharmaceutical companies and researchers. The small patient population makes it difficult to conduct large-scale clinical trials, which are essential for drug development.
While there have been regulatory incentives to encourage research and development in rare diseases, navigating the regulatory landscape can still be challenging. Companies must meet rigorous safety and efficacy standards, which can be especially demanding for novel therapies in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market. Despite increasing awareness, NPC remains relatively unknown among the general public and even some healthcare professionals. This lack of awareness can lead to delayed diagnoses and hinder early intervention efforts.
Report Metrics Details Study Period 2019-2032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan] Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Companies Azafaros A.G., Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., ZevraDenmark, Genzyme, IntraBio Inc, Mandos Health, and others Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Therapies AZ-3102, Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, Arimoclomol, GZ402665, IB1001, VTS-270, and others
Scope of the Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
Therapeutic Assessment: Niemann-Pick Disease Type C current marketed and emerging therapies
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C current marketed and emerging therapies Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Dynamics: Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Drugs
Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Drugs Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies
SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's views, Analyst's views, Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Access and Reimbursement
Discover more about Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs in development @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Clinical Trials
Table of Contents
1. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Key Insights 2. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report Introduction 3. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Overview at a Glance 4. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Executive Summary 5. Disease Background and Overview 6. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment and Management 7. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Epidemiology and Patient Population 8. Patient Journey 9. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Marketed Drugs 10. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Emerging Drugs 11. Seven Major Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Analysis 12. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Outlook 13. Potential of Current and Emerging Therapies 14. KOL Views 15. Unmet Needs 16. SWOT Analysis 17. Appendix 18. DelveInsight Capabilities 19. Disclaimer 20. About DelveInsight
Related Reports
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Niemann-Pick Disease Type A Market
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Niemann-Pick Disease Type A Pipeline
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About DelveInsight
DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve.
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Shruti Thakur
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New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - RNR Healthcare's CEO Vicky Ramancha is looking to connect artificial intelligence with pharmaceutical manufacturing process. Vicky Ramancha has announced that the company is looking to enter IPO consideration in 2025 with a vision to develop an advanced manufacturing facility for pharmaceutical products that can be used for rapid production while keeping product's IP safe and unleaked, which is all going to be supervised by AI.
CEO, Vicky Ramancha, RNR Healthcare
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The issue today for industry leading giants is that no matter how big the company is, especially in pharmaceutical industry, products can easily get into shortage trouble. Large pharma groups that develop advanced pharma products are very cautious on production processes especially when it comes to maintaining security and the IP of the product.
For example, when a certain product's production hit a shortage trouble, the company simply cannot do really much because most of the time pharma companies are already using their maximum production capacity which is available per single product. Alternative option to increase production for the company is to increase additional production lines but it is very costly process.
If a company hits a shortage for any of their products, to increase that production quantity is difficult, because lack of ability to produce more. It is correct that companies can open new factory facilities or outsource production to others, but new facilities are very costly and time consuming, and outsourcing own product production to third parties can cause security breaches about product's IP.
Vicky Ramancha, the Chief Executive Officer of RNR Healthcare, wants to solve this problem by developing a advanced facility so that original product manufacturers from around the world would be able to simply plug-in and print their products at very fast speed and with a maximum protection for the IP of the product.
Vicky Ramancha has announced to do an IPO for 2025 and raise capital for this new AI innovation specifically for the pharmaceutical industry. Vicky believes that healthcare as a business is here to stay for a very long time and the demand in healthcare products, especially pharmaceuticals, is increasing year to year.
Vicky Ramancha
global.business@rnr.healthcare
http://rnr.healthcare
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TOKYO (dpa-AFX) - Japan will on Wednesday release August numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. Imports are expected to sink 19.4 percent on year after falling 13.5 percent in July. Exports are called lower by an annual 1.7 percent after easing 0.3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit is pegged at 659.1 billion yen following the 78.7 billion yen shortfall a month earlier. New Zealand will provide Q2 figures for current account, with forecasts suggesting a deficit of NZ$4.80 billion following the NZ$5.22 billion shortfall in the three months prior. Taiwan will see August data for export orders, with forecasts calling for a decline of 10.0 percent on year following the 12.0 percent drop in July. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
Leaders from business, government, the UN and civil society gathered at the UN's largest corporate sustainability event to review the private sector's contribution to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
New York, United States of America, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gary White, CEO and Co-founder of water.org and WaterEquity and Matt Damon, Co-founder of water.org, joined Executive Director and CEO of the UN Global Compact, Sanda Ojiambo, CEOs of major corporations and other leaders from the United Nations, governments, civil society and UN Global Compact Local Networks to take stock of business progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit 2023.
Alongside the UN General Assembly High-Level Week, this year's UN Global Compact Leaders Summit addressed business leadership during converging crises, the critical role of a principles-based approach, global trends, and tools and partnerships needed to fully achieve the 2030 Agenda.
New research from the UN Global Compact, Business Leadership in Times of Crisis: Collected Insights from Chief Executive Officers into Successes, Challenges and Areas for Future Focus, shows a dramatic rise of interlinked global challenges is forcing business executives to navigate new levels of uncertainty and hindering progress on the SDGs. The CEOs surveyed urgently call for increased dialogue and partnership with the public sector; for regulatory frameworks to create a level playing field for business and attract financial flows; for more workforce training, action and public investment to regain balance with nature and clean energy; for global collaboration on artificial intelligence and for consolidation of the fragmented landscape for ambitious achievement.
Currently only 15 per cent of the SDG targets are on track, progress on 48 per cent is weak and insufficient and progress has stalled or gone into reverse on 37 per cent of the SDGs. The United Nations Global Compact-Accenture Global Private Sector Stocktakereport, which surveyed over 2,800 business leaders from around the world, showed the the vast majority (94%) of business leaders still view the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a unifying global vision but to achieve them the private sector must focus on the areas where they can have the most impact.
To respond to this call, the UN Global Compact has launched Forward Faster, a new initiative to accelerate private sector action at the pace and scale needed to deliver on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and meet the 2030 Agenda.
Speaking during the event, Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, said: "Time is running out to create the positive change the world so desperately needs. We must all join forces to create a more prosperous and resilient global community. We must move forward faster."
The session entitled Uniting Leaders for Business Integrity looked at the importance of business integrity as a driver for impact across the SDG Calls to Action on living wage, climate change, water stewardship, gender equality and SDG investments.
During the Leaders Summit, Gary White, CEO and Co-founder of water.org and WaterEquity and Matt Damon, Co-founder of water.org, looked at how water is one of best investments the world can make to achieve global gender equality, create climate change resilience, and help end the cycle of poverty during the session Moving Forward Faster to Scale Positive Impact in 100 Basins.
Members of the UN Global Compact CFO Coalition for the SDGs examined the central role Chief Financial Officers.
Accelerating a Just Transition to Net-Zero Emissions Globally featured business leaders who are
prioritizing emissions reductions and taking concrete actions to advance a just transition. In Making Living Wage a Reality Expert organizations outlined the groundwork of what it means to pay a living wage and leading companies discussed what this looks like in practice. Meanwhile Equal Pay 2023: Insights from the Global South looked at successful strategies governments and businesses have successfully lobbied and advocated for equal pay through legislation and within their organizations.
In Towards nature-positive business: Take action on the climate-biodiversity nexus leading private sector and key organizations' representatives demonstrated the relevance of the intersecting climate-nature crisis to business, laid out how companies can start their nature-positive journey and showcased best practices to reverse nature and biodiversity loss.
In Moving Business from Commitment to Action on Human Rights and Labour Rights the panel exchanged insights into specific steps their companies have taken, lessons learned in implementing Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD), and the influence HRDD processes have had up and down their value chains.
During the Leaders Summit, the UN Global Compact also announced its twelve new SDG Pioneers- business leaders who are doing an exceptional job to advance the SDGs through the implementation of the Ten Principles of UN Global Compact on human rights, environment, labor and anti-corruption.
Notes to Editors
About the UN Global Compact
As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide 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 18,000 companies and 3,800 non-business signatories based in over 101 countries, and 62 Local Networks, the UN Global Compact is the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative - one Global Compact uniting business for a better world.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Live Energy Minerals Corp. (CSE: LIVE) (OTC Pink: GTREF) ("LIVE" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that its board of directors has approved the settlement of an aggregate principal amount of $140,000 in debt for a property option payment through the issuance of common shares of the Company (the "Debt Settlement").
Pursuant to the Debt Settlement agreement dated September 19, 2023, the Company proposes to issue 200,000 common shares of the Company (the "Shares") at a deemed price of $0.70 per Share to Divitiae Resources Ltd. a private company controlled by Adrian Smith, the CEO and a Director of the Company (the "Vendor").
The Debt Settlement transaction is a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI 61-101"). The transaction is exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the transaction does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of LIVE, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101.
All securities issued will be subject to a statutory hold period which will expire on the date that is four months and one day from the date of issuance.
About LIVE Energy Minerals Corp.
LIVE is a mining exploration company focused on projects that will further secure the US supply of critical metals, which are essential to fueling the new age economy. Live holds a 100% interest in the Skygold project in BC, Canada and a 100% interest in the McDermitt Lithium East Project, Nevada, USA, for which it has entered into an Option to Joint Venture with US Critical Metals Corp. LIVE is focused on creating value for its shareholders by combining quality project with proven exploration strategies and a team driven to achieve exceptional outcomes.
For further information please contact:
Adrian Smith
Chief Executive Officer & Director
Live Energy Minerals Corp.
Email: adrian@liveenergyminerals.com
Phone: 604-687-2038
info@liveenergyminerals.com .
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address a company's expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to the following risks: those associated with marketing and sale of securities; the need for additional financing; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers or directors with certain other projects; and the volatility of common share price and volume. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. For further information on risk, investors are advised to see the Company's MD&A and other disclosure filings with the regulators which are found at sedarplus.ca.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181196
In a series of recent publications, new insights have been revealed regarding the intricate action of VapoRub's active ingredients (Menthol, Camphor, Eucalyptus Oil Turpentine Oil) - significantly advancing the overall understanding of how therapeutic vapours impact cold symptom relief.
The research shows that ingredients such as Menthol, Camphor and Eucalyptus possess the ability to specifically modulate different ThermoTRP1 channels which are present throughout the respiratory tract and play a pivotal role in the development of cold symptoms.
Prof. Andrew Smith, Director of the Centre for Occupational and Health Psychology at Cardiff University, has recently summarized multiple studies2 that observed essential oil mixtures of aromatics enhance symptom relief for upper respiratory tract infections. Menthol, eucalyptus, and camphor led to the experience of faster nasal cooling and decongestion times in patients, with their inhalation reported to have antitussive effects, and further significant improvements in sleep quality are described.
Recent research3 conducted by Dr. Laura Sadofsky, Study Principal Investigator at the Center for Biomedicine of the Hull York Medical School, describes that Vicks VapoRub active ingredients specifically modulate a diversity of TRP receptors:
Menthol appears as TRPM8 agonist and also affects TRPA1
Camphor mainly impacts TRPA1 and TRPV1
Eucalyptus modulates TRPM8 as well as TRPA1.
Together, these findings greatly contribute to our understanding of Vicks VapoRub's therapeutic value as the oldest cough and cold remedy worldwide.
After almost 130 years in the market, it not only reinforces Vicks VapoRub's unique position in addressing the most common therapeutic needs offering the much-desired multi-symptom-relief that countless cold sufferers deserve, but also underpins its relevance within any cough and cold treatment regimen.
In this respect a recent study revealed that a majority of consumers decide to use VapoRub in addition to their regular cold treatments. 86% of consumers state, "Using Vicks VapoRub and my other cold treatment products together (at night) gave me better overall relief of my cold symptoms compared to only using one."4
As VapoRub, when applied topically or inhaled, can act locally within the airways, its application not only enhances the subjective sensation of airflow but also possesses antitussive effects thus acting directly on multiple cold symptoms. 5
WHAT MAKES VAPORUB SPECIAL?
Vicks VapoRub is a pharmaceutical preparation that is clinically proven to relieve congested airways.4 The success of Vicks VapoRub is based primarily on its unique composition.
Thanks to its unique formulation and rub form, it can be used together with most of the other cold medicinal products as a complementary treatment.
"At Vicks, we believe that a cold has physical, emotional, and social impacts in our life. Vicks VapoRub elevates the treatment combining powerful symptom relief through proven actives with sensorial experiences and care for the loved ones." Frank Kroburi, Vicks Europe Brand Director
ABOUT VICKS
One of the most recognized brands around the world. Available in more than 71 countries and on 5 continents, Vicks has helped relieve cough, cold, and flu symptoms for generations. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Vicks is owned and distributed by Procter Gamble.
About P&G Health
P&G Health, the global healthcare division of P&G, competes in the largest and fastest growing personal care and oral care categories and markets to drive consumer-centric innovation.
The P&G global healthcare portfolio includes leading brands in cold with WICK and Nasivin, pregnancy with Femibion and Clearblue, dental and oral care with Oral-B, blend-a-dent and blend-a-med, vitamin and mineral products with Bion3 and Vigantol Vigantolvit as well as pain relief with Kytta.
About Procter Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always, Ambi Pur, Ariel, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Dawn, Downy, Fairy, Febreze, Gain, Gillette, Head Shoulders, Lenor, Olay, Oral-B, Pampers, Pantene, SK-II, Tide, Vicks, and Whisper. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit https://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands. For other P&G news, visit us at https://www.pg.com/news.
________________________________ 1 TRP Transient Receptor Potential cation channels. Known as key players in cough and airway inflammation. 2 Smith A, Matthews O. Drugs Context. 2022; 11:2022-5-6 3 Stinson RJ, Morice AH, Sadofsky LR. Modulation of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels by plant derived substances used in over-the-counter cough and cold remedies. Respir Res. 2023 Feb 8;24(1):45. 4 Whiteford D, Rios J, Hengehold D, Aspley S. (2023) Multi-Symptom Relief for Cough Cold: Benefits of Adding Vicks VapoRub to the Treatment Regimen. Open Journal of Respiratory Diseases, 13, 9-27. 5 Vicks VapoRub SmPC. For the relief of nasal catarrh (inflammation of mucous membranes in the nose and throat), congestion (a blocked nose),sore throat and coughs due to colds. Vicks VapoRub contains four active ingredients: Camphor, Turpentine oil, Levomenthol and Eucalyptus oil. Always read the label.
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Contacts:
For media inquiries, interviews, or further information, please contact Emma Oddie at Emma.Oddie@pgone.co.uk
Report reveals the UK's technology industry is reaching critical levels of burnout due to skills shortages and failed digital transformation ambitions.
LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gigged.AI , the AI driven Talent Platform, has today released a 28-page report entitled, 'Digital Transformation in Crisis: The Impact of Skills Shortages, Talent Trends and Burnout on the UK's Technology Industry'. The brand-new report, which surveyed 255 professionals working in or managing digital transformation, reveals that IT and technology professionals are reaching crisis point when it comes to burnout.
THE TECH SKILLS GAP
A huge 90% of respondents said they are experiencing a tech skills shortage to some extent. These skills challenges are present across a wide sweep of technology & IT roles however the biggest gaps are to be found in software development (37%), a problem experienced by almost half of large (501+ employee) companies (48%), cybersecurity (37%) and digital marketing (36%).
Things are getting even tougher with over half (57%) of respondents saying that the tech talent shortage has increased compared to last year, rising to 74% of those companies already experiencing it at a large extent. The reasons for such extensive shortage of talent include not able to find qualified candidates (34%) and in second place, 32% say it's a lack of budget.
So, whilst there doesn't seem to be the talent available, concerningly 58% of respondents said they have also experienced a hiring freeze in the past year in their company which suggest there are bigger problems at hand.
THE HUMAN TOLL: AN EMERGING CRISIS
A substantial 92% of respondents said they're experiencing some form of work-related stress, with over a third (36%) claiming to be "very" or "extremely" stressed - rising to 43% for 35-44-year-olds.
A third (33%) are doing an extra four to five hours work per week working outside their job description.
A quarter (26%) have had to work whilst on holiday.
27% of respondents are regularly working outside of their agreed hours, particularly in companies with 501+ employees (35%) versus SMB with 51-100 employees (18%).
This kind of chronic pressure is having a significant impact on mental and physical health, wellbeing and workplace performance. Due to work-related stress, over a third (37%) of respondents report spending less time with their family, rising to 54% of those over 45. A quarter (26%) say they're less efficient because of the stress, a fifth (22%) have thought several times about leaving their job, which would turn up the pressure on those left behind in the workplace.
Respondents are in no doubt as to one of the main causes of this increasingly unbearable workplace pressure. Nearly two-thirds (62%) lay the blame on the tech talent shortage, this rises to a massive 80% when you look specifically at Senior Management. Plus, with nearly half (47%) of those claiming the end result has been to increase their workload.
Employers are also aware of the growing mental toll that tech shortages are taking on their IT and digital workers as 69% say they offer mental health support to employees. 69% of respondents say they'd use such services if offered. However, a quarter of those are unlikely to use support services say they don't want work to know (24%) or they worry people will think their mental health challenges will impact their ability to do their job.
THE STATE OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TODAY
72% of UK businesses surveyed are currently taking part in digital transformation projects. However just a third claim to be well on their way, with "a lot achieved" so far. 48% at least have a plan in place, whereas a fifth (19%) admit there's still much to do.
For those who are not currently making good progress on their digital transformation journey, the main reason given is that things are taking longer than expected (45%). A further third (30%) claim there is too much work to do and not enough people to do it, while over a fifth (22%) don't have the right talent in place to do it, rising to 29% for those with a hiring freeze in place.
HOW CAN BUSINESSES BETTER TACKLE THESE ISSUES?
With talent shortages and burnout reaching crisis point, it's time for organisations and policymakers to think about more flexible ways to tackle these challenges.
Over a quarter (27%) of those asked said they're creating training programmes to upskill current employees, in a bid to plug talent gaps.
80% report that their company offers employees the opportunity to take on additional digital responsibilities, with more than half of them (44%) hoping to take advantage of this.
Nearly two-fifths (37%) of respondents also offer on-the-job training, and around a third are ramping up salaries (33%) and benefits (32%) for existing staff.
However, under a quarter (24%) of those asked are looking at more flexible options such as freelancers or consultants to fill the gap, and only 15% are looking at rehauling their approach to hiring.
There's also hope that technology could help in time to alleviate skills shortages. Generative AI in particular has been hailed for its ability to generate code and perform as a kind of virtual assistant, boosting worker productivity. Over half (52%) of respondents think tools like this will help alleviate tech skills shortages, although 44% have concerns about the ethical impact of replacing roles previously occupied by humans.
Gigged.AI, CEO and Co-Founder, Rich Wilson said, "As boardrooms continue to put their money behind ambitious digital transformation initiatives, the demand for digital expertise will only grow and it's vastly outstripping today's limited talent supply. Burnout is now reaching crisis point, and it's time for management to step in with support. These concerning figures reveal that the tech talent shortage is indeed causing alarming levels of mental health stress for employees, and companies need to quickly assess their employee and hiring needs to ensure that their workforce is not leading to a severe and damaging case of burnout".
About Gigged.AI
Gigged.AI is on a mission to make hiring tech talent simpler for global enterprises. Its proprietary AI-powered talent platforms provide businesses with dependable solutions to tech skill shortages. The On-Demand Talent Platform gives instant access to verified, on-demand tech talent to accelerate digital projects. Its Internal Talent Marketplace captures the skills within a workforce and matches them to the right project, reducing the need for lengthy and expensive recruitment, and improving retention. Gigged.AI has 15,000 highly skilled tech professionals on its platform, covering 450+ skills in 43 locations globally. Find out more at Gigged.AI.
About research study
The survey was conducted among 255 UK business decision makers responsible for making decisions around digital transformation programmes, working in a range of departments.
The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research in July and August 2023 using an email invitation and an online survey.
Gigged.AI PR Contact Details
Hex PR & Comms
Danielle Heximer
+447870 596 298
danielle@hexcomms.uk
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Aquanow, a Canadian digital assets infrastructure provider, officially launched the AQN Digital Ventures Fund, managed by Aquanows investment management subsidiary, AQN Digital.
Led by Michael Kwok, Head of Venture Capital, AQN Digital Ventures Fund will support the worlds most disruptive technologies, including companies and projects that can tie into its parent Aquanows core business and expertise, digital asset infrastructure.
The fund has invested in seven portfolio companies to dateincluding participating in the $3.8m seed round of digital currency payment processing platform BoomFi in June, and in the $6m seed round for Lightning network startup Mash, which helps creators, builders, and developers earn money from the content they publish online.
AQN Digital Ventures Fund expects to make one to two additional investments per month moving forward.
Led by Phil Sham, co-founder and CEO, Aquanow is a digital assets infrastructure provider enabling crypto financial services for institutional clients. The company serves an international customer base that includes the worlds fastest-growing banks, neobanks, brokerages, and payment companies. Established in 2018 and headquartered in Canada, Aquanow currently has 100+ team members.
FinSMEs
19/09/2023
ARX, a Munich, Germany-based defence technology manufacturer, raised 1.15m in pre-seed funding.
The round was led by Project A Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to grow the team, the technology, and scaling production capabilities.
Founded by Marc Wietfeld (CEO) and Stefan Robel (COO), Maximilian Wied and Marcel Schorr, ARX specializes in developing autonomous unmanned systems for dual-use applications. The company builds and operates autonomous Single-to-Multi-Use robots for various applications. The goal is to help soldiers and civilian first responders make better decisions and take more effective action in life-threatening situations. For the armed forces, ARX robots serve as consumable solutions that can help train and protect troops, gather intelligence and withstand the challenges of missions. For civilian emergency services, they are designed to provide years of reliable support for relief purposes.
The companys unarmed GEREON ground robots use sensors, cameras, alarms and transport capabilities for live fire training exercises, simulation, surveillance and decoy purposes. First units are being tested with defence companies and with the armed forces of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Estonia.
The companys small to medium-sized autonomous robots are based on a universal robotic platform that allows for flexible add-on and payload solutions for the UGV depending on different security and defence-related scenarios.
ARX is a spin-off from the GEREON research project at the German Armed Forces University in Munich.
FinSMEs
19/09/2023
EverImmune, a Villejuif, near Paris, France-based biotechnology company specialized in the development of live biotherapeutic products in the field of microbiota oncology, secured 3.46m ($3.41M) in funding.
Bpifrance provided the funding, which is a mix of subsidies and repayable loans, under the Innovation in biotherapeutics scheme.
The company will be able to conduct a phase I/II clinical trial for its drug candidate Oncobax AK in patients undergoing immunotherapy. The funding will be used to recruit 71 trial patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) or Renal Cell Cancer (RCC). EverImmune will investigate whether Oncobax AK improves the effectiveness of the patients immunotherapy treatment. The clinical trial will be conducted in 15 hospitals throughout France and Belgium, including Gustave Roussy, the leading cancer center that spun-off everImmune.
The clinical trial uses a companion test to select the patients deficient in AK and resistant to immunotherapy treatment. These patients will be given a daily dose (one pill) of Oncobax AK (a Live Biotherapeutic Product [LPB]) to see if the drug can reverse this deficiency and in doing so boost the immune system and restore patients responsiveness to immunotherapies in primary resistance settings. Currently, only 30% of NSCLC patients and 40% of RCC patients respond to immunotherapy.
EverImmune also continues to develop a broader pipeline of products, including other bacteria with strong adjuvant potential for the treatment of different types of cancer, such as breast and colon cancers.
Created in 2016 by co-founders Pr. Laurence Zitvogel and Dr. Romain Daillere, everImmune is a spinoff from Gustave Roussy; Europes first cancer institute, based near Paris, France. The company is part of ONCOBIOME, the first European program dedicated to microbiome and cancer, funded by the European Union. everImmune has seven staff.
FinSMEs
19/09/2023
HPNow, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based clean water and sanitation company, raised 14M in funding.
The round was led by The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) together with Novo Holdings. Other investors included MatiTech, Evonik Venture Capital and AP Ventures.
The company intends to use the funds to scale up its marketing, sales, technical support and production capacity, in order to address market demand.
Led by CEO Ziv Gottesfeld, HPNow specializes in clean water and sanitation through its range of on-site, autonomous, safe, and sustainable ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide generation solutions. With applications across agriculture, process water, and the food and beverage sectors, the solutions can further be utilized towards the breakdown of hazardous micro-pollutants in drinking water originating from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and O&G industries.
The company, which was spun out of the Danish Technical University (DTU) in 2015, operates across Europe, the Americas and Asia.
FinSMEs
19/09/2023
The residents of Los Angeles have a new reason to worry after two models were found dead in their luxury apartments in Los Angeles during the last week, according to a report by The Independent. The Los Angeles Police Department claims that the mortal remains of one of the models, Maleesa Mooney were found in her downtown LA apartment on 12 September. She was found in her Bunker Hill home by the authorities as they went for a welfare check after her family informed the police that they were unable to reach her. The Los Angeles Police Department has now commenced a murder investigation into her sudden demise. They are taking help from the locals to identify the culprit.
In another similar incident, just two days before Maleesa Mooney, model Nichole Coats was also found dead in her apartment. Her cousin had a key to her apartment and she let herself in to see if the model was at home. She found Coats in an unconscious state and according to the cousin, when she touched her, she was like a rock. The cousin immediately called 911. Unlike Mooney, her death is not being investigated as a homicide. However, her family members claimed that the model has been murdered. Her aunt, May Stevens revealed that one of her legs was up in the air in a kicking position when her body was discovered. According to Caotss aunt, it is not the position someone who has allegedly died in bed would be found in.
Nichole Coats father, Guy Coats, told ABC News that he and his family are distraught after Nicholes demise. He said that his daughter was an aspiring model who worked as a sales rep during the daytime.
Now, the police department is also looking into the possibility that these two incidents might be related, however, no connection between the demise of models Maleesa Mooney and Nichole Coats has been confirmed till now. Families of both the victims are of the opinion that there can be some connection between the deaths of both these girls. It is also being assumed that it could be a case of serial killing.
With director Sujoy Ghoshs much-awaited mystery thriller Jaane Jaan set for release in just two days, the films screening saw Bollywoods whos who in attendance. Not just this, the star-studded affair, which was held in Mumbai on Monday night also saw actor Vijay Varmas girlfriend Tamannaah Bhatia grace the event with her presence.
With pictures and videos from the films screening gaining traction, the Bhola Shankar star could be seen enjoying a hot cup of beverage paired with pleasant conversation with Bollywood heartthrob Varun Dhawan. Tamannaah was also seen posing with her boyfriend Vijay Varma for photographers. Our Hit Jodi is here, read the caption.
Take a look:
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Viral Bhayani (@viralbhayani)
One user commented, Such a cute couple. Love Vijays style always, said another account. Another user added, They look so good together.
For the occasion, Tamannaah chose a lovely blue dress while Vijay looked dashing in a brown and black printed floral suit, paired with a formal black shirt and a pair of black shoes. The couple made heads turn as they posed for the paparazzi stationed at the venue.
Guests at Jaane Jaan screening
Besides lovebirds Vijay and Tamannaah, Bollywood celebrities like Jaideep Ahlawat, Nora Fatehi, Kartik Aaryan, Arjun Kapoor, Alaya F, Esha Gupta, the Jaane Jaan producers and Varun Dhawan among others also attended the event.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Varinder Chawla (@varindertchawla)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Varinder Chawla (@varindertchawla)
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Varinder Chawla (@varindertchawla)
Kareena Kapoor Khan, who will turn 43 on 21 September, marks her OTT debut with this Netflix-released series. The Jab We Met star flew away with husband Saif Ali Khan, along with their two sons Taimur and Jehangir, on a fresh trip on Sunday. It was for this reason that the actress couldnt attend the screening.
Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Vermas relationship
Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Varma have never denied their love for each other. The two fell in love while shooting for Sujoy Ghoshs anthology film, Lust Stories 2. Since then, the two have often been spotted together at various events. From GQ Best Dressed 2023 to Aakhri Sach screening, the Darlings star and his lady love never miss the chance to be together.
Tamannaah Bhatia and Vijay Verma on work front
Work-wise, Tamannaah Bhatia had a successful year with Saurav Deys Aakhri Sach, Rajinikanths Jailer and Bhola Shankar alongside south superstar Chiranjeevi.
Vijay Varma will next be seen in Sujoy Ghoshs Jaane Jaan alongside Kareena Kapoor Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat. The actor last appeared in the Prime Video series Dahaad and Kaalkoot.
India and Canada ties have taken a turn for the worst. And the primary reason for this growing tension is the rise of the Khalistani sentiment in Canada.
The relations between the two countries reached its lowest on Tuesday (19 September) when Canada expelled Indias top diplomat, alleging that there was credible information linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June. New Delhi, in a tit-for-tat move, expelled Ottawas diplomat, giving him five days to leave.
The Ministry of External Affairs said the decision to expel the Canadian diplomat reflects Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
For long now, New Delhi has reiterated that Canada is soft on Khalistani activities and giving increasing space to separatists on their soil.
Here are just a few recent examples.
Khalistani referendum in Surrey
A week ago, while Canadas Justin Trudeau was in New Delhi for the G20 Summit during which he held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) group, which is banned in India, organised a Khalistani referendum in Surrey, British Columbia.
Khalistani separatist and SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun made a public appearance at the referendum and delivered a speech hinting at balkanising India.
According to an India Today report, the referendum saw an attendance of approximately 7,000 people.
The incident took place as Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau about Indias concerns about extremists promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats in Canada.
Threat of violence to Indian diplomats
Earlier in July, a poster became a flashpoint between the two countries as it threatened violence against three India diplomats. The poster carried photographs of Indias high commissioner to Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, consul general of India in Toronto, Apoorva Srivastava, and consul general of India in Vancouver, Manish and accused them for the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Reacting to the posters, Canadian foreign minister said in a statement, Canada takes its obligations under the Vienna Conventions regarding the safety of diplomats very seriously. Canada remains in close contact with Indian officials in light of some of the promotional material circulating online regarding a protest planned for 8 July, which are unacceptable.
We know that the actions of a few do not speak for an entire community, or Canada.
Also read: How Hardeep Singh Nijjars killing has led to rise in Khalistan terror in US, Canada
When asked about reports of Khalistani posters in Canada naming Indian diplomats, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had said the issue will be raised with the government of that country.
The radical, extremist Khalistani ideology is not good for India or its partner countries such as the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, he had told reporters.
We have already requested our partner countries like Canada, the US, the UK and Australia where sometimes Khalistani activities happen, not to give space to Khalistanis. Because their (Khalistanis) radical, extremist thinking is neither good for us nor for them nor our relations, the minister said.
Parade glorifying Indira Gandhi assassination
On 4 June, Brampton saw a parade in which a tableau seemed to celebrate the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi a female figure was shown in a blood-stained white saree, with the hands up, as turbaned men pointed guns at her. A poster behind the scene read Revenge for the attack on Darbar Sahib.
The tableau drew strong reactions from India, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar registering his disapproval. Frankly, we are at a loss to understand other than the requirements of vote bank politics why anybody would do this I think there is a larger underlying issue about the space which is given to separatists, to extremists, to people who advocate violence. I think it is not good for relationships, not good for Canada, Jaishankar told reporters in New Delhi.
Temples vandalised
Back in September last year, a Canadian MP blamed Canadian Khalistani extremists for a Hindu temple in Toronto being defaced with anti-India graffiti. The BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir, established in 2007, was defaced by Canadian Khalistani extremists.
The incident prompted a strong reaction from Canadian MP Chandra Arya, who said that Hindu Canadians are legitimately concerned after several incidents of vandalism of their temples.
Vandalism of Toronto BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir by Canadian Khalistani extremists should be condemned by all. This is not just an isolated event. Canadian Hindu temples have been targeted in the recent past by these kinds of hate crimes. Hindu Canadians are legitimately concerned, Arya had posted on social media platform X.
Brampton South MP Sonia Sidhu also expressed dismay. We live in a multicultural and multi-faith community where everyone deserves to feel safe. Those responsible should be located to face the consequences of their actions, she wrote.
Later, a Ram Mandir in Mississauga was also defaced by Khalistani extremists with anti-India graffiti. The temple had then issued a statement, saying, Vandalism occurred overnight (13 February) at the Shri Ram Mandir in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. We at the Ram Mandir are very disturbed by this occurrence and we are working with the appropriate law enforcement authority on this matter.
Mahatma Gandhi statue vandalised
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi located at the Vishnu Mandir in Richmond Hill in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) was also vandalised in July last year.
An Indian official told Hindustan Times pro-Khalistani slogans on the statue may have been sprayed to create disharmony between Hindus and Sikhs in Canada.
The vandalism of the 20-foot-tall bronze statue situated in Peace Park saw outrage and condemnation from India.
Calling it a hate crime the Indian High Commission in Ottawa had said, We are deeply anguished by this hate crime that seeks to terrorise the Indian community. It has led to increased concern and insecurity in the Indian community here. We have approached the Canadian government to investigate and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice swiftly.
Radio host attacked
In February, an Indo-Canadian radio host was attacked by three assailants purportedly for criticising pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, Hindustan Times (HT) reported.
Deepak Punj, host of Frontline Radio, was attacked when he was trying to enter his studio building.
A day before the assault, he had denounced the display of Khalistan flags and anti-India slogans during a vigil in Brampton, a GTA town.
They asked me if I did a show on this topic, and then attacked me, he told HT.
Also read: Is Justin Trudeau soft on Khalistanis living in Canada?
Canadas inaction against pro-Khalistani groups
Canada has for long been considered a safe haven for Khalistan supporters and militant voices accused of terrorism in India, reports the Indian Express.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also been accused of being soft on Khalistani sympathisers and leaders, a claim he has refuted. Speaking earlier, he said: Canada has always taken extremely seriously violence and threats of violence. We have always taken serious action against terrorism and we always will.
We have an extremely diverse country and freedom of expression is something that we have but we will always make sure that we are pushing back against violence and extremism in all its forms, he added.
With inputs from agencies
From bad to worse. Thats one way of describing India-Canada ties. Relations between the two countries nosedived on Tuesday (19 September) when Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau expelled a top Indian diplomat, claiming there was credible information linking Indian agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Speaking in the House of Commons (Canadas lower house of parliament), Trudeau said on Monday, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
BREAKING: Trudeaus statement regarding allegations of Indias involvement in killing of Sikh leader in Canada pic.twitter.com/ECmwQqnkNY The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) September 18, 2023
He told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves, he said.
India, on the other hand, has described Trudeaus allegations as absurd and motivated. The Ministry of External Affairs reacting to the expulsion of their diplomat said, Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian prime minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, it said, adding, We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.
But who exactly is this Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who is at centre of standoff between India and Canada?
Life and times of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
On 18 June, Canadian national Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Polices Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said that two heavy-set suspects shot Nijjar, before fleeing to a getaway vehicle driven by a third suspect.
While Canada has described Nijjar as a Sikh activist, the 46-year-old was a wanted man in India.
A native of Bhar Singh Pura village in Jalandhar, he worked as a plumber before being elected as the head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara. In 1997, Nijjar came to Canada, claiming he had been beaten and tortured by Indian police. In 1998, his refugee claim was denied. But he later acquired Canadian citizenship by marrying a Canadian woman, who sponsored him to immigrate.
Nijjar led the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), a Canada-based pro-Khalistan outfit, which organised training camps for extremists in British Columbia.
According to the Indian government, he was actively involved in the operations of KTF and financed its members. He was linked to Sikhs for Justice, a pro-Khalistan group banned in India, and even went to Australia for Khalistan referendum voting demanding a separate Punjab. He played a key role in organising a similar vote in Brampton, a city in Canada.
Jatinder Singh Grewal, an organiser with Sikhs for Justice, told The National Post that Nijjar was a pillar in their community. Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a role model, prominent personality in the community and for the advocacy of a separate Sikh state of Khalistan through a democratic process of referendum.
Nijjar featured on the Indian governments recent list that named 40 other designated terrorists and was wanted for his involvement in acts of violence. The Centre had directed Canadian authorities to take action against him.
When Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau visited India in February 2018, he was handed a list of criminals by then-Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, which included Nijjars name. The terrorist was arrested by Canadian authorities in April 2018 but was released without any charges being filed.
The many crimes of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Nijjar had a history of crimes and has been accused of reviving Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), one of the oldest Khalistani terror groups based in Canada, by providing financial support to the outfit.
In 2016, Indian authorities alleged he was linked to a 2007 bombing in Punjab. He had vehemently denied the charge then, with Vancouver Sun quoting him then as saying, This is garbage all the allegations. I am living here 20 years, right? Look at my record. There is nothing. I am a hard worker. I own my own business in the plumbing.
The Punjab Police had also issued a lookout for the terrorist before he died. He was booked for his alleged involvement in an explosion near Satya Narayan temple in Patiala in the year 2010 and for plotting to kill religious leaders in the state. He was wanted in several terror-related cases in the state.
Nijjar had ties with Pakistan and visited the country in 2013 to meet Jagtar Singh Tara, who assassinated former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, and officials of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Tara was arrested in Thailand in 2015 and was awarded life imprisonment by a district court in Chandigarh, India.
In 2018, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) registered a case against Nijjar, where he was accused of sedition, promoting enmity between different religious groups, and criminal conspiracy, among others. According to the NIA, he posted objectionable content on social media to spread insurrectionary imputations through hateful speeches, reports The Indian Express.
In a note to the probe agency back then, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said that the KTF leader had planned to carry out a major terrorist attack in India. He has been engaged in several activities that are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, such as sourcing finance to procure arms and ammunition and training Sikh youth for carrying out terrorist activities in India, the ministry had said.
He was named in an NIA chargesheet in connection to killing a Hindu priest in Jalandhar in January 2021. In 2022, the Punjab Police sought Nijjars extradition in cases related to reviving terrorism in the state. Thes NIA also declared a reward of Rs 10 lakh on him.
In Canada, he pushed the Khalistani agenda, even raising an 80-feet high Khalistani flag towering over the Indian tricolour at the Indian embassy in Vancouver.
Nijjar was also accused of killing Ripudaman Singh Malik, one of the accused in the 1985 Air India bombing case, who was later acquitted. The two were killed similarly both shot dead in Surrey.
The murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Not too much is known of Nijjars death, which took place on 18 June in Surrey.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice group, and reportedly his lawyer, was quoted as saying that he had warned Nijjar of threats to his life.
Following his death, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team called it targeted, but didnt comment on the motives of the perpetrators.
Investigators at the time had described the shooters as two heavy-set masked assailants who fled the parking lot on foot, to a getaway car parked in the area of 121 Street and 68 Avenue. Police believe the vehicle a silver 2008 Toyota Camry had been waiting for at least an hour and had a driver, the third suspect in the slaying.
To date, no one has been arrested.
With inputs from agencies
India and Canadas relations have taken a nosedive after both countries expelled each others top diplomats. This came after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau hinted at the countrys security agencies probing a possible link between India and the murder of pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
Indias foreign ministry responded sharply, dismissing Canadas charges. It accused Canada of sheltering Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a statement. Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements, and the space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new, the statement read.
This is not the first time that India has accused the Trudeau government of not doing enough to tackle the Khalistani issue. But, why is Justin Trudeau seen to have a soft stance on Khalistani separatists who propagate anti-India sentiments in Canada? Lets understand.
Canadas large Indian diaspora
Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diaspora, which accounts for about 1.4 million of the countrys total 40 million population.
Out of these 1.4 million people of Indian origin in Canada, about 770,000 are Sikhs, Reuters reported citing the 2021 census.
In fact, after India, Canada has the highest population of Sikhs, who form a major voter base.
Sikhs lawmakers and officials are present at all levels of the Canadian government. However, not all Canadian Sikhs support the demand for Khalistan and neither it is a hot issue for them, as per Indian Express.
Canadian leaders do not want to lose Sikh votes but they wrongly think the loud minority of Khalistanis are all Sikhs of Canada, Terry Milewski, who wrote a book on Khalistan, told Deutsche Welle (DW) in 2022.
Canada has itself been a victim of Khalistan extremism when Air India flight 182, the Kanishka, flying from Montreal to London was bombed by terrorists.
Pro-Khalistani leader Talwinder Singh Parmar, who was based in Canada, was considered the mastermind of the bombing.
Trudeaus political compulsions
Trudeaus Liberal Party is heading a minority government in Canada. In 2021, the Liberal Party came to power with just 159 seats, with Trudeau becoming the prime minister for the third time.
Last March, he struck a deal with the New Democratic Party (NDP) to stay in power until 2025. The left-leaning NDP is headed by Jagmeet Singh, who is seen as a Khalistani supporter. Singh once took part in a Khalistani separatist rally, reported Scroll.
Trudeau is treading a thin line, heading a minority government backed significantly by Jagmeet Singh, who is crucial for his political survival. Though the 2019 elections had sealed the bond between them, Singh is now seen as someone who is his trusted partner supporting him whenever he is attacked by opposition on issues, The Tribune quoted observers as saying.
ALSO READ: Diplomats expelled, trade talks on hold: How India-Canada ties have plunged to new lows
In March this year, Singh had called for Trudeaus intervention after Punjab Polices crackdown on Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh, which had led to the suspension of the internet in the Indian state.
Calling them draconian measures, the NDP leader said it is unsettling for many given their historical use to execute extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances during the 1984 Sikh Genocide.
I am calling on Justin Trudeau and the Liberal government to immediately contact their Indian counterparts to express concern regarding the suspension of civil liberties and the safety of Canadians abroad. Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) March 18, 2023
In June 1984, the Indian Army had stormed the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out Khalistani militants. Months later, the then prime minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation to the Armys operation, which was seen as an attack on the Golden Temple.
In December 2018, Canada released its annual Public Report on the Terrorist Threat to Canada, which mentioned Sikh extremism and Khalistan for the first time.
As per India Today, the report said Canada continues to face threats from individuals inspired to commit violence based on other forms of extremism, including fromSikh (Khalistani) extremists.
However, after backlash from some Sikh groups, the Trudeau government released a revised report in April 2019 without any mention of Sikh extremism and Khalistan, reported the news channel.
Trudeaus government is accused of not taking a hard stance against Khalistani separatists because of political compulsions. But its not just Trudeau, Canada has been considered a safe haven for Khalistan supporters for long, noted Indian Express.
The meek Canadian response to the Khalistani challenge was a frequent target of Indian politicians as far back as 1982, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi complained about it to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau (Justins father), Terry Milewski wrote in his book Blood for Blood: Fifty Years of the Global Khalistan Project (2021).
Speaking to ThePrint, Vishnu Prakash, former Indian High Commissioner to Canada, said in February 2018: Over the years, the Canadian political establishment, across the spectrum (whether it is the NDP, Conservatives or Liberals) has been mollycoddling Khalistani elements. Under the Trudeau government, this has increased.
In 2017, Trudeau attended a Khalsa Day event where Khalistani flags, and portraits of slain Khalistani leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and Talwinder were reportedly displayed.
The media reported Trudeau was snubbed by India during his 2018 Delhi visit for being soft on Khalistani militants.
What have India and Canada said?
India has often raised the issue of anti-India activities allegedly carried out by pro-Khalistani leaders and groups in Canada.
In March, violent protests were organised by Khalistan supporters outside the Indian consulate in Vancouver, following which New Delhi flagged concerns of separatist and extremist elements against Indian diplomatic missions and consulates in Canada.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said in June that Canadas constrained response on the Khalistani issue has affected its ties with India in the the last few years. For us how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern. Because very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote-bank politics.
Their responses have all been, to the best of my understanding, actually constrained by what they regard as vote bank compulsions, he was quoted as saying by PTI.
Sushant Singh, a lecturer in political science at Yale University, told Scroll, The Indian government believes that the Canadian government is soft on Khalistani supporters in Canada and working against Indian interests.
In July, India issued summons to the Canadian High Commissioner after posters by pro-Khalistan groups labelled Indian diplomats as killers following the death of Nijjar. Canada called the promotional material circulated ahead of the Khalistan Freedom Rally unacceptable, saying it takes its obligations regarding safety of diplomats very seriously.
While Trudeau has spoken against violence in Canada, he has also defended the right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest.
Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest, and its extremely important to us. At the same time we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. On the issue of a community, its important to remember that the actions of a few didnt represent the whole community or Canada, he told reporters after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit earlier in September.
With inputs from agencies
The relations between India and Canada have drastically plunged to a new low. New Delhi on Tuesday (19 September) directed a senior Canadian diplomat to leave India hours after Ottawa expelled Indias top intelligence agent.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
MEA says, The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision pic.twitter.com/E3Uf9HVQLN ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
This comes after Canadas prime minister, Justin Trudeau, on Monday (18 September) said his government suspected a potential link between Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia in June.
The Trudeau government also expelled the head of the Indias intelligence agency in Canada over the issue.
In a sharp retort, India dismissed Canadas charge as absurd and motivated. These new developments come days after Trudeaus rocky visit to India for the G20 Summit earlier in September.
Lets take a look at whats happening and how ties between India and Canada have deteriorated in recent years.
India rubbishes Canadas allegations
Trudeau in an emergency statement told the House of Commons that Canadian security agencies are actively pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar on 18 June in Surrey.
Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Gurdwara in the Vancouver suburb, was designated a terrorist by India in July 2020.
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjars death, the Canadian premier was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week at the G20 I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi in no uncertain terms, he added.
India rejected Canadas allegations, asking the country to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the MEA said in its statement.
We urge the government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the foreign ministry said.
Hit pause on trade talks
Just days after Trudeaus tumultuous visit to Delhi for the G20 Summit, India and Canada paused talks on a bilateral free trade agreement.
A senior government official said that negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) are likely to resume after the political issues between the two countries are resolved.
There were certain political developments in Canada on which India has also raised its objection for the time being (till) these political developments are settled, we have paused the negotiations with Canada. But the moment these political issues are sorted out, the talks will resume. It is only a pause. There is no break, there is only pause, the official told Indian Express.
India is Canadas tenth largest trading partner and the two nations have been aiming for a trade deal for a decade now, noted The Guardian.
The Canadian government has also indefinitely postponed a trade mission to India scheduled for October.
Souring relations visible at G20
The low in India and Canadas relations were out in the open during the G20 Summit. During a pull aside meeting with Trudeau on the sidelines of the high-profile conclave, Prime Minister Modi expressed concern over anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada.
Indias foreign ministry said in a press release after the meet, He (PM Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.
The nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.
The MEA highlighted that mutual respect and trust were essential for the progress of India-Canada relationship.
While Trudeaus office said that the Canadian prime minister had raised the importance of respecting the rule of law, democratic principles and national sovereignty, as per Scroll.
On why his public interactions with his Indian counterpart were awkward and stilted, Trudeau told reporters he emphasised respecting the rule of law.
Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest, and its extremely important to us. At the same time we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. On the issue of a community, its important to remember that the actions of a few didnt represent the whole community or Canada, he said, as per Scroll.
As per reports, Canadas request for a bilateral was rejected by Delhi and only a pull aside meeting was held between Modi and Trudeau.
During the G20 Summit, the media reported that Trudeau was snubbed not only by India but also by other world leaders. He was also reportedly missing from the dinner for the G20 leaders hosted by President Droupadi Murmu on 9 September, with his office refusing to give a reason for his absence.
Trudeau also made headlines as he was stuck in India for two days after the G20 Summit as his CC 150 Polaris aircraft, also known as the Flying Taj Mahal, suffered a maintenance problem.
The Khalistan issue
The Khalistan issue is a major thorn between India and Canadas relations. While India believes Canada is soft on Khalistani extremism, the North American country accuses New Delhi of interference in its domestic politics.
For us, how Canada has dealt with the Khalistani issue has been a long-standing concern. Because, very frankly, they seem to be driven by vote-bank politics, EAM S Jaishankar said in June.
Canada is home to the highest population of Sikhs outside Indias Punjab. It also has one of the largest Indian diaspora, comprising 1.4 million out of the total Canadian population of 40 million, reported Reuters.
The Indian diplomats have also often raised the issue of the vandalism of Hindu temples in Canada allegedly by pro-Khalistani groups.
In June, India made a diplomatic protest when a video from Canada showing the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi being celebrated surfaced. A placard on the tableau read: Revenge for attack on Shri Darbar Sahib.
Canadian authorities said that the tableau was not a hate crime, noted Scroll.
India has also objected to Canada allowing Khalistani leaders and outfits to organise referendums seeking an independent state for Indian Sikhs. When Modi and Trudeau met on 10 September, a Khalistan referendum was held in Surrey at the Guru Nanak gurdwara where Nijjar was shot dead, reported The Tribune.
New Delhi has been wary of the Khalistan movement flourishing in Canada, especially with respect to its connection with organised criminal gangs in India and Canada, reported Hindustan Times.
This nexus between some Canada-based radicals and gangsters provides the former with foot soldiers in India, a luxury they did not enjoy earlier, an official told the newspaper last year.
Meanwhile, Canada has accused India of interfering in its domestic politics. The Canadian government, in turn, has alleged that India as is China is interfering in Canadas domestic politics, essentially through the diaspora, Sushant Singh, a lecturer in political science at Yale University, told Scroll.
Terry Milewski, a Canadian journalist, believes the ties between the two nations can be salvaged once Trudeau is out of power.
Indian politicians probably need to look beyond Trudeau and consider how were going to steer this ship to a safe harbour after Trudeau is gone, Milewski told Mojo Story earlier this month, predicting Trudeaus defeat in the next elections.
For now, it remains to be seen if India and Canada will work to resolve these issues or a stalemate will continue.
With inputs from agencies
Theres a big buzz in the political corridors. It appears that this special session of Parliament will be indeed be special for two reasons. One, the move of the MPs from the old Parliament building to the new one which will happen today (19 September) and secondly, because it seems that the Centre cleared the Womens Reservation bill in the Union Cabinet meeting held on Monday and is set to bring it for passage in the Parliament on Wednesday (20 September).
At the Cabinet meet that took place on Monday and lasted for more than 90 minutes, speculation is rife that it approved the Womens Reservation Bill, which guarantees a 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
The news of the Cabinet clearing this long-pending bill came after Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel posted on social media platform X that the the Cabinet had approved it, but deleted the post within an hour.
Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfil the demand for womens reservation which was proved by the approval of the cabinet. Congratulations Narendra Modi ji and congratulations to the Modi government, the minister wrote on X which was later deleted.
While theres no official confirmation on the legislation, we take a closer look at what exactly it is, its history and what it aims to achieve.
Womens Reservation Bill and its history
First introduced in 1996 by the United Front government led by Deve Gowda in the Lok Sabha, the Womens Reservation Bill seeks to reserve one-third seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women.
As per a report by India Today, the idea for this reservation bill came from a constitutional amendment which was passed in 1993.
Even though it was at a smaller level, the constitutional amendment stated a random one third of village council leader, or Sarpanch, positions in the gram panchayat should be reserved for women.
By introducing the Womens Reservation Bill in the House, the Deve Gowda government aimed to extend this reservation to Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies.
It was unable to pass muster in the House and was reintroduced in 1998, 1999 and in 2008.
It was in 2008 that a significant push was made in regards to the Bill. The United Progressive Alliance government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, introduced the Bill on 6 May 2008 and dramatic scenes followed. There was snatching of papers, tearing down of papers and more. The Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
It was finally in 2010 that the Bill saw a breakthrough. After two days of discussions and debates on 9 March 2010, the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill by over a two-third majority the BJP and the Left, who were in the Opposition, supported it with 186 in favour.
However, the UPA government didnt show the political will to pass it in the Lok Sabha and it lapsed in the Upper House.
Hiccups over the Womens Reservation Bill
Though most of the national political parties the Congress, the BJP have supported the legislation over the years, some resistance from within has held it from being passed.
Proponents of the Bill believe that reservation will ensure that women form a strong lobby in Parliament to fight for issues that are often ignored.
However, opponents argue that the legislation runs counter to the ideal of equality enshrined in the Constitution. They say that women will not be competing on merit if there is reservation, which could lower their status in society.
Theres also the argument that reservation in a deeply patriarchal society like India only translates into rule by men by proxy. According to PRS Legislative Research, reservation would restrict voters choices or reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency if the reservations followed a policy of rotation and his seat was to be reserved for women in the next polls.
There are also some MPs who oppose the Womens Reservation Bill. They argue that women are not a homogeneous community, such as a caste group. Some have even demanded quota for backward classes and scheduled castes within the overall reservation for women a key sticking point in the passage of the legislation.
Another challenge in implementing such a Bill in Rajya Sabha is the existing system of elections, which uses the single transferable vote method. This system allocates votes to preferred candidates, making it difficult to reserve seats for specific groups.
Womens representation in India
Though women have made great strides in different fields, womens presence in politics is dismally low. In the present Lok Sabha, 78 women members have been elected which account for less than 15 per cent of the total strength of 543. In Rajya Sabha too, womens representation is about 14 per cent, according to the data shared by the government with Parliament last December.
Several state Assemblies have less than 10 per cent women representation, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Puducherry.
Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had 10-12 per cent women MLAs, according to the government data of December 2022. Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand led the charts with 14.44 per cent, 13.7 per cent and 12.35 per cent women MLAs, respectively.
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India has a fewer percentage of women in the lower House than its neighbours such as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh a dismal record.
Al Jazeera further reported that India ranked 148th in a list of 193 countries based on the percentage of elected women representatives in their national parliaments, as of June 2021.
With inputs from agencies
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home they will soon be reunited with their loved ones after enduring years of agony, uncertainty and suffering, US president Joe Biden said in a statement, as the US and Iran each freed five detainees under an exchange agreement.
The agreement follows months of negotiations involving mediation by Oman and Qatar and the transfer of $6 billion unfrozen Iranian assets from South Korea.
Lets take a look at the 10 detainees and the process that led to their release.
The five American prisoners freed
Tehran held in custody at least five Iranian-born US citizens. The Islamic republic does not recognise dual nationality and has considered them as only Iranian nationals. Following are the Americans who were imprisoned in Iran and were released under the deal.
Siamak Namazi: A businessman, he was arrested in 2015 by the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran while visiting his family. Baquer, his ill father, was detained months later after coming to Iran to visit his jailed son. They were both sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2016 for allegedly spying on and assisting with the US government.
Emad Sharqi: Sharqi and his wife moved to Iran from the United States in 2017. The 59-year-old Iranian-American businessman was detained for the first time in 2018 while working for Saravan Holding, a tech investment firm. After eight months, he was released on bail, and a Revolutionary Court cleared him of spying and security-related charges. However, his travel ban remained.
In November 2020, he was called before another Revolutionary Court, which sentenced him to 10 years in prison on espionage accusations. He was not originally imprisoned, but Iranian media stated that he was apprehended while attempting to depart Iran in January 2021.
Morad Tahbaz: He was arrested in 2018. In 2019, the 67-year-old Iranian-American environmentalist with British citizenship, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for assembly and collusion against Irans national security and contacts with the enemy government of the United States for the purpose of spying, as per a Reuters report.
The two remaining former prisoners preferred to remain anonymous.
By 10 August, all had been transferred to house arrest at undisclosed locations as an initial step ahead of their release.
They flew from Tehran to the Qatari capital Doha on Monday, joined by two more relatives who are also US citizens.
The Iranian prisoners
Tehrans judiciary reported in August 2022 that dozens of Iranian nationals had been detained in the United States. As part of the swap, five Iranians detained by the US were also released. They included:
Mehrdad Moein Ansari: A 40-year-old dual citizen of the United Arab Emirates and Germany. According to the US Justice Department, he was sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for breaking Iranian sanctions as part of a plot to get military-sensitive materials for Iran.
Ansari is accused of obtaining and attempting to procure parts for nuclear weapons systems, missile guidance, and development, as per a BBC report.
According to Justice Department authorities, Ansari and his co-conspirators attempted to profit from a far-reaching, extensive scheme to circumvent US sanctions on Iran. They consistently lied to several US suppliers and obtained very sensitive dual-use products illegally.
Kambiz Attar Kashani: Kashani, 44, was sentenced to 30 months in jail in February 2023 for plotting to illegally transfer US products and technology to Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, which the US government has designated as a supporter of terrorist organisations, reports BBC.
According to Justice Department officials, Kashani and his co-conspirators used two front companies in the United Arab Emirates to illegally obtain electronic goods and technology from multiple US companies to send to Iran. Kashani pleaded guilty to the charges.
Reza Sarhangpour-Kafrani: In 2021, Kafrani was accused with illegally exporting laboratory equipment from the United States to Iran via Canada and the United Arab Emirates. He lived in Montreal and operated a Canadian company that did business in the United States and other nations.
According to US authorities, Kafrani engaged with an American company to purchase mass spectrometry equipment that would be delivered to Iran via Canada and the UAE. To export the equipment to Iran and the UAE, the US government requires a licence.
Amin Hassanzadeh: Hassanzadeh, a permanent citizen of the United States, was accused to take important technical data from his employer and delivered it to his brother in Iran, who had ties to the Iranian military. In 2019, he was charged with interstate trafficking of stolen items and fraud.
Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi: The FBI arrested Afrasiabi at his residence in Massachusetts for acting and conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Iranian government. According to US sources, Iran was paying Afrasiabi to propagate propaganda, reports BBC.
Iranian media said Monday that Ansari and Sarhangpour had arrived in Qatar, ahead of their eventual return to Iran. Two of the others will remain in the United States at their request, and the other will go to a third country, Irans foreign ministry said.
Swaps in the past
Washington and Tehran have struck similar deals in the past.
In June 2020, Iranian scientist Cyrus Asgari returned to Iran after nearly three years in US detention charged with stealing trade secrets.
Days later another scientist, Majid Taheri, was freed in exchange for Tehrans release of US Navy veteran Michael White who had been detained since July 2018 on charges of insulting Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Taheri, an Iranian-American who had been working at a clinic in Tampa, Florida, was held by US authorities for 16 months over accusations of sanctions violations.
The swaps took place despite heightened tensions after the US president at the time, Donald Trump, in 2018 withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran.
In 2019, Tehran released US academic Xiyue Wang who had been jailed in 2016 for espionage, in exchange for Iranian scientist Massoud Soleimani.
Iranian authorities had in early 2016 freed four US citizens in exchange for seven Iranians held in the United States.
The Americans included Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and US Marine veteran Amir Hekmati, both accused of espionage, as well as the Christian pastor Saeed Abedini.
Prisoner exchange mediations
The United States and Iran severed diplomatic ties in 1980, after the Islamic Revolution toppled the Western-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and after Iranian students took hostage US embassy staff, who were held for 444 days.
Talks on prisoner exchanges since then have often involved mediation by Switzerland, which represents US interests in Tehran.
Oman, whose mediation helped secure the latest deal, has facilitated since May the release of six European detainees in Iran.
They include Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who had been convicted of espionage and spent more than a year in custody.
In exchange, Tehran got back its diplomat Assadollah Assadi who was convicted in a bomb plot and imprisoned in Belgium.
With inputs from agencies
Seven leopard cubs have died at Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru after being infected by a highly contagious virus, officials said on Tuesday.
Feline panleukopenia (FP) is a viral disease of cats caused by the feline parvovirus. Kittens are most severely affected by the virus, they said.
The seven cubs were aged between three and eight months. All of them were vaccinated but succumbed during the course of treatment. According to officials, the first outbreak was reported on August 22.
Executive Director of Bannerghatta Biological Park, AV Surya Sen said though the seven cubs were vaccinated, they were still infected.
It is now under control and in the last 15 days, no deaths have been reported. We have completely broken the chain and taken all necessary measures. We followed all the required procedure and also held discussions with all our senior veterinarians. All correct course of action was taken. Also, we have ensured hygiene of the entire zoo and the rescue centre was completely sanitised, he said.
The infection was reported on August 22 and within a span of 15 days, these seven virus infected cubs died. We had released nine leopard cubs into the Safari area, out of which four got infected and died. Three other cubs at the rescue centre also got infected and died during the course of treatment. All those infected died within a span of two weeks despite being given proper treatment, he added.
Elaborating on the nature of virus, the official said once infected by Feline panleukopenia virus, the intestine of the animal gets completely affected. They develop severe diarrhoea, vomiting and dehydration which ultimately leads to death. It spreads rapidly and the infected animal dies within four to five days.
The Anantnag encounter, one of the longest in history, culminated on Day 7 with the death of Uzair Khan, the terrorist who gunned down top Army personnel.
Uzair Ahmad Khan (28), a native of Nagam Kokernag in Anantnag, was reported missing on July 26, 2022. Uzair is believed to be joined by two foreign terrorists, according to intelligence authorities.
Vijay Kumar, ADG Kashmir, acknowledged the death of LeT commander Uzair Khan and asked civilians not to approach the hideouts till a search and combing operation is over.
LeT commander Uzair Killed, body and weapon have been recovered. one more dead body has been seen. Search operation still on. We will search more blind cells We appeal people not to visit spot till we clear it. Total 2-3 were believed to be there. Maybe well find another body. Second body seen. We will find more spots and destroy it. Three officers and one solider have been martyred, Vijay Kumar said.
The Army has obtained DNA samples from a burnt corpse retrieved from the scene. The Army believes it is the work of an Army man known as Pradeep. This brings the total number of casualties to four: three Indian Army troops and one Jammu and Kashmir Police officer.
Since the corpse of the last soldier was retrieved on Monday evening (Day 6), the Army made the final push and finished the operation on Day 7. A search effort is still underway to locate the two or three terrorists who may be hiding in the vicinity.
The search is underway in the aftermath of a 100-hour fire war between Pakistan-backed militants and security forces in Kokernag, Anantnag district, South Kashmir.
The operation to flush out terrorists, which entered its sixth day on Monday, has been underway in Anantnags Gadole forest area since Wednesday, when three brave security forces personnel, including Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat, lost their lives in the operation.
According to sources, security personnel are employing drones and helicopters to monitor the densely wooded region with many cave-like hideouts where the terrorists are thought to be holed up since Wednesday.
On Sunday, the police perimeter was expanded to the adjoining Posh Kreeri region as a precautionary step to ensure that terrorists do not infiltrate civilian communities.
What happened so far
On Friday night, gripping footage surfaced showing the use of armed drones, which were strategically used to neutralise terrorist subterranean hideouts.
The Anantnag operation has turned into one of Kashmirs longest military battles, but security forces are making no compromises in their objective to eliminate terrorist hideouts tucked amid the difficult terrain of Gadool Hill.
According to reports, the region may be hiding two to three terrorists, including two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including self-styled LeT leader Uzair Khan.
The administration was condemned by the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) coalition for presenting the Womens Reservation Bill late and for making a post-dated commitment that lacked meaning. What had taken a single party majority administration nine and a half years to bring the Bill was a prevalent concern among INDIA party members.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), two of the INDIA blocs most vocal members, who had halted the Bill in 2010, continue to press for a quota within the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC).
SP president Akhilesh Yadav in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said: Womens reservation should be a balance of gender justice and social justice. In this, reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, tribal [PDA] women should be clear in definite percentage form.
The party does not oppose the Bill, according to Rajya Sabha member Javed Ali Khan, who went on to elaborate on the partys position on the issue.
We know that this government is anti-OBC and that is why there is no point in agitating for a quota for the OBC. We are hopeful when a pro-OBC government is elected, we can suitably amend the Bill, he said.
Manoj K. Jha, a Rajya Sabha representative for the RJD, stated that while the party supported the principle of having the broadest representation possible, it is still steadfast in its demand for a quota inside a quota.
Paraphrasing Mahatma Gandhis remarks on the Cripps Mission, I would say that a post-dated promise of the government has little credibility, Jha said.
He emphasised that the Bills Clause 5 specifies that only once delimitation has been done can reservations be put into effect.
Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu, a Rajya Sabha member for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), dubbed it a triumph for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) administration but questioned why a government that has hurriedly passed numerous pieces of legislation waited so long to introduce this Bill.
For the Bill to become reality, the government will have to first conduct a Census, which is now delayed by over three years, she said.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) also announced its intention to support the Bill.
We dont need a piece of legislation to implement reservation for women. One third of our Lok Sabha MPs are already women, TMC Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O Brien said.
The Bill was one of the promises made by the BJP in its 2014 manifesto, according to Shiv Sena member Priyanka Chaturvedi (Udhav Thackeray), but it took them this long to introduce it.
The Bill that they have brought in clearly lacks intent. They are offering reservation for women but with terms and conditions. They are basically saying that queue up for the reservation but we will decide your entry when the time is best suited, Chaturvedi said.
As the southern States are already protesting the loss of their political authority, she also noted that the delimitation process might present an insurmountable challenge.
The Indian government rejected the Canadian governments allegations that Indian operatives were engaged in the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India rejects allegations by Canada, MEA issues statement. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in pic.twitter.com/RmH8eFDinR ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the statement said.
The statement also said that unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity.
It also highlighted the inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern and urged the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
MEA says, "...Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
Canada expelled a high-ranking Indian diplomat on Monday while it launches an inquiry into what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called plausible allegations that the Indian government was involved in the execution of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada.
In a speech to the Canadian Parliament, Trudeau revealed that Canadian security agencies had launched an investigation into the allegations following the killing of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar, a staunch supporter of an independent Sikh nation known as Khalistan, was assassinated on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
During his address, Trudeau noted that he discussed the issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 conference the week before. Trudeau emphasised that he had told Modi that any complicity by the Indian government would be unacceptable and that he had asked for help in the current inquiry.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2 per cent of its total population.
In India, the Khalistan movement and related organisations are considered a national security concern by the government. However, the movement retains some support in northern India, as well as in nations with a substantial Sikh diaspora, such as Canada and the United Kingdom.
At the time of his murder, Nijjar was organising an unauthorised referendum in India for an independent Sikh state. Last year, Indian officials proposed a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Nijjar, accusing him of participation in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, telecom giant Reliance Jio unveiled Jio AirFiber, which is now available in eight major Indian metropolitan cities: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Pune.
Jio AirFiber offers a range of tariff plans, starting at Rs 599 for a 30 Mbps speed connection. This plan includes access to more than 550 digital channels and 14 OTT apps. There is also three tiers of the Jio AirFiber Max plan, which starts at 300Mbps for Rs 1,499, along with the same digital channels and OTT apps.
Customers can choose from six-month or one-year subscription options for Jio AirFiber plans. The official launch date was announced by Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, during the companys 46th Annual General Meeting on August 28th, and it coincides with a significant festival in India, Ganesh Chaturthi.
Jio AirFiber, guarantees fiber-like speeds without the requirement for physical wiring. Its a hassle-free setup users just need to plug it in, power it on, and theyre ready to enjoy high-speed internet. Moreover, users have the option to establish a personal Wi-Fi hotspot within their homes, connecting to ultra-high-speed internet supported by True 5G technology.
Getting Jio AirFiber Installed
Getting started with the process is simple. If youre interested, you can initiate the booking process by giving a missed call to 60008-60008 through WhatsApp, visiting the Jio website, or heading to your nearest Jio Store for more information.
After that, youll need to register for Jio AirFiber services, and Jio representatives will reach out to you to assist with the next steps. Do note, that your building needs to fall under the area where Jio AirFiber is actually serviceable.
Once done, a team of technicians will visit you where you want to get the device installed and set it up for you. The team that visits you to install the device will install an outdoor unit after which JioAir Fibers main WiFi router can be set up in any corner of your property, and even moved around.
The set-up process is also very easy the main router device, that will provide access to 5G internet, is simply plug and play.
There is an installation fee of Rs 1,000, but this charge can be waived if you choose to subscribe to an annual plan. Additionally, users have the option to pay for their subscription through monthly credit/debit card-based EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) payments and still enjoy the benefits of an annual plan. This flexibility allows users to choose a payment option that suits their preferences and budget.
Network18 and TV18 the companies that operate Firstpost are controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday proposed that the old Parliament building should be known as Samvidhan Sadan.
PM Modi announced this proposal in his last speech from the old Parliament before shifting to the new building.
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | PM Narendra Modi says, I have a suggestion. Now, when we are going to the New Parliament, its (Old Parliament building) dignity should never go down. This should not be left just as the Old Parliament building. So, I urge that if you pic.twitter.com/T8izb46MfO ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others leave from the Central Hall of the Old Parliament building. PM Modi made a suggestion that the building should now be known as Samvidhan Sadan. pic.twitter.com/KlTNB3C2Et ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
While speaking, PM Modi also urged Members of Parliament to reaffirm the commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047 and described the move to the new Parliament building as a new beginning towards a new future.
He was addressing a gathering of MPs at the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building during a function to commemorate the rich legacy of the Parliament of India.
In the new Parliament building, we are going to make new beginnings for a new future, Modi said.
Since 1952, 41 heads of states from across the world have addressed our MPs in the Central Hall and more than 4,000 laws have been passed by Parliament in the last seven decades, the prime minister said.
With inputs from agencies
In a recent decision by the Delhi High Court, two legal complaints related to a stone-pelting dispute between neighbors over property have been dismissed with direction that all 24 individuals involved in the dispute will perform basic cleaning duties at four police stations of Delhi.
Justice Saurabh Banerjee issued this order on September 15, following an agreement reached between the two parties.
The disagreement between these parties led to them filing FIRs against each other under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Mehrauli Police Station in July of this year.
The court has granted the requests to dismiss these FIRs while also instructing the 24 individuals involved to organize themselves into four groups, each comprising six people. These groups will be responsible for carrying out basic cleaning tasks at three different police stations for a total of three days.
The cleaning activities are scheduled for Monday, Thursday, and Sunday of this week at the following police stations: Mehrauli, Fatehpur Beri, Maidan Garhi, and Neb Sarai.
It is important to note that the quality of the cleaning work must meet the satisfaction of the respective investigating officer, as directed by the court.
Furthermore, the court has given the parties the freedom to decide amongst themselves how to form these groups and which police station they will be assigned to for their cleaning duties.
The court also commended the efforts of all 24 parties involved in this case for their willingness to reach a resolution.
According to the details of the case, the neighbors had a physical altercation during which they allegedly threw stones at each other. As a result, the police had initially filed charges under Section 308 of the IPC, which pertains to an attempt to commit a serious crime.
Advocates Vipin Sehrawat, Aakash Godara, and Manoj Godara represented the petitioners in the two legal petitions.
On the other side, Additional Standing Counsel Rupali Bandhopadhya, along with advocates Akshay Kumar and Abhijeet Kumar, represented the State.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday addressed the MPs in the Central hall of the old parliament building, before moving to the new premises.
In his speech, the Prime Minister said, Today, we are going to do Shree Ganesha of new future as we move to the new Parliament building.
VIDEO | Today, we are going to do Shree Ganesha of new future as we move to the new Parliament building, says PM Modi at the event organised in Central Hall ahead of shifting of the Parliament to the new building. pic.twitter.com/JSD2mYMIyl Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
Bidding adieu to the old parliament building, PM Modi said, "bidding goodbye to this (old) building is an emotional moment."
PM Modi proposed that the old Parliament building be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan'.
"As we move to new Parliament building, we should maintain prestige of old building," the Prime Minister said.
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | PM Narendra Modi says, "I have a suggestion. Now, when we are going to the New Parliament, its (Old Parliament building) dignity should never go down. This should not be left just as the Old Parliament building. So, I urge that if you pic.twitter.com/T8izb46MfO ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
"It was here in 1947 that the British did the transfer of power, our Central Hall is a witness of that historic moment," he further said.
VIDEO | "It was here in 1947 that the British did the transfer of power, our Central Hall is a witness of that historic moment," says PM Modi ahead of shifting of Parliament to the new building. pic.twitter.com/FqP4afanVU Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
'Beginning of a new future'
The Prime Minister said, "Today, we are going to have the beginning of a new future in the new Parliament building. Today, we are going to the new building with the determination to fulfil the resolve of a developed India."
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | PM Narendra Modi says, "Today, we are going to have the beginning of a new future in the new Parliament building. Today, we are going to the new building with the determination to fulfil the resolve of a developed India." pic.twitter.com/FNuI8c4lzz ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
'India is filled with a new energy'
"I had said from Red Fort - Yahi samay hai, sahi samay hai (This is the time, this in the right time). If we look at the events one after the other, each one of them bears witness that today, India has reawakened with a new consciousness. India is filled with a new energy. This consciousness and energy can change the dreams of crores of people into resolutions and make those resolutions into a reality...," the Prime Minister said.
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | PM Narendra Modi says, "I had said from Red Fort - Yahi samay hai, sahi samay hai. If we look at the events one after the other, each one of them bears witness that today, India has reawakened with a new consciousness. India is filled with pic.twitter.com/i3ZFNUvS2y ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
"Now, we have to walk towards being the best in the world in the manufacturing sector. I had said from the Red Fort - Zero Defect, Zero Effect. There should be no defect in our products and the process should not have an effect on the environment. We have to go before the world with this 'Zero Defect, Zero Effect'...," the PM said.
'Have to meet the goal of becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat'
In his address to MPs, including those from opposition parties, PM Modi said: "...In the 25 years of Amrit Kaal, India will have to work on a larger canvas. The time for us to get caught up in smaller issues is over. First of all, we will have to meet the goal of becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat...It is the need of the hour, it is everyone's duty. Parties do not come in its way. Sirf Dil chahiye, desh ke liye chahiye."
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | PM Narendra Modi says, "...In the 25 years of Amrit Kaal, India will have to work on a larger canvas. The time for us to get caught up in smaller issues is over. First of all, we will have to meet the goal of becoming Atmanirbhar pic.twitter.com/zlrTLi6ZVh ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
'Paint a picture of grand India'
Addressing the lawmakers, PM Modi said: "Every law made in the Parliament, every discussion held in the Parliament, and every signal given by the Parliament should encourage the Indian aspiration. This is our responsibility and the expectation of each and every Indian. Whatever reforms are made here, Indian aspiration should be our priority."
"Can anyone ever make a big picture on a small canvas?" asked the PM, adding that, "Just as we cannot make a big picture on a small canvas, in the same way, if we cannot enlarge the canvas of our thinking, we will not be able to paint a picture of a grand India."
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "Every law made in the Parliament, every discussion held in the Parliament, and every signal given by the Parliament should encourage the Indian aspiration. This is our responsibility and the expectation pic.twitter.com/edShzmevhY ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
PM Modi hails decisions taken in Parliment
During his address, PM Modi said: "Muslim mothers and sisters got justice because of this Parliament, law opposing 'triple talaq' was unitedly passed from here. In the last few years, Parliament has also passed laws giving justice to the transgenders. We have unitedly passed laws that will guarantee a bright future for the specially-abled people. It is our privilege that we got the opportunity to abrogate Article 370 from the Parliament."
#WATCH | Special Session of Parliament | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "...Muslim mothers and sisters got justice because of this Parliament, law opposing 'triple talaq' was unitedly passed from here. In the last few years, Parliament has also passed laws giving justice to pic.twitter.com/gnOY7JDtu3 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
'World's eyes are on India'
The Prime Minister said: "World's eyes are on India; during Cold War we were non-aligned, now we have different status, are moving ahead as 'vishwa mitra'."
"Our position as a 'friend of world' is helping all our citizens with a key role in global supply chains, place at major platforms," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the Rajya Sabha on the first day of parliamentary proceedings in the new Parliament building and said that that the long-pending Womens Reservation Bill, will eventually pave way for womens empowerment in the country in the future.
Calling it a historic day, PM Modi urged all the members present in the Upper House to help the Union government to pass the bill in both houses of Parliament. The prime minister in his address in the Rajya Sabha said, We have introduced the Nari Shakti Vandana Bill in Lok Sabha, it will come into Rajya SabhaI request all to pass this bill unanimously.
We have to work intelligently and not based on numbers, the PM said and added that, The Rajya Sabha indeed shows the power of our countrys federal structure.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced by Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, amid disruptions in the Lok Sabha. The Bill was cleared so that it could be tabled in Parliament at a crucial Cabinet meeting held late on Monday evening.
The new Parliament Building is the beacon of parliamentary democracy in India. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha.
https://t.co/oPMHBQPnx4 Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 19, 2023
Addressing the Upper House, the Prime Minister recalled his address in the Lok Sabha and expressed gratitude towards the Chair for the opportunity to address the Rajya Sabha on this special occasion.
PM Modi quoted Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan and pointed out that the Parliament is not just a legislative body but a deliberative body. He said that it is always a pleasure to hear quality debates which take place in the Rajya Sabha. The new Parliament, he said, is not just a new building but it is also a beacon of hope for a new beginning. At the dawn of Amrit Kaal, this new building will infuse new energy into 140 crore Indians, he said.
In his address PM Modi pointed out that the country had issues to deal with that have been pending for decades and were considered monumental. Touching upon such issues was considered a huge mistake from the political standpoint, the Prime Minister said as he mentioned that the government took major strides in this direction even though they did not have the required numbers in the Rajya Sabha.
The dignity of the Rajya Sabha was upheld not because of sheer numbers in the house but due to the dexterity and understanding of its members, he added.
Underscoring the Rajya Sabhas role as House of the States, the Prime Minister said that in the time of emphasis on cooperative federalism, the country has moved forward with great cooperation on many critical matters and had displayed the power of cooperative federalism.
Referring once again to the Nari Shakti Vandana Bill that was presented in the Lok Sabha earlier, the Prime Minister said that when people talk about the ease of life, the first claim of that ease belongs to women. He said that the participation of women is being ensured in many sectors. Potential of women should get opportunities. The time of ifs and buts in their lives is over, he said once again urging members to pass the bill unanimously.
He pointed out that the bill was first introduced in 1996 and numerous discussions took place during former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, but the bill could not become a law due to the lack of numbers.
The Prime Minister concluded his address by urging the members of the Rajya Sabha to support the bill unanimously so that its power and outreach are amplified to the fullest.
Narhari Amin, a BJP MP, collapsed as members from both houses gathered for a group photo to commentate leaving the old Parliament building.
#WATCH | BJP MP Narhari Amin fainted during the group photo session of Parliamentarians. He has now recovered and is a part of the photo session. pic.twitter.com/goeqh9JxGN ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
As per a statement released by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, MPs were summoned to assemble for the group photo at 9:30 am. The photo session comprised three separate group pictures: one featuring all MPs from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, a second exclusively for Rajya Sabha MPs, and a third for Lok Sabha MPs.
Following the photo session, all members were asked to meet at 11 am in the Central Hall of Parliament for an event dedicated to celebrating the Parliaments illustrious history.
MPs were given new identity cards for access to the new building.
A special five-day session of Parliament commenced on 18 September, setting the stage for crucial discussions and deliberations.
Bidding goodbye to the old Parliament building, Union Ministers and MPs, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, moved to the new building where the remaining days of special secession will be conducted.
Videos show Bharat Mata Ki Jai slogans were raised by parliamentarians as they headed towards the new parliament building on Tuesday.
Visuals of PM Modi and other parliamentarians entering the new Parliament building. pic.twitter.com/KKJJMs8c42 Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
PM Modi enters the new Parliament building
As the Prime Minister entered the new Parliament building, he was greeted by the Lok Sabha members in the House.
VIDEO | PM Modi greeted by Lok Sabha members as he arrives in the Lok Sabha of new Parliament building. pic.twitter.com/pta1C8ak2h Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
Soon after, Lok Sabha proceedings, chaired by Speaker Om Birla, began in the new parliament building.
#WATCH | Proceedings of the Lok Sabha begin in the New Parliament building. pic.twitter.com/LafXM9xUD9 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
PM Modi was also present in the Lok Sabha as proceedings began in the new building of the parliament on Tuesday, the second day of special session convened by the Central government.
Meanwhile, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury held the Constitution of India in his hand as Congress MPs entered the new building of the Parliament.
#WATCH | Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury holds the Constitution of India in his hand as Congress MPs enter the new building of the Parliament. pic.twitter.com/cjoNQ9PVt2 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
TMC MPs including Derek O'Brien, Abhishek Banerjee and others also entered the new building of the Parliament along with other MPs.
#WATCH | TMC MPs including Derek O'Brien, Abhishek Banerjee and others enter the new building of the Parliament. pic.twitter.com/7FG9RT3M6W ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
PM Modi had proposed that the old building of Parliament to be called 'Samvidhan Sadan'.
"I have a suggestion. Now, when we are going to the New Parliament, its (Old Parliament building) dignity should never go down. This should not be left just as the Old Parliament building. So, I urge that if you agree, this should be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan'," Modi said in his final address to the House in Central Hall of the old Parliament Building," the Prime Minister said in his last address from the Central Hall of the old Parliament building.
With inputs from agencies
The recent counter-terrorism operations in Anantnag have again brought to the forefront the nefarious design of Pakistans ISI to foment unrest in Jammu and Kashmir. One of the key tools created by ISI in this regard is The Resistance Force (TRF). Though it claims to be a local group of Jammu and Kashmir, the fact is that it is a Pakistan-sponsored terrorist group carrying out subversive activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Origin of the TRF
On the global stage, Pakistan is viewed as a hub of terrorism. Because of its active support to various terrorist organisations in the South and West Asia region, Pakistan was placed for the first time on the grey list of the global money laundering and terror-financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force in 2008. Since then, it has been on and off the grey list. Through greylisting, FATF had placed tremendous pressure on Pakistan to come clean on terror funding.
Pakistan received its first major jolt from FATF on 8 March 2019, when the former announced that Daesh, Al Qaeda, Jamaat ud Dawa (JuD), Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Haqqani Network and persons affiliated with the Taliban were high-risk entities. FATF gave the Pakistan government an ultimatum to take concrete actions against these terror outfits or continue to be on grey list. Being on the grey list for almost a decade had already taken a toll on Pakistans economy. So it decided to create a smokescreen by creating the TRF in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in India that earlier gave rise to fissiparous tendencies by giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir. With the active collaboration of the Pakistan Army and ISI, a number of terrorists from LeT and other groups were brought under the umbrella of TRF.
TRF has claimed that the terrorist attack in the forests of Kokernag in Anantnag was its retaliation against the killing of Muhammad Riyaz. It may be recalled that Muhammad Riyaz alias Abu Qasim Kashmiri was an LeT commander who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen a few days ago at Rawalkot in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). This statement by the TRF itself proves its allegiance to LeT.
Pakistan nurturing proxy terrorist groups against India
In 2019, apart from TRF another proxy terrorist group Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) also came into existence. This was a proxy of another Pakistan-based terror group JeM.
PAFF is the same terrorist group which had claimed responsibility for twin terror attacks on Indian Army in Poonch-Rajouri on 20 April and 5 May respectively. Apart from TRF and PAFF, there are some more such proxy terrorist organisations created through the collaboration of Pakistans Army and ISI. These proxy terror outfits are Kashmir Freedom Fighters (KFF) and J&K Gaznavi Force (JKGF). A careful analysis of these proxy groups reveals the following:
Motive: All these proxy groups were created with the aim to mask the funding and support to the terrorist groups against India and subsequently evade scrutiny of anti-terror funding organisations such as FATF. There has been a concerted effort to project terrorism as a political struggle by creating a facade of local resistance.
Naming conventions: These proxy terror groups have been given non-religious names to get greater acceptance from the Western world.
Use of social media: All these proxy terror groups have made their affiliated social media accounts which they use to spread their propaganda and lay claim to any terrorist incidents. These social media accounts are extensively used to propagate anti-India agenda and threaten non-locals/political workers/sympathisers of security forces. The propaganda disseminated through these proxies has institutionalised support from Pakistans intelligence agency ISI. Last year more than 56 threats were recorded to have been released by proxy groups. Maximum No of threats were against the alleged demographic alteration of Kashmir valley and rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pandits. These were followed by threats to civilians working for Security Forces, journalists covering government-related issues, police personnel and migrants/non-locals working in Jammu and Kashmir.
Claiming of terrorist actions: These proxy tanzeems have been prompt in claiming responsibility of terrorist incidents. Initially there used to be instances of multiple proxies claiming for an incident, now the process seems to have been streamlined where a terrorist action is exclusively claimed by a particular proxy group. These proxies have been using heavily edited graphics of the terror incidents along with multimedia special effects to promote their narrative on various social media and conventional media platforms.
Finance and support: The proxy tanzeems continue to draw its support and finances through their respective affiliated parent tanzeems. However, given the severe economic crisis in Pakistan and strong vigil along the borders by Indian armed forces, the funding of these terrorist groups has taken a significant hit in the past few years.
Psychological warfare by the proxies: These proxy terrorist groups are involved in conducting psychological operations at the behest of their Pakistani intelligence handlers. They use it to influence the youth of J&K to join their ranks. A classic example of the same was unveiled during the Kokernag incident.
Propaganda: TRF had laid a successful ambush in Kokernag.
Fact: Based on specific int input the operation was launched by IA & JKP on the night of 12/13 September. A cordon was established and a detailed search of the Garol village was conducted. Based on further leads, obtained during the search, it was ascertained that the terrorists were in a hideout in higher reaches above the village which was covered with dense foliage and undergrowth. Given the difficult terrain and lack of clear field of view, a search was temporarily halted at night and resumed next day in daylight. The multiple search columns at the higher reaches were being led from the front by Col Manpreet Singh, along with the company commander and Deputy SP Humayun Bhat. The columns had to move through rugged terrain with dense foliage and undergrowth. Such terrain provided natural cover to terrorists from ground and aerial observation also, they were hiding in pre-prepared hideouts. Being located in upper reaches had given the terrorists an additional advantage over the searching columns. On 13 September at approx. 1230 h the columns came under heavy fire. The search column retaliated but in the ensuing fire fight Col Singh, Major Ashish Dhonchak and DSP Humayun Bhat suffered gunshot wounds and later succumbed to the injury.
Careful analysis of the timelines of the operation reveals the following:
(a) The operations were started on the night of 12/13 September but, there was no claim from TRF/ LeT initially.
(b) As soon as the news of causalities suffered by the Indian Army and JKP during the operation came out in media around 1400 hrs on 13 September, the affiliated Social Media handles of TRF/LeT started claiming responsibility for the Surprise Counter Attack.
(c) Then at around 1500 hrs on 13 September as the reports of serious injury of the DySP, Commanding Officer Col Singh and Major Dhonchak started coming out, these handles started propagating the narrative of Planned Ambush Attack to avenge the killing of Mohammad Riyaz at Rawalkot.
(d) Soon the media channels and social media were buzzing with this Ambush Hypothesis.
(e) On 14 September, as soon as social media started buzzing with messages seeking answers from the government regarding the terrorist attack, the TRF handles started the next phase of their propaganda by targetting the Lt Governor and the Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir.
(f) By the morning of 15 September, the TRF handles started drawing parallels between the Kokernag incident and the Handwara Attack of 2020 in which significant causalities were suffered by the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
(g) By 15 September, Indian Army had already put in more resources for reconnaissance in the area and had identified the hideout locations of terrorists. These hideouts were targeted with high-calibre weapons and armed quadcopters. By 1500 hrs on 15 September, TRF handles started propagating false narratives that all the terrorists involved in the incidents including LeT Commander Uzair Khan had successfully exfiltrated from the site of encounter and reached at a safe point. However, as the Indian Army continued targetting these hideouts soon thereafter came another statement from TRF handles warning security forces from using armed quadcopters against their fighters.
(h) On 15 September in the evening ADGP Kashmir in his press brief and subsequently on its official social media handles called for retired police and army officers to avoid propagating the Ambush Hypothesis. He categorically specified that it was an input-based operation.
The Ambush Hypothesis is being propagated by Pakistan and its proxies as this gives undue hype to the terrorists of being able to carry out successful attacks on Indian security forces. While, in reality it was the difficult forest terrain because of which the Indian Security Forces suffered these causalities. What need to be understood that any live encounter in a densely forested terrain such as Kokernag carry very high probability of risks to lives of the security forces. Such a scenario often requires the commander to be located closer to the area of action to have better access and control of the operations. Also, it is within the finest tradition and training of the Indian Army to have commanders leading their troops NO matter how dire the circumstances might be.
Imagine yourself walking through dense foliage unable to see ahead. While this foliage significantly restricts your view it does not provide any protection from bullets. The first volley of fire from an entrenched and hidden enemy has the highest probability of killing. Modern-day surveillance equipment may not always be very successful in detecting hideouts in such terrain.
The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books. He tweets @ArunAnandLive. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
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The African continent has witnessed a pronounced surge in political dynamics across its western region in recent times. A notable trend is the gradual incursion of military figures from their barracks into executive domains, a disturbing phenomenon that has become increasingly recurrent. Central to these sequential military takeovers is the underlying struggle for dominance over the abundant resources inherent to the African terrain.
It should not be forgotten that natural and mineral resources are realities of Mother Nature and depend on geological and tectonic events that occurred in the very distant past as Planet Earth cooled down from its primordial mass at the dawn of the solar system. These resources, from todays viewpoint, seem to be randomly, even perversely, distributed in the accessible land mass of the earths crust. It is here that Africa, the so-called Dark Continent becomes significant.
The geographical expanse of Africa is endowed with a cornucopia of natural resources that command global significance. Noteworthy among these are gold (40 per cent of the worlds resources), platinum and chromium (90 per cent) and diamonds (65 per cent). Africa actually houses an impressive portion, approximately one-third, of the globes total mineral reserves. In this context, the significant occurrence of uranium (20 per cent) in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger cannot be underestimated because this metal is critical for nuclear technology and research. Furthermore, Africa, mainly Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Libya, Chad, Cameroon, and Angola lay claim to substantial reserves of hydrocarbons, colloquially termed black gold. These reserves encompass 12 per cent of the worlds oil, and nearly 8 per cent of its natural gas. In tandem with these resources, the continent boasts a considerable repository of inland freshwater, accounting for 10 per cent of global reserves, as well as a substantial 40 per cent share of arable land.
In a more ideal context, these bountiful resources would have constituted a blessing for the continent. Regrettably, they have also attracted the attention of powerful nations, mostly in the so called Amerisphere (USA and Western Europe, to a lesser extent their vassals Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea) that have historically orchestrated exploitative incursions, perpetuating a legacy of devastation spanning millennia through brutal colonisation. A salient instance lies in the French presence in Africa over the past century, which has subjected resource-rich nations such as Algeria, Niger and Gabon to protracted periods of what may be termed some kind of official slavery. As a case in point, corporate entities such as the multinational TotalEnergies, the UK-based Perenco, and the shipping company Maurel & Prom, have emerged as dominant players, as also the US Carlyle Group wholly owned Assala Energy, which controls significant portions of Gabons oil industry - a pivotal sector ranking fifth across the continent. Similarly, the electricity grid fuelling France draws extensively from Nigers uranium reserves.
A poignant manifestation of this exploitative narrative is observed through the harvesting of wood from Gabons verdant forests to furnish French households, while educational facilities within Gabon continue to grapple with an absence of basic amenities like desks. The culmination of these disparities has engendered a prevailing disposition among numerous populations to embrace military interventions as a potential recourse. This is underpinned by the perception that such interventions offer the sole avenue to alleviate the influence of Western-aligned local elites, who inadvertently facilitate the pillage of national resources at the behest of imperialist interests. While Gabon and Niger remain distinct political entities with their unique narratives, it remains equivocal as to who exerts control over the strings orchestrating the latters trajectory at this nascent juncture.
It is but natural that the rivals of the Amerisphere, mainly Russia and China, have now become extremely interested in the power politics of Africa. India too has been quietly advancing its interests, taking advantage of its geographical proximity, easy maritime access and shared interests but proceeding smoothly without overtly appearing to take sides. Recent times have seen political changes in Niger, Gabon, and Mali. In Gabon it is not even clear whether or not the coup leaders have received tacit support from the USA, which might even be trying to undercut Frances influence in the region. It is a different type of Great Game.
Notwithstanding the variances between various African countries, a discernible trend is emerging across the broader African landscape one characterized by an escalating contemplation regarding the potential as where these tumultuous developments would leave the world. Would they, ideally speaking, serve as a conduit for the continent to reassert sovereignty over its abundant resources? Or more cynically, would Africa continue to remain a playground for foreign powers to extend their sovereignty? Africa was forcibly dragged out of its pastoral existence with the slave trade across the waters of the Atlantic. This led to an almost complete vivisection of the continent by European powers in the 19th century. Will the 21st century see the four new empires of the world America, China, Russia and India grapple with each other to get a maximum share of the African pie? Science and technology are definitely and inextricably linked to Africa geopolitics today.
The author is with the Indian Institute of Science and is the author of Bharat: India 2.0. He can be reached at gautam.desiraju@gmail.com. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
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In an era marked by swift transformations and ever-evolving global geopolitical dynamics, the role of strategic alliances among nations becomes pivotal in shaping the world stage. One of the most noteworthy outcomes stemming from the recent G20 summit hosted by India is the emergence of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). This visionary initiative involves collaborative efforts by India, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia to unveil an agreement aimed at constructing vital shipping and railway links, effectively connecting Europe and the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent.
The core concept behind IMEC revolves around the establishment of an economic corridor facilitated by interconnected rail networks spanning the Middle Eastern region, which would subsequently link up with India through maritime routes. This strategic endeavor holds the potential to offer a credible alternative to the China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a program that has raised concerns due to its propensity to ensnare numerous nations in debilitating debt burdens, often leading to a loss of control over critical assets.
A new chapter in India-UAE Relations
India and the UAE have shared a long history of strong and robust strategic relations, underpinned by deep-rooted cultural and economic ties. The turning point in this relationship came in 2017 when the UAE-India partnership was officially elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. This elevated status marked a significant milestone, cementing the bond between the two nations.
The recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the UAE further solidified this partnership, ushering in a new era of cooperation. Leaders from both nations pledged to enhance their collaboration in various domains, notably in renewable energy, including green hydrogen and solar energy, and grid connectivity. These developments underscored the commitment to a future of unlimited potential for both countries.
Economic ties between India and the UAE have flourished with mutual investments and trade. FDI Markets data reveals that numerous UAE firms have invested in India while Indian companies have also made significant investments in the UAE. This interdependence has created a robust economic partnership that benefits both nations.
The strengthening Indo-Saudi bond
Similarly, Indias relationship with Saudi Arabia has witnessed remarkable growth and diversification. This transformation spans economic, security, defence, strategic and political spheres. Saudi Arabias ambitious Vision 2030 and Indias recognition of Saudi Arabias economic and social transformation have played pivotal roles in deepening this partnership.
The recent developments indicate a growing camaraderie and understanding of the immense potential in this bilateral partnership. Both nations have committed to long-term engagements, particularly in light of the changing geopolitical landscape in West Asia and South Asia. Saudi Arabias modernisation path and economic opportunities have opened doors for international players, including India, to engage in mutually beneficial endeavours.
Economic collaborations and trade dynamics
India and Saudi Arabia boast strong bilateral trade relations, with economic and investment agreements reflecting Saudi Arabias interest in expanding its economic footprint in India. Indian businesses play a vital role in joint ventures and significant investments in Saudi Arabia, offering a mutually advantageous economic partnership.
The two nations have identified approximately 40 potential areas for joint collaboration and investment across various sectors. Efforts to eliminate trade barriers and relax business and trade investment rules have been crucial in facilitating exports and market access.
The India Middle East Europe Economic Corridor: A Game-Changer
This ambitious project aims to create an intercontinental corridor connecting Asia and Europe via Saudi Arabia through railways and other infrastructure.
The IMEC is set to facilitate the transfer of renewable electricity and clean hydrogen, strengthening commercial trade and the movement of goods by linking railways and ports. It comprises two pathways: the east corridor connecting India to the Gulf and the northern corridor linking the Gulf to Europe.
Leaders from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the European Union, India and the United States are collaborating to establish coordinating bodies for the IMEC network. This project not only fosters sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also enhances regional supply chain efficiency.
A counter to Chinas Belt and Road Initiative
The IMEC project assumes even more significance in the context of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI, in its tenth year, has raised concerns over its impact on developing nations, often leading to debt-related challenges. The IMEC offers an alternative, reducing shipping time and costs, increasing energy, trade and digital communications flows and addressing infrastructure deficits in lower- and middle-income nations.
President Joe Biden has welcomed the IMEC as a substantial development, recognizing its potential to reshape global trade. The project is viewed as a counter to the BRI, emphasizing sustainable economic growth and regional security.
The historic photograph: Modis diplomatic triumph
One historic moment that encapsulates the evolving dynamics of this alliance is the photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiating a warm greeting between President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman. This gesture followed years of strained relations between MBS and President Biden, primarily after the Jamal Khashoggi incident.
Prime Minister Modis role as a diplomatic bridge-builder in this context highlights Indias growing influence on the global stage. It underscores the importance of the trilateral partnership in shaping the 21st-century world order.
Path forward: Leveraging unity for a better world
As the India-UAE-Saudi Arabia alliance continues to evolve, the world watches with anticipation. The trilateral partnership not only promotes economic growth but also symbolizes unity in diversity. These nations, representing diverse cultures, religions, and histories, are demonstrating how cooperation can transcend differences and foster progress.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, with its focus on clean energy and efficient trade, embodies a forward-looking approach to international relations. It serves as a model for addressing global challenges such as climate change, infrastructure deficits, and economic disparities.
In an era characterised by shifting alliances and global uncertainties, the alliance between India, the UAE and Saudi Arabia stands as a beacon of stability and progress. Together, they are defining a 21st-century world order that prioritises cooperation, sustainability and shared prosperity over competition and division. Their story reminds us that in unity nations can shape a better world for generations to come.
The writer takes special interest in history, culture and geopolitics. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
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The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has achieved a significant milestone with the successful execution of the Trans-Lagrangian Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) maneuver at approximately 2 am. This manoeuvre marks the initiation of the Aditya-L1 spacecrafts 110-day journey towards the L1 point, situated along the Sun-Earth line. L1 is located approximately 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth, constituting roughly 1% of the Earth-Sun distance.
ISRO proudly announced the spacecrafts departure towards the Sun-Earth L1 point following the successful execution of the TL1I manoeuvre.
The spacecraft is now on a trajectory leading it to L1, where it will be inserted into an orbit after approximately 110 days. This achievement is the fifth consecutive successful transfer of an object on a trajectory toward a celestial body or space location by ISRO, as stated on the organizations platform.
The TL1I manoeuvre signifies the commencement of Aditya-L1s journey away from Earths orbits toward the L1 point, positioned around 1.5 million kilometres from our planet. Aditya-L1 embarked on this journey from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR) on September 2.
The scientific data collection phase of the mission has officially begun. The sensors of the Supra Thermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer (STEPS) instrument have started measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions and electrons at distances exceeding 50,000 kilometres from Earth. This instrument is an integral part of the Aditya Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload.
The data collected during the spacecrafts 16-day stay in Earths orbits will enable scientists to analyze the behaviour of particles in the vicinity of Earth, particularly in the presence of Earths magnetic field. The instrument comprises six sensors that conduct observations in various directions, measuring supra-thermal and energetic ions within the range of 20 keV/nucleon to 5 MeV/nucleon, as well as electrons surpassing 1 MeV.
Supra-thermal ions are ions with considerably high energies. One kilo electron volt (keV) equals 1,000 electron volts (units used to gauge the kinetic energy gained by an electron as it accelerates in an electric field created by a one volt increase). Meanwhile, one MeV corresponds to one million electron volts.
ISRO has reported that STEPS was activated on September 10 at a distance exceeding 50,000 kilometres from Earth, which is well beyond the Earths radiation belt region. Data collection continued after necessary instrument health checks were completed, extending beyond the 50,000-kilometer mark from Earth.
STEPS measurements will persist during Aditya-L1s cruise phase leading up to L1 and once the spacecraft is positioned in its intended orbit. The data collected around L1 will provide valuable insights into the origin, acceleration, and anisotropy (variation of properties along different directions) of solar wind and space weather phenomena.
It is worth noting that STEPS was developed by the Physical Research Laboratory with support from the Space Application Centre in Ahmedabad.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has teamed up with Google to develop an Augmented Reality Microscope (ARM) that harnesses the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to aid doctors in identifying different types of cancer.
This collaboration aims to provide support to doctors in smaller labs who are grappling with staffing shortages and a growing number of cases.
The ARM, which is powered by AI, underwent successful testing under the supervision of pathologist Dr Nadeem Zafar at a VA hospital in Seattle.
In a case involving prostate cancer, the ARM accurately pinpointed the specific area of the tumour that Dr Zafar believed to be more aggressive, confirming his diagnosis. Think of the ARM as an arbitrator that can offer a second opinion and enhance diagnostic accuracy.
Although the technology is still in its early stages, it has shown promise in initial research. Currently, there are 13 ARMs in existence, including one located at a Mitre facility near Washington, DC Researchers at Mitre are examining the challenges and vulnerabilities that pathologists encounter in a clinical setting.
The ARM has the appearance of a traditional microscope, complete with a large eyepiece and a tray for examining glass slides. It is connected to a computer tower that houses AI models. The ARM displays an outline of the cancerous area as a bright green line on both the pathologists eyepiece and a separate monitor.
Additionally, it generates a black-and-white heat map that indicates the severity of the cancer. The AIs overlay on the microscopes field of view is designed to seamlessly integrate into the workflow of pathologists.
Its important to note that, unlike other initiatives to digitize pathology workflows, the ARM is not intended to replace digital pathology systems. Instead, it offers a cost-effective alternative for smaller healthcare systems that might find full digitization to be logistically and financially challenging.
The price tag for the ARM is approximately $90,000 to $100,000, making it a more affordable solution.
Dr Niels Olson, the chief medical officer of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) at the Department of Defense, has firsthand knowledge of the challenges faced by pathologists.
The DIU, established in 2015, facilitates collaboration between the military and commercial entities to leverage cutting-edge technology. Dr Olson, who is also a pathologist, underscores the significance of the ARM in improving diagnostic accuracy and reducing potential errors.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off his US trip with a stop in California to chat with billionaire Elon Musk, the brains behind the social media platform X. They delved into topics like antisemitism on X and Israels judicial overhaul, all while addressing artificial intelligence in a live stream event that didnt draw a big crowd on Monday.
This high-profile visit coincided with accusations that Musk hasnt been doing enough to combat antisemitic messages on X, while Netanyahu faced opposition in both domestic and international politics. Outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, where they met, protesters had gathered, highlighting the controversy.
LIVE: Speaking with @elonmusk about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization. https://t.co/XiAQwOXzcP Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) September 18, 2023
The Tesla CEO also gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a tour of the Tesla factory in Fremont, California on Monday during his visit to the US.
Netanyahu and his wife received from Musk an overview of the companys developments and the various models and observed the production and assembly process of the advanced electric cars.
After that, Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife drove together with Musk in the innovative Cybertruck car, which has not yet been released to the market.
The official agenda revolved around artificial intelligence, and both Netanyahu and the Tesla CEO generally agreed on the need to balance its benefits with societal risks. They discussed the importance of like-minded nations agreeing on ethical guidelines to foster technology while keeping it in check. But they also acknowledged the necessity of dealing with rogue actors globally.
Their conversation soon veered into the territory of free speech and antisemitism, with Netanyahu encouraging Musk to find a balance within the First Amendment to combat antisemitism and hatred on his social media platform.
Musk pointed out that with 100 million to 200 million daily posts on X, some of them are bound to be offensive. He emphasized that Xs policy is not to promote or amplify hate speech. Under Musks leadership, the former Twitter tweaked its rules so that objectionable posts arent usually taken down but have reduced visibility, requiring users to actively seek them out. Musk termed this approach as freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.
Musk has faced allegations of tolerating antisemitic content on X, particularly from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a prominent Jewish civil rights organization. Hes been accused of amplifying the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists through his engagement with them on X. Musk countered these claims by suggesting that the ADL was trying to harm Xs reputation by falsely labelling him as anti-Semitic. He also hinted that the ADL was responsible for a significant drop in Xs revenue. Its worth noting that the ADL, along with other groups, had urged companies to pause their advertising on Twitter when Musk acquired the platform. However, analysts tracking Twitter have suggested that Musks drastic changes to the platform, including rebranding it as X, contributed to a decline in advertiser interest.
Recently, Musk also posted comments about George Soros organization, suggesting that it aimed to undermine Western civilization. Soros, a well-known philanthropist, has donated billions to liberal and anti-authoritarian causes worldwide and has been the target of anti-Semitic attacks and conspiracy theories for years.
Netanyahus visit centred significantly around Musk and included a demonstration of self-driving technology. Typical Silicon Valley itineraries for visiting political leaders usually include meetings with major tech companies like Apple, Google, or Meta.
After California, Netanyahu was set to travel to New York, where he would address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with world leaders, including President Joe Biden. These meetings would involve German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis had been participating in protests against Netanyahus plan to reform Israels judicial system for nine months. These protests had gained international attention, with Israeli expatriates demonstrating during visits by Netanyahu and other government officials.
Outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, a demonstration organized by UnXeptable, a group founded by Israeli expatriates supporting democracy in Israel, also took place. The organizers aimed to show solidarity with protesters in Israel and voice their opposition to Netanyahus policies, which they felt were divisive.
In response to the protests and the backlash he faced for hosting Netanyahu, Musk asked the Prime Minister to discuss his judicial overhaul plans during their meeting.
Netanyahus judicial overhaul proposal aimed to reduce the power of unelected judges, whom he and his supporters deemed too liberal and interventionist. Critics argued that this plan represented a power grab that would erode checks and balances, potentially leading to autocratic rule. Notably, figures in Israels influential high-tech community had been actively involved in the protests, asserting that weakening the judiciary would harm the countrys business environment and deter foreign investment. This was evidenced by the decline in the value of Israels currency, the shekel, which signalled decreasing foreign investment.
Eric Xu Zhijun, the deputy chairman of Huawei Technologies, a company blacklisted by the United States, has urged China to embrace domestically developed semiconductors, despite acknowledging their lag behind foreign-made chips. This statement comes shortly after Huawei introduced new 5G smartphones featuring a Chinese-made advanced processor, which was hailed as a breakthrough.
Xu emphasized the importance of adopting home-grown semiconductor products, even though there is still a technological gap between these and their foreign counterparts in areas such as chips, servers, and personal computers. He argued that without widespread use of domestically developed products, this gap would never close. Xu made these remarks during a speech at the 2023 World Computing Conference in Changsha, the capital of Hunan province.
His comments align with the current patriotic sentiment in China, fueled by Huaweis recent launch of the Mate 60 Pro and Mate 60 Pro+ 5G smartphones, which are powered by the advanced Kirin 9000s processor, all proudly made in China. These products have come to symbolize Chinas resilience in the face of restrictive US technology sanctions.
Xus call for increased adoption of domestic semiconductors reflects Huaweis commitment to promoting and advancing Chinese technology and innovation, despite the challenges posed by international sanctions and competition.
Xu emphasized the significant challenges posed by US export controls on advanced chips and computing systems. He pointed out that obtaining such technology could be exceptionally challenging, if not impossible, due to these export restrictions. Drawing from their past experiences and projections, Huawei believes that this issue will persist as a long-term challenge.
In light of these constraints, Xu stressed the importance of Chinese firms developing chips based on domestically developed technologies that are free from such restrictions. This approach is seen as a way to minimize uncertainty and ensure access to critical technologies.
Xu also expressed Huaweis belief that Chinas semiconductor manufacturing technology will remain in a catch-up mode for an extended period. The semiconductor industry is at the centre of an ongoing technology rivalry between the United States and China, with the US imposing various trade sanctions that have impeded Chinas efforts to achieve technological self-reliance.
Huawei, along with its chip design division HiSilicon, was placed on the US Entity List by Washington in May 2019. In response to tightening trade restrictions imposed by the US in 2020, which covered access to semiconductors developed or manufactured using US technology, Huawei has had to adjust its production processes for smartphones and telecommunications network equipment.
Despite these challenges, the success of its new Mate 60 Pro devices has given Huawei an opportunity to regain a strong foothold in the worlds largest smartphone market. In the second quarter, Huawei made its way back into the top five smartphone vendors in China.
During his speech at the Changsha conference, Eric Xu did not specifically disclose details about the advanced processor used in Huaweis latest 5G smartphones, adding to the mystery surrounding the origin and production of the Kirin 9000s chip. There have been third-party speculations that this advanced chip was manufactured by the prominent Chinese foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), but neither Huawei nor SMIC has officially confirmed this.
Instead, Xu highlighted Huaweis HiSilicon-designed Kunpeng and Ascend chipsets as alternative central processing units (CPUs) for domestic computers, particularly those used in cloud computing services and for training artificial intelligence language models. This move indicates Huaweis efforts to promote and develop domestically designed chip solutions as a strategic response to the challenges posed by international trade restrictions.
Owner of a nursery in New York City and someone living in the same building have been arrested after one-year-old boy passed away, and three other children became unwell after reportedly being exposed to a high dose of fentanyl.
The police took action after fi=nding four young kids, aged from eight months to two years old, showing signs of being seriously unwell after spending time at the Divino Nino nursery in the Bronx. This happened shortly after the nursery passed an inspection by the city.
A one-year-old boy named Nicholas Dominici tragically lost his life at a local hospital.
Emergency responders were able to revive the other three children by giving them a medicine called Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an overdose, according to law enforcement officials.
On Saturday evening, the police arrested the owner of the nursery, Grei Mendez, who is 36 years old, and a person living in the building, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, aged 41. They are facing serious charges of depraved indifference murder, assault, and illegal possession of drugs, including fentanyl.
Grei Mendez De Ventura, 36, the owner of Divino Nino Daycare, and Caristo Acevedo Brito, 41 who lived in the basement were hauled off to court Sunday. They face murder charges for the death of 1-year- old Nicholas Feliz Dominici and the hospitalization of three other children pic.twitter.com/rubrBsD3pJ IreneBritUSA (@RUOKPage) September 17, 2023
Mendez claims she had no knowledge that this powerful drug was present at her place of business.
The police found a package containing several thousand dollars worth of fentanyl, as well as a machine used for packing drugs, known as a kilo press, when they conducted a search at the nursery. This nursery, which operates from a home, had opened earlier in the year in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx, according to reports.
The drug was discovered near a mat where the children had been resting, as stated by Joseph Kenny, the chief of detectives for the New York Police Department, during a press conference on Monday evening.
A second drug press was found in a nearby room where Brito was staying, according to the information provided in a criminal complaint.
This daycare center had commenced operations in January of this year. Authorities confirmed that it had passed both of its inspections, including an unannounced visit by inspectors earlier in the month.
One resident remarked that it was clear to them that the daycare was involved in illegal drug activities. They told the New York Post: It was a daycare for a whole year, and there were no children. For one year, she had a daycare with no children, but people were going in. But no babies? A daycare with no children and men coming in and out. Yes, we knew something. We knew something was not right there.
Nicholass parents, Zoila Dominici and Otoniel Feliz, shared their grief, saying their son had just started attending the daycare a week ago. Dominici said, He was so clever. He would repeat everything you said to him. He had so much love. Everyone who knew him loved him, all our neighbors.
New York City, like many parts of the country, has seen an increase in deaths related to opioids. The majority of these deaths are now linked to fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that can be 50 times stronger than heroin.
Mayor Eric Adams, at a press conference on Saturday, emphasized that Nicholass death highlights the serious problem the city faces in its battle against opioids. He said, This crisis is real, and it is a clear warning for individuals who have opioids or fentanyl in their homes. Just touching it can be deadly for an adult, and its extremely dangerous for a child.
The citys medical examiner is currently investigating the cause of Nicholass death.
(With inputs from agencies)
In two separate events in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Azerbaijan reported on Tuesday that six of its nationals had been killed by land mines. Illegal Armenian armed groups were to blame for the lethal devices placement.
With a population that is primarily of Armenian descent and accepted internationally as being a part of Azerbaijan, Karabakh broke away from Bakus rule in the early 1990s following a war. In a conflict in 2020, Azerbaijan reclaimed large areas of surrounding territory.
Four personnel of the interior ministry were killed, according to reports from Baku, when a mine blew up their truck close to where a tunnel was being built. It said that another mine had killed two civilians who were also riding in a truck.
The ethnic Armenian administration in Karabakh, which Azerbaijan wants to dismantle in order to reintegrate the region, did not respond right away. On Monday, Armenia denied claims that its own armed personnel had planted mines on Azerbaijani soil.
A day after desperately needed supplies of food and medication were simultaneously transported to Karabakh along two highways, a move that appeared to have the potential to reduce rising tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the landmine incidents took place.
But bilateral relations are still quite strained.
On Tuesday, the defence ministry of Azerbaijan accused illegal Armenian armed groups of interfering with a passenger planes GPS navigation as it was travelling from Tbilisi, Georgia, to Baku.
The charge, according to ethnic Armenians in Karabakh, is an absolute lie that is intended to draw attention away from the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the illegal blockade of Karabakh by Baku.
That was in reference to Azerbaijani restrictions that had been in place for months on the Lachin corridor, the only route between Armenia and Karabakh, and which, until recently, had prevented aid from entering on the pretext that it was allegedly being used for arms smuggling.
The foreign ministry of Armenia stated on Monday that it appeared as though Azerbaijan was setting the stage for a military escalation with its diplomatic attitude.
Both parties claim that they remain committed to settling their differences via a peace deal.
(With agency inputs)
Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Chinas Xi Jinping for talks in Beijing in October, the Kremlin said on Tuesday, Putins first known trip abroad since an arrest warrant was issued against him over the deportation of children from Ukraine.
Nikolai Patrushev, a close Putin ally and the secretary of Russias Security Council, said Russia and China should deepen cooperation in the face of the Wests attempt to contain them both.
He was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that the talks in Beijing would be thorough, at a meeting in Moscow with Chinas top diplomat, Wang Yi.
Putin will attend the third Belt and Road Forum after an invitation by Xi during a high-profile visit to Moscow in March.
Days before that visit, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Putins arrest on suspicion of illegally deporting hundreds of children or more from Ukraine.
Moscow denies the allegations and the Kremlin said the warrant was evidence of the Wests hostility to Russia, which opened a criminal case against the ICC prosecutor and the judges who issued the warrant.
Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine early last year has triggered one of the deadliest European conflicts since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Putin has pivoted towards China, and Xi has stood by him.
Chinese-Russian trade has soared since the invasion, and Russia has sold Asian powers including China greater volumes of the oil it can no longer sell to the West because of sanctions.
Putin last visited Beijing in February 2022, days before the invasion, where he and Xi announced a no limits partnership. Moscow says this does not mean a military alliance, however.
The United States sees China as its gravest long-term strategic competitor and Russia as an acute threat.
China has refrained from condemning Russias operation against Ukraine or calling it an invasion, in line with the Kremlin, which casts the war as a special military operation.
Earlier this year, CIA Director William Burns said Russia was becoming more and more dependent on China and was even at risk of becoming its economic colony in time.
In the midst of escalating geopolitical tensions between major powers and protests against Chinas activities in the South China Sea, ASEAN military units started their first-ever combined military exercises in Indonesias South Natuna Sea.
The Indonesian military said in a statement that the five-day non-combat operation aims to improve military capabilities, such as marine security and patrols, the distribution of humanitarian aid, and disaster relief.
The exercise will be participated in by all 10 ASEAN nations, including East Timor, a potential new member.
This is not a combat operation because ASEAN is more focused on economics. The training is more about social activities, Yudo Margono, Indonesias military chief, told reporters after the opening ceremony on the Indonesian island of Batam on Tuesday.
The drills are taking place in the midst of international complaints over Chinas release of its 10-dash line map last month, which increases its claims to span roughly 90% of the South China Sea. The drills had to be moved due to the sensitivity of the original location. The crucial maritime region sees more than $3 trillion worth of trade annually.
The South China Seas southernmost waters, which Beijing also claims, were initially intended for the exercises.
Chinas map was rejected by the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, which labelled it as being without merit. Malaysia additionally lodged a same diplomatic protest.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos stated that his nation did not seek conflict in the South China Sea but had a responsibility to meet any challenge to our sovereignty at the 43rd ASEAN Summit earlier this month in Jakarta.
The Philippines denounced Chinas coast guard earlier this month for intimidating ships bringing supplies to Philippine troops stationed on an uninhabited atoll in the contested Spratley Islands in the South China Sea.
For more than 20 years, ASEAN has been debating a code of conduct for the South China Sea, but little has been accomplished.
The Philippines and a few other ASEAN nations have grown impatient with the codes lack of advancement.
Indonesias Margono underlined that the drills this week were non-combat in nature when asked about the escalating geopolitical concerns.
(With agency inputs)
At the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden urged world leaders to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invaders in the hopes that Republicans in Congress would also pay attention.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said in his speech to UNGA.
If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
When Biden said that the United States and its friends would support Ukraines fight for freedom, the audience applauded.
Russia alone bears responsibility for this war. Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately, the US president said.
The highlight of Bidens three-day trip to New York was his speech at the gathering, which was also the setting for discussions with the presidents of Israel, Brazil, and five countries in Central Asia.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has called mobilising allies of the US to help Ukraine as a key part of US foreign policy, claiming that the world needs to make it clear to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West will not be able to survive him.
Republicans who want the United States to spend less money on the military effort have criticised Biden.
Former President Donald Trump, who is currently in the lead for the Republican nominee in the 2024 presidential election, has stated that if he were to be elected again, he would work to end the war quickly.
Trump has praised Putin while expressing doubt about Washingtons relationship with longstanding allies like NATO.
Kevin McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives and the top Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the United States should continue to provide Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons.
In his speech, Biden claimed that Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and takeover of the countrys territory violated the founding U.N. Charter, which places a strong emphasis on respecting national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In his inaugural address to the UNGA on Tuesday, Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, warned that Russias invasion has unleashed a nexus of horror. His comments were repeated by Guterres.
The focus at the U.N. sessions, according to a Biden administration official, would also be on mobilising resources for infrastructure, sustainable development and fighting climate change.
Prior to his own speech at the UNGA on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attended and applauded Bidens words. Zelenskiy was scheduled to see Biden at the White House on Thursday and meet with some congressional leaders as well.
To coincide with Zelenskiys visit, the United States is putting together a new military aid package for Ukraine, and Congress has been requested to authorise additional security funding totaling billions of dollars for the remainder of the year.
We have confidence that there will be bipartisan support for this. I think President Zelenskiy does as well, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
Biden and Guterres were scheduled to meet after Bidens address to discuss current world events.
He will later take part in a historic conference of the leaders of five Central Asian countries. They are Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Uzbekistan.
Biden will visit Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday and participate in a gathering with Brazilian and American labour leaders.
Also on Wednesday, Biden will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the first time since Netanyahu retook office in December.
It was stated by Sullivan that they would talk about a vision for a more stable, prosperous, and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.
(With agency inputs)
With the Womens Reservation Bill being tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the country is well on its way to address an urgent and long-pending need to have more women lawmakers in both houses of Parliament. India ranks 141 among 185 countries in terms of the percentage of women in the Lok Sabha and its figure of 15% is not only lower than the global average but is also way below neighbours like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal.
Data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the global organisation of national parliaments, shows that the percentage of women in the lower house of Parliament in India is only 15%, which is much less than the global average of 26%.
The data takes into account the lower houses of parliament for countries that have a bicameral legislature (an upper house and a lower house), or the Parliament for those with a unicameral legislature, or only one house.
In neighbouring Pakistan for instance, which has been taking measures for womens reservation since 1956, the figure is 20%. The country had reserved 17% of the seats in the National Assembly for women in 2002.
Another Asian country, although much smaller than India Bangladesh has a unicameral legislature and 50 out of 350 seats in its Jatiya Sangsad are reserved for women. The current percentage of women in the countrys parliament is 21.
At 33.09, the percentage is much better for Nepal, but very close to the one-third of seats for women that had been reserved for them in 2007. The lower house of the Nepal parliament is called the House of Representatives.
The figures for countries like the US and the UK are 29 and 35, respectively. According to the data, some of the countries that have a lower percentage of women representatives than India are Sri Lanka (5%), Qatar (4%), Oman (2%) and Kuwait (3%).
At 50%, countries that have equal representation of men and women include New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates. The list is topped by Rwanda, with 61% of representatives in its lower house being women.
The Womens Reservation Bill, which has been tabled by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, seeks to provide 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The percentage of women in the Rajya Sabha is about 14, according to data shared by the government last year.
Canada on Tuesday updated the travel advisory to India amid escalating tension between the two countries over the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Canadian citizens have earlier been warned against travelling to Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, with special mention of Assam and violence-hit Manipur.
Explicitly mentioning Jammu and Kashmir, the advisory read, The security situation in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is tense. There are high risks of violent protests, civil unrest and acts of terrorism and militancy.
Violent clashes between militants and security forces occur regularly. Terrorist attacks against security forces have led to civilian casualties. Further attacks could take place at any time. You could find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, it added.
Regarding the Northeast, it said, Several extremist and insurgent groups are active in the north-eastern states of Assam and Manipur. They regularly target local government and security forces and may use various criminal activities to finance their activities. Ethnic tensions in the state can also lead to conflict and civil unrest.
Earlier on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was not looking to provoke India or escalate tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of the Sikh separatist leader with the utmost seriousness.
Trudeaus comments came barely hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat each following allegations about the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
On Monday, China and the European Union conducted discussions in Beijing on themes such as artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows, amid disagreements over an EU investigation into Chinas electric vehicle (EV) subsidies.
The discussions were part of an EU-China High-level Digital Dialogue co-chaired by Chinas Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova, the European Commission said in a statement.
The meeting comes as tensions between China and the EU have risen following the announcement by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of a study into whether punitive tariffs on Chinese EVs should be imposed to safeguard EU producers.
Beijing criticised the probe as a protectionist act and warned it would damage economic relations.
The talks on Monday covered key issues including platforms and data regulation, AI, and cross-border flow of industrial data, China and the EU said.
The European Commission conveyed concerns about difficulties faced by EU companies in China to make use of their industrial data, as a result of the application of recent legislation.
The statement did not elaborate on which legislation it was referring to. China expanded its counter-espionage law in July, with wide-ranging updates including banning the transfer of any information related to national security and broadening the definition of spying.
Zhang told the meeting that China welcomes companies from all over the world, including Europe, to share the development opportunities of its digital economy and achieve win-win results, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Both sides agreed to promote an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy, Xinhua said.
The two parties also discussed other topics including research and innovation, information and communication technology, and safety of products sold online.
Senior Pentagon officials testified before Congress on Tuesday that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan would probably fail and that Beijing would have a very tough time effectively carrying out a direct military invasion of the self-governing island.
The Chinese military has increased its presence recently in the area of Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own. Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly gave orders for his nations armed forces to be prepared to invade by 2027, according to US CIA Director William Burns.
Uncertainty surrounds whether Xi would authorise occupying Taiwan militarily, whether by a blockade or an invasion.
An embargo would give Taiwans friends time to gather resources for Taiwan, according to Ely Ratner, US assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific security affairs. The financial effects of a blockade would harden international resolve against China, he said.
It would likely not succeed, and it would be a huge risk of escalation for the PRC, where it would likely have to consider whether or not it was willing to ultimately start attacking commercial maritime vessels, Ratner told the House Armed Services Committee, using an acronym for the Peoples Republic of China.
A blockade is also not very likely, according to US Army Major General Joseph McGee, vice director for strategy, planning, and policies of the Pentagons Joint Staff.
I think it is an option but probably not a highly likely option, when you start looking at the military options much easier to talk about a blockade than actually do a blockade, McGee told lawmakers.
In August of last year and again in April, China conducted war games surrounding Taiwan, and its military continue to patrol the island virtually constantly.
In its biennial report, Taiwans defence ministry stated last week that China was enhancing its air force along the coast that Taiwan was facing by maintaining the deployment of new fighters and drones at enlarged air facilities.
Nevertheless, McGee said that a frontal, amphibious attack of the island would be difficult for Chinas military, the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). He claimed that it would be unable to accomplish that during a surprise attack.
They would have to mass tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of troops on the eastern coast and that would be a clear signal, McGee said.
There is absolutely nothing easy about a PLA invasion of Taiwan.
They would also encounter an island that has very few beaches, where you could land craft on mountainous terrain, and a population that we believe that would be willing to fight so there is absolutely nothing easy about a PLA invasion of Taiwan, he said.
(With agency inputs)
Dozens of Chinese warplanes were detected around Taiwan in a day, the self-ruled islands defence ministry said Tuesday, as it called on Beijing to stop its provocative actions.
The latest sorties came a day after China flew 103 warplanes in the 24-hour window from Sunday to Monday morning around Taiwan, which the islands authorities said was a recent high number.
On Tuesday, the ministry said China flew 55 aircraft and sailed seven naval vessels around the island from Monday to Tuesday morning.
Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory to be seized one day, and has ramped up diplomatic and military pressure on Taipei in recent years.
On Tuesday, Taiwans ministry accused China of carrying out provocative actions that were leading to rising tensions and deteriorating regional security.
Around half of the 55 warplanes detected crossed the so-called median line of the Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China, and entered its southwest and southeast air defence identification zone (ADIZ), Taipei said.
On Monday, Taiwan had urged China to immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions.
Chinas foreign ministry did not comment on the sorties on Monday, though its spokeswoman Mao Ning reaffirmed Beijings position that Taiwan belongs to China.
She also reiterated Beijings policy that the so-called median line does not exist.
Taipei has reported a marked uptick in the number of incursions by Chinese warplanes and ships in recent days.
Beijing said last week its troops were on high alert after two ships belonging to the United States and Canada sailed through the Taiwan Strait.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyys former apartment in Crimea may soon be transformed into a museum dedicated to combating Nazism.
Vladimir Konstantinov, head of Crimeas parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, in an interview on Rossiya 24 TV channel, suggested that converting the apartment into a museum would serve as a lasting vaccination against Nazism and a warning about the consequences faced by those who take extremist actions too far.
He acknowledged that the property was unlikely to be purchased by an ordinary family, comparing it to acquiring Hitlers apartment. Konstantinov also noted that while the apartment held symbolic value for Zelenskyy, it was not particularly valuable in material terms, especially for a billionaire.
This proposal follows an earlier announcement by Konstantinov that around 100 nationalized properties formerly belonging to Ukrainian oligarchs, businessmen, and politicians with links to the Kyiv government or deemed unfriendly to Russia would be auctioned off soon. He revealed that over 700 such properties had already been nationalized by regional authorities.
Konstantinov added that eight of these properties had been sold for over 800 million rubles ($8.3 million), emphasizing that the Crimean counter-terrorism commission would continue to identify assets owned by Ukrainian oligarchs.
He stated, We will not allow these individuals who fund the killing of Russian citizens and support the terrorist Kyiv regime to profit from our residents. We will transfer these properties to new, responsible owners.
The remains of a military F-35 aircraft, valued at 80 million, that vanished on Sunday afternoon, have been found in the rural Williamsburg County of South Carolina, according to military authorities.
The aircraft disappeared after the pilot ejected, deploying a parachute to land safely in a North Charleston neighbourhood.
Officials had called on the public to assist in locating the missing jet, which was later discovered two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston, as stated in a Monday announcement by military personnel. The search had primarily concentrated on the vicinity of Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, north of Charleston, where the jet was last known to be.
A military spokesperson confirmed that the found debris indeed belonged to the missing aircraft. However, due to an ongoing investigation, further details were withheld by the Marine Corps, as they sought to maintain the integrity of the inquiry.
To facilitate the investigative process, the public has been urged to steer clear of the area where the wreckage was discovered.
The fighter jet had been left in autopilot mode upon the pilots ejection, complicating the search effort. Joint Base Charlestons spokesperson informed NBC News that the aircraft might have remained airborne for some time.
JJ Gertler, a senior analyst at the Teal Group, a defense consultancy, suggested that when the pilot ejected, the transponder electronics might have been damaged, rendering the aircraft untrackable. He noted that while it was possible for the aircraft to continue flying after the ejection, it was highly improbable due to the damage sustained from the ejection seat and the significant change in aerodynamics without the canopy.
The aircraft, identified as an FB-35B Lightning II, belonged to the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, responsible for pilot training, as reported by US media.
The pilot who ejected was promptly transported to a hospital and was reported to be in stable condition. Meanwhile, a second F-35 aircraft that was flying concurrently safely returned to its base.
Joint Base Charleston had made an appeal on X (formerly Twitter) for public assistance in locating the missing jet, a request that prompted online ridicule and criticism from lawmakers.
Nancy Mace, a Republican congresswoman representing South Carolina, questioned on X, formerly Twitter: How do you lose an F-35? How is there no tracking device, and why are we asking the public to find a jet and turn it in?
The F-35 is a stealth aircraft designed to operate undetected by enemy radar. If the plane was following pre-planned waypoints, the crash location could have been determined based on its fuel consumption.
The aircrafts known speed, altitude at the time of ejection, and remaining fuel could have been used to calculate its location.
Earlier on Monday, the US Marine Corps announced a two-day suspension of air operations across the military branch this week. Officials intend to discuss aviation safety matters and best practices in light of recent incidents.
This missing jet marked the third Class-A mishap in the past six weeks, a category of incident resulting in more than $2.5 million in damage, according to a Marine Corps press release. However, no further details were provided regarding previous incidents.
A landmark trial of a former member of an elite Belarusian police unit accused of being behind the disappearances of political opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko almost a quarter century ago begins in Switzerland on Tuesday.
Yury Garavsky, 44, will appear in court in the canton of St. Gallen in northern Switzerland, accused of taking part in the forced disappearances of three significant political opponents of Lukashenko in 1999.
Former Interior Minister Yury Zakharenko went missing in May of that year, while former Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Gonchar and his close friend, businessman Anatoly Krasovsky, went missing in September.
The case is unique in that Garavsky gave a shocking interview to German media in 2019 claiming to be a member of the Belarusian interior ministrys SOBR special forces squad, which he said assassinated the three missing opponents 20 years before.
The case is particularly historic in that it is the first time a Belarusian person will be tried for enforced disappearance under the doctrine of so-called universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of some serious crimes regardless of where they occurred.
It will also be the first time the accused crime of compelled disappearance is tried in Switzerland, according to reports.
Historic
In 2021, after confirming that Garavsky had settled in St. Gallen, TRIAL International, a non-governmental organisation that fights against impunity for war crimes, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Belarusian rights group Viasna filed a criminal complaint with the regional prosecutor.
Families of the victims filed a separate complaint on the same day.
This trial will be historic, TRIAL International senior legal advisor Vony Rambolamanana said in a statement late last month when the trial date was announced.
This case will set a precedent. The prosecution of such crimes in Switzerland will serve as an example worldwide.
Viasna, whose founder Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is jailed in Belarus, agreed.
With this first-ever prosecution of an alleged member of Lukashenkos hit squad, we are sending a strong signal, Viasna lawyer Pavel Sapelko said in the statement.
Justice for international crimes can and will be delivered, regardless of state borders or time elapsed since the crimes have been committed.
Severin Walz, a lawyer representing the victims relatives, meanwhile described the case as a decisive step forward in the fight against impunity for the crimes committed in Belarus.
My clients greatest hope is to obtain certainty about the fate of their fathers through a judgement delivered by a due judicial proceeding.
No safe haven
Ilya Nuzov, who heads FIDHs Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk, said the trial could have even broader significance.
It might not only secure a conviction for one of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, he said in the statement.
It could also establish facts which could later be used to go after those who had ordered the crime, including Lukashenko himself.
A group of independent United Nations experts also issued a statement last week hailing the upcoming trial as a fundamental step towards justice and reparation for victims.
It shows that universal jurisdiction is a solid bulwark against impunity, sending a strong message that there shall be no safe haven for perpetrators of gross human rights violations.
Belarusians have long faced harsh repression at the hands of strongman Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994.
He was widely accused of falsifying the results of the 2020 election to give himself a sixth term in office, and subsequently crushed the massive demonstrations that followed.
Belarus, which has become even more isolated since Lukashenko allowed Moscow to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for its Ukraine offensive last year, currently counts over 1,500 political prisoners, according to Viasna.
In a historic milestone, more than one in ten people in Japan are now aged 80 or above, marking an unprecedented demographic shift.
National statistics further reveal that a staggering 29.1% of Japans total population of 125 million are aged 65 or older, setting a new record.
Japan grapples with a longstanding issue of providing for its increasingly ageing population, as it grapples with one of the lowest birth rates globally.
According to the United Nations, Japan has the highest proportion of people aged 65 or older, with this group accounting for 29.1% of the population. In contrast, Italy and Finland follow at 24.5% and 23.6%, respectively.
Predictions from the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research indicate that by 2040, Japans population aged over 65 will make up 34.8%.
Notably, Japan boasts one of the highest employment rates for the elderly among major economies, with workers aged 65 or above comprising over 13% of the national workforce. Despite this, the strain on the countrys social security expenditure persists.
In response to rising social security costs, Japan has approved an all-time high budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
Efforts to boost birth rates have yielded limited results, primarily due to the high cost of living and the countrys notoriously long working hours. Japans birth rates are slowing, mirroring a trend seen in many countries, including its neighboring nations.
Last year, Japan recorded its lowest number of births since records began in the 19th century, with fewer than 800,000 babies born, a stark contrast to the over two million births reported in the 1970s.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned in January that Japan faces the risk of becoming a society unable to function due to its declining birth rate. However, authorities remain hesitant to rely on migrant workers as a solution to the fertility decline.
Japan is not alone in grappling with these demographic challenges, as other Asian nations face similar issues. Last year, China experienced its first population decline since 1961, while South Korea reported the worlds lowest fertility rate.
Protests erupted in the Libyan town of Derna on Monday, with hundreds expressing their anger at the authorities and demanding answers one week after a flood claimed lives of many residents and displaced as many as ten thousand people.
As the demonstrations grew intense, enraged protesters set fire to the residence of Dernas mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi. Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a minister in the eastern Libyan government, stated that Ghaithi has been temporarily removed from his position. Reuters news agency couldnt reach Ghaithi for his response right away.
Mondays protest marks the first significant gathering since the flood. This catastrophe occurred when two dams located in the hills outside the city collapsed during a powerful storm, unleashing a devastating deluge.
Protesters also directed their grievances towards officials, including Aguila Saleh, the head of the eastern-based Libyan parliament, during a demonstration outside the Sahaba mosque. Some protesters even occupied the roof in front of the mosques golden dome, a famous landmark in Derna.
The eastern Libyan government, led by Prime Minister Usama Hamad, has removed all members of Dernas municipal council and referred them for an investigation.
Protesters chanted, Aguila, we dont want you. All Libyans are brothers, calling for national unity in a country that has been politically divided due to more than a decade of conflict and chaos.
Mansour, a student participating in the protest, demanded an immediate inquiry into the dam collapse, which resulted in the loss of thousands of our beloved people.
Another protester, Taha Miftah, asserted that the demonstration sent a message that the government has failed to handle the crisis, with the parliament bearing significant responsibility. He called for an international investigation into the disaster and reconstruction under international supervision.
The exact number of casualties remains uncertain, and officials have provided widely varying death tolls. The Libyan Red Crescent reported at least 11,300 deaths and over 10,000 missing persons, while the World Health Organization confirmed 3,922 deaths.
Last week, Saleh attempted to shift blame away from the authorities, describing the flood as an unprecedented natural disaster and discouraging dwelling on what could or should have been done.
However, experts have pointed out prior warnings, including an academic paper published last year by a hydrologist, which highlighted the citys vulnerability to floods and the urgent need to maintain the dams that protected it.
Derna is situated in eastern Libya, a region under the control of military commander Khalifa Haftar and governed by an administration operating parallel to the internationally recognized government in Tripoli, in the western part of the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
The Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Brussels of trying to create a new Iron Curtain in Europe by imposing sanctions on ordinary Russian travellers to the EU. In a statement issued on Monday, the ministry expressed concerns about measures such as banning direct flights and tightening visa policies, which it believes are aimed at making it extremely difficult for regular Russians to visit the European Union.
The ministry stated, the ban on direct flights, the tightening of the visa policies, and now the clarification about sanctions, are specifically directed at hurting ordinary Russians by essentially making it impossible for them to enter the European Union.
It is now completely clear now that the current EU leadership intends to lower an Iron Curtain by greatly limiting the ability of people to communicate with one another.
They also cautioned that individual EU member states would not be able to avoid responsibility and would still be held accountable for any mistreatment of Russian nationals. Moscow urged its citizens to carefully assess the risks when planning visits to unfriendly countries.
The European Commission recently confirmed that the confiscation of cars and personal items brought by Russian nationals aligns with sanctions imposed on Moscow since 2014, and these sanctions were expanded following Russias military operation in Ukraine, initiated in February 2022. The EU stated that these restrictions, which also affect tourists and people relocating from Russia, aim to significantly weaken Russias economic foundation.
Several EU countries have pledged to rigorously implement these new sanctions. Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski stated, This means that no passenger car registered in Russia will be allowed to enter Polish territory.
Moscow has criticized the restrictions as discriminatory and racist, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stating that there is simply no justification for seizing the property of ordinary citizens.
The term Iron Curtain, originally coined by Winston Churchill, was used to describe the policies of the Soviet Union and its European allies, which severely restricted the movement of their citizens to the West.
A Moscow court on Tuesday declined to consider the latest appeal by US reporter Evan Gershkovich against his pre-trial detention, nearly six months after his arrest on spying charges that he denies.
The courts press service announced the decision without explanation, after a closed hearing. State news agency RIA said the appeal was being sent back to a lower court because of unspecified procedural violations.
Gershkovich, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested on March 29 in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg on charges of espionage that carry up to 20 years in prison.
No date has been set for his trial, and last month his detention in Moscows Lefortovo prison was extended by three months to November 30.
He had failed in two previous appeals, in April and June, against his pre-trial detention.
The United States has designated Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, an American convicted of espionage in 2020 and serving 16 years in a Russian penal colony, as wrongfully detained, meaning that it considers the cases against them to be bogus and politically motivated.
It is unacceptable that Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan still languish in Russian prisons on charges that are baseless, US ambassador Lynne Tracy told reporters after Tuesdays hearing.
The United States will not rest until Evan and Paul are safely at home with their families and friends. she said.
Russia said Gershkovich was caught red-handed on a trip to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, where the FSB security service said he was trying to obtain military secrets.
U.S. government recently accused a Russian hacker named Mikhail Matveev of committing serious cybercrimes in America and other countries. He is also known by the online names Wazawaka and Boriselcin.
The charges against him include being a significant player in carrying out ransomware attacks on American businesses and important infrastructure. The FBI has classified him as one of the most wanted cybercriminals.
However, because he is believed to be in Russia, it is unlikely that he will be brought to the United States to face trial.
Surprisingly, Matveev seems unbothered by the accusations and has even taunted the authorities. He recently created a T-shirt featuring his own wanted poster and asked his Twitter followers if they would like to buy it.
When contacted by TechCrunch, Matveev confirmed his identity by showing a picture of his left hand, which only has four fingers, a distinctive feature noted on his FBI most wanted page. He also sent a selfie of himself holding a piece of paper with the reporters name on it.
Matveev has specifically remained silent on his poersonal life as a wanted hacker. He, however, has told media that he dislikes the term hacker and claimed to be a different kind of specialist who uses their skills for practical purposes. He seemed more interested in discussing how he lost one of his fingers.
FBI has also declined to comment on Matveevs case.
Matveevs online activities, including interviews with cybersecurity journalists, posting videos of himself driving while listening to Metallica, and writing about his hacking exploits, suggest that he isnt particularly concerned about being on the FBIs most wanted list. As long as he remains in Russia, his life may not be drastically different from how it was before he was indicted.
In a video that he later deleted, Matveev remarked, The weather is good, the climate is good, everything is good. Even the sanctions make me happy. Many people say false things.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he was not looking to provoke India or escalate tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the utmost seriousness.
Trudeaus comments came hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat each following allegations about the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
He said the Indian government needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness.
We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate, he told reporters. We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes.
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of Indias most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
In a speech to the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
After Trudeaus remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat.
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Jolys remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeaus claims, calling them absurd and motivated. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, it said.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a terrorist by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
An Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada has also cancelled further trade talks.
Moscow and Beijing strongly agreed on the US and settling the Ukraine issue, according to the Russian foreign ministry, following talks between their senior diplomats on Monday.
The announcement came as Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi began a four-day visit to Moscow with a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the latest in a series of high-level discussions between the two key partners.
The similarity of the parties positions regarding US actions in the international arena, including those of an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese nature, was stated, Russias foreign ministry said.
The parties discussed in detail the current state of affairs in Ukraine, noting the futility of attempts to resolve the crisis without taking into account Russias interests and, all the more so, without Russias participation, it added.
Wang also briefed Lavrov on the details of his weekend conversations with US Vice President Joe Bidens national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, according to the statement.
Russia and China routinely brag about their no limits alliance, as well as their economic and military collaboration.
China has attempted to portray itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war, while still providing Moscow with a critical diplomatic and financial lifeline as its international isolation worsens.
According to a Chinese official media summary, Wang restated Beijings position paper on the Ukraine war, which urged for peace negotiations but was received with scepticism when it was issued earlier this year by the US and NATO.
Wang told Lavrov the plan takes into account the security concerns of all parties and is conducive to eliminating the root causes of the conflict, according to Chinas Xinhua.
A permanent good-neighbourly friendship, comprehensive strategic cooperation, and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia will continue to contribute to the development and revitalisation of each country, he added.
During his visit, Wang is due to hold security consultations at the invitation of Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russias security council.
President Xi Jinping made a state visit to Moscow in March and declared that relations between the two countries were entering a new era.
An aide to Vladimir Putin said in July that the Russian president was planning to visit China in October.
At the annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok last week, Putin told Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing that ties between Russia and China have reached an absolutely unprecedented, historical level.
Russia has more than tenfold increased production of various military gear to equip its troops in Ukraine, dramatically expanding output of missiles, drones, combat vehicles, and artillery, Russias largest weapons manufacturer said on Tuesday.
President Vladimir Putin has ordered an increase in production to guarantee Moscow meets the goals of its special military operation in Ukraine, despite the West supplying Kyiv with billions of dollars in weaponry and putting unprecedented Western sanctions on the Russian economy.
Bekhan Ozdoev, industrial director of the arms complex at Rostec, the Russian state business that handles a large portion of the weapons sector, claimed manufacturing volumes for various types of weapons had jumped by two to tenfold.
And for some types of hardware, output had been boosted by tens of times, said Ozdoev. We are going forward at cruising speed, smoke from all the pipes, he said.
Ozdoev said there had been significant growth in production of tanks, armoured vehicles, rocket launchers, artillery, the Iskander short-range ballistic missile, the Pantsir medium-range surface-to-air missile system and the hypersonic Kinzhal missile.
He did not detail the total volume of weapons produced.
Rostec, which is sanctioned by the West, is run by Sergei Chemezov, a close Putin ally. It controls 800 Russian civilian and defence entities and is by far Russias biggest arms producer.
The US Treasury calls Rostec the cornerstone of Russias defense, industrial, technology, and manufacturing sectors.
The Damascus presidency announced on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will visit China this week for a private summit with his Chinese counterpart.
On Thursday, Assad, Asmaa al-Assad, the first lady of Syria, and a significant team will go to China for a series of meetings in Beijing and Changzhou. A summit between Presidents Assad and Xi Jinping would take place, according to the announcement.
The last time Assad went to China was in 2004 to meet with President Hu Jintao. Since the two nations diplomatic relations were established in 1956, it was the first trip by a head of state from Syria to China.
China, together with Syrias principal allies Russia and Iran, kept these connections strong despite international isolation of Assad following his deadly suppression of anti-government protests that began in 2011.
China has regularly vetoed resolutions on Syria as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, including those that sought to expand cross-border humanitarian operations into regions that were not under the control of the Syrian government.
This year, after more than ten years of suspension, the Arab League reinstated Syria as a full member, bringing Assad out of the diplomatic cold.
(With agency inputs)
Taiwan has warned Australia to be cautious in its dealings with China, suggesting that President Xi Jinping may be trying to create divisions among Western nations.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Taiwans newly appointed chief representative to Canberra, Douglas Hsu, raised concerns about a potential hidden agenda in Chinas bilateral relations.
Hsu expressed support for improved China-Australia relations and increased trade but encouraged Canberra to see beyond what he referred to as the rosy pictures painted by Xi Jinping regarding their relationship.
He stated, Their strategy is basically divide and conquer. We dont want to see a very troublesome world, but we have to keep in mind and look at the track record that Beijing has.
Hsu also voiced his concerns about what he described as Chinas more aggressive behaviours in recent years. These comments followed reports from Taiwanese defence officials about over 103 Chinese military aircraft operating near the island.
The Taiwanese envoy called on Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to use his upcoming visit to China as an opportunity to send a clear message that Canberra opposes any unilateral change to the status quo by force in the Taiwan Strait.
Australia and China recently held their first high-level dialogue in several years after a period of strained relations. During this time, Australia became a part of the AUKUS alliance a trilateral security pact with the US and UK to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
Australia is also a member of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or the Quad, a strategic security dialogue with India, Japan and the United States aimed at challenging Beijings increased economic and military power in the region.
Tensions around Taiwan, which China considers part of its sovereign territory, have escalated, with Beijing conducting regular military exercises in the region. While China expresses a desire for peaceful reunification with Taiwan, it has not ruled out the use of force, as stated by President Xi Jinping last year.
China has summoned Germanys ambassador to Beijing following remarks by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in which she referred to President Xi Jinping as a dictator. This development highlights the growing tensions between the two nations, despite their significant trade relationship.
Baerbock made these comments during an interview on Fox News while visiting the United States, where she expressed concerns about the Ukraine war. She stated, If Putin were to win this war, what signal would that send to other dictators around the world, like Xi, the Chinese President? Therefore, Ukraine must prevail in this conflict.
In response to these remarks, a spokesperson from the German Foreign Ministry confirmed that Germanys ambassador had been summoned to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Sunday. This action followed Chinas earlier statement expressing strong dissatisfaction with Baerbocks comments.
Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, described Baerbocks remarks as extremely absurd and a serious affront to Chinas political dignity. She labeled them an open political provocation during a daily news briefing.
This incident is not the first of its kind. In June, Beijing reprimanded the US ambassador to China when President Joe Biden also referred to President Xi as a dictator. During her visit to New York, Baerbock only noted Chinas protests but did not elaborate further. The German government spokesperson declined to comment on Chancellor Olaf Scholzs perspective on the remarks.
This marks the third recent occasion that China has summoned Germanys ambassador. Earlier, China took similar action when Germanys education minister visited Taiwan in March, marking the first cabinet-level German visit to the island in 26 years. China asserts its claim over Taiwan and has been intensifying pressure on the self-governing, democratic island.
Additionally, the German ambassador was summoned after a statement by G7 foreign ministers concerning Taiwan in August 2022, during Germanys presidency of the group.
Germany is adopting a more assertive stance towards China, as evidenced by its new policy published in July, characterizing China as a partner, competitor, systemic rival. This policy reflects a delicate balance within the German coalition government, with Baerbock advocating for a tougher stance on human rights while Scholz supports a more trade-friendly approach.
Concerns are also growing in Berlin regarding potentially risky Chinese investments within Germany and the heavy dependence of German businesses on trade with China. Recent actions include blocking a Chinese takeover of a satellite startup on national security grounds and blocking the sale of two chipmakers to Chinese investors due to security concerns.
(with inputs from agencies)
A senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled by the Indian government and asked him to leave the country within the next five days.
Earlier today, Ministry of External Affairs summoned Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay and after the meeting it was informed that the senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The Canadian diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, Bagchi said.
India on Tuesday outrightly rejected as "baseless" and "motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a "potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader, and sought prompt legal action against anti-India elements operating from Canada.
After Trudeau made the comments in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat has been expelled from Canada.
In a statement in Parliament, Trudeau claimed there were "credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
In strong reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are "absurd and motivated".
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian prime minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister," it said.
It said "such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity." "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the MEA said.
The MEA said similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and were completely rejected," it said.
With inputs from agencies
According to an internal document seen by Reuters, UBS Group AG has deemed at least four nations, including South Korea and India, as slow in giving the regulatory clearances required for the completion of its acquisition of Credit Suisse.
According to a document dated 6 September and sent to worldwide personnel, UBS has highlighted Ireland and Saudi Arabia as slow jurisdictions in obtaining licences. The substance of the document has not before been disclosed.
The paper, which was written following a worldwide study to determine the timetable of regulatory clearances required for the integration to be completed, stated that uncooperative authorities might jeopardise transactions such as the Swiss bank merger.
The uncertainties in securing regulatory nods could also lead to winding down businesses and asset sales, when UBS faces difficult jurisdictions or regulators, the bank said in the document.
Credit Suisse, which was Switzerlands second-biggest bank, suffered years of scandals and losses before it had to be rescued in March this year in a state-engineered takeover by former rival UBS.
UBS completed its takeover of Credit Suisse in June. It still needs approvals from regulators in markets where both the banks operate for the legal completion of the deal that resulted in the first rescue of a global bank since the 2008 financial crisis.
UBS and Credit Suisse did not respond to Reuters request for comment. Spokespeople for central banks in South Korea, India, Ireland, and Saudi Arabia also did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.
The first-ever merger of two global systemically important banks has created both opportunities and risks for UBS, which has been working on integrating Credit Suisses businesses with itself in numerous markets.
UBS last month said it expected the merger to be completed in 2024. The banks internal document showed the process could be finished as soon as May next year.
In the review document, UBS said a single non-cooperative regulator can jeopardize the timeline of the parent bank merger and other transactions, impacting other related integration deals.
In South Korea, it may take up to 18 to 22 months to obtain new licences, the bank said, while in Ireland the process could take up to two years, and up to 12 months in Saudi Arabia, the document showed.
The regulator in India could take a minimum of six months to approve the setting up of a new branch, it added.
Ukraine will soon receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States as Kyivs forces steadily advance in their counter-offensive against Moscows troops, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.
Representatives of dozens of countries that support Kyiv are meeting in Germany to discuss new aid for Ukraine ahead of an address to the UN General Assembly by the countrys president, Volodymyr Zelensky.
Washington had promised the 31 tanks to Kyiv at the start of the year, part of more than $43 billion in security assistance pledged by the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Im pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that the United States had previously committed to will be entering Ukraine soon, Austin said at the opening of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group.
A senior US military official said the first tanks will be sent in the coming days and the process completed within weeks.
The tanks will be paired with 120mm armour-piercing depleted uranium rounds.
Such munitions are controversial due to their association with health problems, such as cancer and birth defects, in areas where they were used in past conflicts, although they have not been definitively proven to have caused them.
The decision to provide Abrams tanks to Ukraine represented a U-turn as American defence officials had repeatedly said they were ill-suited for Kyivs forces due to their complexity.
Zelensky arrived in the United States on Monday, visiting wounded Ukrainian troops at a hospital ahead of his UN address, which he will make as the countrys forces push ahead with a slow-moving, high-stakes counter-offensive to wrest back territory from Russian forces.
Steady forward progress
Ukraines limited progress against entrenched Russian positions has spurred debate among Kyivs Western allies over its military strategy.
But on Monday, Ukraines defence ministry said it had recaptured a total of seven square kilometres (nearly three square miles) last week near the eastern town of Bakhmut and also along the southern front.
Austin said Tuesday that the counter-offensive continues to make steady forward progress.
And brave Ukrainian troops are breaking through the heavily fortified lines of Russias army of aggression.
The US defence chief also welcomed new Ukrainian defence minister Rustem Umerov, who was appointed earlier this month in a significant change for Kyiv, following corruption scandals at the ministry.
A senior US defence official said ahead of the meeting that the gathering provided an opportunity to hear from minister Umerov himself what his vision is, what his priority is.
Democracies like Ukraine have turnover in leadership all the time, the official said, adding: We do expect continuity (from Kyiv).
US officials have spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging a coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries through near-monthly Contact Group meetings.
As Kyiv reported that its air defence systems had downed 27 Shahed drones launched overnight in Russias latest aerial barrage, Austin in Ramstein urged allies to continue to dig deep on such systems for Ukraine as they are saving lives.
Ahead of the latest meeting, Germany announced it will give another 400 million euros ($428 million) of weapons and aid to Ukraine.
This will include ammunition, armoured vehicles and mine-clearing equipment, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told top German tabloid Bild.
Ammunition is what Ukraine needs most in its defensive struggle against the brutal war of aggression, he said.
Ukraines supporters have also provided training to Kyivs troops, while the United States and other countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia.
The targets of the sanctions include financial institutions, technology imports and energy exports.
Ukraine said on Tuesday that the International Court of Justice should order Russia to pay reparations for its annihilation war, noting that international law itself was at risk.
Russia is not above the law. It must be held accountable, Ukraines lead speaker, Anton Korynevych, told the court, sitting just a few metres from his Russian opponents in the Peace Palace in The Hague.
You have the power to declare that Russias actions are unlawful, that its continued abuses must stop, that your orders must be followed and that Russia must make reparations, he told the judges.
Ukraine took Russia to the International Court of Justice only a few days after the 24 February 2022, invasion, aiming to confront its aggressive neighbour on all fronts, legal, diplomatic, and military.
The Ukrainian government claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin used alleged genocide against the pro-Russian population in eastern Ukraine as one of the justifications for Moscows invasion of its neighbour.
According to Ukraine, this is a violation of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, which was signed by both Kyiv and Moscow.
At our moment of greatest peril, Ukraine turned to this court. Your court has broad jurisdiction over disputes relating to the Genocide Convention, argued Korynevych.
Can it truly be the case that a state can abuse the Genocide Convention to justify a war of conquest? asked Korynevych.
It must be no for the sake of the world, to prevent international law from being twisted into a tool for human rights abuses and destruction, he added.
In a preliminary judgement issued in March of last year, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) agreed with Ukraine and ordered Russia to immediately cease its invasion.
However, Russia protested the decision, claiming that the ICJ lacked the legal authority to rule in this instance.
Russias defiance is also an attack on this courts authority. Every missile that Russia fires at our cities, it fires in defiance of this court, said Korynevych.
Hopelessly flawed
The current proceedings at the Peace Palace are centred on whether or not the ICJ has jurisdiction.
On Monday, Russias legal team urged that the lawsuit should be dismissed.
If Kyiv denies there is a genocide in eastern Ukraine, Moscow asks, why is the court even hearing a case under the Genocide Convention?
According to Russias lead representative Gennady Kuzmin, mere statements alleging genocide are not admissible under international law, including the Genocide Convention.
Ukraines legal position is hopelessly flawed and at odds with the longstanding jurisprudence of the court, he concluded.
Using longstanding Russian talking points, he also accused the Kyiv regime of being firmly entrenched in the history, doctrines and practises of Nazism, comments seized upon by Ukraines envoy.
The (Russian) agent had the audacity to stand in this court and say that Ukraine was planning final solutions. We all know what those chilling words mean.
How can Russias agent utter those words and then deny that there is a dispute about genocide? said Korynevych.
In addition to the two fighting countries, 32 Ukrainian allies will speak in favour of Kyiv on Wednesday.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) was established to settle disputes between countries, although it is not known for its pace of operation. The court will most certainly take months only to decide whether or not to hear the case.
Its decisions are legally binding, but there is no method to enforce them.
US said it is deeply concerned over the accusation made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, linking Indian government agents to the murder of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau earlier today, US. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Watson added.
In an emergency statement of the House of Commons, Trudeau said any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Canada also said it was actively pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Nijjar.
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjars death, Trudeau said.
The Canadian PM further claimed that he had raised the murder directly with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi last week, and urged the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
Canada expels top Indian diplomat
After Trudeaus claim in the Canadas Parliament, the countrys foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat.
Joly alleged that the top diplomat had credible link to the murder of Nijjar.
Absurd and motivated: India rejects Trudeaus claims
India rejected Trudeaus claim calling it absurd and motivated.
The External Affairs Ministry of India in a statement said similar allegations were made by Trudeau to PM Modi at a meeting on 10 September and were completely rejected.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the statement said.
Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead on 18 June in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey in British Columbia. He was a Canadian citizen and was designated a terrorist by the Indian government in July 2020 for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
With inputs from agencies
Joe Biden, Americas oldest president, said Monday that while he understood the spotlight on his age, he was running for re-election because Donald Trump sought to destroy US democracy.
The 80-year-old normally avoids the age question, but he brought it up during a fundraiser at a Broadway theatre in New York, claiming his expertise helped him cope with crises such as Ukraine and Covid.
A lot of people seem focused on my age, Biden said. I get it believe me, I know it more than anyone.
He added, Im running because democracy is at stake because in 2024 democracy is on the ballot once again. And let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy.
The Democrat went on to say that he would not bow down to dictators and accused Trump of doing so to Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose campaign slogan is Make America Great Again (MAGA).
Opinion surveys reveal that American voters are concerned about Bidens age ahead of a rematch with Trump, whom he defeated in 2020.
Last Monday, a renowned US journalist, David Ignatius of the Washington Post, urged Biden not to run, saying he risked compromising his greatest achievement in defeating Trump.
Biden, who is in New York this week for the UN General Assembly, would be 86 by the end of a second term, and his Republican opponents have often brought up the matter.
Trump who is 77 and would be the oldest president ever elected if he wins next year said in an interview broadcast Sunday that Biden was not too old but was incompetent.
The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on seven people and four companies in China, Russia and Turkey who officials allege are connected with the development of Irans drone program.
The US accuses Iran of supplying Russia with drones used to bomb Ukrainian civilians as Moscow continues its invasion of Ukraine.
The latest development comes after Irans President Ebrahim Raisi denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine.
We are against the war in Ukraine, President Raisi said on Monday as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the worlds premier global conference, the high-level leaders meeting at the UN General Assembly.
The parties sanctioned Tuesday by Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control include: An Iranian drone company previously sanctioned in 2008, now doing business as Shahin Co., its managing executives, a group of Russian parts manufacturers and two Turkish money exchangers, Mehmet Tokdemir and Alaaddin Aykut.
The Treasury said the action builds on a set of sanctions it issued last March, when Treasury sanctioned 39 firms linked to an alleged shadow banking system that helped to obfuscate financial activity between sanctioned Iranian firms and their foreign buyers, namely for petrochemicals produced in Iran.
Brian E. Nelson, Treasurys undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Irans continued, deliberate proliferation of its drone program enables Russia and other destabilizing actors to undermine global stability.
The United States will continue to take action against Irans drone program, he said.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, said the US will continue to use every tool at their disposal to disrupt these efforts and will work with Allies and partners to hold Iran accountable for its actions.
Among other things, the sanctions deny the people and firms access to any property or financial assets held in the US and prevent US companies and citizens from doing business with them.
Tensions between the US and Iran remain high, despite the release of five American detainees from Iran this week in exchange for the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The White House is launching an attack to undermine Republicans impeachment investigation targeting President Joe Biden, instructing the media to pick out disinformation in unprecedented rhetoric that analysts fear might backfire.
The White House communication to the media comes after Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy started a formal impeachment investigation into Biden last week, alleging corruption charges against him as he succumbed to pressure from his partys hardliners loyal to Trump.
The investigation has so far yielded no tangible proof to support the presidents assertion that he benefitted financially from his son Hunter Bidens business operations, which even some Republicans have admitted.
Apparently fed up with media coverage that exaggerates evidence-free Republican assertions, the White House has urged newsroom editorial boards to ramp up its scrutiny of their claims.
Covering impeachment as a process story Republicans say X, but the White House says Y - is a disservice to the American public who relies on the independent press to hold those in power accountable, the memo said.
In the modern media environment, where every day liars and hucksters peddle disinformation and lies everywhere from Facebook to Fox, process stories that fail to unpack the illegitimacy of the claims only serve to obscure the truth.
Attached to the memo was a 14-page fact- fact-checker-style dossier rebutting seven Republican claims about the inquiry that it denounced as all politics and no evidence.
While behind-the-scenes efforts to influence news coverage are far from rare, the elaborate memo was perceived by some as direct instructions to the press that could complicate the fight against disinformation in a pre-election year.
It came across as a pretty unusual attempt to overtly influence coverage from a White House that underestimates the optics of how this looks, Roy Gutterman, a Syracuse University professor, told AFP.
Scapegoat
In the hyper-polarized US political landscape, some media outlets said the memo had put them in a difficult spot, exposing them to attacks as they report apparent inaccuracies in the case.
News outlets that point out the weakness of the GOP case will now look like theyre kowtowing to White House pressure, news website Axios said in a report.
Axios, which reported last week that the leader of the Republican impeachment inquiry, James Comer, had repeatedly distorted the findings of his probe into the Biden family, said the White House messaging could backfire.
The memo, intentionally or not, opens the door to further attacks on the media or, even worse, sets the press up as an easy scapegoat for any undesired outcome of the impeachment probe, wrote Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.
Even if the probe does not lead to an actual impeachment, the final outcome will encourage more attacks on members of the media, she said.
Peddlers of disinformation, she added, will have a field day painting the media as mere White House mouthpieces and the losers will be the public who will have an even harder time deciding who to trust.
Tone deaf
The memo underscores how the White House appears to be battling out the graft allegations in the court of public opinion ahead of the 2024 presidential election which is expected to be a rematch between Biden and Trump.
McCarthy had been under pressure from hardline members of his party, loyal to Trump, for months to open an impeachment inquiry.
They accuse him of profiting while he served as vice president under Barack Obama from his 53-year-old son Hunters foreign business ventures in Ukraine, which have been a constant target of Republicans.
The probe has not produced any evidence showing that Biden himself benefitted from his sons business dealings or used his power as vice president to boost Hunters financial interests.
The Biden administration is on strong grounds if it wants to call out the dubious claims but it seems a bit tone-deaf to issue guidance to the press, said Jonathan Nagler, co-director of New York Universitys Center for Social Media and Politics.
However, he added, the media can still uncover apparent disinformation in the case without appearing to be doing the White Houses bidding.
It is very clearly the role of the press to expose disinformation circulated by political actors, Nagler told AFP.
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October 27, 2023 11:33
Mijatovic: Azerbaijan must guarantee Armenians human rights, including to return to their homes in safety
Human rights violations have again marked the last chapter of the long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around the Karabakh region. Full respect for human rights of all and strict adherence to relevant international standards should be now placed at the centre of the path towards reconciliation and durable peace between the two countries, said the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic, at the end of her visit to Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region, which took place from 16 to 23 October 2023.
Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2023.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday issued a false statement claiming that between 8:28pm and 8:34pm Monday, the respective units of the Artsakh Defense Army jammed the GPS of a civil aircraft flying on the Baku-Tbilisi route.
September 19, 2023, 10:43 Artsakh army dismisses Azerbaijan claim on jamming Baku-Tbilisi flight GPS
STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 19, ARTSAKHPRESS: The statement of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry is a complete lie. The aircraft operating the abovementioned route not only doesnt require to cross into the airspace of Artsakh Republic, but also doesnt require to approach it. By regularly generating such false statements, Azerbaijan seeks to divert the international communitys attention from the humanitarian disaster resulting from the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor, and prepare the information base for its next provocation, the Artsakh Republic Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Protestoes railed against the No campaign outside the Adelaide Convention Centre on Monday afternoon. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Morgan Sette
SAs Premier and the Yes23 campaign director have condemned the actions of protesters who hurled insults at No supporters outside a Fair Australia rally, saying they were not affiliated with the Yes campaign.
Loud protesters outside the rally at the Adelaide Convention Centre on Monday afternoon headlined by leading No campaigners senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine chanted with a megaphone: Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.
In a video captured by South Australian senator Alex Antic, the protesters shout expletive-ridden phrases, calling out at the campaigners walking into the rally f**k you you racist dog, racist pig and wankers.
Yes23 campaign director Dean Parkin said there was no place for that kind of behaviour in the Yes campaign.
Those people there were not affiliated with the Yes campaign ... we just encourage people to allow for respectful and dignified debate, said.
Thats what weve always been about as part of the Yes campaign - even those with opposing views have got to be respected and treated well.
Wed encourage everybody involved in the debate to maintain that.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas warned their rhetoric could alienate voters.
Im deeply disappointed and frustrated by it, Mr Malinauskas told The Australian newspaper.
I do not know whose cause these people are helping. Ive said from the outset that I dont think somebody who votes no is automatically defined as a racist.
I dont think Australia is a racist country. If the people shouting and calling people names think they are changing anybodys minds they dont understand human behaviour very well.
Walking into the launch of the @FairAusADV NO to the Voice campaign in Adelaide this evening.
Is this the unity the Australian Labor Party promised us their referendum was going to bring? pic.twitter.com/3Iyi6yYXUo Senator Alex Antic (@SenatorAntic) September 18, 2023
Australians will head to the polls on October 14 to vote in the first referendum since 1999.
Story continues
Speaking to reporters in Melbourne on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese condemned nasty behaviour, wherever it occurs.
Because we need to have a respectful debate, the Prime Minister said.
And on October 14, it will be an opportunity for us to seize the day and finally recognise Indigenous Australians in our Constitution but also to give them an advisory group so that we can listen to them to get better results. Thats whats at stake on October 14.
What I would say to people is be respectful. I respect every Australian regardless of whether theyre going to vote yes or whether theyre going to vote no.
Simon Birmingham, a senior Liberal moderate, on Tuesday chastised the abusive protesters but extended it to both sides as he warned anyone championing a cause to be respectful in the final weeks.
Theres no place for denigration of individuals or groups of people in this Voice campaign, Senator Birmingham told Sky News.
Anybody whos engaged in these sorts of tactics needs to cease. And what we ought to be seeing over these next few weeks is as respectful a debate as possible.
I wish we werent in this position I would encourage anybody to make sure that if theyre out campaigning, they do so on the basis of facts and the arguments for your case yes or no and dont engage in the type of divisive, personal attacks that weve seen emerge.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price spoke at the No campaign event at the Convention Centre in Adelaide. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Morgan Sette
In Adelaide on Monday night, more than 1000 people, many wearing No supporter T-shirts, packed into the Adelaide Convention Centre to hear Senator Nampijinpa Price, Mr Mundine, and South Australian senator Kerrynne Liddle rail against the Voice.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of her speech, Senator Nampijinpa Price criticised the protesters, saying there had been a growing ugliness in the campaign.
This is the level of racism and division the prime minister has to take responsibility for, she said.
She said Indigenous Australians such as herself and Mr Mundine had been subjected to bullying, gaslighting and manipulation.
The crowd at the No campaign event. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette
In an emotional speech, Senator Price broke down in tears when she spoke of her role as a vessel for Indigenous people whom she said had been ignored by mainstream politics and media.
I was a vessel for the women sitting in that room, the cousin of a young girl murdered, hanging from a tree, she said, referencing her address at the National Press Club last week.
They are the voices the media ignores, they are the voices Labor ignore, they are the voices the Greens ignore, they are the voters the Teals ignore.
And they are the voices this bloody Voice to Parliament will ignore.
As her Voice rose in anger, the crowd rose to its feet and clapped and cheered furiously.
The outspoken Coalition spokeswoman for Indigenous Affairs called the Voice referendum the biggest gaslighting event our nation has ever experienced.
We are sick to death being told how racist we are, how horrible we are. Our own children are being taught not to be proud to call themselves Australians in this country, she said.
Senator Nampijinpa Price argued that a Voice would constitutionally enshrine a victimhood mentality in the country and degrade the future of Indigenous Australians.
Protesters rally against the No campaign outside the Adelaide Convention Centre. Picture: Duncan Evans
Senator Nampijinpa Price also said racial politics from the US such as the Black Lives Matter movement had begun to filter into Australia.
It doesnt belong here, she said.
Speaking before Senator Nampijinpa Price, Mr Mundine praised conservative ideals as the best way to help Indigenous Australians advance.
Australia is not a racist country and our people are not racist, he said.
We wouldnt be spending billions of dollars to help people if we were a bunch of racists.
Mr Mundine said the referendum was dividing the nation and the central argument for a Voice was a lie because Indigenous Australians already had voices in the government.
Senator Nampijinpa Price broke down in tears. Picture: Duncan Evans
South Australia is considered a key battleground in the referendum campaign, with thousands of Yes and No volunteers expected to fan out across the state to persuade voters to back the change, which would embed a permanent advisory body for Indigenous Australians in the Constitution.
Senator Nampijinpa Price said SA was a crucial state for the campaign and she criticised the state-based Voice model.
She said it had gone silent and had not improved the lives of South Australias most marginalised people.
SA became the first Australian state to legislate a First Nations Voice to Parliament, but elections for the advisory board were put back to March 2024, as the state-based model was being overshadowed by the referendum and causing confusion among voters.
Warren Mundine says the referendum is dividing the nation. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Morgan Sette
More than 1000 packed into the Adelaide Convention Centre for the event. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Morgan Sette
In her own speech, Senator Liddle also criticised SAs Voice, arguing it had been parked and the public had not been allowed to see how it would function.
Senator Nampijinpa Price said Australians must vote No to unify the nation.
When pressed on her earlier controversial remark that British colonisation had not delivered a lasting negative impact on Indigenous Australians, Senator Nampijinpa Price said Indigenous Australians would probably not want to return to life as it was in pre-colonial Australia.
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has taken action in response to a viral video depicting two officers escorting the president of the Adamawa State University students union.
The video, which circulated on social media, showed three armed police officers walking alongside the student union presidents car as fellow students cheered and applauded.In a statement issued on Monday by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police expressed its disapproval of the officers conduct.Adejobi explained that the officers are attached to the Jimeta command and were deployed to maintain order during the student unions convention in the state.He revealed that both the officers involved and their superiors have been summoned to the force headquarters for appropriate measures, adding that they have also been referred for disciplinary actions.The statement reads,
Quote
UNPROFESSIONAL CONDUCT:
Following a recent incident involving two Constables escorting a Student Union president in Adamawa State, their actions were unacceptable and do not represent the values of our Force.
The officers, who are attached to Jimeta Divisional Police Command, along with their superiors, have been summoned to the Force Headquarters for appropriate action.
Its important to note that they were deployed to maintain peace and security during the convention and electoral process organized by the National Union of Adamawa State Students (NUADSS) on 4th and 5th of September, 2023.
However their actions were not in line with the purpose for which they were deployed. They have both been referred to the Force Provost for further disciplinary actions.
We are committed to maintaining professionalism and upholding the dignity of the Nigeria Police Force.
MISCONDUCT: We are committed to maintaining professionalism and upholding the dignity of the Nigeria Police Force. Regarding the recent incident involving two Constables escorting a student union president in Adamawa State, their actions were unacceptable and do not represent the pic.twitter.com/tpKfprkfFl Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi (@Princemoye1) September 18, 2023
Watch the video below:
amasan1 at 19-09-2023 05:49 PM (1 month ago) (m)
Nigeria's First Lady, Sen Remi Tinubu has disclosed that her husband, Bola Ahmed Tinubu would not have become the President of Nigeria if he stayed in a foreign country.
Nigeria's First Lady, Sen Remi Tinubu has disclosed that her husband, Bola Ahmed Tinubu would not have become the President of Nigeria if he stayed in a foreign country.
Naija News gathered that the former lawmaker stated this at the Nigeria Economic Growth and Trade Summit on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The session was organised at the Nigeria House in New York by the Nigeria Governors Wives Forum.
According to the Presidents wife, the brain drain in Africa has deprived the continent of the talents it needs to develop itself.
She called on Nigerians outside the country to key into the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu for the betterment of the country.
The First Lady said, In our various communities, we must work towards creating conditions and providing basic needs that allow people to thrive by providing access to qualitative education, an enabling environment for job creation, and the development of local industries will create viable economic opportunities.
Naija News gathered that the former lawmaker stated this at the Nigeria Economic Growth and Trade Summit on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).The session was organised at the Nigeria House in New York by the Nigeria Governors Wives Forum.According to the Presidents wife, the brain drain in Africa has deprived the continent of the talents it needs to develop itself.She called on Nigerians outside the country to key into the Renewed Hope agenda of President Tinubu for the betterment of the country.The First Lady said, In our various communities, we must work towards creating conditions and providing basic needs that allow people to thrive by providing access to qualitative education, an enabling environment for job creation, and the development of local industries will create viable economic opportunities. Quote The Renewed Hope initiative is an initiative that we just started, aimed at creating a better life for families.
Our scope covers agriculture, education, economic empowerment, health and social investment, focusing on women and the youth who are the bedrock of the society.
With the youth accounting for 70 per cent of our population and women representing 49.6 per cent of the population, I believe that schemes which focus on empowering this demographic, coupled with an enabling environment, will gradually begin to reverse the negative trend of migration.
The first lady said the wives of governors must work to create equal opportunities for all in the country.
She added, Policy reforms that encourage skilled individuals to return home after obtaining educational experience abroad, can help reverse the dream.
I know Mr. President did not tell me that but I just want to reassure you that its good to come back home.
If he stayed here and said he liked it here, I dont think he would have ever become your president. So thats a food for thought. God bless you and see you soon.
The chair of the governors wives forum, Olufolake AbdulRazaq on her part said the outcome of the summit should stem the tide of migration in Nigeria. The chair of the governors wives forum, Olufolake AbdulRazaq on her part said the outcome of the summit should stem the tide of migration in Nigeria.
Post Reply I am an investigative reporter at Gistmania, I conduct fact-finding investigative journalism. Posted: at 19-09-2023 05:49 PM (1 month ago) | Hero
Microsofts new Paint features will help take the app into the 21st Century News oi -Carlsen Martin
In a world where free, feature-rich image editing software is readily available, Microsoft Paint, an iconic part of Windows, is stepping up its game with a series of major updates.
Windows Insiders in the Dev or Canary channels can now experience the enhanced capabilities of Paint version 11.2308.18.0, which introduces multilayer support and a convenient automatic background removal tool.
This recent transformation underscores Microsoft's commitment to keeping the classic Paint app relevant and user-friendly.
A Glimpse of the New Paint Features
Multilayer support is perhaps the most exciting addition to Paint's repertoire. Users can now create and manage transparent layers with ease. By clicking the layers button conveniently located on the right side of the ribbon, a list of available layers becomes accessible.
Additional layers can be effortlessly added with a simple click of the "+" button. Users can choose to hide layers by selecting the "Show layer" icon or rearrange them as needed. Importantly, any new layer created is automatically transparent.
Notably, when a transparency persists through all visible layers and the image is saved in PNG format, the transparency remains intact. This feature proves invaluable when importing the PNG image into other editing software or displaying it on a webpage, ensuring a seamless and professional appearance without any unwanted backgrounds.
A Nod to Nostalgia
Microsoft Paint has been a staple of Windows since its debut on Windows 1.0 back in 1985. Despite facing uncertainty in 2017 when Microsoft considered removing it in favor of Paint 3D, the original version of Paint was persevered.
Now, the addition of advanced features demonstrates Microsoft's commitment to maintaining and enhancing this beloved program. However, it's important to note that while Paint has come a long way, it still lags behind more advanced image editing tools in terms of functionality.
Some key features, such as a magic wand selection tool, aspect ratio-based selection drawing, blur filters, and drop shadows, remain absent. For those seeking a free alternative with more robust capabilities, options like GIMP or Paint.net may be worth exploring.
Updated Paint Rollout
Microsoft is taking a gradual approach to roll out the updated Paint, ensuring a smooth transition for users. While the update is available to Windows Insiders in the Dev and Canary Channels under version 11.2308.18.0, it may take some time before all users receive it.
Microsoft encourages users to provide feedback through the Feedback Hub to help fine-tune the Paint experience. In addition to the recent features, Paint also received dark mode support, which is now available to all users in the Stable Channel.
Microsoft's Commitment to Paint
This allows users to enjoy a sleek and visually comfortable interface while working on their creative projects. Microsoft's commitment to improving and modernizing Paint underscores the company's dedication to serving a diverse range of user needs, from beginners to seasoned digital artists.
While it may not replace more advanced image editing software, the revamped Paint is a promising step forward in keeping a nostalgic favorite relevant and accessible to all Windows users.
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Elon Musk Proposes Monthly Subscription Fees for X (Formerly Twitter) to Combat Bots News oi -Carlsen Martin
In a recent conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, dropped a bombshell that could reshape the landscape of social media.
Musk hinted that a monthly payment system might become the norm for all X users in a bid to combat the ever-persistent issue of bots and fake accounts on the platform.
Pay Walling X
"We're moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system," stated Elon Musk, emphasizing the necessity of this move to counteract the proliferation of bots.
While this statement has sparked significant curiosity and speculation, X has yet to issue an official statement clarifying Musk's comments, leaving users and experts wondering whether this is a desperate attempt to bolster Twitter's revenue or a strategic move in the making.
Growing Concerns of Bots
Musk's interest in addressing the bot problem on X has been a long-standing one. Since acquiring the platform in October 2022, he has consistently sought ways to monetize it and incentivize users to opt for the paid "X Premium" service.
This strategy involves providing premium subscribers with added features, such as extended post lengths and heightened visibility. Notably, X continues to offer free access to users, a point emphasized by Musk.
While the financial motivations behind this move are apparent, Musk asserted that the primary goal is to thwart bots. He highlighted that bots are incredibly cost-effective to create, often costing a fraction of a penny.
New 'X Premium' Tier could be Introduced
By introducing a modest monthly fee, even a nominal one, the barrier for entry for bots would significantly increase, making it economically unviable for their creators.
Currently, X Premium is priced at $8 per month in the US, with varying rates for different countries. Musk indicated that he is exploring lower tier pricing options, aiming to make it affordable for a broader user base.
"This is the only defense against vast armies of bots," Musk added, underlining his commitment to combating this issue. However, this move is not without risks.
Rise of Antisemitism on X is a Concern
Putting X behind a paywall could potentially alienate a substantial portion of its user base, potentially leading to a decline in advertising revenue, which remains a cornerstone of the company's income stream.
Balancing the need to combat bots with retaining user engagement and revenue generation will be a delicate act for X and Musk. In addition to discussing the subscription model, Musk's conversation with Prime Minister Netanyahu also delved into another contentious issue-antisemitism on the platform.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has accused X of not doing enough to curb antisemitic content, an allegation Musk vehemently denies. Earlier this month, Musk announced his intention to sue the ADL to protect the platform's reputation.
Content Moderation Concerns
During their conversation, Musk reiterated his stance against antisemitism, and Prime Minister Netanyahu acknowledged the challenging balance between free speech and content moderation. He urged Musk to find ways to address not only antisemitism but also all forms of collective hatred.
As Elon Musk's vision for a subscription-based X takes shape, it remains to be seen how users and advertisers will respond to this transformation. This move could represent a significant turning point for social media platforms, challenging the traditional model of free access in exchange for user data and advertising revenue.
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National Defence Minister met with Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command Gen Bryan Fenton visiting Lithuania
Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence
2023-09-15
International cooperation
Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Gen Bryan P. Fenton and an accompanying delegation were conducting a visit in Lithuania this week. Gen Bryan P. Fenton had meetings with Chief of Defence Gen Valdemaras Rupsys, Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anusauskas, and representatives of the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces at which the cooperation between Lithuanian and U.S. Special Operations Forces was addressed.
The primary focus of Gen Bryan P. Fenton's visit was to highlight the close cooperation between the two countries' special forces in multinational operations and in strengthening the security of Lithuania and the Baltic region, as well as to familiarize with Lithuania's security situation, thank the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces for the long-standing support to the U.S. Special Operations Forces, and to continue building on the excellent military partnership between Lithuania and the United States.
"We deeply appreciate the persistent U.S. Special Operations Forces presence in Lithuania. Regular exercises in Lithuania and the region has strategic value in the security of the entire region. We are also appreciate very much the assistance in the development of our Special Operations reconnaissance capability: the Americans are contributing financing, human resources and expertise," said Minister of National Defence A. Anusauskas. He and the guest also discussed the mutual effort in providing assistance to Ukraine.
The Lithuanian Special Operations Forces and the U.S. Special Operations Forces started cooperation over two decades ago. A leap in partnership and compatibility quality took place in 2002 when the Lithuanian military joined the U.S.-led counter-terrorism operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
For over a decade Lithuanian and American special forces personnel annually meet to train at a military exercise and strengthen interoperability in major special operations missions: detection of targets of critical and strategic importance, disruption or neutralization of hostile intents.
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USS San Jacinto (CG-56) Decommissions, Honoring 35 Years of Service
US Navy
16 September 2023
NORFOLK, Va. -- USS San Jacinto (CG-56) honored more than three decades of naval service during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, Sept. 15.
Vice Adm. Jim Kilby, deputy commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command, who previously served two tours aboard San Jacinto, presided over the ceremony and provided keynote remarks.
"When we serve on a ship, it becomes part of us, I mean who we are, how we think, and how we conduct ourselves." said Vice Adm. Kilby. "San Jacinto is the most formative and significant ship I have ever served on. I worked for five consecutive commanding officers, as Operations Officers and Executive Officer. I owe San Jacinto and many of you an unpayable debt of gratitude."
Capt. Christopher E. Marvin, who served as the twentieth and final commanding officer of San Jacinto, oversaw a crew of 30 officers and 300 enlisted members, and led the warship during their final deployment in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group in support of U.S. 6th Fleet and NATO exercises in 2022.
"The professionalism and warfighting excellence San Jacinto has imparted on those that have served aboard over 35 years will provide an enduring legacy and serve the Navy and nation for years to come."
San Jacinto is the tenth Ticonderoga-Class cruiser, and the third warship in the Navy named for the Battle of San Jacinto. The first San Jacinto was a frigate built in 1851, fought in the Civil War for the Union, and was sold in 1871. The second San Jacinto (CVL 30) was an aircraft carrier that was commissioned Nov. 15, 1943, fought in WWII and was decommissioned March 1, 1947.
The San Jacinto's construction began Oct. 5, 1984, at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel was laid July 24, 1985. She was launched on Nov. 14, 1986, and christened Jan. 24, 1987 by the warship's sponsor, Dr. Wendy Lee Gramm, wife of United States Senator from Texas, Phil Gramm.
San Jacinto was commissioned on Jan. 23, 1988, in Houston, Texas, by then-Vice President George H.W. Bush, who himself served aboard the second San Jacinto (CVL 30) during World War II.
Since her maiden deployment in 1989, the warship has demonstrated the combat credibility of our Navy and has served as an exemplar for the Navy's mission to defend freedom, preserve economic prosperity, and keep the seas open and free.
In August 1990, she executed short-fused deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield, where she served as Red Sea Battle Force Anti-Air Warfare Commander and launched the first Tomahawk Cruise missiles ever fired in combat during the opening salvos of Operation Desert Storm.
Other operation highlights include: directly supporting Operations Southern Watch, Inherent Resolve, and Iraqi Freedom; counter terrorism operations following the September 11 attacks; various maritime interdiction and interception operations; humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts as well as a sustained focus on partnership building during multi-national, Joint, and NATO exercises.
In January 2020, she deployed as a part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group to the Arabian Sea, breaking the U.S. Navy record for consecutive days at sea at 206.
The name San Jacinto honors the April 21, 1836 battle by the San Jacinto River in Texas, where Gen. Sam Houston and his greatly outnumbered Texas soldiers won independence for the Republic of Texas, decisively defeating Gen. Santa Anna and his 1,200-1,500 man Mexican Army. Houston made an eloquent speech to his troops, closing with inspiring words, "Victory is certain! ... Remember the Alamo!"
Embodying that same toughness, grit, and tenacity, San Jacinto Sailors adopted this same mantra.
"Throughout her service, San Jacinto executed 16 deployments, many availabilities, and as many training cycles. She was upgraded with the latest combat systems, her crew professionally trained over her life to continue to be a true lynchpin in our Fleet," said Kilby. "By my rough estimates she has had over 6,000 Sailors serve on her and steamed over 500,000 nautical miles during deployments. She earned 15 Battle E's as a testament to her sustained excellence. San Jacinto's legacy is a tribute to her crews, all of us, she certainly lived up to her motto, "Victory is Certain."
In the warship's storied 35 years of service, her crew has been awarded the Chief of Naval Operations Commendation, Humanitarian Service Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Commendation, Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, Presidential Unit Citation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, and Navy E Ribbon.
San Jacinto will be inactivated and towed to the Navy's Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where they will be in a Logistic Support Asset (LSA) status.
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The Auburn Police Department is once again seeking the public's help in locating Kiley Deuel-Murray, 14.
Kiley voluntarily left her Owasco Street residence on Sept. 11, the department said on Tuesday, and refuses to return. She has been in contact with her family, but they do not know her whereabouts.
Kiley previously went missing on Sept. 1 and was located Sept. 7. She also went missing in May. She is about 5 feet tall and 110 pounds, with blue eyes and hair that is possibly dyed.
The department said in a news release that it's believed that someone is helping Kiley avoid being located or returned to her family.
"Any attempt to conceal or assist a missing juvenile in order to prevent that juvenile from being located and safely returned home is a criminal offense," the department said. "Charges will be sought."
Anyone who has information on Kiley's whereabouts is asked to contact the police department at (315) 253-3231 or email Detective Augello at craugello@auburnny.gov.
Tips can also be sent to communitywatch@auburnny.gov. Tipsters can be anonymous.
USS Bataan Hosts Distinguished Visitors From Qatar at Sea
US Navy
17 September 2023
From U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
MANAMA, Bahrain -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) hosted a delegation from Qatar, including the U.S. ambassador, at sea Sept. 14 for a day-long embark. The embark was an opportunity for the delegation meet Sailors and Marines deployed to the region and to better understand their capabilities.
The U.S. Ambassador to Qatar, the honorable Timothy Davis, and other guests, observed flight operations from Vulture's Row; headed below decks to the Hangar Bay to talk with subject matter experts about Marine Corps aviation capabilities; visited the well deck for a walk-through of a landing craft, utility (LCU); and paid a visit to the ship's medical facilities.
He said the visit gave him a new appreciation for the forces working every day to maintain regional stability and the free flow of commerce in these vital waterways.
"The work these Sailors and Marines have been doing here is absolutely astounding," he said. "The level of professionalism on display leaves no doubt they have the power to make a positive difference in the region."
USS Bataan and the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) arrived in the Middle East Aug. 6. Bataan ARG/26th MEU units bring to the region additional aviation and naval assets, as well as more U.S. Marines and Sailors, providing greater flexibility and maritime capability to U.S. 5th Fleet.
An amphibious assault ship can carry more than two dozen rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, including MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and AV-8B Harrier attack jets in addition to several amphibious landing craft. A dock landing ship also supports operations for various rotary-wing aircraft, tactical vehicles and amphibious landing craft.
The Bataan ARG departed Norfolk, Virginia, on July 10 with Amphibious Squadron 8, Fleet Surgical Team 8, Tactical Air Control Squadron 21, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, Assault Craft Unit 4, Beach Master Unit 2 and the 26th MEU.
The 26th MEU, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is capable of conducting amphibious missions, crisis response and limited contingency operations to include enabling the introduction of follow-on forces and designated special operations.
The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses approximately 2.5 million square miles of water space and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Strait of Bab al-Mandeb.
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USS Bataan Hosts Distinguished Visitors from Saudi Arabia at Sea
US Navy
17 September 2023
From U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
MANAMA, Bahrain -- The amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) hosted a delegation from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including the U.S. ambassador, at sea Sept. 13 for a day-long embark. The embark was an opportunity for the delegation to meet Sailors and Marines deployed to the region and to better understand their capabilities.
U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, the honorable Michael Ratney, and other guests, observed flight operations from Vulture's Row; headed below decks to the Hangar Bay to talk with subject matter experts about Marine Corps aviation capabilities; visited the well deck for a walk-through of a landing craft, utility (LCU); and paid a visit to the ship's medical facilities.
He said the visit gave him a new appreciation for the forces working every day to maintain regional stability and the free flow of commerce in these vital waterways.
"It was an absolute honor for me to spend time with the Sailors and Marines of USS Bataan and the 26th MEU," he said. "Walking the deck and meeting these incredible young men and women reassures me that the commitment to regional security is one our Navy and Marine Corps take seriously."
USS Bataan and the dock landing ship USS Carter Hall (LSD 50) arrived in the Middle East Aug. 6. Bataan ARG/26th MEU units bring to the region additional aviation and naval assets, as well as more U.S. Marines and Sailors, providing greater flexibility and maritime capability to U.S. 5th Fleet.
An amphibious assault ship can carry more than two dozen rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft, including MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and AV-8B Harrier attack jets in addition to several amphibious landing craft. A dock landing ship also supports operations for various rotary-wing aircraft, tactical vehicles and amphibious landing craft.
The Bataan ARG departed Norfolk, Virginia, on July 10 with Amphibious Squadron 8, Fleet Surgical Team 8, Tactical Air Control Squadron 21, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 26, Assault Craft Unit 4, Beach Master Unit 2 and the 26th MEU.
The 26th MEU, based in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is capable of conducting amphibious missions, crisis response and limited contingency operations to include enabling the introduction of follow-on forces and designated special operations.
The U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations encompasses approximately 2.5 million square miles of water space and includes the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Red Sea, parts of the Indian Ocean and three critical choke points at the Strait of Hormuz, Suez Canal and Strait of Bab al-Mandeb.
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Swiss Air Force to train with U.S. Air Force in Switzerland
Swiss Government
Bern, 18.09.2023 -- The Swiss Air Force and the U.S. Air Force will conduct a joint training exercise in Swiss airspace from 18-21 September 2023. The training is part of Switzerland's efforts to strengthen its defence capabilities through international cooperation.
From 18-21 September, several training modules will take place in Swiss airspace. Swiss Air Force Squadrons 17 and 18, and the 510th Fighter Squadron of the U.S. Air Force will be taking part in the exercise. The former will be taking off from Payerne Air Base in Vaud, Switzerland, the latter from Aviano Air Base in Italy. The purpose of the Swiss-American training exercise is to jointly test the planning, execution and debriefing of air defence exercises, and discuss experiences. It is based on a bilateral agreement on military training, education and exercises from April 2020.
Strengthening defence capabilities through international cooperation
Two Swiss F/A-18 fighter aircraft and two F-16 fighter aircraft of the U.S. Air Force will be taking part in the exercise. The joint training builds on a long history of cooperation between the two air forces in training and education. It is in line with the Federal Council's plans to strengthen Swiss defence capabilities through international cooperation, as stated in the supplementary report to the September 2022 Security Policy Report.
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Exercise Ample Strike: smaller scale, same intensity
Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic
Author: kpt. Jindriska Budikova, kpt. Hana Havrdova
18.9.2023
Called AMSE Lite 2023, this year's edition of the multinational air-land exercise Ample Strike has not been so extensive in terms of the number of trainees, but it does not diminish its importance. The 10th iteration has again verified interoperability of the air power, Joint Terminal Attack Controllers and land forces. The participation comprises five dozen Czech service members and three dozen from the armed forces of three other NATO nations - Germany, Poland and the United States.
The scenario seeks to achieve the same objective: to integrate activities of the Joint Terminal Attack Controllers with aircrews and commanders of land units in a multinational environment. A total of 12 Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) teams guided over 200 successful runs onto targets with air support involving five rotary wing aircraft, six fixed wing aircraft and three tankers. Pilots logged over 165 flight hours.
The exercise was held in the Boletice Military Training Area, and aircraft took off from the 22nd Helicopter Air Force Base Namest, the 21st Tactical Air Force Base Caslav and from the Pardubice airfield.
Besides the Czech Air Force L-159 ALCA aircraft, the air operations saw the participation of the German Air Force EF-2000 fighters and an A-400 tanker. The United States assigned F-16 fighters, AH-64 helicopters and a KC-135 tanker. The Multinational Multi Role Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) contributed an A-330MRTT tanker for in-flight refuelling.
"It was our premiere in this year's edition that we have practiced dropping the GBU12 laser guided bombs from an L-159 aircraft onto targets laser designated by a U.S. AH-64 helicopter. This multiplying effect of using advanced assets in the battlefield was trained for the first time in the history of the Czech Air Force,"Exercise Air Ops Director Captain Pavel Stanekemphasized.
Czech Joint Terminal Attack Controllers were able to guide two GBU-12 bombs on two different targets at the same time, which is also a remarkable achievement. "This is not something you train every day," JTAC Jitka S. admitted.
The so-called HOT PIT procedure with U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets being replenished on the flight line with engines running was rehearsed at Namest. "This time it was in attendance of U.S. specialists at Namest AFB, but down the road, Czech technicians will be trained for these procedures as well," said the Exercise Director Colonel Ales Capal.
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September 18, 2023
Release
Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Concludes Singapore Visit
Department of Defense spokesperson Lt. Col. Martin Meiners provided the following readout:
Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker concluded her visit to Singapore today, after a series of important defense engagements. During her visit, Under Secretary Baker met with Singapore Minister of Defense Ng Eng Hen, Chief of Defense Force VADM Aaron Beng, and Permanent Secretary for Defense Development Melvyn Ong to discuss new opportunities to strengthen the U.S.-Singapore partnership.
Under Secretary Baker co-chaired the Strategic Security Policy Dialogue with Singapore's Permanent Secretary for Defense Chan Heng Kee, to further advance combined defense initiatives and discuss regional security issues. In addition to reviewing existing bilateral defense initiatives including force posture cooperation and high-end air-to-air training the two explored new opportunities for cooperation on topics including maritime domain awareness, emerging technologies, and cyber security. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the close people-to-people ties and strong training relationship between our two Armed Forces.
During her visit, Under Secretary Baker also toured military facilities which support the U.S. security presence in Southeast Asia. She expressed appreciation for the role Singapore has played in facilitating frequent rotational deployments of U.S. Littoral Combat Ships and P-8 aircraft. Her visit underscored the important role the U.S.-Singapore defense partnership plays in bolstering our mutual commitment to a shared future of peace, security, and prosperity in the region.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3529343/
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Informal meeting of EU Foreign Affairs Ministers: Press remarks by High Representative Josep Borrell upon arrival
European External Action Service (EEAS)
18.09.2023
New York
EEAS Press Team
Check against delivery!
Hello, good afternoon,
We have convened here the informal meeting of the [EU] Ministers for Foreign Affairs.
This is a traditional meeting, we do that every year when all of us come to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meetings. As you know, the UN General Assembly is the high level, the high moment for the political life of the United Nations. Everybody is here.
We have coordinated our outreach to third countries - among all [EU] ministers - and I can tell you that, all together, we are going to have meetings with 133 partners here in New York, during this week.
It shows the intensity of our outreach to the world to talk about the big issues of this week: the climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the reform of the international financial architecture, and certainly Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
This will be, as always, one of the points of our meeting's agenda. We will talk about our future security commitments to Ukraine.
In Toledo, we already discussed it. I put on the table several proposals, the ministers will continue discussing, and in the preparation of the meeting that we will have in Kyiv in the weeks to come.
Another point on the agenda - very important - is the situation in the Sahel. We will have a strategic discussion about what is going on there, especially after the coup d'etat in Niger. And we will decide which lines to take in the future, in particular with respect to our military activities, military training and our budget support.
Today is an informal meeting - no decision will be taken - but I think this is a starting point of a deep, strategic discussion about the situation in the Sahel. We cannot continue doing the same things and expect that we will have different results.
I will debrief the ministers about the last High-level meeting of the [Belgrade-Pristina] Dialogue, with Kosovo and Serbia, to explain what has happened and to have a look at the future developments of the Dialogue.
Then, I will tell you more after the meeting and answer your questions then.
Thank you.
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Data on interceptions of aircraft completed near the Baltic States' borders on September 11-17, 2023
Republic of Lithuania - Ministry of National Defence
2023-09-18
International cooperation | Security and defense policy
On September 11-17 fighter aircraft conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states were scrambled 8 times to identify and escort aircraft of the Russian Federation flying in violation of flight rules in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.
On September 11 NATO Baltic Air Policing Detachment aircraft intercepted one IL-20 flying from the mainland of the Russian Federation to Kaliningrad though international airspace.
The flight had no pre-filed plan, the crew kept the onboard transponder off, though maintained communication with the regional air traffic control centre.
On September 11 NATO fighter jets intercepted two TU-22 and two SU-35 en route from a point in the mainland Russia to another through international airspace.
The flights had no pre-filed plans, the crews kept the onboard transponders off but maintained radio communication.
On September 12 NATO fighter aircraft intercepted two SU-24 flying from a point in the mainland Russia to another through international airspace.
The flights had no pre-filed plans, the onboard transponders were off and radio contact not kept.
On September 12 NATO air policing fighter aircraft intercepted one IL-20 which flew out of Kaliningrad into international airspace and returned.
The flight had no pre-filed plan, the crew had the onboard transponder on but failed to maintain radio communication.
On September 12 NATO fighter jets intercepted one SU-27 flying from and back to Kaliningrad through international airspace.
The flight had no pre-filed plan, the crew was not using the onboard transponder and did not maintain radio communication.
On September 13 NATO fighter aircraft were scrambled to intercept two SU-24s and one SU-27.
The aircraft were flying from Kaliningrad and back via international airspace without the flight plans, not using the the onboard transponders and not maintaining radio communication with the regional air traffic control centre.
On September NATO fighter jets identified and escorted one IL-20 en route from Kaliningrad into international airspace and back.
The flight had no pre-filed flight plan, the crew kept the onboard transponder on but were not maintain radio communication.
On September 14 NATO fighter aircraft intercepted one IL-20 en route from Kaliningrad to mainland Russia, without the flight plan, with its onboard transponder off but not maintaining radio communication.
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Ethiopia: Nearly one year after ceasefire, UN experts warn of ongoing atrocities, including war crimes and crimes against humanity
GENEVA (18 September 2023) -- Nearly one year since the signing of an agreement to cease hostilities in Ethiopia, atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity are still being committed in the country and peace remains elusive, the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia warned in its latest report released today.
In its 21-page report, the Commission documented wide-ranging atrocities perpetrated by all parties to the conflict since 3 November 2020. These include mass killings, rape, starvation, destruction of schools and medical facilities, forced displacement and arbitrary detention.
"While the signing of the agreement may have mostly silenced the guns, it has not resolved the conflict in the north of the country, in particular in Tigray, nor has it brought about any comprehensive peace," Commission Chair Mohamed Chande Othman said. "The situation in Ethiopia remains extremely grave."
"Violent confrontations are now at a near-national scale, with alarming reports of violations against civilians in the Amhara region and on-going atrocities in Tigray," Othman said. "The situation in Oromia, Amhara and other parts of the country - including ongoing patterns of violations, entrenched impunity, and increasing securitization of the state - bear hallmarked risks of further atrocities and crimes."
The Commission's latest report to the UN Human Rights Council confirmed that Eritrean troops and Amhara militia members continue to commit grave violations in Tigray, including the systematic rape and sexual violence of women and girls, in violation of the Federal Government's own commitments on human rights and territorial integrity.
The Commission also uncovered on-going patterns by Government forces of arrest, detention, and torture of civilians in Oromia, and is already receiving numerous credible reports of violations against Amhara civilians since the announcement of a state of emergency in August 2023.
"We cannot overstate the gravity of violations perpetrated in Ethiopia by all parties during the recent conflict. Especially concerning is that some of these crimes are ongoing, in particular rape and sexual violence against women and girls by Eritrean forces in Tigray," said Commissioner Radhika Coomaraswamy. "The ongoing presence of Eritrean troops in Ethiopia is a clear sign not only of an entrenched policy of impunity, but also continued support for and tolerance of such violations by the Federal Government."
"Atrocities have devastated communities and have seriously eroded the fabric of society," Coomaraswamy said. "Entire families have been killed, relatives forced to watch horrific crimes against their loved ones, while whole communities have been displaced or expelled from their homes; many too fearful to return, others unable to. Trauma, both individual and collective, is likely to persist for generations."
"The need for a credible, inclusive, and meaningful process of truth, justice, reconciliation and healing has never been more urgent," Coomaraswamy added.
The report notes the Government of Ethiopia has failed to effectively prevent or investigate violations and has instead initiated a flawed transitional justice consultation process where victims remain overlooked. Earlier this year, the Federal Government released its draft "Ethiopia Policy Options for Transitional Justice," launching a series of consultations on a potential domestic transitional justice process. The Commission, however, found that the process has been rushed to meet an arbitrary deadline set by the Government, and has not sufficiently engaged victims in many areas, including Ethiopian refugees living in neighbouring countries.
"Transitional justice is aimed at helping countries come to terms with past atrocities, yet our engagement with hundreds of victims, their families, and representatives indicates a complete lack of trust in the ability or willingness of Ethiopian State institutions to carry out a credible process - in particular because State officials and entities are polarized and lack independence," said Commissioner Steven Ratner.
"When we observe current transitional justice initiatives in Ethiopia, it is hard not to be struck by evidence of 'quasi-compliance' - deliberate Government attempts to evade international scrutiny through the creation of domestic mechanisms and instrumentalization of others," Ratner said. "This has served primarily to alleviate international pressure and prevent stronger international engagement or investigation. For the hundreds of thousands of victims of atrocities across Ethiopia, this cannot be allowed to continue."
The Commission's report warned about the continued presence of most of the indicators and triggers contained in the UN Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes. It highlighted the risk of further large-scale atrocity crimes, expressing deep concern that many of the hallmarked risk factors of future atrocity crimes remain present in Ethiopia.
The Commission also noted an alarming pattern of increased securitization of the State through the imposition of states of emergencies and the establishment of militarized "Command Posts" without civilian oversight. Such structures are often accompanied by serious violations.
Just last month, Ethiopia announced a six-month state of emergency, which established a Command Post system across the Amhara region, with multiple urban centers in the region now under curfew. The Commission is already receiving reports of mass arbitrary detention of Amhara civilians and at least one drone strike carried out by the State.
"We are deeply alarmed by the deteriorating security situation in Amhara and the continued presence of risk factors for atrocity crimes. This evolving situation has huge implications for stability in Ethiopia and the wider region, and in particular the tens of millions of women, men, and children who call it home," Othman said. "The importance of ongoing and robust independent monitoring and investigations cannot be overstated."
ENDS
Background: The Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia was established by the Human Rights Council on 17 December 2021, through resolution S-33/1,to conduct thorough and impartial investigations into allegations of violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and international refugee law in Ethiopia committed since 3 November 2020 by all parties to the conflict, including the possible gender dimensions of such violations and abuses.
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Despite end to conflict, war crimes being committed in Ethiopia: UN
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 4:57 PM
Experts from the United Nations have warned that despite a peace deal to end violence in Ethiopia, war crimes are still being committed in the African country.
UN experts sounded the alarm in a report on Monday almost a year after the government and forces from the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) reached an agreement to end fighting.
The TPLF, based in the north of the country, had been fighting the government forces since November 2020, and the ensuing war saw both sides carry out atrocities, according to human rights groups.
"While the signing of the agreement may have mostly silenced the guns, it has not resolved the conflict in the north of the country, in particular in Tigray, nor has it brought about any comprehensive peace," Mohamed Chande Othman, chair of the International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia, said in a statement accompanying the report.
Thousands lost their lives in the two-year conflict, which formally came to an end in November 2022. Both warring sides accused each other of atrocities, including massacres, rape and arbitrary detentions. However, both sides denied responsibility for the systemic abuses.
According to the report, human rights violations in Tigray are "grave and ongoing", and that the Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) have launched attacks against civilians.
Eritrean troops took part in the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region since early months of the fighting but promised to pull the troops out. Eritrea had revealed in 2021 that its forces had entered northern Ethiopia.
Later in 2021, the United States said Eritrean troops "have been seen disguised in old Ethiopian military uniforms, manning checkpoints, obstructing and occupying critical aid routes, and threatening medical staff in one of northern Ethiopia's few operating hospitals."
The US Treasury Department, in November that year, also cited "numerous reports of looting, sexual assault, killing civilians, and blocking humanitarian aid" by Eritrean forces in Ethiopia's northern region.
Eritrea, however, has rejected accusations from residents and rights groups that its soldiers committed abuses in Tigray.
Radhika Coomaraswamy, a member of the UN commission, described the sexual violence taking place in the conflict as being "as bad as it gets."
"I must admit the worst of this was that perpetrated by Eritrean forces in Tigray. Though, of course, Ethiopian forces were also responsible," she said, adding that Tigrayan forces had also perpetrated sexual violence in Amhara.
According to the commission, violations "have been abetted or tolerated by the federal government."
It also stressed the government had failed in its duty to protect its population.
The Ethiopian National Defence Forces, Eritrean Defence Forces and allied regional Special Forces carried out a "widespread and systematic attack" against civilian populations in the form of murder, torture, rape and other violations, it further said.
"Violent confrontations are now at a near-national scale, with alarming reports of violations against civilians in the Amhara region and on-going atrocities in Tigray," Othman added.
Figures by the commission show that more than 10,000 survivors of sexual violence sought care between the beginning of the conflict and July this year.
Ethiopia has seen an unprecedented rise in ethnic violence in the past several years, with thousands killed and millions uprooted from their houses.
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Southeast Asian nations to begin first ASEAN-only joint drills
10 members and prospective 11th, Timor Leste, will conduct non-combat exercises around Indonesia's Batam.
By Tria Dianti for BenarNews 2023.09.18 -- All 10 ASEAN states will begin a joint military exercise Tuesday in Indonesia, the first time such an event will involve only the bloc's members even as Beijing asserts its sweeping claims in the disputed South China Sea.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has held joint drills with other countries, including the United States and China, but this ASEAN-only exercise is a sign of growing cooperation and unity on maritime security, analysts told BenarNews, an online news agency affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
The 10 ASEAN members will be joined by prospective 11th member, Timor Leste, during the five-day non-combat exercise. Officially called ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, it will take place around Batam and Natuna Islands near the South China Sea, Lt. Col. Abidin Tobba, media coordinator for the event, told BenarNews on Monday.
"Eleven countries and hundreds of personnel will take part in the exercise," including Myanmar, Abidin said without specifying why it was participating.
Myanmar's military junta has been persona non grata at ASEAN meetings because of its failure to implement a regional peace plan agreed two months after the army seized power from an elected government in February 2021.
The drills will include joint maritime patrols, medical evacuation, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in simulated affected areas, the Indonesian military said.
Enhancing regional stability
They are expected to enhance regional stability and "boost our countries' economy," according to Indonesia's military commander, Adm. Yudo Margono, who proposed the ASEAN exercise during a meeting of the bloc's defense forces chiefs in Bali in June.
Indonesia is this year's holder of the rotating ASEAN chairmanship.
The exercise comes three weeks after Beijing released a new map including Taiwan and practically the entire South China Sea. But Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan rejected the map.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, which are ASEAN members, and Taiwan. Indonesia is not a claimant in the dispute, but has repeatedly protested against Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels entering its waters near the Natuna Islands.
A U.N. arbitration court in 2016 ruled that China's nine-dash line, a boundary used by Beijing on Chinese maps to illustrate its claim, was invalid. But Beijing has rejected the ruling and insisted it has jurisdiction over all areas within the dashed line.
In the latest incident, Chinese ships sailed uncomfortably close to and hemmed in a Philippine Coast Guard ship as it escorted civilian supply boats Manila's military outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
A BenarNews correspondent and other reporters, who were given special permission to travel aboard two Philippine Coast guard Ships for a resupply mission, witnessed the tense moments at sea.
ASEAN members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore have no connection to the dispute but are participating in the exercise because it is valuable and sends a message to the superpowers, said Vinsensio Dugis, head of the ASEAN Studies Center at Airlangga University in Surabaya.
"Not all are involved in the South China Sea dispute, but this [exercise] shows that even those who do not have direct claims are also concerned about this issue," he told BenarNews.
He said the exercise also signals that ASEAN does not want to be seen as siding with either China or the United States, which have been engaged in a strategic rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region.
Internal conflict
However, the South China Sea issue has caused conflict within ASEAN before, including, media reports said, on the location of the joint exercise.
Cambodia and Myanmar, which have strong ties to China, had initially not confirmed participation in the exercise when it was announced in June.
Some media reports said Cambodia had opposed the earlier planned location in the North Natuna Sea, which lies within Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but parts of which China claims.
Later in June, Indonesia changed the ASEAN exercise location to Batam near Singapore and the waters of South Natuna, citing their suitability for non-combat drills such as joint maritime patrols, medical evacuation and disaster relief.
Indonesia renamed the southern reaches of the South China Sea the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to emphasize its sovereignty over those waters, which encompass natural gas fields. Indonesia, as well as Malaysia and Vietnam have accused China of disrupting their oil and gas exploration activities with frequent incursions by China Coast Guard and maritime militia ships.
The U.S., which is not a South China Sea claimant but is in a defense treaty with ASEAN member Philippines, has challenged China's claims by conducting "freedom of navigation" operations in the waterway.
And with Beijing renewing its warning about invading U.S. ally Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, the strife between the two superpowers has made Southeast Asia a geopolitical tinderbox, analysts have said.
ASEAN's decision to hold this members-only exercise is an effort to maintain regional stability amid this superpower rivalry, analysts said.
The intention of the exercise is to "show joint agency, regardless of the contention and rivalry between great powers," Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, told BenarNews.
"It still has high value because it practically addresses actual needs such as disaster response, search and rescue, etc. that have been overshadowed by the U.S.-China relations and high politics issues," he said.
BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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After discovering a letter from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to the state, the city of Auburn and town of Owasco have voted to request a total maximum daily load for pollutants entering Owasco Lake.
The city council and town board approved resolutions at separate meetings last week asking the state for the regulatory plan. A TMDL, according to the EPA, is the "calculation of the maximum amount of a pollutant allowed to enter a waterbody so that the waterbody will meet and continue to meet water quality standards for that particular pollutant."
The state Department of Environmental Conservation would be responsible for developing a TMDL for Owasco Lake. The department would then submit the plan to the EPA for approval.
Local officials have been asking for the state to implement a TMDL for Owasco Lake since 2016, when toxins from harmful algal blooms were found in the drinking water supply.
Auburn City Councilor Jimmy Giannettino revealed at council's meeting Thursday that the city found a letter from the EPA that was sent to the state DEC. In that letter, the EPA explains why the state's list of impaired waterbodies requiring TMDLs was disapproved.
The federal agency found 22 waterbodies and pollutants that weren't included on the state's list. One of those waterbodies is Owasco Lake, with harmful algal blooms as the pollutant.
The EPA urged the state to include Owasco Lake and the others on the impaired waterbodies list "until New York demonstrates good cause for not including a waterbody/pollutant combination(s)."
"Legally, Owasco Lake needs a TMDL and the state has abdicated their responsibility," Giannettino said.
Health department issues reminder as HABs appear on Owasco, other lakes Reports of harmful algal blooms on Owasco Lake have been increasing over the last week, the Cayuga County Health Department said in a news rel
The city of Auburn and town of Owasco have stepped up their offensive against the state for not doing more to protect Owasco Lake and the public drinking water supply. After three years of work to develop updated watershed rules and regulations, city and town officials were disappointed to learn that the state excluded nearly all of the changes they proposed.
Auburn and Owasco leaders are still considering next steps, including legal action, against the state.
Owasco Supervisor Ed Wagner told The Citizen that the lake is deteriorating. He cited data from 2022, when high levels of algal bloom toxins were found in the raw water.
A TMDL, Wagner added, "is just one more tool in our toolbox to help save the lake."
"The city of Auburn and town of Owasco need to have a united front and we need to put pressure on the state government, specifically the governor's office, to do the right thing," he said.
Supporters of the TMDL expect they will receive pushback from the state. Auburn City Councilor Terry Cuddy joined the criticism of the state for failing to follow the law.
"Albany is going to hear our voices," he said, "because it's the governor's responsibility to make sure that a TMDL happens for Owasco Lake."
Philippine Coast Guard: China militia destroyed coral in our waters
A spokesman blames China's alleged destructive fishing practices in South China Sea for breakdown of environment.
BenarNews staff 2023.09.18 -- The Philippine Coast Guard on Monday blamed Chinese maritime militia ships for destroying coral reefs in Manila-claimed waters in the South China Sea.
The coast guard's announcement came after the Philippine military accused the Chinese militia of massive destruction, particularly in the seabed of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal, features within the country's internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Divers had carried out "underwater surveys" of the seabed, said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the coast guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Manila's name for parts of the South China Sea within its jurisdiction.
"The results of these surveys showed that the marine ecosystem in the subject WPS features appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life," Tarriela said in a statement.
He said there was"visible discoloration" of the seabed that indicated "deliberate activities" meant to modify the natural topography of the terrain.
"The presence of crushed corals strongly suggests a potential act of dumping, possibly involving the same dead corals that were previously processed and cleaned before being returned to the seabed," Tarriela said.
Both reefs are near the island of Palawan, the Philippines southwestern island fronting the disputed sea.
Monitoring between Aug. 9 and Sept. 11 showed an "average presence" of about 33 Chinese maritime militia ships near the two features, Tarriela said.
The swarming activities of the Chinese militia fleet and their alleged destructive fishing practices "may have directly caused the degradation and destruction of the marine environment in the WPS features," he said.
The South China Sea is home to about 177,000 square miles of biodiverse coral reefs, environmentalists said. There are an estimated 571 different species of coral and 3,794 different species of fish in its waters.
By comparison, there are roughly 600 known types of coral and 1,500 different species of fish in the Great Barrier Reef off of the East Coast of Australia.
China, which has the world's largest fishing fleet, claims most of the South China Sea. Six other Asian governments - Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam - have territorial claims or maritime boundaries that overlap with China's claims.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news outlet. The foreign ministry spokeswoman in Beijing did not discuss the issue on Monday, according to a transcript of her news conference.
On Saturday, Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, the Philippine military's western command chief, told reporters that coral reefs in Rozul Reef have been thoroughly harvested by Chinese militia ships.
"We noticed coral harvesting in their swarming areas. After they departed, we pinpointed the location and dispatched divers for an underwater survey. They observed that no corals remained - everything was damaged, with debris scattered," Carlos said.
"There's nothing left in the area," he said, adding divers claimed the coral harvest occurred recently, although the Philippine Coast Guard did not release pictures of the undamaged seabed.
He said Philippine authorities had successfully driven away the Chinese militia in early July, but the militia returned the following month because it was nearly impossible to patrol the coastal area regularly.
"We'd like to maintain [patrol] 100%, 365 days a year. But because of the weather, limited resources ... our troops have to go back to port to refuel, to take some rest," he said.
DFA, senators speak out
On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines consistently "raised the alarm over ecologically harmful activities" in the EEZ.
"We, therefore, call on everyone concerned to act responsibly and cease all activities that can damage our precious marine environment. The well-being of millions of people who depend on the South China Sea for their livelihood is at stake," it said in a statement.
Two senators, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and Francis Tolentino, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., issued statements speaking out against the damage.
"Preserving the marine environment and coral reefs in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal is not only a responsibility but a moral duty that we owe to future generations," Estrada said.
Tolentino, meanwhile, said he is crafting the Philippine Maritime Zone Law that he envisions would be the country's legal basis for territorial disputes.
"If we file a claim, damages, it should be in a tribunal recognized by UNCLOS, United Nations," he said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which governs uses of oceans and their resources.
Bobby Roldan, who represents the fishermen's group Pamalakaya, urged Marcos to order a wider damage assessment of the area.
"There is a need to identify if the swarmed area was subjected to coral harvesting, clam hunting, or any military activities that destroyed its vast coral reefs," Roldan said.
"We urge the Marcos administration to take this matter urgently by tapping marine scientists and other experts to extensively assess the damage and its possible long-term implications to the local fishery production.
Jeoffrey Maitem, Jojo Rinoza and Gerard Carreon in Manila contributed to this report.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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Malaysia to double palm oil exports to China amid EU restrictions
The US$533M deal was announced following PM Anwar Ibrahim's weekend meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
By Iman Muttaqin Yusof for BenarNews 2023.09.18 -- Malaysia's deal to double palm oil exports to China annually is a move to offset potential revenue losses from the European Union's ban on commodities that are linked to deforestation, analysts said on Monday.
The 2.5 billion ringgits (U.S. $533 million) deal announced Sunday between Malaysia's largest palm oil company, Sime Darby Oils International Ltd., and China's GuangXi Beibu Gulf International Port Group was part of nearly 20 billion ringgits in investment agreements signed during Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's one-day visit to Nanning, China.
"What makes it interesting is the 500,000 tons of palm oil exports, which will undoubtedly secure the interests of smallholders and small-scale palm oil producers," Anwar told reporters at the Nanning Marriott Hotel on Sunday after meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, referring to the total amount Malaysia will export annually under the deal.
"This is the first time that China has asked for a big increase. Usually, it depends on price rates and considerations, but this time it's a fixed import agreement from China."
A trading and distribution hub for refined palm oil is to be established in Qinzhou, China, under the memorandum of understanding, Malaysian state news agency Bernama said.
To address climate change, European Union regulations prohibit the sale or export of commodities such as palm oil, soy, coffee, cacao and rubber within the EU if they were cultivated on land deforested after 2020.
Palm oil is a commodity used in a variety of products from soap to peanut butter. But clearing large tracts of forests for palm oil plantations causes an increase in carbon emissions, which could lead to global warming.
Analysts noted that with Malaysia's exports to Europe expected to fall, increasing exports to China would help small farmers.
"For Malaysia, it is a way to address the economic needs of its palm oil industry and smallholders as demand from Europe and elsewhere in the developed world is projected to decline," analyst Chong Ja Ian of the National University of Singapore told BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news outlet.
"China mainly secures a commodity to meet its domestic market demands."
An increase in Malaysian palm oil exports to China would be a win-win for both countries, analyst Collins Chong Yew Keat, from the University of Malaya, told BenarNews.
"China remains pragmatic in securing its own energy needs and interests," he said.
"The timing is also critical not only for the agenda of Beijing in securing its food security now amidst the start of its economic decline, it is also suited to ensure that the region and Malaysia remain dependent on the Chinese economy and [its] buying power."
China made "a wise move" to diversify its supply and import more from Malaysia to meet domestic demand, said Lee Pei May of the International Islamic University Malaysia.
"Palm oil is primarily used for food in China, and as economic activities begin to pick up, especially in tourism, it will lead to higher consumption of palm oil," Lee Pei told BenarNews.
China did not specifically comment on the palm oil deal in a statement on the State Council website about Li hosting Anwar.
In June, the EU, Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to form a task force to implement Europe's rule banning commodities linked to deforestation. The announcement came after EU environment chief Florika Fink-Hooijer visited the two Southeast Asian countries to discuss the issue. Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of palm oil.
The task force was expected to focus on commodities such as palm oil, wood, rubber, coffee and cocoa, which are important for both countries' economies, said a joint statement from the EU, Indonesia's economic ministry, Malaysia's trade ministry and a regional palm oil council.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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'It's Like The Army': Strict Rules For Workers At Chinese Mining Company In Serbia Spark Backlash
By Sonja Gocanin September 18, 2023
BELGRADE -- Strict new rules enforced at a Chinese-operated mine in eastern Serbia have sparked controversy and pushback in the Balkan country over concerns that the company is violating local labor laws.
According to an internal document from the Chinese firm Jinshan Construction leaked to Serbian media in mid-August, workers at the site are expected to begin each shift by lining up in formation for inspection by their managers and to greet their supervisors in unison.
Employees of Jinshan Construction -- which manages a large copper mine near the eastern town of Majdanpek -- spoke to RFE/RL's Balkan Service and added that these preshift meetings sometimes consist of workers being reprimanded publicly for small infractions and then asked to recite company safety rules.
According to the company document, employees are then told to take a "safety oath," in which they vow to follow company regulations to the best of their ability. Workers at the mine, however, told RFE/RL that only Chinese staff participate in taking the public pledge.
"We're told to form three lines [to start each shift], it's like the army," a Serbian worker at Jinshan Construction's operation in Majdanpek told RFE/RL under condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from his employer.
News of the stringent rules at the mine has since sparked a backlash in Serbia, with labor groups and unions saying such conditions could be in violation of local laws, such as forcing employees to take an oath and work under hostile conditions. In response to the public pushback, Serbia's Labor, Employment, Veteran, and Social Policy Ministry launched an inspection of Jinshan Construction in August, RFE/RL reported.
The controversy has also exposed a growing fissure in Serbia between local and Chinese work cultures and a growing public perception that the country's authorities are turning a blind eye to unlawful labor practices by Chinese firms, which are becoming increasingly vital to the national economy.
"All these rules are to keep you in line and get you to think like [the Chinese managers]. You're expected to follow all rules unconditionally. It feels like brainwashing," another Serbian employee at Jinshan Construction told RFE/RL, who said that not participating in these meetings brought the risk of reduced pay or even being fired.
'Testing The Waters'
Such sensitivities are particularly relevant when it comes to Serbia's mining sector.
Jinshan Construction is a subcontractor that operates the mine on behalf of the Chinese mining giant Zijin, which took control of a money-losing copper smelter in the nearby city of Bor in 2018 and has since opened copper and gold mines across eastern Serbia.
Neither Jinshan Construction nor Zijin responded to RFE/RL's requests for comment, but the companies maintain that they follow local labor practices and uphold high standards for their operations in the country.
Serbia under President Aleksandar Vucic has enthusiastically welcomed Zijin and other Chinese firms into the country, despite some companies having poor international track records when it comes to labor practices and flouting environmental regulations.
While Vucic and other Serbian politicians have praised Zijin and others for helping to keep Serbia's embattled manufacturing base afloat, the companies have since become ensnared in new scandals in recent years over environmental degradation, withheld wages for Serbs, and mistreating Chinese and foreign workers brought to work in the country.
Mario Reljanovic, president of the Center for Dignified Work, a Serbian NGO that lobbies for greater labor protections, said in a public letter that the latest controversy illustrated that Zijin and its subsidiary Jinshan Construction clearly feel comfortable running operations in Serbia according to their best interests, whether it is in accordance with the law or not.
"It seems that [these companies] have no sense of cultural differences," Reljanovic told the Serbian newspaper Danas. "They [operate] as if they were not in Serbia but still in China, which is our country's own fault."
According to figures published in August following the document's leak to Serbian media, Jinshan Construction employs 414 Serbs and 158 Chinese.
Zijin has acknowledged the rules outlined in the document but said that they are not applied at the mining sites that it operates in Serbia. "The rules only apply to the employees of the subcontractor company Jinshan Construction," Zijin said in an August 14 press release.
Goran Antic, president of the Independent Labor Union of the Majdanpek Copper Mine, told RFE/RL that a similar document had circulated among workers employed directly by Zijin, but the mining giant ultimately decided not to apply them.
"It was deemed not in accordance with our legislation and that it is not appropriate because we are neither a police nor a military formation," Antic said.
Antic said it was unclear why Jinshan Construction chose to enforce these rules when the larger Zijin decided not to, but he said it was common for the company and its subsidiaries to try "testing the waters" when it comes to applying potentially controversial policies and gauging the reaction from unions.
In the case of Zijin, Antic said the backlash from the miners' union was swift when the document was first floated and the company ultimately passed on the policy.
In response to the public reaction to Jinshan Construction's new rules for employees, the Serbian Labor, Employment, Veteran, and Social Policy Ministry launched an inspection and said the company did not appear to have violated the law.
The ministry told RFE/RL that the deputy director of the company explained to its inspector each of the rules outlined in the document that employees were expected to follow. According to Jinshan Construction, the measures concerned "health and safety of its employees" and "raising employee awareness."
In response to its employees being forced to recite an oath -- as outlined in the leaked document -- Jinshan Construction told the ministry that this only applied to its Chinese employees working at the mine, not Serbian citizens. The ministry said its inspections into the company were still ongoing.
Past Controversies
Such explanations from Jinshan Construction and Zijin are unlikely to satisfy labor activists in Serbia, who remain critical of both companies' practices in the country.
Both companies have faced controversies in recent years, especially concerning the treatment of Chinese and other non-Serbian staff.
In 2021, Chinese workers employed by Jinshan Construction told RFE/RL they faced restrictions on their movement and endured threats from managers if they went public about the poor work and living conditions they faced in eastern Serbia, including insufficient sanitation and heating at work camps, along with poor-quality food. Several Chinese workers also said their managers said they were forbidden from having any contact with the local Serbian community.
Jinshan Construction denied these claims when they were reported.
China Labor Watch, a New York-based NGO that advocates for the rights of Chinese workers, told RFE/RL it had received information over the years about a steady stream of labor violations against Chinese workers in Serbia, including the "revocation of passports, nonpayment of wages and overtime, and restrictions on freedom of movement."
Another labor controversy unfolded in 2021 involving the Chinese company Linglong, which is building a nearly $1 billion tire factory in Serbia, and poor living conditions for Vietnamese workers brought to help finish the project's construction.
As documented through testimony from workers and images shared with local and international media at the time, some 500 Vietnamese laborers were housed in makeshift barracks near the construction site without electricity, hot water, or adequate access to food. Many of the workers also had their passports taken away by their managers after entering Serbia.
International human rights groups said the practices amounted to exploitation and, in some cases, human trafficking.
Following the media storm, the Vietnamese workers were transferred to a new location with better living conditions and several laborers told RFE/RL at the time their passports were returned to them by their employer.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/serbia-chinese-labor-practices- backlash/32598167.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Another Karakalpak Activist Facing Extradition To Uzbekistan Released From Kazakh Detention
By RFE/RL's Kazakh Service September 18, 2023
Kazakh authorities have released from detention another Karakalpak activist who faces extradition to Uzbekistan, where supporters say she would be at serious risk of politically motivated prosecution and torture over last year's mass protests in Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan region.
Kazakhstan-based Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratbai said over the weekend that Raisa Khudaibergenova had been released after spending exactly one year in detention awaiting a Kazakh court decision on her possible extradition to Uzbekistan. Kazakh law does not allow individuals awaiting extradition to be held for more than one year.
Last week, two other Karakalpak activists, Koshkarbai Toremuratov and Zhangeldy Zhaksymbetov, were released from Kazakh custody, also after spending exactly one year behind bars awaiting a court decision on extradition.
Muratbai said at the time that Uzbekistan's extradition request remained valid and that Kazakh authorities rejected asylum requests by Toremuratov and Zhaksymbetov, who appealed the decision. It may take up to one year for the appeals to be considered by Kazakhstan's Supreme Court.
As for Khudaibergenova, Muratbai said she had nothing to do with the mass protests last year in Karakalpakstan, as she had lived in Almaty for many years and worked as a cardiologist in Kazakhstan's largest city.
In January, an Uzbek court sentenced 22 Karakalpak activists to prison terms on charges including undermining the constitutional order for taking part in the mass protests in Karakalpakstan in July 2022.
In March, another 39 Karakalpak activists accused of taking part in the protests in the region's capital, Nukus, were convicted, with 28 of them sentenced to prison terms of between five and 11 years. Eleven defendants were handed parole-like sentences.
Uzbek authorities say 21 people died in Karakalpakstan during the protests, which were sparked by the announcement of a planned change to the constitution that would have undermined the region's right to self-determination.
However, the Austrian-based Freedom for Eurasia human rights group claimed in July that at least 70 people were killed during the unrest.
The violence forced Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev to make a rare about-face and scrap the proposal.
Mirziyoev accused "foreign forces" of being behind the unrest, without further explanation, before backing away from the proposed changes.
Karakalpaks are a Central Asian Turkic-speaking people. Their region used to be an autonomous area within Kazakhstan before becoming autonomous within the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1930 and then part of Uzbekistan in 1936.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-uzbekistan- karakalpak-activist-released/32597757.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Tajikistan Summons Kyrgyz Ambassador Over Official's Statement About Disputed Border
By RFE/RL's Tajik Service, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service September 18, 2023
DUSHANBE -- Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry has summoned the Kyrgyz ambassador to Dushanbe over a statement by the chairman of Kyrgyzstan's State Committee of National Security regarding the disputed border between the Central Asian neighbors.
Erlan Abdyldaev was summoned over the weekend and informed that Dushanbe was "concerned" over Kamchybek Tashiev's statement to reporters on September 15.
"Such comments can seriously damage the ongoing negotiation process on delimitation and demarcation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border," the Tajik ministry said on September 18.
Answering a journalist's question about the ongoing Kyrgyz-Tajik talks regarding the border, Tashiev, who chairs the Kyrgyz commission of demarcation and delimitation of the border, said the Kyrgyz side had discovered documents according to which some Kyrgyz territories had been taken over by Tajikistan in the past.
"If the neighboring country does not withdraw its territorial demands, we will also push such demands forward. We have enough capacities and opportunities to do so," Tashiev said.
The Kyrgyz government's special envoy for border delimitation and demarcation, Nazirbek Borubaev, confirmed Tashiev's statement, saying that the documents in question had been discovered in the archives recently. Neither Tashiev nor Borubaev provided details about the documents they mentioned.
The border between the two former Soviet republics has been closed since spring 2021, after an armed conflict along a disputed segment of the border left 36 Kyrgyz nationals, including two children, dead and 154 injured on the Kyrgyz side of the border.
Tajik authorities officially said at the time that 19 Tajik citizens were killed and 87 were injured.
In all, the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is 972 kilometers long, of which 664 kilometers has been agreed upon, while the rest remains disputed.
Many border areas in Central Asia have been disputed since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The situation is particularly complicated near the numerous exclaves in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet.
Tensions in those areas have led to clashes between local residents and border guards of the three countries.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/tajkistan-kyrgyzstan-border- tashiev/32597728.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Vital Humanitarian Aid Shipments Delivered To Nagorno-Karabakh
By RFE/RL's Armenian Service September 18, 2023
Vital supplies were delivered on September 18 to Nagorno-Karabakh, the mainly ethnic Armenian breakaway region of Azerbaijan that has effectively been cut off from the outside world for months now.
Some 23 tons of medical supplies and wheat flour were trucked in by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the de facto Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh said, confirming earlier announcements by the ICRC and officials in Baku.
Armenia, which backs the separatists, has accused Azerbaijan of blocking the Lachin Corridor -- the sole road linking Armenia to mainly ethnic Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh -- since December 2022, causing a humanitarian crisis in the mountainous region.
Azerbaijan has insisted that aid trucks should go through the town of Agdam, in Azerbaijani territory, to ensure no contraband was being shipped, and have blocked the Lachin route through Armenian territory.
Nagorno-Karabakh officials, however, have claimed it is an effort by Baku to control aid shipments and reestablish authority over the region away from ethnic Armenian leaders.
The aid delivery comes a day after the de facto leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh and Baku reached an agreement to allow "simultaneous deliveries of humanitarian cargo" through the Lachin Corridor and on the Agdam road.
Mediators in the volatile regional conflict are also attempting to organize a meeting of representatives from Armenia and Azerbaijan "to soften the tense humanitarian and security situation," separatist sources told RFE/RL, without identifying the mediators.
On September 12, Nagorno-Karabakh authorities agreed to allow Russia-provided aid to be delivered directly from Baku-controlled territory via the Agdam road, while in return Azerbaijani authorities agreed to allow simultaneous aid deliveries to the breakaway region through the Lachin Corridor.
U.S. and European leaders have called for Azerbaijan to ease the transit of humanitarian aid to the beleaguered region, which is experiencing shortages of food, energy, and medicine.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. The most recent war lasted six weeks in late 2020 and left 7,000 soldiers dead on both sides.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenia-nagorno-karabakh- humanitarian-aid-azerbaijan/32597670.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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US Lawmaker Briefed on Missing F-35 Jet Says Marines Still Do Not Know Aircraft's Location
Sputnik News
20230918
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Congresswoman Nancy Mace said on Monday that the Marines Corps still does not know the location of the F-35 aircraft that went missing over South Carolina on Sunday afternoon.
The fighter jet was in autopilot mode when the pilot ejected, meaning that it could have remained airborne for some time, according to media reports.
"One of the shortest meetings I've ever had, because guess what, no one at US Marine Corps sent over to brief me and my staff had any showers," Mace said.
The congresswoman added that no one knows if the missing F-35 fighter jet is in the air or under the water.
Based on the last known position of the stealth fighter jet, the US military is focusing its search in the area around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, Joint Base Charleston said via the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The US military is now asking the public to cooperate with military authorities as they continue their search and asked anyone with information that could assist the effort to call the Joint Base Charleston Base Defense Operations Center.
Sputnik
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Over 160 Ethiopian Soldiers Killed by Al-Shabaab Militants in Western Somalia
Sputnik News
20230918
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - At least 167 Ethiopian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants of the radical Islamist group Al-Shabaab in western Somalia, the Somali Guardian news portal reported on Sunday, citing the group.
The group also said that surviving Ethiopian soldiers had been captured and the advance of Ethiopian troops had been stopped, the report said, adding that the militants also destroyed Ethiopian military equipment and seized a large amount of weapons.
The Ethiopian armed forces and the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) have not yet commented on the attack, the report noted.
The Ethiopian military tried to strengthen its forward operating base in the town of Wajid, which has been under militants' control for almost a decade, the news portal reported.
Al-Shabaab is a Somalia-based jihadist militant group linked to al-Qaeda terrorist group (banned in Russia). It wages armed resistance against the Somali government and obstructs UN humanitarian missions in the country.
Sputnik
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press
US Department of State
Remarks to the Press
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Palace Hotel
New York City, New York
September 18, 2023
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good morning, everyone. Just a few minutes ago, I had the great pleasure of speaking to seven Americans who are now free - free from their imprisonment or detention in Iran, out of Iran, out of prison, and now in Doha en route back to the United States to be reunited with their loved ones. Five of the seven, of course, had been unjustly detained, imprisoned in Iran, some for years; two others had been prevented from leaving Iran. I spoke to them after they landed in Doha. I can tell you that it was for them, for me, an emotional conversation.
It's easy in the work that we do every day sometimes to get lost in the abstractions of foreign policy and relations with other countries, and forgetting the human element that's at the heart of everything we do. But today, their freedom, the freedom of these Americans for so long unjustly imprisoned and detained in Iran, means some pretty basic things. It means that husbands and wives, fathers and children, grandparents, can hug each other again, can see each other again, can be with each other again. So it's a day that I'm grateful for.
I want to thank a number of partners who've been so vital to helping us reach this day, particularly our partners in Oman, Switzerland, Qatar, the United Kingdom. Each has played a very important role in enabling us to free our fellow citizens. I'd also like to thank an extraordinary team at the State Department and throughout the United States Government that has been working to achieve this result for years now.
As happy as we are at the freedom of our fellow citizens, we also are thinking today of Bob Levinson, who is not among them and who is presumed deceased. Bob's legacy, however, lives on. It lives on powerfully in the Levinson Act, which has given us new and important tools to help crack down on and deter the practice of taking Americans unlawfully, to try to turn them into political pawns, and to abuse the international system in that way.
One of the things that I heard in my conversation with our fellow citizens who are now free is their own determination, their own commitment, their own conviction, to continuing this work, to making sure that other Americans who are unjustly detained anywhere in the world come home. To date, under this administration, we have now brought 30 Americans home from places around the world where they were being unjustly detained. That work will continue.
At the same time, we're going to be working every single day to take steps to make this practice more and more difficult and more and more of a burden on those countries that engage in it. And you'll see in the days ahead here in New York, at the United Nations, our efforts to work with other countries to do just that.
But for today, for this moment, it's very good to be able to say that our fellow citizens are free after enduring something that I think it would be difficult for any of us to imagine; that their families will soon have them back among them; and that in this moment, at least, I have something very joyful to report.
Finally, let me say that throughout this effort, throughout the work we've done to bring so many other Americans home, President Biden has demonstrated that he's prepared to make tough and difficult decisions. I have no higher priority - the President has no higher priority - than making sure that Americans who are unjustly detained anywhere can come home. And we'll continue that work in the days ahead.
Thank you.
MR MILLER: We have time for two questions. Humeyra.
QUESTION: Thank you. Hello, Mr. Secretary. Based on the successful detainee swap this week, will there be - are you expecting any indirect talks with the Iranians this week, any time soon? And I'm not talking about direct talks but through intermediaries, or any sort of relaying messages. Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Well, two things. First, let me be very clear that this process and the engagements necessary to bring it about, the freedom of these unjustly detained Americans, has always been a separate track in our engagement or, for that matter, lack of engagement, with Iran. So irrespective of what was happening or not happening, for example, in pursuing the effort to return to the nuclear agreement, we've been focused on working independently to bring these Americans home.
So it doesn't speak to anything else in the relationship. We continue to be determined to take whatever step is necessary to deal with actions by Iran in a whole host of areas that are profoundly objectionable and that many other countries find objectionable. At the same time, when it comes to perhaps the number one issue of concern, which is Iran's nuclear program, we continue to believe that diplomacy is the best way to get a sustainable, effective result, one that we had previously with the Iran nuclear agreement, and we'll continue to see if there are opportunities for that. In this moment, we're not engaged on that, but we'll see in the future if there are opportunities. But President Biden has also been very clear that one way or another, he's committed to ensuring that Iran never acquire a nuclear weapon.
QUESTION: Do you think there might be an opportunity this week, sir, the fact that
SECRETARY BLINKEN: I wouldn't anticipate anything this week. We're focused today on the fact that these Americans are now free after having endured something that I think most of us can't possibly imagine. In one case, one of our fellow Americans was in prison for eight years unjustly. And that's what we're focused on for today.
MR MILLER: Hiba.
QUESTION: Yes. Thanks, Mr. Secretary. Today you had a meeting with the GCC foreign minister, and this meeting came after the announcement of that. Did they raise concern regarding the release of frozen funds for the Iranian, and the possibility of using these funds to fund terrorism, whether in Lebanon, in Yemen, elsewhere? And if you can elaborate a little bit regarding the mechanism on how you would supervise and monitor the use of these funds for humanitarian purposes too.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. In fact, when we - when we met with our GCC colleagues, our fellow Americans had not yet arrived in Doha, so we didn't want to get ahead of that process. Having said that, as I mentioned, two countries in particular played an absolutely vital role in helping to get us to this day, and that is Oman and Qatar. As for the other members of the GCC, I've had occasion over the past many months to talk to them about the relationship with Iran - which is a challenge for each and every one of them, including for us - and to discuss in that context some of the efforts that we were making to bring home our wrongfully detained Americans. And again, I don't want to speak for them, but I think everyone is supportive of that effort.
With regard to the resources, I think it's very important to be very clear about exactly what this involved. As you know, this involved the access by Iran to its own money, money that had accumulated in a Korean bank as the result of oil sales that Iran made, which were lawful at the time those sales were made. And from day one, our sanctions have clearly - and indeed always - exempt the use of resources for humanitarian purposes, because our aim is not to harm the Iranian people. Our problem, our profound problem, is with the Iranian regime. So from day one, these Iranian monies that were in a Korean bank have always been available to Iran to use for humanitarian purposes. But for a lot of technical reasons, they weren't able to access those funds where they were, so the funds were moved to another bank where we have absolute oversight of how they - how they're used, and they can only be used for humanitarian purposes.
And we have absolute confidence in the process and the system that's been set up. By the way, the previous administration, the administration prior to ours, had set up a similar mechanism that was never used, but exactly for these kinds of purposes. So we're very confident that the funds, the Iranian funds that had been made more easily available to Iran as a result of the actions that we've taken, will be used exclusively for humanitarian purposes. And we have the means and mechanisms to make sure that that happens.
MR MILLER: Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks very much.
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the Resettlement Diplomacy Network Ministerial
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
The Ford Foundation
New York City, New York
September 18, 2023
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you. Thank you, Julieta, and thanks to everyone for coming together. This is an incredibly busy week, to understate. We're all torn and pulled in different directions. The fact that this group is around this table today I think speaks to a profound shared commitment to the plight of the refugees and the imperative that we work together in ever-closer ways to effectively respond to the needs that we see.
So Julieta, to you; to Jon Finer, the principal deputy national security advisor, who will join us I think shortly and is playing an instrumental role in our own policy, I just want to thank everyone, first of all, for the enduring commitment to supporting displaced people around the globe.
Look, we all know this. It may not be as known to some of our fellow citizens, but we all know that we meet at what is truly an unprecedented moment. We have more than 110 million people around the globe displaced from their homes, and that includes more than 35 million refugees. Two million of that 35 million are exceptionally vulnerable people who need to move to another country this year to get the protection that they need.
The scale of this challenge, of this crisis, has I think exacerbated what had been longstanding gaps in the global system for refugee resettlement, but it's also taught us some important lessons and given rise to effective innovations to address the challenges that we face. So last year on the margins of the General Assembly, the United States launched the Resettlement Diplomacy Network together with six countries and the European Commission. And the goal was this: to create a dedicated space for our governments to be able to work together - senior levels - so that we can share best practices; we can help relieve strain on nations that are temporarily hosting refugees and, in some cases, not so temporarily; and deliver better solutions for displaced people and the communities that welcome them.
So here we are one year later and I'm really pleased to be able to chair this first ministerial meeting where we will discuss three initial lines of effort that we've been engaged in together.
First, we are working to strengthen and expand the global resettlement system, and one way we're doing that is by creating what we call a red phone - an emergency coordination platform for senior leaders to collaborate quickly and directly in times of crisis so that we can get more people to safety more quickly.
Second, we are teaming up to respond more effectively to ongoing crises including finding homes for people who are fleeing Afghanistan. As we continue to deliver on our commitments to the Afghan people, our nations will use this network to build upon the innovations that we've developed over the last two years, from creating new legal pathways for Afghans to finding new ways to share information on individual resettlement cases so that refugees get to the right destinations.
Third, we'll use our collective diplomatic muscle to help one another and countries beyond this network to expand and improve legal pathways and address the obstacles - things like fees, exit permits - that are slowing down resettlement efforts. And as we do, I know we're all committed to helping protect the most vulnerable populations that are refugees, including the LGBTI+ community, and we'll look for opportunities to help the regions with the greatest need: Southeast Asia, Mediterranean, and right here in the Western Hemisphere.
Just to give one example, in June, the United States helped launch a new program, the Safe Mobility initiative, to improve access to resettlement and other legal avenues to our country and to other countries including Spain, including Canada. In partnership with Guatemala, with Costa Rica, with Colombia, we've opened regional offices where refugees and migrants can access screenings and referral information in their own communities.
So what does this mean? It means that they won't need to undertake the incredibly hazardous journey toward our border and it will help put less pressure on that border and other border regions. Through the Resettlement Diplomacy Network, we will foster and deepen more collaborations like this one.
We all know this around this table: When it comes to meeting the challenges facing refugees, our countries can do so much more together than any one of us can do alone. This sense of solidarity - the solidarity that is expressed by the fact that we're together in this network at this table - is really at the heart of what we're doing and I think it's going to be critical to our success going forward. But I see it across governments, I see it across groups who are represented in this room.
And finally, what's been so powerful I think to all of us who have been involved in this is that we see it in our citizens too: those who have jumped into action donating food, donating clothing for displaced Ukrainians; those who helped find and furnish homes for refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo; those who welcomed Afghan refugees at our airports, took them to buy groceries, brought them to doctors, helped enroll their kids in school. This is what we see in community after community in my country and I know in all of yours.
So when we have citizens like these as partners, when we have the collaboration of this network, I know that we can do even more to meet the moment and provide refuge to those who so desperately need it.
So to each and every one of you, thank you for being here today.
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Toyota Motor Corp.s campaign to show customers, suppliers and investors that its serious about electrification was on display again this month, with another round of demonstrations following a similar effort back in June.
The worlds largest carmaker invited a clutch of journalists on a tour of three factories in Aichi prefecture, near its headquarters in the city of Toyota, last week for another peek at the technology its developing to expand production of battery-based electric vehicles, as well as a crash course on its famed production system.
The previous workshop came at a critical time for Toyota, just ahead of a shareholders meeting, and succeeded in convincing investors the company wasnt about to sit idle as the global auto industry shifts toward electrification and automation. Toyota detailed plans to commercialize solid-state batteries, roll out 10 new electric models and sell 1.5 million battery electric vehicles annually by 2026.
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This time around, after a two-hour bullet train from Tokyo and a short bus ride, reporters heard from engineers at the Teiho plant, who gave a briefing on the progress theyve made in developing bipolar, liquid iron phosphate (LFP) batteries that Toyota aims to roll out in 2026 or 2027 alongside a full line-up of battery EVs.
Also Read : Toyota is betting big on rebadged Maruti Suzuki cars in India
The engineers were eager to give the assembled press a progress report, telling them theyd never done such presentations before and were happy to share their work with the world." They highlighted the headway theyve made in finding a way to evenly apply electrolytes the black, metallic coating needed to build anodes and cathodes. Even so, they said stacking the flat batteries quickly and seamlessly without damaging them remains a big hurdle for mass production.
If successful, such batteries will improve range by 20%, reduce costs by 40% and charge to 80% full in 30 minutes or less, according to Toyota.
The next day, reporters moved on to Toyotas Myochi plant, where workers demonstrated how a massive cast can use melted aluminum under 4,000 tons of pressure to create large sections of a vehicles chassis. This method will eventually be supplemented by a so-called gigacast, which allows an EV chassis to be built in three parts owing to the simplicity of its design versus the hundreds of components needed to build each section in current models.
Its a production technique pioneered by Tesla Inc., after Elon Musk saw a toy model of a Model S and pushed his engineers to find a way to die-cast entire car sections, according to a biography of the billionaire published this month. The US electric carmaker may soon use gigacast technology to create an entire underbody of an EV in one piece, according to a Reuters report.
File photo of a Toyota banner outside a company showroom in Tokyo, Japan. (AFP)
Toyotas not quite there yet.
Its gigacast prototype revealed last week in Nagoya was a 1/10 scale model that stood half a meter tall. Once its life-sized and functional, though, Toyota will look to churn out EVs by the millions, like it has for years with gasoline and hybrid cars.
The tours last stop was the Motomachi plant, Toyotas oldest and biggest factory. There, engineers are developing what they call a self-propelled BEV assembly line.
The idea is that, because EVs wont fill a factory with noxious fumes and endanger workers, they can drive themselves through production once they get a motor and a set of wheels. A simple remote control device connected to a series of surveillance cameras will guide each vehicle through the factory, eliminating the need for industrial conveyor belts.
Toyota says this will reduce upfront plant investments and improve the flexibility of assembly lines when they need to be adjusted or if a new model is introduced.
Even now, the facility itself is a sight to behold. Nine different models from sedans and compact minivans to fully electric vehicles and police cars are being assembled on a single, mixed manufacturing line. A collage of human and machine appendages move constantly in an intricate but simple dance. Rolling platforms with integrated tools enable each worker to move swiftly from one car to the next.
This choreography was developed over decades under the doctrine of the Toyota Production System, or TPS, which stresses functionality and condemns waste but, above all, strives for incremental refinement of any process in order to perfect the final product.
In a way, embracing new ideas such as the gigacast is part of the TPS philosophy. The company will need to be flexible if it wants to reach net zero carbon emissions even after becoming capable of building and selling 10 million cars every year.
The difference now is that Toyota, under CEO Koji Sato, who took over in April, is more willing to talk publicly about what its doing to try and change.
First Published Date:
Secretary Antony J. Blinken at a Meeting with Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council Member States
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Palace Hotel
New York City, New York
September 18, 2023
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good morning, everyone. I can think of no better way, at least for me, to kick off this High-level Week than with all of you, so welcome. Some of you have already been doing things, but for me, this is the first meeting of this High-level Week, and I couldn't be more pleased to be with friends and colleagues.
To all of you, since we last had a chance to meet back in June in Riyadh, we have continued working to build a more stable, secure, and integrated region, benefiting people in the Gulf but also benefiting people around the world. At the G20 just a couple of weeks ago, President Biden and other leaders, including from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, announced a landmark agreement - rail, shipping, digital, and energy corridor that will stretch across the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe.
Through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, we are facilitating greater trade and manufacturing, clean energy deployment, and high-speed rail and internet access - and in the process, strengthening food security, expanding opportunities for people in all concerned countries, and making our supply chains more secure.
These efforts reflect our conviction that a more integrated Gulf and a more integrated Middle East can deliver genuinely transformational results for the region and for the world. That's why we all have a stake in addressing shared challenges and this powerful shared opportunity. The UAE will be the host of the COP-28 in just a few months' time - a first for the Gulf. Through groups like the Negev Forum, we're working to strengthen everything from water security to health security, and having a tangible impact on the lives of our people.
But countries are also working to address the leading threat to regional security: Iran. We're cooperating to deter Tehran's aggression and destabilizing activities, including the threat posed by its nuclear program. And we're working to uphold freedom of navigation, such as through a multinational task force that is protecting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States and the GCC remain committed to a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, and we continue to urge both parties to refrain from any unilateral steps that undermine its prospects. We're also working with countries in the region to broaden and deepen their normalization relations with Israel.
In Yemen, the United States, along with Saudi Arabia and Oman, helped forge and maintain a UN-led truce. We're transitioning to a Yemeni-led process to advance a durable peace while working to address significant shortfalls in critical humanitarian relief where both countries can play a leading role.
Meanwhile, last month UN agencies and Gulf partners successfully offloaded oil from the Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen, preventing the potentially catastrophic spill. And I commend all of those involved in getting that resolved.
Finally, we believe we have to continue to press the Assad regime in Syria to make meaningful and enduring progress toward resolving the Syrian conflict and addressing the acute needs of the Syrian people.
This is only, very briefly, a fraction of our collective efforts to advance peace, security, and opportunity in the region and around the world. That also includes working on the conflict in Sudan and pushing for a just and durable peace in Ukraine, reflecting the principles at the heart of the United Nations Charter, which brings us together this week in New York.
The United States has invested in our relationships with you and with your countries, and we're invested for the long haul.
So we very much look forward to hearing from you today on how we can continue to build on our lasting partnerships. And I'd now like to invite my colleague from Oman to say a few words.
FOREIGN MINISTER AL-BUSAIDI: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, for your opening remarks, for your welcome, and for your engagement. We really (inaudible) something (inaudible). And we're really delighted to be here in New York to have this joint GCC-U.S. meeting today. And so on behalf of the (inaudible) for the GCC, I would like to express our appreciation to the United States (inaudible) for hosting this meeting today, and we also hope that this will be another successful annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.
In this context, I also want to affirm our commitment to maintaining our good relationship and our friendship with your country, and, of course, with those whom we share this UN system (inaudible).
The GCC welcomes a dialogue with everyone, and aims always to find points of agreement and convergence on which we can build substantive progress.
We look forward to a very encouraging and constructive exchange of views today on so many topics - some of which you have alluded to, Mr. Secretary - and are confident that we can take further steps in the enhancement of our already existing relationship. Thank you very much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you, my friend. And could I turn now to the secretary general of the GCC?
SECRETARY GENERAL AL-BUDAIWI: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. (Inaudible), your highnesses and your excellencies, I would like to express my great pleasure to participate at this important gathering under the framework of GCC-U.S. Strategic Partnership to fuel the regional and global development since we met last in Riyadh in June. In addition to global challenges, our region is facing the threat of nuclear proliferation, (inaudible) missiles (inaudible), and threats to maritime security and freedom of navigation, in addition to the political instability and internal conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, such as recent development with Iraq. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains unresolved, with frequent flare-ups threatening (inaudible) peace and security and preventing it from reaching its full potential.
Since we announced in May 2015, the GCC Strategic Partnership has sought the strength of our cooperation in all areas through maintaining regular engagement at all levels. There have been five summits at the heads-of-state levels, numerous ministerial meetings, and specialized working groups to translate this partnership into effective, practical steps. Our partnership has been mutually beneficial and has contributed to efforts to bring peace and prosperity in our region and to the rest of the world.
Your highnesses and excellencies, GCC-U.S. partnership is anchored around solid historical ties, shared interests, and belief that the UN-centered multilateral system is the best foundation for peace and security. The GCC Strategic Partnership with the United States is at the forefront of our priorities, and this meeting underscores that fact. GCC and the United States had five joint summit (inaudible) in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2022. Our meeting at the ministerial level have provided clear guidance on how our partnership should function and evolve.
There have been more than 10 GCC-U.S. working groups and task forces convening areas such - covering areas such as integrated air and missile defense, maritime security, cyber security, logistic military (inaudible), military training exercises, special operation, counterterrorism, trade, investment, and other areas of cooperation. These GCC-level groups are addition to - to bodies established bilaterally between the U.S. and member-states. The integrated air and missile defense and maritime security joint working group met in Riyadh in February 13-14, 2023 to further enhance cooperation in these two important areas of military cooperation.
In June, the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command hosted a two-day multilateral maritime security meeting for 90 senior military officers and diplomats from 22 nations, including GCC member-states. The counterterrorism working group and the Iran working group, two of the most active bodies set up under the umbrella of GCC-U.S. partnership, also met in February. In March, the GCC secretariat hosted the fourth GCC-U.S. trade investment dialogue, where specialized discussed - discussion, ways facilitate trade and promote investment.
As agreed, we hope that before the end of this year (inaudible) the following ones, additional meeting of all working groups will take place to further achieve common objectives, including cyber security, military exercises, training, and streamlining (inaudible) of critical defense capability, as well as integrated air and missile defense and maritime security working groups.
In conclusion, Mr. Secretary, I look forward to productive meeting that will move our partnership further to face the growing challenges. Thank you so much.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Secretary General, thank you very much.
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council President al-Alimi
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
September 18, 2023
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met with Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council (PLC) President Rashad al-Alimi today in New York. Secretary Blinken and President al-Alimi discussed their shared commitment to achieving a durable end to the conflict in Yemen and easing the suffering of Yemenis. President al-Alimi was joined by PLC Vice President Aidrous al-Zubaidi. The Secretary welcomed the Republic of Yemen Government's commitment to building on and expanding the truce, which has brought tangible benefits to Yemenis across the country for 18 months. Secretary Blinken expressed determination that the truce result in a permanent, nationwide ceasefire and the launch of an inclusive, Yemeni-Yemeni political process under UN auspices. Only a political agreement among the Yemeni parties, which also meets Yemenis' calls for justice and accountability, can bring peace and prosperity to the country. The Secretary reiterated U.S. support for the PLC and its initiatives to improve services and daily life for Yemenis.
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Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
Department of Public Information . News and Media Division . New York
18 September 2023
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
** Noon Briefing Guest
Good afternoon. In a short while, we will be joined by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Libya, Georgette Gagnon, who is joining us virtually from Tripoli to brief on the humanitarian situation there.
** Sustainable Development Goals
A couple of notes to share with you. This morning, the Secretary-General spoke at the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit. He told leaders that eight years ago, Member States gathered in this Hall to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals. With the world watching, he said, they made a solemn promise to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all, adding that the Sustainable Development Goals aren't just a list of goals. They carry the hopes, dreams, rights and expectations of people everywhere and they provide the surest path to living up to our obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is now 75 years old. The Secretary-General told leaders that at the halfway point to the SDG deadline: "The eyes of the world are on you once again," and noted that, over the weekend, young people and civil society groups came to the UN or marched in communities around the world demanding urgent action. Now is the time to prove you are listening, he told them.
** Climate Ambition Summit
As you know, first of all, tomorrow, we have the official opening of the high-level segment of the General Assembly. The Secretary-General will speak around 9 a.m. I think the list of speakers as it stands has been shared with you. We will have a background briefing at 3 p.m. in this room on the Secretary-General's remarks. And on Wednesday the Climate Ambition Summit convened by the Secretary-General will take place at 10 a.m. in Conference Room 4. The Summit this year sets a high bar for participation. It will showcase leaders who are "first-movers and doers" from government, business, finance, local authorities, and civil society who have credible actions, policies and plans to keep the 1.5C degree goal of the Paris Agreement alive. At last count, 112 countries and about 100 non-State entities have formally responded to the Secretary-General's invitation for countries to demonstrate ambitious and credible policies and plans.
The Secretary-General's Climate Action Team has been engaging Governments that have put forward plans, as well as businesses and local authorities with transition plans to reach net zero in line with the UN-backed credibility standard and accountability of net zero pledges. The Summit aims to demonstrate that the acceleration required on decarbonization and climate justice is possible and to inspire more leaders to come forward with credible actions, policies and plans to lead up to COP28 (28th Conference of Parties) and beyond.
** Afghanistan
The Secretary-General noted on social media that today marks two years since girls were banned from attending high schools in Afghanistan. He said that this is an unjustifiable violation of human rights that inflicts long-lasting damage on the entire country. The Secretary-General stressed that girls belong in schools. Let them back in, he said.
** Sudan
Turning to Sudan, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says that intense clashes in the capital, Khartoum, over the weekend resulted in civilian casualties. Our humanitarian partners also tell us that renewed clashes in South Darfur have displaced many people in the city of Nyala. People continue to be displaced, with more than 5.1 million having fled their homes since mid-April 4.1 million within Sudan and more than 1 million were forced to seek refuge outside of the country. The newly displaced families are arriving in areas that were already facing challenges due to existing crises, with basic services being overstretched.
According to our partners, since the beginning of the current conflict, at least 435 children have reportedly been killed and a further 500 have died from hunger although the true toll is likely to be much higher. On Wednesday, there will be an event on the side lines of the General Assembly to mobilize resources and show support to the people of Sudan. The $2.6 billion Humanitarian Response Plan for Sudan, which seeks to help 18 million people, is just over 25 per cent funded.
** International Equal Pay Day
Today is International Equal Pay Day. Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for human rights and gender equality. It takes the effort of the entire world community, and more work remains to be done.
** Briefings
Just a few more programming notes before we go to your questions and Georgette. At 2 p.m., there will be a hybrid briefing here on the Universal Health Coverage Global Monitoring Report for 2023. Speakers will include Dr. Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director-General of Universal Health Coverage at the World Health Organization (WHO); along with Dr. Samira Asma, the Assistant Director-General of Data, Analytics and Delivery at WHO; and Dr. Juan Pablo Uribe, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank. And, also, and I'm sure you're sorry to hear that, but we will not be briefing you on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week because I think you have other things to focus on. If there is even more bad news than there usually is, we will brief you. And I also expect to have a humanitarian update on Ukraine which will be posted on the highlights. Let's take some questions, then I want to go to Georgette as quickly as we can. Stefano, and then Dezhi.
** Questions and Answers
Question : Thank you, Stephane. Friday, I asked a reaction from the UN when the Italian Foreign Minister said that for the situation in Africa with the migrants, we needed more UN. And Farhan [Haq] answered that the UN is already there and also reminded us the answer that the Secretary-General had given about the problem. The Italian Government looks like it's repeating that we need more UN. We need more Europe, but also more UN in Africa. So, my question is, what the UN can do more that was already doing in Africa?
Spokesman : Well, listen, we have been advocating and speaking up very loudly of the disastrous situation in the Mediterranean, both from IOM (International Organization for Migration), from UNHCR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] and from ourselves. We are on the ground with all our humanitarian agencies in various parts of the Mediterranean the northern shore, the southern shore, as well as the eastern Mediterranean. But, at the end of the day, there will need to be political agreements between countries of origin, between countries of destination, and countries of transit. There needs to be agreements that take the situation out of the hands of smugglers, and there will need to be greater European and global solidarity on these issues.
Question : Just a very quick follow-up. So, the Secretary-General doesn't think that, for example, the UNHCR or IOM [International Organization for Migration] should be reinforced or have more...?
Spokesman : Those agencies are stretched to the limit by funding. Of course, if they had more money, they would do more. And all our humanitarian operations are stretched to the breaking point. Just on Sudan, 25 per cent of the needs are being financed, right? How many times have I been here saying that WFP [World Food Programme] is cutting back rations because of lack of money? It all comes down to a lack of resources, not a lack of will. Dezhi?
Question : Yeah. Two quick questions. First, on the speaker list of the general debate, there would be the Head of States of Sudan, Niger and Gabon. Just want to know, is the Secretary-General understanding who is going here? And will the Secretary-General meet with him?
Spokesman : Obviously the Secretary-General's bilaterals are announced the day before their work in progress. We get informed by Permanent Missions who will represent them, and you know that it is up to Member States to challenge the credentials of any delegation or speaker.
Question : My second question, does the UN has anything to say about the swap deal that happened between Iran and USA?
Spokesman : We've just seen it. Obviously, we very much hope that it leads to greater cooperation and a lessening of tensions. Mr. Klein?
Question : Yes, Hamas has threatened another... Hamas has threatened another intifada against Israel in the last few days. I know the Secretary-General said last week that legitimate resistance should be on the model of Gandhi, non-violent resistance. What is the Secretary-General's comment on Hamas' latest threat of violence?
Spokesman : Well, we're not going to start... the Secretary-General's position on the situation, the conflict between Israel and Palestine, I think, has been often repeated. And you heard for yourself what he said. We obviously do not want a situation that flares up again. We do not want to see a situation where civilians pay the brunt of the violence. We are looking for dialogue and appeasement of tensions. Yes, sir?
Question : Has the Secretary-General spoken with any of the delinquent leaders of the Security Council and what does he make of the decision by them?
Spokesman : What do you mean by delinquent leaders?
Correspondent : The leaders that have decided not to attend.
Spokesman : Okay. Okay. Just, if my son doesn't show up at school, he's delinquent. But, I'm not sure I would use the same terminology. However, I will answer your question. First of all, I think it's important to say that it's not as if chairs will be empty, right? There will be someone behind the chair of... I mean, you talk about the Security Council, of every permanent member. Right? Each country decides on who they send to represent there. Obviously, we're fully aware that there are competing demands on Heads of States domestic demands. So, we're not taking it personally, shall we say. Okay. One second, Stefano. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.
Question : Hi. A question on Cyprus, please. Later this week, the Secretary-General is going to have separate meetings with President [Nikos] Christodoulides and the Turkish Cypriot leader. And I was wondering whether he intends to invite them in a trilateral meeting to see the way forward and to discuss with them about possible appointment of an UN envoy.
Spokesman : I think we'll have to wait and see a little bit on that. Stefano, a very quick question, and then we're going to go to Georgette.
Question : Very quick on Niger. Is the Secretary-General worried that the situation could escalate between France and the military coup there because they've been taking hostage?
Spokesman : Our focus is on the people of Niger and our concern of the deteriorating situation, humanitarian and otherwise for the people in Niger. On that note, Georgette... sorry, one second. One last question and then we'll go to you. Yes, please.
Correspondent : My question is about Bangladesh.
Spokesman : Your microphone, please.
Correspondent : I have a question on Bangladesh.
Spokesman : Yeah. Your microphone. Just press the button. There you go. That's it. That's it. You got it.
Question : Sorry. So, the Office of the [United Nations] Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) last weekend warned Bangladeshis about... expressed concerns about the crackdown on the human rights defenders. And recently a couple of days ago, two of the most prominent human rights defenders were imprisoned. And as the Prime Minister is here, the country's Prime Minister, the Head of the Government is here, and she will have, like, a couple of sessions, plenaries, so does the Secretary-General plans to now raise the issue and what's his stance on the overall human rights situation in Bangladesh?
Spokesman : We'll see what is raised in the meeting, and obviously, we back what the High Commissioner said. Now we will go to you, Georgette. Welcome. Thank you for taking the time out.
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SecAF announces Air Task Force model
Published Sept. 18, 2023
Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs
ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall announced the Air Task Force as the next step in the Air Force's Force Generation model during the Air and Space Forces Association's 2023 Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Sept. 11 in National Harbor, Maryland.
"Major initiatives in the U.S. Air Force and Space Force, such as Air Force Force Generation in the Air Force and the evolving allocations of responsibility across Space Force field commands are moves in the right direction," Kendall said. "On Friday, I approved the Air Force creation of three Air Task Forces to serve as pilots in order to experiment with ways to more effectively provide deployable, integrated units two for U.S. Central Command and one for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command ... they are a major step in the right direction, and we will learn from this experience."
As part of an ongoing effort to build high-end readiness for the future, the Air Force continues to evolve the way it presents its forces through the AFFORGEN model.
What Airmen need to know about the Air Task Force
- The ATF provides the Air Force with a definable unit of action at a sustainable pace for employing and posturing forces.
- The first ATFs will enter the AFFORGEN cycle in Summer 2024 and will deploy beginning in fiscal year 2026.
- These Airmen which form the ATFs will team, train and deploy together through the AFFORGEN cycle.
- As ATFs are built, Airmen will be sourced from across the Air Force. Further details will be available in the coming months.
In addition to a disciplined force generation model, the Air Force is refining Agile Combat Employment tactics, Multi-Capable Airmen training, A-Staff constructs, and implementing a Mission Command approach to command and control.
Air Task Force construct
The ATF will consist of a Command Element with an attached expeditionary A-Staff; an Expeditionary Air Base Squadron to provide Base Operating Support; and Mission Generation Force Elements with attached Mission Sustainment Teams to facilitate Agile Combat Employment.
- The Command Element will be the ATF's dedicated leadership team throughout the entire AFFORGEN cycle, focused on building, training, certifying and deploying a cohesive unit postured for success across the spectrum of conflict. The Command Element will consist of the commander, deputy commander, a senior enlisted leader and an expeditionary A-Staff.
- The ATF commander will be a colonel; the ATF deputy commander will be a lieutenant colonel who has successfully completed at least one squadron command assignment; and the senior enlisted leader will be a command chief master sergeant.
- The A-Staff will assist the ATF commander by providing staff support in interacting with higher headquarters and fulfilling the commander's responsibility to provide resourcing, policy, oversight and guidance.
"Concepts like Multi-Capable Airmen and Agile Combat Employment are aligned with meeting the pacing challenge," Kendall said.
The ATF model represents the next step in adopting a more modular organization of teams, which generate through the AFFORGEN cycle together and then deploy as a unit to maximize effectiveness.
uments reinforces the service's return to a philosophy of mission accomplishment that empowers subordinate decision making guided by commander's intent.
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Military Leaders of 3 West African Countries Sign a Security Pact
By VOA News September 18, 2023
The military leaders of three West African countries - Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger - signed a mutual defense pact deal over the weekend.
The junta leaders signed the Liptako-Gourma Charter, establishing the Alliance of Sahel States. The pact is named after the region where the three country's borders meet.
Col. Assimi Goita, Mali's junta leader, said in a statement, "I signed today with the heads of state of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma Charter, establishing the Alliance of Sahel States with the objective of establishing an architecture of collective defense and assistance mutual for the benefit of our populations."
The new pact calls for the three neighboring countries to come to the defense of each other.
All three are facing threats from jihadists.
Each of the countries has undergone coups since 2020.
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Nagorno-Karabakh / Republic of Artsakh
The president of Armenia's self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Samvel Shahramanyan, has signed a decree to dissolve all state institutions from January 1, 2024, Karabakh Armenian authorities said on 28 September 2023.
The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as the Republic of Artsakh, declared independence from Azerbaijan on January 6, 1992. The Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh intended to reunite with newly independent Armenia. The conflict began in 1988 when the Karabakh Armenians demanded the region be transferred from Soviet Azerbaijan to Soviet Armenia. The conflict escalated into a full-scale war in the early 1990s after the Soviet Union dissolved.
The Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has de facto independence from Azerbaijan, but its independence is not recognized by any UN member states. The conflict has its origins in the early 20th century. In 1923, the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was established within the Azerbaijan SSR. Most of the decisions on the transfer of the territories were made under pressure from Stalin.
The Armenian separatist forces in Nagorno-Karabakh on 20 September 2023 agreed to lay down their weapons following Azerbaijan's lightning offensive in the Armenian-majority enclave. Moscow has about 2,000 peacekeepers in the region. They mediated the ceasefire, but didn't intervene to stop Azerbaijan's attacks. The Azerbaijani military had also secured key highlands and routes, putting Armenia at a further disadvantage. Armenia had no choice but to accept this humiliating ceasefire agreement. Negotiations took place on Armenian Independence Day.
In May 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had announced he would recognize Azerbaijan's sovereignty over the region, on the condition that the safety of its residents was guaranteed. So he likely knew Armenia couldn't win another conflict with Azerbaijan.
Russia is bound by a collective security treaty to assist Armenia. However, Moscow's priorities have shifted. Russia doesn't want to upset Azerbaijan and its ally, Turkey, who are increasingly influential. And since most of its troops were fighting in Ukraine, Russia didn't have the resources to help Armenia anyway. So it pivoted from providing military support to mediation. "Furthermore, the relationship between Armenia and Russia has not been great. Moscow expressed displeasure when Armenia conducted joint military exercises with the United States. All this explains why Russia wasn't too eager to help Armenia.
Between Moscow's weakening position in the Caucasus and the West's dependence on hydrocarbons, Azerbaijan had taken advantage of a favorable international context to complete a decades-long mission to control the disputed region. Separated from Armenia and attached to Azerbaijan in 1921 by Stalin, the predominantly Armenian mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh has been a point of permanent tension between the two former Soviet republics since the collapse of the USSR.
On 19 September 2023, Baku announced the launch of "local-level anti-terrorist activities" in Nagorno-Karabakh aimed at "restoring the constitutional order." Azerbaijan and representatives of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh agreed on a complete cessation of hostilities through the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, the Russian Defense Ministry said on 20 September 2023. "Through the mediation of the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, an agreement was reached between the Azerbaijani side and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh on a complete cessation of hostilities. The implementation of these agreements will be carried out in coordination with the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent," the ministry said in a statement. The Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh was in contact with both Yerevan and Baku, discussing the prevention of bloodshed in the region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Thousands of protesters gathered in central Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, blocking streets and demanding that authorities defend Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Some clashed with police, who reportedly used stun grenades. A total of 34 people 16 policemen and 18 civilians were injured in the clashes. Thousands of Armenian refugees gathered near Stepanakert airport, awaiting evacuation from Karabakh after the capitulation of local authorities. It was obvious that a significant part of the population had no illusions about the security of their existence under Azerbaijani control.
Judging by such a quick surrender, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces were able to inflict a crushing defeat on the Karabakh armed forces, and the Armenian army did not consider it its duty to participate in this war. The draft peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan has been 70% agreed upon, Aliyevs aide said 20 September 2023. One of Azerbaijans demands is the extradition of the Karabakh leadership. Whether Pashinyan would take such a step for the sake of once again delaying a major war was an interesting question.
An agreement was reached on the withdrawal of the remaining units and military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia from the deployment zone of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the disbandment and complete disarmament of the armed formations of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army and the withdrawal of heavy equipment and weapons from the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim of their speedy disposal.
Issues raised by the Azerbaijani side on reintegration, ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as issues of ensuring the livelihoods of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh within the framework of the Constitution of Azerbaijan, according to the agreement reached, will be discussed at a meeting between representatives of the local Armenian population and representatives of the central authorities of the Republic of Azerbaijan, which will take place in the city of Yevlakh on September 21, 2023 and during subsequent meetings.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh territory which legally belongs to Azerbaijan but is inhabited mainly by Armenians has been going on for several decades. Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) is a disputed territory that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan. However, most of the territory is governed by the unrecognised Republic of Artsakh. The Republic of Artsakh has been governing most of the territory since the first Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Azerbaijan launched a military operation unexpectedly on 19 September 2023. Armenian Telegram channels reported massive shelling of both Armenian positions on the contact line and the capital of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Stepanakert. Mobile communications and the Internet have practically disappeared in the region. But in the rare videos that are published , air raid sirens and cannonade could be heard. The day before, the NKR agreed to accept humanitarian aid from Azerbaijan and unblock the road from Agdam to Stepanakert, which Baku had been seeking for several months. This was the main demand of Azerbaijan to lift the blockade of the region and open the Lachin corridor - the only road that connects the NKR with Armenia.
Armenias Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Russian peacekeeping troops in the Armenian-majority region to intervene and stop what it said was Azerbaijans full-scale aggression against the local population. Armenia claimed Azerbaijan was behind a months-long humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh after Baku last year blocked the sole road linking the mountainous region with Armenia. It is called the Lachin Corridor, and Russian peacekeepers police it. The Azeri authorities claimed for a long time that this route was being used to smuggle in weapons and mines into the territory that was still under ethnic Armenian control. For Baku the only route to peace is a complete withdrawal of Armenian troops from the area a condition Armenia refuses to meet.
An hour after the start of the fighting, Baku issued an ultimatum - the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry stated that the only path to peace in the region was the complete withdrawal of the Armenian military from Nagorno-Karabakh and the dissolution of local authorities. In essence, this means the liquidation of the Armenian enclave . In addition, there were reports that Azerbaijan had unblocked the Lachin corridor so that Armenians could leave the region. This meant that Baku had decided to finally and forcefully close the Karabakh issue, ridding the region of any Armenian influence.
Baku chose a good moment to start the operation. Moscow clearly cannot and does not intend to intervene, and the peacekeeping contingent on the ground is useless. Russia is distracted by the fighting in Ukraine and is certainly not ready to participate in another armed conflict. Moreover, the conflict with Azerbaijan would also mean a conflict with Turkey.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry states that the only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the separatist regime. In turn, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reports that there is no Armenian army in Karabakh. The Artsakh Defense Army (the Armenian name for Karabakh) is still stationed there. According to Pashinyan, the Artsakh Defense Army has not been disbanded because of Baku's policy.
Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said 19Septembr 2023, asserting that the imposition of any other status for the region would never be accepted. "We have supported the negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia from the beginning. However, we see that Armenia has not fully seized this historic opportunity," Erdogan said in his address at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York. He expressed Turkiye's expectation that Armenia fulfil its commitments, especially those related to the opening of the Zangezur corridor, a key planned unimpeded road through Armenian territory connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave. "As everyone now accepts, Karabakh is Azerbaijani territory. The imposition of any other status will never be accepted," Erdogan underlined. The Zangezur corridor connects Azerbaijan with its landlocked exclave of Nakhchivan autonomous region. Geographically, Nakhchivan is cut off from mainland Azerbaijan by Armenian territory.
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan publishes footage of new attacks on Armenian positions and columns of military equipment in Nagorno-Karabakh, carried out by a Bayraktar TB2 UAV. Having quickly gained air supremacy for its drones, Azerbaijan began the process familiar since 2020 - the destruction of unprotected towed artillery and attacks on supply columns. Apparently, the few air defenses located on the territory of the unrecognized republic were put out of action already in the first hours of hostilities.
As long as nothing threatens Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh, they cannot use weapons, said Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee.
The situation in the South Caucasus once again became tense in mid-2023, as the long-term conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh was on the verge of escalating into another hot war. Almost every day the two sides open fire at each other and exchange accusations. Baku reported that Armenia had fired at its army, while just several hours later, Yerevan said that its own forces had been attacked. The events were unfolding against the background of Armenias joint military exercises with the United States, which continued until 20 September 2023 a fact that, in turn, has perplexed Russia. The EU has also intervened in the situation and is actively holding talks with both Yerevan and Baku. For its part, Moscow believes that Brussels was responsible for escalating the conflict in the region.
In September 2023, the conflict between the two countries escalated once again. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that on September 1, the Azerbaijani armed forces had launched another provocation in the Sotk-Khoznavar area of Syunik Province in southern Armenia, and three Armenian soldiers were killed as a result. Baku, however, claimed that one of its serviceman was wounded by fire from the Armenian side. Later, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry reported that the Armenian Armed Forces used a drone to attack the Azerbaijani army at the border, and that two other soldiers were wounded.
In March 2022, Azerbaijan proposed five conditions for a peace agreement with Armenia: mutually recognizing state borders, confirming the absence of territorial claims, refraining from the use of military force and threats of force, demarcating the Armenia-Azerbaijan state border, and opening transport communications. Among other things, this included the opening of the Zangezur corridor a route that would pass through Armenias Syunik province and connect Baku and the western regions of the country with the exclave of Nakhchivan. The road would then stretch further to Turkiye, and over time, would lead Armenia out of the transport isolation which it has found itself in since the First Karabakh war.
Since the winter of 2022-2023, Baku issued a series of warnings about the inadmissibility of delaying peace talks, Meanwhile, Armenia claimed that Karabakh had fallen under a blockade. The authorities of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) blamed Baku for cutting off natural gas supplies, the only source of heat for thousands of civilians. Armenia then accused Azerbaijan of blocking access to numerous trucks with humanitarian aid.
Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that no representatives of the Armenian Armed Forces remain in Karabakh, however, the Artsakh Defense Army (the Armenian name for Karabakh) is still stationed there. According to Pashinyan, the Artsakh Defense Army has not been disbanded because of Baku's policy.
Moscows timid response in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020 allowed the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia to run its course. The settlement returned a lot of disputed territories to Baku, despite Armenias membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the military alliance led by Russia. The Kremlin-brokered peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2020, following a conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, cemented Moscows leverage over both countries.
Nagorno-Karabakh is an ethnic Armenian enclave inside Azerbaijan. The confrontation over Nagorno-Karabakh broke out in 1988 when the region, mostly populated by Armenians, sought independence from Azerbaijan and announced its intention to join Armenia. For Moscow, Azerbaijan is the prize and Armenia is the tool for achieving that. Azerbaijans geopolitical location and rich oil resources are what interest the Kremlin.
The Karabakh conflict evolved from communal unrest in 1988-1990 and small-scale civil war involving rag-tag militias and irregular units in 1991 to an all-out war between two newly established states in 1992-1994. In 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was founded. Azerbaijan tried to regain control over the territory. The landlocked region declared independence in 1992, and the conflict escalated into a full-scale war in which around 30,000 people were killed.
When Baku inherited an underfunded and dispirited military force from the Soviet Era, it was not able to stop Armenia. Such a defeat and the subsequent loss of territories left a deep wound in Azerbaijans common consciousness. Without addressing this wrong, Azerbaijans state identity was always deemed incomplete. Also, Baku dealt with a massive humanitarian catastrophe as hundreds of thousands of displaced persons moved from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts to Azerbaijan.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan frequently threatened to take the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region back by force from the much weaker Armenia. Armenia has not yet implemented the UN Security Council's four resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts. Clashes around the region have fueled worries of a wider conflict breaking out in the South Caucasus, which is crossed by oil and gas pipelines. The two sides are separated by a demilitarized buffer zone, but each side accuses the other of numerous violations.
Fueled by windfall revenues from its Caspian Sea oil and gas reserves, Azerbaijan went on a military spending spree over a decade, buying new weaponry and equipment from Russia and elsewhere. That worried analysts, who feared Baku might try to preemptively take back Nagorno-Karabakh, whose loss remains an unhealed wound for many Azerbaijanis.
Arayik (Ara) Harutyunianh was sworn in as de facto president of Nagorno-Karabakh, the unrecognized breakaway Azerbaijani region. The inauguration ceremony held on 21 May 2020 in the city of Shushi was attended by an Armenian delegation led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Harutyunian, the former prime minister of the disputed region, won a runoff election on April 14.
Nagorno-Karabakh held a second round of elections for the disputed regions leader on 14 April 2020 amid international criticism and safety concerns due to the coronavirus outbreak. Voters headed to polls on after results from the first round of the vote on March 31 showed Ara Harutyunian, a wealthy businessman and former prime minister, winning over 49 percent, just short of the majority needed for an outright victory. Masis Mayilian finished second with 26.4 percent. On April 12, Nagorno-Karabakhs outgoing de facto leader, Bako Sahakian, declared a coronavirus-related emergency situation in the region, but stopped short of postponing the runoff election, sparking criticism from some who feared bringing groups of people together for voting may exacerbate the coronavirus outbreak.
The OSCE Minsk Group also issued a statement on March 31 saying it "recognizes the role of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh in deciding its future," but reminded the de facto leaders of the breakaway region that "Nagorno-Karabakh is not recognized as an independent and sovereign state" by any country. "Accordingly, the co-chairs do not accept the results of these 'elections' as affecting the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh and stress that the results in no way prejudge the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh or the outcome of the ongoing negotiations to bring a lasting and peaceful settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," the statement said.
In autumn 2020, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a six-week war over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The conflict claimed more than 6,500 lives and ended with a Russian-brokered cease-fire under which Armenian forces ceded territories they had controlled for decades to Azerbaijan. Since then, there have been repeated deadly border skirmishes.
President Ilham Aliyev enhanced relations with Turkey significantly, and the two governments developed a remarkable synergy. Aliyev also maintained a good relationship with Russias President Vladimir Putin. Aliyev did not try to upset the Kremlin and understood Moscows red lines in the region. In the Karabakh conflict, Aliyev tried the diplomatic route for a long time and was open to compromise.
In contrast, Armenias Prime Minister, Pashinyan irked the Kremlin by attempting to insert pro-Western elements within Armenias bureaucracy and security services. His administration also opened criminal cases against Russian companies. Moreover, Pashinyan multiplied the provocations and declared his inclination to annex the occupied territories, thereby dashing hopes for a negotiated settlement and paving the way for military escalation.
Militarily, Turkey helped Azerbaijan modernise its army. The Turkish army trained the Azerbaijani army, supplied Baku with some of the latest equipment in terms of electronic warfare and armed drones, and helped design an efficient strategy that neutralised Armenias arsenal of armored, mechanised, and motorised formations.
Azerbaijans 44 day offensive abruptly reshaped a decades-long, WWI-like trench war over Nagorno-Karabakh, an impoverished, breakaway region that was inside Azerbaijans borders but run by ethnic Armenians. Since the mid-1990s, when the battle over Nagorno-Karabakh killed more than 30,000 people and displaced up to a million, the conflict has long been written off as one of the worlds frozen, unsolvable political stalemates in which resource-poor Armenia seemed to be punching well above its political and military weight.
Azerbaijan placed its bets on sophisticated, pricey weapons and new tactics battle-tested in the Middle East, while their foes relied on old Russian-made arms and obsolete stratagems they mastered in the 1990s, analysts say. Armenia-backed troops moved around in large groups or in trucks, their trenches were wide, but not deep, their artillery was barely disguised and stayed put for days, becoming an easy target for air raids. Their weapons were hopelessly dated, their fighter jets did not fly a single sortie, and their Russian-made Osa and Strela anti-aircraft missile systems were powerless against Bakus most lethal battlefield upgrade unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The Zangezur Corridor is part of a strategic transportation route extending from the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, to Kars, Turkiyes eastern province, passing through Armenian territory near the countrys border with Iran. As a result, its opening is dependent upon the development of a comprehensive Armenian-Azerbaijani agreement.
At the end of 2020s 44-day Karabakh War, which culminated with a triumphant Azerbaijan, the two countries signed a trilateral ceasefire agreement alongside Russia that consisted of sections on the opening of transportation routes. As was stated in the ceasefire deals article 9, All economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions.
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Russo-Ukraine War - 19 September 2023 - Day 573
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A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While GlobalSecurity.org takes utmost care to accurately report this news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.
On 24 February 2022, Ukraine was suddenly and deliberately attacked by land, naval and air forces of Russia, igniting the largest European war since the Great Patriotic War. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" (SVO - spetsialnaya voennaya operatsiya) in Ukraine in response to the appeal of the leaders of the "Donbass republics" for help. That attack is a blatant violation of the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Putin stressed that Moscow's goal is the demilitarization and denazification of the country. The military buildup in preceeding months makes it obvious that the unprovoked and dastardly Russian attack was deliberately planned long in advance. During the intervening time, the Russian government had deliberately sought to deceive the world by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"To initiate a war of aggression... is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole." [Judgment of the International Military Tribunal]
The UK Ministry of Defence reported that through the first half of September 2023, heavy fighting has continued around the islands in the lower Dnipro in Kherson Oblast, which currently marks the front line.
Both sides have launched raids with teams in small boats against the islands and against the opposite riverbanks. There is a realistic possibility that Russian operations in the area have been energised since the sector came under the responsibility of the newly created 40th Army Corps.
The number of forces involved are relatively small compared to other fronts; however, both sides see the area as strategically important. It also provides the opportunity to draw their adversary's units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of September 19, there were 15x combat engagements. Today, the Russian Federation launched another air strike against Ukraine with Shahed-136/131 strike UAVs. According to updated information, air defense destroyed 28 out of 31 Shaheds along their route in the southern, central and western regions of Ukraine. Civilians in Kryvyi Rih (Dnipropetrovsk oblast) suffered from a ruthless missile attack by an Iskander-M ballistic missile. In total, during the day of September 19, the Russian invaders launched 9x missile strikes, 67x air strikes and 40x MLRS strikes at the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, Russian attacks have resulted in civilian casualties and injuries. Residential buildings and other civilian infrastructure have been destroyed and damaged.
The operational situation in the east and south of Ukraine remains difficult.
Volyn and Polissya axes: no significant changes. There are no signs of offensive groups being formed. Certain units of the Belarusian armed forces are performing tasks in the areas bordering Ukraine.
Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: Russia maintains its military presence in the border areas, continues shelling Ukrainian settlements from the territory of russia. The adversary launched air strikes in the vicinities of Leonivka, Popivka (Chernihiv oblast) and Hrabovs'ke (Sumy oblast). More than 30x settlements suffered Russian artillery and mortars fire, including Karpovychi, Arkhypivka, Hrem'yach (Chernihiv oblast), Havrylova Sloboda, Seredyna-Buda, Obody, Veselivka (Sumy oblast), Ambarne, Stroivka, Topoli (Kharkiv oblast).
Kup'yans'k axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Ivanivka and Kup'yans'k (Kharkiv oblast). More than 10x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortars fire, including Krasne Pershe, Lyman Pershyi, Syn'kivka, Kotlyarivka, Krokhmal'ne, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast).
Lyman axis: Russian forces launched air strikes in the vicinities of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast) and Spirne (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements suffered Russian artillery and mortars fire, including Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Tors'ke, Yampil', Dronivka, Spirne, Berestove (Donetsk oblast).
Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Forces successfully repelled a Russia attack in the area west of Yahidne (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces tried to restore the lost position in the vicinity of Andriivka (Donetsk oblast) to no success. The occupiers launched air strikes near Bohdanivka and Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast). More than 25x settlements came under Russian artillery and mortars fire, including Bohdanivka, Ivanivske, Stupochky, Klishchiivka, Andriivka, Kurdyumivka (Donetsk oblast).
Avdiivka axis: the Russian invaders launched an air strike near Avdiivka (Donetsk oblast. The Russian adversary fired artillery and mortars at about 10x settlements, including Keramik, Stepove, Avdiivka, Sjeverne, Pervomais'ke, Nevel's'ke (Donetsk oblast).
Mar'inka axis: during the day of September 19, the Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled 10x Russian attacks in the vicinity of Mar'inka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike near Krasnohorivka (Donetsk oblast). The invaders fired artillery and mortars at about 10x settlements, including Mar'inka, Pobjeda, Maksymil'yanivka, Novomykhailivka (Donetsk oblast).
Shakhtars'ke axis: Russian forces launched air strikes near the settlements of Vuhledar, Urozhaine and Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast). About 10x settlements, including Vodyane, Vuhledar, Prechystivka, Blahodatne, Urozhaine, (Donetsk oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortars fire.
Zaporizhzhia axis: the Ukrainian Forces successfully repelled a Russian attack in the vicinity of Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). The Russian occupiers launched air strikes near the settlements of Levadne and Mala Tokmachka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 25x settlements, including Charivne, Bilohir'ya, Orikhiv, Shcherbaky, Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast).
Kherson axis: the Russian invaders launched air strikes near the settlements of Vesele, Ol'hivka, L'vove, Tyahynka, Tokarivka, Sadove (Kherson oblast). The Russian occupiers fired artillery and mortars at about 10x settlements, including Antonivka and Kherson (Kherson oblast).
At the same time, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to conduct the offensive operation on Melitopol' axis and offensives (assaults) on Bakhmut axis, inflicting losses in manpower and equipment on the occupation forces, and exhausting the Russian forces.
The Russian occupiers cynically continue to violate international humanitarian law by forcibly living with civilians in their homes, using civilians as human shields. For example, in the settlement of Tokmak (Zaporizhzhia oblast), servicemen of the Russian occupation forces are in large numbers housed with elderly civilians in their homes. On top of that, the Russian occupiers are looting the apartments and houses of Ukrainian citizens.
During the day of September 19, the Ukrainian Air Force launched 16x air strikes on the concentrations of troops, weapons, and military equipment, and 2x strikes against anti-aircraft missile systems of the Russian adversary.
Missile troops hit 3x command posts, 1x anti-aircraft missile system, 9x artillery systems, 1x ammunition depot and 1x electronic warfare station of the Russian invaders.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that in the Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces, in close co-operation with aviation and artillery, repelled two attacks by AFU assault groups near Mayorsk and Kamenka (Donetsk People's Republic).
The enemy's casualties were more than 225 Ukrainian personnel killed or injured, two armoured fighting vehicles, and three motor vehicles.
In counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops hit one Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery system, two U.S.-made M777 artillery systems, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer.
In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces supported by helicopters, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems repelled one attack by the AFU 71st Jaeger Brigade close to Verbovoye (Zaporozhye region).
Clusters of AFU manpower and hardware were engaged close to Charivnoye, Belogorye, and Novodanilovka (Zaporozhye region).
Over 175 Ukrainian servicemen, two armoured fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles have been eliminated in this direction during the day.
In counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops hit two Polish-made Krab self-propelled artillery systems, one U.S.-made M777 artillery system, one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer, two D-30 howitzers, as well as one Msta-B and one D-20 guns.
In Krasny Liman direction, well-coordinated actions of the Tsentr Group of Forces, strikes by Army Aviation and artillery fire repelled three attacks by assault groups of the 63rd and 67th mechanised brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Torskoye (Donetsk People's Republic) and south of Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk People's Republic).
Up to 65 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pick-up trucks, and one D-20 howitzer were neutralised.
In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces repelled one AFU attack close to Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).
In addition, air strikes and artillery fire struck the personnel and hardware of the 110th Territorial Defence Brigade near Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region).
Over 115 Ukrainian troops, three armoured fighting vehicles, five motor vehicles, and one Msta-B howitzer were destroyed.
In Kupyansk direction, aviation and artillery of the Zapad Group of Forces inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of the Armed Forces of Ukraine close to Tabayevka, Cherneshchina (Kharkov region), and Stelmakhovka (Lugansk People's Republic).
Up to 20 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles have been neutralised. In counter-battery warfare, Russian troops struck AFU's D-20 and D-30 howitzers.
In Kherson direction, up to 25 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, and two U.S.-made M777 artillery systems have been eliminated during the day.
Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Group of Forces have engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 127 areas during the day.
Also, two ammunition depots of the AFU's 57th Motorised Infantry and 35th Marine brigades were hit near Slavyansk and Bogatyr (Donetsk People's Republic).
Three command posts of the 67th, 100th, and 109th Territorial Defence brigades were hit in the areas of Serebryanka, Grigorovka, and Aleksandropol (Donetsk People's Republic).
Russian air defence facilities have shot down one Su-25 airplane of Ukrainian Air Force near Novopokrovka (Zaporozhye region).
In addition, 16 HIMARS and one Uragan projectiles have been intercepted during the day.
Moreover, 38 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down near Novovodyanoye, Zolotarevka (Lugansk People's Republic), Berestovoye, Aleksandrovka, Yevgenovka (Donetsk People's Republic), Novomikhailovka (Zaporozhye region) and Kairy (Kherson region).
In total, 473 airplanes, 249 helicopters, 6,903 unmanned aerial vehicles, 437 air defence missile systems, 11,960 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,151 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,444 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 13,167 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.
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Son of Joaquin Guzman Loera aka "El Chapo" Arraigned on Federal Criminal Charges Following his Extradition from Mexico to the United States for International Drug Trafficking
Monday, September 18, 2023
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Defendant Was a Leader in One of the Most Prolific and Violent Drug Trafficking Organizations in the World
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 33, of Culiacan, Mexico, was arraigned in federal court in Chicago today after his extradition from Mexico to the United States on Sept. 15. In January, Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico pursuant to a U.S. request for his provisional arrest with a view toward extradition.
Guzman Lopez, aka El Raton and Raton Nuevo, is charged in the Northern District of Illinois with five counts in a nine-count 12th superseding indictment alleging that from around May 2008 and continuing to at least Oct. 21, 2021, he engaged in a drug trafficking Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE), along with additional drug, money laundering, and firearms charges. Guzman Lopez is charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana from Mexico and elsewhere for importation into the United States.
According to court documents, the charges stem from a decades-long, collaborative, multi-district effort between the Criminal Division's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS), based in Washington, D.C., the Northern District of Illinois, the Southern District of California, and their law enforcement partners.
Under the terms of the U.S.-Mexico extradition treaty, the United States had up to 60 days to present a fully supported request, one in compliance with the terms of the treaty. The United States submitted that request in February 2023. A Mexican court reviewed the U.S. request and last month favorably recommended his extradition. The Foreign Ministry reviewed the decision and similarly concluded that Guzman Lopez should be extradited to the United States. Guzman Lopez was subsequently extradited to the United States on Sept. 15. He was arraigned on the charges earlier today before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and pleaded not guilty. He waived his right to a detention hearing and was ordered to remain detained without bond.
Guzman Lopez is one of the sons of Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka El Chapo, who was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of New York for his role as the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Following Guzman Loera's arrest in January 2016 and extradition to the United States in January 2017, Guzman Lopez and his three brothers, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, and Joaquin Guzman Lopez, aka "the Chapitos," who are also charged in the indictment, allegedly assumed their father's former role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Zambada Garcia and Damaso Lopez Nunez, aka Licenciado. The Chapitos subsequently amassed greater control over the Sinaloa Cartel by allegedly threatening and causing violence against Lopez Nunez, his family, and his associates and, as a result, became principal leaders and drug traffickers within the Sinaloa Cartel.
Guzman Lopez was also indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges of continuing criminal enterprise, fentanyl importation conspiracy, fentanyl distribution conspiracy, possession of machineguns and destructive devices, conspiracy to possess machineguns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois, Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew R. Haden for the Southern District of California, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.
This case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
The FBI Washington, San Diego, and El Paso Field Offices, HSI Nogales Office, DEA's Chicago and San Diego Divisions, and IRS Criminal Investigation's Chicago Office investigated the case.
The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs handled the extradition, in collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service. The Office of Enforcement Operations also provided significant assistance in the case.
The Justice Department thanks the Government of Mexico, including the Mexican Foreign Ministry and the Mexican Attorney General's Office. Earlier today, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland spoke by phone with Mexico's Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to express his gratitude to Attorney General Gertz and the Government of Mexico for successfully extraditing Guzman Lopez.
Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of NDDS, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Erskine and Erika Csicsila for the Northern District of Illinois, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Sutton for the Southern District of California are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Topic: Drug Trafficking
Components: Office of the Attorney General
Criminal Division
Criminal - Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section
Criminal - Office of Enforcement Operations
Criminal - Office of International Affairs
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Criminal Investigative Division (FBI)
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces
USAO - California, Southern
USAO - Illinois, Northern
USAO - New York, Southern
U.S. Marshals Service
Press Release Number: 23-1023
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Foreign National Extradited from Mexico to the United States to Face International Cocaine and Methamphetamine Trafficking Charges
Monday, September 18, 2023
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
A Mexican national made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today to face international cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking and weapons charges.
On July 19, 2021, a grand jury in the District of Columbia returned an indictment against Edgar Fabian Villasenor Garcia, aka Gary and el Monje, 52. At the time of his indictment, Villasenor Garcia was already in Mexican custody, having been arrested by Mexican authorities on April 2, 2020, based on local charges. While in Mexican custody, Villasenor Garcia was served with a separate warrant based on a U.S. extradition request, and he remained detained in Mexico pending his extradition. He was extradited from Mexico to the United States on Sept. 15.
Villasenor Garcia is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, knowing and intending and having reasonable cause to believe that those controlled substances would be unlawfully imported into the United States. He is also charged with knowingly and intentionally using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm in the furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. If convicted, Villasenor Garcia faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum penalty of life in prison.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department's Criminal Division and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram made the announcement.
The DEA's Los Angeles Division investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Kate Naseef of the Criminal Division's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section is prosecuting the case. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, the Office of Enforcement Operations, and the U.S. Marshals Service provided substantial assistance in the case.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Topic: Drug Trafficking
Components: Criminal Division
Criminal - Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section
Criminal - Office of Enforcement Operations
Criminal - Office of International Affairs
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
U.S. Marshals Service
Press Release Number: 23-1025
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Australia and Indonesia strengthen defence ties during air combat exercise
Issued by Defence Media
18 September 2023
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) will be deploying six F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft to Indonesia for the first time, as part of Exercise Elang AUSINDO 23.
Held at Manado in North Sulawesi from 18 to 28 September 23, Exercise Elang AUSINDO 23 involves 150 RAAF personnel training alongside 160 Indonesian personnel. The Indonesian Air Force will deploy F-16 fighter aircraft for the air combat mission.
Air Vice-Marshal Glen Braz, Air Commander Australia, said the exercise marks the first time Australia has deployed the F-35A to Indonesia.
"Exercise Elang AUSINDO is a regular combined training activity to increase our capacity to work together," Air Vice-Marshal Braz said.
"Through this exercise we can build mutual cooperation, trust and understanding, both at the aviator-level and more broadly between the Australian Defence Force and Indonesian National Armed Forces.
"We are fully committed to a strong bilateral partnership with Indonesia; this important exercise allows our air forces to develop deeper relationships and enhance cooperation."
Exercise Elang AUSINDO 23 will see Australian and Indonesian personnel plan and execute air combat exercise missions including offensive and defensive counter air missions; basic fighter manoeuvres and air combat manoeuvres and air-to-air refuelling with a RAAF KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport.
First held in 1993, Exercise Elang AUISINDO is part of a series of air cooperation exercises with Indonesia that includes Albatross AUSINDO (for maritime surveillance) and Rajawali AUSINDO (for tactical airlift).
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Beijing (Gasgoo)- On September 17, beneath the Mingsha Mountain of Dunhuang, Dongfeng Motors luxury new energy vehicle brand Mengshi hosted a user salon event to mark the delivery of the luxurious electric off-road vehicle, the Mengshi 917.
Photo credit: Dongfeng Motor
Mengshi, introduced by Dongfeng Motor Corporation in 2022, fuses the legacy of over half a century of Dongfeng's automotive expertise with the DNA of China's premier military off-road vehicle, the "Dongfeng Mengshi," to create a novel breed of electric off-roaders.
Located in Wuhan Economic Development Zone, the Mengshi Tech Intelligent Park began construction on February 3 last year, with the entire production line fully operational by March 28 this year, which is an astonishing feat accomplished in less than 14 months. On August 19, the Mengshi Tech Intelligent Park, embracing smart manufacturing, high-end customization, off-road experiences, and green zero-emissions, officially opened its doors, marking the commencement of mass production for the first model, the Mengshi 917.
Amidst the transition from winter to spring, the Mengshi 917 underwent its final round of winter calibration in cold regions. It made its global debut at the Auto Shanghai 2023 in April, embarked on a comprehensive endurance test in July, conquering mountains, deserts, and challenging terrains, further honing its product quality. On August 25, at this years Chengdu Motor Show, the Mengshi 917 was officially launched for sale.
Mengshi prides itself on fully autonomous development of key core technologies. The Mengshi intelligent off-road architecture, known as M TECH, achieved groundbreaking innovations in three major domains, namely, super-platform, super-power, and super-off-road, bridging the technological gap in China's luxury electric off-road segment. Born from the architecture, the Mengshi 917 is the world's first luxury electric off-roader with both range-extender and pure electric power versions.
Defence Minister Bill Blair meets with British Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps
National Defence
Readout
September 18, 2023 - London, United Kingdom - National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, met with the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Defence, Grant Shapps in London.
Minister Blair congratulated Secretary Shapps on his recent appointment and noted that he looks forward to building upon the excellent defence relationship between Canada and the United Kingdom. Minister Blair and Secretary Shapps condemned Russia's ongoing, illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine, and discussed the ongoing collaboration between Canada and the United Kingdom to support Ukraine.
Through Operation UNIFIER, approximately 170 Canadian Armed Forces members are deployed in the United Kingdom, where they have trained 2,600 Ukrainian recruits in collaboration with the British Operation INTERFLEX. Minister Blair visited Camp Lydd on September 17, 2023, and saw first-hand how Canadian and British military members are working together. In addition, a Royal Canadian Air Force detachment is currently deployed in Prestwick, Scotland. The detachment operates three CC-130 Hercules aircraft and has delivered over 11 million pounds of Ukraine-bound military aid donated by Canada, partners, and allies.
As Minister Blair announced on September 17, 2023, Canada is also contributing $33 million (CAD) to the British-led partnership delivering high priority air defence equipment to Ukraine. Secretary Shapps welcomed this announcement, and both Minister Blair and Secretary Shapps looked forward to future collaboration between Canada and the United Kingdom in support of Ukraine.
Minister Blair discussed Canada's ongoing efforts to update its defence policy and noted that several of Canada's investments in military capabilities involve close collaboration with the United Kingdom. Through a $1.168 billion contract awarded in December 2022 to Leonardo United Kingdom Ltd, Canada is upgrading its Cormorant search and rescue helicopter fleet. In addition, Canada is investing in 15 new Canadian Surface Combatant warships, whose design will be based on BAE's Type 26 warship, bolstering interoperability between the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Navy.
Minister Blair and Secretary Shapps also noted the ongoing participation of the Canadian and British militaries in joint exercises. More than 140 Royal Canadian Air Force personnel are currently participating in Exercise COBRA WARRIOR 23-2, a British-hosted multinational live-fly exercise held at Royal Air Force (RAF) station Waddington in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom's Royal Air Force is also participating in the ongoing Canadian-led Exercise CUTLASS FURY 2023 off the coast of Nova Scotia.
The two counterparts agreed to stay in close communication and looked forward to working together.
Quick Facts
The defence and security relationship between Canada and the UK is rooted in history and fostered by the fact that Canada and the UK are Allies in NATO and engage in close cooperation in international organizations, including the United Nations and the Commonwealth, among others.
The deep bond between Canada and the UK has been forged in peace and war, notably through the two World Wars, Korea, and in almost every major conflict for more than a century, including Afghanistan and Libya.
170 Canadian Armed Forces members are deployed to the UK through Operation UNIFIER.
Since the beginning of 2022, Canada has committed over $8 billion in aid to Ukraine, including over $1.8 billion in military assistance.
This includes AIM-7 missiles, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks and an armoured recovery vehicle, a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) with associated munitions, 39 armoured combat support vehicles, anti-tank weapons, small arms, M777 howitzers and associated ammunition, high-resolution drone cameras, winter clothing, and more.
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EU-China: Commission and China hold second High-level Digital Dialogue
European Commission
Press release
18 September 2023
Brussels
Today, the Commission held its second High-level Digital Dialogue with China. Co-chaired by Vera Jourova, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, and Vice-Premier of China, Zhang Guoqing, this dialogue hosted in Beijing covered key issues such as platforms and data regulation, Artificial Intelligence, research and innovation, cross-border flow of industrial data, or the safety of products sold online. The Commissioner for Justice and consumer rights, Didier Reynders, also participated in the discussions by video message.
Both parties engaged in a thorough discussion on crucial areas of digital policy and technologies. The Commission provided an update of EU regulatory developments including the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act.
Both sides exchanged views about Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Commission presented developments on the Artificial Intelligence Act and stressed the importance of an ethical use of this technology in full respect of universal human rights, in the light of recent UN reports.
The Commission reiterated its support for global and interoperable Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) standards and urged the Chinese authorities to ensure a fair, reciprocity-based business environment in the digital field.
It also conveyed its concern about the difficulties faced by EU companies in China to make use of their industrial data, as a result of the application of recent legislation. Discussions on this matter will continue at the High-level Economic Dialogue with a view to finding concrete solutions.
The Commission explained its de-risking approach under the European Economic Security Strategy, which consists in mitigating risks to its supply chains, critical infrastructures and technology security.
As regards the safety of products, the Commission and China welcomed the signature of the Action Plan on the safety of products sold online.
The objective of the Action Plan is to further enhance dialogue and cooperation between the European Commission and the General Administration of China Customs (GACC). Both parties have agreed to rapidly exchange information on unsafe products sold online; organise regular workshops to exchange information and knowledge on laws, regulations and best practices and organise specific awareness-raising and training activities on EU product safety rules for companies selling online.
China shared updates on their policies and practices in the digital domain. Both parties agreed to continue discussions at technical level, by resuming the China-EU ICT Dialogue.
Background
The first EU-China High-level Digital Dialogue took place in September 2020, and it had not met again since. The resumption of this Dialogue was announced by President Ursula von der Leyen during her visit to Beijing on 6 April 2023.
The Commission maintains an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Dialogue with China at technical level, covering ICT and digital policies as well as regulatory issues, since 2009. However, this ICT Dialogue also had not met since 2020. In addition, engagement with China in science, technology and innovation takes place within the framework of the Joint Roadmap for the future of EU-China cooperation in science, technology, and innovation, under discussion.
The EU is actively engaged on AI governance, notably through the legislative proposal for an AI Act and internationally through the G7 Hiroshima Process. It will also contribute to global governance discussions initiated by the United Nations Secretary-General.
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China, US continue high-level engagement momentum
Global Times
By Chen Qingqing Published: Sep 18, 2023 10:53 PM
Momentum on high-level engagement between the US and China is being maintained as senior Chinese and US officials held multiple rounds of meetings in Malta over the weekend, serving as candid, substantive and constructive strategic communication on stabilizing and improving bilateral relations. Some experts believed that the latest interaction opens possibilities for future interactions between the heads of state of the two countries after Washington made some tactical adjustments in engaging with China by showing some positive gesture and enhancing communication.
Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, on Saturday and Sunday, agreeing to maintain high-level exchanges and hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs as well as foreign policy.
The latest rounds of talks between Wang and Sullivan were held after a number of senior US diplomats and officials concluded their trip to China. These include a trip by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June, US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry's trip to Beijing and a four-day trip by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in July as well as US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's visit in late August. Some experts said that the Wang-Sullivan talks served to summarize the results of the high-level engagement between the two countries in recent months, raising questions about which direction the two countries are heading in.
According to senior officials from the Chinese Foreign Ministry who participated in the meeting, the two sides held multiple discussions on US-China relations, the Taiwan question, the Asia-Pacific situation, and the Ukraine crisis for over 12 hours. The question that took up the most time was Taiwan.
Although some US media hinted that the latest talks between the senior US and Chinese officials aim to "make sure" the leaders meet at the upcoming APEC summit in November, Chinese experts said this could be a major topic of discussion but the two sides are still in the process of communication, without making any final decision. Some experts believed that the US has not created many positive conditions or an atmosphere for the possible meeting of the two top leaders.
While the fundamental aspect of the US policy toward China remains unchanged, there have been some tactical adjustments in recent months, for example, enhancing communication and dialogue, easing tensions, showing gestures to improve relations, but there have been few "tangible results" from the high-level visits of the US officials to China, "on which the US has much more to do," experts noted.
Cautiously optimistic
The talks between Wang and Sullivan were frank, substantive, and constructive. Both parties agreed to continue implementing the important consensus reached at the Bali summit in Indonesia in 2022 between the leaders of the two countries, maintaining high-level interactions, and stabilizing and improving US-China relations, an official from the foreign ministry told the Global Times on Monday.
The official indicated that both sides agreed that China and the US would soon hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs, and foreign policy. They also explored dialogue in the field of artificial intelligence and further supporting and facilitating personnel exchanges between the two countries.
"The wording of the readouts from both sides shows their restrained attitude. From June to August, the two sides have concluded a series of high-level communications on which they need to summarize and talk about what's next," LA Xiang, research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.
The two sides also discussed the need to re-establish military-to-military dialogue between the US and China, a senior Biden official was quoted as saying in a CNN report following the weekend meeting.
Also, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told "CBS News Sunday Morning" on Sunday that the Chinese balloon - hype on which as a so-called spy balloon severely damaged mutual trust - was not spying.
"Milley's clarification serves as a 'wake-up' call to the unhealthy and hawkish environment in the US military toward China, which could also pave the way for future military-to-military communication," Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.
Besides the US military, the US Congress, which is usually considered a base camp for anti-China hawks, also showed willingness to engage with China recently. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to lead a bipartisan congressional delegation to China, Japan and South Korea soon, Reuters reported on September 12, citing an aide to Schumer.
The China visit would be a high-profile trip by Schumer, a Democrat who has repeatedly urged the US to take a harder line on China and will follow visits by a series of Biden administration officials, according to the media report.
"Although Schumer cannot be seen a friend of China, he still belongs to a relatively rational faction within the US Congress. If he can lead a congressional delegation to China to better understand China's position and attitude, it would be a positive development," LA said.
However, no significant and tangible results were realized following the latest series of high-level interactions, despite the unprecedented frequency of visits by US senior officials, and whether the US is willing to bring about those results remains to be seen, he added.
What's next
When asked about whether the Chinese leader will attend the APEC summit in November in the US, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday that China attaches great importance to the role of APEC as a significant multilateral economic cooperation mechanism.
China will stand ready to work with other parties for a fruitful APEC summit. We will release information about China's participation when we have it, Mao said.
As the two sides agreed to continue maintaining high-level exchanges, this "gives us much room for imagination," Wu Xinbo, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Monday.
But there has been no clear decision yet and the two sides are still in the process of communication. China believes that the US has not created many positive conditions or an atmosphere for a possible leaders' meeting, Wu said.
Some experts also pointed out that it's important for the two major countries to discuss their own positions amid the changing international situation and manage divergences in a responsible way. On this basis, the US has to make more concrete moves to demonstrate its responsible attitude in handling its relations with China, which may make it more likely for the leaders to meet.
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Chinese top diplomat to start strategic security talks in Russia; channel vital to smooth high-level exchanges, ensuring mutual support
Global Times
By Wang Qi Published: Sep 18, 2023 09:56 PM
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday began his four-day trip to Russia to attend the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation, with a range of bilateral and multilateral issues related to security expected to be discussed, following his two-day meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta over the weekend.
Chinese experts said on Monday that the strategic consultation, as an institutionalized channel between China and Russia, plays a crucial role as a smooth bilateral high-level exchange channel, as well as in ensuring mutual support in the complex international situation, and also framing the direction of China-Russia interactions for the rest of the year, and paving the way for a possible head-of-state meeting.
The wide range of topics also reflects the broad and deep common interests of Russia and China in the just, rational and sustainable economic and security order promoted by the Global South, as well as the profound impact of Beijing-Moscow ties on the promotion of multilateralism and the democratization of the international order, experts noted.
In a brief statement on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning announced the Chinese top diplomat's Russia visit from September 18 to 21, at the invitation of Secretary Nikolai Patrushev of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.
China and Russia are each other's biggest neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era. Both countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council and major emerging economies. The two countries have maintained close communication on major issues of mutual interest that have strategic and overarching significance, Mao said during Monday's routine press briefing.
Wang's trip to Russia is a regular activity within the framework of the strategic security consultation mechanism and aimed at delivering on the important common understandings between our two countries' heads of state, advancing bilateral ties, and having in-depth communication on major issues that bear on the strategic security interests of the two countries, the spokesperson noted.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, is expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and discuss the Ukraine crisis, issues of security in the Asia Pacific and various aspects of bilateral cooperation, according to the TASS news agency on Monday.
According to TASS, it is possible that the two top diplomats will express rejection of the Western bloc's confrontational policy and its attempts to contain the development of nations through sanctions. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two ministers will also raise issues of stability and security in the Asia Pacific, the TASS report noted.
The two sides will also touch upon the contacts on "high and the highest levels," TASS reported. According to the media outlet's reports in July, Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to visit China in October, planning it to coincide with a Belt and Road forum.
The consistent alignment of China and Russia at the strategic level helps both sides to support each other in the complex international situation and to respond more effectively to different challenges, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Monday.
As can be seen from the possible topics of discussion, China and Russia have a generalized communication and a genuine mutual deep understanding of the core issues of their respective concerns, which has laid a firm foundation for coordination and cooperation on different areas at the strategic level, Li said.
The strategic channel is of vital importance in maintaining a smooth high-level communication channel, Li said, noting the channel is also crucial for framing the specific direction of China-Russia interactions for the rest of the year.
Wang's visit comes amid the convening of the high-level week of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, during Wang's visit, special attention will be paid to the strengthening of cooperation on the international arena and coordination of work within the UN, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), G20, APEC and other platforms.
At a time when the world's security and economic landscape is at a crossroads between increasing fragmentation and better integration, China and Russia need to work together to revitalize the central function of the UN in global security affairs, as well as to play a constructive role in the reconstruction of security in the Asia-Pacific region and the European region, which can only be achieved through coordinated cooperation, Li said.
Zhang Hong, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that at a time when both China-US and Russia-US relations are at odds, the strategic dialogue between China and Russia is beneficial to stabilizing the global order.
However, Zhang stressed that China-Russia cooperation is in fact not directed against any third party and is not confrontational in nature.
Collaboration between China and Russia on bilateral and multilateral platforms is aimed at promoting the democratization of the international order and supporting multilateralism, which helps to raise the level of global governance, Zhang told the Global Times on Monday.
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Renewed anti-espionage efforts to encourage public to safeguard national security, not a witch hunt against foreign entities in China: experts
Global Times
Unveiled threat
By Hu Yuwei Published: Sep 18, 2023 10:22 PM
Since the new Counter-Espionage Law was enacted in July, China's Ministry of State Security (MSS), whose work is usually classified and covert, is now stepping into the public limelight as the top national security authority announced a slew of detailed espionage cases over the last two months, as part of ratcheted up efforts to crack down on espionage.
Experts noted that the recent exposure of US espionage activities highlights China's dire situation with a covert battle waged against the country, as the aggressive spying activities by the US against China are closely linked to Washington's current strategy of comprehensive suppression and the containment of Beijing.
The consistent unveiling of espionage cases serves to emphasize China's capabilities and determination in defending itself against foreign infiltration and manipulation, effectively safeguarding national security.
As the 23rd National Defense Education Day was marked on Saturday, comic strip posters warning of overseas spies were displayed in subway stations. The MSS provided information on how to prevent phones, emails, and other devices from being attacked on its newly opened official WeChat account. During the first class of the new semester, schools across the nation offered a special class dedicated to equipping teachers and students to identify and increase vigilance in safeguarding national security.
China's recently intensified actions taken to combat espionage have raised concerns among certain Western media outlets, who misread it as a witch hunt that "spies are everywhere" and a "call to all members in society to apprehend spies."
Chinese security experts refute such misinterpretation, stating that China simply aims to gain more public support in counter-espionage efforts, as solely relying on national security agencies is insufficient to combat pervasive overseas espionage forces.
They stressed that the amended anti-espionage law further clarifies the boundaries of espionage activities to prevent abuse, noting that supervision systems along the anti-espionage process and communication channels through which breeches of the law can be reported are never absent.
Seek support from the public
CIA Director William Burns acknowledged on July 20 that his agency had made progress in rebuilding its spy networks in China, following significant setbacks a decade ago.
Ten days later, China's MSS opened its official WeChat account on August 1, published a call to action, encouraging members of society to contribute to counter-espionage efforts, which analysts said marked its transition from covert to overt.
Just 21 days after Burn's provocative claim, China's MSS, on August 11, referred to the CIA's revelation while announcing the apprehension of a suspect surnamed Zeng, who was a Chinese military industrial group staffer and an important confidential employee, as conducting espionage activities after being recruited by the CIA during his study in Italy.
China unveiled the second US-led espionage case against China within half a month on August 21, indicating that the country's national security authority cracked an espionage case involving a Chinese government employee who had been enlisted by the Japan branch of the US intelligence agency while studying in Japan.
Afterward, the MSS, on September 11, released details about the case of John Shing-wan Leung, a permanent resident of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a US passport holder, who conducted espionage activities including serving as an informant of a US intelligence agency and was spying for the US under the guise of charity.
In addition, the state media's legal programs have gradually exposed typical early espionage cases in last two months, reminding the public to be more vigilant.
The MSS also publicly exposed and denounced the "four dangerous mindsets" hidden in the newly released US' 2023 National Intelligence Strategy on its WeChat account on August 28.
"The disclosure of these specific details can allow the general public to be clearer in identifying typical espionage activities. Currently, the actions of foreign espionage forces, led by the US, have become increasingly rampant, reaching new heights. This trend will continue or even intensify for a long time in the future. Relying solely on professional counter-espionage police is no longer sufficient to cope with the current situation. Therefore, we need to seek the support of the public and encourage them to provide more clues," Li Wei, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, a leading research institution on national security, told the Global Times.
Where are attacks coming from?
The US, famous for being an empire of hackers, has persistently launched cyberattacks against China.
In recent years, the CIA has established two specific centers to hone the agency's focus on China, the "China Mission Center (CMC)" and the "Transnational and Technology Mission Center." The CMC is the only mission center established by the CIA to specifically target a single country while the "Transnational and Technical Mission Center" is responsible for assisting US spies in enhancing espionage technology, according to Li.
The CIA attaches great importance to the application of artificial intelligence technology in cyberspace, and the chief technology officer Nand Mulchandani appointed by the CIA later comes from Silicon Valley.
Li noted that the US originally had similar centers targeting Iran and North Korea, but as its tensions with China intensified, the US' redirected targeted activities against these two countries elsewhere, and a new department targeting China was established. This reflects a shift in the focus of US intelligence work.
One of the two centers primarily relies on human intelligence collection, while the other relies on technological means. This is also why the US is globally suppressing Huawei's 5G technology, as once Huawei's network becomes the mainstream internationally, it will pose a significant obstacle to US intelligence gathering, the expert noted.
Moreover, the US often cooperates with other anti-China foreign forces in intelligence, including separatist forces in Hong Kong, the island of Taiwan, and Xizang (Tibet) Autonomous Region as they are highly consistent with their political objectives to destabilize China. The general public should understand the complex international situation, actively learn relevant laws and regulations, enhance national security awareness, and remain vigilant at all times, warned Li.
What are popular means?
According to the MSS, cyberspace has become an important battlefield for foreign intelligence agencies to conduct cyber espionage. China has become a major victim of advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks (typically a state or state-sponsored group, which gains unauthorized access to a computer network and remains undetected for an extended period).
In recent years, China's national security agencies have discovered dozens of foreign intelligence agencies from different countries and regions conducting cyberattacks within its borders. They either establish specialized organizations, set up "cover companies," and develop professional means to directly carry out cyberattack infiltration actions, or employ "outsourcing services" or hacker groups to carry out attacks, or purchase data or lure and entice domestic institutions and personnel to sell their data, according to the MSS.
A frontline police officer engaged in cybersecurity and counter-espionage work in northern China told the Global Times on condition of anonymity that with the rapid development of modern technology, spy techniques have also evolved, making it increasingly difficult to counter. For example, it is now possible to determine the content of conversations in a room from kilometers away by sensing electromagnetic radiation, and conversations in a room can be stolen using pre-placed microwave, laser, and nano listening devices.
Cyberspace has become a breeding ground for espionage activities, and some software systems and hardware devices such as "zero-day," a vulnerability in a computer system, are increasingly being used. Furthermore, attacks are increasingly targeting research institutions, according to the police.
The case of the cyberattack on Northwestern Polytechnical University in 2022 is a typical example of cyber espionage. Foreign intelligence agencies used 41 types of specialized cyber weapons to launch thousands of attacks and steal confidential information from Northwestern Polytechnical University.
Li also underlines that foreign intelligence agencies are shifting their work toward more covert operations.
The MSS previously exposed a case in April, in which a group of suspicious foreign individuals approached a regular fish farmer in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, under the guise of "installing free seawater quality monitoring devices." While claiming to help monitor water quality, these individuals intended to use this pretext to simultaneously monitor important sensitive data such as tides and ocean currents in non-open sea areas. This data would provide navigation assistance for foreign submarines to secretly enter the waters near our country's territorial waters.
No arbitrary application
Many foreign media outlets have exaggerated and sensationalized China's recent legitimate actions against espionage, portraying them as generalized attacks on foreign forces. Some have warned that the anti-espionage campaign could create further legal risks for and doubts among foreign companies, journalists, and academics.
"It has absolutely been distortion and misread as the media has confused counter-espionage work and normal cross-border economic and trade activities. On the contrary, China is committed to creating a healthy business environment that is not disrupted or threatened by espionage activities," Li argued.
China is not the only country that has started issuing more severe warnings regarding foreign spies. Concerns have been raised about Washington fueling a new Red Scare, exemplified by the Justice Department's abandoned China Initiative that focused on academics and some countries' ban on Huawei's 5G network and the social media platform TikTok due to so-called security concerns.
Every country has laws and actions against espionage, so why are they specifically expressing "concern" over China? Chinese netizens questions.
As early as August 4, the MSS had directly responded to concerns and smears from foreign media sources, emphasizing that safeguarding national security is a common practice for countries worldwide. The authority reiterated that the provisions of the amended Counter-Espionage Law are open, transparent, and clear.
"The task of counter-espionage efforts in China is destined to become increasingly important, and this trend cannot be changed. However, we cannot and will not close our doors for the sake of security. Our commitment to openness to the outside world will only become stronger," Hu Xijin, a Chinese media professional wrote on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo.
When the CIA established the two aforementioned centers in 2021, China put forward the "Global Development Initiative" to the world and followed it up with the "Global Security Initiative" the following year. This means that coordinating development and security is a fundamental principle for China, according to analysts.
Li stressed that the revised law refines the boundary of espionage to further prevent misuse. The new version also properly expands the scope of targets of espionage, with all documents, data, materials, and articles concerning national security and interests included for protection. It particularly warns agents against domestic overseas espionage, calling for more caution in selling data to suspicious agents.
The expert underlined that monitoring measures are available to prevent the abuse of the espionage law, refuting claims by some foreign media outlets that the espionage law is a breach of public privacy.
"For example, requests of counterintelligence officers on collecting data must be strictly applied and approved in the system while the process must be supervised by higher levels. Citizens have the right to report potential abuses and misconduct, and relevant channels are open. They can report them to the People's Court and the Procuratorate if they find that law enforcement personnel have stepped over the line and have infringed on the interests of citizens under the guise of counter-espionage laws," Li explained.
On August 7, the MSS again emphasized the supervision mechanism for counter-espionage work and announced the reporting channels on its WeChat account.
"This is not an era for everyone catching spies everywhere, but an important time for everyone to protect national security, via more scientific and legal means," said Li.
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Wang-Sullivan talks last more than 12 hours; Taiwan question takes up longest time, Chinese FM official told GT
Global Times
By Bai Yunyi Published: Sep 18, 2023 06:25 PM
Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held multiple rounds of meetings in Malta from Saturday and Sunday. A senior official from Chinese ministry of foreign affairs who participated in the talks told the Global Times that the two sides held multiple discussions on topics including China-US relations, Taiwan, the Asia-Pacific situation, and the Ukraine crisis, for over 12 hours. The talks were candid, substantive and constructive.
The two sides agreed to continue to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state during their meeting in Bali, maintain high-level exchanges, stabilize and improve China-US relations.
The two sides introduced their respective domestic and foreign policies. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, highlighted China's advantages such as its socialist market economy system, the demand of its super-sized market, the supply advantage of its comprehensive industrial system, and the talent advantage of its vast high-quality workforce and entrepreneurs. These factors are the confidence and foundation of China's development. No country can obstruct China's development trajectory, the Chinese people's legitimate right to development cannot be deprived, said Wang.
Wang said China has always approached and developed China-US relations based on the three principles proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping: mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation. China opposes defining the entire China-US relationship solely through competition and rejects decoupling and breaking supply chain under the guise of "de-risking."
Wang expressed grave concerns over the US technological suppression of China and its unilateral and unreasonable sanctions on Chinese companies, organizations, and individuals, demanding an immediate stop.
The two sides spent the longest time on the Taiwan question. Wang comprehensively articulated China's firm stance, emphasizing that the essence and fundamental status quo of the Taiwan question is that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to one China. The root cause of the current tension in the Taiwan Straits lies in the increasingly provocative secessionist activities by the Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party and the blatant support they receive from some external forces. The correct direction for the peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question is to resolutely oppose "Taiwan independence" and support China's peaceful reunification.
The official from Chinese ministry of foreign affairs said that both sides agreed that China and the US would soon hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs, and foreign policy negotiations. They also explored dialogue in the field of artificial intelligence and further supporting and facilitating personnel exchanges between the two countries.
On the Ukraine crisis, Wang emphasized that China is not a party to the conflict, nor the cause of the crisis, and has always been dedicated to mediation and promoting talks, never fueling the fire or seeking advantage amid the chaos.
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Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference on September 18, 2023
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China
CCTV: Can you share more about the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation? What is China's expectation for the consultation?
Mao Ning: China and Russia are each other's biggest neighbors anda comprehensive strategic partners of coordination for a new era. Both countries are permanent members of the UN Security Council and major emerging economies. The two countries have maintained close communication on major issues of mutual interest that have strategic and overarching significance. Director Wang Yi's trip to Russia is a regular activity within the framework of the strategic security consultation mechanism and aimed at delivering on the important common understandings between our two countries' heads of state, advancing bilateral ties, and having in-depth communication on major issues that bear on the strategic security interests of the two countries.
CCTV: In a designation submitted to the US Congress on September 15, President Biden identified China as a "major drug source country". What's China's comment?
Mao Ning: The US's identification has no basis in facts. This is a malicious smear against China. We firmly oppose it and have made serious dAmarches to the US.
The Chinese government has always been serious about fighting drugs. To date, China has scheduled 456 anesthetic and psychotropic drugs and two entire classes of substances. We are one of the countries that have scheduled the biggest number of substances and exercise the strictest control on drugs. China has listed 38 types of controlled precursor chemicalsa14 more than those regulated by the United Nations. The narcotics control authorities have put in place a comprehensive and dynamic supervision mechanism for all stages of precursor chemical management. Those are exemplary efforts on global drug governance. China has the strictest drug control policy in the world and enforces it in the fullest way. Our efforts are widely recognized by the international community.a
In contrast, the US, with 5 percent of the world's population, consumes 80 percent of the opioid produced in the worldawhich makes the US a black hole and source of problem for global drug control. The US is the single largest major drug demand country and is in no position to wag its finger at China's counter-narcotics efforts. The incompetence and ineffective control is the true cause of the pervasive drug problem in the US, and the fundamental solution is to reduce domestic demand. We urge the US to stop blaming and smearing China and do things in ways that are conducive to cooperation with China, not otherwise.
Shenzhen TV: A recent New York Times article claimed that China used artificial intelligence technology to generate disinformation about the wildfires in Hawaii, saying the disaster was a result of a secrete "weather weapon" tested by the US, and spread the false posts across the internet, so as to sow discord in the US. Can you confirm this?
Mao Ning: This report is not factual at all. The theory about "weather weapon" came from US media first. Some Chinese media outlets and we-media accounts did nothing more than citing or re-posting those reports. To say they "made up or spread disinformation" is completely unfounded. If anyone was "making up or spreading disinformation", it would be The New York Times, not them.
As a matter of fact, the people in China and in the US never sat idly by and watched when either side was hit by disasters. During the early days of the outbreak of COVID-19, US businesses and people actively donated money and materials to help the Chinese people. Later on, as the pandemic spread in the US, Chinese local groups and the public immediately raised materials and sent them all the way across the ocean to over 20 US states and cities, which was highly appreciated by people in the US. In August last year, an American teacher working in China's Southwest University carried chain saws to help fight wildfires in Chongqing. His brave deed was widely acclaimed by Chinese people online. After the devastating wildfires broke out in Hawaii, China immediately extended sympathies and expressed readiness to provide help as needed. Those are the true stories about sub-national and people-to-people exchanges between China and the US.
We urge relevant US media outlet to be truthful, objective and neutral in its reporting, and stop spreading disinformation against China.
China News Service: In an address to the Summit of the Group of 77 and China that just concluded, UN Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres said that he counts on the Group and China, who have long been champions of multilateralism, to fight to champion a system that is rooted in equality and delivers for all humanity. How does China view the outcomes of this summit?
Mao Ning: First I would like to offer my congratulations on the full success of this summit, which contributes significantly to enhancing solidarity and cooperation among developing countries to jointly address challenges. Li Xi, President Xi Jinping's special representative, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, attended the summit and put forward a three-point proposal on cooperation between the G77 and China: first, we must stay true to the original aspiration of the G77 for independence and greater collective strength through unity, reject bloc confrontation and the Cold War mentality and join hands to maintain world peace and tranquility; second, we must advocate equity, justice and inclusiveness and strengthen the voice and representation of developing countries; third, we must pursue development, revitalization and win-win cooperation and work to ensure that no developing country will be left behind or left out in the development of new technologies and industries.
The summit adopted the Havana Declaration. It stresses the importance of solidarity and cooperation on the basis of extensive consultations, joint contributions and shared benefits, which can bring huge gains to all countries and all parts of the world in building a community of shared future for humankind. It emphasizes equality, justice and the need for a more inclusive and coordinated approach to global financial governance, rejects technological monopolies and other unfair practices that hinder the technological development of developing countries, and calls upon the international community to foster an open, fair, inclusive and non-discriminatory environment for scientific and technological development.
China is the largest developing country in the world and a member of the Global South. We stand ready to work together with G77 members to build a Global South community with a shared future, and usher in a new era of common development.
China Daily: It was reported that President of the Central American Parliament Amado Cerrud will lead a delegation to China in the coming days. Can you confirm this?
Mao Ning: At the invitation of Chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Zhao Leji, President of the Central American Parliament Amado Cerrud will lead a delegation to China from September 19 to 23. On August 22 this year, the Central American Parliament adopted the resolution to revoke the "permanent observer status" of the so-called "Legislative Yuan" of the Taiwan region and accept the National People's Congress of China as a permanent observer. China welcomes and commends the resolution. This again shows that the one-China principle represents the unstoppable trend of the times and has the overwhelming support of the people. China stands ready to develop friendly cooperation with the Central American Parliament on the basis of the one-China principle.
Reuters: Huawei has met with Taliban interior ministry officials. Is China hoping to encourage cooperation between Chinese companies with Afghanistan on security matters? And is the Chinese government willing to cooperate with Taliban authorities on counter-terrorism plans, including surveillance?
Mao Ning: I have no information on what you mentioned.
AFP: Taiwan authorities claimed that it detected the continued activity of 103 People's Liberation Army warplanes around the Taiwan Strait by 6 o'clock this morning, of which dozens crossed the "median line". Can you further explain these military activities?
Mao Ning: First of all, this is not a question about foreign affairs. I suggest you refer to competent Chinese authorities for specifics. Let me say that Taiwan is part of China's territory. There is no so-called "median line" in the Taiwan Strait.
Bloomberg: Can you tell us if Chinese President Xi Jinping is planning to attend the APEC summit in the US in November?
Mao Ning: We value APEC's role as an important multilateral economic cooperation mechanism and stand ready to work with other parties for a fruitful APEC summit. We will release information about China's participation when we have it.
NHK: Could you share more about the talks between the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers to be held tonight, for example, the issues to be discussed or the theme of the talks, and China's expectations?
Mao Ning: We will release information about the upcoming exchanges with Russia in due course. Please check back for updates.
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China FM heads to Russia after meeting with US national security adviser
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 7:02 PM
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi heads to Russia to hold security talks in Moscow after meeting with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
China's top diplomat, who simultaneously holds the ruling Communist Party's top foreign policy post, will be in Moscow from Monday to Thursday, after he held security talks with Sullivan over the weekend in Malta.
In a brief statement by China's Foreign Ministry, Wang would be in Moscow for a round of China-Russia strategic security consultations. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning also called Wang's visit to Russia a routine one to hold in-depth talks on major strategic security interests.
Washington and Beijing are at odds, among others, over Russia's war in Ukraine that began in February last year.
China still holds a neutral position and refrained from taking sides in the war, arguing that while a country's territory must be respected, the West also needs to consider Russia's security concerns about NATO expansion, with which Moscow largely justifies the war.
Beijing has also accused Washington of prolonging the fighting through supplying arms to Kiev, weaponry the White House claims is needed to defend against Russia.
During their negotiations, Wang discussed the situation in Ukraine with Sullivan. Both sides described the talks as candid, substantive and constructive as they strive to boost their fragile relationship and settle differences over a host of issues, including security, trade, technology and human rights.
Early last week, Mao said when it comes to interaction with Asian countries the US needs to abandon its hegemonic and "Cold War mentality. Mao urged Washington to "abide by the basic norms of international relations."
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Beijing's envoy warns Hong Kong police graduates of 'hostile forces'
'Hong Kong is entering a new stage, moving from chaos to order and prosperity.'
By Chen Zifei for RFA Cantonese 2023.09.18 -- China's envoy to Hong Kong has reviewed a police graduation ceremony for the first time, warning new officers of 'hostile foreign forces' trying to make a comeback, a sign that analysts said shows that Beijing is now firmly in control when it comes to security matters.
Zheng Yanxiong, who heads the ruling Communist Party's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong, reviewed the marching ranks of fresh graduates in a ceremony at the Hong Kong Police College on Saturday.
"Hong Kong is entering a new stage, moving from chaos to order and prosperity," Zheng said in his keynote address. "Yet there are still hostile foreign forces trying to undermine Hong Kong's development and stability, and there are also anti-China and Hong Kong elements trying to make a comeback."
The Chinese and Hong Kong governments have blamed recent waves of mass protest in Hong Kong on incitement by "hostile foreign forces" seeking to foment a "color revolution" in the city.
In August, security chief Chris Tang blamed the mass protest campaign in 2012 by students -- some of them still in secondary school -- against patriotic education in Hong Kong's schools, the 2014 Occupy Central movement for fully democratic elections, the 2016 "fishball revolution" in Mong Kok and the 2019 movement against extradition to mainland China on the actions of "foreign forces."
"Many young people had been radicalized," said Tang, who was chief of police during the 2019 protests. "External forces were up to the same old tricks again."
'Always resolute'
Zheng repeated that theme at the weekend's ceremony, telling new police college graduates that "the Hong Kong Police Force must be determined ... and always resolutely safeguard national security, strictly implement the Hong Kong National Security Law and local laws, and do our best to build a strong line of defense of national security."
Zheng's unprecedented appearance at the ceremony comes after the Communist Party assumed more direct control over national security in Hong Kong in July, in a move commentators said is likely also behind recent attempts to pursue the city's democracy activists overseas and to harass their families.
Beijing's Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party's Central Committee is now tasked with "deploying the governing power of the central government" in Hong Kong and "maintaining national security," under a security law imposed on Hong Kong in July 2020 that criminalizes public criticism of the authorities by anyone, anywhere in the world.
The office is also charged with "supporting" the integration of both cities with the rest of China.
Independent political scholar Chen Daoyin said that Beijing, by having Zheng officiate at the police graduation ceremony, appears to be affirming its jurisdiction over Hong Kong.
"In China, only [President] Xi Jinping has the power to review military parades - nobody else is," Chen said. "Judging on the basis of the relationship between the central government [in Beijing] and Hong Kong, the director of the Central Liaison Office is essentially the supreme leader [in Hong Kong]."
He said Zheng, who won political plaudits for cracking down on the rebel Guangdong village of Wukan amid a bitter land dispute in 2011, comes from a background in law enforcement.
"Zheng Yanxiong is a policeman himself, and his review of the police force sends a message to the rest of the world about who is the highest-ranking leader in Hong Kong," Chen said.
"[It tells us that] he is the disciplinary power supervising Hong Kong on behalf of the central government."
'Political tool'
Zheng's presence at the parade shows that Beijing is now assuming much more direct control over law enforcement and security in Hong Kong, current affairs commentator Sang Pu said.
"This was not just a ceremonial review," Sang said. "When he talked about 'foreign forces' and rebellious 'anti-China' elements, he was giving instructions."
"We see that it's the party that is wielding the gun, or the sword, here," he said. "The Communist Party, or the Liaison Office, is ruling Hong Kong more directly, and will be putting direct pressure on police officers to obey the orders of the Central Committee, through propaganda."
Exiled former pro-democracy lawmaker Ted Hui agreed.
"The political messaging here is very strong," Hui said. "It officially sets a precedent for the Hong Kong police to do political work."
"It is a direct recognition of the police force ... as a weapon to suppress dissidents, and it describes the targeting of political prisoners as an important national political task."
Hui said the messaging effectively gives a green light to the police force to use any and all means to achieve this goal.
"[It means that] the police can use very tough methods to fulfill these tasks and orders," Hui said. "The Hong Kong police have become a political tool in the hands of Beijing."
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
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State security police guard dissident sculptor in Beijing hospital
From his bedside, close friend and fellow activist was dragged away for interrogation
By Hwang Chun-mei for RFA Mandarin 2023.09.18 -- Prominent Chinese dissident and performance artist Yan Zhengxue is unconscious in the hospital under heavy guard by state security police, Radio Free Asia has learned.
Yan, who headed an outspoken group of dissident artists in Beijing during the student-led pro-democracy movement of 1989, is well-known for his sculptures, in particular one of Cultural Revolution-era activist Lin Zhao.
Yan is currently on a ventilator and state security police have instituted tight security around his hospital room, interrogating fellow pro-democracy activist Ji Feng and forcing him to leave his friend's bedside on pain of "death without a burial," a person close to Ji told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
"He was threatened by the Beijing municipal state security police," the person said.
While the reason for Yan's unconscious state wasn't disclosed, those close to him believe he is approaching the end of his life, but without one of his closest friends and fellow dissidents by his side.
"[Ji] won't be allowed to visit Yan Zhengxue from now on, and if he dares to speak out again, his mobile phone will be smashed," the person said, quoting state security police threats to Ji during an interrogation at a Beijing guesthouse.
Police had treated Ji roughly throughout the interrogation, refused to allow him to record proceedings and kicked the door down when he visited the bathroom, they said.
Ji has been taken to his home city of Guizhou in southwestern China, and only Yan's wife and daughter are allowed to be with him in hospital, the person said.
Beijing-based independent journalist Gao Yu said she had also received news of Ji's treatment at the hands of state security police. She said Ji had done nothing wrong in wanting to be with his lifelong friend at the end of his life.
Calls to the media center at the Beijing municipal police department were cut off shortly after connection on Monday.
'He suffered a lot'
Gao also lauded Yan for continuing to comment on political oppression through his artwork, most notably his sculptures of famous dissidents.
"He was arrested more than a dozen times, and sent to prison, specifically one prison sentence and two stints in a labor camp," she said. "He suffered a lot."
"He was beaten many times, his toes were stamped on and broken, and he was taken to the police station on many occasions," Gao said. "But he never gave in."
"He created a great deal of his work in prison," she said, adding that he was "very influential" among China's dissident artists, particularly the dissident art community in Beijing.
Ji Feng once published an article saying that Yan was one of the pioneers of what he termed "contemporary free culture" in China.
"Whether inside or outside the high walls [of prison], Yan Zhengxue made art with a prisoner's mentality," Ji wrote. "He faced the thick walls of autocracy like a soldier, unwilling to retreat even though he knew they were invincible. He was very much a lone hero."
Brother struck by car
In 2013, Yan's elderly brother was hit by a car in a near-fatal accident relatives feared could be part of a campaign of political persecution against the artist.
The accident took place in Taizhou city in China's eastern province of Zhejiang hours after Yan got in a heated confrontation with local officials at the municipal government's complaints bureau.
The families of prominent critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party frequently report discrimination, loss of employment, physical attacks and harassment by law enforcement agencies linked to the dissident's activities.
Children of dissidents sometimes find barriers placed in the way of their education, while whole families have reported being held under house arrest and subjected to detentions and beatings.
In 1993, Yan Zhengxue was sentenced to "re-education through labor" after he lodged a complaint against the Beijing police department, during which he reported being tortured with electric batons.
Following his release in 1996, Yan began rights advocacy work on behalf of disadvantaged groups in China, which led to several bouts of secret detention.
He was handed a three-year jail term in 2007 for "incitement to subvert state power."
Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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In August 2023, the three major Japanese automakers, namely Toyota Motor, Honda Motor, and Nissan Motor, all failed to turnaround the continuous year-over-year downturn in their monthly China sales, with Nissan Motor witnessing the largest plummet.
As the tax-cut policy last year still hold some impact to the market, it is generally believed that the weakening performance of the three Japanese auto giants in the worlds largest auto market is caused by the three companies lack of new energy vehicle competitiveness.
In terms of the performance of each company, in August, Toyota Motor saw its monthly sales dip 6.6% year over year but rise 15.13% month on month to 175,800 vehicles in China, according to data provided by Japanese media Kyodo.
bZ4X; photo credit: Toyota
According to Kyodo, China sales of Toyota Motors luxury brand, Lexus, fell 8.9% year-on-year in August.
In the first eight months of this year, Toyotas cumulative sales in China came in at 1,207,800 units, down 5.11% from that of the previous year.
In the past month, Honda Motor sold 102,257 vehicles in China, representing a 25.1% drop year-on-year while also indicating a 14% jump month-on-month.
In the Jan.-Aug. period, Hondas cumulative China sales decreased 24% from a year ago to 721,639 vehicles, with 147,288 units being electrified vehicles, said the automaker. Note that Honda categorized all pure-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and vehicles equipped with Hondas Two-Motor Hybrid-Electric System as electrified vehicles.
As to Nissan Motor, with 64,905 vehicles sold in China last month, the company faced a 28.9% plunge over the previous year and a 9.07% hike from the previous month. For the first eight months of the year, Nissan Motors cumulative sales volume amounted to 482,921 vehicles in China, down 23.5% from a year ago.
In the past month, Dongfeng Nissan (including Nissan, Venucia, and INFINITI brands) sold a total of 61,967 vehicles, which climbed up 9.69% compared to that of the month-ago period. Among which, Nissan, Venucia, and INFINITI brands all recorded month-on-month sales growth, with increases of 9.7%, 7.8%, and 31.8%, respectively.
Shohei Yamazaki, Senior Vice President of Nissan Motor Corporation and Chairman of Nissan's China Management Committee, as well as President of Dongfeng Motor Corporation, commented on the performance, that with the launch of the Nissan ARIYA 500 and the Venucia V-Online DD-i hybrid models in July, the company is dedicated to further enriching its new energy product lineup in China.
China's Wang Yi heads to Russia as North Korea's Kim wraps up visit
Foreign minister's visit is seen as a counterbalance to warming ties between Pyongyang and Moscow, say experts.
By Lee Jeong-Ho and Elaine Chan for RFA 2023.09.18 -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday began a four-day trip to Russia during which both sides could shore up their strategic ties, a day after Beijing's ally and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un concluded a six-day visit to Russia's Far East.
Wang will be in Russia for the China-Russia strategic security consultation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday.
The top diplomat's trip to Russia follows on the heels of Kim's high-profile visit to Russia where he and Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to step up cooperation on multiple fronts - from the economy, diplomacy to the military. The Kim-Putin summit came as China did not actively respond to Moscow's call in July to conduct a trilateral joint military drill to form a united front against the United States and its allies.
"China's perspective on the strengthening ties between Russia and North Korea is rather multifaceted," said Ji Seong-ho, a North Korean defector-turned-South Korean lawmaker.
"Beijing must carefully assess how such a development impacts its influence over both North Korea and Russia, as it faces competition with the U.S.," Ji said.
"China has recently been at the receiving end when it comes to calls for diplomatic collaboration from Russia and North Korea. But its domestic challenges, particularly its economic concerns, have inevitably limited its maneuverability," Ji added.
"It seems China is attempting to assert its role in the region before it's too late."
Wang's visit could underscore Beijing's attempt to reiterate its strategic significance to its longtime neighboring allies, Moscow and Pyongyang, ensuring its influence remains paramount for both nations. In fact, China's economic and security interests are largely related to those of its two neighbors.
Yet, China could be stuck between a rock and a hard place. It neither wants to be too close to North Korea and Russia, which are under U.N. sanctions regimes, nor too distant as that could translate into its diminished regional clout that weakens its leverage against the U.S. and its allies.
Conversely, closer ties between Pyongyang and Moscow may also result in both countries being less dependent on China. North Korea's nuclear provocations have already pushed China's neighbors South Korea and Japan to draw closer to Washington.
"China would most likely feel the strain in its relationship with North Korea right now," said Park Won-gon, an associate professor in the department of North Korean studies at Ewha Womans University. "While it doesn't want to see North Korea going nuclear, it also doesn't want to see its influence diminishing. It would be a difficult problem for China."
The Kim-Putin summit on Wednesday has triggered the U.S. and its allies, South Korea and Japan, to ratchet up countermeasures. The two leaders vowed to intensify security cooperation that could change regional security dynamics, which could eat into Beijing's interests.
China has long opposed the emergence of a multilateral security platform in the region, in what it described as a "mini-Nato" in the Indo-Pacific. The allies' collective military prowess is not only seen to surpass that of China, Russia and North Korea put together, it may also deter Beijing's expansionist ambitions in the region, including territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Taiwan's defense ministry said on Monday that since Sunday, it has spotted 103 Chinese People's Liberation Army aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait - an unofficial barrier between the two sides - that China began crossing in the last few years.
China-Russia relations
Wang's visit, therefore, may provide an opportunity for Beijing to engage in the regional security matters, whilst potentially gaining an insight into the outcome of any agreements between Kim and Putin.
But Ewha Womans University's Park is doubtful if Beijing could get additional details. "It is less likely that both sides would release anything on the recent development of the North Korea-Russia relations," he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin called each other "dear friends" during Xi's state visit to Moscow in March, where he pledged solidarity with Russia, "to stand guard over the world order based on international law."
China has helped safeguard Russia from isolation by the Western democracies after the invasion of Ukraine, by increasing imports of Russian oil, and selling more electronic and computer equipment to the country.
The Chinese diplomat's visit is also seen as readying the ground for Putin's potential trip to Beijing next month for the Belt and Road forum, a platform that showcases the Chinese massive infrastructure-led strategy to seek global dominance.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said last week that Wang will meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for talks that will cover Ukraine and security in the Asia Pacific region, according to a Monday report by the official news agency, Tass.
On Sunday, Wang met U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Malta for "candid substantive, and constructive discussions," both the White House and the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in statements.
While the two sides are committed "to pursue additional high-level engagement and consultations in key areas" in the coming months, Wang, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry statement, stressed that the Taiwan issue is the first red line that must not be crossed in U.S.-China relations.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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China, Russia Bear Special Responsibility for Global Strategic Stability - Wang Yi
Sputnik News
20230918
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia and China bear special responsibility for maintaining strategic stability in the world, with their bilateral cooperation not aimed against anyone, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday.
"Our cooperation is not aimed against anyone and is not a subject to disturbances and outside interventions. At the same time, China and Russia, as global superpowers and permanent members of the UN Security Council, bear special responsibility for maintaining strategic stability and progress in the world. The fiercer unilateral hegemony and bloc confrontation is, the more important it is for us to keep up with the times," Wang said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
"The current turbulence of global and regional situations" demands constant coordination and the boosting of strategic cooperation, the diplomat added.
Lavrov noted that the Russia-China cooperation is developing in "harsh conditions when the world is undergoing tectonic shifts."
"I would like to underline the importance of the Russia-China cooperation for ensuring justice in global affairs and maintaining the balance of interest in processes which develop in multiple directions," the top Russian diplomat stated.
The Russian minister also expressed confidence that the countries' bilateral ties would continue to develop, including on the sidelines of international forums such as the UN General Assembly and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The result of this cooperation will "meet the expectations of all peoples of the international community," Lavrov emphasized.
A Sputnik
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Secretary Blinken's Meeting with People's Republic of China (PRC) Vice President Han Zheng
US Department of State
Readout
Office of the Spokesperson
September 18, 2023
The following is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met today with PRC Vice President Han Zheng on the margins of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City. The two sides had a candid and constructive discussion, building on recent high-level engagements between the two countries to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the U.S.-China relationship.
The Secretary emphasized that the United States will continue to use diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and values and to discuss areas of difference. The Secretary also explored potential areas of cooperation and advocated for progress on shared transnational challenges. The two sides exchanged views on a range of key bilateral, global, and regional issues, including Russia's war against Ukraine, the DPRK's provocative actions, and other topics. The Secretary underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Both sides reiterated their commitment to maintaining open lines of communication, including follow-on senior engagements in the coming weeks.
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Secretary Antony J. Blinken and People's Republic of China Vice President Han Zheng before Their Meeting
US Department of State
Remarks
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of China to the UN
New York City, New York
September 18, 2023
VICE PRESIDENT HAN: (Via interpreter) It's my pleasure to meet you again, Mr. Secretary of State. In autumn of 2015, during your visit to China, we held friendly talks in Shanghai - development and the reform of the Shanghai free trade summit. You asked about Shanghai's innovative development, as well as how American companies were doing in Shanghai. And now, eight years later, the memory is still fresh in my mind.
At present, China-U.S. relations are the most consequential relations. In June this year, you visited China and held candid, pragmatic, and productive communication with various sides in China. Such communications sent to the whole world the constructive message of China and the United States stepping up engagement and dialogue and working together to stabilize the bilateral relationship. The world needs a steady and sound China-U.S. relationship, and such a relationship is beneficial with two countries and the world at large.
Last year, President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden had a successful meeting in Bali. They reached a series of important common understandings which pointed the way forward for China-U.S. relations. At present, China-U.S. relations face various difficulties and challenges. It requires both sides to work together to show sincerity, work in the same direction, and make common efforts.
China has all along followed the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in viewing and handling China-U.S. relations. And we sincerely hope that the U.S. would take more concrete action to deliver on the common understanding between our leaders for the sound and steady growth in China-U.S. relations.
I'd like to hear from you, Mr. Secretary of State.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Mr. Vice President, first, it's good to see you again. I remember well our meeting in Shanghai in 2015, and I'm pleased for the opportunity to meet here on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly.
I think it's a good thing that we have this opportunity to build on the recent high-level engagements that our countries have had, to make sure that we're maintaining open communications and to demonstrate that we are responsibly managing the relationship between our two countries.
From the perspective of the United States, face-to-face diplomacy is the best way to deal with areas where we disagree, and also the best way to explore areas of potential cooperation between us. The world expects us to responsibly manage our relationship. The United States is committed to doing just that.
And I'm looking forward to a good conversation with you today. Thanks for having us here.
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Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Visits Various Objects in Vladivostok of Russia
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK
Pyongyang, September 18 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), visited Far Eastern Federal University, the Maritime Territorial Aquarium and the Arnika Bio-Feed Mill on September 17.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un toured Far Eastern Federal University on Sunday morning.
Accompanying him were DPRK Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, Marshals of the Korean People's Army Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon, DPRK Minister of National Defence Kang Sun Nam, O Su Yong and Pak Thae Song, secretaries of the C.C., WPK, and other senior officials and suite members.
Far Eastern Federal University on Russky Island of Vladivostok City is a large-scale comprehensive scientific, educational and research center, the pride of the Far Eastern region, which has 27 colleges, 47 faculties and more than 400 research centers and labs. In particular, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un visiting the Russian Federation in April Juche 108 (2019) had the historic first meeting and talks with President Putin there.
Kim Jong Un was greeted by Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Maritime Territory Administration, and Boris Korovets, president of Far Eastern Federal University.
He was briefed by the president of the university on the size of the university, its educational system, future development plan and prospect.
Noting that Far Eastern Federal University is dearer to him as it is the place where he met with President Putin for the first time and DPRK students are studying, Kim Jong Un expressed expectation that the university would achieve better development in the future and play an important role in the cooperation between the DPRK and Russia in the field of science and technology.
The president of the university presented a gift to Kim Jong Un in welcome of his visit to the university, saying that it is the highest honor to have him at the university.
Kim Jong Un went round the exhibition houses along the beach in the campus of the university.
Visiting the exhibition houses of Maritime Territory and the Ministry of Industry and Trade, he highly appreciated the remarkable successes made by the Russian people in the fields of economy and science and technology.
He met the DPRK students studying at Far Eastern Federal University.
Greatly excited, the students broke into cheers of "Hurrah!", looking up to Kim Jong Un who personally called them and showed his parental love for them despite his busy schedule on a long journey of foreign visit for the prosperity of the country and the well-being of its people and for the friendship and solidarity between the DPRK and Russia.
He learned in detail about the studies and life of the students. Saying that the country is hoping and waiting for the successes in their studies and they should become competent sci-tech talents and revolutionary talents who would contribute a large share to the prosperity of the great state by studying harder and making tireless efforts, he had a photo taken with them.
He waved to the students as a token of his goodbye to them.
The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un visited the Maritime Territorial Aquarium.
The aquarium, which was opened in 2016, is a scientific education complex contributing to the conservation and propagation of sea creatures and education about them as a branch of the National Scientific Center of Marine Biology in the Far East Federal Region under the Russian Academy of Sciences.
He watched white dolphins and other sea animals performing acrobatic feats at the dolphinarium and looked round various places of the aquarium.
He appreciated the aquarium, successfully built on the initiative and under the attention of President Putin, for winning a reputation as a popular scientific research base and a leisure facility, and expressed thanks to Director Olga Shevchenko for kind guidance.
Alexandr Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, and Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of the Maritime Territory Administration, hosted a reception in welcome of Kim Jong Un 's visit to Vladivostok City.
Present there on invitation were Foreign Minister of the DPRK Choe Son Hui, Marshals of the Korean People's Army Ri Pyong Chol and Pak Jong Chon, Minister of National Defence of the DPRK Kang Sun Nam, Secretaries of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea O Su Yong and Pak Thae Song, other senior officials and suite members, DPRK Ambassador to the Russian Federation Sin Hong Chol and DPRK Consul General in Vladivostok Jo Sok Chol.
Senior officials from the capital and local areas of Russia were on hand.
Kozlov, minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, expressed his will to further expand the cooperation between the two countries, expressing thanks again to the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un for visiting the Russian Federation and Vladivostok City this significant year marking the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and the DPRK.
In his reply speech Pak Thae Song conveyed sincere greetings to the government and people of the Russian Federation that put their sincerest efforts into successfully ensuring the visit. He hoped that the efforts of the Russian people and government to build a powerful country and positively contribute to the independent and peaceful development of mankind by dint of it would bring good results.
A performance was given at the reception by artistes of Vladivostok City.
The reception proceeded in a warm friendly atmosphere.
After the reception, Kim Jong Un met Ambassador Sin Hong Chol and Consul General Jo Sok Chol and staff members of the consulate general and had a significant photo session with them in consideration of their devoted efforts to uphold the Party's foreign policy abroad.
Kim Jong Un visited the Arnika Bio-Feed Mill in the afternoon.
He was greeted by President Alexandr Generalov and General Director Ludmilla Tekutieva of the Co. Ltd. of the mill.
Being briefed on the mill, he went round its various production processes and had a warm talk with officials of the company.
Generalov presented him with a gift in reflection of the minds of the mill's employees.
Kim Jong Un had a souvenir photo taken with the president and the general director of the company and the governor of the Maritime Territory Administration.
He, concluding his visit to Vladivostok City, expressed thanks to the senior officials from the capital and local areas of Russia for their kind greeting and guidance. -0-
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Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Passes through Tumangang Railway Station
Korean Central News Agency of DPRK
Pyongyang, September 19 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, completed his official goodwill visit to the Russian Federation and passed through the Tumangang Railway Station, the border station, on early Monday morning.
Through his visit to the Russian Federation, the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un further deepened the comradely fellowship and friendly ties with Russian President Putin and the government and people of Russia and opened a new chapter of the development of the DPRK-Russia relations.
He sent warm greetings to the beloved Korean people, crossing the Tuman River after passing through the Khasan Railway Station, border station of the Russian Federation. -0-
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Germany Federal Foreign Office
17.09.2023 - Press release
For the next few days, the world's heart will be beating in New York at the UN General Assembly. We will be holding a whole range of tough talks there - on peace; on the development of international law; on good climate, health and development policy; and on the rights of women and girls in countries such as Afghanistan.
It's now hard to imagine a time when German foreign policy and the United Nations were not closely linked. And yet Germany was a latecomer to the UN. After the murder of millions of European Jews and the crimes of the Second World War, Germany was for a long time seen as an enemy nation by the UN's founding members. It was almost three decades before the two German states had rebuilt enough trust to be able to join the organisation. Today, Germany has transformed from an enemy nation to one of the UN's greatest supporters.
It is our responsibility to live up to this regained trust by steadfastly upholding the UN Charter and its principles. Wherever these principles are eroded or violated, we will work with our partners to push back - whether in Ukraine or elsewhere. That is the credo of Germany's membership of the United Nations, and it is the promise tied to our candidacy for a seat on the UN Security Council in 2027/2028.
The United Nations is not perfect, but it is simply the best forum available to the international community. In order to succeed in a world in transition, we need to revitalise the United Nations. This means putting the Sustainable Development Goals at the heart of the United Nations. It means showing more ambition in efforts to curb the climate crisis, the greatest threat of our time. It means finally organising the United Nations, the international financial institutions and the health agencies in such a way that our partners in Africa, Latin America and Asia have the voice they deserve there.
In order to make the UN system more just, more inclusive and more effective, Germany is joining forces with Namibia to lead the negotiations for the UN Summit of the Future in 2024. And as part of the G4 together with Brazil, India and Japan, we have spent years advocating UN Security Council reform. Because one thing is clear - a Security Council that still represents the world of the 20th century is no longer fit for purpose. Only if the United Nations "updates" its operating system in order to join the 21st century can it remain the place where the international community solves its problems together in the long term.
Technical failure behind crash of defense system in north Iran
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 18, 2023
Tehran, IRNA -- The Iranian Defense Ministry spokesperson has announced that the malfunction of a defense system in a city in the north of the country led to the crash of the military system under the test after diverting from its original path.
Reza Talaei-Nik made the announcement on a live TV program while elaborating on the event occurred in Gorgan, north of Iran.
The rescue and operational teams are busy finding and gathering the debris from the crash, the spokesperson noted.
About the incident, it is reported that it happened after the Ministry of Defense was testing a missile system, which was equipped with a raining warhead, in a barren area.
The Iranian Ministry of Defense is to release a statement later in the day to give details about the incident.
1483**7129
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Iran to receive frozen funds on Monday: FM spox
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 18, 2023
Tehran, IRNA -- Iran expects to receive on Monday all of its assets frozen in South Korea due to US sanctions, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani.
"As a result of the cruel actions of the United States and the pressure it had exerted on some of Iran's partners, some of our assets were blocked in South Korea, and today these assets will be available to Iran in their entirety," Kanaani said at a press conference on Monday.
He said the Raisi administration has made headway in restoring the rights of the Iranian nation in various fields, including the release of Iran's frozen funds in various countries.
"Having Iran's assets released from the UK after several years was a great success," he remarked.
Kanaani also said the process of implementing an agreement between Iran and the US on the two issues of frozen assets and prisoner swap has progressed step by step and at a favorable speed.
"We hope to receive our assets from South Korea today," he said, adding that the exchange of prisoners, five individuals from each country, will be carried out on the same day.
Iran committed to JCPOA talks
Iran remains committed to diplomatic paths in order to secure the nation's rights, Kanaani said, emphasizing that there are no limits to dialogue for the responsible return of all parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Kanaani stated that if there is even a minimal chance in the diplomatic path for all parties to return to the JCPOA, Iran will seize it.
In addition, he affirmed that Iran will continue its efforts to neutralize sanctions seriously.
Growth in Iran's foreign trade exchanges over the last two years
Commenting on the Iranian government's interactions with Asian countries, he said that according to the official statistics available about Iran's trade exchanges with its partners, we have witnessed the growth of foreign trade over the last two years.
The transfer of assets, the increase in Iran's oil sales, the expansion of foreign relations, and Iran's presence in international bodies indicate the effectiveness of the government's foreign policy, he added.
Defying US anti-Iran sanctions
Kanaani went on to say that it seems normal for states to face restrictions in certain areas due to the ongoing sanctions imposed by the United States; however, many nations showed they do not want to succumb to Washington's pressures.
Kanaani further noted that the establishment and development of relationships with the Islamic Republic by other governments, coupled with their readiness for dialogue, is a clear indication of the dynamic foreign policy pursued by the Raisi administration, which gives reason for optimism.
Iran-Iraq security pact
The spokesman also stated that September 19 is the deadline for the Iraqi government to implement the security agreement concerning the presence of terrorist groups on Iraqi soil; thus, these groups are required to be disarmed and their bases evacuated.
These demands are raised based on the bilateral security agreement, Kanaani said, adding that there is evidence to suggest that the Iraqi side has already implemented many aspects of the agreement; therefore, some bases belonging to terrorist groups have been evacuated and the groups have been relocated.
Iran is seeking to foster strong relations with both the government and the people of Iraq, the spokesperson noted and added that the security of Iraq is of importance to the Islamic Republic.
The spokesperson also highlighted that the presence of terrorists in northern Iraq is contrary to the interests of both neighboring states, he said and emphasized that the presence of terrorist groups in the joint border areas is unacceptable to the Islamic Republic, so tomorrow will be the deadline for implementing the security agreement.
Iran can develop ties with all nations
Kanaani also said Iran does not have any restrictions for the development of relations with different countries, except for one particular case.
"We have never had an exclusionary view toward Europe, and we are ready to talk and cooperate with any country that wants to cooperate with Iran with mutual respect," he said.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tehran welcomes any initiative and effort for a responsible return of all parties to the JCPOA, including the initiative put forward by Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said.
"Yet this does not mean adding a new party to the JCPOA," he hastened to add.
"We support the good-faith initiatives of various countries to bring the views of the remaining JCPOA parties closer."
Iran to attend Moscow meeting on Afghanistan
On the upcoming meeting in Moscow on Afghanistan, Kanaani said the meeting will be held at the level of special representatives of different countries.
Iran has repeatedly announced that it supports regional mechanisms to help the progress of the political process in Afghanistan, he said, adding that the Islamic Republic has made many efforts in this regard.
"Our view on Afghanistan is clear, and in this context, we will participate in the upcoming meeting held in Moscow, and we will follow these consultations with various parties, including the Afghan ruling body," the spokesman added.
We do not tolerate the political use of human rights
In response to human rights pressures exerted by some Western countries, Kanaani stated that Iran does not require the support or sympathy of those who have been committing crimes against the Iranian nation for the past four decades.
Kanaani further criticized the hypocrisy of those who claim to be human rights advocates while hosting the MKO terrorists, who are responsible for the murder of 17,000 Iranians, and described this situation as 'ridiculous'.
Kanaani affirmed that Iran remains committed to human rights and has stood strong against the US and Europe for over 40 years, thanks to the support of its people.
The world nations see the suppression of citizens, they see the shooting from a short distance to European citizens, he stated.
He also pointed out the global awareness of citizen suppression, highlighting instances where European citizens have been shot at close range and an American woman has been shot by the US police.
Iran expands commercial diplomacy with appointment of attachAs
Iran is making strides in expanding its commercial diplomacy, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade working in close cooperation, Kanaani said, highlighting the importance of increasing the number of Iranian commercial attachAs in various countries as a key aspect of trade relations.
Kanaani underscored that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran has identified 30 countries, where it plans to have commercial attachAs, and that it has appointed 20 commercial attachAs so far. There is no obstacle in the way of implementing the project, he argued.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has identified 30 countries for sending commercial attachAs and has successfully appointed 20 so far, said, Kanaani.
Iran not to give up its rights in Arash Gas Field
Iran's Minister of Oil Javad Oji has asserted that the country will not relinquish its rights over the Arash Gas Field, Kanaani said, noting that there are frameworks to address technical issues. and that developments on the ground will be closely monitored by the Iranian side, ensuring their interests in the gas field are upheld.
Possible meeting between Iran's president, Japan's prime minister
Concerning a possible meeting between Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, the spokesman said that it would be possible for them to meet in New York if the Japanese premier takes part in the event.
The spokesperson further emphasized that the UN General Assembly serves as an appropriate platform for such high-level discussions and meetings; therefore, the possibility of this meeting occurring is not remote.
Iran opposes political abuse of IAEA
Asked by IRNA's correspondent on recent remarks by Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, who condemned Iran's move to bar multiple inspectors assigned to the country, Kanaani said the Islamic Republic opposes political abuse of the IAEA for the sake of some specific countries.
He urged those countries to allow the agency to pursue its professional activity.
Kanaani made clear, however, that Iran will continue its cooperation with the IAEA based on the safeguards agreement.
"We will continue our safeguards cooperation with the agency while emphasizing the necessity of the agency's neutrality," he added.
The US must pay attention to Syria's demands
Elsewhere in his presser, the spokesman said the presence of US forces in Syria amounts to occupation, and no movement is allowed in the Arab country without the consent of the Damascus government.
"The presence of the Americans is illegal, and they should pay attention to the demand of the Syrian government," he said.
Regarding Iran's plan for the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Syria, Kanaani said Iran has always sought to resolve the differences between Syria and Turkey.
However, he continued, the differences should be resolved within the framework of a political process.
The US administration is sick and needs treatment
In response to the sanctions imposed on certain Iranian media outlets by Western countries, Kanaani stated that Iran will take appropriate action.
He criticized the US administration, describing it as being "addicted to sanctions" and in need of treatment.
Kanaani pointed out the contradiction in the US's stance, which claims to support freedom of speech while simultaneously sanctioning free media in Iran, criticizing it as a clear violation of freedom of speech and a demonstration of the US's hypocritical and unilateral policy.
He further emphasized that the media, whose duty is to freely circulate information, are being sanctioned.
Kanaani attributed this to the US administration's concerns about Iran's voice reaching the global stage and Washington's inability to implement its foreign policy effectively.
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Iran's President Raeisi: Prisoner swap with US purely humanitarian measure
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 6:46 PM
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi says the prisoner swap that took place between Iran and the United States was purely carried out on humanitarian grounds.
Raeisi, who is in New York to take part in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, made the remarks while speaking to senior American media managers on Monday after Iran and the US implemented a Doha-mediated prisoner swap deal.
Noting that the exchange of prisoners between Iran and the United States was a purely humanitarian measure, Iran's president said, "Definitely, any step that is taken [by the United States] to fulfil their commitments will be confidence-building for us."
Raeisi told NBC that the released funds, which he said had been cruelly blocked and are now in possession of Iran, belong to the Iranian people and would be used to meet their needs.
After two years of high-stakes negotiations, Iran and the US agreed to free prisoners as part of a deal that also included the release of billions of Iranian assets illegally frozen in South Korea.
The funds, owed to Iran for exports of oil and gas, had been frozen in South Korean bank accounts since 2018 after the administration of then-President Donald Trump pulled the US from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, further aggravating tensions with Tehran.
On Monday, Iran and the US freed 10 prisoners -- five Iranians and five Americans -- after the US government unblocked the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds held in South Korea.
The plane carrying two of the five released Iranians landed in Tehran on Monday evening. Mehrdad Moein Ansari and Reza Sarhangpour arrived in Tehran after departing from the Qatari capital of Doha earlier in the day.
The three other released Iranians are not returning to Iran, with two staying in the US and one going to a third country to join his family.
Five American prisoners, who were flown out of Iran earlier in the day as part of the swap deal, also left mediator Qatar for the United States.
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran Mohammad Reza Farzin on Monday confirmed that the Islamic Republic's funds were transferred to Iranian bank accounts in Qatar.
He said 5.573 billion euros had been deposited into the accounts of six Iranian banks in Qatar's Al Ahli and Al Dukhan banks.
"Foreign intervention cause of regional problems"
Elsewhere in his remarks, Raeisi described promotion of relations with Iran's neighbors as one of his administration's pivotal policies, stressing that "the main reason behind some problems in the regional countries' relations has been foreign intervention, especially by the United States."
"The US presence in the region will never create security, just in the same way that normalization of relations with some Arab countries by the Zionist regime will not bring security to this regime," he added.
The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco signed US-brokered normalization agreements with Israel in 2020, drawing condemnations from Palestinians who slammed the deals as "a stab in the back of the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people."
"Iranians foiled plot by US, Europeans to foment riots in country"
Raeisi then pointed to the miscalculation made by the US and some Western countries during last year's riots in Iran, which followed the death of a young Iranian girl.
"The United States and some Western countries imagined due to a miscalculation that if they could manage part of the riots in Iran, they would achieve their goals. However, the Iranian nation did not cooperate with rioters and those who disrupted the country's order and security and the plot hatched by the US and some European countries failed."
"I believe that if it the United States and some Western countries had not made this miscalculation, this process [of exchanging prisoners] could have taken place earlier than this," the Iranian president said.
The riots broke out across Iran in mid-September 2022 after 22-year-old girl called Mahsa Amini fainted at a police station in Tehran and was pronounced dead three days later at hospital.
Western states have time and again accused Iran of cracking down on "peaceful protests" in the country. But Iran says the unfortunate death of Amini, which was caused by her illness, was used as an excuse for widespread rioting instigated by several foreign intelligence agencies, and that the country had to act to protect public order by confronting the rioters.
"Iranians will never give in to US sanctions"
The Iranian president also pointed to the failure of the so-called US maximum pressure policy and sanctions against Tehran, suggesting that American media managers should urge their officials to reconsider the policy of imposing sanctions against the Iranian nation, because Iranians "are determined to overcome problems and will never yield to sanctions."
He noted that the US and the West raise issues such as hijab, human rights and Iran's nuclear activities just as an excuse to harm the Islamic Republic as an independent country.
He slammed US media silence on the killing of more than 1,000 American people by the country's police in 2022 and a recent fatal shooting of a pregnant Black woman by US police in the state of Ohio earlier this month.
"Iran-Russia defense cooperation predates Ukraine war"
The Iranian chief executive once again rejected the West's claims about Tehran's arms sale to Russia to be used in the war against Ukraine, saying that the government of Ukraine has so far failed to produce any solid documents in this regard.
"Iran's relations with Russia in various political, economic and defense fields date back to many years before the Ukraine war, and any interaction and exchanges between the two countries in the area of defense also predate the Ukraine war," Raeisi pointed out.
He once again expressed Iran's readiness to mediate between Ukraine and Russia in an attempt to put an end to the ongoing war and urged the US to make more efforts to end the conflict instead of fueling it.
Russia launched what it calls a special military operation in February 2022 in pro-Moscow regions of Ukraine to prevent Kiev's persecution of the people in these regions and stop NATO's eastward expansion.
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Beijing (Gasgoo)- On September 19, Volkswagen Group China announced the inking of a strategic cooperation agreement with JINGDONG Industrials ("JD Industrials") to optimize its Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) material procurement processes.
Signing ceremony; photo credit: Volkswagen
This groundbreaking collaboration, facilitated through a digital platform, will span across seven Volkswagen Group China entities, encompassing the procurement of more than 14,000 MRO materials. The move is poised to accelerate the digital transformation of the group's general procurement operations, enhancing procurement efficiency through collaborative efforts among group entities.
Alfonso Sancha, the Executive Vice President of Volkswagen Group China responsible for Purchasing, emphasized the pivotal role of procurement in the automotive industry's rapid transformation. He stated, "Volkswagen Group China is committed to driving transformation in the procurement field, offering innovative local solutions to meet domestic needs, and supporting the group's 'In China, For China' development strategy."
Bernhard Frost, Head of General Purchasing of Volkswagen Group China and Lead of Regional Sourcing Committee APAC, said: We are actively advancing our Asia Pacific regional general purchasing strategy. It aims to achieve heightened transparency and leverage combined scale through collaborative efforts among our entities. The partnership with JD Industrials is the latest initiative within this strategy. Our objectives are to enhance efficiency and cultivate stronger supply chain synergies through a centralized digital platform.
MRO materials present distinctive challenges due to their wide array of less common items, frequent spontaneous purchases, and unpredictable demand fluctuations. To further advance the digitalization and standardization of MRO procurement within Volkswagen Group China, both parties intend to create an exclusive online platform dedicated to MRO procurement. This platform will oversee tasks such as matching, ordering, approvals, delivery, and settlements, resulting in an enhanced MRO efficiency. The initial stage of this collaboration will focus on acquiring more than 14,000 MRO items.
Chief banker confirms deposit of some $6 billion in unfrozen funds into Iran accounts in Qatar
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 2:41 PM
Central Bank of Iran Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin has confirmed that the Islamic Republic's released funds totaling some $6 billion have now been transferred to Qatari banks.
Farzin announced on Monday the release of Iran's financial assets that had been blocked in South Korea and said the entire funds had been deposited into the accounts of six Iranian banks in Qatar's Al Ahli and Al Dukhan banks.
The six Iranian banks namely Keshavarzi, Saman, Pasargad, Tourism, Karafarin and Shahr opened accounts in Qatar after the country's funds in two South Korean banks in Seoul were transferred on August 10 to the account of Swiss National Bank (SNB) for conversion into euros.
"We received an official letter from the Qatari authorities yesterday, according to which the accounts of Iranian banks had been activated, and today, 5.573 billion and 492 thousand euros have been deposited into the accounts of six Iranian banks at two banks, Al Ahli and Al Dukhan," the chief banker said.
Farzin underlined that the whole released funds are regarded as the foreign currency reserves of the Central Bank of Iran and backing for the Iranian Rial and will be spent in accordance with national interests and to strengthen the Rial.
"[The possibility of] access to the country's foreign exchange resources is being pursued in several other countries and the results will be announced when finalized," he added.
The release of Iran's blocked assets came as a US-Iran prisoner swap deal took place earlier in the day.
Under a deal between Iran and the United States brokered by Qatar last month, the two sides agreed to exchange prisoners and to secure the release of some $6 billion of Iranian funds that had remained blocked in two South Korean banks since 2018 because of US pressure on Seoul.
The Biden administration also agreed to release five Iranian citizens held in the United States.
The five Iranian detainees were identified as Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour Kofrani, Amin Hassanzadeh, and Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi.
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Iranian President Raeisi in New York for UN General Assembly session, key talks
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 12:37 PM
Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi has arrived in New York to take part in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly and hold key talks with senior officials attending the event.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, Raeisi arrived in John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday and was welcomed by Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, and a number of Iranian diplomats.
Speaking to reporters upon his arrival in New York, Raeisi said the United Nations should serve as the voice of the nations and not that of the powers.
"Nations expect the United Nations to be an organization of 'nations' because if it becomes an organization of 'states', the voice of nations will not be heard," he added.
He emphasized that the capacities of the UN and the General Assembly can be used to communicate the Iranian nation's voice and outline the Islamic Republic's foreign policy.
The Iranian president said the country has managed to achieve a "big victory" against the enemy's hybrid warfare launched last September, referring to angry protests across the country that were sparked after the death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman of Kurdish descent. The 22-year-old died in a hospital in Tehran days after she was detained by police on September 15, 2022.
He added that the enemy wrongly thought that such provocations would cause trouble for the Islamic Revolution but they made another miscalculation and "the Iranian nation has successfully overcome this struggle."
Raeisi stressed the importance of outlining the "important messages" of the Iranian nation's achievements in the face of the enemies.
He said the great nation of Iran has something to say in its demand for justice and rights, and the fight against discrimination and corruption.
During his three-day visit to New York, the Iranian chief executive is expected to deliver a speech at the annual General Assembly meeting and hold talks with heads of state as well as Iranians residing there.
He will also expound on the Islamic Republic's positions and answer questions from political, social, religious, and media groups and elites.
Before his departure, Raeisi met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and presented a report about the main schedule of his visit.
Ayatollah Khamenei made all the necessary recommendations and wished the president success.
Speaking in a late Sunday interview before departing Tehran, Raeisi said interaction with the world as well as regional and international organizations is one of the planks of the Islamic Republic's policy.
He added that as a member of the United Nations, Iran expects the world body to play a determining role in promoting global development, security, peace and justice.
The 78th UNGA session will take place on September 18-26. The presence of high-ranking officials from different countries at the annual event provides a good opportunity for international political consultations and bilateral dialogues.
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Iran to access assets frozen in South Korea as of Monday: FM spox
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:44 AM
Iran's frozen funds in South Korea, worth nearly $6 billion, will be fully accessible to the Iranian government as of Monday, says Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani.
Kan'ani made the remark at a weekly press briefing in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Monday.
He said that the incumbent Iranian administration has defined restoration of the nation's inalienable rights in various spheres as one of its statutory duties, and has vigorously pursued the release of Iran's unfrozen assets.
The process of implementing an agreement with the US on the release of Iran's assets as well as a prisoner swap has progressed at a favorable pace, said the spokesman.
The exchange of prisoners will be done today as well, he clarified, adding that five Iranian prisoners will be released by the US in exchange for five American prisoners.
Iran-Iraq security agreement
The spokesman also pointed to a security agreement between Tehran and Baghdad on the disarmament and relocation of anti-Iran terror groups based in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, reiterating that the final deadline will expire on September 19 and will not be extended in any way.
The Iraqi government has officially declared that it stands committed to the terms of the agreement and will comply with its obligations, Kan'ani noted, expressing hope that the Iraqi government will fully implement the deal given the emphasis laid in meetings between officials from the two neighboring countries.
Iran-IAEA cooperation
Commenting on Iran's recent move to bar multiple inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Kan'ani said Tehran is against politicization of the agency in favor of certain countries.
However, he said the two sides will continue their interactions based on the Safeguards Agreement.
"We do not set any restrictions on cooperation and constructive interactions with the agency. We will continue such cooperation with emphasis on the impartiality of the [UN] body," the Iranian diplomat said.
EU extension of anti-Iran sanctions 'devoid of legal value'
The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman also reacted to a decision by the European Union and European trio (E3) - Britain, France, and Germany - not to lift the arms embargo against Iran, saying the move is devoid of any legal and international weight.
"After October 18, the restrictions stipulated under the JCPOA (the Iran nuclear deal) will be automatically lifted. We do not value the restrictions announced by the European Union. Under international law, Iran can cooperate and interact with any country that is willing to cooperate with it," he added.
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Five Iranians held in US prisons to be released Monday: Rights official
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 9:56 AM
Five Iranians held in US prisons for years will be released on Monday and two of them will arrive in Tehran via the Qatari capital, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights Kazem Gharibabadi says.
"After a successful team effort, five innocent Iranian compatriots in American prisons will be free today and two of them will enter Tehran via Doha," Gharibabadi wrote on his X account on Monday.
"The High Council for Human Rights, alongside the government and the judiciary, will remain determined to uphold the rights of Iranians abroad," he added.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said that two of the detainees will return to Iran while one of them will join his family in a third country and two others will stay in the US.
The five Iranian prisoners were identified as Mehrdad Moein Ansari, Kambiz Attar Kashani, Reza Sarhangpour Kofrani, Amin Hassanzadeh, and Kaveh Lotfollah Afrasiabi.
They had been held in American jails illegally and under the pretext of violating US sanctions. Their release came under a prisoner exchange agreement with the US.
Officially announced on August 10, the deal will also see the release of five Americans from Iran's prisons.
The prisoner swap followed two years of indirect negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
The Islamic Republic has emphasized that the exchange of prisoners is a completely humanitarian issue.
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U.S. Prisoners Fly Out Of Tehran As Part Of Prisoner Swap
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda September 18, 2023
Five U.S. detainees flew out of Iran on September 18 as part of a swap between the United States and Iran after months of talks to clinch a deal.
A Qatari plane took off from Tehran carrying the five with two of their relatives, news agencies reported, hours after an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the prisoner exchange would occur shortly.
Some $6 billion of Iranian assets once frozen in South Korea are now in Qatar, a key element for the prisoner exchange, added ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in comments during a news conference aired on state television.
The exchange comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf. The deal has already opened President Joe Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who says his administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran is posing a growing threat to U.S. troops and Mideast allies.
According to the deal, the funds will be kept in accounts in Qatar, a U.S. ally on the Arabian Peninsula and home to a major American military installation. Those funds would be allowed for so-called humanitarian spending, such as food and medicine, already allowed under the sanctions, the United States has said.
Iranian officials have identified five individuals in U.S. custody whom Tehran would like handed over as part the deal.
They include three Iranians -- Mehrdad Ansari, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, and Kambiz Attar Kashani -- charged with illegally obtaining advanced or potential dual-use technology thought to be bound for Iran that has been under tightly reimposed U.S. sanctions since 2018.
Two others -- Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi and Amin Hasanzadeh -- were jailed for failing to register as foreign agents and stealing engineering plans on behalf of Iran, respectively.
"Out of the five Iranian citizens in America, two will return to Iran, two will stay in America at their own request, and one person will go to a third country at their request," Kanaani said. He did not identify which prisoners would return to Iran and which would not.
The American prisoners had included Siamak Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified.
Iran has been accused of taking foreign nationals hostage under the guise of breaking the law to use as bargaining chips. Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during a current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges.
Iran has been isolated and hit with tightened economic and diplomatic sanctions since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a 3-year-old deal between world powers and Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from previous measures aimed at stopping the country from developing its atomic capabilities.
Aside from the diplomatic and economic fallout, observers since then have attributed a series of ship seizures and attacks in the crucial Strait of Hormuz region to Tehran.
The Pentagon is said to be weighing a plan to put U.S. troops aboard commercial ships in the region, which is a conduit for around one-fifth of all global oil shipments.
Tehran has also cooperated with Russia in the Middle East in addition to supplying Moscow with crucial attack drones to further the Kremlin's war plans in Ukraine.
With reporting from AP
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-united-states-prisoner- swap/32597452.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Iranian Cinematographer Among Those Detained Trying To Mark Amini's Death
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda September 18, 2023
Cinematographer Leila Naghdipari was one of hundreds of Iranians arrested over the weekend for attempting to mark the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly breaking the country's mandatory head-scarf rule.
Naghdipari's husband, director Majid Barzegar, said in a post on Instagram on September 18 that his wife left the house at noon a day earlier and subsequently went missing for more than 24 hours before he received a late night phone call from Nakhdipari that she was alive.
She said: "I'm good. Very good. I have received a temporary detention order and now I'm in Qarchak Varamin prison," he wrote. He had no further details.
The arrest was one of hundreds made over the weekend amid sporadic protests by Iranians and a tight clampdown on any gatherings across the country as one year passed since Amini's death on September 16, 2022.
Video on social media on September 17 showed protesters in the western city of Hamadan clapping and shouting "Death to the Islamic republic." Some video showed protesters scattering after what appears to be shooting by security forces.
The Tehran-based Shargh newspaper, citing official sources, said that at least 270 individuals had been detained in various Iranian cities, outside of Tehran. "However, unofficial figures indicate even higher numbers," Shargh added.
The Islamic Republic's official news agency, IRNA, confirmed the arrests, accusing the detainees of "disruption" and "rioting." It gave no further information.
Amini's death sparked a wave of protests nationwide that rocked the country, posing the greatest threat to the Islamic leadership since it took power following the revolution in 1979.
Iranians, especially women and students, defiantly took to the streets calling for the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down because of the government's trampling of human rights and freedoms.
Authorities responded with a clampdown that has left hundreds dead and saw thousands detained.
They had warned ahead the weekend that all dissent would be dealt with severely, and even briefly arrested Amini's father on September 16 as a warning to avoid commemorating his 22-year-old daughter's death.
In the western Iranian city of Sanandaj, reports emerged of the arrest of a 15-year-old whose whereabouts remain unknown, while the Norway-based Hengaw group, which monitors rights violations in Iran's Kurdish regions, reported on September 17 that government forces arrested people in the cities of Gorgan, Fasa, Bojnurd, Zahedan, Zanjan, and Qeshm.
Meanwhile, images taken outside the "Relief Command Headquarters of the Police Force" in Tehran over the weekend show dozens of families waiting, seeking information about their detained relatives.
Rahim Jahanbakhsh, the police commander of West Azerbaijan Province, announced the arrest of 137 individuals on charges of "disturbing public opinion in social media."
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-cinemtographer-naghdipari- arrested-amini-anniversary/32598017.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Iran Again Threatens Persian-Language Media Abroad
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda September 18, 2023
Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib has issued a stark warning to Persian-language media outlets operating outside of Iran, saying that support from other countries will not deter Tehran from "aggressive" actions against them.
Repeating similar threats made earlier by the Information Ministry, Khatib said during a television appearance that media outlets such as the London-based Iran International news channel are "enemy media" and "will not be safe."
Khabib did not elaborate but Persian-language media outlets have long been wary of Tehran's threats.
The Intelligence Ministry had previously labeled employees of Iran International as "enemies of the state," saying that those who "serve foreigners" and "betray the country" will be punished.
Last year, Iran International announced that due to a serious and immediate threat flagged by the British police against its journalists and its offices, the channel had temporarily shifted its broadcast operations to Washington.
The threats come against the backdrop of the widespread arrests of journalists in Iran during the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests that have rocked the country. As part of a brutal and sometimes deadly crackdown on dissent, Iran's security institutions have escalated their aggressive campaign to curb the local media from reporting.
International human rights organizations have consistently ranked Iran as one of the world's top oppressors of journalists and free speech.
In December, Iran's Foreign Ministry sanctioned several individuals and entities located within the European Union's jurisdiction, including RFE/RL's Persian-language Radio Farda. The sanctions include visa bans, prohibiting the listed individuals from entering Iran, and the seizure of their assets within territories under the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic.
Tehran has tried to blame Western governments for the recent nationwide unrest, which was sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged dress-code violation over how she was wearing a head scarf.
Rights groups say that more than 500 deaths and thousands of arrests have occurred as part of the campaign to quell the unrest sparked by Amini's death on September 16, 2022.
Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-threatens-persian-language- media-abroad/32598233.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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On Iran's Release of Unjustly Detained U.S. Citizens
US Department of State
Press Statement
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
September 18, 2023
Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and two other U.S. citizens who wish to remain private have departed Iran and are on their way back to the United States to be reunited with their families. They are joined by two of their relatives, also U.S. citizens, who had been prevented from leaving Iran until Today. Several of these individuals have spent years imprisoned as part of the Iranian regime's cruel practice of wrongful detention, but today they are all returning home to their loved ones.
From day one of this Administration, the President and I have made clear that we have no higher priority than the safety and security of U.S. citizens at home and abroad. Under President Biden's leadership, we have now secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully detained Americans around the world. I am grateful to everyone from the State Department and across the government who worked tirelessly to bring home our U.S. citizens. We will not rest until we have brought home every wrongfully detained American.
I also extend my thanks to the many partners who helped make this possible. I would like to express our deep appreciation for the indispensable role played by the State of Qatar over the last two years in mediating this arrangement. I extend our sincere thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and senior Qatari officials for their steadfast involvement and assistance in securing the release of U.S. citizens and establishing the Humanitarian Channel in Qatar for Iran to purchase humanitarian goods like food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural products. The United States also expresses its deep appreciation to the Swiss Confederation for its tireless efforts to represent U.S. consular interests and its long-standing assistance as our protecting power in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In particular, we thank Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis for his personal commitment. We also thank the Republic of Korea for its close coordination and partnership, as well as Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said and the Sultanate of Oman, whose interventions were crucial to finalizing this arrangement, and the United Kingdom for their support.
Today is also a solemn day. While we celebrate the release of these five U.S. citizens, we recognize that Bob Levinson still remains unaccounted for more than 16 years after his abduction from Kish Island, Iran. The Iranian regime has inflicted unimaginable pain on Bob's family, and they have yet to account for his fate. We once again call upon the Iranian regime to give a full accounting of what happened to Bob Levinson. Bob's legacy lives on in the Levinson
Act, which bolsters our ability to bring home hostages and wrongfully detained U.S. nationals held overseas, and President Biden's Executive Order 14078, which builds on the Levinson Act and reinforces the tools to deter and disrupt hostage-taking and wrongful detention by other countries. We will use the Levinson Act and other tools to promote accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention.
Finally, I want to reiterate the State Department's clear warning to U.S. citizens: do not travel to Iran. While this group of U.S. citizens has been released, there is no way to guarantee a similar result for other Americans who decide to travel to Iran despite the U.S. government's longstanding warning against doing so. We continue to work with likeminded countries to deter future hostage-taking and hold Iran and other regimes accountable for such actions, including through actions we are taking today. U.S. citizens should not travel to Iran for any reason, and I call on any U.S. citizens in Iran to depart immediately.
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Treasury Designates Former President of Iran
U.S. Department of the Treasury
September 18, 2023
Action to Promote Accountability for Wrongful Detentions of U.S. Nationals
WASHINGTON -- Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, for having provided material support to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), an entity concurrently designated by the Department of State. These actions are being taken pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14078, "Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained U.S. Nationals Home," which expands the tools available to deter and impose tangible consequences on those responsible for, or complicit in, hostage-taking or the wrongful detention of a United States national abroad.
"Today's action targets Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for enabling the wrongful detention of our citizens, causing immeasurable pain and suffering for both the victims and their families," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. "We remain strongly committed to the victims and their families, and are resolute in our efforts to hold accountable those who perpetrate these acts."
E.O. 14078 draws on the authority of the 2020 Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage Taking Accountability Act, which is a credit to the perseverance of the Levinson family and others who have worked to turn their family's extraordinary hardships into constructive and meaningful action. The Iranian regime's refusal to account for what happened to Robert Levinson caused unbearable pain and suffering to Levinson, his family, and those who care about him. The Administration calls on the Iranian regime to give a full accounting of what happened to Bob Levinson, from his initial captivity to his probable death.
The Department of State concurrently designated MOIS for being responsible for, or complicit in, to have directly or indirectly engaged in, or to be responsible for ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, the hostage-taking of a U.S. national or the wrongful detention of a U.S. national abroad.
MOIS had previously been designated on February 16, 2012 pursuant to E.O. 13553 for being responsible for or complicit in the commission of serious human rights abuses against the Iranian people since June 12, 2009; pursuant to E.O. 13224 for providing support to Hizballah, Hamas, and al-Qa'ida; and pursuant to E.O. 13572 for providing support to the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate. On September 9, 2022, OFAC designated MOIS pursuant to E.O. 13694, as amended, for engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Ahmadinejad) served as the President of Iran from 2005 to 2013. During his tenure, Ahmadinejad was responsible for, among other things, appointing two Ministers of Intelligence and Security to lead MOIS, which was nominally under the President's supervision. Ahmadinejad appointed to the position Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei in 2005 and Heydar Moslehi in 2009, both of whom were designated on September 29, 2010 in the Annex to E.O. 13553, which authorizes the imposition of sanctions on certain persons with respect to serious human rights abuses by the Government of Iran.
Additionally, during Ahmadinejad's term in office, MOIS was involved in the detention of several U.S. nationals, including former Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) special agent Robert "Bob" Levinson, as well as three U.S. hikers: Shane Bauer, Joshua Fattal, and Sarah Shourd. While the three hikers were eventually released after years-long detentions, Mr. Levinson remains missing and is presumed deceased. Previously, on December 14, 2020, OFAC designated high-ranking officers of Iran's MOIS, Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, pursuant to E.O. 13553 for their involvement in the abduction, detention, and probable death of Robert Levinson. MOIS' operation to abduct and detain Mr. Levinson was authorized by senior Iranian officials, who then launched a disinformation campaign to deflect blame from the Iranian regime.
Ahmadinejad has since remained active in the Iranian regime. Following his presidency, Ahmadinejad became a member of Iran's Council for the Discernment of Expedience, which serves to resolve legislative issues and advise Iran's Supreme Leader on matters of national policy.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14078 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, MOIS. Concurrently, Ahmadinejad is being identified pursuant to E.O. 13599 for meeting the definition of the Government of Iran.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of the designated persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.
In addition, financial institutions and other persons that engage in certain transactions or activities with sanctioned entities and individuals may expose themselves to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC's ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC's Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please click here.
Click here for more information on the individual and entity designated today.
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France, Germany, the UK and the US have issued a joint statement following Iran's decision to withdraw the designation of several IAEA inspectors.
18 September 2023
The text of the following statement was released by the permanent representatives to the IAEA of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States in response to the IAEA Director General's Statement on Verification in Iran.
On Saturday, the IAEA Director General issued a public statement noting that Iran has withdrawn the designation of several experienced Agency inspectors, including its most experienced experts with unique knowledge of uranium enrichment technology. Iran's actions will undermine the Agency's ability to carry out its safeguards mandate effectively. As the Director General makes clear in his statement, Iran's actions are another step in the wrong direction and constitute an unnecessary blow to an "already strained relationship between the IAEA and Iran".
Iran continues to expand its nuclear activities. It is now also deliberately hampering the normal planning and conduct of Agency verification and monitoring activities in Iran required under Iran's NPT Safeguards Agreement. This is at a time when the IAEA has serious, longstanding, and unresolved questions related to undeclared nuclear materials and activities in Iran that Iran has failed to address for more than four years. We join with, and support, the Director General in strongly condemning this latest Iranian "unprecedented and unilateral" measure that he reports will have a severe impact on the Agency's ability to conduct its verification activities.
Iran must immediately reverse these inspector de-designations and fully cooperate with the Agency to enable them to provide assurances that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States will continue to stand in strong support of the IAEA and the international safeguards verification regime on which the world's security relies.
In light of Iran's actions, we will take note of any further information on the impact of the inspector de-designations on the Agency's ability to fulfil its essential verification mandate in Iran. We will respond based on further reporting from the Director General.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 19, 2023, the world's leading lubricant supplier Shell saw its global largest-ever electric vehicle (EV) charging station officially commence operations in Shenzhen, China. Located just 2.5 kilometers from Shenzhen Airport's terminal, this facility boasts a total of 258 public fast chargers. The operation of this station falls under the responsibility of Shenzhen Shell BYD Electric Vehicle Investment Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Shell and BYD.
Shell's largest-ever EV charging station (in Shenzhen); photo credit: Shell
During its trial period, Shell's Shenzhen Airport Charging Station provides daily charging services to more than 3,300 electric vehicles. Aside from charging, it offers customers a wide range of services including Shell Select convenience retail, Shell Cafe, dining options, vending machines, and lounges. Guided by a "customer-centric" philosophy, Shell is committed to meeting diverse customer needs all in one place. The solar panels on the station's roof generate an annual output of 300,000 kWh, all of which is dedicated to charging customers' vehicles.
Shell's largest-ever EV charging station (in Shenzhen); photo credit: Shell
Shell China's Chairman Chen Lin emphasized the importance of continuing to build public charging infrastructures to support the acceleration of vehicle electrification in China, a global leader in electric vehicle sales. The establishment of Shell's global largest EV charging station in China not only showcases Shell's ambition to play a role in China's electrification journey, but also underscores its broader commitment to supporting China's energy transition by providing more sustainable energy solutions.
Shell Panlong "Ten-in-One" Comprehensive Energy Station; photo credit: Shell
In addition to serving the growing number of EV customers, Shell is also devoted to meeting various energy and mobility needs. Recently opened in Wuhan, the Shell Panlong "Ten-in-One" Comprehensive Energy Station provides customers with over ten different travel products and services, including gasoline and diesel, EV charging, hydrogen refueling, convenience stores, car wash facilities, restaurants, and driver lounges.
The station also supplies the Shell V-Power Racing fuel newly launched in China, which, compared to mainstream Octane Fuel 92, can deliver an up to 6.25% increase in vehicle power output and a 5.36% improvement in acceleration.
Iran, US Complete Prisoner Swap
By VOA News September 18, 2023
The United States and Iran on Monday carried out a high-stakes prisoner swap that included freeing five Americans the U.S. government says were unjustly detained by the Tehran government.
Three of the Americans in the swap were identified as Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz, who along with the other two Americans were under house arrest pending their release. The identity of the other two individuals remained private at their families' request.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement the five individuals would "soon be reunited with their loved onesaafter enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering." He thanked the governments of Qatar, Oman, South Korea and Switzerland "for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome."
Senior Biden administration officials told reporters the logistics of the swap involved a Qatari plane traveling from Iran to Doha carrying the five freed Americans, accompanied on the flight by Namazi's mother and Tahbaz's wife, who had been prevented from leaving Iran.
After the plane arrived in Doha, three of the released prisoners walked down the stairs and hugged the U.S. diplomats who greeted them, including U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis.
The White House said Biden had an emotional call with the families of the seven returning Americans and that all who joined the call spoke with the president.
From Doha, the group headed to Washington to be reunited with their families.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday's exchange could be "a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America."
Speaking to journalists at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said, "It can definitely help in building trust."
U.S. officials said all would have access to recovery and reintegration services offered by the U.S. Defense Department.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the Biden administration, in its 2A years in office, has now secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully detained Americans around the world and is working to free others.
The agreement included the United States allowing $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen under U.S. sanctions to be transferred from accounts in South Korea to accounts in Qatar.
The funds are designated for use only for Iranian humanitarian purposes, such as food, medicine and agricultural products.
The Biden administration officials told reporters the system is set up in a way that they are very confident the threat of the money being diverted for other purposes is very low, and if there is a diversion, the accounts will be locked up.
South Korea's foreign ministry confirmed Tuesday that Iranian funds frozen in the country had been "successfully" transferred to a third country.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and some U.S. conservative lawmakers criticized Biden for agreeing to the deal, contending the release of the $6 billion amounted to a "ransom" for the hostages and that the money would allow Iran to help develop its nuclear weapons system and not be used for humanitarian purposes.
Trump lashed out at Biden last week on Trump's Truth Social media site, saying the deal sets a "TERRIBLE precedent."
Senator John Thune said on Facebook that the "the U.S. should be unrelenting in its efforts to bring detained Americans home, but Iran will now count pallets of ransom money, putting its leaders in a better position to develop a nuclear weapon and fund terrorists. And the price to release U.S. hostages will only go up."
The White House, however, said the U.S. is not giving Iran any money.
"This isn't a payment of any kind. These aren't U.S. dollars. They aren't taxpayer dollars, they are Iranian dollars the [Trump] administration allowed them to make" in oil sales to other countries, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
The five Iranians who were part of the exchange were charged or convicted of nonviolent crimes in the United States and received U.S. clemency. They were identified as Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, Mehrdad Ansari, Amin Hasanzadeh, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani and Kambiz Attar Kashani.
The Biden administration officials said the Iranians who lacked legal status in the United States would return to Iran through Doha.
Ansari and Kafrani have no legal U.S. status. Afrasiabi and Hasanzadeh are permanent U.S. residents, while Kashani is an Iranian-American dual national.
Ansari and Kashani were serving federal prison sentences, while Afrasiabi, Hasanzadeh and Kafrani were on supervised pre-trial release.
The officials said in addition to the prisoner swap, the United States is issuing new sanctions under the Levinson Act as it calls on Iran to give a full account of what happened to Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran under mysterious circumstances in 2007 and is presumed dead.
Biden said, "The Levinson family deserves answers. Today, we are sanctioning former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence under the Levinson Act for their involvement in wrongful detentions. And we will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region."
The U.S. leader also issued a new warning to Americans to not travel to Iran. He said Americans who go to Iran and are arbitrarily arrested and detained should "have no expectation that their release can be secured."
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press.
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Uncertainties Emerge in Statuses of 3 Iranians Granted Clemency by US in Prisoner Exchange
By Michael Lipin September 18, 2023
As Washington and Tehran implemented a prisoner exchange Monday, new details emerged about the status of three of the five Iranians who were granted clemency by Washington and remained on U.S. soil as the prisoner transfers got underway.
VOA has learned that of the three Iranians remaining in the United States, a U.S. Justice Department website showed Kambiz Attar Kashani was still in detention at a federal prison in Michigan; court records showed Amin Hasanzadeh lost his U.S. permanent residency on August 23; and Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi received a pardon as he awaited trial on federal charges.
The Bureau of Prisons inmate locator showed Kashani, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, was still in custody at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan, on Monday. He was sentenced in February to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and was set to be released in February.
A court document seen by VOA showed that Hasanzadeh, who has been on supervised release at his home pending trial on charges of violating U.S. sanctions, lost his permanent residency when it expired on August 23. A letter written to a judge in Michigan on that date by Hasanzadeh's attorneys said the expiry will make it "substantially harder" for him to prove his "lawful status for purposes of obtaining employment and certain public benefits." The letter also said it will be "likely impossible for him to return to the U.S. were he to travel internationally."
One of the attorneys, Benton Martin, declined to comment when VOA contacted him Monday to ask about Hasanzadeh's status.
In a Monday court filing seen by VOA, Afrasiabi's attorney Sabrina Shroff asked a judge to cancel his January trial date due to his criminal case being "resolved (by) the actions of the Executive Branch" of the U.S. government. She also requested that Afrasiabi be released from pretrial supervision of his movements and that his bail payments be refunded to him.
Afrasiabi, a U.S. permanent resident, has been awaiting trial since being charged by a New York federal court in 2021 for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of Iran's government.
Jason Brodsky, policy director of U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, wrote on the X social media platform earlier Monday that granting Afrasiabi clemency raises the question of what future activities he would engage in while remaining in the U.S.
Here is a look at the five American citizens released Monday as part of the prisoner swap between the United States and Iran:
Siamak Namazi
Siamak Namazi, 51, was the longest held Iranian American detainee. He was arrested in 2015 and sentenced the following year to 10 years in Tehran's Evin Prison on charges of espionage. Months later, his father was arrested when he visited Iran to check on his son. The elder Namazi was later placed on house arrest and permitted to leave Iran in 2022 due to medical reasons. Namazi is an energy executive who promoted closer ties between the west and Iran.
Emad Sharghi
Emad Sharghi, 59, is an Iranian American venture capitalist who moved to Iran with his wife in 2017. He was detained the following year, but his family says he was released after going through eight months of interrogations. Authorities rearrested Sharghi while he was trying to leave the country while on bail. He was charged with espionage and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Morad Tahbaz
Morad Tahbaz, 67, was also sentenced to 10 years of prison. He is an Iranian American conservationist who also holds British citizenship. In 2018, he was arrested during an Iranian crackdown on environmental activists. Tahbaz had reportedly remained in prison despite an agreement between the United Kingdom and Iran that he be released from prison on furlough.
Two unnamed detainees
Two additional prisoners were released Monday, however they wished to be left anonymous.
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Statement from President Joe Biden on the Return of American Detainees from Iran
September 18, 2023
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home.
Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz, Emad Sharghi, and two citizens who wish to remain private will soon be reunited with their loved onesaafter enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering. I am grateful to our partners at home and abroad for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome, including the Governments of Qatar, Oman, Switzerland, and South Korea.
I give special thanks to the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad, and to the Sultan of Oman, Haitham bin Tariq, both of whom helped facilitate this agreement over many months of difficult and principled American diplomacy.
As we celebrate the return of these Americans, we also remember those who did not return. I call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson. The Levinson family deserves answers. Today, we are sanctioning former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence under the Levinson Act for their involvement in wrongful detentions. And, we will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region.
And as we welcome home our fellow citizens, I once more remind all Americans of the serious risks of traveling to Iran. American passport holders should not travel there.
The U.S. State Department has a longstanding travel warning that states: "Do not travel to Iran due to the risk of kidnapping and the arbitrary arrest and detention of U.S. citizens." All Americans should heed those words and have no expectation that their release can be secured if they do not.
Reuniting wrongfully detained Americans with their loved ones has been a priority for my Administration since day one. We have now brought home dozens of our fellow citizens, including from Afghanistan, Burma, Haiti, Russia, Rwanda, Venezuela, West Africa, and more locations globally. Still, too many remain unjustly held in Russia, Venezuela, Syria, and elsewhere around the world. We remain unflinching in our efforts to keep faith with them and their familiesaand we will not stop working until we bring home every American held hostage or wrongfully detained.
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Background Press Call by Senior Administration Officials on the Return of American Detainees from Iran
September 18, 2023
8:08 P.M. EDT
MODERATOR: Good evening, everybody. This is [moderator]. Thank you all for joining us on this call on a Sunday evening to talk about Iran.
Before we get started, I just want to put a couple of quick ground rules. This call is going to be held under an embargo until the President's statement goes out tomorrow morning. For planning purposes, I anticipate that that will happen around 7:30 a.m. But also for awareness, should anything change, I will be available starting around 5:00 a.m. to provide any sort of support or notice that is needed. But as I said, for your all's planning purposes, we anticipate that the statement will go around 7:30 tomorrow morning.
For awareness but not for reporting, joining us on today's call is [senior administration official] and [senior administration official].
It seems like somebody might have their line unmuted. If you don't mind muting your line.
But with that, I will hand it over to [senior administration official] first just to say a few words. He will hand it over to [senior administration official], and then we'll open it up for a few questions. Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, [moderator]. And thanks, everybody, for joining. This call is to give you a heads up that we anticipate, as of this moment, that the consular deal with Iran will be fully implemented tomorrow morning.
But I want to caution, as [moderator] just did, that, as with really anything we do with a country like Iran, this process remains extremely complex, fragile, and could still hit unanticipated hurdles.
But, as of right now, and right now is before daybreak in Iran, we do believe we're on track. And we just wanted to provide this opportunity to offer some background information and answer any questions as you prepare your stories on this a on this deal. So, thanks for joining at such a late hour on Sunday night.
What I'll do is I'll walk through what we expect to unfold and some of the broader context behind this deal and also just our larger policy with Iran, and then I'll turn it over to senior official number two.
So, here's what we anticipate the events to unfold over the next 24 hours: As early as 5:00 a.m. Eastern time a so, it's about nine hours or so from now a seven Americans will board a Qatari plane and leave Iran for Doha, Qatar. The Americans on the plane will be Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi, Morad Tahbaz, and two Americans who wish to remain private. Also on the plane will be Effie Namazi, the mother of Siamak, and Vida Tahbaz, the wife of Morad. And both have been previously unable to leave Iran.
So, we are bringing home five American citizens who have been imprisoned a wrongfully imprisoned and two family members of those imprisoned who were banned from traveling.
The current plan is for these seven individuals and our Americans a our American citizens to deport Doha as quickly as possible, and they will then come a everybody will come directly to the Washington, D.C., area, where they will be reunited with their families. And the Department of Defense will be offering optional services for families that might request help for their recovery and integration into normal life, as we routinely do in these very difficult endeavors.
In return for the safe return of our fellow American citizens, five Iranians will receive clemency. These five individuals a their names has a have been reported. I can give them to you if you like, but let me just kind of keep going.
These individuals have been charged or convicted with nonviolent crimes: Two of the five have been in prison and their sentences were about to expire a in one case, in less than 100 days from now; three are awaiting trial and have not yet been convicted. We anticipate that two of the Iranians who do not have legal status in the U.S. will return to Iran again through Doha, Qatar.
In connection with the exchange, we are also moving $6 billion in Iranian funds previously held in South Korea a in a restricted account in South Korea to a restricted account in Qatar, where they will be available for a limited a a very limited category of humanitarian transactions. That is food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural products only.
And I wanted to dispel a few myths about what this entails a this transfer entails that has just continued to linger out there.
First, these are not taxpayer dollars. This is not a payment of any kind. No funds enter Iran ever, nor do any funds get paid to Iranian companies or entities.
The account in Korea is not a legally frozen account under our laws. The funds there have been legally available for non-sanctionable trade, including under the last administration. This goes on for some years.
At bottom, these are Iranian funds a payments made by South Korea to Iran for purchases of oil years ago, including during the last administration a moving from one restricted account in Korea to another restricted account in Qatar. These funds will be available only for transactions for humanitarian goods with vetted third-party, non-Iranian vendors.
I just want to, kind of, just focus on this a little bit because the facts are important. The key facts: These are funds that were legally available for non-sanctionable trade in South Korea and will be available for a similarly restricted category of humanitarian-only trade in Qatar. And the funds will likely to be spent on individual humanitarian transactions probably over a period of years.
We are implementing this arrangement through the establishment of what we are calling "the humanitarian channel in Qatar." And the Treasury Department will have more information a a great deal of additional information on this tomorrow, including a description of its stringent due diligence and monitoring standards.
This channel is designed explicitly, again, to guard against money laundering, misuse of Asian and U.S. sanctions, and, as I stated, no money ever goes to Iran. If Iran tries to divert the funds or use them for anything other than a limited humanitarian purpose as authorized, we'll take action to lock up the funds. And that is very clear from what Treasury will put out tomorrow.
So this humanitarian channel is consistent with U.S. government's longstanding law and policy across administrations that U.S. sanctions do not preclude limited humanitarian transactions for food, agricultural products, medicine, and medical devices. And that's all that is at issue here.
A couple of other issues: As part of our action tomorrow, we are also issuing new sanctions under the Levinson Act, both against the Ministry of Intelligence and against Iran's former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for their actions. These are the second set of act sanctions, I believe, to be issued under the Levinson Act; they will not be the last.
The United States will never give up on Bob Levinson's case. We call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson. The Levinson family deserves answers, and we will continue to take action under the Levinson Act to impose costs on Iran.
This also applies to the Biden's administration's policy on travel to Iran. To be blunt, no American should travel to Iran for any reason. No American citizen or dual citizen a it doesn't matter: Do not travel to Iran. For dual citizens, Iran does not recognize dual citizenship. As many of you know, they're treated as a subject of Iranian law. So, we are very clear, there's just no basis for any American passport holder to travel to Iran. And senior official number two will have more to say about that.
So, that is the background, and that is the whole arrangement here.
We are returning five American citizens to their families after years of torment. We're moving a restricted Irani account from one jurisdiction to another. We are providing clemency to five Iranians convicted or charged with nonviolent offenses.
Importantly, this deal does not change our relationship with Iran in any way. Iran is an adversary and a state sponsor of terrorism. We will hold them accountable wherever possible.
On Friday, just 48 hours ago, the President spoke on the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death, and we rolled out nearly 30 new sanctions designations, including Press TV and the individuals and entities that contribute to the oppression of Iran's people.
We have sanctioned more than 400 individuals and entities in more than 40 tranches of sanctions since the beginning of our administration. We're increasing our military posture in the region. We have responded decisively to Iran's attacks against our forces by Iran's backed militia groups, including by conducting targeted responsive strikes in March of this year. There have been no attacks in Syria in 6 months since that response, 13 months in Iraq.
Just by contrast, in early 2021, when our administration entered office, our personnel were under regular and ongoing attack by these Iranian-backed groups, and we have taken action to counter that and deter that. And we'll continue to do so.
Separately, we've increased our interdiction posture to deter weapons shipments into Yemen. And with the diplomacy a U.S.-led diplomacy have secured what is now an 18-month period of calm in Yemen a the quietest period since the war began nearly a decade ago.
We're also importantly united with our allies on Iran policy. We'll have a lot more to say tomorrow about the many partners who helped contribute to this deal.
But we lead the charge a just for some examples a to have Iran removed from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. Last week, 62 other nations joined us in calling out Iran's lack of cooperation of the IAEA in Vienna. And there's more examples coming.
Needless to say, the United States will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapon, a policy we deliver on through diplomacy or other means, if necessary.
So, today and what we expect to transpire tomorrow, does not change our approach on any of this. We are focused daily on a policy for the Middle East that combines deterrence with diplomacy to reduce risk of Iran's aggression while deescala- a deescalating conflicts through diplomacy wherever possible, and contributing and building a more stable, integrated, prosperous Middle East region.
But it goes without saying that when we have an opportunity to bring American citizens home, we do seek to seize it, and that's what we're doing here.
So, finally, let me just put the focus back on where it belongs. Tomorrow, the President is making five families whole again. That's ultimately what this is about. And we look forward a we tremendously look forward, especially all of us working on these issues for so many years and have gotten to know the families, to welcoming our fellow citizens back, once again, on their home soil a with the caveat I put up on top that until our Americans are out of Iran, this is not over, but we are hopeful at this moment that this will be over by this time tomorrow.
So, with that, I want to turn it over to senior official number two for some more background.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thank you so much. And I am in wholehearted agreement with the first senior administration official. We are very optimistic that we are on the brink of a historic moment.
I just want to offer a little more context for it. From truly the first day of the Biden-Harris administration, we have prioritized the safe return of Americans held hostage and wrongfully detained overseas. And as you heard from the first senior administration official, a skilled group of dedicated interagency experts have spent over a year negotiating what we hope and anticipate being the culmination of this release tomorrow. We could not have done this without partners at home and abroad, and you'll hear more about that in some statements tomorrow.
Assuming all goes as a as we anticipate and hope tomorrow, we a we can proudly add five more names to a long list of Americans whose release we have secured, truly from around the world: from Russia, from Venezuela, West Africa, from Rwanda, from Burma, from Afghanistan, from Haiti, from Iran previously, and from other countries we have deliberately not named out of sensitivities.
Even as we have placed such an emphasis and done so much work to bring home Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained a many of whom were already in those awful circumstances as we took office a as an administration, we have placed unprecedented emphasis on preventing future such cases from arising. And I want to spend a minute on that too.
You'll hear more about that work even this week, as we anticipate high-level U.S. government participation in an event on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly openings in New York, focused on the Canadian-led initiative to strengthen global norms against arbitrary detention. And Secretary Blinken has been a powerful champion of that initiative since his first weeks in office.
What's more, President Biden has augmented the U.S. government's toolkit with new and expanded tools to help bring our citizens home and impose costs on the culprits. In particular, he did so when he signed Executive Order 14078, which is entitled "Bolstering Efforts to Bring Hostages and Wrongfully Detained U.S. Nationals Home."
Now, that executive order itself draws on the 2020 Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, which, as the name of that law itself suggests, is a credit, a testament to the perseverance of the Levinson family and of others who have turned just unbelievable family hardship and tragedy into constructive and meaningful action to prevent other families, other Americans from enduring what they've endured.
And so, as you heard from the first administration official: Tomorrow, we will announce a second set of sanctions under that very executive order against an entity and an individual in Iran previously or currently holding hostage or wrongfully detaining Americans.
Those actors in Iran, like others against whom we have used this sanctions authority and against whom we will use it going forward, have tried to use Americans for political leverage or to seek concessions from the United States, fundamentally treating human beings as a as pawns, as bargaining chips. Those sorts of actions threaten the stability and integrity of the international political system and the safety of U.S. nationals and other persons abroad.
Specifically, we'll be announcing sanctions on Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security a MOIS. The MOIS frequently holds and interrogates detainees in Evin Prison, in particular, which has a long history of human rights abuses, including extensive reports of torture. So, MI a MOIS is the entity.
The U.S. government will also be sanctioning an individual a former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a for constant promotion of lies about Bob Levinson's whereabouts that still persist to this day.
And as you heard from the first senior administration official, we can't emphasize strongly enough that the Iranian regime must finally come clean, allow for Bob Levinson to be at peace and for the Levinson family to have answers. But we will continue to call on Iran to give a full accounting of what happened to Bob Levinson, from his initial captivity to his ultimate murder.
So, these sanctions are one of a series of actions a some public, some private a that do two things at the same time: to secure the release of U.S. nationals wrongfully held overseas and to promote accountability for the culprits so that, by punishing these sorts of actions, we are deterring them from occurring again in the future.
Now, even if we are absolutely and steadfastly committed to reuniting Americans with their families after being held hostage or wrongfully detained, we are also working to warn fellow Americans in a way that can prevent the next generation of cases.
Again, as you have heard, we cannot say it more clearly: Americans should not travel to Iran. That is why this administration, for example, has introduced a "D" a for wrongful detention a indicator and applied it to the travel advisories for six countries, including Iran.
More broadly, we have made this issue set a national priority. That includes the first-ever mention in the U.S. National Security Strategy focused on the importance of addressing wrongful detainees and hostages.
So, fundamentally, what we anticipate, what we hope very much will culminate tomorrow is what we do: We bring home Americans in these awful, unacceptable circumstances and we work to prevent fellow Americans from being taken hostage or wrongfully detained going forward by punishing the wrongdoers and by warning our fellow Americans.
Let me stop there, other than to say thank you for joining us to hear about how we are working to bring our people home and reunite them with their families, while also using our tools and authorities a indeed, increasing the tools available to us a to hold accountable those engaged in this sort of appalling activity.
And with that, [senior administration official], let me kick it back to you for questions.
MODERATOR: Yep. Thank you, [senior administration official].
With that, we'll open it up to questions. Got time for a few here.
Q Hi. Thank you so much for doing the call, both of you. A couple of questions. When did the President receive this deal to make a decision on? When did it reach his desk? Will he call the families or a or the freed detainees tomorrow? And, you know, given that we've seen iterations of this deal in the past, why do you think it was this time that it stuck? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, I'm not a I'm not going to get ahead of any a any phone calls that might or might not be happening. I'm also not going to discuss the internal deliberations. This has been a a a process that has been going on for a a very difficult negotiation, really, over a period of years.
When the opportunity came together after pretty principled, persistent diplomacy, a number of things, obviously, we completely flat-out rejected. When the opportunity arose that we thought a deal that was very much in our interests, that's when we chose to move forward. But in terms of the timeline, everything else, I'm just not going to get into that here.
Q Hello. Can you hear me?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, we hear you.
Q Okay. Thank you. Thanks very much for doing this. Can you give a few details about the sequencing: how the release on the U.S. side will happen, when exactly will the Iranians be released, to who and where.
And if this all goes well a and it looks like it is a is there any thinking within the Biden administration to use this moment to explore resuming the indirect talks with Iran to see if a deal can be struck in the future, may that be JCPOA or in any other way? So, in that sense, do you expect to hold any indirect talks with them this week, in the coming months about Tehran restricting its nuclear program?
And very lastly, what is your response to Iran's decision to bar key IAEA inspectors from Iran? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Let me a this is senior official one a and then let me answer some of those and turn it to senior official two, particularly on the a some of the sequencing.
I'll just say there, we a we maintain custody until the deal is through. So, we're not doing anything until we're very confident that our a our Americans are a are out and safe.
I will say, we a look, diplomacy is one of our tools that we use in dealing with a very complex challenge like Iran. It's only one of them, including, as I said, sanctions, coordination with allies, deterrence.
And you asked if there's any talks planned this week. Absolutely not. The indirect talks we have from time to time through the Omanis a I have to say, we are very grateful for the role that Oman has played in this role a particularly, the Sultan of Oman a and, as well, Qatar, which you'll be hearing more about tomorrow.
So, we do not close the door entirely to diplomacy. But we approach diplomacy with principled standards. And if we see an opportunity, we will explore it. But right now, I have really nothing to talk about.
[Senior administration official]?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'll just chime in on a on the first question a little bit. Probably less than a than you'd like, but a Humeyra, but I'll give it a shot.
You know, in terms of a of those a think of them as "outbound," I am going to stay a bit vague, because you have individuals who are currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service until this is all culminated. And for operational reasons, we tend not to go into details about that a even as we try to do what we're doing here, which is offer a bit of a preview and some context.
I will focus more on things in the other direction, which is really where a where our focus is and ought to be, in which we anticipate, as a as you heard earlier, we've a our seven, really a five detained plus two who've been prevented from leaving a so that's seven Americans total making their way to Doha, spending relatively limited a a quite limited period of time on the ground there, and then continuing back to the United States.
All of them will be offered what we call PISA a post-integration support activity a PISA support. It's a terrific program offered by the Department of Defense that many who have returned from hostage experiences or wrongful detention experiences take advantage of. And, indeed, I have heard from them personally. Not only does it offer them a lot in the moment, it offers them some skills and coping abilities that they continue to draw on for many, many months to come. It also helps their family members understand challenges they might not anticipate even weeks or months down the road.
So, we will be offering all of that care. It's a of course, these a these are a these are free Americans at this point. It is their choice what they a what they take advantage of. But we'll certainly be encouraging them to utilize those services being offered to them, and then, of course, work with them to a to give them the support as they reintegrate where they should be, which is into their American family and friend communities.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I have one question I didn't answer on the a on the a the IAEA inspectors announced over the weekend.
So, we're in a- a very active coordination with our partners. I've mentioned there are no meetings envisioned over the coming week with Iran. We will be meeting at multiple levels with our E3 counterparts and partners to fully coordinate on this. And I think we'll have much more to say on this over the coming days.
Of course, that was a response to, really, organizing much of the world a 62 countries a together in Vienna late last week. So, we'll be talking to our partners a UK, France, Germany, and others a over the course of the coming week in New York. And we'll have more to say on that over the coming days.
Q Hello. Thank you so much for doing this. You've answered some of my a part of my question already. But can you tell us what their health condition is like for the five Americans who are returning, along with two a you said the mother of Mr. Siamak Namazi and the wife of Mr. Morad Tahbaz. How are all of them doing?
And secondly, can you elaborate a bit on the monitoring systems that are going to be put in place to ensure that these funds that are being unfrozen a Iranian funds that are being unfrozen will be used strictly for humanitarian purposes? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, I would say a couple of things a senior official number one a on the Americans in terms of how they're doing. So, obviously, I can't speak for them. The emotional torment is something I think neither of us a anyone a nobody on this call can even imagine.
Since the Americans have a our American citizens have been on house arrest, the Swiss and our Swiss Ambassador, our protecting power in Iran has had access to them, including today. And so, we remain in very close touch through the Swiss to ensure that the house arrest conditions, as had been agreed, are a Iran is living up to them.
And we, again, thank the Swiss for playing that very important role.
Treasury will have much more to say on this tomorrow. I would just say this is about a and one reason this deal took a very long time to put together a this is an extraordinarily stringent monitoring and due diligence arrangement with banks that are trusted and with the full cooperation of the governor of Qatar.
And we will have ways to know if there is any diversion. As I said, we will lock it up again. And the category of humanitarian trade is limited to food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural products. Anything that has been said otherwise is simply false.
And we have set this up in a way that we are very confident of that the risks of diversion are very low. If there is diversion, we will know about it. And if there is diversion of the funds, we will lock up the accounts.
Q Thanks very much. [Senior administration official], in the past cases, (inaudible) exchanges usually been as a confidence-building measure in addition to a humanitarian measure. I'm struck by the fact that a
MODERATOR: Hey, David, it's [moderator]. It's a little hard to hear you.
Q Okay.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I'm making it out.
MODERATOR: There we go. That's much better.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Keep going.
Q Okay. I'm sorry, I'm on a a I'm on a plane.
I was saying that these past cases have recently been confidence-building measures in addition to humanitarian relief. It sounds like both sides are going out of their way to say, "There's nothing that we're building toward here." And I'm wondering if you can tell us whether at any point in negotiations it looked like you may have been using it to try to to build on something.
And second, since you referred to the IAEA (inaudible) and on the withdrawal of the inspectors or the inspectors who wouldn't receive permission to enter Iran, can you give us an assessment of how that impedes your ability to understand what they're producing? (Inaudible.)
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, David, a couple of things. I would a on the background diplomatic effort, look, Iran's economy is in deep trouble. They have come to us repeatedly through other countries, including Oman, with a sense of urgency to try to return to where we were last August.
We made very clear the world has changed significantly since last August and the chances for diplomacy in the current context of working are extremely slim. We do never a we never close the door to it.
We've also made clear that so long as Iran is holding American citizens wrongfully detained in Evin Prison, that does not create a construct for diplomacy at all.
So, while I would not a I would not call this a confidence-building measure, I will say it does remove an obstacle that was certainly a certainly there.
But this a this deal was negotiated through Qatar. It a it is, as these things always are, a fairly separate, independent process. And when we saw an opportunity in which the a the arrangements that we had always said would be what we would need to move forward, when Iran agreed to that, we a we did decide to move forward.
So, we'll see where things go from here. But I think you're a you're right, in terms of the overall backdrop. It is what it is.
I a I'm not on this call, David a it's just a different topic a going to get into the intricacies of the nuclear program a what we're seeing and what we're not seeing. But we're happy to do a follow-up call on that.
Q I appreciate this, you guys. [Senior administration official], you mentioned that two of the Iranian prisoners are returning to Iran. But do you expect the other three to stay in the United States?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, it's a complicated endeavor with a with DOJ and everything. And so, I'm going to be careful what I say.
[Senior administration official], anything we can say about that?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I a I would just say their status may still need some time to play out. This was also true, in case it's helpful, in previous arrangements to secure the release of Americans from Iran a that those in the other direction, so to speak, had differing statuses here.
But I think [senior administration official] is right that we may just need to leave it there for now.
Q Thank you very much. Given Iran's history over the past 44 years of taking Americans, do you have any confidence, any faith that this practice will end? Or do you believe that this is a tactic that Iran will continue?
Secondly, are all Americans and permanent residents now out of Iran or will be out of Iran in the next 24 hours?
Third, do you think that the timing of this has anything to do with Raisi coming to the United Nations?
And finally, what is next on your list of what you'd like to talk to about Iran specifically, whether it's within the nuclear program or other regional issues of what its proxies are doing?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official], do you want me to take a stab at the first two and maybe leave to you the last two?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, sure.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: So, look, we obviously are not at all confident with the practice. That is why we continue to warn Americans as starkly as you've heard the two of us do on this call, as starkly as the travel advisory on the State Department website, as starkly as the D for wrongful detention indicator does that travel to Iran is an extremely high-risk endeavor, for a number of reasons. But one of those a the ones made salient in the a in the opening sentences about travel advisory is its risk of arbitrary or wrongful detention.
Now, that a the fact that bad behavior might continue can't and shouldn't stop us from ending just torment for these five a really, seven Americans. And we are very pleased to believe at least we're on the brink of doing so.
But is the a the concern that the states will continue to use Americans and others as bargaining chips, as political pawns is precisely why this administration is investing so much in trying to roll back this practice globally through our leadership in that Canadian-led initiative I mentioned earlier to strengthen global norms; through our use of sanctions, including the types of sanctions we'll be announcing tomorrow; and through the sort of warnings that we give Americans.
And I will say that a that with this, all those designated under the statutory process as wrongfully detained in Iran will be coming out.
Now, of course, there are Americans detained around the world in various countries whose cases are considered by the U.S. Department of State under the 11-factor test set out in the Levinson Act and, based on the information available, don't receive that designation.
But we will be very pleased to say that all those currently designated as wrongfully detained a all those Americans designated as wrongfully detained under the Levinson Act in Iran will be out, as a again, with the caveat you've heard from us both: assuming this all goes forward.
And then, [senior administration official], why don't I kick it to you for the last two?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, just a I mean, the decisions in these very difficult cases, I think when you look at the arrangement, as we've described it in detail a we'll have more to say over the coming days a the decision is to move ahead or to accept that these five American citizens will be in Evin Prison for an additional period of years and may never come home.
I mean, that is how difficult these cases are. That's something we need to weigh. They are excruciating.
I think, in this case, the arrangement that we finally worked out is very much in our interest. And we're going to make these families whole.
In terms of Raisi being in New York, I a you'd have to ask the Iranians, Robin. I highly doubt that has anything to do with it because we finalized this arrangement some time ago and have been working to implement it ever since.
In terms of what we discuss with Iran, obviously, as I said, we are open to diplomacy on the nuclear side. But we have many other tools at our disposal on that issue. But we kind of have a kind of a, I think, a fairly broad array of options.
But we do remain open to diplomacy. And we are grateful for our regional partners in that regard. And we also are focused, as I mentioned a I think we have a strong policy of deterrence in the region, but we've also been focused on using diplomacy to de-escalate conflicts wherever a wherever we can.
I think Jake had a statement late last week noting that the Houthis have an official delegation in Saudi Arabia, as we speak right now, for the first time since that war began. That is significant. And we have made ending the war in Yemen a priority of our policy in the region from the first days of our administration.
So, we have a lot of diplomacy going on in the region of multiple factors. With the Iranians, it is primarily focused on the nuclear program. I would just say that that's a crisis we shouldn't have. The decision to get out of a deal that, whatever you might say about it, was at least keeping the program constrained a the last administration did a chose to get out of it without a plan for what came next.
So, that's something that we grapple with every day, and we'll continue to do so. I'm sure you and I and others on the call will be talking about that over the coming weeks and months.
Q Thanks, guys. A couple questions. Did Shahab Dalili come up in these deliberations?
Second, what message does this send to Iran or others, including Russia that a although, you know, returning American hostages who are wrongfully detained is top priority for any administration, what message does this send to those countries that, you know, regardless of the case, that in some way, shape, or form, the U.S. could a whether this time around the money is not Iranian previously, it might have been a sorry a it was not U.S. money a previously, it might have been. So, what message does this sent to them or, you know, Russia for now where there is Evan, there is Paul Whelan, if they could expect something similar to get these Americans out?
And then, just second, senior administration official one, you mentioned that there's an increased military posture in the region and that a I wanted to ask: Does this, like, deter Iranian aggression on commercial tankers? And can you mention anything about the U.S. stance on the upcoming expiration of the U.N. arms embargo next month? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: [Senior administration official], you want me to take a stab at the first two, leave the third to you?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yeah, I'll take the last two. Go ahead, [senior administration official]. Thanks.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Sure. So, look, I'm not going to get into particular other cases. But I will just say, you know, there are, regrettably, many, many Americans detained around the world, and all of them are entitled to certain things that the U.S. Department of State works very hard to provide to them: consular access, representation in the relevant legal system, a chance at whatever passes for due process in those legal systems. And our embassies, consulates, or, in some cases, through protecting powers, we work very hard to provide that.
Then there is a subset of cases that a under the Levinson Act's statutory test that designate it as wrongful detention cases. And that a that goes above and beyond. They're entitled to all of what I said before plus the relentless efforts, hard as it may be, to bring them home.
And we are very pleased that all those Americans in Iran fall into that latter category a which is a subset and will always be a subset of global cases of Americans held a will be home, assuming this all goes forward.
And then a and I know [senior administration official] will have more to say on this. But, you know, I do think we start with the question of what message would it send to Americans if they were wrongfully detained in a place like Evin Prison for years with no hope of coming home. And that's not something the President wants from us. That's not something the country, in our view, wants from us. And so, we believe that the message to them is: We will find a way to bring you home.
Wrongful detentions didn't begin under the last administration, when many of the people we're proud to be bringing home tomorrow were detained a or when Paul Whelan, for example, as you mentioned, were detained a and they certainly didn't begin under this administration. Indeed, they've been going on for decades and, in a sense, centuries.
We do believe it's an awful practice, an inhumane practice, a barbaric practice, and one that we can begin to stamp out through some of the measures you've heard me talk about on this call a by building global norms, by punishing and thus deterring this behavior, by warning those who might be the most vulnerable to it.
But fundamentally, even as we do that work to extinguish this practice, we need to bring home Americans.
And, [senior administration official], let me turn it over to you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: You asked about deterrence in the Gulf, in the waterways. It's hard to a it's hard to answer. I can't say definitively. I will say, since we did increase our posture, we have not had any interdictions. I know the Iranians announced last week they did; we, I think, clarified on Friday, we've seen none of that, that that has not happened.
NAVCENT is doing a really great job, together with the coalition, as part of our role to ensure international commerce and a in those a in those vital waterways of the Middle East. But it's a difficult job. The territory is pretty vast.
But we had Bahrain a the Bahrainis in town last week. We signed a comprehensive a we call a "comprehensive security integration prosperity agreement." I think it's worth reading.
Obviously, that is where our 5th Fleet is based. And we're doing an awful lot to ensure that we deter this activity.
Of course, what's happening is that Iran sought to interdict tankers as we enforce our own sanctions and DOJ does what it does to enforce U.S. laws and seize illicit oil on tankers overseas.
So, that is something we're dealing with every day as we speak and will continue.
I will just say, on the October a the expiration of some of the sanctions, which you mentioned, we a the U.S. government is not lifting any sanctions.
I would just say, even as part of this deal, I know there was some reporting earlier in the week about a sanctions waiver. I want to clarify: We're not lifting any sanctions as part of this deal whatsoever.
We did waive sanctions for the limited purpose of allowing the funds to transfer outside the U.S. financial system very carefully through European jurisdictions to Qatar.
We did this very carefully with the Treasury Department. And to allow that transfer to happen, we had to issue some waiver letters. But that was for that limited purpose to allow the funds to transfer through some European banks ultimately on their way to Doha.
We are not lifting any sanctions here. And when it comes to October, we are not lifting any sanctions, and we are in active discussions with our European partners to ensure that sanctions remain in force, particularly when it comes to Iran's missile and UAV program.
Q Yes. Hi, thank you for doing this. I just want to know who initiated this deal this time. I know you mentioned that you've been working on this for months and years. But this opportunity, as you call a you called it, who initiated it this time?
And also, what made you unveil the $6 billion this time in relation to the exchange of prisoners? I mean, usually, in the past, there have been concessions that involved money or other things from the administration. But this time, what made you announce the money alongside with this deal?
And also, how would you respond to critics a maybe especially from the Republican side a who have already been a started criticizing the deal and saying that this might encourage further hostage taking? Thank you.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: In terms of who initiated, it's kind of hard to answer. This has been an ongoing process. We've had very clear standards of what we would agree to and not agree to. And when the negotiation a when the Iranians basically agreed to what we would agree to, we made the decision to move forward. I think we kept a very firm position.
As we said to some of the families a it was excruciating conversations a there is never good news, ever, until there's finally good news.
So, it's hard to say in terms of initiation. We've had a very firm position. There are things we absolutely will not do. We are open to humanitarian trade, which does not violate U.S. sanctions, with no money going to Iran, et cetera a everything I just laid out. And that's the arrangement that we worked out.
In terms of announcing what we announced, we just were putting out everything that is a that is a part of this and describing in some detail, particularly the humanitarian channel. And again, Treasury tomorrow a again, assuming everything remains on track a Treasury, tomorrow, will release a Frequently Asked Questions, everything else that they normally do, including with a statement that describes some of this in more detail.
Again, to critics, I think that the question is, if you really look at the arrangements of this deal, the funds are available for humanitarian a very limited category of humanitarian transactions. That is no different than they were in the last administration.
So, I think the question is, when you look at this arrangement: Would it have been better to say, "No, we're going to keep these Americans in Evin Prison for a period of years on end." And in the case of Siamak Namazi, he's been there since 2015.
So, I think we have a very good response to critics. Understand there are critics, too, with an arrangement like this.
These are some of the most difficult decisions a president makes. But I think this deal stands up.
Again, we kept firm to very firm principles. It's one reason this took so long. And I think when you look at the full contours of the deal, compared with the alternative, and the alternative is: These Americans never come home. So, I think it very much holds up.
Q Thank you very much, [senior administration official] and [senior administration official]. We really appreciate it. And I can't even imagine what this has been like.
I had a detail, if you could give it to me before Treasury's briefing a and I apologize if this has been asked. I got knocked off the call for a while. I'm still in transit.
But (inaudible) any money that was in South Korea and restricted account in Qatar. So, could you explain why it was important for Iran to get the money moved to Qatar? Did they use it and draw on it when it was in South Korea for non-sanctioned items?
And if you could explain how it's going to be monitored a monitored by Qatar, given all of the Republican criticism that (inaudible) that money will now be available to Iran, that they a freeing up other money that they could use for weapons or any other nefarious purposes.
And I don't know if you've responded to this, but the IAEA announced just this weekend that Iran has (inaudible) been certified for reentry (inaudible) the key inspectors who are most familiar with the nuclear program (inaudible).
Thank you both so much.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Thanks, Andrea. I did answer the second question in the course of the briefing.
I'll just say a couple things about the funds and Korea.
I just think, if you really, you know, understand this stuff, I mean, a good chunk of these funds a this is for South Korea purchasing Iranian oil in periods during which that trade was not sanctioned, including a period in 2018-2019 when the last administration issued what are called "significant reduction exceptions" to South Korea, Japan, Turkey, China, a number of other countries. And in most cases, those funds were spent a billions of dollars a so a for, at the time, bilateral trade and non-sanctioned trade.
The Korea a the situation in Korea was unique because of difficulties to convert the Korean currency. I just mentioned how difficult it was just to transfer these funds to Doha. And frankly, we've worked very closely with the South Koreans over the course of a from the beginning of this administration about trying to hold on to this so that it is used in a a the only way that it can be used for: humanitarian a humanitarian trade.
But there were situations unique to Korea that made it difficult to actually do humanitarian transactions. What we've worked out in Qatar is, again, severely restricted a and Treasury will describe this tomorrow a medicine, medical devices, food, and agriculture a that's it a but with the conversion done in a way that you can actually do humanitarian transactions. No money going to Iran, no money going to Iranian entities, et cetera a everything I just said in the beginning.
But that is one of the reasons why this account in South Korea had not been spent. It is not a frozen account. It is not legally unavailable to Iran. It is legally available to Iran for humanitarian transactions in South Korea before we did this deal. But we are moving it from one restricted account to another restricted account in Qatar under the terms I described.
And we'll have more to say about that tomorrow, particularly with the Treasury release.
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you all. That concludes our call this evening. And we will be in touch in the morning. Thank you.
8:56 P.M. EDT
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Prisoner swap with US merely humanitarian measure: Raisi
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 19, 2023
Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said that the prisoner swap that took place between Iran and the US was purely done on humanitarian grounds, adding that Tehran and Washington could have conducted their prisoner swap sooner if the American officials had not made miscalculations.
The Iranian president, who is in New York to take part in the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, made the remarks while addressing senior American media managers on Monday after Iran and the US implemented a Doha-mediated prisoner swap deal.
"If the US had not left the negotiating table with miscalculation and had not pinned hope on last year's riots, this humanitarian action could have taken place much sooner," President Raisi said.
"Definitely, any step that is taken [by the United States] to fulfil their commitments will be confidence-building for us," he added.
After two years of high-stakes negotiations, Iran and the US agreed to free prisoners as part of a deal that also included the release of billions of Iranian assets illegally frozen in South Korea.
The funds, owed to Iran for exports of oil and gas, had been frozen in South Korean bank accounts since 2018 after the administration of then-President Donald Trump pulled the US from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, further aggravating tensions with Tehran.
On Monday, Iran and the US freed 10 prisoners -- five Iranians and five Americans -- after the US government unblocked the transfer of $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil funds held in South Korea.
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Foreign ministry releases statement on frozen Iranian assets in South Korea, exchange of prisoners
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Sep 19, 2023
Tehran, IRNA -- The Iranian foreign ministry in a statement announced that the freed financial resources are available to the Central Bank of Iran, and deemed the US government's policy in preventing Iran from having free and legitimate access to its financial resources in other countries as illegal and inhumane.
In order to achieve the rights of Iranian nationals all over the world, as well as Iranians residing in the US and within the framework of an independent process, five Iranian citizens who were illegally prosecuted by the US judicial system due to their normal business activities were released and returned to their families, the statement said.
Prior to that, the Iranian assets in South Korea---which had been frozen due to the illegal pressures of the United States, making it impossible to use them for years---were unlocked thanks to diligent pursuit of the issue by the Foreign Ministry and Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Through a financial and banking process that lasted several weeks, the assets were transferred to the accounts of Iranian banks in Qatar.
These assets are under the control of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and will be used at the discretion of relevant Iranian authorities and based on the country's needs and priorities.
Undoubtedly, the policies and actions of different administrations in the US in preventing Iran's free and legitimate access to its financial resources in other countries are illegal and inhumane.
Nevertheless, the illegal move of the US to abuse the international banking system and put pressure on other countries to limit Iran's access to its assets does not in any way mean that the governments where these assets are kept have no responsibility in this regard, and those governments must be held to account for their unjustified move to comply with the illegal demands of the US government, the financial losses inflicted on Iran as a result of the long-term freezing of Iranian assets and its humanitarian consequences, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Iranian people will never forget that even during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the US regime, while ignoring the health emergency and humanitarian issues as well as repeated requests by the UN secretary general and human rights officials, denied Iran access to its financial resources in South Korea.
The Islamic Republic of Iran hereby thanks the government of Qatar for playing an effective role in transferring the assets of Iran and exchanging the prisoners.
We also appreciate the valuable efforts of the Sultanate of Oman to advance this process and also the Swiss government's cooperation and assistance in facilitating all this.
2050
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Iran open to indirect nuclear talks with U.S. at UN General Assembly: official
People's Daily Online
(Xinhua) 08:58, September 19, 2023
TEHRAN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said Monday that the country is open to indirect nuclear talks with the United States on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) through mediators.
Kanaani made the remarks at a press conference in Tehran, commenting on the likelihood of talks between Iran and the other parties to the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on its revival and the removal of sanctions on Iran.
Kanaani said Iran will pursue efforts to lift the sanctions through diplomatic talks and is committed to the negotiation path. He added that Iran will use any potential opportunity along the diplomatic path to remove the "cruel" sanctions and prepare the ground for a "committed return" by all sides, including the United States, to the JCPOA.
Kanaani noted that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, leading a high-ranking delegation, left Tehran for New York on Sunday to attend the UNGA meetings, adding that the trip is a very good opportunity for holding meetings and negotiations.
The spokesman added that in addition to delivering a speech at the UNGA meeting, the Iranian president will hold bilateral talks with a number of foreign leaders and attend several meetings on the sidelines of the main event.
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 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 drop some of its nuclear commitments under the deal.
The talks on the revival of the JCPOA began in April 2021 in Vienna, Austria. Despite several rounds of talks, no significant breakthrough has been achieved since the end of the last round in August 2022.
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READOUT: Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson's Meeting with Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani
U.S. Department of the Treasury
September 18, 2023
NEW YORK -- On September 18, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, NY. The U.S. Treasury has been working closely with the Government of Iraq as they seek to implement meaningful reforms to strengthen the Iraqi financial sector against fraud, sanctions evasion, terrorist financing, and other illicit activities. Under Secretary Nelson acknowledged the significant progress Iraq has made in their efforts. Prime Minister al-Sudani and Under Secretary Nelson agreed to continue their close, regular dialogue as Iraq moves forward with its work to ensure its long-term economic growth and prosperity. The meeting followed Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rosenberg's trip to Iraq last week, where she also met with the Prime Minister.
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Statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan Welcoming Constructive Dialogue Between The Government of Iraq and Kurdistan Regional Government
September 18, 2023
We welcome the constructive dialogue conducted last week between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) meant to resolve outstanding issues in a manner consistent with the Iraqi constitution. We are encouraged by the Government of Iraq's decision to release additional funds to the KRG to help ensure civil servants receive their salaries and to promote stability and economic growth. The United States will continue to work with all relevant parties to expeditiously reopen the Iraq-Turkey pipeline as soon as possible. The United States will also continue to remain intensively engaged to promote a stable and secure Iraq and to promote durable resolutions to outstanding issues.
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Kurdish armed groups handed over heavy weapons, will be relocated to camps: Iraq's foreign minister
Iran Press TV
Tuesday, 19 September 2023 12:36 AM
Iraq's foreign minister says Kurdish armed groups along the border with Iran have handed over their heavy weaponry as the deadline for their disarmament and relocation approaches based on a security deal between Tehran and Baghdad.
Speaking on Monday, Fuad Hussein said the armed groups and their families will be relocated to five camps, which have been set up in Iraq's Kurdistan region.
The top Iraqi diplomat reiterated his country's commitment to the security agreement with Iran, saying the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has taken necessary measures in accordance with Baghdad's agreement with Tehran.
Stressing that Iraq pursues peaceful approaches based on dialogue and respect for its neighbors, Hussein said Baghdad opposes any act of violence against its national sovereignty.
Back in March, Iran and Iraq concluded a security agreement under which the Iraqi government has promised to disarm terrorist and separatist groups based in the Kurdistan region by September 19, vacate their military barracks, and transfer them to the camps established by the Baghdad government.
Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Sunday that Tehran will not extend the ultimatum given to Iraq to disarm Kurdish separatist groups along the border with Iran, warning Baghdad of an "eleventh-hour decision" on the matter.
"We do not have any extension [to the deadline]. We will act in due time in accordance with the agreement made [with Iraq]," he said.
Reports say Iraq's national security advisor, KRG minister of interior, and special representative of the United Nations' secretary general for Iraq have met in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, and discussed the implementation of the security pact.
Last week, Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), held talks with the Iranian foreign minister and Parliament speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.
Meanwhile, Iraqi media reported on Saturday the country's border guards have managed to gain full control over an area on the Kurdistan region's border with Iran and drive out terrorist groups following fierce clashes.
Iraq's Shafaq News Agency cited the country's Border Guard Forces as saying in a statement late on Friday that they had seized border points in Erbil Province and raised Iraq's national flag in the area after clashes with the "outlaws."
The security agreement between the two countries came after anti-Iranian terrorist groups residing in Iraqi Kurdistan region increased their malign activities, especially in border areas.
Responding to their activities, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has launched several rounds of strikes against their positions since September 24 last year, vowing to continue the attacks until the groups are disarmed.
Iran has, on countless occasions, warned Iraqi Kurdistan's local authorities that it will not tolerate the presence and activity of terrorist groups along its northwestern borders, saying the country will give a decisive response should those areas become a haven for anti-Tehran terrorists.
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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 17, 2023, ZEEKR, the premium electric vehicle (EV) brand under Geely Auto Group, announced a significant milestone in its charging infrastructure expansion efforts. It energy replenishment sub-brand, ZEEKR Power, has so far had access to over 550,000 third-party public chargers, covering over 96% of the cities across China. Among these, nearly 160,000 are serving as charging facilities for expressways.
Photo credit: ZEEKR Power
ZEEKR revealed that ZEEKR Power has been connecting with third-party charging stations initiated by ZEEKRs car owners in regions such as Daqing, Nanning, and Yunlin. Additionally, the company has collaborated with around 35 major charging network operators, including State Grid and China Southern Power Grid. ZEEKR's charging map on the brand's App now covers over 340 cities nationwide, offering access to more than 520,000 QR-code-activated chargers and spanning over 3,100 highway rest stops.
According to the data publicly released, as of August 31, 2023, ZEEKR has made substantial strides in the deployment of self-built charging stations, covering nearly 130 cities nationwide with a cumulative total of 790 stations. Among these, 348 are ultra-fast charging stations, extending their presence to 90 cities.
On September 1, ZEEKR introduced the V3 ultra-fast charging pile, which boasts a single-charger output power of up to 800kW, a maximum output voltage of 1,000V, and a peak output current of 800A. The V3 charging pile is scheduled for mass production at the end of 2023, with deployment across ZEEKRs ultra-fast charging stations nationwide commencing in the first quarter of the following year.
Netanyahu Prepares for Much-Anticipated Meeting With Biden
By Linda Gradstein September 18, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. Monday for a meeting later in the week with President Joe Biden amid unprecedented demonstrations in Israel against a planned overhaul of Israel's judicial system. Also on the agenda is a possible U.S.-brokered deal for normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Thousands of protesters flocked to the airport Sunday night as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for the U.S. for nearly a week-long visit.
"I am here along with thousands of other people who are all very worried about the democracy of our country and the place, our government, the actions of our government which are risking everything that has been built here over the past 70 years," said Anat Refaeli, one of the protesters at the airport.
The demonstrators, who have been protesting in Israel for 37 consecutive weeks, vowed to follow Netanyahu everywhere he went in the U.S., starting with a meeting with business magnate Elon Musk.
Netanyahu further angered the protesters when he accused them of a in his words a "joining forces with the Palestine Liberation Organization, PLO, and Iran" in their activities, an accusation that the protesters are undermining Israel's security and showing that Israel as weak and divided.
In a later statement, the Prime Minister's office noted the anti-overhaul protesters would be demonstrating at the same time as pro-PLO activists who want President Biden to pressure Netanyahu to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank and take moves toward establishing a Palestinian state.
As he left for the U.S., Netanyahu said he would meet many world leaders a but first and foremost a President Biden on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
The prime minister said it was "heartwarming" to see how many requests for meetings with world leaders he had received, and he said he would try to meet as many of them as he could. The most important one is with President Biden it's a meeting Netanyahu has been waiting for since his current government took office in late December.
Just a week later, his Justice Minister, Yariv Levin, introduced the plan for the judicial overhaul a a series of changes that would take power away from the Supreme Court and give more power to the Israeli parliament. One of the laws, called the Reasonableness clause, which takes away one of the Supreme Court's tools to overrule government decisions, has already passed.
Supporters say it redresses a situation that had given Israel's Supreme Court too much power. Opponents say it threatens Israeli democracy.
Aside from the judicial overhaul, Israeli analysts say the U.S. president will use his meeting with Netanyahu to gauge how far Israel is willing to go for a normalization deal with Saudi Arabia.
According to Israeli media reports citing unidentified American and Israeli sources, under an agreement, Saudi Arabia would get a defense deal with the U.S., including permission for a civilian nuclear program.
Israel would have normalized relations with the Arab country it sees as one of the most important in the Middle East and a gateway to peace agreements with other Arab states. The Palestinians would also get significant concessions from Israel.
It is this last part that President Biden wants to discuss with Netanyahu amid statements by Netanyahu's cabinet ministers that Israel is not prepared to make deep concessions to the Palestinians.
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Increased Chinese Military Maneuvers Prompt Japan to Appoint New Defense Personnel
By William Yang September 18, 2023
China's increasing military manoeuvers near Taiwan and Japan are triggering changes in Japanese government attitudes.
Japan made two important defense personnel appointments last week. Analysts think the moves reflect the growing level of importance that Tokyo attaches to the status across the Taiwan Strait.
"China has engaged in a lot of provocative activities near Taiwan and the Japanese are deeply worried about these," Stephen Nagy, a regional security expert at the International Christian University in Japan, told VOA in a phone interview.
"Japan is sending a signal to Beijing that they seek to prioritize peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait by appointing pro-Taiwan individuals to defense-related positions," he added.
Several media outlets reported last week that Japan has appointed a serving defense ministry official as its de facto defense attachA in Taiwan, reversing previous policy of appointing retired Japan Self-Defense-Force officers to the role at the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, the organization that represents Japanese interests in Taipei.
Experts say this development shows Tokyo's desire to improve the quality of conversations related to the security situation across the Taiwan Strait. They hope to achieve the goal by appointing the right person to be the de facto defense attachA.
"This [move] speaks to the ability to develop stronger ties at the human level," Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy in East Asia at King's College London, told VOA in a phone interview.
"Stability across the Taiwan Strait has an inevitable repercussion for Japanese security and there is a growing perception in Tokyo that having someone in Taipei makes it easier to have a better quality conversation," he added.
Enhance Japan's response to rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait
In addition to the new appointment of the de facto defense attachA in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida also appointed Minoru Kihara, a politician with a track record of promoting stronger ties between Tokyo and Taipei, as Japan's new defense minister. Kihara's appointment is part of the cabinet reshuffle announced by the Japanese government on Sept 13.
Kihara was secretary general of the Japan-Taiwan inter-parliamentary group and visited Taiwan as part of a Japanese parliamentary delegation last August. Patalano from King's College says his appointment shows Tokyo wants to have someone capable of understanding what role Japan may or may not play amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.
"Kihara has served as a junior minister at the Ministry of Defense before, he has visited Taiwan and he has a personal interest in cross-Strait stability," he told VOA. "It shows that Japan is taking development across the Taiwan Strait seriously."
In response to the defense personnel appointments announced by Japan, Beijing said it firmly opposed any country with official diplomatic ties with China conducting official exchanges with Taiwan.
"China urges the Japanese side to learn from the lessons of history, abide by the one-China principle and the spirit of the four Sino-Japanese political documents, and be prudent in its words and actions on the Taiwan issue," Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, said during a daily press briefing on Sept 13.
Japan bolsters its defense capabilities amid growing Chinese aggression
Japan's defense personnel appointments come amid growing Chinese military aggression near Taiwan and Japan in recent weeks. Since Sunday, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense detected 103 Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels near the island. "We urge the Beijing authorities to bear responsibility and immediately stop such kind of destructive military activities," Taiwan's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Last week, China staged large-scale military exercises in the Western Pacific, deploying dozens of naval vessels, military aircraft, and its aircraft carrier Shandong.
On Sept. 15, the Japanese coast guard said four Chinese government ships entered Japanese territorial water near the disputed islands that are called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Mandarin. The incursion is the first since Aug. 23 and the 23rd Chinese incursion in 2023, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK.
Analysts say the continuous Chinese military aggression in the region, including China's joint patrols with Russia around Japan and the high number of Chinese incursions around the disputed Senkaku Islands or Diaoyu Islands, has helped justify Tokyo's efforts to bolster its defense capabilities over the last year.
"The more China engages in saber-rattling, the more it makes it easier for Japanese leaders to get political cover for actions on the security front," Jeff Kingston, Director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan, told VOA.
Japan walking a tightrope in relations with Taiwan
While Japan puts more attention on the Taiwan Straits through the new defense personnel appointments, Kingston says Tokyo is trying to find a balance between supporting Taiwan and maintaining economic ties with China.
"Japan is walking a tightrope," he told VOA. "China is Japan's top economic partner and many people realize that Japan's future prosperity hinges on tapping China's potential and working with the Chinese. On the other hand, the sympathy for Taiwan is huge in Japan and I don't think the public would be comfortable with any policy that diminishes support for Taiwan."
In his view, Japan has gone from "a meek, unassertive support for Taiwan" to a much bolder and stronger position. However, rather than making bold moves, Kingston expects Tokyo to make incremental and gradual progress when it comes to its support for Taiwan. "Perhaps the progress is less than what Taiwan would want, but it's within Japan's comfort zone," he explained.
Despite Japan's attempt to play a balancing act, Nagy from International Christian University thinks there are opportunities for Taipei and Tokyo to cooperate in areas like rescue operations, humanitarian assistance, and informal exchanges between Japanese and Taiwanese think tanks.
"There is a possibility [for Japan] to cooperate with Taiwan within the multilateral framework, but Japan will have to be very careful about how this is done," he said.
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Junta ambassador asks China to share advanced nuclear technology
Suspicions linger over the Myanmar regime's ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons.
By RFA Burmese 2023.09.18 -- The Myanmar junta's ambassador to Beijing asked Chinese officials at a weekend ASEAN forum to share advanced nuclear technology, according to a statement from the junta's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The technology would be used to help Myanmar's agriculture, health and energy sectors, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The ambassador, Tin Maung Swe, made the request on Saturday at the China-ASEAN Forum for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology in Nanning, China.
But political analyst Than Soe Naing said the junta is also trying to achieve its dream of owning nuclear weapons.
"They must be trying to get nuclear weapons, now that Myanmar is helpless and doesn't have international leverage," he told Radio Free Asia. "Therefore, they are looking for a way to own nuclear power under the pretext of the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a first step."
The junta announced on Sept. 11 that it had re-established relations with North Korea - one of the few countries in the world that possess nuclear weapons - and was appointing Tin Maung Swe to also serve as envoy to Pyongyang.
Myanmar's civilian government cut ties with North Korea five years ago, citing U.N. sanctions over the North's nuclear weapons program. The junta took power from the civilian government in a coup d'etat on Feb. 1, 2021.
In September 2022, the junta signed an agreement with Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation to jointly assess building a small reactor in Myanmar.
The junta announced at the time that it would use nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but Myanmar's political opposition and military analysts expressed concern that the technology would be leveraged militarily, given the country's ongoing internal armed conflict and widespread popular opposition to the junta following the coup.
In February, the junta established a "Nuclear Technology and Information Center," in cooperation with Russian energy firm Rosatom State Corp., in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon. That announcement came amid enduring suspicions that the military regime has ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Matt Reed.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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Myanmar military launches 20 airstrikes during ASEAN Air Chiefs conference
The junta targeted a monastery in one attack, killing the abbot.
By RFA Burmese 2023.09.18 -- Myanmar's military kept up its campaign of airstrikes even during the controversial ASEAN Air Chiefs conference, to which four countries decided not to send a representative. There were 20 air attacks during the three-day event, locals and ethnic armed groups told Radio Free Asia on Monday.
The conference took place from Sept. 13-15 led by junta Air Force chief Gen. Tun Aung. Air Force chiefs from Brunei, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand attended, while Singapore and the Philippines sent video messages. Malaysia and Indonesia boycotted the event.
Meanwhile the junta's brutal air campaign continued with airstrikes on Sagaing region's Indaw, Pale and Ayadaw townships. The air force also attacked Mogoke township in Mandalay region and Kyaukkyi township in eastern Bago region.
In Indaw, junta planes attacked a monastery in Kha Yan Sat Kone village on Friday, following up with a heavy artillery bombardment.
The 77-year-old abbot Rajinda and 42-year-old laybrother Win Thein died in the attack, according to a local who didn't want to be named for fear of reprisals.
"The monastery was bombed by an airplane," the local said.
"Seconds later, the junta fired a Howitzer at the same monastery killing the abbot ...That's why the whole village had to sleep outside the village on the night of September 15.
"Now they have returned to the village as they have to cremate the abbot. The abbot's head was split and the civilian was hit in the chest," said the man, adding that there had been no fighting in the area before the attack.
Three junta helicopters carried out 13 airstrikes on villages in Bago region's Kyaukkyi township, according to a Karen National Union statement Friday.
More than 5,000 residents from six villages were forced to flee to escape the bombardement, the statement said.
A local resident, who didn't want to be named for security reasons, told RFA that people are still unwilling to return to their homes because they are afraid of more airstrikes. They are staying in nearby villages and the forest.
On Friday night, a jet fighter fired on a village in Mandalay region's Mogoke township for 15 minutes, residents told RFA Burmese.
They said the junta launched the attack following a battle with the Ta'ang National Liberation Army.
A spokesperson for the ethnic armed group, Lt. Col. Mong Aik Kyaw, said the junta has stepped up its air campaign recently.
"We have seen more airstrikes from their side," he said.
"Now they are attacking civilian targets. Last month, a jet fighter came and attacked Taung Gyaw hill where there was no fighting."
He added that since July 23, there have been more than 40 clashes between the junta army and the TNLA.
Calls to junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun went unanswered.
The Air Force chiefs who attended the ASEAN conference in Naypyitaw discussed regional security and cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw spokesperson Sithu Maung said all ASEAN members should have boycotted the conference.
"Airstrikes targeting civilians, not military targets are war crimes and crimes against humanity," said the representative of the committee which is made up of members of the National League for Democracy and other lawmakers ousted in the February 2021 coup.
"If they attended the conference knowing of this situation it would encourage violence."
Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Copyright 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content September not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position. Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.
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September 18, 2023
Release
Joint Press Statement for the 23rd Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Republic of Korea (ROK) Ministry of National Defense (MND) held the 23rd Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) on September 18, 2023 in Seoul.
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (DASD) for East Asia, Cara Allison Marshall, led the U.S. delegation and Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy (DEPMIN), Dr. Taekeun Heo, led the ROK delegation. Key senior U.S. and ROK defense and foreign affairs officials also participated in the dialogue.
During the Security Policy Initiative session, both sides reaffirmed the shared U.S. and ROK goal of the complete denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). They pledged to continue strengthening combined defense posture and capabilities to defend the ROK as well as deter conflict on the Peninsula.
The two sides shared their assessments of continued DPRK provocations and its efforts to diversify its delivery systems and advance its nuclear systems. The leaders committed to respond to DPRK provocations that undermine regional peace and stability through close and coordinated bilateral responses that demonstrate the strength of the Alliance. Both sides also reaffirmed the importance of full implementation of all United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolutions by the international community, particularly in light of the DPRK's failed space launch vehicle (SLV) launches in May and August.
Furthermore, the U.S. side reaffirmed its ironclad commitment to the defense of the ROK, leveraging the full range of U.S. military capabilitiesaincluding nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities as well as advanced non-nuclear capabilitiesaand reiterated that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the United States or its Allies will result in the end of the Kim regime.
To this effect, the two sides assessed that the Ulchi Freedom Shield 23 (UFS23) exercise significantly improved the Alliance's crisis management and all-out war execution capabilities. The exercise was conducted in August of this year under a realistic operational environment that reflected the DPRK's advancing nuclear and missile threats as well as the possibility of a rapid transition to wartime. They also assessed that UFS23, in conjunction with over 30 intensive Warrior Shield field training exercises, enhanced combined operation execution capabilities. Based on these outcomes, the two sides pledged to further strengthen combined exercises and training to stay responsive to the rapidly changing security environment on the Korean Peninsula.
In commemorating the 70th anniversary of the U.S.-ROK Alliance and Armistice Agreement, the two sides agreed to co-host the ROK-UNC Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting in conjunction with the 55th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in November. The leaders acknowledged that the meeting would strengthen U.S and ROK solidarity with the UNC Member States who share core values of promoting peace and security on the Korean Peninsula.
On defense science and technology cooperation, both sides recognized the need to modernize the Alliance and expeditiously deliver game-changing technologies to the warfighter. To this end, the two sides pledged to continue strengthening cooperation based on shared strategic interests and enhance collaboration on joint research and development. The leaders underscored the importance of bolstering supply chain resiliency and strengthening the connection between U.S. and ROK defense industrial bases to enhance interoperability and interchangeability within the Alliance defense architecture.
Both sides acknowledged progress of the revision of the Tailored Deterrence Strategy (TDS) based on guidance from U.S. and ROK strategic documents to effectively deter and respond to advancing DPRK nuclear and missile threats. The leaders shared a common understanding that the document, in conjunction with the progress achieved through the newly established Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), will contribute to consultations and joint planning to this effect.
The leaders reviewed progress on the Program Analysis Working Group (PAWG), which aims to counter the DPRK's evolving missile threat and pledged to continue close collaboration. Both sides also agreed to initiate a joint study through the Counter-Missile Working Group (CMWG) to further develop the Alliance's comprehensive counter-missile strategy.
The two sides commended the outcomes of the May 2023 Cyber Cooperation Working Group (CCWG) meeting, which included discussions on plans to participate in a bilateral cyber exercise early next year. The leaders also acknowledged that the ROK-U.S. Space Cooperation table-top exercise (TTX) will highlight ways the two sides can work together to build a unified understanding of deterrence and threats in the space domain. The U.S. and ROK also pledged to continue close consultations on various space cooperation measures, through the Space Cooperation Working Group (SCWG).
During the Conditions-based Operational Control (OPCON) Transition Working Group (COTWG), both sides reviewed the progress in meeting the three conditions under the bilaterally approved Conditions-based OPCON Transition Plan (COTP) and reaffirmed a mutual commitment to strengthening the combined defense posture of the Alliance. In particular, the leaders noted the progress made in pursuing the transition of wartime OPCON this year, including the bilateral evaluation of COTP capabilities and systems, the transition of Combined Component Commands to standing component commands, and the assessment of the regional security environment. The two sides pledged to comprehensively review the results of the bilateral evaluation to pursue the F-CFC Full Operational Capability (FOC) certification and other subsequent tasks in a systematic and stable manner.
During the Executive Session, acting DASD Allison Marshall and DEPMIN Heo led discussions on the increasingly complex regional and global security environment. As such, the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of upholding the the rules-based international order and adhering to international law. They pledged to work closely together to promote peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including in the South China Sea and beyond.
Both delegations noted efforts to expand cooperation with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) nations and Pacific Island countries through the Regional Cooperation Working Group (RCWG) as part of efforts to implement the ROK Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The two sides also underscored the significance of the outcomes of the Trilateral Leaders' Summit at Camp David in August, which marked the beginning of a "new era of ROK-U.S.-Japan cooperation." The U.S. and ROK discussed ways to evolve defense trilateral cooperation into a comprehensive and multi-layered partnership that contributes to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region. Along with Japan, the U.S. and ROK discussed ongoing trilateral efforts to operationalize a real-time missile warning data sharing mechanism against DPRK threats by the end of 2023 and to institutionalize a multi-year trilateral military exercise plan.
During the meeting, both pledged that the U.S. Strategic Command and United States Forces Korea will closely collaborate with the ROK Strategic Command, which will be newly established, so that it can secure its role and status as a strategic unit. Both sides also agreed that U.S. and ROK forces will enhance the combined defense architecture of the Alliance by jointly developing planning and execution of Conventional-Nuclear Integration (CNI) efforts through the NCG.
In conclusion, ROK and U.S. leaders assessed that the 23rd KIDD significantly contributed to reaffirming the strong cohesion of the Alliance, bolstering Alliance coordination, and strengthening the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture. Both delegations agreed that the KIDD has been a key mechanism in developing the Alliance into one of the most dynamic and premier alliances in the world over the last 70 years. Based on these outcomes, the two sides pledged to continue progress leading up to the 55th SCM and the ROK-UNC Member States Defense Ministerial Meeting, scheduled in November 2023.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3528305/
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Russian International Money Launderer Arrested for Illicitly Procuring Large Quantities of U.S.-Manufactured Dual-Use Military Grade Microelectronics for Russian Elites
Monday, September 18, 2023
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Maxim Marchenko, 51, a Russian citizen who has resided in Hong Kong, was charged today in connection with conspiring to defraud the United States and with smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering offenses based on his alleged participation in a scheme to unlawfully procure U.S.-sourced, dual-use microelectronics with military applications on behalf of end users in Russia.
"According to the complaint, Marchenko employed a web of shell companies as part of an overseas smuggling ring to ship dual-use U.S. technology with military applications to Russia in contravention of U.S. law," said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department's National Security Division. "Today's action reinforces the Department's commitment to protect U.S. security and counter Russian aggression in Ukraine through the vigorous enforcement of our export control laws."
"As alleged, Maxim Marchenko participated in an illicit procurement network that provided military grade microelectronics to end users in Russia," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York. "Following Russia's unjust invasion of Ukraine, Marchenko and his co-conspirators are alleged to have used shell companies and other deceptive measures in order to secure U.S.-manufactured microelectronics, with applications including in rifle scopes, night-vision goggles, thermal optics, and weapon systems, for use by Russians. This office will relentlessly pursue those who seek to flout U.S. law in order to supply Russia with military technology."
"Today's charges demonstrate the FBI's ability to leverage its international presence and partnerships to stop the illegal transfer of dual-use technology to Russia," said Executive Assistant Director Larissa L. Knapp of the FBI's National Security Branch. "As alleged in the charges, Marchenko and his co-conspirators engaged in an elaborate, fraudulent scheme to smuggle military-grade technology with the potential to harm U.S. national security. The FBI and our partners will never waver in our commitment to keep Americans safe."
"We are laser-focused on rooting out the procurement networks fueling the Russian war machine," said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod. "Working hand-in-hand with our federal law enforcement partners, we will continue to identify and disrupt Russia's use of front companies in the People's Republic of China and elsewhere to evade our controls."
"Disrupting the efforts of facilitators and procurement agents like Marchenko, who use their skills and connections to advance the agenda of the Russian war machine, is one of the most important priorities of this task force. Today's arrest should serve as another reminder that we will leverage and deploy every tool to bring these criminals to justice," said Task Force KleptoCapture Co-Director David Lim.
According to court documents, Maxim Marchenko is a Russian national who resides in Hong Kong and operates several Hong Kong-based shell companies, including Alice Components Co. Ltd. (Alice Components), Neway Technologies Limited (Neway) and RG Solutions Limited (RG Solutions). Marchenko and two co-conspirators (CC-1 and CC-2), who are also Russian nationals, have operated an illicit procurement network in Russia, Hong Kong and elsewhere overseas. This procurement network has fraudulently obtained from U.S. distributors large quantities of dual-use, military grade microelectronics, specifically OLED micro-displays, on behalf of Russia-based end users. To carry out this scheme, Marchenko, CC-1 and CC-2 used shell companies based in Hong Kong and other deceptive means to conceal from U.S. Government agencies and U.S. distributors that the OLED micro-displays were destined for Russia. The technology that Marchenko and his co-conspirators fraudulently procured have significant military applications, such as in rifle scopes, night-vision googles, thermal optics and other weapon systems.
To perpetrate the scheme, Marchenko and other members of the conspiracy acquired the dual-use OLED micro-displays from U.S.-based distributors using Marchenko's Hong Kong-based shell companies, including Alice Components, Neway and RG Solutions. Members of the conspiracy, including Marchenko, procured these sensitive microelectronics by falsely representing to the U.S. distributors (who, in turn, are required to report to U.S. agencies) that Alice Components was sending the shipments to end users located in China, Hong Kong and other countries outside of Russia for use in electron microscopes for medical research. In reality, the OLED micro-displays were destined for end users in Russia. Marchenko and other members of the conspiracy concealed the true final destination (Russia) from U.S. distributors for the purpose of causing false statements to the U.S. agencies.
To conceal the fact that these OLED micro-displays were destined for Russia, Marchenko and other members of the conspiracy worked together to transship the illicitly procured OLED micro-displays by using pass-through entities principally operated by Marchenko in third countries, such as Hong Kong. Marchenko then caused the OLED micro-displays to be shipped to the ultimate destination in Russia using, among other entities, a freight forwarder known to provide freight forwarding services to Russia. In addition, Marchenko and other members of the conspiracy used Hong Kong-based shell companies, principally operated by Marchenko, to conceal the fact that payments for the OLED micro-displays were coming from Russia. In total, between in or about May 2022 and in or about August 2023, Marchenko's shell companies funneled a total of more than $1.6 million to the United States in support of the procurement network's efforts to smuggle the OLED micro-displays to Russia.
Marchenko is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison; money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; smuggling goods from the United States, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison; conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; and wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI and Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case. The FBI Legal AttachA in Australia; U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service (DSS); and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance.
The Southern District of New York is prosecuting the case, with assistance from the National Security Division's Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.
Today's actions were coordinated through the Justice Department's Task Force KleptoCapture and the Justice and Commerce Departments' Disruptive Technology Strike Force. Task Force KleptoCapture is an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia's unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine. The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Departments of Justice and Commerce designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Marchenko complaint
Topics: Countering Nation States
Export Control
Components: Criminal - Office of International Affairs
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
National Security Division (NSD)
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
Press Release Number: 23-1018
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Moscow slams European Union's 'absurd' travel restrictions against Russians
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:54 PM
Moscow has denounced the European Union for enforcing a set of restrictions on Russians seeking to travel to the 27-nation bloc, describing the move as absurd.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, published a clarification note in early September, banning Russians from bringing their personal cars into the bloc's member states. It has also warned that such items as smartphones, laptops, and cosmetic products were at risk of confiscation.
On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said the restrictions "go beyond the point of absurdity," and were aimed at "causing harm specifically to ordinary Russians and at making it impossible for Russian citizens to enter the European Union."
"The desperate desire of the current EU leadership to erect a new Iron Curtain in Europe is now completely obvious, limiting as much as possible the possibilities of communication between people," it added.
The Iron Curtain refers to the political and military barrier built by the former Soviet Union following the conclusion of the World War II in an attempt to fully detach itself and its allies in Eastern and Central Europe from open contact with the West.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova took aim at the travel restrictions, saying they exemplified "racism."
"It's just racism," Zakharova said, adding, "This is racism pure and simple."
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has also suggested that Moscow should retaliate by suspending its diplomatic relations with the bloc.
"What should we do? Certainly not introduce retaliatory restrictions for EU citizens, we are not racists," Medvedev said on September 11, adding, "It would be better to simply suspend diplomatic relations with the EU for a while."
The EU has imposed a slew of sanctions against Russia since last February, when the latter began waging a "special military operation" against its neighbor Ukraine.
Moscow has said the anti-Russian restrictions as well as a steady flow of state-of-the-art arms that have been directed from the bloc towards Kiev ever since the onset of the conflict only serves to prolong the war.
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Russia Sentences First Woman For Skipping Mobilization Call-Up
By RFE/RL's Russian Service September 18, 2023
A Russian court has for the first time sentenced a woman to prison for failing to report for active duty following the Kremlin's call-up of reserves last year.
Whether Yefreitora Kabaloyev from the impoverished Caucasus region of Kabardino-Balkaria will actually see time behind bars is another thing.
Kabaloyev was sentenced to six years in prison for failing to report without a valid reason, Kommersant reported, citing the local court.
However, as she has a five-year old child, the start of her sentence was postponed until 2032. The sentence may be intended as a warning to both men and women who are called up.
Kabaloyev, a reservist, told the court that she did not report for duty following her call-up because she was pregnant.
She said military doctors recommended she temporarily leave the service and she thought they had informed her commanders.
Prosecutors said that since Kabaloyev continued to receive military allowances and benefits, she hadn't actually left the service and should have shown up.
The penalty for such an offense is 7 to 10 years.
Kabaloyev's lawyer said the mother will appeal the ruling.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-woman-sentenced- skipping-call-up-mobilization/32598309.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russian Gorchakov Fund, Sanctioned By The EU, Holds Conference In Republika Srpska
By RFE/RL's Balkan Service September 18, 2023
The Russian state-financed Aleksandr Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund, which was sanctioned by the West for its ties to the Kremlin, will hold a conference in Republika Srpska, the Serb-majority entity of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The European Union sanctioned the Gorchakov Fund in 2022, saying it was "responsible for actively supporting and benefitting from the Government of the Russian Federation, which is responsible for the annexation of Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine."
According to the EU, the Russian Foreign Ministry funds the work of the Gorchakov Fund, which in turn grants funding to think tanks and nongovernmental organizations.
Now the Gorchakov Fund will hold its annual Balkan Dialogue forum in Banja Luka in October. The event is hosted by the University of Banja Luka's Faculty of Security Science.
Its dean, Predrag Ceranic, told RFE/RL's Balkan Service that he was not aware that the Gorchakov Fund was under EU sanctions. He said that he did not see "any obstacle" in that, adding that Bosnia-Herzegovina "is not at war with Russia, it is not even a member of the EU [...] and, in general, it has no hostile relationship with Russia."
The topics of the conference include the "Russian view" of the Dayton agreement that ended the Bosnian War in 1995, following the breakup of Yugoslavia, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported.
The Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, who is sanctioned by the United States for alleged corruption and threatening the stability and territorial integrity of Bosnia, will meet participants at the event.
The president of the Gorchakov Fund, Leonid Drachevsky, a former diplomat and deputy-minister, will attend the event in Banja Luka. Russian Ambassador to Bosnia Igor Kalabuhov will also attend.
Edina Becirevic, associate professor at the Faculty of Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Security Studies at the University of Sarajevo, said the conference is a continuation of Russian support for Dodik's secessionist policy, but also of Russia's malignant political influence in the Western Balkans.
"There is no doubt that since 1992 Russia has supported those political forces committed to the destruction of the state of Bosnia-Herzegovina," she told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
The Aleksandr Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund was established in 2010 by the then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is chairman of its board of trustees.
Among the members of the fund's board is the U.S. sanctioned oligarch Alisher Usmanov, as well as Yevgeny Primakov, the head of Rossotrudnichestvo, the agency that oversees cultural exchange programs and promotes Russia's political and economic interests abroad.
The Fund says it supports the "creation of a public, political and business climate abroad, favorable for Russia". It was named after Aleksandr Gorchakov, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1856 to 1882.
According to the EU, "projects organized by the Gorchakov Fund have been important elements of Russia's foreign policy discourse."
In 2015, Ukraine closed the office of the Gorchakov Fund in Kyiv because of antistate propaganda.
With reporting by Milorad Milojevic and Meliha Kesmer from RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-gorchakorv- fund-srpska-bosnia-conference-sanctioned/32598209.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Russia Holds Drills to Protect Northern Sea Route
Sputnik News
20230918
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Military exercises to protect the Northern Sea Route are being held in northeastern Russia under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Adm. Nikolai Evmenov, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
"[Military] exercises to protect the Northern Sea Route are taking place in northeastern Russia under the leadership of the commander-in-chief of the Navy," the ministry said in a statement.
The exercises are taking place in the waters of the Chukchi and Bering seas, as well as on the Chukotka Peninsula, the ministry said, adding that the drills involve about 10,000 Russian military and over 50 units of military equipment of the Pacific Fleet.
The first episode of the drills was a combat exercise to defeat a group of ships in the northeastern part of the Bering Sea. The maneuvers include rocket and artillery firing, practicing defense against landing forces, and a march along the Arctic coast.
"All episodes of the exercises are of defensive nature and are intended to improve the training of forces and troops for operations on the northeastern borders of Russia," the statement read.
A Sputnik
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Hong Kong: HK among top freest economies
Hong Kong continues to rank among the top in the Economic Freedom of the World 2023 Annual Report published by the Fraser Institute, coming in second place globally.
Among the five assessment areas in the 2023 report, the city continued to rank top in Freedom to trade internationally, and third globally in Regulation.
Hong Kongs scores and rankings in Size of government and Sound money also improved from those of last year.
In a statement, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government said Hong Kong is one of the most liberal and easiest places to do business in the world, being home to almost 9,000 Mainland and overseas companies.
This is a testament to Hong Kongs distinctive institutional strengths under one country, two systems. Hong Kong remains the only place in the world where the global advantage and the China advantage come together in a single economy.
The Fraser Institutes claims that the Mainland imposed new and significant barriers to entry, limits on the employment of foreign labour, and increases in the costs of doing business in Hong Kong are factually wrong.
The Hong Kong SAR Government said it totally disagreed with and was disappointed in such unfounded claims.
It pointed out that there is no change to the labour policy in the Hong Kong SAR. On the premise of according employment priority to local workers, the Hong Kong SAR Government operates different schemes for employers to apply for importation of labour on account of their actual circumstances.
Such schemes serve to supplement skills not readily available in the local labour market, and sustain the competitiveness and meet the development needs of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong SAR Government also strives to maintain the city as an attractive place for labour from different places to work.
It also stressed that the argument of the so-called Mainlands military interference on Hong Kongs rule of law in the 2023 report is completely fictitious and contrary to the facts, noting that the Hong Kong SAR enjoys a high degree of autonomy under one country, two systems. The rule of law in Hong Kong is not subject to military interference.
Under Article 14 of the Basic Law, military forces stationed by the Central Peoples Government in the Hong Kong SAR for defence shall not interfere in the local affairs of the region and in addition to abiding by national laws, members of the Garrison shall abide by the laws of the Hong Kong SAR.
Similarly, under Article 9 of the Garrison Law, the Hong Kong Garrison shall not interfere in the local affairs of Hong Kong.
In relation to the so-called eroding confidence in judicial independence and the impartiality of Hong Kong courts, the Hong Kong SAR Government reiterated that, as a matter of fact, Hong Kongs legal and judicial system has always been highly regarded by international communities.
The Constitution and the Basic Law provide constitutional guarantees for fundamental rights and freedoms. The appointment and removal of judges in Hong Kong are free from political or other irrelevant considerations.
Judgments of the courts contain detailed reasoning for the relevant decision and are publicly available on the website of the Judiciary, which the public can access at any time. Equality before the law is a fundamental principle observed in Hong Kong.
The allegation against the independence and impartiality of the Hong Kong SARs judiciary is totally groundless and unsupported by objective evidence, the statement added.
In relation to the implementation of the National Security Law, the Hong Kong SAR Government reiterated that national security is a matter within the purview of the central authorities. It is the responsibility and right of every country to safeguard its national security.
The Hong Kong SAR's law enforcement agencies have been taking law enforcement actions based on evidence and strictly in accordance with the law in respect of the acts of the people or entities concerned, and have nothing to do with their political stance or background.
The 2023 reports comments on the relevant enforcement actions are biased, casting doubt on the impartiality of the report's conclusion.
The Hong Kong SAR Government said that since the return of Hong Kong to the motherland, it has been fully, faithfully and resolutely implementing the principles of one country, two systems, Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong and a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Law to ensure Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability.
Hong Kong has entered a new stage of advancing from stability to prosperity, it added.
This story has been published on: 2023-09-19. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- On September 16, XPENG AEROHT, an urban air mobility (UAM) company affiliated with XPeng Inc., celebrated the inauguration of its comprehensive ground testing center for flying cars, according to a post on the company's WeChat account.
Spanning approximately 58,000 square meters, this center is pivotal to XPENG AEROHT's R&D and validation of new flying car technologies and technical standard development, conducting comprehensive ground-level tests for both the entire vehicle and system components.
Photo credit: XPeng
The testing center will be constructed in two phases, with the recently inaugurated Phase One covering 30,000 square meters. The Phase One primarily focuses on constructing 12 categories of critical large-scale test benches, including pioneering elements such as gantry cranes, rotor towers, and flight vibration platforms. The Phase Two, with an area of 28,000 square meters, plans to establish laboratories for key systems like flight control and autonomous driving. These labs will include facilities for high and low-temperature environment testing, material mechanics performance, as well as scenarios for integrating aircraft and automotive use.
The centers director Chen Shuo emphasized that the center will conduct ground tests for attributes such as overall system strength, load capacity, vibration resistance, durability, environmental factors, and materials. This comprehensive approach will support the validation of products throughout the entire process, from virtual simulation to laboratory and field experiments, ensuring the effectiveness of R&D and designs.
XPENG AEROHT, the largest flying car company in Asia, has continuously enhanced its pioneering testing and flight verification system since its establishment in 2020. With its R&D headquarters in Guangzhou, it has established four major testing bases: the Seagull Island Flight Base, responsible for validation flights, durability tests, and certification flights; the R&D Flight Test Center, catering to framework phase flight testing needs; the Power Test Center, providing testing requirements for electric propulsion, batteries, and high-voltage electrical components; and the newly inaugurated Comprehensive Ground Testing Center, covering the entire R&D, testing, and flight verification process for flying cars.
In meeting with UN envoy, top Saudi diplomat stresses Riyadh's commitment to political solution for Syria
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 6:17 PM
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has underscored the necessity of finding a political solution for Syria, expressing Riyadh's commitment to the stability and territorial integrity of the conflict-ravaged Arab country.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud made the remark in a meeting with Geir Pedersen, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.
"During the meeting, they discussed the latest developments on [a] political solution to the Syrian crisis and the efforts exerted by the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the UN in this regard," the state-run Saudi Press Agency said on its website.
"Prince Faisal reiterated the kingdom's keenness to exert all efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis to preserve its unity, security, stability and Arab affiliation, and achieve progress and prosperity for its people," the agency added.
Since 2014, the US has deployed forces and military equipment in Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate under the pretext of fighting Daesh, which emerged as Washington was running out of excuses to extend its regional meddling or enlarge it in scale.
American forces sustain their illegal presence on the Syrian soil although Damascus and its allies defeated the Takfiri terrorist group in late 2019.
Saudi Arabia's commitment to the preservation of Syrian sovereignty comes as Riyadh and Damascus agreed in March to resume diplomatic relations and re-open embassies after more than a decade.
The move prompted other Arab countries to race for the re-establishment of ties with Syria.
Two months later, Arab government representatives in Cairo voted to return Syria to the Arab League after a 12-year suspension and all 13 of the 22 member states that attended the session endorsed the decision.
The Arab League suspended Syria's membership in November 2011, citing an alleged crackdown by Damascus on opposition protests, with Syria denouncing the move as "illegal and a violation of the organization's charter."
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Taiwan reports record number of military incursions, urges China to stop 'harassment'
ROC Central News Agency
09/18/2023 11:48 AM
Taipei, Sept. 18 (CNA) Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) on Monday called for China to immediately halt its "unilateral military harassment," after a record 103 Chinese military aircraft were detected around Taiwan in a 24-hour period that ended earlier in the day.
In a statement, the MND said that in addition to the 103 warplanes, nine warships were also spotted in areas close to Taiwan, between 6 a.m. Sunday and 6 a.m. Monday.
Of the 103 military aircraft, 40 crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered the southwestern and southeastern parts of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the ministry said.
The MND said it scrambled planes to monitor the Chinese aircraft, issued radio warnings, mobilized combat air and naval patrols, and deployed defense missile systems to track the Chinese warplanes.
An ADIZ is a self-declared area in which a country claims the right to identify, locate and control approaching foreign aircraft but is not part of its territorial airspace as defined by international law.
The number of Chinese military aircraft detected near Taiwan in a 24-hour-period broke the record set in April, when 91 warplanes flew close to Taiwan between 6 a.m. on April 10 and 6 a.m. the next day.
On Monday, the MND said that ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait was key to maintaining security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, which is the responsibility of all stakeholders, including Beijing.
Beijing should shoulder its responsibility and immediately stop its "unilateral military harassment," as such actions could escalate tensions, erode regional peace, and disrupt regional stability, the MND said.
Meanwhile, Chieh Chung (), an associate research fellow at the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, told CNA Monday that July to September is usually the most active time of year for Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) drills, and he suspected that the record 103 warplanes were part of a PLA exercise on the open seas.
Chieh said he did not think the incursions were meant to coincide with the meeting between China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Jake Sullivan, national security adviser to United States President Joe Biden, in Malta last weekend.
If that were the case, it would expose a lack of coordination between China's foreign affairs and military branches, he said.
During the multiple meetings between Wang and Sullivan on Sept. 16 and 17, they held "candid, substantive and constructive" talks, according to separate statements released Sunday by the U.S. White House and the Chinese foreign ministry.
(By Joseph Yeh)
Enditem/pc
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Over 100 PLA warplanes set new record in drill around Taiwan island
Global Times
By Liu Xuanzun Published: Sep 18, 2023 08:38 PM
A record-breaking more than 100 aircraft of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) were spotted around the island of Taiwan within 24 hours on Sunday and Monday. The sightings, which came after 20 PLA vessels, also broke their respective record last week. Experts say this shows that PLA exercises around the Taiwan island have reached a new level.
The defense authority on the island of Taiwan said in a press release on Monday that it detected 103 PLA aircraft and nine PLA vessels around the island from Sunday morning to Monday morning, with 40 of the detected aircraft, including Su-30, J-10 and J-16 fighter jets, YU-20 tanker aircraft and KJ-500 early warning aircraft, crossing the so-called median line of the Taiwan Straits or entered the island's self-proclaimed southwest and southeast air defense identification zones.
It was the highest number of PLA aircraft that has been recorded in a single day around the island of Taiwan, observers said.
According to flight paths provided by the island's defense authority, the PLA warplanes covered both ends of the Taiwan Straits and flew to the east side of Taiwan island.
Dispatching a complete array of more than 100 aircraft to a same region in one day usually indicates a large-scale operational level campaign, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese mainland military aviation expert, told the Global Times on Monday.
Such a large number of forces and their large-scale joint operation indicates that the PLA's combat-oriented exercises around the island of Taiwan have reached a new level, and can be turned into real action at any time if necessary, Fu said.
Only less than a week ago, on September 12, the defense authority on the island of Taiwan said that 20 PLA vessels were detected around the island of Taiwan over the previous day, which also set a new record for PLA vessel activity around the island.
More than a dozen PLA warships including the aircraft carrier Shandong held a five-day exercise in the West Pacific waters to the east side of the island of Taiwan from September 11 to Friday, according to releases from the defense authority on the island of Taiwan and Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint Staff.
Both the record-breaking aircraft exercise and warship exercise were not announced by the PLA, and analysts said that such sudden, large-scale exercises could reflect that the PLA is able to deploy powerful, large scale concerted forces that can complete missions within a short period.
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"The Turkish-US relations improve each passing day"
Presidency of The Republic of Turkey
18.09.2023
Speaking at the dinner held by the Turkish American National Steering Committee in New York, President ErdoAYan said: "The Turkish-US relations improve each passing day. Our bilateral trade volume reached a record high last year, having exceeded 32 billion dollars. We will further enhance our cooperation on the basis of common interests in the upcoming period."
President Recep Tayyip ErdoAYan, who is in New York for the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, made a speech at the dinner held by the Turkish American National Steering Committee (TASC) in New York.
Drawing attention to the February 6 earthquakes in TArkiye, President ErdoAYan pointed out that the construction of 200 thousand post-quake houses has started so far, and added that their aim is to build 319 thousand houses within the first year and deliver them to their owners.
"THE AID YOU DELIVERED TO THE DISASTER ZONE CONTRIBUTED TO THE HEALING OF OUR WOUNDS"
Noting that a total of 650 thousand houses will be built within the process, President ErdoAYan said that they will revive the quake-hit cities in a manner that will be safer than the past with all their infrastructures, superstructures and historical and cultural structures alike. Pointing to the aid supplies sent from all across the world, President ErdoAYan continued as follows: "Although there are thousands of kilometers between us, we have felt in our hearts the support of our U.S.-based brothers and sisters whose hearts beat for TArkiye. The aid you delivered to the disaster zone contributed to the healing of our wounds. I particularly thank you for that. We are grateful for the solidarity our American Muslim brothers and sisters and communities of other faiths showed with our nation. Also, I would like to thank the American Muslim community."
"YOU ARE BUILDING SOCIAL BRIDGES BETWEEN TARKAYE AND AMERICA"
"You are building social bridges between TArkiye and America by representing our rich culture to the American people in the best manner while defending your identity here," President ErdoAYan said, and added: "There are some groups of interest who act with the aim of poisoning the Turkish-American relations. By telling the facts, being a good example and duly representing TArkiye and the Turkish nation, we will foil those groups. Responsibilities fall to you, our citizens, as well as our official institutions on this issue. In this sense, your active participation in the civil society and representation in the decision-making bodies in the country are important."
"THE NEFARIOUS ATTACKS ON OUR HOLY BOOK QURAN CAN IN NO WAY BE FORGIVEN"
Drawing attention to the recent rise in racism and Islamophobia, President ErdoAYan stressed: "We as TArkiye make our warnings against and openly respond to this threat growing bigger like a snowball. We seriously maintain our works in order for this issue to remain on the agenda of the international community. The nefarious attacks on our holy book Quran in Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and most recently in New York can in no way be forgiven. We never accept the legitimization of attacking the sacred values of 2 billion Muslims across the world under the pretext of freedom of expression. To us, these acts are provocations aimed at inciting people. As you know, we led the adoption by the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly of the resolution that recognizes any kind of attack on sacred books as the violation of international law. We will determinedly continue our efforts to that end."
"OUR STANCE IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR IS APPRECIATED BY THE ENTIRE WORLD"
Stating that they work selflessly to crown the centenary of the Republic with the Century of TArkiye, President ErdoAYan said: "We are making really great progress in defense, diplomacy, economy and tourism alike. We give no respite to any terrorist organizations, from DAESH to FETO and PKK. Let me reiterate that we will determinedly continue our fight against terrorist organizations inside and outside our borders."
Underscoring that while defending the rights of the nation, they work to correct global injustices and inequalities, President ErdoAYan noted: "We, to that end, pursue a strong, constructive, active and balanced foreign policy both on the ground and at the table. With the critical roles we have assumed recently in regional and global crises, we have consolidated our global leading position in the area of mediation. Our stance in the Russia-Ukraine war is appreciated by the entire world. We have achieved many diplomatic successes, from the exchange of war prisoners to the Black Sea Initiative. Believing that 'there is no winner of a war, and a loser of a peace", we continue our efforts in a multifaceted manner."
Stressing that the Turkish-US relations improve each passing day, President ErdoAYan went on to say: "I have agreed with President Biden on strengthening our cooperation and friendship. The Strategic Mechanism we decided to establish with Mr. Biden contributes to the deepening of the dialogue between our countries. Our bilateral trade volume reached a record high last year, having exceeded 32 billion dollars. We will further enhance our cooperation on the basis of common interests in the upcoming period."
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Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's answer to a question from the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin programme, Vladivostok, September 17, 2023
17 September 2023 12:15
1786-17-09-2023
Question: The United States has declared once again that it is ready to supply Ukraine with long-range depleted uranium munitions. What happens next?
Sergey Lavrov: I am in no position to comment on their statements. They constantly change their minds. Perhaps, they are preparing the public at large. However, this will not alter the gist of current developments. For many years, they have been training Ukraine to inflict a "strategic defeat" on Russia with the hands and bodies of its citizens, and they have trained the country accordingly. No matter what they say, they are running this war, supplying weapons and ammunition, intelligence, reconnaissance and satellite data. They are waging a war against Russia.
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The President: The UN's role is crucial in managing the consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine
President of the Republic of Lithuania
September 18, 2023
President Gitanas NausAda, together with the Presidents of Latvia and Estonia, met with United Nations Secretary-General AntAnio Guterres on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The meeting focused on the role of the UN in providing support for Ukraine in its fight against the aggressor, accountability for war crimes and the crime of aggression, and Ukraine's grain exports.
During the meeting, the Lithuanian leader stressed that the UN's role is essential in containing the consequences of Russia's war in Ukraine for third countries. The President noted that the disinformation and false narratives about the causes of the food crisis spread by Russia and Belarus in the countries of the Global South are extremely harmful. According to Gitanas Nauseda, it is important that decisions taken at international level be based on facts and not on the lies of Russia's propaganda.
"Disruptions in food supply chains were caused by Russia's war in Ukraine. Both the Kremlin and the Lukashenko regime are exploiting this for their own political endsathe possibility of circumventing EU sanctions or having them lifted. But let's not be deceived, and let's not let others be deceived. It is not the EU sanctions that are the cause of these problems, but Russia's aggression. We would appreciate the UN's efforts to facilitate exports of Ukrainian grain, instead of suggesting lifting sanctions against the aggressor," the President spoke.
The meeting also discussed Russia's accountability for war crimes and the crime of aggression. Gitanas NausAda reaffirmed his support for the issuance of arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes committed in Ukraine. However, according to the Lithuanian leader, there is currently no international court that could hold Russia's top political and military leadership accountable for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which is why Lithuania supports the establishment of the special international tribunal.
The President's Communication Group
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Foreign minister Hanke Bruins Slot spoke with Ukrainian children abducted by Russia
Government of the Netherlands - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
News item | 18-09-2023
Russia has abducted thousands of children from occupied areas in Ukraine. On 14 September Hanke Bruins Slot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke with Ukrainian children who had been unlawfully deported to Russia.
Russia's deportation of children
Since the start of the war, Russia has abducted thousands of Ukrainian children from Ukraine. Russia's intention is to break the children's connection with their Ukrainian families, identity, language and culture. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russian Commissioner for Children's Rights, for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
Ukrainian delegation in the Netherlands
As part of the Stolen Voices Advocacy Tour, Ukrainian representatives were in the Netherlands for a three-day visit. Their aim is to increase attention about the abductions among international organisations and decision-makers so that they put greater pressure on Russia to let the children go home to their loved ones.
On 14 September Ms Bruins Slot met with a Ukrainian delegation consisting of Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian ombudsman, Daria Herasymchuk, presidential adviser for children's rights, and six Ukrainian children between the ages of 11 and 17 who had been kidnapped by Russia in the past year and a half. These six children have since been reunited with their families, but they are among the few fortunate ones.
Minister speaks with Ukrainian children who were abducted
At the Children's Book Museum in The Hague, Ms Bruins Slot spoke with the children and listened to their harrowing accounts. The children were accompanied by an interpreter/psychologist.
The Netherlands to make DNA kits available
During the meeting with the Ukrainian delegation Ms Bruins Slot announced the Netherlands' intention to support Ukraine with the new DNA reunification project. The Netherlands wants to help Ukraine set up a DNA database by providing rapid DNA test kits. The database will make it possible to more quickly identify the families of abducted children who are brought back from Russia, so that they can be reunited with their families as fast as possible. The project will also contribute to the collection of evidence of the deportations, enabling prosecution for war crimes before the courts, including the International Criminal Court.
Ms Bruins Slot: 'Russia has kidnapped thousands of Ukrainian children since its invasion of Ukraine. It is a deliberate tactic of unprecedented cruelty that destroys families. These children must not be forgotten. It is vital that they are reunited with their families. The Netherlands can help Ukraine do this by providing DNA test kits.'
Other ways the Netherlands is helping Ukraine
The Netherlands is deeply concerned about the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. It is helping Ukraine to combat this by contributing to investigations, imposing sanctions on people involved in the abductions, providing support for bringing the children home, and continuing to call international attention to this matter. The Netherlands also continues to support Ukraine in various other ways.
On 30 March 2023, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) launched a mission of experts to investigate the deportation of Ukrainian children by Russia. The Netherlands supported this mission, together with Germany. The mission's task was to collect new, independent data about the deportation of children. The Netherlands was part of the working group for the mission and contributed financially. The mission confirmed in its report of 4 May 2023 that Russian has deported a large number of Ukrainian children and that some cases may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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Ukraine to challenge EU neighbors over grain import bans
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 1:30 PM
Ukraine says it will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against unilateral grain-import bans imposed by the country's three European Union neighbors.
On Friday, the EU announced plans to suspend a temporary ban placed on the export of Ukrainian grain to a select number of countries in Eastern Europe. In defiance of the bloc's leadership, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary said Friday they will extend the ban.
Ukraine's Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka told Bloomberg on Monday that Kiev will file a complaint to the organization to challenge the ban.
"We are asking for acknowledgment that these actions are illegitimate."
Kachka said the government is also considering retaliatory measures that may affect products such as onions and apples from Poland and cars from Hungary.
The temporary measure adopted in May saw a ban placed on the imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in a move to protect their farming sectors from cheap imports.
The European Commission announced that it would let existing restrictions expire.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, however, said that they will extend the ban "despite lack of their [the EU] agreement."
The issue of grain imports has now triggered a diplomatic spat between Ukraine and Poland, which is a major supplier of military aid to Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Ukraine, a major supplier of grain, has been relying on its neighbors to send exports through, while it has been unable to use, Black Sea routes, since Russia launched its "special military operation" against the country in February last year.
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Ukraine fires six deputy defense ministers in major reshuffle
Iran Press TV
Monday, 18 September 2023 11:38 AM
After Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov was dismissed earlier this month, the Ukrainian government decided to dismiss six deputy defense ministers on Monday.
Hanna Maliar, who has frequently issued public updates on Russia's war against Ukraine, was also included among those removed.
The government gave no reason for the dismissals.
The ministry had been dogged by media allegations of corruption while Reznikov was in the post although he faced no corruption allegations himself.
Less than two weeks ago, Rustem Umerov was appointed as the new Defense Minister.
"Rebooting. We (have) started. We continue. (The) Ministry continues to work as usual," Umerov wrote in a Facebook post.
Ukraine claims gains in south and east, downs drones, missiles
Also on Monday Ukraine claimed gains in the south and east frontlines while downing Russian drones and missiles, ahead of its president's visit to the US.
Kiev said on Monday it had taken back the eastern village of Klishchiivka, in what would be Ukraine's second significant gain in three days in its months-long counteroffensive against the Russian army.
The empty village, which reportedly had hundreds of inhabitants in the past, lies about 9km south of Bakhmut and has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks.
"Today, I would like to particularly commend the soldiers who, step by step, are returning to Ukraine what belongs to it, namely in the area of Bakhmut," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation on Sunday.
The breakthrough in Klishchiivka comes days after Kiev said it had gained control of the tiny nearby village of Andriivka and as Zelensky prepares for his second wartime visit to its major backer, the United States, to push for a continued flow of money and weapons.
Ukraine says two people killed in Russian attacks
Ukrainian officials said on Monday that two were killed people in the southern region of Kherson after Russia carried out a new wave of overnight air strikes and shelling in Ukraine.
According to the Kherson region governor Oleksandr Prokudin a man aged 72 and an elderly woman had been killed in a Russian attack on the region, and three others were wounded.
He said four others were hurt in a morning drone attack on the town of Beryslav.
Odesa region governor Oleh Kiper also said the Izmail district, home to Danube River ports that are used to export grain, had been targeted in a drone attack but gave no details of any damage to port or grain infrastructure.
Russia launched its special military operation in February 2022 in pro-Moscow regions of Ukraine to prevent Kiev's persecution of the people in these regions and stop NATO's eastward encroachment.
Ukraine began to clear Russian troops, which had liberated the region after launching their special military campaign, from the Donbas territory in June.
The much-hyped months-long counteroffensive started after Kiev had received huge shipments of weapons and munitions from the US-led NATO forces, amounting to many tens-of-billions of dollars.
Kiev forces full-strength, yet futile, efforts have been focused on the war-battered town of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk region as well as several points along the frontline in the south, towards Crimea.
Russian forces meanwhile have pursued their aerial bombardment campaign targeting Ukraine's southern regions and maritime export hubs in particular.
Kiev also claimed on Monday its air defiance systems had downed a swarm of attack drones and nearly 20 cruise missiles in Russia's latest aerial barrage overnight.
"A total of 24 strike UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) were recorded around the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions. Eighteen attack drones were shot down by air defense units," the air force said on social media.
Kiev added that its forces had reportedly shot down all 17 cruise missiles fired by Russian forces overnight.
Ukraine set to sue Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over food import bans
Ukraine said on Monday that it plans to sue Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over bans on Ukrainian agricultural products.
Politico quoted Ukrainian Trade Representative Taras Kachka as saying in an interview that the restrictions placed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere.
However, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia declared their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports on Friday after the executive European Commission decided not to extend its ban on imports into Ukraine's five EU neighbors.
Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava say their measures are in accordance to their national interests and their moves are intended to protect their economies by preventing their farmers from a glut of products.
"It is important to prove that these actions are legally wrong. And that's why we will start legal proceedings tomorrow," Politico quoted Kachka as saying.
Kachka told Politico that Ukraine could also impose reciprocal measures on Poland if Warsaw did not drop its additional measures.
"We would be forced to retaliate on the additional products, and would prohibit the import of fruit and vegetables from Poland," Politico quoted him as saying.
Kiev had already said it could seek international arbitration over the restrictions.
Brussels allowed its ban to expire on Friday after Ukraine said it would take measures to tighten control of exports to neighboring countries.
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Russia Calls On UN's Top Court To Dismiss Ukraine's Genocide Case
By RFE/RL September 18, 2023
Russia called on the UN's highest court in The Hague on September 18 to dismiss what it said was a "hopelessly flawed" case challenging Moscow's argument that its invasion of Ukraine was carried out to prevent genocide.
The Russian request was made at the start of preliminary hearings on the case brought by Ukraine against Russia days after the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Kyiv argues Moscow is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to prevent an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine says there was no risk of genocide in eastern Ukraine, where it had been fighting Russian-backed forces since 2014, and that the genocide treaty does not allow an invasion to stop an alleged genocide.
Kyiv also accuses Russia of "planning acts of genocide in Ukraine" and of "intentionally killing and inflicting serious injury on members of the Ukrainian nationality", thus committing genocide itself.
Russian officials continue to accuse Ukraine of committing genocide without providing evidence of such alleged crimes. Moscow says Ukraine is using the case before the UN's top court as a roundabout way to get a ruling on the overall legality of Russia's military actions.
The hearings, set to run until September 27, will focus on legal arguments about the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), not the case on its merits.
Russia claims that the ICJ does not have jurisdiction and says that the case should be dismissed.
Russia's representative Gennady Kuzmin told the court on September 18 that "Ukraine's legal position is hopelessly flawed". He claims that, if Ukraine insists that no genocide has occurred, "there cannot be a violation" of the UN's Genocide Convention and thus the case must be dismissed.
On September 19, Ukraine will present arguments on why the court has jurisdiction to have the case continue. The court will also hear from 32 other states, all supporting Ukraine's argument that the court has jurisdiction to move the case forward.
In March 2022, the ICJ sided with Ukraine, ordering Russia to "immediately suspend" its military action.
Russia has so far ignored the court's order to stop the invasion.
Earlier in 2023 the court admitted requests by 32 of Ukraine's allies to join the case on Kyiv's side. Those include all European Union member states except Hungary, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other allies of Ukraine, but not the United States.
The Hague-based ICJ was created after World War II to resolve legal complaints submitted by states over alleged breaches of international law. It is the supreme judicial institution of the United Nations. The rulings of the ICJ are binding but it has no direct means of enforcing them.
Experts quoted by Reuters said a ruling in Kyiv's favor would not stop the war but could impact future reparation payments.
With reporting by AFP, Reuters and Current Time.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine-genocide- international-court-justice-un/32598114.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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LOS ANGELESDrew Carey, an award-winning comedian and current host of The Price is Right on CBS, has been subpoenaed to testify in the murder trial of accused killer Gareth Pursehouse.
Pursehouse, a one-time adult industry photographer, is charged with murdering Amie Harwick, a former model and well-regarded Hollywood sex therapist and author.
NewsNation reports that Carey has been called by the defense counsel representing Pursehouse and his name appears on the defenses witness list.
Carey was briefly engaged to Harwick and was with the therapist and author for a little over two years. According to published reports, Carey and Harwick remained close friends despite calling off their marriage in 2018. In a feature-length interview with 48 Hours that aired last year, Carey said that Harwick engaged with him in a text chain two days before her body was discovered on February 15, 2020.
The lead prosecutor in this case has characterized Pursehouse as obsessed with Harwick. The two dated, but after the relationship ended, Harwick cut off all ties with Pursehouse.
This was until Pursehouse and Harwick encountered each other at the 2020 XBIZ Awards held in January 2020. The encounter led Pursehouse to acquire Harwicks phone number from the internet, which he used to text Harwick and harass her.
Witness testimony indicates that Harwick invested in a new security system as a measure to protect herself in her own home. Pursehouse was charged with breaking into her home, injecting her with a lethal dose of nicotine found in a syringe, and throwing her off a balcony. His DNA was found at the scene.
Counsel for Pursehouse argues he was suicidal and intended to use the syringe on himself. They also argue that Harwick fell from her balcony by mistake.
Harwick, who authored The New Sex Bible for Women (2014), was also engaged in health and wellness efforts in the adult industry before she died. She had recently begun work with Pineapple Support.
'We Mustn't Give Putin A Break,' Zelenskiy Warns, As He Heads To UN General Assembly
By RFE/RL September 18, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine can't give Vladimir Putin a "break" and has urged the world to stand up to the Russian president to avoid a third world war.
Speaking in an interview with the U.S. broadcaster CBS as he heads to the United States to plead for more weapons to aid his country's ongoing counteroffensive to drive out invading Russian troops, Zelenskiy said Western military support is key for restoring the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy will speak on September 19 at the UN General Assembly in New York on the same day U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the annual meeting, which comes as Kyiv claims some successes its counteroffensive against Putin's troops, who launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022. The two leaders are expected to meet at the White House two days later.
"We need to liberate our territory as much as possible and move forward. Even if it's less than a kilometer or a hundred meters, we must do it," Zelenskiy said in the interview, broadcast on September 17, with the popular television news magazine program 60 Minutes.
"In places that we can't get through in an armored vehicle -- let's fly. If we can't fly -- let's send drones. We mustn't give Putin a break," he said.
Ukraine has been almost entirely dependent on Western military aid and equipment to wage its defense against the Russian invasion, now approaching its 19th month. Kyiv has repeatedly pressed the United States and other allies for more powerful weaponry, such as F-16 fighter jets, which could be put into service as early as next year.
Zelenskiy is expected to use his in-person appearance with world leaders to rally support and press for supplies of more advanced weapons and ammunition. In the interview, Zelenskiy said modern Western weapons are key for restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
"The support is not just about the money. It's about technologies," he said. "If [Western countries] provide appropriate weapons to Ukraine tomorrow, believe me, we'll restore our territorial integrity, and it's going to be faster than any counteroffensive [conducted] in any direction."
Kyiv launched its counteroffensive in Ukraine's east and south in June but the effort has been slowed by heavily fortified Russian defensive lines. Ukrainian officials have frequently pushed back at criticism about the pace of the Ukrainian military's strategy to take back Russian-occupied territory.
While Washington early this month downplayed such criticism, saying that notable progress has been made, there have been widespread suggestions that public support for continued aid to Ukraine could diminish if the counteroffensive fails to meet high expectations.
Zelenskiy has previously said that "slower" arms shipments from Western countries are threatening the counteroffensive and called for Ukraine's partners to send more powerful and long-range weapons to push back Russian forces.
The 45-year-old Zelensky said Ukraine is grateful for the support and added that the country is not fighting only to protect itself.
"What else must Ukraine do for everyone to measure our huge gratitude? We are dying in this war," he said in the interview, which took place at the presidential compound in Kyiv last week.
"Look, if Ukraine falls, what will happen in 10 years? Just think about it. If [the Russians] reach Poland, what's next? A third world war?"
Zelenskiy defended Ukraine's targeting of places inside Russia that are being used to launch attacks against his nation, saying, "Ukraine has every moral right" to do so.
In recent months, Russia has reported drone attacks against Moscow and other targets on Russian territory for which it blames Ukraine.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-zelenskiy-interview- russia-putin-general-assembly/32597694.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Bulgaria Says It Found Drone Remains Likely 'Connected' To War In Ukraine
By RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service September 18, 2023
SOFIA -- Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said on September 18 that drone wreckage was found on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast and that a special military unit has been sent to the site to investigate and to dispose of ammunition that was attached to the debris.
While the origin of the wreckage has yet to be confirmed, Defense Minister Todor Tagarev said that "it can be assumed that [the drone] is connected to the war that Russia started against Ukraine" and highlights the proximity of Bulgaria to the war.
Tagarev did not give details on where the drone came from and how it reached Bulgarian territory, saying that he had only preliminary information.
This is the first time Bulgaria, a NATO member, has reported finding remains of a drone on its territory. Earlier in September, neighboring Romania reported three occasions in which elements of suspected drones were identified on its territory following Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian ports just across the border.
"We know that Russia is bombing Ukrainian ports, which are only a few hundred meters from the territory of Romania. There are cases of fallen remains of drones and other ammunitions on Romanian territory. We have no reason to think that this war will bypass us. Yes, there are risks for Bulgaria," Tagarev said.
The debris was found on the Black Sea coast of the tourist resort of Tyulenovo, situated less than 30 kilometers south of the Romanian border and across the Black Sea from Crimea. The Defense Ministry published two photos appearing to show debris on rocks in the sea and ammunition attached to it.
The first reports about the suspected drone wreckage appeared late on September 17 when a Facebook user named Radoslav Rusev posted photos of it and reported that he had called the emergency services.
Local police said that a report about the suspected drone debris was received at 10 p.m. local time on September 17 and that the area around the wreckage was quickly cordoned off.
Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said in a statement on September 18 that it had sent a special unit to inspect the suspected drone wreckage and an object resembling an explosive that was attached to it. Later, the ministry said that the object was an 82 mm mortar ammunition and that it was destroyed in a controlled explosion.
Earlier in September, Romania, also a member of NATO, reported three occasions in which elements of suspected drones were identified on its territory following Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian ports.
Romanian authorities condemned the cases as an "unacceptable breach of Romania's airspace," while NATO said it had no information that they were caused by a deliberate Russian attack.
The last such case was reported last week, when Romania's Defense Ministry said that fragments that could have come from a drone were found near the towns of Nufarul and Victoria in Tulcea County -- an area of the Danube that forms a natural border between Romania and Ukraine.
The report followed a Russian drone attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure in Izmayil in the Odesa region.
The Bulgarian village of Tyulenovo is situated about 200 kilometers south of Izmayil.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's grain-export infrastructure amid talks about the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal, which would allow unhindered exports of grain from Ukrainian ports. Russia quit the deal in July, a year after it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-drone- remains-romania/32597576.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Heavy Fighting Reported Around Key Eastern Village That Ukraine Says It Has Liberated
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service September 18, 2023
Heavy fighting between Ukrainian soldiers and invading Russian forces was reported early on September 18 in and around Klishchiyivka, a key village in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian military said.
The fighting comes a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced that Ukrainian forces had liberated Klishchiyivka, a village on the southern flank of Bakhmut.
The area southwest of Bakhmut has been a focus of Ukraine's counteroffensive in the east throughout the summer. Zelenskiy's announcement came two days after Ukraine's military said it had gained control of a small nearby village, Andriyivka, about 10 kilometers southwest of Bakhmut.
If both villages are retaken, it could allow Ukraine's troops to attack Bakhmut from the north and south, allowing them to liberate the ruined town that was captured by Russia after months of bloody fighting and hailed by the Kremlin as a major victory at the time.
Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar on September 18 repeated that Ukrainian troops had liberated both Klishchiyivka and Andriyivka.
Kyiv's troops have liberated 51 square kilometers near Bakhmut since the start of the counteroffensive, Malyar said in a post on Telegram.
Further south in the Donetsk region, Ukrainian troops continued to hold back a Russian offensive toward the towns of Avdiyivka and Maryinka, Malyar said.
Ukrainian forces, who are trying to advance toward the Sea of Azov in a southern drive intended to split Russian forces, retook 5.2 square kilometers in the past week, Malyar said.
Overall, Ukraine regained more than 260 square kilometers in the south during the counteroffensive, she said.
In its daily update on September 18, the Ukrainian military said it forces were continuing "assault operations" in the Klishchiyivka region, "inflicting significant losses on the enemy."
A day earlier on September 17, the Russian Defense Ministry said in its daily briefing that its forces kept up their attacks near Klishchiyivka, which had a prewar population of around 400.
Elsewhere, a 72-year-old man and an elderly woman were killed as a result of Russian attacks on Ukraine's southern Kherson region overnight, according to a local official.
Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson region military administration, said three others were injured, including a 60-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman.
Ukraine's military also said it had destroyed all 17 cruise missiles launched from Russia's southwest Volgograd region. The missiles were destroyed in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk, Poltava, and Khmelnytskiy regions, the Ukrainian military said.
The Ukrainian Air Force said air defenses had destroyed 18 out of 24 Russian military drones that were reportedly heading in the direction of the Mykolayiv and Odesa regions.
Meanwhile, Colonel Andrei Kondrashkin, the commander of Russia's 31st Paratroopers Brigade, has been killed in ongoing clashes with Ukrainian armed forces, a commander of the Russian-backed separatists' troops in Ukraine's eastern region of Donbas said on September 18.
Aleksandr Khodakovsky did not provide any details. Russa's Defense Ministry has yet to confirm the statement.
Ukrainian media reports say Kondrashkin's military unit is currently near the city of Bakhmut that has been the epicenter of intensive clashes between occupying Russian troops and Ukrainian military for months.
With reporting from AP and Reuters
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-fighting- klishchiyivka-liberated/32597250.html
Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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Ukraine Files Import Ban Lawsuits Against Poland, Hungary, Slovakia with WTO
Sputnik News
20230918
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kiev has filed lawsuits with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia because of their ban on the import of Ukrainian products, the Ukrainian Economy Ministry stated on Monday.
Earlier in the day, a Polish news agency reported, citing a source in the European Union, that Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia have decided to boycott the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain in Brussels due to Kiev's threats to appeal to the WTO over measures against import.
"Ukraine has filed lawsuits with the WTO against Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, which banned the import of Ukrainian agricultural products," the ministry said on Telegram, adding that it expects the countries to lift their restrictions in the nearest future.
A Sputnik
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Ukrainian Forces Shell Donetsk City Center
Sputnik News
20230918
DONETSK (Sputnik) - Ukrainian troops fired three MLRS shells at the center of Donetsk on Monday, the DNR representative office in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to Ukrainian War Crimes (JCCC) reported.
"Armed Forces of Ukraine fired three MLRS rockets in the direction of the Konstantinovka settlement in Donetsk city (Voroshilovsky district) at 14:50 (11.50 GMT)," the office stated on its Telegram channel.
The type of MLRS was not specified. There has been no data about the consequences of the shelling yet.
Donetsk Mayor Alexei Kulemzin wrote on his Telegram channel that the city center was under fire: "Pushkin Boulevard is under attack," he said.
According to preliminary data, there were no casualties or anyone injured in the shelling of Donetsk city center, DPR leader, Denis Pushilin, said.
A Sputnik
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Russia Hits Ukraine's Storage Facilities for Depleted Uranium Ammunition - MoD
Sputnik News
20230918
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian armed forces have attacked storage facilities with Storm Shadow cruise missiles and ammunition with depleted uranium in Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.
The goal of the strike was achieved, the ministry said, adding that all objects were hit.
"Tonight [on Sunday night], the Russian armed forces carried out a group strike with high-precision long-range air-launched weapons, as well as attack unmanned aerial vehicles, on the storage sites of the Kiev regime with Storm Shadow cruise missiles, ammunition with depleted uranium, as well as centers for radio reconnaissance and training of sabotage groups of the Ukrainian armed forces," the ministry said in a statement.
Earlier in September, the US Defense Department announced a new $175 million military aid package for Ukraine that includes depleted uranium munitions for Abrams tanks, as well as air defense equipment and 155mm artillery shells. Prior to that, the UK pledged that it would give Ukraine radioactive depleted uranium ammunition for the British main battle tanks Challenger 2.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has warned that Moscow would react "accordingly" to the transfer of depleted uranium tank shells to Ukraine.
Russian officials have warned of depleted uranium weapons' dangers. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted late last month that the use of the weapons would turn portions of Ukraine into an "uninhabitable" wasteland, with "radioactive contamination of the soil...already happening" and being recorded.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said that Ukraine has lost up to 255 military in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours.
Over the given period, the Russian armed forces have repelled six attacks by Ukrainian military in the Donetsk direction and two attacks in the Krasnyi Lyman direction, the ministry said in a statement.
"Enemy losses [in the Donetsk direction] amounted to up to 255 military personnel, three armored combat vehicles and seven vehicles," the ministry's statement read.
Ukraine has also lost over 180 soldiers both killed and injured in the South Donetsk direction in the past 24 hours, the ministry added.
A Sputnik
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Ukraine Says Russia Used Drones, Cruise Missiles in Overnight Attacks
By VOA News September 18, 2023
Ukraine said Monday that Russia used 24 drones to attack the Mykolaiv and Odesa regions overnight, in addition to firing 17 cruise missiles at Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military said it downed 18 of the Russian drones and all of the missiles.
Oleh Kiper, the regional governor of Odesa, said the Izmail district, which is home to ports used to export grain, came under attack again, and that a recreational facility in the city of Vylkove was hit. There were no reports of casualties.
In Mykolaiv, the regional governor Vitaliy Kim said falling debris caused a fire at a building, while a blast wave damaged other buildings nearby.
A Russian attack in the Kherson region injured at least four people, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin.
Prokudin said Russian forces deliberately attacked a crowded bus station in the town of Beryl.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Monday that Ukrainian forces had retaken two square kilometers of territory from Russian forces in the Bakhmut area, as well as more than five square kilometers in southern Ukraine.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters
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Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises Planet Fitness, Inc. (NYSE: PLNT) investors that the firm has initiated an investigation into possible securities violations and may file a class action on behalf of investors. Planet Fitness investors that lost money on their investment are encouraged to contact Lesley Portnoy, Esq.
Investors are encouraged to contact attorney Lesley F. Portnoy , by phone 844-767-8529 or email : lesley@portnoylaw.com, to discuss their legal rights, or click here to join the case via www.portnoylaw.com . The Portnoy Law Firm can provide a complimentary case evaluation and discuss investors options for pursuing claims to recover their losses.
On September 15, 2023, Planet Fitness made a sudden announcement regarding the departure of its CEO, Chris Rondeau, who had been with the company for an extended period. This decision was initiated by the Company's Board, citing the need for a "transition to new leadership." It's important to note that no permanent successor had been identified at the time of the announcement.
Previously, in both January and February of 2023, The Bear Cave had issued reports that brought attention to various concerns surrounding the fitness franchise. These reports included information about consumer grievances related to overbilling, fraudulent transactions, excessive fees, memberships that were difficult to cancel, and inquiries from multiple State Attorneys General Offices.
Shares of Planet Fitness, Inc. stock dropped more than 14% in intraday trading on September 15, 2023.
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GoldQuest Mining Corp. (TSXV:GQC, GoldQuest or the Company) announces that the board of directors of the Company has authorized the grant of an aggregate of 5,000,000 incentive stock options (the Options) to directors, officers and employees of the Company, at an exercise price of $0.11 per common share.
The Options are exercisable for a five-year period from the date of grant and will vest as follows: on the date of grant, on the six month anniversary from the date of the grant and on the one year anniversary from the date of the grant.
The Options are granted pursuant to the Companys amended and restated stock option plan, which was most recently approved by shareholders at the Companys annual general meeting of shareholders held on June 29, 2023, and remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
About GoldQuest:
GoldQuest is a Canadian based mineral exploration and development company with projects in the Dominican Republic. GoldQuest is traded on the TSX-V under the symbol GQC. The Company is well funded to carry out exploration programs and to advance the development of its Romero gold/copper discovery, located in the Geological Tireo Formation of the Dominican Republic.
For further information, please contact:
GoldQuest Mining Corp.
Luis Santana, Chief Executive Officer
1 (829) 919-8705
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Metals Corporation (Imperial or the Company) (TSX:III) reports diamond drill results for hole CW-23-01B, the first of five drill holes from the Whiting Creek 2023 exploration program. The drill results include an intercept of 52.6 metres grading 0.45% copper and 1.29 g/t silver starting from the top of bedrock at a depth of 67.4 metres.
The Whiting Creek prospect forms part of the Huckleberry property and is located approximately 8.5 km north of the Huckleberry mill. The target is a calc-alkalic porphyry associated with the Bulkley plutonic suite, like the Huckleberry deposit. Veining and strong hydrothermal alteration are prevalent throughout the area, along with a pyritic halo approximately 6 km by 3 km in plan dimension. The dominant intrusive is the Whiting Creek Stock, which is a body of biotite rich quartz diorite to granodiorite, approximately 3 km by 4 km in surface dimension.
Over the past two years Imperial has conducted a program of geological mapping, geochemical surveys, whole rock trace element studies and airborne and surface geophysical surveys over the Whiting Creek area. Numerous drill targets were identified and in July and August of 2023, Imperial completed 2,031 metres of diamond drilling on the Whiting Creek prospect. This years drilling targeted an underexplored area called Creek Zone West located 450 metres west of Creek Zone drill hole WC2016-02, which intersected 222.5 metres at 0.309% copper, 0.017% molybdenum and 1.18 g/t silver in 2016. Drilling at Creek Zone West targeted overlapping geophysical and geochemical anomalies, and the northwestern covered contact between the Whiting Creek Stock and the surrounding Telkwa Formation volcanics.
Hole CW-23-01B was drilled at 225 azimuth and a dip of -50 to a final depth of 408 metres. Veined and altered andesite volcanic and intrusive rocks associated with the Whiting Creek Stock were the primary lithologies encountered. Numerous mafic to intermediate post mineral dykes crosscut all lithologies in a northwest to southeast trend following a prominent structural trend on the property.
Copper, molybdenum, and silver mineralization occurs throughout hole CW-23-01B within every lithology except the post mineral dykes. Higher grade copper mineralization is concentrated in the veined and altered andesite volcanics. The hole intersected 316.8 metres grading 0.23% copper, 0.008% molybdenum and 0.89 g/t silver from 67.4 metres, including 52.6 metres grading 0.45% copper 0.006% molybdenum and 1.29 g/t silver starting from the top of bedrock at a depth of 67.4 metres to 120 metres and 37.5 metres of 0.32% copper, 0.005% molybdenum and 1.72 g/t silver from 320.0 metres to 357.5 metres. The highest-grade section, from 67.4 metres to 120 metres, was extremely fractured and contained chalcocite coatings on pyrite-chalcopyrite bearing veins along fracture planes, which may reflect a zone of supergene enrichment.
While historic drill holes in the Creek Zone intersected copper and molybdenum within the Whiting Creek Stock, intercepts from 2023 drilling confirm suggest that the surrounding altered volcanics can host significant mineralization. This is an important discovery as the highest copper concentrations and the majority of production at the Huckleberry mine has come from the altered contact volcanics. Additionally, intercepts from hole CW-23-01B identified a chalcocite enriched zone in the upper fractured rock and has expanded known copper mineralization 450 metres to the west.
Whiting Creek has been targeted over several generations of exploration, with numerous geochemical, geophysical, and drill programs conducted. Prominent surface gossans have attracted attention from explorers since the early 20th century. Previous exploration has discovered promising geophysical anomalies, large copper-in-soils anomaly, and numerous significant drill intercepts in a number of zones.
Mineralized intervals in hole CW-23-01B include:
Hole From To Width Cu% Mo% Ag g/t CuEq% CW-23-01B 67.4 384.2 316.8 0.23 0.008 0.89 0.29 including 67.4 120.0 52.6 0.45 0.006 1.29 0.50 including 320.0 357.5 37.5 0.32 0.005 1.72 0.37
CuEq% =Cu% +(6.84*Mo%)+(0.01*Ag g/t) based on insitu rock value, recoveries not included (Cu at US$3.80/lb, Mo at US$26.00/lb, Ag at US$23.00/oz)
Jim Miller-Tait, P.Geo., Imperials VP Exploration, has reviewed this news release as the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Whiting Creek exploration program. Samples reported were analysed at Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories in Vancouver. A full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates was completed for all diamond drilling samples submitted to the labs. Significant assay intervals reported represent apparent widths. Insufficient geological information is available to confirm the geological model and true width of significant assay intervals.
Cross section and plan view maps are available on https://imperialmetals.com/our-operations/huckleberry-mine/maps.
About Imperial
Imperial is a Vancouver based exploration, mine development and operating company with holdings that include the Mount Polley mine (100%), the Huckleberry mine (100%), and the Red Chris mine (30%). Imperial also holds a portfolio of 23 greenfield exploration properties in British Columbia. These properties have defined areas of mineralization and clear exploration potential. Management continues to evaluate various opportunities to advance many of these properties.
Company Contacts
Brian Kynoch | President | 604.669.8959
Jim Miller-Tait | VP Exploration | jim.miller-tait@imperialmetals.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained in this news release are not statements of historical fact and are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company managements expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Companys expectations with respect to current and planned exploration drilling programs at Huckleberry, including the Whiting Creek prospect; the potential for altered volcanics to host mineralization; the potential discovery of a zone of supergene enrichment; and the results of exploration including promising geophysical anomalies.
In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.
In making the forward-looking statements in this news release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on information currently available to the Company as well as the Companys current beliefs and assumptions. These factors and assumptions and beliefs and assumptions include, the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Companys interim and annual financial statements and managements discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, many of which are beyond the Companys ability to control or predict. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and all forward-looking statements in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements.
BRUSSELSA divided European Union (EU) Parliament has adopted a non-binding resolution recommending the findings of a report suggesting that member countries should adopt the Nordic model of criminalizing sex buyers and decriminalizing sex workers.
Civil society organizations, including the international non-government organization Human Rights Watch, criticized the EU Parliament for adopting the harmful proposal on Sept. 14 that calls for bloc-wide adoption of such laws.
Calling for the purchase of sex to be a criminal offense puts the health and safety of women, queer people, and migrants at risk, Erin Kilbride, a womens and LGBT rights researcher for Human Rights Watch, said Monday.
The fact that the majority of parliament members did not vote in favor of this dangerous resolution signals that they recognize what the data makes clear: criminalization leads to violence against the very people it purports to help.
There were 234 votes in favor, 175 against, and 122 abstentions from parliament members.
Human Rights Watch is affiliated with the European Coalition on Sex Workers Rights and Inclusiona coalition of civil society groups that published an open letter to members of the European Parliament on September 11.
Other organizations affiliated with the coalition include Amnesty International, the International Planned Parenthood Federation, the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance and the Equinox Initiative for Racial Justice.
[Criminalization] of any aspect of sex work, which is proposed by this report, does not protect the rights of women and others engaged in sex work for manifold reasons and does not help address the very serious issue of human trafficking and forced [labor], the organizations write.
The organizations also point to peer-reviewed research backing their claims.
One such reference includes an analysis published in The Lancet, a British medical journal, criticizing the Nordic model of regulating sex work.
Chicago, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Lithium Silicon Battery Market Size by Material, Technology, Capacity (<3,000 mAh, 3,00010,000 mAh, >10,000 mAh), Application (Consumer Electronics, Automotive, Aerospace & Defense, Medical Devices, Energy) and Region - Global Forecast to 2030. The lithium silicon battery Market size such as Amprius Technologies (US), Enovix Corporation (US), NanoGraf Corporation (US), Enevate Corporation (US), Sila Nanotechnologies, Inc. (US), and Group14 Technologies, Inc. (US) are among a few key players in the lithium silicon battery market.
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Market Dynamics Lithium Silicon Battery Market Size
DRIVERS: Enhanced energy density of lithium silicon batteries
Lithium-ion batteries with graphite anodes are highly efficient and used in various applications, from small consumer electronics to large grid energy storage systems. Its high usage in anodes has ensured strong global demand for graphite; however, battery manufacturers have faced supply delays as the world is dependent on China for graphite. Researchers have predicted a huge demand-supply gap for graphite in the coming years. Furthermore, despite its efficiency, graphite does not provide energy rapidly or allow compact, high-capacity applications; this has driven attention toward alternatives such as silicon.
RESTRAINTS: Expansion property of silicon and potential for damage to battery
Lithium-ion batteries have proven their cost-effectiveness and performance in several applications such as consumer electronics, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles. While research has helped improve their performance, these batteries cannot hold a charge for long periods, restricting their use in long-distance fully electric vehicles. To overcome the energy capacity problem, research has moved to better-performing silicon materials to improve the capacity and battery density. However, silicon comes with the issue of material expansion. It can swell up to 300% of its normal size when fully charged, which could break the electrodes outer filming.
OPPORTUNITIES: Fast-growing demand for EVs
EVs use lithium-ion batteries to extract power; these batteries are popularly used in the automotive sector. The widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) has boosted the adoption of lithium-ion batteries, which is expected to increase further in the future. The market for EVs for transportation is rapidly evolving due to their energy-saving, pollution-reducing nature.
CHALLENGES: Expensive and complex production process
Manufacturing silicon anodes or silicon materials requires very high-end equipment; silicon cell fabrication costs are also very high. The development process of silicon material involves very high complexities that can modify raw silicon material. The modifications that make it reliable involve complicated processes to ensure that silicon expansion does not damage the battery. The choice of raw material is also a major factor affecting the final cost. In addition, several nanostructures and morphologies involve extensive and rather costly production steps, which makes them impractical for large-scale industrial production.
Browse in-depth TOC on "Lithium Silicon Battery Market share, value, Trends, Growth Drivers"
129 Tables
51 Figures
170 Pages
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Amprius Technologies (US), Enovix Corporation (US) and NanoGraf Corporation (US) are the Top Players in the Lithium Silicon Battery Market Size
Amprius Technologies
Amprius Technologies is a leading US-based manufacturer of lithium silicon batteries. It developed a nanowire technology that uses 100% silicon to replace graphite in anodes. The company caters to the aerospace, automotive, and consumer electronics sectors. It offers batteries for drones, aircraft, wearables, electric vehicles, smartphones, robotics, aerospace vehicles, and military equipment.
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Enovix Corporation
Enovix Corporation is a developer and manufacturer of advanced silicon-anode lithium-ion batteries. The company has developed 100% silicon anodes and innovative 3D cell architecture for high energy density and performance. The company is developing new silicon-lithium technology and has sampled small silicon lithium cells that can be used in portable consumer electronics devices. It also focuses on R&D for large-density and large-sized batteries for EVs and storage systems. In July 2020, it was selected to conduct advanced R&D on Li-ion batteries with silicon anodes for EV applications by the US Department of Energy. The company plans to increase the applications of its silicon lithium batteries in wearable devices, mobile communication devices, computing, AR/VR, and EVs. The company has secured designs for batteries in these applications from top players. Moreover, it is one of the earliest companies to launch lithium silicon cells for wearable devices in the consumer electronics sector.
Related Reports:
Lithium-ion Battery Market Size by Type (NMC, LFP, LCO, LTO, LMO, NCA), Capacity (Below 3,000 mAh, 3,001 mAh10,000 mAh, 10,001 mAh60,000 mAh, Above 60,000 mAh), Voltage (Below 12V, 12V36V, Above 36V), Application and Region - Global Forecast to 2032
NEWARK, Del, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- According to a Future Market Insights (FMI) report, the switchgear market is forecasted to experience a growth of 5.3% CAGR, reaching a valuation of US$ 7,685.3 million by 2033, as per FMI's analysis. The industry's size is predicted to reach a market value of US$ 4,828.4 million in 2023.
Surging concerns over energy efficiency and reducing power wastage via distribution channels and transmission are propelling the demand for switchgear. This is because of switchgear's critical role in reducing losses and ensuring efficient power usage.
Establishing and extending smart grids is another crucial factor propelling the demand for switchgear. Smart grids are complex power networks outfitted with technologies like self-healing and predictive maintenance. As a result, demand for complex systems that support such functionalities is gaining momentum.
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The surging trend of electrification of transportation, especially in the automotive sector, is also supporting the expansion of the switchgear industry. The widespread utilization of Electric Vehicles (EVs) entails more robust and durable power distribution systems, where switchgear acts as a significant component.
The booming construction sector, especially industrial and commercial, has made it necessary for the use of an energy-saving electrical distribution system, thus fueling the product demand.
The regulatory force for safer and eco-friendly devices, particularly the ones sans Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6), a vital GHG, is generating new market growth prospects.
Top Highlights from the FMIs Analysis of the Switchgear Market:
The United States switchgear industry is reaching maturity levels, as FMI expects the market to acquire an 18.6% market share in 2023.
market share in 2023. The German switchgear industry is a key market in the Europe region. In 2023, the market gathered a value share of 3.7% , and in upcoming years, the switchgear manufacturers are expected to probe the market further.
, and in upcoming years, the switchgear manufacturers are expected to probe the market further. Japan is expected to account for a 4.1% market share in 2023, suggesting significant investment opportunities as the years roll by.
market share in 2023, suggesting significant investment opportunities as the years roll by. The Australian market is anticipated to acquire market share of 1.3% in 2023. Even though the market share is comparatively low, the manufacturers are expected to explore the market for future expansion.
in 2023. Even though the market share is comparatively low, the manufacturers are expected to explore the market for future expansion. India is projected to expand at a stellar CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2033, whereas China is anticipated to propel at a slightly lower CAGR of 5.9% over the same period. These markets are projected to be crucial investment pockets in the upcoming period.
Developments Related to Switchgear Intensifying the Competitiveness among Key Players:
ABB announced its novel low-voltage switchgear called NeoGear in 2020. The product is equipped with distinct laminated bus plate technology. The switchgear presents better reliability, safety, efficiency, and flexibility. NeoGears lower footprint and smart condition monitoring solutions make it space-saving and sustainable.
Hitachi Energy and National Grid, an energy firm, accomplished its pilot project in the United Kingdom in 2021. The project focuses on the replacement of SF6, which is a greenhouse gas with an escalated Global Warming Potential (GWP), with an eco-efficient gas mixture in high-voltage gas-insulated lines. The project is part of an exclusive Hitachi Energys EconiQ portfolio that aims to provide environmentally friendly solutions.
Meiden Asia, a Meidensha Corporation subsidiary, obtained a significant stake in the Vietstar Industry Corporation, a Vietnamese switchgear manufacturer, in 2020. This move permits Meiden Asia to pave its way into the electric power industry in Vietnam and extend its business operations in the Mekong region.
Key Players Profiled in Switchgear Market Report:
Powell Industries
Caterpillar
IEM
WEG SA
ABB Ltd.
Siemens AG
Schlender Electric
Eaton Corporation
Alstom
Toshiba Corporation
Hitachi Limited
Hyundai Electric and Energy Systems
Fuji Electric
Havells India Pvt. Ltd.
Crompton Greeves
BHEL
Noja Power Switchgear Pty. Ltd.
TIPECO
Abdullah Abunayyan Holding
Meta Switchgear
Wahah Electric Supply Company
About the Industrial Automation Division at Future Market Insights (FMI):
Future Market Insights (FMI) is a highly experienced Industrial Automation team that aids companies from all over the world with their specific business intelligence needs through professional research, actionable insights, and strategic recommendations. With a library of over a thousand research and 1 million+ data points, the team has spent over a decade analyzing the industrial automation domain across 50+ countries. From start to end, the company provides unrivaled research and consulting services. Please get in touch with us to see how we can help.
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Switchgear Market Key Segments:
By Component Type:
Power Distributor Switch Breaker
Switch Disconnector
MCCB
HRC Fuse
Earth Switch
MCB
By Voltage Type:
Low Voltage (less than 1kV)
Medium Voltage (1kV to 75kV)
High Voltage (75kV to 230kV)
Extra High Voltage (230kV to 500kV)
Ultra-High Voltage (above 500kV)
By Construction Type:
Outdoor
Indoor
Others
By Insulation Type:
Air Insulated Switchgear
Gas Insulated Switchgear
Oil Insulated Switchgear
Vacuum Insulated Switchgear
By End User:
T&D Utilities
Commercial
Industrial
Residential
By Region:
North America
Latin America
Europe
East Asia
South Asia & Pacific
The Middle East & Africa
Author:
Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has over a decade of experience in market research and business consulting. He has successfully delivered 1500+ client assignments, predominantly in Automotive, Chemicals, Industrial Equipment, Oil & Gas, and Service industries.
His core competency circles around developing research methodology, creating a unique analysis framework, statistical data models for pricing analysis, competition mapping, and market feasibility analysis. His expertise also extends wide and beyond analysis, advising clients on identifying growth potential in established and niche market segments, investment/divestment decisions, and market entry decision-making.
Nikhil holds an MBA degree in Marketing and IT and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering. Nikhil has authored several publications and quoted in journals like EMS Now, EPR Magazine, and EE Times.
Explore Future Market Insights, Inc. Extensive Coverage in Industrial Automation Domain:
DC Switchgear Market Size: The DC Switchgear Market is set to reach US$ 15.066 Billion by 2023, with a projected robust CAGR of 6.9% from 2023 to 2033. This growth is driven by increasing global energy consumption and the growing demand for DC switchgear across various applications, ultimately reaching a valuation of US$ 29.361 Billion by 2033.
Load Break Switches Market Share: The global Load Break Switches Market is expected to reach US$ 2.3 Billion in 2022 and is likely to maintain strong demand. Investment in the power distribution sector will drive its growth, reaching US$ 4.1 Billion by 2033, with a 5.4% CAGR from 2023 to 2033. In 2023, the market is projected to secure US$ 2.4 Billion.
Depth Filtration Market Growth: The Depth Filtration Market is poised to achieve a value of US$ 5.4 Billion by 2033, with a projected CAGR of 8.5% during the period from 2023 to 2033.
Oil & Gas Terminal Automation Market Forecast: The global Oil & Gas Terminal Automation Market is expected to exceed US$ 1,406.04 million in 2023 and is projected to grow at a 7.9% CAGR, reaching approximately US$ 2,787.5 million by 2033, driven by industry expansion.
Water Automation and Instrumentation Market Overview: FMI forecasts the Water Automation And Instrumentation Market to hit US$ 48 Billion by 2033, driven by automation's role in optimizing water treatment processes. It's expected to grow at an 8.1% CAGR 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.
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SALT LAKE CITY and GOTHENBURG, Sweden, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pioneering a transformative leap in geosciences, Veracio has proudly entered into a binding agreement to acquire pioneers in scanning and data innovators, Minalyze for a total consideration equal to US$29.3 million. With the unique combination of Veracios AI and advanced analytics solutions and Minalyzes geological data visualization technology, this strategic acquisition will transform the way the industry captures, analyzes, and interprets geological information, ushering in an era of informed decision-making in an increasingly complex and data-driven world.
"This acquisition represents an exciting new chapter for both Veracio and Minalyze," states Veracio Chief Executive Officer, JT Clark. "We see this as a 'better together' opportunity, leveraging our collective expertise to push boundaries and create a product portfolio that goes beyond anything previously available for the mining and exploration industry."
Annelie Lundstrom and Mikael Arthursson, the esteemed co-founders of Minalyze, will assume integral leadership positions within Veracio, while the entire Minalyze team will seamlessly transition under the Veracio banner.
"Joining forces with Veracio is a remarkable step forward," says Annelie Lundstrom. "We believe this acquisition will enable us to enhance what weve accomplished to date, deliver distinct value to our clients and redefine industry benchmarks collaboratively."
We are committed to maintaining the quality and innovation the industry has come to expect from both Veracio and Minalyze, said Mike Ravella, Veracios Chief Innovation Officer. We want to assure our clients on both sides of this transaction that the products and quality of services they trust and value will continue to be available and well-supported, and we encourage and appreciate their continued support.
This landmark deal will capitalise on the synergy between Minalyze and Veracios scientific and technological progress and prowess. Veracio remains steadfast in its mission to evolve data acquisition and AI in geosciences, and to unveil vital resources globally with enhanced speed. Completion of the transaction is scheduled to occur on 20 September 2023.
About Veracio:
Veracio offers mining clients a range of solutions that improve, automate, and digitally transform their orebody sciences in exploration, resource definition and production. Championing a modern approach through a diverse product portfolio Veracio fuses science and technology together with digital accessibility by using advanced scanning, sensing with strong data governance and the deployment of AI to accelerate real-time decision making and significantly improve efficiency, profitability, and sustainability across the value chain.
About Minalyze:
Minalyze has a long history of developing scanning instruments for core samples and software for the visualization of geological data. The companys patented and unique scanner and cloud-based software for digitizing large volumes of drilling samples generate high-resolution and consistent data through fast, non-destructive collection of multiple datasets. Minalyze has achieved international commercial success with clients in Europe, Australia, Africa and North America.
Press Contacts:
Kamran Shaikh
PRA Communications
kshaikh@pracommunications.com
Cell: +1 (778) 846-5406 Dave Yeates
Veracio
dave.yeates@veracio.com
Cell: +61 401 597 536 Tony Shaffer
Boart Longyear
tony.shaffer@boartlongyear.com
Cell: +1 (801) 243-5216
SEOUL, Korea, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CELEBe, a Korean reels reward platform, recently launched in the Philippines and has officially kicked off its marketing activities after completing its listing on the Philippine coin exchange platform Coins.ph. As a result, it ranked 2nd in top downloads on the Google Play Store and 11th on the Apple App Store. It is attracting significant attention in the Philippines, with more than 30,000 creators and new users coming in.
CELEBe is a reels reward service originating from Korea, with Blackpink Jisoo serving as its main model. The app is a platform of fun and informative content uploaded by various creators including K-content creators. Interestingly, CELEBe is operating User Rewards (W2E) & Creator Rewards (C2E) services, which makes CELEBe a unique reward program compared to other existing content platforms. After its highly successful launch in Korea, CELEBe is now launching its services in the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam to expand its influence globally. It has also started its campaign in India, Indonesia, and many more countries. The number of global downloads is expected to exceed 6 million.
Through the user rewards feature, CELEBe users can earn rewards just by watching videos, and the rewards obtained can be checked immediately. Moreover, the creator rewards feature enables content creators to earn rewards based on the videos number of views. Consequently, this kind of platform ecosystem translates to the production of higher-quality reels posted on the app.
Rewards earned through watching and uploading content can be immediately converted through certain crypto exchange platforms where FanC Coins are listed, such as Coins.PH, a major crypto exchange in the Philippines. Through this, CELEBe rewards can be easily cashed out. Partnerships offer various payment services for simpler and more convenient cashing. Other services for a more seamless encashment are also being actively and continuously introduced.
Park Seong-hoon, CEO of CELEBe, said, We expect that CELEBes unique services, which set it apart from existing reels reward platforms, will be of great help in attracting new users from Southeast Asian countries and revitalizing the platform. He added, Based on the competitiveness of CELEBe and its ecosystem, we plan to emerge as a global reels reward platform.
https://celebe-ph.onelink.me/sQEk/9qckdipi
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New York, USA, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Overview
According to a Comprehensive Research Report by Market Research Future (MRFR), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Information By Product, Type, End-Use And By Region - Forecast Till 2032, the market is projected to grow from USD 1.47 Billion in 2023 to USD 2.26 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.50% during the forecast period (2023 - 2032).
Market Scope:
The progress in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology has brought about a significant transformation in research and applications across several scientific disciplines. These improvements have played a pivotal role in the growth and development of the NMR spectroscopy sector. These advancements have significantly augmented the capabilities of NMR spectroscopy, rendering it a versatile and indispensable instrument for researchers across several disciplines such as academia, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, materials science, and related sectors.
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Report Scope:
Report Attribute Details Market Size in 2032 USD 2.26 Billion CAGR 5.50% Base Year 2021 Forecast Period 2023-2032 Historical Data 2022 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Product, Type and End User Geographies Covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW) Key Market Drivers Increasing demand in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sectors Innovations in NMR technology and growth in structural biology interest
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Competitive Dynamics:
Key companies in the nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy market include
JEOL Ltd.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
Bruker
Magritek
Oxford Instruments
Nanalysis Corp.
Anasazi Instruments, Inc.
QOneTec
Advanced Magnetic Resonance Limited
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Trends:
Market Drivers
The market growth is being enhanced by many major market factors, including the increasing demand in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, advancements in NMR technology, a growing interest in structural biology, and a heightened focus on metabolomics. Efforts have also been undertaken to tackle the challenge of sensitivity in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Techniques such as para-hydrogen-induced polarization (PHIP) and hyperpolarization have been developed with the aim of enhancing signal intensities and facilitating the identification of low-concentration samples and transitory reaction intermediates. These methodologies have been employed throughout several fields, encompassing investigations pertaining to catalysis and metabolic analyses.
Open-access and collaborative methodologies have gained favor within the NMR community as well. The utilization of common NMR spectra and structural databases facilitates the exchange of information and promotes collaborative research efforts among teams. The acceleration of research has been facilitated by the reduction of duplication and the provision of researchers with diverse reference data.
The integration of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with supplementary analytical techniques like as mass spectrometry and chromatography has resulted in the development of robust hybrid devices. These integrated platforms offer complementary data, enabling researchers to get a more comprehensive understanding of complex samples and systems. Significant progress has been achieved in the fields of metabolomics, proteomics, and materials characterisation as a direct outcome of these aforementioned findings. Consequently, this has led to an increase in the revenue of the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy market.
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Market Restraints
The negative impact on market revenues was caused by supply chain difficulties and regulatory constraints.
An Analysis of the COVID-19 Pandemic:
The nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy market saw a favorable effect from the COVID-19 pandemic as the utilization of NMR instruments facilitated the detection and structural analysis of intricate macromolecules associated with the COVID-19 virus. Moreover, there was a need for high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to ascertain the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the vaccination, as researchers sought to examine the metabolic pathways involved during this particular phase. Furthermore, with the resumption of the business, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has shown to be a valuable tool in the diagnosis of several diseases, including cancer, Parkinson's disease, and other mental disorders.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Segmentation:
Product Insights
In 2022, the market was predominantly led by the instruments sector. The advancement of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) instrument technology has been a significant driver behind the rise of the industry.
Type Insights
In 2022, the high-field NMR spectroscopy category had the highest revenue generation. High-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment, which operate at magnetic fields of 600 MHz and more, have experienced a surge in popularity.
End-use Insights
In 2022, the market was predominantly led by the pharmaceutical and biotech firms sector. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy plays a pivotal role as a crucial instrument employed by pharmaceutical and biotechnology enterprises throughout the first phases of drug exploration.
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Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market Regional Analysis:
In 2022, the North America Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market had a significant majority share of 45.80% in this particular market. North America, namely the United States, harbors a robust pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The need for advanced analytical techniques in the fields of drug development, structural biology, and quality control serves as the driving force behind the growth of the NMR spectroscopy market.
The European market for nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy holds the second-largest market share. Europe is renowned for its strong scientific community and multitude of research organizations. These academic institutions engage in advanced research that heavily relies on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) technology, therefore making significant contributions to the expansion of the industry.
The Asia-Pacific region is projected to have the highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Market between the years 2023 and 2032. The Asia Pacific region has witnessed a significant growth in the establishment of academic and scientific institutions. The use of NMR spectroscopy by various companies for diverse research applications has witnessed an increased frequency, hence contributing to the expansion of the market.
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NIR and Raman Spectroscopy Market by Product (Near-infrared Spectroscopy and Raman Spectroscopy), by Application (Pharmaceutical Applications, Biotechnology &, Biopharmaceutical Applications, Food & Beverage Testing Environment Testing, Academic Research, and Others), and by Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World) - Global Forecast to 2032.
Spectral Computed Tomography Market Research Report Information by Application (Oncology, Cardiology, Musculoskeletal Disorders and Gastrointestinal Diseases), End User (Diagnostic Centers and Hospitals & Clinics) and Region (Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa) - Forecast till 2030
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Market Research Future (MRFR) is a global market research company that takes pride in its services, offering a complete and accurate analysis with regard to diverse markets and consumers worldwide. Market Research Future has the distinguished objective of providing optimal quality research and granular research to clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help answer your most important questions.
Eindhoven, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE EUROPEAN MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014)
US commercialization of ARC-EX expected 2H 2024 with USD 30,000 anticipated price
Clinical study initiated pairing ARC Therapy with a brain-computer interface to restore use of legs and upper extremities
ONWARD Medical N.V. (Euronext: ONWD), the medical technology company creating innovative therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), today announced its first 2023 half results and provided a Business Update.
During the first half of 2023 we delivered several significant milestones, including revealing additional positive data from our Up-LIFT pivotal study and initiating a groundbreaking clinical feasibility study that includes first-in-human use of an investigational implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) in combination with our ARC-IM Therapy to restore thought-driven movement after SCI, said Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD. We have also taken the difficult but correct decision to update the ARC-EX system circuit board assembly. While we share the disappointment of the SCI community that this decision will impact launch timing, now expected in 2H 2024, our cash guidance remains unchanged. We are also increasingly well prepared for launch after recent agreements with a third-party logistics partner that provides rapid access to US government procurement vehicles.
1H Operating and Financial Results
Clinical and Development
In April 2023, at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Dr. James Guest, Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, shared additional results from the Up-LIFT pivotal study that investigated ARC-EX Therapy for improving upper extremity strength and function after SCI. In addition to meeting all primary safety and effectiveness endpoints, the study demonstrated that 72% of participants responded to ARC-EX Therapy 1 , showing improvement in both strength and function.
, showing improvement in both strength function. In May, the Company announced its ARC Therapy was paired with an investigational implanted wireless BCI, resulting in an individual gaining thought-driven augmented control over when and how he moved his paralyzed legs. This breakthrough was published in the journal Nature and highlighted in major media outlets around the globe.
Also in May, the Company announced the successful first-in-human use of its investigational ARC-IM Lead to deliver targeted electrical pulses to the spinal cord. The ARC-IM Lead is a key component of the ONWARD ARC-IM system, engineered to address multiple indications by precisely delivering ARC Therapy. The ARC-IM Lead is designed to be used with the ARC-IM Neurostimulator (IPG) and is purpose-built for placement along the spinal cord to restore movement and function in people with SCI.
The Company announced four new Breakthrough Device Designations (BDD) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the first half of 2023. These include BDDs for the use of its ARC-EX platform for bladder control (awarded late 2022), alleviation of spasticity, and blood pressure regulation in people with SCI. In addition, the Company received an additional BDD for its ARC-IM platform for spasticity in people with SCI. The Company now has a total of nine BDDs, which affords it priority FDA review and the opportunity to interact with FDA experts throughout the pre-market review phase as the technology moves toward commercialization.
Science and Intellectual Property
The Company was issued 39 new patents in H1, bringing its total number of pending or issued patents to more than 360. Of these, more than 200 are issued patents, further reinforcing the Companys first-mover advantage.
Corporate
In January, the Company strengthened its leadership team, appointing Erika Ross Ellison as Vice President, Global Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality and Sarah Moore as Vice President, Global Marketing. Erika came to ONWARD from Abbott Neuromodulation, where she was Director, Global Clinical & Applied Research. Previously, Erika was Neuroscience Director at Cala Health, a non-invasive neuromodulation company. She also served as Deputy Director, Medical Device Innovation Accelerator, Department of Surgery and Assistant Professor, Department of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Sarah came to ONWARD from Nevro, an implantable neuromodulation company, and has more than 20 years of experience in new product development and commercial marketing in the medical device industry, including at Johnson & Johnson.
In May, Bryan, Garnier & Co, a leading investment bank focused on growth companies, reinitiated research coverage on the Company with a Buy rating. The Company is also covered by equity research at Degroof Petercam and Kepler Cheuvreux.
Financial
ONWARD reported an operating loss of EUR 18.8 million for the first six months of 2023 compared to EUR 15.1 million in the same period of 2022.
The Company ended the six-month period with a positive cash balance of EUR 43.8 million (31 December 2022: EUR 61.8 million). The decrease in cash of EUR 18 million compared to 31 December 2021 is due to cash outflows for operating activities.
First Half 2023 Financial Summary
In EUR millions
For the six-month period ended June 30 2023 2022 Total Revenues & Other Income 0.9 1.0 Total Operating Expenses (19.7) (16.1) Operating Loss for the Period (18.8) (15.1) Net Finance Expenses (0.4) (0.9) Income Tax Expenses (0.0) (0.0) Net Loss for the Period (19.2) (16.0) at 30 June 2023 31 December 2022 Cash position at the end of the period 43.8 61.8 Interest Bearing Loans (14.3) (12.7) Equity 34.3 52.6
Business Update: 2H Outlook and Upcoming Milestones
ONWARD expects to continue strong execution of its strategy in the second half of 2023 and beyond.
Clinical and Development
In August, ONWARD marked the successful first-in-human use of an investigational implanted wireless BCI to help a person with SCI recover use of paralyzed arms and hands with thought-driven movement. The implant was part of a clinical feasibility study with partners at CEA-Clinatec, CHUV, and EPFL that is supported by a grant from the European Innovation Council. BCI-augmented ARC-IM implants will continue throughout 2024 as part of this study.
ONWARD now expects to launch ARC-EX in the US in the second half of 2024. The new date is driven by our decision to redesign the devices printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). Once the PCBA redesign and associated testing are completed, the Company plans to submit a de novo application for FDA clearance for the ARC-EX system, which would be the Companys first commercial offering. The Company does not expect the postponement to negatively impact its cash runway.
The Company also continues to prepare for its pivotal clinical study, called Empower BP, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its implantable ARC-IM system to address blood pressure instability after SCI.
Commercial Update
ONWARD continues to make robust progress in preparing for launch. In September, it forged an agreement with a US third-party logistics (3PL) provider to manage fulfillment to civilian customers and an agreement with a US Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) to manage fulfillment to the US Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Administration. The latter agreement will provide ONWARD with rapid access to US government purchasing vehicles after FDA clearance.
Based on positive feedback from potential customers on the value of the ARC-EX system, expected to be the first-ever external spinal cord stimulation therapy to restore hand and arm function after SCI, the Company is anticipating a list price of USD 30,000. In addition, the Company expects to offer tiered service packages.
Corporate
CFO Lara Smith Weber will step down as Chief Financial Officer at the end of September to pursue a new opportunity in the Boston area. Khaled Bahi will join ONWARD as Interim CFO. Prior to joining ONWARD, Khaled served as CFO of Lausanne-based Symetis, acquired by Boston Scientific in 2017 for USD 435 million, and Paris-based Stilla Technologies. He was also a finance leader with Fresenius Medical Care in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. Khaled brings more than 20 years of finance experience in the medtech industry. Early in his career, he was a corporate and investment banker with Credit Lyonnais and the Industrial Bank of Japan.
The Company continues to expect its current cash position to fuel operations through the end of 2024. ONWARD plans to explore opportunities to further strengthen its cash position to support future investments in product development, clinical trials, and operational and commercial capabilities.
Conference Call & Webcast
ONWARD will host a conference call with a live webcast today, September 19, 2023, at 2:00 pm CET / 8:00 am ET. The webcast may be accessed on the Financial Information page of the Companys website. A replay of the webcast also will be available on the ONWARD website. The Half Year Report 2023 is available on the Companys website in the Investors section. To join the webcast via Zoom, please register using this link .
All ONWARD devices and therapies referenced here, including but not limited to ARC-IM, ARC-EX, and ARC Therapy, are investigational and not available for commercial use.
1Responder was defined as a participant who met or exceeded the minimally important difference criteria for at least one outcome of the strength domain and at least one outcome of the functional performance domain.
About ONWARD Medical
ONWARD is a medical technology company creating therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and movement disabilities. Building on more than a decade of science and preclinical research conducted at leading neuroscience laboratories, the Company has received nine Breakthrough Device Designations from the US Food and Drug Administration for its ARC Therapy platform.
ONWARD ARC Therapy, which can be delivered by external ARC-EX or implantable ARC-IM systems, is designed to deliver targeted, programmed spinal cord stimulation. Positive results were presented in 2023 from the Companys pivotal study, called Up-LIFT, evaluating the ability for transcutaneous ARC Therapy to improve upper extremity strength and function. The Company is now preparing regulatory approval submissions for ARC-EX for the US and Europe. In parallel, the Company is conducting studies with its implantable ARC-IM platform, which demonstrated positive interim clinical outcomes for improved blood pressure regulation following SCI. Other ongoing studies include combination use of ARC-IM with a brain-computer interface (BCI).
Headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, ONWARD has a Science and Engineering Center in Lausanne, Switzerland and a US office in Boston, Massachusetts. The Company also has an academic partnership with. NeuroRestore, a collaboration between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).
For more information, visit ONWD.com , and connect with us on LinkedIn and YouTube .
For Media Enquiries:
Aditi Roy, VP Communications
media@onwd.com
For Investor Enquiries:
Lara Smith Weber, CFO
Khaled Bahi, CFO (as of October 1st, 2023)
investors@onwd.com
Disclaimer
Certain statements, beliefs, and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Companys or, as appropriate, the Company directors current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition, and technology, can cause actual events, performance, or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions, or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such persons officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All ONWARD devices and therapies referenced here, including but not limited to ARC-IM, ARC-EX, and ARC Therapy, are investigational and not available for commercial use.
Pune, India, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global maritime security market size was valued at USD 31.69 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 32.67 billion in 2023 to USD 43.87 billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period.
Maritime security helps security officers to apply best practices to protect ships against external and internal threats. It is an area of expertise in the maritime industry. The maritime threats are of various forms, requiring a different strategy to defend properly.
Fortune Business Insights mentioned this in a report titled Maritime Security Market, 2023-2030.
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List of Key Players Profiled in the Maritime Security Market Report:
Kongsberg Group (Norway)
OSI Maritime Systems (Canada)
Terma (Denmark)
Elbit Systems Ltd (Israel)
BAE Systems Plc. (U.S.)
General Dynamics Corporation (U.S.)
Raytheon Technologies Corporation (U.S.)
Thales Group (France)
Leonardo SPA (Italy)
Harbor Lab (Greece)
Report Scope & Segmentation:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2030 Forecast CAGR 4.3% 2030 Value Projection USD 43.97 Billion Market Size in 2023 USD 32.67 Billion Historical Data 2019-2021 No. of Pages 200 Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Company Profiles, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors and Latest Trends Segments Covered By Type Analysis
By Product Analysis
By Service Analysis
By Security Type Analysis
By End User Analysis Regions Covered North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
South America
Middle East and Africa Maritime Security Market Growth Drivers Rising Maritime Threats Globally to Drive the Market Growth Rising Digitalization of Maritime Operations to Boost the Marine Security Market Growth
Browse Detailed Summary of Research Report with TOC:
https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/maritime-security-market-108421
Segments:
Rising Technological Advancements to Boost Segment Growth for Product Segment
By type, the market is segmented into product and service. The product segment is expected to dominate the market during the forecast period due to the increasing technological advancements and other factors, such as terrorism.
Rising Technological Development in Radar Systems to Drive Segment Growth
Based on product, the market is bifurcated into radar systems, Automatic Identification System (AIS), Long Range Acoustic Devices (LARD), security fencing, antenna, surveillance cameras, x-ray scanners, and others. The radar systems segment will dominate the market during the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the rising technological developments in radar systems globally, making them an important maritime security component.
Increasing Need for Competent Personnel to Drive Segment Growth for Armed and Unarmed Guard Service
By service, the market is segmented into training, armed and unarmed guard service, emergency response service, vessel tracking and monitoring service, and others. The armed and unarmed guard services segment dominated the market in 2022 owing to the growing need of competent personnel to check everything is ready during any incident.
Increasing Maritime Threats to Drive Segment Growth for Maritime Surveillance
By security type, the market is segmented into port security, vessel security, coastal surveillance, maritime surveillance, and others. The maritime surveillance segment is estimated to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period. The segments growth is driven by the increased maritime threats worldwide.
Rising Government Investment in Maritime Infrastructure to Drive Segment Growth
By end user, the market is segmented into shipping companies, government, port authorities, and others. The government segment held the largest maritime security market share in 2022. The growth is attributed to the increasing investments by the government in the global maritime infrastructure.
Geographically, the market is studied across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World.
COVID-19 Impact:
Increased Demand for Maritime Surveillance Drones During Pandemic Aided Market Growth
The COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on the maritime security market. Coast guards' increased use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to perform remote maritime surveillance boosted the maritime security market growth during the pandemic. For instance, during coastal surveillance, all the violators faced strict action from the Coastal Lar Enforcement Team.
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Report Coverage:
The report offers:
Major growth drivers, restraining factors, opportunities, and potential challenges for the market.
Comprehensive insights into regional developments.
List of major industry players.
Key strategies adopted by the market players.
The latest industry developments include product launches, partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions.
Drivers & Restraints:
Increasing Maritime Threats Globally to Propel Market Growth
The increasing number of threats, such as armed robbery, transactional crime, cybersecurity risks, geopolitical tensions, refugee movements, terrorism, and piracy, is driving the maritime security market growth during the projected period. The increasing investments in marine security by governments worldwide propel the market growth during the forecast period.
Limited resources in maritime security affect the allocation of important funds and technology to implement effective security measures to hamper the market growth during the forecast period.
Regional Insights:
Increasing Piracy and Maritime Crimes Propelled Market Growth in Asia Pacific
Asia Pacific held the largest maritime security market share in 2022. The growth was attributed to the increasing piracy and maritime crimes in the Asia Pacific regions, including Strait of Malacca.
Europe held the second largest market share in 2022 due to the rising illegal border crossing across Asia.
Competitive Landscape:
Rising Key Players Focus on Advanced Maritime Security Development to Boost Market Growth
The maritime security market is estimated to grow significantly during the forecast period. The growth is driven by the increasing focus of major market players on developing advanced maritime security worldwide. The growing launch of the new security system by key players worldwide will drive market growth during the projected period.
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Detailed Table of Contents:
Introduction Research Scope Market Segmentation Research Methodology Definitions and Assumptions
Executive Summary
Market Dynamics Market Drivers Market Restraints Market Opportunities
Key Insights Key Industry Developments Key Contracts & Agreements, Mergers, Acquisitions and Partnerships Latest technological Advancements Porters Five Forces Analysis Supply Chain Analysis Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Global Maritime Security Market
Global Maritime Security Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Key Findings / Definition Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type Product Radar Systems Automatic Identification System (AIS) Long Rang Acoustic Devices (LRAD) Antenna Surveillance Cameras X-Ray Scanners Others Services Training Armed and Unarmed Guard Service Emergency Response Service Vessel Tracking and Monitoring Service Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Security Type Port Security Vessel Security Coastal Surveillance Maritime Surveillance Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By End-User Shipping Companies Government Port Authorities Others Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Region North America Europe Asia-pacific Rest of the World
North America Maritime Security Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast, 2019-2030 Market Analysis, Insights and Forecast By Type Product Radar Systems Automatic Identification System (AIS) Long Rang Acoustic Devices (LRAD) Antenna Surveillance Cameras X-Ray Scanners Others Services Training Armed and Unarmed Guard Service Emergency Response Service Vessel Tracking and Monitoring Service Others
TOC Continued...!
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Notable Industry Development:
June 2022 Raytheon Intelligence & Space signed a contract with Cobham Special Mission to equip its SeaVue multi-role radar on the Australian border surveillance aircraft. Under the contract, Raytheon Intelligence & Space will upgrade Cobham Specials Dash 8 fixed-wing aircraft fleet to its most advanced version of SeaVue multi-domain surveillance radar to support Australian border operations.
Read Related Insights:
Maritime Surveillance and Intervention Market to Worth USD 35.87 Bn by 2030 | CAGR of 7.1%
Marine Vessel Market Size to Reach USD 188.57 Billion in 2028; Rising Adoption of Eco-friendly Hybrid Propulsion Systems to Augment Growth, says Fortune Business Insights
Marine Hybrid Propulsion Market to Worth $9.99 Billion by 2029 | Growing Demand for Electric Propulsion Technology from Shipbuilding Industry to Drive Growth: Fortune Business Insights
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Attachment
Drill Highlights:
GD-23-226 intercepted a 23.65 meter* interval containing abundant Visible Gold included within 30.98 meters of wide strongly mineralized quartz breccia and stockwork. This intercept corresponds to the Surebet Zone that is hosted within the Hazelton Sediments. Mineralization consists of galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and minor chalcopyrite (see images below). Accompanying infographics are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/65da27d9-3763-4836-872d-57429fe301c3
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2811e6c2-3861-4e6e-8593-acf057e47240
Widespread mineralization has been confirmed over an area of 1.8 square kilometers with 42% of 98 drill holes in 2023 contain visible gold assaying up to 485 gm AuEq, and many holes are pending assays that contain abundant visible gold with nuggets up to 4mm in size (see cross section image and table below).
An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b4166df6-b9af-46bb-a196-16a5caf86294
The abundant visible gold with nuggets up to 1.7mm from GD-23-203 over 15.8 meters* (Bonanza Shear; sed/volcanic-contact), as well as GD-23-197 (19.15 meters with up to 1% Visible Gold and 4mm nuggets (Golden Gate Zone; volcanic-hosted) far exceed the visible gold contained in GD-23-173 that assayed over 1 ounce per tonne gold equivalent within 14.68 AuEq over 26.89 meters, a 394 gm AuEq hole.
Comparing GD-23-173 assay results to visible gold and sulphides strongly suggests the pending assays for GD-23-203 and GD-23-197 containing abundant visible gold nuggets up to 4mm in size and extensive sulphides should have significantly higher gold numbers (see cross section image & table above).
GD-23-157, a 485 gm AuEq hole (15.59 troy ounces gram meter AuEq) and 23.00 meters* of 21.08 g/t AuEq (18.95 g/t Au and 95.31 g/t Ag) within the Hazelton Sediments, including 14.00 meters* of 33.75 g/t AuEq (30.39 g/t Au and 150.42 g/t Ag) and 9 meters* of 50.27 g/t AuEq or 1.62 oz/t AuEq (45.27 g/t Au and 225.42 g/t Ag) (see image below).
An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cc7428a8-68f1-4eb9-877c-0581c144606a
GD-23-173, a 395 gm AuEq hole intercepted Visible Gold 14.68 g/t AuEq (5.81 g/t Au and 719.13 g/t Ag) over 26.89 meters (~true width) within the Hazelton Sediments, including 23.89 g/t AuEq (9.40 g/t Au and 1176.14 g/t Ag) over 15.49 meters and 33.02 g/t AuEq (10.97 g/t Au and 1817.34 g/t Ag) over 9.60 meters (see image below).
An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/06399073-5c70-4ccd-971a-f10d094c77b0
GD-23-197 intercepted a 19.15 meter interval (~true width) within the Hazelton Volcanics and outcropping Golden Gate Zone consisting of multiple shears containing abundant Visible Gold up to 1% and gold nuggets up to 4mm as well as considerable amounts of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite (see image below).
An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a1437b0c-bbd1-48e5-80f6-b9bbf63bbb2a
GD-23-203 intercepted a 15.8 meter* interval containing abundant Visible Gold with nuggets up to 1.7mm in size. This intercept corresponds to the Bonanza Shear, the contact between the Hazelton sedimentary and volcanic units. Mineralization consists of extensive concentrations of galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and minor chalcopyrite; assays pending (see images below).
Accompanying infographics are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/40faee06-f305-4268-ad98-90bf2a64035d
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/38ec03a7-7b2a-4b34-9cee-0ee5712f22ae
Based on 2021 and 2022 drill assay results, the Surebet Zone and Bonanza Shear are currently modeled to be 5,500,000 m 3 (Avg. 6.88 meters* @ 6.31 g/t AuEq) and >13,000,000 m 3 (Avg. 5.31 meters* @ 2.7 AuEq) respectively. Based on the exceptional 2023 assay results announced thus far, management believes the average widths and grades should increase from this years drill program (see model below).
An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b34e02e0-d0f9-4fcb-b305-3da76f9f8c39
42% of the 98 holes drilled to date in 2023 over a 1.8 square km contain Visible Gold. 100% of these holes have intercepted the Surebet, Bonanza, and/or the Golden Gate Zone; assays are pending (see image below). An accompanying infographic is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a7349de3-c32f-44dc-b9d9-d4c36a8fa35d
All the occurrences of Visible Gold to date have been consistently identified within quartz-breccia and veins in contact with or in close proximity to pyrrhotite, sphalerite and/or galena mineralization.
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Goliath Resources Limited (TSX-V: GOT) (OTCQB: GOTRF) (FSE: B4IF) (the Company or Goliath) is pleased to report drill holes results for GD-23-226 from the Surebet Zone at its 100% controlled Golddigger Property (the Property), Golden Triangle, B.C.
Hole GD-23-226 collared from Goat Pad within the Surebet Zone sediment-hosted, intersected a broad mineralized quartz breccia and stockwork interval hosted in siltstones between 327.65 and 358.65 meters, including 23.65 meters* rich in Visible Gold from 330.6 to 354.25 meters. Gold is associated with massive to stockwork and stringer galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and minor chalcopyrite hosted in quartz-chlorite veins and veinlets. Clusters of numerous gold grains are observed at multiple locations within the mineralized intercept, with the coarsest gold flake measuring up to 0.6 mm and in close spatial association with galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite; assays pending.
Hole GD-23-157 collared from Cliff Pad within the Golden Gate Feeder Zone (500 m north of Pad A), intercepted Visible Gold mineralization containing 23 meters* of 21.08 g/t AuEq (18.95 g/t Au and 95.31 g/t Ag) including 14.00 meters* of 33.75 g/t AuEq (30.39 g/t Au and 150.42 g/t Ag) and 9.00 meters* of 50.27 g/t AuEq (45.27 g/t Au and 225.42 g/t Ag). The hole drilled through a sedimentary package consisting of interbedded mudstones and sandstones, crosscut by several dykes of intermediate composition. A multitude of sulfide and gold-rich quartz veins and breccias were intersected, which were hosted in altered siltstone characteristic of the sediment-hosted Surebet Zone. The observed alteration style consists of chloritization in veins and silicification extending from vein margins within the host rock, consistently with previous high-grade occurrences from the Surebet Zone. Sulfide mineralization ranges from stockwork to semi-massive pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena chalcopyrite and is particularly pronounced from 129 to 131 meters and 136 to 137 meters. The shallowest occurrence of Visible Gold was identified at 119 meter depth, associated with patchy pyrrhotite mineralization. Eleven further Visible Gold occurrences were observed between 129 and 139 meters. The intercept is interpreted to be the Surebet Zone and is one of five mineralized intercepts intersected in this hole.
Hole GD-23-173 collared from Cliff Pad, intersecting Visible Gold and abundant sulphide mineralization hosted in quartz stockwork and quartz breccia veins in 2 intervals. The Surebet Zone from 45.11 to 72 meters as well as the volcanic-hosted Bonanza Shear from 466 to 455.27 meters. The main mineralized intercept (Surebet Zone) consists of more than 1 oz/t AuEq (10.97 g/t Au and 1817.34 g/t Ag) over 9.60 meters* within 23.89 g/t AuEq (9.40 g/t Au and 1176.14 g/t Ag) over 15.49 meters* within 14.68 g/t AuEq (5.81 g/t Au and 719.13 g/t Ag) over 26.89 meters*. Assays are currently pending for the deeper intersect that corresponds to the Bonanza Shear and shows the presence of Visible Gold and abundant sulphide mineralization present as semi-massive and stringer galena, sphalerite, pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite. Mineralization is observed as semi-massive to stringer pyrrhotite (up to 5%), sphalerite (up to 2%), disseminated to patchy galena (<1% but consistent throughout the interval) and minor chalcopyrite (<1%). Seven occurrences of Visible Gold were observed through the Surebet Zone intercept, reaching sizes up to 0.7 mm. The deeper Bonanza Shear intercept is hosted in sheared mudstones and extends from 446 to 455.27 meters, where mineralization consists of disseminated to semi-massive pyrrhotite (1%) and galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite that show <1% abundance over the interval length but are concentrated in local quartz veins. Visible Gold was identified at 447.4 meters depth associated with sulphides.
Hole GD-23-197 collared from Pad 16 within the Golden Gate Feeder Zone (600 m north of Pad A) intersected three outcropping quartz-chlorite-sulphide mineralized shear zones. The first zone occurs within the mudstones from 396 to 398 meters and is interpreted to be part of the Surebet Zone, the second occurs from 418.1 to 422 meters and is most likely part of the Bonanza Shear. A third new zone named the Golden Gate Zone only 20 meters below the Bonanza Shear, has been identified within the underlying Hazelton Volcanics between 442.85 and 462.00 meters representing a 19.15 meter interval (~true width) where multiple sheeted veins/shears ranging in thickness from 3 centimeters to 2.2 meters were intercepted, containing abundant Visible Gold (up to 1%) nuggets up to 4mm in size, sphalerite (up to 10%), galena (up to 5%), chalcopyrite (up to 3%), pyrrhotite (up to 20%) and pyrite (up to 20%); assays pending.
Hole GD-23-203 collared from Pad 8 within the volcanic-hosted Bonanza Shear intersected an extensive mineralized interval composed of sulphide-rich quartz breccia and stockwork from 288.65 to 324.1 meters that included 15.8 meters* of abundant Visible Gold from 306.2 to 322 meters. Sulphide mineralization consists of patches, stockworks and disseminated galena (1%), sphalerite (2%), pyrrhotite (2%) and minor chalcopyrite. The mineralized interval is hosted in strongly altered siltstones and the mineralization is observed in quartz-chlorite veins and veinlets characteristic of the deposit style observed within the Golddigger property; assays pending.
Table 1: Selected 2023 Golddigger drill hole assay results.
Pad ID Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu (%) Pb (%) Zn (%) AuEq (g/t) Cliff
GD-23-157
Interval 118.00 141.00 23.00 18.95 95.31 0.01 1.29 1.37 21.08 Including 125.00 139.00 14.00 30.39 150.42 0.02 2.04 2.15 33.75 Including 129.00 138.00 9.00 45.27 225.42 0.02 3.04 3.15 50.27 Cliff
GD-23-173
Interval 45.11 72.00 26.89 5.81 719.13 0.03 0.50 0.39 14.68 Including 46.26 61.75 15.49 9.40 1176.14 0.05 0.81 0.60 23.89 Including 51.00 60.60 9.60 10.97 1817.34 0.05 0.73 0.60 33.02
Table 2: Collar information for the drill hole reported in this news release.
Pad Drillhole Name Easting Northing CRS Azimuth Dip Length (m) Cliff GD-23-157 457713 6162911 NAD83 UTM Z9N 210 55 531 Cliff GD-23-173 457717.2 6162968 NAD83 UTM Z9N 235 85 473
All the occurrences of Visible Gold to date have been identified within quartz-breccia and veins in contact with or in close proximity to sphalerite and/or galena mineralization. The occurrence of visible gold has previously been independently confirmed in 2022 by the Colorado School of Mines with whom the Company is collaborating on a project aimed at determining the origin and evolution of the gold mineralizing fluids at Surebet.
Golddigger Property
The Golddigger Property is 100 % controlled covering an area of an area of 61,685 hectares (152,427 acres) and is in the world class geological setting of the Eskay Rift within the Golden Triangle of British Columbia and within 3 kilometers of the Red Line that is host to multiple world class deposits. The Surebet discovery has exceptional metallurgy with gold recoveries of 92.2% inclusive of 48.8% free gold from gravity alone at a 327-micrometer crush. Its is in an excellent location close in proximity to the communities of Alice Arm and Kitsault where there is permitted mill site on private property. It is situated on tide water with direct barge access to Prince Rupert (190 kilometers via the Observatory inlet/Portland inlet). The town of Kitsault is accessible by road (190 kilometers from Terrace, 300 kilometers from Prince Rupert) and has a barge landing, dock, and infrastructure capable of housing at least 300 people, including high-tension power. Additional infrastructure in the area includes the Dolly Varden Silver Mine Road (only 7 kilometers to the East of the Surebet discovery) with direct road access to Alice Arm barge landing (18 kilometers to the south of the Surebet discovery) and high-tension power (25 kilometers to the East of Surebet discovery). The city of Terrace (population 16,000) provides access to railway, major highways, and airport with supplies (food, fuel, lumber, etc.), while the town of Prince Rupert (population 12,000) is located on the west coast and houses an international container seaport also with direct access to railway and an airport with supplies.
Qualified Person
Rein Turna P. Geo is the qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, for Goliath Resource Limited projects, and supervised the preparation of, and has reviewed and approved, the technical information in this release.
Other
Oriented HQ-diameter or NQ-diameter diamond drill core from the drill campaign is placed in core boxes by the drill crew contracted by the Company. Core boxes are transported by helicopter to the staging area, and then transported by truck to the core shack. The core is then re-orientated, meterage blocks are checked, meter marks are labelled, Recovery and RQD measurements taken, and primary bedding and secondary structural features including veins, dykes, cleavage, and shears are noted and measured. The core is then described and transcribed in MX Deposit. Drill holes were planned using Leapfrog Geo and QGIS software and data from the 2017-2022 exploration campaigns. Drill core containing quartz breccia, stockwork, veining and/or sulphide(s), or notable alteration are sampled in lengths of 0.5 to 1.5 meters. Core samples are cut lengthwise in half, one-half remains in the box and the other half is inserted in a clean plastic bag with a sample tag. Standards, blanks and duplicates were added in the sample stream at a rate of 10%.
Grab, channels, chip and talus samples were collected by foot with helicopter assistance. Prospective areas included, but were not limited to, proximity to MINFile locations, placer creek occurrences, regional soil anomalies, and potential gossans based on high-resolution satellite imagery. The rock grab and chip samples were extracted using a rock hammer, or hammer and chisel to expose fresh surfaces and to liberate a sample of anywhere between 0.5 to 5.0 kilograms. All sample sites were flagged with biodegradable flagging tape and marked with the sample number. All sample sites were recorded using hand-held GPS units (accuracy 3-10 meters) and sample ID, easting, northing, elevation, type of sample (outcrop, subcrop, float, talus, chip, grab, etc.) and a description of the rock were recorded on all-weather paper. Samples were then inserted in a clean plastic bag with a sample tag for transport and shipping to the geochemistry lab. QA/QC samples including blanks, standards, and duplicate samples were inserted regularly into the sample sequence at a rate of 10%.
All samples are transported in rice bags sealed with numbered security tags. A transport company takes them from the core shack to the ALS labs facilities in North Vancouver. ALS is either certified to ISO 9001:2008 or accredited to ISO 17025:2005 in all of its locations. At ALS samples were processed, dried, crushed, and pulverized before analysis using the ME-MS61 and Au-SCR21 methods. For the ME-MS61 method, a prepared sample is digested with perchloric, nitric, hydrofluoric, and hydrochloric acids. The residue is topped up with dilute hydrochloric acid and analyzed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Overlimits were re-analyzed using the ME-OG62 and Ag-GRA21 methods (gravimetric finish). For Au-SCR21 a large volume of sample is needed (typically 1-3kg). The sample is crushed and screened (usually to -106 micron) to separate coarse gold particles from fine material. After screening, two aliquots of the fine fraction are analysed using the traditional fire assay method. The fine fraction is expected to be reasonably homogenous and well represented by the duplicate analyses. The entire coarse fraction is assayed to determine the contribution of the coarse gold.
The reader is cautioned that grab samples are spot samples which are typically, but not exclusively, constrained to mineralization. Grab samples are selective in nature and collected to determine the presence or absence of mineralization and are not intended to be representative of the material sampled.
About Goliath Resources Limited
Goliath Resources Limited is an explorer of precious metals projects in the prolific Golden Triangle of northwestern British Columbia and Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Quebec. All of its projects are in world class geological settings and geopolitical safe jurisdictions amenable to mining in Canada.
For more information please contact:
Goliath Resources Limited
Mr. Roger Rosmus
Founder and CEO
Tel: +1-416-488-2887
roger@goliathresources.com
www.goliathresourcesltd.com
* Widths are reported in drill core lengths and the true widths are estimated to be 80-90% and AuEq metal values are calculated using: Au 1644.08 USD/oz, Ag 19.23 USD/oz, Cu 3.47 USD/lbs, Pb 1870.50 USD/ton and Zn 2882.50 USD/ton on October 28, 2022. There is potential for economic recovery of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc from these occurrences based on other mining and exploration projects in the same Golden Triangle Mining Camp where Goliaths project is located such as the Homestake Ridge Gold Project (Auryn Resources Technical Report, Updated Mineral Resource Estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment on the Homestake Ridge Gold Project, prepared by Minefill Services Inc. Bothell, Washington, dated May 29, 2020). Here, AuEq values were calculated using 3-year running averages for metal price, and included provisions for metallurgical recoveries, treatment charges, refining costs, and transportation. Recoveries for Gold were 85.5%, Silver at 74.6%, Copper at 74.6% and Lead at 45.3%. It will be assumed that Zinc can be recovered with the Copper at the same recovery rate of 74.6%. The quoted reference of metallurgical recoveries is not from Goliaths Golddigger Project, Surebet Zone mineralization, and there is no guarantee that such recoveries will ever be achieved, unless detailed metallurgical work such as in a Feasibility Study can be eventually completed on the Golddigger Project.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange), nor the OTCQB Venture Market accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Goliaths current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, this release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, the ability of the Company to complete financings and its ability to build value for its shareholders as it develops its mining properties. Various assumptions or factors are typically applied in drawing conclusions or making the forecasts or projections set out in forward-looking information. Those assumptions and factors are based on information currently available to Goliath. Although such statements are based on management's reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that the proposed transactions will occur, or that if the proposed transactions do occur, will be completed on the terms described above.
The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and Goliath is not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.
This announcement does not constitute an offer, invitation, or recommendation to subscribe for or purchase any securities and neither this announcement nor anything contained in it shall form the basis of any contract or commitment. In particular, this announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States, or in any other jurisdiction in which such an offer would be illegal.
The securities referred to herein have not been and will not be will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to or for the account or benefit of a U.S. person (as defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act) unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.
wilmington, Delaware, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Philippines Learning Management Systems Market is valued at US$ 88 million in 2022 and is expected to grow at a significant CAGR of over 6.2% over the forecast period of 2023-2030, according to the latest market report by RationalStat
Market Definition, Market Scope, and Report Overview
Technological advancements have resulted in more user-friendly and feature-rich LMS platforms. This has made it easier for schools, institutions, and corporations to embrace and successfully utilize these tools. The global expansion of the educational technology (EdTech) business has also had an impact on the Philippines market. LMS is an important part of this industry's services.
The Philippines government and educational institutions have been pushing e-learning projects in order to increase access to high-quality education, particularly in remote and underprivileged areas. LMS platforms are critical to making this vision a reality.
According to a deep-dive market assessment by RationalStat, the Philippines learning management systems market has been analyzed on the basis of market segments, including type, application, and geography/regions (incl. Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao) . The report also offers global and regional market sizing for the historical period of 2019-2022 and the forecast period of 2023-2030.
. The report also offers global and regional market sizing for the historical period of 2019-2022 and the forecast period of 2023-2030. Market intelligence for the Philippines learning management systems market covers market sizes on the basis of market value (US$/EUR Million) and volume (Units/Tons) by various products/services/equipment, demand assessment across the key regions, customer sentiments, price points, cost structures, margin analysis across the value chain, financial assessments, historical and forecast data, key developments across the industry, import-export data, trade overview, components market by leading companies, etc.
In addition, the long-term sector and products/services 10-year outlook and its implications on the Philippines Learning Management Systems market. It also includes the industry's current state Production Levels, Capacity Utilization, Tech quotient, etc. Key information will be manufacturing capacity by country, installed base, import volumes, market size, key players, market size, dynamics, market data, insights, etc.
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Philippines Learning Management Systems Market: Segmental and Market Share Analysis
On the basis of application, Due to the increased requirement for effective learning tools for teaching students, the academic segment is likely to account for a significant market share throughout the forecast period.
Report Synopsis
Report Metrics Details Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Base Year Market Size US$ 88 million Market Size Forecast US$ 142 million Growth Rate 6.2% Key Market Drivers Growing Trend of Multichannel Learning to Augment Market Expansion
The popularity of online learning and training in higher education is expected to drive market growth. Companies Profiled Quipper
DIWA
MOODLE
Topica Edtech Group
Cypher Learning
SPI Global
Yapster
Blackboard
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Competition Analysis and Market Structure
These players adopt various strategies in order to reinforce their market share and gain a competitive edge over other competitors in the market. Mergers & acquisitions, partnerships and collaborations, and product launches are some of the strategies followed by industry players. Some of the key developments in the Philippines learning management systems market include,
In November 2022, D2L Corporation launched the D2L Brightspace Creator Plus package, which enables users to create engaging digital course content by merging workflows into Brightspace, saving course developers time, effort, and money.
Some of the prominent players and suppliers operating and contributing significantly to the Philippines learning management systems market growth include Quipper, DIWA, MOODLE, Topica Edtech Group, Cypher Learning, SPI Global, Yapster, Blackboard among others.
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RationalStat has segmented the Philippines learning management systems market based on type, application, and region
Philippines Learning Management Systems Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units/Tons), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Type Distance Learning Instructure Led Training Blended Learning
Philippines Learning Management Systems Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units/Tons), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Application Academic Corporate
Philippines Learning Management Systems Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units/Tons), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Region Philippines Learning Management Systems Market Luzon Visayas Mindanao
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Key Questions Answered in the Philippines Learning Management Systems Report:
What will be the market value of the Philippines learning management systems market by 2030?
What is the market size of the Philippines learning management systems market?
What are the market drivers of the Philippines learning management systems market?
What are the key trends in the Philippines learning management systems market?
Which is the leading region in the Philippines learning management systems market?
What are the major companies operating in the Philippines learning management systems market?
What are the market shares by key segments in the Philippines learning management systems market?
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SINGAPORE, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novotech, the leading Asia Pacific centred biotech CRO with global execution capabilities has just been awarded for the second consecutive year the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy 2023 at the Asia Pacific Cell & Gene Therapy Excellence Awards.
Novotechs Vice President, Clinical Services Dr. Yooni Kim accepted the award at the 7th Cell & Gene Therapy World Asia conference last week in Singapore.
Novotech is also the recipient of the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy 2022 award.
Accepting the award, Dr. Kim thanked the organizers IMAPAC and stated Novotech is proud to be recognised as an exceptional cell & gene therapy (CGT) CRO leader that facilitates rapid advancement in these new therapies.
One of the biggest challenges in CGT trials is managing regulatory approvals, especially for multi-country studies. This is where Novotech excels. With our considerable experience in the Asia Pacific since 1997, and in recent years in the US and Europe, we navigate the complexities of regulatory processes, ensuring seamless progress for our clients, she remarked.
Dr. Kim also indicated the success of CGT trials also hinges on patient acceptance and understanding cultural nuances. This means that a patient centric approach in carer engagement is vital for success. Novotech is committed to fostering this engagement throughout the entire clinical trial process.
She remarked according to our latest CGT clinical trial landscape report the global CGT market is projected to hit $93.78 billion by 2030 and FDA approvals for gene therapy in H2 2022 surpassed the combined total for the previous five years.
Download Recent CGT Report here
Asia Pacific is playing a significant role in the global CGT trials growth with an increase in percentage share from 41% in 2018 to 48% in 2022, demonstrating the regions commitment to cutting-edge medical research. North America and Europe together had 54% in 2018 but fell to 47% in 2022, she commented.
Dr. Kim noted mainland China and the United States, each with over 600 trials, were the leading locations in CGT trials, while over 450 CGT trials were initiated in European countries.
From 2018-2022 the APAC regions single country CGT trials share was 90%, North America was 69% and Europe was 35%.
According to the recent report China played a significant role in the APAC region, accounting for around 75% share. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Australia were also substantial contributors, accounting for 9%, 8%, 3%, and 2%, respectively. Other APAC locations, including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Thailand, combined provided 3% of the share of single country CGT trials.
Novotech has more than 3,000 employees operating across 25 geographies with 34 office locations, including Greater China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Europe.
The CRO offers biotechs a unique and unparalleled suite of early to late-phase services across the US and Europe, with a foundation in Asia Pacific where the company has built a reputation for delivering high-quality expedited clinical trials.
Recognized for its industry-leading contributions, Novotech has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CRO Leadership Award 2023 and the Best CRO for Cell & Gene Therapy 2022 and 2023 awards. Additionally, the company was honored with the Asia-Pacific Contract Research Organization Company of the Year Award. Its commitment to collaboration is evident in the 50 Leading Site Partnership agreements it has signed over the past three years.
Media Contact
David James
communications@novotech-cro.com
AU: +61 2 8218 2144
USA: +1 415 951 3228
Asia: +65 3159 3427
About Novotech Novotech-CRO.com
Founded in 1997, Novotech is internationally recognized as the leading Asia Pacific centred Contract Research Organization (CRO) with global execution capabilities.
The Company has established itself as a clinical CRO with labs, phase I facilities, drug development consulting services and regulatory expertise. It has experience in over 5,000 clinical projects, including Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials and bioequivalence studies. Novotech employs over 3,000 staff globally across 34 office locations.
Novotech is positioned to serve as a partner and ally to small and medium-sized biotech, biopharma and pharma sponsors seeking to conduct clinical trials in Asia Pacific, the US and Europe.
For more information visit Novotech CRO
LOS ANGELESKenzie Taylor is expanding her sexual wellness brand Feelz by Kenzie Taylor with the debut of a range of new products.
Coming on the heels of the success of her Feelz water-based lubricant, Taylor has handpicked a collection of items to add to the line, each meticulously chosen to serve a specific purpose in promoting intimacy, pleasure and well-being.
"I wanted to bring some of my favorite products to my customers, Taylor said. The consumers have been intensely loyal, and I can't say enough about how much I appreciate them. I will be active on my social media accounts in the coming weeks and will dive into further detail with videos demonstrating just how great these products are!"
The new lineup includes items ranging from luxurious bath bombs formulated to create relaxing and sensual experiences to vibrators designed to enhance pleasure and intimacy. Each product was selected to contribute positively to sexual wellness and relationships, reflecting Taylor's personal commitment to fostering healthy connections.
Taylor will be sharing her insights and experiences with these new products through videos and social media.
For more information, visit FeelzByKenzie.com and KenzieTaylor.fans, and follow Taylor on Instagram @thekenzietaylor and @thesaucepodcast. She is also on Reddit and X.
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX: CVE) (NYSE: CVE) announced today the early tender results for its tender offers to purchase for cash certain of its outstanding series of Notes.
Cenovus also announced it has increased the previously announced Pool 2 Maximum Amount (as defined below) from $250,000,000 to $500,000,000. The Pool 1 Maximum Amount (as defined below) and the Series Tender Cap (as defined below) remain unchanged at $500,000,000 and $250,000,000, respectively.
References to "$" in this news release are to United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.
Details of tender offers
Cenovus initially offered to purchase for cash: (i) up to $500,000,000 aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest (the Pool 1 Maximum Amount), of its 5.250% Notes due 2037, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043, 4.400% Notes due 2029, 5.400% Notes due 2047 and 4.250% Notes due 2027 (collectively, the Pool 1 Notes) and (ii) up to $250,000,000 aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest (the Pool 2 Maximum Amount and, together with the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, the Maximum Amounts), of its 6.800% Notes due 2037 and 6.750% Notes due 2039 (collectively, the Pool 2 Notes and, together with the Pool 1 Notes, the Notes), subject to prioritized acceptance levels listed in the table below (Acceptance Priority Levels) and the terms and conditions of the tender offers.
Cenovus has amended such tender offers to increase the previously announced Pool 2 Maximum Amount from $250,000,000 to $500,000,000. All other terms of the tender offers as previously announced in the offer to purchase dated September 5, 2023 (as amended and supplemented hereby, the Offer to Purchase) remain unchanged. Cenovus refers investors to the Offer to Purchase for the complete terms and conditions of the tender offers.
As of the previously announced early tender date and time of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on September 18, 2023 (the Early Tender Date), according to information provided by D.F. King & Co., Inc., the tender and information agent for the tender offers, the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes listed in the table below had been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in each tender offer. Withdrawal rights for the Notes expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on the Early Tender Date.
Title of Security CUSIP/ISIN Principal Amount
Outstanding Maximum Amount Acceptance
Priority
Level(1) Series Tender
Cap Principal
Amount
Tendered at
Early Tender
Date Pool 1 Tender Offers
5.250% Notes due 2037 15135UAP4 / US15135UAP49
15135UAN9 / US15135UAN90 (144A)
C23555AG7 / USC23555AG79 (Reg S) $583,102,000 $500,000,000(2)
1 $250,000,000(3) $400,387,000 4.450% Notes due 2042 15135UAH2 / US15135UAH23 $97,004,000 2 N/A $5,688,000 5.200% Notes due 2043 15135UAK5 / US15135UAK51 $28,549,000 3 N/A $1,614,000 4.400% Notes due 2029 448055AP8 / US448055AP89 $239,598,000 4 N/A $57,128,000 5.400% Notes due 2047 15135UAR0 / US15135UAR05
15135UAQ2 / US15135UAQ22 (144A)
C23555AH5 / USC23555AH52 (Reg S) $799,872,000 5 N/A $571,507,000 Pool 2 Tender Offers
6.800% Notes due 2037 448055AD5 / US448055AD59 $386,773,000 $500,000,000(4)
1 N/A $195,551,000 6.750% Notes due 2039 15135UAF6 / US15135UAF66 $935,422,000 2 N/A $398,009,000
(1) Subject to the Maximum Amounts, the Series Tender Cap and proration, the principal amount of each series of Notes that is expected to be purchased in each tender offer will be determined in accordance with the applicable Acceptance Priority Level (in numerical priority order) specified in this column. (2) Represents the maximum aggregate purchase price payable, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, in respect of the 5.250% Notes due 2037, 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043, 4.400% Notes due 2029 and 5.400% Notes due 2047 which may be purchased in the tender offers. (3) The Pool 1 Notes with Acceptance Priority Level 1 (the Capped Notes) are subject to an aggregate principal amount sublimit of $250,000,000 (the Series Tender Cap). (4) Represents the maximum aggregate purchase price payable, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, in respect of the 6.800% Notes due 2037 and 6.750% Notes due 2039 which may be purchased in the tender offers.
The terms and conditions of the tender offers are described in the Offer to Purchase. Cenovus expects to elect to exercise its right to make payment on September 20, 2023 (the Early Settlement Date) for Notes validly tendered prior to or at the Early Tender Date and accepted for purchase. Cenovus intends to fund the purchase of validly tendered and accepted Notes on the Early Settlement Date with cash on hand and certain short-term borrowings.
Because the Pool 1 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date have an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase all Pool 1 Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Rather, subject to the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, the Series Tender Cap and the Acceptance Priority Levels set forth in the table above, in each case as further described in the Offer to Purchase, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase all of the 4.450% Notes due 2042, 5.200% Notes due 2043 and 4.400% Notes due 2029 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Because the aggregate principal amount of Capped Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date exceeds the Series Tender Cap, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase $250,000,000 aggregate principal amount of the Capped Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date on a prorated basis using a proration factor to be announced following the determination of the Total Consideration (as defined herein). Cenovus expects to accept for purchase the 5.400% Notes due 2047 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date on a prorated basis using a proration factor to be announced following the determination of the Total Consideration. Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any 4.250% Notes due 2027. As described further in the Offer to Purchase, Notes tendered and not accepted for purchase will be promptly credited to the tendering holders account. Additionally, because the Pool 1 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date have an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 1 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any Pool 1 Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date on a subsequent settlement date. The tender offers for the Pool 1 Notes will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 3, 2023, or any other date and time to which Cenovus extends the applicable tender offer, unless earlier terminated.
Because the Pool 2 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date have an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 2 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase all Pool 2 Notes that have been validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Rather, subject to the Pool 2 Maximum Amount and the Acceptance Priority Levels set forth in the table above, in each case as further described in the Offer to Purchase, Cenovus expects to accept for purchase all of the 6.800% Notes due 2037 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date. Cenovus expects to accept for purchase the 6.750% Notes due 2039 validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date on a prorated basis using a proration factor to be announced following the determination of the Total Consideration. As described further in the Offer to Purchase, Notes tendered and not accepted for purchase will be promptly credited to the tendering holders account. Additionally, because the Pool 2 Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to or at the Early Tender Date have an aggregate purchase price, excluding accrued and unpaid interest, that exceeds the Pool 2 Maximum Amount, Cenovus does not expect to accept for purchase any Pool 2 Notes tendered after the Early Tender Date on a subsequent settlement date. The tender offers for the Pool 2 Notes will expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on October 3, 2023, or any other date and time to which Cenovus extends the applicable tender offer, unless earlier terminated.
The applicable consideration (the Total Consideration) offered per $1,000 principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the applicable tender offer will be determined in the manner described in the Offer to Purchase by reference to the applicable fixed spread for such Notes plus the applicable yield based on the bid-side price of the applicable U.S. Treasury Reference Security at 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on September 19, 2023 (the Price Determination Date). Only holders of Notes who validly tendered and did not validly withdraw their Notes prior to or at the Early Tender Date are eligible to receive the applicable Total Consideration, which is inclusive of the applicable early tender payment, for Notes accepted for purchase. Holders will also receive accrued and unpaid interest on Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase from the applicable last interest payment date up to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date.
Promptly after the Price Determination Date, Cenovus will issue a news release specifying, among other things, (i) the aggregate principal amount of each series of Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn as of the Early Tender Date and expected to be accepted for purchase in each tender offer, (ii) the proration factor for the Capped Notes, the 5.400% Notes due 2047 and the 6.750% Notes due 2039 and (iii) the Total Consideration for each series of Notes expected to be accepted for purchase.
All Notes accepted for purchase will be retired and cancelled and will no longer remain outstanding obligations of Cenovus.
Cenovuss obligation to accept for payment and to pay for Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn in the tender offers is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions described in the Offer to Purchase. Cenovus reserves the right, subject to applicable law, to (i) waive any and all conditions to any of the tender offers, (ii) extend or terminate any of the tender offers, (iii) further increase or decrease either of the Maximum Amounts and/or increase, decrease or eliminate the Series Tender Cap, or (iv) otherwise further amend any of the tender offers. Cenovus may take any action described in clauses (i) through (iv) above with respect to one or more tender offers without having to do so for all tender offers.
Information relating to the tender offers
Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, BMO Capital Markets Corp. and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. are the dealer managers for the tender offers. Investors with questions regarding the terms and conditions of the tender offers may contact Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC at (800) 828-3182 (toll-free) or by email at gs-lm-nyc@ny.email.gs.com, BMO Capital Markets Corp. at (833) 418-0762 (toll-free) or (212) 702-1840 (collect) or by email at LiabilityManagement@bmo.com and MUFG Securities Americas Inc. at (877) 744-4532 (toll-free) or (212) 405-7481 (collect). D.F. King & Co., Inc. is the tender and information agent for the tender offers. Investors with questions regarding the procedures for tendering Notes may contact the tender and information agent by email at cve@dfking.com, or by phone at (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers only) or (888) 644-5854 (for all others, toll-free). Beneficial owners may also contact their broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee for assistance.
The full details of the tender offers, including complete instructions on how to tender Notes, are included in the Offer to Purchase. Holders are strongly encouraged to read carefully the Offer to Purchase, including materials incorporated by reference therein, because they contain important information. The Offer to Purchase may be obtained from D.F. King & Co., Inc., free of charge, by calling (212) 269-5550 (for banks and brokers only) or (888) 644-5854 (for all others, toll-free).
This news release does not constitute an offer to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to sell, or the solicitation of tenders with respect to the Notes. No offer, solicitation, purchase or sale will be made in any jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The tender offers are being made solely pursuant to the Offer to Purchase made available to holders of the Notes. None of Cenovus or its affiliates, their respective boards of directors, the dealer managers, the tender and information agent or the trustee, with respect to any series of Notes, is making any recommendation as to whether or not holders should tender or refrain from tendering all or any portion of their Notes in response to the tender offers. Holders are urged to evaluate carefully all information in the Offer to Purchase, consult their own investment and tax advisors and make their own decisions whether to tender Notes in the tender offers, and, if so, the principal amount of Notes to tender.
Advisory
Forward-looking Information
This news release contains certain forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information (collectively referred to as forwardlooking information) within the meaning of applicable securities legislation about Cenovuss current expectations, estimates and projections about the future of the company, based on certain assumptions made in light of experiences and perceptions of historical trends. Although Cenovus believes that the expectations represented by such forwardlooking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward-looking information in this document is identified by words such as may, will, expect or similar expressions and includes suggestions of future outcomes, including statements about: the purchase of the Notes and the timing thereof; the expected sources of funds for the tender offers; the deadlines, determination dates and settlement dates regarding the tender offers; increasing or decreasing the Maximum Amounts and/or increasing, decreasing or eliminating the Series Tender Cap; the payment of accrued and unpaid interest; the use of a proration factor in respect of the Capped Notes, the 5.400% Notes due 2047 and the 6.750% Notes due 2039; and the series of Notes to be accepted for purchase pursuant to the tender offers.
Developing forward-looking information involves reliance on a number of assumptions and consideration of certain risks and uncertainties, some of which are specific to Cenovus and others that apply to the industry generally. The factors or assumptions on which the forwardlooking information in this news release are based include, but are not limited to: risks related to the acceptance of any tendered Notes, the availability of funding for the tender offers on acceptable terms, the expiration and settlement of the tender offers, the satisfaction of conditions to the tender offers, whether the tender offers will be consummated in accordance with the terms set forth in the Offer to Purchase or at all, and the timing of any of the foregoing.
The risk factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forwardlooking information in this news release include, but are not limited to: risks identified under Risk Management and Risk Factors and Advisory in Cenovuss Managements Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for the year ended December 31, 2022 .
Except as required by applicable securities laws, Cenovus disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forwardlooking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing lists are not exhaustive and are made as at the date hereof. Events or circumstances could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or implied by, the forwardlooking information. For additional information regarding Cenovuss material risk factors, the assumptions made, and risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the anticipated results, refer to Risk Management and Risk Factors and Advisory in Cenovuss MD&A for the periods ended December 31, 2022 and June 30, 2023 , and to the risk factors, assumptions and uncertainties described in other documents Cenovus files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities in Canada (available on SEDAR+ at sedarplus.ca , on EDGAR at sec.gov and Cenovuss website at cenovus.com ).
Cenovus Energy Inc.
Cenovus Energy Inc. is an integrated energy company with oil and natural gas production operations in Canada and the Asia Pacific region, and upgrading, refining and marketing operations in Canada and the United States. Cenovus is focused on managing its assets in a safe, innovative and cost-efficient manner, integrating environmental, social and governance considerations into its business plans. Cenovus common shares and warrants are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges, and the companys preferred shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. For more information, visit cenovus.com.
Find Cenovus on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram.
Cenovus contacts
Dublin, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Coffee Beans Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global coffee beans market has witnessed substantial growth, reaching a market size of US$ 31.0 billion in 2022, and is projected to continue its upward trajectory, expected to reach US$ 44.6 billion by 2028. This growth represents a notable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% during the period from 2023 to 2028.
Coffee beans come in various types, with Arabica beans known for their aromatic, elongated shape, and Robusta beans offering a bitter flavor, commonly used in espresso and instant coffees. These versatile beans find applications in a wide range of products, from chocolates, body scrubs, muffins, cookies, to cakes.
Coffee beans are renowned for their rich antioxidant content and anti-inflammatory properties, offering protection against various diseases. They contribute to reducing the risk of conditions like diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and skin cancer, while also supporting anti-inflammatory responses, bolstering the immune system, aiding in weight management, and enhancing mood and energy levels.
The thriving global food and beverage (F&B) industry plays a pivotal role in driving market growth. Coffee beans are integral to an array of hot and cold beverages served at numerous coffee shops worldwide. Their adoption is further propelled by the presence of essential minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants, offering health benefits such as cellular protection.
In response to growing health consciousness among consumers, the market has witnessed the emergence of organic coffee, cultivated naturally without pesticides and artificial fertilizers, garnering substantial consumer interest and boosting market growth.
Technological advancements have also made a significant impact, with the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor and control environmental variables during coffee cultivation, positively influencing market growth.
Factors like increasing consumer spending power, robust e-commerce promotions, and heightened demand in the pharmaceutical sector are anticipated to drive sustained market growth.
Key Questions Answered in This Report:
How has the global coffee beans market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?
What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global coffee beans market?
What are the key regional markets?
What is the breakup of the market based on the product?
What is the breakup of the market based on the distribution channel?
What is the breakup of the market based on the end user?
What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?
What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?
What is the structure of the global coffee beans market and who are the key players?
What is the degree of competition in the industry?
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 143 Forecast Period 2022 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $31 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $44.6 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 6.2% Regions Covered Global
Competitive Landscape:
The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being
Backyard Beans Coffee Company
Caribou Coffee Company Inc.
Coffee Bean Direct LLC
Death Wish Coffee Co.
Gold Coffee Company
Hawaiian Isles Kona Coffee Co.
illycaffe S.p.A.
La Colombe Coffee Roasters
Luigi Lavazza S.p.A.
Starbucks Coffee Company
The Coffee Bean Company
The East India Company Ltd.
Key Market Segmentation:
Breakup by Product:
Arabica
Robusta
Others
Breakup by Distribution Channel:
Online
Offline
Breakup by End User:
Personal Care
Food and Beverages
Pharmaceutical
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/99pif3
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
WESTPORT, Conn., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RFE Investment Partners (RFE) is pleased to announce the addition of Ron Ahuja as a principal on the investment team.
Prior to joining RFE, Ahuja served as a vice president with Heartwood Partners, and with First Atlantic Capital, middle-market private equity firms. At both firms, he was active in all aspects of the investment and portfolio management process and developed significant experience in buy-and-build transactions across niche manufacturing, packaging, and business services companies. Ahuja began his career as a management consultant at Bain & Co. in the Private Equity group and Monitor Deloitte in their Strategy & Operations group.
Mr. Ahuja received his M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and his B.S. in Finance and Economics from the NYU Stern School of Business.
We are thrilled to have Ron join the RFE team, said Michael Rubel, managing director at RFE. Rons experience and personal style are a great match for RFEs culture and investment approach.
RFE is excited to have someone of Rons caliber join the group as we continue to build our execution expertise in the middle market, said Paul Schilpp, managing director at RFE.
In his new role, Ahuja will focus on leading new platform and add-on acquisition investments and managing the firms portfolio company investments. He is currently active on Ensemble IQ (an RFE VIII company) as well as ZRG Partners and Friendly Home Services (both RFE IX companies).
About RFE Investment Partners
RFE Investment Partners is a private equity firm focused on making control investments in established small market companies located in the United States. RFE is a long-standing Connecticut-based firm founded in 1980 with over 40 years of experience investing in the lower middle market. RFEs investment strategy is to transform its portfolio companies from the lower end of the market to fully professionalized and market leading middle market companies. RFE is currently investing out of Fund IX. For more information, please visit www.rfeip.com.
Contact : John Mooney, Over the Moon PR, (908) 720-6057, john@overthemoonpr.com.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d2645c1-ad10-411f-94ff-8e5ce6c26983
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prelude Corporation (PreludeDx), a leader in molecular diagnostics and precision medicine for early-stage breast cancer, today announced it will be presenting data using DCISionRT to identify limitations in current clinicopathologic factors alone to predict radiation benefit in women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). This comparison data was selected for a scientific session oral presentation at the 65th Annual American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Meeting, to be held on October 1-4, 2023 at the San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA.
We are pleased to have our new comparison data on DCISionRT selected for oral presentation at the prestigious ASTRO Annual Meeting, said Dan Forche, President and CEO of PreludeDx. This new data is being presented by Dr. Frank A. Vicini, who will share how this data further validates the value of DCISionRT in guiding treatment decisions for DCIS patients.
Oral Presentation
Title: Number 100: Limitations in the Application of Clinicopathologic Factors Alone in Predicting Radiation Benefit for Women with Low-Risk DCIS after Breast Conserving Surgery: The Impact of a 7-Gene Biosignature Based on 10-year Ipsilateral Breast Recurrence (IBR) Rates
Presenter: Frank A. Vicini, MD, FASTRO, Radiation Oncologist at Michigan HealthCare Professionals, member of NRG Oncology, and first author of the study
Date: Sunday, October 1, 8:00 AM PT
Location: Room 6B
Additional PreludeDx ASTRO Posters Will Be Presented
Title: Number 2439: Impact on Radiation Therapy Recommendation and Treatment Modality for Patients with Ductal Carcinoma in Situ Using the 7-Gene Biosignature: Analysis of the PREDICT Study
Presenter: Chirag S. Shah, MD, Director of Breast Radiation Oncology, Department of Radiation Oncology, Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH
Date: Monday, October 2, 3:00 PM PT
Location: Hall B1
Title: Number 57473: A Biosignature Integrating Immune and Metabolic Signaling Axes to Assess Limited Radiation Therapy Response in Early-Stage Breast Cancer from a Low-Risk Cohort
Presenter: Troy Bremer, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, PreludeDx
Date: Monday, October 2, 3:00 PM PT
Location: Hall B2
About DCISionRT for Breast DCIS
DCISionRT is the only risk assessment test for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) that predicts radiation therapy benefit. Patients with DCIS have cancerous cells lining the milk ducts of the breast, but they have not spread into surrounding breast tissue. In the US, over 60,000 women are newly diagnosed with DCIS each year. DCISionRT, developed by PreludeDx on technology licensed from the University of California San Francisco, and built on research that began with funding from the National Cancer Institute, enables physicians to better understand the biology of DCIS. DCISionRT combines the latest innovations in molecular biology with risk-based assessment scores to assess a womans individual tumor biology along with other pathologic risk factors and provide a personalized recurrence risk. The test provides a Decision Score that identifies a womans risk as low or elevated. Unlike other risk assessment tools, the DCISionRT test combines protein expression from seven biomarkers and four clinicopathologic factors, using a non-linear algorithm to account for multiple interactions between individual factors in order to better interpret complex biological information. DCISionRTs intelligent reporting provides a womans recurrence risk after breast conserving surgery alone and with the addition of radiation therapy. In turn, this new information may help patients and their physicians to make more informed treatment decisions.
About PreludeDx
PreludeDx is a leading personalized breast cancer diagnostics company dedicated to serving breast cancer patients and physicians worldwide. Founded in 2009 with technology licensed from University of California San Francisco, PreludeDx has focused on developing precision breast cancer tools that will impact a patients treatment decision. Our mission is to provide patients and physicians with innovative technologies that improve patient outcomes and reduce the overall cost burden to the healthcare system. Before making a treatment decision, Know Your Risk. PreludeDx is a Fjord Ventures portfolio company.
For more information on how PreludeDx is making a difference for patients, please visit the Companys website: https://preludedx.com and follow us on Twitter @PreludeDx, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
PreludeDx, the PreludeDx logo, DCISionRT, the DCISionRT logo, DecisionTree, Decision Score, The DCIS Test, Know Your Risk and Your Biology, Your Decision are trademarks of Prelude Corporation or its wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States and foreign countries.
Media Contact Investor Contact Cory Dunn Andrew Wade 760.705.7464 949.600.8925 cdunn@preludedx.com awade@preludedx.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8d1b2a32-9654-4122-ac60-8838c4d3e42a
Collingwood, Ontario, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the association's Annual Meeting of Members, Dave Depencier was elected as the 55th President of the Ontario Home Builders Association for the 2023 2024 term. Dave is a home builder from Dresden, where his family business, Depencier Builders, has been helping those looking to build their future in Southwestern Ontario. Dave is also a co-founder of the DeMall Group Ltd., established by two families dedicated to developing and building their community.
As a teenager in search of a summer job, Dave began working for his Uncle Mark of Mark Labadie Construction, where he gained skills in home renovation and construction. By the end of high school, Dave was leading a crew and knew this was a lifelong passion. Shortly thereafter, he branched out into framing before starting his own company at the ripe age of 23 after securing his Ontario New Home Warranty number. Dave has spent the last 20 years building the community of Dresden and is a passionate advocate for the industry.
Dave most recently served as the 1st Vice President and has been an active OHBA Board of Directors member since 2019. A leader in Ontarios building community, he also previously served as President of the Chatham Kent Home Builders Association,
Now, as Dave takes the helm, he aims to build upon the strong foundation of OHBA and unite the membership behind Ontarios mission to build 1.5 million homes by 2031. In his inaugural address as President, Dave highlighted the importance of collaboration among the association network, industry partners and government to expedite the development of new housing stock and meet Ontarios housing targets. Dave commented, Were not merely an association; were architects of the future, shapers of the landscape, and the heartbeat of our province housing industry. We are resilient, and together, we will thrive.
During the evening's celebration, Dave presented four association awards honouring leaders within the HBA network and Ontarios home-building industry.
2023 Ontario Home Builders Association Awards
Lifetime Achievement
The OHBA Lifetime Achievement Award is a prestigious recognition honouring an individual who has made significant contributions to Ontarios residential construction industry and the Home Builders Association. Last nights honour was presented to Mr. Bob Finnigan, Partner at HERITY and President of Heathwood Homes. Over the last 30 years, Heathwood Homes has built a well-earned reputation for quality and service, building homes across Ontario. Mr. Finnigans legacy extends beyond his exemplary work as he has actively engaged with the Home Builders Association network over the last two decades. His local, provincial, and national service underscores his commitment to advancing Ontarios home-building industry.
David Horton Leadership Award
Honouring the legacy of past OHBA Executive Officer David Horton, this award is presented to a deserving association staff member who has exemplified Davids leadership qualities and commitment to the association. Last nights honoree was Mike Collins-Williams of the West End Home Builders Association. Mike began his career at OHBA in 2003 under the leadership of David Horton and, during his tenure, played a critical role in the advocacy and policy priorities of the association. In 2020, Mike assumed the role of CEO at the West End Home Builders Association and has successfully revitalized and positioned this local as a prominent leader in the HBA network. Mike consistently embodies Davids exceptional leadership qualities and unwavering dedication to the association network.
Member of the Year
David Renfroe of Renfroe Land Management was presented with the Member of the Year award for his outstanding commitment to the association, exemplifying the core value of members supporting members. David has significantly contributed to the residential construction industry, the provincial association, and his home local, the Greater Ottawa Home Builders Association. As Chair of the OHBA Builder Developer Council, David is instrumental in advocating for ways to spur housing construction in Ontario.
Local of the Year
The 2023 OHBA Local of the Year Award was presented to the Windsor-Essex Home Builders Association (WEHBA). Over the past several years, this association has experienced accelerated growth, reflecting the enthusiasm and commitment of residential construction professionals within their region. Behind this growth lies the relentless dedication of their President, Board of Directors and Executive Officer. Accepting the award were President Vince Lapico, Executive Officer Melissa Schenk, and members of WEHBA.
Not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to United States News Wire Services
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lavras Gold Corp. (the Company) (TSXV: LGC, OTCQB: LGCFF) announces that further to its news release of September 11, 2023, the Company has increased its private placement offering (the Offering) from a private placement of up to 8,000,000 common shares (each, a Common Share) to up to 10,000,000 Common Shares. The Common Shares will be issued at a price of CAD$1.35 per Common Share for gross proceeds of up to CAD$13,500,000. The increase in the Offering is due to investor demand.
The net proceeds of the Offering are expected to be used primarily for exploration expenses on the Company's LDS Project in Rio Grande do Sul State of Brazil, and for general working capital purposes.
The Offering will be conducted pursuant to available exemptions from the registration and prospectus requirements of applicable securities legislation, including sales to accredited investors and to close personal friends and business associates of directors and officers of the Company.
The completion of the Offering is subject to the receipt of all regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
About Lavras Gold
Lavras Gold Corp. (TSXV: LGC, OTCQB: LGCFF) is a Canadian exploration company focused on realizing the potential of a multi-million-ounce gold district in southern Brazil. Its Lavras do Sul Project is located in Rio Grande do Sul State, and is primarily an intrusive hosted gold system of possible alkaline affinity. More than 23 gold prospects centred on historic gold workings have been identified on the property, which spans more than 22,000 hectares. Follow Lavras Gold on www.lavrasgold.com, as well as on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
Contact information
Hemdat Sawh, CFO | Hemdat.sawh@lavrasgold.com |+1-416-671-4966
DISCLAIMER AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, may, will, would, potential, proposed and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. These statements, including those on planned exploration activities and goals, are only objectives and predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information, including the risks and factors that generally affect exploration and the uncertainty of exploration results. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business, refer to the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis recently filed under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or managements estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
New AI-focused practice integrates artificial intelligence to transform search and social media strategies for brands and agencies
MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AUDIENCEX, an AI-enabled digital advertising partner built to optimize performance for brands and agencies, is excited to unveil its AI-powered Search & Social division. This innovative division aims to provide a sophisticated, data-driven approach to search and social media marketing by utilizing advanced artificial intelligence algorithms and data-driven insights to help brands optimize their strategies, improve engagement, and achieve a better return on investment from their search and social media efforts.
With the ever-growing complexity of search and social media platforms, emerging brands and independent agencies seek innovative solutions to make their campaigns stand out and drive meaningful results. The reimagined approach at AUDIENCEX will provide a sophisticated approach that enables brands to succeed in this fast-paced and competitive landscape.
The AI-Powered Search & Social division offers a suite of tools and strategies optimized for driving engagement and improving conversion rates. Through the sophisticated integration of AI, AUDIENCEX provides brands and agencies the capability to derive actionable insights in several key areas:
Understanding Audience Behavior and Preferences : Advanced AI algorithms sift through data, including social media interactions, website browsing behavior, and search history to develop a comprehensive understanding of customer preferences, demographics, interests, and behaviors. This comprehensive insight paves the way for crafting search and social media strategies that align seamlessly with distinct audience segments.
: Advanced AI algorithms sift through data, including social media interactions, website browsing behavior, and search history to develop a comprehensive understanding of customer preferences, demographics, interests, and behaviors. This comprehensive insight paves the way for crafting search and social media strategies that align seamlessly with distinct audience segments. Efficient Content Creation : AUDIENCEXs AI-driven content creation tools expedite the generation of high-quality, personalized content across multiple formats - from social media posts to images and videos. These tools, underpinned by natural language processing, machine learning, and computer vision, ensure content remains engaging and relevant to audience preferences and emerging trends.
: AUDIENCEXs AI-driven content creation tools expedite the generation of high-quality, personalized content across multiple formats - from social media posts to images and videos. These tools, underpinned by natural language processing, machine learning, and computer vision, ensure content remains engaging and relevant to audience preferences and emerging trends. Content Analysis and Optimization : Leveraging AI for data analysis, the team is able to go deeper at refining search and social media content. By analyzing key metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates, these tools furnish actionable insights, aiding in content improvement, trend identification, and engagement rate enhancement.
: Leveraging AI for data analysis, the team is able to go deeper at refining search and social media content. By analyzing key metrics such as likes, shares, comments, and click-through rates, these tools furnish actionable insights, aiding in content improvement, trend identification, and engagement rate enhancement. Personalized User Experiences: AUDIENCEXs AI-Powered Search & Social division excels in curating personalized user experiences. With the capacity to analyze vast data sets on customer behavior, preferences, and interests, AI tools facilitate the design of targeted advertising campaigns, customized recommendations, and content tailored to resonate on an individual level.
To lead this new initiative AUDIENCEX is excited to promote Keith Clay, previously the Director of their Search & Social department, to a new role as Vice President, Search & Social. In this leadership position Keith will be pioneering the application of these evolving solutions, focusing on departmental evolution, operational efficiency, and talent nurturing to ensure that all new technologies are leveraged to drive improved outcomes for customers.
Keith commented, "I'm honored to lead AUDIENCEXs AI-Powered Search & Social division, especially during this pivotal moment when innovative AI tools are becoming essential in the advertising landscape. By blending these technologies and our teams profound search and social media expertise, we empower brands and agencies to tap into the vast potential of search and social media platforms, ensuring robust engagement and impactful results."
In addition, Garrett MacDonald, CCO of AUDIENCEX, stated, Keiths Clay dedication and expertise have always stood out. His elevation to Vice President, Search & Social not only recognizes his years of invaluable contributions but also entrusts him with the task of driving ongoing innovation in this newly reinvented division. Across each of its divisions, AUDIENCEX continues to champion AI-powered tech innovations that position agencies and brands at the forefront of whats next in performance marketing, ensuring meaningful engagement and lasting impressions.
About AUDIENCEX
AUDIENCEX is an AI-enabled, performance-first programmatic advertising partner built to deliver results for challenger brands and independent agencies. Their expert teams deploy holistic strategies throughout the digital ecosystem, engaging the right audiences with predictive analytics, custom algorithms and automated optimization to drive scalable performance throughout the purchase funnel, across channels and devices. Named one of the fastest-growing companies in America by Deloitte, Inc., The Financial Times and the Los Angeles Business Journal, AUDIENCEX is headquartered in Los Angeles and operates remotely throughout North America, including New York and Dallas. For more information, visit https://audiencex.com/ or email hello@audiencex.com .
For investor or media inquiries, please contact:
Investor Contact:
ir@audiencex.com
877-486-2219
Media Contact:
media@audiencex.com
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NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LBMC, one of the Southeast's largest accounting and business consulting firms and top 35 in the nation, today announced its current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Shareholder Jeffrey S. Drummonds will transition his role to James R. Meade Jr. Jim effective January 1, 2024. Drummonds will pivot his focus to strategic growth efforts as part of LBMCs ongoing dedication to the firms continued success.
"Jim will lead LBMC, PC forward at a time of continued growth and opportunity for our clients and for our firm," said Drummonds. "He was the ideal choice because he understands the value of people and relationships, which comes first in our business. He knows attracting great talent to LBMC is imperative to bringing in great clients, and great clients lead to even greater talent."
Meade, a CPA, is a 23-year veteran of the firm, most recently serving as a leading shareholder in the firms audit and advisory division and spearheading LBMCs technology industry segment. He has managed audit services for venture capital and private equity firms and their portfolio companies, focusing on technology start-up enterprises, growth stage companies and acquisition-oriented businesses. Serving on the LBMC, PC Board of Directors and leadership committees, he is keenly aware of the issues that are critical to the future of LBMCs success.
Im very proud of the impact that LBMC has had on the lives of our clients and of our employees and their families, Meade says. Im equally proud of LBMCs achievements in our profession and contribution to our communities. LBMC has accomplished great things, and Im honored to have the opportunity to continue the momentum and excited to see where LBMC goes from here.
Throughout LBMCs success in becoming Tennessees largest CPA firm and a top firm in the nation, LBMCs founders and executive leadership have been preparing the firm for its long-term future.
This is the firms second CEO transition in its 40-year history. Mike Cain and David Morgan co-founded the then Certified Public Accountant (CPA) firm of LBMC, PC in 1984 and led the firm until transitioning to Drummonds in 2015. Today, LBMC has grown to approximately 800 team members throughout a family of companies with offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Charlotte, serving more than 10,000 clients across the nation.
About LBMC
LBMC is a 2023 Forbes Best Tax and Accounting Firm, one of the Southeasts largest accounting and business consulting firms, and an Accounting Today Top Firm in the Nation serving approximately 10,000 clients with diverse needs across a spectrum of industries. Primary client groups include privately-owned middle market companies in the healthcare, manufacturing, technology, and private equity space. LBMC has more than 800 team members, with offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1984 as a traditional accounting firm, LBMC today offers a broad range of advisory and business consulting needs for its client base. Named an Inc. Best in Business company, LBMC is an industry leader in financial, human resources, technology, cyber risk, and wealth advisory services for businesses and individuals. For more information on LBMCs experts and comprehensive services, visit lbmc.com or call 615.377.4600. LBMC is growing, and job opportunities can be found on our careers page.
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HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radix, a leading global engineering and technology company, is pleased to announce the appointment of US CEO Alexander Clausbruch to lead operational expansion and business opportunities in North America. Alex will lead the team from its US headquarters in Houston, TX.
Alex brings over 20 years of management and chemical engineering experience to his new position within Radix. He began his career managing global clients such as ExxonMobil, Saudi Aramco, Vale, and Petrobras. For the past seven years, he has led the Energy Business Unit for Radix, helping companies scale with optimal performance and increase profitability. He holds a B.S. Degree in Chemical Engineering from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Radix US revenue growth in 2023 is 60% above 2022. With over 1,500 employees worldwide, Radix continues to establish and build long-term relationships by delivering best-in-class solutions with data-intelligent services built on four pillars: Engineering, Industrial Automation, Software and Information Technology, and Consultancy.
Commented Global CEO, Joao Chachamovitz: As Radix continues to grow its customer base, I am confident that Alex and our teams will pioneer the expansion in the US markets, providing strong leadership and integration of operational processes between Brazil and North America and opportunities that expand into global markets.
Translating Technology into Business Profitability and Optimal Performance for Customers
Commented Alex Clausbruch: Our proven methodology and foundation are built with extensive engineering intelligence and capabilities that are paving the way for our customers to outperform in the age of AI and digital transformation.
Radix delivers a highly diverse portfolio of technology solutions to support an entire asset lifecycle, ensuring security, efficiency, and achieving ESG/Sustainability goals while expanding operating margins. Radix serves several industries, including but not limited to Energy, Power, Oil and Gas, Pulp and Paper, Metals and Mining, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, and Transportation. Some of Radixs client portfolio success includes Cascades, Modec, Braskem, Ocyan, Solvay, Petrobras, and many other global leaders.
Commented Radix customer Louis Rompre, AI Director at Cascades: Radix is a committed partner who understands our industry. They can speak the same language as our process experts. Their technology solutions and expertise in digital transformation continue to help increase engagements and optimize for operational excellence.
For more information on Radix, please visit: www.radixeng.com.
About Radix Engineering & Software
Founded in 2010, Radix Engineering and Software (www.radixeng.com) is a privately held global technology company that provides consulting, engineering, operations technology, and digital solutions. Radix combines key capabilities and practices to enable our worldwide customers to thrive in their digital journey. Radix provides technology-based solutions to industrial and non-industrial customers worldwide. Radixs North American headquarters is located in Houston, TX, with offices in Atlanta, GA. The global HQ is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with offices in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte. With a strong focus on results, people, and long-term relationships, Radix has developed projects in more than 20 countries worldwide. www.radixeng.com
For more information contact:
Company Contact:
Citalouise Geiggar, citalouise.geiggar@radixeng.com
Radix Engineering
Media Contact:
Becky Stevens, becky.stevens@virtualmarketing-pr.com or Rebecca.stevens.ext@radixeng.com
Virtual Marketing (713) 444-6860
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7126d685-2c90-4a3a-9e97-336804480019
San Francisco, California, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veyond Metaverse, a startup harnessing extended reality (XR) technology for healthcare, has achieved an unprecedented medical breakthrough: facilitating a real-time digital surgery. A proctor surgeon in Paris, France collaborated with a counterpart and patient in Yangon, Myanmar a staggering distance of 8,800 km apart. Central to this monumental feat was the company's Veyond Connect platform.
On September 13, at 8 AM Paris time and 12:30 PM Yangon time, Prof. Dr. Thierry Flam, a renowned urology expert from Saint Jean de Dieu-Clinique Oudinot in Paris, proctored a surgery. Collaborating with him was Dr. Su Myat Maw from Shwe La Min Hospital in Yangon. Despite being thousands of kilometers apart, the Veyond ConnectTM platform enabled them to operate as if they were side-by-side in the same room, culminating in a successful procedure.
Dr. Su Myat Maw, Shwe La Min Hospital, Yangon, in a middle of digital surgery
According to Veyond Metaverse, this accomplishment has far-reaching implications in the fields of surgery and medicine. With a report by The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery revealing that nearly five billion individuals lack access to essential surgical care, there is huge demand for surgical expertise all over the world. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Veyond Metaverse is reimagining and democratizing global healthcare delivery.
This groundbreaking procedure is just the beginning, as Premier Link, a significant player in Myanmar's healthcare industry, has partnered with Veyond Metaverse to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered in remote areas. The two companies are partnering to establish digital clinics across Myanmar to bring expert healthcare to the country's farthest corners. This will help elevate Myanmars healthcare to match global standards, increasing accessibility and significantly improving healthcare quality for millions.
Adam Choe, Joon Chung, and Prof. Dr. Flam, the founders of Veyond Metaverse, highlight the global impact of Veyond Connect. The technology will allow expert surgeons to lead and instruct their colleagues in undertaking complex and intricate surgeries, bringing their expertise even to far-flung regions. The companys innovations have received international recognition, including a recent nomination for "VR Healthcare Solution of the Year" at the 7th International VR Awards and Digital Health Awards 2023.
We're not just pushing tech boundaries or building a sophisticated simulation, says Choe. We're creating a platform for real, impactful work and collaboration. Our primary goal? To democratize access and transform the way healthcare is delivered worldwide.
Shwe La Min Hospital is steadfast in its commitment to bring the finest healthcare solutions to Myanmar. With an eye on the future, the hospital is actively seeking to expand its collaborations with other leading medical centers overseas.
"This partnership is about far more than just surgical precision. We're laying down the foundations for broader healthcare access, aiming to serve millions in Myanmar. say Dr. Aye Su Maw and Dr. Pyi Thein Kyaw from Shwe La Min Hospital. In a time marked by rapid technological advancements, this surgical collaboration stands out, not just as a testament to human capability but as a symbol of progress. Veyond Metaverse and Shwe La Min Hospital's joint effort represents a proactive step toward a world where quality healthcare is not bound by borders but is universally accessible.
Media Contact:
Email: info@veyondmetaverse.com
Flagstaff Unified School Districts (FUSD) board heard a presentation of a variety of college and career readiness indicators for its high school students at a meeting Tuesday, Sept 12.
Career and college readiness indicators (CCRIs) are metrics that show how prepared students in a given school or district are for their next steps after high school whether thats attending a university, trade school or community college, or starting a career. CCRIs as a whole determine 20% of most high schools letter grades from the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), released each fall.
Because Summit High School is classified as an alternative 9-12 grade school, however, CCRIs count for 35% of the schools final letter grade.
Graduation rates make up another 20% of a high schools score. FUSDs graduation rate for the class of 2023 across all three of its high schools was around 86%, higher than the roughly 77% seen across Arizona.
Last year was the first time ADE had given letter grades since the pandemic, and all three high schools in the district moved up one letter grade. Flagstaff High School (FHS) and Summit High School both received an A, while Coconino High School (CHS) received a B.
Mike Vogler, FUSDs director of research and assessment, presented on Tuesday CCRI data FUSD had submitted for its 2023 letter grades in order to give the board a better understanding of how the district was preparing its students for departing high school. The presentation was created with help from Tom Safranek, district director of college and career development, and data from the Helios Education Foundation.
Overall, FHS scored 16.2 out of 20 possible points for CCRI, according to Voglers presentation, while CHS scored 14.9 out of 20 and Summit received 33 out of 35 possible points.
Heres how FUSD performed on some of the metrics ADE uses to determine how well a students high school prepares them for their next steps:
College credit and CTE
One way the district measures CCRI is whether a student is ready for college or Career and Technical Education based on the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) requirements for admissions into state universities and completion of CTE courses for college credit.
Just under half (45.5%) of FUSDs class of 2023 met the ABOR admission requirements, while 22.7% had received college credit for at least one CTE course (of those students, 15% passed at least three courses).
The most attended CTE course sequences among district students were engineering, culinary arts and automotive technologies.
A total of 22.7% of all students passed at least one technical skills certification, an assessment required for those completing a full sequence of CTE courses (47% of concentrators). About 15% of all district students earned some other kind of credential and certification for CTE (31.4% of concentrators).
Foreign language was the largest barrier for FUSD students in meeting the ABOR admissions requirements, Vogler said.
ABOR requires at least two years of foreign language classes for admission to the three public state universities, though a six-year Northern Arizona University admissions pilot that started this fall omits the language requirement for guaranteed admission to the university.
FUSD offers several language classes, but does not currently require them which Vogler said accounted for much of the current percentage of students not meeting admissions requirements.
Just over two-thirds (67.7%) of FUSDs 2023 graduating class passed at least one college level course, with 39% of that group passing at least four. Of the 45.5% meeting ABOR admissions requirements, almost all (91%) had passed one or more college-level courses during high school.
When added to students earning college credit through CTE courses, Vogler said almost every other student whos graduating is passing something for college credit at some point.
District dual-enrollment courses with the highest enrollments in 2022 included math (328 students), history (214), physics (120) and English (101). The majority of courses had student success rates of at least 90%, with both automotive and building construction seeing a 100% success rate (7.9% and 9.8% higher than state averages, respectively). Music had the lowest success rate of any district dual enrollment class at 77.6%.
Most dual-enrollment classes were taken by juniors and seniors each year, with senior participation rising since the 2019-2020 school year after falling beginning in 2017-2018. Juniors in the district had the highest dual enrollment each year and their total has been generally rising since the 2018-2019 school year.
Testing and college attendance
A total of 162 of the districts 2022 graduates attended Arizona state universities after high school (31 at Arizona State University, 107 at NAU and 34 at University of Arizona). Of those students, 25% had a 4.0 GPA in academic year 2023, 48% had between a 3.0 and a 3.9 GPA, and 14% had a GPA between 2.0 and 2.9.
Vogler noted that the district does not have information about graduates attending out-of-state colleges. Community college attendance was also not included, as the most recent data available to the district was from 2021.
About 33% of district students received a proficient score in ELA or math on the 2023 ACT, a similar percentage of those receiving a highly proficient score in those subjects and science.
A score of 19 or higher on the ACT is considered proficient, while scores of 25 or higher are considered highly proficient.
The most common scores on the 2023 ACT were between 1 and 12 for English (approx. 29%) and reading (25%), 13 and 15 for math (40%) and between 16 and 19 for science (27%) though each subject had significant percentages of students in the other scoring ranges.
Advanced Placement (AP) testing was also included in the presentation, with 12% of graduating seniors receiving a score of 3 or higher on at least one exam. Of those students, 29.4% scored at least a 3 on four or more tests.
On AP exams, a three is typically the threshold for receiving college credit for a course, Vogler noted.
A detailed distribution of AP exam scores by course is available in the meeting minutes.
Participation in STEM
STEM-specific readiness indicators included students passing related courses as well as parts of assessments on STEM topics meaning science, technology, engineering and math.
While FUSD students are only required to take one CTE class for graduation, more than 180 students in the class of 2023 took between 1.5 and 2.5 science-related CTE courses, while more than 160 took between 0.5 and 1.5 courses. Over 100 others took between 2.5 and 3.5 courses (0.5 of a course refers to a semester-long class).
The majority of the class of 2023 took between 3.5 and 4.5 math classes which matches the districts four-credit requirement. Similarly, the district requires three science credits for graduation (though it recommends four for university admissions), and most of the class of 2023 successfully completed between 2.5 and 3.5 science courses.
Vogler noted that work on the CCRIs involved both the district and its partners, with a current focus on rigorous instruction and using professional learning communities to encourage teamwork within the district.
All of these collaborative discussions that were having districtwide, the more of these that we can have, the more that can feed down into instruction and ultimately student success, he said. This is the level of success were at now were looking at making some of these changes and pushing the initiatives forward. As we do that, I would expect these to improve.
His other priority was raising awareness among both students and staff of the districts offerings to prepare students for life after high school, including dual enrollment and CTE courses.
Not just ending and finding a job, but understanding that youll be growing throughout the rest of your life, he explained. Really building a good set of empathetic and high-level learners for life.
A recording of the meeting can be found at vimeo.com/863633206, with the CCRI presentation and discussion beginning around an hour and 15 minutes. Some of the data from Voglers presentation is included in the meeting agenda.
Dublin, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Gender Transition (Female-to-male, Male-to-female), By Procedure (Mastectomy, Vaginoplasty, Scrotoplasty, Hysterectomy, Phalloplasty), And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The U.S. sex reassignment surgery market is projected to reach USD 5.0 billion by 2030, with a notable CAGR of 11.25% from 2023 to 2030.
This growth is attributed to several key factors. Firstly, the market is benefiting from an improved reimbursement landscape and government support, along with increasing awareness about transgender surgeries. The rising awareness is instrumental in promoting understanding and acceptance of transgender individuals and their healthcare needs. Gender-affirming hormone treatments, involving the use of estrogen or testosterone, play a significant role in aligning the physical characteristics of transgender individuals with their gender identity.
Furthermore, favorable government initiatives have contributed to the market's expansion. Notably, in June 2021, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the inclusion of gender-affirming surgeries in its healthcare coverage for transgender veterans, which was a significant development. Previously, only hormone therapy and mental health services were covered. These government initiatives have played a pivotal role in driving market growth.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic had adverse effects on the U.S. sex reassignment surgery market. Plastic surgeons experienced a decline in the volume of services and procedures due to stringent pandemic regulations. Procedures like cosmetic and gender affirmation surgeries were particularly affected. Nevertheless, with the resumption of non-emergency services in clinics and hospitals across the U.S., the demand for sex reassignment surgeries is expected to rebound and contribute to market growth in the forecast period.
Among the various procedure segments, mastectomies held the largest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, driven by the growing recognition of transgender identity and rights. Additionally, augmentation mammoplasty is anticipated to exhibit the fastest CAGR over the forecast period, benefiting from increased affordability and availability of breast implants.
In terms of gender transition, the female-to-male gender transition segment dominated the market in 2022, with the largest revenue share of 59.81%. This trend is driven by the increasing number of transgender men opting for gender reassignment surgery due to positive outcomes and societal acceptance.
The U.S. sex reassignment market is characterized by fragmentation, with a few major players alongside several small- and medium-sized care centers. These companies have implemented various strategic initiatives to enhance their services in sex reassignment surgery, contributing to their significant market share. For instance, in April 2022, Cedars Sinai received recognition as an LGBTQ Health Care Equality Top Performer in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2020 Health Care Equality Index.
Company Profiles
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Transgender Surgery Institute
Cedars-Sinai
Moein Surgical Arts
Cleveland Clinic
CNY Cosmetic & Reconstructive Surgery
Plastic Surgery Group of Rochester
Regents of the University of Michigan
Boston Medical Center
The Johns Hopkins University
Kaiser Permanente
University of California, San Francisco Center of Excellence for Transgender Health
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Mayo Clinic (Transgender and Intersex Specialty Care Clinic)
Key Attributes:
Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 89 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $2.1 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $5 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 11.2% Regions Covered United States
Key Topics Covered:
Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope
Chapter 2. Executive Summary
2.1. Market Snapshot
2.2. Segment Snapshot
2.3. Competitive Landscape Snapshot
Chapter 3. Market Variables, Trends, & Scope
3.1. Market Dynamics
3.1.1. Market Driver Analysis
3.1.1.1. Increasing prevalence of gender dysphoria
3.1.1.2. Improving reimbursement scenario and Government aids
3.1.1.3. Increasing public awareness about transgender surgeries
3.1.1.4. Increasing novel hormonal therapies with better efficacy
3.1.2. Market Restraint Analysis
3.1.2.1. High cost of procedures
3.1.2.2. Risks associated with surgical procedures
3.2. Industry Analysis Tools
3.2.1. Porter's Five Forces Analysis
3.2.2. PESTLE Analysis
3.3. Regulatory Framework & Reimbursement Scenario
3.4. Target Population Analysis
3.5. Patient Journey Analysis Based on a Hypothetical Case Study
3.6. COVID-19 Impact Analysis
Chapter 4. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Gender Transition Estimates & Trend Analysis
4.1. Segment Definitions
4.2. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Segment Dashboard
4.3. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Gender Transition Movement & Market Share Analysis
4.4. Male-to-Female
4.5. Female-to-Male
Chapter 5. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Procedure Estimates & Trend Analysis
5.1. Segment Definitions
5.2. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Segment Dashboard
5.3. U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery Market: Region Movement & Market Share Analysis
5.4. Augmentation Mammoplasty
5.5. Voice Feminization Surgery
5.6. Reduction Thyrochondroplasty
5.7. Orchiectomy
5.8. Vaginoplasty
5.9. Chest Masculinization Surgery
5.10. Scrotoplasty
5.11. Hysterectomy
5.12. Phalloplasty
5.13. Mastectomy
5.14. Metoidioplasty
5.15. Facial Feminization Surgery
Chapter 6. Competitive Landscape
6.1. Overview
6.2. Financial Performance
6.3. Service Benchmarking
6.4. Strategic Initiatives
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/qpegzt
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.
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TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- First Quantum Minerals Ltd. (First Quantum or the Company) (TSX: FM) is deeply saddened to announce the passing of one of its founders and Chairman, Philip Pascall, on September 19, 2023. Philip passed away peacefully at home in Perth, Western Australia.
Philip co-founded First Quantum in 1996, serving as the Chairman since its inception and Chief Executive Officer until 2022. Under his leadership, Philip instilled an entrepreneurial and bold culture that saw the Company grow from a 10,000 tonnes tailings re-processor with the Bwana Mkubwa project in Zambia to one of the worlds largest copper producers with operations spanning five continents and employing more than 20,000 people globally. Amongst the many legacies he leaves behind, the greatest source of Philips pride were the many programs for the local communities in which First Quantum Minerals operates, bringing improved standards of health and education in often remote places.
The Board of Directors have voted to elect Robert Harding, Lead Independent Director, as the Companys Interim Chairman. Mr. Harding has been a Director of the Company since 2013 and has a full understanding of the Companys operations and unique culture. In his role as Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Mr. Harding oversaw the Companys succession planning process that led to the appointment of Tristan Pascall to the role of Chief Executive Officer in May 2022.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, we extend our sincerest condolences to the Pascall family and friends, said Robert Harding, Interim Chairman. We are all indebted to Phillip for his extraordinary leadership at First Quantum, setting us firmly on the path to the modern, multi-national mining company that we are today. Philip was a friend and mentor and his passing will be profoundly felt across the Company and the many people and lives he impacted as a result of his vision.
Whilst this is an enormous loss for all of us at First Quantum, Philip would not want us to dwell too long on his passing. He was always looking forward and was excited by the trajectory of the Company, said Tristan Pascall, Chief Executive Officer of First Quantum. Philip drove First Quantums focus on project execution, operational excellence and social responsibility and we intend to continue to build on his substantial legacy.
For further information, visit our website at www.first-quantum.com or contact:
Bonita To, Director, Investor Relations
(416) 361-6400 Toll-free: 1 (888) 688-6577
E-Mail: info@fqml.com
Salisbury, MD, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of a commitment to alleviate food insecurity in its communities, Perdue Farms announced today the donation of 400,000 pounds of no-antibiotics-ever chicken, the equivalent of 333,000 meals, to be shared with 10 Feeding America-affiliated food banks during Hunger Action Month this September. The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the companys charitable giving arm, also announced $60,000 in grants to support five local hunger relief programs in its communities.
The donations are part of the companys Delivering Hope To Our Neighbors outreach focused on improving quality of life and building strong communities where Perdue associates live and work, and beyond.
With so many people in our country struggling with food insecurity, hunger knows no boundaries. As a food company, were committed to fighting hunger in the communities we call home and beyond, said Kevin McAdams, CEO of Perdue Farms. Were stepping up this Hunger Action Month to elevate awareness of hunger, continue our decades-long support through donations of nutritious protein, associate volunteerism and financial support, and working with stakeholders to make meaningful change.
As Joe Weeden, Senior Director of Commodity Foods for Feeding America explains, People who struggle with hunger do not have regular access to enough food for a healthy, active life. Feeding America is grateful to Perdue for its generous support of member food banks and for helping people in need in communities across the country.
Perdue will deliver 10 truckloads of chicken to the following food banks:
High food prices have put a strain on everyones budget, which is why this donation of protein-rich chicken could not have come at a better time, said Carmen Del Guercio, president and CEO of the Maryland Food Bank. Were grateful for partners like Perdue Farms that recognize the challenges Maryland families currently face and are stepping in to make this donation available for our network of community partners to distribute across Maryland.
The Perdue Foundation awarded the following grants to five local hunger relief programs through food banks and non-profit partners:
$30,000 to support the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee in Nashville and its mobile pantry and schools backpack programs.
$10,000 to continue support for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina in Charlotte, North Carolina, and its mobile pantry program at a local elementary school near Perdues operation in Concord.
$10,000 investment in the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shores backpack program.
$10,000 to continue support for the Epoch Dream Center afterschool feeding program in Hebron, Maryland.
Since 2000, Perdue Farms has donated 92 million pounds of protein to Feeding America-affiliated food banks, the equivalent of 77 million meals. Perdue was one of the first meat companies to implement a formal program of ongoing donations of perishable protein products, creating a model for other companies to follow.
About the Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation
The Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue Foundation, the charitable giving arm of Perdue Farms, was established in 1957 by company founder Arthur W. Perdue and is funded through the estates of Arthur W. Perdue and Frank Perdue. As part of our belief in supporting the communities where and with whom we do business, the Foundation provides grants on behalf of Perdue Farms in communities where large numbers of our associates live and work. At Perdue Farms, we believe in responsible food and agriculture.
About Perdue Farms
Were a fourth-generation, family-owned, U.S. food and agriculture company. Through our belief in responsible food and agriculture, we are empowering consumers, customers, and farmers through trusted choices in products and services.
The premium protein portfolio within our Perdue Foods business, including our flagship PERDUE brand, Niman Ranch, Coleman Natural, and Yummy, as well as our pet brands, Spot Farms and Full Moon, is available through various channels including retail, foodservice, club stores and our direct-to-consumer website, PerdueFarms.com.
Perdue AgriBusiness is an international agricultural products and services company.
Now in our companys second century, our path forward is about getting better, not just bigger. We never use drugs for growth promotion in raising poultry and livestock, and we are actively advancing our animal welfare programs. Our brands are leaders in no-antibiotics-ever chicken, turkey, pork, beef, and lamb, and in USDA-certified organic chicken and beef. Learn more at Corporate.PerdueFarms.com.
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Bridgewater Township, NJ , Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Majesty Coffee sells commercial-grade espresso equipment, and coffee grinders. It has a wide range of household and commercial espresso machines and carries the industry's best brands. Some of which are Rocket, Elektra, Slayer, Quick Mill, La Pavoni, La Spaziale, and Nuova Simonelli. For any bistro or coffee shop, their espresso machine attracts customers. Regardless of how small or huge the coffee shop might be, having some regulars on the list would be great for a business. Coffee shop owners and customers often choose from these top professional espresso maker picks.
But there has been a new trend: it's not just cafes and restaurants fueling the demand anymore; the surge in coffee trucks has significantly contributed to the growing interest in our commercial-grade espresso equipment and wholesale beans.
Majesty Coffee
Choosing the right espresso machine can guarantee satisfied customers. Choosing the right machine according to the size of the cafe and the number of cups the machine would make in a day is important. There are different types of espresso machines available today. The most common are the automatic or volumetric, semiautomatic, automatic with manual dosing options, and pour-over and direct-connect espresso machines. Once customers understand the different types of machines and their features, they should consider their budget, the experience of the staff with coffee machines, their branding, the number of espressos that need to be made, and the machine certifications. Customers often choose from these top professional espresso maker picks for their coffee truck, coffee cart, or cafe:
1. Appia Life Compact
2. Victoria Arduino E1 Prima
3. La Spaziale S2 EK 2 Group
4. Nuova Simonelli Aurelia Wave Digit
5. Nuova Simonelli Prontobar Touch
6. Franke A1000 Flex
7. Eversys Cameo
8. Rocket Boxer 2 group
Choosing the perfect coffee machine for a business is not easy, unless the owner is an ardent coffee buff and knows everything about the machines. For those who need help selecting the perfect espresso maker for their shops, trucks, restaurants or carts, visit MajestyCoffee.com or call one of its espresso experts right away.
The Majesty Coffee website offers a wealth of information for coffee lovers and coffee shop owners. Whether setting up a new shop or upgrading your existing one with the latest coffee machines and espresso makers, this site has covered it with buying guides featuring all the latest brands currently ruling the industry. Aside from detailed specs and reviews, the site offers video guides for better understanding. For everything else, Majesty Coffee sells commercial-grade espresso equipment, and the site also features the latest machines for home and commercial use. Customers can also buy coffee beans in bulk and at wholesale prices. It sources all its premier beans from sustainable traders and supports fair trade to help farmers throughout Cameroon.
To learn more, visit https://majestycoffee.com/pages/best-commercial-espresso-machine-for-small-business.
About Majesty Coffee
Majesty Coffee was founded by Nunzio and Mike Ross. Their love for coffee started in their childhood when their father, Vincent, made French-pressed coffee daily using freshly ground beans of the finest quality. To recreate those memories every morning, these brothers started Majesty Coffee, featuring premier brands in coffee makers with solid warranties and easy repairs.
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Media Contact
Majesty Coffee
Address: 29 Chimney Rock Rd Bridgewater Township, NJ 08807
Phone: (888) 978-5224
Website: https://majestycoffee.com/
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Cleveland, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cleveland, Ohio -
Cleveland State University introduces online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs, empowering future social work leaders with diverse opportunities and competitive salaries. Join the movement for positive change today.
Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University (CSU) is pleased to announce the launch of two game-changing online Master of Social Work (MSW) programs in a world where pressing societal issues are present. Designed to empower individuals to become the next generation of social work leaders, these programs address vital community needs and offer promising career opportunities.
Social workers are the unsung heroes, bridging the gap between individuals and the resources they need. They drive change, advocate for the marginalized, and shape policies for a more equitable society. With CSU's online MSW programs, anyone can join this powerful movement.
Social work is a profession brimming with challenges, but it also offers a profoundly meaningful and rewarding journey. Many social workers begin their path with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and then progress to the advanced coursework and field placements of a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree. While some social work positions welcome BSW graduates, holding an MSW opens doors to roles with heightened autonomy, such as becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) or Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW).
Those looking for a career path might ask: Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) vs. Master of Social Work (MSW): What's the difference
Filling a Need in the Community. When a community is experiencing distress, it is the social workers who are the lifeline. They fight for the weak and help bring about real change in many areas of society. Their work speaks to those who, like them, are committed to empowering underrepresented groups and pushing for more equitable policies.
Taking Advantage of Career Opportunities The demand for social workers is increasing, particularly in underserved areas. According to the Council on Social Work Education's (CSWE) Annual Survey of Social Work Programs, which has been conducted since 1952, the field is expected to grow by an impressive 9% through 2031, outpacing the national average. Aside from the intrinsic rewards, social workers have a wide range of career options in healthcare, education, government, and the private sector.
As of May 2021, social workers earned an average annual salary of $50,390, with even higher earning potential in specialized roles. Licensed Clinical Social Workers reported a median annual salary of $78,300.
Social workers have the unique advantage of pursuing specialized careers tailored to their passions and expertise. Within the realm of social work, diverse paths unfold, including roles as mental health counselors, school social workers, community advocates, substance abuse specialists, champions for children and families, and healthcare professionals specializing in specific populations. Regardless of their chosen field, social workers leave an enduring impact through their dedicated work. Social workers have the chance to play crucial roles in both the public and private sectors in an era where there is a growing demand for mental health services, addressing the urgent need for additional mental health care providers.
Diverse Involvement: Social work is not a one-size-fits-all profession. Social workers work with children in schools, support families at home, help patients in hospitals, and empower communities through advocacy. Every journey is unique, and social workers provide individualized support, advocate for justice, and ensure equitable care for all.
The field of social work offers remarkable flexibility. CSU's online programs allow students to choose their path, whether it's a traditional office setting, on-call duties, or private practice. The options are endless, including contract and part-time opportunities that provide work-life balance.
Diving into the Growing Field of Social Work CSU's Traditional and Advanced Standing MSW programs are designed to prepare students for the evolving world of social work. With flexible, asynchronous coursework, expert faculty guidance, and 900 experiential learning hours in local communities.
Clinical Social Worker or Advanced Generalist Social Worker, with certificates available in Chemical Dependency, Gerontology, and School Social Work. These specializations and certificates are uniquely suited to meet the most urgent needs of today.
With an MSW curriculum that covers human behavior, diversity and inclusion, psychopathology, trauma, and more, each student will be prepared to step into their career as an LCSW or LISW.
Learn more about CSUs Traditional and Advanced Standing MSW programs today and become a change agent of tomorrow.
About Cleveland State University
Cleveland State University is a nationally recognized public research institution committed to providing a high-quality education to a diverse student population. Located in the heart of Cleveland, Ohio, CSU offers a wide range of academic programs and boasts a faculty of experienced professionals dedicated to student success. CSU's online MSW programs are designed to prepare future social work professionals for impactful careers.
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For more information about Cleveland State University, contact the company here:
Cleveland State University
Kristin Broka
k.broka@csuohio.edu
2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115
Seacliff, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seacliff, California -
Buy Moving Leads, a company in Aptos, CA, that specializes in providing the best moving leads to auto transport and moving companies, is set to introduce new offers for the upcoming slow season. After the back-to-school rush and as the temperatures start to cool down before the Christmas season, the housing market also cools down, and so does the moving industry, which is related to the real estate market. Nevertheless, while there may be less listings during the current season, the listings that become available on the market can be more profitable for local moving services, commercial movers, international movers, long distance movers, and auto transport companies.
Mark Jackson, CFO at Buy Moving Leads, says, If you are a mover who is tired of getting bad leads that never turn into revenue, buy moving leads from us and get live call transfers from the people interested in your services. Long distance moving calls and local call transfers are available. Well even do the heavy lifting and pre-screen the leads for you, so all you have to worry about is finalizing the deal. A live call transfer is when a prospective customer is connected to your business through our call center.
He adds, Heres a tip for the slow season - many moving companies will simply shut down because of their limited budget. But if you manage to remain open, you will have less competition and have customers who are eager to make the move.
A live call transfer is when prospective customer is connected to the moving company via the Buy Moving Leads call center. First, the customer calls the toll-free number of Buy Moving Leads and gets in contact with one of their friendly call center agents. Second, the call center agent asks several questions with the goal of determining their moving needs, such as their location, timeframe, and budget. Third, after qualifying the lead, Buy Moving Leads transfers the call to the moving company in real-time so that the moving firm can close the deal.
As a moving lead provider, they offer various kinds of leads that moving companies can choose from. These include: home moving leads, auto transport leads, container leads, international leads, and last-minute leads. Home moving leads are those interested in hiring a moving company for their upcoming change in address. Auto transport leads are those who are planning to ship their vehicle. Container leads are those who need to use a shipping container for their move. International leads are people planning to move to another country. Lastly, last-minute leads are those who have to move on short notice.
Mark Jackson says, Our customer local and long distance leads are verified and approved by our own filtering and follow-through process. We promise to deliver you quality customers to make the most of your time. Other lead companies will offer discounted rates for customer leads with at a much lower level of quality. Our local and long distance leads are verified and solid, thats what makes us the leader in providing this product. Some even call us pinnacle of best moving leads providers.
Buy Moving Leads wants to point out that they provide the fastest and simplest way for companies to find quality moving leads. They employ several innovative technologies and strategies that make them stand out from other lead companies. These include: customized lead generation, provision of free estimates at competitive prices to keep the moving companies profitable, and intelligent marketing.
Buy Moving Leads was established to provide assistance to auto transport and moving companies in growing their businesses by providing quality leads to help them look for new customers. Mark and Amanda Jackson, the husband and wife team who created Buy Moving Leads, has several years of experience in the transportation industry and fully understand how hard it is to find quality new leads for a moving business. They are always looking for a way for moving companies to succeed in finding new leads with much less effort. Mark Jackson is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Buy Moving Leads and he has a degree in accounting and finance, which gives him to vital insights on how to help clients optimize their leads buying process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE50e06Wp8M
Those who would like to know more about getting new leads for their moving company can visit the Buy Moving Leads website at https://buymovingleads.co/ or contact them through the telephone or by email.
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For more information about Buy Moving Leads, contact the company here:
Buy Moving Leads
Mark Jackson
(877) 794-3044
info@buymovingleads.co
Buy Moving Leads
Aptos, CA 95003
Covina, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Overview of the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market:
An Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) is a software platform that provides organizations with a comprehensive set of tools to manage and optimize their real estate portfolio, facilities, and workplace operations efficiently. IWMS solutions are designed to streamline the management of physical spaces, assets, resources, and associated processes to improve productivity, reduce costs, enhance sustainability, and support strategic decision-making.
Organizations are increasingly recognizing the importance of optimizing their real estate portfolios, workplace resources, and facilities to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance productivity. The need for effective workplace management is driving the adoption of Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market .
Market Dynamics:
The market dynamics of the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) market are influenced by several key factors and trends:
Digital Transformation and Smart Workplaces: The ongoing digital transformation across industries is driving the adoption of IWMS solutions as organizations seek to create more efficient, data-driven, and smart workplaces. IWMS enables the integration of data from various sources to optimize facility management and enhance employee productivity. Remote Work and Hybrid Work Models: The rise of remote work and hybrid work models has amplified the importance of IWMS in managing flexible workspaces, ensuring workplace safety, and optimizing resource allocation for both in-office and remote employees. Sustainability and Environmental Compliance: Increasing emphasis on sustainability and environmental compliance is leading organizations to use IWMS for tracking and reducing energy consumption, carbon footprint, and resource waste, aligning with sustainability goals and regulations.
Get Access to Free Sample Research Report with Latest Industry Insights:
https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-sample/4425
Recent Key Highlights of Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market:
In June 2023, integrated workplace management system (IWMS) vendor FM: Systems announced it had acquired WizzPass, a visitor and workplace management solution vendor. WizzPass is an enterprise visitor management software provider with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. It offers visitor parking, self-check-in, badge distribution, analytics, and access control system integration.
Top Players in the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market:
Oracle Corporation
IBM Corporation
Accruent, LLC
Archibus, Inc.
AssetWorks, LLC
Facilio, Inc.
FASEAS NV (Spacewell)
Indus Systems, Inc.
Ioffice Corporation
SAP SE
To Know an Additional List of Key Players, Request Here to Download a Free Report PDF Brochure:
https://www.prophecymarketinsights.com/market_insight/Insight/request-pdf/4425
Top Trends in the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market:
Here are the top trends in the Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) market in bullet points:
Cloud Adoption: Increasing use of cloud-based IWMS solutions for scalability, cost-efficiency, and remote access. IoT Integration: Integration of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors for real-time workplace data collection and analysis. Data Analytics and AI: Utilization of data analytics and artificial intelligence to gain insights for optimized workplace management. Hybrid Work Support: Adaptation of IWMS to accommodate hybrid work models and flexible office arrangements.
Analyst View
The adoption of cloud-based IWMS solutions is growing due to their scalability, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. Cloud deployments reduce the need for on-premises infrastructure and provide flexibility for remote work scenarios. As organizations look for ways to gain a competitive edge, IWMS solutions offer the potential to optimize operations, attract talent, and enhance the overall employee experience. Top Report Findings:
Market Size: The Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) Market accounted for US$ 4.4 billion in 2022 and is estimated to be US$ 16.2 billion by 2032 and is anticipated to register a CAGR of 13.9%
Segmentation: The market is segmented based on Offerings, Deployment Type, Organization Size, Application, and Others.
Challenges:
The Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) market faces several challenges that impact its adoption and growth:
Complex Implementation: Implementing IWMS can be a complex and time-consuming process, involving integration with existing systems and data migration, which may deter some organizations. Cost of Implementation: The upfront costs of implementing IWMS, including software licenses, hardware, and consulting services, can be substantial, making it a barrier for smaller organizations.
Market Opportunities:
The Integrated Workplace Management System (IWMS) market presents several significant opportunities for growth and development:
Hybrid Work Environments: The shift towards hybrid work models, combining remote and in-office work, creates opportunities for IWMS to offer solutions that support flexible workplace management, desk booking, and resource allocation for both on-site and remote employees. Sustainability Focus: The increasing emphasis on sustainability and environmental management presents opportunities for IWMS solutions to help organizations track and reduce their carbon footprint, manage energy consumption, and achieve sustainability goals.
Key Questions Answered in the Report:
What is the current size of the IWMS market, and what is its projected growth rate over the forecast period? How is the IWMS market segmented by type (e.g., real estate management, facility management, space management), deployment (cloud-based, on-premises), and industry vertical (e.g., healthcare, retail, manufacturing)? Who are the leading players in the IWMS market, and what are their market shares? What are their competitive strategies and key differentiators? What are the prevailing trends in the IWMS market, such as IoT integration, sustainability solutions, or AI-driven features? What are the primary factors driving organizations to adopt IWMS solutions? What challenges do they face in implementation and user adoption?
Browse More Reports from Prophecy Market Insights:
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Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rule 8.4(g) of Pennsylvanias Rules of Professional Conduct for attorneys establishes an unconstitutional speech code for lawyers, exposing them to disciplineincluding sanctions that threaten their livelihoodsif they knowingly communicate in a manner constituting harassment or discrimination in the practice of law. Today, the New Civil Liberties Alliance filed an amicus curiae brief in Greenberg v. Lehocky, calling on the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to topple this Rule.
Rule 8.4(g) prohibits speech that expresses disparaging views of another person based on any of 11 listed characteristics but permits laudatory comments on the same subjects. Zachary Greenberg filed suit shortly before the Rule was scheduled to take effect in December 2020, alleging it violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments by imposing content- and viewpoint-based speech restrictions, and was void for vagueness. A district court preliminarily enjoined its enforcement. In March 2022, the district court granted summary judgment and permanently enjoined a revised Rule, holding that Greenberg had demonstrated his speech was being chilled.
In district court, the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania denied engaging in content- and viewpoint-based discrimination. However, the Board switched strategies before a Third Circuit panel, arguing that the Rule is not subject to normal First Amendment constraints when restricting attorney speech, claiming, First Amendment Rules against viewpoint and content discrimination do not apply when the government regulates the practice of law. However, speech restrictions on lawyers can still violate the First Amendment.
The Third Circuit panel reversed the district court, ruling that Mr. Greenberg lacked standing to challenge the Rule. The Board averred that it would not prosecute Mr. Greenberg for what he planned to say, but it never specified what he could not say that would violate the Rule. NCLAs brief urges the Third Circuit to find standing and grant a rehearing en banc, because the Rules broad definition of harassment will inevitably chill attorney speech, including speech on behalf of ones clients. Attorneys will be less likely to speak out on topics related to the 11 protected categories if they know that doing so could jeopardize their law licenses and careers.
Representing two Connecticut-based attorneys, NCLA recently presented oral argument at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a First Amendment challenge to a similar Connecticut ethics rule.
NCLA released the following statement:
The panel held that attorneys may not raise a First Amendment challenge to Rule 8.4(g) until after they have been charged with violating the Rule. That holding places attorneys in an untenable position. It forces them to relinquish their First Amendment rights by self-censoring their speech based on a fear that they will face disciplinary proceedings if they speak freely.
Rich Samp, Senior Litigation Counsel, NCLA
For more information visit the amicus page here.
ABOUT NCLA
NCLA is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights group founded by prominent legal scholar Philip Hamburger to protect constitutional freedoms from violations by the Administrative State. NCLAs public-interest litigation and other pro bono advocacy strive to tame the unlawful power of state and federal agencies and to foster a new civil liberties movement that will help restore Americans fundamental rights.
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Purcellville, VA, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Purcellville, VAHome School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the largest homeschool advocacy group in the United States, continues to defend Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their seven children as they seek the freedom to homeschool their children in the United Statesa freedom that is severely curtailed in their native land of Germany.
On Sept. 6, 2023, the Romeikes were told during a routine check-in at their local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office that they had four weeks to secure passports and return to Germany. The news came without warning, and with no apparent cause or explanation.
The Romeike family should be able to stay in the United States and home educate their children, said HSLDA president Jim Mason. America is a land of freedom and opportunity, and there are few freedoms or opportunities more important than the ability of parents to safely direct the education of their own children, without fear of punishment or persecution.
The Romeike family decided in 2006 to home educate their children in Germany based on two core beliefs: a deep conviction that they were responsible to God for their childrens education, and a growing concern that the content of the German public schools curriculumparticularly anti-Christian and sexual elementsthreatened to harm their children. After enduring years of harassment, fines that exceeded their family income, and the forced removal of their children from their home, the family fled Germany.
In August of 2008, HSLDA assisted the Romeikes in securing visas to enter the United States, where they applied for asylum. The Department of Homeland Security granted the Romeikes asylum, but immigration officials overturned the decision. After five years of legal battles, the Obama administration granted the Romeikes indefinite deferred action status in 2013.
Over the last 10 years, the Romeikes have had to regularly report to their local ICE office in Tennessee, but have otherwise been allowed to live, work, and homeschool their children in peace. We are stunned to hear that the Romeikes have been ordered to return to Germany, and are actively working to secure their continued, lawful future here in the United States.
You can sign a petition in support of the Romeike family here: hslda.org/HelptheRomeikes2023
See our website for more details: hslda.org/romeike
About HSLDA
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is Americas largest and oldest homeschool advocacy organization. Founded in 1983 with the mission to make homeschooling possible for all families, the organization has helped empower millions of homeschooling parents and students. As a membership organization for families homeschooling their children, HSLDA provides a myriad of resources, from legal advice to educational consultants, to support member families through every step of their homeschool journey. Learn more about HSLDA at https://hslda.org/
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NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday, the State of Poland Foundation , Tree Time Foundation and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland held a ceremony and reception at The Carlyle Hotel to commemorate the nations unity with the United States, represented through a Jabonki project of planting over 300 flowering apple trees throughout New York City. During the vibrant ceremony, 17 of these trees were named, honoring the many Polish and American figures who have historically impacted the nations relationship.
Wodzimierz Dola, President of the State of Poland Foundation, kicked-off the event, welcoming over 100 guests with an introduction to the organization and the tree-planting project in New York. Beata Daszynska-Muzyczka, President of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) stepped in to introduce Jabonki, the art of celebrating apples. She shared how the tree planting project symbolizes the mutual heritage and friendship between Poland and the United States and a background on the BGKs role in CSR activities.
Adrian Kubicki, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, greeted the guests by sharing a few words about the honored figures important to Polish-American history and why Jabonki is essential to recognizing these individuals and bringing our two nations closer together. Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum and son of Richard Pipes, also paid homage to his parents by sharing a story of when his father served as a member of the National Security Council and led Eastern European and Soviet Affairs under Ronald Reagan.
Danuta Nierada, Creative & Strategic Director at the State of Poland Foundation, concluded the event presenting the plaques to the honorees, prior to their display on the trees.
Were honored to be able to fulfill this project in one of the most diverse cities in the world, said Dola. This touch of Poland throughout the city represents our gratitude for the friendship between our two nations and expresses an utmost thank you to our ongoing historical ties.
Among those honored with trees planted in their name include Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko; celebrated veteran turned filmmaker Merian C. Cooper; Polish nobleman, soldier and military commander Kazimierz Puaski; American documentarian Julien Bryan; soldier and Silver Star recipient Michael H. Ollis; and the famous Polish transatlantic liner nicknamed Lucky Ship. Notable guests included actors Patrick Wilson, Scott Foley and Marika Dominczyk.
The ceremony was followed by a celebratory party, where attendees were served apple-infused Polish beverages and snacks while surrounded by the soft music of Polish Jazz Trio, The Rotker-Lynn.
The event embodied a traditional Jabonki celebration, an annual festival dedicated to honoring the magnificent apple trees that stretch across Polands landscape. Often referred to as the Orchard of Europe, Polands orchards account for approximately 30% of the total orchard area in the entire European Union, despite the country itself comprising only 7% of it. The expanse of Polish orchards saw a remarkable 11% growth, its fastest rate, between 2012 and 2017. In Poland, the Jabonki festivities extend from May through late autumn, beginning when the apple trees begin to blossom and concluding with the harvest season.
ABOUT THE STATE OF POLAND FOUNDATION
The State of Poland Foundation was established at the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (Polish development bank) initiative in 2019. The main objective is to promote a positive image of Poland as a modern, innovative, and hospitable country rich in tradition, culture, and universal values.
The Foundation aims to showcase Poland as a friendly and attractive place to live while highlighting its achievements in unique products, innovations, technologies, social thought, culture, art, history, and tradition nationally and internationally. Additionally, the Foundation strives to build a solid support base for Polish commercial, developmental, manufacturing, and tourism units through modern and traditional methods of image communication.
ABOUT TREE TIME
Tree Time , a program of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the City Parks Foundation, was established in 1994 to protect, preserve, and enhance New York City's street, park and forest trees. The goals of Tree Time are to foster public-private partnerships in urban forestry, raise public awareness of the importance of urban forestry conservation and stewardship, promote new technologies to enhance tree survival and advance innovative management tools, and revitalize historically and arboreally significant municipal trees.
Media Contact:
MMGY NJF
stateofpoland@njfpr.com
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
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Flagstaffs most iconic park is now more accessible.
The City of Flagstaff put the final touches on a slew of Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to Buffalo Park last week.
Among the improvements was new surfacing of the majority of the 2-mile Nate Avery loop with a gravel that is significantly easier to travel on for those with a disability or wheelchair users.
Rachael Simukonda has served on the citys commission on Inclusion and Adaptive Living for over two years and said the improvements are a game changer for residents like her who use a wheelchair.
The gravel that previously made up the path was much larger chunks of aggregate. That could make navigating the path very difficult for someone in a wheelchair, or who had difficulty walking.
The larger gravel chunks could be a challenge to roll a wheel over and it was not uncommon to have loose sections of gravel in which a wheel could sink in be it the wheel on a mobility device or even a bicycle.
Its so much easier now than trying to get around then, Simukonda said. I personally will be going up there on the full 2-mile trail twice a week now. I couldnt get up there before in my wheelchair.
Simukonda said the improvements the city has made to Buffalo Park, in addition to the completion of the more accessible entrance to the downtown library, represent some important steps in creating a more welcoming and accessible environment within the City of Flagstaff.
The improvements to Buffalo Park come after years of work and effort on the part of both city staff and disability advocates, said City Parks and Recreation Director Amy Hagin.
City Multi-Model Transportation Planner Martin Ince said the efforts began in earnest just before the pandemic.
A couple of years ago the citys commission on inclusion and adaptive living did an audit of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System and said some people use wheelchairs. And they gave a handful of recommendations to the city, including some specific ones for Buffalo Park. Thats really how the idea started, Ince said. Buffalo Park was important to them because its so iconic, just wanting to make Buffalo Park more accessible to the community.
Most of the work was completed by parks department staff, and Hagin said that was no easy task when the department is still significantly understaffed.
We did use a contractor for the concrete portion. But the fact that park staff did all this while being down 40% staff and with this past winter, which literally kicked our ass. [That we were able to get this done,] were like, This is awesome, Hagin said.
Hagin said the department finding a way to get the project done is a testament to the hard work of Parks Supervisor Lynold Herder.
The project was paid for in part with a $100,000 grant from Arizona State Parks & Trails, along with about $134,000 from the City of Flagstaff.
Only one section of the trail still uses the older gravel type, the section just to the west of the entrance that winds down a steep hill before reconnecting to the rest of the loop, according to Hagin. Even so, the newly improved path still creates a full loop within the park.
We basically graded down a couple inches, put the new mix down, rolled it and compacted it, Hagin said. Its pretty awesome.
And Ince said while the new material was placed to make the path better for residents with disabilities, it really improves the experience for all.
For any version of small wheels, like people who use a walker or push a baby strollers, its much better, Ince said.
The new path comes alongside several other improvements designed to increase accessibility that have been added in the past year.
Four ADA compliant parking spaces now sit just outside the parks entrance. And a concrete paved path now connects those parking spots to the set of bathrooms that was completed in 2020, and to the newly improved gravel path.
The activity stations along the trail have also seen work. The city purchased six new activity stations, accessible to all, which were installed around the trail in January, Hagin said.
She added that the city hopes to replace all 18 activity stations at some point. The challenge to replacing every station currently is simply finding enough different stations that a company produces.
As more get developed, its something we can keep an eye out for, Hagin said. But the cool thing is they can be used by anyone.
And in the meantime, she said, the city has worked to make the older activity stations somewhat more accessible. Every activity station had been completely surrounded by railroad ties, which acted as a border for each station.
But theres no way you could wheel up to that, Hagin said.
Parks staff have now removed the front most railroad tie, making all the stations more accessible to someone in a wheelchair, or to someone who simply may have had a hard time stepping over the obstacle.
Both Hagin and Ince said they hope to replace the entirety of the urban trail system eventually with the new more accessible gravel material. Hagin said at the moment, they are replacing the old gravel with the new material as individual areas need to be repaired.
Where weve had to repair washouts, like at the duck pond, we put this down now. So where we have large repairs to make, it gets reconstructed with this. And then any new trail segments are built with this or concrete, Hagin said.
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The popular travel app Visited by Arriving In High Heels Corporation has published a list of the top 10 most popular hiking trails around the world. The list is based on 1.8 million international users, who have an affinity for going by foot.
The travel app, Visited allows users to map their travels, plan for future trips and discover new destinations in a unique way. By swiping photos, checking off popular places by category and identifying experiences users wish to do provides travellers with the full travel plan which is ranked by countries they wish to visit.
Popular lists include most visited cruise ports, popular art museums, palaces and beer destinations to name a few.
The top 10 popular hiking trails include:
Grand Canyon, USA Great Wall of China, China Cinque Terra, Italy Inca Trail, Peru Trek to Petra, Jordan Appalachian Trail, USA Camino De Santiago, Spain The Narrows, USA Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica
What was interesting with the list was a variety of different hikes were included from natural trails of Grand Canyon to ancient sites of the Inca Trail to Camino De Santiago often embarked on for religious purposes. The top 10 list also included most spots around the world, with the except of Australia and New Zealand while being one of the most wished for countries to visit, are visited less due to its remote location. Said Anna Kayfitz, CEO of Arriving In High Heels Corporation.
To browse more rankings of the top travel international destinations, users can download Visited on iOS or Android.
About Visited App
A travel app designed for avid travellers that want to map their past journeys and plan for future travels. Includes travel lists where users can check off popular destinations by categories. The app allows users to see how many places they still want to visit by country, taking out the guess work of where to next.
To learn more about the Visited app, visit https://visitedapp.com.
About Arriving In High Heels Corporation
Arriving In High Heels Corporation is a mobile app company with apps including Pay Off Debt, Xwalk and Visited, their most popular app.
Contact Information
Anna Kayfitz
anna@arrivinginhighheels.com
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wesdome Gold Mines Ltd. (TSX: WDO) (Wesdome or the Company) today announces the 2023 surface exploration drilling results from the Presquile Zone located 1.3 km north-west of the Companys 100% owned Kiena Mine Complex in Val d'Or, Quebec.
Recent drilling at Presquile is part of an ongoing exploration program focussing on near surface gold potential along strike from Kiena that remains under explored. Drilling results from the Shawkey and Dubuisson Zones, located further to the east along strike, were released earlier this year (see May 23, 2023 release, Wesdome Drilling Southeast of Kiena Mine Identifies Potential Bulk Tonnage Underground Target; Returning 2.3 g/t Gold Over 72 m Core Length). Ongoing drilling highlights the potential of this area to add to the existing resource base proximal to mine infrastructure and remains a priority for the Company (Figure 1).
Highlights of recent in-fill drilling are listed below and are summarized in Table 1. Assay results for nine (9) of thirty-two (32) diamond drill holes planned are pending.
Hole PR-23-070: 32.5 g/t over 3.0 m core length (30.0 g/t Au capped * , 2.9 true width) PR-2A Zone.
, 2.9 true width) PR-2A Zone. Hole PR-23-084 : 14.0 g/t Au over 5.3 m core length (14.0 g/t Au capped*, 4.0 m true width) PR-2 Zone.
Hole PR-23-058A : 9.31 g/t Au over 4.6 m core length (9.31 g/t Au capped*, 4.3 m true width) PR-2 Zone.
* All assays capped at 90 g/t. Au. True widths are estimated based on 3D model construction.
Ms. Anthea Bath, President and CEO commented, We are pleased with the recent surface drill results that confirm continuity of mineralization at Presquile. The Presquile Zone is just one of several zones having the potential to offer a supplementary source of mill feed near-surface or in the upper mine area for the underutilized Kiena mill. Recent drilling results from the Shawkey and Dubuisson Zones, both adjacent to the existing 33-level track drift development that extends over three kilometres east of the Kiena mine shaft, further reinforces the potential of this area. As our exploration continues and the refinement of the geologic model increases, we are confident we will identify more zones of gold mineralization accessible from 33 level, as well as additional down plunge extensions similar to the Kiena Deep Zone.
Recent drilling supports the decision to proceed with the exploration ramp from surface later this year to further assess the continuity of the mineralization and test the down plunge extension of the deposit. The excavation of the ramp is expected to proceed in Q4 2023 once required permits are secured. This ramp can also be integrated with Kiena's existing underground ramp network, providing additional access to surface for ongoing operations and future mining of deposits such as Dubuisson from 33 level further to the east.
Since 2020, drilling at Presquile has identified five gold-rich zones crosscutting mafic rocks (Zones PR-1, 2 and 2A) and ultramafic rocks (Zones PR-3 and 4). PR-1 and PR-2A are parallel to each other trending east-west and dipping north, while PR-2 strikes southeast-northwest and crosscut the east-west zones. Gold mineralization is associated with traces to 5% disseminated sulphides (pyrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena) and local gold grains occurring in quartz-chlorite-carbonate or quartz (grey) vein contacts as well as in moderately to strongly chloritized and biotitized host rocks.
The 2023 surface drilling program, which is expected to be completed by the end of September, was designed to increase the size and confidence in the mineral resources for Zones PR-1, 2 and 2A (Figure 2). The 2023 drilling program confirmed not only the continuity of the gold mineralization at Presquile and the validity of the geologic model, but also the potential for down plunge extensions toward east of Zones PR-2 and PR-2A. Both zones are interpreted as excellent target for a follow up drilling program from surface or from underground with development of an exploration ramp.
Presquile has a mineral resource estimation of 138,000 tonnes grading 8.2 g/t Au totalling 37,000 oz as Indicated Mineral Resources and Inferred Mineral Resource of 202,000 tonnes grading 7.4 g/t and totalling 48,000 oz of gold from the three lenses (PR-1, PR-2, and PR-2A Zones) as of December 31, 2022.
TECHNICAL DISCLOSURE
The technical and geoscientific content of this release has been compiled and reviewed by Denys Vermette, P. Geo., (OGQ #564) Exploration Manager of the Company, and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 -Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
Sample preparation and analytical work was performed by ALS Minerals of Winnipeg (Manitoba), a certified commercial laboratory (Accredited Lab #689). Assaying comprised fire assay methods with an atomic absorption finish. Any sample assaying >3 g/t Au was rerun by fire assay method with gravimetric finish, and any sample assaying >10 g/t Au was rerun with the metallic sieve method. In addition to laboratory internal duplicates, standards, and blanks, the geology department inserts blind duplicates, standards, and blanks into the sample stream at a frequency of one in twenty to monitor quality control.
ABOUT WESDOME
Wesdome is a Canadian focused gold producer with two high grade underground assets, the Eagle River mine in Ontario and the recently commissioned Kiena mine in Quebec. The Companys primary goal is to responsibly leverage this operating platform and high-quality brownfield and greenfield exploration pipeline to build Canadas next intermediate gold producer. Wesdome trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol WDO, with a secondary listing on the OTCQX under the symbol WDOFF.
For further information, please contact:
Lindsay Carpenter Dunlop
VP Investor Relations
416-360-3743 ext. 2025
lindsay.dunlop@wesdome.com
220 Bay St, Suite 1200
Toronto, ON, M5J 2W4
Toll Free: 1-866-4-WDO-TSX
Phone: 416-360-3743, Fax: 416-360-7620
Website: www.wesdome.com
This news release contains forward-looking information which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performance of the Company and its projects. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this press release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances, managements estimates or opinions should change, except as required by securities legislation. Accordingly, the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company has included in this news release certain non-IFRS performance measures, including, but not limited to, mine operating profit, mining and processing costs and cash costs. Cash costs per ounce reflect actual mine operating costs incurred during the fiscal period divided by the number of ounces produced. These measures are not defined under IFRS and therefore should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to or more meaningful than, net income (loss) or cash flow from operating activities as determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of our financial performance or liquidity. The Company believes that, in addition to conventional measures prepared in accordance with IFRS, certain investors use this information to evaluate the Company's performance and ability to generate cash flow
Table 1: Kiena Complex Surface Drilling Assay and Composite Results
Composites
Hole ID Zone From (m) To (m) Core length
(m) Estimated
true width (m) Au (g/t
FINAL) Au (g/t FINAL
(cut 90)) PR-23-058A PR_2A 362.5 366.0 3.5 3.3 3.85 3.85 PR-23-058A PR_2 392.0 396.6 4.6 4.3 9.31 9.31 PR-23-059 PR_2 363.0 366.0 3.0 2.9 3.32 3.32 PR-23-061 PR_2A 354.4 357.4 3.0 2.8 5.02 5.02 PR-23-069 PR_2 235.0 238.0 3.0 2.8 9.41 9.41 PR-23-070 PR_2A 207.5 210.5 3.0 2.9 32.51 30.01 PR-23-070 PR_2 216.0 219.0 3.0 2.9 15.62 15.62 PR-23-072 PR_2A 206.0 209.0 3.0 2.9 4.88 4.88 PR-23-073 PR_2A 230.7 233.7 3.0 2.5 9.06 9.06 PR-23-074 PR_2 259.4 266.0 6.6 5.2 3.94 3.94 PR-23-075A PR_2A 195.7 199.7 4.0 3.2 6.97 6.97 PR-23-076 PR_2A 159.6 163.6 4.0 3.7 14.94 14.94 PR-23-076 PR_2 192.9 195.9 3.0 2.8 3.69 3.69 PR-23-077 PR_2 174.0 180.4 6.4 6.0 6.12 6.12 PR-23-079 PR_2 168.2 172.0 3.8 3.4 2.92 2.92 PR-23-081 PR_2A 153.0 157.0 4.0 3.2 7.12 7.12 PR-23-082 PR_2A 134.2 137.2 3.0 2.8 8.12 8.12 PR-23-084 PR_2 164.6 169.9 5.3 4.0 13.96 13.96
Mineralized zones were expanded to a miniumum 2.8 metre true width maintaining a grade over 2.8 g/t
Assays
Hole ID Zone From
(m) To (m) Sample number Core
length Au (g/t FINAL) Au (g/t) FINAL
(cut 90) PR-23-058A PR_2A
362.5 363.5 E769531 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-058A 363.5 365.0 E769532 1.5 0.18 0.18 PR-23-058A 365.0 366.0 E769533 1.0 13.2 13.2 PR-23-058A PR_2
392.0 393.0 E769536 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-058A 393.0 394.0 E769537 1.0 42.3 42.3 PR-23-058A 394.0 395.3 E769538 1.3 0.15 0.15 PR-23-058A 395.3 396.6 E769539 1.3 0.25 0.25 PR-23-059 PR_2
363.0 364.5 E762761 1.5 0.01 0.01 PR-23-059 364.5 366.0 E762762 1.5 6.63 6.63 PR-23-061 PR_2A
354.4 355.4 E769691 1.0 14.15 14.15 PR-23-061 355.4 356.4 E769692 1.0 0.06 0.06 PR-23-061 356.4 357.4 E769694 1.0 0.84 0.84 PR-23-069 PR_2
235.0 236.0 E769521 1.0 22.8 22.8 PR-23-069 236.0 237.0 E769522 1.0 0.05 0.05 PR-23-069 237.0 238.0 E769523 1.0 5.39 5.39 PR-23-070 PR_2A
207.5 208.5 E769525 1.0 0.01 0.01 PR-23-070 208.5 209.5 E769526 1.0 97.5 90,00 PR-23-070 209.5 210.5 E769527 1.0 0.01 0.01 PR-23-070 PR_2
216.0 217.0 E762564 1.0 14.8 14.8 PR-23-070 217.0 217.8 E762565 0.8 18.25 18.25 PR-23-070 217.8 219.0 E762566 1.2 14.55 14.55 PR-23-072 PR_2A
206.0 207.0 E769614 1.0 14.4 14.4 PR-23-072 207.0 208.0 E769616 1.0 0.21 0.21 PR-23-072 208.0 209.0 E769617 1.0 0.03 0.03 PR-23-073 PR_2A
230.7 231.7 E769563 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-073 231.7 232.7 E769564 1.0 27.1 27.1 PR-23-073 232.7 233.7 E769565 1.0 0.05 0.05 PR-23-074 PR_2
259.4 260.4 E769645 1.0 8.79 8.79 PR-23-074 260.4 261.4 E769646 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-074 261.4 262.4 E769647 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-074 262.4 263.4 E769648 1.0 0,00 0,00 PR-23-074 263.4 264.0 E769650 0.6 0,00 0,00 PR-23-074 264.0 265.0 E769651 1.0 16.2 16.2 PR-23-074 265.0 266.0 E769652 1.0 0.95 0.95 PR-23-075A PR_2A
195.7 196.7 E769541 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-075A 196.7 197.7 E769542 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-075A 197.7 198.7 E769543 1.0 27.8 27.8 PR-23-075A 198.7 199.7 E769545 1.0 0.03 0.03 PR-23-076 PR_2A
159.6 160.6 E769547 1.0 0.05 0.05 PR-23-076 160.6 161.6 E769548 1.0 0.04 0.04 PR-23-076 161.6 162.6 E769549 1.0 59.4 59.4 PR-23-076 162.6 163.6 E769551 1.0 0.06 0.06 PR-23-076 PR_2
192.9 193.9 E769559 1.0 1.23 1.23 PR-23-076 193.9 194.9 E769560 1.0 9.39 9.39 PR-23-076 194.9 195.9 E769561 1.0 0.46 0.46 PR-23-077 PR_2
174.0 174.8 E769582 0.8 4.73 4.73 PR-23-077 174.8 175.6 E769583 0.8 39.9 39.9 PR-23-077 175.6 176.6 E769585 1.0 0.06 0.06 PR-23-077 176.6 177.6 E769586 1.0 0.77 0.77 PR-23-077 177.6 178.5 E769587 0.9 0.08 0.08 PR-23-077 178.5 179.4 E769588 0.9 0.9 0.9 PR-23-077 179.4 180.4 E769589 1.0 1.74 1.74 PR-23-079 PR_2
168.2 169.2 E769607 1.0 0.01 0.01 PR-23-079 169.2 170.2 E769608 1.0 3.92 3.92 PR-23-079 170.2 171.0 E769609 0.8 8.96 8.96 PR-23-079 171.0 172.0 E769610 1.0 0.01 0.01 PR-23-081 PR_2A
153.0 154.0 E769664 1.0 0.11 0.11 PR-23-081 154.0 155.0 E769665 1.0 0.02 0.02 PR-23-081 155.0 156.0 E769666 1.0 0.25 0.25 PR-23-081 156.0 157.0 E769668 1.0 28.1 28.1 PR-23-082 PR_2A
134.2 135.2 E769659 1.0 0.14 0.14 PR-23-082 135.2 136.2 E769660 1.0 0.53 0.53 PR-23-082 136.2 137.2 E769661 1.0 23.7 23.7 PR-23-084 PR_2
164.6 165.7 E769683 1.1 59.3 59.3 PR-23-084 165.7 166.7 E769684 1.0 5.26 5.26 PR-23-084 166.7 167.7 E769685 1.0 0.21 0.21 PR-23-084 167.7 168.7 E769686 1.0 0.07 0.07 PR-23-084 168.7 169.9 E769687 1.2 2.66 2.66
Figures accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ae6f6268-465f-47b3-b594-065d85b93f76
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/42e269a3-2407-4c4b-a608-b8d47c942ba5
PDF available: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/e9849d9b-c083-4aa3-887d-462f7acdbe75
Vancouver, September 18, 2023 - Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX: PTM) (NYSE American: PLG) ("Platinum Group" or the "Company") reports the closing on September 18, 2023 of a non-brokered private placement of common shares at a price of US$1.18 per common share as previously announced on September 8, 2023. An aggregate of 2,118,645 common shares were subscribed for and issued to existing major beneficial shareholder, Hosken Consolidated Investments Limited ("HCI") through its subsidiary Deepkloof Limited, resulting in gross proceeds to the Company of US$2,500,001.10 (the "Private Placement"). Closing of the Private Placement allows HCI to return to a near 27% interest in the Company.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds of the Private Placement for its share of pre-development costs on the Waterberg Project in South Africa, and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
Securities purchased pursuant to the Private Placement may not be traded for a period of four months plus one day from the closing of the Private Placement. The securities described herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "Act"), as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of such Act.
HCI is a "related party" of the Company (as defined by Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Securityholders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101")) and the Company intends to rely on the exemptions from both the formal valuation requirement and the minority shareholder approval requirement under sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a), respectively, of MI 61-101, on the basis that neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the consideration for, the transaction, insofar as it involves HCI, exceeds 25 per cent of the Company's market capitalization calculated in accordance with MI 61-101. The Company did not file a material change report more than 21 days before the expected closing date of the above transaction as it has negotiated the above transaction on an expedited basis.
About Platinum Group Metals Ltd. and Waterberg Project
Platinum Group Metals Ltd. is the operator and majority owner of the Waterberg Project, a bulk underground palladium and platinum deposit located in South Africa. The Waterberg Project was discovered by Platinum Group and is being jointly developed with Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd., Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security and Hanwa Co. Ltd.
On behalf of the Board of
Platinum Group Metals Ltd.
Frank R. Hallam
President and CEO
For further information contact:
Kris Begic, VP, Corporate Development
Platinum Group Metals Ltd., Vancouver
Tel: (604) 899-5450 / Toll Free: (866) 899-5450
www.platinumgroupmetals.net
Disclosure
The TSX and the NYSE American have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this news release, which has been prepared by management.
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws and forward-looking statements within the meaning of U.S. securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, plans, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. All statements that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the use of proceeds of the Private Placement, and the advancement of the Company's objectives for the Waterberg Project. Although the Company believes any forward-looking statements in this press release are reasonable, it can give no assurance that the expectations and assumptions in such statements will prove to be correct.
The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the potential inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and satisfy other applicable closing conditions including possible adverse impacts; the Company's history of losses and negative cash flow; the Company's properties may not be brought into a state of commercial production; uncertainty of estimated production, development plans and cost estimates for the Waterberg Project; discrepancies between actual and estimated mineral reserves and mineral resources, between actual and estimated development and operating costs, between actual and estimated metallurgical recoveries and between estimated and actual production; fluctuations in the relative values of the U.S. Dollar, the Rand and the Canadian Dollar; volatility in metals prices; the uncertainty of alternative funding sources for Waterberg JV Resources (Pty) Ltd. ("Waterberg JV Co."); the Company may become subject to the U.S. Investment Company Act; the failure of the Company or the other shareholders to fund their pro rata share of funding obligations for the Waterberg Project; any disputes or disagreements with the other shareholders of Waterberg JV Co. or Mnombo Wethu Consultants (Pty) Ltd.; the ability of the Company to retain its key management employees and skilled and experienced personnel; conflicts of interest; litigation or other administrative proceedings brought against the Company; actual or alleged breaches of governance processes or instances of fraud, bribery or corruption; exploration, development and mining risks and the inherently dangerous nature of the mining industry, and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain insurance to cover these risks and other risks and uncertainties; property and mineral title risks including defective title to mineral claims or property; changes in national and local government legislation, taxation, controls, regulations and political or economic developments in Canada and South Africa; equipment shortages and the ability of the Company to acquire necessary access rights and infrastructure for its mineral properties; environmental regulations and the ability to obtain and maintain necessary permits, including environmental authorizations and water use licences; extreme competition in the mineral exploration industry; delays in obtaining, or a failure to obtain, permits necessary for current or future operations or failures to comply with the terms of such permits; risks of doing business in South Africa, including but not limited to, labour, economic and political instability and potential changes to and failures to comply with legislation; the Company's common shares may be delisted from the NYSE American or the TSX if it cannot maintain compliance with the applicable listing requirements; and other risk factors described in the Company's most recent Form 40-F annual report, annual information form and other filings with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulators, which may be viewed at www.sec.gov and www.sedarplus.ca, respectively. Proposed changes in the mineral law in South Africa if implemented as proposed would have a material adverse effect on the Company's business and potential interest in projects. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events or results or otherwise.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181029
Kelowna, September 19, 2023 - Strathmore Plus Uranium Corp. (TSXV: SUU) (OTC: SUUFF) ("Strathmore Plus" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced private placement (the "Brokered Private Placement") for aggregate gross proceeds of $2,200,002.85 through the issuance of 4,000,005 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.55 per unit.
Each Unit consists of one common share and one-half common share purchase warrant. Each whole share purchase warrant ( the "Warrant") is exercisable into one common share at a price of $0.80 per share for a period of 2 years following the date of issuance.
The Company will pay 7% cash commissions for a total of $67,056.17 and a total of 123,664 Finders Warrants issued under the same terms as the warrants noted above, to certain qualified Finders in connection with subscriptions from subscribers introduced to the Offering.
Certain insiders of the Company acquired a total of 682,841 Units in the Offering. This participation by insiders in the Private Placement constitute a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). However, the Company considers such participation would be exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 as the fair market value of the Shares subscribed for by the insiders, nor the consideration for the Shares paid by such insiders, would exceed 25% of the Company's market capitalization. All securities issued under the Financing, will be subject to a statutory hold period expiring four months and one day from the date of issuance.
The net proceeds from the Offering will be used to fund the Company's 2023 exploration program, with 70% going towards drilling and reclaimation, 10% for geophysical logging and the remainder for general working capital purposes. The Company's Projects include Night Owl, Agate and Beaver Rim, all located in the Shirley Basin uranium district of Wyoming.
The closing of the Offering is September 18, 2023, and is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Unit Shares, Warrants and Warrant Shares will be subject to a hold period of four months and one day in accordance with applicable securities laws.
About Strathmore Plus Uranium Corp.
Strathmore Plus has three uranium projects in Wyoming, including Beaver Rim, Agate, and Night Owl. The Night Owl property is a former producing mine that was in production in the early 1960s. The Agate and Beaver Rim properties contain uranium in Wyoming-type roll front deposits based on historical drilling data. Strathmore has received an exploration permit for both Beaver Rim and Agate projects and is now waiting for the exploration/drilling permit approval for Night Owl.
Strathmore Plus Uranium Corp.
Contact Information:
Investor Relations
Telephone: 1 888 882 8177
Email: info@strathmoreplus.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Dev Randhawa"
Dev Randhawa, CEO
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181052
Vancouver, September 19, 2023 - Leocor Gold Inc. (the "Company" or "Leocor") (CSE:LECR) (OTC:LECRF) is pleased to report significant RAB drilling results from the recently completed drill program on the Dorset Project within the Company's Baie Verte District landholdings, located on north central Newfoundland, Canada (Figure 1).
These results are highlighted by hole DORRAB23-004 which returned 0.226 grams-per-tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au") over 32m starting at surface (4.6m). This includes 1.01 g/t Au over 1.52m starting at surface and 0.464 g/t Au over 1.52m from 32m. A total of 14 RAB holes were completed at the Dorset Project totaling 750m. Drilling concentrated on the Sharpie Ridge, Gunshot and Dorset showings. The above wide low-grade intercept tested an undrilled 1 x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly outlined by Leocor in 2022 (Figure 2).
"We are excited to announce the results from our summer RAB drill program at the Dorset Project which is one of our key assets in the Central Newfoundland gold belt," said CEO, Alex Klenman. "RAB drilling is a very mobile and cost-effective tool to test targets of merit at the subsurface. The drilling isn't deep and a wide low-grade intercept over a 1 km wide gold-in-soil anomaly is a very significant finding. Last year's RAB drilling 700 meters to the north intersected high-grade gold. The combination of higher-grade hits and wide areas of lower grade values presents a large and very compelling exploration target. We are on to a wide-spread gold system and we're eager to probe this area with diamond drilling," continued Mr. Klenman.
Click Image To View Full Size
Figure 1. Regional location of Leocor's Baie Vert District landholdings.
Table 1. Interval and composite results of the Dorset Project RAB 2023 drill program
Hole ID Target From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t) DORRAB22-001 DOR Main 28.96 36.58 7.62 1.41 DORRAB22-002 DOR Main 28.96 35.05 6.10 1.14 DORRAB22-003 DOR/Gunshot Extension 27.43 30.48 3.05 0.57 DORRAB22-004 DOR/Gunshot Extension No Significant Results DORRAB22-005 DOR/Gunshot Extension 1.52 19.81 18.29 0.21 DORRAB22-006 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-007 Sharpie Ridge 15.24 25.91 10.67 2.32 Incl. 15.24 16.76 1.52 10.2 DORRAB22-008 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-009 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-010 BRAZ NE 0.00 4.57 4.57 3.18 DORRAB22-011 Gunshot 18.29 19.81 1.52 0.64 DORRAB22-012 Gunshot No Significant Results
Table 2. Results of the Dorset Project 2022 RAB drill program
Click Image To View Full Size
Figure 2. Drill hole locations of the 2023 RAB drilling program at the Dorset Project.
RAB Drilling
The RAB drilling was completed by GroundTruth Exploration Inc. using their "GT RAB Drill," a Heli-Portable, wireless remote-controlled, rubber tracked platform with a hydraulic tilting mast assembly and rotary drill head. The GT RAB Drill is environmentally friendly with low-ground pressure and minimal surface disturbance. Individual drill holes can be up to 100m in depth and are paired with onsite XRF analysis and optical televiewer surveys, allowing rapid evaluation of the target areas.
2022-2023 RAB Results and Next Steps
Based on the 2022 and 2023 significant RAB drill results, Leocor's geological team has advanced the interpretation of possible controls to gold mineralization related to north to north-northeast and southeast-northwest structural lineaments (Figure 3). Where these trends intersect has produced the more significant sub-surface drill intercepts. This relationship appears very important and will provide targets of merit for the follow up program. Permitting for diamond drilling has now been submitted.
Figure 3. Dorset Project 2023 Rab drill holes over total magnetic intensity with structural lineament interpretation.
Qualified Person
Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.
About Leocor Gold Inc.
Leocor Gold Inc. is a British Columbia-based resource company involved in the acquisition and exploration of precious metal projects, with a current focus in Atlantic Canada. Leocor, through outright ownership and earn-in agreements, currently controls several gold-copper projects in prime exploration ground located within the prolific Baie Verte Mining District. Leocor's Bae Verte portfolio includes the Dorset, Dorset Extension, Copper Creek and Five Mile Brook projects, creating a contiguous nearly 2,000-hectare exploration corridor. The Company also controls the 6,847-ha grassroots Startrek project near Gander, as well as three district scale land packages in North Central Newfoundland, known as Robert's Arm, Hodge's Hill, and Leamington, (collectively "Western Exploits") representing over 144,000 hectares (1,440 square kilometers) of prospective exploration.
Contact Information
Leocor Gold Inc.
Alex Klenman, Chief Executive Officer
Email : aklenman@leocorgold.com
Telephone : (604) 970-4330
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the terms and conditions of the Option. Although Leocor believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "intend", "estimate", "postulate" and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Leocor cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Leocor is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the agreement of the parties to proceed with the proposed transaction on the terms set out in the Option Agreements or at all; Leocor's ability to exercise the Options; the state of the financial markets for Leocor's securities; the state of the natural resources sector in the event the Option, or any of them, are completed; recent market volatility; circumstances related to COVID-19; Leocor's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that Leocor is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to Leocor's initial public offering prospectus for a more complete discussion of applicable risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through Leocor's issuer page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Leocor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Toronto, Sept. 19, 2023 - Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. (CSE:WUC) (OTCQX:WSTRF) ("Western" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it hosted a delegation from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) at its Sunday Mine Complex on Thursday September 14th. The ORNL is considered among the world's premier scientific research institutions and is charged with solving problems and creating solutions at the intersection of energy, critical infrastructure, national security, and the nuclear fuel cycle.
The mines comprising the Sunday Mine Complex are currently the only fully operational conventional uranium/vanadium mines in the United States, thus allowing the ORNL to observe the mining team and equipment required for a full range of mining operations.
Western appreciates all of the work that the DOE and ORNL have done to advance U.S. domestic nuclear fuel production and their traveling to the Western Slope of Colorado for this mine tour. We hope to be able to continue to assist as solutions are implemented to resolve U.S. nuclear fuel cycle bottlenecks. The Company welcomes support for the U.S. uranium mining industry and its domestic uranium concentrate production. We believe this is imperative to overcome dependencies upon material sourced from state owned enterprises and less than friendly countries.
About Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp.
Western Uranium & Vanadium Corp. is a Colorado-based uranium and vanadium conventional mining company focused on low cost near-term production of uranium and vanadium in the western United States, and development and application of kinetic separation.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Certain information contained in this news release constitutes "forward-looking information" or a "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). Statements of that nature include statements relating to, or that are dependent upon: the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding exploration and production plans and results; the timing of planned activities; whether the Company can raise any additional funds required to implement its plans; whether regulatory or analogous requirements can be satisfied to permit planned activities; and more generally to the Company's business, and the economic and political environment applicable to its operations, assets and plans. All such forward-looking statements are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict. Please refer to the Company's most recent Management's Discussion and Analysis, as well as its other filings at www.sec.gov and/or www.sedar.com, for a more detailed review of those risk factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the Company's forward-looking statements, and that these statements are made as of the date hereof. While the Company may do so, it does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements at any particular time, except as and to the extent required under applicable laws and regulations.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Vancouver, September 19, 2023 - Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV:RAK) ("Rackla" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced private placement financing for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2,786,475 (the "Offering"). Under the Offering, the Company sold 5,769,000 flow-through units of the Company (each, a "Flow-Through Unit") and 4,800,000 non-flow-through units of the Company (each, a "Hard Unit", and together with the Flow-Through Units, the "Offered Securities").
Each Flow-Through Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a "Common Share") that will qualify as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each, a "Warrant"). Each Hard Unit consists of one Common Share and one Warrant. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional Common Share (each, a "Warrant Share") at a price of C$0.40 per Warrant Share at any time on or before September 19, 2025.
3L Capital Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Corp acted as co-lead agents and co-bookrunners (together, the "Agents"). As consideration for acting as Agents, the Company paid to the Agents a cash fee of C$122,628.50 (the "Agents' Fee") equal to 6.0% (or 2.0% for those subscribers listed on the "president's list" (the "President's List Subscribers")) of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Offered Securities. In addition to the Agents' Fee, the Company also granted to the Agents 456,140 compensation options (each, a "Compensation Option"), entitling the Agents to subscribe for that number of Hard Units (each, a "Compensation Hard Unit") equal to 6.0% (or 2.0% in the case of sales to President's List Subscribers) of the aggregate number of Offered Securities sold under the Offering, with each Compensation Hard Unit consisting of one Common Share (each, a "Compensation Share") and one Warrant. Subject to regulatory approval, each Compensation Option will be exercisable to acquire one Compensation Hard Unit of the Company at a price of C$0.25 at any time on or before September 19, 2025. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Agents' Fee was paid or Compensation Options were issued to the Agents in respect of a C$230,000 subscription for Offered Securities from one of the President's List Subscribers.
The gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Flow-Through Units will be used to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" ("CEE") that qualify as Canadian exploration expenses and "flow-through mining expenditures" for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Qualifying Expenditures") on or before December 31, 2024 (or such other period as may be permissible under applicable tax legislation) and which will be renounced in favour of the purchasers of Flow-Through Units with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2023, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of gross proceeds raised from the issue of Flow-Through Units.
It is expected that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used for further exploration and development of the Company's Astro Plutonic Complex properties (including the Astro, Hit and SER projects) and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Offered Securities will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from closing of the Offering in accordance with applicable securities laws.
The Offered Securities were sold to purchasers: (i) in British Columbia and Ontario pursuant to applicable private placement exemptions; (ii) in the United States or that are U.S. persons on a private placement basis pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), and applicable state securities laws; and (iii) in certain offshore jurisdictions on a private placement basis.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Offered Securities in the United States or the U.S. persons. The Offered Securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
About Rackla
Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV: RAK) is a Vancouver, Canada based junior gold exploration company. The Company is targeting RiRGS (Reduced-intrusion Related Gold System) mineralization on the southeastern part of the Tombstone Gold Belt in eastern Yukon and western Northwest Territories. Management believes that this area, which is underexplored for RiRGS deposit types, has the potential to be the next frontier for their discovery.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Simon Ridgway,
CEO and Director
Tel: (604) 801-5432; Fax: (604) 662-8829
Email: info@goldgroup.com
Website: www.racklametals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Forward Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Offering; the receipt of regulatory and other approvals for the Offering; the use of proceeds from the Offering; the ability of the Company to incur CEE with the proceeds of the sale of the Flow-Through Units, the Company's continued exploration and development of its mineral properties and the timing to renounce all Qualifying Expenditures in favour of the subscribers of Flow-Through Units; and general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to future events and future performance and include statements regarding the expectations and beliefs of management based on information currently available to the Company. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "estimate", "estimates", "estimated", "potential", "open", "future", "assumed", "projected", "used", "detailed", "has been", "gain", "upgraded", "offset", "limited", "contained", "reflecting", "containing", "remaining", "to be", "periodically", or statements that events, "could" or "should" occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Company's stated goals and planned exploration activities at its properties will be achieved; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company, its properties or its securities; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Not for distribution to United States news wire services or for dissemination in the United States
Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
The mud-slinging between McLaren and Alex Palou continues. After the Spaniard failed his reserve duties in Singapore last weekend, it is becoming increasingly clear how much money the IndyCar champion's racing stable wants in return. It is reportedly many tens of millions in damages McLaren expects to suffer thanks to Palou. An amount the Spaniard will therefore have to cough up if it is up to Zak Brown's team.
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No, he really wasn't there. Alex Palou was supposed to report to Singapore to serve as McLaren's reserve driver, but as expected, the Spaniard was missing. The now two-time IndyCar champion is currently at odds with McLaren after deciding not to honour his agreed contract after all. Rather, Palou is staying with Ganassi Racing. This means that he does not want to race for McLaren in IndyCar and has renounced a reserve role with the British F1 team.
Legal battle between Palou and McLaren
Although McLaren will no doubt pretend otherwise out loud, Palou's absence in Singapore was a win. As a result, the team is likely to be a lot stronger again in the legal battle that has now erupted. Recently, Palou has already been taken to court in London for breach of contract. These documents are now public and they show that Palou signed a commitment on 1 October 2022 to race for McLaren in IndyCar for three seasons from 2024. This contract followed an earlier agreement to be the F1 team's 2023 test and reserve driver as early as the Singapore Grand Prix.
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McLaren reports in papers filed with the court that it is seeking 200,000 in damages. However, IndyStar understands that while it is normal in the UK to explicitly state this amount, it by no means implies that it is also going to be the final sum claimed. The newspaper relies on sources who report that McLaren will eventually demand $20 to $30 million from Palou.
This sum includes compensation for legal costs incurred a year ago when McLaren assisted Palou precisely in leaving Ganassi. Investments were also made in a testing programme by Palou. In addition, sponsors were attracted by McLaren, with the side note that they were sponsoring a team with the reigning IndyCar champion in it. In other words, their fees would have been higher than if Palou had not been under contract at McLaren.
Could Palou have signed with McLaren though?
There is one notable fact, though: it was clear from a previous court case that apart from Ganassi, no other team was allowed to negotiate with Palou until 1 September 2023. So the big question is why Palou could sign a commitment with McLaren after all? Or perhaps: this commitment with McLaren is not legally valid due to this old clause?
These are questions that will undoubtedly be answered in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, McLaren is no longer counting on Palou, who was actually supposed to be given a chance in free practice at an F1 weekend this season. Current McLaren driver in IndyCar Pato O'Ward, meanwhile, has been announced as a driver for free practice at the Abu Dhabi GP. By the way, McLaren is not obliged to give a rookie the chance, because with Oscar Piastri, they have already complied with the so-called rookie rule; whereby twice a season, a driver with a maximum of two Grands Prix ridden must drive a free practice session in Formula One.
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O'Ward will get a chance as it will earn him points to qualify for a Super Licence. McLaren has since applied for one for him, but the rules are unclear - due to COVID-19 time adjustments - so it is unknown whether O'Ward has enough points for the licence now.
Returning to the F1 Paddock.
Catch @PatricioOWard on track with @McLarenF1 during FP1 at the 2023 Abu Dhabi GP. Coming soon. pic.twitter.com/p9FY54fboF Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) September 16, 2023
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Mazepin's lawyer slams new European sanctions
The EU's European Council is still trying to thwart the Formula 1 aspirations of axed Haas racer Nikita Mazepin.
Nikita Mazepin, Portuguese GP 2021
Haas F1 Team / LAT
Haas ousted the Russian driver and the team's title sponsor Uralkali, headed by Mazepin's father Dmitry, at the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict early in 2022.
Separately, F1's governing FIA said Russian drivers would need to denounce their country in order to keep their careers alive, while the European Council imposed sanctions against the Mazepins.
However, 24-year-old Mazepin fought back at the European Court of Justice - with a judge subsequently ordering the EU to drop the sanctions.
But mere days ago, the European Council decided to re-impose the sanctions for a further six months - with the Court of Justice swiftly acting to overturn them once again in compliance with its earlier ruling.
Mazepin's lawyer Aaron Bass has now told Tass news agency in Russia that the European Union is abusing its powers by trying to penalise the driver against the wishes of the court.
The Council of the EU is abusing its powers to nullify the clear decisions of the President of the General Court, he said.
This is nothing short of a serious institutional crisis, Bass insisted.
And for what purpose? Only to impose sanctions based on fictitious charges and unrelated or non-existent evidence on a young athlete who, as the court found, is in no way involved either in the Ukrainian conflict or in a business that brings significant income to the Russian government, he added.
On March 2, and again at the end of July, the Court of Justice ruled that the European sanctions be dropped so that Mazepin can travel to Europe for negotiations with F1 teams.
(GMM)
Mystery Singapore slump will not reoccur says Marko
Dr Helmut Marko thinks Red Bull will be back firing on all cylinders this weekend at Suzuka.
Max Verstappen, Singapore GP 2023
Red Bull
Max Verstappen's run of ten consecutive wins came to a screaming halt with a surprise loss of form for the dominant Formula 1 team in Singapore.
Curiously, both Red Bull and even its closest rivals denied the loss of form could have had anything to do with the FIA's new clampdown on flexible bodywork.
I know you'd all like to blame it on that, but unfortunately we can't, said team boss Christian Horner. "We haven't changed a single component on the car from Monza.
We knew before the weekend that it would be closer in Singapore, but what actually happened was a surprise for us.
Horner's counterpart Toto Wolff said Singapore was also a spanner in the works during Mercedes' ultra-dominant era.
We know what it's like to come to Singapore with a dominant car and then not perform, said the Austrian.
I'm sure it wasn't the technical directives, Wolff insisted. It didn't change anything.
The leading counter-theory is that Red Bull was simply caught out by the smoother than expected new tarmac and the slashing of several corners from the previous layout.
We think we know roughly why we had these problems, Red Bull's Marko told Bild newspaper.
I am full of confidence after this performance that this mystery from qualifying will not arise in Suzuka, he added.
In fact, he said without the inopportune timing of the safety car on Sunday, Max would have won the race .
We are now looking forward to Suzuka because, as I said, we are understanding the problem, Marko told Kronen Zeitung newspaper.
Plans underway to manufacture automotive components Trade Minister
Dickson Worlanyo Dotse Business News Sep - 19 - 2023 , 10:08
Plans to manufacture vehicle components are underway to build the nations competitiveness in the automobile industry, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Kobina Tahir Hammond, has said.
This will help establish and sustain the competitiveness in the sector over the long term while an increased local content will qualify its products as substantially made in Ghana in order to access preferential markets such as AfCFTA, duty-free and quota-free, he added.
Event
Mr Hammond was speaking at the opening of the 2023 Association of Ghana Industry (AGI) Industrial Summit and Exhibition in Accra yesterday.
The three-day summit is on the theme: Industrialisation through sustainable and efficient supply chains.
The platform would enable members of the association, manufacturers, international bodies and agencies, industry players, government institutions, as well as the private sector to deliberate on decisions that will enhance their operations and also provide opportunity for companies to showcase their products and services.
Mr Hammond, who is also the Member of Parliament (NPP) for the Adansi-Asokwa Constituency, however, said that the initiative would require collaboration with industry players to set up the necessary testing centres for quality assurance, including the development of relevant national standards, advanced skills development within the industry, as well as retooling and upgrading of small-scale workshops.
A typical example is Spring and Bolts in the Asokwa Municipality of the Ashanti Region which manufactures and exports U-bolts, leaf springs and trailer suspensions to Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, as well as for the local market, he added.
Local products
The President of AGI, Dr Humphrey Ayim-Darke, said although the nations manufacturing sub sector had stalled by about 11 per cent, the association had identified some locally made products that were in good demand in view of their comparative advantage.
He said the association was determined to scale up its production capacity but that, he added, would not be achieved without the necessary government support.
The Managing Director of Fan Milk Ghana Plc, Yeo Ziobeieton, urged manufacturers to shift their attention towards local sourcing because it was sustainable and would also develop the economy in the long term.
I would like to call on the government, ECOWAS and AfCFTA to join hands with us to create an environment that is conducive to a sustainable and efficient supply chain. I urge us to consider policies that encourage companies that have decided to prioritise local sprucing and sustainability, he added.
The European Union (EU) Ambassador to Ghana, Irchad Razaaly, said the nation was exporting $2 billion worth of goods and services to the EU.
He said that the EU was ready to sell machinery to industries at cheaper prices to enable them to produce more made-in-Ghana goods for the local and international markets.
Resist temptation to borrow after debt restructuring exercise - Discussants entreat govt
Maclean Kwofi Business News Sep - 19 - 2023 , 10:02
Discussants at a dialogue on public debt management have entreated the government to resist the temptation to borrow more after completing the debt restructuring exercise.
They expressed concern that after a successful completion of the exercise, the government was likely to renew its appetite for borrowing as it attempts to get its way out of the economic crisis.
The discussants, however, urged the government to develop and commit to a solid strategy that would help keep the debt stock at a sustainable level.
The meeting which bordered on curbing borrowing, dominated discussions at the development dialogue dubbed Ghana's public debt management: Facts, impacts, and the way forward.
It was organised by the Institute for Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) in Accra yesterday.
The dialogue aimed at inspiring discourse to deepen knowledge and awareness of global and national issues.
The panelists included the Director of ISSER, Prof. Peter Quartey; a lecturer at ISSER, Prof. Augustin Fosu; Financial economist and investment banking consultant, Dr Sam Mensah; National Director, Development and Social Services of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rebecca Teiko Sabah, and an economist at the University of Aberdeen in the UK, Dr Theo Acheampong.
Debt exchange
The ISSER director said that the country had borrowed beyond sustainable levels that was the reason it was going through what he described as painful debt exchange programme (DEP).
The director observed that with the debt to GDP ratio coming down after the first phase of the debt restructuring programme, the countrys appetite to borrow was still strong.
As we do this debt exchange, we need to be guided that as we borrow, we may come back to the same challenges again, he added.
Prof. Quartey further claimed that this was due to the electoral cycle where governments over the years over spend in order to stay in power.
Our expenditure during the last general election was huge because we wanted to win and maintain power; who will hold a stick and allow a dog to bite him or her, it is impossible.
Unless we have a strong institution that can stop some of these excess spendings, this political business cycle will continue to hurt us as a country, he said.
Political reforms
Prof. Fosu also said that the country needed economic and political reforms to reduce its debt to sustainable levels.
He said the debt stock decreased due to the benefit from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) in the early 2000s and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI) in 2005.
Prof. Fosu said the substantial upward trend in debt was consistent with the rising fiscal deficits (FD), adding that our huge expenditure is the main culprit for the upward trend in fiscal deficits.
For his part, Dr Mensah called for the development of a financial sector trust index to help build back confidence after the debt restructuring exercise.
Labadi Beach Hotel fetes Street Academy pupils
Justice Agbenorsi Business News Sep - 15 - 2023 , 13:23
Officials of the Labadi Beach Hotel last Friday feted pupils of the Street Academy at the Arts Centre in Accra with local delicacies and drinks.
The feeding programme has been in place every Friday since the hotel launched it eight years ago as a part of its corporate social responsibilities.
Rationale
The Head of Sales at the Labadi Beach Hotel, George Ayisi, explained that the company identified Street Academy as the ideal institution to make an impact in due to the schools mandate of exposing the hidden talents of the less fortunate children living on the street of Accra.
With nutrition as an integral part of the learning process, he said the gesture was to ensure that the children were well fed to be able to learn in the right frame of mind.
As a business entity, we do not only exist to make profit but we look at how we can make in impact in the society within which we operate hence the gesture.
And so we want to ensure that even as they go through education, they must be in the right frame of mind to be able to learn what they are being taught, he said.
Mr Ayisi noted that since introducing the programme, the hotel has not not regretted adding: Due to the meals, we have realised that the number of children that come to school keeps increasing on Fridays and we believe that it is encouraging to undertake such an exercise.
Gratitude
For his part, the Founder and Director of Street Academy, Ataa Lartey,expressed gratitude to the hotel for the continuous gesture.
He called on corporate Ghana and other institutions to come on board to support the schools mandate.
LIVE: At the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting
Graphic.com.gh Business News Sep - 19 - 2023 , 08:58
How do we thrive during economic turbulence? We're Discussing thriving during Economic Turbulence with Prof John GATSI, Prof. Agyapomaa Gyekye-Darko and Mike Bozumbil at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Bank Breakfast Meeting.
Watch a LIVE VIDEO of the event attached below
The third quarter Graphic Business/ Stanbic Bank Breakfast meeting has Professor John Gatsi, CEO and Business Advisory Expert, Professor Agyapomaa Gyeke-Dako, an Economist who are on the daise with Mike Bozumbil, the Managing Director of Petrosol as they dissect the theme Thriving During Economic Turbulence.
The esteemed dialogue that connects together stakeholders in the economy and the ordinary Ghanaian bridging that gaping interface will see Professor Gyeke-Dako tackle the issue of the Main causes of Economic Turbulence in the Country.
Another perspective which will be looked at the meeting on the
Lessons for the Country during this Economic Turbulence Focusing on SMEs, Large Corporates and Individuals will be handled by Mr Bozumbil.Professor Gatsi will speak on the Post Turbulence and Sustainable Growth Of The Countrys Economy, Citizens and the Way Forward.
Participants and invited guests will be given the opportunity to interact with the speakers and ask questions to better appreciate and understand the ongoing discussions.
Cocoa realities and my cup of Milo
Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng, Opinion Sep - 19 - 2023 , 10:56
Beyond the cocoa-growing communities in the country, the recent announcement in Tepa, Ashanti, by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of farm gate prices of cocoa beans has understandably caused quite some stir on the political landscape.
For the new cocoa season, the president announced a 63.6 per cent increase in the price of a ton of cocoa from GH12,800.00 per ton to GH20,943.00 per ton, which translates to a jump from GH800.00 per bag to GH1,308 per bag.
Apparently, the calculations were based on the achieved Free-On-Board (FoB) Price of $2,600 per tonne from the forward sales of cocoa, with an exchange rate of GH11.50 to a dollar.
The price increase of GH508 per bag is the highest in Ghanas history and the highest among West African subregional cocoa-producing countries in the last 50 years.
Everyone appreciates a pay rise, and for the farmers, as indeed for anyone else, 63.6 per cent is an awful lot. The extra income means an improvement in living standards and an ability to invest and meet other needs.
A higher producer price motivates existing cocoa farmers to continue cocoa cultivation and encourage others to enter the industry, which can contribute to the sustainability of the cocoa sector.
The rise is poised to create employment prospects for young individuals in agriculture, engaging them as labourers in tasks like planting, harvesting and cocoa farm maintenance.
Other benefits include economic growth in the cocoa-producing areas and potential increment in the national output and a positive international image for Ghana on the international markets.
Political fallout
It is no surprise that following the announcement, political players from both sides have been shouting themselves hoarse one way or the other in the media.
After all, there is a crucial election coming up. Plus, according to the GCB Banks 2022 Cocoa Sector Report, cocoa employs approximately 800,000 farm families spread over six of the 16 regions of Ghana. They also happen to include New Patriotic Party (NPP) strongholds, a fact not lost on either side.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC), understandably, is unimpressed by the scale of the increase and has been busy pouring cold water on it.
The Minority group in Parliament says the government should have increased the price of a bag of cocoa by no less than GH2,500.
According to the Minority Leader, Ato Forson, the NDC would have increased the price per bag to at least GH2,800. One cannot help but be amused.
Forward sales achieved FOB
According to Fiifi Boafo, Head of Public Affairs at COCOBOD, Ghana engages in forward sales of significant volumes of its cocoa to secure the syndicated loan to pay farmers and has always done so under both NDC and NPP.
As a result, the determination of the producer price takes into account the achieved Free-On-Board (FoB) price over several months of sales.
Since prices in the forward sales market differ significantly from spot sale prices, the most recent archived FoB of $2,600 per tonne is what formed the basis for calculating the new producer prices.
It is therefore incorrect, he says, to calculate what one thinks should have been the Producer Price using the current spot price on the international market.
Mr Boafo says when the NDC was leaving power, the world market price stood at $2,950. Subsequently, the price experienced a sharp decline, averaging around $2,050 in 2017 and then only moderately rising to approximately $2,350 two years later. However, during the period, this NPP government chose to maintain the producer price and resisted international pressure to reduce it. All other cocoa-producing countries reduced their farmgate prices, except for Ghana.
The government, therefore, spent a fortune to absorb the losses instead of passing them on to worsen the plight of farmers.
To this effect, he disagrees vehemently with the opposition NDCs claim that the government has short-changed cocoa farmers.
Reality
The reality of arguments over FoB, spot price, world prices and other similar, rather technical issues in the industry is that they make good television and radio studio arguments, and perhaps, make lots of sense to book-long people, such as analysts and economists, among others.
But the ordinary cocoa farmer primarily cares about what he or she was paid last season and what he or she stands to be paid this coming season. It is that simple, really.
Of course, it would be simplistic to presume that the political harvest for the government on the price, on its own and without more, is bountiful. But it would be equally very simplistic to dismiss its political ramifications. I will certainly be drinking a few cups of hot Milo to celebrate this price increase.
Impact of malaria control programmes: Perspective
Godson Kofi Davies Opinion Sep - 19 - 2023 , 11:12
Malaria remains a significant public health issue in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana has made significant efforts to combat it through various control programmes.
The public health impact of these initiatives, examining strategies, accomplishments, challenges and potential ways for further progress is looked at.
By examining these aspects, an understanding of Ghana's malaria control efforts and their implications for public health can be gained.
Ghana faces a long history of malaria, affecting both rural and urban areas due to its geographical location and tropical climate.
The Anopheles mosquito, which transmits the parasite, thrives in these areas. Socioeconomic factors like poverty, insufficient healthcare infrastructure and limited access to preventive measures contribute to high morbidity and mortality rates, particularly among vulnerable populations like children and pregnant women.
Implementing effective malaria control programmes is crucial to reduce the public health burden in Ghana.
Measures
Ghana's malaria control programmes involve preventive measures, diagnosis and treatment strategies to combat the disease.
Key interventions include insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women and prompt diagnosis and treatment using artemisinin-based combination therapies.
These strategies are implemented through collaboration between the Ghanaian government, international organisations and local communities to achieve maximum coverage and impact in malaria-endemic areas.
Ghana's malaria control programmes have achieved significant achievements, including reduced morbidity and mortality rates, improved access to prevention tools like bed nets and improved case management.
Accurate diagnostic tests and antimalarial drugs have also improved case management and reduced healthcare facility burden.
Programmes
Malaria control programmes in Ghana face challenges such as limited funding, resource constraints and infrastructural gaps.
High population mobility, particularly in mining and farming communities, hinders control efforts. Emerging drug and insecticide resistance necessitates continuous monitoring and adaptation of control strategies.
Ghana must invest in research and development to strengthen malaria control programmes. By exploring new tools like vaccines and alternative vector control methods, Ghana can gain an advantage in the fight against malaria.
These innovative solutions can revolutionise prevention and treatment strategies, resulting in more effective outcomes.
Along with research, it is critical to strengthen healthcare systems. This includes improving healthcare infrastructure, ensuring the availability of essential supplies and medications and increasing healthcare worker capacity.
Ghana can improve the quality of care provided to malaria patients and increase their chances of recovery by equipping healthcare facilities with the necessary resources.
Furthermore, training healthcare workers in the most recent diagnostic and treatment protocols enables them to provide optimal care while staying current with scientific advances.
Also, improving surveillance systems is critical for detecting and responding to malaria outbreaks promptly. Robust surveillance mechanisms allow health officials to track disease spread, identify high-risk areas and implement targeted interventions.
Ghana can improve its ability to monitor and control malaria outbreaks by investing in cutting-edge surveillance technologies and establishing efficient reporting systems.
The fight against malaria requires collaboration among various stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, research institutions and local communities.
This collaboration enables resource pooling, expertise sharing and coordinated intervention implementation. Involving communities in decision-making and actively involving them in malaria control initiatives fosters ownership and increases the likelihood of success.
Community engagement
Community engagement and education are crucial for malaria control. Offering information on prevention, early detection and treatment-seeking behaviour enhances control programmes' effectiveness.
Community-led initiatives, like health workers and task forces, have shown promising results in raising awareness and encouraging behaviour change.
Ghana must transition from control to elimination strategies to achieve malaria elimination. This requires a focused approach targeting high transmission rates and vulnerable populations.
Identifying hotspots and allocating resources can help focus efforts on areas most needed. Implementing prevention measures like insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor residual spraying can help reduce malaria transmission.
Implementing robust surveillance systems is crucial for successful malaria elimination in Ghana. Efficient mechanisms enable timely detection, disease spread tracking and rapid response to outbreaks. Real-time data collection, analysis and reporting enable informed decision-making and resource allocation.
Technological advancements like mobile health applications and geographic information systems enhance surveillance efficiency and accuracy.
Investment in research, advocacy and resource mobilisation is crucial for sustaining malaria control gains and addressing emerging challenges.
Research
Research develops innovative tools, strategies and interventions, driving progress towards malaria elimination. Advocacy efforts generate political will, raise awareness and secure resources for malaria elimination programmes.
Engaging stakeholders at local, national and international levels is key to garnering support and sustaining momentum.
Resource mobilisation is crucial for malaria elimination efforts. Ghana should partner with international organisations, donor agencies and private sector entities to secure resources.
Innovative financing mechanisms and domestic mobilisation strategies ensure long-term sustainability.
The writer is a Public, Health Professional.
Visa discrimination: Scourge of African travellers!
Dr. Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey Opinion Sep - 19 - 2023 , 10:49
Its a few minutes to 4:00pm. I weave precariously through Accras ill-fated gridlock, enroute to the South Korean Embassy. The decision on my visa application is ready, per the Embassys call over an hour ago.
Ordinarily, this should be a leisurely 20-minute ride, a far cry from this Fridays madness. I call the Embassy to inform them I will likely arrive late.
In moments of great hurry, the red traffic light conspires against you. Or so it feels. How did a standard two-week process morph into a nine-week debacle? I am struck by the disconnect between the seamless process outlined online and the serpentine inefficiencies experienced.
At four minutes past 4:00pm, I arrive. A Ghanaian security guard, oozing with hostility, informs me, They have closed. The lady is gone! I walk up to a Korean gentleman. He echoes the words of the security guard.
In the tense exchanges that ensue, he learns about my scheduled flight that is already a day late a ticket change that will cost me $700 later. He mellows and instructs the security guard to call the lady.
Alas, she is in the office. In a few minutes, they bring my passport, bearing the elusive Korean visa. Finally, I can attend the Board meeting and 39th Annual Conference of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).
More ridiculously, securing visas to travel to Board meetings has become my single greatest obstacle in my tenure as the first African elected to ISQuas board in its 39-year history.
Colleagues
Colleagues from the West who often travel without visa hassles in Europe and the United States, hardly appreciate the indignities associated with visa application processes for Africans.
Even after one has submitted all requested documents, there is still no guarantee that the visa will be issued. With my first Korean visa application refused after three weeks, I would be told, "You failed to provide sufficient explanation on the purpose of stay."
Think about it. How could I apply for a visa without explaining the reason for my travel? Infact, in my case, the reason for travelling was stated in not less than four documents submitted during the application.
An email I later wrote to the designated email address seeking further explanations remains unanswered to this day. In the end, it took a call from our local hosts in Korea to the Embassy to learn that I needed a notarised invitation letter.
On resubmission, my second application was delayed because the printed notarised invitation letter was not considered original.
To be considered original, my Korean colleagues needed to post me the hard copy, something the Embassy failed to communicate on the call. This further delayed the resubmission process for another week, accompanied by a second payment of the nonrefundable $50 application fee.
Extensive
I have an extensive travel history. Not once have I overstayed my welcome in any country and not once, have I nurtured any desire to abscond from beautiful Ghana.
You would think this would count for something. I was even once refused an American visa renewal for the reason that, I travelled too frequently to the US and didnt stay for long periods.
I was also refused an Irish visa on the basis that the date for the meeting had expired. And why would it not, after a seven-week delay, passports withheld, by the Embassy with major negative implications for my work?
A Brisbane trip was finally aborted due to the very late issuance of the visa. While travellers to Africa often breeze through our visa processes, Africans very often must endure heady encounters with embassy officials, highly suspicious that all Africans are would-be illegal immigrants until proven otherwise. The process of proving otherwise is often invasive and lacks dignity.
Typically, applications must be supported with personal bank statements reflecting substantial balances, employment contracts, marriage, and birth certificates etc.
Even the refusal of many embassies to offer chairs to Africans, often found queuing in the blazing sun speaks volumes about the embassies respect or lack thereof.
Call to action
In effect, this is a call to action, knowing my experiences, however terrible and heartbreaking, are not unique. Not every African is fleeing the continent.
Many have consciously chosen to live and contribute here. Ultimately, such poor treatment persists because African governments allow it.
If our leaders truly believed in asserting the dignity of what Ghanas founding President Kwame Nkrumah, called the African identity and African personality, they would hold these embassies to higher standards.
Imagine we had a Global Visa Racism Score, which grouped countries based on hostility to Africans. Imagine this score significantly influenced countries chosen to host conferences.
In the meantime, in addition to publicising this issue, I am writing to Ghanas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to demand better processes for Ghanaian applicants for Korean visas inter alia.
The writer serves as a Board Director of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare, based in Ireland. He is also the Council Chair of the Centre for Social Justice, an Accra based think tank.
WAEC extends 2023 NOV/DEC registration deadline to September 29
Getrude Ankah Nyavi Education Sep - 19 - 2023 , 14:17
The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has extended the closing date for registration of private candidates for the 2023 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
The initial deadline for the 2023 Nov-Dec registration was August 17 but in a statement, WAEC said the new deadline for registration is Friday September 29, 2023.
"The West African Examination Council wishes to inform the general public that the closing date for registration of candidates for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination for Private Candidates, 2023 has been extended to Friday 29th September, 2023", it stated.
The extension of the registration period comes as a relief to prospective private candidates who may need more time to complete their registration for the upcoming WASSCE exams.
The exams are scheduled to be held between November and December 2023.
SMT Ghana donates books to Savelugu School for the Deaf
Daily Graphic Education Sep - 04 - 2023 , 08:27
SMT Ghana, distributor of Volvo automobiles in Ghana, has donated books and mathematical sets to the Savelugu School for the Deaf in the Northern Region.
While on visit to the school to donate the books, the company also held a Volvo Truck traffic safety course dubbed: Stop, Look and Wave for the schoolchildren.
It is a global initiative by the Volvo Group to give children across the world the opportunity to have a better understanding of how trucks operate and safety rules when encountering one.
It involves the application of an easy to understand way of making children aware of the risks and how best to avoid them.
They were taken through a practical demonstration on the safer use of roads by pedestrians.
The Savelugu School for the Deaf admits children with hearing disability from the region where they can receive an education in Mathematics, English, but also teaches them to use sign language in order to be able to communicate and express themselves.
Presenting the items, the Managing Director of SMT Ghana, Alex Dutamby, expressed the companys dedication to giving back to society, especially the most vulnerable, as part of its corporate social responsibility and as part of the SMT Africa Groups core values of caring, daring and sharing.
Education means a lot to SMT Ghana and the Volvo Group and this is in line with our values of caring and sharing where we want to support schools for the students to continue to grow and learn, particularly towards those that wont have the same chances as everybody else.
Mr Dutamby underscored the Volvo truck safety for the kids as a reinforcement of its mandate of allowing staff to continue to focus on training, and this he believes will provide the opportunity for the students to continue to grow and learn.
The Headmistress of the Savelugu School for the Deaf, Nora Naaso, thanked the company for the donation and training.
She said the school needed a whole lot of support and that the books came at the opportune time to help the pupils.
Mrs Naaso also appealed to other corporate bodies to come to the aid of vulnerable groups in the country.
The Training Manager of SMT Ghana, Jasper Agbakpe, who is a certified Volvo trainer for the SMT Group, was supported by other officials of the company to take the students through the Volvo Truck traffic safety.
The Marketing and Communication Director of SMT Ghana, Hilda Peasah, urged the students to take their studies and road safety seriously.
Beware of scammers! - GTEC cautions mature students
Severious Kale-Dery Sep - 19 - 2023 , 12:00
The Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) has cautioned the public to be wary of scammers who hide under the cover of entrance examination banners to dupe innocent students.
It said those advertisements, among others, usually indicated that the prospective candidates did not need to have a certificate of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) or Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSSCE) requirement to participate in the examination.
The GTEC, however, dismissed those claims, describing them as scams.
He therefore cautioned the public, especially adults seeking to pursue university education, to stay away from those adverts.
Those adverts are carried out by fraudsters.
There is nowhere you can be admitted into a tertiary educational programme without any kind of certificate.
You need to have a foundation for you to be able to enter for a tertiary programme.
I once again advise all those interested in sourcing tertiary education to stay away from them because you will be caught and the consequences would be unbearable, the Deputy Director General of GTEC, Professor Ahmed Abdulai Jinapor, advised the public in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
His advice follows numerous posters scattered around urban centres inviting adults of 25 years and above who are interested in university education to contact some displayed telephone numbers provided for admission.
The advertisements, among others, assure prospective students that they do not need to have any certificate for the admission process.
The recipient universities used are usually the University of Ghana, University of Education, Winneba, and the University of Cape Coast.
Basic requirements
However, Prof. Jinapor said when the attention of GTEC was drawn to it and the universities cited were contacted, They tell us they have no knowledge of it and that they do not have any contract with any agent to recruit adult students.
He stressed, there is nothing like being admitted as a mature student without any certificate.
You need to have some form of certificate.
Indeed, you need to have a foundation.
Prof. Jinapor said for GTEC.
Admission requirements for mature students, the prospective candidate needed to have a credit in English and Mathematics and also pass an entrance examination depending on the way the particular university wanted it.
Again, you need to have relevant work experience because you are given the opportunity to access tertiary education even though you do not meet the minimum requirement but because you have the requisite experience, that is why you are given that opportunity, Prof. Jinapor explained.
Asked what GTEC is doing to prevent such activities, he said, unfortunately, our laws do not give us the opportunity of going after them.
Our laws say that if the person runs an unaccredited programme, Prof. Jinapor revealed.
He explained further that GTEC did not really care about how the advertisement was done.
If the advertisement is done on the website of the university or an accredited platform like a media platform, then we can pick the university on or that media house.
Secondly, what we do is that we have what we call academic audit, which is periodic or ad hoc, the DDG of the GTEC said, adding that if the commission suspected that a particular university was running unaccredited programmes, it went there to do the audit.
It was Bank of Ghana that advised me to streamline Menzgold operations - NAM 1 tells court
Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Sep - 19 - 2023 , 12:05
Founder of Menzgold, Nana Appiah Mensah aka NAM 1, who is standing trial for allegedly using the company to defraud over 16,000 people of GH1.6 billion, has denied circumventing the laws of Ghana in order to operate an illegal gold deposit taking business.
Counsel for NAM 1, Kwame Akuffo, told the High Court in today [Sept 19] that his client did not circumvent the Banking and Specialised Deposit -Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act ) as alleged by the prosecution to enable him carry out the operations of Menzgold.
Mr Akuffo claimed that it was officials of Bank of Ghana (BoG) who advised his client (NAM 1) to change Menzbank (the previous name of Menzgold) to Menzbanc.
Indeed, in meetings with the BoG, it was the BoG that recommended that third accused company( Brew Marketing Consult) be set up in order to ensure that the gold marketing business was kept distinct from the business of Menzgold, counsel said, reports Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson from the court.
Mr Akuffo said he would not mention the names of the BoG officials who gave the advice to his client, but at the appropriate time during trial, he would subpoena them to testify to aid the defence of his client.
I will skip the names because the court may take evidence from them in camera, counsel said, reports Graphic Online's Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson from the courtroom..
Not guilty
Meanwhile, NAM 1 has pleaded not guilty to 39 counts, ranging from violating Act 930, defrauding by false pretence, fraudulent breach of trust and money laundering.
The court, presided over by Dr Ernest Owusu-Dapaa, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, sitting as an additional High Court judge, admitted NAM 1 to bail in the sum of GH500million, with four sureties.
As part of the bail conditions, Justice Owusu-Dapaa, also ordered NAM 1 to deposit his passport with the Registrar of the Court, and also report to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) every Thursday.
Ghanas mining architecture must change - lands Minister
Emmanuel Bruce Sep - 19 - 2023 , 09:19
The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has called for a change in the countrys mining architecture in order to resolve the security issues in the industry.
He said the countrys mining architecture was anchored on the exportation of raw minerals which creates little value for the communities in which the mining companies operate.
The minister said, this is what leads to antagonism and adversity in the communities which creates the security issues.
At a Mining Development Forum in Accra, Mr. Jinapor said all stakeholders including the government, the Chamber of Mines and Investors in the sector must have a frank discussion on how to create more value for the communities.
He said just by deploying law enforcement agencies and by using brute force will not resolve issues of insecurity of large-scale mining operations in the country.
The mining companies must put in place sustainable measures to carry the communities along.
When you are exporting the minerals in its raw form, it means you are not creating proper robust value chain linkages which will carry the community along, he stated.
Stakeholder approach
The minister said ensuring the security of mining operations was not only the duty of Government, as it requires a multi-stakeholder approach and a shared commitment from all stakeholders, including government, mining companies, mining communities, traditional leaders, civil society organizations, academia, multilateral organizations, development partners, among others.
He said one of the policies governments had adopted in this regard was the Community Mining Scheme.
Local communities are at the heart of mining operations, and their participation, understanding and support are crucial to the success of these operations.
Through the Community Mining Scheme, we are creating opportunities for local employment, engaging the youth in responsible, sustainable and environmentally sound mining practices, while preventing attacks on large-scale mining operations, he stated.
Mr. Jinapor, therefore, urged the mining companies to support the government in the implementation of this scheme.
Safeguarding mining activities
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Sulemanu Koney, for his part, said mining sectors activities impact every facet of the economy and must therefore be safeguarded from the activities of criminals, illegal miners, and other miscreants.
He said recent invasions and attacks on defensive workers have created a sense of debilitating insecurity.
Perseus was attacked and invaded, Golden Star Wassas Benso site was attacked and vandalized, and some equipment and vehicles were set ablaze, Newmont, AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi, Gold Fields, Asanko, Mensin Bibiani Gold, and Future Global Resources (FGR) have all been attacked and sometimes overrun by trespassers.
Mr. Koney said, when a mine is unsecured, it does not only threaten continuous production but the livelihood of the ecosystem that depends on the mine: communities, government, suppliers, employees and shareholders.
He said the inability of duty bearers to decisively quell the wanton breach of security at one mine serves as an incentive for other miscreants to perpetrate similar in other mines.
This inertia partly fuels the deteriorating security climate at the mines with adverse consequences for all stakeholders. For instance, Asanko Gold Mines spent over $500,000 to de-risk a portion of its concession through exploration.
While the work was ongoing, some persons invaded the area and have since annexed it as their own property. The mine has attempted umpteen times to evict the illegal miners without success, he noted.
He said it was therefore necessary for a stakeholder engagement which would delve into the various dimensions of the security gaps and explore the roles those various stakeholders, from government agencies and local communities to mining companies and environmental advocates, must proactively play in guaranteeing the safety and sustainability of the mining industry.
Misuse of emergency contraceptive pills on the rise...Among young ladies, students
Augustina Tawiah Sep - 19 - 2023 , 09:35
Many females, especially young ladies are misusing Emergency Contraceptive Pills (ECP), the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, has observed.
The society said instead of the medicine being used for emergency situations of unprotected sex, there were reports among the youth in educational campuses, using them repeatedly to prevent pregnancy.
The Executive Secretary of the society, Rev. Dr Dennis Sena Awitty, who disclosed this in an interview with the Daily Graphic, stressed the need to scale up education for those misusing it to understand the long-term implications of their actions.
He said though currently there was no documentary evidence of the long-term side effects of the misuse of the ECP, once it was not being used for the intended purpose, it would have a side effect.
"Listen to the name of the medicine - emergency contraception. Something happens and you take it but to persistently and repeatedly use it could lead to side effects that are unknown and side effects are normally not pleasant.
The short-term side effects such as most hormonal medicines include nausea and vomiting but the long-term, we are yet to find out," he stated.
What are emergency contraceptive pills?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines emergency contraception as methods of contraception that can be used to prevent pregnancy after sexual intercourse. They are recommended for use within five days but are more effective the sooner they are used after the act of intercourse.
The WHO mentions any woman or girl of reproductive age as those who can take it to avoid an unwanted pregnancy
It, however, cautioned that the frequent and repeated use of ECP may be harmful for women with conditions classified as medical eligibility criteria category two, three or four for combined hormonal contraception or progestin-only contraceptives. It further said continuous use of emergency contraception could result in increased side-effects such as menstrual irregularities although their repeated use poses no known health risks.
It advised women who wanted to use it as their main method of contraception to seek further counselling on what other and more regular contraceptive options might be more appropriate and more effective.
Rigorous process
Rev. Dr Awitty explained that before any medicine was put on the market, it passed through rigorous regulation,research and clinical trials to determine its efficacy and side effects, but often times, all the side effects of the medication would not be known until they were deployed to the general population for use as well as a market surveillance had been undertaken.
He said these side effects,when detected, would then be documented and over time, added to the portfolio of that particular medication.
Rev. Dr Awitty advised those misusing the medicine to bear in mind that beyond the long-term side effects of the misuse of ECP which were immediately not known, the risk of contracting incurable sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, syphilis and gonorrhoea through unprotected sex were high and that should be the worry of people.
"Generally, dont use medicines when there are other options because most medicines will cure and do good but can cause harm when they are not used properly," adding that the word pharmacy from the Greek word, pharmako, meant to heal and to harm.
Immigration Service on why a traveler was stopped at Kotoka International Airport
Justice Agbenorsi Sep - 19 - 2023 , 12:43
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has explained that a traveller who was prevented from embarking on a trip via the Kotoka International Airport has been cleared and successfully embarked on his trip.
It said an action to stop the traveller from embarking on the trip initially was because his name was on the police stop list that had been lodged with the GIS since 2013.
The Head of Public Affairs of the GIS, Chief Superintendent, Michael Amoako-Atta, clarifying the incident in a press statement dated September 14, 2023, explained that the traveller was leaving Ghana for France, but was stopped as he had been on the police stop list since 2013.
He was subsequently released to the Ghana Police Service for necessary actions, the statement indicated.
Incident
Last week, a video of a man who was stopped from travelling at the Kotoka International Airport was circulated on the internet, which generated various reactions from the public, particularly, on social media.
Clarification
However, Mr Amoako-Atta emphasised that the immigration officers only carried out their mandate by preventing the man from travelling as per the documents he presented at the counter, his name matched a name on the stop list presented by the Ghana Police Service as far back as 2013.
However, since the stop list had not been reviewed, we only carried out our mandate by working with the stop list, by preventing the traveller from embarking on his trip and then handed him over to the Airport Police, the head of the Immigration Public Affairs Directorate explained.
He said after the incident which happened on September 9, 2023, the police subsequently cleared him and he finally left Ghana for his foreign destination on September 14, 2023.
The GIS Head of Public Affairs said a letter from the lawyers of the traveller, demanding an explanation was sent to the GIS.
Once the police who had given the stop list had cleared the passenger in question, the Immigration Service arranged with the airline and the traveller, consequently embarked on his trip. He left Ghana on September 14.
We responded to the letter accordingly, and once all the issues were cleared, the GIS made arrangements with the concerned airline to allow the traveller and his family to travel, Amoako-Atta stated.
He stressed that the GIS does not deal with security issues, unless it was related to migration, thus if any security agency requested for an action related to departures and arrivals, once that mandate was carried out, the person in question was subsequently handed over to the security agency that requested for the intervention.
It must also be put on record that the Ghana Immigration Service as an institution deals with security issues. Names of passengers come up for analysis if they are similar to those of security interest. Interactions are therefore made with such persons with no intended malice, it added.
Mr Amoako-Atta assured the public that the GIS will continue to manage migration in the interest of national security and the socioeconomic development of the country.
Reading the following post and related questions got me up to this follow-up post:
The Fox and the Grapes - - (7893 bytes) (5479 reads) 09/17/2023 16:19:06 (5)
- - (0 bytes) (2 reads) 09/17/2023 17:14:12
You made me smile from ear to ear! - TJKCB - (0 bytes) (1 reads) 09/17/2023 19:09:24
laughing smile - - (0 bytes) (5 reads) 09/17/2023 19:15:58 (1)
not really inter-exchange as subtle meaning. - TJKCB - (77 bytes) (4 reads) 09/17/2023 21:27:33
- - (0 bytes) (2 reads) 09/17/2023 21:44:33 (1)
choice between laughing and smiling in different situations - TJKCB - (34140 bytes) (1 reads) 09/18/2023 12:47:05
to guide the choice between laughing and smiling - TJKCB - (52834 bytes) (0 reads) 09/18/2023 12:52:16
Britons blamed American's cowboy style for abusing British's beautiful and classy English expression. Can you explore and name a few situations of comparison between British English and American English?
British English and American English have several differences in terms of vocabulary, pronunciation, and even grammar. These differences have developed over time due to historical, cultural, and regional factors. Here are a few situations where you can compare British English and American English:
Vocabulary:
Colour vs. Color: In British English, it's "colour," while in American English, it's "color."
Centre vs. Center: The British use "centre," whereas Americans use "center."
Lorry vs. Truck: In the UK, it's a "lorry," but in the US, it's a "truck."
Spelling:
-re vs. -er: British English often uses "-re" spellings, like "centre" and "metre," while American English opts for "-er" spellings, such as "center" and "meter."
Pronunciation:
Herb: In British English, the "h" in "herb" is silent, while in American English, it's pronounced.
Collective Nouns:
Singular or Plural Agreement: In British English, collective nouns like "team" or "family" are often treated as plural ("The team are playing well"). In American English, they are treated as singular ("The team is playing well").
Use of Articles:
Zero Article: Americans may use the zero article in certain situations where Britons might use "the." For example, Americans might say "go to hospital" instead of "go to the hospital."
Slang and Idioms:
Different Expressions: Each version of English has its own unique slang and idiomatic expressions. For example, "biscuit" in the UK refers to what Americans call a "cookie," while in the US, "biscuit" is a type of bread roll.
Punctuation:
Quotation Marks: In American English, double quotation marks are commonly used for direct speech, while in British English, single quotation marks are preferred.
Grammar and Verb Usage:
Past Simple vs. Present Perfect: American English tends to use the past simple tense more often, while British English often uses the present perfect for actions that have relevance to the present.
Measurements:
Imperial vs. Metric: The UK primarily uses the metric system for measurements, while the US still uses the imperial system for many things, such as distance (miles vs. kilometers) and temperature (Fahrenheit vs. Celsius).
Date Format:
Day/Month/Year vs. Month/Day/Year: British English typically uses the day/month/year format (e.g., 15/09/2023), whereas American English uses the month/day/year format (e.g., 09/15/2023).
"The choice between laughing and smiling in different situations depends on the context and the emotions you want to convey. Here's a general guideline for when to use each:
Laughing: Humor and Amusement: Laughing is the appropriate response when you find something genuinely funny or amusing. It expresses your enjoyment of the situation or the joke. Sharing Joy: Laughing together with others can create a sense of camaraderie and shared enjoyment. It's a way to connect with people over a humorous moment. Reacting to Comedy: When watching a comedy show, a funny movie, or a stand-up performance, it's natural to laugh in response to jokes and comedic situations.
Smiling: Friendliness and Approachability: A smile is a warm and friendly gesture. Use it in everyday social interactions to convey approachability and goodwill. Greeting and Acknowledgment: Smile when you meet someone or when you want to acknowledge their presence in a friendly manner. It's a universal sign of welcome. Expressing Happiness: Smiling is a way to express your happiness or contentment in various situations, from receiving good news to enjoying a beautiful day. Professional Situations: In many professional settings, a smile can be more appropriate than laughter. It conveys professionalism and positive demeanor without being overly informal.
In summary, laughing is typically associated with humor and amusement, while smiling is a more versatile expression used for friendliness, acknowledgment, happiness, and in various everyday situations. The choice between the two should align with the emotions and atmosphere of the moment.
**
Takehome: here are some words and phrases that can be used to guide the choice between laughing and smiling in different situations:
Laughing:
Chuckles: Chuckles are often spontaneous and light-hearted, expressing amusement or a mild sense of humor.
Guffaws: Guffaws are hearty, loud laughs typically associated with finding something extremely funny or entertaining.
Laughter: A general term encompassing various forms of audible amusement, laughter can range from a giggle to a full-blown belly laugh.
Giggles: Giggles are soft, often girlish laughs that convey a sense of innocence or playfulness.
Cackling: Cackling is a distinctive, often slightly sinister form of laughter, suggesting amusement with a mischievous or wicked edge.
Smiling:
Grin: A grin is a broad, often cheeky smile that can convey happiness, satisfaction, or even a touch of mischief.
Beam: To beam is to smile radiantly, suggesting great happiness or pride in a situation.
Smirk: A smirk is a sly, often self-satisfied smile that can indicate amusement or subtle satisfaction.
Smile: A genuine and straightforward expression of happiness or friendliness.
Mona Lisa Smile: A subtle, enigmatic smile, often used to describe a smile that holds a hint of mystery or hidden emotion.
Warmth: A warm smile conveys genuine friendliness, approachability, and kindness.
Professional Demeanor: In professional contexts, maintaining a composed and courteous demeanor may involve a polite smile rather than overt laughter.
Acknowledgment: A smile can serve as a non-verbal way to acknowledge someone's presence or a gesture of recognition.
Limited voter registration: EC revises target
Timothy Ngnenbe Sep - 19 - 2023 , 07:38
The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it does not expect to cover all 1,350,000 persons targeted for registration in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.
The EC said its immediate focus was to register 52 per cent of the targeted population by the end of the 21-day exercise which started on Tuesday, September 12.
The Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, who made this known to journalists at the Let the Citizens Know series yesterday, said although the target had been revised downwards, all eligible persons would have the opportunity to be registered before the 2024 general election.
Mrs Mensa explained that the EC would undertake a continuous registration exercise at all its district offices in 2024 for all eligible Ghanaians to be captured in the poll book.
Again, she said after the current exercise, there would be a mop-up registration for persons in hard-to-reach areas.
Context
The EC started the limited voter registration exercise on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, in line with Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution.
The aim of the limited registration exercise is to capture persons who turned 18 years since the last registration in 2020 as well as other eligible persons who had not previously registered with the EC.
The voter registration, which is expected to end on October 2, is being conducted in the 268 district offices of the commission across the country.
Ahead of the exercise, the commission had projected to register at least 1,350,000 persons.
Updates
Providing updates on the registration exercise, the EC Chairperson said 182,831 persons had been registered as of Saturday, September 16 (six days into the exercise).
Mrs Mensa explained that out of the 182,831 persons that had been registered, 53.9 per cent were males, while females constituted 46.1 per cent.
In terms of the breakdown, she said the Ashanti Region had the highest number of registrants with 29,255, representing 16 per cent of the total registrants across the country.
This is followed by the Greater Accra and Eastern regions with 27,264 (14.9 per cent) and 19,327 (10.6 per cent) respectively.
The Central Region comes next with 17,590 (9.6 per cent), followed by the Northern Region with 12,982 (7.1 per cent); the Volta Region with 12,681 (6.9 per cent); the Western Region with 11,644 (6.4 per cent), and the Upper East Region with 8,639 (4.7 per cent).
The Bono East Region captured 7,291 (4.0 per cent); Western North, 6491 (3.6 per cent); Bono, 6580 (3.6 per cent); Upper West, 5,241 (2.9 per cent); Savannah, 4,655 (2.5 per cent); Ahafo, 4,519 (2.5 per cent); Oti, 4,427 (2.4 per cent) and North East, 4,244 (2.3 per cent).
Challenges
Mrs Mensa admitted that the first two days of the registration exercise came with some challenges which were "swiftly resolved."
She explained that the initial challenges ranged from a temporary halt in the registration process due to disruption of internet, power supply, rainfall and breakdown of kit.
Again, Mrs Mensa said the online system deployed for the registration suffered a breakdown in some areas but was addressed with the addition of the offline data capturing.
The EC Chairperson also said the long queues that were witnessed on the first two days had been addressed with the addition of registration stations at some of the centres, while faulty kit had also been replaced.
Mrs Mensa stressed that as the body mandated to register voters, the EC would not supervise an exercise that would disenfranchise eligible Ghanaians.
"The EC will do everything possible to ensure that all eligible voters desirous of registering do so to exercise their franchise," she said.
Touching on the reason to stick to its decision to use 268 of the EC district offices as registration centres, Mrs Mensa said the current exercise was not a full-blown one and the opportunity of a continuous registration would be carried out before the 2024 general election.
"This is not the only registration exercise prior to the 2024 elections.
There will be continuous voter registration in all our district offices in 2024 before the elections.
We do not intend to disenfranchise any eligible voter," she stressed.
She added that the present circumstances of the EC made it impossible to conduct registration on electoral area basis.
As you are all aware, the commission prepared a draft Constitutional Instrument (CI) for continuous registration in all district offices nationwide.
It was for a sustained long-term basis.
Indeed, had the CI passed we would have had some six months to register voters at any time of their choice, she said.
She also said the 2023 budget and workplan of the commission were prepared along the lines of continuous registration.
We did not factor registration on electoral area basis in our 2023 budget and workplan.
Hence our adoption of this method which is also in line with our long-term plan and vision, she added.
She called on all stakeholders in the ongoing exercise to play their role as expected of them to ensure a successful exercise.
Maintain standard-bearer role for reliable information - UBA to Daily Graphic
Timothy Ngnenbe Sep - 19 - 2023 , 07:35
The Regional Chief Executive Officer (CEO), West Africa, of the United Bank for Africa (UBA), Chris Ofikulu, has urged the Daily Graphic and the other brands of the Graphic Communications Group Ltd (GCGL) to continue to provide accurate information for the public in an era of fake news and misinformation.
Mr Ofikulu said in an era when fake news and misinformation had saturated the public space, it would take conscious and sustained efforts by GCGL, which had proven credibility over the past seven decades, to maintain its standard-bearer role for reliable information.
I respect the media because it is through media outlets that people get information on businesses.
But some of the media organisations publish news that they have not verified, and such news can destroy businesses.
For Graphic, I know you have credibility and respect media ethics; you are refined, so you have refined news; so continue to show the way, he said.
He made the call when the Managing Director of GCGL, Ato Afful, led a team from the company to pay a courtesy call on the management of UBA in Accra last Thursday.
The team included the Editor, Graphic, Theophilus Yartey; Director, Marketing, Franklin Sowa, and the Corporate Communications Manager, Emmanuel Arthur.
For UBA, Mr Ofikulu was joined by the Deputy Managing Director of the Bank, Uzoechina Molokwu, and other officials.
The purpose of GCGLs visit was to deepen the existing relationship between the two entities and to officially introduce Mr Yartey, who took office as the Editor, Graphic, in March this year, to the management of UBA.
Among other issues, the two sides discussed how they could collaborate to build a stronger relationship that would be of mutual benefit and create and share relevant business information with the public.
They agreed that since the GCGL and the UBA appealed to both regional and international clients, working together and leveraging the opportunities from both ends would help them to build stronger brands.
Graphics voice
Mr Ofikulu said the UBA was open to working with the GCGL to create informative content to fill the knowledge gap in the banking and finance space.
No other media organisation is older and bigger than the GCGL, so when we work together, we can provide financial advisory services.
Graphic being the voice of UBA is a great initiative, so we need to develop work streams to look at the areas of collaboration, he said.
Mutual benefit
For his part, Mr Afful said after playing a vanguard role in the media industry, the company was better placed to provide the platform for businesses to reach their audience.
He said the current Editor, Graphic, came to the position with a firm business background which meant that he understood the business ecosystem to help shape a better narrative for UBA and other entities.
Promotions above Chief Inspector rank done by Police Council and not IGP Dampare - Defence
Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Sep - 19 - 2023 , 14:45
The suit filed by forty Chief Inspectors of the Ghana Police Service against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the Police Management Board (POMAB) and the Attorney-General (A-G), over what they describe as the unjustifiable refusal of the service to promote them has no merit and, therefore should be dismissed by the court.
This is the defence filed by a State Attorney, Kweku Boakye-Boateng and made available to Graphic Online.
The defendants are of the contention that the IGP had power to only promote junior officers up to the rank of Chief Inspectors, upon the recommendation of the Appointments and Promotions Advisory Board (APAB) while promotions above the rank of Chief Inspector were under the purview of the Police Council upon the recommendation of APAB.
In a writ filed at the High Court in Kumasi and made available to Graphic Online, the police officers claim they were excluded from a series of promotions prompted by a special amnesty granted to police officers who passed out from police training schools by 2008 and had obtained university degrees as of 2020.
It is the case of the 40 police officers that in spite of serving between 25 and 30 years in the police service, the Police Administration had promoted their junior colleagues to other ranks under the same special amnesty but had refused to afford them the same treatment to aid their entry into the Police Academy in furtherance of their promotions to the ranks of Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
The plaintiffs said the refusal by the Police Administration to promote them had created a situation whereby their salary increment had been negatively affected, while their junior colleagues were now at par with them in terms of ranks, which further dampened morale in the service.
Special amnesty
The plaintiffs, in their statement of claim, detailing their case, stated that on February 8, 2021, the IGP directed all police officers who passed out from police training schools before or on December 31, 2008, and had obtained degrees as of December 31, 2020, to submit their degree certificates by February 26, 2021, for a special exercise.
The special amnesty, the IGP insisted, had nothing to do with entry into the senior cadre of the police service, but was purely an administrative decision in line with the powers vested in the IGP.
The referenced special amnesty promotion was purely an administrative policy decision to meet the exigencies of the time and absorb graduate junior officers who have been granted study leave or not per the published criteria, the statement of defence posited.
IGP powers
According to the police officers, they submitted certified copies of their degrees in compliance with the directive by the IGP.
Per the statement of claim, on July 21, 2021, the Police Administration implemented a series of promotions for their junior colleagues who submitted their degree certificates, under the special amnesty by granting such officers three incremental credits, moving them to the next rank.
General Corporals, the plaintiffs said, were promoted to Sergeants, Sergeants promoted to Inspectors and Inspectors promoted to Chief Inspectors.
Under the special amnesty promotions, Chief Inspectors who had duly submitted their university certificates and were in their incremental point have been granted a special amnesty and placed on maximum point of their rank with effect from July 1, 2021.
Sadly, Chief Inspectors who duly complied with the directives by submitting copies of their academic certificates who were promoted to their maximum point were only congratulated on their achievements by the IGP and the service, the plaintiffs added.
The plaintiffs accused the defendants of deliberately refusing to allow them into the Police Academy for promotion as ASPs in violation of their rights, while promoting their junior officers who had served fewer years in the service as compared to them.
Reliefs
The 40 police officers are using the suit to seek an order from the court directed at the defendants, especially the IGP and POMAB, to promote them in line with the special amnesty granted to other police officers.
Again, the plaintiffs are seeking an order for the defendants to grant them direct entry to the police academy unreservedly.
They further want an order for the IGP and POMAB to restore the lost income due to the plaintiffs as a result of the first and second defendants action of not promoting the plaintiffs under the special amnesty.
Defence
As part of the defence, the IGP said before a police officer could become a senior officer, the officer would have to pass a competitive examination to gain admission to the Police Academy or be given direct entry into the academy by a special recommendation by the Police Council in line with police regulations.
The special recommendation by way of direct entry into the Police Academy in line with the Police Service Regulations and on the authority of the Police Council is distinct from the powers and authority of the office of the first defendant (IGP) to promote to Chief Inspector in the maximum, the statement of defence stated.
Again, the defence statement said promotion of a senior officer in the police service was not solely based on higher academic qualification.
Promotion in the Ghana Police Service is based on competence, hard work, commitment and dedication to the service, exhibition of high level of professionalism and conduct that promote the integrity of the service, among others, the statement of defence added.
Somalia fighting twin crises
Emelia Ennin Abbey Sep - 19 - 2023 , 19:22
The humanitarian situation in Somalia is worsening due to a prolonged armed conflict and climate change, the African Union (AU) Commission has observed.
After a visit by a high-level African Union Commissions delegation to Somalia to assess the humanitarian situation, it said there was the need for all stakeholders to act promptly to save lives.
A representative of the African Union Commission sub-committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), Jainaba Jagne, who led the delegation, stressed the need to find urgent and sustainable solutions to the humanitarian crisis in Somalia.
Situation
While the activities of terrorists and counter terrorism operations were displacing the people of Somalia, Climate Change was also increasing the number of persons being displaced and stretching the limited humanitarian resources.
More than eight million people are reported to have been displaced internally, including those who have fled their homes for fear of violence and attacks, and farmers and pastoralists displaced due to the impacts of climate shocks such as flooding or drought.
Pastoralists raise and herd livestock as their main source of income and are commonly located in drylands.
Pastoralist communities represent 60 per cent of Somalias population.
Humanitarian agencies and interventions are finding it difficult to provide aid to the many internally displaced people because most of them are located in areas with active armed conflict and limited infrastructure.
As part of the visit, the delegation held discussions with the senior leadership of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), FGS officials, Ambassadors of Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs/PCCs), civil society groups, humanitarian partners and United Nations agencies.
They also visited and interacted with a number of sectors in Somalia, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Commissioner for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons and the Director General at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change.
Briefing journalists in Mogadishu at the end of the visit, Ms Jagne said the delegation during its interaction with different stakeholders, had learnt about the impact of the ongoing withdrawal of ATMIS troops on internally Displaced Persona (IDPs) living around Force Operating Bases (FOBs).
We have been informed that ATMIS provides clearance of safe routes for humanitarian services to the IDPs around them, water supply, medical services and even sometimes food.
Unfortunately as the drawdown continues, we would be having a congestion of IDPs at the last drawdown," she said.
She gave an assurance that the AU would discuss it with the Federal Government of Somalia and partners to ensure the rights of the vulnerable groups were protected in the context of the 2009 Kampala Convention on Protection and Assistance of Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Impact
Responding to questions on the magnitude of the drought in Somalia, she estimated that it would be running into millions of dollars.
The Political Officer at the Department of Health, Humanitarian and Social Development of the African Union Commission, Joseph Maada- Soyei said the Federal Government of Somalia could be able to tell the damage, cost and financial implication of climate change.
"We are quite aware that when disasters happen, they create an internal displacement within the country," he said, and added that the situation was complicated when climate change disasters forced people to cross borders to neighbouring countries.
"Then we would have to define the concept because immediately a displaced person crosses a border, he becomes a refugee, but we actually do not have in concept a climate refugee and that is the time we can actually have a challenge," he said.
Also, he said the medium-term solutions would involve getting back the victims livelihood and resilience so they could live in the society.
Following the visit, the delegation is expected to report part of the outcomes to the sub-committee on Returnees, Refugees and IDPs.
The delegation is also to sensitise the AU member states to help in Somalias drought and climate change challenges.
Support
Ms Jagne also announced that the delegation had donated $150,000 to assist the Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) with its relief efforts of providing humanitarian services to the citizens.
The gesture is in solidarity with the hundreds of residents displaced from their homes by the adverse effects of climate change.
She said the AU was also working on initiating projects and programmes to operationalise the African Humanitarian Agency, a continental agency, by next year, to tackle humanitarian challenges affecting member states, including Somalia.
Such moves, she indicated, would ensure continuous assistance to the people of Somalia.
Africa offers great potential for Wagner recruits - Prof. Vladimir Antwi-Danso
Zadok Kwame Gyesi Sep - 19 - 2023 , 13:00
Africa offers a great potential for the Wagner private military group to recruit due to the large army of unemployed youth on the continent.
This, according to Professor Vladimir Antwi-Danso, an international relations and security expert, will make it easier for the Wagner group in their assignments on the African continent.
Expressing fear about the issue, Professor Vladimir Antwi-Danso said Wagner as a private security group has every right to recruit from anywhere in the world but they may be recruiting from Africa due to the high unemployment rate.
Prof. Antwi-Dansos comments follows the arrest of some youth in the Fijai area in the Western Region of Ghana who are said to be mobilising as fans of the Wagner group and have also been hoisting Russian flags.
Prof. Antwi-Danso, who was speaking in a radio interview with Accra-based Citi FM on Tuesday afternoon, September 19, 2023, urged the security agencies to try and establish if the Wagner group was recruiting from Ghana or funding certain activities in Ghana.
According to the security expert, Ghanaian security agencies ought to be vigilant in their activities in order to enable them trace activities of such groups early, stressing that any clandestine activities in the country that could have security implications on the country's security must be well investigated.
He said if it turns out that the Wagner group is recruiting from Ghana, then the country should be careful since the returning recruits after their assignments could pose a threat to Ghanas security.
Prof. Antwi-Danso has, therefore, admonished the security services to infiltrate groups claiming to be fans of the Wagner group so that they will be able to obtain the needed information about their activities.
The Wagner group is a private military organisation run by an ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin with tens of thousands of fighters.
Young Entrepreneurs Startup Support Fund launched
Yaa Kuffour Senyah Sep - 19 - 2023 , 13:37
A startup fund, aimed at fostering mutual funding for small enterprise businesses within the country, has been launched.
Known as the Young Entrepreneurs Startup Support (YESS) Fund, it is designed as a solution to address issues of inadequate funding for startup businesses owned by members of the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs (GYCE).
The fund is structured to mobilise resources from members of GYCE as well as grants from partners to provide concessionary loans to its members.
It has been established by the GYCE, in partnership with the European Union and with funding from the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation under the GrEEn Project.
Fund
The Chief Executive Officer of GYCE, Sherif Ghali, announcing the operationalisation of the fund, explained that the country was endowed with vibrant youth who wanted to find solutions to the pressing challenges in the society.
However, accessibility to affordable funding remained the main challenge to young entrepreneurs who wanted to make a living for themselves and find solutions to problems faced in the society.
Thus Mr Ghali said the fund was created to help young innovators have access to financial resources and training, among other packages.
He indicated that the fund was currently worth a total of GH 3million, with a contribution of 250,000 euros from the SNV Green project.
Mr Ghali, however, expressed the hope that the fund would be worth GH10 million by the end of this year in order to expand the funds impact, nurture sustainable entrepreneurship to empower the youth to shape their economic future.
Support
The Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Barbara White Koala, said one of the organisations main aim was to strengthen capacities and catalyse partnerships that resulted in sustainable impact in three sectors of focus namely, agri-food, energy, and water systems.
Thus by funding the GrEEn Project, they were continuously showing their dedication to promoting the growth of green jobs and green businesses at the local and national level to support job creation and access to affordable financing for MSMEs within the country.
I would also like to commend the Ghana Chamber of Young Entrepreneurs for their partnership in setting up this fund to support access to funding for entrepreneurs at the local and regional level, she said.
Mrs Koala mentioned that the fund was open to all MSMEs in the country and for its GrEEn Project entrepreneurs as SNV in Ghana had invested 250,000 into the fund.
She added that her organisation was committed to building capacities for a long lasting impact beyond project finalisation as the fund was a sustainability measure to contribute to the expansion of MSMEs.
The Component Manager at the GIZ AgriBizproject, Bettina Schoop, commended the GYCE for the initiative, intimating that it would promote entrepreneurship, while creating sustainable jobs to contribute to the economic growth of the country.
She gave an assurance of her organisations commitment to support such initiatives to create green jobs to positively impact the society.
GCB Bank organizes medical screening for Tamale.
Mohammed Fugu Health Sep - 19 - 2023 , 11:42
ABOUT 1,000 residents of the Tamale Metropolis and its environs last Saturday benefitted from a free health screening exercise organized by the GCB Bank PLC as part of activities to mark its 70th anniversary celebration.
The beneficiaries were screened for many health conditions including eye and ear infections, blood pressure, diabetes, hepatitis B, malaria and HIV.
The beneficiaries were attended to by eye and ear specialists, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians and medical doctors.
Some of the beneficiaries who were screened and diagnosed with various diseases were given free medication, while others were counselled and referred to the hospital for further treatment.
Aside from the free health screening exercise, management and staff of the bank embarked on a health walk in the metropolis to sensitize the public to the need to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Led by the Managing Director of the bank, Kofi Adomakoh, the walk brought together about hundreds of participants for the five kilometers walk which commenced from the Tamale Jubilee Park and ended on the same premises with aerobics.
Healthy living
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr. Adomakoh said the exercise formed part of the banks corporate social responsibility (CSR) to give back to society, to ensure that the customers lived healthy lifestyles to continue doing business with the bank.
He reiterated the company's commitment to continue to give back to society, saying "the health of our cherished customers is very paramount.
This is just a symbolic exercise; we will continue to frequently organize free health check-up to help improve their health conditions.
He noted that many people did not undertake regular check-ups due to the lack of funds and their busy schedules, for which reason the company decided to conduct the screening exercise to enable them to access free medical treatment from specialists.
Advice
"Our key mandate is to make sure that the community enjoys the development and opportunities the bank creates.
When people enjoy the services rendered to them in good health, it will attract more customers to the bank, which will also demand more branches across the country, Mr. Adomakoh noted.
He, however, advised the people to make their health a priority by regularly visiting health centers for check-up, just as they treated their work and related matters.
Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to the Daily Graphic commended the bank for the gesture, saying it had made them aware of their health status.
Pentecost, Yilo Krobo hospitals receive 97,000 equipment
Maclean Kwofi Health Sep - 19 - 2023 , 11:25
The German Development Agency (GIZ) and Appointed Time, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies, have donated laboratory equipment worth over 97,000 (equivalent to GH1.2 million) to support two hospitals in the country.
The hospitals are Pentecost Hospital at Madina in the Greater Accra Region and Yilo Krobo Municipal Hospital in the Eastern Region.
Some of the equipment were PH meter, urine analyzer, water bath, water distiller, vein finder, Coombs machine and microscope-eyepieces.
The rest are centrifuge, roller hematology five-part, micropipette and glassware kits.
The donation was to fulfil a request by the management of the hospitals to meet the demand from the growing number of patients who visit their facilities daily.
Presentation
Presenting the equipment to the hospitals, the Chief Corporate Communication Officer at Jospong Group of Companies, Sophia Kudjordji, said the donation was to help address the pressure on the facilities.
She said some philanthropists personally presented 20 thermometers to the Executive Chairman of the Jospong Group, which he added to the items presented.
This afternoon, we are here with our colleagues from GIZ to do this presentation and we hope this will help management in taking care of their portion of the numerous challenges many hospitals are facing because of lack of resources. We believe that our widows mite will help solve some of your challenges," she added.
Appreciation
Receiving the items, the Medical Director at the Pentecost Hospital, Apostle Dr Edward Arko Kwarteng, said the equipment was going to complement managements effort in handling basic laboratory stuff.
We are happy to receive these items and assure you and GIZ that management is going to put them to the best of use.
We also trust that there will be a post-donation maintenance relationship, including the supply of reagents so that these machines can enjoy their lifespan and serve the community, Dr Kwarteng stated.
Dr Kwarteng thanked GIZ and the Jospong Group for the gift and asked for future collaboration.
Present at the ceremony was the Chaplain of the Group, Pastor Daniel Danso; Head of Zoomlion foundation, Thomas Korley, and other executives of the Jospong Group.
Adwoa Safo can seek re-election - Constituency Chairman.
Samuel Duodu Politics Sep - 19 - 2023 , 10:42
The Dome-Kwabenya Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Robert Osei-Bonsu, has said nothing stops the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Sarah Adwoa Safo, from seeking re-election in 2024.
He said the NPP as a democratic party would not stop any member of the party, including Ms. Safo, who had the intention to contest the partys parliamentary primary from going through the processes when nominations opened in constituencies the party had sitting MPs.
Per the timelines issued by the party, nominations would be opened on December 20, 2023, and closed on January 4, 2024, in constituencies where the NPP has sitting MPs, followed by election on February 24, 2024.
Processes
Mr. Osei-Bonsu, who was responding to the decision by Ms. Safo to go for re-election as the NPP MP for Dome-Kwabenya, in an interview with the Daily Graphic, however said she had to go through the partys processes of selecting its parliamentary candidates before she could contest again on the ticket of the party in 2024.
That, he said, included going for vetting after filing her nomination, saying as a three-term MP for the constituency, nothing stopped her from contesting for the fourth time but that would depend on the partys processes for electing its parliamentary candidates.
For her going for re-election, it will depend on what the party will say during her vetting and the constituents, Mr. Osei-Bonsu stated.
Intention
Ms. Safo, who entered Parliament in 2012 made her intentions known while speaking to journalists after touring the constituency.
Her decision to go for re-election comes on the heels of a public apology she offered to the President, the Vice-President, and the leadership of the NPP in a video she posted on her Facebook last week for what she said were actions that affected the party.
Recall
Ms. Safo was away for almost a year, leaving a vacuum in Parliament and the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, where she served as Minister.
The Dome-Kwabenya NPP MP was referred to the Privileges Committee of Parliament by the Speaker, Alban Bagbin, last year, to explain her absence from Parliament without permission for more than 15 sittings as spelt out by the 1992 Constitution.
She however failed to appear before the committee.
The Privileges Committee of Parliament decided to leave the determination of her fate to the entire plenary.
After a debate on the report by Parliament, the Speaker, Mr. Bagbin, deferred his ruling on Ms. Safo.
At stake was whether the Dome- Kwabenya seat should be declared vacant after Ms. Safo did not honor her summons by the Privileges Committee which considered her absenteeism.
Speaking after the debate on the report by the committee, Mr. Bagbin said he needed time to submit a written ruling.
Ongoing limited voter registration: EC chairs action unconstitutional Ablakwa
Daniel Kenu Politics Sep - 19 - 2023 , 09:27
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu Constituency in the Volta Region, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has said the action by the Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson, Jean Mensa, to limit the ongoing voter registration exercise to its district offices was unconstitutional, illogical, autocratic and amounted to voter suppression.
"The EC should amend its ways. As a Member of Parliament, I know we approved the EC's budget and money for equipment so it cannot claim to be handicapped," Mr Ablakwa said.
The North Tongu National Democratic Congress (NDC) MP urged civil society organizations, the Clergy and all those who matter to let their voices be heard on the matter.
Court action
Mr Ablakwa warned the EC that although it might succeed in going ahead with the exercise despite a legal suit by the party and four other political parties to halt the exercise, it should not be excited.
"Because we have a plan B and that's under wraps for now," he warned.
Mr Ablakwa was speaking to journalists at Battor last Thursday after initiating a "movement plan" to assist first-time voters in his area to register and decide who governs them in the next election.
The plan includes bussing the youth, mainly fresh graduates from the senior high schools to the district electoral office at Battor to be registered.
The MP is hoping to register at least 3,000 youths as well as assist others who have never registered before.
The communities to benefit from the support include Torgome, Fodzoku wards, Battor Township, Aveyime, Agbetikpo, Dedukope and Mape ward.
Threat
Mr Ablakwa's gesture followed threats by the constituents not to register if the EC did not bring voting centers close to them, especially those at Juapong and Torgome, who have made several appeals to the EC to move the voting center to their polling stations due to the cost involved.
On average, an individual may have to travel between 70 and 90 kilometers from different locations to the center.
For instance, transportation costs from Juapong to the Volta River banks cost GH23, and commuters pay about GH10 each to use the canoe to cross the river to Battor and then join a motorbike to the center.
The situation becomes even dire when each person will have to travel with two guarantors to Battor to register.
Against the backdrop of regular network challenges, the MP and his team have put in place measures to house the registrants (to sleepover) and continue with the exercise.
During the tour with the MP last Thursday to fully appreciate the challenge, the District Electoral Officer, Paulina Rolland Agbo, confirmed the network challenge but said it was being resolved.
Unlike the national elections where a person could vote even after 5 p.m. once they were in the queue, it was not applicable in this situation, thus, making some sleep overnight to continue the exercise the next day.
Disrespect
During the tour with journalists to have a first-time experience, including crossing the Volta River on a canoe, Mr Ablakwa said he considered the action by the EC chairperson and her team as disrespectful to his constituents.
He said it was obvious that they didn't travel to such communities to appreciate the challenges they face.
"Ridge, where the EC office is, is not Ghana. Accra is not Ghana. This is the real Ghana. Ghana includes all these people in the smaller villages whose contributions and taxes into the national kitty are used to cater for them (EC officials) and pay their salaries," he said.
He could not fathom how the people who donated their lands and agreed to be relocated for the Kpong and Akosombo dams to be built to help in the industrialization process of Ghana could be treated this way. Mr Ablakwa cited the Torgome and Fodzoku communities, whose sacrifices gave birth to the Kpong dam as well as the people of Atimpoku - the Akosombo dam.
Worry
The MP expressed concerns that his investment in the youth to register could affect other interventions he has rolled out, which include providing a one-month free accommodation and free laptops to newly posted nurses to the constituency.
North Tongu is one of the eighteen districts in Volta Region.
It was formerly part of the then larger and original North Tongu district created on March 10, 1989, with Adidome as its capital town, which was created from the former Tongu Council until the western part of the district was split off to create the new North Tongu District on June 28, 2012, with Battor Dugame as its capital.
Jared Barker was at a low point when he came to Omahas Open Door Mission.
The 29-year-old Grand Island native was struggling to get past his alcohol and substance addictions. After being in and out of treatment centers, Barker got his break when his probation officer informed him about Open Door Missions New Life Recovery Program.
While he entered the program cynical and hardheaded, Barker ended up embracing the rigid structure, strong support system and friendships he made throughout the four-month program that helps people down on their luck get on track to lead fulfilling lives.
I had to realize that God put the authorities above me for a reason, and I needed to submit to them, he told the Omaha World-Herald. When I did, things started to change inside. That reflected on the outside.
Now, after graduating from the program Saturday, Barker is looking forward to helping others at Open Door Mission and continuing to build a solid foundation for his life that will allow him to be a good father to his 3-year-old daughter.
Barker is just one example of success in turning his life around with the help of Open Door Mission. Nyakong Lia, Sandra Starks, Janelle Wolfe, Sandra Husak, Elijah Knight, Andrew Rubens and Tyler Holmes joined Barker in graduating from the New Life Recovery Program in a ceremony held at Garland Thompson Mens Center in east Omaha.
About 60 people graduate from the approximately 15-year-old New Life Recovery Program per year, said Steve Frazee, chief impact officer for Open Door Mission. Some, like Barker, initially struggle. But with the guidance of program counselors and support from their peers, theres usually an A-ha! moment.
We just look out for each other, Barker said. (When) we see somebody struggling, we talk to them. We dont just let them sit in their stuff.
For Janelle Wolfe, the Aha! moment came after she failed a Breathalyzer. The Open Door Mission staff offered her a spot in the program. It was then that she said she felt Gods calling.
It was tough at first. But I knew I needed it, Wolfe told the crowd. I got so much closer to Jesus Christ.
With her life back on track, Wolfe said she wants to get an apartment and remain in close touch with her faith as well as the people in her support group.
Those who graduate from the program show a lot of determination. For that, Chief Impact Officer Steve Frazee said, graduates deserves their moment in the sun. He said Open Door Mission tries to have six to 10 graduates recognized each month.
That gives everybody a chance to be in the spotlight and not be overshadowed or have people get tired of hearing the speeches, he said. We like to focus on their experience here and what they plan to do in the future.
For Barker, his ultimate goal is to one day be actively involved in his daughters life in North Dakota. But that will have to wait as he ties up financial loose ends in Nebraska.
God wants me here for a reason, he said.
Photo: Hugo Yu
New York is not an injera town, which I know because I grew up in Injeratown, USA, also known as Washington, D.C. There, countless corner stores and restaurants well into the Maryland and Virginia suburbs offer the brown flatbread, sometimes so fresh its still warm, thanks to the areas large diaspora of Ethiopian and Eritrean immigrants.
There are only about 20 Ethiopian restaurants across New York City. Ive been to almost all of them, and injera is often the weakest part of the meal. Many places make it themselves either by choice or necessity but the fermented teff-flour batter is famously finicky, so quality and consistency can vary wildly. Ive had square injera, thin injera, and injera that was so white I wondered if it included any teff at all. The worst offense is dry injera, which can happen within a day, leading to cracks along the edges and a crumbly texture that undoes the breads sauce-soaking appeal.
I knew as soon as I saw the injera platter at Bersi a vegan Ethiopian restaurant that opened in Greenpoint this summer that it was the good stuff. It had the deep-umber shade that speaks to a high percentage of teff; its height was slightly thick from adequate leavening, also evident in the pattern of fine (but not too fine) bubbles across the top, referred to as eyes in Amharic. Picking it up to unravel a roll, I noted the soft, supple elasticity evidence it had been made that afternoon.
Its prepared fresh by chef Bersabeh Ayele, who goes by Bersi and who owns the restaurant along with Hailu Woldeselassie. Ayele immigrated to New York 15 years ago and started making injera in 2015, first for people in her church community and then for a few Ethiopian restaurants. The conditions in New York are very different from those in Ethiopia, and her recipe is the result of much trial and error. She prefers a darker-colored injera herself, but the extra teff flour required does make it more expensive than one cut with more wheat.
Injera both lines the plate over which stews, veggies, and salads are arranged and is the utensil for consuming everything. Bersis injera is particularly suited to absorb whatever comes its way while maintaining the barrier between fingers and food: misir wot (saucy spiced lentils) surrounded by collard greens, sauteed mushrooms, string-bean-and-carrot stew, and shimbra asa, firm chickpea-flour fritters simmered in a legitimately spicy berbere sauce.
But there is no more compatible partner for fresh injera than shiro, a smooth chickpea sauce best served straight from the stove since it thickens as it cools. At Bersi, its delivered to the table in a small clay pot, furiously bubbling under its lid before its on the plate. When the fresh injera is dragged through, the shiro sinks into the pores and clings all around. It is a perfect bite.
Everything at Bersi is vegan. Photo: Hugo Yu
Nebraskas second house participated in the legislative process with unprecedented numbers and passion this year.
Hundreds showed up in person, filling legislative hearing rooms, overflow rooms and Capitol hallways for hearings on guns, abortion, LGBTQ issues, voter identification and election reform bills. Hundreds more called or wrote state lawmakers or lobbied senators in person. Many came to protest or watch debate.
But many also left frustrated at not being able to testify or angry about how a hearing had been managed. A few were arrested for their behavior in and around the legislative chamber. One was banned from the Capitol, at least temporarily.
Before lawmakers gather again in January, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista hopes to find better ways to ensure that Nebraskans, often dubbed the second house to the states one-house Legislature, can have their voices heard and engage productively with lawmakers.
Toward that end, he introduced LR179. The interim study resolution calls for examining issues and concerns around public participation and making recommendations for change.
Ensuring that residents of Nebraska have the opportunity to have their voices heard is vital to the legislative process, the resolution said. To ensure fair and useful dialogue, there must be a standard of respect and decorum in place for both the public, that observes, engages, and testifies in front of the Legislature, and the members of the Legislature.
Arch said he wants to identify specific things the Legislature can do differently to improve the process.
I envision the outcomes could include some new practices implemented by the Legislature and individual committee chairs and also identify where the Legislature can do a better job of communicating our practices/procedures to the public, he said.
Currently, legislative committee chairs set most guidelines for hearing testimony. When time is short or the list of testifiers is long, chairs often set time limits on individual testimony with green, yellow and red lights to warn speakers.
At times, chairs have limited the total time allocated for proponents, opponents and neutral testimony or have allowed alternating blocks of time, so that committee members can hear different views before the hour gets late and attention spans wane.
Other hearing practices are common to all committees and set by legislative rules or tradition. Those include relatively new methods of providing input, including online comments and the option for people with disabilities to provide written, on-the-record testimony.
LR179 provides for a study of state laws, rules and regulations, and the Legislatures official and unofficial practices and procedures concerning public participation. It also calls for an examination of constitutional provisions relevant to the publics right to access the State Capitol and attend public activities.
The latter provoked some concerns about whether the study was aimed at limiting access. Sen. Tom Briese of Albion, who chairs the Legislatures Executive Board, acknowledged those concerns but denied there was any desire to curb public access.
Its important to have an open and transparent process, he said. Enhancing access has to be done in an orderly and fair manner.
The study also will look at whether to require that everyone who attends a hearing be offered a chance to testify, the existence of uniform rules on public testimony among committees and alternatives to public hearings for people to make their voices heard.
Arch, working with the Executive Board, has invited 13 organizations to reach out to their members and come up with an answer to the question: What do you consider to be the top five areas of concern with respect to the publics ability to effectively engage in the legislative process?
According to his office, the 13 organizations have historically been involved with the legislative process and range across the political spectrum. OpenSky Policy Institute and the Platte Institute are among those that have agreed to participate. They have until Sept. 21 to provide their answers.
Answers provided by the organizations will then be used to solicit ideas for addressing those top concerns, which could then be turned into recommendations for action. Arch used a similar format in 2020 for an interim study concerning telehealth.
The study also will include a survey of how other states handle public participation.
Samsung wants to turn the telephoto modules on smartphones into a second main camera. By that the company means that current tele sensors are smaller and lower resolution, they are behind on features like HDR and video frame rates too when compared to the phones main camera.
To be a proper second main camera, the tele module will need a sensor that is good enough for the main camera and Samsung thinks that its 200MP sensors like the ISOCELL HP2 and HP3 are the right tools for the job.
ISOCELL HP2 and HP3 vs. ISOCELL sensors currently used in telephoto cameras
200MP sensors are already used in some phones that dont quite have the budget for a separate telephoto lens. These sensors typically have 2x and 4x zoom capabilities at the same resolution (i.e. 12.5MP, which also tends to be the default for the main camera too).
Here is an example what can be achieved with such a camera:
The native zoom capabilities of a 200MP sensor
They have plenty of pixels to throw at the problem and might even beat a low resolution sensor with a long lens in cases where the user zooms in past the lens focal length. Here is a 4x zoom with a 200MP sensor and an 11MP sensor that combines 3x optical and 1.3x digital zoom (for a close 3.9x total):
200MP sensor with a wide lens vs. 11MP sensor with optical and digital zoom
This is what we have today. For the future, Samsungs 200MP sensors might find themselves behind a 3x tele lens then they will offer 3x, 6x and 12x zoom. Heres a demo of what will be possible:
12.5MP image captured by 200MP in-sensor zoom and some areas enlarged to show details
The ISOCELL HP2 and HP3 are 1/1.3 and 1/1.4 sensors, respectively, and they have a lot in common. They use a 4x4 deep-learning remosaic algorithm, which is what takes the sensors 4x4 TetraPixel arrangement and reshuffles it into RGB. This is done on the fast DSPs and GPUs of modern smartphone chipsets. These are premium sensors with advanced autofocus and HDR capabilities to boot, making them better than the typical sensor used in telephoto cameras today.
Effective pixel size of the HP2 at different resolutions
Samsung also touts the importance of tele lenses for portrait photography. For starters, the main camera on todays phones it way to wide for a good portrait and it causes distortion. This is why longer lenses are preferred.
Face distortion with a 24mm lens vs. 85mm lens
Tele lenses also naturally create a bokeh to separate the subject from the background. And while todays computational photography bokehs are pretty good, they still mess things up sometimes. Samsung notes that a larger sensor will create a shallower depth of field than a smaller one at the same focal length, so these HP sensors will be a boon for portrait shots too.
You can follow the Source link to read Samsungs detailed post on why 200MP telephoto cameras are the future. However, there you wont find any concrete plans to bring them to market.
Right now were hearing murmurs that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will have a 50MP 3x camera (up from 10MP 3x on the S23 Ultra), which will offer native 3x and 6x zoom, but thats still short of the hypothetical 200MP 3x camera demoed above. So we probably wont see it next year, but if the company is talking about it today, it probably already has something in the lab.
This is, of course, an alternative to Sonys approach, which uses variable focal length lenses like traditional cameras do. That has only been seen on Xperia phones for now, although other brands are experimenting with such lenses too.
Source
Editors Note: PDNs Ron Rocky Coloma traveled to Berlin, Germany while studying abroad in Florence, Italy.
From the breathtaking facades of Museum Island, which has world-class institutions such as the Neues Museum and the Pergamon, to the tantalizing flavors of various cuisines, Berlin is a dynamic city that provides a great balance between art and gastronomy.
Follow me along as I enter the annals of time and immerse myself into the sensory feast that Berlin offers.
Day 1
Marie-Elisabeth-Luders House
I arrived in Berlin, Germany in the afternoon because I had classes in Florence, Italy in the morning. My first stop was the Marie-Elisabeth-Luders House, which is erected along the River Spree and recognized as the epitome of contemporary architecture. It features a mix of concrete and glass, which was designed by German architect Stephan Braunfels.
Named after the womens rights activist and social reformer Marie-Elisabeth Luders, The Luders House symbolizes Germanys devotion to democratic values, transparency and gender equality.
Inside the building lies the German Parliaments scientific service centers, which comprises the parliamentary library and archives.
Berlin Cathedral
One of the majestic buildings in Berlins Museum Island is the Berlin Cathedral. It is an awe-inspiring view that is more than just a place of worship. The adorned sarcophagi that are situated in the crypt below the cathedral belong to the Hohenzollern family.
The building was built in 1905 and has survived the bombings from World War 2 representing the enduring character of Berlin.
Once you enter the cathedral, you will be amazed by the history and art inside. I was fascinated with the grand pipe organ, which is able to make more than 7,000 different sounds.
When you reach the top of the dome, you will be mesmerized by the astounding panoramic view of Berlin.
Banh Xeo Saigon
For dinner, I went to Banh Xeo Saigon to begin my culinary journey in Germany. The first dish I ordered was the Bun Ga Xao Sa Ot, which is composed of chicken, lemongrass, chili and herbs.
The chicken beautifully complements the lemongrass and chilis heat. The peanuts, on the other hand, shocked me in a splendid way because of its unanticipated addition of crunchiness. The rice noodles were a solid base for the entire meal while the roasted onions provided a discreet sweetness that stabilized the vivid flavors. The salad on the dish was also very fresh and crisp, which counterpoints the dishs heat.
The second dish I ordered was the Thit Bo Xao Sa Ot, which is composed of beef roasted to perfection accompanied with peppers and lemongrass. The beef was very rich and was balanced by the citrus flavor of the lemongrass and the peppers fiery addition.
Chipi Chipi Bombon
I ventured to the vibrant Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood after exploring Vietnamese food and consumed a scoop of coffee gelato from Chipi Chipi Bombon.
The Argentinian ice cream parlor is a charming spot that I found. It is very cozy and warm inside. I also found it cool that the name of the shop roughly translates to something small and cute, because it perfectly describes the interior of the building.
Day 2
Neues Museum
I started my second day in Berlin as a scholar with a visit to the prominent Neues Museum a phoenix risen from the ashes. The institution survived during the Second World War and was restored and reopened in 2009.
I was very fascinated with the artifacts I saw from the ancient world. My favorite piece was the Bust of Nefertiti whose beauty captivated anyone who has seen it in the span of more than 3,000 years.
Whether its the Bronze Age displays or the Egyptians courtyards that are ornamented with hieroglyphics, the Neues Museum took me into a different epoch every time I entered a different door.
Mogg
For lunch, I ate at one of Berlins culinary gems called Mogg. Located in the Mitte District in a former Jewish girls school, the restaurant has a cozy atmosphere perfect for a casual hangout with a friend.
I ordered the shakshuka, a Middle Eastern classic that was served in a cast-iron skillet. It consisted of tomatoes, onions, peppers and poached eggs. The tomato base melded well with the creamy yolk and the spices made the meal more delightful. They also provided bread, which was used for finishing the sapid sauce.
Pergamon Museum
A 13-minute walk from Mogg lies a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Pergamon Museum. Located at the center of Berlins Museum Island, the institution exhibits artifacts from the ancient city of Babylon to the Roman emperors courts.
Entering the museum, you will encounter the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, a blue-glazed structure that is decorated with images of aurochs and dragons. It is pretty cool to learn that Babylon was one of the biggest cities in the world during ancient times. So when I stepped through the gate, I was transported back to a prosperous time of history.
I recommend seeing the Pergamon Altar, which is a massive structure from the 2nd century BC. It is decorated with a frieze that portrays the narrative of the Greek gods challenging the Giants. In addition, there is also the Market Gate of Miletus a Roman artwork that epitomizes Roman architectures magnificence.
Adana Grillhaus
After exploring the Pergamon Museum, I entered the multicultural neighborhood of Kreuzberg. Craving for a Turkish meal, I chose to eat at Adana Grillhaus. I ordered the Karisik Tavuk Izgara, which is referred to as Mixed Chicken Grill.
This particular meal portrays the beauty of Turkish grilling traditions. The pieces of chicken, which were skillfully grilled, were marinated in a series of aromatic spices. I loved how the smoky, spiced chicken delightfully contradicted the cool, crisp salad. The rice offered a solid base that unified the whole dish too. I will definitely return to this restaurant in the future when Im in Berlin.
From these experiences, Ive come to realize that Berlin is a city that seamlessly connects its past with its future. Whether you are a history lover, a foodie or a curious wanderer, Berlin will not disappoint.
American Rescue Plan Act funds under Gov. Lou Leon Guerreros control was down to about $213 million as of Aug. 31, but most or $153 million of that is still being saved for a new public hospital that will cost some $1 billion to build.
Total federal ARP funds allocated for Guam continue to increase, however.
Its now more than $593 million, up from $586.9 million a few months ago, and from about $553 million in late 2021.
Meanwhile, the governors ARP fund allocation for a new Guam Memorial Hospital has gone down tremendously over the past two years, starting with $300 million in 2021 to $160 million early this year and then to $153 million. Adelup had yet to respond to questions as of press time.
The governors hospital project has been paused, however, because the lease for a medical campus location near Eagles Field in Mangilao has been canceled.
With about 72% of the remaining federal ARP funds being saved for the hospital project, that means only $59 million is available for all other programs and activities that are supposed to help Guam recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These include funding for another round of assistance for small businesses, through the Local Employers Assistance Program, which seeks to help more small businesses still reeling from the pandemic. Theres no telling when these additional funds will reach small businesses.
The governor has until Dec. 31, 2024 to obligate or encumber the funds. The deadline to spend all the money is Dec. 31, 2026.
Latest data from the Bureau of Budget and Management Research, in its report to the Legislature, shows that as of Aug. 31, more than $380 million in ARP funds was already spent and obligated,
Of that amount, $362.8 million was spent, and $17.6 was encumbered, leaving a total of nearly $212.7 million available.
DependentSen. Telo Taitague said the government of Guams is becoming too dependent on pandemic relief funds.
These monthly reports regarding the use of American Rescue Plan Act funds are even more concerning in light of our most recent budget sessions, she said in a statement Tuesday.
Taitague cited the latest report showing what she believes is a continuing trend of relief funds being spent on employee salaries and benefits, more than $2 million of which is for the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor in August alone.
Not to mention the salaries for people who had a limited role, if any, in pandemic recovery, like the Guam Ethics Commission, she said. My Republican colleagues and I spent many hours cautioning against appropriating money we cant count on, such as unaudited excess revenues and federal relief money. If these funds are being spent on salaries, how will those employees be paid when federal support ends? The ARPA reports are proving that GovGuam has become too dependent on pandemic relief funds.
These ARP funds under the governors control are on top of pandemic funds specific to the Guam Department of Education.
Heres where most of the $596 million in ARP money under the governors control were allocated:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced that the U.S. Navy has successfully completed a 2011 Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement, or FFCA, at Naval Base Guam.
For over 12 years and at a cost of $130 million, the Navy carried out significant infrastructure upgrades to the Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant and sewer system, along with modifications to a water plant, EPA said.
The Navy also improved pollution monitoring and completed technical studies.
EPA appreciates the Navys important accomplishment in fulfilling the compliance agreement and finishing a range of projects to protect Tipalao Bay and Apra Harbor, EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement.
Guzman said the completion of this work is critical to preserving public health, water quality, and coral reefs in Guam.
Capt. Michael Luckett, Naval Base Guam commanding officer, said the Navy values the partnership with the EPA over the years to assist with Naval Base Guams compliance responsibilities.
The successful completion of the FFCA shows our commitment to environmental compliance that meets or exceeds applicable local and federal environmental laws, regulations, and policies, he said. The Navy is committed to being good stewards of the environment. We will continue working with our community partners to help preserve and protect our natural resources and environment in which we live and work.
In November 2008, under the Clean Water Act and EPAs National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System program, EPA issued a Finding of Violation at Naval Base Guam covering the discharge from the Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Additionally, EPA found discharge exceedances from leaking sewer collection pipes and inadequate treatment from ship bilge, or waste holding area, collection systems.
On March 25, 2011, EPA and the Navy entered into an FFCA.
EPA conducted an inspection in February 2023 and verified that the Navy had completed all requirements of the agreement, including:
Upgrading the Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Instituting a base-wide pollution prevention program to minimize the release of metals, oils, and other pollutants into the sewer system.
Constructing and operating a bilge oily water treatment system to treat ship discharges.
Modifying the drinking water plant to curtail the discharge of aluminum-based treatment chemicals into the sewers and to prevent the leaching of copper from household piping.
Replacing and rehabilitating over 30 miles of sewer pipes, hundreds of sewer manholes, force mains, and pump stations.
Completion of the agreement means the discharge from the Naval Base Guams Apra Harbor Wastewater Treatment Plant is now meeting Clean Water Act requirements, EPA said.
In just 30 days after the strongest storm to hit Guam in 20 years, the Guam Waterworks Authority went from having only 60 water wells operable the day after Typhoon Mawar to fully restoring island-wide water distribution, GWA general manager Miguel Bordallo said.
In a GWA work session Tuesday morning, Bordallo acknowledged the employees that helped with GWAs path to restoration.
We had 161 total operations personnel working 12-hour shifts, and those shifts commenced the day before the day the storm, Bordallo said. It ended on June 12 for most of the staff except for water production, who have been pulling those shifts until July 5.
Bordallo said the 100% island-wide water distribution may not have been possible without some help from federal agencies.
The Department of Defense and Joint Region Marianas were excellent. They provided immediate assistance from Navy water sources to speed up recovery. They also provided coordination and quick deployment of master meter interconnections, Bordallo said.
He said the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers were initially a bit cumbersome.
But once they started, it was really efficient. They did a really great job of getting us generators and getting the fuel to keep them running. They were even sometimes faster than we were, he said.
Despite the assistance from the other agencies, Bordallo still provided his criticism of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
I cant say the same thing about US EPA. They were supposed to be the water infrastructure subject matter experts, but GWA did not necessarily lack water operations expertise. What we did not have was working generators, Bordallo said. They were wanting information above and beyond what we were already providing the Joint Information Center. People that they initially sent out were enforcement folks.
Bordallo also that despite USEPAs initial claims of a mission to support, their mindset was instead on verifying GWAs actions.
USEPA, who were here to support, demanded that we take them out there and show them. We had to pull people from their response activities and have USEPA see what we already told Guam EPA, Bordallo said. We already provided photographic evidence. They were just being really difficult, so thumbs down for them.
Despite GWAs relatively quick recovery, Bordallo said there was still room for improvement.
First, we need better communications. Thats one of the areas where we suffered, he said. We could do a better job of generator maintenance. We should consider maintenance contracts with the new generators that are provided.
Joey Duenas, chairman of the Consolidated Commission on Utilities, commended Bordallo and his team.
This is the first storm that GWA has gone through under the CCU as a professional entity, Duenas said. Its only going to get better.
At the Tuesday opening of Philippine Airlines ticketing office at Micronesia Mall, airline officials marked a recovery in its Guam travel market while also encouraging travelers to book their tickets early for Christmas.
Salvador Bud Britanico Jr., vice president of sales for Philippine Airlines, said the Guam market has not only recovered but has also exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
This holds true for both the market from the Philippines to Guam and from Guam to Manila. We have resumed our daily flights and are operating on a schedule reminiscent of pre-pandemic times. Our passenger loads consistently reach 80%, he said.
Currently, Philippine Airlines is on a promising path to recovery, said Rene C. Lao, executive director of Goodwind Development Corp.
While Lao emphasized the challenges Guam has faced, including the impact of COVID-19 and Typhoon Mawar, he also stressed the need to restore normalcy to Guam and revive the spirit of adventure through travel.
During the event, Philippine Airlines officials also emphasized the strategic importance of Guam within the Asia Pacific region and highlighted the islands pivotal role in their global network.
Britanico noted that Guams central location in the region makes it a crucial point for connecting passengers to destinations worldwide through the airlines Manila hub.
Furthermore, Britanico highlighted that passengers from Guam now enjoy improved connectivity via Manila due to the consolidation of all flights at Terminal 1. This eliminates the need for transfers, particularly for international destinations.
What we can offer to Guam residents is the opportunity to fly to various parts of the world via Manila. For those eager to travel, destinations like Singapore and Bangkok are now easily accessible, he said.
Holiday travelFor travelers who are looking forward to the upcoming holiday season, Philippine Airlines recommends booking tickets early to secure the best deals.
For those planning to travel during Christmas, we suggest booking tickets early to prepare for the holiday season. We are currently offering an ultimate seat sale until Sept. 24, which can be used to book flights from October until next year, he added.
During the event, Guam Visitors Bureau General Manager Carl Gutierrez also stressed the importance of the Guam visa waiver program, stating that it has the potential to increase the number of Filipinos coming to Guam, both for tourism and as part of the H2-B visa worker program.
Besides tourists, foreign workers also come from the Philippines for military projects in Guam and Micronesia.
Britanico expressed agreement with the potential for growth in the Guam market, particularly with initiatives like the proposed visa waiver program of Filipinos to Guam. He reassured that Philippine Airlines is readily available to provide advice and consultation in the process.
Britanico also emphasized that the airlines commitment to delivering the Filipino brand gives it a competitive edge as it aligns with the expected increase in projects on Guam, both government and private sector-driven.
A new Guam Youth Congress bill seeks a 40% excise tax on vaping products, seeking to curb vaping which, according to the main author, has become an epidemic among the islands youth.
Youth Congress Rep. Kyan Toh, main author of the Stop Addiction through Vaping Excise Act of 2023, said setting an excise tax of 40% on vaping products, which include vaping devices and paraphernalia sold on Guam, will discourage the youth from buying these harmful substances.
Vaping has become an epidemic amongst my fellow youth; we all know someone who should not be using vaping products but does so anyway, Toh said in a statement. As the youth of this island, we cannot sit idly knowing that our peers are inhaling chemicals and toxins that have lasting negative impacts on their health.
Toh, who represents Father Duenas Memorial School in the Guam Youth Congress, introduced this week the S.A.V.E. bill with seven cosponsors.
They are Reps. Wuju Rachael Cho, Austin Fortuno, Kaitlyn Galindez, Julie Laxamana, Billy Mann, Vinh Nguyen, and Nathan Paz.
The bill would also require companies to acquire a business license from the Department of Revenue and Taxation if they are to sell any wholesale or retail vaping products.
The annual retail license for this type of business would be $200 while an annual wholesaler license would be $2,000, according to the bill.
Under the bill, companies found to be selling vaping products without a license would also be subject to the following:
A companys first violation will be a fine of $500.
A companys second violation will be a fine of $1,000.
A companys first violation would be fines between $2,000 and $5,000. The company would also not be eligible for another vaping license application for seven years after the date the fine was assessed.
If the S.A.V.E. Act becomes law, vaping products will finally be regulated in a similar manner to cigarettes and tobacco products, Toh said. The S.A.V.E. Act will impose a tax on all vaping products sold in Guam to reduce the usage of nicotine devices among the islands youth and is modeled on the Tobacco Control Act of 2006.
The bill was approved by the Committee on Rules and was referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services and Gender Affairs.
Toh cited data from the 2021 Guam State Epidemiological Profile, which shows Guams youth have the highest rate of ever and current use of vaping products among the countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with 49.6% of the surveyed youth using the products.
Consumers will be less incentivized to purchase and use these harmful substances. It is simple economics: as the price of a good increases, the demand decreases. That is exactly what we are trying to accomplish for vaping products with the S.A.V.E Act, Toh said.
Toh also said there needs to be comprehensive reform that will have lasting impacts on deterring the use of these products.
The S.A.V.E. Act is a step toward improving the lives of everyone who calls Guam home, Toh said. The youth is supposed to be the future of our island. The longer we wait to take action, the longer we are harming the future of Guam.
If passed by Guams 37th Legislature, Tohs bill will also create a new revenue stream for the government of Guam by disbursing the tax revenues into five special revenue funds:
Jayne Flores is the director of the Bureau of Womens Affairs.
A Jamestown man accused of striking and killing a bicyclist in Stutsman County last year has been sentenced to probation and community service.
Authorities say James Lees, who was 78 at the time, was driving a pickup truck that rear-ended the bicycle on state Highway 20 north of Jamestown the afternoon of June 19, 2022. Rider Timothy St. John, 20, of Northbrook, Illinois, was declared dead at the scene.
Lees this past June pleaded guilty to felony negligent homicide, and a more serious felony charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death was dismissed. He was sentenced Monday to three years of supervised probation and 200 hours of community service, court documents show.
Southeast District Judge James Hovey suspended a five-year prison term and recommended Lees' driver's license be suspended for 25 years.
Haiti - Water War : The human rights expert in Haiti urges the DR to reconsider their decision
The designated United Nations expert on human rights in Haiti, William O'Neill, strongly reacted to the decision of the Dominican Republic to close all of its borders due to the continued construction of an irrigation canal in Haiti having to have a water intake on the Massacre River.
William O'Neill :
"[...] I am extremely alarmed by the decision of the Government of the Dominican Republic to close its land, sea and air border with Haiti. I urge the Government to reconsider its decision which will have serious impacts on people on both sides of the border. I further urge both governments to return to the negotiating table and follow the process outlined by the Joint Declaration of 27 May 2021 to reach a peaceful resolution of this dispute."
Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs :
"[...] We categorically reject Mr. O'Neill's biased and unfortunate statements. First of all, we reaffirm that any dialogue with Haiti is conditional on the effective cessation of the unilateral and illegal construction of the canal on the Dajabon River. The joint declaration of May 27, 2021 to which Mr. O'Neill refers was based on this condition https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33823-haiti-agriculture-diversion-of-the-massacre-river-in-search-of-a-solution-with-the-dr.html , as confirmed by the statements of Minister Roberto Alvarez of May 31, 2021 and his communication to the Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs of July 6, 2021, in which the Minister reiterated its call for dialogue under this condition."
William ONeill :
[...] On the Haitian side, the impact will be even more dire. Due to the insecurity and gang violence in Haiti, many essential products like food, medical equipment and medicines are imported from the Dominican Republic [...]
Haiti receives at least 25% of its food from the Dominican Republic. Many schools in the border area purchase the food they use to provide lunch to their students. Access to water will also be further hindered.
I urge the Dominican Republic to allow the delivery of all forms of humanitarian assistance and essential goods to Haiti to avoid further exacerbating an already grave crisis that especially endangers the most vulnerable, including children and the elderly. [...]"
Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs :
"[...] The Dominican Government takes note of the request to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Haiti, but reiterates that the immediate and definitive solution to this problem is in the hands of Haiti, when it decides to end construction of the canal.
William O'Neill :
"[...] I finally call on both the Dominican and Haitian authorities to share all relevant information on the water table, hydrological studies, environmental impacts and other information outlined in the May 2021 Joint Statement to achieve a peaceful and quick end to this crisis. If such an agreement cannot be reached, I encourage both parties to agree to an international arbitration to resolve their differences."
Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs :
"[...] is important to clarify that it is premature to speak of international arbitration when there is no conflict between two governments, since the crisis was generated by Haitian private actors, opportunistic and irresponsible, added to the humanitarian, public order and security crisis in Haiti, which affects the ability of the Government of Haiti to enforce the rule of law.
Let's remember that already in 2021, this canal was the subject of conflict https://www.haitilibre.com/article-33945-haiti-flash-canal-sur-la-riviere-massacre-en-haiti-le-president- dominicain-abinader-hausse-le-ton.html President Abinader deplored that the Haitian Government had started the work without informing the Dominican authorities, despite the fact that there is an agreement on water management at the border emphasizing that the Dominican Republic cannot allow intervention on the Massacre River, which mainly originates in the Dominican Republic without the advice of the Dominican Government. This is simply unacceptable for us [] We want first, that they stop the construction of the canal, and then we can discuss a combined and effective management of the water resources of the border. But they must stop the construction of the canal, that is our demand."
HL/ HaitiLibre
Haiti - Environment: Signing of a MoU between the OPC and Impulse Webmedias
As part of the fight against environmental degradation and for the promotion of a healthy environment for a better living environment, Renan Hedouville, Citizen Protector of the Office of the Citizen Protector (OPC) and Ms. Lovelie Stanley Numa, President and CEO of Impulse Webmedias, signed a Memorandum of Understanding last week
This protocol will make it possible to support Impulse Webmedias, a young organization of journalists as information professionals, but above all as citizens, through concrete actions, specified Raphael Theoma Daniel, Director of Promotion of OPC
"The signing of this document is of capital importance, because the issue of the environment is very important in terms of human rights," underlined Renan Hedouville, who explained that the OPC, as an institution for promotion and for the protection of human rights, broadens its mission by addressing the issue of human rights in a broader context, placing particular emphasis on the right to a peaceful and healthy environment.
Ms. Lovelie Stanley Numa, stressed that thanks to this agreement and the support of the OPC, her team plans to raise awareness among the population through training, articles and podcasts related to environmental protection and sustainable development, in order to encourage every Haitian to become eco-citizens in their daily lives.
HL/ HaitiFree
Haiti - Diplomacy : New Ambassador of Canada to Haiti
Monday, September 18, 2023, Melanie Joly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada, announced the appointment of Andre Francois Giroux to the post of Ambassador of Canada to Haiti. He replaces Sebastien Carriere in this position who has completed his mandate.
"Canada continues to play a leadership role in the response to the ongoing political, security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti through the coordination of international security assistance, the implementation of targeted sanctions and the provision of humanitarian and development assistance to support the urgent needs of the Haitian people. Canada will continue to support Haiti and advocate for Haitian-led solutions to the current crisis in the country.
The experience Mr. Giroux has gained during his distinguished career at Global Affairs Canada will prove vital in his new role as Ambassador of Canada to Haiti as he furthers Canadas important work with international partners and Haitian stakeholders to bring lasting peace and stability to the country.
Canada is committed to continuing to work with its international partners to support Haiti and its people in addressing the widespread violence, crime, and corruption in the country. I would like to express my most sincere thanks to Sebastien Carriere, who has worked tirelessly to support Canadas efforts in Haiti over the last 2 years, and congratulate Andre Francois Giroux, who will continue this important work."
HL/ HaitiLibre
Public libraries in Aurora, near Chicago, were closed Monday after receiving bomb threats. They remained closed for much of the day, and were open reopened only after a thorough search bypolice found no threats in any of the buildings there. The threats follow others earlier this month that led authorities to evacuate several other libraries in the Chicago area.
At 11:17 a.m. on 9.14.23 officers were dispatched to the APLD branches after a threat was received through an online source. A physical search of each location was conducted, and no threats were located. Thank you to the Aurora Police Department for everything.
Illinois has prohibited libraries from removing books due to political pressurea move described as a ban on book banswhich has made conservatives even madder.
Haiti - News : Zapping...
BAC : Low national success rate
The NATIONAL success rate for the single baccalaureate for the year 2022/2023 is 36.38%
See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/article-40508-haiti-https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40508-haiti-flash-results-of-the-results-of-the-single-bac-exams-for-10-departments-and-per-student.html
Vivy Mitchel attacked by Vitelhomme's men
Armed individuals believed to be members of the "Kraze Barye" gang led by Vitelhomme Innocent attacked the Vivy Mitchel neighborhood in the commune of Petion-Ville last weekend. According to testimonies from local residents, several houses in the area were looted and several residents had to flee to save their lives.
Gold Cup W 2024 : 16 grenadieres in training
16 Grenadieres are in the Dominican Republic for the preparation of the match on September 21 against the "Ticas" of Costa Rica as part of the first elimination phase for the Women's Gold Cup of the Champions League of the Confederation of North America, of Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). More information regarding the final effective to come...
New York : For and against demonstrate against the Dominican decision
On Monday, brandishing Haitian flags and signs with anti-Abinader slogans, Haitians demonstrated this Monday in front of the premises of Columbia University, in New York, against the Dominican President, calling him racist. At the same time, Dominicans also gathered in front of the premises of Columbia University where Abinader gave a speech to express their support for the measures taken by their President in retaliation for the construction of an irrigation canal with water on the Massacre River.
See also :
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40533-haiti-water-war-the-human-rights-expert-in-haiti-urges-the-dr-to-reconsider-their-decision.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40530-haiti-flash-dominican-republic-does-not-seek-confrontation-with-haiti.html
https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40526-haiti-flash-massive-voluntary-departure-of-haitians-from-the-dominican-republic.html
Public holiday NOTICE
With reference to the decree of September 17, 2020 declaring the day of September 20 "Dessalines Day", the General Secretariat of the Prime Minister reminds the attention of the public in general, the private sector, and educational establishments in particular that the Public administration, schools, commerce and industry will be idle on Wednesday September 20, 2023.
Embassy of Haiti in Washington D.C.
The Embassy of Haiti in Washington D.C. will be closed on Wednesday September 20, 2023 on the occasion of the national holiday: Dessalines Day. Resumption of normal activities on Thursday 21.
Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal
The Consulate General of Haiti in Montreal advises the public in general and the Haitian Community of Quebec in particular that its premises will be closed on Wednesday, September 20, 2023. on the occasion of the commemoration of Dessalines Day. Consular services will resume on Thursday September 21, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
HL/ HaitiLibre
Published on 2023/09/18 | Source
TVING reported on the 18th that he was cast for the "Secret Forest" spin-off "Good or Bad Dong-jae". Lee Joon-hyuk has confirmed his appearance as prosecutor Seo Dong-jae.
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"Good or Bad Dong-jae" (written by Hwang Ha-jung and Kim Sang-won-III, directed by Park Geon-ho-I) is a work featuring Seo Dong-jae from "Secret Forest". Marked as a 'material prosecutor', he begins a tightrope walk for survival.
Lee Joon-hyuk plays Seo Dong-jae once again following "Secret Forest" and "Secret Forest 2". He presents a three-dimensional aspect of the character, Dong-jae.
A specific story has been unveiled. Seo Dong-jae will take charge of the murder of a high school girl while suffering from redevelopment. There is a conflict between the prosecutor and the opportunist instinct.
Directed by Park Geon-ho-I, the drama is written by Hwang Ha-jung and Kim Sang-won-III. Writer Lee Soo-yeon-I, who wrote the entire "Secret Forest" series, adds strength as creator.
The production team said, "We have a story centered on Seo Dong-jae", adding, "Please look forward to where Dong-jae's foot will flow to survive in the world of prosecutors".
Meanwhile, "Good or Bad Dong-jae" will be released on TVING in 2024.
Over half (55%) of the managers said they expect the country to remain as important a partner as previously, while 17 per cent said they expect the importance to grow.
ALMOST THREE-QUARTERS (72%) of Finnish export companies believe China will at least maintain its importance as a trade partner, reveals a survey distributed to export managers by Finland Chamber of Commerce.
China was expected to become slightly or significantly less important trade partner by 28 per cent of the respondents. Nine nine per cent of export companies revealed they have already reduced their dependence on the country in critical operations and seven per cent in all operations, according to Finland Chamber of Commerce.
Reducing strategic dependencies on China is a stated goal of the government of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP).
Helsingin Sanomat wrote in its analysis that while companies in other parts of the world are preparing for a new trade paradigm, Finnish companies seem to be blindly holding on to hope of growth in China.
Finland Chamber of Commerce reported last week that the corporate assessments have not changed dramatically since the previous export-manager survey in May, despite continuing rhetoric about de-risking and de-coupling and warnings about a trade war amid heightened geopolitical tensions. The Chinese economy is also in faltering, with the real estate crisis rippling through the economy and the working-age population in decline.
Paivi Pohjanheimo, the director of international affairs at Finland Chamber of Commerce, reminded that the Chinese economy was expected to rebound rapidly after the country lifted its strict coronavirus restrictions.
Chinas strict policy on the coronavirus left its mark on business and consumer confidence, however. Especially in the wake of geopolitical tensions, also China has deliberately reduced its dependence on the west, driving western companies to other markets and prompting them to intentionally reduce their China risk, she said in a press release on 11 September.
The survey also found that 98 per cent of export companies view that the geopolitical uncertainty and the consequent disruptions will have an effect on their profitability. Twelve per cent of the survey respondents stated that the effects will be substantial, 64 per cent moderate and 21 per cent minor.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
This year , the enchanting world of Finnish design will come alive at the Ornamo's Design Christmas X Designkaverit event, taking place on December 9-10, 2023, at Little Finlandia in the heart of Helsinki. Produced by the innovative pop-up design shop creators, Designkaverit, this year's event promises to provide a unique and immersive experience for Christmas shoppers in Finland. Attendees can look forward to unforgettable encounters, creative workshops, a second-hand marketplace, and a delightful array of Christmas treats.
The Ornamo's Design Christmas X Designkaverit event will showcase an impressive array of interior decoration products, home textiles, adult and children's clothing and accessories, everyday ceramics, graphic art, and prints. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore both well-established design brands and discover one-of-a-kind handmade pieces. Among this year's nearly one hundred exhibitors are prominent names like Teemu Jarvi Illustrations, Sagat, Raka Clothing, Klaus Haapaniemi, Soile Paasonen, Katriina Nuutinen, and Ozgu Gundeslioglu.
"We are delighted to collaborate with Designkaverit, who have fostered positive and meaningful discussions around sustainable lifestyles within their community. Responsibility and conscious consumption align perfectly with the spirit of Ornamo's Design Christmas. This event provides a unique chance to meet product designers and artisans who are eager to share the stories and craftsmanship behind their creations," says Petra Ilonen, an expert from Ornamo.
In addition to the extensive marketplace showcasing Finnish designers, the 2023 event will feature engaging workshops and a second-hand sales section. Visitors can savor the flavors of Christmas with delectable treats and find respite from shopping at the inviting Finlandia Cafe&Wine, which will remain open throughout the event. The event's atmosphere will be further enhanced by the presence of a talented DJ.
Designkaverit, the creators of this event, are well-known for their pop-up shops and their vibrant social media community focused on design and sustainable living. Ella Hurskainen, Essi Jarvio, and Stiina Lampinen, the founders of Designkaverit, aim to infuse the cheerful camaraderie of their community into the Design Christmas X Designkaverit event.
"This year's Design Christmas will not only showcase a diverse selection of skilled designers but also emphasize immersive experiences, community, and unhurried togetherness qualities that are especially significant in today's challenging world. We eagerly anticipate the meaningful connections that will occur between visitors and designers. At the event, visitors can also unleash their creativity through various workshops, including jewelry and ceramics," adds Hurskainen.
The Ornamo's Design Christmas X Designkaverit event promises to be a delightful celebration of Finnish design, craftsmanship, and creativity, offering visitors a memorable holiday shopping experience with a meaningful twist.
HT
Starting from 00:00 on September 16, 2023, Customs began implementing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' directive on the import ban for cars registered in Russia.
The ban on the import of cars registered in Russia, which began on Saturday night, has significantly slowed border traffic. During the weekend, a total of 81 cars arrived, of which Customs turned away 37.
By Monday morning at 9:00, a total of 81 cars registered in Russia had arrived at border customs checkpoints, with 37 of them being turned away and 44 meeting the import requirements.
"Border traffic has slowed even further over the weekend for cars registered in Russia, both on the eastern border and the border with Norway. It seems that information about the import ban has been effectively disseminated, although we have received individual inquiries, and if necessary, we will clarify the directive in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," stated Sami Rakshit, the director of the Enforcement Department.
The highest traffic was observed in Vaalimaa and Nuijamaa, where approximately 30 cars with Russian plates were turned away. Only a few Russian-registered cars arrived at the Norwegian border.
Russian-registered cars that have arrived at the border after the start of the import ban, as of September 18, 2023, at 9:00:
Customs Checkpoint Arrived, Russian-Registered Cars Turned Away Allowed Entry Vaalimaa 46 15 31 Nuijamaa 19 12 7 Imatra 4 2 2 Niirala 3 2 1 Vartius 2 2 0 Kuusamo 0 0 0 Salla 0 0 0 Raja-Jooseppi 1 1 0 Norwegian Border 6 3 3 Total 81 37 44
The import ban applies primarily to all cars registered in Russia, whether used for private or commercial purposes. Taxis are also included in the ban. Russian-registered vehicles are not allowed to cross the border, even if the driver intends to switch to a car with Finnish plates immediately at the border.
Exceptions to the ban include, among others, cars belonging to EU citizens permanently residing in Russia and diplomatic vehicles.
HT
The sudden protest was triggered by Finnair's unilateral decision announced today to cease providing zone flight tickets, akin to employment benefits, to the workers of companies responsible for its ground handling services, the IAU stated in a press release.
HELSINKI - A spontaneous walkout by ground handling staff is currently underway at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, affecting all flights. Approximately 500 employees from the Aviation Union's IAU's Civil Air Traffic Workers branch 012 have left their posts. These employees work for Aviator Airport Services Finland, Swissport Finland, and RTG Ground Handling.
"Baggage delivery is delayed due to the stoppage of ground handling staff. We apologise for the inconvenience," reads a message on the airport's displays.
At this point, there are expectations that workers would return to their duties by their shifts tomorrow, says Union Secretary Sami Rajala from IAU. "This matter is still quite fresh and new, so our own investigations are still somewhat ongoing," Rajala added.
Rajala is uncertain about the full extent to which the walkout will impact operations at other Finnish airports, but he asserts that the effect at Helsinki-Vantaa is significant. "I can't be fully certain about the extent right now, but I can state that it definitely affects flights from all airlines at Helsinki-Vantaa, not just Finnair," says Rajala.
According to a statement by Finavia, current information suggests the walkout mainly affects baggage handling. As a result, baggage delivery times might be extended and there could be delays in check-in. "Airlines are responsible for the baggage. We urge passengers to contact their respective airlines concerning their luggage," the statement reads.
Ground handling staff had the benefit of zone tickets, which gave them the opportunity to purchase slightly cheaper flight tickets when there were unsold seats available on a flight.
Congestion at the airport started immediately after the walkout commenced at 3 pm.
HT
Canadian doctorsand dancersPaul Winston and Eve Boissonnault have been posting videos of themselves dancing in N95 mask (respirators), to encourage others to mask in healthcare settings and to demonstrate that it's possible to breathe comfortably in them. In one of their recent dance posts, Winston explains:
Just a wee reminder we are asking people to mask up in hospital this fall. I promise you we can breathe, you can see our expressions of joy and empathy. And FYI no I haven't missed a day of work since COVID. (Isolated test negative over a March Break)
Just a wee reminder we are asking people to mask up in hospital this fall. I promise you we can breathe, you can see our expressions of joy and empathy. And FYI no I haven't missed a day of work since COVID. (Isolated test negative over a March Break) @courtghoward pic.twitter.com/EC8CEkIYdC Paul Winston MD Restoring Movement is the goal. (@drpaulwinston) September 17, 2023
After this dance post got attacked by anti-mask trolls, they responded with another beautiful dance video, with this response:
Thanks for a troll-free Sunday
Thanks for a troll free Sunday https://t.co/7rHliDdDct pic.twitter.com/ML3imTJV3t Paul Winston MD Restoring Movement is the goal. (@drpaulwinston) September 17, 2023
Paul Winston and Eve Boissonnault are dancers who study and practice rehabilitation medicine and incorporate movement and dance into their medical practice. Follow their social media for more videos of them doctoring and dancing.
According to CDC data, new hospital admissions for COVID-19 continue to rise. And when hospitals don't require healthcare workers or patients to mask, COVID spreads, as do other infections. According to CNN, citing CDC data, in the United States, at least 1 in every 31 patients acquires an infection in hospitals and other health care settings. CNN provides more details:
This amounts to about 1.7 million infected patients and 98,000 deaths a year and results in at least $28.4 billion in additional health care costs.
Along with doctors like Winston and Boissonnault, organizations like the People's CDC and Action-Care-Equity are also fighting to keep masks or bring back masks in healthcare settings. Click through to their websites to learn more.
Pekka Haavisto (Greens) emerged as a clear public favourite in the poll section representing the first round of voting, winning 31 per cent of the vote 12 percentage points more than the runner-up, Alexander Stubb (NCP).
THE FINNISH presidential election is shaping out to be a closely fought affair, suggests an opinion poll commissioned by YLE.
Haavisto is receiving support particularly from his own party, the Greens. But theres a lot of support for him also from the Social Democrats, Left Alliance and Swedish Peoples Party. Haavisto is the most popular candidate among supporters of all these four parties, Tuomo Turja, the research director at Taloustutkimus, stated to YLE on 14 September.
Olli Rehn (Centre) was the choice of 11 per cent, Mika Aaltola 10 per cent, Jussi Halla-aho (PS) nine per cent, Li Andersson (LA) six per cent and Jutta Urpilainen (SDP) five per cent of the respondents in the section representing the first round.
Haavisto, Rehn and Aaltola are all running as the candidate of a constituency association. Rehn is thus far the only of the trio who has announced receiving the 20,000 statements of support required to officially launch the presidential bid, although Haavisto may also have met the requirement, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
The Swedish Peoples Party decided not to nominate its own candidate for the elections in an attempt to make sure a liberal candidate makes it into the second round, which will be organised if no candidate receives half or more of valid votes in the first round. Haavisto would receive about half and Stubb a third of the first-round votes cast by supporters of the Swedish Peoples Party, the polling data reveals.
In the second round of the presidential election, Haavisto would beat all other opposing candidates clearly according to this poll, but the race against Stubb would be very close, said Turja.
Haavisto received 45 per cent and Stubb 42 per cent of the vote in the poll section representing the run-off round. Supporters of the Finns Party and Centre Party found the choice particularly challenging, judging by the proportion of respondents who hesitated to state their preference.
Stubbs popularity would broaden toward the right and centre of the political spectrum in the second round of voting, according to the poll. Over half of Centre supporters, for example, would support the former prime minister in a hypothetical run-off against Haavisto.
It looks like Haavisto is a red cloth especially for the Finns Party. Out of Finns Party supporters, 69 per cent would perhaps somewhat surprisingly back Stubb, even though he isnt exactly the ideal candidate for them, said Turja.
The challenge for Stubb is to force himself into the second round. After that, the setting changes quite significantly, and the contest against Haavisto would be very close according to this poll.
Taloustutkimus received 1,507 responses for the poll on 811 September.
The first round of voting in the presidential elections will end on 28 January 2024. The possible second round is scheduled to take place on 11 February.
Aleksi Teivainen HT
The UN's Sustainable Development Goals, agreed upon in 2015 and valid until 2030, are now at their midway point.
As the United Nations General Assembly gathers, a new report from UNICEF underscores the imperative to expedite efforts in order to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the UN within the specified timeframe. Placing children at the forefront is crucial to realizing these objectives.
However, UNICEF's latest report reveals that two-thirds of the goals related to children are significantly lagging behind.
"Seven years ago, nations pledged to eradicate poverty, hunger, and inequality worldwide, while ensuring access to basic services for everyone. But now, at the midway point of these goals, we find ourselves running out of time to fulfill these promises," stated Catherine Russell, UNICEF's Executive Director.
Released ahead of the Sustainable Development Summit, the report compiles data from over 190 countries spanning more than two decades, shedding light on where countries stand in achieving the 2030 goals. If the current pace continues, only 60 countries, home to 25 percent of the world's children, will reach these objectives by 2030.
Countries with lower and middle-income levels, such as Cambodia, India, Morocco, Rwanda, and Uganda, have made the most progress in achieving the goals. However, objectives related to education, poverty alleviation, and protection remain far from the desired targets.
The report emphasizes that achieving these goals remains possible but will require strong national commitment, effective practices, and adequate financing. UNICEF calls on nations to ramp up their efforts and advocate for prioritizing children's rights at the core of these objectives.
Investing in children is the most effective means of advancing goal attainment. Research demonstrates that allocating resources to children's rights yields significant returns for societies. By focusing on the early years of a child's life, it is possible to effectively combat hunger, poverty, poor health, and inequality.
UNICEF's report serves as a critical reminder that, despite the challenges and setbacks, the global community still has the opportunity to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, but only through renewed dedication, innovative approaches, and unwavering commitment to improving the lives of the world's children.
HT
Upward Exceptional Children teacher honored
Director of Exceptional Children Jennifer Shelton and Upward Elementary School principal Michael Gates pose with EC teacher Jennifer Langdon.
Jennifer Langdon, an Exceptional Children teacher at Upward Elementary School, has been named the district representative for North Carolinas Exceptional Childrens Educator of Excellence. She will represent Henderson County Public Schools at the statewide annual conference next month in Greensboro.
Ms. Langdon does a great job building relationships and always does what is best for her students, said Jennifer Shelton, the school system's director of Exceptional Children programs. We are thrilled she is part of the EC staff in Henderson County.
With 12 years of dedicated service to HCPS, Langdon began her journey as an American Sign Language interpreter before transitioning into her current role as an EC Resource Teacher for the past five years.
Ive witnessed firsthand the efforts that Ms. Langdon puts into making her students, parents, and colleagues lives better. Through her willingness to volunteer or just her steadfast commitment to her responsibilities, she has become an employee who is incredibly important to our school community, Upward Elementary principal Michael Gates said. Ms. Langdon has plenty to do as an EC teacher, but she chooses to be an influence outside her classroom to improve our school community.
In her role as an EC teacher, Langdon teaches specifically designed instruction in reading, math, writing and social skills to 33 K-5 students. Throughout the year, her caseload increases as students are referred through the MTSS process and evaluated for EC services.
My greatest contribution and accomplishments in education are providing a safe environment for my students and colleagues where they feel respected as an individual, valued, and loved, Langdon said. I have found that by treating students with respect, they are more willing to work with me. Kindness goes a long way when it comes to teaching.
Langdon explained what a day in her classroom may look like.
My classroom is a revolving door from 8:10 a.m. to 3 p.m.," she said. "My No. 1 goal each day is to make sure the students in my classroom feel loved. If they are walking out of my room with a smile on their face and love in their hearts, then I know Im doing whats best for kids.
In addition to teaching in her classroom, Langdon also leads the Sunshine Committee and actively participates in the School Improvement Team at Upward. Her commitment and passion have not gone unnoticed, as she was nominated by her peers and honored as Upwards Teacher of the Year for 2022-23.
Ms. Langdon is an outstanding choice and a most well deserving recipient of this honor," Superintendent Mark R. Garrett said. "Every time I am at Upward Elementary, I see her engaged with students and always with a smile on her face. It is evident that students respect and adore Ms. Langdon."
Indiana's AG Todd Rokita, apparently searching to punish a doctor for offering critical medical care to a 10-year-old, has filed a lawsuit against Dr. Caitlin Bernard and the healthcare organization she works for. Rokita alleges Bernard violated her patient's privacy in part by including limited information in a complaint against Rokita for harassing medical doctors.
The snake is really eating its tail here, Rokita could get this privacy violation out of the national news by dropping his complaint but what he really seeks here is to harass a doctor. Remember this all starts with Republicans wanting to deny a 10-year-old the care she needs after being raped. They wanted to force a 10-year-old to carry the baby to term.
Jezebel:
Tim Ballard, the anti-child slavery activist who founded Operation Underground Railroad (OUR), has resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Ballard, a previous adviser to the Trump administration on child sexual trafficking, was also the inspiration for the lead character in the movie, Sound of Freedom.
Vice reported that at least seven women have accused the QAnon hero of sexual misconduct. Allegations involve Ballard coercing female staff and volunteers into sharing his bed or joining him in the shower under the pretext of fooling traffickers.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) condemned Ballard for using the name of Mormon church president, M Russell Ballard, to promote personal and financial interests.
From Insider:
Applied Cloud Computing (ACC) recently appointed Lakhvinder Singh Gill as the new Global Head of Cloud Practice, reinforcing ACC's commitment to delivering cutting-edge cloud solutions. As a leading AWS-centric organization, ACC specializes in cloud-native microservices-based products, cloud services, data lake analytics, security, and industry-specific technology solutions. ACC's extensive expertise spans diverse sectors, with a specific focus on media, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance), and healthcare. Led by Nilesh Satpute, CEO of ACC, the company has received prestigious awards, including the "Best BFSI Industry Consulting Partner" by AWS (Amazon Web Services) and the "Best Application Modernization Platform for Banking and Insurance Companies."
With a remarkable career spanning over 30 years in the IT industry, Lakhvinder Singh adds valuable experience and knowledge to ACC's leadership team. He brings a wealth of experience in the software industry, spanning a wide range of technology consultancy areas, encompassing hardware and software. This includes aspects such as design, development, architecture, maintenance, networking, and quality assurance. Having worked in the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, and Malaysia, he brings global expertise in catering to diverse international markets, aligning well with ACC's expansion goals.
Lakhvinder has been extensively involved in the software development cycle, from system study and pre-sales activities to requirement gathering, prototyping, development, code reviews, testing, deployment, and ongoing support. His experience is multifaceted, including projects in areas such as access control, portals, application servers, workflow technology, open source/free software, application performance engineering, secure development practices, databases, and AWS cloud services. His ability to stay at the forefront of evolving technologies and build prototypes as needed highlights his forward-thinking approach and commitment to innovation.
During his tenure at AWS, his unwavering commitment to excellence earned him multiple accolades, including sales awards for consistently exceeding targets. These awards further solidified his reputation as an outstanding leader in the field.
Mr. Lakhvinder Singh Gill shared his perspective on joining ACC, stating, "I am honored to become a part of ACC and lead its Global Cloud Practice. ACC's unwavering commitment to innovation and delivering exceptional cloud solutions aligns with my values and vision. I am enthusiastic about contributing to ACC's growth and helping clients achieve their digital transformation goals."
In his new role as the Global Head of Cloud Practice at ACC, Mr. Gill will lead initiatives aimed at enhancing ACC's processes, expanding its existing team of over 400 talented professionals, and cultivating a culture of continuous improvement. His vision for ACC revolves around creating a collaborative environment, embracing the latest technologies, and ensuring the consistent delivery of value and excellence to clients.
Mr. Gill's dedication to transparency, ethics, and team growth aligns seamlessly with ACC's core values, making him an ideal fit for the organization. His appointment comes at an exciting juncture for ACC as the company continues to expand its offerings and strengthen its presence in international markets, cloud computing, and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and space technology.
Nilesh Satpute, CEO of ACC, expressed his excitement about welcoming Lakhvinder Singh Gill to the ACC family, stating, "Over the years, we have built a young and agile team, and today, we are bringing industry stalwarts on board to mentor and guide our team as they boldly navigate challenging transitions from good to great. We are thrilled to have Lakhvinder Singh Gill join ACC. We look forward to the innovation, dedication, and leadership he will bring to our company's journey toward becoming a preferred partner for our clients cloud, digital, security, and transformation initiatives. His arrival marks a significant step forward as we strive to exceed expectations and set new standards in the cloud computing industry."
About ACC: Founded in 2014 by Nilesh Satpute in Thane, Maharashtra, ACC has emerged as a leader in the cloud services segment. The organization is dedicated to transforming business processes, optimizing product portfolios, strategizing business assets, complying with regulations, managing risks, and maximizing customer satisfaction. ACC achieves these objectives through the adoption and implementation of Digital Transformation, Cloud Computing, App Modernization, Big Data and Analytics, Cloud Security, and Product Engineering.
For more information about ACC, please visit the official ACC website.
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.
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Whether you just have a startup or an enterprise solution; the only way to expand your business offering is to have a business website that not only lists your product and service offering but also becomes the method of communication for your target audience. Such as the integration of an AI-based chatbot that can communicate with your target audience based on their availability without demanding human assistance. Along with that, there are tons of other ways where your website can be there for your target audience on your behalf.
But as you might have just started your journey in the world of websites, we would like to remind you there are tons of things that you have to deal with such as domain name, web development frameworks, technologies, tech stacks, programming languages, and many more. So, you will need assistance from the experts for that. You can hire web developers from top web development companies who will help you deal with everything starting from the requirement-gathering stage to post-deployment support.
To welcome you into the world who stays ahead of the time all the time, here is the list of the top 10 web development companies in India to work with in the year 2023-2024. The team of TopITCompanies.co has made this list by browsing tons of IT companies based in Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, and many more before listing them here. Along with that, they have finalized the list considering various aspects such as work experience, project deliverables timeframe, technical expertise, team strengths, services, client base, and so on.
List of Top 10 Well-known Web Development Companies in India 2023 - 2024
1. Hyperlink InfoSystem
A top web development company, Hyperlink InfoSystem is well-known for delivering excellent quality at a rapid pace. Their proficient team of developers holds years of experience in Web & CMS development. They are aware of the techniques, tools, and technology internally & externally. With the out-of-box approach, their team stands out at the top. This leading IT company offers acquirable results and solutions to global start-ups to enterprise-level businesses of a variety of industries to solve their problems by leveraging their technological development experience and expertise.
Founded Year: 2011
Employees: 1000+
Company Expertise: Mobile App Development, Web Design and Development, Software Development, Game Development, Salesforce Solutions, Blockchain Development, Metaverse, AR, VR, AI, IoT, and many more.
2. Mphasis
A leading applied technology services company, they innovate to deliver service excellence and successful outcomes across sales, delivery, and development. With their strategy to be agile, nimble, and customer-centric, they anticipate the future of applied technology and predict tomorrows trends to keep their clients at the summit in an ever-changing marketplace.
Founded Year: 1998
Employees: 39000+
Company Expertise: Application Services, BPO, Solutions, Healthcare; Finance and banking; High Tech; CI & R, Digital, Cloud, Cognitive, Applied Technology, and IT Services and Solutions.
3. TCS
Tata Consultancy Services is an IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization that has been partnering with many of the worlds largest businesses for the past 50 years. They believe innovation and collective knowledge can transform all their futures with greater purpose.
Founded Year: 1968
Employees: 636000+
Company Expertise: IT Services, Business Solutions, and Consulting.
4. HData Systems
HData Systems is one of the leading Big-Data Analytics and Business Intelligence service providers for clients around the world. Their main service is based on Data Science technology that helps businesses grow their business and achieve their goal easily using reports and data from their competitors.
Founded Year: 2019
Employees: 1000+
Company Expertise: Web Development, App Development, Data Science, Data Logging, Data Warehousing, Data Migration, Data Analytics, ELK Solutions, Data Visualization, Video Analytics, and more.
5. iMOBDEV Technologies
iMOBDEV Technologies is a leading development company offering innovative and robust digital solutions. Their development team offers innovative, robust, and high-quality solutions to global businesses based on their custom development requirements. iMOBDEV Technologies has qualified professionals who can analyze your development requirements and create the best solution for you leveraging their profound knowledge and proficient development skills.
Founded Year: 2009
Employees: 300+
Company Expertise: Software Development, App Development, Web Development, Game Development, Blockchain Development, and more.
6. Datamatics
Datamatics, a global Digital Solutions, Technology, and BPM Company provides intelligent solutions for data-driven businesses to increase productivity and enhance the customer experience. With a completely digital approach, the Datamatics portfolio spans Information Technology Services, Business Process Management, Engineering Services, and Big Data and analytics all powered by Artificial Intelligence.
Founded Year: 1975
Employees: 6500+
Company Expertise: Engineering & Embedded Services, Finance & Accounting Services, Information Management, IT Consulting, IT Services, Research & Analytics and more.
7. Marlabs LLC
Marlabs designs and develops advanced digital solutions that help their clients improve their business outcomes swiftly and precisely. They succeed by harnessing the power of the Digital Collective, which brings together design-led digital innovation with human experience, composable digital platforms, and their collaborative ecosystem of first-class technology partners and innovators.
Founded Year: 1996
Employees: 2300+
Company Expertise: Cloud Computing, SAP, Mobility, Oracle, Analytics, Application Development, Microsoft, Infrastructure Services, Java, Cyber Security, Testing Services, Product Engineering and more.
8. HCLTech
HCLTech is a global technology company, home to 219,000+ people across 54 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering, and cloud, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products. They work with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, and more.
Founded Year: 1991
Employees: 221000+
Company Expertise: Digital, Engineering, Cloud, Digital Business, Application Support and maintenance, Digital Applications and platforms, Application Modernization and integration, Data and analytics, Software as a Service (SaaS), Enterprise Applications, and more.
9. IBM
At IBM, they do more than work. They create. They create as technologists, developers, and engineers. They create with their partners. They create with their competitors. If you're searching for ways to make the world work better through technology and infrastructure, software, and consulting, then IBM is one of the top providers to connect with.
Founded Year: 1911
Employees: 304000+
Company Expertise: Cloud, Mobile, Cognitive, Security, Research, Watson, Analytics, Consulting, Commerce, Experience Design, Internet of Things, Technology support, Industry solutions and more.
10. Nityo Infotech
Nityo Infotech is a Global Technology Solutions and Services organization. Headquartered in the US with deep imprints in Latam, Apac, Europe & Middle East & Africa. Nityo is powered by 21,000+ employees across 40+ countries serving enterprises across industries like Banking, Insurance, Finance, FMCG, Hi-Tech start-ups, Government enterprises, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Agriculture, and more.
Founded Year: 2006
Employees: 2800+
Company Expertise: Managed Services/Tech Outsourcing, Professional Services, Staff Augmentation, AI/ML based Chat Bots, Digital Lending Solutions, AI/ML based Anti-Money Laundering Solutions.
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.
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A long-time executive at Microsoft, is about to exit the company. Panos Panay, after 19 years at the tech giant, will be departing in the coming weeks. It comes across as a somewhat abrupt departure, the timing of the announcement in particular, just two days ahead of the companys annual Surface keynote. Panay, who leaves as EVP and Chief Product Officer, was spearheading the Surface computing device efforts for the past many years. Panay was spearheading the Surface computing device efforts for the past many years. (Microsoft)
Yusuf Mehdi, who is Corporate Vice President, Modern Life, Search, and Devices at Microsoft, will take over the role. It will mean getting straight into the thick of the action for Mehdi, with the next line-up of Microsofts Surface computing devices, set for a public unveil later this week. After that, focus will likely shift to the next big update for the Windows operating system (can we speculate itll be called Windows 12?) which may release next year. alongside, Microsofts extensive focus on AI products, for enterprises and consumers.
Also Read:As Microsoft builds with AI, chatbot for India indicates wider community focus
After 19 incredible years at Microsoft, Ive decided to turn the page and write the next chapter. Im forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with, Panay wrote in a post on X. Panays next destination hasnt been formally announced, for now, though there are suggestions he may be headed to Amazon, to build the next chapter for Alexa smart assistant and the ecosystem of Amazons Echo devices.
That could also be a case of putting two and two together. A month ago, Amazon had confirmed David Limp, Senior vice-president for devices and services at Amazon, is set to retire. The company announced no successor for the role, at the time. Incidentally, Amazon also has a devices event this week, with new Echo smart speakers and displays, Fire TV streamers and Kindle e-readers expected.
Panay, who joined Microsoft 2004, has focused on building the tech giants burgeoning line-up of hardware products. Some have been a success, such as the Surface computing device line-up, which is the widest at this point than it has ever been. However, efforts with the Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2 never got a global stage to work with, and neither was the complete potential of the Surface Neo hybrid computing device ever achieved. A lot of Panays initiatives seemed to have arrived ahead of their time.
Also Read: Consumer tech and new products: Developer conference keynotes are changing
Mehdi is also a long-time Microsoft executive. He joined the tech giant in 1992, and has seen the leadership styles of three CEOs in this time Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer and Satya Nadella. Mehdis consumer focused roles over the years have included managing Internet Explorer and Microsoft Windows, and the foray into search with Bing. This is now a critical product for Microsofts artificial intelligence (AI) efforts.
Some of Mehdis recent success stories at Microsoft include a reconfigured Edge web browser integrating AI, the Bing search chatbot and the expanding suite of functionality, the Bing Image Creator text-to-image AI feature, and the subtle shift from product to platform which sees third-party plug-ins add value and versatility for users.
His experience with consumer products gains even more weight, since the Modern Life, Search, and Devices initiatives came after many consumers were left disappointed by Microsofts disappointing TV layer for Xbox, ending Windows Phone efforts, discontinuing Kinect interactive gaming and closing the Groove music streaming app. Consumer confidence was at its lowest ebb for the company.
Also Read: Exclusive | Users realise all computing cant be done on phones, says Yusuf Mehdi
The Surface device keynote later this week, with Mehdi expected to take the stage, will give us a first glimpse into Microsofts vision for Surface and Windows product lines. It is unlikely theyll compromise on the momentum of integrating AI layers into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. The Microsoft 365 CoPilot tool, built on large language models (LLMs) to integrate smart functionality within apps and services, is expected to release later this year for Microsoft 365 apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
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Heres a brief look at what is happening on the local theater scene.
Opening
Belfast Girls from Irish Classical Theatre Company
The story of five women fleeing their troubled Irish homeland for Australia during the potato famine in 1850 takes place shipboard on their passage. It opens Sept. 22 in the Andrews Theatre, 625 Main St.). Performances are at 8 p.m. Sept. 22, then 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 15. There is a Pay-What-You-Can Performance at 3 p.m. Sept. 23. Info: irishclassical.com.
La Cage aux Folles from OConnell & Company
Guest director Dewayne Barrett, who led OCCs season openers in 2021 and 22 (A Chorus Line and The Addams Family) returns with this musical adapted by Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman about two nightclubs owners who have to navigate their sons impending marriage. It opens Sept. 22 at OConnell & Company, 4110 Bailey Ave. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 8. Info: oconnellandcompany.com.
Mrs. Doubtfire Broadway touring production
This Broadway touring production is of the musical stage adaptation of the Robin Williams family comedy about an out-of-work actor who will do anything for his kids. It runs from Sept. 24-30 (except Sept. 25) in Sheas Buffalo Theatre, 646 Main St. Visit sheas.org.
Continuing
9 to 5 presented by Niagara Regional Theatre Guild
NRTG has opened its 101st season with this musical based on the hit 1980 movie. The cast includes Kim Schwach, Cassandra Grizanti, Larissa Hughes, John Parascak and Danielle Burning.It is directed by M. Joseph Fratello with music directed by Eric Van Pyrz and choreography by Sarah Kojm. It continues through Oct. 1 at the Ellicott Creek Playhouse, St. Edmund Campus, 530 Ellicott Creek Road, Tonawanda. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Info: niagaratheatre.com.
The Color Purple from Ujima, Second Generation and Sheas 710
One of multiple collaborations in the new theater season, this musical adaptation of The Color Purple is based on Alice Walkers prize-winning novel and the 1985 movie about the inspiring journey of a woman from hardship and abuse to a life of love and strength. Through Oct. 1 at Sheas 710 Theater, 710 Main St. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. Info: sheas.org.
A Great Wilderness from Buffalo United Artists
Michael Starzynski stars as a man who has devoted himself to leading a camp that cures gay teens and is then forced to reflect on his decisions after a near tragedy. The play, written by Samuel D. Hunter, navigates a complex moral terrain, exploring the shifting motives and inconstant strength of our personal convictions. Through Sept. 23 at Compass Performing Arts Center, 545 Elmwood Ave. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and 5 p.m. Saturdays. Info: buffalo unitedartists.org.
Guys and Dolls from MusicalFare Theatre
MusicalFare takes a fresh approach to the great musical comedy featuring the songs of Frank Loesser. Its directed by Chris Kelly, with choreographer Kristy E. Cavanagh and music director Theresa Quinn. The cast includes Sarah Blewett, Sidney Bowers, Susana Breese, James Anthony Caposito, Bobby Cooke and Kevin Deese. Shows are at 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Through Oct. 8 at MusicalFare on the Daemen University, 4380 Main St., Amherst. Info: musicalfare.com.
An Inspector Calls from Desiderios Dinner Theatre
This detective thriller by J.B. Priestly is something different for this dinner theater that has traditionally produced comedies and dramedies. Directed by Jay Desiderio, it stars Charles McGregor, David Lundy, Lisa Hinca, Sabrina Kahwaty, Jeremy Kreuzer and Lucas Lloyd. Through Nov. 5 at Desiderios at Bobby Js Italian American Grille, 204 Como Park Blvd., Cheektowaga. Performances are most Thursdays and Saturdays, with matinees on Sundays; there is a Wednesday showon Oct. 25. Dinner is at 6 p.m., followed by the show at 7:30 p.m.; matinees start dinner at 1 p.m. with the show at 2:30. Prices are $62 to $72 and include dinner and the show. Info: mybobbyjs.com.
What the Constitution Means to Me from DYouville Kavinoky Theatre
Heidi Schrecks acclaimed play is a personal examination of the countrys founding document that was inspired by her school-age debate experience. Directed by Robyn Lee Horn. Through Sept. 24 at the Kavinoky Theatre, DYouville University, 320 Porter Ave. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Info: kavinokytheatre.com.
Robesons new Artistic Director Verneice Turner directs this play inspired by the life of boxer Jack Johnson a century ago. It stars Vincenzo McNeill, Roosevelt Tidwell III, VerNia Sharisse Garvin, Matthew Ball and David Mitchell. Through Sept. 24 at the Paul Robeson Theatre, African-American Cultural Center, 350 Masten Ave. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. Info: paulrobesontheatre.org, revelationtheatre.org
The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers from Alleyway Theatre
The former Nickelodeon host is featured in this one-man show where he shares stories about his time as a TV host, producer and possibly some insight on being slimed. Through Sept. 30 at Alleyway Theatre, 1 Curtain Up Alley. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays (8 p.m. Sept. 22), with matinees at 3 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Info: alleyway.com.
Murder Ballad from Road Less Traveled Productions
RLTP opens its 20th season with its first musical, a whodunit love triangle set to a rock score. Through Oct. 15 at the RLTP Theatre, 456 Main St. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Info: roadlesstraveled productions.org.
Rent. From Bellissima Productions.
Jonathan Larsons award-winning musical set in the East Village of New York City continues to be performed nearly 30 years after its debut. The local group Bellissima is presenting performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 24 at the Lorna C. Hill Theatre, 429 Plymouth Ave. Tickets are $25 advance, $30 at the door and $20 for student and industry.
Coming
Lancaster Opera House, Little Shop of Horrors on Oct. 6.
The Jewish Repertory Theatre, Sisters In Law on Oct. 26.
Special events
Curtain Up! Sept. 22 in downtown Buffalo. It starts with a kickoff party from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Bijou, followed at 8 p.m. by live performances of 10 productions at area theaters and a free outdoor party from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Main Street between Chippewa and Tupper streets. For the full schedule of theater productions and Curtain Up! events, visit tda-wny.com.
Auditions
The Towne Players of Ken Ton. Auditions for the comedic mystery Vultures will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 25 at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center, 169 Sheridan Parkside Drive, Tonawanda. Director John Giarratano is seeking seven males (age range of 25 to 70) and three females (ages 25 to 60) for th eproduction which opens Dec. 1. Those auditioning will be asked to read from the script. For more information, contact the director at jfgiarratano@gmail.com.
Bengaluru News Highlights: The city celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi with great fervour, as a temple in JP Nagar installed a Lord Ganesha idol and adorned it with coins and currency notes worth 2.5 crore. Read more here Cops issued traffic advisories as many areas in the Karnataka capital were submerged after heavy rain.
Employees returned to work after the extended weekend, which combined with residents returning to the city from their natives, resulted in congestions in some areas. Heavy rain also made for waterlogged streets and made commute harder.
The ongoing Cauvery river water sharing dispute with neighbouring state Tamil Nadu continued, with Deputy CM DK Shivakumar agreeing with senior BJP leader and former CM Basavaraj Bommai that the state government should approach the Supreme Court and convince it on why Cauvery water cannot be released to Tamil Nadu. Read more here
The state's cooperation minister K N Rajanna on Saturday spurred controversy after he floated the idea of having three more deputy CMs in Karnataka, following which CM Siddaramaiah said he would comply with the high command's decision.
Stay informed with Hindustan Times, your source for all the latest news from Bengaluru, Karnataka on various issues including civic, transport, traffic, weather, commute, crime, health and politics, among others.
Karnataka Government on Tuesday released five thousand cusecs of water from Krishna Raja Sagara dam in the Mandya district to Tamil Nadu for next 15 days. Cauvery Water Regulation Committee issued an interim direction to the Karnataka government asking it to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.(HT_PRINT)
"The water release started on Monday night," officials said.
This came following the order of Cauvery Water Management Authority asking Karnataka to continue supply of 5000 cusecs for next 15 days with effect from September 13.
This was decided at the meeting of the CWMA, held in the national capital on Monday
"Karnataka releases five thousand cusecs of water from KRS dam to Tamil Nadu following an order by CWMA," officials said.
READ | Karnataka to challenge CWMA order in SC, says Deputy CM Shivakumar
After the meeting, CWMA, in a press note said, "Taking note of the severity of the drought in the Cauvery basin of Karnataka, which has been increasing and enlarging putting at a greater risk even the drinking water needs and minimum needs of irrigation, Karnataka made submissions that it is not in a position to release the water unless the inflows into the reservoirs improves."
"In turn, Tamil Nadu urged for releasing a total 12,500 cusecs of water (which is inclusive of backlog of 6,500 cusecs) for next 15 days. Finally, CWMA duly upholding the recommendations of CWRC has ordered that Karnataka has to ensure 5000 cusecs realization at Biligundlu for the next 15 days as indicated by CWRC, effective from September 13," it added.
The next meeting of the CWMA will be held on September 26.
Karnataka has cited severe drought in parts of its state to refuse supply of water to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Government has accused its neighbour of lying to the nation on the supply of water.
READ | Sit together and sort it out: Former PM Deve Gowda on Cauvery water row with TN
Farmers in Mandya, Karnataka have been protesting the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu, expressing deep discontent at the state government complying with directives of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) to release Cauvery river water to Tamil Nadu
The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. On Tuesday the delegation of Tamil Nadu MPs and MLAs led by state Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan is expected to meet Union Water Resource Minister Gajendra Shekhawat in an effort to break the deadlock.
The Cauvery river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in either state. The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities.
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Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday his government would approach the Supreme Court challenging the Cauvery Water Management Authority's direction asking the State to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days. Karnataka PCC chief and DCM DK Shivakumar said, "What Bommai said is correct".(PTI)
The only decision before the State government now is to go to the Supreme Court and present the factual position on the issue, said Shivakumar, also Water Resources Minister. "We will also appeal to the Centre." "We will continue our legal fight", he said.
ALSO READ | Shivakumar displeased at three deputy CMs demand by Rajanna
Earlier, senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai said the State government should approach the Supreme Court and convince it on the reason why Cauvery water cannot be released to Tamil Nadu. Bommai termed the CWMA's order as one which cannot be followed.
The (release of) water (to Tamil Nadu) should be stopped immediately and legal battle should be fought in the SC to provide justice to the people, the former Chief Minister said. The CWMA's direction came after an emergency meeting was held on Monday in which both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu gave their representations.
READ | Cauvery issue: Karnataka to continue releasing water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days
Shivakumar said: "What Bommai said is correct".
But he added: "What if the Supreme Court dismisses our plea if we go before it without following the order of the lower court (CWMA). (In that case), we will lose that option." The state government is discussing the matter with its legal team, Shivakumar said.
The Minister said the CWMA should send a team to both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to find out the factual position on the Cauvery issue instead of passing an order every 15 days.
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As the Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu is simmering, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda on Monday said that the "quarrel" among two neighbouring states will not be solved "legally" and that a solution will come out only after both sides sit together. JD(S) chief HD Devegowda requested Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to sit together and sort out the problem.
The Rajya Sabha MP, with folded hands, requested Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to sit together and sort out the problem.
While speaking during the discussion on 'Parliamentary journey of 75 years, starting from Samvidhan Sabha-Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings', the JD(S) MP in the Upper House said, "...Just only one word I would like to say, this quarrel will not be solved legally. If at all for friends who wants to have some sort of smooth understanding. Let all of us sit together and sort out the problem. Otherwise things will continue...and struggle from both sides will go on and this is not going to solve the problem...It's a humble request...I only pray this problem will not be solved unless we sit together (and) try to sort out this problem from our sides. Legal battles certainly will not be going out to solve out this problem."
READ | Cauvery water authority orders Karnataka to release 5000 cusecs of water to TN
In its deliberations held on Monday the Cauvery Water Management Authority has asked Karnataka to continue supply of 5000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for the next 15 days effective September 13. The next meeting of the Authority has been scheduled for Septemeber 26.
Meanwhile Tamil Nadu Water Resource Minister Durai Murugan is in Delhi with a delegation of MPs and MLAs to meet with Union Water Resource minister Gajendra Shekhawat in an effort to break the impasse over water release.
READ | Shivakumar displeased at three deputy CMs demand by Rajanna
Karnataka has cited severe drought in parts of its state to refuse supply of water to Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu Government has accused its neighbour of lying to the nation on the supply of water.
The governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have been locked in a protracted tussle over the sharing of Cauvery waters. The river is seen as a major source of sustenance for the people in either state.
The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Puducherry with respect to their individual water-sharing capacities.
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Chandigarh : Twenty-four years after a Gurdaspur resident was declared unsuccessful in the recruitment of naib tehsildar due to wrong calculation of marks, the Punjab and Haryana high court has awarded 5 lakh damages to him. Twenty-four years after a Gurdaspur resident was declared unsuccessful in the recruitment of naib tehsildar due to wrong calculation of marks, the Punjab and Haryana high court has awarded 5 lakh damages to him.
He had challenged the selections made the same year in 1999 when the result was declared. But the case remained pending all these years.
At this belated stage, after a period of more than 24 years, it would not be appropriate to disturb the selections which have already been conducted. The selected candidates have put more than 24 years of service and their services cannot be dispensed with. Additional post cannot be created by this court. The petitioner, therefore, cannot be granted relief of appointment, the court said, disposing of the plea from one Ravinder Singh Thakur.
The last selected candidate had secured 149.5 marks and the petitioner had secured 149 marks. What later came to light during these proceedings was that he was not awarded 2 marks for educational qualifications of LLB degree, which ought to have been given as per the advertisement.
Considering the facts of the case, this court deems it appropriate to grant damages to the petitioner instead of relief for consideration for appointment after a period of more than 24 years and to award him a sum of 5 lakh for being deprived of appointment on account of wrongful calculation of his merit. Compliance shall be made within a period of three months, the bench of justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma ordered, observing that the amount paid to him could be recovered by the state from the members of the selection committee.
The advertisement was issued in July 1996 for 18 posts. The result was declared in May 1999.
The plea filed in 1999 alleged that the entire procedure adopted for conducting the selections was de hors the rules and suffered from colourable exercise of power. Persons who were close relatives of political leaders, officers and members of the selection committee, were selected. Several candidates did not possess the minimum qualification as required on the last date of submission of the application form. However, they were inducted, he had alleged.
Five of the selected candidates were even arrayed as party in the case, including one candidate, son of a political leader. One more unsuccessful candidate, who also could not figure in merit list due to wrong calculation of marks, got appointment in 2004, after she also approached the court. However, Thakurs case remained pending.
The court observed that the petitioner has not been able to make out a case of nepotism and favouritism as the said allegations have been denied and no concrete proof has been placed before the court except making bald allegations by him.
The counsel has also been unable to inform the court as to how the petitioner is surviving and making ends meet for last 24 years. In the circumstances, the only solace which can be provided is by awarding damages, it said.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Surender Sharma Surender Sharma is a principal correspondent at Chandigarh. He covers Punjab and Haryana high court. ...view detail
AMRITSAR : The Amritsar commissionerate police on Tuesday busted a heroin smuggling module being operated by a drug smuggler from Kapurthala Central jail. The Amritsar commissionerate police on Tuesday busted a heroin smuggling module being operated by a drug smuggler from Kapurthala Central jail.
The police have arrested Gurjit Singh of Cheecha village falling under the Gharinda police station and recovered 13.5 lakh drug money, 850 gm of heroin and a Hyundai i-20 car.
Police said the arrested accused was working at the behest of drug smuggler Gurwinder Singh, alias Mehak, who is lodged in the Kapurthala jail, accused in 70kg heroin haul seizure case. The contraband was seized by the Mumbai Anti-terrorism Squad (ATS) at the Mumbai port in July 2022.
Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP) Abhimanyu Rana said a team of crime investigation agency (CIA) led by inspector Amandeep Singh arrested the accused on the basis of a secret information.
Gurjit told us that Mehak was sending heroin to him through two unidentified persons. He said that Mehak was operating his smuggling network from the jail. We have also recovered a mobile phone which was being used by Mehak in the jail, Rana said.
The police will bring Mehak on production warrant for his questioning, the ADCP said, adding that arrested accused Gurjit is already facing two criminal cases, including one registered under the Prisons Act.
Mehak is facing four criminal cases, including the one registered by the Mumbai ATS under the NDPS Act in July 2022.
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Police on Tuesday arrested one Amrik Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, who is the sixth member of the gang involved in the inter-state car thefts. Police have recovered five cars and several car parts from the accused. (iStock)
Sharing details, Ambala superintendent of police (SP) Jashandeep Singh Randhawa, said, Police had received s complaint from Om Prakash, a resident of Sector 10, alleging that his car was stolen by unidentified people while it was parked outside his house on August 20. A case was registered at the local police station and investigation was carried out.
Police had previously arrested Ranjit Singh of Punjabs Sangrur and Sumit of Haryanas Hisar on September 7. The duo is in judicial custody as per orders of the district court. On September 16, police arrested three more men, Naresh alias Kalu, Lakhbir Singh alias Lucky and Shiv Shankar, from the same gang. Based on information obtained during their three-day police remand, it was determined out that Amrik was also involved in the robbery, the SP said. He added that the accused will be presented in a local court on Wednesday.
Police said that accused Naresh and Lakhbir Singh have criminal history and were declared proclaimed offenders in two cases registered at Baldev Nagar police station. There are 30 cases registered against Naresh, 12 cases against Lakhbir and 10 cases against Amrik.
Randhawa added that the six members of the gang have confessed that they have carried out five car thefts in Ambala, one in Hisar ,one in Rajasthan and eight in Punjab.
Police have recovered five cars and several car parts from the accused. Further investigation is on and can reveal involvement of more people in these thefts, SP added.
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The Patiala police arrested a terrorist and a member of a banned terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), who was also co-accused in sensational Burail jailbreak in 2004 involving terrorists Jagtar Tara and Jagtar Hawara. The pistols seized by the police. (HT photo)
The said terrorist Nand Singh was arrested during an ongoing investigation in the espionage and narco-terrorism case that was registered in Patiala earlier this month. The police have already arrested drug peddler Amrik Singh and sepoy Manpreet Sharma of the Indian Army in the case.
Patiala SSP Varun Sharma, during a press conference, on Tuesday, said Nand Singh was arrested from Patiala and recovered four sophisticated pistols, including one automatic Turkey-made 9 mm pistol.
As per police sources, Nand Singh was a sleeper cell of drug peddler Amrik Singh. The SSP said Nand Singh was arrested after thorough interrogation of Amrik Singh, who was brought from the Patiala central jail on production warrant.
Patiala CIA in-charge Shaminder Singh said Amrik Singh and Nand Singh came to know each other during their stay in the Patiala central jail in 2012 and it was there only that Indias most wanted terrorist Harvinder Singh Rinda currently in Pakistan also came in contact of Amrik Singh during 2014-15. Ever since both, Rinda and Amrit Singh, met in the Patiala central jail, they have been in touch with each other, said Shaminder Singh.
DSP Sukhamrit Singh Randhawa said Amrik Singh came in contact with sepoy Manpreet because of his village kinship in 2021. Manpreet, who was recruited in 2016, had handed over important intelligence documents to Amrik Singh around four to five times during his posting at Chandi Mandir in Panchkula, said the DSP.
Drug peddler provided sensitive army info to Pak
The Patiala police were closely monitoring the activities of accused Amrik Singh, who was lodged in the Patiala jail. Mobiles phones were also recovered from him in the jail. Following the forensic report of seized mobiles phones, a case under Sections 3, 5, 7 and 9 of the Official Secrets Act-1923 and under Sections 13, 16 and 18 of the UA(P)A was registered against Amrik Singh on September 1 this year for providing sensitive information of the Indian Army to its Pakistan counterparts. It was sepoy Manpreet Sharma who used to give sensitive information to Amrik Singh.
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A 40-year-old cash collection agent of a private finance company was shot dead allegedly by three motorcycle-borne assailants in Sector-3 of Rewari in Haryana, police said on Tuesday. A 40-year-old cash collection agent of a private finance company was shot dead allegedly by three motorcycle-borne assailants in Sector-3 of Rewari in Haryana, police said on Tuesday. (Getty Images/iStockphoto/ Representational image)
The incident took place on Monday late evening and the attackers also decamped with 6 lakh, they said.
The deceased was identified as Vishal Sharma, a resident of Sangwari village who was employed with a private finance company, police said.
He was killed when he was going from Sector-3 on a motorcycle with the cash, they said.When Sharma reached a street behind the Sector-3 market, the assailants hit his motorcycle with theirs and he fell down. They fired at Sharma, seriously injuring him, police said.
Police said Sharma suffered two gunshot injuries to his stomach. He died at a hospital during treatment, they said.
An FIR was registered at the Model Town police station on Tuesday and postmortem will be conducted on Wednesday, police said.
Rewari superintendent of police Deepak Saharan said that efforts are underway to identify the attackers and they will be arrested soon.
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Heated exchanges between the ruling party and the opposition dominated the proceedings on the second day of the state assemblys monsoon session. Himachal CM Sukvinder Singh Sukhu during the assembly session. (Deepak Sansta/HT)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators resorted to sloganeering amid the discussion on disaster relief efforts, with particular focus on the 2013 Kedarnath disaster.
CPS Sunder Singh Thakur, a member of the ruling party, opened the fiery discussion by raising the issue of assistance provided by the erstwhile Manmohan Singh government to Uttarakhand during the 2013 disaster, with the opposition questioning the credibility of the data being presented.
Thakur had recounted the then Prime Minister (PM) Manmohan Singh had announced a relief package of 1,000 crore just a day after the Uttarakhand governments visit to New Delhi in the aftermath of the Kedarnath disaster. He emphasised that the assistance was crucial, as Uttarakhand suffered losses amounting to 9,000 crore. In addition to the relief package, the Centre, he said, had provided a further 4,345 crore and a loan of 3,737 crore to the battered state.
Thakur praised the state governments response, stating that they acted swiftly and effectively on the ground during the Kullu tragedy and highlighted chief minister (CM) Sukhvinder Singh Sukhus tireless efforts and the dedication to relief work. He accused the opposition of being unable to acknowledge the governments work and accused the present Centre of acting unjustly towards Himachal.
In response to the ruling partys claims, leader of opposition Jairam Thakur accused the government of losing credibility and claiming that the Congress had come to power through deception drawing sharp reaction from the ruling dispensation. Thakur also questioned the credibility of the figures presented by Sunder Thakur and sparred with deputy CM Mukesh Agnihotri.
Horticulture minister Jagat Singh Negi, meanwhile also accused the opposition of throttling democracy, saying opposition was not allowed to speak in the House when the BJP was in power.
As the discussion on disaster relief continued to escalate, tempers flared to the point where the assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania was forced to step in to restore order excluding some of the contentious comments exchanged between the members from the proceedings.
BJP MLAs, meanwhile, on Tuesday donated their one months salary towards the Aapada Rahat Kosh and presented a cheque of 13.8 lakh to CM, leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur said.
Speaking to media persons outside the Vidhan Sabha, Thakur said, We had made a commitment to donate one months salary towards the disaster relief fund. The move comes a day after the CM had pointed out that the BJP MLAs are yet to donate towards the Aapada Rahat Kosh.
Highlighting the poor female representation in the assembly, CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu jokingly offered BJP MLA Reena Kashyap a ministerial berth saying the offer held if the leader was willing to jump ship over to Congress. The assembly erupted in laughter, providing a brief respite from the heated exchanges of the day. The House was discussing the Women Reservation Bill at the time.
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A Chautauqua County man who allegedly continued to run a large drug trafficking operation despite several felony counts against him, has been arrested again on a federal drug charge, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced.
Andre Richards, 23, has been charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was detained after an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy, Ross reported.
According to the report, investigators last March executed search warrants on Richards vehicle and his residence on South Work Street in Falconer after seeing him apparently dealing drugs while driving around Jamestown.
Prosecutors said the searches discovered about 84 grams of crystal methamphetamine, about $6,600 in cash, a digital scale, a drug processing press, a magazine for a 9mm pistol and a bullet.
A subsequent search of a house that Richards allegedly used on North Main Street in Russell, Pa., turned up approximately 20 pounds of meth.
Richards previously was charged with drug and gun possession counts following an investigation into drug trafficking in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties and in Warren, Pa., that began in January 2022.
Dale Anderson
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has yet again failed to submit a status report in the much-publicised arms licence scam, allegedly involving IAS officers, despite clear directives by a division bench (DB) of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh high court (HC) comprising chief justice N Kotiswar Singh and justice Puneet Gupta. Jammu and Kashmir administration failed to submit status report in multi-crore arms licence scam again. (HT FIle)
On August 21, the DB headed by the chief justice N Kotiswar Singh had expressed concern and surprise over the non-filing of the latest status report with regard to two CBI first information reports (FIR).
Subsequently, the DB had granted two weeks time to the Jammy and Kashmir administration to file a status report on the two FIRs vis-a-vis sanction, which had to be accorded by the administration.
However, on Monday, the Jammu and Kashmir administration again failed to produce the status report exhibiting lackadaisical approach in granting prosecution sanction involving senior bureaucrats.
The general administration department (GAD) has failed to place before the court the current status of two CBI cases (bearing FIR numbers RCCHG051201850006 and RCCHG05120185007 of the arms licence scam).
On June 1, the division bench comprising chief justice N. Kotiswar Singh and justice Puneet Gupta had directed senior additional advocate general SS Nanda, who appeared for the government of Jammu and Kashmir, to file a status report as regards aforesaid two CBI FIRs before the next date of hearing, i.e., July 26.
However, the needful was not done and the Division Bench on August 21, had reluctantly allowed two weeks further time to the Jammu and Kashmir administration.
On September 18, the administration, yet again, did not come up with the status report before the division bench.
Despite the opportunities granted by division bench on two consecutive hearings, the GAD has failed to file the latest status of the two CBI FIRs wherein CBI has prima facie found the involvement of several IAS officers in the scam.
It may be recalled here that the department of personnel and training (DoPT), government of India had in April 2021 returned a prosecution proposal to the Jammu and Kashmir administration against IAS officers involved in the scam because of several deficiencies in it.
The DoPT had asked the J&K government to remove the deficiencies and resubmit the proposal of prosecution sanction through a single window system as per the new guidelines.
In this context deputy solicitor general of India, Vishal Sharma placed on record various communications showing several reminders to the Jammu and Kashmir administration to expedite submission of the rectified prosecution sanction proposal.
He further submitted that the ball was in the administrations court of and the needful has to be done by it. It may be stated herein that the Jammu and Kashmir administration has already granted prosecution sanction against the officers of the Jammu and Kashmir administrative services (JKAS) allegedly involved in the scam but has been dragging its feet in case of IAS officers.
Since June this year, the administration has failed to comply with the directions of the division bench.
The division bench now directed the registry to re-notify the PIL on November 6.
In July 2021, the CBI had simultaneously raided multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi in connection with a probe into the illegal arms licence case.
The CBI had registered a case following the consent of Jammu and Kashmir administration and further notification from the central government in 2018.
A huge arms licence scam allegedly involving deputy magistrates was unearthed by the ATS Rajasthan in 2017. It was being probed by the J&K police before CBI was handed over the case by the then governor NN Vohra in 2018.
Arms licences in bulk were allegedly issued by the then deputy magistrates in Jammu and Kashmir to non-residents on forged documents.
Between 2012 and 2016, deputy commissioners of various districts in Jammu and Kashmir had fraudulently and illegally issued bulk arms licences in lieu of monetary consideration.
In December 2019 too, CBI had carried out searches at over a dozen locations in Srinagar, Jammu, Gurgaon and Noida on the premises of the then deputy magistrates of Kupwara, Baramulla, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Shopian, Rajouri, Doda, Pulwama, and several other places.
The Rajasthan ATS in 2017 had arrested over 50 people for their alleged involvement in the illegal issuance of arms licences. According to the ATS, over 3,000 permits were granted allegedly in the name of Army personnel.
CBI had registered two cases on the request of Jammu and Kashmir administration and further notification from Government of India, and taken over the investigation of two FIRs (number 18 of 2018 dated May 17, 2018 earlier registered at Police Station Vigilance Organisation Kashmir (VOK) and FIR number 11 of 2018 dated May 17, 2018 of Police Station Vigilance Organisation Jammu (VOJ) on the allegations of bulk issuance of arms licences in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir during the period 2012 to 2016.
It was alleged that more than 2.78 lakh arms licences were issued to the non-entitled persons. CBI also collected documents pertaining to the issuance of said armed licences allegedly spread over 22 districts of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Jalandhar: Relatives of Canada-based terrorist and Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjars at his native village Bhar Singh Pura, situated 60 km from Jalandhar in Phillaur sub-division, have dubbed his murder as a part of conspiracy. Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) chief Hardeep Singh Nijjars house at village Bhar Singh Pura, situated 60 km from Jalandhar in Phillaur sub-division.
Though we are not aware of what the Canadian PM said but we believed from the day one of my nephews murder that Indian agencies were behind it. The Union government is spreading lies about Hardeeps ties with Khalistan and now the government of India can only clear its stance after Trudeaus direct allegations, said 79-year-old Himmat Singh, Hardeeps paternal uncle.
He added that since 1992, Hardeep, a school dropout, has not visited India.
Nijjars house situated on the outskirts of the village wore a deserted look with a notice from National Investigation Agency (NIA) pasted on the main gate summoning him to appear in 2021 UAPA case on September 11, 2023. The NIA is investigating a murder case registered against him on October 8, 2021.
Himmat, who looks after Hardeeps old house situated in the agricultural fields, said it was poverty and financial constraints, which forced him to migrate to England in 1992 before going to Canada in 1996. He was studying in Class 8 in the village government school before his migration to foreign shores.
Villagers said that they still remembered Hardeep assisting his father Piara Singh in collecting milk from several households in the village and then went to sell the same in Ludhiana.
In the past five years, the teams of the NIA and Punjab Police have conducted multiple raids at his house and questioned him his uncle Himmat and other villagers, but they have not received any credible information, a villager, Gurmukh Singh, said.
He added that even his parents, who moved to Canada, have not visited the village since 2019 as his father Piara Singh was declared a proclaimed offender in case registered after his fight with the neighbours.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Navrajdeep Singh Navrajdeep Singh is a senior staff correspondent. He covers agriculture, crime, local bodies, health and education in the Patiala district of Punjab. ...view detail
In what was initially reported to be a robbery of 15 lakh and jewellery from the house of a renowned doctor couple in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, turned out to be a multi-crore heist with the police recovering a whopping 3.51 crore from four robbers after their arrest on Tuesday. HT Image
Along with cash, jewellery worth 22 lakh was also recovered from the accused. The police also suspect involvement of some insider in the heist.
The accused were arrested from Amritsar, where they had rented a room in a hotel. The police also seized crucial evidence from the crime scene, including a .12 bore country-made pistol, a Maruti SX-4 sedan car and a Hyundai i20 car.
The arrested accused have been identified as Guriwnder Singh Sonu, 39, of Sua Road of Thareeke, Pavneet Singh Shalu, 42, of Phase-2 of Durgi, Jagpreet Singh, 22, and Sahildeep Singh, 21, both residents of Tarn Taran.
The victims, Dr Harkamal Bagga and her husband Dr Wahigurupal Singh Sidhu, are authorised by four countries, including England, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, to conduct medical examinations for immigrants.
Dr Harkamal recorded a statement with a police stating that on September 14 around 8:45 pm, she came home, while her husband was already present.
According to Dr Harkamal, the watchman, Shingara Singh, opened the gate for her. However, just 15 minutes later, four masked men forcefully entered the house by scaling the boundary wall. They brandished a gun, held them captive, and tied up Dr
Wahigurupal, and the watchman using an adhesive tape.
The accused then led Dr Harkamal to the storeroom, from where the suspects looted the cash and gold jewellery.
Commissioner of police, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, stated that the victims initially claimed a robbery of 15 lakh and gold jewellery worth the same amount. However, the police swiftly solved the case and arrested all four accused within 96 hours of being informed.
Sidhu said that the police have recovered 3.51 crore from the accused, indicating that the victims may have intentionally underreported the actual amount due to fear of the income tax department. The accused were also unaware about the amount. After making the recovery, the police counted the cash and found that it amounts to 3.51 crore in cash.
The commissioner of police shared that two of the accused, Gurwinder and Pavneet, fled to Amritsar after the robbery and stayed in a hotel. The other two suspects returned to their homes.
We suspect that there may be more cash to uncover. Furthermore, we are also investigating the involvement of an insider who had information about the victims, including the availability of cash, added Sidhu.
Gurwinder, one of the accused, has four cases of cheating and forgery registered against him, while Pavneet has three cases of snatching and theft, he added.
In a surprising twist, the offenders took the victims Maruti SX-4 car to transport the stolen cash. As they discovered that the cash exceeded their expectations, they required another vehicle to carry the additional amount. They abandoned the victims car near Giaspura and arranged for a different car to escape.
It is the second highest robbery in the city in this year. On June 10, robbers had looted 8.49 crore from the office of CMS, a cash management company on June 10. The police had arrested a total of 18 accused in the case and had recovered 7.14 crore from their possession.
Cash reward for team
In recognition of the excellent teamwork displayed, commissioner of police Sidhu said that the director general of police Gaurav Yadav announced a cash reward of 5 lakh, along with DGP discs, for the team involved in solving the case. The team comprises deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja, additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, city 2) Suhail Qassim Mir, assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Guriqbal Singh, inspector Madhu Bala SHO at Dugri Police Station and inspector Kulwant Singh, in-Charge CIA-1.
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Police have apprehended a snatcher who had been evading arrest for eight days. The accused, Bikram Singh, 30, of Nabha, had managed to escape on September 12 while being treated at a Dera Bassi hospital. He was arrested near the toll plaza in Banur. During questioning, Bikram told the police he took shelter in a temple after escaping from the hospital (iStock)
The accused had been on the run since a botched snatching that resulted in the death of his accomplice, Ashish, a resident of Rail Vihar, Zirakpur.
The incident occurred when Bikram and Ashish attempted to snatch a vendors mobile phone in Dera Bassi. They lost control of their motorcycle while escaping and crashed. While Ashish lost his life in the accident, Bikram sustained injuries.
After getting information from reliable sources over the last couple of days, police closed in on Bikrams location near the toll plaza in Banur.
During questioning, Bikram told the police he took shelter in a temple after escaping from the hospital. The accused has been booked under Section 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code.
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Nearly three years after the death Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) Jeet Ram, 34, in a collision of two trucks in Panchkula, motor accidents claims tribunal (MACT) has awarded 93.30 lakh compensation to his kin. The amount of compensation is to be paid with 6% interest applicable from July 2020 till its realisation to the kin of the deceased. Jeet Ram was survived by his wife, three minor children and his aged mother, who will get the compensation. Jeet Ram was posted as a constable with CRPF, Gaya, Bihar. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The tribunal, presided over by additional district and sessions judge Praveen Kumar Lal, directed the owner, Jaggi of Bhabhat, and insurer, The New India Assurance Company, of the truck to jointly pay the compensation.
What transpired
Jeet Ram was posted as a constable with CRPF, Gaya, Bihar. After reaching to Ambala on train on June 21, 2020, he took a lift from his cousin Prakash Chand from Ambala railway station. Chand was on his way to Dhana village in Nalagarh, Himachal Pradesh, in a truck loaded with stabilisers.
Jeet Ram was sitting in the driver cabin. When they reached a flyover near Sector 21, a speeding Eicher Galaxi bearing Mohali registration number came from the opposite side and collied with their vehicle. The duo, injured in the accident, were rushed to General Hospital, Sector 6, where Jeet Ram was declared dead. The police had registered a case under Sections 279, 337, 304-A and 427 of the Indian Penal Code at Sector 5 police station on complaint of Prakash Chand.
No accident took place: Owner
Driver and owner of the Eicher Galaxi, Jaggi, sought dismissal of the claim, arguing that no accident occurred with his vehicle.
The New India Assurance Company contended that the accident occurred on account of contributory negligence of the drivers of both vehicles involved. After hearing arguments of all parties, the court awarded the compensation.
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As a soon-to-be 16-year-olds mother, I have been introspecting on my role, as also, the lack of skills that this huge charge requires. The dictionary meaning of mother, the romanticised filmy version, many wonderful and varied examples within the family and among friends has left me feeling most inadequate. My anxiety is mirrored in my Google search history. It varies from, Is this behaviour normal? to College admissions to Gen Z slang! When congratulatory messages and success stories of other teens are shared on social media and WhatsApp groups, I further doubt myself and the self-deprecating working mothers guilt sets in. Being a weekend mother makes things worst. (Getty Images/Fuse/ Representational image)
When congratulatory messages and success stories of other teens are shared on social media and WhatsApp groups, I further doubt myself and the self-deprecating working mothers guilt sets in. Being a weekend mother makes things worst. On a typical weekday, I send more than 20 text messages to my teen, some are answered in monosyllables and most are ignored. These are all generally to check sleeping or awake status and whereabouts during the day. Living in different cities and the long distance creates a void but I reassure myself that the weekend will makes things better.
Conversations with the offspring are put off to the end of the week, with a promise (to myself) to be calm. These conversations start from school, subjects, friends, screen-time, books to read and inadvertently end at banging doors on each other. The lessons from self-help books on dealing with teens, concentrated deep breaths dont help. The weeks guilt is now full-blown remorse. For being away, for not doing enough and sub-consciously feeling the people around are being judgmental. Of course, Im being judged more by myself than by anyone else.
On one such day for immense self-doubt, comfort flowed in from the most unexpected quarter. The Supreme Court recently released a Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes. Its a brilliant document that identifies stereotypes, offers alternate words and phrases and further discusses why certain common reasoning patterns based on gender stereotypes are incorrect. One label that I strongly relate to has been identified and discussed in detail the working woman. It illustrates the stereotype as, Women who work outside of the home do not care about their children. It goes on to explain that this in incorrect and states that: Working outside of the home has no co-relation with a womans love or concern for her children. Parents of all genders may work outside of the home while also caring for their children.
Chief Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, in his foreword to the handbook, has expressed hope that it will be widely read by all members of the legal profession in India to ensure that legal reasoning and writing is free of harmful notions about women. For me personally, the handbook has been more reassuring than any self-help book and helped me wriggle out of the guilt of being inadequate mother because of being a working professional. I have circulated the handbook to many younger colleagues sailing the same mom-guilt boat!
We do love our kids as much as the filmy mothers and do hope to contribute as much to their future as the stay-at-home mothers do.
But, dealing with the teenager continues to be a challenge, as it must be equally for any other parent. The search for a perfect solution to thousands of situations, events and issues continues. But thats another story.
The writer, a Punjab-cadre IAS officer, is deputy commissioner of Fatehgarh Sahib. She can be contacted at parneetshergill@gmail.com
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Chandigarh : Senior BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June this year. Senior BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June this year.
Capt said the murder of Nijjar was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey, in Canada.
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of Indias most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
The former Punjab CM said Trudeau has unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.
It was highly irresponsible for the prime minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote bank gallery, Capt said in a statement.
He pointed out that it was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration had given a free hand to anti-India forces in Canada.
Indian missions there were attacked and diplomats intimidated but there was no corrective action by the Canadian government, he said.
Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there, he asked, while adding, that Trudeau by levelling such allegations, is only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in Canada.
Capt said he had brought it to Trudeaus notice how Canadian land was being used against India.
He said when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018, in a hotel in Amritsar, he had shared all the information with him.
Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country, he said.
He said the reason he had refused to meet the then Canadian defence minister Harjit Singh Sajjan during his India visit was because he was associated with the World Sikh Organisation which had a record of working against India.
The former CM appreciated the Union governments decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.
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Three unidentified men riding a motorcycle opened fire at a shop in Brahmpuri near New Usmanpur in northeast Delhi on Monday night, police said adding that nobody was injured in the incident. Police said the incident happened around 9.30pm on Monday. (Representative Image)
Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said that around 10pm on Monday, the police control room was informed about a firing incident at a shop selling garments and shoes in Brahmpuri. A police team reached there and learnt that around 9.30pm, three men came on a motorcycle and one of them fired three shots two at the shop aiming its outside glass and another in the air. Thereafter, they fled on their bike, the DCP said.
The shop was open but nobody was hurt in the firing. The shop owner and employees are being examined. The footage of CCTV cameras installed around the firing spot are being scanned to identify the culprits. The reason behind the incident is being ascertained, added Tirkey.
Police said a case of act endangering life or personal safety of others with common intention and firing was registered under the Indian Penal Codes sections 336 and 24 and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act at New Usmanpur police station.
The first information report (FIR) was registered against unknown persons and the motive behind the firing was unclear, they added.
Investigators said they were probing the case from personal enmity, business rivalry and extortion bid. Further investigation in the case is in progress, they said.
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A 24-year-old police constable was killed on Tuesday morning after he was run over by a speeding truck in Rajasthans Udaipur city, officials said. The truck driver remains at large. (Representative file image)
The constable was on duty intercepting speeding vehicles when the accident took place, additional SP head quarter Aanjana Sukhwal said.
The constable was identified as Rajkumar, a resident of Zawar Mines area of Udaipur.
According to police, he was standing along with his team during a road checking outside the Tidi police station when the accident took place around 9:30am.
A rashly driven truck container heading towards Udaipur from Gujarat hit Rajkumar.
The accused truck driver somehow managed to flee away leaving his vehicle on the national highway. The vehicle was later seized by police, said Additional Anjana.
Also Read: Army jawan killed in accidental firing In Jammu and Kashmirs Bandipora
She added that constable Rajkumar was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
It was found during the initial investigation that the truck was over speeding and the deceased constable signalled the truck driver to stop but the latter in a bid to escape hit the constable on duty, the official added.
A case of causing death due to negligence was registered against the accused driver under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code.
The body of the deceased constable was shifted to a mortuary for postmortem and police are searching for the errant driver.
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The Calcutta high court pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the second consecutive day on Tuesday while expressing its displeasure over the manner in which the federal agency is probing the alleged multi-crore recruitment scam in West Bengal schools. The court has also summoned the head of the agencys Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the scam on September 27. The Calcutta high court summoned the head of the CBIs Special Investigation Team probing the jobs scam on September 27. (File Photo)
Two lawyers present during the hearing said that the bench had also asked the agency if the Prime Ministers Office and the CBI director need to be informed about the manner in which it was probing the scam.
The bench of justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay expressed displeasure over the manner in which the CBI was probing into the recruitment scam. The bench also observed that if need be, he would inform the Prime Minister and the CBI director, Firdaus Shamim, counsel representing some of the aggrieved candidates, told the media.
Senior high court advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya also said, The bench made a remark asking whether PMO needs to be informed over the manner in which the agency was probing into the scam.
Senior officials of the agency refused to make any comment on the courts observations.
On Monday, the high cbourt bench had wondered whether the agency was hand in glove with Manik Bhattacharya, a Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker and a former president of the state primary education board.
The court had asked the CBI whether the suspects (mentioned in the list) have been questioned to which the agency said that some have been questioned. To this the bench questioned as to whether the agency was planning to question the rest after the dates of the 2024 polls are declared, said a senior advocate present during the hearing.
The federal agency had told the court that it suspected involvement of many others, including elected representatives, in the alleged irregularities in recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff in state-run schools.
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Buffalo police said Monday that officers arrested three men who were stopped as they drove away from the scene of a shooting early Saturday in the 200 block of Allen Street.
Charged with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a Class C felony, are Jakari Witt, 28, and Tyree Chappell, 31, both of Buffalo, and Nigel Flint, 27, of Amherst.
Flint also was charged with third-degree and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Chappell was also charged with driving the wrong way on a one-way street. All three are held in the Erie County Holding Center.
The police report did not indicate whether the three are connected with a shooting shortly after 4 a.m. Saturday on Allen Street that killed a 28-year-old Buffalo man . The victims identity has not yet been released.
Police said the three were taken into custody after officers saw a vehicle driving in the wrong direction on Mariner Street, which is one-way.
Police said they saw a bag of pills and a handgun after they pulled the vehicle over. Officers said the gun was a loaded Glock 19 with an extended magazine and a switch, which allowed it to fire automatically. A bag of suspected cocaine also was found in the vehicle.
Dale Anderson
LUCKNOW Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati extended her wholehearted support to the Womens Reservation Bill tabled by the Centre in Parliament on Tuesday, while also advocating for a quota within a quota for women from the OBC and Dalit communities. However, she added that she would support the bill even if her demands were not met. Mayawati (HT File)
Ideally, I would prefer the womens reservation to be 50% instead of 33%, aligning with their numerical strength. Additionally, I would like a separate quota for Dalits and OBC women, over and above the existing reservation for these communities in Parliament and state assemblies, she said as the Bill, which had been stuck for nearly 27 years, was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.
Mayawati, the only woman politician to have served as the chief minister of U.P. four times, said, Baba Saheb Ambedkar ensured reservation for people from Dalit and OBC categories due to their social, educational, and economic backwardness. Yet, centuries later, these communities still lag behind. Reservation, whether in government jobs or in political life, is intended to ensure a dignified life for them and to help them overcome their backwardness.
She emphasised that a quota within a quota in the current Bill was the need of the hour. She expressed concern that if the Bill were passed in its present form, it would appear to her that the BJP and the Congress shared similar casteist thinking, and that both parties wanted Dalits and Backwards to remain marginalised.
Nevertheless, even if our demands regarding the Womens Reservation Bill are not met, we will still support the Bill presented in Parliament and will ensure its passage because women across all communities lag behind compared to men, she added.
Mayawati expressed hope that, like the BSP, most other parties would support the historic Bill. We hope that this Bill, which has been discussed for a long time and delayed, will be passed soon to become law, she added.
She also emphasised that she did not want any politics to interfere with issues like criteria for reservation under the Bill. The BSPs suggestion is that the passage of the Bill should be transparent. Its implementation, once it becomes law, should also be ensured in a timely manner, she said.
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LUCKNOW Once a staunch opponent of the Womens Reservation Bill, the Samajwadi Party (SP), the principal opposition party in Uttar Pradesh, has now called for a reservation for the PDA within the existing reservation. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (HT File)
With an intensified focus on social justice and a new social engineering strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the SP is showing partial support for the Bill recently introduced in Parliament. However, it is simultaneously demanding a quota within the quota for the PDA i.e. Pichada, Dalits, Alpsankhayak -- women from Backward, Dalits, and minority communities, especially Muslims.
In both 2010 and 2012, the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, the SPs founder and then national president, vehemently opposed the idea in Parliament and public rallies, even earning the label of misogynist for his comments. In 2010, while addressing the Parliament, Mulayam stated, The Womens Reservation Bill, if passed in its current form, would provoke young men to whistle in Parliament. In 2012, during a public meeting in a rural area in Barabanki, he remarked, The bill, if enacted as it is, would only benefit the privileged -- rich and urban women. Our impoverished and rural women are not attractive.
More than a decade later, the SP has altered its stance, offering partial support while advocating for the PDA quota within the bill. SP national president Akhilesh Yadav wasted no time and, within hours of the Bills tabling in Parliament, posted on X (formerly Twitter), saying, Womens reservation should balance gender justice with social justice, incorporating a definite percentage of reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, and tribal women.
Dimple Yadav, the partys female Lok Sabha member, who represents the late Mulayam Singh Yadavs constituency, Mainpuri, in the Lok Sabha, while exiting the new Parliament building after the Bills tabling, said, I am a woman, and I support the bill. It should include reservations for those women at the bottom of the ladder. OBC women should also be granted reservations within it. She added, The government did not introduce the bill in the past nine years, and it couldnt be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls or the upcoming assembly polls in five states. The governments intentions do not appear sincere; they introduced the bill just before the 2024 Lok Sabha polls for obvious reasons.
Dimple Yadav is the first Yadav family member to become an elected legislator. She entered Parliament for the first time after winning the Kannauj Lok Sabha by-elections in 2012 and currently represents the Mainpuri LS constituency.
Prior to Akhilesh and Dimples statements, SP Lok Sabha member ST Hasan, in Mondays session in the old Parliament building, expressed support for the Womens Reservation Bill, stating, Everyone supports the Womens Reservation Bill. SP endorses it, but the reservation should include provisions for OBC, Dalit, and minority women. Furthermore, the reservation should apply to political parties rather than the Election Commission. Political parties should allocate reservations in ticket distribution for elections, and the Election Commission should not reserve seats. There is a concern that the Election Commission might reserve seats where our prominent leaders contest.
Sharing his views on the Bill, Ameeque Jamei, a national spokesperson for the Samajwadi Party, said, Heres the essence of the Womens Reservation Bill -- 33% of seats will be reserved for women in Parliament and state assemblies. However, this reservation will only be implemented after the next constituency delimitation. The delimitation process is contingent on the next caste census, which was scheduled for 2021 but has neither commenced nor been planned for. Within this 33%, there appears to be a khela (trick) played with SC/ST, OBC, and minority groups. Do you grasp the implication?
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PATNA: Two key constituents of Bihars ruling coalition, the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Tuesday adopted a different approach to the womens reservation bill introduced by the central government in Parliament. Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar with Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav at an event in Patna on Monday (PTI)
The RJD, which has pushed for quotas for women from deprived sections, said it opposes the bill in its current form. But the JD-U promptly welcomed the introduction of the bill, pledged its support and even sought to take credit for the partys role in the empowerment of women over the years.
JD-U chief spokesperson KC Tyagi said the party will support the womens reservation bill. Nitish Kumar has demanded this on many occasions. However, Kumar has been demanding that women from deprived groups should also get proper reservation, he said.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said: The womens reservation bill that has been brought in Parliament is a welcome step. We have been advocates of womens empowerment since the beginning and have taken many historic steps in Bihar. From the year 2006, we gave 50% reservation to women in panchayati raj institutions and from the year 2007, to municipal bodies.
Kumar also asked the Centre to quickly conduct the decadal headcount that had been put off by the government. He said the bill circulated by the government, says that the 33% reservation will be implemented after a census is conducted and the delimitation of constituencies is done.
For this, the census work should be completed soon. The Census should have been done in the year 2021 but it has not been done yet. Along with the Census, a Caste Census should also be conducted, only then women will get its true benefits. If caste census had been conducted, the system of reservation for women belonging to backward and extremely backward classes could have been implemented immediately, said Kumar.
Kumar added his party and governments view that there should be a provision for reservation for women from the backward and extremely backward classes such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Other JD-U leaders claimed the quota bill for women was inspired by Bihars move to extend reservation in 2006. It has been inspired by the reservation given to women in Bihar. By bringing the Womens Reservation Bill, the central government has once again proven that whatever Bihar does, the country follows it, said JD-Us national general secretary Rajeev Ranjan.
To be sure, the JD-U came around to supporting the womens reservation bill in 2010 when the bill was voted in the Rajya Sabha, threatening a split in the party in view of differences between Nitish Kumar and the then party president Sharad Yadav. The JD(U) was among the many political parties that recently demanded that the prime minister introduce it in the ongoing special session.
The RJD, founded by Lalu Prasad Yadav, however, hasnt toned down its stand.
The bill is not going to bring social justice in its present form. This will bring privileged women, those from the world of cinema and serials (into legislature). It will hardly reflect the rural scenario in the Parliament, RJD spokesperson Shakti Yadav said, underlining that his party does not support the bill in its present form and demands a quota within quota.
Former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi stressed her partys demand for quota within quotas.
In the 33% reservation given in the Womens Reservation Bill, seats have not been reserved for SC, ST, OBC women. The provision made for SC/ST categories will give SC/ST women 33% of the seats already reserved for those categories. That means SC/ST is cheated here also, she said in a post in Hindi on X.
In a second post, she also underscored that the bill was a gimmick aimed at making some noise since it will only be implemented after a fresh round of delimitation. And for delimitation, there needs to be a census on which the government is dragging its feet since it wants to put the demand for caste census in cold storage, she alleged.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, celebrated the bill. Union minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said it was a historic move and accused the Congress and other constituents of the opposition bloc INDIA of opposing it.
All the parties including Congress, which have been opposing the womens reservation bill for decades, are now busy spreading the lie that this bill is ours, he said, a reference to Congress leader Sonia Gandhis comment on the reservation bill.
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NTA Exam Calendar 2024-25: The CUET UG 2024 and CUET PG exam dates have been released by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The Common University Entrance Test -UG (CUET UG) 2024 will be held between May 15, 2024 and May 31, 2024. The Common University Entrance Test -PG (CUETPG) 2024 will be conducted between March 11, 2024 to March 28, 2024. NTA Releases Exam Dates for CUET UG 2024 and CUET PG 2024
The CUET UG and CUET PG exams will be conducted in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode. The results of the CUET UG 2024 and CUET PG 2024 shall be announced within three weeks of the conclusion of the examination.
The Information Bulletin for the CUET UG 2024 and CUET PG 2024 will be available on the official websites at cuet.samarth.ac.in and cuet.nta.nic.in respectively.
This year around 14.90 lakh students have appeared for the CUET UG examination that was conducted from May 21 to June 23, 2023, in nine phases in 387 cities across India and 24 cities outside India.
The CUET PG entrance exam was held from June 5 to June 17, and re-exams took place at various testing locations across the nation from June 22 to June 30, 2023. The Results for the CUET PG were announced on July 20.
For more information, candidates are advised to visit the official website of NTA www.nta.ac.in for the latest updates.
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The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has been hailed as a ground-breaking reform, setting a visionary path for transforming India's education system. Its goal is to promote holistic learning and critical thinking, representing a much-needed overhaul to modernize our schools.
However, the success of this ambitious policy hinges on swift and dedicated implementation, preventing these crucial reforms from languishing or losing their impact. THe success of NEP 2020 hinges on swift and dedicated implementation, preventing these crucial reforms from languishing or losing their impact.(Representative/file)
The Urgency of Prompt Implementation
The NEP 2020 aims to tackle longstanding issues in the education system, including rote memorisation, outdated curriculum, and inadequate teacher training. The potential of these reforms lies in equipping the next generation with the skills required to thrive in the 21st century. To achieve this vision, it is imperative to expedite the implementation process.
Reimagining the Curriculum:
The NEP 2020 advocates a multidisciplinary approach, integrating essential life skills alongside conventional subjects. Prioritizing a deeper understanding and practical application of knowledge over an overwhelming curriculum is vital. This entails updating textbooks, revising syllabi, and providing teachers with the necessary training for effective delivery.
Empowering Teachers:
The cornerstone of successful education reform lies in empowering educators. Continuous professional development is at the heart of NEP 2020, necessitating workshops, seminars, and online training programs to equip teachers with innovative teaching methodologies.
Embracing Technology:
Technology integration is pivotal to improving education's quality and accessibility. The NEP 2020 emphasises the use of digital tools for blended learning in classrooms. Schools must invest in infrastructure and ensure both teachers and students are adept at leveraging technology effectively.
Early Childhood Education
Recognizing the significance of early childhood education, the NEP 2020 emphasises a strong foundation for lifelong learning. The widespread availability of high-quality preschool education, especially for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, is essential.
Promoting Inclusivity
The NEP 2020 underscores the importance of inclusive education for children with special needs and disabilities. This calls for inclusive infrastructure, curriculum adaptations, and creating a sensitive learning environment.
Challenges and the Path Ahead
Despite its visionary nature, NEP 2020 faces several challenges that could hinder its successful implementation. Overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, ensuring adequate funding, addressing resistance to change, and raising awareness at the grassroots level are crucial for progress.
To tackle these challenges effectively, a multi-faceted approach is required:
1. Collaborative Efforts: Effective implementation necessitates the collective efforts of the government, educators, parents, and the private sector. Collaboration ensures a comprehensive approach to addressing various aspects of educational reform.
2. Optimal Resource Allocation: Adequate funding and resource allocation are essential for executing the reforms effectively. Prioritizing education spending and encouraging private sector participation can bridge the funding gap.
3. Public Awareness: To garner support from all segments of society, widespread awareness campaigns and advocacy efforts are vital in informing the public about the benefits of NEP 2020.
4. Pilot Programs and Evaluation: Conducting pilot projects and regular evaluation of the reforms will help identify challenges and fine-tune strategies for successful implementation.
Conclusion
NEP 2020 holds immense potential to revolutionise India's education system and empower its youth for a brighter future. However, its success lies in swift and efficient implementation, driven by collaborative efforts and adequate resource allocation. Preventing the school reforms under NEP 2020 from languishing requires a united commitment from the government, educators, and society to transform the education landscape of the country. Only then can we unlock the true potential of NEP 2020 and pave the way for a more prosperous India.
(Author Vinay Singh is Executive Director and CEO, Thomson Digital and Q&I. Views expressed here are personal.)
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John Wick: Chapter 4 seemed to be the final chapter for the legendary assassin. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) collapsed on the stairs of the Sacre Coeur in Paris, after defeating the High Table once and for all. And that was exactly what Reeves wanted, according to Basil Iwanyk, the producer of the franchise. John Wick negotiating with High Table(Lionsgate)
Reeves is exhausted after making these films, as he puts his body and soul into the stunts and the performance. By the time they were making Chapter 4, he had reached his limit, and Iwanyk revealed that Reeves was pleading for Wick to be definitively killed off at the end of the film so that he could finally rest. But they couldnt let go of Wick completely, so they left a small chance for him to survive, as Iwanyk told Colliders Christina Radish, while promoting the upcoming Wick spin-off, The Continental.
After the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th movie, making these films is so exhausting and it destroys Keanu, physically and emotionally, Iwanyk said.
By the end, hes always like, I cant do this again, and we agree with him. The guy is just a shell of himself because he just goes off and goes for it. He was like, I wanna be definitively killed at the end of this movie. We were like, You know, well leave a 10% little opening.
ALSO READ| Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez file for divorce 2 years after marriage
The John Wick director also said that the close relationship between the producers and the filmmakers over the years made them all hesitant to end the franchise, as they would miss working together on the next installment. He compared Stahelski and Reeves to The Beatles, and said he was happy to wait until they come up with another idea for Wicks story and then they can get back to work.
Weve all become such good friends and we all like each other so much and were all so tickled by the success of these movies, critically and commercially that we all think to ourselves, Okay, how do we get the band back together, in a way that merits a good story in the next evolution of John. At this point, its Keanu and Chad [Stahelski] getting together to figure out what that story is. The way I describe it is that theyre like Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and Im Ringo. Theyll call me and let me know, All right, were showing up. Heres where you show up, and heres what our story is.
Confessing that he doesnt want to say goodbye to Wick yet, Iwanyk said he was willing to wait until the creative duo were ready again, and then they would go ahead with full force.
Another John Wick
We all want another John Wick. We dont know what it looks like and when it will happen, but we love each other and we love this world, he continued. Its gonna be all hands to try to figure it out. Have we figured it out? No. And if we cant figure it out, will there be one? No, of course not. No one is gonna try to just jam it for the sake of jamming it.
Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez have reportedly filed for divorce after two years of marriage. Ariana filed for divorce on Monday, September 18, and Dalton immediately filed a response. Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez tied the knot in May 2021 at her home in Montecito, in a private ceremony (arianagrande/Instagram)
The divorce comes as Ariana and Dalton were "taking their time together to slowly work through the details of the agreement privately," a source told the news outlet PEOPLE. "Theyve been really caring and respectful of one another through every step of this process." The pair added that the pair have "moved on." The date of separation is listed as February 20, 2023.
Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez began having problems before the former started filming Wicked
Back in July, Ariana was spotted without her wedding ring, fuelling rumours about troubles with her husband. Shortly after, TMZ reported that the pair had actually been separated since January. Sources revealed that they tried a reconciliation, but it was unsuccessful. A source with direct knowledge told the publication that their relationship "is heading for divorce."
Sources said that the couple started having problems even before Ariana started filming Wicked. They reportedly remained friends and talked regularly on the phone.
Ariana and Dalton tied the knot in May 2021 at her home in Montecito, in a private ceremony. The two reportedly got engaged months before that, and spent a lot of time during the Covid 19 pandemic. They often posted photos documenting their romance.
Arianas mom Joan was also said to have given her approval. "I am so excited to welcome Dalton Gomez into our family! Ariana, I love you and Dalton so much!!!! Heres to happily ever after! YAY! she said, according to TMZ.
Dalton is a real estate agent, and started dating Ariana in early 2020. Ariana previously dated Pete Davidson, with the comedian proposing to her just a few weeks after they got together. Just a few months later, however, the pair ended their engagement. The news of their October 2018 separation came shortly after Mac Miller, Arianas ex, died of an accidental overdose.
Daughter of actor and music director Vijay Antony allegedly died by suicide on Tuesday. She was found dead at her Chennai home, according to reports. The news of her death was confirmed by film trade analyst Manobala Vijayabalan. Meera was reportedly 16. Also read: Vijay Antony undergoes 'major surgery' after accident on Pichaikkaran 2 set in Malaysia Vijay Antony's daughter has died by suicide.
Vijay Antony's daughter dies
Manobala Vijayabalan tweeted, "BREAKING: Actor and music director Vijay Antony's daughter Meera has committed suicide at her home this morning. SHOCKING! RIP Meera." Vijay Antony's family and Meera's school friends will reportedly be questioned about her alleged suicide.
Reacting to an old tweet by Meera's mother, film trade analyst Ramesh Bala also tweeted, In March of this year, Mrs Fatima Vijay Antony was so happy that her daughter Meera Vijay Antony became the cultural secretary of her school students association. We all congratulated her on Twitter. She was the world to her parents. Can't imagine the pain.
Meera's mom's old tweet resurfaces
Back in March, Fatima Vijay Antony took to the platform and shared a photo of Meera in a school uniform and tweeted that she achieved a milestone at school. She had written, The Force behind my strength, the consolations to my tears, the reason for my stress (Naughtiness super loaded) my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony, congrats baby.
Mira studied at a private school in Chennai. As per an India Today report, Meera was taken to a private hospital in Chennai, where the doctors that examined her, declared her dead. She was reportedly under pressure and was getting treatment for the same.
Earlier this year, Vijay Antony was in news after he said he had undergone a surgery for jaw and nose injury due to his accident on the sets of his Tamil directorial debut film Pichaikkaran 2 in Malaysia.
If you need support or know someone who does, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist. Helplines: Aasra: 022 2754 6669; Sneha India Foundation: +914424640050 and Sanjivini: 011-24311918
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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
It has been long since actor-VJ Anusha Dandekar was seen in a big screen project, her last appearance was in Bhavesh Joshi Superhero in a special song, Chavanprash. And for her comeback of sorts, she chose to return to Marathi cinema with the film Baap Manus, which released earlier this month. Anusha Dandekar, last seen in Baap Manus, talks about Marathi cinema
I really wanted to get back to acting.... and it has been 10 years since I had done a Marathi film, she tells us, adding that while the landscape of Indian cinema is constantly changing, it was high time regional film industries also experienced a similar transformation. For the longest time, Marathi cinema was looked down upon as a smaller medium, she laments, adding, Audiences always used to think of regional films as only for a particular region, people, or for those who speak that language.
The 41-year-old, however, is glad that the perception has changed over the years. Marathi films have really come up now. There are no language barriers anymore. Even globally, the advent of streaming platforms has opened up everything for everyone. We watch Spanish films, the other countries watch Hindi and English content... There are subtitles if you dont know a language, so whatever blocks existed earlier, are no longer there, she adds.
Another notion or misconception that Dandekar is happy to bust with her Marathi film, is that regional projects have limited budgets. People tend to think that regional film has relatively smaller budgets, but thats not true. For Baap Manus, we went to London for the shoot, reveals the actor, who considers herself fortunate that she got to work in both Marathi and Hindi cinema.
Talking about the reason she was instantly drawn to the project, the actor says the character of an independent girl resonated with her. But, she is quick to clarify that it doesnt make the process in front of the camera simpler. A lot of times, actors think it would be easier to play a character that is similar to you, but it is actually very difficult. You dont know where to draw the line, you dont know when you are natural or acting. When you are trying to play yourself, you dont know where the boundaries are; it is really weird, explains Dandekar, who, besides her acting career, has been pursuing her passion of learning ballet professionally.
Despite facing a setback due to ovarian lump surgery, the actor recently started dancing again. You have to find that little slice of heaven in life, where it is your escape and peace. People choose meditation and yoga; it is ballet for me. I didnt like ballet seriously as a child. But now, I am just obsessed with it, the Anthony Kaun Hai (2006), City of Gold (2010) and Delhi Belly (2011) actor wraps up.
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Actor Mona Singh consciously decided to leave television in 2016, after her stint in the daily soap Kavach..Kaali Shaktiyon Se, and she is happy that she made this move. Mona Singh, last seen in Made In Heaven 2, on leaving TV consciously
My journey has been spectacular, from TV, hosting, theatre, movies, to now OTT medium. I am loving this whole new change. This is the only way for actors to stay relevant, says the actor, recently seen in the second season of Made In Heaven 2.
Talking about her choice to transition into OTT leaving daily soaps, Singh laughs and says, The only reason is that I have been spoiled badly for choices on OTT, adding, When you say yes to a show on OTT, you invest a few months and then you move on to the next. But, that doesnt happen on TV, and I dont have the patience anymore to play one character for years."
The 41-year-olds journey on the small screen began with the iconic role of Jassi in TV soap Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, and when the show concluded, she didnt pounce on another television show, because of the fear of typecasting. She says, When Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin ended, I knew that I couldnt jump into another daily soap immediately because everything would be compared to Jassi. To break free from this image, I consciously opted for hosting and participating in reality shows and theatre. Just to not set the image of Jassi, but also to let people know that this is also something that I can do. Then, I did a few daily soaps but I hardly did any.
Her hiatus from daily soaps paid off when she made her OTT debut with Yeh Meri Family in 2017. This transition was smooth, and she emphasises, I did not face any difficulty or tag of a TV actor in finding work. I just had to wait it out for a good role to come my way.
Another thing Singh expresses about her future roles is that, I am getting greedy as an actor, ki mujhe sab kuch karna hai. I want to play grey, a cop, biopic, and many other things. OTT has opened so many opportunities for actors like me, so 1000 dream roles hain, ek nahi.
Every big star is coming on mainstream OTT shows now. I love the fact that it has opened so much work for everyone, says the actor, who has five 5 more releases lined up.
Before wrapping us, we asked her if she'd like to comment on multiple controversies surrounding Made In Heaven 2, and she tells us, It was not at all needed. When such big people in the business are making a show and they are even writing it themselves, they will obviously make sure that nothing is plagiarised from anybody elses property. They also put their statement out, and I also supported it by posting it. I find these controversies really bizarre.
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Discovery of a computer USB drive full of sexual images has led to Lockport man pleading guilty to possession of child pornography involving an prepubescent minor, U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross reported.
Kevin Moore, 40, who entered the plea before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he returns for sentencing Dec. 5.
Prosecutors said Moores ex-girlfriend took a USB drive belonging to him in June 2022 and found child sexual abuse material when she plugged it into a computer.
The ex-girlfriend reported it to Buffalo Police, who took the USB drive and turned it over to the FBI. Prosecutors said a forensic review revealed about 33 pornographic videos and 360 images, some of them depicting young children and violence against children.
Ross said the plea followed an investigation by the Buffalo Police Department, the FBI Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force and the Town of Tonawanda Police Department.
Dale Anderson
Country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said in response to claims made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Harpreet Singh Nijjar in June this year. Speaking on behalf of his party, Ramesh said the Indian National Congress has always believed that the India's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh(HT_PRINT)
The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity and integrity. Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times, the Congress leader wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Trudeau recently spoke in Canada's Parliament about Nijjar's killing and claimed that there as credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder in June. Soon after Trudeau's remark, Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat.
In response, India is likely to expel a Canadian official, HT has reported earlier. However, there was no official word on how India would respond to the expulsion of the diplomat.
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Expulsion of Indian diplomat by Canada Canada publicly expelled a senior Indian official amid allegations of Indian government involvement in the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. This move is unusual, as such expulsions are typically discreet. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned "credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to Nijjar's killing. India dismissed these claims as "absurd," asserting they aimed to divert attention from Khalistani terrorists sheltered in Canada who threaten India's sovereignty. Most expulsions of Indian intelligence operatives usually involve Pakistan or China, not Western nations. In this story, we look at why the expulsion of Indian diplomat from Canada is departure from norm Dig deeper Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime MInister Justin Trudeau.
A history of Khalistan movement
The strained relationship between India and Canada, highlighted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's suggestion of Indian government involvement in the murder of a pro-Khalistan figure, has roots dating back nearly 45 years. Sikh immigration to Canada began in the early 20th century, with many attracted to fertile lands. By the 1970s, Sikhs were a visible part of Canadian society, and tensions escalated when India repurposed Canadian-provided CANDU reactors for military purposes during its 1974 Pokhran nuclear tests. This move led to diplomatic tensions and a deterioration of relations between the two countries, with echoes of that history surfacing in recent events. Dig deeper
The Latest News on Canada row
The Justin Trudeau government identified the expelled diplomat as a senior official of India's intelligence agency RAW Dig deeper
India has already paused negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada over Khalistan row after Trudeau G20 visit Dig deeper
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Khalistan terrorist at centre of standoff between India and Canada? Dig deeper
Days before India-Canda row, secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) announced a new date for the voting of the so-called Khalistan referendum as October 29. Dig deeper
What India said on Canada's Charge
India characterised an accusation by Canada that it was involved in the murder of a Khalistani leader as "absurd and motivated" urging the country instead to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil. Canada was "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in June, had been designated a "terrorist" by India in July 2020. Dig deeper
Global reactions
The US is "deeply concerned" over accusations by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau linking Indian government agents to the murder of slain Khalistan terrorist Dig deeper
Australia is deeply concerned by allegations raised by Canada linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar Dig deeper
Britain said Tuesday it was in close touch with its Canadian partners about "serious allegations" about the Indian government Dig deeper
That's all we have at this hour. See you in our evening briefing.
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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
Former Punjab Chief Minister and BJP leader Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed the claims made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar outside a Surrey Gurdwara in June this year. Senior BJP leader and former Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh(HT File)
He said that the murder was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, Surrey in Canada. The former Punjab Chief Minister said that Canadian PM Trudeau had unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.
"It was highly irresponsible for the Prime Minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote bank gallery. It was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration in Canada had given a free hand to anti-India forces in that country," former Punjab CM said.
READ | India could be behind killing of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar, says Trudeau
He said that there was no corrective action taken by the Canadian government Indian missions were attacked and diplomats were intimidated on their soil.
"Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there? he asked while adding, that Canadian PM Trudeau by leveling such allegations was only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in that country.
Amarinder Singh said that he had brought it to Trudeaus notice as to how Canadian land was being used against India. He said, when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018, in an Amritsar hotel, he had shared all the information with him.
"Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country," he said.
READ | Hardeep Nijjar killing row: Canada's Justin Trudeau says 'not trying to provoke India, but
The former Chief Minister appreciated the government of Indias decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.
Trudeau triggered a diplomatic storm on Monday by saying there was credible evidence India was responsible for the alleged assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.
He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
Notably, India rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier today, regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief and a designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated.
"We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," said the MEA in an official statement.
India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat.
Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday intervened in the speech of leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, saying that he had made two factually incorrect statements in the House on the Womens Reservation Bill and asked the latter to withdraw his statement or bring forth evidence and present it on the table in the House. Union home minister Amit Shah speaks in the Lok Sabha during the Parliament special session on Tuesday. (PTI)
Chowdhury, during the parliament special session on Tuesday, said the womens reservation bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and he also added that the bill introduced by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was still pending in the Lower House.
Chowdhury said, Different prime ministers such as Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh introduced the bill. On some occasions the bill was passed by Rajya Sabha but not in the Lok Sabha. Sometimes it was passed in the Lok Sabha but was not cleared in the Rajya Sabha. The bill that was brought during former PM Dr Manmohan Singhs tenure is still alive. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha
He added that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in its meeting had passed a resolution that the bill must be cleared and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the pending bill and its importance.
To this, Shah immediately intervened and told the House that Chowdhury had made two factually incorrect statements.
Two factually incorrect statements were made by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. He must withdraw his statement or bring forth evidence and present it on the table in the House. He said womens reservation bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, which is wrong as it was never passed. He also said the old bill is still in the Lok Sabha. I want to say that the bill has lapsed after the term of the Lok Sabha lapsed in 2014, Shah told the House.
His statement came at a time when the Congress has sought to take credit for the bill after the Union Cabinet cleared it on Monday. On Tuesday morning, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi had called the bill ours.
The bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The 128th Amendment Bill 2023 says, Seats shall be reserved for women in the House of the People. As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (2) of Article 330 shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes.
As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of the People shall be reserved for women, it adds.
On the issue of reserving seats for women in the state assemblies, the legislation says that one-third of the total number of seats will be reserved for women from SC/ST category.
The bill states that rotation of seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha, state assemblies and Delhi assembly shall take effect after each subsequent delimitation exercise as the Parliament by law may determine.
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The seven-day-long encounter between terrorists and security forces in the Garole forests in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district, which had claimed the lives of four security men, came to an end on Tuesday with the killing of at least two terrorists, including Lashkar e Taiba commander Uzair Khan, police said. Army personnel return from the encounter site in the Garole forests in Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)
Additional director general of police (ADGP), Vijay Kumar said, So far, we have retrieved the body of Uzair Khan. The dead body of the second terrorist is visible but has not been retrieved yet. We had information about 2-3 terrorists. Maybe the body of the third terrorist will be there.
The ADGP said that the search operation would continue to locate and destroy explosive shells and grenades at the encounter site in the dense Garole forest area in Kokernag.
The search operation will continue. There is a lot of area remaining which needs to be searched. There will be blind shells which will be recovered and destroyed. People are also requested not to visit the spot because there are chances of live shells and grenades lying there, he said.
The operation had begun on the night of last Tuesday. The army and police launched a joint operation after receiving intelligence about terrorist movement and their likely hideout in the forested area.
Colonel Manpreet Singh, the commanding officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Aashish Dhonchak, also from the same battalion, DSP Humayun Muzamil Bhat were killed in the initial blow by terrorists on Wednesday. The body of sepoy Pardeep Singh was recovered on Monday.
Uzair Khan, a resident of Nagam in Anantnag, had gone missing in July 2022. After his family filed a missing report, they were informed of his joining the Lashkar e Taiba. A school dropout, he had done a diploma in electrical work and had been working as an electrician before he went missing.
Lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha on Tuesday laid a wreath and paid homage to sepoy Pardeep Singh. I bow to the exemplary courage and sacrifice of our brave heart. A grateful nation will always remain indebted to his martyrdom. The entire nation stands firmly with his family in this hour of grief, he said.
Army official said that Singh was a resident of Patiala in Punjab. The body has reached Patiala to be handed over to the next of kin, an official said.
The operation one of the deadliest and longest in the recent past involved some of the armys toughest fighting men, including those from the Special Forces, and counterterrorism specialists from J&K Police. For the past seven days, they targeted the alpine forest and natural cave like structures suspected to be terrorist hideouts and fired several mortar shells and grenades towards the hilly forest area.
Security forces also used drones and helicopters for surveillance of the dense forest area to trace the holed-up terrorists. Footage of a drone locating a hideout deep in the woods and forces subsequently destroying it with explosives became viral on social media.
The tensions between India and Canada escalated after Ottawa expelled a top Indian diplomat over the killing of top Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Monday. The expulsion comes amid probe into what Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau calls it a credible allegations of link between the agents of the Indian government and the slain Khalistani leader. Pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead on June 18 in Canada.
Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said in a statement.
Canada expels Indian diplomat over pro-Khalistan Nijjar's killing: LIVE coverage
Who was Hardeep Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the founder of Khalistani terrorist group Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia. He was involved in acts of identifying, connecting, training, and funding Khalistani cells in India, being named in over 10 FIRs against him. Read more
India-Canada tensions escalate
It is no secret that the relations between India and Canada are strained in wake of the increasing activities of Khalistani extremists in the North American country. There have been instances of vandalism at Hindu temples in Canada, besides the controversial tableau depicting former prime minister Indira Gandhi's assassination on Operation Bluestar anniversary in June.
During his bilateral meet with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau after the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed to the former about India's concerns regarding the continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community in that country.
Pro-Khalistan activities surge in Canada
The tensions between the two countries are clearly visible. Last week, Canada indefinitely postponed a trade mission to India scheduled next month. A senior Indian official told Hindustan Times that they came to know about the decision only through the media. The officials in New Delhi had said that trade talks with Canada have been suspended till subversive activities are allowed in Canadian territory.
On September 12, a pro-Khalistani secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) had carried out a controversial referendum at a gurdwara in Surrey town of Canada's British Columbia, hours after PM Modi had conveyed his concerns to Trudeau in New Delhi. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, a designated terrorist and founder of the banned SFJ, was also present at the controversial exercise in the gurdwara.
Communicated deep concern over killing of Nijjar to Modi
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau had said he had communicated deep concern over Hardeep Nijjar's killing to PM Modi when they met in New Delhi
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," the Canadian prime minister had said, calling it unacceptable.
India calls allegations absurd, motivated
New Delhi has rejected Ottawa's allegation of being involved in Nijjar's killing. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern, the MEA statement added.
The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, MEA added.
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Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday claimed that his country was not trying to provoke India by suggesting its agents were linked to the murder of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, but Ottawa wanted New Delhi to address the issue properly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hand with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023. (AFP)
"The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters. The Indian government has already dismissed the Canadian government's accusations as absurd.
Trudeau said on Monday that "credible allegations" linked Indian agents to the June slaying of Nijjar, who was accused by India of carrying out terrorist attacks in India.
New Delhi insisted it had nothing to do with the killing, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had completely rejected the accusation when earlier raised privately by Trudeau.
India's tit-for-tat action
Earlier on Tuesday, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat action after Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case, marking fresh tensions to the already frayed bilateral ties.
Canadian high commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned and he was informed about the decision to expel the senior diplomat with the ministry of external affairs (MEA) saying the move reflects New Delhi's growing concern at the "interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities".
India rejects Justin Trudeau's allegation
In a strongly-worded statement, the MEA also trashed comments by Trudeau and foreign minister Melanie Joly, asserting that "such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity".
Though New Delhi did not divulge the name of the Canadian diplomat who has been asked to leave India within five days, people familiar with the matter said it is Canadian intelligence agency's station chief in New Delhi Olivier Sylvestere.
The Indian action to expel the Canadian diplomat came hours after Joly announced that a "top Indian diplomat" was expelled from Canada. Nijjar, a Canadian Khalistani terrorist, was shot dead by two gunmen in Surrey on June 18.
Joly's office said the diplomat, who has been ordered to leave Canada, is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to Canadian broadcaster CBC news.
Canada's public announcement of the expulsion of the Indian intelligence operative is seen as "rare" as such issues are generally handled in a discreet manner.
The chain reactions followed after Trudeau said in the House of Commons that Canada was looking at "credible allegations potentially linking" Indian agents to Nijjar's killing.
Nijjar, 45, was one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of 10 lakh on his head.
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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday told a reporter to chill out when he was asked whether he regretted calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi the boss recently, amid Canada's allegations that the Indian government may be linked to the murder of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.(REUTERS)
Seriously, you should chill out a bitYou know, we are at a venue where Bruce Springsteen played the last time. I was there and I made the point that the reception he got from the community, which was a very broad-based community from the Indian diaspora, welcomed him very strongly. Its as simple as that," Albanese told the reporter.
He added, "So, I welcomed Prime Minister Modi to Australia, as I welcome other guests to Australia as well.
During Modi's visit to Australia in May, Albanese called him the boss while addressing the community event in Sydney for the Indian diaspora. The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got. Prime Minister Modi is the boss, he had said as he witnessed the rousing welcome that Modi received from the crowd who chanted slogans like Bharat Mata ki Jai, Vande Mataram, and Modi, Modi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing row
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said that there are credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Indian government and the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar - who died in June outside a temple in British Columbia in June.
Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian governmentIn no uncertain terms, any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, Trudeau said.
As the row escalated, Trudeau later claimed that his country is not trying to provoke India but Ottawa wanted New Delhi to address the issue properly.
Immediately after Trudeau made the allegations, Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly said she expelled the head of Indias intelligence agency in Canada from the country. In retaliation, India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat.
Australia deeply disturbed
Meanwhile, Australia said that it is deeply disturbed by allegations raised by Canada.
Australia is deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matterWe are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India, spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, a claim that was rejected by the Indian side as absurd and motivated. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons in Ottawa. (AP photo)
Watch: Trudeau Links India To K-Terrorist Nijjar's Killing; Expels RAW Chief In Ottawa | India Sees Red
Soon after Trudeau made the claim in Canadas Parliament, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat as a consequence. Jolys office identified the diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
Trudeaus claim will further damage bilateral relations which are already at an all-time low. The external affairs ministry said in a statement that similar allegations were made by Trudeau to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting on September 10 and were completely rejected.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the statement said.
The development came a little more than a week after Modi told Trudeau at the meeting on the margins of the G20 Summit that New Delhi expects Ottawa to cooperate in tackling pro-Khalistani elements on Canadian soil who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. Nijjar was earlier designated a terrorist by the Indian government for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
In a speech to Canadas House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said he wished to inform the House of an extremely serious matter that he had discussed with opposition leaders.
Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada is a rule-of-law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental, he said.
He added: Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G20, I brought them, personally and directly, to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Trudeau said some Indo-Canadians are feeling angry and perhaps frightened right now.
Soon after, Joly told the media that the allegations that a representative of a foreign government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen...on Canadian soil is not only troubling but it is completely unacceptable. She added: As of today and as a consequence, weve expelled a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
Though Joly didnt name the Indian diplomat, her office subsequently identified him as the RAW station chief in Canada. While it is not unusual for countries to expel operatives of a foreign intelligence agency, it is rare for them to identify the expelled official.
Joly also said she had conveyed Canadas principles regarding seeking the truth, protecting Canadians at all times and protecting Canadas sovereignty to her Indian counterpart and sought Indias full collaboration to get to the bottom of the matter. She added that Canada wouldnt tolerate any form of foreign interference.
Responding to the Canadian governments allegations, the external affairs ministry rejected Trudeaus statement in Parliament and the statement by Canadas foreign minister. Allegations of the government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, the ministry said in its statement.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected, the statement said. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
The statement pointed out that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements and this remains a matter of deep concern for India. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime, is not new, it added.
While rejecting any attempts to connect the Indian government to such developments, the Indian side urged the Canadian government to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
CBC News quoted a senior Canadian government source as saying that Trudeau had briefed the leaders of the countrys closest allies about the case, including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
While addressing the Canadian media on the margins of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Trudeau had said he had raised the issue of foreign interference in Canadas internal affairs with his Indian counterpart.
Asked at the same news conference about Indias concerns over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements, Trudeau said Canada will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but simultaneously asserted it will prevent violence.
Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us, he had said. At the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. I think on the issue of the community, it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada, he added.
A tersely worded readout issued by the external affairs ministry on the bilateral meeting on September 10 had said that Modi had conveyed to Trudeau Indias strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada, who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community...and their places of worship.
Modi had further said the nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada and that it is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.
India-Canada relations are in tatters over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements on Canadian soil. In recent months, the extremist elements have organised rallies and protests in support of Khalistan in Canadian cities and targeted Indian diplomatic facilities and officials. They have also held a so-called referendum on the creation of Khalistan in several cities.
The Indian side was particularly angered when a float at a recent rally eulogised the assassins of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The troubled bilateral ties have also affected negotiations on a free trade agreement, with officials from both sides saying the talks have been paused. Two-way trade in goods in 2022 was worth US$10.5 billion, including Indian exports of US$6.4 billion, while bilateral trade in services in 2021 was worth US$5.88 billion. Canadian pension funds have invested more than US$55 billion in India.
Canadians of Indian origin account for about 4% of the countrys population. With nearly 1.6 million people of Indian origin and another 700,000 non-resident Indians (NRIs), Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas. The current House of Commons has 19 MPs of Indian origin, including three ministers in the cabinet.
The opposition New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, has helped keep Trudeaus minority government in power.
Watch: Trudeau Links India To K-Terrorist Nijjar's Killing; Expels RAW Chief In Ottawa | India Sees Red
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Hes not saying anything publicly, but speculation in the political world continues to grow that Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, may be on his way out of Congress.
I asked Higgins about this last month, when his longtime chief of staff and top aide Charles Chuck Eaton was named executive director of the Erie County Water Authority. Some politicos took Eatons hiring as a sign that his boss was ready to get out after 18 years in Washington.
Higgins denied that he was going anywhere, saying that he planned to run for re-election in 2024.
Since then, the talk has only grown, first when Geoff Kelly of Investigative Post laid out the various political domino theories that could happen if Higgins stepped down. The most prominent among them was that another South Buffalo guy, State Sen. Timothy M. Kennedy, would step into Higgins seat.
It grew louder last week when WKBW-TV political analyst Bob McCarthy cited two sources who said Higgins was under consideration for the top job at Sheas Performing Arts Center. One of those sources called Higgins the leading contender among more than 130 applicants.
In addition to Kennedy, Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown, Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz, State Sen. Sean M. Ryan and even Erie County DA John J. Flynn Jr. have all been mentioned as possibilities for the congressional seat.
You never know what party bosses will do, but I would put my money on Kennedy emerging as the favorite. Brown is 64 and would seem to be toward the end of his political career. Hes also been mentioned as a possible candidate for president of SUNY Buffalo State.
Kennedy, meanwhile, is 46 and has proven to be a tremendous fundraiser. Because of campaign finance laws, he couldnt directly use any of his $2.1 million state war chest for a federal race, but could easily throw around funds to the party or to buy the support of other politicians.
Kennedy wont get much help, though, from Erie County Democratic Chairman Jeremy J. Zellner, who is more closely aligned with Poloncarz. Some at the top levels of the party apparatus remain suspicious of Kennedy for his former association with Zellner enemy Steve Pigeon. And they havent forgotten how Kennedy in 2010 joined another Democrat and voted with six Republican-bloc legislators to make Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller-Williams the chairwoman over a more Democratic headquarters-aligned candidate.
Poloncarz would also seem to be a natural fit for Congress, but the timing may not be right for him. He finds himself in the middle of an unexpectedly close race for a fourth term, despite having an inexperienced opponent in Republican Chrissy Casilio.
Of course, all of these scenarios depend on Higgins deciding to step down. And that hasnt happened yet. So stay tuned.
Speaking of Poloncarz: The Erie County Board of Ethics has declined to investigate an accusation that Poloncarz improperly awarded a $60,000 grant to a cultural organization run by a woman he dated, asserting the county ethics code is silent on conflicts involving intimate partners who are not married.
As noted in Sandra Tans story in The News, the county Attorneys Office, at the behest of Poloncarz, sent an unsolicited opinion to ethics board members who had not yet met to discuss the matter.
The county executive appoints all Board of Ethics members, subject to approval by the Erie County Legislature. Board Chair Chris Trapp, the only board member whose board tenure pre-dates Poloncarzs administration, said he believed the boards ability to investigate ethics complaints should be broader than the strict language of the ethics law and encompass the spirit of what constitutes a conflict of interest.
NEW DELHI: Australia and the US, Canadas allies in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing setup, expressed deep concern over Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a statement in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada September 18 (REUTERS)
India has rejected the claim by Trudeau as absurd and motivated, with the external affairs ministry saying such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists...who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty.
New Delhi has also expelled senior Canadian diplomat, its retaliation to Ottawas well-publicised expulsion of an Indian official over the death of the Khalistani leader.
Also Read: In tit-for-tat move, India orders senior Canadian diplomat to leave in 5 days
The US expressed concern at the allegations and said it is critical for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a brief statement.
We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Watson added.
Also Read: India paused trade talks with Canada over Khalistan row after Trudeau G20 visit
A spokesperson for Australias foreign minister Penny Wong said Canberras concerns had been conveyed to New Delhi at senior levels.
Australia is deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matter, the spokesperson said in a statement. Australia believes all countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law.
The spokesperson said, We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India.
The spokesperson further said these reports will be particularly concerning to some Australian communities and pointed to the importance of free speech. The Indian diaspora are valued and important contributors to our vibrant and resilient multicultural society, where all Australians can peacefully and safely express their views, the spokesperson added.
Australia is home to a 750,000-strong Indian community, and the country has witnessed rallies and events organised by pro-Khalistan elements, including a so-called referendum for the creation of a separate Sikh homeland. The Australian government has condemned violence that occurred at some of these events and said it doesnt recognise the referendum.
Canadas public broadcaster CBC News cited a senior Canadian government source as saying that Trudeau briefed leaders of some of the countrys closest allies about the case, including his UK counterpart Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
On September 12, when Trudeau and his delegation left India after an extended stay caused by a technical problem on the prime ministers aircraft, National Security Adviser Jody Thomas was not part of the team as she had quietly travelled to the UK, CBC News reported.
Thomas informed the UK government that Canadas relations with India were about to get worse now that Canada had credible evidence linking Indias government to Nijjars death, CBC News cited a source as saying.
Joly also told reporters she planned to raise the matter with G7 counterparts on the margins of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Canadas public safety minister Dominic LeBlanc has said Thomas and the head of Canadas intelligence agency had traveled to India several times in recent weeks to discuss the matter with their counterparts.
However, Australias Prime Minister Anthony Albanese refused to be drawn on the issue at a news conference in Melbourne on Tuesday. I dont talk about Five Eyes intelligence at a press conference. Funnily enough, thats why its called intelligence because we dont speculate on what the intelligence is, he said.
The Five Eyes intelligence alliance brings together Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday recalled historic functions and addresses conducted in the iconic Central Hall of the Parliament while speaking on the 75-year history of India's legislature. He also discussed about the landmark laws, including the abrogation of Article 370, that were formulated during his tenure since 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(PTI)
Commemorating the the last sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well as marking a cermonial exit from the old Parliament building, a function was organised at the Central Hall.
He further suggested old Parliament building be called Samvidhaan Sadan.
"Today, we are going to do 'Shree Ganesha' of new future as we move to the new Parliament building," he said addressing all the members present at the event.
Here are top quotes from PM Modi's speech:
Today we are moving to the new Parliament building with a repetition of our resolve of developed India and determination towards achieving it. So far, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have passed over 4,000 laws. When required, joint sessions were held to chalk out strategies to pass bills. It was this Parliament that let us rectify our mistakes and we passed the law against triple talaq. If we look at the events one after the other, each one of them bears witness that today, India has reawakened with a new consciousness. India is filled with a new energy. This consciousness and energy can change the dreams of crores of people into resolutions and make those resolutions into a reality. Muslim mothers and sisters got justice because of this Parliament, law opposing 'triple talaq' was unitedly passed from here. In the last few years, Parliament has also passed laws giving justice to the transgenders. We have unitedly passed laws that will guarantee a bright future for the specially-abled people. It is our privilege that we got the opportunity to abrogate Article 370 from the Parliament. India's aspirations are at the peak after thousands of years which was nabbed in the shackles of servitude. Every debate and discussion in Parliament should work towards encouraging the Indian aspiration. Just like how a large painting cannot be made on a small canvas, we can't imagine a larger picture of India without expanding the canvas of our thought. Time has gone to worry about smaller aspects. We should work towards fullfilling the objectives of self-reliance. World started discussing about the Atmanirbhar Bharat model within five years. It is the need of the hour, it is everyone's duty. Parties do not come in its way. Sirf Dil chahiye, desh ke liye chahiye." We have to make the right decisions at the right time for the future. We cannot restrict ourselves to just thinking about the political benefits. Knowledge and innovation are the demands and we should focus on it.
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The senior Canadian diplomat who was ordered to leave India, hours after Ottawa expelled an Indian diplomat, is the head of Canadian intelligence in India, said people familiar with the matter. Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Raj Ghat in New Delhi, (AP)
The office of Canada foreign minister Melanie Joly, who announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat, had identified the official as Pavan Kumar Rai, head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
India responded in kind and expelled Olivier Sylvestere, who is the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India, said the persons cited above, who asked not to be named because they are not authorised to speak to the media. Sylvestere was operating in India under official cover, said one of the persons. He must leave India within five days.
The decision to expel the Canadian diplomat reflects the Indian governments growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, according to a statement by Indias foreign ministry.
The tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions follows Canadas accusation that India may have been involved in the assassination of Sikh militant Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil. The events have soured further the relations between the two countries.
HT contacted the Canadian consular service in India for comment and this article will be updated with the response.
The use of diplomatic titles to protect intelligence officers in foreign countries has long been a standard practice adopted by several countries. Most countries maintain an intelligence service within their embassies.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday called for full digitisation of all rural regional banks and expansion of credit to farmers while launching three new initiatives to strengthen access of cultivators to financial services. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman during the launch of three key intiatives for farmers at Pusa complex in Delhi on Tuesday. (PTI)
At an event at Pusa complex, which was also attended by agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Sitharaman launched the Kisan Rin Portal, unveiled a campaign to cover all beneficiaries of the PM Kisan cash-transfer programme under the Kisan credit card scheme and an integrated agricultural weather portal.
The Kisan Rin Portal, developed in collaboration with multiple government departments, is a digital platform that will offer comprehensive data on financial services offered to farmers, including information on loan disbursement, interest subvention claims and utilization, which will be integrated with banks for efficient disbursal of agriculture credit.
We must remember that even during the Covid lockdown period, it was the agricultural community, the farming community and the rural community that kept us going. With whatever precaution farmers could take, they ensured that the nations food security did not suffer and agricultural growth helped the economy, the finance minister said.
Sitharaman, in her speech, asked the secretary of the department of financial services Vivek Joshi, who also attended the event, to ensure full cooperation of all banks of the country in providing data and information to the Kisan Rin Portal.
The finance minister also called upon the department, which comes under her ministry, to ensure speedy digitisation of rural regional banks and improve credit disbursal by cooperative banks.
When I look at data of sanction and disbursal of credit to farmers of scheduled commercial banks and cooperative banks, one sees a lack of correlation. I want the disbursal rate of credit of cooperative banks to farmers go up, Sitharaman said.
The finance minister said after the creation of a separate ministry for cooperation, a massive project for digitisation of the sector was currently on. She commended the agriculture minister for coming up with a Kisan Rin portal within four months of its conception.
The agriculture minister said under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and with the generosity of the finance minister, the budgetary allocation to agriculture ministry had gone up several time to 1.41 lakh crore.
Launching the Ghar Ghar KCC Abhiyaan to achieve universal financial inclusion of farmers by end of December, the finance minister said there was no shortage of money for farmers but called upon officials to robustly implement all agricultural schemes.
Sitharaman also launched WINDS or Weather Information Network Data Systems, which will serve as a one-stop online platform for all information related to agricultural meteorology.
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Bengaluru Police said security arrangements with over 2k CCTV cameras and more than 5k police personnel have been deployed to ensure the safety during the festival celebrations. (HT)
The installation of a Ganesha idol at Idgah Maidan in Hubballi was marked by a grand procession amid tight security on Tuesday.
The procession, which commenced from the Muru Savira Mutts premises in the city, made its way to Idgah Maidan through Mahavira galli, Tulaja bhavani Circle, Dajiban Pete, Anchatageri Oni, and Rayanna Circle. The procession was accompanied by traditional music and dance performances, including Panchavadya, Dolu, and Janz Mela of Nasik MLA Aravinda Bellad added to the festive spirit during the procession.
During the event, a portrait of Mother India, Bhagwadhwaja, and saffron flags were hoisted, and members from various Hindu organizations, including BJP, RSS, Hindu Jagran Forum, Shri Ram Sena, and VHP, actively participated. A strong police presence was maintained along the procession route, under the leadership of deputy commissioner of police for Law& Order M Rajeev. Rapid Task Force personnel and CAR contingents were also deployed for added security.
Amid opposition from the Muslim community, the Ganesha idol was installed with great fervor under the leadership of MLA Mahesh Tenginakai and leaders from pro-Hindu organisations. The idol will be available for public viewing for three days.
On September 19 after performing Shuddhi, Handargamba, and Kesari Bhagwadhwaja Puja at Idgah Maidan, the construction of the Ganesha Mandap was carried out.
As per the wish of thousands of devotees Ganesh idol was installed in the heart of the city at Idgah maidan, MLA Mahesh Tenginakai told reporters.
He said the court has taken a suitable decision and the idol will be displayed for three days like last year. He said devotees from other districts are also visiting and offering pooja.
We have taken precautionary measures for smooth conduct of the festival,
Hubli-Dharwad police commissioner Renuka K Sukumar told HT. She said security arrangements have been put in place around the venue, with over 2,000 CCTV cameras, More than 5,000 security personnel have been deployed to ensure the safety of the festivities until the conclusion of Ganeshotsava.
The Dharwad bench of the Karnataka high court on September 15 dismissed Anjuman-i-Islams plea challenging the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporations (HDMC) plea seeking a stay on Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at the Idgah Maidan in Hubballi.
The Municipal Corporation had passed a resolution on August 31, permitting the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi at the venue, by installing a Ganesh idol. Anjuman-i-Islam had challenged the Corporations resolution to allow Hindu groups to organise the festival on September 14.
Meanwhile, pro-Hindu organisations and the Bhartiya Janata Party workers had staged protests in front of the corporation, seeking permission to install Ganeshas idol at the Idgah Maidan ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi festival after Anjuman-i-Islams petition.
Teesta Setalvad, 61, a human rights activist and journalist from Mumbai, finds herself embroiled in a complex legal battle surrounding the fabrication of evidence in the 2002 Godhra riots. As the case unfolds, several questions arise about the evidence against her, the alleged conspiracy involving a now-deceased prominent Congress leader, and the impact of the proceedings on justice for victims of the riots. PREMIUM Teesta Setalvad is facing charges related to propagating a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots and allegedly attempting to frame Modi and others.(HT Photo)
On July 31, she moved the Gujarat high court to quash the FIR lodged against her in June 2022, for fabricating evidence pertaining to the riots. On September 18, Justice Sandeep N. Bhatt's bench rescheduled the matter for October 11 and noted that a lengthy hearing would not be necessary. In this explainer, we delve into the key aspects of the States case against Setalvad and the activists defence.
The complaint against Teesta and 2 policemen
The 2002 Godhra riots evidence fabrication case involves allegations that Setalvad fabricated documents and tutored witnesses to implicate senior officials of the Gujarat government, led by then chief minister Narendra Modi, in connection with the Godhra riots.
Setalvad is facing charges related to propagating a larger conspiracy behind the 2002 riots and allegedly attempting to frame Modi and others.
An FIR was lodged on June 25, 2022, against Setalvad along with former policemen R B Sreekumar and Sanjiv Bhatt. The first information report was lodged after the Supreme Court dismissed Zakia Jafris petition, which alleged a larger conspiracy and challenged the clean chit given by the special investigating team (SIT) to Modi and others in the 2002 post-Godhra riots cases. Zakias husband Ehsan Jafri was killed on February 28, 2002, by a mob of Hindu rioters outside his home in Gulberg Society, even as he was sheltering several Muslims from rioters.
The riots followed an attack on a train carrying Hindu pilgrims in Godhra on February 27, 2002, that left 58 kar sevaks dead. The ensuing riots that lasted for three days, left over 1000 people dead, according to official figures most of them were Muslims.
The judgement that dismissed Zakia Jaffris petition, which alleged that there was a larger political conspiracy behind the deaths of her husband and others during the riots, stated that there was a need to proceed against those disgruntled officers and others whose effort was to create a sensation by making false revelations.
The very next day, based on a complaint filed by DB Barad, a police inspector who has been serving in the state polices Crime Branch, Ahmedabad since 2019, an FIR against Setalvad and the two police officers was lodged. The complainant cited observations of the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on June 24, 2022.
An offence against Bhatt, Sreekumar and Setalvad was registered under Sections 194 (giving or fabricating false evidence), 211 (false charge of offence made with intent to injure), 218 (public servant framing incorrect record), 468 (forgery, for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine, a forged document or electronic record) read with 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
The fabricated evidence
The state government formed an SIT headed by the states Anti-Terrorism Squad DIG (deputy inspector general of police) Deepan Bhadran to investigate the role of Setalvad and the two police officers who were accused of giving false testimonies, soon after their arrest.
The SIT affidavit filed in the court states that the larger conspiracy to tarnish Gujarats image was hatched at the behest of Late Shri Ahmed Patel, then Member of Parliament from Rajya Sabha and political advisor of the president of the Indian National Congress.
The affidavit alleges that Setalvad met Patel a few days after the Godhra train incident and received a total of 30 lakh. In the first instance, she received 5 lakh from one of the witnesses at the instructions of Patel.
Two days later, at a meeting held at the government Circuit House at Shahibaug in Ahmedabad between Patel and Setalvad, she was handed over 25 lakh more by the applicant at the behest of the senior Congress leader. The money was not for relief work and there were political leaders present at the two meetings, the SIT affidavit said.
On July 1, while opposing her plea for regular bail, the public prosecutor cited witness testimonies, including that of Rais Khan, Setalvads former close aide who fell out with her in 2008.
Khans statement described a meeting between Setalvad and Congress leader Patel at the circuit house in Ahmedabad.
During the meeting, Patel allegedly instructed Setalvad to ensure that certain individuals were punished and put behind bars, the SITs prosecutor told the court.
What are the other charges against her?
According to the prosecution, Setalvad initially targeted Vitthalbhai Pandya, the father of slain former Gujarat home minister Haren Pandya, but when he refused to level allegations against individuals unrelated to the riots, Setalvad shifted her focus to Zakia Jafri.
The applicant told Raees Khan to approach Qutubuddin Ansari whose photograph with folded hands during the riots became the defining image of the riots and convinced him to hold a press conference to speak out against Modi (then CM). The prosecution said Setalvad also got Ansaris affidavit drafted and filed.
The present case involves a journalist who embarked on her career but allegedly exploited victims and witnesses for her own benefit, eventually attaining prestigious positions and accolades, such as receiving the Padma Shri and becoming a member of the Planning Commission, the prosecution said.
It is alleged that Setalvad used the victims and their narratives to discredit the then Chief Minister, government machinery, and institutions. Moreover, by manipulating the sentiments of two wounded communities, Setalvad collected funds under the pretext of helping the victims but failed to fulfill her promises, the prosecution stated.
Charges against Setalvads NGO
The affidavit (by Raees Khan) throws light on the present applicant who was a journalist in the year 1992 and though was never into social services registered an NGO, Citizen for Justice and Peace, collected funds for unsettling the establishment and ultimately went on to become the member of the National Planning Commission, it stated.
The SIT report also mentions the alleged misappropriation of funds for personal use according to an investigation carried out in connection to an FIR lodged in 2014 by Firoz Khan Pathan, a resident of the Gulberg Society.
Setalvad has been accused of collecting funds for the project with the promise of converting the society into the Gulberg Society: Museum of Resistance.
However, it is alleged that no significant progress was made in the project, and the collected funds were allegedly misused for personal purposes, leading to accusations of cheating the riot-affected victims. About 63 lakh were collected for rehabilitation and the amount was received in two bank accounts between 2008 and 2011, the SIT report stated.
The allegations against Teesta Setalvad are not supported by evidence on record. Hence no trial is required to be conducted in the matter. In our quashing petition we have taken the ground that there is no offence made out against her, said Somnath Vats, Setalvads advocate in the quashing petition before the Gujarat high court.
Latest update on the case
Following subsequent legal proceedings, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Teesta Setalvad in September 2022. However, her regular bail plea was rejected by the Gujarat high court, leading to the issuance of an immediate arrest order. On July 19, the Supreme Court granted interim protection to Setalvad until further hearings, eventually ordering that she should remain on bail, setting aside the high court's directive.
A day later, the Ahmedabad sessions court rejected her discharge plea in the 2002 Godhra riots evidence fabrication case. This means that she now faces trial in the said case.
Teesta Setalvads quashing petition hearing will now take place in October.
New Delhi: Jharkhand Mukti Morchas Rajya Sabha member Mahua Maji also welcomed the bill. We have also been demanding for the bill for a long time. However, we also demand reservation be given to SC and ST women in this bill. Otherwise, it will only end up benefiting women from upper classes and privileged backgrounds, she said. (PTI)
The introduction of the womens reservation bill in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday was welcomed by women members of Parliament (MPs) and activists, even as some termed it as a political stunt ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The Centre introduced a Constitutional Amendment Bill to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, making it the first draft legislation to be introduced in the new Parliament building. The bill is known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP and women and child development minister Smriti Irani thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for taking the long struggle of women to its destination. The womens reservation bill introduced in the Lok Sabha will define the leadership of women in our country. PM Modi announced the women-led development and the whole world accepted it in the G20. The constitutional foundation of women-led development has been laid by him today in Parliament, she said.
Jharkhand Mukti Morchas Rajya Sabha member Mahua Maji also welcomed the bill. We have also been demanding for the bill for a long time. However, we also demand reservation be given to SC and ST women in this bill. Otherwise, it will only end up benefiting women from upper classes and privileged backgrounds, she said.
BJPs member in the Lok Sabha, Locket Chatterjee, said the BJP-led central government has done a lot for women. The government encourages women MPs to participate in debates, and has also given powerful ministries to women. This government respects women, she said.
Reacting on the introduction of the Bill, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi said that the bill is ours.
Congress leader and MP Ranjeet Ranjan said that it was first brought by the Congress. In March 2010, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha. It has been 9.5 years since BJP came to power. Why did they think of the womens reservation bill right before the election? You want to have power but we will welcome the bill if it comes before the House, she said.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and Delhi education minister, Atishi, demanded that the women quota should be implemented in the 2024 elections. Why cant Prime Minister Narendra Modi provide reservations to women in the 2024 elections without waiting for the census and delimitation? If he truly cares about women, why doesnt he implement the bill on the existing 543 seats in the Lok Sabha? PM Modi and the BJP are not genuinely concerned about the welfare of women, she said at a media briefing.
Shiv Sena (UBT faction) member Priyanka Chaturvedi said the bill should have been brought long ago as it was promised by the BJPs manifesto in 2014. But this is taking place after 9.5 years of the Modi government. I hope that this will empower women in the right way. I expect that the Bill will be passed as early as possible, she said. I hope this bill will be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 33% of women get elected and take part in the development of the country.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti also questioned the timing. The NDA (National Democratic alliance) government is about to complete 10 years. If they had done this earlier, women would have had a chance to participate in large numbers in the 2024 elections, she said. But it is better late than never, it is a good thing... This will be an important step in the progress of the country.
Rashtriya Janata Dals member in Parliament, Misa Yadav, said, Our stand continues to be the same. We will go through the new draft of the government to see if it takes care of our concerns about quota within quota.
In 2010, when the Rajya Sabha passed the womens reservation bill, opposition parties including the Samajwadi Party and RJD stalled it in the Lok Sabha, and withdrew support from the ruling United Progressive Alliance government over the bill.
Responding to the opposition, Irani said, The Gandhi family is only interested in empowering the women in their family. They are not interested in empowering the women in poor or Dalit women. It is unfortunate that Sonia Gandhi was absent today. Her son also left when the discussion on the bill was underway. It is even more unfortunate that when the Speaker asked who supported the bill, BJP and NDA supported it, but the Congress party did not.
A section of women activists also welcomed the bill, even as some raised concerns over its implementation.
Ranjana Kumari, chairperson of Women Power Connect, a national organization of womens groups and director of the Centre for Social Research in Delhi, said: This is really a historic decision by Parliament, and it was long pending. India talked about women-led development during G20, and we have been questioning who is really leading that development. Today, it has been shown to the world that there is a way of giving leadership to women. Also, all the political parties have now realized the importance and power of women voters, be it Nitish Kumars government or Modi government, women have voted them to power. So, the time has come in Indias history when women should get political justice.
Social and women rights activist Shabnam Hashmi said that the bill has been brought for political gains. While the bill was long pending, it will be applied only by 2029. We dont know what will happen by then, she said. The government is aiming to get some women votes by passing the bill just ahead of the 2024 general elections.
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Droupadi Murmu , 65, Indias first tribal president, has a come long way since her political journey began when she quit as a primary schoolteacher to contest local polls in the small town of Rairangpur in Odisha in 1997. Her elevation to the countrys top constitutional post last year would perhaps have been impossible had not it been for the introduction of a quota for tribal women in Rairangpur Notified Area Council or NAC (now a municipality). PREMIUM President Droupadi Murmu. (PTI)
The quota gave her a toehold and the rest is history. Murmu never looked back. The quota offered her a pathway in politics as she went on to become an assembly member, and a state minister before rising to the presidents post.
Murmu was working in Rairangpur following a break after quitting her government job to take care of her children in 1993 when her popularity as a schoolteacher drew the attention of local politicians. She was fielded as a candidate when one of the wards in Rairangpur NAC was reserved for tribal women in 1997.
READ | How Droupadi Murmu, a tribal girl who dared to dream, became Indias 15th President
With the help of her teacher colleague, Dibakar Mahanta, we managed to sign her up as a candidate. She won the ward and became vice-chairperson of the NAC as the post was reserved for tribal women, said local journalist Nigamananda Patnaik.
Murmu would show up every morning on the streets supervising sanitation works after becoming the NAC vice-chairperson, said local hotelier Debabrata Patnaik. Her good work caught the attention of local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders before she was offered the party ticket to contest the Rairangpur assembly constituency in 2000 when it was reserved for tribal women. In 2007, she was adjudged as the best assembly member.
READ | Prez polls: Naveen Patnaik urges all Odisha MLAs to back Murmu; Sonia Gandhi receives a similar appeal
Murmu became a minister in chief minister Naveen Patnaiks first government when the BJP was in alliance with his Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been among the parties that have pushed for passage of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament.
A Constitution amendment bill was tabled in Lok Sabha for quota for women in Parliament and state legislatures on Tuesday. The last iteration of the Womens Reservation Bill was cleared in the Rajya Sabha in 2010. The then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government did not push the bill in Lok Sabha as its allies such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party demanded a quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within the quota.
Odisha became the first state in the country to have 33% reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies in 1991 when Biju Patnaik was the chief minister.
BJDs Sulata Deo, 50, who became a Rajya Sabha member last year, said she too owes her rise to reservation in panchayat bodies. In 2002, Deo became sarpanch of Brahmabarada in the Jajpur district. She was elected a member of district Parishad in 2007.
I could rise to the top due to the reservation brought in by Biju Patnaik for women in local bodies. In 2012, Naveen Patnaik increased the reservation in rural and urban local bodies to 50%. Women now head 70% of the district councils...Naveen Patnaik believes in women empowerment like his father, said Deo, who was last year among the eight lawmakers chosen to be on the panel to officiate the Rajya Sabha.
India on Tuesday summoned Canadian envoy Cameron MacKay to inform him of the governments decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat in response to Ottawas expulsion of an Indian official over the death of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Unlike the Canadian side, the statement did not name the Canadian diplomat being expelled. (AP Photo)
The move marked a further deterioration in bilateral relations, which are currently in tatters over the Canadian sides response to Indias concerns over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil.
Also Read:Killed in June, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was one of Indias most wanted terrorists
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days, the external affairs ministry said in a brief statement.
Unlike the Canadian side, the statement did not name the Canadian diplomat being expelled.
People familiar with the matter said Olivier Sylvestere, the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India, was the official asked to leave the country.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, the statement said, without giving details.
India has already rejected Canadian Prime Minister Trudeaus contention that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar in June, describing the claim as absurd and motivated.
Soon after Trudeau spoke on the matter in Canadas Parliament, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat. Jolys office later identified the official as Pavan Kumar Rai, head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
People familiar with the matter had earlier said on condition of anonymity that India was expected to expel a Canadian official as a response. It is not unusual in international diplomacy for such expulsions by one country to be responded to by the other country with a tit-for-tat measure.
With the Indian Parliament holding a special session, external affairs minister S Jaishankar is expected to make an official statement in the House on the matter, the people said.
India-Canada relations have been at an all-time low for some time now, largely because of New Delhis anger over Ottawas perceived indifference to the activities of pro-Khalistan elements. These elements have incited violence against Indian diplomats, including putting the officials photos and other details on posters, and targeted Indian diplomatic facilities several times in recent years.
Canadian diplomats, including the high commissioner in New Delhi, have been summoned to the external affairs ministry in the past for formal protests over the activities of Khalistani elements.
In June, the Indian government was particularly angered after a float at a pro-Khalistan rally in Toronto depicted the assassination of former premier Indira Gandhi in a gory manner and eulogised her killers.
Several efforts in recent years to reset India-Canada relations have run aground over the Canadian sides persistent stance that the activities of pro-Khalistan elements are covered by the freedom of expression guaranteed to Canadian citizens.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail
The Indian government is likely to expel a Canadian official in response to the Justin Trudeau governments decision to throw out an Indian operative from Ottawa, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. (AP Photo)
India has already rejected Canadian Prime Minister Trudeaus contention that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, describing the claim as absurd and motivated.
Also Read: Killed in June, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was one of Indias most wanted terrorists
Soon after Trudeau spoke on the matter in Canadas Parliament, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat. Jolys office identified the official as Pavan Kumar Rai, head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
The people cited above said on condition of anonymity that India is likely to expel an Indian official as a response. It is not unusual in international diplomacy for such expulsions by one country to be responded to by the other country with a tit-for-tat measure.
There was no official word on how India would respond to the expulsion of the intelligence operative, though the people said several options are being looked at and a formal announcement could be made shortly.
With the Indian Parliament holding a special session, external affairs minister S Jaishankar is expected to make an official statement in the House on the matter, the people said.
India-Canada relations have been at an all-time low for sometime now, largely because of New Delhis anger over Ottawas perceived indifference to the activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil. These elements have incited violence against Indian diplomats, including putting the officials photos and other details on posters, and targeted Indian diplomatic facilities several times in recent years.
Canadian diplomats, including the high commissioner in New Delhi, have been summoned to the external affairs ministry for formal protests over the activities of Khalistani elements.
In June, the Indian government was particularly angered after a float at a pro-Khalistan rally in Toronto depicted the assassination of former premier Indira Gandhi in a gory manner and eulogised her killers.
Several efforts in recent years to reset India-Canada relations have run aground over the Canadian sides persistent stance that the activities of pro-Khalistan elements are covered by the freedom of expression guaranteed to Canadian citizens.
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An Erie County jury has delivered a mixed verdict in the manslaughter trial of a Town of Tonawanda man that, his attorney said, highlights conflicting points in state criminal law.
Jurors found Michael A. Atkinson had the right to use a weapon to defend himself against Harith M. Alkhalaf, but not to do so with an unregistered firearm.
Atkinson, 23, was acquitted of manslaughter but found guilty of criminal possession of a weapon, a felony charge. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Dec. 6 by Erie County Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes.
My client was put in the nightmarish position where he needed to get a gun to protect himself against a deranged individual dead set on killing him, defense attorney Matthew Albert said. And he didnt have time to go through the arduous process of obtaining a pistol permit, because the guy wasnt gonna wait that long.
The Erie County District Attorneys Office declined to comment on the verdicts, which were issued Tuesday following a four-day trial and 3 hours of jury deliberations.
Alkhalaf, 19, died in the early morning hours of April 20, 2022, after he was shot and stabbed by Atkinson following a fight on James Avenue, near River Road, in the Town of Tonawanda.
Atkinsons attorney had argued his client was forced to defend himself after Alkhalaf arrived outside Atkinsons home with the intention of killing him.
Alkhalaf was enraged that Atkinson was with Alkhalafs ex-girlfriend that evening, Albert said previously. However, friends and family of Alkhalaf said he had moved on from the relationship and denied claims Alkhalaf had abused her in the past.
Atkinson was himself injured in the encounter when Alkhalaf stabbed him.
The jury saw that he acted in a lawful manner in defending his own life, Albert said after the verdict.
Atkinson was taken to Kenmore Mercy Hospital for treatment of his wounds while Alkhalaf called 911 but died at the scene before help arrived.
No one was charged in the case for months afterward, a situation that frustrated Alkhalafs father, Mike Hamzah.
He told The Buffalo News late last year that he believed Atkinson should have been charged with murder in his sons slaying.
Prosecutors previously said the facts in the case didnt support a charge of murder.
Hamzah said he was pained by the acquittal on the manslaughter charge.
Its so sad. I cant get justice for my son. I thought we live in a country that has human rights. But Im wrong, said Hamzah, a native of Iraq. Alkhalaf came to this country with family when he was 7 years old and attended Sweet Home High School, where he wrestled.
The manslaughter verdict also disappointed Sarah Alrashedi, Alkhalafs stepmother.
So who is responsible for my stepsons murder? she asked.
India has already paused negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada, which is not a strategically important country for nations commodities requirements as bilateral merchandise trade between the two countries was a mere $8 billion in FY23, with exports and imports almost evenly balanced, two officials said. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. (AP)
Canada is allowing its land to be used by subversive elements against India. However, since Indias imports from the country can easily be substituted from any other friendlier supplier in the countrys national interest, New Delhi does not have to solely rely on Canada for key commodities, the officials who asked not to be named said.
Even our bilateral trade is not significant, one of them said. In 2022-23, India exported merchandise worth $4.11 billion to Canada and imported goods, such as coal, fertiliser, pulses, pulp and aluminium worth $4.17 billion, according to official data.
Indias exports to Canada fell year-on-year by over 20% to $1.24 billion in the first four months of current financial year (FY24). Imports also contracted by 6.39% in the same period at $1.32 billion, according to official data.
India exports pharmaceuticals, iron products, telecom equipment, garments, marine products, auto components, iron and steel to Canada.
HT on September 16 reported that New Delhi suspended free-trade talks with Canada as Ottawa was encouraging subversive elements who are carrying out anti-India activities on its soil. The development came just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to his counterpart Trudeau strong concerns about anti-India elements promoting secessionism during Canadian PMs India visit earlier this month.
India-Canada FTA negotiations were progressing well before the pause. The ninth round was held from July 12 to July 21 in a virtual format. The two countries had, so far, discussed matters related to goods, trade remedies, rules of origin, origin procedures, services, institutional and core provisions. The previous and the sixth ministerial dialogue on trade and investment (MDTI) was held on May 8 in Canada.
Also Read: India may expel Canadian official in reply to Trudeau govt action on Nijjar killing
India was negotiating an interim Indo-Canada Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA), which would have finally culminated into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) or a wide-ranging FTA. After the relaunch of FTA negotiations between India and Canada in March, 2022, nine rounds of negotiations had already been held until July this year.
Canadians have made huge investments in India due to the growth potential of the Indian market and its robust economy. According to official data, Canadian Pension Funds have cumulatively invested over $55 billion in India and are increasingly viewing India as a favourable destination for investments. More than 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India and more than 1,000 companies are actively pursuing business in the Indian market.
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Days after chief of proscribed Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down by unidentified men in Vancouver on June 18, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar went on record stating that rise of so-called Khalistan politics was driven by vote bank politics in Canada. PM Modi rejected all the unsubstantiated allegations of interference made by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau during the G-20 summit.
During the G-20 summit, the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval engaged his Australian, UK and Canadian counterparts over the rise of Sikh fundamentalism and violence against Indian assets in their respective countries. It is understood that the Australian NSA and the UK NSA reacted positively to Indian concerns but the Canadian NSA was unfazed as the New Democratic party of Khalistan supporter Jagmeet Singh supports the minority Justin Trudeau government. It was quite evident from the NSA level meetings that the Canadian government was under pressure from Khalistan supporters and would do little to help the Indian cause. This was despite the fact that Khalistan supporters with the help of US based Sikhs For Justice, proscribed under UAPA, were openly threatening to assassinate Indian top diplomats posted in Canada with photographs of the Indian Ambassador and two Consul Generals splashed on posters and a reward on their heads.
Instead of taking on the Khalistan radicals, drug runners and gangsters from Punjab taking shelter in Canada either under fake Portuguese passports or cooking up stories of political discrimination of Sikhs in India, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday came out openly in support of the radicals by blaming unidentified Indian agents for being involved in the killing of terrorist Nijjar outside a radical place of worship in Surrey, Vancouver. Trudeau, playing to the Sikh separatists gallery, also decided to expel the Indian diplomat who was posted under official cover in Ottawa and then also committed an undiplomatic act by naming him. The Modi government retaliated today by expelling Olivier Sylvestere, the Canadian intelligence chief in India, and asked him to leave the country in the next five days.
While Trudeau accuses India of interfering in internal affairs, he is blind to Canada based gangster Arsh Dalla, who took responsibility for gunning down Congress leader and Ajitwal block president Baljinder Singh Balli in Moga district of Punjab on Monday. Fact is that Trudeau is playing politics with India by taking no action against those openly targeting Indian diplomats and diaspora in Canada in the name of freedom of speech. Consider this:
Killed Hardeep Singh Nijjar was a proclaimed terrorist who had no less than 10 cases registered against him in India. He had a red corner notice issued by Interpol against him and was a mentor of Canada based gangsters Arshdeep Singh, Rinku Bihla and Goldy Brar. He along with Australia based Gurjant Singh and Pakistan based Lakhbir Singh Rode were involved in contract killings in Punjab and illegal smuggling of weapons to India.
No less than 37 FIRs have been registered by state police against Arshdeep Singh Dalla, who escaped to Surrey in Canada on July 8, 2020 on a passport issued in Jalandhar. Although still holding an Indian passport, Dalla openly threatens Indians in Punjab and in Canada while living with a wife and daughter in Surrey. He is affiliated to Khalistan Tiger Force and is an international gangster with terror links.
Gangster and mafia don Satinderjit Singh Brar alias Goldy Brar went to Canada on an Indian passport on August 15, 2017. He is an active member of Lawrence Bishnoi gang with no less than 13 FIRs for murders, attempted murders and weapon smuggling registered against him in India. He has a red corner notice from Interpol in his name and has an arrest warrant in his name.
Others in this list of Canada based gangsters, murderers and weapon smugglers are : Ontario based Snover Dhillion, British Columbia based Ramandeep Singh with seven FIRs, Ontario based Gurjit Singh Cheema of proscribed International Sikh Youth Federation and Khalistan Liberation Front with Red Corner Notice against him, Ontario based Gurjinder Singh Pannu of ISYF/KLF with a red corner notice against him, Surrey based Gurpreet Singh of ISYF/KLF with arms act case and a red corner notice, Ontario based Tehal Singh with two FIRs and a Red Corner Notice, Surrey based Malkeet Singh Fauji of ISYF with a FIR and a Red Corner Notice against him, British Columbia based Manvir Singh Duhra with an FIR against him. The list goes on to at least 23 such gangsters/terrorists and arms smugglers who are under protection of the Trudeau regime despite the entire list being brought to notice of Canadian intelligence agencies and the foreign ministry. It is Justin Trudeaus Canada that should be in the dock for interference against India and not the other way round.
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Indias first solar observatory, Aditya-L1 began its 110-day journey to the Lagrange Point-1 of the Sun-Earth system, after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully performed the trans-Lagrangean Point insertion--a key manoeuvre that pushed the craft out of the Earths orbit--in the early hours of Tuesday. The mission will allow Indias scientists to unlock new insights about the centre of our solar system. (ISRO)
Off to Sun-Earth L1 point! The Trans-Lagrangean Point 1 Insertion (TL1I) manoeuvre is performed successfully. The spacecraft is now on a trajectory that will take it to the Sun-Earth L1 point. It will be injected into an orbit around L1 through a manoeuvre after about 110 days, ISRO said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
The space agency also confirmed that this is the fifth consecutive time that ISRO has successfully transferred an object on a trajectory toward another celestial body or location in space.
Also Read: After its successful sun, moon expeditions, ISRO starts work on dedicated polarimetry mission
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
These can be used by spacecraft as parking spots in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption, a NASA document read.
On September 2, the Indian space agency launched the Aditya-L1 spacecraftthe countrys maiden mission to study the Sunfrom the spaceport in Sriharikota.
After the launch, a series of Earth-bound manoeuvres were also performed to ensure that the craft gathers enough momentum to be launched into its 125-day journey.
The mission will allow Indias scientists to unlock new insights about the centre of our solar system, by ensuring uninterrupted observations of the Sun.
The spacecraft is meant to be placed in a halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth. To be sure, this point is only 1% of the Earth-Sun distance.
Tuesdays manoeuvre finally released the spacecraft from the Earths orbit towards its destination.
Before being placed at L1, the space agency will conduct a final manoeuvre to bind the craft where it will spend at least the next five years studying various aspects of the Sun.
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Bengaluru: Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday expressed the states dilemma regarding the directive to release water to Tamil Nadu and called for the intervention of the central government. The Cauvery Water Management Authority on September 18 asked Karnataka to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days
We are in a catch-22 situation. We do not have water, and still, we have to respect the decision of the authorities. But, we are appealing before the Supreme Court, and I am leaving for New Delhi, he said, speaking from his residence in Bengaluru.
The Cauvery Water Management Authority on September 18 asked Karnataka to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days, according to a statement released by the body after an emergency meeting in which both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu made representations.
I will meet the Parliament members; we will also take a delegation to the Union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat, and we are also seeking time to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shivakumar added.
He said the dams are experiencing a severe lack of inflow. We will plead with them to help us out and bail us out. There is no inflow to the dams, and we are finding it very difficult, and the central government has to help us out. The BJP should join us to save Karnataka, he said.
Shivakumar added he will be leaving for Delhi soon, where he plans to meet with all Members of Parliament, asking them to apply pressure on the central government, urging them to intervene in the matter. We will bring the current situation to the attention of the Supreme Court, Shivakumar added.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah is also scheduled to hold a meeting in the national capital today with all Members of Parliament and Union Ministers representing Karnataka. During the meeting, the chief minister will likely request Union Ministers and MPs from Karnataka to use their influence to seek intervention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India regarding the Cauvery issue.
He is later scheduled to meet several other Union Ministers during the visit, and his return journey has been kept open as per the communication from the CMs office.
Meanwhile, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) called on political parties in Karnataka, including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, JD(S), and Raitha Sangha, to work together to find a permanent solution to the issue.
How long can we drag the dispute? questioned Kumaraswamy and stated that certain drastic steps are needed to take the Cauvery water dispute to a logical end, he said during a press conference in Bengaluru.
The JD(S) leader was unhappy over the order of the Cauvery Water Management Authority regarding its decision asking Karnataka to release 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for a fortnight without assessing the ground realities in both the States. CWMA of issuing the order sitting in an air-conditioned room. What sort of Federal system is this? he said.
Kumaraswamy said he had suggested to the State Government a month ago to wait for the Supreme Courts order before water was released to Tamil Nadu, but the State Government obeyed the order of CWMA and released water to Tamil Nadu. What would have happened? asked Kumaraswamy had the State Government waited for the order of the Supreme Court on water release to Tamil Nadu.
The former Chief Minister accused the officials concerned with the state water resources department of taking the River Cauvery dispute for granted and claimed that during the meeting on water release to Tamil Nadu, only a couple of them attended the meeting while about 15 officials from Tamil Nadu made it to the meeting. It has been the difference between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, observed the JD(S) leader.
While JD(S) called for unity, former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai of BJP on Tuesday said that the state government is committing mistakes repeatedly and putting the people of the state in a difficult situation. He said that if the state government is releasing water as per the orders of the CWMA, then there is nothing to argue before the Supreme Court.
He said that the state has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court that it wont release the water after September 12. They should be committed to it. The affidavit by the government carries a lot of weight, and now it is like the state government is lying before the Apex court, he told reporters at his residence in Bengaluru.
The move by the government has put the farmers of the state and people in the Cauvery basin into a difficult situation. I have given my advice in the interest of the state. Those in power are responsible, he added.
He said that the government is not ready to take his partys advice. The advocates always suggest releasing the water. We had changed it, and we did not release the water during the night. Once you are following the orders of CWMA, what is there to argue before the Supreme Court? he asked.
Talking about the Congress governments plan to meet the PM, he said, There is no meaning now in going before the Prime Minister. The dispute matter had come before the PM before 1990 and now there is no need for it. The state government is claiming that it is taking the delegation to the PM to mislead the people of the state.
He said that our advocates have to explain the existing situation of our dams and the proportion of utilisation of water by Tamil Nadu. Unless it is done, the state wont get relief. The advocates representing the state have been there for a long time. They have worked during our time as well. We are ready to give advice but if the state government is not ready to take suggestions, what can be done, he said.
Responding to Bommai, Shivakumar said, We will consider the suggestion by former CM Basavaraj Bommai regarding the Cauvery dispute. He had suggested stopping the water and pursuing the legal battle. We are going to court the day after tomorrow. We do not want to release the water, at the same time, we need to keep the order of the CWMA in mind.
Let Bommai demand Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene by sidelining the politics. We will also consider Former PM HD Deve Gowdas proposal to go for the out-of-court settlement, Shivakumar added.
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The announcement of an Indian diplomats expulsion following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim about a potential link between Indian government agents and Hardeep Singh Nijjars killing in June has again brought into focus the slain Khalistani leader. A photograph of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia. (AP)
Nijjar, 46, a Canadian citizen, was one of the most wanted terrorists in India before two unknown assailants killed him outside a gurudwara in British Columbias Surrey. A key functionary in the Khalistani network, Nijjar was declared an individual terrorist under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in July 2020. He was accused of involvement in multiple cases of targeted killings in Punjab and funding secessionist activities. Nijjar was also blamed for instigating anti-India activities and being in touch with Pakistani agents.
Nijjar was associated with Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) before joining Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and becoming its head. Officials in intelligence agencies said Nijjar travelled to Pakistan to meet KTF leader Jagtar Singh Tara and handlers in the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence sometime in 2013-14.
An official, who did not want to be named, said Nijjar monitored the recruitment and funding of young Sikh men for terror activities. At Punjab Polices request, Interpol issued a red notice against Nijjar in 2016 while the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced a 10 lakh bounty on his head in July last year.
Despite repeated requests to take action against Khalistani leaders based on its territory, the Canadian government allowed Nijjar and others to roam and carry out their activities freely, said a second Indian intelligence official, who did not want to be named.
Nijjar organised demonstrations outside Indian missions in the US, the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, etc under the banner of banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) along with other pro-Khalistan leaders such as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, Paramjit Singh Pamma, and Avtar Singh Khanda, who died in the UK in June.
Indian agencies believe these people were also behind vandalism outside Indian missions or consulates, which the NIA is currently probing.
A week before Nijjars killing, Khanda, the leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), died in a hospital in the UK. Khanda was involved in vandalism outside the Indian High Commission in London in March.
Indian intelligence officials said that Khanda, Pamma, Pannunm, and Nijjar worked together. They suspected Nijjar and Pammas involvement in Khandas killing as they considered him to be a liability to Khalistanis in the UK after his role in the attack on the high commission was exposed.
Another Khalistani leader, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the head of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), was shot dead in Pakistans Lahore on May 6.
NIA filed a charge sheet in December 2020 against Pannun, Pamma, and Nijjar. It said SFJ was floated under the garb of a human rights advocacy group with offices in countries such as the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, etc. NIA said SFJ is a frontal organisation of Khalistani terrorist outfits operating from foreign soil, including Pakistan.
Under this campaign, numerous social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube Channels, and a number of websites have been launched...[they] are being used to propagate sedition as well as enmity on the grounds of region and religion, to radicalise impressionable youth, to cause disturbance to peace and harmony and to raise funds for terrorist activities, the agency said.
Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) on Tuesday expressed his disapproval of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (women reservation bill) saying that he is against the bill as it does not include the quota for women from the Muslim and OBC communities. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi speaks in Lok Sabha(ANI )
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"Who are you giving representation to? Those who don't have representation should be given representation. The major flaw in this bill is that there is no quota for women from Muslim and OBC communities, so we are against it," he told news agency ANI.
You are making a bill so that there is representation of the underrepresented. Till now, 17 Lok Sabha elections have taken place in which 8,992 MPs have been elected. Out of these, only 520 were Muslims and in this not even a handful were women. There is a deficit of 50%," he said.
Read here: On women's reservation bill, PM Modi's request to Rajya Sabha: I urge members
Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch for the women's reservation bill saying that his government is committed to ensuring that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both houses of parliament to pass the bill unanimously.
In the first speech in the first session in the new Parliament building, PM Modi said that the Women's Reservation Bill was given approval in the Cabinet meeting on Monday, and asserted that this will strengthen democracy.
Read here: Women's Reservation Bill tabled in Lok Sabha. 5 things to know about this legislation
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitutional Amendment bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. Making it the first bill to be introduced in the new Parliament building, the government said it will enable greater participation of women in policy-making at the state and national levels and help achieve the goal of making India a developed country by 2047.
Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.
The five-day special session of Parliament was called by the government last month taking the opposition by surprise. The decision was announced by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi. The Special Session of Parliament will end on Friday.
(With inputs from agencies)
Amid souring diplomatic relations between India and Canada over the killing of a Khalistani leader in June, the SGPC Tuesday said the matter is very serious and will affect Sikhs across the world. SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami.(HT File)
Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
READ | Not looking to provoke India, says Canadas Trudeau after tit-for-tat expulsions
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex religious body of Sikhs, said although the Indian government trashed the Canadian government's accusations and also expelled a Canadian diplomat, this matter is very serious and will affect Sikhs at the global level.
SGPC chief Harjinder Singh Dhami on Tuesday appealed to the Centre to resolve the issues of Sikhs in India and move towards an appropriate and meaningful solution by understanding the problems and feelings of the Sikh community living abroad.
In the murder case of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, the expelling of a diplomatic officer of India by the Canadian government after allegations were levelled against him raises many questions," Dhami said.
READ | Australia 'deeply concerned' by alleged Indian involvement in Canada murder
"As a reaction to this, even though India rejected the allegations and expelled a Canadian diplomatic officer, this matter is very serious and directly related to the Sikhs which is going to affect the community members at the global level," he added.
The SGPC chief further said the governments of both the countries should bring the matter on the agenda of serious consideration instead of levelling accusations.
Dhami asserted that Sikhs are living across the globe, whose human rights as well as religious concerns are important.
The Sikh community has gone through many painful times, said Dhami as he referred to some incidents, including the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
READ | India could be behind killing of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar, says Trudeau
Even today, the Sikhs living in many countries have been deprived of coming to their homeland and of paying obeisance at the sacred shrines of their Gurus (religious masters), said Dhami in a statement here.
He said the Sikhs have always kept their presence and existence high in the country as well as in the whole world with their hardworking nature and intellectual strength, despite which the community has to always struggle for its rights.
It is the responsibility of the government of the country to adopt a sincere approach regarding such matters related to the Sikhs of the country and abroad and not to allow an atmosphere of distrust among the community members, Dhami stated.
Seeing the existence of Sikhs in the whole world today, both Canada and India need to join hands, so that the truth can come out in case of accusations and the relations between the two countries also remain good, he added.
On the other hand, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) called the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister as a cause of "serious concern" and urged both the governments of Canada and India to settle the matter with a statesman-like approach, instead of a confrontational one.
We, the Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, have made unparalleled sacrifices for the independence, security and integrity of the nation and there can never be a compromise on that," the SAD said in a statement on X.
"The current developments around relations between India and Canada are extremely worrying as this will adversely affect the lives and livelihood of our people, especially our young students in Canada, it added.
"The recent statement of the Canadian Prime Minister is a cause of serious concern. The Shiromani Akali Dal urges both the governments of Canada and India to settle the matter not with a confrontationist but with a statesman-like approach," the SAD added on X.
India summoned Canadian High Commissioner Cameron MacKay after the Justin Trudeau's allegation resulted in a massive escalation in the tension between the two countries. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Justin Trudeau told an emergency session of the parliament. Canadian flag flies in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.(Reuters)
India "completely rejected" the Canadian PM's allegations saying, Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
India's full statement on expelling Canadian diplomat
"The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
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Sleuths of the Telangana State Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) on Tuesday carried out searches at the residence of popular Tollywood actor P Navdeep in Hyderabad on the suspicion that he has been procuring drugs from drug peddlers, officers familiar with the matter said. The actor was not present at his residence when the TSNAB police conducted search operations, that went on till Tuesday evening. (HT Archives)
The actor was not present at his residence when the TSNAB police conducted search operations, that went on till Tuesday evening.
The police had earlier told the state high court that Navdeep was suspected to be a consumer of drugs and that he used to procure it from one of the accused in a drug peddling racket, busted by the police at upscale Madhapur last week.
The high court, however, asked the police not to arrest Navdeep in the case till Tuesday. Since the deadline fixed by the court ended today, the TSNAB police conducted a raid at his house, a police officer familiar with the development said.
The TSNAB has named the actor as Accused No. 37 in the case, after gathering evidence that he was purchasing drugs from one of the accused in the case registered at Gudimalkapur police station on September 14, for the alleged violations of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Prohibition) Act.
On September 14, Hyderabad city police commissioner and TSNAB director C V Anand announced the arrest of eight people and seizure of 50 grams of MDMA (a psychotropic drug), 24 ecstasy pills, and eight grams of cocaine from them.
The arrested people included Devarakonda Suresh Rao, son of former MP D Vittal Rao, film director Anugu Sushanth Reddy and Nigerian peddlers Amobi Chukwudi Muonagolu, Igbawre Micheal, and Thomas Anaga Kalu.
Anand said that actor Navdeep and film producer Ravi Uppalapati were also involved in the case, but are absconding. The police then issued summons to the makers of the recently released Telugu film Baby for outright portrayal of drug abuse and its glorification.
Navdeep, however, took to X (formerly Twitter), saying he was not the actor the police were looking for and he was very much available in the city.
Navdeep was among the Tollywood celebrities questioned by the Special Investigation Team of the state Excise and Prohibition Department in connection with a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in 2017.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Srinivasa Rao is Senior Assistant Editor based out of Hyderabad covering developments in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana . He has over three decades of reporting experience. ...view detail
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has told the Gujarat High Court that it will make every effort to find the whereabouts of nine persons from Gujarat who went missing while trying to enter the United States illegally. The court was hearing a writ petition filed by the relatives of three of the missing persons, seeking a direction to the Indian authorities to trace them. External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
The missing persons -- seven men and two women -- had the last contact with their relatives in Gujarat on February 3, 2023, after reaching Dominican Republic.
The high court had asked the MEA to file a reply.
In an affidavit filed in the court of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee on Monday, the MEA said it was taking the matter seriously and following it up with the concerned Indian Embassies and High Commissions.
India's ambassador to Dominican Republic forwarded the MEA a French document of the Department of International Security of Guadeloupe (a French overseas region and island group in the southern Caribbean Sea) dated May 29, 2023, addressed to one of the missing Indians, the MEA said.
As per this document, Sudhirkumar Patel, one of the missing persons, arrived on the island on February 7, 2023.
The Ministry has sought confirmation of this note and sent instructions through the Government of France to the authorities in Guadeloupe seeking whereabouts of the nine missing Indian nationals, it said.
As per the affidavit, the Indian Embassy in France learnt about the incident on February 3, 2023, through an email from a lawyer who said they went missing while reportedly crossing over to Saint Martin (a French island) from the Island of Dominica in a sailboat.
The Embassy alerted the nearby Indian missions besides taking up the matter with the French authorities but failed to get any more information, the MEA told the high court.
In August, the Gujarat government informed the Embassy that the missing persons were detained in Guadeloupe. But the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through an email dated August 24, 2023, informed the Indian Embassy that currently there were no Indian nationals held at the French overseas administrative detention centre.
The Commissioner of Police of Guadeloupe also stated in an email that no trace of nine Indian citizens was found in Guadeloupe while authorities in Dominica also said they had no clue, stated the affidavit.
In July, relatives of two missing Indians had First Information Reports registered in Gujarat regarding their `detention in a foreign country'.
Newspaper reports suggested they were detained in one of the overseas territory regions of France, the writ petition, filed through advocate Yatin Oza, said.
The next hearing in the case is slated to take place after two weeks.
The Western New York Walk for Apraxia will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday in Attica, and includes a ceremony beginning at 10 a.m.
Childhood apraxia of speech is a rare motor speech disorder that makes it difficult for an individual to speak. There is no cure, but raising awareness can help children to be diagnosed faster for early intervention.
Children with CAS often spend their extra time attending therapies several times a week, missing out on social opportunities and the positive recognition that comes with them. The walk is their chance to be recognized and celebrated for all their efforts and gains from the year, said April Black, manager for the walk and the parent of a child with apraxia.
The free event is in Attica Memorial Park, 145 Exchange St.; funds raised benefit Apraxia Kids, a nonprofit that works to strengthen the support systems in the lives of children with childhood apraxia. Learn more at apraxia-kids.org/walk-for-apraxia-splash-page.
- Barbara OBrien
Chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday said that he has been receiving complaints of bad roads in Chennai and its suburbs and that he would conduct a survey in the city in the coming week. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin (PTI)
This is not acceptable, the chief minister said while chairing a meeting on the monsoon preparedness, which was attended by ministers and top bureaucrats. I keep receiving complaints that the condition of roads in Chennai and suburbs are very bad. Its the same in districts. Due to this, motorists are facing severe difficulties and it leads to minor accidents.
Stalin further instructed the Greater Chennai Corporation to complete the on-going storm water drain work and the district authorities to complete road work, without compromising on quality, at the earliest.
The chief minister cited infrastructure work such as constructing drains, water pipelines and sewage lines and lack of maintenance as the reason behind the poor condition of the roads. This situation needs to change, Stalin said. The roads of our state should be in a way that all people appreciate. This is not just mere advice. All ministers and secretaries should pay serious attention to this. I will monitor the work in progress.
Tamil Nadu normally receives 443 mm of rainfall during the north east monsoon, between October and December. Since it contributes to 48% of the states annual rainfall, the government wants to maximise its benefits and minimise loss and damage, he said. Stalin said in the last two years, since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) came to power in May 2021, the government has been able to protect people from major harm because of all departments coordinate and work together. Our government is committed to building a disaster-resilient society that can effectively deal with all kinds of disasters, he said.
In a previous meeting chaired by chief secretary Shiv Das Meena on September 14, officials of all departments, including the weather department, were given instructions on preventative measures to be taken during the upcoming monsoon season.
Officials said that allocations to the tune of 716 crore have been made in the last two years for various mitigation work taken up by the Greater Chennai Corporation and the municipal administration department, which has helped reduce the disaster-prone areas in the state from 4,399 to 3,770.
Early warning systems to warn of disasters have been installed in 424 locations, particularly in Tamil Nadus coastal areas.
Stalin instructed district collectors to ensure that relief centres are ready and for the public to have access to safe drinking water and to avoid electrocution-related deaths. Encroachments along water bodies should be removed. While releasing surplus water from dams, the public should be informed, he said. He also instructed district collectors to form multi-disciplinary committees to monitor areas that are likely to be flooded.
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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
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made a strong pitch for the women's reservation bill and urged the Rajya Sabha in the new Parliament to pass the bill unanimously. Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets Union minister Anupriya Patel, Rajya Sabha MP PT Usha and other Parliamentarians at the Central Hall of the old Parliament building ahead of the Parliament Special Session in New Delhi on Tuesday. (ANI)
Speaking in the Upper House during the special session of Parliament, PM Modi said, "Today, a bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. After discussion, it will come here also. Today we are taking an important step towards women empowerment..."
The issue of reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies has been pending for several years.
Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitutional Amendment bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to reserve one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women earlier in the day.
Modi also said "Today (September 19, 2023) is a memorable as well as a historic day" as both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha moved to the new Parliament building.
It is not just a new Parliament building, but a symbol of a new beginning, Modi said. The prime minister also stressed that the country needs to meet goals in a time-bound manner as the new generation is restless.
Modi also said his government is committed to ensuring that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law.
In the first speech in the first session in the new Parliament building, Modi said that the bill was given approval in the Cabinet meeting on Monday, and asserted that this will strengthen democracy.
"For many years, there have been several debates and controversies around women's reservation. On women's reservation, there have been many efforts earlier also in Parliament. In 1996, the first bill related to this was introduced. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, many times women's reservation bill was brought but numbers could not be mustered for it and the dream was left unfulfilled," Modi said.
"For that work of ensuring rights of women and putting their power to use and for many such nobel works, God has chosen me. Once again our government has taken a step in this direction. In the Cabinet yesterday, the Women's Reservation Bill was given approval. This date of September 19 is going to be etched in history," the PM said.
"Taking forward women-led development, the government is presenting an important constitutional amendment bill. The aim of the bill is to expand the participation of women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Through the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', our democracy will be strengthened," Modi said.
"I congratulate our mothers, sisters and daughters for it. I assure them that we are committed to ensure that this bill becomes a law... I request all members of both Houses, to pass this bill with unanimity," he said.
As Lok Sabha convened in the new Parliament building for the first time, Prime Minister Modi called on MPs to forget all past bitterness and start a new chapter, asserting that whatever they are going to do in the new complex, should be an inspiration for every citizen of the country.
As Lok Sabha proceedings began in the new building, Modi addressed the House after brief remarks by Speaker Om Birla. The prime minister said the new Parliament building reflects the aspirations of 140 crore Indians.
"When we are starting a new chapter, we should forget all past bitterness," he said.
"Whatever we are going to do in this new Parliament building, it should be an inspiration to every citizen of the country," he said. The prime minister also remembered 'shramjeevis' (labourers) who were part of the construction of the new Parliament building.
Parliament, he said, is a supreme place to serve the nation. Parliament is not a place to work for growth of a party but for development of the nation, Modi stressed.
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The Congress has welcomed the Union Cabinet's move to clear the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill to introduce it during the ongoing special session of Parliament. The constitution amendment bill, once passed, will ensure reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi(PTI)
An old letter from Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been widely circulated where the Congress MP wrote about giving unconditional support to pass the Bill to provide legislative reservation to women.
"Our PM says he's a crusader for women's empowerment? Time for him to rise above party politics, walk-his-talk & have the Women's Reservation Bill passed by Parliament. The Congress offers him its unconditional support," the 2018 letter, which was shared by Congress MP Jairam Ramesh, reads.
Several attempts has been made since 1996 to formulate a law for legislative reservation for women, but failed. The UPA government in 2010 managed to pass the Bill in the Rajya Sabha but failed to table it in the Lok Sabha owing to some pressure from allies.
Rahul Gandhi pointed out in his letter how the BJP supported the Bill earlier and then Union minister Arun Jaitley called it historic and momentous.
However, it is being claimed that the new Bill will not be identical to the 2010 Bill and the scope of reservation is likely to expand beyond the Parliament and state assemblies. The earlier Bill didn't mention the provision for quota within quota a key demand of many regional parties.
Ahead of the Parliament session, Opposition leaders pushed for women's reservation. Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also pointed out the skewed gender ratio of elected representatives where only 14% of them were women in Parliament, whereas, their number in state assemblies is just 10%.
The Bill is likely to witness a smooth passage this time with the support of NDA, it supporter BJD and key Opposition parties, collectively bringing together 431 MPs in Lok Sabha and 175 in the Rajya Sabha.
Union minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday took a jibe at the Congress party over the women's reservation bill saying that the Gandhi family only favours empowering the women of their family and are not interested in empowering the poor women. Union women and child development minister Smriti Irani (File Photo)
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"The Gandhi family is only interested in empowering the women in their family. They are not interested in empowering the Dalit or poor women. This is a political gimmick for the opposition because the opposition and the Congress did not give reservation to women even when they were in power," she told news agency ANI.
Taking a dig at Sonia and Rahul Gandhi for remaining absent when the bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha today, the Union minister said, "It is unfortunate that Sonia Gandhi was absent today. Her son also left when the discussion on the bill was underway. It is even more unfortunate that when the Speaker asked who supported the bill, the BJP and NDA supported it but the Congress party did not."
Read here: Constitution no less than Gita, Quran & Bible for us: Adhir Chowdhury in Lok Sabha
Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi for introducing the much-anticipated bill in the Lok Sabha in the new complex, Irani said, The bill introduced in the Lok Sabha will define the leadership of women in our country. PM Modi announced the women-led development and the whole world accepted it at the G20. I want to thank him for taking the long struggle of women to its destiny.
Earlier in the day, Modi made a strong pitch for the women's reservation bill saying that his government is committed to ensuring that the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' aimed at expanding women's participation in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies becomes a law, as he urged MPs of both houses of parliament to pass the bill unanimously.
In the first speech in the first session in the new Parliament building, Modi said the women's reservation bill was given approval in the Cabinet meeting on Monday, and asserted that this will strengthen democracy.
Read here: On women's reservation bill, PM Modi's request to Rajya Sabha: I urge members
Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday introduced the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (women's reservation bill) in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. The bill aims to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving the amendment pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties.
Meghwal said the number of women members in the 543-member Lok Sabha will rise to 181, from 82 currently, after the law comes into force. Giving the history of the women's reservation bill, the minister said the first time the bill was brought in September 1996 by the Deve Gowda government in the 11th Lok Sabha. Then in December 1998 and December 1999 in the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha, respectively under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The five-day special session of Parliament was called by the government last month taking the opposition by surprise. The decision was announced by parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi. The special session of Parliament will conclude on Friday.
(With inputs from agencies)
For the first time in India's history since the independence, a new Union legislature has been set in motion today. Members of both Houses including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Cabinet ministers entered the new Parliament building after concluding the last joint sitting in the old construction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(PTI)
A procession of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) MPs were led by PM Modi and Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Piyush Goyal among others.
Meanwhile, Congress MPs including Rahul Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Mallikarjun Kharge entred the new Parliament building holding a copy of Indian Constitution.
The second day of Parliament's special session kicked off inside the new building with PM Modi's speech. He referred the entering into the new construction as grih pravesh of Parliamentary democracy and discussed about Sengol as first rays of independence.
"This is the first and historic session of the new Parliament building. I congratulate the parliamentarians and people of India," he said during his first speech inside the new building.
He also urged for focus on women-led development, referred the proposed Women's Reservation Bill and said the gateways of new Parliament opened for women power.
"On this historic occasion in the new Parliament building, as the first proceeding of the House, the beginning of all the Parliamentarians opening gateways for women power is being done with this crucial decision. Taking forward our resolve of women-led development, our government is bringing an important constitutional amendment bill. The bill is aimed at expanding the membership of women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will further empower our democracy," he said.
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On the second day of the Parliament's ongoing special session, both Houses will meet in the newly-constructed Parliament building on Tuesday, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May. On day one, Modi initiated the discussion in Lok Sabha on the Parliamentary Journey of 75 years as the legislators bid goodbye to the old building. The existing Parliament building and the new complex (L) on the first day of the special session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday.(PTI)
Parliament special session top updates:
1) On Tuesday, in a joint sitting of both the Houses, set to be held in the new Parliament building, BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will briefly speak for five minutes each, news agency ANI reported quoting sources. (Parliament LIVE updates)
2)Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, PM Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will also speak during the joint sitting of the two Houses, the report added.
3)The Lok Sabha Secretariat also issued a notification Tuesday morning officially notifying the new Parliament complex as the designated Parliament House of India.
4)While the Lok Sabha will meet at 1:15 pm in the new Parliament building on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha is scheduled to meet at 2:15 pm in the new complex. A total of up to eight bills are scheduled for deliberation and approval, including a controversial bill to exclude the Chief Justice of India (CJI) from the panel to appoint the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs).
4)Though the MPs will meet in the new building today, the government's legislative business will commence on Wednesday, PTI reported. On day two, all MPs of both the Houses have been invited for a group photograph at 9:30 am, according to the bulletin issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. An official said arrangements are in place at the inner courtyard of the old building for the group photo.
5)Reports also surfaced that the Union cabinet has cleared the women's reservation bill after the inaugural session on Monday. This followed after a post was shared by Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on X (formerly Twitter), but was deleted within an hour. A day before the special session commenced, an all-party meeting was held in Delhi where various parties demanded that a Women's Reservation Bill be passed during the five day session. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010.
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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
Women reservation bill Highlights: A day after bidding goodbye to the old Parliament, the MPs moved into the new building on Tuesday. Women's reservation bill (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) was introduced in Lok Sabha. Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi . (File photo)
Here's a summary of Women reservation bill presented on day 2 of the special Parliament session:
One-third of the seats in Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Parliament), Vidhan Sabhas (state legislative assemblies), and the Delhi assembly will be reserved for women.
One-third of the seats will be allocated to women from Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Scheduled Castes (SC) communities.
Implementation will occur following a delimitation exercise.
The proposed reservation is set to be effective for a duration of 15 years.
This special session of Parliament will continue till Friday. During the session, a total of up to eight bills are scheduled for deliberation and approval.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Maneka Gandhi, the Lok Sabha's seniormost member, termed the commencement of Parliament session in the new building as a historic day'. BJP MP Maneka Gandhi speaks during an event organised in the Central Hall of Parliament on the occasion of the shifting of Parliament to the new building, in New Delhi.(PTI)
This is a historic day today and I am proud to be a part of this historic moment. We are going to a New Building and hopefully, this grand edifice will reflect the aspirations of a new Bharat, Gandhi said in her address to the
Central Hall of parliament's old building.
Today, I have been entrusted with the responsibility of addressing this esteemed assembly as the most senior parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha... I have spent most of my adult life in this institution and I have seen 7 Prime Ministers and the shaping of grand history, the BJP leader, who won her first Lok Sabha election in 1989, said.
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I had several terms as an independent member and finally joined the BJP under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Since then I have remained a proud member of BJP and this August House. I have tried to make the most of every minute I have spent here, Gandhi said.
This is a historic day. I am proud to be part pf this historical moment when a government under the leadership of PM Modi has undertaken to repair the deep-rooted asymmetry and to give an equal share to all of us women, she added.
"My happiest moment was being given the responsibility by the Prime Minister, who coined the phase 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao'. Within 2 years, we changed the thought of the country and the statistics show that it is a lasting change, the BJP veteran said.
Maneka Gandhi's parliamentary career
Having joined the Janata Dal led by Vishwanath Pratap Singh in 1988, Gandhi won her first Lok Sabha election in 1989 from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh. She served as MoS Environment and Forest under VP Singh and later under Chandra Shekhar. However, she lost to BJP's Parashuram in the 1991 Lok Sabha election.
She was re-elected to the same seat in 1996 Lok Sabha election as a Janata Dal candidate. However, Maneka Gandhi won Pilibhit in 1998 and 1999 as an independent candidate. She served as a minister holding different portfolios in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1998 to 2004.
She joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2004 and won the election from Pilibhit for the fifth time. In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, she contested from Aonla in UP while her son Varun Gandhi contested from Pilibhit and won.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Maneka Gandhi returned to Pilibhit and emerged victorious. She served as Union cabinet minister for women and child development during Narendra Modi's first tenure as prime minister.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, she was elected as Lok Sabha MP from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh.
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A colourful procession led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the historic switch over from the 96-year-old iconic circular building to the mammoth lion-capitol-topped triangular edifice on Central Vista as the home of Indias democracy moved next door on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders JP Nadda and Piyush Goyal at the new Parliament building for the Special Session, in New Delhi on Tuesday) (ANI)
The 1927 building, where Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his famous tryst with destiny speech and where the Constitution was drafted and adopted, has now been renamed as what Prime Minister Modi termed Samvidhan Sadan.
Early on Tuesday, members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha gathered at the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building, dressed in colourful attire, for a function to commemorate the rich legacy of Parliament and gear up for a new temple of democracy.
During the function, vice-president and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar sat on the dais flanked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress floor leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury were seated on the extreme corners of the stage.
This was followed by a group photograph of Rajya Sabha members against the backdrop of the Samvidhan Sadan, and later a group photograph of Lok Sabha members.
As soon as the function at the Central Hall ended, the PM led a procession of parliamentarians towards the new Lok Sabha building. Though the PM has a designated gate to enter the new building, he entered the House for the first proceeding, along with all the other MPs, through the Makar Dwar one of the five gates of the new building.
BJP president JP Nadda, defence minister Rajnath Singh and Union home minister Amit Shah walked beside the PM. A designated corridor was created for the VVIPs and the MPs. They came out of Gate no. 1, or the main gate of the old building. It was at the same place where Modi bowed before the Constitution when he came to Parliament for the first time as an elected member in 2014.
The proceedings in the new Lok Sabha chamber started at 1.15 pm.
Earlier in the day, Modi shunned the usual practice of driving down to the Parliament gate and walked down the internal road of the Parliament complex to join the special programme in the Central Hall.
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NEW DELHI: Judges must ensure that the law does not discriminate against anyone based on the quality of legal representation an accused can afford, Supreme Court judge and executive chairperson of National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA) justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said on Monday, observing that it was the poor and uneducated who end up behind bars for years while the rich get bail at an earlier date. New Delhi, India - Feb. 28, 2023: A view of Supreme Court, today the Supreme Court refused to entertain the bail plea of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is in CBI custody in connection with the excise policy case, in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, February 28, 2023. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)
Justice Kaul was inaugurating NALSAs two-month-long campaign on Monday to expedite the identification of undertrial prisoners who are eligible to be released.
Justice Kaul, the seniormost judge after the Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, said: Our responsibility as judges is to ensure that the law is followed in letter and spirit and it does not discriminate between anyone on basis of the quality of legal representation they can afford, among other man-made qualifiers.
Justice Kaul said judges couldnt turn a blind eye to the plight of the poor.
Continued detention of poor, uneducated prisoners can have a severe impact on him or her and the family and affects them adversely in future. It is this section of society which is more prone to detention and the people who are able to afford appropriate legal assistance invariably get bail at an earlier date, the judge said.
Citing data from Prison Statistics India 2021, justice Kaul said the countrys 1,319 jails have an average jail occupancy rate of 130% and there were about 10 prisons, which have four times their holding capacity.
The NALSA special campaign launched on Monday seeks to reduce the burden on the countrys jails by identifying undertrial prisoners whose release can be processed by the undertrial review committee headed by a district judge in each district.
Justice Kaul noted a disturbing trend where the prosecution may not have the ability to secure a conviction and the years spent in jail by the undertrial are perceived to be sufficient punishment. Such prolonged detention, the judge said, does not augur well with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the United Nations in 2015 where the proportion of undertrial prisoners to the total prison population is an indicator of the sustainable development goal of access to justice.
Detention today is viewed in the context of development. Extensive use of detention before conviction diverts criminal justice resources and exerts financial and employment burden on the accused and their families, the NALSA chairman said.
The inclusion of access to justice in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is recognition of the intrinsic link between access to justice and ability of people to receive equal treatment under law so that their rights are protected.
The district-level undertrial review committees were constituted pursuant to directions by the Supreme Court in a suo moto case relating to prison conditions in 2015.
Over the last five years, the review committees have recommended the release of over 2 lakh prisoners resulting in the release of 91,703 prisoners across the country.
A similar campaign initiated by NALSA last year in July-August resulted in the release of 37,220 prisoners.
In March, the top court told states and investigating agencies to instruct their prosecutors not to insist on the arrest of accused who cooperate with the investigation of offences punishable with jail for seven years or less. In some states, there is disproportionately large number of undertrial prisoners who are unable to comply with bail conditions... some special steps are necessary to tackle the problem, a bench headed by justice Kaul said in the order.
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YWCA Western New Yorks board of directors has announced the retirement of Jill Ann Robbins-Jabine, the organizations chief executive officer for the last 10 years.
This decision comes after significant consideration, 18 months of organizational capacity building, and transition planning with the Board, Robbins-Jabine said in a company statement. Her retirement is effective in the first quarter of 2024.
The YWCA board is working with search firm TalentRise to find Robbins-Jabines successor.
Robbins-Jabines impact included adding new funding increasing revenue to more than $2 million while supporting underrepresented and vulnerable communities, the company said. The infusion of money allowed the YWCA to expand its Childrens Centers in the Courts which provide activities and oversight for children while their parents are at court to Buffalo City Court. The CEOs efforts benefited kids through expanded after-school programs and low-income seniors living at the YWCAs School House Commons facility through a state housing grant.
Collaborative awards $4.5 million to groups on front lines of Covid-19 pandemic Seventy-four local organizations on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic will share $4.5 million in grant funding, according to the WNY Covid-19 Community Response Fund. The fund a collaboration of philanthropic organizations in the region announced the grants. It is coordinated by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Health Foundation for Western & Central New York,
The board of directors also praised Robbins-Jabines work during Covid-19, in which the YWCA provided child care for first responders in Buffalo and at Martin Road Elementary School in Lackawanna. The pandemic work extended to education, too, as the YWCA was one of five partners with Erie County to offer virtual learning support centers for students in multiple school districts grappling with remote learning.
Robbins-Jabine was praised for empowering others through her anti-racism work, which the board called the guiding star for the organization.
Her strategic vision and commitment to the organizations core values have been instrumental in the organizations growth, said Jessica Copeland, chair of the YWCAs Board of Directors. We are grateful for her dedicated service and anticipation of future needs. Jill has worked tirelessly to ensure YWCA WNY continues to serve the community for the next 150 years.
Britain will continue trade talks with India despite allegations from Ottawa that the Indian government was involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson said on Tuesday. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak(AP)
The spokesperson reiterated that Britain was in touch with Canada about the "serious allegations" but said it would not have a bearing on trade talks with India.
"Work on the trade negotiations will continue as before. The Canadian authorities will now conduct their work and I'm not going to preempt them," the spokesperson told reporters.
When we have concerns about countries we are negotiating trade deals with, we will raise them directly with the government concerned. But with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal, and we're not looking to conflate them with other issues.
Tamil Nadu health minister M Subramanian on Tuesday asked the food safety officers in Namakkal district to explain negligence in an incident where a 14-year-old girl died and 40 others were hospitalised after eating at a restaurant. The minister also directed officials across Tamil Nadu to monitor if restaurants are following proper guidelines. M Subramanian (Wikimedia Commons)
According to the officials familiar with the development, as many as 42 people suffered diarrhoea, vomiting, after consuming food at a restaurant, the report of which was sent to the government on September 17. They all had eaten at a restaurant in Namakkal on the night of September 16.
The 14-year-old girl, named Kalaiyarasi, who was receiving treatment at a private hospital, died on September 18.
The restaurant has been sealed and its food safety licence has been revoked, said a government official, adding that 42-kgs of substandard meat has been destroyed. A preliminary departmental inquiry has revealed that out of 200 people who ate at the restaurant, 42 had to receive medical treatment.
Samples from the restaurant have been sent to a lab in Salem district and the report would be released in a week, the official said.
The sale of shawarma and grilled chicken has been banned across Namakkal district until further orders, the government said in a statement.
While a team of food safety officers are inspecting restaurants across Namakkal, another team of 13 health inspectors has been asked to monitor the health of those hospitalised.
According to the data by the state government, from April to August this year, 38,191 inspections have been conducted across Tamil Nadu by the Food Safety Department, of which 1,478 inspections were conducted in Namakkal.
As many as 7,825 food samples including 214 from Namakkal were sent for testing during this period. The government registered 1,894 cases against restaurants in the state and imposed a fine of 1.55 crore. Of this, 66 cases were registered in Namakkal and a fine of 5.79 lakh was imposed.
A team of 10 students from various government schools in Andhra Pradesh took part in the two-day United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UNSDG) summit held at UN headquarters in New York on Monday and Tuesday, to showcase the reforms in the education sector introduced by the state government. The students, who landed in the US on September 15, would stay there till September 28. (HT Photo)
An official statement by the state education department said on Tuesday that it was for the first time that the students, belonging to underprivileged and poor sections of the state, got an opportunity to interact with world-class academics and professors of various universities.
The team of students includes eight girls and two boys, namely: M Sivalingamma from AP Social Welfare Residential School, Kurnool, M Chandralekha from Navodaya School, G Ganesh, Anjana Sai, P Gayathri and V Yogeswari from IIIT-Nuzvid, D Jyotsna from Dr BR Ambedkar Gurukul School, C Rajeswari and Shaik Ammajan from IIIT-Idupulapaya campus and P Manaswini from Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, GL Puram.
State education minister Botsa Satyanarayana, in a statement, said all the students come from very humble backgrounds. The parents of some of these children are daily wage workers, while some work as auto drivers, mechanics, security guards and lorry drivers, he said.
Apart from speaking about sustainable development, each student spoke briefly about the educational reforms being undertaken by the Andhra Pradesh government, like Naadu Nedu, Jagananna Ammavodi, Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Jagananna Vidya Deevena and Jagananna Vasathi Deevena. The students elaborated on how the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government has transformed the education sector by introducing bilingual textbooks, tablets, digital classrooms, English education and curriculum reforms, the official note said.
The students, who landed in the US on September 15, would stay there till September 28. They would be attending seminars and holding discussions at esteemed institutions like United Nations, World Bank, US Department of State and Columbia University, the official note said, adding that as a goodwill gesture, they were also invited to visit the White House at Washington DC.
The statement said the main objective of this international tour is to give meritorious children from Andhra Pradesh a global platform to learn, discuss and express their knowledge and share new ideas with the world.
This will instil confidence in these children and foster their ability to speak with clarity and conviction in large meetings on aspects of development, the note, quoting the state education department authorities, said.
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Ideology, not alliance, is important for the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), said the partys heavyweight and former municipal administration minister S P Velumani on Tuesday, the lone voice to comment on the matter a day after the party hinted of strain in ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). S P Velumani (HT Archives)
Both parties remained restrained on Tuesday, a day after AIADMK organising secretary D Jayakumar on Monday said that their stand is to not remain with the BJP because of the partys Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalais comments against Dravidian icons.
He [Annamalai] should have refrained from making such comments, said Velumani speaking to reporters in Coimbatore.
Velumani added that AIADMK general secretary Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) is carrying forward the Dravidian ideology started by the Dravida Kazhagam (DK) and he will lead an alliance for next years Lok Sabha elections and subsequent assembly elections. Those who agree with our ideology will align with us, said Velumani.
The development comes after AIADMK asked Annamalai to retract his comments on a 1956 incident related to Dravidian stalwarts C N Annadurai, saying he was only keen to promote himself and was therefore targeting late Dravidian stalwart Annadurai.
No vocal critics of the BJP echoed from the AIADMK after Jayakumars tirade against Annamalai, nor has the national party in the state made a come back on the remarks made by its chief. BJP state spokesperson Narayanan Thirupathy said that the alliance is rock solid.
Meanwhile, Puthiya Tamilagam, a regional party, sought BJP national president J P Naddas intervention in matter to mend the relationship between the two parties and bring AIADMK back in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
I have already urged him [Nadda] to organise a meeting and strengthen the alliance, founder Puthiya Tamilagam K Krishnasamy said on Tuesday. It is important to create unity among the NDA parties.
An AIADMK leader said that their issue is only with Annamalai and not the central leadership, with whom matters of alliance would be discussed closer to the Lok Sabha elections. We have a cordial relationship with the BJP leaders in Delhi, the AIADMK leader said. But, our cadre will not tolerate Annamalai denigrating our dead leaders. So we took a stand.
Besides wanting more seats in next years Lok Sabha elections, the AIADMK says that there is pressure from the BJP to take bring back the rebels, particularly TTV Dhinakaran who has the community backing of Thevars in southern Tamil Nadu.
It is true. It is the present AIADMKs weakness, because of which we lost the 2021 assembly elections, said a senior BJP leader. We want the factions to unite, and we will not break away from EPS who is the strongest leader in the party.
Not after EPS was seated next to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the NDA meeting in Delhi earlier in July, he added.
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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
On Tuesday morning, with aspiration and apprehension, nostalgia and trepidation, the countrys lawmakers walked into the pristine maze of hallways in the new home of Indian democracy. A view of the new Parliament building. (PTI)
As they crossed the corridor that separates the new Parliament from the old, they took a step into history. They transitioned from the iconic circular building designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker that for several decades captured every pulse of the national essence to a triangular edifice designed to blend with the old sandstone structure.
The moment allowed MPs, some of whom worked in the old complex for decades and some for less than a full term, to coalesce in recollecting nuggets from the past and exchange notes about landmark incidents that shaped the countrys polity.
Senior lawmakers were seen regaling their audience visitors, mediapersons and their younger colleagues about conversations that flowed in the Central Hall and the bonhomie that acted as a balm after acrimonious, heated exchanges on the floor of the house. And yet, neither the past nor ideological differences tethered several of Indias parliamentarians from showering praise on the grand new structure.
In the Rajya Sabha, the media gallery overlooking the opposition benches drew lighthearted comments, with a leader quipping that the media was clubbed with the Opposition. I am taking it in with wide-eyed wonder... chuckled a lawmaker, not wishing to be named. The lawmaker was later seen ribbing a minister about the plush new room allocated to him that offers a view of the old building and a partially enclosed corridor to soak in the scenes.
It was a busy day for the security personnel and the secretariat staff who donned the hat of guides, patiently helping lawmakers find their way to their respective houses, and herding visitors to the galleries to watch the proceedings. Since, the highlight of the day was the introduction of the womens reservation bill, women outnumbered men in the visitors galleries.
Occasionally there was a flutter when visitors craned their necks to catch a glimpse of a certain film star or a popular leader. The cameras were ready, not prepared to miss a chance to catch VIPs in a frame that would be instantly iconic. But once House proceedings began, it was business as usual.
Heated exchanges between the government and the opposition, speeches laced with barbs and sarcasm and unmissable camaraderie as opponents across the aisle made their way out, posing for selfies, exchanging pleasantries.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Smriti Kak Ramachandran Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools. ...view detail
India on Tuesday dismissed as absurd and motivated Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, as the two countries carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit in New Delhi. (AP)
Trudeau later on Tuesday told reporters Ottawa was not looking to provoke or escalate.
India and the government of India need to take this matter with the utmost seriousness, Trudeau said. We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes.
Trudeaus claim will further damage bilateral relations, which are already at an all-time low over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, including holding a so-called referendum on a separate homeland for Sikhs, targeting of Indian diplomatic premises, and incitement of violence against top Indian officials.
Soon after Trudeau on Monday made the claim in Canadas Parliament, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat as a consequence. Jolys office identified the diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
Hours later, Canadian envoy Cameron MacKay was summoned to the external affairs ministry and informed of the governments decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat. The diplomat was asked to leave within five days, the ministry said in a brief statement. The decision reflects the Indian governments growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, the statement added.
The statement didnt name the Canadian diplomat, but people familiar with the matter said Olivier Sylvestere, the Canadian intelligence agencys station chief in New Delhi, had been asked to leave the country.
The external affairs ministry said in a separate statement that Trudeau made similar allegations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting on September 10, on the margins of the G20 Summit, and these were completely rejected.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the ministry said.
The development came a little more than a week after Modi told Trudeau at their meeting that New Delhi expects Ottawa to cooperate in tackling pro-Khalistani elements in Canada who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. Nijjar was earlier designated a terrorist by the Indian government for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
In a speech to Canadas House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said he wished to inform the House of an extremely serious matter that he had discussed with opposition leaders.
Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental, he said.
He added: Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G20, I brought them, personally and directly, to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in a killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Trudeau said some Indo-Canadians are feeling angry and perhaps frightened right now.
Trudeaus speech in Parliament followed weeks of behind-the-scenes contacts with allied nations, especially the Five Eyes intelligence alliance that groups Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US, to raise Nijjars killing with India and to issue a joint statement condemning the act, The Washington Post cited an unnamed Western official as saying.
Several countries, including the US, demurred as they feared a diplomatic backlash from the Indian government that was focused on hosting the G20 Summit, the Post reported. Instead, the killing was privately raised by several senior officials from the Five Eyes states before the summit, the report added.
Soon after his speech, Joly told the media the allegations that a representative of a foreign government may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen... on Canadian soil is not only troubling but it is completely unacceptable. She added: As of today and as a consequence, weve expelled a top Indian diplomat from Canada.
While it is not unusual for countries to expel operatives of a foreign intelligence agency, it is rare for them to identify the expelled official.
Joly also said she conveyed Canadas principles regarding seeking the truth, protecting Canadians at all times and protecting Canadas sovereignty to her Indian counterpart and sought Indias full collaboration to get to the bottom of the matter. She added Canada wouldnt tolerate any form of foreign interference.
Responding to the Canadian governments allegations, the external affairs ministry rejected Trudeaus statement in Parliament and Jolys comments.
Allegations of government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, the ministry said in its statement. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
The statement pointed out that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements and this remains a deep concern for India. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime, is not new, it added.
While rejecting attempts to connect the Indian government to such developments, New Delhi urged the Canadian government to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
CBC News quoted a senior Canadian government source as saying that Trudeau had briefed the leaders of the countrys closest allies about the case, including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
While addressing the Canadian media on the margins of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Trudeau had said he had raised the issue of foreign interference in Canadas internal affairs with his Indian counterpart.
Asked at the same news conference about Indias concerns over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements, Trudeau said Canada will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but simultaneously asserted it will prevent violence.
A tersely worded readout issued by the external affairs ministry on the bilateral meeting on September 10 said that Modi had conveyed to Trudeau Indias strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada, who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community... and their places of worship.
Modi further said the nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada and that it is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats.
The people cited above said the external affairs minister is likely to make a statement on the matter during the ongoing special session of Parliament.
India-Canada relations are in tatters over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements on Canadian soil. In recent months, the extremist elements have organised pro-Khalistan rallies and protests in several cities and targeted Indian diplomatic facilities and officials. They have also held a so-called referendum on Khalistan in Surrey, Brampton and other cities with sizeable Sikh populations. One referendum was held on the same day that Modi met Trudeau in New Delhi.
The Indian side was particularly angered when a float at a recent rally depicted the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in a gory manner and eulogised her killers.
The troubled bilateral ties have also affected negotiations on a free trade agreement, with officials from both sides saying the talks have been paused. Two-way trade in goods in 2022 was worth US$10.5 billion, including Indian exports of US$6.4 billion, while bilateral trade in services in 2021 was worth US$5.88 billion. Canadian pension funds have invested more than US$55 billion in India.
Canadians of Indian origin account for about 4% of the countrys population. With nearly 1.6 million people of Indian origin and another 700,000 non-resident Indians (NRIs), Canada hosts one of the largest Indian diasporas. The current House of Commons has 19 MPs of Indian origin, including three cabinet ministers.
The opposition New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, has helped keep Trudeaus minority government in power. Singh, who has often spoken in favour of Khalistan, said on Tuesday he would ensure all links to Nijjars killing are pursued and justice is done.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail
New Delhi: The Manipur police have invoked stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Official Secrets Act against the five men whose arrest on Saturday led to violence outside a police station in Imphal valley, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Last rites of sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom, who was abducted and killed last week, were performed in Chandel on Tuesday. (HT Photo)
Officials familiar with the matter said that the two weapons an INSAS rifle and a self-loading rifle and 128 rounds of ammunition recovered from the five men were looted from police armouries in the initial days of the ethnic strife in Manipur in May and June.
Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed in Imphal valley on Tuesday demanding the release of the five accused, who had donned military uniforms to impersonate security forces personnel at the time of their arrest and one of whom has since been identified as a 45-year-old former cadre of banned insurgent outfit Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of Manipur.
READ | NIA files charge sheet against 3 for extortion activities in Manipur
According to police officers, Moirangthem Anand Singh (45), former PLA cadre and member of Kangleipak Communist Party (Noyon), a banned militant outfit, was also detained under the National Security Act in the past.
The other accused have been identified as Keisham Johnson (35), Konthoujam Romojit Meitei (28), Loukrakpam Michael Mangangcha (30) and Athokpam Kajit (39), an officer said, without divulging details about them. All of them have been booked under UAPA and OSA, besides relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the officer added.
Not all people posing as security personnel by wearing military uniforms and indulging in violence are common citizens, a security forces officer said, requesting anonymity, adding that the arrest of the five men indicates that some of the people with links to valley-based insurgent groups were also engaging in violence in the ethnic strife-torn state.
READ | J&K saw highest number of cases registered under UAPA in 2021: NCRB report
After the five men were arrested and brought to Porompat police station in Imphal on Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters led by Meira Paibis [collective of Meitei women] clashed with security forces outside the police station. The protesters tried to storm the police station and even pelted stones, resulting in injuries to five personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), officials said.
The entire valley was under complete shutdown today [Tuesday] as called by Meira Paibis demanding the unconditional release of the five men, a second security officer said, also declining to be named. This is not the lone case of militants posing as security forces. If police have arrested them with sophisticated weapons, how can they be released?
There was heavy police deployment in the valley to prevent any violence even as Meira Paibis burnt tyres and blocked roads. Security forces, along with district police, fired gas shells to disperse the crowds and clear the road blockades, an officer said, adding that closure of establishments and blockades were reported at various locations in Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Thoubal, Kakching and Jiribum districts.
Lenin Hirom, convener of All Kongba Road United Clubs Association (AKRUCA), a village body, said, One of the village volunteers arrested by police is from our village. Different clubs have announced the shutdown in the valley If volunteers are arrested then villagers will not be safe. So, we have demanded their unconditional release.
At least 176 people have been killed and nearly 50,000 displaced in the ongoing ethnic clashes that broke out between Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur on May 3. On Saturday morning, an Indian army sepoy was kidnapped from his home in front of his minor and was found dead the next day. The Manipur government has constituted an inquiry by a senior police officer, who has to submit his findings within a month. On Tuesday, last rites of Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom were performed at his ancestral village Litan in Chandel.
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The week-long joint anti-terror operation in the Garol forests in the Anantnag district has ended, additional DGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said on Tuesday but the search operation will continue. Kumar said that the body recovered on Monday has been identified as that of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Uzair Khan. The body of another terrorist has been seen but is yet to be recovered, he added. Security personnel on their way to the encounter site in Garol, Kokernag, in Anantnag district. (Waseem Andrabi /HT)
The search will continue as a lot of area is to be covered where there are blind shells which are to be destroyed, the ADG said.
We had information of two-three terrorists. We will continue the search to look if there is a third terrorist, he said.
The police officer also advised people against going into the area as there may be live grenades and shells.
Police officials have maintained silence on the operation for the last four days. They believed two to three terrorists were trapped in the forest area.
The operation started on Wednesday when Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak and deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat were killed by terrorists. The body of another soldier Pradeep, who had gone missing on the first day of the encounter, was recovered on Monday.
Officials had said earlier that drone footage showed a charred body near one of the terrorist hideouts destroyed during the operation. Security forces have been using drones and helicopters to survey the dense forest area with several cave-like hideouts where terrorists are believed to have been holed up since Wednesday.
On Sunday, the security cordon was extended to the neighbouring Posh Kreeri area as a precautionary measure to ensure the terrorists don't slip into civilian areas.
Addressing a function late on Sunday evening, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said every drop of blood of the slain security personnel will be avenged and the terrorist handlers will have to pay a heavy price. "We have complete faith in our soldiers.... The entire nation stands in solidarity with the jawans," Sinha said.
Top officials of the security grid in Kashmir, including the director general of police (DGP) and general officer commanding (GOC) of the Army's 15 Corps, have been monitoring the operation.
Who was Lashkar terrorist Uzair Khan?
Uzair Khan, a resident of Nagam in Anantnag, had gone missing last in July year to join the militancy.
He dropped out of school in his Class 12 and then did a course in electrical work.
Uzair Khan used to work as an electrician in the village.
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India characterised an accusation by Canada that it was involved in the murder of a Khalistani leader as "absurd and motivated" urging the country instead to take legal action against anti-Indian elements operating from its soil. Canada was "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons. Self-styled Khalistan ideologue Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in Canadas Surrey. (File photo)
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in June, had been designated a "terrorist" by India in July 2020.
India's full statement on Canada's allegations:
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister.
Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected.
We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new.
We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments.
We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil."
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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
Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) on Saturday welcomed the women's reservation bill but said while the government opened the doors for women, there was still no entry. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi
It was written in the bill that it would not be enacted immediately as it would only come to act once delimitation is exercised. That means till 2029, this reservation won't be implemented. They have opened the doors but still, there is no entry for women, the Shiv Sena leader told news agency ANI.
Stating that introducing the bill was necessary, Chaturvedi said, It has been a struggle for 30 years. Our Constitution has promised equalityMany parties reminded the BJP of their promise as per their manifesto released 9.5 years ago. It came late but I hope it comes to act soon.
Being a woman, I would say that the biggest problem women face is that of 'character assassination'. I hope that this bill will wipe away such a mentality. The male-dominated society should remember that women too are a part of it, she said, adding, Women should be elected in the 2024 general assembly election, and they should play roles in the development of the country.
Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday tabled the women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha. Prior to this, PM Modi during his address in the lower house of the Parliament also made a strong pitch for the bill saying, The bill is aimed at expanding the membership of women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will further empower our democracy.
What is the women's reservation bill?
The women's reservation bill, also known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008, reserves 33 percent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. The legislation says that one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.
While the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, it was not tabled in the Lower House of Parliament until today.
(With inputs from ANI)
India-Canada ties hit a new low on Tuesday, with both countries expelling a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated". A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple is seen after the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. (REUTERS)
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
Who is Pavan Kumar Rai?
Pavan Kumar Rai is a 1997-batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre.
Rai is familiar with the Khalistani insurgency in Punjab.
In Canada, Rai held the Research and Analysis Wing's (R&AW) position of station chief, which is an officially designated intelligence post in the country.
According to security experts, now it's up to Trudeau to provide evidence which shows that Rai had told or assigned someone to kill Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Rai has served as a joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs handling personnel.
Some reports claimed that Rai was posted as the top cop in Punjabs Tarn Taran district in 2009 and 2010.
Rai is reportedly close to Samant Kumar Goel, the former chief of the R&AW.
In 2018, the MEA announced Rais appointment to the ministry position, and he was soon moved to Ottawa, to work in the Indian high commission.
India responded in kind and expelled Olivier Sylvestere, who is the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India, said people familiar with the matter.
Who is Olivier Sylvestere?
Olivier Sylvestere was operating in India under official cover, said one of the persons. He must leave India within five days.
The decision to expel the Canadian diplomat reflects the Indian governments growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, according to a statement by Indias foreign ministry.
The use of diplomatic titles to protect intelligence officers in foreign countries has long been a standard practice adopted by several countries. Most countries maintain an intelligence service within their embassies.
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Most expulsions of Indian intelligence operatives by a foreign country have involved either Pakistan or China, and similar cases in Western nations have been discreet affairs that were never accompanied by public announcements, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. A sign outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple after the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. (REUTERS)
The people said it is rare for a country to publicly name intelligence operatives being expelled, as was done by Canada on Monday in the case of a senior Indian official who was asked to leave over the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Soon after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadas Parliament that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat. Her office identified the official as Pavan Kumar Rai, head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC.
The Indian side has rejected the claims by Trudeau and Joly as absurd and motivated, with the external affairs ministry saying that such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists...who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty.
Over the decades, India and Pakistan have expelled dozens of officials on charges of espionage but both sides have rarely named them in official statements. In some instances, the names of expelled officials may have been leaked to the media.
The people cited above said there had been an instance of China naming two Indian officials posted in Beijing who were declared persona non grata in the early 1960s but noted this was an exception. The Chinese side had subsequently not named any Indian nationals who were expelled.
There have also been some instances of Indian intelligence operatives being expelled by Western countries, as in the case of one official who was told to leave a European capital for his contacts with Baloch leaders, but these cases have been handled very discreetly.
In most cases, the Indian side received notes verbale or some other form of official communication asking for an official to be withdrawn. The term expelled wouldnt be used in most such communications, said one of the people cited above, a former intelligence operative with long experience of operations abroad.
The people said a case such as the one in Canada is extremely rare as two countries that have long-standing security cooperation do not name the official being expelled as an acknowledgment of the sensitive duties handled by such operatives.
India and Canada established a joint working group on counter-terrorism in 1997 and the website of the Indian High Commission in Ottawa states that there is substantial engagement on counter-terrorism issues, particularly through the framework of this group. Security cooperation between the two sides was further enhanced with the Framework for Cooperation between India and Canada on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism signed in February 2018.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rezaul H Laskar Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music. ...view detail
Several political parties that had opposed the Womens Reservation Bill since it was first introduced have said that they disagree with the fundamentals of the Bill as it does not account for representation of women from marginalised communities. The Womens Reservation Bill was tabled by Union law minister Arjun Meghwal in the Lok Sabha at the new Parliament building on Tuesday. (ANI)
The parties which opposed the Bill include the Samajwadi Party (SP), Janata Dal-United (JD-U) the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP).
The SP, under Mulayam Singh Yadav and later Akhilesh Yadav, opposed the bill, concerned about its impact on the representation of marginalised communities. The RJD, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, believed it would benefit some while depriving others. Mayawatis BSP expressed similar reservations, calling for consideration of Dalit and marginalised women.
Former SP Lok Sabha member Dharmendra Yadav told HT that the perception that the SP is opposed to the bill is wrong.
We have always maintained that we are in-principle supporters of the Bill, just not in its current form. Even in Uttar Pradesh, we have provided women with opportunities. However, we seek that the Bill should empower women from all sections the minorities, Dalits, Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Tribes.
Yadav added that the party had not opposed the Bill, nor does it today. We are opposed to its current draft, he said.
The JDU also took a cautious line on the Bill, saying that it is an election jumla (an unfulfilled promise) but if it had quota within quota, then the party would find no reason to oppose it.
We are demanding a nation wise caste census, so if the population is not represented properly then what is the use of the reservation. Reservation is done for raising the issue of a community. Like OBC, EBC, they too have a population and that is why we are doing caste census. What is the use of bringing it (Womens Reservation Bill) on the last day? Then it is an election jumla, JD-U leader Rajiv Ranjan alias Lalan singh told HT.
Meanwhile, Manoj Jha from the RJD told HT, The party has raised concerns regarding the Bill in the past. If the Bill is meant to empower women and deepen democracy, you need to have a quota within a quota in this representation. There is still a lack of clarity on the Bill. Our concern in 2010 was that women from all sections, a rainbow of women, should be empowered, and our concern today is the same. We should not be bracketed between ayes and nos. This bill echoes Mahatma Gandhis sentiments; it is a post-dated commitment from a government that has lost its credibility.
HT reached out to two former Rajya Sabha MPs from BSP but did not receive a response immediately.
During the late 1990s, the RJD, SP, JD-U, and BSP were primary opponents of the proposition. In June 1997, senior JD-U leader Sharad Yadav made a controversial comment on the floor of the house. He questioned the ability of short-haired urban women to represent the concerns of rural women.
The Womens Reservation Bill was tabled by Union law minister Arjun Meghwal in the Lok Sabha at the new Parliament building on Tuesday. The bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday.
On this historic occasion in the new Parliament building, as the first proceeding of the House, the beginning of all the Parliamentarians opening gateways for women power is being done with this crucial decision. Taking forward our resolve of women-led development, our government is bringing an important constitutional amendment bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
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Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday called the Womens Reservation Bill ours hours after the Union Cabinet on Monday approved a proposed Constitution amendment to provide quota for women in parliament and state legislatures. The approval paved the way for the introduction of the landmark legislation in the ongoing special session of Parliament. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. (ANI )
It is ours. Woh hamara bill hai [It is our bill], Gandhi said as arrived in the Parliament on Tuesday.
The Congress has sought to take credit for the Womens Reservation Bill, which was cleared in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 amid a ruckus. The then Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government did not push the bill in Lok Sabha as its allies such as Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party demanded a quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes within the quota.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh separately reposted on social media platform X party colleague Rahul Gandhis letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018 offering unconditional support for the passage of the bill. Our PM [Prime Minister] says hes a crusader for womens empowerment? Time for him to rise above party politics, walk-his-talk & have the Womens Reservation Bill passed by Parliament. The Congress offers him its unconditional support, Rahul Gandhi wrote.
Ramesh argued that then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi first introduced Constitution amendment bills for one-third reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas (city councils) in May 1989 but they could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao reintroduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas in April 1993. Both Bills passed and became law. Now there are more than 15 lakh [1.5 million] elected women representatives in panchayats and nagarpalikas. This comes to about 40%, he wrote on X.
As PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh brought Constitution Amendment Bill for one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. Bill passed on March 9, 2010 in the Rajya Sabha. But it was not taken up in Lok Sabha. Bills introduced/ passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse. Womens Reservation Bill is still very much active.
He said the Congress has for the past nine years been demanding that the Womens Reservation Bill should now get passed by the Lok Sabha as well.
The Congress Working Committee, which met in Hyderabad over the weekend, demanded that the bill be passed during the ongoing special session.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek OBrien said while others waited for the bill to come, their party chief Mamata Banerjee gave more than 40% of seats to women to set an example.
The contours of the new bill are not known yet. They are unlikely to be identical to the last iteration of the bill. The new bill is expected to expand the scope of reservation beyond the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
In the 2010 bill, there was also no provision for subcategories of castes within the womens quota. The demand for increasing the representation of women in legislatures through quotas has proved a politically and legally fraught process over the last three decades.
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The government introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday a bill to reserve a third of seats in the Lower House and state assemblies for women, making the landmark legislation the first piece of official business in the new Parliament and sparking a battle to take political credit. Modi leads MPs to the new Parliament building on Tuesday. (ANI)
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam which came 13 years after a previous attempt to legislate on the fractious issue stumbled in Parliament will require constitutional amendments but is expected to pass Parliament after a number of prominent parties backed the legislation, albeit with caveats.
I assure all mothers, sisters and daughters of the nation that we are committed to making this bill into a law, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Lower House in his first speech in the new building.
For that work of ensuring rights of women and putting their power to use, and for many such noble works, God has chosen me, he added.
The long-awaited bill which will apply to the Lok Sabha, the Delhi legislative assembly and state Houses also inserted quotas for women within the existing quantum of seats set aside for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, but its implementation might take a few years. If passed into law, political reservation for women will only come into effect after delimitation an exercise comprising revision of seat numbers and redrawing of constituency boundaries that can only happen after 2026, and after the relevant census figures are published. The decennial census was scheduled to be conducted in 2021 but was delayed by the government due to the pandemic. There is no clarity on when the exercise is likely to be held. In effect, the 2024 general elections are likely to take place without quotas for women.
In order to enable greater participation of women as public representative in policy making at the state and national level, it is decided to introduce a fresh legislation for constitutional amendment to provide for, as nearly as may be, one third of total seats to be reserved for women, said the statement of objects and reasons to the 128th constitutional amendment bill, signed by Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The bill stated that the quota will be in place for 15 years and that the rotation of seats that will be reserved shall be rotated after each subsequent exercise of delimitation. The 2023 bill also added that reservation shall continue till such date as Parliament may determine a repository of residuary power with Parliament to continue such a move even after 15 years.
But the absence of a timeline for implementation irked the Opposition with the Congress dubbing the move as a huge betrayal and the Trinamool Congress calling it another jumla (empty promise). A political war also broke out over credit for the move, with the Congress pointing out that it passed the previous version of the bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 it never came to the Lok Sabha under pressure from the erstwhile governments allies and the BJP calling it a historic day. Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi called it our bill when asked about it outside Parliament. She will be the main speaker from the Congress during the debate on the bill on Wednesday.
This is another classic Modi Jumla. Make the promise but forget about the implementation. The title of the bill should be 2034 as it wont be implemented before that, said Trinamool Congresss Rajya Sabha leader Derek OBrien.
Reserving seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies is a decades-long demand to bolster the number of female lawmakers, but previous attempts have stumbled in Parliament due to deep political divisions. The new bill is a significant political step but the modalities of implementing the quota will be important to gauge its efficacy.
Previous attempts to institute grassroots reservations in panchayati raj institutions yielded mixed results while some women found themselves empowered, others found their power usurped by male relatives who installed their wives, sisters and mothers as political proxies. Hence, while quotas might be a welcome sign to signal political intent, womens empowerment should encompass structural improvements in education, health and economic indices.
Since 1996, at least four attempts have been made to legalise reservation for women in legislatures but have failed in the face of staunch opposition by a section of heartland parties. This time, however, the bill is likely to succeed as a number of parties including both the BJP and the Congress are set to back it.Lok Sabha functionaries said that the bill is likely to be passed in the Lower House on Wednesday and the Upper House by Friday the last day of the ongoing special session.
India trails a clutch of democratic countries when it comes to the share of women in politics, and while the number of female lawmakers in Parliament has risen significantly since the first elections in 1951-52 at 78, the 2019 polls saw the highest number of women parliamentarians getting elected a lot more needs to be done. Data shows that state assemblies are even farther behind.
Across the length and breadth of India, people are rejoicing the introduction of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament. It shows the unwavering commitment of the Modi government to empower women, Union home minister Amit Shah said on X.
Minutes after Parliament shifted to the new building at 1.15pm, Meghwal introduced the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill in the House, which will need the assent of two-thirds of Parliament, and the approval of at least 50% of the states.
Modi appealed to all members to support the bill. For years, there have been several debates and controversies around womens reservation. Earlier too, there have been many efforts to bring the bill in Parliament. But it was in 1996, when the first women reservation bill was introduced during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said.
In the Rajya Sabha, Modi called it a historic day and underlined his governments focus on women-led development, ease of living and quality of life for women. It is the end of ifs and buts..., he said referring to the need to ensure no impediments for women.
But the Congress alleged that the move was aimed at publicity and garnering eyeballs. They dont give us credit but I want to bring to their notice that the Women Reservation Bill was already passed in 2010, Rajya Sabha leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said.
Jairam Ramesh, chief whip of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha, highlighted the delay in the 2021 census. Now it says that the reservation for women will come into effect only following the first decadal Census conducted after the womens reservation bill has become an act. When will this census take place? he asked.
Union minister Smriti Irani hit back. Gandhi family is only interested in empowering the women in their family. They are not interested in empowering the women in poor or Adivasi or Dalit families, she said.
Heartland parties such as the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) which had staunchly opposed any previous attempts to implement womens quota appeared to be caught in a bind, with some announcing their support for the bill, but with caveats.
SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said gender justice must be balanced social justice. Reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, tribal women should be clear in definite percentage form, he posted on X.
The Aam Aadmi Party too, remained unimpressed even as it offered to support the bill. AAP leader Atishi alleged that it was a bill to befool women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
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Rajya Sabha's leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the women's reservation bill was already passed in 2010, this after the Centre tabled the legislation seeking 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies.
They don't give us credit but I want to bring to their notice that the Women Reservation Bill was already passed in 2010 but it was stopped, Kharge said during his speech in the Rajya Sabha at the new Parliament building.
Parliament special session LIVE updates Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the Rajya Sabha on the second day of Parliament's special session. (Sansad TV)
Kharge said political parties have a habit of choosing weak women and they will not choose those who are educated and can fight, triggering opposition from the treasury benches.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back at Kharge, saying,"We respect the leader of the opposition but to make a sweeping statement that all parties choose women who are not effective is absolutely unacceptable. We all have been empowered by our party, PM. President Droupadi Murmu is an empowered woman".
Responding to Sitharaman, Kharge said, Women from backward, ST don't get such opportunities which they are getting, this is what we are saying.
Earlier, Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha. Hailing the legislation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to all Rajya Sabha members to unanimously approve the women's reservation bill Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam when it comes to the Upper House after being passed by Lok Sabha."Today a bill has been introduced in the Lok Sabha. After discussion, it will come here also. Today we are taking an important step towards women empowerment", he said.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was listed for introduction in the Lower House through a supplementary list of business. The reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise, according to the bill.
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Months before monsoon rains caused mayhem in several parts of Himachal Pradesh, the state government had sought modifications in granting forest clearance to mine minor minerals like boulders, stones and sand in a stretch of the Yamuna river flowing through Sirmaur, a southern district. Representative image. (HT file photo)
The HP state government referred the request of a license-holding mining company which sought to expand the mining capacity in the particular stretch of the river and reduce the prohibition period for mining during monsoon months, minutes of the forest advisory committees (FAC), affiliated to Union environment ministry, August 21 meeting show.
The FAC declined HP governments request to expand the capacity in view of recent changes in the weather pattern and the flood situation in the state but, at the same time, agreed to reduce the ban on mining during monsoon months from beginning of June to end of October each year to months of June to September each year.
The Government of Himachal Pradesh vide their letter dated 17.05.2023 has submitted the proposal for change in condition of Stage-II approval for diversion of 54.668 ha. of forest land under Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 for extraction of sand, stone and bajri from the bed of river Yamuna mining project by Randeep Singh, Mauza and Mohal Bhagani, District Sirmour, the FAC minutes state.
The mining project in question was accorded stage 1 forest clearance for mining in 54.668 ha. of forest land in September 2020. The clearance was accorded on two conditions: Extraction of minor minerals had to be carried out manually. Further, heavy vehicles and heavy machinery were not to be used to extract and transport sand, stone and boulders from the riverbed. And, secondly, the minor minerals were to be extracted as per the district survey report (DSR) and the annual quantity extracted was not to exceed the average of extractions in the years of 2013-14 to 2015-16.
But since then, the project sought -- and received -- relaxations in mining norms through the HP government, documents show.
The first norm tweaked was on the use of heavy vehicles to extract and transport minerals.
The Union environment ministry accepted the request and reworded its first condition to: Extraction of minor minerals shall be carried out manually. Further, the State Government shall ensure that there is no erosion and change in river course due to extraction/collection of sand, stone and Bajri from the riverbed. All Guidelines of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued in respect of extraction/collection of sand, stone and Bajri from the riverbed shall also be followed. It omitted the clause on use of heavy vehicles.
Thereafter, in November last year, the Ministry, accorded Stage-II approval to the project against certain conditions. It said: The State Govt (HP) shall ensure that no extraction of material will be allowed from the riverbeds during the monsoon period i.e., from the beginning of June to end of October each year. 2.The State Govt. shall ensure that the extraction of minor minerals is as per DSR study report, and the annual quantity shall not exceed the average of extractions in the years of 2013-14 to 2015-16.
But in April, the user agency through the state government sought to increase the mining capacity as per the DSR report. In 2015-16 the production from mining leases on Yamuna was 2,46,277 MT. But total mining potential is 16803612 MT according to DSR. The total length of Yamuna River in Himachal Pradesh is about 31 km, and the catchment of this area is approx. 270 sq km. There are 16 mining leases in operation in Giri river. Out of these, 7 leases have been granted for running stone crushers and nine for extraction of minor minerals for sale.
Keeping in view recent changes in weather pattern and the flood situation in the state of Himachal Pradesh, the request of the State for modification in the condition no (vi) of the approval was not acceded to by the Committee. , the FAC decided in its meeting on August 21.
The Committee however decided to give HP government an exemption for mining in October.
Even as the proposal was being discussed, the state was ravaged by flash floods and mudslides this monsoon especially in July and August, which killed over 400 people.
Industries Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the state government as per the provisions contained in the Himachal Pradesh Minor Minerals (Concession) and (Prevention of Illegal Mining, Transportation and Storage) Rules, 2015 put many riverbed areas of District Sirmaur for auction to extract minor minerals sand, stone boulders and Bajri or gravel.
The auctions were held in 2015 and 2016. The highest bidders were awarded with Letter of Intents to obtain the requisite clearances such as forest and environment clearances, approval of mining plan etc.
In this case, a letter of intent (LoI) was issued in favour of Randeep Singh, a resident of Hanumangarh, Rajasthan who was the highest bidder with an annual amount of 5 crore. The annual bid amount is increased at the rate of 10% per year from second year onwards.
As per the terms and conditions of auction, the successful bidder has to obtain all the clearances at his own level. Further, no such proposal for the enhancement of capacity or change in the condition of Forest Clearance has been sent by this department to MoEF & CC, Singh said.
HT reported on May 10 that regardless of the change at the helm, police crackdown and heavy penalty, illegal sand mining goes on unabated in Himachal Pradesh. The riverbeds of the Sutlej, Yamuna, Beas, Ravi, Chakki and Swan rivers are illegal mining hotbeds
The FAC also considered HPs application to divert 211.8427 ha. of forest land to construct the 500 MW Dugar Hyrdo Electric Project in favour of NHPC Ltd in Chamba.
The FAC has deferred the proposal, at least for now, and asked the project applicant to conduct a study of the proposed project area, impact of the proposed project and feasibility by a reputed Institute such as Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun; sought a detailed plan containing the details of muck generation and proposed utilization; a River basin Cumulative Impact Assessment and Carrying Capacity Study among others.
One of the biggest issues being noticed now are structural changes to rivers due mining of sand and aggregate, apart from hydropower projects. The HP government has made several changes like allowing dredging and facilitating transit of minor minerals. This is of course to meet the massive demand from construction industry in neighbouring states, said Manshi Asher, researcher and co-founder of Himdhara, which describes itself as a Himachal-based environment research and action collective.
Manushi Chhillar made her grand debut at the London Fashion Week (LFW) this year. The former Miss World and actor turned showstopper for Indian designer Rocky Star at the spring 2024 fashion week. The beauty showcased Rocky Star's newly launched Spring/Summer 2024 collection. She slipped into a black gown for the ramp walk. The ensemble featured many of the designer's signature elements. Scroll through to check out moments from Manushi's LFW debut. Manushi Chhillar sets the ramp on fire during London Fashion Week debut. (Instagram)
Manushi Chhillar debuts at London Fashion Week
Manushi Chhillar's showstopper debut at the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 is setting the internet on fire. Pictures and videos of the actor from the ramp made it to social media and delighted her fans. The posts show Manushi walking the ramp, a few clicks of the star from a photoshoot before the show, and her walking with Rocky during the show's end. Read our download on Manushi's ramp gown below.
Manushi's black dress features lace-embroidered raised shoulder pads, sheer full-length sleeves, a see-through panel on the front, a peplum detail on the waist, belt buckle embellishment, a form-fitting silhouette accentuating her enviable frame, and a floor-sweeping train.
Manushi accessorised the ensemble with floral-shaped dangling earrings and peep-toe high-heeled pumps. Lastly, she chose glossy mauve lip shade, feathered brows, mascara on the lashes, blushed cheeks, beaming highlighter, shimmering neon green eye shadow, a dewy base, and light contouring for the glam picks. A centre-parted open hairdo gave the finishing touch.
About Manushi Chhillar
Manushi Chhillar won the Miss World pageant in 2017. Manushi won the crown for India after 17 years. She became the sixth Indian woman to win the crown and the first since Priyanka Chopra, who won Miss World 2000. On the work front, Manushi will be seen next with Vicky Kaushal in The Great Indian Family. It is an upcoming Indian Hindi-language family comedy-drama film written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya and produced by Aditya Chopra.
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Several Bollywood celebrities stepped out in Mumbai last night to attend the trailer launch event of Kareena Kapoor, Vijay Varma, and Jaideep Ahlawat's upcoming Netflix drama Jaane Jaan. The guest list included stars like Vijay Varma, his actor-girlfriend Tamannah Bhatia, Jaideep Ahlawat, Nora Fatehi, Kartik Aaryan, Arjun Kapoor, Varun Dhawan, Alaya F, Esha Gupta, the makers of Jaane Jaan, and a few more celebrities. The stars came dressed in stylish casual-chic fits for the event. Scroll through to check out who wore what to the event. Vijay Varma, Tamannah Bhatia, Kartik Aaryan, and Nora Fatehi attend Jaane Jaan screening. (HT Photo/Varinder Chawla)
Who wore what at the Jaane Jaan screening event
Vijay Varma and Tamannah Bhatia
Vijay Varma and Tamannaah Bhatia attended the screening of his upcoming film, Jaane Jaan, in Mumbai. Vijay chose a coordinated outfit for the occasion. He wore a tropical printed mustard-coloured silk-satin blazer and pants set, styled with a black button-down shirt. A clean-shaven look, backswept hairdo, and black dress shoes rounded it all off. Tamannaah complemented her boyfriend at the screening in a denim dress featuring spaghetti straps, a square neckline, a pleated silhouette, a colourful belt cinching the waist, and a midi hem length. She rounded it off with denim high heels, a messy top knot, dangling earrings, and minimal makeup.
Kartik Aaryan
Kartik Aaryan chose an all-black look for the Jaane Jaan screening event. He wore a crewneck black T-shirt and matching linen pants for the occasion. While the top comes in a figure-hugging fitting, the pants feature a tapered fitting. He complemented the ensemble with white sneakers, a classy watch, backswept hairdo, and a trimmed beard.
Nora Fatehi
Nora Fatehi arrived for the screening of Jaane Jaan in a stylish beige midi dress decorated with an abstract print in a black hue. The head-turning ensemble comes with an open Mandarin collar, front button closures, a thigh-high slit, a matching fabric belt cinching the waistline, quarter-length sleeves with folded cuffs, and a form-fitted silhouette. She styled the dress with black stilettos, a top-handle mini bag, centre-parted open locks, dainty ear studs, and striking glam picks.
Arjun Kapoor
Arjun Kapoor looked dapper at the Jaane Jaan screening event in a denim collared shirt featuring a faded pattern, a bright yellow print, front button closures, and a relaxed fitting. He styled it with black cargo pants, chunky sneakers, a sleek chain, tinted shades, a trimmed beard, and a backswept hairdo.
Esha Gupta
Esha Gupta embraced the form-fitting silhouette at the Jaane Jaan screening in a black bodycon dress featuring a sleeveless silhouette, a plunging neckline, a back slit, and a midi hem length. She styled the ensemble with a neon green-coloured top handle bag, a half-tied hairdo, striking glam picks, high heels, and a dainty chain.
Varun Dhawan
Varun Dhawan attended the star-studded event last night in a black and white printed shirt featuring a relaxed fitting, half-length sleeves, a plunging neck, and front button closures. He completed the outfit with black denim cargo pants, white sneakers, a trimmed beard, and a messy hairdo.
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Alphabet's Google on Tuesday made a last ditch effort at Europe's top court to overturn a 2.42 billion euro ($2.6 billion) EU antitrust fine imposed for market abuse related to its shopping service, saying that regulators failed to show that its practices were anti-competitive. Google LLC is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, U.S.(Reuters)
Google turned to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) after the General Court in 2021 threw out its challenge to the fine levied by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in 2017.
It was the first of three penalties for anti-competitive practices that have cost Google 8.25 billion euros in total in the last decade.
Google lawyer Thomas Graf said the European Commission had failed to show that the company's different treatment of rivals was abusive and that different treatment alone was not anti-competitive.
"Companies do not compete by treating competitors equally with themselves. They compete by treating them differently. The whole point of competition is for a company to differentiate itself from rivals. Not to align with rivals so that all are the same," he told the panel of 15 judges.
"Qualifying every different treatment, and in particular different treatment of first party and third party businesses, as abusive would undermine competition. It would impair the ability and incentives of companies to compete and innovate," Graf said.
Commission lawyer Fernando Castillo de la Torre dismissed Google's arguments, saying the company had used its algorithms to unfairly favour its price comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust laws.
"Google was entitled to apply algorithms that lower the visibility of certain results which were less relevant for a user query," he said.
"What Google was not entitled to do was to use its dominance in general search in order to extend its position over comparison shopping by promoting results of its own services, and embellishing them with attractive features and apply algorithms that are prone to pushing down the results of rivals and showing those results without attractive features," he said.
The CJEU will rule in the coming months.
This case and two others involving the Android mobile operating system and AdSense advertising service, however pale in comparison with the ongoing EU antitrust case into Google's lucrative digital advertising business where regulators in June threaten to break up the company.
The case is C-48/22 P Google and Alphabet v Commission.
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U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, along with several congressional representatives across the region, is advocating a bid by the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse regions to secure federal CHIPS Act funding to create a tech hub to grow the emerging semiconductor sector across upstate New York.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated through federal and state initiatives as part of this new frontier in economic development in which companies around the globe are looking to invest billions to build-out at greenfield manufacturing sites on a large scale.
This entails the construction of hundreds of thousands of square feet of facilities to accommodate the research, production and distribution of micro-chips (semiconductors), along with components provided by nearby critical supply chain facilities.
Unfortunately, many former industrial sites in urban centers cannot accommodate the scale and size required by the semiconductor industry. That is why mega-sites such as the 1,250-acre Science Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Park (STAMP) in Genesee County have been constructed to lure these businesses to our region in order to create career sustaining jobs and to secure billions of dollars of private capital investment.
In this regard, the economic development paradigm has shifted in that cooperation among federal, state, regional and local government/economic development sectors is critically important to success. These projects are of such scale that they now cross regions both from an infrastructure standpoint, as well as an economic one. The hundreds if not thousands of workers that will be hired to fill these great-paying jobs will not just come from one community, but across the region.
In Genesee County, our efforts at STAMP have for years hinged on regional cooperation to build out an underground system to discharge treated water, not sewage, into a local waterway from industries that ultimately locate at STAMP, which now include Plug Power and Edwards Semiconductor. These companies will discharge approximately 50,000 gallons per day of treated water into this waterway.
What is causing concerns among our neighbors is that at full build-out at STAMP, there is the potential of the discharge of up to 6 million gallons (MGD) on a daily basis. Based on this, the GCEDC commissioned multiple engineering studies that have undergone a number of peer regulatory reviews where it was determined that even at this maximum discharge level, the treated water discharge would not negatively impact the local waterway or surrounding communities.
Furthermore, once operational, the discharged treated water from the pipeline will be monitored and tested in order that all New York State Department of Environmental Conservation regulatory requirements are met.
While STAMP is located in Genesee County, it is a true regional asset for job creation and capital investmentfor the Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming (GLOW) and the greater Buffalo and Rochester regions. STAMP will be a transformative economic engine for our communities and families across the region for generations to come.
Steve Hyde is President of the Genesee County Economic Development Center.
TikTok employees in the United States have been notified that a new tool will track their office attendance, with the company saying that the app, called MyRTO, is meant to help set expectations for in-office attendance. TikTok app logo is seen in this illustration. (REUTERS)
The ultimate goal of MyRTO is to provide greater clarity and context to both employees and leaders regarding their RTO (return to office) expectations and in-office schedules, and help foster more transparent communications, the New York Times, which reported the development, quoted TikTok spokeswoman Jodi Seth as saying.
The MyRTO app
We are now providing the next suite of tools and information for both employees and leaders to better allocate time spent in the office optimising collaboration, an email to staff members said, introducing MyRTO.
According to the US daily, the app is built into the company's internal software; it monitors badge swipes and asks staffers to explain deviations or, in other words, their absences on days on which they are meant to work from office.
A dashboard with the data is visible to employees, their team leaders, as well as members of the human resource department.
Employees react
As per the report, TikTok staffers are taken aback by the introduction of the attendance tracking service, and the disciplinarian tone of the Bytedance-owned firm.
While some in-person work is important, both the app and threats of punishment are unnecessary. Colleagues are now fearful of failing to comply, a current employee told the publication on the condition of anonymity.
TikTok office mandate
Under the policy, to be effective starting October, people must be in office three days a week, while some teams are expected five days a week. Violation of the policy, whether deliberate or not, may result in disciplinary actions, including impact on performance reviews.
TikTik has around 7000 people working for it in the United States, in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, among others.
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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
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu met business tycoon Elon Musk on his recent visit to the US, and a video from their meeting is going viral on X. The clip shows Musk driving a Tesla Cybertruck with the PM and his wife as passengers. The image shows Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and wife inside a Tesla Cybertruck driven by Elon Musk, (X/@IsraeliPM)
The official X account of the Prime Minister of Israel shared the video. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara toured the @Tesla Motors plant in Fremont, California, together with Tesla CEO, entrepreneur, the handle wrote.
In a follow-up tweet on the same thread, the handle added, The Prime Minister and his wife were briefed by Elon Musk on company developments and various models, and observed the production and assembly line for advanced electric vehicles. The tweet is complete with a few images of the PM and his wife meeting Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The handle also added another tweet where the PM and his wife are seen posing with Musk in front of a Cybertruck. Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife, together with Elon Musk, then rode in the 'Cyber Truck' vehicle that is not yet on the market, reads the caption of the post.
Take a look at the tweets:
The share received several reactions from people. Just like this individual who wrote, Something is cooking. Another person added, Thank you for visiting. A few also shared emoticons and GIFs to express their reactions.
About Tesla Cybertruck
The official Tesla website describes that the Cybertruck is built with an exterior shell made for ultimate durability and passenger protection. Starting with a nearly impenetrable exoskeleton, every component is designed for superior strength and endurance, from Ultra-Hard 30X Cold-Rolled stainless-steel structural skin to Tesla armor glass. The site further explains that the vehicle has versatile utility and awesome adaptability.
The vehicle is scheduled to go on sale in a few days. However, even before its release, it has created a huge buzz among people. While some are excited about the vehicle, others are labelling it as ludicrous, reports Forbes.
Also Read: Elon Musk and Ice Cube engage in meme war on X
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A customer at a restaurant in Italy was shocked when he was charged 15 euros (over 1,300) for having a birthday cake cut and served to nine of his guests. The incident took place in a Pizzeria outlet in Pino Torinese, Italy, where Fabio Bregolato was having a birthday party with his loved ones. The man expressed that he informed the outlet in advance and had been given the go-ahead to bring his own cake. (Representational Image: Unsplash/ Annie Spratt)
As the restaurant did not provide desserts, the group brought their own cake for the occasion. Much to their surprise, they discovered an additional charge on their bill for the cake-cutting service.
There were 10 of us, excellent pizza, and the service was well done, but EUR 15 to cut a cake we brought ourselves was quite a style faux pas, Bregolato posted this with a picture of the bill, New York Post quoted CEN.
The bill shows the items the table ordered and their charges against them, with the fee for cutting the cake listed at the bottom, the outlet further reported.
Bregolato mentioned that in his four decades of dining out, he had never come across a restaurant that charged an additional fee for cutting a cake. He claimed to have informed the outlet in advance and had been given the go-ahead to bring his own cake. The pizzeria couldnt make a dessert, but they said we could bring our own cake from outside, he explained.
How did the restaurant respond?
The restaurant defended its cake-cutting charge, claiming it was a service and, therefore, came with a cost. They added that they had noted the charge on the receipt and paid taxes on it, reported New York Post.
The outlets representative refuted Bregolatos claim of informing them about the externally sourced food and highlighted the risks associated with serving items they did not prepare. The outlet specialises in catering to individuals with celiac disease and food intolerances.
When he arrived, he showed us the cake and said, Will you take care of it? Nothing else. We are not obliged to provide this service, especially because we risk serving something we didnt make ourselves, the representative added.
The outlet also noted that the cake was small and that the waitress had to spend extra effort cutting and plating it to serve the table of 10.
The representative continued: In short, between cutting, arranging, and serving at the table, she spent 25 minutes, during which I couldnt have her do anything else.
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Nine people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine on Tuesday, including a drone strike that set ablaze industrial warehouses and destroyed humanitarian aid supplies in the western city of Lviv, officials said. Black smoke billows over the city after drone strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv (AFP)
Six of the victims were killed by a guided bomb that hit the northeastern town of Kupiansk, regional governor Oleh Synehubov said, describing the attack as a "military crime against the civilian population of the Kharkiv region".
One man was killed in the drone strike on Lviv and two people, including a policeman, were killed in shelling of the southern city of Kherson, local officials said.
The attacks were the latest of many carried out by Russia since it sent troops into Ukraine nearly 19 months ago in an invasion condemned at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday by US President Joe Biden and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The civilian death toll is rising rapidly although Moscow denies deliberately targeting civilians.
In Lviv, which is far from front lines, a huge fire broke out after three industrial warehouses were hit in an attack at around 5 am (0200 GMT), emergency services said.
Photos released by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine showed fire fighters tackling huge flames that lit up the sky above the burning warehouses.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi said the body of a man who worked at one of the warehouses had been found under the rubble, and that fire was extinguished in the late afternoon, hours after it started.
Denise Brown, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said a warehouse used by the non-governmental organisation Caritas-Spes had been destroyed.
"The vital humanitarian facility, which contained approximately 300 tons of relief supplies, was burned to the ground," she said in a statement.
'NEXUS OF HORROR'
Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said Russian forces had launched 18 drones in the attack on his region, and that 15 had been shot down, including seven that were directly over the Lviv region.
Ukraine's air force said Russia had launched a total of 30 drones and one Iskander ballistic missile in attacks on Ukraine overnight, and that 27 of the drones had been shot down.
Reuters could not independently verify the reports. There was no immediate comment from Moscow.
Russia staged multiple air strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities last winter and has intensified attacks on port and grain infrastructure in the two months since Moscow quit a deal allowing safe exports of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports.
In New York, Biden said Russia's invasion and occupation of territory violated the founding UN Charter and Guterres said the invasion had unleashed a nexus of horror.
The fractious relationship between India and Canada, exemplified by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau telling the House of Commons on Monday that agents of the Indian Government may have been linked to the murder of a leading pro-Khalistan figure on June 18, goes back nearly 45 years. PREMIUM As the Khalistan movement in Punjab gained prominence, many Sikhs sought refugee status in Canada citing political persecution. (Associated Press)
Immigration of Sikhs into Canada started in the first decade of the 20th century. Soldiers in the British Army passing through British Columbia were attracted by the fertile land they saw. By the 1970s, Sikhs were a visible section of Canadian society.
There was scant sentiment regarding a Sikh homeland.
That changed in the 1970s. As India conducted the Pokhran nuclear tests in Rajasthan in May 1974, it left the Canadian Government furious because the CANDU type reactors, provided by Canada for peaceful nuclear energy, had been repurposed for military use. The anger of then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, father of the incumbent, caused diplomatic ties to wither.
Unfortunately, that came as the Khalistan movement in Punjab was gaining prominence. With generational ties to Canada, many Sikhs sought refugee status in Canada citing political persecution. Suddenly, there was an influx of Khalistanis into a country that did little to curb their separatism because of the poor relationship.
Nobody cared about their background, they all got political asylum, said Shinder Purewal, professor of political science at the Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia.
Among those who made their base in Canada, was Talwinder Singh Parmar, considered the mastermind of the terrorist bombing of Air India flight 182, the Kanishka. Based in the town of Burnaby in British Columbia, Parmar also headed the Babbar Khalsa International.
Canada also proved a convenient point for Khalistani figures to travel to Pakistan to meet and train with their handlers from Pakistans intelligence wing, ISI, as in the case of Parmar.
The doomed aircraft was flying from Montreal to London, when it was blown up by Khalistani terrorists on June 23, 1985. Some of its remnants were strewn over the coast of Irelands Cork region, the rest sank into the North Sea. All 307 passengers and 22 crew members on board were killed. It remains the worst episode of terror in Canadian history and is recognised as its National Day of Remembrafnce for Victims of Terrorism.
While Canadian intelligence grasped the potential domestic threat Khalistani elements could pose, there was little political appetite for acknowledging the incident as a Canadian tragedy, something that only happened in the 21st century.
Most among the initial group of Khalistani leaders spoke little English but by the end of the first decade of the 21st century, a sophisticated cohort of English-speaking politicians with pro-Khalistan leanings started emerging within the community. Many were brainwashed children of the refugees of the 1980s.
The Khalistan movement may have died in India in the late 1990s, but it survived in Canada, particularly in some gurdwaras controlled by radicals. Even in 2010 when then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met his counterpart Stephen Harper on the margins of the G20 summit in Toronto, he expressed New Delhis frustration over Ottawa allowing the Khalistan issue to simmer.
Also Read: Killed in June, Hardeep Singh Nijjar was one of Indias most wanted terrorists
Meanwhile, groups like Sikhs for Justice leveraged human rights laws and avowed freedom of expression to undertake lawfare against India, including a failed attempt to sabotage Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Canada in 2015.
However, the true rejuvenation occurred after Justin Trudeau swept into power after the 2015 Federal elections in Canada. Pro-Khalistani groups supported the Liberal Party in seat-rich areas in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver.
Interestingly, there was an attempt to work with the Modi Government, but that expired once New Delhi adopted the tactic of trying to woo prominent Khalistanis away from the movement, as evidenced by Ripudaman Singh Malik, considered a major conspirator in the Air India bombing, though acquitted due to lack of evidence, penning a letter in 2022 praising the Indian Government.
By that summer, he was murdered by two alleged gangsters. The motive for the crime has yet to be revealed by Canadian police.
The Trudeau Government, at least within the senior ranks of its security officials, recognised the Khalistan problem especially after it caused the PM to suffer from a disastrous visit to India in February 2018. Later that year, the 2018 Public Report on the Terrorism Threat to Canada listed Sikh (Khalistani) extremism. It said that the movement was of concern and while their attacks in Canada have been extremely limited, some Canadians continue to support these extremist groups, including through financing. Within months after an uproar, that term was deleted from the report.
Canadas openness has also been leveraged by SFJ for its so-called Khalistan Referendum. Originally planned for 2020, the results for the separatist referendum will now only be released in 2025, according to SFJs legal counsel Gurpatwant Pannun. In July 2020, in response to queries from the Hindustan Times, Global Affairs Canada, the countrys foreign ministry, clarified Canada will not recognise the results of the referendum.
However, each time Canada has attempted to renew relations with India, as with its Indo-Pacific Strategy, released in November last year, describing India as a critical partner, Khalistani activity has undermined ties. With several Cabinet Ministers making successful visits to India, a potential Early Progress Trade Agreement appearing likely, along with a visit by Trudeau in September, it was hardly surprising that Khalistani groups raised the temperature.
The tableau of the assassination of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June preceded another phase of the Khalistan Referendum in the Greater Toronto Area, before, the next in Vancouver in September. In between, SFJs campaign turned to posters targeting Indias senior-most diplomats in Canada, as it accused them of being behind the assassination of Nijjar, its principal in British Columbia, and head of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey.
That Canadas PM has validated SFJs accusation of India being behind Nijjars killing, will embolden such elements. After the expulsion of an Indian diplomat, the secessionist group is already demanding that Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa be expelled.
The outcome of the investigation is awaited as it is now being led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or RCMP. But almost certainly, Trudeaus statement on Monday could ensure ties are at their worst state in nearly 20 years, and will languish until Federal elections are held in Canada in September 2025.
The Kremlin on Tuesday called for calm in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijan launched a military operation there, saying that both Baku and Yerevan should sit down to talks to resolve the conflict. Smoke rising from artillery strikes on a hilltop outside Stepanakert, the capital of the Armenian-populated separatist region within Azerbaijani borders. (AFP)
Azerbaijan said it needed to restore constitutional order and drive Armenian military units out of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely controlled by ethnic Armenians with Yerevan's support. Armenia, Russia's formal ally, denied having forces in the area.
"We are concerned about the sharp escalation of tension and the beginning of hostilities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The first thing for us, against the background of the military operation carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, is to ensure the safety of the civilian population of Karabakh."
Peskov said the Russian military had been in contact with both Baku and Azerbaijan and that Moscow was urging talks.
"Our military is working to return the settlement process to the political and diplomatic path," Peskov said, adding that the basis for talks was the ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia that ended a 2020 war in which Azerbaijan made significant gains.
We urge everyone to follow the provisions of these documents, naturally, taking into account those new realities, meaning the fact that the Armenian side recognised the territory of Azerbaijan as at 1991.
Australia is deeply concerned by allegations raised by Canada linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia province, a spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday. The Canadian flag flies in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
"Australia is deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matter," the spokesperson said.
"We are closely engaged with partners on developments. We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India."
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British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said Tuesday his government backs a Canadian investigation to determine whether India was involved in the killing of a Sikh leader, in a case that sent ties between Ottawa and New Delhi nosediving. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.(REUTERS)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that "credible allegations" linked Indian agents to the June slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and announced a probe by Canadian intelligence.
Nijjar was accused by New Delhi of carrying out terrorist attacks in India. But India's foreign ministry said the idea it ordered a hit was "completely absurd."
Cleverly, who is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, told AFP he had met with Trudeau on Monday and discussed the case.
READ | India could be behind killing of Canadian Sikh Hardeep Nijjar, says Trudeau
"I think it's incredibly important that we allow the Canadian authorities to conduct their investigation," said Cleverly, adding it would be "unhelpful" to speculate on their outcome.
"Obviously, we have a very strong relationship with Canada, a very strong relationship with India," he continued, adding he expected "full cooperation" by India in the probe.
Ottawa has expelled a diplomat it described as the head of India's foreign intelligence service in Canada, prompting a tit-for-tat order from New Delhi for a Canadian diplomat to leave.
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen whom India had declared a wanted terrorist, was gunned down on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver.
READ | Nijjar killing: Canada expels diplomat as Trudeau cites potential India link
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs globally outside of India, and New Delhi has long been unhappy with Canada's handling of Sikh separatist activists.
Nijjar was part of a movement that advocated the creation of an independent Sikh state to be carved out of part of northern India.
In the UK -- which is home to some 500,000 Sikhs -- Sikh activist Avtar Singh Khanda died in a hospital in Birmingham in June after suddenly becoming ill, giving rise to speculation it may have been an intentional killing.
READ | Hardeep Nijjar killing: India, Canada trade diplomatic blows. 10 developments
But "the West Midlands Police have already said that they don't believe there to be any suspicious circumstances there," said Cleverly.
Analysts say Canada's accusation would bracket India with nations like Saudi Arabia that assassinate political opponents abroad.
The Indian state of Punjab, which is 58 percent Sikh and 39 percent Hindu, was rocked by a violent separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, in which thousands died.
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Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday that in the past 24 hours it had detected 27 Chinese air force aircraft including fighter jets entering the island's air defence identification zone, mostly flying to the waters southwest of Taiwan. China-Taiwan Conflict: Chinese and Taiwanese flags are seen in this illustration.(Reuters)
Democratically governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has complained in recent years of stepped-up Chinese military activities near the island as Beijing seeks to assert its sovereignty claims.
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A suspected quadruple murder shocked a suburban Chicago community after police found an Illinois couple, their two young children and their three dogs shot dead inside their home Sunday night. Romeoville Deputy Police Chief Chris Burne said at a press conference Monday that police are investigating the deaths as a murder, not a murder-suicide.
The victims were identified as Alberto Rolon and Zoraida Bartolomei, the parents of the two children, whose names and ages were not released Monday. The family lived in Romeoville, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago.
38-year-old Alberto Rolon, 32-year-old Zoraida Bartolomei and their 7 and 9-year-old children were murdered.(Facebook)
Police discovered the bodies around 8:40 p.m. Sunday after they went to the home for a welfare check. Family members had called police after one of the victims did not show up for work at 6 a.m. Sunday and did not answer messages, police said.
During a press conference on Monday, Romeoville Deputy Police Chief Chris Burne clarified that the deaths are being investigated as a homicide, ruling out the possibility of a murder-suicide.
Right now we are investigating this as a murder, he said at the press conference streamed by NBC Chicago.
ALSO READ| India-Canada diplomatic row: Sikh groups threaten protests in Canada
He also said there was no threat to the public, although no suspect has been arrested.
Due to the timeframe that has gone by more than 18 hours from the time we were contacted we are not asking anybody to shelter in place, we are not actively looking for anybody in the area, he said.
Burne did not confirm if Rolon and Bartolomei were married.
The two children attended RC Hill Elementary School, according to Valley View School District Superintendent Rachel Kinder, who sent a note to the community.
Law enforcement suspects that the family of four met their tragic fate between 9 p.m. on Saturday and 5 a.m. on Sunday.
Neighbors told that the family was nice and quiet, and did not interact much with others.
They kept to themselves, a neighbor told ABC 7 Chicago. I really dont know. Never saw the kids outside playing and I have a child. I dont know really what happened and its very scary. Too close to home.
It was a mom and dad and a couple of kids. The parents would be outside working the yard, and wed wave hi and bye, that kind of thing, Lynn Phillips, who lives one house away, told the Chicago Sun Times. Nothing unusual. We all keep to ourselves.
ALSO READ| Flood watches issued for millions of people in New England as storm looms
Carol Love, who lives next door, told the newspaper that the family was friendly and respectful.
Its so sad. They were nice people. They didnt bother anybody, Love reportedly said. I hope they find out who did it.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday expressed full support for Azerbaijan's military operation in its ethnically Armenian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP)
Turkey is a historic ally of predominantly Muslim Azerbaijan and views mostly Christian Armenia as one of its main regional rivals.
"We support the steps taken by Azerbaijan -- with whom we act together with the motto of one nation, two states -- to defend its territorial integrity," Erdogan said in an online statement.
READ | Amid war with Ukraine, Russia urges Armenia, Azerbaijan to resolve conflict
Ankara supplied Azerbaijan with combat drones and other military equipment that helped Baku win back swathes of the breakaway region in a short but brutal war three years ago.
The Turkish foreign ministry had earlier said the new operation was sparked by "long-standing armed attacks and provocations" against Azerbaijani forces in the region.
"As a result of the legitimate and justified concerns it has repeatedly expressed regarding the situation on the ground in the nearly three years since the end of the Second Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has had to take the measures it deems necessary on its own sovereign territory," the Turkish foreign ministry said.
But the ministry added that only direct talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan could permanently resolve the decades-long conflict.
"We believe that ensuring the continuation of the comprehensive negotiation process between Azerbaijan and Armenia... is the only way to establish peace, security, prosperity and permanent stability in the region," the Turkish statement said.
Prince William has arrived in New York City for a two-day visit this week, without his wife, Princess Kate, by his side. Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales and Britain's Catherine, Princess of Wales react during a visit to Kings Pitt Farm in Hereford, western England, on September 14, 2023. (Photo by Cameron Smith / POOL / AFP)(AFP)
The 41-year-old Prince of Wales is in the U.S. to attend the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit on Tuesday, where he will reveal the finalists for this years awards.
The Earthshot Prize is an initiative that Prince William launched in 2020 to encourage and reward innovative solutions to the worlds most urgent environmental problems.
The awards will be given out annually until 2030, with the 2023 ceremony taking place in Singapore on Nov. 7.
The Duke of Cambridge is traveling solo, while Princess Kate, also 41, remains in the U.K. with their three children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5.
The royal couple, who have the assistance of their longtime nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallo, try to balance their royal duties with their family life. They often drive their kids to school and make sure one of them is home for dinner most nights.
ALSO READ| Meghan Markle's cheers with a beer at Invictus games during Prince Harry's spirited birthday bash
They also want to give their children a normal childhood as much as possible, while preparing them for their future roles as royals, especially Prince George, who is second in line to the throne after his father.
Its a massive balancing act, a palace insider quoted to PEOPLE.
William and Kate are doing the right thing, protecting him so he can have as normal a childhood as possible, but hes also dipping into duties as a future monarch.
The Princess of Wales had her own engagement in the U.K. on Monday. She visited the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, one of the Royal Navys two main air stations and one of the busiest military airfields in the U.K.
Princess Kate recently took over the role of Commodore-in-Chief of the Fleet Air Arm from Prince Andrew, who held it until 2022. The role was bestowed on her by King Charles, who is her father-in-law and the current monarch.
Prince Williams trip to New York will be brief. He will likely return to the U.K. soon after his events in the U.S. are over, as King Charles and Queen Camilla are also traveling abroad that week. The royal couple will visit France from Sept. 20 to Sept. 22 for a state visit that was postponed from March due to riots in France at the time.
ALSO READ| Prince Harry appears to take a jab at the royal family for decision to not let him wear military uniform
Although Prince William does not have to be in the U.K. when his father is away, he is one of the Kings Counsellors of State one of the royals who can perform constitutional duties for King Charles if he is out of the country or unwell.
Princess Kate may not be with Prince William in New York, but she supports his Earthshot Prize project wholeheartedly. She joined him at the previous award ceremonies, including the first one held in London in 2021.
A group of beachgoers in Florida were seen rescuing a giant mako shark stranded on the sand in a dramatic video. A woman, Tina Fey, recorded a video of her husband Josh, and two other men helping free the sharkon the shore of Pensacola Beach. A group of beachgoers in Florida were seen rescuing a giant mako shark stranded on the sand in a dramatic video (Matt Devitt WINK Weather/Facebook via Tina Fey)
The video shows the shark thrashing restlessly as the men pushed it back into the water. Tina zoomed in on the shark at one point, yelling to her husband, "Babe, look at them freakin' teeth!"
The men were seen backing away when the sharks thrashing became uncontrollable. They later went back, eventually fully submerging the shark in the water and watching it swim away.
Fey and Josh were on Pensacola Beach last week to celebrate their wedding anniversary, she told Storyful. She recalled that she was in the water when Josh "yelled at me to get out of the water." The mako shark swam towards the shore and got stranded, she said.
"After a few seconds of seeing it struggle to get back in the water, my husband took charge to try to help it," Fey said, adding, "After a few attempts and two others jumping in to help, they managed to get it back into the water."
A mako shark has attacked ten humans resulting in 1 fatality
According to americanoceans.org, the mako shark makes the most dangerous shark list because it has attacked ten humans resulting in 1 fatality. Like the oceanic whitetip shark, the shortfin mako shark lives in the open ocean and is quite significant of the shark species weighing 1200 pounds and maturing at 12 feet long, the website says.
Shortfins are also migratory and feed on tuna, squid, small marine mammals, and other sharks, it says, adding, Unlike other sharks, the mako relies solely on hearing, scent, and vision to hunt prey and is said to have the second most substantial bite in the world (3000 pounds bite force), next to the crocodile.
Canada on Tuesday expelled an Indian diplomat in connection with the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year, triggering fresh tensions between the two countries.
The Canadian government has identified the expelled diplomat as a senior official of India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Canada's foreign minister Melanie Joly's office identified the diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of RAW in Canada, as per broadcaster CBC. The Canadian minister later spoke to external affairs minister S Jaishankar.
The expulsion comes after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau while speaking in his parliament pointed to credible allegations of potential link between the Indian agents and the killing of Nijjar.
ALSO READ: India paused trade talks with Canada over Khalistan row after Trudeau G20 visit
The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, the Canadian prime minister said.
New Delhi rejected the Canadian premier's claims, calling it absurd and 'motivated'.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the external affairs ministry said in a statement.
Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed to credible allegations of potential link between the Indian agents and the killing of pro-Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.(AP)
The US is "deeply concerned" over accusations by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau linking Indian government agents to the murder of a Khalistani leader in British Columbia in June, the White House said. Justin Trudeau said that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. The claim was rejected by the Indian side as absurd and motivated. Canada prime minister Justin Trudeau(AP)
"We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau earlier today," White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement, adding, We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.
After Justin Trudeau's claim in Canadas Parliament, the country's foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement that similar allegations were made by Justin Trudeau to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting on September 10 and were completely rejected.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the statement said.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. He was a Canadian citizen and was earlier designated a terrorist by the Indian government for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
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A 64-year-old Singaporean of Indian origin was sentenced to two weeks' jail on Monday on pleading guilty to one count of breaching a COVID-19 regulation by failing to wear a mask that covered his nose and mouth while outside his home in 2021. The court heard that Tamilselvam was working as a cleaner for Leong Hup Singapore at the time.(Representational)
Despite knowing that he had just tested positive for COVID-19, Tamilselvam Ramaiya deliberately coughed at his colleagues, lowering his mask to do so on one occasion.
Another two charges were taken into consideration during sentencing, according to a Channel News Asia report.
The court heard that Tamilselvam was working as a cleaner for Leong Hup Singapore at the time.
After reporting for work at 6 Senoko Way on the morning of Oct 18, 2021, he told the assistant logistics manager that he was feeling unwell. He was told to take an antigen rapid test (ART).
A colleague administered the test on Tamilselvam, and he tested positive for COVID-19.
Given the result, he was instructed to return home and to tell the assistant logistics manager about the result.
The assistant logistics manager, who learnt of the positive test result from someone else, told his other colleagues about it.
However, Tamilselvam did not head home immediately. Instead, he went to the company's logistics office to inform the assistant logistics manager about his COVID-19 test result.
Tamilselvam entered the office with a company driver who did not know about the positive test result.
The first victim, a 40-year-old logistics supervisor, told the driver not to go near Tamilselvam. The supervisor also asked Tamilselvam to leave the office and made a gesture mimicking kicking him out.
Tamilselvam walked to the door but turned back to cough twice into the office with his mask on.
The supervisor closed the office door, but Tamilselvam opened it. He lowered his mask to uncover his nose and mouth and coughed into the office a third time before leaving.
The act was captured on the closed-circuit television camera in the enclosed air-conditioned office.
While Tamilselvam was leaving, he passed by a window with a 56-year-old clerk on the other side of the glass in the logistics office.
He opened the window, coughed in her direction with his mask on, and said "kena COVID, kena COVID", using the Malay word "kena" to describe someone on the receiving end.
The colleagues who were coughed at were alarmed as they knew Tamilselvam had tested positive for COVID-19. The clerk was a dialysis patient who suffered from cardiac and renal issues and she administered an ART on herself after being coughed at.
None of them contracted COVID-19 from the incident.
After this, Tamilselvam went to a polyclinic where he was given another swab test and a three-day medical certificate. He was also told to quarantine himself at home.
The assistant logistics manager of the company lodged a police report over the incident.
During investigations, Tamilselvam said he had coughed at his colleagues as "a joke". He said he did not treat his positive result seriously and visited the polyclinic to confirm if he had contracted COVID-19.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Sruthi Boppana said it was "no laughing matter" and that Tamilselvam had disobeyed express instructions to leave the premises, returning instead to cough deliberately at his colleagues.
She asked for three to four weeks' jail, saying his actions came at a time when Singapore was experiencing a fresh surge of COVID-19 cases that led to the tightening of COVID-19 restrictions.
For flouting a COVID-19 regulation, he could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to SGD10,000, or both.
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Irans president on Monday denied his country had sent drones to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine, even as the United States accuses Iran of not only providing the weapons but helping Russia build a plant to manufacture them. Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi greets media representatives after a press conference in Tehran.(AFP)
We are against the war in Ukraine, President Ebrahim Raisi said as he met with media executives on the sidelines of the worlds premier global conference, the high-level leaders' meeting at the U.N. General Assembly.
The Iranian leader spoke just hours after five Americans who had been held in Iranian custody arrived in Qatar, freed in a deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to unlock nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
Known as a hard-liner, Raisi seemingly sought to strike a diplomatic tone. He reiterated offers to mediate the Russia-Ukraine war despite being one of the Kremlins strongest backers. And he suggested that the just-concluded deal with the United States that led to the prisoner exchange and assets release could help build trust between the longtime foes.
Raisi acknowledged that Iran and Russia have long had strong ties, including defense cooperation. But he denied sending weapons to Moscow since the war began. If they have a document that Iran gave weapons or drones to the Russians after the war," he said, then they should produce it.
Iranian officials have made a series of contradictory comments about the drones. U.S. and European officials say the sheer number of Iranian drones being used in the war in Ukraine shows that the flow of such weapons has not only continued but intensified after hostilities began.
Despite his remarks about trust, Raisi's tone toward the United States wasn't all conciliatory; he had harsh words at other moments.
Raisi said his country sought good relations with all neighboring countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
We believe that if the Americans stop interfering in the countries of the Persian Gulf and other regions in the world, and mind their own business the situation of the countries and their relations will improve, Raisi said.
The United Arab Emirates first sought to reengage diplomatically with Tehran after attacks on ships off their coasts that were attributed to Iran. Saudi Arabia, with Chinese mediation, reached a detente in March to re-establish diplomatic ties after years of tensions, including over the kingdoms war on Yemen, Riyadhs opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad and fears over Irans nuclear program.
Raisi warned other countries in the region not to get too close with U.S. ally Israel, saying: "The normalization of relations with the Zionist regime does not create security.
As a prosecutor, Raisi took part in the 1988 mass executions that killed some 5,000 dissidents in Iran.
The Iranian leader was dismissive of Western criticism of his country's treatment of women, its nuclear program and its crackdown on dissent, including over protests that began just over a year ago over the death in police custody last year of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman arrested for allegedly violating Irans mandatory headscarf law.
He compared the protests in Iran to labor strikes and demonstrations by ethnic minorities in the United States and Western Europe. He noted that many people are killed each year in the U.S. at the hands of police, and criticized the media for not focusing on those deaths as much as the treatment of demonstrators in his country. The deaths of Americans at the hands of police are widely covered in U.S. media.
Raisi has sought, without evidence, to portray the popular nationwide demonstrations in Iran as a Western plot.
The issue(s) of women, hijab, human rights and the nuclear issue," he said, are all pretexts by the Americans and Westerners to damage the Islamic republic as an independent country.
Meghan Markle's father Thomas Markle has sent a public message to his daughter, making a new plea over her children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Of Meghan, he said that she is "not the person I knew as a daughter". Meghan and Thomas Markle were once close, but their relationship soured after she married prince Harry in 2018 (TheEllenShow/YouTube, Good Morning Britain/YouTube)
"I'm heartbroken. I am very upset. This is a cruel thing to do to a grandparent - to deny the right to see a grandchild, Thomas said. "In California, I can actually sue to see them but I don't want to do that. The other thing is I've done nothing wrong. There's nothing that points to say I'm a bad guy. I'm a really loving father and she knows that, and there's no excuse for treating me this way - no excuse to treat grandparents that way."
Thomas went on to say that being able to see his grandchildren would give him peace. "I am always here for her, I still love her - I'll love her forever, he told ITV. "That will never change but I want her to reach out to me and let me see my grandkids and let me have a little peace. People go to prison for five years and they're forgiven - I didn't do anything. So forgive me I guess. I would always apologise for anything I've done wrong. I'm sorry if I have."
Back in April, Thomas had made another public plea for his estranged daughter to repair their relationship and forgive them. In an interview with Australian news programme 7News Spotlight, he said, How can I fix this? Thomas suffered a stroke last May, following which he said he was lucky to be alive.
Meghan and Thomas were once close, but their relationship soured after she married prince Harry in 2018. Thomas underwent a heart surgery shortly after, claiming his cardiac issues were caused by stress from the strained relationship with his daughter.
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US president Joe Biden said that he understood a focus on his age as he was running for re-election. The 80-year-old, America's oldest ever president, usually avoids the age issue but addressed it during a fundraiser at a Broadway theatre in New York. He said that his experience helped him deal with crises like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Covid pandemic. Joe Biden On Age Issue: US president Joe Biden (AFP)
A lot of people seem focused on my age. I get it believe me, I know it more than anyone. I'm running because democracy is at stake, because in 2024 democracy is on the ballot once again. And let there be no question: Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans are determined to destroy American democracy, Joe Biden said.
The US president said that he would not "bow down" to dictators, accusing Donald Trump of doing so to Russian president Vladimir Putin.
This comes as opinion polls showed that American voters have concerns about Joe Biden's age ahead of a likely rematch next year against Donald Trump, whom he beat in 2020 presidential elections.
Joe Biden is currently attending the UN General Assembly in New York this week. He would be 86 at the end of a second term and his Republican opponents relentlessly target the issue. On the other hand, Donald Trump- who is 77 and would be the oldest president ever elected if he wins next year- said in an interview that Joe Biden was "not too old" but was "incompetent".
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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
US President Joe Biden appealed to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to stand with Ukraine against Russian invaders, hoping Republicans in Congress will also take notice. US President Joe Biden addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at U.N. headquarters (Getty Images via AFP)
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said in his speech to UNGA. "If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
Biden's address at the annual gathering was the centerpiece event of his three-day visit to New York, which will include meetings with the heads of five Central Asian nations, and the leaders of Israel and Brazil.
Joe Biden, a Democrat, has made rallying US allies to support Ukraine a leading component of US foreign policy, arguing the world must send a clear signal to Russian President Vladimir Putin that he will not be able to outlast the West.
Biden has faced criticism from some Republicans who want the United States to spend less money on the war effort.
Former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, has vowed to seek a quick end to the war if returned to power.
Trump has voiced skepticism about Washington's engagement with traditional allies, including NATO, and has been complimentary of Putin.
House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the leading Republican in Washington, has questioned whether the United States should keep sending billions of dollars in weaponry to Ukraine.
In his speech, Biden argued that Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and occupation of territory violated the founding U.N. Charter, a main principle of which is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Biden echoed remarks of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who in his opening speech to UNGA on Tuesday said Russia's invasion "has unleashed a nexus of horror."
A Biden administration official said Biden and U.S. officials would also focus at the U.N. meetings on mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development and fighting climate change.
Solid majorities of Americans support providing weaponry to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia and believe that such aid demonstrates to China and other U.S. rivals a will to protect U.S. interests and allies, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey in June.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, due to speak at UNGA on Tuesday, was expected to visit Biden at the White House on Thursday and to meet some congressional leaders as well.
The United States is preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine to coincide with Zelenskiy's visit, and Congress has been asked to approve billions of dollars more in security assistance for the rest of the year.
"We have confidence that there will be bipartisan support for this. I think President Zelenskiy does as well," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.
After his speech, Biden was due to sit down with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss world hot spots.
Later, he will attend a summit with the presidents of five Central Asian nations, a first. They are Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
On Wednesday, Biden will meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and join him in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States.
Also on Wednesday, Biden will have his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Netanyahu regained power last December.
Sullivan said they would discuss a vision for a more stable and prosperous and integrated region, as well as to compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran.
North Korea said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un has returned home from a trip to Russia where he deepened a comradely fellowship and friendly ties with President Vladimir Putin. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un (L) shaking hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.(AFP)
The official Korean Central News Agency didnt give many specifics on the six-day trip that was Kims longest foreign travel since he took power in late 2011.
Kim visited several military sites in Russia and said in live comments last week that his country offered full and unconditional support to Putin. KCNA also said in an earlier report from his trip that Kim and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed expanding strategic and tactical coordination between the countries armed forces.
His comments and itinerary raised concerns about possible arms deals, in which North Korea could supply ammunition to refill Russias drained inventory in the second year of the war in Ukraine in return for receiving Russian technologies to modernize his nuclear weapons arsenals. U.S. and South Korean officials have warned that Russia and North Korea would face consequences if they go ahead with such weapons transfers deals in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
The new KCNA report said Kims train crossed a border river on Monday morning, but didn't say whether he headed to the capital, Pyongyang, or elsewhere inside the country. Before traveling to Russia, Kim made several visits to his munitions factories, triggering speculation that he intended to check on productions of arms to be shipped to Russia.
While traveling through Russia's far eastern region, Kim met Putin at Russia's most important space launch center before visiting military sites to see some of Russia's most advanced weapons systems such as nuclear-capable bombers, fighter jets and hypersonic missiles.
Many experts say Kim would seek to secure Russian help to acquire a sophisticated spy satellite, a nuclear-propelled submarine and powerful long-range missiles. But others say Kim would end up getting food and economic aid because Russia is reluctant to share its sensitive, high-tech weapons technologies with other countries.
Kim has been pushing hard to bolster his nuclear arsenal citing what he called intensifying U.S. military threats. Analysts say Kim would aim to use his enlarged arsenal to win greater concessions from the U.S. while boosting his military credentials at home in the face of economic hardships deepened over the COVID-19 pandemic.
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his statement on the possible involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar was not meant to escalate tensions with New Delhi. Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist. (AP)
We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, he said in Ottawa on Tuesday morning, according to public broadcaster CBC.
The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, Trudeau said, a day after his speech in the House of Commons that was followed by Ottawas expulsion of an Indian diplomat.
India described Trudeaus allegations as absurd and motivated, summoned Canadian envoy Cameron MacKay to the external affairs ministry and informed him of New Delhis decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat, the head of Canadian intelligence in India.
Also Read: Why expulsion of Indian diplomat from Canada is departure from norm
The decision reflects the Indian governments growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said later.
On Monday, Trudeau said that over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He added that he communicated Ottawas deep concern over the killing of Nijjar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in no uncertain terms when they met during a pull-aside on the margins of the G20 leaders summit.
Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves, Trudeau said on Monday.
The accusation was widely seen to further damage bilateral relations, which were already at an all-time low over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, including holding a so-called referendum on a separate homeland for Sikhs, targeting of Indian diplomatic premises, and incitement of violence against top Indian officials.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Anirudh Bhattacharyya Anirudh Bhattacharya is a Toronto-based commentator on North American issues, and an author. He has also worked as a journalist in New Delhi and New York spanning print, television and digital media. He tweets as @anirudhb. ...view detail
Prince William met with United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres in New York to discuss "efforts required to accelerate the fight against climate change and protect the environment," a UN spokesperson said. Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, shakes hands with United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres.(AFP)
"They also discussed efforts to enhance implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as financing for development," the spokesperson said as per news agency Reuters.
Prince William's visit to the 193-member world body comes as world leaders gathered for the annual high-level meeting of the UN General Assembly and Antonio Guterres is set to host a "no-nonsense" climate ambition summit this week. Leaders are also meeting at the United Nations on Monday and Tuesday on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Prince William is currently in New York for the Earthshot Prize Innovation summit where he will unveil this year's finalists for the award. He launched the initiative in 2020 with the aim to find solutions to major environmental problems. The trip is Prince William's first to New York since 2014. He visited Boston last December for the Earthshot Prize award ceremony. He then met US president Joe Biden.
"Eighty years ago, the world came together in this great city to find a new way, through the UN, to solve our shared challenges," Prince William said after arriving in New York. I know our generation can take the bold action we need to make changes towards a healthy and sustainable world, the royal said.
He will host business leaders, climate activists and policymakers, with those present including UN Special Climate Envoy Michael Bloomberg, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Russia is weaponizing everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine and he warned world leaders that the same could happen to them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy(AP)
When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there," he said at the U.N. General Assemblys annual top-level meeting. The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into weapons against you against the international rules-based order.
The war in Ukraine has deepened major global supply disruptions caused by the pandemic, driving a huge spike in food and energy prices, jolting the global economy and increasing hardship in many developing countries.
READ | Ukraine faces 'very high bar' to expel all Russians: US military official
Decades-old energy supply channels to Europe from Russia, a major oil and gas producer, were halted or severely disrupted by the war due to sanctions, trade disputes, pipeline shutoffs and a major push by Western countries to find alternative sources. Both Russia and Ukraine also are major grain exporters, and Russia withdrew this past summer from a deal that allowed shipments of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
Zelenskyy pointed to the food and fuel crunches, and he highlighted what Ukraine says were kidnappings of at least tens of thousands of children taken from Ukraine after Moscow's invasion: What will happen to them?
"Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine, and all ties with their families are broken. And this is clearly a genocide, Zelenskyy said in remarks that ran 15 minutes the meeting's often-disregarded time limit.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and another official, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine. Russian officials have denied any forced transfers of children, saying some Ukrainian youngsters are in foster care.
READ | Joe Biden urges world leaders to stand by Ukraine at UN General Assembly
Russia gets its chance to address the General Assembly on Saturday. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky sat in Russias seat during Zelenskyys address.
Did he speak? Polyansky said with a wry smile when an Associated Press reporter asked about his reaction to the address. I didnt notice he was speaking. I was on my phone.
Zelenskyy took to the world stage at a sensitive point in his countrys campaign to maintain international support for its fight. Nearly 19 months after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces are three months into a counteroffensive that has not gone as fast or as well as initially hoped.
READ | Canada's $24.5 million aid for Ukraine amid Russia war
Ukraine and its allies cast the countrys cause as a battle for the rule of international law, for the sovereignty of every country with a powerful and potentially expansionist neighbor, and for the stability of global food and energy supplies.
We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, U.S. President Joe Biden told the assembly Tuesday in his own speech. As he pledged support to Ukraine, there was a round of applause, including from Zelenskyy.
Russia insists its war is justified, claiming that it is defending Russian speakers in Ukraine from a hostile government and protecting Russian interests against NATO encroachment, and more.
The war has raged longer and losses have been greater than Russia hoped, and the fighting has spurred widespread international condemnation against Moscow.
But the Kremlin also has influential friends that havent joined the chorus of censure: China and India, for instance, have staked out neutral positions. So have many Middle Eastern and African nations. Many Latin American and Caribbean countries prefer to focus world attention on other global issues, including climate change and conflict in Africa.
Moscow is keen to display its global influence and its relationship with China and insists that it cannot be internationally isolated by the U.S. and its European allies.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is concerned that backing from its allies may be ebbing. They have supplied billions of dollars worth of arms but fear that their stockpiles are shrinking and that defense contractors are struggling to boost production lines.
Hours before Zelenskyy spoke at the U.N., allied defense leaders convened at a U.S. military base in Germany to discuss next steps. Some nations pledged further money and weapons. But a key sticking point is whether to supply longer-range missiles that Kyiv insists it needs.
The U.S. Congress is weighing Bidens request to provide as much as $24 billion more in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, amid a growing partisan divide over spending on the conflict. Zelenskyy is scheduled to spend time Thursday on Capitol Hill and to meet with Biden at the White House.
After landing Monday in New York, Zelenskyy suggested that the U.N. needs to answer for allowing his country's invader a seat at the tables of power.
If there is still a place for Russian terrorists in the United Nations, "its a question to all the members of the United Nations, Zelenskyy said after visiting wounded Ukrainian service members at Staten Island University Hospital.
Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, which is entrusted with maintaining international peace and security.
Zelenskyy took the United Nations to task even before the war. In one memorable example, he lamented at the General Assembly in 2021 that the U.N. was a retired superhero who's long forgotten how great they once were."
A former comedian and actor who took office in 2019, Zelenskyy later became a wartime leader, wearing military fatigues, rallying citizens at home and appearing virtually and in person before numerous international bodies.
At the Staten Island hospital, he awarded medals to military members who had lost limbs. With help from a New Jersey-based charity called Kind Deeds, 18 troops have been fitted for prostheses and are undergoing outpatient physical therapy, hospital leaders said.
We all will be waiting for you back home, Zelenskyy told those he met. We absolutely need every one of you.
Former US president Donald Trump plans to give a speech in Detroit on September 27 to a crowd of union workers as he will miss out the second Republican presidential debate, an aide said as per news agency Reuters. The speech is expected to be delivered to auto workers and other blue collar union members, the aide added. Donald Trump has been harshly critical of US president Joe Biden's electric vehicle policies. The former US president said recently that Joe Biden is "waging war" on the auto industry through electric vehicle mandates. Republican presidential candidate and former US president Donald Trump speaks.(Reuters)
With this, the former US president will skip the Republican primary presidential debate for the second time as he leads his nearest rival by nearly 50 percentage points, according to the most recent opinion polls. Donald Trump skipped the first Republican presidential debate in Wisconsin last month. The second debate is being held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute in Simi Valley, California.
The speech to union members will be part of an intense campaign by Donald Trump to win back some of the working class voters who defected to Joe Biden in 2020. This comes as the United Auto Workers union began a strike last week against the three biggest US auto manufacturers over pay and other benefits, a major political challenge to Joe Biden who has touted his support of unions for decades.
The strike also has geographical resonance for next year's US presidential elections because many of the affected workers are based in three key Midwestern battleground states - Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
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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
Authorities found a debris field from a Marine Corps F-35 fighter jet that crashed in South Carolina after the pilot ejected safely. The debris field was located in rural Williamsburg County, Marine Corps Joint Base Charleston said. The field is about two hours northeast of the base. Based on the missing plane's location and trajectory, the search was focused on Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion while a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division helicopter joined the search after some bad weather cleared in the area. US military officials also appealed in online posts for any help from the public in locating the aircraft. The missing of the fighter jet prompted an unusual call to the public to help locate the missing multimillion-dollar plane.(AFP)
Authorities had been searching for the jet since the pilot parachuted to safety into North Charleston neighborhood. He was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition, Marines Maj. Melanie Salinas said. The Marine Corps paused its operations for two days after the fighter jet's crash, General Eric Smith, the acting commandant of the Marine Corps, said. During the stand-down safe flying policies, practices and procedures will be reinforced, he said.
This marks the third event documented as a Class-A mishap" over the past six weeks, according to a Marine Corps announcement- incidents when damages reach $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone dies or is permanently disabled.
In August, three US Marines were killed in the crash of a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft during a training exercise in Australia and a Marine Corps pilot was killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
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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
Sikhs For Justice, a Khalistani separatist group operating from Canada, has called for peaceful protests with threat to shut down Indian consulate offices in Canada next week over Hardeep Singh Nijjar's alleged murder. Nijjar, president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, was allegedly shot dead on June 18 at the Surrey temples parking lot after evening prayers. A photograph of Hardeep Singh Nijjar on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia. (AP)(HT_PRINT)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed on Monday, September 18, that authorities had obtained credible intelligence agents of the government of India were behind the murder. Indias Ministry of External Affairs has strongly denied the claims and retaliated by sacking Canadian dimplomat.
According to report by Global news protests are set to take place outside Indian consulates in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver next week. We will not allow the Indian consulates to function and were going to push the Canadian government to name the individuals who are responsible for assassinating and giving the orders to hit Nijjar, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal counsel for Sikhs for Justice was quoted by Global News.
India said in a statement that it rejects any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments, calling itself a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. The Ministry of External Affairs wrote, We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
Sikhs for Justice, which is known for organising referendum votes on Khalistan around the world, is seeking the expulsion of Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma. Calling the alleged murder an attack against Sikhs and also on Canadian sovereignty.
Harkireet Kaur, a member of the North American Sikh Association, said Hardeep was like a father at the Gurdwara.
People are livid right now. This is a news story that obviously has shaken the whole country. Its also a news story that has shaken the community to a certain extent, said Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member with the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
Hardeeps murder is being investigated by the RCMP. No arrests have been made yet. However, investigators are on the lookout for three suspects. A suspect vehicle believed to be the getaway car has reportedly already been identified.
Press Release
September 19, 2023 Pia asserts the right of women under the Civil Code to use their maiden name in their passport
Transcript of the manifestation and proposed amendment of Senator Pia S. Cayetano on the New Passport Act Thank you. Mr President, I just want to put on record that I was listed to make my amendments since last week and even in the agenda yesterday, my name was there. I am mentioning it only, Mr President, because I am not asking for any special favors. My name was listed, and it has been a practice in the Senate that if you are listed, you will be given the chance to take the floor and make your interpellation or your amendments. And so it was a great surprise to me that while I was on official business - my letter informing the Senate that I was attending a conference on futures thinking in Kuala Lumpur, has been submitted - a bill that I had a very simple amendment [to], proceeded without me being told and was actually closed. So yun lang naman po, I am a team player, nakikisama ako, but I also like to follow the rules. And I feel it is incumbent upon the sponsor to also let us know if there's a reason that I will not be able to make my amendment. Because I would have very happily submitted my amendments to keep it simple. On that note, your honor, I also owe this to the Minority Floor Leader because he was the one who brought up that issue. And I recall having a discussion also in the presence of the Deputy Minority Floor Leader because it is an issue that affects women and the use of the maiden name. So I assured the Minority Floor Leader that ako na ang bahala, yung napansin mong issue, I will take care of it. Tapos sabi pa niya sa akin, 'oh ikaw na ha? Hindi ko na yan iintindihin.' Sabi ko, 'ako na. Handa ako to make my amendment.' So yun lang naman po to put it on record. Because I do not want this to happen to anyone else. I was gone for one day. So, I'd like to proceed now, given that... * But that timeline includes my right to make my amendment, and with Viber and Whatsapp, I am a call away. So, nakakagulat lang. Again, I have been in the Senate for almost 20 years, I have always tried to act with courtesy, with respect. And to me, it's basic courtesy na somebody's name is there for how many days, hindi naman ako nakaabala, hindi naman ako nag-request na i-postpone para sa akin. Basic courtesy po na bigyan po ako ng opportunity na gawin ang amendment ko, na tawagin niyo ako kung gusto kong i-submit at ibigay sa inyo. So, when you say na sumusunod lang, sana kasama doon sa sinusunod niyong rules yung courtesy rin sa gustong mag-amend na mabigay din ng amendments. So yun lang. I am ready to proceed, your honor. * So my amendment, your honor, has to do with...and by the way, if I may just? Hindi na rin ako nag-interpellate, because to save the sponsor time, I will just make my explanation during the time of amendments. Kaya again, medyo bothersome lang na hindi ko na nga magawa yun kung hindi pa tayo nag-reopen ngayon. So ngayon, gagawin ko na yung gusto kong gawin, which is to explain why the existing provision in the bill is inconsistent with the Civil Code provision and the policy that a woman may use her maiden name. So ako po, ang pangalan ko is Pilar Juliana S. Cayetano. Hiwalay po ako, pero kahit na hindi ako hiwalay, kahit na nung kasal ako, I always used Cayetano. The Civil Code, our laws of the land recognize that. Okay? Now, in the Passport Law, may provisions diyan which somehow impair that right, and then in the existing bill that we are tackling, nalilimitahan din ang paggamit ng maiden name ng isang babae. So gusto ko itong i-rectify. Yun lang naman ang purpose ko. Gusto kong magbigay ng amendment kung saan we will be consistent with the Civil Code that allows a woman to use their maiden name. As a background, to also keep it simple, after the sponsor, I believe, was informed of the specific concern I had, some of the resource persons, including, specifically DFA, came over to discuss with my staff on their concern that kapag pinayagan daw natin na ang isang babae na gumagamit ng married name ay baguhin yun at ibalik niya sa kanyang maiden name, so from married name, ibabalik niya sa maiden name niya, baka daw mahirapan sila kapag may mga hold departure order. Eh sabi ko naman, pareho lang naman yung speech ni Senate President two weeks ago na kung gusto mo sugpuin ang trafficking, hindi naman pwedeng ang solusyon mo ay ipagbawal lahat, para mo nang pinagbawal lahat na bumyahe, di ba? To use their maiden name is a right. So, we can work with language that will ensure that hindi naman whimsical, hindi naman capricious, hindi naman yung ngayon, married name, next month, balik ako sa maiden name. Next year, balik na naman. Hindi naman ho ganun. So to make this whole discourse simpler, I believe the Office of the Senate President, along with the sponsor, made some changes to the language I proposed, and I am okay with it. And with the sponsor's permission, I'll just read it to the record. So, on Page 10, delete Lines 10-16, and replace with: "Letter F. For a woman who wishes to revert to the use of her maiden name, a duly authenticated birth certificate by the PSA, Provided that she can only revert to her maiden name once, and all her other existing identification cards and pertinent documents shall likewise reflect her maiden name." We submit. [Accepted] Thank you. And just to reiterate, your honors, ang objective natin is to support ang request ng ating agencies na hindi sila mahirapan na iba-ibang pangalan, iba-ibang ID, hindi naman yun ang gusto natin, we are just securing the right of a woman to use her maiden name. Thank you very much to the sponsor. Thank you, Mr President. * I am not saying that... I am not yet stating that I am not yet amenable. But the main reason for my amendment is precisely, you do not need these events to happen for you to retain your maiden name. These are not required. So my concern is, we may be creating a situation na parang we are amending the Civil Code. And that is how statutory construction works. Because under the rules of statutory construction, they give way to a special law. So when you introduce these facts of life, yung may divorce siya, you are saying that that's when she can change her name, I am saying that the general rule is, you can change your name. You do not need for these things to happen. Not to mention, what brought this whole discussion up was the Minority Floor Leader's question on, kapag legally separated ba, can you change your name? Napaisip din ako nun, no because you are still married. But wait, the general rule is, you can. You can use your maiden name. Pero si legal separation is not in the same line as all of these. Kasi in all of these situations mentioned, wala na siyang asawa. Pero si legal separation, may asawa pa siya. So iba pa ngang animal ang legal separation. So, I need a moment to figure out... * It's not a problem for me, I've always used my maiden name. * That's why I said I need time to look at it because that's obviously a valid situation. * FINAL WORDING OF SEN. PIA CAYETANO'S AMENDMENT Mr President, upon conferring with the sponsor, I would like to withdraw my previous amendment, if we could act on that first, and then make a new amendment. So I move to withdraw my first amendment. Thank you. And instead propose the following: "On the same page, Line 10, insert a new Subsection F: "For a woman who wishes to revert to the use of her maiden name, a duly authenticated birth certificate by the PSA, Provided that she can only revert to her maiden name once and all her other existing identification cards and pertinent documents shall likewise reflect her maiden name." We submit. [Accepted] * And just to ask that the subsequent letters be lettered accordingly to reflect the change. * So, maybe let's explain it so it's on record also. Upon conferring as I said with the sponsor and the resource person, we agree to retain the original F to reflect that these would be common reasons that women would be reverting. But the provision that this representation inserted would really be the general rule, recognizing the Civil Code provision that a woman may use their maiden name. * It will be the first Letter F and this existing Letter F will become a G. * It is. But may I just... If her honor would recall, I said give me a few minutes to really think of the effects of this provision. I'll tell you now, it takes time. I am not a magician. I cannot think of all the possible scenarios. But I just realized now, again if the general rule is a woman can revert to her [maiden] name anytime, consistent with the Civil Code... If my marriage would be annulled, there is a declaration of nullity, legal separation, lahat ito impose pa nga another requirement. When I could just rely on the first paragraph and present my birth certificate. So, I don't know if the future law students will see this as redundant or unnecessary? * There might actually be a better way of saying that din? Kasi nga, I mean, I submit to her sponsor. If this was not being rushed, I think we can improve on it further. But I submit to her sponsor if there will be a bicam. You may request DFA to help you word it better because I think we can afford better wording. I submit na lang po.
Veronika Szabo has been appointed the director of marketing at One&Only Resorts Dubai. Prior to this, she was the director of PR and marketing at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island.
Szabo has spent the past 12 years with Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts across Europe and the Middle East. She started her journey in Budapest working as account director for public relations firm, Porter Novelli then moving as managing director at LEWIS PR.
Szabo then took on the role of associate director of PR and communication at Four Seasons Hotel Gresham Palace.
In 2014, she moved to Bahrain, working as pre-opening director of public relations and marketing communications at Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay and took over as the director of PR and marketing at Four Seasons Hotel Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island in 2019.
For the past 20 years, Szabo has been helping businesses stand out from the clutter through brand storytelling, strategic social media content management, and digital marketing. Her corporate communications expertise expands into FMCG, information technology, hospitality, and destination marketing.
In her new role, Szabo will take charge of the marketing for One&Only Royal Mirage, overseeing the property's 438 rooms and suites, 17 restaurants, lounges and the expansive spa with 15 treatment rooms.
Fairmont Dallas is thrilled to welcome Rajiv Jha as the newly appointed Director of Food & Beverage. Reporting to the Hotel Operations Director, he will oversee all Food & Beverage operations at Fairmont Dallas, the iconic Dallas Arts District hotel.
Jha most recently worked as Food & Beverage General Manager at Fairmont Grand Del Mar. Prior to that he served as the F&B Outlets Manager at Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii and Fairmont Dubai. With international experience in United Arab Emirates, India, and East Africa; Jha brings over 16 years of hotel and food and beverage leadership experience to his new position.
Aleisha Smith, an Project Manager with the HVS Phoenix office, graduated with a certificate in Real Estate Development from Portland State Universitys Master of Real Estate Development (MRED) program in 2017. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture & Construction Project Management. Prior to joining HVS, Aleisha worked as a real estate/financial analyst at Holland Partner Group, specializing in acquisition, disposition, and development of multi-family high-rise projects. Aleisha is continuously involved in her community, most recently sitting on the Urban Land Institutes Womens Leadership Initiative Committee. Aleishas experience in sustainable building ranges from consulting independently abroad in Malaysia, Singapore, and Peru, to LEED consulting and nonprofit education with the U.S. Green Building Council.
Lynn Zwibak is the Founder and President of Zwibak Revenue Management, which provides revenue management training to non-revenue managers. Her mission is to educate the hotel industry on revenue management principles so that hotels can be more profitable. She is the author of the Study Guide and Exam for HSMAIs Certified Revenue Management Analysist designation, a professor of Revenue Management at Virginia Tech University, and a member of the Kennedy Training Network.
On Monday, 11th September, European hospitality leaders from different HSMAI Europe Advisory Boards discussed the opportunities to accelerate AI knowledge and integration to empower hotel professionals and enhance the guest experience. Finding the balance between man and machine the AI sweet spot is crucial to future-proofing the hotel sector, leveraging technology to empower talent and guests, while retaining the heart of hospitality. That was the consensus of more than 40 senior hospitality leaders across the Europe region, representing different HSMAI Europe Advisory Boards, who gathered last week for a special online joint session to discuss Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Impact it has on the Hospitality Industry. This collaborative meeting was designed to break down the silos between various advisory boards /disciplines, fostering a cohesive and synergistic approach to our discussions.
With AI advancements accelerating and generative AI, more specifically, ChatGPT, becoming more widely used globally with 100 million users reported by the application in February guest expectations are changing. Yet current and potential staff are not necessarily up-to-speed on AIs potential to support their roles, leading to reticence to adopt, the advisory board noted.
As hospitality companies take on the challenge to keep pace or even catch up with AI education and implementation, it highlights the need for cross-department collaboration and communication to identify common problems and solutions and drive efficiencies. However, departments within hotel organisations still tend to work on AI strategies as a unit, rather than take an over-arching strategic approach, industry leaders acknowledged. For this reason, the HSMAI Europe Advisory Board meeting took a pan-industry approach, grouping together industry professionals from different disciplines and companies in breakout sessions to encourage knowledge sharing and brainstorming.
Encompassing leaders across sales, marketing, revenue management, human resources, and general managers, as well as high-profile hospitality education institutions, third-party hotel management firms, and vendors representing AI solutions, talent acquisition and training, and more, the session sought to break down silos between departments and to identify a clear path forward for the common good.
Here are the key takeaways from this high-level discussion:
Early adopters revenue management takes the lead
The debate kicked off with board members outlining AI success stories, with revenue management already benefitting from AI, gathering complex data to drive the right pricing decisions at the right time to the right customer .
Not always identified as AI, machine learning is responsible for complex mathematical models that are not humanly possible", for example, analysing length-of-stay trends that in a year, amount to more than 16 million customer decisions. A revenue manager cant make those decisions in the same amount of time that AI can, said one revenue management leader who highlighted its wide-ranging use to analyse historical trends, provide greater price transparency across multiple distribution channels and more.
While resource and time efficient, the skills required to input, understand and analyse data and act on it, remain wholly human, and this was the sessions overriding theme using AI to conduct the mundane, so hospitality professionals can fulfil their roles, which in essence is to give guests a good time.
With revenue management taking the AI lead, the next step is to look at how that knowledge and data can be shared with and assist other departments, translating forecasting systems to operations, for example.
Quick wins talent acquisition and communications
With the hospitality industry still recovering from the talent crisis resulting from the pandemic, HR professionals revealed generative AI was a handy tool to create job descriptions, which could then be refined.
Using ChatGPT with several prompts helps me get across the first hurdle, saving me time, said one talent acquisition leader, while another said she had used AI to field CVs and even remove gender-specific language from internal HR-related forms.
AI could also be used for instruction-based training for onboarding new candidates, as well as real-time assistance supporting hotel staff with simple guest communications and complaints as a first touchpoint, alleviating frustration until guests are engaged in person.
Generative AI can be used to synthesise data such as guest feedback, so the general manager can drive a better guest experience, said one advisory board member.
Other quick AI wins for hospitality suggested in the discussion included analysing guest reviews and guest behaviour; basic content generation, including room descriptions; internal communications; and predictive personalisation or the Netflix model using AI algorithms to automate a personalised user experience on the hotel website to drive higher conversion rates.
AI for operational efficiencies is already being widely used, with smart devices being rolled out to measure energy consumption, cited as one example.
Barriers to progress and adoption, and the need for education
Misconceptions about AI and its potential in the hospitality sector was identified as a key challenge, with leaders acknowledging they needed to become more familiar with the technology before they could empower others to use it.
Assuring staff it was a tool to support them, not replace them, was another challenge, highlighting the need to plough more investment and resources into training.
Surprisingly, although Generation Z has been shaped by the digital age, students currently attending hospitality schools are not too keen on the tech element of the industry , said one board member from a leading institution.
They love the heart of hospitality and its warm feeling, which is why they chose this profession they are not actually too keen on the tech side.
She said many subjects, particularly revenue management, now integrated AI into the curriculum, however, the real challenge was to promote hospitality as a career to AI-savvy students.
It needs to come across that we are selecting students in this domain because its important for the future of our sector.
Many board members noted the disconnect between head office and hotels, with corporate AI strategies in place at that did not feed down to individual properties.
Similarly, departments within hospitality firms said they were in the AI test-and -earn phase, working primarily in silos, rather than collaborating.
Trust issues were another concern, not only from a data protection perspective, but on a human level.
No one wants a thank you email from a robot, when they can tell its a robot, said one board member. In hospitality, sometimes it just needs to be human.
However, one vendor pointed out that the better prompts you give AI, the better the quality, with generative AI already sophisticated enough to replicate tone of voice.
Another board member referred to a video shared by customer centricity expert Steven Van Bellegham, which stressed the new generation of chatbots were more conversational, and some were proven to show better empathy and compassion that humans, which is a true force for disruption.
Just because we are human, it doesnt mean we are good at being human, said Steven, although you would hope those working in hospitality would be!
And the next steps
Advisory board members put forward several next steps for hospitality professionals to consider individually and collectively.
Lets start with the basics, said one, educating ourselves in AI and then educating others a top-down approach .
On the flipside, a reverse-mentoring option was put forward, bringing students on board to inform corporate strategy towards AI innovation what future guests and talent expect in terms of AI experiences and training.
Education and changing misconceptions was a strong theme, with one supplier emphasising the importance of helping hospitality professionals become familiar with AI.
We should be democratising this technology, making it available to everyone and explaining how it obliterates mundane tasks .
Practicing what he preaches, his company provides a free generative AI solution to create rate plan descriptions, which can also be rolled out for room descriptions and copy for booking engines.
If you are not happy with the final result, its still a base to work on, and with generative AI, this is where we see the most time saving and productivity. It helps with creativity, because thats not always a strength of revenue managers, for example.
In a similar vein, all board members agreed AI should remove repetitive tasks, but not the heart of hospitality. It should empower hotel professionals to free up their minds and foster creativity, giving them more time to focus on the skills that technology cannot replicate.
Rather than build large AI teams another silo in effect hotel firms should collaborate with third-party AI specialists and providers to drive innovation, however, they should educate themselves first so they know what questions to ask those suppliers.
When it comes to AI, we need to get our hands dirty, rather than put all of our trust in the vendors, stressed one industry veteran. Its now about integrating AI into our company and industry culture.
And finally, it was agreed AI should make life easier for customers and employees, freeing up time for that all-important human interaction.
The session identified the opportunity for hospitality to better understand, adopt, and be at the forefront of AI innovation, enriching the guest and talent experience to safeguard the industrys future prosperity.
As Steven Van Bellegham said: Leverage the strengths of your people and leverage your digital tools then you win the heart and the business of your customers.
HSMAI Europe will follow up these discussion with a local event, starting with London on Wednesday evening, 25th October 2023.
Furthermore, this will be taken even further at HSMAI ROC Europe in London on Thursday, 18th January 2024.
About HSMAI Europe
HSMAI Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International is a global organization founded in the US in 1927. HSMAI Region Europe is the European arm of the organisation. HSMAI Europe aims to be a key influencer, pioneer and the go-to industry resource for professional development, commercial strategies and sustainability in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry. For more information about HSMAI Europe, click here.
Dubai, UAE - Leading global real estate consultancy firm, Knight Frank, reports an exciting outlook for the United Arab Emirates' dynamic hospitality sector, characterised by an additional 9,200 rooms expected by the end of 2023. According to Knight Frank's latest analysis, by the end of 2023, approximately 154,000 rooms will be operating in Dubai's hospitality sector, marking a substantial 6.4% increase from the year, 2022.
The UAEs hotel inventory continues to expand, helping to support citys such as Dubai, which has emerged not only as the worlds most popular destination for two years running according to Trip Advisor, but the emirate has also earned the accolade of having the worlds highest occupancy levels during the first half of 2023 at 78%. Faisal Durrani, Partner Head of Research, MENA
Leading industry giants are driving this growth, with Accor securing the top spot, offers 71,820 existing rooms and has 49,510 more in the pipeline expected for completion by 2030. Following closely are Marriott International, with 63,790 existing rooms and 52,790 planned; IHG Hotels & Resorts, with 35,140 current rooms and 22,120 in development; Hilton Worldwide, with 33,450 rooms and 39,860 upcoming; Radisson Hotels, offering 22,830 rooms and planning an additional 11,651; and Rotana Hotels, with 16,976 rooms and 10,807 in development.
Dubai continues to dominate the UAE's hospitality landscape, with 70% of the country's upcoming supply concentrated in the city. In H1 2023, Dubai welcomed 8.6 million tourists, marking a significant 20% increase from 2022. This surge underscores Dubai's enduring appeal as a global tourist hotspot. Internationally branded hotels constitute a 67% of Dubai's existing supply, highlighting the city's global appeal. A substantial 70% of the under-construction and final planning supply in Dubai belongs to the luxury and upper upscale hotel segments, catering to discerning travellers. Turab Saleem, Partner, Head of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Advisory
With an existing supply of 207,200 hotel rooms, an additional 24,500 rooms in various stages of development, further solidifying its global leadership in the hospitality sector.
According to STR data cited by Knight Frank, the Dubai market as a whole recorded a 0.8% increase in RevPAR compared to July 2022, driven by a 6.8% increase in occupancy but held back from further growth by a 5.6% decrease in ADR.
Category data from HOTSTATS for July 2023 showed most segments recorded minor ADR declines apart from luxury city centre hotels around Downtown, Business Bay, and SZR which recorded a 2% increase. Luxury beach resorts recorded a similar increase in occupancy as other segments but with a larger ADR decrease of 13%.
About Knight Frank LLP
Knight Frank LLP is the leading independent global property consultancy, serving as our clients' partners in property for 125 years. Headquartered in London, Knight Frank has more than 20,000 people operating from 488 offices across 57 territories. The Group advises clients ranging from individual owners and buyers to major developers, investors and corporate tenants. For further information about the Firm, please visit knightfrank.com.
Roksar Kamal
Senior Content Writer & Press Manager
Knight Frank
Brussels, Belgium -
Travel Foundation calls for travel sector leaders to collaborate with action at scale, to cut carbon emissions and ensure a fair deal for destinations building resilience to climate risk.
As part of its 20 th anniversary celebrations, the global NGO brought leaders together at its new Brussels location to find new and innovative ways of working together.
anniversary celebrations, the global NGO brought leaders together at its new Brussels location to find new and innovative ways of working together. New partnerships and initiatives were also announced, including with Mastercard, Expedia and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
On reaching its significant twenty-year milestone, the Travel Foundation set down its challenge for the sector: move beyond planning, take action at scale, and work together pre-competitively to ensure your trailblazing efforts have a transformational impact on the wider industry.
At its anniversary celebrations being held in Brussels this week, the Travel Foundation has brought together senior-level guests from across the globe to explore future collaboration in two key areas: ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) reporting and climate action. The Travel Foundations CEO Jeremy Sampson emphasised the urgency for collective action. Twenty years ago we were born from collaboration by the UK travel industry. Since then we have gone from strength to strength to become a truly global and independent organisation. We now need impact at scale nothing less is good enough. So I call on the next generation of industry leaders to step forward and step up you know that doing good work in silos wont cut it. The system will only change, as it must, with collective action.
The Travel Foundation then went on to make a series of significant announcements that strengthen its role in catalysing collective action, with more announcements to come:
Establishing an office in Brussels , hosted by VisitFlanders which already provides a hub for the European Travel Commission (ETC), the European Travel Association (ETOA) and NECSTouR (Network of European Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism). The European office, situated at the heart of the EU, will bring opportunities for funding, growth and partnership. The UK office will be retained, and the Travel Foundation is also exploring options for a US office.
, hosted by VisitFlanders which already provides a hub for the European Travel Commission (ETC), the European Travel Association (ETOA) and NECSTouR (Network of European Regions for Competitive and Sustainable Tourism). The European office, situated at the heart of the EU, will bring opportunities for funding, growth and partnership. The UK office will be retained, and the Travel Foundation is also exploring options for a US office. A formal agreement signed between the Travel Foundation and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) which, in a historic first, involves both tourism and environment officials across the 11 Caribbean nations on the frontline of climate change. Representing the OECS Director General, Mr. Desmond Simon, Charge d'Affaires at the Embassies of the Eastern Caribbean States in Brussels, said The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States has identified the Travel Foundation as a key collaborator in driving Climate Action in Tourism in our region. We are extremely pleased to be entering into this new partnership with the Travel Foundation to draw upon their expertise to support our Member States and positively impact the region. Through rich engagement and a pragmatic approach, we hope this relationship will be mutually beneficial, building on prior work and sharing lessons learned as we innovate and adapt to climate change and futureproof the OECS Tourism economy.
(OECS) which, in a historic first, involves both tourism and environment officials across the 11 Caribbean nations on the frontline of climate change. Representing the OECS Director General, Mr. Desmond Simon, Charge d'Affaires at the Embassies of the Eastern Caribbean States in Brussels, said Renewed support from Expedia Group . The partnership will soon launch a free climate champions training resource for destination marketing and management organisations (DMOs), available through Expedias online learning platform. Expedias VP for Global Social Impact and Sustainability, Aditi Mohapatra, said Expedia Group is proud to be partnering with the Travel Foundation to launch an innovative capacity building program on climate and sustainability for destinations around the world. Together we can create a more resilient and prosperous travel industry for generations to come. Expedia is also backing the Travel Foundation, with NGO partners CREST, Tourism Cares and Cuidadores de Destinos, to develop an industry white paper exploring what Climate Justice means for the travel industry, led by the University of Waterloo. Expedia has also recently gifted further funds to the Travel Foundation to support its charitable goals.
. The partnership will soon launch a free climate champions training resource for destination marketing and management organisations (DMOs), available through Expedias online learning platform. Expedias VP for Global Social Impact and Sustainability, Aditi Mohapatra, said Expedia is also backing the Travel Foundation, with NGO partners CREST, Tourism Cares and Cuidadores de Destinos, to develop an industry white paper exploring what Climate Justice means for the travel industry, led by the University of Waterloo. Expedia has also recently gifted further funds to the Travel Foundation to support its charitable goals. New partnerships that will bring data, knowhow and inspiration to disrupt and accelerate change, particularly through digital technology, which underpins todays tourism model. Edinburgh Futures Institute and TravelTech Scotland will collaborate with the Travel Foundation to develop, among other things, traveltech testbeds in destinations which will provide real-world examples of data-led tech solutions. And a three-year membership agreement with Mastercards Tourism Innovation Hub will enable closer cooperation on joint initiatives. Quim Martinez, Global Tourism Innovation Hub lead, said we will explore how to support the Travel Foundation with Mastercard data insights and our technology capabilities, and bring the Travel Foundations sustainable tourism expertise and connections to our existing and expanding ecosystem of initiatives across the globe. Bringing together experts and leaders, we can create solutions that can define the future of travel. Scientists at BehaviorSMART will also work with experts at the Travel Foundation to provide businesses and destinations with behaviour-change solutions, combining knowledge of tourism, sustainability and behaviour economics.
and will collaborate with the Travel Foundation to develop, among other things, traveltech testbeds in destinations which will provide real-world examples of data-led tech solutions. And a three-year membership agreement with will enable closer cooperation on joint initiatives. Quim Martinez, Global Tourism Innovation Hub lead, said Scientists at will also work with experts at the Travel Foundation to provide businesses and destinations with behaviour-change solutions, combining knowledge of tourism, sustainability and behaviour economics. Closer alignment with the Sustainability Hospitality Alliance , with its members and partners representing 50,000 hotels globally, to identify opportunities that bring the accommodation sector and other tourism stakeholders together to deliver greater positive impact in destinations.
, with its members and partners representing 50,000 hotels globally, to identify opportunities that bring the accommodation sector and other tourism stakeholders together to deliver greater positive impact in destinations. And Holiday Extras, one of the Travel Foundations longest standing and closest supporters, renewed its commitment to the cause. To date they have raised and donated more than 350,000 for the charity, and announced at the anniversary celebrations a commitment to raise an additional 500,000.
Jeremy Sampson closed the event with a toast: The Travel Foundation is here because you are here - a community of trailblazers, forward thinkers and those ready to take the leap. Heres to the next twenty years, together.
The Travel Foundation is grateful for the generosity of The Travel Corporation, VisitFlanders and Holiday Extras for sponsorship and in-kind support for the event.
About the Travel Foundation
The Travel Foundation is a leading global NGO that works in partnership with governments, businesses, and communities to develop and manage tourism in a way that maximizes the benefits for communities and the environment. Founded in 2003, it has since worked in over 30 countries around the world.
www.thetravelfoundation.org.uk
Ben Lyman
The Travel Foundation
Bethesda, MD - DayBlink GPO is excited to announce the strategic partnership with ROOMDEX, naming the hotel technology innovator a preferred provider of automated upselling solutions. This collaboration enables the delivery of automation solutions that will significantly enhance the guest experience and revenue potential for hotels worldwide. Hotels now can gain access to a range of enhanced features and benefits, ultimately driving higher profitability and improved guest loyalty.
ROOMDEX is the hotel industrys sole provider of data-proven ABS (Attribute-based Selling) for upselling. Automated upselling using ABS means selling or awarding individual, immutable room features such a balcony, a view, a room on a high floor, etc. ROOMDEX ABS can automatically price individual room attributes based on demand, availability, persona, and other attribute pairings. With ABS, guests choose the room features they want for a more personalized experience.
Independent luxury hotels can leverage technology to offer personalized upsell offers to their guests or fulfill upgrades to their VIP guests, creating an unparalleled level of tailored service. ROOMDEX hotels that have switched to ABS Upselling have seen a 21% increase in YoY upselling revenue.
As DayBlink GPO continues to curate a holistic platform of luxury-aligned service providers, our team is excited to roll out a new category of dynamic upsells to our consortium of 5-star luxury hoteliers worldwide.
Independent luxury hotels are notable for their distinctive and unique room features, said Michael Wong, Founder & CEO at DayBlink GPO. When reviewing the ROOMDEX platform, it was clear that ABS provides a merchandising vehicle to elevate and generate value from the assets in which hotels have invested so much. Plus, the shopping interface provides luxury guests a new way to personalize their stay in a meaningful way.
We are excited to be collaborating with DayBlink GPO on this offering, said Jos Schaap, CEO & Founder of ROOMDEX. The luxury guest wants a guaranteed and unique experience delivered as soon as possible. With ROOMDEX Automation tools, hotels can now provide this level of service even prior to arrival.
About ROOMDEX
ROOMDEX is the technology leader in the hotel upselling software space. Its hotel upsell software automates, monetizes and ultimately simplifies the hotel room upgrade process by putting the power of choice in the hotel guests hands.
ROOMDEX Upsell Automation uses hotel reservation, guest data and its proprietary True AvailabilityTM and Dynamic Pricing algorithms to deliver personalized digital offers, greatly enhancing the guest experience. The hotel upsell tool relieves hoteliers of the labor time required by other upselling solutions while delivering high margin revenue and a substantial ROI.
ROOMDEX is now the exclusive provider of ABS Upselling. Attribute-based selling re-imagines hotel inventory merchandising, delivering a unique and improved guest satisfaction and increased hotel revenue.
ROOMDEX leverages hotel operational and software experience gained by our team members while in leadership roles at companies such as MICROS (now Oracle Hospitality), Nor1, Duetto, StayNTouch and Shiji to develop our innovations in hotel automation, dynamic pricing, operational availability, and attribute-based selling. Since founding in spring of 2020, ROOMDEX has signed hundreds of hotels across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Twitter: @ROOMDEX
Facebook: facebook.com/roomdexinc
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/roomdex
Youtube: click here
About DayBlink GPO
DayBlink GPO is a strategic sourcing provider for independently owned and operated luxury hotels in the hospitality sector. DayBlink GPO combines years of expertise to help members improve their bottom line and performance efficiency. As an ambassador on behalf of hoteliers, DayBlink GPO negotiates superior agreements with multinational companies across major hotel spend categories by leveraging billions of dollars in member purchasing power. These deals bring instant value, create cost savings, and deliver efficiencies at little to no added effort for our members. For more information, visit https://dayblinkgpo.com/
Facebook: facebook.com/dayblinkgpo
Instagram: @DayBlinkGPO
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dayblinkgpo/
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) is pleased to announce its new European event: Digital Horizons 360 Symposium (DH360). This invitation-only symposium will span over two-days, February 20-21, at the Palau de Congressos de Palma in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. DH360 is a non-sales event for hospitality leaders to participate in roundtable discussions on the technologies set to have the biggest industry impact in Europe. Co-located with DH360 will be HFTPs Entrepreneur 20X start-up hospitality technology pitch competition, the first of three in 2024.
Created in response to a growing interest in an event of this kind, a goal for DH360 is to establish an EU hospitality technology thought leadership community. The program will elevate the relevant discussions beyond the traditional hospitality tech supply chain. Roundtable topics include artificial intelligence, self-sovereign identity, cybersecurity, talent acquisition and retention, and the future of HFTP Europe.
Key to the impact and endurance of this event is resulting coverage of the discussions. To assist, HFTP has partnered with Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) to moderate and publish a follow-up report.
Technology integration within the hospitality environment is evolving at such a dizzy pace, especially in the post-COVID era, its hard to have a holistic view on which are essential. The value of this new symposium is that it will be a gathering of minds who are active on the ground and can identify the effectiveness of these applications. Because we will be distributing follow-up reporting, it will not be siloed within this group, rather a valuable resource industry-wide. HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE
Invitations are forthcoming to European hotel technology leaders, representing brands large and small throughout the continent.
Also partnering with HFTP on this event is hospitality media company Hospitality Net.
Limited sponsorships are available, including select opportunities to provide a vendors perspective in this non-sales environment. Be a part of this unique event, contact the HFTP sales department at [email protected] for details.
About HFTP
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), established in 1952, is a hospitality nonprofit association headquartered in Austin, Texas USA with offices in the EU and Middle East. HFTP is recognized as the spokes group for the finance and technology segments of the hospitality industry with an international network of members and stakeholders. HFTP uniquely understands the industry's pressing issues, and assists its stakeholders in finding solutions to their challenges more efficiently than any organization. HFTP offers expert networks, educational resources, career development programs, research, leadership opportunities and conferences and events. HFTP produces international events throughout the year, including the world's largest hospitality technology tradeshow and conference brand: HITEC. In addition, it oversees the hospitality-specific Pineapplesearch.com and the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). For more information about HFTP, visit www.hftp.org. For the latest news, visit the HFTP News page at news.hftp.org and the HFTP Connect blog at blog.hftp.org.
Carson Booth
COO Europe
HFTP
A symbol of luxury and celebration, Champagne is one of the most beloved drinks worldwide. Today, Champagne (sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of northeastern France) accounts for 10% of the worlds consumption of sparkling wines by volume and 21% by value (Comite Champagne, 2023). Currently, the Champagne region has 16,200 growers, 130 cooperatives, and 370 houses. On the back of increasing demand, the champagne market will grow from 253.5 million liters in 2023 to 311.1 million liters by 2028, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.18% from 2023-2028.
I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch itunless I'm thirsty. Lily Bollinger
Like other business sectors, it is still rare to see women at the helm of champagne companies. In fact, they account for less than 10% of Champagne house owners. There has been a long-held belief that only men had the intelligence and ability to manage a Champagne house. However, if we go back in time, women have played a pivotal role in the development of this industry. Women have held powerful positions in the Champagne business since before they had the right to vote. While these female co-owners often lived in their husbands shadows, they developed the skills they needed to manage the champagne business and earned the credibility required to lead the champagne house after their husbands passed away. As widows, they were first in line to take over from their spouse because of their expertise (Robic & Antheaume, 2014). Widow status gave women similar rights to men as they could own property, operate a business, and manage their finances. Single or married women depended on their male counterparts (e.g., father, brother, husband) as they could not open bank accounts.
As we delve into the past, some of the exceptional women who pioneered and shaped the Champagne industry in the 19th and 20th centuries include:
Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin of Champagne Veuve Clicquot: At the young age of 27, Mme Clicquot was widowed in 1805 and took the helm of the Champagne house. Known as La Grande Dame of Champagne, she pioneered the riddling process, which improved the clarity of their Champagne. She established the Veuve Clicquot brand as a sparkling wine that became a symbol of excellence and innovation.
Camille Olry-Roederer of Champagne Roederer: At the age of 56, Madame Roederer became a widow in 1932. She led Louis Roederer, contributing significantly to the success and legacy of the Champagne house. Mme. Roederer played a pivotal role in developing its flagship cuvee Cristal, one of the world's most prestigious and sought-after champagnes, which is favored by royalty and celebrities.
Lily Bollinger of Champagne Bollinger: At 42, Mme Bollinger was widowed in 1941 and took over the Champagne house. She steered the house through challenging times, including during the Second World War, and it became the official royal Champagne of the British court three decades later.
Apolline Henriot of Champagne Henriot: At 36, Mme Henriot founded her own Champagne house after the death of her husband in 1808. It quickly gained recognition for producing exceptional quality Champagnes, becoming known for its elegant and refined offerings. Seven generations of Henriot men followed her reign.
Jeanne-Alexandrine Pommery of Champagne Pommery: At 38, Mme Pommery lost her husband in 1858 and took control of the property. Under her leadership, she expanded and modernized the Pommery Champagne House, created the Champagne brut nature by lowering the sugar dosage, and constructed her crayeres1.
While these groundbreaking women revolutionized the fledgling Champagne industry, they were mostly relegated to the history books, as iconic houses were sold or were no longer run by family members. Equitable representation in decision-making roles has been slow in coming, only to be picked up in the 21st century when, in 2000, Monique Charpentier became the first female Chef de Caves (cellar master) at Mercier (Moet-Hennessy) a popular champagne in France with over four million bottles sold annually. By the early 2000s, women were back on the Champagne industry's radar. To better understand the experiences of female leaders in the wine industry, we conducted in-depth interviews with exceptional women at the helm of prestigious houses, including Champagne Philippe Gonet, Champagne AR Lenoble, and Champagne Tarlant.
Much like the women two centuries ago who took control of the business in a time of uncertainty after the death of their spouses, our interviewees joined the family business due to unexpected circumstances. This was the case for Chantal Gonet. After the death of their father, their mother took over for a short period and then passed the property to her children, who took over the winery in their early 20s. Mme Gonet, with her brother, represents the seventh generation in charge of the family estate and co-owns the Champagne House Philippe Gonet, which dates back to 1830.
This was also the case for Anne Malassagne, who co-owns the Champagne house AR Lenoble. The company has its roots in 1870 with Joseph Graser and his relocation to the region of Champagne. In 1920, his son Armand-Raphael created Champagne Graser and shortly after changed the name of the house to AR Lenoble. Mme Malassagne joined the company to support her father, who, due to health conditions, passed her the keys to the house more quickly than expected in 1993.
After 12 generations of men, it was Melanie Tarlants passion for the family business not a succession that led her to become the first woman to head up the Tarlant House. The Tarlant family started to grow vines in 1687 in the Vallee de la Marne, and Champagne Tarlant was born in 1928. For Mme Tarlant, mentalities have slowly evolved in the last couple of years: Now we accept that women, sisters or daughters can take over the family estate. Before, if there were only daughters in the family, the succession would go to their husbands, and women would fade to the background.
For current female leaders, automatically handing the business over to a male successor is a thing of the past. With flexible mindsets, these businesswomen prefer to allow the next generation to decide to join the family business or not, out of passion not obligation, regardless of gender.
Establishing legitimacy and credibility as a woman in a patriarchal industry was challenging, thus these female trailblazers underscore the need for more balance in the Champagne industry. Owing to a diverse and inclusive perspective, Anne Malassagne and Maggie Henriquez (who served as President and CEO of Krug) created La Transmission Femmes en Champagne in 2016. La Transmission is currently composed of nine women leaders (Evelyne Boizel, Delphine Cazals, Charline Drappier, Chantal Gonet, Maggie Henriquez, Anne Malassagne, Alice Paillard, Vitalie Taittinger, Melanie Tarlant) with the purpose to share stories, learn from each other, show solidarity, and elevate women in the Champagne business. This initiative highlights the legacy of pioneering women who have made significant strides in the world of Champagne, inspiring future generations to continue their legacy of excellence.
References
1 An excavated gallery used as a wine cellar for Champagne.
An excavated gallery used as a wine cellar for Champagne. Comite Champagne, 2023. https://www.champagne.fr/en.
Robic, P., & Antheaume, N. (2014). La veuve: une partie prenante meconnue dans la transmission des entreprises familiales. Management International, 18(4), 175-189.
EHL Hospitality Business School
Communications Department
+41 21 785 1354
EHL
View source
Rendering of the Fontainebleau Las Vegas Resort
The iconic Fontainebleau brand has arrived on the Las Vegas Strip as Fontainebleau Las Vegas, the luxury resort and casino brought to life by Fontainebleau Development, announces its global debut set for Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 pending regulatory approvals. The fulfillment of a long-held vision of Fontainebleau Development Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Soffer is in the final stages of construction and is now accepting reservations ahead of its grand opening.
"For almost 70 years, the Fontainebleau brand has challenged boundaries and expectations," says Mr. Soffer. "With Fontainebleau Las Vegas, we have transcended aspiration and set the stage for a new era of luxury hospitality defined by innovation, sophistication, and opulence, with an inextricable link to our roots at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. This building represents a remarkable new chapter in our storied legacy and will be a beacon for those seeking to indulge in the unforgettable."
Seamlessly connecting the past, present, and future, the 67-story Fontainebleau Las Vegas the tallest occupiable building in Nevada -- is the first western expansion for the iconic brand. Reflecting the grandeur of its heritage, the resort's 3,644 rooms and suites present an aura of timeless elegance, while incorporating a lavish splendor and distinctive amenities unique to Las Vegas. Designed by Fontainebleau Development's in-house design team, the rooms and suites feature a color palette of blue and silver water tones and dashes of coral-pink, accented by mercury-glass mirrors and brass details. Custom brass bowtie shaped drawer-pulls represent both exquisite attention to detail and a nod to Fontainebleau's history. All luxurious accommodations feature expansive floor-to-ceiling windows offering stunning views of the Strip.
In anticipation of its December opening, guests can book their inaugural stays at Fontainebleau Las Vegas via fontainebleaulasvegas.com. Additionally, the website offers an inside look at the 36 first-to-market restaurant concepts from around the globe opening in December 2023 and throughout 2024. The collection features ten of the Top 100 grossing restaurants in the United States and concepts from award-winning chefs and restaurateurs, including Chef Gabriela Camara, Michelin-starred chefs Masa Ito and Kevin Kim, Alan Yau, Evan Funke, David Grutman, and more.
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As they plan their visits, guests can also get a glimpse at Fontainebleau Las Vegas' 14,000-square-foot fitness center and 55,000-square-foot Lapis Spa designed by Milan-based Lissoni & Partners. Lapis Spa, arriving in Las Vegas from Fontainebleau Miami Beach, will redefine wellness with an approach that emphasizes personalization and community. The spa offers a full spectrum of wellness-enhancing facilities, including 44 treatment rooms; a purifying salt cave; a healing infrared sauna and invigorating event sauna; rejuvenating lounge areas; men's and women's hydrotherapy lounges as well as a co-ed sensory room with communal healing waters; and 11 luxurious suites offering exclusive spa experiences.
"We are thrilled to introduce many of the world-class amenities we are recognized for in Miami alongside our new-to-market offerings at Fontainebleau Las Vegas," says Mr. Soffer. "All of these concepts, infused with the dynamic spirit of the Strip, allow us to create a destination that is the best of all worlds and promises an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind experience for every guest."
Additional resort amenities will include a 96,500-square-foot luxury boutique retail district, located on the first two levels of the resort; a six-acre pool district, 550,000-square-feet of customizable, indoor-outdoor meeting space; 150,000 square-feet of gaming space; and the forthcoming LIV and LIV Beach experiences.
Fontainebleau Las Vegas resides on nearly 25 acres on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip. The property, acquired in 2021 by Fontainebleau Development in partnership with Koch Real Estate Investments, will be solely operated by Fontainebleau Development upon its opening.
Excerpt from CNBC
Many Airbnb users with bookings in New York City this Christmas are scrambling to find new accommodations.
The company announced plans to cancel and refund bookings for stays after Dec. 1, according to the Associated Press, after long-planned regulations aimed at curbing illegal short-term rentals in the city went into effect on Sept. 5.
The regulations, which caused an uproar among travelers and short-term rental owners, require hosts be present for stays of less than 30 days, with no more than two people staying in a dwelling at a time. Hosts must also register and get approval from the city or both hosts and booking sites may be subject to hefty fines.
The travel industry website Skift estimates Airbnb short-term listings in New York City dropped 77% from June 4 to Sept. 10, likely sending many in search of new accommodations.
Over the past week, weve seen the strongest booking pace for the forward six-month period than weve seen at any time going back to 2015, Kevin Davis, CEO of JLL Hotels & Hospitalitys Americas, told Squawk Box Asia Monday.
In addition, if you look at Google searches, just over the past week for New York City hotels, those are up 24%, relative to the past 60-day period, he said. Were seeing a tremendous amount of interest in people staying in New York City hotels.
NYC hotel rates to go up
New York City has more than enough hotels to meet traveler demand, Davis said, citing an unprecedented supply of new hotel rooms in the city.
Since 2020, 10,000 new hotel rooms have been delivered, and over the next couple of years, another 10,000 new hotel rooms will be delivered to the city, he said. So theres absolutely more than enough supply of hotel rooms to accommodate all the tourists that want to come to New York City.
Click here to read complete article at CNBC.
The invitation-only event is February 20-21, 2024 at the Palau de Congressos de Palma in Mallorca, Spain. Co-located with the symposium is Entrepreneur 20X Europe, HFTPs start-up pitch competition.
Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) is pleased to announce its new European event: Digital Horizons 360 Symposium (DH360). This invitation-only symposium will span over two-days, February 20-21, at the Palau de Congressos de Palma in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. DH360 is a non-sales event for hospitality leaders to participate in roundtable discussions on the technologies set to have the biggest industry impact in Europe. Co-located with DH360 will be HFTPs Entrepreneur 20X start-up hospitality technology pitch competition, the first of three in 2024.
Created in response to a growing interest in an event of this kind, a goal for DH360 is to establish an EU hospitality technology thought leadership community. The program will elevate the relevant discussions beyond the traditional hospitality tech supply chain. Roundtable topics include artificial intelligence, self-sovereign identity, cybersecurity, talent acquisition and retention, and the future of HFTP Europe.
Key to the impact and endurance of this event is resulting coverage of the discussions. To assist, HFTP has partnered with Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne (EHL) to moderate and publish a follow-up report.
Technology integration within the hospitality environment is evolving at such a dizzy pace, especially in the post-COVID era, its hard to have a holistic view on which are essential. said HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe, CAE. The value of this new symposium is that it will be a gathering of minds who are active on the ground and can identify the effectiveness of these applications. Because we will be distributing follow-up reporting, it will not be siloed within this group, rather a valuable resource industry-wide.
Invitations are forthcoming to European hotel technology leaders, representing brands large and small throughout the continent.
Also partnering with HFTP on this event is hospitality media company Hospitality Net.
Limited sponsorships are available, including select opportunities to provide a vendors perspective in this non-sales environment. Be a part of this unique event, contact the HFTP sales department at sales@hftp.org for details.
Subscribers to Register-Star or The Daily Mail are eligible to receive full access to HudsonValley360.
If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email.
Pittsfield Businesses Receive MassDevelopment Funds
BOSTON MassDevelopment has awarded $2,230,052 in grants to advance the rehabilitation of 22 properties in Gateway Cities across Massachusetts that will have significant economic impacts on commercial corridor revitalization goals.
In Pittsfield, Marie's North Street Eatery & Gallery, Remedy & Culture LLC, Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc, and Methuselah Bar and Lounge received grants.
"For generations, Gateway Cities have been welcoming places to live, start a business, and build community," said Economic Development Secretary Yvonne Hao, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment's Board of Directors. "MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative allows the state to work hand-in-hand with local partners to ensure these cities remain places of opportunity for all and we are proud these TDI Equity Investment grants support that goal."
These grants represent the second and final tranche of awards from the Fiscal Year 2023 round of MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative (TDI) Equity Investment program. In May, the agency awarded $714,893 in TDI Equity Investment grants to five properties.
Marie's North Street Eatery & Gallery will receive $31,000 to renovate the interior of its existing space, which long housed Marie's European Delights, to offer sit-down dining and affordable grab-and-go options to cater to the city's downtown lunch crowd.
Remedy & Culture LLC will receive $28,000 to help the company make interior renovations to an 860-square-foot vacant storefront at 90 North St. in the Central Block. The renovated property will feature a wellness retail shop, yoga and meditation classroom, and private treatment room.
Roots & Dreams and Mustard Seeds Inc. will receive $179,000 to purchase the iconic King Kone soft serve ice cream shop at 133 Fenn St. and convert it into a worker cooperative. The nonprofit incubator will also expand its current arts programming through the creation of a community art gallery and exhibition space in the adjacent retail space in the same building. This grant is funded by the Barr Foundation.
The Barr Foundation awarded $1 million to MassDevelopment's TDI in order to expand the number and scope of projects eligible to receive funding, particularly those with a focus on cultural and creative economies and community empowerment.
Methuselah Bar and Lounge will receive $120,000 to help the company expand into an adjacent space to allow for increased dining capacity and the ability to host events, including those connected to the Latinx and LGBTQ communities. Specifically, this grant will help fund the installation of a required fire suppression system for the entire building to facilitate the expansion.
MassDevelopment's Transformative Development Initiative works with cross-sector partnerships in targeted commercial districts in Gateway Cities in order to engage community members, implement local economic development initiatives, and spur further public and private investment. Since 2015, MassDevelopment has invested $20 million in TDI districts through tools such as technical assistance, real estate investments, grant programs, and fellows who work in the districts. That investment has directly influenced over $100.2 million in public and private investments in the districts, and assisted an additional $219.9 million.
Through TDI Equity Investment, MassDevelopment invests in near-term projects that activate ground-floor and commercial spaces that will have significant economic impacts within a TDI district; are consistent with Commonwealth and agency priorities; engage and build capacity in local communities and with partners; catalyze market demand and support TDI district goals; and lack other sufficient funding sources to proceed.
In January 2023, MassDevelopment released a Fiscal Year 2023 Notice of Funding Availability for projects in or near TDI districts in Attleboro, Barnstable, Fall River, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn, New Bedford, Pittsfield, Revere, Springfield, Taunton, and Worcester.
In addition to contributing $1 million towards TDI Equity Investment awards, the Barr Foundation has awarded $4.4 million to MassDevelopment since 2019 to create and administer arts-based programming that directly supports the expansion of cultural and creative industries in Gateway Cities.
To help institutionalize Financial Technology (FinTech) as an emerging field of study, leading STEM university, Mapua, has tapped the expertise of the Philippines no. 1 finance super app, GCash, to further develop its Bachelor of Science in Financial Technology. The program will combine formal tertiary education and professional immersion with fintech industry leaders and is the newest undergraduate program under Mapuas E.T. Yuchengco School of Business, in collaboration with Arizona State University.
From L-R: Dr. Jagdeep Jassel, Dean of ETY School of Business; Robert Gonzales, GCash Chief People Officer; and Dr. Dodjie S. Maestrecampo, Mapua President & CEO.
GCash and Mapua formally inked their partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing held at Mapua University's Makati campus on August 30, 2. Signing the agreement were GCash chief people officer Robert Conrad Gonzales, Mapua University president and CEO Dr. Dodjie S. Maestrecampo, and Dr. Jagdeep Jassel, Dean of the ETY School of Business.
The partnership between GCash and Mapua University signifies a remarkable synergy between academia and the fintech industry, where theoretical knowledge converges with real-world application. The launch of the BS in Finance Technology program marks a transformative step towards equipping students with the skills and insights needed to excel in the rapidly evolving landscape of financial technology.
We recognize that partnerships with universities are crucial in the pursuit of our financial inclusion goals, as we are always looking for fresh young talents to join the G Nation. We intend to continue investing in the youth as the fintech industry continues to grow rapidly, says Gonzales.
Through this partnership, we aim to be at the forefront of developing talented young professionals in tech. We aim to be the industry eye that can give relevant perspectives and support on internships, curriculum development, faculty immersions, scholarship programs, and other related pursuits, Gonzales adds.
We are very excited to see the development of this program. With this partnership, we are confident that we can present fintech to the younger generation as a path with many opportunities, especially with industry leaders from GCash who can share their expertise first-hand, which will greatly help us in designing the curriculum, says Mapua Dean of the ETY School of Business Dr. Jagdeep Jassel.
The Mapua E.T. Yuchengco School of Business is also in collaboration with Arizona State University (ASU), the no. 1 most innovative school in the U.S. by the U.S. News & World Report. This collaboration opens the doors of students to world-class learning resources and prepares them for a career at par with the rest of the world.
Since the pandemic, fintech leader GCash has helped reduce the number of unbanked Filipinos, providing savings, credit, insurance, wealth growth, and other financial services that had only been available to a few in the past. Believing that the goal of finance for all should be a continuous and sustainable journey, GCash has begun partnering with universities not only to fill up career opportunities in their organizations but also to be the training ground for future fintech leaders.
The partnership between Mapua and GCash will encompass immersions, and experiential learning. Best of all, it will involve the co-development of subjects leveraging GCashs industry experience. This collaborative effort ensures that the program remains at the forefront of industry trends, preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the evolving financial technology landscape.
For more information, visit https://www.gcash.com
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China has summoned the German ambassador after the countrys foreign minister labelled Xi Jinping a "dictator" during a television interview.
Ambassador Patricia Flor has been summoned for a meeting on Sunday to protest the minister's remarks, the German foreign office in Berlin said.
During an interview with Fox News, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock was asked about Vladimir Putin and his War in Ukraine. To which she responded: "If Putin were to win this war, what sign would that be for other dictators in the world, like Xi, like the Chinese president."
Therefore Ukraine has to win this war. Freedom and democracy have to win," Ms Baerbock added.
The Chinese foreign ministry rejected the remarks and called it "extremely absurd". It said the comments were a "serious infringement of China's political dignity and an open provocation".
Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday during the daily press briefing that China had contacted Germany through diplomatic channels to address the issue.
China and Germany remain crucial trade partners, but ties between the nations have been fraying over Taiwan and Beijing's alleged rights violation.
Berlin this year announced its first-ever China strategy document, which called for reducing Germany's dependency on China. But the government was cautious enough to say it does not want to "decouple" from the world's second-largest economy.
China had previously lashed out at the US after president Joe Biden called his Chinese counterpart a "dictator".
A war of words ensued between the nations after Mr Biden claimed Mr Xi was embarrassed over the tensions surrounding a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had been shot down by the Air Force over the East Coast.
Thats a great embarrassment for dictators. When they didnt know what happened, he added.
Spokesperson Mao said Mr Bidens comments at a fundraiser in California go totally against facts and seriously violate diplomatic protocol, and severely infringe on Chinas political dignity".
It is a blatant political provocation. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and opposition. The US remarks are extremely absurd and irresponsible."
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The son of a Sikh separatist leader shot dead in Canada said Justin Trudeaus remarks alleging the Indian governments involvement had confirmed his familys suspicions.
The Canadian prime minister on Monday said there are credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Indian government and the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjars 21-year-old son Balraj Singh Nijjar was quoted by public broadcaster CBC as saying that it was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out. Mr Nijjar said Mr Trudeaus surprise official statement during an emergency parliament session brought a sense of relief that the issue is finally coming to the public eyes.
Canadian citizen Nijjar was shot dead on 18 June outside a Sikh cultural centre in British Columbias Surrey. Mr Trudeaus comments alleging Delhis involvement exactly three months after the murder took place have surged tensions between the nations, who have now both expelled each others diplomats from their countries.
The Sikh leader was reported to have been organising an unofficial referendum in India on the creation of Khalistan a decades-old demand for a separate Sikh nation at the time of his death.
The Indian government labelled Nijjar a terrorist and had offered a cash reward for information that could lead to his arrest. Officials in India said he was wanted in connection with the killing of a Hindu priest in India.
After Mr Trudeaus statement to parliament, the Indian government dubbed the accusations absurd.
Police in Indias capital Delhi were seen creating a cordon around the Canadian embassy on Tuesday as an unnamed senior Canadian diplomat was expelled from the country.
Indian policemen secure the premises around the Canadian embassy in New Delhi on 19 September (EPA)
Mr Nijjar thanked the Canadian prime minister and other political leaders from the opposition who rallied behind Mr Trudeau in condemning the killing in the House of Commons.
Hopefully you can take this a step further and get specific individuals, he said and added that the slain leaders family was waiting to see sanctions among possible next steps from Ottawa.
Mr Nijjar said he tried assuring everyone that his fathers death was not being swept under the rug. The killing was not just of a random Sikh man but of a temple president who was shot outside his place of worship, he said.
The Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib is seen in Surrey, British Columbia, on 18 September (AP)
Thats a very serious matter and foreign interference is not a small thing, he said.
Mr Nijjar said the family had received a call from his father five minutes before he was shot dead. He had called in high spirits, asking his family to keep dinner ready.
Nijjar was an outspoken supporter of the Khalistan movement a longstanding separatist movement that has been banned by several Indian administrations over many years.
The Indian government, including the Narendra Modi administration, has banned a number of groups operating within the movement, deeming them to be a national security threat.
A mural features the image of late Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was slain on the grounds of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in June 2023 in Surrey (REUTERS)
British Columbias premier David Eby said he received a briefing from Canadas spy agency about the assassination of Nijjar and said he was deeply disturbed by what he was told.
He said he called on the Canadian government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and transnational organised crime threats.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada said Nijjar often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.
The Khalistan movement still has some support in northern India, although it has largely been restricted through successive government bans. Pockets of support remain around the world in countries like Canada and the UK that are home to sizable Sikh diasporas.
Nijjars New York-based lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun claimed Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by mercenaries before he was gunned down.
Mr Pannun is also a popular leader of the Khalistan movement in his own right and has himself been named as an individual terrorist by the Indian authorities.
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Their title could be mistaken for the latest installment in the Marvel franchise - but unlike the movies, a Hollywood ending is far from guaranteed.
The Planetary Guardians - a new collective of world leaders, climate activists, business moguls and celebrities - announced on Monday plans to carry out an annual check-up on the planets health, then deploy these findings to try to influence how the UN and national governments go about safeguarding Earth.
The prognosis is far from rosy. Earth is beyond safe operating space for humanity in six of nine key measurements called planetary boundaries including climate, biodiversity, land, freshwater, and novel chemicals (like microplastics and nuclear waste), according to an update last week from the scientists who have been working on the project for 15 years.
To understand what is needed for a safe planet requires looking at the Earth as a complex, mutually dependent whole rather than in isolated parts, the researchers say.
We need the world to listen to the scientific, holistic advice of what is happening to the broader ecosystems that sustain us, Mary Robinson, the first female President of Ireland and chair of The Elders, an advocacy group founded by Nelson Mandela, told The Independent.
We have to get back to a real sense that we are nature, were not different from nature. Were not looking after what is helping us to sustain our future.
Ms Robinson is a founding member of the group which includes former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos, the primatologist Jane Goodall, oceanographer Sylvia Earle, actor Robert Redford, and climate justice activists Ayisha Siddiqa and Xiye Bastida.
During a press briefing at New Yorks annual Climate Week, Mr Santos said that his involvement was the continuation of fulfilling a mandate from Colombias Indigenous communities who asked him to make peace with nature when he became president.
Because if we dont, as the Indigenous communities told me, we will be the ones who suffer the consequences, he said.
The state of the Planetary boundaries, according to a 2023 update (Azote for Stockholm Resilience Centre, based on analysis in Richardson et al 2023)
The planetary boundaries science has been developed by a team led by Professor Johan Rockstrom, of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. In that time, the planet has fallen into danger zones in the majority of the categories with inevitable consequences for human populations.
And the interconnectedness of Earth means breaching safe levels in some areas could push others toward tipping points. [T]he world is starting to recognize that we are risking things beyond climate... were risking the entire living biosphere, Professor Rockstrom said.
He pointed to the beleaguered Amazon - already at 17 per cent forest loss - and warned that if it increases to 20 per cent, and the global temperature rises to 1.3 degrees Celsius (from the current 1.1C-1.2C), it might trigger an irreversible tipping point.
The urgency is why the scientists have stepped up and promised to do a planetary boundary health check every year, Professor Rockstrom said.
And not only that [but] translate it in ways that it can be used by the Guardians but also by stakeholders across the world, from all walks of life. Thats a big challenge, he added.
Among the flashing warning signs, there is a success story. The ozone layer, which was discovered to be alarmingly depleted in the 1970s, is expected to largely heal around mid-century after countries came together and adopted the Montreal Protocol - an agreement which banned 99 per cent of ozone-depleting substances.
It underlines what can be done, said Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of the Virgin group, who is an advisory council member.
Knowledge is power so if we can measure whats going on in the world accurately every 12 months, and have the best scientists doing it, then its going to be easier to change, he said.
The mission is already being put into practice at the national level with New Zealand, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands figuring out how to apply the boundaries framework to making decisions.
The framework is also providing a roadmap for the rebuilding of Ukraine which has sustained intense environmental damage due to the Russian invasion, said Robinson. The goal is to restore Ukraine with a focus to building back green.
[The planetary boundaries] are not just up there at a distance, its actually a framing that can be used more and more to make sure that we are helping to maintain and deeply restore that balance as far as possible, Ms Robinson said.
Close Hurricane Nigel to rapidly intensify
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Hurricane Nigel has strengthened slightly overnight and is set to intensify further, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
Nigel, the sixth hurricane to form in the Atlantic Ocean this season, developed into a Category 1 storm yesterday and was forecast to rapidly intensify to become a Category 3 hurricane.
At the moment, Nigel has sustained winds of 80mph (130kph) but forecasters in the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Hurricane Center expect the storm to have sustained winds of at least 111mph as it grows.
Nigel was located approximately about 875miles (1,410km) east-southeast of Bermuda and was moving northwest at a speed of 12mph (19kph).
The hurricane is not expected to make landfall and no warnings or watches have been issued.
As of now, the National Hurricane Center predicts Nigel will veer off right into the open Atlantic Ocean by Wednesday morning.
Nigel developed shortly after Hurricane Lee landed in Nova Scotia as a post-tropical storm.
Home and Away spoilers follow for UK viewers.
Coming up on Home and Away, mysterious newcomer Harper arrives in the Bay to ask a huge favour of Cash.
Elsewhere, Kirby decides to quit Lyrik and go solo, Alf faces a nervous wait, and Rose decides to track down her biological dad.
Here's a full collection of 11 big moments.
1. Kirby faces the music
Channel 5
Lyrik call a band meeting to confront Kirby over her secret meetings with music manager Forrest Duke.
Kirby is open and upfront with them, admitting that she has been struggling for a while and isn't happy in Lyrik any more.
Justin praises Kirby for following her dreams, but Remi questions if it's worth the risk. Eventually their questions become too much for Kirby and she heads out for a surf to contemplate her future.
2. Remi wants Kirby to stay
Channel 5
While Theo reels over the prospect of Kirby going solo, Remi makes a feeble attempt to get her to stay in the band.
This is quickly overshadowed when she receives a special delivery from Forrest, containing flowers, goodies and sample artwork.
Kirby is seriously tempted by Forrest's offer, and supportive Mackenzie is all in favour, pointing out she has earned this opportunity.
3. Kirby quits the band
Channel 5
Realising Lyrik are on the verge of losing Kirby, Remi tries to remind her of their humble beginnings. But it's all too little, too late and Kirby announces she's going solo. Justin is gutted by her decision, but Leah is hopeful that Lyrik can carry on under his guidance.
Later, Justin meets with the band to discuss their future as a trio, but Eden loses her temper and starts chucking Kirby's clothes out onto the street.
Eventually she calms down and makes plans with Remi for how they'll move forward without Kirby.
4. Felicity makes a brave stand
Channel 5
Felicity's recent attack has made her, Cash and Tane determined to protect the women of Summer Bay.
On a mission, they get to work Tane registers himself as a self-defence instructor and Felicity sets up a codeword system at Salt for anyone who doesn't feel safe.
Story continues
They also hand out flyers at the surf club, but are frustrated by the lack of interest from locals. People finally take notice when Felicity jumps up on a table and loudly declares that she was sexually assaulted. However, her act of public bravery leaves Felicity feeling anxious and exposed.
5. Mac supports Felicity's mission
Endemol Shine - Channel 5
Tane is in awe of Felicity's courage and commends her for making herself vulnerable for the cause of women's safety.
Felicity is encouraged to hear folks are now taking the flyers, and the couple decide to take their ideas to Mackenzie.
There's further good news for Felicity when Mac approves her plans to spread the word, including to the team at Salt.
6. Alf awaits his hearing test results
Channel 5
Alf is nervously awaiting the results of his recent hearing test and is not happy when Bree reveals it's likely he'll need to be fitted with hearing aids.
Hopeful that Alf will come round to the idea, Marilyn works with Bree to navigate his specialist appointments.
Their perseverance seems to have paid off when Alf tells Justin he's glad to have tackled his hearing loss. Alf also admits that he's worried about getting his results in time to visit Roo, but Bree works her magic, managing to get his next appointment fast-tracked.
7. Say hello to Harper
Channel 5
There's a new face in Summer Bay when social worker Harper answers Irene's advert for a lodger.
The ladies hit it off straight away, but wary John has a bad feeling about the newcomer. He decides to have a snoop about her possessions, only to get caught red-handed by Irene.
After giving John a ticking off, Irene hands over the keys to her house. but behind doors Harper starts acting suspiciously. What is she up to?
8. Cash gets a blast from the past
Channel 5
John decides to keep an eye on Harper and clocks her unease around police officers. This leaves him in no doubt that Irene has invited a wrong'un to stay with her.
He's ready to voice his concerns when Cash stops by the coffee cart, but is dismayed when the cop greets Harper with a warm hug and reveals they're former colleagues.
While John is forced to eat humble pie, Harper asks Cash if they can have a private chat.
9. Harper's sister arrives in town
Channel 5
Back at Cash's, Harper admits she has come to the Bay to ask a big favour of him. Her sister, Dana is on the run from the police after they discovered drugs in her apartment and her boyfriend threw her under the bus.
Harper reveals there's a warrant out for Dana's arrest and she needs Cash to do whatever he can to prove her sibling's innocence. Cash reluctantly agrees to help, as long as Harper tells him everything she knows.
Returning to Irene's, Harper enjoys a meal with her new landlady. But as Irene goes to bed, Harper sneaks the leftovers from dinner into her room and Dana climbs in through the window.
10. Rose investigates her family tree
Channel 5
Mali gets the all-clear from the doctors and doesn't waste any time getting back on his surf board. It's an amazing buzz for Mali to be back doing what he loves, but he can't help but feel Rose is suddenly pulling away from him.
Over a coffee after their night shift, Rose explains to Cash what's on her mind. She shares that meeting Mali's mum has made her want to know more about her biological dad.
Rose starts trawling the web for answers, but Xander feels it's betraying their mother's wishes and the man they both called dad.
11. Rose has a breakthrough
Channel 5
Rose is determined to uncover more about her heritage, despite Xander insisting that she needs to tell their mum what she's up to.
Mali catches up with Rose on the beach, where she explains that she has been trying to find her father.
Rose is grateful for Mali's support, and it's not long before she stumbles across an old photograph of the man she believes to be her dad.
Check out more of our Home and Away coverage:
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
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Prince William wrapped up his flying visit to New York on Tuesday by unveiling the finalists of his million-pound Earthshot prize for climate and environmental innovations.
He said that it was wonderful to be back in the city for the first time since 2014, adding that earlier attempts to return had been put back by the pandemic and death of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
The prince took part in a fireside chat with previous Earthshot prize winner, Vaitea Cowan, during a summit at the Plaza Hotel on Tuesday in Manhattan, where he began by confirming that he had started the day with a quintessential New York activity.
I decided to join the hordes of New Yorkers doing their morning routine as they went round Central Park. It was wonderful waking up in New York on a sunny morning after the rain we had yesterday, and it was beautiful getting some fresh air this morning, Prince William said.
He explained that the success of the Earthshot prize, which is in its third year, was cause for optimism but that he was impatient to scale up the innovations that emerging from the competition.
For me, something I havent quite cracked yet is how do we scale faster, he said. You guys provide the products and inspiration. My role is to get as fast and as scalable as possible. I think we still have some work to do.
He pointed out that the prize isnt a philanthropic thing.
Were doing this because the vast majority of these solutions are commercially viable, he added.
He told the audience that Earthshot had been inspired by President John F Kennedys Moonshot challenge which drove space innovation in the 1960s and saw the United States put the first man on the moon.
Prince William pointed out that JFKs project had resulted in inventions that we take for granted today, such as the X-ray.
William, Prince of Wales, walks in the water as he visits the Billion Oyster Project in New York City on September 18, 2023 (Getty Images)
Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York and financial partner of the Earthshot prize, opened the event by welcoming the audience to the greatest city in the world.
He lauded the prince for his popularity in America after a recent poll discovered that 60 per cent of Republicans and 60 per cent of Democrats view the royal favorably.
The US has not seen that bipartisanship since 1776, Mr Bloomberg joked.
Advisers to the Earthshot prize, Dame Jacinda Ardern, the former New Zealand prime minister, and Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, also took part in conversations at the event.
Each of the 15 finalists, who span six continents, are in the running to receive one of five 1 million ($1.2m) awards in five categories - Protect and restore nature; Clean our air, Revive our oceans; Build a waste-free world; and Fix our climate.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Singapore this November.
Among the finalists are a community initiative from Peru that is working to protect native high Andean forest ecosystems; a British company that designs tyres for electric vehicles that reduce harmful particulate pollution; and a tech company from South Africa that helps small fishing communities make their catches more sustainable while earning a living.
The Earthshot Prize summit coincides with New Yorks annual climate week and the United Nations General Assembly taking place across town.
On Monday evening, Prince William met with UN Secretary General Antonio Gutterres where they both expressed hope that the Cop28 climate summit, held later this year in Dubai, will deliver a significant outcome on reducing emissions, Kensington Palace said.
The Prince of Wales spent Monday afternoon getting waist-deep in New York harbour to learn about the Billion Oyster Project which returns restaurants discarded oyster shells to the waters in order to help with water filtration and create new habitats.
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Rather than shoving her once-hated dress to the back of the closet, one former bridesmaid repurposed the wedding garment she didnt love and has worn it around the world for the last 35 years.
Rebecca Whitlinger has now made the dress her trademark, taking it with her as she travels from Peru to Iceland and London. Her short-sleeve gold sequined gown, originally worn at her best friends wedding, is featured in every other picture on the Pittsburgh natives Instagram.
Whats more, the associate director of the non-profit organisation Cancer Bridges published a book in 1999 focused on her experiences. Titled Always a Bridesmaid: 89 Ways to Recycle That Bridesmaid Dress, Whitlinger detailed strategies shes utilised to make the fancy garment wearable after its big debut down the aisle.
Speaking to Insider, Whitlinger opened up about her journey of turning a special occasion piece into an adventure. According to her, she didnt fancy the shimmery gown from 1988 at first.
I dont think anybody loved the dress really, but we were excited to be at the wedding, and thats the more important part, she confessed. Whitlinger was speaking on behalf of her fellow bridesmaids.
So I wore it, and the bride, wanting to be very kind to her bridesmaids said: Oh you can wear it again, she continued.
In Whitlingers mind, that wasnt a bad idea. She got inspired to start squeezing the custom-made dress into her suitcase every time she went on a trip, thinking there may be at least one opportunity for her to wear it.
And while you could say its a hobby, it only takes one minute to throw the dress on. I could do it now if you needed to see it, Whitlinger noted. It doesnt occupy a ton of time. I take the picture and move on, usually into a better outfit because I do care about what I wear.
A garment once detested turned out to be a sight to see against the most beautiful backdrops across the globe. But Whitlingers quest to wear the gown didnt begin with the wild expeditions she takes now. The author explained how bridesmaids can start small like she did at a grocery store or local establishment.
She encourages young wedding parties to not be afraid to wear their momentous apparel outside of a party setting.
Id rather wear a formal gown to go grocery shopping than a tracksuit, Whitlinger proclaimed.
And why not mark other meaningful milestones with the elegant piece as well? Whitlinger sure has.
The innovative individual told Insider her gold dress is present in many passports and drivers license photos taken within the last three decades.
The Independent has contacted Whitlinger for a comment.
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Jessica Alba has spoken openly about why she is no longer attending therapy with her daughters.
At the BabyList Showroom in Beverly Hills, the Honest Company co-founder got candid about her daughters Honor Marie, 15, and Haven Garner, 12, beginning to go to therapy without her present as they had in the past. Were not doing it together anymore, Alba explained to People. Theyre doing it on their own. Theyre older now.
However, the Fantastic Four alum took the opportunity to stress the importance of tearing down whatever sort of stereotypes or stigmas that may be attached to therapy and promoting mental health awareness from a young age.
Especially if you didnt grow up culturally with [therapy], Im Mexican American, and we really didnt grow up with that, Alba added. And it was always kind of looked at like theres something wrong with you, or you dont want to tell people that you go to a therapist.
She continued, But just being more connected and self-aware of where youre at emotionally so that you can thrive. Who doesnt want that? And to be able to show up for your kids and for yourself, I think that is important.
The previous month Alba told People that her daughters were learning how to effectively communicate their feelings through their therapy sessions. Theyre at the age where their therapy is more individual, but its given them, I think, a language where they can communicate with me their needs differently, the actor said.
Its so nice to be able to give them the tools to be able to understand themselves better and to be able to really articulate their needs, she continued. But when they were like ... nine, 10, 11, it was different. They didnt have the same kind of agency that they have now.
So now theyre like: Mom, I want to be able to talk to my therapist and you not always listen in, the Honey actor remarked. Alba shares daughters, Honor and Haven, along with five-year-old son Hayes, with longtime husband Cash Warren.
Alba first shared that she was attending therapy sessions with her daughter Honor on an episode of Katherine Schwarzenegger Pratts Instagram series Before, During & After Baby in July 2021. The following year, Alba revealed that Haven was joining in on the mother-daughter therapy sessions as well in Glamour UKs July/August 2022 digital issue.
I went with both of them. And around puberty is when its the time I think, for me, with my girls, she shared with the outlet. Thats when they started to sort of shut down and get really like: I dont want to talk anymore. And Im like: Were not doing this. Weve got to keep a line of communication here. How can I be a better parent to you? How do you want me to talk to you? Dont shut me out.
Like my 13-year-old, Im struggling with not treating her like a little [kid] I want to treat them all like babies. I want to baby them, Alba added, acknowledging that shes been having trouble letting go as her daughter is on the cusp of being a teenager. So far, shes found therapy to be a healthy way for Honor and Haven to voice their concerns and process their issues.
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The annual London Design Festival (LDF) is back, celebrating the city as a design capital and drawing in Britains greatest thinkers, creators, retailers, and educators to deliver an unmissable celebration of design. Running until 24 September, its like fashion week for interiors, with inspiration abounding from the exhibitions, installations, and showrooms found around every corner of the city. After scouring this years London design scene, here are the not-to-be-missed highlights and emerging trends that designers and creatives from across the globe just cant seem to get enough of.
A good starting point is Focus/23, with its packed calendar of workshops, masterclasses, launch parties, and talks all held at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. This free design and decoration show is a first look into what well be seeing in magazine pages and projects over the coming year. It should be on the radar of anyone who is interested in interiors.
Claire German, CEO of Design Centre, gives us an insight into the common themes we can expect to see for our homes in 2024. Savannah Sunset is a design direction weve identified, she explains, aptly named because it feels like an enchanting slice of Africa with its rich dry palette alongside inky blues and hues that speak of sunset hour.
Savannah Sunset is being showcased by Focus23 at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour (supplied)
This palette, paired with animal motifs and bold shapes would make for the perfect interior to a hilltop house looking over rolling plains where you might just spot an elephant in the distance.
To get this look, she adds, visit Porta Romana at Focus/23 to see their Zande lamp which is inspired by continental African sculpture. Explore the Pukka Print collection at Tissus dHelene or the Woodbridge collection by Nina Campbell from our new showroom Osborne + Little who opened their Design Centre doors in early September. Also look to global design house Andrew Martin which is launching new Mythical Land, Lantern Parade, and Songbird wallpaper designs during LDF in collaboration with award-winning Interior Designer and Founder of Firmdale Hotels, Kit Kemp.
Zen Luxe is a layered look that makes home feel like a sanctuary' (supplied)
In stark contrast to Savannah Sunset, she continues, there is Zen Luxe which is a style defined by clean lines, taking cues from traditional Japanese forms and textures, often with a pared-back colour palette. Paper panels, pagoda shapes, shoji inspired sheers featuring devore, and cut-out patterns create a layered look that makes home feel like a sanctuary.
If this speaks to your tastes, visit Elitis, Casal at Houles, or Mark Alexander at Romo all showrooms at Design Centre. Also recommended is rising British potter Izzy Lettys Some Kind of Balance exhibition at Studio Pottery London. Letty will be showcasing her new small-batch, one-off tableware pieces inspired by ancient Chinese stem bowls and holding a demonstration evening on 21 September where shell be throwing some of these new designs at the wheel.
Izzy Letty (supplied)
A final design direction were seeing, says German, is Deco Details which harks back to the golden age of the 1920s and '30s. Featuring palm shapes, fans, and arches, this look is highly decorative with sleek geometry and multi-tiered furniture shapes. The colour palette encompasses everything from pastel shades to dramatic navy and gold. If youre enticed by this aesthetic, take a look at bespoke furniture maker Hyde Houses new Miami Collection. The range combines distinctive British craftsmanship with shapes inspired by Miamis ever-sunny Art Deco Historic District, in a playful palette of soft blues and bubblegum pink.
LSAs self-watering planter range is being showcased at the London Design Festival (supplied)
Stop by the debut shop of contemporary lighting brand lights&lamps located in the Shoreditch Design Triangle (145 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JE). There, founders, Niki Wright and Scarlett Hampton, will host a series of LDF panel talks, the first of which The Lowdown on Lighting promises to enlighten the audience on how to build a successful lighting scheme. The brand is also unveiling new lighting collaborations with Elle Decoration and lifestyle influencer, Reena Simon, alongside its core AW23 collection which features Deco details such as sphere-shaped bulbs and shining aged brass.
Finally, at LDF23, creatives continue to remind us that an eco-outlook and aesthetically pleasing design are by no means mutually exclusive. Glassware specialist, LSA International, has partnered with environmental charity, the Eden Project, to craft a Canopy self-watering planter range. The vessels are made from otherwise discarded recyclable glass jars and bottles, and then fitted with a removable, sustainably-sourced cork bung and cord that absorbs water from the lower compartment and carries it up to your plant's roots perfect for forgetful plant parents such as myself.
Contemporary brand lights and lamps are unveiling new designs at the London Design Festival (supplied)
Also pay attention to ongoing initiative Green Grads a platform for recent graduates whose final projects address the looming climate disaster. This year, the organisation will take over a floor of the newly refurbished Heals Building (196 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7LQ) during LDF linking over 50 eco-minded designers of the future with manufacturers, design firms, retailers, and consumers. Visit London Design Festivals Programme 2023 webpage for more sustainability-centred exhibitions, product launches, and design talks.
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Googles Bard, its powerful AI chatbot, can now get into peoples emails and other Google services.
The tool has been linked with Google platforms such as Gmail, Maps and YouTube so that it can provide richer and more useful responses to queries, the company said.
Users can ask the chatbot to automate the work of scheduling meetings through Gmail, for instance.
Google launched Bard earlier this year, seemingly as a response to the huge success of other generative artificial intelligence platforms, such as ChatGPT. It offers many of the same features as that competitor, allowing users to chat in natural language and receive words and information in reply.
The company has now announced a major update to the program, called Bard Extensions, which will allow users to link other Google services to collaborate with Bard to provide a response to a prompt - for example, when asking Bard to help plan a holiday, users can ask Bard to get the dates that work for family members from Gmail, use Google Maps to get directions to the airport and find YouTube videos to watch about the best things to do at the destination.
It said the update made Bard the most capable version of the program so far and would help more people use the app to collaborate.
The tech giant said the update would have a strong focus on user privacy, with users required to actively give permission to Bard to access their Googleservices, and any content lifted would not be reviewable by a human unless the user specifically asked Bard to flag it for review.
In a further expansion of the chatbot, Google said it would now also enable users to double-check the responses they receive from Bard using a new Google it button, which will check the response against linked Google search results and highlight passages it is confident about the validity of, as well as those where it found differing results.
Some experts have raised concerns about the possible spread of misinformation within generative AI platforms, warning some information is being presented to users in an authoritative way when it may be based on inaccurate or outdated information used to train such chatbots.
A report by the UKs Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published on Monday which looked into the potential impact of the AI market noted that without proper guiding principles, people and businesses could be harmed through exposure to significant levels of misinformation and AI-enabled fraud.
In a blog post on the updates to Bard, Googles director for product management of Bard, Yury Pinsky, said: One of the biggest benefits of Bard, an experiment to collaborate with generative AI, is that it can tailor its responses to exactly what you need.
For instance, you could ask Bard to start a trip planning doc for you and your friends, draft up your online marketplace listing, or help explain a science topic to your kids. And now Bard is getting even better at customising its responses so you can easily bring your ideas to life.
Today were launching Bard Extensions in English, a completely new way to interact and collaborate with Bard. With Extensions, Bard can find and show you relevant information from the Google tools you use every day - like Gmail, Docs, Drive, Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights and hotels - even when the information you need is across multiple apps and services.
Elsewhere in the update, Google also confirmed that when a link to a Bard conversation is shared online, others will be able to click on that link and continue the same conversation themselves.
Additional reporting by agencies
Close Jill Biden tested positive for Covid and experienced mild symptoms, per a 4 September statement from the White House.
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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
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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.
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The mother of a man attacked and killed by an XL Bully has made an emotional plea to stop other families facing the same tragedy.
Jonathan Hogg, 37, died in hospital after suffering serious injuries when he was attacked by a dog in May in Leigh, Greater Manchester.
Officers searched two houses and seized 15 dogs, including six adults and nine puppies, believed to be the same breed as that which attacked Mr Hogg, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said. Two people were arrested in connection with the incident and released on bail pending further inquiries.
Since Mr Hoggs death there has been a spate of other attacks by XL Bully dogs, prompting the prime minister to push for a ban on the breed. XL Bullies have been linked to at least two fatal attacks this year and six of the 10 fatal dog attacks in the U.K. last year.
Have you been affected by this story? Email barney. davis@independent.co.uk
The devastated family of the father-of-two have also called for tougher safety regulations surrounding XL Bully dogs, in a post on Facebook.
Mr Hoggs mother Carole wrote: You all know the tragic circumstances in which I lost my precious son to a catastrophic dog attack. There has been so much in the media and so many attacks before and after Jonathan but this cant go on .
So many families are grieving these needless deaths. Something has to change.
I know many people will say these dogs are loving family pets and who am I to disagree. Jonathan loved dogs and wouldnt have seen any danger in them.
Only I and my family know the massive void that Jonathans early death has caused. We miss and love him everyday and his beautiful children who shouldnt have had to lose their daddy in these tragic circumstances. Our lives will never be the same.
I know Rishi wants to ban these dogs due to all the devastating injuries they have caused but surely now should be the time to make sure these dogs are definitely on a lead and muzzled for the safety of everyone.
American XL bully dogs have been blamed for a number of deaths in the UK (stock image)
Mr Hogg was described by his family as being one-in-a-million. In a tribute, Mr Hoggs older brother Ian told the Manchester Evening News: He was my little brother and I loved him to bits. He was one in a million - hed do anything for anybody.
He was bubbly and loud - the loudest person you ever met. His kids are in bits. I dont know what were going to do.
I was in the hospital from 11pm to 5am. It was just horrific, I cant get it out of my head, but the doctors and nurses did everything they could. They were amazing.
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Scotlands First Minister Humza Yousaf is to pledge up to 2.5 million over the next five years to a fund which supports global action on the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
The investment in the Health4Life fund is expected to be announced at an event at the UN General Assembly in New York this week. The fund is co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef).
The First Minister will also meet the director general of the WHO Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus this week. It will be the first time a WHO director general has met with a First Minister of Scotland.
The funding that I am confirming today makes Scotland the first high-income country to support the vital Health4Llife fund - but I very much hope that we will not be the last First Minister Humza Yousaf
Mr Yousaf said: This is a significant step which cements Scotlands role as a global champion in tackling non-communicable diseases, and highlights the important contribution we can make when it comes to tackling health emergencies across the world.
I am very proud to be able to announce our plans to become the first high-income country to contribute to the WHOs Health4Life Fund.
This investment will allow us to support the development of new programmes to improve healthcare and build stronger health systems in Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda.
The WHO predicts that by 2030 non-communicable diseases such as heart attacks, strokes and cancers will be the primary cause of death across sub-Saharan Africa, with around 3.8 million premature deaths.
Scotland has long-standing expertise in delivering action to tackle non-communicable disease domestically, which is why we are well placed to share learning beyond our borders and with partners like the WHO.
The funding that I am confirming today makes Scotland the first high-income country to support the vital Health4Llife fund but I very much hope that we will not be the last.
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Blocking controversial gender reforms in Scotland because of a policy disagreement is inconsistent with the constitutional principles of the UK, the Lord Advocate has argued.
Dorothy Bain KC kickstarted the significant constitutional battle between the UK and Scottish governments in the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Tuesday as she argued against Westminsters use of the Section 35 order of the Scotland Act to prevent the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill gaining royal assent.
In her opening remarks, Ms Bain told the hearing, presided over by Judge Lady Haldane, that Scottish ministers believe the order is unlawful and want it dropped.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack triggered the never-before-used power of the Scotland Act the legislation which established the Scottish Parliament to halt gender laws which sought to simplify the process for trans people to self-identify and obtain a gender recognition certificate (GRC).
It would be inconsistent with the constitutional principle of parliamentary accountability for the UK Government to be able to veto Scottish legislation simply on the grounds of a policy disagreement Dorothy Bain KC
Ms Bain told Scotlands highest court the decision would effectively mean Holyrood was not able to legislate on issues which Westminster disagreed with.
She said: There are those who disagree with the Bill or those who would have legislated differently, or not at all.
It is apparent from the respondents answers that the Secretary of State is within that number.
She went on to argue the decision to use the Section 35 order did not go through adequate scrutiny in the House of Commons, requiring the court to occupy dead ground and stepping into the vacuum to prevent the misuse of executive power.
Ms Bain said: It would be inconsistent with the constitutional principle of parliamentary accountability for the UK Government to be able to veto Scottish legislation simply on the grounds of a policy disagreement.
The Lord Advocate said if the Secretary of State really had concerns about the contents of the Holyrood legislation, he would have raised it during multiple consultations and scrutiny of the Bill in the Scottish Parliament.
She said: If the Secretary of State had such fundamental concerns, it is striking there was not a whisper of them through the various consultations and the earlier stages of the Bills parliamentary process.
Indeed, the UK Government got sight of this Bill and the appropriate supporting documents before the Bill was introduced to the Scottish Government.
However, Lady Haldane interrupted Ms Bain to state that the UK Government did not have a requirement to consult with the Scottish Government prior to the Section 35 order.
Later in the session, the Lord Advocate then went on to address arguments that the Scottish legislation infringed on reserved UK Equality laws, arguing the Bill only alters the process of obtaining a GRC, not the effect of the certificate.
She also said no explanation was given on what the Secretary of State meant when he said the legislation would have adverse effects on UK tax IT systems, arguing Mr Jack should explain his rationale, rather than Scottish ministers to try to work out what he was on about.
Concluding her oral submission to the hearing, Ms Bain said the case raises important questions about the constitutional arrangements which give the Scottish Parliament an unquestioned democratic mandate to legislate within its competence.
She added: It is inconsistent with that basic constitutional structure which was enacted by the UK Parliament to recognise a broad and largely unfettered power to block the legislative choices of the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish legislation seeks to change the age at which a person can obtain a GRC from 18 to 16, and removes the requirement of a gender dysphoria diagnosis.
David Johnston KC, acting on behalf of the UK Government, has began his introductory remarks which will continue into Wednesday afternoon, with the hearing expected to conclude on Thursday.
In a 15-minute opening statement, he said Section 35 was integral to the constitutional distribution of the Scotland Act.
He added: Its an express recognition on the face of the Act on the possibility that devolved policy may have an adverse impact on the operation of the law as it applies to reserved matters.
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street airs sad scenes for Jenny Connor next week as she learns that the Rovers Return will be closed for an extended period.
Jenny learns the news from the manager at Waterford's the firm which recently took over the pub after buying out the Newton & Ridley brewery.
The revelation comes as Jenny and her new partner Stephen Reid make plans to go on holiday to Thailand, where they can get away from everything.
Jenny is unaware that Stephen has an ulterior motive for the trip, wanting to flee from the UK following the discovery of Leo Thompkins' body.
ITV
Related: Coronation Street's Dev Alahan and Courtney Vance in bribe storyline
The Waterford's manager then turns up to announce that The Rovers will be closed for an extensive refurbishment.
The contracts of the existing staff are all terminated with immediate effect much to the shock of Jenny and her team.
Adam Barlow suggests that Jenny could have a case for unfair dismissal, but she may be too distracted to pursue it as she continues to worry about Leo's mysterious death.
Before long, Jenny and Stephen move in with Rita Tanner at her flat. They promise that they won't be bothering her for long, as their trip to Thailand is on the way.
ITV
Related: Coronation Street's Craig announces tragic death in 19 new spoiler pictures
Jenny, Glenda Shuttleworth, Daisy Midgeley, Sean Tully and Gemma Winter-Brown then watch on as the workmen start boarding up The Rovers.
Gemma reveals that she has applied for the deputy manager role with Waterford's. Daisy sees this move as a betrayal, having assumed that this job would go to Jenny.
Check out more of our Coronation Street coverage:
Story continues
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
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The Government has ended the use of bridging hotels for resettled Afghans, a minister has said.
Cabinet Office minister Johnny Mercer told the Commons the Government has met its target, set earlier this year, to relocate around 8,000 resettled Afghans who were at that time being housed across 55 hotels.
More than 85% of Afghan households who were still in bridging hotels at the end of March are now either housed or matched to housing, the Government said, with the remainder being accommodated by local councils or in interim accommodation due to medical reasons.
We have not left Afghan families without a roof over their heads Cabinet Office minister Johnny Mercer
The Government has said the use of bridging hotels for people resettled from Afghanistan had at one point been costing the taxpayer 1 million a day.
Mr Mercer also told MPs the Government will be taking forward plans to source suitable accommodation ahead of facilitating new arrivals.
Making a statement in the Commons, he said: We have not left Afghan families without a roof over their heads.
I continue to work closely with central and local government partners to help the small minority of families in local authority-provided temporary accommodation to find settled accommodation across the United Kingdom.
He said the move to end the use of bridging hotels meant Afghans can now get on with rebuilding their lives and said it represents a fairer deal for the British taxpayer.
Mr Mercer said: At the end of April we began issuing notices to the 8,000 individuals who remained in bridging accommodation, making clear that access to costly hotels would end following a minimum three-month notice period, and encouraging moves into settled accommodation.
I am pleased to confirm that, as of August 31, the Government has successfully ended the use of bridging hotels for legally resettled Afghans.
He added: We also take seriously our commitment to resettling Afghans yet to arrive in the UK, including those eligible for our schemes who are still in Afghanistan.
But our efforts to move people out of hotels has shown how vital it is that they are moved directly into long-term settled accommodation where they can put down roots in the community.
That is why we are taking forward plans to source suitable accommodation ahead of facilitating new arrivals.
Since June 2021, around 24,600 people from Afghanistan have been relocated to the United Kingdom, Mr Mercer told MPs.
I agree with the minister that Afghans should not have been left in bridging hotels, but his Government decided to do that for 18 months. Where is the apology from the minister for that policy of neglect? Shadow defence minister Luke Pollard
Shadow defence minister Luke Pollard told the Commons: I agree with the minister that Afghans should not have been left in bridging hotels, but his Government decided to do that for 18 months.
Where is the apology from the minister for that policy of neglect?
On the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme, he said: Why are there nearly 750 Afghans waiting more than two years for their Arap application to be processed still? And what is the Ministry of Defence doing to get nearly 600 Arap eligible people and their families who are still in Afghanistan out of harms way on the Taliban?
Mr Mercer replied: This Government is committed to delivering our responsibilities when it comes to migration.
We promised we would close bridging hotels by August 31 They are all closed. They are all closed. All the bridging hotels. Nobody has slept rough. Im proud of the team that has delivered it.
Chair of the Local Government Association (LGA), councillor Shaun Davies, said: It is wrong that some families had to leave Home Office-funded hotels only to then end up having to move into temporary accommodation.
With record numbers of households already living in temporary accommodation and an acute shortage of housing across the country, this is adding pressure onto councils and disruption and distress for families.
We are pleased at the willingness of the Government to work closely with the LGA and councils on these issues but it has more to do to ensure a smooth transition for Afghan families which doesnt simply pass costs and responsibility from government to councils.
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Sir Keir Starmer has declined to commit to building HS2 in full if Rishi Sunak abandons plans to build the high-speed rail route to the North.
The Labour leader instead urged the Prime Minister on Tuesday to end the chaos over the future of the project and get on with it.
The Independent revealed last week the government was discussing scrapping the second stage of HS2. Downing Street has refused to guarantee that trains will run from the Midlands to Manchester after scrapping the Leeds legs already as it seeks to save billions.
But confusion also surrounds the position of Labour if it wins the next general election and forms a government amid concerns over the cost.
Labour sources made clear they do not want to go further than the Government by promising to complete the project in full because they would then need to find additional funding.
Asked if he will commit to building the tracks to Leeds, Sir Keir said the Government is at fault for having cast doubt over the infrastructure project.
Weve always supported it and I think the Government needs to end the chaos now, make a statement and make clear that it will hold good on the promises it has made, he told broadcasters during a visit to French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.
The Labour leader added: The only doubt that has been cast now, and the only reason we are having this discussion, is because its now possible that they are going to fail on yet another infrastructure project.
It is understood that Sir Keir wants the Government to build tracks to Leeds as well as Manchester.
Labours blueprint for potential policies to put to voters committed to deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail and High Speed 2 in full.
The National Policy Forum document, agreed by shadow ministers, union leaders and party members, said the move would be unlocking billions in economic growth, creating decent jobs, slashing journey times and increasing capacity.
But Labours campaign co-ordinator, Pat McFadden, said on Sunday that he needs to see what this costs before committing to the full original route as there may be revised costs.
Senior shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds later promised that the party would build the line in full, including to Leeds.
However, shadow Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq went on to raise doubts about the commitment.
I wouldnt be a very responsible shadow Treasury minister if I didnt look at the final costs and if I didnt make sure that the taxpayer was getting that value for money, she told Times Radio.
Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the Tories would be committing a great rail betrayal if the project does not reach the North or central London.
The planned railway was intended to link the capital, the Midlands and the North of England but has been plagued by delays and soaring costs.
Ministers confirmed in March that construction of the Birmingham to Crewe leg of the high-speed railway would be delayed by two years and that services may not enter central London until the 2040s.
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Remnants of Hurricane Nigel will sweep across the UK from the Atlantic later this week to bring more heavy rain in the wake of Hurricane Lee, forecasters have warned.
The tail end of Hurricane Lee has prompted fresh flood warnings in parts of northern England and Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday before it subsides and is replaced by unsettled weather from Hurricane Nigel at the weekend.
Grahame Madge, Met Office spokesperson, said: On Sunday, we will start to see the influence of ex-tropical Hurricane Nigel, which will be offshore in the mid-Atlantic.
These systems have a long reach, it will increase rainfall rates and also winds to bring unsettled weather to the UK.
The Met Office issued yellow weather warnings for rain from Tuesday until 6pm on Wednesday, adding some homes and businesses could face flooding though it is not anticipated to be widespread.
Bus and train services will probably be affected by longer journey times, a forecaster added.
Western regions are expected to see between 50mm to 100mm of rainfall, with higher altitude areas such as Snowdonia in Wales potentially seeing up to 200mm.
Mr Madge said: Although weve indicated that there could be flooding associated with the reasonably high levels of rainfall, thats not something anticipated to be widespread.
Its something that may be a consequence of a catchment that suddenly gets more inundated or there are blockages in drainage.
The showers can be linked to remnants of Hurricane Lee which brought over moisture and higher temperature air to the UK.
Its fair to say that it (Hurricane Lee) has brought more moisture with it, and also higher temperature air, Mr Magde explained.
When this air comes across us (the UK) it will deliver more in the way of rainfall than a normal system.
The yellow warning is not to be compared to the intense amounts of rainfall seen over the weekend when more than 10,000 lightning strikes were recorded across the UK and downpours forced a Butlins holiday resort in Minehead, Somerset, and Exeter Airport to close temporarily.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms may hit parts of the UK on Thursday and Friday but the Met Office said they are not expected to be as severe as those on Sunday.
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The elections watchdog has hit the Liberal Democrats with fines amounting to 3,300 for failing to comply with party finance rules.
Sir Ed Daveys party was investigated for the late reporting of 21 donations, the failure to report two new loans, and the failure to report four changes to existing loans.
The Conservative Party was also fined a total of 600 for the late reporting of four donations.
Electoral Commission director of regulation and digital transformation Louise Edwards said it was disappointing that parties were failing to comply with the rules.
A Lib Dem spokesman said: This was an honest oversight by local parties that rely largely on volunteers.
We continue to offer training to local parties to help ensure reporting deadlines are met.
The Electoral Commission also revealed the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) was fined 1,000 for late reporting, while the Breakthrough Party was hit with a 400 penalty for the late reporting of two donations.
Ms Edwards said: The timely and accurate publication of parties donations and loans is vital to ensuring voters have transparency over how much money parties are raising.
The political finance laws we enforce are there to ensure this transparency.
The laws are clear, so it is always disappointing when they are not met.
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France and Germany are pushing plans to offer Britain and other European countries associate membership of the EU in a move that could rebuild the UKs ties with the bloc.
The two countries have tabled a blueprint that would create four new tiers, with the most aligned states forming an inner circle.
In what will be seen as an olive branch, a new outer tier of associate membership would be open to the UK, laying the ground for a closer economic relationship.
Senior Tories welcomed the proposal with the former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine telling The Independent that Britain must urgently explore the idea as the overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake.
The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe, he said.
But the move prompted a furious reaction from Brexiteers who accused EU countries of desperation in their bid to enlarge the bloc.
News of the plans came after Sir Keir Starmer held talks in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron, the final leg of an international tour designed to portray the Labour leader as a prime minister in waiting.
But as both main parties walk a tightrope over Brexit in the run-up to next years general election, Labour and No 10 ruled out any form of associate membership of the EU.
As he tries to appeal to both pro-remain businesses and Leave voters, Sir Keir at the weekend pledged to secure a much better Brexit deal if he wins the next election, but rejected rejoining the customs union or the single market.
In March the chairperson of the government watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility warned the economic impact of Brexit was the same magnitude as the Covid pandemic and the energy price crisis.
Richard Hughes said Britains gross domestic product, a key measure of a countrys wealth, would be 4 per cent higher if the UK had stayed in the EU.
Under the associate membership plans the UK would be expected to contribute to the EUs annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for participation in the single market.
Associate members, who would form the blocs first outer tier, could include members of the single market who are not in the EU, such as Switzerland, or even the UK, a paper put forward by France and Germany stated.
They would not be bound to ever closer union and further integration, it said.
But they would have to commit to the common principles and values of the EU.
Although they would pay into the EUs budget, costs would be lower than those paid by full members.
Sir Keir said his meeting with Mr Macron began with an exchange of gifts and covered topics including the relationship between our two countries and future prosperity and security.
Sir Keir stressed plans to build on the relationship between France and Britain if Labour wins power.
A European diplomatic source told The Times the plan was designed with Labour in mind, despite Sir Keir having ruled out rejoining the EUs single market.
It is carefully balanced politically to be a potential place for Britain without the need to ever rejoin the EU or to hold a referendum, the source said.
A party spokesperson said: Labour will seek a better deal for Britain. This does not involve any form of membership.
And the prime ministers official spokesperson, asked whether Rishi Sunak would countenance Britain becoming an associate member of the EU, said: No.
Associate membership would not include a customs union, allowing Britain to keep an independent trade policy.
Lord Heseltine told The Independent Britain must urgently explore France and Germanys plan.
He said: The remorseless pressure of public opinion is changing the dynamic of politics.
The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe. This is an opportunity offered by France and Germany which should be seized upon.
The overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake, even those who still believe in it agree it has never been possible to implement it.
The Tories have at least recognised change is needed, firstly with Northern Ireland and the Windsor Agreement and then with Horizon, allowing cooperation on science and technology.
He also suggested that political stances could shift after the next election. While the red wall may be insurmountable on this side of the general election, the pressure of events will push people of both main parties to dare to change and to make permanent links with Europe, he said.
This new plan between France and Germany must be explored urgently.
In response to the plan, the Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, who has previously called for Britain to rejoin the EUs single market, said the UK needs a pragmatic re-engagement with Europe.
As our Brexit deal comes up for formal re-negotiation, we need to explore more avenues for economic advantage, he added.
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, when asked about the potential to join a new outer tier of the EU, said: I like the outer tier that we are currently in.
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost told The Independent Britain should certainly not consider associate membership.
Sir John Redwood, the Tory former trade minister, said that leaving the single market was a crucial part of the Brexit case and rejoining would do huge damage to British industry. He said a great win of Brexit was no longer having to contribute to the blocs budget.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said the idea smacks of desperation at a time when many member states are wondering what this democracy devouring beast is for. He said: The country rejected this once and would do so again.
Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner, told The Independent the UK should see this move as an opportunity to start the process to rejoin the EU.
This onion option, forming part of an outer layer of the EU, is an olive branch from our European neighbours, but we must negotiate cautiously to make sure that we regain at least some of the influence we lost under Brexiteer extremism, she said.
And Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said the proposals were encouraging, although associate membership remains some way off.
Under the plans a second tier for outer members would not include any integration with EU law but would see an upgrade of the European Political Community (EPC), of which Britain is a part. It would include free trade agreements in certain areas such as energy or defence, and would focus on cooperation on important issues such as climate and security.
The paper has been written by an official Franco-German working group on EU institutional reform, made up of experts, academics and lawyers, set up by both the French and German governments earlier this year. The proposals are due to be presented at a monthly meeting of ministers of EU member states.
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The cost of housing asylum seekers has hit 8m a day, the Home Office has revealed, totalling more than 3bn a year.
The figure, in the departments annual report, is a significant increase from a previous cost of 6m per day and comes as the backlog of asylum cases in the UK stands at a record high.
The report states: "We need to stop the boats to relieve the unsustainable pressure on our asylum system and accommodation services, which is costing over 3 billion a year.
"The Illegal Migration Act will ensure anyone arriving illegally can be detained and swiftly removed, so that people know they cannot skip the queue by coming here illegally.
"This goes further than ever before to do what is necessary to fix the issue, but legislative changes take time and there is no single silver bullet.
"In the meantime, we must take action to address the unacceptable costs of housing migrants in hotels which is costing the taxpayer around 8 million a day."
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper blamed the huge hotel bill on the governments asylum chaos.
She said the Conservatives utter failure to get a grip on this issue was costing taxpayers more than 3bn a year.
Ms Cooper said: Shockingly, the cost of hotel accommodation has gone up by a third since Rishi Sunak promised to end hotel use. The Tories have busted the Home Office budget, theyve broken the asylum system, and the British people are paying the price.
Despite the soaring cost of Britains asylum system, the Home Offices director general for migration and borders was given a bonus of up to 20,000 - on top of a 135,000 salary.
Interim Border Force head Phil Douglas was also handed up to 5,000 for good performance on top of a 115,000 salary, the report revealed.
And, in the report, the Home Office warned it is facing a critical risk that it could fail to prevent the loss of lives in the immigration system.
It warned of a risk the department fails to meet a duty of care to look after some of the most vulnerable people in the asylum system, leading to death, serious injury or abuse.
And, in the latest threat to Rishi Sunaks promise to stop the boats, the Home Office report warned of a high risk that Britains partnership with the French does not meet the stated ambition of drastically reducing the number of small boat crossings.
In 2022, 45,755 migrants crossed the channel in small boats, the report said, a 60 per cent increase from a year earlier.
Crossings have been lower so far this year, which the PM has hailed as evidence his crackdown on migration is working, although critics say the dip is due to less favourable weather compared with last year.
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City authorities and Scottish government ministers were chiefly to blame for a litany of avoidable failures, according to an official inquiry into the delayed and over-budget Edinburgh tram project.
Poor management and abdication of responsibility on a large scale have had a significant and lasting impact on the lives and livelihoods of Edinburgh residents, and the reputation of the city, concluded Lord Hardie, the retired judge who chaired the nine-year inquiry.
But his findings were immediately dismissed by Scotlands current transport minister, Mairi McAllan, who said the inquiry itself had been too long and too costly and claimed some of its conclusions were not supported by evidence.
City of Edinburgh Council apologised, saying serious mistakes were made during the scheme, which cost more than double the original estimate and opened in 2014 with a curtailed route and another planned line axed altogether.
Construction of Edinburghs trams caused interminable roadworks (Getty Images)
Contractors and the citys transport quango became embroiled in a bitter and lengthy blame game as the project became mired in delays, while the landmark Princes Street suffered two major and lengthy closures: first to dig up the road and lay the route, then again to fix defective concrete.
Lord Hardies 959-page report said the project had cost even more than previously feared, at 835.7m. Its recommendations include legislation to enable sanctions against individuals or companies who knowingly submit reports that include false statements on the progress or cost of major projects.
There was a litany of avoidable failures on the parts of several parties whose role it was to ensure that public funding was spent effectively and to the benefit of Scotlands taxpayers, and that the Edinburgh Trams project was delivered efficiently, Lord Hardie said.
There was a political dimension to early stages of the project; the SNP, which had wanted to prioritise improvements to the A9 trunk road, had become reluctant supporters of the project, commissioned under a Labour adminstration.
The original business cases for the scheme were also misleading and did not represent the risk allowance, Lord Hardie said, while the decision of SNP minister John Swinney, who became Scotlands finance secretary in May 2007, to scale back the involvement of Transport Scotland, was a mistake.
Scottish Conservative MSP Miles Briggs said the report showed that ministers failed to protect the public purse and acted in the SNPs political interests, rather than the public interest.
Cammy Day, the current leader of City of Edinburgh Council, said: "Theres no getting away from the fact that the original project caused a great deal of disruption to residents and businesses, as well as damaging the citys reputation, and on behalf of the council I want to apologise for this. I wont, however, apologise for building a tram system or for our ambition to develop it further.
The first part of the tram line had flourished in the nine years since it had opened, he said, and the recent extension to Newhaven is extremely popular.
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Senior Tory Lee Anderson broke the parliamentary code of conduct by filming a GB News clip on the roof of the House of Commons, an investigation has found.
The partys deputy chair and MP for Ashfield used both Parliament Square and Whitehall as the backdrop for an advert promoting his show with the broadcaster, asking viewers to get in touch and voice their issues for a chance at appearing on it.
Paid 100,000 per year for the show which comprises eight hours work a week Lee Andersons Real World markets itself as bringing the real world to the Great British public, purporting to allow the silent majority to have their voices heard.
Lee Anderson talks to Jacob Rees-Mogg at GB News during Rees-Moggs show Jacob Rees-Moggs State of The Nation (PA)
Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, launched a probe on 6 July following media reports that Mr Anderson had filmed the commercial for his programme on the parliamentary estate without permission.
On 24 July, he received a complaint that the MP had also used his parliamentary email address to distribute a newsletter to his constituents promoting the same programme.
During the course of the investigation, Mr Anderson reportedly accepted that he had failed to seek authorisation to film on the parliamentary estate, apologised and took responsibility for his decision, the summary published on the UK Parliament website described.
Mr Anderson sought to justify the sending of the newsletter, saying it had been sent from an email distribution platform for which he had paid personally, having used his parliamentary email address when he first set up the account and forgot to change it.
But Mr Greenberg rejected that claim and concluded both the filming and sending of the newsletter amounted to a breach of the rules.
I found that by filming for a commercial purpose on the parliamentary estate 30 without authorisation and by sending a newsletter which appeared to come from a parliamentary email address and included an advertisement for his television programme on the GB News channel, Mr Anderson had breached Rule 8 of the Code of Conduct, Mr Greenberg said.
Mr Anderson has accepted my decision, acknowledged that the breaches occurred, apologised, and given an undertaking that breaches of this kind will not recur.
Mr Anderson first launched the show in June by spoon-feeding fellow Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith baked beans, naming a wokey of the week and featuring as a token lefty ex-Labour MP Simon Danczuk who was suspended after reports he sent inappropriate texts to a teenage girl.
A former Labour councillor before deflecting to the Conservatives, Mr Anderson is known for his controversial comments, having previously called for the return of the death penalty and claimed that people on universal credit were not in poverty.
He has also been dubbed 30p Lee for alleging that meals could be prepared for that sum, suggesting that people using food banks could not budget.
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Gillian Keegan has claimed pupils petitioned her to stay in portacabins because they preferred them to the classroom - as many have been forced into temporary facilities by the crumbling concrete crisis engulfing schools.
The number of schools found to contain dangerous crumbling concrete jumped on Tuesday to 174, with Raac found on 27 additional sites since the end of August.
MPs were told on Tuesday that Almost 250 temporary classrooms have been ordered to help schools in England affected by the Raac crisis.
And addressing parliament the education secretary said the portacabins some pupils are being taught in are very, very high quality.
Ms Keegan said: I have been to a number of schools and seen children and met children in the portacabins.
In the first school I went to the children were all petitioning me to stay in the portacabin because they actually preferred it to the classroom.
The comments come just weeks after Ms Keegan apologised for saying others have been sat on their a***s and suggesting she had done a f***ing good job handling the growing crisis.
As the Department for Education (DfE) published the latest list of schools affected by Raac, it confirmed a total of 23 schools have been forced to adopt some degree of remote learning due to safety concerns over the concrete.
However, pupils in just one school are learning completely remotely, down from four at the end of August.
Many pupils in Britain were forced to resume their studies either online or in temporary facilities after the government ordered more than 100 schools to close over fears about the concrete, described as 80 per cent air and like an Aero Bar.
Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was used to construct schools, colleges, and other buildings between the fifties and mid-seventies in the UK, but has since been found to be at risk of collapse.
In total, the DfE has sent surveys to the bodies responsible for 15,158 schools deemed at risk or Raac, with buildings built between the 1930s and 1990s.
Ms Keegan had called on school leaders get off their backsides and respond to the surveys - as one in 20 had not done so earlier this month.
The response rate has now reached 98.6 per cent.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: We are taking a cautious approach so every parent in England can be reassured their child is safe in their school.
School and local leaders deserve huge credit for making sure the vast majority of settings with confirmed Raac are continuing to offer pupils face-to-face learning including all of the 147 schools initially identified two weeks ago.
We will continue to work closely with affected schools and provide both expert and financial support to minimise disruption and keep staff and children safe.
The top DfE official Susan Acland-Hood told parliaments education committee that the 250 classrooms have been ordered by at least 29 schools in England in response to the crisis.
The schools with Raac identified since the end of August are:
Ark John Keats Academy
Avenue Centre for Education
Baildon Church of England Primary School
Baskerville School
Buttsbury Junior School
Colyton Grammar School
Eldwick Primary School
Farlingaye High School
Farnborough College of Technology
Grantham College
Kingsbury High School
Marling School
Maryvale Catholic Primary School
Merrylands Primary School
Mulberry Stepney Green Mathematics and Computing College
Myton School
Ortu Corringham Primary School and Nursery
Ravens Academy
Selworthy Special School
St Josephs Catholic Voluntary Academy
Steeple Bumpstead Primary School
Stepney All Saints Church of England Secondary School
Surrey Street Primary School
The Link School
The Macclesfield Academy
Marple Sixth Form College (part of Trafford College Group)
Westlands School
The full list can be found on the governments website here:
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Suella Braverman said the government will not save the planet by bankrupting the British people as she confirmed Rishi Sunak is planning to water down some of Britains key green policies despite fury among Tory MPs.
The home secretary blasted the totally unrealistic and punitive green targets set by previous governments, insisting the UK needs to cut emissions in a mature and pragmatic way.
The cost of achieving some of these arbitrary targets has to be taken into account, Ms Braverman said, praising the PM for taking difficult decisions on net zero.
Ms Braverman said planned changes were being made in the interest of economic growth and household budgets.
Her comments come after Mr Sunak sparked a furious Tory row with plans to water down some of Britains net zero pledges.
Cop26 president Sir Alok Sharma said coutnries such as Britain abandoning climate pledges risked leaving the planet on life support.
Former Tory energy minister Chris Skidmore launched a stinging attack on the PM, warning any changes to Britains net zero plans would be potentially the greatest mistake of his premiership.
And in a significant intervention, a member of chancellor Jeremy Hunts economic advisory council Dr Anna Valero, warned the plans would be bad for the UK.
She described the watering down of green policies as yet another example of policy volatility that prevents businesses taking the long term investment decisions needed for a stronger, more resilient and sustainable economy.
The prime minister will use a speech this week to announce a major shift in the partys approach to green policy, saying he wants to achieve net zero in a more proportionate way.
It comes after the BBC revealed changes could be made to as many as seven core commitments, including weakening the plan to phase out gas boilers from 2035 and delaying the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars currently due to come into force in 2030 by five years.
As recently as July, housing secretary Michael Gove said the governments plan to ban new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 - announced by Boris Johnson three years ago - was immovable.
But, confirming the reports, Mr Sunak said: We are committed to net zero by 2050 and the agreements we have made internationally but doing so in a better, more proportionate way.
Our politics must again put the long-term interests of our country before the short-term political needs of the moment.
And Ms Braverman backed the PM on Wednesday, telling the BBC: We need to ensure that we take into account economic growth, household budgets and the cost of living and fundamentally we're not going to save the planet by bankrupting the British people.
These goals are just that, goals, not straitjackets. We need to ensure that we work towards those goals in a sustainable way, in a mature way, in a pragmatic way and I applaud the prime minister for taking difficult decisions, but which are fundamentally in the national interest.
But the move sparked fury among Tory MPs, with some considering submitting letters of no confidence in the prime minister if he goes ahead with the changes.
Mr Skidmore refused to rule out submitting a letter of no confidence in Mr Sunak. Another Tory MP told Sky News they were seriously considering the move.
And Simon Clarke warned Mr Sunak to be exceptionally careful of seeking to extract political advantage on this issue. The ex-minister said the climate is changing dramatically, pointed to overwhelming support for net zero among his constituents in the so-called red wall and said it is in the Tories moral and political interests to make sure we lead on this issue rather than disown it.
Mr Clarke said businesses rely on certainty to make major investment decisions. It is unclear how they are to plan at all if we respond to one byelection in west London by tearing up key planks of government policy, he added.
Mr Sunak has repeatedly deployed the language of pragmatism and proportionality when discussing net zero, but campaigners and activists have charged him with displaying a lack of interest in climate policies.
Tory success in the summers Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election, won largely through a campaign against the expansion of the ultra-low-emission zone, has led some MPs to call for Mr Sunak to water down or abandon Britains net zero pledges.
While Mr Sunak has repeatedly said he is committed to cutting carbon emissions, the granting of new oil and gas licences for the North Sea and recent moves to curb green policies have attracted criticism.
Mr Skidmore, who has been increasingly outspoken on net zero, told reporters: If this is true, the decision will cost the UK jobs, inward investment, and future economic growth that could have been ours by committing to the industries of the future.
It will potentially destabilise thousands of jobs and see investment go elsewhere. And ultimately, the people who will pay the price for this will be householders, whose bills will remain higher as a result of inefficient fossil fuels and being dependent on volatile international fossil fuel prices.
Rishi Sunak still has time to think again and not make the greatest mistake of his premiership, condemning the UK to missing out on what can be the opportunity of the decade to deliver growth, jobs and future prosperity.
Former Tory environment minister Zac Goldsmith, who quit in June with a swipe at Mr Sunaks apathy toward climate change, said net zero is one of the few areas where the UK is really looked up to.
Today Mr Sunak is dismantling that credibility, not by accident but by choice, he said.
Lord Goldsmith questioned the PMs mandate to tinker with the governments net zero policies, saying he took over a party whose last election manifesto could not have been clearer about our commitment to tackle climate change.
His short stint as PM will be remembered as the moment the UK turned its back on the world and on future generations. A moment of shame, he added.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey accused the Conservatives of having trashed the economy of today and said Mr Sunak is now intent on trashing the economy of the future as well.
He added: This latest Conservative chaos is putting hundreds of thousands of jobs at risk across the UK, and leaving families and pensioners paying sky-high energy bills.
And as well as Tory and opposition MPs, Mr Sunaks plans sparked outrage among campaigners and experts, with think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) warning he risked being on the wrong side of history.
Associate director Luke Murphy said any watering down of commitments would be bad for consumers and make us all more reliant on volatile, expensive, imported fossil fuels.
While other countries race ahead, the UK is going into reverse gear, Mr Murphy said.
And, in a bid to grab Downing Streets attention, he said any weakening of the governments climate ambitions would be bad for the Conservatives electoral prospects. The public overwhelmingly support climate action regardless of age, geography, background or voting intention - they want more ambition on climate not less, he said.
Hannah Martin, a co-director of Green New Deal Rising, said: Once again this government has shown that they are hell-bent on breaking their promises and doing nothing to stop climate chaos. Just weeks after the hottest summer on record, Rishi Sunak has decided to ignore science and stoke a culture war.
Rishi Sunak is said to be considering rowing back on net zero pledges (AP)
Whilst global leaders are meeting to discuss how to tackle the climate crisis, he has stayed home to set fire to some of the only remaining climate policies this government had left.
Not only will the UK miss out on the opportunity to create millions of good green jobs and secure our energy future, we will be once again seen as a laggard as we duck out of doing our fair share to tackle the biggest existential crisis we face.
Greenpeace UKs policy director, Doug Parr, said rowing back on such policies would only ensure we stay at the mercy of volatile fossil fuels and exploitative energy companies.
The many scandals we face, like the cost of living, inequality, and the energy crisis, can be fixed with the same solutions we know will tackle the climate crisis. Sunak must explain how we will meet our net zero commitments by rowing back on all of the policies to get us anywhere near it.
And Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said that backpedalling on energy efficiency would only leave the poorest with higher bills. All of this would leave us more dependent on foreign oil and gas, less energy independent, and with investors spooked, putting jobs in the industries of the future in jeopardy, she said.
A government spokesperson said: The government remains completely committed to its net zero commitments, with the UK having cut emissions faster than any other G7 country. Our approach will always be pragmatic and ensure costs are not passed on to hard-working families.
We will not comment on speculation.
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A father whose son died after crashing off a motorway and lay undiscovered for days still has nightmares about the incident, an inquiry has heard.
Lamara Bell, 25, and John Yuill, 28, died after the car they were in left the M9 near Stirling on July 5 2015.
They lay in their Renault Clio for three days before being discovered, despite police previously being alerted to the incident.
Gordon Yuill said that while he knows his son John died quickly, he was denied dignity in death and he believes Ms Bell could have been saved if she had been found sooner.
Mr Yuill told a fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the deaths that he feared his son may have been in a road accident when he and Ms Bell did not return from a camping trip to Loch Earn.
It was unbelievable. We were shocked, we were hurt. John deserved dignity in death and he didn't see it Gordon Yuill, after being told the crash had been reported but not acted on
The others who had been on the trip came to his house at around 4pm on Sunday July 5 to ask if he had seen John as, when they woke, Mr Yuill, Ms Bell and the car they had travelled in were gone.
The FAI, taking place at Falkirk Sheriff Court, heard Mr Yuill also thought it possible his son may have been taken into custody as there was a warrant out for his arrest for a non-appearance at court on a relatively minor matter.
Mr Yuill, 59, phoned police at around 4.40 pm on Sunday July 5 to ask whether his son was in custody but was told there was no record of him.
The inquiry also heard a recording of a call Mr Yuill made to police at 9.30pm to ask again if his son had been arrested.
At that point, the call handler said she would start a missing person report and took details.
She asked Mr Yuill if it was in character for his son to go missing.
He replied: No, its totally out of character. I usually see my son every day and he contacts me every day.
Im increasingly concerned he has had an accident on one of those roads up there.
The inquiry heard that investigations over the next few days found no trace of the couple.
It was not until 12.30pm on Wednesday July 8 that Mr Yuill was told the car containing his son and Ms Bell had been found, and that he was dead and she had been taken to hospital.
Ms Bell, a mother of two, died four days later.
The inquiry heard that later on July 8 police told him that as part of their investigation it had emerged a member of the public called police on the morning of Sunday July 5 to report a car that was off the road, but that no action was taken.
The car was found on July 8 after another person called in to report the matter.
Gavin Anderson KC, senior counsel to the inquiry, read a statement which Mr Yuill gave to the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc), who were investigating the incident, in mid July 2015.
In it, he said: I know John died quickly, however he still lay there for three days. Lamara, to my mind, could have been saved if she had been found on Sunday July 5.
I still have nightmares about it. I want answers about why this happened.
Mr Anderson said: This was your position in July 2015, is that will your position today? to which Mr Yuill replied: Yes.
Brian McConnachie KC, representing Mr Yuill, asked him how he felt when he was told the crash had been reported to police three days before the car was found.
He said: It was unbelievable. We were shocked, we were hurt. John deserved dignity in death and he didnt see it.
Mr Yuill described his son, a father of five, as a loving person, very hard working who loved his children and his family.
The inquiry also heard from Lamaras brother Liam Bell, 27, who described her as an amazing sister and a brilliant mother.
He and his girlfriend went on the camping trip with Mr Yuill, Ms Bell and another friend.
Mr Yuill, who had a provisional licence, drove the group under supervision by a qualified driver, and was described as a considerate driver by Mr Bell.
He told the inquiry that once they had reached their campsite they spent the evening socialising and drinking, and everyone took cannabis apart from his girlfriend.
He said that he heard Mr Yuill and Ms Bell arguing before he went to sleep but did not know what the dispute was about.
In the afternoon, the inquiry had expected to hear more from Mr Bell but Mr Anderson told the inquiry that he was not in a position to give further evidence and it was not his intention to recall him later in the inquiry.
The inquiry then heard recordings of a series of phone calls made to police by Ms Bells mother Diane to report her daughter missing before adjourning for the day.
The FAI comes after the family of Ms Bell was awarded more than 1 million in damages from Police Scotland in a civil settlement in December 2021.
In September 2021, the force was fined 100,000 at the High Court in Edinburgh after it pleaded guilty to health and safety failings which materially contributed to Ms Bells death.
At the time, the court heard Ms Bell pleaded for help after being found and would probably have survived had this happened sooner.
The inquiry, before Sheriff James Williamson, continues.
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The mayors home in the destroyed Libyan city of Derna has been torched by angry protesters, as tensions reached boiling point over last weeks catastrophic flood.
Grief turned to anger as hundreds of mourning civilians gathered outside Dernas iconic al-Sahaba Mosque in protest at the authorities response to the unprecedented rains that ripped through Libyas Mediterranean coastline 10 days ago, destroying two dams above Derna and killing thousands.
Protesters accused the authorities of failing to maintain the dams that protected the city, and failing to evacuate residents before Storm Daniel, describing as disastrous a decision to enforce curfews on areas of the city that ended up being swept out to sea.
Later on Monday evening, protesters set fire to the house of Dernas mayor, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, after he was suspended from his position alongside members of the Derna city council over the catastrophe.
Correspondents for local Libyan channels told The Independent that journalists had been handed orders to leave the city on Tuesday, while others, including foreign reporters, said they were having difficulty securing access. Communications with the city also appear to have been shut down.
Protesters set fire to the house of Dernas mayor, Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, on Monday evening (BBC)
People gather for a demonstration outside the al-Sahaba Mosque in the city (AFP via Getty)
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, insisted that the decision to evacuate journalists was unrelated to the protests and was designed to help rescue teams to carry out their work more easily.
The large number of journalists has become an impediment to the work of rescue teams, he told reporters.
The government administering the east of the country is facing increasing pressure as furious residents of the city believe the disaster which the United Nations has said killed more than 11,000 people could have been prevented.
Officials acknowledge that a contract to repair the dams after 2007 was never completed, blaming insecurity in the area. Libya has been torn apart by warring fiefdoms of militias for more than a decade since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled and killed in 2011.
People who survived the deadly storm that hit Libya protest outside the al-Sahaba Mosque in Derna (Reuters)
Over the weekend, Libyas general prosecutor, al-Sediq al-Sour, opened an investigation into the collapse of the two dams, which were built in the 1970s.
The probe will also look into the allocation of $2m (1.6m) in maintenance funding in 2012 and 2013 despite the repairs not having been completed. But it is unclear how this investigation will proceed, as the country is split between two rival administrations, who are backed by different armed factions and international actors.
A destroyed building in the city of Derna (AFP via Getty)
Over the years, Derna has been in the hands of groups including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda. Since 2019 it has been controlled by the Libyan National Army, which holds sway in the east.
Aid workers who themselves have lost family members in the flooding told The Independent that tensions are mounting in the Mediterranean town, a quarter of which was washed out to sea when the dams collapsed in the unprecedented storm.
One of the biggest concerns is now the spread of deadly diseases, as thousands of dead bodies are still trapped under the sodden rubble, poisoning the area.
The force of the floodwater was strong enough to upend cars (Supplied)
At least 45 districts of the city have been destroyed, making delivery of aid incredibly difficult, said Norhan al-Tshani, a field officer for Danish humanitarian charity Dan Church Aid. Ms al-Tshani alone lost 45 family members 10 of whom were close relatives and 20 neighbours in the tragedy.
The smell is terrible. The biggest problem is the people who are trapped under the rubble it has been 10 days, and it is awful. There is a high risk of disease spreading. Some children are already sick, she said.
Even before the storm, she added, Derna lacked reliable access to clean drinking water, a result of the conflict that has ravaged the area for years.
With homes, hospitals and schools destroyed, people are also thinking about the future. Its a catastrophe, she said.
Libyans protest outside the mosque one week after the deadly floods in Derna (Reuters)
Ms Al-Tshanis own brother, Faris, aged 30, was killed in the flooding and was live on Facebook shortly before died. He filmed himself on his mobile phone reciting Muslim prayers to the camera before the live feed was cut. Later, his body was found.
The wife and three children of her other brother, who were visiting relatives in Derna when the storm struck, were also killed in the disaster. The youngest child was just four years old.
Every family in Derna has lost at least 10 people Norhan al-Tshani, aid worker who lost 45 members of her family
Every family in Derna has lost at least 10 people. We have to work fast to do as much as we can, she told The Independent with desperation in her voice.
Many people were in shock because the disaster was so unexpected.
The authorities asked people to move away from the beaches before the storm hit. A lot of people evacuated from the sea area, further into the city and straight into the path of the waters unleashed by the dams, Ms al-Tshani continued. People were asleep when it hit. It was very confusing. You had calls from people saying they are safe, and then afterwards we learnt their entire building had been washed out to sea.
The full scale of the death toll has yet to emerge, as thousands of people are still missing and officials have given widely varying death tolls. The World Health Organisation has confirmed 3,922 deaths, but the UNs humanitarian aid agency said at least 11,300 people have died while another 10,100 are missing.
An estimated 170 people have been killed in other parts of the country. At last 40,000 people have been displaced.
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Syria's President Bashar Assad will head to China later this week in his first visit to Beijing since the start of his country's 12-year conflict during which China has been one of his main backers, his office said Tuesday.
China has been expanding its reach in the Middle East after mediating a deal in March between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and it continues to support Assad in the Syrian conflict, which has killed half a million people and left large parts of the nation in ruins.
China could play a major role in the future in Syrias reconstruction, which is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. Syria last year joined Chinas Belt and Road Initiative in which Beijing expands its influence in developing regions through infrastructure projects.
Assads office said the Syrian leader was invited by Chinese President Xi JInping for a summit and will head Thursday to Beijing along with a high-ranking Syrian delegation.
Syrias worsening economic crisis has led to protests in government-held parts of the country, mainly in the southern province of Sweida. Syria blames the crisis on Western sanctions and U.S.-backed Kurdish-led fighters who control the countrys largest oil fields in the east near the border with Iraq.
Diplomatic contacts between Syria and other Arab countries have intensified following the Feb. 6, earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria killing more than 50,000 people, including over 6,000 in Syria. Assad flew to Saudi Arabia in May where he attended the Arab League summit days after Syrias membership was reinstated in the 22-member league.
Since Syrias conflict began in March 2011 with pro-democracy protests and later turned into a deadly civil war, Iran and Russia have helped Assad regain control of much of the country.
China has used its veto power at the U.N. eight times to stop resolutions against Assads government, the latest of which came in July 2020. Chinese authorities also closely coordinate with Syrian security services on the presence of thousands of Chinese fighters who are based in Syria mostly in the last rebel stronghold in the northwestern province of Idlib.
Since 2013, thousands of Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from western China, have traveled to Syria to train with the Uighur militant group Turkistan Islamic Party and fight alongside al-Qaida, playing key roles in several battles.
Assad's last and only visit to China was in 2004, a year after the U.S.-led invasion of neighboring Iraq and at a time when Washington was putting pressure on Syria.
Assads office said that his wife, Asma, will accompany him to China this week. Over the past years, Assad has made several trips abroad including visits to Russia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Oman.
____
Mroue reported from Beirut.
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Wildlife officials have captured a black bear that was spotted on Monday at Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.
"In most cases, it is best for bears to be given space and to move along on their own, but given this situation, staff have captured the animal and are relocating the bear out of the park to an area in or around the Ocala National Forest," the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission told ABC News in a statement on Monday.
The agency said the adult, female black bear was likely searching for food in the park.
The surprise sighting of a bear in the land of Mickey Mouse temporarily closed attractions including Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Hall of Presidents, Liberty Square Riverboat, A Pirates Adventure, Tom Sawyer Island, Walt Disney World Railroad including Fantasyland, Frontierland and Main Street.
The bear was reportedly spotted in a tree near Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, prompting Disney employees to stand at locations in the park including Liberty Square and Adventureland to prevent guests from coming into contact with it, Fox Business Network reported.
The are an estimated 4,000 black bears in Florida, the only bear species in the state, according to the FWC.
"The FWC reminds people that if you see a bear, to give it space and never approach or feed it, the agency added in its Monday statement. "Contact the FWCs Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) if you feel threatened by a bear; observe a sick, injured, dead or orphaned bear; or to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them."
A bear sighting temporarily shut down attractions at Walt Disney World in Florida on Monday (REUTERS)
The agency said on its websites that human development means more interactions between bears and people are to come.
"Urban sprawl is encroaching on traditionally remote areas, bringing people into prime bear habitat," the FWC said . "As a result, bears and people are encountering each other more than ever."
The bear spotting isnt the first time an animal has disrupted normal operations at the Florida theme park.
In July, a squirrel was seen running around the Magic Kingdoms Carousel of Progress attraction, a theatre show about developments in technology.
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India has expelled one of Canadas most senior diplomats as claims over the killing of a Sikh separatist leader exploded into a furious tit-for-tat row.
Canada has now briefed key allies, including the US, the UK and France, about its explosive claim that India was behind the assassination of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
Justin Trudeau, in a surprise statement to the Canadian parliament, said on Monday that his country has credible intelligence to believe New Delhi played a role in the shooting of Nijjar by two masked men outside a gurdwara where he led prayers in Surrey, British Columbia.
Canadas foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the country had expelled a senior Indian diplomat working for Indias intelligence agency RAW.
On Tuesday morning India denied any role in Nijjars death and, in a tit-for-tat move, expelled a senior Canadian diplomat. Indias foreign ministry said the diplomat had five days to leave the country. Images have shown Indian police officials securing the premises around the Canadian embassy in Delhi.
Canadian public service broadcaster CBC News quoted a senior government source as saying that Mr Trudeau has provided information about the Nijjar case to Canadas key allies including British prime minister Rishi Sunak, French president Emmanuel Macron and US president Joe Biden.
Canadas foreign minister Ms Joly also said she will discuss the assassination claims with her fellow G7 counterparts during meetings this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Mr Trudeau told parliament that Canadas national security apparatus had reason enough to believe agents of the Indian government carried out Nijjars killing.
Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government, Mr Trudeau said.
Indian policemen secure the premises around the Canadian embassy in New Delhi on 19 September (EPA)
Mr Trudeau said he had personally and directly raised the matter with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Delhi for the G20 summit last weekend. What was already a diplomatically awkward trip was unexpectedly extended by two days after Mr Trudeaus official aircraft broke down.
In a statement on Tuesday morning, Indias foreign ministry confirmed that similar allegations of the countrys alleged involvement in Nijjars killing were made by the Canadian prime minister to our prime minister, and were completely rejected.
Indian policemen secure the premises around the Canadian embassy in New Delhi (EPA)
Allegations of government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law, the statement said.
It also defended the tit-for-tat expulsion of a senior Canadian diplomat. The move reflects Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, it said.
Indian policemen secure the premises around the Canadian embassy in New Delhi (EPA)
Nijjar who advocated for a Sikh homeland through the establishment of an independent Khalistan state had been labelled a terrorist by the Indian government and accused of heading a militant separatist organisation, allegations vehemently denied by his supporters.
The World Sikh Organisation of Canada (WSO), a representative body for Sikh interests, reported that Nijjar had expressed concerns about threats to his life prior to his murder. The WSO said Nijjar had also claimed he was being singled out by Indias intelligence agencies.
A Delhi police officer briefs a group of Indian paramilitary soldiers outside the Canadian High Commission in Delhi (AP)
In a statement, the WSO alleged that several other Canadian Sikhs are also understood to be under threat and are on Indian hit lists.
The significance of todays announcement cannot be understated for Sikhs. Today, the prime minister of Canada has publicly said what Sikhs in Canada have known for decades India actively targets Sikhs in Canada, it said.
An Indian policemen patrols in front of the Canadian embassy in New Delhi (EPA)
Jagmeet Singh, who heads Canadas New Democratic Party, criticised the Narendra-Modi-led Indian government for being one of division, violence, persecution with a known pattern of attacking those who are critical of its actions, according to local media.
Today we learned of allegations that agents of the Indian Government murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar a Canadian killed on Canadian soil. To all Canadians, this is my vow. I will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice, including holding Narendra Modi accountable, he wrote on social media.
Mr Singh suggested a public inquiry into foreign interference, initiated due to accusations of Chinese interference, should also look at India and its activities within Canada.
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The saga surrounding Alex Murdaugh has taken yet another dramatic twist after a random Georgia man was thrust into the centre of the convicted killers bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wifes aunt.
Back on 15 February, Timothy Stone took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been sticking her nose in my business, according to court documents.
Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt terrible about it and deleted it the next day.
He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by Satan.
Little did Mr Stone know that this brief family spat would become central to the so-called trial of the century going on in Colleton County Courthouse and efforts by convicted killer Murdaugh to be granted a new trial for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul.
Earlier this month, Murdaugh filed a motion requesting a new trial on the basis that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case to return a guilty verdict against him.
Central to the bombshell motion was the circumstances surrounding juror number 785 who became infamous as the egg juror when she prompted some light-hearted relief by asking to pick up her dozen eggs from the jury room as she was dismissed from the case hours before deliberations began.
Murdaughs attorneys claim the juror was dismissed from the case after Ms Hill told Judge Clifton Newman about the posts from Mr Stone, claiming that they were made by jurors ex-husband as evidence that she was speaking about the case outside of the courtroom.
Now, in a new court document filed by Murdaughs attorneys on Monday, Murdaughs attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin state that this was a case of mistaken identity.
They say that the Mr Stone behind the posts is simply someone with a similar name to the jurors ex-husband and that the post had nothing to do with anyone associated with this case.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for hearing on state financial crimes charges (AP)
The Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts has given a sworn affidavit to Murdaughs legal team.
Mr. Stone is a resident of Georgia who has a name similar to the name of Juror #785s ex-husband. Mr. Stone was the author of the apology Facebook post, previously submitted as Exhibit E to Exhibit 1, which Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill represented was evidence Juror #785 had discussed the evidence presented at trial with her ex-husband before deliberations began, the document states.
In his affidavit, Mr. Stone avers that he has never been married to Juror #785 and that he has never posted anything to the Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth. He did post what Ms. Hill identified as the apology post by Juror #785s ex-husband but it was posted to his personal Facebook page and not the Walterboro Word of Mouth group.
According to the motion filed earlier this month, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February the day after Murdaugh testified at his trial claiming that she had seen a post in the local Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth from juror 785s former husband Tim Stone.
The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty.
A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by Satan.
When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadnt seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriffs Office personnel had gone to Mr Stones house and that he had confirmed he made the post.
She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty to which she said she had not made up her mind.
Murdaughs attorneys claim that the original post was fictitous and that a download of Mr Stones Facebook shows he did not make either post.
The Facebook post which was said to have been posted by a jurors ex-husband (THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In the Court of Appeals)
After the prosecutions closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again.
The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury just hours before jury deliberations began.
During her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case.
Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the jurors tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property.
The motion from Murdaughs attorneys included affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who denied ever making the posts.
Disgraced legal scion Murdaugh made several other damning accusations against Ms Hill as he accused her of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal.
In the motion, Murdaughs attorneys claim that Ms Hill tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaughs testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.
Specifically, they claim that the clerk instructed jurors not to be misled by evidence presented by the defence and told jurors not to be fooled by Murdaughs testimony when he took the stand.
She allegedly instructed the jury to watch him closely, to look at his actions, and to look at his movements on the stand something at least one juror said they understood to mean that Murdaugh was guilty.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilsons office responded to the allegations on Friday, saying that investigators probing the accusations had already found significant factual disputes with the claims.
The prosecutors did not outline what the factual disputes may be but pointed to the number of media interviews made by Mr Griffin and Mr Harpootlian about the motion.
The latest twist comes the same day that Murdaugh reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges after he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients.
In the agreement, signed on Monday, the double murderer will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
Murdaugh is facing more than 100 state and federal charges over the multi-million-dollar fraud scheme.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill swears in witness at Murdaugh trial (AP)
While he has reached a deal on the federal charges, he is heading to trial on the state charges in November.
Murdaugh appeared in court last week for a hearing on the state charges which include stealing more than $4m from the family of his dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who died in a mystery trip and fall at the family estate in 2018.
It marked the first time that he was seen in court since his sentencing at his murder trial.
Former friend and alleged co-conspirator Cory Fleming was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges.
Meanwhile, former friend and Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte is also awaiting trial.
Murdaugh is also facing charges over a botched hitman plot where he claims he paid an accomplice to shoot him dead two months after Maggie and Pauls murders.
For now though, Murdaugh is behind bars at the McCormick Correctional Institution in South Carolina where he is serving two life sentences for his wife and sons murders.
Maggie and Paul were found shot dead on the familys 1,700-acre Moselle estate back on 7 June 2021. Alex Murdaugh had called 911 claiming to have found their bodies.
During his high-profile murder trial, jurors heard how Paul was shot twice with a 12-gauge shotgun while he stood in the feed room of the dog kennels on the affluent familys 1,700-acre Moselle estate. The second shot to his head blew his brain almost entirely out of his skull.
After killing Paul, prosecutors said Murdaugh then grabbed a .300 Blackout semiautomatic rifle and opened fire on Maggie as she tried to flee from her husband.
During the dramatic six-week trial, Murdaugh confessed to lying about his alibi on the night of the murders but continued to claim his innocence of the killings.
The jury didnt agree and the disgraced legal scion was convicted in March of the brutal murders.
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Convicted killer and disgraced legal dynasty heir Alex Murdaugh has reached a plea deal with federal prosecutors on a string of financial fraud charges admitting that he stole millions of dollars from law firm clients for his own personal benefit.
In the agreement, signed and filed in South Carolina US District Court on Monday, the double murderer confirmed he will plead guilty to 22 federal charges including wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.
While Murdaugh admitted to stealing millions from clients during bombshell courtroom testimony at his murder trial, this marks the first time that he has ever pleaded guilty to committing a crime.
Now, he faces up to 30 years in federal prison on some of the charges.
Under the agreement, federal prosecutors have agreed that the sentence would be served concurrently with any state conviction on the same charges.
The plea deal must be approved by a federal judge before it can go into effect.
If approved, it means that Murdaugh will likely remain behind bars for a long time even if he wins his fight to be granted a new trial on murder charges.
In total, Murdaugh is facing more than 100 state and federal charges over his vast multi-million-dollar fraud scheme which went on for more than a decade.
According to prosecutors, Murdaugh worked with co-conspirators and friends ex-attorney Cory Fleming and ex-Palmetto State Bank CEO Russell Laffitte to swindle clients out of millions of dollars.
Among the victims was the family of Murdaughs dead housekeeper Gloria Satterfield who died in a mystery trip and fall at the family estate in 2018.
Murdaugh allegedly stole more than $4m in a wrongful death suit payout from the family.
Fleming and Laffitte have already been convicted in federal court for their parts in the convicted killers white collar fraud scheme, with the former sentenced to four years and the latter to seven years.
Alex Murdaugh at a hearing on state financial charges last week (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
While Murdaugh has reached a deal on the federal charges, he is heading to trial on the state charges in November.
The convicted killer appeared in court last week for a hearing on the state charges in what marked the first time that he was seen in court since the sentencing at his murder trial.
Fleming was also in court that day where he was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to the charges. Meanwhile, Laffitte is also awaiting trial on the state charges.
The latest development in the federal financial cases comes as yet another dramatic twist emerged in the murder case with a random Georgia man thrust into the centre of the convicted killers bid for a new murder trial thanks to his now-deleted Facebook rant about his wifes aunt.
Earlier this month, Murdaugh filed a motion requesting a new trial on the basis that Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill allegedly pressured jurors on the case to return a guilty verdict against him.
Central to the bombshell motion was the circumstances surrounding juror number 785 who became infamous as the egg juror when she prompted some light-hearted relief by asking to pick up her dozen eggs from the jury room as she was dismissed from the case hours before deliberations began.
Murdaughs attorneys claim the juror was dismissed from the case after Ms Hill told Judge Clifton Newman about the posts from Timothy Stone, claiming that they were made by jurors ex-husband as evidence that she was speaking about the case outside of the courtroom.
Now, in a new court document filed by Murdaughs attorneys on Monday, Murdaughs attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin state that this was a case of mistaken identity.
They say that the Timothy Stone behind the posts is simply someone with a similar name to the jurors ex-husband and that the post had nothing to do with anyone associated with this case.
Alex Murdaugh appears in court for hearing on state financial crimes charges (AP)
The Mr Stone behind the Facebook posts has given a sworn affidavit to Murdaughs legal team.
In it, he said that on 15 February he took to his Facebook page to fume that the family member had been sticking her nose in my business, according to court documents.
Mr Stone said he made the post in response to a private argument between the pair and then later felt terrible about it and deleted it the next day.
He then posted an apology on his account the next day, saying that he was driven by Satan.
Mr. Stone is a resident of Georgia who has a name similar to the name of Juror #785s ex-husband. Mr. Stone was the author of the apology Facebook post, previously submitted as Exhibit E to Exhibit 1, which Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill represented was evidence Juror #785 had discussed the evidence presented at trial with her ex-husband before deliberations began, the document states.
In his affidavit, Mr. Stone avers that he has never been married to Juror #785 and that he has never posted anything to the Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth. He did post what Ms. Hill identified as the apology post by Juror #785s ex-husband but it was posted to his personal Facebook page and not the Walterboro Word of Mouth group.
According to the motion filed earlier this month, Ms Hill had gone to Judge Newman on 27 February the day after Murdaugh testified at his trial claiming that she had seen a post in local Facebook group Walterboro Word of Mouth from juror 785s former husband Tim Stone.
The Facebook post which was said to have been posted by a jurors ex-husband (THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA In the Court of Appeals)
The post purportedly claimed that the juror was drinking with her ex-husband and, when she became drunk, she expressed her views on whether Murdaugh was innocent or guilty.
A follow-up post from an account called Timothy Stone apologised for the post saying that he was driven by Satan.
When Ms Hill confronted the juror about the posts, the juror said she hadnt seen her ex-husband in 10 years, the motion states. Ms Hill allegedly told the juror that SLED and Colleton County Sheriffs Office personnel had gone to Mr Stones house and that he had confirmed he made the post.
She then allegedly asked juror 785 whether she was inclined to vote guilty or not guilty to which she said she had not made up her mind.
Murdaughs attorneys claim that the original post was fictitous and that a download of Mr Stones Facebook shows he did not make either post.
After the prosecutions closing argument on the morning of 1 March, juror 785 said that the court clerk asked her again about what her verdict would be. When the juror said she thought prosecutor Creighton Waters closing statement was good but that she had questions because the murder weapons have never been found, Ms Hill allegedly told her that everything Mr Murdaugh has said has been lies and that I should forget about the guns, they will never be seen again.
The juror said that around 10 minutes later, she was dismissed from the jury just hours before jury deliberations began.
Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill swears in witness at Murdaugh trial (AP)
During her dismissal, she was accused of having spoken to at least three people about the case.
Outside of the Facebook post and her ex-husband, the court was contacted by a co-worker of the jurors tenant who said that the tenant said her landlord was a juror and had expressed an opinion when delivering a fridge to the property.
The motion from Murdaughs attorneys included affidavits from juror 785 and her former husband Tim Stone, who denied ever making the posts.
Disgraced legal scion Murdaugh made several other damning accusations against Ms Hill as he accused her of tampering with the jury at his high-profile double murder trial because she was driven by fame and a desire to secure a book deal.
South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilsons office responded to the allegations on Friday, saying that investigators probing the accusations had already found significant factual disputes with the claims.
The prosecutors did not outline what the factual disputes may be but pointed to the number of media interviews made by Mr Griffin and Mr Harpootlian about the motion.
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Billy Chemirmir would pose as a healthcare aid or maintenance worker man in order to force his way into the homes and senior living centres of the unsuspecting, elderly women he preyed on in the Dallas area over a two-year span, smothering them with a pillow and stealing their valuables.
Time after time, their deaths were initially determined to be from natural causes, even as family members raised the alarm about missing jewelry.
It wasnt until a 91-year-old woman survived an attack in 2018 that Chemirmir was ultimately caught. The woman told police he had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took off with her jewelry.
The next day, police found Chemirmir clutching jewelry and money, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box. The attack and the findings inside the jewelry box opened a door to a disturbing pattern of suspicious deaths of elderly women in the area.
In October 2022, Chemirmir learned he would be living the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted in two of the killings, with one ending in a mistrial. The prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.
Chemirmir was also accused of killing dozens of other women and later indicted on 22 capital murder charges: 13 in Dallas County and nine in Collin County. But he escaped death once again last month when prosecutors in Collin County said that after the two convictions, they would not seek the death penalty in their cases.
Some of the victims family members who previously faced an expressionless Chemirmir at his sentencing, told him that the ultimate crime did not receive the ultimate punishment.
On Monday, Chemirmir was found dead in his prison cell, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Hannah Haney. He was 50 years old.
Ms Haney said that Chemirmirs cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant, but said she couldnt release the cellmates identity or how Chemirmir was killed.
Billy Chemirmir ( 2022 Shafkat Anowar // The Dallas Morning News)
Chemirmir, who had always maintained his innocence, was serving two sentences of life without the possibility of parole at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, located about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
Last week, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said it was implementing lockdown measures in response to a rise in dangerous contraband and drug-related inmate homicides, The Associated Press reported.
At the time of that announcement last Wednesday, the department said there had been 16 inmate-on-inmate homicides so far this year.
With the lockdown, the prisons were limiting the movement of inmates and their contact with outsiders. In addition, inmates and staff were undergoing intensified searches. A heightened drug testing protocol was also implemented.
Ms Haney said that the Office of Inspector General is investigating his death.
Suspected serial killer Billy Chemirmir killed in prison
How a jewelry box led to Chemirmirs arrest
Chemirmir was caught when Mary Annis Bartel, 91, survived an attack in 2018 and told police that the man had forced his way into her home at Parkview Elderly Assisted Living facility in Frisco, a community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took her jewelry.
Ms Bartel, who died in 2020, described in a taped police interview that Chemirmir had appeared suddenly at her door and was wearing green rubber gloves as he forced her to the ground and held a pillow over her face.
Police said they found Chemirmir the following day in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box.
Documents in the jewelry box led them to the home of Lu Thi Harris, 81, who was found dead in her bedroom.
After Chemirmirs arrest, police across the Dallas area re-examined deaths, and the charges against him grew. Many of the victims children have said they were left perplexed by the deaths at the time, as their mothers, though older, were still healthy and active.
Chemirmir was convicted in the killing of 87-year-old Mary Brooks
Chemirmirs first capital murder trial was for the slaying of Lu Thi Harris, but it ended in a mistrial in Dallas County.
He was later convicted in a retrial for Harris death and was then convicted of a second killing in the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
Authorities initially believed Brooks had died of natural causes, though family raised the alarm that many of her favourite pieces of jewelry was missing.
Her shopping bags were left on the counter, and a coral necklace and several diamond rings were gone, prosecutors said.
In affidavits, police have said that surveillance footage placed Chemirmir at a Walmart store at the same time that Mary Brooks had been shopping there, a day before her body was found.
Portraits of the victims of Billy Chemirmir are displayed on chairs ahead of victim impact statements in Chemirmirs trial in October ( 2022 Shafkat Anowar // The Dallas Morning News)
What did the victims families say to Chemirmir?
Fifteen of the victims families faced Chemirmir in court after he was convicted and sentenced in Dallas County in October.
Some of the families offered forgiveness while others said they felt like the full extent of justice wasnt served.
We are choosing to forgive you, Lu Thi Harris granddaughter, Karen Vuong, said in a prerecorded video. That doesnt mean that we dont think you deserve to feel and experience the consequences of your actions. We still think that you do.
But Cheryl Bixler Pangburn, whose mother Marilyn Bixler was killed at Parkview Frisco in 2017, told Chemirmir the ultimate crime did not receive the ultimate punishment.
And therefore, ultimately, some of us will never feel like you got the justice that you deserved, she said.
In Ellen French Houses victim impact statement, she told Chemirmir that she wanted him to see two photos of her mother: one of Norma French alive, the other after the 85-year-old was killed.
This is my beautiful mother, House said as she displayed the first photo. This is my mother after you pried her wedding ring off of her finger that she couldnt even get off.
Who was Billy Chemirmir?
Chemirmir told police during interviews that he had worked as a caregiver and security guard, and made money buying and selling jewelry.
During a phone interview from jail in 2021, Chemirmir denied all the charges against him and told The Dallas Morning News that he was 100 per cent sure I will not go to prison.
I am not a killer, Chemirmir told the newspaper at the time. Im not at all what theyre saying I am. I am a very innocent person. I was not brought (up) that way. I was brought (up) in a good family. I didnt have any problems all my life.
Chemirmir previously told the media he was born and raised in Kenyas Rift Valley and that hes the son of a wealthy farmer. Chemirmir said he began working as a caregiver in Kenya and he moved in 2003 to the US, where he sold cars and began working as a senior caregiver in Dallas.
According to The Associated Press, he had worked as a nurse in his native country of Kenya, but appears to not have been legally working in healthcare in the US.
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A man convicted of two murders and suspected of slaughtering at least two dozen other women was found dead in his Texas state prison cell early Tuesday.
Billy Chemirmir, 50, had been serving two life sentences without parole in the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony near Palestine when he was attacked. His cellmate, who has not been named, was identified as the assailant, officials with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said. Its unclear how Chemirmir died.
The TDCJ told NBC5 that the Office of Inspector General is investigating Chemirmirs death. No further details were released.
In October 2022, Chemirmir was found guilty of capital murder in the death of 87-year-old Mary Brooks. His first murder trial for the slaying of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris ended in a mistrial in Dallas County.
Police have said Chemirmir preyed on older women, targeting them inside their homes or senior living centers where he would smother them with pillows and steal their jewelry and valuables.
Authorities initially believed Brooks had died of natural causes, even though family raised alarm bells that many of her favourite pieces of jewelry was missing. Her shopping bags were left on the counter, and a coral necklace and several diamond rings were gone, according to prosecutors.
It was only weeks later when Chemirmir was arrested for a separate attack that police began to suspect his involvement.
In that case, Mary Annis Bartel, 91, told police that a man had forced his way into her apartment at Parkview Elderly Assisted Living facility in Frisco, attempted to smother her with a pillow and stole her jewelry, the Associated Press reported.
Ms Bartel, who died in 2020, described in a taped police interview that Chemirmir had appeared suddenly as she opened her front door a man wearing green rubber gloves before forcing her to the ground and holding a pillow over her face.
Documents found in a box the murder suspect was attempting to dispose of led police to the home of 81-year-old Lu Thi Harris, who was found dead in her bedroom, lipstick smeared on her pillow, the Associated Press reported.
As more unexplained deaths came to light, authorities in Texas said they were planning to review hundreds of deaths previously thought to have been due to natural causes.
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After five decades of agony for the family of a nine-year-old girl who was raped and killed, police have identified the culprit of the heinous crime.
Debbie Lynn Randall vanished in mid-January of 1972. Her body, which had been raped and strangled, was found 16 days later after thousands of people banded together to search for the missing girl.
She was thought to have been abducted from a nearby laundromat in Marietta and was found near an intersection of Windy Hill and Powers Ferry Road in Marietta, Georgia.
For decades, the family never learned who did this to the nine-year-old, with her parents dying before they ever got to know the truth.
In 2022, a piece of cloth that was recovered from the crime scene was sent to forensics for further analysis after police obtained more DNA testing funding. DNA Labs Internation conducted further testing and found a potential match for the killer, and contacted the family to provide additional DNA samples for comparison. The man they finally landed on was identified as William Rose, someone who was never on police radar at the time.
William Rose, however, will never face justice for his crime, as he died by suicide in 1974, two years after he killed Debbie.
He was 24 at the time of the murder and would have been around 75 if he were still alive.
Debbies mother died of leukaemia in 2018 and her father died only last year, however, her brother, Melvin Randall was at the news conference to hear who the person was who killed his sister.
"My family appreciates everything theyve done - all the time and the effort that theyve done to bring to a close." Mr Randall said. "I wish my mother was here, but I know she knows in heaven that its finally over."
William Rose was 24 when he raped and strangled Debbie Lynn Randall, he killed himself two years later (Cobb County DA)
Debbie went to the laundromat half a block away from her house with her stepfather at around 7pm, but he left before her, reports WAFB.
Around 8.30pm Debbies mother became concerned about her whereabouts and went out the laundromat to try and find her, but an employee said she left an hour before.
Two local youths said that a dark pickup truck backed up in a parking lot near the girls home and drove away quickly. All that was left in the parking lot was spilt laundry detergent.
While Rose did not live in the area, he likely often visited the the community because he had relatives there, Ron Alter, a cold case investigator with the district attorneys office said.
Melvin Randall, Debbies brother, says he has forgiven William Rose for what he did to his sister (Fox 5)
"If he drove by, Im sure he saw her. I believe that was a crime of opportunity. He saw her by herself and abducted her," Mr Alter said.
He also confirmed that Rose had prior arrests for alcohol-related incidents. Mr Alter said its possible Rose killed himself because he was afraid of being caught or going to jail.
It was thanks to new technological advances in DNA testing that justice and peace were given to this family after all this time
"It may take us some time, but with the new technologies that are coming out every day, were going to do everything we can to solve our cold cases, to make sure we bring people to justice," Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Broady said.
As for Debbies surviving brother, he says that he has forgiven Rose for what he did to his sister. I learned over the years that it does you no good to hate or hold grudges, he said.
Whether or not a person is religious, sainthood is likely to be a familiar term.
The names of saints are found in the names of holidays and cities around the world, in the lyrics of songs and in popular expressions. Many saints are individuals who lived during the earliest days of Christianity. Even the most recent saint of the Catholic Church, Pope John Paul II, was born in 1920 and died in 2004.
While many can seem to belong to a distant era, a recent exhibition and lecture at St. Bridget of Sweden Parish celebrated a millennial known as Blessed Carlo Acutis. While not an official saint yet, he lived a life that continues to inspire believers around the world.
From Sept. 14 through the 16, visitors were welcomed to the St. Bridget of Sweden school gymnasium for The Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles, a collection of dozens of posters explaining various miracles that took place around the world. Cataloguing these events was the project to which Blessed Carlo dedicated himself. Also present were relics sacred objects blessed by their relationship to the young man whose brief life was dedicated to the mystery of faith.
Carlo Acutis was born in 1991, the only child of wealthy Italian parents. From an early age, he showed a fascination with attending church services and living a life of goodness, according to Eileen Wood, a volunteer at her own church in Tewksbury, Massachussets, who travels the region sharing the exhibition.
Per Wood, Carlos parents were not particularly devout. But Carlo, in part thanks to his Polish nanny, began attending regular Masses from an early age. He showed great compassion for the poor, for animals, and stood out in school as being unwilling to participate in the crude fun of his peers.
He defended people who were being bullied, but he was never judgmental in his ways, Wood said.
Carlo struggled with his weight at times, due to a love of Nutella, but used that temptation to seek a life of moderation. This included, Wood said, limiting playing video games to just one hour per week.
Coming from wealth, he often donated meals and clothing to the poor of Milan, where the family lived.
Though an avid student of religion, Wood said Carlo was not an outstanding performer in school, except in the area of computer science.
Using that talent, and starting at the age of 11, Carlo designed a website documenting eucharistic miracles, referring to the Catholic belief that wafers and wine used in services are the body and blood of Jesus Christ.
Carlos website continues today, with versions now available in more than a dozen languages, including Swahili, Urdu and Vietnamese.
The project originally contained 159 separate posters, which Carlo researched and prepared, often by conducting his own travels. It now describes 187 different miracles from around the world.
At the age of 15, Carlo was sick to begin the school year. It soon turned out that his illness was more severe than originally thought, and he swiftly succumbed to a rare form of leukemia. Wood said he seemed to know that death was near for him. A young man whose sole goal was to enter heaven without any stop in purgatory reassured his parents that he had faith.
After he passed, Wood noted, his parents welcomed a set of twins, a girl and a boy. God often writes straight with crooked lines, she said.
Because of his extraordinary commitment to that faith, Carlo is known today as blessed, having been officially beatified by Pope Francis. This gives him a status that Reverend Jeffrey Romans of St. Bridget of Sweden points out is similar to that of Father Michael McGivney, a local boy made good.
Advocates such as Wood continue to work with Carlos parents and others to advance the cause of his sainthood, a process that requires verification of another miracle by a Vatican postulator.
Wood spoke of one such miracle attributed to Blessed Carlos intercession, which occurred in Brazil and led to the healing of young boy.
Father Romans notes that we dont worship saints or relics but we venerate them because we admire the way God worked in their lives. Healings that may happen often happen because God is at work through the intercession of the saint.
The saints were normal people that lived life and faced challenges and difficulties, they didnt fall out of the sky. I encourage people to read about the lives of the saints because they can be great examples to all of us as we walk this journey, Romans adds.
Blessed Carlo is certainly a reminder that all of us are called to aspire to sainthood and to be holy, he continued.
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On 24 August 2019, Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store, listening to music and wearing a ski mask, in Aurora, Colorado when a 911 caller reported him as looking sketchy a call that would lead to the death of the 23-year-old and a social uprising against how race plays a role in policing.
Police spotted McClain who was not armed and had not committed any crime and put him in a neck hold. Paramedics then arrived at the scene and injected the young man with ketamine.
He died three days later.
Now, just over four years after the incident, the trial of two Aurora police officers Randy Roedema and Jason Rosenblatt who had interacted with McClain is drawing to a close.
The trials of a third officer and the two paramedics are also expected to happen later this year.
Why did the trial happen now?
The first coroners report in November 2019 said that the manner of death was undetermined, contributing to a local district attorneys decision against pursuing charges against the officers involved in the incident.
In response, Mari Newman, the lawyer representing McClains family told Denver7 ABC, Whatever the report says, its clear that if the police had not attacked Elijah McClain, he would be alive today.
But the incident generated significant public backlash. In June 2020, an online petition demanding that the three officers involved be held accountable circulated, garnering nearly 6 million signatures. A GoFundMe page for McClain raised over $2m.
Trial in Elijah McClain Case Begins
Then, in June 2020, Colorado Gov Jared Polis signed an executive order designating a special prosecutor to determine whether the facts support prosecution, criminally prosecute any individuals whose actions caused the death of Elijah McClain.
The coroner provided an amended version in July 2021, writing that she believed the tragic fatality is most likely the result of ketamine toxicity.
Shortly thereafter, in September 21, a grand jury indicted three officers and two paramedics involved.
A Colorado district judge ordered three separate trials for the five defendants, and now jury selection is underway for the trial of Mr Roedema, a suspended officer, and Mr Rosenblatt, who was fired in the wake of the incident.
The trial of Roedema and Mr Rosenblatt began last month. Following almost three weeks of testimony, jurors began deliberations at around 4.30pm on Tuesday afternoon, following closing statements from prosecutors and the defence. The state arguing that the officers used excessive force and failed to follow their law enforcement training.
They were trained. They were told what to do. They were given instructions. They had opportunities, and they failed to choose to de-esclate violence when they needed to, they failed to listen to Mr McClain when they needed to, and they failed Mr McClain, prosecutor Duane Lyons told jurors.
The defence meanwhile argued that the fault lay with the paramedics for injecting McClain with a fatal dose of ketamine.
On Thursday October 12, jurors found Roedema guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault by the 12-person jury. Mr Rosenblatt was found not guilty.
Who was Elijah McClain?
McClain was a 23-year-old massage therapist. He had reportedly earned his GED from Emily Griffith Technical College in Denver and became a massage therapist at 19.
Friends and family described him as a gentle person to humans and animals. He taught himself to play guitar and violin, and would play his violin for cats in a rescue shelter during his lunch breaks, The Cut reported.
I dont even think he would set a mouse trap if there was a rodent problem, his friend Eric Behrens told the Sentinel. Another friend and former client Marna Arnett called McClain the sweetest, purest person I have ever met, she added, He was definitely a light in a whole lot of darkness.
He wanted to change the world, his mother, Sheneen McClain, told the outlet. And its crazy, because he ended up doing it anyway.
Who were the officers and paramedics involved?
A grand jury indicted five involved in the incident.
Two Aurora Police officers, Randy Roedema and Nathan Woodyard, and one former officer, Jason Rosenblatt, as well as former paramedics Jeremy Cooper and Peter Cichuniec were each indicted on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
According to the 32-count indictment, Mr Woodyard placed the 23-year-old in a carotid hold, while Mr Roedema, the senior patrol officer on the scene, placed him in a bar hammer lock; he said he heard McClains shoulder pop three times as a result of the movement.
Mr Roedema and Mr Rosenblatt were each indicted on one count of assault and one count of crime of violence. Mr Rosenblatt was fired not for his interaction with McClain directly, but for laughing at a photo sent to him from a fellow officer reenacting a neckhold that resembled the one used on McClain.
Three officers posed at the scene of McClains death reenacting a chokehold (Aurora Police Department)
Mr Woodyard was also allegedly sent the photo, but didnt react to it and deleted it. He stopped McClain for supposedly looking suspicious and is set to go on trial later this year.
The paramedics were each indicted on three counts of assault and six counts of crime of violence. Neither Mr Cooper nor Mr Cichuniec took McClains vitals, try talking to the 23-year-old, or touch him before diagnosing him with a widely disputed medical condition called excited delirium, prompting them to administer ketamine, according to the indictment.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
In May, a national organisation of coroners became the latest to denounce excited delirium, which is often cited as a cause of death by police in instances of violence from officers against community members. The National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) announced they would cease recognising the condition.
What happened to Elijah McClain?
Bodycam footage which was released months after the encounter captured the officers interacting with the 23-year-old.
An officer approached McClain, who was listening to music, and demanded he stop walking. Eventually, he complied, as an officer apparently said he was stopping McClain for looking suspicious.
When the officers tried to grab McClain, he resisted, saying, I am an introvert. Please respect the boundaries that I am speaking.
The officers repeatedly told McClain to stop tensing up.
Sheneen McClain, Elijahs mother (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Moments later, McClain was brought to the ground and held in a carotid hold. He can be heard moaning, sobbing, repeating that it hurts and pleading with the officers to stop.
McClain then tried to turn to his side to vomit, prompting an officer to say: If you keep messing around, Im going to bring my dog out here and hes going to bite you.
The 23-year-old vomited, and apologized. I wasnt trying to do that, he says. I just cant breathe correctly.
According to a report from an independent panel, the paramedics waited almost seven minutes after arriving to interact with Mr. McClain, and their first contact was to administer the sedative ketamine.
He suffered from cardiac arrest on his way to the hospital and died a few days later.
The autopsy revealed that he was 5ft 6in tall and weighed just 140 pounds. The coroners amended report said, Simply put, this dosage of ketamine was too much for this individual and it resulted in an overdose I believe that Mr. McClain would most likely be alive but for the administration of ketamine.
The aftermath
McClains parents reached a $15m settlement with the city of Aurora. I hope Elijahs legacy is that police will think twice before killing another innocent person, his father, LaWayne Mosley, said after the settlement was announced.
Former officer Jason Rosenblatt, left, and Aurora Police Officer Randy Roedema, right, at an arraignment at the Adams County Justice Center in Brighton, Colorado in January 2023 (2023 The Denver Post, Medianews Group)
There is nothing that can rectify the loss of Elijah McClain and the suffering his loved ones have endured, Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson said at the time. I am committed to learning from this tragedy.
The 23-year-olds death occurred around the same time as the deaths of Breanna Taylor and George Floyd, who were also Black Americans killed at the hands of police. Together and separately, the deaths propelled protests and sparked demands for police reform.
And at least in Colorado, some policies were reformed. In 2020, the state banned police from using neck holds. The Colorado health department prohibited paramedics from implementing ketamine for those supposedly experiencing excited delirium, like in the case of McClain.
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Zoila Dominici was on her way to Divino Nino daycare for an early pick-up on 15 September when she received the tragic news. Just a month shy of his second birthday, Ms Dominicis son Nicholas was pronounced dead at the Bronx home-based daycare centre.
Nicholas grief-stricken parents and the Kingsbridge Heights community are now grappling with the disturbing reality surrounding the little boys sudden death he and three other children at the daycare were exposed to fentanyl, according to New York City officials.
Daycare owner Grei Mendez, 36, and her tenant Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, were arrested on charges including murder, manslaughter and assault. They have also been charged with narcotics possession with intent to distribute resulting in death and conspiracy to distribute narcotics at the federal level.
Authorities said that Ms Mendez rented rooms in the apartment where the daycare operated and that a kilo of fentanyl was found inside a hallway closet. The NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that the lethal drug was placed underneath a mat where the children had been napping.
Law enforcement is now seeking to question Ms Mendezs husband, who was reportedly captured on surveillance video removing trash bags from the apartment before authorities arrived at the scene, according to CBS News.
Heres everything we know about the case:
The daycare
The Divino Nino daycare started operating in January out of Ms Mendezs apartment in Kingsbridge.
The centre, which was advertised for children between 6 weeks and 12 years old, is licensed under the citys Department of Children and Family Services. It had passed all inspections without violations, including a surprise visit by city authorities on 6 September.
Nicholas Dominici died after being exposed to fentanyl on Friday, NYC authorities said (Otoniel Feliz/Facebook)
During a press conference last week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams pushed back against accusations that the city had failed to identify existing threats at the centre.
Who did not do their job are the people who were there to protect the children, Mr Adams said. Part of this relationship is based on trust, that those who are taking care of our children are going to do it in a safe manner. They broke that trust ... This is not marijuana mistakenly left around the house.
Nicholas father Otoniel Feliz told CBS News that the little boy had been at the daycare centre for just a week. Mr Feliz said that the daycare had been recommended to him by the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center.
We spoke to the ones who are in charge ... They recommended that place and apparently complied with all of the rules, Mr Feliz said. We were on a waitlist for our son to qualify. Apparently, the place passed all of the inspections. Supposedly that apartment was only for daycares, but the rumor is, from what we have heard, they also rented rooms.
What happened?
Three infants were found unresponsive by staff at the facility, who then called 911. When EMS first responders arrived they found two infants in cardiac arrest and called the FDNY for backup after administering Narcan.
Nicholas and two other minors were transported to a hospital. A fourth minor, a two-year-old boy, who had already been picked up by his parents was taken to the hospital after his mother realized that he was acting lethargic and unresponsive.
The boy was in critical condition, while another two-year-old boy and an eight-month-old girl were both in stable condition.
Investigators outside of the Divino Nino daycare centre in the Bronx (CBS )
Toxicology results from the three surviving victims showed that they were exposed to fentanyl. The Medical Examiners Office will perform an autopsy on Nicholas to officially determine his cause of death.
I love him, I miss him, I want him back but theres nothing that will give me back my son. When I came home from work and walked through the door, hed say daddy, daddy! Mr Feliz recounted to ABC7. My wife was on her way to the daycare. She was going to pick him up early. Shortly before she arrives, she receives the call and also sees the ambulance.
A kilo of fentanyl was found in a hallway closet outside Mr Britos room, which he rented from Ms Mendez for $200 a week, according to investigators. Police said that three kilo presses, a device used for packaging large quantities of narcotics, were also found inside the daycare.
Investigators believe that the children inhaled fentanyl particles during their daylong exposure to the drug before they were found unconscious and the alarm was raised.
Who are the suspects?
Prosecutors told a judge during a Sunday night arraignment hearing that Ms Mendez had taken part in a reckless depraved act by renting Mr Brito, her husbands cousin, the room, according to ABC News.
Her lawyer told the court that his client, who faces a sentence of life imprisonment if convicted, had no idea that drugs were being stored at the daycare.
Her only crime was renting her room to someone who had a kilo, attorney Andres Aranda said. There is no evidence that she did anything but care properly for these children.
The judge said that Mr Brito, a national of the Dominican Republic in the country illegally, was a flight risk. He then said that Ms Mendez, who is not a US citizen and also has ties to the Dominican Republic, was a flight risk.
Daycare owner Grei Mendez and her tenant Carlisto Brito are facing charges in Nicholas death (CBS )
Law enforcement sources told CBS that phone logs revealed Ms Mendez called her husband before she called 911 immediately after finding the children unresponsive. Ms Mendezs husband was also reportedly captured on surveillance video removing items from the basement apartment.
New York City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan and Mayor Adams said that although the specific circumstances surrounding Nicholas death were not clear, the tragedy was a wake-up call in the fight against the fentanyl crisis.
Im very sorry but one of the things my childcare inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl, Mr Vasan said. But maybe we need to start. Maybe we need to start.
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The notorious Delphi murders case has taken another shocking twist as accused killer Richard Allen made a bombshell claim about the killings of teenagers Libby German and Abby Williams.
In court documents released on Monday, the 50-year-old local man maintained his innocence of the 2017 killings and instead claimed that the murders were carried out by a pagan cult hijacked by white nationalists.
Members of a pagan Norse religion, called Odinism, hijacked by white nationalists, ritualistically sacrificed Abigail Williams and Liberty German, his attorneys write in the documents seen by The Independent.
Mr Allens attorneys said that possible Odinism signatures were left behind by the killers at the crime scene with the victims bodies staged by trees with branches and sticks laid across their bodies in the shape of pagan symbols.
While Mr Allen has no known connection to any pagan cult, his defence attorneys also took the extraordinary step of naming four individuals they say are involved in Odinism as potential suspects.
None of these individuals have ever been named by law enforcement as suspects or persons of interest in the case.
What is Odinism?
Odinism is a pagan Norse religion with origins in ancient Viking and Nordic beliefs and pre-Christian European culture.
Sometimes referred to as Wotanism, it is seen as a racist variant of the pagan religious sect Asatru, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
While Asatru itself is not racist, over the years Odinism has become increasingly tied to white supremacist and neo-Nazi beliefs in the US.
Many followers known as Odinites are now said to exist among the white supremacist prison population.
The religion, which revives a pre-Christian pantheon of Norse gods, is appealing to white supremacists because it mythologizes the virtues of early northern European whites seen as wandering barbarians, deeply involved in a mystical relationship with nature, struggling heroically against the elements, the Southern Poverty Law Center explains.
It sings the virtues of the tribe, or folk, strongly emphasizing genetic closeness. And it credits whites with building civilization and an ethic of individual responsibility, even as they boldly slew wild boars, fought for their tribes and explored the far reaches of the known world.
Were Libby and Abby killed by Odinites?
The murders of Libby and Abby have never been publicly linked to Odinism before now.
But, according to Mr Allens attorneys, law enforcement officials did explore the cults possible involvement early on in the investigation as far back as February 2018.
On 13 February 2017, Libby and Abby disappeared after set off on a walk along the Monon High Bridge Trail in their hometown of Delphi.
Makeshift vigil at scene of the murders (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
During the walk, Libby posted a photo of her best friend on Snapchat as they walked along the Monon High Bridge.
Minutes later, Libby captured a video of a man known as bridge guy dressed in blue jeans, a blue jacket and a cap walking along the abandoned railroad bridge. In the footage found on Libbys phone following their murders the man tells the two girls: Guys, down the hill.
The next day Valentines Day 2017 the girls bodies were discovered in a wooded area less than half a mile off the trail along the side of Deer Creek.
In the court documents, Mr Allens attorneys claim that there were possible Odinism signatures left behind at the crime scene including the staging of the bodies and branches displayed on the victims to create pagan symbols and shapes.
Describing the scene as ghoulish, the documents also reveal never-before-known details about how Libby and Abby died.
The teenage best friends both had their necks slashed, the documents reveal.
Libby was found at the base of a tree with four tree branches of varying sizes intentionally placed in a very specific and arranged pattern on her naked body and blood spots and drippings all over her body.
Abby meanwhile was fully clothed, including in Libbys sweatshirt and jeans, the documents state.
There was no blood on her clothing, indicating that she was likely murdered while naked and then dressed after she was killed. Tree branches and sticks had also been arranged on her body, the documents state.
Both victims appeared to have been moved after they were murdered and positioned.
Richard Allen at court hearing in November (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
According to Mr Allens attorneys, police on the case did investigate a link to Odinism but, after speaking to an expert, the theory was quickly abandoned.
Several officials continued to believe an Odinist cult was behind the murders but the information was withheld from the defence, his attorneys claim.
Now, the defence is seeking a Franks hearing in the case and to have Mr Allen moved to another facility.
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The recently arrested Ruby Franke claims that she called the police twice in 2020 to report two instances of threatening messages from her YouTube followers, according to police records obtained by Insider.
Ms Franke, 41, ran a YouTube channel named 8 Passengers with her husband Kevin Franke, in which they documented the day-to-day lives of the couple and their six children.
She was arrested on 30 August on child abuse charges after her 12-year-old son allegedly climbed out of a window and desperately asked neighbours for some food and water.
In April 2020, Ms Franke filed a police report, telling an officer that she had received text messages from someone who was threatening her. The messages stated they would take her family down, asking her not to post on her social media for a week.
Ms Franke has six children with her husband, Kevin Franke, ranging from adults to teenagers to young children.
In June 2020, another phone call was made by Ms Franke after she received an Instagram DM from an account that shared her home address, stating it was going looting at the place that actually deserves it.
After this, a Springville police patrol car was set up in front of Ms Frankes house.
Yet over time, police records show that calls regarding the Franke residence started to focus on what was going on inside the home rather than her YouTube followers harassing the family.
In 2022, two welfare checks were conducted by police, after concerned neighbours and even Frankes eldest daughter rang to request one, police documents obtained by Insider show.
Neighbours told police during the welfare check that Ms Franke would repeatedly leave her children home alone while she went to visit business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, who lives several hours away. She allegedly put them under "strict rules to not go anywhere or do anything," according to the neighbours.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hilderbrandt on a video for Connexions Classrooms, both have been arrested on child abuse charges (Instagram/Moms of Truth)
Shari Franke, the eldest daughter of the YouTube influencer, requested a wellness check on 18 September 2022 after she heard from neighbours that her mother left her siblings unattended for five days while she was in Utah, the documents state.
Mr and Ms Franke started their YouTube channel in 2015, documenting the everyday lives of their family, and showcasing their strict parenting techniques and punishments, which garnered a lot of criticism online.
It was after a young boy, who was later found to be Ms Frankes 12-year-old son, climbed out of a window to go and beg neighbours for food and water that police found Ms Franke was allegedly mistreating her children.
Police said that the child appeared to be emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities. Ms Franke was arrested after the police found another child in the house with similar wounds.
She was arrested on 30 August alongside her new business partner Ms Hildebrandt who ran therapy company Connexions Classroom and appeared in YouTube videos with Ms Franke.
The trial for Ms Franke was scheduled for 21 September, however, the Utah State Court officials said they needed "additional time needed to review copious amounts of discovery," according to KUTV. Court documents say the hearing will be "rescheduled at the convenience of the Court on a date after October 5, 2023," reported Fox 13.
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A Kansas father is mourning the death of his wife and two of their children, who died from carbon monoxide poisoning over the weekend.
McPherson County Sheriffs deputies made the tragic discovery inside a camper at the Inman Motocross track on Saturday.
Although the names of the victims were not released by authorities, family members have identified them as Felicia Richey, who was pregnant, and her two children Tison, 10, and Bentley, 13.
Loved ones of the deceased said in the description of a GoFundMe page that the family had died suddenly from carbon monoxide poisoning. The sheriffs office did not provide details surrounding the deaths but said an investigation is underway.
The victims are survived by Richeys husband and the father of her children, Jason Richey, and the couples three-year-old son, KCRG reported. Mr Richey said in a Facebook post that members of the community had managed to save the familys dog.
I wanna thank everyone for the prayers and thoughts, Mr Richey wrote. ... to me this dog is a miracle from momma and the boys to me, I feel like and shell be absolutely loved and cared for by all her family along the way.
Felicia Richey, who was pregnant, and her two children Tison and Bentley were found dead inside a camper on Saturday (GoFundMe)
We are asking for your help with removing the stress from the family on the cost of arranging their 3 funerals and time away from work to grieve. All funds will go directly to Jason, the description of the GoFundMe read. If you can not support financially, please keep this family in your prayers and share with others. Funeral arrangements will be announced in the near future.
As of Tuesday evening, more than $47,000 had been raised.
In an interview with KWCH, Richeys great-uncle John Pohlman remembered her as a devoted mother and wife.
This was an unexpected tragedy and its just a huge loss for, I think, everyone that knew them and knew [Felicia] but especially the family is just devastated by it, Mr Pohlman said. A real kind, tender-hearted lady that loved her boys ...They were really the focus of her life.
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Temple University acting president JoAnne Epps died after collapsing on stage during a memorial service at its Philadelphia campus on Tuesday, according to the university.
Ms Epps was taken to Temple University Hospital where she was pronounced dead around 3.15pm, the university said in a statement. She was 72.
Temple senior vice president Ken Kaiser said the university was not aware Ms Epps was suffering from any health issues at a press conference.
Provost Gregory Mandel paid tribute to Ms Epps as one of the most remarkably compassionate and caring individuals Ive ever known during the media briefing.
We are all in deep grief and at a loss for words, Mr Mandel said.
Ms Epps had been attending a service for Charles L Blockson, curator of the Blockson Collection, when she suddenly fell ill.
The Yale Law School graduate served as an assistant US attorney in Philadelphia and deputy city attorney in Los Angeles prior to her arrival at Temple, according to a biography on the university website.
In 2008, she was appointed dean of Temple Law School and went on to become executive vice president and provost of Temple University in 2016. She was named acting president in April after the resignation of the universitys first Black president Jason Wingard.
Dear Members of the Temple Community,
It is with deep heartbreak that we write to inform you that Temple University Acting President JoAnne A. Epps suddenly passed away this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/lvzxcLud9E Temple University (@TempleUniv) September 19, 2023
Ms Epps was a champion for women and minorities within the legal profession, the university biography said.
She also worked in leadership roles in the American Bar Association, the National Association of Women Lawyers and the American Law Institute.
In a statement posted to X, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro called Ms Epps a powerful force and constant ambassador for Temple University for nearly four decades.
Losing her is heartbreaking for Philadelphia... may her memory be a blessing, the governor posted.
Temple University board chairman Mitchell Morgan said there were no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss in a statement.
President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple. She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come.
Ms Epps told the Philadelphia Inquirer her goal when she assumed the acting presidency was to focus on enrollment and spiralling crime in the area of North Philadelphia where the campus is situated.
Student enrollment at the 33,600-student university had plummeted by 14 per cent since 2019, and Ms Epps said she thought she was hired in part due to her ability to sort of calm waters.
Ms Epps lived in New Jersey with her husband.
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The man whose life inspired the film "Sound of Freedom" about fighting child sex trafficking has been accused by seven women he worked with of sexual misconduct, according to a new report.
The allegations were outlined in a recent report by Vice News.
Tim Ballard, the former Homeland Security operative whose life served as the basis for the film, stepped down as CEO of the nonprofit Operation Underground Railroad in June.
Reporters at Vice cited unnamed sources who have familiarity with an internal investigation into the women claiming Mr Ballard engaged in sexual misconduct.
Operation Underground Railroad confirmed to Vice that it had hired an outside law firm to investigate, but did not provide further details.
Though Mr Ballard has not provided a response to Vice for its report, he has previously insisted that Vice's other reporting about him was "not true."
In a statement after publication, Mr Ballard called the allegations baseless.
As with all of the assaults on my character and integrity over many years, the latest tabloid-driven sexual allegations are false. They are baseless inventions designed to destroy me and the movement we have built to end the trafficking and exploitation of vulnerable children. During my time at O.U.R., I designed strict guidelines for myself and our operators in the field. Sexual contact was prohibited, and I led by example. Given our meticulous attention to this issue, any suggestion of inappropriate sexual contact is categorically false.
Mr Ballard became a subject of scrutiny after the release of the film "Sound of Freedom," which was beloved by conservative movie-goers, with some right-leaning groups buying out entire theatres to provide free screenings to others.
Operation Underground Railroad admits on its site that some parts of the movie are fabricated and do not parallel the truth of Mr Ballard's life. It also acknowledges that the kind of child trafficking portrayed in the film is the exception, not the norm. Organisations that fight child sex trafficking criticised the film for its portrayal of the sex trafficking industry, noting that the majority of trafficking incidents involve families selling other family members, as opposed to the abductions portrayed in the movie.
Tim Ballard attends the premiere of "Sound of Freedom" on June 28, 2023 in Vineyard, Utah. (Getty Images for Angel Studios)
Mr Ballard was also criticised for holding views that appeared sympathetic to QAnon in media appearances.
The QAnon conspiracy movement long held that elites especially Democrats and other ideological enemies sex trafficked and even devoured children.
The allegations against Mr Ballard claim he pressured women working at the organisation to act as his "wife," coercing them to share his bed and shower with him during supposed anti-trafficking missions.
He allegedly told them it was a way to trick traffickers and helped him in his mission to save minors, according to the report.
One of the sources said Mr Ballard sent a photo of himself in underwear to at least one woman, and asked another "how far she was willing to go" to save trafficked children.
Vice reportedly attempted to contact the women and get them to speak on the record, but suggested they were unwilling to go public for fear of retaliation.
Operation Underground Railroad said in a statement that it does not tolerate any sexual harassment or discrimination in its orgnisation.
"O.U.R. is dedicated to combating sexual abuse, and does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination by anyone in its organisation," the group said in a statement to Vice.
The group said that the outside law firm was investigating "all relevant allegations" but would not offer further comment.
A previous report by Vice and local media in Utah claimed that Mr Ballard was condemned by the LDS Church, which Mr Ballard denied during an event.
"It's not true, nothing you hear is true," Mr Ballard said, referring to a local media piece about his condemnation.
The Independent has reached out to Mr Ballard for comment.
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Peru has launched a criminal probe into how alleged non-human alien corpses that were displayed to the Mexican Congress were taken out of the country.
Self-described UFO expert Jaime Maussan claimed the two small corpses were retrieved from Cusco, Peru. They were presented in windowed boxes in Mexico City on Wednesday, stirring excitement within the UFO conspiracy-theorist community.
Peruvian officials have questioned Mr Maussans claims and said they are looking into how the corpses came into his possession.
Culture minister Leslie Urteaga said they were looking into how the pre-hispanic bodies left Peru, adding that a criminal complaint has been filed against Mr Maussan.
Mr Maussan, 70, insists he is innocent. Im not worried. I have done absolutely nothing illegal, he said.
The 70-year-old has not been able to explain how the corpses came into his possession. He said he would reveal all at an appropriate time.
Doctors in Mexico City are carrying out CT scans on the corpses. Jose de Jesus Zalce Benitez, director of the Scientific Institute for Health of the Mexican navy, said the studies showed that the alleged bodies belonged to a single skeleton and were not assembled.
He added that the laboratory tests have shown that there is no evidence of any assembly or manipulation of the skulls.
Mr Maussan claimed, under oath, at the Mexican congress that the mummified specimens are not part of our terrestrial evolution, with almost a third of their DNA remaining unknown, reported Mexican media.
His claims have not been proven and he has previously been associated with claims of discoveries that have later been debunked.
Mr Maussan claimed the remains are about 1,000 years old, saying researchers at the National Autonomous University of Mexico used carbon dating to determine the age of the corpses.
Self-described UFO expert Jaime Maussan claimed the two small corpses were retrieved from Cusco, Peru (Reuters)
The university has distanced itself from Mr Maussan, claiming its scientists were not involved in the research and never came into contact with the full specimens.
In no case do we make conclusions about the origin of these samples, the universitys National Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry With Accelerators said in a statement.
At the public hearing, Mr Maussan showed US officials and members of the Mexican government several videos of UFOs and unidentified anomalous phenomena before unveiling the alleged alien corpses.
He said: These specimen(s) are not part of our terrestrial evolution... These arent beings that were found after a UFO wreckage. They were found in diatom (algae) mines, and were later fossilized.
Whether they are aliens or not, we dont know, but they were intelligent and they lived with us. They should rewrite history.
He added: We are not alone in this vast universe, we should embrace this reality.
Mr Maussan also told the Mexican Congress how scientists from the Autonomous National University of Mexico found eggs in one of the corpses.
The 70-year-old has previously been associated with claims of alien discoveries that have later been debunked, including five mummies found in Peru in 2017 that were later shown to be human children.
Former US Navy pilot Ryan Graves, who also attended the hearing to share his personal experience with sightings of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) heaped criticism on the presentation.
Yesterdays demonstration was a huge step backwards for this issue, Mr Graves said on the X, formerly known as Twitter. I am deeply disappointed by this unsubstantiated stunt.
Meanwhile, Antigona Segura, one of Mexicos top astrobiologists, told The New York Times: These conclusions are simply not backed up by evidence. The whole thing is very shameful.
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Azerbaijan has launched an anti-terrorist operation targeting Armenian military positions in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, as heavy artillery firing was reported around its capital.
The Azerbaijani defence ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
It raises concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020.
The ministry did not immediately give details but said positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities, are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
The Azerbaijani statement said: Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated. But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said the regions capital Stepanakert and other villages are under intense shelling.
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Smoke rises over an area which Azerbaijan says hosts Armenian forces position (AP)
Earlier on Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people died in two separate explosions in the region, which is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijans interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highways department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Armenian ethnic separatists demanded independence from Azerbaijan nearing the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1988, when it was known as the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast.
After a separatist war in 1994, the territory remained under ethnic Armenian control. But Azerbaijan regained parts of Nagorno-Karabakh after a six-week conflict in 2020.
That war ended with an armistice which placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh. But Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then.
Azerbaijan's president Ilham Aliyev (AFP via Getty Images)
The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open. The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia.
Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijans intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only a few minutes before it began.
Reporting by Associated Press.
Close Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six
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Vladimir Putins troops have been forced to regroup while suffering over 400 casualties a day in a drive to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, Donetsk, Kyiv claimed.
The enemy is trying to move forward and then we beat them back, Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for Ukraines southern groups of forces, said.
So by no means can you speak of a fixed situation of some sort. Heavy fighting is continuing, though activity has subsided somewhat. The enemy is going through some kind of regrouping.
Mr Shtupun said Russian forces had suffered over 400 casualties a day in its campaign which has relied on small assault groups of 30 to 40 men.
Meanwhile, North Korea has shipped over 1,000 containers of military equipment to Russia, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
It said Pyongyang was set to become one of Russias most significant foreign arms suppliers alongside Iran and Belarus.
On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin tested Russias ability to launch a massive retaliatory nuclear strike as he pulled the country out of an international test ban treaty.
The ax cut through the thick rope, sending 38 Santee Dakota men to their deaths. The largest mass execution in American history happened in freezing temperatures on Dec. 26, 1862, before hundreds of residents in Mankato, Minnesota.
Thrown into a shallow grave, the bodies were exhumed within a day, mostly by physicians who sought to use them as cadavers for experiments. Only one set of remains from that day the warrior Cut Nose has been returned to the Santee, who were then forcibly relocated to Nebraska.
The inability to provide a proper burial is a familiar atrocity for tribes across the U.S., where the push to correct those injustices has found renewed energy since the 2021 discovery of mass graves at Indian boarding schools in Canada.
Now, multiple Nebraska museums in possession of Native remains say they are either on the verge of returning or restarting efforts to return them to their rightful tribes an act known as repatriation.
That includes 39 sets of remains held by History Nebraska, the state agency long known as the Nebraska State Historical Society. At the Hastings Museum, a curator says hes establishing tribal connections needed to launch repatriation efforts for the 81 sets of remains that the museum hasnt returned.
Eight institutions in Nebraska reported they possessed or still possess Native remains, this April, according to National Park Service data compiled by the news outlet ProPublica.
The three with the most the University of Nebraska State Museum, History Nebraska and the U.S. Department of Defense all have made 90% or more of the remains available for return. The Hastings Museum and the U.S. Department of the Interior the fourth and fifth largest caches of remains each had return rates near 55%. The remaining three institutions reported sets of remains in the single digits.
Some institutions have made progress, but outreach efforts still need to improve, said Sunshine Thomas-Bear, preservation officer for the Winnebago Tribe, one of four tribes established in Nebraska.
Museums can have thousands of remains for repatriation, but if they are failing to communicate and contact the correct tribes, and make those consultation efforts, they will continue to sit there in museums I think Nebraska still has a long way to go in the repatriation process, Thomas-Bear said.
Repatriation efforts in Nebraska have improved over the past 20 years, say people like Walter Echo-Hawk, former president of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. Gone are the days when museums ignored Native wishes while displaying their ancestors as museum exhibits.
Echo-Hawk became one of the first Native representatives seeking repatriation in the 1980s. He did so on behalf of the Pawnee, one of more than a dozen tribes that the U.S. government removed from Nebraska.
The agency then known as the Nebraska State Historical Society fought us every step of the way, Echo-Hawk said. They ignored us.
But times have changed, Echo-Hawk says.
In 1989, the Nebraska Legislature passed LB340, which required the return of Native remains and funerary objects. Echo-Hawk credits the law, sponsored by former Sen. Ernie Chambers, with being the foundation of a national law passed by Congress in 1990.
The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act provides a process for identifying and returning tribal remains and objects from organizations, such as government agencies and museums, that receive federal funding.
Even with state and federal legislation, the process did not go smoothly.
In 1998, allegations that a University of Nebraska-Lincoln anthropology professor had mishandled Native remains touched off a firestorm. A graduate student alleged that the professor had, among other offenses, manipulated the skull of a Native child so that it appeared to be talking.
A Nebraska State Patrol investigation ended without criminal charges and UNL reached an agreement with tribes to return the remains.
According to the ProPublica database, the universitys museum has made 1,965 remains available for return, while 49 still havent been made available.
The 49 sets of remains have been identified as unaffiliated because experts havent been able to confirm their tribes identity, said Susan Weller, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum. She says the museum has consulted with 37 Great Plains tribes as well as a few in the southwest U.S.
We are focused on the Plains, Weller said. Its not a quick process, but we are working towards full repatriation of all the ancestors.
The ProPublica database also includes data on funerary objects.
History Nebraska has made 9,974 objects available for return, though History Nebraska maintains the actual number is 80,000 because it counts each bead as an item, said Dave Williams, the states archaeologist.
The 39 sets of remains that History Nebraska still has will soon be handed over to the Pawnee, Williams said.
The Pawnee tribe, which owns land scattered across central Nebraska, will hold services for the remains when theyre reburied.
We will bury them in an undisclosed location, said Marti Only A Chief, the Pawnee NAGPRA officer in Oklahoma. We dont want them stolen again.
The Stuhr Museum in Grand Island questioned the finding that it has two sets of remains that havent been made available for return.
Based on museum records, the last set of Native remains were returned in 2009, according to Chris Hochstetler, the Stuhrs executive director.
Its possible that either the NAGPRA office didnt update the database or previous museum staff didnt submit the updates. The situation is being corrected, he said.
The only remains we have now are white people, he said. Now, does that mean we dont have some funerary objects or culturally significant items that we havent identified yet? I cant clearly answer that. As we go along, we may find some. We will work to have those returned.
At the Hastings Museum with a 57% return rate curator Dan Brosz said he is working to restart repatriation efforts. The museum has 81 sets of remains that havent been made available for return.
The whole problem is that when these remains were stolen, no one kept records of where they took them from, Brosz said.
While most Nebraska remains returned were Pawnee, some of the remains hes working with now are from across the country, Brosz said. Theyre often culturally unidentifiable or unaffiliated, he said.
So we need to bring the separate tribes together and see how they want to handle it, Broz said. Since Ive been here, Ive gone through and reestablished connections with the tribes because during COVID, everything kind of fell to the wayside, but we had a lot of great success in getting communications with the various tribes from Florida to Oregon.
The horrifying discoveries of mass graves at Indigenous boarding schools in Canada rekindled public awareness and led to a reexamination of similar schools in the U.S..
That includes the former Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School in Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald reported in July that an excavation effort to find a potential grave site did not uncover any remains. At least 86 children are believed to have died at the school, the newspaper reported.
While much of the recent attention has focused on remains, repatriation efforts also extend to artifacts and culturally significant items.
Representatives of Nebraskas four tribes Winnebago, Ponca, Omaha and Santee say repatriation is key to their past and their future.
Taken, piece by piece, these items comprise a tribes history and culture, said Judi gaiashkibos, executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. The tribes pasts have been stolen, their language, their land, their tools, art and most personal possessions. Although past wrongs cannot be undone, the return of these items, personal and sacred, provides remembrance, healing and a path forward.
Last year, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska successfully recovered Chief Standing Bears tomahawk from Harvard Universitys Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.
The Ponca chief gifted his ceremonial tomahawk to John Lee Webster, the attorney who represented him during an 1879 trial that resulted in Natives being considered people under the U.S. Constitution.
Omaha attorney William Morris obtained the tomahawk, which was later sold and then given to the Harvard museum.
Tribal items were not supposed to be away from the people, said Stacy Laravie, Ponca tribal preservation officer. Standing Bear gave that tomahawk in a sense of brotherhood. So, when it ended up in the hands of a museum, that relationship was broken.
After months of negotiation, the museum returned the tomahawk to the Ponca during a June 2022 ceremony.
The tomahawk will be shared with the public as part of a historical exhibit at a planned Ponca cultural center in Niobrara when it opens in three to five years, Laravie said.
The Ponca have recouped more than 300 other historical and cultural items, ranging from beadwork to burial objects, Laravie said.
In several ways, the COVID-19 pandemic may have aided repatriation efforts.
Since many museums accepted COVID-related funding from the federal government, they must comply with federal law and share their collections with tribes, said Thomas-Bear, who also serves as the Winnebago tribes NAGPRA representative.
Lockdowns during the early days of COVID led universities and museums to take a serious look at their inventories and what should be returned to the correct tribe, Laravie said.
Returning these items to the tribes is crucial for healing, but its only a first step, according to Laravie, who believes tribes need to take the extra step to reuniting the artifacts with the land.
Everything is connected, she said. Whether its seeds or an ancestor, their belongings, or even the small children in the boarding schools, missing and murdered tribal members, being returned to their people, they need to put them in place. Its a bringing back of something to its mother.
The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraskas first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
A look at the largest Native American tribes in the US today Biggest Native American tribes in the U.S. today #42. Tsimshian (Alaska Native) #41. Cree #40. Yuman #39. Yakama #38. Arapaho #37. Colville #36. Ottawa #35. Menominee #34. Kiowa #33. Ute #32. Houma #31. Crow #30. Shoshone #29. Paiute #28. Cheyenne #27. Puget Sound Salish #26. Osage #25. Aleut (Alaska Native) #24. Delaware #23. Hopi #22. Alaskan Athabascan (Alaska Native) #21. Comanche #20. Tlingit-Haida (Alaska Native) #19. Pima #18. Tohono O'odham #17. Seminole #16. Potawatomi #15. Inupiat (Alaska Native) #14. Yup'ik (Alaska Native) #13. Yaqui #12. Chickasaw #11. Pueblo #10. Lumbee #9. Creek #8. Iroquois #7. Apache #6. Blackfeet #5. Sioux #4. Chippewa #3. Choctaw #2. Navajo #1. Cherokee
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Ukraine has just four weeks to hold a knife at Crimeas throat and force Vladimir Putin into peace talks before Russias army recoups over winter, experts have warned.
Professor Mark Galeotti, academic and author of more than 20 books on Russia, said Volodymyr Zelenskys troops need to move another 10 miles southwards to be in range of striking key Russian supply routes in Crimea.
He claimed this is the only serious chance Ukraine has to force Mr Putin into negotiations before the Russian army has the opportunity to regroup over winter.
Theyve got about another month of campaign season. But if things slow down, the Russians will use the winter to regroup themselves and the whole thing will start up again in spring, the professor, who teaches Slavonic and East European Studies at University College London, told The Independent.
Ukrainian tank crews attend a military exercise in North Ukraine (Reuters)
If Ukraine can move another 10 miles southwards, Russian road and rail links used to resupply Crimea will be in range of their artillery.
The only serious chance Ukraine has of forcing Putin to the negotiating table is by holding a knife at Crimeas throat. But I think that is going to be next years campaign.
A house destroyed during fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces in Andriivka, Donetsk (AP)
It comes after Mr Zelensky admitted that Ukraines counteroffensive was progressing slowly, but insisted that more territory was being reclaimed every day.
The situation is tough, he told CBSs 60 Minutes. We stopped the Russians in the east and started a counteroffensive. Yes, it is not that fast but we are going forward every day and de-occupying our land.
Ukrainian generals claimed they had recaptured the eastern villages of Klishchiivka and Andriivka near Bakhmut over the weekend.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian forces also breached Russias first line of defence near Zaporizhzhia in the south of the country, taking the village of Robotyne.
This Zaporizhzhia area is a key battlefield, as breaking through would allow Ukrainian forces to strike out towards the Sea of Azov, Professor Galeotti said. This would allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt and destroy supply lines linking Rostov-on-Don, in Russia, and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed in 2014.
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But Dr Marina Miron, a postdoctoral researcher at Kings College London war studies department, it was very unlikely there would be a major breakthrough for Ukraine this year as its window of opportunity was now closing ahead of winter.
The rain is already starting, she said. The weather will get a lot worse.
Ukraine launched its counter-offensive in June to push Mr Putins forces out of land captured by Russia after the invasion began in February 2022, striking along the 600-mile frontline in areas including the Bakhmut, Kharkiv and Zaporizhzhia regions.
But as the offensive slows, it is now touch and go as to whether Ukraine can make a real, pivotal difference in the war by the end of this year, Dr Miron said.
The main effort will be to sustain troops throughout the winter. Ukraine will not be in a position to carry on the offensive, Dr Miron added.
Soldiers hold flags as they speak in front of destroyed buildings in Klishchiivka (Col. Gen. Syrskyi via Reuters)
She explained Ukraine had a heavy logistical footprint with German Leopard and British Challenger 2 tanks, but they would be harder to use in wetter, muddier conditions, to assist a full breakthrough.
Theyre just not designed for those types of terrains, she said. They would risk losing more equipment, getting bogged down in winter conditions than waiting it out until getting F-16 fighter jets.
In August, Denmark promised the delivery of 19 F-16 jets to Ukraine. Six will be delivered by the end of this year, followed by eight in 2024 and five in 2025, according to Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen.
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However, Ukraine admitted it could take up to six months to train its military to use the jets and they would not be in operation this winter.
With fears growing around wavering Western support as the war draws on, Dr Miron said: Neither side has an infinite supply of money or manpower. But Russia does have time. And thats what they are betting on.
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Blasts rocked Ukraines western city of Lviv in the early hours of Tuesday as Russia launched large-scale air attacks that struck an industrial warehouse, officials said.
Local officials said air defence systems were engaged in repelling a Russian air attack that started in the early hours.
From around 1am BST the entire western half of Ukraine was covered by air raid alerts.
The mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, and regional governor Maxim Kozitsky asked people to stay indoors due to the threat of continuing attacks in the region.
As a result of the strike on the territory of Lviv, we recorded a fire at an industrial warehouse, he said.
Follow latest live updates on coverage of Ukraine war here
One injured person in the air attack was found under the wreckage, the mayor said.
There is a threat of a second attack. Air defence works in our region. Do not leave shelters, please! the mayor said on his Telegram channel, starting the alert messages around 7am local time.
These are the sounds of air defence!! he said.
It is not immediately known if the attacks were caused using missiles and drones.
The heavy aerial attacks from Russia on Ukraine commenced as the war neared 600 days of conflict and coincided with the start of president Volodymyr Zelenskys visit to the US on Monday.
The war-time president is making his second visit to the country after his last trip in December. He is likely to deliver a powerful address at the United Nations Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Wednesday. He will also address world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Mr Zelensky will come face-to-face with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in a first since Russias full-scale invasion in February last year. The Russian leader is also expected to make remarks at the meeting. Moscow is a veto-wielding member of the security council.
Mr Zelensky is scheduled to spend some time Thursday on Capitol Hill and meet with president Joe Biden at the White House.
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Watch as Ukraine responds to Russias objections against the jurisdiction of the World Court in a genocide case brought by the nation, which claims Moscow falsely applied genocide law to justify its 2022 invasion.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, is holding public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by the Russian Federation in the case from 18 to 27 September.
Ukraine brought the issue to the UNs highest court just days after the Russian invasion on 24 February last year, arguing Moscow is abusing international law by saying the invasion was justified to prevent an alleged genocide in eastern Ukraine.
Russia wants the case to be thrown out and objects to the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
The hearings will not delve into the merits of the case and are instead focused on legal arguments about jurisdiction.
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Ukraine has already cleared one hurdle as the court decided in its favour in a preliminary decision in the case in March last year.
Based on that, the court ordered Russia to cease military actions in Ukraine immediately.
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A Belarusian hit man who served with the countrys special forces and is accused of the forced disappearance of three high-profile opposition figures will finally stand trial in Switzerland 24 years after the three vanished.
Yury Garavsky, 44, was arrested following a confession in which he said he was involved with a group linked to the kidnapping and presumed killings of adversaries of Belaruss current president Alexander Lukashenko.
In 2019, Garavsky gave testimony to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle about his part in the 1999 killings of three of president Lukashenkos political opponents.
He was working for the interior ministrys SOBR special forces unit then. He even claimed he was present during the executions of former interior minister Yury Zakharenko, opposition politician Viktor Gonchar and pro-opposition businessman Anatoly Krasovsky.
Now a Swiss court will determine the veracity of his claims.
Zakharenko had vanished in May 1999. In September that year, Gonchar and his friend Krasovsky were abducted.
Families of the three have been waiting for the trial to begin.
Belarus opposition activists hold portraits of missing people during a protest rally in Minsk on 16 September 2015. Four prominent individuals: former interior minister Yury Zakharenko, politician Viktor Gonchar, businessman Anatoly Krasovsky and cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky, all opposed to Belarus president Alexander Lukashenkos regime have disappeared since 1999 (AFP via Getty Images)
Garavsky, who sought asylum in Switzerland in 2018 after fleeing Belarus capital Minsk, pointed out in his interview earlier that his superior Dmitry Pavlichenko shot the three victims in the chest.
Mr Pavlichenko, however, has denied the allegations.
The BBC reported that daughters of the two abducted men, both of whom left Belarus shortly after their fathers kidnappings, are set to appear in court this week.
Both said the trial in the city of St Gallen will provide them with some solace.
Garavsky is facing trial in Switzerland, where he was arrested, due to the countrys adherence to a UN convention against forced disappearance.
Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko has been called Europes last dictator (Reuters)
He had said during the 2019 interview with DW that the actual orders to abduct the politicians were not written.
There was never anything written or any video confirmation. Everything was ordered verbally I guess based on the wishes of President Lukashenko.
I feel repentant and guilty. I feel that if these people remained alive, things would be different in Belarus, he said.
Their bodies have probably decomposed, but the bones should be there.
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Russia is weaponising food, energy and abducted children in its war against Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelensky told leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday.
While there are agreements to restrict arms and trade, there are no real restrictions on weaponisation, he said.
Mr Zelensky was addressing the gathering at a sensitive point in his countrys campaign to maintain international support for its fight.
Nearly 19 months after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces are three months into a counteroffensive that has not gone as fast or as well as initially hoped.
We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, Joe Biden earlier told the assembly.
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The world must remain united in defending Ukraine, he said, warning that no nation can be secure if we allow Ukraine to be carved up.
During his address, Mr Biden described the partnerships that the US government was fostering around the globe from Africa to the Indo-Pacific as creating economic and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about containing any country a clear reference to Beijing.
When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent, Mr Biden said. We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict.
In his 30-minute address, Mr Biden repeatedly emphasised the value of institutions such as the United Nations and international coalitions that have helped the world confront significant challenges such as poverty and disease, as well as echoing his defence of democracy, a common theme of his presidency.
We will not retreat from the values that make us strong, Mr Biden said. We will defend democracy our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. And were working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to peoples lives.
Zelensky visited a hospital where he awarded medals to Ukrainian military members who had lost limbs (AP)
There were some notable absences as Mr Biden made his case before the assembly, including Rishi Sunak, French president Emmanuel Macron, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.
Mr Bidens message of unwavering support for Ukraine will play out as the US Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Kyiv. Mr Biden has sought a package of 10.5bn in additional military aid for Ukraine and 6.8bn for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied to Donald Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.
Mr Biden is scheduled to host talks on Thursday at the White House with Mr Zelensky.
During his visit to New York, Mr Zelensky spent time at a Staten Island hospital where he awarded medals to Ukrainian military members who had lost limbs. With help from a New Jersey-based charity called Kind Deeds, 18 personnel have been fitted with prosthetic limbs and are undergoing outpatient physical therapy at the hospital.
We all will be waiting for you back home, Mr Zelensky told them. We absolutely need every one of you.
Associated Press contributed to this report
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Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought Elon Musks guidance on the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence, hinting that the tech billionaire is more powerful than the US president.
I said to my wife Sara, this guy really knows what hes talking about, I said hes the Edison of our time, Prime Minister Netanyahu said during a discussion with Mr Musk on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
You cant be president of the US last time I checked, but assume you are.
The tech billionaire, who is currently the worlds richest person, interjected: Not officially.
President Netanyahu responded: Not officially. OK, so youre the unofficial president.
The Israeli leader asked Mr Musk how rogue states could be prevented from developing harmful AI systems, with the Tesla and SpaceX chief saying that the vast amounts of computing hardware needed to build and operate it would be detectable from space.
At the very hardest level, the [AI] thats least understandable requires massive amounts of power and a large number of computers and the right software and the right data - its something youd notice, Mr Musk said.
Its difficult to hide, sort of similar to uranium, you can sort of detect the uranium radiation.
After Prime Minister Netanyahu said that he had spent most of his adult life trying to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Mr Musk revealed that the government of Iran had sent him an unexpectedly polite request to shut down SpaceXs Starlink space internet service.
SpaceX received permission from the US state department to switch on Starlink for users in Iran last year, despite the economic sanctions, in order to give people unrestricted access to the internet.
We got an upset letter from the government of Iran, but actually the letter was so polite, I expected it to be angry or something but it was Charles Dickens-level polite, Mr Musk said.
I was expecting to see PS. death to America and Israel or something like that, but they didnt have that.
US President Joe Biden is set to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York on Wednesday amid a period of increased tension between Israel and the Biden administration. This has been driven by disagreements over how to deal with Iran, mass protests in Israeli cities against proposed judicial reforms, and comments from Prime Minister Netanyahyus political allies.
President Biden has expressed concern about the controversial reforms, according to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, while also questioning Israels continued settlement growth in the West Bank.
Despite the tension, both leaders are expected to emphasise the strong relationship between the US and Israel.
Patrick Kielty received a little surprise from his wife, Cat Deeley, ahead of his Late Late Show debut.
The actor and comedian, 52, hosted the chat show on RTE - Irelands national television and radio broadcaster - for the first time on Friday night (15 September).
Ahead of his debut, Kielty was sent a message of support from Deeley, as well as a keyring that read: Good luck luck with the late late.
Im not going to make it to air here, he joked after watching the video.
Im in bits. Thank you very, very much.
Footage shows two carjackers pulling a man out of his luxury Aston Martin before speeding away in a violent robbery.
The incident happened in the victims garage in Westport, Connecticut, on Sunday 17 September, after he had returned home.
After he pulls in, the masked thugs can be seen overpowering the man, snatching the keys from his hands before forcing him out of the drivers seat.
The suspects assaulted the complainant while they were seated in the vehicle and subsequently stole their blue Aston Martin, the Westport Police Department wrote, sharing the footage on Facebook.
The complaint suffered minor injuries as a result.
In a later update, police said there has been no significant developments in the investigation and the Aston Martin has not been recovered.
Russia's UN ambassador, Vasily Nebenzya, was seen looking at his phone while President Joe Biden spoke at the United Nations General Assembly.
During his speech, Biden told the Assembly that Russia is an "aggressor" which "stands in the way of peace" in Ukraine.
Ukraines Volodymyr Zelensky can be seen watching Biden speak. Before his visit, Zelensky questioned why the UN still allowed his countrys invader a seat at the table.
The 78th UN General Assembly brought together world leaders and representatives in New York City for thousands of speeches, meetings, and receptions to address the leading challenges facing the world today.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russian society of raising a second Hitler in an attack on Vadlimir Putin.
Mr Zelensky also warned World War III could become a reality if the US doesnt keep funding his countrys fightback against Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine.
Appearing on CBS News programme 60 Minutes on Monday evening, Mr Zelensky said: The whole world has to decide whether we want to stop Putin, or whether we want to start the beginning of a world war.
We cant change Putin. Russian society has lost the respect of the world.
They elected him and re-elected him and raised a second Hitler. They did this.
Press Release
September 19, 2023 Seven Malasakit Centers now operational in Caraga region, 40 in Mindanao -- Bong Go continues advocacy of bringing gov't assistance closer to Filipinos in need Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, has been steadfast in his commitment to improving healthcare access for Filipinos, particularly for the less privileged. On Friday, September 15, he attended the launch of the country's 159th Malasakit Center at Bislig District Hospital in Bislig City, Surigao del Sur. This new addition brings the total number of Malasakit Centers in the Caraga Region to seven, and to 40 across Mindanao. The Malasakit Center initiative, a program close to Go's heart, aims to provide a seamless and expedited process for particularly poor and indigent patients to access government medical assistance programs. "As Chairman ng Committee on Health, priority ko talaga itong Malasakit Center para mayroon kayong nalalapitan sa inyong pagpapaospital," Go emphasized during the inauguration. He further elaborated that these centers serve as a one-stop-shop for healthcare, consolidating various government agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office under one roof. This approach eliminates the need for patients to make multiple visits and fill out extensive paperwork, thereby making healthcare more accessible for Filipinos. The recent launch at Bislig District Hospital shows the steady progress of healthcare accessibility in the Caraga Region. The Butuan Medical Center in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, was the first to open in the region on October 12, 2018. It was followed by the Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, on March 1, 2019. The year 2021 marked a surge in the program's expansion, with new centers at the Siargao Island Medical Center in Dapa, Surigao del Norte, on July 3; the Lianga District Hospital in Lianga, Surigao del Sur, on July 10; and two more inaugurated on July 31 at the Democrito O. Plaza Memorial Hospital in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, and the Adela Serra Ty Memorial Medical Center in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. Go said that these centers serve as a testament to the government's commitment to healthcare accessibility. Each center is strategically located to serve the healthcare needs of the local population, particularly those who are less privileged. "Ubusin niyo po ang pera ng gobyerno para sa mga mahihirap. Sabi ko, bakit natin pahirapan ang Pilipino? Sa totoo lang po ay pera ninyo yan. Dapat po ibalik sa inyo sa mabilis na paraan. 'Yan po ang Malasakit Center," Go said. According to DOH, these centers have already assisted more than seven million Filipinos nationwide. During the launch, Go expressed his gratitude to local officials, as well as the medical staff and partner agencies who have made the program's expansion possible. "Hindi po ako titigil sa mga programang makakabuti po sa ating mga kababayan, ipagpapatuloy ko po ang mga nasimulan," Go concluded.
Eco-Friendly Mining: Bitcoin Miners Seek Savings Through Alternative Energy
Source: AdobeStock / Photocreo Bednarek
Amid recent financial setbacks and growing concerns over the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining, Bitcoin (BTC) miners are looking for innovative ways to reduce costs and operate sustainably.
Bitcoin mining is an energy intensive process, making power the biggest expense for mining operations.
In order to address this issue, mining companies are seeking low-cost power sources to remain profitable and competitive, with renewable energy becoming the preferred choice for its cost-effectiveness and environmental benefits.
Bloomberg: The share of renewable energy sources in Bitcoin mining has exceeded 50%. pic.twitter.com/SpfQfLdXAH Sjuul | AltCryptoGems (@AltCryptoGems) September 15, 2023
Steven Lubka, the managing director of Swan Bitcoin, a Bitcoin-focused financial services company, said that the average cost of mining a single Bitcoin is around $26,000.
However, mining companies that utilize renewable energy sources are witnessing costs ranging from $5,000 to $15,000 per BTC.
Riot Blockchain, a publicly traded Bitcoin mining company based in the United States, said wind and solar energy generated in Texas allow them to achieve some of the lowest mining costs.
The company said in its Q2 investor deck that they spend $8,389 to mine 1 Bitcoin.
According to Kent Halliburton, president and chief operating officer of Sazmining, a hosted Bitcoin mining provider, electricity has always been the biggest expense for mining operations.
Halliburton explained that Bitcoin miners are naturally motivated to find the lowest-cost power, and renewable energy sources often provide excess electricity that is a perfect fit for mining.
Data from the Bitcoin Mining Council indicates that 59% of mining operations are carbon-free, with this number growing at a rate of nearly 4.5% per year.
Halliburton emphasized that all of Sazminings mining operations in Wisconsin and Paraguay utilize excess hydroelectricity to power their activities.
Shift Toward Alternative Energy is a Long-Term Trend
The shift towards alternative energy sources appears to be a long-term trend among miners aiming for sustainable success.
As we noted previously, growing interest in Bitcoin mining by nation states reflects miners' ability to monetize stranded and excess energy (mainly from renewable and nuclear sources), while helping to balance and modernize power grids. pic.twitter.com/KHThDYzi7h Jamie Coutts CMT (@Jamie1Coutts) September 14, 2023
Phil Harvey, the CEO of Sabre56, a crypto mining infrastructure provider, said that the company is working with dozens of mining companies to set up machines across its facilities in Wyoming and Ohio.
Sabre56s facility in Gillette, Wyoming, known as Bonepile, houses nearly 2,200 mining machines powered by a combination of energy sources, including a substantial contribution from renewable energy.
The facility employs a forced-air design that facilitates cooling and exhausts hot air naturally through overpressure.
Meanwhile, OceanBit, a company specializing in renewable energy platforms using ocean thermal sources, is taking a unique approach by integrating Bitcoin mining into its ocean thermal energy power plant design.
Michael Bennett, co-founder of OceanBit, explained that ocean thermal energy is an untapped resource with vast potential for generating electricity using the temperature difference in ocean water.
By combining ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) with Bitcoin mining, Bennett believes they can scale the energy source globally and solve commercial challenges for both industries.
Likewise, Pennsylvanian crypto mining company Stronghold Digital Mining is utilizing coal refuse, a byproduct of coal mining, to power its operations.
The company is working with local authorities to clean up piles of waste coal that have caused water pollution and air pollution through spontaneous combustion.
Stronghold converts the coal refuse into power through specialized facilities and either supplies it to the local grid or uses it for Bitcoin mining. While this method helps clean up coal refuse, it still involves burning hydrocarbons and poses certain environmental challenges.
Cairn Homes has lost an appeal to have its site on former RTE lands in Montrose excluded from the vacant land tax.
The developer is planning to build nearly 700 homes and a major hotel on the site, despite strenuous local objections.
An Bord Pleanala has now ruled it must pay the Residential Zoned Land Tax, despite its efforts to build on the site.
RTE sold just under nine acres of land at Montrose to Cairn for 107.5m six years ago.
Previous applications to build 614 homes on the former RTE land were quashed by the High Court after An Bord Pleanala initially approved the plans in September 2020. The legal challenge was taken by three residents of the nearby Ailesbury Road.
Cairn submitted a new planning application last year which would have included a 192-room hotel and 688 apartments, comprising 416 build-to-rent apartments and 272 build-to-sell units.
This was partially approved by An Bord Pleanala in July. However, it refused permission for the hotel and one apartment block on the site which would have included 80 residential units, saying it would impact visual amenities in the area.
Construction work has yet to start.
Earlier this year, Dublin City Council ruled that the Residential Zoned Land Tax would apply.
The charge, due to come into force in 2024, means landowners who are liable will have to pay a levy of 3pc of the market value of a site.
The levy aims to incentivise landowners to use existing planning permissions for housing.
In a submission to An Bord Pleanala, Cairn argued that the charge should not apply to the Montrose site.
One of the reasons it said the levy should not apply was because it has tried to bring the site forward for development since 2019.
It added: Current third party appeals and previous third party judicial reviews are preventing this.
However, An Bord Pleanala upheld Dublin City Councils decision.
An inspector for the planning body said: Appeals and judicial review proceedings are not included in the criteria for exclusion, therefore this ground of appeal should be dismissed.
The lands are located within an established urban area with services available and no capacity or other reasons have been identified that would prevent the development of these lands in principle for residential purposes.
Cairn had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Corre Energy has secured an exclusive option agreement to acquire its first project in North America.
The exclusivity agreement was signed in July, with the company set to acquire a 280MW compressed air energy storage project.
Corre Energys main business is the development, construction and commercialisation of long duration energy storage projects which are linked to greater use of renewables.
The company also doubled the size of its European capacity in the first half of the year as it expanded its portfolio in Germany.
An option has now been signed with chemical company Solvay to develop three projects in the North-Rhine Westphalia region of Germany, which will have around 500 megawatts of generating capacity.
These sites will also provide up to 80 gigawatt (GW) hours of multiday electricity storage, according to the company.
Land and grid agreements were also signed in Denmark for its Green Hydrogen Hub project, with commercial close set for the coming months.
Corre Energy confirmed the commercial close of the first phase of the Zuidwendig Compressed Air Storage project in the Netherlands.
In December, Corre Energy signed a 15-year deal with Dutch power provider Eneco. This offtake agreement will see the Dutch company purchase the energy stored at the facility.
The business is now working towards financial close of the ZW1 project.
Corre Energy reported an operating loss of 6.4m in the first half of 2023, which the company said is reflective of the ongoing investment phase and is in line with expectations.
The company also highlighted a further 10m of funding through a subscription agreement, loan arrangement and a drawdown from FIEE, an Italian alternative investment fund manager.
FIEE made a long term equity-linked investment into Corre Energy in 2021.
This recent funding follows an 8.9 equity raise in February.
It will be focused on the expansion and development of new opportunities as demand for energy storage capacity continues to grow.
The political landscape and policy environment continues to underpin our business model and growth plans, chief executive Keith McGrane said.
He added the new funding ensures that the business is funded at a corporate and project level.
Galetech is owned by Darren Sherry and backed by other investors
When completed, the project will include a 65MW wind farm and 25MW battery storage system in Co Westmeath.
Planning permission for the development was secured last year despite significant local opposition to the plan. The sale to Energia of the Bracklyn project was first reported by industry publication PeakLoad.
The wind farm will include nine turbines.
Galetech put the Bracklyn project up for sale through KPMG last year.
Galetech is owned by founding director Darren Sherry and backed by other investors and executives including Herman Busschot.
The company has already secured 35-year agreements with seven landowners in Co Westmeath to construct the Bracklyn project.
The development has a 10-year development horizon under its permission from An Bord Pleanala, and a 30-year operational lifespan.
In June this year, the project secured a priority grid connection offer for the first quarter of 2024. That would enable it to bid in the governments third Renewable Energy Support Scheme auction, which is currently underway. Provisional winners from that auction are expected to be announced by EirGrid next week.
Galetech has developed about 500MW of wind energy projects, with more than 600MW in its development pipeline.
New filings at the Companies Registration Office yesterday show that the sale of the energy project to Energia is in the process of being effected. The managing director of strategy and corporate development at Energia, Garrett Donnellan, has just been appointed a director of Bracklyn Wind Farm Ltd.
Energia, controlled by US-based I Squared Capital, already owns and operates more than 300MW of onshore wind energy assets across the island of Ireland. It is also developing offshore wind energy projects as well as other onshore schemes, battery storage, solar and green hydrogen projects.
Locals opposed to the wind farm in Co Westmeath cited the visual impact it would have, with each turbine being 185 metres tall. They also raised concerns such as health and safety issues, noise and shadow flicker, traffic, devaluation of their property as well as the impact on biodiversity and the cultural landscape.
One activist told the Meath Chronicle last year that the project would change our local landscape for life.
We see this as the wrong renewable energy technology in the wrong location, said Daryl Kennedy of DRB Wind Action Group. It is of the wrong scale and proportion relation to our rural flat landscape.
Last year, Galetech entered the Australian market, opening an office in Perth. It is working with clients that want to incorporate renewable energy and ESG [environment, social and governance] issues into their existing business models. The firm is initially focusing on renewables and ESG services for the mining, oil and gas, and agricultural sectors.
Galetechs mining clients in the country include Bellvue Gold, which wants to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2026. Manganese mining firm Firebird Metals is also a client and wants to support its ESG obligations.
ESB Group has reported a 30pc rise in operating profit in the first half of 2023.
Group operating profit rose to 676m, up 157m from the same period last year.
The energy company said this increase was primarily related to the groups operations in Great Britain.
ESB pointed to a higher energy margin earned in the groups generating and trading business in this market, as well as an improved performance in its energy supply business there.
Revenue in ESB Networks also increased due to changes in regulated network tariffs, as well as benefits associated with foreign exchange movements.
ESB said these positive impacts were partially offset by lower profitability in its Electric Ireland business for the six-month period.
The group said that its generation and supply businesses are required to operate separately. As a result, profits from the generation business cannot be used to lower prices for Electric Ireland customers.
"We fully understand that people find it difficult to comprehend energy company profits at a time when prices for families and businesses remain high, chief financial officer Paul Stapleton said.
"As ESBs generation and supply businesses are required to operate separately, we cannot use profits from ESBs generation business to offset Electric Irelands prices.
He added that market conditions have stabilised in the first six months of 2023, with wholesale prices down from the highs recorded last year. However, they remain above the prices seen before the energy crisis.
If this downward trend in wholesale prices continues, customers should progressively see the benefit reflected in lower energy prices, he said.
Electric Ireland recently announced reductions of 10pc for electricity and 12pc for gas for its 1.1 million residential customers in Ireland.
The group said it had now invested 779m of capital expenditure in critical infrastructure, up 46pc on the same period in 2022.
"It remains crucial that ESB continues to earn sufficient profits to allow us to support the increased investment required to deliver a future powered by clean electricity, Mr Stapleton added.
ESB has provided approximately 1.5bn in dividends to the State over the past decade. This includes a 317m dividend from 2022 profits.
The Trinity graduates were listed in the Sunday Independents 30 under 30 entrepreneurs to watch in 2021
The Irish founders of language-learning startup Weeve have no plans to move home from Barcelona, where they say they can keep costs low and live a better quality of life.
I certainly miss [Ireland] a lot, but the biggest thing is that simply living in Barcelona has helped us keep our costs down, says Evan Mcgloughlin, one of four co-founders.
That has really gotten us through the tough months. Because there were many tight months in a row.
We have looked at doing other things when the months got really tight. But we havent had to.
"The logic will always be to keep the costs low and stay in Barcelona, where we can just have a good standard of living.
This time last year, the four school friends were on the hunt for pre-seed funding of around 250,000 to upgrade the Weeve app, which taught languages by weaving foreign words into shortened non-fiction books in English.
Now the Trinity graduates - listed in the Sunday Independents 30 under 30 entrepreneurs to watch in 2021 are on the cusp of a new growth phase after raising around 300,000 from a mix of individual angel investors and an Irish accelerator programme.
They have also recreated Weeve as a browser add-on for desktops, rather than an app, so it weaves foreign words into any web page you click on, including news articles, LinkedIn or X/Twitter.
The Chrome add-on launched last week, with Safari and Firefox versions planned soon.
The firm is piloting the Chrome add-on in laptops provided to students in Galways Colaiste Bhaile Clair, which they hope will make a huge impact on Irish language learning.
The add-on works by clicking an icon in your browser bar, transforming any web page into a blend of English and one of seven languages, including Spanish, French, Irish or Japanese.
You can turn up or down the number of words that are translated depending on your ability.
This will genuinely be able to make an impact in Irish education, Mr Mcgloughlin says.
So instead of reading the absolutely dreadful stories that I think give kids PTSD in this country, now they will be able to read stuff that they actually enjoy, articles that come out on a weekly basis about their idols: Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo or Robbie Keane, whatever it is.
It has been a busy few years for the neuroscience graduate and colleagues, whose idea was borne out of Covid lockdown boredom.
Three years on, the friends are hoping to turn a profit by the end of the year and may look for venture capital funding so they can add new languages and better features to their software, including improvements to their Russian translations and more personalised language levels.
Just before the Chrome launch, they had 10,000 people on the waiting list and 850 users actually testing the software.
Im guessing after this call well have a big long list of things that are broken to fix right away, but thats just how launches go. Thats expected.
Eventually [Weeve] will also do subtitles on videos. Eventually it will do full Netflix, which would just be an incredible language learning tool.
YouTube has suspended the monetisation of Russell Brands channel for violating its creator responsibility policy.
In a statement to the PA news agency, a spokesperson for the Google-owned company said: If a creators off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.
The BBC has also announced it is removing some content from its iPlayer and Sounds apps which now falls below public expectations.
An episode of QI and a Joe Wicks podcast, both featuring Brand as a guest, have been removed.
The news comes after the remaining shows of Brands Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said it had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
Brands YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTubes partner account following serious allegations against the creator, meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform.
The statement added: This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand.
A BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so.
There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds. Weve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.
The 48-year-old actor has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4s Dispatches.
Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations
He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
The Met Police said in a statement on Monday they had received an allegation of sexual assault in 2003.
The force said: On Sunday September 17, the Met received a report of a sexual assault which was alleged to have taken place in Soho in central London in 2003.
Officers are in contact with the woman and will be providing her with support.
We first spoke with The Sunday Times on Saturday September 16 and have since made further approaches to The Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual offence is aware of how to report this to the police.
The woman who has reported the alleged sexual assault had not spoken to The Sunday Times.
A performance of Brands tour scheduled for Tuesday at the Theatre Royal Windsor in Berkshire was postponed, with the shows promoters saying in a statement shared by the theatre: We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we dont like doing it but we know youll understand.
Russell Brand: Women are making 'fresh allegations', says Sunday Times media editor
Brand usually posts a new show on the video platform Rumble on weekdays at 5pm, but there was no new episode on Monday with his most recent appearance a short one on Friday when he denied the allegations against him which were published the following day.
A joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4s Dispatches includes allegations Brand assaulted one of the women when she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl and another woman has claimed he raped her against a wall in his home in Los Angeles.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herrings Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
In the clip, published by the MailOnline, he told the audience: Its not my extremism that I need to protect, its my mundanity.
Im just a bloke from Essex, from a single-parent family, that is a pretty comprehensive show-off.
After a pause, Brand added: Oh, and also I raped someone once.
I killed her after, shell never tell.
The audience can be heard laughing, while Herring shakes his head and chuckles.
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been promiscuous but that all of his relationships have been consensual.
I was confident that there is no smoking gun in this regard
GB News presenters Beverley Turner and Andrew Pierce have engaged in an astonishing on-air spat after Turner supported hero Russell Brand in a post that shocked her co-host.
During Monday's GB News show, Daily Mail columnist Pierce branded Ms Turner shameful over her comments in the wake of allegations revealed in an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches.
Pierce also said that Ms Turner was behaving like an idiot after she continued to defend Brand amid the fallout.
After the allegations came to light, Turner claimed Brand was being "attacked" by "establishment media" in a post shared on Twitter. She wrote: "You are being attacked @rustyrockets.
"Establishment media don't know what to do with the fact that you have 6million subscribers & generate autonomous, knowing and original content. You are welcome on my @GBNEWS show anytime," she said.
"We are mainstream media. But we are not Establishment media. There's a difference. Keep going. This proves you are winning. You're a hero."
The two then got into a heated debate over the tweet when Pierce asked her: Dont you think before you say he is a hero you should establish whether these very serious allegations are true?
She answered: Before I tweeted that, I had spoken to several sources close to Brand, close to The Times I was confident that there is no smoking gun in this regard. I remain confident having watched the Dispatches. Of course, everybody has the right to not be sexually assaulted.
Anybody who has been sexually assaulted, my heart goes out to them. This happens every single day.
Pierce told his co-host that he felt she showed no "sympathy" to the four women who came forward with the allegations. He added that he was "shocked" at her social media post.
The Get Him To The Greek star has been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse by four different women.
The allegations were raised in a joint investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches. He strongly denies the allegations and released a video statement before the release of the documentary.
Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations
Along with rape and sexual assault, he has also been accused of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour, though the married father of two has publicly denied all allegations and in a video posted last week in which he stated that all his relationships were consensual.
In his statement, the star has also accused the media of launching a "coordinated attack" on him.
The furious on-air row comes after one businesswoman alleged Brand raped her at his Los Angeles home in 2012 when she refused a threesome and another who said she was a 16-year-old schoolgirl when he choked her during a sexual act.
In recent years Brand has seemingly become a prominent conspiracy theorist, and has spread alleged misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic on his YouTube channel where he is also an outspoken sceptic of vaccinations.
Referring to Brand's platform, Turner said: Let me tell you why he's winning.
He's winning because here's a man who generates his own content, under his own steam, under his own expense.
He is a threat to all of these newspapers.'
A furious row also erupted over whether Brand's wife's sister Kirsty Gallacher deleted a message of support for the comedian after seeing the claims revealed in the Channel 4 Dispatches programme.
The night before, Brand had posted a two-minute video denying any criminal wrongdoing. TV star Gallacher shared the video with a large red heart but later deleted it after the documentary was released.
Pierce told viewers: Interestingly his wife's sister Kirsty Gallacher tweeted in support of him and then she saw the Dispatches programme.
But a furious Ms Turner interrupted, declaring: No, that's not true Andrew.
She claimed that Pierce did not know why she took down the post, adding: 'I'll tell you why. Because people like you are saying that you cannot defend this man.'
She claimed that Ms Gallacher was frightened of speaking out and only idiots like me have.
Pierce then retorted: Well there's a true word to use there Bev because you are behaving like an idiot. You are behaving like an idiot.
Turner added: I will always stand by my principles. This man is innocent until proven guilty.
After Brand was hit with accusations of rape and sexual assault, more women have come forward with allegations about how he treated them, it has emerged.
The Times and Sunday Times claim several women have come forward with undisclosed allegations about Brand's behaviour during the early 2000s in wake of their joint investigation with Channel 4 which was published on Saturday.
The latest allegations - which the newspaper says have not been investigated, but will now be rigorously checked.
The beef industrys struggle for consolidation and what followed
Efforts to radically consolidate the processing sector two decades ago were blocked by the Competition Authority the number of major processors shrunk anyway, from 16 to just three, over the next 20 years, but questions remain about over-capacity
Briefed in 1997 to come up with a radical plan to address the situation, McKinsey shocked the sector when it proposed that the number of beef processing companies be cut from 16 to just four, with an industry-funded buy-out scheme
Ciaran Moran Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 03:30
The Irish beef sector is long on reports about its ills, and short on radical action that will address them US consultants McKinsey (1998)
The loss of a special relationship with local TDs will be particularly felt in country areas
Former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny at the launch of the Fine Gael campaign to abolish the Seanad in a referendum in October 2013. Picture credit; Damien Eagers / Irish Independent
Ten years ago this week was the first time the Ploughing was held at the present site at Ratheniska in Co Laois.
Youd barely have known it at the time but there was a referendum campaign on about a change to the Constitution to dramatically reduce the number of full-time national parliamentarians by a quarter. Canvassing opinion at the Ploughing in 2013 about the imminent Seanad Referendum, there was an unsurprising mix of apathy and confusion.
Any farmer or other Professional Fertiliser End User who wishes to purchase fertiliser, including lime, must be registered as a Professional Fertiliser End User with the Department of Agriculture. Image: Getty
Department of Agriculture has refused to outline under what circumstances a farmer would be removed from the new Fertiliser Database, in effect banning such individuals from spreading fertiliser.
Under the new register's legislation, the Minister for Agriculture, may attach conditions to registration, revoke or vary a condition, or attach a new condition.
The Minister can also, where he or she considers that an applicant should not be entered in the register, refuse the application, or where a person entered in the register is not compliant with the law or a condition of registration remove the person from the register.
The Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023 was signed into law in mid-July 2023 and the provisions relating to the registration of Professional Fertiliser End Users and Fertiliser Economic Operators came into effect on 1 September.
Since this date, any farmer or other Professional Fertiliser End User who wishes to purchase fertiliser, including lime, must be registered as a Professional Fertiliser End User with the Department of Agriculture.
When asked last week under what circumstances a farmer would be refused entry or removed from the register, the Department said safeguards are in place in the legislation so that the Minister has adequate scope to ensure that registrations taking place are in compliance with the legislation and that those registered are observing the requirements of the new rules.
However, it said as the provisions in the Act are only commencing and said it was too early to speculate as to what reasons might or might need to occur for the aspects of legislation being asked of to be invoked.
It also said none of the over 100,000 registrations that have taken place to date have been refused.
Denis Drennan, Deputy President and Chairperson of ICMSAs Farm and Rural Affairs Committee, said the Minister needs to clarify the exact circumstances in which individual farmers would be excluded from the Register and he cited the confusion around this as yet another example of the astonishingly poor communications around Nitrates issues.
Farmers need to able to run their farms efficiently and sustainably without the threat of Big Brother background threat hanging over them, he said.
"ICMSA will not accept a scenario where individual farmers are excluded from the Register for minor issues. The Register is there to record the levels of fertilisers being used at individual farm level and the Minister must not turn into another regulatory threat to farmer.
On a related matter, Mr. Drennan called on the Minister to simplify the issue of recording closing stocks of fertiliser each year. Rather than forcing every farmer in the country to record their levels when the vast majority will be zero, Mr Drennan said the Department should assume zero closing stocks for all farmers unless the farmer declares otherwise.
Expecting all farmers to make a return on this matter is simply ridiculous and another example of bureaucratic time-wasting, he said.
Some may consider derelict and abandoned buildings an eyesore, but they are a source of art and inspiration for Enola photographer Michael Hower.
Hower specializes in photography of graffiti and abandoned properties, and it was one of his photographs that captured the attention of the State Museum of Pennsylvania and earned him first prize for photography/digital media in the 56th annual Art of the State juried exhibition.
The annual exhibition showcases the work of Pennsylvanias artists, encompassing media like photography, painting, sculpture and crafts. This year, Hower is the only Cumberland County artist to earn an award, though other award-winning Midstate artists this year include David Kasparek of Harrisburg, Doug Nicotera of Hummelstown, Joh Ricci of Gettysburg and Joseph Roach of Manheim.
Hower took some time with The Sentinel to reflect on his win and his career.
Q: How long have you been a photographer, and how did you get involved with abandoned and graffiti photography?
A: I have been involved in photography for the past 12 years. I originally went to school for art, drawing and painting. I decided after a few years of that course of study that this wasnt really what I wanted, and I felt as if I was losing my passion for making art. When I had stopped, I was working in collage. Fast forward a number of years and I have my first child, and as he was becoming interested in art, it started to rekindle in me. Looking for material to use, I grabbed my wifes point-and-shoot. It was through traversing the alleys of my neighborhood I found this wonderfully dilapidated garage that had been pieced together over the years to keep it standing. It was beautiful. They since tore it down. My second epiphany was the discovery of the old Michters Distillery in Lebanon County. After that I was sold. I returned to collage, but the full transition to photography took place when I realized that the photos I was using were better than the finished collages.
Q: What is it about abandoned places that you find interesting to photograph?
A: Visually, I love the way things decay. I love the textures and natural compositions that are formed as things fall apart. Its interesting to see the process play out as the elements creep their way into a building. Intellectually, I love the stories involved with places. Im not into a random, abandoned house along the road; I need a place that is not only appealing visually but one that has a story that appeals to my mind. There has to be something to talk about.
Q: What are some of the places youve photographed?
A: Ive been to over a hundred different places in the Northeast and down the East Coast from Pennsylvania ghost towns, like Concrete City and Centralia. My series of Graffitiscapes took me from the Trolley Graveyard, Pennsylvania, to Graffiti Alley in Baltimore, among many places. Im currently into a series of prisons, Transparency being one of those photos. So, for that series, Ive been to Eastern State in Philly, SCI Cresson in Altoona, West Virginia Penitentiary and two trips in the last year have taken me to the Ohio Reformatory and Brushy Run in Tennessee. Other interesting places Ive been to include the Ellis Island Hospital for Contagious Diseases, the abandoned Presidents Heads in Virginia and Carrie Furnace in Pittsburgh.
Q: Can you talk a little bit about your winning photograph, Transparency?
A: Transparency was shot at SCI Cresson near Altoona. It was shot in a basement exam room of the medical ward. I was fortunate enough to have made five trips there. I know the property intimately, and its one of my favorite places Ive ever been; a place where Ive been able to develop a full series just about that site.
Technical info: the picture is what is done in a style called HDR, standing for High Dynamic Range. The point of that process being to get good details in the lights and the darks. I shoot three shots: one at normal exposure, one two stops of light brighter and another at two stops of light darker. Then I merge them in the computer and from that I proceed to work on the image digitally, performing the same tasks on the computer as you would physically in a darkroom with film. Another interesting fact about the process is because the three shots were long exposures, I ran in and out of the frame to open and close the curtain in order to get that ghosting effect.
Historical info: Cresson was a tuberculosis hospital first, then briefly a mental institution before becoming a prison in the 1980s. It was shut down in 2013 for budget cuts, but really it was for bad press because the prison had come under scrutiny from the Department of Justices Civil Rights Division about its high suicide rate, mainly among prisoners who were mentally ill. They were being put into programs of forced isolation with no contact or belongings for months to years. When they graduated to contact and social situations, they were made to perform embarrassing tasks. The chief psychiatrist was later stripped of his license. This is an example of what I mentioned earlier: visually interesting, intellectually interesting.
Q: If given the chance, what locations would you like to photograph?
A: Chernobyl would have to be the top of my dream list. Some of those hopes of going there have been dashed in light of Russias invasion.
Holmesburg Prison in Philly is another one. It has been done by others, but access has been not been granted for years. Id love to get there.
The lawyer of a wine bar owner at the centre of the Bordeaux botulism outbreak said his client is feeling defeated by the tragic events of recent days.
The Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP) has opened an investigation as up to 25 people are understood to have been affected, some who were Irish rugby fans, after dining at Tchin Tchin Bar from September 4 to September 10.
Mr Stephane Guitard described the distress of his client, who has been working with the French authorities to find any remaining customers who had consumed the canned sardines.
Mr Guitard told the citys local newspaper, Sud Ouest, that his client is feeling defeated.
He is feeling defeated. He heard about the opening of an investigation. I explained to him how it worked. He is not thinking of himself, I explained to him that there are a lot of issues here but thats not his priority.
His priority is to ensure that there are not others who are sick, that those who are hospitalised return to their previous lives, and he is of course thinking of the family who lost a 32-year-old loved one. Thats his only thing that interests him, he said.
The 32-year-old Greek-born woman who died in Paris was the wife of a man from Mayo. A preliminary manslaughter investigation has been opened by the Bordeaux public prosecutors office.
Meanwhile, the Mayo man remains in a serious condition due to complications of botulism.
Mr Guitard said his client has been collaborating with the authorities to find people who ate at the restaurant.
He is physically exhausted. But he will take responsibility and remain available to investigators, the lawyer said.
When asked if the owner of the restaurant has a theory of what might have happened, the lawyer said they are waiting on the conclusions (of the investigation) from the experts.
He added that the owner has been asking himself questions: the jar, the rubbers which, according to him, were new. Should he have cooked [the sardines] longer at a high temperature?...everything was clean. Was it enough?
The defence lawyer said it is too early at this stage to talk about a scientific proof of non-compliance with hygiene rules.
Something happened, it's obvious. But there is still a lack of analysis and expert results to say exactly how this drama unfolded.
Should he have thrown away all the jars he had sterilised at the same time? This is obviously one of the questions that haunts him. But he was not aware of the risk at that time.
The results of analysis carried out by Pasteur Institute to determine which toxin was involved was released on Friday evening confirming the presence of type B botulism in the dish of sardine tapas and in the blood of several victims.
Between 2008 and 2018, a recent study published in the Frontiers Public Health found there have been 82 foodborne botulism outbreaks in France, with 159 people affected.
Last week, the owner of the restaurant was quoted saying he was aware he had a batch of sterilised sardines when he opened it and had to throw away some that had a strong smell.
Others appeared healthy and were served to customers, the restaurateur said to Sud Ouest.
The restaurant was closed until further notice.
The Irish Independent has contacted Mr Stephane Guitards office to seek further comment.
The Budget is less than a month away and senior ministers have submitted their wishlists to the colleagues who control the States purse strings, Michael McGrath and Paschal Donohoe.
Fresh doubt has been cast on the reopening of the airport.
TRANSPORT Minister Eamon Ryan has raised doubts over the commercial future of Waterford Airport after citing the number of aviation facilities already in Ireland and that the Government has not seen a detailed redevelopment proposal for the south east facility.
Mr Ryan was speaking as the Green Party staged a 'think in' in Waterford.
Waterford Airport staged its last scheduled commercial services in 2016 with VLM Airlines.
The airport insisted it "continues to pursue the reinstatement of services."
In its final year of commercial flight operations, Waterford handled 13,511 passengers.
This was more than 7,000 smaller than the total number of passengers handled by Connemara Airport which is primarily focused on servicing routes to the Aran Islands - and almost half what traffic Waterford handled in 2003.
Mr Ryan acknowledged that the commercial case for Waterford Airport was complicated by a number of factors.
"We have so many airports in the country...Knock, Shannon, Kerry, Cork, Dublin, Belfast," he told WLRFM.
"It is not an easy commercial proposition to start getting the base that would give you a commercial service."
The Government has so far not received a detailed business proposal in terms of a commercial redevelopment of Waterford Airport.
"It has not come to us and I think it would be difficult to develop it because of the volume of airports we have serving a relatively small population."
Waterford City & Co Council, Kilkenny Co Council and Wexford Co Council were linked with an investment package for the Waterford facility.
Proposals had been made to extend the runway at Waterford to better prepare it for commercial operations.
There was also speculation about a major private sector investment in the airport.
Waterford political and business groups expressed concern that developments over recent months threatened a potential "shuttering" of the airport where major operations now revolve around Coast Guard rescue helicopter operations.
Local politicians have also challenged claims that passengers in the south east are effectively serviced by Cork and Dublin Airports, arguing a population base of over 600,000 more than justifies a local aviation facility.
Waterford Airport's most successful period was 2003-2012 when Aer Arann/Aer Lingus Regional was its primary route operator.
The airport's best year for passenger operations came in 2008 when it handled 144,000 passengers. It last handled more than 100,000 passengers in 2010. Former Transport Minister Shane Ross had warned that without major investment support, the future of Waterford Airport was "highly uncertain." Waterford politicians and business leaders argued that the airport represented a vital asset for the future economic development of the entire south east region.
Waterford business groups argued that, having secured its long-demanded university, the south east now needs the economic profile offered by a commercial airport.
A couple of years ago, the school was facing closure, with enrolments predicted to drop to four this September until it received an influx of Ukrainian pupils
Half the pupils at Bunscoil Cholmain in Connemara are Ukrainian and the principal says she needs more language support teaching hours. Photo by: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
A Gaeltacht school saved from closure by an influx of Ukrainian pupils, is now facing a new challenge.
Half the pupils at Bunscoil Cholmain in Connemara are Ukrainian and the principal says she needs more language support teaching hours to live up to the Irish-only rule for junior classes.
As a participant of the Department of Educations Gaeltacht School Recognition Scheme, it must immerse pupils in the Irish language for the first two years, with no English allowed.
Principal Roisin Ni Chualain, one of two teachers in the school, takes junior infants, where seven of the 12 pupils are from Ukraine. Some arrived in the early spring and formally started junior infants this month.
A couple of years ago, the school, in Muigh Inis, Carna, was facing closure, with enrolments predicted to drop to four this September, but the arrival of the Ukrainians breathed life into it.
With the new influx, local families were encouraged that the school had a future and more enrolments followed, bring the total to 18 at the moment.
Its great the school has stayed open because of the new kids. They are brilliant and young children that age can absorb anything.
I remember the first day they arrived here on the bus and they didnt know where they were and they were so young, and now they are thriving, said the principal.
But she said the school needs more support while it integrates the new pupils, while also living up to its Irish language remit.
A couple of years ago, the school was facing closure, with enrolments predicted to drop to four this September until it received an influx of Ukrainian pupils
The school has a language support teacher for three days a week but we really need a language support teacher for five days a week, she said.
They will learn Irish and they are learning Irish They are learning the words and they have the cupla focail, but it we need to be able to give time. It is not easy when you are managing a class of four year olds.
If they are older, we can manage but when they are four or five, it takes a lot of time. The days when I have the language support teacher in the class, it is fantastic.
The principal has appealed the language teacher allocation to the Department of Education and is awaiting a response.
This week, a great asset arrived in the Bunscoil Cholmain in the form of the first Gaeilge Ukrainain colouring book, aimed at young primary school age children.
The book, a co-production between Galway Regional Development and the parents group, Tuismeotheoiri na Gaeltacht, offers pupils, and their parents an at a glance translation of some key vocabulary, in a fun activity.
Michael Mac Donnchadh, who had the idea for the colouring book when he worked with Galway Regional Development, said it would allow children to interact with each other and then with the parents at home.
The book also has the QR code on the front, linking to an online sound file.
It is great because IT IS Irish and Ukrainian. When I press play, it says the word in their native language, and then in Irish. There is no English in it, said Ms Ni Chualain.
The Gaeilge text was translated into Ukrainian by an Irish speaking Ukrainian native Nadia Dobrianska.
Originally from Kiev, she never imagined she would end up not only living in Ireland but translating books from Gaeilge to Ukrainian .
I first heard Irish at 14 and I fell in love with it. Im from Kiev and I started learning there. I have now lived in Kiev, Cork and Belfast, she said.
Sorcha Ni Cheilleachair, of Tuismitheoiri na Gaeltachta said it is a very special project. It is very important for the integration of Ukrainian children into the Gaeltacht community and it also highlights the need for extra resources for Gaeltacht schools.
Gardai launch criminal probe after Sean Quinns comments in radio interview
Bankrupt billionaire Sean Quinn speaks about his financial downfall
Paul Williams and Amy Molloy Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 07:40
Gardai have launched a criminal investigation regarding comments made by former billionaire Sean Quinn that he would have preferred seeing two other directors at his former companies being beaten up instead of Kevin Lunney.
Irish language broadcaster, Ronan Mac Aodha Bhui has died following a long illness with cancer at the age of 53.
The Donegal native was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer four years ago with metastases to the liver and lung.
He is survived by his wife Bernie, his daughter Fionnuala and relatives.
Funeral arrangements have been announced for the well-known gaeilgeoir, who died peacefully at his home in Cois Claidigh, Gaoth Dobhair on Tuesday.
President Michael D Higgins paid his condolence to the broadcaster on Tuesday night and said he was a hero amongst the Irish-speaking community.
"Ronan was particularly popular and highly respected amongst the Gaeltacht and Irish-speaking communities throughout the length and breadth of Ireland, said Mr Higgins in a statement.
"Although primarily associated with RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta he was also a versatile broadcaster on television and presented various programmes on RTE and TG4 over the years.
"Liveliness and exuberance were the hallmarks of his broadcasting style which was recognised with many awards.
"He had a particular interest in identifying new musical talent and nurturing new bands and solo performers. He established various musical festivals and events including An Cabaret Craiceailte and loved being centre stage to present the liveliest of public events.
Mr Higgins added: Sabina and I would like to extend our sympathy to Ronans wife Bernie, their daughter Fionnuala, his brothers and sisters, his friends and colleagues and that community which was so dear to his heart.
The well-known broadcaster underwent two major surgeries and about 40 rounds of chemo in battling his cancer diagnosis, as well as receiving treatment abroad.
More than 170,000 was raised through public donations over the past year to support the late broadcaster in new cancer drug trials in Spain and America.
His remains will repose at his home tomorrow, Wednesday and on Thursday from 11am until 9pm.
The funeral Mass will take place on Friday, September 22, in St Mary's Church Derrybeg at 11am, with interment afterwards in Magheragallon Cemetery.
Ronan Mac Aodha Bhui
The broadcaster death notice on RIP.ie reads: Predeceased by his parents; Eibhlin & Fionntan and his sister Edel. Sadly missed by his loving wife Bernie, daughter Fionnuala, sisters; Brid, Riona & Colma, brothers; Cian, Iarla, Cuimin & Barra and extended family & friends.
He began broadcasting in 1987, first on pirate radio stations in Dublin and Donegal, and then later he got a job reading the Irish-language news on Century Radio in Dublin.
He spent a year or so there before he moved to RTE TV, where he worked on Scaoil Amach an Bobailin with Sean Ban Breathnach and Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh, and later Ecu! Ecu!
He then joined Raidio na Gaeltachta in Dublin as presenter of their afternoon show Cois Life, and he held that role for three years. After some travelling, and a time in Conamara, Ronan moved back to Gaoth Dobhair and began working for Raidio na Gaeltachta there in Doiri Beaga.
In 2006 his signature show Ronan Beo came on the air for the first time, and it was through this programme that many people came to know Ronan as a broadcaster.
He received many awards throughout his broadcasting career, including Radio Personality of the Year at the Oireachtas Festival in 2009, 2010 and 2016, and Radio Show of the Year for Ronan Beo in 2010, 2011 and 2015.
He was named Radio Personality of the Year at the Celtic Media Festival in 2011, and Ronan Beo was named Radio Series of the Year at the PPI Radio Awards in 2012 and 2018.
Both Glor na nGael and Conradh na Gaeilge presented him with special awards in the last year for his work for the Irish language.
Kevin Bakhurst, Director General of RTE, said: Im deeply saddened to hear the news of Ronans death. He was a passionate torch bearer for Irish-language broadcasting, a radio pioneer whose flair for invention and innovation will influence broadcasters in any language for years to come.
His death is a great loss to his family and friends, his colleagues across the organisation, and Irish-language broadcasting in general. May he rest in peace.
Gearoid Mac Donncha, Ceannaire, RTE Raidio na Gaeltachta said: Its difficult to put into words the influence that Ronan Mac Aodha Bhui had on his community, and the love and esteem in which he was held. That community is wide and varied and includes people in the Gaeltacht and Irish-language communities, musicians, artists, writers, farmers, fishermen, doctors, solicitors, young and old, at home and abroad, and all will be deeply-saddened today at the news of his death.
Inquest returns verdict of accidental death in appalling tragedy in which Hannah (2) died
Karen Lawlor of Timahoe, Co Laois, leaves Dublin District Coroners Court after giving evidence in the inquest into the death of Hannah Kealy (2). Photo: Collins
Childminder Ann McDonald told the inquest she found the girl lying face down in the paddling pool. Photo: Collins
A Laois toddler suffered fatal injuries after falling into a paddling pool in the garden of her childminders home last year, an inquest has heard.
Hannah Kealy (2) from Cremorgan, Timahoe, Co Laois, was formally pronounced dead at Childrens Health Ireland at Temple Street in Dublin on July 24, 2022.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday heard the young girl had been discovered lying face down in the paddling pool four days earlier, shortly after being dropped off at her childminders house by her mother.
Marie Kealy told the inquest that she had driven to the home of the childminder, Ann McDonald, at around 8.20 on the morning of July 20, 2022, to drop Hannah off before going to work herself.
Childminder Ann McDonald told the inquest she found the girl lying face down in the paddling pool. Photo: Collins
Ms Kealy said it was only her daughters third day back with the childminder after Ms McDonald had come back from holiday.
She said Hannah had been a bit nervous about being back with the childminder after a break but they had reassured her that she would have a great time in the paddling pool.
Ms Kealy said she then received a call at around 10.24am to alert her that Hannah had got into the paddling pool and was not responding.
Fighting back tears, she recalled being told to make her way to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise.
It took a minute to digest what was going on, said Ms Kealy.
After arriving at the hospital, she told the coroner, Crona Gallagher, she did not know if Hannah was going to live or die.
She said her daughter was brought to theatre in the hospital to stabilise her for transfer to CHI at Temple Street by special ambulance.
The inquest heard that the toddler was declared brain stem dead on July 23 before being formally pronounced dead the following day.
In reply to questions from the coroner, Ms Kealy said her daughter had been attending the childminder for one and a half years and was familiar with Ms McDonalds house.
She also observed that her daughter had been in great form.
In evidence, Ann McDonald said Hannah had been pottering around her kitchen after being dropped off at her house and asking where her own children were.
Karen Lawlor of Timahoe, Co Laois, leaves Dublin District Coroners Court after giving evidence in the inquest into the death of Hannah Kealy (2). Photo: Collins
It was just like any other day, she remarked.
Ms McDonald, who wept uncontrollably throughout the hearing, said she gave Hannah breakfast at around 9.30am after which she was drawing in a colouring book and reading a story book she loved.
The childminder said Hannah was still pottering around inside her house when she went to the back door to see another parent, Karen Lawlor, and her children who had arrived.
Ms McDonald said she stayed talking at the door to Ms Lawlor for a while and then thought she heard words about Hannah being in the pool before the other children rushed into her.
When she went to check, she found the girl lying face down in the paddling pool.
Ms McDonald said she put Hannah in the recovery position and started screaming Ms Lawlors name to see if she could get help.
She told the coroner that she believed she had left the patio sliding doors which led to the paddling pool closed, but could not say that definitively.
Ms McDonald said it was possible the patio doors had been opened by the other children but Hannah would not have been able to open them on her own.
The childminder, who said she could not see the paddling pool from her back door, estimated she had been talking to Ms Lawlor for no more than five minutes.
Ann McDonald told the coroner that she believed she had left the patio sliding doors which led to the paddling pool closed, but could not say that definitively.
Ms Lawlor told the inquest that she had dropped her three children off at the house at around 10.05am and believed she had only spent two to three minutes talking to Ms McDonald.
The witness said she was fairly sure that she saw Hannah going back into the kitchen area of the house.
Ms Lawlor said she was reversing her car when she heard the childminder screaming her name and could see from her face that something was seriously wrong.
She said her own children were upset and screaming, while she recalled Hannahs face being really pale after she was taken out of the pool.
After failing to detect any pulse in the girl, Ms Lawlor said she started compressions on Hannahs chest which resulted in water squirting out of her mouth.
The inquest heard the defibrillator from the local GAA club was in Ms McDonalds house at the time and was used to apply two shocks to the victim.
Ms Lawlor said paramedics who arrived a short time later detected a weak pulse after treating her in an ambulance.
Her husband, William Lawlor, also gave evidence of being called to the scene and assisting his wife in providing CPR to Hannah.
The inquest heard medical staff at the Midlands Regional Hospital, Portlaoise, had quickly assessed that the girl had suffered a significant period without oxygen.
Dr Gallagher said post-mortem results showed the girl had suffered a brain injury as a result of a drowning incident, while a contributory factor was pneumonia she had acquired as a result of falling into the paddling pool.
Garda Brian Kelly from Stradbally garda station told the inquest that he found a toy tractor on its side next to the paddling pool.
Garda Kelly said he believed Hannah had stood up on the tractor in order to get into the pool.
He described the inflatable pool as the largest one he had ever seen and said it was up to my knees.
Garda Kelly agreed with the coroner that it was bigger than the standard paddling pool and he estimated the depth of the water in it at between two and two and a half feet.
He said he did not believe that the girl would have been able to swing her leg over the side of the pool to get into it.
The coroner said she had been informed by Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland that Hannahs organs had been used to help others.
The inquest heard there was a covering over the pool to prevent debris like twigs from getting into the water, but Garda Kelly said it would not have prevented anyone from accessing the pool.
Returning a verdict of accidental death, Dr Gallagher said there were no words that she could offer on such an appalling tragedy to lessen the pain of her family.
It just occurred out of the blue, with no warning, the coroner observed.
She said Hannah was given every chance by how people had reacted in the immediate aftermath of the incident.
If she could have been saved, she would have been; but unfortunately it was to no avail, Dr Gallagher remarked.
The coroner said she had been informed by Organ Donation and Transplant Ireland that Hannahs organs had been used to help others.
She praised the girls parents, Marie and Denis, who attended the hearing with their newborn son, for the courage and generosity they had shown at the most difficult time of their lives.
Unauthorised metal parts implanted in the spines of child patients, one of whom died
It is still unclear how unauthorised metal parts came to be implanted in a number of the 19 children with spina bifida who suffered significant complications after spinal surgery.
But it has emerged that one child died and 18 others suffered a range of complications after surgery at Temple Street Childrens Hospital with several needing further surgery, including the removal of metal parts which were not authorised for use.
Parents of the children undergoing complex surgery were left distraught by the disclosures that emerged yesterday, after campaigning for years while the young patients in need of operations deteriorated on waiting lists.
Gerry Maguire, of Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Ireland, said absolute horror is being visited on parents and their advocates.
He condemned as disturbing the information which is being drip-fed to his group and more alarmingly the families concerned. One mother expressed concern about further delays in surgery and said children are too complex to be taken for care abroad.
Two reports one internal and one external revealed yesterday that one of the children has died and their case is being investigated under a serious incident review. Three children had unauthorised implants inserted during surgery, it was reported.
The surgeon at the centre of the allegations is currently not operating on patients and the doctor has been referred to the Medical Council.
"The surgeon involved stopped doing complex surgery on children with spina bifida in November last year and all spinal surgeries in May 2023 .The surgeon has not operated since July, a statement from the hospital said.
Speaking to Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One on Tuesday morning, Megan Murphy, whose son Paddy has scoliosis, spina bifida and is a full-time wheelchair user, says the news has broken her family.
Ms Murphy said: Paddy is one of the children that has been fighting over the last couple of years for his scoliosis surgery.
Hes a very active child, hes in mainstream school and hes 14. Paddy knows he has this surgery looming over his head but what has broken over the weekend with the news of CHI in Temple Street and has broken us as a family.
Ms Murphy said they are distraught and angry, adding: Paddy is not one of the children in the reviews that are out at the minute but he is one of the children that have been left to deteriorate on the waiting list.
Her son has been waiting around four years for his surgery and his condition has been deteriorating at a fast pace in the last 2-3 years.
Ms Murphy said her son is on a very difficult road as his lung function has been impacted by the curvature in his spine, while the pressure on his skin can cause skin breakdown.
We are devastated. We want answers. We want people held responsible, she said. Whos going to be held responsible for it? she said.
Another external review is now to be conducted by Mr Selvadurai Nayagam, consultant in orthopaedics and trauma, and head of limb reconstruction unit at the Royal Liverpool University and Royal Liverpool. An internal analysis of the 16 case files showed that 13 young patients needed further unplanned surgery.
Overall, nine of the 16 cases suffered mechanical complications of metalwork requiring their removal. Concerns about surgical technique were raised.
Patients with minor complications that did not need further surgery had wound problems that were managed with oral antibiotics or were looked after in the outpatient department.
Two more families whose children have been affected recently came to light, bringing the number of patients at the centre of concern to 19 so far.
Despite Childrens Healthcare Ireland (CHI), which oversees Temple Street, instigating an internal and external review of their own, questions linger over how soon the problems were spotted and action was taken.
Springs not meant for surgery were used by a member of staff at the hospital and implanted in a small number of children, according to reports on The Ditch website.
Dr Allan Goldman, CHI chief medical officer, said it is still unclear how unauthorised implant devices came to be used, and this will be part of the external review. The reports published yesterday said the there were serious concerns identified by the hospital since last year.
Complications were higher than normal and with two particularly serious surgical incidents, in July and September last year.
It led to two reviews, one internal and the other external, examining 17 children.
Of these 17 children, one child sadly died since, and a number of other children suffered significant post-operative complications, said the HSE.
These patients and their families already face enormous challenges due to their condition, and CHI deeply regrets the failings in the care provided to them.
CHI is engaged with these families on an ongoing basis and will continue to provide support needed.
Separately, CHI became aware more recently that unauthorised devices were used in a small number of spinal surgery procedures.
In addition to the 17 patients in the reviews, CHI has recently met two further families who were affected by this issue.
CHI said it has recently met with each of the families, and their children have been assigned to a new clinical team in CHI. A plan for future treatment will be given. All patients and their families known to have been affected have been contacted.
The complex surgery was suspended last November pending the review and this has created another backlog of young patients who are in urgent need of a spinal operation. Childrens surgeries were also delayed during the early part of the pandemic.
Speaking in New York, Tanaiste Micheal Martin described the reports as very, very concerning.
I cant pre-empt the external review But what is incumbent on the Health Service Executive and all involved in healthcare [is] to make sure that the highest standards prevail, he said.
People before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who has been raising the issue in the Dail, called for more disclosure and said it was essential the right specialists conduct the external review.
Dr Goldman said : We deeply regret the impact that the issues identified have had on patients and their families. We welcome the HSEs external review.
We will use the findings, in conjunction with the findings and actions from CHIs reviews of the spinal surgery service at CHI at Temple Street, to inform our ongoing improvement programme.
Minister Eamon Ryan in the U.S: Ireland must now "make a leap" on climate change, as he pays tribute to Ella Mills, who died in kayaking tragedy
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has defended the Taoiseach flying to Miami tomorrow to open a new Irish consulate saying debate around these types of political trips shouldnt descend into a moral quiz about who is the most virtuous.
The Taoiseachs flight to Florida and return to New York will cost 16,439 metric tonnes of carbon while Mr Ryan continues with a series of high-level UN meetings on climate change after taking the train from Manhattan to Washington DC.
Mr Varadkar, for his part, has claimed he would have had to make a dedicated trip from Ireland to open the office in the Sunshine State if he had not availed of the opportunity during his week at the United Nations.
Asked if the Taoiseach was undermining his climate argument by going down to cut a ribbon in Miami, Mr Ryan said he wasnt going to get involved in a blame game against any individual. Transport is actually going to be more difficult than land use and agriculture (for emissions cuts) because it's embedded in our whole society, he said.
We need to change the way aviation works and we need to develop new aviation fuels so that flying is sustainable. It's not at the present time.
But I don't think we will make that change if we turn it into a kind of youre the problem, he said.
Standing outside the United Nations building, he added; We all flew here, myself included. Hands up who didnt? I don't think we should turn this into a kind of a moral quiz, in terms of who's the most virtuous.
He said he and his team had taken the train up to New York from Washington because it was no problem, and we could work on the train in a very productive way. It brought me right into Penn Station.
He continued: What the Taoiseach is doing is important, not just in terms of representation to that part of the world. But critically, we're setting up our mission to the Caribbean and small island developing states.
It's the likes of Barbados and Antigua and Trinidad and Tobago, with whom we have a really important relationship. No one can deny the fact that we got elected to the UN Security Council by those islands in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, other small islands who saw us as a voice that can represent them.
So I think establishing the office in Miami and the Taoiseach doing so, that's absolutely appropriate. Absolutely that is the right thing to do.
He's going to have to fly there because he has to be back here on Friday morning to give our national statement to the General Assembly. You can't do that if you take the Amtrak all the way down and back.
Mr Varadkar flies from La Guardia to Miami tomorrow.
Asked about it, Mr Varadkar said: "I think it's important that I as Taoiseach, should open up the new office, our consulate in Miami.
The State of Florida is one of the most important States now in the union, a huge economic powerhouse, and also it's our new office to the Caribbean. It's actually something that I set out as part of our Global Ireland ambition back in 2017.
So I was keen to do it, I have a number of other engagements as well. The fact that the Head of Government is there makes a big difference in terms of the meetings that you get and the access we can secure for our staff there.
Obviously, the alternative way to have done it is to make a dedicated trip from Ireland which would have cost more and more co2 emissions."
The carbon cost of the flight has been assessed through the International Civil Aviation Organisations online calculator.
Greenpeace urges governments to reduce favouritism towards cars as study reveals stark contrast in spending on transport infrastructure here and across EU
Figures show that between 1995 and 2019, Ireland has spent 26.5bn on motorways, but just 4.1bn on rail. Photo: Getty
Ireland has been urged to improve its rail infrastructure in order to help reduce emissions. Photo: Getty
A new study into Europes shrinking railway networks over the last three decades has highlighted how Ireland has invested six times more in road infrastructure over railway networks.
It revealed how motorways in Ireland have expanded by 1,321pc, from 70km in total to 995km the most of any European country, with the figure for railways just 4.5pc.
Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe published the study today, which analysed the shrinking and expansion of transport infrastructure (railways, roads and airports) in Europe since 1995.
The report covers the 27 countries of the EU, plus Norway, Switzerland and the UK. These countries have invested a total of 1.5tn in motorways, but just 930bn in railways.
It estimates that over 2,500 train stations have been shut down in the EU since 1995, along with over 13,000km of passenger railway lines.
Ireland has spent 26.5bn on motorways between 1995 and 2019, but only 4.1bn on rail.
The country has spent as much on one new runway at Dublin Airport last year (320m) as it has over a five-year period between 2016-2020 on its entire railway network.
On a positive note for Ireland, the length of the total rail network has increased by 4.7pc since 1995, while the European rail network has shrunk by an average of 6.5pc.
The only train line that closed for passenger transport since 1995 in Ireland is the line from Waterford to Rosslare Strand, which was closed in 2010 along with four stations along the route. Its total length was approximately 50km.
The research shows that Europe's rail system, including railway lines, train stations and stops, has been systematically underfunded and shrinking over the last three decades, while fossil-fuel infrastructure, such as motorways and airports, was expanded.
Figures show that between 1995 and 2019, Ireland has spent 26.5bn on motorways, but just 4.1bn on rail. Photo: Getty
This has led to an increased demand in private motorised transport that causes the large share of European transport emissions. Transport remains the only sector in the EU that has not contributed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In contrast to other sectors, greenhouse gas emissions from transport have actually increased by 15pc in the period from 1995-2019, with transport now responsible for almost a third of the EU's total greenhouse gas emissions.
Data shows that a dense and well-developed rail network is key to making public transport accessible and attractive to people, which will in turn lead to cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Herwig Schuster, transport campaigner for Greenpeaces Mobility for All campaign, said Europe has systematically bled its regional and local rail network dry over the past 30 years.
Mr Schuster said that it is high time European governments ended their favouritism towards cars.
If Europe is to have a sustainable and equitable future, governments and the EU must stop closing regional train lines and stations, reopen disused rail infrastructure and massively shift funding from road and air to rail to ensure greenhouse gas emissions reductions and equal access to sustainable mobility for all, he said.
There was no warning before the attack the night of Sept. 9 that injured Anita Ellababidy in the 1000 block of North Pitt Street in Carlisle.
I didnt even see it coming, she said. All of a sudden I felt the whole weight of him. It was like I was being stabbed.
An outdoor cat had reached around to claw the front of her right leg before sinking its teeth into the skin and muscle of the back of her limb. Judging from what happened next, the animal must have opened up a vein or an artery.
I was not a foot and a half inside the back door when I was really bleeding, Ellababidy said. I ran to the bathroom. I went to grab a tissue to stop the bleeding when I noticed my shoe was full of blood. It was literally filling up with blood. It looked like a crime scene.
The incident happened sometime after 11 p.m. as Ellababidy was carrying her elderly cat into her home and away from a younger cat that had entered her yard. The impact of the back door closing must have scared her attacker away.
From the bathroom, Ellababidy ran into the kitchen and tried to stop the bleeding. Then she called an ambulance to take her to UPMC Carlisle for treatment that required stitches, antibiotics and shots for tetanus and rabies.
Police report
It was when Ellababidy called Carlisle Police a few days later that she was in for another shock: there wasnt anything police could do.
Officer Jamie DiMartile, a spokesperson for Carlisle Police, said that prior to the incident earlier this month, their department had never heard of an incident involving a cat attack. Typically, the humane society only responds out for dogs. They will help us catch a dog if its loose. If its a dangerous dog, they would help us quarantine it.
We cant pinpoint which cat it was, so theres no investigation, she said. If there was a dog owner or a dog attack, its handled differently but, for a feral cat attack, theres no owner. Theres no one to control the cat. Theres really nothing we can do other than, if the cat is trapped, either get it to the humane society or find a rescue to take it.
While police would file a report that could help with insurance filings should the cat have an owner and that owner is identified, there are few solutions for those who end up getting on the bad side of a cat.
The officer I spoke to could not have been more lovely, patient, sympathetic and kind about what happened, Ellababidy said. He explained to me that there was a time when we [the police] used to be able to deal with this. My takeaway was if a dog had bitten me, they would have responded. But it was a cat, so they dont.
Too bad so sad wasnt the kind of response I was expecting, she said. The first person who brought the [younger] cat to my attention was my neighbors 8-year-old daughter. She tried to approach it and pick him up and he ran. The girl was upset by that. That cat was so cute. Now, imagine if this would happen to her. There are kids in this neighborhood, and what if this cat did this to them?
Cats and dogs
Patrick Noll, director of humane law enforcement for the Humane Society of the Harrisburg Area, said his main job is to investigate reports of animal cruelty and neglect in Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties.
Noll said the Humane Society does not respond to the kind of incident that injured Ellababidy. He said the organization occasionally helps police round up aggressive dogs that are on the loose.
The unfortunate part is trapping a cat is probably the only way youre going to catch it once its out in the world, Noll said. Theres a pretty big gap between the two species. When it comes to dogs, theres a whole section of the law thats referred to as dog law.
These regulations address such issues as stray dogs, breeding facilities, rabies and licensing. There is even a Bureau of Dog Law Enforcement thats part of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.
When it comes to cats, youre on the other end of the spectrum, Noll said. There are almost no specific laws regarding cats outside of municipal ordinances. Some municipalities are very strict about you letting your cat outside and not feeding stray cats. Some even offer spay-neuter programs.
But many municipalities have no regulation addressing cats. Its unknown whether the cat that attacked Ellababidy was a stray, a feral animal or a pet left outside by a local resident.
Territorial cat?
Based on Ellababidys story, Noll said its possible that there was some territorial behavior at work.
At the time of the attack, Ellababidy was accompanying her 17-year-old tomcat, who was too old and vulnerable to be left outside on his own. While the card-carrying member of both Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals had seen the cat before with little issue, something changed when the young cat with gray fur, white paws and white chest spotted her cat.
He noticed my cat, she said. They were looking at each other. There didnt seem to be any aggression or fighting. There was no snarling. No growling. No nothing. There wasnt even a hiss from either one of them. I just scooped up my cat and went inside. I walked across the driveway. I was halfway in the door, with one leg outside, when he just attacked. If I had thought there was something, I would have ran to the house. He wasnt crouched like he was going to pounce. He wasnt flashing his tail.
Because of the vicious nature of what happened, I wouldnt want to rule out rabies, but my first guess is this was in relation to protecting some kind of territory, Noll said. Outdoor cats can get very territorial and their fights can get nasty especially if another male cat is in the area.
The two tomcats may have been keyed into stimuli that Ellababidy was completely unaware of, such as the nearby presence of a female cat in heat, Noll said. Its conceivable that the younger cat acted out in aggression to assert its dominance over a resource, a potential mate or a limited supply of food, he said.
Cats tend to avoid conflict rather than seek it out, especially when it comes to humans who are much larger than them, Noll said. In my experience, its not the most common thing for a cat to be aggressive. They know the size difference. They are conscious about it.
Rabies and tips
Rabies is such a hot button topic, Noll said. I really hesitate to jump straight to that. Rabies is a really scary thing. It deserves all the fear that it has, but it just isnt something as prevalent as some may assume. Theres a world of other factors out there other than potential rabies.
Rabies presents itself in animals in two ways, Noll said. The one that people are really familiar with is referred to as furious rabies. Its where animals are behaving very aggressively, possibly foaming at the mouth. The other kind thats more common is paralytic rabies. Thats where the animal is more lethargic, appearing drunk, stumbling around, a lot of time paralyzed at the back end.
One example of rabies-type behavior may be a wild animal acting unafraid of people and wandering up to them. Another example is a normally nocturnal animal being seen in the daytime such as a skunk or raccoon. Even then, it may be a case where the animal was roused from its nest or otherwise disturbed, Noll said.
His advice is to stay away from any animal about which youre not sure. Children, especially, should not approach or try to touch a stray or feral animal.
My suggestion is to keep cats indoors, Noll said. If you want a cat to experience the outdoors, put it on the leash or secure it in some kind of enclosure, he suggested.
Just closing the door and waiting for it to come back a few hours later isnt very responsible, he said. There are a lot of people, especially in rural areas, who feel that the cat has to go out and explore, but you have to factor in the risks. There are roads, parasites and other animals. A cat left outside is where feral cats come from. They are, by definition, an invasive species not naturally wild in Pennsylvania.
The ability of outdoor cats to breed and multiply depends on how much access they have to food, Noll said. If you add more resources, its going to encourage more breeding. Spay and neuter; it may sound like common sense, but it still needs to be pushed over and over again. Neutering them is the best way to control the population.
Interpol has been contacted by gardai in a bid to solve the mystery over the true identity of a pensioner who allegedly used the name of an infant that died over 70 years ago in a bid to obtain an Irish passport.
Judge Olann Kelleher at Cork District Court was told by gardai that they are now liaising with Interpol and overseas police forces in a bid to determine the identity of a man going by the name Philip Frank Morris who appeared before the court last Friday.
The Taoiseach has said the issues relating to spinal surgery in Temple Street appear to go well beyond malpractice.
Leo Varadkar added: The more and more I read about it, the more concerned and bothered I am.
He added: What I've read today is very alarming. It would have involved potentially using implants and devices that weren't authorised, and procedures that weren't accredited.
Its really important that we get to the bottom of it, and that we support the parents, because I just can't fathom what they must be experiencing or feeling.
His comments in New York come after two reports yesterday revealed how 19 children who had spinal surgery in Temple St suffered a rang of post-operative complications with one child dying.
Unauthorised metal devices were implanted in three children.
A surgeon who was involved in the surgery has voluntarily stepped aside and is not working at the hospital.The doctor has been referred to the Medical Council.
The Taoiseach who is in New York for the United Nations SDG Summit commented today: This will have to be investigated properly and thoroughly. I know there's going to be an examination by the Medical Council as well.
But the kinds of things I'm hearing about and reading about, if they're true, extend well beyond malpractice. They are very serious issues indeed and children were harmed as a result.
He said he had asked for additional briefing material and information on the emergent scandal.
If you've a child needing surgery, you think at the very least, that if they got the surgery, it's going to make them better, not worse, he said.
It seems that some of these surgeries were performed incorrectly. And children suffered harm as a result. That's unbelievably serious. I can't overstate that but I really want to understand all the facts before saying more."
Childrens spinal surgery is very complicated area that requires some very skilled surgeons and big specialist teams and beds, as he knew from his time as Minister for Health, he said.
It is quite a difficult area to get the numbers down, no matter how much effort or resources are put behind this. We have in the past sent children abroad to Britain and also to Germany. And that worked for some families.
But it's not as simple as just sending somebody abroad for a one-off operation and some others don't like the idea that we would be using a service abroad when we should be building up our services at home.
There are operations and procedures that are very public and all documented, and it's quite easy to look at the results that different surgeons get where the statistics are very clear if somebody has a higher complication rate.
But it's not as easy to do where operations are infrequent and only carried out by a small number of surgeons, and there's a huge margin of error. It's not as straightforward then.
But I do think we have to consider the possibility that there was a wider failure of clinical governance here. And that's something that will have to be have to be investigated, Mr Varadkar said.
There are two separate issues here. There's the issue of potential malpractice, which is extremely serious. And then there's the wider issue of children waiting too long for operations.
I can absolutely guarantee you that if it was a matter of political will or assigning resources the problem that would have been solved a long time ago.
It's much more difficult when it requires specialist beds, specialist nurses, and specialist consultants -- they're hard to find and it's not something that's a unique problem in Ireland unfortunately.
Never too old: Meet the 80-year-old granddad who is abseiling down Croke Park for charity
John ORourke says age is just a number and has no fear of propelling down from a height of 150ft
John ORourke is raising funds for the charity Look Good Feel Better, which provides skincare and makeup workshops to women receiving cancer treatment
Arlene Harris Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 03:30
John ORourke, fondly known as Mr Kay, in honour of his wife Catherine (Kay), is 80 years old. The father of three daughters, and grandfather of seven grandchildren, he has been living in Rialto, Dublin for 53 years. And while he retired from his job as a truck driver 15 years ago, he doesnt like to sit still. To prove this, he is about to undertake a mammoth challenge and abseil down Croke Park on September 22 to raise funds for the charity which offered support to his daughter when she was going through cancer.
Following the pause of tourism during Covid restrictions, many places reliant on tourism were champing at the bit to lure back holidaymakers once travel opened up again. But there are tourists and then there are too many tourists.
Post-pandemic, the influx of millions of visitors to tourist-strewn towns has, in some cases, risen to levels above those seen in 2019. Too much tourism threatens to disrupt residents, natural ecosystems and contribute to transport pollution.
Unesco has warned of potential damage to protected areas and Fodors No Travel List recommended reconsidering a visit to suffering cultural hotspots with overstretched infrastructure, such as Dubrovnik, in 2023.
Some destinations themselves have started taking a stand. Italys hardened approach to tackling the issue is leading the charge against overtourism in peak season, and countries looking to maintain tradition and encourage sustainability through a redirection to low-impact tourism have followed suit.
Bans on cruise ships, short-term holiday rentals such as Airbnb and caps on visitor numbers are among the ways destinations are trying to get a handle on escalating tourism, alongside championing considerate behaviour.
As Venice gears up to introduce a tourist tax and ticketing system in its historic centre, here are the destinations cracking down on tourism, from Bhutan to Athens.
File Photo: Tourists in St. Mark's Square (Reuters/Manuel Silvestri)
Italy
Venice
Set to introduce tourist entry fees come spring 2024, Venice is heeding Unesco warnings of irreversible damage to its historic centre. Day-tripping tourists will incur a 5 charge and a ticketing system as part of plans to tackle overtourism in the popular canal city flooded with 20 million visitors annually. The tax follows the Italian citys decision to ban cruise ships from the centre in 2019 after an incident where a cruise liner hit a dock.
Portofino
In Portofino, tourists lingering in viral Instagram spots to take selfies could be fined 275 for creating a dangerous situation. Implemented red zones or no waiting areas are intended to prevent traffic jams and congested pavements in the picturesque Italian Riviera town during peak season, April to October. Mayor of Portofino Matteo Viacava said tourists pausing to take pictures cause anarchic chaos and added in a statement to The Times: The objective is not to make the place more exclusive but to allow everyone to enjoy our beauty.
Rome
Visitors to Rome may face severe fines or even bans at attractions in a crackdown on out-of-line tourist behaviour in the Italian capital. Since 2019 men are no longer allowed to go shirtless in public, love padlocks are forbidden from being attached to bridges and those caught snacking on messy foods around busy tourist attractions (specifically the Trevi Fountain), could also be fined. The regulations may also incur a warning from police patrolling attractions.
People walk near the Colosseum during a heat wave across Italy this July. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
Sardinia
Travellers to Sardinia are warned against wandering on the inviting pink sands of Spiaggia Rosa at risk of a fine ranging from 500 up to 3,500. A stricter enforcement of the Budelli Island beach ban, first introduced over 30 years ago, stems from concerns that tourism poses a danger to the pink micro-organisms that live on the shore. In 2022, visitor numbers on five Sardinian beaches were capped at 60 and 3 per person, per day visitor fees were implemented in a bid to protect the islands shores from litter.
Florence
In June, Florence banned the use of Airbnbs and short-term private holiday rentals in its historic city centre. The Unesco World Heritage Site is home to around 11,000 short-term private rental properties and housing stock in the area had depleted the availability of affordable housing for full-time residents.
Trentino Alto Adige
New rules limiting the number of overnight guests in Trentino Alto Adige could make it more difficult for holidaymakers to find accommodation in the Italian regions areas of natural beauty including a famed glacial lake, Lago di Braies. The number of visitors staying in the area will be capped at 2019 levels in an effort to combat overtourism, top attractions including the Alpe di Siusi will require pre-registration and no new guest houses are permitted to open.
Tourists brave the heat in the Acropolis, Athens. AP Photo/Petros Giannakouri
Athens, Greece
The famed Greek Acropolis capped visitor numbers at 20,000 in September 2023 to reduce footfall at the ancient monument. Visitors will also have to book a time slot in advance with caps changing from hour to hour between 8am and 8pm. The Greek culture minister, Lina Mendoni said: The measure will address the need to protect the monument, which is the main thing for us, as well as [improving] visitors experience of the site.
Hallstatt, Austria
The Austrian town said to have inspired Frozens Arendelle, Hallstatt, took measures to deter tourists from visiting the fairytale spot by constructing wooden fences that obstruct lakeside views of the area that make for a popular selfie backdrop. Pre-pandemic, foot traffic to the protected Unesco site was averaging 10,000 visitors a day prompting Alexander Scheutz, Hallstatts mayor, to cap the number of tour buses and cars allowed to enter the area with the intention of reduce tourism numbers by at least a third.
Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Tourism in the Galapagos is tightly controlled with strict regulations on land and sea enforced by the Galapagos National Park Service. These include walking only on marked trails, visiting protected areas with a specialised guide only and not visiting the islands main natural beauty spots on privately owned yachts. All tourists visiting the archipelago must also pay an entry tax $100 for those over 12 years old and $50 for those under.
Boracay, Philippines
In 2018, Boracay, a popular tourist island in the Philippines, was closed for six months after the countrys president declared the once-white sand beaches cesspools. Sewage problems from hotels and restaurants accommodating the tourism industry threatened to take the environment of the idyllic island past the point of no return.
Tourists visit the reopened Maya bay in January 2022. Photo: Reuters/Athit Perawongmetha
Maya Beach, Thailand
Famous as the setting for the Hollywood blockbuster The Beach, Maya Bay in Ko Phi Phi Leh, Thailand, was closed in the summer of 2018 to restore the natural landscape, ecosystems and coral reefs overwhelmed by 5,000 tourists a day. The beach reopened in January 2022 but swimming in the bay remains banned to protect the restored coral and black-tipped reef shark population. Visitors are also only allowed to visit for an hour and motorboats are banned from the bay itself.
Penang, Malaysia
Penang became the first destination in Southeast Asia to ban short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb holiday homes in June 2023 as a result of the behaviour of international tourists negatively impacting local residents. Under the regulations, only commercial properties are now able to host guests on a short-term basis this is subject to registration fees and a 75 per cent approval from the other residents in the hosts building.
Bali, Indonesia
Indonesian tourism giant, Bali has proposed a tourist tax to discourage unruly tourists from visiting the low-cost island. Visitors could be forced to pay between $30-$100 if the proposal is agreed, plus a tourist handbook outlining acceptable behaviour could also be distributed to travellers as part of further measures by the Bali Tourism Board.
Okinawa, Japan
The Galapagos of the East, Okinawa in Japan introduced a cap on visitor numbers to combat over tourism and protected an endangered species of indigenous wild cat, the Iriomote cat. As of April 2023, a maximum of 1,200 tourists a day will be able to travel to the Iriomote island of the Okinawa prefecture in a bid to preserve the ecosystem and the quality of life for permanent residents.
Amsterdam's red light district. Photo: Getty Images
Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Brits were urged to "stay away by authorities in Amsterdam, due to complaints of antisocial behaviour during stag parties and pub crawls. The Dutch capitals campaign in March 2023 targeted search engine keywords including stag party Amsterdam and pub crawl Amsterdam when entered by British internet users; a warning video consequently popped up.
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is set to increase its municipal tourist tax from 5.25 to 6.75 per night by 2024 for guests staying in a five-star hotel, with the sum paid to Barcelonas Generalitat and the City Council. The surcharge is on top of the general nightly tourist tax paid to the region that was imposed in the summer of 2020 and, as a result, means that by April 2024 five-star hotel guests will pay 47.25 per seven-night stay on top of their hotel room rate.
French Polynesia
The pristine Pacific islands of French Polynesia plan to cap annual tourist numbers in a sustainability push. Local cruise lines with up to 700 passengers will take priority over international cruise ships and the cap will not exceed 300,000 visitors a year equivalent to one tourist per local.
France
French tourism minister, Olivia Gregoire presented a roadmap to combat overtourism by regulating tourism flows and supporting local authorities experiencing visitor surges in June. Iconic French attractions such as the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey in Normandy and the Louvre Museum previously risked being overwhelmed by the volume of visitors. The government will launch the 1m campaign in March 2024.
Machu Picchu, Peru
In 2019, the bucket-list Unesco site Machu Picchu introduced a strict ticketing system and time slots to tackle overtourism. Visitors must now arrive within a specific time slot with a four-hour time limit for each visit and a set closing time of 5.30pm. Previous rules already outlined that visitors were only able to enter Machu Picchu with an official tour guide, group sizes were limited to 16 people and defined routes had to be followed around the site.
Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan. Photo: Getty / Khoa Nguyen
Bhutan, The Himalayas
Since the country opened to tourism in 1974, visitors to Bhutan must pay a Sustainable Development Fee of US$200 per day to restrict footfall on the landlocked Himalayan nation and encourage high value, low impact tourism. The tourism tax was lowered in June for travellers who opt to stay longer, meaning travellers who stay for eight days will pay $800, a saving of $800.
Cornwall, UK
Cornish holiday lets are facing a compulsory registration proposal to combat overtourism during peak periods. Short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo have created an influx of additional holiday accommodation properties to the already growing housing crisis in Cornwall. This March, the government also proposed a 160m crackdown on problematic behaviour, including in short-term holiday lets.
Dubrovnik, Croatia
A Respect the City campaign in Dubrovnik introduced new measures for visitors to the Unesco World Heritage city, including bans on walking around in swimwear, driving without special permission, eating and drinking around cultural monuments and climbing on the city walls. All offences are punishable by fines and criminal charges.
US National Parks
In the US, the National Park Service implemented a timed entry reservation system at $2 per car to control vehicle traffic and footfall during peak seasons at five of its most popular parks. These include Arches National Park, Glacier National Park and the rocky Mountain National Park.
Oahu, Hawaii
Hawaii is cracking down on visitor numbers to take care of its unique natural environment, repair coral reefs and maintain state parks and trails. A tourist fee is being considered in the state that would require tourists to pay for a year-long licence or pass to visit Hawaiian state parks and trails. Democratic Gov. Josh Green said: We get between nine and 10 million visitors a year [but] we only have 1.4 million people living here. Those 10 million travellers should be helping us sustain our environment.
Sara Sharif was found dead in Woking, Surrey, on August 10 (Surrey Police/PA)
The father of Sara Sharif has been ordered to face trial next autumn as a court heard the 10-year-old suffered a "constellation" of injuries culminating in her death.
Urfan Sharif appeared at the Old Bailey in London today alongside Sara's stepmother, Beinash Batool, and uncle, Faisal Malik, following their return from Pakistan last week.
All three are charged with murdering Sara and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The court heard that Surrey Police had found Sara's body after receiving a call from Pakistan, which lasted eight minutes and 34 seconds, at 2.47am on August 10.
The defendants' flight to Pakistan had been booked two days earlier, on August 8, the court was told.
Officers arrived at the family home in Woking, Surrey, and found the young girl lying face up and fully clothed under a blanket in a bunk bed in an upstairs room.
She was identified using the DNA of her mother, Olga Sharif, who lives in Somerset, and another relative.
Court artists sketch of Sara Sharifs stepmother, Beinash Batool, uncle, Faisal Malik, and father, Urfan Sharif (Elizabeth Cook/PA)
An earlier hearing was told she was found under a blanket on a bed with two notes placed under her pillow.
Prosecutor Giles Bedloe told the court that Sara was found to have "a constellation of healed and healing injuries".
They allegedly included a healed fracture to her collar bone, a healed fracture to the hyoid bone in her neck, multiple rib fractures, bruising to her torso and limbs, and a brain haemorrhage.
Mr Bedloe alleged: "It follows Sara had been subjected to multiple events of violence over a sustained period of time that must have culminated in her death."
He added: "There is quite a significant amount of post-mortem work ongoing and that will continue."
The day before Sara was found, the three defendants allegedly left the UK for Pakistan with five children, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Last Wednesday, the trio, of Hammond Road in Woking, returned to the UK and were arrested on landing at Gatwick Airport.
At the court hearing today, Sharif, 41, Batool, 29, and Malik, 28, appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Belmarsh high-security jail in south London and Bronzefield women's prison in Surrey.
They spoke only to confirm their identities and dates of birth before a timetable was set for their case.
The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft KC, said a plea hearing will take place before him on December 1.
A six-week trial at the Old Bailey was provisionally set to start on September 2 2024.
Judge Lucraft said a decision will be made later on whether the trial should be heard by a High Court judge.
The defendants were all remanded into custody until their next hearing.
Nothing expresses priorities so well as action. So its less than inspiring to see yet another UN initiative is required to follow up on a previous one that has yet to be delivered.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other government leaders are currently in New York at the United Nations General Assembly to reboot a plan, first launched about seven years ago, to improve the lives of people around the world.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are a set of high-level initiatives to protect the environment. This vital plan was intended to concentrate minds on the catastrophic consequences of climate change, and how we might curtail them. Given the challenges we face, no level of ambition could possibly be too high.
These are steps that must be taken, yet halfway into the programme, scarcely 15pc of the proposals have
been implemented. There can be no compromising on these steps, they cannot be adjusted. What needs to be turned around completely is our attitude to them. What once were options are now imperatives.
Unless there is a uniform will to act in concert, such meetings are worse than useless, for they are deluding people into believing urgent issues are being taken in hand, when the truth is they are being further pushed out on to the long finger.
The lack of progress has been explained away on the grounds that the pandemic, the upsurge in armed conflict and an increase in extreme weather events have diverted attention.
But were these not the very issues the UN was formed to address? Unless appropriate levels of resolve and co-operation are found, the whole exercise is doomed to be a resounding failure.
This would be a betrayal of billions of people who are depending on a sea change in global behaviour and a belated switch to sustainable living. This can only be achieved through strong leadership, which so far has been shamefully missing.
Ireland and Qatar were tasked last year with creating a resolution that can re-energise and reinforce commitment to the type of meaningful change that the goals underpin.
Mr Varadkar has vowed to press leaders to focus on maximising their efforts to make up for lost time.
But leaders ought not require further nudging to do the right thing. The apocalyptic visions we are seeing of fires, floods and drought speak for themselves.
We have had one devastating reminder after another of how we are out of time when it comes to extreme weather events. Mr Varadkar has spoken of a time of critical challenge for the world.
If Ireland has signed up to be so centrally involved in making sure there is real progress in implementing these goals, as stated by Mr Varadkar, then we better deliver. Otherwise we risk being accused of merely offering a veneer of good intentions where hard results are desperately required to help the worlds most vulnerable.
We do not need two Labour parties, as is currently the case. As all the political parties held their pre-Dail return gatherings, members of the original Labour Party gathered in Maynooth, while the Social Democrats held their meeting in Dublin. Both groups have similar messages and each has committed and talented representatives.
As things stand, opinion polls show both to be marginal enough, with the Social Democrats now just eight years on the go showing more strongly than Labour, a party which is older than the State. The Social Democrats, led by Holly Cairns, also at times convey a more youthful and vigorous image than their older political cousins.
The Taoiseach, in balancing wearing the Linfield blue shirt and hoping to see a united Ireland in his lifetime, straddles two opposing broncos travelling in opposite directions. The Good Friday Agreement, looking back, now appears to have enshrined British rule in Northern Ireland rather than shared it.
Its interesting to note within months of its signing how two of the main protagonists viewed it. In 1998 at a ceremony in Arbour Hill cemetery, then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern noted our nation is and always will be a 32-county nation. Antrim and Down are and will remain as much a part of Ireland as any southern county.
However, David Trimble, Northern leader, weeks later stated: The illegal territorial claim to Northern Ireland in Articles 2 and 3 of the Irish Constitution has been removed and the south now accepts the legitimacy of Northern Ireland. Big big different interpretation there, I think.
Recent DUP and Conservative Brexit shenanigans have cemented that Trimble take.
Dublins problem with Northern Ireland is coloured with Dublins dim view of republican nationalist ideas of a united Ireland. We never spoke with a unified voice in the south. Varadkars flying different coloured kites insults the intelligence of the Irish nationalists who genuinely seek a unified country. Much of current Dublin strategy on Northern Ireland is linked to Dublins view of Sinn Fein.
John Cuffe, Co Meath
Its clear the Governments priority is horse stables ahead of classroom tables
Representative bodies of more than 3,000 schools in Ireland have made a public plea for additional government funding. In 2023, places designed for child development and learning have become the University of Oliver Twist bearing the motto, Please Sir, can I have some more.
Government policy of providing a snippet of funding does not even touch the sides of the financial requirements to provide educational services and allied operational requirements.
A request for 50m in additional funding is met with an arid response from civil servants, ensconced in well-heated offices, who trot a Yes Minister line of, we will consider it and please dont call us, but we will call you.
Perhaps if schools operated from stables and kennels then the money would flow down the pipe.
Allocated in Budget 2023 was 91m to horse and greyhound racing thats 72.8m for Horse Racing Ireland and 18.2m for Greyhound Racing Ireland.
Money extracted from the citizens purse is being dished out to support two minority recreational interests that have a seam of animal cruelty, illegal drug use and financial malpractice running through them.
The Government line is that it is horse stables over classroom tables, greyhound racing tracks over repairing classroom cracks.
It is time we made a phone call and call reality.
Not heeding that unvarnished reality will put the Government in permanent detention while writing out 50 million lines of Childrens education must come first.
John Tierney, Association of Hunt Saboteurs, Dublin 1
Some swine cut Curly Wee a pigs ear of a decision for such a big newspaper
Just coming out of my days of grieving the loss of Curly Wee, and the manner in which he was given the chop and received his trotting papers, I humbly suggest that those who took this decision should be called before the Oireachtas Media Committee to explain why such a decision was taken without consultation.
A paper that has 50 pages each day couldnt spare a few inches to Curly Wee.
I look forward to seeing Curly Wee return to his rightful position and I have no doubts that if he puts his name forward for either the local, general, or even presidential elections, he will get my vote. William Troy, Dublin 8
Moving rabbits to other areas of the country surely better than a mass cull?
Reports say that the OPW is to begin a cull of rabbits in Co Kerry.
Instead of killing these creatures, there could be a case made for trapping and transporting to other parts of the country, where rabbit populations have deteriorated due to the abundance of American mink, as well as the resurgence of the pinemartin.
Peter Declan OHalloran, Belturbet, Co Cavan
After Trump is silenced, can we use the same power on all the other spoofers?
Hell could freeze over. Special Counsel Jack Smiths team is trying to stop Donald Trump from making inflammatory comments, although only in relation to people involved in one specific court case.
Is there a special mute button? Based on previous performances it seems unlikely that Trump will keep silent voluntarily.
If someone has created such a button there will be a great market for it since most of the public is tired of listening to politicians and their lies, damned lies and, in this case, promises.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia
Micheal, the Shinners are not brainwashing their youth, this is your legacy
Im telling ye, those Shinners are corrupting the minds of our youth.
The fact that Micheal Martin and his all shook up followers descended on a pub called the Horse and Jockey for their so-called think-in, would have been nostalgic for a lot of members perhaps reminiscing about the good old days at the Galway Races. Those were the days when party members who dropped the odd 50 on the floor of the Galway tent wouldnt bend down to pick it up.
Poor Micheal just cant let it go, he had to have a go at the Shinners, accusing the media of cheerleading Sinn Fein who were, by his accounts, infecting the minds of Irelands youth.
Its a pity some of the farmers protesting outside his think-in failed to remind him to look in his rear-view mirror he would have seen the carnage that he and his party left behind after the boom-and-bust years.
The youth of those years had their lives turned upside down, with the only saving grace available to them coming in the form of emigration.
Those who stayed behind now have greying hair and find themselves sitting on endless housing lists, finding themselves in competition with other homeless fleeing war in their homelands.
James Woods, Dun na nGall
Responding to the revelations today, Mary Lou McDonald said that properties shouldnt be left derelict in the middle of a housing crisis
Reclaimed by nature, the battered armchair in the corner is covered in mould, moss and woodworm. Overhead in the dilapidated cottage, the tiles on the roof have mostly fallen off and tree branches are coming in between the rafters. A jacket still hangs on a hook covered in cobwebs, leaves and detritus.
The windows are long gone, the doors are still there but off the hinges. The area outside the cut-stone house is overgrown with weeds, briars and ivy. Rusty oil cans lie scattered on the ground.
The house is barely visible from the road as the gate is overgrown by hedges. There is nothing to suggest this was once the retreat of a reclusive millionaire.
Now this house in a valley in rural Co Carlow is the subject of a political row over its ownership and who will benefit from its sale.
Mary Lou McDonalds most senior official in charge of Sinn Feins money wants the taxpayer to buy this house the party inherited, with the proceeds going to the party in Northern Ireland.
Covered in cobwebs and leaves, a coat hangs in the house. Photo: Mark Condren
The ownership of the property was something of a mystery up until recently. A local councillor spotted the house outside Hacketstown was derelict and began making enquiries. Known locally as Des Neales cottage, after a man who has now passed away, it was a labourers house paid for via a council loan back in the 1960s. Later, it was occupied by bachelor brothers and was thought to belong to an elderly widow in the town.
But a Land Registry search by Fine Gael councillor Brian ODonoghue threw up an unexpected name as the owner: Bill Hampton. The name didnt ring a bell locally, but tallied with a character who has popped up on the political radar. Hampton is thought to have visited the area a couple of times over the years in the caravan he lived in, but its unclear why he bought the cottage and sheds on an acre of land just over a decade ago.
Described as a vagabond by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, William Hampton died five years ago leaving his lucrative estate to Sinn Fein. The party has, so far, benefited to the tune of 4m. Due to the laws on donations, this money has all controversially gone to Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland.
Hampton is thought to have inherited a fortune from his father, with money scattered across the globe. In his will, Hampton left assets in Ireland, England, Singapore and New Zealand and other assets I may have anywhere else in the world in trust for the political party in the Republic of Ireland known at this time as Sinn Fein. Hampton stipulated the money was to cover election expenses, to fund Sinn Fein offices and advice centres and to aid republican prisoners and their families in both Britain and Ireland.
The late reclusive millionaire William Hampton
Hampton named two veteran republicans as the executors, Joe Cahill and Dessie Mackin. The late Joe Cahill was the former chief of staff of the Provisional IRA and Des Mackin is Sinn Feins director of finance, signing off on the partys accounts. Mackin has been tasked with carrying out Hamptons wishes by realising the value of the estate.
To date, this process has brought in 3.9m for Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, with more to come. The proceeds have gone to the party in Northern Ireland as there is a ban on foreign donations and tighter political funding laws in the Republic.
Now a house in the Republic is being offered for sale to the State, with the proceeds from the taxpayer south of the border to go to Sinn Fein north of the border.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald acknowledged today that no property should be left derelict in the middle of a housing crisis after the Irish Independent revealed the dilapidated property the party inherited is on the vacant homes list.
Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co Laois, Ms McDonald said: Obviously properties shouldnt be left derelict. We have a housing crisis so I think the objective is for that house to be taken into hand and ideally for someone to live in it.
The party in no way disputes the house was owned by Hampton and says the matter is in the hands of the executor of the estate.
The party has not, and will not, take possession of any properties from the estate of William Hampton. All proceeds received by the party in the north from the estate are disclosed in line with Electoral Commission requirements, a party spokesperson said.
It is understood the executor engaged with Carlow County Council with a view to selling the property to the council. However, the council doesnt believe the property is suitable for its needs.
Carlow County Council says the property is on the vacant homes list and confirmed it was contacted by the executor. The council currently has no plans to acquire the property, a council spokesperson said.
The house in a valley outside Hacketstown has a fine view of the foothills of the Wicklow mountains. Its one of 165,000 vacant homes across the country. The reason it stands out is because of its ownership. Ms McDonald says Hampton was a rebel with a cause who shared Sinn Feins goals. As he had no obvious political connections to Sinn Fein, there are suggestions Hampton left the money out of spite to the British establishment.
The exterior of the dilapidated property. Photo: Mark Condren
A house turning up in his name in Ireland was a surprise. At last weeks meeting of Carlow County Council, councillor Mr ODonoghue claimed Sinn Fein was trying to take advantage of the housing crisis.
Im asking the simple question: why have you sat on the house for five years, while in the meantime criticising the Government for the housing crisis, sometimes rightly so, instead of handing over the site and the property to the council so we can house someone off the housing list? he said.
Mr ODonoghue says the house is a blight on rural Ireland and he wants to see the property refurbished to house a family. Maybe Sinn Fein can do it up themselves with some of the four million, funnel that money down here, house a family and use it as a source of income for themselves, he says.
Sinn Fein repeated that it will not be taking possession of any properties from the Hamptons estate, thereby ruling out any suggestions it will renovate the property.
On the GAA pitch Philly McMahon was an All-Ireland winner. But off the pitch his personal life was turbulent.
His father Phil McMahon was interned in Long Kesh but escaped in 1975.
Uncle Frank was what Id call my da on our visits to Belfast. Wed always go on the train.
I loved those trips. And to this day, I love going anywhere on a train because of them. Happy, vivid memories, Philly says.
He was effectively on the run from 1975, and though the Irish court system denied an extradition request and the Good Friday Agreement took a lot of heat off former IRA members, there was always some risk in him going back across the border. So Uncle Frank it was.
In the final episode of a two-part special Philly speaks to The Indo Daily about his fathers membership of the provisional IRA and some of the difficult truths that come with that.
A childrens activity kit is among the latest consumer product recalls in the last week, with one childs death already reported, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Buffalo Games is recalling its Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads activity kits because a water bead, if ingested, can pose ingestion, choking and intestinal obstruction hazards. Ingestion could result in severe discomfort, vomiting, dehydration and risk of death.
The commission said the beads can grow in size with water, which can lead to intestinal obstruction.
The company has already received the report of a 10-month-old childs death after the infant swallowed a water bead in July in Wisconsin. The company also received a report of a 9-month-old child who was seriously injured after swallowing a bead in November 2022 in Maine, and that incident required surgery to remove the bead.
The activity kits were sold only at Target stores and on its website from March 2022 to November 2022. Consumers should immediately take the kit away from children and contact the company at 800-637-0732 for a full refund and instructions on how to return the product in a prepaid mailing package. The product can also be returned to any Target store.
Fire and burn hazards were behind a number of other recalls, including one from Best Buy. The company is recalling its Insignia and Yardbird fire tables with lava rocks because the lava rocks can split and eject from the table, posing burn and impact injury hazards.
The company has received six reports of spitting or ejecting rocks from the Insignia table, with one report of minor property damage, and two reports of ejecting rocks from the Yardbird table, with one report of minor property damage. No injuries have been reported.
The fire tables were sold at online at Best Buy, eBay and Tech Liquidators and through Best Buy Business between July 2022 and April 2023. For model numbers, check out the commissions website at cpsc.gov.
Consumers should stop using the tables and contact Best Buy at 800-566-7498 for a free repair consisting of a replacement fill material of fire-safe glass beads.
Generac is recalling its portable generators because the fuel tank can fail to vent adequately from the rollover valve, causing the gas tank to build up pressure and expel fuel when opened.
The company has received reports of 27 incidents of the generators overheating, including three incidents resulting in severe burn injuries.
For affected unit types and model numbers, check out the commissions website. The generators were sold at major home improvement and hardware stores and on websites from April 2011 to June 2023.
Consumers should stop using the generators and contact the company at 888-391-0503 for a free repair kit.
Another tool sold at home improvement stores was recalled over a laceration hazard. The commission said Stihl is recalling its MSA 300 chainsaws because the chainsaw can take longer to brake than expected. No incidents or injuries have been reported.
The recall affects chainsaws with serial numbers lower than 447457319 that were sold between October 2022 and July 2023.
Consumers should stop using the chainsaws and bring them to an authorized Stihl servicing dealer for free replacement of the brake drum and brake band.
American Honda Motor is recalling its Honda lawnmowers and pressure washer engines because the improperly manufactured camshafts in the engines can cause the starter rope to suddenly retract when pulling to start, posing an injury hazard.
The company has received 2,197 reports of incidents related to camshaft failures, including seven reports of minor injuries.
The recall involves the Honda HRN216 and HRX217K6 lawnmowers and GCV170/200 G5B pressure washer engines. The lawnmowers were sold at dealers and home improvement stores from May 2022 to June 2023, and the pressure washers were sold at Lowes, Home Depot and other retail stores from June 2022 to August 2023.
Consumers should stop using the equipment and contact an authorized Honda Power Equipment dealer to schedule an appointment for a free inspection and repair. For more information, call American Honda Motor at 888-888-3139.
TXJ is recalling its foldable Bistro set chairs because the wooden frame of the chair can break or collapse, posing a fall hazard.
The company has received seven reports of the chair breaking or collapsing, including four reports of injuries.
The sets were sold at Marshalls, T.J. Maxx, HomeGoods and Homesense stores from March 2022 to June 2023.
Consumers should stop using the chairs and contact TJX at 800-762-4177 for instruction on how to receive a full refund and dispose of the chairs. Consumers can also return the chairs to any of the stores for a full refund.
In the noughties, he was all pervasive; from MTV, Channel 4 and BBC, to the biggest comedy venues across the UK and Ireland and even Hollywood. Now, in the wake of a joint investigation from Channel 4 and The Sunday Times, Russell Brand is everywhere for very different reasons.
But what impact will these reports have on his future career? Will his recent re-Brand to conspiracy peddling ultimately save him? And do recent reports shine a different light on his behaviour in Dublin (as reported by The Sunday Independent in 2007) at the height of his career.
Tabitha Monahan is joined by Allison Morris, crime correspondent with the Belfast Telegraph, and Dee Molumby of the Irish Independent to look at the latest fallout in the Russell Brand story.
Dozens of exciting events taking place at venues across the city.
The Freemasons Hall in Cork City will be open to the public on Culture Night.
Once again Cork city will be buzzing with activity for Culture Night 2023, with dozens of events taking place at locations across the city including the Cork Public Museum, the City Hall, Fitzgeralds Park, the Triskel Arts Centre and Collins Barracks to name but a few.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy urged people to get out and about on Friday night and take in as much as they can on offer.
Its an evening to turn the TV off, come into town, relax and soak up the atmosphere, said Cllr McCarthy.
One unmissable event will be an opportunity to explore his chambers of Corks first citizen in the company of an expert guide.
Visitors will get the chance to see the wonderful artworks and historical gems in the Lord Mayors office, rounding off with a visit to the council chamber, where the elected members hold their monthly meetings.
Pre-booking for the tours, which will run from 4pm 8.30pm, is required at corporateaffairs@corkcity.ie.
At the beating heart of the night will be Faoi Choim Na HOiche, a concert billed as a celebration of the mesmerising interplay between sound, vision and movement an extraordinary exploration of our shared human experience.
This extraordinary collaborative event fusing audio-visual art and body immersive experiences reveals the transformative power of electronic music on people and place as we bridge the gap between past and present, said spokesperson for the Electronic Dance Council.
Cork City Hall will also be the base for the return of the popular free Bus Eireann Culture Buses, which will run three routes from 7pm 9.30pm, taking in many of the venues on the Cork City Culture Night programme.
These will include the Cork Opera House, which will be holding guided tours exploring hidden parts of the building and highlighting the history of the cultural landmark at 30-minute intervals during the day.
In Friday evening the Opera House recital series will feature an evening in the company of Cara OSullivan Associate Artist, tenor Dean Power.
The atmospheric Cork City Gaol hosts a performance of salon, jazz and light orchestra music from the 1920s & 1930s by the Cork Light Orchestra, while on the other side of the city the Barrack Street Band will provide the soundtrack to visitors taking the opportunity to walk the walls of Elizabeth Fort.
The Freemaons Hall on Tuckey Street will be open to the public from 5pm-9pm, the Collins Barracks Military Museum will throw open its doors to the public from 5pm 9pm, astronomy will meet culture at the Blackrock Observatory from 6pm 8pm and the campus at UCC will hold a number of events throughout the evening.
While all Culture Night events are free, some may require booking and will operate on a first come, first served basis.
For more information on the various events taking place across the city visit www.corkcity.ie/corkcityco/en/culture-night/.
Dublin Fire Brigade are at the scene of a motorbike crash in Dublin City Centre.
The incident occurred on Dorset Street this morning.
DFB said: We're currently attending a motorcycle/car road traffic collision with knock on traffic delays in the area.
Overall, Dublin drivers should expect delays this morning due to a collision on the M50.
The incident occurred just before 8am this morning between Junction 7 Lucan and Junction 9 Red Cow southbound.
Commuters are being advised to drive with care and expect delays.
Theres congestion on the M50 between Junction 3, M1/M50 and Junction 12, Firhouse Southbound. Those on the M4/N4 between Junction 8, Kilcock and Junction 5, Leixlip Eastbound should expect delays too.
7 Day Weather Forecast: September 18th - 24th
Theres also heavy traffic on the M1 between Junction 6, Balbriggan and Junction 4, Donabate Southbound.
In the city, the traffic signals are out on Queen Street at the junction of Benburb Street which is also a Luas crossing.
Drivers should slow down and approach with care.
Meanwhile, on the DART, the 07.35 Connolly/Belfast service has left Connolly station and is running approximately five minutes behind schedule.
This is due to signalling issues caused by flooding between Drogheda/Dundalk.
The 05.15 from Westport to Heuston service has departed Portarlington and is operating approximately 18 minutes behind schedule also.
We are being encouraged to use public transport, yet this is currently not feasible.
The 'temporary' access at Clongriffin Dart station has been in place for 13 years
The lift to Clongriffin Dart Station has been described as a 'filthy cage'
A lift at a Dublin Dart station, which has been out of order for two weeks, has been described as a filthy cage.
A group of residents will hold a peaceful demonstration next Monday over ongoing problems which they say are preventing access to the Dart platform for local people.
The lift in question was supposed to provide temporary access to Clongriffin Dart Station, but it has now been in place for 13 years.
People in Baldoyle have been effectively cut off from accessing their local Dart station, said Cllr Joan Hopkins of the Social Democrats.
The broken lift has reportedly been out of order for 14 days resulting in no access for people with mobility and sight issues, those with young children, or people travelling by bike from Myrtle and Clongriffin.
The 'temporary' access at Clongriffin Dart station has been in place for 13 years
Cllr Joan Hopkins has called on authorities to remedy the situation as soon as possible.
Our Government has a legal and moral obligation to provide universal access under the EU for people with disabilities to our public transport, she said.
We have climate change targets that rely on people living near public transport to choose it over private cars.
People in Baldoyle have been effectively cut off from accessing their local Dart station.
This is due to decades of underinvestment and weak planning laws by the current Government. Its not good enough and people here are no longer prepared to tolerate it, she added.
Residents frustrated as north Dublin Dart station a hotspot for antisocial behaviour and consistently covered in 'urine and faeces'
Residents believe it could take a further three weeks for repairs to be carried out on the broken lift, which is operated by Richmond Homes, owner of a number of nearby housing estates.
The busy thoroughfare is the only access point from Myrtle, Baldoyle to the Dart station and number 15 Bus in Clongriffin.
Passengers have said that the area around the problem lift is badly lit at night and the stairwell has become a hub for anti-social behaviour.
Residents have reported feeling unsafe, particularly women who are alone.
A spokesperson for Myrtle The Coast Residents Association said: We are being encouraged to use public transport, yet this is currently not feasible.
This situation is all too frequent, affecting a large proportion of local residents on both sides of the access point. This is the fourth time this month that the lift has been out of order.
Local residents say the stairwell has been a magnet for anti-social behaviour
The lack of accessibility in this day and age is a disgrace. Enough is Enough, the group added.
Myrtle The Coast Residents Association are holding a demonstration on Monday, September 25, at 6.30pm to highlight the ongoing problem. Minister for Transport Eamonn Ryan has been invited to attend.
Earlier this year, Irish Rail said the lift and stairwell is not maintained by Irish Rail as is not Irish Rail property.
The temporary structure with a stairwell and lift from the Baldoyle side is privately owned, they said.
Richmond Homes has been contacted for comment.
Pictured standing l-r: Jackie Bowler, Huw Jones, Sean Sugrue and Joan O Donoghue and front l-r: Shelia Jones and James McCarthy pictured promoting The Legend of Sadhbh which will take place in Cahersiveen this coming Friday night in Cahersiveen as part of Culture Night 2023. Photo by Christy Riordan.
Excitement is well and truly building for the upcoming 2023 edition of Culture Night, the annual event which takes place in locations around the county each and every September.
Whether youre in Listowel, Tralee, Killarney, Cahersiveen or Killorglin or further afield in Dingle or Ballinskelligs, theres going to be plenty for both locals and visitors alike to choose from...as long as the weather decides to play its part of course.
So, what exactly are some of the attractions that people can look forward to this coming Friday night, September 22? Well, lets dive in...
Starting in Killarney, there will be plenty to keep people entertained.
Punters will have the choice of attending an evening of song and poetry that will run from 7pm to 9pm at the Government Offices on New Road - where lovers of the spoken word will enjoy a short performance from a Kerry-based Ukrainian choir as well as recitals by poets Eileen Sheehan and John W. Sexton; attendees are also welcome to read from their own work on the night as well.
Or maybe, locals would rather head on over to the Killarney Writers Group Open Mic night taking place at Killarney Library from 6pm to 8pm? Here members of the talented Killarney Writers Group will read from their work and ask members of the audience to do the same.
Or if both of those dont whet your whistle, then maybe it will be sitting down and listening to the great Sean Keane deliver tune after tune as part of his Songs & Stories From Grannys Suitcase event at Muckross Schoolhouse from 7:30pm to 9:30pm that gets you going.
These are just some of the many events taking place in Killarney on Friday night and everyone is encouraged to head to the the Culture Night website for a full list of whats on in the town.
Moving on to Tralee, there is equally a fantastic number of events taking place to satisfy everyones interests.
Some of the highlights taking place in the county this Friday night capital include the Into Light event running from 8pm to 10pm at the Island of Geese.
Here, punters are invited to enjoy what is described as a captivating performance that brings together the diverse arts programmes offered at MTU.
Into Light explores the depths of the human experience, offering moments of hope, introspection, and inspiration. Students and staff of the MTU will share their talents in a performance where tradition and innovation merge, where melodies and words intertwine, and where creativity is celebrated in song writing and media production.
Elsewhere in Tralee, Culture Night enthusiasts are invited to join Catherine Young Dance for an explosion of multi-cultural dance and music event at Mercy Mounthawk from 7:30pm to 9:30pm.
The evening will kick off with a performance and then the floor will then open up for everyone to join in and dance. Locals and visitors will be invited to learn Ukrainian folk dance, African dance as well as traditional Irish ceili dances.
Again, for a full list of whats taking place in Tralee on the Friday night, be sure to check out the Culture Night website.
Up in Listowel in the heart of North Kerry meanwhile, there is equally plenty of activities on the night to pick from.
One such event is An Evening In The Square which will run from 8pm to 10:30pm. The event is being billed as a celebration of the rich culture in North Kerry.
Everyone is invited to join in with the event at St Johns Theatre and Arts Centre for a wonderful celebration of music, song, dance and storytelling.
Elsewhere in Listowel, Kerry Writers Museum will host a Researching Local History Workshop from 6pm to 7:30pm.
At the event, historian and author Tom Donovan - who has has published multiple books about local history - will be sharing his expertise in researching and writing about local history.
He will also give tips how to go about research, how to structure a book and how to get it published.
See the Culture Night website for a full list of events taking place in Listowel as well as everywhere else in the county, including Killorglin, Cahersiveen, Dingle, Ballinskelligs and more.
Why was the decision made before the publication of the review of the energy supply of the States electricity and natural gas systems?
Why hasnt the review, believed complete, been published yet?
How could the states appeals board make such a consequential decision in the absence of a review that could be published in a matter of weeks?
People are just very, very disappointed, Noel Lynch of the Ballylongford Enterprise Company told The Kerryman.
Tarbert Development Association spokesperson John Fox said the mood was just as bleak the other side of the parish bounds: Theres a real feeling of palpable anger here now in the wake of the decision.
Why? For one, people had finally become confident that the Landbank would be developed at the outset of a flurry of industry bringing emigrants home to what is the most economically disadvantaged region in Kerry.
People were confident this time that it would finally get the go-ahead. Shannon LNG did everything properly that was asked of them through the planning process.
But it was refused based on the grounds it is Government policy not to have an LNG facility until the review is released...we have been told that it has been completed but that its not being released, Noel Lynch claimed.
98 per cent of the people of North Kerry supported the LNG plan to it was also disappointing to hear RTE report that the reaction was mixed, Noel added.
John Fox concurred. Why they couldnt have waited another couple of weeks and at least have made the decision having all the necessary documents available for their consideration?
Its a bit of a farce and we are wondering what they are at?
They waited over two years, so they could have waited a few more weeks and had all the information at their disposal, Mr Fox added.
He said that local supporters were informed at the publication of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce Report in July that the review was by then complete. It should have been published and sent to An Bord Pleanala, Mr Fox said.
Anger surrounding the refusal is exacerbated for locals by so much that is contradictory in terms of the States current energy practice not least Minister Ryans signing of a memorandum of understanding with his UK counterpart to protect Irelands gas security through Moffat.
But the understanding will allow for fracked gas to enter the state one of the big environmental concerns used to criticise the LNG project.
When LNG were doing this application they made clear they did not intend to use frached gas and if they got planning with a condition attached they had no issue with that at all, Mr Lynch said, adding:
But Minister Ryans agreement ensures were getting fracked gas. They have four LNG terminals in the UK with two thirds of the gas obtained via fracking in the US. By coming to a deal with England were actually bringing in fracked gas.
Three weeks ago a ship carrying 180,000 tonnes of far dirtier coal arrived into Moneypoint. It just beggars belief ...theres no reasoning other than the Greens principles.
Listowels creativity for window dressing is legendary where the shops in the town display their love of the races.
The Maid Of Erin displays a picture of the famous Listowel Racecourse and jockey silks.
Dorans Chemist in the town with rosettes and fences depicting the thrill of Listowel Races.
John McGuires Chemist showcasing the colour and panache of the races. All photos by John Kelliher.
The late John B. Keane once said of Listowel Races that its a state of mind and its hard to disagree. There is no doubt the tradition and excitement of the races comes to the fore every September with the usual swell of humanity adding to the unique occasion.
The annual gathering by the Feale makes for one of Irelands best race meetings, something that is not lost on the locals of Listowel.
The people know and appreciate the significance of the races as much from the vantage point of history and culture as the economic benefits it brings to the locality.
In Listowel and North Kerry, the races are part of the DNA, and it shows. One of the most remarkable representations of pride in Listowel Races has always come from its business community.
Whether its Christmas or Listowel Writers Week, the towns businesses transform their shop windows into an expression of appreciation for a way of life.
The Listowel Races is worth a seismic shot of revenue to the town, said to be in the region of 13 million to the wider Tralee and North Kerry region.
Heres a snapshot of some of the towns shop windows and the distinct racing theme.
Tensions rise after Kerry councillor asks that refugees make payment towards supported accommodation
Independent Councillor Martin Grady wants Ukrainian refugees in Kerry to pay a service charge towards their accommodation. It's estimated that 2,700 Ukrainians are in full-time employment in the county.
The Killarney-based official made the request at Mondays full meeting of Kerry County Council (KCC) where the motion sparked tension among councillors who felt it was too broad and did not consider the refugees unable to pay.
Cllr Grady acknowledged the great work and how generous KCC is in accommodating refugees and asylum-seekers. He explained that around 15,000 Ukrainian refugees, nationally, are now in employment, while those not in employment are entitled to the full welfare rate of 220 per week.
He said Ireland is one of only three EU countries to provide full social welfare payments to Ukrainians unlike asylum-seekers in Direct Provision who only receive 39 per week.
Its unjustified to have anyone earning a full-time wage without having to contribute in any way towards their accommodation, or utility bills which are at an all-time high, he said.
Cllr Grady revealed that he is aware of refugees whose earnings are over the income threshold required for social housing. He added that homeless people in Kerry are being asked to pay a service charge towards their welfare entitlements.
It cost 1.3 billion last year and is expected to cost over 2 billion this year to accommodate and provide social benefits for refugees. Im not suggesting we take a roof from over anyones head here. But I am asking for Minister Roderic O'Gorman to review that current system and deliver equality, Cllr Grady said.
Sinn Fein Cllr Cathal Foley took exception with the motion, saying he didnt know where to start with the proposal. He referenced Cllr Gradys recent political visit to the US.
Maybe in the interests of solidarity Cllr Grady might pay a service charge towards his recent trip to the US, which was paid for by rate payers and property tax payers of this county. This was only last week. I presume, in solitary with his motion, he will be making a contribution towards his trip, Cllr Foley said.
Independent Cllr John ODonoghue said he had a problem with the motion as it sends out the wrong messages about KCC. Cllr ODonoghue stressed that refugees living here are not enjoying the bed of roses some portray it as.
Its [motion] too all-encompassing. I would have no problem if the motion could be amended to see if people could be means tested. A refugee is obviously someone who is fleeing their own country because of persecution...if we were to pass this motion it would send out the wrong message that refugees are not welcome in the county, he said.
Independent Cllr Maura Healy-Rae agreed with means testing but felt Cllr Gradys motion was too broad. Fine Gael Mayor of Kerry Jim Finucane said many Ukrainians in the county are trying hard to have their professional qualifications (doctors and teachers) recognised so they can contribute to Kerry society.
I agree with the councillors that this motion is too broad. It would send out the wrong message, the Mayor said.
Cllr Grady asked that the council not forget our own homeless and to understand the depth of feeling among people who are working but not entitled to the same gratuity around the criteria for certain welfare services.
Cllr Grady agreed to have his motion amended to assert that a refugees income would be means tested towards making a contribution towards their supported accommodation.
Construction enterpriser Frank OHare talks about the Freedom of London and his love for Kerry.
Cavan native Frank OHare, who has strong links with the Kingdom, is to receive the Freedom of London City for his services to the construction sector for over 40 years.
Frank has a holiday home in Ardfert where he spends most of his time when not working in London. He enjoys relaxing in North Kerry and taking his boat out fishing in Tralee Bay. Frank also enjoys the wildlife aspect of Kerry.
I would know a lot of people in Kerry since Ive been coming here. Its been a home away from home for me, he said.
Its a place I love coming to. I love London, but equally I get a great buzz out of coming to Ireland and travelling to Kerry for a pint and a bit of fishing, Frank said.
Frank has worked in construction for over 50 years. He was involved in the construction of the new Wembley Stadium, including the logistics for the Bobby Moore Stand. The impressive London Shard is another building Frank has had an input in.
In 2009, Frank and a group of like-minded Irish businessmen in the construction sector set up the London Irish Construction Network. The group met once a week to discuss and share ideas. The network continues to grow today, and it holds regular meet-and-greet events and social gatherings.
Frank said he could never have imagined all those years ago when arriving in the UK that he would one day be afforded the Freedom of London City.
The ceremony takes place in London this Friday (September 22), and it will mark a proud moment for Frank and his family.
Im very pleased with it and I consider it an honour. Its nice for my kids and my parents. My parents met and got married in London. Now, theyre going to have their names registered in the archives in the Tower of London. Thats nice for them and for all their work, he said.
When Frank first went to London working in construction, the landscape was considerably different. Most of the construction workers were Irish back then. This created a familiar environment with strong links to home being ever-present. However, this aspect of Irish emigration to London has changed dramatically since those days.
Its very different now. In the early years it was all Irish. Since the early 2000s this changed to Eastern Europeans, he said.
This has even changed again with other different nationalities now coming to work in London construction.
I would say there is now little or no Irish labouring in construction in London. The young people coming from Ireland today are mostly in professional jobs like banking.
Its a totally different London now to the one I first came to. But to receive this award is a special feeling, said Frank.
Up to 250 Wexford County Council staff are involved in an industrial dispute this week over what the Forsa trade union says is a lack of a comprehensive job evaluation scheme in Irelands local authorities.
Industrial action due to take place will include a ban on all internal and external email correspondence and a 48-hour telephone ban to include calls on all local authority phone lines.
Job evaluation assesses if a jobs grade is properly matched to its duties and responsibilities, and schemes for this already exist in the higher education and health sectors, said Niall Shanahan of Forsa.
The effect of the recruitment moratorium between 2009-2015 has meant that many local authority staff took on additional duties as the staff complement reduced in size during that time.
A ballot for industrial action took place during the summer and notice of the action was served on employers in August, following the breakdown of talks at the WRC in July.
On Thursday, September 14, Forsa announced that members in local authorities including Wexford are to escalate their ongoing industrial action this week.
The current industrial action is in response to the failure of local authority management to engage meaningfully with the union on the establishment of a job evaluation scheme for workers in the sector, said Mr Shanahan
Currently, the industrial action has seen an indefinite ban on non-statutory political representations from TDs, Senators and Councillors, which means that local government workers are not responding to routine queries and requests for information from politicians.
Industrial action will include a 24-hour email ban from 1am on Friday, September 22, affecting all internal and external local authority email correspondence.
This will be followed by a 48-hour telephone ban on Tuesday, September 26, and Wednesday, September 27, to include calls on all local authority phone lines, including online video call and social media platforms.
The union has said the escalation of industrial action has been forced by the LGMAs - Local Government Management Agencys - strident position in resisting the unions claim for a job evaluation scheme.
Cathaoirleach of the Local Government and Local Services division, Michael Whyms said: Local authority workers are central to local government, and our members are deeply committed to their communities. Thats why so many of them have been working above and beyond their grades for many years.
They know how much people all around Ireland rely on their services. But the LGMAs refusal to engage meaningfully has driven this escalation, he said.
Forsa national secretary Richy Carrothers said: Management representatives utterly failed to engage meaningfully in resolving this dispute, despite its commitment to do so in a joint referral to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
There was no meaningful or constructive engagement from the employer side at conciliation hearings in July. Consequently, negotiations broke down.
The LGMA has failed the process, and local authority workers, and has betrayed the good faith of the joint referral to the WRC.
However, there is absolute determination among Forsas membership to secure an appropriate job evaluation scheme in local government, and the action due to commence next week will illustrate that determination.
Any attempts to circumvent or undermine the industrial action, or any attempts to intimidate or threaten Forsa members engaging in this legitimate action, will likely lead to an immediate escalation of the dispute, added Mr Carrothers.
Forsa represents more than 12,000 local government and services workers including clerical, administrative, management, technical and professional staff.
SUNBURY State police say thousands of minks were released from a central Pennsylvania fur farm by one or more people who cut holes in the fence surrounding the farm.
Police in the Stonington barracks in Northumberland County said Monday that troopers were called to the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. farm in Rockefeller Township outside of Sunbury shortly after noon Sunday.
Troopers were told that sometime during the early morning hours Sunday, holes had been cut in the farm's fence and about 6,000 to 8,000 minks were released from their pens. Police said numerous state agencies and farm staff are trying to recover the animals.
The Sunbury Animal Hospital posted a notice on its Facebook page Monday morning saying, There are mink all over the area surrounding the animal hospital."
These animals should not be approached as they can be aggressive, the animal hospital said. They are not pets, and should not be taken in a home or to a rescue. If one of these minks were to approach you get far away from it. Keep all pets inside if possible.
The Daily Item reported that Mark Stahl of the Stahl fur farm would only say he was unsure what happened and warned people not to approach the animals. An email message from the Associated Press seeking comment was sent to the company; a telephone message could not be left for the firm.
State police said they had opened a criminal mischief investigation and asked anyone with information to call investigators.
Cassie Marks of Sunbury told the Daily Item that she helped capture four of the animals to return to the hospital.
We did not touch the animals, she said. We just wanted to help out here.
In November, vandalism freed an estimated 10,000 minks at a rural northwest Ohio farm. Van Wert County Sheriff Thomas Riggenbach said the property owner initially estimated 25,000 to 40,000 mink were released at Lion Farms, but employees were able to corral many that remained on the property less than 15 miles from the Indiana state line.
So many minks were killed crossing a nearby road that a plow was brought in to help clear the carcasses away, Riggenbach said.
Tributes have been paid on the death of the late Very Reverend Father Seamus Canon de Val of Irish Street, Bunclody, who died on Friday, September 15.
Reverend de Val was the retired Parish Priest of Oulart and retired President of St. Peter's College, Wexford. He is sadly missed by his relatives, Bishop Ger Nash DD, the priests of the Diocese and a wide circle of friends.
His remains reposed at the Church of The Most Holy Trinity, Bunclodyon Saturday, September 16, with his funeral mass taking place on Sunday at 2pm. Burial took place afterwards in Calvary Cemetery, Bunclody.
Bishop Nashs homily paid tribute to Fr de Vals dedication to his community.
As we gather to celebrate the life and Ministry of Seamus De Val, we are doing so as Gods people gathered in Eucharistic Prayer, said Bishop Nash.
We are at Mass which is the great prayer of Thanksgiving. It is prayer of thanks to God for the gift of Fr Seamus to family, community and Diocese. It is also a prayer for Fr Seamus soul, that the Lord who gave him his vocation here in Bunclody, 97 years ago, will welcome him into eternal life with the words well done, good and faithful servant.
There is a line that is part of the ceremony of ordination to priesthood and diaconate and indeed of a bishop too. It is the phrase May the Lord who has begun the good work in you bring it to completion.
It is a reminder for all of us all the baptized, not just the ordained - that anything good we do is begun by God, nourished and developed by God and in the end, is gathered into Gods barn as part of his eternal harvest.
It is no accident that Jesus in his teaching, often referred to the natural growth of corn or vines or olives, the popular crops of his earthly life. His teaching was that behind the work of the farmer or the fisherman, there is a mystery which he or she does not understand. The invisible work of God. The harvest is visible to the eye but what brings it about is invisible.
In Fr Seamus life, the fruit the harvest was indeed great. His many students in St Peters, who were given a love of Irish, Irish Culture and Irish History.
His great volume of writing on language, history, culture and native spirituality are now part of our national heritage. His great interest in how language developed and how places got their names made him a well-respected expert, acknowledged by his appointment to the Irish placenames Commission in 1991.
Even before he became a priest, he was irritated by the name that had been imposed on this town by the foreigners Newtown Barry and as a student in Maynooth he was instrumental in a plebiscite to restore the old Gaelic name that we use today, Bun Clody.
He was helped in this by Pat OLeary, an uncle of Fr Gerrys. No small achievement in a time when clerical students were expected to be seen and not heard.
A welcome to all who have joined us, to celebrate Fr Seamus life. We greet his family, his friends and neighbours. We welcome his colleague priests from the Diocese and also further afield. We acknowledge his great friend Sean Byrne who was such a tremendous help to him as his years advanced. We welcome the many members of the Legion of Mary in the Diocese and from further afield as they mourn the loss of a great friend and faithful Legionary. We acknowledge the presence of historians and scholars who shared Fr Seamus love of Irish, of history and of culture, added Bishop Nash.
While Eamon Ryan focuses on utilising offshore wind energy, and our local fishermen battle to preserve their livelihoods, there are another group of people whose concerns about our waters run a little bit deeper. Fair Seas, a coalition of leading environmental non-governmental organisations and networks, is campaigning for strong Marine Protected Areas (MPA) legislation to protect, conserve and restore Irelands marine environment.
MPAs are places legally protected from human activities that damage the habitats, wildlife and natural processes that occur there. As part of its campaign Fair Seas wants to see mandatory targets committing to protecting 30 per cent of the seas around Ireland by 2030 with 10 per cent strictly protected. The group is calling for stakeholder engagement at every stage of the MPA designation with clear delivery timeframes as well as a robust management hierarchy that clearly defines the varying degrees of site protection to ensure MPAs deliver for nature.
The Kelly Matthews family at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Geraldine and Tom Maguire at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Enda Kelly at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
A telescope trained on Saturn at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Nicola Fletcher from Roundwood and Christina Sweeney from Greystones at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
Liza Ryan Ladchenko, Tara Clerkin, Adam Long, Mark Dunne, and Timmy Clerkin at the Star-B-Q in Roundwood. Photo: Leigh Anderson
ASTRONOMY Ireland held its 31st Star-BQ on the grounds of An Tochar GAA Club in Roundwood.
Its considered by far the largest telescope festival in Ireland.
Astronomy Ireland is also considered the largest society of astronomy viewers per capita in the world and they held their first Star-BQ back in 1992.
The family-orientated event included between 15 and 20 large telescopes, which allowed guests to view the wonders of the universe such as Saturn and Jupiter.
A laser was also beamed up into the sky to point out the different stars and their patterns.
David Moore, who established Astronomy Ireland in 1990, welcomed everyone and provided the opening address.
Anthony Lynch Photography provided a digital camera astrophotography demonstration, while the Irish Rocket Society carried out a rocket launch.
YouTube star John Campbell provided a talk and demonstration on drone astronomy.
A professionally cooked barbeque was also available throughout the duration of the event, while some of the telescopes remained in place after midnight for anyone who wanted to carry out some night-time star gazing.
You know, you approach those interviews with some trepidation but as far as I know, he behaved impeccably
Russell Brand faces claims about his sexual behaviour at the height of his fame (PA)
Pat Kenny has said he is not ashamed of his Late Late Show interview he conducted with the comedian Russell Brand who is facing allegations of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse.
Referring to the British star as a loose cannon, Kenny said the actor behaved himself impeccably when he was host during the show in 2009 appearance.
The Newstalk presenter said: I interviewed Russell Brand on the Late Late Show. I believe they used a clip of it on RTE. That was then and I am not ashamed of the interview.
He was a loose cannon, and I knew he was a loose cannon. You know, you approach those interviews with some trepidation but as far as I know, he behaved impeccably.
Timeline of events around Russell Brand allegations
I mean he is a very bright guy. Whatever else his shortcomings might be, hes very sharp, intellectually very, very sharp. Very quick.
He added: And on that evening, I can certainly say to my knowledge he didnt do anything untoward, but he may have been in rehab and behaving.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that YouTube has suspended the monetisation of Russell Brand's channel for "violating" its "creator responsibility policy".
A spokesperson for the Google-owned company said: "If a creator's off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community."
The news comes after the remaining shows of Brand's Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the Metropolitan Police said it had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
Brand's YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTube's partner account "following serious allegations against the creator", meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform.
Pat Kenny
The statement added: "This decision applies to all channels that may be owned or operated by Russell Brand."
The 48-year-old actor has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches.
He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes has said that people have been mocking him on social media for using a mobility scooter.
The Northern Irish presenter (63) lost "full mobility" after he underwent spinal surgery last year following chronic issues with back pain.
Holmes told Best magazine about his mobility issues and said: "Some people were mocking me on social media 'Oh, look at Eamonn, he's in a mobility scooter!' I replied, saying, 'I would prefer if I wasn't in it, but how else would I have got around?'.
The alternative is I don't go anywhere, and I sit in my armchair, work in the office. So, I go out... It's mentally uplifting to get out."
Holmes also spoke about how it has made him feel to receive physical help from people and said: "Humble, helpless but grateful. However, it's truly draining when you have to say, 'Do you mind...? Could you...? Thank you, I'm sorry'.
Eamonn Holmes and his wife Ruth Langsford. Photo: Ian West
"The good news is the op last year cured me of my back pain... I lost full mobility. I'm doing everything I can to get better. But it's slow."
He added: "I now accept life is easier with help from others. Getting around with crutches is exhausting. I wish I could walk further but, for now, I can't."
"I lost full mobility. I'm doing everything I can to get better. But it's slow. I now accept life is easier with help from others.
Speaking on what he likes to do to get out of the house, he added: "Some people think I'm fixed but it just looks like that on TV... I like getting out.
"Going to the cinema is a terrible effort but worth it. Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One was great."
Prior to his surgery in 2022, Holmes had undergone a double hip replacement in 2016, which he previously said he had been putting off "for years".
Holmes is married to Loose Women star Ruth Langsford and the duo presented the This Morning show every Friday until ITV confirmed in November 2020 that the duo would be replaced by Dermot O'Leary and Alison Hammond.
The full interview with the broadcaster features in the new issue of Best, now on sale.
The white walls of Alaam Sadaawis house are stained red with the muddy handprints that his wedding guests left behind, holding on for dear life as the floodwaters rose around them. His family had been planning the party for weeks. His father, Mayloud (70), had bought silver platters for the food and new cups for sweet tea.
By Friday, they were buried in the red silt that Storm Daniel left behind on Sunday, September 10, as it thundered down the valley and covered this town of 8,000 people in eastern Libya. It took 15 men to clear the layers of dirt from the marble floors, the family said. The trauma will be harder to erase.
The BBC has announced a review into Russell Brand's time at the corporation amid the rape and sexual assault allegations made against the comedian.
The broadcaster also said on Tuesday that it was removing some content featuring the 48-year-old from its iPlayer and Sounds apps which "now falls below public expectations".
The Italian government, struggling with a surge in arriving migrants, yesterday passed measures to lengthen the time they can be detained and ensure more people who have no legal right to stay are repatriated, government officials said.
Allegations of a genocide to justify February 2022 invasion repeated
A Ukrainian serviceman from the 3rd Assault Brigade eats a piece of bread in a trench on his position at the frontline a few kilometres from Andriivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine. Photo: AP
Russia called on the United Nations highest court in The Hague yesterday to throw out what it said was a hopelessly flawed case challenging Moscows argument that its invasion of Ukraine was carried out to prevent genocide.
The human rights situation in Russia has significantly deteriorated since it invaded Ukraine in February last year, a United Nations expert said yesterday, describing a systematic crackdown on civil society and calling for redress.
The report by Special Rapporteur Mariana Katzarova alleges that Russian authorities have carried out mass arbitrary arrests of critics of the war and says those detained risk death due to the persistent use of torture and ill treatment. It is the first time the 16-year-old UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has been mandated to examine the record of one of its so-called P5 members, which hold permanent seats on the Security Council.
The shooting in the parking lot of Fashion Square mall that left two people and a dog injured seems to have targeted a store manager moments after four young men were escorted outside.
The suspect, 19-year-old Jalontae Truriel Percer, appeared in Albemarle General District Court via jail video Monday morning to get a lawyer.
Would I be able to get bond today? asked Percer.
Call us this afternoon, replied Jonathon Ray Packard of the Office of the Public Defender.
Charged with two firearm offenses and two counts of malicious wounding, Percer wont likely get out of jail before trial, according to longtime criminal lawyer David Heilberg.
It will be hard for the young man to get bail, Heilberg told The Daily Progress.
Despite the presumption of innocence that runs through the American justice system, Heilberg said that the push for safety in a community riven by gun violence has altered the calculus on pretrial release.
With so many firearms in the community, judges are denying bail for almost everyone who does something serious with a firearm, said Heilberg. Even misdemeanor brandishing is enough.
Charging documents indicate that Percer, his brother and two other males got involved in what a witness described as a commotion inside the store on Sept. 13. Their interaction with store manager Jerome Henry, who would become one of the two shooting victims, was also allegedly captured on audio-enabled video footage.
A store employee can be heard explaining that he cannot sell the individuals anything due to them not being 21 years old, according to the report by Mark Belew, a detective with the Albemarle County Police Department.
Shortly after a security guard escorted the group outside the store, shots rang out toward the manager and another man, Eliazar Prieto, who were inside a car, and both received multiple gunshot wounds, according to Belews report, which noted that officers, responding at 7:03 p.m., found the vehicle riddled with bullet holes and eight shell casings on the ground nearby.
Both shooting victims were treated at the University of Virginia Medical Center and have been released from the hospital, Albemarle County police said in statement. A dog also received veterinarian care for injuries it received during the shooting and has since been released.
Despite his wounds, the manager was able to direct the police to a Blink video system inside his store, according to the detectives report. That footage, cross-checked with social media postings, led to the identification of the suspect, the report said.
The night after the shooting, shortly before 11 p.m., Albemarle officers converged on a residence in the Brookdale Apartments, an Albemarle County complex off Old Lynchburg Road. There, officers confiscated a Taurus 9mm handgun along with a plastic silencer, according a search warrant inventory.
Virginia court records show no prior offenses by Percer, who has been held since his Sept. 14 arrest at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. He will likely stay there for a while, according to Heilberg.
If the word firearm is uttered or part of the charge in some way, the judges are highly reluctant to let people out, said Heilberg. Its about the only way they have to deter firearms at this point.
According to a Daily Progress tally, the past 12 months appear to be the most violent in recent memory, with 17 firearm deaths and 28 firearm injuries. The count includes incidents in both Charlottesville and Albemarle but does not include stabbings or gun-involved suicides or accidents.
Under state law, a conviction on a single malicious wounding charge can bring a sentence of five to 20 years, while each firearms charge carries a mandatory minimum of three years.
Percers preliminary hearing is slated for Nov. 2. He has an attorney status hearing slated for Oct. 19. He has not yet been given an opportunity to enter a plea to the charges.
This story has been corrected to say that Jerome Henry was the manager of a store in Fashion Square mall. Authorities have not said which.
10 prisoners freed in rare moment of co-operation between US and Iran
$6bn in Iranian funds also transferred part of deal
Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz, who were released during the prisoner swap deal, arrive at Doha International Airport in Qatar. (Reuters/Mohammed Dabbous )
Andrew Mills Tue 19 Sep 2023 at 03:30
Five US citizens left Iran and landed in Doha yesterday in a prisoner swap for five Iranians held in the United States and the transfer of $6bn in Iranian funds in a rare moment of co-operation between the long-time antagonists.
US president Joe Biden made a robust case before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression.
The president warned that no nation can be secure if we allow Ukraine to be carved up" as he tried to rally support for Kyiv's effort to repel a nearly 19-month-old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.
Bengaluru headquartered IT talent and assessment startup HireMee has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Labour and Employments National Career Service (NCS) to offer comprehensive assessment services to jobseekers registered on the portal.
Venkatraman Umakanth, Business Head and Sr Vice President, HireMee and Amit Nirmal, Deputy Director General (Employment) signed the MoU at an event attended by Arti Ahuja, Secretary Ministry of Labour and Employment and Mr Ramesh Krishnamurthi, Additional Secretary (Labour and Employment).
HireMee will deploy its competence in offering a 100-minute assessment test that enhances employability of the youth.
The facility will help jobseekers to self-assess their suitability for a job through aptitude test being offered free of cost.
The candidates can also upload 3 video profiles of 20 seconds each, to garner employers attention.
The employers too will benefit from this association as they can view the scores of aptitude tests and easily do the first level of scrutiny of potential candidates thereby cutting down selection time.
At an event organised at New Delhi it emerged that the Ministry of Labour and Employment views this partnership from the perspective of the jobseekers of the country that may spur future partnerships between various government and private organizations to help NCS to serve the interests of both job seekers and employers better.
Startup HireMee, that took birth as a social enterprise envisioned India where no talent is unemployed or underemployed, offers equal access to job opportunities for youth from small towns by connecting them with companies, big and small, that value diversity and inclusivity.
HireMee provides artificial intelligence (AI) proctored assessments covering 7 sections including core domains for students pursuing their diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The assessment scores of test takers are shared with companies that are listed on HireMee platform without any fee.
By working closely with AICTE, National Career Services (NCS), NASSCOM and a few Indian states HireMee platform has helped over 630,000 students get themselves assessed with over 225,000 students getting the opportunity to be considered for jobs in companies.
Today more than 2000 companies get access to a wider pool of pre-assessed talent from across India readily and at no cost.
As a founder who sought to help companies discover diamonds from small towns, I am gratified that 57 per cent of the job opportunities came to youth from tier-3 and tier-4 towns and nearly half45 per cent -- of these opportunities were for girl candidates, says HireMee founder and CEO Chocko Valliappa.
The Made in India HireMee emerged among the 5 finalists in the prestigious $5 million XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling competition in the USA in 2022 becoming the only non-American entry to make it to this list.
Image Credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS
New Delhi: The Union Finance Ministry on Monday approved various welfare measures for LIC (Life Insurance Corporation) agents and employees.
These measures include an increase in gratuity limit, eligibility for renewal commission, term insurance cover for LIC agents; and a uniform rate of family pension for LIC employees.
"More than 13 lakhs agents and more than 1 lakh regular employees, who play a pivotal role in the growth of LIC and deepening of insurance penetration in India, will benefit from these welfare measures," the Finance Ministry said in a media release.
In line with the decision, the gratuity limit for LIC agents has been increased from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Further, reappointed agents have been made eligible for renewal commission thereby thereby providing them with increased financial stability.
Currently, LIC agents are not eligible for renewal commission on any business completed under the old agency.
The term insurance cover for the agents has been expanded from the existing range of Rs 3,000-10,000 to Rs 25,000-1,50,000.
"This enhancement in term insurance will significantly benefit the families of deceased agents, offering them a more substantial welfare benefit," Finance Ministry said.
The Ministry has also approved family pension at a uniform rate of 30% for the welfare of the families of LIC employees.
(With UNI inputs
The flag of Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
Born in the erstwhile princely state of Punjab, the Ahmadiyya Muslim community is banned in its birthland.
Killed and persecuted for following the Ahmadiyya ideology, this Muslim community fears extinction only in Pakistan.
Ironically, Pakistans foundation and early prosperity post-1947 are largely attributed to Ahmadiyya minds.
As Pakistan goes back in time inching towards extremism, human rights violations against minorities have become a norm. While international pressures can momentarily pause the atrocities on other religious communities, the Ahmadiyya violations mostly continue unabated because their own Muslim brothers do not recognize their beliefs.
In fact, Ahmadiyya are called heretics and apostates. Blasphemy laws too have been tweaked in such a way to accommodate their ideology as anti-Mohammedan, which means an automatic death sentence to the practitioner.
The hate campaign against the community has consumed such a prodigious number of people that it is shocking to believe a bunch of Ulemas incarcerated by their obsession with power can turn a Muslim against another.
Notably, Pakistan is the only country in the world that has officially outcasted this sect as non-Muslims. What is more shameful is that the assailants of Ahmadi Muslims are lauded by society; even the most educated, sophisticated gentry of Pakistani Muslims believe that Ahmadis are getting the treatment they deserve.
The rise in attacks on their community members and mosques, called Ahmadi worship houses, are proof that sectarian death squads appointed by Barelvi Islamic strategists through their political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik (TLP) have a free hand over them.
Such grotesque massacres are followed by social media condemnation by political leaders with promises of punishing the culprit, but the police and justice serving agencies are too scared to intervene in religio-politics matters, or firmly believe in the ill-treatment of Ahmadiyyas.
Rather than fixing the system and implementing progressive ways to curb the discrimination against Ahmadiyyas, Pakistan fuels the flames of sectarianism. With the recent amendment of the infamous Blasphemy Law which increases the imprisonment period for the incriminated to at least 10 years along with a chance of receiving the death penalty, the intentions of the State are clear. Pakistan is performing a pre-meditated genocide of Ahmadiyya Muslims.
In the past, such false cases of alleged blasphemy would reach the court, but the corrupt justice system would find a way around it. On 29 July 2020, an Ahmadi under trial for blasphemy accusations, Tahir Ahmad Naseem, was fortunate enough to receive a chance for a court hearing two years after his arrest in 2018, before communal violence could have killed him on the streets. But a teenager somehow managed to bring a weapon inside the courtroom in Peshawar and with the help of a junior lawyer and a cleric, shot Naseem 6 times in the middle of the proceedings.
A US National, Naseem was lured from Illinois to Pakistan.
While the case should have been dismissed on grounds of an indictment of conspiracy against the American man, he was not only detained in a foreign country but also murdered before the upholders of the law.
This state of affairs is the reality of Pakistan. Enveloped in hate against Ahmadiyyas, they will sail across the seven seas to kill a harmless individual who has no bearing on their society.
Though extremism formally began at the behest of Zia-ul-Haq and that era is remembered as the peak of brutalities against minorities, it remains a biased judgment. Zias rule (1987-88) witnessed only 31 blasphemy cases. The 7 years of Musharrafs rule (2000-2007) saw 503 cases, while the recent PTI governments 3.5-year-long tenure reported 499 cases.
Ahmadiyya community, constitutionally declared a non-Muslim minority, just like other religious minorities of Pakistan is in its final phase of extinction.
Justin Trudeau alleges that there are 'credible allegations of a potential link' between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Photo Courtesy: PIB
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has accused that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in British Columbia area in June.
Soon after Trudeau levelled the allegations against the Indian government in the country's Parliament, Canadas foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat as a consequence.
Joly's office said that the diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency, in Canada, reports CBC.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Trudeau was quoted as saying by CBC: "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
Indian Government rejects allegations:
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement and said the allegations made by the Canadian government were 'absurd and motivated'.
Ma declaration sur les allegations concernant l'assassinat de Hardeep Singh Nijjar. pic.twitter.com/GTn1wfVJgA Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) September 19, 2023
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected," read the statement issued by the MEA.
Also Read: Pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar assassinated in Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indian PM Narendra Modi met this month in New Delhi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," read the statement.
"That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new.We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," the statement said.
Also Read: Canadas Khalistan challenge: Indias message to Canada on extremism
The Indian government asked the Canadian government to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader, was shot dead in Surrey city, British Columbia province in June.
He had been a leading figure in the Khalistan separatist movement and was closely associated with Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
Nijjar was also serving as the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.
Nijjar, a member of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was a wanted terrorist for his involvement in various acts of violence and subversive activities.
(Image credit: Khalsavox.com/PIB)
Photo courtesy: PIB
New Delhi/IBNS: India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat amid the ongoing conflict between New Delhi and Ottawa over the killing of a Khalistani leader.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has alleged that there are credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey in the British Columbia area in June.
Soon after Trudeau levelled the allegations against the Indian government in the country's Parliament, Canadas foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat as a consequence.
In a befitting reply to Ottawa, India has sacked a Canadian diplomat and asked him to leave the country within the next five days.
A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs reads, "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
"The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
India rejects allegations
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement and said the allegations made by the Canadian government were 'absurd and motivated'.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected," read the statement issued by the MEA.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," read the statement.
"That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new.We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," the statement said.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader, was shot dead in Surrey city, British Columbia province in June.
He had been a leading figure in the Khalistan separatist movement and was closely associated with Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
Nijjar was also serving as the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.
Nijjar, a member of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was a wanted terrorist for his involvement in various acts of violence and subversive activities.
Srinagar/UNI: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha and Armys Northern Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi paid tributes to Sepoy Pardeep Singh who died in action during the ongoing anti militancy operation in rugged mountainous of Anantnag district that continued for the seventh consecutive day on Tuesday.
Sepoy Pradeep had gone missing during an initial gunfight on Wednesday with militants at Gadole Kokarnag Anantnag and his body was found on Monday taking the death toll of forces in the fierce gunfight to four.
Paid homage to our braveheart Sep Pardeep Singh, martyred during anti-terror operation in Anantnag. I bow to his exemplary courage and sacrifice, Office of LG J&K posted on X.
#LtGenUpendraDwivedi, #ArmyCdrNC & All Ranks #DhruvaCommand offer deepest condolences & salute the braveheart Sepoy Pardeep Singh who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, in #OPGarol, #Anantnag, Armys Northern Command posted on X on Tuesday. #IndianArmy stands firm with the bereaved family in this hour of grief.
Sources said an unidentified charred body was also recovered in the forest area during the search operation and the identity of the body is yet to be ascertained.
The combing operation continued for the seventh consecutive day on Tuesday.
Official sources said the firing has halted since morning and the combing operation resumed earlier in the day.
Police and army have offered no updates about any militant casualties so far.
The face off between the militants and security forces in Gadol Kokernag has been going on since Wednesday after two decorated Army officers, Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, his company commander, Major Aashish Dhonchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Himayun Muzamil Bhat, were killed and two other soldiers were injured in a gun battle. After the Wednesday gunfight, the army has been using the most sophisticated Israel-manufactured Heron to track down militants.
The forces have also extensively used mortars , under-barrel grenade launchers, rockets and heavy machine guns to flush out the militants from hideouts.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay
A man was stabbed to death and seven members of his family, including three women and two children, were seriously injured by unidentified persons during loot attempt in Katra area of Shahjahanpur district here in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday, a police officer said here.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok Kumar Meena said that Alok Kumar Gupta (36) was a teacher in a private college.
"In the wee hours on Tuesday some criminals entered the house of Gupta with the intention of looting. During this Gupta woke up and resisted the move on which the miscreants stabbed him several times, killing him on the spot," he said.
He said that the criminals attacked Alok's wife Khushboo, father Sudhir Gupta, brother Prashant, his wife Ruchi and three children.
"The injured have been admitted to a private hospital where their condition is stated to be serious," he said.
The SP said that Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Bareilly zone Rakesh Kumar inspected the spot.
"Teams have been formed to investigate the matter thoroughly. The accused will be arrested soon," he said.
Meanwhile, to protest against the incident local traders have decided to keep their shops shut.
President of Katra Vyapaar Mandal Anup Agarwal said that Alok's father Sudhit Gupta is a ready made garments trader and there is resentment among the traders after the incident.
(With UNI inputs)
Both sides are still sparring in the fight for collective bargaining rights for Albemarle County teachers after last weeks school board meeting.
Its not clear that the board and the union are any closer to returning to the negotiating table after the union walked out of talks earlier this month accusing the school division of broken promises.
What is more clear after last weeks meeting is what factors led to that walkout, namely that the teachers union believes the school board is attempting to incorporate a number of poison pill provisions in the collective bargaining agreement that would effectively render it useless.
We are all here because we need collective bargaining rights, actual collective bargaining rights, Vernon Liechti, union president and a teacher at Albemarle High School, said Thursday as he rallied dozens of union supporters on the steps of the Albemarle County Office Building moments before the meeting. We are not here to sign something that is pretend bargaining rights. We are here because the board knows what we are asking for. They know everything that we in particular need to have to make sure we remain in Albemarle County Public Schools.
Another in attendance Thursday went a step further than pretend.
Democratic Del. Sally Hudson represents parts of Albemarle County in Richmond. In 2020, she voted in favor of the bill eventually signed into law legalizing collective bargaining for public-sector employees in the commonwealth of Virginia.
Hudson said the terms the Albemarle County School Board presented to its union would be unlawful under the terms passed by the House in 2020.
The draft arguments that youve currently presented would be illegal under the standards that were passed by the House in 2020, Hudson told the school board during public comment Thursday.
Hudson also apologized to both parties seeing as how the General Assembly has put them in this position, deferring to localities to hash out the details of collective bargaining.
There were two bills floating through chambers back in 2020, a House bill and a Senate bill, with a disagreement over the amount of guidance to provide regarding the collective bargaining process, according to Hudson.
The House at the time passed a much more robust bill that I voted for that created a lot of support and guidelines for localities about what a fair bargaining process should look like, Hudson told The Daily Progress. The Senate basically gutted that bill and passed a very skinny version that allowed localities to permit collective bargaining but provided zero guidance about how it should go.
How it is going is not well, and both sides in Albemarle County agree on that.
The negotiations had been progressing for some time before coming to an abrupt halt, according to a statement issued by school board Chair Judy Le ahead of Thursdays meeting. An agreement was reached on about 70 different items in the course of their nine-week negotiations, according to that statement. However, those 70 did not include the unions non-negotiables.
The unions decision to suspend talks revolved around a few key matters presented by the board, according to Lechti and Liz Koenig, secretary of the Albemarle union and a preschool teacher at Agnor-Hurt Elementary School. Those matters include:
A high election threshold: The board tried negotiating terms to set the participation threshold to be valid at 66% of voters. Elections are held to find an individual to represent union members in contract negotiations.
Authorization of employee cards: The division refused to recognize authorization cards signed to verify that enough employees agreed to engage in collective bargaining.
Creating negotiation loopholes: The terms presented by the board developed a clause that would allow them to go against contract or enact policies under emergency powers.
Division coverage: Certain employee groups would not be allowed to engage in collective bargaining.
The union has also said it is uncomfortable with the involvement of Superintendent Matthew Haas.
During negotiations, the school division is represented by school board members Jonno Alcaro and Ellen Osborne as well as the divisions attorney Ross Holden. The union is represented by Liechti, Monticello High School teacher Tim Klobuchar, attorney Moriah Allen and a union adviser named Bob Fink.
Haas chairs the negotiations and is a neutral party that takes no sides, according to school division spokesman Phil Giaramita.
But thats not entirely true, according to Liechti, who said Haas has been authorized to write his own resolution for collective bargaining.
It stands in stark contrast to the drafting process for a collective bargaining agreement in neighboring Charlottesville, one the Albemarle teachers union said it modeled much of its own work on.
Charlottesville City Schools approved its collective bargaining resolution in March.
At the start of that process, Superintendent Royal Gurley expressed the importance of conversations surrounding collective bargaining and invited union leaders to speak with members of the board.
Im probably maybe the only superintendent standing up right now talking about collective bargaining, but I do feel that I dont want this to be something that we are running away from, Gurley said at a school board meeting last year. I do think that we can have this conversation together.
Gurley did not vote or draft a resolution of his own during negotiations, according to Charlottesville City Schools spokeswoman Amanda Korman.
Haas is trying to do exactly that, Liechti said and the school division denied.
Its the teachers union that has broken with protocol, according to the division.
Le and others on the school divisions side recalled the union representatives abruptly walking out of talks on Sept. 7.
Protocols regarding negotiations agreed upon by both the union and school board ahead of time make it clear that items of the draft resolution are to be addressed one by one; if the two sides come to an impasse on an item, it is to be revisited later.
The AEA did not adhere to the negotiation protocol during the Sept. 7 meeting, according to Les statement.
In person on Thursday, Le told The Daily Progress she was surprised by the unions departure.
But union leaders said the school board was warned that the parties had reached an impasse.
They wanted to act surprised that we did what we did, Mary McIntyre, vice president of the Albemarle Education Association and a reading specialist at Journey Middle School, told The Daily Progress. We had warned them we were going to do that ahead of time, and then we did what we said we were going to do. They need to do what they said they were going to do all along which was grant their employees collective bargaining rights not this pretend collective bargaining which is what theyre trying to shove down our throats right now.
The school board says it is willing and waiting to restart talks. However, negotiations require the presence of both parties, Le said in her statement.
We stand ready to negotiate, Le said. The next scheduled negotiation session is scheduled for September 26 with an additional session on October 17.
But those dates are largely arbitrary, said McIntyre.
It is already too late for collective bargaining rights to be established during this academic year, she said.
Some of the urgency that they were putting into their press releases and their statements seems false, McIntyre said. There is no rush. If we rush and we end up with something bad, then it was a waste.
McIntyre said she hopes the board realizes the amount of support the union has after the turnout at Thursdays meeting.
Theres a much larger group of employees who are mobilized about this than ever before, and it seems like every time they tell us no, more people get mad about that and get involved, McIntyre said.
She said folks will keep showing up at meetings, but that flooding school board meetings will ultimately not win teachers collective bargaining rights negotiating in good faith will.
We will keep coming to meetings if we have to, but its just really disrespectful of them to expect us to do that, McIntyre said. We work all day long in our schools and then for them to expect us to spend our time and energy away from our family and on a work night to come here just to sit and tell them all the things weve already told them thats just disrespectful.
The school board needs to understand that the union will never accept a resolution that doesnt include some compromise on the aforementioned impasse items, she said.
In order for us to go back to negotiations, we have to know from the school board that they do truly intend to compromise with us on those issues. We will never accept the resolution with the items that we mentioned in it. Our members wont accept that, and they all deserve better than that.
In the meantime, teachers say they desperately need the resources that a collective bargaining resolution would win them.
Weve lost a lot of staff, teachers are feeling overworked and underappreciated, Amy Gaertner, former Albemarle Education Association president and a teacher at Broadus Wood Elementary School, told The Daily Progress.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left children unsocialized leading to atypical behaviors, and some teachers are having trouble managing, according to Gaertner.
One solution she offers is something the union has been dreaming of.
Collective bargaining will give us the training that we need, but also the support staff that we also need, Gaertner said. We dont have those skills or as teachers the time to meet those needs.
Photo Courtesy: UNI
Two militants, including the Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) Commander Uzair Khan, have been killed in the Anantnag gun battle that raged on Tuesday afternoon in a forest area, police said.
With the killing of two militants, the death toll in the seven day operation has risen to six.
Two Army officers, a J&K police officer and a jawan were killed in the operation.
LeT commander Uzair Khans who was holed up in Gadole Kokernag woods has been killed and his body has been retrieved, Additional Director General of Police Vijay Kumar told media persons at Kokernag on Tuesday.
He said one more militants body is visible to be retrieved as the searches in the area are going on.
He said the searches are not yet completed and added that LeT commander Uzairs body has been recovered and it has been retrieved.
He said a search operation in the woods of Gadole in Kokernag will continue.
We are yet to search a waste area. There is a possibility that blind cells and grenades will be recovered and destroyed accordingly, Kumar said.
We appeal to the people not to venture into the area unless it is cleared of every blind cells and grenades, he said.
The ADGP said that there was information on the presence of two to three militants in the area.
Body of Sepoy Pradeep who had gone missing during an initial gunfight on Wednesday with militants at Gadole Kokarnag Anantnag was found on Monday taking the death toll of forces in the fierce gunfight to four.
Two decorated Army officers, Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles, his company commander, Major Aashish Dhonchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Himayun Muzamil Bhat, were killed and two other soldiers were injured in a gun battle.
(With UNI inputs)
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Amit Shah
New Delhi/IBNS: Union Home Minister Amit Shah ripped into the Congress without taking its name after the grand old party attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party for 'delays' in tabling the landmark women's reservation bill, which was presented by the Union Law Minister in Parliament on Tuesday.
The Congress had accused the BJP of dragging its feet over the bill in search of an image boost ahead of next year's election.
Shah hailed the "unwavering commitment of the Modi government" and mocked the Congress for "friendly parties (that prevented)" the bill from being tabled.
The bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 (when Manmohan Singh was PM) but it failed the Lok Sabha hurdle after the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party opposed it. Both were (and are now) allies of the Congress.
"Across India people are rejoicing (at) introduction of the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' in Parliament. It shows unwavering commitment of the Modi government to empower women. Sadly, the opposition is unable to digest this," the union minister posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Across the length and breadth of India, people are rejoicing the introduction of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament. It shows the unwavering commitment of the Modi Government to empower women. Sadly, the Opposition is unable to digest this. And, what is more shameful Amit Shah (@AmitShah) September 19, 2023
He also slammed the Congress for "tokenism" in relation to this issue. "What is more shameful... Congress has never been serious about women's reservation. Either they let legislations lapse or friendly parties prevented the bill from being tabled. Their double standards will never be hidden, whatever stunts they try to take credit for," he said.
The Women's Reservation Bill, pledging 33 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies for women, was tabled in the Lower House of the new Parliament building on Tuesday.
Tabling the legislation, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal earlier in the day said: This Bill will empower women after amendment. By amending articles of the Constitution, 33 percent of seats will be reserved for women."
The bill has been titled "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam".
London: Britain said on Tuesday that it was in close touch with its Canadian counterparts regarding "serious allegations" from Ottawa that the Indian government played a role in the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, Reuters reported.
"We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," a UK government spokesperson was quoted as saying by the news agency.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities."
Canada said on Monday it was "actively pursuing credible allegations" that linked Indian government agents to Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder in British Columbia in June, according to the report.
Meanwhile, India rubbished the allegations as "absurd and motivated" and urged Canada instead to take cognizance of anti-Indian elements operating from its soil and take legal action.
Canada also expelled India's top intelligence agent in the country, while New Delhi expelled a Canadian diplomat, according to the report.
A statement issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs reads, "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
"The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement and said the allegations made by the Canadian government were 'absurd and motivated'.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected," read the statement issued by the MEA.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," read the statement.
"That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new.We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," the statement said.
Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canada-based pro-Khalistan leader, was shot dead in Surrey city, British Columbia province in June.
He had been a leading figure in the Khalistan separatist movement and was closely associated with Sikhs for Justice (SFJ).
Nijjar was also serving as the president of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.
Nijjar, a member of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was a wanted terrorist for his involvement in various acts of violence and subversive activities.
Jairam Ramesh at a press conference/ courtesy: Screengrab from video tweeted by Congress
New Delhi/UNI: Congress Tuesday tagged the women's reservation bill as a huge "betrayal of the hopes" of crores of Indian women and girls and called it an "election jumla".
In a tweet, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote: "In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls".
Jairam's comments followed when the Central government Tuesday tabled the Women's Reservation Bill 2023 in Lok Sabha.
"As we had pointed out earlier, the Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census, making India the only country in G20 that has failed to carry out the Census," stated the Congress General Secretary.
In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls.
As we had pointed out earlier, Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census making India the only country in G20 that has Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 19, 2023
The bill introduces 33 percent of reservation to women in the lower house of parliament and State assemblies.
Slamming the Modi government, the Congress General Secretary said, "Now it says that the reservation for women will come into effect only following the first decadal Census conducted after the Womens Reservation Bill has become an Act. When will this Census take place?".
Jairam continued that the Bill has proposed that the reservation would come into effect only after the publication of the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise thereafter.
"Will the Census and delimitation be done before the 2024 elections?" he asked.
"Basically, the Bill gets the headlines today with a very vague promise of its implementation date. This is nothing but EVM Event Management," he added.
The Prime Minister, after the bill was tabled, said it would be regarded as a "historic day" and urged the Opposition to unanimously pass the Bill - 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' - that has been hanging for nearly three decades.
"On this historic occasion in the new Parliament building, as the first proceeding of the House, the gateways for women's power are being opened with this crucial decision," PM Modi said.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will address the general political discussions of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
According to the Press Service of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev will introduce the international community not only to the process of reforms in Uzbekistan, the results achieved in the fields of human rights, socio-political modernization, but also promote several vital initiatives of regional and global importance.
The participation of the leaders of Central Asia in the UN meetings is always essential for the regions politicians. It is not for nothing that this prestigious organization, which unites 193 countries, does not have the turn of the leaders of these countries in all its sessions. Its not in vain. This prestigious organization does not give the floor to all the leaders of these countries in all its sessions.
Previous promises and proposals made at the UN General Assembly. Are they executed?
President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, for the first time, addressed the 72nd session of the UN on September 19, 2017. At this meeting, he paid attention to the development of Central Asian cooperation and strengthening the participation of the UN in this process.
He also emphasized preparing the ground for this in his country. As a result, in November 2017, in cooperation with the UN, an international conference was organized in Samarkand on Central Asia: Common History and Common Future, Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Progress.
The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev addressed the conference. The United Nations should play an important role in solving the regional security problem, first of all, using the methods of preventive diplomacy, he said.
Later, special resolutions were adopted on June 22, 2018, at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly, Strengthening regional and international cooperation to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development in the Central Asian Region and on December 12, 2018, at the plenary session of the UN General Assembly, Enlightenment and religious tolerance.
Adopting this resolution is essential in the current growing inter-religious intolerance. Mirziyoyev put forward this initiative. It is no secret that the problem of religious radicalization is seen as a security threat for Central Asian countries.
Many experts note that one of the priorities of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the UN is the issue of regional security, peace, and stability.
Mirziyoyev also put this issue on the agenda in his first speech, and it was also implemented. In this regard, a high-level Tashkent international conference devoted to the problem of Afghanistan was held in cooperation with the UN on March 27, 2018, on Peace Process, Security Cooperation, and Regional Connectivity, at the end of which, the Tashkent Declaration was adopted, which expressed the goals of ensuring peace and security in the region, strengthening cooperation, and further strengthening close neighborly relations.
Another speech by the Head of Uzbekistan coincided with the 75th session of the UN during the pandemic. An essential aspect of it for Uzbekistan should be noted. Since 1950, representatives of Uzbekistan have delivered speeches at the UN General Assembly.
All these speeches were in Russian, even the post-independence addresses. President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs speech at this meeting was delivered for the first time in Uzbek. The public of the country recognized it as a great event.
Turning to the issues raised, the President of Uzbekistan, in his speech, mentioned parliamentary reforms, gender equality policy, ensuring human rights, complete elimination of forced and child labor in this regard, adoption of the National Strategy on Human Rights, further strengthening of religious freedom, inter-ethnic harmony and inter-religious tolerance, the activities carried out in the country in terms of ensuring independence of courts and rule of law, uncompromising fight against corruption, reducing poverty, and youth policy.
In his speech, Mirziyoyev said that Central Asia is the priority direction of Uzbekistans foreign policy. Issues of peace, security, and sustainable development in the region became one of the main priorities in the Presidents speech. In particular, as Shavkat Mirziyoyev noted, Consultative meetings of the leaders of the Central Asian countries, which are regularly held based on the initiative put forward at the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, have become a common success.
Howwever, some border problems between countries, diversity of mutual opinions, non-existence of uniform legal norms and uniform definitions, and other issues have been affecting the rapid development of the sphere. In this sense, the proposal of the President of Uzbekistan to open a Regional Centre for the Development of Transport and Communications under the auspices of the United Nations is considered an essential and timely proposal.
The President also paid attention to the issue of Afghanistan in his speech. At the 75th session of the UN, Mirziyoyev proposed establishing a Permanent Committee at the United Nations, which would listen to the problems and concerns of the Afghan people.
This proposal, put forward by the President of Uzbekistan, appears as a new mechanism for restoring peace and economic stability in Afghanistan, because this committee supports Afghanistans economic and social development and serves the interests of the Afghan people, not the opposing parties here.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev will attend the first meeting of the leaders of the U.S. and Central Asian countries in the C5+1 format. The issue of regional security and the development of cooperation will be a priority at this meeting.
Of course, in his speeches, the President regularly focuses on environmental problems, in particular, on the Aral Sea problem. Uzbekistan is taking essential and practical measures to eliminate the consequences of the Aral problem and prevent existing dangers.
In particular, to improve the current situation, along with the creation of two million hectares of new plant areas and tree groves, as well as soil formation, the United Nations Multi-Partner Human Security Trust Fund was established for the Aral Sea region at the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan.
It should be noted that this was one of the essential achievements of Uzbekistans diplomacy. However, the complex ecological situation in the Aral Sea and Aral Sea region, protecting the populations gene pool, improving their health, and ensuring sustainable development in this area are urgent and vital. Considering this, the President of Uzbekistan proposed to adopt a special resolution of the United Nations General Assembly to declare the Aral Sea region as a region of ecological innovation and technology.
In the 75th session, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed to set the end of poverty and fight against poverty as one of the main topics of the next session of the United Nations General Assembly and to hold a global summit dedicated to these issues.
This proposal was also introduced to create a basis for the development of unanimous measures to solve the problem of countries facing economic problems during the pandemic.
It became a timely proposal, because it is necessary to fight this problem not with the participation of one or a few countries, but on the scale of the entire international community.
In the same session, Mirziyoyev said that the central position of the UN as a coordinating international structure should be further strengthened. We have seen this proposals appropriateness in the subsequent world events, especially in the Russo-Ukrainian War. The UN did not use enough authority to stop this war. Therefore, increasing the status and potential of the organization and expanding its powers is essential for the sustainable development of humanity.
In conclusion, Uzbekistans choice of multi-vector foreign policy in various aspects of its international relations can be seen in the issues raised in these speeches. At the next meeting, the main focus is expected to be on ensuring peace and security in the region and putting forward practical proposals on the direction of sustainable development.
The UN General Assembly High-Level Week 2023 will be held in New York on September 19-25.
About the Writer:
Kholmurod Salimov is a Tashkent-based journalist
image: Photo Courtesy
Kiev/UNI: Ukraine has taken legal action by filing lawsuits with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia for their import restrictions on Ukrainian products, according to the Ukrainian Economy Ministry.
This move comes after a dispute involving a boycott by the three European nations of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain in Brussels due to Ukraine's threats to involve the WTO over the import measures.
The Ukrainian Economy Ministry made a statement via Telegram, stating, "Ukraine has filed lawsuits with the WTO against Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary, which banned the import of Ukrainian agricultural products."
They expressed hope that these countries would remove their restrictions in the near future.
In response, Polish Agricultural Minister Robert Telus addressed the issue during a session of the European Council on agriculture and fisheries, hinting that Ukraine's accession to the European Union would depend on specific conditions, particularly in the realm of agriculture.
"We, as Europe, as the European Union, must create mechanisms to ensure that Ukrainian agriculture does not endanger European agriculture," he asserted.
Telus also expressed Poland's reservations about the grain export control mechanisms proposed by the EU.
"We are unhappy and unsure about this decision. [The EU] must be in control [of grain exports]. The European Union rejects control and hands it over to Ukraine," he stated.
Regarding the ban on the export of Ukrainian grain to the EU, the minister mentioned that Germany is the sole country openly supporting its extension, while other nations, "even if they had any concerns, said that we had to create mechanisms for the future."
The European Commission September 15 announced its decision to lift a ban on duty-free Ukrainian grain imports to five neighboring countries of the European Union, along with a demand for Kiev to implement export controls.
However, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia unilaterally extended the ban following the announcement.
Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons
The elders of Pakistan's Bar Qambarkhel tribe in Bara region took serious exception to increasing incidents of targeted killing and demanded of that law enforcement agencies take immediate steps to improve the situation.
During a jirga held in Takia Qaumi Markaz on Sunday, the Bar Qambarkhel elders termed the inaction of officials against targeted killing criminal negligence and alleged that not a single person involved in those crimes was nabbed so far, reports Dawn News.
The jirga endorsed the Bara Siyasi Ittehads decision to hold a protest demonstration while not burying the victim of targeted killing if similar incidents take place in future.
The participants of the jirga also formed a committee comprising 10 representatives from every sub-tribe of Bar Qambarkhel to discuss targeted killing and other issues in future.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay/Unsplash
A Christian human rights activist recently exposed the way Pakistan is mistreating them and even using the national security law to persecute minority communities.
Joseph Jason, who represented the Jubilee Campaign while making an intervention during the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva highlighted the concern about Political workers, journalists, lawyers and human rights defenders from the minority community in Pakistan, reports ANI.
He said that human rights activists have been arbitrarily detained under the National Security Act under fabricated laws of Pakistan.
While informing the United Nations that minorities in Pakistan have been booked and charged under Blasphemy Law, Joseph was quoted as saying by ANI, The Jubilee Campaign express its dismay over the fabricated blasphemy accusations, pre trial detention, unfair prosecutions, continuous threats and deliberate incitement of violence against minorities which have created a social distance from minorities in Pakistan leaving them intimidated and relocated.
He said, The Jubilee Campaign is deeply concerned over the failure of the police to prevent mob violence against Christians on the pretext of fabricated accusations in Jaranwala and prevent the registration of multiple baseless complaints on blasphemy accusations against Christians in Sargoda.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence has said it has tracked 103 Chinese military aircraft and nine naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, media reports said.
Of the 103 Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, 40 were tracked in Taiwans air defence identification zone (ADIZ), according to the MND. Twelve Chengdu J-10 fighter jets, 10 Sukhoi Su-30 combat jets, 10 Shenyang J-16 jet fighters, four Shenyang J-11 fighter planes, two Xian Y-20 aerial tankers, and two KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft either crossed the Taiwan Strait median line or entered the southwest and southern sectors of Taiwans ADIZ,Taiwan News reported.
Taiwan, in response, sent aircraft, naval ships, and used land-based missile systems to monitor PLA activity.
So far this month, Beijing has sent 310 military aircraft and 124 naval ship sorties around Taiwan, reported Taiwan News.
Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949.
Beijing views the island as its province, while Taiwan - a territory with its own elected government - maintains that it is an autonomous country, but stops short of declaring independence.
Beijing opposes any official contact of foreign states with Taipei and considers Chinese sovereignty over the island indisputable.
The cities of Corvallis and Albany will be receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars to purchase small electric street sweepers through the federal Carbon Reduction Program.
Albany is set to receive $739,082 and Corvallis $300,000.
The electric sweeper will help maintain bicycle and pedestrian lanes across the cities, according to a news release from Oregon Department of Transportation.
The Carbon Reduction Program, administered by ODOT, provides the state with $82 million over a five-year period to fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
The money announced Monday, Sept. 18, was part of the first round of funding, which offered a total of $13 million available for small urban and rural projects for communities with a population under 200,000.
Eleven counties and two Tribes were awarded various sums to execute projects, ranging from the aforementioned purchase of electric street sweepers to installation of EV charging stations and e-bike lending programs, among others.
Over 65% of the $13 million will go to projects in disadvantaged communities, as defined under the federal governments Justice40 initiative.
Corvallis project does not fall into this category, but Albany's does.
According to Corvallis Transportation Division Manager, Rory Rowan, the deficit of the amount needed to purchase the electric sweeper, about $30,000, will come from the Street Fund, specifically, state gasoline tax revenues devoted to a wide range of transportation needs.
"Next steps include working with the State to select an appropriate vehicle for our needs so there is still a lot of ground to cover," Rowan said in an email.
ODOT data suggests the state's transportation-related carbon emissions will be down 60% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels of emission.
In 2020, state departments were mandated through an executive order signed by then-Gov. Kate Brown to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
It is in this vein that the state developed the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities Program aimed at cutting down emissions from frequent everyday commute.
In Corvallis, the directive was met with concerns at council about the overreach of state legislation in cities. Albany leaders were equally concerned when they discussed in May the lifting of parking requirements, part of the program to discourage car use, on new developments.
Editor's Note: The article has been updated with comments from the Corvallis Transportation Division Manager.
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The US state of Montana received the support of 18 other states in its attempt to restrict social media platform TikTok, according to an amici curiae brief filed in the US District Court for the District of Montana.
The brief was submitted on Monday by 18 states including Virginia, Alabama, Idaho and Utah in support of a law passed by Montanas legislature that would ban companies from allowing TikTok to be downloaded off their application stores in the state.
TikTok sued Montana in an attempt to prevent the enforcement of the law, which was set to start in January 2024.
"[Montanas ban] is justified, and Plaintiffs motions for a preliminary injunction should be denied, because TikTok intentionally engaged in deceptive business practices which induce individuals to share sensitive personal information that can be easily accessed by the Chinese Communist Party," the filing said.
The legislation comes amid other efforts across the United States to restrict the use of TikTok amid privacy concerns linked to TikToks ties to China-based parent company ByteDance.
TikTok has also failed to regulate its platform and reduce harms to adolescent users, the filing said.
Federal law does not prohibit state governments from protecting their citizens from such conduct, the filing added.
(With UNI inputs)
In his address to the U.N. General Assembly, President Joe Biden emphasized the importance of global unity against "naked aggression" and strongly supported Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, seeing it as a vital deterrent against potential future aggressors.
During his comprehensive speech, Biden cautioned that Russia might believe it can continue its actions in Ukraine unchecked if the world becomes complacent.
AFP
What did Biden Say?
He emphasized that if member nations compromise the fundamental principles of the U.N. charter and appease an antagonist, it would jeopardize the security of all member nations.
Reuters/Representational Image
"If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?" Biden asked. "I respectfully suggest the answer is no."
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in attendance, President Biden denounced Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "an illegal war of conquest."
REUTERS
He stated that the United States and its coalition of allies stand behind Ukraine's pursuit of a diplomatic solution that can lead to lasting peace. Biden emphasized that Russia's conditions for peace essentially involve Ukraine surrendering its territory and future generations, which is unacceptable.
"Russia alone bears the responsibility for this war," Biden said. "Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately. And it is Russia alone that stands in the way of peace."
Biden's address to world leaders comes as U.S. support for the Ukraine war weakens, and Republicans oppose his $24 billion aid request for the nation.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy will speak at the assembly and meet with Biden in Washington on Thursday.
As he chose not to attend the U.N. gathering, Russian President Putin was absent from Biden's speech.
Biden delivered his third speech to the U.N. shortly after five Americans who were imprisoned in Iran arrived back in the U.S. They were released as part of a prisoner exchange negotiated by the Biden administration with Iran.
While this swap isn't directly connected to the stalled nuclear discussions between the two nations, Biden affirmed in his U.N. address that the U.S. remains committed to sincerely reducing the risk of weapons of mass destruction.
Biden expressed the U.S.'s continued dedication to diplomacy to achieve denuclearization on the Korean peninsula and address Iran's actions that disrupt regional and global security. This commitment includes a resolute determination that "Iran must never acquire a nuclear weapon," he said.
For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
Taiwan said it tracked 103 Peoples Liberation Army aircraft entering its air defense identification zone in the 24 hours leading up to Monday morning
The Nigerian Police Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, has disclosed that most young people in Sagamu, Ogun State, belong to secret society (cult).
It was gathered that the Police Spokesman made this known in a post via X while responding to a series of questions on insecurity in the area.
When criticised about the generalisation of such a claim, Adejobi said he is speaking as an authority on the Sagamu case, stressing many elders are aware of it and cannot dispute it.
He added that the case of Sagamu goes beyond mere anti-cultism squad, and the elders, including politicians, know the steps to take.
READ MORE: Isese Festival: Ogun, Osun, Join Oyo, Lagos To Declare Monday Public Holiday
He said: We will discuss this with the CP and take the necessary steps. In Sagamu, almost everyone young one is a cultist. Okada riders, artisans, etc., are into cultism even more than students, and i think the whole town and Remoland in general should take action on it.
I am an authority on sagamu case. Ask them, they know. No one from sagamu can dispute what I have said. So, dont worry yourself on my statement. Even the elders and sagamites know.
Sagamu case goes beyond the mere anti cultism sqaud. The elders know how to handle them. The politicians know what to do. I was in their midst in sagamu bet 2006 and 2008. But no single cult clash before i left in 2008. I worked them with the late Akarigbo, oba Michael Sonariwo and others.
As part of efforts to bring normalcy and end chaos disturbing the peace of Sagamu town, the Ogun State government has imposed curfew in the headquarters of Sagamu Local Government Area of the state.
This is coming after the recent clashes among rival cult groups that engaged themselves in a supremacy battle since Wednesday last week.
However, the restriction of human and vehicular movement is from 7pm to 6am.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Lekan Adeniran announced the development via a statement made available to newsmen in Abeokuta.
READ MORE: Almost Every Young Person In Sagamu Is A Cultist Police
He assured residents in the town that their lives and property would be secured.
The state government, therefore, urged residents of Sagamu to abide by the restriction order, pending the time the security of the area will improve.
The statement read: This is to notify residents of Sagamu and its environs of total restriction of human and vehicular movement as a way of taking firm control of the security architecture of the area and protect the lives of the people and their property.
We, therefore, implore the residents of the area to abide strictly to this restriction order and cooperate with security agencies to restore normalcy and bring perpetrators of these dastardly acts to book immediately.
Former Nigeria President, Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that he never wanted to be a politician, but he became one by accident.
The former President made this known while speaking with a group of youths under the leadership of Africa for Africa Youth Initiative, (A4A), at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
He said: I never wanted to be a politician, I became one by accident, but the love of my people, love for my country and humanity made it something that I am coming into.
He charged politicians to aspire to go into politics to serve their people.
Politics is about service, you must give service and nobody is too old or too young or too poor to give service. When we begin to give quality service, then we shall have qualitative governance.
READ MORE: Angry Obasanjo Orders Oyo Monarchs To Stand Up, Greet Him (Video)
He said that the rising military coups in Africa showed that the people are tired of some things in their countries and in need of a liberator.
The former President said, he would not support a coup considering his experience in the hands of former Military dictator, late General Sanni Abacha.
The Students of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife Osun state have threatened to halt all activities on the campus in protest against the current school fees increment by the management.
It was gathered that the student union rejected a recent statement issued by the institutions Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Olarewaju, which outlined the increment of fees payable by both new and old students by over 300 percent.
Addressing newsmen at the Ken Saro Wiwa Students Union Building on Monday, the President of Ife Students Union, Abbas Akinremi said the students will after Tuesday, commence the process of shutting down the campus of the managements failure to start negotiation on the issue.
READ MORE: Police Arrest Two Suspects Over Lynching Of OAU Final Year Student
Akinremi said: We have also written to all respective banks to halt the acceptance of fee payments from any student until a better resolution has been achieved.
As much as we dont want to, we are currently running out of options and might have to shut down all activities on campus and progressively on all other federal institutions campuses in Nigeria because we are carrying the leadership of the National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) along which they backed.
The student leadership had met with the management in August when we learnt about plans to increase school fees and we started negotiating. Unfortunately, they shut us out and announced the new fee.
They claimed that the Federal Government has stopped funding OAU, meanwhile, the recent release on September 15th 2023 listed OAU as number 9 of the top-funded universities with a budget allocation of N13.4B.
Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has said that he is unapologetic over his recent statement and actions towards traditional rulers in Oyo State last week.
Recall that some traditional rulers at an event in Iseyin, Oyo State, on Friday, were commanded by Obasanjo to stand up and sit down as a sign of respect to Governor Seyi Makinde.
However, the former president described their behavior as a sign of disrespect for the Governor and his office.
This prompted Obasanjo to order the traditional leaders to stand up and greet Governor Makinde.
Obasanjos actions and statements generated outrage among some Yoruba leaders and political elites, including the Oluwo of Iwo, urging him to apologise to the traditional rulers.
However, speaking in a statement through his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi, Obasanjo said he stands firmly and uncompromising to the statement as the Constitution gave the Governors power over the royal fathers.
READ MORE: Forgive My Husband, Obansajos Wife Begs Obas, Yorubas
He said: Obasanjo affirmed that he stood firmly, unapologetically and uncompromisingly on the position that the Governor of a State holds the highest office in the State.
By that position, the respect, protocol and dignity that must be given to the office by virtue of the Constitution must not be denied. To do otherwise is to deride the office and the Constitution.
Reacting to the apology issued on Sunday by his self-acclaimed wife, Taiwo Martins, Obasanjo said she is not his wife or a member of the Obasanjo family.
He described her as an imposter, adding that nobody makes statements on behalf of the Obasanjo family except those delegated.
He said: For the records, Ms. Martins has two children, Jonwo and Bunmi, for Chief Obasanjo, but to say emphatically that she is neither his wife nor a member of the Obasanjo family.
Her posturing as Chief Obasanjos wife is false and that of an impostor. Nobody makes statement on behalf of the Obasanjo family except Chief Obasanjo or people delegated by him to do so.
It must be noted that the state of health of Ms. Martins is known to all and sundry and whatever she says or does has nothing to do with Chief Obasanjo as an individual or the Obasanjo family as a whole.
Some radio stations have reportedly placed a ban on all songs from Afeez Fashola, popularly known as Naira Marley, on all their platforms.
The radio stations explained that the decision was taken due to the ongoing investigation into the mysterious death of a Lagos-based musician, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, also known as Mohbad.
The radio stations that have announced their decision included Fresh FM 106.9 FM (Ekiti State), Splash 105.5 FM (Oyo State), and Agidigbo 88.7 FM (Oyo State).
According to an instagram post (@freshfm1069adoekiti) signed by Fresh FMs Head of production and Music Content, Oluwaseunfunmi Williams on Tuesday, the station wrote:
Following the public outcry from the general public trialing the death of Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba (Mohbad), the alleged victimisation from different videos going viral and the involvement of members of his previous record label (Marlian records), fresh 106.9 fm has suspended the airplay of all songs and contents under the banner of Marlian Records.
READ ALSO: Mohbad Just Passed And Everyone Has Moved On Omah Lay (Video)
Splash FM, in an internal memo that was sent to its staff on Monday, noted that the decision was taken in view of the sensitive nature of the death of the musician.
In view of the sensitive nature around the death of Mohbad and the criminal procedure the police have commenced, I will urge us all to exercise discretion.
To this effect, Naira Marleys songs have become NTBB (Not to be Broadcast) on our stations until further notice. This is with immediate effect, the statement said.
Agidigbo FM, in its own declaration, announced that it has ceased to air all songs from Marlian Records, owned by Naira Marley.
Agidigbo FM founder Dr. Oriyomi Hamzat made this announcement Monday night.
From today, all songs from Marlian music are forbidden at Agidigbo.
We did not say they were the ones who killed him (Mohbad), but all songs from their music label have been henceforth cancelled, he said.
The United States (US) Deputy Treasury Secretary, Adewale Wally Adeyemo, says President Joe Bidens administration is willing to help Nigerias growth once it takes critical steps to sustain its foreign investments.
Adeyemo who spoke on Monday at the Lagos Business School (LBS), highlighted some of the steps needed for the type of growth that creates economic opportunity for the Nigerian people.
The US official said Nigeria needs to invest in digital infrastructure, improve its macroeconomics as well as create a conducive economic environment, to attract foreign investments.
His words: First, Nigeria needs a stable naira. Unifying Nigerias foreign exchange rate will also create the kind of macroeconomic stability that is essential to attracting foreign investment.
We commend the difficult steps your government has already taken to accomplish this goal. The path to unification is not an easy one as everyone is experiencing, but going backwards would be even worse.
Second, the government needs to articulate and implement a credible fiscal strategy that will provide the resources to make critical investments.
I recognise the decision to end fuel subsidies is hard for many Nigerian households. But it was an important early step to create resources that the government can use to invest in physical and digital infrastructure, education, and a strong small business environment.
There is nowhere this need is greater than the agricultural industry, which, despite the digital revolution going on in Nigeria, remains Nigerias top employer.
Its full potential, of course, is held back by issues like access to fertilisers, limited use of new technology, access to water and land and the availability of credit and high market entry costs.
READ ALSO: Iyabo Ojo Set To Hold Peaceful Protest To Demand Justice Over Mohbads Death
Speaking further, Adeyemo said Nigeria needs to root out corruption and its perception in the business environment.
This, he said, would go a long way in removing fears from potential investors.
The US official believes that creating economic opportunity would require a government-wide drive to address these fears, by shining a light on corruption, holding people accountable, and taking meaningful steps to improve the business climate.
Nigeria is a hotbed for digital entrepreneurs taking simple steps by moving government functions online,
So Nigerians can apply for business licenses and visas using their smartphones and computers will help improve services productivity, and reduce opportunities for fees to go to the pockets, rather than government coffers, he added.
According to Adeyemo, protecting the integrity of Nigerias financial system is also imperative in sustaining economic growth.
The cowardly kidnapper, corrupt official, and fraudster all are seeking to launder their money.
Taking steps to make your banking system more secure will help reduce the ability of criminals, terrorists, and others to illicitly use the Nigerian financial system, Adeyemo said.
He posited that the US government is committed to working with the Financial Action Task Force to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing in Nigeria.
Our government stands ready to help work with them to take these steps as quickly as possible, he added.
He also said Bidens administration believes deeply in the importance of deepening the relationship with Nigeria.
Daniel Bwala, aide to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has faulted President Bola Ahmed Tinubus concentration of his recent appointments in the South West, particularly Lagos State.
The spokesperson for the Peoples Democratic Partys (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate, alleged on Channels Televisions Politics Today that Tinubu has beaten former President Muhammadu Buharis record in nepotism.
Buhari, during his tenure was accused of making most of his appointments from the northern part of the country, but Bwala says in the case of Tinubu, only a section of the countrys southern part was receiving attention.
The PDP chieftain, however, posited that the All Progressives Congress (APC) President has ignored the South-South and South East in his appointments.
APC as a political party is a party that commenced the idea of nepotism. Remember when President Buhari was in power, people complained about nepotismbut hes like iPhone 13 Promax.
READ ALSO: Gov Obaseki Bars His Deputy, Shaibu From Govt House (Video)
By the time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over, his own even exceeded iPhone 14 and went straight to iPhone 15 Promax in the sense that his appointments have generated a conversation around the country that the government is being concentrated in one part of the country over and above others.
In the case of Buhari, you could argue that he favoured the Northbut you could see that it is populated by Northeast, Northwest, and North Central. There was a democratic distribution of appointments there but when it comes to this present government, if you look at it, the Southeast and the South-south are left behind.
The dominance of the appointments is in the Southwest. And even when you go further in the Southwest, there are quite a number of people in the South west who will tell you that the appointments were concentrated in Lagos, he said.
According to him, the constitution states that the country should not be run in such a way that one part has dominance over the other, and that Tinubu is breaking the law.
Following his obvious disregard for other parts of Nigeria, the former APC member opined that the President may not be able to enjoy loyalty from all sections of the country.
Wife of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Oluremi Tinubu has posited that if her husband had remained abroad, he would not have become Nigerias leader.
According to the First Lady, the brain drain from Africa has deprived the continent of the talents it needs to develop itself.
While speaking at the Nigeria Economic Growth and Trade Summit on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), organized at the Nigeria House in New York by the Nigeria Governors Wives Forum, she urged Nigerians living abroad to support Tinubus Renewed Hope agenda for a better country.
Her words: In our various communities, we must work towards creating conditions and providing basic needs that allow people to thrive by providing access to qualitative education, an enabling environment for job creation, and the development of local industries will create viable economic opportunities.
The Renewed Hope initiative is an initiative that we just started, aimed at creating a better life for families.
READ ALSO: Tinubu Beats Buharis Record In Nepotism With His Lagos-Only Appointments Atikus Aide, Bwala
Our scope covers agriculture, education, economic empowerment, health and social investment, focusing on women and the youth who are the bedrock of the society.
With the youth accounting for 70 percent of our population and women representing 49.6 percent of the population, I believe that schemes which focus on empowering this demographic, coupled with an enabling environment, will gradually begin to reverse the negative trend of migration.
Policy reforms that encourage skilled individuals to return home after obtaining educational experience abroad, can help reverse the dream.
I know Mr. President did not tell me that but I just want to reassure you that its good to come back home.
If he stayed here and said he liked it here, I dont think he would have ever become your President. So thats a food for thought. God bless you and see you soon.
Olufolake AbdulRazaq, Chair of the Governors Wives Forum, said the summits outcome should stem the tide of migration in Nigeria.
Daniel Bwala, an aide to the 2023 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration of plotting to arrest him.
The legal practitioner claimed via X on Monday that he had reliable information from some people at the presidential villa about a plot to use security agencies to arrest and detain him.
Last night I got a credible intelligence that some key people around the seat of power (Presidential Aso Vila) of this government are planning to use security agencie(s) to arrest me and take me into custody on a trumped-up allegations in other to rubbish me and silence me. That I am making them and the government uncomfortable.
READ ALSO: Gov Obaseki Bars His Deputy, Shaibu From Govt House (Video)
Let the world know today that I have always known that from my stands on the same faith ticket which led to my leaving APC, and consequent posture as a political opposition, it might irk the deep state and come with persecution for what i believe in and stand for. If anything happens to me, let the world know today of their evil plans, he posted.
Bwala is said to have defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the Party announced a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential poll.
He had argued that Tinubus selection of former Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima as his running mate was not good news for the APC.
Two male adults were rescued from a fire outbreak in the early hours on Tuesday, at Victory Bay, Ikota Housing Estate, Ajah, Lagos.
In a statement made available to the public on Tuesday, the Director of Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, Margaret Adeseye, said the incident occurred at about 3:30 a.m. and an emergency alert was received at 04:10 a.m.
Adeseye added that the incident involved a shanty-story building consisting of four rooms on each floor within the precinct of the estate.
She disclosed that the victims were rescued alive with varying degrees of burns with the support of community members.
According to the director, the situation had been put under control as the fire had been put out at press time, 9 a.m.
READ MORE: Fire Guts Church In Kwara After Suspected Power Surge
She, however, stated that the victims were subsequently, attended to by the Lagos State Ambulance Service before being taken to the hospital for further treatment.
She said: Emergency alert was received at 04:10 hours, Tuesday. The incident involved a shanty-storey building consisting of four rooms on each floor within the precinct of the estate.
On arrival of the Lekki Phase II Fire crew of the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the victims were rescued alive with varying degrees of burns with the support of community members.
Suspects nabbed by the Police in Lagos have narrated the reason for killing Adeniyi Sanni, a senior aide to Senator Solomon Adeola, who is the lawmaker representing Ogun West at the National Assembly.
The criminals were paraded before journalists on Monday at the Commands headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos State
The arrested suspects include 43-year-old Fred Okuno; 33-year-old Lucky Michael from Delta State, and 26-year-old Adedigba Segun from Ibadan, Oyo State.
Idowu Owohunwa, State Commissioner of Police, said their arrest was a result of diligent and painstaking investigation by the police.
He said, Through painstaking intelligence and investigative activities which brought out the best in the capacity of Lagos Police Command, we have succeeded in arresting the syndicate of the robbery and murder. The three suspects directly involved in the robbery and murder were arrested with three firearms, including the killer weapon, recovered.
The command recovered one brand new pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one Beretta pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one locally made cut-to-size pistol with six live cartridges, six expended cartridges, military gear comprising a military camouflage vest, jungle hat, a jungle boot and a red Honda CRV from the suspects.
Its gathered that the syndicate is suspected to be working for a foreign criminal gang, headed by one Alhaji, who targets imported fairly used cars.
One of the suspects, Lucky, who is an ex-inmate, said the slain aide was not their target, but the Tokunbo (imported fairly used car) he was driving.
READ ALSO: Naval Officers Genital Disappears In Calabar
I stopped the car because it had no number plate. I shot at him twice because he was shouting. I didnt plan to shoot the man, the gun fired by itself, Lucky said.
Another suspect, Okuno, who narrated what transpired, also said their gang tried to make the bleeding senators aide get help but it was too late.
Okuno said, On August 5, 2023, when the incident happened, it was around midnight, in the Ojodu Berger area. One of us, who was ahead of us, gave a signal that a car was coming with no number plate. It was a black Toyota Camry, a 2017 model. Lucky was putting on a (military) camouflage uniform, and holding a torch.
I told him that a car was coming with no number plate. He (Lucky) stopped the car on the other side. I ran down to join him. I asked the man (slain aide) for the document of the car. The man was on call talking but I dont know who exactly he was talking to, maybe his wife or his family.
He (senators aide) said the document was right inside the car. Then the man said, What else do you guys want again? Ive given you guys everything you wanted. He started shouting for help, he pulled out and was screaming Thief. He wanted to raise the alarm.
So, I shot at him, and before I knew it, Lucky also fired shots, it hit the man and he fell. My partner; Segun, and I decided to put him in the back of the seat and we drove off. He was still breathing, but he was still shouting.
My partner then stabbed him and I asked him why. We then dropped him by the side of the road and drove down to Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was from there we moved to Iseyin, en route to Benin Republic.
Barclay Farms Shopping Center in Cherry Hill Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Joint venture partners Bergman Real Estate Group and Capstone Realty Group USA purchased the property for $16.1 million. Read more
The Barclay Farms Shopping Center in Cherry Hill has a new owner.
The center, previously owned by Kaiserman Co. Inc. for over 30 years, was acquired Aug. 24 by Bergman Real Estate Group and Capstone Realty Group USA for $16.1 million.
What initially attracted us to the site was its undeniable old-world charm, evoking nostalgic memories of your neighborhood shopping center, Michael Bergman, president and CEO of Bergman Real Estate Group, said in a news release.
The acquisition is the first foray into retail for the Bergman group, which is based in New Jersey and has at least 18 office buildings in the state, according to the company website. The move is part of the companys plan to expand its commercial real estate offerings, according to the sale news release.
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We loved our tenants. They were part of our family, said Max Kaiserman, director of marketing and revenue for Kaiserman Co. Inc.
The company sold the location as part of its efforts to focus on multifamily properties, which has been Kaisermans expertise, he said.
Barclay Farms Shopping Center, located on Route 70 East, has in recent years been the site of a battle over plans to construct a Wawa convenience store. Last year, community members won their fight to keep out the proposed 24-hour store, which would have included a gas station. In addition to other gas stations, Wawa has at least a half-dozen stores, most with gasoline service, in Cherry Hill.
Getting gas in Cherry Hill is not exactly a problem, Martha Wright, a spokesperson for Preserve Barclay, a neighborhood group that opposed the Wawa development, said Monday.
Wright said she and her Cherry Hill neighbors are cautiously optimistic about the sale of Barclay Farms. Preserve Barclay first became aware of the new owners in July when a resident who issued a complaint with the township learned that a change of ownership notice had been filed for the shopping center.
The Bergman group already owns an office building nearby, and its well maintained and a good neighbor, Wright said.
The new owners plan to bring retail options, as well as medical offices to the 87,750-square-foot shopping center. Currently, 96% of the lots are filled; existing businesses include Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree, and the UPS Store.
There is also potential to expand the center itself with further development, according to Capstone.
The development could accommodate a boutique supermarket or grocer, a discount wine or liquor center, said Brad Gillman, managing partner of Capstone in the sale news release.
The new owners are planning upgrades to the center including work on facades, lighting, signage, landscaping, the parking lot, and sidewalk.
The plaza was developed by Robert Scarborough in the 1950s with signature red bricks as a modern take on colonial architecture at the time, Wright said. But decades later, some upgrades are needed.
It could use a refresh, she said.
Black residents make up approximately 43% of Philadelphias population yet own only about 6% of the citys businesses and contribute just 2% of overall business revenues locally, according to the latest figures available from both the U.S. Census Bureau and research from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
The reasons for this lopsided representation are many. But the good news is that Black business ownership is growing, with a report from the Brookings Institution finding that from 2017 to 2020, the number of Black-owned businesses across the country increased by more than 13%, a larger rate than all businesses in general. Revenues from Black-owned firms increased 11% during that same time period.
I have been helping Black business owners for many years, said Iola Harper, a senior vice president at The Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia. I am seeing an awakening and more Black entrepreneurs making money, and because of that many organizations like ours are expanding to help them.
Black business owners like most other businesses owners are looking for capital, and both locally and nationally there are private programs to help them.
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These include Comcasts RISE program, which provides grants, support and other resources to businesses owned by women and people of color in the region, and Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women, a $10 billion investment strategy designed to narrow opportunity gaps facing Black women across education, health care, and housing. In the two years since its launch, One Million Black Women has deployed over $2.1 billion in investment capital and over $23 million in philanthropic grants to 137 organizations.
There are also funding opportunities provided through governments. The City of Philadelphias Business Lending Network provides access to nonprofit and for-profit lenders with one form. The federal governments State Small Business Credit Initiative, a $10 billion COVID-era funding initiative enabled local nonprofits, community lending organizations, and certain financial services firms to offer grants, loans, and equity investments in businesses owned by women and people of color.
A lot of Black business owners are starting to realize that there are a lot of resources available for them, said Niya Murphy, a business consultant and the owner of New Networks Consulting in Philadelphia. Getting capital is critical, but relying on organizations and people who can help a Black business owner run and grow their business has become just as important.
In addition to funds, business owners also need help procuring work, managing their cash, hiring good people, and running their businesses. In the Philadelphia area, there are organizations that can help.
African American Chamber of Commerce. Founded in 1993, the Chamber provides advocacy for Black-owned businesses in the Delaware Valley and Southeastern Pennsylvania. It also provides programs that pairs experienced professionals with new business owners as well as tool kits to help them market and expand their companies. The chamber also offers financial advisers to help eligible business owners prepare to access the commercial lending market.
Eastern Minority Supplier Development Council. The EMSDC is one of 23 regional councils across the country that helps connect people of color who own businesses with more than 1,750 corporations that are committed to diversifying their suppliers. The council provides certification programs to ensure that members have the capacity to provide goods and services to Fortune 500 corporations or their prime suppliers, establish a broad geographic coverage, and demonstrate a capacity for growth.
The Enterprise Center. A nonprofit headquartered in West Philadelphia, the center provides consulting, certification programs, government procurement assistance, and financing and investment opportunities for people of color who own business. The Enterprise Center also provides the Biz on Wheels Curbside Business Services truck that brings services directly to customers and a Black Holiday Pop-up campaign that launches in mid-November and promotes the products and services of over 30 locally Black-owned businesses.
Gene Marks is the founder and president of the Marks Group, a small-business consulting firm based in Bala Cynwyd.
Prosecutors shared disturbing new details Monday in the criminal case against a former Philadelphia Police officer, showing through videos, photos, and witness interviews how Patrick Heron strategically targeted and sexually assaulted vulnerable women and girls often in the back of his police cruiser and while in uniform.
Heron, who retired from the force in 2019, was arrested last year and charged with indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, stalking, and witness intimidation after prosecutors said he posed as an active officer to lure girls, including some of his daughters friends. He would groom and coerce them into sending him intimate photos, officials said. In some cases, he touched them inappropriately.
READ MORE: Former Philadelphia police officer accused of sexually assaulting young children, witness retaliation
After investigators searched Herons tech devices, they said they uncovered dozens of photos and videos showing that Herons predatory behavior spanned years and included dozens of young women and girls many of whom were vulnerable and had run away, been arrested, or struggled with addiction.
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In total, Heron, from Northeast Philadelphia, faces more than 200 counts of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, kidnapping, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, child pornography, and related crimes.
During a hearing Monday in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, prosecutors shared a video that they said showed Heron encouraging a young woman to use heroin in the back of his cruiser.
Finish that needle, he told her. He then videotaped himself assaulting her while she lay unconscious in the back of his car, said Lyandra Retacco, chief of the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorneys Office.
In one case, Heron was responsible for driving a girl home from the hospital after she had run away, Retacco said. In another, he encountered a teen who had been arrested. Routinely, Heron would then give the girls his cell phone number and tell them to call him if they needed money or help.
Before forcing one girl to perform sex acts on him, Heron told her that, It would help you in court to have a police officer on your side, testified Sgt. Gerald Rocks, the investigator on the case.
Heron met many of his victims while on the force, Retacco said, and prosecutors say his crimes occurred over a roughly 17-year span, from 2005 through 2022. Investigators have identified 48 victims, though many of their identities remain unknown, Retacco said. There are likely more who havent come forward, she said.
When a person chooses their victims so that they are vulnerable, then it can be difficult for them to make reports and it can be difficult for them to come forward, she said.
Herons lawyer, Anthony F. List Jr., declined to comment Monday. He said nothing in Herons defense in court.
Heron was arrested last September after a concerned mother shared on Facebook that Heron had posed as a police officer and was inappropriately messaging with her daughter, a minor, calling her sweetie and love and trying to organize a meet-up. Heron then stalked and harassed the mother, prosecutors said, even showing up at her house and leaving a forged court order in her mailbox demanding she stop talking about him online.
Once detectives searched his phone and other devices, they found dozens of videos taken in 2016 and 2017, which showed Heron assaulting girls, some who appeared semiconscious, in his cruiser. Some victims contacted the District Attorneys Office after seeing his photo in the news.
Judge Giovanni Campbell on Monday agreed to consolidate the five cases against Heron into one.
In court, Heron said nothing, staring straight ahead through his aviator-style glasses before he was taken back to Delaware County Prison, where he is being held without bail.
He is next expected to appear in court in October.
The lawsuit comes after Pennsylvania settled a different case brought on behalf of a Lower Merion student who was set to age out of programs at 21. Read more
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association and three districts including Central Bucks and Upper Darby are suing the Pennsylvania Department of Education to stop a new requirement that schools offer services to students with disabilities through age 22.
The new rule, announced in late August, settled a lawsuit brought on behalf of a Lower Merion student challenging a discrepancy between federal and Pennsylvania requirements. Although federal law says students with disabilities have the right to receive services from schools until they earn a regular diploma or turn 22, Pennsylvania had been forcing students to graduate at the end of the school year that they turn 21.
But the school boards association says that the department didnt have the authority to unilaterally make the change, and that it gave school districts no notice leaving them no time to budget.
The policy is a new unfunded mandate by administrative fiat that will cause limited resources to be diverted from educating all children to funding an entirely new category of expenses, the association wrote in a lawsuit submitted to Commonwealth Court on Sept. 11. A spokesperson said Monday the association was still waiting for the court to docket the case.
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READ MORE: Pa. is changing its special-ed rules: Students with disabilities can now attend school until age 22
In settling the class-action lawsuit brought by the family of the 19-year-old Lower Merion student who has multiple disabilities and receives occupational therapy, speech therapy, and transition services to prepare for adult life the education department sent letters to 1,300 Pennsylvania families whose children graduated at age 21 this year.
In Central Bucks the states third-largest district, with more than 17,000 students it is believed that 14 students who had exited school ... will attempt to return this year, according to the lawsuit, which said the district estimates the rule change will cost it approximately $500,000 in the first school year alone. Central Bucks did not respond to a request for comment.
Upper Darby, which enrolls about 12,000 students, didnt estimate how many would be affected, but said in the lawsuit that it believed many would be entitled to services. The district which has struggled with funding wasnt able to budget for the change given the late August timing, Superintendent Dan McGarry said Monday.
If the goal is to provide students with the best educational opportunities, the planning of and for the implementation of such decisions should include the consideration of space, staffing, budgeting, and a lack of time for the school district to plan to provide a free and appropriate public education, McGarry said referring to the federal standard governing special education.
Also suing is Pittsburgh Public Schools, which said the change would enable about 40 students to return to school after aging out last year.
Not all school boards agree with the new lawsuit. As school board members, we are supposed to be about doing everything possible to support students in need of special education, said Scott Overland, a school board member in Phoenixville, a district of 4,000 students where a handful would qualify for services under the change.
Overland acknowledged that the timing and implementation of the rule change definitely has put stress on some districts, but questioned whether going to court is the appropriate way to remedy this.
If families need the services, I think we need to make it a priority to figure out how to give it to them, Overland said.
The lawsuit asks the court to find that the department of education violated Pennsylvanias regulatory procedures and to stop the department from enforcing districts compliance with the new policy.
A spokesperson for the education department, Taj Magruder, did not comment on the lawsuit, but said that as of Sept. 5, all students receiving special education services may remain enrolled in public school until they turn 22 years of age.
The department is actively working to notify eligible students and their families, as well as our school partners so they can prepare to implement this policy change, Magruder said, and has posted resources online to address frequently asked questions.
Federal law is clear: Students entitled to special education services have the right to receive a free and appropriate public education until they turn 22, said Jonathan McJunkin, a spokesperson for the Public Interest Law Center, which represented the Lower Merion student in the lawsuit filed in July that spurred the policy change. We are confident that PDEs new policy, which reflects the commonwealths legal obligations under the [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act], will stand, and that students will continue to be able to receive these services at a critical juncture in their lives. "
Other states have made similar changes, spurred by federal court rulings finding that public schools must continue to make services available to students with disabilities until age 22.
In a message to its members last week, the school boards association said it fully supports providing all students with disabilities with a free and appropriate public education, and would be circulating draft legislation that would permit districts to continue to deliver supportive services to eligible students until they reach the age of 22 and would provide the funding to facilitate the expansion of services.
Mackenzie Christiana, spokesperson for the association, said it did not have an estimate of how much funding was needed.
Camden schools Superintendent Katrina McCombs and others are given a tour to show how Eastside High School has fallen into disrepair, following an event Monday to announce plans to rebuild the school. More than a century old, the new school will cost an estimated $105 million. Read more
Instead of the face-lift promised less than a year ago, Camdens nearly century-old Eastside High School will be demolished and replaced under a $105 million project, Superintendent Katrina McCombs announced Monday.
McCombs unveiled the plans for one of the districts oldest schools at a news conference in Eastsides auditorium lauded by a cheering crowd and cheerleaders with sparkling pom-poms. It will be the second new traditional public high school built in Camden in the last five years.
This project represents the next bold step in our journey towards creating a brighter future, ensuring that every child feels seen, heard, and supported, she said. Were not just building a school; were building a stronger, more equitable future.
The project will be funded by New Jerseys School Development Authority, which oversees the states plan to improve schools in Camden and other needy districts. The authority funds projects to address serious facility deficiencies.
McCombs said details about the project still must be worked out, but the new school will likely be built on the same site on Federal Street in East Camden and take three to five years to complete. It will have capacity for about 750 students, she said.
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During construction, current students will be moved to another school; a location has not been identified, she said. Eastside currently enrolls about 486 students in grades nine through 12.
READ MORE: New Camden High complex completed with a nod to its historic castle on the hill past
Built in 1929, the school has fallen into disrepair over the years. It was formerly known as Woodrow Wilson High, but the name was changed because of the segregationist past of the former president and New Jersey governor.
District officials last year were prepared to launch a $50 million project to refurbish the building, but scrapped those plans after some preliminary work showed renovations would not be enough to bring it up to standard.
You deserve the best, State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D., Camden) told students Monday. The whole school needs to be demolished.
U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), who represents the district, said he contacted Gov. Phil Murphy after touring Eastside in November for the renovation project. He was stunned by the condition of the school, including an antiquated science lab with equipment that has been around about 90 years.
Norcross said he told Murphy: This is unacceptable.
It was that shocking of a moment, Norcross said. Our childrens education and the quality of the educational facilities should not be determined by a zip code.
Camden currently has 10 traditional, charter, and Renaissance high schools that enroll about 5,000 students. McCombs said the district still needs Eastside High because it offers courses not available at Camden High School, such as automotive training.
During an advisory school board meeting in March, McCombs and school business administrator Ray Coxe outlined a proposal for a 203,000-square-foot Eastside that includes new computers, welding, performing arts and video labs, and additional self-contained special education classrooms.
The district has been under pressure to replace Eastside after a sprawling, new $133 million Camden High School complex opened in the citys Parkside neighborhood in 2021. With a capacity for 1,200 students, it houses Camden High and three magnet schools Brimm Medical Arts, Creative Arts, and the Big Picture Learning Academy.
The old Camden High was a Gothic landmark razed in 2017. The new building was the first entirely new high school constructed in Camden in 100 years.
Under state takeover since 2013, the district began working with the state to replace its last remaining traditional high school. It will likely mean upheaval for students and staff, but it will be worth it, said Principal Gloria Vega, who has worked at Eastside for 20 years.
Things are falling apart, said an emotional Vega. Its exciting to see the changes.
The former Woodrow Wilson High opened as a junior high in 1930 and became a high school three years later. Today, it is the only stand-alone traditional public high school in the district. Prominent graduates include Mike Rozier, a 1983 Heisman Trophy winner, Council President Angel Fuentes, and former Mayor Frank Moran.
McComb said this years seniors will probably be the last to graduate from the current building in June. Senior Jahaan Green, 17, said his younger peers deserve a new school.
Its a new era. I feel like its drastically needed, said Green.
Freshman Moucha Rivera, 16, agreed, although she too, will not attend the new school. She hopes the new school will have more classrooms, state-of-the-art equipment and fully operating air-conditioning.
At least the people who come after me get to experience the new school, she said.
READ MORE: Camdens Woodrow Wilson High School renamed Eastside High
JoAnne Epps, pictured as dean of the Temple University Beasley School of Law, in 2014, has died after collapsing at a university event Tuesday. Read more
JoAnne A. Epps, Temple Universitys acting president with a long distinguished career, died after falling ill on stage Tuesday afternoon during a university event, said Mitchell L. Morgan, chair of the board of trustees.
I am devastated by this loss, Morgan said. She was our light at the end of the tunnel. Temple University will survive it. Im not sure I will emotionally survive it.
READ MORE: JoAnne Epps, named Temples acting president, says she can calm waters
Epps, 72, who became Temples leader earlier this year after the resignation of Jason Wingard, was scheduled to speak at an event in memory of historian and author Charles L. Blockson, who was the curator emeritus of the Blockson Afro-American Collection.
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Shortly after the event began, Epps a former Temple law school dean and provost who has worked at the university for nearly four decades was carried out in the arms of a uniformed officer, after the announcer asked whether there was a doctor in attendance. Her cause of death was not immediately known.
The ceremony was temporarily delayed but then resumed with Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, former faculty senate president, stepping in to read Epps remarks.
Morgan said he would hold an emergency meeting Wednesday to figure out next steps for the 30,530-student university. The school recently launched a search for a new president, but that could take the better part of a year. Epps had not intended to be a candidate for that job. She had planned on retiring before the board asked her to take on the interim role.
A vigil is planned at the Bell Tower at noon Wednesday. Flags will be flown at half-staff on the university campus. It will be up to professors how to handle their classes on Wednesday.
Williams-Witherspoon, who had been sitting next to Epps before the Blockson event began, said Epps had been in good spirits and had just come from another meeting. The two were longtime friends, and Epps had told her she had read an article about Philadelphias new youth poet laureate and knew Williams-Witherspoon, a performance poet, would be interested.
After leaning forward to pick up some papers, Williams-Witherspoon noticed something seemed to be wrong with Epps. I said JoAnne, are you OK? Williams-Witherspoon recalled. She didnt respond. Her eyes were open. I touched her hand and said, In the name of Jesus.
Epps took a deep breath before an officer came and carried her out, Williams-Witherspoon said. It wouldnt be until about halfway through the Blockson event that she learned of her friends death.
I loved her, she said. Shes been my friend for many years. Weve been through so much as a university and as a community but we have to honor that she was willing to come back from retirement to keep moving forward, and we have to honor that vision.
A shaken campus
Epps sudden death shook the Temple community to the core.
Were all just kind of shocked by this horrible news, said Jeffrey Doshna, president of the Temple Association of University Professionals. A lot of us came to know her as a colleague and friend.
READ MORE: Temples acting president, JoAnne Epps, has thoughts (and concerns) about college sports
Her leadership in recent months has been key, he said.
She absolutely changed the tone and tenor of things on campus, he said.
Senior Gianni Quattrocchi, past student body president who was on campus Tuesday afternoon, said many professors were looking visibly upset.
Its a very somber day, he said.
Word of her death quickly spread off campus as well and generated messages of condolence.
Acting president JoAnne Epps dedicated decades of her professional life to the Temple University community championing women and people of color in the legal profession and inspiring a generation of leaders, said Joanna McClinton, speaker of the Pennsylvania House. Todays news is a tragedy. She will be truly missed by the Temple community and beyond.
READ MORE: Temple officially launches the search for its next president
Others spoke of the impact she had on their lives.
Reginald Streater had offers from other law schools, but he wanted to go to Temple because of Epps, who saw something in Streater, a native Philadelphian who experienced homelessness as a child and worked as a waiter and bartender before he attended college.
Something Epps told all first-year law students still sticks with Streater, now a trial lawyer and president of Philadelphias school board: Your job is to make the world a better place, she said.
Though Epps was physically diminutive, she was a giant to many, Streater said.
She was our guiding light, our North Star, said Streater. She was caring, she loved Temple, she loved the law school. She just gave it her all. For someone to utilize their station in life to affect the lives of so many people, I aspire to do that. Not because its the bright shiny thing to do, but because I have an archetype in her.
Epps had spent nearly 40 years at Temple before being asked in April to step in and lead the school as it reeled from the resignation of a president, a six-week-graduate student worker strike, and the shooting death of an on-duty Temple police officer.
I am obviously humbled and excited and really looking forward to being able to make a contribution to the university that I so love, Epps said in an interview in April as she was about to be appointed.
Epps, who lived in Shamong, Burlington County, with her husband, L. Harrison Jay, who worked in community affairs at Temple for decades, said at the time that the board had expected her to calm the waters, and in recent months, she had.
She had an amazing ability to be the calming force in troubled waters and pulled everyone together, said Ken Kaiser, senior vice president and chief operating officer.
A life of many honors
Epps history with Temple stretches way back: Her mother once worked as a secretary for the school and she, herself, at 16, was a cashier at the Temple bookstore. Her academic career includes 31 years at the law school, the last eight as its dean before becoming provost, a position she held until August 2021, when Wingard moved her out as part of a larger shift in top administrators. She remained as a senior adviser to Wingard and on the law school faculty, and last semester she taught a course at the law school in gender equity and the law.
A native of Cheltenham Township, Epps received her bachelors degree from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., in 1973. Shes a Yale Law School graduate, who became deputy city attorney in Los Angeles in 1976 and in 1980 returned to Philadelphia to join the U.S. Attorneys Office. She began at Temple law in 1985 and was named dean in 2008.
She presided over the law school as enrollment nationally declined. During her leadership, the school moved into the top 50 in U.S. News & World Report rankings, started a center for compliance and ethics, and created the Stephen and Sandra Sheller Center for Social Justice.
Among her honors, she was recognized three times as one of the 100 most influential Black lawyers in the country by Lawyers of Color Magazine.
She has served multiple roles in the community. Then-Mayor Michael Nutter appointed her as chair of a Police Oversight Board responsible for making sure Philadelphia implemented recommendations of a Justice Department report critical of officers use of lethal force. She also served on the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, and held roles on the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia and the Womens Nonprofit Leadership, which has advocated for more women on university and hospital boards.
Growing up in the 1960s, Epps never imagined how her life would unfold, she said in 2016 Inquirer interview.
Her career aspirations were set: She said she wanted to become a legal secretary, like the fictional character Della Street on her favorite show, Perry Mason.
She almost left Trinity after her sophomore year, she said, because she wasnt getting the typing and shorthand skills she needed to land that job.
Then a Trinity dean suggested she become a lawyer, something she had never considered.
I had never met a lawyer, a man or a woman, white or Black, she said. I reversed course. I said thats not a bad idea.
Colleagues who were close to her spoke of her outsized impact on the university at a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
Shes been an extraordinary leader, said Gregory N. Mandel, Temples provost. Shes been a mentor for me and many others. Shes been a close confidante.
We know that JoAnne passed away doing something that she loved with her family there and friends and our Temple community. President Epps represented the best part of the Temple community.
Gov. Josh Shapiro said he believed that the North Philadelphia and Temple communities will overcome the tragedy, even after such a difficult prior year.
They are tough and resilient, and I know they will come together and lift each other up in this devastating time, Shapiro said.
Staff photographer Tom Gralish and staff writers Kristen A Graham and Gillian McGoldrick contributed to this article.
Michael White leaves the Stout Center for Criminal Justice after being sentenced to two years probation for evidence tampering on Jan. 9, 2020. White was acquitted of voluntary manslaughter in the 2018 stabbing death of Sean Schellenger. A new Paramount+ documentary revisits the case. Read more
A block from Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia real estate developer Sean Schellenger got into a fight with Michael White, a rap artist and food delivery worker, on July 12, 2018. In what White said was an act of self-defense, he fatally stabbed Schellenger.
White surrendered the next day and, on Oct. 17, 2019, was found not guilty of voluntary manslaughter but was sentenced to two years of probation for evidence tampering.
The incident, the subject of public debate and widespread media coverage, is the focus of a new documentary series, 72 Seconds in Rittenhouse Square, set to premiere on Paramount+ on Sept. 26.
The death of Sean Schellenger in Philadelphias most vibrant and ritzy neighborhood rocked a city long divided by racial tension. And for the citys new district attorney, it became the first test case of his progressive approach to criminal justice, The Inquirer reported in October 2018.
72 Seconds is a three-part series directed by filmmaker Tigre Hill, who made the 2006 documentary The Shame of a City, about the mayoral race between John F. Street and Sam Katz. Hill also made the 2010 documentary The Barrel of a Gun, on Mumia Abu-Jamals arrest for the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981.
It became a big story because you were dealing with someone who had money, privilege, connections and you had a kid from North Philadelphia, says a voice-over in a trailer for 72 Seconds. The documentary series, per a newsrelease, navigates dueling perspectives and encourages audiences to question, doubt, and challenge everything they may have believed about this case before.
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It speaks to family members of both White and Schellenger, and uses archival footage and cell phone videos to construct and deconstruct the events of that fateful July night and the debate around race, criminal justice, and justice it inspired. The release promises a never-before-seen cell phone video of the clash that will reveal a twist not known to many.
I was worried about when I am going to get an opportunity to tell the truth. If I dont make them feel where I am coming from, its over, White says in the trailer.
The series is produced by Ark Media for See It Now Studios, which has also produced Superpower, actor Sean Penns documentary on the war in Ukraine.
72 Seconds in Rittenhouse Square premieres on Paramount+ on Sept. 26.
South Phillys Korshak Bagels announced it will close permanently after 2 years of business. The last day for the shop, at 10th and Morris Streets, will be Sunday.
Owner Phil Korshak posted a video to Instagram Monday morning to share the sad news. He holds up a series of signs (Hi, I have some hard things, true things to say) before cutting to a letter addressed to Dearest South Philly.
The shop simply cant function economically. And provide a living wage. And work/life balance. And reasonable prices, the letter read. The staff would prefer to continue; but the changes to the process in exchange for efficiency are not changes I think are going to be successful or are on brand for Korshak Bagels. Much of this involves automation of dough. Some of it involves moving to a computer kiosk interface. While I am honored by the staffs sharing of their vision, it is not a vision I share.
Korshak has only taken seven or eight days off since landing on the bagel shops home four years ago, the letter continued. I cannot continue in this way. I am genuinely sorry to say that I have failed my vision. I am genuinely grateful that the people around me value my health more than the existence of the bagelshop. I am massively grateful to be in accordance w/ that philosophy.
The closure may be unexpected given Korshaks popularity; not only does it regularly draw crowds, but its bagels have earned accolades from Craig LaBan as well as the likes of the New York Times and Bon Appetit.
The end will come as no surprise, however, to those familiar with the increasingly fraught economics of running a restaurant as well as the bagel shops poet/scholar owner.
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Long in the coming, Korshak said by phone Monday morning. The shop required around 10 employees working at any given time to function, he explained. Three people who are going to make all the dough, two people who are going to boil it and bake it, to roughly five people running [front of house], he said.
At $3 a bagel, Korshak struggled to make ends meet, have any work-life balance, and also maintain his standards, including paying a living wage (the starting wage there is now $16) and allowing employees to accrue paid time off, he said.
The staff at Korshak Bagels was one of the first in the city to unionize at an independent cafe (Korshak voluntarily recognized the union) and to win a contract. The union, represented by recently formed food-service union Local 80, was at the bargaining table again recently, negotiating its second contract.
The closure of Korshak bagels is a huge disappointment to Local 80, and in our perspective, not necessary, said Local 80 representative and former Korshak employee Lily Fender in a statement. While we respect Phils need to step away from the business for his own mental and physical wellbeing, we very much believe there are avenues toward a healthy, profitable business model at Korshak Bagels that supports thriving union jobs and a more sustainable work life balance for ownership.
This closure should be used as a learning experience and the lesson is not that unionization will cause closures, the statement continued. The lesson should be that in order to treat workers with dignity and respect in an industry that has done exactly the opposite for all of time, owners will need to make major changes in production and organization of labor that may require sacrifice of individual vision or philosophy. We encourage anyone interested in buying Korshak Bagels to approach Phil about a sale that we believe could benefit him financially and also transition the union shop to a healthy next phase. Korshak workers will be releasing a longer statement soon with information about a GoFundMe to support them after the closure.
READ MORE: As Starbucks and Good Karma unions face big challenges, Phillys other coffee shop unions are still moving toward a contract
Korshak said he gave employees a months notice (and Local 80 the same). He gave the public a weeks notice because I didnt want staff to have to deal with the thing thats happening right now, he said of the outpouring of support and sympathy on social media that will surely translate to long lines later in the week. Two to three weeks of the sort of maelstrom thats occurring as we speak is invigorating only in that it notes that were all connected.
He acknowledged that he could raise prices to $5 a bagel, but I want to pose the question about whether presenting something that is necessarily a boutique item is good and appropriate. My answer, resoundingly, is no, it is not.
When Korshak signed the lease on the space at 1700 S. 10th St. in February 2020, his goal was to run this tiny, tiny shop that exists for the livelihood of the neighborhood around it and vice versa, he told The Inquirer. As he built out the shop, Korshak would scrawl messages on the paper covering up the doors and windows, writing something between a poem, a stream-of-consciousness missive, and a love note to neighbors and passersby. The handwritten notes continued even after the shop opened in May 2021, when it started selling out day after day.
Korshak doesnt know what hell do next, but pointed to two bright spots on the horizon: the long-awaited debut of Cleo Bagels in West Philly and the newly announced residency of CJ & Ds Trenton Tomato Pies in Cartesian Brewing, an outfit launched by one of Korshaks original employees.
Will Philly taste Korshaks bagels again after Sunday? His in-the-moment answer was no, he didnt know. The thing that I wanted and its super-duper-duper sad isnt really a thing that can happen. Not in reality, he said. What this is and what this has been, while beautiful in many, many, many ways, has not been successful for me.
The New York Times has heaped praise on (from left) Kalaya, El Chingon, and My Loup. Read more
The New York Times is out with its annual list of 50 restaurants in the United States that, in the publications words, were most excited about now, and three of them are in Philadelphia.
Only Los Angeles and Philadelphia have three, the most in one city outside of New York, which has four.
Kalaya (chef Chutatip Nok Suntaranons Thai destination in Kensington/Fishtown) and My Loup (chefs Amanda Shulman and Alex Kemps buzzy French bistro in Rittenhouse) are familiar to readers of the national best-of lists. The third pick is more or less a local star: El Chingon (chef Carlos Aparicios Mexican BYOB in South Philadelphia), which Times writer Nikita Richardson praised in a spend-a-weekend-in-Philadelphia article in April.
All three restaurants are newcomers to the Times list. Gabriellas Vietnam in South Philadelphia and Andiario in West Chester were included last year. Korshak Bagels coincidentally due to close this Sunday (and not by any stretch a restaurant) made the Times inaugural list in 2021, as did Down North Pizza and Laser Wolf.
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Heres what the Times said:
El Chingon
Carlos Aparicios Pueblan kitchen, which opened at 1524 S. 10th St. in November 2022, gets praise for its picture-perfect cemitas made with springy bread, his aguachile, and his traditional and not-so-traditional tacos made on house-made sourdough tortillas. El Chingon doesnt clamor for attention or traffic in gimmicks, Nikita Richardson wrote. Its simply a neighborhood restaurant, albeit one of the highest order.
READ MORE: Craig LaBan's review of El Chingon
Kalaya
Chutatip Nok Suntaranon, who moved a year ago into the showplace at 4 W. Palmer St. with partner Defined Hospitality after an auspicious beginning in the Italian Market, still delivers forcefully spiced, luminous cooking. Writer Brett Anderson pays special attention to the shaw muang, venison curry, and goong phao, while encouraging diners to marvel at the realization that this preternaturally gifted chef and restaurateur didnt open her first place until age 50.
READ MORE: Craig LaBan's review of Kalaya
My Loup
Chef Amanda Shulman who has been picking up all kinds of plaudits for her first restaurant, Her Place Supper Club and new husband and co-chef Alex Kemp have been rocking a fun vibe at 2005 Walnut St. since May. Writer Sara Bonisteel says theyve created a weeknight spot that feels like a dinner party in the spirit of Montreals Joe Beef, where both worked. Weeknight is key; My Loup is open Monday to Friday.
READ MORE: Craig LaBan's review of My Loup
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has an extensive network of outpatient sites in the Philadelphia region. Shown here is a location in King of Prussia in 2020. Read more
The chair of the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia board on Tuesday posted a message online to employees defending CEO Madeline Bells $7.7 million pay package in 2021. The post was in response to an Inquirer article published last week highlighting how she was the highest-paid CEO that year at the regions nonprofit health systems.
The message from Chris Gheysens, who leads the CHOP boards executive compensation and human capital committees, explained that the board holds one person Madeline responsible for leading two hospitals; local, regional, national and global affiliations; a network of primary, specialty and urgent care centers; a research institute; a charitable foundation; and innovative community programs.
Madeline is an advocate for CHOP and is a nationally recognized visionary leader for childrens health care, he wrote. She takes on tough challenges, leads the organization through challenging times, and never forgets that CHOP is about making a difference in the lives of individual children and their families.
On Monday, Bell had written a note at the bottom of a separate message to staff describing The Inquirers article as damaging to CHOP.
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The reason it was considered damaging is because of how the headline and the cartoon positioned our community impact, CHOP spokesperson Lindsay Torriero said in a phone interview Tuesday. She said that free and discounted care is a small part of what CHOP does for the community.
The Inquirers headline online said CHOP paid its CEO a record $7.7 million in 2021, more than the hospital spent on charity care in three years. Separately, a cartoon ran in the opinion section of Sundays print edition. The cartoon, by John Cole, suggested that executive compensation was taking money away from children.
In a review of CHOPs federally filed tax forms, The Inquirer found that Bells compensation in 2021 was more than the nonprofit hospital spent on free and discounted services to financially needy patients, or charity care, over the three previous years combined. CHOP spent $7 million on charity care over those years, according its tax forms.
By comparison, St. Christophers Hospital for Children, a much smaller safety net hospital in North Philadelphia, spent $16 million on free or discounted care during roughly the same period, according to its 990 tax returns for tax-exempt organizations.
In Tuesdays note to staff, CHOP preferred to highlight a much larger figure of $470 million for all types of what the IRS refers to as community benefits in the year ended June 30, 2022. The larger figure cited by Gheysens includes $204 million for CHOPs reported losses on Medicaid an issue that for-profit hospitals also deal with and $145 million in unreimbursed research expenses.
Academic researchers and advocates say it is most important to focus on the amounts nonprofit hospitals spend on free and discounted care, because many of the other community benefit expenditures, such as education and community health events, benefit the hospitals.
READ MORE: Do Philly-area hospitals give enough charity care? Theres no simple answer.
In Tuesdays internal note, Gheysens stressed that Bells $5.6 million bonus paid in 2021, which was part of the $7.7 million, was in part for an incentive plan that covered three years.
The bonus also contained a one-year component, but CHOP had previously declined to give The Inquirer a breakdown of the two awards.
CHOP told The Inquirer for its report that it uses compensation consultants to benchmark Bells pay against 44 peer institutions, but did not identify them. The Inquirer had examined CEO pay at nine other large childrens health systems nationwide over the five years through 2021, and found no pay packages that came close.
I am comfortable that CHOPs executive compensation is reasonable, appropriate and competitive to attract and retain the best talent, Gheysens said in the note to employees.
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Ethan Calof wanted to schedule an appointment for the updated COVID vaccine as soon as possible. So after getting a text message from CVS advertising the shots, Calof scored one of the earliest possible slots, for Sept. 16.
I have a lot of immunocompromised family members, and I know a bunch of people who got COVID over the last couple weeks, said Calof, who moved to Philadelphia a month ago. Its important for me to stay up on them.
But when Calof arrived at the CVS at 15th and Spruce Streets for the appointment, employees said the shots hadnt arrived. They had been expecting them, and they seemed just as frustrated as me, Calof said. They ended up getting only a flu shot.
Calofs experience has been mirrored at some chain pharmacy locations around the Philadelphia region, as the updated vaccines approved by federal authorities just last week are still getting shipped out.
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The updated vaccines are designed to protect against a newer COVID variant, XBB.1.5, which is itself a variant of the omicron strain of the virus that caused widespread illness last fall. Early testing of the vaccines shows that they are also effective against other variants circulating.
With COVID cases on an uptick, many Philadelphians were eager to get the latest shot. But some chain pharmacies were seeing delivery delays that forced them to reschedule appointments.
A CVS spokesperson said the pharmacy chain is getting the vaccines on a rolling basis and that most locations have been able to honor appointments. Stores that havent received supplies will offer more appointments when they get shipments of the vaccine.
Walgreens representatives also said theyd seen supply delays at a small number of locations and have contacted everyone affected to reschedule their appointments.
In the early days of this launch, and as supply is delivered to Walgreens, patients are encouraged to schedule an appointment or call ahead, a spokesperson wrote in an email.
At Rite Aid, another major chain pharmacy in the area, vaccines will not be available until Friday. Representatives there said they had offered appointments when we know stores will have vaccines to make sure people wouldnt have to reschedule appointments.
The city health department is also receiving some vaccines to supply the Vaccines for Children program and Bridge Access providers, who provide vaccines at no cost. The department is not expecting them until later this week, department spokesperson Jim Garrow said.
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Insurance coverage issues force some to pay out of pocket
Some local residents have also reported issues with getting their insurance to cover the shots. Before the public health emergency over COVID ended in the spring, the federal government ensured that COVID vaccines were available for free.
Commercial insurance plans now are expected to cover the newest shots, because the vaccine is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as long as patients get their vaccine at a provider within their plans coverage network, said Robert Field, a professor of law and health management and policy at Drexel University.
But some insurance companies have not updated their billing codes to accommodate the new vaccine, and some patients who were able to secure an early appointment were told they had to pay out of pocket, in some cases up to $190, according to news reports and patients who spoke to The Inquirer.
Those issues should be resolved in the coming weeks, Field said.
Given that it was just approved a few days ago, and there was a question mark as to whether it would be approved to everyone or just vulnerable groups, its not surprising it would take the companies or distributors some time to gear up, he said. My first piece of advice to people is just give it a couple weeks. Weve waited this long for the booster, and youre unlikely to need it tomorrow.
Field also encouraged patients to check that their vaccine provider is considered in-network by their insurance carrier, which can help to reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Some Philadelphians have already received their shot with no problem. It was such an easy process: We got a text message, I registered my husband and myself, they had a ton of appointments at my CVS, and we were out of there within half an hour, said Sarah Falkowski, who lives in Roxborough.
She said the decision to get the updated shot was similarly easy: Both of us are back to hybrid work, my son is in school, and weve always been a vaccine family. This felt like a very obvious choice, she said.
Uncertain demand for the new COVID vaccine
Demand for the new vaccines is hard to gauge this early in the process, the Philadelphia health department said.
Fewer Philadelphians received an updated COVID booster shot released last fall the bivalent vaccines that protected against the original COVID strain and another variant than those who received at least one dose of the first vaccine made available. As of July 13, about 1.3 million Philadelphians had received at least one shot. About 236,000 doses of the bivalent shot had been reported to the city health department.
Still, about 57% of registered voters across America told researchers conducting a Politico/Morning Consult poll that they planned to get an updated booster shot this fall.
The city health department recommends that everyone over the age of 6 months except for those who have been vaccinated against COVID in the last two months get a booster.
When delivering news, particularly bad news, clinicians are trained to quickly share the headline, the one or two most important pieces of information the patient or family should take away. Read more
Shortly before Thanksgiving 2022, my brother, Elliott, was driving on a two-lane highway in New York when another car hit him head-on.
The other vehicles driver was critically injured, its two passengers dead. Paramedics rushed Elliott disoriented, in pain, unable to contact anyone, and hundreds of miles from home to the nearest Level I trauma center.
At the time of the accident, he had been on his way to visit friends. When Elliott did not arrive and could not be reached, those friends called local emergency departments until they found him.
They found my email address on the University of Pennsylvanias website and sent word of the accident. They couldnt provide me with any details because the hospital had only confirmed to his friends that Elliott was there legally, the hospital wasnt able to share more.
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I study patient-doctor communication at Penn. The aftermath of Elliotts accident underscored in personal ways what I know professionally: Communication is part of healing. Here are lessons you can draw from our experience.
Ask for the headline
I called the hospital as soon as I got the email about Elliotts accident. The doctor who answered enumerated Elliotts many broken bones. I wanted those details, but first I needed key facts. I had to ask the doctor directly to learn that Elliott was alive, alert, and in stable condition.
When delivering news, particularly bad news, clinicians are trained to quickly share the headline, the one or two most important pieces of information the patient or family should take away. Unfortunately, this doesnt always happen, so be sure to ask.
If you dont understand something, ask
Elliott didnt understand when a doctor said hed sustained an acetabular fracture. This unfamiliar language increased Elliotts anxiety and made him feel he didnt understand his injuries well enough to participate in his own care. Research has found that patients who understand their medical condition feel more empowered, make better decisions about their care, and, ultimately, experience better outcomes.
When team members used jargon, I drew from my nursing background to translate for Elliott: Your hip socket is broken. But I also encouraged him to speak up.
Talk about your needs and expectations
Before the surgeries on Elliotts shattered ankle and arm, I told the surgeons that Elliott was an enthusiastic athlete and musician. I shared our hopes for what he could do after his limbs healed.
The patient and their family are important sources of information about the patients needs, preferences, and values. I learned as a nurse that knowing the patient helps the care team improve and personalize their care.
For Elliott, this meant that the doctors suggested a more aggressive surgical approach that offered the best chance of fully restoring function.
Involve trusted others in making decisions
In the aftermath of the accident, Elliott had to make several decisions about his care. He was scared and uncertain, so he asked me for help talking to doctors and weighing options.
Elliott did this intuitively, but there is evidence that involving trusted others helps patients. For example, I sometimes asked questions Elliott hadnt thought of. Family and friends often play a vital role in helping the patient access or coordinate care, adhere to treatment plans, and stay motivated.
Despite these benefits, I experienced what many others do: Family members are not always included in decisions and may need to advocate to be involved.
Elliott has achieved a new normal and is back to biking around FDR Park and playing bluegrass guitar. He has not always heard what he wanted to hear along the way, but clear communication has doubtlessly contributed to his recovery.
Emily Largent is a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania and professor of medical ethics at the Perelman School of Medicine. Elliott Largent is a quantitative specialist in Philadelphia.
Five oncologists who sued Thomas Jefferson University for allegedly trying to monopolize cancer care in Northeast Philadelphia failed to convince a federal judge that they have a reasonable probability of winning those antitrust claims.
Thats a key reason why U.S. District Court Judge Kai N. Scott denied a bid by the Alliance Cancer Specialists oncologists to temporarily block Jefferson from excluding them from treating patients with cancer and blood disorders at Jeffersons Frankford, Torresdale, and Bucks County Hospitals, according to her 27-page opinion published late Monday afternoon.
The judge called the physicians antitrust claims lifeless and said she was not convinced that the doctors would suffer irreparable harm if she allowed Jefferson to proceed with its plan to use only its employed Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center oncologists to treat cancer patients at those three hospitals. Jeffersons action took effect this past Saturday, Sept. 16.
The five doctors are based in Bensalem, but have served Northeast Philadelphia, particularly neighborhoods around Torresdale Hospital, for decades. One of the oncologists, Allen Terzian, was chief of oncology at Torresdale when Jefferson acquired it and the other two hospitals in 2016, according to court filings.
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Jefferson is allowing the doctor to see patients at the hospital as internists, but not as oncologists.
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The action disputed by the Alliance Cancer Specialists oncologists marks Jeffersons latest effort to shape cancer care at Torresdale, which opened in 1977 and has 253 licensed beds.
In February 2021, Jefferson announced the opening of a 14,000-square-foot Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center satellite clinic at Torresdale. It includes an infusion suite for chemotherapy. Earlier, Jefferson had evicted Alliance from a building where it had an infusion center, according to court filings.
That helped extend the reach of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center which competes with regional market leader Penn Medicines Abramson Cancer Center, as well as Temple Healths Fox Chase Cancer Center and the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper farther from its Center City base.
While Judge Scott ruled against the oncologists, based on legal standards for issuing a temporary restraining order, she said some factors weighed in their favor.
She said that losing oncology privileges at the Jefferson hospitals would be more damaging to the Alliance Cancer Specialists doctors than had she granted their request to block Jefferson from using exclusively Sidney Cancer Center doctors.
Patients are also put into a tough spot, she noted. They are faced with the choice of remaining with their Alliance doctor and going to a more distant hospital or being treated by a different oncologist if they at Torresdale, the judge said.
Finally, she found that the public interest is better served by keeping ACS in business and allowing their physicians to continue to serve the community that they have been serving for decades.
Ashley Poole, faculty advisor for the Philadelphia chapter of Sisters in Medicine at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, presenting at the group's launch on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. Read more
When Kayla Davenport, a third-year medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), tells people that she grew up in the foster care system, theyre often surprised.
Theyre very shocked because of how successful I am. I dont really consider myself that [yet]. But I feel like Im very driven and motivated to get to the top however I need to, the Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine Class of 2025 chair said.
Davenport realized she wanted to become a doctor when she was in high school, after doing volunteer work with patients near her North Jersey home. But she was short on guidance; she didnt have any doctors in her family, and didnt have mentors to show her how to make it through the highly competitive field.
Her adoptive father took charge, making sure that she felt supported. He would do the research for me, find the resources and send them to me, which got me here today, she said. I just started to realize how lucky I was not everyone has that, and I dont think itd be fair for people that have these aspirations to be held back because they have limited [support].
Now, she wants to be that same resource for other Black women who want to work in medicine. Davenport is one of the founding members of Sisters in Medicine at PCOM, a group meant to support the next generation of Black women in medical and graduate school. The group officially launched earlier this month, modeling itself after other Sisters in Medicine chapters based at PCOMs two campuses in Georgia.
A sense of community has been monumental to my ability to progress to where I am. Ashley Poole
Being a minority sometimes can present many challenges navigating through the curriculum and different career milestones, said Ashley Poole, an assistant professor in clinical psychology at PCOM, and a faculty adviser to the Philadelphia Sisters in Medicine chapter. Her goal is to have 50 women participate in the group over its first year.
The hope is that Sisters in Medicine will create a network and an opportunity to connect [with] other women that may have similar experiences [and] to work collaboratively to uplift and support each other, she said.
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Poole graduated from PCOM in 2020, but had attended an HBCU before she arrived on campus. She wasnt sure what her experience would be like at a predominantly white institution, and made the effort to connect with Black mentors and student groups. Luckily, she found the right supports that helped her succeed, and now she wants to make sure that others like her have the same guidance.
Community is so important. I have served on committees where weve looked at [students] that have not been so successful. The common thing that Ive seen is individuals that try to do it alone, she said. A sense of community has been monumental to my ability to progress to where I am.
It would be easy for Black women in medicine to feel lonely. They make up fewer than 3% of all physicians in the United States today, according to census data. Its part of the reason why the theme for Sisters in Medicines meetings and discussions this year will be mental health.
When it comes to mental health, you tend to see Black women in that demographic of individuals experiencing a lot of challenges and often not seeking that help, Poole said. Health care is a field where providers tend to experience high burnout.
I really enjoy being able to see other people that look like me, said Amber Davis, a second-year medical student at PCOM who is excited to get closer with other Black women on campus and learn from more experienced mentors as she pursues a career in pediatrics. Sisters in Medicine is giving me that opportunity to lean on [them] and be able to know that I have the support to continue my journey.
Davis is looking forward to connecting with local community members, too. Sisters in Medicine plans to share its mental health resources and practices with Black communities outside of PCOM.
I want the community to know that there are Black doctors that are here to advocate for them, she said. Its really important for us to be able to go out there and break the stigmas about mental health in the Black community and be able to get out resources for people who dont know what they dont know.
The United Auto Workers union is stepping up pressure on Detroits Big Three by threatening to expand its strike unless it sees major progress in contract negotiations by Friday.
In a video statement late Monday, UAW President Shawn Fain said workers at more factories will join those who are now in the fifth day of a strike at three plants.
Were not going to keep waiting around forever while they drag this out ... and were not messing around, Fain said in announcing the noon Eastern time Friday deadline for escalating the strike unless there is serious progress in the talks. The union plans to disclose the locations of new strikes during an online presentation to members that morning.
Ford, General Motors and Stellantis said they want to settle the strike, and they held back from directly criticizing the escalation threat.
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Mark Stewart, the North American chief operating officer of Stellantis, the successor to Fiat Chrysler, said the company is still looking for common ground with the UAW.
I hope that were able to do that by Friday, Stewart said on CNBC.
GM said in a statement, Were continuing to bargain in good faith with the union to reach an agreement as quickly as possible for the benefit of our team members, customers, suppliers and communities across the U.S.
A Ford spokeswoman said Tuesday that negotiations were continuing, but provided no additional details.
Late Tuesday, Canadian union Unifor said it reached a tentative agreement with Ford to avert a midnight strike by 5,600 workers at several plants in Canada. The union did not immediately disclose terms of the deal, which it said was endorsed unanimously by its bargaining committee.
Unifor opened negotiations with the Detroit Three on Aug. 10 before narrowing discussions to Ford as the target company on Aug. 29. The union will seek to use the Ford deal as a pattern for thousands of GM and Stellantis workers in Canada.
In Washington, the Biden administration reversed a plan to send acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior adviser Gene Sperling to Detroit this week to meet with both sides, according to a White House official. Last week, President Joe Biden publicly backed the UAW and said the officials could play a positive role.
The White House now believes that since negotiations are taking place, it is most productive for Sperling and Su to continue their discussions from Washington and allow talks to move forward, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private plans.
Fain had discounted the need for help from Washington, saying This battle is not about the president, and some Democrats opposed the White House involvement.
I do not believe that the president himself should intervene as he did in the railroad strike in these talks. He should not be at that table, said Rep. Debbie Dingell, whose congressional district includes part of southeast Michigan.
So far the strike is limited to about 13,000 workers at a Ford assembly plant in Wayne, Michigan, a GM factory in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio.
However, layoffs are starting to occur at other locations as the strike crimps the industrys supply chain.
In Toledo, 12 different shops that supply the Jeep plant where UAW is striking have laid off more than 1,600 workers, according to Bruce Baumhower, president of the union local in northeast Ohio. More than half will get state unemployment benefits, while workers at two companies located inside the Jeep plant have been approved for payments from the union strike fund, but they cant picket because theyre not on strike, he said.
GM warned Monday that the strike in Wentzville, near St. Louis, could force the company to idle an assembly plant in Kansas City early this week. On Tuesday, the company said that it expected to keep production going in Kansas City for at least one more day.
The automakers normally provide supplemental or partial pay to workers who are idled because of supply chain problems, but Ford and GM have said they will not do that this time because the shutdowns are caused by a strike. The union argues that layoffs are a choice by management, but the unions ability to challenge the change in policy is unclear.
United States Steel Corp. said it was temporarily idling one of its blast furnaces in Granite City, Illinois, an indication that the company expects the strike to reduce demand for steel. There are about 1,450 workers at the site most of them represented by the United Steelworkers, but the company said many workers wont be affected by the furnace shutdown.
The areas congresswoman, Democrat Nikki Budzinski, said U.S. Steel was using the strike as an excuse to idle the furnace. Their effort to blame this announcement on the United Auto Workers strike is a shameful attempt to pit working people against one another, she said.
A parts supplier, CIE Newcor, told Michigan officials that it expects a one-month closure of four plants in the state to start Oct. 2 and idle nearly 300 workers.
Jose Munoz, president and chief operating officer of South Korean car maker Hyundai Motor Corp., told reporters Tuesday in Atlanta that auto-parts makers would be disrupted by a long strike. Those problems could hurt production at nonunion automakers, not just the Big Three, he said.
The way the supply chain works today, everything is interconnected, Munoz said. It is very difficult to have one supplier that is working only with one (auto manufacturer). So in a way or another, we will see disruptions in the supply chain which may impact companies over time.
The UAW is seeking wage increases of more than 30% over four years and other sweeteners. The union says workers deserve a bigger share of record profits that the companies posted as prices rose sharply on strong consumer demand and a limited supply of vehicles because of chip shortages and other issues.
The companies say they cant afford to meet the UAWs demands because they must invest those profits to help them make the transition to electric vehicles.
Press Release
September 19, 2023 Bong Go lauds groundbreaking of Super Health Center in Malay, Aklan, as he emphasizes on need to improve healthcare accessibility in the grassroots Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, conveyed his heartfelt gratitude to the local government of Malay, Aklan, as well as the Department of Health, for the successful groundbreaking ceremony of the town's Super Health Center on Friday, September 15. In a video message, Go articulated his optimism that the newly-established health facility will provide efficient and accessible healthcare services to the residents of Malay. "Patuloy po akong tutulong sa pagpaparami ng Super Health Centers sa bansa sa abot po ng aking makakaya. Sa mga itinayo ng Super Health Centers, nakita namin kung gaano kalaki ang naitutulong nito sa komunidad lalo na sa rural areas," said Go. "It is a significant step towards enhanced healthcare services. Yun po ang layunin ng mga Super Health Centers, ang ilapit sa mamamayan ang serbisyong medikal ng gobyerno," he added. Through the collective efforts of fellow lawmakers, sufficient funds have been allocated for 307 Super Health Centers in 2022 and 322 in 2023. The Department of Health (DOH), the lead implementing agency, identifies the strategic areas where they will be constructed. The Super Health Center is an enhanced version of a rural health unit, offering basic health services such as database management, outpatient care, birthing facilities, isolation areas, diagnostic services (including laboratory tests, X-rays, and ultrasounds), pharmacy services, and ambulatory surgical units. Additionally, these centers provide services such as eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) care, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation centers, and telemedicine, which enables remote diagnosis and treatment of patients. On the same day as the groundbreaking ceremony in Malay, a similar groundbreaking event was also scheduled for the Super Health Center in New Washington, Aklan. Additional Super Health Centers are planned for Tangalan, Kalibo, Ibajay, Balete, Batan, and Numancia. Malay Councilor Nat Paredes expressed her gratitude to Go during the event, saying, "Maraming salamat po sa inyong ibinigay na proyekto sa Malay. Mas marami pa po kayong matutulungan dahil sa proyektong ito." Similarly, Dr. Athena Magdamit from the Municipal Health Office remarked, "Thank you so much po, napakalaking tulong na ibinigay mo sa bayan ng Malay. Kami pong lahat ay nagpapasalamat sa malaking tulong para sa ating mga kababayan sa mga serbisyong medikal dito sa bayan ng Malay." Aklan 2nd District Representative Teodorico Haresco Jr. was also present during the event. Meanwhile, Go encouraged impoverished Filipinos to visit any of the 159 Malasakit Centers across the country to avail themselves of the government's medical assistance programs. Specifically, residents can go to the Malasakit Center situated at Dr. Rafael S. Tumbokon Memorial Hospital in Kalibo. The Malasakit Center serves as a one-stop hub aimed at aiding indigent patients by consolidating all relevant agencies under one roof. These include the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), DOH, Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. "Ano ang qualification sa Malasakit Center? Basta Pilipino ka, poor and indigent patient, ka qualified ka sa Malasakit. Meron na po tayong 158 Malasakit Centers sa buong bansa. Lapitan niyo ang Malasakit Center para 'yan sa mga Pilipino," assured Go, who is the principal author and sponsor of RA 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. "Pera po yan ng taumbayan, ibinabalik lang po namin ang serbisyong nararapat po para sa Pilipino. Hindi niyo na po kailangan lumayo dahil andiyan na po ang apat na ahensya na tutulong po sa inyo," he added. To date, the centers have helped more than seven million Filipinos nationwide, according to DOH. Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, has backed several projects aimed at enhancing public service delivery in the province. Among these projects are the construction of local roads in Makato, installation of streetlights in Tangalan, construction of an evacuation center in Numancia, a two-story building for the Ibajay District Hospital, and the renovation of the Ibajay Municipal Park. He also supported the building of roads in Balete and Makato, riverbank protection structures along the Tigayon-Kalibo and Minalezo sections of the Kalibo River, and a multi-purpose building for monitoring emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and another multi-purpose building in Balete. He further backed the refurbishment of the Altavas and Libacao public parks. Previously, Go had been a strong advocate for the rehabilitation of Boracay Island, which is part of the municipality of Malay in Aklan, during his tenure as Special Assistant to the President. He emphasized the long-lasting benefits of the rehabilitation efforts for the local community and the country as a whole. "The shoreline is now remarkably cleaner, and the narrow roads have been widened. The local community actively participated in the clean-up drive," Go noted.
WASHINGTON Americans detained for years in Iran arrived home Tuesday, tearfully hugged their loved ones and declared Freedom! after being let go as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The prisoners landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with clapping and cheers heard in the predawn hours. Siamak Namazi, the first off the jet, paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane. Loved ones, some holding small American flags, enveloped them in hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, the main language of Iran.
The nightmare is finally over, Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
We havent had this moment in over eight years, he added, his arm around his brother and his formerly detained father, Baquer, who had been earlier released by Iran. Its unbelievable.
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READ MORE: Five Americans detained in Iran walk free, released in deal for frozen Iranian assets
One of the other freed Americans, Emad Sharghi, received from his sister, Neda, a U.S. flag and a stuffed animal that she had given to their father 30 years ago when he had bypass surgery, a family representative said.
The former prisoners, who flew on the Gulfstream 5 that brought WNBA star Brittney Griner home after her detention in Russia, later posed for a group photograph with their families, calling out: Freedom!
The successful negotiations for the Americans freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of Americas top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, the Democratic president said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran initially landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
Iran aired footage of the two prisoners who returned to the Islamic Republic as part of the swap, while two will remain in the U.S. and a fifth will go to a third country. The two who returned hugged their families and criticized the U.S. for their sentences.
The U.S government accused me of having the will to jeopardize U.S interests through disregarding the sanctions. I wonder how the U.S government can accuse someone of a crime by reading his mind? Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani told Iranian state television.
Kafrani was indicted in 2021. charged with unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran and money laundering, though his case had not yet moved to trial.
Also released, according to Nour News, was Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear.
Tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
When the Americans initially stopped in Doha after their release from Iran, three of them Namazi, Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz emerged. They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others. The three then threw their arms over one anothers shoulders and walked off toward the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans. All were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of rewarding and incentivizing Tehrans bad behavior.
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
Brooke Hughes, a Wilmington, Delaware first-grade teacher, went viral on TikTok for bringing foster puppies to her classroom. Read more
A Delaware first-grade teacher went viral over the summer for bringing puppies to class and incorporating them into her lesson plans. Following the programs success, the puppies are back this year.
When schools pivoted to remote learning in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, longtime elementary teacher Brooke Hughes did the same as many: she started fostering puppies. Sparked by lockdowns and a sudden surge in free time spent, animal rescue organizations nationwide reported surges in pet fostering and adoption interest.
Quickly, screentime with Hughes adorable foster puppies became an incentive for her first-grade students to pay attention. But once they returned to the traditional classroom setting, her puppy fever continued.
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READ MORE: How to adopt a cat or dog in Philadelphia: fees, shelters, and fostering
I could not stop thinking about the social, emotional, and academic benefits puppies could bring to our school, she told The Inquirer.
Hughes launched the Foster Tales Puppy Therapy program at Hanby Elementary
Last school year, in tandem with Rags 2 Riches Animal Rescue, she launched Foster Tales Puppy Therapy. As part of the pilot program, Hughes brought the foster puppies to Hanby Elementary School in Wilmington, Del., and let her students care for, read to, and snuggle with them.
Theyre perfect reading buddies. Every student in my class increased their reading fluency and their confidence soared once they started reading to the puppies. Even the most hesitant readers could not wait to pick up a book and read to a curled-up puppy, Hughes said.
Hughes said the puppies made students want to attend class more, taught them to be gentle, and served as non-judgmental reading partners. The pups were also used by the schools counselor for small social groups and individual sessions with students. And the puppies gained a loving environment and socialization while awaiting adoption.
By the end of the school year, Hughes said the program helped adopt out 18 puppies, two of which went to students families. Seven staff members became fosters or adopted from Rags 2 Riches, which is based out of Garnet Valley.
Puppies are back for the 2023-24 school year
This school year, the puppy program has returned and Hughes has hopes it will expand.
She said several parents requested that their first graders be enrolled in her class because of the opportunities to learn responsibility and cope with anxieties.
The goal is to expand the program to additional grade levels, classrooms, and school-wide events. Eventually, Hughes would like to see the program across Brandywine Schools.
How does bringing foster puppies to class work?
Each day, Hughes brings up to three puppies from Rags 2 Riches to class.
They stay in a large playpen area housed inside her classroom. The playpen, potty pads, toys, and portable crates, are funded through a crowdfunding campaign that brought in $1,700 last year, Hughes said.
Students can read or hang out with a puppy in the playpen area. Students must have a signed permission slip to class to participate.
At the end of the day, the puppies go home with Hughes or other school employees.
A viral success on TikTok and the goal of expansion
Its not just students, teachers, and parents who looked forward to the puppies return. On TikTok, Hughes has cultivated a group of more than 16,000 followers who look forward to her regular pupdates.
On the video-sharing platform, Hughes has documented the process of launching her puppy therapy program.
The comments are a mix of educators wanting to replicate the program and others gushing over the general cuteness. It doesnt hurt that the puppies often don Phillies and Eagles gear.
The puppies get wonderfully socialized and the kids learn how to act around dogs! Lovely all around! one comment said. Every school should have this, said another.
Hughes shares videos of her young students reading to and caring for the puppies.
I knew the puppy therapy concept was creative and beneficial but I had no idea the TikTok would take off and reach almost 3 million views, she said. But also, who doesnt love sweet 6-year-olds reading to sleeping puppies?
Hughes said she was overwhelmed by the positive feedback.
It made me realize just how many schools and teachers saw the benefit this could bring to their schools and classrooms, she said.
This year, she plans to help other educators launch their own versions of the puppy program, selling a guide that breaks down the behind-the-scenes logistics, like program proposal language, permission slips, lesson plans, and more.
Some people may think the puppies would be an added layer of chaos, however, the puppies brought a sense of calm to our classroom, she said. Also, they thankfully sleep a lot. The students were taught to never wake a sleeping puppy, so the classroom was often quiet and peaceful.
Tionna Collins, at her home Sept. 18, 2023, was placed on the child abuse registry after using corporal punishment to discipline her child in 2014, and has not been able to work in the home health field since. Read more
Tionna Collins stepped out of her new Southwest Philly home to make a call on a neighbors phone. When she returned, she found her house filled with smoke and her 7-year-old son playing with matches.
Collins, who had two younger children in the home, including a newborn, handled it the way her mother had when Collins was growing up, through corporal punishment.
Shortly after, the police arrived at her home, responding to a neighbors call.
They said I was trynna hurt my son, she said. I wasnt. My reaction was to discipline him, not harm him.
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The episode landed her in jail for five days and separated from her children for a month. She was ordered to take parenting and anger management classes. She no longer disciplines her children with corporal punishment.
But 10 years later, Collins, now 36, is still facing the consequences of that day. A former home health aide, she cant get clients because she was placed on Pennsylvanias ChildLine and Abuse Registry, which a growing number of employers use to run background checks.
Collins isnt alone. Black Pennsylvanians are not only more likely to be listed on the registry but are also more likely to work a job that requires a child-abuse clearance, according to a recent report by the Penn and Temple Law schools that calls for the abolition of the registry.
The report argues that theres little evidence to prove that these types of registries keep children safe. Georgia abolished its own in 2020 and that did not result in a rise in child abuse cases. Other state requirements for criminal background checks serve as a child-abuse clearance, the report pointed out.
And more employers are opting to use the registry as a clearance even if workers wouldnt have any contact with children home health aides who work with the elderly, warehouse workers, remote hospital workers.
The result, researchers say, is that Black parents are locked out of jobs that they need to care for their children.
I hate to say the word abolition because I think it freaks people out, but thats where were arriving Why do we even need it in the first place? said Jennifer J. Lee, a Temple Law professor who supervised the report.
Pennsylvanias Department of Human Services (DHS) said that although it would work to address any bias in the system, it did not have the power to abolish the registry. Any changes to the Child Protective Services Law itself would require changes in statute by the Pennsylvania General Assembly, said spokesperson Brandon Cwalina. DHS is statutorily required to make electronic reporting like the registry available for allegations of child abuse.
READ MORE: Pa.s ChildLine abuse registry violates the state constitution, a new lawsuit alleges
People get lost in the process
While Black Pennsylvanians make up 12% of the population, they make up nearly 23% of the people placed on the registry, researchers found. Black women represent the overwhelming majority of people who come to Community Legal Services, a legal aid organization in Philadelphia, to get off the registry 78% of those clients are Black and 73% are women.
Parents are placed on the list when a county DHS opens an investigation of child abuse. If that DHS finds the claim to be founded, parents stay on the list for life, unless they are able to successfully navigate the appeals process.
People get lost in the process, said Jamie Gullen, a lawyer with Community Legal Services, who represents parents trying to get off the list.
They might have missed the notice saying they were placed on the list and needed to appeal in 90 days, or they didnt understand how it can affect their jobs, or they got stuck in what Gullen called a very confusing appeal process. And even when they do appeal, it can take more than a year, during which parents remain on the list and could be fired or miss out on prospective jobs.
In the last three years, more than 90% of appeals were successful, according to the report.
Community Legal Services, along with Philadelphia law firm LeVan Stapleton Segal Cochran LLC and University of Pennsylvania law professor Seth Kreimer, is currently suing Pennsylvania DHS over the registry, alleging that it is unconstitutional because people do not get a formal hearing before they are placed on it.
READ MORE: Thousands in Pa. are put on a child-abuse registry with no hearing. They say its ruining their lives.
A similar lawsuit was filed of behalf of Pennsylvania teachers, and a Commonwealth Court judge ruled in favor of the teachers in July, saying they should get a hearing before being placed on the registry. The Community Legal Services suit would apply to all workers, not just teachers.
Collins didnt know she was put on the list until she began working as a home health aide in 2021 and her agency told her, months later, that she didnt pass her background check. She had already been caring for a client and had to explain the situation and ask the client whether she could still work with her. The client said yes, but Collins stopped working there later for unrelated reasons. Since then, she hasnt been able to get any new ones a major blow to her income.
Collins has been working with legal aid to get her name removed from the registry.
Its important for me to further my career financially because in this economy, today, its so hard with one income, she said.
Now, she works as a security guard, but in the next few years, shed like to study to become a nurse or a nursing assistant jobs that would require a child-abuse clearance.
I just wanna go back to helping people, she said.
Philadelphia police officers take the oath of office in January 2023 during a graduation ceremony. A new class of cadets enrolled this week and marks the largest class since March 2018, the department said. Read more
The Philadelphia Police Department on Monday enrolled its largest class of new officers in more than five years, a notable development for a force that has been operating with a severe officer shortage.
The group of 93 new enrollees in the Police Academy consists of both recruits and officers who transferred to the department from elsewhere. Its the largest group of cadets since March 2018, and it dwarfs past recruiting classes, like the June 2022 group of 38 recruits, or the class of just 21 in January 2020.
In a statement, the department cast the recruiting class as a positive turning point.
This is a significant moment for our department, and we are hopeful that this class will pave the way for a brighter future, said John M. Stanford, the departments first deputy commissioner. He will take over as head of the department later this week when Commissioner Danielle Outlaw departs for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
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The Philadelphia Police Department has since 2020 been operating with a significant shortage of officers. Recruiting classes, of which there are typically four or five a year, declined in size through 2019. Then in 2020, pandemic-related restrictions on gathering, coupled with the racial justice movement that challenged law enforcements role in society, led to a nationwide shortage of officers.
READ MORE: Danielle Outlaw chose a new job farther from the spotlight after endless challenges as Phillys police commissioner
The police department didnt enroll any new recruiting classes between early 2020 and mid-2021. At the same time, the force like many other industries and city agencies saw an unprecedented wave of retirements and resignations. Outlaw said staffing was at critical levels in 2021 and 2022 as the city was facing the worst gun violence crisis in generations.
The city has tried to stem the problem. The administration last year lifted a rule for police recruits that requires most municipal workers to live in the city for a year before applying for a job. City Council this year agreed to allocate $3 million in new funding for recruiting campaigns, and the department has implemented new digital marketing strategies.
Still, even a years worth of strong recruiting let alone one class is not likely to make up for the police shortage any time soon. The recruits who enrolled this week wont hit the streets until next year because the academy takes about nine months to complete.
And the department shortage is large. It has roughly 6,500 employees despite budgeting for 7,400, and more than 800 police officers are enrolled in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP), meaning they intend to retire within the next four years.
Speaker of the House Joanna E. McClinton hugs Ardella's House founder Tonie Willis (left) after announcing the reentry center had been awarded a $150,000 grant from Google. Read more
Maria Baez was the last speaker at a reception Monday afternoon announcing a $150,000 grant from Google for Ardellas House, a womens reentry program.
Baez, who had been supported by Ardellas House when she left prison more than two years ago, has just enrolled at Community College of Philadelphia. It makes me hope, she said. Our past dont dictate what we are going to be. Now I want a second chance to do the things I didnt used to value. A second chance at school. I dont want to be judged by my felonies.
That, according to Winton Steward, head of Public Policy and External Affairs for Google, is the reason the company donated the unrestricted funds for the work of Ardellas House to continue. It is the reentry programs largest grant to date, and it is part of the $48 million Google has donated to criminal justice reform since 2015.
[In Pennsylvania,] over 64% of formerly incarcerated people return to prison within three years of release. We want to help more formerly incarcerated women reach their goal, Steward said.
Some women need a second, third, fourth, fifth chance, said Tonie Willis, founder of Ardellas House, which includes a residential facility in North Philadelphia that opened last October. We dont believe in throwing away people.
Willis originally started Ardellas House in 2010 as a program to help women leaving prison reintegrate into society, but she wanted to add a residential component and designed Ardellas House to look like a home and not an institutional facility. You cant accomplish anything if you dont have a clean place to live, Willis said.
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Willis spent more than a decade trying to turn her vision for a beautiful halfway house into a reality, talking to anyone who would listen. Sometimes I would feel so depressed I would cry, she told The Inquirer in July. Acknowledging all of Willis supporters who crammed into Ardellas House at Mondays announcement, Steward said, Google is here for Tonie, too.
In addition to the Google announcement, City Councilman Curtis Jones said the city would be giving Ardellas House $50,000 to support its efforts.
A sense of peace
Each day, about 200 women are released from prison across the country and often arrive back to their home communities with little more than the clothes on their backs. Hundreds of women are being released and they have no place to go. Either they cant go back or they dont want to go back, Baez said.
Naja Fleming, Ardellas Houses first resident, told the crowd that traditional halfway houses feel like another part of the [prison] system.
Fleming spent five years at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy. When she was released, her intended living facility did not have gas or hot water. She was told she had to find another place to live, which made her depressed and anxious. Living at Ardellas House changed that. My overall mental health, Im not stressed with my living conditions. I have a sense of peace that goes above and beyond, Fleming said.
Women are the fastest growing incarcerated population, and from 2009 to 2016 their recidivism rate increased more than 13%, which is often related to a lack of services and support systems after they leave prison. Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, a former public defender, said that the criminal justice system doesnt make the path forward easy for women. Women are in need of support and flexibility.
Willis said her next goal is to provide resources to keep women from going to prison for nonviolent offenses and workforce development programming. Women are making $9 per hour. You cant take care of yourself on that.
A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday revoked bail for Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial, who is accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry, sending him to jail until his next hearing.
Prosecutors argued last week that a bail magistrates decision to grant Dial bail when he was charged with first-degree murder was inconsistent with the Pennsylvania Constitution. That point held as the basis of their argument before Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom on Tuesday afternoon.
This is a narrow and strictly legal issue, said Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco. Were looking for consistency.
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Typically, defendants charged with first-degree murder are held in jail without bail something that prosecutors and legal experts say has been in line with a traditional reading of the Pennsylvania Constitution for years.
But in an unusual move, when Dial was charged on Sept. 8, Municipal Court Judge Christian DiCicco set Dials bail at $500,000. Almost immediately, the police union posted the necessary $50,000 10% of the total bail and Dial was released.
Dials lawyers argued Tuesday as they did at his initial bail hearing that Dial was being overcharged. Lawyer Brian McMonagle pointed to the fact that when police submitted an initial affidavit of probable cause for Dials arrest, they recommended that he face a lead offense of voluntary manslaughter not first-degree murder.
This has never been a case of first-degree murder, McMonagle said.
He emphasized a state Supreme Court case from 2021 that established limited circumstances under which murder defendants could argue for bail, and said that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof required to support the charges and justify denial of bail.
Retacco, chief of the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorneys Office, said that should be reserved for the preliminary hearing, where a judge will decide whether theres enough evidence to proceed with the case and current charges. She asked for even-handed justice, and said Dial should be treated until then the same as any defendant charged with murder.
Ransom ultimately agreed with prosecutors and ordered bail to be revoked. She did not explain her decision, saying only that she appreciated both lawyers arguments and that the issue can be revisited at Dials preliminary hearing next Tuesday.
Dial, 27, was charged earlier this month with first-degree murder, aggravated assault, and related crimes after he shot Irizarry at near point-blank range on Aug. 14. Irizarry had been seated in his car in Kensington when officers approached and saw he was holding a knife. Within seconds, Dial fired.
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said last month that Dial would be fired following a 30-day suspension.
Irizarrys family pushed for Dial to face charges for weeks, and was upset that he had been released on bail.
What makes him exempt to follow the rules and laws like everyone else? His badge? Irizarrys aunt, Ana Cintron, said outside the courthouse Tuesday. Today, justice was made for now and he is behind bars, and we are thankful and happy that people actually listened to us.
The gallery of the courtroom was filled with Irizarrys family, seated alongside Dials loved ones and supporters from the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 5.
READ MORE: Eddie Irizarrys family say they knew from the start that police lied. Now, they want accountability.
The crowd was mostly quiet, save for a few whispered comments, such as when McMonagle told the judge that Dial was not a danger to society.
And neither was my nephew, Zoraida Garcia said under her breath.
After Ransom announced her decision, Irizarrys family breathed a sigh of relief. Garcia closed her eyes and leaned back, her cheeks wet with tears.
Dial said nothing throughout the hearing. After Ransom instructed him to give his lawyers any personal items, he calmly stood up. He turned around, pursed his lips, and waved to his family. Then he followed the sheriffs deputies through the side doors of the courtroom, where he would be taken through the bowels of the courthouse and transported to jail.
Donna Kuzowsky holds up a notice that was taped on her door last year in Mayfair. Philadelphia may lead the way with its Eviction Diversion Program, but tenants who are evicted illegally typically deal with landlord-tenant issues in the shadows. Read more
After Charles Cook fell on hard times and lost his New Jersey home last year, a modest room in a North Philadelphia rowhouse was supposed to be a fresh start.
But the 71-year-old noticed some electric sockets werent working after moving in. Others appeared outdated, like they could shock him.
After months of back-and-forth with his landlord, the dispute reached a breaking point in July, when Cooks landlord illegally locked him out of the property.
Cook wandered the streets and slept on a park bench.
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City code requires landlords seeking to evict a tenant to file a complaint in municipal court, though the process doesnt happen on demand. A hearing, and ultimately a judges ruling, are required before an eviction. But Cooks lawyers say his landlord never filed a complaint to begin with.
Cook was the victim of one of an estimated 20,000 illegal evictions that occur in Philadelphia each year, his lawyers say.
The city has a program to avoid such evictions, the Eviction Diversion Program.
Housing experts call Philadelphias Eviction Diversion Program one of the best-designed in the country, crediting the program for keeping evictions below pre-pandemic yearly averages since it launched in 2020. So far, the program has diverted around 3,000 lockouts, and last year, City Council voted to extend it though the beginning of 2024.
But not all tenants, like Cook, get the chance to participate.
Landlords must begin the program a 30-day period where tenants can negotiate their conflicts in the presence of a trained mediator, hopefully avoiding an eviction filing altogether, let alone a judgment.
Diversion is a voluntary program, and it cant take care of tenants whose landlords want them out instantly, said Francine Wilensky, an attorney with the SeniorLAW Center, which offers legal resources to vulnerable renters in disputes with their landlord. It has to involve two people who are working together.
Wilensky said its common for landlords to bypass the diversion process because they have not maintained their certificate of rental suitability, which signals to the citys L&I department that the property is free of violations and is safe and habitable. Others fail to possess a license at all.
Though some landlords are unaware that the city requires them to offer diversion, she said, most know their practices are unlawful.
I find it hard to believe that a landlord who is illegally locking out a tenant is doing so because they dont know how to navigate the court process, said Rachel Garland, an attorney with Community Legal Services housing unit, which also offers legal help to at-risk renters and those who otherwise couldnt afford counsel.
Sometimes, landlord-tenant cases do make it to diversion but not until disputes have spun out of control.
For Donna Kuzowsky, a 63-year-old Mayfair resident, an earlier opportunity for mediation could have saved her months of anguish.
It was a chilly January morning in 2022 when Kuzowsky opened the door of her rented rowhouse to find a notice from a property management company based in South Carolina that shed never heard of.
Kuzowsky had 10 days to pay over $3,000 in back rent, or face legal proceedings to remove her, the company wrote.
Without Kuzowskys knowledge, her old landlord had sold the rental shed lived in since 1999 to an ownership group six months earlier. She said she had continued to wire her rent money to her old landlord, who she claims never notified her of the sale.
Kuzowsky tried explaining her situation to the new owners property manager, Conrex Property Management. But the dispute only intensified, according to her lawyers.
A spokesperson for Conrex said that the company did nothing illegal, and had tried calling and mailing letters to Kuzowsky after the ownership change. She said she never received them.
Eleven months later, in November 2022, Conrex filed to evict Kuzowsky in municipal court, where she was offered the mediation period. But by then, Conrex had already attempted to evict Kuzowsky another way: filing a civil ejectment complaint, bringing her longstanding lease into question, and labeling Kuzowsky a squatter, her lawyers said.
Garland, with Community Legal Services, said the citys diversion program is a valuable resource for tenants but only if their landlords are prepared to negotiate in good faith. Even then, completing the mediation period doesnt guarantee that a landlord wont continue with the eviction filing anyway.
When mediation isnt offered at all, tenants like Cook seek help elsewhere.
The Philadelphia Police Department is another resource available to tenants. According to a department directive, officers must contact the landlord when a tenant reports an unlawful eviction.
During these calls, officers are supposed to ask landlords for proof of a judgment of possession from the court. But too often, Wilensky said, police fail to reach out, opting to only file a report.
If police made these calls more frequently, landlords behaving illegally would feel more pressure to follow the proper eviction protocol, Wilensky said.
When Cook was locked out of his apartment for days this summer, it wasnt until his lawyers contacted the Attorney Generals office, which in turn called Cooks landlord, that he was let back into his unit. The office regularly offers assistance to tenants facing illegal evictions, and can be an appealing alternative to the police for some wary renters, Wilensky said.
For Kuzowsky, facing eviction in Mayfair, the 30-day diversion period didnt lead to a resolution, and the new ownership group continued with the eviction process. With the help of her lawyers, however, Kuzowsky agreed to move to a nearby property in June.
She avoided an eviction judgment, but at a cost.
Kuzowskys granddaughter teared up as they packed. The house was full of two decades of memories, she said, especially of Kuzowskys late husband, Steven.
Asked whether she would have purchased the home herself, had she known it was on the market, she said: I would have done it in a heartbeat.
Update: Cherelle Parker and David Oh will debate on KYW Newsradio
Democratic nominee Cherelle Parker may be the overwhelming favorite to serve as Philadelphias next mayor, but even in a city where Republicans are outnumbered 7-1, its not a coronation. Parker, who would become the first Black woman to lead the city, still has an election to win. Until she does, she should treat the campaign seriously. That means debating David Oh, the Republican nominee.
Despite serving alongside Oh on City Council for the better part of a decade, Parker has yet to agree to debate her opponent. Thats disappointing. While a debate is unlikely to change the course of the election, it presents an opportunity for voters to understand and more fully evaluate the mayoral candidates and their policies.
After a primary which frequently saw eight or more contenders dividing two hours worth of speaking time, a debate with Oh would provide an extensive window into Parkers vision for leading the city. There is still much to be considered, including her plans for year-round schooling and bringing back what she calls constitutional stop-and-frisk.
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Since winning the May primary by a convincing margin, Parker has seldom been seen or heard. On primary night, she skipped her own victory party. Her inner circle told reporters conflicting stories about why. First, the culprit was dehydration. Then it was a dental emergency.
Earlier this month, there was another odd moment. The Parker teams email attempts to dodge reporters became news after they were mistakenly forwarded to a reporter from a digital outlet. The subject? How to delay requests for interviews.
Parkers team has cited the fact that the city can only have one mayor at a time as the reason for her lowered profile. It is certainly a choice in keeping with political etiquette not to step on Mayor Jim Kenneys toes (no matter how checked out the rest of the man may be). However, Parker should extend that same kind of respect to her Republican opponent.
After all, like Parker, Oh resigned his City Council position to run for mayor, sacrificing a significant amount of income and influence. After three consecutive cycles where the citys Republican Party failed to run a candidate with anything resembling a robust level of experience in city government, it is refreshing to see the GOP offer a nominee with more than 10 years of service in elected office, time in the District Attorneys Office, and who is a former Army officer (even if he was not a member of the Green Berets).
If agreeing to terms is too difficult a task for the two campaigns, let us help: The Editorial Board would be glad to host a debate between the two candidates, which would also inform our endorsement.
Both Parker and Oh could each choose a moderator of their choice from among our diverse team of columnists, editors, and editorial writers, with the board selecting a third moderator to lead the event.
We would be willing to partner with any of our journalistic colleagues in TV or radio to ensure maximum access, in addition to livestreaming the event on The Inquirers website.
As both candidates know from interviews with this board, our questions would be focused on the substantive issues that frustrate city residents most, such as gun violence, housing, the lack of economic opportunity, alleviating the drug epidemic, fixing our schools, and the struggles of SEPTA. Both candidates could speak at length in response to questions, ensuring that they are able to give substantive answers rather than sound bites.
Before casting their ballots in November, Philadelphians deserve to hear from the woman who will likely run City Hall for the next four years. To see her ideas challenged and tested, and to hear how she plans to move a deeply challenged city forward. Theres one sure way to ensure that happens.
Cherelle Parker should debate David Oh.
From left, Jyrus Lobeban, Tess McCahery, Benjamin ONeill, Jirah Lobeban, Battalion Chief Linda Long, Aron ONeill, Joyce Lobeban, and Bella ONeill, shown here at Linda Longs home with her family who gathered to celebrate her birthday, in Philadelphia, Saturday, May 6, 2023. Long is battling glioblastoma. Read more
Going into the last few months of Mayor Jim Kenneys tenure, I really hope he wont leave office without doing right by cancer-stricken firefighters.
The Pennsylvania Firefighter Cancer Presumption Act clearly states that after a firefighter is diagnosed with cancer, its presumed to have been caused by job-related exposure. (Provided that the firefighter has been working for at least four years, during which they have been exposed to a carcinogen.)
Beyond the chances of not making it out of a burning building alive, firefighters have a higher risk of developing certain cancers. Even the clothes on their back put them at risk: In July, The Inquirer published an in-depth piece on firefighters protective gear and how it might be harming them.
Kenney knows better than most just how hazardous being a first responder is in this city. His own late father was a Philadelphia firefighter for 22 years. During his 2016 swearing in, Kenney spoke movingly about the long hours his dad worked putting out fires. He worked for all of Philadelphias families, Kenney said.
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READ MORE: Philly finally did right by a dying fire chief. Its about time. | Jenice Armstrong
What I cant understand, then, is how Kenney can sit by and allow the city to turn down first responders who file for benefits following a diagnosis of cancer. Yes, Im aware that this routinely happens in jurisdictions around the country, but it shouldnt happen here, under his watch.
Ive written several times about Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief John Narkin, who is suffering from a rare, terminal cancer that he believes he contracted in the line of duty. Shortly after his diagnosis, he applied to have his illness categorized as job-related, but his request was denied in less than a week.
Ill never forget the absolute fury and disgust on Narkins face as he sat through a hearing in February 2022 organized by former Councilmember David Oh on his behalf. Luckily, in April, Narkin got word that his denial had been overturned and that his cancer would be recognized as job-related, which entitles his family to additional benefits.
Shortly after I last wrote about Narkin in April 2022, Philadelphia Fire Battalion Chief Linda Long reached out via social media to tell me about her own plight. Long, a 32-year veteran of the department, has been battling glioblastoma, an aggressive and deadly form of brain cancer that she believes was contracted on the job.
She wanted to talk but couldnt then, as her radiation and chemotherapy treatments made her too exhausted.
These days, the mother of two and grandmother of four wears a special cap on her head and carries around a large battery as doctors try a cutting-edge treatment that creates electric fields to slow down or stop her glioblastoma. She is still sunny and upbeat, not what I expected from a woman who, in 2019, had been told she had only six months to live. On Oct. 14, Long plans to participate in the Race for Hope Philadelphia 5K at the Navy Yard, walking on a team to raise money for cancer research.
READ MORE: What you need to know about firefighter deaths, cancer, and forever chemicals
Long, 58, retired this year, and was alerted the following month that her claim of having a job-related cancer had been denied, Brian P. Coughlin, a treasurer for Philadelphia Fire Fighters and Paramedics Union Local 22, told me recently.
Thats not right, and its denying her the extra compensation she deserves.
If they would have just covered her cancer claim and said, Hey, this was contracted on duty, shed still be on the payroll because it would be considered a work injury, Mike Bresnan, president of Local 22, told me. She would be off injured, covered under workers comp rules.
Long currently receives $6,209 a month before taxes through her pension. That would increase to $7,137 with no taxes withdrawn if the city recognizes her cancer as job-related. Also, if she ends up dying from it, her survivors would be entitled to a benefit of up to $15,000 for her funeral costs. She also would be promoted to deputy fire chief posthumously.
But because the city denied her claim, she is not getting the benefits she deserves.
Its unconscionable that this once faithful public servant should have to go through this. She should be enjoying the time she has left, not worrying about benefits and the plight of her fellow firefighters who are similarly afflicted. Coughlin estimates that roughly 18 other firefighters have been diagnosed with cancer presumed to be job-related.
She should be enjoying the time she has left, not worrying about benefits.
So I want to send a message to Mayor Kenney: You can fix this. You can do the right thing. Even if a firefighter with cancer cant prove they were exposed on the job, its safe to assume they were, given the nature of the job. Firefighters routinely put their health at risk, all in the name of saving others. The least Philadelphia can do is ensure they are taken care of.
Please, Mayor Kenney, do it before you leave office. Do it in memory of your late father. It would make him proud.
Republican David Oh, left, and Democrat Cherelle Parker, right, were City Council colleagues before becoming opponents in the general election for the mayor's race. Read more
Mayoral candidates Cherelle Parker and David Oh will debate each other next month on KYW Newsradio, the station announced Tuesday.
The debate, which will be at 8 a.m. on Oct. 26, is the first and so far only showdown that has been scheduled between the two candidates for mayor ahead of the Nov. 7 general election. KYW gets much of its listenership during rush hour.
READ MORE: Sign up for "The 100th Mayor," a weekly newsletter on Philly politics
After prevailing over a crowded field in the Democratic primary in May, Parker became the odds-on favorite to become the next mayor thanks to her partys more than 7-1 voter registration advantage in Philadelphia.
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Oh ran unopposed in the GOP primary. Both candidates are former City Council members.
Oh, needing an opportunity to break through in the race, has been pressing for a series of debates, while Parker had been noncommittal up to this point.
Parker stayed out of the spotlight for much of the summer and has only recently began to ramp up her public schedule for the fall campaign.
Parker spokesperson John Dolan indicated the KYW debate will not be the only time the candidates meet up.
Were in touch with other organizations, working out the scheduling and logistics for several public events thatll feature both Mr. Oh and Cherelle, Dolan said Tuesday.
The winner of the election will replace outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney in January.
HARRISBURG With about seven months left until Pennsylvania voters are scheduled to cast their votes in the presidential primary election, they still dont know when theyll be heading to the polls.
Legislative leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro say they support moving the presidential primary from its currently scheduled date of April 23, which falls during Passover. But theyve been unable to agree on a new date, leaving Pennsylvanias 67 counties in the dark as they begin preparations.
It really isnt an ideal situation for the voters of Pennsylvania to not have clear knowledge of when the presidential primary will be, said Philadelphia Commissioner Lisa Deeley, a Democrat.
As of Wednesday, lawmakers were tied between two dates: March 19 or April 2. A handful of other states are already scheduled to vote on each of those dates.
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State Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill), who sponsored the bill to move the primary and said hes been a part of negotiations, said theres an excellent chance that Pennsylvanias primary date will be March 19. But State Sen. Sharif Street (D., Philadelphia), who cosponsored the bill and chairs the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said voters should hold their powder.
The Democratic Party believes that April 2 is the best date, Street said.
A bill to change the election to March 19 passed the Senate on Wednesday by a 45-2 vote, and a spokesperson for the Democrat-controlled House said they will review the bill.
Some legislators have long been pushing for Pennsylvania to move its primary election earlier in the calendar year, so its voters could have more influence over each partys presidential nominee. Those efforts have strengthened in recent years, as Pennsylvania is looked upon as a critical swing state thats key to winning a presidential election. Those in favor of moving the date say its important to test primary candidates viability here.
The three other states with elections during Passover have already changed their election dates. Maryland moved its primary election to May 14, while Rhode Island and Delaware moved theirs to April 2. Traditional Jewish law prohibits many regular activities such as driving, working, and the use of electricity during the holiday, which is observed for eight days in the United States. The scheduling of the election during Passover made some Jewish leaders feel like an afterthought, they told The Inquirer earlier this year.
Concern over planning time for candidates and election officials
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt, a longtime Republican Philadelphia city commissioner, warned in a July letter to a top Republican senator that the Senate must take quick action to give counties the time they need to prepare, including time to ensure all of the states more than 9,000 polling locations can be reserved for the new date.
I am deeply concerned we will not give county election officials the time they need to adjust thousands of polling locations to accommodate a new, earlier primary date, he wrote.
Argall said theyve still got time to figure it out.
Were OK, Argall added. If we were having this discussion in January or February, I would be much more nervous.
However, anyone hoping to get onto the 2024 primary ballot will need to start circulating their nominating petitions in early January, according to a bill passed out of the Senate State Government committee on Monday. If the primary is held April 2, candidates would have the usual 13-week election cycle. If the election is March 19, it would only be an 11-week election cycle to gather petitions, resolve any ballot challenges in court, and for counties to prepare for the election.
Sen. Amanda Cappelletti (D., Montgomery) said during a committee meeting Monday that she opposed shortening the election cycle, because it could block candidates unable to gather the necessary signatures and withstand any challenges within the shortened timeframe.
If lawmakers fail to move the presidential primary, Jewish voters who observe Passover will still be able to vote by mail prior to the holiday.
In addition to ballot access concerns, Deeley said shes worried that shortening the election cycle will put unnecessary stress on election officials during an already stressful time and during a process thats faced heavy scrutiny in recent years.
The election workers have been put to the test every six months since 2020, Deeley added. Honestly it looks like theres no end in sight, despite all the protestations of how election workers are so respected.
The GOP-controlled Senate will need to reach an agreement with Democrats in the House. House lawmakers will return to Harrisburg next week for the first time since early July, following a special election in a left-leaning Pittsburgh district thats expected to restore Democrats numeric majority in the chamber.
Allan Domb, Jeff Brown, John Padova, and David Oh signs along Roosevelt Expressway in Northeast Philadelphia after Philadelphia's primary election in May. Read more
In this weeks newsletter, well be doing a little time travel.
First, were going back to the Democratic primary, which Cherelle Parker won in May. And then well fly forward to 2024 and see what the next mayor will be up to after he or she (she) takes office.
Well also explain a dynamic in Philadelphia politics that somehow feels to exist outside of time: the eternal debate over councilmanic prerogative.
Have a question for a mayoral candidate? Let us know, and you may see an answer in an upcoming newsletter. Email us here.
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Philly will be better off if everyone has the facts they need to make an informed decision about this election. If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.
Anna Orso and Sean Collins Walsh
About that ethics board lawsuit ...
Cast your mind back to early April. The mayors race appeared to be anyones game. The first TV debate among the top Democratic contenders was about to happen.
Then the Philadelphia Board of Ethics dropped a bomb.
The board filed a lawsuit accusing a super PAC backing candidate Jeff Brown of illegally coordinating with him because he had raised money for it shortly before launching his campaign.
Well, that case just ended, and its safe to assume Brown, who finished fifth in the primary, wished it wrapped up sooner. Common Pleas Court Judge Joshua Roberts last week dismissed the lawsuit, saying that while Brown did indeed raise money for the PAC, which is supposed to operate independently from his campaign, it was OK because the fundraising happened before he announced his candidacy.
Just goes to show you that although the race ended four months ago, some have been litigating it ever since. Dad jokes aside, where does that leave us?
Shane Creamer, the boards executive director, hasnt yet said whether it will appeal the ruling. And dont forget that Brown said during the campaign that he was considering legal action against the ethics board. Brown did not respond to request for comment Monday on whether he will sue.
Something tells us we havent heard the last of this controversy. But for now lets fast-forward to what happened in City Council last week and what it means for next year.
Spotlight on: The 76ers arena proposal
The first major test of a new administration usually comes in early March, when the rookie mayor unveils their first budget proposal in a high-profile address to City Council.
That first budget usually includes some of the mayors most ambitious policy goals, (Google Jim Kenney soda tax) and the fight to push it through Council can set the tone for an entire administration (Google Michael Nutter libraries).
But for Philadelphias next mayor, the first test is likely to come sooner thanks to the 76ers.
Last week, the team announced they are no longer sticking to their self-imposed deadline of winning Council approval by the end of 2023 for their plan to build a new arena in Center City.
The announcement came hours before lawmakers were set to gavel in for a lame-duck fall session in which the arena was going to lead the headlines. The shift to a winter legislative process, a term the 76ers appear to have coined, means the proposal will likely be one of the first major issues taken up by the next mayor after they take office in January.
As the Democratic nominee in deep-blue Philadelphia, Cherelle Parker is the odds-on favorite to beat Republican David Oh and succeed outgoing Mayor Jim Kenney.
Both Kenney and Parker appear to be in favor of the arena. Not coincidentally, both have benefited immensely from campaign cash from the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, a coalition of unions that will be getting a lot of work if the $1.55 billion arena gets built.
The key takeaway: Should Parker prevail over Oh, shell walk into office in the middle of a fight that involves some of the biggest political heavyweights in town (Comcast is not jazzed about the arena plan), has the potential to sour a whole neighborhood against (Chinatown also not fans), and will require delicate negotiations with Council (which will have a new president).
Makes you wonder why anyone even wants to be mayor.
Mayoral history moment: Political spying
Somehow, this year wasnt the first time that a Philadelphia mayoral candidate found himself at odds with a guy named Shane Creamer.
In 1971, the candidate was Frank L. Rizzo who had recently resigned as police commissioner to run for mayor and Creamer (the father of the current head of the ethics board that we talked about earlier) was the state attorney general. And they had their own mini-spying scandal. Woodergate, if you will? Heres what went down:
Rizzo, whose legacy is one of brutal and racist policing (we said it), was running in a crowded field of Democrats that included William J. Green III. (Green later became mayor in 1980.) Then-Gov. Milton Shapp endorsed Green shortly before the primary and accused Rizzo of police brutality. Creamer went further, saying an investigation showed Rizzo was guilty of beating a Black demonstrator in 1965. Rizzo called it a cheap shot intended for political purposes. Creamer directed the state crime commission to investigate the Philadelphia Police Department under Rizzo, and the two entities got into a lengthy feud. Rizzo ended up crushing Green in the primary and went on to win the mayors office. The investigation into the police department continued. The following year, a handful of troopers working for the state police commissioner set up an illegal wiretap in a King of Prussia motel room that was the headquarters for Creamers investigators. Shapp fired the commissioner, and Creamer resigned at his request.
It would be tempting to draw more parallels to the current drama involving a Creamer and a mayoral contender But we dont think Brown wants to be cast as Rizzo or Creamer in a story that would end with his resignation.
How it works: Councilmanic prerogative
Three big news stories came out of City Hall last week, and all of them had to do with a unique Philadelphia tradition called councilmanic prerogative. Before you close this email because your eyes glazed over, let us explain.
Basically the idea is that Council members who represent one of the citys 10 geographic districts have near-total control over land-use decisions in their districts because other members just defer to them. Some examples from just this past week:
Supervised injection sites are likely to be prohibited in 90% of the city. Thats because nine of the 10 district Council members opted into legislation banning them under the zoning code. One progressive Jamie Gauthier did not. Council advanced legislation that only applies to two districts one in Northeast Philly and one in Northwest Philly that says medical marijuana dispensaries cant start selling recreationally if that becomes legal under state law. Kenney vetoed the legislation, but Council overrode his veto. Activists who are against the 76ers proposed arena project in Center City zeroed in on Mark Squilla, who represents the district in Council and will be responsible for presenting any legislation needed to get the project off the ground.
Proponents of councilmanic prerogative say district Council members know their neighborhoods best and should have the most say in how they evolve. But critics say it creates a weird patchwork of inconsistent rules.
Whats this all mean for the mayors office? Parker is a former district Council member who used councilmanic prerogative to maintain tight control of development in her district. Critics said she was anti-growth, but Parker said she was just giving her constituents a voice.
Well see how accommodating she is to neighborhood interests once its her turn to govern the city as a whole.
Scenes from City Hall
Alfred Klosterman, a 30-year resident of the Harrowgate neighborhood, raises his fist after speaking during an unusually combative public comment period at City Councils first meeting of the fall last week.
Klosterman spoke in favor of a bill to prohibit supervised drug consumption sites across most of the city. It passed 13-1.
Thanks for time-traveling with us. Heres hoping the Phils are getting ready for October like its 2008.
Anna and Sean
HARRISBURG Pennsylvania will now automatically register eligible voters when they get a drivers license or ID card, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Tuesday.
Pennsylvania will join 23 other states that have implemented automatic voter registration as part of a national bipartisan effort to increase voter engagement and turnout ahead of whats expected to be a tumultuous and hotly contested 2024 presidential election.
Its rare to make a change this significant that improves voter access and election integrity at the same time, Secretary of State Al Schmidt told The Inquirer in an interview Tuesday.
Automatic voter registration has been lauded by good-government advocates as a way to both register more voters and keep voter rolls up to date. However, research so far has been indeterminate on whether it increases voter turnout and some election deniers were quick to falsely claim that the move would endanger the security of Pennsylvanias elections.
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Pennsylvanians have been able to opt in to registering to vote at the end of their ID registration or renewal at PennDot locations since 1993. Starting Tuesday, they need to actively opt out of registering to vote, as part of an effort by Shapiros administration to streamline government processes.
Automatic voter registration is a commonsense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars, Shapiro said in a news release. Residents of our Commonwealth already provide proof of identity, residency, age, and citizenship at the DMV all the information required to register to vote so it makes good sense to streamline that process with voter registration.
Local election officials will now get automatic updates when a voter changes their name or address at a PennDot location, thus improving the accuracy of the states voter rolls. Counties will also be able to process new voter registrations or address changes much faster than paper applications.
Does automatic registration increase turnout?
Other states with automatic voter registration include West Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, and New Jersey. These states have increased the number of registered voters, but there is little evidence that it increases the number of people who vote in an election, according to a 2021 study by the Public Policy Institute of California. On the contrary, the study shows a decrease in voter turnout because the share of registered voters who cast ballots dropped.
Currently, there are 8.7 million Pennsylvanians registered to vote. The Shapiro administration estimates there are 10.3 million Pennsylvania residents who are eligible to vote and could now join the voter rolls as a result of this policy change.
Voter rolls have been the target of some Pennsylvania election deniers, after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that there were more votes cast there were registered voters in the 2020 presidential election.
Shapiros announcement Tuesday reignited attacks on the states election system. Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to Trump, falsely claimed Tuesday on X that Pennsylvania voters would not be required to sign a sworn declaration that they are eligible to vote. The Shapiro administration quickly rejected that statement.
The history of automatic voter registration in Pa.
Democrats in the General Assembly have long tried to pass automatic voter registration to increase the number of registered voters. Those proposals often died in committee before getting a vote in the legislature, where for many years Republicans controlled both chambers until Democrats flipped the House this year.
This improvement in Pennsylvanias voting system is a tremendous step forward and a testament to every civil and voting rights leader who has marched, raised their voice, and fought for a system that includes all Americans, including Black and brown individuals or those who may feel intimidated to get involved, said Sen. Vince Hughes (D., Philadelphia), who has introduced legislation for automatic voter registration for several years.
While Democrats celebrated Shapiros actions, Republican leaders criticized him for acting unilaterally and without the input of the General Assembly a common criticism of his predecessor and fellow Democrat, Gov. Tom Wolf.
The governor is following the sad and misguided precedent set by his predecessor that recognizes our election laws need updating and modernized, but then disenfranchises the General Assembly from exercising its constitutional prerogative to make laws, said House Minority Leader Bryan Cutler (R., Lancaster) in a statement.
Unfortunately, this move by the governor generates more questions than answers and creates uncertainty for Pennsylvania voters, three top Senate Republicans said in a joint statement.
Neither Senate nor House Republicans said whether they would pursue court action to stop the policy from taking effect.
A spokesperson for Shapiro said the governor has the power to make the change himself because it is a policy change at one of the agencies that the governor oversees.
Schmidt said the 1993 law that allowed for the creation of motor voter registration also gives the state the authority to implement automatic voter registration. Most of the states with automatic voter registration created it through legislation, while a handful, such as Georgia, took executive action to implement it.
Filtering out ineligible voters
Pennsylvania has had issues in recent years with its voter registration processes at DMV locations. In 2019, Wolfs administration admitted that more than 11,000 noncitizens who live in the state legally but are not eligible to vote were able to register to vote.
Schmidt, then a longtime Philadelphia Republican commissioner overseeing elections, was the main voice in Pennsylvania pushing for changes to the states motor voter registration process to prevent noncitizens from getting onto the voter rolls. The Department of State said it fixed the issue in 2017.
Schmidt said hes confident that the system is fixed to ensure that those ineligible to vote will be internally flagged and will not be offered the voter registration screens.
For example, Schmidt said he is taking his daughter for her drivers license test soon. Since shes under 18, she will not see the voter registration screens that eligible voters do.
People ineligible will not interface with this system, Schmidt said.
By the end of the day Tuesday, Shapiro had claimed the policy change as a political win. He released a fundraising message about automatic voter registration and asked his supporters to chip in a few dollars today to continue the fight for our democracy.
It was a combination of things which made it challenging to work on, said Greenham. With cannabis itself, insurers seem to be a little bit gun shy or nervous about it and it can be a treaty exclusion for them to write any business that has anything to do with that particular occupation of growing marijuana.
As severe weather continues to escalate year over year, it is important now more than ever for everyone to be prepared if disaster strikes, NCOIL president and Arkansas representative Deborah Ferguson, DDS said. This can be as simple as having an emergency plan set in place and monitoring severe weather in your area. This month is also a great reminder to review your insurance policies to make sure that you are adequately covered so that a natural disaster doesnt also cause financial ruin.
In his role, if he gets a submission on a fiduciary risk with a large plan, it will generally come with fee disclosures, a robust application and even an excessive fee questionnaire outlining specifics around fee structures and service providers. But that does not tend to happen as often with submissions for plans with less than $1 billion in assets. There is now a recognition that the litigation has shifted and that there is exposure as low as $100 million in plan assets, Wallace said. Transparency is key for us. A comprehensive submission, independent of the plan size, is becoming table stakes for differentiation.
This post is part of a series sponsored by AgentSync.
Life insurance carriers that dont prioritize compliance and onboarding for their variable lines brokers will lose traction in the life and annuities market over the long term. Making these processes automatic and painless can make the difference in market share and recruiting over time in an industry thats at an inflection point of regulation, technology, and demographic change.
Annuities, so the saying goes, arent bought, theyre sold. This truism reflects a reality of the industry; brokers are the front line of annuity sales in a more particular way than for other lines of insurance.
These products immediate annuities, variable annuities, fixed annuities, fixed index annuities are often complex and unknown to people outside of a retirement context. It often isnt until someones sitting in front of a variable lines broker or life insurance producer that they hear enough about these products, and where they fit in a retirement strategy, to even consider them.
This broker-dependent paradigm presents several challenges and opportunities for life insurance carriers interested in keeping or gaining market share over the next decade.
Baby boomer retirements are reshaping life and annuity businesses
The baby boomer gray wave is completely upending the steadier dynamic of annuities and securities sales of previous decades.
With such a glut of retirees, brokers licensed to sell variable and fixed annuity products as well as permanent insurance products like variable life are facing a singular opportunity to deploy these products in retirement portfolios. Yet, the paradox created by the retirement boom is that many of the most experienced variable lines brokers in the profession will be sitting on the opposite side of the table, leaving a vacuum for the insurance carriers that have relied on their expertise to sell these products.
The downstream effect is that theres a coming surge of new brokers entering the workforce wholl be pushed to handle a historic amount of business per agent. Carriers that support brokers in this drinking-from-a-firehose scenario will undoubtedly retain an experienced workforce that bolsters their market share and reputation.
Consumers value seamless tech-and-broker experiences
Some insurance lines have confidently invested in chatbots and anonymized online calculators, assuming that digital is the future of their sales (particularly with lines like auto or home insurance). But something as multivariate and personal as annuities or variable life insurance is likely to retain a heavy human component well into the future.
Consumer preferences reflect that they prefer an integrated bivariate shopping experience they want to have their cake and eat it, too. What does this mean, practically speaking? It means a consumer wants to be able to begin their variable lines or life journey online, using tools to assess their own income needs and risk tolerance. Then, they may want to ask specifics from a chat bot. But when modern consumers are ready to move beyond self-service tools and get serious about their annuity choices, they want to speak with a broker. Not only do they want to speak with a human broker, but they want their broker to have their information in hand, including their history of asking questions, the products theyve looked at, and the assumptions they used in their calculations and questions.
Variable lines insurance brokers face heightened regulatory scrutiny
Theres an added layer to the situation for dually licensed brokers who sell insurance and securities (and, by extension, the insurance carriers that use them to distribute products). The Department of Labor ruling on selling annuities that rely on Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) funds and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation rules place higher restrictions on variable lines brokers than ever. Each new restriction or regulation adds a layer of paperwork and new forms to keep track of.
So, to reiterate and summarize: Consumers have increased expectations of the experience a variable lines broker has to deliver; there are fewer experienced dually licensed brokers and many fresh (inexperienced) brokers; and the amount of time and attention a broker must give each prospective customer is higher than ever.
What does this all mean for carriers and MGAs/MGUs?
Life insurance carriers that lock in operational efficiency for brokers will win in recruiting
The next decade will be the age of operational efficiency. Dont just take our word for it; Ajit Jain, Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for Berkshire Hathaway, proclaimed at the giants annual shareholder meeting that legacy insurers must spend the next few years condensing their tech systems from hundreds of softwares to tens of softwares.
This operational consolidation will rely on integrations using source-of-truth data points across all systems and automations using process triggers to kick off tasks with little to no human touch. The reality is, integrated, automated tech is the only way for insurance carriers to make the most out of robust systems instead of buying ever-expanding disparate legacy tech tools.
And make no mistake, to discount the preferences of younger brokers and their need to be in front of consumers would be serious mistakes. Annuities sales are currently seeing all-time highs, a result of the historic baby boomer retirement wave and uncertain economic times. This may be a singular opportunity to make moves in this space before the demand for annuities and variable products at least in their current iteration ebbs. Trying to take advantage of these trends through increased headcount may temporarily ease your trouble, but will most likely result in a situation where your carrier onboards and trains dozens of operations and administration staffers to manage brokers with both insurance and financial securities licenses only to have to shrink those teams later.
Instead of making your operations a trend-based risk center that expands and contracts with the market, you can maximize your team and your variable lines broker force with better operations solutions.
Streamlined compliance operations also allow carriers and MGUs/MGAs to make the most of Just-In-Time (JIT) appointment provisions in individual states, saving hundreds of thousands on unnecessary appointments while maintaining 100 percent compliance.
AgentSync makes broker compliance an opportunity for cost savings
AgentSync unifies data from the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in one comprehensive view. With this crucial information in one place, carriers can decrease the cost of compliance for their internal teams and for brokers in a way that drives back to the carriers own bottom line. And with brokers spending less time submitting duplicate information and struggling to verify the data they submitted, your experienced brokers can spend more time with clients and prospects, and fresh brokers can spend more time training and becoming your brand ambassadors.
If youd like to see what AgentSyncs variable lines support can do to help you streamline your processes for your bottom line, check out a demo today.
AgentSync carriers and MGUs have transformed their onboarding processes from weeks (or months) to days, allowing them the flexibility to meet JIT appointment deadlines with ease.
Key takeaways:
Annuity sales will remain high for the next decade but may be a closing window.
Increased consumer expectations and regulatory standards require brokers to spend more time face-to-face with consumers.
To best take advantage of the current market, carriers that can help their brokers meet these expectations through operational efficiency will have a singular opportunity to capitalize and profit.
AgentSync is the answer for forward-thinking carriers looking to solve for compliance and operational efficiency while prioritizing automation and integration.
Carriers and MGAs/MGUs that use tech to streamline their operations will attract and retain seasoned professionals in a shrinking talent pool.
Topics Carriers Agencies
Boston firefighter Daniel Ranahan had heard about colleagues getting cancer but he was stunned when doctors discovered a large tumor in his chest.
He was only 30 and had been in the Boston Fire Department less than a decade. But as he investigated his diagnosis of Hodgkins lymphoma in October 2020 and sought successful treatment, he learned he and others wore gear that contained the toxic industrial compound PFAS.
You always hear about the dangers. You just never think it`s going be you, said Ranahan, who stopped working due to the cancer and is among thousands of firefighters nationwide who sued PFAS manufacturers and companies that make firefighting gear and foam, seeking damages for their exposure.
These guys put this on day in and day out to protect neighborhoods and wherever they are working, he said.
The multi-layered coats and pants worn by firefighters have become the latest battleground over PFAS, or per- and polyfluorinated substances. It`s found in everything from food packaging to clothing and is associated with health problems including several types of cancer. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency for the first time proposed limits on the chemicals in drinking water.
The news that PFAS compounds are in their gear primarily meant to repel water and contaminants like oil and prevent moisture-related burns is worrisome to firefighters.
Cancer has replaced heart disease as the biggest killer of firefighters, and the International Association of Fire Fighters or IAFF attributes 66% of firefighter deaths between 2002 and 2019 to cancer. Firefighters are at higher risk of getting several types of cancer, according to IAFF, including twice as likely to get testicular cancer and mesothelioma than the general population.
Firefighters are exposed to a laundry list of carcinogens coming from fires burning hotter and faster than ever before often due to increased petroleum products in homes. But as they learn more about PFAS, a growing number are convinced their personal protective equipment or PPE is sickening them.
We had no idea that the gear that we were putting on every day was essentially loaded with PFAS, said IAFF General President Edward Kelly, who was elected in 2021 on a campaign in part to address dangers of PFAS in gear.
As more scientific data availed itself, it became obvious that our greatest exposure to carcinogens is our a daily donning and doffing of PPE bunker gear, he continued.
One defendant in the lawsuits, 3M Co., said in a statement that it manufactures a variety of personal protective equipment products that meet nationally recognized standards to help protect first responders facing high-hazard environments. Last year, the company announced it would stop manufacturing PFAS by the end of 2025 and would work to discontinue using the chemicals in its products.
Another defendant, W. L. Gore & Associates, says the PFAS compound PTFE used in its clothing is nontoxic and safe.
Based on the body of available and reliable science, Gore concludes its firefighting products are not the cause of cancers impacting firefighters, who by the nature of their important work are sometimes exposed to cancer-causing chemicals from fires, said company spokesperson Amy Calhoun.
The American Chemistry Council said in a statement that PFAS-based materials are the only viable options for some key equipment that meet the vital performance properties required for firefighting gear.
HEIGHTENED CONCERNS ABOUT GEAR
The PFAS has been in the gear for decades. But the wife of retired Worcester, Massachusetts fire lieutenant Paul Cotter, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in October 2014, raised concerns about it in 2016. Until then, many firefighters had not heard of PFAS or did not know it was in their gear.
Gear makers told Diane Cotter there were only trace amounts of PFAS and it was safe. I was attacked by firefighters when discussing the idea that chemicals in the gear could be causing cancer, she said.
Cotter sent patches of gear to Graham Peaslee, a University of Notre Dame professor who studies PFAS, for testing.
It was loaded with PFAS. That was the first eye opening moment that there may be more than just trace amounts, said Peaslee, who also found the chemicals on gloves and in firehouse dust.
They come off and they pose risks, he said.
Courtney Carignan, an exposure scientist and epidemiologist at Michigan State University, said she found PFAS at twice the levels of the general population in the blood of more than half of the 18 firefighters she tested in Nantucket and Fall River, Massachusetts. She also found PFAS in gear was transferred to the skin of firefighters.
But Carignan is still investigating how much the gear contributed to increased levels of PFAS in the blood and whether PFAS exposure may be causing or contributing to cancer.
Even though we know PFAS is in the gear, we still dont know how much exposure that is, she said.
FIREFIGHTERS TAKE ACTION
The revelation of PFAS in the gear sparked a campaign by firefighters to find safer alternatives and to hold companies responsible.
Lawsuits on behalf of firefighters argue they were exposed to significant PFAS levels and companies knew the gear contained PFAS and that it can cause serious health problems. The suits also allege companies misrepresented their products as safe.
The IAFF, which represents more than 340,000 U.S. and Canadian firefighters, decided in 2021 to no longer accept sponsorships or advertising from the chemical industry and to oppose PFAS in turnout gear. A Congressional bill introduced in July would accelerate the search for safer alternatives and support firefighter training to reduce exposure from existing gear.
Seven states including Washington, New Hampshire and New York passed bills requiring companies to disclose PFAS in their gear, according to Safer States, a coalition of environmental health groups. Several more states introduced or enacted bills this year that provide funds to purchase PFAS-free gear or prohibit manufacture or sale of gear containing the chemicals, according to Emily Sampson, an environment policy analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
NO EASY FIX
For most fire departments, there is no easy fix. Replacing gear is expensive one set can cost upwards of $4,000 and finding alternatives has proven challenging. Some companies are promoting a PFAS-free outer layer but that doesn`t solve the problem because the other two layers still contain PFAS, the IAFF said.
Among the hurdles, according to a IAFF lawsuit filed in March, is that the National Fire Protection Association or NFPA standard for gear can only be met with PFAS-infused material. The suit accuses the NFPA of working with several gear makers to maintain that requirement. It seeks damages and an end to the standard.
Chris Dubay, NFPA vice president and chief engineer, said in a statement that the standard does not specify or require the use of any particular materials, chemicals or treatments for that gear. He said the group has no special agreements or relationships with any company or organization in development of standards.
The manufacturers who are producing this gear owe it to the fire service to come up with an alternative, Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli, who has heard of companies promoting gear with less PFAS but is reluctant to buy it for his 231-member department without more proof.
Instead, his department tries to limit firefighter exposure to gear that`s been integral to firefighter identity. They would take it everywhere, including charity events. Now, Brockton discourages firefighters from wearing turnout gear in living quarters and encourages them to wash it after fires. It`s stored on trucks and is only to be worn for serious calls like fires and car accidents.
Guys have seen everyone who has gotten cancer, guys dying from cancer, said William Hill, the president of the Brockton Fire Fighters Local 144 who was successfully treated for testicular cancer. Being told that PFAS is in the gear, guys don`t want to take the chance of being overexposed.firefight
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.
Photo: Firefighter Rod MacKinnon, left, and Lt. Chris Stevens don their turnout gear as they respond to a call at the Engine 21 fire station, Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Chemicals
A disbarred New York attorney has changed his plea to guilty in connection with an $19 million Ponzi scheme and a $30 million auto insurance fraud.
Robert Wisnicki, 44, of Forest Hills, pleaded to guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, both of which could result in a sentence of five years in prison. He was one of 13 people, including doctors and a police officer, charged in 2022 in the long-running fraud scheme.
Wisnicki also agreed to forfeit property and pay restitution of $18.8 million.
As he has now admitted, Robert Wisnicki committed a wide array of criminal acts as part of multiple schemes designed to line his own pockets and cover his tracks, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement Monday. As a practicing attorney, Wisnicki knew better, but he flouted the law anyway, even going so far as to obstruct justice and commit perjury while testifying before a grand jury.
Wisnicki pleaded not guilty in 2022 but changed his plea this week. The original indictment can be seen here.
The Wisnicki law firm specialized in real estate transactional work, prosecutors said. In 2007, some of his clients asked him to identify investment opportunities. But the real estate investments did not pay off and, instead of alerting clients, Wisnicki and others used funds from his other clients and from new investors to cover the losses, a classic Ponzi scheme, authorities said.
Wisnicki also laundered money for an organization that utilized no-fault auto insurance laws, prosecutors said. New Jersey and New York require auto insurers to pay some claims to medical providers, without assigning fault to any party. A separate indictment accused a man named Alexander Gulkarov, also known as Little Alex, of fraudulently owning and controlling more than a dozen medical professional organizations. The scheme allegedly took $30 million from insurers since 2014.
Charges are still pending against several other defendants. Sentencing for Wisnicki is set for Jan. 12, 2024.
Topics Auto Fraud New York
European Union businesses are concerned about Chinas data laws, including their lack of clarity and the long processes that companies have to undergo, European Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said on Tuesday.
In July, China expanded its counter-espionage law. It now bans the transfer of any information related to national security and interests, without defining those terms, while widening the definition of spying to include cyber attacks against state organs or critical infrastructure.
Chinese President Xi Jinpings increasing focus on national security particularly a crackdown on consultancies and due diligence firms has left many foreign firms unsure of where they might step over the line of the law.
China Fines US Firm Mintz $1.5M for Unapproved Work, After Raiding its Beijing Office
Jourova said the lack of definitions such as, for example, what constitutes important data, and the lack of clarity on how the law might be contravened was problematic as was the lengthy time it takes to complete procedural matters.
I think its 45 days for one process, Jourova a news conference. It lasts very often a much longer time.
She was speaking after co-chairing the first EU-China High-level Digital Dialogue in three years on Monday.
We will come back to the Chinese authorities with a proposal to create some kind of information link that will help EU businesses to understand the law and avoid possible lack of compliance, she added.
China is a partner, competitor and systemic rival but systemic rivalry has become the most prominent of the three roles the country plays in the digital area, she said.
It is important China and Europe keep communication channels open in various degrees where there is disagreement, she said.
In late July, the Chinese commerce ministry briefed representatives from the U.S., European, Japanese and South Korean chambers of commerce, as well as 30 foreign firms, on the new anti-espionage law.
China is committed to creating a fair, transparent and predictable business environment, the ministry said at the time.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Ella Cao; editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Photograph: A Chinese tourist peeks inside a red door of the Palace Museum inside the Forbidden City, which was the Chinese imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, on May 18, 2011 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)
Related:
Topics Europe China
Australian miner New Hope GroupsCEO Rob Bishop said on Tuesday plans are progressing to double output over the next three years to meet an expected surge in demand for coal-fired power, after reporting a nearly 11% rise in fiscal 2023 profit.
Global coal consumption has hit a record high as strong growth in Asia outpaces a decline in the United States and Europe. The region also helped stem a decline in thermal coal prices and demand is expected to grow further given rising power requirements that renewables are struggling to keep up with.e
New Hope is set to double production to around 14 million metric tons of coal by 2027 from 7 million this year after officials last month approved the expansion of its New Acland mine in the state of Queensland.
The miner resumed shipments to China in the latest quarter after rescinding an unofficial ban on Australian coal.
Demand in China has increased substantially, Bishop told Reuters.
Its quite scary in some respects, what electricity generation is going to be required, particularly with the world trying to decarbonize. People are starting to realize that renewables will take some time.
Financial Services
The climate-related push to exclude thermal coal producers from financial services is softening in some areas like insurance as concerns around energy security rise to the fore, Bishop said, but finding some services can be difficult.
The banking industry is still very much driven by reducing thermal coal exposure. We are challenged to get even bank guarantee facilities in place for rehabilitation lots, he said.
Still, New Hopes insurance premium increase this year has been modest.
With energy security there is certainly the realization, particularly in Europe, that coal is going to be needed for some time and if you have got a customer there that is very good to insure from a claims history, then why would you turn away?
We are still investigating self-insurance options, but I think the urgency for us to do that has gone away.
New Hope sold each tonne of coal for an average A$346.73 during the year, up from A$281.84 a year earlier.
The company posted a net profit attributable of A$1.09 billion ($701.52 million) for the year ended July 31 on Tuesday, compared with A$983 million in the previous year. New Hopes financial calendar runs from July to July, and it reports results a month later than companies that follow the Australian financial year ending in June.
The coal miner declared a final dividend of 21 Australian cents per share and a special dividend of 9 cents per share.
Last year, it had a final dividend of 31 cents per share, and a special dividend of 25 cents per share. Shares rose as much as 2.8% to A$6.34, their highest since Jan. 25, following the results.
($1 = 1.5538 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Navya Mittal in Bengaluru; editing by Shweta Agarwal, Subhranshu Sahu and Christian Schmollinger)
Topics Trends Pricing Trends Australia
NDIANAPOLIS (AP) Indiana`s attorney general has sued the state`s largest hospital system, claiming it violated patient privacy laws when a doctor publicly shared the story of an Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Indianapolis federal court, marked Attorney General Todd Rokitas latest attempt to seek disciplinary legal action against Dr. Caitlin Bernard. The doctor`s account of a 10-year-old rape victim traveling to Indiana to receive abortion drugs became a flashpoint in the abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Rokita, a Republican, is stridently anti-abortion and Indiana was the first state to approve abortion restrictions after the court`s decision. The near- total abortion ban recently took effect after legal battles.
Neither the 10-year-old nor her mother gave the doctor authorization to speak to the media about their case, the lawsuit stated. Rather than protecting the patient, the hospital chose to protect the doctor, and itself.
The lawsuit named Indiana University Health and IU Healthcare Associates. It alleged the hospital system violated HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and a state law for not protecting the patients information.
Indianas medical licensing board reprimanded Bernard in May, saying she didnt abide by privacy laws by talking publicly about the girls treatment. It was far short of the medical license suspension that Rokitas office sought.
Still, the board`s decision received widespread criticism from medical groups and others who called it a move to intimidate doctors.
Hospital system officials have argued that Bernard didnt violate privacy laws.
We continue to be disappointed the Indiana Attorney Generals office persists in putting the states limited resources toward this matter, IU Health said in a statement. We will respond directly to the AGs office on the filing.
In July, a 28-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison for the child`s rape.
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Lawsuits Ohio Indiana
OXFORD, Miss. (AP) A Mississippi jury has rejected a civil lawsuit seeking money damages from two police officers who fatally shot a man while serving a warrant at the wrong house.
A federal court jury in Oxford on Thursday ruled that Southaven officers Zachary Durden and Samuel Maze had not violated the civil rights of Ismael Lopez when Durden shot him to death in 2017. The verdict came after a four-day trial in a lawsuit by Claudia Linares, the widow of Lopez, who sought $20 million in compensation.
The verdict was that the jurors did not believe that the use of force used by Officers Durden and Maze was excessive in light of all the facts that they considered, attorney Murray Wells told WREG-TV.
The case was notable in part because the city of Southaven had previously argued that Lopez had no civil rights to violate because the Mexican man was living in the United States illegally and faced deportation orders and criminal charges for illegally possessing guns.
A judge rejected that argument in 2020, finding constitutional rights apply to all persons.
The city of Southaven and now-retired Southaven Police Chief Steve Pirtle were dismissed from the case in June after Senior U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills found they weren`t liable for the officers` actions under federal law.
According to a report by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation, Lopez and Linares were in bed on July 24, 2017, when officers knocked on the door of their trailer. The officers were intending to serve a domestic violence warrant on a neighbor across the street, but got the addresses confused.
Officers told the state investigators that they knocked on the door without identifying themselves. The door opened, a dog ran out, and Lopez pointed a rifle through the cracked door, officers said. Maze shot the dog and then, in quick succession, Durden fired multiple shots at Lopez.
A third officer on the scene told investigators he heard Durden order Lopez to drop the rifle several times before shooting Lopez.
No known video exists of the shooting.
The 41-year-old man died from a bullet that struck him in the rear of his skull, more than six feet (two meters) from the door. Police said he was running away.
Lawyers for Lopez, who died before he could be taken to a hospital, have disputed that he pointed the gun at officers. They noted his fingerprints and DNA were not found on the rifle, which was recovered more than six feet away from his body. They suggested that Durden shot Lopez because the officer was reacting to Maze shooting the dog.
When state investigators arrived, they found Lopez lying dead in a prone position with his hands cuffed behind his back in the middle of the living room. A rifle was laying on the couch.
After the shooting, a state grand jury declined to indict anyone in the case.
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite, in a statement, again offered condolences to the family of Lopez, but praised the outcome.
This verdict proves what weve believed to be correct since day one as our officers responded appropriately considering the circumstance of being threatened with deadly force, Musselwhite said. Weve stood behind them during the last six years for this very reason and, for their sake, are glad this trial is over.
Photo: This photo of Ismael Lopez, left, and his wife Claudia, was shown to reporters during a news conference on July 28, 2017, in Memphis. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz, File)
Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Topics Mississippi
Independence Pet Group completed of its acquisition of Felix Cat Insurance, a pet insurance brand for cats.
The deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including various regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the second half of 2023. IPG plans to use the rest of the year to develop the brands strategic plan and identify product and partnership opportunities.
IPG insures more than 800,000 pets in the U.S. and Canada, including providing well-being, safety, resources, and business services to the pet industry.
Felix Cat Insurance was created and operated by The Connected Pet Company LLC, a multi-brand channel pet marketing insurance agency based in Phoenix, Arizona.
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Arizona
It took just minutes for more than 20 thieves, clad in hoods and masks, to swarm the Nordstrom store in the Westfield Topanga shopping center and make off with $300,000 of handbags and other luxury items. A security guard was blasted in the face with bear spray, according to the Los Angeles Police Department, which dubbed it a flash rob.
It came just days after at least 30 suspects stole more than $400,000 in merchandise from an Yves Saint Laurent store at a mall in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale and yet another incident when a gang nabbed armloads of Gucci bags from a Bloomingdales in Westfield Century City mall.
Fittingly for the Los Angeles area, the daylight raids captured on surveillance cameras and cellphones have gone viral played repeatedly across social media and local television, and now forcing California Governor Gavin Newsom to take action. This week he awarded $267 million in grants to 55 local agencies to combat the crimes, with money slated for better surveillance technology and also to target criminals in blitz operations across the state.
Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs, Newsom said in a statement. When shameless criminals walk out of stores with stolen goods, theyll walk straight into jails.
California isnt alone in dealing with a surge in retail theft. The National Retail Federation estimates the cost of shrink and other inventory losses has climbed to almost $100 billion a year, ranging from small-time pilfering to Mafia-type cargo heists. Mentions of theft and shrink have more than doubled in company earnings calls since the first quarter of this year, according to a Bloomberg transcript analysis, with Dicks Sporting Goods Inc. missing analysts estimates largely because of theft.
Losses from theft are at historical highs, and Id say, we find it unacceptable, Erik B. Nordstrom, chief executive officer of the eponymous department store chain, said during an earnings call last month. Were looking at everything we can do to make our stores are safe and secure.
Critics though, particularly within California, say better prevention and surveillance wont ultimately solve the problem, and instead point the finger at lax prosecution as a factor contributing to the jump in flash raids.
Los Angeles, for instance, no longer requires cash bail for suspects charged with nonviolent misdemeanor penalties, allowing many people accused of low-level crimes to be released without having to post a bond. Petty larceny theft of goods valued at $950 or less is a cite and release offense in California, according to Rachel Michelin, chief executive officer of the California Retailers Association. Many participants in flash mob incidents started out as small-time shoplifters, who graduated to more serious offenses after getting away with a hand slap for entry-level theft, she said.
When people realize theres no consequence, that behavior is going to escalate, Michelin said.
The crimes are having a ripple effect on local economies, said Michelin. Sales tax revenue falls as fearful shoppers stay away from stores, leading to closures and demoralized workers, making it harder for cities to pay police or clear sidewalk vagrants camped outside vacant storefronts, further discouraging new businesses from opening.
When the Nordstrom in the Westfield San Francisco Centre announced in May that it was closing, the malls owner, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, blamed unsafe conditions for customers, retailers, and employees. This week, American Eagle Outfitters sued Westfield, accusing it of letting the mall deteriorate into disarray and exposing its staff to violence and robberies, according to a complaint filed in Superior Court in San Francisco County.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield declined to comment on both the thefts and the lawsuit.
In the Los Angeles area, where mall culture has long inspired Hollywood scriptwriters, a summer wave of flash mob attacks swept across various retailers, from discount to luxury. In August, thieves targeted a WSS shoe store in Highland Park twice in a row, stealing boxes of sneakers. A Home Depot in Signal Hill lost $5,000 of power tools to robbers. Two Ross Dress For Less stores in West LA and Culver City were also hit.
This type of criminal activity places an enormous burden on our local businesses and is an assault against our entire community, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said in a statement this month.
But some retailers have criticized Gascon for his progressive stance on petty crimes, which they say encourages retail thefts. Gascon was elected in 2020 on a platform of reducing racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
The problem is with the DAs office, said Rick Caruso, owner of the Americana at Brand mall in Glendale where thieves looted the YSL store. You can have all the task forces in the world, but if nobodys being held accountable, it doesnt matter, said Caruso, who unsuccessfully ran for Los Angeles mayor last year.
Venusse Navid, a spokesperson for the DA, didnt directly address a question about criticism that Gascon has gone easy on criminal suspects. She said Gascon has started requesting bail for organized retail theft offenders. At least 19 suspects have been arrested and charged since mid-August, and some remain in jail. One 32-year-old suspect is being held on bail of $1.2 million because of additional charges from prior convictions.
We view them as organized crime, Gascon said during a press conference when asked about retail theft rings. And we will use every tool available under the law, when there is an arrest made.
The flash mobs vary from small kitchen-table gangs to more sophisticated groups acting on behalf of higher-level commanders.
Before a strike, scouts case stores, targeting items with resale potential and planning escape routes, according to Michelin. They use social media to gather participants, telling them about the location and timing and advising them to use emergency exits and avoid the use of weapons, which could lead to more serious criminal charges, she said. The goal is to create a large enough group to intimidate onlookers and evade capture.
Suspects go to extreme lengths to avoid detection and are cognizant of how much time they are spending in the store to avoid law enforcement response, Los Angeles Police Detective Sam Arnold said in an email.
The gang that targeted the YSL store at Carusos Americana at Brand mall was in and out within two minutes, he said, fleeing in getaway cars before security could respond. These are planned events, serial criminals, Caruso said. Theyre very methodical how they go about this.
Stolen items are often resold online or at swap meets. Merchandise from thefts at Ross Dress For Less and WSS was found at a known resale spot at the central city intersection of Alvarado and 8th streets an area crowded by street vendors, according to LA District Attorney press releases.
Caruso, who last year spent more than $100 million on his mayoral campaign centered on public safety, has increased surveillance and the presence of security personnel both uniformed and undercover around his malls. Hes also offering a $50,000 reward for tips leading to arrests or convictions.
Weve had to take responsibility because government has failed to ensure that businesses are safe, he said.
With assistance from Olivia Rockeman and Joe Schneider.
Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
Topics California Fraud Personal Auto
Source: Streetwise Reports
September 19, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) This gold company has filed its report to shareholders and management's analysis for the second quarter. Find out why one analyst says it has a "clear vision" for a potential partnership agreement.
Seabridge Gold Inc. (SEA:TSX; SA:NYSE.MKT) has filed its report to shareholders and management's analysis for the three months ending on June 30.
The company earned a net profit of CA$9 million in the second quarter, or CA$0.11 per share, compared to CA$19.1 million, or CA$0.24 per share, in the same quarter of 2022.
During the six months ending June 30, the company had a net loss of CA$1.8 million, or CA$0.02 per share. In the first six months of 2022, the company recorded net earnings of CA$12.8 million or CA$0.16 per share.
"During the six months ended June 30, 2023, the company's main efforts and most significant spending were focused on its 2023 site capture and early infrastructure development activities that are designed to ensure that KSM's Environmental Assessment Certificate ("EAC") remains in good standing," management said in its discussion of the results.
The 100%-owned KSM project in British Columbia's Golden Triangle is Seabridge's flagship. Its current deadline for the EAC is July 29, 2026. In deciding whether a project has been "substantially started," the province decides whether sufficient on-site physical improvements have been made. Work Seabridge has completed includes the building of roads, camps, bridges, and special fish habitats.
"We talk about KSM being a project. In fact, what we have here is a district," Seabridge Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Rudi Fronk has said.
Proven and probable reserves at KSM's initial mine total 47.3 million ounces gold (Moz Au), 7.3 billion pounds copper (Cu), 160 Moz silver (Ag), and 385 million pounds of molybdenum (Mo), with average production over a 33-year mine life of 1.03 Moz Au, 178 million pounds Cu, 3 Moz Ag, and 4.2 million pounds Mo, a preliminary feasibility study (PFS) found.
The company released a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for separate, underground block cave mines with a small open pit expected to produce an additional 14.3 billion pounds Cu, 14.3 Moz Au, 68.2 Moz silver, and 13.8 million pounds Mo over 39 years.
During Q2 2023, Seabridge invested CA$47.7 million on mineral interest projects, compared to CA$27.2 million in Q2 2022. Its net working capital increased to CA$147.2 million on June 30 from CA$88.4 million at the end of 20222.
The company also recently closed on the sale of a US$150 million secured note to Sprott Resource Streaming and Royalty Corp. to complete the "substantially started" work at KSM.
When the note matures, Sprott Streaming will use the principal amount repaid to purchase a 1% net smelter royalty (NSR) on all metals produced at the project, the company said.
The Catalyst: Looking for a Partner
The company said "significant site capture activities" started at KSM in 2022 and are continuing this year, including road, bridge, and camp construction, hydro installations, fish habitat programs, and the acquisition of transport vehicles and construction equipment.
"The company anticipates submitting its Substantial Start application to the BC government in early 2024," Seabridge said.
The goal of the company is to secure a joint-venture project for KSM, which is in one of the world's best mining jurisdictions with good government infrastructure, including green hydroelectric power.
Analyst Lucas N. Pipes of B. Riley Securities noted in a research note that KSM is the world's largest undeveloped gold project by reserves and resources.
Pipes said the company has "a clear vision for a potential partnership agreement," rating the stock a Buy with a target price of US$60 per share.
"The market is currently short on development projects, and market interest/M&A is heating up," Pipes wrote. "While the lack of partnership at KSM has been an overhang for the stock, we believe the asset is now ripe for third-party validation."
Fronk agreed. "We're finally in a world where M&A is picking up again," he said on a recent webinar for Amvest Capital.
Other Project Updates
Seabridge is also conducting a 12,000-meter drilling campaign at its Iskut project, also in the Golden Triangle, to test for deeper copper-gold porphyry systems and to expand the Bronson Slope mineral resource.
At its Snowstorm project in Nevada, the company has also started a drilling program to test the potential for mineralized faults along a zone of uplifted host stratigraphy.
The exploration objective at its 3 Aces project in the Yukon Territory this year is to refine the 3-3-D exploration model with about 10,000 meters of drilling in three target zones, the company said.
Flexibility in Design
The company recently engaged RBC Capital Markets to lead a formal process for the search for a partner, with several companies doing due diligence, including many that have put boots on the ground at the project. [OWNERSHIP_CHART-700]
Seabridge "continues its pursuit of a joint venture agreement on the KSM project with a suitable partner on terms advantageous to the company since it does not intend to build or operate the project alone," the company said in its note from management. "The KSM project includes multiple deposits and provides a joint venture partner, or purchaser, flexibility in the design of the project."
The "market for metals streams and royalty interests seems to be growing," the company noted.
Ownership and Share Structure
About 36% of the company is held by institutional investors. Management, board members, and company insiders own approximately 25%, the company said. Fronk owns 1.49% or 1.21 million shares, according to Reuters. The rest is retail.
It has a market cap of CA$1.25 billion and has about 82.4 million shares outstanding, with 79.95 million free-floating. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$21.78 and CA$13.83.
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Lets talk about the Paris Metro and the Grand Paris Express project, and how both tie into the Internet of Things.
The Paris Metro first opened in 1900 as part of the iconic 1900 Worlds Fair. Fast-forward to present day, and many Parisians arent farther than 300-500 meters from one of the Paris Metros stations. (Notably, there are even specially themed stations at the Arts et Metiers ParisTech French engineering and research institute, as well as in Bastille and Concorde.) The reliable Paris Metro is different from the RER and Transilien trains, and according to many accounts it seems to be the preferred line. And, given the necessity to connect expanding suburbs (particularly in the Ile-de-France region), new lines are certainly on the table.
Thats where the Grand Paris Express comes in a massive rail expansion project thats expected to include 200 kilometers of new track, spanning 68 new stations, extensions of existing lines, seven new technical centers, and four fully automated subway lines.
Home in on that last part; the automated lines. As far as transport infrastructure goes, automation can lead to reduced human errors and greater operational efficiencies. Its incredibly neat, and the project has been drumming up hype for quite a while. Though the project planning began back in 2013 (and construction kicked up in 2015), this type of expansion project at scale takes time. New stations began opening last year (and a handful of others are slated to open in time for the 2024 Olympics), but the bulk of the developments will take place between 2024 and 2030. When completed, reports say it will serve more than two million passengers a day while connecting both major Paris airports to the Metro system and linking adjoining suburbs to decrease commutes. For extra info on how the Grand Paris Express will impact the Greater Paris area, writer Laura Moore provides a lovely and detailed account here.)
So, lets tie this back to IoT.
Last week, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Nokia officially announced their partnership to power the Grand Paris Express.
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise (ALE) drives digital innovation and enables high-performance IoT solutions in healthcare, hospitality, education, government and transportation. (The transportation part being most pertinent for this news.) ALE supports businesses with a portfolio of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) offerings tailor-made for different enterprise needs.
ALE, as mentioned, is partnering with Nokia, a company with a history involving mobile technologies, other consumer electronics, telecommunications and cloud networks. By coming together, ALE and Nokia expect to provide, per the announcement, certified and integrated end-to-end mission-critical infrastructure for the Grand Paris Express.
Specifically:
The ruggedized LAN OmniSwitch by ALE is being deployed in stations to power video surveillance management and air quality control via IoT sensors.
Nokias state-of-the-art multi-service IP/MPLS high-speed backbone network will meet operational and maintenance requirements for the Grand Paris Express.
Additional project parameters are yet to come, but already ALE and Nokia are fired up and ready for whats ahead.
We are very proud to partner with Nokia to deliver cutting-edge digital transformation for the Grand Paris Express smart mobility project. Together, we will provide a certified mission-critical network, supporting carbon-free transportation. ALE is fully compliant with and committed to sustainable development regulations, as defined by the UN Global Compact. This project is also a perfect example of our Technology for Good strategy, explained Rukmini Glanard, Chief Business Officer at ALE.
We, too, are thrilled to strengthen this relationship, said Nathan Stenson, Nokia Vice President, Global Partner Channel at Nokia. Our leading-edge IP/MPLS technology is going to enable a powerful multi-service IoT network, including 13,000 cameras and even AI, to enhance the safety and security of those traveling the Grand Paris Express.
As of this pieces publication, both companies will engage on this project through 2035.
Edited by Greg Tavarez
For a quarter of a century, the companies that have had a significant and often lasting impact on commerce in the city have been recognised by Cork Chamber in a fitting manner.
Looking back on the winners provides a window into the city's recent past offering the opportunity to trace how business and trade in Cork developed. They were a combination of local business success and international firms bringing operations to Cork and taking advantage of our strong, well-educated workforce.
Cork in the late 90s was very much an analogue world. The internet was just a new and growing technology with online shopping a long way off. The city centre island was very much the heart of business in Cork with the South Mall known as Cork and Munster's financial heart.
Since then much has changed both in Cork's skyline and the fabric of the business community itself. The next 25 years will bring further and arguably greater changes. To see how that may happen we cnly need to examine the previous company of the Year award recipients.
The mixture of local and multinational firms gives a sense of the balance that is at the heart of the city's commerce. Along with vibrant and successful indigenous firms, the city, with its busy harbour, has for centuries been an open economy welcoming companies like Ford and Dunlops, Pfizer and Apple, Stryker and Eli Lilly.
To plan for its future Cork is aiming to remain an attractive location for new migrants.
The State's key strategic plan, Ireland 2040 expected a significant increase in population with Cork acting as a counterbalance to the capital. Cork City alone is expected to accommodate population growth in the order of 55% [115,000], which equates to the combined growth of Limerick, Galway, and Waterford cities over the next 25 years.
Having that level of population increase assumes an average annual growth rate of 2.3% over the next quarter venture. By comparison, the average annual rate of growth over the last 24 years was only 0.8%.
The plan also calls for infrastructure to allow for such growth. Housing remains a pressing social and economic issue.
For Cork, much of the planned infrastructure for the city's future development lies in its docklands pon both sides of the river.
Areas such as Tivoli, the Marina, and Kennedy Quay are earmarked for major redevelopment in the coming decades. The city is also planning a major overhaul of its public transport network and wants to roll out a light rail Luas system between Ballincollig and Mahon.
However, change, no matter how dramatic, is not new to Cork. The city has been in a constant state of redevelopment and renewal for centuries. That is evident in the CotrkChamber awards. The winners over the past 25 years show the vibrant nature of the region's economy, a mixture of traditional and cutting edge, of local and international.
In 1998, the first year of the Cork Chamber awards the food wholesaler Musgrave was named Company of the Year. In that year the company was already more than a century old but had demonstrated its ability in that time to remain a dominant player in the country's grocery market. This was recognised by Cork Chamber as Musgrave was named Company of the Year less than a decade later in 2007. Today the Musgrave Group has annual sales in the billions counting Supervalu, Centra, Daybreak and Mace amongst its brands and it has continued to expand in what is one of the most competitive industries in the world.
In 2003, for the first time, the Chamber recognised a multinational company. It was fitting that this went to Apple, a tech company that established a presence in the city in the early 1980s and remains here today. Today, Apple is the world's most valuable company with a market capitalisation of $2.7 trillion. Throughout its highs and lows, the company has maintained its presence in Cork. That continues today with construction work underway on a further expansion of its campus in Hollyhill. Apple has also embraced the development of Cork's docklands by establishing a presence in the city's North Docks close to Kent Rail Station.
Apple showed in Cork how foreign firms could utilise the city's valuable resources and talented workers. In a similar vein, foreign multinationals such as Pepsi, Eli Lilly and EMC were Company of the Year recipients in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. These firms maintain a vibrant and expanded presence in Cork today. The region's pharma industry, in particular, is world renowned and the presence of many multinationals in recent decades and resulted in the establishment of a range of spin-off companies.
While many award winners over the past 30 years were key components of Cork's business life, the 2004 winner was a firm that oversaw much of the physical redevelopment of Cork City itself, helping to refresh the built environment while also transforming the city's retail fabric. O'Callaghan Properties led by developer Owen O'Callaghan has left a lasting legacy on Cork's skyline. By the time of his death in 2017, up to 10,000 people were working in buildings, shopping centres, or offices delivered by the builder, while another 6,000 families lived in houses or apartments he made possible.
When O'Callaghan Properties was named Company of the Year in 2004, the company was already nearing the completion of the Mahon Point Shopping Centre. Fears that the success of the shopping centre would draw retail from the city centre, O'Callaghan returned to the heart of Cork in the following years to redevelop Academy Street and Emmet Place creating Opera Lane.
The company was already responsible for the development of Paul Street and Merchant's Quay shopping centres along with a number of major developments outside Cork including Liffey Valley in Dublin. The company he created continues to this day under the leadership of his son Brian who has overseen the development of Navigation Square at the gateway to Cork's South Docks and who plans to proceed in the coming years with one of the city's largest-ever developments the south Docks on Kennedy Quay.
Creating an ideal platform for business growth
The National Transport Authority (NTA), in association with Cork County and City Councils, are developing a Transport Strategy for the Cork Metropolitan Area (CMA). The Strategy will provide a framework for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure and services in the Cork Metropolitan Area over the next two decades.
For much of its history, the commerce of Cork has been confined to its city centre. The island formed by the two channels of the river contains much of the citys retail and financial services. That has changed in recent decades with many firms expanding into the industrial parks and retail centres of suburbs. Corks regional towns are also flourishing with businesses.
This expansion will continue into the future. In Cork City, it is very much focused on the Docklands. On the citys Kennedy Quay and Centre Park Road, developer Brian OCallaghan is planning a major project that will include offices, apartments, healthcare facilities and retail outlets. Housing developments are also earmarked for other locations in the Marina including the Marquee site.
New bridges are also planned to access the South Docks. This includes a long-mooted Eastern Gateway Bridge and a possible light rail bridge to accommodate a LUAS system.
The design work for the route the light rail system will take is continuing but it is planned to link Ballincollig to Mahon through the key population and business centres including MTU, UCC, CUH, the city centre and the Docklands.
The existing rail network in Cork will also be electrified in parts with new suburban stations developed and new platforms in Kent Station being developed to encourage a switch from cars to public transport.
The Citys North Docks have already seen a significant transformation. The area around Kent Station has been a hive of construction activity over the past decade. New office buildings including Penrose Dock and One Horgans Quay have brought a range of new firms to Cork including Varonis, Qualcomm, Green Rebel and Cadence.
The Port of Cork company has already made significant progress in moving its port operations to the lower harbour. Its container terminal in Ringaskiddy is to expand further and will ultimately free up large swathes of Tivoli for redevelopment. Masterplans for the area include a number of housing developments, neighbourhood centres and new railway stations.
Italy's government has dialled down plans to cap airfares for flights to Italian islands after airlines including Ryanair challenged the legality of its initial proposal.
The government will now give Italy's competition authority the job of policing prices for internal Italian flights to destinations such as Sicily and Sardinia.
The change was proposed in an amendment still subject to approval in parliament to a government decree announced in August.
Ryanair had said the decree was "illegal and unenforceable" and challenged it at the European Commission.
Industry group Airlines for Europe, whose members include Ryanair and EasyJet, said it was pleased with the modification, arguing that carriers should be free to set prices.
"If confirmed, this move is both welcome and timely," it said in a statement.
"It safeguards the EU's single market which has successfully served European consumers for three decades.
"It underscores the importance of EU rules and why they must be respected by all, including all national governments," it added.
The Italian government had initially said it was seeking to ban airlines from raising fares to Sicily and Sardinia beyond "200% higher" than the average price for flights.
Industry minister Adolfo Urso told reporters there would "no longer be a ceiling" on prices, but added that the main elements contained in the decree had been maintained.
The competition body, which can impose fines on companies, will be able to intervene during periods of peak demand, such as summer or national holidays, and when the ticket price a week before a flight to the islands is more than 200% above average.
However, Italy's national union of consumers said the competition body should be given enhanced powers to regulate fares.
The fertile lands of East Cork have experienced strong demand in the last decade. With the deep productive soil and gentle landscape that characterises this part of Munster, it is well placed to take advantage of the rising fortunes of the Irish economy and of Irish agriculture.
The location close to Cork City, the airport and port helps make land here even more attractive and the sectors of dairying, beef, tillage and equestrian are all well-represented locally.
There should be no shortage of suitors, therefore, turning their heads and having a good look at an 89-acre farm near Castlelyons village that is brand new to the market with Fermoy-based auctioneers Dick Barry & Son. Larger quality holdings such as this one do not come on the market every day of the week in this part of the world.
The property is in the townland of Ardra, about 5km from Castlelyons, 13km from Fermoy and 16km from Midleton.
Its a very nice block of land, said selling agent Michael Barry. Its very good land and its a good area to the southeast of Castlelyons just up from Ballyvolane House.
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The outbuildings are useful but would probably need upgrading.
He explains that there are about eight or nine acres of the property which are in need of upgrading.
Its not bad land but it is in need of tidying up. Its really only a matter of opening drains it really is good land. Its all in grass and has a private bored well water supply.
The farmyard is going with the property, according to the selling agents. The buildings are useful but would probably need upgrading.
The outbuildings are a little old-fashioned, Mr Barry said. Theres a six-column haybarn with a double lean-to, a cubicle house and an old milking parlour.
However, the main draw here is the land itself and there is no doubting it will attract the attention of the many dairy farmers in the area, as well as those in tillage, beef and possibly equestrian.
Its a genuine sale and were guiding between 12,000 and 15,000 per acre, Mr Barry said.
Culture Night is all grown up as this year it celebrates its 18th birthday. Easily one of the best initiatives in recent times, the night of free events showcases all the incredible talent, culture, and history Ireland has to offer.
Here are some of the best and most unique offerings from Culture Night 2023.
CORK CITY
Walk the Walls with Barrack Street Band
Elizabeth Fort, 4pm-8.30pm
What is a Cork City event without the Barracka? You can walk the walls of one of Corks oldest and most historic sites which is staying open late for the occasion. First built in 1601, only to be rebuilt 25 years later, these walls have seen it all. While you soak up the history and the views, you will be treated to some tunes from the band from 7.30pm.
Candys Sweet as Circus Cabaret
Marina Market, 9.30pm-midnight
If you are looking for a fun-filled night of music and performance then you cant find better than this cabaret. Presented by the mother of Mockie-Ah, Candy Warhol, this feast for the senses is going to be a night that you wont want to end. Drag royalty, these burlesque beauties are at the top of their game making this the hottest ticket in town. There will be circus curiosities, DJs, and sweet treats galore.
Drag extraordinaire Candy Warhol is pictured here with Angelique Ross and Michelle Thoburn from Siolta Circus, as well as Maureen Kennelly of The Arts Council. Picture: Julien Behal
Later on Culture Night with the Green Room
Crawford Art Gallery, 9pm-11pm
The Crawford is wrapping up a day jammed with great events with a host of great music, conversation, and poetry curated by the Green Room. Novelist Danny Denton will chat with Dennis Cotter, Roisin Kelly, and Cal Doyle. Then, Vicky Langan, who has collaborated with Lankum, has curated a reel of interesting videos from Irish producers. Finally, Elaine Howley and Trick Mist will keep the party going with some tunes.
The Everyman Theatre: Tours And Family Fun
Everyman Theatre, 4pm-5.30pm
This is a great event for the whole family and will be an experience the little ones wont forget. The tour gives them the chance to meet characters from this years panto with the kids encouraged to arrive in their very best costumes. There will be singing, storytelling and lots of other fun surprises during the afternoon. Meanwhile, the tour offers a chance to peek behind the red velvet curtain to discover the theatres most fascinating stories.
Sean-Nos & Danta Seisiun
Cork City Library, 8pm
Sean-Nois singing from Maire Ni Cheileachair, and poems from Eibhlis Carcione.
CORK COUNTY
Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, with Darragh Debhial (VLR), Natalie McCormack (NATMAC) and Dan Relihan(STEAM LITE) of the Electronic Music Council who will be at Cork City Hall for Culture Night. Picture: Darragh Kane
Collective Culture: Mor Artists Pop Up Trail
Midleton town centre, 4pm-7pm
Mor Artists Collective will be celebrating the theme of Cork Culture Night 2023 I am part of this, and this is part of me. The group works across a variety of disciplines such as visual arts, performance, and literary. The art trail will see local businesses throughout Midleton hosting artists. People will have the opportunity to meet the artists at each location where they can learn more about their work.
Sound Bath with Shama Heart Space Yoga and Therapies
Midleton, 7pm-8pm
Sound baths have become hugely popular in recent years. On social media, you will often see celebrities extolling the virtues of this experience. But is there really anything to it? If youre curious, here is the perfect chance to find out for yourself. The immersive listening experience claims to promote deep relaxation and emotional release through gongs, singing bowls, rattles, drums, chimes and other instruments. Who knows, it might help you find your zen.
Create your own masterpiece
Owenabue Arts Centre and Gallery, Carrigaline, 2.30pm-9pm
This is a really fun idea that takes people from observers to participants. There will be free materials provided and then people will be encouraged to create something special either on their own or as a group. The only ask is that people work to the theme of what love means to me. The artworks will then be put on display and become a part of the Culture Night exhibition.
Jack O'Rourke will play an intimate show at St Brendan's Church in Bantry. Picture: Miki Barlok
Jack ORourke
St Brendans Church, Bantry, 8pm
Jack ORourke has been steadily building a fan base over the past number of years. He has won praise from musical legends including Tom Waits and Bill Withers. Here at home, ORourke really cemented himself into peoples hearts when his song Silence became the torch song for the marriage equality referendum. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy his songs in an intimate venue.
Cobh Supernatural Investigators: A Nocturnal Exploration of Sirius Arts Centre
Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, 9pm-11pm
Cork is no stranger to the supernatural but are you brave enough to go looking for the unknown? This team of paranormal explorers will conduct a very special night-time excursion into the arts centre. You will explore all parts of the building including backstage. Using all sorts of techniques and devices, you and the team will gather information and learn about all of the unexplained happenings that have taken place both past and present perhaps there will even be one on Culture Night.
MUNSTER
Olympic rower Monika Dukarska will be among those interviewed at The OtherSide Event. Picture: Don MacMonagle
The OtherSide Event
Kerry, Maddens, Milk Market Lane, Tralee, 7pm-10pm
The OtherSide is a talk show-style event that sets itself apart from the rest. Taking place in an intimate setting, guests get to chill out and can chat away without a formal feel stifling the conversation. The special guests on this night include Irish Olympian Monika Dukarska, choreographer Michael Keegan Dolan, and RTE journalist and filmmaker Sean Mac an tSithigh. There will also be music from Dingles own Riona Boland.
Late at Gallarus Oratory
Kerry, Gallarus Oratory Visitor Centre, 8.30pm-midnight
The Gallarus Oratory is an ancient church thats been part of the Dingle Peninsula for over 1,000 years. This Culture Night, you can see it come to life with a stunning outdoor light display created by Tim Schmelzer. The animation which uses light, colours, and sounds will be displayed on a loop at the oratory. For those who dont have their own transport, a special shuttle service will run from Dingle Town to make sure that no one has to miss out on this gorgeous experience.
The Gallarus Oratory is an ancient church thats been part of the Dingle Peninsula for over 1,000 years.
Tell Your Own Story
Limerick, UL Campus, 4pm-8pm
The Tell Your Own Story project has been running for two years and is an attempt to repair the rifts in our society by reminding us that we have far more in common than we have differences. The group encourages people from the diverse Limerick community to share their stories. The stories are then shared across the community and some of those published works will be showcased on Culture Night and people will find out how they can be a part of this wonderful initiative.
Electro Midnight Choir
Waterford, Little St Patrick Street car park, 10pm-midnight
Waterford city will be hopping thanks to this event which is being called a one-off city super creation. The description sounds spot on as the concert brings together a fusion of different genres to create something truly special. There will be electronic music, a 50-piece choir, a live band with brass strings and percussion, as well as some live dancing. Those on stage wont be the only ones dancing along.
CLUELESS in Ireland
Clare, Culturlann Sweeney Theatre, Kilkee, 7pm-9pm
No, youre not buggin, Clueless has come to Clare. Although its probably not the Clueless youre thinking of. This story follows Connie who has left her home in Germany and taken up residence in Kilkee to undertake an intensive language course. The film, which was made last summer, stars Andrea Sawatzki, Don Wycherley, and Gary Lydon. The audience will also be treated to a Q&A session with director Florian Gartner.
DUBLIN
Octonauts is just one of the popular creations produced by BrownBag Films
Brown Bag Films Animation Screenings & Kids Workshops
Smithfield Market, 4pm-8pm
Brown Bag Films have brought us shows and films such as Doc McStuffins, Octonauts, Angelas Christmas, and Peter Rabbit. Their creations have been enjoyed by millions of children around the world and have earned them widespread critical acclaim. The studio is opening its doors to children for a screening of some of its favourite animations. Not only that but kids will get the chance to learn from some of their artists who will teach them about the animation process and just have some fun doodling together.
Representation Of Consent & Sexual Violence In Arts & Culture
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre/The Sugar Club, Leeson Street, 7.30pm-10pm
This timely event kicks off with a Conversation on Consent workshop in Dublins Rape Crisis Centre. Then, it is on to the Sugar Club for a panel discussion encompassing the history, evolution, challenges, and importance of representing themes of consent, sexual violence, stereotypes, and misconceptions in art. The panel includes author Roddy Doyle, director Lenny Abrahamson, renowned intimacy co-ordinator Ita OBrien, and author Sarah Gilmartin.
Annie Macs Before Midnight
Guinness Storehouse, 7pm-11pm
The one and only Annie Mac is bringing her Before Midnight club night to the heart of Dublin on Culture Night. Guaranteed to be an epic night, the Liberties will be hopping as people dance the night away. The night will showcase the richness and depths of Irelands dance music scene. Before Midnight will definitely appeal to those who still like to dance the night away but are perhaps just a little to old to be coming home in the wee hours of the morning.
Annie Mac's Before Midnight club night will be right in the heart of the city this Culture Night.
Durty Dublin From the streets to between the sheets
The Icon Factory, Aston Place, Temple Bar, 6pm-12.30am
This exhibition by the graffiti and street art group features artworks, paraphernalia, and odds and ends from Ireland and around the world. Among the artists involved are DZ.B2B, Crosk, Shuk, Artbeat, Dublin Urban Art and for the first time Kevin Bohan will show his Bobby ink drawings. There will be slap tags and stickers, paste-ups, spray-painted art pieces, black book sketches, photographs, and more. This is an exhibition for fans and novices alike to get to know the thriving street art scene in Ireland.
A Stroll Through James Joyces Nighttown
Butt Bridge, Custom House Quay, 4pm and 6pm
Its hard in this country to mention culture with Joyces name popping up. So, of course, there is a Joycean offer for those who just cant get enough of the writer. Madams & Myths Of Monto will take a stroll through the nighttown section of the book which takes place in an area known as Monto which was reputedly Europes most notorious red light district. The tour follows the route taken by Leopold Bloom giving insight into its famous inhabitants and its regular visitors.
Commonly described as the Age of Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland, the 18th century could also be labelled the 'age of the rapparee'. This was the period when an abundance of wealthy British settlers arrived to build palatial mansions, some of which survive to this day.
This new ruling class lacked legitimacy among ordinary people, however, as many of these were Catholics who had been evicted from their land holdings.
As the population of settlers increased in Ireland, there were growing numbers of well-to-do people undertaking necessary journeys on horseback or by carriage.
Such travellers were extremely vulnerable to attack since there was no police force in Ireland prior to the 19th Century. In such a fertile ground for lawlessness, every area had its highwaymen and outlaws who lived off rich pickings.
Among the most famous were James Freney in Kilkenny, Eamonn an Chnoic in Tipperary, Redmond OHanlon in Armagh, and Willie Brennan in Cork.
Such anti-authority role models were much appreciated in times when ordinary people were oppressed and had little to lose from robbery.
So, it is perhaps unsurprising, that many highwaymen achieved a cult status as anti-establishment, but resolutely upstanding rapparees. Indeed, some were elevated to quixotic, anti-British heroes celebrated in song and story.
One such was County Waterford-based rapparee, William Crotty. Born at Russellstown on the western edge of the Comeragh Mountains, he was reputedly the son of a poor farmer who had been evicted from his holding.
Active during the early part of the 18th Century he was, unlike Eamon an Chnoic and Redmond O'Hanlon, not of genteel extraction and does not appear to have become an outlaw as part of an ideological opposition to British rule.
Details about him are a trifle hazy, but he seems to have become a highwayman simply because few other options presented themselves. If that is the case it was, initially at least, a successful choice.
According to local folklore, he led a gang of highwaymen, who stole from the rich settlers but then distributed the taking among poor people.
With an unmatched knowledge of the Comeragh Mountains, he was adept at giving his pursuers the slip by hiding near a remote lake, to which he gave his name, and reversing the shoes on his horses to put pursuers off his track.
At the spectacular viewing point above the lake, known today as Crottys Rock, the outlaw kept watch for redcoats moving towards him. In such an eventuality, plan B was a retreat to a claustrophobic cave on the opposite side of the lake, which could only be accessed by use of a rope.
The mouth of Crotty's Cave. Picture: John G O'Dwyer
Unable to apprehend him, the British authorities resorted to bribing his close associate, David Norris. According to legend, Norris, having tipped off the authorities of his whereabouts, plied Crotty with whiskey to make him sleepy, before wetting his gunpowder and stealing his dagger.
When soldiers arrived, Crotty was easy meat: inebriated and defenseless. He was put on trial at Ballybricken in Waterford City and found guilty.
After being hanged, his head was cut off and left on display outside the county jail as a stark warning to other outlaws. Then, in a final melodramatic denouement, his wife is reputed to have jumped to her death from the rocks above his hideout.
Robbing the rich to help the poor may have been Crotty's modus operandi, but apparently, he also retained some of the cash to cover expenses.
Local legend holds that this golden hoard still awaits a lucky finder somewhere amid the Comeragh fastness, while also maintaining that Crottys ghost is sometimes to be seen seeking the lost treasure.
Weekend walking and camping at Crottys lake in the Comeragh Mountains. Absolutely fabulous pic.twitter.com/s3I3tzfBYH Niamh McGuinness (@n_mcguinn) August 22, 2022
When I first sought out Crottys Cave, its inaccessibility was emphasised by the fact that I failed to find it. Availing of local knowledge, I later uncovered its entrance in a small crag just above the lake.
Immediately obvious was the fact that the cave is accessible without a rope, but it was also clear that all the advantages would lie with a defender.
The entrance requires an upward scramble through a narrow, vertical fissure, where an attacker would be extremely vulnerable to assault from above.
Then, it was a tight squeeze down a passage before the cave turns sharply to reach a ledge, which could have made a rough sleeping place for the outlaw.
Certainly, the idea that the cave would have been a hideout for Crotty had a ring of truth; desperate measures would have been necessary to avoid the hangmans noose, and here was an ideal sanctuary for an 18th-century outlaw.
Tiny, brand-new, perfect in your eyes yet from the minute your baby is born they are being tested.
Babies go through several checks throughout their first 18 months, says Mr Afif El-Khuffash, consultant neonatologist and paediatrician at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin.
It all starts straightaway.
Theres the immediate check by the midwife to ensure no major issues can be identified. And babies are usually weighed shortly after birth.
Before the baby is discharged from hospital, a paediatric doctor does a full head-to-toe examination.
Its usually done after the babys first 24 hours some heart conditions may not be apparent before then, says El-Khuffash.
As part of this clinical examination, a light is shone into the babys eyes to check for cataracts, their legs and hips are gently bent to detect dislocated hips, their hearing is screened and, if the baby is a boy, theres a check to ensure testicles are in the right place.
Your babys pulse and oxygen levels are also checked.
El-Khuffash says Ireland is one of the leading countries to have introduced the newborn oxygen test. Using infrared technology, it is quick and painless.
In the UK, some question the benefit of universal rollout its a resource issue. Weve had it in Ireland for 10 years. It has been proven to detect heart and lung conditions that we mightnt find otherwise.
He explains that the oxygen test is a one-off check.
If babys well, theres no need to check it again.
The pre-discharge examination includes a weight check to ensure the baby hasnt lost too much of their birth weight.
All babies lose seven to 10% of their birth weight in the first few days, explains El-Khuffash, adding that 75% regain it after a week, and by two weeks, 95% have put that weight back on.
Heel prick test
Before the baby is discharged from hospital, a paediatric doctor does a full head-to-toe examination. File picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Newborn bloodspot screening heel prick test is done within the first 72-120 hours of life and currently screens for nine conditions.
The test was developed by American microbiologist Dr Robert Guthrie in 1960 after seeing his niece with phenylketonuria (PKU).
One of the conditions screened for in the Irish programme, PKU causes build-up of an amino acid in the blood and brain, which can lead to brain damage.
El-Khuffash explains that the baby needs to be established on feeds for the heel prick test to be accurate.
It tests for these rare but serious conditions that affect different chemical processes in the body. If identified early, they can be treated and managed well, and complications avoided.
"Theyre all lifelong conditions but people can live with them.
The test can sting, he says.
We encourage mums to feed their baby while its being done, but the tests an easy way to draw blood without causing baby too much discomfort.
Along with PKU, the conditions tested for are: classical galactosaemia, congenital hypothyroidism, cystic fibrosis, glutaric aciduria type 1, homocystinuria, maple syrup urine disease, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency and adenosine deaminase deficiency (ADA-SCID).
ADA-SCID was added to the Irish programme only last year. A rare and potentially very serious inherited disease, it causes a lack of a chemical that breaks down toxins in the bodys cells.
HIQA is currently examining adding spinal muscular atrophy to the newborn screening programme.
A rare, genetic condition, this causes irreversible damage to nerves that control movement and leads to muscle-wasting and weakness.
Any parental questions about feeding, sleeping, child safety, can also be addressed when the nurse visits.
Its severity and age at which symptoms present varies, with some forms historically resulting in death in early childhood.
In recent years, new treatments have become available with potential to significantly improve outcomes.
Once the baby is home, the public health nurse (PHN) visits within the first three days.
The nurse usually weighs and examines the baby, assesses mums health and gives information and support on parenting and local resources.
Any parental questions about feeding, sleeping, child safety, can also be addressed.
At two weeks of age, and again at six weeks, the baby is seen by the GP to ensure no issues are emerging.
The six-week visit is a full head-to-toe examination.
Everythings being checked for, says El-Khuffash.
Their movement, their heart and lungs. Are they pooing regularly, gaining weight, are there any issues with feeding?
Responses and alertness
At three months, the PHN organises a developmental assessment, which takes place in the health centre.
Whats being checked?
Head-to-toe physical examination looks at eyes, ears, genitalia, limbs, breathing, and fontanelles (soft spot on babys head).
Weight and measurement.
If a boy, testicles to ensure they have moved down into the scrotum.
Babys responses, their alertness, if they smile and other facial interactions.
Posture and gross motor skills, e.g. arms and legs co-ordination, how baby holds their body. Can they hold their head erect for several seconds?
How your baby uses their hands do they respond to finger play? Do they watch hands their own and the nurses.
Fine motor skills use of small muscles such as those in hands/fingers: e.g. Will baby hold a rattle?
The PHN also looks at the shape of the babys head. If theyre spending a lot of time on their back they can get a flat head, says El-Khuffash, who points to the gap between the three-month check and the next one at nine/11 months.
He adds, however, that at two, four and six months of age, babies visit the GP for their vaccines.
Theyve an encounter with a healthcare provider. The main purpose is to administer the vaccine, but parents have another opportunity to ask questions.
Developmental checks
Mr Afif El-Khuffash is a consultant neonatologist and paediatrician at the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin.
At nine to 11 months, the PHN checks babys physical, social and behavioural development.
Checks will be similar to the three-month ones, though modified to what would be expected of a child at this developmental stage.
For example, the PHN will look at the babys sitting and crawling. Can they sit with/without support? Can they support their weight on their legs?
Does baby poke at objects with their index finger or use their hands to take objects?
When it comes to hearing, does baby listen when spoken to, respond to requests and enjoy games like peek-a-boo?
How is their speech development? Are they babbling, using gestures to communicate or copying different speech sounds?
Does baby respond to peoples expressions and take interest in their own reflection in a mirror?
Next up is the 21 to 24-month developmental check.
Similar areas are looked at but, again, the checks are to ensure baby is doing the more advanced tasks appropriate to this stage.
Abilities looked at include:
Picking up small objects, sorting shapes by size/colour, drinking from a cup, feeding themselves.
Pointing to a few body parts when asked, following simple commands, understanding simple questions/stories/songs/rhymes.
Saying more words every month, putting two words to work together, understanding someone- or two-word questions.
El-Khuffash says developmental checks provide a great opportunity to educate parents.
So much information is thrown at them in the early stages its difficult to absorb. So its important they have continuous encounters with health professionals.
But while there is this recommended time frame for the different developmental checks, El-Khuffash says some tests may not be happening in the community.
Its because of a lack of resources. I know a lot of parents whose child didnt get the three-month or the nine/11-month check, so they look to do these checks privately.
Katie Mugan, PHN and lactation consultant (nursingmama.ie), says a big aim with any of the developmental checks is to educate and support, as well as to observe any developmental issues.
Its also about educating towards the next stage babys approaching, so at three months we educate towards the weaning process.
When it comes to parental worries, Mugan says: They always worry about the scales are babys needs being met with what theyre taking in? Sometimes she finds herself educating others besides mum and dad.
Katie Mugan, PHN and lactation consultant, presents The Baby Tribe podcast alongside Mr El-Khuffash
Practices have changed from what our parents would have done. Grandparents can give conflicting advice, so sometimes its about educating the whole family.
Another big area of concern for parents is sleep whats normal and what isnt.
Parents are subjected to so much information online about babies sleeping all night. If their infant isnt doing that, it creates huge concern.
"Yet research shows very few babies sleep for these long stretches of time.
Mr Afif El-Khuffash presents The Baby Tribe podcast alongside Katie Mugan. Topics relate to newborn- and baby care. A recent episode looked at baby development checks and toddler milestones.
For more information on your child's health checks, visit the [url=https://www2.hse.ie/babies-children/checks-milestones/health-checks/until-6-months/#after-your-child-is-born]HSE website[/url]
A young Irish student has died following a kayaking trip in the United States on Sunday afternoon.
Ella Mills was a third-year Trinity College student from Dublin who had only arrived in the country earlier in September.
She was studying at Columbia University in New York as a part of a dual BA program with Trinity
Ms Mills died in the kayaking incident while on a trip with the university's Whitewater Kayaking Club on the Potomac River near Washington DC on Sunday afternoon.
In a statement, Columbia University said she is survived by her parents, brother, and sister.
A reflection service to remember her was held at the university on Monday evening.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs told the Irish Examiner that it is "aware of this tragic incident and is providing support and assistance to the family".
Principal for Ms Mills' former school, Ronan Walsh paid tribute to the young woman who was a "much cherished past student of Sutton Park School."
Her mother, Jo-Ann Feely currently sits as Chair on the Board of Management for the Dublin school, and Ms Mills' two siblings, Isabel and Leo are currently in their second year in the school.
"It is with great sadness that I write to let you know that our former pupil Ella Mills died tragically in a Kayaking accident on Sunday in Washington DC," Mr Walsh said in a statement.
"This is a truly tragic time. Words fail us all. Our sympathies and thoughts are with Ellas family and her large group of friends."
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he hopes the Irish government will do all it can to support a new legacy body established to examine hundreds of unresolved Troubles deaths.
Mr Heaton-Harris described the granting of royal assent for the Governments Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill on Monday as a significant milestone.
The controversial legislation will provide a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery.
It will also prevent future civil cases and inquests.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Irish government is seeking legal advice over the UKs new legacy Bill (Brian Lawless/PA)
The Bill was opposed by all major Stormont parties, the government and victims campaign groups.
Several families of Troubles victims have already launched legal challenges to the new laws.
The Irish government said it has requested legal advice as it considers taking a case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights.
But Mr Heaton-Harris said the legacy of the Troubles was one of the key issues left unaddressed since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.
He added: Yesterdays royal assent of the Northern Ireland (Troubles & Reconciliation) Act marks a significant milestone as the Government aims to deliver on our pledge to deliver better outcomes for those most affected by the Troubles, while helping society to look forward.
I recognise getting to this juncture has been a hugely difficult task for all.
The legislation contains finely balanced political and moral choices.
It presents us all with a real opportunity to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families, moving away from established mechanisms that have left far too many empty-handed.
Now that the legislation has become law, the UK Government will do all it can to support the ICRIR, consistent with its operational independence
The Bill formally establishes the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), which will be led by former lord chief justice Declan Morgan with former senior police officer Peter Sheridan as its commissioner for investigations.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said: I know Sir Declan and his team of commissioners will approach the task with the rigour, integrity and professionalism required.
If we are truly to provide greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families of the Troubles and help society to move forward in the spirit of reconciliation, we must build a legacy process founded on integrity, expertise and fairness.
Now that the legislation has become law, the UK Government will do all it can to support the ICRIR, consistent with its operational independence, as it establishes itself and seeks to deliver effectively for victims and families.
I hope that others, including the Irish government, can do the same.
We now have a limited window to "get on top of" the threat Artificial Intelligence (AI) has in controlling us, Tanaiste Micheal Martin has warned.
It comes after UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said AI may now lead the world into "more danger than we can control".
Addressing world leaders in New York, Mr Guterres said the establishment of a new global organisation, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency, must now be considered to address both the benefits and the dangers.
When I mentioned artificial intelligence in my General Assembly speech in 2017, only two other leaders even uttered the term.
"Now AI is on everyones lips a subject of both awe and fear," Mr Guterres said.
"Even some of those who developed generative AI are calling for greater regulation, he said.
But many of the dangers of digital technology are not looming on the horizon. They are here.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said AI may now lead the world into 'more danger than we can control'.
Mr Martin, who is also attending UN week in New York, said all countries must now work together on the emerging threat from the technology.
"In respect of AI, no nation can meet that challenge on its own, it's very, very important that we would be part of that international collaboration on making sure that AI serves human beings as opposed to controlling human beings into the future."
Welcoming any global effort, he said AI provides both "potential" and "peril", adding that there now an opportunity to "get on top" of AI.
US president Joe Biden also warned the UN General Assembly that the world needs to make sure it governs AI and "not the other way around".
He said any new technology are used as "tools of opportunity, not as weapons of oppression"
"Emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence hold both enormous potential and enormous peril.
"Together with leaders around the world, the United States is working to strengthen rules and policies so AI technologies are safe before they're released to the public. To make sure we govern this technology, not the other way around, having it govern us.
Mr Biden said he is committed to working with the UN, international bodies, and directly with leaders around the world, "including our competitors", to ensure "we harness the power of artificial intelligence for good, while protecting our citizens from its most profound risk".
He added: "It's going to take all of us. I've been working on this for a while."
Turning to criticisms of the UN made by President Michael D Higgins, who said the organisation is "losing credibility, Mr Martin said many of the issues lie with individual countries and not the UN as a whole.
"Millions and millions of people around the world would be destitute, would be very much the poorer without the United Nations and without agencies of the United Nations."
However, he said the security council does need reform to address a "paralysis and gridlock" within it.
Asked whether the President's intervention was appropriate, Mr Martin said he had not seen the comments, but added:
"The President is passionate about global affairs and has been passionate about global hunger and he has led well, in respect of these issues."
Its not always a given, but a businesss success and growth can translate into heavy-duty involvement in property, construction and, indeed, development.
In some cases, a progressive company can have an impact on an entire community, be it a village, a town, or even a city.
Conversely, a regressive company can have the same sale of impact, only negatively, if or when they retrench, rescale, or fail.
Often, we see and only get to appreciate how ingrained and interwoven with a community a business, or an entire industry has become when it folds and hits headlines: the loss of employment, livelihoods and indeed identity can be devastating.
A departure rocks locales and sends ripples and repercussions around the country, or even beyond.
But, the vital role played by companies that are growing, are continuing to thrive, and are investing in people and places as well as products sometimes gets overlooked in the day-to-day fare of business as usual.
We can take them for granted until they are gone.
Shoppers wander through Opera Lane on their way to Patrick's Street, Cork. The lane was developed by Owen O'Callaghan, 2004 Cork Company of the Year winner. Picture: David Creedon / Anzenberger
So, anything to provide recognition of impact, ingenuity, success, positivity, progress and connection to community such as Cork Chambers Company of the Year has to be lauded and admired.
A look back and, forward at some of the winners of the Cork Company of the Year awards helps explain much of contemporary Corks economy and thus physical development over just a handful of decades, even as some of those companies themselves evolved, ebbed and flowed, moved into new generation(s) of ownership, either within families or more diverse corporate structures, and continue to reinvent themselves.
Examples of individual companies impacting on their local communities can be seen, interestingly, in companies located even miles outside of the city hub, such as Irish Distillers in East Cork/centrally in Midleton, and Lilly, or pharma and bio-pharm giant Eli Lilly, based in Kinsale.
Billions
Irish Distillers (a COY winner in 2020) has seven decades of links to East Cork, both with grain growers and its distillery workforce, and the roots of the business go back way further, two and a half centuries, to the original Midleton distilleries before a 1960s merger put Irish whiskey on a new, (ironically steady) footing.
Expenditure of over 200m in the most recent decade has boosted the local economy and wider construction and grain growing sectors, with a new distillery in the wings too, and the wage bill is vital too both in Midleton/Cork and in its Dublin Ballsbridge HQ.
A slightly newer arrival, but nonetheless important to its rural community setting was the 2021 COY winner, Lilly or Eli Lilly, in Dunderrow on the outskirts of Kinsale, present there since the late 1970s, built on a then-greenfield site and virtually out of sight ever since despite continuing campus and plant expansions.
Apart from its steady physical plant growth, it has been a huge injector of cash into the local (and wider) economy, possibly even on a par with tourism, on the housing front for its thousand+ employees, its support for local hotels and restaurants, and is now also expanding in Limerick, and also has a major Cork business park office presence in EastGate, Little Island, for its Global Business Solutions wing.
Interestingly, Lilly also won COY back in 2009, and while many of the Cork regions other major pharma companies have yet to appear in this list, medical sciences do get representation, with Boston Scientific winning in 2018 with plants at Clonmel, Galway, and Model Farm Road in Corks city suburbs where, coincidentally Stryker whos just this years COY winner also has a location, along with Stryker operations in east Corks Carrigtwohill, and in Limerick.
Trillions
Is there a Company of the year winner as big a name globally as Apple? Hardly, and its huge in Cork too.
A company with stock market listing in the trillions of dollars, it has been in Cork since 1980 where its presence is in some ways is a microcosm of the larger companys own growth trajectory.
It now employs over 6,000 in and around Cork, with its Hollyhill campus on the hills crowning the citys northside although its largely out of sight to the average Corkonian. It spans c one million sq ft, and is adding another 240,000 sq ft in the next year or two.
Already the citys largest office spread campus and solo-occupied, Apples expanding mother ship campus (its building on into a former car park) can be seen mostly as a glow in the sky at evening and night times from the western approaches to the city.
Apple previously had a research facility on the Model Farm Road in a technology park but vacated as it ramped up space occupied in the city centre and at the mother ship, with its Cork workforce exporting goods and services to almost 150 countries and with employees from up to 80 different countries, helping to underpin the citys broadening multi-cultural range of ethnic cafes and shops, and underpinning house purchase and rental accommodation demand.
Offices
Prior to taking c 40,000 sq ft at Horgans Quay in the north docks, Apple was understood to have been looking for up to 100,00 sq ft of city offices, both on the north and south quays, before adjusting its need for the time.
Might it come back for more? Corks major office suppliers certainly hope so, as Apple will be looking for the highest standard of environmentally friendly/Gold LEED and sustainable buildings if they do. They could nicely round out schemes both in train and in the pipeline by established developers (Cork has over 164,000 sq m/1.8 million sq ft of office with planning permission in place and not yet commenced, out of a total stock of c.7 million sq ft of offices).
A model of the Dunkettle interchange road, looking east to west at the Little Island flyover, showing the red parts which were the latest to open to traffic. Picture: Eddie O'Hare
Any developer worth his or her salt values a major employer to anchor an office block and new development, as they would a retailer to anchor a mixed-use or shopping centre development.
Tyco (now Johnson Controls) was a coup tenant for JCD Group at One Albert Quay, and was a COY winner in 2016 as its star was rapidly rising, and happy to pay then top rate city centre office rents, in contrast perhaps to other as-large employers and indeed COY winners who prefer lower profile suburban or business park presences at locations dotted around the city, at the airport, Mahon, east of the tunnel and west by Ballincollig and at 2010s COY winner EMCs stand-alone base at Ovens, fostering several spin-off and supply companies west of the city.
Company of the Year winner in 2004, OCallaghan Properties (OCP), has arguably had a bigger impact on the physical development of Corks metropolitan region in the past half a century since being founded by the late Owen OCallaghan in 1969.
Shops
Interestingly its the only property development/construction firm to date to win a COY gong, despite the fact other several very large firms in the same broad sector are internationally active but Cork-based and have had dramatic impacts on the citys built footprint, suburban shopping centres, sprawling retail parks, sundry metropolitan expansions and, indeed, on the citys skyline.
It has not just been Cork, of course, as OCP has been active in Dublin (think Liffey Valley) and London for decades. By now in second-generation OCallaghan family control, theyve delivered over 5 million sq ft of retail and office schemes on the two islands as well as 7,000 residential units, the majority of the latter in Cork and with scope for millions more sq ft of development in its south docks landbanks, with several planning phases in hand for mixed uses, to include apartments.
It has had an especially major impact on the retail scene, in Cork primarily (it also did shopping centres in Limerick and Athlone) having done centres of various sizes at Merchants Quay, North Main Street, Paul Street and Opera Lane amongst others, as well as smaller centre in the likes of Glanmire.
In one of the citys biggest pivots of the last 25 years, OCP (with McCarthy Developments) bought strategic land banks at the citys Mahon as the N40/Jack Lynch Tunnel/Mahon opened up a whole new suburban quadrant for mixed uses.
It has since been joined there by other quality developers such as JCD delivering buildings for offices and medical-related companies, whilst Mahons also been home to another COY winner, Project Management Group, whose broad construction expertise output is also international.
Back in the city centre, Opera Lane was a sort of equalisation for retail when it brought shopping High Street and mall-like big name (UK, mostly) shops and brands to a whole new Cork city centre street, and its importance cant be overstated.
Once more, Opera Lane showed Owen OCallahans ability to work with/deliver for the City Council as it had done when buying land in Mahon and decade or more earlier, as City Hall wanted key presences like car dealers Johnson & Perrott and the printing presses of Thomas Crosbie Holdings (a 2002 COY winner) moved away from St Patrick Street after a century of so of now-outdated uses there.
Both functions were relocated to Mahon, in an adept example of providing physically entrenched businesses with solutions and to move with the times challenges.
Suburbs
Like anything, there can be swings and roundabouts. Locations that work one day, or for a decade or two for a business can pivot or spring back: witness the return of major law firm Ronan Daly Jermyn (a COY winner in 2005) back to Cork citys traditional commerce, corporate and business heartland at the South Mall, after a decade or so in the inner burbs, at Mahon.
Some Company of the Year trailblazers occupy several locations in and around Cork city and county, and beyond, yet their impact on the public consciousness is more dispersed: think the likes of agri-giants such as twice-winner Carbery (2011 and again in 2022) and Dairygold (2017), as well as SWS Group (2006 and 2012 winner): their importance is known more strongly in the county. Cork doesnt just sell itself, it sells to the entire country.
Some of Irelands biggest retail brands started out in Cork, including Dunnes Stores on St Patricks Street in 1943 (where it rebuilt its Dunnes flagship store a few years ago) and Roches Stores, starting out in 1901, and trading in large and much-loved department stores in several cities until 2007.
Older still, and going from strength to strength, is another Cork Company of the Year, the two-time winner Musgraves, an early victor 25 years ago, in 1998, and back again in 2007).
Musgraves not only has two major employment and logistics footprints in Cork city, at Turners Cross and nearby at Ballycurreen, but its quite spread and standout in other ways too as it has a toe and a fingerhold in just about every Irish city, town and indeed village. Via its SuperValu and Centra shops and other food brands it supports over 40,000 jobs in 1,000 locations, primarily Irish but also overseas.
The 147-year-old family business kicked off this very diverse web from Corks very own and aptly-titled Grand Parade with the ongoing Company of the Year accolade a quite different sort of grand parade, of prowess.
Former US president Donald Trump is copping backlash from Republicans after he launched a direct attack on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his legislative ban on abortion for pregnancies beyond six weeks of gestation.
Mr Trump appeared on NBCs Meet the Press programme to discuss the run-up to the 2024 presidential election and his policies for his possible second term.
Whilst on the programme, Mr Trump condemned the Bill signed by Governer of Florida, Mr DeSantis, which prohibits abortions after six weeks; before many women even know that they are pregnant.
Mr Trump said: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake.
Mr Trump repeatedly refused to be drawn into a discussion as to whether he would support a federal ban on abortion but did say he could live with the procedure being banned by individual states or nationwide through federal action.
However, he said, from a legal standpoint, I think its probably better for abortion legislation to be handled at the state level.
Mr Trump has so far dominated the 2024 campaign field and has, at times, spurned anti-abortion groups that traditionally have a major influence on the Republican primaries.
But his direct attack on the Florida Governor could give his Republican opponent new fodder as Mr DeSantis tries to regain momentum in his campaign and solidify his second-place standing.
Speaking to an Iowa radio station on Monday, Mr DeSantis said he was proud to have signed the Florida legislation, which he called noble and just.
Mr DeSantis told Radio Iowa: I dont know how you can even make the claim that youre somehow pro-life if youre criticising states for enacting pro-life protections for babies.
He went on to slam the former presidents statement that both sides of the abortion debate could be worked with to come up with the best possible policy.
Mr DeSantis said: I think all pro-lifers should know that hes preparing to sell you out.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (Bryon Houlgrave/AP)
On Monday, Republican senator for South Carolina Tim Scott specifically named Mr Trump while discussing abortion legislation at a campaign stop in Mason City, Iowa.
He mentioned other unnamed Republican candidates but specifically accused Mr Trump of retreating on the issue.
Mr Scott said: Frankly, those pro-life folks that we really want to stand with us are not standing.
President Trump said he would negotiate with Democrats and walked back away from where I believe we need to be, which is a 15-week limit on the federal level.
Other Republicans in some key states, including those backing his rivals, expressed displeasure after the interview with NBC.
South Carolina state representative John McCravy, who sponsored the most recent, restrictive abortion measures, said he was certainly disappointed with Mr Trumps words.
Mr McCravy said: It sounded completely out of step with his staunch support for life while he was president.
Russia has launched a massive drone attack on the western city of Lviv, burning down a warehouse said to be storing humanitarian supplies and killing a man, Ukrainian authorities have said.
Ukraine intercepted most of the 30 Shahed drones overnight, the air force said on Tuesday.
But drones that got through air defence systems sparked a blaze at the industrial storage facility, governor Maksym Kozytsky said.
The UN humanitarian co-ordinator for Ukraine condemned the drone strikes and said they burned down a charitys warehouse containing vital relief supplies.
Denise Brown said the attack violated international humanitarian law protecting workers, facilities and supplies.
Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war, Ms Brown said.
Direct attacks or indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited. International humanitarian law is not an option, it is an obligation and must be upheld.
In other Russian strikes, an artillery strike in Kherson in the south hit a bus, killing a police sergeant and wounding two men, said Ihor Klymenko, Ukraines minister of internal affairs.
That strike also set a warehouse on fire.
The developments in the war front come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in New York to address the UN General Assembly and Security Council before going to Washington on Thursday to meet with politicians and US President Joe Biden.
Firefighters working after a Russian attack in Lviv on Tuesday (Ukrainian Emergency Service/AP)
Mr Zelenskyy has continued to drum up funding and support for new weapons as the counteroffensive Ukraine launched in June approaches what could be its final weeks before wet weather slows progress.
Ukraine has made small advances but no major breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said, while in Germany attending the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, that the 31 M1 Abrams tanks it promised will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as was expected.
Norway said it will donate approximately 50 tracked cargo carriers to Ukraine.
In a statement on Tuesday, Norwegian defence minister Bjorn Arild Gram said they will help get supplies to areas without roads.
Leaders of a world fractured by war, climate change and persisting inequality have gathered under one roof to hear the UN chief summon them to take united action on humanitys huge challenges and to start delivering their own assessments on the most global of stages.
Our world is becoming unhinged. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond, Antonio Guterres told the people who run the worlds nations on Tuesday.
He said the United Nations and the ways that countries co-operate must evolve to meet the era.
The world has changed. Our institutions have not, Mr Guterres said before the opening of the UN General Assemblys General Debate.
Mr Guterres addresses the General Assembly (Richard Drew/AP)
We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions dont reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem.
He said the world needs action now not merely more words to deal with the worsening climate emergency, escalating conflicts, dramatic technological disruptions and a global cost-of-living crisis which is increasing hunger and poverty.
This years week-long session, the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the Covid pandemic disrupted travel, has 145 leaders scheduled to speak.
It is a large number, reflecting the multitude of crises and conflicts.
But for the first time in years, US President Joe Biden, who will speak soon after the UN chief, will be the only leader from the five powerful veto-wielding nations on the UN Security Council to address the 193-member assembly.
Chinas Xi Jinping, Russias Vladimir Putin, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Rishi Sunak are all skipping the UN this year.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky listens to speakers (Seth Wenig/AP)
That should put the spotlight on Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky, who will be making his first appearance at the assemblys podium later on Tuesday, and on Mr Biden, who will be watched especially for his views on China, Russia and Ukraine.
The absence of leaders from the four Security Council powers has sparked grumbling from developing countries who want major global players to listen to their demands including for money to start closing the growing gap between the worlds haves and have-nots.
The G77, the major UN group of developing countries that now has 134 members including China, lobbied hard to make this years global gathering focus on the 17 UN goals adopted by world leaders in 2015.
Those are badly lagging at the halfway point to their 2030 due date.
At a two-day summit to kick-start action to achieve the goals, Mr Guterres pointed to grim findings in a UN report in July.
He said 15% of some 140 specific targets to achieve the 17 goals are on track.
Many are going in the wrong direction and not a single one is expected to be achieved in the next seven years.
The wide-ranging goals include end extreme poverty and hunger, ensure every child gets a quality secondary education, achieve gender equality and make significant inroads in tackling climate change all by 2030.
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres speaks at the start of the session (Seth Wenig/AP)
At the current rate, the report said, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children will not even be going to primary school in 2030 and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women.
Mr Guterres told leaders at Mondays opening of the summit he called to rescue the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) that they promised in 2015 to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all people and to pay for it.
Soon after he spoke, leaders from the 193 UN member nations adopted a 10-page political declaration by consensus which recognises that the goals are in peril.
But it reaffirms more than a dozen times, in different ways, leaders commitment to achieve the SDGs, reiterating their individual importance.
The declaration is short on specifics but Mr Guterres said he was deeply encouraged by its commitment to improving developing countries access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance.
He pointed to its support for an SDG stimulus of at least 500 billion US dollars (about 403.2 billion) a year, aimed at offsetting challenging market conditions faced by developing countries.
US President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York before attending the United Nations General Assembly (Susan Walsh/AP)
At the summit, leaders are supposed to make pledges to meet the SDGs.
As an example, Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who chairs the UN group of least developed countries, said they need massive scaling up of affordable finance, including through the SDG stimulus.
He said foreign investment to the least developed countries fell about 30% in 2022 compared to 2021, and he urged developed countries to be more generous in helping the worlds poorest countries.
There are also hundreds of side events during the high-level week.
The European Unions top diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters after a closed meeting to try to revive the decades-old peace process between Israel and the Palestinians that there was a strong commitment to the two-state solution.
He said there were 60 participants at the meeting organised by the EU, the Arab League and several other countries, and called it a good starting point.
There was an injection of new political will, Mr Borrell said.
YouTube has stopped Russell Brand making money on its platform because of the rape and sexual assault allegations made against him.
The Google-owned company said it has suspended the monetisation of the 48-year-olds channel because he was violating its creator responsibility policy.
The BBC has also announced it was removing some content from its iPlayer and Sounds apps which now falls below public expectations.
An episode of QI and a Joe Wicks podcast, both featuring Brand as a guest, have been removed.
It comes as the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee chairwoman Caroline Dinenage has written to the BBC, Channel 4 and TikTok to request for further details on what actions they are taking in response to the allegations and to GB News in relation to their coverage of the claims.
Brands YouTube account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended from YouTubes Partner account following serious allegations against the creator, meaning the channel is no longer able to make money from advertising on the platform.
In a statement, YouTube said the decision applied to all channels that may be owned or operated by Brand, adding: If a creators off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community.
The news comes after the remaining shows of Brands Bipolarisation tour were postponed and the London Metropolitan Police said they had received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.
A BBC spokesperson said: The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so.
There is limited content featuring Russell Brand on iPlayer and Sounds. Weve reviewed that content and made a considered decision to remove some of it, having assessed that it now falls below public expectations.
Russell Brand faces claims about his sexual behaviour at the height of his fame (James Manning/PA)
Ms Diniage has said: This weekend we have seen some very serious and disturbing accusations about Russell Brands behaviour and we understand that the police are now looking into some of these allegations.
As a first step, our committee has decided that we will today write to media outlets, including the BBC and Channel 4, to understand the actions they are taking as we consider some of the issues around these allegations.
In separate letters to Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon and BBC director-general Tim Davie, the committee chairwoman asked for a timescale and regular updates on their internal investigation.
The letters also requested updates on the investigation being conducted by Banijay UK, which bought Endemol, the company commissioned by Channel 4 to produce the Big Brother spin-off shows Brand hosted, into his behaviour while he was working on their programmes.
She added: We urge both the BBC and Channel 4 to do everything possible not only to ensure that employees, contributors and suppliers feel safe at work, but also create an environment whereby people can speak out when procedures are breached.
Meanwhile, TikToks director of Government relations, Theo Bertram, was asked whether Brand could monetise his posts on the video sharing platform, where he has 2.3 million followers.
Ms Diniage also asked what the platform is doing to ensure that creators are not able to use the platform to undermine the welfare of victims of inappropriate and potentially illegal behaviour.
She also wrote to GB News chief executive Angelos Frangopoulos in regard to their presenter Beverly Turner supporting Brand in a tweet over the weekend and defending it while presenting coverage of the allegations on her show on Monday morning.
She wrote that while Turner was challenged on her comments by her co-presenter Andrew Pierce, the committee remained concerned that having a presenter so clearly supporting an individual who is the subject of intense media coverage, including seeking their appearance on the show, undermines any perception of due impartiality in the broadcasting.
The chairwoman asked the broadcaster what actions it intend to take in response and for it to set out the discussions it has with its presenter on their responsibilities on due impartiality and professionalism.
Brand still has a presence on video platform Rumble, where his channel has 1.4 million followers and he hosts a weekly live show at 5pm BST, but there was no new episode on Monday.
His most recent video on Rumble is the short clip from Friday when he denied the allegations against him, which were published the following day.
His Rumble channel description reads: Everybody knows that the old ideas wont help us. Religion is dead. Capitalism is dead. Communism is dead. Where will the answers of the next century lie? Particularly, when were facing a mental health epidemic and ecological meltdown.
He also has a dedicated subscribers area on the online community platform Locals, where members can sign up for a minimum 60 US dollars (48) a year or enter a higher amount if they wish to donate more in order to access special bonus content from Brand, as well as the opportunity to interact with him directly.
Brand has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame and working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films, following a joint investigation by The Times, Sunday Times and Channel 4s Dispatches.
He has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.
His YouTube channel includes coverage of news stories, including alleged misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and being an outspoken sceptic of the vaccine.
Last year, one of his videos was taken down on YouTube over the sites policy on Covid-19 disinformation, which prompted Brand to move his channel to Rumble.
On Tuesday, The Times reported that several other women have since come forward with fresh claims about Brand.
One woman, using the fake name Lisa, told the paper the comedian had sung about Soham killer Ian Huntley during a consensual sexual encounter in 2008.
Another woman, known as Esme, told The Times that Brand had been threatening and verbally abusive towards her when she refused to have sex with him.
In a now deleted YouTube video, Brand can be heard joking about raping a woman during a recording of Richard Herrings Leicester Square Theatre Podcast in 2013.
Before the first allegations were published, Brand posted a video on Friday saying he has been promiscuous but that all of his relationships have been consensual.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told world leaders on Tuesday that Russia is weaponising everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine.
While the world has various agreements that restrict arms themselves, there are no real restrictions on weaponisation, he said at the UN General Assemblys annual top-level meeting.
Mr Zelenskyy took to the world stage at a sensitive point in his countrys campaign to maintain international support for its fight. Nearly 19 months after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion, Ukrainian forces are three months into a counteroffensive that has not gone as fast or as well as initially hoped.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is greeted as he arrives for the start of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. Picture: AP Photo/Craig Ruttle
Ukraine and its allies cast the countrys cause as a battle for the rule of international law, for the sovereignty of every country with a powerful and potentially expansionist neighbour, and for the stability of global food, fuel and other supplies that have been rocked by the war.
The commodity upheaval has triggered inflation and caused serious hardships for poor countries.
We must stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, US President Joe Biden told the assembly earlier on Tuesday in his own speech.
As he pledged support to Ukraine, there was a round of applause, and the UN cameras showed Mr Zelenskyy, sitting in Ukraines seat in the General Assembly, clapping his hands.
Russia insists its war is justified, claiming that it is defending Russian speakers in Ukraine from a hostile government and Russian interests against Nato encroachment, and more.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits with wounded Ukrainian soldiers at Staten Island University Hospital in New York. Picture: AP Photo/Bryan Woolston, Pool
The war has raged longer and losses have been greater than Russia hoped, and the fighting has spurred widespread international condemnation and sanctions against Moscow.
But the Kremlin also has influential friends that have not joined the chorus of censure: China and India have staked out neutral positions, as have many Middle Eastern and African nations. Many Latin American and Caribbean countries prefer to focus world attention on other global issues, including climate change and conflict in Africa.
Moscow is keen to display its global influence and its relationship with China and insists that it cannot be internationally isolated by the U.S. and its European allies.
Russia gets its chance to address the General Assembly on Saturday, when Foreign Minister Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected on the rostrum.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is concerned that backing from its allies may be ebbing. They have supplied billions of dollars worth of arms but fear that their stockpiles are shrinking and that defense contractors are struggling to boost production lines.
After landing in New York on Monday, Mr Zelenskyy suggested that the UN needs to answer for allowing his countrys invader a seat at the tables of power.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, greets people before the start of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. Picture: AP Photo/Seth Wenig
For us, its very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. And if in the United Nations still its a pity, but still there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think its a question to all the members of the United Nations, Mr Zelenskyy said after visiting wounded Ukrainian service members at Staten Island University Hospital.
Mr Zelenskyy is also due to speak on Wednesday at a UN Security Council meeting about Ukraine. Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the council, and Mr Lavrov is expected to make remarks.
Asked whether he would stay in the room to listen, Mr Zelenskyy said, I dont know how it will be, really.
During his time at the Staten Island hospital, Mr Zelenskyy awarded medals to military members who had lost limbs. With help from a New Jersey-based charity called Kind Deeds, 18 troops have been fitted for prostheses and are undergoing outpatient physical therapy at the hospital, according to its leaders.
We all will be waiting for you back home, Mr Zelenskyy told those he met. We absolutely need every one of you.
Two Myanmar junta ministers met with Chinas special envoy to Myanmar, Deng Xijun, in Naypyitaw on Monday to discuss closer collaboration in ASEAN affairs and the United Nations.
Deng Xijun arrived in Myanmar just as the 78th UN General Assembly launched in New York, where delegates are expected to decide on Myanmars representation at the UN.
Following the February 2021 coup, the UN rejected the juntas candidate and retained U Kyaw Moe Tun as Myanmars permanent representative at the global body. U Kyaw Moe Tun publicly opposed the coup and stayed loyal to the civilian government and resistance movement.
Junta-controlled media reported that Deng met with deputy prime minister and foreign minister Than Swe and minister for the office of the Union Government Ko Ko Hlaing separately on Monday in Naypyitaw.
The Chinese envoy and junta ministers reportedly discussed upgrading relations between the two countries, enhancing biliteral cooperation, maintaining peace and stability along the Myanmar-China border, developments in Myanmars peace and national reconciliation process, and Chinas development support.
The two sides also discussed closer collaboration in both the regional and international arenas, especially ASEAN and the UN, according to the foreign ministry.
Junta minister Ko Ko Hlaing and Deng also discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation.
China has remained a major ally and arms supplier to the junta since the 2021 coup. Deng first visited Myanmar in December after succeeding Sun Guoxiang as Chinas special envoy. He followed up with trips in February, March and July this year and held separate meetings with junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and leaders of ethnic armed forces based in northern Myanmar.
Over the past month, at least nine junta ministers have also flown to China for meetings. This week, the juntas construction minister, central bank governor, health minister and agriculture, livestock and irrigation minister also visited Nanning City and Jiangsu province for China-ASEAN-related meetings and conferences.
Sa Myer Oo who made it into the top 10 finalists at the Miss Universe Finland 2023 pageant, was born and raised in a refugee camp for displaced Karenni people on the Thai side of the Myanmar-Thai border.
She lived at the refugee camp until she was 11, before immigrating with her family to Finland with the help of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
She recently talked to The Irrawaddy about her experience in the beauty pageant, but quickly turned the focus to refugees displaced by the ongoing fighting in Myanmar, saying: My relatives have been hiding in forests. I want to see the best for Myanmar. I want to have a country that is safe and that values humans.
Please tell us about the pageant.
It has finished. I didnt win a prize. Im back home, and I will go back to school. I made it into the top 10 finalists. I hadnt thought I would make to the top 10. I could express my thoughts [about refugees] on stage. I was very glad about that.
How did you happen to participate in the contest?
I was interested in it since I was young, but another reason was I wanted to speak out. I wanted to talk about myself, that I was once a refugee. There were a lot of difficulties participating in the contest. My background was different from the other contestants. I am from a refugee camp, and [as a result] I have problems with my confidence. I didnt have full self-confidence like the others. I felt utterly daunted during the competition. Other contestants did not have [the same] fears because they have been secure about themselves since they were young.
There were challenges as I had to speak on stage, and give interviews. There was also a charity project. On stage, I talked about my aimthat I want to help children displaced by fighting, children living at refugee camps.
Please tell us about your childhood at the refugee camp.
My parents had to flee the fighting in Karenni State. They arrived at the Thai border. I was born while they were fleeing. There was no doctor. My mother told me that I only weighed two kilos when I was born. I lived at a refugee camp near the Thai-Myanmar border for 11 years.
Things were difficult then. My childhood was not secure. We could not go out of the refugee camp. It was like a prison. Some people who went out of the camp were tortured if they were arrested. There were no human rights. We survived on food donated by others. We had no dreams. I arrived in Finland through the UN when I was 11. It was an opportunity to change my life. So, I want to do something for my people and my country.
Myanmar is facing a worse situation now. How do you feel about that?
I feel very sad. My relatives have been hiding in forests. I want to see the best of Myanmar. I want to have a country that is safe and that values humans.
I spoke out about my experiences on stage in Finland. I will continue to speak out through other mediums.
How do you want to see Myanmar?
Here, I am always asked where I come from. It is difficult to answer. I come from Myanmar. But, I dont have a Myanmar passport. I have never been to Myanmar. I am not a Thai citizen either. I got a Finland passport when I was 18. When I made a trip with that passport, I even cried on the airplane. I was once stateless.
Finland has accepted us and supported us to come this far. I am very grateful. Finland has returned my human values. As a human, I have value. As a woman, I have value. I became aware of my value only after I arrived in Finland.
What do you want to say about the children displaced by the ongoing fighting?
It is easy to notice how much children are cared for here, and how much effort is made for them. I have worked in childcare. The situation seems quite the opposite in Myanmar. I feel very sad. Children in Myanmar also have value. Adults must protect them as much as they can. They must support the children who are our future. It is the responsibility of adults to take care of children.
I want to urge displaced people in Myanmar to stay strong. We expats are speaking out for you. We are together. We can do anything if we work together. Though we are in a foreign country, we dont forget them. They are in our minds.
What are your plans for the future?
I am still studying. I am specializing in sociology. I want to do a Masters degree. My ambition is to work for children in Myanmar. I want to help children in Myanmar in cooperation with embassies. I have a big dreamto work for the UN.
I always want to go to Kayah State. I want to eat Myanmar food. My father always tells me to take care of our people and our country one day. We have to do a lot for the development of Myanmar and the children in Myanmar.
What do you want to say to Myanmar people who supported you in the pageant?
I am very grateful to them for their support. I pray for the children in Myanmar. I am determined to improve their lives.
BANGKOKThailand must ban stubble burning by farmers to improve air quality, the head of a leading agricultural body said Monday, after a spike in dangerous pollution left millions needing medical treatment.
The kingdom suffered dire air quality earlier in the year, with Bangkok and the northern city of Chiang Mai ranked among the most polluted cities in the world on some days in April.
Authorities urged people to stay indoors and work from home as concentrations of the most dangerous PM2.5 particlesso tiny they can enter the bloodstreamreached unsafe levels.
One of the leading sources of the particles is farmers torching stubble to prepare land for the next crop, with burning season peaking between December and April.
The head of the kingdoms top agricultural body said the practice must be halted.
The government should ban crop-burningthe method widely used among farmers in Thailand, said Pornsil Patcharintanakul, president of the Thai Feed Mill Association (TFMA), which operates under the Commerce Ministry.
He urged the government of new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin to take action swiftly because of the urgency of the matter.
More than 2 million people sought medical treatment in Thailand this year because of problems linked to air pollution.
Pornsil, whose organization monitors the quality of animal feed, said Thailand should follow international farming guidelines that forbid stubble-burning.
He said three years was a realistic timeframe in which to ban the practice.
His call comes as the European Union begins to enforce its Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), charging for emissions linked to the production of imported goods.
Sretthas government has said that tackling PM2.5 is one of its priorities, though it has not given details of what it plans to do.
Resistance fighters suffered heavy casualties during a clash with Myanmar junta troops in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region on Monday, according to residents.
Around 100 junta soldiers have been conducting terror raids across the township since last week. The troops entered Let Ku village on Friday, triggering three days of fighting with local Peoples Defense Forces.
On Saturday, junta vessels moored near Let Ku village shelled the conflict zone, killing one resident.
On Sunday, junta troops killed four civilians from Let Ku village and torched some houses.
On Monday, the troops traveled to nearby Mya Daung village, where fighting with the PDFs reportedly continued.
Pro-regime Telegram channels claimed that 14 PDF fighters had been killed and seven weapons seized during the clash near Mya Daung village.
The Peoples Defense Forces have yet to give any details about casualties.
The Myanmar military is conducting an offensive in Palaw Township by both land and river. The terror attacks have forced thousands of residents from nearby villages to flee.
Tanintharyi Region is a resistance stronghold, with PDFs from Dawei, Launglon, Palaw, Tanintharyi and Kyunsu townships mounting regular attacks against regime troops.
Fighting has escalated between Myanmar junta troops and the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Mogoke Township, Mandalay Region.
Clashes broke out on September 10 after junta troops raided a village to the south of Mogoke town where TNLA troops were based. Frequent fighting has since been reported in the area.
The TNLA has suffered no casualties in the fighting but a military vehicle fell into a ravine, according to the armed group.
TNLA spokesman Tar Aik Kyaw said the regime had carried out repeated airstrikes and shelling since September 10.
Light Infantry Battalions 102 and 104 under the 44th Light Infantry Division, and Infantry Battalion 148 under the Central Command are involved in the fighting. According to frontline sources, Mogoke Peoples Defense Force (PDF) is fighting alongside the TNLA but Tar Aik Kyaw said the TNLA is fighting alone.
Mogoke PDF posted on Facebook on Sunday that it was fighting with the TNLA around Mogoke town as part of Operation Moe Lone Hmine. It urged people to avoid junta troops.
A Mogoke resident, who asked for anonymity, said the fighting on Sunday seemed particularly fierce when the junta carried out airstrikes.
There was no fighting on Monday. Things were normal in the town with schools and markets open as usual. They are fighting around 30km from the town, said the resident.
A military analyst said he heard the TNLA and PDF raided Kyetpyin village in the west of Mogoke on Tuesday morning and that junta reinforcements were ambushed.
Mogoke Township is at the intersection of three military regions the Northern, Central and Northeastern commands. There is a junta command headquarters in Mogoke, Momeik to the northeast and Nawnghkio to the southeast.
Brazilian regulator Anatel's board of directors has approved a survey that addresses the very high payments made to the public purse by the telecommunications sector. It will be forwarded to the ministries of finance and communications, bodies responsible for studying and proposing legal changes related to the taxation of the sector.
The Teletime news service reports that the study addresses three themes: the current tax system, the redesign of the tax system, and the redefinition of the tax burden.
It proposes a broad tax review, which, it seems, recognises the positive potential of a lower tax burden on service prices, quality and access to services, not least given the present situation. This is one of a high tax burden applied to telecommunications service providers in Brazil one of the largest such burdens in the world, the report clams.
The report also points out that its not just the taxes themselves that are an issue but the complexity of calculating and policing them, itself an additional cost for the sector and for Anatel itself.
Anatels board has proposed a significant simplification of the tax system as well as a reduction of the tax burden. The president of Anatel, Carlos Baigorri, argues that this is both important and relevant at a time when, apparently, the National Congress is discussing tax reform.
According to Anatel, the proposal is of paramount importance, but will government agree? Given recent similar sentiments from both Hungary and Nigeria, it will be interesting to see whether there is a positive response to Anatels report. We can probably take it as read that service providers will be supportive.
The Myanmar juntas nuclear ambitions are once again in the spotlight after it begged China to help train its experts in the use of nuclear technology at a China-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) nuclear forum last week.
The request makes China the second country to be approached by the junta regarding the technology. Currently, the regime is collaborating with Russias state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom after opening the countrys first nuclear information center in Yangon early this year.
During the Second China-ASEAN Forum on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Technology in Guangxi in southern China on Saturday, the Myanmar juntas Ambassador to China and North Korea Tin Maung Swe asked China to share its expertise in using nuclear technology in the agriculture, health and energy sectors, as China already has advanced technology in these areas, according to the juntas Information Ministry.
At the same forum, the regimes Deputy Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Aung Zeya invited Chinese collaboration with Myanmar on research and human resource development related to the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
The forum was jointly hosted by the Guangxi Autonomous Region government and the China National Nuclear Corporation. It was joined by ASEAN secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn.
Liu Jing, vice chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority, told the forum that China has cooperated with Indonesia to establish a joint laboratory for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors; with Thailand to design and build micro research reactors and experimental tokamak nuclear fusion devices; and with Malaysia to build commercial reactors.
Liu added that under regional cooperation programs, China provides training and seminars, scientific visits and exchanges for ASEAN countries, suggesting Myanmar could expect to receive such assistance on nuclear technology from China.
The Myanmar regimes pursuit of Russian assistance to acquire nuclear capability dates back to the previous military regime in the early 2000s.
In 2007 the then regime led by Than Shwe struck a deal with Rosatom to build a nuclear research center in Myanmar, which Rosatom said would be under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. But construction never moved forward amid pushback from the US and other countries.
The nuclear information centers launch early this year was the latest step on Myanmars path to nuclear capability following the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Russia in St. Petersburg in June 2015.
The Myanmar military regime has made rapid moves to acquire nuclear technology since staging a coup in February 2021. The regime and Rosatom signed a roadmap for peaceful use of atomic energy in 2023 and 2024 at the 7th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2022, including an initial agreement with Russias atomic energy agency on the possible implementation of a modular reactor project in Myanmar.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told the press that the project was aimed solely at developing nuclear energy for peaceful use in Myanmar.
Tuesday, Sep 19th, 2023 (12:01 am) - Score 1,920
Broadband ISP and mobile operator EE (BT) has today announced that, as part of their commitment under the 1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, theyve just upgraded two masts to help extend their 4G mobile network across the southern Lake District in Cumbria (Northwest England).
The SRN is an industry-led scheme supported by 500m of public funding and 530m from operators that aims to help extend geographic 4G coverage (aggregate) to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025 (the 5G rollout will also benefit). The scheme essentially involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.
NOTE: The SRN aims to provide guaranteed coverage to an additional 280,000 UK premises, 16,000km of roads and boost in car coverage on around 45,000 km of road, as well as better indoor coverage for around 1.2 million premises. Individually, each operator will aim to reach 90% geographic coverage.
In terms of EEs progress, the latest development comes from the Lake District, which is one of the most visited national parks in the UK, with upwards of 15 million visitors every year. But in being quite a rugged and rural location, big chunks of the area also tend to be quite poorly served in terms of mobile coverage. But this is now being improved.
One of the upgraded masts is located between Coniston Water and Windermere, bringing coverage to locations including Hay Bridge Nature Reserve, Rusland and parts of Grizedale Forest. The other is to the southeast of Windermere Lake, providing improved coverage to rural areas including Cartmel Fell, Whitbarrow National Nature Reserve and down towards the River Kent estuary and Milnthorpe including a large section of the A590. Both masts have been situated in non-intrusive areas, although the exact locations arent stated.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at BT Group, said: The Lake District is iconic for its natural beauty and its flourishing rural communities. These new 4G upgrades will not only mean residents will be able to stay connected to the people and things they love most, but businesses and community groups can use the network to offer new services and experiences to the millions of tourists who visit every year. Having upgraded more than 1,500 rural locations so far under the Shared Rural Network programme, EE is delivering the far-reaching connectivity that rural communities rely on across the UK.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: This improved connectivity can deliver a big boost to rural communities like ours, supporting residents, local businesses and visitors with faster 4G mobile internet access and high-quality, reliable calling. The Lake District is one of the most iconic parts of the British countryside, so it is great to see remote areas getting the infrastructure they need to thrive in the digital age.
Just to be clear. The 95% SRN target is only when service is available from at least one operator, while the UK coverage forecast for SRN completion for all operators (i.e. geographic areas where youll be able to take 4G from all four providers) is actually just 84% for the same date.
The target also varies between different parts of the UK. For example, 4G Coverage from at least one MNO is expected to reach 98% in England, 91% in Scotland, 95% in Wales and 98% in Northern Ireland. But this falls to 90% in England, 74% in Scotland, 80% in Wales and 85% in Northern Ireland when looking at 4G coverage from all MNOs combined.
Finally, while the SRN doesnt specifically require 5G to be deployed, the infrastructure theyre building can often still be used to support it. All of this should help with EEs ambition to deliver 5G connectivity solutions anywhere in the UK by 2028 through a combination of permanent coverage (90% of the UKs landmass) and on-demand solutions (to tackle the final 10%).
Tuesday, Sep 19th, 2023 (5:30 pm) - Score 8,664
Get ready, its going to be a rocky ride. The UK Governments new Online Safety Bill (OSB) is finally set to become law after passing through both houses of parliament today, largely unopposed. The goal is to tackle harmful content online, but the result may be a regime that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
On the surface, it all sounds sensible and well-intentioned. After all, its widely understood, and few could disagree, that the old model of self-regulation has struggled to keep pace with the changing online world, which has allowed far too much harmful content to slip through a fairly weak net. Examples cover everything from child abuse and terrorism to racism, animal cruelty, Russian propaganda, anti-vaxxers and so forth.
NOTE: Ofcom holds the unenviable task of setting out the new code, regulation, and enforcement.
The OSB has thus been designed to tackle this problem, such as by pressuring all internet sites and online content providers from big social media firms (e.g. Facebook, X, Instagram etc.) to small blogs to act and take more responsibility for the content on their platforms, or face the consequences (e.g. sites blocked by broadband ISPs, fines, prison sentences and making sites people liable for what others may say on their platforms).
However, trying to strike the right balance between Freedom of Expression, individual Privacy and outright Censorship is a difficult thing to get right, particularly when attempting to police the common and highly subjective public expression of negative human thought.
Not to mention complex issues of context (e.g. people joking about blowing up a city vs actual terrorists), parody and political speech. Humans often get it wrong, and automated filtering systems are even worse.
Complexity and caveats
Most politicians know little to nothing about how social media, websites and the wider internet itself actually functions, as well as the economic models that underpin it. For example, in the online world a single person on a tiny shoestring budget can run a blog and member forum that might be read by tens of thousands or even millions of people. The law threatens to decimate this model, and for many sites the only solution to avoid liability may be to prevent their readers from speaking in the first place (i.e. censorship by the backdoor of extreme liability).
The new rules will also seek to give users an avenue of appeal for any removed content, which must be replaced if found to have been wrongfully removed. But that risks putting sites that allow user-generated content (millions of them) into a bit of a damned if they do, damned if they dont boat.
In order to manage their liability, many services may end up adopting automated filtering systems (only economically viable for the biggest sites) since manually moderating all content on major platforms would be economically impossible. But that may struggle given the aforementioned rule for appeals.
On top of that, the final legislation still contains a threat to introduce the scanning of private messages in the future (e.g. hunting for child abuse and terrorism content), assuming technology becomes available that can do so through existing End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) systems (here) something many experts in the field consider to be very unlikely.
The requirement for an Age Verification System (AVS) on sites that contain adult or pornographic content also remains in the final text. But enforcing it and the huge privacy implications that would entail (remember how many people committed suicide after the Ashley Madison hack?) remains an extremely difficult problem to solve and not one that smaller websites would be able to apply, due to obstacles of cost and technical or legal feasibility.
Broadly speaking, the new law seems set to force an intolerable level of liability and legal complexity upon all services, particularly those containing user-generated content. But this rather overlooks the fact that the vast majority of smaller services, many of which may be blogs or micro-businesses, simply wont have the budget, skills or legal experience necessary to stand any realistic chance of properly implementing such complex rules.
What comes next?
In fairness, the strictest rules will only fall on so-called Category 1 platforms, referring to the highest risk user-to-user services (e.g. big social media firms). By comparison, different and softer rules may be applied to Category 2A services (e.g. internet search firms) and Category 2B (e.g. lower risk user-to-user services, such as smaller websites).
Exact details on where the thresholds for these categories will be set are yet to be determined, and that will also require secondary legislation. Prior to that, Ofcom will need to conduct various studies and consultations before being able to set out their final code, which could take anything up to 18 months and may yet produce some common sense outcomes. We suspect the regulator will then need to allow more time for implementation, which is likely to be very tedious, particularly for smaller sites.
Big questions also remain to be answered by Ofcom as it moves to develop the necessary code, such as how long sites and platforms in different categories will be given to remove or assess flagged / moderated content. Lest we forget that smaller sites are run by human beings and not robots people need to sleep and take breaks, so overly strict rules for 2B platforms may not be workable.
James Baker, Open Right Group Campaigns Manager, said: No one disputes that tech companies could do more to keep children safe online but the Online Safety Bill is an overblown legislative mess that could seriously harm our security by removing privacy from internet users. The Bill will also undermine the freedom of expression of many people in the UK. While the UK government has admitted its not possible to safely scan all of our private messages, it has granted Ofcom the powers to force tech companies to do so in the future. These are powers more suited to an authoritarian regime not a democracy and could harm journalists and whistleblowers, as well as domestic violence survivors, parents and children who want to keep their communications secure from online predators and stalkers. The Bill also poses a huge threat to freedom of expression with tech companies expected to decide what is and isnt legal, and then censor content before its even been published. This re-introduces prior restraint censorship for the written word back into UK law for the first time since the 1600s. In addition, young people, whom the law is supposed to protect, could be denied access to large swathes of the web, including resources that provide them with information and support. Perhaps the biggest failing has been the lack of detail in how these extraordinary powers will be implemented. Its down to Ofcom to sort this mess and we call on them to work with cyber experts, tech companies and civil society to minimise the harms to our fundamental rights.
Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan, said: The Online Safety Bill is a game-changing piece of legislation. Today, this government is taking an enormous step forward in our mission to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved with this bill. Our common-sense approach will deliver a better future for British people, by making sure that what is illegal offline is illegal online. It puts protecting children first, enabling us to catch keyboard criminals and crack down on the heinous crimes they seek to commit. I am deeply thankful to the tireless campaigning and efforts of parliamentarians, survivors of abuse and charities who have all worked relentlessly to get this bill to the finish line.
However, the heart of the OSB is still in absolutely the right place, even if the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The internet can be a heaven for some of the most vile conspiracy theories, bullying, racism, child abuse, terrorism, trolling and harassment. Whole communities have even sprung up around these topics, and hostile governments often exploit them.
Suffice to say, the desire to rid the online world of such things is more than understandable particularly for those who have suffered the most. In keeping with that, its easy to see why the bill has been able to attract so much support from the wider electorate and cross-party MPs. But the problem is not with that goal, its with the governments overly-broad sledgehammer approach to achieving it.
The assumption seems to be that all sites will already have the necessary development skills, budget, knowledge, legal experience and time to implement everything the bill puts into law. But what may be viable for bigger sites, is not workable for everybody else. On the flip side, Ofcom will almost certainly lack the resources to tackle everything, which is likely to restrict their focus to the biggest players.
Finally, we cant always assume the country will, in the future, be governed by a truly democratic system that protects our freedoms and privacy. Giving a future anti-democratic government such control over what we can access and how we communicate would thus seem to be unwise. Future mission creep could easily make it dangerous.
For a more practical example of what this could mean, just look at what happened in the USA after the Supreme Court effectively banned abortion. Shortly after that, sites like Instagram began banning posts from those merely talking about the experiences theyd had with abortion (example), due to it being an age-restricted topic.
As it stands, we seem to be sleepwalking toward a Draconian censorship regime via the backdoor of cost and liability shock. But before then, Ofcom will have to figure out the code for implementing all this, and the new law may even face some legal challenges of its own as reality clashes with its overly broad legislative aspirations.
The nationwide 100/200G DWDM backbone network currently being deployed by the National Electricity Company of Senegal will be able to offer network capacity by December 2023.
The utilities firm, known as SENELEC, noted that capacity would be available for the countrys government as well as telecom operators and both public and private companies. The predominantly aerial network uses SENELECs existing fibre-optic footprint, and consists of 53 backbone sites. It offers coverage in all 14 regions of Senegal.
SENELEC partnered with Huawei for the deployment, after signing a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese vendor in December 2022 aimed at pushing digital transformation. SENELEC managing director Papa Mademba Biteye noted that the agreement would allow the public company to increase its revenues while keeping a lid on costs.
Huawei Senegal Managing Director Lionel Liu said: The DWDM transmission network will allow SENELEC to multiply the capacity of its network, to have reliable and highly available connectivity, while remaining a flexible and scalable infrastructure which will allow it to adapt and meet future connectivity needs.
The network is now in the closing stages of its establishment phase following the completion of its first operational link between Dakar and Thies. The second phase aims to introduce a secure radio communications network that SENELEC believes could be used for critical services, electricity network automation, public services and smart energy metering. Additionally, the use of SENELECs fibre infrastructure will allow operators to extend their services to regions where their networks do not yet cover.
Tuesday, Sep 19th, 2023 (2:53 pm) - Score 2,112
AST SpaceMobile, which is backed by Vodafone and several other mobile operators around the world, has followed up their earlier achievements in two-way 4G calling by harnessing their prototype BlueWalker 3 satellite in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to make the first space-based 5G internet voice call using a regular handset.
The new 1.5-ton BlueWalker 3 satellite orbiting at an altitude of a little over 500km features a huge 693-square-foot (64.4-square-meter) phased array antenna (here). The spacecraft is specifically designed for sending and receiving 4G and 5G mobile signals between the space-based platform and regular mobile handsets on the ground, as it has a Field of View (FoV) of over 300,000 square miles across the surface of the Earth.
A few months ago saw AST-SM harness this prototype satellite to make the first 4G voice call between the Midland area in Texas (USA) and Rakuten in Japan, which adopted AT&Ts spectrum using an unmodified Samsung Galaxy S22 smartphone. The latest successful test uses the same setup, albeit this time for a 5G voice call between a location in Hawaii and a Vodafone engineer, Jose Guevara, in Spain.
In a separate test, AST-SM also broke its previous space-based cellular mobile broadband data session record by achieving a download rate of nearly 14Mbps, which might not seem like much, but its a key proof of concept. This new technology has the potential to connect millions of people in the remotest regions to the internet for the first-time using existing mobile phones, said Vodafones announcement.
Margherita Della Valle, Vodafone Group CEO, said: Vodafone is striving to close the mobile usage gap for millions of people across Europe and Africa. By making the worlds first space-based 5G call to Europe, we have taken another important step in realising that ambition. Were excited to be at the forefront of space technology through our partnership with AST SpaceMobile.
Todays advancement is part of AST SpaceMobiles path toward its first goal of launching 5 commercial BlueBird satellites in the first quarter of 2024 (these will initially be of a similar size to BW3). But the company also holds an aspiration toward launching a total of 100 satellites, with future models being even larger and more capable.
The eventual aim is to make this service attractive for regular consumers (we suspect this may form part of a global roaming style add-on for your plan, at extra cost), although its too early to talk about costs. Much may also depend upon their ability to deploy enough ground stations and to secure regulatory approval for related radio spectrum across multiple countries.
Lest we forget that various other space companies, such as Starlink (here) and OneWeb (here), are also moving to harness their new ultrafast broadband satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deliver affordable 4G (LTE) and 5G mobile services using common standards over a wide area (global roaming), often even without consumers needing to buy a new handset. Time will tell who has the most success, but ASTs approach is at least tailor-made for it.
September 18, 2023
Two Idaho State University professors hope the volcanic features around East Idaho can answer some questions about their otherworldly counterparts.
Over the next three years, Shannon Kobs Nawotniak and Donna Delparte, professors of geosciences, and their team of researchers will be working in, around, and on the volcanoes that formed in the wake of the Yellowstone hotspots passage through the eastern Snake River Plain millions of years ago.
The volcanoes of the eastern Snake River Plain have the same lava type and eruption style of volcanoes on the Moon and Mars, said Kobs Nawotniak, a specialist in volcanology and planetary exploration. And in many cases, the volcanoes look almost identical, though smaller in scale thanks to the different gravities.
They hypothesize the volcanoes will be able to tell them more about the history of geologic change on the surface and underneath the region. Additionally, they postulate the research techniques employed by the team will be usable by astronauts on future missions to study the same forces of change on the Moon and beyond.
The group will make their way to the eruptive vents just north of Mud Lake to test new ways of using field equipment to understand the role of water in the features, travel to Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve to collect high-resolution imagery and surface scans, and go to caves and lava tubes that dot the landscape of East Idaho to get three-dimensional laser scans. Kobs Nawotniak notes that their work will help in future exploration of the Moon by allowing them to gather similar measurements here in Idaho, including building one of the most comprehensive 3D catalogs of lava tube scans on Earth.
Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) will allow our research team to map the complexity of volcanic surfaces, identify geologic features, and trace the influence of water, said Delparte, a specialist in UAS and remote sensing technology. Onboard our UAS, we will use advanced sensor systems, such as LiDAR, to create these incredibly detailed 3D surface scans. These tools will help us train the next generation of scientists on how to use the outputs of this technology to interpret volcanic features on the moon.
Actual space exploration has inherent dangers and expenses, Kobs Nawotniak said. We can ensure future success by dialing things in here on Earth, thereby reducing the overall costs. In addition, well learn more about the volcanic history of Idaho and, by extension, the Moon.
Besides providing some clues to the makeup of lunar volcanic features and those found elsewhere in the cosmos, Kobs Nawotniak will be using the same navigational techniques for their work in the field as the Artemis III astronauts are planning to use when they visit the Moon in 2025.
GPS doesnt exist on the Moon, so the plan right now is for the Artemis III astronauts to navigate using printed map books and dead reckoning, using lunar craters as landmarks, said Kobs Nawotniak. We will conduct our field research using the same styles of maps, coupled with hidden GPS units for later corrections, to study where and how positioning errors will emerge and how to mitigate them.
Kobs Nawotniak says the current plan from NASA has the Artemis III astronauts staying relatively close to their lander, so its not a case of worrying that astronauts will get lost on the lunar surface.
In the geosciences, it really matters where each sample, each photo, is taken, says Kobs Nawotniak, Correct locations are essential to good field science.
The research by Kobs Nawotniak and Delparte is funded by nearly $750,000 from the Idaho NASA Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The grant will support the work of three graduate students and several undergraduate students on the project and includes paid internships to work with Kobs Nawotniaks collaborators at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.
I'm incredibly thrilled to begin my studies as a graduate student at ISU and participate in such important research, said Delgado Maisonet, a graduate student from Puerto Rico. I'm so grateful for having the opportunity to study Idahos volcanoes in support of future NASA missions to the Moon.
This is the latest in a string of projects from Kobs Nawotniak with ties to NASA. She recently served as a member of NASAs Joint EVA Test Team (JETT) 3. The JETT 3 Team was responsible for planning a series of lunar-relevant simulation space walks for astronauts training for the Moon and supporting the simulated missions from the Mission Control facilities at NASAs Johnson Space Center. She was also the Deputy Principal Investigator for the Biologic Analog Science Associated with Lava Terrains (BASALT) project, Geology Co-Lead for Field Investigations to Enable Solar system Science and Exploration (FINESSE) project, and a co-investigator on the Systematic Underwater Biogeochemical Science and Exploration Analog (SUBSEA).
Its an honor to continue to be part of NASAs efforts to return to the Moon and, ultimately, keep going to Mars, said Kobs Nawotniak. There are so many exciting questions to answer out there, and its a privilege to use our own Idaho volcanoes to help launch ourselves into the future pun intended!
For more information on ISUs Department of Geosciences, visit isu.edu/geosciences.
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.
Gambias minister for Communication and Digital Economy has confirmed that the country has secured funding for a second submarine cable, as part of the WADI project funded by the World Bank.
Speaking to the National Assembly, Ousman A. Bah noted that the funding was worth around US$30-35 million, and expressed hope that the cable would be active by 2025. As quoted by local outlet The Point, Bah noted that it was necessary to seek funding from outside the ministrys budget.
We were given about D90 million for the entire ministry which hardly sustains our operations. Therefore, we need to go out and look for a vendor or a provider who is willing to give us the submarine cable on a BOT as it is the most efficient way to get a second submarine cable, said Bah.
We consulted WADI if they could fund the project. So, because of the size of the funding, we partner with Guinea Conakry to make it cheaper. So now the submarine cable will be coming from Cape Verde to The Gambia directly.
We have the ACEand thats where we are getting our capacity, and we also have a backup which is the satellite internet we are working onWe are anticipating by the end of September of this year, Starling will have the full licensing to operate in The Gambia. This means we cannot just rely on the ACE to complement the internet access; rather through satellite.
Two recent agreements, in Bahrain and India, underline the growing importance of the space sector in areas like IoT and the cloud.
Bahrain-headquartered technology company the Beyon Group has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with LEO space system innovator E-Space to enable space-based IoT services in Bahrain.
By signing this MoU, the two organisations say they can collaborate on the development of satellite IoT solutions that leverage Beyon's established network capabilities and E-Space's advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation and novel device capabilities. The joint development efforts aim to create unique IoT solutions that will support uninterrupted, use anywhere, real-time IoT data services.
This news comes a week after Amazon Web Services (AWS) India announced it had signed a strategic MoU with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to support space-tech innovations through cloud computing.
ISRO, IN-SPACe and AWS will work collaboratively to nurture and grow the start-up community in the space-tech sector. AWS will provide eligible space start-ups with tools, resources, and expert technical support at no cost through the AWS Activate programme. This will enable start-ups to build innovative solutions and commercialise them faster. Start-ups will also benefit from access to AWS and its global experience of building aerospace and satellite solutions through the AWS Space Accelerator programme.
The three organisations will also collaborate on a new initiative to train students and educators in cloud computing, AI, ML, analytics and security, by leveraging AWS education programmes.
The collaboration follows the recent approval of the Indian Space Policy 2023 by the government of India. The policy provides a strategic roadmap for the growth and development of Indias space programme and ambitions.
Press Release
September 19, 2023 Transcript of CNN The Source Interview with Senator Risa Hontiveros by Ria Tanjuatco-Trillo
September 19, 2023 Q: The foreign affairs department, they're expressing serious concern over reports of massive coral destruction in Rozul Reef in the West Philippine Sea. We just like to get your reaction upon the discovery of this destructive activity. Senator Risa Hontiveros (SRH): Well, again I'd like to thank the Armed Forces of the Philippines for alerting all of us citizens and government about this latest abuse by China of our West Philippine Sea and our exclusive economic zone. Hindi rin ito unang pagkakataon, Ria. You will recall that there was a time that I actually made a call for China to pay us a certain amount in damages because one of their vessels in the West Philippine Sea had crashed into a reef ecosystem. And there's really a way of computing the monetary value of such damaged or destroyed ecosystems. Eh nakaka-shock, ano, itong nakikita nating video courtesy as you say of the Philippine Coast Guard, na ubos yung marine life diyan, the reef system itself and apparently the other marine species that make their home diyan sa ating bahura. So place this on top of the recent incidents in the past several years of water cannoning our Philippine Coast Guard, of unveiling a naval gun on one of their ships facing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on its way to Ayungin Shoal, that was in 2022. And then just this year, another incident of water cannoning and training their military grade laser against Philippine Coast Guard vessels, temporarily blinding our personnel. At itong huli, kayo mismong media people, yung mga colleagues niyo sa media, nakasaksi with their own eyes, yung pagahaharang ng Chinese maritime militia at coast guard nile being watched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, pagharang sa resupply mission ng ating Philippine Navy at Coast Guard sa Philippine Marines stationed sa BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. So tuloy-tuloy na pang-aabuso na ginagawa ng Tsina sa Pilipinas. And this environmental damage is just the latest. 'Wag nating kalimutan, China has dredged up our seabed to put up their artificial islands. Q: Senator, speaking of environmental damage po, you mentioned earlier that there's a way to actually compute how much this damage, you know, has caused the Philippines. How much has all these different incidents of damaging the natural resources in the area cost the Philippines so far? SRH: We'll have to sum that up. But I'll return to my notes about how much yung pagsingil natin sa Tsina or one of their vessels crashing into reefs. Similarly, in an earlier year, mayroon din tayong pagsingil sa United States dahil isa sa mga vessels niya ay bumangga sa reefs, mismong sa Tubbataha Reef. There's a pending bill now here at the Senate, the PENCAS bill sponsored by Senator Loren that will put into law the equation that is used by marine scientific institutes around the world published, I remember at least one French marine scientific journal. Mayroon talagang paraan na isuma yan. So on top of what China owes the BIR, for example in taxes on the POGOs -- and that's just on land -- dito naman sa karagatan ay medyo humahaba ng listahan ng utang ng Tsina sa atin in terms of damaging or destroying or illegally harvesting, for example, giant clams in other parts of the West Philippine Sea ang pagkakautang ng Tsina sa atin. Q: Now, senator, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces are not directly accusing China of this massive coral harvesting. But they noted that this is the area where the Chinese militia vessels were spotted. You've said that the time may be ripe for an investigation. What type of investigation would that be and when might that take place? SRH: Well, as soon as the committee to which a resolution might be referred will schedule such a hearing. Again, that will be just the latest of the investigations na kinailangan namin sa Senado na gawin kaugnay ng mga aksyon ng Tsina laban sa atin sa sarili nating exclusive economic zone at yun na nga, sa West Philippine Sea. We will recall, I recently delivered a privilege speech on that incident of the Chinese marine vessels playing cat-and-mouse or playing chicken with our vessels in the West Philippine Sea during a recent resupply and even rotation missions at Ayungin Shoal for the BRP Sierra Madre. Talagang nakatawag ito ng pansin ng hindi lang ng Senado, ng buong bansa. It's a greatly unifying issue among all Filipinos. At nagbunsod yan ng panawagan na i-reinforce natin ang BRP Sierra Madre sa Ayungin Shoal to make it a more humanely habitable structure for the Philippine Navy Marines personnel there. Para maging mas secure din siyang lugar para sa ating mangingisda who have also bore the brunt of Chinese harassment over the past several years. So tayong mga Pilipino, in the face of these incidents of harassments and threats and actual dangerous maneuvers at sea, hindi tayo umaatras. Lalo tayong nagkakaisa. Ang not only among ourselves, not only among us Filipinos, but a growing number of neighbors with the ASEAN and even beyond among other naval powers -- EU member countries, dumadami sa joint exercises natin. Q: It's not just an issue of national security, senator. It's also an issue of food security because you had maritime expert Jay Batongbacal warning that if this coral harvesting isn't stopped, you know, if it's not prevented, it could lead to the collapse of the country's fishing sector and threaten our food security. I think he said it was 27% to 30% of our fish catch comes from this general area. Your thoughts on that? SRH: Professor Jay is exactly right. As much as one-third of our fish catch, napakahalagang source ng iodine sa ating bansa comes from this very area. And this very area is part of the Sulu Sulawesi Triangle, the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the world. Yung mga mangingisda natin na inaagawan ng hanapbuhay ng mga Tsino, they are among the first lagi na nagsusumbong sa ating Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, yung Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources dahil nakikita nila kung paanong di makatarungang inaani ng Tsina ang mga likas na yaman nating mga Pilipino. In addition to our food security, our energy security is also threatened by these aggressive actions of China. Dahil kung saan sila nagsa-swarm, kung saan nasaksihan ng Philippine Navy at Philippine Coast Guard yung ganitong environmental destruction - na probably ang Tsina din ang gumawa dahil diyan sila nagsa-swarm - diyan din yung malalaking deposits, ng oil and natural gas na dapat ang Pilipinas ang may ekslusibo o pangunahing karapatang pakinabangan yun. So there's really a lot at stake in these sovereign markers, as I'd like to call the BRP Sierra Madre, and such parts of the West Philippine Sea. It is a matter not of national pride but of survival. Q: Senator, what else can we do in the short term? What else can we do in the short term aside from the diplomatic protest and aside from conducting a probe, what can be done to stem these activities? SRH: The diplomatic protests remain an important part of our diplomatic and political arsenal to project and defend our national interests. Yung aming mga imbestigasyon sa Senado at yung recent na unanimously adopted Senate resolution expressing the sense of the Senate strongly condemning such actions of China in our territory and calling on government to take on even more and varied diplomatic and political actions at the UN General Assembly and in any and all international fora. Napakahalaga din noon. In addition to that, I think joint naval exercises are already shaping up more and more between the Philippines and bilaterally, a growing longer list of countries na kumakampi sa atin sa ating arbitral ruling, sa Hague, kumakampi sa atin para sa freedom of navigation at rule of law at sea, sangayon doon sa inuutos ng UNCLOS. So we are harvesting not just more of our marine and energy resources in this area, but we are harvesting a wider and wider coalition. We always say a bigger coalition is a better coalition. Hindi tayo nata-trap sa pagpili ng isang bansa lang o sa kabilang bansa. Hindi. We are at the center of a growing coalition of countries who want a rule-based solution and a peaceful and diplomatic solution sa mga tensyon dito sa ating karagatan. Q: A petition was filed before the Supreme Court to declare the Maharlika Investment Fund Act as unconstitutional. But already, the Land Bank has remitted P50 billion, while the DBP remitted P25 billion as their contribution to the Maharlika fund. Dapat ba maghinay-hinay muna tayo on touching these funds pending the SC decision? SRH: Dapat talaga. Dapat naghinay-hinay sa pagpasa nung batas na iyan at lalo ngayon dapat maghinay-hinay sa paglipat ng ganyang kalalaking pondo from government banks, from government financial institutions that have different mandates from this new creation of the Maharlika. Yung Land Bank nga, hindi pa nga resolved yung mga natitirang isyu organizationally and financially from its prior merger with Cocobank, ito na naman naglipat na ng napakalaking pondo sa Maharlika. The same goes for the Development Bank of the Philippines. Kung yung Land Bank ay ang mandate niya ay para sa mga magsasaka at iba pang rural sector para sa rural development, eh yung DBP ang mandate din niya ay mga national development programs tulad halimbawa ng infrastructure. And these two long standing banks ay mga safeguards para sa pondo ng kanilang mga depositors, ng kanilang mga stakeholders. Ibang-iba itong sa Maharlika, which was first designed as a sovereign wealth fund despite the fact na wala naman tayong necessary requirements para magtayo ng sovereign wealth fund. Sa huli, ginawa na lang nilang investment fund. But still, kulang at mahihina pa ang safeguards laban sa graft and corruption o laban sa plunder. Hindi pa nga nila nabubo at nare-recruit ang kanilang senior staff, eh ito na, nagtransfer na ng malalaking pondo. Q: Following your colorful exchanges with Vice President Sara Duterte, do you still stand firm that her office should explain the P125 million confidential funds it spent in December 2022? SRH: Indeed, her office should explain, because it is about her office. It's about the accountability of her office, not just to Congress, but most of all to the people. It's not about her alone, the way she is behaving. Dapat talagang ipaliwanag, paano nailipat yang P125 million na iyan from the Office of the President papunta sa OVP, at saan-saan ginastos. Kasi kahit yung 2015 memorandum circular that she herself cited in the Senate budget hearings, kahit ayon doon there is only a specific limited menu of items on which such confidential funds could have been spent, and could be spent moving forward kasi mas malaki pa ang hinihingi niya ngayon, P500 million for OVP and P125 million for the DepEd. Ang sa akin, intelligence is such a specialized, even niche, profession na dapat iwan natin sa mga eksperto. So moving forward, in the budget debates, hindi ko talaga bibitawan ito. And I am counting of course, primarily on my Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Koko, but also a slowly growing number of colleagues in the majority na bigyang daan muli yung gagawin naming mga proposed amendments - to move the confidential funds of these civilian agencies na wala namang totoong intelligence mandate or national security mandate, and to move some of these sa line item budgets ng kanilang mga opisina o department, and to move the major part of these confidential funds doon sa mga totoong intelligence agencies, national security agencies. Tulad ng Coast Guard, na my gosh, P10 million pa rin lang a year ang intelligence fund, in spite of what we just discussed, the clear and present danger they are facing in the West Philippine Sea. Ilipat yung mga confidential fund ng mga civilian agencies tulad ng OVP, sa Department of National Defense. Can you believe na yung confidential funds na hinihingi ng OVP ay mas malaki pa sa confidential funds ng DND? Oh ilipat yung ganyang confidential fund sa intel funds ng NSC or ng NICA, 'yong mga may totoong pangunahing trabaho na mag generate ng intel para sa buong gobyerno natin. Q: On the part of Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, she's saying that fund transfer is perfectly legal, saying that the transfer is consistent with the chapter of the contingent fund and OVPM budget under the National Expenditure Program. What is your reaction to that? SRH: Unfortunately, dyan nagkakabuhol-buhol yung mga paliwanag nila. Noong una, sinabi na confidential funds ito, nilipat mula sa OP papunta sa OVP. When we cried foul dahil wala namang dineklarang savings para dito ang OP at wala namang iau-augment na line item budget sa OVP, they tried to say na yung category ng line item budget na iyon ang "line item budget." But it is not so. Iba ang kategorya o titulo ng isang section sa line item budget sa section na iyan. At doon sa line item budget ng confidential funds ng OVP for that year 2022, ang amount ay zero. Sa budgeting process hindi ka pwede mag-augment ng isang zero line item budget. So nag-iba yung tono nila, galing daw sa contingent funds ng Office of the President. Pero kahit sa contingent funds, iinit ang mata ng Kongreso diyan and we will really be pushing for more stringent transparency and accountability mechanisms over the contingent fund. Kasi you cannot play fast and free sa mga budgeting rules or budgeting laws, lalo na ang perang iyan ay ina-appropriate ng gobyerno at higit diyan ang perang iyan lahat ay galing sa buwis na binabayad ng mamamayan. So ano ba talaga kuya at ate? Iyan ba ay confidential funds na tinaransfer mula savings to augment o iyan ba ay contingent funds na nirelease? Even their technical terms have to be specific, at kaya paiba iba din yung technical terms na ginagamit nila sa nangyari. Kung straightforward 'yan at kung aboveboard 'yang nangyaring iyan, the explanation should have been straightforward, easy and simple. Hindi yung parang ganitong namamaluktot sila para sa balu-baluktot na paliwanag. Q: I do want to ask you about the Socorro cult, you filed a resolution to investigate the cult in Surigao del Norte. What is the most urgent concern? kasi mala-pelikula ang pinagdadaanan ng community dyan. Tell us also paano nakarating sa inyo ang sitwasyon na ito? SRH: Well actually simpleng nagreach out sa office ko ang mayor ng Socorro, Surigao del Norte si Mayor Riza Timcang, she had formed a task force together with her municipal DSWD to do the most urgent thing, simply to rescue these kids. Walo sa kanila ang nakatakas doon sa kanilang sitwasyon na they were being forced to marry, these are minors, they were being forced to marry adults, nirerape kinukulong sa mga kwarto, together with their adults in the community on kapihan mountain, they were being forced to render forced labor under pain of physical punishment. Itong walong batang nakatakas, kinasuhan ng habeas corpus ng mga magulang nila na nasa kamay pa ng kultong ito. and one of the kids has already been recovered. So yung pito, these are ongoing habeas corpus cases, yung pito talagang three of them gave their testimony on video, pinakita ko sa privilege speech ko kahapon. They are calling on their kababata who are still with the cult to also escape dahil wala na raw silang kinabukasan doon. Hindi na sila makapag-aral and they are also begging us, the public, to rescue them. 'Yun ang pinaka- kung isa lang ang magagawa natin - iyan iyon, iligtas ang mga bata. Q: Senator, how many kids are there that still need to be rescued? SRH: There are more than a thousand children still in the hands of this Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc., a cult on Kapihan mountain in Socorro, Surigao del Norte, out of a community of 3,000 people na pinasunod nitong si Jey Rence who styles himself as the reincarnation of the Messiah, Jesus, Sto Nino, he calls himself Senyor Aguila. So more than 3,000 people, of that number, more than a thousand children, lahat hindi pinapayagang mag-aral, at sina-subject sa ganitong pag-aabuso which are in violation of our Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Person Act, in violation of our Anti- Child Marriage Law, in violation of our Raising the Age of Consent Law. So terrible, these are continuing crimes at kailangan nating iligtas ang mga bata sa ganitong kapahamakan.
Romana West drilling extends La Romana mineralization 150m to the west
Copper-tin grades increasing to the west
Investor webcast with CEO Tim Moody to discuss results will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time / 8 a.m. Pacific Time . Details at end of this release
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQX: PGZFF) is pleased to announce assay results for the first six holes drilled at the Romana West target, testing extensions to the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery at the Company's 100% owned Escacena Project in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain.
Key highlights:
Copper and tin mineralization with good continuity starts immediately below a thin cover of sediments
Moderately north-dipping tabular geometry ideally suited for potential open-pit mining
High value tin grades increasing to the west
LRD162 intercepted 17m at 0.65% CuEq 1 ( 0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) from 50.0m , including 6m at 1.24% CuEq 1 (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag)
intercepted 0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) , including (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag) LRD166 intercepted 14.5m at 0.75 % CuEq 1 (0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag from 7.5m , including 5m at 1.06% CuEq 1 (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag)
intercepted (0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag , including (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag) LRD164 intercepted 16m at 0.70% CuEq 1 (0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) from 37.0m , including 3m at 1.38% CuEq 1 (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag)
intercepted (0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag) Mineralization remains wide open at depth and to the west
Drilling ongoing with results pending from six additional completed drill holes with visual copper and tin mineralization
Drill hole locations are shown in Figure 1 below. Drill hole assay results are summarized in Table 1 and collar details are presented in Table 2 below.
"Drilling at Romana West commenced within weeks of being granted surface access. Twelve of our planned 25 drill holes have been completed and assay results for the first six are very encouraging. Our drill program has been highly successful, confirming continuity of the copper-tin-silver mineralization 150 meters to the west of the La Romana discovery. The overall strike length of La Romana is now 1.35 kilometers and is still open, with step-out drilling continuing farther to the west. Results to date show the potential for grades to increase to the west," said Tim Moody, President and CEO of Pan Global.
The Romana West mineralization occurs in two main layers, Zone B and Zone C, commencing directly below a thin cover of post mineral sediments. Sulphide mineralization was intersected in all holes at depths predicted from modelling of previous drilling and geology data. At shallow depths the primary sulphides, including chalcopyrite and pyrite, have been overprinted by supergene chalcocite and copper enrichment.
The assay results also include some of the highest tin grades reported in the Escacena project area, with assays up to 0.62% Sn. Coarse cassiterite was observed in both Zone B and Zone C. Importantly, cassiterite is the only tin mineral observed and is preferred for metallurgical extraction to produce a valuable tin concentrate. Processed tin is a key ingredient in electronics and solar panels and regularly trades at three-to-four times the value of processed copper.
The ongoing drill program aims to test the near-surface La Romana mineralization a further 350m along strike to the west.
Figure 1- Gravity anomaly map showing the Romana West and La Romana targets, drill hole locations with selected results
Figure 2 Cross section 736010m East, A-A', showing selected assay results highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD161, LRD162 and LRD166, with mineralization commencing immediately beneath the post mineral cover to nearly 200m down-dip (to the north).
Figure 3 Cross section 735900m East, B-B', showing selected highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD163, LRD164 and LRD165.
Table 1 Romana West drill results summary
Hole ID From To Interval CuEq(1) Cu Sn Ag Au Pb Zn True
Thickness m m m % % % g/t g/t ppm ppm (m) LRD161 117.00 130.00 13.00 0.27 0.25 0.01 0.8 0.01 11 72 11.79 Including 126.00 130.00 4.00 0.49 0.46 0.01 1.6 0.01 19 85 3.63 and 150.00 162.00 12.00 0.36 0.28 0.03 1.1 0.01 7 70 10.9 Including 150.00 156.00 6.00 0.60 0.47 0.05 1.9 0.01 12 79 5.44 Including 152.00 153.00 1.00 1.61 1.23 0.14 4.0 0.01 21 87 0.91 LRD162 50.00 67.00 17.00 0.65 0.30 0.13 1.1 0.01 49 81 17.00 Including 52.00 58.00 6.00 1.24 0.47 0.29 1.5 0.01 19 75 6.00 and 95.00 109.15 14.15 0.27 0.18 0.03 0.6 0.02 10 64 14.15 Including 107.00 109.15 2.15 0.63 0.46 0.06 2.1 0.088 36 76 2.15 and 132.50 135.00 2.50 0.89 0.10 0.30 <0.5 0.01 42 58 2.50 Including 134.00 135.00 1.00 1.64 <0.01 0.62 <0.5 0.01 6 47 1.00 LRD163 30.35 32.00 1.65 0.86 0.76 0.03 3.7 <0.01 137 103 1.27 and 60.00 72.00 12.00 0.31 0.25 0.02 2.2 0.01 80 142 9.20 and 122.00 126.00 4.00 0.29 0.23 0.02 0.5 <0.01 3 50 3.07 LRD164 37.00 53.00 16.00 0.70 0.52 0.06 1.6 0.01 7 85 16.00 Including 43.00 47.00 4.00 0.93 0.68 0.09 1.8 0.01 2 91 4.00 Including 49.00 52.00 3.00 1.38 1.06 0.11 3.9 0.02 16 78 3.00 and 87.00 91.00 4.00 0.66 0.52 0.05 0.8 0.02 3 51 4.00 Including 88.00 89.00 1.00 1.59 1.42 0.06 2.0 0.05 8 50 1.00 LRD165 86.25 87.70 1.45 0.64 0.36 0.10 1.2 0.01 5 87 1.24 and 114.00 122.85 8.85 0.59 0.55 0.01 1.4 0.008 6 74 7.58 Including 119.00 122.85 3.85 1.08 1.04 0.013 2.7 0.013 10 80 3.3 Including 122.25 122.85 0.60 5.24 5.06 0.04 13.0 0.034 29 180 0.51 LRD166 7.50 22.00 14.50 0.75 0.36 0.15 1.2 0.012 25 129 13.30 including 17.00 22.00 5.00 1.06 0.48 0.21 1.5 0.018 27 131 4.6 and 72.00 73.20 1.20 1.19 1.04 0.06 1.7 0.024 11 48 1.10
1 Copper Equivalent = CuEq. CuEq is calculated using Cu, Sn, and Ag grades. Metallurgical recoveries of 86% for Cu, 68% for Sn and 56% for Ag are based on preliminary studies performed by Wardell Armstrong International and MinePro. The CuEq calculation assumes commodity prices of US$ 8,693/tonne Cu, US$ 29,069/tonne Sn and US$ 23.72/oz Ag, corresponding to the three-year monthly price averages to July 2023. The effective formula is [CuEq %] = [Cu %] + 2.6440 * [Sn %] + 0.0057 * [Ag ppm]
Table 2 Romana West drill hole collar information (6 holes, total 1,004.95m )
Hole ID Easting 2 Northing 2 Azimuth (o) Dip(o) Depth (m) LRD161 736025.3 4152813 195 -70 197.45 LRD162 735989.1 4152760 180 -50 182.05 LRD163 735921.6 4152767 180 -90 167.9 LRD164 735921.7 4152766 180 -50 140.35 LRD165 735895.7 4152851 156 -70 222.45 LRD166 736038.8 4152687 156 -55 94.75
2 Coordinate system. UTM29N ERTS89
Investor Call to Discuss Drill Results and Expanding La Romana
CEO Tim Moody will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time to discuss the latest results at the Escacena Project. An open Q&A session will follow a short presentation.
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time | 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Please register in advance: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcumhrzsqE9XnLSo4hLpyYL7Nrdq-utim.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Investors are encouraged to send questions or topics of interest in advance to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to be addressed following the presentation. A link to the webcast will be available on the Company's website at https://panglobalresources.com following the live broadcast.
About the Escacena Project
The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near operating mines at Las Cruces and Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage with construction anticipated to start in 2023. The Escacena Project hosts the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and a number of other prospective targets, including Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, Romana North, Romana West, Canada Honda, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, and San Pablo.
About Pan Global Resources
Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities.
QA/QC Procedures
Core size was HQ (63mm) and all samples were core. Nominal sample size was 1m core length and ranged from 0.5 to 2m. Sample intervals were defined using geological contacts with the start and end of each sample physically marked on the core. Diamond blade core cutting and sampling was supervised at all times by Company staff. Duplicate samples of core were taken approximately every 30 samples and Certified Reference materials inserted every 25 samples in each batch.
Samples were delivered to ALS laboratory in Seville, Spain and assayed at the ALS laboratory in Ireland. All samples were crushed and split (method CRU-31, SPL22Y), and pulverized using (method PUL-31). Gold analysis was by 50gm Fire assay with ICP finish (method Au-ICP22) and multi element analysis was undertaken using a 4-acid digest with ICP AES finish (method ME-ICP61). Over grade base metal results were assayed using a 4-acid digest ICP AES (method OG-62). Over grade tin was determined using peroxide fusion with ICP finish (method Sn-ICP81x).
Qualified Persons
James Royall, Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information for this news release. Mr. Royall is not independent of the Company.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
www.panglobalresources.com
Forward-looking statements
Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Saville Resources Inc. (TSX.V:SRE) (FSE:S0J) (the "Company" or "Saville") wishes to announce changes to its Board of Directors. Mr. Charn Deol has resigned as a director of the Company, effective immediately. The Company would like to express its sincere gratitude to Mr. Deol for his invaluable contributions and dedicated service during his tenure. His insights and leadership have been instrumental in guiding the Company through various strategic decisions.
Additionally, Saville is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Kevin Bottomley as a new director. Mr. Bottomley brings with him a wealth of experience in the mineral exploration industry and has held various leadership roles in prominent mining companies. His expertise and vision align well with Saville's goals, and the Company looks forward to benefiting from his guidance in the coming years.
Mike Hodge, President of Saville Resources Inc., commented, "While we are saddened to see Mr. Deol depart, we are excited to welcome Mr. Bottomley to our team. His vast experience and industry knowledge will undoubtedly be an asset to Saville as we continue our exploration and development endeavors."
About Saville Resources Inc.
The Company's principal asset is the Niobium Claim Group Property, situated within the central Labrador Trough, Quebec, and currently under Earn-In Agreement from Commerce Resources Corp. for up to a 75% interest. The Property consists of 26 contiguous mineral claims, encompassing an area of approximately 1,223 hectares, and is considered prospective for niobium, tantalum, phosphate, and fluorspar. The Property includes the Miranna Target, where prior boulder sampling in the area has returned 5.9% Nb 2 O 5 and 1,220 ppm Ta 2 O 5 , as well as the Mallard Prospect where drilling has returned wide intercepts of mineralization, including 1.00% Nb 2 O 5 over 17.1 m, within a larger interval of 0.82% Nb2O5 over 42.3 m (EC21-175).
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
SAVILLE RESOURCES INC.
"Mike Hodge"
Mike Hodge
President
Tel: 604.681.1568
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements, which includes any information about activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include the extension of the exploration earn-in agreement and that we anticipate Saville will undertake a drilling exploration program on the Niobium Claim group property; that Ashram has the potential to become a long-term supplier to the met-spar and acid-spar markets; and that the Company is positioning to be one of the lowest cost rare earth element producers globally. These forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. Risks that could change or prevent these events, activities or developments from coming to fruition include: that Saville may not undertake, or complete, any exploration work on the Niobium Claim group property; that we may not be able to fully finance any additional exploration on the Ashram Project; that even if we are able raise capital, costs for exploration activities may increase such that we may not have sufficient funds to pay for such exploration or processing activities; the timing and content of any future work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumptions based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that, with further test work, may not be comparable; testing of our process may not prove successful or samples derived from the Ashram Project may not yield positive results, and even if such tests are successful or initial sample results are positive, the economic and other outcomes may not be as expected; the availability of labour and equipment to undertake future exploration work and testing activities; geopolitical risks which may result in market and economic instability; and despite the current expected viability of the Ashram Project, conditions changing such that even if metals or minerals are discovered on the Ashram Project, the project may not be commercially viable; The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.
Vancouver, British Columbia TheNewswire - September 19, 2023 Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV:RAK) (Rackla or the Company) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced private placement financing for aggregate gross proceeds of C$2,786,475 (the Offering). Under the Offering, the Company sold 5,769,000 flow-through units of the Company (each, a Flow-Through Unit) and 4,800,000 non-flow-through units of the Company (each, a Hard Unit, and together with the Flow-Through Units, the Offered Securities).
Each Flow-Through Unit consists of one common share of the Company (each, a Common Share) that will qualify as a flow-through share within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and one Common Share purchase warrant of the Company (each, a Warrant). Each Hard Unit consists of one Common Share and one Warrant. Each Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional Common Share (each, a Warrant Share) at a price of C$0.40 per Warrant Share at any time on or before September 19, 2025.
3L Capital Inc. and Canaccord Genuity Corp acted as co-lead agents and co-bookrunners (together, the Agents). As consideration for acting as Agents, the Company paid to the Agents a cash fee of C$122,628.50 (the Agents Fee) equal to 6.0% (or 2.0% for those subscribers listed on the presidents list (the Presidents List Subscribers)) of the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Offered Securities. In addition to the Agents Fee, the Company also granted to the Agents 456,140 compensation options (each, a Compensation Option), entitling the Agents to subscribe for that number of Hard Units (each, a Compensation Hard Unit) equal to 6.0% (or 2.0% in the case of sales to Presidents List Subscribers) of the aggregate number of Offered Securities sold under the Offering, with each Compensation Hard Unit consisting of one Common Share (each, a Compensation Share) and one Warrant. Subject to regulatory approval, each Compensation Option will be exercisable to acquire one Compensation Hard Unit of the Company at a price of C$0.25 at any time on or before September 19, 2025. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no Agents Fee was paid or Compensation Options were issued to the Agents in respect of a C$230,000 subscription for Offered Securities from one of the Presidents List Subscribers.
The gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Flow-Through Units will be used to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses (CEE) that qualify as Canadian exploration expenses and flow-through mining expenditures for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the Qualifying Expenditures) on or before December 31, 2024 (or such other period as may be permissible under applicable tax legislation) and which will be renounced in favour of the purchasers of Flow-Through Units with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2023, in the aggregate amount of not less than the total amount of gross proceeds raised from the issue of Flow-Through Units.
It is expected that the net proceeds of the Offering will be used for further exploration and development of the Companys Astro Plutonic Complex properties (including the Astro, Hit and SER projects) and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The Offering remains subject to the final approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Offered Securities will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from closing of the Offering in accordance with applicable securities laws.
The Offered Securities were sold to purchasers: (i) in British Columbia and Ontario pursuant to applicable private placement exemptions; (ii) in the United States or that are U.S. persons on a private placement basis pursuant to exemptions from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act), and applicable state securities laws; and (iii) in certain offshore jurisdictions on a private placement basis.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Offered Securities in the United States or the U.S. persons. The Offered Securities have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
About Rackla
Rackla Metals Inc. (TSXV: RAK) is a Vancouver, Canada based junior gold exploration company. The Company is targeting RiRGS (Reduced-intrusion Related Gold System) mineralization on the southeastern part of the Tombstone Gold Belt in eastern Yukon and western Northwest Territories. Management believes that this area, which is underexplored for RiRGS deposit types, has the potential to be the next frontier for their discovery.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Simon Ridgway,
CEO and Director
Tel: (604) 801-5432; Fax: (604) 662-8829
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Website: www.racklametals.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Forward Looking Information
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and include, without limitation, statements about the Offering; the receipt of regulatory and other approvals for the Offering; the use of proceeds from the Offering; the ability of the Company to incur CEE with the proceeds of the sale of the Flow-Through Units, the Companys continued exploration and development of its mineral properties and the timing to renounce all Qualifying Expenditures in favour of the subscribers of Flow-Through Units; and general business and economic conditions. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information relate to future events and future performance and include statements regarding the expectations and beliefs of management based on information currently available to the Company. Often, but not always, these forward looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as estimate, estimates, estimated, potential, open, future, assumed, projected, used, detailed, has been, gain, upgraded, offset, limited, contained, reflecting, containing, remaining, to be, periodically, or statements that events, could or should occur or be achieved and similar expressions, including negative variations.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Such uncertainties and factors include, among others, changes in general economic conditions and financial markets; the Company or any joint venture partner not having the financial ability to meet its exploration and development goals; risks associated with the results of exploration and development activities, estimation of mineral resources and the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; unanticipated costs and expenses; and such other risks detailed from time to time in the Companys quarterly and annual filings with securities regulators and available under the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking statements contained herein are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management, including but not limited to: that the Companys stated goals and planned exploration activities at its properties will be achieved; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company, its properties or its securities; and such other assumptions as set out herein. Forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
Highlights
Majority (51%) Ownership Milestone at Pilar; Right to Purchase Remaining 49%
Pilar Expansion Acquisition Expected to Finalize in Coming Weeks Adds Over 21 square-kilometers to Land Package in Highly Prospective Area
Outlines Operational Plans for Q4/ 2023 Including Drill Targeting in Expansion Area
Calgary, Alberta - TheNewswire - September 19, 2023 - Tocvan Ventures Corp. (the Company) (CSE:TOC) (OTC:TCVNF) (FSE:TV3), is pleased to announce it has submitted the exercise notice to Colibri Resources Corp. for the majority ownership (51%) of the Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico. The Company has the right to purchase the remaining 49% of the Pilar Project and plans to do so, subject to the conditions of the property option agreement. In addition, due diligence is complete for the land expansion acquisition surrounding Pilar (see News Release, July 27, 2023) and the Company looks to have a definitive agreement completed in the following weeks. Recent placer activity, historic workings, and prospective geology all indicate the area is highly prospective for gold and silver.
This is a major milestone as we advance towards full ownership of Pilar and consolidate the district with its exciting gold and silver potential, stated Brodie Sutherland, CEO. Over the last four years we have been able to unlock the potential of Pilar through surface work, drilling, and metallurgical studies. We now look to make the next steps towards expanding the potential of the district trough quickly advancing discovery drilling across the area. Our goal is to build out a resource estimate at Pilar and expand on that potential through additional discoveries across the vast expansion area.
Figure 1. Pilar Expansion area coves over 21 square-kilometers of prospective ground surrounding the established Pilar project. Recent placer activity, historic workings and prospective geology all indicate the area is highly prospective.
Operational Plans
Pilar Project
The Company plans to restart field operations at the close of the expansion acquisition with the primary focus to advance new target areas already identified quickly towards drill targeting. Drilling at Pilar and within the new expansion area is planned to total 2,000-meters before year end. Work related to mine permitting is also scheduled for Q4/ 2023 to prepare for final permit application. Continued metallurgical work is planned to advance the understanding of gravity and agitated leach methods for gold and silver recovery. Aggressive drill targeting aimed at driving new discovery and infill drilling at Pilar is scheduled for 2024.
El Picacho Project
The Company will return to El Picacho for groundwork to advance the next phase of drilling on the Project. Beyond follow up at the San Ramon target where the Company drilled 44.2-meters at 0.6 g/t Au, 6-kilometers of prospective trend remains untested and open for drilling.
Figure 2. Pilar Expansion preliminary target areas (red dots) and their relative distance to Pilar. Preliminary targets are based prospective geology, satellite data interpretation, known historic workings and recent placer mining.
About the Pilar Property
The Pilar Gold-Silver property has recently returned some of the regions best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer. Pilar is interpreted as a structurally controlled low-sulphidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks. Three primary zones of mineralization have been identified in the north-west part of the property from historic surface work and drilling and are referred to as the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T. The Main Zone and 4-T trends are open to the southeast and new parallel zones have been recently discovered. Structural features and zones of mineralization within the structures follow an overall NW-SE trend of mineralization. Mineralization extends along a 1.2-km trend, only half of that trend has been drill tested so far. To date, over 23,000-m of drilling has been completed.
2022 Phase III Diamond Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses): 116.9m @ 1.2 g/t Au, including 10.2m @ 12 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag 108.9m @ 0.8 g/t Au, including 9.4m @ 7.6 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag 63.4m @ 0.6 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag, including 29.9m @ 0.9 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag
2021 Phase II RC Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses): 39.7m @ 1.0 g/t Au, including 1.5m @ 14.6 g/t Au 47.7m @ 0.7 g/t Au including 3m @ 5.6 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag 29m @ 0.7 g/t Au 35.1m @ 0.7 g/t Au
2020 Phase I RC Drilling Highlights include (all lengths are drilled thicknesses 94.6m @ 1.6 g/t Au, including 9.2m @ 10.8 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag; 41.2m @ 1.1 g/t Au, including 3.1m @ 6.0 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag ; 24.4m @ 2.5 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag, including 1.5m @ 33.4 g/t Au and 1,090 g/t Ag
15,000m of Historic Core RC drilling. Highlights include: 61.0m @ 0.8 g/t Au 16.5m @ 53.5 g/t Au and 53 g/t Ag 13.0m @ 9.6 g/t Au 9.0m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 46 g/t Ag
Bulk Sample and Metallurgy Results Head Grade of 1.9 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag Bulk Heap Leach Results of coarse fraction, 62% recovery of Au and 47% recovery of Ag Agitated Leach Results, 80% recovery of Au and 94% recovery of Ag after just 24-hours of retention time Initial Gravity and Agitated Leach tests returned over 95% recovery of Au, over 73% recovery of Ag
About the El Picacho Property
The El Picacho Gold-Silver property is interpreted as an orogenic gold system within the regional Caborca Orogenic Gold Belt known for producing gold mines that include La Herradura (>10 Moz Au) and San Francisco (>3 Moz Au). The project is 140 kilometers north of Hermosillo and only 18 kilometers southwest of the producing San Francisco Mine. The Project totals 24 square kilometers (2,400 ha). Five primary zones of mineralization have been identified across the property totalling over six kilometers of prospective trends. Surface sampling and historic workings have identified high-grade gold and silver values. The project has only seen widely spaced reconnaissance drilling with no follow-up. Tocvan believes this provides an excellent opportunity for discovery of a multi-million ounce district. In December of 2022, the Company completed its first ever drill program at El Picacho leading to the discovery of significant near surface mineralization at the San Ramon target highlighted by 44.2m @ 0.6 g/t Au.
About Tocvan Ventures Corp.
Tocvan is a well-structured exploration development company. Tocvan was created in order to take advantage of the prolonged downturn in the junior mining exploration sector, by identifying and negotiating interest in opportunities where management feels they can build upon previous success. Tocvan has approximately 40 million shares outstanding and is earning 100% into two exciting opportunities in Sonora, Mexico: the Pilar Gold-Silver project and the El Picacho Gold-Silver project. Management feels both projects represent tremendous opportunity to create shareholder value.
Brodie A. Sutherland, P.Geo., CEO for Tocvan Ventures Corp. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Offering. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as plans, expects, is expected, budget, scheduled, estimates, forecasts, intends, anticipates, or believes or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved.
These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the speculative nature of the Companys business, the Companys formative stage of development and the Companys financial position. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
For more information, please contact:
TOCVAN VENTURES CORP.
Brodie A. Sutherland, CEO
820-1130 West Pender St.
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A4
Telephone: 1 888 772 2452
Email: ir@tocvan.ca
Outlines Target Areas for Next Phase of Drilling
Highlights
Majority (51%) Ownership Milestone at Pilar; Right to Purchase Remaining 49%
Pilar Expansion Acquisition Expected to Finalize in Coming Weeks Adds Over 21 square-kilometers to Land Package in Highly Prospective Area
Outlines Operational Plans for Q4/ 2023 Including Drill Targeting in Expansion Area
CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Tocvan Ventures Corp. (the "Company") (CSE:TOC) (OTCQB:TCVNF) (FSE:TV3), is pleased to announce it has submitted the exercise notice to Colibri Resources Corp. for the majority ownership (51%) of the Pilar gold-silver project in Sonora, Mexico. The Company has the right to purchase the remaining 49% of the Pilar Project and plans to do so, subject to the conditions of the property option agreement. In addition, due diligence is complete for the land expansion acquisition surrounding Pilar (see News Release, July 27, 2023) and the Company looks to have a definitive agreement completed in the following weeks. Recent placer activity, historic workings, and prospective geology all indicate the area is highly prospective for gold and silver.
"This is a major milestone as we advance towards full ownership of Pilar and consolidate the district with its exciting gold and silver potential," stated Brodie Sutherland, CEO. "Over the last four years we have been able to unlock the potential of Pilar through surface work, drilling, and metallurgical studies. We now look to make the next steps towards expanding the potential of the district trough quickly advancing discovery drilling across the area. Our goal is to build out a resource estimate at Pilar and expand on that potential through additional discoveries across the vast expansion area."
Figure 1. Pilar Expansion area coves over 21 square-kilometers of prospective ground surrounding the established Pilar project. Recent placer activity, historic workings and prospective geology all indicate the area is highly prospective.
Operational Plans
Pilar Project
The Company plans to restart field operations at the close of the expansion acquisition with the primary focus to advance new target areas already identified quickly towards drill targeting. Drilling at Pilar and within the new expansion area is planned to total 2,000-meters before year end. Work related to mine permitting is also scheduled for Q4/ 2023 to prepare for final permit application. Continued metallurgical work is planned to advance the understanding of gravity and agitated leach methods for gold and silver recovery. Aggressive drill targeting aimed at driving new discovery and infill drilling at Pilar is scheduled for 2024.
El Picacho Project
The Company will return to El Picacho for groundwork to advance the next phase of drilling on the Project. Beyond follow up at the San Ramon target where the Company drilled 44.2-meters at 0.6 g/t Au, 6-kilometers of prospective trend remains untested and open for drilling.
Figure 2. Pilar Expansion preliminary target areas (red dots) and their relative distance to Pilar. Preliminary targets are based prospective geology, satellite data interpretation, known historic workings and recent placer mining.
About the Pilar Property
The Pilar Gold-Silver property has recently returned some of the region's best drill results. Coupled with encouraging gold and silver recovery results from metallurgical test work, Pilar is primed to be a potential near-term producer. Pilar is interpreted as a structurally controlled low-sulphidation epithermal system hosted in andesite rocks. Three primary zones of mineralization have been identified in the north-west part of the property from historic surface work and drilling and are referred to as the Main Zone, North Hill and 4-T. The Main Zone and 4-T trends are open to the southeast and new parallel zones have been recently discovered. Structural features and zones of mineralization within the structures follow an overall NW-SE trend of mineralization. Mineralization extends along a 1.2-km trend, only half of that trend has been drill tested so far. To date, over 23,000-m of drilling has been completed.
2022 Phase III Diamond Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 116.9m @ 1.2 g/t Au, including 10.2m @ 12 g/t Au and 23 g/t Ag 108.9m @ 0.8 g/t Au, including 9.4m @ 7.6 g/t Au and 5 g/t Ag 63.4m @ 0.6 g/t Au and 11 g/t Ag, including 29.9m @ 0.9 g/t Au and 18 g/t Ag
2021 Phase II RC Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 39.7m @ 1.0 g/t Au, including 1.5m @ 14.6 g/t Au 47.7m @ 0.7 g/t Au including 3m @ 5.6 g/t Au and 22 g/t Ag 29m @ 0.7 g/t Au 35.1m @ 0.7 g/t Au
2020 Phase I RC Drilling Highlights include ( all lengths are drilled thicknesses ): 94.6m @ 1.6 g/t Au, including 9.2m @ 10.8 g/t Au and 38 g/t Ag; 41.2m @ 1.1 g/t Au, including 3.1m @ 6.0 g/t Au and 12 g/t Ag ; 24.4m @ 2.5 g/t Au and 73 g/t Ag, including 1.5m @ 33.4 g/t Au and 1,090 g/t Ag
15,000m of Historic Core & RC drilling. Highlights include: 16.5m @ 53.5 g/t Au and 53 g/t Ag 13.0m @ 9.6 g/t Au 9.0m @ 10.2 g/t Au and 46 g/t Ag
Bulk Sample and Metallurgy Results Head Grade of 1.9 g/t Au and 7 g/t Ag Bulk Heap Leach Results of coarse fraction, 62% recovery of Au and 47% recovery of Ag Agitated Leach Results, 80% recovery of Au and 94% recovery of Ag after just 24-hours of retention time Initial Gravity and Agitated Leach tests returned over 95% recovery of Au, over 73% recovery of Ag
About the El Picacho Property
The El Picacho Gold-Silver property is interpreted as an orogenic gold system within the regional Caborca Orogenic Gold Belt known for producing gold mines that include La Herradura (>10 Moz Au) and San Francisco (>3 Moz Au). The project is 140 kilometers north of Hermosillo and only 18 kilometers southwest of the producing San Francisco Mine. The Project totals 24 square kilometers (2,400 ha). Five primary zones of mineralization have been identified across the property totaling over six kilometers of prospective trends. Surface sampling and historic workings have identified high-grade gold and silver values. The project has only seen widely spaced reconnaissance drilling with no follow-up. Tocvan believes this provides an excellent opportunity for discovery of a multi-million ounce district. In December of 2022, the Company completed its first ever drill program at El Picacho leading to the discovery of significant near surface mineralization at the San Ramon target highlighted by 44.2m @ 0.6 g/t Au.
About Tocvan Ventures Corp.
Tocvan is a well-structured exploration development company. Tocvan was created in order to take advantage of the prolonged downturn in the junior mining exploration sector, by identifying and negotiating interest in opportunities where management feels they can build upon previous success. Tocvan has approximately 40 million shares outstanding and is earning 100% into two exciting opportunities in Sonora, Mexico: the Pilar Gold-Silver project and the El Picacho Gold-Silver project. Management feels both projects represent tremendous opportunity to create shareholder value.
Brodie A. Sutherland, P.Geo., CEO for Tocvan Ventures Corp. and a qualified person ("QP") as defined by Canadian National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" which may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the activities, events or developments that the Company expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements regarding the use of proceeds from the Offering. Such forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words and phrases such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.
These forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business. Management believes that these assumptions are reasonable. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors include, among others, risks related to the speculative nature of the Company's business, the Company's formative stage of development and the Company's financial position. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
For more information, please contact:
TOCVAN VENTURES CORP.
Brodie A. Sutherland, CEO
820-1130 West Pender St.
Vancouver, BC V6E 4A4
Telephone: 1 888 772 2452
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Vancouver, British Columbia - TheNewswire - September 19, 2023 - Leocor Gold Inc. (the Company or Leocor) (CSE:LECR) (OTC:LECRF) is pleased to report significant RAB drilling results from the recently completed drill program on the Dorset Project within the Companys Baie Verte District landholdings, located on north central Newfoundland, Canada (Figure 1).
These results are highlighted by hole DORRAB23-004 which returned 0.226 grams-per-tonne (g/t) gold (Au) over 32m starting at surface (4.6m). This includes 1.01 g/t Au over 1.52m starting at surface and 0.464 g/t Au over 1.52m from 32m. A total of 14 RAB holes were completed at the Dorset Project totaling 750m. Drilling concentrated on the Sharpie Ridge, Gunshot and Dorset showings. The above wide low-grade intercept tested an undrilled 1 x 2 km gold-in-soil anomaly outlined by Leocor in 2022 (Figure 2).
We are excited to announce the results from our summer RAB drill program at the Dorset Project which is one of our key assets in the Central Newfoundland gold belt, said CEO, Alex Klenman. RAB drilling is a very mobile and cost-effective tool to test targets of merit at the subsurface. The drilling isnt deep and a wide low-grade intercept over a 1 km wide gold-in-soil anomaly is a very significant finding. Last years RAB drilling 700 meters to the north intersected high-grade gold. The combination of higher-grade hits and wide areas of lower grade values presents a large and very compelling exploration target. We are on to a wide-spread gold system and were eager to probe this area with diamond drilling, continued Mr. Klenman.
Figure 1. Regional location of Leocors Baie Vert District landholdings.
Table 1. Interval and composite results of the Dorset Project RAB 2023 drill program
Hole ID Target From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au g/t) DORRAB22-001 DOR Main 28.96 36.58 7.62 1.41 DORRAB22-002 DOR Main 28.96 35.05 6.10 1.14 DORRAB22-003 DOR/Gunshot Extension 27.43 30.48 3.05 0.57 DORRAB22-004 DOR/Gunshot Extension No Significant Results DORRAB22-005 DOR/Gunshot Extension 1.52 19.81 18.29 0.21 DORRAB22-006 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-007 Sharpie Ridge 15.24 25.91 10.67 2.32 Incl. 15.24 16.76 1.52 10.2 DORRAB22-008 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-009 Sharpie Ridge No Significant Results DORRAB22-010 BRAZ NE 0.00 4.57 4.57 3.18 DORRAB22-011 Gunshot 18.29 19.81 1.52 0.64 DORRAB22-012 Gunshot No Significant Results
Table 2. Results of the Dorset Project 2022 RAB drill program
Figure 2. Drill hole locations of the 2023 RAB drilling program at the Dorset Project.
RAB Drilling
The RAB drilling was completed by GroundTruth Exploration Inc. using their GT RAB Drill, a Heli-Portable, wireless remote-controlled, rubber tracked platform with a hydraulic tilting mast assembly and rotary drill head. The GT RAB Drill is environmentally friendly with low-ground pressure and minimal surface disturbance. Individual drill holes can be up to 100m in depth and are paired with onsite XRF analysis and optical televiewer surveys, allowing rapid evaluation of the target areas.
2022-2023 RAB Results and Next Steps
Based on the 2022 and 2023 significant RAB drill results, Leocors geological team has advanced the interpretation of possible controls to gold mineralization related to north to north-northeast and southeast-northwest structural lineaments (Figure 3). Where these trends intersect has produced the more significant sub-surface drill intercepts. This relationship appears very important and will provide targets of merit for the follow up program. Permitting for diamond drilling has now been submitted.
Figure 3. Dorset Project 2023 Rab drill holes over total magnetic intensity with structural lineament interpretation.
Qualified Person
Mike Kilbourne, P. Geo, an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed, and approved the technical contents of this news release on behalf of the Company.
About Leocor Gold Inc.
Leocor Gold Inc. is a British Columbia-based resource company involved in the acquisition and exploration of precious metal projects, with a current focus in Atlantic Canada. Leocor, through outright ownership and earn-in agreements, currently controls several gold-copper projects in prime exploration ground located within the prolific Baie Verte Mining District. Leocors Bae Verte portfolio includes the Dorset, Dorset Extension, Copper Creek and Five Mile Brook projects, creating a contiguous nearly 2,000-hectare exploration corridor. The Company also controls the 6,847-ha grassroots Startrek project near Gander, as well as three district scale land packages in North Central Newfoundland, known as Roberts Arm, Hodges Hill, and Leamington, (collectively Western Exploits) representing over 144,000 hectares (1,440 square kilometers) of prospective exploration.
Contact Information
Leocor Gold Inc.
Alex Klenman, Chief Executive Officer
Email : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Telephone : (604) 970-4330
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding the terms and conditions of the Option. Although Leocor believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. Leocor cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by Leocor is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to: the agreement of the parties to proceed with the proposed transaction on the terms set out in the Option Agreements or at all; Leocor's ability to exercise the Options; the state of the financial markets for Leocor's securities; the state of the natural resources sector in the event the Option, or any of them, are completed; recent market volatility; circumstances related to COVID-19; Leocor's ability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies; and other risks and factors that Leocor is unaware of at this time. The reader is referred to Leocor's initial public offering prospectus for a more complete discussion of applicable risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through Leocors issuer page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Leocor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NINE MILE METALS LTD. (CSE: NINE, OTCQB: VMSXF, FSE: KQ9) (the Company or Nine Mile) is pleased to announce the Company entered into an agreement dated September 14, 2023, with Lorena Hamilton, (the Agreement) to acquire an additional 5.06 square kms, 23 claim units (the New Claims) adjacent to its California Lake and Nine Mile Brook VMS Projects, in Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick (BMC). This acquisition brings the total Land package in the BMC to an impressive 137.81 km2.
Figure 1: Nine Mile Metals Western Portfolio Projects (California Lake, Canoe Landing Lake & The Wedge)
Patrick J Cruickshank, CEO & Director stated, We are pleased to announce we have added strategic claims to our western flank of our California Lake VMS project. This now allows us to explore the entire trend that our new technology has identified. We are advancing and building a high-quality portfolio in the Nine Mile Synform region of the BMC. We look forward to including these claims in our final target analysis to be announced shortly.
The newly acquired claims cover sequences of felsic volcanics and various geological contacts known to host VMS mineralization along strike to both the north and south of the acquired ground. To the north is Ahearn Brook with select assays up to 209.14 g/t Ag, 2.26% Cu, 16.6% Pb and 29.1% Zn. In the west, the Strachens Lake Brook occurrence is on the south flank, with reported assays up to 32.57 g/t Ag, 0.39% Cu, 0.51% Pb and 3.14% Zn. The addition of these claims greatly enhances our exploration potential in this portion of the BMC, stated Gary Lohman, B.Sc., P. Geo., VP Exploration and Director.
Pursuant to the Agreement, the Company intends to acquire the New Claims for 550,000 common shares of the Company, which will have a four month hold legend. In addition, there is a 2.0% net smelter royalty (NSR) on the New Claims derived from metallic mineral production. The Company has the right to purchase the 50% of the 2% NSR from the vendors for $1,000,000 at any time prior to commencement of commercial production. The vendor is at arms length from the Company. Completion of the acquisition will take place on September 26, 2023.
The disclosure of technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101) and reviewed and approved by Gary Lohman, B.Sc., P. Geo., Director, who acts as the Companys Qualified Person, and is not independent of the Company.
About Nine Mile Metals Ltd.:
Nine Mile Metals Ltd. is a Canadian public mineral exploration company focused on Critical Minerals Exploration (CME) VMS (Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag and Au) exploration in the world-famous Bathurst Mining Camp, New Brunswick, Canada. The Companys primary business objective is to explore its four VMS Projects: Nine Mile Brook VMS; California Lake VMS; Canoe Landing Lake (EastWest) VMS and the new Wedge VMS Projects. The Company is focused on Critical Minerals Exploration (CME), positioning for the boom in EV and green technologies requiring Copper, Silver, Lead and Zinc with a hedge with Gold.
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ON BEHALF OF NINE MILE METALS LTD.
Patrick J. Cruickshank, MBA
CEO and Director
T: 506-804-6117
E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of Nine Mile. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of Nine Mile. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as will, may, would, expect, intend, plan, seek, anticipate, believe, estimate, predict, potential, continue, likely, could and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include that (a) completion of the acquisition will take place on September 26, 2023, (b) the Company intends to acquire the New Claims for 550,000 common shares, (c) the addition of these claims greatly enhances our exploration potential in this portion of the BMC, and (d) we look forward to including these claims in our final target analysis to be announced shortly. Although Nine Mile believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because Nine Mile can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this release.
Highlights:
NAK23-11 returned 473 m @ 0.62% Copper Equivalent ("CuEq") from surface, including: 214 m @ 0.91% CuEq, in turn including: 102 m @ 1.04% CuEq
NAK23-10 returned 359 m @ 0.43% CuEq within: 830 m @ 0.36% CuEq from Surface
With two drill holes on a single section returning long intersections of over 0.5% CuEq from surface (NAK23-08 and 11), both size and tenor of the NAK South Zone continue to increase.
Holes NAK23-10 and 11 affirm that the northerly trending continuously mineralized zone drill-tested in 2022 also has significant width and higher grades.
Assays are pending from drill holes NAK23-12, 13 and 14.
Drilling continues, and several more holes are planned for this season.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - American Eagle Gold Corp. (TSXV: AE) (OTCQB: AMEGF) ("American Eagle" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has drilled its best hole to date on its NAK copper-gold porphyry project ("NAK" or the "Project"). NAK23-11 intersected 102 metres of 1.04% Copper Equivalent ("CuEq") within 473 metres of 0.62% CuEq from surface.
In addition, NAK23-10 intersected 359 metres of 0.43% CuEq within 830 metres of 0.36% CuEq from surface. The results further demonstrate that the NAK mineralizing system has considerable scale and the potential for substantial growth in size and grade.
Sections, Drill Core Images, and a New Video relating to NAK 23-10 and NAK 23-11:
"We've seen significant grade improvement in our drilling at NAK. Our discovery hole in 2022 had 0.37% CuEq, followed by 0.5% in our first hole this year. In our latest drill hole, NAK23-11, we intercepted over 0.6% across nearly 500 metres. This increasing grade profile, and fact that NAK's mineralization begins near surface, within an even broader envelope of consistently mineralized rock, and all in an area with excellent year-round access and infrastructure, helps set NAK apart from its peers in British Columbia," said Anthony Moreau, American Eagle's CEO.
NAK 23-11 Assay Results: Table 1
From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t Cu % Ag g/t Mo ppm Cu Eq %* 45.58 707 661.42 0.29 0.20 1.03 136 0.52 Including 45.58 587 541.42 0.34 0.22 1.04 161 0.58 Including 45.58 519 473.42 0.37 0.22 1.05 165 0.62 And Including 217.41 431 213.59 0.59 0.33 1.5 192 0.91 Including 306.33 431 124.67 0.59 0.39 1.9 194 0.97 Including 316.76 419 102.24 0.67 0.39 1.8 205 1.04
NAK 23-10 Assay Results: Table 2
From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au g/t Cu % Ag g/t Mo ppm Cu Eq %* 25.95 855.93 829.98 0.17 0.17 0.65 83 0.36 Including 25.95 548 522.05 0.22 0.13 0.69 67 0.35 Including 25.95 402 376.05 0.28 0.13 0.64 61 0.39 Including 119 204 85 0.53 0.25 1.07 51 0.69 And Including 379 738 359 0.14 0.23 0.76 125 0.43
* Copper Equivalent (CuEq) for drill intersections is calculatged based on US$ 3.75/lb Cu, US$ 1,900/oz Au, US$ 20/oz Ag and US$ 25/lb Mo, with 80% metallurgical recoveries assumed for all metals (Since it's unclear what metals will be the principal products, assuming different recoveries is premature at this stage. As such an 80% recovery rate is justified at this point in time ). The formula is: CuEq. = Cu % + (Au grade in g/t x (Au recovery / Cu recovery) x [Au price 31] / [Cu price x 2200]) + (Ag grade in g/t x (Ag recovery / Cu recovery) x [Ag price 31] / [Cu price x 2200] + (Mo grade in % x (Mo recovery / Cu recovery) x [Mo price x 2200] / [Cu price x 2200]). The assays have not been capped.
NAK 22-11 Details
NAK 23-11 was collared approximately 120 m west of NAK23-08, and intersected similar fine to coarse grained clastic rocks, intruded by polyphase dykes that are inferred to be associated with the Babine porphyry stock intrusion. The best zones of mineralization were within conglomeritic units, proximal to variably mineralized dykes. Copper mineralization increased significantly below 217 m, where the hole intersected conglomerate, with a coincident increase in gold grades. Gold and molybdenum grades show a strong correlation throughout this hole. Conspicuously high gold grades down hole from 217 m appear to be associated with purple anhydrite veins that host chalcopyrite, bornite, and molybdenite, although gold grades remain strong from top of hole to that point, almost always returning values greater than 0.2 ppm Au. As the hole traverses deeper and to the west, copper values remained steady, with a gradual decrease in gold grade. These changes accompany an increase in the proportion of pyrite with depth. At 707 m, pyrrhotite makes its first appearance, and both gold and copper values drop off sharply.
NAK 22-10 Details
NAK 23-10 was collared approximately 75 m to the north-northeast of NAK23-08 into intensely altered and brecciated intrusive rocks of the Babine porphyry stock. Broad intervals of intense bleaching and clay alteration appear to reflect late-stage fluid flow that stripped sulphide mineralization in the upper 119 m, below which the hole transitions to conglomerate and brecciated finer grained sedimentary rocks. Mineralization, consisting of chalcopyrite with minor bornite and pyrite, sharply increases within the sedimentary lithologies and remains strong through several porphyry dykes. In contrast to holes NAK23-08 and 11, the strongest disseminated mineralization in NAK23-10 occurs below 540 m within coarse grained sandstone that is intruded by well-mineralized dykes. As the hole traverses deeper and to the west, the relative abundance of pyrite increases, and similarly to NAK23-11, pyrrhotite makes a first appearance below 730 m. While the appearance of pyrrhotite is associated with a similar decrease in grade, the drop in CuEq values is not as pronounced as in NAK23-11, with overall Cu grades remaining strongly anomalous until the end of the hole at 856 m.
Update on NAK Holes NAK 23-12 to -15
Assays for drill holes NAK23-12 and NAK23-13 will be received in the coming weeks. With the recent completion of NAK23-14, drilling in the North Zone has been completed and core samples from that hole have been shipped to the lab for assaying. Drilling on NAK23-15 is in progress, representing a 110-m step-out to the south from NAK23-11 in the South Zone and targeting additional copper-gold mineralization in that direction. The Company's current plan is that the next hole, NAK23-16, will be a westerly directed hole collared 150 metres north of NAK23-11. NAK23-16 is intended to test the continuity of mineralization encountered to the west and at depth in the South zone from our 2022 drill fence, between the copper-rich North zone and the relatively more gold-rich South zone.
Collar details for holes drilled in the 2022 and 2023 drill program: Table 2
Hole UTM_Grid UTM_East UTM_North Azimuth Dip NAK 22-01 NAD83_Z9 675281 6129359 n/a -90 NAK 22-02 NAD83_Z9 675281 6129359 340 -70 NAK 22-03 NAD83_Z9 675201 6129658 n/a -90 NAK 22-04 NAD83_Z9 675181 6129862 n/a -90 NAK 22-05 NAD83_Z9 675105 6130067 n/a -90 NAK 22-06 NAD83_Z9 675376 6129782 260 -77 NAK 22-07 NAD83_Z9 675181 6129862 170 -81 NAK 23-08 NAD83_Z9 675341 6129341 270 -60 NAK 23-09 NAD83_Z9 675990 6129284 20 -65 NAK 23-10 NAD83_Z9 675357 6129415 270 -60 NAK 23-11 NAD83_Z9 675215 6129340 270 -60 NAK 23-12 NAD83_Z9 674999 6129846 80 -70 NAK 23-13 NAD83_Z9 675205 6129773 270 -60 NAK 23-14 NAD83_Z9 675260 6129934 260 -70 NAK 23-15 NAD83_Z9 675211 6129232 270 -60
About American Eagle's NAK Project
The NAK Project is in the Babine copper-gold porphyry district of British Columbia, near past-producing mines and with excellent infrastructure. Previous drilling at NAK revealed a large near-surface copper-gold system measuring over 1.5 km x 1.5 km. Historical exploration was limited to shallow depths, averaging 170 m. In 2022, American Eagle's 2022 drilling program explored deeper and discovered significant copper-gold mineralization along a northerly trend. The objective for 2023 is to expand the known mineralized footprint at NAK and to identify higher-grade zones of copper and gold. The property is accessible by road and can be drilled year-round. The promising initial results make NAK an ideal candidate for further exploration
For the latest videos from American Eagle, Ore Group, and all things mining, subscribe to our YouTube Channel: youtube.com/@theoregroup
About American Eagle Gold Corp.
American Eagle is focused on exploring its NAK project in the Babine Copper-Gold Porphyry district of central British Columbia. In May 2023, the Company announced a strategic investment by Teck Resources Limited.
Anthony Moreau, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 416.644.1567
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.americaneaglegold.ca
QP Statement
Mark Bradley, B.Sc., M.Sc., P.Geo., a Certified Professional Geologist and 'qualified person' for the purposes of Canada's National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties, has verified and approved the information contained in this news release.
Reader Advisory
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the TSX Venture Exchange policies) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information in this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding whether the Company can exercise its option to acquire the Project as anticipated and whether the Company's exploration efforts on the Project produce the results anticipated by management. This information is based on current expectations that are subject to significant risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results might differ materially from those suggested in forward-looking statements. American Eagle Gold Corp. assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward looking-statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable to American Eagle Gold Corp. Additional information identifying risks and uncertainties is contained in filings by American Eagle Gold Corp. with Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available under American Eagle Gold Corp. profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - MineHub Technologies Inc. (TSXV: MHUB) (OTCQB: MHUBF) ("MineHub" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") to raise total proceeds of up to C$1,500,000. The Private Placement will consist of 4,687,500 units at a price of $0.32 per unit (each a "Unit"). Each Unit is comprised of one common share of the Company and one-half of one transferable common share purchase warrant (each whole being a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one common share of the Company for a period of 2 years from closing at a price of $0.50.
Andrea Aranguren, President & CEO at MineHub, said, "With a growing network of over 100 companies currently using the platform, including market leaders such as Codelco, Southwire and Sumitomo Corporation, MineHub is rapidly advancing towards being the premier digital solution and the global leader in commodities supply chain management.
We continue to benefit from increasing commercial traction and rapid adoption from large corporate customers. The virality effect of our hub-and-spoke model is exceeding our expectations, and we look forward to announcing new customer agreements in the near future. We are well on track to achieve and even surpass our revenue targets for the year. This financing will continue to fund the Company's growth, and we are fortunate to benefit from the support of key shareholders expected to participate in this financing who understand both the immediate and long-term upside potential of the Company and will help get us nearer to profitability. We look forward to rest of 2023 and 2024 as exciting and transformative years for the Company."
Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used for general working capital purposes. The completion of the Private Placement is subject to approval of the TSX Venture Exchange ("TSXV"). All securities issued under the Private Placement will bear a hold period of four months and one day from the date of issuance. The Company will pay finder's fees in connection with Private Placement as permitted by applicable securities laws and the rules of the TSXV.
Certain insiders of the Company may participate in Private Placement which participation will constitute a related-party transaction, as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions. The issuance of the Units is exempt from the formal valuation requirements of Section 5.4 of MI 61-101, pursuant to Subsection 5.5(a) of MI 61-101, and exempt from the minority shareholder approval requirements of Section 5.6 of MI 61-101, pursuant to Subsection 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101.
About MineHub
MineHub provides enterprise-grade digital solutions that connect buyers, sellers, laboratories and financiers within physical commodities supply chains in a digitally integrated workflow powered by data that is useable, shareable, verifiable and unforgeable. Users of MineHub solutions are in full control of their supply chains, enabling them to optimize their use of resources, respond better and faster to disruptions, and provide a better customer service. Global enterprises already use MineHub solutions as part of their logistics, compliance, trade management and financing operations.
Andrea Aranguren
CEO, MineHub Technologies Inc.
For further information regarding MineHub, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit our website at www.minehub.com. Tel: (604) 628-5623
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains statements that are considered "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking statements") with respect to MineHub including, but not limited to, statements with respect to MineHub's future operational plans, the timing of such plans and anticipated customers. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts are generally, but not always, identied by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although MineHub believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results or realities may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such material risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to raise sucient capital to fund its operations, applications and for general working capital purposes, changes in economic conditions or nancial markets, changes in laws or regulations that could have an impact on the Company's operations, dependence on its key management personnel and market competition. Other risk factors are identified in the Company's management discussion and analysis, available on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. There may be other risk factors not presently known that management believes are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify risk factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those disclosed in the forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Also, many of the factors are beyond the control of the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date included herein, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements are based on the reasonable beliefs, estimates and opinions of MineHub's management on the date the statements are made. However, except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors should change.
Not for dissemination in the United States or for distribution to United States News Wire Services
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lavras Gold Corp. (the Company) (TSXV: LGC, OTCQB: LGCFF) announces that further to its news release of September 11, 2023, the Company has increased its private placement offering (the Offering) from a private placement of up to 8,000,000 common shares (each, a Common Share) to up to 10,000,000 Common Shares. The Common Shares will be issued at a price of CAD$1.35 per Common Share for gross proceeds of up to CAD$13,500,000. The increase in the Offering is due to investor demand.
The net proceeds of the Offering are expected to be used primarily for exploration expenses on the Company's LDS Project in Rio Grande do Sul State of Brazil, and for general working capital purposes.
The Offering will be conducted pursuant to available exemptions from the registration and prospectus requirements of applicable securities legislation, including sales to accredited investors and to close personal friends and business associates of directors and officers of the Company.
The completion of the Offering is subject to the receipt of all regulatory and other approvals, including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. All securities issued in connection with the Offering will be subject to a hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance and the resale rules of applicable securities legislation.
This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the U.S. Securities Act) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons as defined under applicable United States securities laws unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
About Lavras Gold
Lavras Gold Corp. (TSXV: LGC, OTCQB: LGCFF) is a Canadian exploration company focused on realizing the potential of a multi-million-ounce gold district in southern Brazil. Its Lavras do Sul Project is located in Rio Grande do Sul State, and is primarily an intrusive hosted gold system of possible alkaline affinity. More than 23 gold prospects centred on historic gold workings have been identified on the property, which spans more than 22,000 hectares. Follow Lavras Gold on www.lavrasgold.com, as well as on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.
Contact information
Hemdat Sawh, CFO | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |+1-416-671-4966
DISCLAIMER AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.
This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, may, will, would, potential, proposed and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. These statements, including those on planned exploration activities and goals, are only objectives and predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information, including the risks and factors that generally affect exploration and the uncertainty of exploration results. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business, refer to the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis recently filed under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or managements estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Aggregate Gross Proceeds from the Offering and the Exercise of the Underwriters' Option will be Approximately $184 Million
PHOENIX, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (NYSE American:IE; TSX:IE) ("Ivanhoe Electric"), Executive Chairman, Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive Officer, Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce the closing on September 18, 2023 of the previously announced underwritten public offering of 11,851,852 shares of Ivanhoe Electric's common stock at a public offering price of US$13.50 per share. In addition, Ivanhoe Electric received notice from the underwriters on September 18, 2023, of the full exercise of their option to purchase an additional 1,777,777 shares of common stock from the Company.
The aggregate gross proceeds from the offering and the exercise of the underwriters' option will be approximately $184 million, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by Ivanhoe Electric. The sale of the underwriters' option shares is expected to close on September 21, 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.
Ivanhoe Electric intends to use the net proceeds of the offering for a preliminary feasibility study on the Santa Cruz Project, mineral rights payments, drilling and other exploration activities and for other working capital and general corporate purposes.
BMO Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering.
A registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-273195) relating to these securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and was automatically declared effective on July 10, 2023. The shares being offered in this offering are being offered by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering that form a part of the registration statement. A final prospectus supplement relating to the offering was filed with the SEC on September 14, 2023, and is available on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Before investing in this offering, you should read each prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering in their entirety as well as the other documents that Ivanhoe Electric has filed with the SEC that are incorporated by reference in the prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Copies of the final prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from BMO Capital Markets Corp., Attn: Equity Syndicate Department, 151 W 42nd Street, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10036, email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; or J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Attention: Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by telephone at (866) 803-9204, or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
A final MJDS prospectus supplement relating to the offering was filed with the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces and territories of Canada (except Quebec) (the "Canadian Regulators") on September 14, 2023 and is available under Ivanhoe Electric's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. Copies of the final MJDS prospectus supplement and accompanying final base MJDS prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from the underwriters at the addresses set out above and under Ivanhoe Electric's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
In obtaining the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange of the offering, Ivanhoe Electric relied on the exemption set forth in Section 602.1 of the TSX Company Manual available to "Eligible lnterlisted Issuers", since Ivanhoe Electric's common stock is also listed on the NYSE American and had less than 25% of the overall trading volume of its listed securities occurring on all Canadian marketplaces in the period between February 28, 2023 and the date on which application was made to TSX to approve the offering.
About Ivanhoe Electric
We are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies (Typhoon and Computational Geosciences Inc.) with electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on copper as well as other metals, including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold, and silver. We also operate a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma'aden to explore for minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Contact Information
Investors: Valerie Kimball, Director, Investor Relations 720-933-1150
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that constitute "forward looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. and Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding the expected closing date of the offering and the use of proceeds from the offering are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including the ability to satisfy the closing conditions of the underwriters' option; management's discretion over the use of proceeds of the offering; we have no mineral reserves, other than at the San Matias project; we have inferred resources that may never be upgraded to a higher category of resource or reserve; we have a limited operating history on which to base an evaluation of our business and prospects; we depend on our material projects for our future operations; our mineral resource calculations at the Santa Cruz Project are only estimates; actual capital costs, operating costs, production and economic returns may differ significantly from those we have anticipated; the title to some of the mineral properties may be uncertain or defective; our business is subject to changes in the prices of copper, gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, vanadium and platinum group metals; we have claims and legal proceedings against one of our subsidiaries; our business is subject to significant risk and hazards associated with exploration activities, mine development, construction and future mining operations; we may fail to identify attractive acquisition candidates or joint ventures with strategic partners or be unable to successfully integrate acquired mineral properties or successfully manage joint ventures; our success is dependent in part on our joint venture partners and their compliance with our agreements with them; our business is extensively regulated by the United States and foreign governments as well as local governments; the requirements that we obtain, maintain and renew environmental, construction and mining permits are often a costly and time-consuming process; our non-U.S. operations are subject to additional political, economic and other uncertainties not generally associated with domestic operations; and our operations may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts to the availability of our workforce, government orders that may require temporary suspension of operations, and the global economy. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements described in or incorporated by reference in Ivanhoe Electric's preliminary prospectus supplement relating to this offering and accompanying base prospectus that form a part of the registration statement on Form S-3, as amended, filed with the SEC and preliminary MJDS prospectus supplement relating to the offering and accompanying final base MJDS prospectus filed with Canadian securities commissions. Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which such statements are based unless required to do so by applicable law. No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. We caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
Serious violations are still being committed in Ethiopia despite a peace deal in the north, UN rights experts said Monday, warning the conflict was spreading across the country and putting regional stability at risk.
"Atrocities, war crimes and crimes against humanity are still being committed in the country," the United Nations-backed investigators said in a statement.
Last November, a peace deal between Ethiopia's federal government and rebels in the Tigray region ostensibly ended a brutal two-year conflict.
"While the signing of the agreement may have mostly silenced the guns, it has not resolved the conflict in the north of the country, in particular in Tigray," said Mohamed Chande Othman, head of the UN-backed Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.
"Nor has it brought about any comprehensive peace," he told reporters in Geneva, presenting the commission's latest report.
"The situation in Ethiopia remains extremely grave."
Beyond Tigray, the report warned that "hostilities in Ethiopia are now at a national scale, with significant violations increasing particularly in Amhara region, but also ongoing in Oromia and elsewhere".
"The risk to the state as well as regional stability and the enjoyment of human rights in East Africa cannot be overstated."
- 'Truly horrific' -
Radhika Coomaraswamy, a member of the commission, told reporters there were "indicators for the possibility of future atrocity crimes", with the tensions appearing to be "between two ethnic groups".
"What is needed is a comprehensive peace agreement involving all Ethiopians."
A mosaic of more than 80 ethno-linguistic communities, Ethiopia has long struggled with territorial conflicts inside its borders.
The Tigray conflict, which erupted in November 2020, pitted Ethiopia's government forces -- backed by Eritrea's army and forces from the neighbouring region of Amhara -- against the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
It was marked by mass atrocities by all sides, but there were hopes the violations would cease after the signing of last year's peace deal.
Yet the report said that Eritrean troops and Amhara militia members were continuing to commit grave violations in Tigray, "including the systematic rape and sexual violence of women and girls".
The sexual violence is "truly horrific", Coomaraswamy said.
She said that she had personally interviewed many of the victims and heard accounts of "gang rapes" and "cruelty of the worst kind".
"The worst of this was perpetrated by Eritrean forces in Tigray," she said.
- 'Impunity' -
The commission, which is due to present its report to the UN Human Rights Council later this week, uncovered ongoing patterns by government forces of arrest, detention and torture of civilians in Oromia.
It also pointed to "an alarming pattern of increased securitisation of the state", including by imposing states of emergency, accompanied by serious violations.
It said it was already receiving credible reports of violations against Amhara civilians since the announcement of a state of emergency last month.
They included the mass arbitrary detention of civilians and at least one drone strike carried out by the state, it added.
Last week, Ethiopia's human rights body accused government forces of carrying out extra-judicial killings in the region.
The commission, whose mandate is due to expire next month, said it had drafted a confidential list of alleged perpetrators of the worst violations, with an eye to future prosecution.
In the meantime, "the importance of ongoing and robust independent monitoring and investigations cannot be overstated", Othman said, stressing that "one of the primary drivers of the conflict is impunity".
He dismissed the Ethiopian government's assertion that it is addressing that problem.
"When we observe current transitional justice initiatives in Ethiopia, it is hard not to be struck by evidence of quasi-compliance," he said.
He said the government was deliberately attempting to evade international scrutiny through the creation of domestic mechanisms and instrumentalisation of others.
"For the hundreds of thousands of victims of atrocities across Ethiopia, this cannot and should not be allowed to continue."
Yuri Harauski, 44, was a member of the Interior Ministrys SOBR special unit, set up in 1998 on the orders of the Belarus State to fight organized crime and sometimes described as president Lukashenkos hit squad. He is accused in Switzerland of having participated in the kidnapping and murders of former Interior Minister Yury Zakharenko, former Deputy Prime Minister Viktar Gonchar and Anatoly Krasouski, a businessman and close friend of Gonchar. Zakharenko and Gonchar in particular were emblematic opposition figures. After leaving the government (one was dismissed, the other resigned), they became pro-democracy activists and vocal opponents of Lukashenko.
He also kept the story secret and retained information about the fate and whereabouts of the victims until 2019, when he appeared publicly in the media saying he actually participated in the murders, says Benoit Meystre of Geneva-based TRIAL International, one of the NGOs that helped bring the case. TRIAL International is not a party in the trial, but filed a joint complaint with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Belarusian human rights centre Viasna. Families of the disappeared had made numerous attempts in vain to obtain information about the whereabouts of their missing relatives, states TRIAL.
The case comes after criminal complaints from two of the victims relatives and these NGOs which supported them. The accused Harauski is resident in Switzerland since 2018 or 2019, according to different media reports. FIDH says that according to information available he arrived in the country to seek asylum, arguing that his life was at risk given his will to speak out about his past involvement with the SOBR unit.
Harauski talks
In 2019, Harauski told Deutsche Welle that he had been involved in the three disappearances, providing extensive details on the kidnappings and killings. It emerged from this interview that Yuri Harauski was living in a German-speaking region of the Alps, says FIDH. After an investigation, TRIAL International was able to confirm his presence in Switzerland, in the canton of St. Gallen. After Harauskis presence in Switzerland was confirmed in spring 2021 and the complaints were filed, he was briefly arrested in June 2021 to be examined by the prosecutor, according to FIDH.
Yuri Harauski made a full confession and provided detailed descriptions of the crimes he is accused of, it says. He was then allowed to remain free. The accused was examined by the prosecutor a second time in October 2021. A witness was heard in April 2022. The investigation was concluded in spring 2022 and the suspect was charged on May 2, 2022. Prosecutors also examined reports by NGOs and international bodies like the United Nations on enforced disappearances in Belarus.
First enforced disappearance case in Switzerland
For the victims this trial is a milestone, says St Gallen-based lawyer Severin Walz, who is representing two daughters of the disappeared in this Swiss case, because its the first time in more than 20 years a person is being held accountable in a due procedure for the disappearance of their fathers. He says its the first time the truth about what happened could be established in court.
This case marks firsts for Belarus and for Switzerland. The case is ground-breaking, says TRIAL International in its August 30 press release. For the very first time, a Belarusian national stands trial for enforced disappearance on the basis of universal jurisdiction. According to FIDH, there is another case in Lithuania against Belarusian security officers including Deputy Interior Minister Nikolay Karpenkov for alleged torture during the protests against Lukashenkos disputed re-election in 2020. However, the suspects are still in Belarus.
TRIAL International points out that this is also the first application of the provision criminalizing this offence [of enforced disappearance] in Switzerland. This provision was introduced in 2017 after Switzerland signed up to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. It allows the crime of enforced disappearance to be prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction in certain conditions as a stand-alone crime, as well as a component of international crimes. This is why Harauski is being tried in a St. Gallen cantonal court and not Switzerlands Federal Criminal Court, which would be the case if he were charged with international crimes.
It also has European significance. I believe it is the first time that such an article [Article 185bis of the Swiss Criminal Code] is applied in a State that has signed this convention, lawyer Walz tells Justice Info. An element of the crime is that the State is involved in the disappearance, and if he [Harauski] is convicted, that element is fulfilled, adds Walz. That would mean the finger would be pointed at high-up officials, even Lukashenko himself, as having ordered the crimes.
Harauski implicates others
The prosecutors office confirmed to Justice Info by e-mail that Harauski has confessed and cooperated with the investigation. It also said he had implicated others, including Dmitrij Pavlicenko, commander of the Interior Ministrys SOBR special unit.
According to the indictment, Harauski was among a group of eight SOBR agents who arrested Zakharenko near his home on May 7, 1999, on Pavlicenkos orders. They knew where he lived, as they had followed him previously. Zakharenko was handcuffed, put into a car and a hood placed over his head. The SOBR agents then drove to the training centre of Interior Ministry troops in the Volovshchina region. There, Pavlicenko shot Zakharenko twice in the back, around the heart area, using a pistol with a silencer. After checking he was dead, the SOBR men took his corpse to the north cemetery of Minsk. All those who had participated in the mission received $500 in cash.
Yuri Harauski didnt know before Yuri Zakharenkos abduction that he was to be killed, says the indictment. But when he was dead, he and all the other participants realized that not a word should filter outside about Yuri Zakharenkos abduction and murder. Yuri Zakharenko has been unaccounted for since this 09.05.1999. His death has never been officially confirmed.
On September 16, 1999, the SOBR had a new mission, again on Pavlicenkos orders. They were told that whoever wanted to could participate. The SOBR agents, including Harauski who was given a pistol with a silencer, were sent to a sauna in Minsk where the friends Anatoly Krasovsky and Victor Gonchar would go regularly. They arrested Gonchar, hit him, shackled him and put him in Pavlicenkos car, where he was hooded and gagged. A second car took care of Krasovsky. The victims were taken to the Begomi base of Interior Ministry troops, some 100 km north of Minsk. There, Pavlicenko took the pistol from Harauski and used it to shoot Krasovsky and Gonchar dead. Their corpses were thrown into a prepared pit and their clothes were burned. A couple of days later, each person who participated in the mission received USD 1,000 in cash from Dmitrij Pavlicenko, according to the indictment.
Confession allows quick trial
The fact that Harauski has confessed means the procedure is relatively fast. This trial is scheduled for September 19 and 20. It could be extended if the parties request more evidence and the court accepts. However, informed sources think this unlikely. Victims will be present and the accused himself is to testify.
If convicted, Harauski faces a possible sentence of between one and 20 years. The prosecutors office said in its E-mail that it will be asking for a three-year sentence, with two suspended. Harauskis defence lawyer told Justice Info she would not comment before the trial. However, the defence is also likely to plead for court leniency, owing to Harauskis confession and willingness to give information.
Victims lawyer Walz says the court is likely to decide on the basis of the investigation and the testimony of the accused. It is expected that the verdict will also be delivered quickly, possibly on the evening of September 20.
Three weeks after the killing of more than 50 civilians during a standoff with troops in Goma, eastern DRC, the victims' families were finally able to bury the dead late Monday.
An August 30 crackdown by Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers on protesters demonstrating against the presence of UN peacekeepers in the country resulted in at least "57 victims," Interior Minister Peter Kazadi said.
Kazadi travelled to Goma on Monday to meet the families of the victims and oversee the burials.
He said the bodies, which had been decomposing in a Goma military hospital for 20 days, had posed "health risks". Relatives were banned from visiting until September 12.
"The government provided the coffins," paid for the funeral expenses and "gave an envelope to console the families", the minister told reporters.
Arriving at dusk under the pouring rain in a cemetery on the outskirts of Goma, the minister paid tribute to the victims in front of four white coffins.
After his departure, the rest of the coffins arrived on trucks amid the stench of decaying corpses.
Assisted by cemetery staff, family members carried the coffins of their loved ones across a muddy field to a row of graves, where, by the light of cell phones, their laid them to rest.
The United Nations earlier this month demanded an independent probe into the killings, insisting "that measures are put in place to ensure that future demonstrations are policed in line with international human rights standards".
Six Republican Guard soldiers, including two senior officers, are currently standing trial in Goma for crimes against humanity and non-compliance with orders.
The UN rights office said at least 43 people had been killed, including a police officer, and 75 people wounded when the troops violently suppressed the demonstration organised by a religious sect.
(TTCO) - Sang 31-10, Hoi nghi thuong inh Kinh doanh Viet Nam - Hoa Ky lan thu 6 a dien ra tai Ha Noi voi su tham gia cua lanh ao hai nuoc cung nhu cac doanh nghiep Viet Nam, Hoa Ky nhu FPT, Vietjet Air, Google, 3M, Intel, Visa, Baker & McKenzie.
Disney+ teases viewers with the highly-anticipated "Moving" finale, featuring lead stars Han Hyo Joo, Ryu Seung Ryong, Lee Jung Ha, Go Yoon Jung, and more.
In addition, the much-awaited return of Jo In Sung is set, as the webtoon-based K-drama will drop the last 3 episodes of the series.
After a week of waiting, viewers will finally witness another battle between good and evil as Lee Mi Hyun, Jang Joo Won, and Lee Jae Man will do whatever it takes to protect their kids.
'Moving' Kdrama: The Final Battle
In the latest update, Disney+ unveiled the newest "Moving" trailer, gliving us a glimpse of what to expect in the upcoming finale.
In the 1-minute and 13-second clip, viewers witnessed death-defying scenes between former South Korean agents and the North Korean army, who are on the hunt of eliminating people with superpowers.
Jeongwon High School becomes a battlefield after the North Koreans infiltrated the campus to capture three students, who they believe are being trained by the South Korean NIS to become the next black ops agents.
In one scene, Lee Mi Hyun came face-to-face with the leader, Kim Deok Yoon, who mentioned Kim Doo Shik's name, labeling him as the person who started the battle.
READ ALSO: 'Moving' Writer Reveals Why Jo In Sung is the First Person to Cast for the Series
Meanwhile, as the three gifted high school students, Lee Kang Hoon, Jang Hee Soo, and Kim Bong Seok, attempt to fight the dark forces who want to eliminate them, the parents come to their rescue. Lee Jae Man, who has superhuman strength, rushes to the campus after learning that his son is in danger. Meanwhile, Jang Joo Won, who has regenerative power, will face anyone who harms his daughter, Jang Hee Soo.
As for Lee Mi Hyun, she will do everything to protect Kim Bong Seok.
"In order to project our children, I can be a monster," Lee Mi Hyun mentioned, hinting that the "Moving" finale will feature remarkable scenes.
Interestingly, Kim Doo Shik, whose whereabouts are unknown, returns in the last three episodes.
The trailer featured a background story about him and the North Korean army after Mr. Min sent him on a dangerous mission.
'Moving' Finale Release Date & Where to Watch
As the show gets to its final week, Disney+ will release the last three episodes of the webtoon-based K-drama simultaneously. This means that viewers will get to watch "Moving" episodes 18-20 on September 20.
Fans can catch the latest episodes via Disney+ and Hulu.
After "Moving," Disney+ will introduce another thrilling K-drama, starring Ji Chang Wook as he stars in "The Worst of Evil" with Wi Ha Joon and Im Se Mi.
Watch the new "Moving" trailer here!
READ MORE: THIS 'Moving' Villain Says the Disney+ K-drama Fulfilled His Childhood Dream - Here's Why
For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.
KDramaStars owns this article
Written by Geca Wills
Lee Joon Gi finds himself in a sticky situation after an accident. As he finds his way back, he rekindles an old flame. Meanwhile, Shin Se Kyung's resolve crumbles in "Arthdal Chronicles 2" Episode 3-4.
'Arthdal Chronicles 2' Episode 3-4: Eunseom Wakes Up In Arthdal
Eunseom (Lee Joon Gi) wakes up and finds himself in an unknown room. He later learns that he's in Arthdal.
When Tae Alha (Kim Ok Vin) tries to attack him, he suddenly faints. Tagon (Jang Dong Gun) comes to check on his condition.
Elsewhere, the Ago Union is in a stressful situation as the Inaishingi is missing. Shorjagin (Kim Do Hyun) then reveals that Eunseom has been taken to Arthdal.
Eunseom tries to find a way to leave Arthdal but familiar faces keep on bumping into him. Meanwhile, Shorjagin and the others create a plan to rescue the former.
Their plan soon crumbles when Mungtae (Park Jin) arrives to take "Saya" back for a meeting.
Eunseom Reunites With Tanya
Eunseom momentarily obliges but his resolve disappears when he sees Tanya (Shin Se Kyung). He makes her realize who he really is as he embraces her.
At the meeting, "Saya" is asked to give his testimony, pushing him into a pit of danger. Thankfully, Tanya helps him out.
The two then reunite and share a passionate kiss, showing how much they yearn for each other. Sadly, they get caught by the queen.
Tae Alha holds a knife against Eunseom's throat to make him confess, which makes the latter even more determined to keep his true identity hidden.
Tagon, on the other hand, believes that Eunseom is actually Saya. Mungtae is on the queen's side, though, which makes him suspect the outsider.
Tae Alha's Son Gets Abducted
Arthdal is shaken once again when Arok (Shin Seo Woo) gets abducted. Tae Alha then confronts Tanya about it before searching the temple.
She blames Tanya for her influence and refusal to accept the Arthdal doctrines, making the gods unhappy. Contrary to her belief, the latter has nothing to do with the prince's abduction.
Tanya proves her claims by helping her out with her telepathic powers, leaving Tae Alha shocked.
Elsewhere, Tagon reveals the real tale about Aramun. It is said that his tomb must be opened by the sword, mirror and bell to unveil the secret it holds.
READ MORE: 'Arthdal Chronicles 2' Episode 1-2: Lee Joon Gi Wages War Against His Twin
When they open up the tomb, there is nothing but a skeleton. Tanya reveals that Eunseom is the chosen one to continue Aramun's plans to destroy the world.
Tanya Accepts Defeat
Things change drastically as Eunseom is now an Inaishingi, the enemy of Aramun. This makes Tanya want to protect him more from Tagon.
Later, it is revealed that Arol is captured by a Bato tribe member. Tagon fights the tribesmen but is soon stabbed by a knife, making the purple blood flow out of him.
ALSO READ: 'Arthdal Chronicles 2' Debuts Successfully + Named No 1 Buzzworthy Drama
With this, Tagon's secret as an Igutu is unveiled, leaving the Arthdal natives surprised. Just when they are about to give up, Eunseom arrives to lend a hand.
They then fight the enemies, which reveals their purple blood in the war zone. With this, Tanya finally accepts the doctrines of the White Peak Mountain's Hearts.
KDramaStars owns this article.
Written by Elijah Mully.
Yoo Ah In is facing another challenge following his involvement with illegal drugs. The award-winning South Korean star, who previously tested positive for seven types of substances, might face an arrest warrant as the issue against him continues.
In a report cited by news outlets, prosecutors have formally re-applied for an arrest warrant, four months after the court rejected the initial request sought by the authorities.
Yoo Ah In Accused of 'Hospital Hopping' To Get Illegal Substance
Amid the development of the case, the Central District Prosecutors' Office of the Special Crime Investigation Division in Seoul has requested a new arrest warrant against the actor for violating the Narcotics Control Act, absconding from the scene of the crime, and tampering with evidence.
It was the same charges filed against him and his associate that were initially dismissed by the court, citing that the action was unnecessary to the case.
READ MORE: Yoo Ah In's Recent Public Appearance Sparks Concern + People Think He is 'Too Stressed' With Investigation
As obtained by a news portal, the persecution suspected that the actor "has persistently and illegally consumed medical narcotics through a practice colloquially known as 'hospital hopping.'"
Court Initially Dismissed Arrest Warrant Against Yoo Ah In for 'Insufficiency'
Back in May 2023, the court has responded to arrest warrant request filed by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's drug investigation unit, citing that the actor may tamper with the evidence or leave the country amid the ongoing case. This was after the agency submitted addition evidence to support their claims.
After more than 12 hours of hearing, the court has decided not to grant the police's request.
"It is difficult to conclude that there are fears of [Yoo] fleeing or destroying evidence [...] It is also hard to justify the reasons and the need for an arrest," the court ruling states, as obtained by an outlet.
On the other hand, the disgraced actor briefly commented about the court's decision to reject the police's request.
In the same report, Yoo Ah In said, "I don't think it is something that I can judge myself. I respect and appreciate the court's decisions."
As for his illegal drug use, the top star is tight-lipped about giving further details since the investigation is still ongoing. On the other hand, Yoo Ah In promised to "faithfully engage in future procedures."
It can be recalled that the "Seoul Vibe" star made headlines after he tested positive for profopol and six other drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, ketamine, zolpidem, midazolam, and alframzolam.
Due to this, the "Chicago Typwriter" star has been under investigation since his return from the United States in February.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Yoo Ah In Disrespected By Civilian While Leaving the Police Station
For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.
KDramaStars owns this article
Written by Geca Wills
Ahn Hyo Seop shared how it was like to work with his close friend Rowoon with romance involved in "A Time Called You."
Keep on reading to know what the actor said.
Ahn Hyo Seop Shares Experiences Working With Rowoon in 'A Time Called You'
In his media interview on September 18, K-drama leading man Ahn Hyo Seop told various stories about his new Netflix series "A Time Called You."
"A Time Called You" was released to over 190 countries and is now one of the most-watched shows on Netflix Global Top 10.
It follows the story of Han Jun Hee, who was missing her boyfriend, Kwon Yeon Jun, who died a year ago. As fate would have it, time slips to 1998 when she ends up meeting Nam Si Heon, a man who looks exactly like her late partner, and Jung In Gyu, his best friend.
Aside from Jeon Yeo Bin and Kang Hoon, Ahn Hyo Seop also worked with his real-life friend and actor Rowoon.
He co-starred with Rowoon in this drama.
According to the heartthrob, the idol always mentioned that he wanted to do a project together sometime. As it happened, "A Time Called You" needed a special appearance, and suggested Rowoon first to the production team.
ALSO READ: Did You Know? Rowoon Refused Appearance Fee in 'A Time Called You' in Exchange of THIS
Ahn Hyo Seop talked to Rowoon and his agency to ask permission if he could make a cameo, to which the "You'll Never Know" star agreed without hesitation.
He confessed that when they started filming, they got awkward with each other at first.
Is It True? Ahn Hyo Seop & Rowoon Got Awkward With Each Other
"We usually hang out together, but we met for the first time on set. It was awkward, but it was also a new experience. It was indeed comfortable and fun."
Ahn Hyo Seop continued, "Some of the scenes were uncomfortable. To be honest, it was difficult."
He emphasized, "We joked around a lot. We were immersed in each other as long as we were acting in an interesting way. When we cut, we got annoyed at the fact that we were immersed in it. But of course, those are jokes and we enjoyed working together."
Ahn Hyo Seop Reveals Reason for Casting Rowoon in His Drama
Both of them stayed in the same agency when they were just starting in the industry. The two formed a friendship and continued to be in touch, despite their busy schedules.
As to Rowoon's appearance, Ahn Hyo Seop explained why he was the first person to come to his mind.
"It was because the role required love. Aren't there many forms of love? I think love as a friend also exists. If you think about it, Yeon Jun just had 8 scenes, because he has to like someone in a short period of time. I wanted to see my beloved friend, that's why I asked him in the first place."
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Ahn Hyo Seop Reveals the Most Difficult Scenes to Film in 'A Time Called You'
What can you say about the news? Share your thoughts/replies in the comments!
For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.
KDramaStars owns this article.
Shai Collins wrote this.
Australian business leaders are leading the charge in AI adoption, yet the path forward is shadowed by trust concerns, according to the latest global research released by Workday.
Drawing insights from 2,355 business leaders spanning the ranks of CEOs, CIOs, CHROs, and CFOs, this comprehensive report underscores leaders enthusiastic outlook on the potential ramifications of AI and ML, all the while grappling with lingering reservations regarding trust and data accessibility.
Key revelations include:
CEOs Overwhelming Optimism: An astounding 98% of CEOs anticipate immediate business advantages stemming from the incorporation of AI and ML capabilities. Amplifying Human Potential: Nearly half (47%) of all business leaders anticipate a significant augmentation of human potential through AI and ML. Trust Concerns: Apprehensions about the trustworthiness of AI and ML are evident, with 43% of business leaders expressing unease. Data Silos: Alarmingly, 59% of respondents report that their organizations data remains partially or completely siloed, constraining accessibility and integration. Data Accessibility: Only a mere 4% of all respondents assert full accessibility to their data.
Jim Stratton, Chief Technology Officer at Workday, underscored, Despite some uncertainty, leaders are optimistic that AI and ML will augment their workforce and drive productivity. Trust is paramount to embracing these benefits, and building trust requires the right data foundation and commitment to governance. By implementing trustworthy solutions that prioritize data quality and transparency, companies can reap the rewards of AI and ML across their organization.
AI and ML: Beyond the Hype
Business leaders are increasingly cognizant of the impending impact of AI and ML on their organizations, although some have hesitated to fully embrace these technologies. A resounding 71% believe that the global business landscape will undergo significant changes in the next three years, while 64% foresee AI and MLs impact on their entire organizations in the same timeframe.
The promise of immediate business benefits drives CEO optimism, with 98% acknowledging these advantages, including heightened productivity, data-driven decision-making, and enhanced collaboration. Yet, 49% of CEOs confess their organizations unpreparedness due to lacking essential tools, skills, and knowledge. Additionally, 28% prefer a cautious approach, opting to observe AI and MLs impact before committing.
Balancing Concerns with Optimism
While some apprehensions linger, leaders remain buoyant about AI and MLs broader influence. A significant 47% of business leaders anticipate these technologies will substantially amplify human potential, while 45% of CEOs believe they will foster a more equitable and diverse workforce. Increased productivity, according to 39% of CEOs, represents the most significant potential benefit, emphasizing the pivotal link between technology and human potential.
Obstacles and the Trust Deficit
Uncertainty surrounding data privacy and trust poses a significant barrier to full-scale AI and ML adoption. A notable 43% of surveyed leaders express concerns about the trustworthiness of these technologies. CEOs, in particular, highlight potential errors as a top risk (67%), underscoring the trust deficit.
To build trust, enhanced transparency is imperative, but the prevalence of data silos obscures progress. An alarming 59% of organizations cite their data as partially or completely siloed, with only 4% of all respondents claiming full data accessibility. These challenges underscore the pressing need for concerted efforts in data integration and transparency to fully harness the potential of AI and ML in the workplace.
Jo-Anne Ruhl, Vice President and Managing Director, Workday Australia and New Zealand said: The C-Suite Global AI Indicator Report reveals Australian businesses are among the worldwide leaders in adopting, investing in and recognising the potential strategic gains from AI. However, skepticism about the technology threatens to impede its use. By implementing sound data foundations and management, businesses can overcome trust deficiencies and transform themselves with AI.
The C-Suite Global AI Indicator Report positions Australia fifth globally and second in the APJ region for AI and ML adoption, showing were not just participants but leaders on the global stage. However, 48% of Australian leaders are sceptical about AIs trustworthiness. To truly capitalise on AIs promise for better decision-making, we must build sound data foundations and address these trust concerns head-on.
Australian businesses are under growing pressure from regulators, shareholders and employees to address sustainability and ESG performance. The C-Suite Global AI Indicator Report reveals that 57% of Australias leaders believe AI and ML will improve their sustainability outcomes11 percentage points higher than the global average. By implementing AI and ML-powered sustainability initiatives, Australian businesses can improve regulatory compliance, meet shareholder demands and enhance employee retention and engagement. Also, with workers increasingly scrutinising ESG and sustainability performance when choosing prospective employers, AI and ML-powered initiatives can help Australian businesses win the war for talent.
Despite some concerns over trust, Australian businesses are worldwide leaders in long-term plans to invest in AI, with 71% of Australian business leaders planning to invest more in AI in five years, well ahead of the APJ and global average.
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Vespa retailers in HCMC are accepting deposits for the all-electric Elettrica scooter scheduled to be rolled out at the end of this year.
Le Binh Hai, Piaggio's general manager for Vietnam, said there is no exact release date yet and there are no plans for the companys other electric scooter, the Piaggio 1.
The vehicles will be imported from Piaggios Pontedera plant in Italy.
Hai said the imported volume would be low since Vietnamese consumers do not yet consider electric vehicles a priority.
Piaggio Vietnam first announced the Elettrica would go on sale at the end 2018. It then pushed back the planned date to the second quarter of 2019.
The Elettrica is Vespa's only all-electric model, and has a design similar to the Primavera. In Italy, two variants are sold, 45 and 70, which are named after their top speeds in kilometers per hour.
They carry a price tag of nearly US$8,000.
Both variants have a lithium-ion 86 Ah battery with a range of 100 km. A full charge using 220 V power supply takes four hours. The electric motor generates 5.4 horsepower and 200 Nm of torque.
In Vietnam, the Elettrica is expected to carry a VND280 million ($11,500) price tag, according to retailers.
This might lower the models appeal to consumers despite their awareness of the Vespa brand as premium.
Brands that are selling electric scooters and motorbikes include VinFast, Yadea, Son Ha, Dat Bike, and some brands from China sold by independent retailers.
Major names such as Honda, Suzuki and SYM do not sell electric models.
Although Yamaha has its Neos at VND50 million, sales have not been as remarkable as gasoline models like Exciter and Janus.
The Democratic Party (DP) has warned security agencies against interfering with political parties actitivites a head of the 2026 general elections.
This is after the recent police ban on nationwide mobilization tours of the National Unity Platform (NUP).
According to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Geoffrey Katsigazi Tumusiime, Kyagulanyi and his NUP supporters had disregarded several guidelines.
While we completely support the right of individuals, groups and other citizens to peacefully gather or assemble, and make their views on matters of public policy, we have noticed that, in all areas where the NUP mobilization activities have been carried out, the police statement reads in part.
However, while addressing the media at the partys head offices in Kampala, the president of the Uganda Young Democrats, Ismael Kirya noted that after the release of the road map for the 2026 polls by the electoral commission, political parties have to strategise and organise themselves internally through branch inspection, organizing structures among others thus security is required in such activities, instead of blocking them.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have urged the government to follow up to the core, all government leaders after their wealth declaration exercise.
Government leaders are expected to declare their assets and liabilities every year through the office of the Inspectorate of Government, in a bid to fight corruption.
Speaking to journalists in Kampala earlier today, the Executive Director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda, Marlon Agaba, said that the declaration of wealth without further steps to follow up fosters continued corruption in Uganda.
Agaba added that the information on wealth declaration is public and should be made available for members of the public to hold the leaders accountable,
So far, we have not had any successful attempt in terms of requesting for information on wealth declarations. We have over 300,000 public servants declaring their assets and liabilities but only 70 to 100 are followed up from the 300,000, he said.
Local earthworm hunters have devastated a protective forest in north-central Vietnam to supply the black export market to China, and local authorities have brought no recourse.
The mountainous district of Ba Thuoc's Thung Chan protective forest looks more like a war zone has since the Vietnam War carpet bombing of Thanh Hoa province in north-central Vietnam.
Larger and larger groups of what are essentially poachers encroaching on protected land have invaded the forest and are cutting down trees and pulling up plants at a rapid rate. Whole patches of the tree-dense area are now bare.
The poachers destroy the flora in order to plug electrodes into the ground and shock the soil with electricity that forces the earthworms to rise out of the earth for easy capture.
Earthworm hunters have cut down trees in Thung Chan protective forest in Thanh Hoa Province. Photo by VnExpress/Le Hoang
One early morning in September, a group of unknown people approached the forest on motorbikes and then trekked to a marked area to start their earthworm hunt, according to reporters.
Normally, hunters choose areas near a source of water with humid soil that attracts earthworms.
"We jumped in anywhere we see spots with lots of earthworms' excrement," said a man only identified as Long who joined the hunt with another man he knew.
When they found a suitable spot, Long and another man took out the sharp rods connected to a battery.
After they placed the iron rods securely into the ground, they connected them to the battery to send currents of electricity into the earth.
The worms then appear writhing up out of the soil to escape electrocution.
Long only picked worms that are as large as a finger and leaves the smaller ones.
He said on average, a hunter can catch around 10 kilos of worms per day and sell them for VND35,000 per kilo.
"It is not really hard to do this job and the pay is quite decent, so we've been doing this for several months now," said another hunter who requested anonymity.
For that reason, earthworm hunting has now lured as many as 30 hunters to the forest every day.
Long destroys flora in Thung Chan protective forest to make it easier for catching earthworms, September 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Le Hoang
As hunters need clear space to set up their tools, they cut down plants and small trees, leaving hundreds of dead stumps and fallen trees across the once beautiful landscape.
After catching the worms, they sell them to facilities where the worms are dried and sold to traders who export them to China illegally.
The owner of one such facility in Ba Thuoc District, a woman named Lan, said she used to buy worms from hunters in northern provinces of Phu Tho and Hung Yen.
She and her husband had only moved to Thanh Hoa recently, she said, with the sole purpose of building their worm-processing facility.
Lan said 10-13 kg of fresh earthworms makes one kilo of dried worms. On average, her facility produces 2.5-3 tons of dried earthworms per day, which she sells at VND640,000-860,000 per kilo depending on the size of the worms.
Last month, environmentalists raised concerns about the growing number of people storming the forest for earthworms. They said the phenomenon is attracting an ever-increasing number of northern migrants coming to try their luck electrocuting the worms as part of a new local "worm rush."
Activists have expressed alarm after farm owners in the northern provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang reported an increase in people illegally encroaching on their land to shock the ground and catch worms. The process can of course injure farms as well.
In a report published in June 2022, South China Morning Post said in dried form, earthworms are known as "dry-soil dragon" and are used in traditional medicine in China. China itself is facing "an extinction-level ecological disaster due to a huge rise in the electrocution of earthworms in the soil," said the report.
In Vietnam, there are currently no rules preventing people from catching worms by electrocution.
Vu Quang Trung, an official at Thanh Hoa Province's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said using electric shocks to catch worms seriously affects the environment and land quality, and causes an ecological imbalance as earthworms are considered "soldiers" in land reclamation.
However, authorities in the agricultural sector do not have enough functionality to stop the situation, he said.
Ha Van Ngoc, deputy chairman of Dien Thuong Commune, which is home to the protective forest, said all local authorities can do is call on people to stop the practice. Local agricultural authorities in the locality do not have the mandate to police or fine the hunters, so even those who get caught go unpunished.
Vietnamese earthworm hunters destroying protective forest go unpunished Vach nat rung phong ho kich ien giun at Inside a facility where earthworms are processed and dried in Dien Thuong Commune of Thanh Hoa Province's Ba Thuoc District. Video by VnExpress/Le Hoang
Currently, the government's Decree 91 on administrative violations in the field of land use has identified acts of land destruction as a regulatory wrongdoing, but has no specific guidance on how to handle those who electrify the soil to catch earthworms.
One avenue to combat the problem that has some efficacy is regulation of the processing facilities.
Colonel Truong Xuan Hung, deputy head of the Ba Thuoc Districts Police Department, said the district is currently home to 16 facilities processing earthworms.
But he also confirmed that police have inspected and suspended 13 of them for having no business licenses.
"Were working on shutting down all of those facilities," he said.
Professor Do Kim Chung, a lecturer at the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, said that transmitting electric current to the ground does not only affect worms but it also damages many other microorganisms needed for a healthy soil environment.
According to scientific studies, each gram of soil has up to six million microorganisms living in it, and the higher the number of microorganisms, the more productive the soil is, he said.
Earthworms, in particular, are known by local farmers as "biological plowshares" because they help loosen the soil and they work as an important link in the metabolism of soil nutrients, creating conditions for the production of beneficial organic substances, which helps plants grow healthily.
"The death of worms and microorganisms will reduce the ability of the soil to regenerate fertility, make the soil poorer, and eventually plants will be affected, and even die," Chung said.
The authorities should strictly ban the activity and should even consider it "a crime to destroy the environment," he proposed.
A Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) faction led by the party chairman Mr. Wasswa Birigwa says it has suspended Mr. Patrick Oboi Amuriat, replacing him with Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago as president.
The changes were made during the Tuesday extraordinary delegates conference at Katonga Road in Kampala. The event was graced by the party founding president, Col (Rtd) Kizza Besigye, among other leaders.
Additionally, the party Secretary General, Mr. Nathan Nandala Mafabi has also been replaced by his deputy Mr. Harold Kaija, while Mr. Francis Mwikukye replaced the national treasurer, Geoffrey Ekanya during the earlier banned conference.
Their deputies Harold Kaijja (secretary general) and Francis Mwijukye (treasurer) will perform the duties of these offices, FDC spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda announced.
The delegates also resolved to put in place an interim electoral commission that will organize what they termed as free and fair internal party elections.
Anti-riot police on Tuesday used teargas to disperse FDC party guests who had showed up to attend the conference.
Kawempe North Member of Parliament Mr. Muhammad Ssegirinya returned to Uganda on Tuesday, September 19, 2023, after being discharged from Amsterdam Universitair Medische Centra Hospital, Netherlands, where he has been receiving treatment.
The legislator has been hospitalized since August after his health worsened, months after being released from prison.
Ssegirinya, who arrived at Entebbe International Airport on Tuesday was received by a group of his supporters who were waiting with an ambulance.
Speaking to NTV, Ssegirinya said he was feeling much better, adding that doctors advised him to go back to the hospital next month for further management. He accused parliament of neglecting him while at the mentioned hospital.
Im feeling somehow okay though Im still weak, Ssegirinya said, adding that My party is not supposed to pay my medical bills, it is parliament, according to the constitution,
The legislator says parliament was forced to clear his medical bills following what he termed as pressure from his party, the National Unity Platform (NUP).
Ssegirinya, who missed NUPs Wake Up Uganda countrywide tour vowed to receive his party members led by their president Robert Kyagulanyi in Kawempe North in two weeks time.
Despite the police ban, NUPs top leadership has vowed to resume the tours, starting with Kampala next month.
The High Court in Kampala has set October 19, 2023, as the date for delivering its verdict in the 2019 murder case of social worker Maria Nagirinya and her driver Ronald Kitayimbwa.
Trial Judge, Isaac Muwatas decision was reached after two assessors advised court to convict the six men accused of participating in Nagirinya and Kitayimbwas murder.
In their opinion read by Sharp Mutoni, they told court that prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the six men led by Coporiyamu Kasolo whom they identified as the ring leader and mobilizer participated in committing the offence.
The assessors also advised court to probe all the accused persons in the suspects phone contacts before, during, and after committing the crime.
Kasolo and group are charged with six counts including murder (2 counts), aggravated robbery (2 counts), and kidnap (2 counts) with intent to murder Nagirinya and Kitayimbwa.
Prosecution states that on August 28, 2019, Nagirinya and her driver were kidnapped from Lungujja Nabisasiro zone in Lubaga division, killed and their bodies were dumped in Nakitutuli village in Mukono district. That the suspects used violence to rob Nagirinya of her motor vehicle, mobile phone, and cash amounting to Shs260,000 and also proceeded to rob Kitayimbwa of his mobile phone and his money amounting to Shs24,000.
It is alleged that the suspects were arrested as they attempted to withdraw money from Nagirinyas mobile phone at Nateete, a Kampala suburb.
A huge cloud of uncertainty hangs over the planned Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) delegates conference.
Despite a police directive and High Court order blocking todays meeting called by the FDC national Chairman Wasswa Birigwa, hundreds of delegates from across the country are already in Kampala to attend the same.
Sources within the party have revealed that delegates began arriving on Sunday evening, despite uncertainty surrounding the conference due to a court injunction that was issued to halt it.
For tomorrows delegates conference, we are ready to crash those planning to disorganize it. This is not the playground for anybody who is looking for trouble, Birigwa warned on Monday.
According to High Court Judge Esta Nambayo, the said conference should be stayed until a legal challenge against it taking place is heard and resolved.
The ruling followed a heated court session in which two rival lawyers, each sought to represent the party on the matter.
Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, also the partys vice president for Buganda region, and Moses Tuguma presented themselves as counsel for the party, a claim contested by Julius Galisonga who said he was the instructed lawyer.
By yesterday, about 800 delegates had arrived at different points in Kampala and were getting accredited before being transported to Busaabala, the venue of the said conference.
Meanwhile, in a rather interesting turn of events, the FDC national chairman Wasswa Birigwa is said to have picked nomination forms for his re-election bid.
FDCs electoral commission secretary Augustine Ojabile says Birigwa is one of the people who picked nomination forms for the position of national chairperson.
He claims Birigwa sent a message via social media to indicate his interest.
However, in the telephone interview with Daily Monitor, Birigwa denies picking the forms or sending a representative to do so.
Birigwa heads a faction of the party that is opposed to the delegates conference at which the election of new office bearers will be held.
Aspirants for the partys top leadership positions are expected to return their forms on Wednesday and Thursday to formally secure their nomination.
By AFP
Hundreds of protesters rallied in Libyas disaster-hit Derna on Monday, accusing the authorities of neglect after a huge flash flood devastated the coastal city and swept thousands to their deaths.
Demonstrators gathered outside the citys grand mosque and chanted slogans against the parliament in east Libya and its leader Aguilah Saleh.
The people want parliament to fall, Aguila is the enemy of God, The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain and Thieves and betrayers must hang, they shouted.
A statement read on behalf of the protesters urged a speedy investigation and legal action against those responsible for the disaster.
They also demanded a United Nations office in Derna and the start of the citys reconstruction, plus compensation for affected residents and a probe into the current city council and previous budgets.
Those who survived from the city, in whats left of the city, against the ones who brought death and destruction to the city, posted analyst Anas el-Gomati on X, formerly Twitter, under pictures of the destruction.
Some protesters marched on a house reportedly owned by Dernas unpopular mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi and set it on fire, according to images shared on social networks and by Libyan media.
Al-Masar television reported that the head of the eastern-based government, Oussama Hamad, had dissolved Derna council and ordered an investigation into it.
Politicians and analysts say the chaos in Libya since the 2011 fall and killing of Moamer Kadhafi has relegated the maintenance of vital infrastructure to the background.
On September 10, two dams in which cracks were reported as far back as 1998 burst after Storm Daniel hit eastern Libya, unleashing the devastating and deadly torrent that swept through the city of 100,000 people.
It killed more than 3,330 people and left thousands more missing.
Tens of thousands of traumatised residents are homeless and badly need clean water, food and basic supplies amid a growing risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dehydration and malnutrition, UN agencies have warned.
Disease outbreaks
On Monday the UN warned disease outbreaks could bring a second devastating crisis.
Local officials, aid agencies and the World Health Organization are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation, the UN said.
Libyas disease control centre warned that mains water in the disaster zone is polluted.
Rescue teams from European and Arab countries kept up the grim search for bodies in the mud-caked wasteland of smashed buildings, crushed cars and uprooted trees.
The waters submerged a densely populated six-square-kilometre (2.3-square-mile) area of Derna, damaging 1,500 buildings of which 891 were totally razed, according to a preliminary report by the Tripoli government based on satellite images.
We grew up here, we were raised here But weve come to hate this place, weve come to hate what it has become, said one bereaved Derna resident, Abdul Wahab al-Masouri.
Bulldozers cleared roads of mud, including at a mosque where a foul smell hung in the air and a woman prayed for children and grandchildren killed in the disaster.
Amid the chaos, the true death toll remained unknown, with untold numbers swept into the sea.
The health minister of the divided countrys eastern administration, Othman Abdeljalil, said Monday 3,338 people were now confirmed dead in Derna.
Officials and humanitarian groups have warned that the final toll could be much higher.
Field hospitals
Emergency response teams and aid have been deployed from countries including Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt has sent a helicopter carrier to the eastern Tobruk military base to serve as a field hospital with more than 100 beds, Egyptian media reported Monday.
On Monday, the UN, which has launched an emergency appeal for more than $71 million, said nine of its agencies were delivering aid and support to survivors.
The European Union said it was releasing 5.2 million euros (around $5.5 million) in humanitarian funding for Libya, bringing total EU aid so far to more than 5.7 million euros.
Libya has been split between two rival governments a UN-backed administration in the capital Tripoli and another in the disaster-hit east since the NATO-backed uprising 12 years ago.
On Monday the Tripoli-based government said it began work on a temporary bridge over the river that cuts through Derna.
UN experts have blamed the high death toll on climatic factors as the Mediterranean region has sweltered under an unusually hot summer, and on the legacy of Libyas war.
- :
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People walk past an indoor waterfall at Jewel Changi Airport in Singapore October 7, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Edgar Su
Vietnam Airlines has announced that its flights between Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore will be relocated from Terminal 4 to Terminal 3 at Singapore's Changi International Airport from September 26.
The Changi airport has four separate terminals, of which Terminal T3 serves flights between Singapore and Asia, Europe, Australia and the U.S.
On this occasion, Vietnam Airlines will promote the application of automated solutions to help passengers check in more conveniently and quickly and increase their experiences at this terminal, such as visiting the world's tallest indoor waterfall Rain Vortex with a height of 40 m.
Singapore is a key market for Vietnam Airlines in Southeast Asia.
In the past 30 years, more than 7 million passengers have used the national airline's services to travel between the two countries.
The airline is currently operating 35 flights per week between Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore.
In the first eight months of this year, over 310,000 passengers traveled between the two countries on board Vietnam Airlines flights, a more than two-fold increase compared to that of the same period last year.
Sept 19 (Reuters) - Some Western companies have agreed to sell their Russian assets or hand them over to local managers as they take action to comply with sanctions over the war in Ukraine and deal with threats from the Kremlin that foreign-owned assets may be seized.
The moves, part of a broader corporate exodus from Russia, are likely to prompt concerns that Russian companies and institutions are snapping up prize assets at bargain prices.
Below are some of the companies by sector that have secured deals to sell their businesses in Russia:
AUTOS
CONTINENTAL (CONG.DE)
The car parts manufacturer said on May 22 it had sold its Russian tyre plant to Russian holding company S8 Capital.
RENAULT (RENA.PA)
The French carmaker sold its majority stake in Avtovaz (AVAZI_p.MM) to the Russian state in 2022, reportedly for only one rouble but with a six-year option to buy it back.
VOLKSWAGEN (VOWG_p.DE)
The German carmaker said on May 19 it had completed the sale of its Kaluga production plant and its local subsidiaries to Art-Finance LLC, supported by autodealer group Avilon.
BANKS & INSURERS
SOCIETE GENERALE (SOGN.PA)
The French bank sold its Russia business Rosbank in May of last year to Russia's Interros Capital, taking a 3.1 billion euro ($3.38 billion) hit.
UNIQA INSURANCE GROUP (UNIQ.VI)
Uniqa and Raiffeisen Bank (RBIV.VI) will sell their stakes in Raiffeisen Life to Russian insurer Renaissance Life, the Austrian insurer said on Aug. 24.
ENERGY
BASF (BASFn.DE)
The German chemicals group said in January it would take a 7.3 billion euro writedown as its Wintershall Dea energy business pulls out of Russia. BASF owns 67% of Wintershall voting rights, while the rest is held by Letter One, a company controlled by Mikhail Fridman.
SHELL (SHEL.L)
The British energy and petrochemical company last year completed the sale of its Russian retail and lubricants business to Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM).
Russia's government approved the sale of Shell's former 27.5% stake in the Sakhalin-2 energy project to Russian energy firm Novatek (NVTK.MM) for 94.8 billion roubles, a government order showed in April.
FOOD & BEVERAGES
AB INBEV (ABI.BR)
The brewer said in April 2022 it would sell its non-controlling stake in Russian joint venture AB InBev Efes, taking a $1.1 billion impairment charge.
HEINEKEN (HEIN.AS)
Dutch brewer Heineken said on Aug. 25 it had completed its exit from Russia by selling its operations there to Russia's Arnest Group for a symbolic one euro.
FORESTRY & PACKAGING
HUHTAMAKI (HUH1V.HE)
The Finnish maker of packaging for food and beverages sold its operations in Russia in September last year for 151 million euros to Espetina, a holding company of the owner of former McDonald's restaurants in Russia.
INTERNATIONAL PAPER (IP.N)
The renewable fibre-based products manufacturer sold its 50% stake in a Russia-based joint venture to Russian shareholders, its JV partner Ilim Group said on Sept. 18.
MONDI (MNDI.L)
The British paper and packaging firm said on July 3 it had completed the sale of three Russian packaging converting operations to Gotek Group for 1.6 billion roubles.
Mondi said on Sept. 18 it had agreed to sell its largest plant in Russia to Sezar Invest for 80 billion roubles.
STORA ENSO (STERV.HE)
The Finnish forestry firm completed its exit from Russia with the sale of three corrugated packaging plants to local management in May 2022.
MINING
KINROSS (K.TO)
The Toronto-based miner in June last year sold all of its Russian assets to Highland Gold Mining Group for $340 million, half of the previously announced price.
RESTAURANTS & RETAIL
AMREST (EATP.WA)
The restaurant operator said in May it had completed the sale of its KFC restaurant business in Russia to Smart Service for 100 million euros.
AUTHENTIC BRANDS GROUP (AUTH.N)
The Russian business of Authentic Brands Group-owned Reebok was taken over by Turkey's FLO retailing, Kommersant daily reported in May 2022.
INDITEX (ITX.MC)
Russian government in April approved a deal for Spain's Inditex (ITX.MC) to sell its Russian business to a UAE-based buyer. Inditex had more than 500 stores in the country and agreed to sell them in October.
MCDONALD'S (MCD.N)
The U.S.-based restaurant chain sold last year its business in Russia, taking a charge of $1.28 billion.
TOBACCO
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (BATS.L)
The maker of Camel and Lucky Strike cigarettes said on Sept. 7 it would sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses for an undisclosed sum to a consortium led by members of BAT Russia's management team. It did not disclose whether the terms of the deal, expected to close within a month, allowed BAT to buy the business back at a later stage.
IMPERIAL BRANDS (IMB.L)
The British tobacco group transferred its Russian business to investors based in Russia in April 2022.
OTHERS
ESSITY (ESSITYa.ST)
The Swedish hygiene company said on July 17 it had completed the divestment of its Russian operations for about 1.2 billion Swedish crowns ($117.34 million) to New Technologies LLC, whose principal owner is Igor Shilov.
HENKEL (HNKG.DE)
The consumer goods company said in April it had sold its business in Russia for around 600 million euros to a consortium of local financial investors.
MAERSK (MAERSKb.CO)
The shipping and logistics group said in February it had agreed to sell its two logistics sites in Russia to IG Finance Development Limited.
In August last year, Maersk sold a 30.75% stake in Russian port operator Global Ports Investments to Russia's largest container operator Delo Group.
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC (SCHN.PA)
The French electrical equipment maker closed the sale of its operations in Russia to local management in September last year.
YIT (YIT.HE)
The Finnish builder completed the sale of its businesses in Russia to Etalon Group in May 2022.
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(Kitco News) - The debtors for the bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange have filed a lawsuit against the parents of FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), alleging that they misappropriated millions of dollars through their involvement in the exchanges business.
Court documents filed on Monday by the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell show that the FTX debtors and debtors-in-possession are seeking to recoup funds given to SBFs parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, arguing that they exploited their access to their sons business to enrich themselves at the expense of the debtors in the FTX bankruptcy estate.
As Bankman-Frieds parents, Bankman and Fried exploited their access and influence within the FTX enterprise to enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars, and knowingly at the expense of the debtors in these Chapter 11 Cases and their creditors, the filing said.
Despite presenting itself to investors and the public as a sophisticated group of cryptocurrency exchanges and businesses, the FTX Group was a self-described family business, they said. It has since been revealed to have been fueled by fraud, perpetrated by and for the benefit of a group of insiders, including: Bankman-Fried, Daniel Friedberg, Zixiao Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison.
The debtors alleged that Bankman and Fried siphoned millions of dollars out of the FTX Group for their own personal benefit and their chosen pet causes, and said, This action seeks to hold them accountable for their misconduct and recover assets for the Debtors creditors.
SBF has sought to shield his parents from the fallout associated with the FTX bankruptcy, repeatedly saying that they weren't really involved in the business or decisions that had a material impact on its operations, but the new lawsuit pushes back against that characterization.
Although Bankman-Fried has asserted that his parents werent involved in any of the relevant parts of the business, the truth is that Bankman and Fried were very much involved from the founding of the FTX Group until its collapse, the filing said. As early as 2018, Bankman described Alameda as a family business a phrase he repeatedly used to refer to the FTX Group. Even as the FTX Group descended into insolvency, Bankman and Fried profited handsomely from this family business.
The debtors argued that Joseph Bankman was a de facto officer for FTX Group, which gave him broad authority to make decisions, and he also held executive positions on FTX Groups management team.
Bankman used his status as an insider to funnel vast sums of FTX Group money to his chosen causes, including his employer, Stanford University, they said. Bankman also showered his friends and family with gifts, which were paid for by the FTX Group.
Barbara Fried, who is also a Stanford Law School Professor, was actively involved in the political actions by FTX, the complaint alleged.
Fried served as the single most influential advisor regarding Bankman-Frieds and the FTX Groups political contributions, and repeatedly dunned, or called upon, Bankman-Fried and Singh to contribute millions of dollars directly to Mind the Gap, Inc. (MTG), a political action committee that she co-founded and for which she served as President and Chairwoman, or the organizations MTG supported, the filing said.
Together, Bankmans and Frieds influence and control over FTX Group funds expanded as the FTX Group plunged deeper into insolvency, they said. Despite knowing or blatantly ignoring that the FTX Group was insolvent or on the brink of insolvency, Bankman and Fried discussed with Bankman-Fried the transfer to them of a $10 million cash gift and a $16.4 million luxury property in The Bahamas.
They also said Bankman and Fried pushed for tens of millions of dollars in political and charitable contributions, including to Stanford University, which were seemingly designed to boost Bankmans and Frieds professional and social status at the expense of the FTX Group, and by extension, its customers and other creditors.
On the matter of violating federal campaign finance disclosure rules, the debtors said that Barbara Fried encouraged SBF and others in the FTX Group to utilize straw donations or otherwise conceal that the FTX Group was the source of the contributions.
Based on the statements above, the debtors filed the lawsuit against Bankman and Fried to recoup the funds they received.
Plaintiffs bring this action against Bankman for intentional and constructive fraudulent transfer, breaches of fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, knowing assistance or knowing receipt, and disallowance of claims; against Fried for intentional and constructive fraudulent transfer, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties, unjust enrichment, and disallowance of claims; and against both Defendants for damages, as well as to avoid and recover from Defendants (or from any other person or entity for whose benefit the transfers were made or obligations incurred) all transfers of property of Plaintiffs and all obligations of Plaintiffs to Defendants made prior to the commencement of the Chapter 11 Cases by Plaintiffs, the filing said.
The plaintiffs asked that the court award them compensatory damages in an amount to be determined at trial resulting from defendants conscious, willful, wanton, and malicious conduct, which exhibits a reckless disregard for the interests of plaintiffs and their creditors, and the Disgorgement of all of Defendant Bankmans compensation paid by Plaintiffs.
Sean Hecker, counsel for Joe Bankman, and Michael Tremonte, counsel for Barbara Fried reached out to Kitco Crypto with the following statement in response to the lawsuit filed by FTX: This is a dangerous attempt to intimidate Joe and Barbara and undermine the jury process just days before their childs trial begins. These claims are completely false. Mr. Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better."
Prior to its bankruptcy filing in November 2022, FTX was the third-ranked cryptocurrency exchange by volume. Following its collapse, SBF was arrested and charged with 13 counts, including fraud, money laundering, and bribing officials. His first trial is scheduled to start on Oct. 3 where he will defend against seven charges related to fraudulent activities involving user funds at FTX and Alameda Research.
LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - There is no evidence so far that Britain's banks have been closing accounts because of people's political views, though more detailed scrutiny is needed, the Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday.
British finance minister Jeremy Hunt last month asked the FCA to urgently investigate terminations of bank accounts and suggested that lenders who have broken the law should be fined.
The practice, known as 'debanking' became a political issue after former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage said his account at private bank Coutts, part of NatWest, had been closed due to his political views.
An internal bank document unearthed by Farage later showed the decision was partly taken over his views, alongside commercial considerations.
The row over the account closure led to the shock departure of NatWest CEO Alison Rose and Coutts CEO Peter Flavel.
The FCA said on Tuesday that it looked at data from 34 banks and building societies, focusing on July 2022 to June 2023, but the speed of its inquiries meant there were some gaps, limitations and inconsistencies to information provided.
It was not possible to put forward a reliable initial set of findings on the groups who are likely to be most impacted by account declines, suspensions and terminations, it said.
"Consequently, the information we have received so far does not suggest that accounts have been closed because of the political beliefs or views lawfully expressed by account holders," the FCA said in a report.
"By far the most common reasons providers gave for declining, suspending or terminating an account were because it was inactive/dormant or because there were concerns about financial crime," it said.
The FCA said it will be doing further work over coming months with "outlier" firms in particular with high rates of declining accounts to verify the data and to better understand the reasons behind, for example, the closure of accounts due to reputational risk.
Andrew Griffith, Britain's financial services minister, said free speech is a fundamental human right and noted the FCA's initial report.
"Clearly there is more to be done to validate the submissions by banks and to ensure that the FCA have thoroughly followed up de-banked customer perspectives," Griffith said.
An independent review commissioned by NatWest is looking specifically at Farage, who dismissed the FCA's findings.
"The FCA says it finds no evidence of politicians being debanked over political views. This new report is a whitewash and a joke. If we don't have a regulator that is fit for purpose, what hope is there for our banking industry?," Farage posted on X social media platform.
While an account cannot be closed due to lawfully held political views, the FCA said government and lawmakers should consider whether people and businesses should be given a legal right to an account, as is the case in countries like Belgium and France.
Separately, the FCA is reviewing how banks conduct mandatory extra checks on "politically exposed" customers and their families for money laundering risks, with a report due by the end of June 2024.
The 20th annual North Korea Freedom Week is taking place in Seoul from September 17th to the 23rd. The week is composed of rallies, seminars, protests, and cultural events that bring together activists from the United States and South Korea, as well as North Korean defectors, to shine a light on the horrific human rights abuses visited on the North Korean people by their government.
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement that as the United States observes North Korea Freedom Week, We recognize the courage of the North Korean defector and human rights community, which continues to speak on behalf of the millions of North Koreans suffering abuses who are unable to advocate for themselves.
The State Departments most recent human rights report on North Korea, formally known as the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, or DPRK, categorizes the abuses. They include unlawful arbitrary killings by the government; torture and cruel, inhuman treatment and punishment; nonexistent judicial independence; punishment of family members for offenses allegedly committed by an individual; total state control of expression and media through censorship and repression; severe restrictions on freedom of religion or belief; serious restrictions on freedom of movement within the country and on the right to leave the country; trafficking in persons; and the worst forms of child labor.
According to the State Department, estimates are that between 80,000 and 200,000 North Koreans are detained in prison camps, where they are subjected to torture, starvation, rape, and unremitting forced labor.
Spokesperson Miller noted that the regime diverts the countrys resources to build up the regimes unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.
In addition, We remain deeply concerned about the plight of North Korean asylum seekers, including some 2000 North Koreans detained in China who are at risk of repatriation to the DPRK, Spokesperson Miller said. North Koreans forcibly repatriated are reportedly commonly subjected to torture, arbitrary detention, forced abortion, other forms of gender-based violence and summary execution.
The international community must act to promote accountability for those responsible for the DPRKs human rights violations and abuses, he declared. Addressing the DPRKs egregious human rights situation remains a priority for the United States, and we continue to work with the international community to highlight abuses and violations, promote accountability, and increase access to independent information into, out of, and within the DPRK.
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(Kitco News) - 2023 has seen a barrage of lawsuits and enforcement actions against cryptocurrency companies after the events of 2022, which included the collapse of FTX and Terra/Luna, highlighted the dire need to establish a regulatory framework for the rapidly growing asset class.
One decision that is likely to reverberate throughout the ecosystem for years to come was the dismissal of a class action lawsuit against Uniswap, the leading decentralized exchange (DEX) in the industry. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit accused the platform of alleged securities violations after they lost money due to scam tokens listed on the DEX between December 2020 and March 2022.
To get more insight into this case and what it means for crypto and the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, Kitco Crypto spoke with Richard Mico, the U.S. CEO and Chief Legal Officer of Banxa, a payment-and-compliance infrastructure provider for the global crypto industry.
The full dismissal of the class-action suit against Uniswap Labs is yet another notable win for the broader crypto and DeFi ecosystem, Mico said. The class action lawsuit alleges harm after purchasing scam tokens on the Uniswap platform. But notably, Judge Katherine Polk Failla in her decision noted that Due to the Protocols decentralized nature [there is] no identifiable defendant.
He noted that while this decision is not officially precedent-setting as a district court decision, decisions of the Southern District of New York often yield greater respect, meaning the underlying rationale could well be referenced and applied in future similar cases which could shape future DeFi cases or ones involving securities issues.
One of the biggest challenges faced in regulating the crypto industry has been a lack of knowledge about blockchain technology, its capabilities, and how it operates in a decentralized manner, which is vastly different from the way traditional financial platforms have operated.
The decision in the Uniswap case is one of the first where the judge showed a deeper understanding of the technology and how decentralized networks operate.
As one of the first test cases for DeFi, the decision appears to demonstrate a greater understanding of the complexities of decentralized networks, given the distinctions drawn between the token issuers and the Uniswap platform itself, Mico said. As Judge Failla wrote in her decision, [I]t defies logic that a drafter of computer code underlying a particular software platform could be liable under Section 29(b) [of the Exchange Act] for a third-partys misuse of that platform. As discussed, smart contracts are self-executing, self-enforcing code that contain the terms of the agreement between the buyer and seller.
Moreover, Judge Failla did point to the current state of crypto regulation and noted that relevant laws currently dont exist, stating, The Court declines to stretch the federal securities laws to cover the conduct alleged, and concludes that Plaintiffs concerns are better addressed to Congress than to this Court. he said.
While the case is important in establishing a positive ruling for DeFi platforms, Mico said it is unlikely to alter how the SEC is approaching its enforcement actions toward the industry.
I dont anticipate the SEC altering its current tact of regulation-by-enforcement any time soon, he said. Despite having suffered multiple courtroom setbacks in recent months, the SEC has unfortunately continued on its aggressive path with SEC Chair Gary Gensler even recently warning that DeFi projects were under increased scrutiny. In the absence of comprehensive new regulation for the industry, this trend of piecemeal and conflicting decisions will be par for the course.
However, it is expected that moving forward crypto defendants will raise this ruling in challenging the SECs jurisdiction over token issuers and platforms, he said. Time will tell whether this argument will be successful.
Grayscale ruling
When asked what options the SEC has after an appellate court ruled that the regulator must review Grayscales application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF, Mico said the ruling makes it clear that the SECs denial of the spot BTC ETF was arbitrary and capricious because it was inconsistent with the SECs treatment of similar products, namely the futures BTC ETF.
A very embarrassing outcome for the SEC, he said. Given this was a unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal, the SEC has no real chance of a successful appeal. Accordingly, the SEC only has two options, withdraw the approval for the futures BTC ETF or approve the spot BTC ETF.
Mico said that while Some consider the SECs historic petulant approach to crypto regulation means they will seek to further unreasonably stifle the crypto industry, he is far more optimistic.
The Grayscale ruling has materially increased the likelihood of the spot BTC ETC being approved to ~80% in my estimation, he said. I am confident that the SEC will, begrudgingly, approve the various spot BTC ETF applications between October 2023 and March 2024. This ruling and, in turn, the inevitable approval of the spot BTC ETC will open the floodgates for traditional investments in Bitcoin, enhancing the credibility and influence of this digital asset.
Ripple and XRP
On the topic of the ruling that XRP is not a security and the SECs subsequent appeal of that decision, Mico said, On balance, I believe that the SECs motion to seek appellate review in the XRP case will be granted given the industry-wide significance which is of special consequence and because of the contradictory legal conclusions of the District court.
However, it is likely to take years before a decision is issued by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, he said. It is true that there is a real question of law that requires clarity from a superior court or lawmakers. I am cautiously optimistic that lawmakers will step in before an appellate decision is handed down. If not, on balance, I suspect that Judge Torres decision will hold that subsequent sales on public exchanges are not offers of securities at law, because purchasers did not have a reasonable expectation of profit tied to Ripple's efforts.
Non-fungible tokens
When asked about the recent victories for the SEC in their lawsuits against non-fungible token (NFT) issuers Impact Theory and Stoner Cats, Mico highlighted that Both of these enforcements occurred without the SEC issuing any guidance to the market on the application of securities laws to NFTs, and against a backdrop of dissent from two SEC Commissioners.
Let the SECs crusade of regulation by way of enforcement continue! he said. It is expected that the SEC will opportunistically seek to leverage these two enforcement actions against other NFT issuers.
However, the SECs enforcement actions are not binding on the Courts, and do not automatically mean that they are legally or ethically correctly enforcing the law, he noted. On the contrary, some commentators compellingly argue that the SEC continues to incorrectly interpret and apply the law, and is negligent in failing to provide regulatory clarity. One needs to look no further than the civil unrest and dissension within the SEC to understand why market participants remain perplexed.
Mico said these cases are significant because they represent the first time the SEC has pursued issuers of NFTs for violating securities laws, and because unique issues arise with NFTs that do not arise with other types of crypto tokens or conventional securities. Typical crypto tokens are fungible tokens that are interchangeable and indistinguishable, whereas NFTs represent a unique item.
Since at least March 2022, the SEC has been investigating the manner in which NFTs are marketed, advertised, and sold, he said. More recently, the SEC has announced significant increases in staff to focus on digital assets including NFTs. It is therefore very likely that the SEC will maintain its activist approach and scrutiny of NFTs.
Mico said that while he somewhat sympathizes with SEC Chair Gary Genslers position on the need to consider the economic reality of some tokens, he disagrees that this automatically categorizes an asset as a security, and that there has been sufficient regulatory clarity and fair notice provided to market participants by the SEC.
As for a higher-level outlook on the state of crypto regulation in the U.S. moving forward, Mico said that he is hopeful that the SEC will begin to collaborate more closely with crypto companies amid the pushback from the industry and the public at large.
The U.S. has fallen behind other leaders in innovation, and in order to catch up, will need to establish a clear regulatory framework that enables technological advancement without hurting investors, he said.
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(Kitco News) - Institutional investors who bank under Standard Chartereds umbrella will soon be able to earn a yield on their crypto holdings as Zodia Custody, the banks crypto unit, is set to begin allowing high net-worth clients to access to its Zodia Custoy Yield platform for the first time.
According to the announcement from Zodia Custody, the firm has partnered with OpenEden, a platform focused on bridging real-world assets into decentralized finance (DeFi) via tokenization, which will enable Zodia Custody clients to put their crypto assets to work earning a yield.
Institutional investors will now be able to access Zodia Custody Yield, allowing access to earnings potential via Open Edens service whilst assets are held safely in bank-grade digital asset custody, the announcement said.
The new integration will also give institutions exposure to staking services, enabling them to access off-chain yield potential for their on-chain assets without compromising on the bank-grade security of Zodia Custodys platform.
The firms said they decided to launch this collaboration in response to increasing demands for an institutional-grade custody solution for digital asset products that [is] low-risk, liquid, and transparent with respect to how returns are generated for stablecoin holders.
Through the partnership, Zodia Custoy will be able to provide added assurance to investors seeking to custody assets in safe cold storage, while at the same time offering institutions access to the potential of real-world yield from U.S. Treasury bills enabled by OpenEdens platform, which provides on-chain security and transparency on real-world assets managed by regulated fund managers, they said.
Theres a lot in the world of traditional finance that can be moved to digital assets, said Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody. The challenge is how to bring some of the benefits to the world in a safe, compliant, and regulatory-first way. Our first such partnership with OpenEden is exactly how we do this by bringing access to yield products to our clients.
Zodia Custody was launched by Standard Chartered and Northern Trust in 2021. In April, the firm conducted a Series A funding round where they raised approximately $36 million from a variety of investors including SBI Holdings and Standard Chartereds venture arm, SC Ventures. SBI Holdings is now the second largest shareholder in Zodia Custody after Standard Chartered.
The future direction of the digital asset ecosystem is clear, said Julian Sawyer, CEO of Zodia Custody following the funding round. As investors demand greater assurance and rigor, compliance is crucial to the future evolution of our sector.
Zodia Custody also has an institutional trading platform named Zodia Markets, which earlier in 2023 outlined plans to expand its operations in the U.S. in response to an increase in institutional demand for access to cryptocurrencies.
In June, OpenEden formed a partnership with Finblox to launch tokenized U.S. Treasury Bills, giving investors in Southeast Asia a way to earn a yield on their stablecoin holdings via OpenEdens TBILL token rights.
According to OpenEden, the Tokenized T-bills (TBILL) Vault is the worlds first smart-contract vault for U.S. Treasuries. The Vault gives investors direct exposure to a pool of short-dated T-Bills through the Vaults TBILL token, which is backed 1:1 by the T-Bills, USD Coin (USDC), and U.S. dollar reserves. The Vault allows TBILL holders to receive a return on their capital via the yields offered by the underlying T-Bill assets.
This new collaboration between Zodia Custody and OpenEden is intended to expand access to yield opportunities for institutional investors.
There are billions of dollars worth of stablecoins sitting on the sidelines when they could easily be generating yields for investors, said Jeremy Ng, co-founder of OpenEden. Thats a huge opportunity and one that we and Zodia Custody hope to bring to institutions through our respective service platforms which will allow issuers and investors to enter the digital asset market through tokenized financial products, in a way that is both safe and transparent.
The partnership with OpenEden, a leading Singapore-based digital asset platform developer, comes just days after Zodia Custody announced its new subsidiary in Singapore in response to strong client demand and accelerated global growth. The launch makes Zodia Custody the first entity that is owned by, and partnered with, banks to provide digital asset custody services for financial institutions in Singapore, they said.
Zodia Custody also recently announced that it has formed a long-term strategic partnership with Parity Technologies, a leading contributor to the Polkadot ecosystem. The partnership will enable institutional access to the Polkadot ecosystem and in the longer term, broaden the Polkadot ecosystems institutional adoption via joint research and development initiatives, they said.
The first phase of the partnership will see Zodia Custody provide custody services for the Polkadot ecosystem, enabling secure market access and bank-grade digital asset custody services for financial institutions.
In the second phase of the partnership, Zodia Custody plans to allow financial institutions to stake DOT, the native token of Polkadot, while their assets are being held in cold storage, thereby broadening the reach of participation in the Polkadot ecosystem to institutions, the firm said.
AMSTERDAM, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Top nickel producer Indonesia will not approve any new mining output quotas this year, government official Septian Hario Seto told Reuters, a move likely to further tighten supplies of nickel ore.
Indonesia's mining quota distribution has already been delayed after the government reverted to an older approval process due to an ongoing investigation into illegal mining.
Prices of nickel ore in Indonesia have surged in recent weeks, local buyers say, with production affected by the delayed quotas, known locally as RKAB.
Septian, a deputy minister in Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, said a new mining quota application system will be available to nickel miners from October and applications can be filed from November.
The government will then start processing quotas for 2024, Septian said on the sidelines of a Fastmarkets battery raw materials conference in Amsterdam.
The deputy minister acknowledged some plants in Indonesia have curbed and even suspended production due to a lack of nickel ore. About two-thirds of global nickel supplies are used to make stainless steel, and its use in electric vehicle batteries is growing fast.
Indonesia's Attorney General's Office is investigating a former senior mining official, alleging his easing of a quota approval process led to illegal activities that led to 5.7 trillion rupiah ($372.84 million) of state losses.
Under the RKAB, Indonesian authorities allocate each miner's production and sales quota every year, which can be revised when they need more.
The government in May announced plans to launch a nickel price index by the end of 2023 to avoid market volatility linked to the London Metal Exchange pricing benchmark, which needs to be in place before it goes ahead with an export levy on nickel products.
Septian told Reuters an announcement on the index will come in November. He had previously said it could consist of nickel pig iron, mixed hydroxide precipitate and possibly nickel matte prices.
Indonesia exported 450,000 metric tons of nickel in the second quarter of this year, or 53% of global supply, according to Macquarie.
(Reporting by Julian Luk; Writing by Pratima Desai; Editing by Jan Harvey) julian.luk.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
MANILA, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Philex Mining Corp., one of the Philippines biggest producers of copper and gold, said on Tuesday it was looking at venturing into nickel mining via a potential mine site in Zambales province on the main island of Luzon.
"We're looking into the nickel space considering that the transition to this green energy is a global issue right now," Philex president and CEO Eulalio Austin Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
Austin declined to provide further details about the Zambales nickel prospect, which he said was still in the exploration stage.
The Philippines, which is a major nickel ore supplier to top metals consumer China, currently has more than 30 operating nickel mines.
Miners consider nickel, which is a key feed in making electric vehicle batteries, a bright spot amid an anticipated surge in demand for e-vehicles worldwide.
Philex is on track with its plan to launch its long-delayed copper-gold Silangan project for commercial operation in the first quarter of 2025, he also said.
The Silangan mine in the southern province of Surigao del Norte, with a development cost of $224 million, is one of the country's biggest mining projects.
Philex remains open to taking in foreign investors in developing and operating Silangan, which will become its main source of revenue after the closure of its decades-old Padcal mine in the north, Austin said.
(Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.
Highlights
The Global Hydrogen Production Technologies Center (HyPT) is led in the UK by Cranfield University in collaboration with Arizona State University, the University of Adelaide, and the University of Toronto.
The ambition is to explore the creation of a responsible hydrogen ecosystem making it both low-cost with Net Zero emissions and responsive to the social and environmental impacts of wholescale system change.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has allocated 6.2 million in funding to UK partners, with Cranfield University receiving 1.8 million. Cranfield researchers will analyse economic and policy aspects to identify pathways for the widespread adoption of Net Zero hydrogen.
Cranfield University is leading the UK's collaboration on an international partnership to make low-cost, large-scale, Net Zero hydrogen production a reality.
The Global Hydrogen Production Technologies Center (HyPT) is a 14.1 million five-year project led by Cranfield University, Arizona State University, the University of Adelaide and the University of Toronto, which seeks to accelerate Net Zero hydrogen technologies to make it available at low cost - approximately one dollar per kg of hydrogen.
UK Research and Innovation has distributed 6.2 million of funding to UK HyPT partners through their Building a Green Future fund and International Science Partnerships Fund.
Researchers at Cranfield will analyse the social and environmental system changes needed to build a global hydrogen economy, addressing how to make it affordable and looking at the impact production has on local communities and ecosystems. Researchers will also look into developing pathways for energy-intensive and hard-to-abate industries such as ammonia, steel, cement, aluminium, transportation, to adopt it as a source of energy.
Nazmiye Ozkan, Professor in Sustainable Energy Transitions and Head of the Centre for Energy Systems and Strategy at Cranfield University, is the UK lead for the project.
She said: "HyPT is a transformative international collaboration dedicated to driving the development of a sustainable hydrogen ecosystem. Our mission is to unlock the potential of Net Zero hydrogen production making it an accessible and affordable energy source.
"What's crucial is that this initiative will not only advance cutting-edge hydrogen technologies, but also address the economic and policy dimensions that are essential to developing a global hydrogen economy."
Other UK partners include Imperial College London, Newcastle University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Birmingham.
Crucial role of Net Zero hydrogen in meeting Paris climate targets
Large-scale hydrogen production with Net Zero emissions of greenhouse gases is essential to meet the Paris Agreement's climate targets and limit global warming to 2C. Net Zero hydrogen enables the decarbonisation of many energy-intensive industries such as ammonia, steel, cement, aluminium, transportation, and energy storage. But Net Zero hydrogen is currently several times more expensive than hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, which hinders its widespread adoption.
HyPT seeks to develop three major Net Zero hydrogen production technologies:
1. water electrolysis where electricity is used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen
2. methane pyrolysis where a natural gas is heated to a high temperature and splits into hydrogen and solid carbon
3. photocatalytic solar water splitting where sunlight is used help water break apart into oxygen and hydrogen.
The Center will develop breakthroughs in these technologies while assessing their impacts on local communities and ecosystems so that the Net Zero hydrogen economy develops in an ethical manner.
Arizona State University will lead the water electrolysis work while the University of Adelaide will lead the photocatalysis theme, and the University of Toronto will lead the methane pyrolysis studies.
Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI CEO, said: "UKRI's Building a Green Future Programme aims to harness the power of research and innovation to tackle hard-to-decarbonise sectors in our economy. We are excited to be partnering with our sister organisations in the US, Canada and Australia to accelerate progress toward this crucial goal.
"Our combined investment in Global Centers enables exciting researcher and innovation-led international and interdisciplinary collaboration to drive the energy transition. I look forward to seeing the creative solutions developed through these global collaborations."
For more information on HyPT please visit Cranfield University's website or the HyPT website.
The project builds on Cranfield's expertise in hydrogen research - the University's Hydrogen Gateway brings together researchers covering the whole supply chain of hydrogen.
For further information please contact:
Media Relations, Cranfield University.
T: +44 (0) 1234 75 4999
Email: mediarelations@cranfield.ac.uk
About Cranfield University
Cranfield is a specialist postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management. The most recent Research Excellence Framework results demonstrate Cranfield University's excellence with 88% of research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent.
The Global Hydrogen Production Technologies (HyPT) Center includes experts from institutions in six countries - US, Australia, Canada, UK, Egypt, and Germany - to formulate a pathway to low-cost large-scale Net Zero hydrogen production, with funding from US, Australia, Canada, and UK.
Funders:
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is the largest public funder of research and innovation in the UK, investing 8 billion annually spanning all disciplines and all sectors. We draw on our unique breadth and depth of expertise to work with government and other stakeholders to enrich lives, by increasing our understanding of ourselves and the world around us, supporting innovative businesses and public services, and creating high-quality jobs throughout the UK.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research.
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada.
The Center is led by Cranfield University (UK), Arizona State University (US), University of Adelaide (Australia), University of Toronto (Canada), and other founding members of the Center include:
UK: Imperial College London, Newcastle University, University of Cambridge, University of Birmingham
US: University of Michigan, Stanford University, Navajo Technical University
Australia: Flinders University, Curtin University
Canada: University of Quebec in Montreal, University of Quebec in Trois-Rivieres, University of Calgary, McGill University, University of British Columbia
Last week was a busy week on Capitol Hill, between Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announcing an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and the House unable to pass any spending bills as the government barrels toward a shutdown.
Amid all the chaos, the Biden administration released a much-anticipated report with mining reform suggestions. But if Nevadas two senators reactions are any indication, moving forward will be a slippery slope.
In the 140-page report released Wednesday, the Biden administrations mining working group proposed a path forward for mining reform in an attempt to address two complicated truths.
The Biden administration has prompted an increase in the demand for critical minerals as it has promoted a transition to clean energy, increasing the need for hardrock mining in Nevada for lithium in particular. The Biden administration wants to shore up the countrys mineral supply chains to lessen dependence on foreign countries, especially China.
But secondly, environmental advocates a key group of the Biden coalition have long called for updates to the 1872 law that governs hardrock mining, such as increasing fees, and ensuring that the demands of hardrock mining have as little adverse effect on the surrounding environment as possible.
Ultimately, the working group proposed that Congress make major reforms to the 151-year old law, including transitioning to a leasing system similar to other extractive industries, imposing a royalty between 4 percent and 8 percent on minerals mined from public lands, up from the 0 percent royalty in place today, and charging a fee on excess material dug up, which the industry refers to as a dirt tax.
Many aspects of the report were non-starters for the mining industry and its allies in Congress chief among them, Nevadas two senators.
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) is the heir to both Sen. Harry Reids (D-NV) seat in the Senate and his long standing defense of the mining industry a partnership that has always defied electoral math, given rural communities lack of general support for either Democrat, though Cortez Masto improved on margins there in 2022. Reid, the son of a gold miner, always kept the industry close, fending off Democrats attempts at reform throughout his tenure. Cortez Masto, cognizant of the mining industrys hold in the state and the jobs it provides, fought to keep mining reform out of Democrats Build Back Better domestic policy agenda.
These recommendations to impose new taxes and change the mining claims process would make it harder to create new mining projects in the United States at a time when too many companies are sourcing these minerals from Communist China, she said in a statement.
Rich Nolan, the president of the National Mining Association (NMA), called the recommendations unworkable and unreasonable, and said the report indicated a lack of understanding from the Biden administration about the industry.
Nolan specifically opposed four recommendations from the report: the new leasing system, the dirt tax, the proposed royalty structure and a lack of sufficient permitting reform.
Mining leases differ from oil and gas leases. Under the current system, companies seek a claim on land via prospecting permit to explore it for mineral deposits. Other types of mining, such as coal extraction or oil and gas exploration, require a lease obtained through competitive bidding, to ensure taxpayers receive fair market price for exploration on public lands.
The Biden administration wants Congress to transition hardrock mining to a lease system, which the NMA opposes, saying it can take indefinite time and resources to know if a parcel of land does indeed have valuable minerals, making lease bidding and renewals potentially cost-prohibitive.
The NMA is open to updating the royalty system it has suggested 2 percent but it says the administrations 4 percent to 8 percent rate would reduce minings profitability.
The organization also called the report a missed opportunity to cut down on the time it takes for new mining claims to go through environmental compliance, which they say is significantly shorter in other nations. The report pushed back on this claim, saying the average environmental review takes four to five years.
Cortez Masto and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) lined up behind the NMAs position, although Rosen used somewhat softer language.
While this report offers needed recommendations to reform federal mining regulations, some of the proposals will hurt the mining industry and fail to bolster our nations domestic mineral supply chain, Rosen said in a statement.
The most controversial recommendations including the leasing system are likely to go nowhere in a Congress in which Republicans control one chamber. Some do have bipartisan support, such as a provision to clean up abandoned mines, which is backed by Cortez Masto and Rosen. And the administration can take its own action without Congress help on recommendations that involve agencies, including giving tribal nations greater input in the process, and facilitating interagency dialogue to streamline reviews.
But importantly, the report does stake out a policy claim for Democrats, putting Cortez Masto and Rosen at odds with their party. The proposal was met with praise and calls to go further from environmental party leaders including Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity.
Rep. Mark Amodei (R-NV), a former NMA president, said in a brief interview that he felt the administration did not seek sufficient input from stakeholders.
Mining reform isnt a dirty word, but its like anything else you have to collaborate, he said. When youre ready to start talking to the stakeholders I look forward to that. But Im not holding my breath.
As PBBM gives away hoarded rice to poor families, Sen. Tolentino says smugglers should be dealt with
MANILA -- Senator Francis "TOL" N. Tolentino on Tuesday said rice smugglers and hoarders should immediately be charged by authorities now that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.'s raids on warehouses are underway.
Tolentino, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, also lauded President Marcos' decision to distribute the hoarded rice to poor families but stressed that charges must not be dropped against smugglers.
"Kapag puno na ang mga bodega ng smuggled na bigas, dapat nang kalusin. The forfeiture of rice should, however, not lead to the dropping of charges against smugglers," Tolentino said in a statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, Malacanang announced that confiscated rice secured from warehouses was already being distributed to residents and local government units of Zamboanga Sibugay.
While President Marcos' decision to distribute confiscated rice was commendable, Tolentino said smugglers must not take this as a "get out of jail pass."
"The distribution of confiscated rice is not a 'get out of jail pass.' If it is, then they will just repeat it again, but this time, with the greater motivation of recouping what they have lost," the Senator stressed.
As authorities were distributing the confiscated rice to poor families, President Marcos assured the public that the government was following laws when it confiscated smuggled items, giving smugglers a 15-day notice to hear their side of the story.
He also commended the BOC for their recent seizure of 42,180 bags of imported rice worth P42 million at a warehouse in Barangay San Jose Gusu, Zamboanga City on September 15, 2023.
This convention center was a little tiny dream. And it happened, Elko County Commissioner Delmo Andreozzi said from behind a desk at Elkos Convention Center.
On Sept.18, the Northeastern Nevada Regional Development Authority held its First Annual Economic Development Conference. Andreozzi and seven other panelists from northeastern Nevada governments gathered at the Elko Convention Center for the local government panel. The focus of their conversation: economic growth in their communities, and achieving dreams like that of constructing familiar local buildings.
Elko and this area is emerging, Andreozzi explained, pointing to the citys businesses, institutions and wonderful, honest, authentic people.
Our county commissioners are working on being able to grow what we have there, Eureka tourism director Dana Lee Fruend said of her city, which largely contains land belonging to Eureka County and the Bureau of Land Management. She emphasized the accessibility of Eurekas inner workings. When you want to go talk to the commissioners, they are there. They are ranchers and farmers.
What we have to offer is history, mystery, folklore, fun, ranching, mining, farming, Fruend explained. She noted that Eureka boasts its own airport, as well as proximity to railroads. Also, mining from Eurekas founding of 1864 is still going on today.
We are known to be the friendliest town on the loneliest highway, Fruend said. But like many of you know here in the rurals, we are not so lonely here anymore. We are more active, and as were growing and were doing we want to invite you. We do want industry there.
But I will be very honest to say, we want planned growth, Fruend added. And we want to be able to connect with those businesses that are there, and the mines.
Everything in the rurals is about hospitality and welcome and being a part of the community, Fruend explained. She said she hopes that arrivals to the Eureka area can feel welcome there. She said she wants growth to go hand in hand with longevity, sustainability, and beauty.
So do we need more motels? Yes. Do we need housing? Yes, she said.
We all need housing because of mining, Freund said. She explained how the event planning required for her tourism director role can be challenging due to the competitive nature of finding room and board.
Andreozzi discussed the history of housing in Elko around 2008 or 2009.
The housing market kind of dried up everywhere Reno, Salt Lake, Boise, he said. It was a tough time. And we were in a growing mode out here in Elko and all those builders came here and they were dressed up in fancy suits.
The one thing that we found is they tend to use OPM, other peoples money, Andreozzi said. They dont like to use their money, and that probably works more in the big city where you have lots of absorption, and it is fast absorption.
In contrast, Andreozzi noted that growth in the Elko area can be gradual, citing how Spring Creek took 50 years to grow to its current population of 18,000.
The people that have always stood up to the challenge are our local building people, he said. They are the ones that have been through some thick and thin development challenges, you know, because here, generally speaking, the development takes on the cost of all the infrastructure to build.
When the economy turned back around, and Reno and Boise and Salt Lake took off again, all those people and all the fantasies, they left, and you know whos still here, the builders that weve always had, Andreozzi said. I think we can do a better job. I do. And I think that better job is all of us working together, identifying barriers, trying to find ways to minimize, reduce, get the barriers out of the way.
The panel discussed potential ways in which the Elko area can progress. Elkos lower income housing possibilities have expanded in the last 5-10 years, Elko City Manager Jan Baum said. Carlin city councilman Cameron Kinney said he spoke at the National League of Cities in March about acquiring land from the BLM and incentivizing businesses that will bring in developers to put more housing in our areas.
White Pine County Manager Mike Wheable discussed the possibilities of parceling out land for developers and contractors. According to Wheable, it is possible for northeastern Nevada to entice developers who would normally favor spots like Reno or Salt Lake City. Communications and connections are the key, Wheable said.
We have a great lumberyard. We can get any supplies you need, and it is all about price point, Wheable said. So the county can participate and partner to reduce the overall cost of development.
Northeastern Nevadas economic expansion extends beyond construction projects. Ely mayor Nathan Robertson said that tourism is Elys biggest untapped potential. Robertson explained, The pandemic was a game changer in the sense that people got out of their houses, they got stir crazy. They left. We get people trekking across Highway 50 that said, Hey, I just wanted to do that.
Were very fortunate to be near Great Basin National Park, the states only national park, Robertson said. We are fortunate to have an abandoned railway and national historic landmark in our city.
Robertson said he realized the scope of Elys tourism potential when he was asked to speak at the funeral of Dirt, a shop cat belonging to the Nevada Northern Railway.
Robertson explained why such an esoteric event demanded his attention.
This story on this cat has gone in national papers on five different continents. The Facebook post has gotten a million views. We have 300 people coming to the city to attend the funeral in person.
And I will be honest, these kinds of things have helped our community punch above our weight class, get national exposure in a way that I did not think was possible, Robertson said. The people that have heard of the Nevada Northern Railway as I travel around the world, it always surprises me and having people aware of hey, its a great community.
We have got internet connection, we have got a great quality of life, Robertson explained. You can live out here. Its 10 minutes to the grocery store. You do not have to sit in traffic. Come enjoy it.
We will never be Reno or Vegas, but there are a lot of people that are looking for some kind of lifestyle, Robertson said. And now, in the modern economy, it has enabled people to then do that; to live in remote areas and enjoy the rural quality of life.
So how can a typical small business owner take advantage of northeastern Nevadas economic opportunity? NNRDA president Sheldon Mudd explained that Elko welcomes small businesses through the NNRDAs Ready Aim program, which educates business owners on essentials such as obtaining a business license and navigating taxes.
Mudd explained the NNRDAs long-term goals for sustaining growth across Elko: they analyze strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats, which helps them project the future of economic growth. Through this process, Mudd said, the NNRDA is able to understand how we are going to attract new business, how were going to sustain existing business, and how we are going to influence policy so that businesses are able to operate more efficiently within the region.
Further explaining his vision of Elkos future, Mudd described short-term goals for business growth: We are hoping that we see actual construction and the hiring of jobs. He said he hopes that plastic manufacturer Solmax will begin construction on their facility out at the rail park.
That is one of the big ones. And then hopefully, we will have another company in the pipeline, he said. In that time, then we will be working on site selection, and we are in construction as well.
This process usually takes a couple years, Mudd said. So we are just hoping that some of the people we have in the pipeline now will start moving forward with the project.
Reflecting on Elkos present and future, Andreozzi cited natural gas resources as an expanding factor, as well as an increase in internet quality due to the introduction of broadband internet. Elkos water rights and immense zoning areas are also a plus, he noted.
And again, I want to just point out the partnership that we had with the gold mines to help put that infrastructure in place. I mean, theyre always at the table, Andreozzi said. This whole area is a resource-based economy.
Partnership is part of the story, he said, noting the need to educate legislators on any unexpected drawbacks they may create for the community.
These mines are responsible mining companies, they do this work on BLM land, Andreozzi said, explaining how gaining awareness of the mining industrys mode of operation is crucial in order to properly collaborate with its members.
Overall, the atmosphere at the panel was one of hope.
[Elko has] acres of industrial commercial land that has been opened up with some of our water infrastructure projects, Baum said.
We have an amazing quality of life. We have recreation, whether it be the Lamoille or just going downtown for a wine walk, she said. And, there are a lot of different events that go on here every single weekend.
We are in the middle of Reno, Salt Lake, Boise, she added. You can get to any of those places, or any of your supply chains, and we have the rail port, and we have a commercial airline.
Some people say we are in the middle of nowhere, but I think we are in the middle of everywhere, Baum said.
Churchill China plc manufactures and sells ceramic and related products in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. It provides plates, bowls, trays and boards, crates and carriers, stands and risers, cookware, counter serving ware, cups, mugs, saucers, beverage pots, jugs, chip mugs, dip pots and sauce dishes, lids, glassware, cutlery, utensils, and accessories, as well as raw materials for the ceramics industry. The company offers its products to pubs, restaurant and hotel chains, sports and conference venues, health and education establishments, and contract caterers, as well as for consumer use. Churchill China plc was founded in 1795 and is headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent, the United Kingdom.
PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk provides various banking products and services in Indonesia, the United States of America, Singapore, Timor-Leste, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The company offers savings, time deposit, and current accounts; mortgage, working capital, investment, franchise, and cash collateral loan, as well as supply chain financing and bank guarantee; and micro, consumer, small and medium, program, and other loans. It also provides banking services, which includes bill payment, deposit services, online transaction, remittance and transfer, business internet and merchant banking, institutional services, treasury, custodian and trustee services, and cash management services. In addition, the company offers investment in pension and mutual funds, and government retail bonds; trade and finance services including standby L/C, BRI RTE online system services, and letter of credit; and cards, wealth management services, and digital banking services. Further, it provides life and general insurance, securities, venture capital, and investment services. The company was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Korea's parliamentary speaker and counterparts from five Central Asian countries held a conference in Seoul on Tuesday to discuss cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
At the inaugural Korea-Central Asia Parliamentary Speakers' Conference held in Seoul, Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo said Korea hopes to "blossom a cooperative and mutually beneficial future toward the new era."
Along with Kim, the meeting brought together heads of legislatures from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The conference is set to be held annually, with Turkmenistan set to host next year's gathering.
Kazakhstan's assembly speaker, Yerlan Koshanov, said he looked forward for the conference to become an important backbone in developing relations between the six countries.
The morning session of Tuesday's event wrapped up with a luncheon hosted by Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon. He asked for the countries to support Korea's bid to host the World Expo in 2030 in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
Kim has also held separate one-on-one meetings with assembly speakers from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, and requested their support for Korea's World Expo bid. (Yonhap)
A logo of TSMC is seen in this undated file photo. Yonhap
Germany's Saxony state signed an agreement with Taiwanese chip giant TSMC on Tuesday to train German students in an effort to meet the growing demand for workers in the semiconductor sector.
A shortage of skilled workers including in the crucial chip sector has emerged as a major challenge for Germany, Europe's largest economy, as vast cohorts of older employees retire.
Last month, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company which controls more than half of the world's chip output announced a new $3.8 billion chip factory in Saxony's capital Dresden.
The agreement, signed between TSMC, Saxony and the Dresden University of Technology (TU Dresden) "is specifically designed to train German STEM students for careers in the semiconductor industry", the Taiwanese firm said in a statement. (AFP)
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A move by the Nevada State Board of Education to require all schools to start no earlier than 8 a.m. would impact the Elko County School District unless it receives a waiver, but ECSD Superintendent Clayton Anderson questions what is the state doing meddling in local district business of what time is school going to start?
The state board president, Felicia Ortiz, said the board is not making a sweeping decision, and will be providing options and waivers for school districts, but our kids are first and foremost in all our decisions. She said later start times would make a humongous difference in the lives of students and teachers.
The draft regulation approved by the state board Sept. 6 now goes to the Nevada Legislative Council Bureau for review and will come back to the board for a hearing and action. Ortiz said the state board has been working on the proposal for nine months.
Anderson said school superintendents in Nevada have expressed their opposition to the 8 a.m. school start time for months, but he said the state board apparently thinks superintendents are more concerned about logistics and finances than the well-being of students.
He said school superintendents are more worried, however, about the state board over-reaching into start times that are up to local school boards.
If you have a community that likes getting out earlier and that is what makes the wheels turn better for everybody, then why would a state office tell an entire community that even if it works for you, were telling you that you are not allowed to do that, Anderson said.
He said with an 8 a.m. start time the district would have to push back everything, because ECSD would need to double its fleet of buses but cant do that. We are maxed out from a dollar standpoint and the number of people who can drive buses. Instead, there would need to be second runs.
Changing start times means changing end times to fit education hours required by the state with the four-day school week, and he said there would be children walking home from school at 4:45 when it is dark outside in the winter.
Its not safe, he said in a Sept. 11 phone interview.
Anderson said now that the proposed regulation has been approved for the next step, he has been talking about the 8 a.m. start time with ECSD leaders and personnel and the Elko Area Chamber of Commerces Government Affairs Committee.
The look on their faces mirrored how I feel about it, he said. This is a very basic operational decision that the school district gets to make.
State board comments
The state board heard similar complaints.
Mike Walker, who represents the Nevada Association of School Boards on the state education board and is on the Carson City school board, said that we view this as a local control issue. Transportation is a huge issue, and bus drivers and routes would be impacted.
Eureka County School Districts superintendent and state board member, Tate Else, said he was concerned about unintended consequences.
Dr. David Jensen, superintendent of the Humboldt County School District, said rural districts face constraints with bus transportation, for example, with some students traveling 50 miles one way to school.
Jensen, who is a former member of the state education board, said if he was still on the board he would recommend against the regulation, and he said that the regulation would constitute an unfunded mandate.
Clark County School Districts general counsel, Luke Puschnig, said the state board doesnt have the authority to make the 8 a.m. rule. Local boards have the authority to set start times, he said, and a one-size fits-all approach will not work in Nevada.
He said Clark County could look at litigation over the start times.
Also, during public comment to the state board, a couple of high school students from Silverado High School in Clark County favored the 8 a.m. start time, while Gil Lopez of the Charter School Association said one of benefits of a charter school is its flexibility, and he urged the board to recognize the autonomy of charter schools.
ECSD start times
Establishing start times for Elko County was complicated for this school year because the district just completed conversion of the Elko and Spring Creek schools to four-day weeks, which put all the schools in the county on the four-day schedule, including the Battle Born Academy at Carlin.
The regulation would cover charter schools, too, and the Elko Institute for Academic Achievement has also converted to a four-day week.
Elko County School Districts start times with the beginning of four-day school schedules are still averaging 8 a.m., but the Spring Creek Middle School and Spring Creek High School start at 7:15 a.m., and Adobe Middle School classes start at 7:40 a.m. Elko High School starts at 7:30 a.m. The rural Mound Valley, Independence Valley and Ruby Valley schools also start at 7:30 a.m., according to the schedule.
Most high schools in Clark County, however, start around 7 a.m., and parents and students in Clark have voiced concerns about the early starts, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Ortiz said the proposed regulation is obviously geared toward high schools, however, Walker said that the regulation would impact elementary schools, too.
Although the proposed regulation is on school start times, not bus schedules, ECSD students start their day earlier depending upon their bus pickup time. Although most of the pickups are after 7 a.m., the route from Wildhorse begins at 5:40 a.m., the latest bus schedules on the ECSD website show. The pickup at Halleck is at 6:30 a.m.
The state education board cited sleep studies that show children and teen-agers who dont get enough sleep have more problems with schoolwork as the impetus to regulate school start times, and the Nevada Psychological Association reported support for the later start times.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, During puberty, adolescents become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning as a result of shifts in biological rhythms. The American Academy of Pediatrics says it recognizes insufficient sleep in adolescents as an important public health issue that significantly affects the health and safety, as well as the academic success, of our nations middle and high school students, and says the evidence strongly implicates earlier school start times (i.e., before 8:30 a.m.) as a key modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep The AAP says it strongly supports the efforts of school districts to optimize sleep in students and urges high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep (8.5 9.5 hours)
Nevadas proposed regulations options include waivers for schools that face unique challenges in modifying their start times, but the districts must seek annual waivers for the state education board every year and demonstrate a compelling need for non-compliance with the 8 a.m. start time.
It feels to me a little more like, sure, there will be a waiver, but were going to try to gradually get all schools to this point. Furthermore, we can submit for a waiver, but it doesnt say all waivers will be approved, Anderson said.
Proposed regulation
The current language of the regulation unanimously approved by the state board on Sept. 6 also allows for gradual implementation, beginning with the 2024-2025 school year, when 25% of schools within each district would have to comply with the new start time requirements. Each additional year would add 25% of schools to implement the new start times until all schools comply or have waivers.
With the number of ECSD schools now starting at 8 a.m. or so, the school district would comply with the 25% requirements in the first couple of years but would be affected in the third year, Anderson said.
Surveys are required under the proposed regulation. Each school district and charter school with early start times must conduct a comprehensive survey of their school communities on current start times and options.
State board member Dr. Rene Cantu questioned whether those living in the suburbs (such as in Las Vegas) might be more apt to respond and influence outcomes, and the student board member, Michael Keyes, thought only requiring 25% of schools to change to 8 a.m. in the first year was a little too lenient.
Ortiz suggested changing to 40% in year one.
Member Maggie Carlton said she wasnt sure she supports the 8 a.m. start time proposal but she thought the proposed regulation should go forward to attract public attention.
Anderson urged those in the ECSD community to let their feelings for or against the 8 a.m. start time be known to the state board.
The boards next meeting is at 2 p.m. Oct. 4 and can be joined online. The boards email address is NVBoardEd@doe.nv.gov.
Kendallville, IN (46755)
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Intervals of clouds and sunshine in the morning with more clouds for later in the day. High 42F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..
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The fourth episode of "Street Woman Fighter 2" has been released, with contestants clashing through a K-pop Deathmatch Mission and the first Elimination Round.
Read more to catch up on the latest episode of "Street Woman Fighter 2."
'Street Woman Fighter 2' Episode 4: K-pop Deathmatch Continues, Elimination Round Begins, 1 Dance Crew Removed
"Street Woman Fighter 2" episode 4 has turned the tide with the program's K-pop Deathmatch, which pitted the dance crews against each other in a slew of relentless performances.
Audiences are now invited to the show and witness the live stages. Other than experiencing the crews' electrifying numbers, viewers were also encouraged to vote for their preferred team.
After all eight performances, the votes will be placed in a ballot box. MC Kang Daniel further explained that the extra points from live audiences will go to the crew who'll win more votes.
The host then introduced the round's special judge, which is none other than acclaimed choreographer, Bae Yoon Jung. The dancer is long known for having choreographed groups such as EXID, KARA, Brown Eyed Girls, T-ARA, and Girl's Day.
YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: 'Street Woman Fighter 2' Episode 3: 'K-pop Deathmatch' Begins, Contestants Continue With 'Class Mission,' More!
Watch their performances below:
SM Battle: 'Next Level' by aespa & 'Kick It' by NCT 127
1. Deep N Dap
2. LADYBOUNCE
Winner: LADUBOUNCE
JYP Battle: 'Not Shy' by ITZY & 'MANIAC' by Stray Kids
1. TSUBAKILL
2. BEBE
Winner: BEBE
YG Battle: 'Shut Down' by BLACKPINK & 'Coup D'Etat' by BIGBANG G-Dragon
1. Wolf'Lo
2. 1MILLION
Winner: 1MILLION
HYBE Battle: 'Eve, Psyche & the Bluebeard's wife' by LE SSERAFIM & 'Dope' by BTS
1. MANNEQUEEN
2. Jam Republic
Winner: Jam Republic
'Street Woman Fighter 2' Undergoes First Elimination Round
After the K-pop Deathmatch, Kang Daniel elaborated on the show's first eliminations. The first group to be eliminated needs to leave the fight stage with the "Humiliating" title.
But before the round started, the host explained the criteria and points needed to be considered, as well as the results from the K-pop Deathmatch.
Class Mission: 200 points
200 points Fight Judges: 150 points
150 points Live Audience voting: 50 points
50 points Global Public evaluation: 600 points
600 points Total: 1,000 points
Kang Daniel then explained that the Class Mission winner (Jam Republic) would get 200 points. But points will vary on those who are in the 2nd to 8th places. The three fight judges will have 50 points each, amounting to 150 points, while the live audience will contribute 50 points.
The global public evaluation results were also counted from June 23 to 26. The winner of the global public evaluation will be determined by the number of views, likes, and votes on Mnet plus. Overall, the view count of all eight crews contains a figure of 5,265,543.
Meanwhile, on Mnet plus, likes and votes were at 356,090. 1MILLION dance crew received the most overwhelming amount of views (1,070,237) but failed to get the most number of likes.
Kang Daniel then added, "The number of likes will be the most significant variable in the public score."
See the results for K-pop Deathmatch Mission below:
SM Battle
Deep N Dap: 490
LADYBOUNCE: 820
Winner: LADYBOUNCE
YG Battle
Wolf'Lo: 480
1MILLION: 850
Winner: 1MILLION
JYP Battle
TSUBAKILL: 440
BEBE: 990
Winner: BEBE
HYBE Battle
MANNQUEEN: 710
Jam Republic: 750
Winner: Jam Republic
Elimination Battle
The crews who failed to win at the previous K-pop Deathmatch Mission were all at risk of being eliminated. These dance crews are Deep N Dap, Wolf'Lo, TSUBAKILL, and MANNEQUEEN.
The host then added that only two dance crews would face off at the elimination battle, which was revealed to be the last two, low-ranking teams: Wolf'Lo and TSUBAKILL.
Kand Daniel explained the rules:
"The crew who wins 3 out of 5 battles in the elimination round will be declared as the victor. If a crew gets 3 wins first, the battle will end without delay. Meanwhile, the other opposing crew who failed to secure 3 wins must leave the fight club immediately."
First Round (5 vs. 5 Dance Battle)
Wolf'Lo vs. TSUBAKILL
Round 1 Winner: TSUBAKILL
Second Round (1 vs. 1 Ace Battle)
Baby Sleek (Wolf'Lo) vs. Yumeri (TSUBAKILL)
Round 2 Winner: Baby Sleek (Wolf'Lo)
Third Round (Leader Battle)
Halo (Wolf'Lo) vs. Akanen (TSUBAKILL)
Round 3 Winner: Akanen (TSUBAKILL)
Fourth Round: (2 vs. 2 Duo Battle)
Halo & Baby Sleek (Wolf'Lo) vs. Akanen & Momo (TSUBAKILL)
Round 4 Winner: Halo & Baby Sleek (Wolf'Lo)
Fifth and Final Round (Hidden Battle)
Round 5 Winner: Wolf'Lo
Eliminated Group: TSUBAKILL
Which performances on episode 4 are your favorites? Who among the dance crews are you rooting for? Let us know in the comments below!
Read KpopStarz for more K-pop news.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Street Woman Fighter 2' Episode 2: 'No Respect' Dance-Offs Continue, 'Ace Battle' Heat Up Stage, More!
KpopStarz owns this article
Written by Riely Miller
There is huge potential and there will be big opportunities in the field of space cooperation between China and South Africa as the two nations have recently decided to enhance their collaboration in this regard, observers said.
Wang Yanan, chief editor of Aerospace Knowledge magazine, said that China wants to maintain and deepen its communications, exchanges and cooperation with other countries in space programs, while South Africa seems interested in space exploration and related expertise, which means the two sides can find common interests in joining hands in outer space.
"As one of the space powers in the world, China now has advanced technologies and spacecraft, well-made plans, rich experience and talented professionals. And, it is willing to share its expertise with friendly countries," he said, emphasizing that South Africa has always had good relations with China.
South Africa has a solid industrial foundation and good capabilities in scientific and technological fields, which means it can also contribute to joint space programs, Wang added.
Yang Yuguang, a senior space industry observer and vice-chair of the International Astronautical Federation's Space Transportation Committee, said that South Africa has been enthusiastic about advancing its space capability for a long time, and had once planned to develop its own carrier rockets and satellites.
The nation is a leader in Africa in terms of the space industry and the science and technology sector, and its location at the southernmost tip of the continent is an advantage, Yang said.
"One important area where the two sides can cooperate is ground tracking and control work. South Africa has been in cooperation with several spacefaring countries because its geographic location permits unique advantages in ground-based telemetry for and a control of spacecraft. Lunar missions require sophisticated telemetry and control network, so the participation of the African nation will be very helpful," the observer said.
Moreover, international cooperation has become an indispensable part of China's lunar endeavor, and previous Chinese lunar probes have carried foreign science payloads, Yang said. "South Africa wishes to further expand its space capability. Therefore, it is natural for the two nations to open cooperation in this field."
Earlier this month, South Africa officially joined the International Lunar Research Station Program, an ambitious venture led by China.
On Sept 1, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Chen Xiaodong signed a memorandum of understanding on behalf of the China National Space Administration with Humbulani Mudau, CEO of the South African National Space Agency, marking South Africa's entry into the program.
According to the agreement, both parties will engage in extensive cooperation in areas including the planning, construction, operation and application of the lunar outpost, as well as related education and training projects.
Moreover, within the framework of the BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation, the Chinese and South African space agencies will collaborate on remote sensing data exchange and application, and on satellite ground stations.
South Africa's participation in the program indicates that China-South Africa space cooperation has extended from near-Earth operations to lunar and deep-space explorations, which will help promote advancements in space technology in China and South Africa, the China National Space Administration said.
According to Chinese scientists, the first version of the International Lunar Research Station will comprise components of China's Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 robotic missions orbiters, landers, rovers and a flyby craft, as well as a relay satellite.
Both the Chang'e 7 and Chang'e 8 probes are designed to land on the moon's south pole. Chang'e 7 is scheduled to set out around 2026, while Chang'e 8 will join it around 2028.
In the long run, other spacecraft will be deployed on the south pole, to bring more infrastructure to the science outpost. The station will use robots most of the time, but will also be capable of accommodating astronauts for short stays.
The lunar station will act as an international platform for moon-based scientific experiments and mineral research, mission planners said.
Communication is necessary when China-U.S. relations are growing increasingly precarious. Over the last several months, the two sides have conducted a string of high-level engagements.
As part of ongoing efforts to maintain bilateral communication and stabilize relations, senior Chinese and U.S. officials held multiple rounds of meetings in Malta on Saturday and Sunday.
In the meetings, Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan agreed to maintain high-level exchanges and hold consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs as well as foreign policies.
This was the second time Wang met with Sullivan in four months since their Vienna meeting in May.
The two sides conducted candid, substantive and constructive strategic communication on stabilizing and improving China-U.S. relations.
"China hopes that the relationship between China and the United States will get back on track. This is fundamental," said Su Xiaohui, deputy director and associate research fellow of the Department for American Studies at China Institute of International Studies.
"From China's perspective, we hope that China-U.S. relations will remain stable," Su said. "China has always emphasized that China and the United States should meet each other halfway to bring bilateral relations back on the right track."
Communication is necessary when China-U.S. relations are growing increasingly precarious. Over the last several months, the two sides have conducted a string of high-level engagements.
Starting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's Beijing trip in June, several senior U.S. officials have visited China one after another, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
All these U.S. officials have stressed the importance and willingness to stabilize China-U.S. relations. However, in areas concerning China's core interests, like the Taiwan question, the United States remains provocative.
In his meetings with Sullivan, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized that the Taiwan question is the first red line that must not be crossed in the China-U.S. relationship and the U.S. must abide by the three China-U.S. joint communiques and honor its commitment to not support "Taiwan independence."
On multiple occasions, U.S. President Joe Biden has reiterated his "five noes," namely not seek a new Cold War; not seek to change China's system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support "Taiwan independence;" and not look for conflict with China.
But these promises did not prevent Washington from boosting arms sales to Taiwan, among others.
China has decided to impose sanctions on two U.S. companies due to their involvement in arms sales to Taiwan, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said Friday.
Constant hostility towards China does not serve the U.S. interests, said Anthony Scaramucci, founder of investment firm SkyBridge Capital, in a recent episode of the "Bloomberg Talks" podcast program. "So I think we need to calm ourselves down a little bit."
In recent years, the United States has adopted what it calls a "small yard, high fence" strategy in the name of protecting national security. Despite claiming it had no intention to decouple from China, the White House has continued to hammer China in the high-tech field.
In the meetings with Sullivan, Wang said China's development has strong endogenous driving force and follows inevitable historical logic and it cannot be stopped. The Chinese people's legitimate right to development cannot be deprived, he added.
U.S. sanctions that block China's access to U.S. processor chips and other technologies will slow down China's access to high-end capabilities to some extent, "but it's not going to keep China down forever," Singaporean Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said last month.
"China will still be around. America has to learn to live with China and coexist with China," said Wong. "Hopefully, the two countries will be able to find ways to manage their differences and live together."
NewsVoir
New Delhi [India], September 19: The thought of leaving behind your loved ones after death is scary. And what if you have some serious medical crisis?
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As per the CDC report, around 7 lakh people die from heart disease in the US itself, and six lakhs from cancer. What happened to their family? The treatment cost is also high, putting these families in a financial crisis.
Term insurance can be a protective net for your loved ones, safeguarding your financial well-being during lifes unforeseen crises.
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Understanding the scope of term insurance coverage, especially concerning hospital bills, is essential. So, let's delve into how term insurance offers a vital safety net for covering unexpected hospitalisation expenses and health-related uncertainties.
Coverage Features of Term Insurance
Term insurance includes unique coverage features, making it an attractive choice for individuals and families alike. Knowing about the coverage will help you to find the best online term plan.
Firstly, term insurance is a robust safety net in life's unpredictable journey. It offers a lump-sum payout to the beneficiaries if the insured individual passes away during the policy term. This ensures that loved ones are financially protected and can continue their lives without the burden of debts or financial insecurity. It's a reassuring shield against life's uncertainties.
Moreover, term insurance goes beyond mortality coverage. Many comprehensive policies also encompass hospitalisation coverage. If the policyholder faces a life-threatening illness or requires hospitalisation due to an accident, the policy can provide financial support for medical expenses. It helps reduce the stress of mounting hospital bills and allows individuals to focus on their recovery rather than financial worries.
Additionally, term insurance policies often come with customisable features. Policyholders can tailor their coverage to suit their specific needs, whether adjusting the sum assured or adding riders for critical illness coverage, disability benefits, or accidental death coverage. This flexibility ensures that individuals can create a safety net that aligns perfectly with their circumstances.
Term insurances customizable nature makes it a versatile financial instrument that not only safeguards the future of loved ones but also ensures peace of mind for the policyholder. It's a prudent choice for anyone looking to secure their financial well-being in an ever-changing world.
Additional Riders and Benefits
The true power of term insurance protection lies in additional riders and benefits. These add-ons extend the standard coverage of a term insurance plan, tailoring it to your unique needs.
One of the most popular riders is the Critical Illness Rider. It's a game-changer in term insurance, covering severe illnesses like cancer, heart disease, or stroke. This provides a lump-sum payout that can help cover medical expenses, allowing you to focus on recovery rather than financial worries.
Another essential addition is the Accidental Death Benefit Rider. This rider ensures that if the insured individual meets with an untimely demise due to an accident, an extra payout is made to the beneficiaries, providing additional financial security.
Furthermore, some term insurance plans offer riders that waive future premiums in the event of a critical illness or total disability. This means you won't have to worry about paying premiums if facing a severe health challenge.
Incorporating these riders and benefits into your term insurance plan enhances your coverage. It's the assurance that you and your loved ones are protected against life's uncertainties, with the added security of hospitalisation coverage, making term insurance a comprehensive and indispensable financial tool.
Navigating Term Insurance Claims
Navigating term insurance claims, especially concerning hospitalisation, demands a clear understanding of the process and meticulous attention to documentation and communication.
In hospitalisation, the first step is to notify the insurance company promptly. Timely communication is crucial to initiate the claims process efficiently. Ensure you have all necessary documents, including medical reports, bills, and other relevant paperwork. This documentation serves as evidence of the hospitalisation and the associated expenses.
Once the claim is initiated, the insurance company assesses the documents to verify the legitimacy of the claim. Be prepared to cooperate fully during this phase, as any delay or discrepancy in providing information can impact the claim's processing time.
Understanding the claim process is vital to ensure a smooth experience during a challenging time. The insurance company is responsible for supporting you in your hour of need. Still, your cooperation and careful documentation are pivotal in expediting the hospitalisation claim, providing the financial support you require precisely when needed.
Term insurance is a vital lifeline in covering hospital bills during life's unexpected challenges. Its hospitalisation coverage ensures that you and your loved ones are shielded from the financial burden of medical expenses. However, it's crucial to understand the specifics of your policy, including riders and benefits. Knowledge empowers wise choices. So, take the time to comprehend your online term plan fully. Selecting the right policy tailored to your needs is not just a financial decision. It's a step towards securing your peace of mind and ensuring that your focus remains on health and recovery rather than bills in times of crisis.
(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by NewsVoir. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], September 19 (ANI): The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Maharashtra to fund a diverse spectrum of renewable energy projects.
IREDAs administrative control is under the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
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Under this agreement, the Bank of Maharashtra can invest in the Bonds issued by IREDA, an official release from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said.
Speaking on the collaboration, IREDA CMD Pradip Kumar Das, said, "By joining forces, we aim to provide a robust financial ecosystem for green energy projects, making clean and sustainable energy accessible to more communities and industries.
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The partnership underscores the importance of financial institutions and government agencies working together in line with the country's goal to achieve Indias goal of Net Zero emissions, Das added.
India aims to meet its 50 per cent energy needs through renewable sources by 2030.
At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to an ambitious five-part "Panchamrit" pledge, including reaching 500 GW of non-fossil electricity capacity, to generate half of all energy requirements from renewables, to reduce emissions by 1 billion tons by 2030.
India also aims to reduce the emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent. Finally, India commits to net-zero emissions by 2070.
India meets a sizable portion of its energy needs through imports, and new energy sources are seen as an avenue to reduce the dependence on imported fuel. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Whether fighting Vietnam or investing in it, the U.S. is chasing its national interests. Pretending to be Vietnam's friend this time, the U.S. could not care less about what Vietnam gets out of American efforts to counter China.
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 19 (ANI): A terrorist armed with a pistol attacked a bulletproof vehicle of CRPF, the Srinagar Police informed on Monday, adding that the attack was repulsed by alert security personnel in the Khanyar area of Srinagar district.
No injury or loss of life was reported in the incident, Srinagar Police informed further, adding that the terrorist fled the spot after opening fire at the CRPF vehicle.
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A post on the official handle of Srinagar Police on social media platform X read, "There was an attempted attack by a pistol-borne terrorist on BP vehicle of CRPF in Khanyar area, which was repelled by alert personnel. The terrorist was chased away by personnel, who showed wise restraint due to potential collateral damage. No loss of life or property was reported.
Further reports are awaited. (ANI)
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(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Vidisha (MP), Sep 19 (PTI) At least four members of a family, including a woman and three minor children, were killed when the car they were travelling in plunged into a roadside rainwater-filled pit in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on Monday night when the family was returning after visiting their farmland in Haidargarh village, a police officer said.
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"The car fell into the pit filled with rainwater when the driver was reversing it to negotiate a turn," said Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav.
He said two other members of the family who were also travelling in the car were rescued by villagers.
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They are undergoing treatment in a hospital, he added.
The deceased persons were identified as Shakeela Bi (30), Nikhat (13), Ayan (10) and Shaad (7), the ASP added.
"While three bodies were recovered by villagers, the fourth one was found in the car after it was pulled out of the pit by a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at around 11 pm," he said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Sep 18 (PTI) Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel on Monday posted on social media platform X that the Cabinet has approved the women's reservation bill, but deleted the post within an hour.
While there was no official word on what transpired in the Cabinet meeting, which lasted for more than 90 minutes on Monday evening, speculations were rife that it approved the women's reservation bill.
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"Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfil the demand for women's reservation which was proved by the approval of the cabinet. Congratulations Narendra Modi ji and congratulations to the Modi government," the minister said in the post on X which was later deleted.
Patel is the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti.
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Government sources had earlier indicated that the bill has been approved by the Cabinet and is likely to be tabled in Parliament.
"It can be brought before Parliament," a top government functionary said when asked whether the Women's Reservation Bill can be presented in Parliament, which meets in the new building on Tuesday.
Patel was earlier a minister of state with independent charge but in a recent Cabinet reshuffle, he was made a minister of state.
The Union Cabinet met this evening after the first sitting of the five-day special session of Parliament. The Cabinet meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Sources said several BJP ministers and MPs have been asked to bring women constituents to Parliament in the coming days. BJP president J P Nadda met several of them on Monday.
Cutting across political lines, leaders have demanded the introduction of the women's reservation bill, which guarantees a 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The Women's Reservation Bill passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 had provision for 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Earlier addressing the media, the prime minister said that "historic decisions" will be taken this Parliament session which may be of short duration but is big on occasion.
The cabinet meeting was attended by Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari and Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Ever since it was announced that the Parliament session would be held from September 18-22, there has been speculation on various bills, including the women's reservation bill.
In his remarks in Lok Sabha on the discussion on 75 years of Parliament, he asserted that the contribution of women parliamentarians has been on the rise over the years.
Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh welcomed the "reported decision" of the Union Cabinet.
"It's been a long-standing demand of the Congress party to implement women's reservation. We welcome the reported decision of the Union Cabinet and await the details of the Bill.
This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy," Ramesh said on X.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 19 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated the citizens of the country as the country witnessed a new history being made on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on Tuesday with the commencement of proceedings in the new Parliament building.
On the second day of the special session of Parliament, the proceedings of Parliament were initiated in the newly constructed Parliament building.
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CM Yogi wrote on X, formerly Twitter, The new Parliament building representing the constitutional rights of 140 crore Indians will become an eternal symbol of our strong and golden future along with the establishment of human values. I have full confidence that this Parliament building will further accelerate the continuous journey of 'Ek Bharat-Shrestha Bharat' under the successful leadership of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Congratulations to the people of the country!
Earlier in the day, the MPs had a photoshoot in the old Parliament building. Afterwards, Prime Minister Narendra Modi entered the new building, holding a copy of the Constitution.
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"The new Parliament building reflects the aspirations of 140 crore Indians and it is time to accomplish the resolves and begin the new journey with renewed enthusiasm and energy," the Prime Minister said on Tuesday.
In his first speech in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the grandeur of the new Parliament building glorifies modern India and the sweat of engineers and workers is invested in it.
He conveyed his best wishes on the historic first session in the new building of Parliament and extended a warm welcome to the Members of the House.
The Prime Minister said it is the dawn of the Amrit Kaal as India is moving forward with a resolve for the future by heading into the new Parliament edifice. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Srinagar, Sep 19 (PTI) Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday asked the people of Jammu and Kashmir to not get misled by those trying to disrupt the ongoing peace and development process in the Union Territory.
Sinha inaugurated and laid foundation stones for various development projects in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir.
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Addressing a huge gathering at Qamaria Stadium, he called upon people to not get misled by those who are trying to cause disruptions in the peace and development process.
"Today, the development is not confined to a select few. Recruitments are being made only on merit and in a transparent manner. We are initiating the process of recruitment soon and the vacant posts will be filled in the coming six months, he said.
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Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a new revolution in infrastructure development. Several projects, pending for more than a decade have been completed and dedicated to the people today, he said.
"Fast-paced development in the last four years and unprecedented investments in modern infrastructure is shaping the economic growth trajectory of Jammu Kashmir and fuelling aspirations of the people, the Lt Governor said.
Prior to 2019, delay was a norm but now, speedy completion of projects is the topmost priority of the administration. We have completed 1,500 projects that were delayed by five to 20 years, Sinha said.
The Lt Governor reiterated the commitment of the UT administration to remove developmental gaps of several decades to ensure ease of living for citizens.
Ganderbal was neglected for long after it became a separate district. When the country was moving forward towards progress, the people here were deprived of basic facilities, he said.
He said the administration has taken several proactive measures to focus on developmental issues and give a special push through a large spectrum of economic activity and issues related to diverse areas are being addressed on priority.
We are also making dedicated efforts to tap the growth potential of Ganderbal in the tourism sector. Sonmarg is now on the global tourism map and the increased tourist influx has given a boost to the local economy, he said.
The Lt Governor commended the Ganderbal administration for its efforts in the employment sector and reducing the male-female literacy gap, Sinha said, adding that increased female literacy will be a force multiplier in pushing forward the socio-economic development of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sinha dedicated the VIKALP -- Venture Incubation and Knowledge Application Launchpad -- Centre at Government Degree College to the aspiring youth of the district, saying it will provide potential entrepreneurs with a conducive environment for idea incubation, business development and innovation.
I am confident the beneficial impact of entrepreneurial activities on society will be manifold, he said.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, September 19: Amid a diplomatic dust-up between India and Canada, officials said security was increased outside the High Commission of Canada on Tuesday in central Delhi as a "precautionary measure".
Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after a row erupted over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist in June in Canada, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleging the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" and New Delhi outrightly rejecting the charge as "absurd" and "motivated". India-Canada Standoff: Nine Separatist Outfits Supporting Terror Groups Have Bases in Canada; India's Deportation Requests Ignored, Say Officials.
A senior police officer said, "The personnel of Delhi Police, along with the paramilitary, have been deployed as a precautionary measure outside the High Commission." Canadian High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned and informed about the decision to expel the senior official, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying the move reflects New Delhi's growing concern at the "interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities." Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killing: Canadian Embassy in Delhi Asks Local Staffers to Leave Office Premises During Noon, Say Sources.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Amaravati, Sep 19 (PTI) The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday reserved orders on a petition filed by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him by the police in the Skill Development Corporation scam case.
The court heard the arguments from the legal counsels of Naidu and the AP Crime Investigation Department.
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Senior counsels Harish Salve and Siddarth Luthra representing Naidu argued that the CID did not obtain prior permission from the Governor as it is a mandatory requirement for police to seek prior approval for conducting any inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant.
Mukul Rohatgi, on behalf of the CID, argued that Section 17(A) of CrPC is not applicable to the TDP supremo and informed the court that an intensive investigation is required in the case further.
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He also said there was an embezzlement of government funds which should be taken up seriously.
Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9, in connection with a case involving misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to allegedly a loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state government.
He is currently lodged in the Rajamahendravaram central prison.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi [India], September 19 (ANI): The Delhi High Court has dismissed a bail plea moved by one Amir Javed booked under stringent sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) for allegedly planning terror activities in the country.
He was arrested on September 14, 2021, by the special cell of Delhi Police.
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The bench of Justice Siddharth Mridul and Justice Anish Dayal on September 18, 2023, while dismissing the appeal challenging the denial of bail by the trial Court stated, "Having considered the charge-sheet, the totality of the material based on broad probability regarding the involvement of the accused, the documents put forward by the investigating agency, as they were, and in addition pursuant to a surface analysis of probative value, this Court is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusation against the appellant is prima facie true."
Consequently, the conditions in Section 43D (5) UAPA stand satisfied. The appeal is accordingly dismissed, said the Court.
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According to the Investigation Agency, FIR was registered based on a reliable input received regarding a terror module planning a serial Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Blasts. As per the input, a group of entities were planning to undertake serial IED Blasts in India for which these multiple IEDs were arranged from unknown sources and apparently at an advance stage of preparation.
"It was suspected that an Okhla, Delhi based entity was an important part of this module having associates in various parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. This input was verified and corroborated through different sources and it emerged that a deep rooted conspiracy had been hatched by the terror module with its operatives in India to carry out the blasts," stated Delhi Police.
As per the State, a multi-pronged operation was launched, several teams were stationed at Mumbai and Lucknow, Prayagraj, Rae Bareilly, Pratapgarh in U.P. simultaneously. On September 14, 2021, on the basis of intelligence gathered, simultaneous raids were carried out in different States.
"Initially, Jan Mohammed Sheikh @ Sameer Kalia was apprehended in the Golden Temple Train by a team from Kota, Rajasthan while on way to Delhi, thereafter, Osama @ Sami was apprehended from Okhla, Delhi, Mohammad Abu Bakar was apprehended from Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi, Zeeshan Qamar was apprehended from Prayagraj, U.P. and the appellant was apprehended from Lucknow, U.P. Consignment of two IEDs, two hand-grenades and two pistols along with rounds were recovered after the arrest of accused Zeeshan, at his instance. Another team apprehended Moolchandra @ Saaju @ Lala from Rae Bareilly, U.P. and later, accused Humaidur Rehman was arrested on September 18, 2021. On the disclosure of accused Humaidur Rehman, two pistols were recovered from a small trench in a village area of Prayagraj at his instance," noted the court.
Charge-sheet dated February 8, 2022, was filed in the said matter against the appellant Amir Javed along with Jan Mohammad, Osama, Mohammad Abu Bakar, Moolchandra, Zeeshan Qamar, Humaidur Rehman under Section 120B IPC, Section 18, 20 of the UAPA, Section 25 of the Arms Act and Section 4, 5 of the Explosive Substances Act, the court further noted. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Chitral [Pakistan], September 19 (ANI): The latest Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacks in Pakistans Chitral suggest that the terrorist group could be trying to open a new front in their war against Islamabad, according to Al Arabiya.
Chital, located in the remote north of Pakistan, has been a relatively stable area that has not witnessed major militant activity, except for the 2011 attack.
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The district has recently been in the headlines due to the September 6 deadly cross-border incursion in which a large band of TTP militants crossed over and attacked Pakistani Army positions before being pushed back into Afghanistan.
Though the army has not given any numbers, the TTP raiders were reported to be in 'hundreds'! A few days later a bomb explosion killed at least one soldier and wounded several people, including civilians in an attack that targeted a Frontier Corps convoy in Peshawar, the capital of KPK province, as per Al Arabiya.
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The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it ambushed the convoy with an improvised explosive device. While the September 6 attack was brought under control after five days, the capacity of the Pakistan Army to keep the region under check is going to be tested from time to time by the TTP.
Pakistan has said the country has warned the Taliban that TTP militants were massing near the border in northeastern Afghanistan, but the Afghan Taliban did not prevent the TTP from carrying out the attacks. The Afghan Talibans continued failure to destroy TTP safe havens will enable the TTP to conduct future attacks in Pakistan.
The difficult mountainous terrain and lack of Pakistani military manpower and infrastructure in Chitral will hinder Pakistan's ability to secure the border with Afghanistan.
The TTP has used its freedom of movement in Afghanistan to move forces from havens in the Kunar Province and massed them in Barg-e Matal, Nuristan Province, before attacking Chital.
The leader of TTP commanded the operation from Barg-e Matal. The TTP claimed responsibility for the attack on the Ostai security check-post and Janjeerat Koh check-post in Chitral district. Jalil Abbas Jilani, the Interim Foreign Minister insisted that the September 6 attack was an "isolated incident" and the Afghan Taliban rulers did not sanction the attack, while the Foreign Office has repeated the mantra that Pakistan's concerns have been communicated to the relevant quarters in Kabul, as per Al Arabiya.
Jilani said Pakistan had registered a strong protest with Afghanistan by handing over a demarche to the Afghan Charge d' Affaires, following the attack on two military posts in the country's northwestern Chitral district that borders Afghanistan. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Lucknow, September 19: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said that Encephalitis (a disease that causes inflammation of the brain), which has killed around 50,000 children in the last 50 years has now been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at the inaugural event of Anganwadi centres in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow, CM Yogi said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inspired the whole country to conduct a massive campaign against malnutrition in 2018. I remember, that in the east region of Uttar Pradesh, there were deaths due to encephalitis. From 1977-2017, around 50,000 children in Uttar Pradesh suffered from encephalitis that reduced after 2018 onwards. The situation today is that encephalitis has been completely eradicated from Uttar Pradesh with the help of intra-departmental convergence".
Anganwadi centres are known as childcare centres based in rural areas. They were established to tackle malnutrition and child hunger across the nation. "It wasn't just a fight against a disease but we also addressed several other issues attached to it, like the reason behind malnutrition. Uttar Pradesh saw success in safeguarding the future of children and the nation with the fight against encephalitis", he added. Chief Minister Office, Uttar Pradesh: CM Yogi Adityanath Launches WhatsApp Channel To Enable Direct Communication With People
"It was a fight against encephalitis but along with this, it was a step towards shielding childhood and embellishing the future of the country and the Uttar Pradesh government has succeeded in it. The result is in front of us", added the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. Speaking about the Anganwadi centres, CM Yogi further said, "Anganwadi centres are an effort to shield children from the diseases occurring due to weak immunity. Prime Minister Modiji, in his address, once said that they do the same thing that was done by Maa Yashoda (Lord Krishna's mother). Yashoda Maa raised lord Krishna with all dedication. The central government and the state government have handed over the same role to the Anganwadi centres. If a child is healthy, he can fight any disease. They are doing work to strengthen the foundation of the country". Bhamashah Jayanti Date: Yogi Govt to Mark Bhamashah Jayanti as Traders Welfare Day on June 29
Speaking about the 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' campaign, he said, "By 2027, Bharat will be recognised as the third largest economy of the world. Prime Minister Modiji has dreamt of a developed nation by 2047. In order to fulfil that goal, a campaign named 'Meri Maati, Mera Desh' has been launched". Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah launched 'Amrit Kalash Yatra' under the 'Meri Mati-Mera Desh' campaign, saying "It is not just a programme, but a medium to connect oneself with the future of the country".
Under the event, every household, ward, and village will collect the Mitti (soil) or grains in a pot from September 1-30, following it up from October 1-13th at the block and later from October 22-27th at the state level, and finally, from October 28-30th these 7,500 pots will reach New Delhi. Launching the 'Amrit Kalash Yatra', Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will put soil from these Amrit Kalash in the Amrit Vatika created in Delhi in honour of our great "veers", which will keep on reminding every citizen that we must make India great during the period of Amritkal.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
A Meituan booth during an expo in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]
In the year and a half since e-commerce food delivery platform Meituan rolled out its first drone delivery route in the city of Shenzhen, more than 184,000 orders have been delivered and 17 delivery routes now exist across the country.
This month, the Tencent-backed firm opened its third delivery route in Shenzhen's Nanshan district.
"With the third route in Nanshan, our drone delivery service is making significant strides in the field of efficient and convenient food delivery," Liu Shuo, head of Meituan's commercial drone strategy told China Daily.
On Monday, Liu gave a detailed introduction of the new route at Shenzhen Talent Park. The launchpad for this route is located in Nanshan's Haiancheng business district, approximately 1 kilometer from the pickup kiosk. Customers placing orders at the talent park can receive their food within minutes of the restaurant's delivery to the launchpad.
Operating in a high-density urban environment like Shenzhen presents unique challenges for drone delivery. To overcome this, Meituan has strategically placed launchpads on the rooftops of shopping malls and pickup kiosks near residential and office buildings. This point-to-point delivery approach ensures that drones can navigate their intended routes and safely deliver food to customers.
Liu said that compared to traditional delivery methods, the key advantage of drone delivery lies in its remarkable efficiency.
"In 2022, Meituan's average drone delivery time was approximately 12 minutes, nearly 150 percent faster than traditional models. This significant reduction in delivery time translates to saving users nearly 30,000 hours of waiting time," Liu said, adding that drone delivery also opens up new possibilities for extending food delivery services.
"Previously, locating delivery addresses within the park posed challenges due to vague descriptions like 'the fourth lamppost' or 'the sixth large tree'. This ambiguity made it difficult for delivery drivers to find the intended locations accurately. With drone delivery, users only need to proceed to the designated drop-off kiosk within the park to collect their meals, eliminating the need for extensive communication," Liu said.
As a front-runner in the race to develop low-altitude economic industries such as drone delivery, Shenzhen has launched supportive legislation and already has a mature drone manufacturing supply chain.
Local authorities said that last year, the low-altitude economy in Shenzhen reached a value of 75 billion yuan ($10.3 billion), accounting for 70 percent of the nation's total.
This year, the Shenzhen government included the development of the low-altitude economy in its government work report for the first time, aiming to create a comprehensive demonstration zone for the general aviation industry and a civil unmanned aerial vehicle test area.
"We firmly believe that drone delivery will eventually scale up because it stems from user demand. We will continue to promote the construction of a three-dimensional urban distribution network system to provide consumers with a more efficient experience," Liu said.
"I was initially skeptical about drone delivery, but after trying it, I'm a believer. The delivery time is significantly shorter, and I appreciate the precision in locating the drop-off point. It's a futuristic experience," said Chen Chen, a drone delivery user.
Yi Yang in Shenzhen contributed to this story.
Editor: JYZ
New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and the Department of Consumer Affairs have successfully resolved 854 consumer cases in August, the government said on Tuesday.
"The filing of cases during this period is 455 making it the highest disposal rate of 188 per cent in the year of 2023," an official statement said.
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This significant disposal of cases reflects NCDRC's dedication to providing consumers with a fair and efficient mechanism for addressing their concerns, it added.
The NCDRC has significantly improved the disposal of consumer cases in the commission this year. This achievement underscores their unwavering commitment to safeguarding consumer rights and ensuring prompt redressal of grievances.
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"With proactive steps from the President of NCDRC, streamlined processes and advanced technology like E-daakhil, cases are being resolved faster than ever before," the statement said.
To monitor consumer cases, the Department has organized various oneday regional workshops in Guwahati on 2nd December 2022 in which the north-eastern states participated and in Chandigarh on 10th April 2023 in which the northern states participated.
In the regional workshops, the issue of pendency of consumer cases was highlighted and its solutions were discussed in brief.
The Department has organized the next regional workshop in Vishakhapatnam on 29th September 2023 in which the southern states are participating.
Also, the Department has conducted sector-specific brainstorming sessions on insurance and real estate to reduce the pendency in the consumer commissions.
State-specific meetings in various states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra and Kerala were also held by Consumer Affairs Secretary.
The Department has made filing of cases through E-daakhil in consumer commissions compulsory and soon going to launch the feature of VC on E-daakhil.
As the scope of Artificial Intelligence is increasing rapidly the Department is also working on using the AI facilities in reducing the pendency of cases in the National, State and District Consumer Commissions. The case filed in the Consumer Commissions will be analyzed through AI and will generate the summary of the case and many more actions will be done through AI in resolving the case.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) Irdai Chairman Debasish Panda on Tuesday urged stakeholders in the infrastructure sector to take advantage offered by surety bonds, which complement bank guarantees needed for large scale funding.
Surety bond is a type of insurance policy protecting parties involved in a transaction or contract from potential financial losses due to a breach of contract or other types of non-performance.
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He was speaking at a roundtable organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The Infravision Foundation (TIF) on the financing of infrastructure projects in the country as part of the massive push to the sector by the government by allocating Rs 10 lakh crore towards it in the Union Budget 2022-23.
The chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) pointed out that India is expected to spend approx Rs 100 lakh crore on infrastructure through the National Infrastructure Pipeline in the next five years.
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This requires bank guarantees of approximately Rs 90 lakh crore in the next five years, which banks currently do not have capacity for, a CII press release quoted Panda as saying.
This is where surety bonds need to step in to complement bank guarantees, he noted.
With such a large market potential, Panda exhorted all the stakeholders to come together and reap the rich potential which this segment offers.
He further pointed out that the current regulatory framework presented the general insurance industry a unique opportunity to diversify their portfolio and play an important role in the nation building.
Surety bonds have a robust USD 20 billion market in advanced economies, noted Vinayak Chatterjee, founder and managing trustee of TIF.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Doha (Qatar), Sep 18 (AP) Five Americans detained for years in Iran walked off a plane and into freedom Monday, many arm-in-arm, as part of a deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to unlock nearly USD 6 billion in frozen Iranian assets. The deal brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of America's top rivals.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, Biden said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar. A plane carrying the Americans home to the United States was due to land Monday night.
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Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested that Monday's exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
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Despite the successful negotiations Monday, however, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the US and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehran's nuclear programme and other matters. Iran says the programme is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The carefully negotiated and timed prisoner exchange unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
After the plane slowed to a stop in Doha, three of the prisoners walked down the stairs. They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others.
The three Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz then threw their arms over one another's shoulders and walked off to a building in the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasn't for all of you who didn't allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, Namazi said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two of the five freed American citizens, all of whom were freed in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians posed no threat to U.S. national security.
In addition to the five prisoners, two female family members of the imprisoned Americans who had themselves been held under travel bans in Iran flew out of Tehran. The women, too, clasped arms and kissed.
Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the exchange would take place Monday after nearly USD 6 billion in once-frozen Iranian assets reached Qatar.
Fortunately Iran's frozen assets in South Korea were released and God willing today the assets will start to be fully controlled by the government and the nation, Kanaani said.
He said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Iran's security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners had arrived in Doha for the swap.
The cash represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred with that explanation, though some hard-liners have insisted, without providing evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
Mohammad Reza Farzin, Iran's Central Bank chief, later came on state television to acknowledge the receipt of over 5.5 billion euros USD 5.9 billion in accounts in Qatar. Months ago, Iran had anticipated getting as much as USD 7 billion.
The planned exchange comes ahead of the convening of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York, where Iran's hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi will speak.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his reelection campaign as well.
In his statement, Biden urged Americans not to travel to Iran, and he demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. Biden also announced sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The prisoners freed Monday were: Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners' families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
In a statement, Sharghi's sister, Neda, said she can't wait to hug my brother and never let him go.
This is my brother, not an abstract policy," she added. "We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked the Qataris, Swiss, South Koreans and Omanis for helping in the exchange, and pledged in a statement to keep pressing for accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention.
The five prisoners Iran has said it seeks are mostly held over allegedly trying to export banned material to Iran, such as dual use electronics that can be used by a military.
The two that Nour News said were in Doha were: Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution. Their most recent major exchange happened in 2016, when Iran came to a deal with world powers to restrict its nuclear program in return for easing sanctions.
The West accuses Iran of using foreign prisoners including those with dual nationality as bargaining chips, an allegation Tehran rejects.
Negotiations over a major prisoner swap faltered after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal in 2018. From the following year on, a series of attacks and ship seizures attributed to Iran have raised tensions.
Meanwhile, Iran's nuclear program now enriches closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. While the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to produce several bombs, months more would likely be needed to build a weapon and potentially miniaturize it to put it on a missile if Iran decided to pursue one.
Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the U.S. intelligence community has kept its assessment that Iran is not pursuing an atomic bomb.
Iran has taken steps in recent months to settle some issues with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the advances in its program have led to fears of a wider regional conflagration as Israel, itself a nuclear power, has said it would not allow Tehran to develop the bomb. Israel bombed both Iraq and Syria to stop their nuclear programs, giving the threat more weight. It also is suspected in carrying out a series of killings targeting Iran's nuclear scientists.
Iran also supplies Russia with the bomb-carrying drones Moscow uses to target sites in Ukraine in its war on Kyiv, which remains another major dispute between Tehran and Washington. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Vancouver [Canada], September 19 (ANI): Shortly after Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau alleged that India could be linked to the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force Chief Hardeep Nijjar, his statement was echoed by the Premier of British Columbia David Eby on Monday.
In a statement David Eby said Canadians across the country must be safe from interference of foreign governments, including being targeted for threats or physical harm, including murder.
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Canadians across the country must be safe from the interference of foreign governments, including being targeted for threats or physical harm, including murder. Our democracy depends on it, the British Columbia premier said on Monday.
Nijjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
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Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
In July 2022 the NIA had announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on Nirjar in connection with the killing of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.
Meanwhile, British Columbia Premier David Eby said: This afternoon, I received a further briefing from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) on these allegations. I am deeply disturbed and angered by this information.
In light of these revelations, we will do all we can to enhance protection for the people of British Columbia against the violence or threats of state actors.
The British Columbia Premier called on the Canadian government to share all relevant information related to any known ongoing foreign interference and transnational organized crime threats with our provincial authorities and our government, so we may act in co-ordination and protect those at risk.
Earlier on Monday speaking in the Canadian Parliament, Justin Trudeau had said "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,"
He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added.
Meanwhile, signalling a further souring of bilateral ties, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in the country had been expelled.
The expulsion comes in light of PM Trudeau's statement alleging an Indian hand in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today, Joly said at a news conference.
The allegations made by the Canadian Prime Minister and foreign minister were rejected by the Ministry of External Affairs in India which dubbed the statements as absurd.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated" the statement said.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law" the statement added. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Beijing, Sep 19 (PTI) A senior Chinese foreign ministry official on Tuesday declined to comment on a report that former foreign minister Qin Gang was sacked from his position over an alleged extramarital affair, saying she was "not aware" of the information.
Qin, a career diplomat and trusted aide of Chinese President Xi Jinping, was replaced without explanation in July after only seven months in the role.
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Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Qin, 57, was found by a Communist Party investigation to have been engaged in an extramarital affair while serving as China's ambassador to the US.
The investigation found that Qin had "engaged in an extramarital affair that led to the birth of a child in the US," the Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people.
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Qin's sudden absence and replacement in July has still not been fully explained.
When asked about the report during a regular press briefing on Tuesday, spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry Mao Ning said she was "not aware" of the information.
"As for the appointment and removal of the Chinese Foreign Minister, the Chinese side has released information before," CNN quoted Mao as saying in an apparent reference to the July announcement of his replacement.
Qin was replaced by his predecessor Wang Yi, who is also the director of the Office of the ruling Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission, making him China's top diplomat.
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Sep 19 (AP) Hunter Biden has gone on the offensive against his Republican critics, arguing in a new lawsuit that although he is the son of the president of the United States, he shouldn't be treated differently than any other American.
The lawsuit against the IRS is only the latest in a series of counterpunches by the president's son. But while Hunter Biden's lawyers might think that an aggressive approach is the best legal strategy for Biden the son, that might not be what's best for Biden the father as he seeks reelection and tries to keep the public focused on his policy achievements.
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The president has had little to say about his son's legal woes which now include a felony indictment beyond that Hunter did nothing wrong and he loves his son.
The White House strategy has been to keep the elder Biden head-down and focused on governing, reasoning that that's what voters will prioritize, while working to keep Hunter's troubles at arm's distance.
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There's one hopeful school of thought among the president's allies that even if all the headlines about Hunter Biden aren't a plus for the president's reelection campaign, the legal process could ultimately clear the air in a positive way.
Obviously, the White House and Hunter's teams are looking at it from different perspectives, said Democratic political strategist David Brock. It's important for the facts to reach the public, and when that happens, I think ultimately that's beneficial to the president.
But privately, some Democrats are concerned that Hunter Biden's legal problems could harm Biden heading into 2024 and pose difficulties for Democrats in tight House races, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorised to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The lawsuit that Hunter Biden filed on Monday against the IRS maintains that two agents who testified as whistleblowers violated his privacy by publicly disclosing his tax data as part of a probe by House Republicans into his business dealings.
Hunter Biden's team last week sued a former Donald Trump aide over his alleged role in publishing emails and embarrassing images of the younger Biden. And his team also has asked state and federal agencies to open a criminal probe into Trump allies for accessing and spreading his personal data.
Hunter Biden agreed in June to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanours and avert prosecution on a gun charge by enrolling in a diversion programme. But the agreement unravelled following a July 26 court hearing that was meant to end the case, and the younger Biden was then indicted for a felony weapons charge.
His legal woes have increasingly complicated matters for the president, who also faces an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans seeking to link the president to the business dealings of his son. While Hunter Biden did broker on his family name in business dealings, Republicans have so far unearthed no significant evidence of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, who spoke often to his son as vice president and did stop by a business dinner with his son's associates.
Biden hasn't had much to say about the impeachment drive. And he also has kept his distance from the Justice Department prosecutions of both his son and Donald Trump.
Now, Hunter Biden could be heading to trial in the midst of his father's reelection effort. That suits Republicans, who are eager to distract from the multiple criminal indictments of Trump, the early GOP primary front-runner, whose trials could be unfolding at the same time.
Hunter Biden's allies have argued the plea deal fell through in part because Justice Department officials bowed to pressure from Republicans who claimed he was getting a sweetheart deal" to end a five-year investigation into his tax and business dealings.
This is just the beginning and far from the end of Hunter and his team going on offense and fighting back, said Michael LaRosa, a former special assistant to the president.
Their previous strategy of "being unresponsive has only led to Republicans filling a void with disinformation, smears, lies, and conspiracy theories that have severely damaged the president's image and reputation, as you can see in poll after poll. Somebody has to be out there correcting the record and fighting back, LaRosa said.
Polling reflects the impact on the president of the drumbeat of negative headlines.
Roughly 1 in 3 Americans are highly concerned about whether Joe Biden may have committed wrongdoing related to his son's business dealings, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research.
About half of Americans say they have little or no confidence that the Justice Department is handling its investigation into Hunter Biden in a fair and nonpartisan way.
The political divide on these points is stark: 66 per cent of Republicans and just 7 per cent of Democrats are very or extremely concerned about whether Joe Biden committed wrongdoing when it comes to his son's business dealings.
The headlines are likely to continue given the impeachment inquiry that's just ramping up and the special counsel's decision to file federal gun charges against Hunter Biden.
He is accused of lying on the forms he completed to buy a gun when he stated that he wasn't a drug user at the time of the purchase. Hunter Biden, according to his memoir, tumbled into drug addiction after the death of his older brother, Beau, in 2015.
Earlier this year Hunter Biden hired high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell, a legal heavyweight known for also representing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Shortly after, the criminal referral was requested. In March, Hunter Biden sued a Delaware-based computer repairman who was said to have a laptop that belonged to the president's son and who disseminated data from it. Five days ago, he sued the Trump aide over the publishing of the data. And on Monday, he sued the IRS.
Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free rein to violate his rights simply because of who he is," the lawsuit against the IRS states.
Prosecutions for lying on a federal gun application are uncommon, particularly when there's no allegation that the gun was bought to carry out a crime, experts said. There are also questions about the constitutionality of the federal ban on gun possession by people who use drugs in light of a Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights.
Hunter Biden's lawyers have signalled they will try to argue that an agreement sparing him prosecution on a felony gun charge should remain in place even though the plea deal on misdemeanour tax offenses largely unravelled.
If the case goes to trial, it could be a tough sell to a jury.
Addiction is something that touches a lot of Americans and the notion that this person who was in trouble with drug use and for 11 days owned a firearm that was never used for anything whatsoever, that's not going to sit well at a federal felony criminal trial with a lot of jurors, said Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor.
And it is not even touching on the issue of whether people think that he is being prosecuted because he's Hunter Biden," she said. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Muscat [Oman], September 19 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to Oman Amit Narang on Monday visited INS Talwar on a port call at Muscat and held a discussion with the officers present onboard.
Amb @Amit_Narang had the privilege of visiting INS Talwar on port call at Muscat. A thought-provoking discussion with the officers invoked the salience of @indiannavy as an instrument of new Indias power & diplomacy in the current geopolitical setting, the Indian Embassy in Oman wrote on X formerly Twitter on Monday.
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Recently, Indian Navy Ships (INS) Visakhapatnam and Trikand visited Oman. Sporting and cultural programmes were conducted to further strengthen the ties between the two countries.
Several events, such as students visiting INS Visakhapatnam, musical band performances by the Indian Navy and sporting and cultural programmes marked the interaction between the navies of India and Oman.
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INS Visakhapatnam and INS Trikand were on a visit to Muscat and Duqm respectively. Their visit was aimed at enhancing cooperation, strengthening ties and sharing best practices undertaken with the Royal Navy of Oman on various elements of maritime operations.
"#INSVisakhapatnam is at #Muscat & #INSTrikand visited #Duqm as part of @IN_WesternFleet deployment. Professional interactions aimed at enhancing cooperation, strengthening ties & sharing of best practices were undertaken with the Royal Navy of Oman. @MG_MOD_OMAN @Indemb_Muscat" tweeted the spokesperson of the Indian Navy.
Admiral R Hari Kumar was also shown the Port of Duqm and the various facilities available for ship berthing there.
During his Oman visit, Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar visited Duqm where he addressed the crew of INS Trikand mission deployed for anti-piracy operations in the region. He was also shown the Port of Duqm and the various facilities available for ship berthing along with ship repair & maintenance facilities there, the Indian Navy officials said. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Jerusalem, Sep 20 (AP) Israeli troops raided the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank late Tuesday, killing three people and wounding some 30 others, according to Palestinian health officials. A fourth Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire in separate unrest in the Gaza Strip, officials said.
The bloodshed in Jenin was the latest in a deadly wave of fighting in the West Bank, where the Israeli military has stepped up its activities over the past year and a half in what it says is an effort to crackdown on Palestinian militants. Tensions now appear to be spreading to Gaza.
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The Israeli army gave few details about the operation in the camp a stronghold of Palestinian militants where the army often carries out deadly raids. In July, Israel launched its most intense operation in the West Bank in nearly two decades, leaving widespread destruction in the camp.
The army said it carried out a rare strike with a suicide drone during the operation, but gave no further information. Palestinian health officials said three people were killed and some 30 people wounded by Israeli gunfire, some in critical condition.
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Videos posted on social media showed medics unloading the wounded at a hospital, while in other videos, explosions and gunfire could be heard echoing in the camp. As Israeli soldiers withdrew, a crowd of young men chanted: "Oh, you who ask, who are we? We are the Jenin Brigade."
Motasem Abu Hasan, a resident who works at the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a cultural centre in the camp, said that he saw drones fire toward a mosque and heard strikes from drones in other locations.
When Israeli forces entered the camp in the evening, the Freedom Theatre was hosting its annual Feminist Theatre Festival, which attracts a host of foreigners and regional artists.
The fighting erupted outside the door of the theatre, spoiling the night's performances and forcing all the attendees to hunker down inside. "It was incredibly difficult on us, you had all elderly people and small children cramming together, all terrified," said Abu Hasan.
All the attendees' cars that were parked outside the theatre were destroyed. "It's so much pressure and we just wanted to try to complete the show, to help people here feel like they're human," he said.
After the Israeli military withdrew, dozens of gunmen and residents poured into the streets to protest against the Palestinian Authority and its failure to protect them, according to footage shared by residents.
"You infidel! You heretic!" they screamed as they chanted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' name.
In Gaza, meanwhile, health officials said the Israeli military killed a 25-year-old Palestinian along the volatile border with Israel as youths mounted violent protests at the separation fence.
Unrest over the past week has escalated tensions and prompted Israel to bar entry to thousands of Palestinian labourers from the impoverished enclave.
The army said it had opened fire after hundreds of people gathered along the separation fence and detonated a number of explosive devices. It confirmed shooting several people, but had no details on their conditions.
Palestinian officials in Gaza confirmed one death and said nine people were wounded, one critically.
Over the last week, dozens of Palestinians burning tires and hurling explosive devices at Israeli soldiers have streamed towards the fence separating Israel from Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007. Israel says the blockade is needed to prevent the ruling Hamas militant group from arming itself.
Hamas says youths have organised the protests in response to Israeli provocations.
The week's events recall a bloody protest campaign organised by Hamas in 2018 and 2019 during which over 350 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire.
Earlier Tuesday, the Israeli military sentenced an army commander in the occupied West Bank to 10 days in military prison after an investigation found he had shot an innocent Palestinian motorist.
The Israeli military said security forces stationed at the Israeli settlement of Rimonim, east of Jerusalem, had received reports of gunshots and spotted a Palestinian vehicle they believed to be behind the shooting.
The forces opened fire at the Palestinian man's car, the military said, hitting and wounding the 23-year-old driver, Mazen Samarat. The army arrested him and took him to a hospital for treatment before releasing him the next day.
An Israeli military investigation determined the army's shooting was the result of mistaken identity. "This is a serious incident in which the force acted contrary to procedures," the army said, announcing that the force's commander had been sentenced to 10 days in military prison.
The driver, Samarat, a water mechanic from the Palestinian city of Jericho, remains in the hospital, unable to get up from his bed because of the gunshot wound to his leg.
He told The Associated Press that he and his cousin had been driving home after hanging out with friends in the city of Ramallah. He said he had no idea what prompted the gunfire.
"I thought I was dead," he said. "In that moment they changed my entire life."
Rights groups have accused Israeli soldiers and police officers of being too quick to pull the trigger, particularly in response to a recent surge in attacks by Palestinians that have killed 31 people so far this year.
Critics also have noted that Israeli military investigations into accusations of crimes committed against Palestinians rarely lead to prosecutions in the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
New York [US], September 19 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs Secretary (West), Sanjay Verma on Monday discussed the G20 Delhi Declaration, victims of terrorism and capacity building in counter-terrorism with Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) Vladimir Voronkov in New York.
The MEA Secretary (West) appreciated the UNs counterterrorism efforts and Voronkov's leadership and assured of Indias continued support to UNOCT.
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Good to meet Mr Vladimir Voronkov, USG #UNOCT in New York. Appreciated the UNs #counterterrorism efforts and his leadership. #DelhiDeclaration, Victims of Terrorism and capacity building in CT discussed. Assured Indias continued support to UNOCT, Sanjay Verma wrote on X .
Sanjay Verma recently highlighted that challenges like international terrorism, transnational crimes, and illicit drugs are concerning the international community. He made the remarks at the 51st Annual Conference of the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), according to the Ministry of External Affairs press release.
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Sanjay Verma underscored the increasing importance of international law in changing world scenarios.
He said, Challenges like international terrorism, transnational crimes, illicit drug and human trafficking, money laundering, climate change, cyber-crime, corruption, and health are other new mainstream concerns for the international community.
Verma also said that India had a busy diplomatic schedule at G20, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) or Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which were held his year.
"Indias diplomatic calendar has never been busier. G20, SCO, BRICS or BIMSTEC, to name a few of our engagements, which capture our concurrent and diverse interests," said Verma.
He underscored Indias changing diplomatic priorities to meet fast-morphing global challenges and said, Atma-nirbharta or strategic autonomy, multi-polarity oriented, a net security provider, first responder, a force for international good and future-oriented are expressions that capture the spirit of Indias changing diplomatic priorities to meet fast morphing global challenges.
Secretary Verma also stressed that India has made notable contributions to various aspects of international law, including international humanitarian law, the law of treaties, diplomatic and foreign relations, foreign trade and shipping, as well as human rights for substantial changes that have positively impacted lives of our citizens, as well as people across the world.
He said that India strongly advocates the process of reform and restructuring of the UN for it to be relevant to the needs of its membership. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Washington, Sep 19 (AP) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Washington this week comes at a critical juncture for his alliance with the United States as Republican leaders in Congress diverge on how to send more military and humanitarian aid to the country.
President Joe Biden is seeking an additional USD 24 billion in security and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, in line with his promise to help the country for as long as it takes to oust Russia from its borders.
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But ratification of Biden's request is deeply uncertain thanks to a growing partisan divide in Congress about how to proceed.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he wants more Ukraine aid to be debated on its own merits as a standalone bill, rather than attaching it to other priorities like government funding.
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But the Senate has other ideas. Leaders in the chamber would like to combine the Ukraine aid with other priorities, such as a short-term spending bill that will likely be needed to avoid a shutdown at the end of September.
The differing approaches threaten to become a stalemate that could easily delay future rounds of American assistance to Ukraine, raising the stakes for Zelenskyy as he makes his first visit to the United States since his surprise address to Congress at the end of 2022.
In that speech, Zelenskky thanked every American for support as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Vice President Kamala Harris dramatically unfurled a Ukrainian flag behind him.
Nine months later, with Republicans now in control of the House majority, there is growing wariness among voters about continued support for Ukraine as Russia turns its invasion into a costly war of attrition.
In Congress that scepticism is concentrated among House Republicans, where many share former President Donald Trump's America First" approach and want to halt the aid entirely.
The US has approved four rounds of aid to Ukraine in response to Russia's invasion so far, totalling about USD 113 billion, with some of that money going toward replenishing US military equipment sent to the frontlines. Most members of the House and Senate support the aid, viewing defense of Ukraine and its democracy as a global imperative.
McCarthy has stressed the need for oversight of Ukrainian assistance but has also been critical of Russia, criticising the country's killing of children in a speech this summer. But he is juggling a desire to help Ukraine with the political realities at home, which include a demand from many in his party to slash government spending.
In some ways, attaching Ukraine aid to other pressing matters could improve the odds of passing it quickly. Some lawmakers will be more inclined to vote for Ukraine assistance if it gets included with say, disaster relief for their home state.
But the maneuver would also deeply divide House Republicans and is sure to inflame critics of McCarthy who are threatening to oust him from the speakership.
I don't know why they would want to put that onto a CR," McCarthy said, using Washington parlance for a short-term continuing resolution that keeps agencies funded. I think it should be discussed on its own.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has put Ukraine aid at the top of his to-do list, and has been speaking from the Senate floor for weeks about the urgency he sees to act.
He brought in inspectors general last week to brief GOP senators on how US aid is being tracked to address concerns about waste and fraud. And in one of his speeches on the Senate floor, McConnell responded to critics who say that the US has borne too much of the burden on Ukraine by pointing to the assistance also flowing from European nations.
In fact, when it comes to security assistance to Ukraine as a share of GDP, 14 of our European allies are actually giving more, McConnell said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and McConnell have called for senators to meet with Zelenskyy on Thursday morning.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, said he believes aid should be provided as soon as possible, and the legislative vehicle for that is unlikely to be a stand-alone bill.
I for one think we ought to go ahead and get it done, Tillis said. We have to get the Ukraine funding done in a time that doesn't produce a lapse, at least a perceived lapse, because I think that's a strategic win for Putin and I don't ever want Putin to have a strategic win.
But Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., warned against adding Ukraine aid to the short-term spending bill. He said the focus needs to be on first passing an overall defense spending bill as well as the other spending bills.
We can't divert attention outside of that, Calvert said. There's significant munitions within Ukraine right now I think to get through the end of the year."
Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., said he's not necessarily opposed to more Ukrainian assistance, but he said the average American doesn't know how the war is going, and the average member of Congress can't say, either.
Tell us what you're doing with the money, and let's have a debate on the floor about this funding and not ramming it down our throats, Garcia said.
House Republicans hope to bring up for a vote this week a stopgap spending bill that doesn't include Biden's aid package for Ukraine.
I cannot think of a worse welcome for President Zelenskyy who visits us this week than this House proposal, which ignores Ukraine entirely, Schumer said.
Still, Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, voiced confidence that Ukraine aid will continue.
It has to pass. What I hear from our NATO allies ... is that if the United States is not in, the whole thing falls apart, McCaul said. (AP)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
The system of grain export control guarantees proposed by Ukraine at a meeting of the Coordination Council under the European Commission came as a surprise to Slovakia, but after its testing and the transition period, Slovakia will be ready to resume imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, Slovakian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Jozef Bires said on Monday before the evening meeting of EU agricultural ministers in Brussels.
According to his information, the unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products adopted by Slovakia was a natural reaction to protect the national market from excessive imports of goods from Ukraine and a reaction to the lifting of restrictive measures by the European Commission.
"Ukraine today made a surprise in the form of some guarantees of control over grain imports based on licenses. I think this (presentation of intentions to introduce import controls by Ukraine) should have been sent in advance. The European Commission should have made some kind of transition period so that we could test this system, check whether it is effective and whether it is a guarantee to prevent uncontrolled imports," the Slovak minister said.
According to him, Slovakia will continue to unilaterally ban the import of Ukrainian grain until the system of guarantees on the part of Ukraine is assessed. The Slovak Ministry of Agriculture will also begin to study the effect of Ukrainian guarantees at the national level in cooperation with the financial department and customs.
"We will prepare all the logistics for verification. This will take maybe a month, maybe two months, because even there the conditions for some kind of mutual confirmation and decision-making vary from five days to a month. This means that every importer who receives a license from the Ukrainian side, must receive confirmation from the Slovak side," Bires explained.
According to Bires, negotiations between a coalition of five front-line countries - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania regarding a ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products are ongoing.
"Previously, the coalition professed the principle of unity. Bulgaria was the first to deviate from it. And Romania did not take appropriate measures," the Slovak minister said and added that Slovakia was surprised by the expansion of the list of Ukrainian agricultural products prohibited for import by Hungary.
Bires said that the introduced unilateral measures would not affect the transit of Ukrainian agricultural goods along the Solidarity Lanes. He referred to information from the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, who informed the European Commission that the introduced restrictive measures that were applied in the five front-line countries did not limit the transit of goods from Ukraine. Over the past five months they have even increased.
Commenting on the lawsuit filed by Ukraine with the World Trade Organization, the Slovak minister expressed surprise at the speed of Ukraine's actions.
According to him, Slovakia is in solidarity with Ukraine and wants to support it, but protecting the national market is a priority of any state.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng shake hands while posing for photos, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, in New York, US (Photo Credits: Reuters)
Washington, DC [US], September 19 (ANI): US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday held a discussion with Vice President of People's Republic of China (PRC), Han Zheng on high-level engagements between the two nations to maintain open lines of communication.
The two senior officials met on the margins of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Also Read | COVID-19: Neanderthal Genes May Explain Coronavirus Severity in Some People, Says Study.
The US State Department's official spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, "Secretary of State Antony J Blinken met today with PRC Vice President Han Zheng on the margins of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York City."
He further highlighted that the two sides had a "candid and constructive discussion, building on recent high-level engagements between the two countries to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage the US-China relationship".
Also Read | Missing F-35 Fighter Jet Latest Update: Military Searches Near South Carolina Lakes for Fighter Jet Whose Pilot Safely Ejected.
Moreover, the Secretary of State stressed that the US will maintain diplomacy to advance US interests and values.
"The Secretary emphasized that the United States will continue to use diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and values and to discuss areas of difference. The Secretary also explored potential areas of cooperation and advocated for progress on shared transnational challenges," an official statement read.
Further, according to the State Department spokesperson, the two sides also exchanged views on key bilateral, global and regional issues, including the Russia-Ukrane conflict.
"The two sides exchanged views on a range of key bilateral, global, and regional issues, including Russias war against Ukraine, the DPRKs provocative actions, and other topics," he added.
Further, the Secretary of State "underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait".
The two countries also highlighted the upcoming follow-on senior engagements.
"Both sides reiterated their commitment to maintaining open lines of communication, including follow-on senior engagements in the coming weeks," the statement added. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Mumbai, September 19: The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) released the answer keys of the remaining papers of the BSEB Bihar STET Exam 2023. The board released the answer key for four papers of the Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test or STET 2023 examination. Candidates who appeared for the BSEB Bihar STET Exam 2023 can visit the official website of BSEB STET at bsebstet.com to check and download the answer keys.
The Bihar Board released the answer keys for Physics (214), Political Science (219), Sociology (220) and Home Science (224) examinations. If candidates find any error in the answer keys, they can visit bsebstet.com/Grievance/login and submit their objections by 4 pm on September 20. Candidates have to pay a fee of Rs 50 to raise objections. CAT 2023 Registration Last Date: Deadline for Registration for Common Admission Test to End on September 20, Know How to Register Online on iimcat.ac.in.
How To Check BSEB STET Answer Key 2023:
Visit the official website of BSEB Bihar STET at bsebstet.com
On the homepage, click on the answer key link
Next, enter using your login details and other credentials
Click on submit
Your answer key will be displayed on the screen
Check and download the answer key
Now that the answer key has been released, the Bihar School Examination Board will announce the results of the exam anytime soon. For more details, candidates can check the official website of STET. Meanwhile, the National Testing Agency (NTA) released the exam dates for the CUET UG 2024 and CUET PG examinations. CTET Exam 2023: Answer Key of Central Teacher Eligibility Test Examination Released at ctet.nic.in, Get Direct Link and Know How To Download.
The Common University Entrance Test for Under Graduate or CUET UG 2024 examination will be held between May 15 to May 31, while the Common University Entrance Test -PG (CUETPG) 2024 will be held between March 11 to March 28.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2023 05:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Ganesh Chaturthi is the annual Hindu festival which marks the birth anniversary of Lord Ganesha. Every year, to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, people often bring home a clay idol of Lord Ganapati, decorate it with jewellery and festive attire, prepare special delicacies and sing Ganapati aartis to appease Lord Ganapati. Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 will be celebrated on September 19. The festivities of Ganesh Chaturthi usually go on for ten days and are often referred to as Ganapati festival. During this time, people often share Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 wishes and messages, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 Greetings, Ganapati Festival 2023 images and wallpapers, Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi WhatsApp stickers, and Happy Ganesh Chaturthi Facebook status pictures with family and friends.
The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi takes place on the Shukla Paksha Chaturthi tithi in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada. On this day, people often bring home a clay idol of Lord Ganesha, decorate it and make special offerings to the almighty. The celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi was initially a family affair. However, it is now marked as a community event in various parts of the country, especially in Maharashtra. People who bring home the idol of Lord Ganesha often follow several rules and also prepare special prasad items like Modak, Ladoos, etc.
As we celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi 2023, here are some Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 wishes and messages, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 Greetings, Ganapati Festival 2023 images and wallpapers, Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi WhatsApp stickers, and Happy Ganesh Chaturthi Facebook status pictures that you can share with family and friends online.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: May Ganesha Always Stay As Your Mentor and Protector and Remove Obstacles From Your Life. Wishing You and Family a Happy and Blessed Ganesh Chaturthi!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: Celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi, the Festival of Lord Ganesh. Spread the Message of Honesty, and Love Through This World.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: Ganpati Bappa Morya. May Lord Ganesh Bless You With Wisdom, Intelligence, Prosperity, Happiness and Success. Wish You a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: May the Divine Light of Lord Ganesha Guide You Towards a Path of Righteousness and Happiness. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: May the Presence of Lord Ganesha Fill Your Home With Positivity, Love, and Harmony. Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: Sending You Warm Wishes on the Auspicious Occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. May Lord Ganesha Bless You With Abundance in All Aspects of Life.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: May Lord Ganesha Keep Enlightening Your Lives and Bless You Always. Wishing You a Happy Vinayaka Chavithi
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: Wishing That Lord Ganesha Fills Your Home With Prosperity and Fortune. Happy Vinayaka Chavithi
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: May Lord Ganesha Bless You With Happiness and Success! Ganpati Bappa Morya
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 (File Image)
WhatsApp Message Reads: Let Us Welcome Lord Ganesha on Earth With Grand Celebrations and Festivities. Happy Vinayaka Chaturthi
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 Wishes: Greetings, Images and Messages To Share During Ganeshotsav
Ganesh Chaturthi 2023: Date, History, Significance Of Festival Celebrating The Birth Of Lord Ganesha
We hope that this celebration is filled with all the love, light and happiness. It is important to note that the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration in some parts of South India is being observed from September 18 since the Chaturthi Tithi begins on September 18.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2023 02:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
The right to speak languages other than Spanish in the national Parliament is a long-held objective of smaller parties from the regions in Spain's north that have bilingual populations. The Parliament will provide simultaneous translation with earpieces for the 350 members of the chamber.
San Francisco, September 19: In an unusual effort to get employees back into the office, the Chinese short-video-making app TikTok has introduced a new tool for tracking office attendance this month -- called MyRTO app or my return to office, making the workers frustrated as the company requires many of its roughly 7,000 US employees to work in offices three times a week with some teams expected to work five days a week.
According to The New York Times, the app monitors badge swipes which workers make when entering office premises and asks employees to explain deviations -- absences on days they are meant to be in the office. TikTok Plans to Ban Links to E-Commerce Websites Such As Amazon: Report.
In addition, the badge swipe data will be analysed by employee supervisors and human resource (HR) staff. The report also mentioned that employees were warned that "any deliberate and consistent disregard may result in disciplinary action" and could "impact on performance reviews".
A section of the TikTok workforce has expressed "frustration and dismay" over the attendance policy. An employee said that the "app and threats of punishment were unnecessary, and that colleagues were now fearful about the consequences of failing to comply", the report said. However, a spokesperson for TikTok, Jodi Seth said the tool was meant to help set expectations for in-office attendance.
"The ultimate goal of MyRTO is to provide greater clarity and context to both employees and leaders regarding their RTO expectations and in-office schedules, and help foster more transparent communications," Seth was quoted as saying.
TikTok instituted a strict return-to-work policy in October last year as the coronavirus pandemic subsided. Employees were warned that if their home address did not match the address of their workplace, they would be fired. TikTok Fined: European Regulators Hit Chinese Video-Sharing App With USD 368 Million Fine for Failing To Protect Children's Privacy.
Last month, video conferencing platform Zoom announced the end of work-from-home (WFH) and asked all of its employees to return to the office for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Insider, the company has asked employees who live within 50 miles of any Zoom office to report to work at least two days a week, based on a hybrid model.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2023 03:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
On 18 September thousands of people took to the streets in Guatemala City and other parts of the country, in support of Guatemalas president-electand his left-of-centre Movimiento Semilla (Semilla), and calling for the resignation of US-sanctioned attorney general (AG)
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Saying that Haiti is in crisis would be an understatement as gangs run most of the capital, Port-au-Prince, while its neighbor, the Dominican Republic, has just shut down its borders in what may lead to even bigger economic peril for the Caribbean nation. Kidnappings, murder, and violence are now a daily occurrence, while many are still suffering from cholera. How did it get this way, though?
There are plenty of factors that led to this moment, but what many point to its actual start may be the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 by Colombian mercenaries and a group of Haitian elites who wanted to get power for themselves.
Haiti has not held any free elections since 2019, which was still before the world came to a stop, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the president was assassinated, nobody was left to fill the void as Prime Minister Ariel Henry took the mantle for himself without being elected, thus making many in the country feel that he was illegitimate.
With the government in political turmoil that resulted from the assassination, it barely functioned. Now, as The Guardian pointed out, violent gangs have filled the void in Haiti, imposing murderous rule on the territories they conquered.
So far, Haitian police have found themselves outgunned and outmatched as these gangs have brought weapons smuggled from the US. They find funding from various rackets, which include kidnap-for-ransom, often targeting not just foreigners but also some of Haiti's most desperate.
It has gotten so bad in Haiti that Prime Minister Henry is begging the UN to send a peacekeeping force. However, other countries have been very reluctant to send in troops to aid the embattled Haitian military. As it seems, only Jamaica was willing to send in troops, though the country itself is facing its own set of problems at the moment and cannot fully commit.
READ MORE: Haiti Kidnappers Free American Nurse, Daughter, Says Aid Group
Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Cholera, and Gangs Make It More Complicated in Haiti
If the political turmoil is not enough, Haiti also faces problems from various natural disasters. Currently, many in the country are still reeling from the 2010 earthquake that happened over a decade ago. Meanwhile, a cholera outbreak is silently killing many.
To make things worse, hurricanes also pound the country annually, and with hurricane season already underway, Haitians are expecting powerful storms and flooding.
According to Vox, the thing that makes ordinary citizens afraid to leave their homes is still the Haitian gangs. With the government in tatters, they now control almost every aspect of Haitian life, with some government officials even beholden to them.
Haiti Still Has the Highest Hunger Rate in the Western Hemisphere
Even before the Haiti Crisis started, the Caribbean country on the island of Hispaniola already had the highest hunger rates in the Western Hemisphere. It is now getting much worse due to the crisis.
According to Concern, around 35% of Haiti's population was hungry, as reported by the Integrated Phase Classification. This meant that 3.7 million people were hungry around that time. By 2021, that number has reached 4.4 million, and the number is still rising.
READ MORE: Haiti Gang Burns Courthouse
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Haiti faces gang violence, growing humanitarian crisis - ABC News
Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, has filed a lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service, alleging that IRS investigators violated his privacy rights by disclosing his taxes and the investigation into his conduct to Congress and the public, per the NY Times.
This legal action comes shortly after Hunter Biden was indicted by the Justice Department on separate charges related to purchasing a handgun in 2018.
The IRS lawsuit demonstrates his and his legal team's determination to defend against inquiries from congressional Republicans, even as he faces potential prosecution on tax-related charges during his father's re-election campaign.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Washington, asserts that IRS investigators breached the agency's rules on taxpayer privacy by making public statements to the media that disclosed confidential information about Hunter Biden's tax matters.
It alleges that this disclosure aimed to embarrass him as a private citizen.
READ NEXT: Hunter Biden Case
Hunter Biden IRS Lawsuit
This legal move is the latest in a series of legal actions by Hunter Biden as a federal investigation into his activities unfolds amid a highly politicized environment.
It includes an impeachment inquiry targeting President Joe Biden, with efforts to connect him to his son's business dealings.
The lawsuit emphasizes that Hunter Biden, as the son of the President of the United States, has the same responsibilities and rights as any other American citizen, AP reports.
It seeks to hold the IRS accountable for ensuring that he abides by his tax responsibilities and protecting his privacy rights.
The Hunter Biden IRS lawsuit also requests damages of $1,000 for every unauthorized disclosure of his personal information.
Two IRS supervisory special agents, Greg Shapley and Joe Ziegler, had previously testified before Congress, claiming a pattern of "slow-walking investigative steps" into Hunter Biden's case and alleging that the prosecutor overseeing the investigation did not have full authority to bring charges in other jurisdictions.
These claims were denied by Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss and the Justice Department.
The lawyers representing Shapley and Ziegler have expressed their views on the lawsuit, with one characterizing it as a "frivolous smear" and the other stating that they will continue to speak out about what they perceive as "special treatment" for Hunter Biden in the handling of the case.
Whistleblowers 'Fell on the Wrong Side,' Says a Lawyer
Legal expert Kel McClanahan, who has extensive experience representing government whistleblowers, believe that Hunter Biden has a strong case in his lawsuit against the IRS, particularly because IRS investigators Greg Shapley and Joe Ziegler provided detailed information about Biden's taxes to media outlets, POLITICO noted.
However, there is concern that the outcome of this case may have broader implications for future whistleblowers.
McClanahan acknowledges that this case could potentially be used to undermine or discourage future whistleblowers.
He suggests that it should serve as an opportunity for the court to differentiate between responsible and irresponsible whistleblowing.
"These guys fell on the wrong side of that," he said.
Hunter Biden's legal actions, including his lawsuit against the IRS, reflect a more assertive legal stance coinciding with his indictment on gun-related charges.
He has also taken legal action against a former Trump White House official who was involved in disseminating purported contents from his laptop.
Hunter Biden's legal team has also communicated with Republican lawmakers regarding their interactions with Justice Department officials, accusing them of pressuring federal authorities to pursue gun charges against him.
READ MORE: Hunter Biden Net Worth
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: Hunter Biden IRS lawsuit intended to 'hold fire' long enough to protect Joe: Hurt - From Fox Business
Donald Trump co-defendant Jeffrey Clark is trying to get a judge to transfer his case from Georgia to a federal court. To do this, his lawyer told a judge that he was acting under then-President Donald Trump's orders while still working for the Department of Justice.
Clark drafted a letter to top Georgia officials where he declared that the DOJ had reason to doubt the legitimacy of the state's election. However, he also admitted that he was pressed to write this letter by Trump himself, his lawyer told a federal judge.
Clark was indicted alongside Trump as one of the 19 defendants in the Fulton County, Georgia RICO case. His lawyer, Harry MacDougald, argued that his client was acting under his federal capacity to change the election results. Therefore, it must be moved to a court.
"They say he was acting outside of his lane," MacDougald told US District Judge Steve C. Jones. "The president put it in his lane."
However, the judge seems wary of the claim as he asked the attorney for evidence that Trump had directed Clark to write and send the letter to Georgia officials.
The Washington Post noted that MacDougald was not able to give the judge the evidence he was asking for and even appeared to be uncertain when the judge asked him if the letter was written after Clark allegedly had a meeting with Trump and several other senior Justice Department officials.
The lawyer did tell the judge about how Clark drafted the letter in his office at the DOJ and used his government email to send the document, arguing that it would have been impossible for his client to do what he was told to do if he were not acting as a federal official under the orders of the president.
READ MORE: Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jenna Ellis Turns On Ex-POTUS, Calls Him a 'Malignant Narcissist'
Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jeffrey Clark Not Present at the Hearing
As for Jeffrey Clark himself, the former Department of Justice environmental lawyer was notably absent during the hearing for his attempt to transfer jurisdiction to a federal court.
Clark waived his right to appear at the hearing, which was held on Monday. He did file a "declaration" where he tried to explain that his actions in question were undertaken in his capacity as a federal officer, so this means that his case should fall under federal jurisdiction.
However, Judge Jones seemed skeptical and, according to CNN, even seemed frustrated with Clark's lawyer. The judge even told the lawyer that he would not accept a sworn statement from Clark as evidence in the case.
As the judge was asking one of Clark's attorneys some probing questions, Trump attorney Steve Sadow was heard whispering, "This is not good."
Donald Trump Co-Defendant Jeffrey Clark Had Limited Federal Authority, Argued Prosecutors
While Clark argued that he was merely acting under his authority as a federal official, prosecutors argued that even though he was a federal official, the division he was under had "limited authority," especially in matters concerning the elections.
Clark was part of the civil division as an environmental lawyer. Jody Hunt, who served as the assistant attorney general of the civil division until mid-2020, testified, "In my experience, it is not the role of the civil division to engage" in matters regarding election fraud.
Clark's lawyers tried to push back on these claims, claiming he had the authority since it was the president himself who asked him to.
Previously, Mark Meadows tried to transfer his case to federal jurisdiction, arguing that he was acting under his capacity as Chief of Staff. The judge found that this was not part of his duties and shot down the Trump ally's request.
READ MORE: Donald Trump Election Interference Co-Conspirators Turning on Each Other
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Coup bomb goes off as Trump and aides literally admit anti-democracy agenda: Melber breakdown - MSNBC
Tragedy struck in southeastern Peru when a devastating bus crash claimed the lives of at least 24 people and left 35 others injured, NDTV reported.
The incident unfolded in the early morning hours when a bus, en route between two Andean towns, careened off a rural mountain road and plunged into a harrowing 200-meter-deep ravine within the Huancavelica region.
The initial police report put the death toll at 20, but subsequent updates from the health ministry sadly raised it to 24, including two children.
The exact cause of this heart-wrenching accident remains under investigation, leaving local authorities searching for answers to understand what led to this catastrophic event, per BBC.
However, the mayor of a nearby town revealed a distressing detail: the road where the accident transpired had languished without repairs since it had been damaged in a landslide just a month prior.
The accident site, situated in the remote and high-altitude area known as Huaccoto in the Andes mountains, posed significant challenges for rescue and recovery efforts.
Firefighters from nearby towns and provinces rushed to the scene, joined by locals who arrived first.
The bushes where the bus had come to rest played a crucial role, preventing the vehicle from being swept away by the nearby river.
Residents bravely ventured into the treacherous terrain to search for survivors, and to their relief, they found some passengers still alive within the wreckage.
The subsequent hours were a race against time as police and firefighters worked tirelessly to extricate the survivors and provide them with medical attention.
The injured people were swiftly transported to the nearest hospitals for urgent treatment.
READ NEXT: Mexico Bus Crash: 16 Dead, Dozens Injured
Peru Bus Crash Investigation
The tragic accident has prompted an outpouring of grief and sorrow from the local community and beyond.
Peru's transportation authority, SUTRAN, expressed deep condolences to the victims and their families.
The agency pledged to thoroughly investigate the incident to determine its root causes and contributing factors.
Preliminary findings indicated that the bus had the requisite authorization to transport passengers, including mandatory accident insurance, and had successfully passed a vehicle inspection, according to Al Jazeera.
"At this time, SUTRAN is continuing its investigations, as established within the framework of its powers," the agency wrote, underscoring its "commitment to supervising compliance" with federal regulations.
The company responsible for the bus route, Molina Union, confirmed the death toll but did not provide additional details about the tragic incident.
Peru has witnessed several deadly accidents on its mountainous roadways, which often traverse the challenging terrain of the Andes Mountains.
Bus Crashes in Peru
The recent Peru bus crash is a stark reminder of the ongoing safety challenges on Peru's mountainous roadways.
The challenging terrain, characterized by steep slopes and treacherous curves, often leads to accidents attributed to speeding and dangerous overtaking.
Tragically, many such incidents have occurred, resulting in significant loss of lives, BNN noted.
Official statistics revealed that over 3,300 people died in traffic accidents in Peru in 2022 alone.
This sobering figure underscores the urgency of implementing stringent safety measures, particularly in regions like the Andes mountains, where the terrain poses unique challenges.
The lessons drawn from this tragic event are clear: maintaining well-maintained roads, enforcing strict adherence to speed limits, and ensuring effective vehicle maintenance are essential steps to prevent such accidents.
As pointed out by BNN, the safety of travelers should always be a top priority, and tragedies like this emphasize the critical importance of stringent safety standards on Peru's challenging roadways.
READ MORE: Honduras Breeds 'Special Mosquitoes'
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: Peru bus crash kills 24 people and injures 21 more - From Sky News Australia
Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said that he does not intend to allow Ukrainian grain into the country's domestic market, Politico reported on Tuesday.
Croatia's position and desire is the following: we are a transit country, and not a country that will receive huge amounts of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than ours, Plenkovic said.
According to him, the import of such products would lead to the fact that our farmers would be in trouble.
On September 15, the European Commission announced the termination of restrictive measures on the export of Ukrainian grain and other food products to the EU. Later, the authorities of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia announced the introduction of their own bans.
Notorious El Chapo son and one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, appeared in a US court for the first time to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges. He entered a "not guilty" plea to all the charges US authorities laid against him.
As Latin Post previously reported, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, one of the feared members of Los Chapitos, the group of four of El Chapo's most favored sons, was recently extradited to the US from Mexico. He was arrested in Sinaloa state last January, though it resulted in the city of Culiacan being besieged by elements of the Sinaloa Cartel.
The indictments against the notorious drug lord, also known as "El Raton," stated that he and his brothers led the Sinaloa Cartel soon after his father was extradited and sentenced to life in prison in the US. Together, the brothers "steered the cartel increasingly into synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and the powerful opioid fentanyl."
Ovidio reportedly entered the "not guilty" plea through a translator during his 15-minute arraignment last Monday. According to the Associated Press, he stood before US District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman inside a federal courthouse in Chicago, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and matching orange slippers.
He was treated as a high-value prisoner and had his legs shackled at the ankles to prevent his escape. His father, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, was infamous for his daring escapes from prison.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez reportedly answered Judge Johnson Coleman's questions "softly and politely" and presented himself to contrast his bloody reputation for extreme violence. He had been known to order the executions of several individuals who got in the Sinaloa Cartel's way.
El Chapo Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez Faces Charges in Chicago, New York, and Washington DC
ABC 7 Chicago reported that soon after he was extradited into the United States, the El Chapo son and Sinaloa Cartel boss, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, was immediately flown to Chicago to face his charges. However, he is also facing charges in New York and Washington DC.
READ NEXT: Mexico: Warring Cartels Block Roads Near US Border
Guzman, considered one of the most wanted men in the US, had been wanted in the country since 2019 as he was one of the Sinaloa Cartel leaders who had been heading the production of fentanyl and shipping the opioids to the US. He was arrested in January ahead of President Joe Biden's visit to Mexico.
El Chapo Son Ovidio Guzman Lopez Extradition Was Faster Than Expected
Normally, extradition takes around two years, sometimes even more. However, it took only about nine months to extradite Ovidio Guzman Lopez from Mexico to the US.
Mike Vigil, former head of international operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, spoke with the El Paso Times and stated that it may have been the Mexican government that facilitated the extradition. The reason for this was because "El Raton" has such a high profile, and the Sinaloa Cartel leader's attorneys were already filing numerous appeals to delay his extradition.
"This happened quicker than normal," said the former DEA officer. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said in a statement that the quick extradition was a "testament to the significance of the ongoing cooperation between the American and Mexican governments on countering narcotics and other vital challenges." She then thanked the Mexican government for their cooperation. It was noted that Sherwood-Randall made multiple visits to Mexico this year and even met with President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
READ MORE: Los Chapitos, Among 28 Sinaloa Cartel Members Charged by US Government
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Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: El Chapo's son, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, pleads not guilty to drug, money laundering charges in Chicago - ABC 7 Chicago
California police are currently probing the untimely deaths of two aspiring models, discovered in separate LA apartments just days apart, ABC News reports.
Maleesa Mooney, 31, was found lifeless on September 12, and authorities are treating her demise as a homicide, as confirmed by a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department.
In a parallel investigation, the death of Nichole "Nikki" Coats, 32, on September 10 is categorized as "undetermined" at this stage.
The LAPD will await the findings of the LA County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner before determining whether Coats' case warrants a homicide investigation.
It is too early for law enforcement to ascertain any potential links between these two cases, said LAPD, adding that they are awaiting comprehensive reports from the coroner's office.
READ NEXT: California: Bullying Victim Diego Stolz's Family Gets $27 Million Settlement
Nichole Coats' Tragic Discovery
Nichole Coats, 32, was discovered deceased in her California apartment on September 10 by her father and aunt, who had grown concerned due to not hearing from her for several days, according to E! News.
LAPD officers confirmed her death, having conducted a welfare check at the residence.
Following her untimely passing, Coats' loved ones expressed their grief and desire for answers. Her mother, Sharon Coats, emotionally stated, "This is senseless, and I want some answers because my daughter is gone, and it's not fair. I want everybody to find out who did this to her. She shouldn't be gone."
Sharon Coats revealed that she had spent four days with her daughter in her downtown LA apartment just days before her death, per PEOPLE.
Nichole, a part-time California model and a beauty products salesperson, was on the verge of a trip to Cancun, Mexico, with her friends. Her mother had to cancel her flights, and brand-new bikinis, still with tags, remained untouched.
Sharon Coats also noted that her daughter had gone on a date two days before her passing, which was unusual since Nichole would typically inform her mother about such plans.
This sudden turn of events has left the family in anguish and searching for answers.
Maleesa Mooney's Tragic End
The sister of Guyanese pop star Jourdin Pauline, Maleesa Mooney, 31, was discovered deceased inside her opulent LA apartment.
Her family became alarmed when their text messages with Mooney switched from blue to green, indicating a change in WiFi and data services.
Concerned about her wellbeing, they promptly requested a wellness check, the Daily Mail noted.
Tributes poured in for Maleesa Mooney, an aspiring California model.
The LAPD initiated a murder investigation upon discovering her lifeless body in her apartment at Skye at Bunker Hill on September 12, shortly before 4 PM. The authorities have not disclosed how long she had been deceased.
As of now, the exact cause of her demise remains undisclosed, pending further investigation.
Bailey Babb, Mooney's cousin, emphasized the family's growing concern when their messages to her went unanswered for an extended period.
Jourdin Pauline, the California model's pop star sister, described her as the family's peacemaker and backbone, underscoring the profound loss experienced by her loved ones.
READ MORE: Florida Murder: Woman's Remains Found in 3 Suitcases
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Bert Hoover
WATCH: 2 models found dead in DTLA apartments days apart - From FOX 11 Los Angeles
Nike is the latest retailer to leave the Portland, Oregon area permanently after several major retailers in the area have also shut their doors.
The reason Nike, and many other retailers, are leaving Portland is due to an increase in thefts and other crimes.
Nike Factory Store in Portland first temporarily closed its doors in 2022 without any official statement from the company. A message on the stores website said, Closed for the next 7 days.
The store never reopened, and now, Nike is shuttering the factory location for good since its opening in 1984.
Nikes commitment to supporting and uplifting Portlands North and Northeast community is unwavering, Nike told The Street. We are reimagining Nikes retail space, permanently closing our current location at 2650 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and considering future locations as part of this communitys long-term revitalization plan.
This follows the closings of other major stores in the Portland area, including REIs sole Portland location, another Nike location, two remaining Walmart locations and three remaining Cracker Barrel restaurants.
Multnomah County, which oversees Portland, reported more than 26,000 thefts in 2022 a 10% spike from 2020 according to statistics from the Multnomah County Sheriffs Office.
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A 17-year-old has been charged with killing his ex-girlfriend and her mother in a North Catausauqua double homicide last week.
Investigators called the deaths of 39-year-old Rosalyn Siobal Glass and 16-year-old Rianna Lynn Glass a tragedy in a news conference on Tuesday announcing an arrest amid an ongoing investigation that crosses county lines.
The victims, also identified Tuesday, were found dead last Thursday in the home in the 1100 block of Railroad Street in North Catasauqua. Both were stabbed, and the teens neck had been squeezed.
John Derwin Bradley, of North Whitehall Township, faces two counts of criminal homicide and an additional theft charge for allegedly taking the mothers vehicle, which crashed the same day in Upper Saucon Township, injuring Bradley and leaving a 14-year-old female passenger from Orefield hospitalized in very serious condition. In Tuesdays news conference, Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck identified the other teenagers only by initials.
Rianna Glass and Bradley had broken up in August, according to Houck and an arrest affidavit. It was previously reported that South Whitehall Police investigated a claim of abuse and a threat allegedly made against Rianna on Sept. 8; in that case, the alleged attacker was identified by the initials J.B.
According to the latest affidavit, on Sept. 13, Rianna texted with a friend saying she was in a new relationship, and later said Bradley was coming to her house. The affidavit says that at about 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 14, Rianna texted her last message to her friend: He wont leave the house. The friend later found her dead, the affidavit says.
Cameras allegedly saw Bradley and his teenaged passenger leave the house around 3:30 a.m., then a vehicle matching Rosalyn Glasss SUV driving away.
Authorities respond to a serious crash the morning of Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in the 1800 block of Spring Valley Road near the Saucon Rail Trail, in Upper Saucon Township.Courtesy photo | For lehighvalleylive.com
The same vehicle, a silver Nissan Murano, crashed about two and a half hours later, shutting down Spring Valley Road in Upper Saucon Township, near the Saucon Rail Trail. Houck said it was going very fast and that both Bradley and the girl were thrown from the vehicle. A witness at the scene told lehighvalleylive.com that it crashed into multiple trees and a concrete wall before flipping onto its roof along the road. The witness said they heard a series of booms upon impact and saw smoke coming from the engine.
Bradley was found sitting near a tree. Authorities say a knife with a red stain was next to him. Forensic investigation later determined Bradleys and the victims DNA was present on the blade, and Bradleys DNA was found at the house.
The vehicle was traced to Rosalyn Glass but officers were unable to make contact at the home. Authorities were again called four hours later for a report of an unresponsive woman. Neighbors were stunned as investigators descended on the quiet neighborhood.
Asked about the pace information was released in the case, Houck said an arrest in a double-homicide case in under a week is actually very quick. But he also acknowledged that especially in such a heinous case involving juveniles, investigators must be conscious of families and must keep the investigation as pristine as possible.
You dont want to rush to judgement, he said.
Funeral services for Rosalyn Glass, 39, and Rianna Glass are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 23.Courtesy of the Glass Family
Rosalyn Glass was born in the Philippines and worked at iHerb in Palmer Township, attended Grace Christian Fellowship in Bethlehem, according to their joint obituary. Rianna Glass, born in Louisiana, had just started her junior year at Northampton Area High School and was active with 3D Dance Studio in Northampton.
Calling hours will be 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday and Reichel Funeral Home, 326 E. 21st St. in Northampton. A prayer service will follow at 11 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will be private.
The family is asking that memorial contributions be made to Grace Christian Fellowship in Rosalyn Glasss name, and to Wolfpack Search and Recovery for Rianna.
Lehighvalleylive.com reporters Pamela Sroka-Holzmann and Glenn Epps contributed to this report.
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Schools across Laois are being encouraged to sign-up for this years Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) by new Brand Ambassador and rising Irish media star, Louise Cantillon.
A Limerick native and former second level school teacher herself, Louise will be encouraging the thousands of participating students this year as they embark on their exciting entrepreneurial journey, creating, setting up and running their own business to compete for the top prize of Student Enterprise of the Year
Laois has had a number of successes over the years. Last year, 3 students from Heywood Community School won 3rd Prize overall in the National Senior category for their enterprise called Hurlr, an innovative bicycle hurl holder.
In 2022, 2 students from Portlaoise College won 1st place in the Creative Business Idea Video competition at Junior Cycle level and 2nd place in the My Entrepreneurial Journey competition at Intermediate level at the National Finals respectively. In 2021, students from St. Marys CBS Portlaoise took 1st Prize in the Most Effective use of Social Media at the National Student Finals for their enterprise O-Glo which manufactures handmade candle holders using poured concrete.
Evelyn Reddin, Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Laois: We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Laois. In what has been a particularly challenging couple of years for students, the programme has offered them an outlet outside of the usual school demands. What our students are learning from the programme is that with the right supports and encouragement, they can take an idea from the classroom and develop it into a real-life business. The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and team-work, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers.
An initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices of Ireland, the Student Enterprise Programme is the countrys largest enterprise programme for second level students, with this year marking the 22nd year of the hugely successful programme. Over 25,000 students from approximately 500 second level schools across the country are expected to take part.
Students from 1st year to 6th year can enter in the Junior, Intermediate and Senior categories. Participants will learn how to create and run their own business, picking up key skills along the way such as ideation, marketing, finance and sales.
The Programme is run through the network of Local Enterprise Offices, supported by Enterprise Ireland and the local authorities, with local coordinators in every area to support teachers and students through the year of the programme, which helps foster entrepreneurship in students and gives them key skills they can bring with them into later life.
New Ambassador Louise Cantillon is delighted to be partnering with the Student Enterprise Programme for 2023/24 and is looking forward to engaging with the community of teen entrepreneurs to encourage them on their exciting business journey.
Louise says she is particularly excited about the roll-out of the new student workbooks as Gaeilge this year, I am so excited to be working on the SEP project and learning about all the fantastic businesses these young students are going to be working on this year. The fact that the student workbooks are also being published as Gaeilge this year with thanks to the Irish language agency COGG is fantastic and a great resource for all the gaelscoileanna around the country.
Last year the winners were MC Compactors from Roscommon in the Senior Category with their business idea - an innovative stainless-steel rubbish compactor. In the Intermediate category the winner was Clip Clop Designs a company that upcycled used horse shoes into household ornaments. The Junior category was won by a group of Leitrim students with their student enterprise Grasper - a lift mechanism to open slatted tank covers on farms.
Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 325,000 students have taken part, learning key skills on how to create a business idea, start a business and grow a business.
The Student Enterprise Programme also has a new range of online resources for 2023/2024 at www.StudentEnterprise.ie, which will feature regular blogs and houses a full range of Student Enterprise resources for students and teachers.
Delays in a court case concerning allegations made in 2018 by gardai were highlighted at Naas District Court on Thursday, September 14 last.
The case concerns Noel Caulfield, with an address given as 3 Roebuck Castle in Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, County Dublin.
The 72-year-old claimed to Judge Desmond Zaidan that he was informed by a garda sergeant that this would be his final court appearance in relation to the case.
"It's been going on for five years now, and the prosecuting garda has never turned up," he said.
Mr Caulfield, who has opted to represent himself in the case, stands accused of committing a public order and dangerous driving offence at Canning Place in Newbridge on December 29, 2018.
However, Judge Zaidan disagreed with Mr Caulfield: telling him: "I have 400 cases (today); I don't know how any garda sergeant can speak on my behalf. I can't give anyone any assurances (that their case will be heard."
When Mr Caulfield reiterated what the garda allegedly told him, Judge Zaidan replied: "Well, I'm the one in charge here, not the garda... but I agree that it (the delay) is not satisfactory."
The judge then told Mr Caulfield that he would put his case back for mention to October 12, adding: Hopefully, by then, someone will be sent to help me (referring to the prospect of a new judge being appointed to the Kildare region).
When the court session drew to a close, Mr Caulfield said: "I'll talk with (the Garda Commissioner) Drew Harris again."
Judge Zaidan jokingly asked him: "Is he your solicitor?" to which Mr Caulfield responded: "No, he is a good pal."
Although the case was initially adjourned to October 12, Judge Zaidan decided to bring it forward to October 9.
He changed this date in order to facilitate the organisation of a special court sitting.
Ukraine should ban imports of certain goods from Poland and Hungary if these two countries do not comply with the measures agreed upon with the European Commission and do not revoke their unilateral bans on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.
"Ukraine will sue Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia at the World Trade Organization over their unilateral restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. At the same time, our government is offering the EU and the neighboring countries a compromise scenario. We have already submitted our action plan for controlling exports of four groups of agricultural produce from Ukraine to the European Commission," he said on the Telegram channel on Tuesday.
This control should help prevent any market distortions in the EU member states neighboring Ukraine, Shmyhal said.
"In particular, we are planning to adopt a resolution stipulating that products exported to the five neighboring countries would require verification and clearance from the Ukrainian Economy Ministry," he said.
Ukraine has sent a formal inquiry to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia regarding a violation of World Trade Organization norms, Shmyhal said.
"We are also starting an anti-discrimination investigation against unfriendly steps by these countries in the trade sector based on 2023 statistics. If Poland and Hungary do not consent to the measures agreed upon with the European Commission and do not revoke their unilateral bans with regard to our products, we will make a decision on banning imports of certain categories of goods from said countries into Ukraine," he said.
A continued embargo on Ukraine's agrarian exports by its neighbors would deal a blow to the economy, finances, tax collection, and jobs, he said, adding that such a blockage will also play into the hands of Russia's plan to create another global food crisis.
"We are calling on our neighbors once again to lift their harmful and unlawful restrictions and their political populism and embark on a path of constructive dialogue, which would truly benefit everyone," he said.
Sligo Bay RNLI volunteer crew were requested to launch by Malin Head Coast Guard shortly after 4pm on Sunday to assist a lone sailor aboard a 38ft yacht eight miles out at sea.
The Sheila and Dennis Tongue inshore lifeboat launched at 4.17pm with four crew members onboard and was on scene at 4.47pm. Sea conditions at the time were good.
Once there, the crew assessed the situation and found the sailor to be fine, but the wind had dropped and the yacht had experienced engine failure and was not able to make any headway.
The sailor, reacting quickly, had called 999 and requested assistance from the Coast Guard who in turn paged the lifeboat.
A lifeboat crew member went onboard to assist the sailor with setting up the tow with the lifeboat before the boat was towed back to the nearest safe port in Sligo town.
Speaking after the rescue, Michael Waters, Sligo Bay RNLI Helm said: We launched to a 38ft steel hull yacht with one crew onboard that found itself becalmed due to no wind and engine failure eight miles west of the Wheat Rock buoy.
One of the lifeboat crew was put on board to help the sailor with the tow back to Sligo. The tow was quickly established, and we proceeded to the pontoon in Sligo town arriving at 7.20pm.
Once the yacht was safely tied up the lifeboat returned to the station where it was was washed down, refuelled and made ready for service again by the volunteer shore crew.
Siamak Namazi and Morad Tahbaz, who were released during a prisoner swap deal between the US and Iran, arrive at Doha International Airport, Qatar, on September 18, 2023. MOHAMMED DABBOUS / REUTERS
The negotiations were long and delicate. On Monday, September 18, five US nationals held illegally in Iran were released as part of a prisoner exchange between Washington and Tehran. The hostages boarded a plane provided by Qatar, which acted as an intermediary along with Switzerland. The agreement provides for the release of five Iranians imprisoned in the United States. It also includes a financial component: the transfer of $6 billion in oil revenues belonging to Iran from a frozen account in South Korea to an account in Qatar. The money will be used by Tehran under US supervision for strictly "humanitarian" purposes.
In early August, four of the five US prisoners were released from the notorious Evin prison and placed under house arrest. Their return to the US a month later, "after years of torment, uncertainty and suffering," according to Joe Biden, is no coincidence. It coincided with the week of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was present. No meeting between the two leaders is scheduled. The release also comes on the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman tortured and killed by the Iranian morality police. The tragedy led to the groundbreaking civic movement Woman, Life, Freedom.
Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Photographer Siamak Amiri portrays the bravery of the young women at the heart of protests in Iran
"This agreement in no way changes our relationship with Iran," a senior US official explained to the press. Iran is an adversary and state sponsor of terrorism. We will hold them accountable whenever possible." Taking foreign and particularly American hostages has been a defining tool of the regime since 1979 and the Islamic revolution. The last negotiation of this nature dates back to 2016 with Washington. In an open letter published while still on the plane to Qatar, businessman Siamak Namazi, detained for eight years, put heartbreaking words to this reality: "Evin prison has virtually become the dystopian United Nations of hostages." Some 20 Europeans are currently being held there.
Favorable context for resuming diplomatic contacts
The White House knows that the issue of the money released is a sensitive one, with many conservative voices portraying it as "the payment of a ransom" to kidnappers, following the example of Donald Trump's former defense secretary Mark Esper, on Fox News. The administration points out that these are not US funds, but Iranian money made available to Tehran to buy medical equipment, medicines and food. South Korea was determined to comply fully with the US sanctions already deployed against Iran, hence the importance of the transfer to Qatar, approved by Washington and demonstrating the absence of any complacency. On Monday, new measures against the regime were announced. "We have sanctioned more than 400 individuals and entities in 40 sanctions tranches since the beginning of our administration," recalled a senior official.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, surrounded by other European leaders, in Athens on August 21, 2023. THANASSIS STAVRAKIS / AP
It's an important deadline: At their meeting in Brussels at the end of December, the heads of state and government of the EU-27 will have to decide whether to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. At the same time, they will have to make a gesture toward the countries of the Western Balkans, who have been waiting in the antechamber of the European Union for years and would hate to see Kyiv and Chisinau pass them by.
Today, the 27 member states all agree that enlargement is inevitable, given the geopolitical context and the war in Ukraine on the EU's borders. But when it comes to the question of how to proceed with this project, which will radically change the economic, social and political face of the union, the answers vary widely from one capital to the next.
Against this backdrop, France and Germany commissioned 12 independent political scientists to examine the subject. On Tuesday, September 19, the two rapporteurs, Olivier Costa and Daniela Schwarzer, were due to present their conclusions to the European affairs ministers, in a report designed to explain to the EU-27 how to "Sailing on High Seas." On this occasion, the French junior minister for Europe, Laurence Boone, and her German counterpart, Anna Luhrmann, were to reiterate that their work is not binding on Paris and Berlin.
Differences of opinion
"The EU is not ready yet to welcome new members, neither institutionally nor policy wise," according to the "group of 12," as the experts call themselves. The report therefore advocates reforming the EU before or at the same time as enlargement, in line, from this point of view, with what Paris and Berlin are advocating. "The risk is that we may repeat our previous error of enlargement without integration. I know all too well that in a Europe with 27 countries, it is quite complicated to move forward on essential issues. And with 32 or 35 countries, it will not be any easier, to say the least," Emmanuel Macron explained to French ambassadors on August 28.
Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes European integration: 'Let's avoid the shock of going from 27 to 35 member states in one go'
Not everyone in the EU shares this view. Indeed, another report on enlargement, written by Baltic, Polish, Nordic and Croatian political scientists and presented to European affairs ministers at a dinner hosted by Lithuania on the evening of September 18, recommends that the arrival of new member states should not be conditional on institutional reforms. These countries, traditionally more in favor of an enlarged Europe than Paris and Berlin, fear that the French-German dialectic could be a pretext for burying enlargement once again.
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Donald Trump speaks on the stage at a South Dakota Republican party rally in Rapid City, South Dakota, September 8, 2023. JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS
Former American president Donald Trump is facing new blowback from anti-abortion activists for refusing to commit to national abortion restrictions and for calling Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' signing of a six-week ban on the procedure a "terrible mistake."
On the latest episode of NBC's Meet the Press, Trump repeatedly declined to say whether he would support a federal ban on abortion. He said he could "live with" the procedure being banned by individual states or nationwide through federal action, though he said "from a legal standpoint, I think it's probably better" to be handled at the state level. Regarding the bill signed by DeSantis, which bans abortions before many women know they are pregnant, Trump said, "I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake."
So far, the former president has dominated the 2024 field while at times spurning the anti-abortion groups that traditionally have huge influence in Republican primaries. But Trump's direct attack on DeSantis, whom he's long treated as his chief rival, could give the Florida governor new fodder as he tries to regain momentum in his campaign and solidify his second-place standing. Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, DeSantis campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin wrote of Trump: "If you want to appease Democrats, here's your guy. If you want to defeat the Democrats in 2024, (DeSantis) is the only choice." Another campaign spokesman, Andrew Romeo, distributed to reporters a roundup of conservative groups criticizing Trump and accused him of repeatedly compromising with Democrats. "Republicans across the country know that Ron DeSantis will never back down," Romeo said.
Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes Why Ron DeSantis is stalling in race for the White House
"We're at a moment where we need a human rights advocate, someone who is dedicated to saving the lives of children and serving mothers in need. Every single candidate should be clear on how they plan to do that," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
Trump has approached abortion from a political stance, saying that the Supreme Court's decision gave conservatives room to negotiate new restrictions. He has argued Republicans' push for abortion restrictions hurt the GOP in the 2022 midterm elections and that GOP candidates need to do a better job of explaining the issue.
Calling himself "the most pro-life president in American history," the former president noted that three of his Supreme Court picks formed part of the conservative majority that overturned Roe.
Some Conservatives in some key states, including those backing his rivals, expressed displeasure after the interview. Among them was South Carolina state representative John McCravy, who sponsored the most recent, restrictive abortion measure, which bans the practice in his state after around six weeks of pregnancy. South Carolina will be among the early states to choose a nominee. McCravy described himself in an interview as "certainly disappointed." "It sounded completely out of step with his staunch support for life while he was president," he said. McCravy has endorsed South Carolina Senator Tim Scott in the 2024 GOP presidential primary but told AP last week, "Trump would probably be a close second, noting his Supreme Court appointments and his attending the March for Life rally in Washington.
Kristen Waggoner, CEO of the conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, also took issue. "Laws protecting the unborn are not a 'terrible mistake.' They are the hallmark of a just and moral society," she wrote on X. "Governors who protect life should be applauded, not attacked."
RTE'S CRIMECALL returns for its twentieth season with a new presenter, Carla OBrien, and a new look.
The series will air next Monday,September 25, at 9.35pm on RTE One.
Each month this long-running, popular RTE strand uses reconstructions, CCTV footage and live studio appeals to look for information from the public, to help with Garda investigations.
Calls to the programme have led to numerous convictions over the previous 19 series.
On next week's programme the family of Dublin man Martin Lynn speaks about his death and hopes the public can help Gardai with their investigation.
The show also covers the 37-year-old mystery of a body that washed up on the Leitrim coast in 1986.
Gardai are appealing to anyone who might recognise the detail on the bodys distinctive tattoos.
Crimecall will also hear from a man rebuilding his life after escaping from forced labour in rural Ireland.
Commenting on her new role, incoming presenter Carla OBrien said: It is an honour and a privilege to be given the opportunity to present such a long-running and popular programme as Crimecall, which is a cornerstone of public service broadcasting. I look forward to working with An Garda Siochana, the production team and, most importantly, the viewers, who make the programme possible.
After five plus years in the Crimecall hotseat, previous presenter Sharon Ni Bheolain said; Crimecall is a valued piece of public service broadcasting and it was nothing short of a privilege to host the show for five and a half years. Alas, its time for me to move on but not before expressing my sincere gratitude to the dedicated Crimecall team, the studio crew, and An Garda Siochana all of whom made my job look easy!
"In particular, Id like to pay tribute to the many brave programme contributors; victims of crime, their families and loved ones of missing persons who spoke to me so movingly, often in the most grief-stricken circumstances. Its my great pleasure to hand over the baton now to my super-talented friend and colleague Carla O'Brien. I know she will do a great job. I know our loyal viewers will continue to tune in in great numbers and help Gardai where they can with their crime appeals.
Watch Crimecall, on RTE One, Monday September 25, 9.35pm.
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New Delhi: German plumbing materials and sanitary fittings manufacturer Hansgrohe, known for its premium faucets and showers, is set to expand its presence in the Indian bathroom solutions market with the launch of new ceramics line.
In an exclusive interview, the German brands India managing director, Gaurav Malhotra talked about the companys plans to introduce 64 new ceramics designs to the Indian market by 2023-end, as a part of its strategy to provide a full range of bathroom solutions to Indian consumers.
While faucets and showers constitute the bulk of its business, Hansgrohe sees opportunity to leverage its brand reputation for luxury fixtures catering to aspirational consumers. This also aligns with the evolving preferences of Indian who are increasingly investing in bathroom renovations, Malhotra said.
The ceramics portfolio will enable the company to access new customer segments, and drive market penetration. The company also aims to improve its price positioning through a new assembly unit set to open in India by late 2023. The unit will initially assemble faucets to reduce import duties. In the long term, it hopes to lower the costs further by sourcing and manufacturing locally. It has over 160 dealer showrooms across Indias major cities.
The luxury segment constitutes 4-6% of the Indian market, compared to 40% in developed markets like Germany. In China, its 15-20%. In India, we have a lot of space to penetrate deeper into our categories, and offer a range of bathroom solutions in ceramics." said Malhotra.
He added that the company has seen remarkable growth over the last decade. Since becoming a full subsidiary in 2012, Hansgrohe India has grown aggressively with a sevenfold jump in the last 5-6 years alone. In terms of distribution network, we had a presence in just 13 cities in 2018, which has now grown to more than 72 cities, operating over 160 stores. Our market share has also tripled in India," added Malhotra.
The company is also looking to tap newer growth opportunities beyond metro cities through expansion into tier 2 locations and focus on the projects segment.
While metros like Mumbai and Delhi remain important, and even for project developments, I think our larger share still comes from the top eight to 10 cities, there is a large potential for sales growth in smaller cities and towns across the country. We will have customised dealership formats and marketing initiatives," he added.
While Hansgrohe primarily operates in the business-to-business (B2B) space, it acknowledges the importance of a growing consumer presence. The company is gradually increasing its visibility in the business-to-consumer (B2C) domain, recognising that consumers play an influential role in the final product selection. Currently, it has partnerships with architects and designers for B2B sales and this retail brings 85% of its business, with 15% coming from the hospitality industry.
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Starbucks is set to face a courtroom battle over allegations that some of its Refresher fruit drinks deceive customers by lacking actual fruit, despite fruit-flavoured names. US District Judge John Cronan in Manhattan has denied the coffee chain's request to quash nine out of 11 claims in the pending class-action lawsuit.
The dispute centres on a range of Starbucks' Refresher drinks, including Mango Dragonfruit, Pineapple Passionfruit, and Strawberry Acai. Consumers argue that these beverages don't contain any of the fruits highlighted in their titles. Instead, the main ingredients listed were water, grape juice concentrate and sugar, Reuters reported.
Also Read: Starbucks will fetch the next 1k cr faster: Tata Consumer
Joan Kominis from Astoria, New York, and Jason McAllister from Fairfield, California, have spearheaded the lawsuit. They claim that Starbucks has violated consumer protection laws in their respective states by charging a premium for misleadingly named drinks. The lawsuit, initiated in August 2022, seeks at least $5 million in damages.
Starbucks defended itself by stating that the names of the beverages were meant to describe their flavour profiles, not their ingredient lists. The Seattle-based company also argued that no reasonable consumer would be confused by the naming, asserting that in-store staff could have clarified any misconceptions.
However, Judge Cronan noted that, unlike the term 'vanilla', which has been the subject of multiple lawsuits, words like 'mango', 'passionfruit' and 'acai' are generally understood to indicate not just flavour but also the presence of the ingredient itself.
Also Read: Starbucks Profit Surges on Higher Prices, Improved Operations
As per the judge, the confusion is also understandable as other products from Starbucks, such as the Ice Matcha Tea Latte and Honey Citrus Mint Tea, do contain the ingredients named.
Two of the original claimsfraud and unjust enrichmentwere dismissed by the judge, citing a lack of evidence that Starbucks had fraudulent intentions.
In response to the legal development, Starbucks issued a statement. The company insisted that the lawsuit's claims were "inaccurate and without merit". It expressed eagerness to present its case in court. Robert Abiri, who represents the plaintiffs, said he was satisfied with the judge's decision to proceed and looked forward to representing the proposed class.
(With Reuters inputs)
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New Delhi: Dutch multinational automotive group Stellantis, which markets Jeep and Citroen in India, is planning to double sales of the Jeep Compass SUV by the end of 2023.
The company launched an affordable variant of the Compass exclusively for the Indian market to cater to the countrys value-oriented buyers and their unique" requirements, as part of its strategy to make the Jeep brand more accessible, said Stellantis deputy managing director Aditya Jairaj.
Jeep is looking to sell over 1,000 units every month, including 700-800 units of the Compass, double the volume it sells now, besides the Wrangler and Meridian models, Jairaj added.
Jeep introduced the affordable 4x2 automatic transmission diesel variant of the Compass designed exclusively for the Indian market for 23.99 lakh. The base variant will be available for 20.49 lakh.
Were launching a product variant that is exclusively to India and wont be sold any-where else. It will increase our coverage in C-segment SUV by four times compared to today. It is very significant for us as it provides opportunity for a much larger base of prospective consumers aspiring for the Jeep brand," Jairaj said.
Our dealers are confident that the value proposition (of the new product) is such that sales will be increasing significantly. Our aspiration is to go back to 2022 levels. Some specific areas are sweet spots in the SUV market and automatic transmission will help operate in a subsection that is growing. Our aspirations are definitely to double Compass volumes."
Jairaj said the firm is well-prepared and has a distribution strategy in place to meet demand. The Indian market is unique in many ways, and if we have to continue to be successful, one very simple thing we need to do is to cater to our customers needs."
We are continuously evaluating segments to operate in and the consumer needs. Im unable to specifically say if we will be moving up or down in the segments we are operating in, but Jeep will continue to stand for what we stand for. Every Jeep will be 4x4 capable, authentic, and provide the four tenants of freedom, authenticity, adventure and passion. We will make sure that we satisfy consumer needs, and in India, these consumer needs are quite unique and specific," Jairaj added.
India-Canada News: The India-Canada relationship is hitting new lows as both countries have announced the expulsion of diplomats of the other country after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of having linkages in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Hours after Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat over Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing, India asked a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday. Earlier today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled a top Indian diplomat as he accused the Indian government agents of killing Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
Read more: In tit-for-tat, India expels Canadian diplomat. Details here
Also Read: Live updates on India-Canada news
Mint reported earlier that a senior government official said on Friday that the negotiations between India and Canada on the free trade agreement (FTA), which resumed after a decade, have come to a halt due to political concerns.
Without citing the Khalistan issue, which created differences between the two countries, the official said negotiations will resume once the political issues" are resolved.
Read more: India-Canada FTA talks paused due to political reasons
"On September 10, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau India's strong concerns about the continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada that were promoting secessionism, inciting violence against its diplomats and threatening the Indian community there," PTI reported.
Let's take a look at India-Canada ties and trade dealings.
India-Canada key trade data
According to Invest India, Canada is the 18th largest foreign investor in India with an overall investment of about $3,306 million from April 2000 to March 2023. Thus, Canadian investment represented about 0.5 per cent of the total FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows into India. India was Canada's ninth-largest trading partner in 2022. Services and infrastructure together accounted for 40.63 per cent of the total FDI investments from Canada to India.
Over 600 Canadian companies have a presence in India and over 1,000 Canadian companies are actively pursuing business in the Indian market, according to Invest India.
According to the data available at the Ministry of Commerce, India's total exports to Canada stood at $4,109.74 million in FY23 which was 0.9 per cent of India's total export of $450,958.43 million in the last financial year.
On the other hand, India's total imports from Canada in FY23 stood at $4,051.29 million which was nearly 0.6 per cent of India's total imports of $714,042.45 million for the year, Ministry of Commerce data showed.
According to a PTI report, India's exports to Canada include pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, textiles, and machinery, while Canada's exports to India include pulses, timber, pulp and paper, and mining products.
If we talk about personal remittances, in 2022, India received nearly $859.83 million in personal remittances from Canada, according to World Bank data.
India-Canada trade may not be impacted
As per a PTI report, experts believe the fresh tensions between India and Canada are unlikely to impact trade and investments between the two countries as economic ties are driven by commercial considerations.
Experts point out that India and Canada do not compete on similar products but trade in complementary products so trade relationships may not be affected by these events.
PTI quoted Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) Co-Founder Ajay Srivastava saying that Canadian pension funds will continue investing in India on grounds of India's large market and good return on money invested.
Canadian pension funds, by the end of 2022, had invested over $45 billion in India, making it the fourth-largest recipient of Canadian FDI in the world. The top sectors for Canadian pension fund investment in India include infrastructure, renewable energy, technology, and financial services, the PTI report said.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts, experts and broking companies, not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in the United States, where he will take part in the UN General Assembly and hold bilateral meetings.
"New York. Right from the airport I'm going to our soldiers who are undergoing treatment and rehabilitation in America. First of all, support for our people and gratitude to those who help Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said on Monday in the Telegram channel.
"Next are important and busy days. The UN General Assembly, the Sustainable Development Goals Summit, the Security Council. Significant bilateral meetings have already been scheduled," he said.
Zelenskyy also said "the territorial integrity of the state is a key principle of all basic international documents, in particular the UN Charter. And it is necessary to return it to its full strength, destroyed by the Russian invasion, and to increase the ability of the UN to stop and prevent aggression."
"Ukraine will make a clear proposal on this matter to UN members," he said.
In Washington, he said, negotiations are planned with the President of the United States, with the leaders of the chambers and parties of Congress, and with the military leadership. "I will meet with American business, journalists, and the community. Thank you for the leadership of the United States in supporting our struggle for freedom and independence," Zelenskyy also said.
China is slowing down. By its own high standards, that is. In the first half of 2023, the Chinese economy grew at a rate of 5.5%, above the official 5% target, but well below its historical rate of growth. At the same time, it faces deflation and rising youth unemployment. These data points suggest an economic slowdowna possibility that has sent shock waves around the world, because we have become used to a China that consistently grows at double-digit rates. Plus, it is so deeply embedded in global supply chains that a fall in Chinese demand is expected to have a wide impact. It is often said that when China sneezes, the world catches a cold. But the reality is that some countries are more at risk from a slowdown in China.
China is the worlds second-largest importing nation. Naturally, its import partners are very vulnerable to a weakening of Chinese demand. Top of the list are countries that export agricultural products (Brazil), fuel (Gulf nations, Malaysia), minerals and ores (Chile, Peru, Australia), electronics and chips (South Korea, Japan) and machinery (Germany) to China. Of these, the risk is higher for economies where exports contribute significantly to GDP, because they face sharp growth downgrades if a slowing China cuts back on imports. This means that the US, which exports four times more to China in dollar terms than, say, Chile, is less directly impacted because the US economy is led by domestic consumption rather than exports.
The big Chinese spender
In 2019, 155 million tourists travelled from China and collectively spent $254.6 billion. Their top destinations included Southeast Asia, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Europe. Often travelling in large tour groups, they were big spenders, and supported jobs and incomes in many tourist centres. The covid-19 pandemic put an end to this flow. When China opened up, countries raced to attract Chinese tourists, but tourism has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
The global luxury market is another casualty of a slowing China. Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists travelled to the US and Europe to buy luxury goods to avoid taxes and tariffs in their home country. Nowadays they increasingly opt for domestic luxury brands, or buy from local duty-free retail outlets, which are allowed to sell international brands. Between 2019 and 2022, Chinas share of the global personal luxury goods market dropped from 33% to 19%, suggesting that spending has become more cautious.
Shifting FDI flows
Foreign direct investments (FDI) into China dropped significantly in 2022, and reached an all-time low of $4.9 billion in the April-June quarter of 2023. One reason is that many foreign companies are considering shifting out, or at least avoiding new investment in China. Thats because US-China tensions, rising labour costs, and a data localization drive have worsened the business environment. Theres also the risk of devastating policy about-turns: recently, Apple lost nearly $200 billion in market valuation after China discouraged government employees from using iPhones.
Businesses want access to the large Chinese market without being caught up in geopolitics. So an increasingly popular solution is to set up alternate production bases. Emerging Asian economies are likely to be the main beneficiaries of any resulting FDI shifts from China. Lower-cost Vietnam has been supplementing China for some years now. Going forward, others like India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines could attract more FDI.
Economic uncertainty
Chinas slowdown is uneven: not all its sectors are slowing down. For instance, China dominates in renewable power and is the world leader in electrical vehicle production. In 2022, it beat Germany to become the worlds second largest automobiles exporter. On the other hand, purchasing managers indices for manufacturing and services are weak and give no indication of a recovery. Imports have declined in each month of 2023, exports have declined for four straight months, yet crude imports remain strong.
Such mixed signals make it tough to assess the extent and length of the slowdown, and add to the prevailing global economic uncertainty. The uncertainty is reflected in the exchange rates of countries that are the most closely linked to China: South Korea, Australia and Malaysia. These yuan proxies have been very volatile, appreciating when China opened up in January 2023, and then falling when the expected growth did not materialize.
The author is an independent writer in economics and finance.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections 2023: The Congress is all set to launch the Jan Aakrosh Yatra today, Tuesday, September 19, from seven places covering all 230 assembly segments in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh, said officials.
Addressing a press conference earlier, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and AICC in-charge for the state Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged rampant corruption under the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government, saying they had failed to tackle unemployment and crime against women and Dalits.
"As many as 250 scams have taken place during 225 months of the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh. The dissatisfaction among people against the 18-year rule of Shivraj Singh Chouhan has turned into 'Jan akrosh' (public anger)," Surjewala said as quoted by PTI.
The Congress leader also alleged that Madhya Pradesh is witnessing "severe anarchy, crime, fear, atrocities, and looting".
"All sections, including tribals, farmers, Dalits, daughters, sons, backward classes and youths, want to remove this government to save the state," Surjewala said and alleged 58,000 women and girls were raped and about 67,000 others were abducted in Madhya Pradesh in the last 18 years, PTI reported.
He added that the grand old party will take out Jan Akrosh Yatra from seven places beginning September 19 to highlight all these issues in the state.
The marches will collectively cover 11,400 kilometers across all 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh in 15 days.
Congress leaders, including the leader of the opposition Govind Singh, former state Congress chief Arun Yadav, ex-ministers Kamleshwar Patel, Jitu Patwari, and Ajay Singh and former Union ministers Suresh Pachouri and Kantilal Bhuria, will lead the Yatra from various locations, as per PTI reports.
As the assembly elections are scheduled to take place in Madhya Pradesh later this year, both the ruling BJP and opposition Congress are trying to reach out to the masses and they have either taken out or planned Yatras.
The BJP has already rolled out Jan Ashirward Yatra' to "seek the blessings of the people". The Yatars, being taken out from various places, will culminate in Bhopal on September 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the "mahakumbh" or mega gathering of BJP workers on the occasion.
(With PTI inputs)
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Dabur India Ltds Capital Markets Day 2023 event has hardly evoked any response from investors with the stock being flattish over the past two days.This is not surprising as the fast-moving consumer goods ( FMCG ) company has laid down some targets, the results of which can be evaluated only after some time.
Over the medium term, Dabur aspires to clock sales of 7,000 crore in its home and personal care (HPC) business, and 5,000 crore for its healthcare business. Furthermore, Dabur aims to drive double digit growth in the food and beverages (F&B) business. Its domestic business has three key verticals: HPC, healthcare, and F&B, which reported revenues of 3,845 crore, 2,581 crore and 1,724 crore (excluding contribution from Badshah Masala acquisition), respectively, in FY23. These segments accounted for 47%, 32% and 21% of its domestic revenues, respectively. As such, Daburs domestic business accounts for about 75% of its revenues. The rest comes from the international segment. Going ahead, the company plans to grow international operating revenue in double-digits in constant currency terms.
View Full Image Graphic: Mint
Overall, a key strategy across segments includes strengthening the core and boosting the addressable market by expanding into new adjacencies through power platforms. In this backdrop, the company has been increasing thrust on transitioning to power platforms from power brands. Daburs power platform strategy involves extending its brands into adjacent product lines and expanding the total addressable market of its product portfolio, which, in turn, is expected to give a further boost to its brands. For instance, earlier, Daburs Real brand was primarily known to be focused on the juices and nectars category. However, it now encompasses a diverse range of products such as fruit drinks, a PET portfolio, aloe vera based drinks, plant-based drinks like soya and almond, aerated fruit beverages, milkshakes, etc.
Besides, it also plans to increase premiumization of its portfolio. Premium products are about 8-9% of its portfolio now.
But not everyone is enthused about this. As analysts from ICICI Securities Ltd said in a report on 18 September: In our view, its power platform strategy appears to increase business complexity (a key concern for consensus) which Dabur intends to manage through its organizational strengths."
Driving premiumization is unlikely to be an easy journey for Dabur given its middle class and rural India positioning, they said. In the near term, like other FMCG companies, Dabur faces risks of weakness in rural demand. However, considering its relatively high exposure to the market, it is more vulnerable to rural pressure.
In the September quarter so far, July has been a good month while August was bogged down by poor rains and weak demand. September is likely to see a pick up. In Q2, Kotak Institutional Equities expects low single-digit and middle single-digit growth in volumes and value, respectively, in Daburs India business. It helps that Dabur expects FY24 to be better than FY23 with the underperformance in rural markets narrowing gradually versus urban. It aims to clock an Ebitda margin of 19.5% in FY24 and for FY25, the target is more than 20%.
Meanwhile, Dabur also highlighted that consolidated revenue in FY19-23 saw 7.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since it set out a new strategy four years ago. This is an improvement from 2.2% CAGR seen in the previous four-year period.
Hereon, investors will be monitoring the progress towards its new targets. For now, shares of Dabur have been a laggard in 2023, underperforming the Nifty FMCG index by a wide margin. Analysts reckon valuations factor concerns as well as near-term positives adequately, one of which is the anticipated gross margin expansion amid easing cost pressures. But then again, higher advertising spends are likely to curtail Ebitda margin expansion.
The stock trades at 44 times estimated earnings for FY25, according to Bloomberg data. But investors should note that while there are no obvious tailwinds, the rural demand recovery has been painfully slow, which may cap large upsides.
Mumbai: With an aim to provide unique products, Bharti AXA Life has announced the launch of its New Fund Offering (NFO) - Emerging Equity Fund. Speaking on the New Fund Offering launch, Parag Raja, MD & CEO of Bharti AXA Life Insurance said, We are delighted to introduce our brand-new Emerging Equity Fund. This New Fund Offering marks our first offering in more than 13 years since our last fund launch in 2010. By participating in our New Fund Offering, investors can access the investment market with a modest initial capital during the subscription period, taking advantage of the New Fund Offering's base value, and potentially reap substantial long-term capital growth."
Rahul Bhuskute, the Chief Investment Officer at Bharti AXA Life Insurance said, Bharti AXA Life Emerging Equity Fund is our first ever Mid-Cap fund offering. We firmly believe that mid-caps represent the future's emerging blue-chip companies. This category of stocks possesses the potential to yield robust long-term wealth, outperforming returns from large-cap counterparts. Mid-cap stocks can complement both high-risk and low-risk investment strategies, offering investors a balance of stability and growth."
Bharti AXA Life Insurance unveils New Fund Offering - Emerging Equity Fund: Key things to know
1)This is the first mid-cap fund launched by the organization with an aim to provide long-term capital appreciation through investing in a portfolio of mid-cap companies.
2)The newly launched fund will be managed by a team of seasoned professionals at Bharti AXA Life Insurance who have a proven track record of delivering exceptional returns.
3) This mid-cap fund will offer higher returns, productivity, and profitability and will also have more growth potential. Since New Fund Offerings allocate their investments to new securities and strategies, they offer improved performance in certain market conditions.
4)Early investors can also get the opportunity to enjoy higher returns as the fund's performance improves.
5) Investing through Bharti AXA Lifes Emerging Equity Fund will allow investors to diversify their investments.
6) Customers can invest in Bharti AXA Lifes Emerging Equity Fund through three of Bharti AXA Lifes ULIP Plans: Bharti AXA Life Wealth Pro, Bharti AXA Life Grow Wealth and the newly launched Bharti AXA Life Wealth Maximizer.
Bharti AXA Life Insurance is a joint venture between Bharti, one of Indias leading business groups with interests in telecom, agriculture business, and retail, and AXA, one of the worlds leading organizations with interests in financial protection and wealth management. The joint venture company has a 51% stake in Bharti and a 49% stake in AXA.
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SINGAPOREChinas top diplomat was set to begin a four-day visit to Russia after a surprise stopover in Malta for weekend talks with White House officials, as Beijing lays the groundwork for separate meetings between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his U.S. and Russian counterparts.
Russias Vladimir Putin is expected to visit China in Octoberhis first trip abroad since the International Criminal Court in March issued an arrest warrant over his role in the forced deportation of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. Anticipation is growing that Xi and President Biden could meet at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco the following month.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis trip follows on the heels of several meetings with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta this past weekend.
The previously unannounced Malta talks came after the pair held a secret meeting in Vienna in May. That meeting followed months of tensions over a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that drifted across the U.S., derailing plans by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to make his first visit to China in February.
The Vienna talks helped set the stage for the revival of high-level contacts that unfolded over the summer with the Beijing visits by Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, special climate envoy John Kerry and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo despite criticisms from Republican lawmakers, who say Biden appears to be making concessions without any response in kind from China.
Beijing should recognize that the Biden administration is continuing efforts to remain engaged with China despite domestic pushback," said Paul Haenle, a China expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The only time Biden and Xi have met as heads of state was at the G-20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali last November.
The Malta talks showed that U.S.-China ties remain a work in progress," said Wu Xinbu, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Shanghais Fudan University, adding that although the lack of detail showed many issues remained unresolved, the two sides were on the right track."
The meetings covered an array of topics, including Ukraine as well as other global security issues, statements from both sides said. Sullivan stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, according to the U.S. statement. The Chinese readout said that Wang had warned that Taiwan, the self-ruled island China claims as its own territory, is the first insurmountable red line of Sino-U. S. relations."
China sent more than 100 warplanes on sorties near Taiwan between Sunday and Monday mornings, a recent high for such flights, Taiwans Ministry of National Defense said, with 40 of those entering the Taiwanese air-defense identification zone. Nine Chinese naval vessels were also detected in nearby waters, it said.
Both sides also noted that they intended to expand high-level engagement in the coming months, with Chinas readout saying that the U.S. and China had agreed to hold bilateral consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs, maritime affairs and foreign policy. Beijing had suspended various communication channels following former House Speaker Nancy Pelosis visit to Taiwan last summer.
The timing of Wangs back-to-back meetings appeared to reflect a growing strategic relationship and increased coordination between China and Russia, said Carnegie Endowments Haenle.
Fudan Universitys Wu said that the Russia trip had most probably been scheduled a long time in advance to discuss preparations for Putins visit.
Wangs meetings with his American and Russian counterparts are taking place as Beijing is struggling with a slowing economy and dealing with what appears to be turmoil among top-ranking party personnel. Wang returned to his job as Chinas foreign minister in July after Qin Gang was removed from the post without explanation.
In August, Chinas Defense Minister Li Shangfu visited Russia and Belarus and called for closer military cooperation. This month, Li was taken away by authorities for questioning, The Wall Street Journal reported, while U.S. officials said he is being removed from his post.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, asked at a routine briefing on Friday to comment on whether Li was under investigation, said she wasnt aware of the situation.
The recent meetings and engagements between China and the U.S. were important for gaining visibility into China and figuring out how it is dealing with the various challenges, said Haenle. It is become harder and harder to know what China wants to do. It is becoming more and more like a black box."
Joyu Wang in Taipei contributed to this article.
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NEW DELHI : The bankruptcy regulator has amended the rules to speed up debt resolution of companies by reducing litigation and giving greater clarity on the obligations of parties involved in the process.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) also strengthened the role of professionals administering bankrupt businesses by codifying the process by which the records of a companys assets can be taken over from any person, not just promoters and managers.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Insolvency Resolution Process for Corporate Persons) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2023, which is effective from Monday also says that the bankruptcy resolution professional can approach a tribunal if the persons do not hand over such records.
The move seeks to make bankruptcy resolution more fool- proof by curtailing the scope of litigation and making the process smooth, said experts.
Yogendra Aldak, partner at law firm Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Attorneys, said the amendments prescribe the manner in which an application for initiation of corporate debt resolution process is to be made.
Every minute detail pertaining to the debt including the date of default and acknowledgment of debt has to be necessarily provided.
Besides, to address delays in submission of claims by creditors, the amendment has confined the time-period for submission of claims to either before the date of issuance of request for a resolution plan or 90 days from the insolvency commencement date, whichever is earlier.
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In a blunt allegory of the relations between Canada and India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled a top Indian diplomat as he accused the Indian government agents of killing Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
Trudeau, accusing India of Nijjar's murder, comes days after he was stuck in Delhi for two days after the conclusion of the Group of 20 summit as his aircraft developed a snag. During the G20 Summit, both Modi and Trudeau repeatedly had a testy meeting. Trade talks have been derailed between the two nations. Canada cancelled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall. Now, Trudeau's accusing India of Nijjar's murder has shown how low India-Canada relations have plummeted. Read all the LIVE updates of this BIG story of the day What did Canadian PM Justin Trudeau say? Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said on Monday. He added, "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty...In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter". Also read: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau says India killed Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
How India responded?
According to the statrement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India has rejected allegations by Canada. India has also asked a senior Canadian diplomat ordered to leave the country. The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the MEA said.
MEA added, Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil".
Canada on Monday expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that the Indian government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist, according to a report published by The Associated Press.
In Parliament, the Canadian PM said the country's intelligence agencies have been investigating the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau further said that he brought up the slaying with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit last week. I told PM Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and asked for cooperation in the investigation."
The expulsion comes as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.
Currently, Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said as quoted by AP.
The Canadian PM said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canadas allies on the case.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora, AP reported.
Nijjar had talked about an unofficial Khalistan referendum vote seeking a separate Sikh state. The Indian government had offered a reward for information leading to Nijjars arrest or apprehension last year. The reward of 1 million was offered by Indias National Investigation Agency, the countrys counterterrorism body.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan."
(With AP inputs)
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Canadas allegations regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada could be the most significant test of the strength of the US-India partnership since early 2000s, said US-based senior Defence Analyst Derek J. Grossman on Tuesday.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the National security and Indo-Pacific analyst at RAND Corporation wrote, Canadas bombshell accusation today against India could be a most significant test of the strength of US-India partnership since the early 2000s." That said, the US will pull out all the stops to keep India close by its side to help counter China, which could mean staying out of this mess," the analyst further said. An economics professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, Vivek Dehejia also termed Canada's allegations against India explosive, ANI reported. These are explosive allegations by Trudeau against India, as yet unproven. The already frayed bilateral relationship will take a nose dive, and the Indo-Canadian diaspora will be driven by this. Best for all of us to take a pause till the facts are known," Dehejia wrote on X.
Meanwhile, South Asia Institute Director at the Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman, also said Canadas allegations against India are a reflection of a highly fraught relationship."
The Canadians didnt go about this quietly. Trudeau made the direct accusation while speaking before the House of Commons, and his government publicly identified an Indian diplomat it expelled as the head of Indian intel in Canada," Kugelman said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled a top Indian diplomat as he accused the Indian government agents of killing Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
However, India has rejected allegations by Canada. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the Ministry of External Affairs said in an official statement.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the statement said.
(With ANI inputs)
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In a startling development that has sent ripples through diplomatic circles, Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat in the wake of Canada levelling serious allegations against the Indian government for its supposed involvement in the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Khalistani leader, near Vancouver in June.
Citing "credible allegations", Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency parliamentary session that his administration believes Indian agents could be linked to Nijjar's murder.
Trudeau urged India to assist in the investigation, emphasising that any form of foreign government's involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen is a blatant violation of Canada's sovereignty.
While the Canadian Prime Minister stopped short of directly accusing India, Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie acted swiftly, announcing the immediate expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat. She identified the diplomat as the head of India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), AFP reported.
Although the name of the expelled diplomat remains undisclosed, the impact of the expulsion is expected to put a significant strain on the already tenuous relationship between Canada and India.
Nijjar was shot multiple times in his vehicle, situated within the premises of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia. Authorities, led by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), are currently pursuing multiple suspects in the case. Timothy Pierotti, an IHIT official, stated that while there's much public conjecture about the motive behind the killing, the investigation will follow where the evidence leads.
Canada is home to a significant Sikh population, and according to various Indian authorities, there are marginal factions within this community that continue to support the concept of Khalistan, a separate Sikh state.
(With AFP inputs)
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Despite the fact that the impeachment procedure against the president was initiated due to her international visits without government permission, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has announced her intention to continue visiting European countries.She stated, "Soon I will visit the Baltic countries, Poland, and Belgium, as one of the oldest European countries," during her speech at a meeting with non-governmental organizations."Everyone should do what they can. The biggest role the media can play is not to allow different issues to overshadow what is important. The main thing is that all of us - the country, the society - want this European future, we have no other future. Another future, and I want to emphasize this, cannot be Russia today. Georgia will not allow this. I will not allow it, you will not allow it, and no one will allow it. No one should scare us that something is impossible. Everything is in our hands, and no one can destroy us. Whoever tries to do this will lose himself," said the President.Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, met with the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during a meeting held in New York as part of the UN General Assembly. According to the Prime Minister's press office, they discussed regional security issues, reviewed the results of the two countries' strategic partnership, and outlined new prospects for future cooperation.Irakli Gharibashvili noted that Georgia and Turkey have made significant progress in their cooperation, which has been reflected in both economic and political dimensions.According to the Prime Minister, the existing regional projects serve as clear examples of effective strategic cooperation, sustainable development, and a reliable partnership between Georgia and Turkey. These projects are expected to contribute to greater economic independence, security, and prosperity for both countries.As stated in the information released by the Prime Minister's press office, the parties also discussed the security environment in the region. Irakli Gharibashvili emphasized the importance of resolving issues through peaceful negotiations.Irakli Gharibashvili thanked Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his strong support for Georgia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, as well as European and North Atlantic integration.
The body of a dead man, a warehouse worker, was found under the rubble of a warehouse damaged as a result of an attack by enemy drones in Lviv, Mayor of the city Andriy Sadovy has said.
"The body of a dead man who worked in a warehouse was found under the rubble," he said on his Telegram channel on Tuesday morning.
Later, the mayor said three warehouses have been destroyed by the strikes.
"These are warehouses with windows, household chemicals, as well as premises where the charitable mission Caritas-Spes stored humanitarian aid. In total, the fire area is about 10,000 square meters," Sadovy said.
As reported, Lviv region was attacked on Tuesday morning by 18 Shahed-type UAVs, 15 of them were shot down, seven directly in the airspace of the region, and three hit industrial warehouses in Lviv.
Earlier, with reference to Head of Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytsky, it was reported that one victim was a 26-year-old young man who was in the warehouse at the time of the attack. There was also a woman at the scene who did not require hospitalization.
NEW DELHI : The diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh leader in British Columbia will not affect the flow of Canadian investments into India, a senior finance ministry official said on Tuesday.
Firstly, Western nations have invested in markets they have found promising irrespective of political or diplomatic differences. One example is China. Secondly, Canadas pension fund and other investments into India are small and are not critical to the Indian economy," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Experts also endorsed the governments view, while some highlighted the absence of a trade deal between the two nations as a factor that could pose unpredictability for businesses. The India-Canada relationship is based on mutual benefits, complementarity in trade and deep people-to-people connect; hence, it will not be impacted by the current diplomatic impasse," said Ajay Srivastava, founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a think tank and consulting firm.
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Both India and Canada trade in complementary products and do not compete on similar products. Hence, the trade relationship will continue to grow and not be affected by day-to-day events," he added.
Srivastava pointed out that two major investment sources from Canadapension funds and remittances from people of Indian originwill continue to flow, as the funds typically invest for the long term based on the intrinsic economic strength of the country, and Indians abroad will continue to send money back home.
According to government data, bilateral trade between India and Canada has grown significantly in recent years, reaching $8.16 billion in 2022-23. Indias exports ($4.1 billion) to Canada include pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, textiles, and machinery, while Canadas exports to India at $4.06 billion include pulses, timber, pulp and paper, and mining products.
Canadian pension funds have invested over $45 billion in India, making it the worlds fourth-largest recipient of Canadian foreign direct investment (FDI) by the end of 2022. The top sectors for Canadian pension fund investment in India include infrastructure, renewable energy, technology and financial services.
According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), Indian students contributed $4.9 billion to the Canadian economy in 2021. Indian students are the largest international student group in Canada, accounting for 20% of all international students in 2021. A finance ministry spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comments.
A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that cross-border investments are unlikely to be significantly affected, as investments are driven by commercial considerations.
Canadian investors are unlikely to pause their activity in the country, said a fund manager, also on condition of anonymity. The funds have more at stake in the Indian market, given there arent many investment destinations for deployment of capital of that size," the person said.
Funds backed by the Canadian government, such as Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP), Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec (CDPQ) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) are the most active investors in the country.
A CPPIB spokesperson declined to comment. Spokespersons of OTPP and CDPQ didnt respond to emails seeking comments.
Negotiations between India and Canada for a free trade agreement, which resumed after a decade, recently came to a halt due to political differences. The absence of trade agreements can bring unpredictability.
In general, existing investments get impacted by various factors, which include whether both countries have investment agreements, terms and conditions of double taxation treaties, and if the countries allow FDI, said Arpita Mukherjee, professor at the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).
The contours or the quality of the agreements between countries give the level of protection for investors. If you analyse business deals and investments, each deal/investment is different depending on their terms and conditions," Mukherjee said.
While investments are dependent on commercial decisions, we have a predictable situation or stability with trade agreements," she added.
Some economists think Canadas withdrawal from the FTA could have broader implications. The withdrawal is serious given that all major economies are eying the Indian market, said Biswajit Dhar, a professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University. And he is under tremendous political pressure at home. I think this could have a broad impact. As far as (foreign) investors are concerned, they have their own logic. But if the home government is not very friendly, then normally, there is an impact on investment," Dhar added.
Ravi Dutta Mishra and Gireesh Chandra Prasad in Delhi contributed to this story.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh reacted to the remark made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau against India regarding Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder. The veteran Congress leader said, The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity, and integrity. Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times".
Meanwhile, the Ministry of External Affairs Minister (MEA) has decided to expel a Canadian diplomat following Trudeau's statement. The Mea said, The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities".
Also read: 'Absurd and motivated': India rejects Canada's allegation over Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing
The Indian government has also rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister.
The Modi government called Trudeau's remark "absurd and motivated".
Further, India's foreign ministry said, "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
Also read: In tit-for-tat, India expels Canadian diplomat. Details here
Former diplomat Rajiv Dogra told PTI news agency, "Justin Trudeau has been in trouble for some time now. He is anticipating that he may not last very long as PM of Canada. So, he has been trying to divert domestic attention to other issues".
BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal said, "Ever since Justin Trudeau became the PM of Canada, Khalistani activities have increased there, and there is no attempt being made to stop them. This is actually an issue of their own country, and this is their PM's attempt to divert people's attention from that".
That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
Also read: Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing: What India said on Canada's Khalistani terrorist's murder charge. Read the full statement
The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking, and organised crime is not new.
We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments.
We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil".
Canada, which is home to an influential Sikh community, has blamed an Indian government agent for killing Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said it had credible information linking Indian government agents to the murder. Trudeau did not directly accuse India of definitely being involved and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly later used more cautious language, saying "if proven true" the allegations would be unacceptable.
Trudeau stated that Canada's nation's security agencies have actively pursued credible allegations of a potential link between the Indian government and Nijjar's murder.
Trudeau's comments on Monday marked the latest strain in relations between Ottawa and New Delhi this year.
Last week, Canada postponed a trade mission to India, which had been planned for early October, after the prime ministers contentious meeting with PM Modi during the recently held G20 Summit in New Delhi.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was slain in June outside a temple in Surrey, British Columbia, raising tensions between Sikh separatists and the Indian government. Nijjars death sparked protests among supporters of the separatist movement, who alleged the Indian government was behind the killing.
India has characterized a June protest outside its High Commission as an attack" and its anti-terror agency is investigating. Modis office also publicly criticized Trudeau for allegedly tolerating anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada."
There have been longstanding allegations from Indian officials that Canada has been too comfortable with Sikh separatists who want an independent Punjab carved out of northwestern India.
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Hours after Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat over Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing, India asked a senior Canadian diplomat ordered to leave the country, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday.
New Delhi's decision reflected its "growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
Earlier today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled a top Indian diplomat as he accused the Indian government agents of killing Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
Trudeau, accusing India of Nijjar's murder, comes days after he was stuck in Delhi for two days after the conclusion of the Group of 20 summit as his aircraft developed a snag.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said on Monday.
He added, "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty...In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter".
However, India has rejected allegations by Canada. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," MEA said in an official statement.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the statement said.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement added.
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Tensions between Canada and India have reached new heights with dueling diplomatic expulsions and an allegation of Indian government involvement in the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in June, had been designated a "terrorist" by India in July 2020.
The row centers around the Sikh independence, or Khalistan, movement. India has repeatedly accused Canada of supporting the movement, which is banned in India but has support among the Sikh diaspora.
Here is what we know so far:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Parliament described what he called credible allegations that India was connected to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. The Indian government denied any hand in Nijjars killing while also saying Canada was trying to shift the focus from Khalistan activists there.
During the G-20 summit, the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval engaged his Australian, UK and Canadian counterparts over the rise of Sikh fundamentalism and violence against Indian assets in their respective countries as reported by Hindustan TImes.
Canada is home to an influential Sikh community and Indian leaders say there are some fringe groups there that are still sympathetic to the cause of an independent Sikh state, carved out of India.
The Sikh insurgency of the 1980s and 1990s killed some 30,000 people. Sikh militants were blamed for the 1985 bombing of an Air India Boeing 747 flying from Canada to India in which all 329 people on board were killed.
Amid the tensions between India and Canada, the security of the Canada High Commission here was increased on Tuesday. Several personnel of the Central Reserve Police and Delhi Police were deployed outside the Canadian High Commission.
"The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India," a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said today.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in Canada had been expelled, over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader Nijjar.
We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today," Joly said at a news conference.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, CBC News reported.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
*With Agency Inputs
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NEW DELHI : Bilateral ties between India and Canada hang in the balance after India on Tuesday dismissed as absurd and motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claim of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June, and the two countries carried out tit-for-tat expulsions of senior diplomats.
Trudeaus claim will further damage bilateral relations, which are already at an all-time low over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements in Canada, including holding a so-called referendum on a separate homeland for Sikhs, targeting of Indian diplomatic premises, and incitement of violence against top Indian officials.
The troubled bilateral ties have also affected negotiations on a free trade agreement, with officials from both sides saying the talks have been paused. Two-way trade in goods in 2022 was worth US$10.5 billion.
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On Monday, Trudeau told Canadas House of Commons that the countrys security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental," he said.
Soon after Trudeau made the claim in Canadas Parliament, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat." Joly's office identified the diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of Indias Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada, according to public broadcaster CBC. While it is not unusual for countries to expel operatives of a foreign intelligence agency, it is rare for them to identify the expelled official.
Hours later, Canadian envoy Cameron MacKay was summoned to the external affairs ministry and informed of the governments decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat. The diplomat was asked to leave within five days, the ministry said in a brief statement. The decision reflects the Indian government's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities", it added.
The statement didnt name the Canadian diplomat, but people familiar with the matter said Olivier Sylvestere, the Canadian intelligence agencys station chief in New Delhi, had been asked to leave the country.
The external affairs ministry said in a separate statement that Trudeau made similar allegations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting on September 10, on the margins of the G20 Summit, and these were completely rejected".
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry said.
The development came a little more than a week after Modi told Trudeau at their meeting that New Delhi expects Ottawa to cooperate in tackling pro-Khalistani elements in Canada who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats".
Nijjar, a Canadian citizen, was shot dead in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in the town of Surrey in British Columbia on June 18. Nijjar was earlier designated a terrorist by the Indian government for his involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
Any involvement of a foreign government in a killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," said Trudeau. He added that some Indo-Canadians are feeling angry" and perhaps frightened right now".
Canadians of Indian origin account for about 4% of the countrys population. The current House of Commons has 19 MPs of Indian origin, including three cabinet ministers. The opposition New Democratic Party, led by Jagmeet Singh, has helped keep Trudeaus minority government in power. Singh, who has often spoken in favour of Khalistan, said on Tuesday he would ensure all links to Nijjars killing are pursued and justice is done.
Responding to the Canadian governments allegations, the external affairs ministry rejected Trudeaus statement in Parliament and Jolys comments.
Allegations of government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the ministry said in its statement. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
The statement pointed out that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements" and this remains a deep concern for India. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime, is not new," it added.
While rejecting attempts to connect the Indian government to such developments, the Indian side urged the Canadian government to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil".
Indias sharp response underlines whats at stake: its standing with key partners like the United States, Britain and Australia, whose leaders were briefed by Trudeau on the allegations. While the United States and Australia expressed their concern, neither country took a side. Comments have not been forthcoming from the United Kingdom and France.
Bilateral ties, especially on trade and defence, are likely to suffer from the fallout of this controversy. Canada recently requested a pause in talks for an Early Progress Trade Agreement with India, which Indian officials said was caused by political tensions. Canadas Trade Minister also cancelled a planned visit to India. Two-way trade in goods in 2022 was worth US$10.5 billion, including Indian exports of US$6.4 billion, while bilateral trade in services in 2021 was worth US$5.88 billion. Canadian pension funds have invested more than US$55 billion in India.
There is a sense that with Mr. Trudeau at the helm there is not much hope for much positive movement on the broader India-Canada relationship," said Harsh Pant, Vice-President for Studies and Foreign Policy. Pant argued that the tensions in the relationship is being hampered by Indias dislike of Trudeau and the Canadians Prime Ministers lack of understanding of Indian sensitivities on issues like extremism.
You have a decorum. You have a relationship and you maintain it. You go by the laid down principles. We are friendly countries, we are not enemies in that sense but he (Trudeau) makes it look like we are," said Vikram Sood, a former chief of the Research and Analysis Wing, Indias external intelligence agency in an interview to ANI.
Cooperation of defence and the Indo-Pacific is also likely to stall given the political tensions that now threaten to engulf the relationship. Indias growing strategic, economic and demographic importance in the Indo-Pacific makes it a critical partner in Canadas pursuit of its objectives under this strategy," reads Canadas Indo-Pacific strategy. Canada was also looking to expand its defence presence in the Indo-Pacific and Mint reported in May that increased defence exercises were also being planned.
While addressing the Canadian media on the margins of the G20 Summit in New Delhi, Trudeau had said he had raised the issue of foreign interference" in Canadas internal affairs with his Indian counterpart.
Asked at the same news conference about India's concerns over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements, Trudeau said Canada will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but simultaneously asserted it will prevent violence.
A tersely worded readout issued by the external affairs ministry on the bilateral meeting on September 10 said that Modi had conveyed to Trudeau India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada", who are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community...and their places of worship".
Modi further said the nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada" and that it is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats".
The people cited above said the external affairs minister is likely to make a statement on the matter during the ongoing special session of Parliament.
India-Canada relations are in tatters over the activities of pro-Khalistan elements on Canadian soil. In recent months, the extremist elements have organised pro-Khalistan rallies and protests in several cities and targeted Indian diplomatic facilities and officials. They have also held a so-called referendum on Khalistan in Surrey, Brampton and other cities with sizeable Sikh populations. One referendum was held on the same day that Modi met Trudeau in New Delhi.
The Indian side was particularly angered when a float at a recent rally depicted the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in a gory manner and eulogized her killers.
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Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will take the lead in a ceremony held in the Central Hall of Parliament on Tuesday.
As reported by PTI, the event, which will span approximately one and a half hours, will commence and conclude with the rendition of the national anthem, followed by a lunch. Here are the top ten keyways.
Also Read: Parliament special session LIVE: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha to meet in new Parliament building today
1. After serving as the heart of India's legislature for more than 96 years, the Parliament House is now preparing to pass its responsibilities to a newly inaugurated complex, signalling the conclusion of a significant era.
2. Constructed on January 18, 1927, under Lord Irwin, who served as the Viceroy at the time, this edifice was inaugurated with grand ceremonies. Over the years, it has stood witness to the eras of colonial rule, the tumultuous events of the Second World War, the dawn of Independence, the adoption of the Constitution, and the enactment of numerous lawssome celebrated, others marked by controversy.
3. To honour the Parliament's remarkable 75-year history, which traces its origins back to the early days as the Samvidhan Sabha, the government has slated a special discussion set to take place during the upcoming five-day session beginning on September 18.
Also Read: What's the women's reservation bill, its history, and who brought it first
4. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated this new facility on May 28, expressing his optimism that it would serve as a central hub for empowerment, igniting aspirations, and nurturing them to realization.
5. Historians and preservation architects have described the old Parliament House as a "custodian of India's historical legacy" embodying its "commitment to democracy." It is also hailed as an "architectural masterpiece" within the city of Delhi, PTI reported.
6. This renowned architectural marvel is characterized by its circular design and a grand colonnade featuring 144 elegant sandstone columns on the first floor. Its inauguration coincided with the construction of New Delhi, which was designated as the new imperial capital of the British Raj, located in the Raisina Hill area. "The Parliament House is not just an iconic building, it is a repository of history and a repository of our democracy," noted conservation architect and urban planner AGK Menon told PTI.
7. The sandstone for the new Parliament building has been procured from Rajasthan's Sarmathura. Notably, sandstone for Delhi's Humayun's Tomb and Red Fort is also known to be sourced from Sarmathura.
Also Read: PM Modi kickstarts Parliament Special Session, says Goodbye to old historic House | Top quotes
8. The Ashoka Chakras that are installed inside Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha along with the Parliament's exterior were sourced from Indore. The lattice work around the new Parliament was sourced from Rajasthan, Noida and Uttar Pradesh.
9. The Kesharia green stone inside the Lok Sabha chamber has been sourced from Udaipur while the red granite inside the Rajya Sabha chamber has been procured from Lakha in Ajmer and the white marbles has been brought from Ambaji.
10. Stone aggregates for the new building were procured from Kotputali and the sculptors who did the carving work belonged to Udaipur's Abu Road.
(With inputs from agencies)
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On September 19, a tragic incident unfolded at the residence of Vijay Antony, a renowned actor and music director in India. The life of his 16-year-old daughter came to a devastating end, allegedly by suicide, as reported by the police.
The young teenager was found hanging in her Teynampet home during the early hours. Immediate action was taken, and she was rushed to a city hospital. The medical professionals declared her 'brought dead' upon arrival. The deceased girl was one of Antony's two daughters. She was pursuing her education in Class 12 at a local private school, PTI reported. The authorities have initiated an investigation into this tragic and unnatural death, as a case has been registered, and an investigation is on, they said. One X user claimed that Vijay had lost his father in a suicide. The user shared a video where the actor was explaining why suicide should never be an option.
Condolences pour in
I was shocked to hear about the suicide of Meera, daughter of my friend and musician/actor/director Vijay Antony. Deeply pained beyond words at his and his wife Fatima's loss. May the Lord give them the strength to endure this tragedy. RIP Meera," Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Reacting to her demise, veteran actor R Sarathkumar said, the news of the untimely and unfortunate demise of the daughter of @vijayantony and Fatima is shocking beyond imaginations. No amount of consoling and condolences can replace the everlasting grief of Vijay Antony and Fatima."
Posting his condolence message in the social media platform X, he said, Vijay I hope the almighty gives strength to your family to bear the unfathomable loss."
Film-maker Venkat Prabhu wrote on X, Woke up to this shocking news! Deepest condolences Vijay Antony Sir and family."
(With PTI inputs)
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The Union Cabinet Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill (WRB) in a key meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reports said. Minister of state for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Prahlad Patel confirmed the development on X (formally known as Twitter), but later deleted the post. "Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfil the demand for women's reservation which was proved by the approval of the cabinet. Congratulations Narendra Modi ji and congratulations to the Modi government," the minister had posted on X. Reacting to the development senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, Its been a long-standing demand of the Congress party to implement womens reservation. We welcome the reported decision of the Union Cabinet and await the details of the Bill. This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy."
Last week, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha began a day-long hunger strike in New Delhi, demanding passage of the WRB. She was accompanied by TRS ministers Sabitha Indra Reddy and Satyavathi Rathod. BRS claimed that twelve political parties which include AAP, Akali Dal, TMC, JD(U), Samajwadi Party, RJD, RLD, and the Left Parties such as CPI(M) had confirmed their participation in the event.
What is the Womens Reservation Bill
The Constitution 108th Amendment Bill, 2008 seeks to reserve one-third (33%) of the total number of seats in state legislative Assemblies and Parliament for women. The bill proposes sub-reservation for SCs, STs and Anglo-Indians within the 33% quota. Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory. The bill says that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the amendment act.
Women's Reservation Bill: History
It was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who in May 1989 first planted the seed of women reservation in elected bodies by introducing the Constitution Amendment Bill to provide one-third reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies. The Bill was passed in Lok Sabha but failed to get passed in Rajya Sabha in September 1989.
In 1992 and 1993, then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao reintroduced the Constitution Amendment Bills 72 and 73, which reserved one third (33%) of all seats and chairperson posts for women in rural and urban local bodies. The Bills were passed by both the houses and became the law of the nation. Now there are nearly 15 lakh elected women representatives in panchayats and nagarpalikas across the country.
September 12, 1996, then Deve Gowda-led United Front government for the first time introduced the 81st Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha for reservation of women in the Parliament. After the Bill failed to get approval in Lok Sabha, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee. The Mukherjee commttee presented its report in December 1996. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
Two years later, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government pushed the WRB Bill in the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998. However, this time too, the Bill failed to get support, and lapsed again. It was subsequently reintroduced in 1999, 2002 and 2003 under the Vajpayee government, but with no success.
Five years later, the WRB bill again gained some traction during Manmohan Singh-led UPA government-1. In 2004, the government included it in its Common Minimum Programme and finally tabled it on 6 May 2008, this time in Rajya Sabha to prevent it from lapsing again. Five of the seven recommendations made by the 1996 Geeta Mukherjee Committee were included in this version of the Bill. The legislation was sent to the standing committee on May 9, 2008. The standing committee presented its report on December 17, 2009. It got the stamp of approval from the Union Cabinet in February 2010. The Bill was eventually passed in the Rajya Sabha with 186-1 votes on March 9, 2010.
However, the Bill was never taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha and eventually lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Bills introduced/ passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse, hence the Women's Reservation Bill is still very much active.
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Relations between India and Canada have suddenly nosedived over allegations of an Indian hand in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan leader in Canada. Tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats followed. Mint brings you the background of the case:
Who is the man behind the slide in ties?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar became a prominent face in the pro-Khalistan movement in Canada after moving there in 1996. He took on a key role in groups like Sikhs for Justice and founded the Khalistan Tiger Force. Earlier this year, India designated the KTF as a terrorist organization, saying it received financial and logistical support from foreign handlers to carry out terrorist activities in India. For this reason, Indian authorities pursued Nijjar for years. In 2018, his name was on a list of wanted criminals handed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In June, Nijjar was shot dead in Canada outside a Sikh cultural centre by gunmen.
What did Justin Trudeau say?
Ever since Nijjars killing, his supporters have claimed that India may have had a hand in the assassination. On Monday, Trudeau told the Canadian parliament that the countrys intelligence agencies were investigating credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar". He went on to say that Canada had made its concerns clear to the Indian government. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he added.
What has happened since the statement?
After Trudeaus statement, foreign minister Melanie Joly announced that Canada would expel an Indian diplomat, later identified as Pavan Kumar Rai. India, denying the allegations as absurd and motivated", summoned the high commissioner in New Delhi and informed him of its decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for involvement in anti-India activities".
Will there be an impact on bilateral ties?
Some of the fallout has already been felt on the economic side. Prior to publicly making these allegations, Canada called for a pause in talks on a free trade agreement. According to media reports, the two sides were earlier hoping to sign an early progress trade agreement this year. These political tensions could upset plans to boost bilateral trade and investment. Increased cooperation in defence and the Indo-Pacific as well as the broader political relationship could also be casualties of this diplomatic spat.
Any implications for Indias reputation?
Trudeau has already spoken to world leaders like US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron. A White House National Security Council spokesperson said the US was deeply concerned" about the Canadian allegations. Britain and Australia also expressed concern. While the exact impact of these allegations on Indias reputation is unclear, much will depend on the response from Indian leaders and officials in the coming days.
He goes by Tony. And he makes shirts. Therefore, he runs Tony Shirtmakers. As the saying goes, it does what it says on the tin.
Despite his meek-as-a-country-mouse moniker, Tony, 34, is something extraordinary in the American apparel industry: a young, small-town tailor who is not just staying afloat, but finding great, year-plus-long-waitlist success from his in-house studio in Damariscotta, Maine. (Ill call him Tony because everyone else does.)
To his clients, Tonys sly custom shirtsheavy linen westerns with mother-of-pearl snaps, chartreuse green oxfords with sly hidden plackets, thick canvas shirt jackets in slate grayare the contemporary equivalent of a bespoke suit. Starting at $675, theyre something to invest in, wait several impatient months to receive, and wear weekly, if not daily.
I wanted to stick to one garment because I just wanted to get very, very, very good at it," said Tony. I personally dont think that you can do that with all garments."
America was once littered with Tonys: tailors operating tidy shops brimming with reams of fabric and paper patterns. These tailors knew every bend in their clients biceps, each awkward tilt of their shoulders, how their waistlines expanded over the years.
But the dawn of department stores (and later online shopping) with their deep array of ready-to-wear clothes squeezed most tailors.
In 1997 the nation had 31,840 custom tailors and sewers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today there are about half that number. The vast majority are centered around the fashion capitals of New York and Los Angeles.
Damariscotta, a coastal hamlet with just over 2,000 people, is the furthest thing from a garmento hotbed. It is known as an epicenter of oysters, not open-collared shirts.
But Tonys customers order from all over. He takes the bulk of his orders onlinea process perfected during the pandemicallowing him to reach customers from as far as Thailand, Australia and Berlin through virtual fittings.
He offers consultations over Zoom and asks clients to send photos of them measuring and wearing a favorite shirt, which he builds upon to create an exact custom fit. I can see his sleeve needs to be about an inch longer, the body needs to be about an inch shorter," said Tony.
Through the process, hes managed to wrest a stubbornsome might say dyingcraft into the 21st century.
When I looked at his website and saw you could actually get a custom fit to you, I was like, well, I might as well do that, if Im going to be spending this," said Jim Bethune, 34, a technology consultant in Chicago who has purchased upward of 20 items from Tony over the years.
Although Maine is now home for Tony, his wife, Laura, and their newborn, Elio, for most of his tailoring career, Tony operated in New York City.
He attended Parsons School of Design, though his focus was on the business side of the apparel industry. It took his own gumption to teach himself how to sew. I was very interested in business but I was also very interested in creating garments," said Tony.
To school himself he purchased two identical shirts from H&M that fit him adequately enough, and painstakingly took one shirt apart, then rebuilt it, comparing his handiwork to the untouched matea strategy he called reverse engineering." By repeating this stitch-by-stitch process over and over, Tony learned how to sew something that looked like a wearable shirt.
It wasnt long before Tony was making shirts for himself and for friends. In 2014 he left his job on the business side of the apparel industry to work part time with a Brooklyn tailor while also breathing life into his burgeoning shirt brand.
It was a huge pay cut to go work at the tailor, but I was getting knowledge that I couldnt buy," said Tony. He met Laura when they both worked at the Canadian womenswear company Aritzia. He credits his wife, who worked in retail management merchandising at that label, for keeping them afloat during this period. Laura was making sure that we could eat and pay rent," he said.
By 2018, he felt he had learned enough and amassed enough clients to go full-time with Tony Shirtmakers, opening a Brooklyn studio where he saw clients in person.
It could have continued this way. Tony could have been, as Laura said, a small fish in a big pond." But during the pandemic the pair re-evaluated their priorities and moved to Maine, where they had long vacationed and which reminded Laura of her native Canada.
Living in Maine really sort of romanticized what we do," said Laura, who is also Tonys business partner. Shrewdly, the couple plays up the states idyllic landscapes in the companys Instagram posts.
Theres Tony, in peak fall, wearing a fiery-red flecked-wool overshirt with piles of burnt orange leaves gathering at his feet, like a background character in Good Will Hunting." There he is again in summer, trying on textural camp-collared shirts against a row of verdant green shrubs, as if he wandered out of Mystic Pizza."
Tony works deliberately, completing upward of just three pieces each week. Most components of a shirt are stitched using a sewing machine, though details like buttons and floating pockets are done by hand.
Working with Tony is a rejection of fast fashion," said Jason Zuccarelli, 43, a video editor in Mount Laurel, N.J., who has purchased clothes from Tony for many yearsall without ever meeting him in person. Instead of going to a store and buying a handful of new shirts each spring and fall, he calls up Tony and together they dream up a single, idiosyncratic item that fits him and only him. Its just an organic process thats enjoyable," said Zuccarelli.
In recent months, Tonys taken a toe dip into creating trousers, dense overcoats and even an off-white twill wedding suit. On his website, he also occasionally releases ready-to-wear shirts, which begin at $555. A recent crop of Palm Beach-ready camp shirts in fabrics like clay seersucker and periwinkle linen sold swiftly.
For many clients, having clothes made for them is a far superior option to settling for less-forgiving off the rack fits. Its been a necessity for my body type," said Adam Halvorsen, 42, who works in marketing strategy in Brooklyn and said he is in the big and tall" category. He has been a Tony customer since 2016, buying pieces like a green casentino wool overshirt and a mustard moleskin work shirt.
Halvorsen is a prime Tony client in that hes able to wear specialized, often-expressive shirts daily to work. If I had a job where maybe I had to wear a suit everyday, like maybe that would have been my thing," said Halvorsen.
Tonys focus on shirts, an inherently casual piece of clothing, emphasizes just how significantly dresscodes have eroded away.
Often, Tonys customers have a good idea of what they want on a shirt, such as a sandwich-sized pocket or a slot for an oyster knife.
Tony welcomes design demands. Im very good with a hint of direction, Im very bad with no direction," he said.
Write to Jacob Gallagher at jacob.gallagher@wsj.com
View Full Image One of Americas Best Tailors Lives in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine
View Full Image One of Americas Best Tailors Lives in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine
View Full Image One of Americas Best Tailors Lives in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine
View Full Image One of Americas Best Tailors Lives in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine
View Full Image One of Americas Best Tailors Lives in Middle-of-Nowhere Maine
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A policeman was killed as a result of shelling in Kherson, Head of the city military administration Roman Mrochko said.
"Today at 09:35, Russian forces shelled Korabelny district of Kherson. They hit trolleybus No. 9 on Naftovykiv Street... A senior police sergeant who was nearby was killed," he said on the Telegram channel on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs expressed condolences to the family of the deceased policeman. "In the morning in Kherson, a 49-year-old police sergeant was killed as a result of Russian artillery shelling. Our condolences to the family of the deceased policeman," the ministry said in a statement on the Telegram channel.
As the Interior Ministry said, as a result of the morning shelling, civilians who were on the trolleybus "received severe injuries enemy artillery mutilated the trolleybus with passengers."
According to the ministry, also "as a result of an enemy hit, a warehouse building caught fire. Rescuers are extinguishing a fire with an area of about 1,000 square meters. All necessary services are at the scene. We are working."
Earlier it was reported with reference to Head of Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin, that two passengers were injured men, 33 and 57 years old.
South Korea, Japan, and China have scheduled a high-level meeting in Seoul on September 26 to deliberate on the resumption of the trilateral summit, the South Korean foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lim Soo-suk stated during a press briefing today that the agenda for the meeting will encompass discussions on the promotion of a consultative body involving all three nations and the status and direction of cooperation among their respective governments, Reuters reported.
The meeting will involve senior officials at the deputy ministerial level from South Korea, Japan, and China. Specifically, South Korea will be represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, Japan by Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, and China by Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Nong Rong.
A foreign ministry official further informed reporters that the participants will address topics related to the potential resumption of the trilateral summit, which had been suspended since 2019.
The trilateral summit involving these three neighboring countries was inaugurated in December 2008 but was halted after eight sessions in December 2019. The suspension was attributed to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing dispute between Seoul and Tokyo concerning forced labor compensation rulings, reported KBS World.
On September 15, US President Biden welcomed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Camp David, marking the first visit by foreign leaders to the presidential retreat since 2015. During this historic meeting, the US, Japan, and South Korea forged a sturdier three-way alliance to bolster security as a response to common threats from China and North Korea.
The three leaders made several commitments during the meeting including consulting on threats to eachs security, working together on ballistic-missile defence, conducting annual joint military exercises and holding yearly summits to maintain the momentum.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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'How does this harm Narendra Modi...' Reactions pour in as Canada accuses India of killing Khalistani terrorist
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Trudeau further said that he brought up the slaying with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the G20 Summit last week.
Premium Women walk past as a photograph of late temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar on a banner outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, where temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in his vehicle while leaving the temple parking lot in June. Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP) (AP)
Bilateral relations appear to be deteriorating as Canada's Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, announced the expulsion of an Indian diplomat within the country. This move follows Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of Indian involvement in the assassination of the wanted Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Meanwhile, people took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to this news. Also Read: India-Canada News LIVE Updates: India likely to expel Canadian official after PM Justin Trudeau's allegations A username @Kushal_Mehra wrote, How does this harm Narendra Modi and save Trudeau is beyond me. He accused the Indian government of something that will only enhance Modi's reputation in India. He literally helped Modi electorally. Imagine listening to crazy Khalistani conspiracy theorists. But then this is Trudeau. Two years ago, this man was apologizing about imaginary mass graves that no one found eventually. The Canadian left is all about performative acts and Trudeau is their cheerleader." Also Read: Canada expels Indian diplomat over alleged links to Sikh leader's slaying; Trudeau says, I told PM Modi that A username, @Mohansinha wrote, Give the Indian diplomat, who Canada has expelled for being involved in the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, a pay hike and a double promotion!" Another username, Puneet_Sahini wrote, Trudeau has a history of weaponizing agencies to wriggle out of embarrassing fiascos. In 2018, when bringing along convited Khalistani terrorist became huge controversy, he pushed LIE thru NSA that rogue Indian elements behind it!" A username @vonbrauckmann said that if Indian agents did kill the dirtbag Khalistani terrorist on Canadian soil, they had good reason. He tweeted, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."
If Indian agents did kill the dirtbag Khalistani terrorist on Canadian soil, they had good reason. The fact that Trudeau has been made to look the fool to the world has likely triggered and hurt his ego. He didnt take Chinese interference in Canadian elections seriously so this has to be retribution for all the times he was made to look weak."
Also Read: India-Canada FTA talks paused due to political reasons
A username @ThePerilousGirl wrote, Justin Trudeau was silent when Indian diplomats are being targeted by khalistani terrorists. But now targeting Indian govt for the bad law & order situation in it's own country. The truth is canada is a serial offender for being soft over khalistan issue."
India on Thursday announced the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat hours after Canada asked an Indian official to leave that country, citing a "potential" Indian link to the killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
Also Read: India-Canada News LIVE Updates: India asks Canadian diplomat Olivier Sylvestere to leave in next 5 days Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. Also Read: In tit-for-tat, India expels Canadian diplomat. Details here MEA further noted, The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities."
After Trudeau made the comments in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat" has been expelled from Canada.
Earlier today, India categorically dismissed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's assertion of a "potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar as "baseless."
Following Trudeau's statements in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly declared the expulsion of a "senior Indian diplomat" from Canada.
Also Read: Khalistani terrorist Nijjar: US says 'deeply concerned' about Canada PM Justin Trudeau's allegations
Canada is home to a Sikh community comprising over 770,000 individuals, accounting for approximately 2% of its total population.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc has disclosed that Canada's national security adviser and the director of the Canadian intelligence agency have undertaken a trip to India. Their objective is to engage with their Indian counterparts and address the allegations by presenting evidence to Indian intelligence agencies.
If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
Also Read: India-Canada News LIVE Updates: India asks Canadian diplomat to leave in next 5 days
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.
(With inputs from agencies)
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India on Tuesday rejected "absurd" accusations by the Canadian government that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the statement said.
Also Read: Canada expels Indian diplomat LIVE Updates: PM Justin Trudeau blames India for Nijjar's killing, MEA rejects allegations
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," MEA said.
On Monday, Canada took the step of expelling a high-ranking Indian diplomat while it conducts an investigation into what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as credible accusations that the Indian government might have had connections to the killing of a Khalistani terrorist in Canada.
Trudeau, addressing the Canadian Parliament, disclosed that Canadian intelligence agencies had initiated an inquiry into the accusations following the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was a fervent advocate for an independent Sikh homeland, often referred to as Khalistan, and he was fatally shot on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia.
Also Read: Canada accuses India of killing Khalistani supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar: What we know so far. Top updates
During his speech, Trudeau mentioned that he had raised this matter with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 summit the previous week. Trudeau emphasized that he had conveyed to Modi that any involvement by the Indian government would be deemed unacceptable and had requested cooperation in the ongoing investigation.
If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.
(With inputs from AP)
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the murder of an Indian separatist leader in the other country is extremely serious. The remarks came mere hours after the lawmaker asserted that "credible allegations" linked Indian agents to the June slaying of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. New Delhi has however dismissed the Canadian government's accusations as absurd.
The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate," Reuters quoted him as saying.
The Khalistan Tiger Force chief wanted in India for several terror attacks had been gunned down by two unidentified assailants outside a gurdwara in Surrey on June 18.
Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said on Monday.
Following his speech to the House of Commons, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat".
India has vehemently rejected the claims and later asked a Canadian diplomat to exit the country within the next five days.
Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry added.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Britain is in close touch with its Canadian partners about serious allegations from Ottawa that the Indian government was involved in Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's killing , the UK government spokesperson said on Tuesday.
In an official statement, the spokesperson said, "We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations. It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has expelled a top Indian diplomat as he accused the Indian government agents of killing Khalistan supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year.
However, India has rejected allegations by Canada. We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the Ministry of External Affairs said.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the statement said.
In a tit-for-tat move, India also instructed a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the nation in five days. It was customary for India to reciprocate the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat with a reciprocal move.
India called upon Canadian Ambassador Cameron MacKay to convey its decision to expel the "senior Canadian diplomat". This action was taken in direct response to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official in connection with the demise of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The Ministry of External Affairs, on September 19, conveyed New Delhi's mounting apprehension regarding Canadian diplomats' interference in India's domestic affairs and their participation in activities detrimental to India.
As per sources, it is Olivier Sylvestere who has been expelled. He is the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India under official cover, sources claim.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days," the ministry said in a statement.
The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement added.
(With Reuters inputs)
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There has long existed a liberal elite across the world for whom Canada could do no wrong, especially under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was partly on account of his leadership, for example, that Americans put off by Donald Trump began talking about what Indians had been doing for decades: moving to Canada. Ottawas welcome mat for immigrants and effort to diversify the country in various ways, including what can legally be inhaled, gave it a heroic profile well beyond its borders. What these admirers may have taken too long to notice, however, is the Canadian administrations record on dealing with the real world, the one in which relations with foreign countries cannot be subject to cavalier shake-ups, let alone the sort of rupture we have just seen with India. By openly talking about credible allegations" of the Indian governments involvement in the killing of a Canadian citizen there, dismissed as absurd" by New Delhi, Trudeau has set off a chain reaction that threatens the interests of both countries by trapping us in mutual hostility. That we are now caught in an avoidable confrontation, with tit-for-tat diplomat expulsions, is a let-down whose costs could pile up unless quick amends are made.
The Canadian PM was referring to a local probe of the 18 June murder in a Vancouver suburb of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was best known for his advocacy of a separate Sikh state called Khalistan. Trudeau did not mention any specific evidence of Indian agents having had a role in it, which suggests that his statement was not just highly premature, it can be viewed in the larger context of bilateral ties stretched thin by a deep divergence over the issue of Sikh separatism. New Delhi has been upset with what it sees as Canadas coddling of Khalistani extremists, some of whom have gone out of their way to run down India, mount graffiti campaigns against the country and even vandalize symbols of the Indian state. In contrast, Canadas liberal establishment under Trudeau has shrugged it all off on the argument that protesting against a state and calling for a new country carved out of another are legal under its free speech laws. For Indias national security bosses, this was waffle. Nijjar wasnt a college pamphleteer. He was the chief of the so-called Khalistan Tiger Force, a man wanted by Indian authorities for a bomb attack and the killing of a Hindu priest in Punjab. In some circles, it was taken as an affront to India that Nijjar could brazenly drum up support for a cause that had already led to so much needless bloodshed in our country. The cold shoulder that Trudeau got on his G20 visit, thus, wasnt a surprise.
Still, strained ties should never have been allowed to reach a snap-off point, given whats at stake, from family relations across the high seas to lucrative trade and investment deals. Canada is not the US, but is worth forging a close economic pact with all the same. Alas, these talks have been thrown into jeopardy. Thats bad for both. Bilateral trade, at around $8.2 billion in 2022-23, has been evenly balanced and set to expand, while Canadian pension funds have been pumping billions into India. Ottawa was aware of Indias sensitivities all along. If it had reason to suspect Indian agents of ordering a hit job on its soil, strategic sense would have demanded taking it up with our diplomats behind closed doors. By going public, Canada has created a bitterness that even gallons of maple syrup cant easily overcome. But overcome it, we must.
The relationship between India and Canada is now highly fraught", a leading foreign policy expert has said.
The face-to-face interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau during the G20 Summit revolved around Trudeau's concerns regarding the alleged involvement of Indian government agents in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist based in Canada, according to Michael Kugelman. India-Canada News LIVE Updates: India likely to expel Canadian official The Director of the South Asia Institute at Wilson Center has said that Trudeau utilised the opportunity to discuss his concerns directly with PM Modi. I understand that PM Modi also brought to Trudeau's attention his concerns about what has been happening with Sikh leaders in Canada. I think there could have been an incentive from Trudeau's part to be in a position to meet face-to-face with Modi to warn him about these concerns," Kugelman said. Also Read: Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar's murder in Canada: What we know so far Trudeau's visit to India had a broader agendaparticipation in the G20 Summit. However, an opportunity for a tete-a-tete with his Indian counterpart provided the Canadian prime minister a platform to raise issues of immediate concern, the American expert said.
But, we saw that he really did not have a very good visit in India, there were tensions in his meeting with Modi, he had problems with his aircraft, he was stranded there for a few days. It became a bit of a mess. But keep in mind that he did not go to India, simply to meet PM Modi. He went there to participate in the G20 Summit," ANI quoted Kugelman as saying.
Kugelman earlier tweeted, The Canadians didnt go about this quietly. Trudeau made the direct accusation while speaking before the House of Commons, and his government publicly identified an Indian diplomat it expelled as the head of Indian intel in Canada. A reflection of a highly fraught relationship."
What Canada said and did
Trudeau has revealed that his government is "actively pursuing credible allegations" linking Indian government agents to the murder. While Foreign Minister Melanie Joly later used more cautious language, stating the allegations would be unacceptable "if proven true".
Jolie announced the immediate expulsion of a senior Indian diplomat. She identified the diplomat as the head of India's foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), AFP reported.
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After Canada expelled a prominent Indian diplomat in response to the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, India instructed a senior Canadian diplomat to leave the nation in five days.
In the realm of international diplomacy, it was customary for India to reciprocate the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat with a tit-for-tat action.
India called upon Canadian Ambassador Cameron MacKay to convey its decision to expel the "senior Canadian diplomat". This action was taken in direct response to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official in connection with the demise of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The Ministry of External Affairs, on September 19, conveyed New Delhi's mounting apprehension regarding Canadian diplomats' interference in India's domestic affairs and their participation in activities detrimental to India.
As per sources, it is Olivier Sylvestere who has been expelled. He is the Canadian intelligence agency station chief in India under official cover, sources claim.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days," the ministry said in a statement.
The decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the official statement said.
What Justin Trudeau said
Canadian security authorities, as per Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, have been diligently investigating credible allegations" suggesting a potential connection between agents associated with the Indian government and the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
He further emphasised that the involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen within Canada's borders constituted an unacceptable encroachment upon its sovereignty.
In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter," he added.
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During his final term as Indonesias president, Joko Widodo has played the global statesman. He hosted leaders from across the region at the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Jakarta from September 5th to 7th. In August he bagged economic deals during a tour of Africa. He will attend the G20 leaders summit in Delhi on September 9th, having hosted last years event, and plans to visit Saudi Arabia soon, too.
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At home, his soft-spoken, folksy style has made Jokowi, as he is known, one of the best-liked leaders in the world. His approval rating hovers around 80% (see chart). Only Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, comes close among leaders of big countries. But even as Jokowi basks in his popularity, speculation is building about what his legacy will be and who will succeed him after he steps down next year.
When Jokowi became president in 2014, he was like no leader the country had ever seen: a furniture-maker who was raised in a riverside shack, he had no connection to the army or any prominent family. He is most at home inquiring about the price of onions at a market or handing out T-shirts to the crowds that throng to catch a glimpse of him wherever he goes. He has revolutionised Indonesian politics by yoking a savvy social-media operation to a relentless focus on economic growth. Yet three big uncertainties hang over his legacy: whether Indonesias economy will continue to grow; whether his successor will preserve his policies; and whether the country can maintain a balancing act in a divided world.
Jokowis record on economic growth is decent. Indonesia has been the fifth-fastest-growing of the worlds 30 biggest economies since he won office in 2014. GDP has expanded by a cumulative 43% since then. IMF projections suggest this pace could continue. The fund reckons the country will be the second-fastest growing of the group over the next five years, making it the worlds 13th-largest economy by 2028, up from 18th back in 2014.
Much of this has been thanks to an enormous push for infrastructure. The worlds fourth-most-populous country is made up of more than 13,000 islands, many of which lack basic amenities. Often pictured in a hard hat, Jokowi has built airports, ports, power plants, dams and has laid thousands of kilometres of roads and railways. He has used his popularity to cajole the countrys political parties, state-owned enterprises and powerful tycoons.
His signature project, the construction from scratch of an entirely new capital city in the jungles of Borneo, exemplifies this strategyand highlights the uncertainty of sustaining its success. Jokowi argues that this city, known as Nusantara, is essential because one-quarter of Jakarta, the current capital, could be submerged by 2050. Critics say the $34bn project, due to be completed in 2045, is unrealistic. The government says it will cover 20% of the projected costs, with the rest funded by domestic and foreign investors. Yet more than four years after the project was announced, not a single foreign backer has signed a binding contract to fund the city.
Jokowi has had more luck with getting foreigners to back other projects. Foreign direct investment soared to $45bn in 2022, up 44% from the year before. Much of this investment has come from China and flowed into the mining and processing of nickel. Indonesia has the worlds biggest reserves of the metal, which is essential for producing batteries for electric vehicles. In 2014 Indonesia banned the export of unprocessed nickel. With little choice to go elsewhere, foreign mining companies, many of them Chinese, built large processing facilities in Indonesia. This spurred growth and new jobs, albeit at the expense of the environment. Indonesia exported more than $30bn-worth of nickel products last year, 10% of total exports and ten times more than in 2013.
The future of this strategy is uncertain. The government wants to stimulate an expansion from onshore nickel processing to manufacturing battery precursors and even electric vehicles, a far more difficult and complex task that will fall to Jokowis successor, should he choose to pursue it. It does not help that Jokowis government has shifted towards a more interventionist and less market-oriented style", says Tom Lembong, the trade and investment minister in the early years of Jokowis administration.
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Jokowis focus on infrastructure has also complicated Indonesias geopolitical position. It has drawn the country, which has traditionally pursued a non-aligned foreign policy, closer to China. Chinese investment was over $8bn in 2022, four times more than that by America, according to Indonesias Investment Co-ordinating Board. The share of the countrys exports going to China and Hong Kong has risen from 12% in 2014 to 22% in 2022. Jokowi has copied Chinas reliance on infrastructure, debt financing and state-owned enterprises, says Mr Lembong.
Economic reliance on China has limited Indonesias room for geopolitical manoeuvre. Despite being the worlds largest Muslim-majority country, Indonesia has remained silent about the persecution of the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group native to Chinas Xinjiang region, for fear of economic repercussions.
Jokowi has sought to hedge by strengthening security and economic links with America and its allies. On security, it has avoided Sino-dependence. The largest suppliers of military equipment to Indonesia are South Korea, America and France, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a think-thank.
Yet building economic links with America has proved harder. Indonesia badly wants a trade deal with America that includes metals to make it cheaper to sell Indonesian nickel in America and be less dependent on China. But the American government is concerned about Chinas dominance in Indonesias nickel industry, so a deal remains elusive.
Despite these concerns, Jokowis focus has proved popular. The vast majority of Indonesian elites admire China," says Mr Lembong. They think Western democracies are decadent, in decline, messy, slow." By contrast, most Indonesians think of their president as a man who gets things done. As a city mayor, Jokowi became famous for his blusukan, a Javanese word for impromptu neighbourhood visits that allow him to connect with voters and learn about their problems firsthand. He continued these visits after becoming president.
A democratup to a point
But as he approaches his last year in office, Jokowis democratic credentials are eroding. He has rolled back liberal laws and weakened the anti-corruption commission, which is bad news for fixing Indonesias persistent cronyism. And he may be laying groundwork for his own dynasty, much like some politicians before him. In his autobiography, published in 2019, Jokowi declared that becoming president does not mean channelling power to my children". Yet just after he won re-election in 2019, his eldest son Gibran Rakabuming became mayor of Solo, Jokowis former post. His son-in-law, Bobby Nasution, is the mayor of Medan, Indonesias fifth-largest city. Kaesang Pangarep, his youngest son, also wants to enter politics.
Indonesias constitutional court (whose chief justice is Jokowis brother-in-law) may lower the age of vice-presidential candidates from 40 to 35; Mr Gibran will be 36 when nominations are due. With a presidential election planned for February, Mr Gibran may be viewed as a potential running mate, one who comes with his fathers approval. Yet that will be no guarantee of continuity. The defence minister, Prabowo Subianto, an authoritarian military officer, is neck and neck in the polls with Ganjar Pranowo, the governor of Central Java and a member of Jokowis party.
View Full Image (Graphic: The Economist)
Mr Prabowo, who has lost to Jokowi twice before, looks like a return to the bad old days. He has been accused of allowing human-rights abuses in Timor-Leste in the 1980s, which he strongly denies. He emphasises his nationalism, advocating food autarky, and has criticised Indonesias practice of direct elections. Mr Ganjar has just appointed the head of Indonesias Chamber of Commerce, a well-respected businessman, as his campaign chair, suggesting he may be more serious than Mr Prabowo about economic reform.
A third possible candidate is Anies Baswedan, the former governor of Jakarta and a former education minister in Jokowis cabinet, who is polling far behind Messrs Ganjar and Prabowo. Seen as an underdog, Mr Anies lost the first round of the Jakarta governors race in 2017 before an upset win in the second round, supported by conservative Islamic voters. He recently won the support of the countrys largest Muslim civil-society organisation, an important voting bloc, which opens the possibility of a three-way race.
Both frontrunners, keen to curry favour with Jokowi, say they will keep his policies, including the export ban on raw materials and building the new capital. Yet Indonesian elections are more about personalities than policies, argues Ben Bland, Jokowis biographer. That means that no candidate will win on proposals on how to boost economic growth and provide better services. An endorsement from Jokowi would help any candidate. But it will be no guarantee that the winner will preserve his legacy.
Correction (September 11th): A previous version of this article said that only Narendra Modi, Indias prime minister, comes close to Jokowis popularity. But there are leaders in smaller countries, such as El Salvadors president, Nayib Bukele, who have achieved consistently higher approval ratings. We have changed the text to reflect that.
2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS), along with colleagues from Spanish Red Cross, are launching a new program "Livelihoods Project."
"For three days, representatives of regional organizations of Ukrainian Red Cross from Cherkasy, Vinnytsia, Mykolaiv, Ternopil and Kirovograd regions, together with the project donor, discussed the details of the implementation of the Livelihoods Project program," the society said on Facebook.
According to URCS, Spanish Red Cross has many years of experience in implementing livelihoods projects and is currently focusing its activities on ensuring the sustainable development of Ukrainian regions suffering from the consequences of Russia's armed aggression.
The program's objective is to ensure integration and protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the local level, assist citizens in obtaining new vocational education, retraining in working professions, specialization and advanced training in specialties in line with priority types of economic activities. The program also provides microfinance for small business development to individuals and households, especially in rural areas. In addition, the project includes support for the introduction of grants for micro-businesses of IDPs and veterans, as well as the provision of grants to IDPs and veterans who want to resume, start and organize their own business.
Respiratory virus season is around the corner. With vaccines available for Covid-19, flu and, for some people, RSV, when should you get them?
Doctors generally suggest getting your flu and Covid shots before the end of October, and say its OK to get both those shots at the same time. The most important thing, doctors say, is to get vaccinated. If youre in a doctors office or a drugstore and can get your shots, it usually makes sense to do it.
That said, there are some considerations that might help you maximize your protection. Given weve had a summer bump in Covid cases, you should prioritize getting that booster as soon as you can, unless youve recently been infected.
If your level of antibodies is quite high, the booster does very little good," says John Wherry, director of the Institute for Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. Youre kind of wasting your shot."
The flu, on the other hand, usually doesnt start picking up until later in the fall, so you probably have a little more time.
Optimal protection from a vaccine typically begins one to two weeks after getting a shot, say doctors and immunologists. Antibodies from the Covid-19 and flu vaccines remain high for about four to six months.
The flu vaccine and Covid-19 booster are generally recommended for everyone six months and older. The new respiratory syncytial virus vaccines are authorized for seniors and some pregnant women, with a new drug also authorized to protect infants.
Covid
Sooner rather than later is good for your Covid-19 shot, especially if you are a senior or immunocompromised. The newly approved booster targets the dominant strains now circulating. Covid-19 test positivity rates have hovered around 14% for the past month, according to CDC data, up from 4% in June.
The timing of your most recent Covid shot and when you last came down with the illness make a difference too. Because it has been more than a year since his last Covid booster, David Topham, a professor of microbiology and immunology at University of Rochester Medical Center, says he will get the Covid vaccine as soon as he can.
However, if you had Covid this summer, doctors suggest waiting three to six months before getting a booster.
It isnt dangerous to get it sooner than three months later, but it isnt necessary since youre likely still protected, says Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. Most of the variants circulating now resemble one another, so a recent infection should be protective, he says. And getting a booster too soon after an infection might result in more side effects, he says.
Covid boosters from Pfizer and Moderna are rolling out. The Novavax booster is expected to be available later this fall. Chin-Hong says if you had bad side effects from the mRNA vaccines you might want to wait for the Novavax booster, which is protein-based.
Flu
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that most people get the flu vaccine in September or October. Pregnant women in their third trimester and some children who require two doses can get it earlier in the summer.
Flu cases usually start ticking up in November and peak in January before trailing off at the end of March, says Wherry. So far, influenza rates remain low, with less than 1% of tested specimens coming back positive, according to the CDC.
Given that protection lasts four to six months after getting a flu shot, it might make more sense to get it in October or early November, Wherry says.
Still, trying to figure out when a virus will peak is a guessing game, says Topham.
While respiratory viruses often pick up in the fall and peak in the winter, in recent years the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the usual patterns. RSV and influenza activity started earlier than usual last year.
Covid-19 has really thrown everything into turmoil," says Topham. He will get the flu vaccine when the vaccine clinics take place at work, typically in about two weeks, and he intends to get the RSV vaccine around then, too, as he qualifies at age 60.
If you get sick with the flu before youve been vaccinated, you should still get the vaccine about a month later, Wherry says. Thats because the flu vaccine typically protects against four types or strains of influenza.
We dont do testing to see what type of flu you get," says Chin-Hong. So if you got one type of the flu, you could still be susceptible to another.
RSV
The new RSV vaccines, authorized for seniors and some pregnant women, are recommended sooner rather than later because activity is picking up and RSV tends to peak earlier than the other respiratory viruses, says Wherry. There is also a new RSV drug approved to protect infants. Cases are already starting to increase in the Southeast, according to the CDC.
While its fine to get your Covid and flu shots at the same time, doctors suggest getting the RSV shot separately. Thats because there are few studies looking at the effects of getting all three shots at the same time.
What else should you keep in mind?
Doctors and immunologists say its OK to get a vaccine if youre feeling a little bit under the weather. But if you have a fever or feel sick enough that youre staying home from work or school, wait a few days until youre feeling better.
You might not make as good of an immune response when your immune system is busy responding to something else," says Topham.
Write to Sumathi Reddy at Sumathi.Reddy@wsj.com
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The creation of a new market is like the start of a long race. Competitors jockey for position as spectators excitedly clamour. Then, like races, markets enter a calmer second phase. The field orders itself into leaders and laggards. The crowds thin.
In the contest to dominate the future of artificial intelligence, OpenAI, a startup backed by Microsoft, established an early lead by launching ChatGPT last November. The app reached 100m users faster than any before it. Rivals scrambled. Google and its corporate parent, Alphabet, rushed the release of a rival chatbot, Bard. So did startups like Anthropic. Venture capitalists poured over $40bn into AI firms in the first half of 2023, nearly a quarter of all venture dollars this year. Then the frenzy died down. Public interest in AI peaked a couple of months ago, according to data from Google searches. Unique monthly visits to ChatGPTs website have declined from 210m in May to 180m now (see chart).
View Full Image (Graphic: The Economist)
The emerging order still sees OpenAI ahead technologically. Its latest AI model, GPT-4, is beating others on a variety of benchmarks (such as an ability to answer reading and maths questions). In head-to-head comparisons, it ranks roughly as far ahead of the current runner-up, Anthropics Claude 2, as the worlds top chess player does against his closest rivala decent lead, even if not insurmountable. More important, OpenAI is beginning to make real money. According to The Information, an online technology publication, it is earning revenues at an annualised rate of $1bn, compared with a trifling $28m in the year before ChatGPTs launch.
Can OpenAI translate its early edge into an enduring advantage, and join the ranks of big tech? To do so it must avoid the fate of erstwhile tech pioneers, from Netscape to Myspace, which were overtaken by rivals that learnt from their early successes and stumbles. And as it is a first mover, the decisions it takes will also say much about the broader direction of a nascent industry.
OpenAI is a curious firm. It was founded in 2015 by a clutch of entrepreneurs including Sam Altman, its current boss, and Elon Musk, Teslas technophilic chief executive, as a non-profit venture. Its aim was to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), which would equal or surpass human capacity in all types of intellectual tasks. The pursuit of something so outlandish meant that it had its pick of the worlds most ambitious AI technologists. While working on an AI that could master a video game called Dota", they alighted on a simple approach that involved harnessing oodles of computing power, says an early employee who has since left. When in 2017 researchers at Google published a paper describing a revolutionary machine-learning technique they christened the transformer", OpenAIs boffins realised that they could scale it up by combining untold quantities of data scraped from the internet with processing oomph. The result was the general-purpose transformer, or GPT for short.
Obtaining the necessary resources required OpenAI to employ some engineering of the financial variety. In 2019 it created a capped-profit company" within its non-profit structure. Initially, investors in this business could make 100 times their initial investmentbut no more. Rather than distribute equity, the firm distributes claims on a share of future profits that come without ownership rights (profit-participation units"). What is more, OpenAI says it may reinvest all profits until the board decides that OpenAIs goal of achieving AGI has been reached. OpenAI stresses that it is a high-risk investment" and should be viewed as more akin to a donation". Were not for everybody," says Brad Lightcap, OpenAIs chief operating officer and its financial guru.
Maybe not, but with the exception of Mr Musk, who pulled out in 2018 and is now building his own AI model, just about everybody seems to want a piece of OpenAI regardless. Investors appear confident that they can achieve venture-scale returns if the firm keeps growing. In order to remain attractive to investors, the company itself has loosened the profit cap and switched to one based on the annual rate of return (though it will not confirm what the maximum rate is). Academic debates about the meaning of AGI aside, the profit units themselves can be sold on the market just like standard equities. The firm has already offered several opportunities for early employees to sell their units.
SoftBank, a risk-addled tech-investment house from Japan, is the latest to be seeking to place a big bet on OpenAI. The startup has so far raised a total of around $14bn. Most of it, perhaps $13bn, has come from Microsoft, whose Azure cloud division is also furnishing OpenAI with the computing power it needs. In exchange, the software titan will receive the lions share of OpenAIs profitsif these are ever handed over. More important in the short term, it gets to license OpenAIs technology and offer this to its own corporate customers, which include most of the worlds largest companies.
It is just as well that OpenAI is attracting deep-pocketed backers. For the firm needs an awful lot of capital to procure the data and computing power necessary to keep creating ever more intelligent models. Mr Altman has said that OpenAI could well end up being the most capital-intensive startup in Silicon Valley history". OpenAIs most recent model, GPT-4, is estimated to have cost around $100m to train, several times more than GPT-3.
For the time being, investors appear happy to pour more money into the business. But they eventually expect a return. And for its part Openai has realised that, if it is to achieve its mission, it must become like any other fledgling business and think hard about its costs and its revenues.
GPT-4 already exhibits a degree of cost-consciousness. For example, notes Dylan Patel of SemiAnalysis, a research firm, it was not a single giant model but a mixture of 16 smaller models. That makes it more difficultand so costlierto build than a monolithic model. But it is then cheaper to actually use the model once it has been trained. because not all the smaller models need be used to answer questions. Cost is also a big reason why OpenAI is not training its next big model, GPT-5. Instead, say sources familiar with the firm, it is building GPT-4.5, which would have similar quality" to GPT-4 but cost a lot less to run".
But it is on the revenue-generating side of business that OpenAI is most transformed, and where it has been most energetic of late. AI can create a lot of value long before AGI brains are as versatile as human ones, says Mr Lightcap. OpenAIs models are generalist, trained on a vast amount of data and capable of doing a variety of tasks. The ChatGPT craze has made OpenAI the default option for consumers, developers and businesses keen to embrace the technology. Despite the recent dip, ChatGPT still receives 60% of traffic to the top 50 generative-AI websites, according to a study by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture-capital (VC) firm which has invested in OpenAI (see chart).
View Full Image (Graphic: The Economist)
Yet OpenAI is no longer onlyor even primarilyabout ChatGPT. It is increasingly becoming a business-to-business platform. It is creating bespoke products of its own for big corporate customers, which include Morgan Stanley, an investment bank. It also offers tools for developers to build products using its models; on November 6th it is expected to unveil new ones at its first developer conference. And it has a $175m pot to invest in smaller AI startups building applications on top of its platform, which at once promotes its models and allows it to capture value if the application-builders strike gold. To further spread its technology, it is handing out perks to AI firms at Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley startup nursery that Mr Altman used to lead. John Luttig of Founders Fund (a VC firm which also has a stake in OpenAI), thinks that this vast and diverse distribution may be even more important than any technical advantage.
Being the first mover certainly plays in OpenAIs favour. GPT-like models high fixed costs erect high barriers to entry for competitors. That in turn may make it easier for OpenAI to lock in corporate customers. If they are to share internal company data in order to fine-tune the model to their needs, many clients may prefer not to do so more than oncefor cyber-security reasons, or simply because it is costly to move data from one AI provider to another, as it already is between computing clouds. Teaching big models to think also requires lots of tacit engineering know-how, from recognising high-quality data to knowing the tricks to quickly debug the source code. Mr Altman has speculated that fewer than 50 people in the world are at the true model-training frontier. A lot of them work for OpenAI.
These are all real advantages. But they do not guarantee OpenAIs continued dominance. For one thing, the sort of network effects where scale begets more scale, which have helped turn Alphabet, Amazon and Meta into quasi-monopolists in search, e-commerce and social networking, respectively, have yet to materialise. Despite its vast number of users, GPT-4 is hardly better today than it was six months ago. Although further tuning with user data has made it less likely to go off the rails, its overall performance has changed in unpredictable ways, in some cases for the worse.
Being a first mover in model-building may also bring some disadvantages. The biggest cost for modellers is not training but experimentation. Plenty of ideas went nowhere before the one that worked got to the training stage. That is why OpenAI is estimated to have lost $500m last year, even though GPT-4 cost one-fifth as much to train. News of ideas that do not pay off tends to spread quickly throughout AI world. This helps OpenAIs competitors avoid going down costly blind alleys.
As for customers, many are trying to reduce their dependence on OpenAI, fearful of being locked into its products and thus at its mercy. Anthropic, which was founded by defectors from OpenAI, has already become a popular second choice for many AI startups. Soon businesses may have more cutting-edge alternatives. Google is building Gemini, a model believed to be more powerful than GPT-4. Even Microsoft is, despite its partnership with OpenAI, something of a competitor. It has access to GPT-4s black box, as well as a vast sales force with long-standing ties to the worlds biggest corporate IT departments. This array of choices diminishes OpenAIs pricing power. It is also forcing Mr Altmans firm to keep training better models if it wants to stay ahead.
The fact that OpenAIs models are a black box also reduces its appeal to some potential users, including large businesses concerned about data privacy. They may prefer more transparent open-source" models like Metas LLaMA 2. Sophisticated software firms, meanwhile, may want to build their own model from scratch, in order to exercise full control over its behavour.
Others are moving away from generalitythe ability to do many things rather than just one thingby building cheaper models that are trained on narrower sets of data, or to do a specific task. A startup called Replit has trained one narrowly to write computer programs. It sits atop Databricks, an AI cloud platform which counts Nvidia, a $1trn maker of specialist AI semiconductors, among its investors. Another called Character AI has designed a model that lets people create virtual personalities based on real or imagined characters that can then converse with other users. It is the second-most popular AI app behind ChatGPT.
The core question, notes Kevin Kwok, a venture capitalist (who is not a backer of OpenAI), is how much value is derived from a models generality. If not much, then the industry may be dominated by many specialist firms, like Replit or Character AI. If a lot, then big models such as those of OpenAI or Google may come out on top.
Mike Speiser of Sutter Hill Ventures (another non-OpenAI backer) suspects that the market will end up containing a handful of large generalist models, with a long tail of task-specific models. If AI turns out to be all it is cracked up to be, being an oligopolist could still earn OpenAI a pretty penny. And if its backers really do see any of that penny only after the company has created a human-like thinking machine, then all bets are off.
2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Many people, including air force pilots, continue to report encounters with strange objects in the sky. This led US space agency Nasa to commission an independent study to scientifically examine such claims. Heres what the report, published last week, reveals:
Why did Nasa commission the study?
Last year, Nasa selected 16 individualsscientists, data and artificial intelligence experts, and aerospace safety expertsto study unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs). These sightingsof unidentified flying objects (UFOs) to you and meare those that cant be immediately classed as human-made or natural phenomena. With many credible witnesses, often military aviators, having reported seeing such objects, Nasa hopes the findings will help it separate UAPs from surveillance operations by foreign powers, thus ensuring the safety of planes over US skies, especially in restricted areas.
What does the report reveal?
Nasa, which is still evaluating" the report, believes theres no conclusive evidence suggesting an extraterrestrial origin for UAP". It says sightings could be unmanned aircraft, balloons, birds, weather events or airborne debris. The US department of defence says such sightings are influenced by factors such as the weather, light, atmospheric effects, inaccurate interpretation of data or even the observers hazy recollections. Nasa qualifies, though, that it does not have all the data needed to explain these anomalous sightings. It needs to be noted that the authors only studied unclassified information for the report.
Why are they called UAPs and not UFOs?
Typically, theres a stigma attached to reporting UFOs because of the frivolity, obsession and incredulity attached to the term. But such sightings, if true, could have a bearing on aircraft safety. Hence, US authorities coined UAP as the new acronym. A stood for aerial in the original acronym. But the Pentagon switched it for anomalous in December 2022.
Why this frenzy over UAPs or UFOs?
Is there intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? With some 800 sightings to date, this question drives the quest for evidence. David Grusch, a former Pentagon intelligence officer, said in July that the US possesses several spacecraft of unknown origin, and bodies of pilots of an unknown species". Two months later, ufologist Jaime Maussan showed Mexicos Congress two corpses claiming they were of aliens, but scientists dismissed these as either ancient Peruvian mummies or manipulated objects.
What is Nasa recommending?
Nasa has named a director of UAP research, Mark McInerney, who will analyse data. It also plans to use smartphone apps to gather imaging data from anyone who claims to see such objects. Nasa will also leverage the NEXRAD Doppler radar network to help separate interesting objects from clutter. Nasa sees particular promise in earth-observing satellites, mentioning the excellent resolution" from NISARits satellite partnership with Isroin potentially examining UAP directly".
Thailand is looking to India to boost its tourism recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailands Prime Minister, Srettha Thavisin, plans to visit India this year to meet with his counterpart, Narendra Modi, and discuss increasing flight frequency between the two countries.
Thailand is also waiving visas for travelers from India, China, and Kazakhstan starting next week. These measures are aimed at attracting more tourists from these countries and helping Thailands tourism industry recover.
Thailands Tourism Industry
Thailands tourism industry is a key driver of the countrys economy, accounting for around 18% of GDP. In 2019, Thailand welcomed over 40 million tourists, but that number fell to just 1.6 million in 2021 due to the pandemic.
Thailands tourism industry has been hit hard by the pandemic, but it is starting to recover. In the first half of 2023, Thailand welcomed over 1 million tourists, which is a significant increase from the same period last year.
However, Thailands tourism industry is still below pre-pandemic levels. The government is hoping that by waiving visas and increasing flight frequency with India, they will be able to attract more tourists and help their tourism industry recover.
Indias Growing Middle Class
India is a large and growing market for Thailands tourism industry. In 2019, over 2 million Indian tourists visited Thailand. Indias middle class is also growing rapidly, and more and more Indians are able to afford to travel abroad.
The World Travel and Tourism Councils report predicts that the outbound tourism market in India will experience a robust annual growth rate of 9.3% over the next decade, indicating a substantial rise in the number of Indian tourists traveling abroad in the coming years.
Thailand stands in a favorable position to benefit from Indias burgeoning tourism market. Its popularity among Indian tourists is attributed to a myriad of attractions, such as its beautiful beaches, serene temples, and rich cultural offerings. Furthermore, Thailands affordability adds to its allure for Indian travelers.
Challenges
Despite the potential of Indias tourism market, there are a few challenges that Thailand needs to overcome in order to attract more Indian tourists. One challenge is the lack of direct flights between the two countries. Currently, there are only a few direct flights between Thailand and major Indian cities.
Another challenge is the perception of Thailand as a dangerous country. Some Indians have concerns about safety and security in Thailand. The Thai government needs to address these concerns in order to attract more Indian tourists.
Conclusion
Thailands tourism industry is a vital part of the countrys economy, and the government is looking to India to help boost its recovery. The visa waivers and increased flight frequency between the two countries are positive steps, and they are likely to attract more Indian tourists to Thailand.
However, Thailand needs to overcome a few challenges in order to fully capitalize on Indias growing tourism market. The government needs to increase the number of direct flights between the two countries and address the perception of Thailand as a dangerous country.
Thailand can attract more Indian tourists and boost its tourism industry if it successfully addresses these challenges.
India Expels Canadian Ambassador
The Indian government has expelled the Canadian ambassador, and the UK is actively communicating with Canada regarding grave allegations implicating Indian government agents in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada.
In June, someone fatally shot Hardeep Singh Nijjar, whom India had designated as a terrorist in 2020, outside a Sikh temple in Vancouver. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that the Canadian government is actively pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder.
India has denied the allegations, calling them absurd and motivated. The Indian government has also accused Canada of harboring Sikh separatists who are plotting to overthrow the Indian government.
The expulsion of the Canadian ambassador is a significant escalation in tensions between India and Canada. While the two nations share a lengthy history of strong connections, recent years have seen tensions escalate due to contentious matters such as Sikh separatism and human rights concerns within India.
UK in Close Touch with Canada
The UK has said that it is concerned about the allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of Nijjar. The UK government has also said that it is in close touch with the Canadian government and is monitoring the situation closely.
Analysis
The expulsion of the Canadian ambassador is a serious diplomatic move. It is a sign that India is very angry with Canada over the allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of Nijjar. It is also a sign that India is willing to take action to protect its interests.
The UKs close contact with Canada over the allegations is also significant. It shows that the UK is concerned about the allegations and that it is taking them seriously. It also shows that the UK is supportive of Canada in this dispute.
We still need to determine the veracity of the allegations against India. Nonetheless, if they indeed prove to be true, they could potentially significantly affect Indias relations with both Canada and the UK.
Potential Impact on Relations
If the allegations against India are proven true, it could damage relations between India and Canada. Canada may impose sanctions on India or take other steps to punish the Indian government. India may retaliate by taking steps against Canada, such as reducing trade or expelling more Canadian diplomats.
The allegations could also damage relations between India and the UK. The UK has been trying to build closer ties with India in recent years, but the allegations could derail these efforts. The UK may also be forced to impose sanctions on India if the allegations are proven true.
The allegations of Indian involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada are a serious matter. If proven true, these allegations could significantly affect the relations between India, Canada, and the UK.
M1 Abrams tanks to be in Ukraine soon Pentagon Chief
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, opening the 15th meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format in Germany, said U.S. M1 Abrams tanks will soon be in Ukraine.
"I'm pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that the US has previously committed to will be entering Ukraine soon," Austin said during opening remarks.
He also noted the cruelty of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, stressing that Russian assaults "have reached far beyond the battlefield and inflicted untold human suffering."
To date, at least 280,000 tonnes of grain have been destroyed as a result of Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure.
"Russia's attacks continue to threaten global food security and to risk needless humanitarian crises around the planet," he said.
He also said the allies have already transferred Patriot, Iris-T, Hawk, NASAMS, SAMP-T and other air defense systems to Ukraine, which "will continue to protect Ukraines critical infrastructure, including grain and energy supplies."
A group of protestors left City Council on Tuesday after they said council members couldn't answer their questions regarding the death of 34-year-old Roger Sylvester Heard Jr.
Heavy fighting continues around islands in lower Dnipro in Kherson region since beginning of Sept British intelligence
Through the first half of September 2023, heavy fighting has continued around the islands in the lower Dnipro in Kherson region, which currently marks the front line.
According to a report by the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland published on X on Tuesday morning, both sides launched raids with groups in small boats on the islands and opposite river banks.
"The number of forces involved are relatively small compared to other fronts; however, both sides see the area as strategically important. It also provides the opportunity to draw their adversarys units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts," the intelligence said.
According to British intelligence, Russian operations in the area intensified after the sector came under the responsibility of the newly created 40th Army Corps.
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There was great sadness in the area on Wednesday, September 6 when news spread of the death of Joseph (Joe) Skelly, Moatfarrell, and formerly of Reading, England and Mullinroe, who passed away peacefully in Mullingar Hospital after a brief illness.
Joe was in his eighty-fourth year and was the son of John and Mary Skelly of Mullinroe, and was one of a family of nine who are highly regarded in the local community.
He was educated locally before emigrating to England as a young man, where he worked both in construction and in the hotel and catering trade, and was employed as a chef in several leading hotels.
A trowel and a chefs knife were brought to the altar at his funeral in memory of his talents and skills.
After retirement, Joe returned to Ireland and settled in Moatfarrell, where he was well-regarded as a kind and helpful neighbour, before moving to Our Ladys Manor in Edgeworthstown in the last few years as his health disimproved.
He is survived by his son Jason, his brother Bernard, his sister Margaret (U.S.A.), his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, relatives, neighbours and a wide circle of friends to whom we offer our deepest sympathies.
His Funeral Mass took place on Saturday morning, September 9 in the chapel of Our Ladys Manor and was celebrated by his neighbour Fr. Simon Cadam, followed by interment in the family plot in St Columba's Cemetery, Mullinalaghta.
Ar dheis De go raibh a anam.
A former student of St Mels College, Longford Deasun Kelly (LC class of 2022) was awarded with a JP McManus Scholarship in UL last weekend.
JP McManus established the All Ireland Scholarships in 2008 to financially support many gifted young students across the island of Ireland during their third level education. Deasun is a very worthy recipient of this prestigious award.
During his time in St Mels he was very involved in the student council and arranged Autism awareness workshops and talks for students. He also excelled academically and was very popular among his peers.
Malachy Flanagan, Principal St Mels College, attended the award ceremony last Saturday and is pictured here with Deasun and his mother Siobhan Kelly.
All at St Mel's College wish Deasun continued success in his third level education and look forward to him visiting the school in the coming months where we hope he will share his success story and also the challenges he overcame with our current students.
Well done Deasun.St Mels is hugely proud of you!
Further Troubles victims in Northern Ireland have announced legal challenges against the UK Governments new legacy legislation.
The victims, who are supported by Amnesty International and represented by Phoenix Law, plan to challenge the new Act over its denial of future inquests and its ban on civil claims.
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act received royal assent on Monday despite widespread opposition from political parties and victims organisations in Northern Ireland.
The most controversial aspects of the laws include a limited form of immunity from prosecution for Troubles-related offences to those who co-operate with the new Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery and the ending of future civil cases and inquests.
Legal firms Madden & Finucane and KRW Law and victims campaigner Raymond McCord have already announced legal action over the legislation, which Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said provides a real opportunity to deliver greater information, accountability and acknowledgement to victims and families.
The Irish government has also said it is seeking legal advice over taking an inter-state case against the UK Government.
On Tuesday, Mr McCord said he had a constructive and positive meeting with advisors to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
The Irish government has been made aware of my challenge to the Legacy Act as well as other victims challenges, he said.
No indication has been given around what action the Irish government will take.
My legal team and I will concentrate on my case in court in Belfast.
Several victims who had inquests, independent investigations or civil claims pending have backed the latest legal challenge.
Amnestys Northern Ireland deputy director Grainne Teggart said: We made it clear that if this Bill became an Act we would continue to stand with victims and fight against this unacceptable denial of rights.
The UK Government blatantly shunned victims rights and pushed through a law only it wanted.
This heinous act of wrong must not stand; it is now over to the courts to right this historic wrong.
Martina Dillon had been waiting for an inquest into the death of her husband Seamus Dillon, who was shot and killed in 1997.
She said: Every day my heart aches and yearns for my husband and the trauma of his killing has been exacerbated by this law.
Truth and justice are not much to ask, we shouldnt have to fight for decades to get it.
I will fight this oppressive legislation in my husbands memory and in solidarity with other victims having their rights denied. The clock is ticking for victims, we hope the courts will treat this with urgency.
Darragh Mackin, from Phoenix Law, said: From its inception, international human rights experts have warned the Government that this Act violates rights and fail to put victims at the centre of legacy processes.
Access to justice is a cornerstone of any democratic society.
John McEvoy was seriously injured and narrowly avoided death during a gun attack in 1992.
He said: The past is still the present, I narrowly escaped death and live with the impact of that gun attack every day.
As victims we have been affected in different ways, but we all stand to lose out by this law which grossly denies us our rights, thats why weve come together to challenge it.
We are determined to get answers and accountability, we wont stop fighting until that happens.
Other applicants in the case are Brigid Hughes, whose husband Anthony was shot in 1987, and Lynda McManus, whose father John McManus was severely injured in the gun attack on Sean Graham bookmakers in Belfast in 1992.
Business & Finance, Community, Charity & Cause
By Catherine Eve Published: September 19 2023
The Town of Hempstead will be hosting a Job Fair on Thursday, September 21 in Freeport.
The Town of Hempstead will be hosting a Job Fair on Thursday, September 21 at the Freeport Recreation Center in Freeport. More than 60 employers are scheduled to attend, including:
Altice USA Family
Amazon
Baldwin UFSD
Bethpage Federal Credit Union
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DNATA Catering
City of New York Fire Department
Frito Lay
Mill-Max Mfg. Corp
Mount Sinai South Nassau
Nassau County Police Department
National Grid
Northwell Health
NuHealth
MTA
Office of the NYS Comptroller
Rallye Motor Company
Suffolk County Police Department
The Estee Lauder Companies
The Viscardi Center
PSEG Long Island
United States Postal Service (USPS)
.and many more
Veterans and individuals with disabilities are invited to attend early, from 9 - 10:00 a.m. General admission is from 10:00 a.m. - 4 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring several copies of their resume.
The job fair is being hosted by Robert T. Kennedy, Mayor of Freeport Village and HempsteadWorks, a career center that provides programs and services for both job seekers and employers.
Visit the HempsteadWorks website to register for the fair and to view a complete list of attending employers. For more information, call (516) 485-5000, extension 1146. The Freeport Recreation Center is located at 130 East Merrick Road in Freeport.
Local News
By Chris Boyle Published: September 19 2023
It is important to myself and the State of New York that we remain up to date and respectful of individuals at all times, Governor Hochul said.
Governor Kathy Hochul today signed key legislation to support New Yorkers with disabilities. Legislation (S.7094/A.6543) renames the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council to be the State Council on Developmental Disabilities and updates its membership to reflect the diversity of the state. Legislation (S.3313B/A.5879A) updates outdated language used in the private housing law, the public authorities law, and the New York State medical care facilities finance agency Act. Legislation (S.4041-A/A.7258-A) replaces certain instances of the words handicapping conditions with disabilities related to children with such disabilities.
It is important to myself and the State of New York that we remain up to date and respectful of individuals at all times, Governor Hochul said. This legislative package will allow changes to outdated language in our State laws and continues our efforts to help strengthen the rights of all New Yorkers.
Legislation (S.7094/A.6543) makes important updates to the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council, which supports individuals with developmental disabilities through programs that promote self-advocacy, participation, and inclusion in all facets of community life. The legislation will enable fresh perspectives to be heard on the council by implementing a diverse, rotating membership. The bill also renames the council to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities.
State Senator John W. Mannion said, These changes to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities ensure New York prioritizes diversity and puts individuals with disabilities and their families first. Thank you, Governor Hochul, for signing this important legislation.
Assemblymember Rebecca Seawright said, I commend Governor Hochul for her leadership in signing into law our legislation to significantly promote inclusion, dignity, and respect for New Yorkers living with disabilities. Through the Governors action, together with the State Legislature, we are most substantially increasing representation of people with disabilities on our States planning council and renaming the Disabilities Planning Council to the State Council on Developmental Disabilities, implementing person-first language to put the person before their disability. We are also updating the outdated and offensive language mentally retarded to developmental disability. These changes are a huge step in the right direction for achieving full equality for New Yorkers with disabilities.
Legislation (S.3313-B/A.5879-A) allows updates to outdating language used in the private housing finance law, the public authorities law, and also the New York State medical care facilities finance agency act.
State Senator James Skoufis said, "There is no justification for perpetuating hurtful language when referring to individuals with intellectual disabilities. Terms like 'mentally retarded' belong to a bygone era. I thank Governor Hochul for signing this bill to replace such terms with more respectful language to foster inclusion for individuals living with intellectual disabilities throughout New York."
Legislation (S.4041-A/A.7258-A) is designed to replace certain instances of the term handicapping conditions with disabilities related to children with such disabilities in the education law. This will modernize the New York Education Law to be consistent with the federal law and dignified phrasing conventions.
State Senator Shelley Mayer said, I am pleased New York is taking another step in modernizing New York Education Law by ensuring we use appropriate language for people with disabilities. By replacing the words handicapping conditions with disabilities, New York will use appropriate language that reflects our commitment to recognizing people with varying abilities and will be consistent with Federal law. I thank Assemblymember Michael Benedetto for championing this legislation in the Assembly, and Governor Kathy Hochul for signing it into law."
Assemblymember Michael Benedetto said, Words have meaning and words can be hurtful even when they are not intended to hurt. It is time we fix this injustice with this legislation. I applaud Governor Hochul for seeing that the time is long overdue.
Former Union Treasurer And School Monitor Arrested For Stealing Over $20,000 In Union Dues
Crime
By Chris Boyle Published: September 19 2023
Fannie Bowe Allegedly Made Unauthorized ATM Withdrawals and Purchases with a Union-Issued Debit Card.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the arrest of Fannie Bowe, 54, of Bellport, who is accused of misusing her union-issued debit card to make unauthorized personal purchases and withdrawals of more than $20,000, while serving as treasurer of the Bellport Teachers Association Affiliates Union.
This defendant is alleged to have violated the trust of her colleagues, the hard-working educational professionals of the South Country Central School District, said District Attorney Tierney. One of Suffolk Countys greatest assets is its outstanding educational system, and my office is committed to prosecuting those who would seek to unlawfully profit by stealing from any entity that contributes to the system.
According to the investigation, Bowe was elected as treasurer of the Bellport Teachers Association Affiliates since October 2020, while also being employed as a School Monitor for the South Country Central School District. Between July 2021 to January 2023, Bowe allegedly repeatedly misused her union-issued debit credit card over an 18-month period, to make more than $2,500 in unauthorized purchases and $18,000 in unauthorized ATM withdrawals.
She also allegedly submitted multiple false treasurer reports to the Bellport Teachers Association Affiliates executive board to conceal and disguise her unlawful conduct. Bowes misuse was uncovered after union officials noticed and questioned expenses on reports she submitted to the union.
The Bellport Teachers Association Affiliates is a local union for Teachers Assistants and School Aides employed by the South Country Central School District, and its funding is generated by member dues.
On September 15, 2023, Bowe was arraigned before District Court Judge, the Honorable Bernard Cheng for the charges of one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a Class D felony; and two counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree, Class E felonies. She faces two and one third to seven years in prison if convicted.
Judge Cheng ordered the defendant released on her own recognizance. Her next court date is September 21, 2023, and she is being represented by the Legal Aid Society.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Katharine DAquila of the Public Corruption Bureau with the investigative assistance from Suffolk County District Attorney Investigator Brian Wood of the Public Corruption Squad.
An attack by Russian attack drones on Lviv on Tuesday night destroyed 15 trucks with humanitarian aid, including from the Vatican, auxiliary bishop of Lviv Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church Eduard Kava said.
"As a result of a nighttime drone attack on the warehouse of the charity organization Caritas-Spes, about 15 trucks of humanitarian aid were destroyed," Cava said in a video commentary posted on the archdiocese's Facebook page.
According to him, the humanitarian aid included clothing, shoes, food, and generators, particularly from the Vatican.
"We receive help from the Vatican through the mediation of Cardinal Krayevsky, and this is part of the help sent not only recently, but also over that time, which has already been gradually distributed throughout Ukraine," the bishop said.
As reported, Lviv was attacked by Russian drones last night. As a result of the attack, a fire started in warehouses not related to the military. The area of the fire is about 10,000 square meters. As a result of the attack and fire, one person died and another was hospitalized. There is no threat to his life.
Crime
By Chris Boyle Published: September 19 2023
Defendant Lorenzo Arana, 22, Used Social Media to Harass Young Girls, Retaliated Against a 12-Year-Old by Circulating Sexually Explicit Videos to Friends and Classmates.
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Lorenzo Arana was sentenced by United States District Judge Gary R. Brown to 210 months in prison for distribution of child pornography in connection with his circulation on social media of sexually explicit videos of a 12-year-old girl. Arana pleaded guilty to the charge in November 2022.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Ivan J. Arvelo, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI), announced the sentencing.
Todays sentence brings justice to a vulnerable young girl and many others like her throughout the country who were terrorized and harmed by the defendants weaponization of social media to target them for undeserved cruelty, vulgarity, and abuse, stated United States Attorney Peace. It will always be a priority of this Office to protect children and hold online predators accountable for their actions. My message to parents and caregivers is please talk to your children about the dangers of communicating online with strangers who may exploit them and to seek help from a trusted adult if they are being threatened.
It is particularly evil for a person to prey upon young people and exploit their innocence, but to do so to the point where a victim sees no reason to live is beyond reprehensible, stated HSI New York Special Agent-in-Charge Arvelo. The defendant, Lorenzo Arana, got what he deserved today for his actions. There is no place in our society for such heinous behavior, and HSI New York is committed to protecting our children in every way possible.
Arana, who also used the online alias Lorenzo Blake, has a lengthy and well-documented history of using social mediawhere he amassed thousands of followers, many of whom were minorsto target underage girls for harassment and abuse. Arana leveraged his large following across social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Snapchat and YouTube, to bully, harass and exploit underage girls, including through blackmail with sexually explicit material he solicited from them, threatening to publicly distribute the materialalong with other sensitive information, such as the victims cellphone numbersfor a range of conduct Arana deemed unacceptable, from refusing to send additional pornographic materials to simply declining his phone calls.
Aranas conviction in this case related specifically to his online harassment and abuse in September 2020 of a 12-year-old described in the indictment as Jane Doe #2. After soliciting sexually explicit material from Jane Doe #2, Arana intentionally distributed those videos to her friends and classmates on social media (including other minors), causing Jane Doe #2 to attempt suicide. Arana posted about his conduct on social media, acknowledging that he distributed the compromising material to expose Jane Doe #2 for refusing to respond to his calls. Law enforcement recovered a text message on Jane Doe #2s cellphone, in which Arana stated kill ur . . . self. Upon learning that Jane Doe #2 was contemplating suicide, Arana responded, I dont care . . . she deserves it. Local police in another state received an emergency call, requesting a welfare check of Jane Doe #2. Responding officers found Jane Doe #1 unconscious in her bed, along with loose pills, two pill bottles, a firearm, and a suicide note. The victim survived.
This prosecution is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative led by the Department of Justice to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
The United States and Ukraine's partners have allocated a total of more than $76 billion in direct assistance to Ukrainian defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has said.
"In total, the United States and Ukraine's global partners have committed more than $76 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine's defense. Now, these donations demonstrate the profound resolve of some 50 countries gathered here. Together, we are getting Ukraine what it needs when it needs it," Austin said, opening the 15th meeting of Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format in Germany.
Separately, the Pentagon Chief expressed words of gratitude to former Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov "for everything that he did for a free Ukraine," noting "his hard work and dedication."
Austin also welcomed new Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, for whom this is the first meeting of the Defense Contact Group. "We had a good call last week, and we had the chance to sit down together earlier this morning as well. Rustem, I look forward to working closely with you and your team," he said.
Austin said right now Ukrainian forces are fighting a difficult battle to liberate their sovereign territory from Russian invaders. "Ukraine's counteroffensive continues to make steady forward progress. And brave Ukrainian troops are breaking through the heavily fortified lines of Russias army of aggression. Ukraine's progress is a testament to the fighting spirit of its people," he said.
According to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, history will show "the full folly of Putin's reckless, cruel, and unprovoked invasion of his peaceful neighbor." "In this war, time is not on Putins side. Time is never on the side of a dictator who launches an imperial war of choice. And time is never on the side of aggression," Austin said.
The Pentagon Chief also noted the courage and perseverance of the Ukrainian people resisting the Russian invasion. "Throughout this tragic war, Putin has tried to demoralize the Ukrainian people. Instead, he has demoralized the Russian military. And the Kremlin has isolated itself by its flagrant aggression. Look at the 50 countries proudly represented around this table, standing together to defend Ukraine and the rules-based international order. And then look at the Kremlin, left alone with the likes of Iran and North Korea," the Pentagon Chief said.
As Austin assured, the United States and partners "have proven our staying power over and over again" and will stand by the Ukrainian people for the long haul.
Luxembourg and Germany are increasing their contributions to an effort by the European Investment Bank and the World Bank to help cities across most of the world adapt to climate change.
The two countries on Tuesday said they were increasing their donations to more than double the Climate Finance Gap Fund to 105 million. Luxembourg had contributed 10 million previously and is now adding 5 million, a climate finance expert at the Environment Ministry told the Luxembourg Times.
"Cities are in a race against time to become carbon neutral as well as more resilient to the effects of climate change. They also face major social and economic challenges, which place demands on their budgets," said Ambroise Fayolle, the EIB's vice president in charge of climate action. "The Gap Fund is helping cities make best use of scarce resources."
The fund has given money to efforts in 183 cities in 67 countries since it was established in 2020, a news release said. Projects have included implementing a stormwater management plan in Mbombela, South Africa, using plants and other natural features to help residents adapt in Kinshasa , Democratic Republic of the Congo, and energy-efficiency measures for buildings in Palembang, Indonesia, the statement said.
More than half of the world's population lives in cities, and they generate 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions, according to the World Bank, which provides money to help developing countries.
"While urbanization is a key driver of growth, unplanned, rapid urbanization and urban sprawl threaten to increase greenhouse gas emissions and vulnerability to climate change and other shocks," the Washington-based bank said.
NHS Frimley has warned of disruption to services as junior doctors and consultants join strike action this week.
Tomorrow (September 20) they will strike on the same day, for the first time, and NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust said it is vital the public continues to use services wisely.
Consultant doctors began strike action this morning at 7am (September 19) and will end on September 21 at 7am.
Junior doctors will strike between 7am on September 20 to 7am on September 23.
The BMA (British Medical Association) said there will be a Christmas day level of service on September 19 and 20 which means emergency departments will be open and staffed with consultants, but disruption and longer waits should be expected.
NHS leaders have warned of the 'very challenging' impact of strikes on services as hospital consultants are the NHSs most senior clinicians, whose roles cannot be covered by other staff.
Dr Gareth Roberts, Chief of Service for Medicine for Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: We are now entering the ninth month of industrial action across the NHS and staff continue to work hard to provide patients with the best possible care under the circumstances.
First and foremost, we aim to keep people safe during the planned strikes. Hospital services will be particularly affected, and we will redirect available resources to protect emergency treatment, intensive care, new-born care, maternity, and trauma.
In outpatients and theatres, we will continue to prioritise cancer treatments, and those patients who have waited the longest for elective procedures.
Routine appointments may be rescheduled but if individuals have not been contacted by the Trust, they should attend appointments as planned and check for updates.
General practice, community pharmacies, and dentistry are open as usual.
Dr Lalitha Iyer, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Frimley ICB, said: Its very important that people who need medical care come forward, especially when someone has a life-threatening illness or injury.
"A range of services are available to ensure Accident and Emergency Departments (A&E) are freed up to treat those with life-threatening and critical illnesses or injuries. Care for life-threatening or serious illness/injury will be prioritised.
If you are unsure of what service to choose, visit NHS 111 online https://111.nhs.uk . It includes a symptom checker and can connect you to a nurse, emergency dentist, pharmacist, or book you into the local Minor Injuries Unit in Bracknell or A&E department if your condition is more serious.
As well as being booked in via NHS 111 to the Minor Injury Unit you can also walk in for things such as sprains and strains, suspected broken limbs, minor head injuries and minor scalds and burns. The service is open 7 days a week from 8am to 8pm. X ray is available Sundays to Fridays.
If your child is unwell, and youre not sure where the best place to go for advice is, visit the NHS Frimley Healthier Together website or download the app. Designed by local experts, it provides support to parents and carers to help them manage a range of common childhood illnesses. Visit: https://frimley-healthiertogether.nhs.uk/.
Further coordinated junior doctor and consultants industrial action is planned for early October across three days (October 2 to 4), as well as action by the Society of Radiographers.
The recommended advice is to only use 999 and A&E or Emergency Departments for serious or life-threatening emergencies, to collect family and friends from hospital as soon as they are ready to be discharged and to stay away from hospitals if showing the symptoms of flu or COVID-19 (or have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19) unless it is an emergency.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Tuesday he remains optimistic about bringing down the price of rice to P20 per kilo, even as the grain has been selling for more than double that amount.
In an interview in Zamboanga, the President said this could be achieved once the cost of agricultural production becomes stable.
If we lower the cost of production, the price of rice will also decrease, he said in Filipino.
Bringing the price of rice down to P20 a kilo was one of the Presidents campaign promises.
President Marcos was in Zamboanga to distribute confiscated smuggled rice and other assistance to residents and the local government units in Zamboanga.
His visit to Zamboanga came after the Bureau of Customs seized 42,180 bags of imported rice worth P42 million inside a warehouse in Barangay San Jose Gusu, Zamboanga City on Sept. 15.
On Monday, the National Food Authority (NFA) Council, chaired by Marcos, raised the price at which the NFA buys wet palay, from P16 to P19 a kilo, and for dry palay from P19 to P23 a kilo.
Marcos said the new buying price for palay would help farmers.
He also defended his order mandating a price cap on regular andwell-milled rice, saying this would help the public afford the staple commodity despite its soaring cost because of the El Nino.
The President, who is concurrently Agriculture secretary, noted that such as China, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia were already racing to have enough buffer stock before the dry spell, which he said caused a spike in rice prices.
Marcos also vowed to continue the governments campaign against rice smugglers and hoarders.
We need sufficient food for our fellow countrymen. Part of that isstrengthening our agricultural system. However, thats not the onlyproblem in agriculture here in the Philippines; a significant problem is the smuggling of rice into the country, he said in Filipino.
Marcos cited the need for better laws on rice distribution to stop smugglers and hoarders.
We also need to strengthen our enforcement of laws regarding the supply of riceIt is not right that smugglers and hoarders bring it in, hoard the supply, raise the price, and people suffer just so they can make a lot of money, he said.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, meanwhile, said the Presidents decision to raise the NFAs buying price for palay would redound to the benefit of farmers and keep prices for the grain stable.
The President wants to make sure our local prices are stable, regardless of what happens in the world market. Our priority should be our own. Of course, we prefer our local supply compared to imported rice. We should import only what we need. Self-sufficiency should be key, he said.
Deputy Majority Leader and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo, meanwhile, said the President might lift the price cap on rice in the coming weeks.
Tulfo said there were already recommendations from farmers groups about the lifting of the rice price ceiling, which is at P41 per kilogram for regular-milled rice and P45 a kilogram for well-milled rice.
What Ive been hearing from Malacanang, the President may suspend it hopefully by the end of the month or around October, Tulfo said on ANCs Headstart.
Tulfo said the cancellation of the rice price cap could begin when newly harvested rice starts to enter the market.
Romualdez called for more support for Filipino farmers to enable them to produce more rice so the country can reduce and eventually do away with rice importation.
He said rice importation fattens the pockets of foreign rice producers, while hurting Filipino farmers.
Instead of depending on rice imports, the country should address issues related to production, supply, funding, marketing, infrastructure, irrigation, and technology, he said.
In other developments:
Senator Francis Tolentino said rice smugglers and hoarders should immediately be charged now that raids on warehouses are underway.
Rep. Salvador Pleyto of Bulacan said President Marcos decision to give away smuggled and hoarded rice to poor families was the best deterrent against smuggling. Pleyto, a member of the House agriculture and food committee, said President Marcos decision would mean confiscated smuggled rice can no longer be rescued by bribes.
Norway will donate about 50 tracked trucks to Ukraine, which are needed to deliver goods to areas where there are no roads, Defense Minister Bjrn Arild Gram said.
The vehicle is called the M548 internationally, while the Norwegian version is called the NM199, the Norwegian government's website said Tuesday. Such trucks can transport ammunition, food and water for Ukrainian forces in the field.
The vehicles were stored in the Armed Forces, but are now undergoing maintenance. Their replacement will be carried out through already planned projects.
"Ukraine remains in dire need of military support in the fight against Russian invading forces. Norway will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary," Gram said.
By Amanda Mouawad
Derna, Libya Hundreds of protesters rallied in Libyas disaster-hit Derna on Monday, accusing the authorities of neglect after a huge flash flood devastated the coastal city and swept thousands to their deaths.
Demonstrators gathered outside the citys grand mosque and chanted slogans against the parliament in east Libya and its leader Aguilah Saleh.
The people want parliament to fall, Aguila is the enemy of God, The blood of martyrs is not shed in vain and Thieves and betrayers must hang, they shouted.
A statement read on behalf of the protesters urged a speedy investigation and legal action against those responsible for the disaster.
They also demanded a United Nations office in Derna and the start of the citys reconstruction, plus compensation for affected residents and a probe into the current city council and previous budgets.
Those who survived from the city, in whats left of the city, against the ones who brought death and destruction to the city, posted analyst Anas el-Gomati on X, formerly Twitter, under pictures of the destruction.
Some protesters marched on a house reportedly owned by Dernas unpopular mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi and set it on fire, according to images shared on social networks and by Libyan media.
Al-Masar television reported that the head of the eastern-based government, Oussama Hamad, had dissolved Derna council and ordered an investigation into it.
Politicians and analysts say the chaos in Libya since the 2011 fall and killing of Moamer Kadhafi has relegated the maintenance of vital infrastructure to the background.
On September 10, two dams in which cracks were reported as far back as 1998 burst after Storm Daniel hit eastern Libya, unleashing the devastating and deadly torrent that swept through the city of 100,000 people.
It killed more than 3,330 people and left thousands more missing.
Tens of thousands of traumatised residents are homeless and badly need clean water, food and basic supplies amid a growing risk of cholera, diarrhoea, dehydration and malnutrition, UN agencies have warned.
Disease outbreaks
On Monday the UN warned disease outbreaks could bring a second devastating crisis.
Local officials, aid agencies and the World Health Organization are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation, the UN said.
Libyas disease control centre warned that mains water in the disaster zone is polluted.
Rescue teams from European and Arab countries kept up the grim search for bodies in the mud-caked wasteland of smashed buildings, crushed cars and uprooted trees.
The waters submerged a densely populated six-square-kilometre (2.3-square-mile) area of Derna, damaging 1,500 buildings of which 891 were totally razed, according to a preliminary report by the Tripoli government based on satellite images.
We grew up here, we were raised here But weve come to hate this place, weve come to hate what it has become, said one bereaved Derna resident, Abdul Wahab al-Masouri.
Bulldozers cleared roads of mud, including at a mosque where a foul smell hung in the air and a woman prayed for children and grandchildren killed in the disaster.
Amid the chaos, the true death toll remained unknown, with untold numbers swept into the sea.
The health minister of the divided countrys eastern administration, Othman Abdeljalil, said Monday 3,338 people were now confirmed dead in Derna.
Officials and humanitarian groups have warned that the final toll could be much higher.
Field hospitals
Emergency response teams and aid have been deployed from countries including Egypt, France, Greece, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt has sent a helicopter carrier to the eastern Tobruk military base to serve as a field hospital with more than 100 beds, Egyptian media reported Monday.
France has set up a field hospital in Derna.
On Monday, the UN, which has launched an emergency appeal for more than $71 million, said nine of its agencies were delivering aid and support to survivors.
The European Union said it was releasing 5.2 million euros (around $5.5 million) in humanitarian funding for Libya, bringing total EU aid so far to more than 5.7 million euros.
In the face of the tragedy, rival Libyan administrations appear to have set aside their differences for now after calls to collaborate in the aid effort.
Libya has been split between two rival governments a UN-backed administration in the capital Tripoli and another in the disaster-hit east since the NATO-backed uprising 12 years ago.
On Monday the Tripoli-based government said it began work on a temporary bridge over the river that cuts through Derna.
UN experts have blamed the high death toll on climatic factors as the Mediterranean region has sweltered under an unusually hot summer, and on the legacy of Libyas war.
Port Sudan, Sudan The Sudanese army clashed with tribal militiamen in Port Sudan late Monday, witnesses said, the first fighting in the strategic coastal city in more than five months of war.
Thousands have been killed in fighting that has raged between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), since April 15.
A witness in Port Sudan said there had been an exchange of gunfire between the army and a militia led by Sheba Darar, a leader from the local Beja tribe, in the centre of the Red Sea city.
One witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said soldiers deployed in the area after removing checkpoints set up by the militia, while others reported a return to calm soon after.
Port Sudan is home to the countrys only functioning airport and hosts government officials as well as the United Nations.
They had relocated from the war-torn capital Khartoum, where battles between the army and the RSF continued Monday, according to witnesses who reported heavy artillery and air strikes rocking the city.
Port Sudan had been spared from the violence until Monday nights clashes broke out.
For the past three weeks, it has served as the new base for Burhan, who had until late August been holed up in army headquarters in Khartoum, besieged by RSF fighters.
Burhan has since made six trips abroad from Port Sudan in what analysts say is a diplomatic push to burnish his credentials in the event of negotiations to end the conflict.
Fighting rages in Khartoum
Darar who supported the army at the start of the war before raging against government officials moving to eastern Sudan has not announced an alliance with the RSF.
Other tribes in Sudans east have vowed to support the army.
Across Sudan, the violence has killed at least 7,500 people since April 15, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project.
For the third day in a row, the RSF attacked army headquarters in central Khartoum, while the army responded with air strikes and drones, according to witnesses in the area.
Others in Omdurman, just across the Nile river, reported the army attacking RSF bases with artillery fire.
Intense fighting since Saturday had set fire to key buildings of Khartoums skyline, turning emblematic towers in the city centre into blackened skeletons.
Both sides blamed each other for the destruction, which included the ministry of justice and the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower a conical building with glass facades that had become a landmark for the city.
The RSF said the buildings were destroyed in targeted attacks by the air force, while a statement from the Burhan-aligned foreign ministry on Monday described the fires as part of an evil and systematic campaign by the rebel militia to destroy the capital.
Both forces have been accused by activists, aid groups and international organisations of targeting infrastructure and failing to protect civilians.
The war in Sudan has decimated already fragile infrastructure, shuttered 80 percent of the countrys hospitals and plunged millions into acute hunger.
More than five million people have been displaced, including 2.8 million who have fled the relentless air strikes, artillery fire and street battles in Khartoums densely populated neighbourhoods.
At the meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine in the Ramstein" format in Germany, Estonia, Luxembourg and Ukraine have created an IT coalition that will support the Ukrainian Defense Forces of Ukraine in the cyber sphere, the Estonian Defense Ministry reports.
The role of information and communication technology in this war is certainly harder to perceive, since the kinetic activities on the front are much more visible. Nevertheless, actions in the cyber domain are significant amplifiers for what happens on the physical battlefield. It is a pleasure and honour for Estonia to be able to put competencies gained as an e-state to good use in supporting Ukraine, said Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur.
In addition to Estonia, Luxembourg and Ukraine, Belgium, Lithuania and Denmark also signed a Declaration of Intent at the event dedicated to the launch of the IT coalition.
The objective of the event today was also to provide allies with more information about the coalition in order to involve further states, since joined forces are always stronger. A number of states were interested in the coalition and the goal is to expand the circle of contributing states rapidly, added Minister of Defence Pevkur.
On June 15, ex-Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov announced the creation of an IT coalition within the framework of Ramstein.
A 37-year-old man is facing drug charges in connection with a serious crash that happened on the Massachusetts Turnpike in Charlton Tuesday, morning Sept. 19, Massachusetts State Police reported.
The crash, involving a 2016 M2106 box truck and a 2017 Dodge 1500 pickup truck, happened on I-90 west between Route 56 and Route 31 around 9:13 a.m., according to state police and MassDOT.
A 34-year-old Everett man was trapped in the box truck after it flipped on its side because of the crash, state police said. He was pulled from the vehicle and flown to a hospital with serious injuries, police said.
The crash shut down the highway so a medical helicopter could land. Delays occurred in both directions as a result, as MassDOT has warned on X, formerly known as Twitter. Some lanes were still closed as of Tuesday afternoon, according to state police.
The driver of the Dodge, Nathan Miranda, of Winchendon, was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of drugs, state police said.
He is facing several charges, including OUI-drugs, causing serious injury and possession of a Class B narcotic, according to police. He will be arraigned at a later date.
The crash remains under investigation.
In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, MassLive asked readers to identify people who are emerging Hispanic leaders throughout the state, working to make a difference in their own area of interest, be it politics, education, business or the arts.
These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change.
Jeannette Huezo is the executive director of United for a Fair Economy. (Photo courtesy of Jeannette Huezo).
Jeannette Huezo
Age: 60
Community: Dorchester
Her story: Jeanette Huezo has committed her life to advocating for economic justice, which has been a life goal of hers even before she emigrated from El Salvador to Boston. Huezo said she needed to escape a country that was experiencing a civil war to save her life.
Read more: Jonathan Alicea is working to help Springfield students with their mental health
Little did I know I would face more adversity and challenges than I could have imagined, Huezo told MassLive. I knew that my work needed to continue to build a better future for my growing family and my community.
Huezo now serves as the executive director of United for a Fair Economy, a nonprofit organization that supports social movements working for a resilient, sustainable and equitable economy, UFEs website reads.
The director oversees the organizations Popular Education program and facilities workshops on several topics, specifically for Latinx groups. Through her work, Huezo has helped activists struggling for social change as well as empowered women, immigrants, and others facing injustice to participate in the decision-making process around issues that affect their lives.
In her words: Never give up, never take a no for an answer, and continually raise your voice for equity and inclusion.
Each day, we will introduce more leaders, and were always open to hear about more inspiring people. If youd like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form.
Despite the last-ditch plea from Leominsters mayor in the wake of flooding that left streets and bridges washed out, causing an estimated tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure damage, UMass Memorial Health plans to proceed with the closing of the birthing center at its Leominster campus this weekend.
In a statement released Monday night, hospital officials said the health system supports the Leominster residents affected by the flooding, and has donated $20,000 to the citys United Way Leominster fund, but wont delay the closure of the center.
Read More: Maternal mortality on the rise as UMass plans Leominster birth ward closure
We understand concerns expressed about the timing of the closure of HealthAlliance-Clintons inpatient maternity unit in relation to the ongoing challenges facing the community, the statement read.
In adherence with the DPHs regulatory review process for the closure of essential services, we will be closing the unit as planned on September 23.
The planned closure, which was announced in May, has come under heavy criticism from the Massachusetts Nurses Association as well as community groups and advocates.
The department of Public Health recently characterized the birthing center an essential service.
Advocates have continued to press for the hospital to delay the closure, at a time when reports have shown that Black non-Hispanic residents in the United States experience significantly higher maternal mortality than white non-Hispanic and Hispanic residents, and the numbers have increased disproportionately in recent years.
The hospital has characterized some of the criticism as misinformation, maintaining staffing shortages and declining birth rates are significant factors in its decision to close the ward.
10 1 / 10 Advocates plead with UMass Memorial to 'leave labor in Leominster'
The hospitals Monday statement in its entirety reads:
We extend our support to our community members impacted by the flooding in Leominster last week and recognize the importance of helping each other in times of disaster. We have been in contact with Mayor Mazzarella during this time offering our assistance and continue to work with clinicians across our system to provide urgent and emergency health services to those seeking care. We also remain on-call to support ongoing rescue and evacuation efforts, as needed. UMass Memorial Health donated $20,000 to the Citys United Way Leominster fund to help address weather-related damage in the community.
We understand concerns expressed about the timing of the closure of HealthAlliance-Clintons inpatient maternity unit in relation to the ongoing challenges facing the community. In adherence with the DPHs regulatory review process for the closure of essential services, we will be closing the unit as planned on September 23. DPH is aware of this and will shift its focus to monitoring and enforcement of our plan. Following the closure, the UMass Memorial Health system will continue supporting the residents of Leominster and making health resources available to the community.
It is important to note that HealthAlliance-Clinton patients will continue to have the option to receive their prenatal and postpartum care from the same local obstetrics, gynecology and family medicine practices as they do now, and that we are providing additional supports to those practices. HealthAlliance-Clinton has also taken additional steps to ensure North Central patients are fully supported. We have ensured sufficient UMass Memorial Medical Center staff and physical capacity to accept all deliveries that currently occur at HA-C along with other program enhancements. We will be providing curb-to-curb transportation around the clock to meet patient needs for non-emergency maternity services, and to help support the most vulnerable in North Central Massachusetts, we will invest more than $600,000 to meet patient prenatal and postpartum needs.
The Massachusetts State Police trooper who was severely injured when he was struck by a car in Utah in August has returned to Massachusetts to continue his recovery.
Matthew McRae is now settled in at a Boston-area rehabilitation hospital and is making gains in his recovery, now able to move his extremities, speak with family and friends and is beginning physical therapy, the State Police Association of Massachusetts said in a statement.
McRae was in a rideshare vehicle on Aug. 25 while vacationing in Salt Lake City when the car was hit by another vehicle, according to a GoFundMe page. McRae, the rideshare driver and another passenger were all taken to the hospital, with McRae needing to go into the ICU with several broken bones including a broken neck and spinal injury.
Salt Lake police spokesperson Brent Weisberg told KSL.com that a Mini Cooper was driving at a high rate of speed before crashing into a KIA the vehicle McRae was in. The news station reported that the other driver was detained for interfering with the investigation, but the association said an alleged drunk driver struck the rideshare vehicle.
The State Police Association of Massachusetts said McRaes message to those who have supported him is THANK YOU. The union sent a photo of McRae giving a thumbs up from his hospital bed.
The Association and the McRae Family would like to thank everyone who has supported him, including Matthews academy classmates and fellow Troopers, our elected leaders who are actively establishing legislation to create a sick leave bank, the Greg Hill Foundation for their fundraising, and all of the community members who have stepped up to support Matthew and his family during this difficult time, the email said.
Based in Boston, the Greg Hill Foundation was founded to respond to the immediate needs of families that had been touched by tragedy, according to its website. It started a fundraiser to help McRae and his family, so far accumulating $6,470 as it approaches its goal of $10,000.
For those who know Matthew, we can agree that he is a generous and fun-loving person. He has helped so many people within his personal and professional life, now it is time to help him, the foundation wrote. The Greg Hill Foundation will be matching donations up to $10,000, as well as matching all credit card transaction fees so 100% of the donations go directly to Matthew McRae.
Similarly, a GoFundMe was set up to help with McRaes recovery. The fundraiser which initially had a goal of $60,000 received around 1,400 donations with an amount of $132,095 donated.
We wanted to take an opportunity today to thank everyone who made it possible for Matthew to meet his fundraising goal in the first 24 hours, organizer Casey McRae wrote in an Aug. 28 update. We are forever grateful for the outpour of support weve received and continue to receive. Even though weve met the goal to cover his medical transport back to Boston, we are still accepting donations to fund his ongoing medical care and any other unforeseen expenses that he may have.
CHICOPEE On a tour in Western Massachusetts, Irelands Patrick ODonovan stopped by Our Lady of Elms College on Monday morning and praised the school for its longstanding commitment to teaching the Irish Gaelic language.
The language means so much to so many of us as a future, as much as it has in the past, he said. It is a language that people can use daily to converse to rear their children.
ODonovan is the Irish minister of state for the countrys Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform as well as its Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
Knowing that theres a center for Irish studies here helps the people in Ireland by demonstrating that the language is not dead, ODonovan said during the event.
Elms College President Harry Dumay said for the last 15 years, the college has participated in a faculty exchange program called the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant program.
The language teaching assistant program gives educators the chance to improve skills while also strengthening the instruction of foreign languages at colleges and universities across the United States.
During the visit, Annie Jowett, this years language assistant, explained her role in the colleges faculty exchange program.
While teaching, Jowett is also completing a doctorate and getting international experience, Dumay told The Republican.
The exchange is a win-win, Dumay said.
ODonovans visit on Monday underscores the connections between Elms College and Ireland, a connection that harkens back to the institutions founding by an Irish daughter and mother, Dumay said.
In 2007, the college rolled out a minor in Irish studies.
According to ODonovan, the story of Western Massachusetts could not be written without input from the people of Ireland.
Stretching back to colonial times, people left Ireland in waves, many of whom were deprived of the right to go to school because of their faith, he said.
Ireland couldnt look after its young, ODonovan said.
The college has deep connections to many Irish families who migrated to Massachusetts to find a better life, he said.
Now that people are migrating from Ireland by choice, ODonovan said it is important that they see the world and experience different countries.
According to ODonovan, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-Springfield, sends inquiries to his office about young Americans who want to immigrate to Ireland for economic reasons.
The message of a Catholic emancipation and Irelands economic progress for the last 30 years is critically important to the developing world, he said.
It has taken a long time for us to be able to turn the corner to be able to see that we are now economically able to widen our shoulders and we are able to look after our own and thats (the language) one of the ways we look after our own, he said.
ODonovan offered the assistance of his departments and the council in efforts to deepen the relationship between Elms and colleges in Europe.
As part of his visit to Western Massachusetts, ODonovan also attended the Big E where he met with West Springfield mayor Will Reichelt and viewed the showcase at the fair highlighting the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. ODonovan also met with Neal.
About 700 students every year leave high school without a diploma, who otherwise would have received one, because they failed to pass Massachusetts required standardized test.
Of approximately 70,000 students in each graduating class, 96 percent meet the states competency determination associated with the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS), a standardized test that 10th graders are required to pass to get their diploma, according to data compiled by Board of Elementary and Secondary Education Vice-Chair Matt Hills, who presented his findings at the boards meeting on Tuesday.
Of the 4 percent of students who dont pass the test -- and therefore cannot earn a diploma -- three-quarters already dont meet local district requirements to be eligible for graduation, according to data in Hills presentation provided by Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Associate Commissioner Rob Curtin.
Hills said he has been working on the MCAS overview since the board controversially voted last year to raise the minimum score students have to attain to graduate starting with the class of 2026. Though he said the presentations timing is not a response to a potential ballot question to remove the testing graduation requirement, it comes against the backdrop of an escalating debate about the role of the test in determining students eligibility for a diploma.
Read More: MCAS reformers join forces on single ballot question to change standardized test
The Massachusetts Teachers Association, the states largest teachers union, backs an initiative that would eliminate the requirement that students pass the MCAS to graduate high school, and instead would require that students complete coursework certified by their district. If supporters can collect enough signatures, the question could appear before voters on the 2024 ballot.
The MCAS exams were created under a 1993 education reform law aimed at improving accountability and school performance. The first tests were given in 1998, and high school students have been required to pass the tests to graduate since 2003.
A common criticism of the competency determination is that it prevents otherwise eligible students from earning a high school diploma.
My focus, Hills said,is not, Ah -- its just 700 students, who cares? Its What programs do we need to put in place at the state level to partner with districts so that 700 gets as close to zero as possible?
The estimated 700 students who fail the exam but otherwise meet district requirements earn a certificate of attainment as opposed to a diploma. This certificate is not accepted by Massachusetts public colleges and universities, Hills said.
Is someone whos hiring a high school graduate going to say, Im sorry, you only have a CA, you dont have the diploma. I doubt it, Hills said. I will say there is no question -- I dont want to give the impression that the 1 percent with the certificate of attainment are, that its basically the same thing as a high school diploma. Its not. At least in terms of applying for public colleges and universities here.
Students who do not pass the test in 10th grade often take it again as a junior, and may take it several times.
Close to 95 percent of Asian and white students pass the competency determination on their first try, compared to just over 80 percent of Black students and just under 80 percent of Hispanic students, according to Hills presentation.
Economically disadvantaged, or low-income, kids pass on the first attempt close to 80 percent of the time. Students with specialized education needs pass on their first try close to 70 percent of the time, and English language learners on average require the most tries to pass. Less than half pass on their first try, but close to 95 percent passing by their fourth-plus attempt.
Overall, close to 95 percent of all students earn the competency determination by their second attempt.
If you look at each student group, just to see are there racial and ethnic disparities, you see slightly lower numbers for certain racial and ethnic groups, Black and Hispanic, but still very, very high overall numbers, Hills said in an interview with the News Service.
If a student has not passed the test, districts can develop something called an Education Proficiency Plan for that individual.
Katherine Craven, chair of the education board, said her son passed the competency determination using an alternative method.
Its very infrequently discussed, but there are all sorts of chances to pass the MCAS and there are alternatives that districts can use. Something like twenty percent of students dont pass the MCAS at all through the state, they use EPPs, she said.
Craven explained that a student who fails to meet a proficient level on the exam gets an EPP, which reviews the students strengths and weaknesses based on MCAS scores, coursework, grades and teacher input. Its a process through which districts can help students reach the competency determination without necessarily passing the traditional test, or using a modified approach, contributing to the 96 percent of students who graduate with the diploma requirement.
Students can also appeal to the department if they are just a bad test taker, Hills said. He added that 75 percent of appeals get approved.
This is not an IQ test. It is a test of whether or not you learned basic curricular matters, frameworks, that have been in place statewide for 30 years. Were measuring learning outcomes, not if youve learned how to take a test like the SAT or ACT, Craven said.
Hills said there is a policy implication for English language learners, who on average pass the test less than any other demographic that Curtins data tracks.
The Newton board member said EL students on average outperform state grade averages about three or four years after they first come to the United States.
If someone has immigrated to America in Grade 9 and were testing them in Grade 10 ... theyre not going to do that well. Why should they? They may be coming here from a place where they dont speak English at all, even as a second language, fleeing poverty, war and famine, Hills said. But we know they will do well, at least certain EL students, once theyve been here a few years. I think thats a very legitimate policy question. What can we do?
Craven said the department currently has a pending request for proposals to reevaluate the test, and that they are open to a new way of looking at the evaluation and finding a way to modernize it.
For example, the department is looking at providing translated versions of the assessments in additional grades and additional languages, Curtin said at Tuesdays board meeting. The tests are currently offered in Spanish for math and science at the high school level, and DESE has proposed both to offer Spanish exams in third through eighth grade and also to offer tests in languages other than English and Spanish.
The department also plans to move toward replacing current science tests in fifth and eighth grade with a new science assessment focused on the doing of science, where students would do lab work, Curtin said. Officials also hope to improve turnaround times for exam scores by using artificial intelligence to grade some parts of the test, plus reduce the total testing time by decreasing the number of essays students are asked to write.
A common criticism of the MCAS exams is that they take up instructional time that could be spent in the classroom. Curtin said the average testing time in third through eighth grade is around seven hours for the ELA and math sections, combined, and nine hours in the grades where students also take a science section.
He added that the department is also considering adding a civics assessment in eighth grade, which would launch in fiscal year 2025.
Although the department is examining ways to change the test, Craven said that eliminating the MCAS altogether -- as some have called for -- would eliminate a standardized tool for the state to measure equity across districts and student demographic groups.
Students who are not reaching the competency determination tend to be concentrated in certain districts, with 15 districts accounting for half of all students who dont pass the 10th-grade MCAS.
Of the students in these districts, 72 percent do not meet district requirements. Within the other 28 percent -- who have a certificate of attainment and otherwise would have gotten a diploma -- 80 percent are concentrated in nine districts.
The 15 districts that contain 50 percent of all Massachusetts students not passing the exam are Methuen, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Leominster, Boston Day, Everett, Lowell, New Bedford, Lawrence, Fall River, Lynn, Worcester, Brockton, Springfield and Boston. Boston schools have the highest percentage of those not earning the competency determination, at 18.2 percent.
One argument against having an MCAS is that MCAS doesnt predict anything different than income or poverty do, Craven said. But thats not true. Because there are districts that have done exceedingly well and others that havent, that are in the same income line.
Read More: How three Western Massachusetts districts improved during pandemic learning
Many of the districts included in the 15 that contain half of students failing the competency determination serve lower-income students and large populations of English learners.
Research by Professor John Papay of Brown University, cited in Hills analysis, shows that students with higher MCAS scores go on to earn substantially more in the labor market. This is true across different racial and ethnic groups.
The Grade 10 MCAS scores can help predict earnings among similar students with the same education level and demographics, Papay found.
Asked why, from a policymaking perspective, it is valuable to have data that predicts earnings, Hills responded that it shows we have a test thats accurately predicting future income, and that we need to put our resources and initiatives behind improving scores when a student gets into high school in order to give them a real chance at an adequate income, or enrolling in a two- or four-year college.
The data shows the likelihood of enrolling and graduating from college increases for students with higher MCAS scores. Among students who took the 2011 math test, only 24 percent who earned a proficient/needs improvement score graduated from a two- or four-year college, compared to a 48 percent statewide average.
Theres an argument being made that the data doesnt matter and we should eliminate the headache, Craven said. But we see that it matters because the statistics show that your ability to earn a living wage later in life correlates with your ability to pass [the competency determination] by 12th grade or not.
Hills also said the exam is Massachusetts only comprehensive statewide graduation requirement.
Including Washington, D.C., 49 other states have comprehensive course requirements for students to graduate, Hills said. These include mandating that students acquire a certain number of course credits across subjects, or pass core-curriculum or civics tests in different states.
In comparison, Massachusetts only comprehensive statewide requirement is the MCAS, Hills said, allowing local districts more control over their curriculum.
All 48 other than Massachusetts, of the 49, have a series of comprehensive course requirements. I dont mean you have to pass P.E. -- serious course requirements. Were the only one with extreme local control, he said. Its like, you guys figure out the courses, were offering frameworks -- but thats guidance, thats not mandatory. Were the only ones whose sole graduation requirement is a test.
Craven also said the MCAS is the only statewide tool to measure student learning.
With the 1993 education reform law the state embarked upon a radically higher amount of state support for districts. We didnt tell you you had to have a certain amount of teachers in the classroom, or books in the library. School committees can spend state money however they want to. But we have the test, and thats the only measurement of progress that we have, she said.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is once again calling on Congress and the Biden administration for increased support to address the overwhelmed state emergency shelter system, which is struggling to house tens of thousands of migrants.
Specifically, Healey is asking the federal government for more money to help expand the states emergency shelter system and to expedite work authorization papers for migrants.
In August, Healey declared a state of emergency weeks before Massachusetts received a $2 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to expand shelter services and transportation for newly arrived families.
Currently, there are 22,000 individuals housed in the commonwealths shelter system, with half of them being new arrivals and children, the governor said during a Tuesday news conference. On Monday, 41 families arrived in Massachusetts, totaling nearly 6,500 families.
Migrants are coming into the commonwealth from multiple states including Texas, Florida and New Mexico. Healey said she knows of organizations that are providing plane and bus tickets to migrants who choose to cross the border to come to the north.
Thats why we see a number coming into Logan Airport every day, and then we work as quickly as we can to process people through our welcoming centers, Healey told reporters after a huddle with legislative leaders.
Massachusetts isnt alone in its migrant crisis. Healey said shes spoken with other governors across the country who say they are experiencing a similar issue. New York and Illinois, which both offer emergency shelter to families without homes, have declared emergencies as they have run out of room to house migrants in their largest cities.
I am clear about is this is not sustainable, Healey said. And we need help from the federal government. We need Congress to act, and we need the Biden administration to give us work authorizations on an expedited basis, and to make changes there that will assist us in caring for these people.
Last week, Healey filed a more than $2 billion supplemental budget request, which allocated $250 million toward one-time funds to assist families without homes.
However, when asked whether the House would support such a hefty request, state House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Norfolk, said there might be still more work to do before the supplemental gets approved.
Right now, I think that were still searching for some answers on the potential total expenditures that well be dealing with, the Quincy lawmaker told reporters. Theres a lot of questions around the number that need to be tightened up.
Mariano said the Healey administration is having difficulty gathering numbers on how many migrants are coming into the Bay State and the organizations that are serving as checkpoints for the migrants.
Its not an easy thing to do, Mariano said. Its people coming from all different countries and coming in at all different points of entrance so its a difficult challenge. So well work with them, continue to work with them and see where we end up.
WESTFIELD St. Marys High School kicked off its 125th birthday on Sept. 17 with a Mass celebrated by Bishop William Byrne of the Diocese of Springfield, followed by breakfast at the school.
The bishop is very, very supportive of us at St. Marys, said Matthew Collins, principal of the Catholic high school on Bartlett Street in Westfield.
The Czech Republic has agreed with Denmark and the Netherlands that, with their financial support, it will supply Czech weapons to Ukraine.
According to the Czech Defense Ministry, Deputy Defense Minister Daniel Blazkovec signed a so-called Letter of Intent with the Defense ministers of Denmark and the Netherlands within the framework of Ramstein.
"In particular, it will be the supply of additional tanks, howitzers, small arms, infantry fighting vehicles, air defense and electronic warfare equipment or ammunition from the enterprises of our defense industry," Blazkovec explained.
It is noted that the goal is to establish long-term cooperation and support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The first subproject is the transfer of 15 upgraded T-72 main battle tanks, which will be sent to Ukraine in the near future.
"This agreement will mean huge benefits for the further development of the Czech defense industry and for the security of the Czech Republic as such. Thanks to this, Czech gunsmiths will become more competitive on the world market. At the same time, these will be projects with greater economic benefits for the Czech Republic, including employment opportunities for our citizens," the Deputy Defense Minister stressed.
For the Czech Republic, this is not the first project in which it supplies weapons paid for by another state. As part of a trilateral project with the United States and the Netherlands, 45 (out of 90) upgraded T-72 tanks have already left for Ukraine.
WESTFIELD City officials will host a public hearing on Sept. 30 to detail how it spent $750,000 in fiscal 2023 federal Community Development Block Grant and HOME formula funds.
Community Development Director Peter Miller said the meeting will also discuss how the city is faring in its five-year plan for neighborhood redevelopment in areas with low-income residents, small businesses and affordable housing. The hearing begins at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, in Room 315 of City Hall.
WESTFIELD A couple suspected of stealing several cars were arrested last week after one victim tracked down the alleged thief in Springfield hours after his vehicle had been stolen.
Westfield Police Detective Andrew Cekovsky reports in a court document that at 10:07 p.m. on Sept. 13, the victim reported that his 2022 Toyota Highlander had been stolen while parked at a Franklin Street convenience store. He told police that the SUV had been unlocked, with the keys inside and was running. The victim also said that his wallet containing $200 and his phone had been inside the vehicle.
The victim chased the fleeing thief on foot, and his brother followed the Toyota in his vehicle and told police that it had entered the Massachusetts Turnpike.
Solar panels on hotels will not keep the heat on or the pool warm in December, gas will - Hugh Rouse
MEMBERS of a Mayo County Council committee on economic development have been encouraged to independently inform themselves on gas exploration along the west coast instead of just listening to lobby groups.
Maura Harrington, a veteran of the Shell to Sea campaign, and Jerry McEvilly, Friends of the Earth Head of Policy Change, both addressed Mayo County Councils Economic Development, Enterprise Support, Planning and Marine Strategic Policy Committee outlining the economic and environment reasons for not providing a drilling licence for a gas field 200km off the Erris coast.
In June, Brian O Cathain of Europa Oil and Gas, gave a presentation to the SPC during which he explained that the company proposes to drill gas at the Inishkea and Inishkea West field and bring the gas ashore and link in with the Bellanaboy gas refinery. The company claims it will provide 60 percent of Irelands gas needs and produce gas up until 2050.
While members of the SPC were sympathetic to what Ms Harrington and Mr McEvilly said in relation to the need to reduce the use of fossil fuels, they all expressed full support for the gas project and the need to bring gas ashore.
In response, Ms Harrington said that the feeling she got from the floor was that there was an us and them scenario and the SPC had to take more steps to inform themselves.
This SPC has an equal part to play and not just a part of going with Brian or go with Maura. It beholds you as the strategic policy committee to do more than just assess what you got from Europa Oil and from us today. Call in people and seek the best advice to inform yourself. Are you yourselves seeking information to inform yourselves other than from people who have lobbied you to make representations? There is all sorts of stuff you need to find out for yourselves, she said.
Mr McEvilly agreed with his colleague stating that there was a lot of research on the subject in different universities around the country and it would be important to ask questions from them on gas exploration.
Ms Harrington asked to address the SPC after learning that Mr O Cathain had addressed the members in June, saying she wished to address some of the claims he made. She said she was very sceptical about the idea that the gas from the new field could tap into the Corrib gas field without new infrastructure and she rejected the claim that it would provide 60 percent of the States gas needs.
It was like deja vu all over again. I heard the same thing 20 years ago. Corrib provided 60 percent [of the States gas needs] for as long as a wet week, and then it started to rapidly decline, she said.
Policy conflict
MS Harrington also disagreed with the argument that the gas will provide energy guarantees. She pointed out that the State buys gas from the Corrib field at market value and it is no less expensive than buying it from the UK.
Mr McEvilly said that the economic argument for the field did not also stack up because of the ever-decreasing reliance on gas infrastructure. He said the continued use of gas for another 30 years flies in the face of current government policy.
Any infrastructure that goes in now or any investment that goes in now will be in use for years and decades to come. Your response is it is needed. It is needed now but all the scenarios and projections governments are making [predict] rapidly reducing gas use particularly from the 2030s, he said.
You might say it is in our interests to say that, but the real issue is we would see a risk in promises being made to Mayo and essentially that the use of that infrastructure rapidly decreasing. That exposes stranded assets and economic costs, and we are not clear who will bear those costs if that infrastructure is used less and less.
Letter of support
CHAIRMAN of the SPC, Cllr Mark Duffy thanked Ms Harrington and Mr McEvilly for their presentation and stated it is important they hear both sides of the story. While accepting their arguments were well made he still believed the council had to support the gas coming ashore from the new field.
Cllr Jarlath Munnelly said that while they had to take climate change seriously he believes there is still a place for gas exploration.
It seems to me we have a choice, we either import gas from other countries or else there is gas lying off the west coast of Mayo we can utilise. This is not a solution at all. It is a stop gap until other technologies can produce and Ireland can be a net exporter of green energy. I dont expect you to agree with anything I say here but how we get to that transition I think there is a place for gas and projects like this, he said.
Farmers representative Martin Gilvarry voiced similar opinions, while Hugh Rouse, representing the Chambers of Commerce, said that industry needed a gas supply to attract investment.
We need to bring people into north Mayo and we need to endorse this. Industry is doing its best but solar panels on hotels will not keep the heat on or the pool warm in December, gas will, he said.
At the end of the meeting, members agreed that a letter should be sent to the Taoiseach and to the relevant minister to support this project.
BONFIRES welcomed Achill man Martin O'Malley back to the island after he captained the Irish team to first place in the team shield at the 2023 World Sheepdog Trials.
The World Sheepdog Trials took place in the Gill Hall Estate, Dromore, Co Down with 240 sheepdogs and their handlers from all over the world taking part in the global event which took place from Wednesday, September 13 to Saturday, September 16.
Described as the Olympics of the sheepdog world, the World Sheepdog Trials is organised by the International Sheep Dog Society with competitors coming from all over the world to take part in a series of trials.
Team Ireland was captained by Martin O'Malley from Ballinock on Achill Island and during the competition the Irish team scored impressively and managed to secure the top prize in the teams competition amid tough competition from over 20 other teams hailing from all corners of the globe including the United States, Brazil, South Africa and Norway.
Team Ireland consisted of Martin OMalley along with Eamonn Connell, from Mullingar, Co Westmeath, Allistar Lyttle, from Co Donegal, Paddy Fanning, from Glenealy, Co Wicklow and James McCloskey, from Carndonagh, Co Donegal.
During the competition, 240 competitors and their dogs took part in a series of qualifying heats with the final 15 qualifying for the senior final last Saturday with a chance to be named the 2023 World Sheepdog Trial champion.
Martin and his dog Bruce performed brilliantly throughout the competition and were contenders for a long period but in the end had to settle for fifth place. The eventual overall winner was Peter Landfald from Norway and his dog Max.
The competition was followed feverishly in Achill and on Saturday evening crowds lined the roads and lit bonfires at Dookinella Church to welcome Martin back to his home village.
Branding the performance of Martin and his Irish team as 'outstanding', John McCullough, Chairman of the World Trial Committee, congratulated the Team Ireland members.
The standards shown during the teams competition were extremely high, which means that clinching the title was certainly no mean feat. A huge well done to the members of Team Ireland on what is a truly momentous achievement, he said.
AFP: According to a survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, the proportion of US firms in China that feel optimistic about the next five years is the lowest the survey has ever recorded. And the survey participants said the reasons for their more pessimistic outlook included Chinas economic slowdown and pressure from the American government to decouple from China. What does China plan to do to better support American companies operating in China in the next five years?
Mao Ning: I would refer you to competent authorities for your specific question. What I can tell you is that the Chinese economys strong resilience, ample potential and strong vitality stay unchanged, the fundamentals sustaining Chinas sound economic growth in the long run stay unchanged, and Chinas strength in its enormous market and full industrial system stays unchanged. Lately, China has rolled out a host of targeted measures aimed at attracting foreign investment, which have been applauded by domestic and foreign investors.
We welcome, as always, foreign businesses to invest and operate in China, and will stay committed to creating favorable conditions for businesses from all over the world.
Xinhua News Agency: China announced that it will host the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October this year. What events will be held and how does preparation for the Forum go?
Mao Ning: The third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held in Beijing in October this year. Events during the Forum include the opening ceremony, three high-level forums on connectivity, green development and digital economy, and six thematic forums on trade connectivity, people-to-people connectivity, think tank exchanges, clean Silk Road, subnational cooperation and maritime cooperation. A CEO conference is also to be held.
Preparation for the Forum is well underway. As of today, representatives from more than 110 countries have confirmed that they will attend the Forum. China and BRI partners are in communication on the preparation.
Bloomberg: Im just wondering, on the BRI, when will we get the dates, because you keep saying in October, but when will we get specific dates?
Mao Ning: We will release information in due course. Please check back for updates.
AFP: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met Vice President Han Zheng on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Is the Chinese side able to provide any more details about what they discussed?
Mao Ning: I have nothing more to share. Please refer to our press release.
AFP: A high-level delegation from Afghanistan is currently taking part in an official visit to China led by the Afghan office of the deputy prime minister for economic affairs. Is the Chinese side able to confirm that this visit is taking place? And if so, what are its aims and purposes?
Mao Ning: I have no information on that. Id refer you to competent Chinese authorities.
AFP: Fighting took place yesterday in the Myanmar town of Muse just across the border from the Chinese city of Ruili in Yunnan. Is the Chinese side aware of the fighting and has China taken any countermeasures in response to the fighting on the Myanmar side of the border?
Mao Ning: I am not yet aware of what you mentioned.
AFP: ASEAN nations began their first ever joint military drills off the coast of Indonesia today. China is not taking part in the drills, but Im wondering if the foreign ministry has a position on these drills given Chinas claims to much of the South China Sea and the fact that mostly Southeast Asian nations are taking part in them.
Mao Ning: Id refer you to competent Chinese authorities for your specific question. Chinas position on the South China Sea issue is consistent and clear.
The All-Ukrainian Rehabilitation Center, which was damaged during hostilities in 2022 as a result of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, has resumed work in Liutizh, Kyiv region.
"After the de-occupation of Kyiv region, we actively began to restore medical institutions. We are doing this both with the help of the state and with the active participation of international donors. It is very important for us that people receive high-quality and affordable social and medical services. To date, more than 100 healthcare facilities in the region has already been fully or partially restored. The restoration continues. New approaches to work are being implemented so that the institutions are as modern as possible and accessible to all groups of the population," Head of Kyiv Regional Military Administration Ruslan Kravchenko said at the opening ceremony.
The renovation of the All-Ukrainian Center for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities took around ten months. The main building, where the roof was damaged and one of the walls was destroyed, was restored. Windows were replaced in a number of buildings and routine interior repairs were carried out.
Some 136 people can simultaneously undergo high-quality rehabilitation here. The center employs therapists, orthopedists, neurologists, psychotherapists, psychologists, physiotherapists and pediatricians.
Rehabilitation is free of charge. The range of services includes locomotor therapy, verticalization, therapeutic massages, various types of physiotherapy, physical therapy, and water rehabilitation. In the future, military personnel will also undergo rehabilitation at the center.
According to the website of Kyiv Regional Military Administration, the rehabilitation center, administered by the Social Policy Ministry, was restored thanks to the help of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and the Luxembourg Red Cross.
by Fern Siegel , September 19, 2023
Apple just debuted iPhone 15 which kicked off refurbisher Back Markets response: Let Them Buy New campaign. The satiric work sends up Big Techs obsession with creating new products and posits refurbished devices as eco-friendly and affordable.
Created by the Gus agency, Let Them Buy New reframes the idea of tech innovation, promoting a shift in both economic and eco-terms. It claims Apple and the tech industry at large have contributed to the 50 million metric tons of e-waste produced each year, which accounts for 70% of toxic waste.
The Let Them Buy New campaign includes global TV spots, shot with Mike Diva of SNL, that parody the tech industrys lifestyle cliches, while encouraging consumers to break from the cycle.
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The campaigns subversive activation mocks the industry's "leak culture" Apples iPhone 15 keynote on Sept. 12. Days beforehand, Back Market teased the R a top-secret, new phone. Confidential product documents were left by mistake in high-traffic areas around Cupertino, while tech and TikTok influencers received locked boxes containing the R prototype. Billboards were posted in New York City, Paris, Madrid, and London.
On Sept. 12, the boxes unlocked and the outdoor ads revealed the truth: the prototype was a refurbished iPhone and the R stood for refurbished all along.
DCX Growth Accelerator and Superbloom helped produce the work.
This year, the "Let Them Buy New" TV campaign airs in the U.S., U.K., France, Spain, Germany. In 2024, the TV campaign will air in U.S, U.K., France, Spain, Germany, Japan, and Australia, with potential extension to Portugal and South Korea.
The problem of e-waste now the fastest growing form of waste in the world is one we can all directly affect by choosing circularity, said Daniel Brill, executive creative director, Back Market. But we also know youre not going to convince anyone by wagging a finger. So every part of the creative is infused with personality, eccentricity and galaxy-brain level subversion, or what we call at Back Market, sabotage.
"In America, there's a lack of brand awareness. Interestingly, the cultural inclination toward buying used cars, clothes and vintage furniture is evident. So why not consider refurbished tech?" said Spencer LaVallee, co-founder-creative director at Gus.
Launched in 2014, Back Market produces professionally refurbished electronic devices and appliances to customers in 17 countries.
According to the company, a refurbished phone can prevent up to 92% fewer CO2 emissions, 89% less e-waste, and 86% and 91% less usage of water and raw materials, respectively.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, September 19, 2023
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is urging the Supreme Court to uphold an injunction that restricts some federal officials' ability to communicate with social media platforms regarding their editorial decisions.
The injunction, issued earlier this month by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, was temporarily stayed by Justice Samuel Alito. That stay will expire September 22, unless extended by the court.
In a friend-of-the-court brief filed Tuesday, Yost claims that continuing to stay the order would send a damaging message.
He writes that a stay would empower the government to resume censoring -- or, at minimum, encouraging the censoring -- of speech on matters of immense public import.
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The 5th Circuit's injunction prohibits certain officials from the White House, Surgeon General's office, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Centers for Disease Control from attempting to coerce or significantly encourage a platforms content-moderation decisions.
The order came in a lawsuit brought last year by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as several individuals. They claimed the government violated the First Amendment by coercing social media platforms into removing posts relating to COVID-19 policies, vaccines, the 2020 election and other matters.
U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe, Louisiana, sided with the plaintiffs. On July 4, he issued an injunction prohibiting a broad range of federal agencies and officials from attempting to persuade social-media platforms to remove posts that are protected by the First Amendment.
That order included a provision prohibiting officials from taking any action such as urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing in any manner social-media companies to remove, delete, suppress, or reduce lawful content.
The Biden administration appealed to the 5th Circuit, which modified Doughty's order. That court's injunction prohibits some government officials from attempting to coerce or significantly encourage platforms' decisions about content moderation, but doesn't include language that would restrict the government from "urging, encouraging, pressuring, or inducing," decisions.
Last week, the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to block the 5th Circuit's injunction, arguing that the order wrongly limits the government's ability to influence companies on matters of public importance.
A central dimension of presidential power is the use of the Offices bully pulpit to seek to persuade Americans -- and American companies -- to act in ways that the President believes would advance the public interest, the Justice Department wrote.
The Biden administration is expected to file additional arguments Wednesday.
UN Secretary General: Russias invasion into Ukraine unleashes nexus of horror, war has serious implications for us all
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his opening speech at the UN General Assembly, said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine violates the UN Charter and international law, and has also unleashed a nexus of horror.
Yet instead of ending the scourge of war, we are seeing a surge of conflicts, coups and chaos. If every country fulfilled its obligations under the Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed. When countries break those pledges, they create a world of insecurity for everyone. Exhibit A: Russias invasion of Ukraine, Guterres said speaking at the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York.
He stressed that the war, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, has unleashed a nexus of horror.
Lives destroyed; human rights abused; families torn apart; children traumatized; hopes and dreams shattered. But beyond Ukraine, the war has serious implications for us all. Nuclear threats put us all at risk. Ignoring global treaties and conventions makes us all less safe. And the poisoning of global diplomacy obstructs progress across the board, the UN Secretary General stated.
The number of dead as a result of Russia's air attack on Kupiansk, Kharkiv region, on Tuesday has increased to six people, Head of the Investigations Department of the National Police in Kharkiv region Serhiy Bolvinov has said.
"As of now, six civilians were killed in Kupiansk. Two women and four men. This is the number of victims we were able to count at the moment. The enemy shelled a vehicle of the volunteers who were evacuating the civilians. We continue to remove those killed from the nearby river and from the destroyed cars," he said on Facebook.
The enemy inflicted the air strike at around 13:00.
"Our investigators, forensic and bomb experts are working at the scene and continue to examine it. Unfortunately, we continue to find new bodies. Therefore, the number of victims will be updated," Bolvinov said.
As reported, the Russian occupation forces fired a guided air bomb at Kupiansk.
This issue, were giving away three copies of Agincourt: battle of the scarred king by Michael Livingston, courtesy of Osprey Publishing
King Henry Vs victory against the odds over the French armies at Agincourt on 25 October 1415 is unquestionably one of the most famous battles in history, immortalised by Shakespeare and, subsequently, numerous times by Hollywood.
In this new book, Dr Michael Livingston takes a fresh look at the events of Agincourt, going back to original sources including a remarkable surviving French battle-plan to challenge traditional interpretations about the site of the engagement and to reconsider the experiences of the men who fought and died there.
This issue, three lucky winners will each receive a copy of the book. To find out more about Osprey, please visit their website.
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A man tortured two decades ago by the CIA for his suspected role as a terrorist has sued two former Spokane psychologists, who made millions of dollars from the government for developing the techniques used during the brutal interrogations.
Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, also known as Abu Zubaydah, says he underwent extreme torture, including prolonged extreme solitary confinement, waterboarding, mock executions and lack of medical attention that cost him his left eye.
Zubaydah is suing psychologists and former CIA contractors Bruce Jessen and James Mitchell, who he says tortured him.
A New York law firm is filing the suit for Zubaydah with the help of local attorney Jeffry Finer. Finer declined to comment about the pending case filed in federal court in Spokane on Monday.
Zubaydah remains detained at Guantanamo Bay. He has never been charged with a crime.
The allegations of torture are not new. Jessen and Mitchell settled a previous torture civil suit in 2017 brought by three men who were tortured after Zubaydah.
Zubaydah's torture was discussed extensively in the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture.
In the 2017 lawsuit, the three men alleged that the torture techniques used against them were pioneered when Jessen and Mitchell interrogated Zubaydah.
The terms of that settlement were not disclosed by the American Civil Liberties Union. It was the first time the CIA or its private contractors had been held accountable for torturing suspects in the war on terror, ACLU attorneys said at the time.
Zubaydah, believed to be a top Al Qaeda official, was captured on March 28, 2002.
He was first interrogated by FBI agents and provided "virtually all actionable, reliable information he possessed," the complaint says.
Mitchell and Jessen took over the interrogations in April 2002. Their initial interrogation failed to turn up new information, and so they claimed Zubaydah was withholding information, according to the suit.
The psychologists quickly escalated their tactics but still did not obtain new information, the lawsuit alleges.
Jessen and Mitchell weren't deterred, the suit alleges, because they weren't really hoping to learn anything else, but instead were using Zubaydah as a guinea pig for their new approach to interrogation.
Ultimately, the psychologists earned more than $80 million from their contracts with the CIA and Department of Defense, the lawsuit claims.
The pair created the program by reverse engineering their experience in resisting interrogation techniques in the Air Force's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training program, based at Fairchild Air Force Base.
Zubaydah, 52, was born in Saudi Arabia and spent his early years traveling throughout the Middle East before settling in India, according to the complaint. He studied computer science before going to Afghanistan and fighting there following the Soviet withdrawal.
From 1993 to 2000, he was a fundraiser and recruiter for Khalden Training Camp, which the complaint says was independent and not controlled by any one terrorist group. He was captured in Pakistan in 2002.
During the initial FBI interview, he identified Khalid Sheik Mohammad as the primary planner of the Sept. 11 attacks. Mohammad remains in Guantanamo Bay and is one of five men who face the death penalty for their alleged roles in planning 9/11, according to the New York Times.
After the torture by Mitchell and Jessen, including being waterboarded at least 83 times, he was transferred through different clandestine facilities until he arrived at Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
Zubaydah continues to struggle with physical and psychological injuries from the torture he endured, the lawsuit alleges.
The report on CIA torture acknowledges the torture of Zubaydah. It also concludes that CIA officers thought he "should remain incommunicado for the remainder of his life."
Zubaydah's lawsuit asks for a jury trial along with various types of damages.
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(c)2023 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at www.spokesman.com
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Read the original article on Business Insider.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lt. Cmdr. John Tortorich, a pilot in the US Navy. It has been edited for length and clarity.
The Naval Academy wasn't on my radar in high school, but being a successful swimmer got me noticed by their college recruiters.
My grandfather and uncle were also Navy reservists in the 1950s. The application process was pretty arduous: There's a fitness test and medical screening, and, generally, military academies have pretty low acceptance rates. I also had to get nominated by a member of Congress from Louisiana my home state to even be considered.
I was a strong swimmer, so naturally I thought I'd become a Navy SEAL. During the first two years in college, that was my goal.
It all changed the first time I flew in a T-34 aircraft. It was 2010, the summer between my sophomore and junior years.
We had to do a monthlong program where you're introduced for one week to each of the Navy's four "communities": Marine Corps, surface warfare, submarines, and aviation.
At the time, I was nervous about flying and told the pilot as much when I got into the single-engine propeller plane. He was supportive, and by the time we'd landed I was set on becoming an aviator.
It was a turning point for my career in the Navy
During senior year, I put "Navy Pilot" as my first preference for a postgraduation assignment, and, thankfully, I got it. It wasn't a problem that I hadn't flown before, because the Navy is geared towards people who haven't.
I went to flight school near Pensacola, Florida, then on to Mississippi, and finally settled in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where I've been since 2015.
Initially, you do all kinds of different trainings that we call "workups." Some are just the aviators, and other, larger sessions will bring the whole force together: aircraft carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines.
This phase adds up to about a year of training in different places from Key West to Nevada to somewhere off the east coast in the Atlantic Ocean. We had to travel often and stay in each place for three to six weeks.
The day-to-day of a Navy pilot
Our schedule varies a lot depending on the type of aircraft you fly and the squadron you're in.
In general, your day is determined by the daily flight schedule which isn't written until the previous afternoon so your entire life has to be flexible. It's frustrating at first, but I adapted pretty quickly.
My wife also used to be in the Navy. We used to plan our lives around both of our schedules.
Pilots are constantly training. Every flight we do has a purpose. Luckily we end our days in the same airport unless there's an emergency.
I've flown 20 combat flights on deployment in Iraq and Syria
Deployments usually last six months but can get extended to 10 months. My wife and I didn't see each other from June 2016 until August 2017 because we had back-to-back deployments.
You can't choose your deployment, but you're usually told well in advance of where and when you're going to deploy. I've deployed once, in 2016, aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.
We executed combat missions in the skies over Iraq and Syria supporting the ground troops there. During those six months, I went on 20 combat flights.
On the morning of a flight, they brief us on what kind of developments have taken since our last time out. As a professional fighter pilot, you should keep up with what's going on every day, even when you're not flying.
An F/A-18C Hornet prepares to launch off of the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69), Oct. 5, 2016. (Christopher A. Michaels/U.S. Navy)
Combat flights are draining, but they're also my most memorable moments
You usually don't know your target before you get into the cockpit, and a lot can change during the 7 hours you're in the air. Being in the plane alone can be draining, but you're also in constant communication with ground forces.
Sometimes they need to know what resistance to expect as they move forward, and other times they'll call for fire or assistance.
The first time I went into combat it was nerve-racking. Over time I got more comfortable, but I had to fight off complacency because that also can get you into trouble.
Flying all over the different kinds of aircraft and seeing new places including those combat flights over Iraq and Syria are my most memorable moments.
One time, my squadron played an important role in stopping a group of ISIS fighters on the ground.
Graduating from Topgun flight school was strenuous and a blast
In 2019, I was eventually selected to enter Topgun, which, if you graduate, makes you a Navy Strike Fighter Tactics instructor.
It's three months of the most intense tactical flying lectures, simulators, and training. Even if you get in, that doesn't mean that you'll finish. It's strenuous, but I also had an absolute blast.
When you graduate, you get to wear a special patch on your right shoulder.
After graduation, I started teaching existing fighter pilots all of the latest tactics, techniques, and procedures in aerial combat. I did that for two years.
In the Navy, you're usually in a specific job for only two to three years. So if I stayed on as a training officer for more than that, I'd age out of the tactics.
More recent Topgun grads would be more up-to-date, so it makes sense that they would replace me after a few years and I'd move on to a higher position.
I'd make more money as an airline pilot, but it wouldn't be as rewarding
These days, I work as a fleet training officer, where I work specifically with the "Gunslingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron 105. I'm in charge of training the entire squadron, and especially the junior officers in it.
As an F-18 pilot, I could have been placed in California or Japan the only other F-18 bases but luckily I was placed in Virginia Beach.
I spend a lot of time at work, and it takes a toll on the family. There's the possibility of leaving the military and becoming a pilot with an airline, which pays much more. But right now, that doesn't interest me as I don't think it'd be nearly as fulfilling as this job.
Overall, being a fighter pilot and then a trainer of fighter pilots has been a tough but extremely worthwhile career. It's been an honor to wear the uniform.
The U.S. military's top officer said Tuesday that Ukrainian forces had reclaimed more than half of Russian-occupied territory and stressed that the war will continue through the winter -- until the Russians are completely gone.
Speaking at a press conference in Germany, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told reporters that "to date, Ukraine has liberated over 54% of Russian-occupied Ukraine and they continue to retain the strategic initiative."
The promising assessment comes as more than 50 countries gathered for their regular meeting -- known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group -- where they decide what contributions they can make to the war effort. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stressed that the country needed more air defense systems and noted that the long-promised M1 Abrams tanks will be arriving "soon."
Read Next: 3 Ospreys Made Forced Landings in Japan. The Marine Corps Said There Were No Indications of Clutch Issues.
The war in Ukraine, started when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion in February 2022 with the aim of capturing its capital within days, is now approaching 600 days in length. In the early days of the war, Ukraine was largely focused on defending itself from advancing Russian troops but, this summer, the country kicked off a major counteroffensive aimed at repelling all invading forces.
"It's not particularly surprising ... the Ukrainian offensive is going a little bit slower than previously anticipated," Milley said. But he also said he was confident in the Ukrainian forces and their desire to press their advantage.
"As you get into the winter, the grounds will get muddy, but then it'll freeze," Milley said. "There's no intention whatsoever by the Ukrainians to stop fighting during the winter."
Much of the fighting is against heavily defended and entrenched positions -- something that military officials have been warning about for months.
However, Milley said that "generally speaking, the Ukrainians have penetrated several layers of this defense."
"It is not 100% penetrated yet, but they've penetrated several of the layers and they're going very slow, preserving their combat power," he added.
While the slow progress is not surprising to military leaders, it also comes at a time when the political will to keep sending military equipment and aid to Ukraine is being challenged on Capitol Hill.
In late August, the House Freedom Caucus -- the far-right coalition of representatives -- vowed to oppose "any blank check" for Ukraine. While most lawmakers in both parties continue to support American assistance, securing more money could become more difficult after 70 House Republicans held a vote in July to cut off all U.S. funding to the country.
When asked broadly about criticism aimed at the Ukrainian military leaders, Milley pushed back and stressed that the country has "plenty of combat power remaining and the Ukrainians have absolutely no intent to stop."
The general, who is set to retire from service at the end of the month, also had plenty of confidence in America's ability to keep providing aid.
"The United States and its allied countries are rich, powerful, with significant ... military resources that are capable of sustaining this fight, in President Biden's words, as long as it takes," he said.
Milley also added that for many Ukrainians -- especially those under 40 years of age -- they've known nothing but "a free and independent, sovereign Ukraine."
"I think that Russia has made one of the greatest strategic errors Russia has ever made," Milley said. "They've invaded a country that's been free and independent, and that country is not going to quit until they, too, are free and independent once again."
-- Konstantin Toropin can be reached at konstantin.toropin@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @ktoropin.
Related: Be Prepared for Losses in Ukraine Counteroffensive, Top US General Says
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allied defense leaders Tuesday to dig deep" and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles.
But while the allies said they will discuss how they can best help Ukraine's counteroffensive, they appeared no closer to commitments on the longer-range missiles that Kyiv's leaders insist they need.
Air defense is saving lives, Austin said as he opened the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. So I urge this group to continue to dig deep on ground-based air defense for Ukraine. We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defense systems and interceptors.
The group is made up of the defense and military leaders from more than 50 nations and is the main forum for raising contributions of weapons, other equipment and training for Kyivs war effort. It meets about once a month, in person and virtually, and this is the 15th gathering.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly pushed for the longer-distance weapons. Proponents have argued that Ukrainian forces need to be able to strike Russian troops and facilities while still staying out of range.
But the U.S. has continued to balk, expressing longstanding worries that Kyiv could use the weapons to hit deep into Russian territory and enrage Moscow. The Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, could give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets from as far away as about 180 miles (300 kilometers), but the U.S. also has other variants of the missile that have a shorter range.
Speaking before the meeting began, Bill Blair, the Canadian defense minister, told reporters that the allies are listening to Ukrainian leaders' descriptions of their military needs and are discussing new and important ways to help bolster the ongoing counteroffensive.
Austin said the 31 M1 Abrams tanks promised months ago will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as has been expected. A defense official said they have arrived in Europe and will begin crossing the border into Ukraine within the coming days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the precise location of the tanks is sensitive.
Ukrainian troops began training on similar tanks in June, while the ones arriving soon were being refurbished in the United States.
Defense leaders are working to continue what they say is unbowed support of Ukraine, despite growing worries that public and international government backing for the war, which is well into its second year, may be starting to wane.
Zelenskyy will be in Washington, D.C., later this week to meet with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in a move to shore up support for continued American funding and weapons. The visit comes as there is a growing partisan divide in Congress over continued Ukraine funding.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he wants more aid for Ukraine to be debated on its own merits as a standalone bill, rather than attaching it to other priorities like government funding. But Senate leaders want to combine the aid with other priorities, such as a short-term spending bill that will likely be needed to avoid a government shutdown at the end of September.
Nations have been pouring millions of rounds of artillery and other weapons into Ukraine, but worry that their stockpiles are shrinking and the defense industry is struggling to boost production lines. At the same time, Ukrainian forces have been making slow progress breaking through Russian battle lines in a counteroffensive that has not moved as quickly or as well as initially hoped.
Ukraines recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group," Austin said at the Ramstein opening. "And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battles and for the long road ahead.
Meanwhile, other allies pledged money and weaponry. In a three-way deal, the Czech Republic said it would arm Ukraine, and Denmark and the Netherlands would provide financial support. The Czech Defense Ministry said it would send tanks, howitzers, armed vehicles, air defense systems, ammunition and others weapons in coming months.
Norway said it will donate approximately 50 tracked cargo carriers to Ukraine, and in a statement Tuesday, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjrn Arild Gram said the carriers would help get supplies to areas without roads.
Military leaders, including Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have pushed back on the criticism that the offensive has moved too slowly, arguing that Ukrainian troops are making steady progress in a difficult fight. This, Milley has said, is real war and Ukrainian forces are carefully pushing their way through large and deadly Russian minefields.
At the close of a meeting of NATO military chiefs on Saturday, Adm. Rob Bauer of the Netherlands, who chairs the alliance's Military Committee, acknowledged that nations have to weigh the risks of providing Ukraine more weapons without risking their own security needs.
The Ramstein meeting also marks Milley's final session as U.S. joint chiefs chairman. He will retire at the end of the month, at the close of four years on the job.
____
Associated Press writers Jan Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed to this report.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is encouraging patients and employees to get their COVID-19 boosters to protect against variants that may cause severe illness, especially in vulnerable veterans.
Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the under secretary of veterans affairs for health, said Monday the VA is expected to be among the first federal agencies to get the new COVID-19 booster shot, made by Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, likely by the end of the week.
The immunization, approved earlier this month by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for those six months or older, targets several variants, including the highly transmissible XBB.1.5 type of the virus, nicknamed the Kraken because its easier to remember than a jumble of letters and numbers.
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"The updated 2023-2024 vaccine ... tested pretty effectively against most of the variants that are out there right now," Elnahal said in a press call with reporters Monday. "We're confident and hopeful this will add an extra layer of protection, especially to our most vulnerable veterans."
The department will begin offering the vaccine at medical centers across the country shortly after it begins receiving doses. According to Elnahal, the vaccine will be available alongside the flu vaccine at immunization clinics and, at some medical centers, in locations near front entrances.
Unlike previous COVID-19 immunization campaigns, VA will not provide the vaccine to caregivers or family members of veterans. Elnahal explained that as a result of the end of the public health emergency in May, VA only can offer the booster to those eligible for care as well as VA employees.
As of Sept. 17, VA has been treating 5,460 cases of COVID-19 in veterans, employees and others in VA care, up nearly 12% since a month ago. In the last month alone, 120 VA patients have died from the disease, bringing the total number of deaths at VA from COVID-19 to 24,993 since the pandemic began.
VA has vaccinated more than 5 million individuals, including 4.5 million veterans and 321,000 VA employees since the immunizations were first approved in August 2021. Roughly 2.5 million veterans have received at least one booster.
"We strongly recommend that veterans get the vaccine. It's a vaccine that has proven over and over again to be safe and effective. It protects against severe outcomes and death very significantly," Elnahal said.
-- Patricia Kime can be reached at Patricia.Kime@Military.com
Related: COVID-19 Vaccines Could Soon Be Mandatory for VA Employees
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
Austin urges to provide Ukraine with everything possible to prepare for repulse of Russian aggression in coming winter
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged partners to do everything possible to prepare Ukraine to repel further Russian aggression in the light of the approaching winter.
He said this at a press conference on Tuesday after the meeting of the Contact Group of the Defense of Ukraine, which was held in Ramstein (Germany). The newly appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine Rustam Umerov took part in the meeting for the first time.
He said that at today's meeting he called on allies and partners to dig deeper and donate any defense ammunition they can as Ukraine approaches a new winter of war.
Austin recalled that last winter Russia destroyed Ukraine's energy infrastructure, trying in vain to use the cold and darkness to break the will of the Ukrainian people. The Minister also pointed out that Russia, having first withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, began to launch air strikes on grain infrastructure.
According to him, air defense will continue to be Ukraine's greatest need to protect the sky, civilians and its cities.
In addition, Austin called on his fellow ministers to once again examine their stocks of 155-millimeter ammunition and key air defense and interceptor systems to ensure that they all give everything possible to prepare Ukraine for the coming winter. At the same time, he said, long-term support for Ukraine will continue to develop through coalitions like the ones they started with armored vehicles training, F16 training and information technology. Austin said that these important coalitions would help Ukraine continue to create reliable combat forces for the future.
Eleven Michigan schools have been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
The Blue Ribbon award is given to schools based on their overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps among student subgroups. In 2022, only two Michigan schools both from the same district, Byron Center Public Schools made the prestigious list, and 13 in 2021.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona announced on Tuesday that 353 schools across the country have been named this years National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Here are the 11 schools from Michigan that made the list:
Cross Creek Charter Academy (Byron Center, Kent County)
Caledonia Elementary School, Caledonia Community Schools (Caledonia, Kent County)
Gallimore Elementary School, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools (Canton, Wayne County)
Dorr Elementary School, Wayland Union Schools (Dorr, Allegan County)
Myers Elementary School, Grand Blanc Community Schools (Grand Blanc, Genesee County)
Robinson Elementary School, Grand Haven Area Public Schools (Grand Haven, Ottawa County)
Houghton Elementary School, Houghton-Portage Township Schools (Houghton, Houghton County)
Norway Elementary School, Norway-Vulcan Area Schools (Norway, Dickinson County)
Pewamo-Westphalia Elementary School, Pewamo-Westphalia Community Schools (Pewamo, Ionia County)
Stevensville Roosevelt Elementary School, Lakeshore School District (Stevensville, Berrien County)
Schroeder Elementary School, Troy School District (Troy, Oakland County)
Cardona said this years Blue Ribbon schools serve as models of effective and innovative school practices for state and district educators and other schools throughout the nation, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).
The honorees for our 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Award have set a national example for what it means to Raise the Bar in education, Cardona said in a prepared statement. The leaders, educators, and staff at our National Blue Ribbon Schools continually inspire me with their dedication to fostering academic excellence and building positive school cultures that support students of all backgrounds to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
The U.S. Department of Education names a new group of Blue Ribbon winners each year, honoring high-performing schools and schools that are making great strides in closing any achievement gaps between students.
The department recognizes all schools in one of two performance categories, based on all student scores, student subgroup scores and graduation rates:
Exemplary High Performing Schools are among their states highest performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally normed tests.
Exemplary Achievement Gap-Closing Schools are among their states highest performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a schools student groups and all students. Nominated schools also complete an extensive narrative application describing their school culture and philosophy, curriculum, assessments, instructional practices, professional development, leadership structures, and parent and community involvement.
Michigans 11 winners were all designated Exemplary High Performing Schools, according to the awards website.
National Blue Ribbon Schools represent the full diversity of American schools, serving students of every background, the USDE release said. But they also share many of the same core elements, demonstrating effective and innovative teaching and learning while holding all of its students and staff to high standards.
In its 40th year, the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program has bestowed approximately 10,000 awards to more than 9,700 schools since 1983. This years honorees will be celebrated by USDE officials at the 2023 National Blue Ribbon Schools Awards Ceremony, scheduled for Nov. 16-17 in Washington D.C.
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SAULT STE. MARIE, MI -- A 39-year-old Florida man was arraigned on multiple felony charges Monday, after he allegedly set multiple Michigan State Police vehicles on fire and shot at them with a rifle. According to the MSP, James Itani was arraigned in 91st District Court on charges of one count of terrorism, one count of third-degree arson, 11 counts of assault with intent to murder and multiple counts of weapons violations.
A search for Itani began shortly after several vehicles at the MSP Sault Ste. Marie post were set on fire around 3:30 a.m. on Sept. 6. The day after the fires were discovered, police eventually tracked Itani to a property on Riverside Road. As they attempted to search the property, Itani allegedly opened fire on officers, who returned fire of their own.
Itani was injured in the shootout and was listed in critical condition as of last week, but has recovered enough to be charged in the case. He is currently lodged at the Chippewa County Jail and bond was set at $5 million.
No officers were injured in the fire or the shootout with Itani. One officer involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted.
KEEWEENAW COUNTY, MI - A Michigan man died after a rollover crash in the Upper Peninsula.
WLUC-TV reports the crash occurred on US-41 in Mohawk at 2:10 a.m. on Tuesday when a 50-year-old man from Mohawk lost control of his vehicle, crossed the center line, and rolled.
The driver was transported to UP Health System - Portage where he was pronounced dead. He has not been identified by name.
Deputies were assisted at the scene by the Michigan State Police, Houghton County Sheriffs Office, Allouez Township Fire and First Responders and the Calumet Township Fire Department.
The crash remains under investigation.
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PINCONNING, MI Michigan State Police and the U.S. Coast Guard worked together recently to rescue boaters who were missing on Lake Huron, police said.
Around 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 14, MSP Tri-City troopers were dispatched to find boaters who were missing near Pinconning, according to a news release from Michigan State Police Third District. MSP Aviation Trooper 3 searched from above and located the missing boat.
The vessel was disabled. The missing Pinconning residents were onboard; they were cold but uninjured, police said.
Trooper 3 guided the U.S. Coast Guard to the boat, police said. The Coast Guard crew transported the boaters to shore. They were then taken home by troopers.
DETROIT -- Police are looking for three suspects who are believed to have caused a gas explosion Monday night while failing to steal a water heater. According to WDIV-Detroit, the suspect broke into a former bank near Mack and Gratiot avenues in Detroit .
While inside the unoccupied building, the group tried to steal a water heater but were unsuccessful in their efforts. The gas line to the water heater had been left on and at some point an explosion occurred, causing extensive damage to the front of the building, destroying the facade.
The three suspects fled the scene before police arrived and police are working to identify them.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that he intends to continue making efforts towards reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
"The world badly needs Ukrainian food and Russian food and fertilizers to stabilize markets and guarantee food security. And I will not give up all my efforts to make it happen," Guterres said when speaking at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Guterres also highlighted the need to look for ways to settle the Ukraine conflict. "We must not relent in working for peace, a just peace, in line with the UN Charter and international law," he said.
ANN ARBOR, MI A systemic, lethal, oak tree disease has hit Ann Arbors Bird Hills Nature Area.
Oak wilt, as its called, is caused by a fungus that so far has affected a cluster of red oak trees in the popular hiking area, the city confirmed in a news release Tuesday, Sept. 19.
While not new to Michigan or Washtenaw County, its the first time its been identified in an Ann Arbor nature area, according to the city. The citys forestry staff is working with the citys natural area preservation team to develop and implement a remediation plan and residents are advised to take caution.
This plan will require both above- and below-ground steps to ensure the infections are addressed and dont spread to other trees, the citys release states, advising residents to not walk through areas of Bird Hills that are flagged or move any material, flags or coverings in them.
A cluster of oak trees affected by oak wilt are marked in Ann Arbor's Bird Hills Nature Area. (Provided by city of Ann Arbor)Provided by city of Ann Arbor
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While oak wilt can be destructive, it is not considered as universally devastating as Dutch elm disease or the emerald ash borer, the city notes, explaining the disease spreads most efficiently through grouped root systems, so street trees are less likely to be impacted.
Oak wilt kills healthy red oaks, and while white oaks also can be affected, they are more resistant and less vulnerable to mortality from the disease, according to the state of Michigan.
The citys oak wilt webpage has more information and asks residents who see a tree they suspect may be suffering from oak wilt to use the citys A2 Fix It reporting system to notify the city and have staff investigate.
The fungus can only be confirmed by lab testing, the city notes, directing residents to an Oak Wilt 101 website to learn more.
Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
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Correction: The story has been updated to state there was no spill of the sulfuric acid.
LIVINGSTON COUNTY, MI - A tanker truck carrying 3500 gallons of sulfuric acid crashed and overturned on U.S. 23 in Livingston County, police said.
Troopers responded to a crash on the ramp from Center Road to northbound U.S. 23 in Tyrone Township south of Fenton, according to a 3:17 p.m., Sept. 19 update from Michigan State Police.
It is not clear how the truck crashed. Personnel to clean hazardous material are on scene and determined that local residences need to be evacuated for precaution, police said.
The evacuation will take place at nearby residences on Runyon Lake Road in the township, police said. Troopers will go door to door to advise residents to evacuate, police said. Livingston County Emergency Management will also be conducting calls advising residents of the evacuation, police said.
Troopers shut down northbound U.S. 23 at Center Road at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as well as southbound U.S. 23 at White Lake Road, Runyon Lake Road and Old U.S. 23, police said.
There are no reported leaks from the tanker, police said, meaning there is no threat to the wider public. The tanker was removed from the scene around 8 p.m., police said.
Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
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Ten Michigan colleges and universities have been ranked as Best Value Colleges by financial tech company SmartAsset.
The ranking from the New York-based company is calculated through scholarships, starting salary, tuition, living costs, and retention rate metrics.
The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor ranked first on the list, bolstered its 97% retention rate, $19,325 in average scholarships and grants offered and median starting salary of about $70,000.
Michigan Technological University ranked next on the list, as the starting salary was near the top of all schools on the list at more than $71,000.
Michigan State University ranked third in the state with its 92% retention rate and living costs of about $17,000 a year near the bottom of all schools on the list.
Kettering University in Flint ranked fourth in the ranking, as the non-profit STEM university has the highest median starting salary in the ranking at about $75,000.
Ferris State University in Big Rapids rounded out the top-5, as its tuition and living costs were among the lowest in the ranking.
The remaining schools in the top-10 are Andrews University in Berrien Springs, University of Detroit Mercy, Kalamazoo College, Wayne State University in Detroit and Grand Valley State University in Allendale.
If you would like more reporting like this delivered free to your inbox, click here and signup for our weekly newsletter: Michigan Schools.
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FLINT, MI To celebrate National Voter Registration Day, elected officials from Genesee County and across the state gathered to advocate for voting, with an emphasis on formerly incarcerated citizens and members of historically marginalized communities.
National Voter Registration has been recognized as a national holiday since 2012. This year, it was observed on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was among the speakers at a press conference held Tuesday at the Genesee County Jail, discussing the importance of voting and the process to register.
Benson said the Secretary of States office launched a partnership with the Michigan Department of Corrections in 2020 to ensure newly paroled Michiganders would receive a state ID or drivers license at the time of their release.
You need an ID to apply for a job, you need an ID to secure housing, you need an ID to enroll in education and training programs, she said. You need an ID to truly be a returning citizen and be embraced by the community that youre returning to.
Since it launched, Benson said the program has helped more than 15,000 returning citizens secure their state ID or drivers license. Those individuals are also eligible to update their voter registration and vote.
The partnership is expanding at the local level to county sheriff departments, she said.
To help incarcerated individuals register to vote, Benson said the mobile Secretary of State office visits jails to meet with people one-on-one, ensuring they have the necessary documentation to obtain an ID or drivers license, including a photo and any driving or vision exams.
The program also works to educated individuals about voter suppression, intimidation tactics and misinformation surrounding voting, she said.
Were seeing more and more of those tactics aimed at historically marginalized communities and disenfranchised communities, Benson said. We have to partner with everyone to ensure the truth gets to every voter in this state and every citizen in the state.
Other speakers included Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson, Genesee County Clerk/Register of Deeds Domonique Clemons and Wayne County Sheriff Deputy David Felton.
The Genesee County Clerks office works to make voting possible for everyone in Genesee County, Clemons said, whether their ballot is cast in person early or on election day or by absentee.
To make sure registering to vote is not a financial burden, Clemons said the county is offering waivers to bypass the $25 fee to purchase a copy of a birth certificate, a document used to obtain a state ID or drivers license.
We are ensuring that that right to vote is protected, that our elections are safe and secure, he said.
Deon Davidson, Michigan regional organizer of Black Voters Matter, Moses Bingham, director of special projects & initiatives for Community Foundation of Greater Flint, and Percy Glover, co-executive director of community engagement for Genesee County Sheriffs Office/FAIR Voting Alliance also gave remarks during the press conference.
For more information or to register to vote in Michigan, visit michigan.gov/vote or call the voter registration hotline at 866-687-8683.
Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter.
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FLINT, MI Two people have been bound over to circuit court for trial on several felony charges in the case of a woman accused of trafficking an underage female family member to a neighbor.
Jenny Ellen Brewer, 37, and Eddie Lowell Ehrisman, 59, appeared Tuesday, Sept. 19, before Genesee County District Court Judge Tabitha Marie Marsh for a preliminary examination on more than 50 felony counts.
FLINT, MI The father of a 16-year-old boy shot and killed earlier this year at a home in Mt. Morris Township said the teen accused in his sons death admitted to the shooting the day after it happened.
Larry Big Larry Brown Jr. testified Monday, Sept. 18, that Avion Derricks and his father, Michael Derricks, met with him on April 2 and told him some of the events that prefaced his sons shooting.
Brown said Avion Derricks told him he and some other kids were playing with a gun at a home in the 6100 block of Bermuda Lane around 6 a.m. on April 1 when the gun went off and Larry Little Larry Brown III was killed.
I just asked Avion what happened, said Larry Brown Jr., who tossed a hat back and forth between his hands during testimony. When he got the gun, the gun went off. I asked him was that the one that shot Little Larry. He said it mustve been because it went off.
Brown was the first witness called at Mondays preliminary examination in the case of Derricks, who at 15 years old is charged with first-degree premeditated murder and felony firearm. The hearing, which tasks prosecutors with showing there is probable cause for the defendant to stand trial, was attended by nearly three dozen people appearing in support for both the defendant and the victim.
Sitting at the witness stand and speaking in a quiet voice, Brown said hed known the Derricks for years.
I watched him grow up, Brown said of Avion Derricks. I just told (Avion Derricks) we was going to get through this together. I raised him up like we was family.
The second witness called Monday was Mt. Morris Township police officer Mackenzie Dunklee, who said she and another officer were the first to arrive at the scene of the April 1 shooting.
Dunklee testified that when she arrived at the home, several people were standing and sitting near the house. Inside, more people pointed her in the direction of a back bedroom where the shooting took place.
She said the victims body was lying on a rug, with a large pool of blood surrounding it. No gun was found at the scene.
Derricks was charged on April 28, when he and others were arrested following a series of raids in connection to the shooting. The others charged in the case were charged as juveniles. It is unclear what the status of their cases is at this point.
Police previously said Derricks shot Brown in the back of the head during a dispute at a party.
Afterward, prosecutors previously said, another juvenile allegedly tossed the gun used in the shooting in a nearby lake.
Derricks sat in court dressed in a black dress shirt with a tie. His hands and feet were shackled. He has been held since his arrest in late April at the Genesee Valley Regional Center, a detention center for juvenile defendants 10 through 17 years of age.
Michael Ewing, Derricks attorney, asked Genesee County District Court Judge Vikki Bayeh Haley to allow his client to be released on house arrest. But citing concern over his safety as well as not yet having all the details of the case, the judge denied Ewings motion.
Derricks hearing will continue Oct. 10.
Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter.
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FLINT, MI In early August, a young woman drove frantically through the streets of Flint.
The man she was seeing was in her vehicle, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
As he screamed at her to hurry up, complaining that he was bleeding profusely, she made it to the closest hospital to the Stevenson Street home they both resided McLaren Healthcare.
I drove him to the door, and he got out and fell on the ground, the woman, who MLive-The Flint Journal is not identifying, testified in Genesee County District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
That man, 26-year-old Monte Alexander, would soon die from his injuries. Police would later arrest a 38-year-old man, James Greer, in connection with the fatal shooting.
Greer, of Flint, is charged with open murder and felony firearm. He appeared in the courtroom of Genesee County District Court Judge Jessica J. Hammon Tuesday for a preliminary examination in the case, tasking prosecutors with showing probable cause the case should proceed to trial.
Related: Arrests made in 2 Flint homicides
Prosecutors began their case against Greer by calling the witness, who had been picked up Monday morning on a material witness warrant.
The lone witness who testified described the moments before and after the shooting, and her frantic attempt to race Alexander to the hospital.
It was around 5 a.m. on Aug. 2. The woman, who said she would have sex with people in exchange for money, testified she and Alexander went to Club Sunoco, the Sunoco gas station on the corner of Flushing and Ballenger roads, to buy some drugs.
They made their purchases and returned home. In the meantime, the woman said she received a call from someone asking for a date. The woman agreed and, when the two returned home, a white vehicle was parked near their home.
Inside the vehicle was a man the woman in court identified as Greer. She told him she needed to go inside to clean up, but admitted she actually used the time to use heroin.
It was during this time, she said, she heard gunshots.
After I heard the gunshots go off, I ran outside as quick as I could, she said, adding that Greer was gone and Alexander was across the street on the ground. He was screaming, I got shot.
The woman noticeably shook as she answered questions from the attorneys in the case. The hearing would ultimately be cut short after the woman, who admitted she was relapsing from heroin, said she could no longer continue.
Greer, who remains lodged without bond, is set to appear in court again on Oct. 2.
Want more Flint-area news? Bookmark the local Flint news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Flint daily newsletter.
Read more at The Flint Journal:
Genesee County man, woman to stand trial in sex abuse case involving underage girl
Name of 18-year-old Flint shooting victim released
Testimony begins in case of 15-year-old Mt. Morris Township boy accused in teens death
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - What once started as a Muskegon County pitch competition for area Black-owned businesses is launching in Grand Rapids this month to focus on businesses in Kent County.
Pitch Black was created in 2021 in response to the detrimental effects the COVID-19 pandemic had on Black-owned businesses in Muskegon County. It is free and open to the public.
The anticipated competition, created by the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC), is scheduled to kick off on Thursday, Sept. 28, at Grand Valley State Universitys DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton St.
20 Black business owners were selected from a pool of applicants, with only five to seven contestants chosen as finalists. The finalists then pitch for their share of $10,000 in front of a live studio audience.
Ed Garner, West Michigan regional director for the Michigan SBDC, said in a news release the event is sort of like Shark Tank meets Americas Got Talent to uplift the Black business community.
RELATED: Five Black-owned businesses named finalists in Pitch Black Muskegon competition
Garner said the event is part of the Michigan SBDCs diversity, equity and inclusion initiative Uplift Michigan, a strategic movement designed to ensure equitable access for all diverse entrepreneurs across Michigan.
These competitions really help strengthen the Black business community, and thats why we kind of have them go through our training program part of the DEI initiative, he told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. This training and knowledge is something that we hope will stick with the contestants.
The Sept. 28 showcase opens at 5 p.m. in the Loosemore Auditorium and the competition starts at 6:30 p.m. First place receives $5,000, $3,500 for 2nd place and $1,500 for third.
See the full list of contestants and judges here.
Prior to the competition, there will also be a business and resource showcase featuring all 20 contestants and selected organizations that support Black-owned businesses.
Garner said the original plan was to launch competitions in Muskegon and Grand Rapids in 2021. At the time, Muskegon saw nearly 40 people enter the competition.
This year, over 60 individuals submitted for Kent County, he said.
The difference between the two is that the Muskegon contestants didnt go through preliminary rounds like Grand Rapids is doing now, Garner told MLive. And this time, we are just strictly giving out cash awards to the top three contestants.
RELATED: Search Black-owned businesses across Michigan
Pitch Black is free and open to the public, but registration is encouraged due to space limitations. All audience members are asked to dress in casual black attire.
For more information and to register for the event, go to michigansbdc.org/pitch-black-gr.
Pitch Black Grand Rapids is sponsored by Comerica Bank, Huntington Bank, Choice One Bank and Fifth Third Bank. Cash prizes are presented by the Richard M. and Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at GVSU.
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.
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KENT COUNTY, MI A worker was critically injured Monday, Sept. 18, after being trapped under a front-end loader, Walker police said.
The incident was reported at 2:23 p.m. at a construction site in the 4500 block of Richmond Street NW, just west of Wilson Avenue. Rescuers found the victim pinned under the front-end loader.
Multiple agencies worked to free the victim who was flown by Aero Med helicopter to Corewell Health Butterworth Hospital in critical condition, police said.
Agencies involved in freeing the victim included Walker police and fire departments, Walker Department of Public Works, Life EMS, Buds Wrecker and Aero Med, police said.
The victims name has not been released.
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KALAMAZOO, MI A trio of Kalamazoo-area natives may be going Hollywood, but their upcoming film is being shot not far from home.
Production is ongoing in a warehouse in Galesburg for the movie Bad Haircut, led by Director Kyle Misak, whos from Mattawan, which is just west of Kalamazoo. Misak envisioned the film be shot in the Midwest so he and his producers, Jon Petro and Jesse Charles, found a warehouse in Galesburg.
Misak met Petro and Charles while growing up in Mattawan.
It feels like a stepping stone, Misak said.
Misak recently earned grand prize honors at the 2021 Cannes International Independent Film Festival for his short film entry, The Autumn Girl. The film can be viewed in its entirety on YouTube.
Bad Haircut has been an idea theyve worked on for years, said Smith, whos known Misak for 10 years. The movie tells the story of a college student who goes to a barber for a haircut, but discovers his barber is a psychopath. Smith said it was inspired by a true story.
Its been there in the background for a long time, Smith said. There have been talks, weve explored it and then its like Oh no, thats not going to work. ... But this is the version that stuck.
RELATED: Extras, extras, who wants to be in a movie? College-aged actors sought for party scene
Bringing the Bad Haircut vision to life has been no easy feat, Petro said. The team constructed several sets inside the Galesburg warehouse to film in. The warehouse also features an office, holding rooms, a dressing and makeup area and small cafeteria area.
Kyle wanted a very specific look, Petro said. We wanted the movie to have a very specific tone and a feel and if you build it from scratch, thats the only way to get exactly what you want.
The set is packed with a dozen individuals running around while Misak directs whatever is planned to be filmed for the day. Scenes need to be rehearsed multiple times and filmed from various angles. A 30-second span of the film can take hours to shoot.
Essentially, youre building a medium-sized company quickly. And when production is over, youre closing it down, Petro said. Its more than just the creative parts of making a movie. Theres so many logistics and that make it very, very complicated.
In order to make the film successful, they had to find the right cast and crew. Petro said the auditioned hundreds, if not thousands of actors and flew crew members from Los Angeles to Kalamazoo. The film features actors from well-known movies like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Breaking Bad and Stranger Things, Petro said.
The best thing that a director can do is bring the best people on, Smith said. Bring a team where thats what they love and they do good work and theyre passionate about the same vision and you can express that vision to them.
Pre-production started two years ago, Petro said. One of the major roadblocks prior to filming was receiving approval from the Screen Actors Guild to film during the ongoing writers and actors strike. The film is being produced by Throwback Pictures and Innovative Media Group, Misak and Petros respective production companies.
Were one of the hundreds of (films) out of the whole country that are fortunate to be able to (work) with the support of SAG, Petro said. I feel very grateful that were able to do that.
Through filming in the Midwest, Petro said they hope to bring more opportunity and attention to Michigan filmmakers.
Its a great place to make movies and we want to see that continue, Petro said.
After its finished, Misak said viewers can expect a roller coaster of comedy, drama and romance. The film is special, unique and different, Misak said, without giving away too much of the plot.
Its going to be a ride for people, Misak said. Theres going to be some unexpected turns and twists.
Filming is expected to wrap up Sept. 30. Once the movies ready, itll be shown at various film festivals, Petro said. Its not currently scheduled to be shown in theaters.
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According to updated data, the daytime enemy strike on Kupyansk, as a result of which six civilians were killed, was inflicted by a hybrid Thunder-E1 (Grom) missile, the press service of Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office reports.
"The Russian military struck Kupyansk with a hybrid Thunder-E1 missile, created on the basis of the Soviet X-38 missile. The maximum range of damage can be 120 km," the message says.
Earlier, head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Synehubov said that the strike was caused by a controlled aerial bomb.
MOUNT PLEASANT, MI Despite Central Michigan University enrollment falling to its lowest number since Richard Nixon was president, college officials remain hopeful a turnaround is approaching.
CMU officials said preliminary enrollment numbers showed 14,411 students are attending the Mount Pleasant-based institutions classes this fall.
The last time CMUs student population was smaller: 1973, when enrollment was 14,270.
The decline this semester marked the eighth consecutive year the university experienced a decrease in students. CMU hit its all-time enrollment peak in 2015, when 25,528 students attended classes there.
But theres silver lining in the fall 2023 figures, officials said. While enrollment dropped by 11,117 students the last eight years a 43.5% decrease the size of the annual decreases shrank considerably in recent years.
Enrollment this semester decreased by 1% since last fall, when 14,563 students attended CMU classes. That 152-student enrollment drop compared to a loss of 871 students between the falls of 2021 and 2022. The year before that, the university reported a 1,879-student loss in a 12-month span.
Jennifer DeHaemers, CMUs vice president of student recruitment and retention, said university officials predict the closing gap in enrollment losses indicate enrollment will increase in fall 2024.
We really believe next year we will turn that corner, she said.
CMU is not alone in enrollment struggles.
The states 15 public universities reported a combined loss of 45,000 students between 2011 and 2022. College officials said some of the factors contributing to those long-term enrollment losses were universal, including a decrease in high school graduates statewide.
DeHaemers said one factor unique to CMU involved adjustments school leaders applied to online and distance education programs in 2016.
In making those changes, if you dig really deep into it, youll see those (enrollment) numbers dropped dramatically because of that, she said.
Most of CMUs student losses were the result of retention struggles, she said.
She said increases in new-student populations at CMU, though, provided counterweights to the factors pulling enrollment down.
The number of freshmen, transfer students, and graduate students increased a combined 3.5% this fall compared to 2022. It marked the second consecutive year those categories experienced expanding numbers.
So, theres momentum there, DeHaemers said.
A digital marketing recruitment campaign active since 2020 played a role in attracting those new students to the campus, she said.
We started to really improve the perception and awareness of Central Michigan and to make sure our digital advertising is where it needs to be, she said. Thats not only for our undergraduates students; its also for our online market. Its really paying off for us.
New recruitment staff strategies and technologies also helped increase enrollment in those new-student categories, DeHaemers said.
Another factor: Word-of-mouth from alumni.
DeHaemers said 94% of CMU graduates receive employment, start graduate courses or begin volunteer services within six months of earning a degree from the university.
The return on investment from being at Central is a really good one, she said. Students talk about their experience here, and I think thats a big reason why we are improving on our new-student enrollment.
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SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, MI To fill their soon-to-be-vacant superintendent position, Saginaw Township Community Schools officials could select from a pool of familiar faces in the regions K-12 education industry.
The school board this week announced four finalists, including former Freeland Community Schools Superintendent Matthew Cairy.
Cairy retired in June after serving 16 years as superintendent at the neighboring school district in Freeland, where 2,000 students attend classes. Before he was hired there in July 2007, Cairy served four years as superintendent at the 900-student Forest Area Community Schools district, north of Cadillac.
By comparison, 4,600 students were enrolled at Saginaw Township Community Schools during the 2022-23 academic year, attending classes at facilities including Heritage High School
The finalist list also includes Lisa Tran, assistant superintendent of elementary instruction and early childhood at Saginaw Public Schools; and Patrick Malley, chief academic officer at Bay City Public Schools.
The lone internal candidate: Jamie Kraatz, director of learning, curriculum and assessment at Saginaw Townships school district.
Saginaw Townships 7-member board of education plans to interview the foursome during a series of meetings next week at Arrowwood Elementary School, 5410 Seidel in Saginaw Township.
The group will interview Tran and Malley at 5:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively, on Monday, Sept. 25; and Cairy and Kraatz at 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m., respectively, on Tuesday, Sept. 26.
When the board chooses a candidate, that individual will succeed Bruce Martin, who earlier this year announced he would retire as superintendent by January 2024. He was hired in September 2018.
Martins tenure as superintendent included overseeing the school district during the challenges presented to K-12 schools by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May, Martin and district leaders failed to rally community support for a $249.9 million bond proposal aimed at improving school facilities. Voters rejected the measure, 8,671 to 2,540.
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SAGINAW, MI After months on the lam, a man accused of killing another man in a Saginaw car wash over a marijuana dispute has been arrested in another state. He now joins his younger brother in facing a murder charge.
Police in Fulton County, Georgia, on July 27 located and arrested Anthony E. Foster, 38, on a warrant Saginaw County authorities issued on Feb. 21. Foster was then extradited to Michigan and lodged in the Saginaw County Jail on Aug. 4.
Foster has since been arraigned on charges of open murder, conspiracy to commit murder, carrying a dangerous weapon with unlawful intent, felon in possession of a firearm, and two counts of felony firearm.
He joins his 35-year-old brother, Allen J. Foster, in facing those seven charges. A third codefendant, 34-year-old Marcus T. Gilmer, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder.
The trios charges stem from the December fatal shooting of Delano C. Scootie Green, 31.
Gilmer co-owned Tae & Gs Hand Wash and More, 2211 E. Holland Ave. (M-46), where the shooting took place about 10:45 p.m. on Dec. 13. In an April preliminary examination, Gilmers business partner testified he had known Green his entire life, referring to him as his godbrother.
The night of Dec. 13, the witness, Green, Gilmer, and another man were hanging out in the car washs office as live footage from the surveillance cameras played on several screens.
Me and Delano were sipping on cough syrup, the witness said. We wall was just drinking lean, talking. (Gilmer) seemed a little off, like he had something on his mind.
Not long after, a car pulled up outside with its hazard lights flashing. A man in a hooded sweatshirt with a handgun hanging from it entered the office and confronted Green, the witness said.
The witness said he recognized the mans voice as Allen Fosters, whom he knew as a frequent customer.
Green drew a handgun and pointed it at Foster, with another man present getting between them and trying to de-escalate the tense situation, the witness said.
Green and Foster argued over Green allegedly breaking into Fosters house hours earlier and stealing marijuana, the witness said.
Allen J. Foster (left) and Marcus T. Gilmer enter Saginaw County District Court for a preliminary examination on April 14, 2023.
The witness said he and the others began leaving the office. As the witness stepped outside, another man wearing a balaclava and holding a long gun approached through the parking lot, he said.
As I go out the door, thats when the guns start going off, the witness said. He and Gilmer ran to a truck, got inside it, and drove off, he said.
Video footage of the confrontation and subsequent shooting confirmed much of what the witness testified to, showing Green and two others trading gunshots in the office. The balaclava-clad man stood in the doorway as he opened fire.
Green then ran past him into the parking lot before falling to the ground. A short while later, the two gunmen got into the parked car, its hazard lights still flashing, and drove off.
The witness described Gilmer as frantic as they left the scene. He said he asked Gilmer if he had set up Green, which Gilmer denied.
I know he had to be scared, just as scared as I was, the witness said. I know he was freaking out just as much as I was. He aint no gansta-gangsta killer. Hes a businessman.
The witness said he kept guns at his business. The firearms used by the assailants looked similar to the ones they had in the car wash, he said.
In footage recorded shortly before the shooting, Gilmer was alone in the business office, seemingly loading guns. He then passed the guns to another person who briefly appeared.
Prior to the shooting, the men at the car wash had spoken to Green about the alleged earlier marijuana theft and encouraged him to return the stolen merchandise, the witness said. He and Gilmer were upset that Green would have stolen something from their customers, he testified.
Green, though, said he had no plan to return the pot, the witness said.
While he described Green as lovable, he said Green was known for living a dangerous life and was not one to mess with.
The witness said he lost his business after the shooting. He added Gilmer was the administrator of their business camera system.
Detective Sgt. Adam Green of the MSPs Audio-Video Analysis Unit testified that on Dec. 14 he performed an analysis of the business Cobra DVR system. In doing so, he found two accessible video files and more than 4,000 inaccessible files. Green said he recovered footage after it had been deleted.
Police went to Hurley Medical Center about 3 a.m. on Dec. 14 after Allen Foster arrived there seeking treatment for two gunshot wounds to his abdomen. Foster would not tell officers who shot him, only saying he had been in a driveway in Flint when he saw two people in the distance shoot at him.
MSP Detective Jacqueline Lee testified she and a fellow detective interviewed Gilmer at police headquarters on Dec. 15. Though not read his Miranda rights, Gilmer said Green had robbed a friend of his of marijuana. Gilmer told the detectives he had tried to get the pot back from Green.
Gilmer also told the detectives he was the only person who had the password for his business camera system.
Gilmer did not give the shooters names to the detectives.
The Michigan State Police Fugitive Team on the evening of Feb. 24 arrested Allen Foster. The team arrested Gilmer three nights later.
Allen Foster and Gilmers cases are awaiting trial in Saginaw County Circuit Court. Anthony Fosters case is set for a preliminary examination on Oct. 2.
Delano Greens homicide was Saginaws 19th and last of 2022. Of those 19 killings, 16 involved gunfire.
Green was a Saginaw native and the youngest of three siblings.
He enjoyed riding his motorcycle, working on cars, music, laughing, telling jokes, and hanging out with friends and family, his obituary states. He is survived by seven children.
The Michigan Republican Partys Mackinac Leadership Conference once was an event with national political significance: an important campaign stop for Republicans seeking the White House and a proving ground for early gubernatorial candidates.
This year is different. One Republican presidential contender out of the 13 declared candidates has been announced as attending: Vivek Ramaswamy, who is currently sitting in third place for the Republican nomination, according to a Real Clear Politics average, will have a keynote address.
Ramaswamy will be the most prominent speaker. The lions share of the lineup, however, is made up of thought leaders from niche corners of conservative media unfamiliar to most Michiganders. Speakers are anticipated to discuss topics like election fraud conspiracy theories, child sex trafficking, woke politics and the erosion of Christianity from U.S. government.
We really are trying to get people focused on the building blocks of a good society. Thats what politics should be about. I dont care what party or what country, politics should be about ensuring the citizenry have a good quality of life, Michigan Republican Party chair Kristina Karamo told MLive in an interview. So we want to have people speaking who will help advocate that message.
In 2015, the last time the Republican presidential nomination was up for grabs, at least five presidential contenders showed up, along with several Michiganders who later ran for governor.
Karamo, who became chair of the Michigan Republican Party in April, gained political power by insisting she saw election fraud take place at the TCF Center in Detroit after the 2020 election. She called the term conspiracy theorist a a derogatory term for people who question government narratives and still asserts, against all available evidence, Michigans elections are corrupt and cant be trusted. The speaker lineup reflect this view.
Dinesh DSouza, a featured speaker, created the conspiratorial film 2000 mules, which is upheld by election denialists as definitive proof of widespread fraud. And former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, who recently served as a surrogate for former President Donald Trump, will also be speaking. Lake, like Karamo, has yet to concede her loss in November 2022 despite losing a lawsuit challenging the results. Lakes legal team, like Karamos, was ordered to pay thousands in sanction for their frivolous case.
Jim Caveziel, an actor who played a leading role in recent film Sound of Freedom has top billing on the partys website after Karamo. The film is based loosely on a real vigilante groups effort to stop an international child sex trafficking ring. While the director has disavowed any connection the film may have to the QAnon conspiracy theory, Caveziel has openly embraced it. Both Caveziel and Karamo were speakers at the same QAnon conference in October 2021.
The state party has been plagued by dysfunction under Karamos leadership, as the party has struggles to fundraise and quell infighting at the state and local levels.
More: Michigans GOP is a doggone mess: inside a party torn by infighting and paranoia
Mark Boonstra, a judge on Michigans third district court of appeals, is also scheduled to appear. Hes authored several books lamenting the decline of Christianity in the U.S. Chuck Thurston, a creationist who hosts a christian apologetics show Karamo has a degree in christian apologetics will be addressing the attendees.
Some members of the party less inclined to embrace the views represented by the speakers have criticized the lineups relative obscurity. Aides confirmed to MLive that the two senior-most state-level politicians in Michigan, state House Minority Leader Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, will not be attending.
LANSING, MI Michigan could become the latest state since the Parkland, Florida, high school massacre from five years ago to add panic alarms as a defense against school shootings.
State lawmakers on Tuesday heard testimony on House Bill 4241, which would require every public school to install a silent alarm that triggers a law enforcement response during a lockdown, non-fire evacuation or active shooter event.
The panic alarm system in each school can help save precious seconds and quite possibly save lives in an emergency situation including an active shooting, sponsoring Rep. Brenda Carter, D-Pontiac, told the House Education Committee.
This bill follows laws passed in New Jersey, Florida, New York, Texas and Tennessee. Theyve been nicknamed Alyssas Law, after Alyssa Alhadeff, a victim of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that killed 17 people in early 2018.
Under Michigans bill, options could include a physical panic button (in the main office, for example), something integrated into the phone system, or something that exists over the internet so that the alarm could be triggered in any classroom.
Some schools in other states also give teachers electronic lanyard cards with discreet panic buttons on them.
Michigans program would cost $6.7 million, according to Carters funding implementation bill, HB 4242. It would essentially be a pot of state money to which each school district would apply and be reimbursed, said Carters policy director, Johnathon Wertheimer.
When it came to the pot of money, we made sure that it was very, very full, because that was a concern, he told lawmakers.
He said the calculation was made by estimating about $1,000 per alarm instillation then doubling that number. There are 2,870 school buildings, 375 charter buildings and 118 intermediate school districts in Michigan.
More education news: After a year of turmoil, MSU jumped 17 places in the U.S. News rankings. This is why.
School shootings in the U.S. hit an all-time high for the second straight year in the 2021-22 academic year, according to federal data out this month. There were 188 shootings with casualties in elementary and secondary schools, including the four deaths and seven injuries at Oxford High School in Oakland County.
Lawmakers on the education committee told Carter they appreciated the intent of her bill but had some skepticism and suggestions.
Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, suggested the alarms also connect to Michigan State Police instead of just local cops because there are schools in his rural Upper Peninsula district that are 30 minutes from responders.
And Rep. Jaime Churches, D-Wyandotte, had concerns about how effective the alarms will be and if the cost to districts will increase over time.
This is a work in progress, Carter said to her colleagues concerns. Her team will also look for data on how successful the alarms have been in other states since New Jersey was the first to pass a law in 2019.
Keep in mind that were not saying this is something that were not going to vet, Carter said. Were going to make sure that it works for our Michigan school system and most importantly for our children.
There has also been pushback from Michigans sheriffs association and the state 911 directors group, but Carter said shes having conversations with them to remedy their concerns. Shes also considering including colleges and private schools in the program and increasing its funding to reflect that.
HB 4241 currently has 18 cosponsors, all Democrats. The Michigan Association of School Boards is also listed as supporting.
The bills next step would be a vote in a future committee meeting to send it to a vote in the full House. It then must pass a Senate committee and the full Senate before landing on Gov. Gretchen Whitmers desk to sign.
Former President Donald Trump wants to join the United Auto Workers picket line. The union president isnt having it.
On Monday, the New York Times reported Trump plans to travel to Detroit to meet auto workers rather than attend the second Republican presidential debate. In response, UAW President Shawn Fain blasted Trump as an example of the corporate greed the union is fighting against.
Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers, Fain said. We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.
The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign weighed in with a similar statement, saying Trump abandoned union workers while president and stood with his ultra-rich friends.
Donald Trump is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn. Instead of standing with workers, Trump cut taxes for the super-wealthy while auto companies shuttered their doors and shipped American jobs overseas. Hes said he wouldve let auto companies go bankrupt, devastating the industry and upending millions of lives, spokesperson Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
Tuesday, Sept. 19 marks the fifth day of the UAW strike against all three Detroit automakers a union first. Throughout the process Fain has called on politicians to stand up with union members and push back on corporate greed, a key talking point in this years negotiations.
Biden announced in a livestream Friday, Sept. 15, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and White House Senior Adviser Gene Sperling will head to Detroit to offer their full support for the parties in reaching an agreement.
Biden, who became Vice President shortly after the auto bailouts were approved by former President George W. Bush, did give a nod of support to union workers during the livestream.
I understand the workers frustration. Over generations autoworkers have sacrificed so much to keep industry alive and strong, especially through the economic crisis and the pandemic. Workers deserve a fair share of the benefits they help create for an enterprise, Biden said.
Michigan Democrats Gov. Gretchen Whiter, U.S. Rep Debbie Dingell and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib joined Sen. Bernie Sanders during a UAW rally on Friday, marking the first day of the strike.
Fain put the Big Three on notice that the UAW will select more strike targets if a deal is not met by noon on Friday, Sept. 22.
First baseman Spencer Torkelson will get a rare off night on Monday when the Detroit Tigers open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
With Torkelson on the bench, Tyler Nevin will start at first base. Miguel Cabrera will be the designated hitter and bat third, what used to be his familiar perch in the Tigers lineup.
How to Watch the Detroit Tigers vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Channel, Stream
The full lineup is below. Torkelson; catcher Carson Kelly; infielder/outfielder Matt Vierling; and infielders Zack Short and Andy Ibanez will be available off the bench.
Late night starters in LA. pic.twitter.com/zHKdHefgDT Detroit Tigers (@tigers) September 18, 2023
On the mound, Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (11-8, 3.32 ERA) will face Dodgers right-hander Lance Lynn (11-11, 5.94).
Rodriguez rejected a trade that would have sent him to the first-place Dodgers at the deadline six weeks ago.
The Dodgers acquired Lynn from the Chicago White Sox three days before the deadline. Since arriving in L.A., Lynn has gone 5-2 with a 4.60 ERA in eight starts.
MLB: Tigers vs. Dodgers 9/18: Odds, Picks & Best Bets
In whats being touted by organizers as the largest gathering of Black creatives globally, its the fourth annual Black Footwear Forum and it returns to Detroit this Thursday, Sept. 21, through Sunday, Sept. 24. The national conference will take place at the Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design This years iteration of the Black Footwear Forum operates under the theme of Culture is Currency: Know Your Worth, with the larger goals of celebrating the creativity, influence, and leadership of Black professionals in the global footwear industry while also developing and advancing Black talent throughout. The event is free and open to the public, although registration is requested online A lot. The event kicks off with a ribbon-cutting of the new Pepsi x Frito-Lay Refresh and Relax Lounge at Pensole Lewis College, which was designed by students there, and goes on to include panel discussions, forums, workshops, and networking opportunities with the industrys brightest stars. Special guests include two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer Ruth Carter, Hip-Hop Pioneer Grandmaster Caz, and more.The event is sponsored by Pensole Lewis College of Business & Design and industry group Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, the former of which is the only historically Black college and university (HBCU) to be reinstated as such. The school initially opened as the Lewis College of Business in Detroit in 1928, closed in 2015, and was reopened and reinstated in 2021 as Michigans only HBCU."This is by far my favorite time of the year. I am humbled to have the support of the industry's top brands who deeply care about our culture and the Black creative talent that agreed to volunteer their time to share their knowledge," says President of Pensole Lewis College, Dr. D'Wayne Edwards. "This makes it possible to collectively uplift the culture, and remind us of our value and our industry. Every year we try to raise the bar and BFF 2023 will be a magical moment that will continue the movement."Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith
19.09.2023 LISTEN
President Nana Akufo-Addo's choice to fund a National Cathedral has drawn criticism from Ghanaian artist Samini.
According to Samini, the economy merits attention.
He said key among the sector is health in an interview on TV3.
I dont buy in the idea of building a national cathedral, it is purely misplaced priority, I wouldnt say channel it into the art. There are other areas, there is a health sector almost as it nothing going on or nothing to go home about.
There is security, there is the rural water issue, there is agriculture which is my heart. All these things are there and I would not go and put money into a monument for people to go and pray at, Samini stated.
He continued that as a true Christian, communicating with God is spiritual.
In this day and age, people write their prayers on a WhatsApp status and sometimes on Facebook, I wonder if God lives on Facebook. God does not live on Facebook, when you think about it manifest it, it will come to pass, see the more you speak about it, it will give away the aura and the energy that makes it happen.
Samini
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Reggae and Dancehall icon, Samini, has expressed unwavering confidence in his ability to fill Londons prestigious O2 Arena by himself, given the appropriate support.
The veteran musician believes that his global recognition and electrifying performances can attract fans from all corners of the world.
Samini shared his bold assertion during an interview on the Day Show with Berla Mundi, where he emphasized the potential of his brand to draw massive crowd.
Referencing his Batman, brand days, Samini highlighted his international acclaim and past accomplishments as a Mobo Award winner as some of the things to win attention out there.
By myself, I will fill it, he confidently declared, adding that the arena could reach full capacity with the right investment and promotion.
He underscored that he had been known internationally as Batman before adopting the Samini persona, and many around the world recognize the brand.
However, Samini clarified that he wouldnt embark on such a venture alone. He expressed reservations about relying solely on Ghanaian investors, citing past experiences where their promises often went unfulfilled.
Im not gonna take that money and go and do this because a Ghanaian wants to see the place full. Hell no, no Ghanaian investor is going to do that, Samini explained.
He pointed out that its not in Ghanaian culture to readily invest funds in such endeavours, and he doesnt fully trust Ghanaian investors to support such a project.
Samini concluded that typical Ghanaian investors may engage in discussions and appear supportive, but when it comes to financial backing, their commitment tends to wane.
Despite this, he remains steadfast in his belief that with the right backing and promotion, he could achieve the remarkable feat of filling Londons O2 Arena, making him a force to be reckoned with on the global music stage.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Army General Mark Milley is confident in the reliability of the accountability of Ukrainians for the received weapons and ammunition. The real proof of this is the losses of the Russian aggressors on the battlefield.
Milley said this at a press conference on Tuesday after the meeting of the Contact Group of the Defense of Ukraine, which was held in Ramstein (Germany), answering the relevant question.
He said they have a lot of accountability tools, various systems, though they are not perfect, because they do not have people with their [Ukrainian] units. Therefore, Milley said, they wouldnt be able to see and count with confidence every available weapon and ammunition, but there are many ways of reporting through the reporting system.
Milley also said that in Kyiv, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also has liaison officers. Therefore, they are confident that they have a fairly decent responsibility for weapons and support that they, the United States and other countries, have provided to Ukraine. The real proof of accountability is, according to him, the destruction of the Russian army.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Mzbel, a Ghanaian musician has praised herself for starting the trend of wearing body-revealing outfits.
According to the '16-year-old' hitmaker, she transformed the music scene with that concept.
Speaking in an interview on Cape Coast's Property FM she stated that there is nothing wrong with being seductive.
It's true I'm the one who started wearing short and skimpy dresses in the music scene because I don't see anything wrong with it.
When I entered the music scene, I didn't take any lessons; I just entered and did whatever I felt comfortable doing, even though I received a lot of criticism, Mzbel stated.
She added, Unfortunately, not everyone understood it that way but whenever someone would expose their body on stage or do something sexy, they would attribute it to Mzbel, and that's true.
In a recent interview, Ghanaian musician Mzbel said her entry into the music industry came about as a result of recommendations from her previous boss.
According to Mzbel, she has no remorse about having an affair at work.
In an interview with Angel TV, she declared that she actually adored her former employer and wished they could have developed a closer bond.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Nigerian musician Stanley Omah Didia, popularly known as Omah Lay has said the music business demands a strong mentality.
According to the 'Soso' hitmaker, the music terrain comes with a lot of stress.
He said in an interview with the Afrobeats podcast that one needs to be psychologically fit to escape the pressure from the music industry's competitiveness.
It was a jump; at first I struggled, and it put me in a bad mental state because I was still trying to learn my ways. However, with time, I got more comfortable and learned that Im running my race and that I should move at my own pace.
There was pressure. You dont expect to move from one crappy laptop or spending all your life in the studio to being a global superstar. Its just like they brought you from just starting music production to this right here (points at equipment in the studio): You go lost.
As soon as I learned and realized that, I became much stronger and started to enjoy my life more, Omah Lay stated.
He continued that there was nothing wrong with sharing his weaknesses with the whole world.
If I can put my vulnerabilities in my song, then I can talk about them. My music is all about my real-life experiences, and I know everybody in the world is listening to it, he emphasised.
18.09.2023 LISTEN
To push for Julius Debrah to be selected as John Dramani Mahama's running mate for the 2024 election, some National Democratic Congress (NDC) members embarked on a health walk.
According to the organizers, the walk was geared towards bringing to the attention of the party the need to select Mr. Julius Debrah as 2024 running mate.
The group identifies itself as, Friends of Julius Debrah are made up of Regional, Constituency Executives and Branch members. They hit the Ayi Mensah-Peduase stretch to embark on a health walk.
Speaking to journalists, one of the leaders of the group, Eric Yeboah Wadie said the selection of the former Chief of Staff will inure to the benefit of the party.
We believe in the capabilities of Julius as someone experienced enough to partner with His Excellency John Dramani Mahama to garner more votes for the party. Julius is affable, honest, calm in nature, and loved by everybody including some members of the opposition parties," Eric Yeboah stated.
Addressing the gathering after the health walk, Richard Etornam Nyarko, NDC Eastern Regional Youth Organizer of the NDC was convinced Julius Debrah stands tall among all the names that popped up as possible running mates to Mr. Mahama.
We believe Julius Debrah is someone who can partner John Mahama to win the presidential election. He is someone who is without blemish and resourceful to augment the flagbearers bid. He has been dedicating resources to the partys progress already. We know people, including resourceful business guys, who want to come on board to help as soon he is selected as the running mate, Richard Etornam Nyarko stated.
The group, apart from the health walk intends to embark on different programs to galvanize more support for him.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Director of Legal Affairs for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Edudzi Tamakloe has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of refusing to listen to voices of wisdom from anyone.
According to Mr. Tamakloe, the EC only listens and takes instructions from President Nana Akufo-Addo.
In an interview with TV3, he said the EC's limited voter registration was designed to deny many citizens the right to vote.
The only person that Madam Jean Mensa listens to is Mr. Akufo-Addo. If youre a person who has turned 18 years and above know that Akufo-Addo and Madam Jean Mensa have conspired to deny you the opportunity to participate and have a say in their misgovernance. There is an orchestration deliberately by Akufo-Addo and Jean Mensa, Edudzi Tamakloe stated.
Political parties, civil society organizations and the general public have severely criticized the Electoral Commission for conducting limited voter registration at its district offices.
The opposing parties appealed to the EC to hold the exercise at the electoral areas due to the huge cost people would incur to get to the EC district offices to register.
However, Director of Elections at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe has clarified that the ongoing district registrations are geared toward the upcoming district-level elections.
He explained that, next year, the Commission will roll out another registration exercise that will be held in the electoral areas.
The limited registration exercise began on Tuesday, September 12, and will end on October 9, 2023.
In a remarkable stride towards the advancement of civic education and engagement, the Ballot Education Project, a dedicated non-governmental organization based in Ghana, seized a prestigious opportunity.
Their leadership had the distinct honor of participating in an international conference hosted at Taylor's University, one of South East Asia's premier educational institutions in Malaysia. This exceptional gathering was made possible through a special invitation extended by IFERP/ICDSAIA, where the Ballot Education Project had the privilege of presenting their groundbreaking paper titled "Bridging Theory and Practice: The Vision of the Ballot Education Project for Empowerment through Data Science, AI, and Analytics, with a Focus on Electoral Data Gathering."
At the heart of the Ballot Education Project's mission lies a profound commitment to enhancing voter awareness and understanding of the electoral process. Their objective is clear: to empower citizens with the knowledge and resources necessary for the effective exercise of their voting rights. This mission, they firmly believe, plays an instrumental role in the broader pursuit of transparency and credibility within the context of Ghana's elections.
Civic education is a cornerstone of any vibrant democracy. The Ballot Education Project recognizes that an informed electorate is essential for the democratic process to thrive. By equipping Ghanaians with a deep understanding of the electoral process, they aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice, transforming theoretical knowledge into active citizen participation.
Data Science and AI for Electoral Empowerment
What sets the Ballot Education Project apart is its innovative approach. They harness the power of data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and analytics to make electoral information accessible and comprehensible to a wide audience. Their paper delves into the transformative potential of these cutting-edge technologies in the realm of electoral data gathering. By leveraging data-driven insights, they aim to amplify their impact and reach, ensuring that every Ghanaian has the tools they need to engage meaningfully in the democratic process.
The Ballot Education Project's participation in an international conference signifies their dedication to expanding their reach and knowledge base. By engaging with scholars, experts, and advocates on a global stage, they not only enrich their mission but also contribute to the broader discourse on civic education and empowerment.
The Ballot Education Project's journey to Taylor's University for the IFERP/ICDSAIA conference is a testament to their unwavering commitment to civic education and voter empowerment. As they continue to bridge the gap between theory and practice, leveraging data science and AI, their vision of a more informed and engaged electorate comes one step closer to reality. In the pursuit of transparency and credibility in Ghana's elections, the Ballot Education Project stands at the forefront, inspiring others to follow suit in the noble cause of democratic empowerment.
Former United States President Donald Trump has reiterated his conservative stance on gender issues, particularly the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community.
During a recent gathering over the weekend, Trump made it clear that he firmly believes in a binary view of gender, stating that God originally created only two genders - male and female.
Addressing the audience, Trump asserted that if he were to be re-elected, he would take what he described as "historic action" to combat what he referred to as the "toxic poison of gender ideology."
I will take historic action to defeat the toxic poison of gender ideology and reassert (that) in the beginning, God created two genders, male and female, Trump stated while being cheered by the crowd.
Trump's presidency was marked by a series of policies and actions that were widely perceived as being unfriendly to the LGBTQ+ community.
Many of these policies have since been reversed by his successor, President Joe Biden, who has taken steps to promote LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.
In Ghana, for instance, there is currently a bill before parliament that seeks to explicitly criminalize activities of LGBTQ+.
Stanislav Dogbe, Aide to former President John Dramani Mahama has opined on Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumias presidential bid.
Mr. Dogbe expressed shock that despite the economic hardship co-headed by Dr. Bawumia, all he could think about is to become President after his boss.
The NDC stalwart posted a picture of a hopeless lady in a tweet on Monday, September 18, which he termed as the true state of Ghana.
This photo, right here, is a reflection of the true state of many of us in Ghana today.
"And to think that the deputy leader of the country, who is responsible, directly, for the destroyed state or everything, and completely clueless and incompetent at how to solve it, wants to run for President!!!
"God help us, he wrote.
The Vice President is among the four stalwarts including Kennedy Agyapong, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, and Francis Addai Nimoh, competing for the New Patriotic Partys (NPPs) flagbearer position on November 4, ahead of the 2024 general elections.
The opposition National Democratic Congress has already filed former President John Dramani Mahama who promises to restore hope in the economy when re-elected on December 7, 2024.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the Chief Executive Officer of Ghana COCOBOD has encouraged cocoa farmers in the country to hope for better days following President Nana Akufo-Addo's recent announcement of an increase in the cocoa producer price per bag.
This increase is expected to provide significant relief to cocoa farmers and enhance cocoa productivity.
President Akufo-Addo revealed the cocoa price hike, raising it to GHC 1308 for the upcoming cocoa season.
This announcement was met with enthusiasm and relief by cocoa farmers across the nation, as it represents a substantial boost to their income.
To further uplift the spirits of cocoa farmers, Joseph Boahen Aidoo appeared on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, where he shared additional positive news.
During the interview with host Kwami Sefa Kayi, Mr Aidoo disclosed that there would be additional increases in the cocoa price in the near future.
He assured cocoa farmers that the government, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is committed to further raising the price of cocoa.
Mr Aidoo emphasized that if farmers are already pleased with the current season's cocoa price, they should anticipate even more favorable conditions in the coming year.
The government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will move the Ghc1,308 per bag of cocoa to a far higher price that if they (cocoa farmers) think the amount they are receiving this season is relieving,they should be even much glad because next year will be better, he revealed.
Mr. Aidoo explained that the expected increase in cocoa prices for next year's cocoa season would be influenced by the prevailing international market conditions.
The newly elected Students' Representative Council (SRC) President for the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Yvonne Osei Adobea has disclosed that she had to sacrifice one year of her academic life for that position.
According to her, she had to stay at home for one year after completing Senior High School just to go to KNUST and run for the position.
Yvonne Osei Adobea revealed that while she was dreaming to get enrolled at KNUST and become the SRC president, her parents wanted her to pursue nursing which brought some misunderstandings at home.
She noted that it took the family one whole year to resolve the issue before her parents eventually agreed to get her enrolled at KNUST to pursue Sociology.
Yvonne Osei Adobea explained this when she called on students of Serwaa Nyarko SHS, her former school on Sunday September 17, 2023.
Speaking to this reporter, Yvonne Osei Adobea said she developed the desire to hold that position while in her second year at Senior High School.
"I was studying one day at Serwaa Nyarko SHS, when all of a sudden I heard a subtle sound telling me to become the SRC president of KNUST, since then I have vigorously worked towards that.
"When I completed my SHS education, my parents wanted me to be a nurse which meant that going to KNUST was out of my reach, but knowing well I would become the SRC president, I objected to that decision which cost me a whole year of my educational life," she stated.
The Headmistress of Serwaa Nyarko SHS, Esther Gyasi Sarpong after receiving KNUST's SRC president commended her for making the school proud.
According to her, hundreds of students from Serwaa Nyarko SHS are out there making Ghana proud with their good work.
She noted that Yvonne's recent achievement has only added to the collection.
She noted that staff of Serwaa Nyarko SHS is always motivated to bring the best out of the students to help them excel in the academic journey.
Background
The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), has elected its first female President of the Students' Representative Council (SRC) in the schools 71 years of existence.
Yvonne Osei Adobea made history after winning the election against five other contenders.
She polled 8,282 votes to beat her main contender, Abraham Rockson, who secured 4,568 votes.
After failing to win the SRC election last year, the third-year Sociology student managed to make a strong come back.
Come Saturday, October 7, 2023 the Chiefs and people of the Enyan-Denkyira Traditional Area in the Central Region, will in high anticipation celebrate the 2023 edition of the Akwanbo Festival.
Enyan Denkyira is situated in Enyan Breman in the Central region of Ghana. It is surrounded by towns such as Nkwantanum, Essiam, Abowunim, and Kromem.
The people of the area are mostly farmers, making it one of the topmost farming communities in Ghana.
It is in this direction that Dr. Nana Kum Krampah 1, the Benkumhene of the Enyan-Denkyira Traditional Area and the Apagyahene of Denkyira State in the Central Region, is calling and urging tourists, investors, and the general public to participate in the pending festivities in their high numbers to celebrate true Ghanaian culture and traditions.
According to Dr. Nana Kum Krampah I, this years Akwanbo Kese Festival is seeking to boost both domestic and international tourism while exploring avenues for investment opportunities in the Enyan Denkyira Community.
She made this known during an interaction with some journalists recently.
It would be recalled that on Tuesday 4th July 2023, Dr. Nana Kum Krampah I, was sworn in at a grand coronation to officially become the Apagyahene of Denkyira State.
She also is also the Benkumhene of the Akyeampem Division.
In the history of Enyan Denkyira, she becomes the only female King to be enstooled as the Apagyahene.
Dr. Nana Kum Krampa 1, is also the Founder of Kings Heart, a non-governmental organisation made up of Chiefs and Queenmothers from all 16 regions of Ghana.
The Akwanbo Kese Festival is the time we, the people of Enyan Denkyira, proudly showcase the unique cultural heritage, traditions, and customs of our region. We are targeting to draw tourists, both domestic and international as well as the Ghanaians in the Diaspora to come experience and immerse themselves in our local culture, she explained.
She also pointed out that the Akwanbo Kese Festival will offer opportunities for tourists and locals to come together to facilitate cultural exchange and promote cross-cultural understanding.
This, Dr. Nana Kum Krampah I, mentioned would pave the way for a richer travel experience and foster goodwill between visitors and the people of Enyan Denkyira.
She further noted that this years Akwanbo Kese Festival would largely involve the local communities, creating a sense of pride and engagement.
We believe strongly that this positive atmosphere can make tourists feel more welcome and enhance their overall experience. Since Festivals serve as powerful marketing tools for destinations, I would like to also urge all travel and tourism interest groups, event organizers, tourism authorities, and the Ministry of Tourism to capitalize on this years Akwanbo Kese Festivities as a focal point for promotional campaigns in helping to attract visitors and investors from different parts of the world to the Central region and Ghana at large, she added.
Brief History About Enyan-Denkyira:
Enyan-Denkyira is one of the Borbor Fante states and one of the coastal towns of the Ajumako Enyan Essiam district of the Central Region of Ghana.
It is one of the earliest Fante coastal states which was believed to have been established in, or before the 15th century. The Enyan who are a part of the Fante Ethnic groupings or division consist of Denkyira, Abaasa, and Eyan Maim traditional areas.
In New York, Zelenskyy, President of South Africa discuss preparations for Global Peace Summit, resumption of grain deal
On the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa.
The two leaders discussed topical issues of cooperation between Ukraine and South Africa in continuation of their dialogue started during the meeting in Kyiv, the presidential website reported.
Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of South Africa's participation in the working groups on the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The Presidents paid attention to preparations for the next meeting at the level of advisors on the implementation of the Formula.
"We are extremely grateful that the platform of our Peace Formula has actually started working. The Embassy of your country in Ukraine and Mr. Ambassador personally take part in the meetings on this issue," the Head of State noted.
The parties discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the level of leaders.
The need to restore the functioning of the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea to ensure global food security, as well as to create grain hubs in Africa, was noted.
"We are not waiting, we are continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative and trying alternative routes. Several ships with grain have already successfully passed through these routes despite the difficult situation," the President of Ukraine emphasized.
Zelenskyy and Ramaphosa also discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine.
The Head of State emphasized the importance of speeding up the process of returning Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russia to their homeland, as well as the exchange of detainees.
Sophia Akuffo
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Former Chief Justice Sophia Akuffo has criticised former President John Mahama for his recent comments regarding the Judiciary.
Former President John Mahama accused President Akufo-Addo of appointing 80 to 100 judges affiliated to the NPP.
He had indicated that if he were re-elected, lawyers associated with the NDC should prepare themselves for judicial appointments to balance the perceived bias.
Justice Akuffo, who has a distinguished legal career and served as Chief Justice during President Akufo-Addo's administration, expressed concern that such partisan accusations could undermine the integrity of the judiciary.
In a recent interview with Accra-based Asaase Radio monitored by ModernGhana News, Justice Sophia Akuffo questioned whether former President John Mahama, during his tenure as President, had also appointed judges favouring the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
He (Former President John Mahama) has been through the process of appointing other people before. So was it because they were NDC? she quizzed.
She added, "It always upsets me when you get comments like, Oh! This one is the NPP judge Oh! This one is NDC."
And yet you have never seen the person at any partys rally or platform. And these are some of the unnecessary pressures that are put on the judiciary. What difference will that tag make to me, my career and my work?" she asked.
The Igbo tribesmen from Nigeria residing in Ghana have hosted the 2023 edition of its grand New Yam Festival.
The event also marked the 11th anniversary since the establishment of the Igbo royal seat in Ghana.
The traditional ceremony celebrated at Accra's Efua Sutherland Childrens Park on Sunday, September 17, showcased the richness of African culture. It was under the theme, Sustaining the Culture and Tradition of Igbo people in the Diaspora.
Distinguished monarchs from the Igbo tribe and invited Ghanaian tribes graced the vibrant event.
Accompanied by their traditional entourages and garbed in eye-catching regalia, the arrival of these rulers was a spectacle, amplified by loud cheering, drumming, dancing, musketry, and ceremonial gun firing, among others.
The host King, His Royal Majesty Dr. Ambassador Chukwudi Ihenetu Eze Ohazurume I, the paramount King of the Igbo diaspora in Ghana, inaugurated the celebration with his wife, HRM. Queen Ugoeze Liberty Ihenetu Nana Ekua Tsetsewa I.
In his opening address, the king highlighted that the New Yam Festival signifies the commencement of the yam harvest and a time for giving thanks to God for life and plentiful harvest.
He emphasized the festival's importance in preserving cultural values among the youth and fostering pan-African unity, particularly between Nigeria and Ghana.
Representing the Igbo community in Ghana for a goodwill message, Chief Anyaogwu stated his belief that the festival would continue to promote peace and security.
He also advised Nigerians living in Ghana to be law-abiding and respect Ghanaian laws.
The event featured various performances, including a masquerade parade, women's group displays, and a royal handshake with the king.
Notable individuals, both Igbos and non-Igbos, received chieftaincy titles for their societal contributions.
Among them was renowned Ghanaian broadcaster Blessed Godsbrain Smart, known well as Captain Smart, who was awarded the title of Okwuruora or mouthpiece of the people for his advocacy work.
A significant part of the ceremony was the cutting of the yam - marking the official start of the new yam season.
The paramount King emphasized the essence of the festival and expressed his hope that the event would foster peace and unity among Igbos and non-Igbos in the country.
A short drama displaying farmers discovering their matured yam crops and celebrating the harvest provided insight into how the festival was celebrated in the past.
Prominent attendees at the event besides the chiefs included the National Chief Imam Sheik Osmanu Nuhu Shaributu, CEO of Kantanka group, Kwadwo Safo Kantanka Junior, Kofi Akpaloo, founder of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), and former Minister of Youths and Sports, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.
The festival, integral to the Igbo community, is an annual event held to thank God for an abundant yam harvest.
Per research, it is considered taboo in the Igbo community to taste the new yam before the festival.
NPP can break the eight only with you, Dr Bawumia. We all know that.
None surpasses you as the darling boy in Ghana's politics today, and the records show.
You have diligently handled three of the most important issues of the elephant family in recent times, which has won you, "the darling boy" status among the rank and file of NPP. First, you mastered the huge 2012 election petition documents within a very short time and represented the elephant family at the Supreme Court to the admiration of Ghanaians.
Second, you did not only spend days and nights to prepare so hard for your submissions, but you defended our party's position fearlessly. There is no doubt that you became the envy of even top lawyers and reminded every PhD. holder in the country of how they defended their thesis with passion and expertise. The NDC is still struggling to find your kind in their midst.
Third, your level of championing digitilization, advocating for it on every given platform, makes it irresistible for Ghanaians to discuss it as a way forward for the country. Alhaji, you are simply the best bet for mother Ghana.
Dr., your humility and smiles make Ghanaians enjoy your presence everywhere you go. You bow and lower your height before distinguished personalities that the nation adores. You are a true cultured son of Ghana. In a rather tense political debate or discussion, your soft laughter makes your audience feel at ease. Your political opponents do not feel hurt even when you tease them. Every nation can go through hard times and experience hurtful incidents, but with you as our leader, our hearts and minds would definitely be at peace. You are the type of leader we need. Voters know this, and nobody can resist that.
The former Methodist Boys Brigade lad and now an Alhaji has, nevertheless, married his past and present faiths together perfectly to the admiration of the clergy and the Imams alike. You are indeed fit for a president who would unite our beloved country, Ghana.
Behind every successful man, there is a woman, as the saying goes. We are all lucky to have a woman like Samira behind you. We remember Barack Obama and his spouse, Michelle, or J. J. Rawlings and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings. Samira has the qualities of Michelle Obama and Nana Konadu.
Your kind of first family would be a blessing come December 2024 when Ghanaians go to the polls to choose their president. We can not wait to see that.
The Communication Directorate
(Diaspora4DMB)
The Former Minister for Environment, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, has revealed that he personally financed the establishment of the National Cardiothoracic Centre at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital back in April 1992.
During an interview on Citi TVs The Point of View with Bernard Avle, the former head of the Centre shared his remarkable journey, stating that when he returned from Germany, he arrived with no personal belongings as he had sold everything to fund the commencement of the Centre.
When I came down from Germany, I didnt even come down with any household items, I used all my money to buy medical equipment to start that [National Cardiothoracic Centre] Centre.
The government was not prepared to build a place for the [National Cardiothoracic Centre] centre and the Germans gave us some money for the equipment and the government was not ready and I had to use my own money with others who helped and then we built the [National Cardiothoracic Centre] centre.
Professor Frimpong-Boateng also disclosed that the Centre has recently been hit with challenges which are being resolved to ensure Ghanaians get the needed cardiac medical attention if the need arises.
I knew that they had problems and I know they are being addressed gradually. There were quite a number of issues that need to be addressed and they are being addressed.
-citinewsroom
New details have emerged about the murder of a businesswoman by her house help, John Allister.
According to court documents, Allister was hired a day after applying for the position through an employment agency based in Accra.
He allegedly committed the murder only six days after commencing work.
The timeline reveals that Allister applied for the job on September 4, 2023, and started working the very next day.
On September 11, 2023, at approximately 11 a.m., the victim, identified as Stella Osei, prepared a meal of fufu, which she shared with Allister.
Moments later, she was stabbed in the stomach and brutally assaulted with a club, resulting in her untimely death.
The absence of the victim's 11-year-old daughter, who was at school during the incident, appears to have been exploited by the accused.
Following the murder, Allister reportedly contacted two other individuals, James Anokye and one Collins, and together, they fled the scene in the victim's KIA Sportage vehicle (registration GS 307-21).
They also made off with a Samsung mobile phone, rice, cooking oil, and various valuable items.
The group escaped to Accra and engaged another individual named Biggy, who is currently at large, to facilitate the sale of the stolen vehicle to Christian Obu, another accomplice who remains elusive.
Subsequently, Allister used the proceeds from the sale of the stolen vehicle to acquire a Toyota Vitz car (registration GS 3107-23).
While efforts were made to pursue the 3rd, 4th, and 5th accomplices, the 2nd accused, James Anokye, abandoned the KIA Sportage vehicle at Oyibi Police Station and absconded.
Upon receiving a report, the police initiated a Crime SceSceene Management operation, which led to the discovery of Stella Osei's lifeless body in the garage of her Apaaso residence. Additionally, a blood-stained club believed to have been used in the murder was found at the crime scene on September 12, 2023.
Through a police intelligence-led operation, the 1st and 2nd accused individuals were apprehended in Accra on September 14, 2023. They were subsequently escorted to Kumasi to face trial.
During their first court appearance, John Allister, aged 22, expressed his acceptance of responsibility for the murder of Stella Osei, also known as Princess Afua Ahenkan.
Although the plea of the accused was not formally considered, Allister signalled his intention to speak in court, where he admitted responsibility and implored the court for leniency.
He further requested the release of the second accused, James Anokye, stating that Anokye was not involved in the crime.
However, the prosecution, led by ASP Stephen Ofori, emphasised the importance of adhering to due process in this murder case.
Yaw Yeboah, the deceased's father-in-law, who was present at the court proceedings, expressed profound sadness over the involvement of five individuals in the brutal murder.
He noted that the deceased's husband, who resides in the United Kingdom, has been deeply affected by the tragic loss of his wife.
-Classfmonline
The Ghana Shippers' Authority (GSA) as part of its efforts to address the plight of Ghanaian truck drivers due to growing acts of insurgency in the West African sub-region has intensified engagements with the Joint Association of Port Transport Unions (JAPTU).
This was disclosed at the 2023 third-quarter GSA Western Regional Transit Shipper Committee meeting on the recent activities of insurgents on the Sahelian Corridors and their impact on transit trade.
The Principal Freight and Logistics Officer at the Takoradi Branch, Mr Abdul Haki Bashiru-Dine, enumerated some current interventions of the Ghana Shippers' Authority in the current situation.
He stated that the GSA was meeting with stakeholders and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on how to assist drivers caught up in the insurgencies and sensitize drivers who ply that route.
We will also meet with our stakeholders to find ways of rerouting trucks through Benin, meet with JAPTU to find mitigative measures and hold virtual meetings with Ghanaian Ambassadors in those countries for updates on the situation, he added.
Recounting some of the insurgent activities involving Ghanaian trucks, he noted that the Joint Association of Port Transport Unions (JAPTU), Tema Chapter, alerted the Ghana Shippers' Authority, sometime in April 2023, that 26 trucks moving cargo from Burkina Faso into Ghana had been attacked by suspected terrorists and had their cargo seized with the trucks set ablaze.
The Executive Secretary of JAPTU-Tema, Alhaji Musah Ibrahim, called for the government's quick intervention in insurgent activities involving Ghanaian trucks.
Ghana's major transit clients over the years have been Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Even though transit trade has been fraught with a myriad of challenges, insurgent activity is the nation's biggest challenge, causing low transit numbers.
The Transit Shipper Committee is a platform created by the Ghana Shippers' Authority to discuss challenges to transit trade along our major corridors and come up with innovative solutions to overcome these challenges and enhance the competitiveness of transit shippers in using Ghana's ports and transport corridors.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Ghana placed first out of ten Open Government Partnership (OGP) members who won awards at the 2023 Open Government Global Summit held on the 6th and 7th of September 2023 in Tallinn, Estonia.
Mr Yaw Osafo Marfo, the Senior Presidential Advisor and Dr E.O. Osae, Director-General of the Internal Audit Agency, received the award for Ghana.
To recognise reformers at the forefront of advancing open governance, an award for Inspirational Reforms was launched by the OGP. Forty-seven applications were received from its members across the world out of which 10 winners emerged. The Internal Audit Agency took the top position out of the 10 winners with an application on the topic Public Accounts Committee and Audit Reports.
The OGP is an international initiative that seeks to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote openness, and transparency, enhance citizens' participation, promote accountability and adopt new technologies to enhance good governance.
A statement issued by the Public Relations Unit of the Public Sector Reform Secretariat, stated, The OGP Initiative in Ghana being implemented by the Public Sector Reform Secretariat (PSRS) with oversight responsibility under the Office of the Senior Presidential Advisor has received a national and local award Africa Category from the 2023 OGP Global Summit in Tallinn, Estonia in northeastern Europe out of 47 applications received from national and local members across the world.
The OGP Community, it said, is made up of thousands of relentless, inspiring and deeply committed reformers striving to make a difference in improving good governance of member countries across the world.
It noted that Ghana received the national award under the Africa category for implementing the most inspirational reform dubbed Public Accounts Committee and Audit Reports.
This reform was one of the commitments in the 4th OGP National Action Plan implemented by the Internal Audit Agency (IAA), a member of the Ghana Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. The OGP Steering Committee went through a very transparent process to select the reform which was submitted for the 2023 OGP Awards competition, it added.
According to the statement, the local category award went to the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly based on its initiative in the Youth Entrepreneurship and Women Empowerment Programme.
The objective of the local initiative is to reduce poverty and create employment to improve the socio-economic well-being of citizens. It also seeks to set aside 10% of the Assemblys share of the Minerals Development Fund to equip the youth, women and persons living with disabilities with technical skills, startup tools and considerable capital to commence their businesses and generate income to support their families.
This great achievement would continue to guide the Government of Ghana under the leadership of His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to deepen its resolve to be more open, transparent and accountable to the citizens as a quest to strengthen Ghanas good governance processes, it emphasized.
Ghanas delegation at the 2023 OGP Global Summit included Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Senior Presidential Advisor and Chairman of Ghanas OGP Steering Committee; Mrs Mary Awelana Addah, Ghana Integrity Initiative and Co-Chair, OGP Steering Committee; Mrs Thelma Ohene-Asiamah, Director, Finance and Administration at the PSRS and Point of Contact, OGP Ghana and Dr Stephen Manteaw, Co-Chair Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.
The local level was represented by Mr Benjamin Kessie, the Municipal Chief Executive for Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly; Mr Abdul Mumin Issah, Mayor of Sekondi-Takoradi Metro and Madam Amanda Pokua Adjei, the Municipal Planning Officer of Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipal Assembly.
Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has highlighted the increasing occurrence of coups across the African continent as a wake-up call for African leaders to effectively manage their economies.
He stressed that better economic management can break the cycle of poverty and unemployment, providing hope for the youth to stay and contribute to the continents development instead of seeking opportunities abroad.
We have to do better in managing our economies to break the cycle of poverty and unemployment and give hope to our able youth to remain and work for the development of our continent instead of seeking the least opportunity to escape for greener pastures elsewhere, the Asantehene stated.
No African leader can sleep happy so far as theres an African boy willing to make the perilous journey of modern day migration, he added.
Speaking at the St. Andrews Africa Summit in Scotland, the Asante monarch emphasised that as long as African youths are willing to take perilous journeys abroad, no African leader can be content.
His advice follows recent coups in several African countries, including Gabon, Mali, Guinea, Chad, and Niger.
While firmly condemning coups and rejecting them as viable solutions to Africa's issues, he urged African leaders to reflect on these events as indicators that something is amiss in the democratic experiment.
The Asantehene suggested that these events prompt a critical evaluation of the democratic structures and constitutional arrangements within African states, reinforcing the need for effective reform and governance.
I do not think it signals rejection of democracy as a system of governance but rather, it brings into question the structures we have built in our democratic system, and that, I will suggest reinforces the questions weve been raising about the constitutional arrangement of the African democratic state, he stated.
-Classfmonline.com
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), with the support of the World Bank Groups Ghana Economic Transformation Project (GETP), has procured a modern Heavy-Duty Weighbridge Truck.
The Truck, funded by the World Bank under the GETP Project at the cost of 600,000, would be used primarily for lifting test weights required for the meticulous verification and calibration of weighbridges in the country.
Unveiling the new truck, the Minister of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Mr Kobina Tahir Hammond, emphasised the importance of standards and said efforts were underway to ensure application of standards in all facets of the economy.
The Minister lauded the contributions of the World Bank under the GETP.
It's important to put on record our indebtedness to the World Bank and we are indeed grateful for the formidable work you have done and the considerable financial assistance given us to be able to set off to make sure standards are in place, Mr Hammond stated.
Mr Thomas Vis of the World Bank Group in charge of private sector development in Ghana said the truck was one of the sub components in support of the GSA.
This is one of the many interventions we have made for GSA which form part of a $10million support programme which is set to see an increase, he said.
This truck and others to come in future which the World Bank intends to support will allow GSA to do those things it has been doing but to do them better, Mr Vis said.
The World Bank official said standards were key and critical for the development of a strong private sector.
GNA
Member of Parliament (MP) for Dome-Kwabenya, Sarah Adwoa Safo was seen attending to constituents who were taking part in the Electoral Commission's (EC) limited voter registration at the district office.
In a viral video, Adwoa Safo is seen sharing yoghurts with constituents who were beaming with smiles.
However, some observers noted that her actions could be seen as another way of courting the love of voters after announcing her intention to seek re-election.
The embattled lawmaker recently apologized to the NPP, her constituents and Ghanaians for her long absence from Parliament without permission.
Following her apology, the 3-term MP announced her intentions to run again for her parliamentary seat.
She believes with God's help and support from constituents, she can continue her work in Dome-Kwabenya.
Politics is a game of numbers, if its the will of God and the people want me, I will run again, Adwoa Safo said during an engagement with journalists.
She continued, I still have a lot to do for my people and I have to take the pain to explain to them the reasons for my absence and when the time comes.
I shall not desert my people, I shall represent them again by Gods grace, and I think that my people still love me.
Zelenskyy in New York discusses with President of Kenya construction of grain hubs, provision of region with Ukrainian agricultural products
On the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the Republic of Kenya William Ruto.
According to Zelenskyys press service, the Head of State thanked Kenya for supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
"Thank you for supporting our people and our country. I would like to invite you and your team to visit Ukraine at your convenience. We have many topics to discuss. Support in such a difficult time of war is important to us. We need to be strong and hear your voices of support," the President said.
The leaders discussed preparations for the next meeting on the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula at the level of advisors.
The parties also discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the level of state leaders.
Specific steps were discussed to establish grain hubs in Kenya. The Presidents emphasized the importance of stable supply of Ukrainian agricultural products to the region.
Zelenskyy informed the President of Kenya about the functioning of an alternative route for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, as well as the work on creating other export routes.
The Heads of State discussed security cooperation between Ukraine and Kenya.
In a Libyan hospital ward, trauma and grief mix with disbelief and anger among the survivors of the flood disaster that killed untold thousands in the devastated city of Derna.
A tsunami-sized flash flood crashed through the Mediterranean city, razing entire neighbourhoods, after two upstream dams burst amid torrential rains on September 10.
"Two years ago, the big dam already had leaks, even though it was only half full," Abdelqader al-Omrani, 48, told AFP from his hospital bed in Benghazi, the major city in the eastern part of Libya.
'I experienced the apocalypse, without exaggeration,' said flood survivor Abdelqader al-Omrani, 48. By Ozan KOSE (AFP)
"We had warned the municipality and demanded repairs," Omrani said, charging that the local authorities now "have our deaths on their conscience".
Omrani said that when his house, located close to one of the dams, was rapidly submerged late at night, he fled onto the roof terrace, then climbed onto a tree and scrambled up a mountain slope.
He said he later saw the lifeless bodies of six relatives amid the utter devastation of his hometown.
The upper dam above the city of Derna -- seen early last year in the top image, and after the floods in the picture below, in satellite photos released by Maxar Technologies. By - (Satellite image 2023 Maxar Technologies/AFP/File)
When the muddy waters finally receded, there were "no buildings, no trees, only the mountain and no living soul," he said, choking back tears.
"I experienced the apocalypse, without exaggeration."
Another patient, Ezzedine Miftah, 32, voiced similar anger, blaming official negligence for the disaster in which more than 3,300 bodies have been recovered and thousands more remain missing.
Speaking through his oxygen mask, Miftah said that "those in charge did not do their job and let the dams burst".
'A cause to defend'
An 18-year-old survivor of recent flooding in Libya's eastern city of Derna, at the Benghazi Medical Centre. By Ozan KOSE (AFP)
In Derna, rescue crews have pushed on with the grim task of digging out bodies and clearing the rubble in what, more than a week later, has turned into a dusty wasteland.
The remains of the dead, retrieved from shattered buildings and washed up on the seashore, have been buried in mass graves.
On Monday, several hundred protesters rallied at the city's main mosque mosque and accused the authorities of neglect, later torching the home of the mayor.
The outburst of public anger prompted the head of eastern Libya's administration, Osama Hamad, to dissolve Derna's municipal council.
An excavator clears debris in Libya's eastern city of Derna. By Mahmud Turkia (AFP)
The diaster has been blamed on the weather conditions that turned Storm Daniel into a hurricane-strength extreme weather event -- but also on the impact Libya's years of war and chaos have had on critical infrastructure, early-warning systems and emergency response.
The oil-rich country was hurled into turmoil after a NATO-backed uprising led to the overthrow and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi, followed by years of fighting between militias, mercenaries and jihadists, who at one stage controlled Derna.
Map showing buildings and roads destroyed or damaged in the Libyan city of Derna after flooding, according to satellite data from Copernicus. By ClAa PACULIER, Sophie RAMIS (AFP)
Libya is now split between two rival centres of power: the UN-recognised government based in Tripoli in the west, and an eastern administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
The flood disaster sparked a new sense of national solidarity and stepped up cooperation on the emergency relief effort.
"After all the deaths, the country is finally united, everyone has rushed to help us," Omrani said, adding that Derna was now "a cause to defend".
'From problem to problem'
A tsunami-sized flash flood devastated the Libyan coastal city of Derna, sweeping thousands to their deaths. By KARIM SAHIB (AFP)
Another survivor, a man in a nearby hospital bed, voiced scepticism that Libya will see real unity and stability any time soon.
"We need a state," said the 53-year-old who asked to remain anonymous.
He said there had been no official warning that the city's previously dry riverbed and adjoining neighbourhoods could be consumed by a churning wall of water he likened to "a tsunami".
"We received an alert that the sea level was going to rise," he said, which led him to take his wife and their four children to relatives living in the mountains.
He said that when he returned alone to the family home in Derna, he sought advice from local authorities and was assured his house was not at risk.
When the flood smashed into his house, he said, his head "literally hit the ceiling when the water filled the entire living room".
His hands and feet were broken as he was swept away, but he somehow survived "the worst horror in the world".
When he finally found his family the next day, the man said, "they thought they saw a ghost, they were sure I was dead".
A Palestinian Civil Defence team works in Derna. By Mahmud Turkia (AFP)
He is now waiting for surgery for his fractures, which have become infected.
"We need billions," starting with "a new sewage network", he said.
Thinking about the dire needs of the traumatised community, he said: "People can neither drink nor wash with water.
"Libya has gone from problem to problem. But now we need a state, because Derna is devastated and there are still 70,000 people threatened by epidemics there."
Embattled Chief Executive Officer of troubled gold dealership firm, Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1), would be making his first appearance before an Accra High Court today following new charges filed against him.
NAM1 and his companies Menzgold and Brew Marketing Consult Limited have been charged with 39 counts of defrauding by false pretence, inducing members of the public to invest a total of GH1,680,920,000 in the company by claiming that the company was registered to take gold deposits in return for profits, a statement which was misleading.
NAM1, who is expected to represent his companies, would be appearing before the Economic and Financial Crime Court 1, where his plea would be taken and other issues regarding pre trial sorted out.
The three have been charged with a total of thirty-nine counts one count of selling gold without licence, one count of operating deposit-taking business, one count of inducement to invest, 22 counts of defrauding by false pretence, seven counts of fraudulent breach of trust, and seven counts of money laundering.
The allegations levelled against them relates to them defrauding their customers various sums of monies ranging between GH20 million and GH243 million between 2016 and 2018.
NAM1, his company and wife were standing trial at the Circuit Court in Accra on a charge sheet filed in 2019, but the case had to be adjourned countless times due to the case docket being sent to the Office of the Attorney General for study and advice.
Court documents indicate that NAM1, Menzgold and Brew Consult between 2016 and 2018 dishonestly appropriated a total of GH105,890,811 of depositors' money to Zylofon Media, a company related to NAM1.
The documents also state that NAM1 and Menzgold between October 2017 and July 2018 dishonestly appropriated a total of GH132,142,141.3 million which was entrusted to them on behalf of Menzgold for the benefit of its depositors by causing the money to be transferred to NAM1.
The charge sheet also adds that GH66 million of depositors' funds invested in Menzgold was transferred to Abigail Mensah between July 2018 and August 2018 for the benefit of NAM1 and his companies.
The documents filed at the registry of the court by the Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, indicates that NAM1 operated Menzgold as a deposit-taking business under the guise of trading gold, without the requisite licence.
They said the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on March 11, 2015, issued a public notice to the effect that Menzbank was an unlicensed deposit-taking institution, but NAM1 in a bid to circumvent the BoG notice, changed the companys name from Menzbank to Menzbanc and then later to Menzgold in 2017.
They point out that between 2017 and 2018, NAM1 and Menzgold invited members of the public to purchase gold and gold collectibles from Brew Consult and deposit same with Menzgold, promising a profit margin between 7% and 10%.
In response to this invitation, over 16,000 members of the public deposited huge sums of money with the expectation that they were dealing with an authorised deposit-taking business which would guarantee them the returns as advertised by the accused persons, it added.
The documents indicate that NAM1 and Menzgold continued with their operations despite several engagements and warning notices issued by the relevant agencies, while investors started facing challenges either with delayed payments or reduced dividends; a number of cheques issued by the two were also dishonoured.
Between November 2016 and March 2019, customers of the company petitioned the police and complained that they had invested huge sums of money with them but were unable to realise their investments.
The documents add that investigations revealed that the three accused under false pretence took a total of GH1,680,920,000 from their customers, which the customers have not recovered.
The investigations also reveal that huge sums of depositors' funds were transferred from Menzgold and Brew to the personal account of NAM1 for his use.
-DGN online
An attack on two military camps in northern Mali claimed by armed rebel groups killed five soldiers, while 11 others are missing, the army said late Monday.
It was the latest attack against army positions in northern Mali, which, in addition to suffering frequent attacks by jihadists, has seen a resurgence of activity by separatist armed groups in recent weeks.
The army said on social media that it had lost a plane during the fighting in the town of Lere, in the Timbuktu Region of northern Mali.
Around 30 assailants were "neutralised" in the attack on Sunday, which the army said was carried out by "terrorists".
The Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), an alliance of armed groups dominated by Tuaregs who took up arms in 2012 seeking autonomy or independence, had already claimed responsibility for the attack.
It also said it took control of two military camps in Lere and shot down an army plane.
The attackers then either left or were driven out by the army backed up by air force power, according to contradictory accounts from the two sides.
Information provided by both camps is difficult to verify in the remote area.
The CMA resumed its operations against the Malian army earlier this month, after months of tensions with the government.
It had signed a peace agreement with the central state in 2015 intended to put an end to hostilities triggered by independence and Salafist insurgencies launched in 2012.
Insurgencies
The 2012 rebel insurrection paved the way for armed groups linked to Al-Qaeda to conquer most of the north, triggering a military intervention by France and plunging the Sahel into conflict that has left thousands dead.
The jihadists groups have never stopped fighting the Malian state.
In recent weeks, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated alliance Support Group for Islam and Muslims (GSIM) has claimed several actions against the army.
The renewed military activity by the Tuareg-dominated separatists coincides with the ongoing withdrawal of the UN stabilisation mission MINUSMA, which is being pushed out by the junta after 10 years of deployment.
The peacekeepers have been handing over their camps to Malian authorities, but the separatists believe they should be returned to their control.
Mali's ruling junta -- which seized power after double coups in 2020 and 2021 -- pushed out France's anti-jihadist force in 2022 and the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA this year.
It is widely believed to be working with the Russian paramilitary company Wagner, despite denying that.
MINUSMA transferred its Lere camp to the Malian army several years ago, long before being forced to leave the country.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Central Region has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of being responsible for the violence that disrupted some of the limited registration exercises in the region.
The NDC specifically pointed to incidents in Agona Swedru, and Winneba as examples of the NPP's involvement in these violent occurrences.
The Central Regional Chairman of the NDC, Prof Richard Asiedu, condemned the NPP's role in the violent incident that took place in Winneba during the registration exercise.
Speaking on The Citizen's Show hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah on Accra 100.5 FM on Monday, September 18, 2023, Prof Asiedu emphasised the importance of avoiding violence within the region and called for unity among the people of the region.
He warned that leadership within the NDC in the region would not tolerate any violence orchestrated by the NPP especially going into the 2024 general elections.
He also expressed the NDC's belief in the police's role in curbing such acts of violence, provided they remain neutral in their management of these incidents.
Prof Asiedu stressed that the NDC is committed to peaceful coexistence with all political actors in the region, as the party aims to win around 20 seats in the upcoming general elections.
He emphasised that the NDC prefers peaceful strategies but would respond firmly if the NPP provokes confrontation.
Additionally, he alleged that Winneba has a history of violence due to the aggressive nature of the sitting NPP Member of Parliament in the area.
-Classfmonline
In the earthquake-hit mountains of Morocco, 13-year-old Abdessamad El Berd gets up before dawn to make the long trek to the tent city that is his new school, walking by torchlight and careful to avoid roaming dogs.
His father accompanies him on the 14-kilometre (nine-mile) walk from their remote village of Tinghar to the makeshift school set up in the small town of Asni, in the disaster-hit area south of Marrakech.
"I don't want him to drop out of school, but it's tough," said the 45-year-old father, Brahim El Berd.
A resident cries amid search operations in the village of Imi N'Tala on September 17, 2023, following the powerful 6.8-magnitude earthquake. By FETHI BELAID (AFP/File)
"I don't know if he can keep up this pace," the man said, voicing hope that school buses will soon be organised.
"Otherwise, we won't make it."
Morocco's education ministry has set up 32 traditional tents at Asni that serve as a school for 2,800 middle and high school students.
Classes have not yet officially resumed since the 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck the region on September 8, killing nearly 3,000 people.
A girl stands outside a heavily damaged school in the earthquake-hit village of Ardouz, in Morocco's Amizmiz region. By Fethi Belaid (AFP/File)
But many children are already flocking to the tent school, where teachers provide a distraction and badly-needed psychological support to the children, many of whom have lost family members.
"I don't feel very well," said one pupil, Khadija Ait Ali, 17.
"But the fact that I'm back at school, even if in a tent, surrounded by my friends, is a relief.
"I don't like being alone anymore because all I think about is the earthquake."
Psychological support
Map of Morocco showing Marrakesh and surrounding region, hit by a strong earthquake during the night of September 8-9. By Valentin RAKOVSKY, Sophie RAMIS (AFP)
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has said the quake impacted around one million school children.
It damaged or destroyed 530 schools and 55 boarding facilities, and classes were suspended in about 40 municipalities in the Al-Haouz, Chichaoua and Taroudant provinces.
At the makeshift school, French language teacher Abdellah Zahid, 32, said that, until classes resume, the main goal is to support the children.
"We are focusing on listening to our students and providing them with psychological support," Zahid told AFP.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has said the quake impacted around one million students. By FADEL SENNA (AFP)
Despite the shared trauma, he voiced hope of "making this challenging school year a success".
Another pupil, 15-year-old Samira Ait Achichaou, had also set off at dawn with her father, hitchhiking more than 40 kilometres from her village of Ousserterk.
"It's tough, but I'm glad to be back on track with school," she said.
Others pupils said they are struggling with emotional scars that run deep.
Tormented by distress
A pupil sings the Moroccan national anthem outside the makeshift school in Asni. By FADEL SENNA (AFP)
Amina Ait Abdellah, 16, said she "doesn't feel ready to resume classes" yet.
"I still haven't come to terms with the tragedy we experienced," said Amina, from the village of Ouirgane, 14 kilometres southwest of Asni.
"I can't stop thinking about the house we lost. I can't stand the tents either," she said, surrounded by friends who agreed with her.
"They remind me of the earthquake and its miseries."
One mother, Hasna Lahdadi, said her 11-year-old son Yahia was among the children still tormented by acute distress.
"I try to do my best to help him express his anxieties," she said. "He's very afraid of aftershocks. Our house suffered serious damage."
She tried to persuade him to switch to a school in Marrakech, but he refused.
The powerful quake wrecked a school classroom in Ardouz, in Morocco's Amizmiz region. By Fethi Belaid (AFP/File)
"I want to stay with my friends," said Yahia. "I'm happy to see them again."
Some of the children have lost almost everything, and school has become their refuge.
Jamal Ait Hmane, 43, was taking his 13-year-old daughter to school, all the way from the town of Tamgounsi, about 100 kilometres away.
"I want them to continue their education," he said. "It will help them forget the tragedy of the earthquake."
CEO of defunct Menzgold Ghana Limited, Nana Appiah Mensah, has been granted bail to the tune of GH500 million with four sureties, none to be justified.
He has also been directed to deposit his passport at the court registry as part of the bail conditions.
This follows his plea of not guilty to 39 counts of fraud and money laundering charges which he is standing trial for together with Menzgold Ghana Limited and Brew Marketing Consult.
His lawyer, Kwame Akuffo, prayed the court to maintain the condition of GH5 million with no justification which was the conditions of the bail he was given at the circuit court where the case was previously heard before a nolle prosequi was entered by the state.
The state represented by Deputy Attorney General Alfred Tuah Yeboah did not oppose the bail application but, however, asked for the accused to be made to deposit his passport.
Alfred Tuah Yeboah further urged the court to consider the sum of GH1.68 billion involved in the matter.
The judge after considering the application granted bail to the tune of GH500 million with four sureties with none to be justified. He has further been directed to report to the CID headquarters every Thursday.
-citinewsroom
Vice President Dr Mahamoud Bawumia, a presidential aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is scheduled to begin a three-day campaign tour of the Western North Region starting Wednesday, September 20.
A statement signed by Mr Felix Foster Ackah, the Regional Secretary of the Party, copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the Vice President would meet delegates at Aowin, Suaman and Akontombra constituencies on the first day.
On day two, the tour would start at the Bia East Constituency and then to Bia West, and then to Juaboso. He would later engage with delegates at Bodi Constituency.
Vice President Bawumia would meet delegates from both Wiawso and Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai constituencies to wrap up his campaign tour of the region on Friday, September 23.
The region would give equal opportunities to all aspirants to ensure unity before and after the November 4 presidential primaries for victory in the 2024 election, the statement said.
GNA
Professor Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, former Environment Minister
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Former Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Environment under President Akufo-Addos first term in office, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng has opined on NPPs chances in election 2024.
He said it would be very difficult for the ruling party to break the 8-year jinx of governance due to poor governance.
Speaking on Accra-based Citi TVs The Point of View, the former Minister said the NPP has failed to deliver on the many promises it made to Ghanaians when campaigning for power.
It will be difficult for the NPP to win the 2024 elections. It is a fact that they [the NPP] have over-promised and under-delivered but everything is possible but the NDC is also not giving me any hope, he said.
He expressed disappointment about the fact that his own NPP party couldnt deliver on its promises.
When I was in government, I said the way the NDC had mismanaged the country, we were going to help the president and work so that the NPP would still be there even after forty years and there would be no romantic ideas about the NDC again and now look at where we are. I thought we were going to work and there would be no romantic ideas about Mahama and the NDC ever coming back, he expressed.
He opines that There should be a change in the two political parties and how they do their things because there are very good people."
Ghana National Gas Company has described as false, malicious and unfounded a media report of rot in its operations.
The Herald newspaper, on Monday, September 18 reported about some deals at the Ghana Gas Company, involving some members of the board, which the Akufo-Addo government is too scared to speak about.
According to the report, there are rotten deals in the company but the Akufo-Addo government doesnt want to talk about it, fearing it will be accused of being out to damage the Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, who has been the board chairman since 2021.
But a statement issued by the Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah, on Tuesday, September 19 said there is no truth in the Herald newspaper reportage.
There has never been any rot associated with our operations here at Ghana Gas and we find it very unusual for a journalistic outlet to throw away the cardinal journalistic standard of fairness and the responsibility to tell the truth as it engages in news reporting.
The company wishes to state categorically that the Herald publication is completely false, malicious and unfounded."
The statement continued Indeed, there is no scintilla of evidence to back the Herald story,.
Mr. Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah, who described the media report as irresponsible media aggression and certainly not journalism is demanding a retraction and a formal apology from the Herald newspaper to repair the damage caused to our organization.
The company has reiterated its commitment to upholding the highest ethical standards in all its operations.
The European Union, the United States and other members of the international community said on Tuesday they were following with the "greatest vigilance" the run-up to presidential elections in Madagascar, after disputes over its regularity.
Representatives of eight countries and international organisations including the EU, US, France and Japan, said "confidence" in the electoral process would be key for the results of the November vote to be accepted "by all" and to guarantee the "stability" of the country.
"The present signatories, international partners of Madagascar, are following with the greatest vigilance the latest developments relating to the preparation of the presidential election," the group wrote in a statement.
It comes after the opposition complained of an "institutional coup" to favour incumbent Andry Rajoelina.
Voters in Madagascar, one of the poorest countries in the world despite vast natural resources, head to the polls to elect a president on November 9.
Rajoelina, 49, resigned earlier this month in line with the constitution in order to run for re-election.
The president of the Senate was supposed to take over but declined to do so for "personal reasons", leaving the task to a "collegial government" headed by Prime Minister Christian Ntsay, an ally of Rajoelina.
The move was accepted by the country's top court, sparking the anger of the opposition.
'Behind closed doors'
The court has also dismissed appeals to have Rajoelina's candidacy declared void over his dual French nationality.
"The powers (that be)... carried out a real institutional coup with the aim of putting the prime minister in charge of the state during the presidential electoral period in order to manipulate the results for the benefit of their candidate," 10 of 13 presidential candidates wrote in a letter to electoral authorities last week.
In a separate letter on Monday, about 40 civil society groups called on the court to reverse its decision and appoint the president of the Senate as interim head of state.
The head of the Constitutional Court has previously dismissed accusations of bias, telling AFP that the body could not "force" the head of the Senate to take power.
A Western diplomatic source told AFP that Tuesday's statement was made because of "decisions taken one hour before the end of Rajoelina's mandate".
"We could not remain silent. We know what happened behind closed doors."
The embassies of Britain, Germany and Switzerland were also among the signatories.
Rajoelina first took power in 2009 on the back of a coup.
After not running in the 2013 election due to international pressure, he was voted back into power in 2018.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry on Tuesday announced launching local antiterrorist measures against Armenian forces in the Karabakh region.
"To enforce the trilateral statement provisions, curb large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and remove Armenian Armed Forces units from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, ensure the security of civilians who have returned to territories liberated from occupation, civilian workers engaged in construction and restoration works, and our military service members, and to restore Azerbaijan's constitutional order, local antiterrorist measures have been launched in the region," the ministry said in a statement.
Said measures involve "the use of precision-guided weapons on the frontline and behind the frontline to disable positions of Armenian Armed Forces units, their permanent firing points, military assets and sites," it said.
"We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure elements are not our targets, and only legitimate military targets are being disabled," it said.
The ministry said it has informed the command of the Russian peacekeeping forces and the Turkish-Russian monitoring center of the measures it has undertaken.
The ministry said it has stated repeatedly that "the continued presence of Armenian Armed Forces units in Azerbaijan's Karabakh economic region in violation of the provisions of the November 10, 2020 trilateral statement is a source of a serious threat to peace and stability in the region."
"The regular shelling of Azerbaijani army positions by Armenian Armed Forces units in the Karabakh region, the continued mining of Azerbaijani territory, engineering activities to enhance combat positions, and a growing number of trenches and dugouts over the past months have increased tensions even more," it said.
"We have also observed the reinforcement of [the Armenian Armed Forces'] combat positions with personnel, armored vehicles, artillery systems, and other firing assets, the placement of units on combat alert, the establishment of additional mobilized units, the expansion of reconnaissance activities against Azerbaijani army units, and infiltration into our positions to repeatedly mine territories and civilian roads cleared of mines for sabotage and terrorist purposes," it said.
"The explosion of a mine planted previously for terrorist purposes by Armenian Armed Forces reconnaissance and sabotage groups on the Ahmedbeyli-Fizuli-Shusha motor road in Azerbaijan's Karabakh economic region killed civilians and disabled an automobile belonging to the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads on September 19," it said.
"The same day, our troops were killed and injured as a vehicle transporting servicemen of the Interior Ministry's Interior Forces was blown up by a mine planted by an Armenian Armed Forces reconnaissance and sabotage group," it said.
"Such facts manifest the continuation of Armenia's purposeful and consistent terrorist policy against Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer aspirant Kennedy Ohene Agyapong has urged party delegates not to support Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to Mr. Agyapong, the NPP party will lose the 2024 general elections if the Vice President is selected as flagbearer.
He said in a Kessben TV interview that Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia lacked the credibility to govern a country like Ghana.
Whether you like it or not, if you vote for Bawumia, you cant beat Mahama If your fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you, was I the person who made this statement?
the man (Dr. Bawumia) went out there and said When your fundamentals are weak, the exchange rate would expose you. Has it changed? If $1 to GH4, you said the fundamentals are weak, then $1 to GH12, the fundamentals would be what, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong stated.
According to him, he is a victim of what he described as Akufo-Addo/Bawumia bad governance. He said his businesses have been badly hit due to the cedi depreciation.
When I say these things, people say I am controversial when I lost some of my money, did someone tell me that Im an NPP man so my money should be saved? If I have lost money, am I the only businessman who has lost money? he emphasised.
The presidential hopeful noted that he would defeat former President John Dramani Mahama hands down because Dr. Bawumia is weak due to his credibility crisis.
The Mayor of Tamale, Mr Sule Salifu, has disclosed the Tamale Metropolis would receive a GHS4,795,044.00 grant from the Gulf of Guinea Northern Regional Social Cohesion (SOCO) project to construct a state-of-the-art Astroturf to develop the talents of the youth.
Mr Salifu noted that part of this money would be used to tackle the furniture deficit in public basic schools in the city.
He said this during the second ordinary meeting of the 4th session of the 8th Assembly in Tamale.
The Mayor applauded the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development for supporting the Assembly to fight filth in the Metropolis.
He said the Ministry has helped the Assembly to clear eight refuse dump sites that posed serious health risks to the people.
The Mayor further disclosed that as part of efforts to promote good sanitation, the Assembly recently launched the iCESSPOOl APP, a digital platform that gives households and institutions access to sanitation and Bulk Water Services.
On his part, the Presiding Member, Mr Issah Abubakari, called for unity of purpose and team spirit among the Assembly Members, saying it is needed to confront their common problems like choked gutters, improper disposal of waste and abandoned refuse dump sites.
Flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kennedy Agyapong has disclosed that he was throwing shots at Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia when he said the party lost the 2024 General Elections in 2022.
The Assin Central Member of Parliament (MP) over the weekend led a Showdown Walk in the Greater Accra Region.
Addressing the huge crowd that followed him, Ken Agyapong said if the NPP will go to opposition after the 2024 General Election it would be as a result of the huge depreciation of the cedi last year.
Speaking to Kessben TV in an interview on Monday night, the Assin Central MP said Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the reason why the NPP will lose next years election.
Whether you like it or not once you vote for Bawumia you cant beat Mahama.Let them say whatever they want. I was referring to Bawumia when I said the NPP lost the 2024 General election in 2022. Because it was Bawumia who told us if the fundamentals are weak the exchange rate will expose you. Have I said something like that? When I talk some NPP people and some Ghanaians dont want to listen, Ken Agyapong said.
He argued that if in opposition Dr. Bawumia accused the NDC of incompetence when $1 was trading for GHS4, then the Vice President should admit that the fundamentals are rotten under the NPP when $1 is trading at GHS12.
Being among the businessmen who lost money due to the depreciation of the cedi in 2022, he said he wont keep quiet and pretend things are well.
According to him, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia must do something to address the cedi depreciation before the 2024 general elections to prove he is capable of leading the party.
The much anticipated African Awakening Conference has successfully come to an end with a call on Africans to re-program their already programmed minds.
The 3 day conference organised by the Asaase Yaa Awakening Center (AYAC) sought to broaden the horizon and understanding of who Africans are and make them aware of their existence and challenges. It will urge them to rise and emancipate themselves from mental slavery.
This emancipation would eventually lead to a reawakening of the African consciousness which would eventually help them find their rightful place on earth.
Founder of Asaase Yaa Awakening Center (AYAC), Evelyn Warlson Annan began the conference on Friday, 15th September, 2023 with a visit to some interesting places within Kumasi, viz: Manhyia Palace Museum and the Okomfo Anokye sword site.
Saturday, September 16, 2023 was the main conference day where very interesting topics were discussed including Talk About Her Call and Her Responsibility as a Disciple to Take The Truth Out And Share With Her Fellow African Kit and Kin, Why Africa is in the State it Finds Itself, Why We Were Programmed and How We Were Programmed, How to Gain Consciousness, The Christ Consciousness and The Communication Channels of Man.
Sunday, September 17, 2023 a day set aside by Madam Evelyn Warlson Annan to consult for people where she listened to people to address their spiritual concerns.
The Asaase Yaa Awakening Center (AYAC) African Awakening Conference, 2023 brought together 120 participants from varied backgrounds and ages who converged at the Labanon Club House, Bantama in Kumasi to listen to the Evelyn Warlson Annan.
As part of the triumvirate conferences, the next stop of the African Awakening Conference would be held in Accra before moving to Takoradi to conclude the first phase of the conferences.
India has expelled a Canadian diplomat, a day after Canada did the same to an Indian diplomat amid tensions over the killing of a Sikh separatist in Surrey.
India said Tuesday it had asked a Canadian diplomat to leave the country within five days. Media identified him as Olivier Sylvestere, Ottawa's intelligence chief in Delhi.
The decision reflects the government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.
On Monday, Ottawa gave the marching orders to an Indian diplomat in connection with the 18 June killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, which is home to a large Sikh community.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told parliament Monday that Indian agents allegedly killed the separatist activist on Canadian soil.
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, said Trudeau, who depends on the support of Canada's 800,000 Sikhs, who make up two percent of the population, to stay in power.
In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to get to the bottom of this matter," he said.
Murder, he said
Trudeau said he had brought up the matter in talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 summit in Delhi earlier this month.
Delhi rejected allegations that India had been involved in Nijjar's death.
We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law, India said, before retaliating with a counterattack on the Canadian diplomatic corps.
The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new, the statement said, asking Canada to take down all "anti-India elements" operating from its soil.
US concern
The United States, meanwhile, expressed "deep concern" about allegations of a "possible link between Indian government agents and the shooting of Nijjar near a Sikh temple.
It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson told local media in Washington, DC.
Trudeau has also reportedly spoken to US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak two leaders who were present at the G20 talks in Delhi.
Summit of snubs
In Delhi, Modi did not hold a formal meeting with Trudeau and publicly expressed strong concern over what he called a Sikh insurgency in Canada.
Trudeau was snubbed on his arrival when he was picked up in an old Toyota car, while others were accorded glitzy Audis and Mercedes.
Also, Delhi did not post the customary welcome note as Trudeau landed with his son Xavier.
On his return Trudeau was stranded for nearly two days in Delhi after his official flight developed a snag and broke down.
India-Canada ties soured in 2020 when Delhi accused Trudeau of interference after he spoke up in favour of thousands of farmers agitating for months to oppose the draft legislation they feared would turn them into paupers.
Last week, Canada postponed its trade mission to India in October but gave no reasons.
Two weeks into a military trial over the killing of more than 50 civilians in eastern DR Congo, the circumstances of how soldiers came to open fire are still unclear.
Who gave the order, at what point and why did Congolese soldiers shoot to prevent an anti-UN protest in the city of Goma are key but as yet unanswered questions.
Witnesses -- some taking the stand with their faces masked by cagoules to hide their identity -- have cast doubt on the official version of events.
In a region long plagued by violence in the volatile east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the incident has raised tensions.
On August 30, soldiers stopped a religious sect from holding a demonstration against the presence of United Nations peacekeepers in the DRC.
At least 57 people were killed, according to Interior Minister Peter Kazadi.
Less than a week after the crackdown, six soldiers including two officers of the elite Republican Guard went on trial charged with crimes against humanity and violating orders.
Several ministers visited the scene of the killings while the government has promised that justice will be done.
Contradictory
Kazadi, among others, has said the Republican Guard intervened after the lynching of a police officer by members of the religious sect.
Witnesses -- including two army colonels but also sect members and local residents -- however say the operation began before the police officer died.
Some witnesses are taking the stand with their faces masked by cagoules to hide their identity. By ALEXIS HUGUET (AFP)
At least five people were killed in the religious sect's radio premises, but most died in its church, according to witness testimony.
At the time that soldiers were heading towards the church, "the police officer was not yet dead", a military intelligence officer told the court.
A few days after giving his testimony, the witness was in hospital due to a "poisoning", the court heard.
M23 rebels
On one point, however, everyone agrees.
Families were only able to bury the dead late on Monday. By ALEXIS HUGUET (AFP)
Before the shooting began, talks between the army and the sect were under way and progressing calmly.
Four people had been chosen to be the emissaries of a message to be delivered to the UN mission.
In the middle of the negotiations however, soldiers opened fire on unarmed sect members.
It remains to be established whether Mike Mikombe, one of the accused Republican Guard officers who has denied the charges, gave the order to shoot.
And, if he did, whether he was following orders or acted on his own initiative.
He suggested in court that he had been misled by an operational order identifying the sect members as proxies of M23 rebels and the Rwandan army.
The M23 has captured swathes of territory in North Kivu province since 2021 -- one of several militias holding sway over much of the region despite the presence of peacekeepers.
Independent UN experts, the Kinshasa government and several Western nations including the United States and France accuse Rwanda of actively backing the Tutsi-led M23 -- claims that Rwanda denies.
Arrests, burials
More than 140 civilians including around 30 minors were arrested during the August 30 army operation.
They were accused of participation in an insurrectional movement, conspiracy and murder.
According to one mother, who is still trying to see her 17-year-old son being held in Goma prison, soldiers took him from his home, accusing him of being a rebel.
She has begged authorities to free him so he can go back to school.
The treatment of the victims has also sparked tension.
Families were only able to bury the dead late on Monday after the bodies were left decomposing in a Goma military hospital for 20 days.
Relatives were banned from visiting the morgue to identify their loved ones until September 12.
The trial is due to continue on Wednesday after a two-day break.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Friday for Future activists label themselves often as the last generation Generation Z. This applies mostly to the youth of the developed world. The much bigger problem the world of today and tomorrow is facing is the migration crisis. As this is not only a technical problem that needs political answers but a moral issue no politician around the world likes to touch and not get involved in not even most intellectuals.
My parent's generation (born in 1938 and 1939) felt the hardship of a world war, the hunger after the end of the war, houses with no walls, fields with no crops, and factories sent to the Allies as reparations. Destruction all around challenged them to give their best for a better country and individual future in comfort. There was hope in the minds of this generation to restore Germany and make it better this time round. No one thought of the end but the paradise to accomplish.
My generation is the generation in between two generations that were plunged without their fault into devastation. While we fought to overcome the old tradition of ruling a nation and dealing with the threat of atomic bombs and nuclear power the current generation has to fight once again for survival. It was our generation and our ancestors that were mandated to pave the way for a better future for our children instead we let them down and betrayed them stealing from them a better life. It is the responsibility of the current generation to teach the future generations the will to use their inheritance and build a more comfortable future for themselves and their kids.
Life goes on regardless of what people think possibly not the way wanted or expected. To label oneself as Generation Z or the Last Generation sounds sweet and alarming at the same time these are empty words.
Set into a historical context it would be more accurate to describe the young generation as a betrayed generation. Betrayed eventually means cheated on with an inner calling for radical change.
BBC News yesterday (18.09.2023) broadcasted about the situation in South Africa with a striking phrase "In South Africa, we have no hope anymore". A country with no hope is not hopeless but open to help from outside. If hope would come from inside no need for such a devastating comment.
And help is all around us as help is in the hearts and minds of people in prayers. If I do not have the answer someone else has. This world is full of helpers search, wait, and pray for their coming.
Betrayed on the other side means nothing but cutting off radically old traditions of thinking and actions but to find a new approach to implement a better plan for a better tomorrow a new set of tires to roll on.
The United Nations General Assembly high-level week on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) summit started on the 18 th September 2023 through the week. It seeks to scale up actions to deliver on the SDG Goals as we race to achieve the set goals by the 2030 global agenda.
It was this same September in 2015 that the United Nations launched the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Sustainable Development Goals 2030, succeeded the millennium goal from where it signed off, promising to deliver the new transformational agenda.
Unlike the Millennium Development Goals that were spearheaded by the UN secretariat, this had all the UN member nations adopting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals considered a transformational agenda based on the scale and vision.
The two SDG Goals that relate to safety, health wellbeing, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) ; making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable are Goals 3 and 11 respectively. As a community, we win the SDG Goals at the subnational level together if effort is intentional and deliberate at making the people to take ownership of the process for sustainability.
My key pick is about managing health, safety and wellbeing and the environmental ecosystems challenges with specific focus on workplace safety. The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimate that 2.3 million workers die from work related injuries, safety concerns and dieses every year.
In Ghana, the organization clothed by law under the Ministry of labor to handle and respond to safety at workplace, the Department of Factories is itself obsolete in functionality as the legal framework, Factories, Offices and Shops Act (ACT 328 of 1970) has long been moribund on many variables.
The institution pretends to work under some rickety office environment. The stench emanating from some uncollected waste otherwise called bola near the office compound made me shudder climbing the former GNTC building otherwise called the Ghana house.
The PhD candidate Chief Inspector, George Gashon , who had worked elsewhere for over twenty years in the safety environment and very much had the capacity space narrated to me that he had been with the institution since last October and 8 months in his new post . He organized stakeholder engagement on the world safety Day last April. The close to two hours interaction exposed the weaknesses and the challenging environment that confronted their work.
He made reference to the Occupational Health and Safety and Environment (OSHE Bill) that had been pending for the past 25 years, and which every political party has had cause to assure Ghanaians that was going to pass it into law to help give a national attention and focus to health, safety, wellbeing and the environmental ecosystems concerns.
I was in parliament that same week to deliver a letter to the Clerk to help unravel the challenges surrounding the bill and if was going to be a part of the Bill to be listed when parliament of Ghana resumes from recess.
When I took up an opportunity to work with a telecom supplier company as project implementation officer between 2013 and 2014 and as part of my job description, I was in charge of workplace safety.
I gathered some understanding and the challenges. I then authored an article Occupational Health and Safety policy: some issues. One of my open letters later in 2017 was An open letter to the president of Ghana and matters arising. If you remember there was a Gas explosion in Atomic Junction and I was on hand to address the president on that.
Road crash statistics as gathered by the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) report that for the first quarter of 2023 a total of 3,340 cases were recorded. In total, 544 people have killed in various road accidents in the country since 2023 begun.
The vice president, Dr Bawumia, recently at a graduation parade of the Cadet Course Intake 23 of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) at the Fire Academy and Training School at James Town in Accra last Friday, indicated that there were 6,796 fire outbreaks last year alone, resulting in 50 deaths and 241 injuries. This rivals the 2021 figures of The 3,915 fire outbreaks and a jump up the 2020 figures of Nearly 6,000.
Equally, the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) keep recording boat disasters with much death and missing cases as they fail to provide nation statistics data.
Whilst government agencies bandy about figures and statistics across, the World Bank groups through their Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) report that road injury deaths are severely underreported in most sub-Saharan countries. Their estimates suggest that often, it is six times those of official government statistics. This tells of a dire situation.
There are many other sectors like the mining, and quarrying and sector which keep failing on many fronts and recent quarry explosions follow the poor policy space ; the telecom sector which recruits several Subcontractors on their projects incur many workplace accidents resulting in workplace injuries and sometimes death, data which do not often come to the limelight.
One other existential threat needs mention is the trooping by people to siphon oil from a fallen fuel tanker. Authority bearers and society at large fail to see the danger in it. To many it passes easily as greed and poverty on the part of such people, but the causative agent is about the lack of knowledge about safety and isolation safety hazards.
SDG Goal 11 Target 5 estimates that by 2030, we would have significantly reduced the number of deaths and the numbers of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situation.
At this rate, we are at a crossroad and we need the political will and political, socioeconomic solution in a coordinating fashion to the ever scary data by promulgating a national policy framework for Occupational, Safety, Health and Environment (OSHE). This would bring all the splinter sectors with mandatory to safety in workplace and domestic environment to convergence policies under a coherent national policy framework in addressing the challenge in a coordinating manner and meeting the SDG Goals as signed to.
As co-Chair of the UN Secretary General's Eminent Group of SDG Advocates, this is one policy intervention that would help create a coordinating space to reduce the many disasters associated with our workplace and environmental concerns like galamsey amongst others.
To a large extent, this would again create the needed enabling environment for business to thrive, reducing the national GDP in costs from damage, giving confidence in the Ghanaian that there are laws that seek their welfare and interest.
The system as would be implement and enforced would have ecosystem with the value chained effect downstream, creating job opportunities for the many teeming unemployed graduate youth as it would mean all organizations employing two or more people would have to be registered with a the national database and recruiting people to administer their safety environment and to reporting system to the set government body in charge of national safety.
I trust that Ghana government and representation would return home the SDG Summit with renewed energy to do the needful considering that the ILO have adopted a resolution in 2022 to add the principle of a safe and healthy working environment to the International Labour Organization Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The Labour Act 651 (2003) ought to be amended to reflect this.
It is my strong view that there are some lobbyists who wish for the status quo to continue for their selfish gain and interest. For the larger public good, we have to do advocacy for what would be the beginning to a better welfare society in our country.
I call on the accountability ecosystem like the media, civil society, academia; trade union leaders, industry and the generality of Ghanaians to see safety and wellbeing as a right and begin to put pressuring on the government to broader public policy discourse on the OSHE draft Bill regarded a protected document.
Ebenezer Annang
[email protected] 0264975269
A Community Development Practitioner
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Ghana's health and economy suffer because of air pollution. Nearly 24,000 Ghanaians die prematurely each year due to poor air quality. Childhood exposure to air pollution has been linked to mental health issues in adulthood, specifically decline in cognitive ability and schizophrenia. Economically, air pollution cost Ghana an estimated 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in economic loss in 2019. - Sharon Boadu - MsC Development Policy and Politics student, University of Birmingham
Air pollution is the leading environmental risk factor in Ghana that contributes to most deaths and disabilities, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), yet it receives little political or public attention in comparison to other issues.
Public attention given to traffic accidents on a particular road as compared to fumes coming from the exhaust pipe of a minibus (trotro) differs significantly as though the latter has no impact whatsoever on citizens. It is vital to increase awareness of the problem of air pollution in Ghana and emphasise why it should be a political issue for the elections in 2024.
Experts and researchers agree that the most harmful airborne pollutant is Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM 2.5 ). This is the most harmful to human health and the most difficult to prevent from entering the body due to the size of particles. Data from Kaneshie in Accra consistently reports PM 2.5 levels that considered unhealthy for all citizens (5th September 2023 PM 2.5 155 g/m3), 10 times higher than the World Health Organisation 24-hour average exposure guidelines of 15 g/m3.
Ghana's health and economy suffer because of air pollution. Nearly 24,000 Ghanaians die prematurely each year due to poor air quality. Childhood exposure to air pollution has been linked to mental health issues in adulthood, specifically decline in cognitive ability and schizophrenia. More commonly, exposure is associated with various respiratory problems from birth and infancy to school age and into adulthood as reported by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). Economically, air pollution cost Ghana an estimated 1.6 billion U.S. dollars in economic loss in 2019.
Despite the economic and health implications of this issue, it can hardly be found on the political agenda, in discussions of development in Ghana, in the demands of the citizens or in government policies. Why is that? The unseen effects of air pollution make it hard for people to be fazed by it. For a country like Ghana with limited systems to monitor and gather air quality data in real time, it is hard to assess the scale of this ticking time bomb.
In Ghana, most people are regularly exposed to both indoor and outdoor sources of air pollution. Pollution from solid fuels such as wood and charcoal used for cooking and heating homes, waste management practises such as burning garbage and vehicle tyres, vehicular emissions, and dust from unpaved roads are prominent sources. These sources can be managed, but there is limited action being taken to deliver air quality improvement.
In 2019, air pollution was responsible for more than half of the 1.1 million premature deaths in Africa. Vulnerable people, such as the elderly, those with pre-existing medical conditions, mothers, and children who spend most of their time at home, are often exposed to airborne pollutants associated with the use of solid fuels. In terms of outdoor air pollution, most vehicles on Ghanas roads are older and more polluting models and many roads are unpaved with both contributing to poor air quality in urban areas. This poor air quality affects those who spend significant times at roadside locations - from commuters to traffic police as well as hawkers and street food sellers plying their trade at the roadside.
Collection of air quality data is a major factor contributing to the invisibility air pollutions impact. The monitoring network does not cover many locations, making it difficult to accurately gauge the magnitude of air pollution throughout the country. However, as stated by Dr Collins Gameli Hodoli, even if there is limited data for Ghana to use as evidence, there are enough estimations for Africa and the rest of the globe to highlight the potential scale of the challenge thereby warranting immediate attention and reactions. Similarly, the rate of premature deaths in women and children, the rise in respiratory infections and the exacerbation of asthma attacks among the Ghanaian population are often left unexplained due to limited health surveillance data or site-specific air pollution data.
Air pollution is not on the political agenda for the 2024 elections. Several economic, social, and political reasons undermine efforts to raise awareness of air pollution, including the cost of changes needed to address sources of air pollution for both policy makers and citizens. Furthermore, other pressing matters like unemployment, access to quality education and cost of living monopolise citizens attention - resulting in the topic being pushed to the bottom of the priority list. Finally, the effects of air pollution are not visible, and it takes a long time for the cumulative effects of exposure to manifest. All these factors reinforce the perception that air pollution is not a serious topic of conversation in Ghana and the issue does not yield enough political capital. Current political systems and activities - clientelism, corruption and weaponization of votes - undermine the efforts of advocates.
We must form a coalition of change agents, including academics, the media, policymakers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and citizens, for there to be meaningful improvement in Ghanas air quality. Regarding perceived opposition to the cost of change, there must be a youth-focused curriculum at elementary school level to help accelerate the shift, even if adults are averse to change. In addition, as suggested by Miss Victoria Owusu Tawiah from Clean Air Fund Ghana, air quality and health researchers should be mandated to share their research with policy makers to ensure that evidence-informed decision making can take place.
Only strong environmental and social policies that consider scientific data and routinely evaluate standards using site-specific, convincing evidence will allow our nation to make progress. To end on a more positive note, activities and policy implementations related to air pollution have been rolled, including the establishment of the Citizens' Bureau by the Parliament of Ghana. However, given the seriousness of the consequences of air pollution, all change agents and stakeholders must do more.
The University of Birmingham is ranked amongst the world's top 100 institutions, its work brings people from across the world to Birmingham, including researchers and teachers and more than 8,000 international students from over 150 countries.
Sharon Boadu is a Ghanaian student undertaking a MsC in Development Policy and Politics at the University of Birmingham.
The Government of Ghana in collaboration with the Governments of Uganda, Nigeria and Tonga, Copenhagen Consensus Centre, Hilton Foundation, IRC and the UN Ghana Country Team will hold a side event today, 19 September, at the SDG Summit ongoing in New York.
The event seeks to outline catalytic actions and investments that can significantly accelerate progress towards the SDG targets.
The shocks from the COVID-19 Pandemic, Russia-Ukraine War and Climate Impact have plunged many Africa economies into crises, reversing the little progress made in achieving the SDGs. Today, it is estimated that developing countries need $4 trillion per annum to achieve the SDGs by 2030. This is double of the SDG investment gap of $2.5 trillion required prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve the SDGs by 2030, developing countries must address the estimated SDG financial gap, which for Ghana stands at $43 billion per annum.
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres recently called on G20 countries for an annual, additional SDG stimulus package of $500 billion to support the SDGs in poor countries. However, in the current global crises, increasing expenditure on the SDGs seems largely implausible.
This side event will discuss how the world and African countries such as Uganda and Ghana could reprioritize innovative interventions and approaches to achieve the SDG targets, with a focus on delivering best for each dollar spent.
Bishop Gary Oliver & EC Band Gala
NEWS PROVIDED BYSept. 19, 2023FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 / Standard Newswire / -- Encounter Church Fort Worth extends a warm invitation to its Praise & Worship Conference and Bishop Oliver & EC Band Gala, set to occur on October 20-21, 2023. This monumental event marks 23 years of Encounter Church's legacy in uplifting communities through faith and music.Bishop Gary Oliver will dazzle attendees alongside the EC Band on Friday, October 20th, kick-starting the two-day event. The reception begins at 6:30 pm, followed by a captivating Praise & Worship Concert at 7:30 pm. Tickets are affordable at $20.00 and can be reserved via QR code, registration link, or directly on the EC website Bishop Gary Oliver, a trailblazer in modern worship, boasts a remarkable 40-year career. Bishop Oliver has enriched lives globally with over 40 years as a Praise and Worship Leader. Having served as Worship Pastor at New Birth under the leadership of Bishop Eddie Long and contributed to the renowned Asuza conference with Bishop Carlton Pearson, his legacy is undeniable. Some will know Bishop Oliver from Camp Meeting services with Pastor Rod Parsley. Bishop also hosted TBN's International Praise the Lord show for many years. Some of his acclaimed songs include "Celebrate Jesus Celebrate!," "Holy Holy Holy," "Come on Everybody and Praise the Lord," "Welcome Into This Place," and many more."Celebrate Jesus Celebrate!""Holy Holy Holy""Come on Everybody and Praise the Lord""Welcome Into This Place"We await your participation in this spiritually rejuvenating event as we unite to glorify our Lord.Pastor Dr. Noemi X. OliverSOURCE Encounter Church Fort Worth
Access to the TikTok social network was temporarily limited in Azerbaijan from September 19.
"Temporary restrictions on the TikTok social network were imposed in the territory of Azerbaijan from September 19," the Electronic Security Service of the Azerbaijani Digital Development and Transport Ministry told Interfax on Tuesday.
Azerbaijani Interior Ministry spokesman Elshad Hajiyev urged the population not to repost "news of a dubious nature" and instead rely exclusively on information from the authorities.
"Access to the TikTok social network has therefore been restricted in the country," Hajiyev said.
Azerbaijani Interior Ministry forces have been put on alert across the country amid the antiterrorist operation launched in Karabakh on Tuesday, he said.
With the overwhelming numbers of head porters (Kayayie) in the country who go through hard times to make a living, the Children's Department in the Ashanti Region under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has exclusively reviewed a number of challenges confronting the Kayayei in the country which needs urgent attention and remedy.
In the stakeholders meeting in Kumasi which was led by the Purim African Youth Development Platform (PAYDP) in collaboration with the Department of Children, Department of Gender and Department of Social Welfare, Funded by UNFPA, it came to light that, aside the financial difficulties and lack of shelter for these head porters, they extremely go through sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, sexual transmitted diseases and many other factors that affect their lives.
The Executive Director of Purim African Youth Development Platform, (PAYDP) Rev. Mrs Akoanam Kevi enumerated the number of challenges Kayayeis are facing in Ghana.
She added, we are poised for action in organizing business, leadership and mentorship fairs for the transformation of the head porters, and am further pleading to various policy makers, especially the government to make life-changing policies that can transform the life of the Kayayeis as we also do our part.
She added that PAYDP with funding support from UNFPA is currently implementing a programme under the Ending Child Marriage Programme as well as the Empowering Adolescent Girls Programme.
This intervention she stressed is aimed at empowering vulnerable adolescents and Kayayei to make informed decisions, improve their economic status and reduce their vulnerabilities to Gender Based Violence (GBV) and its consequences, including forced marriages and cohabitation.
The Kayayei Business, Leadership and Mentorship Fair will officially commence from the 8th to 10th November 2023 to transform thousands of Kayayeis in the Ashanti Region and beyond.
Seth Kwame Awuku
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Your Excellency, please permit me to write to your high office on France's continuous refusal to leave Niger and its accompanying exploitation, thereby resulting in a coup and revolution. Indeed, France must leave Niger and resume diplomatic talks with the New regime.
Mr. Ambassador, I do not write as an individual or a non-state actor to assert a view or challenge a state actor like France in International Relations. No, not at all.
But it is my fervent belief and one which, I believe, is shared by many that, in this contemporary world of today, it is not only state actors that must play or should play an important role in International Relations. Individuals too must have a stake on matters affecting their global world too.
Against this backdrop, allow me to state, without any equivocation, Your Excellency, that France's continuous refusal to leave Niger or their desperation for control of that resource-rich country, cannot in the minds of right thinking members of society, be acceptable and justifiable.
Your Excellency, indeed, the conduct of France is offensive to the concept of state sovereignty in international law as well as contrary to the prohibition of threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state (Article 2.4 of the U.N Charter).
If your authority permits me, your Excellency, until the last two months or so, I knew very little of Niger. Probably, like many Ghanaians, all I knew of Niger was that it was in a hot Sahel West African country with very high temperatures.
But I was struck when driving through the streets of Ghana, a young boy of about 8-years-old approached me in the traffic. His eyes looked dull and sad. His shirt was shabby and tattered. In the middle of traffic, he grouped his left five fingers, pointing them to his hungry mouth and mumbling to me: 'give me food, give me money please. I looked into his sad eyes, recognizing his non Ghanaian accent and asked: 'where are you from? 'I am from Niger, ' he responded.
Your Excellency, I was not only saddened by the plight of the begging young Nigerien in our streets, I took an interest in that country, Niger. I wanted to know more, read more and learn more. I was curious about this former French colony, Niger.
I read in earnest, the literature on Niger, learning that France mines and receives 25% of Nigers Uranium and yet avoids paying the world market rates. In fact, I observed that under the ousted president, Niger received from France only 0.80/kg for its sale of uranium. Interestingly, the current military junta has increased the price of uranium from 0.80/kg to 200/kg.
Also, it dawned on me that Niger does not only have uranium, it has coal, gold, iron ore, tin, phosphates, petroleum, molybdenum, salt, and gypsum and yet the United Nations (UN) Human Development Index ranked Niger as the second least-developed of 188 countries.
Your Excellency, I am tempted to believe that France's disdain for the new military junta; France's refusal to leave sovereign Niger and France's threat of invasion of that sovereign country is that the military junta refuses to be on good terms with France.
Why should Niger's rich natural resources be used to support France's glamourous lifestyle and their sweet mouth at the expense of hungry mouths in Niger to be fed? Mr. Ambassador, I wonder and ponder. Your Excellency, I am perturbed by the virtues of good governance and good conscience.
I must at this juncture, with vim and vigor, submit to your high office that, the treatment of Nigeriens, Your Excellency, is the polar opposite of the lofty ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality to which France has long aspired.
Your Excellency, President Macron has no moral justification or legal right to be colonialistic and paternalistic, supercilious and contemptuous, if Niger asks France to leave their sovereign state.
Indeed, can it be said in International Law that, the rights of a friendly African president to France or a democratically elected individual like that of outed president Bazoum supersedes the rights of the Nigerien sovereign state? No! Your Excellency. It cannot be so.
Let me conclude, Your Excellency, if your high office will permit me, to assuage the good people of France and their government that contrary to the fears of France, it will not slide down into the rank of a third [world] power if it leaves Niger and Africa. Indeed, it would still have a position in 21st-century history if it begins to deal fairly, equitably and equally with African states.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
The Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association has expressed displeasure about the assault of a civilian by some military personnel.
On September 14, at about 11:45 pm, one Mr. Apusah Patrick Akuka aka (Gago), a Kusasi young man was attacked by a group of military personnel from the Ghana Army stationed at the Bazua military base at his residence.
The incident happened in Barabog, a suburb of Bazua in the Binduri District without any provocation or reason.
From the information gathered, the victim was rounded up by military men, some of whom were in mufti while others had guns with them.
In a press release from the Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association, it condemned the assault on the civilian, adding that it could spark renewed clashes with the Mamprusi.
The Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association wish to express our regret and disappointment in the military Personnel of the Bazua Base of the Ghana armed forces for the forceful entry, trespass to home, and aggravated assault occasioning harm, part of the release said.
According to the Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association, it has strong evidence suggesting that there may be a deliberate deployment of Mamprusi security personnel and their sympathizers from the service to the area to do the bidding of the Maprusis.
The Coalition is now calling on the Government, Chief of Defence Staff, the Regional Security Council, and the military high command in Bawku to remain professional in their conduct during their deployment in Bawku as to help promote lasting peace.
We implore you to consider this press release seriously and engage in an open dialogue regarding the increasing rise of military brutality in Bawku. We remain committed to the peace course and look forward to a neutral operation and professionalism of the military in Bawku. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter, the release added.
Meanwhile, the coalition has also called on all citizens of Kusaug to remain calm and avoid provocative comments on this matter as the overlord of the Kusaug traditional area, His Royal Highness Zugraan Naba Asigiri Abugrago Azoka Il together with his eminent chiefs and elders of the land work hard towards restoring lasting peace in Bawku.
Read the full release from the Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association below:
MILITARY BRUTALITY AND ASSAULT OF AN INNOCENT CIVILIAN.
The Coalition of Kusaug Youth Association wish to express our regret and disappointment in the military Personnel of the Bazua Base of the Ghana armed forces for the forceful entry, trespass to home and aggravated assault occasioning harm.
On the 14" September, 2023, at about 11:45pm, one Mr Apusah Patrick Akuka aka (Gago), a Kusasi young man was attacked by a group of military personnel from the Ghana Army stationed at the Bazua military base at his residence in Barabog a suburb of Bazua in the Binduri District without any provocation or reason. He was rounded up by military men, some of whom were in mufti while others had guns with them.
He gave his account that he was far asleep in the night and was awakened by the sound of gun shots around his house and he had to take proper cover because he initially suspected that it was an armed robbery attack or an attack from a warring faction, the Mamprusis, which has recently become a common phenomenon in the community as a result of the conflict between the Kusasis and the Mamprusis because he couldn't believe that such an unprofessional and indiscriminately acts would come from any proper trained security personnel, let alone the military forces which is considered as the most discipline and one of the most trusted state institution in Ghana, only to be met with a heavy kick at his "poor door" which brought the whole door down accompanied with an immediate invasion of the military men into his room without notice. They visited such fate to all his rooms by breaking all the doors and vandalising other properties in search of a non-existent item he never knew of. This impatient brutality on him and intimidation of family members has left his children in a traumatised state at the moment. The uniformed men started searching all his rooms and premises for whatever he was not told of while others brutally attacked him, and beat him to a pulp resulting to severe bleeding, infliction of deep wounds on his head and other parts of his body which has left his health in a deteriorating state.
He was sent to the military base in Bazua for interrogation and as part was assaulted, tortured and detained for some hours without any charge or resistance and later handed him over to BNI officials in Bawku for further interrogation which ended up with absolutely no charge. His motorbike and mobile phone were seized by the officers and still in their custody.
This unprofessional, inhumane, sectorial and tribal witch-hunt of the youth and abled men of the Kusuag Traditional Area on the instructions of powerful hidden hands to intimidate, suppress and put fear in the Kusasis tends to provoke and incite community response which may stall the peace effort being made by the military high command in Bwaku to foster peace and security in the Kusuag kingdom because of lack of trust.
The youth of the Kusaug kingdom has observed with utter disdain and regret how our people (Kusasis) are being rounded up indiscriminately and beaten, killing others in the process on several occasions by the military personnel who are supposed to protect lives and properties, maintain law and order, rather they cause more harm to civilians and their properties than the waring factions.
The question that we want to ask the military high command in Bawku to this effect is that "do we trust the proposal that the commander initiated just two weeks ago to bring the warring factions together to dialogue for lasting peace" if yes, then who deployed the men to take such action, what was the reason or crime for a civilian to be subjected to such an inhumane treatment and was this thebest approach from security personnel for the ordinary civilian even if an Intel had been picked for whatever suspicion? Well, the people of Kusaug Traditional Area are waiting and hoping for the responses to these questions and that justice is given to Mr Apusah Patrick Akuka to restore the trust we had in the commander and his men on the ground.
This is becoming a worrying trend that fuels and raises anger among members of the community which if care is not taken might soon be met with the needed defence even against the "state protector"foroursurvival, safety andfreedom. We are by this issuing a strong statement to the effect that these barbaric unprofessional acts must stop with immediate effect and the government should through the military high command and other state institutions bring the perpetuators of such acts to book. Some of these personnel of this highly respected state institutionshould be "pruned",notto allow themselves to be used as tools by some politicians or self-seeking individuals who seek doom forusual. We strongly believe with sufficient evidence and experiences in the past that the may be a deliberate deployment of Mamprusi security personnel and their sympathizers from the service to thearea tobe used as proxy worries to do the bidding of the Maprusis, therefore we appeal to the Government, Chief of Defence Staff, the Regional security Council, the military high command in Bawku to remain professional in their conduct during their deployment in Bawku as much as we are fully prepared to cooperate to bring lasting peace in the area.
This has been brought on several occasions to the attention of authorities but has since not received any needed and positive response leading to the death of many more Kusasis, not from the civilian confrontations between the two factions but the "military-sponsored recruits".
We wish to also call on all citizens of Kusaug to remain calm and avoid provocative comments on this matter as the overlord of the Kusaug traditional area, His Royal Highness Zugraan Naba Asigiri Abugrago Azoka Il together with his eminent chiefs and elders of the land work hard towards restoring lasting peace in Bawku.
We implore you to consider this press release seriously and engage in an open dialogue regarding the increasing rise of military brutality in Bawku. We remain committed to the peace course and look forward to a neutral operation and professionalism of the military in Bawku. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.
Crown of Tewodros, Ethiopia, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, looted during the invasion of Magdala in 1868 by a British Punitive Expedition army.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
'The looting of Benin City and Maqdala were British crimes then and now: it should be a matter of national shame that the spoils of are still displayed in the British Museum, or in the museum of any other Western country which procured them by purchase from the British Foreign Office." - Geoffrey Robertson. (1)
Judging by the actions and statements of many European museum directors, I have, in the last few months, gained the impression that they have finally understood the struggles of African, Asian, and Latin American peoples for the restitution of their cultural artifacts looted during the oppressive colonial regime. (2) Did Neil MacGregor, former Director of the British Museum (20022017) and founding Director of the Humboldt Forum, Berlin, and one of the high priests of the universal museum not state in his latest book, A monde nouveau, musees nouveaux, that the western museums must adapt to a changed world where the authority of Western States is not accepted without questioning? (3) Today we read an article by Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, that raised doubts about this impression that Western museums have changed or are changing their attitudes towards colonial loot. The article by Hunt is entitled,
'Decisions on repatriating museum artifacts should be about the objects - not the politics.
We should do a lot more to distribute collections equitably, but a political assault on the idea of universal museums is not the answer.'
This article from the director of one of the major museums of the world is as amazing as it is disturbing. (4) We shall comment on a few of the authors statement What does Hunt mean by 'decisions on repatriating museum artefacts should be about the objects-not the politics'?
How do we deal with artifacts without a primary push by politics? A State or some other political entity has to claim for repatriation before the museum decides to consider the demand. Cultural artifacts in Western museums are the most political objects one can consider by their mode of acquisition and history. Can we separate the Asante gold objects and the Maqdala treasures from their history, political backgrounds, and significance? These treasures have been looted in the course of hegemonic wars by Western imperialist powers such as Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Will objects per se lead us to any decision, let alone an equitable decision? Are there any qualities in objects that will lead to an equitable or inequitable decision? Is 'equitable' not itself a political qualification? If you take, for example, the Asante golden artifacts in the Victoria and Albert Museum, it is only their history of acquisition, the politics of constant British aggressions against Asante in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, that will help us to determine what is equitable. Without the politics and history of Anglo-Asante relationships and wars in the 18th and 19th Centuries, equity distribution will not be possible.
Hunt describes the thefts at the British Museum as potential thefts even though these objects were offered on E-bay for sale.
Hunt seeks to present demands for restitution after the reported thefts in the British Museum as opportunistic gestures:
'In the aftermath of revelations surrounding the potential theft of stored objects at the British Museum, critics of universal museums have wasted little time in urging the dismantling of western collections.'
We know that Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, and Nigeria have been asking for the restitution of their artifacts from British Museums for decades. Attempts to defame seekers of restitution have never helped, and Hunt knows it. (5) None of those seeking restitution of their artifacts has asked for the 'dismantling of Western collections .This is a fiction of the troubled imagination of a Western museum director, who dreams one night and hallucinates that he will get up and find his museum empty. Recent restitutions from Germany to Nigeria show that Nigeria has left some Benin treasures in German museums. (6)
'These criticisms align with broader contemporary trends we see around the world of nationalism and populism, deglobalisation and nativism.' A British Museum Director whose institution has looted artefacts from the entire world should not make such statements, knowing there have been requests for restitution before such concepts were invented. As for nationalism, who are more nationalistic than Western States that have massacred millions on behalf of their countries? (7)
Hunt presents himself as a great defender of the 'universal museum.' After all that we know about the concept of universal museum and the use to which such a concept was put, it is frightening to realize that there are people in London and elsewhere still defending such a concept.(8)
Hunt himself acknowledges the evil acts of imperialism based on universalism:
'Yet we also know that the European empires, especially of the later 19th century, were highly rapacious, militaristic, and racist enterprises for whom the act of collecting was part of the psychology of colonialism.
They helped to entrench a hierarchy of racist ethnography, the consequences of which we are still living with. Vast amounts of cultural material were looted, stolen, or purchased under pressure by British, French, Dutch, German, Belgian and Italian agents across what we now call the Global South.'
How can one fully conscious of the evil deeds of imperialism and universalism still support an idea of universalism, specifically, the concept of universal museum? Many museum directors condemn, without reservation, the evil deeds of imperialism and massacres done in the name of universalism, resulting in thousands of artifacts being looted from Africa that are in Western museums. But they are unwilling to return any looted items, even as a sign of repentance and desire to start new relations with African countries, victims of crimes against humanity. They want to eat their cake and keep it. The colonialist acts of deprivation and massacres are condemnable and, therefore, have to be undone as far as possible. To condemn imperialist acts and keep the fruits of those evil acts should not be accepted by the modern world. Imagine condemning Nazi atrocities and wanting to keep the fruits of Nazi acts.
The Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, like many of those opposed to restitution of looted African artefacts are happy to quote a text of an undoubted progressive African, Asian, or Latin American writer to buttress their retrograde views:
'The extraction of art, objects and craft was especially heinous in Africa, leading in 1978 to Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, the director general of Unesco, to deliver his "Plea for the Restitution of an irreplaceable Cultural Heritage to those who created it".
The reader should know that Amadou-M'Bow, the Senegalese Director-General of UNESCO, now retired, was and is in favour of the return of looted African artifacts. Several UNESCO/United Nations resolutions that were passed since 1972 on the Return of Cultural property to their country of origin. Museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum ignored the international organizations' demands. (9) Western countries vehemently opposed and criticized M'Bow for his views, especially his support for the New World Information and Communications Order (NWIOCO) and opposed his re-election as Director-General of UNESCO. (10) Indeed, the United States left UNESCO because of opposition to M'Bow. M'bow should not be used to support any scheme of loans or donations. If the respectable Senegalese scholar were to examine the question of restitution of African artifacts today, he would undoubtedly support outright restitution and not loans or any half-measures, especially after Germany and other countries have restituted Benin bronzes. Solutions proposed in 1978, which Western museums rejected, should not be presented in 2023 as supported by MBow. (11)
We should note the cynical way in which Hunt introduced the historic speech of French President Macron in Ouagadougou in 2017, which accelerated the pace of restitution:
'Some 40 years later, the unlikely figure of French President Emmanuel Macron concerned about both rising Chinese and declining French influence in West Africa took up the cause. "I cannot accept that a large part of cultural heritage from several African countries is in France In the next five years, I want the conditions to be created for the temporary or permanent restitution of African patrimony to Africa," he told a crowded lecture theatre at the University of Ouagadougou, in Burkina Faso, in November 2017'.
Declining influence of the French in African countries and fear of the rise of Chinese influence may have contributed to Macro's perspective on the world.
But do all these factors not also concern the British and other Western imperialists? Hunt does not refer to the report requested by President Macron and submitted in 2918 by Felwine Sarr and Benedicte Savoy, The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics,(2018). (12) This report forced many States to look at the question of restitution and set standards for future research on the subject of restitution. (13) Sarr and Savoy proposed that African artefacts taken under the colonial regime without the consent of the owners should be returned. This recommendation frightened Western States and museums who were hostile to returning looted African artifacts. The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum naturally were not thinking of such a revolutionary approach. (14)
After stating the positive steps taken by Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands, in returning African artefacts or promising to do so, Hunt writes:
'However, both the British Museum and the V&A are prevented by an Act of Parliament from removing any objects from their collections. One day, British politicians might change this legislation and free up trustees to repatriate contested artefacts, but that is not going to happen quickly.'
Hunt does not mention the Acts of Parliament that specifically prevent those museums from removing objects from their collections. We assume he is referring to the British Museum Act of 1963 and the National Heritage Act 1983. We have challenged this opinion strongly held by many, including some who support restitution, that the British Museum Act,1963, prevents the museum from deaccession of any of the objects in the museum. We do not read the Act this way. The wording used in the Act is not prohibitive but permissive. Section 5 of the Act provides that the Trustees may dispose of objects under specified conditions
(a) the object is duplicate of another object, or
(b) the object appears to the Trustees to have been made no earlier than the year 1850, and substantially consists of printed matter of which a copy made by photography or a process akin to photography is held by the Trustees, or
(c) in the opinion of the Trustees the object is unfit to be retained in the collections of the museum and can be disposed of without detriment to the interests of students: Provided that where an object has become vested in the Trustees by virtue of a gift or bequest the powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable as respects that object in a manner inconsistent with any condition attached to the gift or bequest. (15)
(1) The Trustees of the British Museum may sell, exchange, give away or otherwise dispose of any object vested in them and comprised in their collection if - (a) the object is duplicate of another object, or (b) the object appears to the Trustees to have been made not earlier than the year 1850, and substantially consists of printed matter of which a copy made by photography or a process akin to photography is held by the Trustees, or (c) in the opinion of the Trustees the object is unfit to be retained in the collections of the museum and can be disposed of without detriment to the interests of students: Provided that where an object has become vested in the Trustees by virtue of a gift or bequest the powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable as respects that object in a manner inconsistent with any condition attached to the gift or bequest
Instead of interpreting the Act according to the normal rules of interpretation, the British Museum has read into the Act its policy not to consider any request for restitution. One can understand a museum with many looted artifacts not wanting to consider demands for restitution. The museum would be forever busy considering such requests. But this cannot replace the words of the Act.
What efforts have the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum made to get parliament to change the British Museum Act,1963 and the National Heritage Act 1983, if it is really considered as prohibiting restitution?
If the museums wished, they could consider, for example, many Benin artifacts as copies and return them.
The museums could also consider objects looted with brutality as unfit to be in their museums and their purposes. One could also return objects not made earlier than 1850 as provided in the Act. The museums could also consider that religious artifacts such as the tabots
of the Ethiopian Orthodox and the Benin treasures that were looted from altars should be considered as unfit to be in a museum since they deprive the owners of the right of worship ,reverence and adoration.
We have heard for decades lamentations about the restrictive effects of the British Museum Act, but we have no evidence that the major museums have pleaded with Parliament to change the law as they did with the Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects)Act 2009, that authorised the museums to return cultural artifacts illegally acquired during the Nazi era.
Readers will remember that France also has a law dating from 1566, ledit de Moulins, older than the British Museum Act of 1963 and the National Heritage Act of 1983, which also prevents French museums and institutions from disposing of the objects in their institutions, la regle de linalienabilite.
Through the efforts of President Macron, the French Parliament passed new legislation that authorised the government to restitute 26 looted objects from Musee de Quai Branly to the Republic of Benin in 2021. The French Parliament is now considering new legislation, following the Martinez report, that would authorise the Government to return artefacts without the need for new legislation for every case. Why can Britain not follow the example of France, its sister imperialist, with which it sometimes organized joint looting expeditions, such as the attack on the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1860?
Instead of helping to solve difficulties arising from the colonial past, Hunt declares:
First, begin with the object and not the politics. Museums cannot absolve the crimes of colonialism, and they should not be mobilized to assist contemporary geopolitical objectives. What is more, the provenance of each individual artefact is different: not everything acquired during the colonial was looted or stolen. Objective, detailed research is vital.
Why should museums that benefited infamously from the colonial system not be employed to solve problems arising from that system? Is the writer serious? Everybody should help except those that are best placed to understand the issues. We know that museum officials collaborated with invading colonial armies to assist the soldiers in recognizing what was useful in the invaded country to take back to Britain. We know that in the invasion of Maqdala, R. Rivington Holmes, an official of the British Museum, went with the British Army under Napier to identify the worthwhile objects to be looted. David Wilson, former Director of the BritishMuseum, wrote:
'One of the less glorious episodes in the history of the museum, in today's terms, was the Trustees' involvement in the punitive expedition to Abyssinia In October 1867 Newton approached the Trustees to pass a suggestion from a Captain Sherwood that the museum should appoint a competent Archaeologist to accompany the army to Abyssinia to investigate the cultures of the area. He was supported by Franks, Vaux, Watts (Keeper of Printed Books) and Rieu(Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts).' (16)
After the looting, the British organized an auction to sell the treasures. According to Henry M. Stanley, who accompanied the British army to Ethiopia, Rivington Holmes seemed to have had more money than other bidders and purchased the Maqdala treasures that are now in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert museum Stanley wrote in his book, Magdala: The Story of the Abyssinian Campaign,1866-67: 'Mr. Holmes, as the worthy representative of the British Museum, was in his full glory . Armed with ample funds, he outdid all in most things; but Colonel Frazier ran him hard because he was buying for a wealthy regimental mess- 11th Hussars- and when anything belonging personally to Theodore was offered for sale, there were private gentlemen who outbid both. Mr Holmes secured many interesting articles. (17)
The British Museum homepage states:
'In 1867 he was appointed archaeologist to Lord Napier's Abyssinian Expedition to Maqdala. During the expedition he purchased a collection of material on behalf of The British Museum'
Where does Hunt get the idea that the provenance of every object is different? Are the Maqdala treasures not all from Maqdala, even if Tewodros II obtained objects through seizures from other places? Will the British now do justice between the Ethiopian Emperor and his opponents?
There is much to be done to build a more equitable distribution of collections as well as curatorial practice, conservation techniques and education between the Global North and South, but a political assault on the idea of universal museums is not the answer.
Hunt provides no valid reason why the looted African or Asian artifacts in his collections should be divided between looters and the deprived owners. He
assumes both imperialist countries and deprived countries are equally
entitled to have a share of the loot. Do the artifacts themselves determine this or politics? Hunt ends his essay with this statement:
The role of museums is to provide a civic space, in which all feel ownership
that helps both to situate contemporary concerns within broader histories
and also, through the scholarly and challenging display of material culture,
to move beyond the limitations of prescribed identities and nationalist
ideologies.
Many Westerners attribute ideologies such as nationalism to their opponents
as if they were free of any such ideologies. Can one practice imperialism without any ideology, such as nationalism, which is the main ideology in Britain but is always presented as coming from foreign opponents such as Africans and Asians?
How do we feel ownership? From being a legal concept of entitlement to certain rights in specific objects, ownership has become a matter of feeling. How are we to understand this? The holders of looted artifacts enjoy ownership rights, and the deprived nations feel illusory ownership, specifically when they, after visa hurdles, reach the imperialist museums in London and elsewhere.
Tristram Hunt came from politics in the British Parliament to Victoria and Albert Museum artifacts. (18) Hunt attributes to artifacts certain qualities we may expect only from human beings, such as fairness and equitable justice. He attributes to objects themselves, an und fur sich, qualities we seek from human beings, such as standards of justice and fair distribution. Such ideas, we submit, lead to placing material objects, and artifacts, before human beings. One can understand that a director of a museum such as the Victoria and Albert Museum that contains looted artifacts from the whole world would prefer to deal with artifacts under his control rather than with the people who own the treasures whom he cannot control. Hunt must agree that humans make artifacts and not vice versa. The Asante made the golden Asante artifacts in the museum in London and not the other way around.
Hunt concluded that without the politics behind the debates on restitution, ensuring fair distribution of objects would be simpler. He would like to ignore the politics of artifacts, but this means ignoring the history of the people who produced the treasures. Do cultural objects have any meaning outside the history and politics of the people who made them? Ethiopian objects without Ethiopian history and the British invasion at Maqdala? Asante artifacts without the history of the Asante and the British attack and burning of Kumase in 1874?
We have paid attention to the essay by Hunt mainly because he is the Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, which holds the Maqdala treasures and Asante golden objects. We know he has sent draft proposals to the Ghanaian authorities concerning the Asante gold treasures the British stole in their 1874 invasion of Kumase. We hope they contain better suggestions than some of the views expressed in his article. Ghanaians must reject any proposal short of outright restitution of the Asante treasures.
Do we make ourselves accomplices to the criminal acts of 1874 if we accept half-measures from London? We definitively do no honour to our ancestors who resisted British hegemony and paid with their lives that we may live as human beings with dignity.
A statement entitled Restitution and Reparation on the home page of the Victoria and Albert Museum makes it clear that the museum is only willing to enter into what it calls renewable cultural partnership with museums and other cultural institutions around the world to ensure that the items in its care can be studies and appreciated beyond South Kensington, including in their countries of origin. https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/restitution-and-repatriation
The statement makes it clear that the Victoria and Albert Museum has no intention of restituting any artefacts with full proprietary rights to the owners. The museum will use sympathetic words to keep demands for restitution under control and will museum promise to help in putting up a display of the looted treasures in Ghana. A tentative offer will be made subject to Ghana fulfilling certain conditions such as paying transport costs and insurance costs.
We must tell the British that most Africans cannot understand the logic of borrowing our artifacts from looters. The Ghanaian authorities may consider publishing the British proposals for us to judge their validity and whether the British maintain their arrogance and racist assumptions of God-given rights that led them to fight the Asante for decades in the Gold Coast, now Ghana, from 1823 to 1900. The secrecy introduced into museum matters can only benefit the Western illegal holders of looted artifacts. Deprived Africans have nothing to hide.
Ghanaians should turn down proposals not consonant with present ideas on restitution, even if the presenters quote valiant daughters and sons of Africa to support their insulting offers. If the British ruling class do not want to restitute the golden artifacts, looted hundred and fifty years ago, they should keep them until the elite on the British Isles finally accepts that it is wrong to steal the treasures of others and, after a hundred years, still refuse to return them.
Gold gleams throughout the Ashanti story: one wonders in retrospect whether the punitive expedition would have been quite so dedicated if the major product of Ashanti had been anything else but the potent lure.(19)
Russell Chamberlin
NOTES
1. Geoffrey Robertson, Who owns History? Elgins Loot and the case for returning Plundered Treasure.p169, 2019,Biteback Publishers, London.
2. K. Opoku, Berlin Decision on Benin Restitution: Germany on The Way to Restitution of Looted African Artefacts https://sites.ccsu.edu/afstudy/africaupdate/article-507.html
3. Neil MacGregor, A monde nouveau. Nouveaux musees-Les musee, les monuments et la communaute reinventee, Editions Hazan, Paris,2021.
4. T. Hunt, Decisions on repatriating museum artefacts should be about the objects - not the politics https://www.thenationalnews.com/weekend/2023/09/08/decisions-on-repatriating-museum-artefacts-should-be-about-the-objects-not-the-politics/
5. K. Opoku, Reclaiming Looted Asante Gold (Ghana): Triumph Of Morality Over Brutality? https://www.modernghana.com/news/1206933/reclaiming-looted-asante-gold-ghana-triumph.html
6. K. Opoku, Berlin Decision On Benin Restitution: Germany On The Way To Restitution Of Looted African Artefacts https://www.modernghana.com/news/1079313/berlin-decision-on-benin-restitution-germany-on.html
7. K. Opoku, Can Nationalism Be Sold As Internationalism Via The British Museum? Sanctification Of British Spoliations And Loot, https://www.modernghana.com/news/197315/can-nationalism-be-sold-as-internationalism-via-the-british.html
K. Opoku, Is Nationalism As Such A Dangerous Phenomenon For Culture And Stolen/looted Cultural Property? https://www.modernghana.com/news/184173/is-nationalism-as-such-a-dangerous-phenomenon-for-culture-an.html
K. Opoku, The Cultural Nationalists Are All On The Other Side
https://www.modernghana.com/news/389208/the-cultural-nationalists-are-all-on-the-other-side.html
8. K. Opoku, Is The Declaration On The Value And Importance Of The universal Museums Now Worthless? Comments On Imperialist museology. https://www.modernghana.com/news/265620/1/is-the-declaration-on-the-value-and-importance-of-.htmlIs9.
9. Amadou-Mahtar MBow, A Plea for the return of an irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it: an appeal by Mr. Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow, Director-General of UNESCO
UNESCO. Director-General, 1974-1987 (M'Bow, A.M.) [2213]The UNESCO Courier: a window open on the world, XXXI, 7, p. 4-5, illus. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000046054
MBow: A plea for the return of an irreplaceable cultural heritage to those who created it (1978) https://translanth.hypotheses.org/ueber/mbow
10. K. Opoku , Restitution Day: Remembrance And Reckoning https://www.modernghana.com/news/1193895/restitution-day-remembrance-and-reckoning.html
11. In 1978, restitution was still a dangerous word for Western museum directors who until recently in 2017 were not willing to discuss such issues. See K. Opoku, The Benin Bronzes, Restitution and Decolonization. The Debate on Colonial Loot and Reparations, Keynote Lecture.
https://lecture2go.uni-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/64125
12. Felwine Sarr, Benedicte Savoy, Rapport sur la restitution du patrimoine culturel africain. Vers une nouvelle ethique relationnelle. Paris 2018 ; English translation, The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage. Toward a New Relational Ethics (http://www.restitutionreport2018.com) https://www.unimuseum.uni-tuebingen.de/fileadmin/content/05_Forschung_Lehre/Provenienz/sarr_savoy_en.pdf
13. K. Opoku, Macron promises to return African artefacts in French museums: A new era in African-European relationships or a mirage? https://www.no-humboldt21.de/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Opoku-MacronPromisesRestitution.pdf
K. Opoku, Miracles, Reverses, And Hope in Restitution of Looted African Artefacts https://www.modernghana.com/news/906639/miracles-reverses-and-hope-in-restitution-of-looted-africa.html K. Opoku, France Moves Closer to Restitution of Artefacts to Benin and Senegal
https://www.modernghana.com/news/1019889/france-moves-closer-to-restitution-of-artefacts.html K. Opoku, Further Comments On Sarr-Savoy Report On Restitution https://www.modernghana.com/news/912541/further-comments-on-sarr-savoy-report-on-restitution.html
14. Margareta von Oswald ,The Restitution Report: First Reactions in Academia, Museums, and Politics
https://www.carmah.berlin/reflections/restitution-report_first-reactions/
15.See Annex I below, The British Museum Act,1963.
16. David M. Wilson, The British Museum, A History, British Museum Press, 2002, p.173.Sending a specialist to accompany invading British army is a standard. This was done in Beijing(China) 1860, Magdala(Ethiopia)1868, Kumase(Ghana)1874, and in Benin City (Nigeria)1897.
17. Henry M. Stanley, Magdala: The Story of the Abyssinian Campaign,1866-67. Being the Second Part of the Original Volume Entitled; Coomassie and Magdala, Leopold Classic Library,1896,p.168.
18. K. Opoku, Love The universal Museum And Despise The Others: Comment On Article By Tristram Hunt https://www.modernghana.com/news/173717/love-the-universal-museum-and-despise-the-others-comment.html
K. Opoku, Tickets For All To The universal Museum But Without The Africans?
https://www.modernghana.com/news/174045/tickets-for-all-to-the-universal-museum-but-without-the-af.html
K. Opoku, To Decolonize Is To Decontextualize, Tristram Hunt. Should We Stop Asking For Restitution Of Our Looted Artefacts https://www.modernghana.com/news/943364/to-decolonize-is-to-decontextualize-tristram-hunt-should-w.html
19. Russell Chamberlain, Richard Chamberlin, Loot: The Heritage of Plunder, 1983, Thames and Hudson, London, p. 79.
Crown of Tewodros, Ethiopia, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom, looted during the invasion of Magdala in 1868 by a British Punitive Expedition army. This crown is labelled at the Victoria and Albert Museum as Crown of the Archbishop Abune Selam. With typical colonialist and imperialist arrogance, this 18-karat gold crown was described as barbaric but still kept by the British.
Cotton dress of Queen Woyzaro Terunesh, Ethiopia, in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Gold chalice from Ethiopia looted by British soldiers at Maqdala, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Ethiopian cross in Victoria and Albert Museum ,London, United Kingdom. The eighth commandment, thou shall not steal, seems not to apply, in the opinion of some, to religious and precious objects of others. How else can we interpret the British attitude and treatment of Ethiopian religious artefacts, including the many Christian crosses and manuscripts which were looted I Magdala in 1868 and the less than respectful, some would say, disrespectful, blasphemous, and sacrilegious way of handling the issues of the restitution of Ethiopian artefacts?
Orthodox priest carries a covered tabot in a ceremony in Gondar, Ethiopia. Photo: Jialiang Gao https://commons.wikimedia.
Gold pectoral soul disc, Kumase, Asante, Ghana, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Asante gold pendant, Kumase, Ghana, now in Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom.
ANNEX I
EXTRACT BRITISH MUSEUM ACT 1963
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1963/24/contents
5. Disposal of objects.
(1)The Trustees of the British Museum may sell, exchange, give away or otherwise dispose of any object vested in them and comprised in their collections if
(a)the object is a duplicate of another such object, or
(b)the object appears to the Trustees to have been made not earlier than the year 1850, and substantially consists of printed matter of which a copy made by photography or a process akin to photography is held by the Trustees, or
(c)in the opinion of the Trustees the object is unfit to be retained in the collections of the Museum and can be disposed of without detriment to the interests of students:
Provided that where an object has become vested in the Trustees by virtue of a gift or bequest the powers conferred by this subsection shall not be exercisable as respects that object in a manner inconsistent with any condition attached to the gift or bequest.
(2)The Trustees may destroy or otherwise dispose of any object vested in them and comprised in their collections if satisfied that it has become useless for the purposes of the Museum by reason of damage, physical deterioration, or infestation by destructive organisms.
(3)Money accruing to the Trustees by virtue of an exercise of the powers conferred by this section [F1or section 6 of the Museums and Galleries Act 1992] shall be laid out by them in the purchase of objects to be added to the collections of the Museum.
EXTRACT FROM NATIONAL HERITAGE ACT 1983
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1983/47/section/6
6 Acquisition and disposal of objects .
(1)The Board may acquire (whether by purchase, exchange or gift) any objects which in their opinion it is desirable to add to their collections.
(2)Without prejudice to any power apart from this subsection, a Minister of the Crown may transfer to the Board any object (whether or not he acquired it before the Boards establishment) if in his opinion it would appropriately form part of their collections.
(3)The Board may not dispose of an object the property in which is vested in them and which is comprised in their collections unless
(a)the disposal is by way of sale, exchange or gift of an object which is a duplicate of another object the property in which is so vested and which is so comprised, or
(b)the disposal is by way of sale, exchange or gift of an object which in the Boards opinion is unsuitable for retention in their collections and can be disposed of without detriment to the interests of students or other members of the public, or
(c)the disposal is [F1an exercise of the power conferred by section 6 of the Museums and Galleries Act 1992], or
(d)the disposal (by whatever means, including destruction) is of an object which the Board are satisfied has become useless for the purposes of their collections by reason of damage, physical deterioration, or infestation by destructive organisms.
The war between the Somali government and Al-Shabaab has persisted for years, as both sides vie for control. In August 2022, the Somali government commenced a fresh offensive against Al-Shabaab, capitalizing on the discontent within the influential Hawiye clan towards the insurgency. This operation has yielded significant territorial gains in central Somalia, representing the most substantial progress since the 2010. Government soldiers, along with clan militias, have successfully eliminated Al-Shabaab militants from vital regions. However, the establishment of stable forces to maintain control in the reclaimed territories remains a challenge, leading to government forces' withdrawal from key cities.
Withdrawal from cities such as Eel dheer, Masagawaay, Budbud, and Gal'ad, which had been retaken from Al-Shabaab, poses a setback as it exposes these areas to potential re-infiltration. To address this challenge, sources indicate the government has formulated a new strategy: creating local militias to secure the liberated territories and prevent Al-Shabaab's resurgence.
According to sources, the National Intelligence Security Agency (NISA) has taken responsibility for overseeing the registration and organization of these local militias, commonly referred to as "Macwiisleey." However, experts have argued against implementing this particular strategy, citing its potential consequences.
Professor Mohamed Haji ingriis , with his extensive knowledge of historical and global perspectives, asserts that such militia groups have not achieved significant success on a global scale. "Rarely has any country benefited from deploying local militias to counter insurgent movements. This approach has consistently failed," he emphasizes.
Moreover, Professor Mohamed highlights the failure of the colonial British in their attempt to employ clan militias against the Dervishes. This ill-fated strategy resulted in the Dervishes retreating into the Nugaal valley, only to regroup and ultimately force the British to retreat towards the coastal regions. "We must recall how British colonial authorities used local clan militias against the Dervishes," he adds, emphasizing the historical precedent of failure.
While there may be some immediate advantages to involving local militias, as witnessed before while securing many parts of central Somalia, it is crucial to weigh the potential consequences before proceeding. One significant concern is the risk of a lack of proper training, oversight, and chain of command. This could result in the abuse of power by these militias, leading to serious human rights violations and undermining the rule of law.
According to Professor Mohamed H.Ingriis , "the Somali government should adopt a new approach that takes into account local knowledge and expertise, integrating these militias within the Somali army auxiliaries." In another words, this approach will require to be carefully crafted to ensure that there is a strong central command and army control structure, preventing the militias from operating separately.
Without effective central control and coordination, there is a heightened risk of factionalism and power struggles, which can greatly undermine stability and hinder lasting progress. "It is imperative that local militias never operate independently from the overall command structure of the army," stresses Professor Mohamed H. Ingriis.
Furthermore, analysts believe arming local militias without proper vetting and screening procedures could inadvertently lead to the formation of proxy militias aligned with various interests, complicating the situation and potentially fueling further violence.
Conclusion:
While the Somali government's new strategic approach of engaging local militias to secure areas captured from Al-Shabaab initially appears promising, its long-term effectiveness and consequences necessitate thorough analysis. While the Central regions success is encouraging, it is crucial for the government to evaluate potential concerns such as human rights abuses, factionalism, and potential clan conflict dynamics.
To ensure the positive outcomes of this strategy, robust oversight, proper training, and coordinated efforts with Somali National Army are essential. By striking a delicate balance between empowering local communities and maintaining unified command structure of army, the Somali government can harness the potential of local militias to effectively combat Al-Shabaab and build a more secure future for its citizens.
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19.09.2023 LISTEN
Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has taken a swipe at fellow flagbearer aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
In the last few months, the Vice President has been subjected to jabs in the race for the flagbearer position of the party.
Firebrand Kennedy Agyapong is one aspirant who has not spared Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia from criticism and attacks.
Addressing NPP stakeholders in Goaso in the Ahafo Region on Monday, September 18, the Vice President said he would not engage in attacking his fellow opponents.
According to him, he believes in running a campaign without insults and wont mention names during his bid to sell his message to delegates to vote for him in the NPP flagbearer election.
I dont believe in attacking my opponents and I wont do that because it will be toxic and wont be good for our party. This is an internal contest to elect our flagbearer, so why should I attack my opponents or say something against our party?
I am running a very decent campaign. I am selling my ideas to delegates and I do that with decorum, with humility, with respect, and without mentioning anybodys name, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said.
He continued, This should be a contest of ideas, not insults. So I have told all my staff not to insult or attack anyone. They should stick to sharing my vision and message to delegates. I have told them that even if I am attacked or insulted, they, should not respond because I am a unifier.
Following the decision by Alan Kyerematen to withdraw from the flagbearer race of the NPP, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is facing stiff competition from Assin Central MP Ken Agyapong.
The election is scheduled to be held on November 4.
Professor Vladimir Antwi-Danso, an International Relations and Security Expert, has expressed apprehension about Africas potential vulnerability to recruitment by Wagner private military group.
He believes that the continents large population of unemployed youth creates an environment conducive to the Wagner groups recruitment efforts, facilitating their operations in Africa.
While acknowledging that Wagner, as a private security group, has the right to recruit globally, Professor Antwi-Danso suggests that their recruitment efforts in Africa may be influenced by the regions high unemployment rates.
His concerns follow the arrest of three young persons who organised a public durbar in Diabene, in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis were seen wearing and showing the flags of Wagner and Russia. The suspects have been identified as Evans, 25, Michael Asiedu, 23, and Ernest Asiedu, 26.
Speaking to Citi News on Tuesday, September 19, Professor Antwi-Danso urged security agencies to investigate whether the Wagner group is actively recruiting from Ghana or funding specific activities within the country.
He emphasized the importance of vigilance among Ghanaian security agencies to identify and monitor potential security threats, particularly those with ties to external organizations.
He also stressed that any covert activities in Ghana with potential security implications should be thoroughly investigated. He warned that if it is discovered that the Wagner group is recruiting from Ghana, there could be security concerns when these recruits return after completing their assignments.
Citi Newsroom
19.09.2023 LISTEN
FixTheCountry Convener, Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vormawor has expressed his frustration with the governance system in Ghana.
Narrating his stressful ordeal in securing a Police report to make an insurance claim after an accident, the popular activist said he is convinced Ghanaians are not governed.
He insists that in Ghana, citizens are just extorted from daily by those in power.
Our governance systems have been completely broken down! We are not governed; we are extorted from daily!
Everyone who chooses to do the right thing in our society is the fool! You are the weird one, Oliver Barker-Vormawor shared in a post on Twitter.
In the narration of his ordeal, he said it has taken him 5 months to get a 2-page police report for the insurance claim on his car after the accident.
He said on several occasions, the Police wanted to be paid something, even for the release of the report.
Read the full post below:
In early May this year, a guy drove into the back of my Car right around Tesano police station, sometime around 6pm.
I was stepping out for a rendezvous. And my entire evening was ruined. I got home around 11pm.
The guy begged for us to exchange numbers and both drive away. Never mind that my car was not even drivable. He promised that he will pay me later to settle the issue. I declined. I insisted that I did not want any money from him. Since he was insured, I wanted us to do the proper thing and file an insurance claim.
He didnt understand. He insisted that going the police route will just complicate everything. He felt I was punishing him, for insisting that we do the right thing.
Even the Police tried to get the matter removed from the Police station. They kept reacting to me for being the unreasonable party who didnt want the matter to end quickly. At some point and in one of those meetings at the Police Commanders office; I eventually got tired and said, okay fine. As long as the guy pays for the repairs, I am happy to have the matter withdrawn.
Of course, the guy couldnt pay for the repairs. And that went no where. But for 2 months, this guy with Police encouragement, will be calling my Phone, morning afternoon evening to withdraw the matter. As some point even, the guy having found out who I was, went to get family members to call me to withdraw the matter.
I just wanted a police report to file an insurance claim as you are supposed to. It was not the kind of accident to which the other guy would have been exposed to the risk of jail, by my insisting on the right thing being done.
Anyway, Since May, it has taken 5 months, to receive a 2 page police report which will enable me apply for insurance.
5 months. In that period, my car was immobilized and impounded at the Police station. While at the police station, thieves stole spare parts of the car.
Its taken 5 months to get a 2 page police report. I cant tell you how many times, the Police wanted to be paid something, even for the release of the report!
Our governance systems have been completely broken down! We are not governed; we are extorted from daily!
Everyone who chooses to do the right thing in our society is the fool! You are the weird one!
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Open Letter to the Citizenries on Constitutional Bodies their Accountability, Independence and the Appointing Authority - And why the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission Her two Deputies and the Members of Parliament must be condemned for gross incompetency but why you must rise up to support the Governor of Bank of Ghana and his two Deputies as well as the IGP and his Deputies (others Members of the Police Management Board for excellent Job for National Interest and Public Good
First of all, let me state that the basic functions of a democratic or Constitutional Country are the exercises of three powers namely judicial, executive and legislature powers for Public interest or good and these functions are given to three separate arms (trilateral structures) of Government and they are reportedly as Independent or autonomous from each by Principle of Separations of Powers as propounded by Baron De Montesquieu but they are to act as system of checks and balances in the performance of their work independently and effectively.
In Ghana per the 1992 Constitution , the three basic functions or powers and the three arms of Government are (1) Executive Powers by the Executive with the President and his delegates respectively for the security and safety of the Country through enforcement of laws, making appointments, formulation of government policies etc. (2) the Judiciary powers by the Judiciary with the Chief Justice as the head, with others as the Justices of the Supreme Court and Others in the Judiciary for enforcing of the Constitution and laws and administering of justice through protection or care of fundamental rights of the people and affording protection to the people, settlement or adjudication of legal disputes or cases, interpretation of Constitutional intentions etc. (3) Legislative Powers by Parliament or the Legislature with the Leadership as the Speaker of Parliament, his two Deputy Speakers, the Majority and Minority Leaderships, then the other Members of Parliament
Parliament or the Legislature for and representation of thee citizen interest, enactment of laws, monitoring actions of the government or oversight responsibility over the other arms of government especially the Executive, approval of taxes, and expenditure or budget of the Government. Hmm which coincidentally includes the Budget of all Constitutional Creatures or Bodies and Agencies especially the Electoral Commission. Hence control of the purse of the EC (including the budget and Plans for the Voters Registration Exercise.
Folks, the Principle of Separation Powers required that government should represent the people on whose behalf the three arms of government are to exercise their respective powers because sovereignty resides with the people otherwise by majority rule or the 50% plus one vote. To ensure effective and efficient Government in a Democratic Dispensation, the Powers or functions of a Country must be divided among different agencies made of the trilateral structural of government made of the time-honored elements of Judiciary, Executive and Legislature
So, the Voters Registration Exercise was /is the responsibility of both the EC and Parliament with EC as the Constutional Body for submitting her plans and Budget to Parliament as the Approval Authority takes painful time to scrutinize the plans and budget of the EC in order to physically and competently ensure that the plans and budget are in the interest of the State and interest of the Citizen before Parliament approves them for the Executive, for that matter the President of Ghana to provide funds, as the Releasing Authority for funding of the National budget for 2023, so presented by the EC and approved by Parliament. Hence, the President and his Party cannot be said to be in bed with the EC. So, to be honest, the EC and Parliament must be blamed for demo incompetency and not working for the interest of the people.
Fellow Ghanaians, for the above reason do not allows members of Parliament to continue to be exhibiting acts of dishonesty and hypocrisy, give them showdown (courtesy of Hon Kennedy Agyapong), that is where power lies by voting them out in the next election for not representing the interest of the Citizens when the EC submitted the Plans and Budget for the 2023 year.
So, please do not allow some hypocrite members of Parliaments to throw dust into our eyes or waste our eyes with ugly noises. Since their role include scrutiny the plans and the budget of the EC and they failed the Country by not acting effectively when the EC presented her plans and budget for 2023, to them which they duly approved as part of the 2023 Budget . Hmm I envisaged if they had done so, the funding by the Country will not be easy due to Domestic Debt Exchange Program. So, nothing can be done by the EC now. So, I recommend that we should request the Members of Parliament, Presidential hopefuls, Corporate Ghana, Religious Bodies, the Ghana Police, Ghana Armed Forces, and others to help transport people for the Limited Voters Registration. This is the Time to afford Service to Ghana.
It must be made clear again that both Parliament and the Electoral Commission share the blame for the woes of our fellow Citizens encountered and being encountering in the Limited Voters Registration Exercise. So let us warn or direct members of Parliament not to join us in criticizing the EC since as stated both the Chairperson, her Two Deputies and all the members of Parliament of Ghana demo gross incompetency, hence the ugly noises from them must be stopped by shaming them. So, Shame! Shame! Shame to them.
Once again let me hammer that the Members of Parliament must burry their heads in shame for failing to represent the peoples interest when the EC submitted her plans and budget for the Limited Voters Registration Exercise or for preventing the Constitutional Instrument (C1) presented by the EC to make the Ghana Card as the means of identification of a Citizenship of Ghana to be used during Registration of Voters, in replace of guarantors etc hence blame Parliament as well for the woes of the eligible voters for the EC limited Registration Exercise.
Why Constitutional Bodies (Independent Executive Bodies)
After the creation or establishment of the three Arms of Government namely the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary in 1670s guided by the Principles of Separation of Powers, it was later in the 1770s, that it was found as sine qua non (necessary condition) to establish Constitutional Bodies sometime termed as the Independent Executive Bodies so, as seemingly co-equal to the trilateral Arms of Government based on the Principle of Separation of Powers. They are required to assist the Executive Arm of Government (the President- the appointing Authority with without the consent of Parliament) to direct, control and operate the polity or the institutions of the Country subject to the Constitution and the laws with a well-developed feeling of public accountability for Public Good.
So, the Framers of the 1992 Constitution in line with global or international best practices established the Constitutional Bodies, also as the creatures of the Constitution in order to assist the Executive hence the President in the running of the Government but they are to enjoy independence or autonomy in decision making from the trilateral arms of Government namely the Legislature, Executive and the Judiciary. Hence they are really on equal terms hence most of the highest echelon occupants are termed as Article 71 Office Holders of the 1992 Constitution. The Constitutional Intention is to prevent populists or gullible persons or people who cannot think better to easily amend an entrenched clause or thus preventing populists from riding on the emotion of gullible persons to gain power.
Folks, unlike Statutory Bodies and Authority which Parliament has the Power to establish, Constitutional Bodies are Bodies that are established by the Constitution of a Country hence the 1992 Constitution and are designed to perform certain tasks for the State. Constitutional bodies are to protect the interest of the State, hence the Fourth Republic and the citizen, thus for Public Good or Public Interest or for the betterment of the Country hence no profit motive (to be explained below).
Constitutional Bodies -Accountability
Constitutional Bodies are the creatures of the Constitution like Parliament or the Judiciary or the Executive. Since Constitutional Bodies are established by the Constitution, which represent the Sovereignty of the people, are therefore answerable or accountable to the Constitution hence the People, hence they enjoy almost same level of Independence as the trilateral structural or Arms of Government namely the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary by the Principle of Separation of Powers as propounded by Baron De Montesquieu in 1670s. But they are required to assist the Executive Arm of Government (the President- the appointing Authority with without the consent of Parliament) to direct, control and operate the polity or the institutions of the Country subject to the Constitution and the laws with a well-developed feeling of public accountability for Public Good.
Independence of Constitutional Bodies
This autonomy or Independence of Constitutional Bodies is affirmed or decreed by the Constitution. So the rights and Powers of Constitutional Bodies are in the hands of the Constitution itself which represent the Sovereignty of the people and no other body be it Parliament, the Executive or the Judiciary. Note though the Judiciary wields Judiciary Powers for adjudication of legal case, interpretation of the Constitution question which serves as an order, unless provided by the Constitution, the Judiciary are very cautious when dealing with a political question involving another creature of the Constitution Like Constitutional Bodies which also derive rights and powers from the Constitution, likewise unless provided by the Constitution the Executive and Legislature are barred from interfering in the work or operations of Constitutional Bodies, since their rights and functions/Powers emanate from the Constitution. Hence Constitutional Bodies are their own masters thus they have the Power to regulate their functions, rules etc through a policy bill termed as Constitutional instrument.
The Powers and functions of Constitutional Body cannot be changed by any regular, private or government bill it can only be done by Constitutional amendment bill originated from the Body. Constitutional Bodies are solely (exclusively) responsible for making their own decision for determining their rules for their performances without a say any body be it the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary
Laws or bills of from Constitutional Bodies are termed as Constitutional Instruments and nothing else. To become an operative Constitutional Instrument (CI) a Constitutional Instrument bill or policy must be published in the Gazette and laid in Parliament on the same day for it to be matured into law after 21 days that is if and only it is not defeated or cancelled or annulled by two-thirds of the Members of Parliament so in Ghana at least by 183 members or so.
Measures to assure Independence to Leaders of Constitutional Bodies
Constitutional Measures to assure Independence to Leaders of some Constitutional Bodies include secured tenure of office and better terms and conditions of service so that they thinking properly and give very sound judgment in the decision making process for public good or interest and for the stability of the Country. For example, unlike the other four members of the EC whose tenure of office is not guaranteed by the Constitution and are therefore paid mere allowances as Parliament may determine, the Chairperson and the two Deputy Chairpersons of the EC enjoy protected compensations or emoluments as stipulated at the entrenched Article 71 for the affected Office Holders. Thus their emoluments are charged to the Consolidated fund and so that they can enjoy autonomy in decision making for the National or public interest.
Appointing Authority ,
The President as per international best practices and or by Constitutional provision or law is the appointing Authority and this is not negotiable, so ignore the ugly noises that the President has too much powers, so the Presidents appointment need to be curtailed, ask the noisy makers that the a particular power or power in question should be given to who to appoint for a Constitutional Body, those saying so do not understand Constitutional politics. They must be educated that the President in logical terms must be regarded as the personification of the Constitution, that is why Military Coup makers overthrow the President (Executive) and the Constitution goes or is overthrown with him, Parliament only suffers from this predicament hence collateral damage whilst the Judiciary remains intact but with a lot of issues in Military rule. So most Constitutional Bodies may be mute or extinct but some like the Bank of Ghana, Auditor General, the Ghana Armed Forces, and the Public Services including the Ghana Police remained operative with new Heads as appointed or confirmed by the Military Junta Executive.
They best the proponents can suggest is adding cost to cost with additional layers for the appointment to include Parliament and the Council of State, the Judiciary Council, the Police Council, the Armed Forces Council to recommend or vet persons to occupy Public Offices as Article 71 Public Office Holders of the 1992 Constitution. Then Offices like the IGP, the CDS, and Service Commanders etc as dictated by the 1992 Constitution.
Please, a critical thinking on or study of Political Science will reveal that the elected Civilian Authority that is after winning a National Presidential election, by 50% plus one vote as in the case of the President as a means by which enables the people or the electorates to delegate the Sovereignty of the Country especially the Executive Powers to the President, as the Head of State, Head of Government, Head of National Executive and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Hence logically, the President must be the appointing authority for vacancies for the Constitutional appointments in the Judiciary and vacancies in the Constitutional Bodies the Central Bank (Bank of Ghana), including the Independent Executive Bodies, like the Electoral Commission, an d the appointment normally required to be made by the President is with regards to vacancies at the high echelon offices and for the Ghana Police from ACP to the IGP in the Police Service.
Hmm, in a democratic dispensation especially in the Some Executive System of Government, the President normally behaves like an octopus tentacles with its tentacle stamping authority even in the appointment of the Speaker of Parliament through as the Leader or the Party in power nominates a candidate for his Party Stable to present for the election by members of Parliament. Check and you will realized that the nominees for Speakers of Ghanas Parliament were nominees of the Party in Power. The current speaker from the NDC won with the support of own goal by the NPP by courtesy of Hon Sarah Adjua Safo.
Article 295 (1) of the 1992 Constitution provides the Interpretation of the terms like Constitutional instruments and Legislative instruments or statutory instruments and Public Interest and as used in this paper whilst Article 295 (2) of the 1992 Constitution speaks volume general among other on the appointments/removal of high echelons of the Constitutional bodies
Example of Constitutional bodies
In the 1992 Constitution, these bodies or agencies include (a) the Central Bank (herein Bank of Ghana as at Article 183 of the 1992 Constitution), (b) Electoral Commission at Article 43 and (c)Public Services in the case of Ghana as stipulated at Article 190 of the 1992 Constitution which among other Agencies include the Ghana Police which also covered by Article 200 to 204, These bodies and others are to assist the Executive Arm of Government to direct , control and operate the polity or the institutions of the Country subject to the Constitution and the laws with a well-developed feeling of public accountability for Public Good.
Constitutional Bodies in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana which are on the front burner this month
For the purpose of the subject for your attention, pardon me to limit to the Constitutional Bodies in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana which are on the front burner ithis month. They are the Bank of Ghana, the Electoral Commission, and the Ghana Police Service. The differ from Statutory Bodies or Authority which are also autonomous corporate bodies established by an Act of Parliament which defines the powers, objective, and functions, of the body. Since Statutory Bodies derive their power from Parliament, and autonomous corporate bodies who responsible for making their own decisions hence their rules or laws are termed as Statutory Instrument otherwise Legislative Instrument (LI) to denote that the power emanated from Parliament hence Statutory Bodies can also make laws with LI and take decision on the behalf of the Country.
Legislative Instrument Bill goes through the same process like (CI) a Constitutional Instrument bill or policy. That is it must be published in the Gazette and laid in Parliament on the same day for it to be matured into law and assent by the President if and only it is not defeated or cancelled or annulled by two-thirds of the Members of Parliament so in Ghana at least by 183 members or so
Matters of Bank of Ghana on the front burner
Bank of Ghana is a Constitutional Body hence an Independent Executive Body with Rights and Power granted by the Constitution. So members of Parliament from the stable of the NDC must revise their notes well and stop the ugly noises. It must be made clear to all that in 2022, the Governor of Bank of Ghana and the two Deputies by the autonomy in decision making as granted by the 1992 Constitution simply performed their Constitutional mandates for ensuring the maintenance of economic and financial stability and inclusive growth which the Supreme of Ghana is required to affirm if challenged as Constitutional or political question.
Fellow Ghanaians, during crisis time the Central Bank hence Bank of Ghana should be judged by actions for the fulfilment of her Constitutional mandate and legal objective of maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability and inclusive growth, hence for public good, thus not for profit motive which is not even the objective of Central Banks, globally like Commercial Banks. So the Governor and the Deputy must be judged as such.
It is therefore very strange that some of our Intelligentsias especially those in Political Science and some of our seasoned Lawyers who are expected to be very honest and educate us as such do not checks for the facts or just speak on a matter without asking for time to check for the facts and therefore exhibited and are exhibiting dishonesty otherwise ignorance of the gospel truth of the 1992 Constitution/Fourth Republic with regards to the work of the Governor of the Central Bank (Bank of Ghana).
The 1992 Constitution required every Citizen to preserve, the uphold, defend and protect it, hence, as a Senior, Citizen of Ghana, I hereby humbly pray and plead with the Supreme to rise up to the Occasion and declare all laws emanating from Parliament other than by Constitutional Amendment Bills passed through the Council of State for review and subsequent actions and assented by the President or by Constutional Instrument from Bank of Ghana published in the Gazette and laid in Parliament for maturity into law after 21 days as null and void.
Otherwise, affected persons must understand that the Governor of Bank of Ghana acted as a result of the passage of Section 3 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2018 (982) by Parliament on what must be done during the State of Emergency or Force Majeure and this updated law conflicts with the Fiscal rules in the Bank of Ghana Act 2016 (Act 918) or any other law hence common sense will tell that the updated Fiscal Responsibility Rule or Act 2018 (982) negates what is in the Bank of Ghana Act 2016 (Act 918) which even speaks of the Minister of Finance as the person who has to go to Parliament for approval for financing the budget gap or deficit when notified by the Governor, hence Parliament must be blamed/burry their heads in shame stop the ugly noises for the resignation of the Governor of Bank of Ghana.
It must be acknowledged that the Governor of Bank of Ghana by his bravado and competent action helped in the upholding, preserving, protecting and defending the 1992 Constitution by ensuring the Stability of the Fourth Republic, through reducing the possible risk of a Military Coup in Ghana, since the Holy Book of Christians namely the Holy Bible at Ecclesiastes 1.9 which says that What has happened Before Could Happen again hence Ghana could therefore not be ruled out as a possible candidate for a Military Coup.
History has it that it was in April 2022, that the President of Ghana heeded to an earlier call by ex-President Mahama and others for IMF Bailout in order to save the Collapse of the Economy. This was at the time the debt of Ghana reportedly smashed the roof, reportedly around 105%, hence very unsustainable debt but Ghana needed a sustainable debt level for her to use a favorable debt level or condition to opt for the IMF support by the usual secret terms.
So, for Ghana to qualify for the IMF Bailout, the 105% debt level must be reduced by half thus to 55%. This 105% national debt level resulted in the history of Ghana of a proclaimed National debt burden sharing or financial hair cut in what was termed as Domestic Debt Exchange Program in our financial lexicon before Ghana can meet one of the major Conditionalities for the IMF bailout.
So, there was a fear of a looming disaster of the Collapse of the economy of Ghana. Thus the stability of the Fourth Republic was under serious threat and could therefore not be guaranteed if no serious measures by our leaders, especially through the use of a risk management tool by the Governor of Bank of Ghana and his two Deputies in order to rescue the economy of Ghana from collapsing. This made the Bank of Ghana to invoke her constitutional mandate as granted by the 1992 Constitution which created the Bank of Ghana as a constitutional creature or body therefore with degree of independence for the Banks core objective of ensuring macroeconomic and financial stability and inclusive growth which was/ is sine qua non (necessary condition) in order to preserve, uphold, defend and protect the 1992 Constitution which created Bank of Ghana.
Fellow Ghanaians, during crisis time the Central Bank should be judged by actions for the fulfilment of her Constitutional mandate and legal objective of maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability and inclusive growth, hence for public good, thus not for profit motive which is not even the objective of Central Banks, globally like Commercial Banks. In fact profit made by a Central Bank must be given to the Shareholder in this case the government which is the 100% shareholder or the Risk Owner.
So the Governor did a very good job for public good by working to prevent a possible overthrow of the Fourth Republic/1992 Constitution otherwise reduce the promotion or campaigning for a Military Coup as monitored in the media or proclaimed by populists which does not augur well for economy growth since no reasonable investor will invest in an a Stable area or Country, hence the ugly noises must be stopped if we really mean good for Ghana, constitutional and or legal means must be used to deal with national issues.
Folks, the looming economy melt down as in 2021/2022 was occasioned by the three risks especially the repercussion of COVID-19 pandemic, aggravated by the Russia -Ukraine War, failed e-levy with the associated downgrading of the financial position of Ghana which culminated in the shutdown of the International capital market to Ghana and most importantly in the minds of some of us may be due to mismanagement by President Nana Addos regime, this was also a major problem otherwise failure to opt for the Debt Services Suspension Initiative before December 2021, demonstrated gross incompetency on the part of the Hon Finance Minister who thought he could milk from the e-levy since he thought it may give a yearly yield of GHC5 Billion which could be used to securitize for loans.
In order to meet the Bank of Ghanas Constitutional mandate or one of the core objective of a Central Bank globally to promote and maintain the stability of the currency of the Country, the Governor and his Deputies used the Balance Sheet of Bank of Ghana with an amount of GHC60Billion Cedis in the proclaimed Domestic Debt Exchange Program which helped in the reduction of the accumulated debt of Ghana since the 1980s which was 105%, thus an unsustainable debt to close the sustainable level thus facilitated an earlier access to the much talked about IMF Bail Out as earlier on recommended by His Excellency Ex-President Mahama and some members of the Intelligentsias for the booting/Navigation of the economy of Ghana from a reportedly Depression state to upturn level and to ensure the maintenance of macroeconomic and financial stability and inclusive growth.
GHC48.4 Billion out of the GHC60Billion was used in the Debt Exchange Program. Bank of Ghana also suffered the loss of GHC5.2 Billion due to exchange rate volatility or movements. And lastly GHC6.4 Billion was incurred on the debts of Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and others debts in their books but IMF made Bank of Ghana to include these debts as part of Ghanas debt hence part of the GHC60Billion, since the value is the same as the debt of Ghana to the outside World which must be the risk of Bank of Ghana, which the Government of Ghana is 100% shareholder or Risk owner. So the GHC60Billion as part of the balance of Bank of Ghana was used to buy or as a price for Public Good by preventing the collapse of the economy which could have resulted in a likely Coup or civil disturbances.
So Dr Addison and his two Deputies need special commendation for preventing the collapse of the Economy by using a risk management for an e excellent work for Ghana and thus paid a price for Public good with Bank of Ghanas balance of GHC60.Billion which made Ghana to gain the bailout program from the IMF the economy of Ghana so as proclaimed by the IMF etc, Ghanas economy is seeing signs of economy recovery
Fellow with the signs of economy improvement all patriots of Ghana must credit Ex-President Mahama with his early idea of Ghana to opt for the IMF Bailout because Ex-President Mahama saw the Nation in a very difficult economy crisis situation and thus a very serious threat to National Security hence the Stability of the Fourth Republic hence his recommendation for the stability of his Country and also the facilitation of his second coming because serious economic difficulties could motivate a Military coup as happened in 1972 and 31 December 1981 hence derailment of his ambition since a coup in Ghana will mean the end of the Fourth Republic and may take not less than 3 years for the Military to hand over.
So to protect the stability of the Fourth Republic by defending the 1992 Constitution which created Bank of Ghana together with other Constitutional Bodies, necessitated Dr Ernest Addison, the Governor of Bank of Ghana and his Deputies to use risk management tool and rescued Ghanas economy from collapse unlike the foolhardiness of his counterpart in Sri Lanka who as the Governor of Bank of Sri Lanka woefully failed or refused to appreciate the dynamics and kicked against or refused to support the idea of IMF bailout for Public good.
It is very unfortunate that some citizens, especially some MPs from the Political Party being led by Ex-President Mahama and other elements in the Nation are making ugly noises and want to demo against the good recommendation of Ex-President Mahama. There must be something wrong with them otherwise they do not want to see the recovery of the economy of Ghana.
The current leadership of the Minority Group of Parliament with a former director of Bank of Ghana and their cohorts need to tone down the rhetoric/behaviour otherwise their acts have the potential to derail the second coming of his Excellency Ex-President Mahama because whether the economy crisis was due to mismanagement by President Nana Addo as alleged by them or a combination of both internal and exogenous or external factors or internal problems aggravated by external shocks as alleged by President Nana Addo and his cohorts. Since the situation saw in the History of Ghana and the IMF, a Managing Director of the IMF openly campaigned for Ghana to get early bail out support from the IMF, so, the Governor of Bank of Ghana had to step in to arrest the collapse of the Economy that made it possible for or that facilitated a very early access to the IMF Bailout. Since the likelihood of a coup as a result of a collapse of the economy could have caused a fatal injury to the possible second coming of Ex-President Mahama or will make it very difficult for him to turn the economy around and make a great impart with his second coming within 4 years if given the nod, so the conduct of the Minority Group and their cohorts is not the best.
lastly, Dr Ernest Addison the Governor of Bank of Ghana, must be respected and commended with his excellent acumen and Statesmanship that saw the need to build the gold reserve of Bank of Ghana, involvement in the Gold for Oil Deal to support the Energy or fuel supply sector so as to help sustain the stability of the currency and provision of fuel 24/7 at good price without queuing.
It must be noted under the watch of Dr Addison, Bank of Ghana made a profit of GHC1.6 Billion in 2019, GHC1.5 Billion in 2020 and GHC1.4Billion in 2021. So the Governing Board and the Management of the Bank decided to make the dream of the Bank for a fit for purpose new Head Office since 1990 as a reality. Consequently, the Construction of a fit for purpose new Head Office started in the good year of 2019, which is now about 42% complete and therefore must be completed since Bank of Ghana has a dedicated budget line with voted sums initially as GHC121 Million US Dollars for the project. This should not divide the nations if no serious problem of procurement and cost of the Project, considering the likelihood of variation of cost of inputs etc in volatile global economy.
The Demand for transparency and accountability/probity on the Construction of the new Head Office is both a constitutional and legal imperatives, hence not negotiable at all and must be pursued by the good Minority Group and CSOs. But, why the Project is an infantile question or point, because the Project is a cost effective infrastructure that may also house International Financial institutions like West Africa Monetary Institute (WAMI), that will pay rent, it will also make it possible to release the old site for others at costs to them and revenue to the State/the Bank. Furthermore, it is an open market policy to create jobs in the construction industry and generate revenue by taxes (PAYE, VAT, E-levy etc, SSNIT contributions, Insurance cover premium etc) besides improving the Landscape or skyline of Accra.
It is a prayer that Bank of Ghana like what the Central Bank of Nigeria did in the participation in massive production of rice as import substitution bid may also play an open market operation in the Agricultural Sector. This should be what the patriots of Ghana especially the man on the street should be clamoring for.
Condemnation of the Chairperson EC and Members of Parliament
Folks whilst calling for the commendation of the Dr Ernest Addison and his team for the work they did for Public Good and thus who deserve National Awards for saving the economy of the Country from Collapse as recommending by his Excellency Ex-President Mahama for IMF Bailout, which made the Bank to use her Balance Sheet in the Debt Exchange Program that the facilitated very early access to the IMF support, on the other hand the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), her deputies and the Hon Members of Parliament need to be condemned for failure to work for Public Good due to their poor actions (bad plan and not sufficient budget proposal by the EC for a very good registration exercise and sleeping at the job by members of Parliament which resulted in their not doing proper study or review of the plans and Budget of the EC before the approval by Parliament towards the limited Voter Registration since they are the representative of the electorates. Hoot at them in case of trying to go on demo against the EC
So, all patriotic citizens should regard the actions of the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), her deputies and the Hon Members of Parliament as a constitutional Coup due to the public uproar hence a potential for precipitating a Military Coup in Ghana, and should that happen the resultant will be the suspension or the overthrow of the 1992 Constitution. Hence the loss of the Sovereignty of the People and the loss of jobs by the Executive Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), her deputies and the Hon Members of Parliament
Nothing can be done by the EC, it is too late due to no budget for the EC to conduct the exercise at Electoral areas in addition to the District Offices of the EC. So Members of Parliament, Presidential hopefuls, Political Parties, Businessmen, Traditional Leaders, Corporate Ghana, Religious Bodies, the Ghana Police, Ghana Armed Forces, and others should be called upon or rise up to the occasion to help transport people for the Limited Voters Registration.
This should be an eye opener to the EC and Parliament, make plans and budget and Parliament to scrutinize the Plan and budget before approval to ensure the Plan include previous and new Polling Stations for the mass voter registration/Updating of the Voters Registers for the 2024 National Election (Presidential and Parliamentary Election in 2024) and work effectively with the support of the IGP and associated Security Agencies through the CDS and the Heads of other security Agencies to ensure free and fair election in 2024 and thus reducing a possible risk of a Military Coup or civil disturbances in 2024/2025.
The Chairperson and the two Deputies of the Electoral Commission who possibly think that due to the constitutional proclamation as an Independent Constitutional Body they can behave as if the EC is an isolated body or island from Ghana or a body with unlimited freedom hence not subjected to the Constitution and or Laws of the Country hence they are failing to understand that the EC is just an independent executive bodies in decision making for the provision of support/ assistance to the Arms of Government especially the Executive of Arm of Government to run the Country. So their Independence or autonomy is only meant that they are not subordinated to a Cabinet Minister, they have very secured tenure of Office with terms and conditions of services for the Chairperson and the Two Deputies as a Justice of the Court of Appeal and a Justice of a High Court respectively. But can be removed as per the Constitution.
The Chairperson and the two Deputy Chairpersons must be educated that the Constitutional Intention for their secured tenure of office and better terms and conditions of service are meant for the three of them to give very sound judgment in the decision making for public good or interest/stability of the Country, hence unlike the other four members of the EC whose tenure of office is not guaranteed by the Constitution and are therefore paid mere allowances as Parliament may determine, the Chairperson and the two Deputy Chairpersons of the EC enjoy protected compensations or emoluments as stipulated at the entrenched Article 71 for the affected Office Holders thus their emoluments are charged to the Consolidated fund and so that they can enjoy autonomy in decision making for the National or public interest.
The Chairperson and the two Deputy Chairpersons must understand that good governance is the hallmark of good leadership and peace and tranquility so their actions or inactions could precipitate a Military Coup, hence the overthrow of the Executive which they are part of thus loss of their jobs. So it is high time they are educated that they must stop with their mindset of We Saw it, We loved it, we Chose it behaviour as exhibited by the previous Chairperson and her two Deputies and see how they may sometimes take on board the public opinion especially during Inter Political Parties Dialogue with the EC, in their decision making process, since Coup makers are opportunists looking for mass public opinion to judge that their action will receive a massive national support to formalize or legitimize their action.
The Chairperson of the EC must also understand that though it is very true that the Independent Executive Constitutional Bodies in a Democratic or Constitutional Rule have a degree of constitutionally protected decisional autonomy and their independence is sometimes at odd with the time-honored ideas of the trilateral structural of government, that the independence does s not give unlimited freedom to misbehave because they can be removed for stated reasons as prescribed by the Constitution.
IGP and the Bugri Nabu Audio Tape incident
The Adhoc Committee of Parliament constituted by the Speaker to conduct investigation into the Bugri Nabus tape recordings, has confirmed that the one who did the recording as Chief Bugri Nabu hence the name of the tape should be the Bugri Nabu tape, and the voices in the tape included the three witnesses namely Chief Bugri Nabu, and serving Police Officers namely COP Alex Mensah and Superintendent Asare, hence the voices in the tape include that of Chief Bugri Nabu, COP Alex Mensah and Superintendent Asare other matters including additional or fresh tapes, allegations by Police personnel are tangential and must not be allowed to tarnish the image of the IGP in the person of Dr George Dampare.
For the tangential matters either the IGP and the Police Management Board or the Police Council or the President of Ghana are clothed with both Constitutional and legal powers to deal with them, hence could be subject of fresh investigation by a new committee or Commission of inquiry by the President especially into the welfare matters of the Police Personnel to see the way forward and not by the Hon Atta Akyea Committee. Matters on the appointment of IGP is a constitutional provision which is in line with best practices that the elected Civilian Authority exercising delegated powers from the electorates must control the guns on the behalf of the Citizens.
The Recommendation that the Security personnel to vote for their commanders is an infantile idea because it is based on emotions. Others claimed that some Senior Officers want the appointment of the IGP by the President to be discontinue. The most interesting aspect of this recommendation is that it was allegedly made by a Senior Police Officer of the rank of COP or by one Police Officer because he was reported as PHD Holder in academic field not security.
Issue of security training background, pass performance of the candidate in the service as kept in in the personal file of each person by the Security System, so as to determine leadership or command qualities. So ones experiences, good supervisory skills, loyalty counts as well as the ability to ensure firm internal order in subordinates, a team player, fairness, ability to maintain discipline, personnel drive for excellence, effective decisiveness, ability to push or motivate people to deliver their best and others are to be looked into by the Selection Board or are recorded in the confidential report. Hence, it is not a matter of only paper qualification or a matter of Aduru Me So.
Constitutional appointments require the Nation to consider the need for Regional Balance and may be gender balance among others. So opening out Constitutional appointments for application for selection of the best candidate may not be the best or asking for voting in the selection may not also be good. It must be noted that for political or Constitutional appointment, public opinion also count in the selection. Example by per the Constitutional qualifications, a lot of persons qualified to be selected as the Chief Justice when the vacancy was opened but it is envisaged that beside her training and experience with her period of services, the current Chief Justice was appointed based on good public opinion and to some extent Regional and gender balance (just to make a female with good qualifications as the leader of one of the Arms Government promote gender balance which can motivate other female persons to see her as their mentor or guide and work hard to be recognized by the State).
It must be made clear that being a Senior Officer on the line due to long service (the Aduru Me So mentality therefore one simply relaxes for his or her turn without working hard), or PHD holder within the Security Services does not necessary qualify one to be a Commander or IGP or ability to make a good recommendation on Constitutional or Political question matter like the appointment of the CDS or IGP. Beside academic qualifications certain requirements including security training background need to be satisfied as well to meet some Constitutional or political issues as emanated from the History of the Nation or other Nations, History of Wars, national security note the President is responsible for the Security and Safety of the Country, hence he must have the free hand to appoint the person who he and his security adviser feels he can trust and will help him to maintain law and order or in a battle effort the nominees tenure of office must be conterminous with that of the President for this and other reasons which could the need for Regional balance,
History of Civilization, history of Wars including those of the Ashanti Empire which saw Yaa Asantewaa at the War front as the Commander tells it all why the President has the final say on who he or she should trust, the Security of the State to. The America Civil or the Confederation (Southern American) War against the North with President Abraham Lincoln, then as the Commander-in-Chief that was in November 1862 and had to quickly replace General McClellan for failure to pursue the retreating Army of the Confederates or South States and the current Russia Ukraine War tells why the Head of State must be the appointing g authority. Other qualities, including signs of bravery and Loyalty also counts.
A personal example was when as a Company Commander of Infantry Company in ECOMOG Ghanbat 6 or so in Liberia and my Company was ordered to lead the Advance to capture Robertsfield International Airport Harbel in Liberia, which was then held by the Charles Taylor rebels I did not find it very easy because my troops who performed duties in Monrovia especially at the Monrovia Airport and saw the number of causalities of Nigerian troops from the forward battlefield or front which were both fatal and wounded, especially the frightful amputees inflicted by the rebels on daily basis made my troops to be demoralized. To some extent that, Officers who had the 18 months training as Regular Commission Officers and had served longer in the service than Officers with Short Service Commission that is with 6 months training, cried and begged me not to make them the point or the Lead Platoon Battle Commander for the Advance to capture the Airport.
Morale was further dampened in the whole battalion during the final briefing before crossing the Start line and thus made matters very serious for me, when our Operations Officer was wounded by a shot by a sniper fire. So, getting an Officer to lead or as the point Platoon Commander was a problem, until God came to my aid, when one young Officer, then Lieutenant Albert Fearsome, with Short Service Commission Corps (that is with 6 months training) and not very long years of tour of duty in the Military and who was even with the education Corps and not of Infantry background saw my predicament and agreed to be the Commander of the lead or point Platoon for my Team which captured the Airport after two or was it three days or simply prolonged hours battle .through very frightful thick forest. So it is not all persons in the Police or Military who can be Commanders, ability to push or motivate people to deliver their best and this cannot be detected or obtain by voting as suggested by some people.
Public opinion also counts and from some of the narrations at the Hon Atta Akyeas Committee, the opinion of some members of the public including some officials of the NPP Political Party were used in the Selection of the last IGP of this regime and that let to Dr Dampare to be appointed as IGP by President Nana Addo.
My brother and good friend COP Kofi Boakye when he was in Western Region as the Regional Police Commander, I can guessed scored very high marks in command abilities and was seen as the best candidate so we called as IGP when he was the Regional Commander for the Ashanti Region, was not appointed as the IGP because of the way he handled Chairman Wontumi when he caused his arrest during an election dispute in 2016 and other problems with people in the Strong hold of the NPP, when he was the Ashanti Regional Commander, these caused his downfall.
The nation, the various Political parties, National Peace Council, CSOs interested in election matters, contestants in elections to be organized in Ghana by the EC, the Electoral Commission and the Ghana Police and the other associated Security Agencies during elections should see the Bugri Nabu Audio Tape as God send one as an eye opener for all parties in the preparations and during election to ensure free and fair election in the upcoming, District Level Election and the mother of all Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in December 2024. So that we keep an eagle eye on the activities of the Security personnel.
The level of insecurity at the District Offices of the EC for the Limited Voters Registration calls for the IGP (the Police) and with support of mobile patrolling by the Military to provide very strong security cover for the ongoing Limitation Voters Registration 24/7 within the period proclaimed by the EC.
I wish to put on record that it was the good work of Lieutenant General BK Akafia in 2000, then the CDS that made it possible for the then Presidential Candidate Kofour of the NPP in the 2000 election to win the Presidential election. It was the warning issued by General BK Akafia to the personnel of the Military who may be called upon to help secure the election as well as to the other personnel to act as observers when within voting areas that ensured free and fair election in 2000. This is a fact acknowledged by President Kofour. One of my godfathers in the Military in the person of General BK Akafia should please be contacted for a very rich experience from a seasoned Military Commander.
The security failure or lapses that contributed to the very low result scored by the NPP or the loss of the NPP at the bye election at Tain Constituency in 2008 need to be revisited by the Security especially the IGP and his team. I hope the video tapes are available with GTV etc. Likewise the incidents at the bye elections at Ayawaso Wagon and even Assin North not forgotten the alleged security lapses at Techiman which NDC claimed was robbed need to be reviewed by the IGP for best or better security measures for the 2024 election. Talking about the Assin North Bye-election, the IGP, the EC and affected media houses which covered an incident of a huge bundle of GHC5.00 notes pocketed by a Police Officer, allegedly as a bribe to the officials of the EC at a Polling Station must be investigated if not done or the outcome of the investigation must be made public and affected person(s) punished to serve as deterrent to future Officials of EC or the public.
The Chief Bugri Nabus tape also afforded the public to learn more about the good work of the IGP and his team. The IGP and his team deserve special commendations. At this juncture, I wish to put on record or make an info through you for the Consumption of the IGP, that the Police post built with good MTN Services between Tarkwa and Bogoso at Timtimhwe to combat the armed robbery activities was done by Bogoso Mine when as the Security Superintendent of the Bogoso Mine, as Companys Social Responsibility I caused the Company to construct the post with provision of beds with mattresses, a bore hole, a transformer etc. This was done when I lobbied with my good friend Hon Cudjoe, the current Hon Member of Parliament for Prestea Huni Valley in the NDCs stable, when he was then the DCE in 2015 or so to buy the idea and I also lobbied with then Chief Superintendent Tabi then the Tarkwa Divisional Commander and now COP Tabi of the Police Management Board responsible for the activities of Private Security Companies to buy the idea and help to provide Police personnel for the Post which happily did. So Mr. IGP Bogoso Mine for that matter the Ghana Chamber of Mines shares the glory of your good work.
Fellow Citizens, it must be noted that security personnel were either with the socialism or capitalism or private enterprise block hence either NDCs ideology or the NPP ideology before joining their respective services, the Security Intelligence or Security Agencies could also obtain an idea of a persons political ideology during current affairs exams etc. Hence ones sympathy to a political persuasion can be obtained from ones background. It is for this and other reasons including Constitutional provision of human rights that in USA, the troops are permitted to attend political party events but not in security uniform, they allowed to make contributions to a political campaign or organization but they are not serve with partisan club, nor speak at party gathering etc for its cause.
So, please join me to recommend to the State especially Mr IGP or the Police Council, that the action of the affected Police Officers namely COP Mensah and Superintendent Asare should rather attract a lesser punishment otherwise a reprimand since their actions though a very bad one or offensive, the fact that a lot of lessons emanated from their recorded private conversations, which I recommend should be regarded as a good omen from God for the Nation to sit up and do the right security measures toward and during national elections. Thus the nation see it as food for thought. I wish to end that the incidents at some of the centers for the limited Voter Registration exercise suggest that the EC and the Police need to up their game.
19.09.2023 LISTEN
Member of Parliament (MP) for Adaklu, Kwame Governs Agbodza has reacted to comments made by Electoral Commission (EC) Chairperson Jean Mensa over the ongoing Limited Voter Registration exercise.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, September 18, Jean Mensa mounted a strong argument why the EC is only undertaking the registration exercise at its district offices.
In her explanation of the matter, she said the EC is working within its budget as approved by Parliament.
Reacting to that argument, Kwame Agbodza said Jean Mensas explanation is not only weak but a wishy-washy excuse.
One of the false, weak, and wishy-washy excuses the EC Chair, Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa sought to canvass at her press conference yesterday to justify the EC's dogged determination to suppress first-time voters, is her claim that the Commission is acting within the constraints of its work-plan and budget as approved by Parliament.
Nothing could be further from the truth than this barefaced lie which once again betrays the sinister and ulterior motive by this Jean Mensa/Bossman Asare-led EC to frustrate first-time voters, Kwame Agbodza said in a statement.
According to the MP for Adaklu, there can be no justification on the part of an Electoral Commission that is hell-bent on disenfranchising voters by placing strictures and fetters on the inalienable right of Ghanaians to register to vote in public elections and referenda, instead of implementing programs to expand that right as it is enjoined by law to do.
Read the full statement from Kwame Agbodza:
Minority Chief Whip, Hon. Kwame Governs Agbodza writes;
DON'T USE PARLIAMENT TO JUSTIFY YOUR VOTER SUPPRESSION STRATEGY.
One of the false, weak and wishy-washy excuses the EC Chair, madam Jean Adukwei Mensa sought to canvass at her press conference yesterday to justify the EC's dogged determination to suppress first-time voters, is her claim that the Commission is acting within the constraints of its work-plan and budget as approved by Parliament.
Nothing could be further from the truth than this barefaced lie which once again betrays the sinister and ulterior motive by this Jean Mensa/Bossman Asare-led EC to frustrate first-time voters.
The Commissioner's attempt to once again draw in Parliament into the ongoing discussions about the EC's deliberately-bungled voter registration exercise is pathetic to say the least. Parliament in considering the Electoral Commission's budgetary estimates for 2023, its Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) from 2023 - 2026 and the Electoral Commission's actual Appropriation for 2023, did not take a pesewa out of the Commission's requests. It is therefore highly contrived to seek to introduce Parliament in a bid to justify its unpopular and unreasonable decision to restrict the registration of voters to its District Offices.
Indeed, both Appendix 4A (MDA Expenditure Allocation) of the 2023 Budget Statement, and the Third Schedule of the Appropriations Act 2022 (Act 1090), as well as the EC's own Programme-Based Budget Estimates contained in its MTEF, put the EC's total budget for 2023 at GHS386,047,606. Out of this figure, the EC budgeted a rounded figure of GHS56,059,846 for registration of voters in 2023.
It is important to state that the Electoral Commission's budgetary allocation for 2023 is far more than all the budgetary allocations of the Ministry of Information and its Agencies, the National Development Planning Commission, the National Media Commission, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, and the Right to Information Commission, put together.
It must also be emphasized that not a penny of the EC's budget was varied to its disadvantage as the Commissioner sought to claim yesterday and this is evidenced in their appropriation. Her claim that the ongoing drudgery she has put Ghanaians through has to do with budgetary constraints is one that must be treated with utmost contempt.
There can be no justification on the part of an Electoral Commission that is hell-bent on disenfranchising voters by placing strictures and fetters on the inalienable right of Ghanaians to register to vote in public elections and referenda, instead of implementing programs to expand that right as it is enjoined by law to do.
Jean Mensa will not be allowed to use Parliament as a convenient excuse for her lawless conduct and as representatives of the people, we will soon be demanding accountability from her and the other Commissioners.
Kwame Governs Agbodza (MP)
Germany announces new package of military assistance to Ukraine for EUR 400 mln
The German Federal Ministry of Defense has announced the provision of a new package of military assistance to Ukraine totaling EUR 400 million.
"Support will be provided where it is most needed," the ministry's press service said in a message.
Thus, in order to strengthen Ukraine's capabilities to intercept remotely installed mines, it is planned to transfer 30,000 155-mm artillery explosive shells, about 3,800 smoke ammunition for 155-mm artillery, 105,000 120-mm explosive ammunition, smoke and lighting mortar shells, as well as 480 AT-2 rockets.
Germany will also assist in the fight against massive and far-reaching minefields of the Russians with the help of mine clearance systems, armored engineering vehicles and armored evacuation vehicles. To do this, the Ministry of Defense provides 200 MRAP armored combat vehicles so that mine clearance specialists can approach Russian minefields in a protected form.
With the help of winter equipment, sets of spare parts for already delivered systems and vehicles, it is planned to strengthen the stability of the Ukrainian armed forces for the coming months. The mobile field hospital that has already been installed will also serve this purpose.
In addition, 50 surface drones will help repel the aggressor not only on land, but also at sea.
Individual projects will be implemented through donations from the Bundeswehr reserves, as well as jointly with industrial partners.
The promised equipment should be provided to Ukraine as soon as possible.
Medtronic PLC is a world-leading medical technology company that develops and manufactures device-based medical therapies to improve patient outcomes. Founded in 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Medtronic has grown to become one of the largest medical device companies in the world. The company's operational and executive headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland, with over 90,000 employees in more than 150 countries.
Medtronic's portfolio of medical technologies includes products for diagnosing, treating and managing cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease, spinal and biologics, diabetes management and neuromodulation. The company's cardiac and vascular group is the oldest and largest business unit, which develops pacemakers, defibrillators and heart valves. Medtronic's spinal and biologics business is the second-largest business unit and produces a range of implants, instruments and services to treat spinal disorders. The diabetes group develops insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems and consumables. At the same time, the neuromodulation business focuses on therapies to treat chronic pain, movement disorders and other neurological conditions.
In 2015, Medtronic acquired Covidien PLC, an Irish-based medical technology company, and moved its legal headquarters to Ireland. This transaction was the most significant U.S. corporate tax inversion in history and allowed the company to take advantage of lower corporate taxes in Ireland. The company also achieved a 100% gender and ethnically diverse pay equity in the U.S. and 99% gender pay equity globally, as reported in its Global Inclusion, Diversity and Equity 2022 annual report. Medtronic joined the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI) in 2023, becoming one of the 483 companies listed in the index.
Medtronic's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the ticker symbol MDT and is a member of the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA). The company has had several recent recalls, including the HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device in February 2021 and the controller ports in June 2021.
Medtronic has continued to focus on developing its medical technology portfolio and announced several acquisitions and partnerships in 2021. In January, the company announced its intention to acquire Affera, Inc., Stimgenics LLC and Medicrea. In May, Medtronic announced a strategic partnership with CathWorks, and in March 2022, a contract with Vizient. The company is also working with GE Healthcare to support the needs and care demands at Ambulatory Surgery Centers in April 2022. In October 2022, Medtronic announced its intention to pursue a separation of the company's combined patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses.
Medtronic PLC is a world-leading medical technology company that has grown to become one of the largest medical device companies in the world. With its portfolio of medical technologies and recent acquisitions and partnerships, the company is well-positioned to capitalize on the growth of the medical device industry. The company's commitment to gender and ethnic pay equity and inclusion and its strategic partnerships and acquisitions make Medtronic PLC an attractive option for investors looking for a long-term growth opportunity.
Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA Get Free Report) insider Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.88, for a total value of $1,655,520.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 6,235 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,541.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.
Ajay Bhalla also recently made the following trade(s):
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On Thursday, September 14th, Ajay Bhalla sold 4,000 shares of Mastercard stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.13, for a total value of $1,652,520.00.
Mastercard Trading Up 0.7 %
Shares of NYSE MA traded up $2.82 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $417.13. 1,797,408 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,683,491. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.10. The companys 50 day moving average price is $401.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $381.97. Mastercard Incorporated has a 12 month low of $276.87 and a 12 month high of $418.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.
Mastercard Announces Dividend
Mastercard ( NYSE:MA Get Free Report ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The credit services provider reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.84 by $0.05. Mastercard had a net margin of 43.37% and a return on equity of 178.10%. The firm had revenue of $6.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.56 EPS. The businesss revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 9th. Investors of record on Friday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 6th. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is currently 21.37%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price target on shares of Mastercard from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Mastercard from $433.00 to $486.00 and gave the company a positive rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Bank of America raised their price target on Mastercard from $438.00 to $442.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Mastercard from $463.00 to $488.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho restated a buy rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Mastercard currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $442.83.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on MA
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Mastercard
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MA. Bornite Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at $21,442,000. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 34.5% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 6,007 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Mastercard by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 272,358 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $97,335,000 after purchasing an additional 63,040 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,168,000. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP purchased a new position in Mastercard during the first quarter valued at approximately $12,926,000. Institutional investors own 74.94% of the companys stock.
Mastercard Company Profile
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Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.
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TerrAscend (OTCMKTS:TSNDF Get Free Report) and Local Bounti (NYSE:LOCL Get Free Report) are both small-cap medical companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations and dividends.
Profitability
This table compares TerrAscend and Local Bountis net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets TerrAscend -131.52% -2.35% -0.98% Local Bounti -327.71% -79.29% -29.19%
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for TerrAscend and Local Bounti, as provided by MarketBeat.
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score TerrAscend 0 0 0 0 N/A Local Bounti 0 1 4 0 2.80
Earnings & Valuation
Local Bounti has a consensus target price of $33.65, indicating a potential upside of 1,209.34%. Given Local Bountis higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Local Bounti is more favorable than TerrAscend.
This table compares TerrAscend and Local Bountis revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio TerrAscend $247.83 million 2.48 -$329.91 million N/A N/A Local Bounti $19.47 million 1.09 -$111.07 million ($12.14) -0.21
Local Bounti has lower revenue, but higher earnings than TerrAscend.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
0.0% of TerrAscend shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.6% of Local Bounti shares are owned by institutional investors. 32.9% of TerrAscend shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 36.0% of Local Bounti shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Volatility and Risk
TerrAscend has a beta of 2.59, suggesting that its share price is 159% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Local Bounti has a beta of 1.53, suggesting that its share price is 53% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
TerrAscend beats Local Bounti on 6 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.
About TerrAscend
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TerrAscend Corp. cultivates, processes, and sells medical and adult use cannabis in Canada and the United States. The company produces and distributes hemp-derived wellness products to retail locations; and manufactures cannabis-infused artisan edibles. It also operates retail dispensaries under the Apothecarium brand name in California, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. In addition, the company owns various synergistic businesses under Gage Growth, Pinnacle, TerrAscend NJ, Ilera Healthcare, HMS Health and HMS Processing, Valhalla Confections, State Flower, Arise Bioscience Inc., and TerrAscend Canada brands. It serves medical and legal adult-use markets. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is headquartered in Mississauga, Canada.
About Local Bounti
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Local Bounti Corporation grows and packs fresh greens in the United States. It produces lettuce, herbs, and loose-leaf lettuce. The company sells its products to food retailers and food service distributors. Local Bounti Corporation was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Montana.
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Azul (NYSE:AZUL Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, FlyOnTheWall reports.
Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Azul from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report on Monday. Barclays upgraded shares of Azul from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $14.00 in a report on Monday, July 10th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Azul from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Azul from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and increased their target price for the company from $6.90 to $11.00 in a report on Monday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $12.70.
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Azul Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:AZUL traded down $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $8.27. The stock had a trading volume of 723,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,619,059. The firms fifty day moving average is $9.92 and its 200 day moving average is $9.22. Azul has a 52 week low of $3.82 and a 52 week high of $13.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.98 and a beta of 1.48.
Azul (NYSE:AZUL Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The company reported ($0.81) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $862.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $908.32 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Azul will post -1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Azul
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Azul by 721.4% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,922 shares of the companys stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Azul by 83.9% during the first quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 2,630 shares of the companys stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Azul during the second quarter worth about $39,000. UBS Group AG boosted its position in Azul by 930.7% during the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,628 shares of the companys stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Azul by 697.6% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,915 shares of the companys stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 6,048 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 1.56% of the companys stock.
About Azul
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Azul SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides scheduled air transportation services in Brazil. As of December 31, 2022, the company operated approximately 1,000 daily departures to 158 destinations through a network of 300 non-stop routes with an operating fleet of 177 aircraft and a passenger contractual fleet of 194 aircraft.
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BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust (NYSE:BGT Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 80,000 shares, an increase of 14.9% from the August 15th total of 69,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 91,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.9 days.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust
Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust by 48.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 32,000 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $408,000 after buying an additional 10,400 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust by 10.9% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 28,705 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $149,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust by 16.5% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 361,948 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $4,614,000 after acquiring an additional 51,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $252,000.
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BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust Stock Performance
Shares of NYSE:BGT traded up $0.06 on Tuesday, hitting $12.05. The companys stock had a trading volume of 49,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 87,466. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.50. BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust has a 1 year low of $10.56 and a 1 year high of $12.32.
BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust Increases Dividend
BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust Company Profile
The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.114 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This is a positive change from BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trusts previous monthly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $1.37 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.35%.
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BlackRock Floating Rate Income Trust is a close ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRoack Inc The fund is co-managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC and BlackRock Financial Management, Inc It invests in the fixed income markets across the globe while focusing on the United States. The fund invests in bonds of companies operating across diversified sectors.
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Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its position in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (BATS:IEFA Free Report) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,040,401 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 6,760 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF worth $70,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saxon Interests Inc. grew its holdings in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 16,684 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,126,000 after buying an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. grew its holdings in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF by 35.0% during the 2nd quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. now owns 228,821 shares of the companys stock valued at $15,221,000 after buying an additional 59,351 shares in the last quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. grew its holdings in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 22,118 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,493,000 after buying an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. WBH Advisory Inc. now owns 241,199 shares of the companys stock valued at $16,281,000 after buying an additional 16,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hubbell Strickland Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF by 6.0% during the 2nd quarter. Hubbell Strickland Wealth Management LLC now owns 48,727 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,289,000 after buying an additional 2,738 shares in the last quarter.
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iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF Trading Down 0.4 %
Shares of IEFA traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $66.39. 6,216,057 shares of the companys stock traded hands. The stock has a market cap of $97.59 billion, a PE ratio of 12.29 and a beta of 0.87. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $67.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.16. iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF has a 12 month low of $56.55 and a 12 month high of $70.84.
iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF Profile
The iShares Core MSCI EAFE ETF (IEFA) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI EAFE IMI index, a market-cap-weighted index of developed-market stocks in Europe, Australasia and the Far East, and excludes North America IEFA was launched on Oct 18, 2012 and is managed by BlackRock.
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Churchill Capital Corp VI (NYSE:CCVI Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,500 shares, a growth of 25.0% from the August 15th total of 2,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 55,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.0 days. Currently, 0.0% of the companys stock are short sold.
Insider Activity at Churchill Capital Corp VI
In other news, major shareholder Taconic Capital Advisors Lp sold 525,000 shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.40, for a total transaction of $5,460,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 3,134,784 shares in the company, valued at $32,601,753.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 20.00% of the companys stock.
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Institutional Investors Weigh In On Churchill Capital Corp VI
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI in the second quarter worth $254,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI by 12.7% during the second quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 240,250 shares of the companys stock worth $2,475,000 after buying an additional 27,150 shares in the last quarter. Berkley W R Corp acquired a new position in shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,545,000. P Schoenfeld Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,424,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Churchill Capital Corp VI during the second quarter valued at approximately $359,000. 39.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Churchill Capital Corp VI Stock Performance
Churchill Capital Corp VI Company Profile
Shares of NYSE:CCVI traded down $0.01 on Monday, reaching $10.40. 112 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 186,881. Churchill Capital Corp VI has a 1-year low of $9.82 and a 1-year high of $11.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $10.39 and a 200-day moving average of $10.25.
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Churchill Capital Corp VI does not have significant operations. It intends to effect a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization, or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Churchill Capital Corp VI was incorporated in 2020 and is based in New York, New York.
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Coursera, Inc. (NYSE:COUR Get Free Report) CEO Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.19, for a total transaction of $909,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,646,854 shares of the companys stock, valued at $48,146,274.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda also recently made the following trade(s):
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On Thursday, August 31st, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.41, for a total value of $870,500.00.
On Thursday, August 17th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.54, for a total transaction of $777,000.00.
On Thursday, August 3rd, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.93, for a total transaction of $796,500.00.
On Thursday, July 20th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total value of $673,500.00.
On Thursday, July 6th, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.31, for a total value of $615,500.00.
On Thursday, June 22nd, Jeffrey Nacey Maggioncalda sold 50,000 shares of Coursera stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.98, for a total transaction of $649,000.00.
Coursera Stock Performance
NYSE:COUR traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $18.71. 1,783,804 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,110,121. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $15.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.20 and a beta of 1.76. Coursera, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.81 and a fifty-two week high of $19.00.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Coursera ( NYSE:COUR Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.26) by $0.06. Coursera had a negative return on equity of 21.21% and a negative net margin of 26.19%. The company had revenue of $153.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $145.71 million. On average, analysts predict that Coursera, Inc. will post -0.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.
A number of brokerages have recently commented on COUR. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Coursera in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an outperform rating and set a $20.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a report on Friday, July 28th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Coursera from $12.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Coursera from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Coursera in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Coursera presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $18.78.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Coursera
Institutional Trading of Coursera
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Coursera during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Coursera by 187.5% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,366 shares of the companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,543 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Coursera by 277.8% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the companys stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 2,750 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Coursera during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in Coursera by 108.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 4,810 shares of the companys stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.36% of the companys stock.
About Coursera
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Coursera, Inc operates an online educational content platform that connects learners, educators, organizations, and institutions. It offers online courses that include data science, business, computer science, physical science and engineering, language learning, information technology, health, social sciences, math and logic, project management, and arts and humanities; campus student plans; degree courses; and certification education.
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Suzano (NYSE:SUZ Get Free Report) is one of 17 publicly-traded companies in the Paper mills industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Suzano to related companies based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, institutional ownership, risk, earnings, valuation and analyst recommendations.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Suzano and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Suzano 0 0 1 0 3.00 Suzano Competitors 112 706 471 47 2.34
As a group, Paper mills companies have a potential upside of 26.16%. Given Suzanos peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Suzano has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.
Valuation and Earnings
Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Suzano $9.65 billion $4.53 billion 3.16 Suzano Competitors $5.57 billion $686.61 million 28.92
This table compares Suzano and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Suzano has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. Suzano is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
2.6% of Suzano shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.7% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by institutional investors. 5.5% of shares of all Paper mills companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.
Risk & Volatility
Suzano has a beta of 1.16, meaning that its share price is 16% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Suzanos peers have a beta of 1.32, meaning that their average share price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Suzano and its peers net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Suzano 47.44% 64.65% 17.21% Suzano Competitors 7.59% 18.89% 6.66%
Dividends
Suzano pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Suzano pays out 9.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Paper mills companies pay a dividend yield of 3.7% and pay out 57.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Suzano has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years.
Summary
Suzano beats its peers on 8 of the 15 factors compared.
Suzano Company Profile
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Suzano S.A. produces and sells eucalyptus pulp and paper products in Brazil and internationally. It operates through Pulp and Paper segments. The company offers coated and uncoated printing and writing papers, paperboards, tissue papers, and market and fluff pulps; and lignin. It also engages in the research, development, and production of biofuel; operation of port terminals; power generation and distribution business; commercialization of equipment and parts; industrialization, commercialization, and exporting of pulp and standing wood; road freight transport; biotechnology research and development; and commercialization of paper and computer materials. In addition, the company is involved in the business office, production packaging, and financial fundraising activities; research, development, production, commercialization, and distribution of wood-based textile fibers, yarns, and filaments produced from cellulose and microfibrillated cellulose; and research and development of wood raw materials for the textile industry. Suzano S.A. was formerly known as Suzano Papel e Celulose S.A. and changed its name to Suzano S.A. in April 2019. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Salvador, Brazil.
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Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund (NYSEAMERICAN:EVV Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 130,200 shares, a decline of 26.1% from the August 15th total of 176,100 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 289,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.4 days.
Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund Stock Down 0.1 %
NYSEAMERICAN EVV traded down $0.01 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.16. The stock had a trading volume of 533,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 316,734. Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund has a twelve month low of $8.89 and a twelve month high of $10.57.
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Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be given a $0.0783 dividend. This represents a $0.94 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 8th.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund
Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund Company Profile
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,846 shares of the companys stock valued at $139,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 318,720 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,729,000 after buying an additional 8,362 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at about $152,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund by 31.3% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 278,097 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 66,314 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund in the 1st quarter valued at about $163,000.
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Eaton Vance Limited Duration Income Fund is a closed-ended fixed income mutual fund launched and managed by Eaton Vance Management. The fund invests in the fixed income markets of the United States. It primarily invests in senior, secured floating-rate loans, government agency mortgage-backed securities, and corporate bonds that are rated below investment grade.
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Reconstruction projects worth more than UAH 3 billion are being implemented in Kharkiv city and the region, Head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Synehubov has said.
"There is quite a lot of destruction in Kharkiv region: over 30,000 objects, with more than 10,000 from the housing stock. But it was the state that gave the first signal for restoration at the moment we are implementing restoration projects worth more than UAH 1 billion in the region, and including the city of Kharkiv more than UAH 3 billion," Synehubov said at the KHARKIV: RESTART investment forum in Kyiv on Tuesday.
According to him, among the projects being implemented are the restoration of infrastructure, including energy, housing, and projects to create a safe educational environment.
Synehubov said that in Kharkiv region, about a third of enterprises were destroyed or damaged - about 7,000, but 60% of them are ready to invest in resuming work in Kharkiv and the region.
"The decisions that will be implemented by the Ministry of Economy are very important. Last week, a meeting of the Presidium of the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities was held, where unique conditions for Kharkiv region were announced, in particular, loans at 1% and an increase in funding by more than UAH 150 million for one of the subjects," the head of Kharkiv Regional Military Administration said.
Granite Ridge Resources, Inc. (NYSE:GRNT Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 794,000 shares, an increase of 24.8% from the August 15th total of 636,100 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 305,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days.
Insider Activity
In related news, major shareholder Grep Gp Iii, Llc sold 8,165,000 shares of Granite Ridge Resources stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total transaction of $40,825,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,800,468 shares of the companys stock, valued at $84,002,340. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Luke C. Brandenberg purchased 10,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $5.00 per share, with a total value of $50,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,100. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Grep Gp Iii, Llc sold 8,165,000 shares of Granite Ridge Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.00, for a total value of $40,825,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,800,468 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $84,002,340. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
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Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hamilton Lane Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Granite Ridge Resources by 121.5% in the 1st quarter. Hamilton Lane Advisors LLC now owns 3,804,455 shares of the companys stock worth $22,332,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087,010 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Granite Ridge Resources by 636.7% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,402,820 shares of the companys stock worth $9,301,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212,392 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Granite Ridge Resources by 1,595.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 359,713 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,385,000 after acquiring an additional 338,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Granite Ridge Resources by 155.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 392,018 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 238,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC bought a new position in Granite Ridge Resources in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,064,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 7.56% of the companys stock.
Granite Ridge Resources Trading Up 0.5 %
GRNT stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $5.78. 905,323 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 195,053. Granite Ridge Resources has a 12 month low of $4.82 and a 12 month high of $14.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $7.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.37.
Granite Ridge Resources (NYSE:GRNT Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 10th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.17 by $0.02. Granite Ridge Resources had a return on equity of 24.71% and a net margin of 37.61%. The company had revenue of $87.56 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Granite Ridge Resources will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Granite Ridge Resources Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.11 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $0.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.61%.
Granite Ridge Resources Company Profile
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Granite Ridge Resources, Inc is an infrastructure firm and operates as a non-operated oil and gas exploration and production company. The firm invests in a diversified portfolio of production and top-tier acreage across the Permian and four other prolific US basins in partnership with operators. Granite Ridge Resources, Inc is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
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Great Wall Motor Company Limited (OTCMKTS:GWLLF Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,731,200 shares, a decrease of 26.3% from the August 15th total of 5,064,500 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3,731.2 days.
Great Wall Motor Stock Performance
OTCMKTS GWLLF remained flat at $1.20 during trading hours on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 2,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,895. The businesss 50 day moving average price is $1.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.19. Great Wall Motor has a twelve month low of $0.87 and a twelve month high of $1.58.
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About Great Wall Motor
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Further Reading
Great Wall Motor Company Limited researches and develops, manufactures, and sells automobiles, and automotive parts and components in China, Russia, South Africa, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Chile, and internationally. The company offers SUVs, sedans, pick-up trucks, and energy vehicles primarily under the Haval, WEY, ORA, Tank, and Great Wall Pickup brand names.
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High Peak Royalties Limited (ASX:HPR Get Free Report) insider David Croll bought 340,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of A$0.06 ($0.04) per share, with a total value of A$20,740.00 ($13,380.65).
High Peak Royalties Stock Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.47, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.55.
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High Peak Royalties Company Profile
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High Peak Royalties Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition of royalty and exploration interests in oil and gas assets. It has royalties over 20 oil and gas permits in Australia and over 2,000 wells in the United States. High Peak Royalties Limited was incorporated in 2006 and is based in Sydney, Australia.
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Kemira Oyj (OTCMKTS:KOYJF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,400 shares, a drop of 16.2% from the August 15th total of 30,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days.
Kemira Oyj Price Performance
Shares of Kemira Oyj stock remained flat at $16.00 during trading hours on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average price is $15.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.47. Kemira Oyj has a 12-month low of $14.70 and a 12-month high of $17.52.
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About Kemira Oyj
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Kemira Oyj operates as a chemicals company in Finland, rest of Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in two segments, Pulp & Paper and Industry & Water. The Pulp & Paper segment develops and commercializes pulp and paper, as well as a range of products for paper wet-end, including packaging and board, and tissue products.
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Kojamo Oyj (OTCMKTS:KOJAF Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,974,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the August 15th total of 1,789,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 0 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently days.
Kojamo Oyj Stock Performance
KOJAF remained flat at $24.62 during trading hours on Monday. Kojamo Oyj has a 1-year low of $23.11 and a 1-year high of $24.72. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $24.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.62.
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Analyst Ratings Changes
KOJAF has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kojamo Oyj from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Barclays cut shares of Kojamo Oyj from an overweight rating to an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, June 21st.
Kojamo Oyj Company Profile
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Kojamo Oyj, a private residential real estate company, provides rental apartments and housing services in Finland. It rents and manages apartments under the Lumo brand name. The company was formerly known as VVO Group plc and changed its name to Kojamo Oyj in March 2017. Kojamo Oyj was incorporated in 1969 and is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland.
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Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc. (NYSE:CAF Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,100 shares, a drop of 26.8% from the August 15th total of 5,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 35,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.1 days.
Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund Price Performance
Shares of NYSE:CAF traded up $0.04 during trading on Monday, reaching $12.54. 13,965 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 30,444. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.31. Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund has a 1-year low of $12.16 and a 1-year high of $16.80.
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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CAF. Almitas Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund in the 4th quarter worth approximately $338,000. Elequin Securities LLC boosted its position in Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund by 33.9% in the first quarter. Elequin Securities LLC now owns 4,524 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 21,474 shares of the investment management companys stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 2,835 shares during the period. Atlas Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund during the 4th quarter valued at $231,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund during the 4th quarter worth $214,000.
Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund Company Profile
Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund, Inc is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc It is co-managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company. The fund invests in the public equity markets of China. It seeks to invest in the stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors.
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National Bank of Greece S.A. (OTCMKTS:NBGIF Get Free Report) shares were up 4.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $6.16 and last traded at $6.16. Approximately 876 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 10,994 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.89.
National Bank of Greece Stock Up 4.5 %
The companys fifty day moving average is $6.74 and its 200 day moving average is $6.03.
About National Bank of Greece
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National Bank of Greece SA, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Greece, the United Kingdom, North Macedonia, Romania, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Malta, Egypt, and Luxembourg. It operates through Retail Banking, Corporate & Investment Banking, Trouble Assets Unit, Global Markets and Asset Management, Insurance, International Banking Operations, and Other segments.
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ORIX Co. (NYSE:IX Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 32,500 shares, a growth of 23.6% from the August 15th total of 26,300 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 25,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.
ORIX Price Performance
Shares of IX stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $99.28. The stock had a trading volume of 10,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,621. ORIX has a 12-month low of $68.78 and a 12-month high of $100.71. The company has a market cap of $23.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $92.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.
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ORIX (NYSE:IX Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.96 earnings per share for the quarter. ORIX had a return on equity of 7.88% and a net margin of 10.18%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ORIX will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Separately, StockNews.com initiated coverage on ORIX in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a buy rating for the company.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on IX
Institutional Trading of ORIX
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ORIX by 8.7% during the first quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ORIX by 8.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,858 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in ORIX by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 643 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ORIX by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 242,645 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $19,916,000 after buying an additional 3,604 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ORIX in the 4th quarter worth about $306,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.73% of the companys stock.
About ORIX
(Get Free Report)
ORIX Corporation provides diversified financial services in Japan, the United States, Asia, Europe, Australasia, and the Middle East. The company's Corporate Financial Services and Maintenance Leasing segment is involved in the finance and fee; leasing and rental of automobiles, electronic measuring instruments, and ICT-related equipment businesses; and provision of life insurance and environment and energy-related products and services.
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Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:PARR Free Report) by 103.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,035,157 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 1,034,006 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.s holdings in Par Pacific were worth $54,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,584 shares of the companys stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 26,259 shares of the companys stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,647 shares of the companys stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 10,446 shares of the companys stock valued at $305,000 after buying an additional 587 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Par Pacific by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 28,525 shares of the companys stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.83% of the companys stock.
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Par Pacific Stock Down 0.2 %
Shares of PARR traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.20. 188,129 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 918,785. Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. has a 52 week low of $14.42 and a 52 week high of $37.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The companys 50 day moving average is $33.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 2.08.
Insider Activity at Par Pacific
Par Pacific ( NYSE:PARR Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 7th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.53. Par Pacific had a return on equity of 73.08% and a net margin of 8.45%. The company had revenue of $1.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.57 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. will post 8.24 earnings per share for the current year.
In other Par Pacific news, insider Jeffrey Ryan Hollis sold 3,125 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $114,656.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $535,307.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Par Pacific news, insider Jeffrey Ryan Hollis sold 3,125 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.69, for a total value of $114,656.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,590 shares of the companys stock, valued at $535,307.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President William Monteleone sold 14,063 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $491,923.74. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 309,720 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $10,834,005.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 132,287 shares of company stock valued at $4,617,780 over the last quarter. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Par Pacific from $31.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, September 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Par Pacific from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Par Pacific from $36.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Par Pacific currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $33.29.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on PARR
Par Pacific Profile
(Free Report)
Par Pacific Holdings, Inc owns and operates energy and infrastructure businesses. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Retail, and Logistics. The Refining segment owns and operates three refineries that produces ultra-low sulfur diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, marine fuel, distillate, asphalt, low sulfur fuel oil, and other associated refined products primarily for consumption in Hawaii, Pacific Northwest, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
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Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL Get Free Report)s stock price traded down 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $2.50 and last traded at $2.53. 67,055 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 156,008 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.55.
Permianville Royalty Trust Price Performance
The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.58. The stock has a market cap of $83.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.33.
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Permianville Royalty Trust (NYSE:PVL Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 14th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter. Permianville Royalty Trust had a return on equity of 23.97% and a net margin of 23.82%. The firm had revenue of $11.33 million for the quarter.
Permianville Royalty Trust Cuts Dividend
Insider Transactions at Permianville Royalty Trust
The business also recently announced a monthly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 31st were paid a $0.009 dividend. This represents a $0.11 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 30th. Permianville Royalty Trusts payout ratio is 25.58%.
In other news, major shareholder Permianville Holdings Llc sold 18,103 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.98, for a total transaction of $53,946.94. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,443,307 shares of the companys stock, valued at $22,181,054.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 95,319 shares of company stock valued at $284,832 over the last 90 days.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Permianville Royalty Trust
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its position in Permianville Royalty Trust by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 897,645 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,244,000 after buying an additional 60,809 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Permianville Royalty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Citadel Advisors LLC bought a new position in Permianville Royalty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $152,000. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP grew its stake in Permianville Royalty Trust by 15.4% in the second quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP now owns 41,080 shares of the companys stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 5,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Permianville Royalty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 5.54% of the companys stock.
About Permianville Royalty Trust
(Get Free Report)
Permianville Royalty Trust operates as a statutory trust. It acquires and holds net profits interest representing the right to receive 80% of the net profits from the sale of oil and natural gas production from properties located in the states of Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. The company was formerly known as Enduro Royalty Trust and changed its name to Permianville Royalty Trust in September 2018.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. According to international law, the region of Karabakh is a part of Azerbaijan, Luke Coffey, senior fellow at Hudson Institute, said, Trend reports.
As of right now, all of Azerbaijans military operations are taking place inside Azerbaijan. Armenia is not being invaded. Armenian troops inside Azerbaijan are being attacked. These are facts, he wrote on his page on X (Twitter).
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
Shares of Razor Energy Corp. (OTCMKTS:RZREF Get Free Report) were down 14.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $0.40 and last traded at $0.40. Approximately 480 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 97% from the average daily volume of 14,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $0.47.
Razor Energy Stock Down 14.9 %
The company has a fifty day moving average of $0.50 and a 200-day moving average of $0.61.
About Razor Energy
(Get Free Report)
Razor Energy Corp. engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas properties in western Canada. The Company produces primarily light oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in Alberta. It operates assets in the Swan Hills area covering 155,520 gross acres of total land and the Kaybob area covering 84,320 gross acres of total land located in the west central Alberta, as well as the District South area covering 79,093 gross acres of total land located in the southern Alberta.
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Infosys Limited (NYSE:INFY Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 45,330,000 shares, a growth of 15.2% from the August 15th total of 39,360,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 9,360,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.8 days.
Infosys Price Performance
Shares of INFY traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $17.79. The company had a trading volume of 3,141,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,489,390. The companys 50-day moving average is $17.05 and its 200-day moving average is $16.43. The company has a market capitalization of $73.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.97. Infosys has a twelve month low of $14.71 and a twelve month high of $20.57.
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Infosys (NYSE:INFY Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The technology company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.01). Infosys had a net margin of 16.41% and a return on equity of 32.39%. The firm had revenue of $4.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.55 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Infosys will post 0.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on INFY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Infosys in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. They issued a buy rating on the stock. Nomura upgraded shares of Infosys from a reduce rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Infosys in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Infosys in a research report on Tuesday, May 23rd. They set an underweight rating and a $14.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Infosys in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $18.00.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on INFY
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Infosys
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Veritas Asset Management LLP lifted its stake in Infosys by 55.6% in the second quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP now owns 420,000 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $6,749,000 after buying an additional 150,000 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Infosys by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wambolt & Associates LLC now owns 27,854 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 5,854 shares during the period. GTS Securities LLC bought a new position in Infosys during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $355,000. West Family Investments Inc. acquired a new position in Infosys during the second quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Infosys by 20.4% during the second quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 234,878 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $3,774,000 after purchasing an additional 39,740 shares during the period. 11.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Infosys
(Get Free Report)
Infosys Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, technology, outsourcing, and next-generation digital services in North America, Europe, India, and internationally. It provides application management and application development services, independent validation solutions, product engineering and management, infrastructure management services, traditional enterprise application implementation, support, and integration services.
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SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY Free Report) by 0.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,892 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 53 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for 2.2% of SJS Investment Consulting Inc.s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.s holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $8,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oxler Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Eli Lilly and Company by 0.4% during the first quarter. Oxler Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,050 shares of the companys stock valued at $2,078,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% in the first quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 774 shares of the companys stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 0.6% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 4,331 shares of the companys stock worth $1,487,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 2.8% in the first quarter. Cora Capital Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the companys stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 2.7% in the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the companys stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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Eli Lilly and Company Stock Performance
Shares of LLY stock traded down $0.21 on Tuesday, reaching $571.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,085,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,026,357. The stock has a market cap of $542.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.32. Eli Lilly and Company has a 1 year low of $296.32 and a 1 year high of $601.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $512.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $439.28.
Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend
Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $2.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.98 by $0.13. Eli Lilly and Company had a return on equity of 65.00% and a net margin of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $8.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. The businesss revenue was up 28.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Eli Lilly and Company will post 9.84 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 14th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Eli Lilly and Companys dividend payout ratio is 62.87%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $500.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Argus raised their target price on Eli Lilly and Company from $470.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the stock from $408.00 to $615.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $510.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $532.78.
Check Out Our Latest Report on LLY
Insider Activity
In other news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total transaction of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,275,279 shares of the companys stock, valued at $54,825,684,274,988.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Lilly Endowment Inc sold 37,660 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $546,751.75, for a total value of $20,590,670,905.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,275,279 shares in the company, valued at $54,825,684,274,988.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total value of $678,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 7,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,586,004.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 976,153 shares of company stock valued at $21,080,192,113. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Eli Lilly and Company Profile
(Free Report)
Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.
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VS Media Holdings Ltd. (VSME) plans to raise $10 million in an IPO on Wednesday, September 27th, IPO Scoop reports. The company will issue 2,000,000 shares at a price of $5.00 per share.
In the last year, VS Media Holdings Ltd. generated $9 million in revenue and $3.5 million in net income. VS Media Holdings Ltd. has a market-cap of $110 million.
Univest Securities acted as the underwriter for the IPO.
VS Media Holdings Ltd. provided the following description of their company for its IPO: We are the BVI-incorporated holding company for the Hong Kong-based content creation company. (Incorporated in the British Virgin Islands) We are a British Virgin Islands business company incorporated on August 30, 2022, as a holding company of our business, which is primarily operated through our indirect wholly-owned HK SAR subsidiary, VS Media Limited (asVS Media HKat), our indirect wholly-owned HK SAR subsidiary, GRACE CREATION LIMITED (asGrace Creationat), and our indirect wholly-owned Taiwan subsidiary, VS MEDIA LIMITED (asVS Media TWat). Founded in 2013, our company manages a global network of digital Creators who create and publish content to social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Our Creators include influencers, KOLsaKey Opinion Leaders, bloggers, and other content creators who cultivate fanbases on social media platforms. *Note: Revenue and net income figures are in U.S. dollars for the year ended Dec.31, 2022. A Our business provides value to two major business stakeholders: Creators and Brands. A A aZ Our Value to Creators: We empower and support Creators by (i) providing them with production facilities, training, and funding to produce quality content; (ii) helping them expand their social media influence and fanbase by assisting with marketing, public relations and audience analytics; and (iii) most importantly, enabling them to monetize their influence by working effectively with Brands, platforms, and fans. A A aZ Our Value to Brands: We bridge the divide between Brands and Creators through helping Brands reach their target audience effectively by (i) advising on content strategy and budget and recommending specific Creators; (ii) communicating with and managing selected Creators; (iii) producing engaging and relevant content with Creators to promote key messages for Brands; (iv) publishing branded content on Creatorsa social media channels; (v) amplifying the reach of Creatorsa and Brandsa content through precise media planning and buying on social media platforms; (vi) providing optimization and retainer services through data analysis and reporting. A We have developed two distinct but complementary business models: Marketing Services and Social Commerce. A A aZ Marketing Services Model: We help Creators to generate revenue by working with Brands and social media platforms. We do this in two ways: (1) We assist Brands in developing their content and social media strategy and guide them in selecting relevant Creators to create engaging content, publish content on social media platforms, and attract fansa attention and increase their responsiveness to the Brandas message. We bridge the divide between Brands and Creators by offering Brands local, relevant, and effective solutions from Creators. We also provide advice on marketing strategies and services on performance optimization to Brands to improve the effectiveness of their branded content and ads, all of which are highly interrelated and not separately identifiable. (2) We assist Creators in earning advertising revenue by creating and publishing content on social media platforms, like YouTube and Facebook. A aZ Social Commerce Model: We purchase products from Brands and re-sell them to Creators to help Creators build their own eCommerce businesses. In some cases, we also help Creators sell products and merchandise directly to their fanbase/customers. .
VS Media Holdings Ltd. was founded in 2013 and has 41 employees. The company is located at 6/F, KOHO, 75 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, Hong Kong and can be reached via phone at +852 2889 1313 or on the web at https://www.vs-media.com/.
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Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report issued on Monday.
A number of other research firms have also commented on WBS. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Webster Financial from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Webster Financial in a research report on Thursday, May 25th. They issued a buy rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Webster Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Webster Financial from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $51.20.
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Webster Financial Price Performance
Shares of Webster Financial stock traded down $0.77 during trading on Monday, hitting $40.87. 766,474 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,264,390. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firms fifty day moving average price is $43.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.08. Webster Financial has a twelve month low of $31.03 and a twelve month high of $56.46. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a PE ratio of 7.78 and a beta of 1.28.
Webster Financial (NYSE:WBS Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $673.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $690.83 million. Webster Financial had a net margin of 26.69% and a return on equity of 13.68%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Webster Financial will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Webster Financial
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Webster Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Webster Financial by 9,388.9% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 854 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Webster Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Webster Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in Webster Financial by 305.8% in the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 905 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. 86.37% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
About Webster Financial
(Get Free Report)
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.
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Harbor Island Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Free Report) by 9.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 287,873 shares of the financial services providers stock after selling 30,898 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company makes up approximately 6.6% of Harbor Island Capital LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Harbor Island Capital LLCs holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $12,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WFC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 4th quarter worth $2,049,693,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 129,312.1% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 26,287,479 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $1,085,410,000 after purchasing an additional 26,267,166 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Wells Fargo & Company by 1,478.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 8,390,611 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $406,609,000 after purchasing an additional 7,859,100 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $345,861,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 15,661,675 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $646,671,000 after acquiring an additional 4,382,639 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.47% of the companys stock.
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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have commented on WFC shares. StockNews.com began coverage on Wells Fargo & Company in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a hold rating on the stock. VNET Group reissued a maintains rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Odeon Capital Group lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $43.75 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $50.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Sunday, July 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $48.39.
Wells Fargo & Company Stock Down 0.7 %
NYSE:WFC traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.11. The stock had a trading volume of 7,660,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,306,496. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $43.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.42. Wells Fargo & Company has a 1-year low of $35.25 and a 1-year high of $48.84. The company has a market capitalization of $157.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.14.
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 14th. The financial services provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.16 by $0.09. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 16.18% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $20.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $20.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Wells Fargo & Companys revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Wells Fargo & Company will post 4.84 EPS for the current year.
Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 4th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 3rd. This is a boost from Wells Fargo & Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Wells Fargo & Companys payout ratio is 35.00%.
Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile
(Free Report)
Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Leyla Abdullayeva, Ambassador of Azerbaijan to France, has held a meeting with the members of the European American Press Club in Paris, Trend reports.
Was pleased to host the members of the European American Press Club in Paris. I spoke about Azerbaijan, its foreign policy and the role on the international arena, answered questions of journalists on latest regional developments, including the recent local counter-terrorism measures taken by Azerbaijan, she wrote on her page on X (Twitter).
JSW Infra does not have any plans to raise funds after its initial public offering (IPO), the company's Joint Managing Director (Jt MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arun Maheshwari told Moneycontrol in an interview.
Last year, the company raised Rs 3000 crore in funds through a sale of bonds in the international market.
He added that JSW Infra has sufficient cash flows to fund future expansion plans and that it is comfortable with a net debt of around Rs 2,000 crore.
Maheshwari sees India's thermal energy consumption peaking by 2050, despite the push for green energy. That leaves a good two to three decades for coal demand to grow in India.
Watch the full interview here:
Edited excerpts from the interview:
Q. Given that the stock market is hovering near its all-time high, why did you launch JSW Infra's IPO at this time? How will it benefit the company and potential investors?
Arun: In January 2022, when we brought in the bond issue, we had given the guidance that, towards the end of the calendar year 2023, we'd be going public and that we had certain capex plans and strategies in place.
By virtue of that, we had planned this IPO about one and a half to two years ago. And the timing seems to be correct.
Q. Your company has only one listed peer Adani Ports and SEZ Limited. Your DRHP includes a comparison with Adani for all accounting ratios. Is that an appropriate comparison given the difference in scale and the nature of the cargo?
Arun: Definitely, Adanis scale is much higher than ours, but it is a fair comparison today. There is another listed company, Pipavav Port, but they are purely into containers.
There is no other major comparison in India.
Q. JSW Infra has high exposure to coal and steel cargoes. Given the volatility in the energy and commodity markets in the last two years, whats your outlook?
Arun: I would say that we are just a port company handling cargo for customers in the steel, power, and other sectors.
So, we are not cyclical per se. Our volumes have been very stable over the past 20 years of operations, across sectors.
Our volumes have been consistently growing. The cyclical nature of the industry has not had any impact.
However, when the steel cycle moves up or down, margins may be impacted.
But volumes in India have been continuously growing for these sectors. So, we are well positioned to handle these cargoes.
Q. Given that your cargo handling volumes are expected to benefit from the energy expansion plans of JSW Steel and JSW Energy, how do you expect your volumes to increase in the next five years? How are you planning to increase your installed cargo handling capacity from 153.43 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) now to 200 mtpa?
Arun: We are fortunate that we are part of the JSW Group.
However, being separate companies, we are not guaranteeing each other the cargo or the services. We get the advantage of being looked at first and if we are able to handle the volume, we carry forward with the assignment.
We are well poised. JSW Steel and Energy had been very solid anchor customers for us during all these years of our growth journey.
Going forward, they will continue to be there.
But our ambition in the last five years has been very different.
We have been investing a lot in our third-party business profile, whether it's container, LPG, fertiliser, sugar, or coal exports to the coastal thermal power plants.
This has been our growth journey in the last five years, and the focus has been quite strong.
Almost 36-37 percent of our total volume as of June 2023 has been from third-party services.
Q. In third-party business, which are the major segments in EXIM traffic where you are planning to increase your market share?
Arun: Our major focus would be on containers, liquid, gas, and value-added services so as to further strengthen our position in the segments.
Q. According to the DRHP, for the nine months ended December 31, 2022, JSW Infra handled a cargo volume of 66.70 million metric tonnes (MMT). What was the volume for the full year 2022-23, and what are your expectations for 2023-24?
Arun: In 2022-23, we handled 93 MMT of cargo. In the June quarter of 2023-24, we handled about 25 MMT of cargo.
The June quarter is generally a good indication of the cargo volumes we expect to handle in the coming quarters. Having said that, the second half is generally slightly better than the first half.
Q. Last year, you had raised around Rs 3,000 crore ($400 million) through an international bond issue. This year, youre looking to raise around Rs 2,800 crore through the IPO. Going forward, should we expect the company to raise around Rs 3,000 crore annually?
Arun: No. We are financially very prudent. As a group, we have been prudent. We would like to be as prudent as we have been so far.
Our internal cash generation is also quite strong. The kinds of projects we are taking on and what we envisage as our future strategy will be sufficiently covered by our internal cash flows and the money that we are raising now.
Our balance sheet is healthy and our ratios are good. Going forward, if the need arises, we can raise further money.
Q. Your DRHP says that out of the total proceeds, Rs 880 crore will be used to invest in the companys arms, JSW Dharamtar Port Pvt Ltd and JSW Jaigarh Port Ltd, towards repayment of their debt. As of December 2022, JSW Dharamtar Port had a total debt of Rs 4,303.90 crore. What would be the ideal debt level for Dharamtar Port?
Arun: As of 31 March 2023, JSW Infrastructure's gross debt stood at about Rs 4,200 crore. Our net debt was around Rs 2,200 crore, of which we will pay off Rs 880 crore.
Q. Your DRHP says that Rs 151.05 crore will go into financing the capex of JSW Mangalore Container Terminal at New Mangalore Port (NMPT). How much more capex is needed for NMPT?
Arun: Yes, close to that. The total capacity after this investment in the second phase would be close to about 370,000 TEUs per annum.
Q. According to the DRHP, Rs 865.75 crore will be used for an LPG terminal project. Is this the Floating Storage and Regasification Unit being commissioned at H-Energys Jaigarh Terminal, Jaigarh Port, or is this a separate project?
Arun: This is a separate new project. We are preparing our onshore tankage facility at Jaigarh Port for LPG, which will be one-of-a-kind in India.
We will be aiming for an additional capacity of about two million tonnes at the LPG terminal. It will be commissioned in around 30 months.
Q. Given that EXIM volumes in India have fallen in the last six months, what are your expectations for cargo volumes? When do you expect EXIM volumes in the industry to bounce back?
Arun: (The performance of) one or two quarters should not be an indicator. The way India is growing and offering opportunities for growth is amazing. I think we are well positioned in this sector in the country.
Q. Last year, JSW Infra commissioned the Paradip East Quay coal terminal in Odisha with a capacity of 30 mtpa. Given that Indias coal imports have fallen 25 percent in the last three years and are expected to fall further with the governments push towards green energy, what are the long-term plans for Paradip Port?
Arun: We use the Paradip Coal Export Terminal to transport coal across the eastern coastal belt of India.
We supply coal to power gencos in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, and Karnataka from Paradip Port.
Our new terminal has been operational for the last 18-20 months and we are very happy to say that we are touching close to 60 percent utilisation.
I agree that there has been a serious attempt to shift towards green energy sources, but if we look at all government and industry reports, I think we will peak on energy consumption on the thermal side by 2050.
There's still very good demand for coal, and more capacities are being added towards the south of India in thermal power plants. It has a good future, at least for two to three decades more.
Q. The Indian Railways has been looking to increase its market share in cargo handling. Do you have any plans to connect your ports with the dedicated freight corridors through a direct rail line?
Arun: Yes, we will definitely explore the possibility of connecting our ports to direct railway lines.
Q. How do you view the competition in India, especially given the consolidation thats happening in ports?
Arun: India has a coastline of 7,500 kilometers, and our EXIM traffic is only expected to grow. There is enough (for everyone).
Everybody can create assets, and we would encourage more players to set up shop. If the economy has to go from $4 trillion to $10 trillion, we need more players in this sector.
There is enough (for everyone) and everyone can grow very, very robustly in this sector.
Q. Are there any plans to diversify into any other segments within infrastructure?
Arun: Anything that adds value to our port sector would be very encouraging for us, whether it is the railway line, slurry pipelines, or gas lines. That would be exciting.
We are not averse; we are not closing our doors on any other opportunity that will add value to our business.
Q. In March, the National Green Tribunal suspended the environmental clearance for Jindal Steel Works (JSW) mega project at the Paradip port. Has there been a significant development since then? How are you planning to address the concerns raised by the NGT?
Arun: I think JSW Steel can probably answer this question better.
But what I understand largely is that everything is on course, and we are going ahead with that project. All approvals are in place for now.
Lovisha Darad Lovisha is passionate about domestic and global equity market development. She writes stories exclusively on equities from a fundamental perspective, gathering insights from niche market gurus.
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.
ASTRAKHAN, Russia, September 19. Russia's Astrakhan region maintains close ties, including trade and economic connections, with Azerbaijan, the region's governor Igor Babushkin told Trend.
He made the remark on the sidelines of the VIII Caspian Media Forum, held within the framework of the meeting of delegations from countries participating in the "Caspian Media Forum - 2023" in Astrakhan.
According to the governor, during the past period of the current year alone, the cargo turnover [between Azerbaijan and Astrakhan region] has grown fourfold on an annual basis, reaching $72 million.
"Of course, we have also significant humanitarian connections. The activities of the Azerbaijani Business Center in the Astrakhan region are of great importance, and recently, an Astrakhan Business Center was opened in Azerbaijan, serving as a focal point for business structures and humanitarian engagement," Babushkin said. "The Astrakhan region actively promotes the opportunities of its educational institutions in Azerbaijan and sees substantial prospects in cooperation in shipbuilding and logistics chains."
The forum, held on September 18-19, features delegations from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, with Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan participating as observers.
This year's theme for the forum is "Public Diplomacy and Social Media as Factors in Bringing Nations Closer Together".
The "Caspian Media Forum 2023" is organized by the Astrakhan regional government with the support of the Office of the President of Russia, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media of Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Association of the Caspian-Eurasia International and Socio-Political Research Center, and the North-South Political Science Center.
Souptik Datta Reports real estate, infra and city in Bengaluru. Btw, curiosity never kills the cat.
RUSSIA, Astrakhan, September 19. A meeting of the heads of delegations of the countries participating in the Caspian Media Forum 2023 was held today at the Marins Grand Hotel Astrakhan, Trend reports from the scene.
The event was attended by the Governor of the Astrakhan region, Igor Babushkin, delegations from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, and Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan as observers. The Azerbaijani delegation at the media forum is headed by the executive director of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ahmad Ismayilov.
"The media event is aimed at developing socio-economic and humanitarian cooperation between the countries of the Caspian region. I am confident that the "Caspian Media Forum 2023" will contribute to the further expansion and strengthening of cooperation between the journalistic community of the countries of the Caspian region," the Governor of the Astrakhan region, Igor Babushkin, noted.
September 19 is the main day of the "Caspian Media Forum 2023". This year, the theme of the forum is "Public diplomacy and social media as a factor in bringing people closer together."
During the forum, representatives of the journalistic community, government bodies, experts, scientists, and political scientists, as well as leaders of public organizations, will discuss the most current information agenda. Participants will analyze the state and prospects of public diplomacy in the Caspian region, present best practices, and also find new relevant channels of interaction. Problems and prospects for the development of the media education system and current formats for strengthening trust and mutual understanding will be discussed.
The plenary session on the topic "The role of the media in strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between the countries of the Caspian region" will be opened by the governor of the Astrakhan region, Igor Babushkin. The moderator will be TASS Deputy Editor-in-Chief Alexey Kharnas. In the format of a discussion platform, the International Transport Corridor "North-South", which plays an important role in the development of trade and economic relations, will be presented, and a debate will be held on the topic "Personnel Decide: Problems and Prospects for the Development of the Media Education System." The forum will also sum up the results of the competition for the best journalistic work "Caspian without Borders,", in which more than 450 media outlets and bloggers from the Caspian countries participated.
"Caspian Media Forum 2023" was organized by the Government of the Astrakhan Region with the support of the Administration of the President of Russia, the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Communications of Russia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, the Association "Center for International and Socio-Political Research "Caspian-Eurasia" and the Political Science Center "North-South".
Aaron Brown is a former managing director and head of financial market research at AQR Capital Management. Views are personal and do not represent the stand of this publication.
RUSSIA, Astrakhan, September 19. Azerbaijan and Astrakhan are connected by interesting moments in the history of our journalism, said the executive director of the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ahmed Ismayilov, at the meeting of the heads of delegations of the countries participating in the "Caspian Media Forum 2023" in Astrakhan, Trend reports from the scene.
The forum on September 18 and 19 is attended by delegations from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan, as well as observers from Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan. This year, the theme of the forum is "Public diplomacy and social media as a factor in bringing people closer together."
"Our countries and societies, and accordingly, our media spaces, have many things in common. Astrakhan and Azerbaijan are connected by interesting moments in the history of our journalism. So, it was here, in Astrakhan, that at the beginning of the last century some Azerbaijani newspapers were published ("Hummat" (19191920), "Burhani-Hagigat" (19061911), "Haqq" (1914), thanks to which the local audience had the opportunity to read materials and works from the pens of such outstanding Azerbaijani writers as Mamed-Said Ordubadi, Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Muhammad Hadi, Nariman Narimanov, and many others. Also, such significant Azerbaijani publications as "Akinci" and "Molla Nasraddin" were distributed here," Ahmed Ismayilov said.
It was noted that Russia is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan, with which there is active cooperation in almost all directions, and the Astrakhan region, in particular, plays a special role in deepening these relations. Various programs and projects are being implemented in the economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as in the media space.
"The key to such close and friendly relations between our countries was the personal relations of the leaders of our countries. The national leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, played an important role in establishing friendly relations with Russia and laid the foundations for a strategic partnership between the two countries," Ismayilov said.
He noted that Baku and Astrakhan are sister cities.
"We are pleased that in Astrakhan there is a monument to the great leader Heydar Aliyev, there is a school that proudly bears his name, the Azerbaijan Business Center operates, and that Azerbaijan also contributes to the cultural prosperity of the Astrakhan region," Ismayilov said.
It was spoken about the successful activities of the Azerbaijan Media Development Agency, including in the international arena, and the states concern for the media sphere.
"The Shusha Global Media Forum, which took place in July in our cultural capital, the city of Shusha, was not only an event in honor of the 148th anniversary of the Azerbaijani national press but also an important platform for global discussion of media and international communications issues. The forum's sessions and discussions covered the topics of future media development, new tools in journalism, and investment and consumer trends in media. These discussions helped us better understand what changes are taking place in the media and what new challenges and opportunities we face. The forum also became a place for the exchange of best practices and innovations. We have seen how different countries use the media factor to achieve their public diplomacy goals. This experience inspires us to collaborate, develop new strategies, and actively participate in such international platforms. Azerbaijan, as a multicultural country with a rich history and cultural heritage, is proud of its experience in the field of public diplomacy. We believe that media is a powerful tool that can bring people and cultures closer together. With their help, we can easily exchange information, ideas, and experiences with people from different countries and cultural contexts. Social media, as a strong factor in public diplomacy, is helping to ensure that borders between nations become increasingly transparent. They allow ordinary people to express their opinions, share their culture and traditions, and learn from each other. This two-way flow of information and dialogue helps create warmer and more trusting relationships between countries and their people. Public diplomacy through social media has the potential to change the world for the better, bring people closer together, and promote universal understanding," Akhmad Ismayilov said, expressing gratitude for the warm welcome and organization of the event.
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Parul Chandra is a Delhi-based journalist. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Aurangzeb Naqshbandi is a senior journalist who has been covering the Congress for 15 years, and is currently associated with Pixstory.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The United States welcomes todays shipment of critical humanitarian supplies through both the Lachin and Aghdam-Khankendi roads into Karabakh, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on his X page, Trend reports.
"We encourage direct talks to increase the flow of humanitarian supplies", - he added.
Meanwhile, the separatists in Karabakh finally submitted to Azerbaijan's conditions and agreed to the simultaneous opening of the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road. Thus, the separatist leaders decided to accept the joint proposal of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Khankendi and the command of the Russian peacekeepers [temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on simultaneous transportation of food by ICRC vehicles along the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road.
The agreement on the simultaneous opening of these routes was actually reached on September 1. The separatists delayed this process for more than two weeks.
Trucks belonging to the ICRC, parallel to the Aghdam-Khankendi road, also passed through the Lachin border checkpoint.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Turkiye plays an active and productive role in the peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said while answering a question from American journalist Paolo von Schirach, Trend reports.
Paolo von Schirach is the founder and editor-in-chief of the Schirach Report news agency, who visited Azerbaijan in June this year during a meeting with think tanks in New York.
"I visited Karabakh at the invitation of your brotherly country, Azerbaijan, and I was very impressed by what I saw in the region," the journalist said when he asked Erdogan about the steps Turkiye has taken to achieve peace between the two countries.
In response, the Turkish president said Ankara was very hopeful of establishing lasting peace in the region and welcomed Azerbaijan's efforts to solve the problem.
"Together with our Azerbaijani brothers, we continue our efforts to establish peace in the region. Turkiye has shown all its capabilities to solve the problem and is in close contact with both sides. We hope that restoring peace between the two countries will contribute to the development of the region," Erdogan emphasized.
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Are most stocks on the ASX fairly priced? How efficient is the market? I put market efficiency to the test by selecting five ASX 200 stocks at random to see whether their intrinsic value approximates their market price. Read on for the results...
90% of stocks are fairly priced.
At least, thats what some buy-side analysts think.
Retired hedge fund manager Brett Caughran who now runs Fundamental Edge frequently points out 90% of stocks are somewhat fairly priced.
But he didnt take this as bad news.
Because, at nearly all times, at least 10% of stocks are meaningfully mispriced.
The smart money chases those exceptions.
Thats where the alpha lies
But how much of this is true?
Are markets really that efficient?
What if we take five stocks at random from the ASX 200 and value them? Will the valuations be similar to the markets?
Thats what I sought to find out today.
But first, a detour about the efficient market hypothesis.
Is the efficient market hypothesis true?
Many corners of the market deride the efficient market hypothesis.
Any irrational exuberance is snidely brought forward as refuting evidence.
Tulips, housing, the internet bubbles are mentioned as clear rebuttals to market efficiency.
But the theory isnt so strong or silly as to actually claim all stock prices are correct.
No. The theory only posits that stocks mostly reflect all available information.
The market is a sponge that quickly absorbs news, updates, releases, financial statements and their implications.
Further, the theory argues that stock prices reflect all available information up to a point.
As an RBA research paper explained:
For one thing, this is a strong version of the hypothesis that could only be literally true if all available information was costless to obtain. If information was instead costly, there must be a financial incentive to obtain it. But there would not be a financial incentive if the information was already fully reflected in asset prices. A weaker, but economically more realistic, version of the hypothesis is therefore that prices reflect information up to the point where the marginal benefits of acting on the information (the expected profits to be made) do not exceed the marginal costs of collecting it.
Even Eugene Fama who won a Nobel Prize for his advancement of the efficient market hypothesis said this many years ago about security analysis:
If there are many analysts who are pretty good at this sort of thingthey help narrow discrepancies between actual prices and intrinsic values and cause actual prices, on the average, to adjust instantaneously to changes in intrinsic values Although the returns to these sophisticated analysts may be quite high, they establish a market in which fundamental analysis is a fairly useless procedure both for the average analyst and the average investor.
Clearly, Famas final message in the preceding quote riles many investors up.
We cant all be exceptional. Chances are, we are part of the average. Does that mean our attempts at security analysis are fairly useless?
Should we really just lay down the laptops, close the spreadsheets, and buy index funds?
Lets run an experiment to find out.
Are ASX stocks mostly fairly priced?
Lets pick five stocks from the ASX 200 at random and see if they are fairly priced.
I asked Number Generator to spit out five numbers between 1 and 200. It outputted 38, 126, 10, 162, and 120.
Using Mondays close, those numbers correspond with the following ASX 200 stocks by descending market capitalisation:
Reece [ASX:REH]
Stanmore Resources [ASX:SMR]
Wesfarmers [ASX:WES]
Contact Energy [ASX:CEN]
A2 Milk [ASX:A2M]
Reece
Lets value Reece first.
Reece is a $12 billion plumbing and bathroom supplies business, established in 1920.
Its an ASX stalwart.
Does its long presence on the ASX mean it trades at a fair value?
Using an 8% discount rate (which I will use for all stocks) and FY24 consensus estimates, I get an intrinsic value estimate of about $7.50 a share.
Reece last traded at $18.70 a share.
Thatsa massive mispricing right off the bat.
Consensus estimates pin Reeces FY24 ROE at 9.3%. But at its current price, its trading at an implied ROE of about 16%.
According to Market Index, Reece hasnt hit a ROE that high since 2017.
What if we use the dividend discount model? Will we get the same valuation?
Pretty close, at $8.52 a share.
Both methods suggest Reece is grossly overvalued.
Stanmore Resources
Stanmore is a coal producer with a market cap of about $3 billion.
Is it fairly priced?
Not according to the valuation model. But thats because the model relies on steady ROE and dividend payout figures.
Stanmore Resources is highly cyclical and has oscillated between losses with no dividends to windfalls and juicy payouts.
It is hard to value a company like that. Its ROE forecasts and dividend payouts are unsteady.
For instance, despite a massive 1H23 profit of US$340 million and operating cash flows of nearly US$400 million, Stanmore decided not to pay an interim dividend.
Thats because the company is highly geared at the moment and wants to use the cash to support significant deleveraging at a time of softening commodity markets.
These windfall profits and suspended dividends inflate Stanmores ROE.
In that case, you could argue the markets current estimate is pretty reasonable.
Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers is a $61 billion retail conglomerate, operating in supermarkets, department stores, home improvement, outdoor living and even building materials.
Wesfarmers businesses include Bunnings, K-Mart, and Officeworks.
Will it give us more valuation trouble?
Using FY24 consensus estimates and an 8% discount rate, we get a value estimate of $38 a share.
Wesfarmers last closed at $53.23 a share.
Hm.
Maybe the market isnt so efficient after all.
At its current price, the market is inferring a FY24 ROE of about 37% on a discount rate of 8%.
Yes, Wesfarmers is a great business with high profitability. But its payout ratio is 85%. Most of its profits are not reinvested into the business for compounding growth.
Is its P/E ratio of 25 a bit too steep given the low reinvestment?
However, if you assume a discount rate of 6%, you pretty much get the exact current valuation.
Given Wesfarmers strength and predictability, is the lower discount rate an efficient appraisal by the market?
Contact Energy
Contact Energy is a $2 billion New Zealand energy firm owning a range of power generation assets.
Is it fairly priced?
Not really.
The 8% discount rate and FY24 consensus estimates yield a valuation of NZ$6 a share.
Contact Energy last closed at NZ$8.20 a share.
Finally, will A2 Milk offer some efficiency?
A2 Milk
A2M is an infant formula producer that was once a retail favourite but has hit hard times of late.
Is the market now valuing it fairly?
Since A2 Milk is forecasted to pay dividends from FY25, lets use consensus estimates for that year.
Using a discount rate of 8%, our valuation model appraises A2 Milk at NZ$5.08 a share.
The firm last traded at NZ$4.80 a share.
Finally! Some market efficiency in action!
Clearly, there are discrepancies between valuations and current prices.
Note, however, that none of the stocks were undervalued by the model.
Bargains are hard to find.
And thats the gist of the efficient market hypothesis, isnt it?
There are no easy pickings.
Until next time!
Kiryll Prakapenka,
Editor, Money Morning
PS: Watch NOT ZERO nowDiscover three energy stocks poised to rocket upas net zero comes crashing down. STREAM THE VIDEO HERE
Laman Ismayilova
Nizami Cinema has commemorated the memory of the Honored Artist Elkhan Gasimov.
A feature film "Where is Ahmad?", in which the acclaimed film director and actor played one of the main roles, Azernews reports.
Filmed by Adil Isgandarov in 1963, the plot tells the story of two young people who, having opposed old traditions and customs, got the opportunity to live like they want.
For Elkhan Gasimov, Siyavush Shafiyev, Eldaniz Zeynalov, Novruz Akhundov, and Amalia Panakhova roles in the film became their acting debut.
President of the Public Union "Support to the Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis" Tofig Alizade informed the guests of the event about Elkhan Gasimov's life and filmography.
Elkhan Gasimov studied acting at the National Academy of Arts (1962-1966) and the Directing Faculty of the Leningrad National Academy of Arts (1973-1978). In 1969, he started working at AzerbaijanFilm studio.
Gasimov, who appeared in a large number of feature films, also stood behind the production of several feature films and documentaries.
People's Artists Abdul Mahmudov, Shamil Suleymanov, playwright Ali Amirli, Honored Journalist Matanat Aghamirova, editor-in-chief of the "Carc?" magazine Gulnara Amirguliyeva and others shared their memories of the late actor and film director.
In conclusion, Galib Gasimov, speaking on behalf of Elkhan Gasimov's family, expressed his gratitude to the organizers of the event.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. A criminal case has been opened on the fact of a terrorist act committed against employees of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), Trend reports.
The General Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the State Security Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan made a joint statement to this effect.
As a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan exploded on a mine planted by a sabotage group of Armenian illegal armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed, on September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4).
It should be noted that the truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Jamalzade Asim Knyaz (born in 1994), Shirinov Ramil Arif (born in 1987), Mahmudov Seymur Elsevar (born in 1991), and Zamanov Khazar Azer (born in 1998), died on the spot.
The Main Investigation Department of the State Security Service of Azerbaijan initiated criminal proceedings under articles 120.2.1, 120.2.4, 120.2.7, 120.2.10, 120.2.11, 120.2. 12 (premeditated murder of two or more persons committed repeatedly by an organized group with particular cruelty or in a generally dangerous manner, combined with robbery, extortion and terrorism motivated by ethnic hatred and enmity), 214.2.1, 214.2.2, 214. 2.3 (terrorism with repeated use of firearms, explosives or explosive devices by an organized group), 228.3 (illegal acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of firearms, their component parts, ammunition, explosives or explosive devices committed by a group of persons by prior agreement) and other articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Complex investigative and operational measures are being carried out in the criminal case, and the public will be provided with additional information on its progress.
Im in total shock to wake up to the sudden death of chef Jock Zonfrillo, he said on social media. We had the best time working together for this years MasterChef, I cant tell how good it was to work with him!
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Western Azerbaijan Community has sharply condemned the terrorist acts committed by Armenian illegal armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road and the newly built tunnel in Taghavard village of the Khojavand district, Trend reports via the community.
Besides, the community expressed deep condolences to the families of the victims.
"This is a pre-planned, treacherous step, designed to cause fear and despondency, as well as create an obstacle to reconstruction and construction work in the liberated territories and the return of former internally displaced persons to their native lands," said the community.
According to the community, Armenia is already transferring the diplomatic and information war launched against Azerbaijan in recent months to the military plane. Armenia not only does not intend to have a dialogue with the Western Azerbaijan Community about our return to the homeland of our ancestors but also continues its territorial claims against Azerbaijan, allegedly with the aim of "creating an international law to ensure the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians".
The terrorist acts committed on the day of the beginning of the general discussions of the UN General Assembly with the participation of world leaders show that Armenia and its separatist regime created in the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan have lost humanity.
"We regard this bloody crime as a continuation of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan in the form of mine terror. The terrorist acts once again show that the remnants of the Armenian army must be withdrawn from the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, the Armenian separatist troops must be disarmed, and the separatist regime must be liquidated," the Western Azerbaijan Community said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijan Army, Colonel General Karim Valiyev met with a delegation of the Legal Service of the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Turkiye that is on a visit to Azerbaijan on September 19, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.
The Chief of the General Staff expressed his satisfaction with seeing the guests in Azerbaijan and emphasized the importance of enlightenment activities held in the Azerbaijan Army regarding the application of military legislation and international humanitarian law.
During the meeting, the sides exchanged views on the organization of legal services, the service activities of military lawyers, and a number of other issues.
By Dr. Michael Ramage | Sep 19, 2023
Murray State Universitys statewide Program of Distinction in Cybersecurity and Network Management (CNM) recently hosted a meeting with Information Technology teachers from high schools across the region at Patti's.
MURRAY, Ky. Murray State Universitys statewide Program of Distinction in Cybersecurity and Network Management (CNM) recently hosted a meeting with Information Technology teachers from high schools across the region.
The goal of the meeting was to increase collaboration with teachers from across the region while finding ways that the Universitys CNM program can better support the teachers and their students. Future meetings are being planned between the University and teachers. Murray State hosted the teachers in collaboration with the West Kentucky Education Cooperative, and participating teachers ranged from Bowling Green to Fulton as well as representation in Tennessee.
The meeting covered topics such as addressing specific needs within the teachers classrooms, visits to their classrooms by speakers in the industry, increased support for the high schools, popular field trip activities, as well as sharing research. This ongoing connectivity is underscored by the growing workforce needs in information technology and cybersecurity.
As of June 2023, the United States had over 663,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs, with 4,200 cybersecurity job vacancies in the Commonwealth. The workforce deficit highlights the importance of working together among educators of all levels to grow the talent pipeline.
CyberSupply, a collaboration among Dark Enterprises, various universities, and the National Cryptologic Foundation, conducted research to better understand the workforce challenge across the United States. Supporting the research in Kentucky, Murray State University CNM students and faculty facilitated the research across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Murray State students included John Vanover (Owensboro, Kentucky); Ethan Hyde (Paducah, Kentucky); Liliana Bazzell (Tyler, Texas); Eli Skipworth (Franklin, Kentucky) and Cain Bynum (Paris, Tennessee), as well as Drs. Michael Ramage and Randall Joyce.
Research focused on the availability of computer and cybersecurity courses at the high school level, improving access, and opportunities to leverage student interest in computer science into cybersecurity. According to the research shared, fewer than 3,800 Kentucky high school students, or 2% of students, have access to a cybersecurity course. Furthermore, 44% of high schools in Kentucky teach courses that provide the prerequisite knowledge necessary for cybersecurity.
For years, we have hosted field trips, visited schools and classrooms, helped teachers with curriculum and even hosted a regional IT competition called Tech Mania, but we want to do more, particularly as we analyze the research which reveals increased collaboration and support of our high schools is critical, said Dr. Michael Ramage, director of Murray States Cyber Education and Research Center.
As noted, the recent meeting among regional IT teachers is the first of many opportunities. All schools and teachers are encouraged to join and can get involved by emailing Dr. Michael Ramage at msu.cyber@murraystate.edu or calling 270-809-3987.
In 1997, Kentucky House Bill 1 created Programs of Distinction through the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education at public postsecondary institutions, including Murray State Universitys cybersecurity program. Murray State offers a bachelors degree in Cybersecurity and Network Management, along with an accelerated masters degree (available online) in Cybersecurity Management that can be completed in 12-18 months and certificates at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Murray State has a Cyber Education and Research Center that provides education, research, development and outreach support for the Universitys cyber-related programs.
Additional information is available at murraystate.edu/cyber.
Officials turn soil during a groundbreaking ceremony in November 2020 in Mangilao at the Paradise Court subdivision development.
Reporter
Andrew Roberto was raised his whole life on Saipan. He graduated from Saipan Southern High School, holds a degree from Northern Marianas College, and a BA in English from the University of Guam. He once worked for KUAM, UNO Magazine, and the Guam Daily Post.
An MQ-4C Triton Unmanned Aircraft System taxis after landing at Andersen Air Force Base. VUP-19, the first Triton unmanned aircraft systems squadron, will operate and maintain the aircraft in Guam as part of initial operational capability.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Two Azerbaijani servicemen have been wounded following an attack from the Armenian armed forces, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense.
The positions of the Azerbaijani Army located in the Aghdam district were shelled with mortars and small arms of various caliber by Armenian illegal armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily stationed, on September 19 at about 11:45 (GMT+4).
As a result of the shelling, two servicemen of the Azerbaijani Army were wounded. They were immediately provided with first aid.
"Azerbaijani Army units took retaliatory measures," the ministry said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The total number of mine victims has reached 314 people (61 of whom died) since the beginning of the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Trend reports.
The ministry made the statement in connection with the deaths of civilians and Interior Ministry employees as a result of mine terrorism in Khojavend.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk Indians Tribal Chair Andrea Reich speaks to the board of supervisors View Photo
Sonora, CA The board of supervisors took time to recognize and acknowledge the contributions of the two Native American Tribal Governments in Tuolumne County, the Chicken Ranch Rancheria Me Wuk Indians and the Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk Indians.
For the third consecutive year, the county supervisors voted to proclaim the fourth Friday in September (this year on 9-22) as California Native American Day.
Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Dore Bietz, a member of the Tuolumne Band of Me Wuk Indians, led a presentation to the board and it also featured comments from Andrea Reich, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians Tribal Chair, and a song presented by a pair of tribal leaders.
Reich told the board of supervisors, We are asking you to consider a proclamation that not only describes the legacy of survival of all California Native American people but also one that recognizes the resilience of a culture that is still celebrated and thriving today.
Of note, Bietz added that Chicken Ranch Rancheria Tribal Chair Lloyd Mathiesen was invited, but unable to attend todays meeting.
The four supervisors in attendance, Jaron Brandon, Anaiah Kirk, Kathleen Haff, and Ryan Campbell all praised the resolution and the role of the local tribes in the community. Campbell noted, The culture of the tribes in Tuolumne County is woven into the fabric of our culture as a community as a whole. You dont have to be a member of one of the tribes to appreciate that, and learn from the cultural riches, the tradition, and the history.
Some of the history of the local tribes, as written and presented by Bietz, is below:
California Tribes
California has 101 Federally recognized Tribes out of the 573 across this nation. California has been home to Native Americans for thousands of years. There are two federally recognized Tribal governments in Tuolumne County, the Chicken Ranch Band of Me-Wuk Indians and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians. Each of these two tribes are distinct different sovereign governments and have suffered much from historical genocide seen throughout the State.
Tens of thousands of Native Californians were affected by discriminatory laws and policies. Native Californian children were forced to assimilate into white culture and attend Indian Assimilation schools. There, they were forbidden to speak their languages or take part in tribal ceremonies. And though Native peoples resisted discrimination and fought for civil rights, federal recognition, poverty, health disparities, and limited opportunities were, and still are, common. Despite these wrongs, California Native Americans resisted, survived, and carried on cultural and linguistic traditions defying all odds.
Rising above the historical injustices, these two Tribal Governments in Tuolumne County have provided not only for their community members but to the county as a whole multiple programs and services, including, but not limited to, social programs, health services, first responder services, education, workforce development, and land management. They also build and maintain infrastructure, including roads, bridges, medical clinics, schools, and public buildings.
In 1998, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 1953, establishing California Native American Day as an official day of education about the culture and heritage of American Indians in California. Since then, this day has been established to not only recognize the rich culture of Native American Communities within our State but to acknowledge the sacrifices they made and the continued commitment they give to their communities and the people within their county.
Native American Tribal Governments are sovereign nations that have deep-rooted commitment to their members but understand and support the communities around them regardless of affiliation. Recognizing the importance of acknowledging and honoring the rich history, culture, and contributions of California Native Americans by designating the 4th Friday in September as California Native American Day provides an opportunity to celebrate the heritage, traditions, and resilience of California Native American peoples.
California Native American Day offers a chance to educate the community about the diverse California Native American cultures that have shaped our region and our state. Recognizing California Native American day will foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the historical and contemporary issues faced by California Native American communities as Tuolumne County aims to promote inclusivity, diversity, and respect for all individuals and communities within our county limits.
The full resolution approved 4-0 by the board of supervisors is below:
WHEREAS, Native American Day began in California in 1939, when California Gov. Culbert Olson declared October 1 as Indian Day. It was one of the first days established to recognize Native Americans and their cultures across the country. In 1968, Gov. Ronald Reagan declared the fourth Friday of September as California Indian Day and the state continues to celebrate this occasion today; and
WHEREAS, Native American Day is an official California State holiday, pursuant to Assembly Bill 1953 (Baca) and signed into law by Governor Pete Wilson on September 21, 1998; and
WHEREAS, the County of Tuolumne recognizes the importance of acknowledging and honoring the rich history, culture, and contributions of California Native Americans; and
WHEREAS, Tuolumne County has been home to Native Americans for thousands of years. There are two federally recognized Tribal governments in our County, the Chicken Ranch Band of Me-Wuk Indians and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians; and
WHEREAS, Me-Wuk means people or Indian people and both Native American Tribal Governments have given so much to our community. From economic self-sufficiency, creation of jobs and resources, they have helped to make our community stronger and more prosperous; and
WHEREAS, Tribal governments provide multiple programs and services, including, but not limited to, social programs, health services, first responder services, education, workforce development and land management. They also build and maintain infrastructure, including roads, bridges and public buildings; and
WHEREAS, For California Native American Day, we pause to honor and appreciate the first Californians and these two Native American Tribal Governments, who have shaped so much of our past, present and future. Their richly diverse cultures have informed every aspect of our communitys history; and
WHEREAS, Tuolumne County is grateful for the leadership of the two California Tribal Governments and their communities here within Tuolumne County. They embody the values of diversity and resilience that have come to define California and Tuolumne County as a whole.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors does hereby acknowledge that Native American Governments have helped to make our community stronger and more prosperous, celebrating the richness of the countys unique tribal history and traditions as well as the impact Native American cultures have had upon our county,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Tuolumne is committed to protecting the Sovereign right of Native American Tribal organizations and institutions to strengthen our communities and that we encourage all citizens join in recognizing the accomplishments and contributions Native Americans have made to our County. We salute those who have sought to honor the important role of Tribal Government leadership in our Countys past, present, and future,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the County of Tuolumne does hereby proclaim the fourth Friday of September as California Native American Day. This proclamation is specific to Friday, September 22, 2023 and will be renewed annually.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Armenia continues the mine terror against Azerbaijan and should be punished for it, former military attache of Turkiye in Azerbaijan, reserve General Yucel Karauz told Trend.
He noted that Armenia does not provide Azerbaijan with mine maps contrary to international law.
"In addition, Armenia continues to lay new mines on the territories of Azerbaijan. This is contrary to international law and is a crime. Despite the fact that this issue was raised at international meetings, Armenia does not provide Azerbaijan with maps of the mines that have been laid previously, said Karauz.
Armenia continues to lay mines even in the territories controlled by Russian peacemakers. A lot of people became victims of mine terror after the end of the second Karabakh war. The West, which talks about peace and human rights, was silent. There was no pressure in the direction of transferring the maps of mines to Azerbaijan. Those who commit mine terror must be condemned and should be punished," said the reserve general.
On a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard, Khojavend district, a Russia's KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of a terrorist act, on September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4) was blown up by a mine set by a sabotage group of Armenian separatist troops on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The truck was heading to the site of a terrorist attack that occurred on the same day on the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavend district, as a result of which employees of the State Agency of Highways of Azerbaijan were killed.
According to the statement, Asim Jamalzade, born on February 5, 1994, Ramil Shirinov, born on July 8, 1987, Seymur Mahmudov, born on July 12, 1991 and Khazar Zamanov, born on July 21, 1998 died at the scene.
President Mnangagwa leaves for UN General Assembly
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has departed from Harare to attend the 78th Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will join global leaders. The conference, commencing today, follows his recent re-election for a second and final term after the harmonized elections held on August 23 and 24.
The UN Secretary General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, conveyed his congratulations to President Mnangagwa on his victory and expressed a commitment to collaborate closely with the Zimbabwean Government to accelerate development and promote inclusive and sustainable growth. Mr. Guterres specifically commended the governments efforts to enhance womens participation in national governance.
The Presidents address to the General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday (September 21). He has prioritized engagement and re-engagement with the international community as part of his transformation agenda, aiming to guide Zimbabwe towards becoming a middle-income country by 2030.
During his visit, President Mnangagwa will hold bilateral discussions with fellow leaders and engage with business interest groups to attract investors to Zimbabwe. The theme of this years General Assembly debate, Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all, aligns with the Presidents vision for fostering peace, economic equity, and comprehensive development.
The President was bid farewell at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport by Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, cabinet ministers, and service chiefs.
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Man Fined for Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend
A 24-year-old man from Plumtree, Zimbabwe faced charges for assaulting his ex-girlfriend on two occasions in August. Godknows Ndlovu appeared before the Plumtree Magistrate court after Brenda Mdlongwa reported the abuse to police.
According to court documents, Ndlovu and Mdlongwa had argued after she told him on August 26th that she no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him. Angry over the breakup, Ndlovu confiscated her cell phone. Later that day, he returned and threatened Mdlongwa with beating her with an electric cord. He proceeded to slap her in the face, causing her to flee the house. Ndlovu chased her down and forcibly dragged her back inside.
On September 5th, the former couple had been drinking at a nightclub. When Mdlongwa began speaking with a friend, Ndlovu became upset and another fight ensued. On their way home, Ndlovu slapped Mdlongwa repeatedly in the face, leaving her with a badly injured eye. She sought medical attention for her injuries.
Ndlovu pled guilty to physically abusing Mdlongwa under the Domestic Violence Act. The magistrate fined him US$300 or two months in jail. An additional three months in prison were suspended for five years on the condition he commits no further offenses involving abuse. While Ndlovu claimed the altercations stemmed from Mdlongwa ending her pregnancy, the court ruled his violent actions against his ex-girlfriend were unacceptable and warranted punishment.
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Azerbaijan has launched local anti-terrorist activities to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from Azerbaijani territories, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
Therefore, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the ministry said.
A Fatal Accident Along Harare-Bulawayo Road
On Sunday afternoon along the Harare-Bulawayo Road, a tragic accident occurred involving a commuter kombi carrying a family. According to police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi, the Toyota Hiace veered off the road near the 124 kilometer peg and overturned.
Tragically, two family members lost their lives at the scene of the accident. A total of 14 relatives had been travelling together in the kombi. The 12 others sustained varying injuries and were rushed to Kadoma General Hospital for medical treatment.
The bodies of the two deceased were also transported to the same hospital post-mortem. Details regarding the possible cause of the accident and identification of the victims have not been released at this time.
The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred at the 124-kilometre peg along Harare-Bulawayo Road on September 17, 2023, at around 1310 hours in which two people were killed whilst 12 others were injured.
A Toyota Hiace kombi with 14 family members on board veered off the road to the right before overturning and landing on its wheels. The bodies of the victims were taken to Kadoma General Hospital for post-mortem whilst the injured are admitted at the same hospital, Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said.
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Other countries that took part include China, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Brazil. Conspicuously absent was any country from NATO, including Mexicos USMCA trade partners, the US and Canada.
Oksana Dramaretska, Ukraines ambassador to Mexico, posted a tweet (featured below) on Saturday (Sept 16) lambasting Mexicos government for allowing a small Russian military contingent to participate in Mexicos Independence Day parade. In it, she wrote:
The military-civilian parade in Mexico, sullied by the participation of a Russian regiment. The boots and hands of war criminals are stained with blood.
She then asked Mexicos President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or AMLO as he is popularly known:
How coherent is this, Mr. Lopez Obrador, with your policy of neutrality and condemnation of aggression against my country?
El Desfile Civico Militar en CDMX, mancillado por la participacion de un regimiento ruso: sus botas y manos de criminales de guerra estan manchadas de sangre
Como de coherente es, Sr. @lopezobrador_, su politica de neutralidad y su condena de la agresion contra mi pais? https://t.co/X9ic5lbgc7 Oksana Dramaretska (@OkDramaretska) September 16, 2023
Another Undiplomatic Diplomat
Dramaretskas comments were widely endorsed and echoed by many of Mexicos corporate media outlets and opposition parties. Yet this is not the first time that a contingent of an occupying foreign army has participated in Mexicos Independence Day parade. In 2014, when Enrique Pena Nieto was president, a US regiment took part in the parade. At the time, the US armed forces were occupying Afghanistan and Iraq, were (and still are) bombarding Syria and, together with NATO, had just laid waste to Libya. As Hilary Clinton put it, we came, we saw, he [Gaddafi] died. Yet not a whimper of protest in the Mexican media.
Also widely ignored, including by the aptly named Dramaretska, is the fact that it is traditional practice for Mexican governments, not just this one, to send out invites to its Independence Day parade to all national governments with whom Mexico has diplomatic ties. It is up to each government whether it chooses to accept. As Cesar Gutierrez Priego, a lawyer specialised in criminal, military and national security law, said in response to Dramaretskas tweet, surely you are aware that our country extends an invitation to all of the countries with whom it maintains diplomatic relations.
This is not the first time that Dramaretskas embassy has caused offence in Mexico. In the first few days of the Ukraine conflict, a Mexican journalist pointed out in a tweet exchange with the embassy that Kiev was censoring the media, to which the embassy responded:
[You] continue to defend Russian propaganda without ever having visited Ukraine. So we have a question for you, Mr. Journalist: do you get paid in rubles or in tamales?
Tamales are a pre-Colombian dish consisting of corn husks or plantain leaves stuffed with tasty fillings such as meats, cheeses, chiles or vegetables. While delicious and devoured by most Mexicans today, they were traditionally seen as food for the lower, often indigenous classes. As such, the tweet had both classist and racist connotations and was hastily deleted by the embassy. But before then, it was preserved for posterity on Tweetstamp and quickly went viral.
Following her comments on the military parade, the Mexican geopolitical analyst Alfredo Jalife said the government should expel Dramaretska for meddling in the countrys internal affairs. She cannot, he said, tell us who the Mexican army can and cannot associate with.
For his part, AMLO shrugged off Dramaretskas remarks in his regular press conference on Monday morning, insisting that it is customary to invite all countries to the parade, including Russia:
In this parade, contingents from Russia marched, paraded. It caused a scandal. This caught my attention because a contingent from China also participated [in the event] and there was a lot less noise; it was all about Russia. All the governments with which Mexico has diplomatic relations were invited, as is always the case.
More Embarrassment for the Collective West
The AMLO government refuses to abandon its largely neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, despite sustained pressure from the US and periodic hissy fits from Kiev. The incident provides yet more evidence of the collective Wests abject failure to isolate Russia from the rest of the world. It is particularly embarrassing for Washington since Mexico and the US are both each others largest trading partner and share the worlds busiest border.
Regarding Russias participation in the parade the US has so far kept stum, at least in public. Last December, on the occasion of the bicentennial of US-Mexico diplomatic relations, former US Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobsen told Bloomberg-affiliated El Financiero:
I think there is some frustration with some Mexican positions. It is frustrating that Mexico does not pronounce itself in favor of [Ukrainian] sovereignty, as many countries in the world have done, not only the United States.
In October 2022, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said there is no room for neutrality when talking about countries that annex parts of others, which is kind of ironic given the US and Mexicos shared history. In the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, which ended the war between the two countries, the US annexed a whopping 55% of Mexicos territory, including the present-day states of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. Mexico was also stripped of all claims to Texas.
As mentioned in previous posts, Mexico has a long, albeit interrupted, history of neutrality dating all the way back to the early 1930s:
In 1939, a neutrality clause was even added to its constitution by the government of then-President Lazaro Cardenas, which also nationalized Mexicos oil and gas a year earlier. Since then Mexico has enjoyed close relations with many countries that have been targeted by international sanctions, including Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Mexicos long-held position of neutrality has also made it a haven for people seeking political asylum, including republicans fleeing Spain at the end of the Spanish Civil War and the emigres of the Southern Cone dictatorships of the 1960s and 70s.
On the question of Ukraine, Mexico, like most countries, initially condemned Russias invasion at the UN General Assembly. But like most countries in Latin America, including Brazil (under both Bolsonaro and Lula) and Argentina, it has refused to endorse the US-EUs (largely self-) destructive sanctions on Russia. AMLO has also repeatedly criticised NATOs role in the conflict, arguing in June 2022 that the Ukrainian allies policy was equivalent to saying Ill supply the weapons, and you supply the dead.
At last years 2022 Independence Day celebrations, he proposed the formation of a commission for dialogue and peace to seek an immediate cessation of hostilities. The commission would be lead by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Pope Francis, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The proposal was slammed by Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Zelenskyy, as pro-Russian since it would keep millions under occupation, increase the number of mass burials and give Russia time to renew reserves before the next offensive. It was also roundly ignored by NATO members.
Undeterred, AMLO in late July reiterated his calls for an end to the irrational war in Ukraine which, he said, benefits no one except the war industry. Days earlier, Mexico was among a host of Latin American governments that refused to bow to EU demands to include even a bland statement on Russias invasion of Ukraine in the final declaration of the EU-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit, held in Brussels. Mexico was also one of five Latin American countries (the others being Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Peru) that categorically rejected US and EU requests to send weapons to Ukraine.
The Full Guest List: China, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Brazil
Russia was one of 19 countries to participate in Mexicos Independence Day parade. Most of them were from Latin America, with governments of all political bents. But also present was a contingent of soldiers belonging to Washingtons arch strategic rival, China, as well as Latin Americas axis of evil, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, all currently on the sharp end of US sanctions and blockades.
Here is a full list of the participants:
Belize
Brazil
Chile
China
Colombia
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Nepal
Nicaragua
Panama
Russia
Sri Lanka
South Korea
Uruguay
Venezuela
Notably absent is any country from NATO, including Mexicos USMCA trade partners, the US and Canada. By contrast, in the 2021 Independence Day parade the participants included Italy, the United Kingdom and France. The US has also taken part in the parade on a number of occasions, including most recently in 2014.
On the day of this years parade, the Russian Embassy published the following tweet announcing the 154th Preobrazhenskiy Regiments participation the parade. My translation:
The Preobrazhenskiy Regiment is one of the most famous regiments of the Russian military. It was created in 1691 during the reign of Peter the Great. It is an honour to participate in such an important event for the Mexican people. Long live the friendship between Mexico and Russia! Viva Mexico!
Soldados del 154 Regimiento Preobrazhenskiy participaron en un desfile civico militar con motivo del Dia de la Independencia de Mexico. El Regimiento Preobrazhenskiy es una de las formaciones mas famosas del ejercito ruso. Fue creado en 1691 bajo el reinado de Pedro el pic.twitter.com/PNhT1GKJ8M Embajada de Rusia en Mexico (@EmbRusiaMexico) September 16, 2023
Standing in the way of deepening friendship between Russia and Mexico, or at least trying to, is Washington. In the first month of the Ukraine conflict, the US Ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, told Mexican lawmakers to forget about forging close relations with Russia. From my article at the time, US-Mexico Relations Hit New Low Over Russia-Ukraine Conflict:
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico caused a stir at the tail end of last week when he told Mexican lawmakers that Mexico cannot ever be close to Russia. That is quite literally what Ambassador Ken Salazars said in his address to select members of Mexicos lower house of Congress on Thursday (translated by yours truly): I have here (he said while indicating lapels on his jacket breast) the flags of Mexico, the United States and Ukraine. We have to be in solidarity with Ukraine and against Russia. The Russian ambassador was here yesterday making a lot of noise about how Mexico and Russia are so close. This, sorry, can never happen. It can never happen I remember very well that during the Second World War there was no distance between Mexico and the United States, both were united against what Hitler was doing When a family is attacked, the family comes togetherBetween Mexico and the United States there can be no difference, we have to be the same. () Salazars comments are controversial for a whole slew of reasons. First, Mexico is a sovereign nation and as such should be able to choose which countries it wants to forge close ties with, even if they are the target of U.S. sanctions. Second, the hypocrisy stinks. The U.S. and its European allies have consistently argued that Russia has absolutely no right to try to determine what happens within the borders of its sovereign neighbor Ukraine, even as tons of weapons poured into the country from NATO Member States such as Poland and the Czech Republic to be used against Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the Donbass. Yet the US Government, through its ambassador to Mexico, is now trying to literally dictate the terms of Mexicos relationship with Russia. What the U.S. essentially seems to be saying is that neutrality is not an option in the escalating conflict between Russia and the West at least not for Mexico.
Mexico Rejoins G77+
Now, briefly on to China. Below is the short message, in Spanish, tweeted by the Chinese Embassy in Mexico on the day of the parade. It reads:
A day of honour and happiness. We are going to keep strengthening relations between China and Mexico.
Un dia de honor y alegria! Vamos a seguir fortaleciendo las relaciones entre China y Mexico. pic.twitter.com/2KzWPkgJ4s Embajada de China en Mexico (@EmbChinaMex) September 16, 2023
Mexico may have overtaken China (and Canada) as the USs top trade partner, but Chinas trade with and investment in Mexico is also rapidly expanding, in part due to the legions of Chinese companies looking to take advantage of the US nearshoring strategy. As I reported in May, while China accounts for only a small fraction of Mexicos total FDI, it has significantly expanded its portfolio in recent years and is the fastest growing source of foreign investment in Mexico.
Mexicos relations with China, and the so-called Global South (apologies), could be set to intensify. While soldiers were parading in downtown Mexico City on Saturday, delegates of more than 100 emerging and developing economies were gathering in downtown Havana, just 368 kilometers from Miami, for the annual Southern Summit of the Group of 77+China, the largest intergovernmental organisation of developing countries in the United Nations. Those delegates included Mexicos Foreign Affairs Minister Alicia Barcena, who on Friday had announced her countrys interest in rejoining the intergovernmental institution.
Mexicos goal, she said, is to contribute to shaping a new world, promoting South-South cooperation, and fight economic and social asymmetries in the world. She also underscored the fundamental role that mechanisms such as the G77+China play in promoting both peace, rather than war, and development.
A loose alliance of states, the G77 was created in 1964 by 77 countries, but its membership roll has since swollen to 134. Together, those countries represent 80% of the global population.
Mexico, a founding member of the G77, left the organisation in 1994 following its accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Coincidence or not, 1994 was also the year NAFTA came into effect. On Saturday, 29 years later, the 134 countries taking part in the Group of 77+China Summit, including of course China, unanimously approved Mexicos reincorporation into its ranks.
The move comes almost exactly a month after AMLO nipped in the bud rumours that Mexico was thinking of joining the BRICS. Those rumours were first stoked by South Africas Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor, who in March claimed to have received letters from 12 countries interested in joining the grouping, including Mexico.
As I noted at the time, it is hard to imagine Mexico, long part of the North American free trade bloc NAFTA, now supplanted by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) agreement, taking such a bold step even as tensions rise between parts of the Biden Administration and Mexicos AMLO government. There is just too much at stake. Mexico joining the BRICS would be a direct affront to US power and prestige, and Mexicos economy is now so intertwined with the US (and to a lesser extent Canadas) that any decoupling is almost unthinkable.
In early August, AMLO said:
We are not going to participate in this bloc, in this association. Of course, we welcome the fact that other countries are doing so. However, for economic, neighborhood, and geopolitical reasons, we will continue to strengthen the North American alliance and all of America.
AMLO may believe that Mexicos future is inexorably tied to its North American trade partners, the US and Canada, but he is also determined to maintain strong relations with both Russia and China as well as chart an independent path on key foreign policy issues. And that is likely to remain a source of friction in Mexicos relations with Washington, at least until AMLOs departure in just over a years time.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in the Russell C. Leffingwell Lecture at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Thursday (21 September 2023). In his conversation with former US Representative Jane Harman, Mr Stoltenberg highlighted that his main message at the UN General Assembly was the importance of maintaining strong support for Ukraine.
To support Ukraine is something we do because it is in our security interest, to ensure that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent nation, the Secretary General said, emphasising that NATO supports the right of every nation to choose its own path.
Mr Stoltenberg said that the war in Ukraine demonstrates how security is not regional, but global. That is also why countries like South Korea and Japan are extremely concerned about the war in Ukraine, because they know that if President Putin wins, it lowers the threshold for President Xi to use force, said the Secretary General. Mr Stoltenberg further underlined the importance of NATOs ongoing adaptation to address new challenges, including the impact of climate change on our security.
While in New York, the Secretary General attended the opening session of the UN General Assembly high-level General Debate, and met with a number of world leaders. On Monday, he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss efforts to revitalise the Black Sea grain deal, the fight against terrorism, and Swedens NATO membership. On Wednesday, he met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to discuss the importance of continued support to Ukraine and NATOs efforts to address the security impacts of climate change. He also met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, commending the courage of the Ukrainian armed forces and reaffirming NATOs commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. He further met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to discuss the continued importance of NATO Mission Iraq the Alliances capacity-building and advisory mission in the country.
While in New York, Mr Stoltenberg also met other leaders and senior officials including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stre, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Singaporean Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, and Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem al-Budaiwi.
Bill Gates massive COVID profiteering exposed in viral social media post
(Article by Kelen McBreen republished from InfoWars.com)
Popular X account Pelham shared the post, writing, Bill Gates purchased shares in BioNTech (Pfizers partner for its mRNA Covid shots) in September 2019 just months before the pandemic was announced
Gates purchased 1,038,674 shares at pre-public offering price of $18.10 per share the user explained.
Bill Gates purchased shares in BioNTech (Pfizers partner for its mRNA Covid shots) in September 2019 just months before the pandemic was announced Gates purchased 1,038,674 shares at pre-public offering price of $18.10 per share Gates dumped his stocks, in November 2021 pic.twitter.com/Pmr1hkqljK Pelham (@Resist_05) September 14, 2023
The post continued, Gates dumped his stocks, in November 2021 at an average sale price of $300 per share Gates on the same day said, We need a new way of doing the vaccines, because the vaccines *didnt stop transmission* despite all of his previous claims to the contrary. Its almost like Gates knew Covid-19 was going to be released, and he also knew the vaccines were never designed to stop transmission.
The post is accurate, as noted by Jordan Schachtel in January when he reported on SEC filings showing, the Gates Foundations holdings in BioNTech went from 1,038,674 shares to 148,674 shares over the course of the third quarter of 2021, downsizing the Gates position in the mRNA vaccine manufacturer by 86 percent of shares held.
As you can see below, Gates just so happened to time the market perfectly, selling the shares during BioNtechs best performing quarter, he noted in the article along with a graphic.
In July 2022, Dr. Joseph Mercola wrote a thorough article explaining how Pfizer conveniently profited from the Covid pandemic.
Even NBC admitted back in January that the Covid pandemic drove Pfizers 2022 revenue to a record $100 billion.
Watch the video below where Alex Jones shares a video of the moment Bill Gates finally admitted the clot shots dont work.
Read more at: InfoWars.com
Californians laud Newsoms hefty $267M initiative aimed at curbing smash and grab crimes that they actually brought upon themselves a decade ago
Californians celebrate Governor Gavin Newson's $267 million anti-smash and grab investment without realizing that these types of crimes would not have existed had they not voted for the radical crime bill Prop. 47, which only legalized shoplifting and made the pandemic of retail theft worse.
The state government will spend a massive amount of money to increase patrols, purchase surveillance equipment, and conduct activities to crack down on the rampant robbery operations that have been causing major harm to local businesses around the Golden State. The said move was announced by officials from the California Highway Patrol and San Francisco and Los Angeles law enforcement agencies on Friday, September 15.
"Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs we are ensuring law enforcement agencies have the resources they need to take down these criminals," the Democrat governor said in a statement about the grants, saying that this is part of his "Real Public Safety Plan."
Enough with these brazen smash-and-grabs." Governor Gavin Newsom announces $267M investment against organize retail crime. Funds would go toward 55 cities and counties law enforcement agencies across California. To be voted on September 14. @DavidLamNTD pic.twitter.com/lH2c25HTFH California Today (@Calif_Today_NTD) September 14, 2023
The spending comes from a pot of money Newsom first requested in late 2021 after he signed a law to reestablish a statewide task force to focus on investigating organized theft rings. The money will be given through grants over the next three years to 55 agencies, including local police departments, and sheriff's and district attorney's offices.
Meanwhile, Revolver News was quick to point out that Newsom's proposed investment is kind of odd, raising eyebrows of some, simply because these "smash and grab" incidents would have not existed in the first place if it weren't for California residents effectively endorsing this type of crime through the "$950.00 petty theft" law they happily voted for back in 2014. "The people of California can't even blame this one on the crooked politicians. Hilariously, the pushers of Prop 47 promised that 'the savings from reduced incarceration costs would be invested into drug and mental health treatment programs for at-risk students in K-12 schools, and victim services.'"
The majority of Californians may not have yet realized that they brought this upon themselves when they voted for their "own demise" less than a decade ago. But San Mateo County Supervisor David Canepa, who recently took to X, formerly Twitter, realizes his mistake of backing the said radical crime bill. It only legalized shoplifting and made the pandemic of retail theft worse, an "absolute outrage" even. (Related: Pandemic of retail THEFT: Democrat county supervisor now regrets stupidly backing a radical crime bill that legalized shoplifting in California.)
Canepa said he used to be for the passing of the legislation because he saw it as a chance to give people serving long sentences for retail theft a second chance. Prop 47 allowed felons serving prison terms to petition for reduced sentences under the new classifications. It also raised the minimum amount of stolen goods from $400 to $950 for a theft case to be classified as a felony. Naturally, criminal mobs took advantage of the law because they knew that if they got arrested, they could simply walk out of jail the next day and only face misdemeanor charges. This, according to critics, is what has caused the rise in petty theft across the state.
"I thought it was a good idea then because we need to give people an opportunity, we need to give people a chance," Canepa told CBS, adding he was wrong to back the measure now that the explosion of retail theft in California and elsewhere has become more evident. "I made a mistake, it was a big mistake, and you have to acknowledge your mistake."
Oakland City will not receive Newsom's grant
As per the report, below are the Bay Area cities to receive the new grant beginning October 1.
Campbell
Daly City
Fremont
Newark
Palo Alto
San Bruno
San Francisco
San Jose
San Ramon
Santa Rosa
Vacaville
The application was reportedly opened to law enforcement agencies earlier this summer all throughout the state. However, the City of Oakland was excluded from the list as it failed to "submit a completed application by the deadline." "This is a devastating blow to citizens and small businesses who have been clamoring for crime prevention measures which could have been funded by the millions of dollars in grants offered by the state. This money could have been used for extra police patrols, squad cars, and automated license plate readers to track down suspected perpetrators of crimes," leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Oakland.
Meanwhile, Oakland City Mayor Sheng Thao's office released the following statement to local news outlet KRON4:
"In early June the City's Economic & Workforce Development Department (EWDD) staff identified the Governor's Real Public Safety Plan grant opportunity and collaborated with OPD and community partners to put together an application. OPD and the community partners timely provided their material. Unfortunately, EWDD did not timely complete the submission. Obviously, this outcome is unacceptable. The City and department are reviewing everything that happened to ensure it does not happen again and will take appropriate action. EWDD leadership is already implementing internal protocol changes to prevent future issues like this one.
For many years, the City has had a decentralized approach to the grant process that sometimes produces challenges like this one. Mayor Thao and the city council recognized this as a systemic problem and in the two-year budget the council adopted in June, they invested in a new grants position that will help centralize and streamline the city's grants process, with an eye on specifically preventing future issues like this one. The city administrator is working with the city's hiring team to expedite the hiring of that position now."
The statement further claimed that community safety remains the city's highest priority and the local government is grateful for the resources their regional and state partners continue to provide.
CaliforniaCollapse.news has more stories similar to this.
Sources for this article include:
Revolver.news
Gov.CA.gov
NYPost.com
TheEpochTimes.com
Kron4.com
COVID-19 was a GAE military operation, RFK Jr. reveals
Over the weekend, the London Times, operating under the Fox/Murdoch umbrella, launched a disturbing assault on Russell Brand, a well-known podcaster with 6.61 million subscribers on YouTube. Hes known for his dissident views that sometimes lean left and sometimes lean right, but more often than not go against the globalist establishment uniparty. Their unfounded allegations accuse him of sexual assault against four women from a decade or more ago, and the timing is utterly suspicious. It coincides with his outspoken criticism of Big Pharma and his support for JFK. This follows the familiar pattern weve witnessed with President Trump and others who challenge the elites, where suddenly, raped women come crawling out of the woodwork to share their s0-called trauma.
(Article republished from Revolver.news)
The left has quite the knack for impeccable timing. Remember back to 2019, when they were itching to put a damper on Trumps roaring economy? Lo and behold, a mysterious pandemic magically appeared right on cue. Not only did it bring the economy to its knees, but it also conveniently ushered in a tsunami of unregulated mail-in ballots, all neatly lined up for the 2020 election. Talk stupid blind, luck, right? Or was it? You know what they say, there are no coincidences in politics. And that leads us right into a compelling story about a recent talk that Russell Brand and RFK jr. had on this very topic. RFK Jr., who the uni-party regime is trying desperately to silence, just dropped a nuke by revealing that COVID-19 was actually a Globalist American Empire (GAE) military operation.
Heres what popular X account KanekoaTheGreat shared online (emphasis ours):
@RobertKennedyJr talks to Russell Brand about how the NSA was in charge of Operation Warp Speed, the history of the United States bioweapons program, and why Anthony Fauci is the highest-paid government official in history: The weird thing about the pandemic was this constant involvement by the CIA, the intelligence agencies, and the military. When Operation Warp Speed made its presentation to the FDA committee called VRBPAC It shocked everybody because it wasnt HHS, CDC, NIH, FDA, or a public health agency. It was the NSA, a spy agency that was the top agency that led Operation Warp Speed, and the second agency was the Pentagon. The vaccines were developed not by Moderna and Pfizer. They were developed by NIH. The patents are owned 50% by NIH. Nor were they manufactured by Pfizer or by Moderna. They were manufactured by military contractors, and basically, Pfizer and Moderna were paid to put their stamps on those vaccines as if they came from the pharmaceutical industry. This was a military project from the beginning. One of the things I uncovered in my book is twenty different simulations of coronavirus and pandemics that started in 2001. The first one was right before the anthrax attacks, and the CIA sponsored them all. The last one was Event 201, which was in October 2019. One of the participants was Avril Haines, the former Deputy Director of the CIA, who has been managing coverups her entire life. She did the Guantanamo Bay and others. She is now the Director of National Intelligence, which makes her the highest-ranking officer at the NSA, which managed the pandemic All of these simulations were about how you use the pandemic to clamp down on censorship. How do you use it to force lockdowns.
.@RobertKennedyJr talks to Russell Brand about how the NSA was in charge of Operation Warp Speed, the history of the United States bioweapons program, and why Anthony Fauci is the highest-paid government official in history: "The weird thing about the pandemic was this constant pic.twitter.com/qunw3Bn6pP KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) September 18, 2023
Clearly, this is precisely why the uni-party regime seeks to destroy both these courageous men. Our hope is that God watches over them, keeping them safe, and that they remain steadfast without being deterred. They have an army of tens of millions standing behind them, prepared to fight for truth.
Read more at: Revolver.news
iPhone sales in France halted over radiation concerns
The French government watchdog agency National Frequency Agency (ANFR) recently ordered to stop iPhone 12 sales over concerns that the smartphone emits too much radiation . The ban was implemented after a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) test, which measures how much radio frequency is absorbed into a body from a device, exceeded European radiation exposure limits.
As a response to the halt, the gadget manufacturer Apple contested the findings, claiming that the iPhone 12 was certified by multiple international bodies as compliant with global standards. However, they plan to issue an over-the-air update in the coming days for the particular handset model users to accommodate the testing methods used in France.
"After discussions and as requested by the ANFR, Apple has assured me that it will be rolling out an update for the iPhone 12 in the next few days," France's minister for the digital economy Jean-Noel Barrot posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday. He said: "The wave levels that smartphones emit can vary during a software update. It is undoubtedly because of an update after its release that the iPhone 12 exceeded the authorized threshold. And it is a simple update that will bring it back into compliance."
Les niveaux d'ondes que les smartphones emettent peuvent varier lors d'une mise a jour logicielle. C'est sans doute a cause d'une mise a jour apres sa sortie que l'iPhone 12 a depasse le seuil autorise. Et c'est une simple mise a jour qui permettra de le remettre en conformite. pic.twitter.com/eW2LhPcHAs Jean-Noel Barrot (@jnbarrot) September 13, 2023
The tests are carried out at a diagnostic lab that uses a liquid-filled mold simulating a human head and body with brain and muscle tissue. Devices transmit at maximum power for the six-minute test, the agency said on its website, acknowledging that the tests "do not reflect the most common use of a telephone."
During calls, the phone only transmits half the time, when the user is speaking, and calls rarely last six minutes, the agency said. Mobile internet or video use lasts longer, but the phone "rarely transmits more than 10 percent of the time," it added.
The regulator said the phones are analyzed both when they are near the body, like when they are held or inside the pocket, and when they are at a distance of five millimeters, such as in a bag. The limit when the phone is with a person is four watts per kilogram (W/kg), but the iPhone 12 was at 5.74 W/kg, the agency said. The phone did not break the threshold, however, when it was at a distance, it added. "The level is more than ten times lower than the level at which there would be a health risk," Barrot tweeted. "But the rule is the rule: Apple must comply."
Meanwhile, the said radiation warning triggered concern across Europe, the news outlet reported. Belgium's state secretary for digitalization said he had asked the Big Tech firm to upgrade the iPhone 12 software across EU countries. Germany said it was in touch with French authorities to find a European Union-wide solution, while Italy was set to ask Apple to upgrade the software on iPhone 12s there, according to a government source in Rome.
The Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure said it was also conducting its own investigation due in two weeks, and was in contact with the world's largest technology company as well as German and French authorities. The agency said it had received calls from concerned consumers.
Cell phones have been labeled as "possible" carcinogens by the World Health Organization's cancer research arm, putting them in the same category as coffee, diesel fumes, and the pesticide Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). (Related: Exposure to microwaves and cell phone radiation causes dangerous free radicals called PEROXYNITRITES to accumulate in the body.)
Apple employees were told to stay silent on the issue
As radiation exposure from the particular gadget became a continent-wide concern, Bloomberg covered another controversy brewing. According to the media portal, Apple instructed its technical support staff to stay silent when customers inquired about the radiation issue. For instance, if iPhone users ask about the French government's claim that the model exceeds standards for electromagnetic radiation, workers should say they don't have anything to share.
They were also instructed to reject customers' requests to return or exchange the phone unless it was purchased in the past two weeks, which they would cite as Apple's normal return policy. The guidance further directed the employees to assure customers that the certain phone model is safe to use as all of their products go through rigorous testing to ensure this since it was introduced in 2020.
Meanwhile, the electromagnetic radiation concerns came out the same week the Cupertino, California-based tech giant unveiled the iPhone 15 and the iPhone 15 Pro, its newest iterations of the product, at its annual keynote event in California.
Check out RadiationScience.com for more on the dangers of radiation.
Sources for this article include:
ZeroHedge.com
Reuters.com
Bloomberg.com
EuroNews.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The formations of the Armenian armed forces in the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed, using artillery pieces are subjecting to fire the Azerbaijan Armys positions stationed in the direction of the Aghdam region, Trend reports.
The Azerbaijan Army Units are taking retaliatory measures in the mentioned direction.
Finger-pointing Biden admin officials blame NYC Mayor Adams for migrant crisis, say city lacks exit strategy for illegals
Biden administration officials have blamed New York City (NYC) Mayor Eric Adams for the Big Apple's migrant crisis, claiming that the city lacks an "exit strategy" for the illegal aliens it takes in
One senior official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pointed out that NYC has "no exit strategy" for the illegals that get bused from Texas. This strategy, they added, helps migrants find their way out of the city's shelter system. "It's not an operationally sound effort," the official said.
A second federal official also shared their thoughts with NBC News. They remarked that concerns regarding the migrant issue in NYC could overshadow accomplishments made by the Biden administration on immigration and other issues.
According to the first official, the DHS sent an "assessment team" to scrutinize how the Big Apple is handling illegal immigrants back in August. The endeavor produced a report, though the DHS has not made it publicly available as of writing.
In response, the Big Apple's government complained that Washington, D.C. fails to support the city adequately. NYC Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom complained on Sept. 13 that her colleagues are having to handle a "disproportionate share" of migrants without adequate financial support from the government.
"Our municipality, and a couple of others across the country, have been asked to handle a disproportionate share of what is clearly a national issue," she told a press conference held that day. According to Williams-Isom, there are currently more than 112,800 migrants housed across the city's 218 temporary accommodation sites.
"I keep reminding everyone that no matter how well we do to get people out of the system if we have that amount of people that are continuing to come through the front door, it is going to be hard to keep up."
Adams warns that migrant crisis will DESTROY NYC
The Daily Mail described the federal officials' comments as recent examples of President Joe Biden's inner circle "passing the humanitarian issue like a hot potato to local officials who, in turn, shunt responsibility back to the White House."
For his part, Adams warned that inaction toward the problem would ruin everything for the city under his leadership.
"Let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City," he said, stressing the last four words. (Related: NYC Mayor Eric Adams admits mass illegal immigration is inherently destructive for the Big Apple.)
According to the former police officer-turned-city mayor, a "broken" nationwide immigration system and Republican states busing illegals from their territories also contribute to the problem. But he also took aim at the federal government, saying: "We're getting no support on this national crisis."
In response, the federal government is mailing Adams' office a $100 million check. However, Williams-Isom said the amount will only go a small way to plugging the $12 billion projected cost of addressing the migrant crisis by 2025. "With the $12 billion looming ahead of us we have to make sure that we are prepared though," she said.
Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Adams' office, also echoed calls for the federal government to do more. "We cannot continue to work to solve a national crisis that the federal government has refused to take meaningful action on," she said.
"We have opened more than 200 emergency shelters; have spent more than $2 billion to date; and expect to spend $5 billion this fiscal year alone without substantial aid from our state and federal partners. NYC has far passed its breaking point, and we continue to call on our federal partners to expedite work authorizations; declare a national state of emergency; create a decompression strategy; and lead on this national issue."
Visit Collapse.news for more stories about NYC's ongoing migrant crisis.
Watch this Fox Business clip about NYC Mayor Eric Adams' warning that the migrant crisis will destroy the Big Apple.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Absurd: NYC spends over $10M each day for illegals.
NYC migrant crisis: Central Park being considered as HOUSING for migrants.
NY Gov. Hochul announces EMERGENCY ORDER to deal with surge of illegals.
NYC Mayor Adams blasts Biden admin for burdening Big Apple with ILLEGALS.
Hypocrite NYC Mayor Eric Adams declares state of emergency as migrants bussed from Texas flood 'sanctuary city.'
Sources include:
DailyMail.co.uk
NBCNews.com
Brighteon.com
Musk agrees that Ukraines counteroffensive has failed
Ukrainian troops have suffered colossal losses during Kievs counteroffensive while achieving almost no results, Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk has said.
(Article republished from RT.com)
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, the US tycoon commented on a post by investor and entrepreneur David Sacks, who shared an article by analyst David Pyne stating that Ukrainian territorial gains from their much-vaunted counteroffensive are so miniscule they can barely be seen on a map.
Musk appeared to agree with this assessment, writing: So much death for so little.
The message by Sacks was an update to an earlier post he made on June 20 in which he summed up the Ukrainian push up to that point, which had been underway for two weeks. He said that its becoming clear that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is failing to achieve any of its originally stated objectives, adding that Washingtons hopes that Kiev would be able to cut off Russias land bridge to Crimea had been dashed.
He also suggested that given the lack of progress by Ukraine on the battlefield, the hostilities were heading towards a stalemate, adding that another possibility was that Russia will take more territory and win the war. Musk responded at the time to the article by writing well said.
The US billionaire has on several occasions locked horns with Ukrainian officials over the conflict. Earlier this month, Mikhail Podoliak, an aide to President Vladimir Zelensky, accused Musk of enabling evil over his refusal to allow Kiev to use Starlink satellites to support a Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea last year.
Musk responded by saying that he had no obligation to fight for Kiev while explaining that he did not want his Space X company to be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation.
Russian officials have repeatedly said that despite numerous attempts to breach Moscows defenses, Ukrainian troops have failed to gain any substantial ground. President Vladimir Putin recently provided an estimate of Kievs losses at more than 71,000 troops, 543 tanks, and nearly 18,000 armored vehicles of various types.
Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, predicted in an interview with CNN on Sunday that a quick end to the conflict is unlikely, adding that Kievs goal of regaining all the territory it considers its own is a very high bar.
Read more at: RT.com
Single-bullet official narrative of JFK assassination called into doubt by witnesses
A former Secret Service agent who was present when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated is openly questioning the official explanation of what happened that day.
Paul Landis, who was assigned to first lady Jackie Kennedys security detail, was standing on a running board a few feet away from JFK when he was shot, and he explains how his recollection of what happened differs from the written statements he provided shortly after the event took place.
The Warren Commissions official determination was that one bullet struck JFK from behind and exited through his throat before continuing forward to strike Texas Governor John Connally in his thigh, back, wrist and chest. The conclusion was reached, at least in part, because the bullet was discovered on Connallys stretcher at Parkland Memorial Hospital.
However, Landis now says that he found that bullet stuck into the seat of the car behind where Kennedy had been sitting after his motorcade arrived at the hospital. He said he picked it up and placed it next to JFK on his stretcher in a hospital exam room so it could be examined.
Speaking to the New York Times, he said: I was just afraid that it was a piece of evidence, that I realized right away. Very important. And I didn't want it to disappear or get lost. So it was, 'Paul, you've got to make a decision,' and I grabbed it.
He believes the bullet did not go very deeply into JFKs back and must have fallen out before he got out of the vehicle. Although he says he long believed the official narrative that Lee Harvey Oswald was acting alone when he shot Kennedy, now hes not so sure.
"At this point, I'm beginning to doubt myself. Now I begin to wonder," he said. He thinks the bullet could have made its way from where he left it on Kennedys stretcher to Connallys stretcher if the stretchers collided in the rush to render aid.
His revelation is being received with some skepticism given the upcoming release of his book, The Final Witness: A Kennedy Secret Service Agent Breaks His Silence After 60 Years.
However, past interviews given by nurse Phyllis J. Hall, who was present in the emergency room when the president was brought there that day, corroborate Landiss claim. She described seeing a bullet on the presidents stretcher in interviews nearly ten years ago, telling The Telegraph: On the cart, halfway between the earlobe and the shoulder, there was a bullet laying almost perpendicular there, but I have not seen a picture of that bullet ever.
She has also said the bullet was in remarkably good condition, with no blunting or other signs of damage.
The single-bullet theory has long been the subject of doubt. A JFK assassination researcher and lawyer, James Robenalt, who has spoken to Landis about his recollections, explained the significance of his recounting of the events.
"If what he says is true, which I tend to believe, it is likely to reopen the question of a second shooter, if not even more," he stated.
"If the bullet we know as the magic or pristine bullet stopped in President Kennedy's back, it means that the central thesis of the Warren Report, the single-bullet theory, is wrong," he said, adding that if Connally was indeed hit by a different bullet, it was likely that it was fired by someone else as Oswald could not have feasibly reloaded a gun fast enough to be responsible for both bullets.
Landis feared he made a mistake by placing the bullet on JFK's stretcher
Landis, who is now 88, explained that he did not come forward sooner with what happened because he was afraid he had made a mistake by placing the bullet on the stretcher. He also told Robenalt that years of PTSD and mental images of JFKs head exploding made it impossible for him to read detailed reports about the assassination until many years later.
"I was afraid. I started to think, did I do something wrong? There was a fear that I might have done something wrong and I shouldn't talk about it," he clarified.
He noted that he was never interviewed by the Warren Commission and left the Secret Service shortly after the assassination because of post-traumatic stress. The report is accepted as the official story of what happened, but many believe it was rushed and is incomplete. Polls have shown that most Americans believe there was some sort of coverup and many think other parties, such as the CIA, were involved.
Sources for this article include:
FoxNews.com
VanityFair.com
News.Sky.com
CNN.com
Tim Ballard: Bidens DHS and HHS now function as a child trafficking delivery service
Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security agent and undercover operative in rescuing child sex trafficking victims who inspired the film "Sound of Freedom," said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have become a child trafficking delivery service in the United States.
During the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on September 13, Ballard defended his allegations against the Biden Administration and its current border policies in front of Congress and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green.
In his testimony before Congress, Ballard drew the connection between child trafficking and the border crisis in the United States. "The lack of border security and inadequate policies are fueling the growth of human trafficking," warned Ballard.
"I have personally seen how ports of entry were responsible for helping rescue a child, catch a sexual predator, and started a chain of events that rescued multiple children from [the traffickers] abuse. On the other hand, Ive spoken with survivors who were trafficked by cartels taking advantage of the miles of unprotected U.S. border," Ballard said.
Ballard claims that human traffickers capitalize on the current state of America's border policies. As one of the largest global consumers of child sex abuse material, human traffickers exploit the porous southern border to bring enslaved individuals into the U.S. for the sex industry. (Related: YouTube protects child sex trafficking, pedophiles and groomers by BANNING interviews and videos about Sound of Freedom film.)
Furthermore, Green asked Ballard if the policies of the government were making it easier for traffickers to operate and causing human trafficking cases that wouldn't happen otherwise. Ballard confirmed this, and when asked if Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas knows about it, he said: "I do believe he knows that." Ballard demands urgent action in locating 85,000 missing children
Back in June, Green started the investigation against Mayorkas and his failure to address the border crisis, the contribution of the border crisis to the drug cartels, the human and financial costs, and suspected fraudulent activities within the DHS.
However, now that the investigation is in its third stage, Ballard stressed the urgent need to locate the 85,000 missing children and enforce existing border laws. He argues that enforcing border policies and ending human trafficking is the most compassionate policy for children.
In his opening statement in the hearing, Ballard brought up the approximately 85,000 unaccompanied migrant children released by the Biden administration to sponsors within the U.S. since the beginning of fiscal year 2023. Many of these minors have since gone missing and have become prime targets for sexual exploitation and forced labor.
"Regrettably, as a consequence of the current administration's border policies, DHS and HHS have inadvertently become facilitators of child trafficking," claimed Ballard.
Besides urging Congress to locate the missing children, Ballard joined forces with Rep. Chris Smith, a long-time advocate for trafficking victims and author of several anti-trafficking laws, in proposing the "Safeguarding Endangered Children, Unaccompanied and at Risk of Exploitation Act of 2023," commonly referred to as the SECURE Act of 2023.
According to official data from the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), over 345,000 unaccompanied children have crossed the U.S. southern border since 2021. So, the SECURE Act of 2023 aims to hold the federal government including the HHS, DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation accountable to submit regular reports on the status of unaccompanied minors in ORR custody since January 2021.
Moreover, the bill demands locating these minors; assessing their risk of trafficking, exploitation and abuse; and ensuring proper vetting of adults in their new homes. Agencies would be fined up to $10 million annually for late submissions.
Most migrant kids come to the U.S. with the name or phone number of unverified sponsors, so the Biden administration policies make Border Patrol, DHS and HHS staff seem like they are helping child traffickers by delivering the kids to them. Follow Trafficking.news for more news about child trafficking happening in America.
Watch the July 10 episode of "Matrixxx Grooove" below. Tune in to "Matrixxx Grooove" with Jeff and Shady every weekday at 12-1 p.m. on Brighteon.TV.
More related stories:
Right Now with Ann Vandersteel: Several NGOs are involved in CHILD TRAFFICKING, reveals Carlos Arellano Brighteon.TV.
Biden DOJ erases child sex trafficking language from government website after losing track of 85,000 migrant children.
Big Media trying to discredit blockbuster Sound of Freedom film do they all support child sex trafficking?
Rolling Stone, Washington Post PRAISED pro-pedophile movie Cuties, ATTACKED anti-child sex trafficking movie Sound of Freedom.
Child trafficking victim says her captor took all his girls to Planned Parenthood because abortion provider doesnt ask questions.
Sources include:
WND.com
MSN.com
Brighteon.com
Putin accuses U.K. of training Ukrainian saboteurs to disrupt Russian nuclear plants
Russian President Vladimir Putin is warning the United Kingdom of "serious consequences" as he accused the country's special forces of leading a raid to disrupt Russian nuclear power plants
Putin further warned British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak that he "doesn't understand" the serious risks of British involvement in the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine. (Related: BIZARRE: Ukraine spy chief claims Putin has been DEAD for a year with Russia using DOPPELGANGERS in his place.)
Putin's accusations against Britain and Sunak were made on Sept. 12 while he was speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. He alleged that his country's forces had apprehended Ukrainian saboteurs who were planning to damage power lines at a Russian nuclear power plant. He further alleged that they were trained by British special forces.
"Not long ago, as a result of clashes on our territory, the Federal Security Service, during the armed struggle, captured a number of people. A few were killed, and the rest were taken captive," said Putin. "It turned out that this was a sabotage group belonging to the Security Service of Ukraine."
"Interrogations were conducted. What did they indicate? Their mission was to damage one of our nuclear power plants, to wreck power lines high-voltage power lines in order to eventually disrupt the power station's operation and this is not the first such attempt," continued Putin. "Meanwhile, [the saboteurs] revealed during their interrogation that they trained under the guidance of British instructors."
Putin accuses Britain of provoking Russia with "nuclear blackmail"
In his speech, Putin wondered whether the British "understand what they are playing with, or not?"
He further alleged that Sunak may be attempting to provoke Russia into responding in kind by sending its own saboteurs to attack Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
"Does the British leadership and the prime minister even know what their special forces are doing in Ukraine?" asked Putin. He then noted that it was possible that the British special forces were acting independently of British leadership and were instead acting on instructions given by the United States. "Either way, we know the final beneficiary."
"But do they realize what they are playing with?" asked Putin, accusing Britain and the West of underestimating Russia. "I know there will be howling that starts after words like 'These are threats,' 'Nuclear blackmail,' and so on."
Perhaps predicting skepticism from the West regarding these allegations, Putin said: "I assure you this is the total pure truth. So these [saboteurs] are telling this to us during interrogation. I know some can say, 'They will say anything under a gun.' This is not true. And the leadership of the British special forces knows I am telling the truth."
"But I am not sure the leadership of Great Britain understands what's going on," Putin concluded. "These kinds of things are seriously concerning because they [the U.K.] don't feel the ground which can lead to serious consequences."
Sunak himself has not responded to Putin's allegations. Instead, a government spokesperson said: "We're not providing a running commentary on Russian allegations which only serve to distract from Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine."
Around a day before Putin's allegations, Sunak alleged that Russia targeted a civilian cargo ship at a Ukrainian port in the Black Sea carrying Ukrainian grain for export.
"I can tell the House today that, thanks to declassified intelligence, we know the Russian military targeted a civilian cargo ship in the Black Sea with multiple missiles on the 24th of August," said Sunak in a speech to Parliament. He then alleged that the attack only serves to demonstrate just how desperate Putin is.
"Ukraine has the right to export its goods through international waters and they have the moral right to ship grain that is helping feed the world," said Sunak.
This comes right after he criticized Putin for not attending the recently concluded G20 Summit in India and right after he accused the Russian president of causing "horrendous suffering in Ukraine," violating the charter of the United Nations and threatening global energy security.
Find the latest news about Putin and Russia at RussiaReport.news.
Watch this clip featuring Putin discussing a foiled terror attack on a Russian nuclear power plant led by Ukrainian saboteurs who were trained by British special forces.
This video is from the channel Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth on Brighteon.com.
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Ukrainian armed forces failed to achieve goals in three months of counteroffensive effort, Russian defense minister reports.
Russia's nuclear-capable Satan II ICBM goes on active combat duty for the first time.
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Sources include:
DailyMail.co.uk
Independent.co.uk
Reuters.com
TheNationalNews.com
Brighteon.com
160 Individuals on terror list have attempted to cross into U.S. this year ILLEGALLY, of course
About 160 non-United States citizens on the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), commonly known as the terrorist watchlist, have attempted to cross into the U.S. this year, according to the Homeland Threat Assessment. The majority of these encounters occurred while these individuals were trying to enter the country illegally between official ports of entry.
This marks a notable increase compared to last year when border officials encountered roughly 100 individuals on the watchlist. The increase has alarmed officials at the Department of Homeland Security. (Related: US border crisis persists: Thousands of migrants continue to cross daily despite the summer heat.)
The annual assessment cited a record number of migrant arrivals as a significant complicating factor for border and immigration security over the past year. The report also highlights the expectation of continued high numbers of migrant encounters in the upcoming year.
This expectation is driven by factors such as the persistent motivations for migration to the U.S. and potential growing frustration with the limited availability of legal immigration pathways.
However, the report also raises concerns about the possibility of terrorists and criminal actors exploiting this heightened flow and the increasingly complex security environment to gain entry into the United States.
Homeland Security officials emphasized that every individual encountered at the border undergoes rigorous biometric and biographic screening and vetting.
Customs and Border Protection has also expanded its information-sharing agreements with international partners to enhance its ability to prevent, detect and investigate various crimes, including human trafficking.
The report tried to downplay the issue, noting that encounters with known or suspected terrorists at the Southern Border are extremely rare, representing significantly less than 0.01 percent of total encounters annually in recent years.
It added that these encounters may involve individuals who are not themselves known or suspected terrorists but may have associations with individuals on the watchlist, including family members.
Increase in encounters with watchlisted individuals linked to surge in travelers from Eastern Hemisphere
The report linked the increase in encounters with individuals on TSDB to the soaring number of travelers from the Eastern Hemisphere coming to the U.S. over the past year.
This surge in travelers from regions where terrorism is a concern has necessitated additional processing and repatriation resources. Individuals can end up on the watchlist because of their associations with known watchlisted individuals or their direct involvement in terrorist activities.
This underscores a broader trend of individuals from conflict zones worldwide seeking to migrate to the Western Hemisphere, ultimately targeting the United States.
In addition to the concerns related to terrorism, the report anticipates that the threat of domestic terrorism will remain high but unchanged in 2024.
It also identifies illicit drugs produced and imported from Mexico as the primary threat to American lives.
It's important to note that Border Patrol officials have reported a growing number of people on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's terror watchlist encountered not only at the southern border but also at the northern border.
TSDB contains sensitive information on known or suspected terrorists and individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States. When individuals on this list are encountered at the border, they may be detained, removed or turned over to another agency for detention or law enforcement action if necessary.
However, it's worth noting that most individuals on the terrorist watchlist are still permitted to fly within the U.S., with only a small subset placed on the "No Fly" list, a decision made exclusively by government agencies.
Visit InvasionUSA.news for more related stories.
Watch this video that talks about terrorists crossing U.S. border.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
This needs to STOP! Tax dollars are being used to fund ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION across America.
NYC Mayor Adams: Illegal immigration under Biden has become a NATIONAL CRISIS.
BORDER DEFENSE: America protects US-Mexico border with barbed wire and verbal warnings.
Sources include:
Miamiherald.com
Thenationaldesk.com
Brighteon.com
California passes new law establishing fast-food minimum wage of $20/hour, McDonalds to spend $250,000 more per restaurant per year
The California legislature just passed a new bill to require all major fast-food chains throughout the state to pay their employees at least $20 per hour and McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food chain with 40,100 stores worldwide, is really angry about it.
The passage of Assembly Bill 1228, which is now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, "will result in a devastating financial blow to California McDonald's franchises at a projected annual cost of $250,000 per McDonald's restaurant," responded the National Owners Association to the bill's passage.
According to the legislators behind AB 1228, the bill only affects the "rich" fast-food places that have more than 60 locations nationwide. This is technically true, though it will likely inadvertently affect small fast-food chains or individual family-owned restaurants because employees will choose to apply and work at McDonald's for $20 an hour versus making far less at theirs.
"Small restaurants will be forced to raise their wages, too, just to get workers," is how one report put it.
(Related: The more minimum wage increases, the more businesses will try to replace them with artificial intelligence [AI] robots.)
California really wants fast-food chains to pay their employees higher wages
Another thing AB 1228 does is create an entirely new government office comprised of a 10-member council that will govern the implementation and enforcement of its provisions.
In its first draft, AB 1228 would have allowed the California government to fine major corporations in the event that franchise operators in the state skirt or ignore the law. That provision was removed, but head corporations like McDonald's are still upset.
The new $20 minimum wage requirement is set to go into effect immediately, followed by even more increases to occur from 2025 through 2029.
Contention over the new legislation reached a fever pitch after the California legislature pushed through the FAST Act earlier this year, which is even worse for the state's restaurant industry.
"The bill was so egregious that the industry banded together and demanded changes as well as representation in the negotiations, instead of it being left to the rapacious unions and the left-wing legislature to craft the thing unbidden," one report explains.
The aim of the FAST Act is to increase California's minimum wage to $25 per hour, and there was a lot of fury after it was revealed that the campaign to pass it was, ironically, only paying canvassers $15 per hour.
After the FAST Act was passed, McDonald's U.S. President Joe Erlinger wrote a public letter calling it "lopsided" and "ill-considered." Erlinger further blasted California lawmakers for not treating all restaurants equally and instead only targeting national chains like McDonald's.
It turns out that the FAST Act is now on the chopping block with the strong possibility that it will be repealed and replaced, and waiting in the wings was AB 1228 to take its place.
The new AB 1228 requires that four members of the 10-member committee be representatives from the fast-food industry, as well as four union members. Previously, there were no such requirements that the fast-food industry be represented on the committee.
"I certainly wouldn't say it's catastrophic, and certainly not as bad as it could have played out over the next year or two," commented Mark Kalinowski, CEO of Kalinowski Equity Research.
At a time when the U.S. economy is already teetering on the edge, the passage of AB 1228, which is likely to be signed into law by Newsom, will only further accelerate the collapse of the system as we currently know it.
The latest news about the escalating economic crisis and what comes next as the fallout from it can be found at Collapse.news.
Sources for this article include:
TheGatewayPundit.com
NaturalNews.com
California legislature: Parents to lose custody if they dont support gender alterations (and mutilations) of their children
Parents in California could lose custody of their children to another parent or even the state itself if they resist their kids' desire to undergo gender alteration through hormone therapies or child mutilation surgeries, according to the state's legislative body.
The Golden State legislature passed Assembly Bill 957, titled "Transgender, Gender-Diverse, and Intersex Youth Empowerment Act," on Friday, September 8, by a party-line vote of 57-16, with several Democrats not voting. It was previously approved by the California Senate with a vote of 30-9.
The new legislation claims to "prioritize the health, safety and welfare" of children, which gives high emphasis on "affirming" a child's gender identity. AB 957 was initially proposed by Democratic Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson on February 24 to require courts to consider whether parents were "affirming" a child's identification as transgender in custody cases. The legislation was later amended in June to declare parents who aren't deemed sufficiently "in favor" to be even liable for child abuse. (Related: California bill would charge parents who reject transgenderism with "child abuse.")
For Wilson, gender affirmation could also mean letting a child play with toys associated with his or her gender identity, getting nails painted, or wearing his or her hair at a desired length. But the main emphasis is on the parents' "affirmation" if ever a child announces he/she wants to alter his/her genitals.
The bill's supporters argue that it is in the best interest of children. However, gender alteration surgeries in California can only be availed by minors if they have parental consent. "In most cases, youth under the age of 18 must obtain the permission of their parents or guardian to access any medical treatment, including treatment for gender transition," the California Transgender Law provides. Also, state law already bars custody courts from considering a parent, legal guardian, or relative's sex, gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation when determining the best interests of a child. This makes the said legislation "illegal."
Meanwhile, the California Catholic Conference, the state's official public policy voice of the Catholic Church, opposes the bill.
"We strongly support parents affirming the goodness of their children and compassionately caring for children with gender dysphoria," the conference said in a legislative report on its website. "Our concern is that this bill places a thumb on the scale for custody against loving, protective parents that lacks sufficient data to be warranted. Rather than driving a wedge between children and parents, it is in the best interest of children to promote parental communication and involvement," the conference's analysis said.
Moreover, the opposition raised concerns about the law infringing upon parental rights and autonomy. Critics view this as a government overreach.
Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk even bluntly recommended parents to "flee" the state because of the recent developments on the AB 957. "In the past when we've had these discussions and I've seen parental rights atrophy, I've encouraged people to keep fighting," Wilk said back in June. "I've changed my mind on that. If you love your children, you need to flee California. You need to flee." The senator also even vowed to leave the state himself at the end of his term.
Elon Musk slams AB 957
The said legislation is now headed to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is expected to sign it. For Big Tech magnate Elon Musk, the bill is "a wolf in sheep's clothing." He turned to his platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and posted: "What it [AB 957] would actually mean is that if you disagree with the other parent about sterilizing your child, you lose custody. Utter madness!"
It is no secret that Musk has a transgender child, the 19-year-old Xavier, who was born a biological male and now carries the name Vivian Jenna Wilson. Their relationship has been shaky and considered irreparable. He called his son a "communist" and slammed the prestigious and expensive Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California, which by the way charges $50,000 per student annually, for brainwashing his child to despise the wealthy and "infecting him with the woke mind virus." (Related: Musk slams expensive California school for infecting his transgender son with "woke mind virus.")
In an excerpt from the upcoming biography of the Twitter and Tesla CEO published in the Wall Street Journal, he revealed that he was actually in favor of his child's gender transition at first. However, in April 2022, Wilson severed all relations with him and refused to be a part of his life because of the takeover of elite institutions by left-wing academics.
"Unless the woke mind virus, which is fundamentally anti-science, anti-merit and anti-human in general, is stopped, civilization will never become multi-planetary," Musk said. He also blamed "neo-Marxist" colleges for the rift between himself and his kid.
Transhumanism.news has more stories related to the transgender takeover of America.
Watch the "Kim Iverson Show" report below that talks about the bill that forces parents to affirm their kids to undergo gender alteration, or risk losing custody.
This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
After southern California school district decided to inform parents of LGBT students about their gender "transitions," trans mob responds with DEATH threats.
Victory for parental rights: California school district agrees to pay family $100,000 settlement after teachers "transitioned" student to LGBT behind parents' back.
California school superintendent pushing transgender training shut down by school board.
Sources include:
TheFederalist.com
CNBCTV18.com
TransgenderLawCenter.org
CatholicNewsAgency.com
TheDailyBeast.com
Brighteon.com
China to build massive logistics hub in Russian Far East
China is embarking on a massive plan to construct a $600 to $700 million logistics hub in the Russian far eastern Amur region.
Reports from the two nations indicate that the construction effort will be led by the Xuanyuan Group Industrial Development, a private import and export corporation. CEO Hailong Xue told Russian media outlet RT that the logistics hub will be used to handle the increasing freight turnover between the two nations, which has more than doubled over the past year. (Related: Russia and China pledge friendship, denounce the West.)
The hub will connect the Chinese city of Tongjiang in the northeastern Heilongjiang Province and the Russian town of Nizhnelenin in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast (region). The hub will be designed to help facilitate cargo transfers across the Russian and Chinese borders along the Amur River.
"The location of this hub is very important as it will be right between our borders. There is a narrow stretch between our frontiers which makes cargo transfer rather problematic," said Hailong. "But, with our project, we estimate that freight transportation will reach 10 million tons annually."
If Hailong's prediction is accurate, then it would increase cargo traffic between Russia and China fourfold within the next few years.
Plans for the hub are still being finalized, but current statements from Hailong indicate that the company wants the terminal to be able to store and transport both hazardous and nonhazardous goods, such as liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, aviation fuel, helium and technological and manufacturing goods and materials.
The project is estimated to cost between $600 and $700 million and is expected to be completed by 2027.
China expanding investments in Russia following Western withdrawal
China has poured a massive amount of investments into Russia following the pullout of many major Western corporations since the beginning of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
Zhou Liquin, chairman of the Chinese Entrepreneurs' Union of Russia, noted that Chinese businesses have been actively filling in the niches left by the exit of Western corporations and are eager to expand their presence in Russia even further.
"The withdrawal of Western companies from Russia has created vast opportunities for Chinese businessmen and enterprises to cooperate with Russia," said Zhou. "For example, in the vehicle manufacturing sector. Many Chinese carmakers have entered the Russian market throughout the past year. While previously they made up only five to six percent of the market, now it is almost 40 percent."
Zhou noted how China is building on the fact that it has been one of Russia's most important trading partners for the past 14 years at least, and both countries have continually created platforms and opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation.
"Chinese businessmen are interested in Russia's raw materials. Russian businessmen are interested in Chinese machinery and equipment," said Zhou. "This makes our cooperation mutually beneficial and opens up the potential for development."
Zhou added that, since the introduction of Western sanctions on Moscow, trade between China and Russia has only flourished. He noted that since the departure of the American dollar, between 80 to 85 percent of transactions between the two nations have been carried out using either the Chinese yuan or the Russian ruble.
"Businesses in both Russia and China are already accustomed to using national currencies in cross-border transactions," said Zhou. "It is very convenient for direct cooperation. We expect the ratio of yuan and ruble transactions in mutual trade to grow to 90 percent, depending on the type of product."
Learn more about China's latest overseas ventures at CommunistChina.news.
Watch this clip showing Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un meeting in the Amur Region.
This video is from the channel Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Intelligence report: China likely providing military aid to Russia.
DOUBLE AGENT? China supplies drones to both Ukraine and Russia.
China pledges support for Russia following failed Wagner mercenary rebellion.
National security advisor: China providing weapons to Russia a "real mistake."
Sources include:
SHTFPlan.com
Bloomberg.com
RT.com
BigNewsNetwork.com
Brighteon.com
Whistleblower: CIA BRIBED analysts to change their findings on COVID-19 origins
A whistleblower has revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) bribed analysts to change their findings about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) from having man-made origins to a natural origin, House members claim.
Two Ohio congressmen, Reps. Brad Wenstrup and Mike Turner, outlined this "new and concerning" revelation in a Sept. 12 letter to CIA Director William Burns. Wenstrup heads the House COVID-19 Select Subcommittee, while Turner heads the House Intelligence Committee. Their letter to Burns shared the testimony of a "multi-decade, senior-level, current [CIA] officer."
"According to the whistleblower, the [CIA] assigned seven officers to a COVID Discovery Team [that] consisted of multi-disciplinary and experienced officers with significant scientific expertise," the two wrote. "At the end of its review, six of the seven members of the team believed the intelligence and science were sufficient to make a low confidence assessment that COVID-19 originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China."
"The seventh member of the team, who also happened to be the most senior, was the lone officer to believe COVID-19 originated through zoonosis. The whistleblower further contends that to come to the eventual public determination of uncertainty, the other six members were given a significant monetary incentive to change their position." (Related: BIOWARFARE ON AMERICANS: RFK Jr. says CIA was directly involved in funding COVID research for Wuhan lab.)
Tammy Kupperman Thorp, the CIA's public affairs director, responded to the Republicans' letter in a statement given to the New York Post.
"At CIA, we are committed to the highest standards of analytic rigor, integrity, and objectivity. We do not pay analysts to reach specific conclusions," she said. "We take these allegations extremely seriously and are looking into them. We will keep our congressional oversight committees appropriately informed.
Ratcliffe: Lab leak theory the only reasonable explanation
Given the whistleblower testimony, Wenstrup and Turner also requested several documents from the CIA to aid with Congress' probe on the matter with a Sept. 26 deadline.
Among the documents requested are the team's communications between different departments such as the Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Energy (DOE) regarding the origins of COVID-19. Documents regarding the pay history of the COVID Discovery Team in all its iterations, including the awarding of any type of financial or performance-based incentives or financial bonuses are also requested.
The Post also reported that both congressmen identified former CIA Chief Operating Officer Andrew Makridis as having "played a central role" in the agency's COVID-19 investigation. In a separate letter, they invited Makridis to participate in a transcribed interview on Sept. 26. The former CIA staffer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was the first U.S. intelligence agency to presume the COVID-19 pandemic most probably started with a lab leak. In February, the DOE also assumed that a lab leak was possible based on the latest intelligence at the time.
Later in April, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe told Congress that the lab leak theory was the "only" credible explanation for the pandemic.
"My informed assessment as a person with as much access as anyone to our governments intelligence has been and continues to be that a lab leak is the only explanation," he told the House COVID-19 Select Subcommittee during a hearing. Ratcliffe added that such a theory is "credibly supported by [U.S.] intelligence, by science and by common sense."
"If our intelligence and evidence supporting a lab leak was placed side by side with our intelligence and evidence pointing to a natural origins or spillover theory, the lab leak side of the ledger would be long, convincing, even overwhelming while the spillover side would be nearly empty and tenuous."
Visit Conspiracy.news for more stories about the COVID-19 lab leak theory.
Watch this clip from the New York Post about the whistleblower's allegation of the CIA bribing analysts to suppress the COVID-19 lab leak theory.
This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
New study shows chances that COVID-19 has a natural origin are less than 1 in 100 million.
Dr. Andrew Huff blows whistle on Fauci-supported org that funded Wuhan lab where COVID-19 escaped, reveals CIAs connection.
Sen. Tom Cotton says China destroyed evidence about covid lab leak to bury "smoking gun."
Three scientists from Wuhan lab identified as first carriers of COVID-19.
Sources include:
100PercentFedUp.com
Oversight.House.gov [PDF]
NYPost.com
Brighteon.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted, only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of Russia [temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war] and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities, the ministry noted.
The Azerbaijani Army has launched local anti-terrorism measures in Karabakh.
Detransitioner sues doctors who rushed her into DOUBLE MASTECTOMY when she was a MINOR
Former female-to-male (FTM) transgender individual Luka Hein, has filed a lawsuit against the doctors of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's (UNMC) gender clinic for rushing her into transgender surgery and performing a double mastectomy on her when she was just 16 and experiencing "gender dysphoria."
According to the 28-page complaint filed in Nebraska, Hein accused the UNMC doctors of medical malpractice while seeking financial compensation and accountability after the doctors brushed her off and simply advised her to seek mental health counseling for having regrets after the surgery. The doctors even told her it was "just part of your gender journey." (Related: Detransitioner Chloe Cole to sue doctors who forced her to undergo gender-affirming procedures.)
The lawsuit named the defendants as Dr. Ahia Amoura, an OB-GYN physician and Megan Smith-Sallans, a gender therapist who quickly diagnosed her with gender dysphoria after just 55 minutes of her initial consultation in July 2017; Dr. Perry Johnson, who performed the surgery, and Dr. Stephan Barrientos, who assisted with the procedure just after two consultations.
Moreover, Smith-Sallanas referred Hein for a double mastectomy in that same year and had the irreversible procedure done in 2018. Back then, she told Johnson and Barrientos that she was having rib pain and stopped wearing a chest binder for a few months due to severe pain but they still proceeded anyway. Hein recounted it as "one of the worst times in my life."
Harmeet Dhillon, the lawyer representing Hein, claims that the doctors used coercive methods like "your daughter will commit suicide if you don't agree to this" to convince Hein and her parents to do the surgery.
"Doctors should not behave this way toward vulnerable children or families. Doctors should not be mutilating and permanently disfiguring children without clear medical necessity, which did not present itself in this case," Dhillon added.
Harmeet Dhillon, Hein's lawyer from the Center for American Liberty, characterized the case as "shocking malpractice," asserting that coercive methods were used to convince the family to agree to the surgery. She claims that doctors told Hein's parents, "Your daughter will commit suicide if you don't agree to this," which she believes is an unacceptable way to handle vulnerable children and families.
Hein regrets the aftermath of her surgery
In 2015, Hein began her traumatic journey when her parents got divorced. She struggled in school and experienced anxiety and panic attacks, and was then diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder and prescribed antipsychotic medication.
Due to that tragic incident, Hein spent more time online and fell into the trap of a groomer who manipulated her into sending explicit pictures. The man got violent when Hein refused to send more pictures, which escalated the situation to the police.
She was then so traumatized that when she entered puberty, Hein began to hate her period and feel uncomfortable with her developing breasts. This experience ultimately led her to explore the idea of transitioning. She followed trans influencers and was then convinced that she was born in the wrong gender.
To start her trans journey, she purchased a chest binder, transferred from an all-girls school, and adopted a new name. Hein embraced her male identity and openly discussed being transgender with her parents and mental health professionals. She was even brainwashed by the information she found online that undergoing breast surgery could improve her mental well-being.
But little did she know, these treatments had left her with irreversible permanent scars, a deeper voice, and hormonal imbalances. She even started to experience pain in her joints, lumbar spine, hands, wrists, elbows and pelvic area due to hormone therapy. And now the greatest consequence is she would not have the chance to be a mother.
As she recounts the process, she can't help but express her dissatisfaction: "I was going through the darkest and most chaotic time in my life, and instead of being given the help I needed, these doctors affirmed that chaos into reality."
"I don't think kids can ever consent to having essentially full bodily functions taken away at a young age before they even know what that means. I was talked into medical intervention that I could not fully understand the long-term impacts and consequences of."
Transhumanism.news has more stories about the repercussions of gender reassignment surgeries.
Watch this video from "War Room" on InfoWars featuring a de-transitioned male caller regretting the gender transition process.
This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Woman sues California hospital for subjecting her to a DOUBLE MASTECTOMY when she was 13 and experiencing gender confusion.
Former FTM Chloe Cole denounces gender transition in powerful speech, saying "it almost killed her."
Detransitioner Chloe Cole blasts "transgender refuge state" bill backed by CA state senator.
Former trans teens express REGRET over gender reassignment procedures.
Sources include:
DailyMail.co.uk
NYPost.com
Brighteon.com
The fastest growing development in America right now is Colony Ridge, an illegal alien housing compound in Texas that spans 60 square miles, say critics
A chunk of land in Texas that is roughly the size of Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, has become a massive resettlement zone being used by alien "migrants" who enter the United States illegally, say critics.
Located near the small town of Plum Grove in Liberty County just north of Houston, the resettlement zone, known as Colony Ridge, is reportedly becoming an illegal alien colony hence the name that experts and elected officials worry will become a strategic asset for cartels.
Spanning in size of more than 60 square miles, Colony Ridge currently has a population of somewhere between 50,000 and 75,000. And it is still rapidly growing thanks to a strategic marketing plan aimed at Texas' Hispanic population.
Colony Ridge is located not too far from the wealthy Woodlands development on the outskirts of the Houston metropolitan area, which is known for its designer homes and lavish pools. Just a few minutes away from the Woodlands by flight is Colony Ridge, which the Daily Wire describes as containing "half-built homes, dilapidated trailers, and heaps of trash."
"Houses on the ground fly the flags of foreign countries and many homes display their addresses on spray painted pieces of plywood," writes the Daily Wire's Spencer Lindquist, describing what could be seen during a recent helicopter assessment by his employer.
"Many structures, some of which are not hooked up to running water, were under construction, while others were unfinished but didn't appear to be actively getting worked on. At least one plot of land didn't have any structures at all, just a tent in the corner, nestled between shrubs. Stray dogs without collars could be seen trotting along the side of the underdeveloped streets."
(Related: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to continue sending illegal migrants to New York City on buses as long as fake president Joe Biden keeps America's southern border open to invaders.)
Illegals not required to show proof of income, credit score, or even a social security number to buy property in Colony Ridge, Texas
Despite these apparently poor, third world-style living conditions, Colony Ridge is exploding with growth. It has become a "sprawling labyrinth of roundabouts and endless rows of sidewalkless streets, with empty plots waiting to be developed," Lindquist further notes.
"The edges of the property are dotted with construction vehicles, each one tasked with cutting and clearing the surrounding forest to make way for yet more growth."
Owned and operated by developer William "Trey" Harris, Colony Ridge, which is now larger in land area than the cities of Fayetteville, Ark., and Asheville, N.C., is being built on the back of a special financing arrangement that allows illegal aliens to buy land in Texas.
While American citizens are required to show healthy credit ratings and proof of income in order to even be considered for receiving a home loan, illegal aliens in Colony Ridge are able to circumvent these requirements and buy property due to the special treatment arrangement that has been established for illegals to plant roots in the Lone Star State and they do not even have to show a social security number (SSN) in order to qualify.
"Because with a traditional bank loan you need to be able to show that you have a credit rating and proof of income," says Todd Bensman, a National Security Fellow at the Center for Immigration studies, in a quote to the Wire.
"The loan is directly from the developer, bypassing traditional mortgages, Bensman added, noting that buyers at Colony Ridge are only asked to pay as little as a "few hundred dollars" as a down payment.
The latest news about America's illegal immigration problem can be found at InvasionUSA.news.
Sources for this article include:
DailyWire.com
NaturalNews.com
Hunter Biden INDICTED by Delaware federal court on GUN-RELATED CHARGES
Presidential son Hunter Biden has been indicted by a federal court in Delaware on felony gun charges. On Sept. 14, the court indicted Hunter on three counts tied to possession of a firearm while using narcotics
Two of those three counts accuse Hunter of knowingly putting false information on a form to claim that he was not using illegal drugs when he purchased a Colt Cobra .38 Special revolver from a gun dealer in Delaware in October 2018. The third count alleges that the presidential son possessed a firearm while being a person struggling with a drug addiction. (Related: REPORT: Hunter Biden hired PR firm to clean up his Wikipedia page and make him look good.)
The indictment claims that the presidential son certified on a federally mandated form "that he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, and any other controlled substance, when in fact, as he knew, that statement was false and fictitious."
Two of the counts carry maximum prison sentences of 10 years each, while the third has a maximum of five. Each count also carries a maximum fine of $250,000. This means that Hunter could face a maximum of 25 years in prison and a maximum fine of $750,000 if found guilty on all three charges.
Two of the three charges being brought against Hunter were not used in the prosecutors' initial gun case back in July. Abbe Lowell, one of the attorneys representing Hunter, claimed in a statement that it is strange that the prosecutors are filing charges against the president's son now but did not do so six weeks ago following a five-year investigation into this case.
"The evidence in this matter has not changed in the last six weeks, but the law has and so has MAGA Republicans' improper and partisan interference in this process," claimed Lowell. "Hunter Biden possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days was not a threat to public safety, but a prosecutor, with all the power imaginable, bending to political pressure presents a grave threat to our system of justice."
Indictment comes following breakdown in plea deal talks
The historic indictment of the son of sitting President Joe Biden comes after a potential plea deal fell apart in July.
Special Counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the case and heading the investigation, is an appointee of former President Donald Trump who was kept on as U.S. attorney for Delaware because of the sensitive and unique nature of the investigation into Hunter by the Department of Justice. Attorney General Merrick Garland named Weiss as the department's special counsel following the breakdown of negotiations in the plea deal.
The deal would have seen Hunter plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of failing to pay his taxes in return for the prosecutors recommending probation. If Hunter had complied with the terms of the probation in two years, the felony gun charge of illegally owning a firearm while using narcotics would have been dropped.
"We believe these charges are barred by the agreement the prosecutors made with Mr. Biden, the recent rulings by several federal courts that this statute is unconstitutional, and the facts that he did not violate that law, and we plan to demonstrate all of that in court," said Lowell.
The plea deal fell apart at the court appearance where it was expected to be finalized after the judge presiding over the case raised questions about certain details of the agreement.
"The agreements are not straightforward, and they contain some atypical provisions," said District Judge Maryellen Noreika. She pointed out one provision in the plea agreement that could theoretically protect Hunter from other tax-related crimes committed or unearthed during the same period.
Following her questioning, Hunter changed his plea to not guilty. Noreika then gave the parties an additional 30 days to renegotiate the plea deal.
It is still unclear if prosecutors will charge Hunter for the tax evasion crimes. Weiss noted that with Noreika not agreeing to the previous plea deal, a new trial could be held against Hunter. But this new trial might have to be switched to Washington, D.C. or California, where Hunter lives, and where the tax offenses allegedly took place. He also hinted that prosecutors could bring additional charges against Hunter in the future.
Learn more about Hunter Biden and his father at BidenCrimeFamily.news.
Watch this Newsmax clip explaining how Hunter Biden's lawyers have been accused of intimidating whistleblowers from the Internal Revenue Service.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Hunter Biden's lucrative INFLUENCE PEDDLING scheme could spell the end for "Big Guy" Joe.
Emails show Weiss, DOJ colluded to SUBVERT congressional investigation on Hunter Biden case.
CIA faces lawsuit for facilitating "Dirty 51" letter that falsely discredited Hunter Biden's "laptop from hell" as Russian DISINFO.
Sources include:
ThePostMillennial.com
NBCNews.com
TheGuardian.com
Brighteon.com
Big Guy Joe Biden aware of Hunter Bidens drug-fueled meltdown during October 2018 gun purchase
An Oct. 15, 2018 voice message sent by the elder Biden to his son disclosed that the so-called "big guy" knew of his son's issues, despite feigning ignorance. The message was sent three days after Hunter purchased a .38 caliber Colt revolver from a Delaware store.
"It's Dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world, pal," Joe tearfully pleaded. "You [got to] get some help. I know you don't know what to do; I don't either."
The voice message also put the veracity of the federal Firearm Transaction Record Hunter submitted at the time of purchase. Commonly known as the Form 4473, the record mandates buyers to disclose if they use "marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance."
Hunter ticked the "no" box when he purchased the firearm in 2018. But in his 2021 memoir titled "Beautiful Things," the presidential son admitted to struggling with a "full-blown addiction" to crack cocaine during the purchase period. (Related: COCAINE found in West Wing phone cubby hours after Biden visit, Secret Service confirms.)
Approximately two weeks after the purchase, Hallie Biden the wife of Hunter's older brother Beau discovered the gun in Hunter's truck. She discarded the firearm in a grocery store trash can, which led to a police investigation.
The discovery of the gun sparked a heated exchange between Hunter and Hallie who were lovers in a text message. The exchange was among many discovered in the so-called "laptop from Hell." While the incident drew the attention of local and federal law enforcement, no charges were brought up.
Hunter now indicted on three charges
Hunter now faces three felony counts including false statement in purchase of a firearm; false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer; and possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. If convicted, he could face a $750,000 fine and up to 25 years in prison.
"They really thought they were gonna be successful with that plea deal that they had negotiated," said journalist Paula Reid. "Even when it first fell apart, they felt the judge would ultimately approve it."
According to Reid, Hunter is still very close to his father. However, they do not discuss the younger Biden's legal troubles as he does not want to burden his father with the ongoing legal battles.
Despite this closeness, the White House has signaled that a presidential pardon for Hunter is unlikely. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre firmly stated "no" when asked if the president would pardon his son in the event of a conviction.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) echoed this sentiment, calling it a "mistake" for the president to pardon his son. Goldman emphasized that the elder Biden has worked to restore the integrity of the Department of Justice and such a pardon would not align with that commitment.
But not everyone believes that a presidential pardon for Hunter is off the table. Garrett Ziegler, a former Trump White House aide, believes Biden will ultimately pardon his son even if it's on his last night in office out of fear of potential actions by former President Donald Trump. Incidentally, Hunter has sued Ziegler for disseminating information from the controversial laptop.
Head over to BidenCrimeFamily.news for more stories about Hunter Biden.
Watch this video regarding whistleblowers at the Internal Revenue Service testifying on Hunter Biden's case.
This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Journalist called secret cell phone paid for by Hunter Biden and says Joe Biden answered.
White House press secretary: No presidential pardon for Hunter Biden.
Whistleblower: Secret Service prevented the FBI from interviewing Hunter Biden.
Obama-Biden government in exile ran Hunter laptop suppression operation.
Hunter Biden laptop repairman reveals chilling warning from FBI agent.
Sources include:
DailyMail.co.uk
BizPacRreview.com
Brighteon.com
Joe Biden just DISQUALIFIED himself from the very presidency he STOLE in the first place
It is now an undeniable fact that fake president Joe Biden is completely disqualified from not only his White House occupation butgovernment offices in the United States.
He and his family's involvement in the infamous $1 billion U.S. government bribery scheme with Ukraine while he was vice president under Barack Hussein Obama is a felony crime that in and of itself disqualifies "the big guy" from all public office in America.
State of the Union (SOTU) compiled a lengthy report replete with all associated hard evidence and applicable laws that Biden and his crime family broke, including:
The Federal Corrupt Practices Act
15 U.S. Code 78dd1 Prohibited foreign trade practices by issuers
The U.S. Department of Justice Guidance
The Code of Federal Regulations
18 U.S.C. 201: Bribery of public officials and witnesses
The deliberate concealment of Biden's senatorial records
"There are various elements which constitute this indisputable legal case against the crime-committing VPOTUS which do not even include the much larger crime wave perpetrated by the entire Biden Crime Family an international RICO-level crime syndicate," SOTU reports.
"Notoriously known as 'the BIG Guy,' Joe Biden effectively functioned as the Capo di tutti capi of his stealthily veiled Irish-American Mafia Family. In that criminal capacity, Mafia don Joe Biden got his 10% cut of what was essentially a highly organized crime syndicate whose illicit activities were carried out worldwide in transparent violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act."
(Related: The corporate media is playing along by refusing to cover any of Biden's criminal activity.)
Biden has broken so many federal laws that he belongs in prison for LIFE
Concerning the Federal Corrupt Practices Act, this codified U.S. federal law strictly "prohibits U.S. citizens and entities from bribing foreign government officials to benefit their business interests," which we know Biden did watch this video to see and hear for yourself Biden admitting to his crimes publicly.
As for 15 U.S. Code 78dd1 Prohibited foreign trade practices by issuers, this law prohibits making payments, gifts, or bribes to any foreign official in order to influence a foreign official's decision-making process. This is exactly what Biden did when he threatened Ukraine's then-president to immediately terminate the Prosecutor General who was conducting an investigation of he and his son Hunter's corrupt practices at Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian company at which Hunter sat on the board.
Threatening to withhold loan guarantees to Ukraine was also a blatant violation of U.S. federal law as outlined in "An Overview" guidance about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that was issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ).
The Code of Federal Regulations further states explicitly that no employee of the U.S. federal government, which Biden was as VP under Obama and is once again as "president" under himself, should use their public office for private gain.
Under 18 U.S.C. 201: Bribery of public officials and witnesses, Biden once again acted in contravention for his involvement in the crime of bribing a public official.
Finally, Biden is guilty of illegally and deliberately concealing his senatorial records, which are currently housed at the University of Delaware where only Biden himself can permit their release.
"In this particular regard, Biden's refusal to release those public records is a brazen violation of 18 U.S. Code ?2071 which concerns the 'Concealment, removal, or mutilation generally' of government records, documents, files, etc.," SOTU explains.
"Were the American people to know the true depth and breadth of Joe Biden's career-long criminal activity, he would be banned from office for life while serving a life prison sentence to discourage all other politicos from recklessly abusing their office for such unconscionable financial gain."
Joe Biden is not America's legitimate president. Learn more at JoeBiden.news.
Sources for this article include:
StateOfTheNation.co
NaturalNews.com
Protesters heckle AOC during Democrat press conference on NYCs escalating illegals crisis leftists dont want more migrants in their back yard
Democrat Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) and Jerry Nadler, both of New York, held a press conference in Midtown Manhattan to address the Big Apple's escalating "migrant" crisis. And while AOC was speaking, hecklers could be heard in the background screaming "close the border!"
The event took place outside the Roosevelt Hotel "mega shelter," which is currently housing hordes of illegal aliens that were sent there from Texas after illegally crossing the porous southern border.
"Send them back!" yelled Jonathan Rinaldi, a Queens City Council candidate, near the event. "Close the border! Close the border! Respect the Constitution, AOC! I am your constituent!"
The 44-year-old was eventually grabbed by a security guard and shoved behind a barricade due to his messaging towards AOC.
Other protesters at the event were brandishing signs that said things like, "Americans First: Vetted & Legal Migrants Only."
Just prior to the press conference, AOC and other members of the racist Congressional Hispanic Caucus toured an emergency shelter that is overflowing with illegal migrants.
"What we seek to do is to make sure that all the resources are necessary and that we are joining with the city and state," AOC told the crowd as a man with a megaphone started shouting over her.
"Illegal immigration is not right!" he screamed. "Respect the Constitution! Close the border!"
As all this melee was occurring, AOC did her best to ignore her constituents and continue on with reading her script.
"I think that there are three points of consensus here that are very important in getting a solution to that issue," AOC said. "The first is that there is consensus here across geographies and state on increased federal resources to cities and municipalities dealing with this issue."
"The second is to allow for work authorizations so that folks in here can get to work and start supporting themselves as soon as possible. They are prevented from getting jobs. They are prevented from employment and that is part of the strain on our public systems. The faster that folks can access the work that they're asking for, legally, the better we can solve."
(Related: Late last year, the establishment renamed illegal aliens as "climate migrants" to trick Americans into accepting them on "humanitarian" grounds.)
NYC Mayor Adams wants Biden to stop illegal migrants from "destroying" the Big Apple
The illegal alien situation in New York City is now so bad that even far-leftist Mayor Eric Adams, a proud vegetarian, is calling on fake president Joe Biden to stop the influx of illegal migrants into the area, stating that they will "destroy" the Big Apple.
There is already a "black market" in NYC to illegally employ all these newly arriving migrants due to the Biden regime's delays in awarding permits to New York City to get rid of all these unwanted migrants.
"My wife's children, Diego and Lina, have been waiting seven long years in Medellin, Colombia, to come to this country legally," stated one of the protesters, 59-year-old David Rem, who is angry that all these illegal migrants have "jumped" the immigration line.
"They have paid all the immigration fees and have been fingerprinted by the FBI. They have done everything right they have been waiting and they haven't broken federal law by crossing the border illegally, so why not them?"
"You know what's going to happen. They're going to say to my kids in a year from now, 'Diego and Lina: sorry, but there's no room for you, the country's full.' It's a slap in the face to legal migration."
The latest news about the illegal alien problem in the U.S. can be found at InvasionUSA.news.
Sources for this article include:
NYPost.com
NaturalNews.com
Seattle law enforcement tells citizens it cant protect them: give criminals whatever theyre looking for
The best thing to do if you are ever confronted by criminals while in Seattle is to simply give them "whatever they're looking for," according to King County Sheriff David Robinson.
Instead of trying to fight criminals when they attempt to, say, steal your car, Robinson suggests that residents and visitors of Seattle "give up their car keys" and avoid provoking these robbers and thieves.
"Give the criminals what they want," Robinson told Seattleites about how to live in their city, which is currently facing the highest violent crime rate in 15 years.
Staged carjackings are a major problem in Seattle, just like they now are in San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area communities. And because all of these cities and areas have lessened their police presence, criminals are becoming increasingly bolder in committing blatant acts of crime in broad daylight.
Seattle is lawless. Sheriff David Robinson when asked about the spike in violence: "I'd recommend people give up your car keys." pic.twitter.com/kaOpJwjLcV Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) September 14, 2023
(Related: Back in June, Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream, an anti-police ice cream chain in the Seattle area, sued Seattle over "significant losses" caused by Black Lives Matter's [BLM] creation of the "Chaz" autonomous zone back during the George Floyd psy-op.)
Increasingly lawlessness is a sign of the times
To give Robinson some credit, his advice is probably the smartest advice that he can offer to Seattleites, all things considered. Since the city's police presence has dwindled since George Floyd, and because violent crime is up big time, it makes sense to avoid unneeded confrontations in the event that a carjacker, say, demands your vehicle and you are ill-equipped to handle it yourself.
On the other hand, if Seattle had a greater police presence, there would be fewer carjackings in the first place. And if Seattle was a city that valued the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms, more criminals would be deterred from committing crimes because they themselves want to avoid getting shot in a confrontation.
"What if the colonists had decided that the British were just too strong and just gave up?" asks Eric Utter, writing for American Thinker.
"The likes of George Washington and Samuel Adams could have simply told them to give up their guns and hand the keys to their homes over to the Redcoats. After all, the British had a large and experienced army and the best navy in the world. The colonists had neither."
Utter makes a great point, and one that today's Americans need to consider as their country descends into lawlessness, especially as the consequences of many decades' worth of financial crime, i.e., Wall Street and the federal government's endless money-printing spree, catch up with the average person, plunging him into poverty that leads to increasingly more crime due to desperation.
"We must rise up and demand that authorities get tough on crime and support law enforcement," is how Utter hopes things will be handled moving forward.
"We must demand that they enforce bail. We must rid ourselves of Soros-funded DAs who never met a criminal they wouldn't coddle. No more catch and release, no more recidivism. We must vote out the people in power who put the 'needs' of criminals above those of law-abiding (and tax-paying!) citizens."
"Unless we recover our courage, our spirit, and our moral character, criminals will forever be in the driver's seat and we will be left helpless on the side of the road ... wondering what went wrong."
Is the United States in the process of imploding by design? Learn more at Collapse.news.
Sources for this article include:
AmericanThinker.com
Twitchy.com
NaturalNews.com
Democrat candidate for Virginia state delegate found to have been soliciting money on adult streaming site
A Democratic candidate running for election in Virginia's House of Delegates has been accused of being on an adult streaming site with her husband
Susanna Gibson, 40, is gearing up to face her Republican opponent David Owen in the House's Nov. 7 election. Both Gibson and Owen are vying to become the delegate for the Old Dominion's 57th district. However, the scandalous online activities of the nurse practitioner and mother of two have added to the already closely watched political race.
Gibson and her husband had been on the adult streaming site Chaturbate, which allows users to interact with webcam models in real time in exchange for tips and tokens. The candidate reportedly had more than a dozen archived videos from her online sessions posted on September 2022, following her announcement of candidacy. However, the said videos were deleted due to an alleged violation of terms and conditions.
In particular, Gibson allegedly solicited tips from viewers in a private room saying that she was raising money for a "good cause." In exchange, she and her husband performed sexual acts for paying users. (Related: Son of Paul Pelosis attacker speaks out, says his father might have been a sex slave.)
The Democratic candidate responded to the accusations by calling the leaks an illegal invasion of privacy to humiliate her and her family, and stressed that it would neither intimidate nor silence her. "My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they're willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there's no line they won't cross to silence women when they speak up," Gibson said.
Her lawyer Daniel Watkins suggested that individuals sharing her videos potentially violate the Old Dominion's revenge porn law as a Class 1 misdemeanor. "We are working closely with state and federal law enforcement," he said.
Gibson's immorality defended by her fellow Dems
Some Democrats and women's groups pushed back against the allegations of "immorality" lobbed at Gibson. Democrat State Sen. L. Louise Lucas accused Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin of being behind the story leak that, according to her, "failed completely." Lucas also called on voters to donate to Gibson's campaign, urging them to give money toward the Democratic candidate if they were "pissed" as she was.
Defense contractor Amanda Linton echoed the state senator's sentiments. "Anybody who looks at this knows it's a hit job," said Linton, who contributes $25 to Gibson's campaign. Despite residing outside the 57th district, the defense contractor intended to donate an additional $100.
Emily's List, an advocacy group supporting Democratic female candidates, also came to Gibson's defense. Lauren Chou, a spokesperson for the organization, claimed that the GOP was targeting Gibson because of her women's rights advocacy.
"Susanna originally ran for office because of the overturning of Roe and shes been very outspoken on standing up for reproductive rights," she said. "People are coming out in support of Susanna because they know that Republicans are coming after her because she was standing up for them."
Democrats backing Gibson despite this scandal is not surprising, given that the party promotes grooming children in schools and other scandalous acts.
Visit VoteDemocrat.news for more stories about Susannah Gibson and other Democratic candidates in Virginia.
Watch InfoWars founder Alex Jones discuss the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates over Bill's link to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
This video is from the Mindy channel on Brighteon.com.
More related stories:
Planned Parenthood executive argues children are born sexual, require sex education and porn literacy.
Does Alicia Machado know that Bill Clinton forced himself upon Miss Arkansas Elizabeth Ward Gracen... while Hillary covered it up?
Exclusive video interview: New Bill Clinton sexual assault accuser goes public for the first time.
Sources include:
FoxNews.com 1
FoxNews.com 2
Brighteon.com
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg nearly Covid-boosted to DEATH as she suffers from Covid again and again
The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg may be vaxxed and boosted within an inch of (her) life, but that did not stop her from coming down with a third case of COVID. Goldberg had to sit out of episodes last week while she battled the virus . Goldberg first contracted COVID in December 2021, and then again in November 2022. When Goldberg returned to the set of The View after her last bout with the virus, she praised the vaccines and boosters being pushed onto the American people by Big Pharma and the Biden Administration. But even her plethora of Fauci Flu shots could not stop her from contracting COVID a third time.
The news of the well-known Goldberg catching COVID comes conveniently one day after the White House announced that First Lady Jill Biden tested positive while vacationing in Delaware. The First Lady is often lauded by liberal lockdown supporters as a double-vaxxed and twice boosted hero.
Over the summer there were rumors that the Biden Administration was preparing to unleash another series of lockdowns and mask mandates, likely starting with TSA, airport employees, pilots, flight staff, passengers, and all airport patrons as early as October. Now it seems as if right on schedule there is a mass of public figures coming down with COVID, potentially sparking a new wave of mass hysteria.
But if the vaccines and boosters are as safe and effective as mainstream media claim them to be, how are all these people battling cases of COVID yet again? Well, recent research has shown that the spike proteins from COVID injections can remain in a recipients arm for at least six months. This is wildly contrary to claims that recipients of the mRNA jabs should only manufacture spike proteins in their system for a couple of days.
Science is showing mRNA "technology" never stops producing toxic spike prions in the body
Spike proteins are the part of COVID that allows it to enter human cells. The mRNA vaccines Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna created are genetically programmed to produce these spike proteins. However, the new research has revealed they falsely claimed to create shots that stop producing spike proteins after a short period of time.
As it turns out, they may not ever stop producing spike proteins. Some researchers believe the mRNA from their shots goes through reverse transcription, meaning that the mRNA becomes part of the human DNA genome. Yes, if you received one of these shots you may be a genetically modified organism (GMO). The process of reverse transcription is the same way human bodies react to HIV and the reason why there is no cure for it.
It is likely that Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna cut safety corners in their attempts to rapidly produce their respective vaccines. However, no one in a corner office would ever admit to that. Nor would the governments who gave them billions in research funds allow them too.
But even with the data supporting the ineffectiveness of the vaccines, mainstream media will not pick up the story. Instead, they would rather coddle Whoopi Goldberg and help lead the latest pushes of the liberal COVID narrative. That's because most of Hollywood is deeply entrenched with Big Pharma and pushes those narratives, no matter how big and dangerous the lies are for the populace.
As hysteria spreads, lockdowns commence, and mask mandates make a triumphant return, it seems clear that democratic leadership will use their own restrictive policies as justification for using mail-in ballots for the 2024 presidential election. The groundwork has been laid. Bookmark Vaccines.news to your favorite independent websites for updates on experimental gene therapy injections that never stop producing vascular-clotting spike prions and then lead to Long-Vax-Syndrome.
Sources for this article include:
Pandemic.news
TheGatewayPundit.com
NaturalNews.com
The latest weather forecast showed that isolated tornadoes could affect the coasts of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina due to stormy outlook in the region.
Georgia and parts of Carolina are no strangers to extreme weather events, including tornadoes. The windy conditions could likely unleash isolated tornadoes.
In addition, they could expect rainy outlook and chances of thunderstorms.
Residents should monitor the weather conditions this week.
Weather outlook in Georgia and parts of Carolinas
According to the National Weather Service (NWS), the agency monitored frontal systems and low-pressure areas' developments over the Mid-Atlantic.
The front systems can help bring rainy conditions to the US East Coast.
Meanwhile, the NWS reported the possible damaging winds and isolated tornadoes on the coasts of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia next week due to developing storms.
Residents should stay updated with tornado watches and warnings in the affected areas.
Residents in the areas can expect rainy conditions in Georgia and parts of Carolinas starting Monday.
In the Northwest Texas and Oklahoma, severe thunderstorms are likely in the region on Tuesday. The severe outlook could bring heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail.
Weather outlook in Florida Peninsula, New Orleans
In nearby New Orleans, the advisory noted the above-normal temperatures this week. There is a low chance of rain in the early next week in the region.
Rain returns to the forecast as a frontal boundary stalling over the Florida Peninsula will maintain a fairly wet pattern today into next week. Don't forget your umbrellas
Today, highs will be mainly in the lower 90s, but some inland locations may reach the mid 90s.#FLwx pic.twitter.com/UHae8lYBeZ NWS Tampa Bay (@NWSTampaBay) September 15, 2023
In Tampa Bay, scattered showers and thunderstorms could be likely in the region. The wet weather pattern is expected until this week, especially in Southwestern and Lake Okeechobee.
In the Florida Peninsula, the forecast noted the wet weather conditions over the central and southern parts. The developing slow-moving cold front could help with the thunderstorms and widespread rain this week.
In Illinois and Indiana, the forecast noted stormy conditions with chances of thunderstorms due to weak systems in the region. However, the end of the week could unleash continued dry conditions.
Also Read: US Weather Forecast: Heavy Rain to Hit New England, Arizona, Central Wyoming, Colorado Early Week
Weather in the US East Coast, Southern and Central Rockies
The NWS advisory added that showers and thunderstorms could be likely in the Central and Southern Plains on Tuesday due to atmospheric moisture.
On Tuesday, severe storms could hit the Southern Plains. The unsettled weather outlook could be the problem, bringing possible slower commutes or flooded roads.
In the US East Coast, showers are likely on Monday in the region. Residents could expect average temperatures.
The heavy rain outlook in the affected areas can bring potential flooding and landslides. Americans should stay alert for possible flood watches.
Meanwhile, the chance of isolated tornadoes and damaging winds can lead to possible damage to trees and powerlines. Residents should stay alert for tornado alerts, especially at night.
Related Article: Hurricane Updates: Tropical Storm Nigel Poses No Threat to US This Week
For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
The positions of the Azerbaijani Army are subjected to intense fire, Azernews reports, citing the Azerbaijan Defense Ministry.
The Armenian armed forces in the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is located, are intensively firing from different caliber weapons at the Azerbaijani Army position in the territory of Aghdam district.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Azerbaijan has informed Russian peacekeeping contingent (RPC) and Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center about anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan told Trend.
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
Therefore, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
"We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated. The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center were informed about the ongoing activities," said the ministry.
As the Panama Canal dries up amid a prolonged drought that has already been going on for 20 years, maritime trade is seeing difficulties and disruptions. The aforementioned disruptions pose a threat to international supply networks and sectors that rely on marine trade, especially in the United States.
Maritime Trade Disruptions in Panama Canal
The waterway administrator is concerned that if this year's drought persists, the Panama Canal could further decrease the maximum number of permissible daily vessel transits.
The trans-oceanic canal, which is thought to handle 5% of global trade, is currently experiencing a backlog of ships waiting to pass through. To save water, vessel draft and daily passage authorizations are being limited this year.
As a result, there is a need for many ships to lessen their loads before passage, and freight rates have increased in advance of the Christmas shopping season.
Currently, up to 32 ships are permitted to transit each day, as opposed to 36 ships under typical circumstances. The maximum vessel draft has been reduced from 50 feet to 44 feet.
The canal recently modified its reservation system to allow more unbooked ships to pass and to give priority to ships that have been waiting for the longest.
116 vessels were awaiting clearance to pass in Panama as of Tuesday, down from nearly 160 at the beginning of August. According to government data, the highest wait time was reduced from the previous month's 21 days to 14 days this month.
Cutting Down Daily Transits
As a historic drought challenges the trade route, Ricaurte Vasquez Morales, a representative of the Panama Canal Authority, outlined a potential water shortage in the area that would force a difficult decision between human consumption and transit.
Vasquez stated that the waterway would choose to reduce daily transits if necessary before planning any further reduction to allowed vessel draft, which started March 2023 and has the greatest impact on shippers.
There won't be any limits on passage this month but Vasquez said that the canal anticipates a potential reduction to 30-31 daily transits in its budget for the fiscal year that begins in October.
This year's El Nino weather phenomenon has been especially severe. Vasquez warned against assuming a great deal of rain in the future months due to the simultaneous occurrence of hot temperatures in the Pacific and Atlantic.
Also Read: California Reservoirs at High Water Levels Following Tropical Storm Hilary
20-Year Drought
The canal connects two oceans, but in order to function, it needs fresh water from a neighboring lake, and that lake has been drying up due to a 20-year drought. As a result, there is less water earmarked for drinking by locals and for ships to navigate through.
Gatun Lake, which supplies the river, had water levels of 79.7 feet last week, down from the average of 87.3 feet for September in recent years.
The canal might be obliged to alter its weather modeling, which might lead to additional limits, Vasquez noted, if the drought lasts for more than a year. The official countered that there is no cause to think that the canal will stop running.
To ensure there is enough water for the canal, which requires 50 million gallons of water for every vessel going through, Panama will eventually need to alter how water flows to Gatun Lake.
Vasquez stated that they are eager to collaborate with the authorities to come to a decision that will enable the construction of new reservoirs. The proposed project, which would call for a change in the law and be filed to Congress, might be put out to bid the following year.
Prior to what is expected to be a period that will be considerably drier next year, experts have issued warnings about disruptions in maritime traffic. They claim that a possible early onset of Panama's dry season combined with warmer-than-average temperatures might accelerate evaporation and cause water levels to drop to almost record lows by April.
Related Article: 4-Year Extreme Drought Crisis in Iraq Destroys Fish Farms
A collection of 1800 meteorite specimens has been acquired by Yale's Peabody Museum, including a gem-studded iron-nickel alloy.
Otherworldly Gem-Studded Meteorite
The specimen's gleaming iron-nickel alloy is encrusted with olivine crystals, also known as peridots to jewelers. The yellow gems sparkle brilliantly when held up to light.
The specimen was taken from a meteorite found in 1967 in a barren riverbed close to Seymchan in far eastern Russia. It was housed by Stefan Nicolescu, the Peabody Museum's collections manager for mineralogy and meteoritics.
The specimen, known as a pallasite, recently arrived at the Peabody along with a collection of more than 1,800 other meteorite specimens that were given to Yale by the Planetary Studies Foundation (PSF), a US nonprofit with a research focus on meteorites.
More than 1,800 meteorite specimens were recently donated to the Peabody by the Planetary Studies Foundation, making the Museum's collection one of the world's largest and most scientifically significant.https://t.co/0KNlG66xiZ Yale Peabody Museum (@yalepeabody) September 14, 2023
The president and CEO of PSF, Paul Sipiera, made a separate donation of the piece of pallasite, which is arguably the collection's most eye-catching specimen. The Peabody Museum's collection of roughly 3,600 meteorites now ranks among the largest and most scientifically significant in the world. This is thanks to the most recent acquisitions, a 2017 donation that included approximately 1,300 meteorites from PSF which previously belonged to James M. DuPont, a late noted collector.
Rare lunar and martian meteorites, specimens gathered by NASA astronauts during Antarctic trips, and objects containing extraterrestrial biological material, which may shed light on the origins of life, are among the new acquisitions.
Even a small piece of a Park Forest, Illinois, home's roof that was removed has a hole where a meteorite the size of a softball struck it in March 2003.
Although PSF is a leader in meteorite research, Sipiera, a planetary geologist who formed the group with colleagues in 1989 while he was a professor at Harper College in Illinois, warned that the organization lacks the funding necessary to protect and manage its collections over the long term.
The pallasite will be on display in the Peabody galleries when the museum opens its doors to the public in 2024 after a significant, building-wide refurbishment. It may also be joined by other specimens from the recent acquisition.
Also Read: Strange 'Rock' Doorstop in Michigan Farm Revealed to be a Meteorite Worth $75,000
Trove of Meteorites
The Peabody Museum's meteorite collection holds historical significance as the oldest collection in North America, originating in 1807 when a meteorite descended over Weston, Connecticut. Professors Benjamin Silliman and James Kingsley from Yale meticulously gathered and analyzed fragments, marking the first documented instance of a meteorite in America.
Presently, the Peabody received a substantial donation, mainly comprising meteorites gathered in Northwest Africa and during three Antarctic expeditions between 1998 and 2002, the initial two involving NASA astronauts. Meteorites frequently surface in desert and polar settings due to their contrasting colors with sand and ice. This recent addition also boasts a specimen retrieved by NASA astronaut James Lovell during the 2000 Antarctic expedition. Moreover, this collection encompasses meteorite fragments from both the moon and Mars, identified through distinctive characteristics and gases trapped within.
These meteorites offer invaluable insights into the solar system's origin, mineralogy, chemistry, physics, and biological evolution. Notably, carbonaceous chondrites, a rare type of meteorite rich in organic materials like amino acids, are included, showcasing the oldest known meteorites, some pre-dating the solar system itself. In essence, meteorites serve as cosmic time capsules, shedding light on the distant origins and evolution of the solar system.
Related Article: Massive Meteor Crater Beneath Deniliquin Australia at 520km Exceeds World's Largest Vredefort
Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a coniferous tree species that plays a vital role in the forest ecosystems of eastern North America.
It provides habitat and food for many wildlife species, moderates stream temperatures and water quality, and enhances soil fertility and carbon sequestration.
However, this valuable tree is under threat from an invasive insect called the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA), which feeds on the sap of hemlock branches and causes defoliation, reduced growth, and eventually death.
HWA was accidentally introduced to North America from Asia in the 1950s and has since spread to 20 states and four Canadian provinces, affecting millions of hemlock trees.
The insect has no natural enemies in its new range and can reproduce rapidly, making it difficult to control.
Chemical insecticides can be effective, but they are costly, labor-intensive, and potentially harmful to the environment.
Biological control agents, such as predatory beetles, have been released to reduce HWA populations, but their impact is still uncertain and variable.
In this context, a new study by researchers from North Carolina State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests that another strategy could help hemlock trees withstand HWA infestation: creating canopy gaps in the forest.
Canopy gaps are openings in the forest cover that allow more sunlight and other resources to reach the understory plants.
The study found that hemlock trees that had canopy gaps created around them showed improved crown health and shoot growth compared to control trees that did not have canopy gaps.
The Effects of Canopy Gaps on Hemlock Crown Health and HWA Infestation
The study, published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management, involved 105 hemlock trees in national and state forests along the Appalachian Mountains from Maryland to Georgia.
The researchers created small or large canopy gaps around the trees by either felling or girdling the competing trees.
Felling is cutting down the tree outright, while girdling is killing the tree by removing its access to nutrients, but not cutting it down. The gaps around the hemlocks ranged in size from 0.05 to 0.15 acre.
The researchers monitored the health of the hemlock trees every six months from late 2017 to early 2021.
They measured the crown density, color, and dieback of the trees, as well as the number of new shoots produced annually.
They also assessed the HWA infestation level of each tree using a scale from 0 (no HWA) to 5 (severe HWA).
The results showed that all of the canopy gap treatments improved the crown health of the hemlock trees, especially in areas where large gaps were created by felling.
The canopy gap trees had higher crown density and color scores, lower crown dieback scores, and more new shoots than the control trees.
The canopy gap trees also had lower HWA infestation levels than the control trees, although this effect was not statistically significant.
The researchers hypothesized that the increased availability of sunlight (and possibly other limited resources) resulting from canopy gaps improved the physiological tolerance of hemlock trees to HWA infestation and could complement biological control by providing a more stable source of new shoots with adelgid prey for predatory insects.
Also Read: Flies Offer Hope for Dying Hemlock Forests
The Pros and Cons of Canopy Gap Management for Hemlock Conservation
The study suggests that canopy gap management could be a useful tool for foresters and land managers who want to protect hemlock trees from HWA infestation.
By creating canopy gaps around hemlock trees, they could enhance their health and resilience, as well as their ecological functions and services.
Canopy gap management could also benefit other understory plants and animals that depend on hemlock forests.
However, the study also acknowledged some limitations and challenges of this approach. For instance, creating canopy gaps requires labor and equipment, which may not be available or affordable for some landowners or managers.
Moreover, creating canopy gaps may have unintended consequences for other aspects of forest structure and function, such as fire risk, wind damage, invasive plants, or carbon storage.
Therefore, canopy gap management should be carefully planned and monitored to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability.
The study also noted that canopy gap management alone may not be sufficient to save hemlock trees from HWA infestation in the long term.
Rather, it should be integrated with other pest management tactics, such as chemical insecticides or biological control agents, to achieve optimal results.
Furthermore, canopy gap management may not be applicable or desirable in all situations or locations where hemlock trees occur.
For example, it may not be feasible or appropriate in areas with high conservation value or cultural significance.
Therefore, the study concluded that canopy gap management should be considered as one of several options available for hemlock conservation and restoration in eastern North America.
By combining different strategies and adapting them to local conditions and objectives, foresters and land managers could increase the chances of preserving this important and threatened tree species.
Related article: Poison Hemlock: How to Watch Out For This Deadly Plant Spreading in US
The ability to adapt to changing environments is crucial for the survival and evolution of living organisms.
However, adaptation is not only a matter of individual organisms but also of their interactions with other living beings, especially the microorganisms that live in and on them.
These microorganisms, collectively known as the microbiome, can influence various aspects of the host organism's physiology, behavior, and fitness.
Therefore, understanding how hosts and microbes co-evolve in response to environmental changes is an important question in biology.
A recent study investigated how a simple animal host, the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and its associated microbiome adapted to a novel and complex environment over time.
The study used a novel experimental approach that allowed the researchers to track changes in both host and microbiome at multiple levels.
The results showed that the host and microbiome can jointly contribute to the environmental adaptation of the metaorganism, but also that different evolutionary trajectories can emerge depending on the initial conditions.
The study also has implications for human health, as it suggests that changes in the microbiome can affect host fitness and vice versa.
The Role of the Microbiome in meta Meta-organism Adaptation
All multicellular organisms, from the simplest animal and plant organisms to humans, live in close association with a variety of microorganisms, known as the microbiome, which colonizes on and in their tissues and forms symbiotic relationships with the host.
The microbiome can provide essential functions such as nutrient uptake, regulation of the immune system, or even neurological processes, that result from the interactions between host organism and microbial symbionts.
The functional cooperation between host and microorganisms, which scientists refer to as a meta organism, is being studied in detail at Kiel University in the Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1182 "Origin and Function of Metaorganisms".
Scientists assumed that the microbiome can contribute significantly to the environmental adaptation of an entire organism.
This may be due to the rapid adaptability of microorganisms, which can react many times faster to changing environmental conditions than their host organism.
Numerous studies have already shown that the microbiome responds to changing environmental factors such as higher temperatures, for example, by changing its species composition and thus contributing to the environmental adaptation of the host organism.
However, many of these studies have so far focused only on the microbiome, but not the host.
Also Read: Daycare Children's Immune System Improved Thanks to Mini Forest in Finland
A novel experiment to study host-microbiome co-evolution
Researchers from the Evolutionary Ecology and Genetics group led by Professor Hinrich Schulenburg at the Institute of Zoology at Kiel University have now focused on the joint influences of host organisms and the microbiome in a new study.
To this end, they developed an innovative cultivation method to investigate the adaptations of a metaorganism to novel environmental conditions: the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans evolved in a long-term experiment over 100 days together with an originally specified selection of microorganisms under complex and near-natural environmental conditions in a compost habitat.
The researchers then analyzed changes both on the part of the hosts and in the microbiome and found that under certain conditions both contribute jointly to the optimal adaptation of the whole organism to a new environment.
The Kiel researchers, who cooperated in this study with Professor Brendan Bohannan and his team from the University of Oregon in the U.S., recently published their results in The ISME Journal.
The researchers observed that adaptation took different trajectories in different mesocosm lines, with some increasing in fitness and others decreasing, and that interactions between host and microbiome played an important role in these contrasting evolutionary paths.
They chose two exemplary mesocosms (one with a fitness increase and one with a decrease) for detailed study.
For each example, they identified specific changes in both microbiome composition (for both bacteria and fungi) and nematode gene expression associated with each change in fitness.
Their study provided experimental evidence that adaptation to a novel environment can be jointly influenced by the host and microbiome.
The researchers hoped that their novel experimental approach can be applied to other model systems and environments and that it can help to reveal general principles of metaorganism evolution.
They also suggested that their findings have implications for human health, as they show that changes in the microbiome can affect host fitness and vice versa.
Therefore, understanding how hosts and microbes co-evolve may be crucial for developing effective therapies for diseases involving microbial dysbiosis.
Related article: Urbanization Impacts on Wildlife Evident, Human Gut Microbiome Detected in Urban Animals
The latest weather forecast showed a cold storm system would bring cooler temperatures to the Northwestern US this week.
In early September, the Northwestern US experienced average to above-average heat. The unusually cooler air will feel like winter season. Temperature shifts can help ease the heat and enjoy outdoor activities.
In addition, the Pacific Northwest can also experience cooler air on Wednesday, including in the Intermountain West and Southwest on Thursday.
Northwestern US: Unusual cold and cooler temperatures this week
In the West, residents can expect a temperature drop up to 10 to 20 degrees below. The early taste of winter and snowfall is one of Americans' most awaited weather events.
If you're a fan of cooler temperatures, you'll be falling for this forecast.
Confidence is continuing to increase that a fall-like storm system arrives later this week. Stay tuned for more details. #utwx #wywx pic.twitter.com/eGiHqec0yR NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) September 17, 2023
According to the latest forecast, the temperature drop can become noticeable in the mid-week in the following areas:
Seattle
Spokane
Helena
Boise
Salt Lake City
Medford
Redding
Western Washington
East Oregon
In addition, there could be chances of snow in the Sierra Nevada, Cascades, Borah Peak and Northern Rockies.
The forecast noted that light snow conditions are likely in portions of the Elkhorn Mountains and Wallowa Mountains.
The cooler temperatures are ideal for outdoor activities, with a break from the scorching heat.
However, motorists should watch out for possible slippery commutes and reduced visibility due to potential snow in the said areas.
In addition, NWS Medford reported that freezing morning temperatures could be likely in parts of East Cascades starting Wednesday.
In Seattle, the advisory explained cooling temperatures in the region until this week.
Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, precipitation could likely increase starting Monday. Heavy rain could unload on Tuesday, with possible high-elevation snow.
Also Read: US Weather Forecast: High Temperatures Likely in Central US; Northeast to Expect More Rain
Florida Peninsula: Wet Weather Conditions likely this week
On the other hand, Southern Plains and Florida Peninsula can experience a wet weather outlook on Wednesday. The forecast warned of heavy rainfall and potential flash flooding this week.
The arrival of an upper-level shortwave in the Southern Plains on Tuesday could help intensify the thunderstorms in the area. With locally heavy rainfall, Texas and Oklahoma will likely have a severe weather outlook this week.
Residents with travel plans should check for flooded road conditions in Central and South Florida due to the severe weather outlook this week.
Motorists should keep away from floodwaters, which could rapidly rise.
Flash flooding is also a concern this week due to heavy rainfall. Homeowners should watch out for landslides and mudslides. Low-lying areas with poor drainage systems are at risk of severe flooding.
Meanwhile, forecasters are monitoring the developments of Hurricane Nigel, which became the 5th hurricane of the 2023 season.
According to recent reports, Hurricane Nigel managed to strengthen with 80 mph sustained winds. The storm was located over the Bermuda waters.
Related Article: US Weather Forecast: Heavy Rain to Hit New England, Arizona, Central Wyoming, Colorado Early Week
For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
With the growing concern about plastic waste, Massachusetts is expected to sign an executive order banning the purchase of single-use plastic in the state agencies.
Gov. Maura Healey announced the initiative, helping to prevent the plastic impacts on ecosystems, biodiversity and human health.
Plastic pollution has been a significant concern, causing severe effects on animals and humans. Plastic shards can harm aquatic animals, likely to suffer from starvation or death.
As a result, the commitment of people and government is essential to drive change and reduce the problem of plastic waste.
Massachusetts to Ban Buying Single-Use Plastics
According to recent reports, Gov. Maura Healey announced they would stop purchasing disposable plastics. An executive order will be signed to ban single-use plastics in state agencies.
Single-use plastics can be used only once. People will throw the plastic after using it, which could cause an alarming global problem.
The initiative will help reduce the plastic waste aggravated by single-use plastics, especially when plastic use enters the world's oceans.
It can also help to protect the biodiversity in Massachusetts, which is also affected by climate change.
Part of the biodiversity conservation target is to help animals become resilient to climate change's impacts.
According to reports, the biodiversity threats in Massachusetts include the following:
Habitat loss and fragmentation
Human disturbance
Extreme weather events
As a result, the restoration and protection efforts will help improve the declining wildfire and save species populations from possible decline.
Massachusetts is home to unique wildlife and ecosystems. The area has amazing national parks, showing rare mammals and aquatic animals, especially the Bobcats. Other species found in the region are the following:
Beavers
Nine species of bats
Native New England Cottontail and Eastern Cottontail
Coyotes
Deer
Fisher cats
Foxes
Raccoons and otters
Also Read: Keeping Oceans Healthy: Five Habits People Can Help
How to help with plastic pollution in oceans
People can also help address the growing plastic pollution problems in their communities or areas. Being environment-friendly can transform changes in seas and other bodies of water polluted by plastics.
Don't buy single-use plastics.
Single-use plastic can contribute to the significant problem of plastic waste. Americans should avoid buying single-use plastic in their daily use. Environment-friendly cups, bags and others are also helpful.
For example, bringing your own reusable water can mitigate the massive plastic bottles when you go for a grocery, having your bag is also suggested, instead of a plastic bag.
Reducing your plastic use is also essential. People should not also use products with microbeads.
Don't throw plastic anywhere.
Never throw plastic anywhere or on the beach because it could enter the ocean. Be responsible for throwing in designated areas.
Join plastic cleanup initiatives.
Americans should also consider joining plastic cleanup projects or groups.
Related Article: Mitigating Plastic Pollution: Wood Dust Filtering Device Can Help Trap Harmful Microplastics
For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
A rare 150-million-year-old Camptosaurus skeleton, fondly called Barry, will be up for auction.
Barry is a member of the Iguanodontidae family, one of the oldest families of dinosaurs known.
According to the Paris auction house Hotel Drouot, the recently restored fossilized species will be auctioned on Oct. 20 for 800,000 to 1.2 million (US$855,132 to US$1.28 million).
"Of extraordinary quality and exceptional provenance, Barry, enhanced with this new preparation, is one of the most complete dinosaurs ever auctioned," said Alexandre Giquello, the president of the auction house.
Barry the dinosaur
The dinosaur, which lived 150 million years ago in the late Jurassic period, was unearthed in Wyoming in the 1990s.
It was first repaired in 2000 by palaeontologist Barry James, who gave it its name.
It was an uncommon find, considering ornithopod dinosaurs account for approximately 14% of the specimens discovered, and the majority of the remains discovered are disarticulated.
This is Barry's first public debut after being in the private possession of a Colorado collector.
Zoic, an Italian laboratory that bought Barry last year, has completed additional repair work on the skeleton, which stands 2.1 meters (6.9 feet) tall and is 5 meters (16.4 feet) long.
Approximately 80% of the bones are original, with 90% of the skull still intact.
Read Also: Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs Sold for Lesser Price in India: Report
Market of dinosaur fossils
Sales of dinosaur fossils are uncommon, with only a few taking place each year worldwide.
Paleontology expert Iacopo Briano believes that the market for dinosaur fossils grow into a thriving one.
"In the early years, when this specialty was starting to establish itself on the market, the sale of a dinosaur might have seemed an oddity, almost something foreign to classic collecting," he said.
"But today the market is experiencing a phase of maturity and expansion, and specimens with a long pedigree are once again becoming accessible to a new generation of buyers."
Natural history objects, such as fossilized eggs, enormous teeth, meteorites, minerals, and even strands of mammoth hair, are being marketed to collectors and investors by auction houses, dealers, and specialized stores.
But some scientists have expressed concern about specimens ending up in private hands.
Prof Steve Brusatte, a dinosaur researcher at Edinburgh University, said that he was concerned the skeletons, which were "scientifically very valuable," might "disappear into the vaults of private collectors."
Dr. Dennis Hansen of the Zurich Zoological Museum believes that many privately owned dinosaur specimens will eventually become available to the public.
Hansen said that he see it the same way as art. He noted that art historians would like every single important painting to be available in the public ream, but experience shows that sooner or later it ends up in the public domain.
In April, a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was sold to a private individual for 5.55 million Swiss francs ($6.2 million; 5 million).
This is the first time a T. Rex has been auctioned in Europe.
The specimen has been described as ''one of the most spectacular T. rex skeletons in existence,'' measuring 11.6m long and 3.9m tall.
Related Article: Rare Ancient Dinosaur 'Gorgosaurus' Skeleton Sold to an Unknown Buyer in the US for 6 Million Dollars
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Scientists believe that giant pandas in cages may suffer from "jet lag" if their biological clocks do not match their environment.
Animals, like humans, have a circadian rhythm, which is an internal body clock that is regulated by environmental stimuli and regulates when to undertake specific tasks, such as sleeping and feeding.
However, according to a study published in the Frontiers in Psychology journal, when environmental cues do not match those of their native habitat, pandas may begin to behave strangely, potentially harming the already-endangered species.
"When internal clocks are not synchronized with external cues like light and temperature, animals experience adverse effects. In humans, this can range from jet lag to metabolic issues and seasonal affective disorder," said lead study author Kristine Gandia, a PhD student at the University of Stirling in Scotland.
Read Also: Plankton Get Jet Lagged Too?
Understanding the latitude
Gandia and a group of observers set out to understand how the "jet lag" of living at latitudes where animals did not evolve can impact them.
Giant pandas have a latitudinal range of 26 to 42 degrees north.
Gandia suggested that matching latitudes between 26 and 42 degrees south be investigated, as these correspond to temperature and lighting conditions. Matching latitudes could also be considered between 26 and 42 degrees south, as these mirror the temperature and lighting conditions.
A team of 13 observers monitored 11 giant pandas at six different zoos, all of which were born in captivity.
The zoos were not recognized, but they were broadly divided between the animals' normal latitude range and those outside that area. Those that matched were in latitudes similar to their normal habitat in China, but they may have been in other countries as well.
The observers recorded the entire repertoire of giant panda behavior, trying to account for behaviors that are positive, neutral, and negative indicators of welfare.
Both daylight and temperature were discovered to be key indicators for pandas.
Three peak activities
Scientists noted that the confined animals demonstrated three peaks of activity over a 24-hour period, one of which occurred at night, precisely as they would in their natural home.
Adult pandas' sexual conduct was only observed during the day, which may make it easier for them to find mates in the wild.
Those kept in captivity outside of their home latitude were found to be less active, which could be due to differences in lighting and temperature cues from their natural environment.
"When giant pandas are housed at higher latitudes - meaning they experience more extreme seasons than they evolved with - this changes their levels of general activity and abnormal behavior," Gandia said in an interview.
She further added that the term 'jet lag' does not apply to the acute difficulty to sleep at appropriate times caused by rapidly changing time zones, but rather to the possible inability to properly adjust to environmental conditions and cues at latitudes that pandas have not evolved to survive in.
As a result, certain internal clocks or actions may become desynchronized with the environment or with each other
Related Article: Body's Internal Clock Depends on Color of Light
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Mount Edgecumbe volcano in Southeast Alaska has joined the Alaska Volcano Observatory's (AVO) ground-based monitoring network.
In early September, an observatory crew installed three seismic and Global Navigation Satellite System stations atop the reawakened volcano, as well as refurbished the only existing station in the area, a temporary one on neighboring Crater Ridge.
Volcanic activities
Mount Edgecumbe, also known as L'ux Shaa in Lingt, awoke in April 2022 with a series of earthquakes.
The volcano rises 3,202 feet to dominate the view about 14-15 miles west of Sitka on the southern lobe of Kruzof Island.
Edgecumbe is part of a large and mountainous group of ancient volcanoes that encompasses over 100 square miles of the island and last erupted more than 4,000 years ago.
According to 2022 study by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, computer analysis based on satellite imagery revealed that magma rose to about 6 miles from a depth of around 12 miles, causing tremors and surface deformation.
Mount Edgecumbe's nearest seismic station was erected in August 2022 on adjacent Crater Ridge, which is part of the Edgecumbe Volcanic Field.
Three new seismic and GNSS stations have been installed along the volcano's sides, roughly around 4, 7, and 10 o'clock on an analog clock.
The lone station on neighboring Crater Ridge has been refurbished, with a strengthened steel tripod replacing a makeshift GPS antenna mast.
The Alaska Volcano Observatory will now be able to learn a lot more about Mount Edgecumbe. First, however, scientists need to determine the volcano's normal condition.
"When you go to a place and start recording data, you don't know whether it shows an anomaly or whether this is the normal state of the volcano," said Ronni Grapenthin, a geodesist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory who helped with the installation. "So we start by getting a feel for how the volcano works."
When scientists have a better grasp of Mount Edgecumbe, it will be assigned a color code. The observatory employs green, yellow, orange, and red to indicate the condition of a volcano. Green indicates normal background activity, whereas red indicates that an eruption is happening or imminent.
Read Also: Dormant Volcano in Alaska Shows Signs of Activity for the First Time in 800 Years, Could an Eruption be Underway?
Impact of new and upgraded stations
24 of the 34 earthquakes reported in the Mount Edgecumbe area in the last year have occurred in the two weeks following the installation's completion on August 29.
The lone seismic station on Crater Ridge assisted AVO in detecting smaller earthquakes but did not significantly improve AVO's capacity to localize such events using the regional seismic network. Because of the lack of that information, little was known about the volcano's activities.
The observatory will now be able to produce a catalog of Mount Edgecumbe's seismicity.
Changes in seismicity can then be tracked over time and linked to data from other geophysical technologies such as radar satellite measurements of ground deformation and on-the-ground GNSS devices.
In the following weeks, data from the new and updated stations will be linked into AVO's public webpage on Mount Edgecumbe.
Related Article: Mount Edgecumbe Volcano Magma Moved Upward Through Earth's Crust, Study Shows
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The so-called leaders of Karabakh separatists are hiding in one of the hospitals in Khankendi, Armenian users on social networks say, Trend reports.
Obviously, the remnants of separatists are trying to hide from the strikes of the Azerbaijani Army, that has launched anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh today. And they know perfectly well that the Azerbaijani Army does not aim at civilian objects.
They are attempting to conceal this fact from the city's population to prevent those people from dealing with the "leaders" themselves.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan launched anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh today.
"Therefore, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Armenian armed forces stationed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan resorted to a number of large-scale military provocations and terror attacks on September 19, Trend reports via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
As a result of the explosion of landmines planted by Armenian sabotage groups on the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road, civilians and servicemen of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were killed and wounded. Furthermore, units of Azerbaijan Army came under fire from mortars and small arms. As a result, two servicemen of Azerbaijan Army were injured.
Local counter-terrorism measures have been launched in the region to prevent possible large-scale provocations by the Armenian armed forces located in the Karabakh economic region, and to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, as well as for the disarmament and withdrawal of units of the armed forces of Armenia from the territories of Azerbaijan, neutralization of their military infrastructure, and ensure the safety of peaceful population, civilian employees and military personnel involved in the reconstruction work carried out in the area and to restore the constitutional system of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Within the measures taken, the positions of the formations of the armed forces of Armenia in the front lines and the rear areas, as well as long-term firing positions, and combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapon systems.
The targets are limited to illegal military formations and military infrastructure only.
Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that, the continuation of the existence of units of the armed forces of Armenia in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement dated November 10, 2020, is a serious threat to regional peace and stability.
The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the puppet regime.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
By PTI
TRIVANDRUM: The Kerala Women's Commission on Tuesday registered a case on its own against actor Alencier Ley Lopez for allegedly misbehaving with a woman journalist who approached him seeking an interview over his controversial remarks during the recent state film award ceremony.
Commission Chairperson P Sathidevi said Rural Superintendent of Police D Shilpa was asked to submit a report on the controversial incident.
Receiving the Kerala government's special jury award for his acting in the Malayalam movie 'Appan,' Alencier on Thursday said he should not be "tempted" by giving a sculpture of a female.
In a controversial remark, the actor had further said he should not be insulted by giving a female sculpture at the venue where a strong male Chief Minister sits.
In a statement, Sathidevi said he made derogatory remarks against women after accepting the award at the ceremony.
She also termed his comments as "highly reprehensible."
"If he disagreed, he should not have accepted the award. It was inappropriate to make such a remark after receiving the honour," the Chairperson said.
Though all the people in the state expected him to correct the mistake after the incident, it didn't happen, she said. "Instead of correcting the mistake, Alencier later spoke to a woman journalist, who came to take his interview, in a "very offensive language," she further said.
The Rural SP already registered a case against the actor on a complaint in the issue and the Women's Commission sought a report in this regard, Sathidevi added.
During the ceremony, Alencier had said that he would stop acting the day he received a male sculpture along with the award.
"The award carried a lot of weight. Received Special Jury Award. Don't insult me and Kunchacko Boban by giving Rs 25,000. Please increase the amount," he added.
The acting performances of Kunchacko Boban and Alencier Ley Lopez in the movies 'Nna, Thaan Case Kodu' and 'Appan' respectively had earned them the Jury's Special Mention award.
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TRIVANDRUM: The Kerala Women's Commission on Tuesday registered a case on its own against actor Alencier Ley Lopez for allegedly misbehaving with a woman journalist who approached him seeking an interview over his controversial remarks during the recent state film award ceremony. Commission Chairperson P Sathidevi said Rural Superintendent of Police D Shilpa was asked to submit a report on the controversial incident. Receiving the Kerala government's special jury award for his acting in the Malayalam movie 'Appan,' Alencier on Thursday said he should not be "tempted" by giving a sculpture of a female.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In a controversial remark, the actor had further said he should not be insulted by giving a female sculpture at the venue where a strong male Chief Minister sits. In a statement, Sathidevi said he made derogatory remarks against women after accepting the award at the ceremony. She also termed his comments as "highly reprehensible." "If he disagreed, he should not have accepted the award. It was inappropriate to make such a remark after receiving the honour," the Chairperson said. Though all the people in the state expected him to correct the mistake after the incident, it didn't happen, she said. "Instead of correcting the mistake, Alencier later spoke to a woman journalist, who came to take his interview, in a "very offensive language," she further said. The Rural SP already registered a case against the actor on a complaint in the issue and the Women's Commission sought a report in this regard, Sathidevi added. During the ceremony, Alencier had said that he would stop acting the day he received a male sculpture along with the award. "The award carried a lot of weight. Received Special Jury Award. Don't insult me and Kunchacko Boban by giving Rs 25,000. Please increase the amount," he added. The acting performances of Kunchacko Boban and Alencier Ley Lopez in the movies 'Nna, Thaan Case Kodu' and 'Appan' respectively had earned them the Jury's Special Mention award. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India has taken a serious note of the allegations levelled by Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeaus allegation that India was behind the killing of Canadian radical Khalistani separatist -Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, MEA added.
India has reaffirmed its stand that its a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, says the Indian government.
"Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new.
We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, said MEA.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had told an emergency parliament session that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the slaying of an exiled Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia.
It was an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty", he said.
Ottawa's foreign minister Melanie Jolie said an Indian diplomat had been expelled, identifying them as the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency, in Canada.
Nijjar, a Sikh separatist whom India had declared a wanted terrorist -- he had denied the charges -- was shot dead near Vancouver.
The foreign ministry in New Delhi insisted: "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
It said Trudeau -- who visited New Delhi this month for the G20 summit -- had already made similar allegations to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and they had been "completely rejected".
The accusations "seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity", it added.
Canada has the largest Sikh population outside India and New Delhi accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of nationalists who seek a separate Sikh homeland in northern India and elsewhere.
READ HERE | Canada links India to slaying of Khalistani exile, expels top Indian diplomat
(With inputs from AFP)
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NEW DELHI: India has taken a serious note of the allegations levelled by Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeaus allegation that India was behind the killing of Canadian radical Khalistani separatist -Hardeep Singh Nijjar. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement. "Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, MEA added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); India has reaffirmed its stand that its a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, says the Indian government. "Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, said MEA. India rejects allegations by Canada:https://t.co/KDzCczWNN2 pic.twitter.com/VSDxbefWLw Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 19, 2023 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had told an emergency parliament session that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the slaying of an exiled Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia. It was an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty", he said. Ottawa's foreign minister Melanie Jolie said an Indian diplomat had been expelled, identifying them as the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency, in Canada. Nijjar, a Sikh separatist whom India had declared a wanted terrorist -- he had denied the charges -- was shot dead near Vancouver. The foreign ministry in New Delhi insisted: "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law." It said Trudeau -- who visited New Delhi this month for the G20 summit -- had already made similar allegations to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and they had been "completely rejected". The accusations "seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity", it added. Canada has the largest Sikh population outside India and New Delhi accuses Ottawa of turning a blind eye to the activities of nationalists who seek a separate Sikh homeland in northern India and elsewhere. READ HERE | Canada links India to slaying of Khalistani exile, expels top Indian diplomat (With inputs from AFP) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The population in Azerbaijan's Khankendi is being warned through loudspeakers about the Azerbaijani Armed Forces' anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
"Considering the deployment of firepower by Armenias armed forces formations near residential areas, we urge the civilian population to stay away from military facilities and not support the formations of Armenias armed forces. Related information was sent to Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan via a mobile SMS service. At the same time, the population is warned through loudspeakers, and information leaflets are distributed," the ministry said.
The protection and security of administrative, social, educational, medical, religious, and other facilities will be organized in line with the laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the norms of international humanitarian law.
Women, children, and elderly people, as well as people with disabilities and the sick, will be rendered necessary medical aid and other assistance. They will be provided with drinking water and food.
"Humanitarian corridors and reception stations have been created on the Lachin road and in other directions to ensure the evacuation of the population from the danger zone," the ministry added.
By PTI
TORONTO: Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat."
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated".
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said.
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
"The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry said.
The MEA said Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern.
"The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new," the MEA said.
"We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," it said.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," it added.
Hours later, Trudeau said he was not looking to "provoke" India or "escalate" tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the "utmost seriousness".
He said the Indian government needs to "take this matter with the utmost seriousness.
"We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters.
"We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes." In his speech in Parliament on Monday, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
"It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added.
He also said that he had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month.
Trudeau urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.
During the bilateral meeting with Trudeau on September 10, Prime Minister Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism, inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
"My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this," Joly said.
Citing a senior government source, CBC News reported that Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
ALSO READ | India-Canada row: We do not go about assassinating people, says former RAW chief
In Washington, the White House said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations raised by Trudeau.
"We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Reacting to the incident, a State Department spokesperson said, "We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We urge the Indian government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and ensure that those responsible are held to account."
In London, a UK government spokesperson said that Britain was in "close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-UK relations.
"We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," the spokesperson said.
"It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities."
Later, when Sunak's spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India "continue as before".
A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra was "deeply concerned" by the allegations made by Canada.
"We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India," the spokesperson said.
"The Indian diaspora are valued and important contributors to our vibrant and resilient multicultural society, where all Australians can peacefully and safely express their views," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
ALSO READ | Canada not looking to provoke India or escalate tensions, says PM Justin Trudeau
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is leading the murder investigation.
"We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice," he said.
Canadian police have not arrested anyone in connection with Nijjar's killing.
Last month, police released a statement saying they were investigating three suspects.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016.
The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.
Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the son of Nijjar, Balraj Nijjar, on Monday said the loss of his father is still fresh, especially given the circumstances of his death.
"It's been hard, obviously. You generally don't expect something like this to happen even in terms of age, because he's only 45," Balraj was quoted as saying by Vancouver-based Global News.
It also reported that Sikh community members vowed Monday to protest in front of the Indian consulates across Canada following Trudeau's statement.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000 (about 2 per cent of its total population).
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TORONTO: Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated". Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18. "Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat." Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days. "Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi. "Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said. "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said. "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said. "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry said. The MEA said Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. "The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new," the MEA said. "We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments," it said. "We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," it added. Hours later, Trudeau said he was not looking to "provoke" India or "escalate" tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the "utmost seriousness". He said the Indian government needs to "take this matter with the utmost seriousness. "We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters. "We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes." In his speech in Parliament on Monday, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. "It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said. "As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added. He also said that he had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month. Trudeau urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter. During the bilateral meeting with Trudeau on September 10, Prime Minister Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism, inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there. The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported. "My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this," Joly said. Citing a senior government source, CBC News reported that Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron. ALSO READ | India-Canada row: We do not go about assassinating people, says former RAW chief In Washington, the White House said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations raised by Trudeau. "We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement. Reacting to the incident, a State Department spokesperson said, "We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We urge the Indian government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and ensure that those responsible are held to account." In London, a UK government spokesperson said that Britain was in "close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-UK relations. "We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," the spokesperson said. "It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities." Later, when Sunak's spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India "continue as before". A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra was "deeply concerned" by the allegations made by Canada. "We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India," the spokesperson said. "The Indian diaspora are valued and important contributors to our vibrant and resilient multicultural society, where all Australians can peacefully and safely express their views," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald. ALSO READ | Canada not looking to provoke India or escalate tensions, says PM Justin Trudeau Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is leading the murder investigation. "We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice," he said. Canadian police have not arrested anyone in connection with Nijjar's killing. Last month, police released a statement saying they were investigating three suspects. Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020. Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later. Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks. Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries. Meanwhile, the son of Nijjar, Balraj Nijjar, on Monday said the loss of his father is still fresh, especially given the circumstances of his death. "It's been hard, obviously. You generally don't expect something like this to happen even in terms of age, because he's only 45," Balraj was quoted as saying by Vancouver-based Global News. It also reported that Sikh community members vowed Monday to protest in front of the Indian consulates across Canada following Trudeau's statement. Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000 (about 2 per cent of its total population). Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
VIDISHA: At least four members of a family, including a woman and three minor children, were killed when the car they were travelling in plunged into a roadside rainwater-filled pit in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred on Monday night when the family was returning after visiting their farmland in Haidargarh village, a police officer said.
"The car fell into the pit filled with rainwater when the driver was reversing it to negotiate a turn," said Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav. He said two other members of the family who were also travelling in the car were rescued by villagers. They are undergoing treatment in a hospital, he added.
The deceased persons were identified as Shakeela Bi (30), Nikhat (13), Ayan (10) and Shaad (7), the ASP added.
"While three bodies were recovered by villagers, the fourth one was found in the car after it was pulled out of the pit by a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at around 11 pm," he said.
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VIDISHA: At least four members of a family, including a woman and three minor children, were killed when the car they were travelling in plunged into a roadside rainwater-filled pit in Vidisha district of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Monday night when the family was returning after visiting their farmland in Haidargarh village, a police officer said. "The car fell into the pit filled with rainwater when the driver was reversing it to negotiate a turn," said Additional Superintendent of Police Samir Yadav. He said two other members of the family who were also travelling in the car were rescued by villagers. They are undergoing treatment in a hospital, he added.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The deceased persons were identified as Shakeela Bi (30), Nikhat (13), Ayan (10) and Shaad (7), the ASP added. "While three bodies were recovered by villagers, the fourth one was found in the car after it was pulled out of the pit by a team of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at around 11 pm," he said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Fayaz Wani By
Express News Service
SRINAGAR: Security experts are witnessing a shift in militant strategy from urban warfare to jungle warfare in Jammu and Kashmir. They attributed the change in this militant strategy to a decline in public support for militants and the drop in the shelf life of continued anti-militancy operations.
The shift by militants to jungle warfare may, however, prove a challenging task for security forces. Former J&K police chief S P Vaid told this newspaper that it seems that militants have changed their strategy after thousands of militants were killed by security forces following the launch of Operation All Out in 2017 and they also faced a shortage of weapons.
A few years back, they started the targeted killings by targeting minority community members, panchayat members and outside workers using small weapons like pistols. Now after security forces brought that under control, militants have changed their strategy and are moving away from built-up areas to jungles to avoid security forces, he said.
Vaid said militants have now changed their strategy from urban warfare to jungle warfare and feel that they can draw the security forces to their hideouts in dense forests and inflict casualties among the security force personnel by engaging them in gunfire.
In forests, he said, the tunnels, caves and boulders provide naturally made hideouts to the militants and they can survive security forces operations by using these natural caves as hideouts. This year militants have engaged security men in many gunfights in the forest area in J&K. Troops are presently engaged in search operations in the Kokernag forest area for the last six days after three security officials were killed in militant firing last Wednesday.
Earlier, three soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the forest area in Kulgam a few months back.
In the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, many gunfights have taken place between militants and security forces personnel in the dense forest area this year. In these encounters, 10 security men have been killed. Colonel (Retd) Shiv Nandan Singh said the militants are resorting to jungle warfare now as the public support for militancy has declined considerably and they no longer enjoy public support.
The militancy survives on local support and this local support is slowly weaning away. Now this is a desperate attempt of Pakistan with backing from China to keep the pot boiling in J&K, he said. Another former retired security official said the militant shelf life has dropped in the last few years and there have been instances when a militant was killed a day after joining militancy.
No local support
Colonel (Retd) Shiv Nandan Singh said the militants are resorting to jungle warfare now as the public support for militancy has declined considerably and they no longer enjoy public support. The militancy survives on local support and this local support is slowly weaning away. Now this is a desperate attempt of Pakistan with backing from China to keep the pot boiling in J&K, he said. Another reason is militant shelf life has dropped in the last few years.
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SRINAGAR: Security experts are witnessing a shift in militant strategy from urban warfare to jungle warfare in Jammu and Kashmir. They attributed the change in this militant strategy to a decline in public support for militants and the drop in the shelf life of continued anti-militancy operations. The shift by militants to jungle warfare may, however, prove a challenging task for security forces. Former J&K police chief S P Vaid told this newspaper that it seems that militants have changed their strategy after thousands of militants were killed by security forces following the launch of Operation All Out in 2017 and they also faced a shortage of weapons. A few years back, they started the targeted killings by targeting minority community members, panchayat members and outside workers using small weapons like pistols. Now after security forces brought that under control, militants have changed their strategy and are moving away from built-up areas to jungles to avoid security forces, he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Vaid said militants have now changed their strategy from urban warfare to jungle warfare and feel that they can draw the security forces to their hideouts in dense forests and inflict casualties among the security force personnel by engaging them in gunfire. In forests, he said, the tunnels, caves and boulders provide naturally made hideouts to the militants and they can survive security forces operations by using these natural caves as hideouts. This year militants have engaged security men in many gunfights in the forest area in J&K. Troops are presently engaged in search operations in the Kokernag forest area for the last six days after three security officials were killed in militant firing last Wednesday. Earlier, three soldiers were killed in a militant attack in the forest area in Kulgam a few months back. In the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, many gunfights have taken place between militants and security forces personnel in the dense forest area this year. In these encounters, 10 security men have been killed. Colonel (Retd) Shiv Nandan Singh said the militants are resorting to jungle warfare now as the public support for militancy has declined considerably and they no longer enjoy public support. The militancy survives on local support and this local support is slowly weaning away. Now this is a desperate attempt of Pakistan with backing from China to keep the pot boiling in J&K, he said. Another former retired security official said the militant shelf life has dropped in the last few years and there have been instances when a militant was killed a day after joining militancy. No local support Colonel (Retd) Shiv Nandan Singh said the militants are resorting to jungle warfare now as the public support for militancy has declined considerably and they no longer enjoy public support. The militancy survives on local support and this local support is slowly weaning away. Now this is a desperate attempt of Pakistan with backing from China to keep the pot boiling in J&K, he said. Another reason is militant shelf life has dropped in the last few years. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Yeshi Seli By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Thierry Mathou, Ambassador-designate of France to India said that there are three pillars of the Indo-French partnership roadmap. Ambassador Mathou, has come to India after completing his tenure in Bangkok.
The partnership is structured around three pillars. The first is a partnership for security and sovereignty whereas the second is a partnership for the planet and global issues which is essential to meet the challenges of climate change and the third is a partnership for the people, he said.
India and France have prepared a roadmap for the next 25 years (till 2047) which will celebrate the centenary of Indias independence and the diplomatic relations between India and France.
France has also sought to bring together scientists and engineers from India and France to advance research and technology in all fields, improve the lives of Indians, whether through water treatment and access to new sources of clean and affordable energy.
We will also work on the development of transport, create new bridges between our two cultures which have a universal vocation work together to improve global health and preserve nature on land and in the oceans, where India has so much to offer to the world and of course contribute to peace, security and development in the region, he said adding that India is a country rightly described by Juliet Michelet (19th-century French historian) as the matrix of the world.
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NEW DELHI: Thierry Mathou, Ambassador-designate of France to India said that there are three pillars of the Indo-French partnership roadmap. Ambassador Mathou, has come to India after completing his tenure in Bangkok. The partnership is structured around three pillars. The first is a partnership for security and sovereignty whereas the second is a partnership for the planet and global issues which is essential to meet the challenges of climate change and the third is a partnership for the people, he said. India and France have prepared a roadmap for the next 25 years (till 2047) which will celebrate the centenary of Indias independence and the diplomatic relations between India and France. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); France has also sought to bring together scientists and engineers from India and France to advance research and technology in all fields, improve the lives of Indians, whether through water treatment and access to new sources of clean and affordable energy. We will also work on the development of transport, create new bridges between our two cultures which have a universal vocation work together to improve global health and preserve nature on land and in the oceans, where India has so much to offer to the world and of course contribute to peace, security and development in the region, he said adding that India is a country rightly described by Juliet Michelet (19th-century French historian) as the matrix of the world. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service
BHOPAL: Eyeing to return to power nearly three years after its 15-month-long government collapsed under the weight of its own disgruntled MLAs, the opposition Congress launched 'Jan Akrosh Yatras' ahead of the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh.
The march will collectively cover 11,400 km across all 230 assembly segments in 15 days. The march is said to be led by seven senior Congress leaders.
This comes at a time when the ruling BJP has been attacking the oppositions INDIA bloc, particularly the Congress, over the DMK and Congress leader's anti-Sanatan Dharma remark.
Importantly, all the seven senior Congress leaders, including the leader of the opposition (LoP) Dr Govind Singh, former LoP Ajay Singh Rahul, former union ministers Arun Yadav, Suresh Pachouri, and Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel and former MP minister Jitu Patwari started the Yatras after offering prayers at prominent Hindu temples in different parts of the state, state Congresss media advisor Piyush Babele told this newspaper.
Importantly, LoP Dr Govind Singh, the seven-time MLA from Lahar (Bhind), who has been a sworn socialist, started the Yatra after offering prayers at the Ganesh temple in the Sheopur district of the Gwalior-Chambal region.
On the other hand former LoP Ajay Singh Rahul started the Yatra from Rewa district of Vindhya region, after offering prayers at Shiva and Ganesh temples. Also, former union minister and ex-state Congress chief Arun Yadav began the Yatra from the Damoh district of Bundelkhand region after praying at the Jageshwar Nath Temple of Lord Shiva, while CWC member Kamleshwar Patel started the Yatra from Singrauli district of Vindhya region with prayers at a Ganesh, Shiva and Hanuman temples.
Posting about the seven Yatras on social media portal X, the state Congress president Kamal Nath said, On the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, Congress Party is starting its Jan Aakrosh Yatras. The purpose of these yatras is to express the pain and suffering of the oppressed people due to the misrule of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government for 18 years.
Meanwhile, the ruling BJPs 10,500-plus km long five Jan Ashirwad Yatras are approaching their last stretch.
At a time when the BJP hasnt decided the CM face for MP, the Uttarakhand CM while praising the policies of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, appealed to people in Bina town of Sagar district to ensure that Chouhan becomes CM again, to keep Bhrastachar Nath-faced Ravana (possibly referring to Kamal Nath) away from power in MP.
While attacking the Congress and INDIA bloc leaders over the anti-Sanatan Dharma remarks, Dhami told the people of MP, about how his government had started a crackdown against Land Jihad by freeing 3300 acres of land and implementing the uniform civil code (UCC) soon in Uttarakhand.
In Betul district, meanwhile, former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi formed part of the BJPs Yatra, accusing the Congress of treating the tribal just as a vote bank.
Despite ruling the country for decades, the Congress has seen tribals just as vote banks, while the BJP has worked for their focussed welfare. It was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government that a separate union ministry for tribal affairs was formed, while during the Narendra Modi-led regime at the center, as many as eight tribal leaders have been made part of the council of ministers," Marandi said.
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BHOPAL: Eyeing to return to power nearly three years after its 15-month-long government collapsed under the weight of its own disgruntled MLAs, the opposition Congress launched 'Jan Akrosh Yatras' ahead of the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh. The march will collectively cover 11,400 km across all 230 assembly segments in 15 days. The march is said to be led by seven senior Congress leaders. This comes at a time when the ruling BJP has been attacking the oppositions INDIA bloc, particularly the Congress, over the DMK and Congress leader's anti-Sanatan Dharma remark.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Importantly, all the seven senior Congress leaders, including the leader of the opposition (LoP) Dr Govind Singh, former LoP Ajay Singh Rahul, former union ministers Arun Yadav, Suresh Pachouri, and Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Working Committee member Kamleshwar Patel and former MP minister Jitu Patwari started the Yatras after offering prayers at prominent Hindu temples in different parts of the state, state Congresss media advisor Piyush Babele told this newspaper. Importantly, LoP Dr Govind Singh, the seven-time MLA from Lahar (Bhind), who has been a sworn socialist, started the Yatra after offering prayers at the Ganesh temple in the Sheopur district of the Gwalior-Chambal region. On the other hand former LoP Ajay Singh Rahul started the Yatra from Rewa district of Vindhya region, after offering prayers at Shiva and Ganesh temples. Also, former union minister and ex-state Congress chief Arun Yadav began the Yatra from the Damoh district of Bundelkhand region after praying at the Jageshwar Nath Temple of Lord Shiva, while CWC member Kamleshwar Patel started the Yatra from Singrauli district of Vindhya region with prayers at a Ganesh, Shiva and Hanuman temples. Posting about the seven Yatras on social media portal X, the state Congress president Kamal Nath said, On the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, Congress Party is starting its Jan Aakrosh Yatras. The purpose of these yatras is to express the pain and suffering of the oppressed people due to the misrule of Shivraj Singh Chouhan's government for 18 years. Meanwhile, the ruling BJPs 10,500-plus km long five Jan Ashirwad Yatras are approaching their last stretch. At a time when the BJP hasnt decided the CM face for MP, the Uttarakhand CM while praising the policies of Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, appealed to people in Bina town of Sagar district to ensure that Chouhan becomes CM again, to keep Bhrastachar Nath-faced Ravana (possibly referring to Kamal Nath) away from power in MP. While attacking the Congress and INDIA bloc leaders over the anti-Sanatan Dharma remarks, Dhami told the people of MP, about how his government had started a crackdown against Land Jihad by freeing 3300 acres of land and implementing the uniform civil code (UCC) soon in Uttarakhand. In Betul district, meanwhile, former Jharkhand CM Babulal Marandi formed part of the BJPs Yatra, accusing the Congress of treating the tribal just as a vote bank. Despite ruling the country for decades, the Congress has seen tribals just as vote banks, while the BJP has worked for their focussed welfare. It was during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government that a separate union ministry for tribal affairs was formed, while during the Narendra Modi-led regime at the center, as many as eight tribal leaders have been made part of the council of ministers," Marandi said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Fayisa CA By
Online Desk
The construction of hospitals under the Employees State Insurance scheme is moving at a very slow pace, making the financially vulnerable bear the medical expenses , said a parliamentary standing committee report on the functioning of hospitals and funds allocated under the scheme for providing free healthcare to workers in the organized sector.
The Employees State Insurance scheme or ESI scheme provides care during sickness, maternity, disability and death caused by work injuries.
The scheme benefits employees who earn not more than Rs 21,000, and work in factories or other establishments where not less than ten people are employed. The scheme also covers disabled people who earn up to Rs 25,000 per month. IIt is administered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
A parliamentary standing committee report on the recent developments under the scheme has however pointed out that the medical services for the beneficiaries of the scheme are not being provided effectively and there is a lack of commitment from the part of the government when it comes to implementation of new infrastructural developments.
The ESIS provides medical services primarily through a network of around 106 hospitals and over 1,500 dispensaries and clinics across India currently, with a total capacity of around 14,000 bed
The Committee is dissatisfied with the pace of progress of setting up of new hospitals, said the report by a standing committee on labor, textiles and skill development.
It said the Ministry of Labour and Employment should look at these shortcomings with a sense of urgency and commitment.
The parliamentary committee has found that of the existing hospitals under the scheme, six have turned non functional due to a fall in the number of beneficiaries in the area.
As a part of the expansion of the scheme to benefit more people across the country, the government had proposed the construction of new hospitals under the scheme. According to the report, the ESIC has given in principle approval for 76 new hospitals under the scheme. Of these 39 hospitals were sanctioned in 2019, the committee found.
However the construction of these hos[itals are being hindered due to various reasons. As the committee report points out only two hospitals have finished construction so far.
Of these, only 2 Hospitals at Angul (Odisha) and Bikaner (Rajasthan) have been completed and operationalized; 16 are under construction; 02 under tendering; 07 under estimation and in respect of the remaining 12 hospitals, allotment of land is under process., says the report.
The report also points out that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has refused to provide any information regarding the completion of the sanctioned 39 hospitals.
In respect of the 37 hospitals sanctioned after 2019, the Ministry/ESIC has not provided information regarding the target date of completion and operationalization despite being specifically asked for, which is improper and regrettable.
The parliamentary committee has urged the government to urgently rectify the shortcomings in the implementation of the scheme and work to fix targets, and ensure the operationalisation of hospitals in a time bound manner.
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The construction of hospitals under the Employees State Insurance scheme is moving at a very slow pace, making the financially vulnerable bear the medical expenses , said a parliamentary standing committee report on the functioning of hospitals and funds allocated under the scheme for providing free healthcare to workers in the organized sector. The Employees State Insurance scheme or ESI scheme provides care during sickness, maternity, disability and death caused by work injuries. The scheme benefits employees who earn not more than Rs 21,000, and work in factories or other establishments where not less than ten people are employed. The scheme also covers disabled people who earn up to Rs 25,000 per month. IIt is administered by the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); A parliamentary standing committee report on the recent developments under the scheme has however pointed out that the medical services for the beneficiaries of the scheme are not being provided effectively and there is a lack of commitment from the part of the government when it comes to implementation of new infrastructural developments. The ESIS provides medical services primarily through a network of around 106 hospitals and over 1,500 dispensaries and clinics across India currently, with a total capacity of around 14,000 bed The Committee is dissatisfied with the pace of progress of setting up of new hospitals, said the report by a standing committee on labor, textiles and skill development. It said the Ministry of Labour and Employment should look at these shortcomings with a sense of urgency and commitment. The parliamentary committee has found that of the existing hospitals under the scheme, six have turned non functional due to a fall in the number of beneficiaries in the area. As a part of the expansion of the scheme to benefit more people across the country, the government had proposed the construction of new hospitals under the scheme. According to the report, the ESIC has given in principle approval for 76 new hospitals under the scheme. Of these 39 hospitals were sanctioned in 2019, the committee found. However the construction of these hos[itals are being hindered due to various reasons. As the committee report points out only two hospitals have finished construction so far. Of these, only 2 Hospitals at Angul (Odisha) and Bikaner (Rajasthan) have been completed and operationalized; 16 are under construction; 02 under tendering; 07 under estimation and in respect of the remaining 12 hospitals, allotment of land is under process., says the report. The report also points out that the Ministry of Labour and Employment has refused to provide any information regarding the completion of the sanctioned 39 hospitals. In respect of the 37 hospitals sanctioned after 2019, the Ministry/ESIC has not provided information regarding the target date of completion and operationalization despite being specifically asked for, which is improper and regrettable. The parliamentary committee has urged the government to urgently rectify the shortcomings in the implementation of the scheme and work to fix targets, and ensure the operationalisation of hospitals in a time bound manner. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Sudhir Suryawanshi By
Express News Service
MUMBAI: The NCP faction supporting Ajit Pawar staged an agitation in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra upset over BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar's remarks on the leader and demanded action against the BJP leader.
Padalkar who had written a letter to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis demanding inclusion of Dhangar into the Scheduled Tribe (STs), had left out Ajit Pawar.
When the BJP leader was asked as to why he didn't write a letter to Ajit Pawar on the same, he marked that 'Pawar was a cunning pup of a cunning wolf and there is no need to approach him'.
Reacting to this, several NCP supporters said they joined the government for the development of the state, not to get insulted by the BJP leaders like Gopichand Padalkar who has neither dignity nor the base.
"If Gopichand Padalkar continues to use foul and low-level language, then NCP will not let Padalkar roam in the state. There is a limit to tolerating such nonsense remarks. The dignity has to be maintained, said NCP Pune president Deepak Mankar.
Devendra Fadnavis reacted to the BJP MLC's leader saying that the leaders should not make any inappropriate remarks against each other.
Interestingly, in the 2019 state assembly elections, Padlkar lost his deposit while contesting against Ajit Pawar in Baramati.
Meanwhile, a senior NCP leader alleged that the BJP leader would not have made such a derogatory remark about Ajit Pawar without the consent of Devendra Fadnavis.
There must be something that Fadnavis is not happy with Ajit Pawars inductions in this government. The reason, Fadnavis was not in the loop when Mr Pawar was inducted as Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was directly dealing with the top leadership of the BJP. Fadnavis was informed about this Pawar-BJP power agreement at the last moment," he said.
"Now, Ajit Pawar may get the upper hand as a strong Maratha leader as BJP has decided to promote Maratha leadership in the state therefore this attack on Padalkar cannot be seen as an off-shot remark. There is politics behind it. The matter will be taken to senior leaders, the NCP leader added, requesting anonymity.
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MUMBAI: The NCP faction supporting Ajit Pawar staged an agitation in Pune and other parts of Maharashtra upset over BJP MLC Gopichand Padalkar's remarks on the leader and demanded action against the BJP leader. Padalkar who had written a letter to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis demanding inclusion of Dhangar into the Scheduled Tribe (STs), had left out Ajit Pawar. When the BJP leader was asked as to why he didn't write a letter to Ajit Pawar on the same, he marked that 'Pawar was a cunning pup of a cunning wolf and there is no need to approach him'. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Reacting to this, several NCP supporters said they joined the government for the development of the state, not to get insulted by the BJP leaders like Gopichand Padalkar who has neither dignity nor the base. "If Gopichand Padalkar continues to use foul and low-level language, then NCP will not let Padalkar roam in the state. There is a limit to tolerating such nonsense remarks. The dignity has to be maintained, said NCP Pune president Deepak Mankar. Devendra Fadnavis reacted to the BJP MLC's leader saying that the leaders should not make any inappropriate remarks against each other. Interestingly, in the 2019 state assembly elections, Padlkar lost his deposit while contesting against Ajit Pawar in Baramati. Meanwhile, a senior NCP leader alleged that the BJP leader would not have made such a derogatory remark about Ajit Pawar without the consent of Devendra Fadnavis. There must be something that Fadnavis is not happy with Ajit Pawars inductions in this government. The reason, Fadnavis was not in the loop when Mr Pawar was inducted as Deputy chief minister of Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar was directly dealing with the top leadership of the BJP. Fadnavis was informed about this Pawar-BJP power agreement at the last moment," he said. "Now, Ajit Pawar may get the upper hand as a strong Maratha leader as BJP has decided to promote Maratha leadership in the state therefore this attack on Padalkar cannot be seen as an off-shot remark. There is politics behind it. The matter will be taken to senior leaders, the NCP leader added, requesting anonymity. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Fayaz Wani By
Express News Service
SRINAGAR: On the 7th day of a search operation of security forces in the Gadole forest area of Kokernag in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, troops on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two militants including a local Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Uzair Khan.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar told reporters today that they had information that 2-3 militants were hiding in the Gadole forest area of Kokernag.
He said two militants including Lashkar commander Uzair Khan have been killed in the seven-day-long operation.
Kumar said the body of Uzair has been recovered and another body of a militant is lying in the forest area.
Uzair had joined militancy in July last year and was one of the wanted militants in J&K.
The Lashkar militants were involved in the killing of four security men including three officials Colonel Manpreet Singh (Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles), Major Ashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Bhat.
The four security men were killed in the initial gunfight with militants in the forest area on Wednesday last and since then security men have been tracking down the militants.
ALSO READ | 'One last time': Six-year-old son salutes Jawan dad who was martyred in Anantnag encounter
The security men used drones, quadcopters and helicopters and fired hundreds of rockets, mortar shells, grenades and ammunition from drones towards the possible militant hideouts in the forest area to eliminate the militants.
Asked whether the operation has been called off, ADGP said the search operation will continue and urged locals not to go closer to the encounter site as unexploded grenades or shells will be collected and destroyed.
We are also searching for the third dead body of the militant, he said.
On casualties suffered by security forces in the encounter, Kumar said three officers, two from army and one from the police and a soldier were killed in the encounter.
The operation was being supervised by General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based Armys 15 Corps Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh.
ALSO READ | Terrorist killed in encounter near LoC in J-K's Baramulla, operation in Kokernag forests enters Day 4
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SRINAGAR: On the 7th day of a search operation of security forces in the Gadole forest area of Kokernag in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, troops on Tuesday recovered the bodies of two militants including a local Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Uzair Khan. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar told reporters today that they had information that 2-3 militants were hiding in the Gadole forest area of Kokernag. He said two militants including Lashkar commander Uzair Khan have been killed in the seven-day-long operation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Kumar said the body of Uzair has been recovered and another body of a militant is lying in the forest area. Uzair had joined militancy in July last year and was one of the wanted militants in J&K. The Lashkar militants were involved in the killing of four security men including three officials Colonel Manpreet Singh (Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles), Major Ashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Bhat. The four security men were killed in the initial gunfight with militants in the forest area on Wednesday last and since then security men have been tracking down the militants. ALSO READ | 'One last time': Six-year-old son salutes Jawan dad who was martyred in Anantnag encounter The security men used drones, quadcopters and helicopters and fired hundreds of rockets, mortar shells, grenades and ammunition from drones towards the possible militant hideouts in the forest area to eliminate the militants. Asked whether the operation has been called off, ADGP said the search operation will continue and urged locals not to go closer to the encounter site as unexploded grenades or shells will be collected and destroyed. We are also searching for the third dead body of the militant, he said. On casualties suffered by security forces in the encounter, Kumar said three officers, two from army and one from the police and a soldier were killed in the encounter. The operation was being supervised by General Officer Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based Armys 15 Corps Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai and Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh. ALSO READ | Terrorist killed in encounter near LoC in J-K's Baramulla, operation in Kokernag forests enters Day 4 Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Pranab Mondal By
Express News Service
KOLKATA: Barely 10 days past the TMC bagged victory in the Dhupguri Assembly by-election resulting in a jolt to the BJP in its north Bengal citadel, the state government initiated an effort to make the Assembly segment a status of a sub-division, a promise that the ruling party had made ahead of the electoral exercise to woo the electorates.
The Jalpaiguri district administration has readied a map for the proposed sub-division and sent it to Nabanna, the state secretariat, along with other details. Sources in the TMC said the administration has swung into action as fast as possible because the promise of a separate sub-division for Dhupguri had largely helped the party to wrest the seat won by the saffron camp in the high-octane 2021 Assembly elections.
Before setting out on her foreign trip, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said, Once I return from my trip, I will take necessary initiatives in forming the new Dhupguri sub-division.
TMCs victory in north Bengal is believed to be dent in the BJPs vote-bank in north Bengal where the saffron camp had made deep inroads in the 2021 general elections by bagging seven out of eight Lok Sabha seats. Her announcement came within nine days of Abhishek Banerjee, TMCs national general secretary, announcing that the Assembly segment would become a new sub-division by the end of this year during his campaign before the byelection held on September 5.
The sub-division had been a long-standing demand of the people of Dhupguri. Mamatas instruction to the administration to implement the promise on war-footing measure is said to be aimed at the next years Lok Sabha elections. Other than winning the Assembly seat, our party performed on grassroot-levels in the recently concluded panchayat elections in north Bengal.
The party supremo wants to launch an aggressive onslaught in BJPs north Bengal turf in the Lok Sabha elections as the TMC received a massive setback in the general elections four years ago, said a senior TMC leader. In the report sent to Nabanna, the Jalpaiguri district administration earmarked areas to be included in the new sub-division and identified the space for the offices of the SDO and SDO and the strength of staff required to run the two newly set up facilities.
Dent in BJP votebank
TMCs victory in north Bengal is believed to be dent in the BJPs vote-bank in north Bengal where the saffron camp had made deep inroads in the 2021 general elections by bagging seven out of eight Lok Sabha seats. The sub-division had been a long-standing demand of the people of Dhupguri, which the TMC promised.
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KOLKATA: Barely 10 days past the TMC bagged victory in the Dhupguri Assembly by-election resulting in a jolt to the BJP in its north Bengal citadel, the state government initiated an effort to make the Assembly segment a status of a sub-division, a promise that the ruling party had made ahead of the electoral exercise to woo the electorates. The Jalpaiguri district administration has readied a map for the proposed sub-division and sent it to Nabanna, the state secretariat, along with other details. Sources in the TMC said the administration has swung into action as fast as possible because the promise of a separate sub-division for Dhupguri had largely helped the party to wrest the seat won by the saffron camp in the high-octane 2021 Assembly elections. Before setting out on her foreign trip, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said, Once I return from my trip, I will take necessary initiatives in forming the new Dhupguri sub-division. TMCs victory in north Bengal is believed to be dent in the BJPs vote-bank in north Bengal where the saffron camp had made deep inroads in the 2021 general elections by bagging seven out of eight Lok Sabha seats. Her announcement came within nine days of Abhishek Banerjee, TMCs national general secretary, announcing that the Assembly segment would become a new sub-division by the end of this year during his campaign before the byelection held on September 5.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The sub-division had been a long-standing demand of the people of Dhupguri. Mamatas instruction to the administration to implement the promise on war-footing measure is said to be aimed at the next years Lok Sabha elections. Other than winning the Assembly seat, our party performed on grassroot-levels in the recently concluded panchayat elections in north Bengal. The party supremo wants to launch an aggressive onslaught in BJPs north Bengal turf in the Lok Sabha elections as the TMC received a massive setback in the general elections four years ago, said a senior TMC leader. In the report sent to Nabanna, the Jalpaiguri district administration earmarked areas to be included in the new sub-division and identified the space for the offices of the SDO and SDO and the strength of staff required to run the two newly set up facilities. Dent in BJP votebank TMCs victory in north Bengal is believed to be dent in the BJPs vote-bank in north Bengal where the saffron camp had made deep inroads in the 2021 general elections by bagging seven out of eight Lok Sabha seats. The sub-division had been a long-standing demand of the people of Dhupguri, which the TMC promised. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By ANI
LUCKNOW: Amidst the introduction of the much-awaited Women Reservation bill in Parliament today, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has said that a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections in the reservation should be ensured in the bill.
Mayawati said Along with BSP, most of the parties will give their vote in the favour of Women's Reservation Bill. We expect that after the discussion this bill will get passed this time as it was pending for a long. I said earlier on behalf of my party in the Parliament that women get 50% reservation instead of the proposed 33% in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, keeping in mind the population of women. I hope the Government will think about it. Also, a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections should be ensured in the reservation for women or it will be unfair to them.
Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said on Monday.
After the bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal on the second day of the special session in the new Parliament building.
Titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhinyam the bill aims at 33% reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies.
Earlier in his address to the Lok Sabha Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on MPs to come together and pass this bill unanimously.
"Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses" PM Modi said.
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LUCKNOW: Amidst the introduction of the much-awaited Women Reservation bill in Parliament today, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has said that a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections in the reservation should be ensured in the bill. Mayawati said Along with BSP, most of the parties will give their vote in the favour of Women's Reservation Bill. We expect that after the discussion this bill will get passed this time as it was pending for a long. I said earlier on behalf of my party in the Parliament that women get 50% reservation instead of the proposed 33% in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, keeping in mind the population of women. I hope the Government will think about it. Also, a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections should be ensured in the reservation for women or it will be unfair to them. Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said on Monday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After the bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal on the second day of the special session in the new Parliament building. Titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhinyam the bill aims at 33% reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Earlier in his address to the Lok Sabha Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on MPs to come together and pass this bill unanimously. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses" PM Modi said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has appealed to the Armenian civilian population, Trend reports.
According to the Foreign Ministry statement, it is important that Armenian civilians stay away from military targets.
"The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly stated that, contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on November 10, 2020, the presence of Armenian armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan so far is a source of a serious threat to regional peace and stability. The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is through the unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian armed forces from Azerbaijan's Karabakh region and the dissolution of the separatist regime, the ministry said.
It should be noted that localized anti-terrorist measures were launched in the region to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppression of large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarmament and withdrawal of Armenian armed forces formations from the territories of Azerbaijan, neutralization of their military infrastructure, ensuring the safety of civilians returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works and our military personnel, as well as restoration of the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the region, on September 19, 2023, at about 04:00 (GMT+4), at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road, passing through the Khojavand region, a truck was driven on the Khojavand road.
It should be noted that on September 19, 2023, at about 04:00 (GMT+4) on the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through Khojavand district, a Hovo truck belonging to the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan exploded on an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and a passenger died on the spot.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the scene of the terrorist act on a Kamaz truck. At 04:30 (GMT+4) on the newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in the Khojavand region, as a result of a terrorist act, the KAMAZ truck exploded on a mine planted by a sabotage group of Armenian illegal armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade (born in 1994), Ramil Shirinov (born in 1987), Seymur Mahmudov (born in 1991), and Khazar Zamanov (born in 1998), died on the spot.
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India is among six other countries that have been able to reduce maternal mortality (MMR) in the last ten years, which helped the Southeast Asia region see a steep drop in death rates, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday.
The other countries in the WHO Southeast Asia Region that were able to reduce MMR are Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Due to this and other measures taken by other countries in the region, the newborn mortality (NMR) has almost halved, with the Region recording a 40 per cent reduction compared to a global 22 per cent drop during the same period, the WHO said.
This was announced at the four-day Regional meeting on Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate strategies for reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday.
Many women in reproductive age span die due to complications during and following pregnancy, childbirth, or abortion. Over the years, consistent Indian government efforts helped dipped MMR in the country.
MMR in India declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 122 in 2015-17 and dropped by nine points to 113 in 2016-18. By 2017-19, Indias MMR went down to 103, against a global MMR of 211 in 2017.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations in 2015 is to reduce the global MMR to less than 70/lakh live births by 2030.
Eight states have already achieved the SDG target. These include Kerala (19), Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43), Andhra Pradesh (45), Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57), and Karnataka (69).
WHO also said India is among three other countries on track to reduce Under-5 mortality (U5MR).
The other countries of the Region are Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
As per the Union Health Ministry, U5MR for the country is 32 per 1000 live births in 2020 against 35 per 1000 live births in 2019.
The WHO said that India is also working to achieve a dip in newborn mortality (NMR) target by 2030.
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal are other countries trying to meet this target.
NMR in India has registered a 2-point decline to 28 per 1000 live births in 2020 from 30 per 1000 live births in 2019.
At the regional meeting, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO Southeast Asia, said, The Region has made significant gains in mortality reduction, but progress within countries has been uneven. We must adopt a differential approach to further reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality based on their contextual priorities, available resources and new WHO guidelines and standards.
She said that since 2014, the Region has been focusing efforts to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths as a flagship priority by implementing evidence-based strategies and actions.
As a result, the Region experienced a steep drop in death rates, she said. The SEARO region has 11 member states and houses over a quarter of the worlds population.
Seven countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - achieved the target of below 140 per 100 000 live births, while four countries - Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Timor-Leste - are likely to attain national-level targets of a two-thirds reduction in MMR from 2010 value, she said.
Under-5 mortality was reduced by 45 per cent between 2010 and 2021, compared to a 26 per cent global reduction with five countries DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - achieving a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of as low as 25 per 1000 live births.
The newborn mortality (NMR) has almost halved, with the Region recording a 40 per cent reduction compared to a global 22 per cent drop during the same period.
Five countries - DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - have achieved the SDG NMR target of neonatal mortality of 12 per 1000 live births.
We must make a strategic shift to a life-course approach that goes beyond survival to ensure that women and children thrive and achieve their full potential for health and well-being, she said.
However, some indicators have not changed over time.
While 65 per cent of women access postnatal contact with a health care provider within two days after birth, less than half of newborns get breastfed within the first hours of delivery.
There is little data on the implementation of essential newborn care practices such as skin-to-skin contact in the first hour of birth, while the coverage of life-saving oral rehydration salts for children with diarrhoea continues to be low (55 per cent), and only 64 per cent of children with suspected pneumonia are taken to a health care provider, the WHO said.
Additionally, the high burden of diseases and deaths in children due to congenital disabilities, disabilities, climate change, pandemics, etc., pose further challenges.
It is important that while we sustain gains made in achieving high coverage of intervention packages such as skilled birth attendants and immunization, we must also explore innovative solutions to accelerate actions aimed at improving service delivery gaps and the quality and coverage of interventions such as intrapartum care, breastfeeding, care of preterm and low birth weight infants, and congenital disability prevention, said Dr Khetrapal Singh.
Countries can achieve this by adopting a universal health coverage approach by enhancing primary health care to encompass the entire continuum of essential health services and ensuring equitable, quality, safe and affordable health care when and where it is needed without financial hardship, said the Regional Director.
Recently, WHO released new guidelines and global quality standards for newborn and child health - postnatal care, quality standards for preterm and low birth weight, and Kangaroo Mother Care - aimed at strengthening national plans to improve health services at all levels of care.
WHO remains committed to working with countries to support policies that reduce mother, child, and newborn mortality to ensure that every mother, everywhere, survives childbirth and they and their children can thrive and go on to lead healthy and productive lives, she said.
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NEW DELHI: India is among six other countries that have been able to reduce maternal mortality (MMR) in the last ten years, which helped the Southeast Asia region see a steep drop in death rates, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Tuesday. The other countries in the WHO Southeast Asia Region that were able to reduce MMR are Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Due to this and other measures taken by other countries in the region, the newborn mortality (NMR) has almost halved, with the Region recording a 40 per cent reduction compared to a global 22 per cent drop during the same period, the WHO said. This was announced at the four-day Regional meeting on Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate strategies for reducing maternal, newborn, and child mortality in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Tuesday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Many women in reproductive age span die due to complications during and following pregnancy, childbirth, or abortion. Over the years, consistent Indian government efforts helped dipped MMR in the country. MMR in India declined from 130 per lakh live births in 2014-16 to 122 in 2015-17 and dropped by nine points to 113 in 2016-18. By 2017-19, Indias MMR went down to 103, against a global MMR of 211 in 2017. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations in 2015 is to reduce the global MMR to less than 70/lakh live births by 2030. Eight states have already achieved the SDG target. These include Kerala (19), Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43), Andhra Pradesh (45), Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57), and Karnataka (69). WHO also said India is among three other countries on track to reduce Under-5 mortality (U5MR). The other countries of the Region are Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. As per the Union Health Ministry, U5MR for the country is 32 per 1000 live births in 2020 against 35 per 1000 live births in 2019. The WHO said that India is also working to achieve a dip in newborn mortality (NMR) target by 2030. Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal are other countries trying to meet this target. NMR in India has registered a 2-point decline to 28 per 1000 live births in 2020 from 30 per 1000 live births in 2019. At the regional meeting, Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO Southeast Asia, said, The Region has made significant gains in mortality reduction, but progress within countries has been uneven. We must adopt a differential approach to further reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality based on their contextual priorities, available resources and new WHO guidelines and standards. She said that since 2014, the Region has been focusing efforts to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths as a flagship priority by implementing evidence-based strategies and actions. As a result, the Region experienced a steep drop in death rates, she said. The SEARO region has 11 member states and houses over a quarter of the worlds population. Seven countries - Bangladesh, Bhutan, DPR Korea, India, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - achieved the target of below 140 per 100 000 live births, while four countries - Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Timor-Leste - are likely to attain national-level targets of a two-thirds reduction in MMR from 2010 value, she said. Under-5 mortality was reduced by 45 per cent between 2010 and 2021, compared to a 26 per cent global reduction with five countries DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - achieving a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of as low as 25 per 1000 live births. The newborn mortality (NMR) has almost halved, with the Region recording a 40 per cent reduction compared to a global 22 per cent drop during the same period. Five countries - DPR Korea, Indonesia, Maldives, Sri Lanka, and Thailand - have achieved the SDG NMR target of neonatal mortality of 12 per 1000 live births. We must make a strategic shift to a life-course approach that goes beyond survival to ensure that women and children thrive and achieve their full potential for health and well-being, she said. However, some indicators have not changed over time. While 65 per cent of women access postnatal contact with a health care provider within two days after birth, less than half of newborns get breastfed within the first hours of delivery. There is little data on the implementation of essential newborn care practices such as skin-to-skin contact in the first hour of birth, while the coverage of life-saving oral rehydration salts for children with diarrhoea continues to be low (55 per cent), and only 64 per cent of children with suspected pneumonia are taken to a health care provider, the WHO said. Additionally, the high burden of diseases and deaths in children due to congenital disabilities, disabilities, climate change, pandemics, etc., pose further challenges. It is important that while we sustain gains made in achieving high coverage of intervention packages such as skilled birth attendants and immunization, we must also explore innovative solutions to accelerate actions aimed at improving service delivery gaps and the quality and coverage of interventions such as intrapartum care, breastfeeding, care of preterm and low birth weight infants, and congenital disability prevention, said Dr Khetrapal Singh. Countries can achieve this by adopting a universal health coverage approach by enhancing primary health care to encompass the entire continuum of essential health services and ensuring equitable, quality, safe and affordable health care when and where it is needed without financial hardship, said the Regional Director. Recently, WHO released new guidelines and global quality standards for newborn and child health - postnatal care, quality standards for preterm and low birth weight, and Kangaroo Mother Care - aimed at strengthening national plans to improve health services at all levels of care. WHO remains committed to working with countries to support policies that reduce mother, child, and newborn mortality to ensure that every mother, everywhere, survives childbirth and they and their children can thrive and go on to lead healthy and productive lives, she said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Former RAW chief A S Dulat on Tuesday said Canada expelling an Indian diplomat after claiming that New Delhi was potentially linked to the killing of a Khalistani extremist will have a bearing on bilateral relations.
"It is strange that the Canadian Prime Minister announced this in the Parliament," Dulat told PTI.
"We don't do these things. We do not go around assassinating people, let me make this very clear," said Dulat, a seasoned intelligence officer who spent his career in the Intelligence Bureau and later became the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
He expressed concern over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making a statement in their Parliament that "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar".
Immediately after Trudeau made the statement, his Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced a senior Indian diplomat in Canada has been expelled as a consequence.
Hours later, New Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat action.
Dulat said India also expels diplomats but "we have never announced it in Parliament".
"Normally, the concerned person is sent back home quietly. If there was a problem our officer could have been sent home," he said and added that this move will affect bilateral relations with Canada.
Dulat said the Canadian prime minister visited India twice but neither of his visits has been successful.
"The impression is that he does not listen to us. Our concern is that Khalistanis are there. There are people who support Khalistan in Canada, North America and the United Kingdom," he said.
The former RAW chief said if Canadians wanted one of the diplomats out, it could have been done very quietly and at best the same could have been conveyed by Trudeau "to our prime minister" that the activities of a diplomat were not compatible.
"I don't know what provoked this announcement in Parliament. It will have an impact on the mutual relationship but I am sure better sense will prevail and Canadians will understand," he said.
Dulat did not agree that this move was going to affect immigration of people for employment.
"In the next few months, if Canada does not welcome Indian immigrants they will go to America. There are lots of places to go. Sikhs are now going to Australia and New Zealand," he said.
Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey in British Columbia, Canada.
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INTERVIEW | PM Trudeaus allegations are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canada
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NEW DELHI: Former RAW chief A S Dulat on Tuesday said Canada expelling an Indian diplomat after claiming that New Delhi was potentially linked to the killing of a Khalistani extremist will have a bearing on bilateral relations. "It is strange that the Canadian Prime Minister announced this in the Parliament," Dulat told PTI. "We don't do these things. We do not go around assassinating people, let me make this very clear," said Dulat, a seasoned intelligence officer who spent his career in the Intelligence Bureau and later became the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); He expressed concern over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making a statement in their Parliament that "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar". Immediately after Trudeau made the statement, his Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced a senior Indian diplomat in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. Hours later, New Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat action. Dulat said India also expels diplomats but "we have never announced it in Parliament". "Normally, the concerned person is sent back home quietly. If there was a problem our officer could have been sent home," he said and added that this move will affect bilateral relations with Canada. Dulat said the Canadian prime minister visited India twice but neither of his visits has been successful. "The impression is that he does not listen to us. Our concern is that Khalistanis are there. There are people who support Khalistan in Canada, North America and the United Kingdom," he said. The former RAW chief said if Canadians wanted one of the diplomats out, it could have been done very quietly and at best the same could have been conveyed by Trudeau "to our prime minister" that the activities of a diplomat were not compatible. "I don't know what provoked this announcement in Parliament. It will have an impact on the mutual relationship but I am sure better sense will prevail and Canadians will understand," he said. Dulat did not agree that this move was going to affect immigration of people for employment. "In the next few months, if Canada does not welcome Indian immigrants they will go to America. There are lots of places to go. Sikhs are now going to Australia and New Zealand," he said. Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey in British Columbia, Canada. ALSO READ Canada not looking to provoke India or escalate tensions, says PM Justin Trudeau INTERVIEW | PM Trudeaus allegations are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canada Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Online Desk
India-Canada relations have hit rock bottom after Ottawa on Monday expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that the Indian government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had told an emergency parliament session that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the slaying of an exiled Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia. It was an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty", he said.
INTERVIEW | Trudeaus claims are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canada
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. "If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly said.
"As a consequence, we have expelled a top Indian diplomat," she added.
Hours after this, India expelled a senior Canadian Diplomat. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned and informed about the decision of the Government to expel a senior Canadian Diplomat based in India.
The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The decision reflects the Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
The MEA has also termed the allegations levelled by Justin Trudeau as 'absurd and motivated'.
"We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the MEA said in a statement.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected," the statement continued.
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India-Canada relations have hit rock bottom after Ottawa on Monday expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that the Indian government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Khalistani separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had told an emergency parliament session that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the slaying of an exiled Sikh leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in British Columbia. It was an "unacceptable violation of our sovereignty", he said. INTERVIEW | Trudeaus claims are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canadagoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. "If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly said. "As a consequence, we have expelled a top Indian diplomat," she added. Hours after this, India expelled a senior Canadian Diplomat. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned and informed about the decision of the Government to expel a senior Canadian Diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. India expels a senior Canadian Diplomat: https://t.co/TS8LHCUuuY pic.twitter.com/Y0pXq3v1DG Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) September 19, 2023 The decision reflects the Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities. The MEA has also termed the allegations levelled by Justin Trudeau as 'absurd and motivated'. "We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister," the MEA said in a statement. "Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected," the statement continued. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Yeshi Seli By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: India's former's Ambassador to Canada Vishnu Prakash has termed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegation that Indian agents were involved in the assassination of slain Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar as "wild, preposterous and shocking beyond words."
Ambassador Vishnu Prakash
In conversation with Yeshi Seli, Amb. Prakash said that Canada seems to be turning a blind eye towards the activities of Khalistani elements. He was Indias Ambassador to Canada when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made his first visit to Canada in 2015, which he recalls as being a huge success.
Excerpts from the conversation...
What are your views on the Canadian Prime Ministers allegation that India is responsible for the killing of radical Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Such a wild and preposterous allegation, without a shred of evidence, against the world's largest democracy is unbelievable and shocking beyond words. India has already dismissed it as 'absurd and motivated'. It demonstrates the extent of influence that the Khalistani elements exercise over the nations polity. It also represents a futile attempt to deflect attention from the anti-India activities of the separatists operating from Canadian soil.
The recently concluded G20 Summit, showed the uneasiness between India and Canada as PM Modi raised the issue of Khalistani extremism and PM Trudeau defended freedom of speech. Where is all this going to head?
It is unfortunate that Canadian political parties especially the Liberals turn Nelsons eye towards activities of Khalistani elements. This has been going on for decades now and has naturally cast a shadow over bilateral relations. The matter has been repeatedly taken up with successive administrations at all levels in Canada. They keep harping on freedom of speech knowing well that it cannot extend to inciting violence against the Indian diplomats in Canada and hatred towards India or for that matter-prejudicing Indias unity and territorial integrity.
ALSO READ | Khalistan supporter and designated terrorist Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canada
Is there any possible solution to this ongoing strain of relations between India and Canada?
Given the extent of synergies India and Canada are natural partners. Our economies supplement each other. Canadian pension funds have invested some USD 70 billion in India. We are both democracies and multicultural societies. The Indian diaspora now comprises some 5 per cent of the Canadian population. Over 200,000 Indians study in Canada. As such both sides are bound to find a modus vivendi hopefully sooner than later.
If we go back in time, when did the support for Khalistani extremists begin in Canada?
It began in the late 1970s and early 1980s during the time of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who is the father of the present Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.
You were the Ambassador to Canada when PM Modi made his first visit. What went on in that trip? What is a success diplomatically?
The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in April 2015. This was after a gap of 42 years (PM Indira Gandhi had last visited Canada in 1973). PM Modis visit was a resounding success and imparted a huge boost to bilateral economic, trade, security, political and cultural ties. At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (representing the conservative party) stated publicly that "Canada overwhelmingly stands by the unity and integrity of India."
What are the chances of India and Canadas relationship normalising? Is there a possible thaw likely anytime soon?
Given our commonalities and mutual benefits, I have no doubt whatsoever that our ties will not only normalise but flourish in the years ahead.
How widespread is the threat of Khalistani extremism in Canada at present?
Khalistani elements comprise a small percentage of the Sikh diaspora in Canada. However, they control some gurudwaras in Canada which provides them with financial support. They indulge in violence and coercion to intimidate opponents and the overwhelmingly peaceful and moderate community into silence. A number of Canadian political leaders, ministers and members of parliament have pro-Khalistani leanings.
There have been allegations that Khalistani supporters have been supporting political parties back home in India. What are your views on the same?
There are reports, though mostly unsubstantiated, that they provide financial and material support to political parties in Canada and undesirable elements in India. Efforts are underway to block the flow to India.
You must be aware that at the beginning of September Canada paused the India-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks. Who would stand to lose more?
Multilateral and bilateral trading arrangements qualitatively enhance trade and economic linkages. India and Canada have been negotiating for an FTA or CEPA (comprehensive economic partnership agreement) since 2010. The discussions on the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) picked up pace in recent months. The Canadian side has paused the talks to carry out internal consultations with stakeholders. Both sides will gain upon the conclusion of the agreement.
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NEW DELHI: India's former's Ambassador to Canada Vishnu Prakash has termed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegation that Indian agents were involved in the assassination of slain Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar as "wild, preposterous and shocking beyond words." Ambassador Vishnu PrakashIn conversation with Yeshi Seli, Amb. Prakash said that Canada seems to be turning a blind eye towards the activities of Khalistani elements. He was Indias Ambassador to Canada when Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, made his first visit to Canada in 2015, which he recalls as being a huge success. Excerpts from the conversation...googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); What are your views on the Canadian Prime Ministers allegation that India is responsible for the killing of radical Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Such a wild and preposterous allegation, without a shred of evidence, against the world's largest democracy is unbelievable and shocking beyond words. India has already dismissed it as 'absurd and motivated'. It demonstrates the extent of influence that the Khalistani elements exercise over the nations polity. It also represents a futile attempt to deflect attention from the anti-India activities of the separatists operating from Canadian soil. The recently concluded G20 Summit, showed the uneasiness between India and Canada as PM Modi raised the issue of Khalistani extremism and PM Trudeau defended freedom of speech. Where is all this going to head? It is unfortunate that Canadian political parties especially the Liberals turn Nelsons eye towards activities of Khalistani elements. This has been going on for decades now and has naturally cast a shadow over bilateral relations. The matter has been repeatedly taken up with successive administrations at all levels in Canada. They keep harping on freedom of speech knowing well that it cannot extend to inciting violence against the Indian diplomats in Canada and hatred towards India or for that matter-prejudicing Indias unity and territorial integrity. ALSO READ | Khalistan supporter and designated terrorist Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canada Is there any possible solution to this ongoing strain of relations between India and Canada? Given the extent of synergies India and Canada are natural partners. Our economies supplement each other. Canadian pension funds have invested some USD 70 billion in India. We are both democracies and multicultural societies. The Indian diaspora now comprises some 5 per cent of the Canadian population. Over 200,000 Indians study in Canada. As such both sides are bound to find a modus vivendi hopefully sooner than later. If we go back in time, when did the support for Khalistani extremists begin in Canada? It began in the late 1970s and early 1980s during the time of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who is the father of the present Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. You were the Ambassador to Canada when PM Modi made his first visit. What went on in that trip? What is a success diplomatically? The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in April 2015. This was after a gap of 42 years (PM Indira Gandhi had last visited Canada in 1973). PM Modis visit was a resounding success and imparted a huge boost to bilateral economic, trade, security, political and cultural ties. At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper (representing the conservative party) stated publicly that "Canada overwhelmingly stands by the unity and integrity of India." What are the chances of India and Canadas relationship normalising? Is there a possible thaw likely anytime soon? Given our commonalities and mutual benefits, I have no doubt whatsoever that our ties will not only normalise but flourish in the years ahead. How widespread is the threat of Khalistani extremism in Canada at present? Khalistani elements comprise a small percentage of the Sikh diaspora in Canada. However, they control some gurudwaras in Canada which provides them with financial support. They indulge in violence and coercion to intimidate opponents and the overwhelmingly peaceful and moderate community into silence. A number of Canadian political leaders, ministers and members of parliament have pro-Khalistani leanings. There have been allegations that Khalistani supporters have been supporting political parties back home in India. What are your views on the same? There are reports, though mostly unsubstantiated, that they provide financial and material support to political parties in Canada and undesirable elements in India. Efforts are underway to block the flow to India. You must be aware that at the beginning of September Canada paused the India-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks. Who would stand to lose more? Multilateral and bilateral trading arrangements qualitatively enhance trade and economic linkages. India and Canada have been negotiating for an FTA or CEPA (comprehensive economic partnership agreement) since 2010. The discussions on the Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) picked up pace in recent months. The Canadian side has paused the talks to carry out internal consultations with stakeholders. Both sides will gain upon the conclusion of the agreement. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Rajesh Asnani By
Express News Service
JAIPUR: In a significant development, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suffered a legal setback at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi over the defamation case filed against him by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
CM Gehlot had filed a petition seeking the dismissal of charges, citing Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's non-appearance in court as the complainant. However, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi has rejected CM Ashok Gehlot's plea.
This decision by the court has reignited troubles for CM Gehlot as the defamation case against him will now proceed. Rouse Avenue Court Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal is scheduled to conduct the next hearing in the defamation case on September 25-26.
Notably, both CM Gehlot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had requested an exemption from appearing in court today, a request that was granted by the court.
Previously, on September 14, the court had reserved its verdict for September 19 following a spirited one-and-a-quarter-hour debate between the lawyers representing Gehlot and Shekhawat. During the last hearing, both Ashok Gehlot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat appeared via video conferencing. Lawyers from both sides engaged in a heated debate, with senior advocate Vikas Pahwa representing Shekhawat and senior advocate Mohit Mathur representing Gehlot.
Mohit Mathur argued that if the complainant fails to appear on three consecutive dates, the court has the authority to acquit the accused under Section 256.
Given that complainant Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had already been absent on three consecutive dates, Mohit Mathur contended that Ashok Gehlot should be acquitted of the defamation case.
Opposing this, Shekhawat's lawyer Vikas Pahwa presented counterarguments suggesting that Gehlot despite being accused had not appeared in court yet and therefore a notice should be issued to compel his appearance.
It is worth noting that in the criminal defamation case initiated by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, the court issued a summon and ordered Gehlot to appear on August 7.
Subsequently, Gehlot appealed in the sessions court, seeking permission to appear via video conferencing instead of in-person attendance. Since then, Gehlot has consistently presented himself before the court via video conferencing, with the next hearing in the case scheduled for September 25.
The defamation claim was lodged by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on behalf of CM Ashok Gehlot, accusing him and his family of involvement in the Sanjeevani scam.
The Rouse Avenue Court had issued a summons against CM Ashok Gehlot on July 6, prompting Gehlot to file a revision in the sessions court. However, he did not obtain relief there. The Revision Court granted CM Gehlot permission to appear only through video conferencing.
Initially, CM Ashok Gehlot had launched an attack on Union Minister Gajendra Singh in connection with the defamation case, asserting that the entire scandal existed only on paper.
Gehlot welcomed Gajendra Singh's defamation case, stating that it would at least push forward the Sanjeevani case. In addressing PM Modi, Gehlot had urged the removal of Gajendra Singh from his cabinet.
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JAIPUR: In a significant development, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot suffered a legal setback at the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi over the defamation case filed against him by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. CM Gehlot had filed a petition seeking the dismissal of charges, citing Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat's non-appearance in court as the complainant. However, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi has rejected CM Ashok Gehlot's plea. This decision by the court has reignited troubles for CM Gehlot as the defamation case against him will now proceed. Rouse Avenue Court Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal is scheduled to conduct the next hearing in the defamation case on September 25-26.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Notably, both CM Gehlot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had requested an exemption from appearing in court today, a request that was granted by the court. Previously, on September 14, the court had reserved its verdict for September 19 following a spirited one-and-a-quarter-hour debate between the lawyers representing Gehlot and Shekhawat. During the last hearing, both Ashok Gehlot and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat appeared via video conferencing. Lawyers from both sides engaged in a heated debate, with senior advocate Vikas Pahwa representing Shekhawat and senior advocate Mohit Mathur representing Gehlot. Mohit Mathur argued that if the complainant fails to appear on three consecutive dates, the court has the authority to acquit the accused under Section 256. Given that complainant Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had already been absent on three consecutive dates, Mohit Mathur contended that Ashok Gehlot should be acquitted of the defamation case. Opposing this, Shekhawat's lawyer Vikas Pahwa presented counterarguments suggesting that Gehlot despite being accused had not appeared in court yet and therefore a notice should be issued to compel his appearance. It is worth noting that in the criminal defamation case initiated by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, the court issued a summon and ordered Gehlot to appear on August 7. Subsequently, Gehlot appealed in the sessions court, seeking permission to appear via video conferencing instead of in-person attendance. Since then, Gehlot has consistently presented himself before the court via video conferencing, with the next hearing in the case scheduled for September 25. The defamation claim was lodged by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on behalf of CM Ashok Gehlot, accusing him and his family of involvement in the Sanjeevani scam. The Rouse Avenue Court had issued a summons against CM Ashok Gehlot on July 6, prompting Gehlot to file a revision in the sessions court. However, he did not obtain relief there. The Revision Court granted CM Gehlot permission to appear only through video conferencing. Initially, CM Ashok Gehlot had launched an attack on Union Minister Gajendra Singh in connection with the defamation case, asserting that the entire scandal existed only on paper. Gehlot welcomed Gajendra Singh's defamation case, stating that it would at least push forward the Sanjeevani case. In addressing PM Modi, Gehlot had urged the removal of Gajendra Singh from his cabinet. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service
GUWAHATI: Members of Meira Paibi (Meitei women torchbearers) and local clubs shut down the five districts of Manipurs Imphal valley on Tuesday demanding the release of five youths who were arrested by the police on Friday for possessing firearms and donning camouflage uniforms.
The members of Meira Paibi were seen on the streets in different parts of the valley, enforcing the bandh by blocking roads and chanting slogans demanding the release of the five youths who are now in police custody.
The 48-hour bandh, which was called from the midnight of Monday, threw normal life out of gear. State capital Imphal wore a deserted look as vehicles remained off the streets while shops and other commercial establishments remained closed.
The Board of Secondary Education, Manipur cancelled the Class 10 supplementary exams, scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday. The exams will be rescheduled.
The All Langthabal Kendra United Clubs Coordinating Committee demanded the release of the youth, stating that they were village volunteers who were guarding their villages from attacks by Kuki-Zo militants. It warned that the agitation would be intensified if they were not released early.
ALSO READ | Army soldier killed after abduction in Manipur
The police had arrested them on September 16. At the time of arrest, they were carrying sophisticated weapons and wearing camouflage uniforms, a statement by the police said.
When news about their arrest spread, a large number of people came out to stage a protest. Later, they allegedly attempted to storm the Porompat police station.
The statement said joint security forces had repelled the attack by firing tear gas shells. Some people, including an RAF personnel, had sustained minor injuries in the incident.
Strict legal action is being taken against these anti-social elements. Manipur Police is determined to carry on such raids/operations and make all-out efforts to bring peace and normalcy in the state, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the state government has constituted a one-man panel to probe the killing of Army soldier Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom.
Kom, a tribal, was abducted at gunpoint by three unidentified men from his residence in Imphal West district and his body with bullet wounds was found the next day in Imphal East district. The last rites were performed on Tuesday.
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GUWAHATI: Members of Meira Paibi (Meitei women torchbearers) and local clubs shut down the five districts of Manipurs Imphal valley on Tuesday demanding the release of five youths who were arrested by the police on Friday for possessing firearms and donning camouflage uniforms. The members of Meira Paibi were seen on the streets in different parts of the valley, enforcing the bandh by blocking roads and chanting slogans demanding the release of the five youths who are now in police custody. The 48-hour bandh, which was called from the midnight of Monday, threw normal life out of gear. State capital Imphal wore a deserted look as vehicles remained off the streets while shops and other commercial establishments remained closed. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Board of Secondary Education, Manipur cancelled the Class 10 supplementary exams, scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday. The exams will be rescheduled. The All Langthabal Kendra United Clubs Coordinating Committee demanded the release of the youth, stating that they were village volunteers who were guarding their villages from attacks by Kuki-Zo militants. It warned that the agitation would be intensified if they were not released early. ALSO READ | Army soldier killed after abduction in Manipur The police had arrested them on September 16. At the time of arrest, they were carrying sophisticated weapons and wearing camouflage uniforms, a statement by the police said. When news about their arrest spread, a large number of people came out to stage a protest. Later, they allegedly attempted to storm the Porompat police station. The statement said joint security forces had repelled the attack by firing tear gas shells. Some people, including an RAF personnel, had sustained minor injuries in the incident. Strict legal action is being taken against these anti-social elements. Manipur Police is determined to carry on such raids/operations and make all-out efforts to bring peace and normalcy in the state, the statement said. Meanwhile, the state government has constituted a one-man panel to probe the killing of Army soldier Sepoy Serto Thangthang Kom. Kom, a tribal, was abducted at gunpoint by three unidentified men from his residence in Imphal West district and his body with bullet wounds was found the next day in Imphal East district. The last rites were performed on Tuesday. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Online Desk
Putting an end to days-long speculation, the ruling National Democratic Alliance has tabled a landmark bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats in the national parliament for women.
"Today, women are advancing in all areas. Hence, it's essential that, in policy making also, our mothers, sisters and womenfolk give their maximum contribution, and play an important roleToday, the 19th of September, is going to become immortal for this reason," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The womens reservation bill is being introduced for the seventh time in around a quarter of a century.
Perhaps anticipating some opposition from within the ruling front, Modi asked opposition parties to join him to open the doors of the new parliament house to naari shakti or womens power.
Not The First Time
This is not the first time that the Women's Reservation Bill has been introduced in the Indian parliament.
It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1996 to amend the Constitution to reserve 33% of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. This bill was introduced by the United Front government led by Deve Gowda.
The bill proposed to amend Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution. It sought to reserve 181 out of 543 seats in Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of 4,109 seats in the state assemblies for women. The allocated seats would be determined by rotation - one-third of the seats would be reserved in every election.
The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in September 1996 and passed on September 12, 1996. However, it got stalled in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacked a majority at the time. The United Front government fell in 1997 before the bill could be passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The bill was then reintroduced in the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, 2008 and 2010, but did not get passed despite the support of most major national parties. The bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee in 1998 which presented its final report in 1999 with a revised draft bill. However, the government at the time did not take steps to enact the legislation.
In 2008, the bill was again introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha, where it was passed on 9th March 2010 amidst a walkout by the RJD and LJP. It was then tabled in the Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010 by the UPA-II government led by Manmohan Singh. However, the bill lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.
The major roadblock has been the lack of consensus on the bill in the Rajya Sabha where successive governments lacked a majority. The demand for a third of the seats to be reserved for women has also been a contentious issue.
Over the years, most major national parties like Congress, BJP and the Left parties have openly supported the bill. However, there have been divisions within parties regarding modalities and extent of reservation. Some key regional parties like SP, BSP, TDP and AIADMK have also extended support at various points.
The opposition has stemmed mainly from the Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD(U). OBC leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav have argued that the bill only favors elite women and does not address the political representation of OBC/SC/ST women. However, some prominent OBC/Dalit women leaders like Mayawati and Meira Kumar have endorsed the bill.
While the Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal also backed the bill in 2010, they suggested that the percentages be proportionate to the population of each category rather than reserving an absolute 33% seats for women.
The Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and the change in composition of the Rajya Sabha has revived hopes of the bill getting passed. The Modi government has voiced support for the bill. The Congress also appointed a panel in 2019 headed by Manish Tewari to review its stand and recommend ways to ensure early passage.
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Putting an end to days-long speculation, the ruling National Democratic Alliance has tabled a landmark bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats in the national parliament for women. "Today, women are advancing in all areas. Hence, it's essential that, in policy making also, our mothers, sisters and womenfolk give their maximum contribution, and play an important roleToday, the 19th of September, is going to become immortal for this reason," said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The womens reservation bill is being introduced for the seventh time in around a quarter of a century. Perhaps anticipating some opposition from within the ruling front, Modi asked opposition parties to join him to open the doors of the new parliament house to naari shakti or womens power.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Not The First Time This is not the first time that the Women's Reservation Bill has been introduced in the Indian parliament. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1996 to amend the Constitution to reserve 33% of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. This bill was introduced by the United Front government led by Deve Gowda. The bill proposed to amend Articles 330 and 332 of the Constitution. It sought to reserve 181 out of 543 seats in Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of 4,109 seats in the state assemblies for women. The allocated seats would be determined by rotation - one-third of the seats would be reserved in every election. The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in September 1996 and passed on September 12, 1996. However, it got stalled in the Rajya Sabha where the government lacked a majority at the time. The United Front government fell in 1997 before the bill could be passed in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was then reintroduced in the Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999, 2008 and 2010, but did not get passed despite the support of most major national parties. The bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee in 1998 which presented its final report in 1999 with a revised draft bill. However, the government at the time did not take steps to enact the legislation. In 2008, the bill was again introduced in the 14th Lok Sabha, where it was passed on 9th March 2010 amidst a walkout by the RJD and LJP. It was then tabled in the Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010 by the UPA-II government led by Manmohan Singh. However, the bill lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014. The major roadblock has been the lack of consensus on the bill in the Rajya Sabha where successive governments lacked a majority. The demand for a third of the seats to be reserved for women has also been a contentious issue. Over the years, most major national parties like Congress, BJP and the Left parties have openly supported the bill. However, there have been divisions within parties regarding modalities and extent of reservation. Some key regional parties like SP, BSP, TDP and AIADMK have also extended support at various points. The opposition has stemmed mainly from the Samajwadi Party, RJD and JD(U). OBC leaders like Lalu Prasad Yadav and Sharad Yadav have argued that the bill only favors elite women and does not address the political representation of OBC/SC/ST women. However, some prominent OBC/Dalit women leaders like Mayawati and Meira Kumar have endorsed the bill. While the Trinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal also backed the bill in 2010, they suggested that the percentages be proportionate to the population of each category rather than reserving an absolute 33% seats for women. The Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and the change in composition of the Rajya Sabha has revived hopes of the bill getting passed. The Modi government has voiced support for the bill. The Congress also appointed a panel in 2019 headed by Manish Tewari to review its stand and recommend ways to ensure early passage. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Shruti Kakkar By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi upheld the ban imposed by the Madras High Court on the sale of Ganesh idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) in Tamil Nadu.
You can manufacture anything out of natural clay, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud said as it dismissed a plea filed by a Ganesh idol artisan challenging the order passed by Madras HC in a special sitting on Sunday.
A division bench of the HC on Sunday had stayed the order passed by a single judge of allowing the sale of PoP idols. Though the Central Pollution Control Board, as well as the State Pollution Control Board, are bound to follow the directions of Government, there is no direction by the Central or State Governments permitting the manufacture of idols using Plaster of Paris. In that view of the matter, this Court is unable to find force in the argument of the learned Senior Counsel by referring to Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, a bench of Justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarty said.
Although the plea was not listed for hearing, but the bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra agreed to consider the same on Monday.
The judgement has been passed by the division bench of Madurai HC. Its with regard to the sale of Ganesh idols. The single judge has said immersion can't be allowed and with regards to that, the prohibition is there. The division bench has stayed that. The net result is that I cant even sell my idols, Divan told the bench.
Considering Senior Counsels submission, the bench however agreed to consider it on Monday after concluding the matters listed for the day but said, What will people do if they cant immerse it (idols)?
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on the eve of Ganesh Chaturthi upheld the ban imposed by the Madras High Court on the sale of Ganesh idols made of Plaster of Paris (PoP) in Tamil Nadu. You can manufacture anything out of natural clay, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud said as it dismissed a plea filed by a Ganesh idol artisan challenging the order passed by Madras HC in a special sitting on Sunday. A division bench of the HC on Sunday had stayed the order passed by a single judge of allowing the sale of PoP idols. Though the Central Pollution Control Board, as well as the State Pollution Control Board, are bound to follow the directions of Government, there is no direction by the Central or State Governments permitting the manufacture of idols using Plaster of Paris. In that view of the matter, this Court is unable to find force in the argument of the learned Senior Counsel by referring to Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, a bench of Justices SS Sundar and D Bharatha Chakravarty said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Although the plea was not listed for hearing, but the bench also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra agreed to consider the same on Monday. The judgement has been passed by the division bench of Madurai HC. Its with regard to the sale of Ganesh idols. The single judge has said immersion can't be allowed and with regards to that, the prohibition is there. The division bench has stayed that. The net result is that I cant even sell my idols, Divan told the bench. Considering Senior Counsels submission, the bench however agreed to consider it on Monday after concluding the matters listed for the day but said, What will people do if they cant immerse it (idols)? Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Shruti Kakkar By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it wanted to tighten up the self-regulatory mechanism of monitoring TV news channels and granted four more weeks to News Broadcasters and Digital Association to come up with fresh guidelines.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of submissions that the NBDA was in consultation with its present and former chairpersons, Justice (retd) A K Sikri and R V Raveendran, respectively, for framing fresh guidelines. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for NBDA, sought four weeks to come up with fresh guidelines.
The bench during the hearing took note of the fact that NBDA for framing fresh guidelines was already in consultation with former Justices AK Sikri and R.V. Raveendran. The court was considering NBDA's plea against the Bombay HC order of making adverse observations against it on the self-regulation of TV channels.
Apprising the court of the meetings that NBDA conducted with Justices AK Sikri and RV Raveendran, Datar told the court it was reframing the entire guidelines. The Centre on its part appearing through SG Tushar Mehta told the court that the existence of a statutory regime took care of the courts concerns regarding self-regulation.
As the centre also pointed out regarding NBDA's failure to register under the rules, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the News Broadcaster Federation of India (NBFI), said it was the only regulatory body registered with the Centre as per the 2022 rules, unlike NBDA.
We cannot sort out your ideological differences (NBDA and NBFI) here. We do not want this plea to get lost in the cacophony of rival organisations, the CJI said.
Also in top court
SC relieves SIT in Lakhimpur Kheri case
The Supreme Court relieved the Special Investigation Team in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying it has already completed its probe and submitted a charge sheet in the trial court. The case pertains to violence on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri districts Tikunia.
No SC relief for Soren on ED summons
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Sorens plea against the Enforcement Directorates summons in a case of alleged money laundering. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi directed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha minister to instead approach the Jharkhand HC first.
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NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday said it wanted to tighten up the self-regulatory mechanism of monitoring TV news channels and granted four more weeks to News Broadcasters and Digital Association to come up with fresh guidelines. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of submissions that the NBDA was in consultation with its present and former chairpersons, Justice (retd) A K Sikri and R V Raveendran, respectively, for framing fresh guidelines. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for NBDA, sought four weeks to come up with fresh guidelines. The bench during the hearing took note of the fact that NBDA for framing fresh guidelines was already in consultation with former Justices AK Sikri and R.V. Raveendran. The court was considering NBDA's plea against the Bombay HC order of making adverse observations against it on the self-regulation of TV channels. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Apprising the court of the meetings that NBDA conducted with Justices AK Sikri and RV Raveendran, Datar told the court it was reframing the entire guidelines. The Centre on its part appearing through SG Tushar Mehta told the court that the existence of a statutory regime took care of the courts concerns regarding self-regulation. As the centre also pointed out regarding NBDA's failure to register under the rules, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the News Broadcaster Federation of India (NBFI), said it was the only regulatory body registered with the Centre as per the 2022 rules, unlike NBDA. We cannot sort out your ideological differences (NBDA and NBFI) here. We do not want this plea to get lost in the cacophony of rival organisations, the CJI said. Also in top court SC relieves SIT in Lakhimpur Kheri case The Supreme Court relieved the Special Investigation Team in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying it has already completed its probe and submitted a charge sheet in the trial court. The case pertains to violence on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri districts Tikunia. No SC relief for Soren on ED summons The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Sorens plea against the Enforcement Directorates summons in a case of alleged money laundering. A bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Bela Trivedi directed the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha minister to instead approach the Jharkhand HC first. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Shruti Kakkar By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Questioning Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar for his failure to act on the disqualification proceedings pending against CM Eknath Shinde and rebel MLAs, the Supreme Court on Monday fast-tracked the hearing by directing the Speaker to spell out a timeline within a week for adjudication of the pleas.
A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud remarked that it appeared that nothing had happened irrespective of the SCs May 11 ruling of directing Narwekar to decide the disqualification pleas within a reasonable time, adding that it expected the speaker to maintain the dignity of its judgment.
While this court is cognizant to the need for comity with the Speaker, we also expect the dignity of this courts judgment to be maintained, the bench said in its order and asked the Speaker to apprise the court of the timeline.
The bench, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, said, Mr SG, he (Speaker) has to decide the matter. He cant do this. What does the speaker do after the May 11 judgment by our court? It appears that nothing has happened. Speaker cant say now that I will have to hear it in due course. Hes a tribunal under the 10th schedule. As tribunals are amenable to the jurisdiction of the court. What is the speaker proposing to do? He has to sit down and decide the questions now. We didnt set down a three-month retirement. Now 11th May we have way past four months have gone by & we are in the stage of issuing notices.
The SC was considering a plea filed by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) seeking directions to the Speaker to quickly decide the disqualification pleas pending against Shinde and 15 other MLAs.
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NEW DELHI: Questioning Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar for his failure to act on the disqualification proceedings pending against CM Eknath Shinde and rebel MLAs, the Supreme Court on Monday fast-tracked the hearing by directing the Speaker to spell out a timeline within a week for adjudication of the pleas. A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud remarked that it appeared that nothing had happened irrespective of the SCs May 11 ruling of directing Narwekar to decide the disqualification pleas within a reasonable time, adding that it expected the speaker to maintain the dignity of its judgment. While this court is cognizant to the need for comity with the Speaker, we also expect the dignity of this courts judgment to be maintained, the bench said in its order and asked the Speaker to apprise the court of the timeline.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The bench, comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, said, Mr SG, he (Speaker) has to decide the matter. He cant do this. What does the speaker do after the May 11 judgment by our court? It appears that nothing has happened. Speaker cant say now that I will have to hear it in due course. Hes a tribunal under the 10th schedule. As tribunals are amenable to the jurisdiction of the court. What is the speaker proposing to do? He has to sit down and decide the questions now. We didnt set down a three-month retirement. Now 11th May we have way past four months have gone by & we are in the stage of issuing notices. The SC was considering a plea filed by Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction) seeking directions to the Speaker to quickly decide the disqualification pleas pending against Shinde and 15 other MLAs. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Western Azerbaijan Community has appealed to the international community over ongoing Armenian provocations, Trend reports.
As noted in the statement of the Community, the armed forces of Armenia, illegally present in the territories of Azerbaijan where peacekeeping forces of the Russian Federation are temporarily deployed, committed terrorist acts in the early hours of September 19, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of six Azerbaijani citizens, including four policemen and two civilians. In addition, two servicemen were wounded as a result of the shelling of Azerbaijani Army positions by Armenian illegal armed groups.
The Community added that all this is taking place against the background of Armenia's refusal to fulfill its obligation to fully withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani territories, its support for separatism, sabotage of Azerbaijan's reintegration efforts, and a massive international smear campaign against Azerbaijan. It is obvious that Armenia's goal is to keep control over Azerbaijani territories and continue its territorial claims. The consistent steps taken by the Azerbaijani side on the basis of the norms and principles of international law gave Armenia the opportunity to choose peace and cooperation. Unfortunately, Armenia has not abandoned the ideology of racist mono-ethnic statehood and territorial expansion and has once again chosen the path of provocation with the incitement of a number of patrons.
"With this in mind, the Azerbaijani Army has launched localized anti-terrorist activities to restore Azerbaijan's constitutional order in Karabakh. The government of Armenia must abide by international law and obligations, withdraw the remnants of its army from the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, disarm the illegal Armenian armed formations, and abolish the junta regime. We call on the international community to put pressure on this state so that Armenia renounces the ideology of mono-ethnic statehood and territorial expansion, stops encroaching on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and creates conditions for the dignified and safe return of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia to their homes," the Community states.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
It should be noted that on September 19, 2023, at about 04:00 (GMT+4) on the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through Khojavand district, a Hovo truck belonging to the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan exploded on an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and a passenger died on the spot.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the scene of the terrorist act on a Kamaz truck. At 04:30 (GMT+4) on the newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in the Khojavand region, as a result of a terrorist act, the KAMAZ truck exploded on a mine planted by a sabotage group of Armenian illegal armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade (born in 1994), Ramil Shirinov (born in 1987), Seymur Mahmudov (born in 1991), and Khazar Zamanov (born in 1998), died on the spot.
Namita Bajpai By
Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Amidst the introduction of the much-awaited Women's Reservation bill in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) extended their support but under certain conditions.
The bill, tabled in Lok Sabha a day after being cleared by the Modi cabinet, had SP sticking to its stance of a quota for women from Pichhde (Backward class), Dalit (scheduled caste), and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) (PDA) within the quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The SP also demanded that the right to reserve seats for women must rest with the political parties and not with the Election Commission.
While reacting to the central governments move of pushing the bill in by calling a special session of the Parliament, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh said the Bill must have a balance of gender and social justice.
It must incorporate a mandatory and defined quota for PDA, he maintained.
TNIE EDITORIAL | Women should not be proxies to win seats
While backing the bill in Lok Sabha, SP's Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav said being a woman she supports the Bill but it would only meet its real purpose if the woman standing on the lowest rung of society got her due as well.
Raising doubt on the intent of the Modi government, she asked, "Why the BJP-led NDA did not move the Bill earlier? Even if passed by the Lok Sabha, it will not be implemented in the 2024 general elections or any of the five poll-bound assemblies. The BJP only wants to create a perception of sorts by presenting the bill by calling a special session of Parliament, Dimple said.
However, the SP stood by the same stance that it had in 2010 under the late Mulayam Singh Yadav when the then Congress-led UPA government at the Centre got the Bill cleared in Rajya Sabha and tabled it in the lower house.
Then SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav spoke against the motion demanding specific quotas for women from the Backward classes and Muslims. At the same time, SP Secretary General Ram Gopal Yadav expressed reservations over the Bill in its present form. He was of the view that the Bill should entitle political parties to decide on the reservation of seats.
OPINION | Equality gets a number: Half the sky, one-third ground
On the other hand, BSP president Mayawati also extended her support to the bill expressing the hope that it would be passed this time in the house after discussion.
She added that her party would have welcomed it even more if the women were given 50 percent reservation in the Parliament and the state assemblies.
"The government must think about it. Whatever reservation is given to women, the quota for the women from SC, ST, and OBC communities should be worked out separately. They should not be included in the already existing quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs communities else it will be unfair to these communities, said Mayawati.
"However, if the bill gets passed without the changes that we are seeking, it will show that the casteist mentality of BJP, Congress, and company as these parties want to keep these communities backward." "If a separate quota is not assured to the SC, ST, and OBC women, it will be difficult for them to get a chance on general category seats because casteist parties do not want to see them grow."
The BSP chief also sought the transparent and time-bound implementation of the bill. She also welcomed the commencement of proceedings in the new Parliament House.
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LUCKNOW: Amidst the introduction of the much-awaited Women's Reservation bill in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) extended their support but under certain conditions. The bill, tabled in Lok Sabha a day after being cleared by the Modi cabinet, had SP sticking to its stance of a quota for women from Pichhde (Backward class), Dalit (scheduled caste), and Alpsankhyak (Minorities) (PDA) within the quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The SP also demanded that the right to reserve seats for women must rest with the political parties and not with the Election Commission.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); While reacting to the central governments move of pushing the bill in by calling a special session of the Parliament, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh said the Bill must have a balance of gender and social justice. It must incorporate a mandatory and defined quota for PDA, he maintained. TNIE EDITORIAL | Women should not be proxies to win seats While backing the bill in Lok Sabha, SP's Mainpuri MP Dimple Yadav said being a woman she supports the Bill but it would only meet its real purpose if the woman standing on the lowest rung of society got her due as well. Raising doubt on the intent of the Modi government, she asked, "Why the BJP-led NDA did not move the Bill earlier? Even if passed by the Lok Sabha, it will not be implemented in the 2024 general elections or any of the five poll-bound assemblies. The BJP only wants to create a perception of sorts by presenting the bill by calling a special session of Parliament, Dimple said. However, the SP stood by the same stance that it had in 2010 under the late Mulayam Singh Yadav when the then Congress-led UPA government at the Centre got the Bill cleared in Rajya Sabha and tabled it in the lower house. Then SP national president Mulayam Singh Yadav spoke against the motion demanding specific quotas for women from the Backward classes and Muslims. At the same time, SP Secretary General Ram Gopal Yadav expressed reservations over the Bill in its present form. He was of the view that the Bill should entitle political parties to decide on the reservation of seats. OPINION | Equality gets a number: Half the sky, one-third ground On the other hand, BSP president Mayawati also extended her support to the bill expressing the hope that it would be passed this time in the house after discussion. She added that her party would have welcomed it even more if the women were given 50 percent reservation in the Parliament and the state assemblies. "The government must think about it. Whatever reservation is given to women, the quota for the women from SC, ST, and OBC communities should be worked out separately. They should not be included in the already existing quota for SCs, STs, and OBCs communities else it will be unfair to these communities, said Mayawati. "However, if the bill gets passed without the changes that we are seeking, it will show that the casteist mentality of BJP, Congress, and company as these parties want to keep these communities backward." "If a separate quota is not assured to the SC, ST, and OBC women, it will be difficult for them to get a chance on general category seats because casteist parties do not want to see them grow." The BSP chief also sought the transparent and time-bound implementation of the bill. She also welcomed the commencement of proceedings in the new Parliament House. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Rajesh Kumar Thakur By
Express News Service
NEW DELHI: THE first day of the five-day special Parliament session saw members resorting to poetry and humour to target the other side.
Taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi-led government, Congress president and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wondered whats the point of changing names when nothing else changes.
Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai? (If you want to change something, change the situation; whats the use of changing names? If you want to give something, give employment to youngsters, what will be accomplished by making everyone unemployed?), he said while opening his speech with a Hindi poem.
Kharge said earlier prime ministers including Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given their statements in the House many times but Modi seldom does it.
Addressing Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Kharge said: The problem is that the prime minister does not even listen to you. Whenever the opposition looks up to the Chair, you look at the BJP leaders.
To this, Dhankhar said: Main majboor nahin, majboot hoon (I am not helpless, I am strong).
Responding to Kharges charges, Union minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said the Congress members walk out whenever the prime minister is in the House.
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NEW DELHI: THE first day of the five-day special Parliament session saw members resorting to poetry and humour to target the other side. Taking a swipe at the Narendra Modi-led government, Congress president and the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wondered whats the point of changing names when nothing else changes. Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai? (If you want to change something, change the situation; whats the use of changing names? If you want to give something, give employment to youngsters, what will be accomplished by making everyone unemployed?), he said while opening his speech with a Hindi poem.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Kharge said earlier prime ministers including Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given their statements in the House many times but Modi seldom does it. Addressing Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Kharge said: The problem is that the prime minister does not even listen to you. Whenever the opposition looks up to the Chair, you look at the BJP leaders. To this, Dhankhar said: Main majboor nahin, majboot hoon (I am not helpless, I am strong). Responding to Kharges charges, Union minister and Leader of the House Piyush Goyal said the Congress members walk out whenever the prime minister is in the House. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
NEW DELHI: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
The government introduced a constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving a bill pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties.
Speaking in the first session of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, Chowdhury said a women's reservation bill was first brought in 1989 by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to ensure one-third reservation in local body elections.
"Since then, the Congress has been trying to bring law to ensure one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies," Chowdhury said.
He said the governments under Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh tried to pass the bill for providing reservation of one-third seats to women candidates.
At times, it got passed in the Lok Sabha, but could not be cleared by the Rajya Sabha and vice versa, the Congress leader said.
"The bill that came during Manmohan Singh's tenure was passed by the Rajya Sabha and hence is still alive. The CWC (Congress Working Committee) resolution has spoken about this. Even Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). We reiterate our demand for women's reservation bill," Chowdhury said.
ALSO READ | 'Ensure separate quota for OBC, SC and ST women': Mayawati on Women Reservation Bill
Countering the claims of the Congress leader, Shah said Chowdhury has made two factually incorrect statements and he should provide documents to validate his claims or withdraw his statement.
The home minister said that the women's reservation bill was never passed by the Lok Sabha.
Secondly, the old bill is not pending in the Lok Sabha as with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014, the bill has lapsed, he said.
"What Adhir Ji said is factually incorrect. The old bill has lapsed. If he has any supporting document to prove what he said he should table it in the Lok Sabha or withdraw his statement," he said.
Shah also asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to remove the statement from record if Chowdhury is unable to provide supporting documents.
Later, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the constitutional amendment bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women.
Speaking on the bill, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the number of women members in the 543-member Lok Sabha will rise to 181, from 82 currently, after the law comes into force.
Giving history of the women's reservation bill, Meghwal said first time the bill was brought in September 1996 by the Deve Gowda government in the 11th Lok Sabha.
Then in December 1998 and December 1999 in the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha respectively under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government.
In May 2008, the Manmohan Singh government brought the bill in the Rajya Sabha.
It was then referred to Standing Committee and then in March 2010 it was passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Then it was reported to the Lok Sabha and became a property of the Lok Sabha, he said.
With the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha on May 18, 2014, this bill lapsed, Meghwal said, adding the Congress-led government at that time deliberately did not pass the bill.
Earlier, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury also questioned why the House did not have any deputy speaker.
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NEW DELHI: Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. The government introduced a constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, reviving a bill pending for 27 years for want of consensus among parties. Speaking in the first session of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, Chowdhury said a women's reservation bill was first brought in 1989 by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to ensure one-third reservation in local body elections.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Since then, the Congress has been trying to bring law to ensure one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies," Chowdhury said. He said the governments under Rajiv Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh tried to pass the bill for providing reservation of one-third seats to women candidates. At times, it got passed in the Lok Sabha, but could not be cleared by the Rajya Sabha and vice versa, the Congress leader said. "The bill that came during Manmohan Singh's tenure was passed by the Rajya Sabha and hence is still alive. The CWC (Congress Working Committee) resolution has spoken about this. Even Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). We reiterate our demand for women's reservation bill," Chowdhury said. ALSO READ | 'Ensure separate quota for OBC, SC and ST women': Mayawati on Women Reservation Bill Countering the claims of the Congress leader, Shah said Chowdhury has made two factually incorrect statements and he should provide documents to validate his claims or withdraw his statement. The home minister said that the women's reservation bill was never passed by the Lok Sabha. Secondly, the old bill is not pending in the Lok Sabha as with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014, the bill has lapsed, he said. "What Adhir Ji said is factually incorrect. The old bill has lapsed. If he has any supporting document to prove what he said he should table it in the Lok Sabha or withdraw his statement," he said. Shah also asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to remove the statement from record if Chowdhury is unable to provide supporting documents. Later, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the constitutional amendment bill, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. Speaking on the bill, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the number of women members in the 543-member Lok Sabha will rise to 181, from 82 currently, after the law comes into force. Giving history of the women's reservation bill, Meghwal said first time the bill was brought in September 1996 by the Deve Gowda government in the 11th Lok Sabha. Then in December 1998 and December 1999 in the 12th and 13th Lok Sabha respectively under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. In May 2008, the Manmohan Singh government brought the bill in the Rajya Sabha. It was then referred to Standing Committee and then in March 2010 it was passed by the Rajya Sabha. Then it was reported to the Lok Sabha and became a property of the Lok Sabha, he said. With the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha on May 18, 2014, this bill lapsed, Meghwal said, adding the Congress-led government at that time deliberately did not pass the bill. Earlier, speaking in the Lok Sabha, Chowdhury also questioned why the House did not have any deputy speaker. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
There were smiles all round when the new parliament became functional on the second day of the special session as it heralded the tabling of the womens reservation bill. The bill reserves a third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. It is a fitting legislation making the inaugural historic, the rather needless suspense around it notwithstanding. The adjacent circular structure built by the British Raj that served as parliament since January 1950 was where multiple battles were fought for gender justice. Women stepped up to claim their right as they polled more votes than men in the 2019 general elections for the first time.
Having sown the seed, the crop was ready for harvest ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls. Built over 65,000 square metres, the new building is thrice the size of the old one, providing more legroom and scope for additional seats after delimitation, a prickly issue in the South. Part of the Central Vista project, it has been re-imagined to reflect Indian ethos as compared to the colonial architecture of the old parliament that will become a museum. The new building was constructed rapidly even during the Covid lockdowns amid allegations of Prime Minister Narendra Modis self-aggrandisement, but there was no blowback because the economy started humming.
The old parliament has a storied history from the Constituent Assembly debates to the first PM Jawaharlal Nehrus tryst with destiny speech, Indira Gandhis liberation of Bangladesh, Narasimha Raos liberalisation, the Pokhran-II nuclear tests during Vajpayees regime, the rural jobs scheme when Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh did their jugalbandi, and the goods and services tax under Modis watch. Some legislations were high on drama, like the Lokpal Bill, but low on delivery.
Journalists loved the older structure for its Central Hall that gave them easy access to leaders. It was also the place where lawmakers of all parties got to meet informally across their ideological divides and even worked out compromises on knotty issues. It helped make politics the art of the possible. The privilege was withdrawn from the media later. Unfortunately, no such facility exists in the new set-up. Can we please have it back? The new parliament is now part of Modis legacy. One hopes the transition is not just physical but also mental, where lawmaking is more inclusive than partisan. Is it asking for too much?
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There were smiles all round when the new parliament became functional on the second day of the special session as it heralded the tabling of the womens reservation bill. The bill reserves a third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. It is a fitting legislation making the inaugural historic, the rather needless suspense around it notwithstanding. The adjacent circular structure built by the British Raj that served as parliament since January 1950 was where multiple battles were fought for gender justice. Women stepped up to claim their right as they polled more votes than men in the 2019 general elections for the first time. Having sown the seed, the crop was ready for harvest ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls. Built over 65,000 square metres, the new building is thrice the size of the old one, providing more legroom and scope for additional seats after delimitation, a prickly issue in the South. Part of the Central Vista project, it has been re-imagined to reflect Indian ethos as compared to the colonial architecture of the old parliament that will become a museum. The new building was constructed rapidly even during the Covid lockdowns amid allegations of Prime Minister Narendra Modis self-aggrandisement, but there was no blowback because the economy started humming. The old parliament has a storied history from the Constituent Assembly debates to the first PM Jawaharlal Nehrus tryst with destiny speech, Indira Gandhis liberation of Bangladesh, Narasimha Raos liberalisation, the Pokhran-II nuclear tests during Vajpayees regime, the rural jobs scheme when Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh did their jugalbandi, and the goods and services tax under Modis watch. Some legislations were high on drama, like the Lokpal Bill, but low on delivery.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Journalists loved the older structure for its Central Hall that gave them easy access to leaders. It was also the place where lawmakers of all parties got to meet informally across their ideological divides and even worked out compromises on knotty issues. It helped make politics the art of the possible. The privilege was withdrawn from the media later. Unfortunately, no such facility exists in the new set-up. Can we please have it back? The new parliament is now part of Modis legacy. One hopes the transition is not just physical but also mental, where lawmaking is more inclusive than partisan. Is it asking for too much? Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service
KOCHI: In an incident that has left Kerala expats in Kuwait worried, 30 Indians including 19 Malayali nurses working in a private clinic in Maliya city have been arrested and jailed. They were detained following a raid by the Kuwait Manpower Committee at the clinic on September 13.
The kin of some of the nurses alleged that the authorities have not clarified as to why they were arrested, even five days after the police action. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy has begun talks with the Kuwaiti authorities as per the instruction of the Central government.
Bijoy Alexander, husband of Jesin, one of the 19 Malayali nurses arrested, said authorities swooped in on Padra Clinic and arrested all the 60 staff working there. We are in the dark as they have not said as to why the action was taken, or clarified the charges under which the nurses were arrested, Bijoy told TNIE over phone.
It is learnt that some sections of the clinic were apparently functioning without valid licences, he said.
But the staff were not aware of anything regarding the licence or the existence of any legal issues that the clinic was involved in, said Bijoy, a native of Pathanamthitta.
Efforts on to ensure release of nurses
My wife, a BSc Nurse, has the attestation certificate from the Kuwait government. We have not violated any rules or guidelines, said Bijoy, adding that Jesin had been working as a nurse in Kuwait for the past eight years. Jesin, who recently rejoined work after maternity leave, has been working at the clinic for the past three years. The couple has a one-month-old baby and an eight-year-old daughter. They live in Jaleel Al Shuyoukh, Kuwait.
It has been five days since she has been picked up by the police. But even now we have not received any answers. We have approached the officials with the Indian embassy seeking help, said Bijoy. We have valid visas and permits. Even the children have visas, he added.
Johny, the husband of another nurse, told TNIE that even the police dont know the charges under which they were arrested.
According to sources in NORKA, the Kuwait Manpower Committee has cited several reasons for the arrests. Some of the charges are that the nurses were working without relevant licences and didnt have the required qualification, said the NORKA official. All these nurses have been working at the private clinic for the past three to 10 years. The hospital is owned and run by an Iranian national, said the official.
Steps have been initiated for intervention on behalf of the nurses. The embassy has sought humanitarian concessions and is also trying to find ways to free them from the jail, said the official.
TALKS ON TO FREE NURSES
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said talks with the Kuwaiti authorities have commenced to ensure the release of the 30 detained Indians.
NORKA sources said the Kuwaiti authorities have cited several reasons for the arrests, including lack of relevant licences
TALKS HAVE BEGUN: MURALEEDHARAN
Union Minister V Muraleedharan said talks with the Kuwaiti authorities have commenced to ensure the release of the 30 detained Indians. He said there are some technical issues with regard to the licence of the clinic where the nurses have been working. Some of the detained have infants who have to be breastfed. We have made arrangements with the authorities to allow these mothers to feed their infants, he added.
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KOCHI: In an incident that has left Kerala expats in Kuwait worried, 30 Indians including 19 Malayali nurses working in a private clinic in Maliya city have been arrested and jailed. They were detained following a raid by the Kuwait Manpower Committee at the clinic on September 13. The kin of some of the nurses alleged that the authorities have not clarified as to why they were arrested, even five days after the police action. Meanwhile, the Indian Embassy has begun talks with the Kuwaiti authorities as per the instruction of the Central government. Bijoy Alexander, husband of Jesin, one of the 19 Malayali nurses arrested, said authorities swooped in on Padra Clinic and arrested all the 60 staff working there. We are in the dark as they have not said as to why the action was taken, or clarified the charges under which the nurses were arrested, Bijoy told TNIE over phone.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); It is learnt that some sections of the clinic were apparently functioning without valid licences, he said. But the staff were not aware of anything regarding the licence or the existence of any legal issues that the clinic was involved in, said Bijoy, a native of Pathanamthitta. Efforts on to ensure release of nurses My wife, a BSc Nurse, has the attestation certificate from the Kuwait government. We have not violated any rules or guidelines, said Bijoy, adding that Jesin had been working as a nurse in Kuwait for the past eight years. Jesin, who recently rejoined work after maternity leave, has been working at the clinic for the past three years. The couple has a one-month-old baby and an eight-year-old daughter. They live in Jaleel Al Shuyoukh, Kuwait. It has been five days since she has been picked up by the police. But even now we have not received any answers. We have approached the officials with the Indian embassy seeking help, said Bijoy. We have valid visas and permits. Even the children have visas, he added. Johny, the husband of another nurse, told TNIE that even the police dont know the charges under which they were arrested. According to sources in NORKA, the Kuwait Manpower Committee has cited several reasons for the arrests. Some of the charges are that the nurses were working without relevant licences and didnt have the required qualification, said the NORKA official. All these nurses have been working at the private clinic for the past three to 10 years. The hospital is owned and run by an Iranian national, said the official. Steps have been initiated for intervention on behalf of the nurses. The embassy has sought humanitarian concessions and is also trying to find ways to free them from the jail, said the official. TALKS ON TO FREE NURSES Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said talks with the Kuwaiti authorities have commenced to ensure the release of the 30 detained Indians. NORKA sources said the Kuwaiti authorities have cited several reasons for the arrests, including lack of relevant licences TALKS HAVE BEGUN: MURALEEDHARAN Union Minister V Muraleedharan said talks with the Kuwaiti authorities have commenced to ensure the release of the 30 detained Indians. He said there are some technical issues with regard to the licence of the clinic where the nurses have been working. Some of the detained have infants who have to be breastfed. We have made arrangements with the authorities to allow these mothers to feed their infants, he added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By ANI
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Disaster Management Department in Kerala's Kozhikode has relaxed the restrictions in the district as no new cases of Nipah virus infection were reported in the state, the officials informed on Tuesday.
The relaxations have been announced in the containment zones of nine panchayats.
Restrictions have been eased in 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15 wards of Ayancherry Grama Panchayat, 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14 wards of Maruthonkara Grama Panchayat, 1,2,7,8 wards of Tiruvallur Grama Panchayat, 9,20 wards, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 wards of Kuttyadi Grama Panchayat, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 wards of Kayakodi Grama Panchayat, 2,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 wards of Kavil Para Grama Panchayat, 3,4,5,6 wards of Vilyapally, 13th ward of Pumari and Thannirpanthal town of 4th ward, 1,2 and 19 wards of Changaroth panchayat.
The district collector A Geetha informed that shops and establishments in the above containment zones can operate till 8 pm, while all banks can function till 2 pm as per the Nipah protocol.
Masks and sanitisers must be used, social distancing must be followed and gatherings must be strictly controlled, the district collector said.
As per the officials, other restrictions will continue till further order.
The District Collector also informed that those who are on the contact list and under observation should follow strict restrictions and remain in quarantine till the period prescribed by the Health Department.
Health Minister Veena George and Public Affairs Minister PA Muhammad Riyas will hold a meeting today with the representatives of wards where restrictions are not relaxed.
Health Minister Veena George on Monday said no fresh cases of the Nipah virus were reported in the state as 61 samples taken of high-risk contacts including healthcare workers tested negative.
She further said that the Nipah strain found in Kerala has been identified as the Indian Genotype, or I Genotype, which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh.
Six cases of the Nipah virus have been so far found in the state of which two persons died while four others, including a nine-year-old boy, are under treatment.
The health minister said that ICMR and WHO had conducted studies and found that Kerala and eight other states in India have the probability of Nipah occurrence.
Also after 2018, we conducted surveillance and we found that the source of Nipah infection is bats. The virus we found in Kerala is identified as Indian Genotype or I Genotype which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. We have two strains of Nipah Virus one is Malaysian and the other from Bangladesh," the Kerala health minister told ANI.
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Disaster Management Department in Kerala's Kozhikode has relaxed the restrictions in the district as no new cases of Nipah virus infection were reported in the state, the officials informed on Tuesday. The relaxations have been announced in the containment zones of nine panchayats. Restrictions have been eased in 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14,15 wards of Ayancherry Grama Panchayat, 1,2,3,4,5,12,13,14 wards of Maruthonkara Grama Panchayat, 1,2,7,8 wards of Tiruvallur Grama Panchayat, 9,20 wards, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 wards of Kuttyadi Grama Panchayat, 5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 wards of Kayakodi Grama Panchayat, 2,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 wards of Kavil Para Grama Panchayat, 3,4,5,6 wards of Vilyapally, 13th ward of Pumari and Thannirpanthal town of 4th ward, 1,2 and 19 wards of Changaroth panchayat. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The district collector A Geetha informed that shops and establishments in the above containment zones can operate till 8 pm, while all banks can function till 2 pm as per the Nipah protocol. Masks and sanitisers must be used, social distancing must be followed and gatherings must be strictly controlled, the district collector said. As per the officials, other restrictions will continue till further order. The District Collector also informed that those who are on the contact list and under observation should follow strict restrictions and remain in quarantine till the period prescribed by the Health Department. Health Minister Veena George and Public Affairs Minister PA Muhammad Riyas will hold a meeting today with the representatives of wards where restrictions are not relaxed. Health Minister Veena George on Monday said no fresh cases of the Nipah virus were reported in the state as 61 samples taken of high-risk contacts including healthcare workers tested negative. She further said that the Nipah strain found in Kerala has been identified as the Indian Genotype, or I Genotype, which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. Six cases of the Nipah virus have been so far found in the state of which two persons died while four others, including a nine-year-old boy, are under treatment. The health minister said that ICMR and WHO had conducted studies and found that Kerala and eight other states in India have the probability of Nipah occurrence. Also after 2018, we conducted surveillance and we found that the source of Nipah infection is bats. The virus we found in Kerala is identified as Indian Genotype or I Genotype which is similar to the strain found in Bangladesh. We have two strains of Nipah Virus one is Malaysian and the other from Bangladesh," the Kerala health minister told ANI. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Targeted online harassment of women politicians and female family members of the state's prominent political leaders are on the rise in Kerala, prompting the cyber wing of the state police to assert that stern action will be taken against the culprits.
In the last three days, at least three complaints have been lodged by the female family members of prominent political leaders of both the ruling CPI(M) and the Opposition Congress in Kerala.
On September 17, Amrutha Satheesan, wife of CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member A A Rahim, lodged a case against a Facebook page named 'Kottayam Kunjachan', alleging harassment through cyberspace.
In the FIR, registered against two other social media handles for sharing such contents, it was alleged that they have used her images and posted them using vulgar comments and expressions.
The wife of the late youth leader of the CPI(M), P Biju, and a woman leader of the CPI(M) from Palakkad, were also subjected to brutal online harassment.
They have also approached the police, seeking action against the culprits involved in the criminal acts.
Two days ago, Maria Oommen, the eldest daughter of the late Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, lodged a complaint against the alleged online harassment against her.
In her complaint, Maria alleged that she has been targeted in cyberspace after the Puthuppally by-election.
She lodged the complaint with the state police chief.
During the by-election, another daughter of Chandy, Achu Oommen, had also approached the police about the online harassment.
The wife of LDF candidate in the by-poll, Jaick C Thomas, was also subjected to brutal trolling, and she too approached the police.
A police official from Thiruvananthapuram said they have received the complaints and warned that stern action will be taken against the culprits.
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Targeted online harassment of women politicians and female family members of the state's prominent political leaders are on the rise in Kerala, prompting the cyber wing of the state police to assert that stern action will be taken against the culprits. In the last three days, at least three complaints have been lodged by the female family members of prominent political leaders of both the ruling CPI(M) and the Opposition Congress in Kerala. On September 17, Amrutha Satheesan, wife of CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member A A Rahim, lodged a case against a Facebook page named 'Kottayam Kunjachan', alleging harassment through cyberspace.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); In the FIR, registered against two other social media handles for sharing such contents, it was alleged that they have used her images and posted them using vulgar comments and expressions. The wife of the late youth leader of the CPI(M), P Biju, and a woman leader of the CPI(M) from Palakkad, were also subjected to brutal online harassment. They have also approached the police, seeking action against the culprits involved in the criminal acts. Two days ago, Maria Oommen, the eldest daughter of the late Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, lodged a complaint against the alleged online harassment against her. In her complaint, Maria alleged that she has been targeted in cyberspace after the Puthuppally by-election. She lodged the complaint with the state police chief. During the by-election, another daughter of Chandy, Achu Oommen, had also approached the police about the online harassment. The wife of LDF candidate in the by-poll, Jaick C Thomas, was also subjected to brutal trolling, and she too approached the police. A police official from Thiruvananthapuram said they have received the complaints and warned that stern action will be taken against the culprits. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
TRIVANDRUM: Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan on Tuesday sought stringent action against the priests who allegedly discriminated against Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan on the basis of caste during a function held at a temple in Kannur district recently.
The Congress leader said if anyone is trying to bring back untouchability, even after 100 years of Vaikom Satyagraha, it has to be taken very seriously, and the government has to take stringent action against the concerned people.
Terming the incident as 'shocking and unfortunate', Satheeshan asked why the Minister hid this fact for so long.
"He (minister) revealed this in a public meeting. My suggestion is that the government should take action against the concerned people because, 100 years ago, we conducted the Vaikom Satyagraha for the backward communities, Dalit communities. In 1936, we had a temple entry proclamation, allowing entry to backward and Dalit communities to temples in Kerala," Satheesan said.
He said the minister should have officially complained about the incident and taken action against those who practiced untouchability.
"It should not happen, not just to a minister but to anyone in Kerala. Imagine if this could happen to a minister, then what would be the attitude of such people towards a common man?" he asked.
ALSO READ | 'Drop Of The Last Cloud': Of castes, communism and Keralas makeover
Satheesan said it was the responsibility of the government to initiate action against those concerned.
Otherwise, such incidents will recur elsewhere, Satheesan added.
Radhakrishnan, who hails from the Scheduled Caste community, had on Monday said two priests of a temple refused to hand over the small lamp they had brought to light the main lamp placed at the venue for marking the inauguration at the shrine.
Instead, they themselves lit the main lamp, and after that placed the small lamp on the ground, thinking that he would take it, he had alleged.
Though the minister didn't reveal the name of the shrine, news channels aired the visuals of the recent inauguration of "nadapandal" at a temple in Payyanur in Kannur district, in which the minister participated.
It could be seen in the visuals that the priests were not handing over the small lamp to the minister and placing it on the ground.
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TRIVANDRUM: Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly, V D Satheesan on Tuesday sought stringent action against the priests who allegedly discriminated against Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan on the basis of caste during a function held at a temple in Kannur district recently. The Congress leader said if anyone is trying to bring back untouchability, even after 100 years of Vaikom Satyagraha, it has to be taken very seriously, and the government has to take stringent action against the concerned people. Terming the incident as 'shocking and unfortunate', Satheeshan asked why the Minister hid this fact for so long.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "He (minister) revealed this in a public meeting. My suggestion is that the government should take action against the concerned people because, 100 years ago, we conducted the Vaikom Satyagraha for the backward communities, Dalit communities. In 1936, we had a temple entry proclamation, allowing entry to backward and Dalit communities to temples in Kerala," Satheesan said. He said the minister should have officially complained about the incident and taken action against those who practiced untouchability. "It should not happen, not just to a minister but to anyone in Kerala. Imagine if this could happen to a minister, then what would be the attitude of such people towards a common man?" he asked. ALSO READ | 'Drop Of The Last Cloud': Of castes, communism and Keralas makeover Satheesan said it was the responsibility of the government to initiate action against those concerned. Otherwise, such incidents will recur elsewhere, Satheesan added. Radhakrishnan, who hails from the Scheduled Caste community, had on Monday said two priests of a temple refused to hand over the small lamp they had brought to light the main lamp placed at the venue for marking the inauguration at the shrine. Instead, they themselves lit the main lamp, and after that placed the small lamp on the ground, thinking that he would take it, he had alleged. Though the minister didn't reveal the name of the shrine, news channels aired the visuals of the recent inauguration of "nadapandal" at a temple in Payyanur in Kannur district, in which the minister participated. It could be seen in the visuals that the priests were not handing over the small lamp to the minister and placing it on the ground. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By AFP
BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan to stop its military operation in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Devastating news coming from former Nagorno-Karabakh oblast today," Michel wrote in a social media post.
"Military actions of Azerbaijan must be immediately halted to allow for a genuine dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians."
ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says opened civilian exit routes from Karabakh amid new tensions on Tuesday
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc "condemns the military escalation" and "deplores the loss of lives".
"This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population," Borrell said.
"Violence needs to stop in order to provide a conducive environment for peace and normalisation talks."
The EU has mediated talks with Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at securing a lasting peace between the ex-Soviet foes.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched "anti-terrorist operations" in its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, nearly three years after fighting a brief but brutal war with Armenia over the mountainous region.
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BRUSSELS: The European Union on Tuesday called on Azerbaijan to stop its military operation in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. "Devastating news coming from former Nagorno-Karabakh oblast today," Michel wrote in a social media post. "Military actions of Azerbaijan must be immediately halted to allow for a genuine dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says opened civilian exit routes from Karabakh amid new tensions on Tuesday EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc "condemns the military escalation" and "deplores the loss of lives". "This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population," Borrell said. "Violence needs to stop in order to provide a conducive environment for peace and normalisation talks." The EU has mediated talks with Azerbaijan and Armenia aimed at securing a lasting peace between the ex-Soviet foes. Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched "anti-terrorist operations" in its breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, nearly three years after fighting a brief but brutal war with Armenia over the mountainous region. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By AFP
BAKU: Azerbaijan said Tuesday it had launched "anti-terrorist operations" in Nagorno-Karabakh, almost three years after it went to war with Armenia over the disputed mountainous region.
The announcement came after months of mounting tensions between the Caucasus foes and hours after Baku said six Azerbaijanis were killed by mine explosions in Karabakh, blaming Armenian separatists.
"Localised anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region," Baku's defence ministry said, adding it was using "high precision weapons on the front line and in-depth as part of the operations."
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-long conflict over Karabakh, going to war in the 1990s and in 2020.
The breakaway region populated mainly by Armenians is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Baku has cited "systemic shelling" of Azerbaijani positions by Armenian separatists in Karabakh as well as "the continuing mining of our territories" and accused Yerevan of a troop build-up.
It said it had "repeatedly warned" of what it called violations of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that ended a 2020 war between the neighbours, calling them "a serious source of threat for peace and stability in the region."
ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says six killed in Karabakh mine blasts
Baku said it wanted to "suppress large-scale provocations" in Karabakh. Its aims also included the "disarmament and withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from our territories" and "the safety of the civilian population" returning to territories it reclaimed in 2020.
Hours earlier, Baku said four policemen and two civilians were killed in mine explosions staged by "Armenian separatist groups."
Blasts were heard Tuesday in the Armenian separatist stronghold of Stepanakert in the breakaway region, an AFP reporter said.
"Mass shelling has started here," Ruen Vardanyan, a former state minister of Karabakh said on Telegram.
Baku said it had informed Russia and Turkey about military activities it was carrying out in Karabakh.
In a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control of pockets of Karabakh with fighting ending with a Russian-brokered peace deal.
ALSO READ | Death by starvation: Residents of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region face genocide
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BAKU: Azerbaijan said Tuesday it had launched "anti-terrorist operations" in Nagorno-Karabakh, almost three years after it went to war with Armenia over the disputed mountainous region. The announcement came after months of mounting tensions between the Caucasus foes and hours after Baku said six Azerbaijanis were killed by mine explosions in Karabakh, blaming Armenian separatists. "Localised anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region," Baku's defence ministry said, adding it was using "high precision weapons on the front line and in-depth as part of the operations."googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a decades-long conflict over Karabakh, going to war in the 1990s and in 2020. The breakaway region populated mainly by Armenians is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Baku has cited "systemic shelling" of Azerbaijani positions by Armenian separatists in Karabakh as well as "the continuing mining of our territories" and accused Yerevan of a troop build-up. It said it had "repeatedly warned" of what it called violations of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that ended a 2020 war between the neighbours, calling them "a serious source of threat for peace and stability in the region." ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says six killed in Karabakh mine blasts Baku said it wanted to "suppress large-scale provocations" in Karabakh. Its aims also included the "disarmament and withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from our territories" and "the safety of the civilian population" returning to territories it reclaimed in 2020. Hours earlier, Baku said four policemen and two civilians were killed in mine explosions staged by "Armenian separatist groups." Blasts were heard Tuesday in the Armenian separatist stronghold of Stepanakert in the breakaway region, an AFP reporter said. "Mass shelling has started here," Ruen Vardanyan, a former state minister of Karabakh said on Telegram. Baku said it had informed Russia and Turkey about military activities it was carrying out in Karabakh. In a six-week war in 2020, Azerbaijan regained control of pockets of Karabakh with fighting ending with a Russian-brokered peace deal. ALSO READ | Death by starvation: Residents of disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region face genocide Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The command of Russian peacekeepers in Azerbaijan's Karabakh is in close touch with Armenian representatives in Karabakh and Azerbaijani officials, Russia's Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.
"We are deeply alarmed by the sharp escalation of the situation in Karabakh," the ministry said.
On September 19, a vehicle belonging to Azerbaijan State Agency for Automobile Roads exploded hitting a land mine previously planted by the reconnaissance-subversion groups of Armenias armed forces in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, with the purposes of committing terror act, on the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha Road that killed two civilians. The same day, the explosion of vehicle carrying the military personnel of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the mine, installed by the reconnaissance-subversion groups of Armenias armed forces led to fatalities and injuries among our military servicemen. Such facts are the testimony to the ongoing deliberate and planned policy of terror by Armenia against Azerbaijan.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
Therefore, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
By AFP
Azerbaijan on Tuesday demanded the "complete withdrawal" of Armenian forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region as a condition for peace after launching "anti-terror operations" in the disputed territory.
Later, Azerbaijan said it had opened humanitarian routes for non-combatants in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee hostilities after launching "anti-terrorist" operations in the breakaway region.
"To ensure the evacuation of the population from the risk zone, humanitarian corridors and reception points have been established on the Lachin road and in other directions," the defence ministry said in a statement.
Baku has also urged the Armenian forces to leave the disputed region.
ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says six killed in Karabakh mine blasts
"The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the so-called (Armenian separatist) regime," Baku's defence ministry said in a statement.
The tensions escalated after six people, including two civilians, were killed in a mine blast in Nagorno-Karabakh. Soon after the incident, Baku alleged that Armenia and separatist groups were behind the blasts.
Meanwhile, Armenia denied that its troops were present in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The Armenian defence ministry has repeatedly stated, and states again, that the Republic of Armenia has no army in Nagorno-Karabakh," its defence ministry said.
(With inputs from the Online desk)
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Azerbaijan on Tuesday demanded the "complete withdrawal" of Armenian forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region as a condition for peace after launching "anti-terror operations" in the disputed territory. Later, Azerbaijan said it had opened humanitarian routes for non-combatants in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh to flee hostilities after launching "anti-terrorist" operations in the breakaway region. "To ensure the evacuation of the population from the risk zone, humanitarian corridors and reception points have been established on the Lachin road and in other directions," the defence ministry said in a statement.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Baku has also urged the Armenian forces to leave the disputed region. ALSO READ | Azerbaijan says six killed in Karabakh mine blasts "The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the so-called (Armenian separatist) regime," Baku's defence ministry said in a statement. The tensions escalated after six people, including two civilians, were killed in a mine blast in Nagorno-Karabakh. Soon after the incident, Baku alleged that Armenia and separatist groups were behind the blasts. Meanwhile, Armenia denied that its troops were present in Nagorno-Karabakh. "The Armenian defence ministry has repeatedly stated, and states again, that the Republic of Armenia has no army in Nagorno-Karabakh," its defence ministry said. (With inputs from the Online desk) Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Associated Press
TORONTO: Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.
Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
READ HERE | Khalistan supporter and designated terrorist, Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canada
Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence.
If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The expulsion comes as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.
At the G20 meeting, Modi expressed strong concerns over Canadas handling of the Punjabi independence movement among the overseas during a meeting with Trudeau at the G20, according to a statement released by Indias Ministry of External Affairs
The statement described the Sikh movement as promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population.
Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said.
Trudeau said Canada has declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
Trudeau said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canadas allies on the case.
In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter, he said.
Trudeau said he knows there are some members of the Indo-Canadian community who feel angry or frightened, and he called for calm.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canadas national security adviser and the head of Canadas spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.
He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. "We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice.
Joly also said she would raise the issue with her peers in the G7 on Monday evening in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly
Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true they represent an outrageous affront to our sovereignty.
Opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging Indias record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined, Singh said.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora.
Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of this death. Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjars arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said hes received a briefing from Canadas spy agency about the assassination of Nijjar and hes deeply disturbed by what he was told.
He said hes calling on the Canadian government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and transnational organized crime threats.
The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.
Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies, the statement said.
Nijjar's New York-based lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has said Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by mercenaries before he was gunned down.
Janice Stein, a political scientist and international relations expert at the University of Toronto, said to kill a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is astounding.
Its tragic for Canada because we have issues of foreign interference with the two largest economies in Asia, China and India. And we have two very large diaspora from both countries. This is not what we want, Stein said.
We have the most diverse community in the world in Canada. We have people from everybodys country. We accept this and we give license Russia to hunt Canadian Ukrainians. You cant.
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TORONTO: Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that Indias government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist. Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia. READ HERE | Khalistan supporter and designated terrorist, Hardeep Nijjar shot dead in Canadagoogletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat." The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment. The expulsion comes as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall. At the G20 meeting, Modi expressed strong concerns over Canadas handling of the Punjabi independence movement among the overseas during a meeting with Trudeau at the G20, according to a statement released by Indias Ministry of External Affairs The statement described the Sikh movement as promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora. Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2% of its total population. Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said. Trudeau said Canada has declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. Trudeau said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canadas allies on the case. In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter, he said. Trudeau said he knows there are some members of the Indo-Canadian community who feel angry or frightened, and he called for calm. Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canadas national security adviser and the head of Canadas spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations. He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with U.S. President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson. "We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. Joly also said she would raise the issue with her peers in the G7 on Monday evening in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true they represent an outrageous affront to our sovereignty. Opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging Indias record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there. But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined, Singh said. The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora. Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of this death. Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjars arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India. British Columbia Premier David Eby said hes received a briefing from Canadas spy agency about the assassination of Nijjar and hes deeply disturbed by what he was told. He said hes calling on the Canadian government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and transnational organized crime threats. The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan. Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies, the statement said. Nijjar's New York-based lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has said Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by mercenaries before he was gunned down. Janice Stein, a political scientist and international relations expert at the University of Toronto, said to kill a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is astounding. Its tragic for Canada because we have issues of foreign interference with the two largest economies in Asia, China and India. And we have two very large diaspora from both countries. This is not what we want, Stein said. We have the most diverse community in the world in Canada. We have people from everybodys country. We accept this and we give license Russia to hunt Canadian Ukrainians. You cant. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he was not looking to "provoke" India or "escalate" tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the "utmost seriousness".
Trudeau's comments came hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat each following his allegations about the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
He said the Indian government needs to "take this matter with the utmost seriousness".
"We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters.
"We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes," he said.
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
In a speech to the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been "actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
ALSO READ: INTERVIEW | PM Trudeaus allegations are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canada
After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat."
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated".
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
An Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016.
The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months, with the latter just cancelling trade talks.
Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he was not looking to "provoke" India or "escalate" tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the "utmost seriousness". Trudeau's comments came hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat each following his allegations about the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. He said the Indian government needs to "take this matter with the utmost seriousness".googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters. "We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes," he said. Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18. In a speech to the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been "actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar." ALSO READ: INTERVIEW | PM Trudeaus allegations are 'wild and preposterous', says ex-Indian envoy to Canada After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat." Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days. "Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi. "Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said. Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020. An Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later. Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months, with the latter just cancelling trade talks. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
New Delhi, Sep 18
E dtech major BYJU's on Monday said it will clear the full and final settlement dues of laid-off employees soon amid "difficult business restructuring".
In a statement, the company said it "regrets and acknowledges the delays in settling dues of former employees".
"As we work through a difficult business restructuring, we are committed to meeting all our obligations as soon as possible," it said.
According to the new timeline provided in an email to sacked employees, as reported by the media, they can now expect to receive their outstanding payments by November 17, as against the earlier September 15 deadline.
"This is to inform you that the full and final settlement amount will be released latest by 17th November 2023. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused," read the email.
BYJU'S laid off nearly 1,000 employees across departments, including mentoring, logistics, training, sales, post-sales and finance in June this year.
Meanwhile, the edtech major is mulling to sell some of its subsidiaries, like Epic and Great Learning, to raise between $800 million and $1 billion, amid reports that the company has formulated a proposal to repay its outstanding $1.2 billion Term Loan B (TLB).
BYJU'S is looking to raise up to $400 million-$500 million from US-based kids' learning platform Epic it acquired in May 2022 for about $500 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The edtech major is also mulling to sell education and upskilling firm Great Learning, and raise more than $500 million, sources said.
Reports also surfaced that the company is offering to repay $300 million of the debt within three months if the proposal is accepted while repaying the remaining amount in the next three months. The lenders are reportedly reviewing BYJU's proposal.
BYJU'S regrets 'delays' in settling dues of laid-off employees
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. A telephone conversation was held on September 19 between the First Deputy Defense Minister, Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Army Colonel General Karim Valiyev and Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces Army General Metin Gurak, Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend.
In the course of the telephone conversation, the sides discussed anti-terrorist activities of local character carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
It was especially emphasized that brotherly Turkiye, as always, is next to Azerbaijan.
Localized anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist measures carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw Armenian armed forces formations from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of civilians returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
It should be noted that on September 19, 2023, at about 04:00 (GMT+4) on the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through Khojavand district, a Hovo truck belonging to the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan exploded on an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and a passenger died on the spot.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the scene of the terrorist act on a Kamaz truck. At 04:30 (GMT+4) on the newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in the Khojavand region, as a result of a terrorist act, the KAMAZ truck exploded on a mine planted by a sabotage group of Armenian illegal armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade (born in 1994), Ramil Shirinov (born in 1987), Seymur Mahmudov (born in 1991), and Khazar Zamanov (born in 1998), died on the spot.
Washington, DC, September 18
U S Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday expressed his happiness and said that the US will use the Levinson Act and other tools to promote accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention of Americans.
Secretary Blinken in an official press release said, "Act, which bolsters our ability to bring home hostages and wrongfully detained U.S. nationals held overseas, and President Biden's Executive Order 14078, which builds on the Levinson Act and reinforces the tools to deter and disrupt hostage-taking and wrongful detention by other countries... We will use the Levinson Act and other tools to promote accountability for Iran and other regimes for the cruel practice of wrongful detention."
The official press release informed that Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz, and two other U.S. citizens who wish to remain private have departed Iran and are on their way back to the United States to be reunited with their families.
They are joined by two of their relatives, also U.S. citizens, who had been prevented from leaving Iran.
In the press release, the US Secretary recognised the abduction of US citizen, Bob Levinson and said that the Iranian regime has yet to account for his fate.
He said, "The Iranian regime has inflicted unimaginable pain on Bob's family, and they have yet to account for his fate. We once again call upon the Iranian regime to give a full accounting of what happened to Bob Levinson."
Quoting the press release, several of these individuals have spent years imprisoned as part of the Iranian regime's cruel practice of wrongful detention, but today they are all returning home to their loved ones.
Antony Blinken also lauded the Joe Biden-led US government and said that the safety and security of U.S. citizens is the utmost priority for him and the US President.
He added, "Under President Biden's leadership, we have now secured the release of more than 30 wrongfully detained Americans around the world. I am grateful to everyone from the State Department and across the government who worked tirelessly to bring home our U.S. citizens."
Blinken emphasised that the US will not rest until every wrongfully detained American reaches home safely.
He said, "I would like to express our deep appreciation for the indispensable role played by the State of Qatar over the last two years in mediating this arrangement."
He also thanked the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and senior Qatari officials for their steadfast involvement and assistance in securing the release of U.S. citizens and establishing the Humanitarian Channel in Qatar for Iran to purchase humanitarian goods like food, medicine, medical devices, and agricultural products.
In the end, the US State Secretary reiterated the US warning for all its citizens not to visit Iran and said the result would not be the same for all the citizens.
He said, "I want to reiterate the State Department's clear warning to U.S. citizens do not travel to Iran. While this group of U.S. citizens has been released, there is no way to guarantee a similar result for other Americans who decide to travel to Iran despite the U.S. government's longstanding warning against doing so."
The release added, "We continue to work with like-minded countries to deter future hostage-taking and hold Iran and other regimes accountable for such actions, including through actions we are taking today. U.S. citizens should not travel to Iran for any reason, and I call on any U.S. citizens in Iran to depart immediately."
Act bolsters our ability...: US State Secy Blinken as Iran releases American detainees
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Cities across the country deck up for Ganesh Chaturthi festivities
New Delhi, September 19
W ith just a day left for Ganesh Chaturthi festival, celebrations are in the air across the country. Devotees are waiting for arrival of the Gajanana and taking part in the festive gala.
People are busy decorating their homes with flowers and rangoli designs and bring idols of Lord Ganesha into their homes.
Markets and streets bustle with people from all walks of life to make last-minute purchases for the festival. Shopowners make huge sales of decoration materials, lights, lamps, crockery and clothes.
Vendors sell flower garlands, fruits, sweets and 'Matoli' items such as betel nuts, local citrus fruits, coconuts and incense.
Beautifully decorated Ganesh idols are crafted by artisans, students and idol-makers ahead of the festival.
The markets of Goa's Panaji were filled with people to make last-minute purchases for the festival.
"Ganesh Chaturthi will be celebrated across Goa tomorrow, the festivities may have just begun, but some preparations had been started well in advance. Shopkeepers have been busy selling all the essential items related to the puja of Lord Ganesha," a shop owner told ANI.
Apart from Matoli bazaar, stalls with decorative articles and firecrackers were lined up in designated areas, making it a one-stop shopping for people visiting the municipal market, said another shopowner.
Earlier today, Gowd Saraswat Brahman Seva Mandal, ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi, installed an idol of Lord Ganesh adorned with 69 kg of gold and 336 kg of silver in Mumbai.
A representative of the GSB Seva Mandal told ANI this year it received 36 kg of silver and a 250-gram gold pendant for Ganesh Chathurthi.
Eco-friendly idols of lord Ganesha along with goddesses Saraswati and Laxmi were crafted in solid clay by a Bhubaneswar-based miniature artist ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the state.
Students from Tamil Nadu's Puducherry dedicated four months to meticulously designing a towering 15-foot-tall Ganesha idol ahead of the festival.
Sri Sathya Ganapati Temple in Bengaluru's JP Nagar has been bedecked with currency notes and coins as part of Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
Mumbai's famous Lalbaugcha Raja's first look was unveiled on September 16 evening, days ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
In the midst of the ongoing debate and controversy surrounding the installation of a Lord Ganesha idol at Idgah Maidan, Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation gave permission to Rani Channamma Maidan Gajanan Utsav Mahamandali, to install a Ganesha idol at Idgah Maidan.
Although there are many types of ready-made items available in the market, Govind Pande, a shopkeeper in Hyderabad was busy selling unique decorative readymade Aasan of Bappa with beautiful backgrounds made of rubber foam which is reusable and Pandal of small to larger sizes made of cardboard.
With the festival around the corner, Assam's Fatasil area in Guwahati is all set to welcome the deity of prosperity by installing a 30-foot-tall idol of Lord Ganesha.
As the city gears up for the festival, the demand for different models of Ganpati idols increased in Hyderabad with the Chandrayaan-3 model of idols being among the highest.
The demand for Eco-friendly idols is also on the rise, local vendors said.
Earlier, two weeks ago Gujarat's Surat city had already started gearing up for the festival.
Shakti Group Organizer Surat City Ravi Kharadi told ANI that more than fifty thousand idols were installed during the Ganesh Utsav in Surat.
Ganapati Special 'Modi Express' was flagged by MLA Nitesh Rane today in Mumbai's Dadar to provide a free travel facility for Konkani Ganesha devotees.
To spread the message of environmental conservation, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and 'Big Green Ganesha' have launched 'Eco-Friendly Ganesha' idols in the city.
Mayor Shelly Oberoi flagged off the 'Eco-Friendly Ganesha' Rath from the Civic Center today. Now 'Eco-Friendly Ganesha' idols will be available in all areas of Delhi.
The Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which falls in the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar, marks the birthday of Lord Ganesha, son of Shiva and Parvati.
Also known as Vinayak Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav, the festival is marked with the installation of Ganesha's clay idols privately in homes and publicly on elaborate pandals .
The 10-day festival ends when the idol is carried in a public procession with music and group chanting, then immersed in a nearby body of water such as a river or sea, called visarjan on the day of Anant Chaturdashi.
The festival celebrates Ganesha as the God of New Beginnings and the Remover of Obstacles as well as the god of wisdom and intelligence.
This year the Ganesh Chaturthi festival will begin on September 19 and will continue for 10 days until September 29.
Cities across the country deck up for Ganesh Chaturthi festivities
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Pitted against China & Russia, US fast losing out on global opinion on its policies
New York, Sept 18
T he United States is fast losing out on global opinion, especially in countries from the south for its opinion, views or policies as Russia and China band together to get other countries to align with their views.
US media reports claimed that the analysis is based on the situational awareness of the US, which is increasingly at odds with both the world's other major nuclear-armed countries as Russia continues its war in Ukraine.
The analysis is also based on the fact that the growth in China's might see it as rivalling the United States as the preeminent military power in East Asia and potentially beyond.
Both countries are veto-holding members of the UN Security Council and have consistently challenged the US dominance. Some call it the universal policeman attitude that has emerged after the Cold War when Ronald Regan as the President of US and Russian President Mikhael Gorbachev initiated the SALT negotiations.
The analysis is based on a recent analysis of three decades of voting patterns in the United Nations General Assembly; Newsweek quoted experts in a special feature on the declining power of the US on world powers.
"Russia and China have gained the affinity of swathes of the international community, particularly in the Global South," Dmitriy Nurullayev, assistant professor at the College of Applied Science & Tech at the University of Arizona, was quoted by the Newsweek as saying.
Nurullayev assimilated data of voting patterns of countries at the United Nations to make his analysis with the period for sampling chosen between 1991 and 2020, involving some 1,500 global issues.
Mihaela Papa of Tufts University, who assisted Nurullayev in the study, found that Russia and China had disagreed with the US in almost all the 1.500 cases.
Their view prevailed 86 per cent of the time. Alignment with the United States was greater -- at 36 per cent -- when the analysis considered only the 211 resolutions that the US State Department had designated as being important to national interests, Nurullayev pointed out in a follow-up article.
In 1997, China and Russia adopted the Joint Declaration on a Multipolar World and the Establishment of a new International Order, Newsweek pointed out, saying their commitment to this initiative was based on the principles of respect of sovereignty and every country's right to choose independently its own path of development.
In February 2022, Moscow and Beijing in an apparent reference to the US intervention on the Russia-Ukraine war in a joint statement said that countries should not impose their own "democratic standards" on others.
The US has been funnelling funds to war-torn Ukraine in military aid, humanitarian assistance and building up opinion against Russia among the NATO allies.
China and Russia's ability to influence or counter US opinion on global issues has been enhanced by membership in groups such as the BRICS alliance, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the G-77 group of emerging economies, Nurullayev opined.
BRICS' founders were Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but in recent times the founders agreed to the membership of Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates from 2024, thus expanding their footprint across the globe.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has China and Russia with India, Pakistan and central Asian countries as members. The G-77 members spread are across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
"Membership in these soft-balancing institutions has a discernible effect on foreign policies of both authoritarian regimes and democracies. India, Brazil, and South Africa are all democratic states and yet tacitly support Russia over Ukraine," he told Newsweek.
The US allies in the NATO military grouping were more likely to align with the US view, but time has tested this as it has weakened over time, when it actually came to issues involving the Middle East, the research said.
Neither the US State Department responded to a request for comment on the research by Nuurullayev and Mihaela Papa on their view of the US losing on global opinion. Nor did Chinese and Russian foreign ministries react to queries on the research findings. .
Nurullayev admitted that there was not enough data to explore voting trends since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, but he opined that it would not change significantly, perhaps it may weaken Russia and strengthen China.
"There is, however, an opportunity for the United States. A realistic/sober policy would be to continue our support for Ukraine but not get entangled ourselves and to work with China to stop the war from escalating," he said.
Even as the United States and its Western allies imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Washington did not get the backing of India, which continues to import Russian oil, and many other countries in the Global South or even NATO member Turkey. These countries were resorting to the art of diplomatic balancing between US and Russia so as not to anger the latter. Particularly on issues of US military aid to Ukraine with military equipment while maintaining trade ties with Moscow.
An incline is being witnessed as not only Russia and China, but the world in general, is shifting to a more authoritarian direction. The Freedom House advocacy group in a study spanning 2006 to 2021, found that in 16 years more countries declined than rose on its index of freedom.
Washington should adopt a different approach more broadly. "The narrative that the U.S. is a declining power and China is a rising power is a bit over explored. Perhaps we should embrace the status of the underdog," he said.
The United States has a lot to say about its economic prowess: Highly-skilled workforce, extremely favourable geographic location, high standards of living. Globally, the focus has to shift to more realistic and objectively beneficial tasks. "We should walk away from international state building and involuntary democracy building," the research said.
"Instead, we should focus on strengthening our democratic institutions at home, creating a highly educated and sophisticated population at home and making America an attractive destination for both economic capital and intellectual capital. Internationally, we should focus on creating sustainable relations with our allies and work with China on issues of mutual interest such as climate change," the researchers said.
Pitted against China & Russia, US fast losing out on global opinion on its policies
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Washington, Sep 19
U S President Joe Biden has ordered the unfreezing of Iran's $6 billion of oil revenue in an effort to thaw the icy relations between the two countries over the nuclear issue even as a prisoner swap was negotiated successfully, some of them were on a plane back to US.
The President's deal comes ahead of a UN meeting here where Biden and Iran's hardliner president will both speak, unfolding as it does, against a backdrop of nuclear tensions between the two countries.
Five Americans imprisoned in Iran were on a plane Monday along with two family members after being released in a prisoner exchange the Biden administration negotiated with Tehran, media reports said.
As part of the deal, $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues was released by the Biden administration and five Iranians charged or convicted of non-violent crimes were freed by the US, according to US officials.
The exchange is in no way tied to the stalled nuclear talks between the US and Iran, but does come as a move to defuse the increasing tensions that periodically threaten a military confrontation.
Coming ahead of the UN General Assembly this week, President Joe Biden and Iranian hardliner President Ebrahim Raisi will both speak out their views and intentions.
Political observers feel that the prisoner swap between US and Iran could heighten tensions in the US presidential race, USA Today said.
Republicans especially presidential hopefuls such as Trump, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and others have attacked the Biden administration's decision on the prisoner exchange, dubbing it as a "Ransom Pay-out" to a country that sponsors terrorism.
The exchange set free five Americans accused of being spies or working on behalf of the US government in Iran.
The UN described their detentions as "arbitrary".
The White House rejected allegations that they were spies as false.
A senior Biden administration official confirmed that two family members were also on the plane leaving Iran for Qatar and then on to the US.
Three of the five Americans, all dual US-Iran citizens, are Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz. The identities of the two other Americans have not been disclosed.
A senior Biden administration official said those two Americans wish to keep their identities private.
Also on the plane are Namazi's mother and Tahbaz's wife, both of whom were previously unable to leave Iran.
Businessman Namazi, 51, was arrested in 2015 while visiting his family in Tehran.
Sharghi, 59, was detained in 2018 a year after moving to Iran from the US to work for a tech investment company.
Environmentalist Tahbaz, 67, who also holds a British passport, was arrested in 2018 while working on a conservation project in Iran, USA Today reported.
Two of the five Iranians freed now had been convicted of non-violent crimes while three others were awaiting trial and had not been convicted, two senior Biden administration officials said.
The five Americans were moved from prison to house arrest in an Iranian hotel in an interim step towards their release last month.
US President Biden negotiated the tough deal after months of indirect negotiations between US and Iranian officials.
The deal led to the US also releasing $6 billion in frozen Iranian oil revenues, transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar, an energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that is an ally of both nations.
The US and Iran don't enjoy any formal diplomatic relations. The funds released come with a rider that they be used for humanitarian purposes only, media reports said.
The Biden administration official stated the US government will be ordering new sanctions against Iran's ministry of intelligence and its former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act.
The act is meant to stall wrongful detentions. The measure became a law in late 2020.
Levinson, a former FBI agent, disappeared during a visit to an Iranian island in 2007, media reports said.
The US has been freezing Iran's assets even as it kept increasing the economic sanctions ever since President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in 2018.
That deal aimed to curb Iran's nuclear activities as the western nations suspected ambitions of Iran to become a nuclear power , which Iran has constantly denied.
"If Iran tries to divert the funds or use them for anything other than a limited humanitarian purpose authorized, the Biden administration "will take action to lock up the funds," the official said.
A US official who wished to remain anonymous rebutted Republican criticism that the releasing of Iran's oil revenues was a ransom payout to a rogue nation saying the monies don't come from US taxpayers.
Oversight of how the money is used will be provided by the US Treasury, Qatar and aid organisations.
However, Iran's foreign ministry and state media have also appeared to claim that the unfrozen funds in Qatar would be under Tehran's direct and unrestricted control.
"Humanitarian means whatever the Iranian people need. So, this money will be budgeted for those needs, and the needs of the Iranian people will be decided and determined by the Iranian government," Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi said in a recent interview with NBC News.
US releases $6bn of Iran's oil revenues ahead of UN meet
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Toronto, Sep 19
I ndia's relations with Canada nosedived on Tuesday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia's Surrey in June.
Canada also expelled "a senior Indian diplomat" for India's alleged involvement in the killing.
Nijjar, who was spearheading the Khalistani referendum in Canada, was gunned down by two persons on June 18 in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Trudeau told the House of Commons that the "agents of the Indian government" carried out Nijjar's killing.
The Canadian Prime Minister, who was snubbed in India during his recent visit, said: "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
Trudeau said: "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
Trudeau said that he brought the issue to the notice of the Indian Prime Minister during his visit. "Canada declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government last week at the G20. I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi."
He said because of Nijjar's killing, Canadians are now "angry" and "perhaps frightened right now". "Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental."
Expelling the senior Indian diplomat, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said: "My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this."
She said Canada has informed US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about its decision.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under whom the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the killing, said: "We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice."
Relations nosedive as Canadian PM 'suspects' India's involvement in killing of Khalistani terrorist
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Shimla, September 18
T he Government of Himachal Pradesh on Monday moved a resolution in the state assembly recommending the central government to declare the destructions caused by heavy rains in the state during the monsoon season this year a "national disaster."
The Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu moved the resolution Under rule 102 on the first day of the monsoon session of the Assembly for discussion. CM Sukhu urged the opposition MLAs to support the resolution. The discussion on the resolution will continue tomorrow.
The Chief Minister also announced in the Assembly that the State government will bring a special relief package for the people who are affected by the natural disasters induced by the heavy rain in the monsoon this year.
However, the Opposition BJP staged a walkout after their adjournment motion, moved under Rule 67, seeking an immediate discussion on the monsoon calamity in the state was rejected by Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania.
Speaking to Reporters in Shimla, CM Sukhu slammed the Opposition for "playing politics on the issue of disaster". He termed the Opposition's walkout as an attempt "to grab the news headlines"
The chief minister said if any officials have distributed relief compensation to non-deserving people, strict actions will be taken against them. He said that if the Opposition finds any such cases they should bring them to the government's notice.
"If any official or person in the authority has distributed the money or any disaster help to a non-affected person, strict action will be taken against them. We request the Opposition to bring to our notice such cases if they find them. So far no such case has come to our notice," said the Chief Minister.
According to state officials, Himachal Pradesh has incurred a loss of Rs. 12000 crores in the rain-induced calamities during the monsoon this year so far.
On the sidelines of the G20 dinner hosted by President Droupadi Murmu, CM Sukhu urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the state disaster a national disaster paving for more central funds to the state.
HP govt moves resolution in Assembly demanding Centre to declare Himachal disaster as national disaster
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New Delhi, September 18
A s Member of Parliamentarians across the political spectrum recalled their memories, experiences and listed achievements of the Parliament in the past 75 years, some MPs chose to voice their support for greater representation for women in the Parliament as they participated in a special discussion on 'Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years Starting from Samvidhan Sabha - Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings.
Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ram Gopal Yadav on Monday hoped that the new building would produce great leaders who will have the competence of taking the country in the right track.
He said that laws cannot be framed in the Parliament to create terror among the general public.
"The historic building has witnessed many high-level debates. If the people in power, look at every person in the country with suspicion, then work cannot be done, laws are made to stop certain things, laws are not made to terrorize the people of the entire country," he said.
Initiating the discussion in Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister also referred to the Parliament shifting to the new building on Tuesday and said "bidding goodbye to this building is an emotional moment".
Drawing an analogy to a family that shifts into a new home, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said,"It is a very emotional moment to bid farewell to the Old Parliament building. He reflected on the various moods that the House has witnessed in all these years and said that these memories are the preserved heritage of all the members of the house."
"This House of ours, which has seen all the ups and downs of Indian democracy, has been the focal point of public trust," PM Modi added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday recalled the emotional moment of his entering the Parliament as an MP for the first time in 2014, saying he bowed down to honour the temple of democracy and could have never imagined that a child belonging to a poor family would be able to enter the Parliament.
Addressing the House, the Prime Minister remarked that today is an occasion to recollect and reminisce the parliamentary journey of 75 years of India before the proceedings are shifted to the newly inaugurated building.
Speaking about the Old Parliament Building, the Prime Minister mentioned that the building served as the Imperial Legislative Council before India's independence and was recognised as the Parliament of India post-independence. He pointed out that even though the decision to construct this building was made by foreign rulers, it was the hard work, dedication and money spent by Indians that went towards its development.
Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi has said that the old building of the Parliament has an old history but the new building will serve India in the times to come.
Meenakshi Lekhi told ANI "As PM Modi said changes are part of life. In this change, as time passes by, buildings and people also change. This old building has a very old history and in this history, we all have many memories linked. We came here as children earlier and now we are going to the second building as MP. We saw the abrogation of Article 370 here, saw the implementation of GST here, saw many old people coming and going from here, but all the memories will remain associated with this place. The new building will serve India in the times to come."
Calling it a 'historic day', Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday said that the 75 years of Parliament journey will be discussed throughout the day."Today, Parliament's journey of 75 years will be discussed. It will be discussed throughout the day. It is a historic day. I think this will be the last discussion in the Parliament building. From September 19 we will sit in the new Parliament building," Meghwal said.
Congress leader KC Venugopal on the first day of the special session of Parliament said that the new Parliament building is not important but the discussion inside it is very important. Today is the last day of Parliamentary proceedings in the old building. From tomorrow, proceedings will take place in the new Parliament building just beside the old one.
Venugopal told ANI "The old building is very beautiful, what is the problem in this one? Buildings are not important but the discussion inside them is very important. Parliament is for strengthening democracy and raising the concerns of the poor people of the country. When you talk about building, it will never give results but the discussion will."
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on the last day of Parliament proceedings in old building remembered former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru and others and said that he was tireless in listening to the voice of the Opposition and never mocked or deflected when answering questions.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said "It is really an emotional moment for all of us to move out from this Parliament building today. We are all present here to bid adieu to our old building. Pandit Nehru had said that Parliamentary democracy demands many virtues, it demands ability, devotion to work, and self-discipline. Though he enjoyed a massive majority in the Parliament, he was tireless in listening to the voice of the Opposition and never mocked or deflected when answering questions. Even the Speaker's bell would ring for Jawaharlal Nehru when he exceeded his time limit while making speeches in the Parliament, this shows that no one is beyond Parliament, that was Nehru's contribution to the development of Parliamentary democracy in India"
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge today tore into the dictatorial ways of the functioning of the Bharatiya Janata Party, showing it the constitutional and democratic mirror, listing the contribution of the Congress party and its leaders in laying the strong democratic and constitutional foundations and strengthening the democracy in the country.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on the first day of the Special Session of the parliament today, Mr Kharge told the BJP that it was the magnanimity of the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who had appointed his political opponent Syama Prasad Mukherjee as the Union Industries and Supplies Minister. He said Pt Nehru believed in a strong opposition, while this regime targeted the strong opposition leaders.
In stark contrast, he pointed out, the BJP was now intimidating the opposition leaders by using agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax and the CBI. He also referred to the way the opposition voice was being muzzled inside the house by the ruling party members using their numbers.
He said the Constitution given by the founding fathers has kept the country united. "This very Constitution has built a strong structure for the country. Indian Constitution is our biggest guiding force", he said, while referring to the universal adult franchise guaranteed by the Constitution to every Indian. He said, that whether one is poor or rich like Adani, he has the equal voting right of one vote.
Asserting that it was the Congress that protected, saved and strengthened democracy in the country, he said when India adopted democracy in 1950, many foreign experts thought that democracy would fail in India. "But Congress protected democracy and strengthened it. Still, we are asked what we have done in 70 years", he remarked.
On the new Parliament building, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "There are many memories as an MP, minister, the ruling party and as the opposition but still all of us are friends. Today when the proceedings ended, the ruling party and the opposition were taking pictures together to gather the memories of the last day. This is the democracy of India. I have seen Atal Bihari Vajpayee here, Lal Krishna Advani, and Manmohan Singh here. We were active in exposing the 2G scam and other scams, coal scams."
"I had the fortune of working in Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government. There are a lot of memories. This is a temple. We will enter the new temple with new enthusiasm to take India to a new level in the 'Amrit Kaal'. The opposition has to ask questions and the government has to answer, this is democracy," he added.
MoS for State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje said, "This is an emotional moment. We are taking great memories with us to the new Parliament. I feel very good. This Parliament is associated with the Independence struggle."
In Lok Sabha Union Minister Piyush Goyal said, "Today is our last day in this Parliament, I hope we can raise the dignity of our Parliamentary discussions & put out a unified message today."
On the first day of the Special Session of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday again referred to the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, which was passed by both the Houses and later struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015.
Dhankhar, during the discussion on 'Parliamentary journey of 75 years, starting from Samvidhan Sabha-Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings', said that the bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha unanimously and by the Rajya Sabha with only one abstention had the backing of 16 state assemblies.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman was speaking after Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek K Tankha mentioned in his speech that, in the 75 years of glorious history, the Supreme Court has upheld all the Constitutional amendments, except one- NJAC. "Which was struck down fully," Tankha said.
Interrupting the Congress MP, Dhankhar said, "Let me reveal my mind. You are a member of this House, everyone here, passed that bill only with one abstention. Lok Sabha passed it unanimously. What is happened to that. Did this august house, ever concerned itself with what they have done...It is prime obligation of everyone in this House that if this House has sanctified and by that majority... 16 state assemblies endorsing it...I await what Kapil Sibal would say."
The demand for the Women's Reservation bill was also raised by several members.
On the Women's Reservation Bill, BJP MP Locket Chatterjee said, "It would be decided by the parliamentary committee but a bill had come for 33 per cent reservation for women in Panchayat. This parliament and this government have done a lot for women. A lot of women MPs have participated in debates. Women have been given powerful ministries. This government respects women."
Former Bihar CM and HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi said, "Women are not behind men in any field. In fact, they are ahead of men in some fields. Women should be given reservations. If the reservation is given to both communities, one with 100 per cent literate women and one with a lower literacy rate in women, then the benefit of the reservation will be taken by communities that have 100 per cent literate women. Considering these complexities, women from communities with a lower literacy rate should be given reservations."
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, in a special session of Parliament on Monday, extended his congratulations to all Indians for the successful hosting of the G20 Summit and said India has been the voice of the Global South under the leadership of PM Modi.
In the joint sitting of Parliament which is set to be held in the new Parliament building tomorrow, BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Shibu Soren and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will speak for five minutes each, sources said on Monday.
Maneka Gandhi, a former union minister, has been parliamentarian for the longest period among the sitting Lok Sabha MPs. Among the sitting MPs in Rajya Sabha, Manmohan Singh has been a member for the longest time. Shibu Soren has served as MP for the longest period in both the Houses of Parliament.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will speak during the joint sitting of the two Houses, the sources said.
Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will hold their sittings in the new Parliament building on Tuesday. Both Houses were adjourned on Monday after a discussion on Parliamentary democracy in the last 75 years with the presiding officers stating that the proceedings will commence on Tuesday afternoon in the new Parliament building.
Lok Sabha Speaker said that the House has been adjourned and will meet at 1.15 pm in the new Parliament building.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar adjourned the House and said it will meet at 215 pm in the new Parliament building.
The two Houses discussed 'Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha - Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings' on the first day of the Special Session of Parliament with Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiating the debate in Lok Sabha.
The Special Session will continue till September 22.
Focal point of public trust, says PM Modi as House members bids farewell to Old Parliament building
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Russian FM Lavrov to participate in BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting on sidelines of UNGA's 78th session
Moscow, September 19
R ussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday announced that he will participate in the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly scheduled on September 20 in New York, USA.
Taking to his official handle on social media platform X, the Russian Foreign Minister posted, "On September 20, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in a Meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, USA."
Lavrov stated further that the participants will discuss on topical international issues, along with the issues mentioned on the agenda of the 78th session of the UNGA.
"The meeting participants will exchange views on topical international issues, including those on the agenda of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly," he said in his post.
https//x.com/mfa_russia/status/1703731515941679510?s=20
He added that the ministers will discuss cooperation in the BRICS format where he will also share his plans for Russia's upcoming BRICS Chairmanship 2024 with his colleagues.
Lavrov posted, "The Ministers will discuss cooperation in the BRICS format, including opportunities for strengthening coordination in the leading multilateral platforms and implementation of the decisions of the 15th BRICS Summit . Sergey Lavrov will inform his colleagues about plans for Russia's upcoming BRICS Chairmanship in 2024. #UNGA78"
The 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly will feature the High-Level General Debate from September 19-September 23. The session represents a crucial milestone in the journey towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals since it marks the halfway point to the global goals' deadline.
At the SDG Summit, leaders will review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 SDGs, providing high-level political guidance on transformative and accelerated actions, according to the United Nations Women statement. The outcome will be a negotiated political declaration.
Earlier, during the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Lavrov had exchanged views on bilateral and international issues.
The two held talks on a wide range of bilateral and international issues, interactions within the UN, G20 and BRICS, as well as discussions on practical steps to further develop trade and economic cooperation, logistics and financial interaction, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Putin also announced Russia as chairman of BRICS next year.
"In our chairmanship, we will have the following mottos- strengthening multilateralism for global development and security; we plan to have some 200 political, economic and public events; BRICS summit is scheduled for October 2024 in the city of Kazan..." he said.
Russian FM Lavrov to participate in BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting on sidelines of UNGA's 78th session
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Moscow, Sep 19
R ussia has made the decision to withdraw from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Foreign Ministry has said in a statement.
The BEAC "has been a useful and effective format for cross-border interaction" throughout 30 years, and has contributed to the maintenance of peace and stability in the North, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the statement issued on Monday.
Activities of the council have been paralyzed since March 2022, due to the council's Western members, and Finland has not confirmed its readiness to transfer the chairmanship of the BEAC on to Russia in October 2023, the statement said.
"Under the current conditions, we are forced to announce the withdrawal of Russia from the BEAC," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Russia will continue to implement its national goals in the North. We remain open for interaction with everyone, who is committed to a constructive approach, and is ready for equal dialogue and mutually beneficial teamwork," it said.
The BEAC was established in 1993, and its objective is to promote stability and sustainable development in the Barents region.
Russia withdraws from Barents Euro-Arctic Council
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Washington, September 19
S paceX founder and CEO Elon Musk held a discussion on Artificial Intelligence with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
Earlier, in a post on the official handle of his social media platform X, Musk responded to Netanyahu's post stating, "Artificial intelligence discussion with PM Netanyahu in an hour."
https//x.com/elonmusk/status/1703788102358278526?s=20
Later in the evening, the Israeli Prime Minister took to his official handle on 'X' to post that he was looking forward to the discussion with the Tesla CEO on how they could mitigate the risks of AI for the betterment of civilization.
"I look forward to speaking at 915 on X with @elonmusk about how we can harness the opportunities and mitigate the risks of AI for the good of civilization," Netanyahu wrote.
https//x.com/netanyahu/status/1703781835736490409?s=20
The Israeli Prime Minister is also scheduled to meet US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the opening session United Nations General Assembly .
Netanyahu is scheduled to address the international body on Thursday in New York.
He is also likely to visit Silicon Valley for a tour of the tech industry and meet with Elon Musk.
Elon Musk, Israel PM Netanyahu hold discussion on Artificial Intelligence
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Brotherly Turkiye, as always, supports Azerbaijan, the Chief of the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, General of the Army Metin Gurak said, during a telephone conversation with the First Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, Chief of the General Staff of the Azerbaijani Army, Colonel-General Karim Valiyev, Trend reports.
In order to restore the constitutional regime of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures of a local nature were launched in the region.
The civilians and infrastructure facilities are not being targeted and are not part of the ongoing anti-terrorist measures. Only military targets belonging to the separatist regime's illegal armed formations are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
In addition, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On September 19, 2023, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, on the 58th kilometer of the new Akhmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway, a Howo truck belonging to the Azerbaijan State Highway Agency (AAYDA) working on this road was blown up by an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and passenger were killed at the scene.
Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the site of the terrorist attack on a Kamaz truck. On a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard, Khojavend district, a Russia's KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of a terrorist act, was blown up by a mine set by a sabotage group of Armenian separatist troops on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
According to the statement, Asim Jamalzade, born on February 5, 1994, Ramil Shirinov, born on July 8, 1987, Seymur Mahmudov, born on July 12, 1991 and Khazar Zamanov, born on July 21, 1998 died at the scene.
Credible allegations of potential link: Canadian PM Trudeau accuses India of being behind killing of Khalistani terrorist
Ottawa, September 19
M onths after Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead in Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind this fatal shooting, CBC News reported.
Nijjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, BC on June 18.
Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency .
According to CBC News, Canada, PM Trudeau said his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.
He stressed that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added.
He informed further that he was coordinating with Canadian allies on this issue.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he said.
Trudeau also urged the Indian government to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter", CBC News reported.
He claimed that some Indo-Canadians were "angry" and "perhaps frightened right now", adding, "Let us not allow this to change us".
Earlier, the NIA in July, last year, announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on Nirjar in connection with the killing of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.
"Hardeep Singh Nijjar is wanted by the National Investigation Agency in NIA case in the conspiracy hatched by Khalistan Tiger Force operating under Nijjar, to kill a Hindu priest at Jalandhar," the NIA had said in a release.
Credible allegations of potential link: Canadian PM Trudeau accuses India of being behind killing of Khalistani terrorist
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Washington, September 19
P op Star Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez have filed for divorce after two years of marriage.
According to People, Ariana filed for divorce from the 28-year-old real estate agent on Monday, and Gomez responded right away.
According to a source who spoke to People, Grande and Gomez "took their time together to slowly work through the details of the agreement privately" before filing for divorce two months after separation became public knowledge. They have treated one another with a lot of respect and care at every stage of this process.
According to a source who spoke to People amid reports of Grande and Gomez's breakup, the choice was mutual. The relationship "didn't work" once the Grammy winner moved to London to film Wicked, according to the insider, but Ari has nothing but positive things to say about Dalton. He was her biggest supporter during their marriage.
When they shared a scene in the music video for Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber's song 'Stuck with U' in May of that same year, the now-ex-couples made their relationship public. They started dating in January 2020. They announced their engagement in December 2020, and on May 15, 2021, they got married.
While the two maintained a rather low-key relationship, Grande shared a photo from their wedding day on her Instagram Story to mark the couple's second wedding anniversary in May.
She also wrote the words "I love him so." in the caption.
Following the news of their breakup, insiders told People that Grande was now seeing Ethan Slater, whom she co-starred with in the Broadway production of Wicked. In November 2018, Slater wed Lilly Jay, a friend from high school, and in January they had a child. In July, Slater filed for divorce from Jay.
Following Grande's split from Gomez and Slater's split from Jay, the new couple started dating.
Earlier, a close family member revealed to People, "The truth is, Ariana and Ethan didn't start dating until after both parties were respectfully separated."
Grande and Slater are attempting to strike a balance between the need to respect all people involved and the fact that they are in the public eye, according to a second source familiar with the situation who spoke to People.
The source continued, "They are just figuring out their new relationship in private."
Slater will portray Boq in Jon M. Chu's cinematic adaptation of the popular Broadway musical Wicked, which will star Grande as Glinda. Although it's still not known if the SAG-AFTRA strike would have an impact on the film's debut, production on it started in the UK in 2022 with a November 2024 release date planned.
Ariana Grande officially files for divorce from Dalton Gomez
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New York, September 19
I ndia acknowledges the pivotal role of Artificial Intelligence and is poised to lead the way with the vision of 'AI for All', India's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj said on Monday.
She was speaking at a side event titled 'Artificial Intelligence for Accelerating Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals' ahead of the 78th event of the United Nations General Assembly .
"Well, AI is scarily powerful! And India, as the world's fastest-growing economy, acknowledges its pivotal role in this revolution. With the world's largest pool of skilled AI professionals, we are poised to lead the way. By 2035, AI has the potential to contribute an astounding one trillion dollars to India's economy," Kamboj said while addressing the event.
She added, "Our vision is crystal clear 'AI for All'. We are committed to harnessing AI to propel inclusive growth, offer solutions for emerging economies, and confront global challenges while upholding the principles of responsible AI".
Kamboj further said that India has taken multiple strategic steps such as the 'INDIAai' portal to realise the vision with an inclusive approach.
"And to realize this vision, India has taken strategic steps. In 2018, we unveiled the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence. In 2022, we introduced the National Artificial Intelligence Portal, 'INDIAai,' concurrently, we are crafting a National Data Governance Policy to strike a balance between data accessibility for innovation and safeguarding user privacy and security. India has also pioneered the establishment of four Centers of Excellence in AI, dedicated to supporting startups and fostering innovation with plans. This inclusive approach encourages collaboration among all stakeholders, maximizing the advantages of AI while minimizing its risks," Kamboj said.
She added, "I will also quickly add that instances of AI application are abundant and diverse in India, from education to healthcare, agriculture, manufacturing and even defence. Just last week, an Indian company unveiled the world's first wide-area AI-powered anti-drone system, INDRAJAAL, highlighting India's continuous innovation and utilization of AI technology in addressing real-world challenges.
Emphasising India's role as the Chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, the Indian Ambassador said that New Delhi is actively steering the course of AI governance.
"And in our role as the Chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence, India is actively steering the course of AI governance. During the recent successful G20 Summit, our Prime Minister proposed a 'framework for Responsible Human-Centric AI governance'. This framework aims to ensure that AI serves the global community while safeguarding against misuse. To this end, we are excited to host the GPAI Summit in New Delhi from 12-14 December 2023," she said.
She further said that India is committed to sharing its experiences with emerging economies, extending opportunities for growth through our ecosystem and initiatives, particularly for nations in the Global South.
"Simultaneously, we are acutely aware of the risks associated with AI. To address these concerns, we will prioritize safety in AI development, advocate for transparency, integrate ethics into AI systems, uphold principles of fairness and non-discrimination, and establish clear regulations, especially in sensitive sectors such as healthcare and finance. Collaboration across borders will be imperative. We also recognize the need to invest in AI safety research," the Indian ambassador added.
Kamboj reiterated that the future belongs to AI and emphasised PM Modi's vision of India as a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy
"Prime Minister Modi envisions India as a technology-driven and knowledge-based economy with robust public finances and a strong financial sector. However, and importantly, this vision always emphasizes a human touch, with the welfare of individuals and communities at the forefront. That is our guiding principle as we move forward," Kamboj said.
Our vision is AI for All: Indian ambassador Ruchira Kamboj
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Ragneeti: Mehndi celebrations to begin at 3 p.m. amid tight security at Raghav Chadha's residence
New Delhi, Sep 19
T he Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha's MP flat at Pandara Road is beefed up with tight security, ahead of his marriage with actress Parineeti Chopra.
On a day when India's Parliament begins its second life at a new address, one of its young parliamentarians starts a new phase of his life. Raghav is Rajya Sabha MP.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday walked to the new Parliament building along with his cabinet colleagues, soon after the culmination of a special function in the Central Hall of old Parliament.
Parineeti arrived in Delhi on Sunday, and the Mehndi celebration will begin today at 3 p.m.
The duo is reportedly set to leave for Udaipur for the main wedding functions scheduled on September 23 and 24. On September 24, the couple will get married in Udaipur's luxurious The Leela Palace.
Parineeti's home in Mumbai has also been lit up, as the wedding celebrations are all set to begin.
Ragneeti: Mehndi celebrations to begin at 3 p.m. amid tight security at Raghav Chadha's residence
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New Delhi, Sep 19
A ctor Shreyas Talpade is celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with full devotion in Mumbai, as he was seen participating among a full crowd of Ganapati bhakts, offering his own prayers with tilak on his forehead and bowing his head in reverence to the deity.
Taking a break from his work, the actor has made no secret of his own sense of spirituality and religious devotion, being a staunch devotee of both Lord Shiva and his son, Lord Ganesha.
As part of the Ganapati festival in Mumbai, the 'Om Shanti Om' actor stepped out of his car wearing very simple white attire, and brought forth his own offerings which he gave proudly at the Ganapati mandapa, offering his own prayers and saying 'Ganapati Bappa Morya'.
While celebrating, the actor had come up with both his wife Deepti Talpade and daughter Aadya.
While he got out of his car, the actor was surrounded by fans and while he spoke to them, he avoided talk of any new projects and was single mindedly focused on the celebrations.
His own offerings included a full statue of Lord Ganesha, and some prasadam which he offered at the mandapa while a priest was chanting Sanskrit mantras.
After that, while amidst normal people Shreyas was seen smiling and going to the stalls featuring several Ganapati idols, offering his prayers.
Though usually he talks to the paparazzi the actor remained somewhat silent and instead was simply spending time with his family, with his wife who herself was wearing a tilak, carrying their little daughter.
Smiling throughout the video he posted on his Instagram stories, the actor also wrote, with a picture Lord Ganesha "Ganapati Bappa Morya"
Before this, the actor was also seen in the track 'Om Namah Shivay' from his new film 'Luv You Shankar' which was sung by Vardaan Singh, with the actor celebrating his love and devotion to Mahadev.
Apart from 'Luv You Shankar', Shreyas is also gearing up to star in the Kangana Ranaut directorial 'Emergency', which will feature Kangana as the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 'Emergency' era from 1975-1977.
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Shreyas Talpade celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with full devotion in Mumbai
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New Delhi, Sep 19
I n a world facing unprecedented environmental challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, the role of education becomes paramount. Environmental education is a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to learning about the environment and the interconnectedness of ecological, social, and economic systems. It helps in empowering the youth with knowledge, and a sense of responsibility toward the environment and motivates them to lead an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.
As India stands at a crossroads of development and ecological responsibility, integrating robust environmental education into the curriculum is not just a choice but a necessity.
Mukesh Kwatra, the founder of Smiling Tree pins some reasons why incorporating environmental education into the education system is vital
Integration Across Subjects
Environmental education should be integrated into various subjects like science, geography, social studies, and even literature and art. This helps students understand the multidisciplinary nature of environmental issues.
Hands-On Learning
Practical experiences such as nature walks, field trips, outdoor activities, and experiments can provide students with real-world exposure to environmental concepts.
Inclusive Curriculum
Ensure that the curriculum reflects diverse perspectives, cultures, and global environmental challenges to foster a sense of global citizenship.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Encourage students to analyze complex environmental problems, think critically, and develop solutions. This can include projects and discussions on topics like climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Community Engagement
Involve students in community-based projects that address local environmental issues. This connects classroom learning to real-life situations and encourages active citizenship.
Promote Sustainable Practices
Schools should model sustainable practices by reducing waste, conserving energy, and using eco-friendly materials. This sets an example for students.
Teacher Training
Provide professional help for teachers to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively teach environmental education.
Assessment and Evaluation
Develop methods to assess students' understanding and commitment to environmental stewardship.
Continuous Learning
Encourage lifelong learning about environmental issues beyond formal education through workshops, seminars, and online resources.
Policy Support
Education systems should receive support from policies and government initiatives that prioritize and fund environmental education.
Incorporating environmental education into the curriculum helps students become environmentally responsible citizens who are aware of the challenges facing our planet and are equipped to make informed decisions to protect and sustain the environment.
Impact of Environmental Education
Environmental education has several important impacts on individuals, communities, and the environment.
Increased Awareness
Environmental education helps people become more aware of the natural world, the environmental issues it faces, and the interconnectedness of all living things.
Behaviour Change
It can lead to positive changes in attitudes and behaviours towards the environment, such as reducing waste, conserving resources, and adopting more sustainable lifestyles.
Conservation
Environmental education plays a crucial role in promoting conservation efforts, whether it's protecting endangered species, preserving ecosystems, or managing natural resources more responsibly.
Empowerment
It empowers individuals and communities to take action and participate in decision-making processes related to environmental issues, from local initiatives to global policies.
Health Benefits
Learning about the environment can lead to healthier lifestyles, such as consuming organic foods, spending more time outdoors, and reducing exposure to harmful pollutants.
Economic Benefits
Understanding the environment can lead to innovations in green technologies and sustainable business practices, potentially creating new job opportunities and economic growth.
Global Awareness
Environmental education fosters a sense of global citizenship, helping individuals understand their role in the global ecosystem and the importance of international cooperation on environmental issues.
Mitigation of Climate Change
By educating people about climate change, its causes, and potential solutions, environmental education can contribute to efforts to mitigate its effects.
Biodiversity Conservation
It promotes the protection of biodiversity by raising awareness about the importance of diverse ecosystems and the threats they face.
Resilience
Communities that are well-educated about the environment are often more resilient in the face of natural disasters and climate-related challenges.
Policy Advocacy
Informed individuals and organisations can advocate for stronger environmental policies and regulations at local, national, and international levels.
Interdisciplinary Learning
Environmental education often involves a multidisciplinary approach, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a holistic understanding of complex environmental issues.
Environmental education in India, in the wake of its G20 presidency for the current year, could be a significant opportunity for the country to showcase its commitment to inclusive and resilient growth and progress on sustainable development goals. It is a powerful and effective tool for fostering a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the environment, which is crucial in addressing the challenges
(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
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Environmental education: An effective medium
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Toronto, Sep 19
W ith India hitting back by expelling a Canadian diplomat from its High Commission in New Delhi after Ottawa ordered an Indian diplomat to leave moments after Justin Trudeau blamed India for the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Prime Minister said on Tuesday that he is not aiming to provoke India.
"The government of India needs to take this matter with utmost seriousness. We are doing just that... We are not looking to provoke or escalate," Trudeau said in the morning briefing before the House of Commons started.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around the High Commission of Canada in the New Delhi as a precautionary measure, sources said on Tuesday.
This move followed the escalating tension in diplomatic relations between the two nations.
On Monday, Trudeau in an emergency statement made in the Parliament had accused the Government of India of being involved in the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil.
Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau had said that Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between the Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Nijjar.
Not aiming to provoke India: Justin Trudeau
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Separatists only understand the language of weapons, Armenian blogger Ishkhan Verdyan wrote in his Telegram channel, Trend reports.
"Baku invited them to negotiations twice, but they refused and offered humanitarian aid, which they did not accept either. Baku offered integration on better terms, but they still did not agree," Verdyan wrote.
He added that the Dashnaks understand only the language of bombs.
"In fact, they speak the language of bombs," he said.
Moreover, in order to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, localized anti-terrorist measures were launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
It should be noted that on September 19, 2023, at about 04:00 (GMT+4) on the 58th kilometer of the Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through Khojavand district, a Hovo truck belonging to the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan exploded on an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and a passenger died on the spot.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the scene of the terrorist act on a Kamaz truck. At 04:30 (GMT+4) on the newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in the Khojavand region, as a result of a terrorist act, the KAMAZ truck exploded on a mine planted by a sabotage group of Armenian illegal armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade (born in 1994), Ramil Shirinov (born in 1987), Seymur Mahmudov (born in 1991), and Khazar Zamanov (born in 1998), died on the spot.
The International Foundation of World Azerbaijanis (IFWA) held its second forum in Munich, Germany, bringing together representatives from 18 countries, including three new participants, Azernews reports.
After the national anthem of Azerbaijan was played, Secretary General of the Foundation Hikmet Javadov gave detailed information on the work done and projects implemented to the participants of the event. He noted that the Foundation, which was established in Stockholm (Sweden) in May this year, was registered in August.
Speakers at the forum spoke about the structure of the Fund and its objectives. It was noted that it is necessary to establish more correct and effective coordination between Azerbaijani diaspora organizations operating in foreign countries.
It was added that Azerbaijanis should strengthen relations with parliaments, state institutions, media outlets, and institutions of civil society in the countries they represent for the sake of Azerbaijan's national interests.
It was noted that the Armenian state and its patrons in Europe, who could not accept the results of the 44-day war, which ended with the victory of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our homeland, openly or secretly supported the separatist regime in Garabagh, confronting our region with new military threats.
At the forum, Diaspora activists were advised to be attentive and provide the world community with objective information about the events in the region through the media resources of the countries of their residence.
After the speeches, 4 committees of the Fund were established on the basis of discussions for more operative activity.
In the end, an appeal to the world of Azerbaijanis was adopted on behalf of the Forum participants.
The forum provided an opportunity for the attendees to interact, exchange, and forge friendships. It also provided a platform for the attendees to discuss the importance of multistakeholder cooperation in technology governance and the impact of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things on the economy of Azerbaijan.
The forum was part of the World Economic Forum's Global Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, which aims to coordinate with public and private-sector partners and academia to design and test policies, as well as regulatory frameworks. This will contribute to creating more opportunities and providing stakeholders various benefits from the key technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and will also reduce related risks.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Armenia is not going to launch any military activities against Azerbaijan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, Trend reports.
"Armenia does not participate in military activities, and I want to note once again that the Republic of Armenia does not have an army in Karabakh," he said.
In order to restore the constitutional regime of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures of a local nature were launched in the region.
The civilians and infrastructure facilities are not being targeted and are not part of the ongoing anti-terrorist measures. Only military targets belonging to the separatist regime's illegal armed formations are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
In addition, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On September 19, 2023, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, on the 58th kilometer of the new Akhmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway, a Howo truck belonging to the Azerbaijan State Highway Agency (AAYDA) working on this road was blown up by an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and passenger were killed at the scene.
Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the site of the terrorist attack on a Kamaz truck. On a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard, Khojavend district, a Russia's KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of a terrorist act, was blown up by a mine set by a sabotage group of Armenian separatist troops on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
According to the statement, Asim Jamalzade, born on February 5, 1994, Ramil Shirinov, born on July 8, 1987, Seymur Mahmudov, born on July 12, 1991 and Khazar Zamanov, born on July 21, 1998 died at the scene.
It is hard to predict what the Court might do next given how little weight its recent decisions have given to precedent."
There are still many enigmas about the mechanism of action of the CERKL gene, which causes retinitis pigmentosa and other hereditary vision diseases. Now, a team from the University of Barcelona has described how the lack of the CERKL gene alters the ability of retinal cells to fight oxidative stress generated by light and triggers cell death mechanisms that cause blindness. The new study, published in the journal Redox Biology, is a step forward in characterizing hereditary blindness and identifying key mechanisms to address future treatments based on precision medicine.
The study is led by Professor Gemma Marfany, from the Faculty of Biology, the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) and the Rare Diseases Networking Biomedical Research (CIBERER). The research study, carried out with animal models, is the result of close collaboration with teams from the Sant Joan de Deu Research Institute (IRSJD), the University of Valencia, the Severo Ochoa Molecular Biology Center (CSIC -UAM) and the Hospital 12 de Octubre Research Institute in Madrid.
The study reveals for the first time that when the CERKL gene is missing, retinal cells are permanently stressed. "This basal exacerbated state means that when additional oxidative damage is caused as with continuous light stimulation the cells are no longer able to respond because they can no longer activate antioxidant response mechanisms", notes Gemma Marfany, a member of the UB's Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics.
Therefore, the retina is permanently inflamed. As a consequence, retinal cells activate cell death mechanisms, such as necroptosis and ferroptosis. Although the experiments have been performed in mice, these alterations allow us to explain how and why photoreceptor cells die in patients and cause blindness." Professor Gemma Marfany, Faculty of Biology, the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Barcelona (IBUB) and the Rare Diseases Networking Biomedical Research (CIBERER)
How does the retina respond to light when the CERKL gene is missing?
The retina is a neural tissue that is constantly subjected to light stress and therefore oxidative stress and retinal cells must activate antioxidant mechanisms to cope with it. The new study is based on a transgenic mouse model in which the CERKL gene has been eliminated using gene editing techniques (CRISPR). By applying electrophysiological techniques, it was shown that the retina of these mice without CERKL progressively degenerated in a manner similar to that of human patients. But how is the physiological activity of altered photoreceptors when CERKL is mutated?
"Thanks to the multidisciplinary collaboration between teams, we have been able to combine different approaches to delve into the pathology caused by mutations in CERKL. Transcriptomics techniques have revealed how the retina responds to light stress when it lacks the CERKL protein. Metabolomic analysis has identified the altered cellular biochemical pathways that do not allow the retina to cope with the oxidative damage generated by excess light and end up causing the death of photoreceptors", says Gemma Marfany.
"We believe that CERKL is a resilience gene in oxidative stress. All this knowledge complements genetic studies and opens up new avenues for future therapeutic approaches", the researcher explains.
Discovering the function of genes in order to design therapies
One in 3000 people in the world has some form of hereditary retinal dystrophy, one of the rare diseases with the highest incidence in the population. So far, a total of 90 genes associated with retinitis pigmentosa have been identified, but there are more than 300 genes that can affect vision.
"It is decisive to be able to make a good genetic diagnosis of patients and identify the gene that causes the disease. We now know that about 3% of patients with retinitis pigmentosa in Spain have mutations in the CERKL gene", says Marfany. "A good part of the efforts in rare vision diseases is focused precisely on this genetic diagnosis of patients, but to understand the physiological effect of these mutations it is necessary to analyze what happens in the cells of the retina".
Identifying the gene that causes the disease and its physiological function are the cornerstones for designing a precision or personalized therapy. In the case of gene therapy, it is usually expensive in time and money and only accessible to a limited number of patients. "Now, if we know better which pathways are altered when the CERKL gene is absent, we can think about how to compensate for these pathways: for example, with drugs that can act on these metabolic pathways and restore the correct functioning of retinal neurons and return to a more homeostatic state. This type of therapeutic approach is much more affordable, and if it slows down the progression of the disease, it could benefit many patients".
The UB Research Group on Human Molecular Genetics has an outstanding track record of more than 25 years in the study of the genetic basis of vision diseases. It was the leading team in identifying an unknown gene CERKL as the cause of retinitis pigmentosa (The American Journal of Human Genetics, 2004) in a study of a family with several affected children.
"Our team continues to work to try to understand how mutations in the CERKL gene cause photoreceptor death in patients. In the future, we want to generate new models of the disease with human retinal organoids, and design precision therapy strategies gene therapy and also with drugs based on molecules that allow us to reverse the most severe symptoms of the disease", concludes Gemma Marfany.
A new study published in a Nature Partner Journal, npj Microgravity, finds an engineered compound given to mice aboard the International Space Station (ISS) largely prevented the bone loss associated with time spent in space. The study, led by a transdisciplinary team of professors at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, highlights a promising therapy to mitigate extreme bone loss from long-duration space travel as well as musculoskeletal degeneration on Earth.
Microgravity-induced bone loss has long been a critical concern for long-term space missions. Decreased mechanical loading due to microgravity induces bone loss at a rate 12-times greater than on Earth. Astronauts in low Earth orbit may experience bone loss up to 1% per month, endangering astronaut skeletal health and increasing risk for fractures during long-duration spaceflight and later in life.
The current mitigation strategy for bone loss relies on exercise-induced mechanical loading to promote bone formation but is far from perfect for crewmembers spending up to six months in microgravity. Exercise does not always prevent bone loss, takes up valuable crew time, and may be contraindicated for certain types of injuries. The new study led by Chia Soo, MD, vice chair for research in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, professor in Departments of Surgery and Orthopaedic Surgery at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, investigated whether systemic delivery of NELL-like molecule-1 (NELL-1) can reduce microgravity induced bone loss. Discovered by Kang Ting, DMD, DMSc at the Forsyth Institute, NELL-1 is crucial for bone development and bone density maintenance. Professor Ting also led numerous studies to show that local delivery of NELL-1 can regenerate musculoskeletal tissues such as bone and cartilage.
Systemic delivery of NELL-1 aboard the ISS requires the team to minimize the number of injections. Ben Wu, DDS, PhD and Yulong Zhang, PhD at the Forsyth Institute enhanced NELL-1's therapeutic potential by extending the molecule's half-life from 5.5 hours to 15.5 hours without losing bioactivity, and bioconjugated an inert bisphosphonate (BP) to create a "smart" BP-NELL-PEG molecule that more specifically targets bone tissues without the common deleterious effects of BP.
The modified molecule was then extensively assessed by the Soo and Ting teams to determine the efficacy and safety of BP-NELL-PEG on earth. They found that BP-NELL-PEG displayed superior specificity for bone tissue without causing observable adverse effects.
To ascertain the practical applicability of BP-NELL-PEG in real space conditions, the researchers worked with Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames to prepare extensively for the SpaceX CRS-11 mission to the ISS, where astronauts Peggy Whitson, PhD and Jack D. Fisher, MS carried out the studies. Half of the ISS mice were exposed to microgravity ("TERM Flight") for a lengthy 9-week period to simulate the challenges of long-duration space travel, while the remaining mice were flown back to Earth at 4.5 weeks post-launch, for the first ever live animal return ("LAR Flight") of mice in US history. Both TERM and LAR Flight groups were treated with either BP-NELL-PEG or phosphate buffered saline (PBS) control. An equivalent cohort of mice remained at the Kennedy Space Center and were treated similarly with BP-NELL-PEG or PBS to serve as normal Earth gravity ("Ground") controls.
Both Flight and Ground mice treated with BP-NELL-PEG exhibited a significant increase in bone formation. The treated mice in space and on Earth displayed no apparent adverse health effects.
"Our findings hold tremendous promise for the future of space exploration, particularly for missions involving extended stays in microgravity," said lead corresponding author Chia Soo. "If human studies bear this out, BP-NELL-PEG could be a promising tool to combat bone loss and musculoskeletal deterioration, especially when conventional resistance training is not feasible due to injuries or other incapacitating factors," said co-co-principal investigator, Kang Ting.
This bioengineering strategy can also have important benefits on Earth, offering a potential therapy for patients suffering from extreme osteoporosis and other bone-related conditions." Ben Wu, co-co-principal investigator
"As the next step, UCLA project scientist, Pin Ha, MD, DDS, MS, is overseeing analysis of the live animal return data. We hope this will provide some insight on how to help future astronauts recover from longer duration space missions," said Chia Soo.
The research is supported by grants from CASIS and National Institutes of Health. Additional funding and support are provided by UCLA Division of Plastic and Reconstructive surgery, UCLA Department of Surgery, UCLA Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and the UCLA Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center, the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation, and the International Orthodontics Foundation. Pin Ha and Yulong Zhang, and associate professor Jin Hee Kwak, DDS, are co-first authors and contributed equally to this project.
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2023 Annual Congress: Hematologic Malignancies returns to San Francisco this week, for the first time since 2019. The meeting features insights from world-renowned experts on providing optimal, evidence-based treatment for various blood cancers, plus best practices for protecting vulnerable populations in a changing healthcare landscape.
The live event is taking place September 22-23, 2023, at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. For full details and to register, visit NCCN.org/hem.
"We designed a comprehensive program for the entire hematology and oncology team-;taking into account the latest advances, conversations, and controversies in blood cancer treatment today," said congress Chair Andrew D. Zelenetz, MD, PhD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "Attendees from all over the world can learn about the most up-to-date evidence and expert consensus for improving outcomes for patients with a variety of hematologic malignancies. The event also provides opportunities for networking and questions with leading experts in the field."
The hybrid event is back in California for the first time in four years, following last year's meeting in New York City. Attendees are also able to attend live online via NCCN's easy-to-use virtual platform. Sessions will remain accessible on-demand for 60 days following the event for all registrants.
Some of this year's featured topics include:
Identifying and managing toxicities in patients receiving CAR T-cell therapy
Revolutionizing hematologic cancer treatment with bispecific T-cell engagers
Integrating new WHO/ICC classification systems
Tackling inequities in access and quality of care for patients with multiple myeloma
Managing graft-versus-host disease in transplant recipients
Prevention and management of blood clots
Speakers will also share information and research pertaining to the treatment of Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), B-Cell Malignancies, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL), Chronic Myeloid Leukemia, Hodgkin Lymphoma, Mantle Cell Lymphoma (MCL), Multiple Myeloma (MM), Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), Myelofibrosis (MF), and Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM).
This conference seeks to provide clear, understandable, and actionable updates to help busy care providers analyze, evaluate, and contextualize new clinical data. This will help us all to achieve the best possible outcomes for people with blood cancer in a rapidly evolving landscape." Wui-Jin Koh, MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer, NCCN
Save the dates: the NCCN 2024 Annual Conference will be happening in Orlando, FL April 5 - 7, 2024.
Astrea Bioseparations (Astrea Bio), a leading provider of high-quality bioseparation and purification technologies that help to improve patient outcomes with safer and more effective production of therapeutics, announces the expansion of its manufacturing and warehousing capabilities in the US. The increased capacity reflects growing demand for the Companys chromatography solutions in North American markets.
The new ~12,000 sq. ft. facility allows Astrea Bio to bring its innovative products to customers within record lead times of 3-5 weeks for off-the-shelf products, and 6-8 weeks for large-scale resin orders. The site expands the Companys US footprint by over fourfold, supporting its continued growth trajectory as it also increases its workforce by up to 9% over an 18-month period.
Completing in Q4 2023, the facility, located in Canton, Massachusetts, will provide significantly increased manufacturing and warehousing capacity. Hosting a variety of workspaces, including cleanroom laboratories for column packing services, offices, warehousing, and column assembly spaces, the facility will provide a vital hub to Astrea Bios North American supply network, as well as locally available technical expertise and customer support.
Dedicated column packing cleanrooms will increase production capacity for pre-packed column products and services. Increased warehousing space will be available for all products, including the Companys broad range of affinity, hydrophobic interaction chromatography and ion exchange adsorbents and resins for commercial-scale biologic production, and its AstreAdept range of nanofiber-based purification technology for efficient production of cell and gene therapies.
Astrea Bio operates a global network of offices and manufacturing facilities, to ensure reliable supply of high-quality products. The Companys 170 employees are located at its Cambridge, UK headquarters, manufacturing facilities in Gloucestershire, UK, the Isle of Man, Joliette, Canada and Canton, MA, alongside additional office facilities in Singapore.
In a study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, researchers from the UK and the Republic of Ireland analyzed the wastewater system at the University Hospital Limerick to identify sources of infection and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes. They found that the dominant microbes in the wastewater had high levels of AMR genes, highlighting the need for regular cleaning and decontamination to prevent patient infections.
As AMR rises globally, multi-resistant drug infections are a serious challenge in healthcare. Previous studies have found that contaminated hand-washing sinks have been associated with outbreaks in hospitals. Patient-facing wastewater apparatus may store antimicrobial-resistant genes (ARGs) and infection-causing microorganisms, and further research is required to identify where these reservoirs are and inform the most effective interventions to control infections.
Study: Large-scale characterisation of hospital wastewater system microbiomes and clinical isolates from infected patients: profiling of multidrug-resistant microbial species. Image Credit: Ezume Images / Shutterstock
About the study
The present study aimed to understand the taxonomic and resistome profiles of the wastewater system, specifically focusing on multidrug-resistant hospital-acquired infection (HAI) outbreaks. The researchers conducted a unique large-scale metagenomic analysis of the wastewater microbiome in a large teaching hospital with a history of AMR detections and outbreaks. They determined relationships between infection-causing microorganisms and the wastewater system.
Before the refurbishment of the hospital ward, a total of 20 pipe samples from patient rooms, including 6 toilet u-bends, 10 sink drains, and 4 shower drains, were collected for analysis. Researchers then extracted DNA from the pipes before purifying and sequencing the strains. Using metagenomic analysis, gene prediction, and translation to amino acid sequences, the extracted microbes were identified to the family, genus, and species level to ascertain whether they contained ARGs.
Concurrently, 5 bacterial samples cultured from patients who had acquired AMR infections while admitted to the ward 12 months before the pipe sampling were also analyzed, and ARGs were identified using resistome analysis. Researchers were then able to compare ARGs from the environmental DNA to the clinical isolates obtained from hospital patients.
As microbial diagnostics continue to advance, metagenomics may perform a pivotal routine role in surveying hospital environments to provide timely information for actionable interventions to prevent patients from nosocomial infections.
Results and discussion
The greatest microbial diversity was found in sinks, with less diverse communities in toilets and showers. In total, 256 microbial species were identified from 20 pipe samples. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were the dominant phyla in the wastewater system, with a mean abundance of 38% and 16%, respectively. However, different microbial profiles were present in different samples, possibly due to different human behaviors and activities associated with different locations, resulting in the generation of grey and black wastewater. At the same time, there were elements of similarity, as would be expected given their proximity and interconnectedness within the wastewater system.
Resistome analysis revealed that the highest numbers of ARGs observed were those that encode resistance to tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, diaminopyrimidines, -lactams, and macrolides, all clinically significant and often-used classes of antibiotics. However, unlike the differing microbial profiles, ARG profiles did not show significant differences across sample types. This would suggest that ARGs are not confined to individual bacterial species and instead are being shared across different species, either through divergent evolution or horizontal transfer. Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria showed the highest ARG counts (1413 and 628, respectively).
The AMR bacterial isolates from patients in the ward showed a high number of ARGs, namely, Enterococcus faecium (24 ARGs), Escherichia coli (77 ARGs), Enterobacter kobei (26 ARGs), Citrobacter youngae (60 ARGs), and Enterobacter hormaechei (54 ARGs). On comparing the profiles between the wastewater pipe samples and the patient isolates, the researchers found that they were similar, with many shared ARGs. For each clinical isolate, high similarity levels were noted in the pipe infrastructure.
The considerable number of identical genes highlights the possibility that genes may be passed from one source to another, including resistance genes for commonly used antibiotic classes. These findings confirmed the crossover between clinically relevant pathogens and microbes in hospital wastewater environments.
We found no significant differences between the metagenomic results of patient and staff WW apparatus, which may indicate that the microbiological wastewater highway may be multi-directional and that there is substantial scope for contamination exposure throughout this system.
Conclusions
By conducting a large-scale metagenomic analysis of the hospital wastewater system, focusing on sites used by patients, the researchers were able to show a diverse range of resistance genes in both the environmental and clinical isolates, with a perfect overlap between ARGs for disinfecting agents and frequently used antimicrobials. The hospital uses large amounts of these antimicrobial agents, suggesting that promoting active antimicrobial stewardship and reducing the usage of broad-spectrum antimicrobials could lower the burden of AMR.
The study highlights the importance of identifying and characterizing reservoirs of antibiotic resistance in hospitals. It illustrates the utility of using metagenomics instead of only relying on culture methodologies, which are time and labor-intensive and may lead to biased findings. However, one limitation of the study is that researchers could not conclude whether isolates were introduced to patients from the wastewater system or vice versa. Regardless, this research underlines the need for effective policies to control infection transmission in hospitals and the emergence of more resistant diseases.
In a recent article published in eClinicalMedicine, researchers evaluated the immune or neutralizing antibodies (nAb) persistence of the Sabin strain-derived inactivated poliovirus vaccine (sIPV) compared to wild poliovirus seed strains (wIPV) against currently circulating and wild poliovirus strains.
Background
Poliomyelitis virus typically infects children below five years; thus, repeated oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) administration occurs in this time frame. However, since OPV can cause vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP), IPV might be a better alternative to protect infants against polioviruses.
In a previous phase III clinical trial of sIPV in China, researchers demonstrated the potency of its three-dose primary vaccination in two-, three-, and four-month-old infants. Its booster dose increased the geometric mean titers (GMTs) of nAbs against polioviruses type 1/2/3 in 18-month-old children.
Even though sIPV-induced nAbs conferred protection for a minimum of 10 years after the booster dose, it was still inferior to those induced by wIPV-based IPV. Moreover, the persistence of these nAbs after completion of sIPV primary and booster regimens is unclear. Thus, sIPV requires further validation in large-scale population vaccination trials.
About the study
In the present study, researchers evaluated nAb titers in serum samples of children from Pingle County in GuanXi Province of China who had completed the primary and booster regimens of sIPV (or wIPV) between January 1, 2012, and August 31, 2014, during a previous phase III clinical trial.
Children participating in this study were 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds. While 170 children formed the sIPV group, there were 169 children in the control wIPV group.
After receiving their prime-boost vaccine regimen, which they did by 18 months of age, 287, 262, 237, and 207 children provided their serum samples. The team used these samples from the sIPV and wIPV groups to analyze protective rates and GMTs of nAbs against poliovirus types 1/2/3. In addition, they detected nAbs against attenuated Sabin strains to determine immune persistence.
Specifically, the researchers used a microneutralization assay to determine titers of nAbs against polioviruses 1/2/3. They presented protective rates as percentages with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and converted nAb titers to log2 titers to calculate GMTs and 95% CIs. Furthermore, the team computed reduction times of GMTs as GMTs at 30 days post-boosting divided by GMTs at 4, 6, 8, or 10 years old.
Finally, based on data distribution characteristics, they chose the MannWhitney U, independent-samples t, or Fishers exact tests to examine intergroup variations.
Results
During 10 years of follow-up, the protective rates and nAb titers against poliovirus types 1/2/3 induced by sIPV versus wIPV were numerically similar, suggesting these nAbs showed adequate persistence; thus, sIPV could be an alternative or substitute for OPV. However, GMTs of nAbs against poliovirus types 1/2/3 varied for sIPV and wIPV groups from the time of receiving booster shot to 10 years of age, except for poliovirus type 3 in four-year-olds.
Further analyses uncovered that at four years after booster vaccination, the GMTs of nAbs against poliovirus types 1/2/3 decreased between 80.5%91.8% in the sIPV group and 82.3%89.0% in the wIPV group.
However, during the age of 610 years, the decrease in GMTs slowed for poliovirus types 1/2/3 in both groups. The GMTs of poliovirus types 1/2/3 in both groups persisted at 1:8 till 10 years of age in both groups.
Conclusions
Both sIPV and wIPV induced persistent immunity of at least 10 years after a three-dose vaccination series, suggesting the feasibility of using attenuated Sabin strains to prepare inactivated poliovirus vaccines.
In the postpolio era, vaccines with high immune persistence, such as sIPV, could be critical for eradicating poliomyelitis in developing nations.
A new study suggests that Escherichia coli and other disease-causing microbes are passing easily between humans and animals in Cambodia, a country where clean water, sanitation and hygienic controls are lacking in many regions. The continuous exchange, along with unregulated antibiotic use, leads to the emergence and spread of drug-resistant E. coli, the authors say.
Maya Nadimpalli, a scientific collaborator at the Antibiotic Research Action Center at the George Washington University and her international colleagues, conducted the research in Phnom Penh, an urban area where humans and animals are often living in close proximity without clean water or other environmental controls that help prevent the spread of E. coli and other potentially dangerous microbes.
Nadimpalli worked with Lance B. Price, the Director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at GW, and his team, to compare the genetic sequence of E. coli obtained from humans living in Phnom Penh and meat bought in the marketplace there. The team identified multiple genetic elements that confer resistance to powerful antibiotics that were widely dispersed among humans and food production animals in Phnom Penh.
"The results from our study were jaw dropping. They suggested that E. coli strains from people and animals were exchanging DNA at rates that we don't see in high-income countries. And the DNA that they were sharing makes them resistant to some of the most important antibiotics in human medicine," said Price, who also is a professor of environmental and occupational health at the George Washington University. "Countries that lack widespread access to clean water and other environmental controls could be inadvertently brewing the next pandemic."
The study suggests that the environment in Phnom Penh created many opportunities for the exchange of bacteria and genetic elements that confer resistance to antibiotics. Most meat and fish sold in Phnom Penh markets are grown in rural areas. A lack of sewage treatment in rural settings can result in the contamination of drinking water for humans and animals. Farmed fish can be fed waste from pigs and poultry. In addition, some people in Phnom Penh routinely consume undercooked meat or fish, noted Nadimpalli, who is also an assistant professor of environmental health at Emory University Rollins School of Public Health.
Ensuring consistent access to clean water and sanitation can improve people's health and well-being in so many ways. We've suspected that it could also help antibiotic resistance, but our findings show that improving access to clean water and sanitation is actually required both in humans and food animals if we want to have a fighting chance at preserving antibiotics for human health." Maya Nadimpalli, scientific collaborator at the Antibiotic Research Action Center, George Washington University
The study showed that strains of E. coli in Phnom Penh had developed resistance to two powerful antibiotics used to treat humanscephalosporins and fluoroquinolones. People who are sickened by eating food or being exposed to drug-resistant E. coli and other microbes can develop life-threatening infections. Public health experts estimate that antibiotic resistant bacterial infections cause more than 1.3 million deaths worldwide each year.
In high-income countries like the United States, experts focus on developing more effective antibiotics and getting people to avoid unnecessary antibiotic use.
However, this study suggests that the problem of antibiotic resistance will not go away unless public health officials address the lack of consistent access to basic sanitation and other environmental controls in countries where food animal production is intensifying.
"This is an urgent public health problem that will require policymakers, researchers and others to work together to reduce the risk," Price said. "To combat this threat, experts will have to address the lack of basic sanitation and other environmental controls that are leading to the emergence and spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogens that threaten us all."
The study, "Plugging the leaks: antibiotic resistance at human-animal interfaces in low-resource settings," was published Sept. 19 in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. In addition to Price and Nadimpalli, this study was led by researchers from the Pasteur Institutes of France and Cambodia and supported by co authors from Denmark, Belgium, and other U.S. universities.
Cases of Prolonged Grief Disorder among people bereaved during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be significantly higher than pre-pandemic, indicates new research from the University of Bristol and Cardiff University.
Prolonged Grief Disorder is a mental health condition which can develop caused by the death of someone close, such as a child or partner. It is most likely to occur after a violent or abrupt death.
In the first published longitudinal study of bereavement during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research team investigated the rates of Prolonged Grief Disorder among a cohort of bereaved people.
The study surveyed 711 people bereaved in the UK during the first and second waves of the pandemic (between 16 March 2020 and 2 January 2021). The researchers followed up with the participants 13 months and 25 months after their bereavement. They found that rates of Prolonged Grief Disorder were significantly higher than during pre-pandemic times.
Pre-pandemic estimates suggest around 10% of bereaved people experience prolonged grief disorder. The study found that during the pandemic over 35% of people who took part in the survey met the criteria for indicated Prolonged Grief Disorder 13 months post-bereavement, and 29% of people met these criteria 25 months after their bereavement.
We identified a number of factors strongly associated with an increased likelihood of experiencing Prolonged Grief Disorder, including unexpected deaths, social isolation and loneliness in early bereavement, and a lack of social support over time. Feeling well supported by healthcare professionals following the death was associated with reduced levels of prolonged grief symptoms - so the support that professionals provide around the time of the death makes an important difference to processing a bereavement." Dr Lucy Selman, Associate Professor from the Palliative and End of Life Care Research Group and the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol
Dr Emily Harrop, Research Fellow from the Marie Curie Research Centre at Cardiff University School of Medicine, explained: "The COVID-19 pandemic has been a devastating and enduring mass-bereavement event, with uniquely difficult sets of circumstances experienced by people bereaved at this time.
"We wanted to understand more about the impact that these experiences have had on people, including how coping with and adjusting to a bereavement during the pandemic might be different to non-pandemic times."
The research also found that people with lower levels of formal education were more likely to experience symptoms of Prolonged Grief Disorder, suggesting poor outcomes among people experiencing social disadvantage.
"Our research not only helps us to understand how mass-bereavement events can impact grieving and mental health, but also has important implications for bereavement policy, provision and practice.
"This new understanding will be crucial in preparing for future pandemics and mass bereavement events," added Dr Harrop.
The research was funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council and Marie Curie.
Based on their research findings, the team have just launched the new Grief Support Guide, which supports bereaved people by providing information on the different types of bereavement support available in the UK and how to access them. The Guide was developed in partnership with Marie Curie, the National Bereavement Alliance, the Good Grief Festival, and Compassionate Cymru.
More than 43 years ago, many Chinese residents were vaccinated with the vaccinia virus Tiantan strain (VTT) to protect them from smallpox infection.
A recent Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy study assessed the level of immunity against smallpox in the aforementioned group of individuals. The level of immunological susceptibility to the mpox virus (MPXV) was also determined.
Background
Mpox (previously known as monkeypox) disease is caused by the MPXV, which manifests similar symptoms to smallpox including fever and rash.
MPXV belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. This virus is genetically close to Orthopoxvirus viruses, such as cowpox virus (CPXV), vaccinia virus (VACV), and variola virus (VARV).
In comparison to smallpox, mpox disease is less virulent with a lower mortality rate. In Mpox disease was first detected in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1970.
As of June 21, 2023, around 88,026 mpox cases have been reported across 111 countries. In the UK, the first mpox case was detected on May 6, 2022; subsequently, a rapid transmission of this virus was recorded. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared mpox disease to be a public health emergency of international concern.
VACV-based vaccination was found to be extremely effective against smallpox and exhibited 85% efficacy against MPXV infection as well. Following the global eradication of smallpox infection in 1980, the routine smallpox vaccination has been discontinued in many countries.
This implies that people below 43 years of age who were not offered the smallpox vaccine are highly susceptible to orthopoxviruses, such as CPXV and MPXV infection.
In contrast, those above 43 years of age who received smallpox vaccination are potentially protected against CPXV and MPXV infection. The possibility of a decline in vaccination-induced immunity, over the years, must also be considered.
At present, two smallpox vaccines JYNNEOS and ACAM2000 are used to prevent mpox. These vaccines were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2019 to be used for adults at a higher risk of mpox and smallpox infections.
ACAM2000 is a second-generation smallpox vaccine and JYNNEOS is a third-generation vaccine. Although JYNNEOS is safer with limited side effects than ACAM2000, the former exhibited poor replicating ability in human cells. Neither vaccine provides absolute protection as previous studies have reported the incidence of breakthrough infection.
About the study
Following WHO's recommendation, the Chinese government stopped the national smallpox vaccination program in 1981. Considering the current scenario, the current study determined the duration and extent of residual immunity to smallpox in individuals who received VTT vaccination around 43 years ago.
A total of 294 individuals were recruited in this study, whose ages ranged between 19 and 63 years. Based on their age, participants were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of 184 participants between the age of 19 and 42 years born post-1981, i.e., after routine smallpox vaccination.
The second group comprised 66 participants between 43 and 53 years of age with a history of smallpox vaccination between 1970 and 1980. The third group included 44 participants whose ages were between 54 and 63 years.
The vaccinia-specific level of residual humoral immunity was assessed in all participants in this study. In addition, neutralizing antibody titer, and vaccinia-specific IgG level was also determined.
The cross-antibodies of MPXV A29L, A35R, B6R, and M1R were assessed to understand whether remote smallpox vaccination provides protection against MPXV infection.
Study findings
The immunity levels of vaccinated individuals have decreased over time. However, unvaccinated individuals were more susceptible to mpox infection. Notably, humoral immunity was detected in those with VTT vaccination.
This finding implies that humoral immunity from smallpox vaccination persists in the Chinese population over 43 years of age; however, VTT-specific NAb level declines with age.
People with low or no VTT-specific antibodies are susceptible to MPXV upon exposure, which indicates a need for vaccination to protect people from mpox infection. In the current study, VTT-specific IgG was detected.
The number of plasma samples with positive VTT-specific IgG increased with age, implying that the majority of the participants born before 1981 still retained the binding antibody response to vaccinia after vaccination.
It must be noted that the positive rate of anti-VTT NAb was marginally lower in people aged 5463 years than in those aged 4353 years. This finding indicates that in the current population, those who received smallpox vaccination decades ago, retained humoral immunity against VTT, particularly as high antibody levels targeting the A35R or B6R antigen were observed.
The plasma samples positive for VTT were also positive for three more antigens of A35R, B6R, and A29L. However, the levels of anti-M1R were relatively low in all participants.
Conclusions
The current study underscored the importance of smallpox vaccines in preventing mpox infection. Most Chinese individuals who received the VTT vaccine prior to 1981 still exhibited the presence of VTT-specific IgG antibody and could provide mpox virus-specific IgG antibodies.
This study recommends prioritizing the anti-MPXV strategy for individuals under the age of 43 years, particularly those who are at a higher risk of mpox infections.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Anti-terrorist activities carried out in the region are local and aim to neutralize illegal Armenian armed groups [which weren't withdrawn from Azerbaijan's Karabakh region contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev told TRT Haber, Trend reports.
"Azerbaijan does not take actions against the civilian population living in Karabakh. We have set a goal to save them from this separatist regime," Hajiyev said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
Millions of women are turning to the social media platform TikTok for health advice related to gynecologic cancers, but the majority of that information is misleading or dramatically inaccurate, according to a new study published by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute in the journal Gynecologic Oncology.
Senior study author Laura Chambers, DO, says this highlights the power of social media to feed misinformation that could be harmful to patient health outcomes, but it also presents an opportunity to address gaps less likely to come up during a clinic appointment.
Chambers was interested in learning more about the unspoken concerns of her patients, who are often mothers and young women. She wanted to understand how these patients were using social media, what information they were sharing and how they are consuming that information.
The intent of this study was to understand the needs of patients that may go unspoken in the clinic but represent gaps in care that need addressed. As doctors, we are focused on treatment toxicities and patient outcomes, but many of our patients are navigating really difficult challenges at home like figuring out how to show their child love and attention when they are going through fatiguing treatments." Laura Chambers, osteopathic physician at the OSUCCC James
For this new study, the team systematically searched for the 500 most popular TikTok posts and analyzed the top five hashtags for each related to gynecologic cancer (ovarian, endometrial, cervical and vulvar cancers, as well as gestational trophoblastic disease) for key themes, quality of information and reliability of gynecologic cancer-related content on the social media platform, TikTok. Demographic information, message tone and thematic topics were collected. Educational videos were rated for quality using an established health education information scale. As of August 2022, the top five hashtags for each gynecologic cancer had more than 466 million views.
The researchers found that, overall, the quality of the information being shared through TikTok was poor and at least 73% of content was inaccurate and of poor educational quality. Racial disparities in gynecologic cancer extended into this social media space.
"This data inspired a lot of questions about where to go next in addressing these inaccuracies and communicating with patients directly, especially focusing on opportunities to create more diverse content to overcome racial and cultural disparities related to treatment of these cancers," says Chambers.
"The vulnerability shown in social media content around personal cancer journeys is inspiring, but this data really encourages us to ask, as a medical community, how we can provide a care environment that encourages that kind of trust and real conversation with patients? And what can we do, as a broader community, to provide quality health information and support services to patients seeking information about gynecologic cancers?"
Chambers encourages patients who desire a community of like-minded people going through similar experiences to seek out in-person and online support communities sponsored by reputable medical and patient advocacy organizations.
These findings were also presented in two poster presentations at the 2023 Annual Meeting for the Society of Gynecologic Oncology in Tampa, Florida.
Coauthors in this study include Molly Morton, Paulina Haight, Wafa Khadraoui, Floor Backes, Kristin Bixel, David O'Malley and Christa Nagel.
Charity Hodge had mixed feelings when she spotted a Facebook post announcing that her longtime primary care doctor was ready to retire after decades of serving their rural community.
"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, no!'" Hodge recalled while sitting in an exam room on a July afternoon, waiting to see the physician, Terry Vester. "Well, Im happy for the retirement part, but thats my favorite doctor, so I'm crying on the inside."
Hodge, a 29-year-old customer service representative, has been seeing Vester for nine years. She had come to check in on her diabetes management and to ask for anti-nausea medication in preparation for a cruise.
LaFayette pronounced "luh-FAY-it" by most residents and surrounding Chambers County face high rates of disease and chronic illness. Yet Terry Vester and her husband, Al, are the only primary care doctors in the town of 2,700 residents, surrounded by farms and other small communities.
The Vesters are in their late 60s and would like to retire soon. Terry Vester wants to spend more time with her grandson and aging parents. But she can't imagine abandoning her patients, some of whom she has cared for since they were born.
"There are people here that still need in-town doctors," said Vester, who sometimes visits patients in their homes. "So we want to stay here to take care of them until someone else is here to take care of them."
Terry Vester's worry leaving her town with no doctors is already reality across much of rural America, where many residents have health problems but few health care professionals to turn to.
LaFayette, in east-central Alabama near the border with Georgia, is a 30-minute drive to the nearest sizable city, the college town of Auburn. Its lush, wooded neighborhoods include elegant, restored homes with wraparound porches and massive lawns. But the town also has formerly grand houses that have fallen into disrepair, plus mobile homes and public housing.
The town's median household income is much lower than the state's and country's. Black residents who make up 70% of the population are much more likely to live in poverty than white residents. They are also more likely to attend the public high school, whose student body is 90% Black and which is scheduled to close and consolidate with a majority-white school in another community.
The Vesters have worked in LaFayette since the early 1980s and saw the local hospital close in 1988. The nearest emergency room is now in another town 20 minutes away along a rolling road. So are the nearest urgent care clinic and pediatrician's office.
To fill that void, residents turn to the one place in LaFayette where medical professionals are always on the clock: the city fire department, staffed with full-time firefighters and emergency medics.
Fire Chief Jim Doody worked for 13 years as the fire chief at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. He arrived in LaFayette in 2020, just as the county was about to be hit by one of the worst covid-19 outbreaks in Alabama.
Doody said most of the station's ambulance runs are for nonemergency situations. Other calls involve urgent issues that could have been headed off if patients had better access to preventive care.
People from LaFayette regularly walk or drive themselves to the fire station to ask for help, Doody said. The station has a makeshift exam area within its small entryway, containing a bench, defibrillator machine, and cabinet filled with medical supplies.
Firefighter Tanner Hill said people often arrive with concerns about fatigue, blood sugar levels, breathing difficulties, or heart trouble. He recalled helping a man who walked into the station after getting hit by a car.
"He was just like, 'Hey, I just got run over.' And I was like, 'Oh, OK, well, let me check you out.' And sure enough, he got run over," Hill said.
Hill determined the man's leg was broken and sent him by ambulance to the nearest hospital.
This de facto walk-in clinic option isn't available in most other rural areas, where emergency medical services are often run by volunteers who aren't posted at a station all day, Doody said. But he's noticed fewer LaFayette residents relying on the fire department since a new telehealth service arrived in town.
Rickey Whitlow was recently driving in LaFayette when he saw a sign touting the new option.
The 61-year-old was intrigued. He parked his car and walked into a new health center that also houses an OnMed Care Station, a large booth stocked with a video screen and high-tech health monitoring equipment.
Whitlow was scheduled for his monthly diabetes checkup with physician Al Vester in a few weeks. But his feet felt like they were burning, and he needed relief now.
Whitlow stepped into the telehealth kiosk, pressed a button, and saw a nurse practitioner appear on a large vertical video screen positioned at eye level. After consulting with the provider, he left the free appointment with a prescription for a cream to relieve his foot pain.
OnMed patients use an automated blood pressure cuff and other devices to collect their vital signs, and the data is sent to the provider treating them from a distance. Patients can also hold a stethoscope to their chest to transmit the sounds of their heart and lungs. A special camera captures internal temperatures, which can be used to diagnose infections. A hand-held camera lets providers examine problems such as rashes, irritated eyes, and swollen throats. In some states, the stations can dispense medications.
OnMed, a Florida-based company, has another kiosk in rural Texas and hopes to open several dozen more in various states next year. The company wants to keep its services free for patients, with funding from universities, health systems, nonprofits, and insurance companies.
The kiosks can stay open on evenings and weekends and are much cheaper to operate than brick-and-mortar doctor's offices, said CEO Tom Vanderheyden. They also make telehealth available to rural residents whose home internet connections are too weak for video appointments.
LaFayette's OnMed kiosk is part of a new health center inside a building that has seen several medical facilities come and go.
The Chambers County Community Health and Wellness Center is operated by Auburn University, whose students and faculty travel there to host vaccination and diagnostic clinics, such as speech and hearing exams. They also offer health education events on topics such as healthy eating and maternal health.
The university plans to bring similar centers and OnMed kiosks to other rural Alabama towns.
Vester, the longtime primary care physician, is excited about the new health care resources in LaFayette. But she said it's still important to have doctors in town.
"You know everyone, or you have a connection with someone," Vester said.
Vester's statement rang true during recent appointments as she asked about her patients' lives and relatives.
"Deep breath," Vester instructed as she placed a stethoscope on Hodge's chest. "Are you still at home with your mother? Is she doing good?"
"Yes, she's doing very well," Hodge said.
Earlier that day, Vester treated a patient who had throat pain and difficultly speaking after surviving a choking incident. During the appointment, the patient mentioned an upcoming funeral.
Vester knew about the funeral. It was for a woman she once treated.
"I see her daughters and then their children, and they have children so that's four generations right there," Vester said. "And so, you sort of know the whole story, you know the context."
Vester plans to reach out to Alabama medical schools to let them know she's looking for doctors to take over for her and her husband. But she said not everyone wants to live in rural areas like LaFayette.
The doctor hopes some of the Auburn students will want to serve in LaFayette after seeing what it's like working at the new health center. She said it's nice to live in a small, quiet town that's relatively close to larger cities, and to run an independent clinic rather than work for a larger health system.
Vester said the charm of LaFayette and its residents is also a selling point.
"All they have to do is pretty much come here and spend a day and go through what we do, and I think they would enjoy it," she said.
Secretary for Commerce & Economic Development Algernon Yau will depart for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, tomorrow to attend the China (Shenzhen, Hong Kong) - ASEAN (Kuala Lumpur) Emerging Industries Partnering Conference.
Jointly organised by the Shenzhen Municipal Peoples Government, the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the conference aims to promote the latest developments and business opportunities in Hong Kongs emerging industries.
Additionally, Mr Yau will meet senior Malaysian officials and business leaders to discuss strengthening economic and business co-operation between Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The commerce chief will return to Hong Kong on Friday. During his absence, Under Secretary Bernard Chan will be Acting Secretary.
As the governments globally started pushing the EV culture worldwide, asking top car manufacturers to put efforts into the EV segment, instead of ICE. Amid the battle between fuel-powered vehicles vs. EVs, some rumors have begun surfacing on the Internet, where it is being claimed that the American electric car maker Tesla is in talks with Saudi Arabia, and planning to set up its manufacturing plant there. some publications even released some articles regarding the same.
While clearing all the doubts, and giving a clear picture of the matter, Teslas CEO Elon Musk called the rumors fake. The SpaceX chairman also posted a screenshot of a related article on his official Twitter handle, calling the news utterly false.
Tesla in Saudi Arabia?
Earlier, it was reported by Saudi officials that the country is at the initial stage of talks with Tesla, and the company also operating and entertaining the proposal. However, there are chances that the electric car maker might reject the offer given by Saudi, officials added.
Saudi Arabia Is After Tesla?
The report also revealed that Saudi Arabia has been chasing the for quite a long time, asking the company to purchase a specific amount of metal and minerals, which is required in making EVs from the nations like Republic of the Congo.
As per the details shared by The Wall Street Journal, Saudis even approached the Congolese government about acquiring the assets in the country, which provides somewhere around 70 percent of the worlds cobalt.
Tesla Plans for India
The report says the company already showcased a strong interest in setting up a manufacturing plant in India. However, it did not reveal its complete future plans as yet. But, some reports suggested that the giant US-based EV maker might reveal its business operations plans for India either by the end of this year or the start of 2024.
Meanwhile, the company is currently manufacturing electric vehicles in Germany, the United States, and China, and planning to kickstart the business in Maxixo as well.
Taiwans Foxconn, a key supplier of Apple, intends to increase its investment and employee count in India twofold in the coming year, as mentioned in V Lees LinkedIn update celebrating Prime Minister Narendra Modis 73rd birthday.
Foxconn has significantly grown its footprint in India over the past few years. The expansion involves investments in manufacturing plants in southern India, marking a strategic shift away from its reliance on China. Its worth mentioning that Foxconn already operates an iPhone production facility in Tamil Nadu, employing 40,000 individuals.
V Lee, Foxconns representative in India, used a LinkedIn post celebrating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modis 73rd birthday to announce the companys ambitious goals. They stated that Foxconn aims to double its employment, foreign direct investment (FDI), and overall business size in India within the next year. Additionally, its worth noting that in August of this year, the Karnataka government disclosed that Foxconn had plans to invest $600 million in two projects within the state. These projects involve the manufacturing of casing components for iPhones and chip-making equipment.
Young Liu, the Chairman and CEO of Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), emphasized the significance of India as a manufacturing hub in the future. He highlighted that in the past, it took 30 years to establish a comprehensive supply chain ecosystem in China. However, Liu believes that the development process in India will be shorter due to the experience gained from Chinas growth. He also mentioned that the evolving technological landscape, including advancements like AI and generative AI, makes the Indian manufacturing environment different from that of China.
Apple Inc. has revealed its intentions to release the iPhone 15, produced in India, on the global debut day of sales, including availability in India and other regions, as reported by Bloomberg. Although most iPhone 15 units will still be manufactured in China, this marks the first instance of a newly launched, India-assembled device being offered on the first day of sale. The sources sharing this information preferred to remain anonymous due to the confidential nature of the matter.
The Delhi High Court, in an interim order, on Monday allowed the Delhi University (DU) to offer admissions in its newly-introduced five-year integrated law courses based on Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) 2023 result only for the current academic year instead of implementing Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores for admission.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula, which was dealing with a plea filed by law student Prince Singh from the DUs Law Faculty against DUs decision, passed the interim order keeping in mind that classes have already begun for the current academic year in all other universities.
The issue has now got the court into considering a broader question whether CUET should be mandatory for admissions in all Central Universities or if they should have the freedom to make decisions in the matter of admissions.
The court has appointed senior advocate Arun Bhardwaj as amicus curiae in the matter.
On September 12, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had told the high court that the five-year law course is a professional degree programme which may require different criteria to grant admission to students. It had filed a counter affidavit in the matter wherein it has sought dismissal of the petition.
The UGC had said that the DU, with the approval of its Academic Council and Executive Council, has resolved to admit students through CLAT.
Even the Centre opposed the plea, saying the admission standards for professional courses like engineering, medicine, law etc are shaped by their specialised nature and specific skill and so are needed to be guided by the distinct prerequisites of each course.
While there are overarching policy guidelines, universities retain the flexibility through their competent bodies, that is, Academic Councils and Executive Councils to tailor these guidelines to suit the unique demands of such professional courses, the Centre said in its reply.
The National Education Policy (2020) also envisions governance of Higher Education lnstitutions by highly qualified independent Boards having academic and administrative autonomythe relief as sought by the petitioner to quash the admission notice of University of Delhi may not be granted, it said.
On August 28, the Centre had informed the high court that for Central universities, the CUET is not compulsory, and they enjoy autonomy in the matter of admission. However, the UGC had taken a different stand and submitted that it is mandatory for all the Central Universities to adhere to the CUET score for admission to UG or PG courses. The court had then granted a weeks time to the UGC as well as the Centre to file a detailed counter-affidavit in the matter.
It had also asked the DU to file a supplementary counter-affidavit in case it wants to, making it clear that if none is filed by the next date of hearing, the matter will be heard finally on interim relief.
The PIL argues that the DU decision creates a separate category of students eligible for admission. Additionally, CUETs inclusivity in terms of languages is highlighted, as opposed to CLATs English-only format. The plea states that the CLAT exam has been conducted in English medium since its inception. However, the CUET (UG) exam is being conducted in 13 languages English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.
It is worth noting here that the CUET is more inclusive, more diverse and in tune with the mandate of the National Educational Policy. It is not out of the place to mention here that the Respondent No. 1 uses two languages, i.e., English and Hindi in its teachings and semester exams, the plea says. The introduction of these law courses at DU had been in demand for a long, with the Bar Council of India (BCI) granting approval for 60 seats each in the BA.LL.B. (Hons) and BBA.LL.B. (Hons.) programmes. The university has said that sessions for both courses are scheduled at the Faculty of Law, Kanad Bhawan, on the North Campus.
A student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has secured the highest international job offer of Rs 3.7 crore per year in the recently concluded annual placement drive conducted by the IIT. While the highest domestic offer this year is Rs 1.7 crore, reported NDTV. Last year, the highest international offer was Rs 2.1 crore and Rs 1.8 crore was the highest domestic offer.
A total of 2,174 students had registered for the campus placement between July 2022 to June 2023, out of which 1,845 students actively participated in placements. According to IIT Bombay, this is the highest number of participating candidates in a year. As many as 16 job offers have been made with annual salaries exceeding Rs 1 crore. IIT Bombay students accepted 194 of the 300 pre-placement offers for the 2022-23 placements.
A total of 65 international job offers were made to the students at IIT-Bombay this year from organisations with offices in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. In comparison to the 2021-2022 and 2020-2021 placement sessions at the IIT, when Rs 21.50 lakh and Rs 17.91 lakh packages were offered, the average package made during the 2022-2023 placement session is Rs 21.82 lakh per year.
The engineering and technology sector witnessed the maximum number of placements at the IIT Bombay pre-placements with 458 of the participating students securing entry-level positions across 97 engineering companies. A smaller number of students were hired in the information technology and software sectors compared to last year.
As many as 302 students got job offers from over 88 companies in the IT/software sector. While trading, finance, and fintech companies were among the main recruiters. A total of 76 vacancies were available from 32 financial service companies. The most demanding job roles included product management, mobility, data science, analytics, and education. Around 82 per cent of the students who actively participated in the 2022-23 placement drive were successfully placed. Almost 90 per cent of students from BTech, dual-degree, and MTech programmes have secured jobs in this years pre-placement at the IIT.
There are many students who have proved that it is not necessary to bag a high-paying job offer if one has a degree only from reputed colleges such as IIT, NIT and IIM. Case in point, Yukta Gopalani, who has marked a tremendous feat by securing a job in a software company with a package worth Rs 82.5 lakh. Her accomplishment is proof that success comes to those who work hard and put in efforts to hone their skills, no matter from which university or college they graduate.
A few months ago, Yukta Gopalani, from the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Allahabad created history after she bagged a job package of a whopping Rs 82.5 lakh from the software company Atlassian. It is considered to be a record-breaking salary package.
Yukta has completed her B.Tech in Information Technology from IIIT Allahabad and is currently working as a Software Engineer at Atlassian in Bengaluru, Karnataka. She joined the company in July 2023. Her LinkedIn post read, Hello Everyone! I am so happy to share that I have joined Atlassian as a Software Engineer. Looking forward to exploring and learning more here."
As per her LinkedIn, she previously interned at Atlassian in the summer of 2022 as a Software Engineering Intern. However, she is not the only student who has grabbed the limelight with her extraordinary achievements.
Rashi Bagga, a B.Tech student from the International Institute of Information Technology Naya Raipur (IIIT-NR) gained attention after she secured a job package of Rs 85 lakh per annum. Her annual salary set a record as she was the first student from IIIT- NR in 2023 to be offered such a staggering amount of salary.
IIIT Allahabad is a public university that is located in Jhalwa, Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. Established in 1999, it is listed by the Ministry of Education of India and termed as an Institute of National Importance.
Ganesh Chaturthi, the joyous festival, has commenced, and it is a time when television celebrities eagerly share their heartfelt wishes with their beloved fans and followers on social media. This auspicious occasion holds a special place in their hearts, as it allows them to vividly express their deep-rooted connection to their traditions and spirituality. Here are a few TV stars who wished their fans and gave them a sneak peek into their celebrations. Take a look:
Shivangi Joshi
Shivangi Joshi, renowned for her portrayal of Naira Singhania in the popular television series Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, expressed her devotion on Instagram. She shared a photo of a Lord Ganesha idol adorned with fresh garlands and surrounded by fruits.
Hina khan
Hina Khan also wished her fans on the occasion in a grand way and shared an image on her Instagram Stories. She wrote, Ganeshutsavthe eagerly anticipated festival of the year in Mumbai is herethe divine spirit of Mumbai.
Divyanka Tripathi
Divyanka Tripathi, known for her roles in the long-running shows Banoo Main Teri Dulhann and Yeh Hai Mohabbatein, connected with her fans by sharing a collage of images from her Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. She wished her fans prosperity and eternal blessings from Shree Ganesha.
Ashi Singh
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ashi Singh (@i_ashisinghh)
Ashi Singh, the actress known for her portrayal of Naina Agarwal in SET Indias acclaimed series Yeh Un Dinon Ki Baat Hai, shared a series of photos of herself worshipping Lord Ganesha. In her caption, she extended wishes to everyone on Ganesh Chaturthi.
Karan Wahi
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karan Wahi (@karanwahi)
Karan Wahi, recognised for his roles in Remix and Dill Mill Gayye, showcased his eco-friendly celebration on Instagram. He posted an image of Lord Ganeshs idol made from clay and said, Ganpati Bappa Morya. Yet Another Year of Bringing Him to Life. Yet Another Year of Joy This Festival Brings in our Life. Making eco-friendly choices is not just for the planet; its about experiencing the process of being one with Him.
Ishita Dutta
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ishita Dutta Sheth (@ishidutta)
Ishita Dutta, who appeared in 2015 Ajay Devgn starrer crime thriller Drishyam, also welcomed Ganpati Bappa home. This year, she created Ganesha idol at home with the help of clay. Her heartfelt caption read, Devotion, love, family, friends, modak, prayers, and the resonating sounds of dhol, signifying the arrival of this special time of the year.
Ganesh Hegde
May Lord Ganesha Bless Us With the Guidance & Ability to,Be Good,Think Good & Do Good.Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!!To you & your Loved ones,From me & my Loved onesHappy Ganesh Chaturthi.Ganesh Hegde.#ganeshachaturthi #GaneshChathurthi #GaneshaFestival pic.twitter.com/2VACRanSr3 GANESH HEGDE (@GANESHHEGDE) September 19, 2023
Ganesh Hegde also conveyed his warm wishes to fans, emphasising the significance of being good, thinking good, and doing good. He penned, May Lord Ganesha Bless Us With the Guidance and ability to, Be Good, Think Good & Do Good. Ganpati Bappa Morya!!!! To you & your Loved ones, From me & my Loved ones, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi.
Mohit Malik and Sayli Salunkhe
Popular actors Mohit Malik aka Kunal and Sayli Salunkhe aka Vandana, from the show Baatein Kuch Ankahee Si, also shared a photo of their Ganesh Chaturthi celebration with fans. May you embrace all of the blessings of life on this auspicious occasion. I hope all of our dreams come true. May Lord Ganesha continue to brighten our lives and constantly bestow us with success and happiness, Mohit Malik said.
Devoleena Bhattacharjee
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Devoleena Bhattacharjee (@devoleena)
Devoleena Bhattacharjee, known for her role as Gopi Modi in StarPluss long-running show Saath Nibhaana Saathiya, shared a heartfelt photo of herself with her dog, sitting at home beside a Ganesha idol.
Rohitashv Gour
Rohitashv Gour, who is known for playing Manmohan Tiwari in the comedy sitcom Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain, came live on Instagram to share his best wishes on the occasion.
The bilateral ties between India and Canada have deteriorated after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged potential" Indian links to the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar and expelled an Indian diplomat over the issue.
India rejected Trudeaus remarks as absurd" and motivated" and reacted strongly by saying that such unsubstantiated" allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity."
ALSO READ | India-Canada Ties: A Look at Bilateral Trade, Why Has the Relations Strained & Whats at Stake
India summoned Canadian High Commissioner Cameron MacKay at the MEA headquarters at South Bloc and he was asked to leave India within the next five days, as per sources.
The widening rift between the two countries comes amid Indias concerns over Canada harbouring pro-Khalistani groups who have been carrying out anti-India activities.
Lets take a look at the growing anti-India activities in Canada and explore how the country began hosting pro-Khalistani groups.
Immigration to Canada
The immigration of Sikhs from Punjab to Canada started in the early 20th century. According to reports, the soldiers in the British Army passing through British Columbia were attracted by the fertile land.
In the 1970s, there was a significant Indian population, especially the Sikh groups in Canadian society. Canada currently has 1.6 million people of Indian origin and a Sikh population of more than 7,70,000 (about 2 per cent of the total population).
In the 1980s, when the Khalistan movement was gaining prominence in Punjab, many Sikhs sought refugee status in Canada citing political persecution. When the situation worsened around and after Operation Blue Star, there was an influx of Khalistanis into Canada.
Moreover, several pro-Khalistani groups including the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) have tried radicalising Sikh youths, especially those born after the 1984 riots. Canada also proved a convenient point for Khalistani leaders to travel to Pakistan to meet and train with their handlers from Pakistans ISI, according to Hindustan Times.
ALSO READ | Who Was Hardeep Singh Nijjar? Khalistan Terrorist at Centre of India-Canada Tussle
The link was evident when an Air India plane flying from Montreal to London, was blown up by Khalistani terrorists on June 23, 1985.
Though the Khalistan movement died in India in the late 1990s, but it thrived in Canada, especially in some gurdwaras controlled by radicals.
Anti-India activities in Canada
There have been several incidents carried out by pro-Khalistani groups including attacks on Hindu temples, Indian missions and pro-Khalistan rallies in Canada.
In June, a video surfaced on social media showing a float depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. The tableau was part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton and led to an outrage in India.
It evoked a strong response from India with the External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying there was a bigger issue involved".
Does it help Canada's 'Indo-Pacific strategy'? A float depicting murder of late Indian PM by her Sikh bodyguards being part of about 5 KM long parade in city of Brampton on June 4th. Jody Thomas may reflect on it! pic.twitter.com/rBFn7vMKyz Balraj Deol (@BalrajDeol4) June 6, 2023
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of Indias senior diplomats serving in Canada featured in some posters in certain areas in that country.
Last year, in November, a pro-Khalistan organisation known as Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) held a so-called Khalistan Referendum in Mississauga. SFJ had held a Khalistan referendum at a gurdwara in Canadas British Columbia earlier this month while Canadian PM Justin Trudeau was in India for the G20 Summit.
The group has now called for another referendum in the town of Surrey in British Columbia in October. This so-called referendum comes despite Indias strong concerns about Canada on the anti-India activities in the country.
SFJ is an outlawed organisation in India and has also been linked to the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) attack at Punjab Intelligence headquarters in Mohali in May 2022.
Attacks on Temples and Indian Mission
There have been a series of attacks on temples in Canada by pro-Khalistani groups in the last few months.
Last month, a Hindu temple was vandalised in the British Columbia province in Canada by extremist elements, with Khalistan referendum posters.
In April this year, BAPS Swaminarayan temple was vandalised with anti-India graffiti in Windsor in Canadas Ontario.
Earlier in February, the Ram Mandir in Canadas Mississauga was vandalised with anti-India graffiti. The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the defacing of the Mandir and requested Canadian authorities to investigate the incident and take prompt action against the perpetrators.
ALSO READ | Why Modi Conveyed Strong Concerns to Trudeau & What Prompted India to Take Hard Stance
In January, a Hindu temple in Brampton was defaced with anti-India graffiti triggering outrage among the Indian community. The Consulate General of India in Toronto condemned the vandalism at the Gauri Shankar Mandir stating that the act has deeply hurt the sentiments of the Indian community in Canada.
Earlier this year, there were violent protests by Khalistan supporters who attacked the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and hurled grenades at the mission in March. The Indian agencies found that pro-Khalistan protesters were behind the attack on the high commission building.
Canadas Response to Khalistani Activities
Canada has failed to take any concrete steps in checking anti-India activities in the country despite India expressing grave concerns.
During his India visit at the G20 Summit, Justin Trudeau at a press conference said his country will always defend freedom of peaceful protest but at the same time asserted that it will always prevent violence and push back against hatred.
Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us," he said.
At the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. I think on the issue of the community, it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada," Trudeau said.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Azerbaijani Army has appealed to the military and civilians in the territories where anti-terrorist activities are being carried out, Trend reports.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, that was previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
The bilateral ties between India and Canada have hit a new low ever since the G20 Summit when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited India and held a bilateral talk with PM Narendra Modi. During Trudeaus visit, PM Modi conveyed Indias strong concerns about the continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada.
Following Trudeaus departure from New Delhi, the two countries announced cancelling negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement. In a recent development, Trudeau has accused India of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was fatally shot earlier this year.
Both India and Canada have expelled top diplomats from the respective countries amid soured relations. Amid the widening rift between the two countries, lets take a look at the bilateral relations between the two countries and its economic implications.
Free Trade Agreement
Canada announced earlier this month that it had paused talks on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India, just three months after both said they aimed to seal an initial pact this year.
In March 2022, the two countries had decided to re-launch the CEPA negotiations and consider an interim agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that could bring commercial gains to both sides, The Indian Express said.
The two countries had held discussions on sectors including goods, trade remedies, rules of origin, origin procedures, services, institutional and core provisions, the report added.
In such agreements, two countries significantly reduce or eliminate customs duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them. They also liberalise norms for promoting trade in services and attract investments.
Indian industry was looking at duty-free access for products like textiles and leather besides easy visa norms for the movement of professionals. Canada has interests in areas like dairy and agricultural products.
Industry estimates show the CEPA between Canada and India could boost two-way trade by as much as $6.5 billion, yielding a GDP gain of $3.8 billion to $5.9 billion for Canada by 2035, a report in Reuters said.
A senior government official has said that India-Canada talks on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement are expected to resume only after the resolution of the issues between the two countries.
Bilateral Trade
There has been a steady growth in the goods trade reaching $8 billion in 2022, with Indian exports to Canada touching $4 billion, making New Delhi Canadas 10th largest trading partner; while imports from Canada also worth $4 billion.
In the current financial year, during April-June, Indias exports to Canada stood at US$ 911 million, while imports from Canada were worth US$ 990 million.
Indias growing demand for imported lentils has benefited Canadian farmers, while Indian pharmaceutical and software companies have expanded their presence in the Canadian market.
Major imports from Canada include energy products such as coal, coke and briquettes, besides fertilizers, while India exports consumer goods, garments, engineering products such as auto parts, aircraft equipment, and electronic items.
More than 600 Canadian companies, including Bombardier and SNC Lavalin, have a strong presence in India, while more than 30 Indian companies, such as infotech majors TCS, Infosys, Wipro have invested billion of dollars in Canada, creating thousands of jobs.
Canadian Investments in India
Canada is Indias 17th largest foreign investor, pouring in more than $3.6 billion since 2000, while Canadian portfolio investors have invested billions of dollars in Indian stock and debt markets.
Canadian Pension Funds have cumulatively invested over 55 billion US dollars in India, according to The Indian Express. Canadas Ontario Teachers Pension Plan has invested over $3 billion in India and India is expected to become one of the key markets where the fund was to reach $300 billion in net assets.
Human Ties
Canada accounts for one of the largest Indian diasporas in the world. Indian-origin population accounts for 3 percent of Canadas population.
The country has 1.6 million people of Indian origin, more than 700,000 NRIs and a Sikh population of more than 7,70,000 (about 2 percent of the total population). The Sikh population in the country is the highest outside of Punjab.
Since 2018, India has been the largest source country for international students in Canada.
In 2022, their number rose 47% to nearly 320,000, accounting for about 40% of total overseas students, the Canadian Bureau of International Education says, which also helps universities and colleges provide a subsidised education to domestic students.
Flashpoints
The recent cause behind the soured relations is the pro-Khalistan groups operating in Canada and organising crimes in the country and in India. Pro-Khalistani groups including banned organisation Sikh for Justice have been involved in attack on India missions, anti-India activities and desecrating temples in Canada.
In June, a video emerged on social media that showed a float depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It was reportedly part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton.
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of Indias senior diplomats serving in Canada featured in some posters in certain areas in that country. India also complained to Canadian authorities over incidents of security lapse at the Indian consulate in Vancouver.
However, Canadas unwillingness to rein in separatist Khalistani elements and inaction on the attacks on temples and Indian mission has shown the country is not serious in entertaining Indias concerns. Despite Indias repeated reminders, Trudeau has said his country will always defend freedom of peaceful protest and freedom of expression despite Indias concerns over the increasing Khalistani activities in Canada.
Trudeaus inaction also suggests his political messaging to the Khalistani elements in Canada as he woos the Sikh diaspora, which makes a considerable support base for the Liberal Party.
While Trudeau was in India, a Khalistan referendum was being held in Canada by Sikhs for Justice. On September 10, following a meeting between Modi and Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, India issued a strongly-worded statement.
What Has the Two Leaders Said
During the bilateral meeting between Modi and Trudeau on September 10, the Indian Prime Minister conveyed to his Canadian counterpart New Delhis strong concerns about the continuing anti-India activities.
He (PM Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada. They are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship, a government statement said.
The nexus of such forces with organized crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well. It is essential for the two countries to cooperate in dealing with such threats, the statement added.
Trudeau, during a press conference, said, Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, and freedom of peaceful protest and it is extremely important to us.
At the same time, we are always there to prevent violence and to push back against hatred. I think on the issue of the community, it is important to remember that the actions of the few do not represent the entire community or Canada, Trudeau added.
Trudeau, in his latest statement, has also said his government is actively pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the womens reservation bill which calls for providing a 33 percent quota to women in Parliament and state legislatures, multiple reports said.
Union Minister Prahlad Patel on Monday posted on social media site X post that the Union Cabinet has approved the tabling of the womens reservation bill. However, the post was later deleted.
Several reports quoting sources have claimed that the Bill has received approval from the Union Cabinet. Meanwhile, many leaders have demanded the introduction of the womens reservation bill in the special session of the Parliament, which began on Monday.
The opposition Congress also called for passing of the bill with party leader Jairam Ramesh saying, The Congress Working Committee has demanded that the Womens Reservation Bill must be passed during the Special Session of Parliament.
The bill is expected to be tabled in the Parliament in the coming days, though it was not part of the agenda for the special session.
All about the Womens Reservation Bill
The Womens Reservation Bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for women.
Moreover, one-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted to different constituencies in the state or union territory by rotation.
The Bill adds that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act.
The demand for womens reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies goes back to decades and there have been debates on the issue in the Constituent Assembly after the Independence. Here is a brief history of the demand for womens reservation.
Government of India Act of 1935
The Act provided 41 reserved seats in provincial legislatures and limited reservations in Central Legislatures.
Laura Dudley Jenkins in her paper titled Competing Inequalities: The Struggle Over Reserved Legislative Seats for Women in India writes, In the last decades of colonial rule, Britain granted Indians limited rights to serve as representatives in legislative bodies. In part an effort to neutralize nationalists and expand the circle of collaborators, such policies also contributed to divide and rule tactics by giving special electoral rights to These policies include the 1909 Indian Councils Act (based on the MintoMorely Report), the 1919 Government of India Act (based on the Montagu-Chelmsford Proposals), and the 1935 Government of India Act.
She further explains, This period also saw the first attempts at forming All-India womens associations, such as the Womens India Association (WIA) in 1917, followed by the All India Womens Conference (AIWC) and the National Council of Women in India (NCWI).
According to Jenkins, the major women associations tried to influence the new policies by passing resolutions, sending delegates to conferences, submitting memoranda and letters, and lobbying various decision makers.
Their primary agenda was gaining the right to vote for Indian women, but they became involved in the issue of reserved seats for women in legislatures. Ironically, although these major Indian womens organizations came down against such reservations, they were granted to them in 1935, she added.
Constituent Assembly
The issue of womens reservation was brought in the Constituent Assembly debates as well. However, it was rejected as being unnecessary.
It was argued that with a democratic setup and with universal adult franchise, representation will be ensured to women as well as others.
Renuka Ray in her speech in the Constituent Assembly said, I rise to support Clause 19 and in particular Section (2) of this Clause which provides for territorial representation without reservation of seats. We are particularly opposed to the reservation of seats for women. Ever since the start of the Womens Movement in this country, women have been fundamentally opposed to special privileges and reservations (hear, hear).
Through the centuries of our decadence, subjection and degradation, the position of women too has gone down until she has gradually lost all her rights both in law and in society Women in this country have striven for their rights, for equality of status, for justice and fairplay and most of all to be able to take their part in responsible work in the service of their country, she added.
Purnima Banerji, another member of the Constituent Assembly, while speaking on the issue, said, I wish to make it quite clear that women do not want any reserved seats for themselves.
Womens organizations rejected reservation
Prominent leaders like Sarojini Naidu rejected reservation for women. In her presidential address to the All India Womens Conference, Sarojini Naidu said, We are not weak, timid, meek women. We hold the courageous Savitri as our ideals, we know how Sita defied those who entertained suspicion of her ability to keep her chastity.
I will, however, confess to you one thing I am not a feminist. To be a feminist is to acknowledge that ones life has been repressed. The demand for granting preferential treatment to women is an admission on her part of her inferiority and there has been no need for such a thing in India as the women have always been by the side of men in council and in the fields of battle, Naidu added.
National Perspective Plan
In 1987, a 14-member committee was constituted headed by Margaret Alva, then minister of state for women, youth affairs and sport, to free Indian women from the clutches of social oppression.
The committee presented a report titled National Perspective Plan for Women 1988-2000 (NPP) to the prime minister and made 353 far-reaching recommendations including a uniform civil code, property rights to women, reservation of seats for women in elected bodies, banning of sex-determination tests, and making harassment of wives for dowry as a ground for seeking divorce.
73rd and 74th Amendment Acts
The two constitutional amendments provided for one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and offices of the chairperson at all levels of Panchayati Raj institutions and in urban local bodies.
First Introduced in 1996
The Womens Reservation Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha by Deve Gowda government in 1996.
Former Cabinet Secretary TSR Subramanian in his book India at Turning Points writes, History will record that the Womens Reservation Bill was first moved in the Lok Sabha by the Deve Gowda government. The bill was discussed in the Cabinet meeting on 28 August 1996 and thereafter introduced in the Lok Sabha as the 81st Constitutional Amendment Bill, as it then was, on 9 September 1996.
A subsequent attempt to get the bill passed was made by former Prime Minister IK Gujral, who succeeded Deve Gowda. However, he met the same fate as his predecessor.
In 2010, the Womens Reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha as the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill. However, the bill could not proceed through the lower house.
13 years later, the womens reservation bill has got a new lease of life, with the Union Cabinet giving it a nod to be tabled again.
BJP manifesto
The BJP in its manifesto in the 2014 Lok Sabha election promised to provide reservation to women.
Womens welfare and development will be accorded a high priority at all levels within the government, and BJP is committed to 33% reservation in parliamentary and state assemblies through a constitutional amendment, the manifesto read. The 2019 manifesto of the saffron party reiterated the promise.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has accused India of being involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this year. Trudeau said there are credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Indian government and the killing of the Sikh leader.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a wanted Khalistani terrorist, was slain in June in British Columbia, raising tensions between Sikh separatists and the Indian government.
Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government, Trudeau said on Monday in the Ottawa legislature. he added that he raised those concerns personally and directly with his Indian counterpart, PM Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 meeting last week in New Delhi.
The Ministry of External Affairs while responding to the allegations on Tuesday said the claims made by Trudeau are motivated and absurd.
How was Hardeep Singh Nijjar Killed
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot dead outside a gurdwara in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city of British Columbia province of Canada by two unidentified bike-borne assailants.
Nijjar, President of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara and member of a separatist organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), was declared a wanted terrorist by the Indian government, due to his involvement in acts of violence.
The Indian government also directed Canadian authorities to act against the terrorist and his name had featured on a list of 40 designated terrorists released by the Indian government. His outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) is also banned in India.
Who is Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was from Bharsinghpur village in Punjabs Jalandhar and there were several cases registered against him in terror activities. He moved to Canada in 1997 and worked as a plumber.
During the early years, he was involved in Babbar Khalsa International and later made his own organisation Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), a Canada-based pro-Khalistan outfit.
Here is a list of crimes committed by the Khalistani terrorist:
He was involved in identifying youth born after 1984 and radicalising them for terror activities.
In 2014, he organised the killing of self-proclaimed spiritual leader Baba Bhaniara.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was then involved in organising an arms training camp in Mission Hills in Canada in 2015.
He allegedly trained one Mandeep Singh Dhaliwal to use weapons including AK-47 and sniper rifles and sent him to Punjab in 2016 to kill RSS leaders. However, Mandeep was arrested in June 2016 before he could execute the plan.
According to Punjab police, Nijjar in association with gangster Arshdeep Singh Dala of Moga (now hiding in Canada) raised a four-member KTF module in Punjab in 2020.
In 2021, Nijjar was involved in the murder of Manohar Lal, a follower of the Dera Sacha Sauda, and attempted an attack on Hindu priest Pragya Gyan Muni.
He also tried killing Shakti Singh, who is an accused in three cases registered in connection with the Bargari sacrilege.
The Khalistani terrorist was also accused of sending Tiffin bombs with the help of Arsh Dalla for nationwide attacks, which were recovered successively by the police.
Nijjar was closely working with Sikhs for Justice founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun and providing him support in carrying out terror activities, as per intelligence agencies.
He was also suspected to be behind the killing of Sikh leader Ripudaman Singh Mallik, the man who was acquitted in the 1985 Air India terrorist bombing case, in Surrey on July 14, 2022.
Anti-India Activities & Lookout Notice
The Indian security agencies registered several cases against Hardeep Singh Nijjar for waging war against the country and reviving terrorism. There have been more than 10 FIRs pending against him with the NIA and in Punjab.
A lookout circular was issued against Nijjar in 2015 and a red corner notice was issued in 2016. He was declared an absconder by the National Investigating Agency for his anti-India activities in Canada and was later designated a terrorist in 2020.
In July 2022, the NIA declared a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on Nijjar in connection with the killing of a Hindu priest in Jalandhar.
The chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force was known for his anti-India activities and played a key role in organising the Khalistan referendum in Brampton City. The Indian security agencies tried multiple time to extradite him to India from Canada in the past.
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claims that India was involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist terrorist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar were absurd and motivated. The Canadian government also expelled a senior India diplomat over the matter.
Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, the Union ministry of external affairs said in a press release.
We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, the MEA further added.
Canadian PM Trudeau told the House of Commons that he raised the issue of so-called foreign interference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his meeting with him on the sidelines of the G20 Summit.
VIDEO | Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday alleging that India's government may have had links to the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. pic.twitter.com/z2fO0TdDwg Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 19, 2023
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijar. Last week at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, Trudeau claimed while addressing the House of Commons.
The government responded by saying that India is democratic polity. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, the MEA further added.
We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments, the MEA said.
The MEA also expressed concern that Canadian political figures have in previous instances expressed sympathy for elements threatening Indias sovereignty.
The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA further added.
Canada is not trying to provoke India by suggesting its agents were linked to the murder of a Khalistani terrorist but Ottawa wants New Delhi to address the issue properly, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Tuesday.
The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate, the Canadian prime minister told reporters, a Reuters report mentioned.
#WATCH | Ottawa: Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau says, The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate, we are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to pic.twitter.com/NyJbdxVJm6 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
Canadas Fresh Travel Advisory for India Cites Terror Threat
Meanwhile, Canada updated its travel advisory urging its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution while travelling to India due to the threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country.
The advisory urged its citizens to avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh, it added.
The advisory said travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan should be avoided due to the unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance. However, the advisory excludes the Wagah border crossing.
Canadian government claimed risk of terrorism and insurgency in its advisory and urged its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Assam and Manipur.
What Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Said?
Trudeau, on Monday, made allegations regarding the Indian governments hand being behind the June 2023 killing of the Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was shot outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
India Rejects Canadian PMs Allegations
India rejected allegations by Canada calling them motivated and absurd.
We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, the external affairs ministry said in a press release.
White House Deeply Concerned by Canadian Allegations
The White House said Tuesday it was deeply concerned by Canadian allegations that Indian agents may have been involved in the murder of a Sikh leader in Canada.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister (Justin) Trudeau, National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, Watson added.
UK in Contact With Canada Over Serious Allegations Against India
Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, James Cleverly said UK is in contact with Canada about serious allegations against India.
All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law. We are in regular contact with our Canadian partners about serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament. Important that Canadas investigation runs its course and the perpetrators brought to justice, wrote James Cleverly on X (formerly Twitter).
All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law.We are in regular contact with our Canadian partners about serious allegations raised in the Canadian Parliament. Important that Canadas investigation runs its course and the perpetrators brought to justice. James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) September 19, 2023
Canada Expels Indian Diplomat
Canada further expelled a senior Indian diplomat hours after Trudeau made the allegations. Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly told Canadian media outlets that her government has expelled a senior Indian diplomat over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
India Expels Canadian Diplomat
In a retaliatory move, India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus comments and Indian diplomat being removed from Canada. In a video, the Canadian High Commissioner was seen storming out of the Ministry of External Affairs Headquarters.
Amidst the ongoing tension between New Delhi and Ottawa, Canada on Tuesday, updated its travel advisory urging citizens to exercise high degree of caution while travelling to India citing terrorism threat.
Exercise a high degree of caution in India due to the threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country, a notification on the Canadian governments website read.
The advisory urged its citizens to avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh, it added.
The advisory said travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan should be avoided due to the unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance. However, the advisory excludes the Wagah border crossing.
Canadian government claimed risk of terrorism and insurgency in its advisory and urged its citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Assam and Manipur.
Earlier today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada is not trying to provoke India by suggesting its agents were linked to the murder of a Khalistani terrorist but Ottawa wants New Delhi to address the issue properly.
#WATCH | Ottawa: Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau says, The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate, we are simply laying out the facts as we understand them and we want to pic.twitter.com/NyJbdxVJm6 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
Trudeau, on Monday, alleged that the Indian governments involvement in the June 2023 killing of the Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was shot outside a Gurudwara in Surrey, British Columbia on June 18.
India, on the other hand, rejected allegations by Canada calling them motivated and absurd.
Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat hours after Trudeau made the allegations. Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly told Canadian media outlets that her government has expelled a senior Indian diplomat over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
In a retaliatory move, India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat. In a video, the Canadian High Commissioner was seen storming out of the Ministry of External Affairs Headquarters.
A senior Canadian diplomat has been expelled by India in a tit-for-tat move after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed foreign powers were behind the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist group, and sacked an Indian diplomat.
High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned by MEA headquarters at South Block in New Delhi on Tuesday amid India-Canada fireworks over Khalitsani terrorists death and was informed about the expulsion of the senior Canadian diplomat.
The diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days, sources said.
In a statement, MEA said that the decision reflects Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Soon after the expulsion, MEA sources told News18 that the ministrys grounds of diplomat expulsions are strong and was in mind for long.
Canadian diplomat was involved in identifying many things possibly, including targets and workers for top gangsters sitting in Canada, the source added.
The MEA sources added that charges against diplomat are serious in nature.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau on Monday said foreign powers were behind the killing of pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the chief of the Khalistan Tiger Force terrorist group. He claimed the Indian government played a role in his fatal shooting.
The ministry of external affairs on Tuesday said the claims made by the Canadian Prime Minister are motivated and absurd.
We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, the external affairs ministry said in a press release.
Canada also expelled a senior Indian diplomat hours after Trudeau made the claims. Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly told Canadian media outlets that her government has expelled a senior Indian diplomat over the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, wanted in India, was shot outside a gurdwaras parking lot in Surrey, a city in the Canadian province of British Columbia, on June 18.
Canada Expels Indian Diplomat
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations of the involvement of agents of the Indian government in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in Canadas British Columbia province in June. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of Indias most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
Justin Trudeaus accusation that the Indian government could be involved in the killing of banned Khalistan Tiger Forces chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, has reactions pouring in from both the countries, largely criticising the Canadian Prime Minister, and his move to expel the Indian diplomat yesterday.
India too removed top Canadian diplomat Olivier Sylvester on Tuesday.
Samir Saran, who is the president of ORF (Observer Research Foundation) a global think tank based in New Delhi, posted on X (formerly Twitter), alleging that the Canadian government has been giving refuge to terrorists for political outcomes and then blame others. First our neighbour and now Canada similar storylinebreed terror at home for political outcomes and then blame others. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new, he said, tagging the Ministry of External Affairs (@MEAIndia).
Shuvaloy Shuv Majumder, who is the member of Parliament for Calgary Heritage, had earlier criticised the Trudeau government for vilifying the worlds largest democracy after the Leader of Opposition, Pierre Poilievre posted on platform X that nobody likes to see the Canadian Prime Minister repeatedly humiliated and trampled upon the rest of the world amidst the reported neglect of Trudeau at the G20 Summit in New Delhi some 10 days ago.
How Did the Relations Go Downhill?
The relations between both the countries began flailing after the MEA raised strong concerns with the Canadian counterpart for promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.
The last straw in the frosty ties between the two countries was during the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10 when the Canadian Prime Minister was stuck in the national capital for around 36 hours after his Airbus plane encountered a technical snag. The mood in Canada regarding Trudeaus domestic policies and his diplomatic failure at the G20 event is bitter.
The front page of a Canadian newspaper, Toronto Sun, read This Way Out, with the description, Trudeau finds he has few friends at G20 summit in India, showing the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Trudeau.
In fact, Trudeau skipped the G20 dinner, according to Canadas CTV News. Even his first withdrawal from handhold was noticed as he met PM Modi at Rajghat.
Row Over Nijjar
Trudeau had said in his Parliament on Monday that the Canadian intelligence was looking at credible intelligence linking the death of Nijjar and India.
Nijjar was shot dead on June 18 by two unidentified men outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia. He was officially declared an absconder by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He was also designated terrorist under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in July 2020. Moreover, a Red Corner Notice was also issued against the 45-year-old fugitive.
The local authorities in Surrey had put Nijjar under temporary house arrest in 2018 for his involvement in terrorist activities, but was later released.
Trudeau also said in Parliament that he had raised the issue of Nijjars killing with PM Modi at the G20 Summit.
There are nearly 1.4 to 1.8 million Canadians of Indian origin, and Canada has the largest population of Sikhs outside Punjab.
Ganesh Chaturthi 2023: The 10-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi or Ganeshotsav celebrations began on Tuesday. The popular Hindu festival is celebrated to mark the birth of Lord Ganesha, the deity of wisdom, prosperity, and good luck. The festival is celebrated with great fervor in various parts of the country, but it holds special significance in Mumbai, where pandals with gigantic Ganesha statues are set up in multiple parts of the city. This year, the festival is being celebrated from September 19 to September 29, 2023.
In view of the festivities, Mumbai Police has put up traffic restrictions across different parts of the city during the 10-day long celebrations starting today. A large number of people are expected to be on the streets visiting various pandals, including the famous Lalbaugcha Raja, during the festivities. To avoid any law and order situation, more than 13,750 police personnel have been deployed in Mumbai for security during the period.
Idol immersion processions, which take place on different days of the festival starting from the second day attract massive crowds of devotees as people from all over the city and also outside come to witness the grand event, leading to a surge in pedestrian and vehicular traffic, which may be aggravated by plying of heavy vehicles and private buses.
Therefore, some traffic arrangements have been made for heavy vehicles and private buses from September 19 to 29. However, police has put no curbs on vehicles supplying essential commodities.
Traffic Restrictions In Mumbai
There shall be a complete restriction on the movement of all types of heavy vehicles and private buses in south Mumbai on September 21, 24, 26, and 29, said an official.
On other days between September 19 and 29, heavy vehicles are allowed to ply in south Mumbai between 12:00 midnight to 7:00 am in the morning, he said.
In Greater Mumbai (except for areas under south Mumbai), there shall be complete restrictions on the movement of heavy vehicles and private buses from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. the next day on September 20, 23, and 25.
Further, there will be restrictions on movement of these vehicles on September 28 from 10:00 a.m. to 06:00 a.m. the next day.
However, essential service-providing vehicles such as those supplying vegetables, milk, bakery products, drinking water, petroleum products, ambulances, government and semi-government vehicles and school buses are exempted from restrictions, said the official.
All private buses entering and leaving Mumbai and heavy vehicles, including the ones exempted from curbs, shall only be parked at their privately owned spaces or rented spaces or on authorized pay lots, he said adding that parking of these vehicles on roads shall be totally prohibited.
More than 13,750 police personnel, comprising 11,726 constables, 2,024 officers from the rank of sub-inspector to assistant commissioner, and 15 deputy commissioners, have been deployed in Mumbai for security during Ganesh festivities.
Delhi
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) is distributing eco-friendly idols of Lord Ganesha to people to spread the message of environmental conservation. Delhi Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Monday flagged off a van carrying such idols ahead of the Ganesh Chaturhi festival from the Civic Centre in Delhi.
These eco-friendly idols are made of coconut bark and clay. A seed has been placed in the middle of the idol. When it is immersed, the idol will be mixed with the soil. The seed mixed in the soil will take the form of a plant in a few days, the mayors office said in a statement.
The MCD and Big Green Ganesha have launched eco-friendly Ganesha idols in the city to spread the message of environmental conservation. The idols will be delivered to the people through zonal offices of all the zones of MCD.
Noida/ Greater Noida
Ahead of the festive season kicking start with Ganesh Chaturhi, authorities in Uttar Pradeshs Noida and Greater Noida have imposed Section 144 in the cities to prevent any unlawful assembly, unauthorised public event, or procession.
As per the order, the assembly of five or more people is barred in the cities without permission from the commissioner of police, additional commissioner of police, and deputy commissioners of police. People are also not allowed to join such a group without permission.z
A restriction has also been imposed on operating private drones in a one-kilometer radius above and around government offices. Using drones for photography or videography in other places without permission has also been barred during this period.
Canadas allegations that the Indian government could be involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil are baseless and wrong, top Indian government sources told News18 on Tuesday, also rejecting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus claims of violation of sovereignty.
Dealing another blow to diplomatic ties, Canada has said it is actively pursuing credible allegations linking Indian government agents to the murder of 45-year-old Nijjar in British Columbia in June. It also expelled a senior Indian diplomat.
The allegations are baseless and wrong. The Trudeau government failed to take action against Khalistani separatists who are sitting in Canada and carry out killings in India, a top government official said. We also reserve the right to response and it will be given diplomatically at the right time.
Canada should respond to our investigations and handover all perpetrators immediately, the official added.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb with a large Sikh population. Nijjar was a hardline proponent of an independent Khalistani state and was designated by India as a terrorist in July 2020.
Trudeaus comments mark a significant escalation in tensions between Canada and the worlds largest democracy, with New Delhi repeatedly flagging Sikh separatist activity in Canada. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed his strong concerns to Trudeau at the G20 summit over recent demonstrations in Canada by Sikhs.
Top intelligence sources had told News18 earlier this month that the Justin Trudeau government is aware of the anti-India activities and propaganda of pro-Khalistan groups in Canada, but is sitting on several extradition requests from Indian authorities to protect its constituency in domestic politics under the guise of upholding freedom of speech.
According to sources, pro-Khalistani entities in Canada are using Operation Blue Star and the anti-Sikh riots that broke out in the aftermath of Indira Gandhis assassination as tools to radicalise generations born after 1984. At parades like the recent Khalistan Freedom Rally in Toronto, such groups have openly called for violence against India, but no action has been taken against them by the Canadian authorities.
Sources added that while the entities are backed by ISI, killings and violence at their behest are being executed in India by gangsters operating from jails in Delhi and Punjab.
Sources said extradition requests sent by the NIA involve individuals accused of terrorism, murder and other related offences, but cooperation has not been forthcoming from Canadian quarters.
Prime among these requests is one for the extradition of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) member Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias Landa (originally from Tarn Taran in Punjab) who carried a reward of Rs 15 lakh.
Landas aide Arshdeep Singh Gill alias Arsh Dalla is also based in Canada and is linked to the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Dalla was designated as an individual terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs on January 9, 2023.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Russian media widely cover the latest developments in Azerbaijan's Karabakh economic region, where localized anti-terrorist activities against Armenia's illegal armed formations are taking place, Trend reports.
In particular, the agencies publish reliable information and official statements of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry.
Russian media feeds show videos of the destruction of Armenian military facilities, noting that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces struck at long-term firing points and military facilities of the Armenian army within the framework of anti-terrorist activities of local nature carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region. The editorial staff also reminded the readers through the mouth of the Russian Foreign Ministry that Armenia recognized the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Also, Russian media reported that Armenia shelled the positions of the Azerbaijani Army and that Baku named the only way to peace.
In addition, it was emphasized that Baku was informed about the creation of humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of the population from Karabakh. The Russian media also reported on the negotiations of Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov with his Turkish counterpart.
We would like to remind that on September 19, Azerbaijan launched anti-terrorist measures against local nature in Karabakh.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist measures carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus shocking allegations against India, termed absurd by New Delhi, have created tremors in international diplomatic circles. Trudeau has linked the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in his country this year with the agents of the Government of India. Some foreign affairs observers have been wondering whether Justin Trudeau is following in his fathers footsteps.
The man who plotted the horrific bombing in 1985 of an Air India plane off Ireland which killed 331 passengers, Talwinder Singh Parmar, was sheltered by Canada. Under Justins father, Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian government refused to extradite him to India on the specious plea that India, though a member of the Commonwealth, did not recognise the sovereignty of the Queen who was Canadas sovereign.
Parmar was the founder, leader, and Jathedar of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), better known as Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh militant group involved in the Khalistan movement.
It was Pierre Trudeaus government which refused the 1982 Indian request to extradite Talwinder Parmar to India for murder, on the quaint grounds that India was insufficiently deferential to the Queen. That is not a joke. Canadian diplomats had to tell their Indian counterparts that the extradition protocols between Commonwealth countries would not apply because India only recognized Her Majesty as Head of the Commonwealth, and not as Head of State. Case closed! wrote well-known Canadian journalist Terry Milewski in one of his books.
In 1981, Parmar was accused of killing 2 Punjab Police officers and was arrested in 1983 in Germany. He was released in 1984 after which he immediately returned to Canada. Eventually, Parmar sneaked into India from Pakistan but was shot dead by the Punjab Police. Khalistanis in Canada eulogised him while the authorities stood by. He was later named as the mastermind of the 1985 Air India bombing, Canadas worst case of mass murder and the countrys worst terrorist attack in its history.
(With agency inputs)
Mumbai was steeped deep in devotion as it welcomed the annual homecoming of Lord Ganesh on Tuesday, marking the beginning of the 10-day festival amid pomp and grandeur.
Idols of the elephant-headed God in various shapes and sizes were installed at several households and in pandals (temporary stages set up by community groups at street corners and open spaces) against the backdrop of elaborate decorations based on myriad themes ranging from the Chandrayaan-3 launch to Ayodhyas Ram Mandir.
Families, including children as well as senior citizens, stepped out of their homes early morning to bring their beloved bappa home amid chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya and the beating of drums. Many people were seen carrying the idols of Lord Ganesh in autorickshaws, cars, and other modes of transport.
Several politicians and celebrities from Bollywood install idols of the deity of wisdom and knowledge in their homes every year. While many famous Lord Ganesh idols were installed in pandals in the early morning hours in Mumbai, including the most famous Lalbaugcha Raja, many idols were taken out from workshops to the pandals in colourful processions.
A total of 2,729 sarvajanik Ganeshotsav mandals have been permitted to organise public Ganesh festivities by erecting pandals, the city civic body said on Monday. To maintain security and order during the popular festival that sees lakhs of people visiting pandals, more than 13,750 police personnel, including staffers from the traffic department, have been deployed, an official said.
They comprised 11,726 constables, 2,024 officers from the rank of sub-inspector to the assistant commissioner and 15 deputy commissioners, he said on Monday. Notifications issued by the traffic police listed several moves for a smooth flow of vehicles in the metropolis, including a ban on heavy vehicles on certain days.
Immersion day (September 28) will see a larger presence of police on the ground and manpower details being chalked out, the official informed. Ganesh festivities are the most patronised in Mumbai, with idols of Lord Ganesh being installed in pandals and at homes.
Mumbaikars thronged popular shopping spots of the city at Dadar, Crawford Market, and Lohar Chawl, to buy decoration items, flowers, and puja materials among other festival paraphernalia. People are in for a visual treat this year, as the citys Ganesh mandals have come up with fascinating thematic decorations for their pandals.
Pandal-hoppers will get to see themes of the Chandrayaan-3 launch, Ayodhya Ram Temple, and the 350th anniversary of the coronation of warrior-king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, showcased by big mandals or pandals in the city. A large number of devotees are expected to visit Lalbaug in central Mumbai to catch a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja, one of the most celebrated Ganeshas of the city, followed by GSB Seva Mandals Ganpati in Matunga, which is considered the richest and known for its grandeur.
The GSB Seva Mandals Mahaganpati is adorned in 66.5 kilograms of gold ornaments, more than 295 kgs of silver as well as other precious items. Other famous Ganesh mandals are in Chinchpokli, Ganesh Gully and Tejukaya.
Apart from these, people will also get to see the citys tallest Ganesha at 45 feet in the Khetwadi area of Girgaum. No untoward incident was reported in the metropolis during the day and movement of vehicles carrying Lord Ganesh idols was largely trouble-free, a police official said.
Immersion of Lord Ganesh idols take place on different days of the festival starting from the second day (Wednesday, September 20). The official said security has been tightened at important immersion points, including those in Juhu Chowpatty, Shivaji Park Chowpatty, Khar Danda, Versova and other popular beachfronts.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up artificial ponds for immersion of idols, mostly for those kept in homes by devotees. Besides Mumbai, the festival began with religious fervour in other parts of Maharashtra also.
In Nashik, around 200km from Mumbai, Lord Ganesh arrived at homes and pandals for his annual sojourn on the Earth amid chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya and Mangalmurti Morya. The exuberance to welcome the God of knowledge and prosperity was visible among people from early morning. Markets, shops and streets were overcrowded as people purchased Ganesh idols, puja material, decorative goods and sweets. In Latur in central Maharashtra, amid fanfare and beating of drums, devotees, dressed in traditional attire, welcomed Lord Ganesh into their homes and pandals.
Prominent mandals (community groups) took out huge processions to welcome Lord Ganesh amid chanting of slogans and devotional songs.
The Centre is planning multi-agency action involving the Enforcement Directorate, Finance Ministry, intelligence agencies and state police forces to investigate a mammoth GST fraud unearthed by the Noida Police, News18 has learnt.
Sources told News18 that a central intelligence agency has prepared an initial report based on the preliminary investigation and recommended that multiple agencies be roped in to crack the scam which has reportedly caused the central exchequer a revenue loss of Rs 955 crore so far. Sources added that the amount is likely to go up multi-fold as the investigation progresses.
Officials added that initial analysis revealed the scam stretches across multiple states and Union Territories, with Delhi being the epicentre.
The central agencies have planned to initiate criminal investigation prosecution under Sections 120B and 420 of the IPC against the accused who allegedly procured GST numbers using fake credentials and sold it to clients. The ED may simultaneously open an investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, sources added.
Officials said several Chartered Accounts running big firms may also face action for alleged criminal conspiracy.
Investigating agencies will also individually verify close to 3,700 beneficiaries with the help of state GST authorities and will freeze the linked bank accounts. Entities and individuals that made frequent amendment to their Aadhaar details but had low enrolments will also be under the scanner.
The GST registration of those who procured it using fake credentials will be cancelled apart from other criminal and legal proceedings, officials said.
An organised gang involved in fake GST input tax credit through a network of fake shell firms and entities was busted by the UP Police under Station Sec-20, Gautam Buddha Nagar on June 1, 2023. A database containing over 6 lakh PAN cards and 2,514 fake firms with GST registrations was recovered. The preliminary evidence suggests a revenue loss of Rs 955 crore (approx.) to the government exchequer, an official said quoting from an official communication.
Sources said professionals who accepted huge amounts of money in exchange for helping exploit loopholes in the system will be booked under stringent sections as well.
Modus Operandi
The scam pertains to thousands of bogus companies being floated on the basis of forged Aadhaar cards, fake invoices being raised by them and input tax credit (ITC) being claimed on their behalf.
The details of 6 lakh PAN cards were reportedly purchased from online portals and used to forge Aadhaar cards in the name of poor individuals who were paid off. These Aadhaar cards were then allegedly used for GST e-registrations, which were in turn sold to entities that claimed input tax credit.
Analysis of the recovered data sets revealed that 1,407 unique PANs (out of 6 lakh) were used to avail the input tax credit through 1,907 unique source GST numbers (out of 2,514). Further, these 1,907 GST numbers were found to be linked with 741 unique mobile numbers.
A total of 3,745 unique beneficiary GST numbers were found to be associated with 1,907 source GST numbers and received input tax credit worth of Rs 955 crore against the supply value of Rs 5,651 crore. These unique beneficiaries were found to be spread across India, majority being from Delhi, officials said.
An unknown assailant on Monday forcibly entered the residence of a local Congress leader in Punjabs Moga district and fatally shot him. While cops not divulged who killed the leader, there are reports that Khalistani activists are behind the act.
A purported CCTV footage captured the attacker firing at Baljinder Singh Balli (45) before hastily making his escape. The tragic incident unfolded in Ballis hometown of Dalla.
Hours after the fatal shooting, a Canada-based Khalistani terrorist, Arsh Dalla, claimed responsibility of the attack in a Facebook post.
Despite being rushed to a hospital, Balli ultimately succumbed to his injuries, according to law enforcement officials. Senior Superintendent of Police J Elanchezhian, along with other officers, promptly visited the scene, stating that the investigation was actively underway.
Balli held the position of party president for the Ajitwal block in Moga district.
Senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa and Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring unequivocally denounced the heinous act.
In a harrowing incident, the Congress president from Ajitwal block of district Moga, Baljinder Singh Balli (45) was shot dead at his residence today. I condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms. My heart goes out to the family of the victim, Bajwa wrote on social media site X.
In a harrowing incident, the Congress president from Ajitwal block of district Moga, Baljinder Singh Balli (45) was shot dead at his residence today. I condemn this incident in the strongest possible terms. My heart goes out to the family of the victim.Ever since @AAPPunjab pic.twitter.com/Tu922DQfEF Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) September 18, 2023
Ever since @AAPPunjab formed the government in Punjab, the law and order situation has collapsed completely. Gun crime in the state has been on the rise. CM @BhagwantMann, who also holds the home portfolio is directly responsible for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. @AAPPunjab govt must swing to action and arrest the culprits. Otherwise, Punjab Congress will launch a struggle for the same, added Bajwa.
Armed robbers struck at a private bank in Raigarh city in Chhattisgarh on Tuesday morning and decamped with cash and gold estimated to be worth around Rs 8.5 crore after injuring the bank manager, police said.
The incident occurred at around 9.30 am at Jagatpur branch of Axis Bank under the city Kotwali police station limits, said Raigarh senior superintendent of police Sadanand Kumar.
Around six to seven robbers entered the bank and held bank employees as hostages in a room, he said.
They attacked the bank manager with a sharp weapon on his leg while demanding keys to the locker room. The miscreants fled after looting the cash and gold ornaments and bars, the officer said.
After being alerted, police reached the spot. The bank manager was rushed to a nearby hospital where his condition is said to be stable, he said.
As per the bank managers statement, the value of the cash looted by robbers is Rs 7 crore while that of gold bars and ornaments is Rs 1.5 crore, the police officer said.
A case has been registered and efforts are on to nab the robbers, he added.
Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 is here and the frenzy to visit Mumbais famous Lalbaugcha Raja in person is already taking over devotees. Located in the Putalabai Chawl, the King of Lalbaug" is one of the most visited Ganesh idols in Mumbai. The mammoth statue embellished with staggering gold jewellery resides in the pandal for about 11 days thereby attracting lakhs of devotees and pilgrims from all across the world.
The celebration at the Lalbaugcha Raja during Ganesh Chaturthi 2023 is going to take place on a grand scale as this year will mark 90 years of its commemoration. Heres everything that you need to know about its live darshan and online Prasad facility.
Lalbaughcha Raja Darshan Timings
Mukh Darshan and Navas Charan Sparsh Darshan: The darshan begins with an aarti at 4 am. However, to prepare for the Visarjan, the Charan Sparsh queue will close early today on Wednesday, September 27 at 6 am, while the Mukh Darshan line will shut at 12 midnight.
How to watch LIVE darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja online?
The organizers of Lalbaugcha Raja are hosting live online darshan for devotees who cannot visit in person. The sessions is being made available on the Mandals official website and social media platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). The live broadcast is available 24 hours a day. The live telecast of the event is being broadcast on the YouTube channel.
Official website: https://lalbaugcharaja.com/en/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/user/LalbaugRaja
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/LalbaugchaRaja
Instagram: https://instagram.com/lalbaugcharaja
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lalbaugcharaja
How to order Lalbaugcha Rajas Prasad online?
Just like last year, the organizers of Lalbaugcha Raja have collaborated with Jio Mart and Paytm to deliver Prasad online. The devotees who cannot visit the holy pandal themselves can order Prasad at their doorsteps within just a click of a button. It is important to note that JioMart will only take orders in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane.
The Prasad package includes two pieces of Bundi laddu per set. The cost of the sweets is merely Rs 51 which is inclusive of all taxes. The delivery is completely free of cost with no minimum order.
Even though the festival begins on September 19, JioMart has facilitated people to pre-book while the deliveries have already kick-started from September 1 onwards. Now, for devotees hailing outside Mumbai, all across India and outside the country, the holy Prasad will be made available via Paytm. Per set of the Paytm order included 250 gm of dry fruits.
After approximately 11 days, in Anant Chaturdashi, the Ganesh idol of Lalbaugcha Raja will be immersed in the Arabian sea.
How to reach Lalbaugcha Raja 2023
By Train: Get off at Lower Parel station on the Western Railway route or Curry Road station on the Central Railway route and walk to the pandal.
By Road: If you are going by road, you can take Chhatrapati Shivaji Ground (Garam Khada) and T.B. Kadam Marg to reach the pandal.
South actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu, renowned for her extensive contributions to the Telugu and Tamil film industries over the years, joyously celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi. She graciously offered a glimpse into the rituals and traditions of this auspicious occasion. The actress shared an image that showcased a beautifully adorned small Ganapati idol, surrounded by vibrant flowers and other sacred elements used for worship.
Apart from Samantha, several stars from the South Indian film industry also celebrate the occasion with heartfelt warmth and unwavering devotion. Allu Arjun observed Chaturthi puja in the comfort of his home, offering glimpses of the sacred ritual on his Instagram stories. The setting appeared simple yet profoundly divine, capturing the essence of Ganesh Chaturthi.
Ram Charan joined in the festive celebrations, marking the occasion with his family. He posted a picture of his family engaged in worshipping Lord Ganesha, spreading the joy and reverence of the festival with his followers. In the caption, he wrote, Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to ALL! Celebrating the First Festival with the little klin Kaara this year!
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ram Charan (@alwaysramcharan)
Ganesh Chaturthi, also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, holds profound significance in Hindu culture as it celebrates the birth of Lord Ganesha. The revered deity symbolizes wisdom, prosperity, and fresh beginnings. The auspicious occasion falls during the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, which aligns with the Gregorian months of August or September. Devotees from across India and around the world unite to pay homage to Lord Ganesha through rituals, prayers, and vibrant celebrations.
Samantha Prabhus most recent appearance was in director Shiva Nirvanas film Kushi. The movie delves into the lives of Viplav and Aaradhya, who experience a blossoming romance during their vacation in Kashmir. However, their love faces strong opposition from their families, who make efforts to separate them. In a bid to prove their families wrong, Viplav and Aaradhya decide to get married. However, as their marriage progresses, they encounter a series of challenges and problems that strain their relationship.
Meanwhile, Samantha Prabhu has an exciting lineup of projects in her kitty. The talented actress is set to dazzle in the action-packed drama Citadel: India, where she will share the screen with Varun Dhawan and Sikandar Kher. Additionally, Samantha will grace the audience with her presence in director Amar Kaushiks upcoming comedy horror film, Vampires of Vijay Nagar, in which shell be seen alongside Ayushmann Khurrana and Aparshakti Khurana.
Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez have officially filed for divorce to dissolve their marital union after two years, according to TMZ. The renowned pop star, aged 30, reportedly initiated divorce proceedings from her 28-year-old real estate agent spouse, Dalton Gomez, this past Monday. This development comes on the heels of their separation, which had been disclosed in July. However, the actual divorce filing occurred approximately two months later, as both Grande and Gomez were taking their time together to slowly work through the details of the agreement privately.
The media outlet also says that the pair have kept their interactions full of care and respect at every stage of the process. The termination of their marital bond is described as kind and patient, with both Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomez having evidently moved forward with their lives.
The date of separation is listed as February 20, 2023, as reported by TMZ.
In the midst of the news surrounding their parting, a report in People informs that the couples decision to separate was indeed amicable. Reportedly, the Grammy-winning artists engagement in filming Wicked in London contributed to the dissolution, as the relationship had turned long-distance. Nonetheless, Ariana Grande only had words of praise for Dalton, calling him the number-one fan of hers during their marriage.
Ariana Grande and Dalton Gomezs romantic journey started in January 2020, culminating in their official relationship status when they appeared together in the music video for Grandes collaboration with Justin Bieber, titled Stuck with U, in May of that same year. Their engagement was subsequently announced in December 2020, and they took their wedding vows in an intimate wedding ceremony on May 15, 2021, explains People.
The media outlet has also reported that Ariana Grande is presently involved in a romantic relationship with her Wicked co-star, Broadway alum Ethan Slater. Slater, who had tied the knot with his high school classmate Lilly Jay in November 2018 and welcomed a child with her in January, filed for divorce from Jay in July.
It also says that the newfound romance between Grande and Slater commenced following the respective separations of both people from their spouses, conducted with due respect to all individuals involved, according to a source cited by People.
On the work front, Ariana Grande will play the role of Glinda, while Ethan Slater will portray Boq, in Jon M. Chus cinematic adaptation of the immensely popular Broadway musical Wicked. Filming for the movie commenced in the United Kingdom in 2022, with an anticipated release in November 2024.
Comedian and actor Russell Brand has recently been accused of sexual assault, rape and abuse by several women at his previous workplaces. In light of these allegations, the 48-year-old comedian, who is currently performing in the United Kingdom for his Bipolarisation tour, has had to postpone three shows. The shows promoters released a statement saying, We are postponing these few remaining addiction charity fundraiser shows, we dont like doing it but we know youll understand.
However, Russell performed at the show scheduled to be held at the Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre in London on Saturday night. According to reports by The Hollywood Reporter, Russell said at the show, I really appreciate your support, I love you, and I want to do a fantastic show for you Ive got a lot of things to talk to you about. There are obviously some things that I absolutely cannot talk about, and I appreciate that you will understand.
For the unversed, five women recently accused the comedian of sexual assault, rape and abuse from between 2006 and 2013, when Russell worked in Hollywood and presented for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4. One of the women claimed that she was 16 years old at the time of the alleged assault. Now, The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches will conduct a joint investigation in this regard.
Russell had earlier denied these accusations in a video he posted on his Instagram handle. In the video, he said, Ive received two extremely disturbing letters, or a letter and an email, one from a mainstream media TV company, one from a newspaper, listing a litany of extremely egregious and aggressive attacks, but amidst this litany of astonishing, rather baroque attacks, are some very serious allegations that I absolutely refute.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Russell Brand (@russellbrand)
He continued, These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies; and as Ive written about extensively in my books, I was very, very promiscuous. Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then almost too transparent and Im being transparent about it now as well. To see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny.
However, after Russell posted the video, several other women also wrote to The Times alleging that they had also been subjected to such behaviour by the comedian. UKs government minister Caroline Nokes urged Scotland Yard to investigate these allegations. Scotland Yard told People magazine that Londons Metropolitan Police will look into this matter.
DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).
Late actor Dev Anands Juhu home has been sold reportedly. According to a report in Hindustan Times, the bungalow has been sold to a real estate company. We also hear that the house will be demolished for a 22-storey tower.
A source close to the development informed the news portal, Dev Anands Juhu bungalow has been sold to a real estate company. The deal is also done and paperwork is going on. It has been sold for approximately 350-400 crores as its a prime location with bungalows of prominent industrialists in the locality.
The source also added, Actors like Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dimple Kapadia also once lived in the apartments around the bungalow. The place will now be replaced by a 22 floors long tower.
Apparently, the bungalow where Anand stayed for nearly 40 long years is being sold as there is no one to look after. The source revealed, His son Suniel stays is US whereas daughter Devina lives in Ooty along with mother Kalpana Kartik. There is no one in Mumbai to take care of the property and hence they have taken the decision to sell off the bungalow. In fact, they had also sold some property in Panvel, Maharashtra for the same reason, reveals the source.
Another source informed the news portal that when Dev Anands studio was sold 10 years back, the money was used to buy three apartments. One was given to Suniel, another to Devina and third to his wife Kalpana. So for the Juhu property also, everyone will get the share.
When Dev Anand made the decision to build a home in Juhu, the area was relatively unfamiliar to many. In earlier interviews he shared that the reason why he chose Juhu was because he fell in love with the natural beauty of the place. I built my Juhu house 1950. Juhu was a small village then and there was total wilderness. I liked it because Im a loner. Juhu has become very crowded now, too full of people, especially on Sundays. Its not the same beach any longer. My Iris Park residence doesnt have a park anymore, there is a school and four bungalows bang opposite my place, he had shared with a media outlet according to HT.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The security of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh is a priority for the Kremlin, there is no information about threats to their lives yet, Russian President's Spokesman Dmitri Peskov, Trend reports.
In order to restore the constitutional regime of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures of a local nature were launched in the region.
The civilians and infrastructure facilities are not being targeted and are not part of the ongoing anti-terrorist measures. Only military targets belonging to the separatist regime's illegal armed formations are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
In addition, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Shilpa Shetty has been celebrating the tradition of Ganesh Chaturthi for several years now. Each year, she welcomes Lord Ganpati into her home. This year, she continued this ritual, and she was spotted at an idol store with her husband, Raj Kundra. The actress, who is gearing up for the release of her upcoming film Sukhee, looked stunning in traditional attire. However, what drew attention was Raj once again covering his face with a mask.
In a video shared by Instant Bollywood, Shilpa can be seen wearing a green Anarkali suit with a vibrant dupatta while selecting the Ganesh idol. Raj Kundra, concealing his face with a mask, is seen carrying the idol. The couple wholeheartedly celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi every year, with Shilpa bringing the Ganesh idol into their home. These photos and videos have quickly gone viral on social media.
On Tuesday, the actress took to Instagram to share a photo from the celebrations at home. Going by the photo, it looks like the theme was ivory and gold. Shilpa looked gorgeous in an ivor and gold dhoti sari accessorised with traditional jewellery, while Raj Kundra opted for Kurta in the same colour palatte. Her children Viaan Raj Kundra and Samisha Shetty Kundra too, wore ivory and gold outfits. She captioned the photo, Ganpati Bappa Moriya Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to you all Sukhee Bhava.
The actress is a devout follower and strong believer in Lord Ganpati, and she frequently visits the Siddhivinayak temple in Mumbai, particularly on Tuesdays. In fact, several years ago, it was immediately after she left the temple following her prayers that she made the announcement about her participation in the UK Big Brother, a decision that ultimately reshaped the trajectory of her life and career.
Actress Sreemukhi is a popular name in the Telugu film industry. Her notable stint in Bigg Boss Telugu season 3, alongside hosting various TV and comedy shows, led her to stardom. She rose to prominence with time, garnering a significant fan base. Fans often shower her with praise, not only for her talent but her impeccable beauty. Sreemukhis recent Instagram photos have caught a lot of attention from social media users. One of the posts, where she is wearing an exquisite green and yellow half saree, is receiving appreciation.
Her traditional ensemble had a light blue blouse with intricate embellishments on its sleeves and neckline, a matching pleated full-length skirt, and a contrasting dupatta of yellow colour. Sreemukhi wore a traditional heavy necklace, a pair of matching large earrings, a mang tikka, a set of bangles on both hands and a bindi. She kept her hair tied in a braided ponytail, which she adorned with a gajra. The elegant makeup included a dark shade of lipstick, kajal, and defined eyebrows.
Sreemukhi is known for wearing both traditional and Western outfits. A few days back, she dropped glimpses from her weekend getaway. In the photos, she can be posing beside a swimming pool. Sreemukhi wore a multi-coloured co-ord swimming costume. For her day out, she chose subtle glam makeup with deep brown lipstick, kohled eyes, and glittery eyeshadow. The caption of the photos read, Fargo. The comment section was flooded with comments praising Sreemukhis beauty.
Sreemukhi began her film career with the 2012 film Julayi, in which she essayed the role of Allu Arjuns sister. She went on to work as a lead actress in the film Prema Ishq Kaadhal, which was directed by Pavan Sadineni. Sreemukhi starred alongside Sathya in her first Tamil film Ettuthikkum Madhayaanai released in 2015.
She was last seen in Chiranjeevis Bhola Shankar, which also featured Tamannaah Bhatia and Keerthy Suresh. Directed by Meher Ramesh, the film is a remake of a Tamil film called Vedalam released in 2015.
Vicky Kaushal is currently gearing up for the release of his second film this year. The actors 2023 releases The Great Indian Family and Zara Hatke Zara Bachke feature the lives of middle-class individuals and the daily struggles their families endure. Although Vicky Kaushal comes from a filmy family since his father, Sham Kaushal, is a celebrated action director in Bollywood, the actor himself has had a humble upbringing. Vicky grew up away from the glitz and glam of Bollywood. He recently spoke about whether privileged actors pretend to be relatable to avoid being hated.
Vicky told Instant Bollywood, No, I dont think so. I have many friends from the industry Right now, the thing is that the audience can see through it. How long can you keep the pretence on? A day? Two days? Four weeks, a year? And its a very tiring process also.
Vicky mentioned that the audience doesnt hate the privilege that certain people hold, but only the dishonesty surrounding it. He said, If you pretend to be someone youre not, thats what they hate. If youre true to yourself, and thats what you present, nobody will have (any complaints). Thats what I believe. Thats what I, as an audience member, always relate to. I dont think about whether someone is actually middle class or not. If someone isnt genuine, even if theyre a middle-class person, then you cant relate with them.
Meanwhile, The Great Indian Family is scheduled to release in theatres on Friday, September 22. According to the makers, The Great Indian Family is a simple, small-town story that will touch your hearts. Set in the heartland of India, it is a story about the unbreakable bond that family members share with each other.
The comedy-drama will also feature Manushi Chhillar, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Sadiya Siddiqui, Alka Amin, Srishti Dixit, Bhuvan Arora, Ashutosh Ujjwal and Bharti Perwani in prominent roles. The film is written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya and produced by Aditya Chopra under the banner of Yash Raj Films.
Vijay Antonys daughter Meera died by suicide in the wee hours of Tuesday, September 19, in Chennai. She was 16. As per India Today, she was found dead in the familys Chennai home at 3 a.m. and was rushed to the hospital. She was declared dead. As per unverified reports, she was under pressure and sought treatment for the same. Vijay and his family are yet to issue a statement about the heartbreaking turn of events.
Trigger Warning: As per the report, Meera was allegedly found hanging in her house in Chennais Teynampet area early in the morning on Tuesday. As per claims, Meera was studying in a private school in the city and was allegedly battling depression. However, News18 couldnt verify these claims at the time of publishing. It is also reported that police officials are conducting an investigation into her death.
Vijay and his wife Fatima Vijay Antony also have a younger daughter named Lara. An unverified account of Fatima features a picture of Vijay, Fatima, and the girls together. The photo was posted back in May 2022. See the photo below:
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Fatima Vijay Antony (@fatima_vijayantony)
For the unversed, Vijay Antony is a renowned music director and actor in the Tamil film industry. Vijay transitioned into an actor after delivering popular hit songs for Tamil films. He is also known for his directorial skills and is also a producer. His wife, Fatima Vijay Antony, handles their production house.
News18 Showsha offers our condolences to the family and the musician-actors fans.
DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).
Tamil actor Vijay Antonys daughter Meera died on September 19, as per reports. The teenager reportedly died by suicide. While Vijay and his family is yet to issue a formal statement regard her death, several Tamil stars have come forward to offer their condolences to the family and extend their support during the actors difficult time. Veteran actor R Sarath Kumar took to X (previously known as Twitter) and said he was in shock after learning about Meeras death.
The news of the untimely and unfortunate demise of Meera, the daughter of @vijayantony and Fatima is shocking beyond imaginations. No amount of consoling and condolences can replace the everlasting grief of Vijay Antony and Fatima. Vijay, I hope the almighty gives strength to your family to bear this unfathomable loss. May her soul rest in peace #RIPMeera, he wrote.
Director Karthik Subbaraj also reacted to the shocking death and said he is heartbroken by the news of Meeras death. Heartbreaking Stay Strong Vijay Antony Sir & Family.. Deepest condolences & Prayers , he wrote. Venkat Prabhu added, Woke up to this shocking news! Deepest condolences Vijay Antony Saar and family RIP Meera. Actor RJ Balaji said, Losing a child, it deeply hurts. No words can express the pain and grief. My deepest condolences to him and his family.
The news of the untimely and unfortunate demise of Meera, the daughter of @vijayantony and Fatima is shocking beyond imaginations. No amount of consoling and condolences can replace the everlasting grief of Vijay Antony and Fatima.Vijay I hope the almighty gives strength to pic.twitter.com/zzcgW3ag8w R Sarath Kumar (@realsarathkumar) September 19, 2023
Heartbreaking Stay Strong Vijay Antony Sir & Family.. Deepest condolences & Prayers karthik subbaraj (@karthiksubbaraj) September 19, 2023
Trigger Warning: As per India Today, she was found dead in the familys Chennai home at 3 a.m. and was rushed to the hospital. She was declared dead. As per unverified reports, she was under pressure and sought treatment for the same. Vijay and his family are yet to issue a statement about the heartbreaking turn of events. Meera was allegedly found hanging in her house in Chennais Teynampet area early in the morning on Tuesday. As per claims, Meera was studying in a private school in the city and was allegedly battling depression. However, News18 couldnt verify these claims at the time of publishing.
DISCLAIMER: This news piece may be triggering. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata).
A week after his return from yet another embarrassing visit to India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has launched a diplomatic attack on India stirring an escalation in the Indo-Canadian ties not seen in decades. On Tuesday, India woke up to Canada expelling its top diplomat, and Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons claiming credible allegations of a potential link between the Indian government and the murder of Canada-based Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Bruised by the drubbing he received for a whole week over a lost opportunity at the G20 summit, criticism from India and an airplane snag holding him down for more than a day before finally taking off from New Delhi, Trudeau is out to save face making unprecedented allegations against India as if in retaliation. One look at Canadas behaviour over the last few days will tell you that if the word unhinged were a person, it would be Justin Trudeau.
Firstly, Canada announced it would postpone an October trade mission to India. Then, reeling under pressure from his Conservative rivals on Tuesday, Trudeau told an emergency session of the parliamentary opposition that his government had credible allegations linking Indian agents to the killing of Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist wanted by India and the Interpol.
Foreign minister Melanie Joly further announced that Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat. Joly said the expelled diplomat is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), Indias foreign intelligence agency, in Canada. The Canadian Foreign Minister also said, If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty.
India Hits Back
This obviously led to a huge diplomatic escalation with India reciprocating in kind and expelling a senior Canadian diplomat. One could sense the tensions simply from a clip of the Canadian High Commissioner to India, who was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs and aggressively slammed the car door on a journalists face on his way back.
In a statement, India rejected Canadas claims of its involvement in the murder of Nijjar, who was shot dead by two gunmen outside a Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, in June this year. It said these unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias territorial integrity and sovereignty. It cited Canadian inaction and sympathies openly expressed by Canadian politicians for such elements. Further, it seemed to point to Canadas own responsibility for the crime by stating that the space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime was not new.
Canada in Violation of Indian Sovereignty
Indias frustration is warranted. Not only has Canada actively shunned Indias sensibilities over Khalistani terrorism, but it also provides safe haven and political patronage to the terrorists and extremists without an iota of remorse. Canada has for years been a fertile recruiting ground for Khalistani terrorists who are engaged in actively disrupting the security of non-Sikh Indians in Canada. There have been at least four instances of Hindu temples being vandalised by Khalistanis in Canada just this year. Indias diplomatic missions have been attacked multiple times, and senior diplomats faces emerged on Khalistani posters calling for their assassination. The most graphic of them all was a violent depiction in celebration of the 1984 assassination of former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi.
All of this comes on top of an unofficial referendum calling for a separate Sikh state, organised by Pakistan-linked Khalistani terrorists in the state of Canada, forcing the Sikh diaspora to take sides. Neither of these offences made Trudeau stand up in the House of Commons and unequivocally condemn such violent extremism. Instead, his government openly sympathises with Khalistani extremists and terrorists.
Trudeau talks about Canadian sovereignty and the rule of law when it is actually Canada that is challenging Indias sovereignty with its actions. Canada consciously provides safe haven to these elements and extends political patronage to them, and therefore it is Canada that is in violation of Indian sovereignty and not the other way around.
Nijjars Death: A Strange Hill to Die On
It is also strange that Trudeau chose Nijjars death as a hill to die on. Nijjar was a wanted terrorist, chief of the Khalistani Tiger Force, charged by India of reviving Khalistani extremism, radicalising and recruiting terrorists in Canada, visiting his associates in Pakistan and allegedly deploying them for murders and other illegal activities in India. India had called for Nijjars extradition in 2018, and Interpol too had issued a red notice against him.
Not only was Nijjar embroiled with gangsters in Canada and wanted by India, but he had a chequered immigration history. Nijjar, whom Trudeau referred to as a Canadian citizen, arrived in Canada in 1997 on a fake passport and had his citizenship application rejected twice. Nijjar arrived on a passport that falsely identified him as Ravi Sharma and the story backing his refugee claim was rejected as fabricated. Eleven days later, he married a British Columbian woman who sponsored his immigration, but even then his application was rejected and he was placed on the no-fly list.
It is not clear at what point he did receive Canadian citizenship, if it all, and it raises questions about the status of Canadas immigration authorities, not to mention Trudeaus motivations. After all, Trudeau is a flailing prime minister whose political survival relies on Khalistani leaders including Jagmeet Singh, the chief of the third-largest political party in Canada.
The Canadian and Western media overall are referring to Nijjar as a Sikh leader, Sikh activist or Sikh community leader, all misleading references whitewashing the individuals crimes. For them, Nijjar was a peaceful and religious community leader who dealt in plumbing services to make a living. This could not be further from the truth, and Canadian and Indian authorities know it best. However, the dishonesty of the Western media, unsettling but also unsurprising, obfuscates the truth which is far more intricate than the narrative being weaved out.
After a week of humiliation, Justin Trudeaus way of redeeming himself is by escalating a diplomatic row with India. He is in a desperate situation. His ratings are affected deeply by the rise of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. He could not care less about foreign policy as we have seen. And his only priority is to win favour with his voter constituencies.
As a result, however, Indo-Canadian relations are seeing new lows. It will not come as a surprise if ties between New Delhi and Ottawa are further downgraded. While for Trudeau and his peers, pandering to the Khalistani lobby is a game of political compulsions, for India, this is about sovereignty and the security of Indians internally and abroad. There is no way that Canada can win this fight.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday took a dim view of party MLC Gopichand Padalkars controversial comments on NCP leader and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.
Gopichand Padalkars comments are inappropriate. It is wrong to make such statements. Leaders and party workers from all three parties (in government) need to respect each other. It is my clear opinion that such language should not be used at all, Fadnavis told reporters.
Queried on the Supreme Courts directive to Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on disqualification petitions against CM Shinde and other MLAs of Shiv Sena, Fadnavis said it is a quasi-judicial procedure.
He said it would be the speakers prerogative to speak on the matter.
It will be inappropriate on my part to comment on it. I think blessings of Lord Ganesh are with the Mahayuti, Fadnavis added.
Padalkar has written to CM Eknath Shinde and his deputy Fadnavis on issues faced by the Dhangar community in Maharashtra.
When asked why he hadnt written to Ajit Pawar, who is also Deputy CM, Padalkar retorted, Ajit Pawar is a cunning pup of a cunning wolf and there is no need to approach him.
In his letter to Shinde, Padalkar warned of a protest by Dhangars (shepherd community) similar to the Jat agitation and asked the government to call a meeting over the demands of the community.
NCP leaders on Monday objected to Padalkars remarks against Ajit Pawar and demanded that the ruling party take action against the legislator.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an election jumla the womens reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesnt account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
Meeting a long-pending demand, the government on Tuesday introduced the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, it is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a census and delimitation exercise are completed.
Calling the bill an election jumla and huge betrayal of hopes of women, the Congress said that according to the Centre, the reservation will be effective only after census and delimitation exercise are conducted post-enactment of the bill.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party has always supported the womens reservation bill.
In 2010, the Congress-UPA government got the womens reservation bill passed in the Rajya Sabha. Just as SC-ST class has got a constitutional opportunity in politics, similarly everyone including women of OBC class should get equal opportunity through this bill, Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
There is a need to look carefully at the bill that the Modi government has brought today. In the current draft of the bill, it is written that it will be implemented only after decadal census and delimitation. This means, Modi government has probably closed the doors of womens reservation till 2029. BJP should clarify on this, he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed the opposition, particularly the Congress, for showing only tokenism on the bill and said the party has never been serious about womens reservation in legislative bodies.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wondered whether the Census and delimitation will be done before the 2024 elections, pointing out that the Narendra Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 decadal Census.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Ramesh said, In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls. Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said unlike the UPAs womens reservation bill that immediately gave women 33 per cent reservation, the NDAs womens reservation will kick-in only after a census and delimitation process.
At the earliest, this will kick in for the 2029 elections. If it isnt applicable immediately, this is just another headline management stunt by the Modi government. Further, the Bill doesnt account for reservation for women from OBC communities. Without that, it is incomplete in its social justice agenda, Venugopal said on X.
The government should ensure that along with womens reservation, representation of Indias backward communities is also guaranteed, he said.
Former law minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily slammed the government, saying bringing the bill at the last minute, the BJP thinks they can get some political advantage.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bill introduced by the government is a betrayal of the womens movement.
The clause 334A says the reservation will come into effect post the first census that is conducted after the constitution amendment is passed and then the delimitation exercise which would follow that. So essentially it means that before 2029 there is going to be no womens reservation, he said.
Senior party leader P Chidambaram said the bill is a typical example of BJPs deceptive politics and should be called Nari Shakti Mockery Adhiniyam (Bill) as it mocks the women of India and asks them to wait for the next Census.
Can there be a greater jumla, he asked.
Another ex-law minister Kapil Sibal alleged that the bill was yet another dream being sold by Prime Minister Modi for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claimed that its benefits would accrue to women only in 2029.
RJD spokesperson and MP Manoj Jha noted that the Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad Yadav has long sought quota within quota for the SCs, STs and OBCs in reserved seats for women. Without this, this serves no purpose, he said.
He said it is not clear if the women quota under the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam will come into force from 2029 or 2034 Lok Sabha polls, wondering if the government is serious or committing a fraud. Its a post-dated commitment by a government which has lost its credibility, Jha alleged.
While welcoming the bill, JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it should provide for reservation for women from backward classes and called for early completion of the census exercise.
The JD(U) sought to take credit for the bill with party spokesperson Rajib Ranjan, saying Kumar has always supported the idea of 33 per cent reservation for women.
In Bihar, RJD leader and former chief minister Rabri Devi slammed the bill. She asserted that quota within quota was essential for the weaker sections of society since it is only their first generation of women which is becoming educated and aware.
She also alleged that the bill was a gimmick, aimed just at making some noise since the implementation was proposed only after a fresh round of delimitation.
Reacting to the development, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said reservation for women should be a balance of gender justice and social justice and demanded a clarity on share of backward, Dalit, minority, and tribals in the seats set aside.
In a post on X in Hindi, Yadav said, Womens reservation should be a balance of gender justice and social justice. In this, reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, tribal women should be clear in definite percentage form. BSP supremo Mayawati said her party will support any bill that allows reservation for women in Parliament and other legislatures, even if the partys demand for a quota for the SC, ST and OBC within that quota is not met.
BSP MP Danish Ali, however, slammed the government calling the bill another jumla.
The country was hopeful that the Womens reservation would be implemented, but it was again postponed in the name of census and delimitation. Half of the countrys population will no longer forgive this crude joke of the Modi government, he said.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi alleged that the womens reservation bill is a bill to befool women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi alleged that the BJP is not interested in the wellbeing and welfare of women. A closer reading of the provisions of the bill shows that it is Mahila Bewakoof Banao bill, she said.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should have also provided for reservation of Muslim and OBC.
TMC leader Derek OBrien said, Why is Mr Modi so eager to do these things so secretively? Why is he so desperate to steal credit.
After hanging for 27 long years in coalition uncertainty, as the Womens Reservation Bill is all set to be introduced by the Narendra Modi government in the ongoing special session of Parliament, a loud credit war has broken out between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the main opposition Congress.
BJP sources suggest that the Congress has never been serious about the bill and only paid lip service. They cited how the Congress and its allies scuttled the bill when Atal Bihari Vajpayee presented it. The late Prime Minister brought it as many as six times. Remember, Vajpayee did not have the brute majority that Narendra Modi enjoys today. BJP sources further cite how the Congress, which had requisite numbers back in 2010 during UPA 2, failed to pass the bill in the Lok Sabha due to stiff objections from parties from the Hindi heartland like Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dalboth were been part of the UPA in different times. However, the BJP favoured the bill in the upper house, where it sailed through.
Today while it is attempting to steal credit and spread its false narrative, the Congress has seemingly forgotten that its own alliance members were once those that blackmailed it into withdrawing its support to the bill when it was introduced by the BJP, said Bharatiya Janata Partys Amit Malviya while speaking to News18.
Interestingly, while entering Parliament on Tuesday morning, when reporters asked Sonia Gandhi about the bill, she replied, What about it? Its ours. Apna hai. Thus the Congress sought to appropriate what many political thinkers consider as the BJPs well-thought-out political strategy ahead of assembly polls in a host of states including Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, and next years Lok Sabha election where women will play a decisive part. Womens share among voters over the past few years has risen to a whopping 48%, almost matching their male counterparts and making them a sought-after slice of the voting pie.
But the BJP is quick to remind of at least three instances of physical disruptions objecting to previous efforts to pass the bill.
Disruption 1: In 1998, then union law minister M Thambi Durai was about to introduce the bill when RJD member Surendra Prakash Yadav snatched it from his hand. Accompanied by colleague Ajit Kumar Mehta, he then dashed to the Speakers table to pick up more copies in an attempt to destroy them.
Disruption 2: Opposition (then in power) Rajya Sabha members created a ruckus when the bill was tabled in the upper house. Subhash Yadav (RJD), Sabir Ali (LJP), Veerpal Singh Yadav, Nand Kishore Yadav, Amir Alam Khan and Kamal Akhtar (all SP), and Ejaz Ali (unattached), created a commotion in the house when the bill was brought in the Rajya Sabha and was, therefore, suspended.
Disruption 3: In 2010, SP member Abu Asim Azmi and his party colleagues tried to snatch the bills copy from then-law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj.
However, faced with these straight charges from the BJP, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh hit back. In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls, he said.
As the bill was being tabled by union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha, Congresss leader of the house further tried to claim credit. The Womens Reservation Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha during the time of Dr. Manmohan Singh is still alive. It has also been demanded in our CWC meeting that the womens reservation bill be passed. Former Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Womens Reservation Bill. We reiterate our demand for passing the Womens Reservation Bill, he said.
But BJP sources were quick to remind how many within the Congress have successively stalled the bill over the years. They cited CK Jaffer Sharief and Shakeel Ahmad as examples, claiming they supported disruptions. In fact, pointing to a 2010 interview by CNN-News18 of then UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, BJP sources indicated how she accepted that there were members in her own party because of whom it was unable to get the requisite numbers to pass the bill.
But beyond the war of words on who can claim victory, the bill is likely very soon going to be legislation with parties across the political spectrum including the Congress, AAP, BSP, and BRS extending their support. Almost every government since 1996 has tried to push the bill through Parliament but failed. BJP sources claim they not only have the numbers but also the political will to give the women of India their due.
Elon Musk has talked about bringing a paywall structure for all the X (formerly Twitter) users. Musk was speaking about the need to combat vast armies of bots in a live stream on X with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels Prime Minister.
What this basically means is that X could become a paid platform for anyone who wants to use it. Musks reasons for bringing this drastic change are linked to the massive bot influx on X, which he believes when people are asked to pay for the service will reduce the influence of bots on the platform. He did mention that, unlike the X Premium subscription, the platform will have a lower tier pricing for all the users.
While he categorically talks about making X as a paid platform to prevent bots from taking over, it is quite evident that Musk has been on a mission to turn around the monetary side of the platform. X has never been on the green side of profits, in fact, Musk has reportedly claimed that the company has seen over 50 per cent drop in revenues because of limited ads and the heavy debt owed by the previous management.
There is no denying that ever since Musk took over Twitter in October last year, he has changed the look and feel of the platform. He has even rebranded the whole product from legacy Twitter to a very popular brand choice of X. He brought the premium service on X for more countries, including benefits like a verified badge, edit post button, hiding likes on the platform and more.
X has already made it harder for people to pay for its service, which costs as much as Rs 900 per month in markets like India if you take X Premium on Android, or Rs 650 per month while taking the service via the web. This isnt the first time Musk has talked about making X paid for all users and this public statement this week suggests the change is imminent, like every other decision Musk has taken in the past few months. And if it does happen, X could likely see a major drop in the user base, especially from countries like India.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The achievement of the main objectives of Azerbaijan's anti-terrorist measures in Karabakh, is at its final stage, Azerbaijani President's Assistant and Head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration, Hikmet Hajiyev told TRT Haber, Trend reports.
The main military goals we set for ourselves have been achieved, he said.
"For any contacts, the separatist regime in Karabakh must dissolve itself and disarm," Hajiyev said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
Panos Panay, Windows chief product officer who also led the companys Surface devices, on Monday announced he is leaving Microsoft after 19 incredible years. Yusuf Mehdi, Microsofts corporate vice president of modern life, search, and devices, will take his place as the head of the Windows and Surface businesses.
Panay joined Microsoft in 2004 as a group programme manager and became the companys chief product officer in 2018, where he led the development of Windows 11.
In 2021, Panay was promoted to executive vice president as part of the top leadership team under Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Ive decided to turn the page and write the next chapter. Im forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with, Panay said in a post on X.
Thank you, Panos, for your impact on our products, culture, company, and industry over the past two decades, Nadella said in a statement.
Im grateful for your leadership, support, and all youve done for Microsoft and our customers and partners, he added.
In an internal email, Rajesh Jha, Microsofts vice president of experience and devices, told employees that Panay has decided to leave the company.
More recently, as the leader of Windows, the team under Panay brought amazing services and experiences to hundreds of millions with Windows 11 on innovative devices including those from our OEM partners.
Moving forward, we will double down on our strategy. These changes will be effective immediately with Panos help in the transition, Jha wrote.
He will be missed, and I am personally very grateful for his many contributions over the years, he added.
As the pandemic effects are now waning off, many companies have asked employees to join back from office. In a bid to cater with remote work, TikTok is using an app to track in-office attendance. This month, the company implemented a new internal software called MyRTO (My return to office). According to a report by the New York Times, MyRTO tracks badge swipes which are made when employees enter the office premises. Employees are expected to explain any sort of deviation. The badge swipe data will be analysed by employee supervisors and HR staff. As per the new mandate, it requires the US employees to work from office at least thrice a week. Some employees are also required to work from the office for an entire five days.
Also Read: No 13th Floor in Medanta Hospital? Reddit Users Pic Brings Back Superstition of Cursed Floor
The employees were warned that any deliberate and consistent disregard may result in disciplinary action. Also, it could impact their performance reviews.
Some members of the staff have also voiced their frustration and dismay over the attendance policy. One employee spoke to The New York Times on the condition of anonymity. He claimed that the app threats of punishment were unnecessary, and that colleagues were now fearful about the consequences of failing to comply.
In response, a TikTok spokesperson claimed, The ultimate goal of MyRTO is to provide greater clarity and context to both employees and leaders regarding their RTO expectations and in-office schedules, and help foster more transparent communications.
TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance and it employs around 7,000 people in the US.
Also Read: Restaurant Charges Rs 1,300 To Cut Store-Bought Cake, Calls It Part Of Service
This comes in just when TikTok has been fined 345 million euros for breaching privacy laws regarding childrens personal data in the European Union.
One Reddit user took to the social media site and shared how he overheard a mid aged uncle passing a remark on a girl who had exhausted her token limit. Going by an anonymous name, the Reddit user explained how he and his friend took a metro, got hungry, and went inside the Burger King outlet at Kashmere Gate. He explained, We lost track of time in our gossip. We soon separated our ways and I reached my stop. Tried to exit, but it didnt happen. I queued behind a girl who was talking to this metro customer service guy.
Also Read: Influencer Caught Having Heated Argument On Flight, Calls Herself Instagram Famous
For those who dont know, Delhi metro has a rule which states that once you enter, you get 1.5 hours to reach your destination. If one decides to stop at a station for whatever reason, they cannot go over the limit. Meaning, they wont be able to exit and will have to pay penalty 10 or sometimes 50.
So, when this guy stood at the penalty queue, there was another girl right in front of him. The metro staff member told her that she had exceeded her time limit and so, she had to pay the penalty. The girl agreed politely.
The uncle standing right beside her passed an unwanted remark that nobody asked for. He said, Kar rahe honge chumma
chati.
The Reddit user wrote, He looks at another uncle and both nod in agreement. The girl didnt hear it but I did. He was 100% sure, and that annoying smile he had on his face, uff.
Here, have a look at the viral post:
Since being uploaded, the post has gathered multiple responses. Know about a 57 year old govt. Employee telling a 19 year old girl in his office that if she was born 30 years earlier, she would have had the privilege of having him as her boyfriend, commented a Reddit user. Another person wrote, Jealousy, frustration and the hopelessness of a 9 to 5 job which doesnt lead anywhere and makes you forget any fun activities which excited you in your youth.
Also Read: No 13th Floor in Medanta Hospital? Reddit Users Pic Brings Back Superstition of Cursed Floor
Not every old guy is worthy of respect. Respect comes with knowledge and their way of carrying themselves. Such buddhaos need to be trashed down with the same type of vile they spit from their mouths, wrote another Reddit user.
What do you think?
When a pregnant woman attempts a normal delivery of a baby, she often needs a little motivation. The kind words or a back rub or firm tone by someone beside her often help them breeze through that painful process. One of the best prospects for this role is the husband. Nowadays, husbands not only drive their car to the hospital for delivery but also remain by their side. It becomes a memorable experience for most of them but not for all. A man in Australia has tried to sue the hospital in Melbourne by claiming that he developed a psychotic illness as a result of watching his wife giving birth via caesarean section. He has asked for compensation of A$1 Billion according to the local TV news station 7News.
The man named Anil Koppula and his wife gave birth to a child in the year 2018. The doctors suggested her delivery through C-section and carried out the procedure while her husband witnessed the whole process. Now the man has filed a case against the Royal Womens Hospital of Melbourne regarding this. Anil Koppula alleges that he was encouraged and given permission by the hospital to witness the delivery. His mental condition deteriorated after watching the surgery and he asked the hospital to pay compensation for this.
During the court hearing, the man claimed that his marriage broke due to his mental illness and hence he is entitled to compensation. Koppula said that he had to see his wifes organs and blood during the procedure which led to the alleged development of illness in him.
The Royal Womens Hospital has denied breaching a duty of care for Mr Koppula. They said that as long as Anil Koppula was in the hospital during delivery, he was neither harmed nor injured. Judge James Gorton has called this claim an abuse of process and dismissed the case on Monday. The medical examination of Anil Koppula was conducted as part of the trial proceedings. After getting the results, the panel found that the physiological impairment of the defendant was insufficient to be considered a serious injury.
Azerbaijans Defence Ministry on Tuesday said that it launched a military offensive against Armenia, which it calls an anti-terrorist operation, to take control of its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the contentious region.
The Azerbaijan forces have reportedly opened fire on Armenian positions in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Meanwhile, ethnic Armenian officials claimed that at least two civilians were killed and 11 wounded in the heavy artillery fire around the regions capital.
Tensions have been prevalent for years between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the latest military offensive comes as a part of the ongoing struggle to assume control of the ethnic Armenian enclave in the Nagorno-Karabakh region recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan.
Top Updates in the ongoing Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
France called Tuesday for an urgent UN Security Council meeting and the United States said it was reaching out diplomatically after Azerbaijan launched a military operation in the ethnic Armenian separatist enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Blasts were heard in the mountainous territory as Azerbaijan demanded the withdrawal of Armenian forces, just one day after aid was allowed in through the sole road link to Nagorno-Karabakh.
France called for the Security Council to meet on the crisis, which comes as leaders gather for the annual General Assembly.
This operation is illegal, unjustifiable and unacceptable, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told reporters.
I would like to emphasize that we hold Azerbaijan responsible for the fate of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, she said.
She condemned the use of heavy weapons including in populated areas.
The French foreign ministry earlier said that the operation threatens thousands of civilians already affected by a month-long illegal blockade and which runs against efforts by the international community to reach a negotiated settlement.
A senior US official said that Secretary of State Antony Blinken was holding talks on the crisis with officials including from Turkey, a close ally of Azerbaijan.
We had actually good news yesterday, the official said on condition of anonymity.
We were hopeful that we were going to be able to adapt to the longer-term issues, the official said, so that makes this incident overnight particularly egregious and particularly dangerous.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held talks Tuesday by telephone both with Blinken and French President Emmanuel Macron, a spokesperson said in Yerevan.
France and the United States, which both have large Armenian diasporas, have both been active on Karabakh. Blinken has led three rounds of peace talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers.
Azerbaijan earlier protested an effort by French mayors to push aid into Nagorno-Karabakh.
The United States on Monday confirmed a prisoner swap with Iran and said that President Joe Biden had granted clemency to five Iranians jailed or awaiting trial for non-violent crimes.
A US official said that seven US citizens were on a Qatari plane that departed Iran. They include three previously identified Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Sharqi and two who wish to remain anonymous.
Also on the plane are Namazis mother and Sharqis wife, both of whom are US citizens who were barred from leaving Iran, although they were not imprisoned.
All are of Iranian descent and are considered citizens by Tehran, which does not recognize dual nationality.
The US official said that Biden, in taking the politically risky move, was also imposing new sanctions on Irans intelligence ministry and former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The sanctions were imposed over alleged deceit over the disappearance of Bob Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in mysterious circumstance and is presumed dead.
The United States will never give up on Bob Levinsons case. We call on the Iranian regime to give a full account of what happened to Bob Levinson, a senior US official said on condition of anonymity.
Levinson had traveled to the Iranian island of Kish on a CIA mission. Iran has not acknowledged his arrest.
The US official said that the five Iranians granted clemency were all charged or convicted with nonviolent crimes. Two were in prison, with the sentence of one soon to end, and three were awaiting trial.
Azerbaijans defence ministry on Tuesday announced that it has begun anti-terrorism operations in Armenia-controlled parts of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Azerbaijan said it informed Russia and Turkey about military activities it was carrying out in Karabakh as part of anti-terrorist operations in the Armenian-populated breakaway region.
Azerbaijan said that Russia and Turkey were informed about the military activities it was carrying out in Karabakh. The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center were informed about the activities being carried out, Azerbaijans defence ministry said.
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Why Azerbaijan is Fighting Armenia? All About Disputed Region | Explained
Anti-terrorist operations in the region of a local character have begun, Bakus defence ministry said, according to news agency AFP. The Azeri defence ministry said that it is using high-precision weapons on the front line and in depth as part of the operations.
The AFP also said that blasts were heard from the separatist stronghold of Stepanakert in Azerbaijans breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenia Accuses Azerbaijan of Attempting Ethnic Cleansing in Karabakh
Meanwhile, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of unleashing large-scale aggression against the Armenian-populated separatist region of Karabakh and claimed Baku was attempting ethnic cleansing in the region.
On September 19, Azerbaijan unleashed another large-scale (act of) aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to complete its policy of ethnic cleansing, Armenias foreign ministry said.
Armenia PM Dials Antony Blinken
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and they discussed the situation in Karabakh, according to EHA News.
Azerbaijani Presidential Adviser Says Op Close to Completion
Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev said the main objectives of Azerbaijans operation in Karabakh are close to completion and military targets have already been neutralized.
Azerbaijan Must Halt Karabakh Operation Immediately: EU Chief
EU chief Charles Michel called on Azerbaijan to stop its military operation in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Devastating news coming from former Nagorno-Karabakh oblast today. Military actions of Azerbaijan must be immediately halted to allow for a genuine dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians, Michel wrote in a social media post.
Nagorno-Karabakh Dispute
Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan but largely populated by ethnic Armenians.
The attacks come shortly after Baku claimed that four Azerbaijani police officers and two civilians were killed in mine blasts in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The eastern European neighbours have been fighting each other for decades over the mountainous Nagorno-Karabakh region and have fought two wars in the 1990s and in 2020.
There were fears that a fresh series of fightings may erupt between the neighbouring nations as Armenia accused Azerbaijan of increasing presence of troops and blocked its only land link to Armenian-majority Karabakh.
(With AFP inputs)
Azerbaijan on Tuesday announced that it has launched an anti-terrorist operation against Armenia in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which falls under the latters control.
According to media reports, Azerbaijans military forces have so far destroyed a post of Armenian forces on the Karkijahan-Khalfaly road in the Karabakh region and also restricted access to the video-sharing social media platform Tiktok within the region.
While tensions have been prevalent for years between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the most recent counterattack has been going on for months over the control and surrounding of the ethnic Armenian enclave in the Nagorno-Karabakh region recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan.
Heres a brief account of the long-standing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
What is the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict?
Armenia and Azerbaijan have often locked horns for the control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, known as Artsakh in Armenia. It is a landlocked mountainous area in the South Caucasus that both countries have been fighting for. It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of contention ever since.
While the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, its inhabitants and a major part of the population are dominated by ethnic Armenians who have their government, which enjoys close links with the Armenian government but is not officially recognised by it or other United Nations member states.
What are the main issues in the conflict?
Apart from the territorial and rebellion conflict, there is also an ethnic fight between the local ethnic Armenians, who are Christians and Azers, who identify as Muslims.
Armenians claim a long historical dominance in the Nagorno-Karabakh area, which dates back to several centuries before Christ.
On the other hand, Azerbaijan, whose population are mostly Muslim, links its historical identity to the territory, too. It accuses the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived nearby in the 1990s by creating an exodus-like situation. Now, the country wants to gain full control over the enclave, suggesting ethnic Armenians take Azeri passports or leave the region if needed.
The two neighbours, Azerbaijan and Armenia, have gone to war for control over Nagorno-Karabakh twice, first in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union and again in 2020.
What is the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh?
After its anti-terror offensive on Tuesday, Azerbaijan is demanding the complete withdrawal of Armenian forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region as a condition for peace in the disputed territory.
The only way to achieve peace and stability in the region is the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and the dissolution of the so-called (Armenian separatist) regime, Bakus defence ministry said in a statement.
Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics, have gone to war twice over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh in the past century.
Here is a timeline of the troubles:
1923: autonomous Soviet region
The Armenian-majority territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is recognised by the international community as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, has changed hands multiple times over the course of history.
In 1813, it became part of the Russian empire and in 1923 was granted the status of autonomous region within the Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
When the Soviet Union began to crumble in the late 1980s ethnic Armenians in Karabakh began pushing for their region to be ruled by Armenia, a demand rejected by both Azerbaijan and Moscow.
1992: first war
In 1991, after Armenia and Azerbaijan broke away from the Soviet Union, Karabakhs population voted overwhelmingly for independence.
Azerbaijan rejected the poll, which was not recognised by the international community, and the two sides went to war.
Karabakhs Armenians emerged victorious in the 1992-1993 conflict.
They took control of the region as well as a chunk of surrounding Azerbaijani territory connecting it to Armenia.
The war left about 30,000 people dead and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.
Ethnic Azeris fled Karabakh and Armenia while ethnic Armenians fled Azerbaijan.
1994: ceasefire
A ceasefire brokered by Moscow in 1994 left Karabakh and the surrounding territory in Armenian hands.
But deadly clashes continued regularly along the frontier between Karabakh and Azerbaijan.
2020: second war
In a six-week war in 2020, Turkey-backed Azerbaijan won back much of the territory it previously lost.
About 6,500 troops died in the fighting, with the Armenians taking the heaviest losses.
It ended with a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
Under the deal, Armenia ceded large chunks of territory it had controlled for decades.
Moscow deployed some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers to oversee the truce.
Armenians saw the agreement as a humiliation and stormed the main government building in the Armenian capital Yerevan in protest.
2022: blockade
In September 2022, fighting broke out again with both sides accusing the other of provoking week-long clashes in which more than 210 people died.
In December, Armenia accused Azerbaijan of fuelling a humanitarian crisis after Baku blocked the sole road linking Armenia to Karabakh for cargo deliveries, causing food shortages.
2023: new Azeri offensive
On September 19, Azerbaijan launched what it calls anti-terrorist measures against Armenian separatists in Karabakh, accusing them of deadly mine attacks.
Blasts were heard in Karabakhs main town of Stepanakert.
The separatists said the offensive has so far killed five people and injured 80 others.
Azerbaijan is demanding the total withdrawal of Armenian forces from Karabakh as a precondition for peace.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Footage of the destruction of another shelter and military equipment belonging to units of the Armenian armed forces [which haven't been withdrawn from Azerbaijan's Karabakh contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] has been released, Trend reports citing the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
VIDEO:
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
American authorities on Monday located the crash site for a stealth fighter jet that went missing during the weekend after its pilot ejected in rural South Carolina. The military asked the public to help it find the aircraft which was built to escape detection.
A report by the Associated Press said that the debris field was discovered in Williamsburg County, about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston. The residents of the area were told to avoid the area as a recovery team worked to secure it.
We would like to thank all of our mission partners, as well as local, county, and state authorities, for their dedication and support throughout the search and as we transition to the recovery phase. Joint Base Charleston (@TeamCharleston) September 18, 2023
We are transferring incident command to the USMC this evening, as they begin the recovery process, Joint Base Charleston posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The pilot who ejected from the jet has not yet been named but was taken to a hospital where he remains in a stable condition. The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process, the Marine Corps said in a press release.
This is the third such accident the Marine Corps experienced in recent weeks and it announced on Monday that it is halting aviation operations for two days after the fighter jets crash.
This is the third-such incident to be documented as Class-A mishap over the past six weeks, according to the announcement by the Marine Corps.
Accidents or mishaps are categorised as Class-A mishap when damages reach $2.5 million or more, a Department of Defense aircraft is destroyed, or someone dies or is permanently disabled.
The order to halt operations came from General Eric Smith as authorities searched near two South Carolina lakes for the missing FB-35B Lightning II aircraft.
During the stand-down period commanders will reinforce safe flying policies, practices and procedures with their Marines
Though the press release did not reveal details of the two previous incidents, the Associated Press report said that in August, three US marine were killed during a training exercise in Australia when a V-22B Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crashed and a Marine Corps pilot was killed when his combat jet crashed near a San Diego base during a training flight.
The authorities said that they are probing what prompted the pilot to eject from the aircraft Sunday. They initially searched Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, lakes which are located north of North Charleston.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Karabakh separatists have appealed to Azerbaijani authorities to hold talks, Trend reports.
Baku has repeatedly invited those Armenians living in Karabakh to hold negotiations on the reintegration, however, they refused.
And, right now, when Azerbaijan has launched anti-terrorist measures of a local nature in order to restore the constitutional regime of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Karabakh separatist have all of a sudden recalled Azerbaijan's proposals.
However, they should understand that in the current situation, Baku will continue anti-terrorist measures until the illegal Armenian armed formations in Karabakh are disarmed, leave the region and the separatist regime is dissolved.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Protesters gathered at the Republic Square in Yerevan, Trend reports.
As the footage disbursed on social networks shows, they are trying to break into the Armenian government building. A clash occurred between them and the police.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
A FORMER assistant bursar at Lomagundi College in Zimbabwe has been charged with 243 counts of theft related to more than US$200 000 which the school lost between 2017 and 2020.
Carmalita Doreen Hinze is accused of taking payments from parents, but not banking the funds.
Instead, she allegedly converted the funds to her own use.
A forensic audit, conducted by Mariahill Chartered Accountants, was used to identify the 243 counts of theft.
Hinze was released on free bail when she appeared before magistrate Marewanazvo Gofa.
Hinzes duties, among others, included receipting cash, bank payments, bank reconciliation, invoicing, debtor agreements, debt collecting from parents on daily basis and handing the money over to the senior Bursar.
She allegedly received money amounting to US$236 964, $59 810 and R24 700 from parents for receipting and converted it to her own use.
Sometime in January this year, the school carried out a verification process after inviting parents and discovered that Hinze did not bank the money she received from parents.
A forensic audit was then conducted.
Pardon Dziva prosecuted. H Metro
UPDATE
Sep 19, 2023 2:10 AM CDT
The Danish artist who took the money and ranspecifically, he took the money Denmark's Kunsten Museum of Modern Art gave him to reproduce two of his prior works, but instead of recreating them he simply gave the museum two blank canvases he called "Take the Money and Run"has been ordered to run right back with said money. The museum took legal action against Jens Haaning after the exhibition, in which his blank canvases were displayed, when he declined to return the cash he was supposed to use in his artwork and then give back, the Guardian reports. The court ruled that Haaning could keep his artist's fee and viewing fee, the BBC reports.
Sep 29, 2021 2:30 AM CDT
When Denmark's Kunsten Museum of Modern Art gave Jens Haaning $84,000, it expected the artist to recreate two of his previous works. Instead, the museum says, Haaning gave it two blank canvases. "The curator received an email in which Jens Haaning wrote that he had made a new piece of art work and changed the work title into 'Take the Money and Run,'" the museum director tells CBS News. The $84,000 was meant for Haaning to place in the canvases to reproduce his 2010 piece "An Average Danish Annual Income" and his 2007 piece "An Average Austrian Annual Income," both of which used real money to illustrate the aforementioned average incomes. In addition to that, Haaning was compensated for the work, the museum says.
Zahra el-Gerbi wasn't expecting much of a response to her online fundraiser, but she felt she had to do something after four of her relatives died in the flooding that decimated the eastern Libyan city of Derna. She put out a call for donations for those displaced by the deluge. In the first half-hour after she shared it on Facebook, the Benghazi-based clinical nutritionist said friends and strangers were already promising financial and material support, the AP reports. "It's for basic needs like clothes, foods and accommodation," el-Gerbi said.
For many Libyans, the collective grief over the more than 11,000 dead has morphed into a rallying cry for national unity in a country blighted by 12 years of conflict and division. In turn, the tragedy has ramped up pressure on the country's leading politicians, viewed by some as the architects of the catastrophe. The oil-rich country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014, with an internationally recognized government in Tripoli and a rival authority in the east, where Derna is located. Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias whose influence in the country has ballooned since a NATO-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Numerous United Nations-led initiatives to bridge the divide have failed.
Early on Sept. 11, two dams in the mountains above Derna burst, sending a wall of water two stories high into the city and sweeping entire neighborhoods out to sea. At least 11,300 people were killed and 30,000 displaced. An outpouring of support for the people of Derna followed. Residents in nearby Benghazi and Tobruk offered to put up the displaced. In Tripoli, 900 miles west, a hospital said it would perform operations free of charge for any injured in the flood. Ali Khalifa, an oil rig worker from Zawiya, west of Tripoli, said men from his neighborhood joined a convoy of vehicles heading to Derna to help relief efforts. Even the local scout squad participated. "The wound or pain of what happened in Derna hurt all the people from western Libya to southern Libya to eastern Libya," said Mohamed al-Harari.
story continues below
The disaster has fostered rare instances of the opposing administrations cooperating. As recently as 2020, the two sides were in an all-out war in which thousands were killed. But the distribution of aid into Derna has been disorganized, with minimal amounts of supplies reaching flood-affected areas in the days following the disaster. Across the country, the disaster has also exposed the shortcomings of Libya's fractured political system. Some have leveled blame for the burst dams at government officials. A report by a state-run audit agency in 2021 said the two dams hadn't been maintained despite funding. "Everyone in charge is responsible," said Noura el-Gerbi, a journalist and activist. "The next flood will be over them."
(Read more Libya stories.)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday that the Indian government ordered the assassination of a Sikh leader this summer on Canadian soil. Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot in June while sitting in his truck in a busy parking lot near a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, a city near Vancouver, the BBC reports. Canadian intelligence linked India to the killing, Trudeau said. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Trudeau told lawmakers.
At the Group of 20 summit this month, he made the accusation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "in no uncertain terms," Trudeau said, per the New York Times. Modi in turn said Trudeau's government is not doing enough to quell "anti-India activities of extremist elements"by which he meant the Sikh separatist movement in Canada. Nijjar advocated for an independent Sikh nation that would include parts of India's Punjab state. India had labeled him a terrorist who led a militant separatist group, which his supporters denied. Later in the day, the foreign minister announced the expulsion of a diplomat she said was the head of Indian intelligence in Canada. (Read more Canada stories.)
X, the site that was formerly Twitter, may soon also be known as a site that was formerly free. CEO Elon Musk said Monday that the company is "moving to a small monthly payment for use of the X system," TechCrunch reports. He said it was the only way he could think of to fight "vast armies" of bots on the platform. "Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny call it a tenth of a pennybut even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, the effective cost of bots is very high." Musk said in July that ad revenue has dropped 50% since he bought the platform and X is currently "negative cash flow," Variety notes.
Musk said the platform has 550 million monthly users who create 100 to 200 million posts a day, though it wasn't clear whether he was counting bots, TechCrunch notes. The site already charges $8 per month for the X Premium Service, previously known as Twitter Blue, but analysts believe only a small fraction of users have signed up.
Musk was speaking during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who began his US visit with a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area, the AP reports. The two men also discussed issues including artificial intelligence and antisemitism, with Netanyahu urging Musk to get hate speech under control. Earlier this month, Musk threatened to sue the Anti-Defamation League, blaming the organization for the drop in the company's ad revenue. (Read more Twitter stories.)
Count former President Trump out for the second debate of the 2024 Republican presidential primary season, too. Trump, who gave Tucker Carlson an interview instead of attending the first debate in August, will be in Detroit on September 27, the day of the next debate, multiple advisers tell media outlets including the New York Times , the Washington Post , and Politico . While his fellow presidential contenders are debating at southern California's Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, Trump will be giving a primetime speech to more than 500 union members representing various trades, including autoworkers. The news comes days after United Auto Workers went on strike, and is the latest example of Trump's attempts to appear to be on the side of the striking workers.
Whether those workers are buying it, though, is another story. UAW President Shawn Fain's reaction to Trump's speech: "Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers. We can't keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don't have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class." As the Times notes, while Trump prides himself on appealing to union workers, most union leaders are not fans. Also coming soon: a radio ad claiming Trump calls striking workers "great Americans and has always had their backs." He has not, however, weighed in on their actual demands. (Read more Donald Trump 2024 stories.)
India dismissed allegations that its government was linked to the killing of a Sikh activist in Canada as "absurd" Tuesday, and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat, the AP reports. It came a day after Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations its government may have had links to the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey, British Columbia. Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death. Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjar's arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
In a statement, India's Ministry of External Affairs wrote that "the decision reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities." The dueling expulsions come as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall. Protests by pro-Sikh independence groups in Canada have angered the Modi government. The Sikh independence, or Khalistan, movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora.
On Tuesday, India's foreign ministry released a statement dismissing Canada's allegation as "absurd and motivated." The ministry's added that Trudeau had made similar allegations to Modi. "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the statement noted, referring to the proposed name of a Sikh homeland. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said a top diplomat, who she said was the head of Indian intelligence in Canada, has been expelled as a consequence. (More, including the US response, here.)
A mama bear and her cub went a little Cocaine Bear on some doughnuts in Anchorage last week. Candice Sergeant, the manager of a Krispy Kreme store in the Alaskan city's Muldoon neighborhood, tells CBS Chicago that she was working her shift last Tuesday when she got an "unusual call" from one of her delivery drivers: He was reporting the presence of two bears in the back of his van. "I didn't believe it," Sergeant now laughs. "I was really astonished." The van had been parked outside Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where the delivery driver had briefly left the van door open while he was dropping off doughnuts at the store there.
"You could hear them ... breaking open the packages," Shelly Deano, the manager of that store, says. "We were trying to beat on the van but they just kept eating all the doughnuts." She details that that two bears devoured 20 packages of doughnut holes and a half-dozen three-packs of chocolate doughnuts. Deano notes that she called base security, which was able to scare the bears off into the nearby woods by blasting loud sirens.
"UnBEARlievable Krispy Kreme ALASKA Moment!" Krispy Kreme Alaska wrote on its Facebook page, showing a photo of the bears raiding the van. USA Today notes that all three types of North American bearblack, brown, and polarcall Alaska home, and so some necessary "coexisting" has to take place. The state's Department of Fish and Game recommends that anyone who encounters a bear call 911 if it poses an immediate threat, and to fill out an online report if they come across a bear in a nonthreatening situation. (Read more bears stories.)
In a blow to Chinese President Xi Jinping's leadership, the country's former foreign minister, an ally of Xi's who vanished from the public eye in June, was ousted for "lifestyle issues"the Chinese Communist Party's term for sexual misconduct, the Wall Street Journal reports. Qin Gang served as China's ambassador to the US from July 2021 until January, when he was hand-picked by Xi to replace foreign minister Wang Yi, who was promoted to director of foreign affairs. It was "an unusually fast promotion" for 57-year-old Qin, per the Journal. In July, however, it was revealed that Yi had resumed the post of foreign minister. The Foreign Ministry initially blamed Qin's absence on "health reasons."
In truth, an investigation found he had engaged in an extramarital affair throughout his tenure as ambassadorone that led to the birth of a child in the US, the Journal reports, noting the child "could potentially compromise his ability to represent China's interests in dealing with the Americans." Senior Chinese officials briefed on the investigation last month were told Qin was dismissed due to "lifestyle issues," meaning sexual misconduct, which is "often used as a way to discredit fallen officials considered to be disloyal," per the Journal. Qin, who is still listed as one of five state councilors, is reportedly complying with an ongoing investigation exploring whether his actions jeopardized China's national security. Meanwhile, another Chinese minister has been taken away for questioning, per the Journal.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, appointed in March and last seen in public three weeks ago, is under investigation for what the Guardian describes as "the corrupt procurement of military equipment" during his time running the equipment division of the military's ruling body between September 2017 and October 2022. The equipment division said in July that it was investigating corruption "relating to the bidding process, and the formation of private cliques, dating back to 2017," per the Guardian. As with Qin, officials initially cited health reasons for Li's disappearance, per CNN. US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel noted last week that "President Xi's cabinet lineup is now resembling Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None." (Read more China stories.)
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau startled the international community on Monday with a damning allegation against Indiahe said Canada was investigating "credible allegations" that the Indian government orchestrated the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. India denies it, and a diplomatic tit-for-tat is now under way between the two nations. Coverage:
The killing: On June 18, masked gunman shot to death 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar while he was in his pickup truck in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The two gunmen remain at large, along with a third man who was their getaway driver, reports the Toronto Sun.
On June 18, masked gunman shot to death 45-year-old Hardeep Singh Nijjar while he was in his pickup truck in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. The two gunmen remain at large, along with a third man who was their getaway driver, reports the Toronto Sun. Who was he? Nijjar, who was born in India and emigrated to Canada in 1997, owned a plumbing business but he was better known as a prominent leader of the Sikh community in his adopted country, per Canada's Global News. In fact, he was leader of the temple, or gurdwara, where he was fatally shot.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Western Azerbaijan Community strongly condemned the statement of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trend reports.
According to the community, France should have condemned the mine terror committed by Armenian armed formations today, called for the withdrawal of the remnants of the Armenian armed forces from the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, called on the Armenian separatist troops to disarm and eliminate the separatist regime.
France has not called on Armenia to implement UN Security Council resolutions during the 30 years of the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani lands and even opposed referring to these documents, the community said.
"France should be ashamed of its immoral actions and put an end to hypocrisy, an approach to issues through the Azerbaijanophobia, Islamophobia and religious prejudice," the statement said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
One of the most complete dinosaur skulls ever documented will hit the auction block next month along with the rest of the 150-million-year-old Camptosaurus' bones. Such sales of dinosaur fossils are "rare, with only a small number taking place each year globally" as scientists raise concerns about fossils being whisked into private collections and away from the public and researchers, per the BBC . Experts say this Camptosaurus skeletonnamed Barry after the paleontologist Barry James, who unearthed it in Wyoming in the 1990sis nearly complete and "extremely well preserved," per the outlet.
At 7 feet tall and 16 feet long, it's "one of the most complete dinosaurs ever auctioned," says Alexandre Giquello, president of Paris auction house Hotel Drouot, which will sell the specimen on Oct. 20, per Barron's. "The skull is complete at 90% and the rest of the dinosaur is complete at 80%," he adds, per the BBC. It's expected to fetch up to $1.2 million in the controversial sale. As the Economist reported earlier this year, a major uptick in demand for dinosaur specimens from private collectors since fossils began selling for millions at auction in 2018 has caused concern that public institutions will lose access to valuable finds.
But if Barry is purchased by a private collector, there may not be much change. As Barron's reports, the fossil was held in a private collection in Colorado since soon after its discovery in Wyoming's Morrison Formation. It was purchased last year by experts from the Italian company Zoic, who partnered with scientists from the University of Bologna on a vast reconstruction project. "Zoic undertook the meticulous task of disassembling, cleaning, and cataloging the specimen's original bones in order to carry out a complete reconstruction of the specimen according to current scientific standards," according to the auction house. (Read more dinosaurs stories.)
A father in Columbus, Ohio, shared video of an exchange with two city officers who came to his door, and the department says it's now investigating how they handled things. As 10TV explains, the father called police to report that his 11-year-old daughter had been manipulated by an adult to share explicit photos. By the time officers arrived, the girl had gone to bed, and the father told the officers he'd hoped they could talk to her. Part of the exchange, per the Columbus Dispatch :
The father ends the conversation, asking, "Are you serious?" and goes back into the house. His resulting TikTok video has gone viral, with more than 720,000 views as of Tuesday morning. The city police department acknowledged it has seen the video. "Incidents involving minors are handled with the highest degree of concern," says the statement. "Sexual Assault Unit detectives were immediately notified of the incident and have since initiated an investigation."
Coverage at Insider notes that the phrase "child porn" used by the officer is generally frowned upon by advocates because it suggests the imagery is on par with adult porn created by consenting adults. The preferred phrase is "child sexual abuse material," or CSAM. (Read more Columbus, Ohio stories.)
UPDATE
Sep 20, 2023 10:05 AM CDT
One day into its military assault on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan has declared victory. The region's ethnic Armenian leadership agreed to a ceasefire early Wednesday after Azerbaijani forces "made major advances" in the region whose estimated 100,000 Armenian residents have long maintained autonomy from Azerbaijan, Politico reports. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense said the opposing side had agreed to "disarm completely." Azerbaijan has said Karabakh Armenians will receive rights and security if they accept Azerbaijani citizenship. Otherwise, they should flee to Armenia. The two sides are expected to meet to discuss "issues of re-integration" on Thursday in Yevlakh.
Sep 19, 2023 1:55 PM CDT
Two former Soviet republics went to war less than three years ago over a disputed region, and it appears they're on the brink of another full-scale conflict, reports the AP. The dispute is between Azerbaijan and neighboring Armenia over the region known as Nagorno-Karabakh. As the BBC explains, the latter is located entirely within the borders of Azerbaijan, but it's populated mostly by ethnic Armenians. The two nations have fought previously over the region, first in the early 1990s when Armenia took control of it after the fall of the USSR, and again in 2020, when Azerbaijan reclaimed it. Part of the convoluted mix: Azerbaijan is backed by Turkey, while Armenia is a longtime ally of Russia, though relations have soured of late over the Ukraine war.
Temple University has been shaken by the sudden death of acting president Joanne Epps, who collapsed on stage during an event at the Philadelphia university Tuesday. The 72-year-old collapsed at a memorial service for historian Charles Blockson, curator emeritus of the Blockson Afro-American Collection, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. University officials said Epps, who had been due to speak at the event, was pronounced dead at Temple University Hospital at 3:15pm, reports 6ABC . The cause of death was not disclosed.
Epps, a former Temple law school dean and provost, said in April that she had been brought in to "calm the waters" after a troubled period at the institution. Before coming to Temple in 1985, she was a deputy city attorney in Los Angeles and worked at the US Attorney's Office in Philadelphia, per the Inquirer. She had ties with the university for many decades: Her mother worked as a secretary there and she had a job in the campus bookstore when she was 16. Epps had planned to retire before the board asked her to step in as acting president.
"There are no words that can describe the gravity and sadness of this loss," board chairman Mitchell Morgan said in a statement. "President Epps was a devoted servant and friend who represented the best parts of Temple. She spent nearly 40 years of her life serving this university, and it goes without saying her loss will reverberate through the community for years to come." (Read more Temple University stories.)
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On September 19, at about 11:45, formations of the Armenian armed forces in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, using mortars and various caliber weapons subjected to fire the positions of the Azerbaijan Army stationed in the Aghdam region.
As a result, two servicemen of the Azerbaijan Army were wounded. The wounded servicemen were immediately provided with first medical aid, Azernews reports, citing the Ministry.
The Azerbaijan Army Units took retaliatory measures.
To recall, On September 18, at about 23:50, members of illegal Armenian armed detachments in the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeeping forces are temporarily deployed, using small arms subjected to fire the Azerbaijan Army positions stationed in the direction of the Aghdam district, and On September 19, around 04:00, a Howo truck belonging to AAYDA hit an anti-tank landmine on the 58th kilometer of the newly built Ahmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway in the Khojavand district.
The ministry said that 2 employees of the agency, the driver and passenger of the Howo truck, died on the spot. The fallen employees are Samir Sadikhov, born on 21.11.1970, and Farhad Guliyev, born on 02.05.1965.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Administration of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan declares its readiness for a meeting in Yevlakh with representatives of the Armenian population living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
"However, in order to stop anti-terrorist activities, illegal Armenian armed formations must raise the white flag, hand over all weapons, and the illegal regime must dissolve itself. Otherwise, anti-terrorist measures will be continued until the end," the statement says.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The Public Safety Report is compiled from criminal complaints filed in state and federal courts, as well as some police blotter information, trooper dispatches, fire department reports and interviews with public safety officials. Individuals named as arrested and/or charged with crimes in this report are presumed innocent until proved guilty in a court of law.
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com
The Cabinet yesterday commended His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Ministers official visit to the US and the strengthening of Bahrain-US strategic relations.
This came as the Cabinet reviewed a report on HRH Prince Salmans successful visit to the US, highlighting its importance and the meetings that he had with US senior officials.
It affirmed that the longstanding Bahrain-US strategic relations will be further strengthened following the signing of the Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement, which will enhance the two countries cooperation across a range of areas, from defence and security to emerging technology, trade, and investment.
During yesterdays weekly meeting at Gudaibiya Palace, chaired by HRH Prince Salman, the Cabinet highlighted the Kingdoms longstanding commitment to supporting countries in need, guided by the vision and directives of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
It acknowledged the recent directives to provide humanitarian aid to several regions in the eastern region of Libya, expressing condolences to the nation for the victims of the devastating floods.
The Cabinet also reviewed measures taken to assist those affected by the earthquake in Morocco. The Cabinet expressed its sincere condolences to Libya for the victims of the floods, and wished a speedy recovery for those injured, and for the safe return of those who are missing.
Praise for Saudi efforts
The Cabinet welcomed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabias efforts, in coordination with the Sultanate of Oman, to invite a delegation from Sanaa to Riyadh to hold discussions in an effort to reach a compromise and permanent ceasefire in the Republic of Yemen and a sustainable political solution acceptable to all Yemeni parties.
The meeting also aims to strengthen and expand the humanitarian truce and discuss reaching a sustainable political solution acceptable to all Yemeni parties under the sponsorship of the United Nations.
The Cabinet reaffirmed the position of the Bahrain in support of the Saudi initiative announced in March 2021. The Cabinet congratulated the King, government, and people of Saudi Arabia on their National Day.
The Cabinet commended the achievements made by Saudi Arabia under the leadership of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the support of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
In recognition of the International Day of Peace, the Cabinet affirmed Bahrains commitment to promoting peace to achieve the shared goals of enhancing security and stability and establishing coexistence at the regional and global levels.
AFP | Rome
The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com
A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck central Italy north of Florence on Monday morning, sending residents into the streets but causing no immediate damage, authorities said.
Schools were closed in some areas as a precaution and trains were delayed pending checks on the railway lines.
Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) measured the quake at 4.8 on the Richter scale, with its epicentre near Marradi, a town of about 3,000 residents in the province of Florence within the Apennine mountain range.
It occurred at 5:10 am (0310 GMT).
Firefighters wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that frightened residents had been calling emergency services but "no personal injuries have been reported at this time".
The mayor of Marradi, Tommaso Triberti, told Rainews24 television that firefighters were conducting checks inside private homes.
"There is a lot of concern. All the people are in the street but no particular damage has been reported," he said.
A 4.5-magnitude earthquake struck nearby Mugello in 2019, again causing minimal damage but cracking the facade of a 17th-century church.
The town of Mugello was hit by a devastating earthquake in 1919, one of the century's worst, killing about 100 people.
The central Apennines are at high risk of seismic activity.
AFP | Doha
The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com
The United States and Iran on Monday swapped five prisoners each in one of the arch-foes' first deals in years as Tehran gained access to $6 billion in frozen funds.
The five Americans freed by Iran, including one held for eight years, flew out of Tehran in a Qatari jet, hours after the unblocked funds were deposited in accounts also managed by Qatar.
The freed prisoners walked in the setting sun on the tarmac and within hours a separate US government plane shuttled them to Washington, where some will undergo medical check-ups.
The White House said Biden held an "emotional call" with families of the released prisoners, one of whom praised the president for taking the "incredibly difficult decisions" that freed them.
"Thank you, President Biden, for ultimately putting the lives of American citizens above politics," Siamak Namazi, a businessman held since 2015, said in a statement.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted the Biden administration had "no higher priority" than freeing US citizens.
"It's very good to be able to say that our fellow citizens are free," Blinken told reporters in New York, where he and Biden are taking part in UN meetings.
Two of the Iranian detainees returned to Tehran after transiting Doha, Iranian official media said. The other three released by the United States have opted to remain there or in a third country.
Following quiet discussions led in part by Qatar, the two countries completed the exchange after the transfer of $6 billion in funds, frozen by US ally South Korea.
The Biden administration has rejected criticism at home that it was paying "ransom," insisting the money will be used only for humanitarian purposes, with a threat to re-freeze the funds if not.
But Iran has insisted it has full access.
The money "cruelly blocked until now and currently in the possession of the Islamic republic belongs to the people (of Iran) and we will use them to meet the people's needs," President Ebrahim Raisi said in New York.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The biggest provocation is from the Armenian side which is that its troops are apparently still on Azerbaijani territory, in Karabakh, former U.S. Ambassador to the country Matthew Bryza told Trend, as he was commenting on the local anti-terrorist activities launched by Azerbaijan in Karabakh.
One important lesson that I learned during my diplomatic career is when there are initial reports of weapons firing, military clashes, there are often many inaccuracies in those reports. So, I want to be careful about commenting now, but there are certain facts that are clear. Number one fact is that the government of Azerbaijan, the ministry of defense has put out a statement describing its intentions to carry out a limited, accurate set of military strikes against Armenian military forces that are illegally on Azerbaijans territory, he said.
Bryza noted that he did see a video, apparently, from the ministry of defense, that shows one limited such strike.
If indeed, what the Azerbaijani ministry of defense described as its intentions were is what actually happened, then of course, Azerbaijan is within its rights to defend its territory against an opposing military force from another country. Also, I understand that Azerbaijans government has said that civilians, I mean ethnic Armenians will be provided the safe way to move away from where the Armenian soldiers are. Presumably, they will be free to return their homes after the activities. Thats a very important factor, I hope is true as well. I also understand that the Azerbaijani government again has reiterated its intention to provide food to the ethnic Armenians still in Karabakh. If all that is true, Azerbaijan is within its rights to defense its territory, people. The biggest provocation is from the Armenian side which is that its troops are apparently still on Azerbaijani territory, in Karabakh. They were supposed to have withdrawn according to November 10, 2020 ceasefire statement and they must leave under the international law. Those Armenian soldiers must leave, the sooner they leave, the less military clashes will occur, he added.
Additionally, Bryza pointed out that inevitably, of course, Azerbaijan will be subjected to intense criticism from the Armenian side and from those who are sympathetic to Armenia.
That was the case during the Second Karabakh War when on the date when the ceasefire statement was signed, the French then foreign minister came out and said they essentially blame Azerbaijan for the war. So, Azerbaijan is of course should expect to face criticism, but again, if it follows those limited and professional objectives, as it is described in the defense ministrys statement, I think the world will see that of course, Azerbaijan was justified in eliminating the threat of foreign military forces on its own soil, he said.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
MONTREAL, Sept. 18, 2023 /CNW/ - For the back-to-school season, CIRANO is offering teachers in high schools, CEGEPs and community colleges across Canada some highly stimulating financial education activities that have been enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of students over the years.
FinEcoLab educational games: a fun way to learn financial and economic concepts!
Teachers can use the FinEcoLab educational game kit to introduce students to economic concepts related to markets and prices, individual preferences, and collective and individual choices. A FinEcoLab game transforms the classroom into an experimental laboratory by involving students in a situation that reflects the interactions in which financial and economic choices are made. Financial and economic concepts are learned in a fun and effective way. FinEcoLab games are available free of charge online (www.finecolab.com). The Autorite des marches financiers is CIRANO's main partner for the FinEcoLab games.
Introduction to stock market investing with the Bourstad Program!
CIRANO is also inviting high schools, CEGEPs and community colleges across Canada to sign up for the 2023-24 Bourstad Program, an initiative offering a range of learning activities and stock market simulations. This educational program aims to promote the acquisition of new knowledge in responsible investing and portfolio management.
Participating schools can organize private stock market simulations for their students at any time during the school year. They can also register their students for the 37th edition of the Bourstad Challenge, to be held from February 12 to April 12, 2024. To find out how schools can register for the 2023-24 Bourstad Program, visit www.bourstad.ca.
Bourstad simulations take place entirely online, on a state-of-the-art platform. In a Bourstad simulation, the participant assumes the role of investment advisor for a fictitious investor, while reacting to real market developments. The application also offers supervision features for teachers and those in charge of private simulations and the Bourstad Challenge in schools. Teachers and students taking part in the simulations benefit from rich, comprehensive and varied support.
"It is important to give priority to improving understanding of economic and financial concepts, particularly among young people in Quebec. Data collected in the Barometre CIRANO 2022 reveals that Quebecers who don't know how to assess the level of risk associated with household debt are almost 7 times more likely to be concerned about economic and financial risks. This and other Barometer findings on economic issues highlight the need to raise Quebecers' level of economic and financial literacy.
The FinEcoLab educational games and the Bourstad financial education program provide appropriate solutions to meet this requirement. These initiatives are perfectly aligned with CIRANO's mission, which is to facilitate the transmission of knowledge from the realm of theory to that of practice"
Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, President and CEO of CIRANO
For more information on CIRANO's financial education activities, watch this video produced in preparation for CIRANO's 30th anniversary.
A look back at the 2023 Bourstad Challenge and congratulations to the winners!
Following the 2023 Bourstad Challenge, a tribute ceremony was held at CIRANO on May 29 to congratulate the winners, under the honorary presidency of Odree Ducharme, CFA, President of the Board of directors, CFA Montreal. The ceremony also saw the announcement of the six winners of the Autorite des marches financiers' Special Financial Education Awards, each receiving a $500 scholarship. Candidates for these special prizes were invited to share their experiences and testify to the good or bad decisions they had made throughout the simulation, highlighting the lasting lessons they had learned.
Shortly after the end of the 2023 Bourstad Challenge, the jury, chaired by Cathy Sleiman, Senior Director, Eastern Canada, TD Direct Investing, deliberated and approved the list of winners of the 97 grand prizes and mentions of institutional excellence. These awards are accompanied by scholarships totalling $32,700.
Here are the names of the winners who were awarded a 1st Grand Prize in the 2023 Bourstad Challenge, as well as the winners of the Autorite des marches financiers' Special Financial Education Awards.
Portfolio management
Maya Chagnon (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Jia Xin Chen (University of Waterloo)
Yanis Khif (Universite de Montreal)
Georges Lantagne (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Alexa Philippe (College de L'Assomption)
Rebekah Victoria Saint-Amour (College de L'Assomption)
Responsible investing
Maverick Cordeau (Cegep de Saint-Hyacinthe)
Yanis Khif (Universite de Montreal)
Seyedehhasti Rezaeilalami (Ecole secondaire internationale de Montreal)
Financial performance
Nickolas Cloutier (Cegep Limoilou)
Andrei Hulubas Barnia (Chateauguay QC)
Matei Hulubas Barnia (Universite de Montreal)
Yves Langevin (Montreal QC)
Harrish Pathmanathan (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Nathan Vaillancourt (Universite du Quebec a Montreal)
Justin Vennes (Ecole secondaire Marcellin-Champagnat)
Overall performance
Shaanicka Fernando (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Yanis Khif (Universite de Montreal)
Georges Lantagne (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Chakib Malki (Ecole secondaire internationale de Montreal)
Lilia Qostali (Ecole secondaire internationale de Montreal)
Lucas Richard (Polytechnique Montreal)
Autorite des marches financiers Special Awards for Financial Education
Lina Alaoui (College Bois-de-Boulogne)
Maria Alberga (Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie)
Christian Berliba (Ecole secondaire internationale de Montreal)
Mathis Cadieux (College Laval)
Joel Forand (Cegep de Saint-Hyacinthe)
Evelyn Liu (Ecole secondaire internationale de Montreal)
Congratulations to all the winners of grand prizes and mentions of institutional excellence in the 36th edition of the Bourstad Challenge!
For more information
Visit the Bourstad website www.bourstad.ca
About CIRANO
The Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CIRANO) is a multidisciplinary research, liaison and transfer center whose mission is to accelerate the transfer of knowledge between the research and practice communities (www.cirano.qc.ca).
The Bourstad program is a CIRANO activity that receives support from many partners for this financial education project: the Autorite des marches financiers, its main partner, TD Bank, CFA Montreal, the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO), Les Affaires, Finance Montreal, Croesus, the TMX Group, Hyprasoft, Groupe Investissement responsable and QuoteMedia. The FinEcoLab games were developed with the support of the Autorite des marches financiers, the main partner, and 14 other partners brought together by Finance Montreal.
SOURCE Center for Interuniversity Research and Analysis on Organizations (CIRANO)
For further information: Paul Bourget, Director of Financial Education Projects, CIRANO, [email protected] or 514 985-4000, ext. 3006
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - On October 12, it's World Sight Day, an international day of awareness organized by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB). To spread awareness on the importance of eye health, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS), the national authority on eye and vision care in Canada, has launched a national photo contest: See The Possibilities 'Uniquely Canadian' .
Canadian Ophthalmological Society (CNW Group/Canadian Ophthalmological Society)
As part of the #LoveYourEyes initiative, the COS is encouraging individuals, families, and communities to focus on eye health. Acknowledging the beauty and wonders that healthy vision brings, the COS invites Canadians to capture the essence of their unique experiences in Canada. Whether it's the picturesque landscapes, cultural experiences, or iconic Canadian moments, participants are encouraged to submit their photographs before the deadline of October 3, 2023.
"World Sight Day serves as a reminder of the importance of maintaining good eye health, while also fostering education and raising awareness about the four major eye diseases and their associated risk factors," says Dr. Phil Hooper, President of the Canadian Ophthalmological Society. "Through the 'See The Possibilities' contest, we want to celebrate the beauty of Canada and inspire everyone to cherish and protect their vision."
Once the submission period concludes, voting will open to the general public from October 4 to 19, 2023, where Canadians will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite photo that best embodies the spirit of Canada. In addition to the 'People's Choice' winning photo, the COS panel will also select a winning photo. Both winners will be awarded a $300 Amazon gift certificate.
The contest, running from now until October 3, 2023, invites Canadians to capture the essence of their unique experiences in Canada. Whether it's the picturesque landscapes, cultural experiences, or iconic Canadian moments, participants are encouraged to submit their photographs before the deadline of October 3, 2023. The submission process is simple, and detailed instructions can be found on the See the Possibilities website.
Key Dates + Information:
Last day for submissions: October 3, 2023 , 11:59 p.m. ET
, Voting opens on: October 4, 2023 , 12:00 a.m. ET
, Last day to vote: October 19, 2023 , 11:59 p.m. ET
, Announcement of winners: October 20, 2023
Prizes: $300 Amazon gift card to the People's Choice and COS Award-winners
For more information about the See The Possibilities 'Uniquely Canadian' contest, including submission guidelines and rules, please visit seethepossibilities.ca/love-your-eyes .
About Canadian Ophthalmological Society
The Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) is the national, recognized authority on eye and vision care in Canada. As eye physicians and surgeons, we are committed to assuring the provision of optimal medical and surgical eye care for all Canadians by promoting excellence in ophthalmology and by providing services to support our members in practice. Our membership includes over 900 ophthalmologists and 200 ophthalmology residents. We work collaboratively with government, other national and international specialty societies, our academic communities (ACUPO), our provincial partners and affiliates and other eye care professionals and patient groups to advocate for health policy in Canada in the area of eye and vision health. COS is an accredited, award-winning provider of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) through the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) and is an affiliate of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). For more information, visit cos-sco.ca.
SOURCE Canadian Ophthalmological Society
For further information: Bojana Duric, [email protected], BlueSky Communications
MONTREAL, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Duvernois Creative Spirits announced today the signing of a representation agreement with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits of Canada, a division of Southern Glazer's, the world's preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol. Effective immediately, Southern Glazer's becomes the exclusive representative of all Duvernois spirit brands, including Romeo's Gin (number 1 super-premium gin brand in Canada), Pur Vodka (2nd most awarded vodka in the world) and Choco Creme (a chocolate-based cream liqueur in collaboration with renowned chocolatier Chocolats Favoris) all across Canada.
Romeo's Gin, Number 1 Super-Premium Gin Brand in Canada is now being represented by Southern Glazer's in Canada. (CNW Group/Duvernois Creative Spirits)
Southern Glazer's will play a pivotal role in Duvernois' expansion across Canada, strengthening its brand presence and reaching a broader consumer base, especially in the hospitality segment.
Doug Wieland, President of Southern Glazer's Wines & Spirits of Canada, said, "The success of Duvernois Creative Spirits in Quebec is undeniable. We are proud to bring such exceptional brands to our portfolio and look forward to leveraging our combined strengths to further develop their reach and presence across Canada.
Nicolas Duvernois, CEO and Founder of Duvernois Creative Spirits, added, "We are thrilled today to partner with Southern Glazer's, a true industry leader. With such an extensive portfolio of spirits, their undeniable expertise, their extensive network and their team of top industry professionals, we have a winning combination that will allow us to open up new opportunities, reach new consumers and expand the presence of our spirits and spirit-based ready-to-drink cocktails across Canada.
About Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits
Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits is the world's preeminent distributor of beverage alcohol, and proud to be a multi-generational, family-owned company. The Company has operations in 44 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada, as well as brokerage operations through its WEBB Banks division in the Caribbean, Central and South America. In 2022, Southern Glazer's was listed as one of Forbes Best Employers for Diversity. In 2021, Southern Glazer's was selected as a U.S. Best Managed Company by Deloitte Private and The Wall Street Journal, as well as named by Newsweek as a Top 100 Most Loved Workplace. Southern Glazer's urges all retail customers and adult consumers to market, sell, serve, and enjoy its products responsibly.
For more information: ca.southernglazers.com
About Duvernois Creative Spirits
Founded in Montreal in 2009, Duvernois Creative Spirits is a Canadian leader in the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage industry. Present in North America, Europe and Japan, its portfolio is distinguished by a desire to imagine and create innovative products of exceptional quality. Constantly evolving, it aims to inspire today and redefine tomorrow.
For more information: duvernois.com
Follow Duvernois Creative Spirits on Instagram
@pur_vodka
@romeosgin
SOURCE Duvernois Creative Spirits
For further information: Media inquiries: Stephane Rochefort, Executive VP, [email protected], 1-514-756-5960
Full-scale reimagining of the ground floor prioritizes connectivity, access, and Indigeneity
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - The Gardiner Museum is excited to announce a transformational $9 million donation from The Radlett Foundation in honour of the late William B.G. Humphries, who established the Foundation, reflecting his lifelong commitment to the collection and presentation of ceramics, and his support of Indigenous communities through the arts. This gift is the largest in the Museum's history by an individual other than its founders, George and Helen Gardiner. The Foundation's gift also includes more than 250 objects from Mr. Humphries's collection of ceramics and decorative arts, with a focus on 18th-century English porcelain. These objects will join 62 pieces previously donated by Mr. Humphries to the Gardiner Museum during his lifetime.
Rendering courtesy of Montgomery Sisam Architects (CNW Group/Gardiner Museum) Rendering courtesy of Montgomery Sisam Architects (CNW Group/Gardiner Museum)
This generous philanthropic contribution will be the catalyst for a full-scale reimagining of the Gardiner Museum's ground floor, led by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Andrew Jones Design, and guided by the principles of connectivity, access, and Indigeneity. This includes the construction of a new fully equipped makerspace, a community engagement centre, and an Indigenous gallery space.
"The Gardiner Museum has been presented with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring our physical space in line with our mission to build community with clay," said Gabrielle Peacock, Executive Director & CEO of the Gardiner Museum. "The Radlett Foundation's transformational gift will ensure the Gardiner Museum's future as a vibrant community hub that welcomes all people and ignites a sense of creativity and wonder."
"The addition of a gallery space dedicated to Indigenous ceramics will introduce a vital and currently underrepresented area of ceramics to the Museum, as well as furthering our commitment toward reconciliation as an institution," said Dr. Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator & Deputy Director at the Gardiner Museum.
The prioritizing of Indigenous ceramics also reflects Mr. Humphries's legacy of support for Indigenous communities, particularly in the final two decades of his life, through arts, education, and healthcare initiatives in Ontario. This included the founding and funding of the Ignite the Spirit of Education Foundation, now part of The Radlett Foundation.
An Indigenous gallery space will sit at the heart of the ground floor permanent collection galleries, which are being reimagined to centre Canadian and Indigenous stories and highlight connections between cultures and ceramic traditions across time and geographies. The Museum is seeking a Curator of Indigenous Ceramics who will lead the development and installation of the Indigenous gallery space. The Gardiner will also engage in consultation with its Indigenous partners and build new relationships with Indigenous cultural organizations throughout this process.
The Gardiner Museum would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the Indigenous Advisory Circle in guiding this project: Mary Anne Barkhouse, Kent Monkman, Andre Morrisseau, Duke Redbird, Tekaronhiahkhwa / Santee Smith, and Catherine Taomesre Tammaro.
"This project offers the Gardiner Museum a singular opportunity to transform both its physical space and the ways it engages with diverse audiences. The addition of a gallery of Indigenous ceramics at the centre of the Museum embodies the Gardiner's commitment to working with communities to reflect and explore Indigenous cultural practices of the past and present," said artist Kent Monkman, a member of the Gardiner Board and the Indigenous Advisory Circle.
The plans by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Andrew Jones Design for the 8,952-square-foot space integrate the warmth and tactility of clay into the fabric of the visitor experience, enhancing the principles of access and inclusion that guide the Gardiner's community-first approach to programming and curation. Flexible spaces for making and meeting, as well as innovative approaches to the display of objects, including open collections storage, will encourage discovery and hands-on creation.
The capital costs of the project are estimated to be $14 million, and construction is expected to begin in summer 2024. The Gardiner is in the early stages of a fundraising campaign that will invite its donors, partners, volunteers, and the broader community to be a part of this vision and transformation.
Visit gardinermuseum.com for more information.
The Gardiner Museum is situated on the ancestral and traditional territories of many nations, including the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples. As a museum that celebrates the material of the earth, the Gardiner Museum is committed to honouring Indigenous peoples' cultural and spiritual connections to the land. Reconciliation is central to our work as a museum, and we strive to celebrate Indigenous knowledge and creativity through our collections, exhibitions, and programming.
ABOUT THE RADLETT FOUNDATION
The Radlett Foundation was established by William B.G. (Bill) Humphries and has a long-standing relationship with the Gardiner Museum. Objects from the Radlett Collection are currently on display in the first and second-floor galleries, with a focus on 18th-century English porcelain. Following Mr. Humphries's death on December 9, 2020, the Foundation donated more than 250 objects from Mr. Humphries's collection of ceramics and decorative arts to the Gardiner Museum. The Radlett Foundation's lead gift of $9-million is the catalyst for a full-scale reimagining of the Gardiner's ground floor, with a gallery of Indigenous ceramics at its centre, a tribute to Mr. Humphries's legacy of support for Indigenous communities.
ABOUT MONTGOMERY SISAM ARCHITECTS
Founded in 1978, Montgomery Sisam Architects is a mid-sized architectural firm based in Toronto, Ontario. It comprises a group of architects, designers, and technicians with diverse backgrounds, and a shared social consciousness. Montgomery Sisam's process is grounded in a sense of responsibility to the public, driven by dialogue and research, and focused on social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Montgomery Sisam has developed a reputation for design leadership that is supported by over 80 provincial, national and international design awards.
montgomerysisam.com
ABOUT ANDREW JONES DESIGN
Andrew Jones is a Canadian designer who has worked for more than 25 years designing furniture and architectural interiors. Jones holds an MA in Furniture Design from the Royal College of Art in London and a degree in Architecture from the University of Toronto. His designs for the public realm include the iconic pink umbrellas at Toronto's award-winning Sugar Beach. In 2016, he designed the exhibition True Nordic: How Scandinavia Influenced Design in Canada, organized by the Gardiner Museum, and in 2019, he designed the Gardiner Museum's Joan Courtois Gallery, which spans three floors of the Museum's soaring stairwell.
andrewjonesdesign.com
ABOUT THE GARDINER MUSEUM
The Gardiner Museum brings together people of all ages and communities through the shared values of creativity, wonder, and community that clay and ceramic traditions inspire.
We engage audiences with exhibitions, programs, and hands-on classes, while stewarding a significant permanent collection. We interpret historical ceramics to emphasize their relevance today, and champion emerging and established Canadian artists and their role in the broader world. We innovate through clay education, as we bring together the experience of making with a deeper understanding of the art of ceramics.
We believe in making, looking, and thinking through clay.
The Gardiner Museum has a collection of over 5,000 objects from the Ancient Americas, Europe, Japan and China, as well as contemporary works with an emphasis on leading Canadian artists. The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics and is one of the world's most notable specialty museums.
For more information, please visit: gardinermuseum.com.
SOURCE Gardiner Museum
For further information: Media Contact: Rachel Weiner, Senior Manager, Marketing, Gardiner Museum, 416.408.5062, [email protected]
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Joan Leishman, recently-retired CBC veteran journalist and longtime advocate for refugee writers, has won PEN Canada's 2023 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize.
The prize recognizes a Canadian citizen or permanent resident who has provided significant help to a writer or journalist outside Canada and helped to spare them from threats, violence, harassment, or imprisonment for reporting or commenting on issues of public interest.
Joan Leishman wins the 2023 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize (CNW Group/PEN Canada)
In addition to her accomplished work as a journalist, Leishman has for over a decade supported refugee writers, as a volunteer at Romero House , a charitable organization offering transitional housing and immigration and settlement support to newly-arrived refugee claimants in Toronto, which includes members of PEN Canada Writers-in-Exile group . For both organizations she has opened her home for many years to give shelter to refugees.
Established in 2022, the prize honours the memory of the late Marie-Ange Garrigue, a Canadian and French citizen. She practiced law in Canada for many years and held a deep commitment to independent opinion, fearlessly expressed. This is the second PEN Canada prize funded by Cynthia Wine and Philip Slayton in support of defenders of freedom of expression the first is the Ken Filkow Prize . The prize is valued at $2000. Winners of both prizes are selected by a jury following a public call for nominations each summer.
On Saturday, Sept. 23 at 4:30 p.m. Leishman will be presented with the award at a ceremony at the Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, as part of the Toronto International Festival of Authors. The ceremony, titled "Raising our Voices: PEN Canada Awards & Readings in Solidarity with Persecuted Writers", will be hosted by Garvia Bailey and is open to the public. For more information on the event and to reserve your seat, visit festivalofauthors.ca .
PEN Canada is a nonpartisan organization that celebrates literature, defends freedom of expression, and assists writers in peril at home and abroad. The English-language Canadian centre was founded in 1983 and is proud to be one of over 100 chapters of PEN International.
SOURCE PEN Canada
For further information: Media contact: Eilish Waller, Communications Coordinator, PEN Canada, [email protected]
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan at the UN General Assembly, Trend reports.
The latest developments in Azerbaijan's Karabakh were discussed during the meeting.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
Newly launched AI-driven smart order routing and bid-ask liquidity tiering tools developed by Overbond allow fixed income traders to optimize execution and fully automate more trades.
TORONTO and LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Following its bid-ask liquidity scoring model's recent launch, Overbond launched its smart order routing (SOR) system today. These AI-driven tools are critical for achieving no-touch end-to-end bond trading automation and may contribute to the continuing increase in automated trading of fixed income.
Whether trading over the phone, by message or electronically, both buy-side and sell-side traders face the challenge of determining the liquidity of a bond before they trade. This knowledge is also crucial for determining which trades are suitable for auto-execution.
Buy-side traders must also choose where, how, and when to transact to ensure optimal execution. Traders need to know whether they can trade at their desired price for their desired size within their desired time. For large trades, achieving optimal execution may involve breaking the trade up into multiple smaller trades.
Overbond has developed AI-driven liquidity and price confidence analytics that auto-adapt to trade size and direction, enabling traders to see implied liquidity and confidence scores across hundreds of thousands of fixed income securities. The scores are derived from volatility and bid-ask spread components and are divided into tiers according to their liquidity and pricing confidence relative to the universe of bonds with the same currency. Overbond assigns bonds to three tiers. Tier 1 bonds, for example, are the most liquid and are the best candidates for auto-execution.
SOR is an automated process used by the buy-side for online trading. It executes trades by allocating them across various electronic trading venues and counterparties based on price and liquidity to get the best execution and minimise trading costs. When necessary, the SOR algorithm may first determine an optimal way to break up, or chunk, the trade.
Overbond worked with partners from the buy and sell sides to develop an SOR system with AI-enhanced routing logic that maximises execution probability and gives the trader complete visibility of how the order will be broken down.
"We're very excited about the launch of these tools. At Overbond we have a strong team of data scientists and developers who are working hard to innovate and push the boundaries of what AI can do in the fixed income markets. Gauging liquidity and routing orders are pivotal steps in the trading process and enhancing them with AI can help traders manage their workflow more efficiently, automate more trades and improve profitability," said Vuk Magdelinic, CEO of Overbond.
About Overbond
Overbond is a developer of process-redefining, AI-driven data and analytics and trade automation solutions for the global fixed income markets. Overbond performs market surveillance, data aggregation and normalization, and deep AI quantitative observation on more than 250,000 corporate bonds and fixed income ETFs. Applying proprietary artificial intelligence to pricing, curve visualization, market liquidity, issuance propensity, new issuance spreads, default risk and automated reporting, Overbond enables trade automation and enhances trade performance and portfolio returns. Clients of Toronto-based Overbond include global investment banks, broker-dealers, institutional investors, corporations and governments across the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.overbond.com.
SOURCE Overbond Ltd.
For further information: Stephen Miles, Director, Public Relations, [email protected] ; Overbond, 40 Gracechurch, London, UK EC3V 0BT, +1-416-559-7101
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. A meeting was held in New York between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, Trend reports.
The the Italian FM writes on X (Twitter) that, against the background of ongoing tensions in the region, he decided to meet with Azerbaijani FM Jeyhun Bayramov in New York,
"I stressed the need for dialogue and restraint to find a diplomatic solution in Karabakh. Azerbaijan is our important partner. We are also fighting together against such a problem as human trafficking," says Tajani.
On September 18, a delegation headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov went to New York to participate in the 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from Azerbaijani territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ensure that all regions, faiths and sections benefit from political appointments made by his government while no ethnic group or faith is seen to be favoured above others.
Executive Director of MURIC, Prof Isiaq Akintola, made the plea in a statement on Monday.
According to him, the appointments made so far by President Tinubu are lopsided because they favour mainly Yorubas and Christians.
He advised the president to ensure balance in coming appointments.
We are shocked to our marrows that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been appointing Christians and Yorubas mainly to key positions since the inception of this administration at the expense of Muslims. For instance, five out of eight security chiefs appointed earlier are Christians. Ministerial posts have not been different.
All five key appointments made by President Tinubu to revive the economy were given to Christians and Yorubas mainly. These new appointees include the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the newly nominated CBN Governor, Dr. Michael Cardoso, Hon. Zacch Adedeji, Acting Chairman, FIRS, the Chairman, Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele and Mr. Tope Fasua, Special Adviser on Economic Affairs.
Many competent Muslims who campaigned and voted Muslim-Muslim ticket during the presidential election were ignored. It is interesting to note that some of those Muslims are eminently qualified to hold key political offices since there are professors, engineers, medical doctors and holders of doctorate degrees among them, he said.
Apparently referring to former Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Akintola said that to add salt to injury, one of the best Muslim ministerial nominees, the man who championed the Muslim-Muslim ticket and mobilised the whole North behind Asiwaju has been jettisoned.
He said, Also, Prof Ali Isa Pantami who took the communication and digital economy to enviable heights during the last administration was ignored. Where, then, is our Muslim president, taking Nigerian Muslims?
MURIC rejects this trending narrative that makes competence the raison detre for concentrating appointments in any particular tribe, religion or group. Governments tentacles should be spread nationwide in the search for competence. Neither should the need for skills be used as a cover for the marginalisation of some sections of Nigeria.
The MURIC boss said competence is not the monopoly of any tribe, faith or group as talented Nigerians are to be found everywhere if sincere searches are conducted.
Besides, government should take the lion share of the blame if competent hands cannot be found in any section, creed or group for certain assignments. It means the government has not, ab initio, allowed educational and training facilities to be fairly and evenly distributed, or that government has failed to consciously integrate all segments of the Nigerian society.
This regime must be wary of allegation of nepotism which the previous regime was accused of. Nigeria is a vast country with talented men and women in all nooks and crannies. Government must not just pick the low hanging skills or those on the water surface. It must send its underwater swimmers to dive below the surface in order to bring the gems to dry land.
Our message to President Tinubu is this (and we want the presidents handlers to take this to him) the cacophony of voices of dissatisfied Muslims has reached an unbearable crescendo such that MURIC is now constrained to speak up. People are complaining, particularly Muslims from the North and South West and they can only be ignored at the risk of foregoing 2027.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is our Muslim brother but that should not stop us from criticising him if he does the wrong thing. The Prophet (SAW) said, Help your brother when he is wronged and even when he is wrong
Traceable as well as well known authors on social media are exchanging lopsided lists either tilted in favour of Christians who did not vote for the Muslim-Muslim ticket or in favour of Yorubas only. Such lists raise questions of nepotism and that of marginalisation of the same Muslims who stood behind Asiwaju and voted massively for him.
We remind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that all regions, faiths and sections deserve political appointments. The Tinubu administration must not be the exclusive preserve of the Yorubas at the expense of other tribes, nor the monopoly of Rome at the expense of Madinah. No region must be sentenced to hunger, starvation and political isolation.
Tinubus next appointments must see a shift in body language. All regions, faiths and sections must benefit from political appointments made by this government while no ethnic group or faith is seen to be favoured above others.
Meanwhile we in MURIC accept full responsibility for the dilemma facing Nigerian Muslims as their Muslim-Muslim ticket has turned into a Christian majority government. We admit being in the forefront of the campaign for a Yoruba Muslim presidency which has become a bone in the throat of Yoruba Muslims in particular and Nigerian Muslims in general.
With heavy hearts, we tender unreserved apology, first, to the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai for what we led him to even though he showed no interest at the beginning, and to other Nigerian Muslims particularly those who have been accusing us of misleading them, Akintola said.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has requested a coroners inquest into the circumstances surrounding the passing away of musician Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad.
Recall that Mohbad passed away on September 12, 2023, and was laid to rest just a day later.
In a formal letter addressed to the Chief Coroner of the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja, Falana expressed deep concern about what he referred to as a very tragic death. He cited the Lagos State Coroners Law of 2007, specifically Section 15, which stipulates that an inquest should be conducted when a coroner becomes aware of a death within their district that results from violent, unnatural, or suspicious circumstances.
In the letter, dated September 18, 2023, signed and shared by Folakemi Falana via Instagram on behalf of the law firm, Falana & Associates, the urgent need for an investigation into Mohbads death within Lagos State was emphasised.
The letter further read, We hereby request Your Lordship to conduct an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the tragic death in Lagos State, and we are confident that Your Lordship will accede to our request with utmost urgency.
President Bola Tinubu has appointed 18 aides comprising special advisers and senior special assistants in the office of Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
In a statement on Monday, Olusola Abiola, a director of information in the office of the vice-president, said Shettimas new team has six special advisers and 12 senior special assistants.
The team comprising 6 Special Advisers and 12 Senior Special Assistants will work in the office of the Vice President, supporting the Renewed Hope agenda of the Tinubu administration, the statement reads.
Some of the notable names on the list are Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and elder brother of Datti Baba-Ahmed, Labour Party (LP) vice-presidential candidate; Tope Kolade Fasua, a columnist at TheCable; and Gimba Kakanda, a public policy analyst.
Here is the full list of the appointees;
Rukaiya El-Rufai, special adviser, NEC and Climate Change
Tope Kolade Fasua, special adviser, economic matters
Aliyu Modibbo Umar, special adviser, general duties
Hakeem Baba Ahmed, special adviser, political matters
Jumoke Oduwole, special adviser, PEBEC and Investment
Sadiq Wanka, special adviser, power infrastructure
Usman Mohammed, senior special assistant, administration and office coordination
Kingsley Stanley Nkwocha, senior special assistant, media and communications
Ishaq Ahmed Ningi, senior special assistant, digital media and emergency management
Peju Adebajo, senior special assistant, investment and privatisation
Mohammed Bulama, senior special assistant, political/special duties
Kingsley Uzoma, senior special assistant, agribusiness and productivity enhancement
Gimba Kakanda, senior special assistant, research and analytics
Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, senior special assistant, job creation and MSMEs.
Nasir Yammama, senior special assistant, innovation
Zainab Yunusa, senior special assistant, NEC
Mariam Temitope, senior special assistant, regional development programmes
Bashir Maidugu, deputy state house counsel
Gunmen have killed some security operatives and burnt several vehicles in Oriagu, Ehime-Mbano LGA of Imo state.
The security operatives were said to have been on patrol along Aba-branch Oriagu in Ehime-Mbano road when the gunmen ambushed them and killed over six joint task force officers.
The incident occurred on Tuesday morning.
A voice in a viral video said the security operatives were in Toyota Hilux vehicles and were driving from Oriagu market to Aba-branch.
I spotted two Hilux patrol vehicles pass my shop and I never knew they were being traced by bandits. Just few minutes later, I started hearing that those officers have been shot dead at Aba branch, the voice said.
When I got there, the two Hilux vehicles were on fire with the officers burnt beyond recognition. As I speak, Oriagu and Isinweke are blocked at the moment.
Inhabitants of the areas have run away for fear of the unknown. The areas have been cordoned off by the police and army as the place is currently boiling.
When contacted, Henry Okoye, spokesperson of the Imo police command, did not respond at the time of filing this report.
A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, dismissed the suit filed by Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa seeking to stop the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) from investigating him over the indictment comment he made during the valedictory session of the 9th National Assembly (NASS).
Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo, in a judgment, held that the suit lacked merit and was outrightly dismissed.
The judge said that Bulkachuwa, being a lawmaker, ought to understand the implications of the statement he made on the floor of the Senate.
According to him, the legislative immunity the plaintiff (Bulkachuwa) claims in this case does not avail him.
It is the duty of every law-abiding citizen to assist and cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their quest to carry out their statutory function.
It is only where a law enforcement agency breaches the fundamental right of a citizen in the process of carrying out their statutory function, then a cause of action could be said to have arisen, the judge said.
Bulkachuwa had sued the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the NASS clerk, the State Security Service, ICPC and the Nigeria Police Force as 1st to 5th defendants, respectively.
He asked the court to declare that he is covered, privileged and protected by the parliamentary immunity as enshrined in Section 1 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017 and freedom of speech and expression made thereto is privileged.
The Bauchi Senator also prayed the court to declare that without exhausting the internal disciplinary mechanism, recommendations and approval of the 9th Senate, no other law enforcement agent of the Federal Government, including the defendants, can invite any member of the Senate for questioning/interview.
However, Justice Ekwo held that the utterance made by Bulkachuwa on the floor of the Senate on June 10 was not covered by Section 39(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The provision is that every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference, he said.
According to the judge, the clear words of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cannot be interpreted to mean that a person can say anything he likes.
In a formal setting like that plenary session or committee proceedings of the Senate, It is not expected of a person who is privileged to voice any expression will utter words or express opinion or impart Ideas or gives Information that cannot be defended under the constitution.
Upon studying the provision of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), it Is my opinion, that the words uttered by the plaintiff on the floor of the Senate on Saturday, 10th June, 2023 was a confession of doing an act that is prohibited by law.
When a person confesses that he influenced a judicial officer to help his friends and colleagues, such a person has gone beyond the limit of freedom of speech that is reasonably covered and protected by the provision of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
A person who has used the opportunity given to him by the constitution to express himself freely and uses the opportunity to expose his actions or conduct which the law of the land criminalises, has unwittingly invited law enforcement agencies to question him.
This is what the plaintiff did in this case.
I therefore find that that the speech of the plaintiff on the floor of the Senate on June 10, was a confession of an illegal act and Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cannot be invoked to cover such and I so hold, the judge said.
In a viral video clip on June 12, 2023, Senator Bukachuwa said his wife, President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Zainab, assisted his colleagues at the National Assembly as a serving judge.
He had said, I look at faces in this chamber who have come to me and sought for my help when my wife was the President of the Court of Appeal.
And I must thank particularly my wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while she was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues.
I did my best and in most cases I succeeded, Senator Bulkachuwa had said, while the then Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, interjected and quickly stopped him from going further in the public confession of some shady deals.
Oluremi Tinubu, the first lady, says President Bola Tinubu would not have become Nigerias leader if he remained abroad.
She spoke on Monday at the Nigeria Economic Growth and Trade Summit on the sidelines of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The session was organised at the Nigeria house in New York by the Nigeria Governors Wives Forum.
Oluremi said brain drain from Africa has deprived the continent of the talents it needs to develop itself, adding that Nigerians abroad should key into the Renewed Hope agenda of her husband for the betterment of the country.
In our various communities, we must work towards creating conditions and providing basic needs that allow people to thrive by providing access to qualitative education, an enabling environment for job creation, and the development of local industries will create viable economic opportunities, she said.
The Renewed Hope initiative is an initiative that we just started, aimed at creating a better life for families.
Our scope covers agriculture, education, economic empowerment, health and social investment, focusing on women and the youth who are the bedrock of the society.
With the youth accounting for 70 percent of our population and women representing 49.6 percent of the population, I believe that schemes which focus on empowering this demographic, coupled with an enabling environment, will gradually begin to reverse the negative trend of migration.
The first lady said the wives of governors must work to create equal opportunities for all in the country.
Policy reforms that encourage skilled individuals to return home after obtaining educational experience abroad, can help reverse the dream, she said.
I know Mr. President did not tell me that but I just want to reassure you that its good to come back home.
If he stayed here and said he liked it here, I dont think he would have ever become your president. So thats a food for thought. God bless you and see you soon.
On her part, Olufolake AbdulRazaq, chair of the governors wives forum, said the outcome of the summit should stem the tide of migration in Nigeria.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, has said that Nigeria has failed the Niger-Delta region and Bayelsa State with the level of underdevelopment and poverty 67 years after oil was found in the area.
Peter Obi made the comment during a town hall meeting of Labour Partys stakeholders in Yenagoa on Tuesday to present the flag to the gubernatorial candidate of the party.
He said a place where oil was first found is still underdeveloped and smells of poverty, adding that Bayelsa is not supposed to be on the list of poor states considering what God endowed them with.
Obi said, In a state where oil was first discovered, and after 67 years, you still cant drive on good roads. After Sokoto, known as the poorest state with a 90.5 percent poverty rate, Bayelsa is at 88.5 percent. Bayelsa is not supposed to be on the list of poor states, considering what God endowed them with. It is the product of bad leadership, and that is what we are trying to change.
We want a new Bayelsa where those who come to serve know its service to the people. And also use the peoples money for public good. That is the only way to pull the people out of poverty. We cant achieve that with people stealing and mismanaging funds.
The future belongs to the youths and you must support someone who believes in you. We need to move from consumption to production. It is through production that jobs will be provided. Small businesses will be supported, which is the future of the world and Bayelsa.
Carry our message everywhere; we want people who will create wealth and not those who will keep sharing and sharing everything.
Go and verify what our candidate has said. One of the things we lack in our country today as a people is that we choose not to verify the things we were told during campaigns. That is what we need to do, and by doing that, we will know what the future holds.
According to the governorship candidate of the Labour Party, Engr. Udengs Eradiri, manifesto, christened PEAP Agenda, is what would solve the challenges of the people of the state.
He added that in every structure of government, the people are the most important.
He said, We dont need foreigners to solve our problems; we can solve our problems by ourselves if we look inward.
He promised to prioritise building the capacity of the people of the state when voted into power.
On the provision of portable water, Udengs said the water will be obtained directly from the river source, processed, and reticulated to houses in the state. He added that medical tourism will be discouraged, and scholarships will be provided for medical students who return to train others in the state for better healthcare service.
In his brief, the National Chairman of the party, Barr. Julius Abure, appealed to Bayelsans to stand by a man who knows their problems and has them at heart.
He urged them to come out en masse during the election and vote out irresponsible governments that are only good at looting the common good of the people.
President Bola Tinubu has asked Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africas president, to deepen the economic relations of both countries.
Tinubu spoke on Monday after meeting the South African leader in New York, ahead of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
According to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Tinubu said Nigeria and South Africa have the potential to improve Africas economic outlook when they partner effectively.
We have all the human and natural resources required between our nations. We can collaborate in a mutually beneficial way that enriches our populations, the statement quoted the president as saying.
South African Mining industries have a role to play in the Nigerian solid minerals development sector. Your business community has done well in Nigerian Telecommunications.
We have great mineral wealth across our land, and you have good expertise in this area. We expect to deliver jobs and mutually beneficial results in this area as brother and sister countries.
On his part, Ramaphosa applauded Tinubus brave economic reforms, and agreed that an intentional partnership between both countries will boost their respective economies.
We are two major economies on our continent, and it is important that we deepen economic ties, particularly in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, the South African president said.
We are very keen on the deepening of our economic relations.
We would love to see Nigeria and South Africa working closely together on a number of issues because whenever we join hands, we have made an impact globally through those joint positions.
Together, we can move the global south forward. We are a continent that has been plundered. And wealthy nations made so much of it from us, and we must seek out partners who will help us to advance our own interests.
Ramaphosa also hailed Tinubus leadership of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), saying Southern Africa needs to emulate the solidarity being demonstrated in West Africa.
We believe that we have a lot to learn from ECOWAS and its unity in reaching consensus positions on sub-regional matters. This is something we seek to emulate in the Southern African sub-region in view of events in Mozambique and other areas, Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa also invited Tinubu to South Africa, following Ramaphosas recent visit to Nigeria, as part of efforts to deepen economic ties and the broader relationship between both countries.
While accepting the invitation, Tinubu noted that Africa must oversee its resources to ensure maximum economic returns.
Our continent is the last untapped ground for accelerated, massive growth and new economic opportunity on earth, Tinubu said.
We must be in charge of our own resources, and we must work to use each other effectively to achieve what is best for all of us, Mr. President.
NO DEMOCRACY ON HUNGRY STOMACH
Tinubu also spoke on the state of democracy in Africa.
During the end of the Second World War, the Marshall Plan was established for the reconstruction and economic restoration of European nations through Bretton Woods institutions, the statement quoted Tinubu as saying.
Where has this presence been for Africa? We have to be careful not to replace the broken shackle of yesterday with a new set of shackles.
You cannot have a stable democracy in the presence of a poverty of knowledge and a starvation of people.
Democracy without food on the table is a breeding ground for what will consume us, if care is not taken.
We must join hands and agree that International Finance Institutions require reform as Africa is not to be a ground for economic scavenging any longer, but it is a place with gifted people that is ready for investment and cooperation.
Tinubu said Africa must reach a consensus that the hundreds of billions of dollars invested in the continent over the years must meet the specific needs of developing democracies.
President Bola Tinubu has assured that Nigeria will support the African Union (AU) to attain democratic stability on the continent.
Tinubu spoke on Tuesday during a meeting with Azali Assoumani, president of Comoros and AU chairperson.
According to a statement issued by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, Tinubu said the AU is strategically positioned to secure consensus positions for the continent on global economic and socio-political relations, particularly with Nigerias backing.
There is nothing that can bring development and prosperity, outside of embracing freedom and constitutional order. It is a critical hallmark of sustainable development, Ngelale quoted Tinubu as saying.
We appreciate that the AU is working hard to bring about peace in the Sahel and is actively negotiating between the warring factions in Sudan.
Peace in Sudan will be a great achievement. I appreciate your effort in Burkina Faso and our effective cooperation on Niger.
You can call me at anytime and we will discuss the peace and stability of AU member states. We need stability and prosperity for the black race. This is our era.
We must be peaceful in order to take maximum advantage of the developmental opportunities presented to Africa in this era.
We must build a model of sustainable development. Nigeria will collaborate with you.
Tinubu said the shared vision between both leaders would only be achieved if they move beyond those whose vision of Africa is narrow and evil.
We are not afraid of confrontation, but we prefer to be restrained for now, at this time, he added.
According to the statement, Assoumani agreed with Tinubu, noting that it would take joint efforts to ensure that there is stability on the continent.
It is our responsibility to confront the extra-constitutional wrestling for power on the continent, the AU chair said.
We have told China and Russia that they have a responsibility to ensure that there is stability in these countries, as there will be no developmental partnership where there is a lack of stability in countries being impacted by coupists. We appreciate your stand on these matters.
The president of the East African country also said the nation was seeking Nigerias experience on diversity management, electoral reforms and economic growth.
The meeting between both leaders is a continuation of Tinubus bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States.
Earlier, the Nigerian leader met with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss how both countries can mutually benefit from investments.
Former presidential media aide, Reno Omokri, has claimed that Peter Obi, flagbearer of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, would have visited the family of fast-rising artiste Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, well known as Mohbad, if there was an upcoming election.
Mohbad died last Tuesday after reportedly receiving injections for an ear infection and was buried in Ikorodu, Lagos on Wednesday.
Since the news of his demise was made public, celebrities, fans, and other Nigerians have continued to react to the shocking death.
Weighing in, Omokri said if the incident had happened before the presidential election, Obi would have paid Mohbads family a visit.
He stated this in a post via X, formally Twitter, on Monday night.
Sadly, the truth is that if this were before the election, Peter Obi would have visited Mohbads family by now. He would have posted about it. He may even have shed some crocodile tears, and perhaps donated some money.
But the election is over. And Mohbad is not from a certain part of Nigeria. He is not a member of the Labour Party or an Obidient. So, there is no need for Peter Obi to even pretend that he cares!, he said.
Omokri has been a critic of Obi on social media.
Before the general election, the campaign team of LP accused the former presidential aide of using the partys candidate name to remain relevant on his social media.
The Obi campaign team, named Obi-Datti Movement, in a statement had described Omokri as a frustrated man.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Reuters reported on the incidents concerning Azerbaijan's anti-terrorist activities in Karabakh, Trend reports.
Karabakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory, but part of it is "run" by so-called Armenian "authorities", the article reads.
"It has been at the center of two wars - the latest in 2020 - since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. It was not clear whether Baku's actions would trigger a full-scale conflict dragging in neighboring Armenia or be a more limited military operation. But there were already signs of political fallout in Yerevan where Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan spoke of calls for a coup against him," the authors noted.
The article pointed out that, in a statement, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry spoke of its intention to "disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure".
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from Azerbaijani territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
Adewale Wally Adeyemo, the United States deputy treasury secretary, says President Joe Bidens administration is willing to help Nigeria in taking critical steps to sustain the foreign investments of Africas biggest economy.
Adeyemo spoke on Monday at the Lagos Business School (LBS), where he highlighted some of the steps needed for the type of growth that creates economic opportunity for the Nigerian people.
Enase Odu Okonedo, vice chancellor of the Pan Atlantic University (PAU) moderates a session with Adeyemo.
The US official said Nigeria needs to invest in digital infrastructure, improve its macroeconomics as well and create a conducive economic environment, to attract foreign investments.
First, Nigeria needs a stable naira. Unifying Nigerias foreign exchange rate will also create the kind of macroeconomic stability that is essential to attracting foreign investment, he said.
We commend the difficult steps your government has already taken to accomplish this goal. The path to unification is not an easy one as everyone is experiencing, but going backwards would be even worse.
Second, the government needs to articulate and implement a credible fiscal strategy that will provide the resources to make critical investments.
The agricultural sector remains Nigerias top employer.
I recognise the decision to end fuel subsidies is hard for many Nigerian households. But it was an important early step to create resources that the government can use to invest in physical and digital infrastructure, education, and a strong small business environment.
There is nowhere this need is greater than the agricultural industry, which, despite the digital revolution going on in Nigeria, remains Nigerias top employer.
Its full potential, of course, is held back by issues like access to fertilisers, limited use of new technology, access to water and land and the availability of credit and high market entry costs.
UPROOTING CORRUPTION TO IMPROVING BUSINESS
Speaking further, Adeyemo said Nigeria needs to root out corruption and its perception in the business environment.
This, he said, would go a long way in removing fears from potential investors.
The US official believes that creating economic opportunity would require a government-wide drive to address these fears, by shining a light on corruption, holding people accountable, and taking meaningful steps to improve the business climate.
Nigeria is a hotbed for digital entrepreneurs taking simple steps by moving government functions online, he said.
So Nigerians can apply for business licenses and visas using their smartphones and computers will help improve services productivity, and reduce opportunities for fees to go to the pockets, rather than government coffers.
Adeyemo said protecting the integrity of Nigerias financial system was also imperative in sustaining economic growth.
The cowardly kidnapper, corrupt official, and fraudster all are seeking to launder their money, he said.
Taking steps to make your banking system more secure will help reduce the ability of criminals, terrorists, and others to illicitly use the Nigerian financial system.
Adeyemo applauded the leadership of President Bola Tinubu for the effort so far.
He added that the US government is committed to working with the Financial Action Task Force to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing in Nigeria.
Our government stands ready to help work with them to take these steps as quickly as possible, he added.
He also said Bidens administration believes deeply in the importance of deepening the relationship with Nigeria.
The school bells are ringing once again, and students and pupils are buzzing with excitement as they return to their classrooms this September. But wait, there's something even more thrilling in store to kickstart this back-to-school season! TECNO's Back to School Promo is back, with over N10,000,000 in prizes up for grabs. You won't want to miss out on this sensational promo that will end on October 15.
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The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP for the Eti-Osa House of Representatives seat in the last election, Bankole Wellington has expressed excitement over the tribunals judgement on his petition.
Recall that the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State on September 12, ordered a supplementary election for the Eti-Osa House of Reps seat.
The tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to conduct a supplementary election in 32 polling units in the constituency within 90 days.
INEC had declared Thaddeus Attah of the Labour Party, LP, winner of the election but the PDP candidate approached the court, alleging irregularities in the conduct of the election.
Delivering judgement on the petition, the court on Monday last week, nullified the return of Thaddeus and ordered supplementary polls.
Reacting to the tribunals verdict, Banky W in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, said the electorates who were allegedly disenfranchised during the poll, now have a second chance to make their choices.
According to him, about 29,000 eligible voters were denied their constitutional rights following intimidation, vote suppression and other electoral malpractices.
He said, I am grateful that the tribunal agreed that when it comes to the matter of electoral processes, every voice deserves to be heard and every voice deserves to be counted.
What we saw in Eti-Osa which probably reflected in every other part of the country is that there were several polling units where elections didnt happen.
In some places, there was voter suppression, intimidation and in some places there was violence, in some places INEC officials showed up but there were no ballots.
From our calculations, about 29,000 people were not able to participate in the election, which is their constitutional right.
Im glad that the tribunal saw merit in our petition. The people who were denied their rights now have a second chance.
Traditional rulers on the platform of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs have declared that they have no regrets about supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the 2023 general elections.
The traditional rulers made this disclosure on Tuesday.
Recall that former President Olusegun Obasanjo, on Friday, at an event in Iseyin, Oyo State, commanded some traditional rulers at the event to stand up and sit down.
It was learnt that the former President took the decision due to the fact that some of the traditional rulers in attendance supported Tinubu against the decision of Obasanjo, who supported Mr Peter Obi in the 2023 general elections.
The traditional rulers, in their reaction, noted that they had no regrets about supporting Tinubu.
The Olugbon of Orile Igbon, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, Oba Francis Olushola Alao, made this disclosure via a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday.
The traditional ruler noted in the statement that the Friday incident was an internal affair.
He insisted that the matter would be properly reviewed at the next meeting of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
The statement reads: The outburst of former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo against traditional rulers in attendance at the inauguration of the Iseyin Campus of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) on Friday, September 15, has generated anger and varied responses from true sons and daughters of Oduduwa in all sections of society.
All the royal fathers involved understand the pain caused by the incident and appreciate the well-placed reactions. I wish to state that the incident is an internal affair that will be properly reviewed at the next meeting of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
Let it, however, be well noted that traditional rulers in Oyo State have no regrets in supporting Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde in the last election and will be willing to support them even in the future.
This is the clear position of monarchs in Oyo State. Any other information from anywhere that is contrary to this should be disregarded.
A former restaurant owner from Bergen County who appeared on the Food Network show Chopped, has been re-arrested on a sexual assault charge that was dropped over a month ago for lack of evidence.
Shalom Sal Yehudiel, 41, has been indicted on charges of first-degree sexual assault and third-degree endangering the welfare of a child, the Bergen County Prosecutors Office said in a statement Tuesday.
The girl was 16 when the alleged sexual assault occurred in a restaurant Yehudiel owned in Teaneck, the prosecutors office said.
Yehudiel was originally charged in the case in 2022, but a judge dismissed the charges on Aug. 7 because the FBI failed to turn over a security video defense attorneys believe would have cleared him.
The video was turned over to defense attorneys after the charges were dismissed. A grand jury indicted Yehudiel on Aug. 31, according to the prosecutors office.
On Monday, Yehudiel who now lives in Dade County, Florida turned himself into the prosecutors office in Paramus and was held pending a court hearing set for Tuesday afternoon, according to Yehudiels attorneys, Lee Vartan and Zach Intrater.
The day after the original charge was dropped, Yehudiel was arrested as he tried to board a flight at JFK International Airport and charged with second-degree sexual assault and endangering in a separate case involving an alleged victim who was between 14 and 15 years old at the time.
The case being handled by the Union County Prosecutors Office due to a conflict of interest in Bergen County.
Yehudiels attorneys were not immediately available to comment on Mondays arrest. But Vartan has previously said he believes there is no merit to any of the charges, and called the Union County prosecution an abuse of process.
Yehudiel owned The Humble Toast, a Jewish deli, and La Cucina Di Nava, an Italian restaurant. He also appeared on the Food Network series Chopped in 2020.
Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Investigators have received about a dozen tips in the case of a missing Cumberland County girl following the release of an updated age-progression rendering last week, officials said.
Dulce Maria Alavez was 5 years old when she vanished from Bridgeton City Park four years ago. The search for clues about her disappearance has yielded no answers so far, but the new rendering of how Dulce may look today as a 9-year-old has helped reinvigorate the search.
The image, produced by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, was released last week in conjunction with the fourth anniversary of Dulces disappearance.
Since last week, the Cumberland County Prosecutors Office and Bridgeton Police Department have received about six tips each, officials reported. It wasnt immediately clear Tuesday if any of those new tips were duplicates, officials acknowledged.
The tips originated from the Cumberland County area and around the region, including at least one from Pennsylvania, officials said.
I think half of them were possible sightings and the other half were just information, Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari said of the tips his department received.
He noted one tip proved to be untrue while others are still being investigated. Nothing promising has been uncovered so far, he added.
After four years, the flow of tips never completely dried up in this case, Gaimari said. But the calls coming in with possible information tend to increase around milestones, including the anniversary of Dulces disappearance and her birthday in April.
Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae asked that tipsters provide as much detail as they can, including specific locations and times of any sightings. She also said those offering information on the tips line should check back on the tips platform because police may respond with follow-up questions.
Every tip is taken seriously, Webb-McRae stressed.
I dont dismiss anything. Nothing can be dismissed. Every piece has to be tracked down, because my firm belief is that theres one puzzle piece thats going to break this open, she said.
Noema Alavez Perez kisses her daughter Estrella during a vigil marking the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of her daughter Dulce Maria Alavez. The vigil was held in Bridgeton City Park, on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023. Joe Warner | For NJ Advance Media
Dulce visited Bridgeton City Park with her family on Sept. 16, 2019, and ran off to the playground with her younger brother while her mom, Noema Alavez Perez, remained in the car nearby. A short time later, Alavez Perez said she realized Dulce was missing. After searching the surroundings with her family, the mother called 911.
An Amber Alert was issued the following day as a widespread search expanded beyond the park, across the country and into Mexico. An unclaimed reward stands at $75,000.
On Saturday, Dulces family and supporters gathered near the spot where she was last seen to honor the child and pray for her return.
Anyone with information about Dulces disappearance is asked to contact authorities via one of these options:
Bridgeton Police: 856-451-0033
Cumberland County Prosecutors Office: 856-453-0486
New Jersey State Police: 609-882-2000, ext. 2554
Anonymous tips may be sent to Bridgeton Police at bpdops.com/tips or to the prosecutors office at njccpo.gov/tips .
Information may also be submitted to the Anti-Predator Project, a Florida-based, non-profit investigation group, by calling 305-796-4859 or emailing info@antipredatorproject.org
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
After Zachary T. Latham was acquitted in the stabbing death of his neighbor in Cumberland County earlier this year, he still had to face aggravated assault charges in Florida.
He was recently sentenced in that case and is now a free man, according to court records.
Latham, 21, was charged with second-degree reckless manslaughter in the 2020 killing of William T. Durham Sr., 51, in the Vineland neighborhood where they both lived. A lengthy feud between Latham and the Durham family culminated in a bloody brawl that ended with Durham stabbed multiple times.
Latham claimed he acted in self-defense when Durham, a senior state corrections officer, and his two sons came onto the defendants property, while the Durhams claimed Latham lured the victim into the fatal fight.
Following his acquittal, Latham returned to Florida to face charges from an incident that occurred there in 2021 while he was free and awaiting trial in the New Jersey case.
Florida Highway Patrol arrested Latham in Fort Myers after he allegedly threatened a motorist with a pellet gun that resembled an AK-47 assault rifle during a confrontation in which he tried to ram the victims vehicle, police said at the time.
This is the pellet gun made to resemble an AK-47 that the Florida Highway Patrol said they found in a vehicle driven by Zachary T. Latham in 2021.(Florida Highway Patrol photo)
He was charged with two counts of aggravated assault in that case.
Latham entered a plea of no contest to the third-degree charges and was sentenced last month to a year and eight months in prison, according to court records.
He was given credit for 811 days he already spent behind bars before he was sentenced.
Florida prison records indicate Latham was released from custody on Aug. 24.
His public defender did not immediately respond to a call seeking information about the case on Tuesday.
Latham turned 18 just weeks before he was charged in Durhams killing.
The dispute with his neighbors began about six weeks earlier when Durhams wife, Catherine, told Latham to slow down as he drove on the street they shared, prosecutors said.
Latham recorded video of that interaction on his cellphone and posted it to his TikTok account, calling Catherine Durham Karen. Another video showed an incident between Latham and one of the Durhams sons.
Catherine Durham told police that Latham had harassed her on several occasions.
The feud turned deadly on May 4, 2020, after the Durhams claimed Latham drove up behind one of their sons as he rode out of his driveway on his bike and allegedly swerved his vehicle toward the cyclist.
Hours later, the Durhams confronted Latham as he drove home and followed him to his house, where the fatal brawl took place. The fight was captured on video by Lathams wife and played multiple times during the trial.
Following the three-week trial, a jury returned a not guilty verdict on all charges in April.
William T. Durham Sr., a correctional officer at South Woods State Prison, was stabbed to death in 2020.
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Matt Gray may be reached at mgray@njadvancemedia.com.
New Jersey has a new state Teacher of the Year, Joseph Nappi, a social studies teacher who has worked at Monmouth Regional High School for 18 years and is known for taking more than 600 students to the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Nappi, 41, was honored at an assembly in his school gym in Tinton Falls on Tuesday.
I did not love high school. It was not my favorite thing at all, Nappi told the students and staff. I wanted my classroom to be a place where you want to come to school. Everything Ive done is for you students. Its your win.
Nappi teaches history, psychology, and a dual-enrollment class with Kean University called Holocaust, Genocide and Modern Humanity. He worked with PBS to develop lessons for Ken Burns documentary The U.S. and the Holocaust in the summer of 2022.
In a PBS blog post of tips for teaching about the Holocaust, he wrote to other teachers, You are helping to fulfill the hope that many victims will be remembered, and the goal of survivors bearing witness for future generations. It can be a daunting task, but your work in the pursuit of a better tomorrow has never been more important!
Nappi also serves as the Key Club Advisor, a member of the Equity Council, and the chair of the Monmouth Helping Its Own Charitable committee, which he co-founded.
Katherine Bassett, the state Teacher of the Year in 2000 and now head of the New Jersey Tutoring Corps, welcomed him to the family.
Bassett told the school that Nappi had been chosen because of his teaching and the core of who he is.
You want to make a difference in the lives of young people and in the lives of your colleagues, she said. And she told him about the sway teachers of the year can have: Your classroom just got a little bit bigger. Some of your students just became a little older. And your sphere of influence has grown exponentially.
Others who have held the title over the years include Bob Goodman, head of the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning, and Jeanne DelColle, who now runs the Center for Future Educators at The College of New Jersey.
The 9:30 a.m. assembly, featuring a pep band and cheerleaders, was supposed to feature the states Acting Commissioner of Education, Angelica Allen-McMillan, speaking about the importance of highly effective educators on student success.
WATCH: Today we congratulated @mrnappi_mctoy, a social studies teacher at @MonRegHS, on being named the 20232024 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year. Read more: https://t.co/OLqNfQdtZA #PowerofEducators2023 pic.twitter.com/7pPEYfi61k New Jersey Department of Education (@NewJerseyDOE) September 19, 2023
But before she could get too far in her speech, she called up Nappi, who had been chosen as county teacher of the year for Monmouth County last month. She asked him to open an envelope from the state board of education.
As he opened the envelope, Nappi said, the winner of best picture is Instead, it was a letter from the State Board of Education, informing him of his award. Nappi said he was surprised by the honor and wanted to share it with a former guidance counselor at the school, Joe Modoni.
It is a joy to come to work every day, he said, then asked for a round of applause for the staff. Give it up for all the teachers.
Nappis wife, Cristina, teaches English and Mindfulness at the school. They have two daughters and live in Jackson.
Gov. Phil Murphy weighed in, issuing a statement. Educators like Joe are the heart and soul of our states education system, inspiring our youth and shaping the leaders of tomorrow, he said. His dedication reflects the values that New Jersey holds dear a commitment to excellence, empathy, and the pursuit of knowledge.
In a later interview, Nappi said he originally planned to major in computer science before deciding to teach.
I was chasing some paycheck, and I made a switch back in 2001, he said. Im so happy. Its really been the most rewarding experience.
For anybody whos considering a profession where you can really make a difference, dont overlook teaching, he said.
The county teachers of the year include:
Atlantic
Erin Sharpe, a science teacher at Cedar Creek High School in the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District
Bergen
Gary Whitehead, an English language arts teacher at Tenafly High School in the Tenafly School District
Burlington
Nicola Recla Fischer, a kindergarten teacher at Captain James Lawrence Elementary School in the Burlington City School District
Camden
Ron Smith, an environmental science teacher at Haddonfield Memorial High School in the Haddonfield School District
Cape May
Alison Curvan, a third-grade teacher at Dennis Township Elementary School in the Dennis Township School District
Cumberland
Betsy Harrison, a music teacher at Cumberland Regional High School in the Cumberland Regional High School District
Essex
Shamshadeen Mayers, a social science teacher at Bloomfield High School in the Bloomfield School District
Gloucester
Phillip Neff, a science teacher at Paulsboro High School in the Paulsboro School District
Hudson
Jennifer Donnelly, a science teacher at Jose Marti STEM Academy in the Union City School District
Hunterdon
Gargi Adhikari, a special education teacher at Holland Brook School in the Readington Township School District
Mercer
Yulieth Le, a fourth-grade teacher at Lawrence Intermediate School in the Lawrence Township Public Schools
Middlesex
Julie Mercier, an English language arts teacher at North Brunswick Township High School in the North Brunswick Township School District
Morris
Robin Meyh, health and physical education teacher at Mendham High School in the West Morris Regional School District
Ocean
Jaclyn Potochar, an English language arts and science teacher at Lake Riviera Middle School in the Brick Township School District
Passaic
Amanda Rhodes, a fifth-grade teacher at School 11 in the Clifton School District
Salem
Andrea Wendell, a science teacher at Pittsgrove Township Middle School in the Pittsgrove Township School District
Somerset
Corinne Laurie, a health and physical education teacher at North Plainfield Middle School in the North Plainfield School District
Sussex
Tara Scrittore, a kindergarten teacher at Hamburg School in the Hamburg School District
Union
Kristen Hickman, a STEAM teacher at Roselle Park Middle School in the Roselle Park School District
Warren
Colleen Grzywacz, a vocal music teacher at Hackettstown Middle School in the Hackettstown School District
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Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.
Newarks Board of Education president resigned Monday, later saying she was leaving to take a court job.
I stepped down because I began working for the superior court of New Jersey, Essex Vicinage, Asia Norton said in a statement to NJ Advance Media Monday night. Her resignation was effective immediately.
Norton, who graduated from Rutgers Law School this spring, was hired as a law clerk for Assignment Judge Sheila Venable of New Jersey Superior Court in Essex County, a spokesperson for the state judiciary said.
Norton had posted on social media Monday afternoon that she had resigned, though the post did not mention her new employment or give any reason why she was stepping down.
I knew this day would come, but nothing could prepare me for this moment, read the post on Nortons Facebook and Instagram pages that went up at about 2 p.m.
I am departing from the Board, but I am still here tearing down barriers to help our students reach their full potential, the post continued, though it did not elaborate. Thank you for this beautiful opportunity, Newark.
One of the boards co-vice presidents, Dawn Haynes, had seen the Facebook post on Monday afternoon, though she did not know why Norton had resigned.
Her leadership will be missed, Haynes said.
Superintendent Roger Leon did not respond to a request for comment.
Newark is the states largest school district, with over 38,000 traditional public school students, plus another 20,000 in publicly funded but privately operated charter schools.
Nortons resignation comes four months after her fellow board members voted her into the presidents post during their annual reorganization meeting in May.
As president, Nortons duties included setting the board agenda, running board meetings and acting as the board spokesperson, though she told NJ Advance Media following her election as president that she had a policy of not talking to reporters.
Under the boards bylaws and state law, the 9-member board must appoint a replacement to fill Nortons seat within 65 days. The process includes announcing the vacancy on its website and social media and inviting candidates to apply.
The boards governance committee will review the applications and invite qualified candidates to an interview with the full board during a public meeting. The board will vote on the appointment at its next board meeting.
The board is scheduled to meet on Sept. 26 and 28 at 6 p.m., at the boards offices on Broad Street.
During Nortons brief tenure, she presided over a sometimes divided board and contentious discussions, including whether to hire a board attorney separate from the districts general counsel and whether the district should release a consultants report on Black-Latino tensions at the School of Global Studies. Leon has characterized the report as a draft and has not released it publicly.
Norton, 34, a mother of one, was elected to her first 3-year term on the board in April 2018 and would have been up for re-election in April 2024. She has taught at and worked in other positions for three Newark charter schools, North Star Academy, KIPP NJ, and Marion P. Thomas.
Newark Teachers Union President John Abeigon, who saw Nortons post on Instagram, wished her well in her future endeavors.
NOTE: This article was updated to specify Asia Nortons new position as a law clerk.
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Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com
Nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital will continue to strike after their union voted to reject the facilitys latest terms.
The New Brunswick hospital, part of the RWJBarnabas Health network, had given the 1,700 nurses a Tuesday deadline to accept a three-year contract, enter into binding arbitration or continue to picket.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Brenda Shaffer, faculty member of the US Naval Postgraduate School, foreign policy specialist, has firmly responded to Charles Michel, following his statement in regard with anti-terrorist activities Azerbaijan has launched in Karabakh, Trend reports.
"It's not "Nagorno-Karabakh Oblast"- the USSR collapsed over thirty years ago. It is Azerbaijan's region of Karabakh," she stated.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from Azerbaijani territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
Theres a reason fans had to pay more than $200 a bottle for a popular rap artist-turned-actor-turned-entrepreneurs brands of champagne and cognac and it wasnt just that it was good.
The price of the Branson cognac and Chemin di Roi champagne had been inflated because the purchaser for the Hoboken-based Sire Spirits, founded by Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, by adding in more than $2 million in hidden agency fees to enrich himself and counterparts from the French distilleries he worked with.
A lawsuit by a landlord over the constitutionality of how rent control is administered in Union City has been revived after a judge who had dismissed most of the counts reversed her decision.
In a ruling issued by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Espinales-Maloney on Sept. 12, the court clarified that the ordinance setting Union Citys procedures and regulations for rent control is unconstitutional, and it reaffirmed that the application of the ordinance violated the landlords rights.
The citys process for calculating rent, which has been altered over the past two years after complaints from landlords and a separate court decision, deprived landlords of an avenue to appeal those decisions, and even further, did not include any rule that the landlord even be notified that a tenant challenged a rental rate.
A member of a Jersey City neighborhood street gang was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for stabbing a rival gang member as payback for a two-year-old assault on him, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced Tuesday.
Sheldon Mays, aka Thottie, 23, of Jersey City, had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty to one count of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering. Mays, who was sentenced Monday in Newark federal court, must also serve three years of supervised release.
According to documents in this case and statements made in court:
West New York police officers involved in the 2022 fatal shooting of a man who fired at them first have been cleared of wrongdoing by a state grand jury.
The state Attorney Generals Office announced Tuesday that no criminal charges will be filed in the death of Kevin Colindres, 32, on June 3, 2022. Police responded at 6:30 p.m. to a report of domestic violence when Colindres yelled at them to back way from the door. He then fired through the door, striking one of the officers in the back.
The list of Hudson County mayors endorsing former Gov. Jim McGreevey for Jersey City mayor in 2025 swelled by five this week, but the mayors of two high-profile cities along the Hudson River waterfront arent among them.
Ravi Bhalla in Hoboken and Steve Fulop in Jersey City have not come out publicly in support of the man who hasnt yet announced hes running, even as nine of the 12 mayors in cozy Hudson County have already pledged their support.
A pharmacist and two pharmaceutical company executives were arraigned on Monday in a $33 million prescription drug scheme, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said.
Gary Kaczka, 62, of Saddle Brook, as well as two New Yorkers William B. Welwart 69, of Staten Island, and Ethan B. Welwart, 35, of Bolivar were charged in a 22-count indictment with health care fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The Welwarts also face charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the federal anti-kickback statute and payment of illegal kickbacks.
The three men are accused of defrauding Medicare and TRICARE, a healthcare program for active duty military service members, by conspiring with others to fill medically unnecessary prescriptions.
Federal authorities have alleged that between 2017 and 2020, the three men worked with marketing companies in a telemarketing and telemedicine scheme to generate unnecessary prescriptions. In addition, the Welwarts have been accused of paying kickbacks to the involved marketing companies for referring prescriptions for expensive medications to the pharmacies.
At the time of the alleged scam, all three defendants worked for a Apogee Bio-Pharm, which is headquartered in Edison. William Welwart was the CEO and Ethan Welwart was the Director of Operations, while Kaczka was pharmacist who at times served as the pharmacist-in-charge.
Ethan Welwart also owned two pharmacies, one in Oceanport, New Jersey and one in Bal Harbor, Florida.
The marketing companies targeted Medicare and TRICARE beneficiaries, calling them on the phone to pressure them into trying expensive drugs, before submitting the claims to telemedicine companies, officials alleged.
The marketers paid kickbacks to the telemedicine companies and the telemedicine companies paid doctors to approve the prescriptions, authorities said. The marketing companies then directed prescriptions to pharmacies they had kickback agreements with, including Apogee, officials alleged.
William Welwarts attorney, Lee Vartan of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, has said that his client is innocent.
Mr. Welwart has an unblemished record in the healthcare industry across decades, Vartan said. He ran Apogee Pharmacy as directed by his professionals. The prescriptions Apogee filled were always the result of a valid doctor-patient relationship, and Apogee confirmed every prescription with every patient before filling it.
Attorneys for the other two men did not respond to requests for comment.
The defendants appeared in federal court on Monday and were each released on $250,000 bonds.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
The Office of the Attorney General has released the body camera footage in the fatal shooting of a double homicide suspect by police in Newark.
The office released four video clips in the killing of 29-year-old Everett Rand, who fled on foot from Newark Police officers as they were investigating a double homicide on the night of May 3.
In the footage, police can be seen chasing after Rand on a city street before he is shot and officers place him in handcuffs on the sidewalk.
Police responded to a 911 call at 8:34 p.m., reporting that two people had been shot inside a home on Johnson Avenue, officials said.
As police were arriving at the scene, Rand was seen leaving the residence and placing something in a nearby dumpster. Multiple officers chased after him as he fled on foot, while other officers entered the home, authorities said.
During the pursuit, Newark Police officers Steven Ferreira and Ryan Castro discharged their firearms, fatally injuring Rand, officials said.
Inside the home, police located Wyleek Shaw, 27, and 8-year-old as Zahmire Lopez, who had both been shot as a result of an apparent domestic dispute, authorities said.
Shaw was pronounced dead at the scene and the child later succumbed to his injuries at University Hospital, the Office of the Attorney General said.
A handgun not belonging to law enforcement was recovered near Rands body and a semi-automatic handgun with a large capacity magazine was later located in the dumpster where he was observed discarding something, officials said.
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Two teenagers were arrested in Delaware and four others are being sought after they crashed a stolen vehicle, fled on foot and then carjacked another vehicle at gunpoint during a home invasion in Northfield on Saturday morning, officials said.
All six fled in a stolen Porsche taken during a home invasion minutes after getting into a head-on crash at about 8:45 a.m. in the first stolen vehicle near the corner of Shore Road and Mimi Court in Northfield, according to police.
The driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash was hospitalized with serious injuries, Northfield police said.
Following the crash, the six ran toward nearby Wabash Avenue where they entered a home on the 200 block and stole a Porsche after holding the vehicles owner at gunpoint and demanding the cars key and other personal items, authorities said.
Northfield police followed the Porsche but called off the pursuit due to the extremely dangerous driving of the suspect(s).
Delaware State Police were notified after investigators learned the car that the teens crashed in Northfield had been reported stolen out of Smyrna, Delaware.
Authorities then learned at 9:50 a.m. the stolen Porsches GPS was reported pinging in the area of Interstate 95 southbound near Route 202 in Delaware.
Delaware State Police later found two of the teens in the car on the 3000 block of Old Capital Trail, Wilmington, Delaware. As troopers approached the vehicle on foot, two of the teens ran from the car while ignoring orders to stop, officials said.
The teens then ran toward the rear of a building and were taken into custody after a brief chase on foot.
Both were charged in New Jersey with multiple counts of conspiracy, robbery, burglary with attempted bodily injury with a handgun, theft of a motor vehicle, assault by auto, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and leaving the scene of an accident with serious bodily injury as well as weapons offenses.
Delaware State police charged the pair with receiving stolen property and resisting arrested.
Northfield police said both are 16 while Delaware State Police said they are 15.
Investigators are working to identify the other four involved in the home invasion.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
Ken Buck, a Republican Congressman from Colorado, is winning gushing praise from Democrats for having the guts to state the obvious that the impeachment inquiry into President Biden is a farce.
But please, stop it. Because Buck says the 2019 impeachment hearings into Donald Trump were a farce as well, and just as bad. His argument is based on that false equivalence.
Trumps impeachment in 2019 was a disgrace to the Constitution and a disserve to Americans, Buck wrote in the Washington Post. The GOPs reprise in 2023 is no better.
This is a go-to tactic for MAGA world, their last line of defense. When they cant justify their own actions, they retreat to false equivalence.
For the record, the Trump impeachment over Ukraine was nothing like this one. It was based on solid evidence of serious wrongdoing. Whistleblowers testified that Trump strong-armed Ukraines president to dig up dirt on Joe Biden, his chief political rival, and withheld military aid for several months to pressure him. We all heard the recording confirming that.
Reasonable people can disagree about whether that amounts to an impeachable high crime or misdemeanor. But Democrats had a solid basis for opening their impeachment hearings.
What do the Republicans have on Joe Biden? Exactly nothing.
They have a truckload of evidence showing that his sleazy son, Hunter, was trading on his fathers name, earning money from foreign sources that he didnt deserve, while he was an active crack addict.
What they dont have is a scrap of evidence showing that President Biden helped grease those deals or received a dime himself. They have grilled dozens of witnesses and reviewed thousands of documents, as they should. But theyve come up empty.
On ABCs Sunday talk show, This Week, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina was invited to present her best evidence against Biden, and her answer was almost comical:
The facts are everywhere, she said. There are text messages, there are e-mails, there are witnesses, there are whistleblowers, there are meetings, there are phone calls, there are dinnerWe are talking about significant sums of money. We are talking about bribery. And in the Constitution Article 2 Section 4, that is the basis for impeachment.
It went on like this, until the host, Jonathan Karl, politely moved on. All right, we will see. Havent seen much yet.
So, while Buck is right about the Biden impeachment, his false equivalency grates. And maybe thats because its such a common tactic of the MAGA crowd. They cant defend the indefensible, so they try to argue that Democrats are just as bad, or worse.
When we learn that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says that space lasers fired by a Jewish-led cabal started the California fires, we are told that both parties have extremists in their ranks, that Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is extreme as well.
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Now, you may not like AOC, and you may consider her a socialist, but did she ever say anything on that scale of crazy? Did she ever speak at a white supremacy conference, or support QAnon as it charged that Hillary Clinton ran a child-porn operation out of a Washington pizzeria? False equivalence.
Another: Joe Biden took classified documents to his home, and was not indicted, as Trump was over secret documents he took to Mar-a-Lago. Trump asks, When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden? But Biden turned the documents over right away when asked; Trump defied a subpoena and refused, prompting the FBI raid. False equivalence.
This decision by Speaker Kevin McCarthy to open impeachment hearings is all about feeding the MAGA caucus within the GOP, throwing them raw meat so they dont come after him.
Buck at least has the courage to admit it, give him that. Our own GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr., who will host McCarthy at a fundraiser this week, jumped into an elevator when he was asked for his view, as he has done before. (Does The Elevator work as a nickname?)
But this tactic, this false equivalency, is going to drive me insane. Its not as flagrant as the outright lies, but its more common, and its insidious.
More: Tom Moran columns
Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 986-6951. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
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A Republican mayor with ties to former President Donald Trump is looking to unseat New Jerseys senior U.S. senator, Democrat Robert Menendez.
Mendham Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner on Monday announced her campaign for the Republican nomination to face off against Menendez in the 2024 election.
Today, I am announcing my decision to run for the U.S. Senate because New Jersey deserves better than this dark cloud of corruption that has been following Bob Menendez for a decade, Serrano Glassner said in a statement announcing her campaign.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The fact that Azerbaijan is carrying out anti-terrorist measures is fair both from the point of view of international law and the right of any people to live in peace and security on their historical land, the well-known public figure of Kyrgyzstan, President of the Kyrgyz Club of Friends of Azerbaijan, Assol Moldokmatova told Trend.
According to her, Azerbaijan is now doing what any government is obliged to do on its sovereign territory - neutralizing Armenian separatist troops that continued to operate in Karabakh contrary to the agreements of November 2020.
"Agreements must be respected - this is an inviolable principle on which international law is based. According to the statements of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense, the ongoing anti-terrorist measures are not directed against civilians. I have no doubt that it will be so," Moldokmatova said.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
If SCOTUS recent ruling striking down President Bidens relief plan still has you reeling, then the Broke & Bothered newsletter is for you. Join Reckons Alexis Wray as she questions the legitimacy of student loans, gives you tools to take action and shares stories from real people most impacted: Enter your email to subscribe.
HBCUs have always been historically underfunded, but now we know just how much money they are owed $12 billion.
Yesterday, the U.S. Departments of Education and Agriculture sent letters to 16 governors in states with land-grant HBCUs calculating the disparity in funding from 1987 to 2020.
Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nations distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities to operate with inadequate resources and delay critical investments in everything from campus infrastructure to research and development to student support services, said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona.
With 19 land grant HBCUs across the country, a lack of funding has impacted everything from building repairs to academic tutoring services.
Cardona and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, outlined in each letter that under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, states opening land-grant universities serving Black students are required to provide an equitable distribution of state funds to institutions founded between 1862 and 1890. However, of 18 states with HBCUs only two Delaware and Ohio are upholding the law.
To calculate the $12 billion disparity, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and Integrated Postsecondary Education Survey (IPEDS) compared HBCU budgets in the remaining 16 states to predominantly white institutions that existed in 1862.
Some of the brightest minds and most impactful advancements in food and agriculture have taken root in our countrys 1890 land-grant universities, and Im incredibly proud of the partnership USDA maintains with these invaluable institutions. We need governors to help us invest in their states HBCUs at the equitable level their students deserve, and reflective of all they contribute to our society and economy, said Vilsack.
Cardona and Vilsack expressed in the letters that governors should not decrease the funding at other institutions across their state to rectify funding gaps at the land grant HBCUs.
Underfunded by billions
North Carolina and Florida have underfunded their HBCUS more severely than other states. North Carolina A&T State University, an HBCU in Greensboro, has a $2 billion funding disparity, the letter said.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, an HBCU in Tallahassee, has a $1.9 billion funding disparity. This comes on the heels of FAMU students recently filing a class action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination in state funding, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
The longstanding and ongoing underinvestment in Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University disadvantages the students, faculty, and community that the institution serves, according to the letter. Furthermore, it may contribute to a lack of economic activity that would ultimately benefit Florida. It is our hope that we can work together to make this institution whole after decades of being underfunded.
Heres how each 16 states 1890 HBCUs have been underfunded, according to the secretaries letters:
Alabama - Alabama A&M University
$527.3 million
Arkansas - University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff
$330.9 million
Florida - Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
$1.97 billion
Georgia - Fort Valley State University
$603 million
Kentucky - Kentucky State University
$172 million
Louisiana - Southern University and A & M College
$1.1 billion each
Maryland - University of Maryland Eastern Shore
$321 million
Mississippi - Alcorn State University
$257 million
Missouri - Lincoln University
$361 million
North Carolina - North Carolina A&T State University
$2 billion
Oklahoma - Langston University
$418.9 million
South Carolina - South Carolina State University
$470 million
Tennessee - Tennessee State University
$2.1 billion
Texas - Prairie View A & M University
$1.1 billion
Virginia - Virginia State University
$277.5 million
West Virginia - West Virginia State University
$852.6 million
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. A fuel and lubricants warehouse belonging to the Armenian armed forces, and located near the Khankendi-Khojaly road, has been destroyed, Trend reports.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from Azerbaijani territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
"The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated that contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement signed on 10 November 2020, the continued presence of Armenias armed forces formations in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is the source of grave threat to regional peace and stability.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated.
The command of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation and the leadership of the Turkish-Russian Monitoring Center are informed about the ongoing activities," the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said.
WASHINGTON Money for disaster relief is tied up in the ongoing fight among House Republicans over how best to fund the federal government next year. Its a conflict that could lead to a government shutdown in 10 days.
The Disaster Relief Fund balance on Tuesday stood at $2.4 billion, enough to cover another major storm, maybe two, in a year with an historic number of events, 23 so far, costing at least $1 billion apiece, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
For now, FEMA has suspended payments on at least five resilience projects in Louisiana upgrading levees, installing flood structures, raising elevations and the like, said Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.
The agency's administrator, Deanne Criswell, apologized but said FEMA needed to marshal its remaining dollars for efforts to neutralize the immediate threat to life in the event of another storm or wildfire or flood or tornado.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. We categorically reject and condemn the statement of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France regarding the measures taken in response to the latest provocations of the Armenian armed forces in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said in a statement, Trend reports.
Will be updated
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. In response to the long-lasting armed attacks and provocations of Armenian separatist troops in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, today the Azerbaijani Army conducted an anti-terrorist action against these formations of the Armenian armed forces, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.
Due to the long-standing armed attacks and provocations directed against members of the Azerbaijani army and security personnel by illegal Armenian armed groups in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani army has launched today (19 September) an anti-terrorist operation which targets exclusively military elements.
Azerbaijan had to take the measures it deemed necessary on its own sovereign territory as a result of the fact that the legitimate and rightful concerns it has constantly expressed about the situation on the ground in the past three years since the end of the Second Karabakh War, have not been resolved.
We believe that result-oriented continuation of the comprehensive negotiation process that has been meticulously carried out between Azerbaijan and Armenia to date, is the only way for maintenance of peace, security, prosperity and lasting stability in the region, the statement reads.
Abbas Ganbay
On September 19th, 2023, a delegation consisting of Chandra Arya, a Member of the Canadian House of Commons, Ron East, the publishing director of the influential Canadian Jewish media platform Thej.ca, and Nigar Aliyeva, co-founder of the Garabagh Azerbaijan weekend school operating in Ottawa, visited the Guba Genocide Memorial Complex, Azernews reports, citing Diaspora.
According to a report from the State Committee for Work with Diaspora, the guests wrote their heartfelt words in the memorial book, calling the March genocide cruelly committed by Armenians against Azerbaijanis as barbarism against humanity.
The Canadian delegation also visited the Red Village, where the mountain Jews live compactly, and got acquainted with the activities of the synagogues and the History and Ethnography Museum of Mountain Jews. The visit was part of the project Informing the International Community about the Facts of Azerbaijan, organized by the State Committee for Work with Diaspora.
The Canadian parliamentarian's visit to Azerbaijan was carried out within the framework of the project "Informing the international community about the facts of Azerbaijan" of the State Committee for Work with Diaspora.
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the Crown, the Senate, and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body whose members are known as members of Parliament (MPs). Chandra Arya is one such Member of Parliament, representing a riding in Canada.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Over 60 combat positions of the Armenian armed forces have come under the control of the Azerbaijani Army, Trend reports.
Will be updated
LAPORTE Police say a 45-year-old inmate at the county jail was attempting to arrange for the murder to two other local residents.
Daniel Shaffer, of LaPorte, was foiled in his plot by the federal and local agents, resulting in the addition of two counts of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder.
Officers with the LaPorte County Drug Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms began investigating Shaffer a few weeks ago after learning he was soliciting the murder of two LaPorte residents, drug task force Commander Sgt. Kyle Shiparski said.
Federal and local agents working undercover reportedly met with Shaffer numerous times, verifying his intentions and collecting evidence that ultimately led to the new charges.
Another Valpo-area man nabbed by vigilante group targeting child sex predators, police say "You can talk dirty to me you if ya want," the accused James Wyatt said to the decoy in a text message conversation found by Valparaiso police.
Shaffer was booked into the LaPorte County Jail in May and was already facing charges of auto theft, resisting law enforcement, possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving and possession of paraphernalia, records show.
A judge signed off Friday on the charges stemming from the alleged murder for hire plot, Shiparski said.
Bond was set for Shaffer on the new charges at $100,000 and he appeared to be still in custody Tuesday morning.
"This investigation highlights the cohesive relationship between the LCDTF and ATF," Shiparski said. "It is within these joint operations that each agencys resources can be utilized and ultimately help to conclusively resolve complex investigations."
Anyone with information about criminal activity is encouraged to contact the drug task force at 219-873-1488 or via social media.
GARY Gary police say no charges will be filed against the parents of a 4-year-old boy who was wounded Sept. 12 after finding and shooting a gun he found in his mothers purse.
Police gave no further details about the decision, but it follows mixed responses by Region officials over the past two years to the at-least six cases of young children getting ahold of guns and accidently shooting themselves.
In this most recent case, the boys father said he was watching television in a bedroom in their apartment in the 1900 block of Burr Street in Gary on Sept. 12 when he heard the weapon go off, according to Gary police Cmdr. Samuel Roberts.
Region man shot while buying pot, police say The shooting victim told police he had gone to a home in the 3900 block of Louisiana Street to buy the illegal drug when he was shot.
The father discovered the boy had gotten ahold of the purse and gun while his mother was in the shower, police said.
Just two weeks earlier, 5-year-old Edan Oliver Johnson fatally shot himself with an unsecured firearm he found in a home in the 2400 block of Fillmore Street in Gary, officials said.
A 32-year-old Gary man, who was owner of the gun and had left it out while sleeping, was taken into custody, police said.
Portage resident Abigail Rodriguez was sentenced in May to three years behind bars, with all but time-served suspended and to be spent on formal probation, after pleading guilty a month earlier to a reduced criminal count of neglect of a dependent after her 2-year-old daughter got ahold of a 9 mm handgun on Feb. 7 in Rodriguezs bedroom and fatally shot herself, records show.
Rodriguez reportedly told officials she forgot to bring the gun from her nightstand to the kitchen as she typically does during the day, and knew the gun had a live round of ammunition in the chamber and did not have a safety switch.
Region woman shot after hearing gunfire while walking, police say "The young lady told the police that she ran to a friend's home and that friend took her to the hospital," police said.
Porter County Prosecutor Gary Germann announced in August 2022 that he would not be pursuing criminal charges in the July 17, 2022 case of a 2-year-old Kouts boy who died after getting ahold of a gun and shooting himself.
The boy, identified as Wyatt Luczak, was pronounced dead July 19, 2022 after being rushed to the University of Chicago Medicine hospital, officials said at the time.
Prosecutors in Lake County are still reviewing the potential for charges following the Aug. 17, 2022 case of 8-year-old Hunter Hanyzewski getting ahold of a gun and accidently killing himself at his Lakes of the Four Seasons home, office spokeswoman Myrna Maldonado said Tuesday morning.
The child was home alone when he gained access to a handgun and fatally shot himself, the Lake County Sheriffs Department said at the time.
County inmate nabbed in alleged 'murder for hire' plot, police say Federal and local agents working undercover reportedly met with the accused numerous times, verifying his intentions and collecting evidence that ultimately led to the new charges.
A Jan. 22 trial is scheduled for Portage resident John Mourani, who is charged with a felony count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury after his 2-year-old boy shot and injured himself Oct. 7, 2021, with a Micro Draco 7.62x39mm rifle he had found under Mouranis bed, police said at the time.
Police found what appeared to be an entry point inside the boys right calf and a large exit wound on the outer right calf/lower leg, according to the incident report. The boy was transported to Methodist Hospital Northlake Campus in Gary, then to the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Gary police encourage the public to secure all firearms in a safe or with gun locks.
More information and help is available at Project Child Safe.
A 37-year-old Michigan City man is facing over a dozen charges relating to child abuse, according to Michigan City Police.
Anthony Johnson Jr. has been charged with seven counts of child molesting, six counts of rape and one count of vicarious sexual gratification, Capt. Kevin Urbanczyk said in a news release.
Michigan City Police began their child abuse investigation on Aug. 9 after they received a formal complaint involving multiple children from the Indiana Department of Child Services.
After multiple interviews and evidence was collected, the investigation was then forwarded to the LaPorte County Prosecutor's Office for a probably cause review, according to Urbanczyk.
Probable cause was found on Sept. 11 by a LaPorte County magistrate, with an arrest warrant issued for Johnson Jr. on the same day.
Johnson Jr. was then arrested on Sunday and taken into LaPorte County Jail. He is currently being held in the jail on a $100,000 cash only bond.
An initial hearing for Johnson Jr. is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sept. 19 in LaPorte County Superior Court.
PHOTOS: Logjam removal along the East Branch of the Little Calumet River logjams logjams logjams logjams logjams logjams logjams Logjam
GARY The YWCA of NWI will hold its annual Circle of Friends Gala Oct. 12 at the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana at 5400 W. 29th Ave., Gary.
The event, hosted by Hosea Sanders of ABC 7 Chicago, begins at 6 p.m.
Not only will this event provide an opportunity to bring this community together for an important cause, but the funds we raise together will ensure we can continue to support the critical and relevant work we are doing to improve lives, said YWCA of NWI Executive Director Caren Jones.
The funds raised for the Circle of Friends Gala will support improvements to the facility, which is more than 25 years old.
The support has been phenomenal, and we thank the supporters and sponsors who have already stepped up to make a difference, Jones said. A gift to the YWCA means sustaining essential programs in our community while giving residents of all ages a place to go, grow, and thrive.
Tickets to the Circle of Friends Gala and sponsorship opportunities are available online at circleoffriendsgala.swell.gives. For more information about advertising in the Virtual Gala Ad Book, call 219-881-9922, or visit www.ywcanwi.org.
GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week
HOBART The Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy has received the go-ahead to begin construction of a new, 25,000-square foot police training facility at its Lake County campus.
The State Budget Committee last week authorized the release of $5 million to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security (IDHS) for the facility that will double the number of law enforcement recruits that can be trained in Northwest Indiana.
Records show the new building will include modern law enforcement training amenities, as well as an auditorium, locker rooms, offices, conference space, classrooms, restrooms, a physical training room and a multipurpose space.
"The completed facility will help meet the demand for properly trained law enforcement officers within Indiana," said Devon Burks, IDHS chief financial officer.
Funding for the new training facility was included in the two-year state budget approved earlier this year in House Enrolled Act 1001 by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb.
James Markle, executive director of the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy, and Griffith Police Chief Greg Mance, chairman of the academy's board of directors, both attended Friday's State Budget Committee meeting for final review of the project.
However, no State Budget Committee members asked questions of the law enforcement leaders about the planned training facility and state spending authorization ultimately was approved unanimously by the committee.
The priciest item on the committee's agenda this month was $100 million for a new inn at Potato Creek State Park near South Bend a project originally conceived as part of Indiana's 2016 bicentennial celebrations.
The new inn will be situated near the park's 327-acre lake and feature 120 guest rooms, a full-service dining room and patio/terrace, an event and conference center, gift shop, activity rooms, indoor aquatic center, lake observation deck and boardwalk, playground, 12 boat slips and parking for 250 vehicles.
Construction is scheduled to begin in Spring 2024.
The budget committee also approved, among other agenda items, spending $1.5 million for new fencing or gates at numerous Indiana Department of Transportation facilities, including buildings in Gary, Fowler, Remington and Winamac; and $1.1 million for general rehabilitation of INDOT buildings in Northwest Indiana and across the state.
Q: Ive lived in a rent-stabilized apartment in Hudson Heights for almost seven years and have no real complaints except for one thing: The windows are absolutely filthy! I called the management company to see if it has a preferred window-cleaning service, to no avail. When I asked if I could hire my own cleaner, management said no. I am on the third floor and cannot clean the windows, because they are old and do not open into the apartment. I have called 311, and they were very good about window guards and the like, but there dont seem to be any rules about upkeep and cleaning. Can you help?
A: There is nothing explicit in the law that requires the landlord to clean your windows.
Laws governing rent-regulated and market-rate apartments do not require this type of maintenance. But that doesnt mean the dirty windows arent posing health hazards that the city must take seriously.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan once again calls on the units of the Armenian armed forces located in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan to lay down their arms and surrender, Trend reports.
In this case, anti-terrorist measures will be suspended.
We are in operational contact with the Russian peacekeeping contingent temporarily stationed on the territory of Azerbaijan, and we are creating all conditions for them to fulfill their duties, the ministry said in a statement.
A typical Hollywood charity auction, like the Baby2Baby Gala, might consist of beauty sessions with sought-after dermatologists, autographed books and set memorabilia, and the occasional five-minute photo op. It might also be closed to the public, available only to those connected individuals who can afford to bid richly.
The charity auction organized by the Union Solidarity Coalition, a group of writers and directors who came together this year to help crew members affected by the Writers Guild strike, is trying something different: It offers dozens of quirky experiences, many featuring hidden talents of celebrities that have little to nothing to do with their current career paths. (For example: The Oppenheimer actor David Krumholtz has pledged to donate a three-song Zoom serenade to the highest bidder.)
The strike, now in its fourth month, has left writers and crews without paychecks and health care coverage. All of the net proceeds from the T.U.S.C. charity auction will go to the Motion Picture & Television Funds crew health care fund. Qualifying crew members (those with less than $10,000 in assets) can enroll for a $350 grant, which depending on their income can help cover most if not all of their monthly insurance costs.
Right now the W.G.A. is on strike, and SAG is on strike. At the end of the day were going to get a better contract thats going to give us different levels of money, said the actor and comedian Paul Scheer, who donated a meet-and-greet for his popular podcast How Did This Get Made? But the crew members who are not negotiating with us because theyre on a different cycle theyre just losing work and theres no benefit there.
Five Americans who had been imprisoned in Iran left the country today after the U.S. negotiated their release, President Biden said. The agreement involved unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue and dismissing federal charges against five Iranians. The deal was a result of two years of high-stakes talks and is part of a larger effort by the Biden administration to de-escalate tensions with Iran.
The Americans Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz, as well as two others who have not been named at their families request flew to Doha, the capital of Qatar, for a Cold War-style prisoner exchange with two of the five Iranians. The Americans are returning to the U.S., but three of the Iranians declined to return to Iran, according to U.S. officials.
The American prisoners had been jailed in Iran on unsubstantiated charges of spying, and some had been held for years in Evin Prison, one of the countrys most notorious detention centers. (Heres what we know about them.)
News of the arrangement has generated intense criticism from Republicans who say that releasing billions in oil revenue amounts to paying a ransom and that it could lead to the taking of more hostages. Biden administration officials have said the agreement with Iran was the only way to win the release of the five Americans, and have denied that the deal indicates a major shift in the long-hostile relationship between the U.S. and Iran.
An unlicensed acupuncturist in Queens punctured a womans lungs during a treatment, leading her to pass out on the street and requiring major surgery, according to prosecutors.
Yong De Lin, 66, was arraigned Monday on a four-count indictment charging him with assault, reckless endangerment and unlicensed practice of a profession.
The defendant was not licensed, nor had even bothered to apply for licensure, and he very nearly killed his patient, Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, said in a statement.
He had operated out of an office called C&W Medical on Union Street in Flushing, where he met the victim, Shujuan Jiang, 63, in May 2022, according to prosecutors. She had sought help for stomach and back pain, and received 17 treatments over the next six months, they said.
A kilogram of fentanyl was found near mats that children used for napping at a Bronx day care site where one toddler died and three other children were hospitalized last week, the police said on Monday night.
Chief Joseph Kenny, the Police Departments chief of detectives, explained just how close to the children the potent narcotic was: It was laid underneath a mat where the children had been sleeping earlier, he said at a news conference, where he joined Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials.
The unsettling revelation came as Mr. Adams and the citys health commissioner defended the administrations oversight of the day care program, one of thousands of such operations in New York City that are licensed to operate out of peoples homes.
City inspectors, who examine the homes on behalf of the state, had made a surprise visit to the day care program where the boy died, Divino Nino on Morris Avenue, on Sept. 6. They found it to be fully in compliance with a 40-point checklist and noted that all medications, toxic substances were being used and stored so no hazard created and that poisonous, toxic, flammable and dangerous items are inaccessible to children.
How do you deal with visits to shoeless homes? Its often a surprise, so you cant plan ahead with cute socks or by making sure youve recently had a pedicure. Not to mention that shoes are part of an outfit and keep your feet warm. Ive been confronted with this more often in the last few years, and Im never comfortable removing my shoes. Any advice? Ann, San Francisco
Feet! They are among the most controversial, least discussed parts of the body. I know people who quail at the sight of other peoples feet, and we all know about people who fetishize feet. They can be callused, blistered, hairy, hardened and otherwise ill tended. Also smelly.
Indeed, foot angst may be one reason we spend so much time thinking about our shoes and why the growing trend toward shoeless homes can be so hard to navigate.
To be sure, this is a North American problem. In many cultures, removing your shoes when you enter someones house is natural; its a sign of respect. In those cultures it is also expected, so visitors and hosts are generally prepared for the eventuality.
As to why the practice may be on the rise, there is a theory that going shoeless inside is potentially healthier since shoes track in germs. That makes some sense, especially after the emergence of Covid-19, though The Timess Science desk took a deep dive into the studies and found that the matter was not necessarily clear-cut. Then theres the argument that it simply keeps the house cleaner (also true).
Ukraine said on Monday it was filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary after the three countries broke with the rest of the European Union to ban imports of Ukrainian grain.
The countries instituted their bans over the weekend, saying they were necessary to protect their own farmers, who had complained that cheap grain from Ukraine one of the worlds largest exporters had inadvertently flooded their own markets, pushing down prices. Hoping to quell the unrest, the European Union had temporarily banned Ukrainian agriculture imports in some countries, including the three that later imposed their own bans in the hours after the European Union ban expired.
Ukrainian officials have protested the new bans, saying they threatened solidarity within the bloc and forced further losses on Ukraines suffering exporters.
It is crucially important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban imports of Ukrainian goods, Ukraines economy minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, said in a statement on Monday. She added that Ukraine needed solidarity with them and protection of farmers interests.
After decades of stage shows, TV specials and essentially reinventing mind control, Derren Brown is doing something new: Hes getting off the stage, and into the directors chair.
And its been a lot, Brown said in a recent video interview.
Unbelievable, directed by Brown and his longtime collaborators Andrew OConnor and Andy Nyman, opens on Tuesday in Londons West End, and is a family-friendly magic show the likes of which its makers promise youve never seen.
Its also a new kind of Derren Brown show. Previously, Brown, 52, has been at the center of his productions. Brown has long maintained that he is not a psychic, but that his mind tricks are a combination of magic, suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship. He has managed to convince people to commit an armed robbery (with fake weapons, of course); to take a bullet for someone (also staged); and that he has healing powers.
This time, Brown said that creating a magic show using actors and musicians directed by him, OConnor and Nyman just felt like a really appealing idea.
A Danish artist who delivered two framed blank canvases titled Take the Money and Run must repay the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art about $70,000 it had given him to reproduce artworks involving physical currency, a Copenhagen court ruled on Monday.
The museum had commissioned the artist, Jens Haaning, to recreate two of his earlier works, An Average Austrian Year Income (2007) and An Average Danish Annual Income (2010), which displayed cash in euros and Danish kroner. For the purpose of his new artworks, Haaning was given 532,549 kroner, according to the museum director, plus fees and expenses.
But Haaning surprised the museum by sending it Take the Money and Run, which was included in an exhibition from September 2021 to January 2022. When the exhibition closed, Haaning did not return the money, prompting the museum, which is in the northern city of Aalborg, to file a lawsuit.
The Copenhagen court pointed to the contract and the disbursement receipt, which both stated that the kroner were to be repaid after the exhibition. Though Haaning has said he did not intend to return the money, the court added, the museum never agreed to those terms.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is transferring the ownership of two ancient sculptures that have been in its collection to Yemen, officials said, nearly 40 years after they were removed from an archaeological site near the ancient city of Marib.
But the stone artifacts, which date from the third millennium B.C., will not immediately be returned to their home country because of the ongoing civil war there. Officials at the Yemeni embassy in Washington have instead asked the Met to continue to hold onto them for the time being as part of a custody agreement.
We are delighted that Yemen is reclaiming ownership of its precious and priceless cultural heritage, Mohammed Al-Hadhrami, the Ambassador of the Republic of Yemen to the United States, said in a statement. Due to the current situation in Yemen, it is not the appropriate time to return these artifacts back to our homeland.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The information spread on some social networks in Armenia that the city of Khankendi was shelled by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces from the Grad missile and artillery complex is completely false, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense.
"We categorically refute the information," the message reads.
Its hard to gauge whether the drama currently playing out behind the scenes at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples will end as opera seria (serious) or an opera buffa (comedy).
Italys oldest opera house currently has two respected figures, each of whom believes he is its rightful general director after a convoluted dispute that critics say has cast the theater, and Italy, in an unflattering light.
It has all the elements of high drama conflict, tension, perhaps even vendetta and is playing out like a farce, or, in the words of some Italian news outlets, un pasticcio: a mess.
A quick plot synopsis:
Act I. In May, Italys government passed a law that said general directors of the countrys 13 state-run opera theaters could not serve beyond their 70th birthday. That immediately terminated the contract of Stephane Lissner, who had turned 70 in January, midway through his term as the general director of the San Carlo.
In May, a crowd of 3,000 filled the Utopia Warehouse at the old port of Rio de Janeiro for the opening night of Back2Black, a festival dedicated to Black culture. A figure dressed in white sat onstage, guitar in hand, and the imposing baritone voice of Mateus Aleluia the only active member of Os Tincoas, a group from Bahia, Brazil, revered for its heavenly vocal harmonies and songs about the Yoruba mythology reverberated throughout the venue. He sang about birds, waterfalls and mystical beings. And also about oppression, suffering and the pain of racism.
When Aleluia suddenly stopped singing and opened his arms, the crowd understood the signal and sang back to him the lyrics of Cordeiro de Nana, the bands 1977 lament about slavery. You guys know the lyrics better than I do, he said with a smile, and left the stage to cheers, leaning on a crutch.
Because of my age, I represent prudence, and those kids who showed up to sing with me on the show represent impetus. I think its a good match, Aleluia said by phone the day after the concert. (He turns 80 this month; he declined to specify the date.)
Despite the singalong, Os Tincoas were never pop stars in Brazil. Far from it. The group comes from Cachoeira, in the Bahia countryside, a city that housed a large concentration of enslaved people cultivating sugar cane during the 16th century. Their three main albums, Os Tincoas (1973), O Africanto dos Tincoas (1975) and Os Tincoas (1977), were not successful when they were released, and the band split in the early 1980s. But now, Os Tincoas which took its name from a bird with a long tail and a call similar to the moan of a cat thats common in the forests around Cachoeira is being rediscovered by Brazilian audiences and a new generation of artists. And Canto Coral Afrobrasileiro, an album recorded 40 years ago, has finally been released.
Early days
At the outset, Brand was focused on comedy. In 2004, back in Edinburgh, he debuted an acclaimed solo show, Better Now, about his recovery from drug addiction. A few years later, in 2009, he was performing another show, Scandalous, to 16,000 people at Londons O2 venue.
By that point, Brands jokes were less about politics and more focused on the Lothario persona he had established with the help of Britains tabloid press, which covered his antics in minute detail. As his comedy career boomed, Brand made efforts to break into TV and radio, too. In 2000, he was hired to work on MTV, only to be fired a year later when, after the Sept. 11 attacks, Brand arrived at work high and dressed as Osama bin Laden.
Following treatment for drug and sex addictions, he made the first of several comebacks by hosting a show on Channel 4, one of Britains major TV networks, as well as another on the BBCs most popular radio station. In the United States, he grabbed attention when, in 2008, he hosted the MTV Video Music Awards and referred to President George W. Bush by an offensive name.
Prank phone call
Brands rise in Britain began to stall in October 2008, when he recorded an episode of his radio show that included a series of prank phone calls to Andrew Sachs, the veteran actor known for playing Manuel the Spanish waiter in the 1970s comedy series Fawlty Towers. In the calls, Brand and his co-host Jonathan Ross referred repeatedly to Brands having sex with Sachss granddaughter, and made other lewd remarks.
The show only attracted two formal complaints when broadcast. But after The Mail on Sunday newspaper wrote about the calls, thousands of irate callers flooded the BBC switchboard and the incident became a political storm. Brand was forced into an apology, but Greenslade said that incident didnt affect Brands popularity among fans as it played into his bad boy image. It enhanced his reputation for some, Greenslade said. But broadcasters became wary of working with such a loose cannon.
Figurehead of the left
Brand had a brief moment of crossover movie stardom in the United States, starring in Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008 and its 2010 spinoff Get Him to the Greek. He became a major figure in Britain again when he made a surprise move into politics. In 2013, Brand guest-edited an issue of a British political magazine. Then, in a television interview to promote it, the comedian admitted hed never voted and called for the creation of a new political system that focused on the needs of ordinary people and didnt destroy the planet or create massive economic disparity. Soon, he was a left-wing figurehead.
YouTube suspended the comedian and actor Russell Brand on Tuesday from making money from videos posted to the social media platform, three days after British news organizations published an investigation in which several women accused Mr. Brand of sexual assault.
The channel is a potentially significant source of income for Mr. Brand, who was earning money through advertisements and paid promotions.
A spokeswoman for YouTube said in an email that Mr. Brand, whose channel on the platform has 6.6 million subscribers, was suspended for violating YouTubes creator responsibility policy.
If a creators off-platform behavior harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect the community, the spokeswoman said.
At the annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. today in New York City, President Biden tried to rally the world to stick with Ukraine and warned against appeasing Moscow in a way that would reward its aggression.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden told the General Assembly. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United Nations Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected?
President Volodymyr Zelensky gave his own speech soon afterward, presenting Russias aggression as an unrelenting worldwide threat that will not stop at the borders of Ukraine.
The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order, Zelensky told the leaders. He added that Russia was weaponizing essentials like food and energy not only against our country, but against all of yours as well.
American companies doing business in China are less optimistic about the future than at any other time in more than two decades. Restrictions on economic data, like the extent of youth unemployment, are making investment decisions harder. Few of the many foreign executives who left China during the pandemic are returning.
These are some of the takeaways from reports released Tuesday by organizations representing close to 2,000 European and American firms.
The papers by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China portray a business environment that has become more difficult to navigate. Companies find themselves caught between a Beijing that has been outwardly solicitous of their investment but at the same time focused on its security priorities. Nearly two-thirds of European companies in China have seen business opportunities thwarted by Chinas ever more complex web of regulations.
The reports also make clear that despite the troublesome landscape, China remains an enticing lure for Western corporations. Many of the companies surveyed said they were ready to increase their investments in China if geopolitical tensions eased and if government policy became more welcoming.
Since the start of the pandemic, labor unions have enjoyed something of a renaissance. They have made inroads into previously nonunion companies like Starbucks and Amazon, and won unusually strong contracts for hundreds of thousands of workers. Last year, public approval for unions reached its highest level since the Lyndon Johnson presidency.
What unions havent had during that stretch is a true gut-check moment on a national scale. Strikes by railroad workers and UPS employees, which had the potential to rattle the U.S. economy, were averted at the last minute. The fallout from the continuing writers and actors strikes has been heavily concentrated in Southern California.
The strike by the United Automobile Workers, whose members walked off the job at three plants on Friday, is shaping up to be such a test. A contract with substantial wage increases and other concessions from the three automakers could announce organized labor as an economic force to be reckoned with and accelerate a recent wave of organizing.
But there are also real pitfalls. A prolonged strike could undermine the three established U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, which owns Chrysler, Jeep and Ram and send the politically crucial Midwest into recession. If the union is seen as overreaching, or if it settles for a weak deal after a costly stoppage, public support could sour.
The worlds top diplomat, Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary general, on Tuesday told world leaders their efforts to address the climate crisis had come up abysmally short and called on them to do what even climate-ambitious countries have been reluctant to do: stop expanding coal, oil and gas production.
Every continent, every region and every country is feeling the heat, but Im not sure all leaders are feeling that heat, he said in his opening remarks to presidents and prime ministers assembled for their annual gathering in the General Assembly. The fossil fuel age has failed.
Mr. Guterres, now in his second and last term, has made climate action his centerpiece issue and has become unusually blunt in his language about the need to rein in the production of fossil fuels and not just focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from their use.
As always, he pointed to the worlds 20 largest economies for not moving fast enough. As always, he stopped short of calling on specific countries.
Many are arriving with a glint of optimism in their eyes. The rapid growth of wind and solar power, advances in electric vehicles and batteries, and growing efforts to protect nature are signs, to some, that humanity might be able to claw its way out of this crisis. But the perils of a warming planet have become impossible to ignore.
Profiting from destruction
President Biden, in his speech at the U.N., cited heat waves in the U.S. and China, droughts in the Horn of Africa, and the recent flooding in Libya: Taken together, these snapshots tell an urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof our world.
Under his administration, Biden said, the United States has treated this crisis as the existential threat from the moment we took office, not only for us, but for all of humanity.
Still, the United States remains a top producer and exporter of oil and gas.
Antonio Guterres, the U.N. secretary general, who is hosting a climate summit with heads of state on Wednesday, has accused fossil fuel producers of profiting from destruction, and has warned: History is coming for the planet-wreckers.
But as my colleague Somini Sengupta reports, Guterres always stops short of naming names, never singling out China, the United States, Exxon, BP or any of the worlds other biggest polluters.
Connecticut, 1781. New London is burning after British troops led by Benedict Arnold raided the town. Dozens of people are dead. Hundreds are hurt. The sky is full of smoke.
About a month later, soldiers fight in Yorktown, Va., in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. A rallying cry: Remember New London.
And 242 years later, New London has not forgotten.
On a recent Saturday evening, hundreds of people gathered in the streets to burn Benedict Arnold, Americas most famous traitor, in effigy. To the beat of a fife and drum, residents marched the life-sized, two-faced puppet to its execution. Some, in tricorn hats, carried mock bayonets. Others held torches.
Burn the traitor! onlookers screamed. Burn him!
The procession is an annual piece of street theater, organized by Flock Theatre, a New London troupe.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. On September 19, on the sidelines of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, Jeyhun Bayramov, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan met with Yuri Kim, US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs, Trend reports citing Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
During the meeting, the latest situation in the region was standing high on the agenda.
Armenia's failure to withdraw the Armenian armed forces from the territory of our country contrary to its obligations after the 44-day Patriotic War, and its ongoing military-political provocations are the main threat to peace and security in the region was noted by Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Failure of international partners, including the United States, to call for the withdrawal of these forces led to the intensification of provocations by Armenia in recent years was mentioned.
On September 19, resorting to a number of large-scale military provocations and terrorist attacks in the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan resulted in the death of servicemen of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as injury of the servicemen of Azerbaijan Army were wounded, Fortification of the positions and units being brought to the high combat readiness level by the Armenian armed forces to continue provocations were brought to attention.
Local counter-terrorism measures have been launched in the region to prevent such large-scale provocations, to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, and for withdrawal of units of the armed forces of Armenia from the territories of Azerbaijan, and to restore the constitutional system of the Republic of Azerbaijan were noted, and the target of taken measures is exclusively illegal military formations and military infrastructures constituting main source of threats to peace and security in the region, as well as, civilians are not targeted contrary to claims, and calls are made by us for the safety of Armenian residents were said.
Intensified provocations of the armed forces of Armenia in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country and the continuation of their existence in the region contrary to obligations are a serious threat to regional peace and stability, therefore importance of unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, the dissolution of the puppet regime, resolute condemnation and prevention of military provocations and terrorist acts were mentioned.
Notwithstanding all the efforts of our country through the international partners involved, such provocations have undermined the normalization process, all proposals aimed at reducing tensions have been rejected, and the congratulation of the puppet regime dated September 2 by the Prime Minister of Armenia is an indicator of Armenia's lack of interest in the peace process were noted.
Coming to the alleged "blockade" and "humanitarian crisis" claims in the region, these claims have no basis, they are deliberately presented as a "humanitarian" issue, and in fact they are a political manipulation directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country was said by Minister Jeyhun Bayramov. Notwithstanding the agreements on the sequential and parallel use of roads on the basis of discussions with the European Union and the United States, these agreements were not followed were recalled. In this regard, the simultaneous passage of two ICRC cars, one through Aghdam-Khankendi and the other through Lachin-Khankendi road on September 18 proved baselessness of fictional and purposeful accusations of blockade against our country were emphasized.
At the meeting, the sides exchanged views on other regional issues.
When four toddlers fell ill after being exposed to fentanyl at a Bronx day care, the owner called her husband twice before summoning rescue workers, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. It was too late for a 1-year-old boy.
The owner, Grei Mendez, 36, a citizen of the Dominican Republic who has lived in the U.S. for nine years, and a man, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, who was renting a room from her have already been arraigned on state murder, manslaughter and assault charges in Bronx Criminal Court.
They now each face one count of possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death and one count of conspiracy, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Tuesday in Federal District Court in Manhattan.
If convicted, the two would face a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and could face a maximum of life imprisonment, said Damian Wiliams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, who announced the charges at a news conference on Tuesday.
Its not hard to find signs of the Latino influence in this working-class village along the Hudson River: Mexican taquerias and Ecuadorean delis dot the promenade along Beekman Avenue, and neighbors greet one another in Spanish, while colorful flags dance in the wind.
More than half the Village of Sleepy Hollow is of Hispanic origin, according to the most recent census. But those demographics are rarely reflected on Election Day.
The village, about 30 miles north of New York City, is part of the Town of Mount Pleasant, which uses an at-large voting system that allows residents to cast ballots for all open positions.
The Mount Pleasant town board has no Latino members, and no one could recall the last time it had one. That disconnect has led to a formal claim filed with the town, on behalf of five residents who say that they and other Latino voters are being disenfranchised.
She is an author of a paper published in the Journal of Fish Biology that said that more systematic surveys are required to get a better sense of what sharks are here and whether the population is shifting.
Even DNA from water samples can answer some of the questions. Scientists did genetic analysis on tooth pulp found on a bite victim to identify the transgressor as a young sand tiger shark. That species is known to use the Great South Bay, off Long Island, as a nursery, the paper said.
The paper acknowledged the perception that there are more sharks in the water off New York, but Camhi suggested that perception exists because more people are in the water with more gadgets, like cameras that can record videos and drones that can fly overhead, doing the same.
Despite all the footage and anecdotes, she said, scientists are not seeing a jump in shark populations, which she said remain lower than they were in the 1960s and 1970s. More than two dozen species of sharks are known to circulate in the New York Bight, from Cape May, N.J., to Montauk, N.Y.
The paper mentioned possible explanations for the increase in interactions, including climate change, which some marine specialists say has driven other marine animals north in pursuit of the fish populations they feed on. More menhaden in New York waters means more whales, the director of the South Fork Natural History Museum on Long Island said in June, after two humpback whales died off New York and New Jersey.
This is the shortest column Ive ever written because it doesnt take long to get things in focus:
President Biden, you are meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, for the first time since he returned to office in December. Hes formed the most extreme government in Israels history and yet your administration is considering forging a complex partnership with his coalition and Saudi Arabia. There are enormous potential benefits and risks for the United States. I hope you wont proceed without getting satisfactory answers from Netanyahu on three key questions so we know just what Israel, and just which Bibi, were dealing with:
1. Prime Minister Netanyahu, your governments coalition agreement is the first in Israels history to define the annexation of the West Bank as one of its goals or, as it says, applying Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. But you earlier supported the Trump Middle East peace plan that proposed dividing the West Bank, with Israel controlling roughly 30 percent and the Palestinian state getting roughly 70 percent, albeit with tight security guarantees and no contiguity. Do you intend to annex the West Bank, or will you negotiate its future disposition with the Palestinians? Yes or no? We need to know. Because if you intend to annex, all your normalization agreements with Arab states will collapse, and we will not be able to defend you in the United Nations from charges of building an apartheid state.
2. Bibi, you told your first cabinet meeting last December that your top priorities include stopping Irans nuclear program, as well as expanding Israels growing relations with the Arab world. But we saw you decide instead to prioritize a judicial coup to strip the Israeli Supreme Court of its ability to hold your government accountable. That, in turn, distracted your military leadership, fractured your air force and elite fighting units, bitterly divided your society and weakened your diplomatic alliances from Washington to Europe. Iran, meanwhile, moved in with a diplomatic offensive, patching up its ties with all your Arab neighbors and eating your lunch. Why should we make confronting Irans nuclear program our priority when you havent?
3. Prime Minister, the Saudis are ready to do something hard normalize relations with Israel. We are doing something hard to help facilitate that forging a mutual defense treaty with Saudi Arabia. What hard things are you ready to do vis-a-vis the Palestinians to complete the deal? It feels to us that you dont want to take any political risks that you want everyone to do something hard except you.
Bibi, youre out of focus for the American people. We need to know: Who are you now?
I find this drumbeat, which has been ongoing since at least 2022 (Let me put this bluntly: Joe Biden should not run for re-election in 2024, Mark Leibovich wrote last summer, also in The Atlantic. He is too old), to be incredibly strange, to say the least. The basic premise of a voluntary one-term presidency rests on a fundamental misconception of the role of re-election in presidential politics and presidential governance.
Re-election or rather the act of running for re-election isnt an unexpected treat or something ancillary to the position. It is one of the ways presidents seek to preserve their influence, whether or not they ultimately win another term of office.
Among the many hats the president wears, none is more important to his long-term success than that of party leader, the political scientist James W. Davis writes in a 1992 book on presidential leadership. Unless he is skilled in the management of party affairs, especially in dealing with members of the coequal legislative branch, the president will not be able to achieve that esteemed place in history reserved for all of our great presidents.
The reason, Davis explains, is that the institutional separation of the executive and the legislature along with the fragmented nature of political authority in the American system presidents and lawmakers of the same party, even lawmakers within the same state, do not share the same constituencies results in large and imposing barriers to presidential ambition. But, Davis writes, while the president faces numerous constraints in our Madisonian system of checks and balances, he nevertheless can, if he has the inclination and leadership drive, use his party ties to lead the nation to new heights.
Crucial to achieving this is the possibility of future power, which is to say, the prospect of re-election. The promise of a second term, and thus another four years to achieve their political and ideological goals, is a critical incentive that binds lawmakers to the president in the present. This is especially true given the recent trend toward the nationalization of congressional elections, in which public esteem for the incumbent or lack thereof shapes the fate of the entire party.
Weve just had the hottest summer in recorded history, with runaway wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, ruinous floods from Slovenia, Sudan and Hong Kong to Vermont and Brazil. Weve seen nearly half of the worlds ocean waters in a heat wave, having absorbed some 90 percent of the heat produced by our greenhouse gas emissions.
Amid those catastrophes a new report from Oil Change International, out Sept. 12, showed that despite its rhetoric on climate leadership, the United States accounts for one-third of planned oil and gas expansion across the globe between now and 2050 more than any other nation.
President Biden, with both help and hindrance from Congress, has brought us federal funding for clean technologies. Thats a crucial step but brutally inadequate: If we keep drilling, pumping and using oil and gas, green-energy money will remain a sprinkling of sugar on a poison pill.
In advance of this years United Nations Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday, Mr. Biden has made concessions to the environmental lobby, canceling oil and gas leases in high-profile Alaska refuges and reserves. Those gestures are welcome, but also easy. The more difficult and more essential task is to remove incentives for oil and gas companies to continue their frantic pace of production, transport and profiteering.
The speaker is clearly fed up with being bullied by his radicals. But heres the thing. Gaetz & Company have a point: Mr. McCarthy is out of compliance with several of his promises or at least several they claim he made. (Thats the problem with secret back-room deals.) So if the rabble-rousers want to be taken seriously going forward, they need to stop all the chest-thumping. Its time to step up and file the flipping motion.
The extremists are easy to denounce, especially with their tendency to act out like unruly teens or Lauren Boebert at Beetlejuice. But they are not to blame for the chaos consuming the House. It is Mr. McCarthy who led them to believe he would champion their policies and priorities. And it is Mr. McCarthy who elevated their influence in the conference, empowering them to wreak even greater havoc. Of course they are going to make more and more outrageous demands. Thats what they do.
Some of what Mr. McCarthy committed to was beyond his power to deliver. Take the ongoing showdown over government funding. He pledged to try to cap discretionary spending at 2022 levels or lower. But with the Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House, that is a non-starter. Worse, Mr. McCarthy effectively gave the hard-liners license to play chicken with the debt ceiling. Small wonder they were brassed off when he cut a debt deal with the Democrats in May.
Maybe the key word for Mr. McCarthy in these promises was try. Maybe he figured that, as long as he let the rebels take their best shot, they would cut him slack even if they failed to carry the day. If so, their outraged, burn-it-all-down reaction to the debt agreement should have disabused everyone of that notion. At that point, Mr. McCarthy really should have started adjusting his strategy and the hard-liners expectations accordingly. Instead, he doubled down on coddling them, encouraging them to plow ahead with fantasy spending cuts. The latest proposal for a stopgap bill to keep the government running through October, which the chambers G.O.P. leadership put forward on Sunday, was being savaged by around a dozen House Republicans on Monday, dimming its prospects for passage.
Starting this month, all high school students in Russia have a new history textbook. On its pages, theyll find a strikingly simplistic account of the past 80 years from the end of World War II to the present that all but comes with the Kremlins signature.
Revisionism doesnt begin to cover it. Stalin, in contrast to the standard depiction in Russian textbooks over the past 30 years, is presented as a wise and effective leader thanks to whom the Soviet Union won the war and ordinary people began to live much better. Repressions are mentioned, but in an accusatory way. The reader is left with the feeling that Stalins victims were guilty and suffered a well-deserved punishment.
The telling of the end of the Soviet Union is similarly distorted. Previous textbooks analyzed the collapse of the Soviet system and the inefficiency of the planned economy, writing about the arms race and the irrationality of the elderly Soviet leaders. The new tome blames everything on Mikhail Gorbachev, castigating him as an incompetent bureaucrat who succumbed to pressure from the United States. Then there are the 28 pages on the war in Ukraine. They contain, of course, no history and only outright propaganda a set of cliches recycled from Russian television.
The book was written, along with others, by Vladimir Medinsky, Russias former culture minister and now a presidential aide. Mr. Medinsky has another, more secret role: He is President Vladimir Putins ghostwriter. Working with a team of assistants, he writes texts about history under Mr. Putins name. Given the presidents obsession with history and use of it to justify his regime, Mr. Medinsky occupies an important position in Russia today. From the shadows, he has helped construct the ideological and historical edifice on which much of Mr. Putins rule rests.
Britain passed a sweeping law on Tuesday to regulate online content, introducing age-verification requirements for pornography sites and other rules to reduce hate speech, harassment and other illicit material.
The Online Safety Bill, which also applies to terrorist propaganda, online fraud and child safety, is one of the most far-reaching attempts by a Western democracy to regulate online speech. About 300 pages long, the new rules took more than five years to develop, setting off intense debates about how to balance free expression and privacy against barring harmful content, particularly targeted at children.
At one point, messaging services including WhatsApp and Signal threatened to abandon the British market altogether until provisions in the bill that were seen as weakening encryption standards were changed.
The British law goes further than efforts elsewhere to regulate online content, forcing companies to proactively screen for objectionable material and to judge whether it is illegal, rather than requiring them to act only after being alerted to illicit content, according to Graham Smith, a London lawyer focused on internet law.
From thunderstorms and limited visibility to scorching temperatures and turbulence, the weather dictates when and where planes can fly. Severe weather is the leading cause of air travel disruptions in the United States.
Aviation meteorologists plan for and around difficult conditions, crafting weather forecasts used to determine the nuances of flights, from altitude to optimal routes. They play an essential role in ensuring travelers get to their destinations safely and efficiently.
Several major domestic carriers, including Delta Air Lines, have in-house meteorologists who monitor global weather 24 hours a day. Delta has 28 meteorologists on staff the largest team of any airline, it declares who sit in the carriers Operations and Customer Center, alongside flight dispatchers, customer service agents and hundreds of other staffers, at its headquarters in Atlanta.
In this cavernous and screen-filled room, Warren Weston, Deltas lead meteorologist, recently spoke about the importance of data, the difference between surface weather and upper-air hazards, and how even one degree of temperature can change a flight plan. The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. The information spread by certain Armenian users on social networks about the shelling of a convoy of the Russian peacekeeping contingent evacuating residents of Armenian origin by Azerbaijani Army is completely false and disinformative, the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.
We categorically reject such unfounded allegations, the statement reads.
The group that won a major Supreme Court victory against affirmative action in June sued the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday, arguing that the courts ruling barring race-conscious college admissions should extend to the nations military academies as well.
The group, Students for Fair Admissions, was the driving force behind the lawsuit that led the Supreme Court to strike down race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, a decision that has roiled admissions programs at colleges and universities across the country.
But the court specifically excluded the military academies, including West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, from its decision that affirmative action in college admissions could not be reconciled with the Constitutions equal protection guarantees. In a footnote to the majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the court was not ruling one way or the other on the academies, because of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.
That footnote created an opening for a new round of litigation, and Students for Fair Admissions took it.
How did my school fare?
Thats what many people were curious about yesterday when U.S. News and World Report released its annual rankings of universities, compiled using a newly overhauled methodology.
While the top schools stayed the same Princeton, followed by M.I.T., with Harvard and Stanford tied for third the new formula boosted many public universities, while several private institutions tumbled in the rankings.
U.C.L.A. and my alma mater, U.C. Berkeley, each jumped from 20th to tie for 15th place overall, and were once again ranked as the best public universities in the country. U.C. Davis rose from 38th to 28th place, where it is now on par with U.C. San Diego and the University of Southern California.
As for private schools in the Golden State, Pepperdine University dropped by 21 spots to No. 76; Chapman University slipped by 12 and the University of San Francisco by 10.
Three former Columbus Zoo and Aquarium executives were indicted on Monday, accused of scheming to defraud the nonprofit zoo out of more than $2 million and spending the money on trips, concert tickets and vehicles, the Ohio attorney general said.
Tom Stalf, the zoos former chief executive; Pete Fingerhut, a former marketing director; and Greg Bell, a former chief financial officer, face a combined 90 felony counts in the indictment, which was filed in Delaware County Common Pleas Court in Ohio.
Dave Yost, the Ohio attorney general, said at a news conference on Monday that the three men extorted, conspired, bribed and stole more than $2 million that belonged to a charitable organization.
In simple terms: The bank hired the robbers to work security, Mr. Yost said.
The charges Mr. Stalf, Mr. Bell and Mr. Fingerhut face include aggravated theft, conspiracy and tampering with records. Mr. Stalf and Mr. Fingerhut also face felony charges of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering. Mr. Fingerhut faces two counts of extortion. If convicted, the men face three to 11 years in prison, according to the Ohio attorney generals office.
But unlike in other major metro areas particularly New York, where Mayor Eric Adams recently warned that the migrant crisis will destroy his city leaders in Los Angeles are not sounding alarms.
Instead, the city has quietly avoided the kind of emergency that has strained shelters and left officials pleading for federal help in New York, Chicago and Massachusetts. Los Angeles officials are relieved to have avoided major problems so far, especially considering that their city has faced so many other challenges lately, from a homelessness emergency to a prolonged Hollywood labor strike.
As a city that is not very far away from the border, were used to people coming here seeking refuge and shelter, said Hugo Soto-Martinez, a City Council member whose parents immigrated to Los Angeles from Mexico decades ago and worked as street vendors. Luckily, we have the infrastructure.
Officials at homeless shelters in Los Angeles report that they have not seen a significant increase in recent migrants seeking temporary housing. Immigrant aid groups say they have been able to develop an efficient process to help the migrants who do arrive on the buses sent by Texas, usually a few dozen at a time.
A major reason California has avoided a crisis is that the state no longer attracts as many migrants as it did decades ago when it was a top destination for people moving to the United States. Starting in the 1990s, the states high cost of living, coupled with a plethora of job opportunities in the Sun Belt and elsewhere in the country, led border crossers to seek other destinations.
People from Montana to Missouri reported sightings of the aurora borealis overnight, and forecasters said the phenomenon also known as the northern lights would be visible over parts of the West and Midwest until about dawn on Tuesday.
The northern lights get their name for lighting up the sky at higher latitudes. On Monday night, the phenomenon stained the night sky with green and purple blotches in some parts of the United States, and red or purple pillars or curtains in others.
Most of the time when the northern lights occur, it is just kind of a green glow on the northern horizon, said Grant Hicks, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Glasgow, Mont., where the staff was posting images of the northern lights overnight.
The United States is discussing terms of a mutual defense treaty with Saudi Arabia that would resemble military pacts with Japan and South Korea, according to American officials. The move is at the center of President Bidens high-stakes diplomacy to get the kingdom to normalize relations with Israel.
Under such an agreement, the United States and Saudi Arabia would generally pledge to provide military support if the other country is attacked in the region or on Saudi territory. The discussions to model the terms after the treaties in East Asia, considered among the strongest the United States has outside of its European pacts, have not been previously reported.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabias de facto ruler, regards a mutual defense agreement with the United States as the most important element in his talks with the Biden administration about Israel, current and former U.S. officials said. Saudi officials say a strong defense agreement would help deter potential assaults by Iran or its armed partners even as the two regional rivals re-establish diplomatic ties.
Prince Mohammed is also asking the Biden administration to help his country develop a civilian nuclear program, which some U.S. officials fear could be cover for a nuclear weapons program to counter Iran.
Along the southeastern edge of Oklahoma, where expansive cattle ranches and empty storefronts dot the landscape, the lack of high-speed internet service has become a daily frustration for residents.
Wanda Finley, a fourth-grade teacher in Sawyer, Okla., said the satellite service at her home was often too slow to use, and it sometimes went out for days. She cannot schedule medical appointments, request prescription refills or pay her bills online until she gets to work. Nearly every weekend, she drives about 40 minutes to school to prepare her weekly lesson plan because it can take minutes for a single web page to load at home.
Im hoping it will change, Ms. Finley, 60, said, sitting in her home on a recent afternoon.
If President Biden gets his way, Ms. Finley and her neighbors will benefit from a $42.5 billion program to expand fast internet access across the country. The funding, which was included in the 2021 infrastructure law, is part of an initiative that has high ambitions: to provide affordable, reliable high-speed internet access for every home and business by 2030.
Ms. Murphy was in nursery school the day her father was killed. She is now 25 and in her last year at New York Universitys School of Law. She has been following the case intently since she traveled to Guantanamo as a guest of the prosecution in the summer of 2018 to watch a week of pretrial proceedings. That session was handled by the previous judge, Col. W. Shane Cohen of the Air Force, who likewise abruptly announced his retirement and left the case early in the pandemic.
Colonel McCall got the case in August 2021 and held only two rounds of hearings before suspending the proceedings in March 2022 for the plea talks. They became deadlocked for more than a year while prosecutors awaited a reply from the White House on whether it would endorse assurances that the five defendants would not serve their sentences in solitary confinement and that they would have access to a trauma treatment program. The men were all held for years by the C.I.A. and subjected to waterboarding or other forms of torture before they were brought to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
President Biden declined to sign off on the assurances on Sept. 6. Nine days later, the judge filed notice of his intent to retire in April.
At the session on Tuesday, Colonel McCall swiftly disclosed that he planned to retire and said he was not actively searching for a new job at this time.
In a notice dated Sept. 15, according to a lawyer who received a copy, Colonel McCall said that he chose to retire in the best interests of my family and that his decision was not impacted by any outside influence from any source. He will be 53 when he leaves the service.
Pennsylvania, a battleground state that could play an outsize role in the 2024 presidential election, will begin to automatically register new voters as part of its drivers license and state ID approval process, officials said on Tuesday.
The program, which was announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, is similar to those offered in 23 other states and the District of Columbia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Voters must meet certain eligibility requirements, which include being a U.S. citizen and a Pennsylvania resident for at least 30 days before an election. They also must be at least 18 years old on the date of the next election.
Automatic voter registration is a common-sense step to ensure election security and save Pennsylvanians time and tax dollars, Mr. Shapiro said in a statement. Residents of our Commonwealth already provide proof of identity, residency, age and citizenship at the D.M.V. all the information required to register to vote so it makes good sense to streamline that process with voter registration.
Deep Republican divisions erupted onto the House floor on Tuesday as a handful of far-right conservatives blocked a Pentagon spending bill from coming up for debate, dealing an embarrassing setback to Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he struggled to round up votes to prevent a government shutdown in less than two weeks.
In a development rarely seen in the House, five Republicans broke with their own party and refused to allow the usually broadly bipartisan military funding measure to be considered, registering their objections to Mr. McCarthys strategy in an escalating fight over federal spending. It left the chamber paralyzed for the moment, with little time before a Sept. 30 deadline to avert a government closure.
The stunning setback sent Mr. McCarthy and his lieutenants scrambling for a way forward both on their yearlong spending bills and a temporary funding bill that had already run into a buzz saw of opposition from the far right as the speaker faced fresh threats of an ouster from detractors in his own party. Even if it could make it through the House, the temporary spending measure stood little chance in the Democratic-led Senate, where its combination of deep spending cuts and stringent border policies was seen as a nonstarter.
But the Houses inability to move on a stopgap plan further delayed any negotiations on Capitol Hill toward a bipartisan spending compromise. With none of the 12 annual spending bills passed, such a temporary bill will be needed to keep the government funded after the end of next week.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. The information spread by some Armenians on social media about the shelling of positions belonging to the Russian peacekeeping contingent by Azerbaijani Army is completely false, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said, Trend reports.
"We categorically refute this information," the ministry noted.
From the start, the attacks on Mr. Epps were largely based on the fact that he was never charged with any crimes, even though he was captured on video on the night before the riot encouraging people to go into the Capitol. He was also seen on Jan. 6 pointing others toward the building and then entering a restricted area of the Capitol grounds.
Those who promoted the conspiracy theory made the unfounded leap that because Mr. Epps had avoided prosecution for more than two years, he had to have been a federal asset under the protection of the government. The charges filed on Tuesday by prosecutors in Washington undercut that assertion.
With the charges, Mr. Epps became one of only a handful of people in the mob who never entered the Capitol to have been prosecuted. While videos from Jan. 6 clearly depict him as being in the first wave of rioters to move past a police barricade outside the building, footage from later in the day shows him attempting to calm the crowd around him and de-escalate tensions with the police.
It remains unclear why the Justice Department decided to charge Mr. Epps now, more than two and a half years after the Capitol attack. The charging document used against him, known as a criminal information, was filed after he brought his suit against Fox News, ensuring his story would remain in the public eye for months, if not years. It also came after he decided to fight back against the conspiracy theory in the media, granting interviews to both The New York Times and 60 Minutes.
Still, Mr. Epps is hardly the only rioter to have waited years before being charged. The Justice Department continues to file Jan. 6 cases almost daily and could ultimately bring charges against several hundred more defendants.
These illegal leaks are coming from sources which totally lack proper context and relevant information, said Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Mr. Trump. The Department of Justice should investigate the criminal leaking, instead of perpetrating their baseless witch hunts.
Ms. Michael could not be reached for comment.
The revelations about Ms. Michaels discussions with investigators were the latest to show the scale and nature of the evidence gathered by federal prosecutors working on the classified documents case. Mr. Trump stands accused of illegally holding on to dozens of highly sensitive national security records after leaving office and of conspiring with two aides at Mar-a-Lago, his club and residence in Florida, to obstruct the governments repeated attempts to get them back.
Ms. Michael is one of at least two witnesses who could be called to testify at Mr. Trumps trial in the documents case and present the jury with evidence that the former president sought in some way to obstruct the governments investigation.
In July, another potential witness in the case, Yuscil Taveras, one of Mr. Trumps information technology workers, reached a cooperation deal with the government and told investigators that the property manager at Mar-a-Lago asked him, at Mr. Trumps request, to delete from a computer server security footage that the government was seeking as part of its inquiry.
Ms. Michaels account about Mr. Trump writing notes on classified material did not appear to be directly related to any of the specific charges he is facing in the case. But the information could be used at trial to portray the former president as treating sensitive government documents recklessly or carelessly.
Why It Matters: The vote will determine a swing states power balance.
Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state, playing an important role in presidential elections, as well as determining which party holds power in the United States Congress. Whichever party gains an upper hand in the state can make a major difference in Washington, in addition to making law in Pennsylvania.
Its also one of just two states, along with Virginia, where the legislative chambers are split by party.
In Harrisburg, Democrats have controlled the governors office since 2015, and Gov. Josh Shapiro won his first term convincingly in November 2022. Republicans, on the other hand, have held a strong grip on the Senate for decades.
Democrats won a majority in the House in 2022 for the first time in 12 years and by the slimmest of margins it took only Ms. Innamoratos resignation to make it an even split.
Background: The state has seen several special elections this year.
In May, Heather Boyd, a Democrat, won a closely watched special election in southeast Delaware County, part of the Philadelphia suburbs. Top Democrats, including President Biden and Governor Shapiro, had framed the contest as crucial to protecting reproductive rights in Pennsylvania.
But on the same day, in a separate special election, Republicans retained a state House seat in north-central Pennsylvania with the triumph of Michael Stender, a school board member and firefighter.
Heading into the third special election of the year on Tuesday, the Democratic candidate, Ms. Powell, 32, who works in work force development, was viewed as a solid favorite, with a sizable fund-raising advantage.
She was aiming to become the first African American woman to represent the district, which Ms. Innamorato captured in 2022 with 63 percent of the vote.
Republican officials acknowledged that the heavily Democratic district would be difficult for them to win. Still, Ms. Autenreith, 65, had been active on the campaign trail.
What Happens Next: The state House could soon be in play yet again.
Even with Ms. Powells victory, voters in Pennsylvania may soon face yet another special election with huge stakes.
If State Representative John Galloway, a Democrat who represents a district northeast of Philadelphia, prevails in a race for a district judgeship in November, as is expected, the chamber would be split again until another contest could be held to fill his seat.
For years, Stella Guerrero Mata, a 73-year-old retired school bus driver who lives near Houston, has been able to cast her vote through the mail with little hassle. Ms. Mata, who uses a cane to walk and suffers from a long list of ailments, including diabetes, worsening eyesight and back pain, expected the 2022 midterm elections to be no different.
But sometime after she placed her ballot in the mail, she received a letter with news that left her angry and confused. Her ballot was not accepted because she had failed to include her drivers license number and the last four digits of her Social Security number, a requirement of a contested new voting law that was approved in 2021.
My vote was rejected, Ms. Mata said, adding that she had realized it was too late for her to correct her mistake. It made me feel angry, because my voice was not being heard.
Ms. Mata was one of several voters to testify in a trial, now underway in San Antonio, over the states sweeping election overhaul, known as S.B. 1. The law was passed by a Republican majority even after Democratic lawmakers staged a 38-day walkout, leaving the state in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the bill from coming to a vote.
For $2,499, Prenuvo will try to predict your future. The company offers a roughly hourlong session of magnetic resonance imaging, or M.R.I., that scans your entire body, searching for early signs of cancer, aneurysms, liver diseases and even multiple sclerosis.
In recent months, images of celebrities and influencers posing in branded scrubs in front of a glossy, cylindrical M.R.I. machine have begun to pop up on social media with notable frequency. Kim Kardashian wore slippers in the post she shared with her 364 million followers last month, writing in the caption that Prenuvo has really saved some of my friends lives. In May, the television host Maria Menounos said that a Prenuvo scan had alerted her to a mass that turned out to be Stage 2 pancreatic cancer.
Prenuvo does not pay anyone to promote its products, according to the companys founder and chief executive, Andrew Lacy, but it does offer free scans to influencers and prominent figures in the wellness industry in exchange for an honest review if they feel like it, he said. Some people also receive discount codes they can share on social media, offering their followers hundreds of dollars off the cost of a scan.
The company has sought a glamorous crowd. During New York Fashion Week in early September, it coordinated with the fashion public relations agency Lucien Pages to set up appointments for a few influential people in the fashion world, according to the agency. They included the French fashion editor Olivier Zahm, who wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that he went to get his scan between runway shows. The designer Zac Posen, the model Lily Aldridge and the Vogue editor Gabriella Karefa-Johnson have also posted about the scans.
The allegation was a bombshell: that India had been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil in June.
Canadas prime minister leveled the charge on Monday, and an all-out diplomatic war soon followed. Canada pressed its allies to come together to challenge India, with statements of concern issued in Washington and Canberra, Australia. India moved to expel a top Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move, and Indian officials lined up to air grievances with Canada.
But behind the plunge in relations to what officials and analysts called the lowest point ever were years of diplomatic tension. In New Delhis eyes, Western nations most notably Canada have stood idly by as extremist Sikh groups, including the one led by the murdered Canadian citizen, have supported a secessionist cause that threatens the Indian state.
Indian officials have accused their counterparts in Canada, Britain, the United States and Australia of inaction as the diaspora mobilization for Khalistan, the independent nation that Sikh secessionists want to establish in the Punjab region, has vandalized Indian diplomatic missions and threatened Indian diplomats.
The killing of a Sikh separatist has set off a quickly escalating battle between two major allies of the United States.
First came the stunning allegation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Monday that agents of the Indian government were involved in the assassination of the Sikh separatist, a Canadian citizen, on Canadian soil.
That was followed by vehement denials from India and allegations that Canada is a haven for terrorists, as both countries expelled diplomats.
The allegation about the killing, which shocked and angered Canadians, came after President Biden has spent much of the past few months courting Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, seeking to draw him closer to the American orbit at a time when India has refused to break with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. India is seen as perhaps the most important of the so-called global south states that the United States is wooing in its geopolitical contests with Moscow and Beijing.
The Sikh separatist whose killing in British Columbia this summer has suddenly set off a major diplomatic dispute between Canada and India was a prominent advocate of the creation of an independent nation, Khalistan, that would include parts of Indias Punjab State.
The separatist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, had moved to Canada in the mid-1990s, according to Indian news reports, after a period in which the Indian government was cracking down on the Sikh movement.
Decades later, the Indian government declared him a terrorist, accusing him of plotting a violent attack in India linked to his advocacy. And in June, two masked assailants killed him in front of a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia, a city on the border with Washington.
Mr. Nijjar was born in the district of Jalandhar in the North Indian state of Punjab. In Canada, he married, had two sons, worked as a plumber and became the president of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, a temple in Surrey, in 2020.
Azerbaijan said on Tuesday that it had launched a new military operation against an Armenian enclave inside its territory, raising fears of an expanding armed conflict in a fragile region in which the interests of Russia, Turkey and Western countries are increasingly colliding.
The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces had launched local anti-terrorist operations in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, aiming to disarm and secure the withdrawal of Armenias armed formations from its territory. The countrys foreign ministry issued what appeared to be an ultimatum, declaring that only the dissolution of the unrecognized pro-Armenian government in the area would achieve peace and stability.
The authorities in the Nagorno-Karabakh region said in a statement that 25 people two civilians and the rest military service members had died as a result of the attack. They posted a video from a hospital of ambulances rushing wounded people in.
As Azerbaijans military pressure mounted, the breakaway authorities issued a statement, asking Azerbaijans leaders in Baku, the capital, to cease hostilities and begin talks. The Azerbaijani presidential administration responded by calling on the breakaway government to give up arms and dissolve itself by raising a white flag.
Evan Gershkovich, an American reporter detained by Russia on espionage charges, appeared on Tuesday in public for the first time in months at a court hearing that confirmed his pretrial detention.
Mr. Gershkovich, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, has been held in Russia since March. On Tuesday, a Moscow court declined to hear his appeal against a ruling in August that extended his detention by three months, according to Russian state media.
He has been detained in Moscows Lefortovo prison on espionage charges that he, the U.S. government and The Journal have vehemently denied. The United States has said he is wrongfully detained.
Lefortovo jail is infamous for the near-isolation and often harsh conditions imposed on its inmates. Mr. Gershkovich was last seen publicly in a court appearance in June. In photos from the courtroom on Tuesday, Mr. Gershkovich appeared standing in a glass box surrounded by Russian security officers with covered faces. He wore a yellow sweatshirt and jeans, and smiled occasionally to other members of the media who were briefly allowed into the courtroom.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. Armenia is again spreading disinformation on social networks about the alleged use of attack UAVs by Azerbaijani Army, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Defense.
"We categorically refute the information," the message reads.
Russian forces targeted several Ukrainian cities on Tuesday, killing nine civilians and destroying humanitarian supplies, Ukrainian officials and an aid group said.
One of the first attacks came early Tuesday, when 18 drones were launched at the western city of Lviv, killing one person. Fifteen of the drones were intercepted by air defenses in the assault, which started at 3:40 a.m. local time and lasted more than two hours, Maksym Kozytskyi, the head of the regions military administration, said on the Telegram messaging app.
The drones that evaded the defenses caused fires at warehouses that were still burning several hours later, he said. The body of one employee was found in the rubble of one of the warehouses, and another person was injured, local officials said. The claims had not been independently verified.
One of the warehouses held humanitarian aid from Caritas-Spes, a Catholic relief organization, and others held household chemicals. Caritas-Spes wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that 300 tons of humanitarian supplies had burned. It released photos showing the wooden and iron structures of the warehouses ablaze, with corrugated metal sheets strewn across the ground.
A former member of the Belarus security services went on trial Tuesday in Switzerland over his role in the disappearances of prominent opposition leaders nearly 25 years ago, episodes that significantly strengthened President Aleksandr G. Lukashenkos authoritarian grip on power.
The defendant, Yuri Harauski, a 44-year-old former soldier who lives in Switzerland, was arrested after he confessed to being part of a special operations unit known by its acronym, SOBR, run by the Belarus Ministry of the Interior, that he says abducted and killed the three men in 1999.
The men have never been found, and an investigation by the Belarusian government into their disappearances was closed in 2003 with no conclusion. The missing men are: a former interior minister, Yuri Zakharenko; an opposition politician, Viktor Gonchar; and a pro-opposition businessman, Anatoly Krasovsky. Mr. Harauski, who arrived in Switzerland and claimed asylum in 2018, has denied killing the victims. He was charged with the crime of enforced disappearance. Prosecutors have asked for a three-year jail sentence, of which two years would be suspended.
The case, presided over by a three-judge panel, is the first enforced-disappearance prosecution to be tried in Switzerland under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which provides for states to prosecute international crimes regardless of where they were committed, according to Benoit Meystre, a lawyer for Trial International, a Geneva-based human rights group that submitted one of the complaints that led to Mr. Harauskis arrest.
Ukraine took two bold steps toward securing export routes for its vital grain industry on Tuesday, sending a ship loaded with wheat along a new Black Sea route in the face of Russian naval aggression and challenging one of its main allies, Poland, over its opposition to Ukrainian imports.
In an initial success, the ship, the Resilient Africa, which is loaded with 3,000 metric tons of wheat, crossed the maritime border into Romanian waters on Tuesday evening. It arrived more than 12 hours after it left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk, according to the MarineTraffic website, which tracks global shipping using satellite data.
The importance of establishing a new sea route grew still greater this week in the face of a renewed dispute between Ukraine and its grain-producing European Union neighbors about overland exports.
But though the Resilient Africa appears to have navigated itself safely out of Ukrainian waters, experts say much uncertainty remains over whether the country will be able to rebuild a vital industry weighed down by 19 months of war.
President Volodymyr Zelensky will be addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday against the backdrop of Ukraines slow-moving and bloody counteroffensive to drive Russian forces from the countrys south and east.
When the campaign launched in June, officials had hoped Ukraines military could replicate the successes of last year and quickly retake large swaths of Russian-held territory.
Instead, Ukrainian forces initially made almost no progress. The pace of gains has increased in recent weeks, although Kyivs troops have yet to decisively penetrate the Russian defenses while also taking heavy casualties.
But war tends to be a grind. The types of routs that let Ukraine retake thousands of square miles in the northeast last year are rare. Fighting frequently involves chipping away at an enemy, like Ukraines retaking of a small but strategic village in the east on Sunday. Such advances try to build toward a big breakthrough, although one may never come.
The entire world has a vested interest in helping defeat the Russian invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, casting his appeal for more allies and aid as a matter of security even survival for many other nations.
Delivering one of the most anticipated speeches of the annual gathering of world leaders, Mr. Zelensky painted Russia as a habitual aggressor, citing Moscows military interventions in Moldova, Georgia and Syria, its increased control over Belarus and its threats against the Baltic States.
The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our lives, our resources, into a weapon against you, against the international rules-based order, he said.
Almost 19 months into a war with no end in sight, U.N. leaders had signaled that they wanted this years General Assembly, which began on Tuesday, to center on global warming and the sustainable development of poorer countries. They were hoping for less of a focus on Ukraine than last year, when Mr. Zelensky addressed the gathering by video.
Days after a torrential downpour collapsed two aging dams and unleashed a rushing wall of water that swept parts of the Libyan city of Derna and thousands of its people into the sea, the military strongman who rules the area came for a quick visit.
Khalifa Hifter, the 79-year-old renegade commander and former C.I.A. asset, shook hands with soldiers, took a brief drive through Dernas muddy streets and flew off in a helicopter.
The disaster that struck Derna on Sept. 11 has drawn renewed international attention to Mr. Hifter and his so-called Libyan National Army, a military coalition that controls the eastern half of the divided North African nation with an iron fist.
More than a week after the disaster, as rescue efforts shift to the long and costly work of caring for the displaced and helping the city recover, Mr. Hifters tight hold over eastern Libya has made it clear that he will be the overall arbiter of the aid operation in the oil-rich country.
Danish artist Jens Haaning has been ordered to repay the Kunsten Museum in Aalborg 532,000 kroner ($76,000) after handing in two blank canvases as artworks in a project he named Take the Money and Run.
In 2021, Jens Haaning, a Danish conceptual artist whose work focuses on power and inequality, was commissioned by the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg to recreate two of his earlier artworks for which he had used a bunch of banknotes to represent the average income in Denmark and Austria. The artist agreed and the museum provided about 532,000 kroner ($76,000) for him to recreate the art pieces, including a fee of 40,000 kroner. Only when the museum staff unpacked the two artworks from Haaning, they found two blank canvases titled Take the Money and Run.
Photo: Planet Volumes/Unsplash+
The work is that I have taken their money, Mr Haaning told dr.dk. Its not theft. It is a breach of contract, and breach of contract is part of the work.
The museum put the new artworks on display, but it still asked the artist to return the hundreds of krone he was supposed to use to recreate his previous pieces, and when he refused, it launched a legal action against him. The legal documents stated that Haaning was only loaned the 532,000 kroner to use as a medium for the artworks.
We are not a wealthy museum. We have to think carefully about how we spend our funds, and we dont spend more than we can afford, Lasse Andersson, the director of the Kunsten Museum, told The Guardian at the time.
Now, after a long legal battle, a Copenhagen court has ordered Jens Haaning to refund the museum 492,549 kroner, which represents the sum the museum had given him minus the artists fee. He now has 14 days to comply, but he can also appeal the ruling.
Speaking after the Courts verdict, Haaning admitted that the controversy around his Take the Money and Run project had been good for my work, but added that it also puts me in an unmanageable situation where I dont really know what to do.. He also said that the Kunsten Museum also made much, much more money from the publicity this case brought it.
Lasse Andersson admitted to laughing out loud when he first saw the blank canvases in 2021, describing Haanings idea as humoristic, but added that the museum will not comment on the court ruling as long as it can be appealed, something that the artist has expressed no interest in doing.
Arkansas Seeks Help to Grow Economy Fri., Oct. 27, 2023 The Arkansas Dept. of Commerce is looking for PR, marketing and advertising services to generate awareness that it is a desirable place to grow, relocate or start a business.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov has met with Ignazio Cassis, Swiss Foreign Minister, on the margins of 78th Session of UN General Assembly, Trend reports.
The sides discussed issues related to Azerbaijan-Switzerland partnership, regional security issues, and latest Armenian military provocations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan wrote on its page on X (Twitter).
Will be updated
Stand-up comedian, writer, TV panellist and The Great British Sewing Bee host Sara Pascoe, who is expecting her second baby at 42, says there are definite advantages to being an older mum.
It depends how you frame things. There are days when you worry about your energy levels and then there are other days when I just think Im just so lucky that it happened.
After years of infertility, she has been honest and open about her own experience, having had two rounds of IVF since the pandemic, both of which have been successful. Her mother, she says, calls her a medical miracle. Pascoe says she feels incredibly lucky.
Id given up 40 was my cut-off. I just needed to start adapting to not becoming a parent and it was my husband who really begged in terms of doing the IVF route and trying everything we could.
Her first son, Theodore, is 18 months old and shes expecting her second son in October.
Juggling family with work, the award-winning comedian and writer, host of The Great British Sewing Bee, presenter of Last Woman On Earth and panel-show regular, has already been on a stand-up tour this year, launched a podcast, presented Sewing Bee and managed to squeeze in writing her debut novel, Weirdo.
Her husband, comedian and actor Steen Raskopoulos, recently returned from a four-and-a-half-month stint Down Under filming the Australian remake of The Office, during which time Pascoe became the primary parent, calling on family for back-up.
Actually, my sons probably sick of me. He probably wants me to go out occasionally, she quips. Its not something we would do again, but then you realise thats what families have been navigating all the time with work. Its all just a compromise.
Im lucky that stand-up is flexible, but in terms of filming and how the TV industry works, either youre there for a 13-hour day or youre not there.
Pascoe used what little spare time she had to write the book, finding 40 minutes here and there between work and toddler commitments.
Ive really enjoyed it. Its felt like a real break from the drudgery. Its much more interesting than wiping sweet potato off the floor, isnt it?
Her novel sees Sophie, who works in a pub in Essex after a spell as a tour guide in London (as Pascoe did), struggling with emotional and financial debts and in a sexless relationship with boyfriend Ian.
Then in walks Chris, a man she has long had a crush on, and who at one point she followed half way around the world to Australia, such was her obsession. Now, she sees his re-emergence as fate and she exposes her true thoughts which are both hilarious and heartbreaking through her inner monologue.
Pascoe agrees that there are some elements of Sophie which she can relate to. She herself has had crushes, but not to that extreme.
I used to find that work was more fun if you had a crush on someone at work, so I have had some work crushes, but Ive never acted upon them. I would have died if theyd found out.
The fictional Sophies life and emotions are chaotic, and Pascoe agrees that its been a pretty busy couple of years for her too, as she has tried to balance work with motherhood.
From the outside, it looks like Im busier than I am. Certainly, theres a balancing of different jobs sometimes, but never all on the same day. I definitely need my peace and quiet now in the evenings.
She is well aware how much her life, and her priorities, have changed.
You can plan a diary around a hypothetical child, but what I hadnt realised was that it would be so hard to leave him.
Id rather be with him and you cant actually predict that. I had no idea at all that sometimes I wouldnt want to work, especially with gigs, travelling far away from home it feels at this point like the wrong thing to do rather than the right thing to do. Thats just a personal experience. Thats not me saying thats what it should be for all mums, but thats certainly what Im struggling with.
Her mother had a very different experience, says Pascoe, who wrote and starred in the BBC2 sitcom Out Of Her Mind.
My mum had me at 19 and I saw how that affected her life and I got a whole other lifetime of work and freedom and experiences that she didnt get to have.
So, while there are days where I think Im not just 42, Im 150, I do then remind myself how fortunate I am.
She also co-hosts Sara & Cariads Weirdos Book Club with comedian and author Cariad Lloyd, in which each week they discuss a book, and feature different guest authors and comedians.
Her comedy, she says, has been enriched by motherhood.
I havent changed. It just feels like theres a new area of experience where I overlap with the audience, because Id always been a childless woman.
As a childless woman, sometimes I would say quite bitterly childless and quite negative (things) about children or people having children. Now Ive got this complete turnaround when Im there moaning about my toddler.
Its always nice when people are laughing because they understand that theyve been through it too. Its enriched things.
She says that comedy in general has changed since she first started out.
Its in a very self-aware way, because audiences have really changed. Its become more inclusive and diverse, which is a really positive thing. But it doesnt mean that its perfect. Whats fantastic about the live circuit is that there are lots of really funny people who are very different from each other and are funny in different ways. It keeps it vibrant.
Pascoe grew up in Essex, but now lives in north London, and has a group of comedy pals she sees outside of work, including Aisling Bea, Roisin Conaty and Katherine Ryan, who are very supportive.
She has reframed things when it comes to looking after her mental health, she says.
When you think its the end of the world, its (about) taking a deep breath and counting your blessings a little bit and trying not to do too much. And thats what I think about with the work life juggle.
Sometimes you have to say, Yeah, Im going to be a bit slower for a few years, because Ive got young children or Im pregnant, and that its OK that you cant do everything and that youll make yourself poorly if you try.
Meanwhile, shes already got ideas for the second novel and is raring to go. Writing can work so well around stand-up and having a family.
Weirdo by Sara Pascoe is published by Faber & Faber on September 14, priced 14.99.
Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam Scheme Official Website Launched - Direct Link For KMUT Here
Chennai
oi-Prakash KL
Days after formally launching the 'Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thittam', the Tamil Nadu government has come up with an exclusive website for the scheme, which is popularly known as KMUT scheme.
The website (www.kmut.tn.gov.in) explains about the scheme and gives all the information about it. Beneficiaries can register for the scheme and know the status of their application.
There is also a 'FAQ' section that answers commonly asked questions by people. The website has listed an exclusive landline number - (044-25619208) for the scheme.
Last Friday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin, who is the president of the DMK, launched this mega scheme from Kancheepuram the birthplace of the party's icon and former Chief Minister C N Annadurai on the latter's birth anniversary.
'Kalaignar Magalir Urimai' Scheme: How To Apply, Check Status Of 1000 Rupee Scheme Online?
A basic income programme, it is named after former chief minister M Karunanidhi and the state government has christened the assistance the "right" of women. The government said Rs 7,000 crore has been allocated for the scheme this year.
Under this scheme, 1.06 crore women in Tamil Nadu will get Rs 1,000 financial assistance. The sum will be deposited directly into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries.
Eligible women should visit nearby ration shops. Each family can designate one female member on the ration card to avail the benefit. If a man is listed as the family head on the ration card, his wife will be eligible for the scheme. It's essential to note that only one beneficiary is permitted per family's ration card.
Old Post Of Vijay Antony's Wife Hailing Daughter Meera Goes Viral
Chennai
oi-Prakash KL
A social media post by producer and wife of musician-actor Vijay Antony Fatima Vijay celebrating the success of her daughter Meera in academics has gone viral after the latter reportedly died by suicide on Tuesday.
In the post, the proud mom had said, "The Force behind my strength,the consolations to my tears,the reason for my stress(Naughtiness super loaded)my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony ,Congrats Baby."
"The child was rushed to a private hospital at Mylapore early this morning. Doctors declared brought dead. It appears the child killed herself," NDTV quoted a senior officer as saying.
It was reported that the child, who was in her class 12, was battling stress.
The Force behind my strength,the consolations to my tears,the reason for my stress(Naughtiness super loaded)my Thangakatti-chellakutty. Meera Vijay Antony ,Congrats Baby
pic.twitter.com/yfTTdIiAjL Fatima (@mrsvijayantony) March 12, 2023
This tragic news deeply shocked both the public and the film industry. Prominent figures in the industry, including Jayam Ravi, Sarathkumar, director Venkat Prabhu, Raghava Lawrence, RJ Balaji, and many others, expressed their condolences to the grieving family through social media.
Meera, 16-Year-Old Daughter Of Composer-Actor Vijay Antony, Dies by Suicide
In a moving post, Jayam Ravi said, "It's heartbreaking to hear about the loss of your daughter @vijayantony brother. To all the children out there, please know that you are cherished, valued, and never alone. We are living only for ur happiness and love. Life is full of ups and downs, and you have the power to overcome the challenges...Whatever share to parents we r there to face for u RIP Meera (sic)."
Veteran actor and politician wrote, "The news of the untimely and unfortunate demise of Meera, the daughter of @vijayantony and Fatima is shocking beyond imaginations. No amount of consoling and condolences can replace the everlasting grief of Vijay Antony and Fatima. Vijay I hope the almighty gives strength to your family to bear this unfathomable loss. May her soul rest in peace #RIPMeera (sic)."
Filmmaker Venkat Prabhu said, "Woke up to this shocking news! Deepest condolences Vijay Antony Saar and family. RIP Meera (sic)."
Raghava Lawrence wrote, "I am deeply saddened by loss of your daughter , May her souls rest in peace. My heartfelt condolence to the bereaved family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you @vijayantony sir.. I pray Raghavendra swamy to give more strength to you and your family in this tough times (sic)."
Absurd, Motivated: India Rejects Canada's Charge Over Khalistani Terrorist Killing
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
The central government on Tuesday rejected allegations by Canada of involvement in any act of violence in Canada, calling them "absurd and motivated." The allegations were made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly in the Canadian Parliament.
India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying that the allegations were an attempt to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The statement also expressed concern over the inaction of the Canadian government on this matter and the open sympathy expressed by Canadian political figures for such elements.
Canada Expels Indian Diplomat Over Killing Of Khalistani Terrorist
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India also rejected any attempts to connect the Indian government to illegal activities including murders, human trafficking, and organized crime in Canada. The statement urged the Canadian government to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil.
The allegations come at a time when relations between India and Canada have been strained. In recent months, there have been a number of protests and demonstrations in Canada against India's human rights record and its treatment of Sikhs in particular. The Canadian government has also been criticized by some for its perceived support for Khalistani separatists.
High Court Rejects Plea in PMLA Case Against Former Noida Chief Engineer's Chartered Accountant
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed Mohan Lal Rathi's plea seeking quashing of a case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. The case is linked to a CBI FIR against former Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh and his family for disproportionate assets.
India
-Krishna Kripa
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by Mohan Lal Rathi, the chartered accountant of former Noida chief engineer Yadav Singh. The plea sought to quash a case filed against him by the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The PMLA case stems from an FIR lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against Singh, his family members and Rathi for possessing disproportionate assets.
Turning Approver Does Not Guarantee Acquittal
Rathi later turned approver in the CBI case. However, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of a Lucknow bench observed that being granted pardon under Section 306 of CrPC in one offence does not automatically result in acquittal in another offence under PMLA. This is unless the accused also seeks pardon for offences under PMLA and makes full disclosure regarding all circumstances within his knowledge related to it.
Dismissal Of Plea
The bench dismissed Rathis petition which had sought quashing of the ongoing PMLA proceedings conducted in a special court constituted under this Act. In his plea, Rathi argued that since he had been pardoned based on turning state's evidence in the main multi-crore disproportionate assets case, he should be acquitted from charges under PMLA as well.
Implications Of The Order
This order has significant implications for other cases where individuals have been charged with multiple offences across different laws. It clarifies that securing pardon or becoming an approver in one crime does not exempt them from facing trial or punishment for other crimes they may be implicated in unless explicit pardons are secured for each crime separately.
Judicial Precedent Set
This ruling sets important judicial precedent, reinforcing the principle that each crime is unique and must be treated independently. It also underlines the need for accused individuals to fully disclose all relevant information regarding every offence they are implicated in if they wish to seek pardon.
In conclusion, this case highlights the complexity of legal proceedings when multiple charges are involved. It underscores the importance of comprehensive disclosure by an accused person seeking pardon. Furthermore, it reinforces that a pardon granted in one case does not automatically translate into acquittal from other offences unless pardons are sought explicitly for each offence separately. This ruling reiterates the sanctity of law and order, asserting that no individual can evade justice through loopholes or technicalities.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Grandmaster Teimur Rajabov responded on social networks with very serious facts to the Armenian chess player Levon Aronyan, who criticized the policies of Azerbaijan on his Facebook page, Trend reports.
Rajabov notes that chess is a world of strategy and intelligence, where every move requires deep thought and careful analysis, and there is no room for manipulation or lies in this game. It teaches us honesty and justice. Grandmasters, as holders of high chess titles, have absorbed the spirit of this exciting game and are obliged to maintain honesty not only on the board but also in their statements.
"But, alas, this is not the case with the Armenian chess player, three-time Olympic champion Levon Aronian.
I remember that during the 44-day Second Karabakh War, Aronyan said and wrote that he was "ready to take up arms and go to fight." To fight, of course, against Azerbaijan. But having a mathematical mind, did Aronyan think that with his statement he actually supported Armenias territorial claims to Azerbaijan, inspired the separatists in Khankendi, and thereby made his "mite" to an even greater escalation of the situation in the region? Chess unites people from all corners of the earth, regardless of their cultural, religious, or political differences. This game has become a symbol of peace and diplomacy; even during the Cold War, chess players were mediators and symbols of peace.
For centuries, Armenians and Azerbaijanis lived side by side in good neighborliness, worked together, rejoiced, and grieved. But in the 1990s, Armenian chauvinism, separatism, and ideas of "racial, national, and other superiority" captured the minds of our neighbors, as well as Karabakh Armenians, citizens of Azerbaijan.
And after the 44-day Second Karabakh War, when the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan liberated seven regions of the country that had been under Armenian occupation for approximately 30 years and forced Armenia to capitulate and admit total defeat, Levon Aronyan was silent. He was silent when Azerbaijani soldiers showed villages, regional centers, towns, and cities destroyed to the groundall the houses and buildings turned into a pile of ruins. Aronyan said nothing about the Hiroshima of the CaucasusAghdam, a city wiped off the face of the earth by the Armenian occupiers. He was silent about mosques and houses of worship being destroyed or turned into stables. Mosques and houses of worship were destroyed or turned into stables. About tens of thousands of brutally tortured and killed Azerbaijanis About the incalculable suffering caused by Armenia, the Armenian occupiers, and separatist gangs in our country. No, he was stubbornly silent. Now he has spoken. On his Facebook profile, he burst out with accusations against Azerbaijan, repeating word for word the words of Armenian propaganda and disinformation. He claims that the Karabakh Armenians "are under blockade; they have no food or medicine." What kind of "blockade" are we talking about when the Agdam-Khankendi road is functioning, the checkpoint is working, and cargo moving in both directions is being inspected? It was through the efforts of Azerbaijan that both roads, Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin-Khankendi, began to operate. Karabakh is an internationally recognized land of Azerbaijan, which is recognized by both the world community and, more recently, Armenia. And the Armenians living there must integrate into Azerbaijan. And accept the food offered by the Azerbaijani state, and do not close the Aghdam-Khankendi road. "Lets wake up, people. We cannot, through our silence, allow something to happen that humanity will be ashamed of for centuries. We owe it to our descendants to talk about what is happening and try to reach those who can change this shameful situation," writes Levon Aronyan. I completely agree, Aronyan. Let's not remain silent; lets talk about the real genocide committed by Armenia against the Azerbaijani people in Khojaly. About the murders of innocent and unarmed people, old people were shot, babies were impaled on bayonets, pregnant women were burned alive, children were beaten to death, and cities and villages were destroyed where no stone was left unturned. About the minefields that we still have to clear for many years. Let's be honest. A grandmaster's integrity is not just an ethical standard but a key to respect and trust from the chess community and society at large. Each false statement undermines the credibility of a chess player and damages the reputation of the entire chess world.
And dont forget that grandmasters are responsible for their words and actions and must adhere to high standards of integrity," notes Rajabov.
Anantnag Gunfight Over; Lashkar Commander Among 2 Terrorists Killed: J-K Police
India
oi-PTI
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Uzair Khan was among the two terrorists killed in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district that ended after seven days, Additional Director General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said on Tuesday. Four security personnel, including two army officers and a police officer, lost their lives in the gunfight, which Mr Kumar said is over.
"Till now, LeT commander Uzair Khan's body has been recovered. The dead body of another terrorist is visible, but it has not been possible to retrieve it yet," the ADGP told reporters in Anantnag.
He said the gunfight, which began in the Gadole forest area of the south Kashmir district on Wednesday last week, is over, but the search operation will continue.
"There is a huge area that remains to be searched. There can be a lot of unexploded shells which will be recovered and destroyed. We appeal to the people not to go to the area," he added.
Day 7 Of J&K Operation Security Forces Comb Through Anantnag Forest
The ADGP said security forces had reports that two to three terrorists were there. "There is a possibility that the third dead body may be somewhere. It will be known after the search is complete," Kumar said.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 16:35 [IST]
TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu Pens An Open Letter From Prison: Not In Jail, But In People's Hearts
Chandrababu Naidu To Finally Come Out Of Jail As AP High Court Grants Bail
Andhra HC Adjourns Chandrababu Naidu's Bail Plea To September 21
India
pti-PTI
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday reserved orders on a petition filed by former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking quashing of an FIR filed against him by the police in the Skill Development Corporation scam case and the judgment is expected to be pronounced on September 21.
The court heard arguments from the legal counsels of Naidu and the AP Crime Investigation Department.
Senior counsels Harish Salve, who joined virtually, and Siddarth Luthra represented Naidu and argued that the CID did not obtain prior permission from the Governor as it is a mandatory requirement for police to seek prior approval for conducting any inquiry or investigation into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant.
However, Mukul Rohatgi, who joined virtually on behalf of the CID from Delhi, and also supplemented by Ranjit Kumar and Additional Advocate General P Sudhakar Reddy, argued that Section 17 (A) of CrPC is not applicable to the TDP supremo and informed the court that an intensive investigation is required in the case.
He also said there was an embezzlement of government funds which should be taken up seriously.
Incidentally, Naidu's lawyers contended there was no case made out against him as the Skill Development Corporation scam was allegedly a transaction between two private entities, one of which entered into a tripartite agreement.
"Their argument was based on the lack of sanction under 17 (A) CrPC Act, which was repelled by our (CID) side. We said that there is definitely a prima facie case made out because all the material is there on record," Special Public Prosecutor Y N Vivekananda, who is part of AP CIDs legal team, told PTI.
Vivekananda noted the CID's legal team argued that the former chief minister's prosecution is maintainable and Section 17 (A) of the CrPC cannot be applied as Andhra Pradesh High Court has already considered it twice, and also the Kerala High Court in another judgment.
So, he reasoned that for an incident which took place prior to the amendment of this provision in law, which requires prior sanction, Section 17 (A) of CrPC cannot be applied.
While Vivekananda observed that since Section 17 (A) of CrPC was inserted by an amendment in 2018 and the FIR in the Skill Development Corporation Scam case was registered in 2021, Naidu's lawyers asserted that prior sanction ought to have been taken.
However, he highlighted that the 2018 amendment is not applicable as the alleged crime took place prior to that year somewhere between 2015 and 2016, hence no sanction is needed.
He also said the judgment in the petition seeking to quash the FIR is expected within two days.
"We are expecting the order by tomorrow (Wednesday, September 20) or at the most by day after tomorrow (Thursday, September 21)," Vivekananda added.
Chandrababu Naidu was arrested on September 9, in connection with a case involving misappropriation of funds from the Skill Development Corporation, leading to an alleged loss of over Rs 300 crore to the state government.
He is currently lodged in the Rajamahendravaram central prison.
Braveheart Army Jawan Pardeep Singh Laid to Rest with Full Military Honours after Tragic Encounter in J&K
India
-Krishna Kripa
On Tuesday, the mortal remains of army jawan Pardeep Singh were consigned to flames with full military honours in his native Ballamgarh village situated in Patiala district. Singh was martyred while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, demonstrating exemplary valour and dedication towards safeguarding the nation's sovereignty.
Martyrdom in Anantnag District
The 27-year-old soldier's body was recovered from the dense forests of Gadole located in Kashmir Valleys Anantnag district on Monday. He had been missing since September 13, which marked the first day of a fierce encounter with terrorists. Two other army officers -- a coloneland a major -- along with a deputy superintendent of the Jammu and Kashmir Police also laid down their lives during this gunfight that took place within Kokorenag area's higher reaches last week.
A Final Salute
Singhs body was subsequently taken to his native village Samana where he received an emotional farewell from his family members. His wife Seema Rani, father Darshan Singh, and brother Kuldeep Singh saluted him for one final time as they bid adieu to their beloved family member who made the supreme sacrifice for his country.
Service Record
Born in 1996, Pardeep Singh had joined the Indian Army back in 2015. He served with the prestigious 18 Sikh Light Infantry before being posted with the 19 Rashtriya Rifles unit based out of Kashmir at present.
Tributes Pour In
Prominent individuals including Cabinet Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra paid heartfelt tributes to martyr Pardeep Singh. Senior officials representing various arms of government such as district administration, police force and the army also marked their presence during this solemn occasion. The entire nation mourns the loss of these brave soldiers who put service before self and laid down their lives in defence of our country.
In conclusion, the martyrdom of Pardeep Singh serves as a poignant reminder of the immense sacrifices made by our armed forces to maintain peace and security within India's borders. His indomitable spirit and unwavering commitment towards his duty will continue to inspire future generations of soldiers. As we pay homage to him, we must also remember all those who have given up their today so that we may live in peace tomorrow.
BJP's Kailash Vijayvargiya Bats for Simultaneous Elections Across India
In support of the 'one nation, one election' proposal, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya questions why elections cannot be held simultaneously when festivals are celebrated at the same time across India.
India
-Krishna Kripa
At a recent event in Indore, Kailash Vijayvargiya, the general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), voiced his support for the 'one nation, one election' proposal. The veteran politician argued that if festivals like Diwali, Christmas and Eid can be celebrated simultaneously across India despite diverse weather conditions, then why not elections? His remarks came in response to skepticism about the feasibility of holding simultaneous polls given the vast geographical expanse of the country and its varied climatic patterns.
Vijayvargiya's Argument
The BJP leader highlighted how major religious festivals are observed at the same time all over India. "We celebrate Diwali together across the country. The festivals of Christmas and Eid are also celebrated together all over the country....so why can not we celebrate the election-day together," he asserted. This analogy was meant to challenge doubts regarding whether it would be practically possible to conduct nationwide elections in a single phase.
Criticisms towards Congress
In addition to advocating for simultaneous polls, Vijayvargiya took this opportunity to criticize Congress's outreach campaign 'Jan Akrosh Yatra'. He termed it an 'apology yatra', implying that it was an attempt by Congress to apologize for their alleged failures ahead of upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh scheduled for November.
He further accused previous Congress government led by Kamal Nath of failing to fulfil promises made to farmers, milk producers, unemployed youth and teachers. These criticisms serve as part of BJPs strategy against Congress as both parties gear up for impending assembly elections.
Women Reservation Bill
Vijayvargiya also made mention of a bill introduced by Narendra Modi government reserving a quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, the details of his statement or stance on this particular issue were not provided.
In conclusion, Vijayvargiya's remarks have brought 'one nation, one election' proposal back into the spotlight. His comparison of nationwide polls to simultaneous celebration of festivals is an interesting perspective that aims at simplifying a complex and contentious issue. While it remains to be seen how this idea will be received by other political parties and the public at large, it certainly adds another dimension to ongoing discussions about electoral reforms in India.
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'Country's Interests Paramount' For Congress In India Versus Canada
India
oi-Stuti Tripathi
After the Indian government declared the charges levelled by Canadian PM Justin Trudeau as 'absurd and motivated', the Congress party went ahead and backed the Indian government on its stand. Jairam Ramesh, MP and INC's General Secretary in-charge communications, tweeted that our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times.
"The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity and integrity. Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times," he wrote.
Regardless of numerous differences between the government and opposition parties over issues at home, they usually have the government's back when it comes to international matters.
The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity and integrity. Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times.#Canada Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) September 19, 2023
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, on Tuesday said that country's security agencies are actively investigating a potential link between the Indian government and the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this year.
Addressing the House of Commons in Ottawa, Trudeau stated, "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Who Was The Khalistani Terrorist Killed In Canada?
Reportedly, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a Sikh temple on June 18 this year in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb. Nijjar was designated a "terrorist" by India in July 2020 over his support of a Sikh homeland as an independent Khalistani state.
Indian government strongly rejecting the charges levelled by Justin Trudeau, said in a statement by the foreign ministry, "The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new".
As per reports, Canada fired a senior Indian diplomat over the issue. India did the same thing in a counter move.
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Day 7 Of J&K Operation Security Forces Comb Through Anantnag Forest
India
oi-PTI
Security forces sieved through the dense forests of Gadole in Kashmir Valley's Anantnag district for the seventh day on Tuesday, one of Jammu and Kashmir's longest anti-militancy operations that has claimed the lives of three officers and a soldier.
Two bodies were found from the forest area on Monday. One was identified as Pradeep, the soldier killed by terrorists last week Wednesday. The identity of the other is yet to be ascertained, officials said.
Police officials have maintained silence on the operation for the last four days. They believe two to three terrorists are trapped in the forest area.
The operation started on Wednesday when Colonel Manpreet Singh, commanding officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat were killed by terrorists. Pradeep went missing on the first day of the encounter and was believed to have been killed.
Officials had said earlier that drone footage showed a charred body near one of the terrorist hideouts destroyed during the operation. Security forces are using drones and helicopters to survey the dense forest area with several cave-like hideouts where terrorists are believed to have been holed up since Wednesday.
Anantnag Gunfight: Army Uses Rocket Launchers To Attack Terrorists In 4th Day Of Search Operation
On Sunday, the security cordon was extended to the neighbouring Posh Kreeri area as a precautionary measure to ensure the terrorists don't slip into civilian areas.
Addressing a function here late on Sunday evening, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said every drop of blood of the slain security personnel will be avenged and the terrorist handlers will have to pay a heavy price. "We have complete faith in our soldiers.... The entire nation stands in solidarity with the jawans," Sinha said.
Top officials of the security grid in Kashmir, including the director general of police (DGP) and general officer commanding (GOC) of the Army's 15 Corps, have been monitoring the operation.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 13:20 [IST]
BJP Celebrates Introduction of Womens Reservation Bill as Raksha Bandhan Gift from PM Modi
India
-Krishna Kripa
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Delhi unit has expressed its commendation for the introduction of the women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha on Ganesha Chaturthi. The party hailed it as a "Raksha Bandhan return gift" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the women of India. This move comes as a response to a long-standing demand for increased representation of women in legislative bodies.
Meeting Long-Pending Demand
The government, on Tuesday, introduced a historic bill aimed at providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. This significant step is seen as an effort to strengthen gender equality and empower women politically. The timing of this introduction, coinciding with Ganesh Chaturthi, was interpreted by Delhi BJP office-bearers as PM Modi's symbolic Raksha Bandhan return gift to Indian women.
Party Leaders Show Their Support
In a post-meeting statement, BJP leaders including general secretary Kamaljeet Sehrawat, secretary Bansuri Swaraj and Mahila Morcha president Richa Pandey Mishra among others expressed their gratitude towards the prime minister for his initiative. A resolution was also passed during the meeting that praised PM Modi's decision to make the Womens Reservation Bill the first piece of legislation introduced in the new Parliament building.
Potential Impact on Women Empowerment
The party leaders strongly believe that this bill will bring about substantial change in Indian society by empowering women politically. As stated in their press release following their meeting: "This Bill will bring a significant change in the lives of women of India." It is hoped that such progressive steps would pave way for more inclusive governance and foster gender equity within political spaces.
Criticism from Opposition Parties
However, not everyone shares the same enthusiasm about the bill. Delhi BJP media cell head Praveen Shankar Kapoor criticized Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi and accused her and other leaders of her party of being in a state of "political shock" after the introduction of the bill.
In conclusion, while there may be differing opinions on this historic move, it is undeniable that it marks a significant milestone in India's journey towards gender equality. The Womens Reservation Bill has long been seen as a necessary step to increase women's representation in political spaces. With its introduction, India seems to be moving closer to achieving this goal. However, it remains to be seen how effectively this law will be implemented and whether it will truly bring about the desired change in Indian society.
Delhi Govt Aims for Transparency with Faceless Document Submission Plan for Overage Vehicles
The Delhi government plans to launch a portal that will digitize the document submission process for overage vehicles. The initiative aims at ensuring transparency and efficiency in dealing with such cases. This comes after five million such vehicles were deregistered between January and October last year.
India
-Krishna Kripa
The Delhi government has recently announced its plan to digitize the process of document submission for overage vehicles, aiming to ensure transparency and eliminate physical interactions. This move comes in response to a large number of such vehicles being deregistered; approximately five million from January through October last year alone.
Transitioning To A Faceless Service
An official spokesperson from the Delhi government stated that they are planning on launching an online portal which will make the service entirely faceless. The new system is designed so that all necessary documents can be uploaded directly onto the platform, and any required undertakings can be submitted electronically as well. This initiative is expected to streamline processes while ensuring compliance with regulations.
Transport Department's Involvement
A second official confirmed that the Transport Department is almost ready with the specifics of this initiative, with plans underway for submitting a file detailing these points to Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. However, it should be noted that this move isn't without precedent or external influence.
Court-Ordered Policy Framing
The Delhi High Court had previously directed the city government to establish a policy regarding how overage vehicles should be handled when their owners are willing to assure they won't be used within city limits. Unfortunately, progress on such policies was hindered due to administrative changes following directives issued by LG V K Saxena leading to disengagement of 437 consultants and experts who were working on these initiatives.
About fifty individuals who were part of the Transport Department faced termination due to these changes, causing significant delays in policy development including those related specifically to overage vehicles. Despite these setbacks however, efforts towards creating effective solutions have continued unabated.
Past Efforts And Future Plans
In 2018, there were a number of attempts made by the Delhi government to address the issue of overage vehicles, including deregistration drives and policy development. However, these initiatives were often met with obstacles and delays due to administrative changes and other unforeseen circumstances.
Regardless, the Delhi government remains committed to finding solutions for this problem, as evidenced by their recent plan to introduce an online portal for document submissions. This move towards digitization is expected not only streamline processes but also increase transparency in dealings related to overage vehicles.
In conclusion, while there have been several challenges along the way, it appears that progress is being made in managing overage vehicles within Delhi. The introduction of a faceless service for document submission represents a significant step forward in this journey. It will be interesting to see how this new system performs once implemented and whether it effectively addresses some of the issues that have been encountered thus far.
Sweeping Changes: Delhi LG Greenlights CUET Score as Admission Criteria for Vacant Law Program Seats
In a recent move, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor has approved the use of Common University Entrance Test (CUET) scores to fill remaining vacancies in Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University's (GGSIPU) law programs. This decision comes after exhausting the complete merit list from CLAT UG.
India
-Krishna Kripa
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, has given his approval for the admission of students based on their aggregate score in the Common University Entrance Test (CUET) against vacant seats left after the complete merit list of CLAT UG was exhausted for the 2023-24 academic session. This decision applies to five-year integrated law programmes offered by Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), according to officials from Raj Niwas.
Delayed Approval Causes Concern
In a document addressed to Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, LG Saxena expressed his concern that his approval had been sought well after the commencement of the 2023-24 academic session. According to him, this delay caused unnecessary inconvenience and stress to aspiring students who are keen on enrolling in these highly coveted professional programmes.
Government Initiative Fills Vacancies
Sources within the Delhi government have commented that LG's remarks concerning admissions into vacant seats were unfortunate. They highlighted that it was due to initiatives taken by them that no vacancies remained unfilled in private colleges under GGSIPU. Priorly, many seats were left unoccupied as only scores from Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) were being considered for admissions.
Admissions Via CUET Scores: A Novel Approach
This is why it was decided that any remaining vacancies would be filled using CUET scores. As per sources, this approach is novel and has not been implemented by any university before. The rationale behind this move is simple - if there are students with good CUET scores but could not make it through CLAT cut-off lists, they should still have an opportunity at gaining quality education instead of leaving those seats vacant.
Delhi Government Allows New Admission Criteria
The Delhi government has allowed CUET score to be considered as the admission criteria, ensuring all vacancies are filled. This decision is expected to provide a fair chance to all students and ensure that no seat goes unoccupied in these prestigious programmes.
In conclusion, the approval of LG Saxena for admissions based on CUET scores against vacant seats after CLAT merit list exhaustion is an innovative move by GGSIPU. While there was some delay in gaining this approval and it caused concerns among aspirants, it ultimately provides an opportunity for more students to pursue their career goals. The Delhi government's initiative ensures that every seat in professional programmes at GGSIPU gets filled, thereby providing quality education opportunities to a larger pool of candidates.
Tragic Death of Delhi Police Sub-Inspector in Road Accident
While conducting a routine vehicle check, a sub-inspector from the Delhi police force was struck and killed by a speeding car. Another individual was also injured during the accident which took place early morning on the busy Delhi-Meerut expressway.
India
-Krishna Kripa
In a tragic incident on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway, a Delhi Police Sub-Inspector lost his life after being hit by a speeding car. The accident took place in east Delhi's Pandav Nagar area on Tuesday morning, leaving another individual injured as well.
The Incident
According to officials, an early morning PCR call reported an accident involving a police officer. Sub-Inspector Gangasaran and Assistant Sub-Inspector Ajay Tomar were on patrolling duty in their Gypsy vehicle with Tomar at the wheel. Around 5.30 am, they stopped a Bolero pick-up car for routine checking at NH-9.
Gangasaran and Ramgopal, the driver of the pick-up truck, stepped out of their respective vehicles for the inspection process. As they stood behind the pick-up truck inspecting it, an unexpected tragedy struck. A Honda Amaze car came speeding from Ghaziabad side towards Sarai Kale Khan and rammed into them from behind.
The Aftermath
Ajay Tomar along with Rajkumar - helper to Ramgopal - rushed both Gangasaran and Ramgopal to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital immediately after the incident occurred. Despite best efforts by medical professionals, Gangasaran succumbed to his injuries during treatment while Ramgopal survived but was seriously injured.
Gangasaran is survived by his wife and five children who are left grieving this sudden loss of their loved one. On the other hand, Ramgopal who resides in Outer Delhi's Nangloi area was later sent to Safdarjung Hospital due to severity of his injuries.
Investigation Underway
The police have initiated an investigation into this unfortunate incident which has claimed one life and severely injured another. The identity of the driver of the speeding Honda Amaze is yet to be ascertained and brought to justice. This incident brings into light, once again, the dire need for stricter traffic rules and adherence by citizens to prevent such tragic incidents.
In conclusion, this unfortunate event serves as a grim reminder of the dangers that law enforcement officers face while performing their duties on roads. It also underscores the necessity for all drivers to maintain speed limits and adhere strictly to traffic rules in order to avoid such fatal accidents in future.
Now you can easily sell your second-hand mobile device at Nar stores for the best price. Thus, your device will be priced in the Nar store transparently and quickly via a particular App.
The app reviews the parameters of the device to set a price. You can hand in your mobile on the spot for a fixed and reasonable price and get your payment instantly. Besides, every Nar subscriber who benefits from the service will get a bonus of up to 30GB of data.
The service is offered within the cooperation framework with the Turkiye company EasyCep. Thus, Nar became the first mobile operator to officially start buying second-hand mobile phones in Azerbaijan. Hence, visit one of Nars 19 exclusive dealer stores in Baku, Sumgait, and Khirdalan to sell your phone at a profit.
Notably, EasyCep is the first marketplace in the refurbished electronics market in Turkey. The company buys mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and similar devices from the owner and sells them refurbished and with a warranty.
The cooperation between Nar and EasyCep aims to provide various services at a single point of contact and deliver an excellent customer experience.
Nar currently provides high-quality communication services to 2.2 million subscribers. Nar has been the leading mobile operator in the country according to the Net Promoter Score for the last 4 years. The mobile operator adheres to a customer-centric strategy and provides best-in-class service at an affordable price.
Expelled Senior Canadian Diplomat Identified As Olivier Sylvestere: Who Is He?
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
In a significant development that has added to the escalating tensions between India and Canada, the Canadian diplomat expelled by India has been identified as Olivier Sylvestere, who held the position of Chief of the Canadian Intelligence Agency in India.
The diplomatic standoff between India and Canada has been gaining momentum over the past several months. At the heart of the matter is India's displeasure with Canada's perceived inaction regarding the activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating within Canadian borders. These elements have been involved in inciting violence against Indian diplomats, vandalising diplomatic facilities, and making targeted threats against the Indian community in Canada.
India has been consistent in raising its concerns with Canadian authorities, seeking their cooperation in addressing these issues. However, Canada's stance, which often invokes freedom of expression as a defense for the activities of these elements, has been a point of contention.
Expulsion of Olivier Sylvestere
Sylvestere's expulsion comes in the wake of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent statement alleging "credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India has categorically rejected these allegations as baseless and motivated.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Who Was The Khalistani Terrorist Killed In Canada?
The Canadian High Commissioner to India was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and informed about the decision to expel the senior Canadian diplomat.
The MEA said the decision to expel the Canadian diplomat reflects India's growing concern at the ''interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities'' ''The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days,'' it said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, India outrightly rejected as ''baseless'' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a ''potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar After Trudeau made the comments in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a "top Indian diplomat" has been expelled from Canada.
In a statement in Parliament, Trudeau claimed that there were ''credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar in June In strong reaction, the MEA said the allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are ''absurd and motivated''.
Watch: Trudeau Claims India May Be Behind Khalistani Terrorist's Killing In Canada
Tit-for-Tat Diplomacy
The expulsion of Sylvestere is being seen as a tit-for-tat response to Canada's action against a senior Indian diplomat. This tit-for-tat diplomacy is a common practice in international relations when one country takes action against a diplomat from another nation. It is intended to send a clear signal that both countries take the matter seriously.
CM Sukhu Stands Firm: No Compromises on State's Interest in Hydropower Projects
The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, has declared that his government will not compromise when it comes to protecting the state's interests in its hydropower projects. He accused the previous BJP government of jeopardizing these interests and vowed to restore royalty rights which had been dismissed by them.
India
-Krishna Kripa
On Tuesday, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu made a firm declaration that there would be no compromise on the state's interests in hydropower projects. This statement came amidst accusations levelled against the previous BJP government for allegedly selling off the state's interests in these critical ventures.
Accusations Against Previous Government
Sukhu accused the past BJP administration of compromising the state's stake in hydropower initiatives. In response to a question posed by BJP's Sukhram Chowdhary during an assembly meeting, he claimed his government has taken corrective measures to protect these interests. The current regime has amended energy policies and decided to reinstate royalty in hydropower projects; this was previously abolished by the former BJP government. "This government will not allow the interests of the state to be bartered," affirmed Sukhu.
Controversial MOUs and Legal Proceedings
Drawing attention towards some controversial decisions taken during an Investors meet held under BJP governance, Sukhu pointed out that Memorandums Of Understanding (MOUs) were signed with Public Sector Undertakings - Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) and National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). These agreements pertained to Dhaula-Sidha, Sainj and Sunni-Luhri hydel projects but were executed without any provision for royalty. Further compounding matters, these companies reportedly began construction work without obtaining necessary permissions from relevant authorities.
In response to this alleged disregard for due process, notices have been served by the present government demanding restoration of royalties and questioning commencement of works without proper authorization. While NTPC has shown willingness to engage in discussions regarding these issues, SJVN chose to challenge this action legally by moving High Court. However, according to Sukhu, the court's decision was in favour of the government.
Future Course of Action
Sukhu remained resolute in his stance, asserting that if these companies do not comply with the government's directives, they would face serious repercussions. The exact nature of these consequences were not elaborated upon during his address. It remains to be seen how this situation will unfold and what impact it may have on Himachal Pradesh's hydropower projects and overall energy landscape.
In conclusion, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhus firm stand against perceived irregularities in hydropower project dealings sends a strong message about his administrations commitment to protecting state interests. While it is important for governments to encourage investment and development activities, it is equally crucial that such initiatives do not compromise on legal protocols or undermine state interests. This episode serves as a significant reminder for public sector undertakings and private entities alike to adhere strictly to due process while embarking on infrastructural projects within the state.
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In Tit For Tat, India Expels Top Canadian Diplomat After Trudeau Claims Govt Link to Nijjar Killing
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned on Tuesday and informed of the Government of India's decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The decision reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Earlier in the day, India has firmly dismissed Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau's assertion regarding the existence of "credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the assassination of Khalistani leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June. India has labeled this claim as "absurd and motivated."
Hardeep Singh Nijjar: Who Was The Khalistani Terrorist Killed In Canada?
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India expels Canadian diplomat after Justin Trudeau's allegations on Nijjar killing | Oneindia News
Shortly after Trudeau's address on this matter in Canada's Parliament, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced the expulsion of a "top Indian diplomat." According to public broadcaster CBC, the official identified by Joly's office is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Canada.
#WATCH | Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay leaves from the MEA headquarters at South Block, New Delhi. pic.twitter.com/zFAaTFfeAP ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
Earlier it was reported that India is likely to respond with the expulsion of a Canadian official, adhering to the customary tit-for-tat measures seen in international diplomacy.
Official details of India's response to the expulsion of the intelligence operative have not been disclosed yet. However, sources suggest that various options are under consideration, and a formal announcement may be forthcoming.
Given the ongoing special session of the Indian Parliament, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is anticipated to issue an official statement in the House regarding this matter.
India-Canada relations have been strained for some time, largely due to New Delhi's frustration with Ottawa's perceived indifference toward the activities of pro-Khalistan elements operating from Canadian soil. These elements have incited violence against Indian diplomats, including displaying officials' photos and other personal information on posters, and have targeted Indian diplomatic facilities on multiple occasions in recent years.
Canadian diplomats, including the high commissioner in New Delhi, have been summoned to the External Affairs Ministry for formal protests against the actions of Khalistani elements.
Watch: Trudeau Claims India May Be Behind Khalistani Terrorist's Killing In Canada
In June, the Indian government expressed significant displeasure after a float at a pro-Khalistan rally in Toronto depicted the gruesome assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and eulogized her killers.
Numerous attempts in recent years to improve India-Canada relations have encountered difficulties due to Canada's persistent stance that the activities of pro-Khalistan elements fall under the freedom of expression guaranteed to Canadian citizens.
India Set To End 27-Year Wait As Modi Govt Introduces Women's Quota Bill
India
oi-Prakash KL
The BJP-led NDA government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a bill pending for 27 years, on the first day in the new Parliament building.
The bill for women's reservation, titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was presented in the Lower House by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. However, it will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is completed. Hence, it is unlikely to be in force during the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
This bill held the distinction of being the inaugural legislation introduced in the new Parliament building. On September 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that this date would be remembered in history, considering it a divine calling for a "noble work."
"The Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam will further strengthen our democracy... I assure all mothers, sisters and daughters of the nation that we are committed to making this bill into a law," PM Modi said in the first speech in the first session in the new premises. The Prime Minister stated that the BJP government wants more and more women to join the development process of the country.
"For many years, there have been several debates and controversies around women's reservation. On women's reservation, there have been many efforts earlier also in Parliament. In 1996, the first bill related to this was introduced. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's tenure, many times the women's reservation bill was brought but numbers could not be mustered for it and the dream was left unfulfilled," the Prime Minister said.
"For that work of ensuring rights of women and putting their power to use and for many such noble works, god has chosen me. Once again, our government has taken a step in this direction. In the cabinet yesterday, the women's reservation bill was given approval," he stated.
PM Modi urged opposition members of both Houses to pass the bill unanimously.
In limbo since 1996 when the initial bill was first introduced but faced hurdles due to political discord - particularly concerning the request for a 'quota within quota' by various regional parties - the bill is now anticipated to progress smoothly.
Most political parties are advocating for ensuring one-third representation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. However, stipulations in the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill stipulate that the reservation will be implemented post the delimitation exercise, incorporating the census data conducted after the bill's enactment, addressing the redrawing of constituencies.
Opposition parties, notably the Congress, vehemently raised the matter, asserting credit for the proposed law's concept and labeling the current bill as an "election gimmick." Jairam Ramesh, the Congress's general secretary, went on to denounce the bill as a "significant betrayal of the aspirations of millions of Indian women and girls."
He highlighted that the Modi government had not conducted the 2021 Decadal Census, questioning the timing of this crucial data gathering. Ramesh further emphasized that the bill specifies the reservation's activation after the subsequent Census publication and the ensuing delimitation exercise.
"Basically the Bill gets the headlines today with a very vague promise of its implementation date. This is nothing but EVM - Event Management," he said. Earlier in the morning, Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi told reporters, "It is ours, apna hai."
Women Congress supporters were also seen celebrating the bill at the AICC headquarters in Delhi. Data shows that women MPs account for about 15 per cent of Lok Sabha strength and the representation of women is under 10 per cent in many state assemblies, including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, and Gujarat.
Meghwal stated that the count of female members in the Lok Sabha will surge to 181 from the current 82 once the bill is enacted. The bill outlines a 15-year duration for the reservation and includes a provision for SC/ST quotas within the reserved seats for women.
Additionally, seats reserved for women will undergo rotation following each delimitation exercise. Officials clarified that, in accordance with Article 368 provisions, this Constitution amendment bill necessitates ratification by a minimum of 50 percent of the states, considering its impact on their rights. Since 1996, numerous attempts have been made to introduce the women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The most recent attempt took place in 2010 when the Rajya Sabha approved the bill, yet it faced an impasse in the Lok Sabha. Throughout the day, several parties from various regions voiced their opinions.
At a press conference in the capital, AAP leader Atishi characterized the bill as a "deceptive bill targeting women." She emphasized the demand for discarding the stipulations regarding delimitation and census, urging for the immediate implementation of women's reservation for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 20:38 [IST]
Legendary Actor Dev Anand's Bungalow Sold For Whopping Amount Of Rs 400 Crores
India
oi-Sushmita Halder
Legendary actor Dev Anand's bungalow has been sold for a whopping Rs 400 crores. The bungalow where the Bollywood legend lived with his wife and children for 40 years will now be converted into a 22-floor building.
Dev Anand's bungalow in Juhu where he lived with his wife Kalpana Kartik, and children Suniel Anand and Devina Anand has been sold to a real-estate company. Reportedly, the property has been sold for approximately 350-400 crores as it's a prime location with bungalows of prominent industrialists in the locality.
A source told Hindustan Times that there was no one to look after the bungalow as the actor's son lives in US and daughter lives in Ooty with her mother. So they decided to sell off the property. The source further said that the family sold his property in Panvel for the same reason.
It is also revealed that the money earned from selling Dev Anand's studio was distributed among his two children and his wife who purchased their apartments.
According to a close source to the family, Dev Anand once said, "I built my Juhu house 1950. Juhu was a small village then and there was total wilderness. I liked it because I'm a loner. Juhu has become very crowded now, too full of people, especially on Sundays. It's not the same beach any longer. My Iris Park residence doesn't have a park anymore, there is a school and four bungalows bang opposite my place," during an interview to a media.
Reportedly Bollywood actors like Madhuri Dixit Nene and Dimple Kapadia also once lived in the apartments around the bungalow.
Rise in Extortion Cases Hampers Peace Efforts Amid Manipur Unrest
The districts of Imphal valley, amidst the violent unrest in Manipur, are witnessing an increase in extortion-related complaints. The state government's efforts to restore peace are being obstructed by armed men posing as police commandos, according to Additional Secretary Home Maharabam Pradip Singh.
India
-Krishna Kripa
Manipur, a state in Northeast India known for its diverse culture and rich history, is currently grappling with a surge of complaints related to extortion in the Imphal valley districts. These areas have been significantly affected by violence, posing challenges for law enforcement agencies working tirelessly to restore peace and normalcy.
Extortion Complaints Hampering Restoration Efforts
In a recent press conference held on September 19th, Additional Secretary Home Maharabam Pradip Singh expressed concern over the situation. He revealed that efforts towards restoring peace were being obstructed by armed individuals posing as police commandos. According to him, these miscreants are involved in acts such as extortion and threats which have undermined genuine police operations.
"We have received reports from different valley districts that there is an increase in complaints related to extortion and threats," Singh said. He assured that the state police force has taken these issues seriously and are committed to addressing them promptly.
State Police Taking Measures Against Armed Miscreants
Singh further elaborated on the steps taken by the Manipur Police Department against these armed men. These include setting up check posts at strategic points throughout the affected regions and conducting thorough search operations. The aim of these measures is not only to apprehend those responsible but also deter potential wrongdoers from committing similar acts.
The Additional Secretary appealed to citizens for their support during this critical time. He urged people not to believe unverified information circulating on social media platforms without proper verification.
Ethnic Violence Triggers Crisis In Manipur
The current crisis was triggered following ethnic violence that broke out on May 3rd when a Tribal Solidarity March was organised in hill districts of Manipur resulting into widespread unrest across several parts of the state. Since then, more than 175 people have been killed and several hundreds injured in the violence.
Manipur has a long history of ethnic tensions, with frequent clashes between different tribal communities. The recent surge in extortion-related complaints adds another layer to the complex socio-political landscape that characterizes this northeastern state.
In conclusion, as Manipur continues to grapple with the aftermath of ethnic violence and a rise in extortion cases, it becomes crucial for both law enforcement agencies and citizens to work together towards restoring peace. More importantly, such incidents underscore the urgent need for comprehensive strategies that address not only immediate security concerns but also long-term social harmony among diverse communities residing in this region.
'Love You All, Miss You All': Suicide Note Of Meera Vijay Antony Found 'Stuck' In Her Textbook
Drowning And Dying With Your Thoughts: Vijay Antony In Heart Wrenching Post On Daughter's Death
Agniveer Amritpal Singh Committed suicide, Military Honours Not Extended To His Funeral As Per Rules: Army
Meera, 16-Year-Old Daughter Of Composer-Actor Vijay Antony, Dies by Suicide
India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
In a tragic incident, Meera, the 16-year-old daughter of renowned composer, actor, and producer Vijay Antony, died by suicide on Tuesday. According to reports, Meera was found hanging at her family's residence in Chennai. She was rushed to a private hospital, but doctors pronounced her dead on arrival.
It is reported that Meera had been under intense pressure and was undergoing treatment for her emotional struggles.
Vijay Antony, known for his multifaceted career encompassing music composition and acting, had been actively involved in his upcoming film, 'Raththam,' prior to this heartrending event. He recently orchestrated a highly successful concert in Chennai, showcasing his enduring talent.
The shocking incident unfolded in the early hours of September 19 when Meera was found lifeless at their Alwarpet residence in Chennai. She was a 16-year-old student attending a prominent school in the city. While unconfirmed reports suggest that she had been grappling with depression, her exact circumstances leading to this tragic outcome remain under investigation.
Jaahnavi Kandula's Death: Comments 'Taken Out Of Context', Says Seattle Police Officer
Following the discovery of Meera, she was promptly rushed to a Chennai hospital by household staff. Unfortunately, the medical assessment concluded that she had already passed away.
Local law enforcement authorities are actively engaged in probing the circumstances surrounding this heartbreaking incident.
About Vijay Antony:
Vijay Antony is a celebrated composer, primarily known for his contributions to Tamil cinema. Over the years, he has expanded his creative portfolio to include roles as a producer, actor, lyricist, editor, audio engineer, and director. He is married to Fathima Vijay Antony, who actively manages their production company. Vijay and Fathima are devoted parents to two daughters, Meera and Lara.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 11:06 [IST]
What Is The Construction Cost Of The New Parliament Building?
Sonia Gandhi To Be Lead Congress Speaker To Discuss Women's Reservation Bill
India
oi-Sushmita Halder
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is likely to be the lead speaker from her party when the Lok Sabha will take 'Women's Reservation Bill' for discussion on Wednesday.
The Women's Reservation Bill that seeks to provide a 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday and will be taken up for discussion on Wednesday.
Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said "What about it? It's ours. Apna hain," while reacting to the bill that was passed on Tuesday. She made these remarks while entering the Parliament for a historic joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the newly inaugurated Parliament building.
According to sources, the Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve a 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Referring to the issue, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "We want the Women's Reservation Bill to be brought and passed as soon as possible. The demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by UPA and our leader Sonia Gandhi. It took so long, but we will be happy if this is introduced."
Earlier on Monday, the Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh asserted that the party has been demanding the implementation of the bill for a long time.
He further said that the allocation of reserved seats shall be determined by such authority as prescribed by Parliament.
One-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies. Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act.
BJP Leader Uma Bharti Demands Reservation for OBC Women in New Bill
Uma Bharti, senior BJP leader, has voiced her concern over the absence of a quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) women in the newly introduced bill that reserves 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. She has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting that half of these reserved seats be allocated to SC/STs and OBCs.
India
-Krishna Kripa
On September 19, in Bhopal, senior BJP leader Uma Bharti expressed disappointment with the recently proposed bill that reserves 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Her concern lies in the absence of a specific quota for women from Other Backward Classes (OBCs). In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bharti demanded that half of the seats within this female quota be reserved specifically for SC/STs and OBCs. She further urged that backward class women from the Muslim community should also receive benefits.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill
The constitutional amendment bill was introduced earlier on Tuesday by the BJP-led Union government in the Lok Sabha. The bill proposes that this reservation will continue for 15 years and there will be one-third quota for women within already existing reservations for SC/STs. This move is aimed at increasing representation of women across all levels of governance.
Bharti's Concern Over Lack Of Reservation For OBC Women
While expressing her happiness over introducing such an empowering provision as reserving seats for women, Uma Bharti couldn't help but feel somewhat dejected due to lack of consideration towards OBC women. "If we do not ensure reservation for OBC women, then their faith in the BJP will be broken," warned Bharti who herself is a prominent OBC leader representing BJP.
Demand For Special Provision Within Women's Quota
In her letter to PM Modi, Bharti emphasized on making special provisions within this new legislation. "The 33 per cent reservation for women in legislature is a special provision", she wrote indicating how it can serve as an opportunity to uplift those sections which have been historically under-represented or marginalized like SC/STs, OBCs and Muslim minority groups.
According to Bharti, such a move would not only ensure the representation of women across all social strata but also help in strengthening their faith in the ruling government. It would demonstrate BJP's commitment towards addressing concerns of all segments of society and furthering inclusive governance.
Conclusion
The introduction of this bill marks a significant step in the direction of gender equality within political spaces. However, as pointed out by Uma Bharti, it is crucial that these steps are taken with a nuanced understanding to ensure fair representation for all sections of society. While the bill is indeed commendable for its intent to increase female participation in politics, it must be formulated keeping in mind India's diverse socio-cultural fabric. Only then can we hope for an equitable distribution of power and opportunities among our citizens.
A Costly Love Affair In US For China's Ousted Foreign Minister Qin Gang
International
oi-Stuti Tripathi
As per a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday, China's former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was stripped off his title in July, was due to an extramarital affair he allegedly had as an ambassador to the United States. Qin was reportedly cooperating with the investigation, which focused on the affair and had China's national security been compromised due to Qin's conduct.
While none of the sources have confirmed the woman who Qin Gang had an extramarrital affair with, as per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Repulic of China website, Qin Gang was already married with a son at the time of his love affair in the U.S.
Apparently, an internal Communist Party investigation revealed that Qin was involved in the affair thorughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the US about which senior Chinese officials were informed. Not only this, two sources also told the newspaper about the birth of a child in U.S. as result of the alleged affair.
When asked at a press briefing on Tuesday, China foreign ministry spokeperson Mao Ning reportedly said, "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned".
Why China Fired Qin Gang As Its Foreign Minister?
Qin was China's ambassador to the U.S. from July 2021 till January 2022. Veteran Diplomat and Qin's predecessor Wang Yi was reinstated after Qin's removal.
The entire incident also raised some questions on President Xi Jinping's leadership and his government's stability especially while reigning over world's No. 2 economy. This gains even more traction due to unexplained absence of Li Shangfu, Defence Minister amid reports of him being probed for corruption.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 15:05 [IST]
The total number of mine victims has reached 314 people (61 of whom died) since the beginning of the second Garabagh War, Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement, Azernews reports.
The ministry made the statement in connection with the deaths of civilians and Interior Ministry employees as a result of mine terrorism in Khojavend.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Garabagh War] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavend district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. Local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan further noted that as part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
"We reiterate that the civilian population and civilian infrastructure facilities are not targeted. Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated," the ministry noted.
Canada Expels Indian Diplomat Over Killing Of Khalistani Terrorist
International
pti-PTI
Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat Monday as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India's government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.
Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up the slaying with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G-20 last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. ''If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other,'' Joly said. ''As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat.'' The Indian Embassy in Ottawa did not immediately answer phone calls from The Associated Press seeking comment.
My statement on allegations surrounding the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. pic.twitter.com/auIyj194A8 Melanie Joly (@melaniejoly) September 19, 2023
The expulsion comes as relations between Canada and India are tense. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.
On The Day PM Modi Raised Khalistani Issue With Trudeau, SFJ Holds A Khalistan Referendum In Canada
At the G-20 meeting, Modi expressed ''strong concerns'' over Canada's handling of the Punjabi independence movement among the overseas during a meeting with Trudeau at the G-20, according to a statement released by India's Ministry of External Affairs.
The statement described the Sikh movement as ''promoting secessionism and inciting violence'' against Indian diplomats. It called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, or about 2 per cent of its total population.
''Over the past number of weeks Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar,'' Trudeau said.
Trudeau said Canada has declared its deep concerns to the Indian government. ''Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty." Trudeau said his government has been working closely and coordinating with Canada's allies on the case. ''In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter,'' he said.
Trudeau said he knows there are some members of the Indo-Canadian community who feel angry or frightened, and he called for calm.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canada's national security adviser and the head of Canada's spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian intelligence agencies with the allegations.
He called it an active homicide investigation led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Joly said Trudeau also raised the matter with US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Joly also said she would raise the issue with her peers in the G7 on Monday evening in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly Opposition Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said if the allegations are true they represent ''an outrageous affront to our sovereignty.'' Opposition New Democrat leader Jagmeet Singh, who is himself Sikh, called it outrageous and shocking. Singh said he grew up hearing stories that challenging India's record on human rights might prevent you from getting a visa to travel there.
''But to hear the prime minister of Canada corroborate a potential link between a murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil by a foreign government is something I could never have imagined,'' Singh said.
The Khalistan movement is banned in India, where officials see it and affiliated groups as a national security threat. But the movement still has some support in northern India, as well as beyond, in countries like Canada and the United Kingdom which are home to a sizable Sikh diaspora. Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh state at the time of this death. Indian authorities announced a cash reward last year for information leading to Nijjar's arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he's received a briefing from Canada's spy agency about the ''assassination'' of Nijjar and he's ''deeply disturbed'' by what he was told.
He said he's calling on the Canadian government to share all information related to ongoing foreign interference and ''transnational organized crime threats.'' The World Sikh Organization of Canada called Nijjar an outspoken supporter of Khalistan who ''often led peaceful protests against the violation of human rights actively taking place in India and in support of Khalistan.'' ''Nijjar had publicly spoken of the threat to his life for months and said that he was targeted by Indian intelligence agencies," the statement said.
Niijar's New York-based lawyer, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, has said Niijar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by ''mercenaries'' before he was gunned down. Janice Stein, a political scientist and international relations expert at the University of Toronto, said to kill a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is astounding. "It's tragic for Canada because we have issues of foreign interference with the two largest economies in Asia, China and India. And we have two very large diaspora from both countries. This is not what we want," Stein said.
''We have the most diverse community in the world in Canada. We have people from everybody's country. We accept this and we give license Russia to hunt Canadian Ukrainians. You can't.''
It Is "Extremely Important" For Canada And Its Allies To Engage With India: Canada PM Justin Trudeau
In Fresh Provocation, Canada PM Talks To UAE About India On 'Importance Of Upholding Law'
How Canadians React To Trudeau's Decision To Expel Indian Diplomat?
International
oi-Prakash KL
The decision to expel an Indian diplomat by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been criticized by netizens in Canada.
Canada has expelled the diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called "credible allegations" of the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in Surrey in June.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head. He was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau makes a statement in the House of Commons: "Canadian security agencies been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar." #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Y5BjnyTO7w Jordan Gowling (@GowlingJordan) September 18, 2023
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
In Tit For Tat, India Expels Top Canadian Diplomat After Trudeau Claims Govt Link to Nijjar Killing
However, his decision to expel the Indian diplomat has been slammed by his own countrymen.
Journalist Daniel Bordman has expressed his shock over the development. On X (formerly X), he said, "To expel an Indian diplomat based on an internal report (In a fucking ongoing investigation!!!) that has a "potential" that Indian government was involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is insane. Absolutely bat shit insane behaviour form Trudeau and CO," he wrote.
The Indian government has long accused Canada of harbouring Khalistani extremists, dating back to the bombing of Air India Flight 182 in 1985. Inderjit Singh Reyat, the sole convicted plotter, was responsible for the deaths of 329 people aboard.
MORE: https://t.co/aE5ViPrl4r pic.twitter.com/XdL7tymV3t Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 18, 2023
"This is a government that has a history of taking drastic actions based on an intelligence report based on a retracted CBC article, so forgive me for pointing out that no one in the international community is going to give us the benefit of the doubt," he stated.
An army veteran named Pierre has slammed the Canada Prime Minister and said, "Trudeau is a well-known terrorist lover."
Our polling numbers are at all-time lows, so I need to create a new crisis to distract Canadians.
That's why my Government is suddenly making a big deal about #India's ties to the killing of a Sikh man earlier this year.
People are more likely to support me if they're scared. pic.twitter.com/mrlaZW6Z3R Justin Trudeau's Ego (@Trudeaus_Ego) September 18, 2023
Another user spoke about Trudeau's impulsive action and said, "This will cost huge to India-Canada relations. India is a growing power and I don't think ally countries will side (with) Canada on these allegations."
Some accused him of trying to divert attention from the country's internal issues. A user said, "Sounds like a distraction to me. I wonder why." "Diversion Tactics," said one Maddy.
Watch: Trudeau Claims India May Be Behind Khalistani Terrorist's Killing In Canada
Another user claimed, "He doesn't even need to be lying or attacking the opposition on what he does much worse him for his cadence in how he talks just making me want to break his face."
To expel an Indian diplomat based on an internal report (In a fucking ongoing investigation!!!) that has a "potential" that Indian government was involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar is insane. Absolutely bat shit insane behaviour form Trudeau and CO. Daniel Bordman (@Ranting4Canada) September 19, 2023
The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and French President Emmanuel Macron, CBC News reported citing a senior government source.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Canadian citizens 'must be safe from extrajudicial killings'. "Canadians deserve to be protected on Canadian soil. We call on the Indian government to act with utmost transparency as authorities investigate this murder. The truth must come out," Poilievre said. New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh said that he'd use 'every tool' at his disposal to 'bring those responsible to justice'.
In a tit-for-tat move, India announced the expulsion of a senior Canadian diplomat.
Canadian High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and informed about the decision to expel the senior Canadian diplomat.
Indian Origin Canadian Lawmaker Jagmeet Singh Vows To Seek Justice For Khalistani Terrorist
International
oi-Sushmita Halder
Amid the ongoing tensions between India and Canada, Indian-origin Canadian lawmaker Jagmeet Singh on Monday pledged to seek justice for Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed in June outside a Gurudwara in Canada's Surrey.
Accusing the Indian Government for the death of the Khalistani terrorist, Singh tweeted, "Today we learned of allegations that agents of the Indian Government murdered Hardeep Singh Nijjar - a Canadian killed on Canadian soil. I will leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of justice, including holding Narendra Modi accountable."
Soon after users on platform X started pouring in their reactions. Some users wrote, Jagmeet Singh had hidden a reply to his post that read "Just don't ask me to go to India". Another user said, "Jagmeet Singh isn't allowed in India due to his connections to Khalistani extremists."
Another user wrote, "Liberal and NDP "diplomacy" in 2023: shoot first and do the investigation later. Justin Trudeau and Jagmeet Singh are both openly going after the Prime Minister of India. What if they are wrong? Is the "investigation" now tainted as to the "findings"? Seems very unusual," another user posted.
9 Separatist Outfits Supporting Terror Groups Have Bases In Canada, Say Officials
Singh's remarks came just after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made allegations of Indian government's involvement in a Khalistani leader's murder. However, India rejected the claims by describing them as 'absurd' and 'motivated'.
Earlier today, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat," following which India also expelled a Canadian diplomat. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) further asked a Canadian diplomat to depart from India within the next five days.
Trudeau's Liberal Party's minority government depends on the support of the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by Jagmeet Singh.
Singh was seen supporting Khalistani separatists on several occasions. He had also spoken against the police crackdown on Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh who was convicted in Punjab in April.
Not Trying To Provoke, But Want Answers: Canada PM Trudeau Amid Row With India
International
oi-Prakash KL
A day after making allegations against India, linking the Indian government to the murder of a Khalistani terrorist, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said that Ottawa is not trying to provoke New Delhi.
"The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate," Reuters quoted him as saying. His latest comments come after uproar in India over his remarks in the Parliament on Monday.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said in a speech to the House of Commons on Monday.
On June 18, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the leader of the prohibited Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), as well as one of India's most sought-after terrorists with a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his capture, was fatally shot by two unknown assailants outside a gurdwara in Surrey, situated in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
In his speech, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is "an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty." "It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat." Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them "absurd and motivated". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said. "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law," the MEA said.
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said.
"The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," the ministry said.
It Is "Extremely Important" For Canada And Its Allies To Engage With India: Canada PM Justin Trudeau
Watch: Trudeau Claims India May Be Behind Khalistani Terrorist's Killing In Canada
International
oi-Madhuri Adnal
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday that the country's security agencies are actively investigating a potential link between the Indian government and the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this year.
Addressing the House of Commons in Ottawa, Trudeau stated, "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar." Nijjar, who was wanted by the Indian government, was killed in a targeted shooting outside a gurdwara in Surrey on June 18 of the current year.
Trudeau also revealed that he had raised the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit. "Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence security officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms," emphasized the Canadian Prime Minister.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, Delegation To Leave This Afternoon; Tech Issue With Aircraft Resolved
In his statement, Trudeau urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada in thoroughly investigating this matter and reiterated Canada's stance on "extra-judicial operations" conducted in another country.
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During a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Prime Minister Modi conveyed his deep concerns to Justin Trudeau regarding ongoing "anti-India activities" perpetrated by "extremist elements" in Canada. The Indian Prime Minister's Office (PMO) noted that these elements were promoting secessionism, inciting violence against Indian diplomats, vandalizing diplomatic facilities, and posing threats to the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship. The PMO further underscored the worrisome association of these extremist forces with organized crime, drug syndicates, and human trafficking.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau's Plane Suffers Technical Snag, Delegation To Stay In India
In response to Trudeau's speech in the House of Commons, Canada took the extraordinary step of expelling an Indian diplomat. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly explained, "If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other." As a consequence of these allegations, the head of Indian intelligence in Canada was expelled.
It is worth noting that in 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh on Nijjar after he was accused of conspiring to assassinate a Hindu priest in Jalandhar. Nijjar, who resided in Canada, was the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), an organization accused of orchestrating the priest's murder. The NIA had previously filed a chargesheet against Nijjar in a case involving conspiracy to commit terrorist acts against India.
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Story first published: Tuesday, September 19, 2023, 9:18 [IST]
What UK Says On Canada's Allegations Against India On Khalistani Leader's Murder
International
oi-Prakash KL
Despite significant escalation in tensions between Canada and India over the alleged Indian government's involvement in a Sikh terrorist's murder, Britain will continue trade talks with New Delhi, Reuters reported citing a statement from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson.
The spokesperson said that the UK was in touch with Ottawa while stating that it will not have an impact on the trade talks between New Delhi and Britain.
"Work on the trade negotiations will continue as before. The Canadian authorities will now conduct their work and I'm not going to preempt them," the news agency quoted a spokesperson as saying.
He further stated, "When we have concerns about countries we are negotiating trade deals with, we will raise them directly with the government concerned. But with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal, and we're not looking to conflate them with other issues."
Canada and India have expelled a senior diplomat each after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of a prominent Sikh separatist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
In his speech, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is "an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty." "It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added.
Meanwhile, the US and Australia have expressed deep concern over the allegations against India by Canada.
The Canadian foreign minister said an Indian diplomat was asked to leave the country after intelligence alleged that Indian state actors could be behind the killing of a prominent Sikh leader.
A conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh has simmered for decades between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Now fighting has resumed, with Azerbaijan shelling several towns in the disputed region.
Azerbaijan has announced an "anti-terrorist" operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, three years after a war with neighboring Armenia over the breakaway region.
The Biden administration is proposing to block off more than 4,000 acres from future mineral development in New Mexico to protect the environment and cultural resources.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The victims of the mine terror, their family members and representatives of Azerbaijani civil society have sent a joint appeal to the UN in connection with the mine terror and ongoing provocations of Armenian separatists in Azerbaijan's Karabakh, Trend reports.
Will be updated
The comedian and actor is accused of historical rape and sexual assaults, which he denies.
Pope Francis welcomed Russia's new ambassador to the Vatican on Monday and the envoy said the pontiff told him he was determined to forge ahead with his peace and humanitarian initiatives for Ukraine.
The key to solving the Libyan political conflict lies within the country rather than with the international community, analysis says.
Electoral and governance deadlock has been blamed for the devastating impact of the flooding in the country.
The contentment of the political elite and others with the status quo ...
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has called for the Iranian government to reconsider the decision which affects the planning and conducting of nuclear safeguards verification activities.
Grossi said the Islamic Republic of Iran informed him on 16 September of its decision to...
Johannesburg is again blaming consumers as it runs out of water during a hot spell - this year the water ran out a month earlier and in less extreme conditions.
Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe meets with World Bank Chief Ajay Banga
Posted by Editor on September 19, 2023 - 8:39 am
The Sri Lanka Delegation, led by President Ranil Wickremesinghe, engaged in high-level discussions with World Bank President Mr. Ajay Banga and other World Bank officials at the World Bank Headquarters (UNHQ) yesterday (September 18).
The meeting cantered on a range of critical topics, including economic reforms, agriculture, tourism, and digitization.
President Wickremesinghe expressed gratitude for the vital financial support provided by the World Bank during challenging times, stating, The money was available at least for the basics and that helped us tide through the most difficult months.
Now its a matter of finalizing the debt restructuring and moving on from there. He emphasized the need for fast and sustained economic growth.
Regarding economic sectors, President Wickremesinghe highlighted the immediate focus on tourism, food security and agricultural modernization.
So now we are planning it and first the total package of economic reforms that have to be done. We will not have this window of opportunity. Crisis gives you a window of opportunity and we will not have that again.
So we will drive that as far as possible. And then focus immediately on the different sectors. We are starting with tourism, which is the lowest hanging fruit. Then, food security and agricultural modernization.
Those two would be the ones that we start with. Thereafter, we will be going into the other areas, the traditional exports. Agriculture would mean modernization and the whole gamut of things.
In the realm of education and technology, President Wickremesinghe expressed his desire for additional technological universities and renewable energy development, which would significantly impact the northern region of Sri Lanka. He also mentioned plans for a climate change university.
World Bank President Ajay Banga commended Sri Lankas commitment to reforms, emphasizing the importance of credibility in the countrys approach. He noted that the World Bank is actively involved in advisory work and encouraged Sri Lanka to rely on their support.
Mr. Ajay Banga also praised Sri Lankas focus on tourism, highlighting its job creation potential. He mentioned discussions about ports and trade and offered assistance in digitization, renewable energy and education.
Mr. Banga also mentioned potential collaboration on power grid connectivity with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
These are topics we understand well. When I was in India we discussed the power interconnection idea and I was told that ADB is already working on this and we have connected up with ADB and if there is any way we could be helpful with India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, connecting up their power grids, it will be to your benefit in the short term and also once you produce more energy, for your long term as well. I know ADB is there working with you, but you should know we are there if you need us.
President Wickremesinghe elaborated on the expansion of Colombos port and the benefits of transhipment, creating a significant cargo hub.
He discussed the potential for industrialization in South India and Sri Lankas plans to phase out certain subsidies while providing grants to universities and students.
The conversation further explored the significance of digitization, with Mr. Banga emphasises transparency and trust-building through digitization of governance.
He also suggested the adoption of a school system digitization model he witnessed in India.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ali Sabri highlighted the importance of agriculture in Sri Lankas workforce and the need for increased productivity. Agriculture is high on the Presidents agenda because 27% of the workforce is in agriculture but they only contribute 8.7% to the GDP.
So we need to uplift that standard in terms of yield and productivity and value added manufacturing.
President Wickremesinghe mentioned upcoming bills focused on womens rights, gender equality and violence against women.
World Bank President Ajay Banga commended President Wickremesinghes vision, particularly his focus on job creation for the younger generation and improving quality of life. He assured the World Banks commitment to supporting these goals in alignment with Sri Lankas plans.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe also invited the World Bank President Mr. Ajay Banga to visit Sri Lanka to which he responded positively.
The meeting between President Wickremesinghe and World Bank President Banga underscored the importance of collaboration and reforms for Sri Lankas economic growth and development.
(Presidents Media)
Gaming Realms marks its debut in the Portuguese gaming market by partnering with Betclic, one of the country's leading operators. This move is part of Gaming Realms' broader expansion strategy into regulated European markets.
Gaming Realms, a premier provider of mobile gaming content, has made a strategic entry into the Portuguese market by collaborating with Betclic, a dominant operator in the region. This marks a significant move for Gaming Realms as it aims to establish a robust foothold in the European markets.
A Host of Slingo Titles for Portuguese Players
The partnership has led to the rollout of Gaming Realms' popular Slingo titles, such as Slingo Starburst, Slingo Sweet Bonanza, and Slingo SuperSpin. Portuguese gamers can now enjoy these unique titles that combine elements of slots and bingo to offer a compelling gaming experience.
Synergic Partnership for Market Domination
Betclic is a well-established brand in the Portuguese market, which makes it an ideal partner for Gaming Realms as it embarks on its Portuguese journey. Gareth Scott, Chief Commercial Officer at Gaming Realms, stated that entering Portugal is a "huge milestone" and "testament to the company's commitment to distribution across regulated markets globally."
Geoffroy Villiot, Head of CRM Operations at Betclic Group, mirrored Scott's enthusiasm, emphasizing that the collaboration would enrich Betclic's platform with "new and attractive" gaming propositions. He also expressed excitement at being the first operator to launch Gaming Realms' games in Portugal, stating, "Gaming Realms offers unique content that resonates with a wide demographic of players."
Market Potential and Future Plans
Portugal is emerging as a lucrative market for online gaming, and both companies see significant growth potential. Gaming Realms aims to further its reach across regulated markets, and its partnership with Betclic provides an excellent starting point in a country showing increasing enthusiasm for online games.
Gaming Realms has a diversified portfolio, including Slingo, bingo, slots, and other casual games. It's well-known for its proprietary technology, enabling efficient content distribution and monetization across real money and social gaming markets. With this debut, the company intends to tap into Portugal's rising demand for interactive gaming experiences.
About Gaming Realms
Gaming Realms is a leading mobile gaming content developer specializing in next-generation mobile gaming content. It boasts a variety of Slingo, bingo, and slot titles, utilizing its proprietary data platform for global audience engagement. This move into the Portuguese market signifies a critical step in their commitment to global distribution across regulated markets.
New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan has said that efforts are on to ensure the release of Indian nurses arrested in Kuwait. He further said that the Ministry of External Affairs and the Indian Embassy are in talks with the authorities.
"Currently, there is no situation to be concerned about. Those who have babies have been given permission to see and breastfeed them, the Minister said. There are five nursing mothers among the arrested Keralites.
There are 34 Indians among the 60 people who were caught on charges of working in violation of the residency laws, he added. Out of these 19 nurses are Keralites.
They were detained during a raid by the Kuwait Human Resources Committee officials on a private clinic at Maliya in Kuwait City. According to the Kuwait Home Ministry, the nurses did not have relevant licences or required qualifications to work in Kuwait.
However, the family members of the Keralite nurses claimed that they were qualified and had been working there with proper work visas and sponsorships.
Several of them have been working there for the past three to 10 years in the same clinic. People from Philippines, Egypt and Iran have also been caught by the authorities on similar charges.
The hospital is owned by an Iranian national and according to the relatives of the nurses, a dispute between the owner and the sponsor had led to the raid and arrest.
Kin of the arrested Malayali nurses have sought the intervention of the Union Government and the Indian Embassy for the early release of the nurses.
Ho Chi Minh City: Budget airline Vietjet has announced its plans to operate more services to Indian cities from Vietnam following the positive response to its service between Kochi and Ho Chi Minh City, the most populous city in Vietnam.
At present, Vietjet runs services to Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad in India, apart from Kochi. From November 1, a new schedule has been announced for Tiruchirappalli.
Over three lakh passengers flew from Indian airports to Vietnam during the first six months of this year, registering a five-fold increase compared to last year.
Vietjet operates flights to Kochi from Ho Chi Minh City four days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.
The service V J 1811 - departs from Ho Chi Minh City at 6.55 pm local time and arrives in Kochi at 10.50 pm. During the return trip, the service V J 1812 leaves Kochi at 11.50 pm on these days and arrives in Ho Chi Minh City at 6.25 am the next day.
The Airbus A 320 aircraft operating in the sector has economy class as well as SkyBoss premium economy seats.
Travellers booking seats on the service on specific days, such as Wednesday and Friday, could receive tickets for as low as Rs 5,555. Weekly offers are also available for travellers from India till December 31.
Moreover, telecom operator Airtel provides roaming facilities at a low tariff in Vietnam.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The operational situation on the state border of Azerbaijan in all directions is under the full control of Azerbaijan, the Head of the press center of the State Border Service (SBS) of Azerbaijan, Aftandil Abbasov said, Trend reports.
"On Azerbaijan's part, the necessary measures are being taken to protect the state border. The SBS will immediately take adequate and harsh retaliatory measures in connection with possible provocative actions," Abbasov said.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On September 19, 2023, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, on the 58th kilometer of the new Akhmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway, a Howo truck belonging to the Azerbaijan State Highway Agency (AAYDA) working on this road was blown up by an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and passenger were killed at the scene.
Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the site of the terrorist attack on a Kamaz truck. On a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard, Khojavend district, a Russia's KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of a terrorist act, was blown up by a mine set by a sabotage group of Armenian separatist troops on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
According to the statement, Asim Jamalzade, born on February 5, 1994, Ramil Shirinov, born on July 8, 1987, Seymur Mahmudov, born on July 12, 1991 and Khazar Zamanov, born on July 21, 1998 died at the scene.
Denial in Kyiv and Moscow, But Needed Russia-Ukraine Peace deal Will Not be Total Victory by Either
By Robert Weiner and Dante Masucci
With Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky now visiting both the White House and the U.N., U.S. President Biden can propose a peace in Ukraine that would work. There is denial in both Kyiv and Moscow, but a needed Russia-Ukraine peace deal will not be a total victory by either.
As the war in Ukraine has gone on, a recent Ukraine "Peace summit" in Saudi Arabia was "productive" but with had no conclusions. Divisions have emerged within the White House and NATO, even though both say it must be Ukraine's decision, about what Ukraine's goals for victory should be. Given the massive amount of aid, totaling to over $150 billion, that the United States has committed and given to Ukraine, the winners of this policy power struggle will hold significant sway over how the war ends. Those who push either for a total restoration of Ukraine's pre-2014 borders or a total destruction of Ukraine's sovereignty have their goals, but ignore the realities of the demographics in any ambitious condition for total victory.
Although many pro-Ukrainian leaders, including Zelensky himself, believe that Russian occupation is universally hated by those in the occupied territories, it's not a fact. A poll from Pew Research found that in Crimea, pro-Russian sentiment is widespread, with 54% of those polled saying that they supported annexation from Russia. The poll, conducted after the Russian annexation of Crimea, also revealed that more than 90% of Crimeans believe that Russia played a good role in Crimea during and shortly after the 2014 annexation.
Previous Ukrainian administrations ignored the presence and danger of pro-Russian sentiment in Eastern Ukraine. When we asked about the polls that showed pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea and the East, Oleg Mahnitskyi, one of former Ukrainian president Poroshenko's senior advisors, said, after a few seconds' hesitation, at a news conference at the National Press Club in 2014, that "polls will say anything". This sentiment clearly failed to resolve the crisis of Russian sympathies in Eastern Ukraine, given that the pro-Russian insurgency did not cease during his presidency and Crimea was not returned by Russia, despite his campaign promises to restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Western leaders should also not forget that self-determination means allowing people to choose the wrong path for their future. Despite the fact that finalizing the Russian annexation would result in a great loss of freedom and civil rights, if the polling is accurate, those in Eastern Ukraine and Crimea who desire it should not be denied their right. If the Russian sympathizers in the East and Crimea wish to curtail their own liberties and prefer dictatorship to democracy, recognition of that desire could be the path to a peace deal.
Unmeasured is the change in sentiment that Moscow's brutal invasion may have caused--the brutality could well have backfired and caused a more pro-Ukraine mentality across even Crimea. Russian violations of human rights, such as their massacre of civilians in Bucha or their use of rape as a weapon of war, could have caused those previously sympathetic to Russia to rethink their support of Putin's government.
Given how much territory Ukraine will need to fight to restore its original borders, the operations necessary to recover that territory will cost hundreds of billions of dollars more and tens of thousands of lives. Still more war will likely cause Russia to up their conscription once more, as just happened last month, forcing young Russian men into a war that they and their families want no part of.
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A Portland man Monday was sentenced to 25 years in prison for dealing counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl that led to an overdose death.
Dontae Lamar Hunts sentencing took place five years after he got out of prison when his prior 20-year sentence for cocaine distribution was commuted by President Barack Obama.
A Portland man ended a long-brewing dispute over a rental home by fatally shooting his three neighbors, prosecutors alleged Monday during opening statements in the murder trial of Brett Pruett, while a defense attorney attacked the states witnesses as unreliable and said the real killer was still out there.
Elmer Eddie Hughes, his fiancee Tashia Cobb and their friend Larry Murphy were found shot dead at the home at 2540 N.E. 122nd Ave. around 10 p.m. on July 17, 2020.
Update: Portland school board votes to fire teacher Bryan Chu, who said he stood up to racist system
A long-running conflict over a Portland Public Schools educator whom the district has accused of being toxic and a danger to students and his fellow teachers will come to a head Tuesday evening when the school board is set to consider his proposed termination.
Bryan Chu, who is paid about $75,000 per school year, has been on paid administrative leave from his role as a middle school social studies teacher at Harriet Tubman Middle School since April of 2022. At an online pre-termination hearing in August during which Chu declined to turn on his camera and instead displayed a picture of himself from behind, wearing a shirt that read White Li(V)es Matter in PPS, his lawyer said his client was being targeted for his willingness to challenge the districts racism at every level.
Chu, who is Asian American, is a longtime activist and thorn in the side of district administrators and school board members. He has been particularly vocal over the proposed relocation of Harriet Tubman Middle School from its fumes-laden perch above Interstate 5, saying the district neglected to seek adequate input from affected families and students.
Chus suspension from teaching has inspired passionate outcry among some of the schools students and their families, who say he is a caring educator of color who understood the students in one of the districts most diverse middle schools. Students have walked out of school to protest his leave and showed up to support him at board meetings.
Portland, like other school districts, has a high bar for dismissing educators protected under its contract with the teachers union, and the school board will on occasion bypass Superintendent Guadalupe Guerreros recommendations on such matters. School board members in June voted 4-3 against terminating popular Ockley Green Middle School dance teacher Damon Keller, another educator of color. They overruled Guerrero and district staffs concerns about Keller repeatedly calling in sick while working at a different job.
Kate Wilkinson, the assistant general counsel for Portland Public Schools, painted a damning picture of Chu during the 2 1/2 hour hearing in August, saying Chu had failed his students by giving virtually all of them As regardless of whether they completed their assignments or even came to class, masking their needs for future supports and leaving them unprepared for high school courses.
She read aloud from statements his colleagues had given the district about Chus teaching methods, citing a fellow teacher who testified that: During the pandemic I especially struggled to support students who needed recovery services. Students who had never attended comprehensive distance learning were marked 100% present in his class. This kept them from accessing supports that were desperately needed.
Wilkinson also said that colleagues at a number of schools where Chu had taught, including Hosford and Lane middle schools and Harriet Tubman, said he could be belittling and dismissive to the point of harassment, particularly with female colleagues who said they were afraid to speak up after interactions with Chu. One of his colleagues was particularly direct, telling the district: I dont know how he conned all these parents to carry water for him, but this guy is detrimental to this place [Harriet Tubman Middle School] ever changing.
And Wilkinson said he had been belligerent during interactions with district officials and school board members, including saying F--- Guadalupe, of Guerrero during a public meeting.
Mr. Chu is not being dismissed because of his belief that there is systemic racism in society, Wilkinson said. He is being dismissed for his bullying, harassing behavior and for not performing the basic functions of his job that he is being paid to do.
Chus Portland Association of Teachers-provided lawyer, Noah Barish of McKanna Bishop Joffe, said the district had fundamentally misrepresented his clients actions and intentions, that plenty of other educators had spoken up in public forums without being targeted in the same way and that Chu was facing dismissal because he does not fit the stereotype of model Asian minority or Portland polite.
Barish said Chu was a highly effective and beloved teacher of color who challenges the districts racism at every level. This case is about the price paid by that educator for being honest and refusing to flinch when addressing difficult topics including advancing racial equity and placing his Black and brown students above the needs of his mostly white colleagues.
As an example, he cited Chus response to another teacher who had suggested that staff at Harriet Tubman place stickers on their classroom doors so queer students would know that they could find a safe haven. In an email, Chu characterized such gestures as performative, adding This makes it seem like we are doing the work without actually having to do it. That was an invitation to further conversation, Barish said, and not the belittling that the district suggested it constituted.
They are inferring a misogynistic tone and harassment, Barish said, of Chus female colleagues who had objected to his behavior. Just because they are women and he is a man does not prove gender discrimination and harassment. This is a conflict and difference of opinion.
Even before the pandemic, Tubman was a chaotic, often out of control environment where student fights were common, Barish said, and Chus classroom was a safe haven for students. He admitted that his client had allowed students to skip other classes and hang out in his classroom, but he suggested that was out of solidarity with students in search of a quiet space to decompress from other teachers and a system that they felt disregarded their needs.
Barish called his clients teaching style structured and predictable with a focus on teaching students how they can relate to the world around them.
The school board is scheduled to consider Guerreros recommendation that it terminate Chu Tuesday evening, after a period of public comment. School board chair Gary Hollands said Monday he was still processing all the information and had not made up his mind how to vote.
Julia Silverman, @jrlsilverman, jsilverman@oregonian.com
All Classical Radio is on a roll. Actually, its more of a grand crescendo. The station at 89.9 FM, formerly known as All Classical Portland, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a new name, a new logo, and a massive move of its offices and broadcasting services to downtown Portland.
To top that off, All Classical Radio now has bragging rights as the number one classical music station in the nation. Talk about keeping Portland weird!
Weve received our ratings from Nielsen, and they said it is not even close, said All Classicals President and CEO Suzanne Nance. Weve been pulling a 6.5 market share, and the closest competitor is 3.0.
Those numbers are supported by an increasing membership for the non-profit station, which now boasts over 12,000 members and a local audience of over 250,000 listeners in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
We have a massive local following, remarked Nance, and internationally we have more than a hundred countries streaming through our online platform. In addition to our listeners and supporters across the United States, we are reaching people in Norway, Scotland, and beyond.
And the stations success continues to build. When Nance became the head honcho in 2017, its operating budget was $3.8 million. Since then, it has grown to $4.9 million.
HERE IS OREGON: HereisOregon.com | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook | Twitter | TikTok
Whats going on here? While classical music stations elsewhere are struggling New England Public Medias WFCR at 88.5 FM just announced that it is moving to news and talk programming All Classical Radio has been on the ascent.
One reason is that Nance has led the charge with innovative programming, which gives All Classical Radio a unique voice among classical stations. Programs like Sunday Brunch, Notebook, Club Mod, Played in Oregon, On Deck with Young Musicians, and The Score, which is marking its 17th year, have helped to build All Classical Radios brand. In 2019, the station launched a radio network, for children. The International Childrens Arts Network (ICAN) is a 24-hour radio service and the first of its kind in the U.S.
Our station cares about its community and you can really hear it, said Nance. Digital platforms use the word radio on their playlists, but for them it is an algorithm. We have humans who program and share the music. When someone is able to share a laugh with you in real time, it is so special. Or if our host might say, Wow, the fog is rolling up over the West Hills, you are not going to get that on a digital platform. We make radio. People can feel the emotion. Twenty-one percent of the people who listened online last year are under the age of 24.
Building on the surging wave of support, All Classical Radio is looking ahead with big plans. In May, Nance announced that the station would relocate its headquarters and services from its current location near the Tilikum Crossing in Southeast Portland to KOIN Tower in downtown Portland.
Our new place will have more space, explained Nance. We are adding more than 3,000 square feet that will include a performance hall. The hall will be 45 percent larger than our current performance space. It will be state of the art, with acoustical quality, and will seat 100 people. It will also have an LED screen for musicians who have a visual component. Currently we have our Thursdays at Three program, but we hope to offer more performance events. Off the back of the performance hall will be a state-of-the-art recording studio. We will be able to make recordings in real time and get them on the radio.
The recording aspect will expand All Classical Radios current projects.
We launched a recording initiative a couple of years ago called the Recording Inclusivity Initiative, Nance said. With that in mind, we reached out to record labels around the world, asking if they would consider making recordings with us. We ended up partnering with Navona Records, which is part of the Parma label. We have a three-year contract with Navona Records to release a CD every year. In fact, pianist Yoko Greeney and violinist Emily Cole just did a recording for us. This is a great way to get our local musicians on the radio, and it will help to change the national playlist.
We will take some of our current computers and equipment with us. Right now, you see a lot of racks with a lot of wires well, technology has evolved so much that we no longer need all of that. The building is wired for sound. But we are going to bring our CDs. There will be a wall of CDs with a ladder that slides back and forth.
The station will be on the third floor of KOIN Tower in the old Regal Cinemas space, and it can take advantage of the escalator that goes right there.
How did Nance, a classically trained soprano with an undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and a masters from DePaul, get into the radio biz?
At DePaul, I helped to build the classical library for its radio station, explained Nance. I went on to WFMT in Chicago and then became the program director in Maine at the NPR affiliate. But it has all been on the job training and surrounding myself with really good people. I am very curious. I always ask a lot of questions. With budgets, I went to financial advisors and auditors and learned everything that I could. Governance is very important to me. I feel very responsible for this treasure. Being a musician, the dedication, commitment, and the incredible attention to detail that I learned in getting my masters in music has served me as a CEO.
Along with the move to KOIN, Nance has aligned the stations new name with a new logo. The colorful branding was inspired by the Orphic Cubism Art movement, which envisioned art as the unification of sensation and color.
With a goal of moving into their new quarters in March of 2024, Nance sees a bright future coming to fruition.
We will together strengthen the city and arts sector, she said with a smile. Theres a lot that needs to be done to best serve the community and the region. So, well shine our spotlight on our local creatives and send it out to the world and back to Portland.
Wildlife hunting contests are no longer allowed on Oregons public lands.
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission voted late last week to prohibit contests aimed at killing large numbers of coyotes and other unprotected mammals native to Oregon.
The contests, which are popular among some Oregon ranchers and hunters, involve teams of participants paying an entry fee and competing for cash and prizes by killing as many animals as possible in a specified time period. Hundreds of animals are typically killed over a few days, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Prizes are awarded based on the number, weight or size of animals killed.
Organized hunting derbies have long drawn the ire of wildlife advocates who say theyre a blood sport thats cruel and inhumane. Participants use night vision, bait and electronic calling devices to attract animals with sounds that mimic prey or the distress calls of pups.
Wildlife killing contests are motivated by financial reward and are grossly out of step with the principles of fair chase, modern, science-based wildlife management, and responsible stewardship, Kelly Peterson, the Oregon senior state director with the Humane Society of the United States, said in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive.com
Proponents of the tournaments say the contests help reduce coyote populations in rural areas, protecting livestock during calving season.
Theyre needed, and it makes no sense to ban them, Harney County Farm Bureau former president and rancher Rusty Inglis told The Oregonian/OregonLive.com about the contests. Theyre a good management tool to help control the coyote populations, [which] do extensive damage to livestock in our county.
The Harney County Farm Bureau has sponsored the annual Harney County Coyote Classic, held in the Burns area since 2014. The event was last held this past winter.
Multiple wildlife-hunting tournaments have been held in Oregon in recent years though, as theyve faced more criticism, they have increasingly become low-profile, word-of-mouth events.
In the last 4 years, more than 1,000 coyotes have been killed in hunting contests in the Harney County Coyote Classic, according to the Humane Society, which has collected social-media and law-enforcement accounts of the contest.
In 2020, for example, the event drew more than 400 participants from Oregon and neighboring states and killed 255 coyotes over a two-day period, according to the Humane Society. Winners took home $100,000 in cash and prizes.
Other hunting contests in Oregon have included the Lake County Coyote Calling Derby, also last held this past winter; a coyote hunting tournament organized in December 2018 by the Young Farmers & Ranchers, a program of the Oregon Farm Bureau; and the JMK Coyote Hunt in Harney County, last held in 2014 and halted by a lawsuit.
The Oregon Farm Bureau says it was opposed to the ban because it believes the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission does not have the authority to regulate where, when or how many predatory animals can be hunted or trapped -- that authority lies with the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
Inglis pointed out that coyotes are an economic threat to ranchers, who have slim profit margins. They lose plenty of calves to weather and disease and cant afford to lose more to predators, he said.
The ranchers over here, theyre not out to wipe coyotes off the face of the earth, Inglis said. If you could walk in their shoes and find a calf that was dragged away from her mom, half eaten alive, maybe you would understand that ranchers really have compassion for animals.
Scientific studies have concluded that mass killing of coyotes does not reduce coyote-livestock conflicts. To the contrary, wildlife tournaments break up coyote packs, encouraging coyotes to breed more and leading to increases in livestock deaths, according to the research.
A growing number of states have already banned hunting contests, including New York, New Mexico, California, Colorado and Washington state.
Oregons new ban does not restrict ranchers or hunters from shooting coyotes and other animals, including when theyre a threat to livestock. It also doesnt prohibit hunting contests on private land.
Gosia Wozniacka; gwozniacka@oregonian.com; @gosiawozniacka
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Every year in September, the iconic Pendleton Round-Up draws thousands of visitors to the small city in eastern Oregon. Youll find people who travel from town to town, making their living bull riding or barrel racing. Native American tribal members spend the week living in a tepee village just outside the rodeo grounds and perform dances in full regalia.
In addition to all the weeklong festivities, the event gives some the opportunity to show off some of their best Western attire.
Scroll below for a look at some of the best outfits spotted there.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Justin, 23
From: Elko, Nevada. Grew up in Page, Arizona.
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: First time
What inspired your outfit: Im Navajo. Im also Shoshone. The first day I showed up Shoshone style. Today I showed up Navajo. And this is all part of my outfit.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: All the silver smithing. This is all turquoise. This is my family ring. Where weve been doing this for two generations. It is nice to come out here for the first time and see everybody, see the relay, see the horses and see the people, most importantly.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Cristy Hegwood, 54
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: 15 years.
From: Visiting from northern Montana
What inspired your outfit: Well, I bought this gunny sack here several years ago and my husband told me he thought I would look good in a gunny sack. So I decided to make a skirt out of it. With my moms help we made a skirt.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: All this lace and stuff came from my grandmothers house that was all in her sewing stuff. So I tried to make it very authentic with old stuff. And it just advertises the roundup every year.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Calgary, 8
From: Stanfield, Oregon
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: Ive been coming here my whole life. My dads been coming here his whole life.
What inspired your outfit: Ive just been a cowboy my whole life. So this is usually what we wear.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: I like my cowboy shirt and hat.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Dan Wolfe, 52
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: Went to college here, been coming since the 90s.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: My NFR (National Finals Rodeo) buckle.
What do you like about the Pendleton Round-Up: This is this is my favorite rodeo, and Ive been to Canada, Brazil, all over the United States.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 15th, 2023. Kent J Edwards / OregonianKent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Reverie Wilkin
From: Seattle
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: First time.
What inspired your outfit: Just going all black today. Based everything off my boots.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023. Kent J Edwards / OregonianKent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Pele Mito
From: Seattle
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: First time.
What inspired your outfit: Honestly, I just like to put pieces together and put on what I feel most fly in.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: I love the hat. I love pink. Its my favorite color. Bought it on Amazon.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Conrad Schissler
From: Portland. Lived there 11 years.
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: First time.
What inspired your outfit: I blame my boyfriend. He kind of got me into the whole cowboy thing. And I went to a Boot Barn with him, tried some stuff on. And it was like, Oh, I think this kind of works. And now this is just how I dress all year round.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: My favorite thing about this particular outfit is the vest. I love this vest. If it was a little cooler, I wouldve worn a felt hat. But its too hot for felt.
Pendleton Round Up in Pendleton, Oregon on September 16th, 2023.Kent J Edwards | Special to The Oregonian/OregonLive
Name: Jim Benson, 78
From: Visiting from eastern Montana. Lived in Pendleton for 25 years.
Years attending Pendleton Round-Up: 35 years. Sat in the same seats in the north grand stand every year.
Is there a detail about your outfit youd like to highlight: My necktie. My wife got it for me. It has a sign for a veterinarian on it and thats what I do for a living.
Check out more photos and video from the 2023 Pendleton Round-Up:
56 1 / 56 Pendleton Roundup 2023
Related reading:
-- Kent J Edwards, Freelancer & The Oregonian/OregonLive Staff
Earlier this month, when Portland artist Mike Bennett and an associate announced they would be taking over ownership of the North Portland cafe next door to Bennetts immersive art experience Wonderwood, he assumed employees would be excited.
But former Wonderwood Springs employees werent happy at all, instead picketing the cafe Friday, saying they were pushed out and mistreated. The group is asking for severance from Coffee Business, the previous owners of the business, and an apology from Bennett.
The issues began at the meeting to announce the change in ownership.
According to Bennett, the coffee shop wasnt doing well financially, and several weeks ago, he said, The opportunity came up to take the keys or they probably wouldnt make it to the end of the year.
So, Coffee Business transferred ownership of Wonderwood Springs to Bennett and Teddy Albertson (Albertson was formerly employed by Sortis Holdings, the company that owns Coffee Business).
A former employee from a group calling themselves Wonderwood Springs Baristas United said that they believed Bennett had been actively working on purchasing the cafe since December. Bennett said he had been interested in taking over the cafe since December, but the opportunity to actually make that happen only presented itself in the last several weeks.
While we have enjoyed being a part of the Wonderwood Springs project over the last 12 months, we have collectively agreed that the cafe will have the greatest benefit to the community in the hands of its artistic visionary, Mike Bennett, a Coffee Business spokesperson said. To that end, we have gifted ownership of the business directly to Mike Benett (this is a transition of ownership, not a sale).
According to Bennett, he and Albertson met with the baristas as soon as they got approval from the landlords for the transfer of ownership.
I went into that meeting thinking that everyone was going to be excited, Bennett said.
But the meeting didnt go as planned and the former baristas from Wonderwood Springs are now protesting the cafe and Bennett himself.
According to an Instagram post and a GoFundMe from Wonderwood Springs Baristas United, none of the current staff will be kept on, and have been invited to apply for unemployment.
The group isnt unionized, but said they had been receiving support from local union representatives for the past two weeks.
What went wrong for us was the lack of solid information, said a member of the group who asked not to be named, answering questions on behalf of the baristas over Instagram. When we tried to get a better sense of just how long the cafe would be closed, we couldnt get an answer. One person said one to three weeks, another said two to three weeks, and another said four to six weeks.
The Wonderwood Springs employees were told they wouldnt be paid during the period when the cafe was closed.
The former employee said that Wonderwood Springs employees asked if they could work at Wonderwood, the immersive art experience next door. They said Bennett did not directly answer the question.
Bennett characterizes that meeting differently. He acknowledged that his ownership was going to bring changes to the struggling cafe the difference, he said, between being independently owned by an artist and being owned by a corporation. He hoped to change things for the better.
Bennett also said Coffee Business employees would be paid out their paid time off by Coffee Business and then, he said, he asked them to re-apply to the new Wonderwood Springs business.
Bennett planned to shut down the shop for two weeks and hoped that many, if not all, of the baristas would be part of the new version of the project.
Those who wanted, he said, were also offered jobs at other Sortis companies. Sortis Holdings owns many Pacific Northwest businesses, from restaurants to hotels, including Sizzle Pie, Bamboo Sushi, Water Avenue Coffee and the Ace Hotel.
Coffee Business gave us a pamphlet with an explanation of what was going on, as well as a list of jobs at their other locations, the majority of which were not at coffee shops or cafes, the barista group member said. They were positions at places like Bamboo Sushi or Sizzle Pie. Most of what was being offered were things outside our wheelhouse of experience.
We were not being given priority in terms of hiring for any of these places, the former barista added, and they straight-up told us that most of the positions on that sheet would not be available by the end of that day so just keep checking for new listings.
While Coffee Business was not involved in the decision to temporarily close the cafe for reimagining, a spokesperson for Coffee Business said, we deeply appreciate and value the employees who contributed so much to Wonderwood Springs while it was under our management.
The spokesperson said that employees were all offered positions at Sortis businesses and help with resume writing and interviewing when they declined that offer. Employees were also told they would be paid through the transition, receive compensation for banked PTO, and that we would extend their health benefits through the end of September, the spokesperson said.
Bennett said that he regretted asking the baristas to fill out paperwork to re-apply for jobs at the new business.
My time machine moment is I shouldnt have used the word re-apply, Bennett said.
The baristas were surprised by the announcement and unhappy about the fact that Bennett asked them to re-apply for their jobs. Bennett said none of them re-applied.
Instead, he said, the employees demanded another meeting with Coffee Business, Bennett and Albertson.
Bennett said he had hoped to talk to the barista group but they werent willing to meet with him without Coffee Business.
A Coffee Business spokesperson said the company offered to meet with employees individually and as a group but that those offers were declined.
We believe what theyre referring to here is a demand for contract negotiation, the spokesperson said, which isnt something Coffee Business could do as we would no longer be the employers and there were no employment contracts in place at the time of the transition.
The barista said neither Bennett and Albertson nor Coffee Business responded to the group request to meet they said that Alberston and Bennett did respond to individuals and in response to the lack of response, the baristas decided to picket the cafe on Friday.
Bennett said that he supported the picketers and understood their anger. And he knows that there is something special about working at Wonderwood Springs, a place that the employees many of whom identify as neurodivergent and disabled characterize on Instagram as a safe space for them to be themselves.
I created a world that they got to populate and love, he said. It was really an incredible community that I really know the importance of and I never wanted to strip that away or disband it.
It makes sense to him that the baristas wouldnt want to go from a fantasy cartoon cafe with a loving, supportive community, to work at Sizzle Pie.
But he also said he feels like he was fundamentally misunderstood during the initial meeting. Since Wonderwood Springs would be a completely new business under his ownership, he needed new paperwork from employees. And, as a much smaller business without corporate backing, and as much as he hoped it would work out, keeping all the employees may not have been possible. Still, he wishes he had approached that first conversation differently.
Im still navigating and still listening and trying to not squash any voices, he said.
For their part, the employees say they are exhausted and burnt out.
At this point, getting severance from Coffee Business or an actual accountable apology from Mike feels like a pipedream, the barista said. Were tired. Were all neurodivergent and disabled. Most of us are on the autistic spectrum. This entire situation, having to constantly interact, tell our story over and over, as well as be in the public eye like this is a nightmare for us. We want to get enough raised on our fundraiser to give ourselves some kind of severance, and then were stepping back.
The group may still get what they want, at least from Bennett. When it comes to an apology, he said, Not only can I, but I want to.
But, he added, I want to make sure that I am apologizing for things that I can apologize for.
The employees at Wonderwood Springs, he said, uplifted his work and created a vibrant community. Not just an apology but a thank you is in order, Bennett said. He said he is still thinking about exactly what that should look like.
As for Wonderwood Springs, Bennett still plans to open it, but not in two weeks. He said he doesnt feel right turning around and re-opening while the former employees are still protesting and that situation is unresolved. Now, hes unsure when he will be ready to reopen the cafe.
For an artist who built his name around whimsy and kindness, this first brush with a backlash has been a challenge and a learning experience.
Its so hard to be perfect but I think we can be good, Bennett said. Then, thinking out loud, he added, Theres no way to be perfect.
Lizzy Acker
503-221-8052; lacker@oregonian.com; @lizzzyacker
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Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Tuesday that she will not seek reelection, opening the door for a new state officeholder.
Rosenblum, a former federal prosecutor and longtime state judge, became Oregons first female attorney general in 2012, easily beating former U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton in the Democratic primary before then-Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber named her interim attorney general in June 2012 to replace Attorney General John Kroger. Voters have since elected her to lead the Department of Justice three times.
OPB was first to report Tuesday that Rosenblum planned not to seek a fourth term.
While the office of attorney general doesnt have term limits, Rosenblum, 72, said Tuesday that she was imposing one on herself to usher in a new leader.
Every state agency, no matter how well run, can benefit from new leadership, new energy and new initiatives, Rosenblum said in a statement. By making this announcement more than a full year before the next general election and eight months before the primary I expect there will be good candidates to succeed me as the peoples attorney for Oregon.
With Rosenblum stepping aside, Oregon is set to elect new leaders to three key statewide positions next year: attorney general, secretary of state and state treasurer. The most recent elected secretary of state, Shemia Fagan, resigned amid a scandal involving her financial ties to a troubled cannabis company, and state Treasurer Tobias Read cant run for reelection due to term limits.
Read and State Sen. James Manning, D-Eugene, both announced last week that they are running for secretary of state, while Sen. Elizabeth Steiner announced she is running for state treasurer.
So far, Republicans Will Lathrop, a former deputy district attorney in Marion and Yamhill Counties, and Robert Neuman of rural Baker County are the only candidates who have created political committees to run for attorney general. Lathrop has raised $185,000 for his bid since last year. He wrote on his campaign website that he is running to curb the recent wave of crime and disorder plaguing much of Oregon.
No Democrats have filed to run, but that is likely to change soon now that Rosenblum has officially announced she is not seeking reelection.
During her time in office, Rosenblum made a point of signing onto a handful of lawsuits challenging the Trump administrations federal policies around voting, abortion and other issues. She also recently signed onto a lawsuit alleging that the Fox Corporation harmed investors by allowing Fox News to broadcast falsehoods about the 2020 election that exposed the network to defamation lawsuits.
She has also made gun safety measures a top priority and applauded the Legislatures passage this spring of House Bill 2005, which banned untraceable ghost guns.
But Rosenblum has also had a mixed record on criminal justice reform. Though Rosenblum expressed support of getting rid of non-unanimous jury convictions in Oregon due to their racist history, she also filed a brief in 2019 urging the Supreme Court to uphold split jury decisions, citing the practical consequences of retrying hundreds and potentially thousands of past cases.
Her office in 2017 also agreed to pay $205,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by Erious Johnson Jr., the agencys top civil rights lawyer, who sued Rosenblum and other agency employees, alleging racial profiling after he was the target of surveillance within the agency around his social media posts about the Black Lives Matter movement.
Jamie Goldberg; jgoldberg@oregonian.com; 503-221-8228; @jamiebgoldberg
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BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 19. The Department of International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense held a briefing for the military attaches of foreign countries accredited in the Republic of Azerbaijan and representatives of international organizations in Azerbaijan on September 19, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry told Trend.
Speaking at the briefing, Head of the Department of International Military Cooperation, Major General Huseyn Mahmudov, informed military representatives of foreign countries about the local anti-terrorist activities carried out in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
In general, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
As part of the measures, positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenias armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons.
In addition, video materials related to the facts mentioned at the briefing were shown, and answers to questions of interest to representatives were given.
In order to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, to stop large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, to disarm and withdraw formations of the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, to neutralize their military infrastructure, to ensure the safety of the peaceful population returning to the territories liberated from occupation, civil servants involved in construction and reconstruction works, and our military personnel, as well as to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan, anti-terrorist measures have been launched in the region.
Only military targets belonging to illegal armed formations of the separatist regime are put out of action with the use of high-precision weapons available in the arsenal of the Azerbaijani Army.
Civilians and infrastructure objects are not targets during localized anti-terrorist activities carried out in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region.
On September 19, 2023, at 04:30 (GMT+4), as a result of a terrorist act, on a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard in Khojavand district, a KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan got blown up on a mine, previously planted by illegal Armenian armed groups [which haven't been withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war] on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed [under the trilateral statement].
The truck was on its way to the site of the terrorist attack that took place on the same day at the 58th kilometer of the Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha road passing through the Khojavand district, which killed employees of the State Road Agency of Azerbaijan.
The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Asim Jamalzade, Ramil Shirinov, Seymur Mahmudov, and Khazar Zamanov, died on the spot.
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Tripoli, Libya (PANA) - Residents of the eastern city of Derna, which bore the brunt of the storm Daniel that recently swept through the region, staged a massive demonstration of anger outside the Al-Sahaba mosque in the city centre, during which they demanded that the investigation into the catastrophic flooding be speeded up and that legal action be taken against anyone found to be negligent
Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - Banjul, capital of The Gambia, will Wednesday host the third meeting of the Ministerial Steering Committee of the ECOWAS Amilcar Cabral submarine cable development project, according to a statement from the sub-regional institution
Cotonou, Benin (PANA) - The World Bank has warned of Benin's climate vulnerability in a communique issued on the occasion of the institution's approval of a $230 million package to support the country's growth and social and climate resilience
Photo: (Photo : Steven Cleghorn on Unsplash)
A recent study has revealed a growing concern about the state of male loneliness, with a focus on how it negatively affects fathers. As isolation becomes increasingly common among men, experts point to a significant impact on their mental health and self-worth.
The "Friendship Deficiency" Explored
The study amplifies concerns that have long been expressed by fathers who feel socially isolated. Shannon Carpenter, an author and stay-at-home dad, has experienced the so-called "male loneliness epidemic" firsthand.
"Fatherhood was taking a toll on his mental health and self-worth," Carpenter recounts of another dad who reached out to him. The issue isn't a lack of good relationships with significant others; it's the absence of deep, meaningful friendships that many women seem to cultivate more naturally.
Richard Reeves, author of "Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It," describes this gap in social connections as a "friendship deficiency."
Historically, men have sought long-term bonds through religious institutions and friendships at work. But many of these avenues have eroded or been disrupted, leaving men increasingly isolated.
The numbers are telling, according to a May 2021 survey by the Survey Center on American Life, only 48% of men reported feeling satisfied with their friendships, compared to a significantly higher percentage of women. Even more concerning, just one in five men said they had received emotional support from a friend in the past week.
The problem is systemic and runs deep. Many men feel that seeking emotional support or establishing deep friendships could be perceived as unmasculine. Traditional male institutions that fostered these connections have deteriorated, often for good reasons tied to equity and social justice. However, men have not adapted to these changes, leaving many isolated in a sea of people.
Reeves calls for a reimagining of societal norms and support systems to create a new normal. "There is very little institutional support on every level for fathers," he said.
Fathers are often left without the mentorship and emotional support that would typically come from an involved community. The impact is not just psychological; a June study highlighted that socially isolated individuals have a 32% higher risk of early mortality.
Read Also: 10 Ways To Prepare for Fatherhood
Toward a New Paradigm of Fatherhood
Popular culture has not helped, often portraying fathers as inept or unnecessary, further eroding self-worth. Policy changes are needed, such as national paternity leave, to support fathers from the very beginning of their parenting journey.
So what's the solution? It starts with changing the narrative around fatherhood and encouraging men to take active caregiving roles in society. National organizations like the National At-Home Dad Network and City Dads Group are excellent resources that offer mentorship and a sense of community to all dads, regardless of their circumstances.
However, true change must be systemic, involving shifts in cultural attitudes and institutional policies. Reeves advocates for what he calls HEAL: focusing on health, education, administration, and literacy. This approach involves encouraging men to engage in caregiving roles traditionally seen as feminine, like teaching and nursing.
As the male loneliness epidemic continues to unfold, its ripple effects on families and communities become increasingly apparent. There is a need for urgent action on multiple levels-from individual efforts to societal overhauls-to address the growing crisis.
Men's lives, it seems, may very well depend on it.
Related Article: First-Time Fatherhood: What New Dads Should Expect?
Photo: (Photo : engin akyurt on Unsplash)
Anil Koppula, a new dad in Australia, has filed a lawsuit against the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne for allowing him to watch his wife undergo a cesarean-section (C-section) delivery in 2018. Koppula claims the experience caused him a "psychotic illness" and led to the breakdown of his marriage. He is seeking damages to the tune of 1 billion Australian dollars, or more than 642 million US dollars.
Hospital Accused of Breaching "Duty of Care"
The lawsuit has sparked intense debate about the obligations of healthcare facilities and the concept of duty of care, particularly in high-stress situations like childbirth.
According to legal documents, Koppula alleges that he was "encouraged, or permitted, to observe the delivery" and that during this observation, he "saw his wife's internal organs and blood." He argues that the hospital breached its duty of care owed to him and is therefore liable to pay him damages.
C-sections are surgical procedures carried out when vaginal delivery poses risks to the mother and/or the baby. The procedure involves making an incision in the mother's abdomen and uterus to deliver the baby. While C-sections can be life-saving, they also come with potential risks like infection, bleeding, and injury to the bladder or bowels.
The role of the partner or family member in the delivery room during a C-section is often considered vital for emotional support. However, the presence of a non-medical individual in the operating room has always been at the discretion of the medical team and the patient undergoing surgery.
The Royal Women's Hospital responded to Koppula's lawsuit, stating that it had not breached any "duty of care" and that he didn't suffer any real injury because of the C-section he observed. "We take the safety and well-being of our patients and their families seriously. Mr. Koppula's allegations do not reflect a breach in the standard of care we strive to provide," said a spokesperson for the hospital.
Read Also: Gentle Cesarean Allows Baby To 'Walk Out' Of Mother's Womb
Impact on Medical Policies and Future Lawsuits
Justice James Gorton, presiding over the case, dismissed the suit, labeling it an "abuse of process." Koppula, who chose to represent himself in court, could not convincingly argue his case to the judge. "The claim lacks a sound legal basis, and Mr. Koppula voluntarily participated in observing the C-section," Justice Gorton noted in his decision.
The case has ignited conversations about the psychological effects of medical procedures on family members and whether hospitals should revise their policies regarding the presence of family in the delivery room. While some argue that Koppula's case is an outlier, others believe that this could set a precedent for future lawsuits, putting hospitals in a precarious position.
"It's a complicated issue," says Dr. Sarah Williams, a medical ethicist. "On one hand, family members should have the opportunity to be present during significant life events, like the birth of a child. On the other hand, medical procedures can be graphic and psychologically impactful. Hospitals have to find a balance."
While the legal battle may be over for Koppula, the questions his case raised remain unanswered, leaving medical facilities and prospective parents to ponder the extent of responsibility and psychological preparedness needed in such pivotal life moments.
Related Article: Shocking Cesarean Section Controversy: Are Doctors Bullying Women To Undergo C-Section?
I acquired two new books at the end of last week, and Im looking forward to reading them.
The first is Richard Lyman Bushman, Joseph Smiths Gold Plates: A Cultural History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023),
Renowned historian Richard Lyman Bushman presents a vibrant history of the objects that gave birth to a new religion. According to Joseph Smith, in September of 1823 an angel appeared to him and directed him to a hill near his home. Buried there Smith found a box containing a stack of thin metal sheets, gold in color, about six inches wide, eight inches long, piled six or so inches high, bound together by large rings, and covered with what appeared to be ancient engravings. Exactly four years later, the angel allowed Smith to take the plates and instructed him to translate them into English. When the text was published, a new religion was born. The plates have had a long and active life, and the question of their reality has hovered over them from the beginning. Months before the Book of Mormon was published, newspapers began reporting on the discovery of a Golden Bible. Within a few years over a hundred articles had appeared. Critics denounced Smith as a charlatan for claiming to have a wondrous object that he refused to show, while believers countered by pointing to witnesses who said they saw the plates. Two hundred years later the mystery of the gold plates remains. In this book renowned historian of Mormonism Richard Lyman Bushman offers a cultural history of the gold plates. Bushman examines how the plates have been imagined by both believers and criticsand by treasure-seekers, novelists, artists, scholars, and othersfrom Smiths first encounter with them to the present. Why have they been remembered, and how have they been used? And why do they remain objects of fascination to this day? By examining these questions, Bushman sheds new light on Mormon history and on the role of enchantment in the modern world.
The second is Grant Hardy, ed., The Annotated Book of Mormon (New York: Oxford University Press, 2023).
This is the first fully annotated, academic edition of the Book of Mormon in its 200-year history. Modelled after the Oxford line of annotated Bibles, it provides readers with the information they need to understand this classic text of American religious history. This edition reformats the complete scriptural text in the manner of modern Bible translations with paragraphs, quotation marks, poetic stanzas, and section headings, all of which clarify the books complicated narrative structure. As a result, readers experience a more accessible and readable presentation than the standard version. Annotations explain the meaning and context of specific passages, delineate extended arguments, identify rhetorical patterns, explore theological implications, highlight ancient and modern parallels, and point out intertextual connections, particularly with the Bible. The Book of Mormon is subdivided into internal books; in this edition, each book is preceded by an introduction that discusses its key themes and literary features, at the same time offering a quick overview of major figures, events, and sermons. The three primary narratorsNephi, Mormon, and Moronireceive special attention. In addition to the annotations, which focus on the text itself, there are twelve general essays that introduce readers to various ongoing conversations about the text. There are also several maps and charts, as well as a comprehensive list of biblical quotations and allusions. The editorial material is informed by contemporary biblical and historical scholarship; while it deals forthrightly with both the strengths and weaknesses of the narrative, it nevertheless treats the Book of Mormon as a sacred text, worthy of careful study and respect.
Im pleased to note that, in the introductory material of each of these books published by the renowned Oxford University Press, the authors clearly declare their belief in a historically authentic Book of Mormon. Thus, for example, Richard Bushman:
A logical path for a Latter-day Saint growing up in the modern world, especially one who became a historian, would be to grow out of my childhood beliefs. The plates would be spiritualized and their meaning made allegorical. But my life did not follow that course. The plates have continued to have a hold on me, and the same is true for other Mormons. Polls show that more than three-quarters of American Mormons believe that the Book of Mormon is a literal, historical account, a likely indicator of belief in the plates. This makes a big difference in ones outlook on the world. With the plates comes an angel and divine intervention in ordinary human lives. The plates imply a world where God is an active agent in human affairs in opposition to the skepticism that has eroded religion for the past two hundred years.
Im not at all surprised at what he has to say here. He has made similar comments directly to me, including one conversation in Manhattan where he said, simply, that I come down on the side of plates and angels.
Grant Hardy makes several relevant statements in his Editors Preface, from which I choose to share this one:
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 19. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with President of Slovenia Natasa Pirc Musar on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Trend reports.
During the meeting, Tokayev noted that Slovenia is an important partner of Kazakhstan in the European Union. According to him, the countries maintain positive dynamics of interaction.
The President of Kazakhstan invited Natasa Pirc Musar to take part in the Astana International Forum next year.
In turn, the President of Slovenia confirmed her readiness to develop cooperation with Kazakhstan.
The presidents also discussed the prospects for the development of Kazakh-Slovenian cooperation in the trade, economic, transport, logistics, and humanitarian spheres. The interlocutors emphasized the positive experience of interaction between the two countries in the fields of pharmaceuticals, logistics, and the IT industry.
An exchange of views took place on issues of an international nature, in particular, further measures to ensure stability and security in the world and improve the structure of the UN were considered. During the conversation, the growing role of Central Asia and Kazakhstan was also noted.
The presidents agreed to closely cooperate in international structures.
Googles Bard AI chat bot just got a set of updates that might finally give it widespread appeal. On Tuesday, Google announced the integration of its generative AI into its apps and servicesmeaning you can now use Bard to dig through your messages, documents, and more to help speed up lifes daily tasks.
Announced on Tuesday in a blog post, Google says its improvements to its PaLM 2 AI model enables new features that include Bard Extensions, which allows Bard to connect to Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Maps, Travel, and more. The idea is to make the chat bot more like a personal assistantone that can comb through your Google account to help speed up work like catching up on email or applying for a job.
Googles examples cover these exact scenarios, with one showing a parents request for a summary of recent emails from their childs school. Bard gives a short summary of two emails, along with direct links to those messages in Gmail. Another suggests asking Bard to create a short personal statement based on a resume created in Google Drive, as well as help with drafting a cover letter. You can even get more intricate assistance from Bard, like asking it to find the proposed dates for a trip, flight options and hotel options for that period, and then a suggested itinerary.
This animated GIF created by Google shows how you can use Bard to help you plan a trip with friends, based on emails theyve sent you. Google
Of course, privacy is always a concern with Googleespecially if youre allowing its AI (and the AIs human handlers) to have direct access to your account. As part of the announcement, Google promises that personal information will be protected, saying in its post: If you choose to use the Workspace extensions, your content from Gmail, Docs, and Drive is not seen by human reviewers, used by Bard to show you ads, or used to train the Bard model.
If that satisfies your concerns and you want to try it for yourself, head to bard.google.com, and then type in a query that involves one of Googles services (like Gmail). Youll get a prompt to approve connecting to Google Workspace. You can then start putting queries to the bot, though in my brief testing, you may have to try several search queries before you get the exact info youre looking for. (And sometimes, it still completely falls flat or hits a hard limitation.) Googles AI cant read our minds yet in its early stageswhich is probably a good thing.
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.
New Patriotic Party flagbearer-hopeful and chairman of the Defense and Interior Committee of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong has cautioned the government against any plot to remove the current Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare since it will affect the ruling party.
According to him, the significant reduction in robberies across the country is due to the changes introduced into the police service by the IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare.
He said even though he has had disagreements with the IGP in the past, he believes his performance as police chief has been outstanding.
If you go to the police headquarters, you will realise that the man (Dr Dampare) has done well I have fought with him once because of his refusal to act when the killer of JB Danquah confessed to him, but he has done really well.
How often have you heard of armed robbery since Dampare was made IGP? People were being killed and their money was being stolen in broad daylight. How many times have you seen this since Dampare came into office? I have called one of the guys (in the leaked tape) who is from my village and blasted him. We dont like change, the NPP firebrand told Kumasi-based Kessben FM.
He also noted the transformation at the police headquarters is an indication of the foresight of the IGP.
Since I became the head of the defence and interior committee, we have had a number of IGPs, and this man (Dampare) what he has done, I dont think we are being fair to him Could you not make the mistake of removing him? Under him, the rate of armed robbery has reduced drastically; he has transformed the police headquarters; the place looks so clean and beautiful.
The comments by the lawmaker comes in the wake of the public interest in the work of the special parliamentary committee set up to investigate the alleged plot to remove the IGP by some senior police officers as captured on tape.
Source: Starrfm.com
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Ghana COCOBOD has implemented a Cocoa Management System (CMS) as part of measures in addressing the challenges in the cocoa sector.
The Cocoa Management System, according to the Chief Executive Officer of COCOBOD, Joseph Boahen Aidoo, has been effectively rolled out and currently 790000 cocoa farmers across the nation have been captured in their database.
He said in an interview on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo" that what inspired him and his team to establish the CMS, an infrastructure for the advancement of the cocoa sector, is that when he assumed office, he realized there has been no better system in recording the data of cocoa farmers in the country.
"When I came to COCOBOD, there was no data on farmers. Everything was guess estimate but, as a research fellow, I cannot use guess estimate. We had to get an empirical data for it and this is why I decided that we should build a farmer database", he told Kwami Sefa Kayi.
Regarding the CMS, Mr. Boahen Aidoo, also revealed that currently, every cocoa farm in Ghana has a digital address.
"We have a digital address system for every farm in Ghana. So, my farm for instance, if I want you to go there, I'll just give you the coordinates and you will drive straight to the farm", he narrated.
Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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NPPs Dome-Kwabenya Constituency secretary, Theophilus Ansah Larbi says the ruling party will lose its seat in the area if it fails to effectively strategize to present a more serious candidate ahead of the 2024 election.
He believes the incumbent Member of Parliament for the area, Sarah Adwoa Safo, if maintained, will be disastrous for the party.
We are going to lose votes if we continue to pamper her [Adwoa Safo]. We have the men and she is not the only person capable for the constituency, He said in an interview with NEAT FMs morning show, "Ghana Montie".
Adding that, NPP is falling in Dome-Kwabenya and something must be done to save the party.
Theophilus Ansah Larbi's comment comes hours after Sarah Adwoa Safo offered an unreserved apology to the New Patriotic Party (NPP), specifically to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, and the Chief of Staff Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, for her recent behaviour.
Mrs Safo clarified that her actions were unintended and were a result of personal challenges she was grappling with, both as an individual and as a member of a family.
The former Deputy Majority Leader also sought forgiveness from the Majority Caucus, as well as from the party's regional and constituency executives.
Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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Mr. Samuel Koku Anyidoho, Founder & CEO of the Atta-Mills Institute (AMI), and former Deputy General Secretary of the opposition NDC, has taken a firm stance in support of maintaining Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang, as the partys running mate for the upcoming 2024 general election.
Mr. Anyidohos firm stance comes in the wake of a failed attempt over the weekend by Julius Debrah to whip up support for his desperate bid to become running mate.
Over the weekend, there was an attempt to organise a so-called Julius Debrah For Running Mate Walk on the Peduase ridge but it failed badly as sensible people refused to show up for such a needless and senseless campaign.
According to the outspoken Koku Anyidoho, Instead of Julius Debrah focusing on supporting th NDC to work hard to get people registered during this limited registration period, he is feeding his ego - and it just doesnt make sense at al.
According to Koku Anyidoho he really does not understand why Julius should be doing what he is doing at this crucial time. MPs are stuck in Accra and cannot go to their constituencies to effectively monitor the registration process and instead of people focusing on party work, they are rather selfishly focusing on running their egos amok he said.
Making his point further Mr. Anyidoho did not mince his words saying It is ipso facto that John Mahama already has lots of very high mountains to scale over by way of convincing the electorate to give him the mandate again after his July 24, 2012 - January 7, 2017, reign which got Ghanaians very angry and voting him ingloriously out of office when he lost in 2016 by over 1 million votes.
According to the former Deputy GS, he does not see how the likes of Julius Debrah can pass the integrity test ahead of Jane Naana Agyemang, and that must be a major matter of concern for the NDC. I am very much concerned about issues of integrity and no matter which way we examine it, Professor Naana Opoku-Agyemang is light years ahead of Julius and all the other names being bandied about and if John Mahama makes a mistake and makes the wrong choice, he will carry his cross of defeat again for the third time - and he will not be forgiven.
According to Koku, he will not buy into any jaded arguments that the Professor did not add colour to the campaign in 2020.
Per the view of the former Deputy GS, what was she supposed to do when the Flagbearer himself had serious issues he could not deal with himself.
Was Jane Naana the one to deal with the personal problems and heavy burden of the Flagbearer? Certainly not! If the Flagbearer himself and his close aides failed woefully in handling all the heavy missiles from the NPP, why blame the running mate? Koku asked rhetorically.
Koku Anyidoho is of the certain conviction that the issue of integrity is going to be critically examined in next years election and if the NDC allows the Flagbearer to play cha cha with it, the party would have itself to blame.
To all intents and purposes, John Mahamas choice of a running mate for the 2024 general election is going to be hotly contested and the electorate will be watching closely and waiting with bated breath.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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When NPP presidential aspirant Hon. Ken Ohene Agyapong reacted to his agents life being threatened, many thought his Showdown warning would doom his campaign. But rather it has evolved into a craze that has taken Ghana by storm.
The youth has taken the Showdown and turned it into a trend resulting in a million Cedi business.
On Saturday, September 16, 2023, thousands braved the early morning traffic to gather at Ayi Mensah and embarked upon a procession toward the Assin Central MPs Ken City building in Madina where he is expected to address them.
So catchy has the Showdown craze become that the main primary opponent and Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has joined in using the term on his campaign trail.
News reporters along with their camera crews were on the scene to capture the images and speak with some of the teeming supporters.
The three-mile-long procession began at Ayi Mensah with over a thousand honking and shouting pro-Ken slogans as thousands more disembarked from buses from the opposing side of the dual-carriage road to join in.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, and Member of Parliament for Damongo Constituency, Hon. Samuel A. Jinapor, MP, has called on members of the Tertiary Students Confederacy (TESCON) of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to work with the rank and file of the Party to secure victory for the NPP in December 2024. He said Breaking the Eight is possible, but requires hard work and dedication from all members, anchored on loyalty, service and sacrifice.
The Minister was speaking at the second Greater Accra Regional TESCON Bootcamp, held at the Accra College of Education on Saturday, 16th September, 2023. The Bootcamp, which was held in memory of the Late Kwabena Boadu, a former aide to the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was aimed at preparing TESCON executives in the Greater Accra Region to deliver on their mandate.
Speaking on the theme Loyalty, Sacrifice, and Service: Expectations of TESCON in Delivering Victory 2024, Mr. Jinapor said adhering to these cardinal principles is crucial to securing victory in the next election. He said loyalty, sacrifice and service are not only essential to the growth and development of the country, but central to the ethos of the NPP.
The Minister reminded the gathering that the NPPs tradition was built on these time-tested principles, and the Partys forebears, such as Dr. J. B Danquah, Chief S.D. Dombo, Dr. K. A. Busia, and Okyeame Bafour Akoto, exuded these principles, and paid the ultimate price of imprisonment, exile and death. He lauded Kwabena Boadu for the sacrifices he made towards the Partys victory in 2016, and called on TESCON members to emulate the work of Kwabena Boadu.
Today, KB is no more. It is our turn to continue from where KB left off, and ensure that the victory he helped us secure, is maintained, and the NPP is retained in power to continue with its developmental agenda for the benefit of the people of Ghana, the Minister said.
According to Mr. Jinapor, no political party in the country can match the developmental agenda of the NPP. He mentioned some social intervention programmes introduced by the NPP, such as Free SHS, National Health Insurance Scheme, the School Feeding Programme, the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), the National Identification Programme, or the National Digitalisation Agenda.
He said despite recent economic challenges, the NPP Government has laid a very solid foundation that will help any Government leapfrog the development of the nation. He said if the next Government, which he believes will be the NPP, builds on this foundation, it will remain in office for a very long time due to the impact it will have on citizens.
The Minister added that an NPP victory in 2024 is the surest way to develop the human capital of the country, bring healthcare closer to Ghanaians, and unleash prosperity for the mass of the people. He called on all members of the party to work in unity to secure victory for the Party to develop the country in freedom. He said the NPP is the glue that holds all members together and therefore, no one should allow any individual to bring division within the Party.
Mr. Jinapor called on TESCON members and all party faithfuls to work hard to Break the Eight. Lets work together in unity to give the NDC a showdown in 2024, he charged the group.
Source: Peacefmonline.com
Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.
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The Minority in Parliament has reacted to the Minister of Finance's claim that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) left behind a derailed International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme in 2017.
The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta in an article last week said the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2017 inherited a derailed IMF programme and a highly impaired and ethically strained financial industry from our predecessors.
This followed a call by the Minority for the resignation of the Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for allegedly mismanaging the central bank.
In a press statement dated Monday, September 18, issued by the Minority, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, he indicated that the NDC government under Mr John Mahama left behind a robust economy with very strong buffers.
He said the Mahama government left behind the Sinking Fund, Stabilisation Fund, Ghana Infrastructure Investment Bank (GIIF), Ghana EXIM Bank as well as a robust tax revenue and oil revenue from three oil fields which the NPP used to kick start their administration.
Furthermore, he said the NDC initiated a "strong" tax policy and a prudent and controlled expenditure regime, including the Government Integrated Financial Management Systems (GIFMIS).
Yet the NPP came in and processed expenditure outside the GIFMIS architecture.
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.
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A popular brand known for its wooden toys for preschoolers will open its first-ever retail store in October.
Melissa & Doug will open the 1,600-square-foot store on Oct. 6 in The Westchester Mall in White Plains, New York, near its headquarters in Wilton, Connecticut.
The company said the first brick-and-mortar location in its 35-year history will feature a wide selection of the brands top-selling toys across categories including pretend play sets, learning toys, baby and toddler products, puzzles, and arts & crafts.
The location will include a closeup experience of the attention to detail, quality, and play value of the toys.
The selection available will include top sellers and new products with trained employees to assist customers. The store will feature small engaging moments such as an area where kids can measure how many scoops of ice cream tall they are.
Melissa & Doug has been a mainstay in the toy industry for nearly four decades, helping families ignite imagination and create lifelong memories together, said Fernando Merce, chief executive officer. Were always looking for new ways to share our important purpose and quality toys with consumers, especially during the gifting season.
The company will celebrate its 35th anniversary with the debut of a new Rainbow Giraffe, a special edition of its iconic 4-foot giraffe plush toy. The colorful giraffe also is available online for $129.99.
Melissa & Doug toys also are available from Walmart and Amazon.
READ MORE: Heres where you can buy the Lego Thanksgiving centerpiece that is trending
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 19. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the importance of building a Kazakh trade terminal in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas during a meeting with Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, Trend reports.
Tokayev noted that Kazakhstan attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral relations with Iran as a strategic partner in the Caspian Sea region.
During the talks, the leaders of the two states discussed the current state and prospects for further development of Kazakh-Iranian cooperation. The sides noted the importance of adopting a set of measures to increase cooperation in the spheres of transport, logistics, and trade.
"We have reached very useful agreements on the visa procedure as well as on other areas related to the interaction between business and citizens. I would like to say that Kazakhstan is absolutely committed to strengthening relations with Iran. Both governments should take appropriate measures to implement our agreements previously reached in Tehran. I look forward to seeing you again in Kazakhstan," Tokayev said.
In turn, President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi said that Kazakhstan and Iran have exemplary relations based on strong ties of friendship and mutual support.
"Iran and Kazakhstan enjoy excellent bilateral relations, having this level of partnership makes us take further steps to develop our relations, especially in the field of trade. We are serious about expanding relations with brotherly Kazakhstan. Our countries have great potential, and utilizing these opportunities will serve us well," Raisi said.
The leaders emphasized the great potential of strengthening transit and transport links. In particular, they noted the great potential of using the railway between Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran as a key route for the development of mutual trade and transport across the Caspian Sea.
By Ellie Rushing, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)
PHILADELPHIA A Philadelphia judge on Tuesday revoked bail for Philadelphia Police officer Mark Dial, whos accused of murder in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop, sending him to jail until his next hearing.
Prosecutors had argued last week that a bail magistrates decision to grant Dial bail when he was charged with first-degree murder was inconsistent with the Pennsylvania Constitution. That point held as the basis of their argument to Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom again Tuesday afternoon.
This is a narrow and strictly legal issue, said Assistant District Attorney Lyandra Retacco. Were looking for consistency.
Typically, defendants charged with first-degree murder are held in jail without bail something that prosecutors and legal experts say has been in line with a traditional reading of the Pennsylvania Constitution for years.
But in an unusual move, when Dial was charged on Sept. 8, Municipal Court Judge Christian DiCicco set Dials bail at $500,000. Almost immediately, the police union posted the necessary $50,000 10% of the total bail and Dial was released.
Dials lawyers argued Tuesday as they did at his initial bail hearing that Dial was being overcharged. Attorney Brian McMonagle pointed to the fact that when police submitted an initial affidavit of probable cause for Dials arrest, they recommended that he face a lead offense of voluntary manslaughter not first-degree murder.
This has never been a case of first-degree murder, McMonagle said.
He emphasized a state Supreme Court case from 2021 that established limited circumstances under which murder defendants could argue for bail, and said that prosecutors had not met the burden of proof required to support the charges and justify denial of bail.
Judge Ransom ultimately agreed with prosecutors and ordered bail to be revoked. She did not explain her decision, saying only that she appreciated both attorneys arguments and that the issue can be revisited at Dials preliminary hearing next week.
Dial, 27, was charged this month with first-degree murder, aggravated assault and related crimes after he shot Irizarry at near point-blank range on Aug. 14. Irizarry had been seated in his car in Kensington when officers approached and saw he was holding a knife. Within seconds, Dial fired.
Nelson Garcia, 65, grandfather of Eddie Irizarry, holds a photo of the man killed by police. (The Philadelphia Inquirer, TNS, file)TNS
Irizarrys family had been pushing for Dial to face charges for weeks, and were upset that he had been released on bail.
What makes him exempt to follow the rules and laws like everyone else? His badge? Irizarrys aunt, Ana Cintron said outside the courthouse Tuesday. Today, justice is was made for now and he is behind bars, and we are thankful and happy that people actually listened to us.
Troubling new details were unearthed Monday in the criminal case of a former Philadelphia Police officer.
Ex-cop Patrick Heron, 53, of northeast Philadelphia - who is accused of strategically targeting and sexually assaulting vulnerable women and girls in the back of his police cruiser and while in uniform - was in court Monday afternoon, where video and photo evidence were presented, as well as witness interviews.
The video evidence was said to have been recorded by Heron, who recorded 30 sexual assaults over a 13-month period in the backseat of his police cruiser, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Prosecutors have claimed there are a total of 48 victims, and 44 of them remain unidentified.
Now, investigators are asking for people to come forward.
When a person chooses their victims so that they are vulnerable, then it can be difficult for them to make reports and it can be difficult for them to come forward, Lyandra Retacco, chief of the Special Investigations Unit of the District Attorneys Office, said during the hearing.
Heron preyed on victims in Kensington between 2005 and 2022, and even on some children whom he knew through his daughter, CBS News reported.
Prosecutors requested to have all the cases filed against Heron consolidated, which was granted by the judge. There are more than 200 charges in the case of sexual assault, child sexual abuse, kidnapping, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, indecent assault, child pornography, and related crimes.
Heron, who retired from the force in 2019, was arrested last year and charged with indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, stalking, and witness intimidation after he posed as an active officer to lure young victims and would groom and coerce them into sending him intimate pictures and, in some cases, touched them inappropriately.
When investigators searched Herons technology, they found dozens of photos and videos depicting Herons predatory behavior with the women and girls many of whom were runaways, had been arrested or struggled with addiction.
On Monday, prosecutors shared a video that showed Heron encouraging a young woman to use heroin in the back of his police cruiser.
He told her to finish that needle, and then recorded himself assaulting her as she was unconscious in the back of the car, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
Heron would then give his victims his cell phone number and tell them to call him if they needed money or help. Before forcing another victim to perform sex acts on him, he even told her, It would help you in court to have a police officer on your side.
Heron was taken back to Delaware County Prison and is being held without bail. The next time he will appear in court is in October.
Read More:
A flight attendant was stopped from attempting to board a plane with a loaded handgun at Philadelphia International Airport and was then arrested, according to news reports.
The incident occurred Friday when TSA Agents stopped the stewardess, who is from Arizona, at a security checkpoint before she got on the plane she was working on and discovered the .380 caliber gun.
It comes two weeks after an employee at a concession shop in the airport was arrested after they tried to bring a loaded gun through a security checkpoint, 6ABC reported.
We are always on the alert for any possible insider threats, explained Gerardo Spero, TSAs Federal Security Director for the airport, to 6ABC. Both of these were good catches on the part of our team.
The flight attendant also faces a federal financial penalty for carrying a gun to a checkpoint.
Right now, its unknown which airline the flight attendant worked for, or if any disciplinary action has been taken, Fox29 reported.
Read More:
A 16-year-old girl who was killed Thursday in North Catasauqua was an alleged victim of abuse who had a threat made against her six days before her death, according to court records.
The girl and a 39-year-old woman were found dead in the womans home in the 1100 block of Railroad Street in North Catasauqua on Thursday, according to police and court documents. Northampton County Coroner Zachary Lysek said both deaths are homicides.
A search warrant says the South Whitehall Police Department investigated a claim of abuse and a threat reportedly made against the girl on Sept. 8.
The warrant says she was physically abused and threatened with a knife. Its unclear where or by whom. But the detail was included in the warrant to search the home after she was found dead.
The warrant issued Thursday says one female was found dead in the home at the top of a staircase with cuts to her face and chest. A large amount of blood was found on her and on walls near her, the warrant says. A second female was found face-down on a bedroom floor with blood under her body, the warrant says.
Lysek said Friday both the woman and the teenager died from sharp force injuries.
The search warrant says police were asked to make contact with the residents of the home at 7:35 a.m. Thursday, but an officer wasnt able to make contact with anyone inside.
Police were called to the home about four hours later for a report of an unresponsive female, the warrant says.
Authorities have not identified the two killed.
Pennsylvania State Police didnt have any new information Monday. Northampton County District Attorney Terence Houck couldnt immediately be reached for comment.
Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
By JAMIE STENGLE, The Associated Press
DALLAS (AP) A man accused of killing nearly two dozen older women and who was convicted last year in the slayings of two was killed Tuesday morning by his cellmate at a Texas prison, an official said.
Billy Chemirmir, 50, was found dead in his cell, said Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Hannah Haney. She said that Chemirmirs cellmate, who is serving a sentence for murder, was identified as the assailant, but said she couldnt release the cellmates identity or how Chemirmir was killed.
Authorities said Chemirmir preyed on older women in the Dallas area over a two-year span, killing them and stealing their valuables. He was caught after a 91-year-old woman survived an attack in 2018 and told police Chemirmir had forced his way into her apartment at an independent living community for seniors, tried to smother her with a pillow and took her jewelry.
Police said they found Chemirmir the following day in the parking lot of his apartment complex holding jewelry and cash, having just thrown away a large red jewelry box. Documents in the jewelry box led them to the home of Lu Thi Harris, 81, who was found dead in her bedroom.
The first capital murder trial of Chemirmir for the slaying ended in mistrial in Dallas County. He was later convicted in a second trial for Harris death and convicted of a second killing in the death of Mary Brooks, 87.
Chemirmir, who maintained his innocence, was serving two sentences of life without the possibility of parole. He was imprisoned at the Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.
Haney said that the Office of Inspector General is investigating his death.
A Cumberland County woman will spend at least five years in state prison for killing a man when she, driving while drunk, plowed into a line of stopped vehicles at a Silver Spring Township intersection on Sept. 8, 2021.
Police said Denise N. Stouffer, 38, of Crooked Drive in East Pennsboro Township, had a blood-alcohol content measured at .22 percent in blood draws taken about an hour after the accident, nearly triple Pennsylvanias legal limit of .08 percent.
With the teacher shortage still raging on, one may wonder: Are there good places to be a teacher?
A recent study has answered that in full, actually placing Pennsylvania among the top 15 best states for educators in the United States.
WalletHub a platform that touts itself as an award-winning personal finance company that empowers consumers to lead financially healthy lives was behind this study, which graded each of the 50 plus Washington D.C. across two main dimensions: Opportunity & Competition and Academic & Work Environment.
Relevant metrics such as Average Starting Salary for Teachers; 10-year Change in Teacher Salaries; and Quality of School System were then kneaded in for final grades with states ranked accordingly.
Pennsylvania came in as the 13th best state for teachers in the country, placing it on the best end of the spectrum.
Alas, the Keystone State is still wanting in its teacher marks when compared to the top three: Utah (third overall), New York (second), and Virginia (first).
Then again, it is far better than the state in dead last: New Hampshire.
I think some of the biggest issues facing teachers today center around the idea they must do more with fewer resources, says Ramon Goings, associate professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. For example, it has been discussed heavily in recent years how teachers remain underpaid despite the most important role they have in developing our next cadre of leaders, doctors, lawyers, and scientists.
Along with this, teachers are still supporting students dealing with crises including the impact of COVID-19 which has dramatically shaped how schools run.
By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, JON GAMBRELL and LUJAIN JO, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) Americans detained for years in Iran arrived home Tuesday, tearfully hugged their loved ones and declared Freedom! after being let go as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The prisoners landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with clapping and cheers heard in the predawn hours. Siamak Namazi, the first off the jet, paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane. Loved ones, some holding small American flags, enveloped them in hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, the main language of Iran.
The nightmare is finally over, Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
Family members embrace freed American Emad Shargi after he and four fellow detainees were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, as he arrives at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)AP
We havent had this moment is over eight years, he added, his arm around his brother and his formerly detained father, Baquer, who had been earlier released by Iran. Its unbelievable.
The former prisoners later posed for a group photograph with their families, calling out: Freedom!
The successful negotiations for the Americans freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of Americas top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, the Democratic president said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
Family members embrace freed Americans Siamak Namazi, Morad Tahbaz and Emad Shargi, as well as two returnees whose names have not yet been released by the U.S. government, who were released in a prisoner swap deal between U.S and Iran, as they arrive at Davison Army Airfield, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2923 at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)AP
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
However, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
Federal safety investigators issued a subpoena to Pennsylvanias public utility regulator on Monday for documents related to a fatal explosion at a chocolate factory, escalating a months-long legal dispute over the state agencys authority to share the sensitive information.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has refused to provide unredacted inspection and investigation reports for UGI Utilities Inc., the natural gas utility at the center of the probe into the March 24 blast at the R.M. Palmer Co. plant in West Reading.
The powerful natural gas explosion leveled one building, heavily damaged another and killed seven people. Investigators have previously said they are looking at a pair of gas leaks as a possible cause of or contributor to the blast.
The interagency dispute over five years worth of UGI records involved a conflict between state and federal law.
The Public Utility Commission said it could not provide the records in the format that the safety agency demanded, citing a state law that protects confidential security information about key utility infrastructure from public disclosure, even to other government agencies.
The commission said it offered safety investigators a chance to inspect the reports at its Harrisburg office or to sign a nondisclosure agreement, but the federal agency refused.
This is a unique situation where a federal agency is demanding that the PUC violate state law, PUC spokesperson Nils Hagen-Frederiksen said in a written statement. It is unfortunate that the NTSB has rejected possible solutions to this issue, but we continue working to resolve this impasse.
The safety board said federal regulations entitled it to the utility company records and asserted the PUC was required to turn them over.
9 1 / 9 Fatal explosion at Pa. chocolate plant
Because federal law preempts state law, NTSB chair Jennifer L. Homendy wrote to the state utility commission chair, the PUC has no legal basis to withhold the ... inspection reports from the NTSB in any manner.
In addition to issuing the subpoena, the safety agency said it also barred the Public Utility Commission from having any further role in the federal probe.
The actions of PA PUC have evidenced a lack of cooperation and adherence to our party processes and prevent your continued participation in the investigation, Homendy wrote.
About 70 Palmer production workers and 35 office staff were working in two adjacent buildings at the time of the blast. Employees in both buildings told federal investigators they could smell gas before the explosion. Workers at the plant have accused Palmer of ignoring warnings of a natural gas leak, saying the plant should have been evacuated.
To mark Hispanic Heritage Month - Sept. 15 through Oct. 15 - PennLive is showcasing residents from central Pennsylvania who represent the thriving and dynamic Latino community in the region.
Educators, elected officials, social advocates, business entrepreneurs, artists and writers, the men and women featured, embody the contributions of Latinos and the cultural legacy that informs their work and identity.
Whether we use Hispanic or Latino, both terms convey the diverse cultural and ethnic community that claims ancestry from about two dozen countries - and one territory - including Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Spain.
Pennsylvanias Latino community has seen explosive growth in recent years.
In fact, the growth of the Latino community in Pennsylvania between 2010 and 2020 far outpaced that of the whole state and offset declines in population of other groups. U.S. Census numbers show that Pennsylvanias population grew 2.4% in that time frame; while its Latino population grew 45.8%.
The Pew Research Center found that of the 12 states with at least 1 million Hispanics, Pennsylvania saw the fastest Latino population growth during the last decade.
Our profiles represent just a sliver of the myriad strands that make up the fabric of Latino community and its contribution to Pennsylvania.
We asked our subjects how being Latino influences their life and the work they do.
Richard Mendez became Lancasters first Hispanic police chief last year in Lancaster, Pa., Aug. 18, 2023. Mark Pynes | pennlive.comMark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com
Richard Mendez
Chief Richard Mendez was appointed as the first Hispanic Chief of Police for the Lancaster City Police Bureau in July 2022 and now oversees a department of 145 sworn officers and 55 civilian employees. He is a lifelong Lancaster City resident, a JP McCaskey High School graduate, and a 22-year veteran of the Lancaster City Bureau of Police. He started his career as a patrol officer and worked his way up the ranks, first as a member of the K-9 unit, then the selective enforcement unit, and the Lancaster County Special Emergency Response Team. Mendez also was a detective lieutenant overseeing the departments violent crime unit, a platoon leader, and the captain of the patrol division, the largest division of the Bureau.
How does being a Latino influence your life and the work you do?
Hispanic Culture is so infused into Lancaster Citys way of life that it makes it hard to separate the influence of my Hispanic heritage from being a lifelong Lancasterian. The Latino population here continues to grow and exhibits remarkable diversity.
Our Hispanic community isnt just made up of one Spanish-speaking country, its multicultural. Within our City, a rich blend of cultures and traditions has seamlessly integrated, with influences from places such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, and other Spanish-speaking countries.
Our community is a dynamic mixture that spans recent immigrants, first-generation Hispanic Americans, and families whose roots can be traced back multiple generations. This rich heritage can be felt in every quadrant of Lancaster City. Many of our teachers, police officers, City employees, business owners, and parents are a part of our Hispanic Community, and they play an instrumental role in helping Lancaster City to thrive.
With that being said, I understand that representation in leadership positions is crucial. We need diverse perspectives, experiences, and voices to be included in decision-making and in creating equitable policies that reflect the needs and aspirations of the entire community. Our youth need to see a reflection of themselves represented in roles like Chief of Police, the Mayor, CEO, and other leadership positions so they can envision their own potential without limitations. During my tenure as Chief of Police, I hope to inspire more youth to continue seeking roles where they feel they have been historically underrepresented.
Dr. Sarah Ramirez is at the medical group location in Harrisburg. Aug. 31, 2023. Jimmie Brown | jbrown@pennlive.com
Sarah Ramirez
Dr. Sarah Ramirez was born in the Dominican Republic, and even after moving to New Jersey as a young child, continued to speak only Spanish in school for several years. Once she became bilingual, much of her youth was spent straddling two worlds, she said, speaking Spanish almost exclusively at home, but helping her mother navigate conversations with medical or legal authorities many of whom she said became very condescending to non-English-speaking people.
Those memories, as well as a drive to escape the resource-poor neighborhood of her youth, helped motivate her to pursue medicine. Today, she works in family medicine for Penn State Health, and helps to combat false fluency miscommunication between medical professionals and patients due to gaps in translation.
Ramirez said she relishes the opportunity to be a boots-on-the-ground kind of doctor. She is the chair of the Latino Connections Health Advisory Board, and helped lead the CATE (Community-Accessible Testing and Education) initiative, which brought COVID-19 vaccines directly to Latino communities. She has been honored by Latino Connection, Philadelphias Al Dia media group and by former Governor Tom Wolf for her efforts to expand medical outreach to the community, particularly among Latinos.
How does being a Latina influence your life and the work you do?
When I was young, I think 9 or 10, are my earliest memories of standing up and translating for my mom. Even as a child it made me angry. Just because she doesnt speak English, doesnt mean shes not smart.
I try to educate my Latino [patients] and tell them stop defending yourself. It sounds better in Spanish, but its this idea of false fluency they know the answers to the questions most commonly asked, but they dont truly understand whats happening. There is comfort in our language, especially for older Latinos.
For me, family medicine just fit culturally. For some of my patients, Im their advocate. They come to my office sometimes desperate for help, and they know that I will. So I guess Im doing what I set out to do.
My whole life has really been entrenched within the Latino culture, the language, the food, everything. So Im a very proud Latina. I think my story is very similar to many Latino kids, and many Latino professionals. Its also why I doctor the way I do. All the quote-unquote fights I take on are because Im passionate about the mission, because their story was my story.
Read more Hispanic Heritage Month voices:
Hispanic Heritage Month voices: Guiding lifes work through generosity of spirit
Latino proud: Hispanic Heritage Month in Pa. celebrates a diverse cultural legacy
Hispanic Heritage month voices: Promoting cuisine and culture
Thousands of mink are on the loose in Northumberland County after someone cut holes in a fur farms fence and opened their pens over the weekend, according to a state police report.
Between 6,000 and 8,000 mink escaped from the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. fur farm in Rockefeller Township. The farm owners told state police that the fence was vandalized between midnight and 6:50 a.m. on Sunday.
PennLive reached out to the Stahl farm on Monday, but there was no response to a text message. State police also did not a respond to an email seeking additional information but they said in the report that state agencies and farm staff are searching for the mink.
Joseph Buddenberg, who described himself as a former member of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and a current press officer with the North American Animal Liberation press office, offered to speak to the media and said the act was certainly consistent with the ALF, which opposes the exploitation and abuse of animals.
ALF, which the FBI labels an extremist group, most recently claimed responsibility for releasing 3,000 mink from a Wisconsin farm last month. Last year, approximately 25,000 to 40,000 mink were released from a fur farm in Ohio and the perpetrators left spray-painted graffiti saying, ALF and Well be back.
Buddenberg, who spent two years in federal prison for a cross-country spree in which he and a partner released mink from fur farms and vandalized equipment, said he had no confirmation yet of ALFs involvement, though.
Mink are wild animals that roam up to 5 miles a day but are kept in 10-inch cages on fur farms, Buddenberg said, describing their treatment as egregiously cruel and violent.
The mink, he said, are born in February or March and are killed in November for their fur, leading a miserable existence for eight to nine months. At least now they have a fighting chance at life, he said.
They face a 100 percent death rate if they stayed on the farm, Buddenberg said.
Sunbury resident Cassie Marks, though, is not celebrating the escape. A pet groomer who also volunteers with a cat rescue organization, Marks has joined others in setting traps for the mink since Sunday night.
Marks, who opposes fur farming, has posted videos on her Facebook page showing dead mink that have been struck by vehicles, and she argues that releasing thousands of them could throw the regional environment into chaos.
The escaped mink, she said, are domesticated and not native animals, and they do not have the muscle development to run like a wild animal so they cant hunt or escape predators. So far, she said that more than a dozen mink have been killed by vehicles.
Its a joke to say they have better odds outside than in, Marks told PennLive on Monday.
She encouraged those against fur farming to speak out and convince family and friends to not buy mink coats or eyelashes rather than send clueless animals into the wild.
Do it the right way, said Marks, dont do it the cruel way.
Pennsylvania Game Commission Lt. Aaron Morrow said agency workers are on site and he would expect the mink to be able to survive in the wild, outside of being killed by predators or vehicles.
I have no other reason to think they cant survive, he said.
Morrow, like Marks, urged anyone who comes across mink to not approach them or try and grab them because they will bite. Any trapped mink, he said, can be taken to the Sunbury Animal Hospital, which issued a statement to ABC27.
These animals should not be approached as they can be aggressive, the hospital said. They are not pets and should not be taken in a home or to a rescue.
The hospital also said that pets should be kept inside if possible during the situation and watched closely if outside.
By John A. Tures
American confidence in the Supreme Court has plunged to historic lows. Its not so much because of their rulings, but the behavior of individual justices, and their method of selection. Without serious judicial reform, such mistrust of our highest court is going to trickle down to lower levels of the judiciary with consequences too dire to ignore.
Earlier last month Jeffrey M. Jones with Gallup Polling found that Americas views of the Supreme Court reached a record low. It now stands at 40%, well below the 60%+ of Americans who said they approved of the way the Supreme Court did its job back in 2000.
Now some attributed the low numbers to a series of conservative rulings on abortion, student loan debt forgiveness, and knocking down race as a factor in collegiate admissions. But the Supreme Court also invalidated Alabamas congressional map as violating the Voting Rights Act and turned away a challenge by state legislatures to invalidate district-drawing rulings this term. Something else is different now.
What made the public really mad were the revelations that a Supreme Court Justice allegedly took a lot of trips and may have received a lot of undisclosed gifts from a donor who may well have had a vested interest in the outcome, according to Fortune Magazine. As the story grew, it turned out that this justice may not have been the only one receiving all kinds of gifts, or failed to disclose a lot, according to the Brookings Institution. One fears that these revelations may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Yet the Supreme Court currently is exempted from any sort of rules that might have prevented such a catastrophe. The nine justices of the Supreme Court are the only federal judges not bound by the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges, which goes beyond the basic ethics laws enacted after Watergate and creates uniformity around thorny issues like recusals and participation in political activities, writes an interest group called Fix the Court.
One would think that an embarrassed Supreme Court would do the right thing, and adopt at least a voluntary code of conduct to fix this glaring oversight when it comes to the disclosure of gifts, and the need to recuse oneself if there is a conflict of interest. After all, why should the Supreme Court be exempted from rules that would land lower court judges in a lot of hot water? But several court members and allies of theirs have spoken out against even the hint of reform.
Congress has now prepared to do the job that the highest court seems reluctant to even discuss. But reformers were opposed by the courts defenders, who claim such actions would violate the separation of powers and checks and balances. Theyre wrong.
As the history of congressional regulation of Supreme Court ethics makes clear, it is squarely within Congresss constitutional power to ensure the integrity of a coequal branch by holding Supreme Court justices to high ethical standards. Since the founding, Congress has played a central role in regulating the ethical conduct of the justices, first by requiring them to take an oath written by Congress. Congress also sets the terms by which federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, retire and how they are compensated, notes the Brennan Center. Congress even passed laws about recusals and receiving gifts, but left it up to the courts to enforce this and come up with sanctions, which now seems like a mistake.
If you agree that highest courts should face the same ethical standards as lowest courts, contact your member of Congress and let them know where you stand on the Senate Bill 359, The Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal and Transparency Act of 2023. Its the best way to restore public confidence in our judicial system.
John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Georgia. His views are his own. He can be reached at jtures@lagrange.edu. His Twitter account is JohnTures2.
By Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News (TNS)
Big John may like wearing shorts to work, but dont accuse him of putting his hands in the wrong place.
Democratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman mocked Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., for her vape-and-grope date night and poked fun at Republican outrage over his casual attire all in one tweet.
The hulking Fetterman scoffed at GOP anger over the Senate loosening its dress code while they stay silent over Boeberts R-rated drama.
I figure if I take up vaping and grabbing the hog during a live musical, theyll make me a folk hero, Fetterman tweeted, apparently referring to his private parts.
Fetterman hit the news over the weekend when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer scrapped the bodys unwritten dress code requiring male senators to wear business attire on the floor. That shift amounted to a green light for the 6-foot-8 man from blue-collar Braddock to sport his favored shorts-and-hoodie look in the august body.
John Fetterman wearing his trademark sweatshirt and shorts while campaigning for U.S. Senate at the Holy Hound Tap Room in downtown York, Pa., May. 12, 2022. (Mark Pynes | pennlive.com, file)Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com
Republicans reacted with outrage over the lack of decorum, which they called a sartorial race to the bottom and worse.
But Fetterman hit back hard.
He socked Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, for flashing naked pics of Hunter Biden at a House hearing even while she works up outrage over Fettermans wearing shorts to work.
Fetterman then turned his social media ire on Boebert.
The recently divorced far right-wing Colorado lawmaker, who claims to be a promoter of traditional values, was caught on tape vaping inside a Denver theater during a performance of Beetlejuice. She appeared to fondle her dates genitals after he grabbed her breasts during the family-friendly performance.
Approximately 50 people gathered in Gyro Park to hear PPC leader Maxime Bernier in April 2021. The park is scheduled to host the 1 Million March 4 Children this coming Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, from 9 a.m. to noon.
The son of Sikh community leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar says his father was meeting regularly with Canadian intelligence officers in the months before he was shot dead in British Columbia, in a killing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says has been credibly linked to India. Police officers attend the scene of a shooting outside of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib temple, in Surrey, B.C., Monday, June 19, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jennifer Gauthier
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, September 19. The capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, will host the 16th meeting of the Central AsiaRepublic of Korea Cooperation Forum in November 2023, Trend reports.
This was announced following the meeting of the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov with the leader of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol in New York.
During the meeting, the sides noted that the Turkmen-Korean relations and mutually beneficial partnership are developing dynamically and are filled with new content.
They also stressed that cooperation between the two countries is carried out not only in a bilateral format, but also within the framework of international organizations.
The sides also noted the important role of parliamentary diplomacy in the development of relations between the two countries, while emphasizing that high-level visits of delegations, such as the visit of the Chairman of the People's Council of the National Assembly of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to the Republic of Korea in November 2022 and the visit of the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Kim Jin-pyo to Turkmenistan in July 2023, contributed to the development of Turkmen-Korean cooperation in this area.
Meanwhile, cooperation between Turkmenistan and South Korea is an important direction in the foreign policy of both countries, covering economic, energy and infrastructure spheres. South Korean companies are actively involved in infrastructure development projects in Turkmenistan, including the construction of oil and gas facilities and ports, as well as the development of renewable energy sources.
Rena Murshud
The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of North Macedonia Bujar Osmani will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Azernews reports.
About this North Macedonian Foreign Minister wrote on his page on X.
"As OSCE, I am deeply concerned by reports of military operations and the related danger for civilians in Khankendi. I call for an immediate de-escalation. Peaceful dialogue should be the only option and humanitarian concerns must prevail.
Today I will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Bayramov, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York and renew my call to continue diplomatic engagement and prioritize efforts towards sustainable peace." Bujar Osmani wrote.
An Aiken man is facing forgery charges after the State Law Enforcement Division said he used fraudulent vehicle titles from various states.
Divonn Shaqui Johnson, 30, was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with three counts of forging a vehicle title, according to a media release from SLED.
Warrants allege Johnson used fake titles at the North Augusta office of the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles earlier this year.
He used an Alabama title for a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro on Feb. 11, a Georgia title for a 2019 Ford F-250 on May 26 and a Washington title for a 2014 Maserati on Aug. 14 all fraudulent titles, the charging documents said
Investigators found the VINs provided for the vehicles were also fake, the warrants said.
Johnson was booked at the Aiken County detention center and the case will be prosecuted by the 2nd Circuit Solicitors Office.
Itching to expand for several years, Daniel Island's only supermarket will be demolished to make way for a larger store.
Publix plans to demolish its longtime store on Seven Farms Drive and build a 50,472-square-foot store and pocket park in its place in the same location, according to plans presented to the city of Charleston.
The new location will likely include a few new offerings that will be announced later, company spokesman Jared Glover said.
Plans to expand the existing 29,618-square-foot supermarket have been in the works since 2017, but the expansion never materialized after the city asked the grocer to include windows, tweak its facade and come back with more renderings.
The Florida-based grocer maintained the inclusion of real windows interfered with freezer space, displays and storage. The company withdrew its expansion plans in 2019 and submitted a new proposal for a larger store the following year.
The new design, which includes demolition of the existing building, has been working its way through various government approvals and is now ready to move forward with permitting.
Glover pointed out construction is more than 18 months away. That pushes initial development into 2025, and he said it will take another 12-18 months to build the store.
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"We don't want to set a date because anything can happen," he said.
A trio of dancing poop emojis and the likeness of the Great Cornholio, Beavis's alter ego in Mike Judge's MTV classic "Beavis and Butthead," were among projected images to grace downtown Charleston's new cell tower on an early September evening.
Behind the display, cast onto the giant white tower that has been compared to an oversized tampon, a Q-tip or a stack of toilet paper rolls, were a few Charleston guys with an idea, a drone, a generator and a $10,000 Sony projector the size of a leatherback sea turtle. They all wanted to make clear their dislike of the cell transmission tower owned by SBA Communications Corp. that appeared one day late last month along the Septima P. Clark Parkway, better known as the Crosstown.
"Every once in a while, a Charleston architect or designer needs be called out on ugly additions to the city's skyline," said Seth Abramson, the digital artist who owns the projector used for the guerrilla art project. The city's architecture is part of why he stayed here after graduating from the College of Charleston.
"I hate to toot my own horn, but I am absolutely clogged with ideas about how to wipe away the stains of bad architecture off of Charlestons porcelain skylines," Abramson told The Post and Courier.
Before the Crosstown cell tower, Abramson directed his displeasure at the Charleston Tech Center two years ago. He turned the Morrison Drive building's signage into the sentence, "Charleston Tech Center is ugly as (expletive)."
Abramson is a new media artist, which is a wide-ranging genre that uses digital techniques to make art. Think of artists such as Mike Winkelmann, who is known as the multi-millionaire sensation Beeple and also happens to reside in Charleston.
Abramson's work focuses on the use of light to create art, and he is fond of Banksy-esque ephemeral artistic declarations. He has toured with prominent electronic artist Timmy Trumpet and created the projection displays on main stages at Ultra Music Festival, one of the largest EDM festivals in the world. Before that, he would work local gigs, such as Weirdo Wednesdays at The Purple Buffalo.
COLUMBIA In hopes of winning federal approval to continue development of Scout Motor's $2 billion electric vehicle assembly plant, officials have added the rebuild of a stream in Sumter National Forest to an environmental package meant of offset the wetlands that will be lost when the Volkswagen subsidiary builds on the Columbia-area site.
The company, through a permit filed by the state Commerce Department and Richland County on its behalf, had previously said it will protect 4,902 acres of wetlands near Congaree National Park and another 155 acres on the Broad River, known as Shelton Island.
The group has since added the Sumter National Forest stream project to its environmental proposal, along with more improvements to land along the Congaree River that opens previously private land to public use, S.C. Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey said.
Lightsey said Commerce and the county officially filed the revised plans on Sept. 15 and he hopes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, charged with reviewing the proposal and issuing a permit, will make the changes available to the public for comment soon.
In all, Lightsey said the environmental protections and improvements amount to more than two times what federal law requires.
The state Department of Natural resources recommended the Sumter National Forest stream project to Scout Motors and government officials, according to that agency's Executive Director Robert Boyles. Boyles said the stream restoration project had already received prior federal approval as part of Duke Energy's mothballed plans to build a nuclear power plant in Cherokee County.
Duke abandoned plans to build the Lee Nuclear Station in 2017 on the heels of the failed V.C. Summer nuclear plant expansion by then-SCANA Corp. and Santee Cooper. When the contractor for both of those projects, Westinghouse, filed for bankruptcy, Duke's efforts died off, leaving the national forest stream improvement project untouched.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 19. Uzbekistan Airways Express, a low-cost airline, will operate flights to Turkiyes Ankara from November 4, Trend reports.
Flights on the TashkentAnkara Tashkent route will be carried out on Saturdays on Airbus A320neo aircraft.
As per data provided by Uzbekistans Statistics Agency, 48,300 Turkish tourists visited Uzbekistan from January through June 2023, which is 1.6 percent of the whole tourist influx (3.1 million).
In 2022, the number of tourists has almost tripled compared to the previous year, increasing from 1.8 million to 5.2 million people. Turkiyes share of this number amounts to 1.4 percent (75,000 people).
COLUMBIA Tracy Gordon took the stand to testify in his own defense four years after a fatal crash on Lake Murray in which he drove his 24-foot Baja speedboat into a pontoon boat that had three people on it.
Gordon, of Elgin, is charged with reckless homicide by operation of a boat and three counts of boating under the influence in connection with the crash, which resulted in the death of 68-year-old Stan Kiser on Sept. 21, 2019.
Gordon, a 57-year-old manager at a dog food manufacturing plant, testified on Sept. 18 that he'd had eight beers between the hours of 1 p.m. and 9 p.m., but he denied being intoxicated at the time of the crash.
"I've never been a big drinker," Gordon said.
He said that he and his wife, Angie, who testified under subpoena from the prosecution during the trial that has now lasted a week, are not partiers and that they mostly keep to themselves during their weekly boat outings. Their routine consists mostly of working and exercising during the week, he said, but they typically bring beers with them onto the lake on Saturdays.
That particular Saturday started out normally, Tracy Gordon said. He'd packed 16 cans of Natural Light beer, eight bottles of water and two Gatorades, along with sandwiches and snacks, in their cooler. After having three beers from the cooler and three beers at Liberty Tap Room and Grill on Marina Road in Irmo, across about seven hours, the couple made a final stop at sister venues the Rusty Anchor and Catfish Johnny's off Johnson Marina Road in Chapin. Gordon had his eighth beer of the day there, and minutes later, around 9 p.m., life changed for both his family and for the Kisers.
"It happened so fast," Gordon said, adding that the night was particularly dark while he accelerated out of the no-wake zone near the lake restaurants. He went up to half throttle to get the boat "on plane," or level with the water, as he drove up the right side of the channel.
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced recently that 42 attorneys general sued Meta in federal and state courts alleging the company knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram and its other social media platforms that purposefully addict c Read moreAttorney General Alan Wilson joins bipartisan, multistate coalition in lawsuits against Meta for harming children
Shontell Denise Mention, 38, of Kingstree died over the weekend in a single car accident. South Carolina Highway Patrol reports, the 2003 GMC Sedan Mention was driving was traveling west on US 521 near Nice Ave. when the car ran off of the road and struck a ditch. Read moreKingstree Woman Dies in Saturday Wreck
East Cooper Medical Center recently partnered with Bella Baby Photography to deliver special newborn photos to the families of babies born at the hospital around Halloween. Read moreHalloween babies dressed to impress
CONWAY Conway leaders aren't rushing a decision that could bring more than 3,300 homes to the city in the coming decades.
A proposed development, which has the potential to increase Conway's population by nearly one-third, involves annexing 10 plots of land covering about 1,765 acres. That's roughly half the size of Aynor. Conway City Council held a public hearing on the proposal Sept. 18 before postponing a vote. The deferment pushes back any vote on the plan for at least 90 days.
If I were king, none of this would ever be developed, City Councilman William Goldfinch said. But Im not king. (The plan) is the lesser of two evils. Do we want this done right, or do we want it to be a burden? We need to take our time to get this right.
For the project to become reality, the developer needs a rezoning. City leaders would also need to annex the property. The changes would clear the way for a 3,316-unit development to be built on the corner of U.S. Highway 701 and Pitch Landing Road.
The development would include a mixture of single-family homes, townhomes, multifamily units and commercial spaces, according to city documents.
City Councilman Autry Benton said he felt like the developers were pressuring the city by pointing out that the property could be developed in the county without the city receiving any benefits. He asked those requesting the rezoning if they had taken the plan to Horry County Council first. They told him they had not.
We need to have smart growth here, Benton said, agreeing to defer the plan.
The Conway Planning Commission gave the project a favorable recommendation during its Sept. 7 meeting, but the recommendation came with stipulations. Commissioners wanted several aspects of the plan clarified, such as the proposed traffic improvements, which they want the developer to pay for.
Tensions between the U.S. and China have been mounting in recent months, especially after the U.S. shot down what it deemed a Chinese spy balloon in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast from Myrtle Beach earlier this year. But that hasn't stopped a Lowcountry military base from hosting a commercial airplane from the Communist nation.
An Air China 747 jetliner that flew a delegation from the People's Republic of China to New York City for the United Nations meeting this week is parked at Joint Base Charleston for a few days.
"Joint Base Charleston was identified as the airfield to support the aircraft until it is required for their delegation's return trip," according to a statement from the base's North Charleston operations.
A base spokesman did not indicate how many crew members or others were aboard the aircraft that landed in Charleston on Sept. 18, but a fleet of government vans was seen at Joint Base Charleston shortly after the plane landed.
The U.S. Department of State referred questions to the Department of Defense, which did not immediately respond for comment on why Charleston was selected for the aircraft's layover location or information on the crew.
In his speech to the U.N., President Joe Biden sought to alleviate tensions with China, even as the United States tries to strengthen ties with other countries to limit Beijings influence.
None of these partnerships are about containing any country, he said. Theyre about a positive vision for our shared future.
Addressing the relationship between U.S. and China, Biden said, We seek to responsibly manage competition between our two countries so it does not tip into conflict.
STUCKEY The hunt for a missing Marine Corps fighter jet ended with wreckage found in a rural expanse of farmland and swamp on Sept. 18 after a massive search across South Carolina for the elusive $90 million plane.
An amalgam of military, law enforcement and civilian searchers scoured a sprawling expanse from the Lowcountry to the Pee Dee before finding a "debris field" from the downed F-35B Lightning II fighter jet in Williamsburg County a day after its pilot ejected. The pilot landed safely in a North Charleston neighborhood, but the stealth aircraft proved to be a much tougher find.
Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Walter Shutler told The Post and Courier just after 6 p.m. that authorities had located the wreckage.
"It will take days to get this thing dug up," Shutler, the incident commander, said.
The unmanned plane was found more than 63 miles from the North Charleston backyard where the pilot landed more than 24 hours earlier.
Meanwhile, the Marine Corps' acting commandant ordered the branch's aircraft grounded for two days.
Gen. Eric Smith instructed the Marines' aviation leaders on Sept. 18 to stand down and spend the time going over safety procedures with their units. The F-35B incident was the Marines' third aviation mishap in six weeks.
Search planes from the U.S. Navy and the Civil Air Patrol flew in low grids across much of South Carolina throughout the day, according to FlightRadar24 data. The search appeared to reach as far north as Marion and as far south as Georgetown a distance of about 50 miles end-to-end. The planes flew for hours, moving back-and-forth above Williamsburg and Florence counties for much of Sept. 18.
MOUNT PLEASANT More than 150 years after Phillips was established by Black residents on the grounds of an East Cooper plantation where they'd been enslaved, it's become the first settlement community in South Carolina added to the National Register of Historic Places.
And just like neighborhood President Richard Habersham, many Phillips residents still live today on land their ancestors bought after the Civil War.
"This is a great honor," he said. "We are the first African American community to achieve this."
The unincorporated hamlet straddles S.C. Highway 41 and is surrounded by Mount Pleasant subdivisions. A contentious plan to widen that highway a two-lane road that bisected Phillips in the 1930s spurred efforts to pursue historic listings that can add a layer of protection.
The listing covers Phillips, located between Horlbeck Creek and the Dunes West and Park West subdivisions, roughly between Joe Rouse and Virginia Rouse roads, as well as several churches and cemeteries nearby; Parkers Island Cemetery, Greater Goodwill AME Church and cemeteries, and Olive Branch AME Church and cemetery.
The Historic Charleston Foundation played a key role in getting the national designation, hiring consultant Brittany Lavelle Tulla to conduct research and prepare the detailed application.
We had to capture how the Phillips residents still honor the natural resources, and how multi-generational land ownership is still a feature of their life," Tulla said. Oral history and memories that have been passed down are the type of things that cant be found in documents.
One thing that makes Phillips unique is that its the best preserved example of a Black settlement community that emerged after the Civil War," she said.
As a frequent visitor to Charleston, I have marveled at the beauty of the state. During a recent visit, I also took a side trip to Boston, traveling by air. I am a physician as well as a patient and worker-safety advocate. So when my driver in Boston asked me how he would identify me, I resp Read moreCommentary: Charleston airport needs to improve its air quality
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, September 19. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation with Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva, Trend reports.
During the meeting, the parties exchanged views on the development of the global economic situation and discussed the issues of further expansion of cooperation, especially in the context of the agreements reached during the meeting between Uzbekistan and the IMF in June 2023 in Uzbekistans Samarkand.
The participants discussed the IMF's participation in conducting a comprehensive analysis of the stability of the national financial sector, providing advisory assistance in developing proposals for improving economic policy, and implementing a program to increase the capacity of specialists in Uzbekistan.
Georgieva highly appreciated the results of the ongoing program of irreversible reforms in Uzbekistan and expressed readiness to continue close cooperation in promoting effective transformations in the country.
In a previous meeting between Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Kristalina Georgieva in Uzbekistans Samarkand, the parties discussed reforms to ensure macroeconomic stability and the improvement of monetary, credit, and fiscal policies.
It would have been easy for public officials and cycling advocates to shrug their shoulders and give up on creating a better bicycle-pedestrian link across the Ashley River years ago, after they determined they couldn't convert a traffic lane on the existing U.S. Highway 17 bridge for bike-ped use. Read moreEditorial: Ashley River crossing shows persistence pays off. We need more of it.
Perhaps, like me, youve read your share of articles with tips on how to discuss issues with people who hold opposing views. They usually give unhelpfully general advice about listening with an open mind, avoiding personal attacks, showing respect for the other person etc. Read moreDeMarco: Practicing civil discourse before your very eyes
COLUMBIA South Carolina has secured the drug needed to perform lethal injections and those executions will go forward, Gov. Henry McMaster announced Sept. 19, reinstating a procedure that had been on hold for more than a decade.
McMaster and the state Department of Corrections both informed the S.C. Supreme Court the process can begin again following a change in state law that allowed the provider of the drug, identified as pentobarbital, to remain anonymous.
No executions had been allowed in the state since 2011.
"Justice has been delayed for too long in South Carolina," McMaster said in a media release announcing the drug had been obtained.
"This filing brings our state one step closer to being able to once again carry out the rule of law and bring grieving families and loved ones the closure they are rightfully owed, he added.
Thirty-four men have been sentenced to death in South Carolina and await execution as of Sept. 19, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Chrysti Shain.
Thirty-three are on death row at Broad River Correctional Institution near Columbia. One is housed in California, where he has also been sentenced to death.
Half of the men on death row are Black in a state that is about 26 percent African American, according to the Census Bureau.
The move back to lethal injection comes after the General Assembly passed legislation this year enacting a shield statute, which protects the identity of "individuals or entities involved in the planning or execution of a death sentence," McMaster's message said.
McMaster signed the bill May 12, which opened the door for the Department of Corrections to make more than 1,300 contacts seeking out injection drugs that could be used here.
The inquiries included drug manufacturers, suppliers, compounding pharmacies and "other potential sources," the governor's office said.
The release did not say how large an allocation of pentobarbital the state has received but the correction departments lethal injection policy was revised as a result to provide for a one-drug delivery, which pentobarbital operates as.
South Carolina's five female members of the state Senate who took a stand against a near-total abortion ban have been awarded The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation's prestigious Profile in Courage Award.
The women, who have formed a close bond in the overwhelmingly male chamber, call themselves the "sister senators."
Three Republicans, Sen. Sandy Senn of Charleston, Sen. Katrina Shealy of Lexington, and Sen. Penry Gustafson of Camden, bucked their party to join with Sen. Mia McLeod, an independent from Columbia, and Walterboro Democratic Sen. Margie Bright Matthews to oppose the near-total ban.
The women of the South Carolina Senate set an example for those seeking justice and individual freedom at all levels of government," U.S. Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy, said in a Sept. 19 statement announcing the decision.
The women filibustered the bill until, after several failed cloture votes, the Senate voted to "continue" the legislation, punting it to the 2024 session. They were joined by three male GOP colleagues and the Democrats in opposition.
Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, has repeatedly said he does not expect the Senate to take action on the bill next year.
Later in the 2023 session, House and Senate passed a six-week abortion ban with exceptions over the objections of the five female senators. That law went into effect in late August after the state Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge.
The Profile in Courage Award is intended to honor politicians who take difficult or unpopular stances. Former Republican Gov. David Beasley won it in 2003 for his efforts to remove the Confederate battle flag from the Statehouse Dome, and former Upstate Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis won it in 2015 for his outspoken advocacy for action on climate change despite reticence in his own party.
FORT MILL Motorists sitting in stalled traffic in and around Fort Mill may wonder how navigating the town and other parts of York County could be improved.
They aren't the only ones.
York County's Pennies for Progress program continues to prepare for its fifth voter referendum in November 2024. Next month, a citizen panel for the program will narrow down the list of projects from across the county based on suggestions from each municipality and unincorporated communities. Once that list is created, county officials will develop cost projections for each proposed project.
During the summer, the Fort Mill Town Council submitted lane-expansion suggestions, pedestrian improvements and resurfacing projects the town wants on the ballot.
"We're not just asking for Fort Mill," Mayor Guynn Savage said at the Pennies for Progress meeting held in Fort Mill in July. "Fort Mill is a passthrough for many people. Geographically speaking, we don't have a choice. Indian Land people come in to get to Interstate 77 to get to their jobs on time. This is money that's necessary from a regional perspective."
One previously approved project for greater Fort Mill is undergoing some issues getting started. Voters approved the widening of the stretch of U.S. Highway 21/S.C. Highway 51 from Interstate 77 to Gold Hill Road. The project also includes the portion of Highway 51 that splits off east about a mile to the North Carolina state line, toward Pineville.
The project, expected to be $50 million, was put out for bid several months ago, but only one company submitted an offer, said Patrick Hamilton, assistant county engineer who oversees the Pennies program. And that single bid was too high.
"We are working with county management to determine the next steps," Hamilton said.
County officials have the option of shifting unspent Pennies money to other projects, such as any money available through completed work that comes in under budget, or money can be shifted from lower-priority projects to a higher-priority one.
Ibrahim Koshy, CEO of Saudia, visited Boeing Co.'s 787 plant in North Charleston on May 5, 2023, to tout his airline's deal to buy 39 Dreamliner commercial planes.
Abbe Lowell is the high-powered Washington attorney masterminding the defense of Hunter Biden. His theory is that the best defense is a good offense. Lowell entered the scene with an intimidating volley of criminal referrals and cease-and-desist letters this past February. He has asked federal and state prosecutors to investigate John Paul Mac Isaac and others he accused of disseminating Bidens personal data. He also threatened former Fox News host Tucker Carlson with a defamation claim for good measure. I wrote about the Lowell miasma this past July in Abbe is gabby dissing whistleblowers.
Now Lowell has commenced a lawsuit against the IRS. The Wall Street Journal has posted a PDF copy of Lowells complaint online here. The complaint is based on the disclosures of whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler. Abbe is shabby suing the IRS for what I believe to be the agents protected disclosures.
Whistleblower attorneys Mark Lytle and Tristan Leavitt appear in Lowells complaint as Attorney A and Attorney B, respectively. No person who has been following the saga of the Biden family business can mistake their identification with the information provided in the complaint. The alphabetic designations are like putting sunglasses on a camel.
Michael Schmidts New York Times story on the lawsuit mentions the statutory provisions appliable to whistleblower disclosures. Not mentioning the whistleblower provisions, the Journals story on the lawsuit includes this dry recitation:
IRS employees are generally forbidden under the tax code from disclosing information from tax returns, and there are both criminal penalties and potential civil liability for disclosures. There is a crucial exception. The chairs of the congressional tax-writing committees can request any taxpayer information from the IRS and then the committees can vote to make that information public in a report. The House Ways and Means Committee voted earlier this year to publish transcripts of interviews with the IRS employees in the Hunter Biden case. When it was under Democratic control, the Ways and Means Committee used the same section of the tax code to publish the tax returns of former President Donald Trump.
Leavitt has issued a statement on the lawsuit that is accessible here. I think Leavitts statement in response to Lowells initial volley may suffice in this case as well:
Biden family lawyers have resorted to intimidation beforereportedly threatening federal prosecutors with career suicide if they charged Hunter Bidenso this attempt to intimidate our client and the oversight authorities scrutinizing the politicization of that case is no surprise. IRS SSA Gary Shapley has scrupulously followed the rules and blew the whistle to Congress about the unequal application of tax laws pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 6103(f)(5) and 5 U.S.C. 2302(b)(8)(C), a process facilitated lawfully by the authority of both Chairs of the tax committee All the innuendo and bluster that Biden family lawyers can summon will not change the facts. Lawful whistleblowing is the opposite of illegal leaking, and these bogus accusations against SSA Shapley by lawyers for the Biden family echo threatening emails sent by IRS leadership after the case agent also blew the whistle to the IRS Commissioner about favoritism in this caseas well as the chilling report that Biden attorneys have also lobbied the Biden Justice Department directly to target our client with criminal inquiry in further retaliation for blowing the whistle.
Some knowledgeable observer should parse Lowells complaint beyond the he said/she said style of the news stories. Its not entirely clear to me why Biden is suing the IRS rather than the whistleblowers themselves. Among other things, Lowell appears to be an unreliable narrator of the facts. If Hunter Biden nevertheless prevails in his lawsuit against the IRS, perhaps he can make good on the income taxes he has failed to pay over the years since 2014.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 16:06:31
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 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 & Grossman, LLC
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / CoviaOn September 6th, Covia held our annual Safety Day at all our locations, which is designed to raise awareness among our Team Members about critical safety and health issues. This year's theme is "Emergency Preparedness." This is an area we must continue to focus on to ensure that Covia Team Members are exceptionally well prepared to respond to an emergency, whether it's work-related or not. In addition to hands-on activities, Andy O'Brien, Covia's Vice President of Safety & Health, hosted a virtual session that focused on our key Safety and Health metrics and goals. He reviewed Covia's safety performance on Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR). In addition, Andy shared information on how we continue to implement programs that promote S&H awareness and education. These include regional S&H workshops and boot camps, as well as predictive decision-making tools.The following are just a few examples of how Covia's plants raised awareness during Safety Day 2023.Roff, Oklahoma PlantRoff, Oklahoma is located in Pontotoc County along State Highway 1. The area is mostly flat plains and sits right in the middle of Tornado Alley! As such, the topic of emergency preparedness is particularly relevant to the facility. Therefore, the team focused on staging areas, tornado shelter locations, verification of who is on site once at the staging area, and communication. This is especially important because the Roff plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.Tuscaloosa, Alabama PlantCovia's Tuscaloosa plant is conveniently located close to a rail line. However, it also poses a challenge because the railroad crosses the plant's entrance and exit. As a result, Team Members focused on evacuation in the event that a train were to block their way out. They practiced several different scenarios. These scenarios required Team Members to find different ways to exit the facility. Team Members also walked the entire site, looking for potential hazards and ensuring they were addressed. To ensure the highest level of safety, the team made notes or comments when maintenance or upgrades were needed.Lugoff, South CarolinaTeam Members at Covia's Lugoff facility hosted a safety simulation. The scenario was a Team Member being electrocuted by contact with a live wire. The Team Members were tasked with assessing the situation and determining the immediate next steps to get the injured person to safety. In addition, the team conducted a tornado drill to ensure that Team Members would be able to get to the group assembly area in a safe and timely manner.Fostering a safe work environment is paramount to everything we do. From our plants to our office locations, safety is critical for the well-being of not just our Team Members, but our customers, communities, and the environment. For more information about Covia's Safety and Health commitments, visit our 2022 ESG Report.Live wire simulation at Covia's Camden PlantView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Covia on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: CoviaWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/coviaEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Covia
BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 20. US President Joe Biden and President of five Central Asian countries have held a C5+1 summit in New York, Trend reports.
The sides focused on matters related to joint cooperation in order to enhance the sovereignty, stability, and prosperity of Central Asia through the C5+1 partnership in the realms of economics, energy, and security.
During the meeting, the prospects for further development of the strategic partnership, political dialogue, trade, economic, investment, and humanitarian cooperation were thoroughly discussed, along with issues related to maintaining peace and stability in Eurasia.
As a result, agreements have been reached to further deepen mutual understanding and expand practical partnership between the countries of the region and the US.
C5+1 is a dialogue format created in 2015 to address common issues of cooperation between the Central Asian states and the US.
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BOCA RATON, FL / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / The Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students is delighted to announce its inaugural scholarship program, offering a one-time award of $1,000 to support the education and development of aspiring healthcare professionals. This scholarship, founded by the esteemed pharmacist Estela Arco, seeks to empower the next generation of healthcare leaders by recognizing their academic excellence, commitment to the field, and innovative problem-solving skills.In a world where the healthcare sector faces increasingly complex challenges, the Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students aims to identify and nurture individuals who possess the vision and determination to drive positive change in patient care and the broader healthcare landscape.Established by Estela Arco, a distinguished pharmacist known for her unwavering dedication to pharmaceutical care, the scholarship reflects her passion for advancing the field of healthcare. With licenses in both New Jersey and New York, Estela has left an indelible mark on the industry through her expertise in medication compounding, dispensing, and her commitment to exceptional customer service."Estela Arco's vision is to inspire a new generation of healthcare professionals who not only excel academically but also possess the creativity and determination to overcome the challenges facing the healthcare sector," said [Spokesperson's Name], [Title] of the Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students. "We believe that by supporting these future leaders, we can contribute to a brighter and healthier future for all." To be considered for the Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students, applicants must meet the following criteria:1. Academic Pursuit: You must be a current undergraduate student pursuing a degree in a healthcare-related field or a high school student with intentions to enroll in a university program focused on healthcare.2. Excellence in Academics: We highly value exceptional academic performance and are seeking students who have consistently demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievements.3. Commitment to Healthcare: You should exhibit a deep commitment to the healthcare field, displaying a genuine passion for creating positive impacts on patient well-being and the broader healthcare landscape.4. Desire for Personal and Professional Growth: We are interested in individuals who show a strong desire for personal and professional growth, continuously seeking opportunities to expand their knowledge and skills within the healthcare sector.As part of the application process, applicants will be required to submit an insightful essay of under 1000 words in response to the following prompt:"Outline a notable obstacle presently encountered within the healthcare sector and suggest a creative remedy to effectively tackle it." The scholarship committee places a particular emphasis on applicants who demonstrate creative and resourceful problem-solving skills, showcasing their ability to analyze complex healthcare issues and provide thoughtful solutions.The Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students is committed to nurturing the leaders of tomorrow, and we invite all eligible students to apply. The deadline for applications is March 15, 2024. The winner will be announced on April 15, 2024.Estela Arco's legacy is a testament to her dedication to excellence, innovation, and compassionate care. Her story resonates with healthcare professionals, inspiring them to elevate their practice and contribute to a healthier world.For more information about the Estela Arco Scholarship for Healthcare Students and to apply, please visit https://estelaarcoscholarship.com/estela-arco-scholarship/ About Estela Arco: Estela Arco is a seasoned pharmacist with a profound dedication to advancing pharmaceutical care. Her journey is marked by a commitment to compounding medication, medication dispensing, and ensuring unparalleled customer service. Holding licenses in New Jersey and New York, Estela's impact on the healthcare landscape is profound and enduring. With an illustrious career spanning years, Estela's expertise shines through her roles in overseeing day-to-day pharmacy operations, maintaining essential licensures, and achieving PCAB accreditation. Her unwavering dedication has set a standard for pharmaceutical care that is both exacting and compassionate.Estela's influence extends beyond her professional achievements. As an advocate for holistic well-being, she has imparted wellness and lifestyle advice to patients, highlighting the inseparable link between health and lifestyle. Her commitment to a balanced life is exemplified by her personal journey into self-taught yoga, showcasing her belief in a comprehensive approach to healthcare.Beyond her role in the pharmacy, Estela is a recognized community leader. As the Bergen County Representative for Varsity Jackets and her involvement in pharmaceutical care at wellness centers, she has established herself as a driving force for positive change in healthcare.Estela Arco's legacy is a testament to her dedication to excellence, innovation, and compassionate care. Her story resonates with healthcare professionals, inspiring them to elevate their practice and contribute to a healthier world.Contact Info:Spokesperson: Estela ArcoOrganization: Estela Arco ScholarshipWebsite: https://estelaarcoscholarship.comEmail: apply@ estelaarcoscholarship.com SOURCE: Estela Arco Scholarship
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Expanded Class Period: Nov. 2, 2018 - July 26, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Sept. 26, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/t Contact An Attorney Now: T@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895AT&T Inc. (T) Securities Fraud Class Action:The complaint alleges AT&T made false or misleading statements and failed to disclose that AT&T: (1) owns cables around the U.S. that are highly toxic due to their being wrapped in lead, and which harm company employees and non-employees alike; (2) faces potentially significant litigation risk, regulatory risk, and reputational harm as a result of its ownership of these lead-covered cables and the health risks stemming from their presence around the U.S; and (3) was warned about the damage and risks presented by these cables but did not disclose them as a potential threat to employee safety or to everyday people and communities.Investors began to learn the truth after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles spanning July 9 - July 26, 2023.These articles revealed that AT&T and others left behind toxic lead cables that they laid years ago. The WSJ also reported that independently tested samples from underwater cable sites revealed lead on the banks of the Mississippi, Willamette, and Passaic Rivers as well as in parts of Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.The WSJ further reported that AT&T officials have known for decades that lead in its networks was a possible health risk to its workers, some workers have illnesses that can be linked to lead, and lead could leach into the environment.Finally, on July 26, 2023, the WSJ reported that the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency are investigating whether telecom companies knew of the potential risks posed by the abandoned lead cables.As a result, AT&T's stock has been downgraded by analysts and its price was inflated over the past five years."We're focused on investors' losses, AT&T's knowledge of potential liability stemming from its sprawling network of toxic lead-sheathed cables across the U.S., and whether the company historically understated its expenses," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in AT&T and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding AT&T should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email T@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 00:15:16
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE) equity and bond investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Feb. 28, 2019 - Aug. 16, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Oct. 23, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/HEContact An Attorney Now: HE@ hbsslaw.com844-916-0895 Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE: HE) Securities Fraud Class Action:The complaint alleges that, unknown to investors, (1) Hawaiian Electric's wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed, and (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.On Aug. 12, 2023 (after historic wildfires broke out in Maui, killing dozens of people and causing billions of dollars of damage), The Washington Post reported that "[b]efore the Maui wildfires, Hawaiian Electric did not have a plan - adopted widely in California and other states - to shut off power in certain lines in advance of dangerous winds." According to the Post "Hawaiian Electric was aware that a power shut-off was an effective strategy, documents show, but had not adopted it as part of its fire-mitigation plans, according to the company and two former power and energy officials interviewed by The Washington Post." Citing a former member of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, the Post reported that the decision to avoid shutting off power "is reflective of the utility's struggles to bolster its aging and vulnerable infrastructure against wildfires[.]"Then, on Aug. 16, 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hawaiian Electric is in talks with restructuring firms and is exploring options to address its financial and legal challenges arising from the Maui wildfires.The next day, the WSJ reported that, while knowing of wildfire threats, Hawaiian Electric spent less than $245,000 between 2019 and 2022 on Maui wildfire-specific projects.This news drove the price of Hawaiian Electric shares and bonds sharply lower."We're focused on investors' losses and proving Hawaiian Electric misled investors about its operational safeguards necessary to comply with state safety requirements," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Hawaiian Electric and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding Hawaiian Electric should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email HE@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 00:14:26
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges UiPath Inc. (NYSE:PATH) investors who suffered $250k or more in losses to submit your losses now.Class Period: Apr. 21, 2021 - Mar. 30, 2022Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Nov. 6, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/PATHContact An Attorney Now: PATH@ hbsslaw.com844-916-0895 UiPath Inc. (PATH) Securities Fraud Class Action:The complaint alleges that UiPath made false and misleading statements and failed to disclose that it: (1) had enacted a widespread discounting program before its April 21, 2021 IPO, temporarily boosting its revenue and annualized recurring revenue ("ARR") metrics, cannibalizing future sales, eroding margins, and increasing the risk of client churn; (2) overstated its actual total addressable market ("TAM") because many companies included in UiPath's market survey did not need the type of high-cost, high-functionality automation products offered by UiPath; (3) was losing customers to Microsoft, ServiceNow, SAP, Salesforce, IBM and other established software vendors that were building automation into their own platforms; and (4) was suffering from a loss of channel sales due to strained relationships with its partners as a result of increased competition between UiPath and its partners.The truth emerged over a series of disclosures beginning on Sept. 7, 2021, when UiPath revealed an unexpected slowdown in revenues and ARR metrics and its discounting of products before the IPO. Then, on Dec. 8, 2021, UiPath revealed its growth further stalled and disclosed its third consecutive ARR decline. Finally, on Mar. 30, 2022, UiPath revealed deeply disappointing ARR and revenue guidance that indicated declining growth trends were expected to continue.In response to each of these events, the price of UiPath shares significantly declined."We're focused on investors' losses and are investigating whether UiPath may have misled investors about known trends that would adversely affect the company's growth prospects," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in UiPath and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding UiPath should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email PATH@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact:Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 19:36:09
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Hagens Berman urges Verizon Communications, Inc. (NYSE:VZ) investors who suffered substantial losses to submit your losses now.Expanded Class Period: Oct. 30, 2018 - July 26, 2023Lead Plaintiff Deadline: Oct. 2, 2023Visit: www.hbsslaw.com/investor-fraud/VZ Contact An Attorney Now: VZ@ hbsslaw.com 844-916-0895Verizon Communications, Inc. (VZ) Securities Fraud Class Action:The complaint alleges Verizon made false or misleading statements and failed to disclose that Verizon: (1) owns cables around the U.S. that are highly toxic due to their being wrapped in lead, and which harm company employees and non-employees alike; (2) faces potentially significant litigation risk, regulatory risk, and reputational harm as a result of its ownership of these lead-covered cables and the health risks stemming from their presence around the U.S; and (3) was warned about the damage and risks presented by these cables but did not disclose them as a potential threat to employee safety or to everyday people and communities.Investors began to learn the truth after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles spanning July 9 - July 26, 2023.These articles revealed that Verizon and others left behind toxic lead cables that they laid years ago. The WSJ also reported that independently tested samples from underwater cable sites revealed lead on the banks of the Mississippi, Willamette, and Passaic Rivers as well as in parts of Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere.The WSJ further reported that Verizon officials have known for decades that lead in its networks was a possible health risk to its workers, some workers have illnesses that can be linked to lead, and lead could leach into the environment.Finally, on July 26, 2023, the WSJ reported that the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency are investigating whether telecom companies knew of the potential risks posed by the abandoned lead cables."We're focused on investors' losses, Verizon's knowledge of potential liability stemming from its sprawling network of toxic lead-sheathed cables across the U.S., and whether the company historically understated its expenses," said Reed Kathrein, the Hagens Berman partner leading the investigation.If you invested in Verizon and have substantial losses, or have knowledge that may assist the firm's investigation, click here to discuss your legal rights with Hagens Berman.Whistleblowers: Persons with non-public information regarding VZ should consider their options to help in the investigation or take advantage of the SEC Whistleblower program. Under the new program, whistleblowers who provide original information may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of any successful recovery made by the SEC. For more information, call Reed Kathrein at 844-916-0895 or email VZ@ hbsslaw.com # # #About Hagens BermanHagens Berman is a global plaintiffs' rights complex litigation law firm focusing on corporate accountability through class-action law. The firm is home to a robust securities litigation practice and represents investors as well as whistleblowers, workers, consumers and others in cases achieving real results for those harmed by corporate negligence and fraud. More about the firm and its successes can be found at hbsslaw.com . Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.Attorney advertising.Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.Services may be performed by attorneys in any of our offices.Contact: Reed Kathrein, 844-916-0895SOURCE: Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 04:56:47
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 23, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (NYSE:HE), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 28, 2019 and August 16, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Hawaiian Electric and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-he/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 23, 2023.About the LawsuitHawaiian Electric and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company's wildfire prevention and safety protocols and procedures were inadequate to meet the challenges for which they were ostensibly designed; (ii) 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 (iii) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.The case is Bhangal v. Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-04332.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 01:03:05
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Announced today at the CGI 2023 Meeting; joint initiative between President Bill Clinton and entrepreneur and businessman Ziv Aviram will support efforts to combat the climate crisisNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / In a major step towards combating the escalating climate crisis, Israeli entrepreneur and businessman Ziv Aviram announced the launch of EcoBridge at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 Meeting today in New York. EcoBridge will be an innovative global investment fund with a focus on technology and innovation, aimed at bridging the gap between today's climate challenges and the transformative technology companies that hold the promise of a more sustainable tomorrow.EcoBridge is creating an Impact Advisory Board to gain the insight of its members and to help the fund with respect to its analysis of climate sustainability. President Bill Clinton will serve as chair of the Impact Advisory Board, advising EcoBridge on climate impact across different political, economic and government environments. The Impact Advisory Board will be supported by the Clinton Foundation, to align EcoBridge's investment focus with the educational and climate impact goals of the Foundation.The Mission of EcoBridge is to serve as the bridge between the entrepreneurial community and the business sector in addressing the climate crisis and the potential of technologies being developed worldwide. EcoBridge will seek to connect geographies and visions-linking the urgent climate needs of the present with the potentially boundless possibilities that technology affords for the future."The intersection of innovation and climate action is where true transformation occurs. EcoBridge is a catalyst for change," said Ziv Aviram, Co-founder & Chairman of EcoBridge. "We're not just investing in technologies; we're investing in a better world. Our choices today will shape the legacy we leave for generations to come." EcoBridge is a global Climate Tech Investment Fund that will invest in companies that promise to bridge the gap between present climate challenges and a cleaner, more sustainable future. EcoBridge is led by its co-founders: Ziv Aviram, Itai Lemberger, and Robert Citrone. In a landscape where the climate crisis looms large, EcoBridge's focus is unwaveringly centered on technology and innovation to shape a future that is both sustainable and resilient, setting it apart from traditional climate funds."Of the many challenges we face, there is perhaps none which requires our collective action as urgently as climate change," said President Clinton. "We know that when we work together, we can move the needle on this issue very quickly - and that there are passionate entrepreneurs and innovators all around the world already working to both advance proven climate solutions and pioneer new ones. This exciting new climate tech fund has the potential to unlock revolutionary solutions to this existential challenge." Full press release - attached to the mail + image and video attached in the link- https://we.tl/t-xCvquevRlO Website: https://ecobridgecapital.com/ Contact InformationMichal Gal +972-509420985Imbar Sensura +972-547593140Related FilesEcoBridge Press Release.docx SOURCE: EcoBridge
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 16:05:14
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Where Art Meets Sound and Tradition Meets InnovationNEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Artin-X proudly announces their release of the Harmoni Bluetooth Ceramic Speaker. This innovative device offers a sumptuous fusion of time-honored culture and cutting-edge audio technology, delivering an unparalleled auditory and visual experience. In a world where technology continually reshapes our lives, there's something enchanting about the fusion of traditional culture and cutting-edge innovation. That's precisely what you'll discover in the Artin-X Harmoni Bluetooth Ceramic Speaker, a unique audio masterpiece that captivates both the eyes and ears. With its remarkable craftsmanship, high-quality audio, and versatile features, Harmoni is a testament to the harmonious marriage of tradition and modern technology.Artin-X Harmoni Bluetooth Speaker is equipped with the following features:Seamless Connectivity with Bluetooth 5.1Harmoni boasts a stable and fast Bluetooth 5.1 chip with a range of up to 10 meters. This ensures easy and swift pairing with your devices, providing a seamless and uninterrupted musical journey.High-Quality Audio: A Sonic Masterpiece in Compact FormHarmoni defies its compact size by delivering outstanding sound quality. Equipped with high-quality drive units, it offers an extended frequency response range with minimal distortion. From the deepest bass to the highest treble, Harmoni faithfully reproduces every note, allowing users to experience the subtlest nuances of their favorite music.Small Size, Big Sound: Audiophile-Grade PerformanceFeaturing a 40mm driver, Harmoni boasts a wide frequency response range (55Hz-20KHz) and minimal distortion. Its high-quality sound reproduction technology ensures a CD-quality listening experience, no matter the genre.Portable & Lightweight Design: Music On the GoWeighing in at a mere 126 grams, the Harmoni speaker is ultra-compact and effortlessly fits in your bag. Its meticulous design, including a non-slip base and silicone case, ensures it can be used in various settings and scenarios.A Rich Heritage of CraftsmanshipCrafted in the historic pottery town of Jingdezhen located in Jiangxi province, the Harmoni Bluetooth Ceramic Speaker pays homage to centuries of artisanal excellence. It embraces the finest material, Kaolin clay, which is prized for its exceptional quality and five to twenty times more expensive than other pottery clays. Each Harmoni undergoes a meticulous firing process in a 2,408F kiln, resulting in a finished product that boasts a stunning jade-like texture, reminiscent of the exquisite porcelain treasures of ancient China. This level of craftsmanship truly sets Harmoni apart.72 Manual Manufacturing Processes: Uncompromising QualityTo ensure the utmost quality, each Harmoni speaker goes through an astonishing 72 manual manufacturing process across 8 production programs. Each step is a testament to the craftsmanship that goes into every unit. This commitment to excellence ensures that every speaker meets the highest standards of craftsmanship.Multi-Scene Versatility: Your Musical CompanionWith a built-in battery and a convenient Type-C charging port, Harmoni offers the freedom to enjoy music without being tethered to a power source. Harmoni will be your trusted companion on every journey.A Symphony of Sound and Artistry: A Ceramics and Music ConnectionThe Harmoni speaker's unique ceramic construction produces a chime-like sound when tapped, reminiscent of well-crafted porcelain. This celebrates the timeless connection between ceramics and music that harks back to ancient times when flutes were crafted from ceramics through the art of pottery. Its ceramic construction is not only visually stunning but also acoustically superior, making it an ideal choice for those who appreciate the finer nuances of orchestral music and vocals.Experience the Harmoni DifferenceWith Harmoni, you're not just getting a Bluetooth speaker; you're gaining access to a world of unparalleled sound quality and craftsmanship. Immerse yourself in a high-quality sound feast, connect two speakers for stereo sound, and revel in the luxury of portable, high-quality audio. Are you ready to embark on an auditory journey like never before? Look no further than the Artin-X Harmoni Bluetooth Speaker, where the rich tapestry of traditional culture intertwines with cutting-edge technology. Get ready to experience an opulent spectacle of visuals and sounds that harmoniously blend with time-honored traditions.Availability:Harmoni is scheduled for release on the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in September of 2023. The speakers offer remarkable value with a price point of 39.9 USD.About the company:With a deep appreciation for heritage and an eye for innovation, Artin-X aims to create products that transcend time and culture, offering unique and enriching experiences to its users. The name Artin-X embodies the concept of "Art is Anywhere," where "X" symbolizes everywhere in the world. Kaoyi is the parent company of the Artin-X brand, specializing in household electronic consumer products. Kaoyi believes that art is omnipresent, and permeates into every corner. Their mission is to seamlessly integrate the beauty and art we encounter in everyday life into their products, aiming to dissolve the cold, impersonal nature often associated with technology and instead convey a sense of humanistic care and warmth to people.Media Contact:Website: https://harmoni.artin-x.com/Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093532263923Contact Email: service@ artin-x.com SOURCE: Artin-X
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 07:23:15
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KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 19, 2023 - (ACN Newswire) - Mercury Securities Group Berhad (Mercury Securities or Company), debuted today on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Securities), opening at RM0.27 per share which represents a premium of 8% over the initial public offering (IPO) price of RM0.25 per share.Mercury Securities is listed under the stock name of MERSEC with stock code of 0285.Mercury Securities is an investment holding company and through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd (a Participating Organisation of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Securities) and a Recognised Principal Adviser by the Securities Commission Malaysia) (collectively Group) is principally involved in the provision of stockbroking, corporate finance advisory services and other related businesses such as margin financing facilities services, underwriting and placement services, as well as provision of nominee and custodian services.The Group raised a total of RM39.27 million through the IPO, from which RM26.86 million of the proceeds is allocated for margin financing facility services. RM2.88 million is allocated for the enhancement of digitalisation programme and marketing activities for the stockbroking business and operations of the Group. RM4.63 million of the proceeds will be used for working capital purposes while the remaining RM4.90 million is allocated for estimated listing expenses.Managing Director of Mercury Securities, Mr. Chew Sing Guan said, I would like to thank the SC and Bursa Securities for their continued stewardship of our capital market. I would also like to thank the entire Mercury Securities team and due diligence working group for their hard work to make today possible. Upon its listing on the ACE Market, Mercury Securities will have a market capitalisation of RM223.25 million based on the issue price of RM0.25 per share and its enlarged issued share capital of 893.00 million shares.Mercury Securities Group Berhad: https://www.mercurysecurities.com.my/
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 15:17:16
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The Food Processing Industry Distributor Shares EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment ResultsMARSHFIELD, WI / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Nelson-Jameson, a leading distributor in the food processing industry, announces additional investment in its corporate sustainability practices. The organization has set targets for its Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance (ESG) framework, and measures progress on a comprehensive, cross-category internal scorecard. Additionally, the company has completed the third-party EcoVadis sustainability assessment for the past two years and announced a 34% increase in its total year-over-year sustainability score.Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson For decades, Nelson-Jameson has operated as a golden-rule company, defined as a focus on maintaining a culture of honesty, integrity, and kindness, and a commitment to operating in an ethical manner with respect for people, the community, and the environment. Its further investment in ESG goals is an extension of its long-standing cultural ethos."Nelson-Jameson has a long history of industry leadership in stewardship and community best practices," says Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson. "ESG goals are embedded in every aspect of our operations, and we're proud to see our progress in year-over-year results from the EcoVadis Business Sustainability Index." EcoVadis, known as the world's largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings globally, has established a network of more than 100,000 rated companies of all sizes. Companies proactively choose to participate in its Business Sustainability Index, and receive a total score as measured against all rated organizations, and individual sub-scores that measure ratings as compared to peers and competitors. Nelson-Jameson received a total score of 47 this year, which is on par with the global average rating of all measured companies at 50.3. In sub-categories, Nelson-Jameson ranked higher than average in both Ethics and Labor and Human Rights (a score of 60 for each).Internally, Nelson-Jameson has outlined measurable, tangible goals in categories such as greenhouse gas reduction, sustainable supplier sourcing, and community investment. The company plans to participate in the EcoVadis Business Sustainability Index assessment on an annual basis.Nelson-Jameson plans to release its ESG annual report in January. By sharing the company's progress annually, NJ highlights its commitment to furthering its ESG goals which encompass everything from food safety and quality to sustainable supplier practices.More information on the company can be found at https://nelsonjameson.com About Nelson-JamesonNelson-Jameson is a fourth-generation, family-owned distributor to the food and beverage industry. From the company's roots in dairy production supplies, it grew to offer a broad range of food processing equipment and services that provide customers with everything they need to manufacture safe, high-quality products. Representing over 850 vendors and distributing over 60,000 products, Nelson-Jameson offers everything from standard equipment to custom production solutions and equipment repair. The company employs more than 260 people in five distribution centers across the United States and at its headquarters in the heart of dairy country in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The dairy industry leader also operates NEXT Logistics, offering delivery services from Wisconsin, California, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Texas distribution centers.For more than 75 years, Nelson-Jameson has supported food and dairy processors with products and solutions that keep pace with changing consumer tastes, manufacturing processes, and distribution channels. The company continues to be the supplier of choice for customers in all 50 states and international markets.Contact InformationKarolyn Raphael PR for Nelson-Jameson karolyn@ wingermarketing.com 312-494-0422SOURCE: Nelson-Jameson, Inc.
The Tiefenmesser Tourbillon is a new RESERVOIR x TELOS watch co-creation: this unique crafted piece is unveiled exclusively for Only Watch 2023, combining creative vintage display - 240 retrograde minute and jumping hour - with renowned high-watchmaking savoir-faire from Switzerland
With a new powerhouse and a new dimension, RESERVOIR proudly presents its very first in-house Tourbillon in collaboration with TELOS WATCH. Its a major technical step change for the emerging, wholly independent brand, achieved with the collaboration of the renowned movement manufacturer TELOS WATCH from La Chaux-de-Fonds, RESERVOIRs strategic partner since its earliest days.
Time for action !
RESERVOIR has carved out a reputation in mechanical watchmaking thanks to its expertise in displaying hours, minutes, and power reserves. Today, the brand is going from strength to strength. From its original caliber with the clever retrograde display that led to its success, it has now moved up a gear with the unveiling of its first in-house movement to be regulated by a tourbillon. The latter is exclusive to the brand which, as transparent as ever, is not ashamed to own to the ongoing collaboration with its strategic partner, without whom this achievement would never have seen the light of day: renowned movement manufacturer TELOS WATCH, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds and established in 2009 by watchmakers Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin.
This somewhat crazy project was made possible by the work of a really outstanding team that brought together all the creativity of RESERVOIR and the watchmaking expertise of TELOS WATCH, explains Francois Moreau, RESERVOIRs Founder and CEO.
Tiefenmesser Reservoir X Telos Watch
Reaffirming the commitment to Only Watch
Keen to demonstrate both consistency and long-term commitment, RESERVOIR has renewed its full support for the Only Watch charity auction. As was already the case two years ago with the Kanister Palladium, the event is once again the forum for a new phase in the life of the brand, here embodied by its in-house tourbillon. The goal is to further enhance RESERVOIRs horological stature and showcase the creative manufacturing power of TELOS WATCH to watchmaking community aficionados. And what better way to do that than by linking into its vintage maritime ethos? Indeed, the new tourbillon will form part of the Tiefenmesser collection.
TELOS WATCH co-founder Franck Orny had this to say: Im immensely proud of the fact that TELOS WATCH has developed this unique piece with RESERVOIR, combining its characteristic retrograde minutes and jumping hours display with an in-house grand tourbillon.
For his part, TELOS WATCHs other co-founder Johnny Girardin added: We really enjoyed designing and developing this unique piece for Only Watch even if it did present a huge technical challenge to be overcome in a short space of time .
Welcome on board
In joining this universe of measurements, gauges, nautical instruments and steam, the Tiefenmesser Tourbillon Only Watch has stayed with a case in the bronze characteristic of ships and submarines from the previous century, a source of inspiration and atmosphere for RESERVOIR. The display is pure RESERVOIR, bringing to mind the manometers and gauges on board submarines, including the depth gauge from which the watch takes its name. The styling is nautical in essence and horological in terms of technique, with a regulator-type enamel dial indicating retrograde minutes on a 240 arc, the brands style signature. The jumping hours are, typically, displayed in a large window in the remaining 120 degrees of space freed up by this arrangement.
Tiefenmesser Reservoir X Telos Watch
Horological roots
To accentuate the thoroughly horological dimension of the Tiefenmesser Tourbillon Only Watch, RESERVOIR and TELOS WATCH made several key decisions. On the technical side, they have opted for an imposing, untrammelled and graceful layout for the tourbillon, located at 6 oclock. With a rate of 4Hz and powered by a double barrel, it has an ample power reserve of 60 hours. Fitted with a fixed balance-spring support, balancing is achieved in a traditional manner, with the inertia adjusted by flyweights screwed directly onto the balance wheel. The diameter of the expansive tourbillon is in fact that of its escapement wheel. It completes one revolution every 60 seconds, meaning that it can double up as a second indicator but this is where style choices on the part of RESERVOIR come into play.
Rather than being fitted with a hand, the tourbillon features a large upper bridge in the shape of the RESERVOIR logo. Collectors will instantly recognise this as the hallmark of a wholly proprietary tourbillon, and undoubtedly take careful note of the fact. Another important style option concerns the hours and minutes dial. RESERVOIR has opted for an enamel rather than lacquered dial, giving it a very vintage sheen and refined elegance and making it remarkably easy to read. Its a highly traditional horological design choice that resonates well with the historic nature of the venerable tourbillon, for which a patent request was first filed in 1801. To further highlight the prestige of the tourbillon and ensure the plate offsets it in suitably imposing fashion, the latter is anthracite grey and bead-blasted before an NAC finish is applied. Informed enthusiasts will note the blue hand, in the finest watchmaking tradition.
A personalised caseback
To the rear, a transparent, non-reflective sapphire crystal reveals the oscillating weight. This too is a unique component, made exclusively for the Tiefenmesser Tourbillon Only Watch from tungsten and finished with a surface treatment to ensure it blends in perfectly with the bronze case. It has then been specially engraved with Chadburns, the markings to be found on the controls of historic submarines: two sectors (ahead and astern) between which sits the stop position, with the five engine speeds corresponding to each setting marked accordingly. All the care and attention to detail lavished on the TELOS WATCH movement for this Only Watch piece helps it really stand out for the occasion as does its bead-blasted anthracite finish.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 20:32:07
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HUNTSVILLE, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Kudos, an innovative new-to-industry convenience store brand developed by the Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association, Inc. (GHRA), is hosting grand opening celebrations in Huntsville, Texas: a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House on Thursday, Sept. 28, and a Grand Opening Community Appreciation Event recognizing Huntsville area heroes on Saturday, Sept. 30. GHRA leaders, Kudos owners and team members invite community heroes, neighbors, and media to celebrate the first ever Kudos at 601 State Highway 75 North, Huntsville, Texas 77320.Kudos Logo Logo of Kudos Kudos #1 in Huntsville is part of GHRA's ongoing growth and expansion plan to launch 250 new and remodeled Kudos convenience marketplace locations in three to five years. The newly remodeled Kudos in Huntsville was previously the Bar-T Travel Center and Truck Stop. The store is being rebranded and refreshed to provide customers with more high-quality options and experiences they need and want. Kudos in Huntsville offers a delicious breakfast program featuring fresh biscuits and breakfast sandwiches. Kudos also offers a lunch, snack, and early dinner menu that includes bone-in chicken, hand-breaded and grilled chicken sandwiches, wraps, and tenders. Kudos' personalized service options for busy customers on the go or taking a refreshing break include a made-to-order menu, self-service food kiosks, mobile order payments, drive-through and DoorDash delivery and, of course, sparkling clean restrooms.The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House as well as the Grand Opening Community Appreciation Event are designed to give attendees an opportunity to meet the smiling faces at Huntsville's newest convenience marketplace and food stop. The Ribbon Cutting and Open House will feature a Presentation of Colors by American Legion Sam Houston Post 95, remarks by business and community leaders, and a ceremony led by the Huntsville Walker County Chamber of Commerce. The Grand Opening Community Appreciation Event will recognize and celebrate Huntsville area first responders and heroes who will share information on safety and community resources. Several public officials, community partners, and business leaders are expected to attend the events.Kudos neighbors, community heroes, and other attendees will enjoy tastes of the delicious Kudos and Big Madre Tacos y Tortas cuisines. Guests also will experience:Samples from the kitchens of Kudos and Big Madre Tacos y Tortas;Treats from GHRA vendor partners, including Bimbo Bakeries USA, C4 Energy, Celsius, Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, Frito-Lay, Little Debbie, Mars Wrigley, Mondelez International, Monster Energy, Pepsi Co., Red Bull, Takis, and The Hershey Company; andAn opportunity to meet, mingle and receive valuable information from the Huntsville Fire Department, H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum of Texas, and other first responders and heroes.To read the full release, please visit https://www.ghraonline.com/press-releases/new-to-industry-kudos-to-host-grand-opening-events-in-huntsville/ Contact InformationMaKlay Simon Public Relations Consultant for GHRA maklay@ penninoandpartners.com 3252621862SOURCE: Greater Houston Retailers Cooperative Association, Inc.
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 2, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE:RTX), if they purchased the Company's securities between February 8, 2021 and July 25, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of RTX and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-rtx/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 2, 2023.About the LawsuitRTX and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.The alleged false and misleading statements and omissions include, but are not limited to, that: (i) the Company's Geared Turbofan (GTF) engine that powers hundreds of aircraft across many airlines had been affected by a quality control issue from at least 2015-2020; (ii) the quality control issue would require the Company to recall and reinspect many of its GTF airplanes, affecting customers and harming its business; and (iii) as a result, RTX's statements about its business, operations, and prospects, were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.The case is Peneycad v. RTX Corporation f/k/a Raytheon Technologies Corporation, et al., No. 23-cv-01035.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 17:01:40
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 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: 2023-09-19 04:53:11
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NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 19, 2023 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR), if they purchased the Company's securities between November 10, 2021 and April 18, 2023, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Shift4 and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-four/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 19, 2023.About the LawsuitShift4 and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On April 19, 2023, Blue Orca Capital reported 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," and that in 2022, the Company "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]."On this news, shares of Shift4 fell $5.95 per share, or 8.68%, to close at $62.59 per share on April 19, 2023.The case is O'Meara v. Shift4 Payments, Inc., et al., No. 23-cv-03206.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit http://ksfcounsel.com/ Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partnerlewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 13:30:34
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Silver X announces the immediate resumption of mining operations at its Nueva Recuperada Project in Central PeruDuring the brief pause, operational upgrades were completed that expect to enhance efficiency and profitability, including investment in equipment upgrades, workforce training, and safety measuresFreddy Mayor, has been appointed as COO and General Manager of the Company, replacing Mr. Enrique GarayVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Silver X Mining Corp. (TSX-V:AGX) (OTCQB:AGXPF) (F:AGX) ("Silver X" or the "Company"), a rapidly expanding silver developer and producer in Central Peru, is pleased to announce the resumption of its mining operations at the Nueva Recuperada Project ("Nueva Recuperada"), effective immediately. The resumption follows a brief mining activity pause, during which the Company made operational upgrades and implemented new protocols to optimize production.Operational Resumption Highlights at Nueva Recuperada:A revised production schedule targeting areas of higher certainty. The predominant source of feed will come from the Tangana 1 and Tangana 2 veins, while surface exploration of the Morlupo and Cauca veins has revealed promising high-grade areas that could significantly improve the base case.The recommencement of milling operations will be executed using stockpiled materials, ensuring a consistent and uninterrupted feed to the mill, thereby enhancing operational stability.Significant cost reductions have been achieved through a prudent reduction in headcount, the ongoing implementation of the sub-level stopping method ("SLS"), and the addition of operational measures aimed at minimizing underground transportation and mineral handling.A stronger alliance with the principal contractor is being established, fostering a collaborative working environment characterized by shared objectives, risk reduction, and economic incentives."Today marks a significant milestone in Silver X's journey," said Jose Garcia, CEO of Silver X. "The restart of Nueva Recuperada confirms our commitment to make Nueva Recuperada a profitable operation, based on improved safety standards, efficiency, head grades and costs." Operational Upgrades and Importance for InvestorsWhile mining activities were paused, the Company seized the opportunity to identify several costs reduction initiatives in key areas such as labour, mining method, mine haulage and milling efficiency. These initiatives are expected to yield improved production rates and decreased unit costs.The new operational upgrades not only enable the mine's production capabilities but also bolster the resilience of the business model in the face of market fluctuations. The Company is now well-positioned to execute its growth plans, establishing a strong foundation for long-term success.FIGURE 1: Aerial View of Nueva RecuperadaManagement ChangesSilver X is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Freddy Mayor Zevallos as Chief Operating Officer ("COO") and General Manager for the Peruvian subsidiary ("Recuperada SAC") of the Company, effective immediately. Mr. Mayor takes over these roles following the resignation of Mr. Enrique Garay from his position as COO. Mr. Mayor brings over four decades of mining engineering expertise, garnered through his tenure at numerous companies in Peru. His extensive career has included significant roles such as General Manager at Hochschild Mining, Vice President for Bolivia at Glencore, and General Manager for Silver X Mining between 2019 and 2021.Jose Garcia, CEO of Silver X Mining Corp. stated, "On behalf of our management team and Board of Directors, I extend a warm welcome to Freddy. Freddy is a distinguished mining professional, and his association with Silver X dates back to our private company days. As a key member of the founding team, Freddy is now assuming leadership of our operations to ensure the preservation of the work culture that underpinned our company's performance in the past. We deeply appreciate Enrique Garay's valuable contributions and insights during his time with us and wish him the very best in his future endeavors." Qualified PersonMr. A. David Heyl, B.Sc., C.P.G who is a qualified person under NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release for Silver X. Mr. A. David Heyl is a consultant for Silver X.About Nueva Recuperada ProjectNueva Recuperada, situated in Peru's Huachocolpa Mining District, hosts the Tangana Mining Unit, comprising 230 mining concessions spanning 20,472 hectares. Silver X consolidated these concessions from Buenaventura, Pan American Silver, and Peruvian Metals, benefiting from robust local community support in this historically significant mining region. The project features a processing plant with a processing capacity of up to 720 tonnes per day, and over 60-year silver production history. The plant yields two types of concentrates, a gold/silver/lead concentrate, and a zinc concentrate. The Company is actively updating the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), fostering collaborative discussions with stakeholders, and reinforcing its strong social license to operate, committed to minimizing environmental impact while sharing the economic benefits of resource development with the community.About Silver X Mining Corp.Silver X is a rapidly expanding silver developer and producer. The Company owns the +20,000-hectare Nueva Recuperada Silver District in Central Peru and produces silver, gold, lead, and zinc from the district's Tangana Mining Unit. Our mission is to be a premier silver company delivering outstanding value to all stakeholders and we aim to achieve this by consolidating and developing undervalued assets, creating value by adding resources and increasing production while aspiring to social and environmental excellence. For more information visit our website at www.silverxmining.com On Behalf of the BoardJose M. GarciaPresident, CEO and DirectorFor further information, please contact:Sebastian WahlVice President, Corporate Development+1 647 259 6901 x 101s.wahl@ silverxmining.com Paola RicardoInvestor Relationsir@ silverxmining.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" InformationThis press release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation ("forward-looking information"). Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expe
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 00:12:05
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 18, 2023 / The Green Show, an annual event aimed at advancing sustainable fashion, made its debut at New York Fashion Week. Held at the BondSt Hudson Yards, the creators and producers of the event, La Faye & Powell, delivered an inaugural event that promoted the galvanizing power of fashion as a force for positive change.The Green Show Panelists Roman Bolli (Moderator), Erin Dana Lichy, Khary Simon, Selena Hill, and Morgan KellyPhoto courtesy of Alyssa Lester The Spring/Summer 2024 collection by Dur Doux, was a runway experience that showcased the synergy between sustainability and style. The "Sous Marine" collection by Dur Doux looked to fully immerse the audience in the depths of its oceanic theme, allowing art and sustainable fashion to form a singular offering.The clothing told the story of underwater life through shapes, textures, and colors. Flowing kaftans appeared as ocean waves, ruffled bandeaus took on the role of playful sea creatures, and floor-length shirts adorned with coral-inspired patterns helped to transport attendees deep into Dur Doux's underwater fantasy.By crafting garments from eco-friendly Italian knits, recycled materials, and OEKO-TEX certified fabrics, the fashion house was able to demonstrate a tangible commitment to sustainability in real-time. The debut of one and two-piece swimwear and beachwear designs gave attendees sustainable fashion choices for the upcoming summer season. Runway looks were styled by Christine Manthey, enriched by Tejahn Burnett's shoe designs, and ornamented by Sophie Blake's exclusive jewelry collection.The Green Show was conceived not just as a fashion event, but as a vehicle to promote and reinforce the vision of a more sustainable future. Considering the fashion industry's environmental impact, The Green Show found it a necessity to collaborate with eco-conscious brands to seek out innovative solutions.Away from the runway, The Green Show hosted a panel discussion, led by Roman Bolli of South Pole, which brought together a diverse group of sustainability experts. TV personality and interior designer Erin Dana Lichy, Executive Director of GLAM4GOOD Morgan Kelly, award-winning journalist and editor for Black Enterprise Selena Hill, and VP Creative Director at Hearst Khary Simon all provided industry insights on driving sustainability through eco-friendly manufacturing, ethical sourcing, and circular fashion initiatives. Topics included, but were not limited to, sustainable lifestyle changes, corporate solutions, ethical production practices, and the role of fashion in mitigating climate change.The event concluded with an after-party featuring sushi by BondSt and cocktails from Xplorer Spirits, Tanduay Rum, and Smoke Lab Vodka, set against the backdrop of the Hudson River. The commitment to sustainability also extended to sponsors and partners. ELEMED provided eleBoost Vitamin B12 shots during the event, promoting wellness and eco-conscious living. The gift bags included eco-friendly products such as GOODAL Vitamin C Dark Spot Serum, Garnier Micellar Water, Physicians Formula, and assorted fragrances from Banana Republic."Fashion touches every aspect of our lives. The Green Show exemplifies the power of the fashion industry to influence business and lifestyle choices, including the power to choose electrified transportation over fossil fuels. Fuel cell-electric cars, trucks and buses, powered by hydrogen, are a social win as they produce only water at the tailpipe, with a virtually seamless fit to the supply chain; what is more sustainable than that?! The Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership and its title sponsors, Iwatani Corporation, Air Liquide, Hyundai and Anglo American say, "Brava!" to La Faye & Powell for an amazing display of talent and spreading the word!" affirms David Park, Industry Affairs Director, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership.The Green Show's inaugural event marked the beginning of its mission to transform the fashion industry through championing sustainability, ethical practices, and eco-conscious living. With upcoming events scheduled in Dubai, Paris, London, and Milan, The Green Show is ready to magnify the global sustainability movement. By leveraging the power of fashion and New York Fashion Week, The Green Show seeks to redefine the industry's norms and make sustainability not just a choice but a way of life.By leveraging fashion's influence and New York Fashion Week's reach, The Green Show looks to redefine industry conventions, making sustainability not merely an option but an ingrained way of life.About The Green ShowThe Green Show is a sustainability event series, created by La Faye & Powell, focused on showcasing and promoting eco-conscious fashion. The Green Show aims to make a significant impact on the fashion industry and beyond, incorporating panel discussions during events to provide innovative solutions for a sustainable future. Launched in the United States during New York Fashion Week, future global collaborations are scheduled in Dubai, Paris, London, and Milan. The Green Show has collaborated with a number of eco-friendly businesses ranging from Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership to health & wellness brands, transportation & automotive companies, to the beauty industry. The Green Show is committed to a future where the environmental, social, and economic impacts of human activities around the globe are negligible, and building sustainable communities and economies are the norm.For more information about The Green Show and its vision for a sustainable future, please visit www.thegreenshowatfashionweek.com or contact:Jasmine Blandfordjasmine@ lafayeandpowell.com SOURCE: The Green Show
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 16:03:11
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New Texas Franchise Republic Abstract & Settlement Services LLC LaunchedCORPUS CHRISTI, TX / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / TitleEase, a title and settlement services franchise business, has announced the launch of a new franchisee Republic Abstract & Settlement Services LLC."We are delighted to welcome our newest franchisee, Republic Abstract & Settlement Services LLC," stated Joseph D'Urso, CEO of TitleEase. "Jatin Patel possesses a strong business acumen and an extensive network. Christal Sargent is their Escrow Officer. She brings 25 years of experience in the title business with nine of those as an Escrow Officer and 20 of those years in Corpus Christi. She is a wealth of information and is happy to help however she can. We anticipate exceptional outcomes from this franchise and are eager to witness the impact of their dedicated focus on enhancing the customer experience. Their commitment to excellence positions them for significant success." "Launching my Texas Title Company with TitleEase has been an absolute game-changer. The support and guidance I received from their team throughout the setup process were invaluable," said Jatin Patel, Owner of Republic Abstract & Settlement Services LLC. "Their unwavering support and innovative tools made the process easy. We are excited to be a part of the TitleEase team and grow our business." TitleEase provides a simplified, streamlined and fully compliant path for mortgage originators, servicers, and real estate professionals to own and operate a title agency without the burden and expense of building a platform from scratch. Franchisees own a tangible asset with its own enterprise value.Find out more at www.titleeasefranchise.com About TitleEaseTitleEase LLC is a member of the Lincoln Family of Companies, which also includes Lincoln Abstract & Settlement Services. The company is a franchisor of real estate title and settlement services businesses, offering franchisees a turnkey title & closing business that is fully compliant and ready to run. TitleEase offers an innovative way for real estate-focused entrepreneurs to enter the title business quickly and efficiently while leaning on its expertise. Call TitleEase at (877) 696-5462 to learn about its franchise opportunities. For more information, visit the company online at www.titleeasefranchise.com Contact InformationJason Bilbruck Vice President of Business Development jbilbruck@ titleeasefranchise.com 877-696-5462SOURCE: TitleEase LLC
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Universal Copper Ltd. ("Universal Copper" or the "Company") (TSX Venture:UNV)(Frankfurt:3TA2) is pleased to announce it has re-negotiated the previous agreement with Doctors Investment Group Ltd. (the "Vendor") whereby the companies have agreed to amend the remaining payment schedule for the Poplar Copper Project ("Poplar") as set out in the original Option Agreement dated November 17th, 2017 as amended March 9, 2018, May 17, 2018, and May 25, 2019.The Company maintains its option to earn a 100% interest in the Poplar property located in British Columba, Canada, and in consideration for extending the time in which to fulfil the Company's obligation as set out below, the Company and the Vendor have agreed to the following:Schedule of remaining Cash Payments as follows:Pay $150,000 to the Vendor by November 17th, 2023; andPay $250,000 to the Vendor by December 15th, 2024; andPay $500,000 to the Vendor by December 15th, 2025; andPay $750,000 to the Vendor by December 15th, 2026; andPay $4,000,000 to the Vendor by December 15th, 2027.Clive Massey, Universal Copper's CEO, stated, "We are pleased that Universal has successfully negotiated an amended payment schedule with the vendor. This will enable the Company to focus its financial resources on exploiting the exploration potential that we believe exists at the Poplar Copper Project. We are eager and optimistic to expand the higher-grade mineralization as well as initiating further exploration on some of the outlying targets." About PoplarThe 61,566-hectare Poplar Project hosts a current undiluted indicated mineral resource of 152.3 million tonnes grading 0.32 per cent copper, 0.009 per cent molybdenum, 0.09 g/t gold and 2.58 g/t silver and an undiluted inferred mineral resource of 139.3 million tonnes grading 0.29 per cent copper, 0.005 per cent molybdenum, 0.07 g/t gold and 4.95 g/t silver. The mineral resource estimate has a cut-off grade of 0.20% copper. Universal Copper cautions investors mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability.Poplar lies in a historic mining region, located 35km from the Huckleberry Mine and 42km from Equity Silver Mine, where low snowfalls will allow year-round work. The road accessible property is bisected by a 138 Kva Hydro electric line and lies 88km from the rail head at Houston and 400km from the deep-water port at Prince Rupert by rail.Sources of information in Figure:1. Giroux, G.H., 2012. MINERAL RESOURCE UPDATE On The POPLAR DEPOSIT, OMINECA MINING DIVISION BRITISH COLUMBIA. Prepared for Lions Gate Metals Inc. Effective Date: March 30, 2012.2. Norton, C., Huang, J., and Lui, D., Updated Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate on the Berg Project, British Columbia. A NI43-101 Technical Report prepared by Tetra Tech Canada Inc. for Surge Copper Corp. EFFECTIVE DATE: MARCH 9, 2021.3. Christensen, K., Connaughton, G.R., and Ogryzolo, P., 2011. TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE MAIN ZONE OPTIMIZATION HUCKLEBERRY MINE OMINECA MINING DIVISION BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. Prepared for Huckleberry Mines Ltd. andImperial Metals Corporation November 22, 2011 The effective date of the exploration data is September 1, 2011, Amended May 11, 2016.4. Burga D., Barry J., Grant D., Hutter J., Puritch E., Sutcliffe, R.H., and Wu, Y., 2019. INITIAL MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE AND TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE NUMBER 3 VEIN, SILVER QUEEN PROPERTY, OMINECA MINING DIVISION, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. Prepared for NEW NADINA EXPLORATIONS LIMITED NI 43-101 & 43-101F1 TECHNICAL REPORT by P&E Mining Consultants Inc. Effective Date: July 15, 20195. Sun Summit Minerals Corp. News Release dated May 11, 2021.Qualified PersonThe technical content of this New Release has been reviewed and approved by R. Tim Henneberry, P. Geo (BC) a member of the Company's Advisory Board and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.About Universal CopperUniversal Copper Ltd. is a Canadian-based copper exploration company focused on the acquisition and exploration of copper properties. The Company's management team has many years of experience in exploration, finance, and efficient public company management. Universal's current focus is on advancing the Poplar Copper Project, one of the most advanced pre-production copper projects in British Columbia with a historic 43-101 resource.For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.universalcopper.com ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS"Clive Massey"Clive H. MasseyPresident & CEOFor further information, please contact:Dave LanglaisPhone: (778) 316-5105Email: dave@ universalcopper.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking" statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although Universal Copper Ltd. believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of Universal Copper Ltd. management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, Universal Copper Ltd. undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.###SOURCE: Universal Copper Ltd.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-09-19 15:30:38
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Ximen Mining Corp. ( TSX.v:XIM)(FRA:1XMA)(OTCQB:XXMMF) (the "Company" or "Ximen") announces an initial interpretation of results from an airborne magnetic survey has been completed for its Amelia property, located at historic Gold Camp McKinney near Rock Creek in southern British Columbia.Figure 1. Amelia Property map showing survey area.The Amelia property covers the historic Cariboo-Amelia gold mine in Camp McKinney near Rock Creek, BC in the Greenwood Mining Division. Over its history, the Cariboo-Amelia mine produced 81,602 ounces of gold and 32,439 ounces of silver from 112,254 tonnes milled (BC Minfile). The mine is part of a 4-kilometer system of gold-quartz veins and historic workings. Ximen is exploring for extensions to the historic mine and to discover new parallel mineralized zones.A drone UAV magnetic survey was completed over the core part of Ximen's Amelia property (Figure 1 above). The survey was flown at a height of 35 m on lines oriented at azimuth 80 and spaced 50 m, for a total of 127.92 line km. The purpose of the survey was to aid interpretation of the geological units beneath cover, and to identify de-magnetized areas potentially associated with alteration and mineralization.Figure 2. Drone Magnetic survey map (total magnetic intensity - reduced to pole) and features identified.Several magnetic anomalies (high and low) were identified in the survey. The western area shows a higher magnetic signature in the TMI-RTP map (Figure 2 above), that is interpreted as a Jurassic granodioritic intrusion, which has been mapped in the western area of the project. The magnetic high indicates it extends further east than mapped. Two other magnetic highs were identified towards the central-northern area as well as one in the northeast that are interpreted as possible intrusive bodies.Magnetic lows were identified in the central area as well as in the northeast (2). The stratigraphy of the central and eastern area consists of Paleozoic (Anarchist Schist) comprised of interlayered quartzite and metavolcanic units, and a limestone unit. The magnetic lows possibly represent areas where non-magnetic quartzites are predominant.Figure 3. Image of the drone magnetic survey (1st vertical derivative) showing lineaments and targets identifiedLineaments were identified using the 1st vertical derivative map (Figure 3 Above). The lineaments were separated in high and low magnetic lineaments. The high magnetic lineaments are interpreted as either highly magnetic layers within the interlayered Anarchist Schist unit or magnetic dikes and intrusions. The low magnetic lineaments are interpreted either as faults, lesser magnetic units within the interlayered quartzite, metavolcanic, and limestone package, or known and previously mined quartz veins.The known mineralized veins at Amelia show a moderate correlation with low magnetic lineaments. In the southwestern area that is dominated by magnetic highs, a prominent low magnetic lineament coincides with the Anarchist vein that is hosted within granodiorite. This magnetic low may correspond to hydrothermally altered granodiorite associated with the quartz vein.New exploration target areas were selected based on the correlation of magnetic low lineaments with quartz veins (Figure 3 Above). They include two located north of the Anarchist vein, two west of the Eureka and Gold Hill veins, one that is the southern extension of the Fontenoy vein, and one that is located southwest of the Fontenoy vein.Readers are cautioned that historical records referred to in this News Release have been examined but not verified by a Qualified Person. Further work is required to verify that historical records referred to in this News Release are accurate.Dr. Mathew Ball, P.Geo., VP Exploration for Ximen Mining Corp. and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, approved the technical information contained in this News Release.On behalf of the Board of Directors,"Christopher R. Anderson"Christopher R. Anderson,President, CEO and Director604 488-3900Investor Relations: 604-488-3900, ir@ XimenMiningCorp.com About Ximen Mining Corp.Ximen Mining Corp. owns 100% interest in three of its precious metal projects located in southern BC. Ximen`s two Gold projects, The Amelia Gold Mine and The Brett Epithermal Gold Project. Ximen also owns the Treasure Mountain Silver Project adjacent to the past producing Huldra Silver Mine. Currently, the Treasure Mountain Silver Project is under an option agreement. The option partner is making annual staged cash and stocks payments as well as funding the development of the project. The company has also acquired control of the Kenville Gold mine near Nelson British Columbia which comes with surface and underground rights, buildings, and equipment.Ximen is a publicly listed company trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XIM, in the USA under the symbol XXMMF, and in Frankfurt, Munich, and Berlin Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbol 1XMA and WKN with the number as A2JBKL.This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the receipt of TSX Venture Exchange approval and the exercise of the Option by Ximen. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "aims," "potential," "goal," "objective," "prospective," and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "can," "could" or "should" occur, or are those statements, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions that forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made and they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should chan
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has filed an appeal at the Supreme Court seeking to nullify the judgement of the Presidential Election Petition Court which affirmed President Bola Tinubus victory at the 25 February presidential poll.
A five-member panel of the Presidential Election Petition Court led by Haruna Tsammani, on 6 September, dismissed Atikus petition challenging Mr Tinubus election.
The court, in the judgement, similarly dismissed the petition filed by the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and a political party the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
The five-member court held that the petitioners failed to prove in their separate suits allegations of electoral fraud against Nigerias electoral commission, INEC and Mr Tinubu.
But Atiku and Mr Obi vowed to appeal the outcome of the suits at the apex court.
In making real his vow, Atiku filed a notice of appeal premised on 35 grounds.
The former Nigerias Vice President, through his team of lawyers, led by Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), argued that the PEPCs judgement occasioned grave error and miscarriage of justice in its legal reasoning by upholding Mr Tinubus election as president.
In the document dated 18 September filed at the Supreme Court, Mr Uche contended that the presidential election court failed to adequately evaluate his clients evidence before reaching its conclusions.
The lawyer faulted the courts use of disparaging words against Atiku which evinced bias.
In another ground of appeal, Mr Uche told the Supreme Court that the lower courts conclusions did not represent the true picture of the grounds of his petition.
He further contended, amongst other issues, that the presidential election court erred in law when it failed to nullify the presidential election held on 25 February 2023 on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, when by evidence before the tribunal, INEC conducted the election based on grave and gross misrepresentation contrary to the principles of the Electoral Act 2022, based on the doctrine of legitimate expectation.
Electronic transmission of results
He further argued that the lower court erred by refusing to uphold the mandatoriness of electronic transmission of results for confirmation and verification of final results introduced by the Electoral Act 2022 aimed at boosting election transparency and integrity.
The PEPC had in its verdict said Atiku was unable to prove that the Electoral Act compels INEC to collate the election results using the electronic collation system.
Atikus lawyer referred the Supreme Court to INECs sole witness, Lawrence Bayodes testimony while being cross-examined that the deployment of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and IReV was to guarantee the transparency of the electoral process and the integrity of the results.
Pointing out another grouse with the PEPC, Mr Uche faulted the courts shifting of the burden of proof on Atiku instead of INEC concerning the issue of non-compliance with electoral laws.
He explained that presiding officers from polling units having confirmed selective transmission of parliamentary election results as against the presidential poll, the onus shifted to INEC to call evidence to explain the selective transmission and the vague excuse of technical glitch.
Referencing the Electoral Act, the appellant said the lower court erred when it failed to to invalidate Mr Tinubus election on account of INECs conduct of the poll in grave and gross misrepresentation of the Electoral Act and doctrine of legitimate expectation.
25 per cent of FCT vote
The lawyer also anchored the appeal on the issue of Mr Tinubus failure to 25 per cent votes in two-thirds of the states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Mr Uche said the interpretation of the word and I. section 134(2)(b) of the constitution is conductive and not disjunctive.
He said the provisions of the section are clear and unambiguous, adding that a literary and and ordinary construction will best define the intention of the framers of the constitution.
Neither Mr Tinubu nor Atiku scored up to 25 per cent votes in the FCT. Labour Partys Peter Obi won majority votes of lawful votes cast in Abuja by landslide.
But Atiku is urging the court to order a rerun of the presidential election on account of Mr Tinubus inability to garner 25 per cent votes in the FCT.
Expunging of 13 witnesses evidence
Atiku further contended that the lower caused grave injustice when it expunged the witness statements on oath of 13 out of his 27 witnesses from its records.
The presidential election court in its ruling had said Atiku failed to file his petition alongside the witnesses statements on oath.
The long and short of all the foregoing is that the objection of the respondents to the witnesses statementswhich did not accompany the petition as required by the First Schedule of the Electoral Act, is hereby sustained and the said witnesses statements, being incompetent are hereby struck out and expunged from the records of this court, the PEPC had ruled.
Contesting the issue, Mr Uche said the PEPC expunged the entire evidence of the 13 material witnesses including Mike Enahoro-Ebah who tendered Mr Tinubus academic records from the University of Chicago in the US.
Giving reasons for the non-inclusion of the witnesses statements on oath in the petition at the point of filing, Mr Uche explained that these witnesses were essentially persons whose witnesses statements on oath could not be practically ready at the time of preparing and filing the petition.
Statisticians report
He also argued that PEPCs discountenance of Atikus statisticians report was wrong.
The lawyer informed the Supreme Crourt that it had during the pre-hearing sessions of the PEPC informed the court that it was going to call a statistician and would be relying on the statisticians report.
There was nothing unfair or negating the rule since INEC and Mr Tinubu as well as other respondents in the suit cross-examined the statistician and interrogated his report, the lawyer said.
Prayers
Atiku urged the court to set aside the lower courts affirmation of Mr Tinubus election and order INEC to conduct a second election (run-off) between him and Mr Tinubu.
He urged the court to declare that Mr Tinubu did not secure majority of lawful votes cast during the presidential election on 25 February, 2023.
The former Vice President also prayed the court to hold that Mr Tinubu was not qualified to vie for Nigerias Presidency at the time he did on account of his conviction in the US for alleged drugs trafficking.
In addition, the appellant urged the court to set aside the decision of the lower which affirmed Mr Tinubus victory.
The election to the office of the president of Nigeria held on 25 February 2023 be nullified and a fresh election (rerun) ordered, Atiku prayed in the alternative.
Mr Tinubu and his party, the APC, as well as INEC we have the opportunity to file their respondents briefs to oppose the appeal.
Meanwhile, no date has been slated for the hearing of the appeal by the Supreme Court.
Mr Obi is expected to file his own appeal before the 14 days window from the day of judgement as set by law closes.
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The artist and explorer embodies the Overseas collections
Through her majestic and grandiose pastel works based on some of the world's most remote places, American artist Zaria Forman testifies to the impact of changing landscapes. A committed and uncompromising explorer, she has become the new face of Vacheron Constantin's "One of Not Many" campaign and embodies the Overseas collection alongside Cory Richards.
Since 2018, the "One of not Many" campaign has brought together personalities whose way of being in the world reflects the values dear to Vacheron Constantin. Values that have made Vacheron Constantin a recognised and respected brand within the exclusive circle of Haute Horlogerie connoisseurs. Alongside musician Benjamin Clementine, designer Ora Ito, photographer and explorer Cory Richards and Haute Couture designer Yiqing Yin, artist Zaria Forman now joins the Maisons circle of talents.
"The quest for excellence and a taste for adventure, passion and innovation, elegance and tradition, art and culture in all their forms have characterised the spirit of our Maison since its founding in 1755. This visionary, sensitive and demanding outlook is reflected in Zaria Forman's artistic approach and territory of expression. She is a socially committed artist keenly aware that art conveys emotions and eager to share Beauty with the public, said Louis Ferla, CEO Vacheron Constantin.
As Zaria Forman points out:I knew nothing about High Watchmaking and discovered this incredible world through Vacheron Constantins lens. I was amazed by the craftspeople who ply their trade within the Manufacture, by their passion and vocation, and, above all, their handcrafted work, which reminds me of my own: modelling with my fingertips; enjoying a tactile and sensual relationship with matter in a process of creation and transmission; making a personal imprint on time and giving it a voice. The landscapes I love and depict in my work illustrate the passage of time, and its impact on the world and on humankind."
Zaria Forman is "One of Not Many" Vacheron Constantin
An artist open to the world
Born in 1982 in the state of Massachussets, Zaria Forman is based in New York, yet her art is rooted in the most remote regions of the globe. With her camera slung over her shoulder, she has been travelling the planet for over 15 years documenting changing landscapes by collecting images and memories that she then reproduces in pastel on large-format paper, exhibited in museums and galleries around the world. During her expeditions, Zaria Forman takes thousands of photos and videos of these landscapes in transition. Back in her New York studio, she then combines these images with the memory of her experience on the ground to create strikingly beautiful large-scale compositions.
The intricate details of a snow dusted glacier, the blue-tinged reflections of ice in water, and foam-crested waves are all elements that the artist renders by smudging soft pastel pigments on paper, without tools, using only her fingertips or the palm of her hand. A meditative approach giving life to sensitive works that are realistic in every sense of the word.
Zaria Formans work is shown in museums and galleries around the world. Among her major exhibitions, the artist took part in Banksy's Dismaland, a gloomy funfair about the decadent excesses of our society. She was an artist-in-residence aboard the National Geographic Explorer in Antarctica and was responsible for the very first permanent exhibitions of polar art on Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic Endurance and National Geographic Resolution ships.
A socially committed artist, Zaria Forman is also an uncompromising explorer. Starting in 2016, she has flown several times with NASAs Operation IceBridge, airborne scientific missions over Antarctica, Greenland and the Canadian Arctic, which have helped to map changes in earths ice over the last decade. Zaria Forman has drawn unique material from these various flights over both poles to create majestic works depicting the beauty and fragility of our planet.
"One of Not Many" Campaign Overseas Vacheron Constantin
Interview with Zaria Forman
How would you define your work?
My aim as an artist is to offer viewers an opportunity to experience isolated places that they might not otherwise have the chance to visit. I work on a large scale, in order to envelop the viewer, and transport them to that place and time. We take action and make decisions based on our emotions, more than anything else. Art has a special ability to tap into our emotions. I show the beauty of what we stand to lose in my drawings in order to inspire people. When you fall in love with something, you want to protect it.
Vacheron Constantin is particularly committed to transmitting values and know-how. Does this philosophy echo your own sensibility and artistic approach?
Definitely. Stirring emotions, bearing witness to the natural world, attention to detail and beauty: these are the things about Vacheron Constantin that I admire. We share the same passion for the world around us and the same interest in the passage of time, and all that entails. Time is the key element in both Vacheron Constantins work and my own. The immense time it takes for a glacier to grow, the moment in time that I experience sunlight glistening on the side of an iceberg, the split second I capture it in a photo, the many weeks or months I spend exploring that moment in all its details to complete a drawing, the time it takes for the ice to melt. I want viewers to consider the future by looking through the prism of history that lives inside glacial remains. I want to play a part in helping to preserve beauty, as Vacheron Constantin does with its artisans, their expertise, the heritage and culture of watchmaking. We are both in a process of creation and preservation.
The Overseas collection that you represent in the "One of Not Many" campaign evokes exploration and openness to the world. What did you try to express during the shoot?
I am pretty much in a state of constant awe when traversing landscapes. I wanted to express that, in all its authenticity. The fragility of ice contrasts the reliability of an Overseas watch. Both tell time, and their intricacies, excellence and beauty run parallel.
On the occasion of this shoot, you drew material for a new series of unique works of art Fellsfjara, Iceland one of which is destined for Vacheron Constantin. What was your approach?
My goal as an artist is to give viewers an experience of remote places they might not have the chance to visit. I believe that feeling awe for a place leads to a desire to protect it. But after experiencing that emotional surge, how, as artists, can we inspire commitment? I draw calving glaciers in frigid bays and the eroding beaches of fragile coastlines. I am one of many artists whose work is fuelled by fascination with polar regions. Ive become increasingly fascinated by the details of melting ice and how they may help us understand how glaciers form, shift, melt, and affect us all. The ice at Fellsfjara, Iceland, that I visited in September 2021, tells the story of the past and our future.
I was captivated by a phenomena I saw there, through the ice. Chunks of recently calved, compressed glacier ice were washed up onto a black sand beach. White capped waves splashed against the shoreline, and when viewed through the ice, the white ocean foam transformed into a light dance, distorted by the ice. The light moved through frozen layers, and around air bubbles perhaps ancient ones, that were locked inside when the ice was firt formed. Ive made sound recordings of these bubbles popping open as glacial ice melts and releases them, and the familiar, satisfying crackle no doubt played a part in mesmerizing me in Fellsfjara, Iceland. This new body of work, including the drawing for Vacheron Constantin, will explore this phenomena in great detail, magnifying textures and surfaces in the ice that I have never before attempted in my work. It is an up close and personal view of melting glacier ice.
Sum-up
American artist Zaria Forman has joined Vacheron Constantin's "One of Not Many" talent circle alongside Benjamin Clementine, Ora Ito, Cory Richards and Yiqing Yin. She is becoming the new face of the Overseas collection, for which the advertising campaign was produced in Iceland. During the shoot, Zaria Forman once again collected her own images and memories, constituting the raw material for a series of drawings, video work, and sculpture, entitled Fellsfjara, Iceland, of which work no. 3 was created for Vacheron Constantin.
Three communities in Shinkafi Local Government, Zamfara State have been forced to pay N3 million to a notorious banditry kingpin, who is known by the alias, Dan Bokolo, to avoid being attacked, PREMIUM TIMES has learned.
The terrorist is believed to be angry with residents of the communities- Kamarawa, Sabuwar Kamarawa and Gebe for allegedly providing security operatives with the information used in the arrest of his brother, Abdullahi.
The payment of the protection levy is against the stand of the governor of the state, Dauda Lawal, who maintained the state government would not dialogue with the terrorists.
Local sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the terrorists brother, Abdullahi, was arrested at a market in the area when he had gone to transact business. It was alleged that some members of the community told security operatives of his whereabouts.
That was the beginning of our troubles, a resident of Kamarawa who sought anonymity told PREMIUM TIMES. Dan Bokolo was angry because he was told that it was people from any of these three communities that gave information that led to the arrest of his brother.
The terrorist was planning to attack the communities when elders in the area decided to reach out to him for a peace deal.
Our elders were able to convince some Fulani elders that Abdullahi was arrested by the security agents and it was not anyone from our community that gave out the information. He (Dan Bokolo) was convinced that our people didnt betray his brother but he still said we must buy peace from him.
After a series of negotiations, the terrorist, Dan Bokolo agreed that the three villages should pay and fine of N3 million for telling on his brother. He had originally asked for N6 million.
Basharu Guyawa, a peace advocate and a human rights activist, said payment of protection levies has become a norm in eastern Sokoto and Zamfara.
He said he spoke to various residents in Kamarawa who told him the communities have raised the money the terrorists demanded.
Bello Turji [another notorious terrorist] had to intervene for Dan Bokolo to even listen to the people of the communities. The problem is how sure are we that he is going to keep to his promise not to attack the area? Mr Guyawa said.
Terrorists in the state and other areas especially in Sokoto and Katsina are fond of taxing residents of local communities.
Last year, PREMIUM TIMES reported exclusively how residents of 14 communities of Anka Local Government paid N19 million and provided a canoe to terrorists to avoid being attacked. The payment was also a levy the terrorist demanded to allow the agrarian communities to cultivate their farms.
Several communities have also been forced into paying millions of naira by the terrorists as documented by PREMIUM TIMES in a month-long investigation
Zamfara governor reacts
The Senior Special Assistant to Zamfara governor on broadcast and public affairs, Mustapha Jafaru, said the state government was not aware and was not a part of the agreement.
Weve always maintained that well not dialogue with terrorists in Zamfara State. Dauda (the governor) has always said that he would not negotiate with them because theyre criminals. So if the communities are discussing with bandits, we dont have anything to do with that arrangement and were not part of it because thats not our style.
Ever since we came onboard, weve been trying to curtail the activities of these terrorists through different ways but dialogue is not one of the ways were following. Well continue to protect the people of Zamfara State as weve been doing, Mr Jafaru said.
He said during the campaign, Mr Lawal promised to tackle the insecurity and he has been doing that.
For over a decade, terrorists have been operating in the northwestern part of the country. Their activities snowballed after the 2019 general election when they began attacking travellers on major highways in the region, especially on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway.
The intensity and frequency of their attacks on rural communities in the region increased. Livestock rustling, abductions and mass killings sometimes of entire communities were reported almost daily.
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The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery will receive its first cargo of crude next month, a report has said.
The refinery will begin producing up to 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel from October, S&P Global Platts, which provides benchmark prices for commodity markets around the world, reported Tuesday, quoting an official of the company.
In May, former President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned the refinery amid high expectations that it will impact the nations oil and gas sector and the larger economy.
The pipeline infrastructure at the refinery is said to be the largest in the world, with 1,100 kilometres and will handle three billion standard cubic feet of gas per day.
Speaking during the official commissioning of the refinery, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, promised that the first refined petroleum products from the refinery would hit the market before the end of July.
In an exclusive interview with S&P Global Platts, the Executive Director of the Dangote Group, Devakumar Edwin, said the refinery will be launched in phases, beginning with 350,000 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel by October.
Right now Im ready to receive crude. We are just waiting for the first vessel. And so as soon as it comes in we can start, Mr Edwin was quoted by S&P Global Platts as saying.
He explained that the refinery will launch in phases, beginning with 350,000 370,000 barrels per day of diesel and jet fuel by October, when the crude distillation unit, sulfur block and hydrogen plant should be online.
On 30 November, Mr Edwin said, the refinery will start the phased ramp-up to 650,000 barrels per day, around half of it gasoline, the key area of Nigerian fuel demand.
Mr Edwin noted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL), which is a shareholder in the project, cannot supply the refinery until November.
So, he said Dangote is buying oil from trading houses. Vitol and Trafigura recently carried out inspections of the plant.
At the last minute (NNPC) said, We have actually committed our crude on forward basis to someone else, so immediately they dont have the crude. This is a temporary issue, and the refinery should run on exclusively Nigerian crude by November, he said.
He said Nigerian oil will be purchased in US dollars, not naira as some reports had suggested, because it is located in a free zone on the outskirts of Lagos.
However, he said NNPC will supply some crude at knockdown prices due to its equity stake.
Mr Edwin added that the scale of the refinery being solely dependent on Nigerian crude would not be advisable.
He said the refinery can process most African crudes apart from heavy Angolan grades as well as Middle Eastern Arab Light and even US light tight oil.
We can even take some of the Russian grades if the global system opens up to allow us to receive (them), he said.
He explained that the companys refined products are not only targeting the Nigerian market.
Basically if you look at our production profile, 50 per cent of my production will meet 100 per cent of the requirements of the country. Excess gasoline which will be 10 ppm sulfur Euro 5 quality will be exported to other African markets as well as the US and South America, although the volumes will be relatively small, he said.
Meanwhile, he said jet fuel will be exported to Europe and diesel will be sold in sub-Saharan Africa.
He said refined products can be evacuated from the refinery by road or by sea, with the two routes able to handle 80 per cent and 75 per cent of production respectively.
The company is also widening the road connecting the refinery to the expressway. That job is 70 per cent complete, he added.
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The office of the Vice President in partnership with WEMA Bank has concluded arrangements to commence an initiative that will impact two million youth and one million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
This is in furtherance to its pledge to support the job creation agenda of the Tinubu administration,
Vice President Kashim Shettima who received an update report on the programme on Monday during a courtesy visit by the Managing Director of WEMA Bank, Moruf Oseni, lauded the commitment and partnership of the bank for the initiative.
The delegation was at the Villa to brief the vice president on the progress made in the implementation of the FGN-ALAT Digital Skill-Novation Programme an initiative of a partnership between the Federal Government and WEMA Bank to train two million youths and empower one million Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Nigeria.
Speaking on the support and commitment of the bank in the execution of the initiative, the VP said I will call on you to be above board. You are a good organisation. I want to thank you most sincerely for your initiative and commitment, be rest assured that we will fulfil our own part of the bargain.
Speaking to State House correspondents later in an interview, Mr Oseni said they were at the Presidential Villa to brief the Vice President on how far we have gone on the FGN/ALAT project. The Vice President was very happy, and shortly you will hear from his office of how we want to progress with this programme, part of this is to help create innovation hubs across the country for us.
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Mr President came out with a very bold and audacious plan on how to revive the Nigerian economy. The banks are key players and we will do our best to actualize this. If Nigeria does well, the financial institutions will do well. Mr. President is 100% on track and we are totally in support of his administration.
On his part, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Job Creation and MSMEs, emphasised the significance of collaboration, noting that there is power in partnership. The private sector and the public sector coming together can always do more for the people. Mr Presidents Renewed Hope agenda cannot be achieved by the government or private sector alone as it requires all hands on deck.
So, we dug deep into the private sector to see how they can actually play their own role. In the first instance, they agreed to partner with us on skills acquisition and in other aspects of the scheme that we plan to implement.
The FGN/ALAT Digital Skill-Novation Programme will be formally launched by the Vice President on 29 September at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.
Also present at the meeting were Tunde Mabawonko, Executive Director, WEMA Bank; Bamidele Adefemi, Head of Federal Public Sector, and Chioma Onuaguluchi, Regional Executive, Abuja.
Olusola Abiola
Director Information
Office of the Vice President
18th September 2023
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The police in Lagos State have arrested three alleged gang members from Lagos, Oyo and Delta states in connection with the robbery and murder of Adeniyi Sanni, an aide to the senator representing Ogun West, Solomon Adeola.
The three suspects involved in the alleged murder of the senators aide were paraded on Monday at the police headquarters in Lagos.
Back story
Mr Sanni was shot dead on his way home and his corpse was later dumped close to a military barrack around Toyota bus stop in Oshodi, Lagos in the early hours of 5 August.
According to the senator, an investigation of the incident revealed that Mr Sanni was shot by some yet-to-be-identified officers of the Nigerian Army monitoring checkpoints in the Ikeja axis of Lagos State.
The suspects paraded on Monday by the police are Fred Azeez Okunnu, 43, Lucky Michael, 33 and Adedigba Segun 26. The police said the incident occurred between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on 5 August.
How the aide was murdered
According to the police, the suspects flagged down the deceaseds car and requested to see his vehicle documents. One of the men was dressed in military uniform.
In this incident, after seeing the papers, they insisted on taking the victim to their base. Once they entered the vehicle, it dawned on Mr Sanni that they were robbers, Idowu Owohunwa, the police commissioner, told journalists.
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He called out for help, which made the robbers shoot him thrice and further stabbed him. They dropped his corpse by the roadside and drove to Kuto, Abeokuta where they cleaned up the blood stains in the rear seats of the vehicle and later the same night proceeded with the vehicle to the border town of Chikanda in Kwara State where the criminal receiver took delivery of the car.
The suspects adopted the use of military fatigue to beat checkpoints.
Recovered items
The police said they recovered one Brownie pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one Beretta pistol with three rounds of live ammunition, one locally made cut-to-size pistol with 6 live cartridges, six expended cartridges, military gear (military camouflage vest, military jungle hat, military holster, jungle boots), and one Red Honda CRV with registration number EKY 276 JD, also snatched from a yet to be identified victim.
Police investigation revealed that the gang which is being armed by one Alhaji (based in Benin Republic) specialised in robbing motorists of their unregistered vehicles.
The gang have been successful in five previous operations, the police said.
Further investigation has revealed that the said Alhaji has other cells operating across the country, Mr Owohunwa said.
Being a transnational crime, the Command is involving the Interpol for the apprehension of this criminal receiver and financier.
The police said the suspects operate by stationing one gang member some metres from Berger bus stop to spot unregistered vehicles.
The spotter then calls his gang members who are dressed in military fatigues and stationed somewhere around Berger bus stop to inform them of the approaching vehicle, he said.
Once they stop their victim, they request for the vehicle custom papers, as they would need to clear security and customs checks.
The police also said that the suspects had previously been arrested and arraigned in court for other crimes before their release and eventual rearrest.
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The Enugu State Government, on Monday, began the sealing of illegal coal mining sites and sites without environmental impact certifications and mitigation to checkmate activities of miners in the state.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State had, in June, announced a ban on illegal mining in the state.
The governor, last week, set up a committee, headed by the Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, Sam Ugwu, to check illegal mining in the state.
Sealing of illegal mining sites
Mr Ugwu, a professor, led other members of the committee to inspect some mining sites across the state.
At a mining site in Awhum, a community in Udi Local Government Area, owned by Milhouse Energy Services Ltd, Mr Ugwu observed that the firm had been violating various mining rules in the area.
Speaking to reporters during the visit, he listed some of the violations including environmental degradation, blasting without approval and due regulations, non-remittance of staff tax to the state government and non-remittance of pension contributions to the pension scheme among others.
He accused the mining firm of withholding taxes deducted from their staff members instead of remitting the same to the state government.
Our mission is basically to seal, on behalf of the state government, mining activities that do not have any recourse to the state government. We are also here to look at what is going on and you have all seen a lot of environmental degradation going on.
We equally want to see the veracity of the licence, which they claim they have and to find out how they have been remitting their environmental fees to the Enugu State Government, Mr Ugwu said.
Importantly, we want to find out the mitigating plans they have in place. We are very much interested in what happens to these host communities and their environs many years after these miners have closed shop because if you take a look at the Niger Delta, the people are still suffering greatly from environmental degradation caused by oil exploration activities of many decades ago, he added.
Responding, the General Manager in charge of operations at the mining site in Awhum Community, Akintola Oluwafemi, claimed that the firm obtained all necessary licences from the federal government and was also mindful of the environment in its operations.
Mr Oluwafemi, however, assured that the company would comply with government directives.
Mr Ugwu recalled that Enugu State, through its coal deposits, powered industries in Europe and beyond, but regretted that the state was still bearing the scars and brunt of those mining activities carried out in the state at the time.
So, we will not fold our hands and watch that happen all over again, he stated.
The chairperson added that the government was aware of some mining sites in different parts of the state operating illegally and violating environmental protection laws.
The committee also served a notice on another mining company, African Pits and Quarries Ltd, to stop operations immediately and report to the Government House on Thursday.
Sequel to the directive of the Governor of Enugu State banning illegal mining activities in the state, you are hereby warned to desist and stop all mining activities in this environment.
Your failure to comply strictly as directed above may lead to your arrest and prosecution in the State Environmental Protection Court, Mr Ugwu, the committee chairperson, told management of the firm.
The chairperson asked the firm to submit to the committee various approval licences from state and federal governments as well as regulatory bodies, and evidence of various payments to the government, among others.
Apart from Mr Ugwu, the chairperson, other members of the committee who participated in the sealing of the mining sites were the Special Adviser to the governor on Energy and Mineral Resources, Kingsley Nnaji; the Special Adviser on Political Matters, Frank Anioma; and Senior Special Assistant on External Relations, Uche Anichukwu.
Coal mining in Enugu
Enugu State in Nigerias South-east is known for its rich coal deposits.
After the coal was discovered in Enugu in 1909, the Nigerian government created an agency, the Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC), which was tasked with the responsibility of exploiting the coal resources.
However, with the discovery of crude oil in the country in the 1950s, the attention shifted to oil, and coal mining was abandoned. The situation was compounded by the outbreak of the civil war in 1967.
The NCC would later end mining operations in the state, some years later.
With the failure of the both federal and state governments to further explore the resources, private firms and individuals stepped in and resumed mining operations in the state and in other parts of the country.
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The Molokun of Atijere kingdom in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, Oba Samuel Adeoye, has appealed to the state government for urgent intervention over the collapse of the only link road to the community.
The traditional ruler made the appeal in a statement he signed and made available to journalists on Tuesday in Okitipupa.
Mr Adeoye said that the recent flood resulting from a downpour had collapsed the road, cutting off his community from others.
He also appealed to the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Commission (OSOPDEC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Jimoh Ibrahim, the senator representing Ondo South; and Donald Ojogo, the representative of Ilaje/Ese-Odo federal constituency.
He said that as a result of the bad road, thousands of motorists and residents of Atijere had been cut off from Igbokoda to other communities in the state.
He said that the situation had also paralysed socio-economic activities in the community.
The downpour which caused serious flood has wreaked havoc in our community, as the only road connecting us to other communities has since collapsed.
Socio-economic activities of the community have been paralysed since then as thousands of residents and motorists can neither come in nor go out of the community.
We are appealing to the state government, OSOPADEC, NDDC, Ibrahim, Ojogo and others to please come to our rescue as residents are already suffering over this road collapse.
We have no other place than our community and our residents contribute immesenly to the socio-economic activities of the state.
So, our hope and reliance are on government, politicians and other stakeholders to urgently come to our aid, Oba Adeoye said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Atijere road also links another community in Ogun.
(NAN)
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Traditional rulers in Oyo State will meet to review the perceived disrespect shown to them by former President Olusegun Obasanjo at a ceremony last week in Iseyin, the deputy chairman of their council, Oba Francis Alao, has said.
Mr Alao, who is the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, stated this in a statement he circulated to journalists on Tuesday.
The former president has been heavily criticised for ordering traditional rulers to stand up and then to sit down at the event attended by the states governor, Seyi Makinde, and which Mr Obasanjo attended as a special guest.
Mr Obasanjo has since explained that he publicly upbraided the traditional rulers for showing disrespect to the governor at the event.
In his statement on Tuesday, Mr Alao noted that the incident had angered their subjects and many Yoruba people but urged all to be calm as the traditional rulers would address the matter at their next meeting.
He said: The outburst of former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo against traditional rulers in attendance at the inauguration of the Iseyin Campus of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) on Friday September 15 has generated anger and varied responses from true sons and daughters of Oduduwa in all sections of the society.
First and foremost, I will like to emphasize that the inauguration ceremony was a huge success while the road and campus projects represent another milestone in the development strides of Governor Seyi Makinde who has been working hard to take Oyo State to the next level of development.
All the royal fathers involved understand the pain caused by the incident and appreciate the well-placed reactions.
I wish to state that the incident is an internal affair which will be properly reviewed at the next meeting of the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.
Let me assure all Yoruba, and other well-meaning Nigerians who have respect for the traditional institution, and who feel concerned about the incident that our silence since Friday is not an act of cowardice. When we sit down with the Governor, and hold our next meeting, we will review and respond appropriately.
Our Governor respects us, and traditional rulers in Oyo State also hold him in high esteem.
I, therefore, sue for calm over this issue.
We want everybody to apply decorum in line with the Omoluwabi ethos for which Yoruba are greatly respected. Ile Yoruba land shall remain peaceful. Our unity is sacrosanct. These ethos must reflect in our day-to-day activities.
Let it, however, be well noted that traditional rulers in Oyo State have no regret in supporting Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde in the last election, and will be willing to support them even in the future.
This is the clear position of monarchs in Oyo State. Any other information from anywhere that is contrary to this should be disregarded.
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President Bola Tinubu on Monday advanced his economic development diplomatic drive for investment attraction as he engaged extensively in a bilateral discussion with South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, in New York City, ahead of the United Nations General Assembly.
Mr Tinubu asserted that Africa must have a consensus view that the hundreds of billions of dollars spent through International Development Finance Institutions over the years must meet the specific needs of developing democracies in Africa, even if it is done with exclusive regard for their own enlightened self-interest.
During the end of the Second World War, the Marshall Plan was established for the reconstruction and economic restoration of European nations through Bretton Woods institutions. Where has this presence been for Africa? We have to be careful not to replace the broken shackle of yesterday with a new set of shackles. You can not have a stable democracy in the presence of a poverty of knowledge and a starvation of people. Democracy without food on the table is a breeding ground for what will consume us if care is not taken. We must join hands and agree that International Finance Institutions require reform as Africa is not to be a ground for economic scavenging any longer, but it is a place with gifted people that is ready for investment and cooperation.
We have all the human and natural resources required between our nations. We can collaborate in a mutually beneficial way that enriches our populations. South African Mining industries have a role to play in the Nigerian solid minerals development sector. Your business community has done well in Nigerian Telecommunications. We have great mineral wealth across our land, and you have good expertise in this area. We expect to deliver jobs and mutually beneficial results in this area as brother and sister countries, the President affirmed.
Referencing President Tinubus quick implementation of what he called brave economic reforms, the South African President agreed that the two countries have much more wealth to create together in close and intentional partnership, with each nation leveraging on each others respective strengths.
We are two major economies on our continent, and it is important that we deepen economic ties, particularly in light of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. We are very keen on the deepening of our economic relations, the South African President said.
The South African President emphasised that history has proven that Nigeria and South Africa can move the world on matters of mutual concern when the two nations operate on the same wavelength.
We would love to see Nigeria and South Africa working closely together on a number of issues because whenever we join hands, we have made an impact globally through those joint positions. Together, we can move the global south forward. We are a continent that has been plundered. And wealthy nations made so much of it from us, and we must seek out partners who will help us to advance our own interests, the South African President emphasized.
Recognising President Tinubus effective stewardship as the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State, the South African leader said that Southern Africa needed to emulate the solidarity being demonstrated in West Africa, following the Niger Crisis.
We believe that we have a lot to learn from ECOWAS and its unity in reaching consensus positions on sub-regional matters. This is something we seek to emulate in the Southern African sub-region in view of events in Mozambique and other areas, President Ramaphosa said.
The South African leader also used the opportunity of the bilateral engagement to extend an invitation to President Bola Tinubu to visit South Africa, following President Ramaphosas recent visit to Nigeria, as part of efforts to deepen economic ties and the broader relationship between both countries.
While accepting the invitation, President Tinubu affirmed that an Africa, in which Nigeria and South Africa are working in synergy to advance their common interests, is the strongest version of the continent, which can make more impact on global affairs for the benefit of over one billion Africans with its enormous human and natural resource wealth.
Our continent is the last untapped ground for accelerated, massive growth and new economic opportunity on earth. We must be in charge of our own resources, and we must work to use each other effectively to achieve what is best for all of us, Mr. President. We look forward to an era of economically productive relationship, the Nigerian leader concluded.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 18, 2023
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The Nigerian government has developed the National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality.
The development, the government said, is part of efforts to improve the safety of all medical procedures and enhance the quality of healthcare delivery.
The Permanent Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health, Kachollom Daju, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja on Monday.
At the briefing, which was in commemoration of the 2023 World Patient Safety Day, Ms Daju said the national policy is in line with resolution 18 of the 55th World Health Assembly which called for member states to recognise the burden of patient safety and to set up policies to manage them.
I am delighted to inform you that the Federal Ministry of Health has just developed the first ever National Policy and Implementation Strategy on Patient Safety and Care Quality which was sent for stakeholders review last week Thursday and Friday, she said.
This policy focuses on improving patient and family engagement in healthcare, medication safety, surgical safety, infection prevention & control, safety of all medical procedures and others.
She said the federal government is hopeful that health facilities at all levels will adopt and implement this policy.
She noted that patient safety fundamentally entails preventing errors and minimising harm to patients during provision of healthcare services.
World Patient Safety Day
World Patient Safety Day is observed on 17 September every year to raise awareness regarding patient safety on the global level.
The theme for this years commemoration is: Engaging Patients for Patient Safety, in recognition of the crucial role patients, families, and caregivers play in healthcare safety.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), around one in every 10 patients is harmed in health care and more than three million deaths occur annually due to unsafe care.
The global body noted that in low-to-middle-income countries, as many as four in 100 people die from unsafe care.
Importance
The permanent secretary said the day underscores the importance of patient safety in the healthcare system.
She said empowering patients to become integral members of their healthcare team is a crucial avenue to significantly enhance the safety of their care and the healthcare system as a whole.
She noted that patients can provide great contributions when they actively participate in their healthcare decisions.
Under the banner Elevate the voice of patients, the WHO calls upon all stakeholders to take the necessary steps to ensure that patients are not just passive recipients of healthcare but active participants, she said.
This includes involving them in policy formulation, representation in governance structures, co-designing safety strategies, and making them partners in their own care.
She said the government is committed to providing safer and higher-quality health services to everyone in the country, strengthening the healthcare system, and building trust among citizens.
The WHO said evidence shows that when patients are treated as partners in their care, significant gains are made in safety, patient satisfaction, and health outcomes.
Patient safety
Speaking at the event, WHO country representative, Walter Mulombo, said more than 50 per cent of the harm patients experience is preventable if concerted efforts and requisite investment are done.
Mr Mulombo said a number of countries in the African region have developed and are implementing the policy including patient safety action plans as well as other safety interventions such as Infection Prevention and Control to make health care safer.
In his remarks, the Director of Hospital Services, Jimoh Salaudeen, urge stakeholders to take necessary action to ensure that patients are involved in policy formulation, represented in governance structures, engaged in co-designing safety strategies, and are active partners in their own care.
Mr Salaudeen said this can only be achieved by providing platforms and opportunities for diverse patients, families, and communities to raise their voices, concerns, expectations, and preferences to advance safety, patient-centeredness, trustworthiness, and equity.
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Russian supermodel Irina Shayk, who in 2022 got into a high-profile scandal over the fascist letter Z, disgraced herself with bad makeup at a fashion event. As part of London Fashion Week, a new spring-summer collection by Nigerian-born designer Movalola Ogunlesi was shown, in which a Russian woman took part.
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She took to the catwalk with a "beaten" face, for which Shayk was sharply criticized around the world. Angry comments appeared under the model's Instagram post (scroll to the bottom of the page to see the photo).
The Mowalola brand was the first to come under attack, and later the turn came to the participants of the scandalous show. The models were accused of romanticizing violence.
Many of Shayk's English-speaking followers from around the world left angry comments shaming the Russian woman for not supporting women victims of abuse and passing off bruises on her face as an "accessory."
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"Since when did domestic violence become fashionable?" "Why do makeup as if you've just been beaten", "What kind of look is this domestic violence style? Not chic", "Promoting physical violence is not fashionable at all", "Since when did violence become a theme of a runway show?" were written in the comments.
Shayk took to the catwalk in a silver floor-length dress and an elongated sweatshirt with the rapper 2PAC on it. Her expression was gloomy, which only emphasized the bruises and scratches on her face.
After the show, she decided not to wash off the controversial makeup. Instead, the Russian woman organized a photo shoot for her blog, ignoring the criticism of her followers.
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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that Irina Shayk became a laughingstock in Cannes, where she showed up in an inappropriate outfit. The half-naked model wanted to attract attention, but ran into hate.
Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has urged the Commonwealth nations to pay special attention to small businesses.
This, he said, will enable them to achieve sustainable growth and development across its countries.
Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, underscored the importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to global economic growth and rapid expansion.
He made the remarks in a statement in Lagos on Monday.
He said this at a global conference organised by the Bangladesh Government in conjunction with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Mr Obi also explained why small businesses were the engine of growth across the globe, especially in areas of job creation, innovation, and domestic investment.
If we enhance the functionality and impacts of SMEs across Commonwealth countries through formalisation and internationalisation, we would have done it across the world with lives, communities, and economies positively impacted.
Endowed with a population of about 2.5 billion people, a home to over a billion young consumers and exports of over $1 trillion, the need for better support for SMEs cannot be over-emphasised.
The small businesses, especially in developing and emerging markets, face many challenges arising from a lack of formalisation and internationalization.
Therefore, many small businesses are not registered and licensed and lack international affiliations and barely exploit the benefits of international trade, which limits the growth opportunities of both the SMEs and the countries.
To harness the full contributions and impacts of SMEs, proper reforms such as formalisation and internationalization are needed to address the identified challenges, he said.
Mr Obi explained that formalisation involved bringing SMEs into the formal economy through registration of their businesses and complying with legal and regulatory requirements.
He said expectedly, the process of formalisation would be beneficial not only to the SMEs but the overall business environment and economic stability.
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The former governor added that such significant segments of SMEs operated in the informal sector due to a lack of resources or awareness of the formalization benefits.
The LP presidential candidate argued in his address at the international conference that SMEs were emerging as the undisputed engine of rapid economic expansion and growth globally.
Mr Obi noted that World Bank records (2020) showed that SMEs account for roughly 90 per cent of businesses and more than 50 per cent of jobs created globally.
He said while the formal SMEs contributed up to 40 per cent of national income (GDP) in Developing and Emerging Markets (DEMs) their impact and contribution were significantly higher when informal ones were included.
According to him, in Bangladesh, SMEs contribute about 40 per cent to GDP, in Nigeria 48 per cent and China 60 per cent with about seven out of every 10 formal jobs created by SMEs.
The former Anambra governor said the same immense impact in India where SMEs accounted for over 40 per cent of the total workforce.
Mr Obi noted that this limited their access to credit, markets, and government support which consequently results in reduced investment, innovation, and growth opportunities.
The former governor further explained that this was critical, especially to commonwealth nations, as the commonwealth controlled a combined wealth of about $150 trillion.
He said: This is over 10 times their combined GDP of about $14.5 trillion today, and over 30 times the global trade and export value of about $4.8 trillion.
Hence, these untapped benefits the Commonwealth despite controlling one-third of the global population only contributes below 15 per cent of the World GDP of $100 trillion and with a global GDP per capita of $10,700.
While that of the commonwealth is 3,500 dollars, this shows a huge growth potential, which can be enhanced by investment in SMEs where the bulk of the youths are domiciled, especially within the commonwealth family.
SMEs in Commonwealth countries are essential drivers of economic development and poverty reduction. Formalisation and internationalization are crucial pathways to unlocking their potential, fostering innovation, and increasing competitiveness.
Even though challenges are many supportive policies, capacity-building initiatives, and strategic partnerships can empower SMEs to thrive in the global economy.
And by investing in the formalisation and internationalization of SMEs, the sustainable socio-economic growth and development of Commonwealth Organisation and Countries can be significantly enhanced.
Mr Obi said to achieve this, it would require a high level of involvement of all stakeholders particularly the Commonwealth organisation and the governments of Commonwealth countries.
(NAN)
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The common thread woven across the dozens of speeches at the United Nations by world leaders at the opening of the two-day Sustainable Development Goals Summit was a call for faster progress toward achieving the goals by the deadline of 2030. National leaders and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres all expressed hope amid minimal progress on the SDGs.
Renewed faith in us by the people who depend on us will help us earn credibility, trust and a sense of confidence that UN-led multilateralism delivers, said Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the General Assembly, in his opening speech, on Monday, the first day of the summit. Our eight billion constituents are looking to us for a signal that we will keep our promises and that we are alive to the reality that we have only seven years left before 2030. They want and deserve full reassurance that we all together recognize the circumstantial setbacks that so many have experienced and continue to endure.
The 17 goals and accompanying 169 targets were created in 2015 to accelerate global development and thereby more equal, just and healthy societies but most of the goals have experienced retrogression or stagnation. Only 15 per cent of them have been met. They cover everything from ensuring safe sanitation for everyone to gender equality for women and girls to quality education for all to life below water to preserve the oceans.
A combination of factors in the last seven years, since the goals inception, have contributed to the poor progress so far, Mr Francis, a career diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago, said. The factors include the COVID-19 pandemic that ground the world to a halt for almost two years, the effects of global warming around the globe, especially in the Horn of Africa and most of the global South, such as Iraq, and Russias war in Ukraine.
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However, Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach (leader) of Ireland, said that though these crises have further pushed the SDGs off track, world heads of state must acknowledge that the goals were stalled before the pandemic was officially declared by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.
As leaders, our drive to achieve the goals has not been as strong or focused as they ought to be, Mr Varadkar said, noting that though crucial time has been lost, there is hope. (The UN ambassadors of Ireland and Qatar negotiated the political declaration with their fellow member states to kick off the next seven years of SDG achievements.)
Mayada Adil, a young Sudanese activist and SDG leader, who also addressed the General Assembly, said there was no way to describe the current state of the SDGs than as a failure. Young people, who make up half of the worlds population, have been left behind in the goals implementation, Adil said.
What have you done to include young people in decision-making space? she asked the people gathered in the vast Assembly Hall on Monday.
Adil questioned why the UN has dropped the number of young people who were given an opportunity to address the Assembly during the SDG Summit. Last year, young representatives from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Uganda, Pakistan, Nigeria and Argentina, spoke at the summit, she said, noting that only she was invited this year.
Progress has been minimal, the world leaders acknowledged, but the effects are significant in different corners of the world. About 800,000 more people now have access to electricity, 146 countries are on track for reducing child mortality rates, improvements have been made with HIV treatment and more people have access to the Internet.
We need young people in all our diversity to be seen and heard in policy and decision-making, Adil said.
As he must do at a summit of these proportions, Mr Guterres, the UN secretary-general, was optimistic about the adoption of the political declaration, though the formal process occurs after this week by the General Assembly. The secretary-general said the document could be a game-changer in speeding up the SDG progress in only seven years.
I am deeply encouraged by the detailed and wide-ranging draft political declaration under discussion here today especially its commitment to improving developing countries access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance, Mr Guterres said. This includes clear support for an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion a year, as well as an effective debt-relief mechanism that supports payment suspensions, longer lending terms, and lower rates.
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Nigerias social media space, last week, erupted with a controversy concerning a copy of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) judgement imprinted with the mark of President Bola Tinubus legal team.
The copy of the judgement having Tinubu Presidential Legal Team on the top right corner of its over 700 pages and the stamps of the court at the lower end of its front page surfaced online about two to three days after the court delivered its verdict on 6 September.
It immediately offered the broader and raging debates about the credibility or otherwise of the verdict another red-hot angle.
A five-member panel of the court headed by Haruna Tsammani had on 6 September affirmed Mr Tinubu as duly elected as Nigerias president after a disputed election on 25 February.
The court dismissed three consolidated suits filed by Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Partys Peter Obi, and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) to challenge Mr Tinubus victory.
The five-member court unanimously held that the petitioners failed to substantiate their claims of electoral malpractices and non-qualification amongst other issues against Mr Tinubu and Nigerias electoral commission, INEC.
Atiku and Mr Obi have vowed to challenge the judgement at the Supreme Court, the court with the final say on Nigerias presidential election disputes.
This has extended further into the near future the raging dispute over the election.
The appearance of the copy of the certified true copy (CTC) of the PEPC verdict bearing a mark of Mr Tinubus legal team has added fuel to the dispute.
The copy, apart from having Tinubu Presidential Legal Team (TPLT) on all its pages, has on its front page the stamps of the PEPC and a court official, J.J Ekperobe, with a signature, date of payment for the CTC, and date of certification. The date of payment and the date of certification are both 8 September.
These features, apart from the controversial header, appear on other versions of the CTC in circulation.
Atiku, PDPs claims
One of Atikus media aides, Phrank Shaibu, breathed a huge dose of life into the controversy in a statement that surmised what had been an online tirade.
He challenged the PEPC to explain to Nigerians and the world why the header of Tinubu Presidential Legal Team was on CTC copies of its judgment.
Mr Shaibu also trumpeted the speculations that preceded the courts judgement that some legal eggheads within the APC contributed to the drafting of the judgement.
After causing a needless delay in availing the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar and his legal team Certified True Copies of its judgment, the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) must explain to Nigerians and the world ambiguities around why copies of the judgement bear the header of the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team.
In the weeks preceding the judgement, Nigerias cyberspace was inundated with claims that the immediate-past Minister of Works and former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and a top member of the ruling APC, was contracted to draft the judgement.
Mr Fashola has since denied the allegation and reported the matter to the police. The police in Abuja subsequently arrested a suspect, Chike Ibezim, who is being detained.
But, Babatunde Ogala, the coordinator of the TPLP the umbrella body of lawyers that defended Mr Tinubu at the PEPC denied the charge that the CTC of the verdict with the mark of his team was as it was issued by the court.
Mr Ogala, a SAN, said the copy of the judgement under reference was obtained clean from the PEPC registry, adding that it was only watermarked by his team before it was released to the public.
Header or watermark?
The controversial mark on the copy of the judgement has been variously described as both a watermark and a header.
PREMIUM TIMES observes that many choose either of the two words to describe it based on the side of the argument they belong to.
While the pro-Tinubu commentators describe it as a watermark, the opposition voices insist it is a header, which, according to Mr Shaibu, signifies the author of the document on which it appears.
A reference to the online Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, however, shows the controversial mark fits better into the description of a header.
The authoritative dictionary defines watermark as a symbol or design in some types of paper, which can be seen when the paper is held against the light.
On the other hand, it describes header as a line or block of text that appears at the top of every page in a book or document. This is more fitting for the mark.
But whatever it is called, with the aid of an array of easily accessible digital tools, either a header or a watermark can be superimposed on a document before or after it is made, experts say.
Who wrote the judgement?
Producing a court judgement is a mentally and physically draining exercise to varying degrees. This depends on the complexity of the case, the number of parties, the length of time the case takes, and amount of documents filed and judicial authorities cited.
It involves days and nights of research, review of documents and evidence cross-referenced with testimonies given during hearing, and endless writing by the judge, who is usually supported by research and clerical assistants.
A judgement can run into hundreds of pages like the one delivered by the PEPC.
Mr Shaibu said the header on the controversial copy of the PEPCs judgement suggested that lawyers in Mr Tinubus team were the authors, implying that the five judges were merely handed the copies they read in open court.
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The suggestion is tantamount to saying that the five PEPC judges went to sleep for over a month after the conclusion of the hearing, only to wake up days or hours before the judgement and head straight to the courtroom to read the copies handed to them by Mr Tinubus legal team without prior review.
This is an extreme characterisation of judicial corruption which is, no doubt, a worrisome trend in Nigeria.
Lawyers say it would take not just a corrupt judge, but additionally, a chronically incompetent one, to stoop to the level of waiting for a party to a case to prepare a judgement for him or her to read.
The track records of at least, the most senior members of the PEPC panel with long years of prior practice as lawyers and subsequently over two decades of judicial experience from the High Court to the Court of Appeal bench, do not cast them in the mould of such a judge.
The opposition voices suggestion also implies that the Tinubu legal teams header on the copy escaped the attention of the judges, their assistants who collated the opinions and transmitted them to the courts registry, and the registry officials who carried out the last review of the copy before issuing it to the parties.
It is not more plausible either to assume that Tinubus legal teams copy fraudulently crept into the court registry after the judgement had been delivered.
The question that arises from that is Which end would it serve?, especially when no one spotted any difference between what was read in the open court and what the CTC eventually contained.
Process of obtaining CTC of a court judgement
The standard process of obtaining a certified true copy of a court judgement in Nigeria does not give any room for a court to issue a document with a header associated with an external body or individuals, legal experts said.
To get a CTC of a court decision, a party or other interested members of the public has to send an application to the registry of the court.
The registry will then assess to determine the payable fee by the party interested in the CTC.
After the payment, a copy of the judgement bearing the stamp and date of release will then be given to the requesting party.
What is likely and not likely
The coordinator of Mr Tinubus legal team, Mr Ogala, said in his statement on the matter that lawyers from his and PDPs teams were present at the point of issuing the CTC of the court judgement by the registry on 8 September.
According to Mr Ogala, the PDPs team got the first copy to be issued by the court, before his team was given the subsequent one.
He added that none of the copies of the judgement issued by the court to the parties bore the mark of his team.
This is a point of divergence in the controversy.
Mr Shaibu said PDPs team, despite repeated demands, only got its certified copy of the judgement hours after Mr Tinubus team got theirs on 8 September. He suggested that the delay in issuing PDP its copy was the courts ploy to buy time to clean up the accidentally issued copy with the controversial header for reissuance to the parties to the case.
But in an interview with PREMIUM TIMES, Umar Bangari, the chief registrar of the Court of Appeal, the court that set up the PEPC, dismissed Mr Shaibus speculation.
Mr Bangari, whose account of the chain of events tallies with that of Mr Ogala, said, When the CTCs of the judgement were ready, a copy was first issued to the PDP lawyers in the presence of their colleagues from the APC and the Labour Party. Thereafter, the APC lawyers got theirs on the same day (8 September).
So, the APC lawyers watermarked their own copy for the Tinubu Presidential Legal Team. That was an internal administrative thing of the party, but someone posted it on social media which has now gone viral, the Chief Registrar said.
He added: But you know, you may have heard insinuations that maybe they (APC lawyers) wrote the judgement (of the Presidential Election Petition Court). It doesnt make sense!
He urged Nigerians to ignore the speculation because its outright falsehood.
He wondered why the petitioners lawyers who were present while the CTC of the judgement was handed over to the APC legal team would not clear the air.
this document was given to the APC lawyers in the presence of the PDP and Labour Party lawyers. Why couldnt they just say so, because they were witnesses of truth? You allowed this falsehood to go on, but you were there when the clean copy of the judgement was given.
It doesnt help us to raise the dust over nothing, he said.
Checks by this newspaper on the Court of Appeal website showed that the copy of the judgement is not watermarked with the TPLT inscription.
Weighing in on the issue, a lawyer, Joseph Gbagyo, who is the Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Makurdi, cautioned against relying on social media for information on serious national issues.
We are in a political era and some people are taking desperate measures. So, lets stick to official documents from the court, he said.
Toeing the same line, Liborous Oshoma, a Lagos-based lawyer, said counsel to parties were at liberty to watermark their personal court documents to give them individual identity.
I think the lawyers to the petitioners should concentrate on debunking the courts reasoning for dismissing the petitions instead of arguing over watermarked documents, Mr Oshoma advised.
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One of the key parts of the UN structure is the General Assemblywhich begins its annual High-Level Week on Monday, 19 September, in New York.
The increasing tiesor notof nation-states are pronounced during the annual High-Level week, and so too, will be the unevenness of their engagements, negotiations, challenges, and achievements, as world leaders gather from all over the world.
The General Debate starts on Tuesday, 19 September, continues until Saturday, 23 September, and ends on Tuesday, 26 September 2023, at the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, in New York City.
On Thursday, 14 September, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield briefed reporters from the United Nations, providing some insight into topics which the U.S. government will focus on during the High-Level week. I went on this trip, on behalf of President Biden, to draw attention to the conflict in Sudan to shed light on the ongoing atrocities being perpetrated by armed groups, and to meet with refugees in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, said Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield, elaborating on the ramifications of war that she witnessed on her trip describing her experience as really was a harrowing experience.
My takeaway from this trip was this: the international community must do more to help the Sudanese people. As we speak, Sudans Humanitarian Response Plan for 2023 is less than 30 per cent funded. And that is truly unacceptable. And Member States that can give more must give more. And they must give more now. While in Chad, she announced additional humanitarian assistance for Sudan, in the amount of $163 million. Also while in Chad, in the first week of September, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield travelled to the border with Sudan to receive briefings from UN partners, including representatives from UNHCR, on the humanitarian response to populations fleeing the conflict in Sudan, as confirmed by the U.S. Mission to the United Nations Office of Press and Public Diplomacy. The office said that she met with Transitional President Mahamat Deby to discuss how the crisis in Sudan is affecting Chad and neighbouring countries, and engage with members of civil society.
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According to the UN Security Council last week, Since the outbreak of conflict in April, several regional and international stakeholders have led mediation efforts aimed at resolving the crisis but these have failed to gain traction.
Expressing the US intention to keep the Sudanese crises a key agenda item during the 78th UN General Assembly, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield said, I will continue to raise this issue in the Council and will continue to focus on this during High-Level Week.
Previewing what US priorities will be during the 78th UN General Assembly, she said, We will work to strengthen partnerships including with countries we sometimes disagree with. We are advancing critical partnerships bilaterally and through the multilateral system, including here at the United Nations. These partnerships will help us tackle global challenges and advance the Sustainable Development Goals which is the worlds blueprint for a more just, more peaceful, and more prosperous future.
Additionally, she said the US plans to continue to push for reforms to the multilateral system reforms that will make international institutions more effective, inclusive, transparent, accountable, and fit for purpose in this century.
On Monday, 18 Septemberon the eve of his UN General Assembly addressalong with US First Lady, Jill Biden, President Joseph Biden will participate in Democratic Party election campaign receptions in New York City.
Last year, Sudans Transitional Government was represented at the 77th Session, by Abdel-Fattah Al Burhan Abdelrahman Al-Burhan.
The UN headquarters is located on the eastern shore of Manhattan Island, on the banks of New York Citys East River, where it occupies at least 18 acres and from where the world looks upon it as both a symbol of peace and a beacon of hope, according to the UN.
Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based White House Correspondent, and media commentator with expertise on U.S. foreign policy and international security. You may follow her on Twitter: @PearlMatibe
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Student leaders at the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile-Ife, Osun State, are set to meet the university management today (Tuesday) to deliberate on their demand for the reversal of the recent decision to hike the fees payable by the students.
On Wednesday, the management of the university announced a hike in the sundry fees payable by students, making the institution one of many public universities that hiked school fees in recent months.
In reaction, the student leaders on the campus demanded a reversal of the decision, noting that the students are already facing economic hardships due to the removal of fuel subsidy, and global economic hardship, among other factors.
In a statement, the Joint Campus Council (JCC) of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Osun State axis issued a five-day ultimatum for compliance or face extensive and unrelenting protests.
If our demands are not met within this timeframe, we will engage in continuous protests and barricade all federal roads in Ife, NANS JCC said last week in a statement by its chairman and general secretary, Ogungbe Adedamola and Afolabi Faruq, respectively.
Tuesdays Meeting
At the expiration of the ultimatum today (Tuesday), the Public Relations Officer of the NANS JCC, Osun State axis, Adedapo Emmanuel, told PREMIUM TIMES that the university management has called for a meeting with student leaders.
The ultimatum lapses today, so the university has called for a meeting with the union leaders, he wrote in a text message.
The reason for the meeting, according to him, is to address the recent increment in fees.
He listed the invited student leaders to include the executive members of the universitys student union, presidents of the various faculties, and the presidents of both the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), and the University Joint Christian Missions (UJCM).
He also disclosed that the leadership of NANS will also meet the university management on Thursday.
NANS Vice President, External Affairs, Victor Ezenagu, has told this newspaper that the student body will meet all institutions that recently hiked school fees to get them to reverse it.
This followed a successful dialogue with the management of the University of Lagos, which reduced the earlier announced fee increment after meeting the NANS President, Usman Barambu.
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
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The First Lady of Nigeria, Oluremi Tinubu, says advocacy on awareness and prevention of Tuberculosis is a priority even as she reechoed the fact that every child deserves a chance at a healthy and fulfilling life.
Mrs Tinubu said this at a side event organised by Concordia at the ongoing 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The First Lady spoke at the two separate sessions on the importance of innovation towards achieving an AIDS-free generation and health standards and investment towards effectively financing the eradication of tuberculosis.
On tuberculosis and AIDS in children, she said Nigerias advocacy, especially at the national, state and community levels would be pursued vigorously as the country has no reason to have high statistics of prevalence in both areas.
Mrs Tinubu emphasised that with the heightened drive of the President Bola Tinubu Administration in the health sector, she will be advocating enhanced actions by the wives of governors from the states of the Federation to take the campaign about awareness and prevention to the grassroots.
Innovative approaches can be employed to develop effective methods for HIV prevention. Educational technology hubs, educational apps and digital platforms can all be used to disseminate accurate information specific to HIV care and control. Advancement in testing facilitates early detection and prompt linkage to care thus preventing progression and transmission.
Creative and culturally tailored age-appropriate interventions using technology and social media can promote and amplify safer sexual and reproductive practice.
The First Lady used the opportunity to explain that in Nigeria, there is a robust programme for combating TB through the National TB and Leprosy Control Programme which is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Health supervised by the Minister for Health.
She said the administration of President Tinubu has come up with the Renewed Hope Agenda with the commitment to restructure the health system in the country through improved financing, provision of modern equipment for diagnosis, capacity building, training of health care workers and transparency in governance as it regards TB response and health care delivery as a whole.
READ ALSO: Tinubus wife distributes N500m relief packages to families in Plateau
We need to get people to speak up and know that early detection makes it treatable and we need to see that stigmatization is removed.
Mrs Tinubu was one of the panellists who spoke on strategies to advance global health standards and investments towards effectively financing the eradication of tuberculosis.
Other panellists included Lucica Ditiu and Jay Rajda who both harped on the need for sustainable partnerships and improved funding.
Busola Kukoyi
SA Media to the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
18th September 2023
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President Bola Tinubu has said Nigeria is no longer settling for crumbs and leftovers on the investment agenda of the worlds most prolific energy conglomerates.
Mr Tinubu stated this when he played host to a delegation consisting of the global leadership of an Oil & Gas transnational giant, ExxonMobil, on Monday in New York.
Nigeria has never been more ready for business than it is now, he said.
Mr Tinubu said following an illustrious private sector career as a professional accountant in the oil & gas industry, he has proven his capacity to take difficult decisions as president and is best prepared to solve problems and crush all bottlenecks standing in the way of new and large-scale capital flowing into Nigerias oil and gas industry.
The knotty issues require direct supervision on my part. Despite many contending obligations, I will sit down and oversee the process of removing these encumbrances to job and wealth creation for the Nigerian people.
We know the industry. We grew up in it. We are positioned to solve the problems, and we are pragmatic, and we will solve the problem, the president firmly assured.
ExxonMobil President of Global Upstream Operations, Liam Mallon, assured President Tinubu that he is aware of the new and personal commitment that the president is bringing to bear on behalf of Nigeria and is well placed to reciprocate the presidents efforts with new investment as he pledged new production of nearly 40,000bpd in its Nigerian operations in phase one of a new investment push in Nigeria.
READ ALSO: ExxonMobil announces new managing director for Mobil Producing Nigeria
What you told us was that your team would collaborate with us, and that has proven true. We have made significant progress since we last met. We are growing our production, and we are working hard on expanding in the deepwater production. We appreciate your efforts, and we will respond in kind. The time is right. Thank you for your leadership, the ExxonMobil president stated.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
September 19, 2023
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The Edo State Government, on Monday, handed over a letter of office relocation to Philip Shaibu, the deputy governor of the state, hours after he was denied access to his office at the Government House.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that the gate leading to Mr Shaibus office inside the Government House was locked with chains and heavy padlocks when he arrived there on Monday morning.
There were reports earlier that the deputy governors office had been relocated outside the Government House, amid the feud between him and the state governor, Godwin Obaseki.
But the deputy governor said on Monday that he had yet to be informed that his office had been relocated outside the Government House.
Up till now, I dont have any official communication that I should relocate. The only people that have official communication are my civil servants. The civil servants have official communication but I dont. As I am speaking to you now, I am standing by the gate, Mr Shaibu said on Monday.
An aide to Governor Obaseki claimed that the relocation of the office of the deputy governor was announced through his media team.
But an aide to the deputy governor, who asked not to be named, corroborated his principals position that the state government had not informed the deputy governor as of Monday that his office had been relocated.
All that the deputy governor is asking is an official communication to move (to a new office). The movement is not a verbal thing because the office is a creation of law, the aide told this newspaper on Monday.
The governor has insisted that he does not want the deputy governor around him anymore. But he should do the right thing. We are still expecting his letter, he added.
Letter finally delivered
In a fresh twist later on Monday afternoon, the state government delivered the letter to the deputy governor.
The letter, titled, Relocation of office accommodation, obtained by PREMIUM TIMES was dated 15 September and signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie.
I write to inform you that Governor (Obaseki) has approved the relocation of your office accommodation to No. 7, Dennis Osadebe Avenue, G.R.A., Benin City, Mr Ogie, a lawyer, said in the letter.
You are therefore requested to ensure your compliance in line with Mr Governors approval, please.
An aide to the deputy governor, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that the letter was delivered to his principal on Monday afternoon.
The letter was received and acknowledged just this afternoon after the damage had been done, the aide stated.
Now, they have started with another twist of lies. They have invented more lies to defend his actions, he added, apparently referring to Mr Obaseki-led state government.
Background
There has been a face-off between Messrs Obaseki and Shaibu after the deputy governor asked a court to stop an alleged plot by the governor to remove him from office.
Mr Obaseki has since denied the allegation and, subsequently accused Mr Shaibu of manipulating the youth council election in Edo State because of his (Shaibus) interest to contest for the 2024 governorship election in the state.
The feud between the two appeared to have gotten messier in August when the governor sacked Mr Shaibus aides after the deputy governor staged a walk-out during a colloquium in the state
The deputy governor had staged the walkout after his media aides and security details were denied entry at the colloquium organised by the state government to mark the 60th anniversary of the Midwest Referendum in the state.
The governor and his deputy had been political allies for several years.
In their days in the All Progressives Congress (APC), during the intense political fights between Mr Obaseki and his erstwhile benefactor, Adams Oshiomhole, Mr Shaibu stood solidly behind Governor Obaseki.
Mr Oshiomhole, who was the APC national chairman then, blocked Mr Obaseki from getting the APC governorship ticket for his reelection bid, forcing him to move to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mr Shaibu moved with the governor to the PDP, and both of them got a joint ticket and defeated the APC governorship candidate, Ize-Iyamu Osagie, to win the election.
But following the worsening feud between them, Governor Obaseki, earlier this month, told Mr Shaibu, that the emilokan spirit was unacceptable in the states politics and would not work in the 2024 governorship election in the state.
Emilokan, a Yoruba word which means it is my turn, was made popular by President Bola Tinubu during his campaign for the 2023 election.
The ideology behind the expression as used then by Mr Tinubu was that he had worked for President Muhammadu Buhari to become the first opposition leader to be elected Nigerian president, and therefore it was his (Tinubus) turn to be president after Mr Buhari.
By bringing up the emilokan, Governor Obaseki was apparently telling Mr Shaibu not to feel that he was entitled to succeed him because he (Shaibu) had worked and supported him (Obaseki) during his political battles.
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Saudi Arabias Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has announced the allocation of 95,000 slots to Nigeria in the forthcoming 2024 Hajj.
The Saudi Authorities made this known on Tuesday during a virtual meeting held between the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and the Saudis Ministry of Hajj and Umrah.
The meeting, which officially marked the start of the 2024 Hajj, was attended by the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Muslim Pilgrims, Jafar Mohammed, representatives of the Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Abubakar Bello, as well as the Nigerian Consul-General in Saudi Arabia, Bello Abdulkadir.
Nigeria got the same 95,000 slots during the 2023 Hajj, however, pilgrims from Nigeria faced significant challenges during the last Hajj due to a shortage of bed space in Muna, forcing several pilgrims to sleep on the streets.
During the virtual meeting, the Saudi authorities stated that Nigeria is expected to finalise all arrangements and negotiations with service providers, including catering, accommodation and transportation within the next 120 days.
Also, NAHCON is to submit the lists of medical personnel and other officials to the Kingdom as soon as possible. It also said that only air carriers with at least two aircraft on their fleet and a backup are appointed or allowed to participate in the 2024 Hajj operation.
The leader of the Saudi team, Badr Al-Somi, urged the commission to strive to meet the timeline to enable the ministry to make adequate plans and also avoid the experience and incidents witnessed in this years Hajj.
We want all Hajj Missions to be proactive in meeting our time frame so that we wont allow what happened previously and also to give the missions sufficient time to examine the services before pilgrims arrival, he said.
Earlier in his address, Chairman of NAHCON), Zikrullah Hassan, called on the Saudi authorities to expedite action on the refund of the feeding and tent services not provided in the Mashair.
He further reiterated the need for the Kingdom to disengage from the provision of feeding service in the Mashair and allow the country to take over Muna and Arafat to afford the pilgrims the opportunities to enjoy delicacies they were used to at home
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The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called for the enforcement of President Bola Tinubus directive that public universities should avoid arbitrary increases in school fees.
More than a dozen public universities have increased school fees in recent months, most of them by more than 100 per cent.
Though the federal government said the increases were at the discretion of the institutions, President Bola Tinubu in July directed that institutions should avoid an arbitrary increase in sundry fees payable, and where possible defer further increases.
But the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), for instance, announced a fee increase last week, more than a month after the presidents directive.
CAPP, therefore, urged the president to take decisive action to enforce the directive and ensure the full protection of Nigerian students.
We reiterate that genuine solutions to Nigerias educational challenges reside in raising budgetary allocations to the sector and taking dedicated steps to enhance the quality of learning experiences and infrastructure in line with global standards. Commercialising education and restricting access for many Nigerians is neither the answer nor the way forward. Such measures would only impede our nations progress and further pauperize our society, CAPPA said in a statement by its Policy and Research Officer, Zikora Ibeh.
Increments ill-timed, insensitive
CAPPA condemned the recent hike in school fees across Nigerian public universities and described the recent increases as outrageous and unconscionable.
The organisation also rejected the university authorities explanation that the fee hikes are inevitable due to current economic realities.
Ms Ibeh said the underfunding of the nations education system is worrisome despite the countrys abundant resources.
She said: Students and their families should not be made the scapegoats for dismal economic conditions spurred by ineffective government policies and a chronic underfunding of the education sector. It is a glaring indictment on the nation that, despite Nigerias abundant wealth and potential, our budgetary allocation to education lingers shamefully below global recommendations.
She said the increments, which threaten the education of indigent Nigerian students, are a violation of their right to education.
This disheartening trend is not just a knife in the back of poor students and their families struggling amid grim economic conditions but also a direct assault on the fundamental right to education as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the group said in a statement.
Ms Ibeh further condemned the actions of the Lagos State Police and the management of the University of Lagos during a peaceful protest by students demanding the reversal of the fee hike on 6 September.
The victimisation, use of tear gas, and arrests of young students for peacefully protesting the fee hike is both a moral and democratic travesty. Such strong-arm tactics betray the very principles that an institution of higher learning should uphold, she added.
The police released the two students the following day.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the organisation, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the fee hikes are ill-timed, noting that Nigerians are still grappling with the increase in the cost of living that accompanied the removal of fuel subsidy.
He said the non-reversal of the increase would mean countless students being pushed out of the system, forced to watch their dreams crumble or resort to back-breaking, often perilous and mentally draining menial jobs to keep their academic hopes on life support.
The organisation said the current national minimum wage remains paltry while the cost of living increased astronomically yet, the government has failed to fulfil its commitment to alleviate the plight of impoverished Nigerian workers.
This sad situation has further worsened the hardships of austerities and soaring living costs. To then expect already battered Nigerians to make additional sacrifices for their childrens education is to rub salt on an open wound, the statement noted.
CAPPA accused the government of commercialising tertiary education, saying it is evident in the fee increment.
The steep hikes have failed to translate into tangible improvements in the educational milieu. Students continue to navigate decayed lecture halls and living quarters and lack adequate academic infrastructure, consequently facing a steady decline in the quality of their academic experiences.
CAPPA, therefore, called for unity among stakeholders and pro-education groups in the country, urging them to stand in firm resolution against the fee hikes.
Background
More than a dozen public universities have increased school fees in recent months, most of them by more than 100 per cent.
Though the federal government said the increases were at the discretion of the institutions, President Bola Tinubu directed that the institutions avoid the arbitrary increase in sundry fees payable, and where possible defer further increases.
Nevertheless, the existing increase coincided with the increase in the cost of living that followed the removal of the petrol subsidy by Mr Tinubus administration.
This has resulted in student protests across different campuses, calling on the university authorities to reverse the fee hike.
The National Association of Nigerians Students (NANS) recently succeeded in getting the authorities at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to reduce the hike. The student body has also vowed to replicate the intervention across other institutions where school fees were recently hiked.
Qosim Suleiman is a reporter at Premium Times in partnership with Report for the World, which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe
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Disgraced TV presenter Andriy Domanskyy, who promoted Russian narratives on Ukrainian television and cowardly deleted his social media pages after the full-scale invasion, fled Ukraine. Surprisingly, he did not settle in his beloved Russia.
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According to Ukrainian TV host Slava Demin, the controversial artist is hiding in Europe. He left the country quite legally. Demin announced this on his YouTube channel (to see photos and videos, scroll to the bottom of the page).
Mutual acquaintances told the host that his pro-Russian colleague crossed the border on the grounds of having many children. It is known that Domansky is raising at least 5 children, three of whom are under 18 years old.
According to Slava Demin, the controversial host moved to one of the Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. It is not known whether his younger children are with him.
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As a reminder, back in 2018, Domanskyy promoted pro-Russian narratives on Inter TV, and in 2022, he chirped in Ukrainian about invincible compatriots. After receiving a portion of hate, the artist deleted himself from social media.
Domanskyy was once known for his statements about "Ukrainian fascists," collaborating with hostile countries and supporting the Kremlin's propaganda campaign. Read more about his path from star to traitor here.
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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote about the disappearance of Ukrainian comedian Serhiy Syvokho. He suspended his media activities and disappeared from the sight of his fans and the media. Read what is known about the star's whereabouts in our article.
Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit instituted by Adamu Bulkachuwa to stop Nigerias anti-corruption agency, ICPC, from investigating his confession of influencing his wifes decision as a judge and the President of the Court of Appeal.
Mr Bulkachuwa, 83, and senator at the 9th National Assembly during the Parliaments valedictory session in June admitted how he trampled on his wife, Zainab Bulkachuwas freedom and independence as president of the appellate court.
The lawmakers revelation drew condemnation from many Nigerians with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) calling for Mr Bulkachuwas investigation and prosecution.
Mr Bulkachuwa approached the court to bar the ICPC from investigating him after the anti-graft commission invited him for questioning concerning his startling revelation.
Judgement
However, delivering judgement on the suit on Tuesday, the judge, Inyang Ekwo, said Mr Bulkachuwas case was unmeritorous.
The judge said Mr Bulkachuwas claim to parliamentary immunity does not exist as he ought to have weighed the implications of his statement on the Senate floor.
It is the duty of every law-abiding citizen to assist and cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their quest to carry out their statutory function, Mr Ekwo said.
It is only where a law enforcement agency breaches the fundamental right of a citizen in the process of carrying out their statutory function, then a cause of action could be said to have arisen, the judge explained before dismissing the suit Mr Bulkachuwa lodged against the ICPC, the Attorney-General, police and the National Assembly.
Bulkachuwas confession an illegal act
The judge further described the plaintiff (Mr Bulkachuwas speech on the floor of the Senate on 10 June, as a confession of an illegal act and Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cannot be invoked to cover such and I so hold.
Mr Ekwo noted that when a person confesses that he influenced a judicial officer to help his friends and colleagues, such a person has gone beyond the limit of freedom of speech that is reasonably covered and protected by the provision of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
A person who has used the opportunity given to him by the constitution to express himself freely and uses the opportunity to expose his actions or conduct which the law of the land criminalises has unwittingly invited law enforcement agencies to question him, the judge said.
Mr Bulkachuwa had begged the court to declare that he is covered, privileged and protected by the parliamentary immunity as enshrined in Section 1 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017 and freedom of speech and expression made thereto is privileged.
The former senator, who hails from Bauchi State and was elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) before losing his re-election bid, had prayed the court to declare that no other law enforcement agent of the federal government, including the ICPC, can invite any lawmaker for questioning based on their comments in parliament.
But the judge further said the clear words of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) cannot be interpreted to mean that a person can say anything he likes.
In a formal setting like that plenary session or committee proceedings of the Senate, It is not expected of a person who is privileged to voice any expression will utter words or express opinion or impart Ideas or gives Information that cannot be defended under the constitution.
Upon studying the provision of Section 39 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), it Is my opinion, that the words uttered by the plaintiff on the floor of the Senate on Saturday, 10th June, 2023 was a confession of doing an act that is prohibited by law.
Background
In his damning remarks, Mr Bulkachuwa had said, My wife, whose freedom and independence I encroached upon while (she) was in office, and she has been very tolerant and accepted my encroachment and extended her help to my colleagues, said Mr Bulkachuwa, an All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, at a valedictory session of the 9th Senate on 10 June.
In the 41-second video clip of Mr Bulkachuwas revelation, the former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, was seen interrupting Mr Bulkachuwa.
Distinguished, I dont think this is a good idea going this direction. It is not a good idea, please, Mr Lawan retorted, trying to derail Mr Bulkachuwa from disclosing details of how he influenced his wifes judgements.
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To address these structural flaws and improve governance in Nigeria, there is an urgent need for constitutional amendments that would allow for a fundamental reshaping of the national structure to create one that leaves Nigeria with presidents who gain enough votes to be legitimate and a devolution that allows for truly federal governance models.
The federal and state administrations ushered in via the recently held elections have been having their 100-day anniversaries. While the Lagos State government has tried to celebrate its controversial re-election with the launching of a Lagos Metro that took almost two decades to complete but has electric trains being pulled by a diesel engine painted to look like a metro train, it yet looked rather sophisticated in comparison to the endeavour of the Kano State Government, which recently approved a budget of 854 million for the first phase of the Auren Zaurawa the Mass Wedding Initiative that offers financial assistance to young couples who cannot afford to pay for their own weddings. The budget will go to the wedding expenses of 1,800 couples who also get 20,000 to start businesses. But this grant amounts to a total of 36,000,000 a measly 4.21% of the 854 million budgeted for the event that will take place at the Sani Abacha Stadium later this month.
One has to ask if a mass wedding of this nature and cost actually belongs on a list of the priorities of Kano State. A couple of years ago, the state had the most out-of-school children in Nigeria, on the basis of the research of the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), which stated that 1,496,736 children were out of school in Kano State at that time. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Kano State has 10.51 million people living in poverty, which is 66.3 per cent of its estimated population of 15.9 million people. The state had an unemployment rate of 26.8 per cent and an underemployment rate of 25.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2020, which means that more than half of the labour force in Kano State was either unemployed or underemployed, and the economic downturn faced by Nigeria since then hasnt offered the opportunity for improvement for them. The state government has budgeted 1.2 billion to combat the deadly malaria scourge, and 500 million has been earmarked to complete the states cancer treatment centre. These healthcare initiatives are of much greater importance and will serve the needs of people even into the long term, but the mass-wedding programme has a budget that is 50% of their combined budgetary allocation.
This bizarre wastefulness is a pattern seen with Nigerian state governments, and at this point, we have to accept that the only way to achieve a positive wholesale change in governance is to totally reset the national structure into a format that provides the different tiers with the appropriate motivation to act properly.
Nigeria, Africas most populous country and largest economy, is facing a crisis of governance and legitimacy. The recent presidential election, which was supposed to usher in a new era of democracy and development, was instead marred by widespread irregularities, violence, and low turnout. Bola Tinubu was declared the election winner with only 36.61 per cent of the votes cast, far below the 51 per cent required by the constitution to avoid a runoff. His main challengers, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, rejected the results and filed petitions at the Presidential Election Tribunal, alleging massive fraud and manipulation. The court dismissed the petitions, but many Nigerians remain unconvinced by its verdict.
The presidential election was not the only source of controversy and discontent. The state and local government elections, which were held separately from the presidential poll, also revealed deep divisions and dissatisfaction among the electorate. Many state governors were accused of rigging the elections in their favour, using their control of the security forces, electoral commissions, and public funds. Some governors even faced protests and legal challenges from their own party members, who felt sidelined or betrayed by their actions. While none of the gubernatorial results has been overturned, a few legislature results have been annulled, even if they go almost unnoticed. This relative silence regarding the state and legislature appeals is what has gotten to me.
The poor accountability, and thus the generally poor performance of state governments, can be directly tied to this overweening interest in the Executive in Abuja and it is one of the major problems facing Nigeria today. Despite receiving a large share of the countrys oil revenues, most states have failed to deliver basic services and infrastructure to their citizens.
Before the general elections, SBM Intelligence partnered with the Enough is Enough Coalition to conduct a countrywide survey on the elections, and we found that most people were uninterested in the down-ballot elections. While all our respondents had something to say about the presidential election, only a third of them were interested in the governorship elections. It was further downhill from there, as interest in the Senate, House of Representatives and state assemblies saw one in five, one in six and one in seven respondents answering questions put to them about those polls.
The poor accountability, and thus the generally poor performance of state governments, can be directly tied to this overweening interest in the Executive in Abuja and it is one of the major problems facing Nigeria today. Despite receiving a large share of the countrys oil revenues, most states have failed to deliver basic services and infrastructure to their citizens. The country also suffers from high rates of poverty, unemployment, inequality, corruption, insecurity, and environmental degradation.
One of the reasons for this dismal situation is the lack of autonomy and incentives for state governments to perform better. The current political system in Nigeria is highly centralised, giving the Federal Government enormous powers and responsibilities over a wide range of issues, including security, the economy, education, health, and justice. The Federal Government also collects most of the countrys revenues from oil and taxes, and distributes them to the states and local governments according to a complex formula that is often contested and politicised.
This is not helped by the fact that people are so mindful of the Federal Government that they do not put enough attention and pressure on the facets that actually lie within the legal reach of the lower tiers of governance at the state and local government levels, which are actually in the best position to impact directly on the people.
This system creates a dependency culture among state governments, relying on federal allocations rather than generating revenues from productive activities. This is why Kano State would operate as it has opted. The current system also reduces the subnational units accountability to their citizens, who have little say or influence over how their resources are spent or managed. Moreover, it fosters a winner-takes-all mentality among the political elites, who see control over the Federal Government as the ultimate prize and source of patronage.
My biggest disappointment in the Tinubu government thus far is not that they are in power, but that for so long, the South-West wing of the APC noisily talked about restructuring Nigeria and the devolution of powers and has gone completely silent about it now that it has the federal power. If this wing truly comprises of the progressives that they claim to be, they should know that it is important to grant more autonomy and fiscal responsibility to state and local governments
To address these structural flaws and improve governance in Nigeria, there is an urgent need for constitutional amendments that would allow for a fundamental reshaping of the national structure to create one that leaves Nigeria with presidents who gain enough votes to be legitimate and a devolution that allows for truly federal governance models. These constitutional amendments are necessary to redefine the roles and responsibilities of different levels of government and ensure the fair representation and participation of all segments of the country.
The devolution of powers is the transfer or delegation of power from a central government to subnational authorities. Federalism combines a central or federal government with regional governments (provincial, state, or other subnational governments) in a single political system, with the powers shared between the tiers. It must be noted that some devolutions, which have already happened, for example, in power, have not been taken advantage of because of incompetence and corruption by the state governors, who sometimes withhold the budgetary allocations due to the local government units. The recent show of shame in which local government chairmen were kowtowing before a state governor is a testament to how devolution has been improperly implemented.
At this point, there may be some value in considering the value of establishing a rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, whereby each zone would produce a president in turn, ensuring that the office goes round the different regions in the country, hence putting a stop to feelings of marginalisation. This would have its own challenges, but one way to mitigate some of these will be to significantly weaken the presidencys powers, so that while one zone holds it, others do not feel deprived. An advantage of this is that, among other things, it would help demystify the presidency and make the political class more open to devolving power.
My biggest disappointment in the Tinubu government thus far is not that they are in power, but that for so long, the South-West wing of the APC noisily talked about restructuring Nigeria and the devolution of powers and has gone completely silent about it now that it has the federal power. If this wing truly comprises of the progressives that they claim to be, they should know that it is important to grant more autonomy and fiscal responsibility to state and local governments, where they would have more control over their own affairs and resources, as well as generate their own revenues from taxes and other sources. This would encourage them to be more accountable and responsive to their citizens needs and demands.
Cheta Nwanze is a partner at SBM Intelligence.
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By raising strong boulders against economic and financial crimes, Tinubu is joining the rest of the world in bolstering economic growth, because no enduring gain can be made if leakages caused by corrupt practices are not plugged in the larger economy. Corruption is more than a threat to economic growth, it is actually fatal blockage of all driving forces of development.
For many Nigerians, President Bola Tinubus Eight-point Agenda, pointing towards economic re-engineering and radical overhaul of directive principles of states policies, appear heart-warming. The agenda, which is broad-based and ambitious, especially in the area of fighting corruption, is raising hopes and warming feet that had become cold in the wake of the removal of subsidy on petroleum products.
While presenting the agenda to Nigerians recently, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, explained that, the overriding conclusion is that were not where we should be and we also examined the presidents eight-point agenda, that is the eight priority areas for moving the Nigerian economy forward and for delivering to Nigerians, and those are basically food security, ending poverty, economic growth and job creation, access to capital particularly consumer credit, inclusivity in all its dimensions particularly as regards youths and women, improving security, improving the playing field on which people and particularly companies operate, rule of law and, of course, fighting corruption.
That the President prioritised fighting corruption in his government, is a trajectory of development and blueprint of hope for the nation and continued relevance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) as Nigerian most vibrant anti- graft agency.
By raising strong boulders against economic and financial crimes, Tinubu is joining the rest of the world in bolstering economic growth, because no enduring gain can be made if leakages caused by corrupt practices are not plugged in the larger economy. Corruption is more than a threat to economic growth, it is actually fatal blockage of all driving forces of development.
At the EFCC, bright lights of fresh thinking in the area of strategic alliances and partnerships are springing forth. At different fora, EFCCs Acting Chairman, Abdulkarim Chukkol, has stressed that the task of fighting economic and financial crimes requires robust intelligence gathering. Intelligence does not fall from the sky. It is about bridge-building, synergies and reliable linkages with critical stakeholders across the world. Intelligence-driven operations are like radiographic supports to surgeries. No surgeon in the world can magically work on his patient without adequate radiographic intelligence. With a driver like Chukkol, I see greater strides ahead in the crucial works of breaking the hard nuts of corruption.
As good as intelligence is, timely and proactive frameworks in tackling graft are imperative. To achieve this, the EFCC needs to be ahead of both budding and hardened fraudsters in thinking and strategies. My interactions with some key officers of the EFCC have shown that, beyond what we know or read about, Chukkol is building a system of stop-the-crime-before-it-breaks out. How? Through rigorous enlightenment campaigns across the country.
Now, it is no longer news that the EFCCs public awareness machinery is revving in schools, market places, motor parks, religious houses and other public squares. No Nigerian has any excuse for committing economic crimes any longer, because campaigns against them are getting hotter than before. This is as good for the EFCC as it is good for the Presidents economic agenda. We can only have enough for our needs if we fight enough against our greed.
This should not be an uphill task for Chukkol especially, given his pedigree of competence and integrity. The rising effectiveness of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the watch of Chukkol, in breaking hiding places of money launderers, is laudable. This is one sure way of building strength for the presidents economic agenda.
Job creation, poverty alleviation, food security and the other compelling needs of our nation are quite phenomenal. Even, access to capital, inclusive youth and women development, coupled with adequate security, are unmistakably essential for the nation. However, I feel that none of these is as crucial as the fight against corruption.
President Tinubu needs to address himself seriously to this area by deepening and strengthening the anti- corruption agencies, especially the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and encouraging its leadership to offer their best in growing the economy.
Already, the president is moving in this direction with the reported recruitment drive in the EFCC that is said to be broad-based. Feelers from the Commission showed that sufficient attention is being paid to national spread and balancing in the recruitment. The South-West, South-East, South-South, North-Central and other geopolitical zones are having their dues. This is how it should be for national cohesion and Chukkol deserves commendation in this regard.
At this juncture, it is imperative to stress the need for collaborative engagement of all the key drivers of the economy in achieving the presidents agenda. Primarily, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is being looked upon for new frameworks, effective enough to checkmate fluctuations and disquiet in the foreign exchange market.
Equally, all revenue-generating agencies like the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Customs Service and others, need to review their strategies to save the nation the searing pains of economic distress. Where does the EFCC come in here? The Commissions role is in ensuring that initiatives for driving the economy are assessed with a fine-tooth comb, leaving no room for compromise and shadiness.
This should not be an uphill task for Chukkol especially, given his pedigree of competence and integrity. The rising effectiveness of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the watch of Chukkol, in breaking hiding places of money launderers, is laudable. This is one sure way of building strength for the presidents economic agenda.
The stabilising energy of Chukkol and his team should be encouraged more and together, we will move the nation into a safe haven. Our desired reliefs wont come without sacrifices. We should move with the words of our legendary Wole Soyinka in The Interpreters that: pains may be endured in the pursuit of ending pains and fighting terrors!
Other means of building strength is in checking abuses and infractions in our financial institutions. Insider dealings in banks across the country are not healthy and we really need to commend the EFCC for its daily monitoring of all forms of transactions in both the regular financial institutions and Designated Non-Financial Institutions, Businesses and Professions (DNFIBPs).
But for the watchful efforts of the Commission, many bank customers would have been plunged into untold misery. This is why government should continue to strengthen the EFCC and insulate it from any form of instability, both within and beyond its precincts.
The sum and substance of this piece is simply the incontrovertible necessity of building strength for the presidents agenda through effective and sustainable anti-corruption efforts. The whole world is talking about sustainable development goals towards peace, prosperity, and progress.
With the theme of the 2023 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) focussing on this through Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity, all meaningful efforts should be made towards lifting the EFCC and its leadership for more impressive results. There are pains at the moment but they are not terminal. As we keep pushing the frontiers of anti-corruption works, greater gains are waiting in the horizon, both for the new government and the entire nation.
In conclusion, President Tinubu needs our genuine and best support as he continues to navigate the tumultuous terrain of growing the national economy. All agencies of government, including the EFCC, must also be supported.
The stabilising energy of Chukkol and his team should be encouraged more and together, we will move the nation into a safe haven. Our desired reliefs wont come without sacrifices. We should move with the words of our legendary Wole Soyinka in The Interpreters that: pains may be endured in the pursuit of ending pains and fighting terrors!
Hammed Sani, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Bauchi, Bauchi State.
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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, has described the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as a worthy telecom regulator in Nigeria for its dedicated efforts in promoting awareness and knowledge of Information Communications Technologies (ICT), among the judiciary in particular, and the Nigerian public in general.
The CJN, who is the Chairman, Board of Governors of the NJI, spoke in an opening remark at the 2023 edition of the annual workshop for judges on telecommunications issues hosted by the NCC. The workshop began in Kano on Monday, 18 September.
Mr Ariwoola said that information technology and telecommunication services have surpassed the conventional method of court service delivery, as the use of the Internet is becoming a prominent feature of this era with innovative and interactive influences on the public, hence, the crucial nature of the workshop.
Speaking on the theme of the workshop, The Adjudication Path in a Digital Era, the CJN said it strikes a chord with the current realities that judicial officers face technologies that have fundamentally transformed how they communicate, access information and conduct legal proceedings.
We are obliged to embrace this transformation while ensuring that doing justice remains at the forefront of our efforts, he said.
The CJN and other Justices of the Supreme Court, Appeal Court, Federal and State High Courts, and NJI officials, were welcomed to the workshop by the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Umar Danbatta, who greeted them with the news that the Nigerian Communications Act, (NCA) 2003, was undergoing a fundamental review to update its provisions.
The nations number one judiciary officer explained that the workshop presents a platform where the challenges facing the judiciary by the digital revolution would be effectively discussed and that it is also an opportunity to equip the judiciary with the necessary information to deal with the digital era.
It is also crucial to prioritise the examination of the convergence of data privacy and information security law. The enormous amount of data generated and collated in the digital realm raises critical questions regarding privacy, security, and the protection of individual rights.
As judicial officers, you are responsible for carefully assessing the legal implications of data collation, storage, and utilisation and by striking a harmonious balance between fostering innovation and safeguarding privacy, your Lordships would cultivate trust in the digital ecosystem while upholding individual rights Ariwoola said.
The Executive Chairman of NCC, in his welcome address, expressed gratitude to the CJN and the top echelon of the judiciary for finding time to attend the workshop and promised the Commissions resolve to deepen knowledge of the digital future on the judiciary as a very critical and indispensable arm of government.
Mr Danbatta said the commission is responsive to the rapid changes in the telecommunications and technology space and that NCC has taken steps to start the review of its enabling legislation, the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (NCA, 2003), while assuring that stakeholders will get the opportunity to make input to the amendment.
Speaking on the importance of the workshop, Mr Danbatta noted that the telecommunications sector has evolved since the NCA 2003 came into existence hence the need to be responsive in readiness to keep pace with the dynamics of technologies that will come.
He noted that the workshop afforded the commission an ample opportunity to engage the judiciary on how to adopt digital technologies in advancing the course of justice.
He said, The communications sector, through infrastructure deployment, has continually ensured that the digital economy agenda of the Federal Government is established on a solid foundation. It has also proven to be the catalyst for entrenching the activities of both the public and private sectors in the digital space, seamlessly.
However, we recognise that in any digital economy, the development of a complex web of commercial transactions and social interactions is inevitable. Thus, to instill societal confidence in the digital economy, at least, two things are required: a safe and effective backbone infrastructure, as well as an efficient adjudicatory mechanism, which is easily accessible in the digital space.
Mr Danbatta said this reality informs the NCCs steadfast partnership with the NJI to develop capacity for judges in this area, saying this would ensure that the Court, being the last hope of the common man, is firmly woven into the fabric of the digital economy.
In an interview on the sidelines of the workshop, Mr Danbatta further said,, We have the Nigerian Communications Act, which established the NCC in 2003, more than 20 years ago. At one time, the Chief Justice of the Federation said this Act is anachronistic, which means it is old and therefore, has to be reviewed and I assured members of the judiciary that this review is going on as we speak.
At the appropriate time, members of the media will be invited to witness the public presentation of the reviewed NCC Act to an engagement forum with critical members of the industry as well as Nigerians, who subscribe to telecommunications services. They will have a say during the presentation of the reviewed Act to the Public.
The NCC hosted the 2023 National Workshop for Justices and Judges on Legal Issues in Telecommunication Matters in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI).
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The Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia, on Monday, revived a doctors training scheme aimed at boosting the states healthcare sector.
Tagged doctors bond, the scheme aims to sponsor medical students in return for serving in Benues public hospitals.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that former Governor Samuel Ortoms administration scrapped the scheme in 2017, triggering an acute shortage of doctors across Benues general hospitals.
Under the programme, medical students received financial support from the state government while at university and were required to serve for at least two years after graduation.
Scheme reactivated
Speaking at an induction ceremony of 41 medical graduates at the Benue State University College of Health Sciences, Makurdi, Mr Alia directed the immediate commencement of the doctors bond scheme.
The bond-doctors scheme is resurrected. We want all our medical doctors to stay within, promising to do all we can to provide greener pastures. Please, dont go away.
The governors directive followed a request by the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) chairman in the state, Usha Anenga, that the scheme be restored to address the deteriorating healthcare system.
Some hospitals in the state have two medical doctors attending to hundreds of thousands of patients.
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The governor reeled out some interventions he had made soon after taking office on 29 May to address urgent issues in the states healthcare industry payment of N100,000 monthly allowance to doctors undergoing the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme in Benue.
Mr Alia said he had paid this years residency training fees for doctors, which the NMA chairman confirmed.
To the academics who complained of a shortfall in their salaries, Mr Alia said, Consider the anomaly in the shortfall of salaries at the college fixed today.
Oath to serve humanity
In his charge to the new medical doctors, the governor urged them to reflect on the essence of their Hippocratic oath and serve humanity diligently.
He said the university had a critical role in Benues growth, urging the academics to drive training and research.
Earlier, the university vice-chancellor, Tor Iorapuu, a professor, advised the inductees to be good ambassadors of the university as they ply their trade.
Mr Iorapuu commended the governor for being the first to attend the universitys induction ceremony for doctors.
He lauded the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) for increasing the universitys medical schools admission quota from 75 to 150.
The vice chancellor recalled the inductees decade-long academic journey, commending them for their resilience.
In his remark, the registrar of MDCN, Tajudeen Sanusi, said BSU College of Health Sciences remains a shining example in medical personnel training in Nigeria.
Mr Sanusi urged the inductees to imbibe ethical values as the council would not hesitate to discipline erring doctors.
Toeing the same line, the provost of the Benue State University College of Health Sciences, Chia Saalu, a professor, implored the doctors to show integrity and responsibility in the course of their work.
He praised the inductees for their years of hard work and single-minded pursuit, urging them not to forget their humanity while treating patients.
The college inducted its first set of medical graduates in 2015. Mondays event brings the total number of doctors who have graduated from the school to 367.
One of the highlights of the ceremony was the recognition of two female inductees- Dorathy Igbaver and Sandra Imenger as the best-graduating students in surgery.
Also, the graduating medical class conferred an award on Governor Alia for his interventions in the states healthcare sector.
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The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano, the state capital, will Wednesday (20 September) deliver judgment on the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to challenge the victory of Governor Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) in the 18 March election.
The tribunal announced the judgement date in a notice issued to the lawyers representing parties to the case on Monday. The announcement came weeks after lawyers made their closing arguments on behalf of their clients on 21 August.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared that the NNPP polled 1,019,602 votes to defeat the APC with its candidate, Nasir Gawuna, who scored 890,705 votes. The NNPP candidate thus won with a margin of 128,897 votes.
Displeased, the APC filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge the results declared by the electoral body.
The petition has received attention from within and outside the state, partly because it is a proxy war between rival political heavyweights in the state whose political tentacles extend to the national stage.
Former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, the leader of the NNPP, and his successor, Abdullahi Ganduje, who is currently the national chair of the APC, are friends-turned-foes. They enjoyed long years of political friendship with their once formidable alliance seeing Mr Ganduje serve as deputy governor to Mr Kwanwaso as Kano State governor for two terms of four years each. So warm was their alliance that Mr Kwankwaso helped Mr Ganduje to succeed him as governor in 2015. But political differences have since driven a wedge between them. With the good old days gone, both now have abiding political scores to settle, and the governorship election petition offers them the platform to test their strength.
Both veteran politicians have kept their attention firmly riveted to the governorship court contest, hoping their parties will succeed and, in turn, help them to consolidate their political base on the home front, a much-needed asset to stay afloat in the national pool.
Petitioners case
The APC, strongly backed by Mr Ganduje, asked the tribunal to nullify the victory of Mr Kwankwaso-backed NNPP on among other grounds that the election was conducted in violation of the Electoral Act 2022.
It sued the INEC, the NNPP and Governor Yusuf as the respondents.
At the hearing of the petition, the APC, through its lawyer, Abdul Fagge, called 32 witnesses and tendered a series of documents including a report of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines, the electronic voter accreditation devices deployed in all polling units for the conduct of the poll in the state.
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The petitioner also tendered used Forms EC8A, the polling unit result sheets, and Form EC40G, the overall result sheet containing the final tallies, and other electoral documents obtained from the INEC.
Besides alleging irregularities during the polls, the petitioner also challenged the qualification of Governor Yusuf to contest the election.
The petitioners lawyer, Mr Fagge, while making his final submissions in court, argued that the governor was not a registered member of the NNPP as of the time he contested and was declared the winner of the election. He tendered the INEC-certified copy of the NNPP membership register to substantiate his claim.
In law, before you contest any election, you must be a member of a political party. In the Electoral Act 2022, section 75 made it clear that all political parties shall submit their register to INEC not later than 30 days before the conduct of their partys primary election. The name of the governor is missing in the certified true copy of the NNPP register issued by INEC, Mr Fagge argued.
He dismissed the alternate membership register brought by the NNPP, arguing that it was belatedly updated at ward level after the APC had filed its petition.
He added that the register fell short of the prescription of the law and INECs standards.
The APC lawyer also tendered over 270,000 ballot papers thumbprinted in favour of the NNPP. He argued that the ballot papers were certified by INEC but were neither signed, stamped nor dated, and were therefore invalid.
Mr Fagge also told the tribunal that the state House of Assembly elections, which took place concurrently with the governorship poll, were declared inconclusive in at least 15 constituencies.
He said despite this, INEC went ahead to declare a winner of the governorship election when it ought to declare it inconclusive, the reason being that the number of cancelled votes substantially affected the outcomes of both elections.
The declaration of the winner of the governorship election was against the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, because the votes cancelled by INEC, by far, outnumbered the margin of lead between the winner and runner-up, Mr Fagge said.
He urged the tribunal to declare the APC candidate, Mr Gawuna, who came second in the election as the duly elected governor of Kano State because Mr Yusuf was not a registered member of the NNPP as of the time of the poll.
We also want the tribunal to invalidate over 270,000 unstamped, not signed and no-date ballots that were cast in favour of the NNPP candidate, the lawyer added.
As an alternative prayer to the call for a declaration of Mr Gawuna as the winner of the election, the petitioners lawyer urged the tribunal to declare the election inconclusive because the number of cancelled votes by INEC outnumbered the winning votes.
NNPPs lawyer disagrees
The NNPP lead counsel, Bashir Tudun-Wuzirchi, urged the tribunal to dismiss the APCs petition for being an academic exercise and a waste of time and energy.
He anchored his clients prayers on among other grounds that the non-joining of the partys governorship candidate, Mr Gawuna, as a pettioner, was fatal to the case.
He said all the allegations levelled by the petitioner were unproven and not correct.
Contrary to the petitioners claim, Mr Tudun-Wuzirchi argued that the name of the governor was in the register as provided by the law.
The issue of membership has been severally held by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to be a pre-election matter of which the tribunal has no jurisdiction to determine, he said.
On the issue of the absence of INEC stamp on ballot papers, Mr Tudun-Wuzirchi said the allegation was baseless because it was not substantiated with any evidence and no witness demonstrated before the court that a ballot paper used during the election was not stamped, or signed and had no date on it.
Section 63(2) of the Electoral Act made it clear that even where a ballot was not stamped or signed but was counted by the presiding officer, the ballot paper is considered genuine, the NNPP lawyer added, pleading with the tribunal to reject the petitioners argument about unstamped ballot papers.
Mr Tudun-Wuzirchi also faulted the APC lawyers call on the tribunal to declare the election inconclusive.
He said the election witnessed the highest turnout of voters in the state, adding that the APC did not provide sufficient evidence to warrant declaring the election inconclusive. He said the margin of lead between Governor Yusuf and Mr Gawuna was over 100,000 votes
Bribery issues, spiritual supplications and other dramas
The high-stakes court case has generated expectable dramas within and outside the courtroom. On the sideline of the legal-cum-political arena, there are ongoing squabbles among religious personalities with divided interests in the matter.
A pivotal moment during the hearing was when the chairperson of the three-member election petition tribunal, Flora Azinge, raised the alarm lawyers were making some moves to bribe a member of the panel to procure a favourable outcome for a party in the case.
Ms Azinges revelation sparked bouts of counter-accusations between APC and NNPP members, and further deepened uncertainties about the possible outcome of the case.
In reaction, both sides have gone spiritual. While NNPP members have held mass prayer sessions, the rival APC members have observed fasting and Quranic recitation.
On 26 August, the governor, Mr Yusuf, and his political godfather, Mr Kwankwaso, participated in a mass prayer session organised to secure the victory of their party at the election tribunal.
The cleric, Sani Ashir, who led the prayer session attended by thousands of supporters of the NNPP, described those challenging the election of the states governor in court, as the enemies of the state, and prayed for God to destroy them.
We are gathered here to pray for our leaders whom we willingly voted for. We seek Gods protection and guidance on them.
The enemies of the people are coming and planning to undermine our leaders. Defeat and destroy them all. Destroy the enemies of Kano State who are trying to steal the mandate of the people through the back door.
The treasury looters and election riggers are yet to concede defeat. They are in the court. We pray for success at the election tribunal, and all other seats being contested in the court by our members (NNPP). We pray for a successful end, he said.
But Mr Ashirs participation in the prayer session drew a backlash from his colleagues Idris Abdulaziz from Bauchi State and Abubakar Giro from Kebbi
State, who died recently. Both clerics accused of Ashir staging a mass prayer session with no backing of any Islamic injunctions.
Also, the states Commissioner of Lands and Physical Planning, Adamu Aliyu, on Thursday, issued a death threat to the tribunal judges.
Mr Aliyu also promised to unleash mayhem on residents of the state, one worse than what residents of neighbouring Kaduna and Zamfara are going through.
I am sending this message to the tribunal judges, any judge that allows himself to be used and collect bribes and pass judgment that is not right, we want to tell him he must choose between his life and the bribe money he collected.
We are promising you (our supporters), we are receiving your complaints, the votes you cast on his excellency (Governor Yusuf) will not go in vain unless we lose our lives or the Kano state will fall.
Another message for the leaders. You have seen the conflict (banditry) in Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina, I swear because of this governorship seat, everyone will die. The conflict that will start in Kano will be more deadly than the ones in those states and Borno, Mr Aliyu said.
The mass prayer session and gathering organised by politicians were held despite the ban on all forms of protests by the police in Kano. The police accused both the NNPP and APC of planning to foment trouble by sponsoring protests in the state.
The police commissioner in the state, Muhammad Gumel, in a statement, said the command had banned all forms of protest to prevent possible clashes and uprisings
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Gunmen have killed many security operatives in Umualumaku, a community in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigerias south-east.
The incident happened at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, PREMIUM TIMES gathered.
Sources told this newspaper that the gunmen ambushed the security operatives, who were driving in two pick-up trucks to an unknown location, and opened fire on them, killing a yet-to-be-ascertained number of operatives.
A resident of the community, Henry Chukwuma, told PREMIUM TIMES that the security operatives were members of Search and Flush Team, a combined security outfit in the state comprising soldiers and personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
Mr Chukwuma, who said the hoodlums killed all the security operatives in the two trucks, could not confirm the number of the operatives killed.
The gunmen also burnt their corpses. So, nobody will be able to tell how many police officers and soldiers that were killed in the attack, he said in Igbo language.
A video clip apparently recorded shortly after the attack has been circulating on Facebook and other social media platforms.
In the clip, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, at least four bodies of the security operatives were in flames.
The two trucks belonging to the operatives were also in flames.
Some residents were heard lamenting the attack and the killing of the operatives.
The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, did not respond to several calls and a text message seeking his comments.
Increased attacks
Like other states in Nigerias South-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons.
The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.
Hundreds of people, including traditional rulers, have been killed and injured in such attacks.
The Nigerian government has accused the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. But the group has repeatedly denied the accusation.
The separatist group is leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.
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FN Media Group Presents USA News Group News Commentary
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- USA News Group During a panel led by leaders from the lithium and battery space at the Battery Show North America expressed optimism that North America's domestic lithium supply gap can be eliminated. Acknowledging that just a decade ago, 75% of the world's lithium came from China, Chile, and Australia, moderator James Frith of Volta Energy Technologies predicted that "By 2030" those countries' share of all supply will be less than 50%thanks to a rapidly advancing EV market, and geopolitical and supply-efficiency pushes for more North American-based lithium supply. Among the ongoing lithium projects on the continent that are making significant advances are those from Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV:USHA) (OTCQB:USHAF), E3 Lithium Limited (TSXV: ETL) (OTCQX: EEMMF), Allkem Limited (TSX: AKE) (OTCPK: OROCF), Livent Corporation (NYSE: LTHM), and Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE: LAC) (TSX: LAC).
Based in Vancouver, Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV:USHA) (OTCQB:USHAF), which has holdings in both Nevada and Ontario, recently provided a significant update on its White Willow Lithium Pegmatite Project. Situated 170km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, the project has revealed ten principal drill targets across a 25km stretch, based on 837 collected samples. With 219 assays still pending, initial results have shown up to 0.5% Li 2 O, 1,730 ppm cesium, 120,000 ppm tantalum, and 3,540 ppm rubidium.
"We are thrilled with the findings from the initial programs at White Willow," said Deepak Varshney, CEO of Usha Resources. "As seen at Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette Project, which has over 20 kilometres of trend, lithium pegmatite swarms occur in clusters, each of which has the potential to become a deposit. The findings thus far strongly validate our belief that Willow is a flagship asset where Ontario's next major lithium discovery will occur."
After acquiring the White Willow project in March 2023, USHA hit the ground running. Completing five weeks of fieldwork and gathering data on 618 samples, the company is set to begin drilling at each of the 10 target pegmatites in its inaugural drill program, slated for Q1 2024.
White Willow has quickly risen in prominence within USHA's esteemed North American portfolio, becoming the company's primary hard rock lithium asset. This addition has strengthened USHA's dual-focused strategy to become a major lithium producer in the future. The other cornerstone in this strategy is the Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Project in Nevada, where drilling commenced and preparations for a new 43-101 resource estimate began as of June 2023.
"The work to-date has demonstrated that Jackpot contains the right system for a major lithium discovery and by exploring to a depth of 2,000 feet, we aim to gather a more comprehensive understanding of the mineral potential within our project area, further enhancing the overall resource estimation and project feasibility of Jackpot Lake," said Varshney.
Since USHA's revelation in early August 2023, White Willow has been capturing significant attention. The discovery of a second lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite cluster effectively tripled the original strike length to over 25km, making headlines in the process.
"We are thrilled with the findings from the initial programs at White Willow," said Deepak Varshney. "As seen at Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette Project, which has over 20 kilometres of trend, lithium pegmatite swarms occur in clusters, each of which has the potential to become a deposit."
Another Canadian asset that's being developed is that of E3 Lithium Limited (TSXV:ETL) (OTC:EEMMF), which followed up its announcement of commencing operations at Alberta's first direct lithium extraction (DLE) field pilot plant by providing an overview of its strategic assets over the provincial border in Saskatchewan.
While there is still plenty of attention going towards the ambitious Alberta DLE plant (the first of its kind in the province), now the company is building up even more anticipation on its neighbouring assets comprised of approximately 258 sections or 66,800 hectares of fully-owned mineral permits in southeast Saskatchewan. While E3 Lithium continues to prioritize the development of its Clearwater Project in Alberta, their Saskatchewan land position gives the company another strategic asset to unlock and maximize value from.
"Securing mineral permits in Saskatchewan has enabled E3 Lithium to hold a central land position in a new and developing lithium region," said Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3 Lithium. "Our focus will remain on our world-class core assets in Alberta as we actively pursue value for our Saskatchewan asset."
Across the country in Quebec, Allkem Limited (TSX:AKE) (OTC:OROCF) recently boasted an updated resource at its James Bay Lithium Project to 110.2 Mt at 1.30% Li 2 O, representing a whopping increase of 173% in the process. Now as the Canadian winter approaches, Allkem is setting forth on a significant campaign of infill and extensional drilling to test for along-strike and down-dip extensions of the pegmatite dykes beyond the area.
"James Bay is now one of the largest spodumene lithium assets and clearly has the potential to grow even further as the boundaries of mineralisation are tested through an additional drilling program commencing later in the year," said Martin Perez de Solay, Managing Director and CEO of Allkem. "The size and grade of this resource is amongst the best in the world and will underpin Allkem plans for future production and processing of lithium in Quebec."
The update on James Bay came just 9 days after lithium-giant partners Livent Corporation (NYSE:LTHM) shared in an update on who will be in charge of the proposed merger company post-completion of the deal.
"Today's announcement is a significant milestone as Livent and Allkem seek to combine our teams and collective strengths to create a leading lithium company," said Livent President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Graves.
Ahead of the deal, Livent has its own Quebec-based lithium project in development, the Whabouchi spodumene mine aka Nemaska Lithium, of which the company is a 50% shareholder and operating partner. The company is working to deliver upon an order of up0 to 13,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide per year over 11 years to Ford.
Meanwhile in the USA in the same state as USHA's Jackpot Lake property, Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) (TSX:LAC) is swiftly advancing its Thacker Pass project towards production to becoming the country's next producing mine in Nevada.
Now that a new lithium discovery resulting from a US volcano nearby is being touted as potentially the biggest lithium deposit ever found, Nevada has re-captured the attention of the market. Composed of the unusual claystone mineral illite, new in situ analysis reveals that there could be 1.3-2.4% lithium in the volcanic craterthat's almost double the lithium present in the main lithium-bearing clay mineral, magnesium smectite, which is more common than illite.
"Previous research assumed that the illite was everywhere at depth in the caldera," said Thomas Benson, a geologist at Lithium Americas, whose team that proposed that a layer of illite around 40m thick was formed in the lake sediments by a hot brine.
As per Benson's team's assertions, the fluid moved upwards along fractures formed as volcanic activity restarted, transforming smectite into illite in the southern part of the crater, Thacker Pass, resulting in a claystone rich in lithium. Now Benson and his team are viewing the lithium-rich claystone at Thacker Pass as 'unique' amongst volcanic sedimentary deposits.
Lithium Americas expects to begin mining in 2026, which will be after the completion of a split between its North and South American assets into two leading lithium companies.
Article Source: https://energymetalnews.com/2023/02/28/charging-along-the-highway-towards-domestic-lithium-dominance/
Article Source:
USA News Group
http://USAnewsgroup.com info@usanewsgroup.com
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Nothing in this publication should be considered as personalized financial advice. We are not licensed under securities laws to address your particular financial situation. No communication by our employees to you should be deemed as personalized financial advice. Please consult a licensed financial advisor before making any investment decision. This is a paid advertisement and is neither an offer nor recommendation to buy or sell any security. We hold no investment licenses and are thus neither licensed nor qualified to provide investment advice. The content in this report or email is not provided to any individual with a view toward their individual circumstances. Energy Metals News is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Market IQ Media Group, Inc. ("MIQ"). MIQ has been paid a fee for Usha Resources Ltd. advertising and digital media from Energy Metals News ("the Company"). There may be 3rd parties who may have shares of Usha Resources Ltd., and may liquidate their shares which could have a negative effect on the price of the stock. This compensation constitutes a conflict of interest as to our ability to remain objective in our communication regarding the profiled company. Because of this conflict, individuals are strongly encouraged to not use this publication as the basis for any investment decision. The owner/operator of MIQ own shares of Usha Resources Ltd. MIQ reserve the right to buy and sell, and will buy and sell shares of Usha Resources Ltd. at any time thereafter without any further notice. We also expect further compensation as an ongoing digital media effort to increase visibility for the company, no further notice will be given, but let this disclaimer serve as notice that all material disseminated by MIQ has been approved by the above mentioned company; this is a paid advertisement, and we own shares of the mentioned company that we will sell, and we also reserve the right to buy shares of the company in the open market, or through further private placements and/or investment vehicles.
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Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that a rebellion is brewing in the territory of the aggressor country of Russia. According to him, these processes have already been launched and should lead to the fragmentation of the Russian Federation.
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During a telethon on Monday, September 18, Danilov noted that there will be no second "march on Moscow". However, the rebellion is brewing and Ukraine knows exactly how it is happening and who is behind it.
"I think it will not be a march anymore. Let's remember the collapse of the USSR in August 1991. What is brewing there, and the "GKChP group," as it was in 1991, is already maturing and they are already buying up, this is a well-known fact. And we understand who is in charge of this, how it is happening," he said.
According to Danilov, the issue of rebellion in Russia is "a matter of a short period of time." One of the factors that will affect these processes is the serious illness of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is probably in a critical coma.
The NSDC Secretary added that after dictator Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, Russian oligarchic groups "should forget about calm."
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In his opinion, many officials in the West still believe that the process of Russia's disintegration can be controlled. They think that things can be done that will prevent the aggressor country from disintegrating.
"I can say that no one will be able to influence this, Russia will be forced to fragment and it will happen in our lifetime. And no force can stop it, because it is a historical process," Danilov added.
Earlier, Danilov expressed the opinion that the peoples of the Urals, Siberia, Kuban, Caucasus, Ukrainian Green Wedge, national republics of Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Udmurtia, Yakutia and others have every right under international law to self-determination, secession from Russia and the formation of independent and sovereign states.
According to him, all this will happen democratically and without external influence.
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As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Soviet and Russian director Karen Shakhnazarov, who has become a regular guest on propaganda shows on Russia's federal channel, has seriously talked about the catastrophic consequences for Russia if it loses to Ukraine. In his opinion, it will be an ending comparable to death.
Only verified information on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
DC Fintech Week is a Global Gathering of Thought Leaders, Innovators, and Regulators, Shaping the Future of Finance
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Chris Brummer, a distinguished professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center, will host the 7th Annual DC Fintech Week on November 6-8, 2023 in Washington, D.C. This three-day event will bring together thought leaders and innovators in the fintech landscape to dive deep into an inclusive and informative dialogue that shapes the future of finance.
DC Fintech Week 2023
Scheduled for November 7th at Fannie Mae's Midtown Center, and November 8th at the International Spy Museum, DC Fintech Week offers a unique and immersive experience for attendees seeking to learn more about the intricate world of fintech. A small bootcamp for regulators and practitioners will be held on November 6, 2023, at the Georgetown University Law Center, offering a comprehensive exploration of fintech's regulatory landscape.
"We're looking forward to providing another unparalleled opportunity to hear from the most pivotal people in finance, technology and government," Brummer shared. "This year, we are scheduling the event over the regional and off-year U.S. elections to provide participants with a unique experience here in Washington and to offer the first opportunity to look forward to what policy may mean for financial technology in the upcoming years."
As a pivotal hub for financial technology policy discussions, DC Fintech Week has extended an invitation to scholars, government staff, nonprofits, and industry professionals to contribute papers to the forum. Submissions of 10,000 words or less that advance a fresh understanding of emerging financial technologies and related policy concerns are requested. Three exemplary papers will be featured, with author segments filmed and live-streamed at Fannie Mae's cutting-edge headquarters. Selected papers will also be showcased on the conference website, reaching a diverse community of regulators, technologists, and thought leaders. The submission deadline was September 4, 2023, for unpublished or year-old publications.
An expanding group of co-hosts has rallied behind DC Fintech Week, including Fannie Mae, Visa, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the Crypto Council for Innovation, and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), serving as the Regulatory Co-Host.
First launched on the campus of Georgetown University Law Center, DC Fintech Week has grown over the last seven years to become a staple of international regulatory conversations and discussions. And as the fintech landscape continues to evolve, DC Fintech Week remains at the forefront of driving meaningful discussions and fostering connections that are crucial for responsible and innovative fintech development. It is largely regarded as one of few "safe spaces" for public, private and nonprofit sectors to dialogue on financial and technology policy. And perhaps the only where billionaires, students and regulators can sit on the same row of an event featuring a major thought leader or policymaker.
About DC Fintech Week
The Annual DC Fintech Week is a globally recognized event that convenes leaders, innovators, regulators, and stakeholders in the financial technology sector that first took place in 2017. Ever since its inception, the event has had a simple objective: democratize information and allow everyonefrom nonprofits and technologists to entrepreneurs and regulatorsto engage one another, free of charge, in a meaningful dialogue about fintech and the future of finance.
Speakers at last year's DC Fintech Week included Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael Hsu, CFTC Chairman, Russ Behnam, Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Michael S. Barr, European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union Mairead McGuinness, Congressman Patrick McHenry, BIS Economist Hyun Song Shin, Stripe Co-Founder and CEO Patrick Collison, and many others. In addition, the forum hosted newsmaker conversations with leading firms around the world on AI/ML, big data, central bank digital currencies, stablecoins, venture capital, cybersecurity, blockchain forensics and more. CNBC, Bloomberg and C-span streamed sessions live, and the event leaders expect another similar gathering in 2023.
About Dr. Chris Brummer
Dr. Chris Brummer is a professor, lecturer, and author. He teaches at Georgetown University Law Center , where he serves as the Faculty Director of the Institute of International Economic Law. He has spent over a decade researching the development of financial and regulatory policy and the impact of technology on how authorities operationalize supervision and regulatory oversight.
In addition to his service to academia, Dr. Brummer has served on the Consultative Working Group for the European Securities and Markets Authority's Financial Innovation Standing Committee, as well as the National Adjudicatory Council of FINRA, where he received accolades for his work on advancing investor protection. Dr. Brummer also served as a member of President Biden's transition team, where he worked on Treasury Department matters. A frequent lecturer, he has delivered Black History keynote addresses for the SEC, FinCEN, and OCC.
Dr. Brummer's work has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, Marketwatch, The Wall Street Journal, and Bloomberg, among others.
He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, securities attorney and former microfinance specialist, Rachel Loko.
SOURCE DC Fintech Week
Achieving an Outstanding Rank Amongst U.S.-Based MSSPs for the Seventh Consecutive Year
PHOENIX, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance resource, has once again honored AccountabilIT by including it in their prestigious list of Top 250 MSSPs, globally. This marks the seventh year in a row that AccountabilIT has earned this accolade. AccountabilIT has secured the #94 spot this year, surging forward by 17 positions from the previous year.
This list has seen a growing presence of international competitors over recent years. Despite these challenges, AccountabilIT has not only maintained its spot but advanced significantly, particularly amongst U.S.-based MSSPs.
Being ranked #94 in the face of international competition signifies our unwavering dedication to our mission. Post this
AccountabilIT's continuous innovations, particularly its focus on Microsoft-driven solutions, have contributed largely to this impressive growth. The company's offering, XDR + SIEM powered by Sentinel, continues to set a benchmark for cybersecurity solutions by merging complex tools with refined simplicity.
Chuck Vermillion, founder and CEO of AccountabilIT, expressed, "Being ranked #94, especially in the face of international competition, signifies our unwavering dedication to our mission. We've made it our aim to provide robust cybersecurity solutions to organizations of all sizes. Our rank this year, the best we've achieved relative to other U.S.-based MSSPs, is an honor that we are proud to accept."
"MSSP Alert and CyberRisk Alliance congratulate AccountabilIT on this honor," said Jessica C. Davis, editorial director of MSSP Alert, a CyberRisk Alliance resource. "The Top 250 MSSPs continue to outperform the overall cybersecurity services market in 2023. It's an indication of the strength of managed security services provided by these specialists at a time when cybercrime has accelerated and threatens businesses of every size and from every industry."
About AccountabilIT
AccountabilIT (AIT) is a managed IT & cybersecurity firm headquartered in Arizona. AIT has grown into a leader in cybersecurity and has earned multiple distinctions in the Microsoft Partner program. AIT takes pride in being an early adopter of Microsoft security solutions, including Microsoft Sentinel. With a 24x7 Security Operations Center (SOC) and their MSP practice, AIT is the go-to partner for any business's technology outsourcing.
AccountabilIT's "Customer First" strategy is instrumental in leading the industry in customer satisfaction, as measured by the Net Promoter score of 82. Visit AIT online
Contact
Claire Spahr
Marketing Coordinator
[email protected]
(720) 235-8924
SOURCE AccountabilIT
PLYMOUTH, Mich., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adient (NYSE: ADNT), a global leader in automotive seating, today announced the appointment of Jodi Eddy to Adient's Board of Directors, effective Sept. 19, 2023. Eddy will serve as a member of the Audit Committee and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board. Following her appointment, the Board will comprise nine directors, eight of whom are independent.
"We are pleased to have Jodi join Adient's Board of Directors. Her experience as a successful Chief Information and Digital officer will be a great asset to the Board and will complement the expertise of our existing Board members," said Doug Del Grosso, Adient president and chief executive officer.
Eddy currently serves as senior vice president and chief information and digital officer (CIDO) at Boston Scientific Corporation. As a global medical technology leader for more than 40 years, the company provides a broad range of high- performance solutions that address unmet patient needs and reduce the cost of healthcare.
Eddy joined Boston Scientific in 2013 and has been the chief information officer since 2015. She added responsibility for Boston Scientific's digital activity as Chief Digital Officer in 2020. In her current role, she leads the company's information technology organization and expanded digital team's worldwide, overseeing the company's strategy for digital health, data analytics and cyber security capabilities.
Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Eddy progressed through several roles of increasing leadership in information systems during her 18-year tenure at General Electric, including serving as the commercial chief information officer for the Oil and Gas business.
Eddy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Southern Connecticut State University. In addition, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree of Science from her alma mater for lifetime achievement and contributions to the computer science field.
About Adient:
Adient (NYSE: ADNT) is a global leader in automotive seating. With 70,000+ employees in 30 countries, Adient operates more than 200 manufacturing/assembly plants worldwide. We produce and deliver automotive seating for all major OEMs. From complete seating systems to individual components, our expertise spans every step of the automotive seat-making process. Our integrated, in-house skills allow us to take our products from research and design to engineering and manufacturing and into millions of vehicles every year. For more information on Adient, please visit www.adient.com.
ADNT-FN
SOURCE Adient
SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Strider Technologies, Inc. ("Strider"), the leading provider of strategic intelligence, today announced that Admiral (Ret.) Craig Faller is joining the company as an Advisor. In this role, Admiral Faller will provide Strider valuable insight into strategic priorities, product development, and other opportunities to achieve the company's long-term goals.
"We're thrilled to work with Admiral Faller on important strategic initiatives," said Greg Levesque, CEO and Co-founder of Strider. "Craig brings decades of invaluable national-security experience to the table and understands how imperative it is for the United States and our allies to protect the advanced technologies, intellectual property, and talent under threat from our geopolitical adversaries."
"I am proud to be working with the Strider team as they carry out their work to protect the competitive edge and national security of the United States," said Admiral Faller. "The strategic intelligence they provide to businesses, research institutions, and government agencies enables these organizations to fight back against state-sponsored threats. I look forward to supporting their efforts to grow their business and deliver game-changing intelligence solutions to their customers."
A graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Admiral Faller has decades of national security experience. In the final post of his 40-plus year Naval career, he commanded United States Southern Command in Miami, enhancing Western Hemisphere security by building strong, trusted partnerships between the U.S. military and Latin American and Caribbean security forces.
About Strider
Strider is revolutionizing the way companies, government agencies, universities, and research institutions secure their IP and technology and compete in a new era of global strategic competition. Our trailblazing technology and strategic intelligence solutions enable clients to proactively identify, manage, and respond to state-sponsored IP theft and supply chain vulnerabilities. Strider has operations in Salt Lake City, UT, Washington, D.C., and London, U.K.
Related Links
https://www.striderintel.com/
Media Contact: Dan Palumbo, [email protected], 3018752356
SOURCE Strider Technologies, Inc.
SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- bttn -- In 2023, the United States grapples with a profound nursing shortage, placing undue stress on our healthcare system. Past projections by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipated an overall shortfall of 1.1 million RNs nationwide by 2022. Even with a projected 15% growth rate for RNs by 2026, the efforts fall short of filling the expanding gap. (Samuel B, 2021)
Representing the largest healthcare profession in the U.S., the nursing community saw a population of approximately 3.072 million RNs as of May 2022. Still, the demand far surpasses the supply. In 2022 alone, the sector projected 100,000 new RN job openings, an unmatched rate in any other profession. (Samuel B, 2021)
Advocating for Action: Addressing the Critical Nursing Shortage in America Post this
This nursing deficit isn't uniformly spread across the U.S. An aging RN workforce, and factors alike have fueled the uneven distribution. To meet the anticipated demand for 3.6 million registered nurses by 2030, the field should have been adding nearly 50,000 new RNs every year since 2014 an objective not realized. (Haines, 2022)
Several critical reasons amplify the nursing crisis: workforce attrition due to aging, burnout, career shifts, long hours, high-stress environments, and insufficient resources. According to a recent McKinsey report, 31 percent of nurses considered leaving their patient care roles in 2023 due to these challenges. (Berlin, 2023)
Furthermore, workplace violence and inadequate compensation exacerbate the situation. A considerable 25% of nurses have faced physical assault at their workplace, leading to decreased job satisfaction and retention. (ANA, 2022) Their pay often does not match the gravity and significance of their work, pushing many to explore other lucrative careers. Improving remuneration and the work environment becomes crucial for retention and attraction.
Educational hindrances also play a role. The push for more advanced nursing degrees can discourage potential entrants, and due to a shortage of faculty and limited resources, many aspiring nurses get turned away from educational programs.
However, the scenario isn't entirely bleak. Opportunities for improvement are in abundance. Proposed strategies involve increasing nursing education funds, encouraging innovations in nursing programs, active promotion of nursing careers, revisiting practice laws, and considering financial incentives.
JT Garwood, an healthcare advocate, said "Addressing the nursing shortage demands a collective approach. These are issues that require the general public to understand what is at risk when we ignore the realities of our healthcare workers". All stakeholders, including policymakers, educators, healthcare providers, and the public, need to unite for coordinated action. Comprehensive policy changes, enhanced investments, and elevated public awareness are essential for a robust reaction to the nursing shortage.
As an advocate for healthcare, bttn recognizes the gravity of this situation. We believe in empowering and supporting healthcare providers. The time is now to create a healthcare system that assures patient safety and equips our nurses with the necessary resources. As a trusted partner in healthcare, bttn urges individuals to rally behind efforts to tackle the nursing shortage, and champion improved conditions for our irreplaceable nurses. Let's stand together as advocates, recognizing the noble efforts of our healthcare providers and driving actionable change.
Media Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE bttn
Algorand Joins Google, Visa, Accenture, and others in global project to drive innovation and standards for digital wallets and payments
BILBAO, Spain, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Algorand Foundation , the organization focused on growing the ecosystem for the world's most advanced, secure and reliable layer-1 blockchain, announces membership in the OpenWallet Foundation (OWF). OWF is an open source project advancing digital identity, access and payments by fostering collaboration across industries.
The news was shared on stage at the Open Source Summit Europe by OWF Board Members Ola Ben Har, Developer Relations Lead for Payments at Google, and Marie Austenaa, Head of Digital Identity for Visa.
Algorand announces membership in OpenWallet Foundation, a global project to drive innovation and standards for digital wallets and payments
Algorand is a distributed ledger & protocol built for real-world impact, with pure proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, instant block finality, atomic transaction groupings, and smart contract capabilities.
Hosted by Linux Foundation Europe, OWF provides a safe harbor for companies, non-profits, and the public sector to create open source software for interoperable digital wallets. Algorand joins a diverse group of member organizations including Google, Visa, Accenture, and the Cardano Foundation.
"Our role at Algorand Foundation is to support the development and scaling of enterprise-level web3 applications in our diverse ecosystem, and we recognize the ongoing significance of defining, contributing and adopting interoperable standards," says Bruno Martins, Principal Architect at Algorand Foundation. "We are thrilled to join the incredible network facilitated by OWF and look forward to working together to drive interoperability and innovation in digital wallets."
"Digital Wallets are critical for many use-cases from identity to access and of course crypto assets. Algorand is a leader in this space and I'm excited the Foundation joined OpenWallet," says Daniel Goldscheider, Founder and Executive Director at OWF.
Early this month, Algorand announced investments in two of the leading wallets in the Algorand ecosystem: Pera and Defly. The investments are intended to ensure a diverse and robust infrastructure and to support ecosystem growth.
About Algorand Foundation
The Algorand Foundation is dedicated to helping fulfill the global promise of the Algorand blockchain by taking responsibility for its sound monetary supply economics, decentralized governance, and healthy and prosperous open-source ecosystem. Designed by MIT professor and Turing Award winning cryptographer Silvio Micali, Algorand is uniquely capable of delivering on the promise of a borderless global economy. It achieves transaction throughputs at the speed of traditional finance, but with immediate finality, near zero transaction costs, and on a 24/7 basis. For more information, please visit https://algorand.foundation .
About OpenWallet Foundation
The OpenWallet Foundation (OWF) brings developers together to collaborate on standards-based OSS components that issuers, wallet providers and relying parties can use to bootstrap implementations that preserve user choice, security and privacy. With its Government Advisory Council, OWF brings the public and private sector together to work towards open, secure and interoperable digital wallets. OWF is an open initiative under the umbrella of the Linux Foundation and headquartered in Europe. For more information, please visit openwallet.foundation .
SOURCE Algorand Foundation
Local Entrepreneur Opens Award-Winning Senior Care Services Brand in the Prairie State
ROSEVILLE, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Always Best Care Senior Services, one of the leading senior care franchise systems in the United States, announced today the opening of its fourth location in Illinois. Always Best Care of Northwest Chicago is owned and operated by local businessman Ali Asmi. The new business provides non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services to Chicago, Melrose Park, River Grove and Harwood Heights.
"Always Best Care has been providing the highest level of personal care to seniors and their families throughout Illinois for over 13 years," said Jake Brown, President and CEO of Always Best Care. "By expanding our reach throughout the Chicago area, Ali Asmi joins a dedicated group of professionals and caregivers who are making a difference in their local communities. His personal and professional focus on service will serve him and his clients very well."
Ali has been taking care of his elderly parents over the last decade after his mother suffered a stroke and his father's dementia advanced. This personal caretaking experience combined with 10 years of working in the business world fuels Ali's mission to create a care-focused culture where clients are treated with empathy and respect.
"I was drawn to this franchising opportunity with Always Best Care because the company is built on a passion for helping people maintain a safe, independent and dignified lifestyle," said Ali Asmi, owner of Always Best Care of Northwest Chicago. "Those values are important to me as a son of senior parents and as a business owner who wants to help Chicago-area families care for their loved ones."
Always Best Care is one of the nation's leading providers of non-medical in-home care and assisted living referral services, with skilled home health care in limited markets. The company delivers its services through an international network of more than 225 independently owned and operated franchise territories throughout the United States and Canada. By working with case managers, social workers, discharge planners, doctors, and families, Always Best Care franchise owners provide affordable, comprehensive solutions that can be specifically matched to meet a client's particular physical or social needs.
Always Best Care of Northwest Chicago is located at 6160 North Cicero Avenue, Ste 202, in Chicago. For a free evaluation or additional information on services available, call 773-853-0855 or visit alwaysbestcareNWChicago.com.
About Always Best Care
Founded in 1996, Always Best Care Senior Services is based on the belief that having the right people for the right level of care means peace of mind for the client and family. Always Best Care has been assisting seniors with a wide range of conditions and personal needs for over 27 years and currently provides thousands of hours of care every year. Franchise opportunities are available to individuals interested in leveraging the company's clear strategy and proven track record for delivering affordable, dependable service to seniors in their local areas.
Always Best Care also offers exclusive programs such as Always in Touch, Balance Tracking System, remote patient monitoring and a 24/7 AI Virtual Care Agent. For more information regarding Always Best Care's solutions, visit www.alwaysbestcare.com.
CONTACT:
Nicole Hunnicutt
Fish Consulting
404-558-4108
[email protected]
SOURCE Always Best Care
Lithium iron phosphate cathode active materials offer the highest energy density, thermal stability and cost-effectiveness
AMERICAN FORK, Utah, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- American Battery Factory Inc. (ABF), an emerging battery manufacturer leading the development of the first network of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cell gigafactories in the United States, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with First Phosphate Corp. (CSE PHOS) (OTC Pink: FRSPF) (FSE: KD0) to support the production of more than 40,000 tons of annual fully North American manufactured lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode active material (CAM).
The agreement contemplates production of LFP CAM with an annual monetary value of between $500 million to $1 billion at future raw material prices. The initiative aims to bring production of LFP batteries for the battery storage sector to North America.
The following mutually beneficial arrangements have been agreed:
First Phosphate and ABF are to co-operate to source an established LFP technology partner to work with the companies to service ABF's LFP CAM production needs in North America. First Phosphate is to source and supply local raw materials and manage logistics for the LFP CAM production process and is to work on close integration into ABF workflows. ABF projects sustained annual demand for LFP CAM starting in 2026 and achieving up to 40,000 tons of annual LFP CAM requirement by 2028 at its first planned LFP battery manufacturing facility in Tucson, Arizona . ABF intends to construct several other LFP battery manufacturing facilities across North America , each of which should require similar amount of LFP CAM. As plans for such additional sites are developed, ABF will work with First Phosphate on updating demand forecasts. ABF and First Phosphate are to begin a homologation process whereby First Phosphate raw materials are to be integrated directly into LFP CAM produced for ABF. LFP CAM produced by way of the partnership is to be integrated into ABF battery cells and end-user energy storage products. First Phosphate and ABF intend to cooperate in the development of an LFP battery ecosystem in North America and to consider the possibility of locating certain facilities at the Port of Saguenay, Quebec .
"Raw material bottlenecks, not technology, will be the single largest impediments to the roll out of fully localized LFP batteries in North America," says John Kem, president of ABF. "We lean to a sustainable raw materials development partner like First Phosphate that is fully committed to the LFP battery industry as we focus to on-shore our full production of LFP batteries in North America."
"Stationary energy storage and telecom applications are already an established market application for LFP batteries in North America alongside the rapidly expanding electric vehicle sector," says John Passalacqua, CEO of First Phosphate. "Launching our LFP raw materials strategy with a focused partner like ABF with existing LFP product demand in North America allows us to enter the market in prudent and pragmatic fashion."
First Phosphate has access to clean igneous anorthosite phosphate-bearing rock in Quebec, Canada that it intends to purify into a large quantity of battery-grade purified phosphoric acid ("PPA").
AMERICAN BATTERY FACTORY
American Battery Factory Inc., a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery cell manufacturer, is developing the first-ever network of safe LFP cell giga-factories in the United States. The company is dedicated to making energy independence and renewable energy a reality for the United States by creating a domestic battery supply chain. Along with creating domestic manufacturing jobs, ABF will play a crucial role in meeting federal and state government climate change initiatives and "Made-in-USA" national security requirements. For more information on American Battery Factory, please visit www.americanbatteryfactory.com.
FIRST PHOSPHATE CORP.
First Phosphate is a mineral development company fully dedicated to extracting and purifying phosphate for the production of cathode active material for the Lithium Iron Phosphate ("LFP") battery industry. First Phosphate is committed to producing at high purity level, in responsible manner and with low anticipated carbon footprint. First Phosphate plans to vertically integrate from mine source directly into the supply chains of major North American LFP battery producers that require battery grade LFP cathode active material emanating from a consistent and secure supply source. First Phosphate holds over 1,500 sq. km of royalty-free district-scale land claims in the SaguenayLac-St-Jean Region of Quebec, Canada that it is actively developing. First Phosphate properties consist of rare anorthosite igneous phosphate rock that generally yields high purity phosphate material devoid of high concentrations of harmful elements. For more information on First Phosphate, please visit www.firstphosphate.com.
SOURCE American Battery Factory
Ontra Atlas extends Ontra's Legal Operating System, an AI-enabled platform that digitally transforms critical legal workflows
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ontra, the leader in contract automation and intelligence, today announced the launch of Ontra Atlas, an entity management solution designed specifically for private investment firms. Ontra Atlas streamlines the organization and management of legal entities and workflows associated with firm and fund operations. The solution allows users to:
Consolidate and store entity data and associated documents in a single location
Algorithmically generate structure charts to easily visualize entity ownership and relationships
Track directors, officers, and authorized signatories to help ensure corporate actions are completed with appropriate authorization
Manage internal and external access to information using role- and entity-based permissions
Private equity firms spend significant time and resources managing the data, organizational charts, and documents related to legal entities. Information is often maintained manually through a maze of complex spreadsheets, structure charts, emails, and physical binders. In a survey of 100 PE firms conducted by Ontra, 78% of respondents reported using general-purpose tools such as Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint to accomplish these tasks. A fragmented approach to entity management wastes time and money. More significantly, this disorganization may result in transaction delays, cause firms to provide investors, regulators, and counterparties with inaccurate information, and/or lead to incorrectly authorized corporate actions.
"For most PE firms, entity management is a weak link in their corporate governance strategy. With no clear ownership, no defined processes, and no specialized tools, firms expose themselves to significant regulatory and operational risks," said Matt Crowley, General Manager of Ontra Atlas. "Ontra works with 9 of the top 10 PE firms in the PEI 300 and 64 of the top 100. That gives us visibility into the entity management use cases firms need to tackle. We also have a unique perspective on what the leading firms are doing to excel in this area. Ontra Atlas combines cutting-edge technology with industry-tested best practices. We view strong entity management as foundational to an effective corporate governance program."
Ontra Atlas is the newest addition to Ontra's Legal Operating System, an AI-enabled suite of solutions that digitally transforms mission-critical legal processes across the full fund lifecycle. Other components of Ontra's Legal Operating System include:
Contract Automationstreamlines negotiation, execution, and reporting for routine contracts such as NDAs and NRLs
Insightfacilitates fund formation and contract and side letter compliance
Ontra Synapseindustry-specific AI that drives critical legal processes
"Ontra plays a key role in the digital transformation strategy for our legal team," said Lindsay Rutishauser, Chief Compliance Officer at Motive Partners. "They've translated a nuanced understanding of the private markets into applications that squarely address our most important legal needs. Ontra Atlas is another example of an application that will allow my team to achieve greater levels of productivity while mitigating risk. We're very focused on ensuring that our legal team utilizes best-in-class technology to provide high-quality legal support to our firm, and having a robust entity management solution makes all the difference."
For more information about how Ontra Atlas is transforming the way private equity approaches entity management, visit www.ontra.ai/products/ontra-atlas/
About Ontra
Ontra is the global leader in contract automation and intelligence for private asset management firms. Ontra's legal operating system combines AI-enabled software with a worldwide network of highly trained lawyers to digitally transform recurring legal workflows across the full fund lifecycle. Ontra works with the world's leading investment banks, private equity and venture capital firms, and direct lenders to reduce the time, expense, and risk associated with contract management.
Ontra is headquartered in San Francisco, with global operations across North America, Europe, and Asia. Learn more at www.ontra.ai .
SOURCE Ontra
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ARK Invest LLC ("ARK Invest" or "ARK"), the parent of ARK Investment Management LLC, the investment manager led by CEO Cathie Wood, has acquired Rize ETF Limited ("Rize ETF"), Europe's first specialist thematic ETF issuer.
This transaction marks a significant milestone in ARK Invest's global expansion strategy and will pave the way for the firm to introduce its suite of cutting-edge innovation ETFs, under the UCITS framework, to investors across Europe, the United Kingdom, and beyond, while also facilitating the sustained growth and expansion of Rize ETF's thematic products.
"Today's acquisition advances ARK Invest's commitment to offer high-quality thematic investment solutions to a global investor audience, particularly European investors who have not been able to access our products," said Cathie Wood, Founder, CIO, and CEO of ARK Invest. "We believe that the European ETF market presents a strong growth opportunity as new and younger investors continue to gain access to ETFs via the growth of digital platforms, and as active ETFs increase market share by meeting the demand for innovative investment exposures. We are delighted to welcome the talented Rize ETF team into the ARK family. By merging its passion for thematic and sustainable index investing with ARK's innovative actively managed approach centered on disruptive innovation, we can offer our clients a more diverse array of investment options to invest in the future. Together, we will continue to educate and empower investors, helping them to achieve their long-term financial goals."
Rize ETF is a leading European provider of thematic and sustainable investing. Founded in 2019 by thematic ETF pioneers Anthony Martin, Jason Kennard, Rahul Bhushan, and Stuart Forbes, Rize ETF specializes in creating high quality, research-led and purpose-built thematic ETFs. The Rize ETF Founders are a proven team of ETF experts and have over 40 years of combined ETF experience. They previously built the European ETF business for ETF Securities (acquired by WisdomTree) and Legal & General, respectively.
"The acquisition offers ARK an entry into the European ETF market, capitalizing on our expertise and track record in building multiple European ETF businesses," said Stuart Forbes, Co-Founder of Rize ETF. "Leveraging ARK's global network and our expertise in European distribution, we aim to strengthen our collective global presence. This initiative signifies not just business growth, but a collaborative exchange of global asset management best practices, insights, and tactics."
The existing name and brand of Rize ETF will be phased out, and the platform will transition into "ARK Invest Europe," which will be a division of ARK Invest Limited. ARK Invest Europe will serve as the hub for ARK's expansion into the Europe, the UK and new markets globally. Under the new ARK Invest Europe platform, existing Rize ETF index products will remain available. ARK Invest Europe will continue to uphold the high standards of investment research, portfolio management, and client service for which ARK is known, all while tapping into Rize ETF's deep expertise covering the full lifecycle of ETFs beginning with product strategy and index development, legal and regulatory, tax, portfolio management and operations, capital markets, research and marketing & distribution.
ARK purchased Rize ETF from AssetCo, a UK asset and wealth management business primarily involved in acquiring, managing, and operating asset and wealth management activities and interests, together with other related services. As part of this agreement, ARK and AssetCo will partner to support the launch, on the newly established ARK Invest Europe platform, of several ETF products for the River and Mercantile business, AssetCo's active equity asset management subsidiary. ARK is minority-owned by Nikko Asset Management.
As of August 31, 2023, Rize ETF managed $452 million in assets in 11 ETFs all categorized as SFDR Article 8 or 9 compliant, domiciled in Dublin and distributed throughout Europe. ARK managed approximately $25 billion in ETFs and other products globally.
Additional details about the acquisition will be released in the coming weeks.
About ARK Investment Management LLC
ARK Investment Management LLC is a federally registered investment adviser and privately held investment firm. Specializing in thematic investing in disruptive innovation, the firm is rooted in over 40 years of experience in identifying and investing in innovations that should change the way the world works. Through its open research process, ARK identifies companies that it believes are leading and benefiting from cross-sector innovations such as robotics, energy storage, multiomic sequencing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology. ARK's investment strategies include Autonomous Technology and Robotics, Next Generation Internet, Genomic Revolution, Fintech Innovation, Space Exploration & Innovation, 3D Printing, Israel Innovative Technology, Venture Capital, and the overall ARK Disruptive Innovation Strategy. For more information about ARK, its offerings, and original research, please visit www.ark-invest.com.
This document is for informational purposes only and does not constitute a general solicitation, offer or invitation in any funds or products in the United States or in any other jurisdiction and has not been prepared in connection with any such offer. The views expressed herein do not constitute investment or any other advice and are subject to change.
Media Contact:
Shaina Lamb
517-652-1296
[email protected]
SOURCE ARK Investment Management LLC
Rena Murshud
The situation in the South Caucasus, mainly in the Garabagh region, is becoming more tense lately. This tension is felt not only in the region, but also in the brotherly country Turkiye. Thus, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a statement on the way to the solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani issue in Garabagh at a press conference held in Istanbul before leaving for the UN General Conference. President Erdogan proposed a tripartite meeting with Azerbaijan and Armenia on the Garabagh issue. In addition to the tripartite meeting, he also sent a proposal to Russia for a quadrilateral meeting.
It should also be noted that before this speech, a bilateral meeting between the President of Turkiye and the President of Russia Vladimir Putin took place. It is no secret that the Garabagh issue was also touched upon in that meeting.
As we know, except for Russia, the Western countries that do not belong to the region also have a special interest in the South Caucasus, especially in the Armenia-Azerbaijan issue. However, this interest mostly consists of pro-Armenian and biased policy against Azerbaijan. It is likely that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is aware of this, put forward a proposal to Russia, not the West, to resolve the Garabagh issue. If this is the case, the reaction of the West is extremely important.
Also, the European Parliament presented a report on Turkiye's withdrawal from the European Union. Most likely, this report is related to Turkiye's legitimate concern about the Garabagh issue. However, Erdo?an, in his turn, also noted that Turkiye can part ways with the European Union in the future if necessary.
"First of all, I would like to note that a big risk is emerging in the region. Especially the so-called elections held by Armenia in Garabagh, the collection of weapons and ammunition, 10,000 soldiers stationed in Garabagh, the militarization of the civilian population into terrorists, the armed conflicts that occur day by day, all have a meaning. President Erdogan's speech is an effort intended to eliminate the risk arising from all this. I hope this threat will be averted. However, I would like to point out that the situation is extremely delicate and critical. I think this has already reached a very dangerous level."
Turkish expert Abdullah Agar mentioned these words in his comment to AZERNEWS while clarifying the ongoing processes.
According to him, the goal is to build peace through negotiations. That is, it means the restoration of full sovereignty of the territories returned by Armenia after the 44-day war. Otherwise, the matter will be extremely sensitive. Because the processes have become so dangerous that they hinder Azerbaijan's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and unitary structure. All this should be taken into account.
As for the interest of the West in the processes in the region and the fact that President Erdogan invited Russia, not the West, to discuss the solution of the Garabagh issue, the expert noted that the Western countries are keen to take the initiative in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. However, the West should not forget that it does not belong to this region. Therefore, this issue should be discussed first by countries living in the same geography.
"This approach of the West makes the problem worse. Moreover, it leads to the emergence of greater risks. Therefore, it is extremely important to try to resolve this process in some way through countries that have influence, effectiveness and borders in the region," the expert said.
In conclusion, the Turkish expert clarified the report on Turkiye at the EU Parliament.
"The European Parliament recently published a report. The report stated that it is impossible for Turkiye to become a member of the European Union under their certain required conditions. However, they want to exclude Turkiye from normal membership and proposed to develop real and parallel cooperation. I think this is not an accepted membership forum. Turkey's declaration of will regarding the European Union, especially at the Vilnius summit, is not limited only to the European Union. This is an extremely important geopolitical development that builds trust and strengthens the geopolitical and strategic partnership with the West. But it seems that EU's behavior with double standards does not meet the requirements of this report. If the European Union continues to behave like this, Turkiye may eventually have to approach from a completely different paradigm," Abdullah Agar added.
The British engineering company DEEP has announced its intention to settle people at the bottom of the ocean in 2027. It is currently about 200 meters deep, but the creators of the idea believe that this will give scientists new opportunities to explore the seabed.
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This was reported by IFLscience. The company has already created models of futuristic modular underwater housing that will allow people to live underwater for up to 28 days continuously.
Engineers want to create a Sentinel station that will become a place of residence for ocean researchers. The station will consist of living quarters, a common area, and research laboratories.
Steve Etherton, President of DEEP's Europe, Middle East and Africa division, said that humanity must work to preserve the oceans, but that this requires a better understanding of them.
"The oceans are at the center of many of the challenges the world faces, but they also offer opportunities that we haven't even begun to realize yet," Etherton said.
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He noted that the oceans provide people with "at least every other breath" and influence the weather, climate and people in general.
At the same time, this ecosystem remains surprisingly little known.
That's why DEEP wants to settle researchers at a depth of 200 meters, providing them with the opportunity to better "understand this life-giving environment."
It is planned that the housing will be powered by "renewable energy" and will have satellite communications via buoys. The researchers' waste will be recycled through a bioreactor that is currently under development.
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It is planned that the modular housing will be able to operate on the ocean floor for about 20 years and can be redeployed to different locations around the world.
The company plans to conduct the first tests of its modular housing in a flooded quarry in the UK. Its depth reaches 600 meters.
Earlier, OBOZREVATEL reported that the co-founder of the scandalous OceanGate decided to settle people in space.
Subscribe to OBOZREVATEL's Telegram and Viber channels to keep up with the latest developments.
This year's competition aims to raise awareness of diabetes and highlight the real lives of people living with the condition across the world.
PARSIPPANY, N.J., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascensia Diabetes Care, a global diabetes care company, owner of the CONTOUR Blood Glucose Monitoring (BGM) System portfolio and exclusive distributor of Eversense Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Systems, has opened submissions for its successful art and photo competition in support of World Diabetes Day 2023. This year, Ascensia's global competition is themed around diabetes in real life, aiming to capture the genuine challenges, successes and day-to-day realities of people living with diabetes.
Ascensia global competition is themed around diabetes in real life, aiming to capture the genuine challenges, successes and day-to-day realities of people living with diabetes. Ascensia This is Diabetes, This is Real competition seeks to gather a collection of original artworks submitted by people across the world.
1 in 10 adults is living with diabetes, while an estimated 783 million people will have the disease in 2045.[1] This means that it is more important than ever to raise awareness of diabetes and what real life looks like for those who live with the condition. Ascensia's 'This is Diabetes, This is Real' competition seeks to gather a collection of original artworks submitted by people across the world, with each one telling a personal story about their journey with diabetes.
You can submit illustrations, photographs and digital designs at www.thisisdiabetes.com until October 31, with the winners of the competition announced on World Diabetes Day, a global initiative of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) taking place each year on November 14.
Rob Schumm, CEO of Ascensia Diabetes Care, commented: "World Diabetes Day is an important day to us at Ascensia and we are proud to support IDF on this initiative for the eighth consecutive year.
"This will be the third year that we have run our art and photo competition and I cannot wait to see everyone's submissions," he added. "Each year I am completely awed by the artwork submitted and the powerful stories behind each piece. For our 2023 'This is Diabetes, This is Real' competition we are encouraging people of all ages and abilities to submit a piece that tells a story about what diabetes in real life means to them. Whether you draw, paint, or snap, we want you to capture diabetes without the filter, from your daily struggles to your proudest moments. Let's get creative and show the world diabetes in real life."
Competition winners will be able to donate 6,000, 3,000 and 1,000 for first, second and third place respectively to a diabetes charity of their choice. The judging panel, including members of the diabetes online community, professional artists, Ascensia employees and an Eversense brand ambassador, will be looking for creativity, storytelling, and connection to this year's theme.
This year's competition looks to build upon the success of 2021 and 2022's 'This is Diabetes' campaigns. Last year Ascensia received over 350 entries from around the globe and donated 10,000 to nominated diabetes charities across 4 different continents. For inspiration, you can see previous winners by visiting the Ascensia website, the 2021 campaign page here, or the 2022 campaign page here.
Ascensia Diabetes Care is a PHC Holdings Corporation (TSE: 6523) company.
[1] According to the IDF Diabetes Atlas 10th edition, published 2021
Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2212409/Ascensia_global_competition.mp4
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2212408/Ascensia_This_is_Diabetes.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/749389/Ascensia_Diabetes_Care_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Ascensia Diabetes Care
GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) today announced it will release third quarter 2023 financial results on Thursday, October 19, 2023, after market close. The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) on the same day.
Interested parties can access the live webcast of the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, http://investor.associatedbank.com. Parties may also dial into the call at 877-407-8037 (domestic) or 201-689-8037 (international) and request the Associated Banc-Corp third quarter 2023 earnings call. The financial tables and an accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company's website just prior to the call. An audio archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately fifteen minutes after the call is over.
ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP
Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $41 billion and is the largest bank holding company based in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin, Illinois and Minnesota, and loan production offices in Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements made in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "project," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.
Investor Contact: Ben McCarville
Vice President | Director of Investor Relations
920-491-7059 | [email protected]
Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski
Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager
920-491-7576 | [email protected]
SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
The appointments aim to support atNorth's response to a surge in demand for its services and ongoing expansion plans.
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- atNorth, the leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, has today announced the appointment of Magnus Dittmer as Director of Bid Management and Kristinn Kristjansson as Director of Accounting as the business continues to experience significant demand for its sustainable, best in class, digital infrastructure solutions.
Magnus brings a wealth of knowledge in business development and bid management garnered over his 25 years' experience in customer relations and sales roles. Prior to joining atNorth, Magnus held senior commercial positions at Atea Sverige, InfoCare Services and Enaco. Based in Sweden he will report to Anders Fryxell, atNorth's new Chief Sales Officer.
Kristinn will focus on developing and maturing the accounting function in line with the company's considerable growth. He brings extensive experience in accounting acquired during his 19 years in the finance industry and 13 as a State Authorized Public Accountant. He joins from Ryni/Baker Tilly in Iceland where he was the Managing Partner and served as atNorth's auditor for the Icelandic entities. Prior to this he was CPA at PwC Iceland. Based in Iceland, Kristinn will report to Eva Soley Gudbjornsdottir, Deputy CEO & CFO at atNorth.
The announcement follows atNorth's acquisition of Gompute a leading provider of High Performance Computing (HPC) and data center services and its recent publication of its annual accounts - both showcasing the substantial expansion of the business and the company's commitment to providing cost efficient, sustainable infrastructure to its clients.
Eva Soley Gudbjornsdottir, Deputy CEO & CFO at atNorth says "as we continue to grow in this fast paced and competitive market it is essential that we have a cohesive and talented team supporting us. I am delighted to welcome Magnus and Kristinn to the business."
atNorth's expansion has been bolstered by the recent appointment of a number of high profile professionals including Anders Fryxell as CSO, Erling Gudmunsson as COO, Fredrik Jansson as Chief Strategy and Marketing & Communications Officer , Stephen Donovan as Chief Development Officer ,
Mardis Heimisdottir as Director of Strategy Implementation, Tracey Pewtner, as Marketing Director, Elisabet Arnadottir, Director of Security and Compliance, David Sandars as Sales Director for the UK, Pekka Jarvelainen as Sales Director for Finland and Michael Endres as Sales Director for the DACH Region and Wayne Allen, Sales Director - US. The company's data center footprint also continues to increase with the recent launch of their third operational data center in Iceland.
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About atNorth
atNorth is a leading Nordic data center services company that offers sustainable, cost-effective, scalable colocation and high-performance computing services across Iceland, Sweden and Finland. The company operates seven data centers in strategic locations across the Nordics, with an eighth site to open in Helsinki, Finland in Q3 2024.
With sustainability at its core, atNorth's data centers run on renewable energy resources and support circular economy principles. All atNorth sites leverage innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations to provide long-term infrastructure and flexible colocation deployments. The tailor-made solutions enable businesses to calculate, simulate, train and visualize data workloads in an efficient, cost-optimized way.
atNorth is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, and is trusted by industry-leading organizations to operate their most critical workloads. The business was founded in 2009 and acquired by Partners Group in 2022. For more information, visit atNorth.com or follow atNorth onLinkedIn orFacebook .
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Press Contact:
Caroline Brunton
Kite Hill PR for atNorth
+44 (0) 7796 274 416
[email protected]
The following files are available for download:
https://mb.cision.com/Main/18907/3837265/2301216.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/atnorth/i/magnus-dittmer-002-webb,c3216767 Magnus Dittmer 002 WEBB https://news.cision.com/atnorth/i/atnorth-portraits2539-kristinn,c3216768 Atnorth portraits2539 Kristinn
SOURCE atNorth
Presentation of NanoSTING as a mucosal adjuvant that is highly effective in blocking transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AuraVax Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapies to prevent and treat respiratory viruses, today announced that their partners at the University of Houston presented data at Keystone Symposia: Vaccinology During and After COVID-19 taking place from September 17-20, 2023.
The team, led by Dr. Navin Varadarajan, MD Anderson Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Houston and Chief Scientific Officer of AuraVax, demonstrated that the STING pathway can be activated by NanoSTING in the nasopharynx to produce immune responses to the spike and nucleocapsid proteins of SARS-CoV-2 in small animals and non-human primates. Remarkably, in direct transmission experiments, the candidate vaccine completely blocked transmission to vaccine-naive animals that were continuously exposed for multiple days.
"These pre-clinical data highlight that NanoSTING can be used as a mucosal adjuvant for intranasal vaccines," said Joseph Sullivan, CEO of AuraVax. "The partnership with University of Houston established NanoSTING as a therapeutic for multiple respiratory viruses. This presentation now broadens the knowledge surrounding NanoSTING for use as a mucosal adjuvant and extends the reach of AuraVax to address the infectious risk of respiratory viruses."
The oral presentation titled "Ending transmission: multi-antigen intranasal vaccines protect against challenge by diverse sarbecoviruses" by Dr. Ankita Leekha was on September 18, 2023.
About AuraVax
AuraVax Therapeutics, Inc. (AuraVax) is a privately held biotechnology company commercializing a new platform termed "NanoSTING" to activate STING for the treatment and prevention of respiratory infections independent of the infecting virus. NanoSTING is a broad-acting, host-directed intranasal immune-antiviral that safely targets the STING pathway to restore innate immunity for the prevention and treatment of respiratory disease as well as disrupt host-to-host transmission.
For more information about AuraVax, please visit: https://www.auravax.com
For additional information about AuraVax, contact Joseph Sullivan at
[email protected]
+1 267-421-9792
SOURCE AuraVax Therapeutics
The first custom generative AI automation models built to power work will accelerate business transformation efforts and scale enterprise automation responsibly to empower employees, increase productivity, and enhance the quality of their work
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine 2023 -- Automation Anywhere, the leader in intelligent automation, today announced a historic expansion of its Automation Success Platform, enabling enterprises to accelerate their transformation journeys and put AI to work securely throughout their organizations. Automation Anywhere's new tools and enhancements deliver AI-powered automation across every team, system and process. During Imagine 2023, the company unveiled a new Responsible AI Layer, and announced four key product updates including the brand-new Autopilot, which enables the rapid development of end-to-end automations from Process Discovery, using the power of generative AI. The company also announced new, expanded features in Automation Co-Pilot for Business Users, Automation Co-Pilot for Automators, and Document Automation.
"The combination of generative AI and intelligent automation represents the most transformational technology shift of our generation," said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-Founder, Automation Anywhere. "Every company, every team, every individual will be able to re-imagine their system of work and automate the processes that hold them back. Great people, empowered with AI and intelligent automation will be absolutely transformative to their organizations as they increase their productivity, creativity and accelerate the business."
A New Responsible AI Layer
The foundation of these innovations is a Responsible AI Layer which includes new, custom generative AI automation models developed on top of leading Large Language Models and trained with anonymized metadata from millions of automations. The new layer also includes additional AI tools and security and governance capabilities that are core to the next generation of automation development.
"The combined power of automation and generative AI promises to help unlock productivity across our organization, and Automation Anywhere is enabling us to dramatically speed up our transformation journey," said Matt Ham, Vice President, Digital Automation at Osaic, one of the nation's largest wealth management firms. "The Automation Success Platform is empowering us to provide new intelligent automation services to our 11,000 financial advisors and 2,500 employees. We believe in continuous innovation, and we're excited to unlock new opportunities to enhance our customer and employee experiences through the new Automation plus Generative AI solution packages, including Automation Co-Pilot for Business Users, intelligent Document Automation for complex forms, and the next-gen customer service solutions, where automation, AI, and people work and collaborate seamlessly."
Accelerate Business User Productivity
Building upon the first wave of generative AI innovations announced in June 2023, Automation Anywhere's Automation Co-Pilot for Business Users and Document Automation solutions, now available with generative AI, have expanded to include new use cases and LLM integration capabilities.
Automation Co-Pilot for Business Users seamlessly embeds automation directly into a business or web application. Now with generative AI, Automation Co-Pilot can handle use-cases that were not previously possible, including email triage and routing for customer service teams, anti-money laundering alerts and reporting in the banking sector, and generating after-visit summaries for patients in healthcare. Automation Co-pilot also serves as a crucial built-in guardrail for responsible AI use, controlling how business teams interact with generative AI.
seamlessly embeds automation directly into a business or web application. Now with generative AI, Automation Co-Pilot can handle use-cases that were not previously possible, including email triage and routing for customer service teams, anti-money laundering alerts and reporting in the banking sector, and generating after-visit summaries for patients in healthcare. Automation Co-pilot also serves as a crucial built-in guardrail for responsible AI use, controlling how business teams interact with generative AI. Document Automation, an intelligent document processing solution, is now designed to leverage generative AI for faster understanding, extraction, and summarization of data. It supports semi-structured and unstructured document types and supply chain use cases, such as waybills, packing slips, POs, and contracts, thus eliminating manual data handling time by up to 80% and increasing team productivity.
"We have partnered with Automation Anywhere to bring generative AI and automation to our enterprise, helping boost productivity throughout our organization, said Srikanth Haridoss, Director of Enterprise Solutions, Platform and Hyperautomation Services at Paramount. "Our partnership continues to help us uncover new opportunities to automate our systems and processes as we scale across our business."
Accelerate Automators and Speed Development
Automation Co-Pilot for Automators and Autopilot products are powered by generative AI and dramatically reduce the automation to ROI cycle time from months to minutes. Automation Co-Pilot for Automators is available today in beta and will be generally available in early 2024. Autopilot will be available in early 2024.
Autopilot automatically sources new automation opportunities and transforms them into end-to-end automations using the power of generative AI. Autopilot stitches together Process Discovery, CoE Manager, and Automation Co-Pilot for Automators, allowing for faster automation development. This new capability enables organizations and teams to go from process discovery to automation creation in minutes by streamlining a months-long communication and collaboration process between business and automation teams in a seamless, unified experience. This allows enterprises to remain agile in today's dynamic business environment by helping to quickly understand the changing processes across a company and develop new automations as new needs arise.
automatically sources new automation opportunities and transforms them into end-to-end automations using the power of generative AI. Autopilot stitches together Process Discovery, CoE Manager, and Automation Co-Pilot for Automators, allowing for faster automation development. This new capability enables organizations and teams to go from process discovery to automation creation in minutes by streamlining a months-long communication and collaboration process between business and automation teams in a seamless, unified experience. This allows enterprises to remain agile in today's dynamic business environment by helping to quickly understand the changing processes across a company and develop new automations as new needs arise. Automation Co-Pilot for Automators empowers both citizen and professional developers to turn natural language prompts into end-to-end automations, lowering the barrier to automation across every team. Previously announced this spring, Automation Anywhere is now introducing features including recorder with generative AI, which enables automations to power through application changes, prompt-to-automation, which turns natural language commands into personalized automations, and suggest next actions, which provides real-time suggestions on the next possible action in automation workflows.
"GenAI will fuse with automation in at least three major ways to make the benefits of automation more accessible to workers," said Maureen Fleming, Program Vice President of AI and Automation Research, IDC. "GenAI will expand what can be automated and provide recommendations and answer questions interactively that will help teams do their jobs more efficiently and accurately. And GenAI will also increasingly enable the automation long tail with worker-driven interactive automation for personal and team automation."
Responsibly Scale with AI Tools, Governance and Best Practices
New at Imagine 2023, Automation Anywhere also introduced a set of AI tools, governance, and best practices as part of our Responsible AI layer. This robust set of capabilities aims to help organizations without large teams of data scientists or AI developers build and scale AI-powered automations with the required guardrails in place. These new tools and capabilities will be available in early 2024.
AI Tools, Governance and best practices:
Model Selection: Users can manage generative AI models across a wide range of providers that Automation Anywhere's open platform can securely integrate. Secure customer instances ensure all processing is done within a customer-governed tenant and data is encrypted.
Users can manage generative AI models across a wide range of providers that Automation Anywhere's open platform can securely integrate. Secure customer instances ensure all processing is done within a customer-governed tenant and data is encrypted. Testing & Optimization: Tools for users to test models and prompts will help them get the best results for their specific use cases. This also includes the ability to improve performance with in-product guidance on how to fine-tune.
Tools for users to test models and prompts will help them get the best results for their specific use cases. This also includes the ability to improve performance with in-product guidance on how to fine-tune. Prompt Templates: Users start with a curated library of prompt-templates for each model or develop their own. These reusable and managed templates for enterprises make it easier to get the results users need.
Users start with a curated library of prompt-templates for each model or develop their own. These reusable and managed templates for enterprises make it easier to get the results users need. Data Privacy Controls: Customizable controls provide extra layers of protection for an enterprise, including a set of data masking capabilities to ensure sensitive data remains under your control and in your environment. Confidently govern model usage and masking of sensitive customer data within prompts to ensure data privacy.
Customizable controls provide extra layers of protection for an enterprise, including a set of data masking capabilities to ensure sensitive data remains under your control and in your environment. Confidently govern model usage and masking of sensitive customer data within prompts to ensure data privacy. Monitoring & Audit: A new set of generative AI analytics and audit tools integrated into the command center, users can monitor model performance and check for violations of data privacy.
In addition to the wave of new automation tools, Automation Anywhere is scaling up its partner ecosystem to introduce enhanced integrations with Google Cloud and AWS, among others. The company is further distinguishing itself within the market by expanding user support with the Pathfinder Community to include a new generative AI community group, a generative AI skills booster series, and expert-led guidance on hyperscaling with AI.
About Automation Anywhere
Automation Anywhere is the leader in intelligent automation solutions that put AI to work across every aspect of an organization. The company's Automation Success Platform is infused with generative AI and offers process discovery, RPA, end-to-end process orchestration, document processing, and analytics, with a security and governance-first approach. Automation Anywhere empowers organizations worldwide to unleash productivity gains, drive innovation, improve customer service and accelerate business growth. The company is guided by its vision to fuel the future of work by unleashing human potential through intelligent automation. Learn more at http://www.automationanywhere.com/.
Engage with Automation Anywhere
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SOURCE Automation Anywhere, Inc.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BermudAir, the new Bermuda based all-business class airline. has partnered with Discover the World to grow awareness and sales with the USA travel trade. Discover the World will be introducing trade partners to this revolutionary airline that will fly from New York's Westchester County Airport (HPN), Boston Logan International Airport (BOS), and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) direct to Bermuda L.F. Wade International Airport (BDA). These new direct routes offer travelers from these cities and surrounding areas greater access to Bermuda, providing a premium travel option with average flight times of around two hours. The unique all business-class configuration on an Embraer 175 aircraft will offer up to 30 passengers a premium travel experience.
The airline is available for trade partners to sell via their GDS under the W1 code and is also available to book via the airline's own website.
Speaking on the announcement of the partnership, Aiden Walsh Head of Airline Development commented 'We are delighted that BermudAir has chosen to partner with Discover the World recognizing our strong knowledge, focus and business development to support the success of this new venture. BermudAir has realized that the travel trade will play an important part in the success of the airline going forward. We have an excellent team in place and look forward to rolling out our plan supporting the success of BermudAir.'
Valerie Luyk, Discover the World's Head of Sales and New Business Development USA division added, 'We are excited to introduce the US trade partners to BermudAir. This premium airline dedicated to providing an elevated travel experience to passengers provides premium year-round service for tourism and business needs. Our team will actively be engaging with trade partners focused on selling BermudAir's network of East Coast destinations with convenient access to Bermuda.'
Titus Johnson, BermudAir's Commercial Director comments 'BermudAir has chosen to partner with Discover the World in the USA because of their deep knowledge and reach amongst the travel trade. In addition, they have the agility and resources to support BermudAir as we increase frequencies and future destinations.'
About BermudAir
BermudAir is an all-premium airline dedicated to providing an elevated travel experience to passengers. With a focus on convenience, comfort and exceptional service, BermudAir aims to fill a significant market gap by offering frequent, well-timed flights that cater to the needs of business and premium leisure travelers, as well as Bermudians requiring travel to and from the U.S.
About Discover the World
Discover the World has earned a reputation as an innovative global sales representation leader in the travel industry through a worldwide network of 85 offices in more than 60 countries. With a portfolio of over 100 clients utilizing its sales, marketing and business process outsourcing services, the work of Discover has a direct positive impact on the growth of our clients and trade industry partners every day.
SOURCE Discover the World
TROY, Mich. and DETROIT, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has named Bruce W. Haffey as one of The Best Lawyers in America (2024 Edition).
The current, 30th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2024) is based on more than 16.1 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers. The list of outstanding attorneys is compiled by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The lawyers being honored as "The Best Lawyers in America" are highlighted as the top legal talent in America.
Mr. Haffey practices primarily in the areas of corporate law, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, franchise and distribution law and tax law and for closely held business clients engaged in a wide assortment of industries. We would like to congratulate Bruce W. Haffey on being selected for The Best Lawyers in America (2024 Edition).
About Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C.
Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C. is ranked as the 12th largest law firm in Michigan. Founded 40 years ago, located in Troy, Detroit, and Lansing, Michigan, it is a full-service law firm with 65 attorneys. Areas of practice include estate planning, corporate and business law, health care law, business transactions, commercial litigation, governmental law, real estate, creditors' rights, criminal law, employment and labor law, workers' compensation, and family law. Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C. is named in Best Law Firms in America, Tier 1. Inclusion in Best Lawyers in America is based on peer review in the legal profession. Visit www.gmhlaw.com for more information.
SOURCE Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bizzabo , the Event Experience OS, today announced the launch of Bizzabo Studios, a premium event service that merges award-winning event technology with top-tier creative and operational expertise to create compelling, captivating events both online or in-person.
Event organizers face increasing pressure to produce engaging events that deliver valuable content, facilitate relationships, and meet critical business targets, all while successfully navigating budget fluctuations and shifts in strategy. Amid this challenging environment, flawless execution and seamless guest experience are more critical than ever. To help marketing teams achieve more with less overhead, they can now lean on a veteran team that knows the event technology inside out and has a proven history of delivering results every single time.
Bizzabo Studios enables best-in-class events with award-winning event tech and top-tier creative operational expertise. Post this
Over the past several years, Bizzabo and supporting partner Smyle , an award-winning creative agency, have successfully executed more than 250 events together for clients including Amazon, Salesforce, ABB, AspenTech, Financial Times, Lululemon, and Wella. With Bizzabo Studios, event marketers can instantly unlock the creative and operational expertise that comes from executing thousands of successful events around the world. Smyle will be using its decades of global digital and hybrid experiential expertise to support the new Studio.
Bizzabo Studios offers several event service packages with a predefined scope of work that can be kicked off quickly, giving clients maximum value. These packages include template design, registration setup, and end-to-end event configuration.
"This Bizzabo-Smyle partnership has brought together two of the best in the business to develop a truly unique offering for our customers," said Eran Ben-Shushan, CEO and Cofounder of Bizzabo. "With Bizzabo Studios, event organizers can get the best of both worlds our world-class event technology and Smyle's unmatched creative and production expertise to create compelling event experiences for attendees and sponsors while delivering strong business results."
The Studios team is also available for custom engagements, including project management, creative services, strategic consultation, content creation, and production services.
To learn more about Bizzabo Studios, please visit https://www.bizzabo.com/services/bizzabo-studios .
About Bizzabo:
Bizzabo powers immersive in-person, virtual, and hybrid experiences. The Bizzabo Event Experience OS is a data-rich open platform that allows Event Experience Leaders to manage events, engage audiences, activate communities, and deliver powerful business outcomes while keeping attendee data private and secure. Bizzabo powers the events of world-leading brands from Fortune 100 enterprise organizations and financial institutions to creative agencies and scaling tech companies. Bizzabo was founded in 2011 by Boaz Katz, Alon Alroy, and Eran Ben-Shushan, and is headquartered in New York and Tel Aviv.
About Smyle:
Smyle is an award-winning creative agency with comprehensive in-house services, including digital, physical and hybrid experiences, content, strategy & creative, measurement, and sustainability. The agency is committed to creating experiences and stories that make a positive difference to people, brands, and planet. Smyle is part of The Smyle Group.
To learn more visit https://smyle.co.uk/
SOURCE Bizzabo Ltd.
After a successful event in Houston earlier this year, Bulleit is honored to continue its longtime, community-first approach by supporting Tree Equity improvement efforts in New York. As a city that emphasizes fair access to greenspaces, New York is a significant location for Bulleit and American Forests to continue their critical work.
Disadvantaged communities across the US have historically suffered the most from unequal access to trees, and the heat-reducing shade, fresh air, and climate resiliency that they provide. Tree Time, a program of NYC Parks and the City Parks Foundation, and American Forests used their tools to identify an area on Laurel Hill Boulevard that, due to its proximity to the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the Long Island Expressway, and the industrial activity for the past 150 years, desperately needed trees to help purify the air and provide shade to local residents.
"At the end of the hottest summer in recorded history, it is clear that achieving Tree Equity in US cities is urgently needed to bring the life-saving natural cooling and clean air that trees provide to every neighborhood," said Jad Daley, President and Chief Executive Officer of American Forests. "Here in New York City, for example, we can achieve Tree Equity with an additional 1.7 million trees in the right places. Our powerful partnership with Bulleit is advancing Tree Equity in New York City and using art to inspire us toward a better future."
In addition to the planting, Bulleit and Street Art for Mankind worked with artist, Carlos Alberto, to create the mural that aims to inspire the community to become agents of environmental change. A hub for artists, New York is the ideal location for a mural of this size and importance. The mural was unveiled today, during Climate Week NYC, with a public ceremony.
"The growth of our partnership with American Forests over the past three years is a testament to our commitment to creating real change," said Jesse Damashek, Senior Vice President of Whiskies & Liqueurs at Diageo. "The Tree Equity plantings we do are extremely impactful and important to the local communities we serve, and with Street Art for Mankind, we're able to bring critical attention to these efforts, and the broader need for global Ecosystem Restoration. The Ecosystem Restoration murals that Street Art creates do a masterful job of promoting this important work, as well as inspiring people to be drivers of environmental change."
In support of the United Nations Environment Programme, a part of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Street Art for Mankind created the Ecosystem Restoration Murals Project. Through this project, Bulleit is supporting the creation of five ecosystem restoration murals across the US. To create the mural in New York City, Street Art for Mankind partnered with Carlos Alberto. A street artist from Mexico, Carlos loves nature and uses 3D effects to bring his art to life.
On the side of the city's largest convention center, the Javits Center, Carlos created the mural in only 10 days. Carlos explained that his design features a woman hugging a tree to signify that she wants there to be more of them in her neighborhood. The woman is surrounded by the jungle, reminding viewers that, even in the "concrete jungle," communities need trees and nature. The mural also makes a reference to biodiversity with plants and animals from New York state, and from around the world. On the left you will find extinct and endangered plants and animals, and on the right you can see recovering species, reflecting the challenge and the hope that comes from global ecosystem restoration efforts. Kicking-off Climate Week NYC, this mural will serve as a vivid reminder of the critical need for global ecosystem restoration.
"We are thrilled to be back in our home base of New York and to create this huge mural in the concrete jungle of Manhattan," said Audrey and Thibault Decker, Co-Founders of Street Art for Mankind. "With this big statement, we wanted to pay tribute to nature and people, as they both pay the price of climate change. We sincerely hope that our art will inspire generations of passers-by to do their share and act for climate. We are very grateful for the journey we are on, painting murals across the world, and also honored to be given such a meaningful platform for Climate Week and the UNGA. Thank you to all our friends from UNEP, FAO, the Javits Center, the Nest Campus, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, New York State and New York City for uniting together to make this all happen. Nature needs us all. And we need nature everywhere, for everybody!"
The public can scan the mural for an audio guide using a free mobile app called "Behind the Wall'', published by SAM on Playstore and the Appstore. The app allows people to discover the story behind Ecosystem Restoration, hear officials talk about the issue, and listen to Carlos talk about his creation.
ABOUT BULLEIT FRONTIER WHISKEY
Bulleit, founded in 1987, is one of the fastest-growing whiskeys in America. The brand attributes that growth to bartenders and cultural partners who have adopted it as their own. The Bulleit Frontier Whiskey portfolio is distilled and aged in the Bulleit family tradition, using a distinctive high rye recipe, which gives them a bold, spicy, yet distinctively smooth taste. The award-winning Kentucky whiskey most recently won a Double Gold medal for Bulleit 10 Year Old and Gold Medals for Bulleit Bourbon and Bulleit Rye at the 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. In 2017, Bulleit celebrated its 30th anniversary with the opening of a new, state-of-the-art distillery located in Shelbyville, KY, constructed with a focus on sustainable practices including natural habitat protection, water conservation and local ingredient sourcing. In 2019, a Visitor's Centre at the Bulleit Distilling Co. in Shelbyville opened to share our modern, technological and sustainable approach to making great whiskey. In 2021, Diageo opened its first carbon neutral whiskey distillery in Lebanon, KY with Bulleit being the first and leading brand being produced at the site. supplementing existing production at the Bulleit Distilling Co. For more information, visit www.bulleit.com or follow @Bulleit on Instagram.
ABOUT DIAGEO
Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with an outstanding collection of brands including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Ciroc and Ketel One vodkas, Casamigos, DeLeon and Don Julio tequilas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Tanqueray and Guinness.
Diageo is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE: DGE) and their products are sold in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information about Diageo, their people, brands, and performance, visit www.diageo.com. Visit Diageo's global responsible drinking resource, www.DRINKiQ.com, for information, initiatives, and ways to share best practice.
Follow on Twitter and Instagram for news and information about Diageo North America: @Diageo_NA.
ABOUT AMERICAN FORESTS
American Forests is driven by the power of forests. They are instrumental to addressing two of the most pressing issues of the day: slowing climate change and advancing social equity. Forests also provide habitat for wildlife and a clean, abundant supply of water for people. Since our founding in 1875, American Forests has been the pathfinders for creating healthy forests from coast to coast. For example, we championed creation of the U.S. Forest Service and have persuaded Congress to provide stable funding for fighting and preventing forest fires. Our deep knowledge of forests and track record of collaboration position us to build a reforestation movement in America.
From cities to large natural landscapes, we create healthy and resilient forests that deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water and wildlife. We advance our mission through forestry innovation, place-based partnerships to plant and restore forests, and movement building. American Forests envisions a world in which the significant environmental, societal, and economic benefits of forests are fully realized and equitably available to all people. To learn more about American Forests, visit www.americanforests.org
ABOUT STREET ART FOR MANKIND
Street Art for Mankind (SAM) is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization working with prominent street artists to create large murals all around the world. Its goal is to raise awareness on social justice and environmental issues, and to give the public the means to become actors of change. SAM is recognized for its mural series with the United Nations, the Department of State, but also for its Art Walk Murals with Cities across the world to bond communities together, create a sense of belonging and increase foot traffic. Learn more at StreetArtMankind.org .
ABOUT THE UN DECADE ON ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems across the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems and restore them to achieve global goals. The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade, which is led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future.
https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/
ABOUT NYC PARKS TREE TIME
Tree Time, a program of the NYC Parks and the City Parks Foundation, was established in 1994 to protect, preserve, and enhance New York City's street, park and forest trees. The goals of Tree Time are to foster public-private partnerships in urban forestry, raise public awareness of the importance of urban forestry conservation and stewardship, promote new technologies to enhance tree survival and advance innovative management tools, and revitalize historically and arboreally significant municipal trees.
Donations to Tree Time enable the installation of tree guards, tree planting, and sidewalk repair. nyctreetime.org
SOURCE Bulleit Frontier Whiskey
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Financial Crime Insights from Highest Levels of Law Enforcement for Students and Professionals in Free Event at College Park Marriott Nov. 3
COLLEGE PARK, Md. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital age-infused financial crimes against businesses are the focus of a free, single-day seminar forthcoming from Justice for Fraud Victims (JFV) at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business in cooperation with the Prince George's County Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit.
The seminar, Business Fraud Prevention, takes place 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, at the College Park Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 3501 University Blvd., E. Adelphi, Md.
Keynote speaker is Stephen Dougherty, a financial investigator and forensic analyst for the Secret Service's Global Investigative Operations Center. He will join experts from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Federal Trade Commission, along with counterparts from UMD Smith and Prince George's County, to give insights for students and professionals across business and criminology fields.
The seminar will explore the latest financial fraud tactics against businesses and practical counter methods, says JFV director and Smith Accounting and Information Assurance Lecturer Samuel Handwerger . "The digital age is fueling financial crimes against the business community in several ways," including:
Business email compromises
Mortgage wire transfer frauds
Bank account takeovers
Ransomware attacks
Invoice fraud
Identity theft
Apartment rental scams
Embezzlement
Mail f raud
Dougherty, as keynote speaker, will draw from 15-plus years of investigative experience including pivotal roles surrounding cyber-enabled financial crime, money laundering, human trafficking, identity theft, healthcare fraud, embezzlement, tax and government program fraud and dark web crimes.
The seminar is a product of JFV, a collaboration, launched earlier this year, of UMD Smith and Prince George's Financial Crimes Unit, along with the State's Attorney's Office. The program offers students a unique volunteering opportunity to investigate financial fraud including against members of vulnerable populations -- with local law enforcement officers.
Space is limited for the free seminar. To RSVP and for more information, go to the Justice for Fraud Victims homepage.
About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.
Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) has added 14 importers of machine tools from the German manufacturer Spinner to the list of international sponsors of war. Being on the list makes the companies candidates for sanctions.
ADVERTISIMENT
Importers of Spinner products were added to the "War and Sanctions" list as international sponsors of war on September 19. The list is compiled by the NACP jointly with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine.
"The decision was made after receiving information about the delivery of a machine from the production facilities of the plant in Turkey of the German manufacturer Spinner for the Russian JSC "Sirovsky Mechanical Plant" (SMZ)," the NAPC explained.
The machine has already been shipped from Turkey. It is expected that Russia will receive it at the end of September.
It is noted that the machine is used in Russia for the production of tank fragmentation shells. The Ukrainian side has already officially informed the German company that its machine will now be used to produce ammunition used by Russia to attack Ukraine.
ADVERTISIMENT
The Ukrainian agency has estimated that since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the volume of Spinner equipment imported into the aggressor country has increased by more than 500%. The supply was facilitated by the following companies (they have been declared sponsors of the war):
"Machines Group"
"Masheks-Service"
"Vega - OM"
"Avbis"
"Novocom"
"ITB Service"
"Art-Mechanics"
"DVCC"
"Center for Engineering Solutions"
"Neviz"
"Spinner Technology"
TTC "Kammarket"
"Spinner"
"Yumak" (the importer of the machine)
International war sponsor - what it means for business
The companies included in the list of international sponsors of war are included in the World-Check database. This does not threaten them with closure, but the database is used worldwide to identify and manage financial, regulatory and reputational risks. In addition, official agencies are actively calling for a boycott of the products of such companies.
ADVERTISIMENT
However, all the companies on the list are still operating in Ukraine, as the NACP does not have the authority to close international businesses or restrict their operations. But if the National Security and Defense Council imposes sanctions against such businesses, the situation may change.
As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, one of the candidates for inclusion in the list of war sponsors was the popular Italian mattress manufacturer Magniflex. The company openly continues to operate and pay taxes in Russia.
Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Johnson & Johnson lawyer endures withering criticism from Democrat, Republican Senators
Sen. Durbin: "This is not what Congress intended when it created bankruptcy"
Sen. Hawley: "Americans don't trust huge corporations because of companies like yours"
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson & Johnson's discredited "Texas two-step" bankruptcy efforts came under fire today from witnesses and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin.
Senators from both parties pushed back against claims by J&J lawyer Erik Haas that by creating a shell company and then putting it into bankruptcy, the company was seeking a "fair and equitable" resolution to thousands of consumer lawsuits alleging that its asbestos-laced talc products cause ovarian cancer and mesothelioma.
When Haas asserted to Senators that most plaintiffs lose at trial, Sen. Josh Hawley reminded Haas that a jury in Sen. Hawley's home state of Missouri found J&J liable and awarded $4.69 billion dollars in damages. Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a $2.2 billion damage award for 22 plaintiffs.
Sen. Hawley told Haas, "Your company panics and what you do is you then decide, 'Oh my gosh, we can't possibly do this. We can't pay these plaintiffs this kind of money.' So, you then create a separate company for the sole purpose of declaring bankruptcy and making sure that tens of thousands of other plaintiffs get scraps." See the entire exchange here.
"Americans saw today that J&J and other huge corporations will try virtually anything to avoid responsibility when their products cause massive amounts of harm and suffering," says Leigh O'Dell of the Beasley Allen law firm and co-chair of the plaintiffs steering committee in the talc multidistrict litigation in New Jersey federal court. "Plaintiffs with legitimate claims are united and determined to continue to seek justice."
As plaintiffs await their day in court, they continue to speak out against J&J's abusive practices. Their comments, recorded on video, can be found here.
In his remarks, Sen. Durbin gave voice to his view that an increasing number of major corporations are abusing the bankruptcy process. He noted:
The Texas two-step allows large profitable corporations to "shirk responsibility for the damage their products have caused."
two-step allows large profitable corporations to "shirk responsibility for the damage their products have caused." It denies individuals their day in court.
It encourages forum-shopping by corporations to take advantage of more favorable locations.
It forces victims who may be suffering fatal progressive diseases to endure protracted bankruptcy proceedings, robbing them of "precious time."
An appellate court and a bankruptcy judge have twice dismissed J&J's bankruptcy maneuvers, finding that they were filed in bad faith. After a long delay caused by the bankruptcy litigation, attorneys for plaintiffs are gearing up to renew trying their cases before juries.
"J&J continues to pursue the lie that a majority of victims want to settle their cases in bankruptcy and continues to attempt to bully claimants into accepting woefully inadequate compensation for their injuries and loss," says Andy Birchfield of the Beasley Allen law firm, which represents thousands of women and families in litigation against Johnson & Johnson. "After today's hearing, it's obvious that legislators from both parties are serious about protecting the rights of individuals to have their claims tried where they belong, before judges who are qualified to consider individual matters of right and wrong, and before juries of their peers."
Media Contact
Mike Androvett
[email protected]
214-507-5456
SOURCE Beasley Allen
The experienced philanthropy executive will lead The Colleges fundraising, donor and volunteer relations, and alumni and community engagement
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The American College of Financial Services is excited to announce Carol Parlin Prushan as Senior Vice President, Advancement and Alumni Relations. Working closely with The Colleges Executive Leadership team, Prushan will shape the advancement strategy of The College as the institution moves into its next 100 years.
Building meaningful relationships across constituent groups is a major aim of The College as it forges the path toward its Centennial in 2027, connections that will be the cornerstone of its future. The Colleges network of corporate partners, individual donors, alumni and professional organizations are just a few of the groups that make up the core supporters of its strategic initiatives. Prushan will be key in nurturing those relationships and continuing to build meaningful pathways.
As SVP of Advancement and Alumni Relations, Prushan will be a member of The Colleges Executive Leadership Team. Starting from September 18, Prushan will report directly to President and CEO George Nichols III, CAP.
Prushan will direct the integration of annual College-wide fundraising efforts and lead an alumni relations program that fosters connectivity with The Colleges mission and provides opportunities for deeper networking and idea sharing to support the professions growth.
Carol is a highly trusted, respected, and valued leader with excellent judgement and unwavering integrity, said Nichols. We look forward to the renewed energy and vision she will bring to The Colleges fundraising and networking strategy as we bring forth our refreshed brand and strategic areas of focus to all our constituents and build new pathways.
Prushan comes to The College with over 30 years experience as an advancement professional, serving vulnerable communities and impacting social change. She has expertise in fundraising, Board relations, leadership, cultural transformation, revenue expansion and optimization, community engagement, and strategic planning and event management.
I look forward to working with my colleagues at The College to help solidify its future as a leader in financial services education, said Prushan. This is an exciting time to be a part of this storied institution, working with our community of stakeholders to shape the next century of the industry and its professionals.
Most recently, Prushan served as Vice President and Chief Development Officer at Einstein Healthcare Network, an independent academic medical center primarily serving the poorest community in Philadelphia. At Einstein Healthcare Network, Carol was instrumental in The Einstein Campaign raising $167M, exceeding the initial goal of $100M, and grew their annual campaign from $3M to $10M.
Prushan graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Management Information Systems. She contributes to and participates in many organizations such as The Forum of Executive Women, Healthcare Businesswomens Association, Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES
Founded in 1927, The American College of Financial Services is the nations largest nonprofit educational institution devoted to financial services professionals. Holding the highest level of academic accreditation, The College has educated over 200,000 professionals across the United States through certificate, designation, and graduate degree programs. Its portfolio of applied knowledge also includes just-in-time learning and consumer financial education programs. The Colleges faculty represents some of the foremost thought leaders in the financial services industry. Visit TheAmericanCollege.edu and connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Discover all the ways you can expand your opportunities with us.
Contact:
Sarah Tremallo
908-967-0381 / [email protected]
Lindsey Allumbaugh
678-643-1310 / [email protected]
SOURCE The American College of Financial Services
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Julie Cafley, Executive Director, Catalyst Canada, along with the Catalyst Honours Champions who will be recognized for their efforts at Catalyst Honours on November 15 in Toronto, joined Eliza Casinather, Head of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to close the market.
Catalyst Honours is an annual event that recognizes Championsaward winnersfor their efforts in creating more equitable and inclusive workplaces in Canada. Tickets are available now.
Catalyst Canada Closes the Market Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Catalyst is a global nonprofit supported by many of the world's most powerful CEOs and leading companies to help build workplaces that work for women. Founded in 1962, Catalyst drives change with preeminent thought leadership, actionable solutions and a galvanized community of multinational corporations to accelerate and advance women into leadership because progress for women is progress for everyone. Catalyst has worked in Canada since 2002 to address the unique concerns of Canadian women in business through research, education, and events.
CNW sponsored announcement. To learn more visit www.newswire.ca.
SOURCE Toronto Stock Exchange
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- More Americans drink coffee each day (63%) than any other beverage, including water, according to the latest "Atlas of American Coffee" published today (Tuesday).
Commissioned by the National Coffee Association (NCA) since 1950 and now updated twice yearly, the National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report is the longest-running study of American consumers' coffee drinking patterns.
The Fall 2023 NCDT finds that coffee continues to bounce back from the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which did not impact overall coffee consumption but did impact out-of-home and workplace coffee. Cups per capita and cups per coffee drinker have held relatively steady since 2020 (1.7 and 2.8 respectively).
At-home coffee consumption reached a high of 85% of past-day coffee drinkers in January 2021 data, and has remained above pre-pandemic levels (82% in today's report). In-office coffee has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels - 36% of Americans report having an in-office coffee station, up from a pandemic low of 26% in January 2021.
NCA President and CEO William "Bill" Murray commented:
"As Coffee Day deals and giveaways approach, it's the perfect time to celebrate the latest data on America's enduring love affair with coffee. Coffee continues its reign as America's favorite beverage, and we expect that to continue for many Coffee Days to come."
Other key findings include:
Despite being nearly unknown when NCA began tracking it, cold brew popularity has skyrocketed up by 45% since January 2023 and 300% since 2016!
and 300% since 2016! Drip coffee makers are the most popular preparation method (40% of past day coffee drinkers), followed by single cup brewers (27%), cold brewing (16%), and espresso machines (11%).
Lattes are the most popular espresso-based beverage (consumed by 18% of Americans in the past-week) followed by espresso (16%), and cappuccinos (15%)
30% of Americans had flavored coffee in the past-week. Vanilla is the most popular, with caramel and hazelnut tied for second, followed by mocha.
81% of American coffee drinkers have coffee with breakfast, compared to 38% in the morning, 15% with lunch, 19% in the afternoon, 7% with dinner, and 10% in the evening.
For more information, including media highlights, and to purchase the complete NCDT, click here .
About the National Coffee Association
The National Coffee Association (NCA) USA, Inc. is the leading trade association serving the U.S. coffee industry through education, advocacy, and connection. NCA members represent an estimated 90% of U.S. coffee commerce with small, medium, and large companies, including growers, importers, exporters, traders, brokers, freight services, roasters, manufacturers, retailers, and allied companies. Visit ncausa.org to learn more.
SOURCE National Coffee Association
Cerecin completes in-licensing of an investigational radiolabelled tracer 18FBHB, CER-022, for development and use in positron emission tomography (PET) studies of ketone body metabolism
Company expands ketogenic platform following pilot data of CER-0001 in migraine and infantile spasms.
CER-022 is a novel diagnostic asset with potential applications in neurology and other therapeutic indications
DENVER, Colo. and SINGAPORE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerecin Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering innovative neurotherapeutics, today announced the in-license of CER-022 from the University of Alberta.
The in-license is part of Cerecin's pipeline expansion and further strengthens its position as a leader in neurometabolism, addressing metabolic targets and bioenergetics in disease. CER-022 could have broad applications in the study of ketone body metabolism and will complement Cerecin's ongoing studies of ketosis in migraine, Alzheimer's disease and infantile spasms epilepsy.
CER-022 is an 18Fluorinated beta-hydroxybutyrate ([18F]FBHB) for investigational use in positron emission tomography (PET) studies of ketone body metabolism. PET is an imaging technique using radiolabelled isotopes to measure metabolic activity in cells. CER-022 was developed by Dr. Frank Wuest, Professor of Oncology at the University of Alberta, and colleagues. This month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice of Allowance for the U.S. Patent Application No. 16/992,940, title: Fluorinated beta-hydroxybutyric acids for PET imaging, licensed to Cerecin by the University of Alberta.
18F radiolabeled 2-deoxyglucose (18FDG) is used in numerous applications relating to the brain, heart and in cancer diagnosis. 18FDG PET has been a transformative diagnostic enabling a better understating of tissue metabolism and the early detection and treatment of diseases, particularly cancers and cardiac function. Similarly, it is hoped that CER-022 will be an important diagnostic tool with broad applications, being of significant value to the Company in future studies of its lead investigational drug compound, CER-0001 (tricaprilin).
Commenting on the in-license, Dr Samuel Henderson, Chief Scientific Officer, Cerecin, said, "We are pleased to have in-licensed this technology from the University of Alberta. Radiolabeled glucose has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of many diseases, and with the growing interest in ketone body metabolism, a tool to study ketosis may have similar broad uses. Studies using CER-022 may increase our knowledge of the role of ketosis in a variety of applications."
Dr. Frank Wuest, Professor at the University of Alberta said, "Our partnership with Cerecin will advance the study of our molecular imaging technologies and evaluate if CER-022 will be a useful tool for studying ketone body metabolism using PET. Disorders exhibiting altered energy substrate utilization, such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, diabetes, and cancer may be of interest for PET imaging studies using CER-022."
About Cerecin
Cerecin is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing drugs that target the metabolic bases of central nervous system diseases. Cerecin's lead compound, CER-0001, is being developed for migraine, Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy. Cerecin's programs leverage its extensive experience in neurology and global drug development. Cerecin is supported by two multinational partners, Nestle S.A. (NSRGY), and Wilmar International Limited (F34.SI), as well as a syndicate of leading institutional investors. By bringing together the deep expertise of its leadership team and highly innovative programs, Cerecin is becoming a global leader in bioenergetics and neurometabolism.
Forward looking statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" under applicable securities laws that are based on the current expectations and beliefs of Cerecin. Such statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "possible," "will" and other words and terms of similar meaning. All statements, except for statements of historical fact, are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: (i) sources and availability of third party financing and investments and the projected financial performance of the Company; (ii) the expected development of the Company's business, projects, drug development programs and joint ventures; (iii) execution of the Company's vision and growth strategy, including with respect to future growth; and (iv) new developments with respect to the Company's projects that are currently underway, in development or otherwise under consideration. Drug development and commercialization involve a high degree of risk, and only a small number of research and development programs result in commercialization of a product. Results in early-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of full results or results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. Forward-looking statements are not guaranties of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from projections of future performance or any result that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management of Cerecin believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance or guarantee that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Cerecin undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
For more information visit www.cerecin.com.
For further information, please contact: [email protected]
2023 Cerecin AC-23-973
SOURCE Cerecin
Stock Market Symbols
GIB (NYSE)
GIB.A (TSX)
www.cgi.com/newsroom
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) today announced the availability of CGI All Payments, a flexible cloud-ready enterprise payments solution, in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, an online store providing applications and services for use on Azure. The availability of CGI All Payments on the trusted Microsoft Azure Marketplace delivers the flexibility needed by clients to streamline purchase, deployment and management of CGI's industry-leading solution.
"CGI All Payments is designed to enable faster processing, lower costs and deliver greater transparency for our clients," said Robert Coakley, Vice-President Consulting, Delivery, and CGI Lead for Payment Solutions. "With access now available through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, clients have an additional channel to easily and quickly procure and scale the modern, innovative services CGI All Payments delivers."
Jake Zborowski, General Manager, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp. said, "We're pleased to welcome CGI to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Azure Marketplace offers world-class quality experiences from global trusted partners with solutions tested to work seamlessly with Azure."
CGI brings four decades of deep expertise and industry knowledge to the payments sector. The breadth of the company's offering, including consulting services and solutions, enables CGI consultants to support clients from strategy definition to solution design and implementation, to systems integration and operational support. As an independent technology partner, CGI All Payments is fully deployable on or across multiple ecosystems.
About CGI
Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest independent IT and business consulting services firms in the world. With 91,500 consultants and professionals across the globe, CGI delivers an end-to-end portfolio of capabilities, from strategic IT and business consulting to systems integration, managed IT and business process services and intellectual property solutions. CGI works with clients through a local relationship model complemented by a global delivery network that helps clients digitally transform their organizations and accelerate results. CGI Fiscal 2022 reported revenue is $12.87 billion and CGI shares are listed on the TSX (GIB.A) and the NYSE (GIB). Learn more at cgi.com.
SOURCE CGI Inc.
Brent Walker also honored among top 100 in the state
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Name partners Charla Aldous and Brent Walker at boutique personal injury law firm Aldous\Walker LLP took multiple top-list honors in the 2023 Texas Super Lawyers guide, with Ms. Aldous ranked in the top 3 attorneys in the state, based on votes by her peers.
And among the tens of thousands of lawyers in Texas, Mr. Walker made it to the magazine's top 100 list, once again.
Those attorneys chosen for Texas Super Lawyers represent the top 5% of attorneys in the state, and the top 3 and top 100 lists represent an additional level of exclusivity. Attorneys already selected as Super Lawyers are evaluated against 12 indicators of peer recognition, and those with the most points are placed on the elite lists.
The 2023 edition marks Ms. Aldous' 20th year as a Texas Super Lawyer and fifth year she finished the voting in the top 10.
"I know so many wonderful lawyers in this state, so to have someone think I'm somehow worthy of being in the top 3 is pretty amazing," said Ms. Aldous.
For Mr. Walker, 2023 marks his 10th appearance on the Texas Super Lawyers list and second on the top 100 list. As a young attorney, Mr. Walker was a repeat honoree on the publication's Rising Stars list, which recognizes the top 2.5% of attorneys under age 40 or those who have been practicing for 10 years or less. In 2023, Super Lawyers named Aldous\Walker's Caleb Miller to the Rising Stars list.
These are just the latest accolades for the Aldous\Walker team. Recently, The Best Lawyers in America legal guide again recognized Ms. Aldous, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Miller. In addition, Law.com and The National Law Journal honored Ms. Aldous with a listing in the publications' Elite Women of the Plaintiffs Bar and Texas Lawyer recognized the firm for earning the largest medical malpractice win in the state for 2022.
Super Lawyers uses a patented selection process that combines independent research with peer nominations. The Texas Super Lawyers 2023 list will be published this fall by Texas Monthly and online at superlawyers.com.
The Aldous\Walker LLP law firm represents clients in civil litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability and wrongful death cases. Learn more about the firm at www.aldouslaw.com
Media Contact:
BeLynn Hollers
800.559.4534
[email protected]
SOURCE Aldous Walker LLP
A five-year $1.85 billion program of the Department of Health Care Services' CalAIM initiative, PATH provides qualifying entities with state-funded support
LONG BEACH, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Chorus Innovations, a public-sector health and behavioral health software company, today announced that it has been selected by the State of California's Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to provide hands-on assistance for the Providing Access and Transforming Health (PATH) Technical Assistance (TA) Marketplace. This designation enables eligible entities to receive state-funded access to Chorus' technical expertise. The PATH TA Marketplace is designed to stimulate and accelerate the provision of vital Enhanced Care Management (ECM) and Community Supports, both of which are critical pillars of California's Medi-Cal transformation efforts to improve health outcomes.
Eligible entities include community-based organizations, government agencies, provider organizations, as well as others that may be approved by DHCS. A full list of entity types is available at the TA Marketplace website . As a prerequisite to receive hands-on technical assistance, entities are required to provide attestation that they are contracted with a Managed Care Plan (MCP) or other eligible entity to provide ECM and/or Community Supports.
Pursuant to the acceptance of a proposed application by DHCS, awardees work with a preferred approved vendor, like Chorus, to develop a scope of work (SOW) and budget for the specific project. The final SOW and budget is then submitted by the vendor for review. A detailed step by step illustration of the application process is available at the "Reference Materials" section of the TA Marketplace website .
Chorus' selection underscores the value of its unique development approach, which pairs clinically-validated participatory development techniques along with the Chorus rapid technology development platform. Chorus' existing work in California includes impactful digital applications for both community-facing as well as clinical, services delivery, and administrative workflows, and includes notable projects such as Together for Wellness , OC Navigator , and PADS .
"The scope and scale of CalAIM is breathtaking," said Armen Arevian, MD, PhD, founder & CEO of Chorus, adding "Ensuring that vital ECM and CS services reach their full potential is critical in order to ensure that the state reaches all of its residents in the most equitable manner possible. The formation of the TA marketplace greatly simplifies the process of investing in needed capacity and infrastructure, and we are grateful for the opportunity to support this crucial undertaking."
About Chorus
Chorus is a fast-growing healthcare technology company with a rapid development platform that powers a variety of digital health applications. The adaptable Chorus platform accelerates transformative digital healthcare applications to meet the needs of public health agencies, community-based organizations, and the residents they serve. Leveraging the dynamism of a collaborative, inclusive approach, Chorus helps create a healthier, more equitable world. For more information, please visit www.joinchorus.com .
Media Contact:
Dov Tamler
[email protected]
818-481-8371
SOURCE Chorus Innovations
ATLANTA, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Clark Atlanta University Art and Fashion students were selected for the Fulton County Fashion Art Culture & Education (FACE) initiative in Paris presented by Noir for the Global Master Class as part of the Paris Experience, a collaboration with Fulton County's FACE program and Clark Atlanta University's Department of Art and Fashion. This new initiative highlights resources in the arts and fashion industry and provides an innovative experience that bridges the gap between fashion, art, culture, and education.
"What an exciting opportunity for our Art and Fashion students, Amari Franklin and Ficara Akins, as they head to Paris for an amazing 10-day educational experience ending with a look at Paris Fashion Week," said Professor BJ Arnett, Chair of the Art and Fashion Department and Special Assistant to the Dean of Arts and Sciences. "There are so many reasons why these two women were selected. They are both talented and are examples of resilience and tenacity in their fields. This unforgettable experience stands to be an amazing educational and artistic experience for our students due to the partnership between Clark Atlanta University and FACE."
Franklin, a senior majoring in Fashion Design, and Akins, a sophomore and Advertising Design major minoring in Fashion Merchandising, learned of the Paris Experience initiative by e-mail. The application process included submitting letters of recommendation and completing a quick fashion collection. This will be the first trip to Paris for both scholars, and they are excited about sharing this memorable and creative opportunity and the international art, fashion, and cultural experiences it will offer. Franklin looks forward to visiting Parisian thrift stores and vintage boutiques to find clothing that complements her sustainability aesthetic and taste and meeting and working with fashion leaders. Simultaneously, Akins plans to soak up the logistics of the fashion show to study the business side and artistry that goes into it, which will help her pursue her dream in advertising design and fashion merchandising.
Franklin and Akins will have an opportunity to gain insight into the Fashion industry through a hands-on field emergence where they will visit design houses and manufacturers and immerse themselves in all things art and fashion during the week-and-a-half-long tour. Additionally, guided by the amazing Noir organization out of New York with CEO Nicole Bess, they will work with designers during Noir Fashion Week, an organization committed to providing BIPOC creative talent and fashion brand opportunities through cultivation and showcasing. The two student fashion scholars may also have a chance to share their fashion collections with the public during one of Noir's fashion shows.
About Fulton County Department of Arts & Culture
The Fulton County Department of Arts & Culture assists the Fulton County Commission in the development of public policy on public support for the arts industry, makes recommendations to Fulton County Commissioners on funding the arts, and generally oversees the development and implementation of publicly assisted programs that address the diverse cultural needs for Fulton County's citizens.
The department funds contract arts organizations, manages Fulton County's Public Art Program, provides art instruction for children, teens, and adults, and over 100 annual cultural events through two neighborhood Arts Centers, Public Art, and Community Partnerships.
The department also organizes master classes, workshops, and other training for artists and arts organizations and operates galleries and performance venues.
The Fulton County Department of Arts & Culture operates two art centers and programs. FCAC provides art instruction for all ages and various disciplines, including visual art, dance, theatre, music, multi-media, creative writing, and quilting. The department also produces arts and cultural events throughout the year, including exhibitions, plays, concerts, poetry readings, book signings, dance concerts, and more.
About Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University was formed with the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, both of which hold unique places in the annals of African American history. Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, was the nation's first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans. Clark College, established four years later in 1869, was the nation's first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African American student population. Today, with nearly 4,000 students, CAU is the largest of the four institutions (CAU, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine) that comprise the Atlanta University Center Consortium. It is also the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions. Notable alumni include: James Weldon Johnson, American civil rights activist, poet, and songwriter (Lift Every Voice and Sing, "The Black National Anthem"; Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., American civil rights activist; Congressman Hank Johnson, Georgia District 4; Kenya Barris, American award-winning television and movie producer; Kenny Leon, Tony Award-winning Broadway Director; Jacque Reid, Emmy Award-winning Television Personality and Journalist; Brandon Thompson, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for NASCAR; Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Recording Academy. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu.
SOURCE Clark Atlanta University
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Clintar, Canada's leading landscape and snow/ice management expert with 50 years of industry expertise, proudly announces its expansion into the United States. As Clintar commemorates its golden anniversary, it starts a new journey to share its wealth of experience in new markets south of the border.
Initially focusing on franchise opportunities in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States, as well as states known for consistent snowfall, Clintar Commercial Outdoor Services leverages its dependable winter snow and ice management services alongside its renowned landscape maintenance.
Clintar, Canada's 50-year leading landscape and snow/ice management expert proudly announces its expansion into the US Post this
Terry Nicholson, President of Clintar, stated, "With 50 years of franchise business growth and service to commercial property owners and managers in Canada, we are well-prepared to bring our knowledge and experience to the U.S. market."
One of Clintar's key strengths is the availability of prime markets and territories for prospective franchisees, and larger-than-standard territory sizes, unlike competitors nearing market saturation. Additionally, Clintar's exclusive B2B client focus fosters scheduled site services, multi-year contracts, and consistent revenue.
Stephen Schiller, Chief Growth Officer of EverSmith Brands, commented, "In light of Clintar Commercial Outdoor Services' remarkable growth in Canada over the last five years, solidifying their position as the leading landscape and snow removal services provider, we are thrilled for Clintar to soon serve clients throughout the U.S."
This expansion presents an exceptional opportunity for entrepreneurs looking to elevate their landscape or snow removal business or venture into the B2B service sector. Clintar also extends a special Veteran's discount to aspiring franchisee owners.
Clintar emphasizes transparency, providing Item 19 financial performance representation from current franchise ownersa disclosure not universally offered by other franchises. This transparency ensures potential franchisees gain a clear understanding of their investment's financial potential, as demonstrated by their peers.
For more information on Clintar's expansion and franchising opportunities, visit clintarfranchise.com.
About Clintar Commercial Outdoor Services
For five decades, Clintar has stood as Canada's trusted authority in landscape and snow/ice management. Serving businesses, hospitals, public service buildings, and government institutions, Clintar is renowned for its year-round commercial outdoor services, providing peace of mind to national, regional, and local clientele. With a commitment to commercial clients, Clintar offers franchisees a stable and reliable revenue foundation.
Media Contact:
Stacy Leger
[email protected]
800-361-3542
SOURCE Clintar Commercial Outdoor Services
For Russian tourists, entry to Turkey is visa-free, but only for 60 days. After this period, it is necessary to apply for a temporary residence permit (ikamet) at the Office for Foreigners. And if earlier it was not difficult for Russians to obtain it, now the document is being denied en masse, to which citizens of the terrorist country react with hysteria.
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In order to obtain a residence permit in Turkey for a year, Russians had to confirm their income and their status as a landlord. Last spring, this period was reduced to six months for those coming from the aggressor state. Currently, there are more and more complaints from Russians who have been denied ikamet, Russian media report.
The massive deportation of Russians from Turkey is linked to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And although tourists are denied residence permits with the wording "unclear reasons for staying in the country," they themselves guess that Russian aggression is to blame.
Russians are scared: "I have a friend who lives in Izmir, and she has already been denied an extension. In the last six months, a rule has been introduced that a bank statement is a prerequisite - to renew, you need to see the receipts for a month. The amount per person is at least 20 thousand lira. All of us who planned to renew in October put money on the card with a reserve, made sure that everything was in order. There is also a standard package of documents that has always been there: insurance, a lease agreement for the apartment, rewritten in our names. With this set of documents, we were supposed to go to a rendezvous on Friday with all our documents, and on Thursday there was information in local chats that people went to the rendezvous and were denied, saying that from today all Russians are denied an extension, no matter what documents you have, what bank statements you have."
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According to the Russians themselves, the only way they can get a tourist residence permit now is to buy real estate in Turkey.
"But this all applies to those who received ikamet after February 10, 2022. If you lived in Turkey before February 10, 2022, and your first ikamet was obtained earlier, before that time, then you can be extended," say the red passport holders, realizing that the events of February 2022 made them outcasts around the world.
Another fugitive from the Russian Federation complained that he was fired from his job in Turkey after his country's invasion of independent and sovereign Ukraine. The man does not hide the fact that this happened, most likely, because of his position.
"I worked in a government agency, and I was unmotivatedly fired. As a result, my work visa expired, and I had to leave the country within ten days. In general, this was also somewhat related to the events of 2022, as I never really hid my position. I think it had an impact in my case," said a Russian man who had lived in Turkey for more than eight years.
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The man lamented that he was now forced to leave the country, as his entire history in Turkey had been burned, and seek asylum in Europe.
"My entire history of staying here has been burned. Now I can't apply for a permanent residence permit and, theoretically, for citizenship - if you have been working officially for five years, you can apply for citizenship, but it all burned down, and I applied as if I had just arrived," said the citizen of the rogue country.
Earlier, Russian tourists threw a tantrum because they were fined 200 euros (8 thousand hryvnias) in a Turkish hotel. The owner claimed that the guests had damaged the property, while the Russians claimed that they were victims. Read more in our article.
OBOZREVATEL also wrote that Lufthansa refused to fly a Russian woman because of her citizenship. She threw a tantrum on social media.
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Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
With the occasion of the UN General Assembly and Climate Change Week, plus with a full delegation of Colombian and international officials wandering around New York, the South American country is proud to prove why it is The Country of Beauty.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- During these busy days and up until September 24th, all day long, locals and travelers will be captivated by the colors and contrasts of the most biodiverse country per square kilometer in the world as they enter Times Square right on 50th and Broadway.
Colombia, The Country of Beauty, in Times Square NYC .
When seeking a way to unveil the uniqueness of the Colombian territory, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Tourism, came to the conclusion that beauty, a concept used to describe Colombia's main attributes such as its biodiversity, natural landscapes, cultural and gastronomic wealth, and its dazzling people, symbolizes perfectly why Colombia is one of the world's most alluring places. That's when this new slogan The Country of Beauty, was born.
Carmen Caballero, president of ProColombia, the promotion agency of the country, stated that "Colombia is in permanent evolution and international visitors have made us a trending destination. We have been recognized as a must-go-to place by media across the globe, and are honored to have received, among others, 14 recognitions at the World Travel Awards, including Leading Green Destination in South America".
Colombia is living a historic moment in the tourism industry. 2022 marked a milestone with the arrival of 4.6 million international travelers, and in 2023, the number of visitors has increased by over 30%, the United States being the primary issuer of travelers to the country. By the way: the US is the leading issuer of investment to Colombia and its main trading partner as well.
With a top offer in nature and culture tourism, Colombia has captivated Americans who seek both leisure and business experiences, supported by unparalleled air connectivity, plus the fact of being only three to five hours away from cities such as Miami, Orlando, New York, or Atlanta.
"With this new messaging, we want to share with the world the magic of Colombia and its immense beauty" said the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro.
And, what better way to get to know #TheCountryOfBeauty, than by experiencing it yourself?
Check out Colombia's new campaign here.
Learn more at Colombia.travel/en.
SOURCE ProColombia
BERLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CHiQ consistently upholds its "Smart with Style" brand philosophy, dedicated to providing consumers with stylish yet intelligent home appliances. Recently, CHiQ unveiled the enhanced Space Pro series washing machines to European consumers, focusing on Germany, Italy, France, and Spain. Emphasizing their "compact size, large capacity" feature, these products present customers with space-efficient smart home solutions.
Space Upgrade: Compact Design with Large Capacity
The washing machines, with load capacities of 8kg and 10kg, have front-to-back depths of just 52cm and 57cm respectively, maintaining the compact design of Space Pro series. Moreover, these machines feature a sleek build and a generous 530mm drum. These attributes not only ensure the product blends seamlessly into diverse living settings and optimizes space, but they also allow users to launder more garments per cycle, conserving time and energy.
Smart Technology: Intelligent Washing with Multiple Cycle Options
The one-touch smart wash is a distinctive feature of CHiQ washing machines. With this function, the machine automatically senses the load weight, adjusting the water level and temperature intelligently for optimal wash results. Furthermore, the latest Space Pro models come equipped with 15 diverse wash cycles, meeting varied customer preferences. The steam wash cycle employs high-temperature steam infusion to deeply penetrate fabric, eliminating odors and impurities for thoroughly sanitized, refreshed garments.
Elevated Efficiency: Enhancing Product Performance and Energy Savings
Aware of the growing demand for energy conservation and reduced emissions, CHiQ upgraded the Space Pro series. These updated models are now part of Amazon's Climate Pledge Friendly program. Customers can benefit from a heightened energy-efficient washing experience, reducing the burden of household energy costs. This push for superior efficiency motivates CHiQ to consistently advance its technological benchmarks, remaining committed to ongoing product innovation and refinement.
Strategic Advancements: Bolstering Growth and Appliance Performance
In 2018, CHiQ invested significantly in a 180,000-square-meter intelligent washing machine industrial park. Since its entry into the European market, CHiQ has consistently broadened its product range, strategically enhanced distribution across digital and brick-and-mortar channels and amplified its branding initiatives. From January to August 2023, the sales volume of CHiQ's white goods business in the European market saw an impressive year-on-year growth of over 140%, and the sales revenue increased by more than 120% year-on-year.
CHiQ will continue to enhance its home appliance technology prowess and product quality, bringing more surprises and value to consumers.
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7e-CcI2Xb4
SOURCE CHiQ
TOKYO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmos Hotel Management Co., Ltd. is pleased to announce the re-opening of MIMARU Kyoto Kawaramachi Gojo on October 1, 2023, just in time for Kyoto's beautiful autumn. The long-awaited apartment hotel has 10 room types, including rooms for large groups and a Pokemon Room, and a gym. It is perfect for families, groups, and extended stays.
Photo1: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M107482/202309129479/_prw_PI19fl_xof67mF2.png
MIMARU Kyoto Kawaramachi Gojo ( https://mimaruhotels.com/hotel/kawaramachi-gojo/ ) has a broad range of unique rooms, starting with 40 m2 rooms (up to 4 guests), larger 60 m2 rooms (4 to 6 guests), connecting rooms for 8 guests, and the Pokemon Room that has become a fan favorite around the world. All rooms have a kitchen and dining facility. The hotel also has a fitness gym and a laundry room, offering a luggage storage service for pre- and post-stays or on days between stays. The location is excellent for touring the nearby Osaka, Nara, Shiga, and Hiroshima areas; it is also very comfortable for mid- to long-term stays such as for workcations. Reservations began in August 2023, and rooms are still available for the autumn foliage season, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holidays (as of Aug. 31, 2023).
*In addition to capacity guests, up to 2 children 6 years old and younger can stay and share beds with adults for free in all rooms.
Photo2: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M107482/202309129479/_prw_PI18fl_o9hTd4j6.png
While many visitors to Japan travel with their families or in groups, hotels that offer the luxury of relaxation to such large groups are limited in most urban areas. Apartment Hotel MIMARU hotels are located in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, offering excellent access.
Hotel locations: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M107482/202309129479/_prw_PI14fl_wz8t7tX5.jpg
MIMARU staff members are fans of Japan from around the world. Many are multilingual and able to communicate smoothly in Japanese and English; some MIMARU hotels have staff fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and Korean as well. These staff members are MIMARU guests' reliable partners to make extraordinary trips together.
For each picture, please visit: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/release/202309129479?p=images
(C) Pokemon. (C) Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.
TM, (R), and character names are trademarks of Nintendo.
About Cosmos Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
-Head office: Minato Ward, Tokyo
-President: Hideki Fujioka
-Inquiry: https://mimaruhotels.com/contact-us/
MIMARU Website: https://mimaruhotels.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mimaruhotels/
SOURCE Cosmos Hotel Management Co., Ltd.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Merrimack Valley nurses are prepared to strike September 27 to be able to keep providing high-quality cancer care to local patients
METHUEN, Mass., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) refused to make meaningful progress on key Merrimack Valley nurse issues during negotiations on September 19, and threatened to lock out nurses for two days following their planned one-day strike on September 27.
DFCI told nurses Tuesday it will spend precious patient care resources on travelers during its lockout rather than agree to a fair contract that provides secured benefits and competitive pay, enabling nurses to provide the high-quality cancer care Merrimack Valley patients deserve. DFCI made minimal movement on Tuesday, including no improvement on wage increases, daily overtime, or time off benefits.
"It is outrageous that Dana-Farber executives would rather spend untold money on travelers and lock us out rather than simply meet the needs of nurses and support the cancer care we provide in Merrimack Valley," said Kate Mitchell, FNP-BC, AOCNP at DFCI MV. "What does it say about Dana-Farber executives that they cannot compromise with nurses on wages and benefits, but they can bring in outside nurses to extend a one-day strike into three days? Dana-Farber's decision confounds us and will undermine cancer care access in our community."
The DFCI MV nurses, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, are prepared to strike for 24 hours and picket in front of DFCI MV during regular clinic hours after repeatedly trying to get Dana-Farber executives to reach reasonable compromises on key issues, including a competitive wage step scale and a commitment to maintaining benefits throughout the life of their contract. Nurses were required by labor law to give DFCI at least 10 days' notice before the strike.
Dana-Farber executives have forced DFCI MV nurses into a position to strike even as Dana-Farber has announced plans to shift its affiliation from Brigham and Women's Hospital to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and construct a freestanding inpatient cancer hospital. This plan will cost many millions of dollars, while DFCI refuses to make reasonable investments in its existing nurse and nurse practitioner workforce in Merrimack Valley.
DFCI MV nurses voted 97% to authorize a strike on August 2. Despite multiple negotiation sessions with a federal mediator since the vote, DFCI has refused to agree to meet the needs of nurses and instead wants the right to take away benefits unilaterally and unfairly and refuse to offer daily overtime. There is another negotiation session scheduled for September 19, and it is expected that the federal mediator will call the nurses back for an additional negotiation session or sessions prior to the strike date.
"We are prepared to strike if necessary to protect cancer care quality and access for Merrimack Valley patients," said Kerrin Albert, Infusion RN at DFCI MV. "We would prefer that Dana-Farber executives simply meet the needs of our nurses so we can maintain a stable workforce, but instead they have put us in this position to fully exercise our rights as union members."
"On September 27, we would prefer to be with our patients, guiding them through treatment and knowing Dana-Farber truly values the care we provide," said Errin D'Arcangelo, Oncology Nurse Navigator at DFCI MV. "If Dana-Farber Merrimack Valley nurses are on the strike line September 27, it will be because Dana-Farber executives have refused to commit to competitive pay and secure benefits as part of a fair contract."
DFCI MV nurses held an informational picket on June 2 attended by nurses, community members, union supporters, and elected officials. Among those in attendance supporting the nurses were State Senator Pavel Payano, D-Lawrence, and State Representative Ryan Hamilton, D-Methuen.
"As you know, these healthcare professionals are on the front lines of caring for patients and liaising with families," Rep. Hamilton wrote in an August 2 letter to Dr. Laurie Glimcher, president, and CEO of Dana-Farber. "They play a vital role here in Merrimack Valley by supporting patients through the hardship of a cancer diagnosis and bolstering our fight against this disease. But a lack of basic employment protections, the denial of equal retirement and benefits options, and a substantial gap in pay between nurses based in Boston and nurses based in Merrimack Valley are threatening the good work of these community members."
DFCI Merrimack Valley opened in 2020 with 24 exam rooms and 32 infusion bays. The location offers expanded cancer and blood disorder care and outpatient services for adult patients in the region. DFCI MV nurses voted in June and July 2022 to form a union and join the MNA in an election overseen by the National Labor Relations Board. The MNA also represents approximately 600 nurses at the DFCI main campus in Boston under a separate contract.
Bargaining Highlights
DFCI MV nurses are negotiating a first MNA contract with DFCI. A federal mediator joined negotiations this summer.
DFCI has refused to make a commitment to maintaining benefits through the contract and wants the right to take away benefits unilaterally and unfairly.
DFCI has refused to offer daily overtime a typical standard in MNA contracts because of the nature of the scheduling of nurses and healthcare professionals.
DFCI has refused to agree to competitive wages to help recruit and retain nurses. MV nurses have proposed wages that are less than what DFCI Boston nurses earn, and DFCI has still said no.
DFCI's approach in negotiations has been disrespectful to nurses and the community. Merrimack Valley patients deserve to be valued equally to patients in Boston or anywhere else. DFCI must settle a fair contract with MV nurses to demonstrate its commitment to local patients.
Dana-Farber Financial Highlights
MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Instagram.com/MassNurses
____________________________________________
Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 25,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association
SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Databento, the leading data-as-a-service (DaaS) platform for financial market data, is excited to announce the appointment of Keith Fox as its first sales leader. With a proven track record of driving sales growth and cultivating strong customer relationships, Keith brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Databento's world-class team.
In his new role as Director of Sales, Keith is responsible for leading Databento's enterprise sales efforts, executing sales strategies, and driving revenue growth. He will play a critical role in further establishing Databento as a trusted partner for businesses seeking modern market data solutions.
Keith joins Databento after 26 years with Bloomberg, which included leadership roles in real-time market data solutions and fixed income order management. His career is marked by a consistent ability to build high-performing sales teams and drive exceptional results. Keith's deep understanding of market microstructure and the evolving financial data industry will be invaluable as Databento continues to expand its presence.
Keith joins Databento's all-star roster with team members from some of the world's most respected tech and financial organizations, including Two Sigma, Tower Research Capital, Citadel, Virtu Financial, Flow Traders, Corvil, Pico, Amazon Web Services, Google, and Stripe.
Databento CEO Christina Qi shared her excitement about the new addition to the team, saying, "Keith's extensive experience in sales leadership and his deep knowledge of the market data industry make him uniquely qualified to lead our sales efforts. We believe his leadership will play a pivotal role in our mission to empower industry professionals with the data they need when they need it."
Commenting on his new position, Keith Fox said, "I'm thrilled to join the Databento team and be part of an organization that's at the forefront of modernizing market data access. I've spent years working with institutions as they navigate the unique challenges in this industry, and I'm excited to work toward addressing some of the most common pain points with market data."
Keith's appointment represents a significant milestone in the company's growth journey, following a breakthrough quarter in which the company saw API traffic increase by 19x and expanded coverage to over 20 trading venues. With Fox's leadership, Databento will strengthen its position as a leading provider of market data solutions and expand its customer base globally.
About Databento
Databento's data-as-a-service (DaaS) platform makes it simpler and faster to access financial market data. Founded by traders and engineers from world-class quantitative hedge funds, Databento's self-service model allows users to instantly pick up live exchange feeds and terabytes of historical data. Users have the flexibility to only pay for what they use, or opt for flat-rate pricing. Databento's servers are hosted in the colocation facilities of various trading venues for low-latency and high-fidelity data capture, directly from the source.
To learn more about Databento, visit www.databento.com .
Media contact:
Jennifer DeRome
[email protected]
617-553-4000
SOURCE Databento
MANAMA, Bahrain, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- E-Space, the company bridging Earth and space to enable hyper-scaled deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services, today announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Beyon Group to enable space-based IoT services in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
E-Space and Beyon sign MOU during the 31st Arab Spectrum Management Group Meeting, held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain from 9-14 September 2023. Pictured (L to R): Tamer Azab, Director of Regulatory and Market Access, MEA at E-Space; Amy Mehlman, Vice President of Global Affairs and Stakeholder Relations at E-Space; Mikkel Vinter, CEO of Beyon; and Yousif Sameikh, Head of Enterprise Products at Beyon.
IoT is a key area of focus and exploration for Beyon as it seeks to unlock new opportunities in line with Bahrain's digital economy initiative, Vision 2030. By signing a MOU with E-Space, the two organizations can collaborate on the development of satellite IoT solutions that leverage Beyon's established network capabilities and E-Space's advanced low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation and novel device capabilities. The joint development efforts aim to create unique IoT solutions that will support uninterrupted, 'use anywhere,' real-time IoT data services.
Mikkel Vinter, Beyon Chief Executive Officer commented, "We envision a future where the combination of terrestrial and space communications offers continuous coverage and advanced IoT services to deliver highly-diversified digital growth across a variety of sectors. We anticipate our collaboration with E-Space will enable the discovery of new business models and accelerate the proliferation of innovative applications that will augment both consumer and enterprise customer opportunities and experiences, while positively contributing to Bahrain's digital economy."
Greg Wyler, Chief Executive Officer, E-Space added: "E-Space is creating an entirely new suite of global capabilities to improve lives, business efficiencies and build a smarter, more connected planet. By teaming with Beyon on novel terrestrial-to-satellite IoT development projects, we will explore ways to use ubiquitous IoT services to transform customer experiences beyond the possibilities of existing traditional IoT use-cases."
The MoU was signed by Beyon CEO Mikkel Vinter and E-Space Vice President of Global Affairs and Stakeholder Relations Amy Mehlman during the 31st Arab Spectrum Management Group Meeting, organized by the Bahrain Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and held in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain from 9-14 September 2023.
About Beyon
Beyon, is the parent company of Batelco, 4 Beyon Digital companies and international operations.
Beyon, is a technology group, born in Bahrain to reach out to the region and beyond. The group of companies brings technology closer to people and businesses with best-in-class connectivity and digital solutions.
The Beyon group of companies includes subsidiaries and affiliates in several locations including Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, the Maldives, The Channel Islands, Diego Garcia, St. Helen, Ascension Island, and the Falkland Islands.
About E-Space
E-Space is bridging Earth and space to enable hyper-scaled deployments of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and services. The Company is fundamentally changing the design, economics, manufacturing, coverage limitations and service delivery of space-powered IoT connectivity. Its advanced, sustainable low Earth orbit (LEO) space system will create a new class of ubiquitous, real-time communications capabilities that enable end-users to connect, track, sense and act on edge AI optimized data, gathered from billions of novel E-Space devices deployed planet-wide. Learn more about E-Space at: e-space.com and follow the Company on LinkedIn and Instagram.
Copyright 2023 E-Space. All rights reserved. E-Space and the E-Space logo are trademarks of ESpace, Inc. All other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.
E-Space Media Contact:
Chris Phillips, vice president, PR & Communications: [email protected]; +1 (917) 974-1667
SOURCE E-Space
LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online Travel Agent eDreams' latest poll of 10,000 respondents* - 2,000 from the US - reveals the motivations behind a growing appetite for Detox vacations:
42% of US respondents report that they might plan a detox vacation to escape from work (colleagues, boss, company culture)
(colleagues, boss, company culture) 40% of US respondents also report that their priority is to find distance from digital 'noise' - including mobile phones, social media and the internet
- including mobile phones, social media and the internet 35% report seeking inspiration for lifestyle changes including healthier eating habits & relaxation techniques. Roughly a third (28%) of US travelers say that they would book a detox break to 'reduce stress, improve mood & energy levels' and 18% record a desire 'to find a sense of balance'
including healthier eating habits & relaxation techniques. Roughly a third (28%) of US travelers say that they would book a detox break to and 18% record a desire 'to find a sense of balance' The largest US group (37%) report that a big city location is the ideal setting for such breaks, with 26% prioritizing 'nature' and 22% choosing sun and beach breaks.
How does all this compare to our global cousins? You might be surprised!
Just 23% of French respondents report needing to detox from work - the lowest percentage globally, and compared to 50% of Spanish
respondents report needing to detox from work - the lowest percentage globally, and compared to 50% of Spanish 30% of Germans and 29% of French, Swedish and American respondents report wanting to detox from fast food and too much sugar
respondents report wanting to detox from fast food and too much sugar Americans are the most likely (36%) to detox travel to avoid dependence on cigarettes and alcohol (compared to just 7% of Portuguese, 9 % of British and 8% of Italians)
to detox travel to avoid dependence on cigarettes and alcohol (compared to just 7% of Portuguese, 9 % of British and 8% of Italians) 53% of Germans would plan to head to the beach (with their towels!) compared to just 22% of Americans
(with their towels!) compared to just 22% of Americans Interestingly, heading to a big city for detox holidays is American travelers' preference - they lead the pack 37% compared to all the other nations, where under 10% report this preference
*Poll:
Conducted by One Poll for eDreams ODIGEO of 10,000 respondents in international markets including US, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal and Sweden. 2,000 respondents were from the US. The Poll was conducted between 14th - 15th March 2023.
About eDreams
eDreams is part of the eDreams ODIGEO Group, one of the world's largest online travel companies serving 20 million customers globally. The business conceptualized Prime, the first subscription product in the travel sector which has attracted more than 5 million members since launching in 2017.
SOURCE eDreams
BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As policymakers grapple with how to address higher education access and affordability in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action and federal student debt forgiveness, advocates urge the Massachusetts House and Senate to pass legislation that helps increase the affordability of public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.
On Monday, advocates from OneGoal , uAspire , and The Education Trust in Massachusetts testified at a Joint Committee on Higher Education hearing in support of HB1265/SB823 - An Act relative to debt-free public higher education . If passed, this bill would establish higher education as a right for all students in Massachusetts, including undocumented students and create a grant program to pay tuition and fees to eligible students at Massachusetts public colleges and universities or certificate, vocation, or training programs at a public college or university.
"A college degree can be a ticket to achieving social and economic mobility, not just for individual students, but entire families for generations, yet the cost of public higher education in our state has increased by 59% since 2000 and household incomes are not keeping pace. As a result, one of the biggest concerns for students from low-income backgrounds, students of color, and first-generation college-goers is the rising cost of college and how to pay for it," said Genesis Carela, senior policy associate for The Education Trust in Massachusetts
The combination of Question 1 funding, the comprehensive research and follow-up work done as part of the Board of Higher Education's Strategic Financial Review and a unique alignment across the House, the Senate, and the executive branch regarding the importance of addressing higher education access and affordability issues give us as good an opportunity as we have ever had to change the narrative about what is possible for every student and family across the Commonwealth. "The time is now to level the playing field. We must all unite to support policies that provide adequate and equitable funding to public colleges so all students can compete in today's knowledge-based economy and realize their full potential," said Amanda Seider, executive director of OneGoal Massachusetts .
This hearing comes as The Education Trust in Massachusetts recently released in collaboration with their partners in the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership (MEEP ) a collection of resources for families, students, and advocates to support equitable access to an affordable, high-quality postsecondary education at Massachusetts public colleges and universities. The resources include a data hub to explore affordability indicators at public two and four-year institutions in the Commonwealth and a toolkit that offers actionable steps that advocates can take to encourage conversations about debt-free higher education and drive meaningful policy changes. The toolkit is available in English and Spanish.
"Students, families, and community members deserve access to clear and transparent information about the cost of attaining a postsecondary degree or credential," said Femi Stoltz, Massachusetts policy director of uAspire . "We're proud to partner with the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership to offer a comprehensive resource that will put this critical information into their hands as they consider their postsecondary options. We're excited that the data and guidance in this tool will help students and families make informed decisions, advocate for resources, and push for solutions that will increase affordability for all."
For more information about "All In For A Debt-Free Future," to learn how to put the toolkit into action, and to sign up to receive updates from The Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership, visit https://masseduequity.org/allin4adebtfreefuture/ .
SOURCE OneGoal
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The emission control technology market size is expected to grow by USD 39.09 billion from 2022 to 2027, progressing at a CAGR of 7.14% as per the latest Technavio market research report. The report has been segmented by end-user (Automotive, Marine, Aerospace, Off-highway, and Rolling stock), type (Gasoline and Diesel), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa). Growing greenhouse gas emissions from industries are notably driving the growth of the global emission control technology market. The predominant source of air pollution stems from the emission of greenhouse gases, primarily due to the widespread use of fossil fuels across various industries. Factories are major contributors to the release of carbon dioxide CO2, a particularly detrimental greenhouse gas. Additionally, manufacturing plants release ozone, leading to the formation of smog and ground-level ozone issues, which have severe implications for public health. Notably, industrial production is on the rise globally, especially in energy-intensive sectors. Furthermore, coal remains the dominant energy source for industrial power generation. Consequently, greenhouse gas emissions have surged in tandem with industrial growth. To combat this trend, many industries are adopting emission control technologies to curb their greenhouse gas emissions, which, in turn, is expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Discover insights on market size before buying the full report- Download the FREE sample report
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Emission Control Technology Market 2023-2027
Emission Control Technology Market: Segment Overview
This market research report segments the emission control technology market by end-user (Automotive, Marine, Aerospace, Off-highway, and Rolling stock), type (Gasoline and Diesel), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa).
The automotive segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period. Governments worldwide have implemented stringent emission limits in response to environmental concerns. Automotive manufacturers are compelled to adhere to these regulations and reduce their vehicles' emissions output. This has led to an increased need for emissions control technology to ensure compliance and evade potential penalties. Emission control technology enables vehicles to operate with reduced emissions, aligning with the objectives of sustainable transportation and environmentally conscious mobility. Furthermore, the rising awareness among consumers and their preference for environmentally friendly vehicles have bolstered the demand for emissions control technology. As consumers become more concerned about the environmental impact of vehicles, they are opting for vehicles equipped with advanced emission control systems. Consequently, the growing global emphasis on regulatory compliance and the demand for sustainable transportation will propel the market's growth during the forecast period.
Geography Overview:
North America is estimated to contribute 33% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. For now, get a snapshot of the comprehensive report Download the FREE Sample
Recent trends influencing the market growth
The proliferation of Euro emission standards is an emerging trend shaping the growth of the global emission control technology market.
Major challenges hindering the market growth
The rising demand for electric vehicles is a significant challenge impeding the growth of the global emission control technology market.
Driver, Trend & Challenges are the factor of market dynamics which states about consequences & sustainability of the businesses, find more insights from a FREE sample report!
What are the key data covered in the Emission Control Technology Market reports:
Historic Market size
Company landscape and analysis including Airex Industries Inc., American Air Filter Co. Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises Inc., BASF SE, Camfil AB, Donaldson Co. Inc., Doosan Lentjes GmbH, DuPont de Nemours Inc., FLSmidth and Co. AS, Fujian Longking Co. Ltd., GEA Group AG, General Electric Co., Hamon S.A., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Parker Hannifin Corp., PAS Solutions BV, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., Thermax Ltd., and John Wood Group PLC
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The advanced carbon dioxide sensors market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6.64% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 283.27 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by product (NDIR and chemical), fitting (wall-mount and retrofit), and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The proliferation of advanced submersible carbon dioxide sensors in emerging markets is driving growth in the advanced carbon dioxide sensors market.
The Activated Carbon Filters Market is projected to grow by USD 70.62 million with a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period 2021 to 2026. This report extensively covers the activated carbon filters market segmentation by type (stainless steel shell and carbon steel shell) and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). The increased demand for products in industries for water purification is one of the key factors driving the global activated carbon filter market growth.
Emission Control Technology Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 7.14% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 39.09 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 6.88 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 33% Key countries US, China, Japan, Germany, and UK Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled Airex Industries Inc., American Air Filter Co. Inc., Andritz AG, Babcock and Wilcox Enterprises Inc., BASF SE, Camfil AB, Donaldson Co. Inc., Doosan Lentjes GmbH, DuPont de Nemours Inc., FLSmidth and Co. AS, Fujian Longking Co. Ltd., GEA Group AG, General Electric Co., Hamon S.A., Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., Parker Hannifin Corp., PAS Solutions BV, Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., Thermax Ltd., and John Wood Group PLC 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 End-user
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 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
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UK: +44 203 893 3200
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.technavio.com
SOURCE Technavio
Enel North America 1 will sell 21 MW of solar power from the Estonian solar project, now under construction in Delta County, Texas , to BXP.
will sell 21 MW of solar power from the Estonian solar project, now under construction in , to BXP. The new 202 MW2 solar project, paired with a 104 MW battery system, is expected to come online in late 2024.
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Enel North America1 has signed a power purchase agreement with BXP (NYSE: BXP), the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, for a 21-megawatt (MW) portion of the Estonian solar project under construction in Delta County, Texas.
"Enel offers companies a variety of tools to manage energy efficiently and lower their carbon footprintfrom clean power contracts to load-side solutions like demand response," said Paolo Romanacci, head of Enel North America's renewable energy business, Enel Green Power North America. "Enel is thrilled to grow our relationship with BXP, further enabling their sustainability progress while also supporting new, clean power in ERCOTa grid that is increasingly reliant on solar power and battery storage."
"Efforts to advance meaningful decarbonization at BXP have been centered on energy efficiency, electrification, and renewable energy procurement," said Doug Linde, President, BXP. "By contracting for renewable power that is additional, we are making a positive impact by supporting the growth of renewable energy generation and broader transition to a clean energy future. We are pleased to grow our relationship with Enel as a partner in our sustainability journey."
The agreement builds on a longstanding relationship between Enel and BXP for advanced energy solutions including demand response and utility bill management. Enel manages 10,000 annual utility bills for BXP across 939 active accounts and has helped enable over $6 million in demand response revenue since 2011.
Construction is underway on the Estonian solar + storage project, which is expected to come online in late 2024. The 202 MW2 solar facility will be paired with a 104 MW battery energy storage system. The solar project is expected to generate around 499 GWh of clean electricity each year, equivalent to the needs of over 46,000 US households. Over its lifetime, the hybrid project is expected to generate over $23 million in new local tax revenue for schools and public services.
Enel is one of the largest renewable energy operators in Texas, with 3.3 GW of installed wind and solar capacity and 607 MW / 911 MWh of installed battery storage capacity supporting the ERCOT grid. In total, Enel has 1.8 GW of solar and 736 MW / 1,103 MWh of utility-scale storage capacity under construction in Texas. Enel also manages around 200 MW of demand response capacity, offers retail electricity supply, and has more than 12,400 electric vehicle charging stations installed in the state.
BXP retained Edison Energy as its renewable energy advisor for this deal.
About Enel North America
Enel North America, part of the Enel Group, is a clean energy leader in North America and is working to electrify the economy and build a net-zero carbon future by decarbonizing energy supply, electrifying transportation, creating resilient grids, and promoting a just, equitable transition. Enel North America serves over 4,500 businesses, utilities, and cities through renewable power generation, demand response, distributed energy resources, smart e-mobility solutions and services, energy trading, advisory and consulting services, and more. Its installed portfolio includes over 9.7 GW of utility-scale renewable capacity, 690 MW / 1,036 MWh of utility-scale energy storage and 97 MW / 216 MWh of distributed energy storage capacity, 4.7 GW of demand response capacity, and 193,000 electric vehicle charging ports. Visit enelnorthamerica.com and follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and YouTube to learn more.
About BXP
BXP (NYSE: BXP) is the largest publicly traded developer, owner, and manager of premier workplaces in the United States, concentrated in six dynamic gateway markets - Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC. BXP has delivered places that power progress for our clients and communities for more than 50 years. BXP is a fully integrated real estate company, organized as a real estate investment trust (REIT). As of June 30, 2023, including properties owned by unconsolidated joint ventures, BXP's portfolio totaled 54.1 million square feet and 191 properties, including 13 properties under construction/ redevelopment. For more information, please visit our website at www.bxp.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Instagram.
1 AC power (262 MWdc)
2 Through its renewable energy business, Enel Green Power North America.
Media Contact:
Matt Epting
Head of Media
Enel North America
[email protected]
SOURCE Enel North America
Based on Candace Bushnell's bestselling novel, Sex and the City tells the story of four best friends. The plot centers on bachelorettes in their 30s. In a whirlwind of careers, adventures and sexual affairs, the main characters are trying to find their place in the New York party scene.
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"Sex and the City is a legendary show that has already become a classic. However, even the best shows sometimes leave a strange aftertaste. For every good episode that has stood the test of time and still influences contemporary culture, there is another that depicts a distorted reality or ambiguously touches on sensitive topics. Although Sex and the City is still finding new viewers, even loyal fans will not deny that some episodes can be called the worst. So if you're one of them or you're just starting to get acquainted with the series, here are the 10 worst episodes, according to VOGUE magazine, that you can definitely skip.
Season 1, episode 2
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It may sound absurd, but it's true - the second episode of the first season is considered a total failure. The episode can be described with the thesis: "men love models". This concept is not exactly revolutionary or even interesting, and it also emphasizes the stereotype that models are two-dimensional creatures.
Season 2, Episode 3
It tells the story of men who are considered "freaks" by women, which is enough to call the series a failure. The protagonist Carrie searches the apartment of a wonderful guy in search of "proof" of his weirdness. Charlotte meets "Mr. Pusey," a New York legend who is extremely talented with his tongue. Watching this episode carefully, you may feel the level of absurdity rising. However, the image of a guy playing with a fig, unfortunately, is forever embedded in the memory.
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Season 2, Episode 13
The plot of this episode revolves around the fact that her friends convince Carrie to sign up for therapy because they are tired of listening to her stories about Mr. Big. Carrie takes their advice and meets the guy in the therapist's office. Although their romance ends in failure, the heroine is extremely dismissive of the importance of therapy, believing that the problems will resolve themselves. Ironically, the one who needs therapy is Carrie.
Season 3, Episode 4
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This episode is one of the most homophobic and problematic. When Carrie starts dating a bisexual man, she declares her belief that bisexuality does not exist, it is just a stage before becoming gay. Miranda and Charlotte agree with her and believe that the younger generation confuses the concepts of gender and orientation. Fortunately, the progressive Samantha suggests that sexual minorities should be treated with tolerance and understanding, but the negative impression of the episode cannot be changed.
Season 3, Episode 5
While this episode contains good moments for the other girls, it is Samantha's storyline that makes it one of the worst. When Samantha starts dating an African-American man, his sister makes it clear to Samantha that she doesn't like their union because of the racial mismatch. Although Samantha insisted that race didn't matter, unfortunately, the whole story just ended up in a very problematic fight between the two women.
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Season 3, Episode 18
There are some good moments in this episode, but they don't overcome the transphobia, and the stereotypes of trans people are so horrible that it's physically painful to watch.
Season 5, Episode 7
Carrie and Samantha take a train to San Francisco to attend a presentation on the occasion of the release of the first book (and to see Big). In short, the entire episode has a strange and contrived plot that is not very interesting to watch.
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Season 5, Episode 8
While watching this episode, you keep wanting to look somewhere else, because the storylines are really amazing and sometimes even wild. Charlotte is embarrassed by the hair on Harry's back, which forces him to have a painful waxing. The whole company tries to believe that their friend is not gay and is probably getting married for the wrong reasons, and Carrie starts talking to the terrible Jack Berger.
Season 6, Episode 4
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Samantha and Smith decide to try role-playing, which is extremely disturbing. She then reacts negatively to Smith going to AA. Charlotte and Harry fight about Shabbat, and Carrie and Jack's fight is for absurd reasons.
Season 6, Episode 17
Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote about another scandal caused by the sequel to Sex and the City, titled "And just like that...".
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of State, the Bezos Earth Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the World Bank today announced a strategic collaboration between the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA) and the World Bank to mobilize finance to support just, accelerated energy transitions in developing countries.
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry Energy speaking at an announcement of a strategic collaboration between the Energy Transition Accelerator and World Bank.
ETA a partnership of the State Department and the two philanthropies aims to catalyze private capital supporting the transition from fossil fuels to clean power through innovative jurisdictional-scale carbon crediting. The World Bank and its new SCALE (Scaling Climate Action by Lowering Emissions) initiative support developing countries in developing power sector policies and carbon market infrastructure needed to generate real emissions reductions in a participatory and inclusive way.
The strategic collaboration between ETA and SCALE, announced at a Climate Week event hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation, aims to leverage the strengths of each initiative to mobilize finance for effective energy transitions. It will enable developing countries to be directly rewarded for verified emissions reductions from a pool of payments committed by public and private sector contributors.
In complementing one another, the ETA will provide an innovative crediting methodology and a coalition of private sector participants, while SCALE will provide an avenue for sovereign government buyers, as well as support for in-country capacity to deliver a supply of high-quality verified emissions reductions. The United States, the first contributor to SCALE, will work with the World Bank to enlist other contributors.
"Getting to net zero is possible only if we quickly ramp up investment to help fast-growing economies meet their power needs with clean energy," said U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry. "The Energy Transition Accelerator and the World Bank's SCALE initiative each bring vital tools to this effort. Working together, we can more effectively leverage both public and private finance to accelerate a just transition from dirty to clean power, drive emissions down faster, and help keep a 1.5 C limit on warming within reach."
"Helping countries accelerate their just energy transitions can reduce emissions, strengthen economies and create jobs," said World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg. "This will require stronger partnerships between the public and private sectors, such as the new collaboration between the World Bank and ETA, which will catalyze carbon finance for developing countries."
"We must accelerate the global clean energy transition, full stop. This needs new and innovative financing mechanisms, bringing public and private funding together to phase out dirty fossil fuels and fast-track clean, renewable energy," said Bezos Earth Fund President and CEO Dr. Andrew Steer. "The Energy Transition Accelerator can bring new, environmentally-sound funding to the table and leverage even more private investment toward the massive financial packages necessary to achieve this climate imperative. It's very good news that the World Bank is joining this important coalition."
"Because the latest data makes clear that the world is not doing enough to address climate change or meet the Sustainable Development Goals, we need to take climate actions that are in both the planet's interest and peoples' interests," said Dr. Rajiv J. Shah, President of The Rockefeller Foundation. "The ETA is the sort of innovative partnership we need to unlock the capital required for investments and initiatives that lower emissions and lift up people around the world."
According to the International Energy Agency, clean energy investment must triple to $4.2 trillion a year by 2030 to keep a 1.5C limit on warming within reach, with more than half of that investment needed in emerging and developing economies.
The ETA will mobilize new finance by assembling a coalition of private sector companies and institutions to commit now to pay for verified reductions in power sector emissions that result from ambitious just energy transition programs in developing countries and are delivered as high-integrity carbon credits.
The jurisdictional crediting methodology being developed for the ETA by the nonprofit Winrock International will incentivize countries to intensify their near-term activities contributing to power sector decarbonization, including to deploy and utilize clean power and retire fossil fuel assets, to enhance storage capacity, transmission, and distribution, and for any needed policy shifts. The methodology will be accompanied by a mechanism for the resulting credits to generate new finance for climate adaptation and resilience in vulnerable countries.
Other organizations supporting the ETA partners in the design effort include the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), and the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). The partners are also consulting widely with experts, governments, the private sector, and civil society, including through a High-Level Consultative Group of more than 30 stakeholders representing all geographic regions.
The World Bank has more than 20 years of experience in results-based climate and carbon finance, having managed more than $4.5 billion in carbon funds and supporting developing countries to generate and monetize emission reduction credits. Through the SCALE trust fund, the World Bank aims to scale its work in this area to support impactful climate programs across multiple sectors, from stopping deforestation to realizing just energy transitions.
SOURCE Bezos Earth Fund
Amidst increasing scientific and medical research on blue light exposure, Eyesafe and TUV Rheinland are releasing updated accessory requirements, targeting the light filtered between 435-440 nanometers (nm), which poses the greatest risk to retinal health. 1
ZAGG is the first company to achieve Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0 and TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification with Glass XTR3 Screen Protection.
MINNEAPOLIS and SHANGHAI, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eyesafe, a world leader in blue light mitigation technology, and TUV Rheinland Group, a global leader in third-party testing and certification, today announced Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0 and TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification. These programs provide a universal measure to assess blue light hazard on optical films and replace former requirements measuring filtration across the full blue light spectrum (380 to 500 nm).
The certification requirements for screen accessories include blue light filtration at 435-440 nm, color and luminance. Post this Eyesafe and TUV Rheinland are releasing updated certification requirements for blue light screen accessories.
Based on input from eye care professionals and key standards from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the new requirements focus on blue light filtration within the narrow band of light between 435-440 nm. This wavelength carries the most risk because light is more likely to penetrate the eye's protective structures, such as the cornea and lens, and reach the retina.1 Brands can apply for TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification if their product filters at least 20% of blue light at 435-440 nm, with minimal impact to color and luminance. TUV Rheinland has issued a flyer outlining blue light reduction requirements on screen accessories.
"We've seen a big increase of people asking about blue light risks and searching for products that provide protection. We needed to revisit the Eyesafe Accessory Requirements," said Dr. William Trattler, a globally recognized ophthalmologist and member of the Eyesafe Vision Health Advisory Board. "There is increasing evidence that exposure to blue light coming from the 435-440 nm range has potential risks to our eyes, and thus it was only natural that, together TUV Rheinland, we moved to update the requirements to focus on the most toxic range of blue light emissions."
Along with the updated TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification requirements, Eyesafe is releasing updated specifications for RPF Radiance Protection Factor for Accessories. RPF is designed similar to SPF, in that higher numbers indicate better protection. Products are tested and assigned an RPF value, such as RPF60, that indicates a screen protector filters 60% of blue light (435-440 nm). The requirements for RPF align with the requirements of TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification and empower consumers to make informed choices based on their screen time habits.
"The update of Eyesafe Accessory requirements, based on the latest health research, will make it easier for consumers to make informed purchasing decisions for themselves and their loved ones," remarked Justin Barrett, the CEO and co-founder of Eyesafe. "RPF is now the universal term for blue light mitigation across the entire consumer electronics industry. I congratulate ZAGG for being the world's first brand to achieve the remarkable milestone of RPF60 in the screen protection accessories market. They continue to lead the industry."
ZAGG is the world's first brand to achieve Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0 and TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification. Glass XTR3 features new-to-world Eyesafe RPF60 technology to filter an impressive 60% of blue light (at 435-440nm), while preserving color quality and screen brightness.
"The release of TUV Rheinland's xx% Blue Light Reduction certification and Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0 comes at a critical juncture for the retail industry," remarked Frank Holzmann, Global Vice President of TUV Rheinland Business Field Electrical. "Consumers and retailers are now confronting a staggering array of different low blue light products and options, making it essential that the industry is aligned regardless of form factor around the same set of requirements and parameters."
"It's important for an independent certification body like TUV Rheinland to lead the evolution of standards to better address health and safety concerns, which is why TUV Rheinland is enthusiastic to introduce the Blue Light Reduction certification and excited about Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0," added Holzmann. "Equally important is the notion that standards cannot exist in a vacuum they must be achievable by the industry, something that ZAGG is already proving with its line of screen protectors, which are the world's first to achieve TUV Rheinland's 60% Blue Light Reduction certification."
Download the Eyesafe Accessory Requirements 2.0 and visit eyesafe.com/rpf for more information.
About Eyesafe
Eyesafe Inc. is the world leader in blue light management, including display technology, standards, certification, and accessory solutions. With an expansive portfolio of intellectual property, the company employs a world-class team of eye doctors, engineers, and scientists with decades of experience in electronics, display materials, light management, optometry, and ophthalmology. The Eyesafe brand is trusted by consumers and integrated in millions of digital devices from Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, ZAGG and more. Eyesafe is recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest growing private companies in America and by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal as the #1 Fastest Growing Company in Minnesota. Learn more at eyesafe.com.
About TUV Rheinland
TUV Rheinland stands for safety and quality in virtually all areas of business and life. The company has been operating for more than 150 years and ranks among the world's leading testing service providers. It has more than 20,000 employees in over 50 countries. TUV Rheinland's highly qualified experts test technical systems and products around the world, support innovations in technology and business, train people in numerous professions and certify management systems according to international standards. In doing so, the independent experts generate trust in products as well as processes across global value-adding chains and the flow of commodities. Since 2006, TUV Rheinland has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact to promote sustainability and combat corruption. Website: www.tuv.com
Media Contact for Eyesafe
Elishaa Batdorf, Marketing Director
1 6127041551
[email protected]
Media Contact for TUV Rheinland
Simon Hung, PR Manager
852 21921948
[email protected]
1 American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Z80.3 and International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines showing most toxic portions of the blue spectrum
SOURCE Eyesafe
FatBrain creates the first publicly traded AI Venture Operating Company
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc., OTCQB: LZGI) (the "Company," or "we"), the leader in powerful and easy-to-use AI solutions for the enterprise stars of tomorrow, to become the first publicly traded AI venture operating company.
FatBrain announces its new strategic direction after internal review with its key strategic advisors, executive board chair and CEO. AI is projected to grow to $15.7 Trillion dollars of additional GDP by 2030 reported by PWC analysis. According to Wedbush's Dan Ives interviews following research report, "AI is the biggest transformational tech trend we've seen in 30 years unleashing a trillion in IT spending.
FatBrain's unique AI Solutions capabilities married to the operating team's unique success in investing and finding the great growth companies of tomorrow enable the company to better take advantage of what it is seeing and delivering in the AI marketplace.
"AI is the fastest and most transformational trend we've since 1995," said Michael Moe, Executive Chair of FatBrain AI and founder and CEO of GSV, an early investor in Facebook, Twitter, Palantir, Spotify, Coursera, and Snap. "We are repositioning FatBrain in order to better capitalize on our unique distinctive competencies as investors and operators, helping to usher in a new period of growth and success for our stakeholders."
"FatBrain AI is well positioned to ride the trillion-dollar AI tidal wave," said Peter B. Ritz, co-founder and CEO of FatBrain AI. "With six acquisitions and triple-digit Q/Q growth over the last year, we can accelerate faster to keep momentum with the unprecedented market opportunity."
About FatBrain AI (LZG International, Inc., OTCQB:LZGI)
FatBrain AI is a venture operating company that invests, incubates, and delivers powerful AI solutions to empower the enterprise stars of tomorrow. FatBrain's AI 2.0 technologies and advanced data services transform continuous learning, narrative reasoning, large language models, and cloud and blockchain technologies into auditable, explainable and easy to integrate AI solutions. FatBrain's peer intelligence, hierarchical AI, and small private data model subscriptions allow all companies to deploy its advanced AI solutions quickly, easily, and securely behind their firewalls or via cloud. FatBrain's global delivery includes 600+ team across design, development centers in the US, UK, India, and Kazakh Republic.
For more information, please visit: https://www.fatbrain.ai
Forward Looking Statement
This release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 13, 2022. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," and "would" or similar words. All forecasts provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are based entirely on management's best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Contact
Brokers and Analysts:
Chesapeake Group
410-825-3930
[email protected]
SOURCE LZG International, Inc.
Mayor Brandon Johnson and other leaders help cut the ribbon on new facility in the Historic Marshall Field Building
PARSIPPANY, N.J., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ferrero North America, part of the global sweet-packaged food company the Ferrero Group, known for Keebler, Butterfinger, Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, and other well-loved brands, today celebrated the opening of its new Innovation Center and North America R&D Labs in Chicago. The new 45,000 square foot facility located in the historic Marshall Field and Company Building brings together Ferrero's R&D teams from throughout the U.S. and houses teams working on Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother's, Fannie May, and other brands in the Ferrero portfolio a total of over 150 employees.
Ferrero commemorates its new Innovation Center and North America R&D Labs at 24 E Washington, in Historic Marshall Field and Company Building. Left to right: Laurent Cremona, Head of Ferrero North America Innovation Center, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Alanna Cotton, President and Chief Business Officer Ferrero North America, Chicago Alderman Bill Conway, Joao Paulo Andorinha, Head of Ferrero North America R&D Lab.
"Our new Innovation Center and R&D Labs here in Chicago reflect Ferrero's rich heritage and will foster the creativity and culture that Ferrero known for around the world," said Alanna Cotton, President and Chief Business Officer of Ferrero North America. "Investments like this help us create high-quality, innovative products that will become a special part of Americans' lives and further drive category growth in confections, cookies, and beyond."
The investment further expands Ferrero's footprint in Illinois. The company manufactures Butterfinger and Baby Ruth products at its plant in Franklin Park, and Keebler products on 110th Street in Chicago. The Ferrero manufacturing campus in Bloomington manufactures CRUNCH, 100 Grand, and other products, and will soon include a new chocolate processing facility and a new Kinder Bueno production facility.
"Chicago's innovation is not only propelling the growth of iconic global brands like Keebler, Famous Amos and Fannie May, but it's also cementing our city's reputation as a prime destination for the world's best talent and businesses," said Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
"Congratulations to the Ferrero team on this remarkable achievement, and as a big fan of sweets, I look forward to enjoying the next generation of delicious treats that will be made in our great city."
"Keebler, Famous Amos, Fannie May, and so many other beloved Ferrero brands are as iconic as the space they will now call home in the Marshall Field and Company building in the heart of downtown Chicago," said Alderman Bill Conway. "I'm thrilled to welcome Ferrero's new innovation center and more than 100 Ferrero team members to the thriving 34th Ward, and appreciate their global investment in Chicago's economic growth, talent, and future."
The ribbon cutting represents just the latest example of Ferrero's growth and investment in North America over the past few years. In addition to new projects in Illinois, the company invested in new capacity and capabilities for its Brantford, Ontario plant earlier this year and previously added distribution centers in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arizona. Ferrero's North American presence now totals more than 5,000 employees across eight offices and twelve plants and warehouses in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.
The Marshall Field and Company Building is operated by Brookfield Properties. The iconic property is a Chicago Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1978.
About Ferrero
Ferrero began its journey in the small town of Alba in Piedmont, Italy, in 1946. Today, it is one of the world's largest sweet-packaged food companies, with over 35 iconic brands sold in more than 170 countries. The Ferrero Group brings joy to people around the world with much-loved treats and snacks including Nutella, Kinder, Tic Tac, and Ferrero Rocher. More than 38,000 employees are passionate about helping people celebrate life's special moments. The Ferrero Group's family culture, now in its third generation, is based on dedication to quality and excellence, heritage and a commitment to the planet and communities in which we operate.
Ferrero entered the North American market in 1969 and has grown to more than 5,100 employees in 15 plants and warehouses, and eight offices in North America across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. It has expanded its presence and portfolio with the addition of iconic brands such as Butterfinger, CRUNCH, Keebler, Famous Amos, Mother's Cookies, and other distinctive cookie and chocolate brands. Follow @FerreroNACorp on Twitter and Instagram. www.ferreronorthamerica.com.
Contacts:
Hugh McMullen
Cheryll Forsatz
[email protected]
[email protected]
740-707-7493
732-672-5917
SOURCE Ferrero North America
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Fintel Connect, the leading partner marketing platform and network built for financial services, announced its strategic partnership with TAB Bank, a digital-forward bank focused on delivering top-quality financial services to individuals, families, and businesses across the nation, with a particular emphasis on underserved communities.
Fintel Connect Announces Strategic Partnership with TAB Bank
TAB Bank chose Fintel Connect as a strategic partner to power its affiliate marketing growth efforts. Fintel Connect will provide TAB Bank with advanced performance technology, strategic guidance, and access to a vast network of affiliates, driving growth and expanding brand reach.
"We are excited to partner with TAB Bank in setting up and launching their affiliate program," said Nicky Senyard, CEO at Fintel Connect. "Employing our technology, tools, and strategic know-how in this space, TAB Bank can enhance their customer acquisition and expand their digital growth."
TAB Bank offers a range of lending solutions, spanning from Asset-Based Revolving Loans to Accounts Receivable Financing and beyond, which cater to businesses at every growth phase. By leveraging Fintel Connect's platform and expertise, TAB will be able to effectively reach and serve a broader audience in need of their products and services.
"Partnering with Fintel Connect allows us to capitalize on their digital expertise and scale our affiliate partnerships more efficiently," says John Huntington, TAB Bank's VP of Marketing. "We are excited to work with the team at Fintel to achieve our growth targets while being able to better serve a diverse nationwide customer base."
TAB Bank's partnership program is open to banking-focused publishers and influencers looking to showcase solutions for audiences in need of market-leading lending and banking products.
Join TAB Bank's affiliate program.
Media Contact:
Shagun Mehta
PR and Content Specialist
778-917-7506
[email protected]
SOURCE Fintel Connect
Funding round led by Florida Funders, with participation from Home Depot Ventures, Community Investment Management (CIM), Companyon Ventures and MS&AD Ventures
MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Flex , formerly known as Flexbase, today announced the closing of a $120M Series A debt and equity funding round, which includes debt financing from CIM with an agreement to fund up to $100M, and $20M in equity capital led by Florida Funders with participation from Home Depot Ventures , MS&AD Ventures, Companyon Ventures and others. In addition to the funding news, the company has launched its Flex Credit Card, Flex Banking and finance super app for business owners to streamline the finance back office of businesses and accelerate their growth.
Flex Credit Card
"While enterprises and modern tech companies have seen significant innovation in the last five years, very little has come to our main street small businesses that have been the backbone of this country, driving our economy forward," said Zaid Rahman, founder and CEO of Flex. "Most B2B FinTech companies serve Silicon Valley tech startups or large enterprise companies, neglecting small businesses that are struggling to find the credit and tools they need to effectively manage their finances. Flex's new offerings focus on supporting small businesses by giving them the credit they deserve and providing the essential finance back office tools they need to achieve success."
"Until now, no one has been able to consolidate all the financial services and workflows required to effectively build, manage and protect business owners' finances in one platform," said Hadi Solh, co-founder of Flex. "Flex is introducing the future of FinTech by bundling services into one super app empowering founders, business owners and CFOs to grow their businesses. We look forward to rolling out even more transformational offerings in the coming months."
This announcement comes as SMBs continue to power the U.S. economy, creating two-thirds of all new jobs and accounting for 99.9% of all U.S. businesses. Flex's core product is a credit card that caters to traditional small businesses that have historically been underserved by financial institutions and up-and-coming FinTech platforms. The company offers 0% interest for 60 days on all purchases, providing Net-60 float and flexibility for businesses to grow. Flex is redefining credit and finance management by providing business owners with a credit card and financial ecosystem designed to reduce the hassle of expense reports, minimize administrative headaches, simplify employee card management and accelerate growth. The platform bundles every aspect of the back office, from banking to receipt capture, employee cards with specific limits, expense tracking and more, all in one place. With a significant demand from over 20,000 companies, Flex has moved beyond its initial construction focus to service industries such as logistics, trucking, farming, mom-and-pop service businesses, digital businesses, e-commerce companies, restaurants, real estate and more.
"Flex is reimagining how finance is done at businesses and has a proven track record when it comes to supporting businesses to provide more than just a credit card but a platform to manage their entire financial life," said Saxon Baum, partner of Florida Funders. "We couldn't be more pleased to invest in such a cutting-edge FinTech company and look forward to seeing their tremendous growth."
Flex Key Features and Benefits
Flex Credit Card and Credit Flexibility: Flex Credit Cards come with 0% interest for 60 days on every single purchase. With Flex, businesses can get unlimited employee physical and virtual cards with category and spending limits to manage business spending in real time without slowing down growth. Unlike other cards, Flex cards have no monthly or annual maintenance fees and no late fee charges. Flex also offers credit limits that grow as a business grows - the more customers use Flex, the more credit limit they may be able to obtain. The Flex Credit Card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A. Flex extends the credit for the Flex Credit Cards, and the cards are subject to Commercial Cardholder Agreements. Flex Credit Cards are available to businesses operating within the United States (except CA, NV, SD, ND, and VT at launch) and Puerto Rico .
Flex Credit Cards come with 0% interest for 60 days on every single purchase. With Flex, businesses can get unlimited employee physical and virtual cards with category and spending limits to manage business spending in real time without slowing down growth. Unlike other cards, Flex cards have no monthly or annual maintenance fees and no late fee charges. Flex also offers credit limits that grow as a business grows - the more customers use Flex, the more credit limit they may be able to obtain. The Flex Credit Card is issued by Patriot Bank, N.A. Flex extends the credit for the Flex Credit Cards, and the cards are subject to Commercial Cardholder Agreements. Flex Credit Cards are available to businesses operating within (except CA, NV, SD, ND, and VT at launch) and . Flex Banking: With Flex Banking, businesses can manage cash all from one place. Flex provides banking with up to 4% yield on idle cash. There are no annual, monthly or late fees, and wire transfers, ACH and insufficient fund fees are also a thing of the past. Flex's debit cards offer 1% cashback on transactions. Flex enables businesses to have multiple free accounts under one entity for increased agility. The Flex Banking Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, member FDIC.
With Flex Banking, businesses can manage cash all from one place. Flex provides banking with up to 4% yield on idle cash. There are no annual, monthly or late fees, and wire transfers, ACH and insufficient fund fees are also a thing of the past. Flex's debit cards offer 1% cashback on transactions. Flex enables businesses to have multiple free accounts under one entity for increased agility. The Flex Banking Debit Card is issued by Thread Bank, member FDIC. Flex Treasury Management: Flex's Treasury Management, through partner American Deposit Management (ADM), enables businesses to diversify cash across multiple financial institutions and eliminate bank-run risk. Flex customers can access up to $75M in FDIC/NCUA insurance - a considerable increase over the FDIC/NCUA's standard deposit insurance limit of $250K . With Flex Treasury, funds are spread across up to 400 FDIC-insured financial institutions to maximize FDIC/NCUA insurance.
"As investors focused on providing capital to small businesses in underserved communities, we are excited by Flex's potential to provide small businesses with access to responsible credit and the flexibility they need to manage their cash flow and growth," said Jeff Hilton, managing director of CIM. "We're eager to continue to support Flex as they provide innovative cash flow management products and solutions."
For more information, please visit www.Flex.One
About Flex
Flex (a Flexbase Technologies, Inc. brand) is the B2B FinTech company redefining credit and finance management by providing a financial ecosystem that empowers SMBs to expand their business and accelerate growth. Flex bundles every single aspect of the back office into one finance super app to seamlessly control finances. The company offers Flex Credit Card with 0% interest for 60 days on all purchases and built-in employee expense management, as well as Flex Banking with up to 4% yield on idle cash. The addition of Flex's Treasury Management, through partner ADM, enables businesses to diversify cash across multiple banks to efficiently move funds and mitigate risk, all while delivering up to $75M in FDIC insurance. Flex aims to be the financial platform that all small businesses use to build, manage and protect their finances.
About Community Investment Management
Community Investment Management (CIM) is an institutional impact investment manager that provides strategic debt capital to demonstrate and scale responsible innovation in lending. CIM is dedicated to supporting organizations that drive positive change and foster financial inclusion, economic growth, and social impact. For more information, visit https://cim-llc.com/.
SOURCE Flexbase Technologies, Inc.
New fast charger charges most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes *
AUBURN HILLS, Mich, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - FLO, a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging company and smart charging solutions provider, announced its first sale of the all-new, FLO Ultra fast charger to Green Mountain Power (GMP) in Vermont. Manufactured with a revolutionary flexible design, FLO Ultra provides drivers with a convenient, intuitive, and lightning-fast charging experience. These first chargers, which are Buy America compliant, will be produced at FLO's Auburn Hills facility. FLO's distribution partner, Rexel Energy Solutions, supported the sale to GMP.
FLO Ultra fast charger (CNW Group/FLO)
"The first sale of FLO Ultra marks a new era in EV charging, delivering the ultimate fast charging experience for every EV driver," said Louis Tremblay, FLO president and CEO. "As new EV drivers hit the road, they need fast charging that is safe, accessible, convenient, intuitive, and reliableand FLO Ultra does all that. By combining a brilliantly simple design with innovative new technology, FLO Ultra will meet the needs of current and future EV drivers."
FLO's newest EV charging station is designed with innovative features throughout including:
EV charging designed to meet all drivers' needs: Designed to accommodate charging from all angles, including parallel, pull-in, or on both sides, allowing for flexible parking options. The charger also features a never-before-seen, patent-pending motorized cable management system, promoting accessibility and reducing strain on users.
Designed to accommodate charging from all angles, including parallel, pull-in, or on both sides, allowing for flexible parking options. The charger also features a never-before-seen, patent-pending motorized cable management system, promoting accessibility and reducing strain on users. Rapid EV charging in a smart, flexible package: With a simple but revolutionary design, FLO Ultra features up to 320kW across dual-ports in one rugged aluminum enclosure. It will charge most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes.*
With a simple but revolutionary design, FLO Ultra features up to 320kW across dual-ports in one rugged aluminum enclosure. It will charge most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes.* Rugged design: The enclosure is made of durable, recyclable aluminum designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. The EV fast charger is easily serviceable with large front and back doors and modular components for quick replacement. Finally, FLO Ultra is connected to the FLO network, which enables remote monitoring to assure swift diagnostic and proactive action to avoid potential issues.
"At GMP, we offer programs and rebates to make it simple for customers to switch to driving electric, and we're installing ten new fast chargers across Vermont each year until 2030," said Tiana Smith, GMP's Leader of Electrification and Sustainability. "As a long-standing customer of FLO, we are looking forward to the delivery of four FLO Ultra chargers starting this spring, to continue to expand fast charging access."
Available starting in 2024, FLO Ultra meets the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program's (NEVI) minimum standards, including Buy America requirements. The NEVI program provides states with $5 billion to deploy EV fast chargers along major highway corridors, paving the way for widespread EV adoption across North America.
"FLO Ultra's fast charging capabilities are critical to the transition of an all-electric future," added Tremblay. "We are excited to expand our reliable charging network nationwide and help bring reliable fast charging to drivers across the U.S."
FLO Ultra production will start at the Auburn Hills facility in the first half of 2024 supplementing FLO's Level 2 chargers currently coming off the line. FLO Ultra chargers produced in Auburn Hills will contribute to the 250,000 chargers FLO plans to bring to the U.S. market by 2028. To learn more about FLO's products and mission, visit flo.com.
* Dependent on the vehicle, configuration, and number of cars charging.
FLO and FLO UltraTM are registered or unregistered trademarks of Services FLO Inc. FLO Ultra development was funded in conjunction with the government of Quebec.
About FLO
FLO is a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging network operator and a smart charging solutions provider. We help to overcome climate change and accelerate EV adoption through a vertically integrated business model and delivering EV drivers the most dependable charging experience from curbside to countryside. Every month, we enable more than 1,000,000 charging events thanks to over 95,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations deployed at public, private and residential locations. FLO operates across North America and our high-quality charging stations are assembled with care in Michigan and Quebec. To learn more about what "EV charging done right" means to us, visit flo.com.
SOURCE FLO
BEIJING, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from China Daily:
Located on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is known as the "Third Pole of the Earth", Northwest China's Qinghai province has been a key barrier for ecological security in Asia and the wider world. Through 10 years of efforts, the province has become a model for building up ecological civilization and harmonious coexistence between humans and nature.
Chumar River of the northern source of the Yangtze River, which is located in the Three-River-Source National Park.
Qinghai is the fourth-largest province in China in terms of area and is home to the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow and Lancang rivers. It is also known for its rich water, solar and wind power resources. Blue skies, green mountains and clear waters are among the signature landscapes there.
The Three-River-Source National Park, located in Qinghai, was among the first batch of national parks in China. It has a unique ecosystem and a concentration of biodiversity in high-altitude regions.
Qinghai Lake is the largest inland and largest saline lake in China. Data from 2021 show that the water area of Qinghai Lake has increased by nearly 220 square kilometers over the past decade.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Ecological Protection Law came into force on Sept 1, as part of efforts to regulate ecological protection on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at national level.
Data show that populations of endangered species such as snow leopards, Tibetan antelopes, Tibetan gazelles and black-necked cranes have been increasing year-on-year.
Qinghai also has a large amount of desert and wasteland, making the prospect of developing clean energy promising. By utilizing abundant solar energy, hydropower and wind energy, Qinghai is constructing photovoltaic power generation parks and hybrid power stations.
As of the end of 2022, the province's installed capacity for power generation reached 44.68 million kilowatts, of which 91.2 percent, or 40.75 million kW, is from clean energy. And 28.14 million kW, or 62.9 percent, is from new energy.
Through ultrahigh voltage transmission channels, Qinghai's green electricity is powering Beijing Daxing International Airport and will serve the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.
"We deeply understand that the Three-River-Source region and the 'water tower' belong not only to Qinghai but also to the nation and the world. Qinghai province is striving to build up ecological security barriers here and promote green development and build a community of a shared future for humans and nature," said Chen Gang, the Party secretary of Qinghai at an event promoting Qinghai's ecological civilization development in Xining in September.
The event invited about 150 foreign representatives from nearly 30 countries to Qinghai to investigate the achievements of Qinghai in building an ecological civilization and promoting harmony between humanity and nature.
Leaders of political parties from different countries emphasized the importance of cooperation among nations to protect the ecological environment, saying that China has embarked on a modernization path that promotes harmony between humanity and nature.
SOURCE China Daily
FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- FranFund has been recognized as the top franchise supplier for Banking/Financing by Entrepreneur Magazine, the world's premier magazine dedicated to business and entrepreneurship. This prestigious honor was awarded based on votes from franchisors who value the essential services FranFund delivers to the franchising industry.
"This award is not just a testament to our hard work but also to the trust and partnership we've built with franchisors over the years." Post this FranFund awarded Entrepreneur Magazine's Top Franchise Supplier in Banking/Financing as voted by franchisors.
FranFund's dedication to crafting personalized funding solutions for franchisees and its commitment to impeccable customer service have set it apart in a competitive landscape. The company's unique approach combines in-depth industry knowledge with the expertise to navigate the funding maze, making FranFund an invaluable ally for both emerging and established franchisors.
Geoff Seiber, CEO of FranFund, said, "We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition from Entrepreneur Magazine. This award is not just a testament to our hard work but also to the trust and partnership we've built with franchisors over the years. At FranFund, we believe in the transformative power of franchising, and we are committed to providing the best possible funding solutions for the growth and success of our partners."
As the franchise sector continues to evolve and grow, so does the need for reliable, effective funding solutions. FranFund's tailored financial products, from SBA and unsecured lending programs to ROBS and Third Party Administration services, have positioned the company at the forefront of the industry, making them a trusted partner for countless franchisors, brokers, and franchisees.
FranFund President, Sherri Seiber said, "Our team at FranFund has always been driven by a passion to support and empower franchise dreams. Being voted #1 by Entrepreneur Magazine is not just a testament to our dedication, but also a beautiful reminder that when you put your heart into your work, the world takes notice. We are elated and humbled by this recognition, and it fuels our drive even further."
This honor from Entrepreneur Magazine solidifies FranFund's reputation not just as a leader in franchise funding but also as a beacon of integrity, and excellence in franchising.
Entrepreneur Magazine's annual list recognizes and celebrates suppliers who demonstrate exceptional service, innovation, and value to the franchise industry. The selection process is rigorous, involving detailed evaluations and feedback from the franchisor community.
About FranFund:
Help your candidates get the doors open to their new businesses quicker and easier by partnering with FranFund. We make the process personal and painless for your candidates and communicate with you every step of the way. FranFund's funding experts will make sure each candidate is aware of all available options including SBA loans, unsecured lending, and ROBS, so they can start their business journey off on the right foot.
For more information about FranFund and its services, visit www.franfund.com.
SOURCE FranFund
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Frost & Sullivan Institute is proud to present the 2023 Enlightened Growth Leadership Awards, an esteemed accolade honoring visionary companies that have embraced sustainability as the cornerstone of their success. These trailblazers have not only pushed the boundaries of innovation and implemented transformative strategies within their industries, but they have also demonstrated an unwavering commitment to addressing global challenges, from climate change mitigation and decarbonization to responsible resource utilization, paving the way for a more sustainable and equitable future.
Rooted in performance metrics, such as achieving growth excellence, pioneering 'innovating to zero' solutions aligned with critical global priorities, optimizing the customer value chain, and propelling technological innovation, the award recipients undeniably exemplify excellence in their respective fields. Congratulations!
"The Enlightened Growth Leadership Awards stand as a symbol of commitment that transcends the conventional norms of corporate responsibility and governance. These organizations are actively reshaping industries and societies towards a more promising and sustainable future. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to these remarkable companies for their unwavering commitment to sustainable development and their role in creating opportunities that benefit all stakeholders. Their commitment to sustainable development sets a powerful precedent across all industries.," said David Frigstad, Executive Director of the Frost & Sullivan Institute.
The award selection process is a rigorous eight-step and comprehensive journey, blending expert evaluations, market research and in-depth scrutiny of the nominees' groundbreaking contributions. Rooted in performance metrics, such as achieving growth excellence, pioneering 'innovating to zero' solutions aligned with critical global priorities, optimizing the customer value chain, and propelling technological innovation, the award recipients undeniably exemplify excellence in their respective fields.
The Frost & Sullivan Institute takes great pleasure in congratulating all the Enlightened Growth Leadership Awards 2023 winners for their outstanding contributions to their respective industries and society at large. In recognition of their remarkable achievements, these exceptional companies will be honored and celebrated at our prestigious awards banquet at Prague in November.
Recipients:
Intuit Inc.
Intuitive Surgical
Justworks, Inc.
KLA Corporation
L3Harris Technologies, Inc.
Lifepoint Health, Inc.
Louisiana-Pacific Corporation
Lyft, Inc.
Maximus
Microchip Technology Inc.
Murphy Oil Corporation
MYR Group Inc
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.
NRG Energy, Inc.
Nutrien Ltd.
Pfizer Inc.
Pioneer Natural Resources Company
Primoris Services Corporation
Pure Storage, Inc.
Quidel Corporation
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc
RingCentral, Inc.
Roku, Inc
Salesforce, Inc
Schweitzer-Mauduit International, Inc.
SAIC
Scripps Health
Seagen Inc.
ServiceNow
Snap Inc.
SnapNurse
Splunk Inc
SSR Mining
Sunrun
TD SYNNEX Corporation.
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated.
Tenneco Inc.
TMobile USA, Inc.
Tourmaline.
The Trade Desk
Trex Company, Inc
Tyler Technologies
Uber Technologies Inc.
UFP Industries, Inc.
Veeva Systems
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc.
Wabtec Corporation
Westlake Corporation
Whitecap Resources Inc.
Workday, Inc.
Worldwide Express
Zendesk
Zillow Group, Inc.
Zoom Video Communications, Inc.
About Frost & Sullivan Institute
The Frost & Sullivan Institute (FSI) is a non-profit organization dedicated to utilizing business practices to address global priorities. The genesis of the institute goes back to the vision of either creating or becoming part of a solution that addresses threats to humanity. The Institute has identified strategic imperatives for transformation and believes that we can truly accelerate innovation to zero. To learn more about FSI, visit www.frostandsullivaninstitute.org
About Frost & Sullivan
For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.
Media Contact:
Bivechana Gautam
Email: [email protected]
Related Links
www.frost.com
www.frostandsullivaninstitute.org
SOURCE Frost & Sullivan
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has arrived in the United States to address the United Nations General Assembly, which will take place on September 19-21. The debate will focus on holding Russia accountable for its aggression against Ukraine and war crimes.
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In addition, the Ukrainian leader is to attend a meeting of the UN Security Council and meet with world leaders, including his American counterpart Joe Biden. OBOZREVATEL tells you what is known about this and what expectations are placed on Zelenskyy's visit to the United States (to see photos and videos, scroll down to the end of the article).
During his speech at the UN General Assembly, US President Joseph Biden said that for almost two years now, the international community has been alarmed by "the terrible war waged by Russia against its neighbor."
"Like all other nations, the United States wants this war to end. But no one wants this war to end more than Ukraine. We have been the most active in supporting Ukraine in finding a diplomatic solution to this crisis to ensure a lasting peace. But only Russia is responsible for this war. Only Russia has the ability to end this war immediately. And only Russia stands on the path to peace," the American leader emphasized.
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According to him, "Russia's price for peace" is the surrender of Ukraine, Ukrainian territories and Ukrainian children. And Russia plans to achieve its goals by prolonging the fighting.
"Russia expects the world to get tired. It will allow it to seize Ukraine without any consequences. However, let's ask ourselves: if we abandon the basic principles of the UN to please the aggressor, can every member of this General Assembly feel confident that they will be protected? If Ukraine falls, will the independence of each of you be protected? And I think the answer is the same: we need to fight against such actions of Russia today so that there are no aggressors tomorrow. That's why the United States, together with partners and allies around the world, stands with Ukraine as they (Ukrainians - Ed.) defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of their country," Biden emphasized.
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Debate at the UN General Assembly
The 78th session of the UN General Assembly has already started in New York. More than 140 heads of state and government are expected to gather at the organization's headquarters in the United States.
According to the schedule, the week of debate is dedicated to the topic "Restoring trust and global solidarity: accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its sustainable development goals to ensure peace, prosperity, progress and resilience for all." Another topic will be holding the terrorist state of Russia legally accountable for its aggression against Ukraine and war crimes.
On the first day of the debate, about 40 presidents will take the floor, including US President Joe Biden, Poland's Andrzej Duda, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazil's Lula da Silva, the Czech Republic's Petr Pavel, and others.
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According to the schedule, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak on the fourteenth, in the first half of Tuesday. Biden will speak before him, followed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Before his speech, the Ukrainian president called for Russia's expulsion from the Security Council.
What Zelenskyy will talk about
Mykhailo Podolyak, Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office, said that at the UN, the President will defend the need for a speedy victory over Russia. He will also explain why the war must have a just end and why helping Ukraine is a contribution to stability and the restoration of international law.
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In addition, he wants to convey to world leaders that "the end of the war can be accelerated if there is a sufficient amount of weapons for Ukraine."
Another presidential spokesperson, Igor Zhovkva, indicated back in August that Zelenskyy would talk about a peace formula, a special tribunal for Russia, and a mechanism for compensation for war damage at the UN. According to him, the visit will still be devoted to meetings on the so-called peace formula.
LB.ua, citing sources in diplomatic circles, writes that in New York, Zelenskyy will not present the "peace formula," but will instead promote it and inform countries about the implementation of certain points. At the same time, the Ukrainian side intends to expand the geography by inviting a certain number of states to join the president's peace initiative.
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Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, Sergiy Kyslytsya, explained the importance of the fact that the President of Ukraine is on the list of speakers at the General Assembly in the first half of the first day. In his opinion, this "reflects the place and importance that Ukraine occupies in global issues."
What to expect from the debates and meetings
Last week, EU High Representative Josep Borrell said that during the UN General Assembly, the European Union would express its firm support for Ukraine and reiterate the need for reforms in the Security Council, whose decisions are blocked by Russia. In his opinion, this step will help make the Security Council a more representative organization to reflect the changes that have taken place in the world.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, noted that at the session at the UN headquarters in New York, representatives of the member states will again raise the issue of bloody aggression that Moscow continues. It is known that the German politician will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the event. Preliminarily, they will hold talks on further assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, including long-range Taurus missiles.
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According to The Washington Post, at the next session of the General Assembly, the presidents of the United States and Ukraine may face opposition from the leaders of the so-called Global South. It is noted that many of these countries still maintain economic and diplomatic ties with the Kremlin, and therefore do not support anti-Russian sanctions and only want an early end to the war through immediate negotiations with Moscow and are not ready to support Kyiv.
Valeriy Klochok, political expert and head of the Center for Public Analysis "Vezha", said in a commentary to Channel 24 that despite this, much will be determined for Ukraine on September 19-21. He believes that Volodymyr Zelenskyy's bilateral meetings may be the most important. In particular, the president will discuss the supply of long-range ATACMS missiles with Joe Biden, military assistance from Israel with Benjamin Netanyahu, and the "peace formula " with the leaders of the Global South, which still remain neutral.
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According to the expert, the success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the front line can significantly strengthen Ukraine's position. This is what is likely to have a direct impact on the decision to provide the same missiles. At the same time, the UN General Assembly may announce a so-called peace plan for our country. Although there are no details yet, Klochok suggested that it will be about the agreements reached during the summits in Copenhagen and Jeddah.
"Of course, this all fits into the framework of preparing the final document on peace in Ukraine. On what terms? We want it to be on our terms," he said.
As reported by OBOZREVATEL, in parallel with these events, the International Court of Justice is considering the second case in Ukraine's lawsuit against Russia - on the Genocide Convention. Hearings in this process resumed on September 18, and it is unprecedented in that 34 countries are involved and it has great consequences.
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Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market is experiencing growth due to technological advancements in fully automatic electrolyte analyzers, increase in prevalence of long-term diseases, and surge in demand for point-of-care testing.
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Fully Automatic Electrolyte Analyzers Market by Type (Standalone, Integrated), Modality (Portable, Benchtop), End User (Hospitals, Diagnostic Centers, Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". The global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market was valued at $439.7 million in 2022, and is projected to reach $766.5 million by 2032, registering a CAGR of 5.7% from 2023 to 2032.
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The concentration of electrolytes in the blood, plasma, and other bodily fluids can be determined using a fully automatic electrolyte analyzer. Electrolytes are electrically charged ions that play a crucial role in various bodily functions, including regulating fluid balance, transmitting nerve impulses, and facilitating muscle contraction and relaxation. These analyzers operate based on the principle of ion-selective electrodes, which can selectively detect specific ions and produce an electrical signal that is proportional to their concentration.
Prime determinants of growth
The global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market is experiencing growth due to several key factor such as increase in demand for point-of-care testing globally, rise in adoption of fully automatic electrolyte analyzers, and increase in import of fully automatic electrolyte analyzers in developing countries such as India. In addition, there is a surge in demand for point-of-care testing platforms as it provides rapid and accurate results at the patient's location, which also contributes to the market growth. However, the high cost of fully automated electrolyte analyzers restrains the growth of the market. Nevertheless, growth in focus on preventive healthcare will provide remunerative growth opportunities in the upcoming years.
Report coverage and details:
Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $439.7 Million Market Size in 2032 $766.5 Million CAGR 5.7 % No. of Pages in Report 236 Segments covered Type, Modality, and End User Drivers Technological advancements in fully automatic electrolyte analyzers Increase in prevalence of long-term diseases Surge in demand for point-of-care testing Opportunities Growth in focus on preventive healthcare Restraints High cost of fully automated electrolyte analyzers
What is the Impact of Recession 2023 on Fully Automatic Electrolyte Analyzers Market?
Economic recession has moderate impact on the fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market as technological advancements in the medical device industry has ability to withstand recession.
However, demand for electrolyte analyzers may decrease as medical facilities cut spending and prioritize essential services.
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The integrated segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period
Based on type, the integrated segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market revenue and is expected to retain its dominance throughout the forecast timeframe. The same segment is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 6.0% from 2023 to 2032. This is due to an increase in use of integrated automatic electrolyte analyzers over standalone automatic electrolyte analyzers. The integration of multiple functions into a single instrument allows for faster turnaround times and seamless data management through integration with laboratory information systems.
The benchtop segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period
Based on modality, the benchtop segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market revenue and is projected to rule the roost throughout the forecast timeframe. The wide availability of benchtop analyzers offered by the key players such as F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Medica Corporation, Agappe Diagnostic Ltd, and Accurex Biomedical Pvt. Ltd in the market is the key factor driving the segmental market growth. On the other hand, the portable segment is anticipated to showcase the fastest CAGR of 6.3% from 2023 to 2032. during the forecast period, owing to the increase in demand for point-of care testing that fuels the demand for portable automatic electrolyte analyzers.
The diagnostic centers segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period
Based on end user, the diagnostic centers segment dominated the market in 2022 with more than two-fifths of the total market and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period. These automatic analyzers enable diagnostic centers to process a large number of samples quickly and provide timely results to healthcare professionals, thus driving the market growth. However, the hospitals segment is expected to portray the highest CAGR of 6.1% from 2023 to 2032. This is attributed to the increase in patient admission, which is the key factor driving the adoption of automatic electrolyte analyzers in hospital settings.
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North America to maintain its dominance by 2032
Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market revenue and is projected to rule the roost from 2023 to 2032. North America is witnessing notable growth trends, owing to an increase in prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, Asia-Pacific region is anticipated to showcase the fastest CAGR of 6.5% from 2023 to 2032, which is owing to the increase in prevalence of hypertension and rise in adoption of advanced fully automatic electrolyte analyzers.
Leading Market Players:
Agappe Diagnostics Ltd
Accurex Biomedical Pvt. Ltd.
Caretium Medical Instruments Co.
Diamond Diagnostics
Medica Corporation
Neomedica
F. Hoffmann-la Roche Ltd.
Abbott Laboratories
HD Consortium India Limited
Siemens AG
The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global fully automatic electrolyte analyzers market. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.
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"We have also published few syndicated market studies in the similar area that might be of your interest. Below are the report title for your reference, considering Impact of Covid-19 Over This Market which will help you to assess aftereffects of pandemic on short-term and long-term growth trends of this market."
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DUBLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Animal Growth Promoters and Performance Enhancers Market by Type, Animal, By Geography Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast up to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global Animal Growth Promoters and Performance Enhancers market is set to experience robust growth, with a projected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2% during the period of 2020-2026.
This growth can be attributed to the surging research and development activities aimed at creating antibiotics, hormones, and non-antibiotic growth enhancers, coupled with the increasing impact of climate change and animal epidemics.
The market is driven by a growing consumption of meat worldwide, driven by increasing disposable income and a rising global population that demands animal-sourced food. Poultry takes the lead among animal types, contributing to the largest market share due to surging demand for meat and eggs, alongside advances in poultry farming techniques.
In terms of regions, Asia Pacific is a major contributor due to its high population and numerous animal product companies. North America secures the second-largest market share because of growing awareness regarding animal growth and performance enhancers, along with an increasing livestock population.
Despite the promising growth, challenges remain, notably a lack of awareness among end-users about animal growth promoters and performance enhancers. However, the market is poised to benefit from increasing investments in research and development efforts to create natural growth promoters and performance enhancers, opening new opportunities for market players to solidify their presence.
This report provides a comprehensive understanding of the Animal Growth Promoters and Performance Enhancers market, highlighting key trends, market dynamics, and the evolving needs of end-users. It offers qualitative and quantitative analyses to enhance user experience, including SWOT analysis, portfolio analysis, and capability analysis of leading players.
For research organizations involved in animal growth promoters and performance enhancers, this report offers valuable insights to support drug discovery and development activities. Furthermore, it delivers quantitative analyses to present factual market insights across four major regions.
Key Market Segmentation:
Animal Type : Poultry Swine Livestock Aquatic animals Other animals
Type of Drug/Chemicals : Antibiotics Non-Antibiotics: Prebiotics & Probiotics Phytogenics Feed Enzymes Hormones
Region : North America Europe APAC RoW
Market Leaders:
Key players in the Animal Growth Promoters and Performance Enhancers market include:
Elanco Animal Health Inc
Royal DSM N.V
Cargill, Inc
Merck & Co., Inc
Alltech, Inc
Vetoquinol
Bupo Animal Health
Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (ADM)
Chr. Hansen
Novus International, Inc
Erber AG
Kemin Industries
Associated British Foods PLC
Nutreco
Erber AG
BASF SE
Phibro Animal Health Corporation
Evonik Industries AG
Bluestar Adisseo Company
Land O'lakes, Inc.
Lallemand Inc.
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/t2jxj
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ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.
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MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Award-winning global Insurtech BOXX Insurance that combines cyber insurance and security has announced a partnership with Nova Southeastern University ("NSU") and its Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation.
Through the collaboration BOXX will offer cyber protection education services and cyber insurance services to Levan Center's clients and community members as well as NSU faculty and staff.
Powering and Protecting the Innovation Ecosystem
Through the collaboration BOXX will provide a powerful combination of Executive education, Cyber protection tools and Cyber insurance products for Levan Center of Innovation members for entrepreneurs and early-stage startups as they build out and scale up their business.
The Levan Center supports the Founder's Journey from the birth of an idea through successful exit or global expansion providing programs, events, and wraparound services to entrepreneurs and early-stage startups for the buildout and scaleup of their businesses.
"Having the right level of Cyber protection is vital for every business, from the earliest incubator through their growth and scale up. As companies progress through their stages of development, the need to deliver the right support against cyber threats is essential" said BOXX US President, Hilario Itriago.
"Our goal is to help our customers stay ahead of cyber threats in addition to being there to help them respond and recover from an incident," added Itriago. "With our US home base in Miami, we're delighted to support NSU and the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Centre of Innovation."
BOXX's mission to make the world a digitally safer place has led to its presence expanding across North America and other selected markets poised for growth. With its Cyberboxx Business solution BOXX combines all-in-one cyber protection and insurance specifically designed for the needs of small businesses in Florida, across the US, Canada, and beyond, to protect against cyber threats.
"We are delighted to be working with BOXX Insurance to help keep our clients and community members protected against cyber threats," said John Wensveen, Ph.D., Chief Innovation Officer, NSU, and Executive Director, Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation. "Equipping our members and clients with the essential tools, capabilities, and protection, tailored to their needs and phases of development is key. We share BOXX's preventative risk approach and are pleased to be offering our members and clients a complete range of innovative solutions to keep them digitally safe."
BOXX opened its US offices in Miami in 2021, and has been an active member of the rapidly growing Miami tech community ever since. In February BOXX announced its US$14.4 million Series B funding round, bringing the total amount raised from investors to US$24.5 million. The Series B investment was led by global giant, Zurich Insurance Company Ltd (Zurich).
About BOXX Insurance
BOXX Insurance Inc. helps businesses, individuals and families insure and defend against cyber threats. Privately-held with headquarters in Canada, BOXX has global offices in Toronto, Miami, Zurich, Dubai and Mumbai. BOXX Insurance is an award-winning global cyber protection and insurance provider.
We're not a typical company. That's by design. We're serious about making the world a digitally safer place; creating real, positive changes for our clients and partners, and building a lasting legacy, from what we create, inside the BOXX.
Every day we're improving the digital health of businesses, families and individuals around the world who rely on BOXX's solutions and services to predict, prevent and insure them against cyber threats.
ABOUT ALAN B. LEVAN | NSU BROWARD CENTER OF INNOVATION (LEVAN CENTER OF INNOVATION)
The Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation (Levan Center of Innovation) is a public-private partnership between Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and Broward County. The Levan Center is "The World's First Theme Park for Entrepreneurs," for entrepreneurs and supporting stakeholders located in a 54,000 sq. ft. purpose-built Fort Lauderdale, Florida facility. The Levan Center of Innovation is focused on three themes (innovation, technology, entrepreneurship) and four pillars known as the Founder's Journey (Ideate, Incubate, Accelerate, Post-Accelerate). The Levan Center of Innovation serves the NSU and South Florida communities resulting in breakthrough ideation, new technologies, talent skills pipeline, company formation, job creation, and scaling of early-stage and young startup companies. Customized programs, events, and wraparound services support the four pillars. The Levan Center of Innovation is an economic and education development engine for linking South Florida with local, regional, national, and international impact. By powering the innovation ecosystem, the Levan Center of Innovation is a stakeholder in establishing an innovation hub for South Florida. For more information, please visit nova.edu/innovation.
Address: 3100 Ray Ferrero Jr. Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314
Phone: (954) 262-TECH or 833-954-TECH
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SOURCE BOXX Insurance
For further information
Media Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE BOXX Insurance
DUBLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Digital Textile Printing Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global digital textile printing market size reached US$ 2.5 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, the market is set to reach US$ 4.0 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3% during 2023-2028.
At present, digital textile printing is commercially available in varying types, such as multi-pass direct-to-textile and single-pass textile printers.
The increasing demand for printing textiles and fabric materials across several industry verticals has prompted manufacturers to switch to digital printing technology on account of their minimal operational costs and easy installation. This, in turn, represents as a prime factor driving digital textile printing market growth.
In line with this, rapid technological advancements and the establishment of advanced printing solutions that rely on ultraviolet (UV) and eco solvents for publishing operations are acting as other growth-inducing factors.
Moreover, the extensive utilization of digital textile printing in the clothing, automobiles, e-commerce, soft-signage, media and advertisements applications for producing promotional wears, banners, flags, labels, and aesthetically appealing product packaging is propelling the market growth.
Along with this, it is further deployed for printing various electronic devices, such as circuit boards, solar cells, and periodic lateralized epileptiform discharge (PLED), which is supporting the market growth.
Other factors, such as strategic collaborations amongst the top players and the extensive research and development (R&D) activities for introducing three-dimensional (3D) digital textile printing solutions, are creating a positive outlook for the market.
Key Questions Answered in This Report:
How has the global digital textile printing market performed so far and how will it perform in the coming years?
What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global digital textile printing market?
What are the key regional markets?
What is the breakup of the market based on the printing method?
What is the breakup of the market based on the substrate type?
What is the breakup of the market based on the ink type?
What is the breakup of the market based on the application?
What are the various stages in the value chain of the industry?
What are the key driving factors and challenges in the industry?
What is the structure of the global digital textile printing market and who are the key players?
What is the degree of competition in the industry?
Competitive Landscape:
The competitive landscape of the industry has also been examined along with the profiles of the key players being
aeoon Technologies gmbh
AM Printex Solutions
ColorJet Group
Dover Corporation
Electronics For Imaging Inc.
Fisher Textiles Inc.
Hollanders Printing Solutions B.V.
HP Inc.
Huntsman Corporation
Mimaki Engineering Co. Ltd.
Ricoh Company Ltd.
Roland Corporation
Seiko Epson Corporation
Key Market Segmentation:
Breakup by Printing Method:
Roll-to-Roll Printing
Direct-to-Garment Printing
Breakup by Substrate Type:
Cotton
Silk
Polyester
Others
Breakup by Ink Type:
Reactive
Acid
Direct Disperse
Sublimation
Pigments
Others
Breakup by Application:
Garment and Apparels
Home Furnishing Textiles
Technical Textiles
Display and Signage
Others
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/lb4p6h
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.
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Research and Markets
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SOURCE Research and Markets
DUBLIN, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Exosome Research Market: Trends, Opportunities and Competitive Analysis 2023-2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The global exosome research market is poised for remarkable growth, with projections indicating an impressive CAGR of 33.6% from 2023 to 2028.
The market is expected to reach an estimated $1.16 billion by 2028. This substantial growth is driven by several key factors, including the increasing number of cancer patients, a growing demand for cell-free therapies to treat various diseases, and rising investments in life sciences research.
Comprehensive Market Insights
This comprehensive more than 150-page report has been meticulously developed to provide valuable insights that can inform your business decisions.
Exosome Research Market Segmentation
The study offers a detailed forecast for the global exosome research market, covering various segments:
Product & Service [Value ($B) Shipment Analysis from 2017 to 2028]
Kits & Reagents
Instruments
Services
Indication [Value ($B) Shipment Analysis from 2017 to 2028]
Cancer
Neurodegenerative Diseases
Cardiovascular Diseases
Infectious Diseases
Others
Application [Value ($B) Shipment Analysis from 2017 to 2028]
Biomarkers
Vaccine Development
Tissue Regeneration
Others
End Use Industry [Value ($B) Shipment Analysis from 2017 to 2028]
Academic & Research Institutes
Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies
Hospital & Clinical Testing Laboratories
Region [Value ($B) Shipment Analysis from 2017 to 2028]
North America
Europe
Asia Pacific
The Rest of the World
Key Players in the Exosome Research Market
The report highlights major players in the exosome research market. These companies compete based on product quality and focus on expanding manufacturing facilities, R&D investments, infrastructural development, and leveraging integration opportunities across the value chain. Some of the profiled exosome research companies include:
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Bio-Techne Corporation
QIAGEN
System Biosciences
Miltenyi Biotec
NanoSomiX
NorgenBiotek Corp.
AMS Biotechnology
Lonza
Market Insights
The report forecasts that kits and reagents will continue to dominate the market due to their role in simplifying the extracellular vesicle isolation process. Academic and research institutes are expected to remain the largest end-use segment, driven by their increasing demand for exosome studies in disease diagnosis and their emerging role as intercellular messengers.
North America is anticipated to lead the market during the forecast period, owing to favorable government support, research funding in the life sciences, and advanced infrastructure for diagnostics and lab research.
Key Features of the Exosome Research Market Report
Market size estimates
Trend and forecast analysis
Segmentation analysis
Regional breakdown
Growth opportunities analysis
Strategic analysis, including M&A and competitive landscape
Competitive intensity analysis based on Porter's Five Forces model
Key Questions Answered by the Report
The report answers important questions about the exosome research market, including:
Promising growth opportunities in various segments and regions
Segments expected to grow rapidly and why
Regions poised for faster growth and why
Key factors influencing market dynamics and challenges
Emerging trends and their drivers
Changing customer demands
Notable market developments and leading companies
Competitive threats and risks
M&A activity and its impact on the industry
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/y1vsc1
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.
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Research and Markets
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SOURCE Research and Markets
Non-Iridium Materials Tackle Supply Chain Hurdles for Sustainable Hydrogen Production
CHATSWORTH, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- H2U Technologies, a next-generation electrolyzer developer, has performed durability tests on new, lower-cost, iridium-free catalyst materials that demonstrate a projected lifetime of 25,000 hours. This groundbreaking durability milestone represents a significant breakthrough and addresses supply chain bottlenecks for sustainable hydrogen production with Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzers.
Discovering non-iridium catalysts for commercial applications has been challenging, as novel materials often degrade rapidly under the harsh acidic conditions of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). For perspective, the best iridium-free catalysts known to date offer lifetimes of approximately 1,000 to 1,400 hours. With a baseline of over 4,000 hours of continuous operation thus far, H2U's iridium-free catalysts, tested at 10x higher current density, are demonstrating projected lifetimes of over 25,000 hours. H2U catalysts are projected to last at least six years for targeted applications, such as in PEM electrolyzers paired with curtailed renewables.
Why catalyst durability is important
As the hydrogen economy grows and the demand for hydrogen increases, maintaining catalyst performance without relying on iridium becomes even more critical. Durable catalysts enable the scalability of hydrogen production and utilization technologies by reducing the frequency of replacements and associated costs.
The reliance on iridium has raised industry concerns, as the U.S. Department of Energy has recently categorized iridium as the sole material in the hydrogen sector at high risk of supply disruptions.
H2U's innovative catalysts are cost-effective and more readily available than iridium. Utilizing these affordable alternatives expands the possibilities for electrolyzer stack design, enabling H2U to explore avenues unrestricted by ultra-thin catalyst layers and low usage of catalysts. This flexibility significantly reduces capital expenses, producing more affordable delivered hydrogen.
"Our talented scientists and engineers have achieved an exceptional breakthrough with rigorous testing of various families of alternative lower-cost compounds. The discovery of relatively earth-abundant materials using our Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE) has demonstrated a projected lifetime of 25,000 hours in ongoing tests, a milestone previously considered unattainable without iridium," said Mark McGough, H2U's President and CEO. "As these successful trials continue, we expect to attain further breakthroughs."
H2U's Senior Catalyst Engineer, Dr. Michael Mazza, remarked, "This achievement of a 25,000-hour lifetime is the best durability number we've seen for an iridium-free catalyst in a PEM electrolyzer. Our CDE team found promising catalysts and developed a unique process to integrate the materials into membrane electrode assemblies to optimize activity and durability. This discovery not only represents a technological leap but also contributes significantly to addressing the global need for sustainable hydrogen production. We are excited about the potential impact of our team's ongoing scientific discoveries on the clean energy landscape."
H2U's discovery and testing of durable non-iridium catalysts has the potential to lower the upfront costs of electrolyzers significantly. This becomes especially important in the coming years, as the limited availability of iridium will result in shortages and significant price hikes, posing a major obstacle to a swift transition to cleaner energy.
For more information about H2U's pioneering work in discovering long-lasting, low-cost catalyst materials for hydrogen production, visit H2Utechnologies.com. H2U can also be found on LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
About H2U Technologies, Inc.
H2U Technologies is a California-based developer of low-capital-cost, iridium-free proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers that are particularly suited for pairing with renewable energy sources. The company leverages its Catalyst Discovery Engine (CDE) capabilities to develop novel catalysts for use in its electrolyzer systems. The world-class technology featured in H2U Technologies' products stems from ten years of research and development at Caltech, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information, visit h2utechnologies.com.
Agency Contact:
PJ Jennings
Jennings & Associates Communications, Inc.
760-431-7466 Office
760-580-1114 Mobile
[email protected]
SOURCE H2U Technologies
QINGDAO, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hisense, the global consumer electronics and appliances corporation, has joined among global enterprises including Leica Camera, Texas Instruments, Nichia and others, in the Fourth Global Laser Display Industry Forum held today in Qingdao, China.
1
With a speech titled 'Scenarios bloom, laser display open the best era', Dennys Li, President of Hisense Visual Technology, presented Hisense's scenario-driven strategy for the Laser TV. In his keynote, Dennys introduced Hisense's journey in leading a global innovation for the Laser TV, starting with the world's first 100-inch Laser TV in 2014, which was key for global growth of the business. In 2023, Hisense released the world's first 8K Laser TV, bringing the industry into the 8K era, and the company continues to innovate with breakthroughs in consumer-focused products, based on its leading patents, international standards, and quality.
Meeting consumer's needs in various scenarios in daily life through personalized products and services is a core value of the products Hisense manufactured. With a focus on serving an increasing demand for oversized screens at home, Hisense today unveiled the world's first foldable Laser TV L5K, offering true colors powered by the next-gen Laser Engine LPU, consumers can get the theater experience with IMAX Enhanced through large screens for living room that can easily pass through a door, while being friendly on consumers eyes.
The increase of scenarios for smart living also accelerated the collaborative innovation of industrial chains and has increased twice compared with 2021. Last July, Hisense formed a strategic partnership with Leica Camera AG, a leader in in the field of high-quality optical lenses and jointly developed the first Leica Laser TV, and it will soon put on sale the first home theater Laser TV in China this week.
The Laser TV is leading the high-end manufacturing for Hisense's globalization. With a coverage of more than 40 countries and regions, Hisense's Laser TVs are sold in over 250 mainstream channels, such as Bestbuy and COSTCO in the US and BOULANGER in France.
To continuously drive the growth and expansion of the global laser display industry, Hisense will fully leverage its global channel resources, with an unwavering commitment to invest in innovative laser display development, forging deep alliances and creating the future with all partners.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2214803/1.jpg
SOURCE Hisense
New enhancements to award-winning intensive intervention solutions engage students and empower teachers, fostering positive outcomes
BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As students and teachers nationwide settle into a new school year, learning technology company HMH today announced enhancements to its best-in-class intervention solutions Read 180 and Math 180 to extend teachers' capabilities and support and engage learners. Seamless integration of Read 180 and Math 180 within Ed, HMH's connected learning platform, and an enhanced application streamline the learning experience to be anytime, anywhere intervention that can be utilized within the core classroom.
"Our goal at HMH is to continually enhance our solutions by listening to our customers' needs and implementing innovative methods, tools and technologies to address those needs," said Matthew Mugo Fields, HMH General Manager, Supplemental and Intervention Solutions. "We know students are in need of dedicated intervention support within their core classroom. Read 180 and Math 180 are uniquely positioned to boost student outcomes and engagement and the new enhancements deepen their ability to foster a successful and positive environment that supports the diverse needs of all learners, wherever they are."
A recent study from NWEA, a division of HMH, examining the impacts of COVID-19 on student achievement, estimated that most students need, on average, an additional 4.5 months of mathematics instruction and 4.1 months of reading instruction to recover in these two subjects. Learners who are more than one year behind now have the support they need with Math 180 and Read 180's new offering, Flex. Flex offers targeted instruction that addresses students' individual learning needs, enabling teachers to include intensive intervention in their core classroom. The adaptive student applications harness the power of technology and research-proven practices to accelerate learning and build knowledge with connection to careers and real-world applications. Along with the student application, the embedded service includes reporting and assessments, differentiated instruction, supplemental resources and access to HMH's personalized and on-demand professional learning, Teacher Success Pathways.
New & Expanded Intervention Features
Whether HMH's intervention solutions are being used in a core or dedicated intervention classroom, Read 180 and Math 180 offer the powerful combination of engaging content and adaptive technology that is proven to accelerate students with gaps in foundational skills, helping them achieve an average of up to two years growth in one school year. The solutions have been validated through classroom success and third-party recognition, most recently being named winners in Tech & Learning's 2023 Back to School Awards of Excellence. This year, new back-to-school enhancements include:
Reporting Enhancements: Teachers using Read 180 and Math 180 now have access to improved reporting features in the Program Activity Report (PAR). Within Read 180 , the updated report includes skills-level data for comprehension and/or foundational skills. Within Math 180 , new reporting includes an overview tab, and four performance levels for comprehensive student progress assessment.
Teachers using and now have access to improved reporting features in the Program Activity Report (PAR). Within , the updated report includes skills-level data for comprehension and/or foundational skills. Within , new reporting includes an overview tab, and four performance levels for comprehensive student progress assessment. NWEA MAP Growth Placement: As HMH recently announced, customers using MAP Growth and connected solutions Read 180 , Math 180 and Waggle will benefit from automatic placement. Using MAP Growth scores, students will be placed directly into their appropriate portion of the student application.
As HMH recently announced, customers using MAP Growth and connected solutions , and will benefit from automatic placement. Using MAP Growth scores, students will be placed directly into their appropriate portion of the student application. Leader Reporting: Leadership Program Activity Report (PAR) provides school and district administrators with aggregated average class and student data, including highlights of the district's overall Student Application usage.
Leadership Program Activity Report (PAR) provides school and district administrators with aggregated average class and student data, including highlights of the district's overall Student Application usage. Enhanced Math 180 Multilingual Learner Student Supports: Multilingual students can toggle between English and Spanish within the student application for full translations.
Multilingual students can toggle between English and Spanish within the student application for full translations. Enhanced Math 180 Multilingual Learner Teacher Supports: For teachers, WIDA supports are also included in Math 180 with "Language Support at a Glance" resources aligned to the 2020 WIDA ELD Framework.
For teachers, WIDA supports are also included in with "Language Support at a Glance" resources aligned to the 2020 WIDA ELD Framework. Read 180 Student Application Enhancements: Read 180 includes instruction from phonics to fluency to grade-level proficiency. The Student Application's all-new interface includes accessibility improvements, as well as additional supports for multilingual learners.
includes instruction from phonics to fluency to grade-level proficiency. The Student Application's all-new interface includes accessibility improvements, as well as additional supports for multilingual learners. Read 180 Bookshelf: Students have the option to browse and select respectful and engaging independent reading materials recommended to them based on their interests and reading level or choose from the library. The "My Reading Goals" section allows them to track words read, books completed and quiz points for self-monitoring.
"In a seventh-grade classroom, we often see some students working below grade level and others working two grades above grade level. Solutions like Math 180 and Read 180 allow teachers to meet every student where they are by pinpointing appropriate interventions and supports. They enable students to turn their academic lives around; they literally take a 180-degree turn," said Dr. John Dignan, Superintendent, Wayne-Westland Community Schools. "We're excited to start the year using NWEA MAP for Read 180 and Math 180 placement, eliminating the need to administer another assessment for the teachers and students, and look forward to benefiting from better reporting and flexibility. We are hopeful this will lead to positive outcomes for our students."
To learn more about HMH's award-winning, connected intervention solutions, visit: https://www.hmhco.com/classroom-solutions/intervention
About HMH
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is a learning technology company committed to delivering connected solutions that engage learners, empower educators and improve student outcomes. As a leading provider of K12 core curriculum, supplemental and intervention solutions, and professional learning services, HMH partners with educators and school districts to uncover solutions that unlock students' potential and extend teachers' capabilities. HMH serves more than 50 million students and 4 million educators in 150 countries. For more information, visit www.hmhco.com
Follow HMH on Twitter, Facebook , Instagram and YouTube.
Media Contact
Tori Dickson
Communications Specialist
HMH
Tori.Dickson@hmhco.com
SOURCE Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital Clinica Biblica, the largest private hospital in Costa Rica, has joined the Global Provider Network (GPN), a step that widens access to affordable and world-class healthcare offerings in Costa Rica for American consumers and self-funded employers.
The GPN is a network comprising the world's leading hospitals, offering comprehensive and easy access to complex bundled and transparent medical packages for facilitators, insurance companies, self-funded employers, government referrals, and individual healthcare consumers.
GPN ensures that referral organizations can now swiftly tap into a network of healthcare providers with pre-negotiated discounts and commissions. Simultaneously, healthcare providers can expand their reach and patient base, courtesy of the swift access to a robust global network of referral organizations, and consumers through Global Healthcare Resources.
"Our partnership with the Global Provider Network is a huge watershed moment for us and for Costa Rica," said CEO of Hospital Clinica Biblica, Gerardo Sanchez Cordero. "Clinica Biblica has a long history of treating medical tourists and providing a high level of healthcare. Joining the Global Healthcare Resources demonstrates our commitment to and capacity to provide quality care to American medical tourists, taking our business to the next level."
Sanchez added that the hospital staff are excited about the opportunities GPN brings, as it opens the door to strategic collaborations with self-funded employers' services and opens the door to new opportunities.
Clinica Biblica Hospital is accredited by Joint Commission International. This accreditation has been maintained for 15 years, and it is based on the international standards of hospital quality established by JCI. The hospital has also attained the seal and accreditation of the Global Healthcare Accreditation, demonstrating its strong capacity and commitment toward excellent patient experience and quality healthcare.
This milestone partnership achieved by Clinica Biblica Hospital is part of the strategic planning of the Government of the Republic of Costa Rica, which seeks to position Costa Rica at a highly competitive level in terms of medical services worldwide.
"Not only are we backed by the trajectory we have in our country, but with this collaboration, we are able to assure our users that the processes are coordinated and efficient and that they are based on high standards of knowledge and culture of quality," Sanchez added.
This comes as the hospital has begun rapid expansion with the construction of a new branch on the east side of the city of San Jose. It will be a medical tower located in a mini-city, with spaces such as a hotel, office centers, restaurants, and shops, as it prepares to attract international patients.
Clinica Biblica has become a driving force of excellent healthcare in Costa Rica, with numerous testimonials locally.
"I have been treated like a King," says Rodrigo Salazar, who reports receiving excellent care in the hospital's intensive care unit, where he said the patient experience was out of this world. Other patients have also shared their experiences of truly personalized care from the well-trained and skilled hospital staff.
Clinica Biblica, they've all said, is one hospital that truly cares about and prioritizes excellent patient outcomes and treats their patients as whole human beings with families, hopes, and dreams, and not just as medical cases.
GPN, launched by Global Healthcare Resources, the leading authority in medical travel, provides targeted and innovative solutions to challenges that stakeholders face in accessing world-class healthcare and scaling profitability.
GPN essentially solves the problem of access, allowing referral organizations and healthcare providers to access each other easily and seamlessly, thus, allowing each to access more patient volumes and clients.
GPN also solves some of the challenges faced by referral organizations and healthcare providers, including:
Limited time and resources to establish and expand their provider network
Limited knowledge or purchasing power to negotiate the best discounts or commissions
Long wait times to secure a contract with healthcare providers
Lack of knowledge in identifying the right healthcare providers, who provide top-quality services and are committed to excellent patient experience and global best practices.
Difficulty in accessing user-friendly technology and payment models that make transactions simple and accessible.
"I have personally known Clinica Biblica for almost 20 years and it was one of the first hospitals we collaborated with when we launched the Medical Tourism Association. My family members and I experienced firsthand the high-quality healthcare and the amazing patient experience that the hospital has to offer. We are excited to take that long-lasting relationship and move it to another level," said Jonathan Edelheit, CEO & Co-founder of Global Healthcare Resources and the Medical Tourism Association.
The American market is already at the breaking point with costs of healthcare. Costa Rica and Clinica Biblica present a safe, high quality and affordable option for major medical procedures, such as bariatric care, orthopedics and heart surgery," Jonathan added.
Besides having access to a wider pool of patient population, health payers, and referral organizations for healthcare providers, as well as access to world-class healthcare providers for buyers, GPN also features participants in the annual publication delivered to top market players and executive decision makers around the globe, increasing their visibility and stake.
GPN also offers greater training opportunities in medical travel, access to digital solutions, and increased collaboration with leading healthcare providers and medical tourism experts.
About Global Healthcare Resources
Global Healthcare Resources is a marketing consulting firm specializing in business development and marketing strategy and penetration services in the employer health care, benefits, well-being, and medical travel industries. We leverage thought leadership, educational training, and virtual and live events to connect buyers and providers of services together to scale business opportunities.
In the last couple of years, we have focused on utilizing the connection between personal and professional motivation to build a business and launched three moonshots in key areas necessary for industry growth. Cost, Culture, and Care. Through these moonshots, we anticipate building a movement that inspires growth through the shared vision, mission, and values inextricably linked between employer and employees. For us, this means virtual and in-person opportunities for business and personal connection, training and certification programs developed through partnerships with key thought leaders across each moonshot mission and leveraging our publication and podcast to drive thought leadership and demonstrable success with each moonshot.
About Hospital Clinica Biblica
Hospital Clinica Biblica is the largest private hospital in Costa Rica, offering services across more than 80 specialties, including orthopedic surgery, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, and bowel surgery, head and neck surgery, and neurosurgery. Founded in 1929, the hospital has grown to become a major Center of Excellence in Latin America, providing advanced care for many patients across the region.
Clinica Biblica Hospital is accredited by the Global Healthcare Accreditation, demonstrating its capacity in Quality, Safety, Environmental Impact, Employee Wellbeing.
The mission of the Hospital is to offer a humanitarian service to all those who need it. We believe in the life and health of the people. Throughout its 94 years of existence, the Hospital has facilitated access to comprehensive health care for populations with cultural, geographic and socioeconomic vulnerability factors.
To learn more about the hospital, click here.
SOURCE Global Healthcare Resources
Horizon Air Solutions owner says homeowners should consider making improvements to their household's ventilation and air purification systems to fend off pollutants
HOUSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With new COVID-19 variants on the rise and flu season around the corner, Horizon Air Solutions, a locally owned HVAC company serving Houston since 2016, says homeowners should ensure their homes have the proper ventilation and purification systems in place to combat contaminated air.
Horizon Air Solutions owner Jorge Bassante says homeowners should improve their home's HVAC and ventilation systems to fend off contaminants.
"Many homeowners think the air inside their houses is healthier than the air outside, but studies have shown that isn't always the case," said Jorge Bassante, owner and president of Horizon Air Solutions. "Indoor air pollutants are a growing concern, especially with COVID-19 and the flu virus on the rise. Many homes aren't ventilated properly and don't have air purification systems installed. Many others have dirty ductwork that can blow pollutants around the home."
In places like Houston, air quality suffers as a result of its warm, urban climate, which makes it predisposed to higher ozone levels. This can contribute to airborne illnesses such as COVID-19 and the flu. In Harris County, hospital admissions related to COVID-19 are continuing to rise on a weekly basis while they are down in the rest of Texas, according to news reports.
"With October designated as National Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Month, there's no better time to consider improving your home's air quality before it gets cold and we close our homes up again," he said. "There are a number of ways you can improve your home's air quality so your family can better protect itself from viruses like COVID and the flu."
Bassante said these include:
Changing the HVAC filter regularly. This simple solution not only helps the HVAC system run more efficiently, it also helps the system circulate cleaner air. Controlling the humidity in the home. Humid and moist air breeds mold, while drier air keeps viruses active longer. Homeowners can use humidifiers and dehumidifiers to control their home's relative humidity. Homeowners can use a device called a hygrometer to test their home's moisture levels. The ideal humidity in a home should be less than 60% in the summer and between 25% and 40% in the winter. Using fans in the bathrooms and kitchen. Homeowners can rid their homes of moisture and contaminants created by gas stoves or electric burners by regularly using vent fans while showering or cooking. Ventilation improvements. Although it's generally a good idea to open windows, this isn't always possible in extreme heat or cold. Installing an HVAC system that draws in fresh outdoor air and expels stale indoor air is one alternative. Air purification systems. Air cleaning systems use mechanical filters, activated carbon filters, UV-C lights, charged ions and other air scrubbers to keep a home's air refreshed. A reputable HVAC company can help homeowners choose the system that will work best for their homes. Source identification and control. Identifying the source of a home's poor IAQ is half the battle, and once it has been identified, it can be controlled. An air quality expert can examine a home to find out if the source is asbestos insulation, a gas stove, building materials or outdoor sources like radon or pesticides that are seeping into the home, and then make recommendations on how to control the problem. Cleaning dirty ductwork. Many older homes have old ductwork. Ducts can be the source of built-up dust, debris and pollutants that are blown throughout the home. Homeowners should always hire a trusted professional in their area and not rely on fly-by-night operators.
Bassante said homeowners should always consult a professional if they believe they are exposed to dangerous substances like carbon monoxide, radon or asbestos.
"This isn't something you want to risk by leaving it in the hands of someone who isn't certified and trained on dealing with these substances," he said. "Make sure your HVAC contractor is licensed and insured and has the certifications necessary to operate in your state."
For more information about Horizon Air Solutions, visit https://www.horizonairsolutions.com/.
About Horizon Air Solutions
Horizon Air Solutions is a locally owned and operated HVAC company serving the Houston area since 2016. The company offers HVAC installation, maintenance and repair services, and are indoor air quality experts. Horizon Air Solutions offers licensed and insured contractors that are certified to practice in the state of Texas. The company offers affordable services with no overhead costs and can provide financing options to qualified applicants. Horizon Air Solutions also offers bilingual consultants and technicians to meet customer needs. For more information about Horizon Air Solutions, please visit https://www.horizonairsolutions.com/.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR
865-977-1973
[email protected]
SOURCE Horizon Air Solutions
The aggressor country Russia launched a night attack on Ukraine on September 19 with a kamikaze drone in Lviv. It caused a fire in an industrial warehouse and injured a man.
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Before that, explosions were heard in the region. This was reported by the mayor of the city, Andriy Sadovyi, on his Telegram channel.
"All relevant services have arrived at the scene. We are working according to the protocol," he wrote.
It should be noted that on Tuesday night, Russia launched its third consecutive air attack on Ukraine. From two o'clock in the afternoon, the alarm began to spread across the regions, and the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine warned of enemy missile and attack UAV launches.
Lviv region was twice threatened by kamikaze drones of the Shahed-136/131 type. It was noted that air defense was working to shoot down enemy targets.
Around five in the morning, the mayor of Lviv indicated that there was a threat of a second attack in the region, but that air defense was on guard - the sounds of explosions heard at that time were the work of the defenders. Later, he confirmed a Shahed strike in the city, which caused the roof of an industrial warehouse in one of the districts to catch fire and resulted in a casualty.
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According to the head of the Regional Military Administration, Maksym Kozytsky, a significant fire broke out in the warehouse in the regional center as a result of this attack, and all specialized services were working at the scene. After 06:00, he emphasized that the threat of enemy attacks had now passed and thanked the air defense.
For his part, Sadovyi clarified that a 26-year-old man had been pulled from the rubble at the warehouse in Lviv. The victim has an open fracture of the limb, he is already in the hospital and is being provided with all the necessary assistance.
The mayor also warned that traffic on Horodotska Street from the intersection with Paton Street to the roundabout is blocked in both directions.
"Special equipment and all relevant services are working here. If possible, avoid this section of the road," he said.
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As reported by OBOZREVATEL, during the night air attack of the Russian Federation on August 15, six cruise missiles hit the territory of Lviv region, another was shot down by air defense forces. As a result of the attacks, 19 people were injured and about fifty houses were damaged.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Global hard materials supplier continues investment in Barcelona carbide facility and R&D center
WORTHINGTON, Ohio, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyperion Materials & Technologies, a leading global materials science company that develops advanced hard and super-hard materials for a variety of industries and applications, today inaugurated its newest production facility near Barcelona, Spain. Hyperion's expansion of its existing carbide sintering plant and research and development center in Martorelles will increase the site's production capacity of cemented carbide base materials and components by 60 percent to more than 500 tons annually.
The project, which began construction in July 2022 and increased the site's size from 11,650 square meters to 16,900 square meters, expanded production space for the manufacturing of can tooling systems, wire drawing dies and wear components. The project also created the production capability to manufacture all of Hyperion's tungsten carbide rolls supplied to the steel industry for manufacturing long steel products through the hot rolling process. The expansion will add about 20 skilled manufacturing jobs in Spain, where United States-based Hyperion employs about 400 of its 2,100 global associates.
The Martorelles site is also home to Hyperion's world-class carbide research and development team focused on materials science and continuous innovation.
"This expansion represents a critical point in Hyperion's commitment to protecting our customers' supply chains and optimizing our ability to meet our customers' needs throughout Europe and the world," said Ron Voigt, Chief Executive Officer of Hyperion. "We are thrilled to continue our decades-long investment in Spain and look forward to even more success for our dedicated team members and the Barcelona region. The decision to invest here is the result of the performance of our team and the extraordinary support of our business partners."
The project was funded in part by the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalan Government).
Media Contact
David Means
Corporate Communications Professional
[email protected]
About Hyperion Materials & Technologies
Hyperion Materials & Technologies, headquartered in Worthington, Ohio, USA, is a global leader in hard and super-hard materials with more than 70 years of experience developing cemented carbide, diamond and cubic boron nitride technologies. Hyperion specializes in premium base materials, toolmaker components, engineered products, and process tools and solutions for the most demanding applications.
To learn more, visit HyperionMT.com or check out Hyperion's profiles on LinkedIn or YouTube.
SOURCE Hyperion Materials & Technologies
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InCompass, a platform company of TJM Capital Partners, is pleased to announce it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire another prominent player in the machine tool industry, Bridgeport Machine Tool Company.
As a prominent manufacturer, with a portfolio of world-class brands in the industrial machinery sector, InCompass has strategically expanded its portfolio by incorporating Bridgeport Machine Tool Company. Bridgeport is renowned for vertical milling machinery, providing customers with flexibility, speed, quality, and value. According to Chairman Tom McDonough, "The inclusion of Bridgeport aligns seamlessly with our vision for growth. Bridgeport offers outstanding vertical milling solutions, opening up new avenues for us to cater to our valued customers." The financial terms of the transaction remain confidential.
This strategic move to acquire Bridgeport enhances the InCompass global presence and bolsters its manufacturing capabilities, enabling the company to provide comprehensive solutions to a diverse range of customers, including job shops, OEMs & any other end-user looking to maximize productivity. InCompass CEO Micah Coleman emphasized, "At InCompass, our paramount objective is to continually expand our array of solutions to support our clients' growth. The integration of Bridgeport technology brings us closer to becoming the preferred partner for complete manufacturing solutions."
About TJM Capital Partners
Founded in 2008, TJM is a private investment firm that invests in established middle and lower middle-market businesses looking to substantially grow and realize shareholder value. TJM has a fully supported management team backed by a select group of committed capital sources including family offices, high net worth individuals, and a diverse set of first-generation (G1) investors as a different type of private investment firm. www.tjmcapitalpartners.com
About InCompass
With locations throughout the world, InCompass provides customers with the time-saving solutions and industry leading expertise they need to grow their business by bringing together industrial manufacturers offering innovative products and systems. InCompass brands have served the market for over 500 years combined and have individually earned reputations for excellence. These industry leading brands include Timesavers, Dubois Equipment Company, Randbright, Bourn & Koch, Mollart Machinery, Clausing Industrial, Pratt Burnerd, and UK-based Colchester Machine Tool Solutions.
InCompass is comprised of 5 divisions: Wood Processing, Metal Abrasive Finishing, Machine Tools, Coatings, and Automation. Not just machinery, InCompass manufactures growth solutions. www.manufacturedgrowthsolutions.com.
About Bridgeport Machine Tool Company
Bridgeport Machine Tool Company is a leader in machine tool solutions for the global manufacturing community. Specializing in vertical milling equipment, the company possesses the ability to take on the most challenging manufacturing applications. Bridgeport offers a comprehensive range of services, including repair parts, field service, retrofit, and rebuild. Their legacy continues to live on in the form of various milling machines still in use today, as well as through the influence of its design principles on the machine tool industry.
Bridgeportmachinetools.com
SOURCE InCompass
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The industrial absorbents market size is expected to grow by USD 1.12 billion from 2022 to 2027. In addition, the growth momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 4.53% during the forecast period, according to Technavio. Rising awareness about the importance of workplace safety is notably driving the industrial absorbents market. However, factors such as health hazards related to the manufacturing of industrial absorbents may impede market growth. The market is segmented by End-user (Chemicals, Oil and gas, Food processing, Healthcare, and Others), Type (Chemical, Oil-only, and Universal), and Geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). We provide a detailed analysis of 20 companies operating in the industrial absorbents market including 3M Co., Ansell Ltd., Brady Corp., Darcy Products Ltd., Decorus Europe, Ecolab Inc., Ecospill Pty Ltd., Enretech Australasia Pty Ltd., Evolution Sorbent Products, Heritage Crystal Clean Inc., Impact absorbents Inc., Interstate Products Inc., Meltblown Technologies Inc., New Pig Corp., Nu Wool Co. Inc., Oil Dri Corp. of America, Polyeco Group, Safetec, Seche Environnement SA, and TOLSA SA. The report offers an up-to-date analysis of the market, and to know the exact growth variance and the Y-O-Y growth rate, Request a FREE Sample Report.
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Industrial Absorbents Market 2023-2027
Industrial Absorbents Market 2023-2027: Company Analysis
Meltblown Technologies - The company offers industrial absorbents such as universal indoor industrial absorbents and oil outdoor absorbents. This report provides a full list of key companies, their strategies, and the latest developments. Buy Now for detailed company information
Industrial Absorbents Market 2023-2027: Segmentation
End-user
The chemicals segment is significant during the forecast period. The growing demand for industrial absorbents by this segment is driven by the usage of corrosive, toxic, and flammable materials used in industrial processes in the chemicals sector. Furthermore, diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock that is highly porous and has excellent absorbent properties, which makes it ideal as an absorbent for various liquids, including oils, solvents, and chemicals. Also, chemical companies themselves produce and sell industrial absorbents as they are aware of the vital role of controlling spillages of hazardous substances. Hence, such factors drive the growth of the chemicals segment of the industrial absorbents market during the forecast period.
Geography
APAC will contribute 44% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period. Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a FREE PDF Sample Report
Industrial Absorbents Market 2023-2027: Key Highlights
Historic Market Size 2017-2021
CAGR of the market during 2023-2027
Detailed information on factors that will assist industrial absorbents market growth during the next five years
Estimation of the industrial absorbents market size and its contribution to the parent market
Forecasts on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior
The growth of the industrial absorbents market
Analysis of the competitive landscape and detailed information on companies
Comprehensive details of factors that will impede the growth of industrial absorbents market companies
Related Reports:
The industrial salt market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.1% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 3,946.45 million. This industrial salt market report extensively covers market segmentation by source (rock salt and natural brine), application (chemical processing, deicing, water treatment, and others), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa). The wide range of industrial applications of industrial salt is the key factor driving the growth of the market.
The industrial boiler market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 3.51% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 2,948.87 million. This report extensively covers market segmentation by source (gas-fired boiler, coal-fired boiler, oil-fired boiler, and others), end-user (chemicals and petrochemicals, food processing, paper and pulp, power generation, and metal and mining, and others), and geography (APAC, Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa, and South America). The rising popularity of hybrid boilers drives market growth.
Industrial Absorbents Market Scope Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017-2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.53% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 1.12 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 4.0 Regional analysis APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution APAC at 44% Key countries US, China, Japan, South Korea, and Germany Competitive landscape Leading Vendors, Market Positioning of Vendors, Competitive Strategies, and Industry Risks Key companies profiled 3M Co., Ansell Ltd., Brady Corp., Darcy Products Ltd., Decorus Europe, Ecolab Inc., Ecospill Pty Ltd., Enretech Australasia Pty Ltd., Evolution Sorbent Products, Heritage Crystal Clean Inc., Impact absorbents Inc., Interstate Products Inc., Meltblown Technologies Inc., New Pig Corp., Nu Wool Co. Inc., Oil Dri Corp. of America, Polyeco Group, Safetec, Seche Environnement SA, and TOLSA SA Market dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID-19 impact and recovery analysis and future consumer dynamics, 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.
ToC:
Executive Summary
Market Landscape
Market Sizing
Historic Market Sizes
Five Forces Analysis
Market Segmentation by End-user
Market Segmentation by Type
Market Segmentation by Geography
Customer Landscape
Geographic Landscape
Drivers, Challenges, & Trends
Company Landscape
Company Analysis
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
MINNEAPOLIS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- INRY, a leading top 10 ServiceNow elite partner, developed an Election Worker Management (EWM) solution to streamline the election process. Built on the Now platform, EWM simplifies the election process by automating election worker recruitment, onboarding, training, and offboarding processes. It replaces time-consuming manual and paper-based methods by integrating payroll setup and importing election worker hours through timecard data processing, storing and organizing past worker data for future hiring needs, and providing training modules and credentialing based on past roles and experiences.
Join INRY, ServiceNow, and Clark County for a session on the Election Worker Management Solution
Join ServiceNow and INRY in conversation with Clark County, Nevada, in a webinar at 11:00 AM Central Time on 21 September 2023 as they discuss how the INRY ATS solution and the ServiceNow HRSD (Human Resources Service Delivery) helped them lower the cost, complexity, and processing time associated with election worker engagement. Register Now
The Election Worker Management solution promises an elevated experience for all election workers and stakeholders involved, offering increased speed, scalability, reliability, and compliance with the assurance of ServiceNow's platform capabilities. Moreover, the solution delivers real-time analytical reports and dashboards, giving election management teams valuable insights for better decision-making.
"One of our County customers was looking to invest in modern tools to streamline their election process. They chose ServiceNow as a modern, efficient, and secure platform for teams and workers in the public sector. INRY's Election Worker Management built on ServiceNow is a game-changer for any government organization aiming to modernize its election management experience," said JD Sillion, Chief Revenue Officer at INRY.
Click Here to know more about Our Election Worker Management Solution.
About INRY
INRY is an Elite Partner offering complete lifecycle transformations built on the ServiceNow platform, from implementations to support, training, and everything in between. We help customers use ServiceNow to design the future state of their business and make it real by creating new and exponential technologies. Over the past decade, we have helped organizations across many industries leverage ServiceNow's potential to elevate experiences across their entire business. For more information, please visit www.inry.com
Contact:
Sangeetha Jayaprakash
[email protected]
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SOURCE INRY
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Companies today face a critical challenge - the need to stay competitive and to innovate sustainably. Circular economy principles and eco-friendly operations are becoming essential components of business success. To address this imperative, the Americas Conference - Sustainable Resilience: Catalyzing Innovations is set to take place from November 9th to 11th, 2023, hosted at the INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation.
The conference provides an unparalleled platform for senior business and government leaders, and INSEAD faculty and alumni, to engage in thoughtful discussions. The focus will be on exploring frameworks and examples of business opportunities that integrate environmental, social, technological, and financial considerations into decision-making while discussing the imminent risks of omitting a sustainability mindset.
"The need for sustainability in business has reached a critical juncture. We are excited to bring together a diverse group of thought leaders, innovators, and industry experts at the Americas Conference to explore the intersection of sustainability and business resilience," says Karel Cool, Professor of Strategy at INSEAD.
Event Details:
Date: November 9-11, 2023
Location: INSEAD San Francisco Hub for Business Innovation
Website: https://www.insead.edu/san-francisco-hub/events/americas-conference-2023
Early Bird Tickets: Available until September 30th, 2023
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/insead-americas-conference-sustainable-resilience-catalyzing-innovations-tickets-642237247897
Key Conference Highlights:
Thursday, November 9th:
INSEAD Entrepreneur Showcase
Friday, November 10th:
Masterclass with INSEAD Professor Karel Cool : Sustainability through the Lens of Strategy
: Sustainability through the Lens of Strategy Keynote Address by Joel Makower , Chairman and Co-Founder at GreenBiz Group
, Chairman and Co-Founder at GreenBiz Group The Role of the Board in Mitigating Risk and Building Resilience in Business
Tech and AI in Business Opportunities
Funding and Financing Innovative Solutions
Women in Sustainability
Exploring Sustainability & Tech
Saturday, November 11th:
Future of Living, in collaboration with Swissnex
Biltz Hackathon: Designing a Sustainable Future
Transforming Career with the EMC Frameworks
Investing in Sustainability: Business Angel Workshop
The conference promises to be a melting pot of ideas, inspirations, and collaborative endeavors to drive businesses toward a sustainable and resilient future. With over 250 INSEAD faculty and alumni, senior government, and business leaders, attendees are invited to join the conversation and seize the opportunity to learn, network, and co-create innovative solutions for a better tomorrow.
For more information and registration, please visit https://www.insead.edu/san-francisco-hub/events/americas-conference-2023#376311
About INSEAD, The Business School for the World
As one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD brings together people, cultures and ideas to develop responsible leaders who transform business and society. Our research, teaching and partnerships reflect this global perspective and cultural diversity.
With locations in Europe (France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi), and North America (San Francisco), INSEAD's business education and research spans four regions. Our 166 renowned Faculty members from 41 countries inspire more than 1,500 degree participants annually in our Master in Management , MBA , Global Executive MBA , Specialised Master's degrees ( Executive Master in Finance and Executive Master in Change ) and PhD programmes. In addition, more than 11,000 executives participate in INSEAD Executive Education programmes each year.
INSEAD continues to conduct cutting-edge research and innovate across all our programmes. We provide business leaders with the knowledge and awareness to operate anywhere. Our core values drive academic excellence and serve the global community as The Business School for the World. More information about INSEAD can be found at www.insead.edu .
SOURCE INSEAD
YICHANG, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 14th China Yangtze River Three Gorges International Tourism Festival opened in Yichang City, the gateway to the Three Gorge Dam site, in central China's Hubei Province on the evening of Sept. 16.
After the opening ceremony, a large-scale dance performance featuring poetry and painting elements about the Yangtze River was staged, which showcases the river's natural beauty and vast expanse and the city's time-honored cultural legacies and achievements in the protection and development of the Yangtze River, according to the Three Gorges Integrated Media Center of Yichang City.
The tourism festival will last from Sept. 16 to Sept. 27 to promote the green development of the Yangtze River and the iconic views of the Three Gorges.
A total of 18 activities will be held during the 12-day long festival, including the opening ceremony, dance performance, the Yangtze River Three Gorges regional tourism cooperation rotating chairman meeting, piano performance, citrus harvesting and open water swimming contests.
The festival is a large-scale tourism festival co-sponsored by the local governments of Hubei and Chongqing, two provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River. Since 2010, it has been held in the two places in an annual rotation manner and become a well-known cultural tourism event in China.
The opening ceremony featured the attendance of representatives from the relevant departments and districts of Chongqing and Hubei, regions with pair-up support to the Three Gorges area, important enterprises, well-known artists, travel agents, academic tour organizers, among others.
Accelerating the regional development of the Yangtze River Three Gorges is of special significance for the comprehensive implementation of the development strategy of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the promotion of regional coordinated development.
Over the past decade, Hubei and Chongqing have deepened cooperation by co-hosting the festival, branding the Three Gorges, and building the Yangtze River national cultural park.
The cooperation between the two sides has played a positive role in promoting the conservation and ecological development of the Yangtze River, driving the Three Gorges region's economic and social development, and improving locals' well-being.
Image Attachments Links:
Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=442289
Caption: The 14th China Yangtze River Three Gorges International Tourism Festival opened in Yichang City.
SOURCE The Three Gorges Integrated Media Center of Yichang City
PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Power Systems West, a renowned provider of top-tier industrial equipment and solutions, is excited to announce its latest partnership as an authorized Equipment Dealer for Atlas Copco Power Technique. With this exciting collaboration, Power Systems West will bring Atlas Copco Power Technique's cutting-edge equipment and technology to customers across all 5 of its strategically located branches in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
Power Systems West's unwavering commitment to distribution and service excellence, combined with Atlas Copco Power Technique's reputation as a global leader in sustainable productivity solutions, promises an unparalleled range of high-performance equipment tailored to meet the specific needs of businesses in diverse industries. This partnership will empower customers to drive efficiency, productivity, and profitability to new heights.
"Power Systems West is proud to join forces with Atlas Copco Power Technique, a true pioneer in innovative industrial solutions," said Brad Lyons, President of Power Systems West. "This partnership enables us to round-out our towable generator line-up and continue to build out our rental fleet bringing additional value to our customers. With our strategic presence across the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions, and Atlas Copco's innovative line-up of equipment we are confident it will be well received in the marketplace."
As an authorized Equipment Dealer for Atlas Copco Power Technique, Power Systems West will offer a comprehensive range of products; towable tier 4 generators, energy storage systems, pumps, and portable compressors. Power Systems West will be the go-to provider of Aftermarket Parts and Service for these lines. Whether clients are seeking equipment for construction, mining, manufacturing, or other industries, or they are looking to have their product serviced, they can rely on Power Systems West's knowledgeable team to guide them towards the ideal solutions that align with their operational requirements.
"We are excited to welcome Power Systems West into our network of trusted partners," said Matt Le Cornu, Regional Vice President for the Western Region within Atlas Copco Power Technique. "Their extensive industry expertise, coupled with their commitment to customer satisfaction, aligns perfectly with our own values. We are confident that this partnership will provide customers in the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions with exceptional equipment options and top-notch service."
Power Systems West's dedication to being a leader in Power Generation over the last 7 decades, our vast customer base, backed by Atlas Copco Power technique's advanced technology, will undoubtedly pave the way for success for businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions.
For more information about Power Systems West and its partnership with Atlas Copco Power Technique, please visit www.powersystemswest.com.
About Power Systems West: Since 1955, Power Systems West has been a leading provider of industrial Power Generation equipment and solutions, dedicated to delivering exceptional service and innovative products to customers across the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain regions. As an authorized Kohler Power distributor, Power Systems West offers total system integration from diesel and gaseous generators to transfer switches, switchgear, controls and all related accessories, they ensure every part of your power system is engineered to work together.
About Atlas Copco Power Technique: Atlas Copco Power Technique is a global leader in sustainable productivity solutions, offering a wide range of innovative equipment and services to industries worldwide. With a focus on efficiency, reliability, and environmental responsibility, Atlas Copco Power Technique enables businesses to thrive while minimizing their impact on the environment.
PRESS CONTACT:
Kimberly Myers (PSW)
Marketing Compliance Specialist
M: (971) 291-7780
E: [email protected], W: PowerSystemsWest.com
SOURCE Power Systems West
Driving industry growth is the increasing demand for clean, safe water access, as well as the need for sustainable energy alternatives.
BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BCC's lateset report, Ion Exchange Materials: Technologies and Global Markets examines companies like the startup Ionomr , which are developing applications that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Ion exchange materials are versatile tools not only in the alternative energy space, but also in global healthcare, energy security, water utilities, and many other industries. Investors are pitching in to develop technologies and applications.
For example, companies like General Electric use ion exchange materials to enhance efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and improve product quality across a wide range of industriesfrom water purification to advanced pharmaceutical development.
The report examines other developments in the industry, including:
The potential for ion exchange materials to make hydrogen generation more efficient by enhancing the efficiency and selectivity of electrochemical reactions, such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).
more efficient by enhancing the efficiency and selectivity of electrochemical reactions, such as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Aerospace applications: NASA and other space agencies use ion exchange resins in spacecraft to remove ions and impurities from water, ensuring astronauts have a clean and safe water supply during long missions.
NASA and other space agencies use ion exchange resins in spacecraft to remove ions and impurities from water, ensuring astronauts have a clean and safe water supply during long missions. Incorporating nanomaterials, such as nanoparticles and nanofibers, into ion exchange matrices is becoming more common. These nanomaterials provide high surface areas and unique properties for ion exchange applications.
The report is relevant to professionals working in not only the ion exchange materials industry directly, but also in energy generation and storage, water technology, food and beverages, and pharmaceuticals.
For further information or to make a purchase, please get in touch with [email protected].
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Data and analysis extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying BCC Research LLC as the source and publisher. For media inquiries, email [email protected] or visit www.bccresearch.com/media to request access to our library of market research.
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SOURCE BCC Research LLC
CHICAGO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Kaolin Market by Process (Water-Washed, Airfloat, Calcined, Delaminated, and Surface-Modified & Unprocessed), End-Use Industry (Paper, Ceramic & Sanitarywares, Fiberglass, Paints & Coatings, Rubber, Plastics), and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", is estimated at USD 4.6 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach USD 6.1 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2023 to 2028. The expansion of this market can be ascribed to the rising demand stemming from various end-use sectors such as paper, ceramics & sanitary wares, fiberglass, paints & coatings, rubber, and plastics industries. Additionally, there is a growing appetite for kaolin in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors, which is serving as a driving force for the global growth of kaolin.
Browse in-depth TOC on "Kaolin Market"
160 Tables
55 Figures
200 Pages
Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=91196438
Water Washed is expected to account for the largest market share in forecasted period, in terms of both value and volume.
The most popular procedure for transforming raw kaolin into its finished products is the water-washed process, also known as wet processing. This process calls for the raw kaolin to go through a number of processes, including screening, grinding, centrifuging, slurring, blunging, and chemical treatment. The market is expanding as a result of rising demand, especially from the building and construction sector. Notably, the water-washed method is often used to produce hydrous kaolin because it helps keep the clay's water content between 12% and 14%.
Ceramic & sanitary wares are expected to witness the highest CAGR between 2023 to 2028
Due to its beneficial qualities, kaolin is widely used in the ceramics and sanitary goods industries and is expected to grow with the highest CAGR. It is the perfect material for creating ceramic whiteware products, such as porcelain items, insulators, and refractories, due to its high fusion temperature and white-burning properties. Kaolin is also a suitable material for the creation of porcelain electrical insulators due to its outstanding dielectric characteristics and chemical inertness. Kaolin is prized for its dimensional stability, high fusing point, low water content, and remarkable green strength in refractory applications. It gives whiteware goods dimensional stability, smooth surface finish, and dry and fired strength.
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Asia Pacific account for the largest market share in the global kaolin market
Asia Pacific region dominated the global kaolin market in 2022 by holding the largest market share. Furthermore, this region is projected to experience the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2023 to 2028. The Asia Pacific has emerged as a thriving and promising market for kaolin, driven by shifting demographics, rapid industrialization, and improving economic circumstances. With approximately 60% of the world's population residing in this region, the extensive utilization of kaolin across various end-use industries such as paper, rubber, ceramics & sanitary wares, fiberglass, and paints & coatings is quite notable.
Prominent companies in the kaolin market include Imerys S.A. (France), Ashapura Group (India), EICL Limited (India), SCR-Sibelco N.V. (Belgium), KaMin LLC (US), Thiele Kaolin Company (US), LASSELSBERGER Group (Hungary), Quarzwerke GmbH (Germany), Sedlecky kaolin a. s. (Czech Republic), I-Minerals lnc. (Canada), 20 Microns Limited (India), Minotaur Exploration Limited (Australia), W. R. Grace & Co. (US), KERAMOST, a.s. (Czech Republic), Uma Group of Kaolin (India), Jiangxi Sincere Mineral Industry Co., Ltd. (China), and Active Minerals International, LLC (US).
Browse Adjacent Market: Advanced Materials Market Research Reports & Consulting
Related Reports:
Paper Pigments Market - Global Forecast to 2028
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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.
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Domuschiev Impact will lead philanthropic and sustainability efforts, including $5 million to develop a new Global Anti-Malaria Center.
NEW YORK AND SOFIA, Bulgaria, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kiril Domuschiev, President and CEO of Huvepharma, announced a $5 million plan to ensure low-cost and broad access to life-saving anti-malarial medications in the most endemic countries.
Domuschiev Impact, unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) conference in New York, plans to develop a new Global Anti-Malaria Center focused on bringing a truly competitive, no-profit-no-loss treatment for malaria to market. Domuschiev Impact will build upon groundbreaking research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Domuschiev Impact is committed to bold action and inspiring others as the world contends with unprecedented challenges. Post this
"The general objective of this new center is to inspire innovation, rally funder support, and motivate researchers," explained Kiril.
"Marketplace instability and lack of access could endanger millions more lives. Huvepharma has spent significant resources including research and capital investments to develop low-cost treatments. This new center enables us to approach a more thorough economic evaluation to research and development," further detailed Nicola De Risi, CEO of Huvepharma Italia, who joined Mr. Domuschiev at CGI.
In addition to the commitments announced Tuesday, Domuschiev Impact is working with the Clinton Global Initiative and other partners to invest in training small, co-op farmers in Africa to expand healthy, sustainable animal protein production.
Over five years, Domuschiev Impact will provide small, co-op farmers with experts in livestock management, nutrition, veterinary services, and critical animal health products through the family's pharmaceutical company, Huvepharma. Combined, these goods and services will help ensure farmers are set up for long-term success, creating a more food-secure environment and a new generation of prosperity in some of the world's most challenging places.
"We are committed to the health and vitality of the global community, especially in parts of the world that are still developing," Kiril continued.
Echoing previous statements at CGI's first-ever meeting in Bulgaria earlier this year, Kiril also encouraged attendees and their organizations to take on ambitious projects to tackle the world's toughest problems. "We believe that health, access, and sustainability result from businesses focused on making the communities we serve stronger, healthier, and more secure."
About Domuschiev Impact https://www.domuschiev.org
Domuschiev Impact invests in science, innovation, and people. Leading philanthropic and sustainability efforts within the family's many companies, Domuschiev Impact is designed to impact global change by bringing partners across sectors to realize a more sustainable world.
About Huvepharma https://www.huvepharma.com
Huvepharma is a fast-growing global Pharma company (in terms of sales growth) focusing on developing, manufacturing, and marketing animal and human health and nutraceutical products.
Huvepharma's key strengths lie in large-scale fermentation and technical expertise developed over more than half a century at our European manufacturing sites.
Huvepharma's products are sold in over 100 countries. The company operates production sites in France, a chemical synthesis plant in Italy, three production facilities for biotechnology and vaccines in Bulgaria, and six sites in the U.S. for vaccines and veterinary medicines.
International media contact:
Hyperfocal
Lauren Gilmore
[email protected]
+1 346 221-2636
Huvepharma Dutch media contact:
SPJ Amsterdam
Kees Jongsma
M +31 6 54 798 253
E [email protected]
Huvepharma International Sales Director Affiliates
Alain Kanora
+32 473 900 426
SOURCE Domuschiev Impact
Ukraine will soon receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States. This was stated by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, opening a meeting in the Ramstein format on September 19 in Germany.
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Austin's statement was quoted by AFP.
"I'm pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that were previously promised to be delivered to the United States will soon arrive in Ukraine," Austin said at the opening of the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense.
The news is supplemented by
Forum with Sir Philip Campbell, Springer Nature Editor-in-Chief and Cambridge Honorary Fellow.
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The International ESG Association (IESGA), in collaboration with the APRU Sustainable Waste Management Program (APRU SWM), the Korea University ESG Research Institute, the Korean Society for Consumer and Advertising Psychology, and Springer Nature, hosted a forum with Sir Philip Campbell, titled "Routes towards a sustainable society." The forum was led by Prof. Yong Sik Ok, the HCR Professor at Korea University, the Chair and Program Director of the APRU SWM Program, as well as the President of IESGA. Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee, the Director of the Korea University ESG Research Institute and the President of IESGA, played a key role alongside Prof. Ok. Sir Campbell, a prominent British astrophysicist, is an Honorary Fellow at Cambridge. He held the position of Editor-in-Chief of Nature for 22 years and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief at Springer Nature. He is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of British Science Writers (2019) and was recognized as a Knight Bachelor for his contribution to the field of science on the late Queen's birthday in 2015.
Speakers at the forum "Routes Towards a Sustainable Society" highlighted how researchers must strive to address social, environmental, and financial challenges in an effort to influence policies to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ESG principles.
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) holds prominence across both research and industries. Its significance resides in shaping responsible practices, ensuring sustainability, and promoting ethical governance. The adoption of an interdisciplinary approach is imperative to effectively tackle the multifaceted challenges tied to ESG, thus fostering holistic solutions for a more conscientious world. Within the current ESG era, this Forum provided a notable platform to link ESG and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). It was graced by the presence of CEOs and representatives from diverse industries, as well as esteemed high-level professionals from media societies. During the welcome address delivered by Prof. Rhee, it was duly highlighted that ESG stands as an emerging phenomenon. The significance of embracing an interdisciplinary approach, harmonizing research, and education, was underscored for the effective implementation of ESG principles. During his speech on societal challenges of research, including research communication and its societal impacts, Sir Campbell emphasized the need for conducting interdisciplinary research that covers a wide array of disciplines in order to achieve UN SDGs by 2030. He added that the findings of such research could provide actionable recommendations to help overcome the challenges faced by the society, environment, and economic sectors. Moreover, he emphasized that researchers must realize their power to influence high-level policy development. According to Sir Campbell, for any research to impact the society, it must take on-board the target group of the society that will benefit from it, as its stakeholder. He further added that to find relevance in the social dimension, universities and researchers should pursue research that aligns with the UN SDGs and their national policies; encourages multidisciplinary research projects; and promote practices like open data, available tools, and open access.
The panel discussion, led by Prof. Yong Sik Ok, sparked further deliberations by emphasizing on the link between UN SDGs and ESG and the impact that media has had on research. It deep-dived into the use of machine learning techniques for developing quantitative indicators from qualitative datasets. Such fora serve as a fertile ground for new ideas that can benefit society and support the goal of achieving the UN SDGs by 2030. Agreeing on this with Sir Campbell, Amasha Withana, the secretary of the APRU SWM Program, commented, "Universities, research institutes, governments, and private organizations should collaborate more on research that has a societal impact."
Media contact:
Ms. Amasha Withana, [email protected]
Yong Sik Ok, 82-2-3290-4061, [email protected]
SOURCE International ESG Association (IESGA)
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Kuber, a rapidly growing alternative mortgage lender in Canada, is pleased to announce that it has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing $500 million in funded mortgages since inception.
"This accomplishment is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team," said Sutha Kunam, President and CEO of Kuber. "It also reflects our unwavering commitment to providing an exceptional client experience. Our mission has always been to deliver flexible and personalized lending solutions to a diverse range of borrowers, and we are proud to see this milestone recognize our success in doing just that."
Recognizing that each client has unique needs and circumstances, Kuber strives to provide tailor-made solutions to meet those needs. "We believe that access to financing options that align with individual circumstances should be available to everyone," added Sutha Kunam.
Additionally, Kuber places great importance on prioritizing the interests of its investors and partners. The company is devoted to offering compelling and high-quality real estate-backed alternative investment products. "Establishing trust and cultivating strong relationships with our stakeholders is an integral part of our corporate identity," said Sutha Kunam.
While Kuber celebrates this significant milestone, it is also excited about the future and the opportunities it presents for continued growth.
About Kuber Mortgage Investment Corporation
Kuber, founded in 2016, is a non-bank lender that provides highly personalized short-term mortgage loans to credit-worthy borrowers whose financial needs cannot be met by the conventional lending restrictions of banking institutions. Kuber offers investors who wish to take part in mortgage investments, but who may lack the expertise, time, energy, or investment capital required to invest, a unique opportunity to invest in a diversified pool of sustainable mortgages, concentrated mainly in the Greater Toronto Area.
Additional information on the Company is available at www.kubermic.com
Forward Looking Statements
Although forward looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management of the Company believes are reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Kuber Mortgage Investment Corporation
-- Laconic's SADAR platform and Pro Natura Int'l Shared Value Platform (SVP) initiative leveraged to meet State of Mato Grosso's decarbonization goals --
CHICAGO and SAO PAULO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Laconic Infrastructure Partners Inc. ( Laconic ), a leading global provider of environmental intelligence services, and Pro Natura International (PNI), a global non-profit development agency, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, that will help facilitate the State's commitment to fully decarbonize its economy by 2035, according to the Mato Grosso Carbon Neutral Program. This partnership will make it possible to obtain the funding needed to promote sustainable economic growth.
Andrew Gilmour, CEO & Laconic, Marcelo de Andrade, Pro Natura International and the Deputy Governor, Otaviano Olavo Pivetta and the Environmental Secretary, Mauren Lazzaretti, of the State of Mato Grosso sign an MOU to meet the States 2035 NetZero pledge.
The world is increasingly seeing the devastating weather effects of climate change proving that more dramatic efforts to decarbonize are needed. The State of Mato Grosso has the largest ongoing decarbonization program in Brazil. The goal of this program is to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions by 2035, well ahead of the UN's 2050 goal. The plan combines a variety of carbon sequestration activities to meet an intermediate goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2030, a uniquely ambitious intention. This sustainable development strategy, known as Produce, Conserve, include (PCI) is an investment-ready jurisdictional model designed to meet aggressive targets. These include producing more agricultural commodities, conserving natural resources, and including smallholders and indigenous people in economic development initiatives.
This strategic MOU will provide the much-needed ecosystem/environmental accounting, promote sustainable development, and fund socio-economic projects in the State of Mato Grosso. Laconic's SADAR platform and state-of-the-art, full-stack Natural Capital Monetization (NCM) engine will aggregate and disaggregate environmentally linked data to help fund and champion the interests of all stakeholders in the global carbon market. The small and medium enterprises (such as the stewards of the land), that have been so often overlooked in the past will now be able to benefit. This process ensures true data equity for a wide variety of stakeholders, all while facilitating the State's achievement of its NetZero 2035 pledge made at COP26 in Glasgow.
Equally important is the role that PNI plays and its unique Shared Value Platform (SVP) that was developed in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). SVP is designed to drive localized, sustainable economic development, such as the creation of new job opportunities and the fostering of local entrepreneurship, all while promoting United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (UN SDG). The SVP leverages the information flows created by NCM to allow any stakeholder (individual or corporate) to participate in the collective monetization of the natural capital of the State of Mato Grosso (beginning with carbon but not limited to carbon) at no cost to either the stakeholder(s) or the State.
"We are proud to be one of the first states in Brazil to have such an aggressive NetZero goal. It is extremely important to us that we meet our pledge targets to help mitigate climate change and not let our constituents down," said Otaviano Olavo Pivetta, Mato Grosso Deputy Governor. "With Laconic's NCM technology we can appropriately monetize our natural assets and join the global carbon market, all while meeting our PCI strategy to improve the State's economic growth and provide financial remuneration to all stakeholders, including local indigenous smallholders and stewards of the land."
"The significance of this MOU brings to light the true value our Natural Capital Monetization service provides in monetizing natural assets into carbon credits or any other environmental variable (i.e. methane, ocean, air, etc.) into credits," said Andrew Gilmour, co-founder and CEO, Laconic. "For the first time, all stakeholders, large or small, can receive funds for their stewardship of the land. It's true data equity and we are pleased to work with the State of Mato Grosso and PNI to achieve this and help reduce the world's GHG emissions."
"When I first met Laconic a year ago, I couldn't imagine that we would be announcing a strategic agreement a year later with the State of Mato Grosso leveraging Laconic's unique NCM technology," said Marcelo de Andrade, Founder and Chairman of Pro Natura International. "I'm extremely gratified that with this project the increased financial resources will enable us to enhance the decarbonization initiatives in the state of Mato Grosso, but equally important, we will bring to light the benefits of the Shared Value Platform and address pressing societal challenges, such as in rural areas."
About SADAR Platform
The SADAR (Sentient All-Domain Augmented Response) platform powers Laconic's Environmental Intelligence services and Natural Capital Monetization (NCM) engine. By combining environmental data-gathering, geospatial analytics using AI/ML, automated data quality/pedigree analysis, and environmentally-linked securities monetization & trading facilitation, the industry can trade on global carbon markets, ensuring that all stakeholders involved receive financial remuneration.
About the State of Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is a state in the Central-West region of Brazil. It is the third largest federative unit in territorial extension, 903,207.050 km, with a population of just over 3.6 million inhabitants. Mato Grosso is a hyper-biodiversity hub with three biomes, including 1) Pantanal (7%): World's largest tropical wetland, and UNESCO world heritage; 2) Cerrado (40%): World's most biodiverse Savannah and; 3) Amazon (53%): World's largest rainforest. Mato Grosso leads the largest decarbonization project underway in Brazill: Mato Grosso Carbon Neutral. The goal is to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. The State is an example of sustainability for Brazil and the world, by combining large-scale food production with environmental preservation. The state also stands out as the most important player in food production in Brazil, preserving 62% of its territory, encompassing areas of legal reserve and permanent preservation, indigenous territories and conservation units. Mato Grosso feeds 300 million people indirectly around the world, using 13% of its arable land. Furthermore, Mato Grosso has an efficient monitoring and controlling deforestation system and in 2023 alone, the Government of Mato Grosso is investing R$77 million to combat environmental illegalities.
About Pro Natura International
Founded in Brazil in 1985, Pro Natura International (PNI) is a global non-profit development agency that has been addressing the social, economic and environmental challenges facing rural communities in the development world for over 38 years. Click here to enter text.Together with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), PNI developed the Shared Value Platform (SVP) which is designed to promote long-term sustainable, inclusive and climate friendly developments in vulnerable regions with financial assistance. PNI has offices throughout Europe and the U.S. with the aim to establish scientific links and relationships with key institutions looking to fund conservation projects in the Southern Hemisphere. For more information, please visit http://www.pronaturainternational.org
About Laconic
Laconic is the leading global provider of Environmental Intelligence services. We provide governments, financial institutions and corporations with actionable insights that enable critical environmental decisions for sustainable growth. Our SADAR Platform uses state-of-the-art data gathering, in-situ monitoring, sensing and geospatial technology to assess alternative scenarios and make ecologically sound business decisions based on multi-modal analytics. We partner with our clients to develop bespoke solutions that address diverse issues such as regional food security, decarbonization, financial compliance obligations, and habitat preservation. Our solutions respect and preserve the integrity of local social, cultural, and economic norms, while actively promoting sustainable growth. Founded in 2019, the company is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) and headquartered in Chicago, with offices in Toronto, San Diego and Bali. For more information, please visit https://laconicglobal.com/ and https://www.natureworks.tv/
Laconic, SADAR, and NatureWorks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Laconic Infrastructure Partners Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Mato Grosso media contacts:
Mato Grosso
[email protected]
Pro Natura International media contacts:
Jose Rozinei da Silva
[email protected]
Laconic media contacts:
Elke Heiss
[email protected]
SOURCE Laconic Infrastructure Partners, Inc.
Employees Say An Increased Focus on Employee Wellbeing Would Help Create a Healthy Workplace Culture
ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly three-fourths of U.S. workers (73 percent) say the culture at their workplace impacts their ability to do their best work, and 72 percent indicate that culture drives their productivity and efficiency, according to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting. Another 65 percent of employees say culture impacts their ability to best serve customers, while 64 percent say it drives innovation and creativity. This research comes as reports of toxic cultures continue to emerge and as more employees return to the workplace.
When asked about the most important elements of the ideal organizational culture, workers said it's respect (74 percent), integrity (57 percent), stability (55 percent), ethical treatment (53 percent), and employee wellbeing (51 percent).
The most successful companies are intentional about their culture and employee wellbeing. Post this
These findings are from the 2023 Eagle Hill Consulting Culture Survey conducted by Ipsos from July 25-28, 2023. The survey included 1315 respondents from a random sample of employees across the U.S.
"It wasn't long ago that employees were walking out the door in droves during the Great Resignation, largely dissatisfied with their organizations, their treatment by employers, and burnout," said Melissa Jezior, president and chief executive officer of Eagle Hill Consulting. "While employment trends have shifted as the economy has softened, employers can't lose sight of the fundamental importance of a strong culture. Not only does it help retain your best workers, a healthy culture drives peak performance, innovation, and customer service."
"The most successful companies are intentional about their culture and employee wellbeing," Jezior said. "Company culture just doesn't just magically happen. Leaders must define their company culture, manage and monitor culture, and model the behaviors they want to see across the workforce. You can bet that when culture isn't a high priority, a company isn't competitive, recruitment and attrition are chronic problems, and reputational issues emerge."
Additional survey findings are as follows:
When queried about who impacts organizational culture, 86 percent say it's their colleagues, 79 percent say it's their boss, 75 indicate it's human resources leaders, and 69 percent say it's executive leadership.
Actions employers could take to create a healthy workplace include investing in improving employee wellbeing (51 percent), holding workers accountable for bad behavior (46 percent), and leadership development (42 percent).
When it comes to employee wellbeing, only 30 percent of workers say their company has increased its focus during the last year. Fifty-four percent say the focus on employee wellbeing remained steady, and 17 percent say there is less of a focus.
When it comes to employee wellbeing, only 30 percent of workers say their company has increased its focus during the last year. Fifty-four percent say the focus on employee wellbeing remained steady, and 17 percent say there is less of a focus.
When asked who they trust in their workplace, 45 percent of workers say they trust their colleagues, 42 percent trust their boss, and only 13 percent trust executive leadership.
When asked who they trust in their workplace, 45 percent of workers say they trust their colleagues, 42 percent trust their boss, and only 13 percent trust executive leadership. Thirty-nine percent of workers say their organizational culture is better than most organizations, and 10 percent say it is worse. Fifty-one percent say their culture is about the same as compared to other organizations.
Eighteen percent of employees say they have reported unethical behavior observed in their workplace.
Read seven way to fix a toxic work environment.
Eagle Hill Consulting LLC is a woman-owned business that provides unconventional management consulting services in the areas of Strategy & Performance, Talent, and Change. The company's expertise in delivering innovative solutions to unique challenges spans across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. A leading authority on employee sentiment, Eagle Hill is headquartered in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, with employees across the U.S. and offices in Boston and Seattle. More information is available at www.eaglehillconsulting.com.
SOURCE Eagle Hill Consulting
Additional Funding Source Will Accelerate Growth Objectives for Firm and Affiliated Advisors
CHICAGO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LaSalle St., a family of wealth management firms encompassing an independent broker-dealer; RIA and insurance platforms, and a financing division (LaSalle St. Financial), today announced it has established a relationship with Live Oak Bank, a subsidiary of Live Oak Bancshares, Inc, (NYSE: LOB) to provide access to additional capital that will open up additional funding sources and allow the firm to continue executing on its growth objectives.
"We established this relationship with Live Oak Bank to take advantage of the opportunities we see in the market," said Mark Contey, Chief Marketing Officer. "By fostering this relationship with a trusted industry partner, LaSalle St. can continue to offer options that allow the firm to move quickly and provide compelling solutions as we drive our growth through recruiting, succession planning and M&A."
Live Oak Bank is a digitally focused, FDIC-insured bank with significant experience supporting wealth management enterprises across the country. Live Oak brings efficiency and excellence to the banking process, without branches, by using a focused approach to technology and innovation. The relationship will enhance LaSalle's existing financial support programs that help the firm continue to identify acquisition and growth opportunities.
"We are thrilled to offer LaSalle St. affiliated advisors a range of capital solutions to support their growth," said James Hughes, Head of Investment Advisor Financing at Live Oak Bank. "For 11 years, we have worked with financial advisors and understand the unique needs of this sector. Live Oak shares LaSalle St. leadership's dedication to personal service that enables advisors to grow and scale their businesses."
About LaSalle St.
LaSalle St. is a family of firms comprising LaSalle St. Securities, an independent broker-dealer; LaSalle St. Investment Advisors, a SEC-registered investment adviser; and LaSalle St. Insurance Services, a provider of annuity and insurance products. It has a singular mission of supporting the growth and success of independent financial advisors across the country. Founded in 1974 and based in Chicago, Illinois, LaSalle St. supports more than 300 financial advisors, has over $12 billion in total client assets and is registered in all 50 states. The LaSalle St. companies offer a wide range of services, including brokerage, advisory, investment and insurance. The firm clears primarily through National Financial Services, with custodial services through NFS parent Fidelity Investments. For more information, visit https://www.lasallest.com/.
# # #
Media Inquiries
Donald Cutler or Lorene Yue
Haven Tower Group
[email protected] or [email protected]
424 317 4864 or 424 317 4854
SOURCE LaSalle St.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In its debut year, LE DOMAINE, the luxury skincare collaboration between actor Brad Pitt and Famille Perrin, stewards of the Rhone Valley's Chateau de Beaucastel Vineyard, has amassed an impressive collection of accolades. The latest: a Women's Health 2023 Skincare Award for "Best Hydrating Serum."
LE DOMAINE Skincare adds to its growing list of accolades Post this The Serum by Le Domaine Skincare
Each year, the editorial team at Women's Health enlists a judging panel of dermatologists, aestheticians, and other skincare experts to select the top products across a broad range of categories for the Women's Health Skincare Awards. The full list of winners, including LE DOMAINE's The Serum, was revealed earlier today, September 19, on WomensHealthmag.com.
Other recent honors awarded to LE DOMAINE: In April, the Robb Report voted LE DOMAINE "Best New Luxury Skincare Brand" in its 2023 Grooming Awards. In June, ELLE designated The Serum by LE DOMAINE "Best Natural Anti-Aging Serum." And LE DOMAINE The Cream was chosen by both GQ and Harper's Bazaar editors as one of the best new skincare products for men.
Google searches for LE DOMAINE have also spiked 183.3 percent in the past yearand the brand was just designated one of the top ten emerging beauty brands by Spate Date, based on year-over-year U.S. Google search growth.
Created with equal emphasis on science and nature, LE DOMAINE skincare is formulated with grape-derived ingredients from the Chateau de Beaucastel, including soothing grape water and two exclusive patented active ingredients, GSM10 and ProGR3 . GSM10, an anti-aging compound developed by Pierre-Louis Teissedre, a professor at the University of Bordeaux Institute of Vine and Wine Science, uses upcycled Grenache seeds and the skin of Syrah and Mourvedre grapes. ProGR3, created by French scientist and researcher Nicolas Levy, features resveratrol, a potent antioxidant derived from Beaucastel grapevines. The efficacy of these ingredients has been rigorously studied and clinically proven to leave skin softer, more hydrated, and more rejuvenated.
LE DOMAINE is sold at us.le-domaine.com and bluemercury.com,
SOURCE Le Domaine Skincare
BOSTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator is thrilled to announce the successful completion of its Breakthrough to Scale accelerator by five exceptional edtech companies. These companies will be in the spotlight during EDTECH WEEK in New York City, where they will present their innovative solutions at the largest gathering of edtech investors and innovators on the East Coast from October 2nd to 4th.
Matt Rubins, General Partner at LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator, expressed excitement about the company's focus, stating, "By participating in the Shark Tanks, they will engage with experts possessing a deep understanding of their respective categories. We are thrilled to return to EDTECH WEEK in NYC, where the brightest minds in the industry convene, alongside these impactful and scalable companies."
The five pioneering companies are as follows:
Alchemy Vision (Los Angeles, California) brings workforce upskilling and training to the complex world of surgical eye care. Its platform contributes to a boost in staff efficiency, practice growth, and patient satisfaction. See them pitch on October 3rd, 1-1:45 PM at Shark Tank: Designing the Future of Work @ CUNY Graduate Center, New York.
Ann-Education (Tel Aviv, Israel) expedites education publishing's digital transformation by converting static documents to interactive materials using AI and machine learning. See them pitch on October 2nd, 3-3:45 PM at Shark Tank: AI in Education @ Google, 85 10th Ave., NYC.
Kiddie Kredit (Miami, Florida) teaches children about the credit system and financial responsibility through chore completion using in-app tools, laying a strong foundation for credit knowledge. See them pitch on October 2nd, 4-4:45 PM at Shark Tank: K-12 Innovations @ Google, 85 10th Ave., NYC.
Lingco (Lansing, Michigan) is an adaptive language learning platform for K-12 and higher education that offers skill assessment, actionable insights, and engaging content. It helps instructors enhance course structure and student proficiency. See them pitch on October 2nd, from 4-4:45 PM at Shark Tank: K-12 Innovations @ Google, 85 10th Ave., NYC.
UpBrainery (Houston, Texas) provides immersive career exploration for K-12 students, specializing in Career and Technical Education(CTE). Utilizing AI and machine learning, they create personalized learning paths complete with badges and micro-credentials. See UpBrainery pitch on October 2nd from 4-4:45pm as part of Shark Tank: K-12 Innovations @ Google, 85 10th Ave. NYC
After completing an intensive 12-week accelerator program focused on iterative, milestone-driven growth strategy, these visionary founders are now ready to showcase their exceptional solutions on a grand stage.
During EDTECH WEEK, LearnLaunch will be a key contributor to the wealth of resources for education leaders. Tetyana Astashkina, LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator General Partner, will participate in the panel, "Current and Future State of Early Stage EdTech Investment" on the main stage on Weds, 10/3. Two LearnLaunch Venture Partners will also be participating on panels throughout the week; Auditi Chakravarty, CEO of AERDF will discuss "Balancing Impact and Business through Research and Product Design" on Mon. 10/2 and Steve Shapiro, CEO of Finetune will sit on the "Founder to Funder" panel on Tues. 10/3.
LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator is dedicated to supporting impact-driven entrepreneurs in achieving product-market fit and developing scalable go-to-market strategies. Focusing on companies with revenue potential and scalable impact, their unique approach nurtures long-term funding, partnerships, and growth.
For more information, visit LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator , a licensee of LearnLaunch, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to catalyzing innovation in the education sector. For more information about the non-profit, visit LearnLaunch.
Contact:
Martin Chaplin
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator
SOURCE LearnLaunch Fund + Accelerator
Joining the Integrity partner platform offers agency of young, dynamic leaders an opportunity to expand through access to exclusive technology and mentorship of industry leaders
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Integrity Marketing Group, LLC ("Integrity"), a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of wealth management and retirement planning solutions, today announced it has partnered with Legacy Protectors Life Group ("Legacy Protectors"), a leading independent marketing organization ("IMO") based in Sarasota, Florida, and led by Jordan Lowery. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Legacy Protectors Life Group Expands Holistic Insurance Offerings by Partnering with Integrity
"I've been incredibly impressed by the level of commitment and discipline Jordan displays as a young, dynamic leader," shared Bryan W. Adams, Co-Founder and CEO of Integrity. "By partnering with Integrity, we can help bolster Jordan's current trajectory by offering the Legacy Protectors team the relationships, products and resources they need to achieve more and to grow at an even faster pace. We have thoughtfully built best-in-class technology and assembled leading talent in the industry to support, advise and encourage partners like Legacy Protectors. When partners join Integrity, they become part of a leadership group that wants them to succeed and is willing to offer guidance and assistance. I can't wait to see where Jordan takes his team at Legacy Protectors. With Integrity by their side, the sky is the limit for their future!"
A former collegiate athlete, Lowery brings a deep level of dedication and hard work to his business. Founded with a strong desire to serve, the company has experienced significant growth by building empathetic, respectful relationships with those it serves and treating each client like family. Legacy Protectors offers life insurance, mortgage protection and final expense products through thousands of agents nationwide.
"Insurance is a relationships business and one of the greatest things about Integrity are the relationships it offers partners," explained Jordan Lowery, CEO of Legacy Protectors Life Group. "Integrity has united an amazing team of world-class leaders with an incredible amount of collective expertise. There's always something I can learn, especially now being surrounded by the best in the business. As an individual leader, I can only achieve so much but when I add Integrity's resources, my opportunities are unlimited. I'm excited to take our volume and influence to a much higher level by leveraging the Integrity platform to position my agents for success. Together, we'll make a much greater impact on the lives of those we serve and I can't wait to get started."
Integrity is innovating insurance by bringing together a growing group of industry trailblazers and legends. This impactful network of partners is designing solutions that holistically protect the life, health and wealth of all Americans, while helping those they serve plan for the good days ahead. Through ongoing collaboration, these leaders are transforming all aspects of insurance and financial services.
As an Integrity partner, Legacy Protectors receives exclusive access to Integrity's end-to-end insurtech platform of technology, services and products. These extensive resources include instantaneous online quoting and enrollment capabilities, effective lead services through LeadCENTER, as well as Ask Integrity, a one-of-a-kind, revolutionary AI-powered and voice-activated technology that allows agents to foster more meaningful connections with clients. Furthermore, Legacy Protectors can redirect valuable time toward clients by utilizing Integrity's technology platforms, such as IntegrityCONNECT, to streamline administrative functions.
"Jordan got into this business because he wanted to change people's lives he is all heart," shared Shawn Meaike, Integrity Managing Partner. "When an innovative and forward-thinking leader like Jordan connects with Integrity's infrastructure and support, his business will explode. It's the 'Integrity Effect' of immediate growth powered by industry-leading resources and passionate leaders."
For more information about Legacy Protectors' decision to partner with Integrity, view a video at www.integritymarketing.com/LegacyProtectors.
About Integrity
Integrity, headquartered in Dallas, Texas, is a leading distributor of life and health insurance, and provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. Through its partner network of over 500,000 agents and advisors, Integrity helps millions of Americans protect their life, health and wealth with a commitment to meet them wherever they are in person, over the phone and online. Integrity's cutting-edge technology helps streamline the insurance and financial planning experience for all stakeholders. In addition, Integrity develops products with carrier partners and markets them through its nationwide distribution network. In 2022, Integrity helped carriers place over $22 billion in new sales and oversaw more than $40 billion of assets under management and advisement through its RIA and broker-dealer platforms. For more information, visit www.integritymarketing.com .
About Legacy Protectors Life Group
Legacy Protectors Life Group, headquartered in Sarasota, Florida, is a leader in simplified issue life insurance. The agency focuses on mortgage protection, final expense insurance, and safe money retirement. Under the direction of a dedicated and dynamic leadership team, Legacy Protectors Life Group has grown working nationwide and has placed over 100,000 policies. The agency understands that insurance truly is a "people business," and attributes its growth and success to recruiting exceptional leaders with strong core values who treat everyone they serve like family.
SOURCE Integrity Marketing Group, LLC
Six new organizations have joined to support the foundation's 25 projects, which have seen eight million new lines of code added from nearly 8,000 commits in a single year
BILBAO, Spain, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Open Source Summit Europe -- LF Energy, the open source foundation focused on harnessing the power of collaborative software and hardware technologies to decarbonize our global economies, is announcing recent momentum including five new members, six significant software releases, three research reports, and participation in multiple industry events. These announcements demonstrate the growing community commitment to LF Energy and its mission of creating a technology ecosystem to support rapid decarbonization.
"Open source is experiencing tremendous momentum in the energy sector after years of innovation," said Arpit Joshipura, Interim Executive Director, LF Energy, "Software, community, projects, and deployments are all experiencing growth. In the past 12 months alone, LF Energy has seen a 1.25x increase in hosted projects, a 23% increase in unique contributors, a 15% increase in commits, and an 8% increase in lines of code added across unique commits, bringing total lines of code to 114 million. This progress cannot happen fast enough if we are going to meet the ambitious decarbonization goals set by national and international bodies."
Open source is experiencing tremendous momentum in the energy sector after years of innovation. Post this
Educating the Energy Sector
LF Energy has recently released three new research reports to provide energy stakeholders with a better understanding of the state of the energy transition and open source's role to play:
The 2023 Energy Transformation Readiness Study provides survey-based insights into energy sector digitalization through open source. Headline findings include 76% of energy stakeholders surveyed reporting their organization has a clear strategic plan for digitalization, and that they have already begun implementing it. Additionally, 64% of energy stakeholders use more open source software than closed source, however a plurality (43%) believe energy industry consensus is still key to increasing OSS adoption.
provides survey-based insights into energy sector digitalization through open source. Headline findings include 76% of energy stakeholders surveyed reporting their organization has a clear strategic plan for digitalization, and that they have already begun implementing it. Additionally, 64% of energy stakeholders use more open source software than closed source, however a plurality (43%) believe energy industry consensus is still key to increasing OSS adoption. The Open Source Opportunity for Microgrids: Five Ways to Drive Innovation and Overcome Market Barriers for Energy Resilience informs readers about microgrids groups of distributed energy resources designed to improve energy resiliency, with the ability to operate as part of a larger electrical grid, or separately as an island. The report highlights the current state of the microgrid market and explores the potential for open source technology to accelerate the adoption of microgrids worldwide.
informs readers about microgrids groups of distributed energy resources designed to improve energy resiliency, with the ability to operate as part of a larger electrical grid, or separately as an island. The report highlights the current state of the microgrid market and explores the potential for open source technology to accelerate the adoption of microgrids worldwide. The Open Source Sustainability Ecosystem provides qualitative and quantitative insights into the landscape of open source sustainability projects, identifies those having the biggest impact, as well as gaps that stakeholders across the energy industry should look to fill. Following the analysis of the open source sustainability ecosystem, the report goes on to make more than 20 recommendations for effectively supporting and building capacity for open source in sustainability.
Communicating to New Audiences
LF Energy hosted two events in June to provide opportunities for the community to share knowledge and best practices, and collaborate on how to speed innovation in the energy sector:
LF Energy Summit took place June 1-2 in Paris , hosted at the headquarters of RTE with sponsorship support from Google and Savoir-faire Linux. Over 250 individuals representing over 150 organizations from 34 countries attended to learn how LF Energy and its projects are working collaboratively to develop new technologies to ensure the rapid onboarding of clean energy resources, deployment of electrification infrastructure, load balancing, and interoperability. Videos of all sessions are available to access for free .
in , hosted at the headquarters of RTE with sponsorship support from Google and Savoir-faire Linux. Over 250 individuals representing over 150 organizations from 34 countries attended to learn how LF Energy and its projects are working collaboratively to develop new technologies to ensure the rapid onboarding of clean energy resources, deployment of electrification infrastructure, load balancing, and interoperability. Videos of all sessions are available to . LF Energy Embedded Summit took place June 30 in Prague as part of the broader Embedded Open Source Summit. Hundreds of embedded developers and other stakeholders joined for a discussion of how IoT and other hardware can accelerate the energy transition and drive decarbonization. Videos of sessions from this event are also available to access for free .
Additionally, LF Energy members presented several sessions at SustainabilityCon at Open Source Summit North America in May in Vancouver, and will present an additional five sessions this week at Open Source Summit Europe. LF Energy members and projects have also presented in the past few months at events including CIRED, MOVE, and OpenUK's Open Technology for Sustainability Day.
LF Energy's EVerest project, which is developing and maintaining an open source software stack for EV charging infrastructure, will host a summit on October 5 at the PIONIX offices in Bad Schonborn, Germany.
Individual Projects Continue to Innovate
Six LF Energy projects have issued major software releases in the past several months:
Arras , a tool for development and deployment of smart-grid and renewable energy resource integration technology, has been officially transferred to LF Energy with the release of HiPAS GridLAB-D Version 4.3.1 (chiba-1). The release includes support for new use-cases; a new fire danger tool; voltage, current, and power flow violation detection capabilities; and new support for historical, current, and forecast weather.
, a tool for development and deployment of smart-grid and renewable energy resource integration technology, has been officially transferred to LF Energy with the release of HiPAS GridLAB-D Version 4.3.1 (chiba-1). The release includes support for new use-cases; a new fire danger tool; voltage, current, and power flow violation detection capabilities; and new support for historical, current, and forecast weather. FlexMeasures , an intelligent and developer-friendly energy management system to support real-time energy flexibility apps, rapidly and scalable, released version 0.1 of the new FlexMeasures client. The FlexMeasures client wraps the most important interactions needed to use FlexMeasures effectively in one place.
, an intelligent and developer-friendly energy management system to support real-time energy flexibility apps, rapidly and scalable, released version 0.1 of the new FlexMeasures client. The FlexMeasures client wraps the most important interactions needed to use FlexMeasures effectively in one place. OperatorFabric is a modular, extensible, industrial-strength, and field-tested platform for systems operators. Versions 3.15.0 and 3.15.1 have been recently released, adding new features including the ability to better detect loss of connection, as well as bug fixes.
and have been recently released, adding new features including the ability to better detect loss of connection, as well as bug fixes. Power Grid Model , a high-performance library for steady-state distribution power system analysis, released version 1.5.0 adding new features, which includes Short Circuit calculations according to the IEC60909 standard.
, a high-performance library for steady-state distribution power system analysis, released version 1.5.0 adding new features, which includes Short Circuit calculations according to the IEC60909 standard. PowSyBl , an open source library dedicated to electrical grid modeling and simulation, concluded its latest release train, adding new features such as load and line asymmetrical extensions, basic implementation of asymmetric AC load flow, and more.
, an open source library dedicated to electrical grid modeling and simulation, concluded its latest release train, adding new features such as load and line asymmetrical extensions, basic implementation of asymmetric AC load flow, and more. RTDIP , which provides easy access to high-volume, historical and real-time process data for analytics applications, engineers, and data scientists wherever they are, has been conducting experiments to see how Generative AI could help query structured data, which is now available in RTDIP SDK v0.5.0.
LF Energy CoMPAS Cleans Up IEC 61850 Data Model
The CoMPAS software tool developed by LF Energy has been deployed for the Real Time Interface (RTI) project initiated by grid operators and market parties in the Netherlands. The RTI aims to enable grid operators to limit power generation by customers in order to address capacity constraints on the electricity grid. RTI encountered a significant challenge in the form of an IEC 61850 data model that contained a substantial amount of unnecessary data objects and information. CoMPAS was employed to address the challenges associated with the IEC 61850 data model. The tool's intuitive interface and built-in validation functions allowed for efficient data model cleanup, expediting the overall development process. The accessibility of CoMPAS, even to users with limited expertise in the IEC 61850 protocol, simplified the validation and optimization tasks, resulting in faster progress.
LF Energy Approaches 75 Members with Six New Additions
In a significant sign of growth of LF Energy, five new members have joined the foundation. d-fine has joined LF Energy as a General Member. CRESYM , EDSN , Open Climate Fix , Trusted Computing Group , and WattTime have joined as Associate Members. LF Energy members provide funding and resources to support the foundation's mission of building a unified approach to developing non-differentiating code that can enable utilities, grid operators, electric vehicle makers, energy saving companies and others to develop and implement technologies to transform the power sector.
LF Energy Resources
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About LF Energy
A first-of-its-kind initiative, LF Energy provides a 21st century plan of action to solve climate change through open frameworks, reference architectures and a support ecosystem of complementary projects. Strategic Members include Alliander, Google, Microsoft, RTE and Shell, in addition to over 50 General and Associate Members from across the energy industry, technology, academia, and government. Find further information here: https://www.lfenergy.org
Media Contact
Dan Brown
LF Energy
[email protected]
+1 415-420-7880
SOURCE LF Energy
Successful collaboration on open source telco APIs drives CAMARA project to next level with Premier and General project sponsors bolstering new funded model
250 companies and 750+ contributors dedicated to collaboratively define interfaces providing customers with access to telecom industry network capabilities
BILBAO, Spain, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Open Source Summit Europe -- The Linux Foundation , the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, announced that its CAMARA project, an open source community addressing telco industry API interoperability, has graduated to a funded model. The news was shared onsite during the opening keynote at Open Source Summit Europe.
Initiated in 2021 by a small number of telco operators, vendors and hyperscalers, CAMARA launched in February 2022 with 22 initial partners; it has since grown to over 250 participating organizations with over 750 contributors. To help sustain rapid growth and ensure tighter structure with more resources, the community has moved the project to the next phase and introduced a fully funded model. The funded model will introduce a Governing Board, Technical Steering Committee, and End User Council to manage collaboration at scale.
"A true testament to the power of open source and what collaborative work can achieve, the CAMARA community is making APIs both more accessible, and more easily monetized," said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge and IoT, the Linux Foundation. "CAMARA's work across the industry to enable developers to more quickly and easily develop and deliver APIs for operators and cloud providers is just the beginning. The new funded model will ensure even more impactful collaboration across the board."
CAMARA offers new opportunities for collaboration between telecoms, GSMA, TMForum and other industries providing cloud-based services by developing an open, global, accessible API solution. The benefit for customers and developer ecosystems comes in the form of consistent and user-friendly access to network capabilities, thus enabling developers to seamlessly deploy applications to run consistently across telco networks and countries. This prevents fragmentation and empowers faster, more versatile advancement of global application portability and broad industry adoption of new features and capabilities.
"CAMARA is partnering with the whole industry to provide the right telco APIs to meet the demands of our enterprise and developer users. For that, the funded model will help us to improve tooling and services, and to enable shorter delivery cycles for the APIs," said Herbert Damker, Technical Steering Committee Chair, in the new CAMARA structure. "CAMARA is making it easy and simple for the global developer community to create new, connected solutions based on our advanced network capabilities. The collaboration between network operators, cloud providers, application developers and technology vendors in CAMARA has been crucial to this success. As a founding member of CAMARA we are proud of its impact since launch and thrilled to enter into the next phase of collaboration to empower developers."
In addition to its broad portfolio of participating organizations, the CAMARA fund is composed of 10 Premium sponsors, (including Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Ericsson, Microsoft, Nokia, Orange, Telefonica, Verizon, Vodafone, T-Mobile) and 5 General sponsors (including CableLabs, Centillion, Charter Communications, Scenera, Shabodi).
Collaboration with GSMA
CAMARA works closely with the GSMA's Operator Platform initiative that is defining a federated platform solution for exposing operator network capabilities to external applications. This partnership ensures that developers relying on the CAMARA project's API solution and abstraction will facilitate users across operator networks.
Earlier this year, CAMARA partnered with the GSMA, TMForum and LF Networking to publish a white paper, "The Ecosystem for Open Gateway NaaS API Development." The paper outlines collaborative concepts of Open Gateway (a framework of common network APIs designed to provide universal access to operator networks for developers, helps application developers enhance and deploy services more quickly across operator networks via single points of access to the world's largest connectivity platform) Network as a Service (NaaS) architecture.
CAMARA will continue collaboration with both GSMA and TM Forum, via Technical Steering Committee (TSC) representation, to continue industry harmonization.
Join today
CAMARA project invites all interested parties to help build the best APIs for all telecom customers by joining the fund as a Premium sponsor, General sponsor, associating organization, participating organization, or individual. More details on the project, as well as how to join, are available at https://camaraproject.org/ .
Support from Sponsors:
CableLabs
"CAMARA has done outstanding work exposing key networks capabilities while enhancing the developer experience," said Chris Corcimiglia, VP, Future Infrastructure Group, CableLabs. "We look forward to continuing our collaboration with CAMARA as we provide cable industry alignment and technical contributions to CAMARA APIs."
Centillion
"As a leader in data modernization and it's interoperability, with a focus on global privacy led AI optimization for LLMs and ownership, we are enthusiastically looking forward to collaborating with MNOs, developers and corporations to help them increase the spectrum of 5G innovation," said Nick Venezia, founder, Centillion.AI.
Deutsche Telekom
"CAMARA is making it easy and simple for the global developer community to create new, connected solutions based on our advanced 5G network capabilities," said Nathan Rader, VP, Service and Capability Exposure, Deutsche Telekom. "The collaboration between network operators, cloud providers, application developers and technology vendors in CAMARA has been crucial to this success. As a founding member of CAMARA we are proud of its impact since launch and thrilled to enter into the next phase of collaboration to empower developers."
Ericsson
"The CAMARA initiative shows that there is a big interest in and revenue opportunities in exposing network APIs, a fundamental part of our own business strategy. This initiative is instrumental bringing all CSP and other players together such as aggregators and developer platforms to the same table. This is a clear call for action to the telecom industry. Together with Vonage, now part of the Ericsson group, we are committed to make Camara successful and are already actively contributing to the standardization and aim to be a main driver of the future evolution of CAMARA," said Oliver Buschmann, Head of Group Strategy, Ericsson.
Microsoft
"As we enter a new era of network-aware applications, it's crucial that developers have access to the right tools to create modern connected applications. A consistent experience is key, regardless of the network being used. Collaboration between hyperscalers, telecom operators, equipment providers, and developers is essential to achieving this goal. We're proud to be key supporters of the CAMARA initiative", said Yousef Khalidi, CVP, Microsoft.
Nokia
"Nokia is excited to join this important initiative as it is imperative for our Telecom industry to simplify the ways that application developers can add powerful network capabilities to the applications that enrich the experience of their enterprise and consumer customers," said Nokia's Jitin Bhandari, vice president & CTO, Cloud & Network Services.
Orange
"The CAMARA project is shaping access to global network capabilities for developers. The evolution towards funded model marks the increasing support from digital players on the simplification and acceleration of service design enabled by network APIs. As early contributors, we welcome the development of the CAMARA community to support new use cases leveraging network connectivity and security while offering easy-to-use APIs for developers," said Otilia Anton, Telco APIs program director, Orange.
Scenera
Scenera's MAIstro SaaS interacts with emerging CAMARA APIs to advance the deployment of distributed AI algorithms across available computing infrastructure including on-prem edge AI, 5G MEC and the cloud," said David Lee, CEO of Scenera. "Our goal is to provide an optimal data management framework to enable smart building and facility management applications in highly accurate and low latency, yet cost efficient ways across the 5G network infrastructure."
Shabodi
"Shabodi believes that Advanced Networks are more than a simple connectivity pipe. Exploring the intelligence in the networks requires exposing their capabilities to applications via simple APIs across Telcos and network equipment vendors. We are pleased to join the CAMARA project to accelerate the adoption of network-aware applications for advanced use cases across industries," said Harpreet Geekee, co-founder/CTO, Shabodi.
Telefonica
"The exposure of telco capabilities to third parties constitutes a new source of revenues and allows accelerating innovation and the rollout of new services, transforming our network into a programmable service platform. CAMARA is a key initiative to unleash great opportunities for customers to develop new applications based on such a rich set of telco capabilities. As founding members of CAMARA, Telefonica is proud to begin a new stage of the initiative with the objective of accelerating and making this model a reality in the near future," said Juan Carlos Garcia Lopez, senior vice president, Technology Development & Ecosystem, Telefonica.
T-Mobile
"We've built the most advanced 5G network in the U.S. to deliver unmatched performance, enable new applications and services, and serve as a platform for innovation," said John Saw, EVP and chief technology officer at T-Mobile. "I'm thrilled to see how developers will leverage the CAMARA APIs to bring our leading 5G network to the next level for our customers."
Verizon
"The evolution of 5G and the network transformation underpinning this new platform for innovation has significantly advanced the digital landscape. As we continue to drive the ecosystem between developers and operators, it is critical to equip developers with necessary network-oriented tools to build connected applications. We are pleased to be part of the drive through CAMARA towards open, global, standardized API," said Anil Guntupalli, vice president of Technology Development and Planning, Verizon.
About the Linux Foundation
Founded in 2000, the Linux Foundation is supported by more than 2,000 members and is the world's leading home for collaboration on open source software, open standards, open data, and open hardware. Linux Foundation's projects are critical to the world's infrastructure, including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, PyTorch, and more. Learn more at linuxfoundation.org .
The Linux Foundation has registered trademarks and uses trademarks. For a list of trademarks of The Linux Foundation, please see its trademark usage page: www.linuxfoundation.org/trademark-usage . Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
Media Contact
Jill Lovato
The Linux Foundation
[email protected]
SOURCE The Linux Foundation
During the 15th meeting of the Contact Group for Assistance to Ukraine at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the Czech Republic reached an agreement with Denmark and the Netherlands to supply weapons to Ukraine. The Czech defense industry, with the financial support of its partners, will supply the Ukrainian army with tanks, howitzers, small arms, ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles, air defense and electronic warfare equipment.
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It has already been agreed to transfer 15 modernized T-72EA tanks in the coming months. This was reported by Ukrinform, citing a statement by Czech Deputy Defense Minister Daniel Blazkovec.
On September 19, representatives of the defense ministries of the Czech Republic, Denmark and the Netherlands signed an agreement on joint supplies of weapons and equipment to Ukraine.
"Specifically, we will be talking about the supply of additional tanks, howitzers, small arms, infantry fighting vehicles, air defense equipment and electronic warfare equipment or ammunition from companies in our defense industry," Blazkovec said.
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The Czech Republic plans to transfer both modern Czech weapons and modernized Soviet-designed equipment. They will start with the transfer of 15 modernized T-72EA tanks "in the coming months."
Further deliveries will be determined by the needs of Ukrainian soldiers.
"We will receive information from Ukraine about the current need... Czech companies will provide us with their proposals, and then we will present everything to our foreign partners who will finance the project," the Intergovernmental Defense Cooperation Agency, part of the Czech Ministry of Defense, explained the mechanism of the agreement.
On September 19, representatives of defense ministries from almost 50 partner countries of Ukraine gathered in Germany. They promised to increase support for Ukraine. In particular, they discussed providing Ukraine with additional air defense systems, Leopard tanks, and training for F-16 pilots.
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The meeting was attended for the first time by Rustem Umerov, the newly appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine.
Acquisition makes LNA the premier government relations firm in Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Long Nyquist & Associates (LNA) has joined forces with Pugliese Associates, forming the largest standalone government relations firm serving Pennsylvania in Harrisburg. Now, LNA represents almost one hundred and forty clients from various industries, including leading gaming, healthcare, infrastructure companies, and premier institutions of higher learning.
Long Nyquist & Associates
With the acquisition of Pugliese Associates, Long Nyquist & Associates will now have twenty full-time government relations professionals and lobbyists, consisting of some of the top names in Pennsylvania's Capital. That list includes Joann Bell who was named to Philadelphia Magazines 2023 most influential list. The merger of longtime firm founders Mike Long and Todd Nyquist with a veteran politico, Rocco Pugliese, will only enhance the level of experience and service for firm clients.
LNA founders and partners Mike Long and Todd Nyquist added, "When you can add a firm like Pugliese Associates, it's a no-brainer. Rocco Pugliese built a great firm and has a career of being a relentless advocate for his clients. His drive to deliver for his clients matches our firm's commitment to packaging amazing service while delivering the results our clients want and deserve. This acquisition cements Long Nyquist & Associates' position as Harrisburg's leading government relations firm."
Rocco Pugliese added, "When I began the search for the right home for the firm I built and the professionals who work there, Long Nyquist & Associates was an obvious choice. The firm that Mike Long and Todd Nyquist built is rooted in a culture of winning for their clients. I built Pugliese Associates with that same guiding principle in mind. Our entire firm looks forward to joining Long Nyquist & Associates. There is no doubt that this is the undisputed top firm in Harrisburg and Pennsylvania politics, and I can't wait for what the future holds."
Long and Nyquist concluded, "By combining our existing team with Rocco and the talented team at Pugliese Associates, our firm now has the deepest roster of lobbyists with unparalleled relationships and connections to the executive and legislative branches. We have tremendous confidence in our firm's ability to successfully handle any client's matter in Harrisburg. Our track record speaks for itself."
Mike Long is a founder and partner of Long Nyquist & Associates. Prior to founding the firm, Mike served as the Chief of Staff/Staff Administrator to the Pennsylvania State Senate, the only staff position enumerated in the Pennsylvania State Constitution, for 25 years. Named to the "City & State PA Power 100" list of the 100 most powerful people in Pennsylvania, Mike's counsel is in demand.
Todd Nyquist founded Long Nyquist & Associates and serves as a partner. As a top advisor to the Senate Pro Tempore, Todd was instrumental in shaping the generational Republican majority of the Pennsylvania State Senate. Todd has been a driving force behind making LNA the largest public affairs firm in Pennsylvania state politics. For the past 20 years, Todd has played a meaningful role in nearly every major public policy initiative in the Commonwealth. He has built strong relationships and is trusted by many of the top decision-makers in Harrisburg.
Rocco Pugliese founded the firm of Pugliese Associates in 1980, working from a small office in Harrisburg with a single client. Prior to this acquisition, Pugliese Associates had nearly 50 clients, including: non-profit organizations, universities, government authorities, state and national corporations, health care and trade associations. Rocco has more than 40 years of lobbying and state government experience. In his years of lobbying, Rocco has been active on a number of highly visible, diverse, and complex issues ranging from new stadiums, tobacco settlement, landlord and tenant, non-preferred funding, and a host of appropriations work for Pugliese clients.
Media Contact:
Mike Barley
717-576-6733
SOURCE Long Nyquist & Associates
SANTA CLARITA, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles Cancer Network (LACN) has been a trusted provider of cancer and blood disorder care in the Los Angeles area for over 30 years. This September, they expanded their reach even further. Last week, on September 12, 2023, the ribbon was cut at their newest location at 25425 Orchard Village Rd. Suite 150, Santa Clarita, CA 91355, where they will be providing world-class care to patients in the Santa Clarita and surrounding communities.
LACN's team pictured with city official representatives and Chamber of Commerce president, getting prepared to cut the ribbon
"As a practice, we are dedicated to breaking down patient barriers and keeping cancer care close to home," said Troy Simon, LACN's CEO. "Our newest location in Santa Clarita is a testament to this mission, and we look forward to expanding into another new community so we can make a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer and blood disorders."
The physicians at LACN are among the best in the nation, receivers of many awards & honors, and participants in groundbreaking clinical research. They offer customized, patient-centered care in an ever-changing oncology environment and have the expertise required to treat various types of cancers and blood disorders.
Board-certified hematologist/oncologists Dr. Sheila Vasan and Dr. Krisztina Larson will practice at the newest location in Santa Clarita.
Dr. Vasan received her medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. She served as a resident in internal medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and completed her fellowship in hematology/medical oncology at Olive View UCLA, Cedar Sinai Medical Center, and Kaiser Medical Center, all in Los Angeles. Dr Vasan is fluent in English and Spanish.
Dr. Larson is a doctoral graduate from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary, one of the leading medical and health science research universities in the Central European region. She completed her internship and residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and was a hematology/oncology fellow at Louisiana State University Health. Dr. Larson is fluent in English, Spanish, and Hungarian.
To make an appointment, please call (323) 621-4324. For more information, visit lacancernetwork.com.
About Los Angeles Cancer Network:
The mission of Los Angeles Cancer Network is to provide unparalleled care to each patient that comes through our doors. We offer individualized treatment using the most recent and relevant proven advances in cancer care, curated with deliberation and compassion.
SOURCE Los Angeles Cancer Network
TAIPEI, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MAX Exchange establishes a strategic partnership with Bitget, a leading global cryptocurrency exchange serving over 20 million users in 100+ countries since its 2018 inception. MAX, the utility platform token by MaiCoin Group, will now be tradable as MAX/USDT on Bitget, boosting the liquidity and overall value of MAX.
Alex Liu, CEO and founder of MaiCoin Group expressed optimism about Taiwan's growing importance in the global crypto industry. MAX's primary role is to connect users and expand beyond Taiwan, and its listing on Bitget marks a significant milestone in this endeavor. The Group anticipates further collaboration with Bitget.
MAX, a utility token on MAX Exchange, facilitates transactions and interactions within the MaiCoin Group ecosystem. Its initial issuance, without public fundraising, rewarded users through airdrops or marketing activities, resulting in an initial total supply of 500 million and a circulating supply of 295 million currently. MAX holders enjoy exclusive benefits such as transaction fee discounts, staking rewards, VIP program eligibility, and participation in MaiCoin's yield products and MaiPay, our crypto payment service.
- About MAX Exchange -
Established in 2018 as part of MaiCoin Group, MAX Exchange provides P2P crypto trading and investment products. It's a pioneering exchange for fiat-to-crypto transactions, ranking among the top 50 globally and in Taiwan. MAX Exchange secures users' fiat currency in custody accounts, adheres to international security standards through collaborations with CYBAVO and AMIS, and introduced MAX, a utility platform token in 2018. In 2021, it led the industry in complying with the Financial Supervisory Commission's Money Laundering Control Act and in 2022, it launched crypto lending and staking services, followed by grid bot in 2023. For details, visit the official website: https://max.maicoin.com/
SOURCE MaiCoin Group
BOCA RATON, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- MDVIP, the market leader in personalized healthcare with a network of over 1,100 primary care physicians nationwide, has been selected by Fortune magazine and Great Place to Work for the 2023 Fortune Best Workplaces in Healthcare List.
"We are extremely proud to be named a Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place to Work for the third year in a row," said MDVIP Chairman and CEO Bret Jorgensen. "MDVIP's mission-driven culture to improve lives starts with our own employees, who understand that the work they do is purposeful and helps drive better outcomes for patients and higher satisfaction for physicians. I thank and applaud our teams for their dedication to cultivating a positive workplace environment that is not just worthy of this recognition, but also integral to the company's success."
MDVIP's mission to improve lives starts with our own employees, who understand that the work they do is purposeful. Post this
The Best Workplaces in Healthcare list is based on analysis of survey responses from over 208,000 employees working at Great Place To Work Certified companies in the healthcare industry. The survey responses reflect a comprehensive picture of the workplace experience, and honorees were selected based on their ability to offer positive outcomes for employees regardless of job role, race, gender, sexual orientation, work status or other demographic identifier.
"Fortune congratulates the Best Workplaces in Healthcare," says Fortune Editor-In-Chief Alyson Shontell. "Creating a vibrant workplace culture that draws the best talent in healthcare is vital for the success of the leaders in this highly competitive industry. It is also what's needed to ignite innovation and deliver best-in-class performance."
MDVIP has been a Great Place to Work Certified company since 2018. Some of the highlights from the company's Great Place to Work survey in 2023 include:
96% of MDVIP employees say you feel welcomed when you join the company
95% of MDVIP employees say facilities contribute to a good working environment
93% of MDVIP employees say they are given the resources and equipment to do their job
"Congratulations to the Best Workplaces in Healthcare," said Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. "These companies know that it isn't the industry but the company that determines the employee experience. By putting people first, they are reaping the rewards: lower labor costs, higher standards of care and happier employees."
About MDVIP
MDVIP leads the market in membership-based healthcare that goes far beyond concierge medicine services with a national network of more than 1,100 primary care physicians serving over 385,000 patients. Published research shows that the MDVIP model identifies more patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, delivers more preventive health services and saves the healthcare system hundreds of millions of dollars through reduced hospitalizations and readmissions. In response to growing consumer demand for a more personalized healthcare experience, hospital systems are incorporating the MDVIP model into their primary care offering. MDVIP also partners with employers to offer an executive health program as a benefit to their employees. For more information, visit www.mdvip.com . Follow MDVIP on Facebook , Instagram , X and LinkedIn .
About the Fortune Best Workplaces in Healthcare List
Great Place To Work selected the 2023 Fortune Best Workplaces in Health Care by gathering and analyzing confidential survey responses from more than 208,000 employees at Great Place To Work Certified organizations in the health care industry. Company rankings are derived from 60 employee experience questions within the Great Place To Work Trust Index Survey. Great Place To Work determines its lists using its proprietary For All Methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America's largest ongoing annual workforce study. In the last year, 1.3 million survey responses were received and data from companies representing more than 7.5 million employees, this year alone. Read the full methodology.
About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and For All Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List. Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram or visit greatplacetowork.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more.
About Fortune
The Fortune mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, telling great stories, and building world-class communities. We measure performance by rigorous benchmarks. And we hold companies accountable. Our goal is to make Fortune a force for good through its second century and beyond. For more information, visit www.fortune.com.
Media Contact:
Nancy Udell
MDVIP Media Relations
561.310.5455
[email protected]
SOURCE MDVIP
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Embark on a captivating journey through the remarkable achievements of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), as it continues to drive the country's digital economy forward with the ground-breaking and visionary Malaysia Digital (MD) national strategic initiative. Brace yourself for the inaugural prestigious Malaysia Digital Expo 2023 (MDX 2023), where innovations and collaborations take centre stage.
In the rapidly evolving technology landscape, the horizon of possibilities continues to expand, inviting exploration, innovation, and collaboration like never before. MDX 2023 stands at the forefront of this journey a transformative six-week experience from 25 September to 8 November 2023 into the heart of technology to elevate Malaysia's position as the Digital Hub of ASEAN.
From nationwide auxiliary events to conferences, exhibitions, launches, and industry awards dinners, MDX 2023 encapsulates the entire spectrum of technological evolution. The diverse events enable attendees to gain comprehensive insights into the ever-changing tech landscape and industry trends that shape the world.
The celebration will bring together tech enthusiasts and industry titans to discuss the future of technology with keynote speakers and prominent panellists from prestigious local and global organisations.
MDX 2023 supports the nurturing of local talent and provides visibility for tech companies to become Malaysian champions, bringing Malaysia's digital economy to greater heights. Serving as a fertile ground for networking and collaboration, entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and industry experts converge to share insights, ideas, and aspirations. The collaborative environment fosters innovation and new possibilities.
As the perfect backdrop for exchanging ideas and fostering creative solutions, MDX 2023 propels individuals and industries forward, catalysing progress and ushering in a new era of possibilities.
MDX 2023 offers more than an experience. Join us as we shape a brighter digital future. "Let's do business. Invest in Malaysia".
For more information, please visit: https://mdec.my/mdx
SOURCE MDEC
Celebrate Temple's local manufacturing industry with participating industry experts
TEMPLE, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Meet Temple the talent attraction arm of the Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC) and the Temple Chamber of Commerce are partnering up for a third consecutive year to host Manufacturing Day in the Temple, Texas community. This fall, Manufacturing Day 2023 presents an exceptional opportunity for Temple's top industry experts to open their doors to students, parents, teachers and community leaders with the goal of fostering valuable connections and illuminating potential career pathways within the region's advancing manufacturing industry.
Manufacturing Day celebrations will take place over the first week of October, kicking off on Monday, October 2 with a proclamation from Mayor Tim Davis. Leadership Tours and TISD activities will take place throughout the week, leading up to the highly anticipated job fair on Friday, October 6 in partnership with Workforce Solutions of Central Texas. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the ins and outs of the manufacturing industry through connecting with accomplished industry experts.
The event will include participation from local employers like Wilsonart, Durcon, Temple Machine Shop, Delta Centrifugal, MTC, MooreCo Inc, Palladio Industries Inc and Polar Beverages. These companies aim to help innovative, curious individuals familiarize themselves with the modern manufacturing landscape Temple has created.
"The goal of Manufacturing Day is to inspire the next generation of innovators by fostering a deeper understanding of Temple's manufacturing industry," said Adrian Cannady, President & CEO of Temple Economic Development Corporation. "We are excited to connect new talent to exciting opportunities for career advancement in Central Texas' growing manufacturing landscape."
Temple serves as an optimal hub for manufacturing enterprises seeking growth and prosperity. Positioned strategically with ideal infrastructure and a pro-business climate, it is no surprise that manufacturing employment has increased 28% in the region, showing no signs of slowing down. Temple is home to a variety of top contributors to the manufacturing industry who are continuously seeking new talent to join their teams.
"The Temple community has long served as a hub for companies looking to grow their manufacturing operations," said President & CEO of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, Rod Henry. "Manufacturing Day is an opportunity for us to not only showcase the strength of this industry here in Central Texas, but to also highlight the advancements and innovations that are positioning us for a brighter future."
Temple EDC and Temple Chamber of Commerce hope to foster interest within the community for prosperous careers in Temple's manufacturing industry. Visit our event page for more information on Manufacturing Day.
ABOUT MEET TEMPLE
Meet Temple is a talent attraction brand developed and managed by the Temple Economic Development Corporation (Temple EDC), a nonprofit organization that serves as the designated economic development entity for the City of Temple, Texas. Meet Temple works to retain and attract talent to the community to support the continued growth of its regional economy. To learn more about living and working in Temple, visit MeetTemple.com.
ABOUT TEMPLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The Temple Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to fostering a thriving business community in the greater Temple area. As a member-driven organization, they play a pivotal role in connecting business owners, leaders, and their teams. By offering resources, networking opportunities, and advocacy, the Chamber empowers businesses to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing environment. Their commitment extends to monitoring legislation, ensuring a conducive business atmosphere, and collectively shaping the future of Temple's economic landscape.
SOURCE Temple Economic Development Corporation
CHICAGO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Military Cloud Computing Market is estimated to be USD 8.5 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 15.3 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 12.5% during the forecast period according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. The driving factor for the military cloud computing market is the need for enhanced data accessibility, security, and agility in modern warfare and defense operations. Military forces worldwide are increasingly relying on cloud solutions to efficiently process, store, and analyze vast volumes of data, enabling quicker decision-making, real-time communication, and seamless coordination across diverse and geographically dispersed units.
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Browse in-depth TOC on "Military Cloud Computing Market" 170 Tables
60 Figures
230 Pages
Military Cloud Computing Market Report Scope:
Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $ 8.5 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $ 15.3 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 12.5% Market Size Available for 20192028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Million) and Volume (Thousand Units) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered By Deployment Type, Service Model, Application, End User and Region Geographies Covered Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Rest of World Key Market Challenge Connectivity and Bandwidth Limitations Key Market Opportunities Advanced Analytics and Intelligence Key Market Drivers Access to Advanced Technologies
Based on Deployment Type, Private Cloud segment is expected to acquire the highest market share during the forecast period.
The Deployment type segment has been segmented into Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud. The growth of private cloud segment can be attributed to a wide range of regulatory and compliance standards, including those related to data security, privacy, and sovereignty. Private clouds enable these military organizations to design and implement cloud environments that meet their specific compliance requirements. Private clouds offer consistent and predictable performance because resources are not shared with external organizations. This reliability is crucial for military operations where downtime or performance fluctuations are not acceptable.
Based on Service Model, Infrastructure as a Service segment is projected to lead the market during the forecast period.
Based on Service Model, the military cloud computing market has been segmented into Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud), Service Model (Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS). IaaS provides military organizations with the ability to rapidly scale their computing resources up or down in response to changing operational requirements. This scalability is crucial for accommodating the dynamic nature of military missions, whether it involves surges in demand or scaling down during peacetime. IaaS offers robust redundancy and disaster recovery options. Data and applications can be replicated across multiple data centers, ensuring resilience and data protection in case of hardware failures or cyberattacks.
Based on End User, the army segment acquires largest market share in market during the forecast period.
The Army segment currently has the largest market share in the military cloud computing industry due to several reasons. The army typically represents the largest branch of a nation's military forces. Its sheer size and scope of operations often result in substantial computing and data management needs. As a result, the army has invested heavily in cloud computing to support its diverse missions and activities. Additionally, the army's missions can range from tactical deployments in the field to strategic planning and logistical support. Cloud computing can provide the flexibility and scalability required to meet these diverse mission requirements efficiently.
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Based on region, the Asia Pacific segment is projected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
The military cloud computing market is anticipated to register its highest growth rate in the Asia Pacific region in 2023. China, India, Japan, South Korea, and the rest of Asia-Pacific are the regions that were looked at in this market. One of the primary international players operating in the Asia Pacific region is China, and Japan, which makes significant investments in the creation of military cloud computing technologies.
Key Players
Amazon (US), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (US), Microsoft Corporation (US), Google (US), Atos (US), Oracle (US), IBM (US), General Dynamics Corporation (US), Bae Systems (UK), SAIC (US), Thales Group (France), are some of the leading companies in the military cloud computing companies. These companies have well-equipped manufacturing facilities and strong distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.
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Artillery Systems Market by Type (Howitzers, Rocket Launchers, Mortars, Anti-air weapons, Artillery), Range(Short-range, Medium-range, Long-range), Subsystem and Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, ROW) - Global Forecast to 2028
About MarketsandMarkets
MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.
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.
Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.
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.
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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
SEATTLE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With cutting-edge technology and captivating collaborations, Monport Laser is at the forefront of transforming the laser engraving industry. By partnering with influential professionals, Monport Laser has set ablaze a wave of interest and excitement, inspiring a growing community of hot influencers in the wood, leather, metal, and other related laser engraving small businesses to join forces and elevate their craft to incredible heights.
One of the influential collaborators that Monport Laser has teamed up with is MorrisonMade Leather, a renowned leather handcraft influencer with a YouTube channel boasting a large and engaged following. MorrisonMade Leather has recently discovered the transformative power of the Monport 80W CO2 laser and has been showcasing its capabilities through various applications.
Utilizing the Monport Laser machine, MorrisonMade Leather has demonstrated its versatility by creating stunning custom leather keychains, laser masking tape designs, and Monport watch bands. These innovative applications have not only caught the attention of the laser engraving community but have also opened up new doors for MorrisonMade Leather's business, taking it into uncharted territory and expanding its reach.
Monport Laser recognizes the potential for collaboration with influencers and professionals in the laser engraving industry. By collaborating with Monport Laser, these individuals have the opportunity to unleash their creativity and work on groundbreaking projects that push the boundaries of laser engraving.
The success of MorrisonMade Leather in partnership with Monport Laser is a testament to the impact that collaboration can have on small businesses and influencers. It serves as an inspiration for others in the wood, leather, metal, and related industries to explore the possibilities that Monport Laser's technology can offer.
Monport's goal is to pave the way for innovation in laser engraving and propel the industry forward through collaborations with influential professionals. The company's dedication to fostering partnerships with these influencers demonstrates its commitment to providing them with the tools they need to excel in their craft.
By collaborating with Monport Laser, influencers in the wood, leather, metal, and related fields gain access to state-of-the-art technology, enabling them to push the boundaries of their creativity and expand their businesses into new realms. Monport Laser's innovative machines offer a level of precision and versatility that empowers influencers to create stunning and unique laser engravings that captivate their audiences.
Monport's ultimate vision is to transform the laser engraving industry by sparking a collective movement of innovation and collaboration among influencers and professionals. By teaming up with Monport Laser, influencers in these industries have the opportunity to amplify their reach, expose their work to broader audiences, and revolutionize the way laser engraving is perceived and utilized.
Company: Monport Laser
Contact email: [email protected]
Pre-sales Phone: (+1)332-251-1208
Monport Laser Website: https://monportlaser.com/
Monport Adress: Monport Tech Inc. 300 LENORA ST 878, SEATTLE, WA, 98121-2411, UNITED STATES
SOURCE Monport Laser
QUEENS, N.Y., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi-talented musician and producer Taiwan Green, known professionally as Mr. Fingaz, is set to release his highly anticipated R&B instrumental EP, "Made From Taiwan," on October 20, 2023. The EP showcases Mr. Fingaz's extraordinary talent as a platinum and ASCAP award-winning multi-instrumentalist, mixing engineer, and music producer, presenting a diverse collection of soulful tracks that are sure to captivate listeners worldwide.
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With an illustrious career spanning over two decades, Mr. Fingaz has made an indelible mark in the music industry with his exceptional contributions to chart-topping hits. Some of his most notable works include the production of Ja Rule's "Holla Holla" and Fabulous' "This is my party," both of which have left an enduring impact on the hip-hop and R&B landscape.
Behind the moniker Mr. Fingaz lies Taiwan Green, who initially rose to prominence as a prodigy classical pianist. His profound musicality and creativity have enabled him to master various instruments, carving a niche for himself in the industry as a versatile and visionary artist.
Aside from his impressive musical achievements, Mr. Fingaz is also committed to giving back to the community that nurtured his talents. He currently serves as an influential music mentor, providing guidance to hundreds of aspiring musicians. Notably, he has been actively teaching music production in the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) and community centers, inspiring and empowering kids in the inner city to pursue their passion for music.
"The first time," the EP's lead single dropping September 15, 2023, sets the tone for the entire project, blending soulful melodies with mesmerizing rhythms. The track serves as a testament to Mr. Fingaz's innate ability to craft compelling music that resonates deeply with audiences of all backgrounds.
As the release date for "Made From Taiwan" approaches, music enthusiasts and fans of R&B instrumental masterpieces eagerly anticipate the arrival of this enchanting EP. Mr. Fingaz's dedication to his craft and unwavering commitment to uplifting others through music have solidified his status as an iconic figure in the industry.
"Made From Taiwan" will be available for streaming and download on all major music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music, on October 20, 2023. Follow Mr. Fingaz on social media and his official website for the latest updates, exclusive content, and upcoming projects.
For press inquiries, interviews, or review copies of "Made From Taiwan," please contact:
Taiwan Green PKA Mr. Fingaz: [email protected], (347) 972-6186
About Mr. Fingaz:
Mr. Fingaz, the musical alter ego of Taiwan Green, is a platinum and ASCAP award-winning multi-instrumentalist, mixing engineer, and music producer from Queens, NYC. With a career spanning over 20 years, Mr. Fingaz has produced chart-topping hits for renowned artists like Ja Rule and Fabulous. Beyond his musical achievements, he is also an esteemed music mentor, providing guidance and inspiration to aspiring musicians in the NYC DOE and community centers. His upcoming R&B instrumental EP, "Made From Taiwan," is set to enthrall audiences on October 20, 2023. For more information, visit Mrfingazmusicproductionsllc.com and follow Mr. Fingaz on [@mrfingaz Instagram, TikTok & X].
SOURCE Taiwan Green
New resource sets the record straight on top 10 myths driving largest healthcare expense for
American families and businesses
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital prices are the leading cause of high and rising healthcare costs for America's working families and the employers providing sponsored health benefits. To support employers and other healthcare purchasers in their efforts to demand fair hospital prices, the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) released a new resource, Setting the Record Straight: The Urgency of Achieving Hospital Fair Price.
The report identifies and debunks 10 of the top hospital industry inaccuracies around high, rapidly rising, and indefensible hospital prices such as lack of correlation between hospital prices and actual cost of providing care; misplaced blame for rising costs on workforce staffing "crisis;" use of facility fees to systemically raise prices without raising value; negative impact of industry consolidation; and lack of market competition.
"We know there are hospitals out there doing the right things to ensure the overall health of the people and communities they serve," said Michael Thompson, National Alliance president and CEO. "We're looking to all hospitals to do right by their customers their patients by working in good faith to negotiate fair prices with employers and other plan sponsors who provide healthcare coverage to more than 70% of workers."
This resource was developed as part of the Hospital Fair Price initiative, a campaign of regional coalitions and their employer-purchaser members to leverage new and evolving transparency data. By working together, they are better able to exercise their market buying power to level the playing field of an increasingly consolidated hospital market. Members of this committed group are mobilizing to work with legislators, allies, and other healthcare influencers to demand action by federal and state policymakers with a results-oriented policy agenda focused on giving employers the tools they need to ensure fair prices for all Americans.
Data indicates that for most hospitals a "fair price" for patients privately insured by employers is 140%-200% of what Medicare pays for the exact same products, procedures and services at the exact same facilities. Some hospitals charge 250% more for those services, with others even higher at 500% or more over Medicare. A fair price should allow for a reasonable markup from costs and a price that is competitive with peer hospitals.
The National Alliance gratefully acknowledges support from Arnold Ventures for its Hospital Fair Price initiative and industry partners National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), RAND Corporation, and Rice University for invaluable technical and subject-matter expertise.
The regional coalitions participating in the Hospital Fair Price initiative include: Connecticut Business Group on Health, Economic Alliance for Michigan, Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value, Greater Cincinnati Employers Group on Health, Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health, Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health, Midwest Business Group on Health, The PEACH Group, Nevada Business Group on Health, New Mexico Coalition for Healthcare Value, North Carolina Business Group on Health, Oklahoma Business Collective on Health, St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, and Washington Health Alliance. Partner coalitions include: Employers' Forum of Indiana, Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine, Houston Business Coalition on Health, Purchaser Business Group on Health, and Rhode Island Business Group on Health.
About National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
The National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) is the only nonprofit, purchaser-led organization with a national and regional structure dedicated to driving health and healthcare value across the country. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and Taft-Hartley organizations, and more than 45 million Americans, spending over $400 billion annually on healthcare. To learn more, visit nationalalliancehealth.org .
SOURCE National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
Denmark plans to transfer 45 more tanks to Ukraine: 30 Leopard 1 and 15 T-72. Armored vehicles for the Armed Forces of Ukraine are purchased by Copenhagen in cooperation with other countries.
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This was stated by Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen, according to DR. He clarified that the Finance Committee of the Danish Parliament has not yet approved this document.
According to the official website of the Danish Armed Forces, 10 Leopard 1 tanks are already in Ukraine, and more are on the way. So they will become part of the offensive that our troops are leading.
The news of the new assistance came before a meeting of the Ramstein Contact Group on Ukraine's defense. The meeting takes place at the Ramstein base in Germany and is attended by defense ministers and chiefs of defense agencies from different countries.
This is the 15th time that defense ministers and senior military officials from Ukraine's partner countries have met offline. This time, for the first time, they were joined by Rustem Umerov, the newly appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine. A few days before the meeting, he coordinated his positions with the head of the Pentagon.
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As reported by OBOZREVATEL:
Announcement on collective action comes as First Book study reveals significant academic benefits of diverse books
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 meeting today, the Diverse Books for All Coalition presented an urgent plan designed to ensure that our increasingly diverse population of children have access to books in which they can see themselves, their families and communities. Through its Commitment to Action, the Coalition will aggregate its collective market power to purchase and distribute 600,000 new, high-quality, affordable children's books by and about diverse cultures, races, identities, and abilities over the next 18 months. The Coalition represents more than 40 nonprofits and member organizations supporting millions of children from low-resource communities.
Of the 600,000 books, the Coalition has already initiated the purchase and distribution of 130,000 diverse books through four selected publishers Abrams, Barefoot Books, Candlewick, and Penguin Random House. The collection of 18 bilingual and paperback books will be distributed to children served by Coalition members this year to launch this national effort and ensure access to high-quality, affordable diverse books for low-income communities across the country, all to foster a powerful sense of self-worth and a love of reading and early literacy skills from birth.
"The critical need for diverse books is evidenced by reading scores which have reached historic lows," says Kyle Zimmer, president and CEO of First Book, which founded the Coalition. "Families and educators are calling for books that reflect their students and communities, but children's books that convey authentic, lived stories of diverse populations are too rare and too expensive. A new study from First Book Research & Insights demonstrates the positive impact that diverse classroom libraries have on student outcomes and illustrates the importance of the Diverse Books for All Coalition."
The results of the six-month study of nearly 450 educators revealed the significant positive impact that increased access to diverse books has on interest in reading and reading scores. Students with access to diverse classroom libraries delivered scores 3 percentage points higher than national annual expected averages, with the greatest gains being felt by students with the lowest scores entering the assessment phase (+5 points). As diverse books were added to classroom libraries, educators reported student reading time increasing by 4 hours per week on average. Allowing students to choose which diverse books to read also positively impacted the amount of time students spent reading, as well as reading outcomes.
"More than half of the nation's youth are children of color, but children's books don't reflect that diversity," said Ernestine Benedict, Chief Communications Officer of ZERO TO THREE and a member of the Coalition. "Reading stories with authentic portrayals of diverse characters from an early age helps children develop a strong sense of self, empathy for others, and a love of reading. These books are vital to all of our nation's students and are particularly impactful for the children in low-income communities served by the Diverse Books for All Coalition. The potential of these books in the hands of our youngest learners inspires our commitment to combat inequities of representation in children's books, support early literacy development, and foster healthy development."
The study provides specific insights into the effects of diverse books on students across the country:
Classrooms that added bilingual titles and titles representing the LGBTQ+ community had the greatest improvement in student reading scores.
Every additional book from these two respective categories added to the classroom libraries, improved student assessment scores by 7 points on average for bilingual books and 4.5 points on average for LGBTQ+ books.
These findings underscore the vital work of the Diverse Books for All Coalition, and further galvanize collective action to expand the production and distribution of diverse titles to best meet the pressing needs of students across the country.
In addition to expanding access to affordable, diverse books over the next 18 months through collective purchasing efforts, the Coalition's CGI commitment includes the creation of a Parent Leadership Cohort to co-develop resources that are centered in the lived experience of parents and caregivers and creating tools and resources to help educators and early childhood professionals better access, use, and advocate for diverse books. The Coalition is working to raise $1 million to support its ongoing strategic, multi-faceted approach. Co-created and co-owned by its members, the Coalition and its work have been supported through an initial grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
To learn more about the work and goals of the Diverse Books for All Coalition, or to donate to support their work, go here. First Book's full report on the impact of diverse books is available to download here.
About the Diverse Books for All Coalition
The Diverse Books for All Coalition is an unprecedented national consortium of 40 nonprofits and membership organizations spanning all 50 states and reaching millions of young children every year. We are dedicated to increasing access to and affordability of young children's books by and about diverse races, cultures, identities, and abilities, supporting families & educators in using diverse content, and creating a positive narrative around representation in books. Learn more at www.diversebooksforall.org.
About First Book
Education transforms lives. First Book is building a world where every child has access to a quality education. We work to remove barriers to education and level the playing field for kids in need. At the heart of our work are the 575,000 members of the First Book Network, the largest online community of educators and professionals dedicated to children in need across North America. This Network is the key to creating systemic change. Through our research arm, First Book Research & Insights, we conduct studies that aggregate their voices to identify barriers to equitable education and inform strategic solutions. To address their needs, we provide free and low-cost books, resources and access to leading experts through the First Book Marketplace, which uses aggregated buying power to support this underserved community. Founded in Washington D.C. in 1992 as a nonprofit social enterprise, First Book is dedicated to eliminating barriers to learning and inspiring young minds. Learn more at FirstBook.org and visit our award-winning eCommerce website at FBMarketplace.org.
About Clinton Global Initiative
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI's unique model, more than 9,000 organizations have launched more than 3,900 Commitments to Action new, specific, and measurable projects and programs.
SOURCE First Book
LEIDEN, the Netherlands, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Necstgen, a non-profit CDMO and ProteoNic, a leading provider of premium vector technology and services for efficient production of biologics, announce the successful development of improved lentiviral (LV) vectors, driving higher titers of functional viral particles based on the application of ProteoNic's 2G UNic premium vector technology.
Both companies, located on the Leiden Bio Science Park, recognise the need to increase viral titres and optimise production processes. Manufacturing yields and cost-efficiency play a critical role in the feasibility of vector-based therapies. Through their combined efforts ProteoNic and NecstGen have achieved up to 5-fold higher functional LV titers, with significant potential impact on overall
process efficiency.
Frank Pieper, CEO of ProteoNic, commented "We are excited to see our collaboration with Necstgen achieving this important milestone. We will continue our efforts aimed at improving AAV and LV vectors, catering to both transient production systems and stable viral producer cell lines".
Paul Bilars CEO, NecstGen, said "These significant results show the strength and importance of our local ecosystem, and highlight how collectively we can address the challenges of Cell and Gene Therapy development and their translation to solutions for patients and society".
Through their combined efforts ProteoNic and NecstGen aim to improve and advance AAV and LV viral vector manufacturing technology and increase production capacity as well as payload expression in target tissues, to the ultimate benefit of patients in need of Cell and Gene Therapies.
The companies aim to make the improved technology broadly accessible. ProteoNic will offer licensing and co-development opportunities, while NecstGen plans to apply the technology in its CDMO business.
About ProteoNic BV
ProteoNic is a privately held company with offices in Leiden, the Netherlands and in the Boston area, USA. The company offers technology and services for the generation of cell lines with greatly improved biologics production characteristics, including production levels and stability. The company commercializes its proprietary 2G UNic technology through licensing and partnership arrangements.
For more information, see www.proteonic.nl.
About NecstGen
NecstGen is a new centre of excellence for Cell and Gene Therapy, located in a purpose-built GMP facility on the largest bio-cluster in the Netherlands, Leiden Bio Science Park. Here, NecstGen provides critical contract development, manufacturing and rental services to academic and small/large industrial therapy developers to deliver a new generation of therapies to patients.
For more information, see www.nectsgen.com.
For more information please contact:
ProteoNic BV
Jonathan Frampton, PhD
Director Business Development
T: +44 796 114 41 15
E: [email protected]
Necstgen
Tristan Pritchard-Meaker, PhD
Head of Business Development
E: tristan@necstgen.com
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SOURCE ProteoNic
NANNING, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 17th, the 20th China-ASEAN Expo commenced in Guangxi, China. Nearly 1,700 companies from over 40 countries participated in the event, advancing China-ASEAN economic integration with new innovative and technological products. A standout presence at the expo was NETA Auto, which showcased its stellar lineup of vehicles. Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NETA Auto, attended major forums of this event.
Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NETA Auto, attends China-ASEAN Expo
NETA Auto's exhibition booth attracted distinguished guests, including Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Laos, Aung Zeya, Deputy Minister for Myanmar's Ministry of Science and Technology, and several other political dignitaries and company representatives from ASEAN countries. They highly recognized NETA Auto's global development.
NETA Auto will establish a strong presence throughout the entire ASEAN market within the next one to two years, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles (EVs) more accessible to the local population. Renowned for its exceptional intelligent features and top-tier product quality, NETA Auto has emerged as a popular Chinese smart EV brand in global markets. With a user base exceeding 330,000 worldwide, the company is actively pursuing its globalization strategy.
Welcome visitors with all-star product lineup
The potential for mutual success in the ASEAN market has been a key driver of NETA Auto's popularity as a new-energy auto brand in the region. The NETA V, positioned as a trendy intelligent vehicle born for the youth, frequently leading the rankings for pure electric vehicle registrations in Thailand. This model reflects NETA Auto's brand value, "Tech For All", with its feature-rich Level 2 intelligent driver support system, a spacious 14.6-inch intelligent central control screen, and a high-performance 8-core processor. The entire NETA Auto product lineup showcased at the expo garnered significant attention from participants from ASEAN nations and beyond.
Target full coverage in ASEAN as part of the localization-based global strategy
In 2022, NETA Auto made its debut in Thailand, one of the largest car manufacturing nations in ASEAN, marking the beginning of its international expansion. Today, NETA Auto has emerged as a significant player in Thailand's automotive industry. From January to August this year, the NETA V held the second position in the registration charts for pure electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand, with a market share of nearly 20%. As of September, NETA Auto has achieved cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 units in Thailand.
NETA Auto has not only made significant strides in Thailand but has also accelerated its expansion efforts in other ASEAN markets. In Indonesia, the company has established a subsidiary and entered the Indonesian market. In Malaysia, NETA Auto has partnered with local collaborators to rapidly establish a presence. NETA Auto attaches great importance to the ASEAN market. It plans to deliver over 100,000 vehicles annually within approximately three years, solidifying its position as a driving force for the development of new energy in ASEAN and contributing to the creation of a better quality of life in the region.
At the 20th China-ASEAN Expo, NETA Auto continues to expand its global presence, forging multi-level, comprehensive strategic partnerships in the automotive industry with ASEAN and numerous countries worldwide. This move accelerates its transformation from being China's NETA to the world's NETA, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles accessible on a global scale.
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SOURCE NETA Auto
20 ADIPEC Global Youth Council members come from top universities and companies around the world
Members to engage in cross-generational dialogue with energy leaders and lend their voices to discussions on the biggest climate and energy issues
Council advances ADIPEC goal of inspiring young people to lead a responsible energy industry
ABU DHABI, UAE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ADIPEC, the world's largest energy conference and exhibition, has launched its first-ever Global Youth Council to amplify the diverse voices of young people from around the globe in the energy transition, as part of its commitment to inspiring the next generation to shape the energy system of the future and become future leaders of a responsible energy industry.
New ADIPEC Global Youth Council to inspire next generation of energy leaders to accelerate the energy transition.
Made up of 20 extraordinary university students and young professionals all under the age of 30, the ADIPEC Global Youth Council will play an active role in influencing discussions at ADIPEC 2023 and aligns with the event's larger goal of ensuring the inclusion of young people in the energy sector and its ongoing sustainable transformation.
ADIPEC 2023 is taking place under the theme of 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.' to convene stakeholders from across the energy value chain and ecosystem to accelerate collective, responsible action and secure a sustainable energy future. In recognition of the central role of young people in the energy transition, as they will be the ones pioneering solutions that will help fast-track the energy transition and benefit from its impact, ADIPEC has integrated youth into its conference programme and included them in high-level conversations with energy leaders.
During ADIPEC 2023, the Global Youth Council members will have the opportunity to engage with senior energy leaders in a cross-generational dialogue on the energy transition, connect with energy transition leaders and policymakers, and even take the stage as moderators in the ADIPEC Future Leaders Programme. Select Global Youth Council members will also feature in a session of ADIPEC's Energy Talks, a series of hard-hitting interviews with global industry CEOs, government leaders and industry experts and the youth.
Members will also participate in an ADIPEC Leadership Roundtable, an invitation-only gathering, where ministers, C-level industry executives and policymakers explore new ideas and transformative thinking, shaping the energy sector. The Global Youth Council roundtable will be held on the topic of 'Energising the future: incorporating the vision of the next generation of energy sector talent in the transition blueprint', where Global Youth Council members and energy leaders will discuss the best way to engage young people in the energy transition.
Christopher Hudson, President of dmg events, organisers of ADIPEC 2023, said: "We recognise how critical creative and ambitious young talent are to propel the energy sector forward in the right direction, which is why we have developed the Global Youth Council as a platform to engage youth across our rich conference programme and give them an opportunity to be part of the critical discussions taking place at ADIPEC. The theme 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together. is not just about connecting companies, innovators and industries, but also engaging generations in the need to accelerate the energy transition.
"Through our Global Youth Council, the expanded Future Leaders Programme, and the enduring Young ADIPEC initiative, we are bridging the generational divide and equipping young people with the tools and knowledge they need to help shape an inclusive and sustainable energy future."
ADIPEC aims to be a platform that brings together the world's future energy leaders, equipping a new generation with the knowledge to pioneer the next phase of energy solutions, while empowering them to work together, break out of their silos and unify around a common cause.
The Global Youth Council members come from the UAE, USA, UK, Tanzania, and Nigeria, from universities including Columbia University, Oxford University, New York University, New York University-Abu Dhabi, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, University of Dar A Salaam, and Zayed University while a smaller number are young energy professionals.
Global Youth Council member Yiwei (Evy) Gao, who is a student at New York University, said: "I am so honoured to be part of the ADIPEC Global Youth Council and look forward to attending sessions and having discussions with international energy leaders at ADIPEC. Energy and sustainability are critical issues for our generation, and it is important to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible. We as the youth can be a major accelerator and contributor in this process."
The launch of the ADIPEC Global Youth Council strengthens ADIPEC's commitment to empowering and engaging youth in the energy transition. It provides them with the tools, knowledge, and connections needed to influence policymakers, bridge the generational divide and carry forward a clean energy legacy, capable of meeting net-zero commitments.
The ADIPEC Global Youth Council will work in tandem with ADIPEC's Future Leaders Programme, which was introduced last year to empower young energy leaders to drive clean energy transition by equipping them with relevant insights and skills. It also complements the 11-year-old Young ADIPEC programme, which connects with younger students to introduce them to the exciting potential of the energy industry.
ADIPEC 2023, taking place in Abu Dhabi from 2-5 October, is expected to attract over 160,000 attendees for its comprehensive conference and exhibition programme that will feature over 1,600 conference speakers across more than 350 sessions. More than 2,220 companies from across the energy ecosystem will be featured in ADIPEC's exhibition programme, showcasing their ideas, innovations and solutions that are shaping the future of energy.
About ADIPEC
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, and hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC will take place in Abu Dhabi on October 2-5, 2023, under the theme of 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.'
Built on a nearly 40-year legacy of innovation and evolution, ADIPEC brings together the ideas, ambition, technology and capital needed to decarbonise and create the energy system of the future, faster. It unites key stakeholders from across the energy value chain to accelerate urgent, collective and responsible action, produce credible, game-changing solutions, and foster the transformational progress needed to create an inclusive, future-proof energy system.
Across 350 unique sessions comprising strategic and technical conferences, ADIPEC 2023 will welcome more than 1,600 speakers including government ministers, CEOs, policymakers, energy experts and innovators to rally industries, sectors and individuals around a common cause, encouraging collaboration and the action required to advance the world's decarbonisation goals.
As the UAE prepares to welcome global leaders to COP28 in November 2023, ADIPEC will help frame diverse conversations that complement the nation's goal of delivering a COP of collaborative action, while driving investment into the clean energies of the future.
For more information visit: www.adipec.com
Media contact
ADIPEC Media Team
[email protected]
[email protected]
+971 () 565 8855 78
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SOURCE ADIPEC
Leading colleges and universities are already adopting the next-generation Oracle Student to foster academic success
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle Health Conference -- Higher education institutions, including Navarro College, Pittsburg State University, Spring Arbor University, and Virginia Wesleyan University are deploying Oracle Student to simplify processes and help them deliver on their core missions of driving student success.
Alongside constant shifts in the higher education landscape, student expectations continue to rapidly evolve. Students demand more control over their college experience, greater financial transparency, and a significantly closer link between their studies and professional success. With Oracle Student, students can manage their entire academic experience and take charge of their education and achieve their goals faster with tools for curriculum registry, term and non-term financial aid packaging, multi-year scenario course planning, real-time insights.
"Navarro College is keenly focused on creating innovative pathways to student-centric learning," said Dr. Kevin Fegan, president, Navarro College. "Implementing Oracle Student is imperative to elevating our technology stack to the highest level in order to better serve our students, as well as enabling us to pursue our vision of being a nationally recognized institution."
Oracle Student also provides integrated dashboards to support a multitude of higher education structures, including system, consortia, multi-institution degrees, and short-term exchange. Built with an intuitive, student-first design, the solution automates routine tasks and simplifies financial aid processes, freeing faculty and staff from mundane transactions and empowering them to spend more time with students.
"This solution truly reflects our mission to design products that put the needs of our customers and their end users - first in everything we do," said Vivian Wong, group vice president, Higher Education Development, Oracle. "It is an honor to be working with such an innovative group of institutions as they seek to transform the student experience and light the academic spark for the next generation of students."
Oracle Student's quarterly release cycle delivers provides institutions with the agility and flexibility they need to meet student expectations. The solution is also uniquely architected for lifelong learning, not just undergraduate programs, which is critical to helping students gain a competitive edge with relevant skills and ensuring successful post-graduate outcomes.
"Delivering opportunities for lifelong learning is increasingly important in higher education," according to Vicki Tambellini, founder of the Tambellini Group. "Student solutions that are able to support traditional and non-traditional programs seamlessly on a single platform demonstrate a strong commitment to innovation and meeting the needs of institutions not just today, but well into the future."
Resources:
About Oracle
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Oracle CloudWorld is Oracle's largest global celebration of customers and partners. Join us to discover the insights you need to tackle your biggest business challenges, build your skills, knowledge, and connections, and learn more about our cloud infrastructure, database, applications and developer technologies including Java from the people that build and use them. For registration, live keynotes, session details, news and more visit
oracle.com/cloudworld or oracle.com/news.
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Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company--ushering in the new era of cloud computing.
SOURCE Oracle
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On June 1st 2023, in the presence of a global audience, during the 2nd Annual Permanent Forum of People of African Descent, 30 years of historic work and future commitments were witnessed at the United Nations ("UN") headquarters in New York City.
Her Majesty, Queen Mother Delois Blakely, under the authority of the Constitutive Assembly, proclaimed the birth of a new sovereign nation, Kingdom of Kush, on the territory of Bir Tawil.
NEW PEACEFULLY FORMED NATION "KINGDOM OF KUSH" DECLARES ITS SOVEREIGNTY Post this Queen Mother Dr. Delois Blakely
Bir Tawil is an area located between Egypt and Sudan that has not been claimed by any country and, therefore, has been referred to as Terra Nullius, a "no man's land."
On June 13, 1993, the Constitutive Assembly for the Rebirth of the Kingdom of Kush planted a flag and, in accordance and compliance with international laws, claimed Bir Tawil as the location of the Kingdom of Kush and a new home for the African Diaspora. It will create a significant employment and other economic benefits for Sudan, Egypt as well as the entire continent. The Kingdom of Kush is committed to unite and benefit 1.6 billion people of African descent around the world.
With the Kingdom of Kush now functioning as a sovereign state, the African Diaspora has the "right of return" to a place it can call home. This commitment is in support of the U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194 (Ill) and of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (December 10, 1948). Article 13(2) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country."
The Kingdom of Kush is committed to put in place a legally binding instrument of land use to these and other UN and African Union ("AU") major initiatives. The Kingdom is also committed to the principles of peace, equality, justice, as well as other critical tenets outlined in the United Nations Charter to establish a democratic and inclusive society where every citizen, regardless of their race, religion, gender, or socioeconomic status, enjoys the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Kingdom of Kush Constitution.
The Kingdom has already gained broad political and economic support on the continent and around the world. We are grateful to those countries that have expressed their willingness to recognize the Kingdom as an Independent Sovereign Nation. The Kingdom of Kush invites and looks forward to establishing diplomatic relationships with all nations who respect its sovereignty and are willing to work collaboratively for a safer, more just and stable world.
As the Kingdom of Kush continues to build various levels of the government, the new Nation welcomes all political, economic and social leaders to join its global team in the movement to bring unity, prosperity and peace to the African continent, as it is one united Africa that we all want.
Together We Prosper!
Members of the media are invited to attend the Kingdom of Kush Press Conference on September 20, 2023, at 3pm at the following address:
Permanent Observer Mission of the African Union to the United Nations
305 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017
5th Floor.
For further inquiries, please contact: Office of Communications, Kingdom of Kush
William M. Noe Dr. Taoufik Mathlouthi
email: [email protected]
https://kingdomofkush.org/
SOURCE Kingdom of Kush
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, September 20, Nia Tero will host a conversation at Climate Week about the vital role that Indigenous Peoples' guardianship of their territories plays in mitigating climate change.
Indigenous territories sustain much of the world's healthiest ecosystems and remaining biodiversity, which are essential to our global climate, fresh water, and food security. The unique forms of Indigenous governance, collective wisdom, and cultural vitality directly contribute to the health of the ecosystems Indigenous Peoples inhabit..
Climate Week Event: Why Indigenous Guardians are Essential for Meeting Climate Targets Post this September 17th - Indigenous-led climate march in New York, calling for an end to fossil fuels. Photo: Tracy Rector/Nia Tero
Nia Tero invites you in-person and virtually to listen to Indigenous representatives about how the ancestral knowledge and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples in managing their territories across the world can help tackle the climate crisis and learn ways Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Peoples can work together to promote changes.
Wisdom of the Ages: Why Indigenous Guardians are Essential for Meeting Climate Targets
Date & Time: September 20, 2023, from 3:30 5:00 pm ET
Location: Nature Positive Hub - Madison Hub, Convene 101 Park Avenue, New York City, NY
The health and habitability of the Earth pivots on whether Indigenous Peoples can continue to sustain the natural ecosystems in their ancestral territories. This conversation between Indigenous activists, human rights lawyers, and funders invites guests to think about the ways in which climate change can be addressed through Indigenous solutions. We will also reflect on our collective sense of what is possible and how to prepare post-Climate Week and, in the lead-up, for COP28 from 30 November until 12 December 2023.
Featuring:
Nara Bare, Indigenous Leader and Brazil Representative, Nia Tero ( Bare People , Brazil )
Representative, ( , ) Vicky Tauli Corpuz , Former UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( Kankanaey Igorot, Philippines )
, Former UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( ) Nemonte Nenquimo, Founder, Amazon Frontlines and Ceibo Alliance ( Waorani, Ecuador )
) Paul Roughan , Pasifika Strategic Lead, Nia Tero ( Are'are , Solomon Islands )
, Pasifika Strategic Lead, ( , ) Peter Seligmann , CEO & Founder, Nia Tero ( USA )
, CEO & Founder, ( ) Kynan Tegar, Filmmaker and Activist (Dayak Iban, Sungai Utik, Indonesia )
Watch online: https://tnc.zoom.us/j/97718246008
More about this event: https://crm.nature4climate.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=46
More about Nia Tero's Climate Week events: https://www.niatero.org/climateweek
For Press Inquiries: [email protected]
SOURCE Nia Tero
The expected launch of various emerging therapies shall fuel the growth of the Niemann-Pick disease type C market during the forecast period, i.e., 20232032. The Niemann-Pick disease type C market size is expected to increase at a significant CAGR
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DelveInsight's Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Insights report includes a comprehensive understanding of current treatment practices, Niemann-Pick disease type C emerging drugs, market share of individual therapies, and current and forecasted market size from 2019 to 2032, segmented into 7MM [the United States, the EU-4 (Italy, Spain, France, and Germany), the United Kingdom, and Japan].
Key Takeaways from the Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
As per DelveInsight analysis, the Niemann-Pick disease type C market is expected to grow positively at a significant CAGR during the study period (20192032).
Type C1 is by far the more common type, accounting for 95% of cases. As per the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (2021), the epidemiology data on NPC are scarce, although prevalence has been estimated to be approximately 1 in 150,000 live births in Western Europe based on the cases identified over a 15-year period in France , Germany , and the UK.
of cases. As per the National Niemann-Pick Disease Foundation (2021), the epidemiology data on NPC are scarce, although prevalence has been estimated to be approximately live births in based on the cases identified over a 15-year period in , , and the UK. Leading Niemann-Pick disease type C companies such as Azafaros A.G., Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., ZevraDenmark, Genzyme, IntraBio Inc, Mandos Health, and others are developing novel Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs that can be available in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market in the coming years.
and others are developing novel Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs that can be available in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market in the coming years. Some key therapies for Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment include AZ-3102, Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, Arimoclomol, GZ402665, IB1001, VTS-270 , and others.
and others. In January 2023 , Azafaros received IND approval and is currently conducting Phase II trials to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic profile in NPC patients.
received IND approval and is currently conducting Phase II trials to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetic profile in NPC patients. In July 2021 , Mandos closed the acquisition of VTS-270. The company states that the FDA has not found the drug to be safe and effective for use to treat NPC1 or for any other use.
Discover which therapies are expected to grab the major Niemann-Pick disease type C market share @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Overview
Niemann-Pick disease type C is a rare progressive hereditary condition defined by the body's inability to transport cholesterol and other fatty substances into cells. This incapacity results in an inappropriate buildup of these chemicals in numerous body tissues including brain tissue. Niemann-Pick disease type C varies according to the age of onset, and symptoms can change from person to person. The visceral, neurological, and mental aspects of this hereditary disease distinguish it. Niemann-Pick disease type C is caused by a mutation in the NPC1 or NPC2 genes and is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. Niemann-Pick disease type C has a highly variable clinical presentation, with significant heterogeneity in the onset of type C symptoms (enlarged liver, enlarged spleen, or jaundice) and the development of the disease. Niemann-Pick disease type C is diagnosed based on symptoms such as psychiatric disorders, neurologic abnormalities, and so on. This condition is sometimes misinterpreted as another linked neurological disorder.
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Epidemiology Segmentation
The Niemann-Pick disease type C epidemiology section provides insights into the historical and current Niemann-Pick disease type C patient pool and forecasted trends for individual seven major countries. It helps to recognize the causes of current and forecasted trends by exploring numerous studies and views of key opinion leaders.
The Niemann-Pick disease type C market report proffers epidemiological analysis for the study period 20192032 in the 7MM segmented into:
Total Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Prevalent Cases
Total Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Diagnosed Prevalent Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Gene-specific Diagnosed Prevalent Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treated Cases
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment Market
Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment necessitates the collaborative efforts of a team of professionals. Pediatricians, neurologists, ophthalmologists, pulmonologists, gastroenterologists, and other healthcare providers may be required to arrange a child's therapy systematically and comprehensively. Psychosocial assistance for the entire family is also vital. Affected individuals and their families benefit from genetic counseling. Current Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment focuses on the specific symptoms that each person is experiencing. Niemann-Pick disease type C has no cure, however, patients can benefit from palliative therapies. Occupational therapy can aid in the improvement of posture, speech, and movement. Physical therapy is a crucial element of treatment that can help you keep your mobility for as long as possible.
ZAVESCA/BRAZAVES [miglustat], a substrate reduction medication created by Actelion Pharmaceuticals, is the sole approved medicine in Europe and Japan. The FDA denied its approval for the treatment of NPC due to a lack of data. The US FDA wanted further data, which would take years to obtain and would be nearly difficult to meet the FDA's high standards, owing to the restricted or lack of patient population that could be enrolled in the studies. However, because the medicine is already approved in the United States for the treatment of Gaucher's disease, it is being prescribed to NPC patients as an off-label therapy. Miglustat inhibits the synthesis of glycosphingolipids, one of the chemicals that build in the brains of people with NPC, and hence slows the progression of neurological symptoms. However, this medication is not appropriate for every affected individual.
To know more about Niemann-Pick disease type C treatment, visit @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment Drugs
Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Therapies and Companies
AZ-3102: Azafaros A.G.
Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin: Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc.
Arimoclomol: ZevraDenmark
GZ402665: Genzyme
IB1001: IntraBio Inc
VTS-270: Mandos Health
Learn more about the FDA-approved drugs for Niemann-Pick disease type C @ Drugs for Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Dynamics
The Niemann-Pick disease type C market has historically been limited due to the rarity of the disease, several significant dynamics have been shaping its evolution. One of the most notable dynamics is the increasing awareness and diagnosis of NPC. Advances in genetic testing and improved understanding of the disease have led to earlier and more accurate diagnoses. This has driven a growing demand for therapies, as early intervention can significantly improve patient outcomes.
Furthermore, research and development in the field of NPC have seen promising progress. Pharmaceutical companies and research institutions have been actively exploring novel therapeutic approaches, including enzyme replacement therapies, substrate reduction therapies, and gene therapies. This has attracted investment and attention to the Niemann-Pick disease type C market, with a focus on developing effective treatments to address the unmet medical needs of patients.
Additionally, regulatory agencies have recognized the urgency of addressing rare diseases like NPC. Expedited pathways for drug approvals and orphan drug status designations have facilitated the development and commercialization of potential treatments. These regulatory incentives have encouraged pharmaceutical companies to invest in NPC research and development.
While there are positive dynamics in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market, several significant barriers also exist that can hinder progress. The rarity of NPC poses a substantial challenge for pharmaceutical companies and researchers. The small patient population makes it difficult to conduct large-scale clinical trials, which are essential for drug development.
While there have been regulatory incentives to encourage research and development in rare diseases, navigating the regulatory landscape can still be challenging. Companies must meet rigorous safety and efficacy standards, which can be especially demanding for novel therapies in the Niemann-Pick disease type C market. Despite increasing awareness, NPC remains relatively unknown among the general public and even some healthcare professionals. This lack of awareness can lead to delayed diagnoses and hinder early intervention efforts.
Report Metrics Details Study Period 20192032 Coverage 7MM [The United States, the EU-4 (Germany, France, Italy, and Spain), the United Kingdom, and Japan] Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Companies Azafaros A.G., Cyclo Therapeutics, Inc., ZevraDenmark, Genzyme, IntraBio Inc, Mandos Health, and others Key Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Therapies AZ-3102, Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin, Arimoclomol, GZ402665, IB1001, VTS-270, and others
Scope of the Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report
Therapeutic Assessment: Niemann-Pick Disease Type C current marketed and emerging therapies
Niemann-Pick Disease Type C current marketed and emerging therapies Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Dynamics: Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Drugs
Conjoint Analysis of Emerging Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Drugs Competitive Intelligence Analysis: SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies
SWOT analysis and Market entry strategies Unmet Needs, KOL's views, Analyst's views, Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Access and Reimbursement
Discover more about Niemann-Pick disease type C drugs in development @ Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Clinical Trials
Table of Contents
1. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Key Insights 2. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Report Introduction 3. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Overview at a Glance 4. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Executive Summary 5. Disease Background and Overview 6. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Treatment and Management 7. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Epidemiology and Patient Population 8. Patient Journey 9. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Marketed Drugs 10. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Emerging Drugs 11. Seven Major Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Analysis 12. Niemann-Pick Disease Type C Market Outlook 13. Potential of Current and Emerging Therapies 14. KOL Views 15. Unmet Needs 16. SWOT Analysis 17. Appendix 18. DelveInsight Capabilities 19. Disclaimer 20. About DelveInsight
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Niemann-Pick Disease Type A Market
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About DelveInsight
DelveInsight is a leading Business Consultant and Market Research firm focused exclusively on life sciences. It supports pharma companies by providing comprehensive end-to-end solutions to improve their performance. Get hassle-free access to all the healthcare and pharma market research reports through our subscription-based platform PharmDelve.
Contact Us
Shruti Thakur
[email protected]
+1(919)321-6187
www.delveinsight.com
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1082265/3528414/DelveInsight_Logo.jpg
SOURCE DelveInsight Business Research, LLP
Study Results are widely regarded as the final step before MDMA-assisted therapy is reviewed by the FDA for wider patient access.
Numinus continues to support greater access to these important therapies, through its growing psychedelic-assisted therapy practitioner training programs
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Numinus Wellness Inc. ("Numinus" or the "Company") (TSX: NUMI) (OTCQX: NUMIF), a mental health care company advancing innovative treatments and safe, evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies congratulates the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelics Studies ("MAPS") on the results of their phase 3 results. These findings were published last week in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Nature Medicine.
As largely expected, the results of the confirmatory phase 3 study, named MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial indicated 71.2% of participants in the MDMA-AT group no longer met the criteria for PTSD after receiving three dosing sessions, together with therapy, delivered approximately one month apart further underscoring the importance and potential effectiveness of MDMA for the treatment of PTSD. Just as important, therapy alone the study showed substantial results, with 47.6% of the placebo group no longer meeting the PTSD criteria post-treatment after receiving therapy for approximately three months.
With its established clinic network, Numinus stands ready to offer MDMA-assisted therapy pending appropriate regulatory approvals. The company has already initiated a comprehensive practitioner training pathway to train qualified professionals to meet the demand for MDMA-assisted therapy.
"This marks a milestone for both MAPS and the entire psychedelic-assisted therapy community," said Payton Nyquvest, Founder and CEO. "By further demonstrating the effectiveness of MDMA-assisted therapy for the treatment of PTSD, many in the industry view this as the final step before the treatment undergoes FDA review for approval and the promise of wider patient access."
Mr. Nyquvest continued: "At Numinus, we're well-positioned to welcome clients looking for relief from PTSD, and expect to be able to add MAPS's MDMA-assisted therapy protocol to our existing service offering within our clinic network following regulatory approval. We believe there is a significant number of people who can benefit from these important treatments. Moreover, for providers are eager to adopt this treatment modality to serve their clientele, Numinus offers those practitioners a pathway through its existing training program. With mental wellness clinics across North America Numinus is taking a leading role in facilitating access to a growing list of psychedelic-assisted therapies."
Additional information regarding the MAPS Clinical Trial Results
This multi-site, randomized, double-blind, confirmatory phase 3 study evaluated the efficacy and safety of MDMA-assisted therapy ("MDMA-AT") compared to placebo, with identical therapy in participants with moderate to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Participants were ethnoracially diverse, which is important because gender-diverse and transgender individuals, ethnoracial minorities, first responders, military personnel, veterans and victims of chronic sexual abuse have a disproportionately higher risk of developing PTSD due to disparities in trauma exposure. These diverse populations are historically underrepresented in clinical trials. Full text available at MDMA-assisted therapy for moderate to severe PTSD: a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial | Nature Medicine.
To learn more about Numinus' practitioner training programs, please see: https://numinus.com/our-training-selection/
About Numinus
Numinus Wellness Inc. (TSX: NUMI) helps people to heal and be well through the development and delivery of innovative mental health care and access to safe, evidence-based psychedelic-assisted therapies. The Numinus model - including psychedelic production, research and clinic care - is at the forefront of a transformation aimed at healing rather than managing symptoms for depression, anxiety, trauma, pain and substance use. At Numinus, we are leading the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapies into mainstream clinical practice and building the foundation for a healthier society.
Learn more at www.numinus.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Forward-looking statements
Statements and other information contained in this press release about anticipated future events constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect" and "intend" and statements that an event "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for any indication or at all; restrictions that may be placed on use of MDMA by regulatory authorities; safety and efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy; acceptance, uptake and commercialization of MDMA-assisted therapy; the effect, if any, of having obtained certification on any particular trainee or such trainee's business or profile; and other risks that are set forth in our annual information form dated December 12, 2022 and available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements are based on estimates and opinions of management at the date the statements are made. Numinus does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking statements even if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable laws. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Numinus Wellness Inc.
On Tuesday, September 19, more than 5 explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region. The loudest was in the area of Avtokolorlyt.
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This was reported in Telegram by the mayor of Melitopol Ivan Fedorov. He joked that the invaders' vaunted "air defense" did not have time to work.
We would like to remind you that explosions also occurred in Melitopol on the evening of September 10, when the occupiers' pseudo-elections in the region ended with a loud "bavovna". It was heard both by residents of the city and the surrounding settlements to the north and east. Some even felt the vibration.
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And on August 29, explosions were heard in the city of Kamianka-Dniprovska, Zaporizhzhia region. An enemy "polling station" was attacked. At that time, more than 30 traitors gathered there, guarded by the Russian military, including Kadyrov's men. The collaborators planned to organize the distribution of ballots and voting booths, but the SSU used attack drones to "correct" the enemy's plans.
As reported by OBOZREVATEL:
- Earlier, Ukrainian defenders struck another blow at the positions of the Russian occupiers. Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit the location of Russian military equipment in the temporarily occupied Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia region.
- The Atesh military guerrilla movement in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine conducted a sabotage in Genichesk. In particular, the guerrillas blew up two trucks with Russian occupants.
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Only verified information on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuveen, the $1.1 trillion asset manager of TIAA and one of the world's largest real estate investment managers, today announced it has secured a $250 million commitment from the TIAA General Account to seed the Nuveen Real Estate U.S. Impact Housing Fund.
The core-plus, open-end fund is focused on generating strong risk adjusted returns and creating housing opportunities for low-income residents across the U.S., primarily by investing in a geographically diverse portfolio of properties, including housing with rent subsidies, rent restrictions, income restrictions and Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) assets. The fund also intends to invest in regenerative development and financing that supports minority and women developers of affordable housing.
Affordable housing is a compelling portfolio allocation, offering consistent income streams though different market cycles, strong demand and limited supply, due to guaranteed subsidized rent payments for a large portion of residents.
"As demand for affordable housing has intensified nationwide, more investors are seeking opportunities in this resilient housing sector that produces positive societal benefits and steady returnsboth of which are also aligned to TIAA's objectives," said Pamela West, Portfolio Manager of Impact Investing at Nuveen Real Estate. "As a key component of healthy, sustainable communities, affordable housing also enhances economic activity and job creation."
Nuveen has extensive experience investing in U.S. affordable housing dating back to 1992. Nuveen also has unique capabilities as a vertically integrated affordable housing property manager, operator and developer. Through these capabilities, Nuveen has dedicated portfolio management support for its affordable housing assets and can work with local communities to preserve and develop more affordable housing.
"We are one of the few truly vertically integrated fund managers that can build, invest in and operate quality, safe affordable housing across the country," said Nadir Settles, Global Head of Impact Investing at Nuveen Real Estate. "By consistently reinvesting in our properties, we not only help our residents, but also build quality assets, which helps sustain investment value."
In alignment with Nuveen Real Estate's underlying mission, the fund will aim to address the preservation of housing for residents earning less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), with a large concentration of households earning less than 60% AMI.
The U.S. Impact Housing Fund will also improve the quality of that housing through expenditures to help with environmental adaptability and enhance resident well-being through investment in resident services, like healthcare and education. All investments are expected to make a material step toward achieving important social and environmental outcomes in affordable housing in alignment with select UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Past performance of products associated with the Manager is not indicative of future results, and there can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve comparable results. In addition, an investment in the Fund and an investment in a securitization are different in many significant aspects, including structure, terms, fees and expenses. An investment in the Fund is subject to different risks and the result thereof may vary substantially.
Investing involves risk; principal loss is possible. Real estate investments are subject to various risks associated with ownership of real estate-related assets, including fluctuations in property values, higher expenses or lower income than expected, currency movement risks, environmental problems and liability, and risks related to leasing of properties. Please consider all risks carefully prior to investing in any particular strategy. The portfolio's concentration in the real estate sector makes it subject to greater risk and volatility than other portfolios that are more diversified and its value may be substantially affected by economic events in the real estate industry.
Responsible investing incorporates Environmental Social Governance (ESG) factors that may affect exposure to issuers, sectors, industries, limiting the type and number of investment opportunities available, which could result in excluding investments that perform well. ESG integration is the consideration of financially material ESG factors in support of portfolio management for actively managed strategies. Financial materiality of ESG factors varies by asset class and investment strategy. Applicability of ESG factors may differ across investment strategies. ESG factors are among many factors considered in evaluating an investment decision, and unless otherwise stated in the relevant offering memorandum or prospectus, do not alter the investment guidelines, strategy or objectives.
Nuveen, LLC provides investment solutions through its investment specialists. Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC.
Nuveen Real Estate is a real estate investment management holding company owned by Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA). Nuveen Real Estate securities products distributed in North America are advised by UK regulated subsidiaries or Nuveen Alternatives Advisors LLC, a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of TIAA, and distributed by Nuveen Securities, LLC, member FINRA.
About Nuveen
Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of 30 Jun 2023 and operations in 27 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies. For more information, please visit www.nuveen.com.
Contact:
Rebecca Vignali
703.505.7954
[email protected]
SOURCE Nuveen
The Digital Supply Chain Network enables full digital representation of supply chain ecosystems for improved efficiency, decision making, and resilience at far lower cost.
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One Network Enterprises (ONE), the leading global provider of intelligent control towers and the Digital Supply Chain Network, is pleased to announce expanded capabilities in its One Network ecosystem. The network of networks is a ubiquitous network that enables any organization to join, and "plug and play" their enterprise systems into the network. In addition, the network's adapters are designed to support all major enterprise and legacy systems, including planning solutions, risk networks, other third-party networks, blockchain (HyperLedger and Ethereum), and retail data repositories. The network also incorporates third-party live data sources such as Internet of Things (IoT), telematics, weather, traffic, and geopolitical data.
This multi-party, multi-tier inclusivity, with "plug and play" ease, enables a full digital representation of an organization's end-to-end supply chain ecosystem. This saves organizations from the difficult challenge of creating their own system and managing the attendant data and integration issues that often bog down and sink many large IT projects.
The network's inclusiveness and ubiquity allow the AI algorithms to take full advantage of the massive amounts of data on the network. By leveraging their own proprietary and specific machine learning models and data, organizations can further enhance the AI through the networks' "bring your own intelligence" (BYOI), capability, enabling even more effective planning and execution.
Due to the network's inclusivity and incorporation of real-time data, it provides a realistic view of the supply chain, its resources and constraints, allowing for better optimization and more effective decision making. Its representation of the full multi-tier supply chain which includes current and predicted weather, traffic, and geopolitical factors, also makes supply chains much more resilient.
With a chain of custody solution, the network enables the tracking of complex, lot splitting and merging moves across regions. It also supports numerous regulatory mandates, such as FSMA 204 in food, and environmental, social, governance (ESG) concerns which can also be addressed with its carbon tracking and management solution. This chain of custody capability can span across blockchains and ONE's proprietary ledger.
A unique feature of the network is that organizations need only onboard once, and then they can connect and transact with carriers and suppliers, or any of the other 90,000 organizations already on the network. The network includes master data management tools, including a Databot, that enables organizations to quickly gather, cleanse, reconcile, and publish their master data to the network. Access to data is strictly controlled by a patented permissions framework.
The network's Plasma tool enables non-developers to build integration pipelines into many other systems and helps speed up onboarding. The network's SDK for developers provides a powerful tool for adapting, extending, and building solution modules.
The network is designed to be open, accessible, and transparent to everyone. The APIs, SDK, Plasma, and other tools in development mean that other systems or networks, both old and new, will be supported going forward. The goal is to ensure the network is easy to join, flexible, and provides powerful solutions and templates, including ONE's leading supply chain control tower , that help supply chains deliver the highest quality goods at the lowest landed cost.
"We are absolutely committed to making the One Network open and accessible to all. It is only through a robust network of networks that we'll be able to provide the highest quality and service at the lowest cost by removing latency, lead time, and minimizing inventory and waste," said Greg Brady, Executive Chairman and Founder of One Network Enterprises.
About One Network Enterprises
One Network is the leader in supply chain control towers and provider of the Digital Supply Chain Network. It is the only solution that gives supply chain managers and executives end-to-end visibility and control with one data model and one truth, from raw material to last mile delivery. Powered by NEO, One Network's machine learning and intelligent agent technology, it enables seamless planning and execution, across inbound supply, outbound order fulfillment, and logistics, matching demand with available supply in real-time. Lead your industry by providing the highest service levels and product quality at the lowest possible cost. Visit: www.onenetwork.com.
For further information on this topic, please contact:
Michelle Gaubert
Global AR & PR Director
[email protected]
+1 (510) 316-0590
SOURCE One Network Enterprises
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OnSight Technology, a leading robotics and computer vision company for the PV solar industry, is thrilled to announce the successful completion of its Seed round.
OnSight robot operating in a California solar field through rough vegetation.
With this injection of funds, OnSight Technology is poised to propel its computer vision and autonomous driving initiatives to new heights. The investment enables the company to strengthen its research and development capabilities, attract top-tier talent, and forge strategic partnerships to further refine and enhance their AI algorithms. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies, OnSight aims to unlock the true potential of artificial intelligence in streamlining and optimizing solar operations.
Moneta Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm, led the round, with Staubli, the global market leader in solar connections and renowned player in robotics and industrial automation, joining as a strategic investor and board member. There was additional participation from previous investors, including the Sacramento-based Growth Factory.
"We are grateful to Moneta Ventures, Staubli, and the Growth Factory for their support," said Derek Chase, CEO of OnSight Technology. "This round will propel us forward as we continue to innovate and revolutionize the robotics and computer vision landscape for the solar industry."
Moneta Ventures, known for its expertise in early-stage investments, recognizes the enormous potential of OnSight Technology's cutting-edge solutions. By leveraging its strong network and resources, Moneta Ventures aims to guide OnSight Technology toward sustainable growth and industry leadership.
"OnSight's platform will enable the rapidly growing utility solar market to dramatically reduce commissioning and maintenance costs while improving accuracy and asset performance," said Lokesh Sikaria, Managing Partner of Moneta Ventures. "OnSight's solution is truly differentiated, as their robots enable data capture beneath the panels, where many equipment failures occur. We are proud to be backing an incredible team of industry veterans and technological experts."
Staubli's investment solidifies the strategic partnership between the two companies. As the global market leader for solar connections, and a renowned player in robotics and industrial automation, Staubli brings valuable expertise and industry insights to further fuel OnSight Technology's success on the way to increasing a safer future for the photovoltaics industry.
"We are thrilled to participate in OnSight Technology's development of innovative Computer Vision and AI solutions to enhance safety in the solar industry", explains Franco Delvecchio, EP of Staubli Electrical Connectors. "It's part of Staubli's DNA to push forward innovation and future-oriented technologies to make our customers' operations easier and safer."
The Growth Factory's 3rd investment into Onsight Technology showcases their commitment to fostering innovation and driving economic growth in the Sacramento region. Their ongoing investments demonstrate the belief in the company's vision and potential.
"At Growth Factory, we are proud to identify world class founders in the Sacramento Region and support them with the funding, connections, and programming it takes to build their business. As the first check in to Onsight, we are excited to double down and continue supporting their journey to build a world class company!" Rick Spencer, Founder and Managing partner of GF Ventures.
About OnSight Technology:
OnSight Technology is a leading robotics and computer vision company that specializes in developing advanced solutions for Utility and Commercial Solar Industry. By combining state-of-the-art technology with deep industry knowledge, OnSight Technology aims to transform traditional processes and drive efficiency, productivity, and safety.
Media Contact:
Jeff Struhm
VP Marketing
[email protected]
916.761.4205
SOURCE Onsight Technology
New release showcased at Oracle CloudWorld delivers 15 JDK Enhancement Proposals to improve the Java language and enhance the platform's performance, stability, and security
Extensions to Long Term Support roadmap enable customers to migrate at their own pace
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle CloudWorld -- Oracle today announced the availability of Java 21, the latest version of the world's number one programming language and development platform. Java 21 (Oracle JDK 21) delivers thousands of performance, stability, and security improvements, including platform enhancements that will help developers increase productivity and drive innovation and growth across their organizations. Oracle is showcasing the latest capabilities in Java 21 at Oracle CloudWorld, which takes place this week (September 18-21) in Las Vegas, NV and online at oracle.com/cloudworld.
"Java continues to be the language and platform of choice for the development of robust, scalable, and secure applications used by organizations and millions of individuals around the world," said Georges Saab, senior vice president of Oracle Java Platform and chair of the OpenJDK governing board. "The new enhancements in Java 21 enable developers to build better applications even faster than before. In addition, commercial support will be available for at least eight years to enable customers to migrate at their own pace."
The latest Java Development Kit (JDK) provides updates and improvements with 15 JDK Enhancement Proposals (JEPs). JDK 21 delivers language improvements from OpenJDK project Amber (String Templates, Record Patterns, Pattern Matching for Switch, Unnamed Patterns and Variables, and Unnamed Classes and Instance Main Methods); enhancements from Project Panama (Foreign Function & Memory API and Vector API); features related to Project Loom (Virtual Threads, Scoped Values, and Structured Concurrency); performance updates (Generational ZGC); and maintenance and deprecation features (Deprecate the 32-bit x86 Port for Removal, and Prepare to Disallow the Dynamic Loading of Agents).
"Despite so many languages that are in circulation, Java is still everywhere today," said Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst and co-founder, RedMonk. "As the world evolves, Java's ability to adapt will help it continue to play a key role in offering value to developers."
Oracle will offer long term support for Java 21 for at least eight years. This extended support period gives organizations flexibility to keep applications in production longer with minimal maintenance, and to eventually migrate on their own terms. Based on customer feedback and use in the Java ecosystem, Oracle has also announced that long term support for Java 11 has been extended through at least January 2032, providing at least eight more years of support and updates from Oracle.
Significant updates delivered in Java 21 are:
Project Loom Features
JEP 444 : Virtual Threads: Significantly streamlines the process of writing, maintaining, and observing high-throughput, concurrent applications by introducing lightweight virtual threads to the Java Platform. By enabling developers to easily troubleshoot, debug, and profile concurrent applications and scale them with existing JDK tools and techniques, virtual threads help accelerate application development.
Significantly streamlines the process of writing, maintaining, and observing high-throughput, concurrent applications by introducing lightweight virtual threads to the Java Platform. By enabling developers to easily troubleshoot, debug, and profile concurrent applications and scale them with existing JDK tools and techniques, virtual threads help accelerate application development. JEP 446 : Scoped Values (Preview): Enables the sharing of immutable data within and across threads. This helps increase the ease-of-use, comprehensibility, robustness, and performance of developers' projects.
Enables the sharing of immutable data within and across threads. This helps increase the ease-of-use, comprehensibility, robustness, and performance of developers' projects. JEP 453: Structured Concurrency (Preview): Simplifies concurrent programming by introducing an API for structured concurrency, which helps promote a style of concurrent programming that can eliminate common risks arising from cancellation and shutdown such as thread leaks and cancellation delays and improves the observability of concurrent code. This helps developers streamline error handling and cancellation, improve reliability, and enhance observability.
Performance Updates
JEP 439: Generational ZGC: Improves application performance by extending the Z Garbage Collector (ZGC) to maintain separate generations for young and old objects. Generational ZGC helps improve developer productivity by lowering the overhead of required heap memory and garbage collection CPU for applications, as well as reducing the risks of allocation stalls.
Language Updates and Improvements
JEP 430 : String Templates (Preview): Simplifies the development of Java programs by making it easy to express strings that include values computed at run time, and improves the security of programs that compose strings from user-provided values and pass them to other systems. In addition, the readability of expressions that mix text and expressions is enhanced, and non-string values computed from literal text and embedded expressions can be created without having to transit through an intermediate string representation. This helps increase developer productivity by making the Java language more readable, writable, and maintainable.
Simplifies the development of Java programs by making it easy to express strings that include values computed at run time, and improves the security of programs that compose strings from user-provided values and pass them to other systems. In addition, the readability of expressions that mix text and expressions is enhanced, and non-string values computed from literal text and embedded expressions can be created without having to transit through an intermediate string representation. This helps increase developer productivity by making the Java language more readable, writable, and maintainable. JEP 440 : Record Patterns (Third Preview): Enhances the Java language by extending pattern matching to destructure instances of record classes, as well as enabling the addition of nested patterns. This enables developers to extend pattern matching to more sophisticated and composable data queries, which helps increase productivity.
Enhances the Java language by extending pattern matching to destructure instances of record classes, as well as enabling the addition of nested patterns. This enables developers to extend pattern matching to more sophisticated and composable data queries, which helps increase productivity. JEP 441 : Pattern Matching for Switch: Expands the expressiveness and applicability of switch expressions and statements by allowing patterns to appear in case labels. In addition, the safety of switch statements is increased by requiring that pattern switch statements cover all possible input values, and all existing switch expressions and statements can continue to be compiled with no changes and executed with identical semantics. This helps developers streamline and increase the reliability of their projects by making the Java language more semantic so that complex data-oriented queries can be expressed concisely and safely.
Expands the expressiveness and applicability of switch expressions and statements by allowing patterns to appear in case labels. In addition, the safety of switch statements is increased by requiring that pattern switch statements cover all possible input values, and all existing switch expressions and statements can continue to be compiled with no changes and executed with identical semantics. This helps developers streamline and increase the reliability of their projects by making the Java language more semantic so that complex data-oriented queries can be expressed concisely and safely. JEP 443 : Unnamed Patterns and Variables (Preview): Enhances the Java language by enabling unnamed patterns to match a record component without stating the component's name or type, as well as unnamed variables that can be initialized but not used. This helps simplify the development process by increasing the readability of record patterns and improving the maintainability of all code.
Enhances the Java language by enabling unnamed patterns to match a record component without stating the component's name or type, as well as unnamed variables that can be initialized but not used. This helps simplify the development process by increasing the readability of record patterns and improving the maintainability of all code. JEP 445: Unnamed Classes and Instance Main Methods (Preview): Helps simplify and improve the accessibility of the Java language so that educators can introduce programming concepts in a gradual manner. By avoiding the introduction of a separate beginner's dialect of Java and a separate beginner's toolchain, student programs can be compiled and run with the same tools that compile and run any Java program helping students write basic programs in a concise manner and grow their code gracefully as their skills increase. This helps improve student developer productivity by enabling them to write their first programs without needing to understand language features designed for large programs.
Project Panama Preview Features
JEP 442 : Foreign Function & Memory API (Third Preview): Introduces an API to enable Java programs to interoperate with code and data outside of the Java runtime. By efficiently invoking foreign functions (i.e., code outside the Java Virtual Machine [JVM]), and by safely accessing foreign memory (i.e., memory not managed by the JVM), the new API enables Java programs to call native libraries and process native data without requiring the Java Native Interface. This increases ease-of-use, flexibility, performance, and safety for developers.
Introduces an API to enable Java programs to interoperate with code and data outside of the Java runtime. By efficiently invoking foreign functions (i.e., code outside the Java Virtual Machine [JVM]), and by safely accessing foreign memory (i.e., memory not managed by the JVM), the new API enables Java programs to call native libraries and process native data without requiring the Java Native Interface. This increases ease-of-use, flexibility, performance, and safety for developers. JEP 448: Vector API (Sixth Incubator): Introduces an API to express vector computations that reliably compile at runtime to vector instructions on supported CPU architectures. This helps developers improve the performance of their projects by providing them with access to a API that is capable of clearly and concisely expressing a wide range of vector computations.
The Java 21 release is the result of extensive collaboration between Oracle engineers and other members of the worldwide Java developer community via OpenJDK and the Java Community Process (JCP). In addition to the new enhancements, Java 21 is supported by Java Management Service (JMS) an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) native service which provides a unified console and dashboard to help organizations manage Java runtimes and applications on-premises or on any cloud. For more details on the features in Java 21, please read the Java 21 technical blog post.
Supporting the Global Java Ecosystem with Innovation in the Cloud
Java delivers optimal performance, efficiency, and innovation when deployed in the cloud on OCI, and OCI is one of the first hyperscale clouds to support Java 21. In addition, customers gain cost savings at scale by running Java on OCI. Oracle Java SE, Oracle GraalVM, and the Java SE Subscription Enterprise Performance Pack are available free of charge on OCI, enabling developers to build and deploy applications that run faster, better, and with optimized cost-performance.
The Oracle Java Universal SE Subscription is a pay-as-you-go offering that provides customers with best-in-class support, including triage support for their entire Java portfolio, entitlement to GraalVM, the Java SE Subscription Enterprise Performance Pack, access to the advanced features of the Java Management Service, and the flexibility to upgrade at the pace of their businesses. This helps IT organizations manage complexity, contain costs, and mitigate security risks.
The Global Java Community Embraces Java 21
"Java 21 is one of the most significant releases of Java, as Virtual Threads will impact how we develop and deploy asynchronous applications, from microservices to enterprise applications," said Dr. Venkat Subramaniam, founder, Agile Developer, Inc. "With little coding effort, developers' applications can scale to support a large number of IO operations and service calls without placing an undue demand on resources. Increased scale at reduced costs is a big win for organizations that count on Java in production."
"I'm excited about the 'Unnamed Classes and Instance Main Methods' preview feature in Java 21," said Barry Burd, professor, Drew University. "In my intro courses, students can start quickly and easily without confusion or fanfare. In my books, I can present complete examples with no boilerplate code. And the best part is the way these new features sync with Java's overarching design philosophy. Unnamed classes are joining their unnamed package and module cousins. And it's backward-compatible too."
"The sequenced collections feature in Java 21 is a great addition for the developer community. Developers no longer need to worry about accidentally relying on encounter order in a JUnit test, only to have it fail on the build server, upgrade, or elsewhere," said Jeanne Boyarsky, Java Champion. "With sequenced collections, this order will be defined which means no more surprises."
Expanding Dev.java with the Java Playground and Community Contributions
Dev.java is the official site for Java developers, and today we are announcing the addition of a Java Playground as well as new community contributions to the content catalog.
The Java Playground is an online sandbox that allows users to type and run small Java code snippets without the need for a local runtime or IDE. Developers can now try out new features from Java 21 immediately, all from a browser, powered by OCI.
Dev.java has hundreds of high-quality Java tutorials for all skill levels, authored by the Java team at Oracle. Now, Dev.java is also accepting community contributions through a new public repository inside the Java GitHub organization,
Developers can already find community contributions today from industry luminaries such as Dr. Venkat Subramaniam, Cay Horstmann, Jeanne Boyarsky, Heinz Kabutz, Paul Anderson, and Gail Anderson.
To learn more about Java and its global ecosystem, please visit:
Dev.java: The official portal for learning Java
Inside.java: News and views from the members of the Java Team at Oracle
Java YouTube: The official Java YouTube portal for Java learning videos
Additional Resources
About Oracle
Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.
About Oracle CloudWorld
Oracle CloudWorld is Oracle's largest global celebration of customers and partners. Join us to discover the insights you need to tackle your biggest business challenges, build your skills, knowledge, and connections, and learn more about our cloud infrastructure, database, applications and developer technologies including Java from the people that build and use them. For registration, live keynotes, session details, news and more visit oracle.com/cloudworld or oracle.com/news.
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
Statements in this article relating to Oracle's future plans, expectations, beliefs, and intentions are "forward-looking statements" and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Many factors could affect Oracle's current expectations and actual results, and could cause actual results to differ materially. A discussion of such factors and other risks that affect Oracle's business is contained in Oracle's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including Oracle's most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q under the heading "Risk Factors." These filings are available on the SEC's website or on Oracle's website at http://www.oracle.com/investor. All information in this article is current as of September 19, 2023 and Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.
Trademarks
Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud companyushering in the new era of cloud computing.
SOURCE Oracle
TSXV: PGZ| OTCQX: PGZFF
Romana West drilling extends La Romana mineralization 150m to the west
to the west Copper-tin grades increasing to the west
Investor webcast with CEO Tim Moody to discuss results will be held on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time / 8 a.m. Pacific Time . Details at end of this release
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Pan Global Resources Inc. ("Pan Global" or the "Company") (TSXV: PGZ) (OTCQX: PGZFF) is pleased to announce assay results for the first six holes drilled at the Romana West target, testing extensions to the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery at the Company's 100% owned Escacena Project in the Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain.
Key highlights:
Figure 1 Gravity anomaly map showing the Romana West and La Romana targets, drill hole locations with selected results, and cross-section locations A-A (Figure 2) and B-B (Figure 3). (CNW Group/Pan Global Resources Inc.) Figure 2 Cross section 736010m East, A-A, showing selected assay results highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD161, LRD162 and LRD166, with mineralization commencing immediately beneath the post mineral cover to nearly 200m down-dip (to the north). (CNW Group/Pan Global Resources Inc.) Figure 3 Cross section 735900m East, B-B, showing selected highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD163, LRD164 and LRD165. (CNW Group/Pan Global Resources Inc.)
Copper and tin mineralization with good continuity starts immediately below a thin cover of sediments
Moderately north-dipping tabular geometry ideally suited for potential open-pit mining
High value tin grades increasing to the west
LRD162 intercepted 17m at 0.65% CuEq 1 ( 0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) from 50.0m , including 6m at 1.24% CuEq 1 (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag)
intercepted 0.4% Cu 0.13% Sn, 1.1 g/t Ag) , including (0.5% Cu, 0.29% Sn, 1.5g/t Ag) LRD166 intercepted 14.5m at 0.75 % CuEq 1 (0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag from 7.5m , including 5m at 1.06% CuEq 1 (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag)
intercepted (0.36% Cu, 0.15% Sn, 1.2 g/t Ag , including (0.48% Cu, 0.21% Sn, 2.0 g/t Ag) LRD164 intercepted 16m at 0.70% CuEq 1 (0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) from 37.0m , including 3m at 1.38% CuEq 1 (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag)
intercepted (0.52 % Cu, 0.06 % Sn, 1.6 g/t Ag) (1.06% Cu, 0.11% Sn, 3.9 g/t Ag) Mineralization remains wide open at depth and to the west
Drilling ongoing with results pending from six additional completed drill holes with visual copper and tin mineralization
Drill hole locations are shown in Figure 1 below. Drill hole assay results are summarized in Table 1 and collar details are presented in Table 2 below.
"Drilling at Romana West commenced within weeks of being granted surface access. Twelve of our planned 25 drill holes have been completed and assay results for the first six are very encouraging. Our drill program has been highly successful, confirming continuity of the copper-tin-silver mineralization 150 meters to the west of the La Romana discovery. The overall strike length of La Romana is now 1.35 kilometers and is still open, with step-out drilling continuing farther to the west. Results to date show the potential for grades to increase to the west," said Tim Moody, President and CEO of Pan Global.
The Romana West mineralization occurs in two main layers, Zone B and Zone C, commencing directly below a thin cover of post mineral sediments. Sulphide mineralization was intersected in all holes at depths predicted from modelling of previous drilling and geology data. At shallow depths the primary sulphides, including chalcopyrite and pyrite, have been overprinted by supergene chalcocite and copper enrichment.
The assay results also include some of the highest tin grades reported in the Escacena project area, with assays up to 0.62% Sn. Coarse cassiterite was observed in both Zone B and Zone C. Importantly, cassiterite is the only tin mineral observed and is preferred for metallurgical extraction to produce a valuable tin concentrate. Processed tin is a key ingredient in electronics and solar panels and regularly trades at three-to-four times the value of processed copper.
The ongoing drill program aims to test the near-surface La Romana mineralization a further 350m along strike to the west.
Figure 1 Gravity anomaly map showing the Romana West and La Romana targets, drill hole locations with selected results, and cross-section locations A-A' (Figure 2) and B-B' (Figure 3).
Figure 2 Cross section 736010m East, A-A', showing selected assay results highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD161, LRD162 and LRD166, with mineralization commencing immediately beneath the post mineral cover to nearly 200m down-dip (to the north).
Figure 3 Cross section 735900m East, B-B', showing selected highlights and copper grade shells for new drill holes LRD163, LRD164 and LRD165.
Table 1 Romana West drill results summary
Hole ID From To Interval CuEq(1) Cu Sn Ag
Au Pb Zn True
Thickness
m m m % % % g/t
g/t ppm ppm (m) LRD161 117.00 130.00 13.00 0.27 0.25 0.01 0.8
0.01 11 72 11.79 Including 126.00 130.00 4.00 0.49 0.46 0.01 1.6
0.01 19 85 3.63 and 150.00 162.00 12.00 0.36 0.28 0.03 1.1
0.01 7 70 10.9 Including 150.00 156.00 6.00 0.60 0.47 0.05 1.9
0.01 12 79 5.44 Including 152.00 153.00 1.00 1.61 1.23 0.14 4.0
0.01 21 87 0.91 LRD162 50.00 67.00 17.00 0.65 0.30 0.13 1.1
0.01 49 81 17.00 Including 52.00 58.00 6.00 1.24 0.47 0.29 1.5
0.01 19 75 6.00 and 95.00 109.15 14.15 0.27 0.18 0.03 0.6
0.02 10 64 14.15 Including 107.00 109.15 2.15 0.63 0.46 0.06 2.1
0.088 36 76 2.15 and 132.50 135.00 2.50 0.89 0.10 0.30 <0.5
0.01 42 58 2.50 Including 134.00 135.00 1.00 1.64 <0.01 0.62 <0.5
0.01 6 47 1.00 LRD163 30.35 32.00 1.65 0.86 0.76 0.03 3.7
<0.01 137 103 1.27 and 60.00 72.00 12.00 0.31 0.25 0.02 2.2
0.01 80 142 9.20 and 122.00 126.00 4.00 0.29 0.23 0.02 0.5
<0.01 3 50 3.07 LRD164 37.00 53.00 16.00 0.70 0.52 0.06 1.6
0.01 7 85 16.00 Including 43.00 47.00 4.00 0.93 0.68 0.09 1.8
0.01 2 91 4.00 Including 49.00 52.00 3.00 1.38 1.06 0.11 3.9
0.02 16 78 3.00 and 87.00 91.00 4.00 0.66 0.52 0.05 0.8
0.02 3 51 4.00 Including 88.00 89.00 1.00 1.59 1.42 0.06 2.0
0.05 8 50 1.00 LRD165 86.25 87.70 1.45 0.64 0.36 0.10 1.2
0.01 5 87 1.24 and 114.00 122.85 8.85 0.59 0.55 0.01 1.4
0.008 6 74 7.58 Including 119.00 122.85 3.85 1.08 1.04 0.013 2.7
0.013 10 80 3.3 Including 122.25 122.85 0.60 5.24 5.06 0.04 13.0
0.034 29 180 0.51 LRD166 7.50 22.00 14.50 0.75 0.36 0.15 1.2
0.012 25 129 13.30 including 17.00 22.00 5.00 1.06 0.48 0.21 1.5
0.018 27 131 4.6 and 72.00 73.20 1.20 1.19 1.04 0.06 1.7
0.024 11 48 1.10
1 Copper Equivalent = CuEq. CuEq is calculated using Cu, Sn, and Ag grades. Metallurgical recoveries of 86% for Cu, 68% for Sn and 56% for Ag are based on preliminary studies performed by Wardell Armstrong International and MinePro. The CuEq calculation assumes commodity prices of US$ 8,693/tonne Cu, US$ 29,069/tonne Sn and US$ 23.72/oz Ag, corresponding to the three-year monthly price averages to July 2023. The effective formula is [CuEq %] = [Cu %] + 2.6440 * [Sn %] + 0.0057 * [Ag ppm]
Table 2 Romana West drill hole collar information (6 holes, total 1,004.95m )
Hole ID Easting 2 Northing 2 Azimuth (o) Dip(o) Depth (m) LRD161 736025.3 4152813 195 -70 197.45 LRD162 735989.1 4152760 180 -50 182.05 LRD163 735921.6 4152767 180 -90 167.9 LRD164 735921.7 4152766 180 -50 140.35 LRD165 735895.7 4152851 156 -70 222.45 LRD166 736038.8 4152687 156 -55 94.75
2 Coordinate system. UTM29N ERTS89
Investor Call to Discuss Drill Results and Expanding La Romana
CEO Tim Moody will host a conference call and webcast on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time / 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time to discuss the latest results at the Escacena Project. An open Q&A session will follow a short presentation.
Date: Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Time: 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time | 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time
Please register in advance: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtcumhrzsqE9XnLSo4hLpyYL7Nrdq-utim.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Investors are encouraged to send questions or topics of interest in advance to [email protected] to be addressed following the presentation. A link to the webcast will be available on the Company's website at https://panglobalresources.com following the live broadcast.
About the Escacena Project
The Escacena Project comprises a large, contiguous, 5,760-hectare land package controlled 100% by Pan Global in the east of the Iberian Pyrite Belt. Escacena is located near operating mines at Las Cruces and Riotinto and is immediately adjacent to the former Aznalcollar and Los Frailes mines where Minera Los Frailes/Grupo Mexico is in the final permitting stage with construction anticipated to start in 2023. The Escacena Project hosts the La Romana copper-tin-silver discovery and a number of other prospective targets, including Zarcita, Hornitos, La Jarosa, Romana Deep, Romana North, Romana West, Canada Honda, Bravo, Barbacena, El Pozo, and San Pablo.
About Pan Global Resources
Pan Global Resources Inc. is actively targeting copper-rich mineral deposits, given copper's compelling supply-demand fundamentals and outlook for strong long-term prices as a critical metal for global electrification and energy transition. The Company's flagship Escacena Project is located in the prolific Iberian Pyrite Belt in southern Spain, where infrastructure, mining and professional expertise, and support for copper as a Strategic Raw Material by the European Commission collectively define a tier-one jurisdiction for mining investment. The Pan Global team comprises proven talent in exploration, development, and mine operations - all of which are committed to operating safely and with utmost respect for the environment and our partnered communities.
QA/QC Procedures
Core size was HQ (63mm) and all samples were core. Nominal sample size was 1m core length and ranged from 0.5 to 2m. Sample intervals were defined using geological contacts with the start and end of each sample physically marked on the core. Diamond blade core cutting and sampling was supervised at all times by Company staff. Duplicate samples of core were taken approximately every 30 samples and Certified Reference materials inserted every 25 samples in each batch.
Samples were delivered to ALS laboratory in Seville, Spain and assayed at the ALS laboratory in Ireland. All samples were crushed and split (method CRU-31, SPL22Y), and pulverized using (method PUL-31). Gold analysis was by 50gm Fire assay with ICP finish (method Au-ICP22) and multi element analysis was undertaken using a 4-acid digest with ICP AES finish (method ME-ICP61). Over grade base metal results were assayed using a 4-acid digest ICP AES (method OG-62). Over grade tin was determined using peroxide fusion with ICP finish (method Sn-ICP81x).
Qualified Persons
James Royall, Vice President Exploration for Pan Global Resources and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information for this news release. Mr. Royall is not independent of the Company.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
www.panglobalresources.com
Forward-looking statements
Statements which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. It is important to note that actual outcomes and the Company's actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information included in this news release are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking information should not be unduly relied upon. Risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental, environmental and technological factors that may affect the Company's operations, markets, products and prices. Readers should refer to the risk disclosures outlined in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis of its audited financial statements filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
SOURCE Pan Global Resources Inc.
Paradigm Omni Integration with Threekit Simplifies Window and Door Sales.
MIDDLETON, Wis., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Paradigm is pleased to announce that its Paradigm Omni configuration, pricing, and quoting technology for the building industry has formed a partnership with Threekit, an industry-leading visual commerce platform, to create a configuration and visualization experience that changes how windows and doors are sold.
"This amazing integration with Paradigm Omni is a game changer," says Marc Uible, Threekit Vice President. Post this The partnership with Threekit adds an immersive 3D configuration, allowing Paradigm Omni customers to effortlessly create personalized window and door configurations in real-time.
Paradigm Omni is a cloud-hosted, web-based configuration, quoting, and selling solution that leverages window and door manufacturers' product catalogs across all sales channels, to allow users to seamlessly start and finish a sale from anywhere.
The partnership with Threekit adds an immersive 3D configuration and augmented reality platform that allows customers to effortlessly create and view personalized window and door configurations in real time.
The powerful combination of technologies elevates customer engagement by creating a visual experience that blends stunning visualization and seamless configuration and pricing technology and enables window and door dealers to sell more.
"Paradigm's longstanding commitment to the fenestration business has allowed us to create software that dealers rank as the industry's most-preferred configuration and quoting platform," says Ted Nafzger, Paradigm Vice President of Sales and Marketing. "The Threekit relationship takes the experience to the next level with 3D visualization, interactive zoom, the ability to customize and visualize materials like glass type, frame colors, and dimensions -- and view it all in augmented reality."
"Threekit is driven to offer a visual commerce platform that helps companies grow," says Marc Uible, Threekit Vice President of Marketing, Business Development, and Alliances. "Dealers want a sales tool that allows customers to engage with their products by exploring options and creating inspiration that simplifies the sales process and closes more deals."
"This amazing integration with Paradigm Omni is a game changer," Uible adds. "In fact, our recent launch of a configurable door visualizer with Therma-Tru represents an industry first in offering window and door manufacturers high-quality 3D visualization combined with a wide range of configurable options in a seamless solution."
About Paradigm Technology
Paradigm's technology platform is the largest of its kind in the world and serves customers in both new construction and home improvement markets, by increasing sales and operational efficiencies. Customers include remodeling contractors, homebuilders, dealers, lumberyards, distributors, retailers, and manufacturers. myparadigm.com
About Threekit Visual Experiences
Threekit is a visual commerce Platform that creates amazing visual product experiences and puts them in every sales channel. You have complex products that you need to show to sell. You need a way to show product configurations, a tool to manage infinite product assets and components, a rules and logic engine to guide configuration and an omni-channel distributor to deploy the right product configurator to the right channel. All in one. threekit.com
SOURCE Paradigm
Blockchain infrastructure leader delivers five years of access to the world's safest, well-regulated digital dollars across offerings
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Paxos , the leading provider of blockchain infrastructure for enterprises, celebrates the five-year anniversary of its regulated stablecoin platform. Over the past five years, the company has issued and redeemed more than $120 billion in USD-backed stablecoins across its offerings while setting the market standard for regulatory oversight. All Paxos stablecoins have been issued from the company's New York trust with prudential oversight from the New York State Department of Financial Services.
Paxos debuted the first regulated, fully redeemable USD-backed token in 2018. In the five years since, the company has grown its tokenization capabilities into a suite of platform offerings that power stablecoin solutions for global enterprises like Mercado Libre and Mastercard. In August, Paxos launched PayPal USD (PYUSD) , now available to more than 100 million PayPal users and throughout the crypto ecosystem. By partnering with PayPal, Paxos is enabling a new level of adoption and utility that will define the next wave of stablecoin growth.
Walter Hessert, Head of Strategy at Paxos, commented, "Stablecoins will become a trillion-dollar asset class as blockchain technology expands across the applications used everyday by consumers. The Paxos platform empowers our enterprise partners to enable payments, settlement, remittances and other real world use cases of stablecoins for hundreds of millions of end users. We offer the safety, security and oversight that enterprises need to enter this new frontier with confidence.
Paxos has been instrumental in establishing and increasing the integrity of blockchain and digital asset markets by setting the standard for reserve disclosures and securing prudential regulation for each of its individual tokens. Moving forward, Paxos will continue to set the standard in stablecoin operations with robust consumer protections, frequent regulatory examinations, monthly independent attestations and monthly reserve reporting. This compliance-driven approach has proven indispensable to global brands like PayPal, Mastercard, Interactive Brokers, Mercado Libre, Nubank and others as they begin their journey into digital assets. Today, Paxos infrastructure powers more than 12 million active wallets globally through its enterprise partnerships.
The Paxos stablecoin platform leverages Ethereum and will expand into multiple other blockchains as it helps to create a more open, accessible economy for all. Paxos stablecoins are always backed one-for-one by cash and cash equivalents, with all customer assets held in segregated accounts and protected from bankruptcy as a New York State regulated Trust company. Paxos stablecoins USDP and PYUSD are issued by Paxos Trust Company and regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services. Financial institutions around the world have adopted Paxos' scalable, interoperable institutional grade blockchain products, including white label stablecoins, digital asset-enabled wallets, custody and settlement solutions. With a strong balance sheet, prudential oversight and robust compliance programs, Paxos' blockchain infrastructure is tailor-made to serve the needs of sophisticated global enterprises with billions in assets and millions of customers to protect.
For more information on Paxos please visit here .
About Paxos
Paxos is the leading regulated blockchain infrastructure and tokenization platform. Its products are the foundation for a new, open financial system that can operate faster and more efficiently. Today, trillions of dollars are locked in inefficient, outdated financial plumbing that is inaccessible to millions of people. Paxos is replatforming the financial system to enable assets to instantaneously move anywhere in the world, at any time, in a trustworthy way.
Paxos partners with leading global enterprises to tokenize, custody, trade and settle assets. Its blockchain solutions are used by institutions like PayPal, Interactive Brokers, Mastercard, Mercado Libre, Nubank, Bank of America and Societe Generale. It is the issuer of numerous regulated digital assets including PayPal USD (PYUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP) and Pax Gold (PAXG). Prudentially regulated by the NYDFS in the US and the MAS in Singapore, Paxos is a top-funded fintech company with more than $540 million raised from leading investors including Oak HC/FT, Declaration Partners, Founders Fund, Mithril Capital and PayPal Ventures. With offices in New York, London and Singapore, Paxos takes a global approach to modernizing the financial system.
Media Contact: Becky McClain, bmcclain@paxos.com
SOURCE Paxos
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Argent Trust Company, as Trustee of the Permian Basin Royalty Trust (NYSE: PBT) ("Permian") today declared a cash distribution to the holders of its units of beneficial interest of $0.022414 per unit, payable on October 16, 2023, to unit holders of record on September 29, 2023.
This month's distribution decreased slightly from the previous month primarily due to a decrease in the production of both oil and gas offset by an increase in pricing of both oil and gas on the Texas Royalty Properties for this month. The Waddell Ranch Properties did not contribute to the distribution for the month of July.
WADDELL RANCH
In reporting July production of the Underlying Properties for this month's press release, production for oil volumes was 255,430 (gross) and was priced at about $74.19 per bbl. Production for gas volumes (including gas liquids) was 929,763 Mcf (gross) and was priced at about $1.96 per Mcf, which now includes the value received from plant products and natural gas liquids. Net revenue for the underlying properties of the Waddell ranch was $19,774,182 (gross) for July. Lease Operating Expenses were $4,906,666 (gross) and Capital Expenditures (CAPEX) were $12,802,452 (gross) for July, netting to a positive Net Profit Interest (NPI) of $2,065,063. This would put the trust's proceeds of 75% as a positive $1,548,797 (net), decreasing the cumulative deficit to a negative $(213,227) for the month of July. For the month of July, there was an increase of CAPEX relating specifically to the 2023 budgeted projects, with fracking costs increasing from last month to this month, along with other capital budget items resulted in an increase to CAPEX. Given that if current oil and gas pricing continues, Waddell Ranch may or may not be able to continue to contribute to the distribution in the foreseeable future, to cover the ongoing CAPEX budget. The Waddell Ranch Properties NPI did not contribute to this month's distribution.
First sales received for the month of July 2023 wells were as follows: (all net to the Trust), 2.3 new drill wells, including 0.75 horizontal wells, 6.0 recompleted wells. Waiting on completion, as of 7/31/2023, were 2.3 drill wells, including 1.1 horizontal wells and 5.3 recompletion wells. Also, 2.3 wells, plugged and abandoned, were completed.
Blackbeard has provided the projected 2023 capital expenditure budget for the Waddell Ranch Properties to be an estimated $96.8 million (net to the Trust) with a projection of about 30.75 new drill wells and 45 recompletions along with about 37.5 plug and abandoned wells. At this point in time, approximately 58% of that budget has been incurred.
TEXAS ROYALTY PROPERTIES
Production for the underlying properties at the Texas Royalties was 16,680 barrels of oil and 18,376 Mcf of gas. The production for the Trust's allocated portion of the Texas Royalties was 14,811 barrels of oil and 16,325 Mcf of gas. The average price for oil was $72.23 per bbl and for gas was $3.88 which includes significant NGL pricing per Mcf. This would primarily reflect production and pricing for the month of July for oil and the month of June for gas. These allocated volumes were impacted by the pricing of both oil and gas. This production and pricing for the underlying properties resulted in revenues for the Texas Royalties of $1,276,069. Deducted from these were taxes of $141,364 resulting in a Net Profit of $1,134,705 for the month of July. With the Trust's Net Profit Interest (NPI) of 95% of the Underlying Properties, this would result in net contribution by the Texas Royalties of $1,077,970 to this month's distribution.
Underlying Properties Net to Trust Sales
Volumes Volumes Average Price
Oil (bbls) Gas (Mcf) Oil (bbls) Gas (Mcf) Oil (per bbl) Gas
(per Mcf) Current Month
Waddell Ranch 255,430 929,763 191,573 697,322* $74.19 $1.96** Texas Royalties 16,680 18,376 14,811 16,325* $72.23 $3.88**
Prior Month
Waddell Ranch 232,996 782,776 174,747 587,082* $68.45 $1.10** Texas Royalties 19,131 23,417 17,105 20,986* $69.48 $3.53**
*These volumes are the net to the trust, after allocation of expenses to Trust's net profit interest, including any prior period adjustments.
**This pricing includes sales of gas liquid products.
General and Administrative Expenses deducted for the month were $39,799 resulting in a distribution of $1,044,721 to 46,608,796 units outstanding, or $0.022414 per unit.
The worldwide market conditions continue to affect the pricing for domestic production. It is difficult to predict what effect these conditions will have on future distributions.
The 2022 Annual Report with Form 10-K and the January 1, 2023 Reserve Summary are posted on Permian's website. Permian's cash distribution history, current and prior year financial reports, tax information booklets, and a link to filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all can be found on Permian's website at http://www.pbt-permian.com/. Additionally, printed reports can be requested and are mailed free of charge.
Contact: Ron Hooper, Senior Vice President, Argent Trust Company, Trustee, Toll Free 1.855.588.7839
SOURCE Permian Basin Royalty Trust
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Piedmont Advantage Credit Union announces the appointment of Charles Turner as Manager of its Greensboro branch located at 3717 Battleground Avenue in the Brassfield Shopping Center.
As the Branch Manager, Turner will oversee branch operations, ensuring the delivery of top-notch financial services to Piedmont Advantage members. His leadership skills and commitment to fostering strong community relationships will be instrumental in driving the success at the Greensboro branch.
Charles Turner, Piedmont Advantage Credit Union's new Branch Manager in Greensboro, NC
Turner brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his new role. With a decade of experience in the financial industry, he has a deep understanding of banking operations, consumer needs and market dynamics. His track record of achieving outstanding results and his passion for helping individuals achieve their financial goals make him an ideal fit for Piedmont Advantage.
"We are thrilled to welcome Charles Turner as our new Branch Manager in Greensboro," said Assistant Vice President of Branch Services Debi Conway. "His proven leadership abilities, extensive industry knowledge and commitment to exceptional service align perfectly with our credit union's values. We are confident that under Charles' guidance, our Greensboro branch will continue to provide unparalleled service to our members."
A Meet and Greet with Charles Turner as Piedmont Advantage's new Branch Manager will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Greensboro branch. This event is open to the public.
About Piedmont Advantage Credit Union
Headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C., and founded in 1949 to meet the financial needs of Piedmont Aviation and Piedmont Airline employees, Piedmont Advantage Credit Union has grown to serve member-owners, who reside, work, worship, attend school or operate a business in one of the six counties it serves in North Carolina or who are employed by one of its many employer companies. These six counties are Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Iredell, Mecklenburg and Rockingham. A not-for-profit cooperative financial institution, Piedmont Advantage still has a strong presence in aviation with its six branches throughout the service region and access to over 5,000 branches within the credit union network and 35,000 surcharge-free ATMs nationwide.
SOURCE Piedmont Advantage Credit Union
ADDISON, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Marking two decades of operation, PlaneSmart! Aviation, a Dallas-based provider of air transportation services, has carved a niche in the world of private air travel. Today, PlaneSmart operates a fleet of piston aircraft, turboprops, and business jets. The company delivers a comprehensive solution for the private air travel community, offering a suite of services that encompasses aircraft management, shared ownership, charter, aircraft sales, and maintenance.
** A Journey of Innovation **
PlaneSmart's journey began in 2003 in Austin, Texas, with the introduction of an innovative solution to aircraft ownership: Professionally Managed Shared Ownership. This unique business model was revolutionary in regard to its cost-effective alternative to aircraft ownership and maintenance for pilots. Soon after launch, PlaneSmart opened a second location at Addison Airport just north of Dallas.
In 2006, the company transitioned under the new leadership of Michael Brosler, who brought a fresh vision for the PlaneSmart model. "Upon assuming the chief leadership position at PlaneSmart, I saw immense potential in broadening our scope." In 2008, the company began adding turboprops and light jets, and leasing access to its embedded base of shared aircraft owners.
As private air travel demand increased, PlaneSmart responded by adding an Air Carrier license and offering charter services, one trip at a time. Soon afterwards, PlaneSmart was providing corporate shuttle support to regional businesses and, was the carrier between multiple city-pairs on behalf of several operators. "Reflecting on our trajectory, it's clear we made substantial strides in both our service offerings and ability to serve the private aviation community," said Brosler.
** A Bright Future **
This year, as PlaneSmart commemorates its 20th anniversary, the company reflects on its significant growth and looks towards the future. There is a sense of anticipation and excitement as PlaneSmart gears up for another 20 years of dedicated service to the area.
In addition to its primary business, PlaneSmart maintains a strong civic presence. The company contributes to local non-profit organizations that develop aerospace-oriented STEM programs serving the Dallas ISD and surrounding school districts. PlaneSmart also performs angel flights and offers high school and college internships introducing young people to careers in business aviation.
PlaneSmart headquarters are located at Addison Airport, 15841 Addison Road, Addison, Texas. For more information, visit www.planesmart.com/#contact
SOURCE PlaneSmart! Aviation
Azerbaijans Ministry of Defense has today held a media briefing over the launch of the local anti-terrorist measures to restore constitutional order and prevent the large-scale provocations carried out in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan.
Chief of the press service of the Ministry of Defense, Colonel Anar Eyvazov informed the media representatives about the situation.
Meanwhile, local anti-terrorist activities have been launched to ensure the provisions of the Trilateral Statement, suppress large-scale provocations in the Karabakh economic region, disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, neutralize their military infrastructure, provide the safety of the civilian population returned to the territories liberated from occupation, the civilians involved in construction and restoration work, and our military personnel, and ultimately restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
On September 19, 2023, at about 4 o'clock in the morning, on the 58th kilometer of the new Akhmedbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway, a Howo truck belonging to the Azerbaijan State Highway Agency (AAYDA) working on this road was blown up by an anti-tank mine. As a result of the terrorist attack, the driver and passenger were killed at the scene.
Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan went to the site of the terrorist attack on a Kamaz truck. On a newly built tunnel road near the village of Taghavard, Khojavend district, a Russia's KAMAZ truck carrying employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as a result of a terrorist act, was blown up by a mine set by a sabotage group of Armenian separatist troops on the territory of Azerbaijan, where Russian peacekeepers are temporarily stationed.
According to the statement, Asim Jamalzade, born on February 5, 1994, Ramil Shirinov, born on July 8, 1987, Seymur Mahmudov, born on July 12, 1991 and Khazar Zamanov, born on July 21, 1998 died at the scene.
On the night of Tuesday, September 19, the Russian occupiers launched another attack on Ukrainian cities with drones and missiles. Around 3:00 a.m., explosions were heard in Kryvyi Rih in the Dnipro region. They were also heard in Odesa, Lviv, and Khmelnytskyi region.
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The head of the Kryvyi Rih Defense Council, Oleksandr Vilkul, confirmed the explosions in the city on his Telegram channel. He urged local residents not to post photos and videos online.
"Kryvyi Rih. Explosion. Do not shoot or post anything on the Internet," he wrote.
At 3:05 a.m., the Ukrainian Air Force announced a missile threat to Dnipropetrovs'k and Zaporizhzhia regions. The monitoring channel "Mykolaiv Vanek" wrote that the explosions in Kryvyi Rih were most likely related to the use of ballistic weapons by Russian troops.
According to the head of the regional military administration, Serhiy Lysak, a multi-story building in Kryvyi Rih caught fire as a result of the hit. The fire was extinguished. The blast wave damaged the facades of three multi-storey buildings. In the morning , the defenders shot down an enemy drone over the region.
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It is known that at night in Mykolaiv region, air defense forces and means shot down 10 Shahed-136/131 attack drones. In the Pervomaiskyi district of the region, Vitaliy Kim, the head of the regional military administration, said that at 01:00, the fall of the wreckage of the downed enemy target caused damage to agricultural machinery of an agricultural enterprise - no casualties.
Around 2:00, a loud explosion was heard in Odesa, an OBOZREVATEL correspondent reported. According to the monitoring channels, it was connected with the work of the air defense forces on the occupiers' drones.
Explosions were also heard in the Khmelnytsky region. They were confirmed by the first deputy head of the regional military administration, Serhiy Tyurin. According to him, the air defense system was operating.
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"Khmelnytskyi region. Explosions are heard. Air defense forces are working," he said.
At about 4:30, explosions were heard in Lviv region, said the head of the regional military administration Maksym Kozytsky. Air defense forces were working there.
In addition, according to him, it was loud in part of Lviv.
"We do not name locations. We are not taking pictures or filming anything! Information silence!" he wrote.
According to the updated data for the morning, the Russian "Shahed" hit the territory of Lviv. As a result of the strike, a fire broke out in an industrial warehouse and a person was injured. In particular, rescuers pulled a 26-year-old man out of the rubble - he was hospitalized with an open fracture of a limb and provided with the necessary assistance. Specialized services were working at the arrival site.
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As OBOZREVATEL reported, on September 18, the occupiers attacked Kharkiv. The enemy launched missiles from the Russian city of Belgorod, and there were hits in the production zone of the Kholodnohirsky district of the city.
Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
CLEVELAND, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- RISC Point Advisory Group, Limited (RISCPoint) is proud to announce its successful achievement of the highly esteemed Third-Party Assessment Organization (3PAO) accreditation. The status of 3PAO represents FedRAMP's recognition of our knowledge and expertise. We are excited to continue our commitment of serving as an extension of FedRAMP's mission to secure the cloud.
The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), the United States' premier cloud authorization initiative, offers a standardized framework for security assessment, authorization, and continuous monitoring. Within this rigorous program, 3PAOs must earn recognition from the FedRAMP Project Management Office (PMO) by obtaining accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).
RISCPoint Achieves Prestigious FedRAMP and StateRAMP 3PAO Status Post this
RISCPoint's journey to become one of the select few organizations capable of being a FedRAMP 3PAO, comes as a natural progression after providing custom-tailored advisory services in the cybersecurity and compliance space in multiple industries for over 5 years.
The accreditation started with a comprehensive assessment by A2LA to validate our ability to act as an ISO/IEC 17020:2022 cybersecurity inspection body. In our second annual assessment, the A2LA scope included a rigorous examination of RISCPoint's work as a cybersecurity inspection body and our technical capabilities and quality management process in accordance with FedRAMP requirements. This review and the FedRAMP Program Management Office's concurrence with the results culminated in our successful accreditation as a FedRAMP 3PAO.
This status allows RISCPoint to maintain the highest level of quality in our advisory practice, while receiving the latest updates from the FedRAMP community and ensuring all services performed meet or exceed our quality standards as validated by A2LA. RISCPoint is excited to extend FedRAMP's mission to secure the cloud for the federal community, and will be able to apply lessons learned from our work as a FedRAMP Assessor to bolster our advisory engagements with the latest understanding and methods.
Additionally, RISCPoint is pleased to have received approval as a StateRAMP 3PAO. StateRAMP is an organization comprised of State and Local Governments, 3PAOs, and CSPs committed to making the digital landscape safer and more secure. As a trusted StateRAMP assessor, RISCPoint stands ready to ensure CSPs meet StateRAMP requirements for their State, Local, and Education (SLED) partners.
Jacob Nix, CEO and Founder of RISCPoint, expressed enthusiasm about this milestone, stating, "We are thrilled be formally recognized for our work in the FedRAMP ecosystem. It has been a privilege being a part of such a successful government program, that has led to the secure adoption of cloud services within the government to help modernize our infrastructure and fortify our security as a nation. We are excited to continue our journey as an extension of the FedRAMP Program, as well as a trusted advisor to our current and future clients."
RISCPoint is proud to offer a comprehensive suite of business focused cybersecurity and compliance services. Our services are custom tailored to your environment and objectives. We have extensive expertise in the areas shown below, and while each engagement is customized to your objective, our methodology covers Program Readiness Assessments, Program Implementation, Remediation, Optimization, Audit Defense, and On-Going Support.
Enterprise Compliance + SOC 2 + ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 + HITRUST + HIPAA (NIST 800-66) + HIPAA Business Associate Governance + Privacy (CCPA/CPRA, GDPR, ISO 27701, etc.) + NIST CSF + WCAG 2.1, VPAT, and ADA Public Sector + FedRAMP + StateRAMP + FISMA + TX-RAMP + CMMC + DOD DISA + ITAR + NIST 800-171 + NIST 800-172 + NIST 800-53 Cybersecurity Defense + Red Teaming + Penetration Testing + Ransomware Assessments + Vulnerability Assessments + Incident Response Program + Application Security + Security Engineering Risk Management + Risk Assessments + Vendor Management + Virtual Compliance Team + Virtual Executive Team (CISO, ISSO, CIO, CTO) + Plan Simulations (Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Incident Response)
About RISCPoint
RISCPoint Advisory Group is an industry leader in providing custom-tailored security and compliance services. Founded with the vision to seamlessly integrate with teams, while utilizing only high-performing professionals with deep technical and operational expertise, RISCPoint has successfully served companies ranging from Fortune 10 to pre-Series A startups. To learn more, visit riscpoint.com/contact or call (888) 320-1327.
Contact: [email protected]
SOURCE RISCPoint
ISTANBUL, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ronesans Group has retained its leading construction company status, recently ranked as 38th largest international contracting company worldwide and 9th largest in Europe on ENR's acclaimed 2023 "World's Top 250 International Contractors" list. Regarded as the most established international construction industry assessment tool, ENR has ranked Ronesans among the top 10 contracting companies in Europe annually since 2015. This year sees no change, with its reputation secured as the leading Turkish construction company in the world.
Ipek Ilicak Kayaalp, Chair of the Board at Ronesans Holding Water Supply Project by Ballast Nedam, a Ronesans Holding company, to provide clean water access to approximately 17,000 households in seven villages within the Hemmathagama region, Sri Lanka.
ENR's list for 2023 of the "World's Top 250 International Contractors" is calculated on revenue acquired by contracting companies outside of their headquartered countries. In 2022, along with its JVs, Ronesans achieved a consolidated turnover of $4.3 billion, with more than 70% of its revenue coming from international projects. The company operates in key sectors such as construction, real estate, health, and energy across over 30 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, and obtained a total turnover of $3.1 billion from abroad, with $2 billion originating from Europe in 2022.
Chair of the board at Ronesans, Ipek Ilcak Kayaalp, states: 'We are very proud to be listed among the 10 largest European international construction companies for the 8th year running. We will maintain our focus on international growth with the invaluable support of our esteemed international partners in the coming years by participating in more ambitious projects worldwide. We will also keep collaborating with international financial institutions and export financing agencies to jointly deliver numerous impressive projects, including clean water and safe infrastructure solutions to developing parts of the world, as we have recently accomplished in Sri Lanka."
Ballast Nedam, Ronesans Holding subsidiary company, executed the Clean Water Supply project in Sri Lanka with support and financing provided by the Dutch government and the Dutch export credit agency, Atradius. This significant project aims to provide clean water access to 17,000 households in seven villages within the Hemmathagama region, contributing broadly to Ballast Nedam and Ronesans' social responsibility and sustainability pillars. Alongside being a driver for Turkish industry growth, Ronesans Holding is keen to implement purposeful campaigns and drive impact in developing communities.
Growing rapidly for the last 30 years, Ronesans Holding, the conglomerate's top investment entity, has an impressive project portfolio, operating as both main contractor and investor in various sectors, including construction, real estate, healthcare and energy. Key projects include the Lakhta Center, the tallest building in Europe; the Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world's longest and deepest railway tunnel located in the Swiss Alps; the Gaasperdammertunnel, the longest land tunnel in the Netherlands; the Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Hospital in Turkiye, the world's largest seismically isolated building; and the Gas to Gasoline Plant (GTG) Project in Turkmenistan, the world's first and only of its kind.
Under the leadership of its president, Erman Ilcak, and Chair of the board, Ipek Ilcak Kayaalp, Ronesans has been also substantially increasing its investments in renewable energy for Turkiye after a 50% partnership with Total Energies for Ronesans Enerji last month, with the aim of investing a total of 2 GW of installed capacity in the next 5 years. The agreement is the latest in the company's long history of successful strategic partnerships from all around the world, having worked with partners and shareholders including the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC), Meridiam, a Paris-based infrastructure fund, Japanese trading house Sojitz Corporation, and International Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank Group which is a shareholder in Ronesans, and Samsung C&T, among others.
Ranking amongst the top 10 international construction companies in Europe, and top 40 worldwide, Ronesans will continue to drive forward growth across key sectors in Turkiye and globally.
About Ronesans Group
Ronesans Holding, headquartered in Ankara, is the 38th largest international contracting company globally and the 9th largest in Europe with international operations in 30 countries across Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa - including Ballast Nedam in the Netherlands and Heitkamp in Germany, Ronesans has been operating as the main contractor and investor successfully for 30 years across construction, real estate development, healthcare and energy. Putting resilience and growth through innovation at the core of the company, with a priority on sustainability and social development, Ronesans has developed projects supporting students with scholarships, academic platforms and initiatives; been a signatory of the UN Global Compact since 2015; and a signatory of the UN Women's Empowerment Principles since 2016.
Along with its partners GIC, Meridiam Infrastructure, Sojitz, Samsung C&T, TotalEnergies, and IFC, of the World Bank Group (minority shareholder in the group), Ronesans has invested more than EUR7 billion into pioneering projects in Turkiye.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213966/Ipek_Ilicak_Kayaalp.jpg
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213965/Ballast_Nedam_Project.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213961/ronesans_holding_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Ronesans Holding
The Resilience Evidence Forum (REF) 2023 Synthesis Report released, serving as a comprehensive guide to resilience-building methodologies and evidence.
The report underscores the pivotal role of high-quality evidence both in mobilising the large-scale financing needed and informing and catalysing the policy changes essential for building resilience.
The Report summarises key discussions held at the June 2023 Resilience Evidence Forum, co-hosted by USAID and the Global Resilience Partnership, which brought together more than 1,000 global stakeholders to evaluate the state of resilience evidence.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a world grappling with escalating crisesfrom conflict and pandemics to the dire impacts of climate changenever has resilience been more critical. Released today, the REF 2023 Synthesis Report sets a new benchmark as an unmatched guide to resilience-building methodologies and evidence. The report recognises resilience as the ability to recover from and adapt to shocks and stresses, while enabling longer-term, systemic transformations, and offers actionable insights to inform investment, policy, and decision-making.
Through summarising the key discussions held at the REF in Cape Town, the report underscores the imperative to build on progress, address gaps, recognise various forms of evidence, and prioritise resilience as a collective goal.
Evidence of successful resilience implementation spans different sectors, stakeholders, and geographies from the strengthening of small-holder farmers and grower communities' resilience through radical cross-sector collaboration to the role of climate smart agriculture that combines seed technologies, soil fertility, and innovative financial tools for farmers. Taken together, the evidence detailed in the report showcases the increasing magnitude of resilience building initiatives globally.
However, scaling these evidence-based solutions requires a significant increase in finance. Annual spending on climate resilience alone is less than $50 billion, a mere fraction of the estimated $160 billion to $340 billion required. The private sector contributes just 2% to this insufficient pool, making resilience gains fragile and susceptible to setbacks like those witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To unlock further funding for resilience programming at the scale needed, the report concludes, evidence needs to be relevant and actionable. This also stands true for policy and decision-making; evidence must not only be rigorous and reliable, but also apply to the policies and decisions it seeks to influence. This will require collaborative action from donors, the private sector, policy makers, governments, community-based organisations and leaders, and research organisations to satisfy evidence needs, avoid duplication of efforts, and focus resources and investments.
In parallel, the report demonstrates the importance of diverse evidence including that which is grounded in local experience and knowledge to fortify global resilience efforts in the face of increasing threats and to connect local realities with global goals.
"Without equitable, radical collaboration and commitment to evidence that informs decision-making, policy, and investment,, we will continue to face barriers in protecting and supporting environments and communities that can flourish even in the face of change and uncertainty. The Resilience Evidence Forum was a significant moment for taking stock of where we are and where we need to go in strengthening resilience." Dr Nathanial Matthews, Chief Executive Officer, Global Resilience Partnership
Co-hosted by USAID and the Global Resilience Partnership, REF was the first such occasion in five years, convening more than 1,000 individuals from the private sector to universities to NGOs and local community groups. As well as a focus on how to further resilience programming, REF and the Synthesis Report highlights case studies and resilience success stories. These offer insight into the interventions that have worked and serve to guide future interventions. Examples of these success stories can be found in Appendix 1.
"With climate and other shocks becoming more frequent, severe and overlapping, there is an urgency to getting smarter, faster in terms of knowing what works when it comes to building resilience. At USAID we will continue to promote convenings like the Forum, to learn more about what others are doing and learning, and promote collaboration and partnership needed to drive equitable growth and well-being in an increasingly unpredictable world." Dina Esposito, Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator for Development and USAID Global Food Crisis Coordinator
"It is very important that the stories of resilience get told in the language of those impacted the most and that we learn to work with those stories, pull out what we need from that and don't take a top-down approach to resilience evidence." Dr Shehnaaz Moosa, Director, SouthSouthNorth
Appendix 1
Slum Dwellers International (SDI)'s Know Your City long-standing profiling programme has helped debunk assumptions about informal settlements through community organising and the collection of household-level slum enumeration. For example, since 2017, residents of Mukuru one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya undertook an ambitious, groundbreaking participatory upgrading process, the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA) . Led by the Kenya Slum Dwellers Federation, this process organised over 1,000 groups in 21 cities and towns to take part in a community-led enumeration process. This was then used to inform the development of the area-based upgrading plan.
SERVIR, a collaborative initiative between NASA, USAID, and leading technical organisations, leverages satellite data to address pressing challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and natural disasters in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. This partnership correlates satellite observations with ground data in regions like Ethiopia, Niger, and Zimbabwe, effectively measuring resilience from space by assessing the efficacy of development interventions (e.g., halfmoon constructions for rain retention and soil improvement). The transparent and objective nature of satellite data supports evidence-based decision-making, thereby bolstering sustainability efforts in vulnerable regions.
Under the Grown for Good Framework , world-leading spice and flavour producers McCormick & Company aim to increase the resilience of over 35,000 farmers by 2025 This is measured by increasing skills and capacity, income, access to financial services, education, and nutrition and health,. This is achieved through multiple interventions from purchasing higher-value cured vanilla beans from the growing communities, rather than raw, that give farmers a higher purchase price, to investing in infrastructure for remote communities such as the vanilla-growing communities in Madagascar, and building or rehabilitating local schools and libraries , giving children from farming families improved access to education.
Notes to Editors
The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) is made up of 70+ organisations that work together to advance resilience through identifying and scaling on the ground innovation, generating and sharing knowledge, and shaping policy. GRP envisages an inclusive world in harmony with nature, that is better prepared to cope with shocks, adapt to change, and transform all within planetary boundaries. The Partnership is registered as a non-profit organisation in South Africa and co-hosted by the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.
For media enquiries, please contact Isobel Turnill at Browning Environmental Communications - [email protected], +44 (0) 7585151035
SOURCE The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP)
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Semiconductors Market in Vietnam is projected to have a remarkable growth, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.12% between 2022 and 2027. This expansion is expected to result in a substantial increase in market size, amounting to USD 1.66 billion. A comprehensive analysis of the market reveals that the growing number of smartphone users, increasing investments in the developing semiconductor industry, and the growing use of IoT are the primary driving forces behind this robust growth. Download a free sample report here
Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Vietnam Semiconductors Market 2023-2027
The Semiconductors Market in Vietnam report, covering the period from 2022 to 2027, encompasses an extensive examination of market segmentation, including application (consumer electronics, communications, automotive, medical devices, and others), and device (PMICS, microchips, and RFID). Additionally, the report provides a detailed analysis of key drivers, trends, challenges, and historical market data spanning from 2017 to 2021.
The rapid adoption of smartphones in Vietnam, with 61.3 million users, is driving semiconductors market growth. This is due to increasing smartphone ownership in urban and suburban areas, rising living standards, premium devices at affordable prices, and government emphasis on 5G development. To meet the demand, companies are establishing more factories in Vietnam, exporting 40 mobile phone brands, including Sony and Samsung. Overall, the growing number of smartphone users in Vietnam is boosting market expansion.
The growing number of smart homes in Vietnam, driven by technology offering comfort, convenience, security, and energy efficiency, is expected to increase the semiconductor market growth. Smart homes are a part of the Internet of Things (IoT), where devices collaborate based on user preferences and share information. These homes rely on intelligent appliances, mobile devices, and home automation systems with integrated circuits. They are connected to cameras, sensors, and control systems, all are dependent on semiconductors. The increasing adoption of smart home devices in Vietnam is set to fuel market growth. For more details, get the free sample report now
One of the challenges affecting semiconductor market growth is Vietnam is the scarcity of skilled labour. The semiconductor industry is looking to expand in Vietnam due to factors like the US-China trade dispute, but there's a shortage of workers with the necessary skills. This forces employers to either pay high wages or invest in training. When there's high demand, existing employees have to work long hours, straining budgets and affecting profitability. These challenges may impede market growth in the region.
Companies in the Semiconductors Market in Vietnam are deploying various strategies, including strategic alliances, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions, geographical expansion, and product/service launches, to strengthen their market presence. Notable market players include:
Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
Broadcom Inc.
Fuji Electric Co. Ltd.
Hitachi Ltd.
Infineon Technologies AG
Intel Corp.
Microchip Technology Inc.
NVIDIA Corp.
NXP Semiconductors NV
ON Semiconductor Corp.
Qualcomm Inc.
Renesas Electronics Corp.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
STMicroelectronics NV
For complete insights on Semiconductors Market in Vietnam, buy the full report now
Related Reports
Discrete Semiconductors Market: The discrete semiconductors market share is expected to increase by USD 4.04 billion from 2020 to 2025, and the market's growth momentum will decelerate at a CAGR of 3%.
Automotive Semiconductor Market: The automotive semiconductor market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.8% between 2022 and 2027. The automotive semiconductor market size is forecast to increase by USD 26,676.35 million.
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
Donations made to Maui Food Bank and Maui United Way
STEVENS POINT, Wis., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sentry is donating $377,616 to Maui Food Bank and Maui United Way as the community continues to work through the aftermath of the Maui wildfires. The island is home to The Sentry (formerly Sentry Tournament of Champions), a PGA TOUR event sponsored by Sentry.
This donation includes:
"West Maui has a long road to recovery, and we're committed to being part of that process." Post this
$150,000 to Maui Food Bank
to Maui Food Bank $227,616 to Maui United Way
"We understand that West Maui has a long road to recovery, and we're committed to being part of that process," said Pete McPartland, Sentry Chairman and CEO. "Our giving philosophy has been to support organizations that provide direct relief to those who need it most, and the Maui United Way and the Maui Food Bank are doing just that. We're confident in their ability to make a profound impact."
Sentry employees, retirees, and board members have personally contributed to fire relief as well, giving $107,145 to Maui United Way. The Sentry Foundation matched those donations dollar-for-dollar, resulting in a total contribution of $214,290.
An additional $13,326 was raised by an employee-led fundraiser.
"The wave of need for food following the fire disaster is turning into a tidal wave, as people throughout Maui County are now experiencing job layoffs from the sudden lack of tourism," said Richard Yust, Executive Director of Maui Food Bank. "We're gearing up resources to meet the growing needs, and we are deeply grateful for Sentry's partnership as we continue to provide reliable food access and sustain our community through these challenging times."
Sentry has a history of supporting Maui in both good and challenging times. During the COVID-19 crisis, the company donated $200,000 to Maui United Way, and $250,000 to Maui Food Bank.
"We've developed close relationships and friendships with the people of Maui, so to see families lose their homes, and businesses burned to the ground, is devastating," said Stephanie Smith, President of the Sentry Foundation. "The personal donations and compassion we've seen from our employees, retirees, and board members really demonstrates how deeply connected we are to the island. We're looking forward to The Sentry returning in January because we know it will provide a critical boost to West Maui's recovery."
Addressing initial needs
Immediately following the devastating wildfires, Sentry donated $275,000 to help address the needs of island residents and aid in relief efforts. This included $250,000 to the Maui United Way Fire Disaster Relief Fund and $25,000 to the University of Hawai'iMaui College Student Relief Fund.
The additional donations now bring Sentry's Maui wildfire relief and recovery efforts to $652,616.
Learn more about how Maui Food Bank and Maui United Way are making an impact on the island.
About Sentry Insurance Foundation
The Sentry Insurance Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Sentry. Giving priorities include education, workforce development, United Way, and local organizations that work to improve the quality of life and build equitable communities where we live and work, including the Maui community.
SOURCE Sentry Insurance
MUNICH, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The next Service Business Forum is set to take place in Vienna on September 28 and 29. With the slogan "Service Business Drives Profits", the focus is on the challenges and opportunities involved in the transition from a product-centered to a customer-oriented business model for services. The event is being organized by Noventum Service Management. Event partners are Syncron and GMS.
The Service Business Forum acts as a platform for decision-makers and managers of manufacturing companies. The aim of the event is to analyze and discuss global business and technology trends, debate relevant service transformation topics, and share service best practices.
Syncron workshop for service transformation at one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction machinery
A Syncron workshop entitled "Define the steps to manage risks in developing customer business related services" is planned for the second day of the event. During the workshop, attendees will gain insights into case studies and findings, based on the example of a leading, internationally active manufacturer of construction machinery. Together with Syncron, the manufacturer has developed service-oriented business models. Representatives from Syncron will talk about the challenges, successes and lessons learned from the collaboration.
Sarang Sambare, Senior Director at Syncron, will then talk about the steps and strategic best practices required to achieve the transition to a result-oriented business model. To conclude, strategies for the successful introduction of services related to customer business, and the associated management of risks, will be discussed.
Inspiration for transformation
"The service economy is a megatrend that is developing dynamically. It is therefore especially important for manufacturing companies to stay up to date and position themselves strategically with a view to new market requirements. The Service Business Forum is an ideal starting point in this regard.
Syncron has been helping companies develop service-centric business models for many years. In our workshop, we provide insights into customer success stories and give attendees tried-and-tested ideas for achieving their own transformation. I am looking forward to inspiring discussions with numerous experts and industry representatives."
Sarang Sambare, Senior Director at Syncron
More information about the event: https://noventum.eu/Service-Business-Drives-Profits
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1832423/Syncron_Logo.jpg
SOURCE Syncron
The Helper Bees network of providers will be integrated into CareGo, a new portal provided to employers to aid family caregivers
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sompo Horizon , a new employee benefits caregiving provider and subsidiary of Sompo Holdings, is announcing it will license The Helper Bees' aging-in-place platform as part of its CareGo portal. Designed for employers and benefits brokers, the CareGo portal offers caregiving services to employees who find themselves caring for aging family members a phenomenon that will only increase as more than 80 million people in the U.S. are expected to be over the age of 65 by 2040. As a result of the collaboration, Sompo Horizon will integrate The Helper Bees software and extensive network of service providers into its CareGo portal, making it easy for employees to find and access caregiver support.
"The U.S. aging population is rapidly growing and many workers find themselves struggling to meet the demands of caring for older family members, while also keeping up with their work and self-care," said Nicole May, EVP Sales & Marketing of Sompo Horizon. "The CareGo portal is an important benefit for employers to provide to their employees, many of whom need help when navigating the complexities of caring for aging family members."
Founded in 2015, The Helper Bees serves as America's leading aging-in-place platform. Its technology platform, called homeAlign, is already being licensed by Fortune 500 organizations and payers to power credentialing, fulfillment and reimbursements for a variety of in-home services. Companies can also access The Helper Bees nationwide network of 20,000+ service providers who address the social determinants of health by providing personalized, non-medical services that make the aging journey more simple for caregivers and the older adults they care for. The homeAlign platform will be seamlessly embedded into the CareGo platform, offering employees access to the following types of services:
Home healthcare
Home safety/modifications, meal and food delivery, transportation
Meal and food delivery services
Transportation
Pest control
Virtual products
Importantly, the CareGo portal remains available to the employee even if they should switch jobs or leave the workforce.
"Caregiving for aging adults is not an easy role, and it almost always takes a financial and emotional toll on individuals," said Dr. Char Hu, Ph.D, CEO and co-founder of The Helpers Bees. "We're excited to partner with Sompo as they enter the U.S. market and provide innovative solutions through employer benefits. We're looking forward to learning from them since they are one of the most well-known insurers and providers of aging care in Japan."
Sompo Horizon is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sompo Holdings, which is a global insurance and healthcare organization, and a leading nursing care service provider in Japan. Sompo Care is the subsidiary of Sompo Holdings providing the nursing care services in Japan, working with the country's aging population.
For more information about Sompo Horizon and the CareGo portal, visit sompohorizon.com For more information about The Helper Bees, visit thehelperbees.com .
About Sompo Horizon
Sompo group is a Japanese conglomerate with businesses in financial services, insurance and healthcare sectors. We have gained extensive experience in developing solutions for seniors and our mission is to promote security, health and well-being globally. Sompo Horizon, a newly established subsidiary of Sompo Holdings, was launched to develop innovative products and services to address caregiving challenges and transform the way people care for themselves and each other. Our first solution is CareGo, a comprehensive digital platform, concierge support service, and partner network that empowers caregivers to make the best decisions for their loved ones while saving time, money and alleviating stress.
About The Helper Bees
The Helper Bees is America's leading aging in-place platform, enabling older adults to remain in their homes and live independently. Through our technology, we make it easy for insurers to close the care gap and empower older adults to remain in their homes for as long as possible. Whether it's meal delivery, lawn care, or transportation, our all-in-one provider network is rigorously vetted and already integrated into most Long-term Care and Medicare Advantage insurance plans. We've helped millions of Americans retain their independence by facilitating non-medical in-home care, while solving for the administrative burdens of credentialing, fulfilling and reimbursements for insurers all while reducing costs. Founded in 2015, The Helper Bees is proudly revolutionizing aging in-place. Let us help you: thehelperbees.com .
SOURCE The Helper Bees
MIAMI, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sourceability, a global distributor of electronic components and supply chain service provider, today announced the launch of its Sourcengine Browser Extension. Using the Browser Extension, users can see Sourcengine's electronic component global marketplace accessing 3,500+ suppliers while visiting any electronics websites to compare prices, providing them with a comprehensive view of the market.
The browser extension helps to reduce the time that procurement professionals spend finding electronic components to build their latest product. With the browser extension, customers are able to consolidate prices and available inventories across websites into one place without disrupting their workflow patterns.
Additionally, unlike aggregator sites, which only show price and inventory data, the browser extension provides additional supply chain data that is not readily available elsewhere. The browser extension combines the analytical power of Sourceability's Datalynq tool with insights from Sourcengine's extensive global inventory. It generates metrics such as Market Availability Scores, MultiSource Availability Scores, and Design Risk Scores, enabling users to make informed decisions when selecting competitively-priced components online.
"We are always looking for new ways to streamline processes for our customers," said Jens Gamperl, CEO and Founder of Sourceability. "Sourcengine's Browser Extension provides a 360-degree view of the current marketplace for a given part, saving users time from scouring the web to find the best deal for their company."
To access the browser extension, users can log into the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge plugin stores and install the plugin into their browser bar for free. The Browser Extension will read the data from a webpage, capture the Manufacturer Part Number, and provide the corresponding data back from Sourcengine. Once ready to purchase, users will be forwarded to the Sourcengine Part product detail page for check out.
For more information, please visit https://www.sourceability.com/.
About Sourceability:
Sourceability a global distributor of electronic components and supply chain service provider offering digital tools, services, and data to meet customers' evolving demands. Sourceability combines the expertise of global distribution with the leading e-commerce marketplace in the industry, and works with the largest catalog of suppliers to provide the transparency, robust data and speed that customers need to create a seamless procurement process. The company's global distribution centers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Hungary, and Miami are supported by regional offices to maintain a holistic understanding of customer supply chain needs. Sourceability continues to invest in new capabilities, building upon its initial success since the company was founded in 2015 by harnessing innovation, customer empowerment, and integrity.
Media Contact
Rachel Winship
[email protected]
SOURCE Sourceability
NEW BRITAIN, Conn., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) will broadcast its third quarter 2023 earnings conference call on Friday, October 27, 2023. The webcast will begin at 8:00AM ET.
A news release outlining the financial results will be distributed before the market opens on Friday, October 27, 2023.
The call will be available through a live, listen-only webcast or teleconference. Links to access the webcast, register for the teleconference, and view the accompanying slide presentation will be available on the "Investors" section of Stanley Black & Decker's website, www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/investors under the subheading "News & Events." A replay will also be available two hours after the call and can be accessed on the "Investors" section of Stanley Black & Decker's website.
Headquartered in the USA, Stanley Black & Decker (NYSE: SWK) is a worldwide leader in tools and outdoor operating manufacturing facilities worldwide. Guided by its purpose for those who make the world the company's more than 50,000 diverse and high-performing employees produce innovative, award-winning power tools, hand tools, storage, digital tool solutions, lifestyle products, outdoor products, engineered fasteners and other industrial equipment to support the world's makers, creators, tradespeople and builders. The company's iconic brands include DEWALT, BLACK+DECKER, CRAFTSMAN, STANLEY, CUB CADET, HUSTLER and TROY-BILT. Recognized for its leadership in environmental, social and governance (ESG), Stanley Black & Decker strives to be a force for good in support of its communities, employees, customers and other stakeholders. To learn more visit: www.stanleyblackanddecker.com
Stanley Black & Decker Investor Contacts
Dennis Lange
Vice President, Investor Relations
(860) 827-3833
[email protected]
Christina Francis
Director, Investor Relations
(860) 438-3470
[email protected]
SOURCE Stanley Black & Decker
Sigl to Spearhead Marketing as Stoli Group Recommits to Consumer-Focused Brand Strategy
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoli Group, the global ultra-premium spirits and wines company, is thrilled to announce the addition of Andreas Sigl to the C-Suite as he steps into the newly created Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role. With over twenty-five years of experience, Sigl is recognized for business and digital transformation, breakthrough marketing strategies for prestige challenger brands, innovation, and strategic plans that drive sustainable business growth.
Andreas Sigl, Global CMO, Stoli Group
"As we recommit to brand strategy and execution, Andreas was identified as a natural fit. He brings the insight, skill, and inspiration to lead a consumer centric marketing strategy," commented Chris Caldwell, Global CEO, Stoli Group in making the announcement. "A truly global leader with strong experience across multiple industries, Andreas recognizes the exceptional offerings that are uniquely Stoli. We are confident he is the right person to help us reshape the market landscape as we establish Stoli as the acknowledged global leader in exceptional adult beverages."
In the newly formed role of Global CMO, Sigl will elevate marketing's strategic leadership, streamline and focus marketing activities to drive key consumer outcomes, and ensure a brand mindset is the focal point of the executive leadership team. He will manage teams across the entire Stoli Group ecosystem, sharing best practices and benchmarks. The centralized marketing platform will serve brands in providing strategy, creating efficiencies, and amplifying creativity.
Sigl joins Stoli group from Phillip Morris International where he most recently served as Vice President Global Media and Partnerships, driving brand engagement and market share in a significant transformation towards a smoke-free future. Previously he held senior advisor positions at WPP, where he helped the International Olympic Committee to future-proof their brand portfolio. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Nissan, where he was brought on board to reposition the premium challenger brand Infiniti and take it global. While there, he lead the digital transformation for Nissan Corporation worldwide, across the entire brand portfolio. Earlier in his career, Sigl was headhunted to Audi North America to upgrade the digital consumer experience in line with the repositioned premium brand strategy. His long and illustrious marketing career started at Intel, where he helped to write the book on branding and partnership programs through the Intel Inside Program.
Particularly adept at transitioning to new industries, Sigl leverages a blue-chip foundation to deliver results in new cultures and companies with broad P&L and organizational responsibility. Andreas makes it his mission to help brave global companies get more value and sustainable growth from their brand portfolio.
"I have long admired Stoli Group and have watched on the sidelines as the organization has impressed the industry with accelerated growth, creative campaigns, innovation and passion," said Andreas Sigl, Global CMO, Stoli Group. "It is thrilling to now be able to impact the consumer space by leading these iconic brands."
About Stoli Group
Established in 2013, Stoli Group is a leader in the production, management, and distribution of a global portfolio of spirits and wines. Renowned for its flagship brand, Stoli Vodka, the company appeals to luxury on-premise global consumers. At the heart of Stoli Group's offerings lie iconic brands including elit Vodka, Bayou Rum, Kentucky Owl, Villa One, Gator Bite Rum Liqueurs, Cenote Tequila, Tulchan Gin, and Se Busca Mezcal. In the wine portfolio, Stoli Group's Tenute del Mondo division includes esteemed labels such as Archaval Ferrer (Argentina) and Arinzano (Spain), while boasting substantial shares in Supertoscan Ornellaia, Masseto, Luce, and CastelGiocondo. 2021 marked a significant milestone for Stoli Group as it became an equal shareholder in Chateau Miraval and its family of brands, including Miraval, Muse, Studio, and Fleur de Miraval. Pioneering the fermented and distilled non-alcoholic space, Stoli Group invests in The Pathfinder Hemp and Root.
Spanning over 176 markets worldwide, Stoli Group collaborates with a network of 200 distributors. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company's production facilities in Argentina, Latvia, Spain, and the United States have a rich heritage dating back to the early part of the last century.
Visit stoli-group.com for more information
DRINK RESPONSIBLY. US Distributor: Stoli Group USA, LLC, New York, NY and Global Distributor: SPI Spirits (Cyprus) Limited, The Republic of Cyprus. 2023. or trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners
SOURCE Stoli Group
The United States and its partner countries have provided Kyiv with defense assistance totaling more than $76 billion. In this way, almost 50 countries have demonstrated their "deep determination" to support Ukraine.
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This was stated by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin during the opening of the 15th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format in Germany,Interfax reports. He assured that together the partners will be able to provide our country with everything it needs.
Austin also thanked former Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov "for everything he has done for a free Ukraine" and emphasized "his hard work and dedication." The Pentagon chief then congratulated the new head of the Ukrainian defense ministry, Rustem Umerov. Austin noted that he enjoyed the conversation with him that took place a few days ago, as well as the meeting on the fields of Ramstein.
"I look forward to working closely with you and your team," the US Secretary said.
He also noted the success of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and expressed his belief that "time is not on Putin's side."
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"The Kremlin has isolated itself with its blatant aggression. Just look at the 50 countries proudly represented at this table, standing together to defend Ukraine and the rules-based international order. And then look at the Kremlin, which is left alone with countries like Iran and North Korea," the Pentagon chief said.
As a reminder, the regular meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format started in Germany on September 19. Officials from Ukraine's partner countries meet offline. For the first time, they were joined by Rustem Umerov, who was recently appointed to the post of Ukraine's Defense Minister.
As OBOZREVATEL previously reported:
- Defense Minister Trolls Lund Poulsen said that Denmark plans to transfer 45 more tanks to Ukraine: 30 Leopard 1 and 15 T-72. Copenhagen buys armored vehicles for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in cooperation with other countries.
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- A number of European countries have formed a new coalition to support Ukraine. Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that several countries will join forces to provide Leopard tanks to the Ukrainian military.
- Norway will provide Ukraine with about 50 NM199 tracked trucks, which are capable of transporting goods where wheeled trucks cannot go. They will be able to transport ammunition, food, and water for the Ukrainian military in the "fields."
SVNet Milestone: Over 1.24 million vehicles equipped with STRADVISION's SVNet software
2023 Growth Projection: Anticipating annual commercial production to exceed 1 million units with the introduction of 8 new model lineups by a German OEM
Strategic Collaborations: Collaborating with automotive OEM customers this year to secure multiple series production programs in Europe and Japan
SEOUL, South Korea, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 19, 2023, STRADVISION proudly announced a significant achievement: their groundbreaking deep learning-based vision perception technology, SVNet, has exceeded the remarkable milestone of 1 million units in cumulative commercial production since 2019.
As an industry pioneer in deep learning-based vision perception technology, STRADVISION initiated the commercial production of SVNet in 2019 and has now surpassed an impressive 1 million units in cumulative production by the first half of 2023. Presently, a staggering 1.24 million vehicles worldwide feature STRADVISION's cutting-edge technology, SVNet.
SVNet is renowned for its ultra-lightweight design and exceptional efficiency, seamlessly integrating deep learning-based object recognition with minimal computational and power requirements. This advanced solution is compatible with over 18 System-on-Chip (SoC) platforms and offers more than 30 distinct object recognition functions. It has become an indispensable element in numerous projects focused on mass-producing vehicle models equipped with autonomous driving capabilities at level 2 or higher. The technology's robustness and adaptability, honed through extensive experience in the automobile industry, significantly contribute to its success.
Lately, with the spotlight on advanced automotive technologies such as Adaptive Cruise Control(ACC), Autonomous Emergency Braking(AEB), and Lane Keeping Assistance Systems(LKAS) for safer and more convenient driving, automotive OEM customers are actively working to incorporate these features into their vehicles. Notably, STRADVISION's vision perception technologies, including Object Detection (OD) and Free Space Detection (FSD), are applied and support customers' eagerness to adopt driver-assist systems leveraging vision AI technology.
STRADIVISION's unwavering commitment to meeting customer demands has propelled the development and production of SVNet. On its current trajectory, the company foresees surpassing an annual commercial production of 1 million units, driven by the introduction of 8 new model lineups by a German OEM set to commence in 2023.
Sunny Lee, STRADVISION's COO and US CEO expressed gratitude to their customers for their instrumental role in reaching this significant milestone. Lee further elaborated, "In the upcoming year, we eagerly anticipate exploring new business horizons through collaborations with our esteemed automotive OEM customers across the European and Japanese markets."
About STRADVISION
Founded in 2014, STRADVISION is an automotive industry pioneer in artificial intelligence-based vision perception technology for ADAS. The company is accelerating the advent of fully autonomous vehicles by making ADAS features available at a fraction of the market cost compared with competitors. STRADVISION's SVNet is being deployed on various vehicle models in partnership with OEMs; can power ADAS and autonomous vehicles worldwide; and is serviced by over 300 employees in Seoul, San Jose, Detroit, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Dusseldorf. STRADVISION has been honored with Frost & Sullivan's 2022 Global Technology Innovation Leadership Award, the Gold Award at the 2022 and 2021 AutoSens Awards for Best-in-Class Software for Perception Systems, and the 2020 Autonomous Vehicle Technology ACES Award in Autonomy (software category). In addition, STRADVISION and its software have achieved TISAX's AL3 standard for information security management, as well as being certified to the ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems and ISO 26262 for Automotive Functional Safety.
SOURCE StradVision
SANTIAGO, Chile, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, the global leading inverter and energy storage system supplier, signed a contract with the Investment Fund WEG-4 to supply 60MW/132MWh of its liquid cooled energy storage system (ESS) solution, the PowerTitan to Chile. This project, located within the 72.8MW Maria Elena Solar Park in Antofagasta, Chile, will enhance the stability and flexibility of the Chilean National Electric System, supporting local carbon-neutral ambitions.
Sungrow Signs a 60MW/132MWh Energy Storage Contract with the Investment Fund WEG-4 for Chile
The Maria Elena Solar Park was commissioned in 2015. After a few years of the solar park's operation, the stakeholders introduced energy storage for energy shifting. The energy storage system will store the renewable energy from the solar plant during the day and release it to the grid at night, increasing the overall efficiency of the solar park and grid stability.
Sungrow's liquid cooled ESS PowerTitan will be used for this installation. The solution is designed based on Sungrow's power electronics, electrochemistry, and power grid support technologies. It cuts capital and operating expenses due to its pre-assembled and easy installation design, and with a more effective cell working environment which substantially decreases the capacity loss rate. Its DC-DC controller can charge and discharge battery racks individually; thus, increasing the overall system performance. These features earned PowerTitan as the world's first iF Design Award winner in the utility-scale energy storage system category.
Eduardo Escaffi, partner from WEG-4, Maria Elena Solar Park's owner, stated, "WEG-4's commitment to continue investing in assets that contribute to a better environment is evident in the Maria Elena Energy Storage project. We selected Sungrow as our dedicated ESS provider due to their proven track record in the energy storage market, and the competitive features of their products and services, securing the best performance of our assets in the long term." WEG-4 is a public fund managed by WEG AGF, a prestigious Chilean asset manager established in 2015.
Ada Li, Vice President of Sungrow Americas, expressed, "Energy storage is essential for decarbonizing the Chilean energy system. WEG-4 is at the forefront of enabling the energy transition of this country and we at Sungrow are happy to assist them in creating a better and cleaner future by cutting-edge offerings."
Chile's ambitious climate targets aim for 70% of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030. Solar-plus-storage solutions are becoming the long-term and sustainable trend in ensuring the reliability of the power grid.
About Sungrow
Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. ("Sungrow") is the world's most bankable inverter brand with over 405 GW installed worldwide as of June 2023. Founded in 1997 by University Professor Cao Renxian, Sungrow is a leader in the research and development of solar inverters with the largest dedicated R&D team in the industry and a broad product portfolio offering PV inverter solutions and energy storage systems for utility-scale, commercial & industrial, and residential applications, as well as internationally recognized floating PV plant solutions, NEV driving solutions, EV charging solutions and renewable hydrogen production systems. With a strong 26-year track record in the PV space, Sungrow products power over 150 countries worldwide. For more information about Sungrow, visit www.sungrowpower.com.
SOURCE Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd.
O'Brien: "As Yellow's Biggest Creditor, Workers Need to Be Put First"
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union is calling for the Senate to investigate the unfolding bankruptcy at Yellow Corp., following today's special Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on corporate manipulation of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
At the hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) called out Yellow, pointing to the company's attempts to expedite liquidation of its assets to evade responsibility for its mismanagement at the expense of workers.
"After a company files for Chapter 11, employees risk losing their livelihoods, health benefits, and pensions through no fault of their own. These are things that workers have worked hard for and have earned," Sen. Klobuchar said during the hearing. "This issue has become relevant to my state because just last month, Yellow Corp., one of the largest LTL carriers in the country, filed for bankruptcy. This bankruptcy jeopardizes the livelihood and health benefits of many hardworking Minnesotans, including 480 Minnesota Teamsters."
The Teamsters demand a comprehensive investigation, calling on Senators Dick Durbin and Bernie Sanders to exclusively hold hearings before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to look into Yellow's bankruptcy.
"More disturbing details of corruption, greed, and graft continue to emerge at Yellow. We call upon Senator Sanders and Senator Durbin to begin hearings," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien. "Yellow approved millions in executive bonuses in June at the same exact time that they were voluntarily choosing not to pay millions in worker health care and pension benefits. Workers in this country need real protections against corporations who game the system. We need real reform now that puts workers first in this process."
The timing of Yellow's bankruptcy filing and the unusual steps it has taken while controlling the bankruptcy as a debtor-in-possession warrant scrutiny. An expedited liquidation would preclude a potential purchase of Yellow's assets from any party that may want to re-establish operations, which would benefit the economy, thousands of workers and their communities, and American taxpayers.
"Yellow is trying to fast track liquidation. Meanwhile, more than 22,000 union workers are out of work after sacrificing more than $5 billion over the past 14 years through wage and benefit concessions, a fact the company would prefer to conceal from the American public and the bankruptcy courts," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. "We haven't had bankruptcy reform in this country for nearly two decades. We need to take this opportunity to right the wrongs at Yellow and prevent them from happening again."
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
[email protected]
SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
NEWARK, N.J., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Newark Public Schools is thrilled to announce Technology High School's recognition as a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School, a highly esteemed honor awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. This prestigious designation celebrates Technology High School's commitment to academic excellence, innovative teaching practices, and exceptional student performance.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, established in 1982, recognizes schools that demonstrate exemplary academic achievements and provide outstanding educational experiences to students.
Superintendent Leon expressed great pride in this accomplishment stating, "Technology High School's dedication to creating a nurturing and intellectually stimulating environment has earned the school this esteemed accolade". He added, "I am extremely proud of Principal Edwin Reyes, the school's administration, teachers, and staff for their commitment, unwavering dedication, and tireless efforts in supporting and inspiring our students. The students at Technology High School and their families are an example of the greatness of Newark."
In order to qualify for this prestigious recognition, schools must demonstrate significant academic progress and achievement. Additionally, they must exhibit excellence in teaching and leadership, and show a strong commitment to improving education outcomes for all students.
Principal Reyes, excitingly shared, "Receiving the Blue Ribbon School Award is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of our students, staff, parents, and the entire school community. We are committed to providing a world-class education that prepares our students for a bright future in an ever-evolving technological landscape."
Technology High School proudly joins the Newark Public Schools list of Blue Ribbon Schools Recipients (Ann Street School, Harriet Tubman School, Branch Brook School, and Science Park High School.)
For more information about Technology High School and its commitment to academic excellence and innovation, please visit https://www.nps.k12.nj.us/tec/.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Nancy J. Deering, Acting Communications Director
[email protected]
About Newark Public Schools
The Newark Public Schools is the largest school district in New Jersey and dates back to 1676. The District currently enrolls over 39,000 students in 63 schools. After more than two decades of state operation and upon return to local control in 2018, the District has opened 9 new schools under Superintendent Leon's leadership with an additional portfolio of new options to be announced in the coming months and years. The Newark Board of Education serves as a beacon of educational excellence, dedicated to nurturing the potential of every student. With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and fostering a love for learning, the District continues to shape future generations and make a positive impact within the community.
SOURCE Newark Board of Education
Leveraging AI to Drive $1 Billion in New Income for Low Income Individuals Globally
NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The GitLab Foundation a non-profit launched in 2022 to improve people's lifetime earnings through access to opportunities today announced a three-year, $10 million Commitment to Action to accelerate how emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), can create economic opportunity globally.
Announced on stage on the first day of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 meeting, the commitment will look to drive $1 billion in new income for people earning below a living wage through the responsible use of technology such as AI, advanced data science, and cloud computing.
THE GITLAB FOUNDATION MAKES $10 MILLION COMMITMENT AT CGI - LEVERAGING AI TO DRIVE NEW INCOME FOR LOW INCOME INDIVIDUALS Post this
Almost one in five of the world's employed population ( over 630 million working people ) do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. In fact, half of the global population lives on less than US$6.85 per person per day.
Ellie Bertani, President and CEO of the GitLab Foundation, said:
"People everywhere aspire to improve their lives, support their families, and contribute to their communities. But often, achieving this can seem impossible. Through our investments at the GitLab Foundation we're helping people to afford a better life through education, training, access to employment, and systems change on a global scale."
"Emerging technology is at the forefront of our investments, and we're excited to be able to announce our $10 million Global Commitment to Action at CGI. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming how people learn and work; we want to make sure that we seize this moment and create opportunities that build incomes and improve lives."
A combination of emerging technologies, the global transition to remote-friendly work, and increased connectivity is transforming global access to education and employment, particularly for rural and low-income communities historically disconnected from economic opportunity.
Imagine, for example, if every student in the world had access to a personalized tutor who knew how to speak their language and exactly how to support their learning. Khan Academy is using AI to build just that kind of tutor, named Khanmigo, with the goal of providing best-in-class personalized teaching and support to every student in the world.
The GitLab Foundation is seeking to support the development of many more of these kinds of creative applications that increase people's access to opportunity, education and gainful employment.
The GitLab Foundation's $10 million commitment will advance the use of technology across its global grant making geographies including the USA, East Africa, and Latin America.
The full commitment details can be found here: www.gitlabfoundation.org/futureofwork
About the GitLab Foundation
The GitLab Foundation is supporting people to grow their lifetime earnings through education, training, access to employment, and systems change on a global scale. Through our investments, we hope to support people who are living below a living wage to significantly grow their income. We have an ambitious North Star goal of driving over $100 in lifetime earnings increases per dollar we spend as a foundation. The GitLab Foundation is an independent private foundation, associated with GitLab, Inc.
gitlabfoundation.org
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI's unique model, more than 9,000 organizations have launched more than 3,900 Commitments to Action new, specific, and measurable projects and programs.
CONTACT: [email protected]
SOURCE GitLab Foundation
The Business Research Company's global market reports are now updated with the latest market sizing information for the year 2023 and forecasted to 2032
LONDON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As per The Business Research Company's Biogas Global Market Report 2023, the global biogas market is on an upward trajectory, poised to grow from $71.59 billion in 2022 to $78.25 billion in 2023, demonstrating a robust Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.3%. Projections indicate further expansion, reaching a substantial $102.7 billion by 2027, with a steady CAGR of 7.0%.
Sustainability and Innovation
The biogas market's growth is driven by a confluence of factors, including government support, global population growth, urbanization, the shift toward alternative power generation, and increasing awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, research and development (R&D) activities are also contributing to market dynamics.
Learn More In-Depth On The Biogas Market
https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/biogas-global-market-report
Market Landscape
The global biogas market is characterized by fragmentation, with numerous players contributing to its diversity. The top ten competitors collectively accounted for 5% of the total market in 2022. Key industry leaders, such as Engie SA and Air Liquide, are actively pursuing product innovations and partnerships to solidify their global presence.
Innovations in Focus
Companies in the biogas sector are investing in product innovations to reinforce their market positions. For example, Streamline Innovations Inc. recently launched VALKYRIE ECO and VALKYRIE ECO FLEX H2S treating solutions tailored for agricultural biogas and landfill gas operations. These environmentally friendly systems employ non-toxic and biodegradable Redox chemicals to eliminate H2S.
Get A Free Sample Of The Global Biogas Market Report
https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/sample.aspx?id=5232&type=smp
Market Segmentation
The global biogas market is segmented by source (Municipal Waste, Industrial Waste, Agricultural Waste, Other Sources), application (Residential, Commercial, Industrial), and end-user (Power Generation, Heat Generation, Cogeneration, Other End Users). Notably, the agricultural waste segment presents significant growth potential, projected to gain $19,836.1 million in global annual sales by 2027.
Regional Dynamics
Western Europe led the biogas market in 2022, accounting for 54.1% of the total market share. North America followed closely, with other regions contributing subsequently.
The global biogas market is a dynamic and evolving landscape, driven by sustainability goals, innovation, and a growing commitment to cleaner energy solutions.
Biogas Global Market Report 2023 by The Business Research Company provides insights on the biogas market size, biogas market segments, biogas market trends, drivers and restraints, major competitors' market positioning, revenues and market shares.
The Business Research Company has published over 6,500+ industry reports, covering more than 2,500+ market segments and 60 geographies. The reports draw on 1,500,000 datasets, extensive secondary research, and exclusive insights from interviews with industry leaders.
Check Out Similar Market Intelligence Reports By The Business Research Company:
Biomass Electricity Global Market Report 2023
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Biomass Gasification Global Market Report 2023
https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/biomass-gasification-global-market-report
Biogas Plant Global Market Report 2023
https://www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com/report/biogas-plant-global-market-report
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SOURCE The Business Research Company
In partnership with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Taking Care of Business officially launches during the Chamber's annual trip to D.C.
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Vegas Chamber and the Las Vegas Review-Journal launched an innovative partnership that retooled and rebranded the Chamber's Business Voice magazine with the first issue of Taking Care of Business. This collaboration will expand the audience reach of the award-winning magazine and significantly increase its visibility across the entire region.
The timing of the inaugural issue, which features the Washington D.C. Fly-in, coincides with Vegas Chamber's annual trip to the nation's capital. Nevada's business leaders go to D.C. every year to advocate and meet with policymakers on federal issues that directly impact employers. It is the largest Fly-in of business leaders from Nevada to Washington, D.C. This year's trip will be comprised of meetings with Congressional members, think tanks, national trade organizations, and policy groups.
Through this unprecedented partnership, the digital magazine will now be published and distributed via the Review-Journal's distribution channels, including to its Business Press subscribers. The Taking Care of Business magazine is also promoted through the Review-Journal to broaden its readership and expose a larger community audience to its content, including business information and small business features, with programs and benefits to help local businesses grow. The magazine will also be distributed through social media channels and digital reading platforms.
"This innovative partnership between the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Vegas Chamber builds on the strengths of both organizations and provides tremendous opportunities for Chamber members to increase the exposure of their brands," said Vegas Chamber President and CEO Mary Beth Sewald. "Together, our two powerhouse organizations can accomplish more by offering additional access to vital news and information to help businesses grow and thrive."
Taking Care of Business is fully interactive, featuring relevant topics and profiles of influential newsmakers and linking ads directly to advertisers' websites. Each mobile-friendly issue is emailed to every business member in the Chamber's database, prominently displayed on the Vegas Chamber homepage for members and nonmembers, and now available at reviewjournal.com.
As the official publisher of Vegas Chamber's Taking Care of Business and a trusted brand in the market, the Review-Journal is a dedicated and experienced sales partner joining forces with the Chamber's staff in a combined effort to showcase businesses like never before.
"Timing could not have been better for a partnership between our two organizations. The business community and Nevadans look to both the RJ and the Vegas Chamber for their business insights, news and connections," said Chase Rankin, senior vice president of advertising sales for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We're excited to broaden the reach of 'Taking Care of Business' through our print and digital platforms, which is why this partnership is a win-win for both organizations and all our business partners in the community."
The next Taking Care of Business issue will be published on October 22, 2023. To reserve ad space at Vegas Chamber member and nonmember rates, contact Christy Cuthbert, director of retail advertising for the Review-Journal, at (702) 787-6293 or email [email protected].
About the Vegas Chamber
The Vegas Chamber is the broadest-based business association in Nevada, representing small businesses and employers throughout the state. Founded in 1911, its purpose is to cultivate growth and prosperity. In addition to a wide range of benefits to help employers and entrepreneurs thrive and create jobs, the Vegas Chamber is the leading advocate for small businesses in Nevada and is deeply engaged in policy at the local, state, and federal levels. For more information, visit VegasChamber.com .
Taking Care of Business
Named 2018 Best Magazine and 2019 Honorable Mention by the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE), Taking Care of Business (formerly Business Voice) is the Vegas Chamber's magazine. In partnership with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the digital magazine is distributed monthly via email, social media platforms, websites, digital reading platforms and published 12 times a year.
About the Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has been Nevada's news leader since 1909. A state, regional, and national award-winning multi-platform news organization, the Review-Journal operates www.reviewjournal.com , a network of niche publications and community newspapers, e-newsletters, custom printing, a video production studio and more to meet the specific needs of readers and advertisers alike.
Media Contacts:
Cara Clarke/702-743-9362
Vegas Chamber
[email protected]
Wanda Blair/702-383-0223
Las Vegas Review-Journal
wblair@reviewjournal.com
SOURCE Las Vegas Review-Journal
PARIS, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 12 to 16, the cultural exchange activity "Encounter of Civilization: Jiangsu Week of Chinese Kunqu Opera" was held in Paris, France. Featuring classic performances, interactive dynamic displays, thematic exhibitions, academic discussions, and more, it presented a rich cultural feast of Kunqu Opera for the people of France.
Poster of Chinese Kunqu Opera
For two consecutive days, the South Kunqu Opera version of "The Peony Pavilion" by Jiangsu Kun Opera Theater played to a full house at the Theatre Libre in Paris. This production faithfully showcased the masterpiece as presented by Master Zhang Jiqing from the Jiangsu Kun Opera Theater, who had astounded Paris with this same version 37 years ago, according to Jiangsu International Culture Association. The brilliant performance, lasting over two hours, received seven curtain calls with lead actors Kong Aiping and Shi Xiaming. Many French audience members expressed that despite their first encounter with Kunqu Opera, they could feel the beauty within it, which they found to be not only Eastern but also a part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage.
In addition to the performances, this event included a rich array of exhibitions, seminars, and outreach activities such as Kunqu Opera in schools. The actors also organized flash mobs at iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, engaging with the local people on the streets.
The "Emotions Unveiled, Affections Explored: A Special Exhibition on Chinese Kunqu Opera Culture" held at the Guimet Museum, also known as the National Museum of Asian Arts, comprehensively showcased the history, texts, props, costumes, musical instruments, and international exchanges related to Kunqu Opera. It presented a panorama of the inheritance and development of Chinese culture, as well as the modernization of Jiangsu Province in the Chinese context.
During the international symposium held at the China Cultural Center in Paris, cultural scholars from countries including France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands focused on the theme of "Kunqu Opera in Our Era: Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Civilization Exchange" for discussions and exchanges. Maria Shevtsova, a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and a professor of Drama at the University of London, stated that Kunqu Opera has continuously explored various aspects of human artistic expression. It combines singing, dancing, and theatrical costumes into a harmonious whole, showcasing the dignity of human creativity.
Kunqu Opera, often referred to as the ancestor of a hundred operas, originated between the 14th and 17th centuries in the Kunshan region of Suzhou, near today's Shanghai. Over the following 600 years, it merged with regional cultures across China, giving rise to various distinctive schools and styles. The delegation performing in France hails from Jiangsu, the birthplace of Kunqu Opera, and is acclaimed by Kunqu enthusiasts for its "Southern Kun Style". The eight major Kunqu Opera troupes active across China possess their own regional characteristics and unique beauty. With support and enthusiasm for culture from all segments of Chinese society, Chinese traditional theater arts have entered a more confident stage today.
Art knows no borders, and culture finds common ground. Nowadays, through online channels, audiences from all over the world can experience innovative expressions of Chinese traditional culture, even if they are thousands of miles away. Follow the "China Culture & Art" media cluster on Facebook and YouTube, and join the #Echoesofkunqu hashtag to share stories of Chinese opera from your own experiences. Feel the enduring charm of China's outstanding traditional culture.
Image Attachments Links:
Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=442276
Caption: Poster of Chinese Kunqu Opera
SOURCE Jiangsu International Culture Association
BEIJING, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At the Extended 45th session of the World Heritage Committee in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, the People's Government of Beijing Municipality co-hosted a thematic side-event on "Digital Empowerment of Cultural Heritage". Lazare Elondou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Li Qun, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and Administrator of the National Cultural Heritage Administration of China, and Tan Xuxiang, Vice Mayor of Beijing, attended the event and delivered speeches.
On-site of the side-event. Tan Xuxiang, Beijing's deputy Mayor, exchanged ideas during the side event with the director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
China's innovative practice in "Digital Empowerment of Cultural Heritage" was highly recognized by the participants and international organizations. "From virtual tours to heritage lists and 3D models of archaeological sites, heritage digitization is thriving." commented Lazare Elondou Assomo, Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre. "China's heritage managers share their good practices through regular reports, such as 3D digital scanning virtual restoration, real-time monitoring of visitor volumes, etc., which are crucial for heritage conservation and management." He believes that China has considerable experience and expertise in the field of heritage protection and could share a number of good practices in the use of digital technology to protect heritage with other countries.
Led by the establishment of a large national database of cultural relics resources, China has carried out a lot of work in the digital protection of cultural relics, the digitalization of business management, the digitalization of public services, and the digitalization of exhibitions. A series of digital practices such as the Digital Forbidden City, Digital Dunhuang, Digital Great Wall, and Digital Beijing Central Axis provide useful references for countries to use digital technology to enhance the level of protection and management of world cultural heritage.
As one of the organizers of this event, Beijing, the capital of China, has a city-building history of more than 3,000 years and a capital-building history of more than 800 years. While fully implementing the overall protection of the old city, many attempts have been made in digitally empowering cultural heritage. Through the "Digital Time-teller at night" project, Beijing encourages the public to take photos to participate in cultural heritage monitoring; It has presented the "Tanyuan Platform", through the cooperation with Tencent and successively launched the Beijing Central Axis, the Capital Museum, the Sanxingdui Museum, and inscriptions on bones or tortoise shells of the Shang Dynasty, and has accumulated more than 50 cultural heritage units and more than 1,000 cultural heritage digital resources.
The Beijing Cultural Heritage Photography Exhibition and the International Youth Painting Exhibition and the Digital Beijing Cultural Experience Activities were held simultaneously at the side-event, attracting guests from all over the world to visit and interact with each other.
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2215169/Empowerment_of_Cultural_Heritage.jpg
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SOURCE World Heritage Committee Side-Event
RICHARDSON, Texas, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Thinaer, an Internet of Everything, Everywhere platform and solution provider for aerospace and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) manufacturers have set their sights on an ambitious new horizon: the development of an innovative Classified IoT Solution, envisioned to integrate with Microsoft's Classified Cloud. This forward-looking solution will aim to empower manufacturers to ensure secure asset tracking in ambient IoT conditions.
Thinaer has already deployed its "Classified E" solution ("Classified External") which tags assets with passive sticker beacons and uses a strategically designed and patent pending, intelligent barrier infrastructure at classified area entrances to prepare stickers for classified entry and to guard against any transmitting signal entering a classified area. Upon exiting, assets consume ambient energy from wifi signals and mobile devices to resume normal operation, allowing secure tracking while maintaining data security.
What's next? Thinaer has been working for two years on a "Classified I" solution ("Classified Internal"). "Classified I" is a stand-alone air gap IoT network which enables all Thinaer powered IoT use cases to be safely deployed within classified areas. "Classified I" will be a true game changer for the Aerospace industry.
Bryan Merckling, CEO of Thinaer, said, "We are proud to introduce our cutting-edge classified solution to the aerospace and DoD manufacturing sector. By integrating with Microsoft's Classified Cloud, we are enabling businesses to optimize their operations while maintaining the highest level of security and compliance. Our solution exemplifies Thinaer's commitment to delivering technologies and solutions that empower our clients to stay ahead of the curve."
Emilio Matt, General Manager for Aerospace and Commercial Defense at Microsoft shared, "It's truly inspiring to see Thinaer already envisioning the future of the Internet of Everything and the Classified Cloud. Together, we believe we can give our customers the confidence to operate securely in any environment, turning data into insights like never before."
To learn more about this new-to-market solution offered by Thinaer, check out the full release on Thinaer's website here.
Thinaer Public Relations:
[email protected]
SOURCE Thinaer
In response to the sharp deterioration of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would not allow the country to be drawn into a war that was "fomented by third parties." The politician's reaction caused outrage among Armenians, and they came out en masse to protest in front of the government building in Yerevan.
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The protesters believe that it was Pashinyan's passivity that led to the situation that occurred on the morning of September 19. This was reported by the BBC.
"I confirm once again: There are no Armenian armed forces in Nagorno-Karabakh. They will not succeed. No matter how difficult it is, in particular, in emotional terms, we must not allow some forces, external and internal, to jeopardize Armenian statehood," Pashinyan said.
It should be noted that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces began shelling Nagorno-Karabakh, almost the entire territory, and after a while launched an operation to break through the Nagorno-Karabakh contact line and take control of positions and, according to some reports, settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh.
As OBOZREVATEL reported, on the morning of September 19, Azerbaijan launched "local anti-terrorist measures" in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia, in turn, called the fighting in the region a "large-scale aggression" and announced that it was convening an emergency meeting of the Security Council.
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As a result, Armenians asked where the Russian peacekeepers who were supposed to protect them had gone. They began to suspect that Azerbaijan might have agreed with Russia to start hostilities.
Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
KENNEBUNK, Maine, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Tom's of Maine announces the second annual Tom's of Maine Incubator program, which is designed to resource the next generation of leaders from underrepresented communities who are driving environmental solutions. The program provides funding, mentorship, amplification, and support to early-career changemakers to empower them to Do Good. For Real. The application is now open at www.tomsofmaineincubator.com .
Global communities are experiencing the effects of climate change today with record-high temperatures and devastating storms. Unfortunately, many of the communities most severely impacted are underserved and underrepresented in the climate movement. These voices most affected by climate change are rarely reflected or engaged in finding solutions.
Tom's of Maine started with a small $5,000 loan and a big dream, and now, the brand wants to pay it forward. One of the ways the brand is doing this is by investing in underrepresented leaders to help them scale solutions that will benefit all people. The Tom's of Maine Incubator program provides $20,000 in funding to each of the five Incubator Members to support their work, plus access to expert Mentors, opportunities to collaborate in person and virtually, and support from the brand to amplify their message and engagement with their important work.
"We're proud to announce the second year of our Incubator program and reach additional underrepresented voices in the climate movement," said Michelle Waring, Steward for Sustainability and Everyday Good, Tom's of Maine. "Improving representation in the climate movement involves several steps, and our Incubator program is uniquely positioned to address these challenges through investment, mentorship, and education. The Tom's of Maine Incubator provides early-career talent with various opportunities for growth and community building."
Mentorship is an invaluable part of the Tom's of Maine Incubator program because the climate movement, like many sectors, relies heavily on networking for career advancement. The 2023-2024 Tom's of Maine Incubator Mentors include prominent leaders within the climate movement who are working across sectors to accelerate environmental solutions. This year's mentors include:
To celebrate the launch of this year's program, Tom's of Maine has partnered with actor and climate change advocate Arsema Thomas.
"It's an honor to work with Tom's of Maine to help identify and amplify underrepresented voices through the Incubator program," said Arsema. "I believe climate change and equity are not separate issues but are deeply interconnected, and addressing one requires considering the other. The Incubator program provides a seat at the table for many who have potentially never been invited and I'm proud to use my platform to shed light to this issue."
In 2022, Tom's of Maine introduced the Incubator program to resource the next generation of leaders from underrepresented communities. The program awarded $100,000 to five early-career changemakers and helped amplify their message and work in the climate movement. Learn more about the Incubator program and how to apply to the 2023-2024 cohort below.
How To Apply
Visit www.tomsofmaineincubator.com to submit your application, which details why you should be considered for the 2023-2024 Tom's of Maine Incubator via written responses and a video submission.
The Tom's of Maine Incubator application will be open for four weeks, starting Tuesday, September 19, 2023 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET), and closing on Sunday, October 15, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET. The five final Tom's of Maine Incubator recipients will be publicly announced in January 2024.
No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. states and D.C. (including DACA recipients) who are 18-30 years of age at time of entry and whose personal background or characteristics have impeded their access or exposure to the fields of climate, environmental science, and/or sustainability. For Official Rules, visit www.tomsofmaineincubator.com .
About Tom's of Maine
Tom's of Maine, Colgate-Palmolive (NYSE: CL) company, has been making natural, safe, and effective personal care products for over 50 years. It all began when Tom and Kate Chappell moved to Maine in 1968 looking for a healthier, simpler life for their growing family. And when they couldn't find personal care products that were free from artificial flavors, fragrances, sweeteners, colors and preservatives, they decided to make their own. Tom's of Maine products including toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, bar soap, body wash, dental floss, and toothbrushes are made from naturally sourced and naturally derived ingredients and never tested on animals. A Certified B Corporation, Tom's of Maine is committed to upholding a purpose-driven business and has a long-standing commitment to supporting nature and healthy families. Tom's of Maine has supported hundreds of nonprofits by giving back 10% of its profits, and employees are encouraged to use 5% of their paid time (12 days) volunteering for causes they are passionate about. All of Tom's products are cruelty-free and most products are vegan, kosher, halal-certified and gluten-free. Visit us online at http://www.tomsofmaine.com/ or at https://www.facebook.com/officialtomsofmaine/ .
Media Contact:
Alejandra Arias
[email protected]
SOURCE Tom's of Maine
Globe-trotting owner wants to put roots down by providing Charlotte residents with reliable fencing services
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Top Rail Fence, the on-time professionals in fence design, quality installation and service, announced today the opening of a new location in South Charlotte, and local owner Taylor Moss says he hopes to grow his business by providing dependable fence contracting services.
Globe-trotting owner Taylor Moss wants to put down roots in Charlotte by providing residents with dependable fence contracting services.
"Charlotte is one of the hottest housing markets in the country, but in these markets it can be a challenge to find honest, reputable and trustworthy contractors," Moss said. "We plan to deliver quality services at fair prices to the people of Charlotte. We want to leave customers with a sense of pride in their fence and in their decision to go with Top Rail Fence."
Moss wasn't always interested in the property service industry. He spent most of his career working in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as a consultant for a major healthcare company for almost a decade. Even prior to his professional career, Moss moved to Jamaica, where he spent two years volunteering with the Peace Corps, focusing on youth development.
"My experience in operations and finance while operating outside of my comfort zone in a foreign environment has been invaluable to owning and operating my own franchise," he said. "I've learned how to understand customer needs and deliver a quality product that exceeds their expectations. I thrive on accepting new challenges, and I feel owning a Top Rail Fence will provide me with those new challenges."
Moss, a Columbus, Georgia, native, received a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia and an international MBA from the University of South Carolina's Darla Moore School of Business.
"It's been a pleasure getting out of an office environment and interacting with the customers and contractors as I build this business," he said. "It's exciting to build on something I've become passionate about and that can grow into a business that will eventually give me more freedom and opportunity."
Top Rail Fence is a part of HomeFront Brands, a family of emerging, franchised residential and commercial property service brands that includes Top Rail Fence, Temporary Wall Systems, BiltRite Home Inspections, The Designery, Window Hero Exterior Cleaning Services and Mozzie Dome.
To learn more about Top Rail Fence South Charlotte, please https://toprailfence.com/locations/south-charlotte/.
About Top Rail Fence
Top Rail Fence got its start in 2014 in Greenville, South Carolina as Brookview Fencing, a veteran-owned and family-operated business. In 2022, the company joined the HomeFront Brands family of companies to serve more communities as Top Rail Fence. Since that time, Top Rail Fence has added locations throughout the United States and is continuing to expand. It strives to be at the top rail in customer responsiveness, quality design and materials, on-time delivery and installation, and in customer satisfaction. The company provides fencing solutions for residential, commercial and agricultural locations and offers wood, aluminum, vinyl, and chain link to provide the right fence to fit the customer's needs. For more information about Top Rail Fence, please visit https://toprailfence.com/.
About HomeFront Brands:
HomeFront Brands empowers entrepreneurs to create thriving franchised residential and commercial property service brands. Driven by an experienced team of franchise executives and rooted in family values, HomeFront Brands helps emerging or established concepts accelerate their growth by delivering enterprise-level solutions to local business owners who aspire to build a dynasty and create generational wealth. By leveraging integrated technology, data-driven intelligence and advanced learning management systems, HomeFront Brands is building a foundation for its brands -- Window Hero, The Designery, Temporary Wall Systems, BiltRite Home Inspections, Top Rail Fence and Mozzie Dome to transform lives through franchise ownership.
For more information about HomeFront Brands' current solutions, new business development, and franchising opportunities, please visit HomeFrontBrands.com.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley
Ripley PR, 865-977-1973
[email protected]
SOURCE HomeFront Brands
SAN DIEGO, Calif. and BARCELONA, Spain, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Torres Master Distillers and Infinium Spirits jointly announced the Torres Brandy Zero Challenge, a Program of the USBG that will be coming to the United States. In this challenge, Torres Brandy calls on Bar Managers and Bartenders around the world to submit their sustainable bar initiatives to promote a new mindset in mixology that prioritizes the environment.
The Torres Brandy Zero Challenges is the first international competition to present an award to the world's most sustainable cocktail bar project.
TBZC_Logo_2021 Giacomo Gianotti of Paradiso
In its inaugural year, Giacomo Gianotti of Paradiso, #1 World's Best Bar, took the top spot for its sustainable concept and their Paradiso Waste Lab.
Applications are now open for you to present your project demonstrating how you would set up and manage a sustainable bar.
To apply: Torres Brandy Zero Challenge Application Open (usbg.org)
The form remains open from now until October 31st, 2023. If selected, 4 competitors would present their project sometime in late January/Early February 2024 in NYC where 1 US representative will be chosen to attend the Global Finals in Barcelona on March 21, 2024 to compete with the finalists from other countries or a chance to make their concept a reality. As the co-sponsor, the USBG manages the logistics and submissions and picks the 4 national finalists. The national finalists will be judged by a celebrity bartender, USBG judge, and Torres Brandy judge on the panel.
About Torres Brandy
The Torres winery was founded in 1870, but it was not until 1928 that Juan Torres Casals first began to distill and age brandy at the family winery. The distillery is family owned and run to this day by the 5th generation of the Torres family. All Torres brandies and liqueurs are handcrafted by Master Distillers in this same family winery in Penedes. They are unique in the world of brandy because of the grape varietals and distillation method used. For more information, visit https://www.torresbrandy.com/en or on social @torresbrandyofficial
About USBG
The USBG is where bars & restaurants come together to build a hub of community. Through national & local charity initiatives, we connect with the neighborhoods that welcome our establishments and the people who we entertain each night. To us, a key part of growing professionally is supporting the communities where we serve through our core values: Service, Integrity, Sharing Knowledge, Tradition, and Camaraderie. For more information, visit https://www.usbg.org/home or on social @usbg.
About Infinium Spirits
Established in 2005 and based out of San Diego, California, Infinium Spirits is a family-owned global premium spirits supplier. Infinium specializes in building a diverse and distinctive portfolio of award-winning spirit brands including Templeton Rye; Seagram's Vodka; Corralejo Tequila; Crystal Head Vodka; Zaya Rum; Highway Vodka; Torres Brandy; Tears of Llorona Tequila; Los Arango Tequila; Magdala Orange Liqueur; Rives Gin; Perro San Juan Mezcal and El Gobernador Pisco. For more information, visit www.infiniumspirits.com .
SOURCE Infinium Spirits and Juan Torres Master Distillers
Personal injury expertise touted in 2023 Edition of Texas Super Lawyers
FORT WORTH, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Acclaimed trial lawyer Steven C. Laird continues to garner professional recognition for personal injury expertise with placement in the latest edition of Texas Super Lawyers. The 2023 listing marks the 21st year Mr. Laird has been ranked among the top 100 attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Courtroom legend Mr. Laird has secured some of the state's largest and most important verdicts on behalf of victims of truck wrecks and in other cases involving personal injuries and wrongful deaths. He is one of the few lawyers to be board certified in personal injury trial law and civil trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and he has been designated as a specialist in civil trial and truck accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy.
"I do take pride in the level of service our firm consistently provides for those who have been wronged," said Mr. Laird. "I am grateful that our industry peers endorse our efforts and success. It's a true honor to be named among such skilled professionals."
Mr. Laird's long list of industry accolades demonstrates his commitment to excellence. He recently was named for the 13th consecutive year to The Best Lawyers in America and was included in Fort Worth Inc. magazine's list of the 400 Most Influential People in Fort Worth for 2023, a prestigious recognition that honors Tarrant County residents who wield significant influence in the community.
Texas Super Lawyers, compiled by Thomson Reuters and published in Texas Monthly, recognizes only the top 5% of attorneys each year. Selection is determined through Super Lawyers' patented multiphase process that combines peer nominations, evaluations and independent research.
To view a complete list of 2023 honorees, visit SuperLawyers.com.
About The Law Offices of Laird & McCloskey
The Law Offices of Laird & McCloskey is a firm of experienced Fort Worth truck accident lawyers with more than 50 years of combined experience helping victims and their families. The firm is located at 1119 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Worth, Texas. To learn more about the firm's representative matters or to schedule a meeting with one of its attorneys, call (817) 531-3000 or visit https://www.texlawyers.com/
Media Contact:
Alyssa Woulfe
800-559-4534
[email protected]
SOURCE Law Offices of Laird & McCloskey
CALDAS, Colombia, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TrinaTracker, the leading smart solar tracking solutions provider which is part of Trina Solar Co Ltd (SHA: 688599), has signed a solar tracker supply agreement with Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), to supply the Tepuy Solar PV Park in Colombia with 108MW of smart tracking systems, including TrinaTracker's pioneering Vanguard 1P trackers, smart algorithms and Trina Smart Cloud platforms.
The Tepuy Solar PV Park is in the province of Antioquia province, northwestern Colombia. It is developed by Medellin Electric Power Company, the largest power generation company in the country. POWERCHINA undertakes EPC that includes the design, supply, construction, installation and commissioning of the PV power station. TrinaTracker is the exclusive supplier for the project.
TrinaTracker's Vanguard 1P trackers are designed for large solar power plants on flat terrain. The design requires fewer driving systems and controllers per megawatt, thus reducing material costs and saving on labor hours during project installation. Fewer pile foundations make the product a better match for cleaning robots, and bi-damper systems reduce the chance of trackers being damaged in high winds.
TrinaTracker's smart tracking system is integrated with the tracker structure + algorithm + platform, and it includes tracker control unit, SuperTrack, and Trina Smart Cloud monitoring platform. The system can increase power generation up to 8% compared with that of conventional solar tracking systems. It also provides better monitoring functions of trackers during system operation, thus reducing client operational and maintenance costs, and decreasing losses of power generation.
Latin America is one of the most important markets for solar trackers, and Colombia, one of the largest economies in the region, has huge potential for the development of photovoltaic power generation. The international consulting company S&P Global says more than 80% of ground photovoltaic sites in Latin America use solar trackers, with market penetration significantly higher than the 45% global average.
TrinaTracker's collaboration in the Tepuy project augurs well for more growth in the Latin American market. By introducing the most advanced smart solar tracking technology to the region and providing comprehensive system design, delivery and after-sales service, TrinaTracker will continue to drive the development of photovoltaic projects in Latin America, adding more much-needed green energy to the region.
SOURCE TrinaTracker
Republican Conservative Unveils Recommendations for Comprehensive Plan to Ensure Life-Sustaining Services for the People of Paden City Aiming to Prevent Future Crisis
PADEN CITY, W. Va., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nate Cain, Republican Congressional Candidate for West Virginia's 2nd District, calls for a critical review of the leadership's response to the Paden City water crisis. He presents recommendations aimed at strengthening emergency response capabilities. These measures prioritize the delivery of life-sustaining services, not only to benefit communities in West Virginia, but also as a blueprint for averting future crises nationwide. "This must never happen again. There must be ways available to Paden City residents to ensure access to water during a crisis that maintains their standard of living. Not only do they need bottled water that was provided, but they also need water to launder clothes and for daily hygiene, which they did not have access to for a month," Nate Cain emphatically states.
Nate Cain is the original FBI Whistleblower written about in the Daily Caller. The information he blew the whistle on is described in the Durham Report, submitted to the Judiciary Committee, the Hearing on the Report of Special Counsel John Durham, page 78. After facing retribution for being a whistleblower, his home raided, identity doxed, and career destroyed, Nate relocated to West Virginia where he has since rebuilt his life, starting his own cybersecurity company, Cain & Associates. Nate is an expert in cybersecurity of 26 years and has worked extensively on election integrity, having been called on as an expert witness and cyber forensic investigator by the Donald Trump White House in the 2020 election. Nate Cain is now running as the true Republican Conservative for US Congress in West Virginias 2nd District, focused heavily on reigning in government abuses of power and restoring our constitutionally protected rights, strengthening of National Security, and breaking the burden of federal regulation on West Virginias prosperity. www.NateCain4WV.com @NateCain4WV
The crisis in Paden City, which left residents without access to clean water, resulted from a treatment-plant malfunction that released the hazardous solvent tetrachloroethylene into the water supply. Prior to this recent crisis, the EPA had already designated Paden City's groundwater as a national Superfund cleanup priority due to significant health and environmental risks associated with contamination by this solvent.
Cain proposes that a thorough after-action review is necessary to assess how the Emergency Response to the crisis failed and to develop a new plan to prevent future disasters. Cain's proposed recommendations include the following:
Create an environmental disaster strategy for cities susceptible to water crises, ensuring timely access to essential services such as showers, laundry facilities, and water distribution
Administer regular monthly testing of EPA-listed Superfund sites
testing of EPA-listed Superfund sites Shorten test result timeframes
Increased testing sites availability to minimize response times
Implement a backup system in Paden City , i.e., implement an activated charcoal redundant system
, i.e., implement an activated charcoal redundant system Diversify public notifications, especially in areas with elderly populations and those who do not have internet services: Maximize social media, robocalls, and emailing services Utilize local resources, such as the volunteer fire departments and EMS broadcast systems and National Guard Maintain a database of local charities with equipment and supplies that can help with these types of situations, such as "Samaritans Purse, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Salvation Army.
Compensate individuals and businesses directly affected by the public utility shutdown
He strongly stresses the responsibility of elected officials to get actively involved. Visit the site. Meet the people. Nate Cain recently visited Paden City to engage with residents to understand their concerns and immediate needs. He has created a short documentary addressing the Paden City crisis, with the aim of increasing awareness: Hung Out To Dry: https://rumble.com/v3gsofm-hung-out-to-dry.html
The Paden City water crisis is a matter of significant concern. Our thoughts and prayers are with the affected community during this challenging time. Nate Cain is committed to addressing this critical situation and raising awareness of the potential for similar crises across the United States.
For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact:
Contact: 844-750-0364
Contact: [email protected]
https://natecain4wv.com
Nate Cain is the original FBI Whistleblower written about in the Daily Caller. The information he blew the whistle on is described in the Durham Report, submitted to the Judiciary Committee, the Hearing on the Report of Special Counsel John Durham, page 78. After facing retribution for being a whistleblower, his home raided, identity doxed, and career destroyed, Nate relocated to West Virginia where he has since rebuilt his life, starting his own cybersecurity company, Cain & Associates. Nate is an expert in cybersecurity of 26 years and has worked extensively on election integrity, having been called on as an expert witness and cyber forensic investigator by the Donald Trump White House in the 2020 election. Nate Cain is now running as the true Republican Conservative for US Congress in West Virginia's 2nd District, focused heavily on reigning in government abuses of power and restoring our constitutionally protected rights, strengthening of National Security, and breaking the burden of federal regulation on West Virginia's prosperity. www.NateCain4WV.com @NateCain4WV
SOURCE Nate Cain for Congress
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in full swing, the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) announced the release of two highly-anticipated reports that provide recommendations to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit. The reports Business & the UN 2.0 and Roadmap for Results focus on inclusive and practical multilateralism that will help scale progress of SDG target action and focus on the role of business and other stakeholders.
The reports begin with a foreword by USCIB Board of Trustees Sustainability Champion and Novozymes CEO Ester Baiget. She writes, "As blueprints for action, Roadmap for Results walks the talk of inclusive multilateralism, offering pragmatic insights and business strategies and a focus on positive impact. Business and the UN 2.0 discusses interfaces between the private sector and the multilateral system."
USCIB's Moving the Needle (MTN) initiative launched the reports at a USCIB High-Level Business Roundtable. The Roundtable focused on sustainability, solidarity and shared prosperity and featured high-level speakers from AT&T, Bayer, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, the U.S. Department of State, the UN, the International Organization of Employers (IOE) and many others. Discussion topics included innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for the benefit of people and planet and public private partnerships for innovation and infrastructure. Business leaders from USCIB member companies presented practical business recommendations highlighted in the reports, to ramp up implementation of the SDGs and strengthen the UN's effectiveness and impact.
"USCIB has been a staunch supporter and committed partner to the United Nations since our founding," said USCIB President and CEO Whitney Baird in closing remarks at the Roundtable. "As the only U.S. business organization at the UN, we take our responsibility seriously to provide solutions and showcase U.S. business leadership."
About MTN
USCIB launched the MTN initiative during the 77th Session of the UN General Assembly to focus on three priorities identified by the UN President of the General Assembly: Solutions for Sustainability, Science, and Solidarity. Through multistakeholder roundtables, held around the globe in 2022-2023, which culminated in Business & the UN 2.0 and Roadmap for Results, MTN contributed insights to the ongoing deliberations concerning inadequate progress at the halfway mark towards the UN 2030 Agenda.
About USCIB
The United States Council for International Business (USCIB) advances the global interests of American business. We do so through advocacy for an open system of world trade, finance, and investment, where business can flourish and contribute to economic growth, human welfare, and environmental protection. We are the sole U.S. affiliate of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Business at OECD (BIAC) and the International Organization of Employers (IOE). USCIB is also the only U.S. business organization with standing at the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is recognized at the UN Environment Program (UNEP), UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UN CBD).
SOURCE United States Council for International Business
RICHARDSON, Texas, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As announced by the Department of Defense, The University of Texas at Dallas will receive $30 million over three years from the DOD to develop and commercialize new battery technologies and manufacturing processes, enhance the domestic availability of critical raw materials, and train high-quality workers for jobs in an expanding battery energy storage workforce.
The award, which creates a prototype Energy Storage Systems Campus, is the largest allocation from a federal agency that the University has received to date. The Energy Storage Systems Campus will leverage and stimulate over $200 million in private capital, intellectual property and technology-based economic development.
The project will also leverage an additional $700,000 from UTD's Seed Program for Interdisciplinary Research to support center activities.
Dr. Kyeongjae Cho, professor of materials science and engineering in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science and co-principal investigator, will lead the project as the director of the Batteries and Energy to Advance Commercialization and National Security (BEACONS) center.
Key partners include LEAP Manufacturing, a consortium of energy storage companies; AUI (Associated Universities Inc.); the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of Chicago. The agreement provides funding from the DOD's Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization Directorate.
"This initiative is a tremendous opportunity to showcase UTD's mission of research, service and teaching in the context of accelerating workforce development and next-generation solutions that are critical to our nation's economy and defense readiness," said Dr. Richard C. Benson, UT Dallas president and the Eugene McDermott Distinguished University Chair of Leadership. "The expertise of our faculty researchers, the excellence of our academic programs in engineering and science, and our demonstrated ability to leverage partnerships with industry put UTD in a unique position to lead this national effort to drive innovation in battery technology and manufacturing."
The BEACONS center will focus on four main goals:
Optimizing existing battery systems, including integrating robotics and automation into manufacturing.
Fostering the development of new battery chemistries that reduce the use of scarce raw materials.
Identifying and tracking supply chain challenges for critical minerals, such as lithium, needed in energy storage systems.
Developing the workforce needed for energy storage system development and manufacturing.
In addition, the initiative will provide access to facilities to help entrepreneurs design, develop and demonstrate novel energy storage systems.
Response to National Priorities
The National Blueprint for Lithium Batteries 2021-2030, published in 2021 by the Federal Consortium for Advanced Batteries, outlines several goals, including maintaining and advancing U.S. battery technology leadership by strongly supporting scientific research; science, technology, engineering and math education; and workforce development.
The agreement with the DOD is an outcome of more than a year of concerted efforts by UTD leaders and LEAP Manufacturing co-directors Dr. Thomas Campbell and John Stibal to respond to the federal agency's request for proposals.
BEACONS will include multiple UTD researchers in the Jonsson School and the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics who work on energy storage technology, including experts in computer modeling, artificial intelligence, chemistry, prototyping and commercialization. Their work will center on developing safer, longer-lasting and more efficient next-generation battery technology, including alternatives to traditional lithium-ion cells. Lithium-ion batteries, which power everything from consumer electronics to electric vehicles, have disadvantages: They are sensitive to high temperatures and thermal runaway reactions, which can cause fires; they are difficult to recycle; and they require the expensive mining and processing of rare raw materials, such as lithium, nickel and cobalt.
UTD researchers are investigating current battery system optimization as well as next-generation batteries with alternative materials and designs, such as solid-state batteries, which use solid electrolytes instead of organic liquids or polymers, and aqueous zinc-ion batteries, which are made from raw materials that are more abundant.
New Facility
The UTD-led initiative will include construction of a research facility within a 1,200-acre area of the Richardson Innovation Quarter. The facility will include space for developing and manufacturing next-generation batteries, as well as energy storage solutions specifically tailored to defense applications. For example, defense systems operate at extremely cold or hot temperatures, encounter high shock and vibration, and may be stored for long periods then needed quickly for immediate use. Defense battery systems also are sometimes operated in environments where safety demands exceed current commercial requirements.
While the U.S. has been a leader in battery research and technology development, battery manufacturing and supplies of critical raw materials have traditionally been located outside of the country. The DOD initiative reflects efforts to bring advanced manufacturing and supply chains to the U.S., Cho said.
"We identified a unique area that satisfies the Department of Defense's needs for battery technology," he said. "This investment by the DOD will facilitate collaboration with our industry partners to help ensure reliable, domestic manufacture of lithium-ion cells, as well as the battery packs that support defense systems and advanced commercial systems."
Workforce Development
UTD also will partner with community colleges in North Texas to train future employees with a range of expertise. A 2020 report from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory projects that the battery energy storage industry will need a minimum of 130,000 additional workers in the U.S. by 2030; at least 12,000 of those workers will be needed in Texas. Earlier this year, Tesla broke ground on a Texas lithium refinery to produce the battery metal for electric vehicles.
"Renewable energy is a rapidly expanding area, and Texas is leading the country in the expansion of energy storage capacity," Cho said. "We need not only PhD-level experts but also technicians who know how to safely handle batteries."
The initiative is a prototype for collaboration, said Dr. Joseph Pancrazio, vice president for research and innovation at UT Dallas and co-principal investigator on the project.
"UTD and our partners will ensure that laboratory research and creative ideas from small businesses translate quickly towards commercialization," Pancrazio said. "As a national resource, the collaborative space we're creating will streamline the path of innovation in energy storage and battery technology, from prototyping and testing to manufacturing. Coupling technological advancement with workforce development ultimately will catalyze economic growth while bolstering national security."
SOURCE The University of Texas at Dallas
VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Vice Health and Wellness Inc. ("Vice" or the "Company") (CSE: VICE) (FSE: Z24) (OTC: VICFF) is thrilled to announce a substantial progress update on its newly formed, 100% owned and proprietary, Vice Versa AI (initial news release August 17, 2023). This purpose-built app is poised to redefine weight loss and addiction management.
About Vice Versa AI
Vice is working to enhance the health and wellness sector through its companion app, which aims to provide users with tools for sustainable weight loss and obesity management. Going beyond conventional methods, the app aims to provide personalized support and tools for balanced eating, exercise, and progress tracking, fostering habit formation and prioritizing overall well-being.
The Company anticipates its core features such as nutrition tracking, exercise monitoring, intelligent notifications, and advanced AI algorithms, will enrich users' approach to health. The Company continues to plan and buildout user-friendly interface, seamless integration with Android and iOS platforms, and an AI-driven recommendation system that forms the heart of the application.
Maijec Lis, CEO and Director of Vice, stated " We are nearing a pivotal moment in the evolution of healthcare management. Our Vice Versa AI Application is designed to enhance personalized strategies for weight and addiction management, providing an unparalleled level of tailored support for users. We will continue to keep stakeholders informed with timely updates as we advance our strategic initiatives in artificial intelligence, pharmaceutical-grade solutions, and nutraceutical products".
Progress Milestones
Since inception, the Vice development team has reached significant milestones, laying the groundwork for the next stages of product development. This includes building a diverse and highly skilled team, comprehensive research to define product requirements, technical feasibility assessments, designing a scalable system architecture, and beginning implementation to craft a seamless user experience.
Tackling Massive Global Markets and Chronic Illness
Vice is entering these markets at a pivotal time. The Global Obesity Treatment Market, according to Market.us, is projected to reach US$ 15,087 Million by 2032 from an estimated US$ 5,649.5 Million in 2022. This incredible growth, with a CAGR of 10.6% (2021-2026), is driven by rising obesity rates and the subsequent surge in chronic diseases.1 Vice's mission to provide effective obesity treatment solutions is more crucial than ever.
Market Opportunities
Vice is strategically positioned to target and capture market-share in the health and wellness, obesity, weight loss, and addictions segmentssome of the world's largest addressable health and wellness markets. With Vice's AI at the helm, the Company aims to serve a global audience seeking sustainable solutions for weight management and addiction recovery.
About Vice Health and Wellness Inc.
Vice Health and Wellness Inc. is a dynamic publicly traded company dedicated to fostering healthier lifestyle choices by offering a diverse range of products that empower consumers to enhance their mental and physical well-being. As an ever-growing community of like-minded individuals and organizations, we believe in the power of collective small steps leading to remarkable transformations. Our product line features low-sugar, plant-based gummy products, and we are actively spearheading innovations in alignment with emerging trends in the health and wellness sector. By prioritizing weight loss and harnessing the potential of AI-powered health and wellness applications, which leverage state-of-the-art artificial intelligence algorithms, we aim to provide individuals with unparalleled advice, personalized recommendations, unwavering support, and transformative solutions on their journey to ultimate well-being. Our exceptional applications intend to offer a multitude of treatment benefits, empowering users to embark on a transformative path toward optimal health.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding future financial position, business strategy, use of proceeds, corporate vision, proposed acquisitions, partnerships, joint- ventures and strategic alliances and co-operations, budgets, cost and plans and objectives of or involving the Company. Such forward-looking information reflects management's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to management. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "predicts", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates" or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause the actual results or performance to materially differ from any future results or performance expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions and dependence upon regulatory approvals. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward- looking statements. The Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.
_______________________________________ 1 https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2023/04/19/2650532/0/en/Obesity-Treatment-Market-Size-to-hit-US-15-087-Million-at-CAGR-of-10-6-Globally-by-2032-Market-us.html Simultaneously, the global weight management market is experiencing remarkable expansion. As per a report by Facts & Factors, it was valued at USD 224.27 billion in 2021 and is expected to surge to USD 405.4 billion by 2030, boasting an impressive CAGR of 6.84% (2022-2030) 2. This growth is fueled by the global obesity epidemic, emphasizing the urgent need for innovative solutions. 2 https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/02/09/2604662/0/en/Latest-Global-Weight-Loss-and-Weight-Management-Market-Size-Share-Worth-USD-405-4-Billion-by-2030-at-a-6-84-CAGR-Growing-obesity-rate-to-propel-market-growth-Facts-Factors-Industry.html
SOURCE Vice Health And Wellness Inc.
TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking Mergers and Acquisitions celebrates the successful acquisition of Advanced Refrigeration & Air Conditioning LLC, a market-leading HVAC company with a 30-year legacy as a Certified Carrier Dealer.
Guided by second-generation owner Mike Jolley, Advanced has consistently set industry standards, demonstrating year-over-year growth in commercial and residential HVAC sectors. As growth trajectories pointed upward, Jolley engaged with Viking M&A to explore potential exit strategies and future growth avenues.
This strategic decision led to an introduction to Dan Tulchin, an accomplished entrepreneur with a rich history in the Home Services and HVAC industries. With previous acquisition experiences via Viking M&A and a reputation for fostering business growth, Tulchin emerged as the ideal partner for this venture.
Together, with the expertise of Viking M&A, Jolley and Tulchin navigated the complexities of the acquisition, ensuring a future-focused, mutually beneficial deal. Reflecting on the collaboration, Tulchin remarked, "Viking is very proficient in the lower end of the M&A broker market. They know how to get deals done at this level, which goes a long way in bridging the gap between buyers and sellers. The Viking guys are good at what they do, especially when it comes to the nuance between buyer and seller."
Christian Aunspaugh, Tripp Lawson, and Alan Misale of Viking Mergers advised on the transaction.
About Viking Mergers and Acquisitions
Viking provides exit strategies and M&A services to middle-market business owners. In business since 1996, 50% of Viking's brokers are former business owners. Viking has an 85% close rate within the first seven months of the list date, representing over 800 successful transactions.
SOURCE Viking Mergers & Acquisitions
Today, September 19, a regular meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's Defense in the Ramstein format started in Germany. This is the 15th meeting of the group, which brings together defense ministers and senior military officials from Ukraine's partner countries offline.
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This time, for the first time, they were joined by Rustem Umerov, who was recently appointed to the post of Minister of Defense of Ukraine. This was reported by Radio Liberty.
"A meeting in the Ramstein format will be held at the German air base today. Journalists will not be able to get there on their own - they are being gathered nearby, a Radio Liberty correspondent reports. On the spot, they are searched with dogs and only then put on special military buses that will take the media to the air base. For the first time, the new head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umerov, will take part in this format," the journalists said shortly before the meeting.
At about 11 a.m. Kyiv time, it was announced that the meeting had begun.
It was reported on August 31 that the 15th meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's defense would be held in person at the Ramstein air base on September 19.
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"Secretary Austin (Pentagon Secretary Lloyd Austin - Ed.) has again invited defense ministers and senior military officials around the world to discuss the current crisis in Ukraine and the various security challenges facing U.S. allies and partners," the press service of the U.S. Air Force in Europe reported at the time.
This time, the heads of defense ministries of Ukraine's partner countries were joined for the first time by Rustem Umerov, who was appointed Minister of Defense of Ukraine on September 6. A few days before the meeting, he had coordinated his positions with the Pentagon chief.
Austin himself arrived in Germany to participate in Ramstein the day before, on September 18.
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"I'm on my way to Germany to host the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. I will be meeting with coalition partners from nearly 50 countries to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, security assistance, and to strengthen our support for Ukraine in its fight to defend its sovereignty," Austin wrote on the social networking site X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, neither Austin nor Umerov, who also noted that the main focus of the Defense Ministry is currently on Ramstein, disclosed details on what issues and needs of the Ukrainian army will be prioritized this time.
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Instead, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told reporters before the meeting that the meeting would be "great."
"It's going to be a great meeting," General Milley told a Radio Liberty correspondent before the start of Ramstein. The head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Rustem Umerov, and his American counterpart, Lloyd Austin, also arrived at the air base," Radio Liberty writes.
The previous meeting in the Ramstein format took place in June of this year. At that time, Umerov's predecessor as Ukraine's defense minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, said that he had received commitments from the allies to start training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets and new military aid packages. In the face of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received new reserves and training from the world's most powerful armies.
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TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shabodi, a leading innovator in exposing advanced network capabilities across LTE, 5G, and Wi-Fi, among others via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) through its Application Enablement Platform (AEP), today announced the appointment of Joseph Bradley, the Chief Executive Officer of TONOMUS, NEOM's cognitive technology and digital infrastructure subsidiary, as the newest member of its board of advisors.
TONOMUS CEO and tech innovator Joseph Bradley joins Shabodi Board of Advisors
Bradley's longstanding expertise and illustrious career in the tech sector and as an entrepreneur are an invaluable asset to Shabodi. His strategic leadership of TONOMUS has propelled the company as a pioneer in the cognitive solutions space. A forward-looking innovator and digital humanist, Bradley has harnessed emerging technologies to redefine entire industries and inspire positive change.
Ramesh Kaza, President and Chief Commercial Officer of Shabodi, said: "We are excited to welcome Joseph Bradley to the team. His finger on the pulse of technology trends and exceptional accomplishments will be instrumental in guiding our mission to transform advanced networks into platforms that catalyze new monetization models for telecom operators."
As an advisor, Bradley will lend vital strategic insight to Shabodi's leadership, helping to shape the company's visionary path and initiatives. His engagement will amplify Shabodi's commitment to advancing Network-as-a-Service solutions and Network-Aware applications, reinforcing its position as an industry trailblazer.
Joseph Bradley, CEO of TONOMUS and Shabodi advisory board member, said: "I am absolutely thrilled about the role that I will play in advising Shabodi. Applications interacting with the network in real-time is a revolutionary capability that enables advanced use cases in robotics and Industry 4.0. I look forward to working with the Shabodi team and the board of advisors in helping them realize their ambitions and plans for the future."
Bradley's appointment is a significant milestone for Shabodi and the broader technological landscape. The TONOMUS CEO's track record as a leader and innovator will play a pivotal role in shaping Shabodi's strategic direction and accelerating its growth.
Media enquiries:
Shabodi
Ramesh Kaza
[email protected]
Media Contact Phone: +1 (770)-759-5994 x 5994
TONOMUS Middle East
Ross Williamson / Asaad Masri
Kekst CNC
+971 52 864 9785
[email protected]
TONOMUS International
Miriam Evans
Edelman
+44 758 310 4189
[email protected]
About Shabodi
At Shabodi, we believe that your network is more than just a pipe. It's an intelligent asset. Our mission is to accelerate business transformation by enabling seamless interactions between network-aware applications and advanced networks. That's why we have developed our Application Enablement Platform, the industry's first solution that offers common network APIs across all Advanced Networks (LTE,5G, Wi-Fi 6) and integrates with all Network Vendors. The outcome? Enhanced partnership and growth for all stakeholders within the advanced network ecosystem. If you're ready to think beyond connectivity, maximize your investment, and unleash the power of your advanced network, visit www.shabodi.com.
About TONOMUS
TONOMUS is a world-leading technology enterprise powering the world's first ecosystem of cognitive technologies at NEOM. Evolving from its technology and digital sector, it is the first conglomerate to be established as a subsidiary of NEOM, a region in Saudi Arabia charting the course for a new future fueled by pioneering technologies. TONOMUS' digital infrastructure will be the operating system of NEOM, enabling the bold ambitions of its communities and industries. It will co-invent the future of living with groundbreaking cognitive technologies in partnership with global tech-industry leaders. TONOMUS will leverage accurate, protected data residents share to deliver predictive and personalized services based on their day-to-day needs. Its solutions will be powered by unrivaled connectivity and computing capability, as well as cutting-edge AI and immersive technologies, all underpinned by global security standards.
TONOMUS is the trademark name of NEOM Tech and Digital Company, a single-shareholder limited liability company incorporated and registered in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with commercial registration number 3550138270 and fully paid-up share capital of SAR 500,000 and registered office at Building 4758, Al Khuraybah 49643, additional no. 9163, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
For further information, visit https://tonomus.neom.com/
SOURCE Shabodi
Join Gordo, Dixon, Mochakk, Indira Paganotto and more for Conversations Spanning Mindfulness and Social Media to the Connection of Music and Gastronomy
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Uniting the worlds of electronic music and luxury hospitality, W Hotels and Cercle are gearing up to unveil the next iteration of their partnership through a four-day takeover at Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE). Furthering their joint mission to provide music lovers with extraordinary experiences around the globe, W and Cercle will make waves at ADE through an immersive exploration into the deeper meanings of music. The collaboration will showcase not only the monumental growth of the electronic music industry, but how W Hotels has harnessed this momentum to shape the next chapter of luxury travel through a sonic lens. W Amsterdam, an embodiment of historic Dutch architecture and avant garde design will emerge as the epicenter of this year's conference from October 18 - 21.
Cercle & W Hotels at Amsterdam Dance Event Day Programming (PRNewsfoto/W Hotels) Cercle & W Hotels at Amsterdam Dance Event Night Programming (PRNewsfoto/W Hotels)
Over the span of four days, W Hotels and Cercle will offer ADE attendees access to exclusively curated music experiences, intimate artist interactions and sets from some of the world's top DJ talent including Gordo, EYNKA, Matisa, Mind Against, Chloe Caillet, LP Giobbi and more. A collective of both emerging and globally revered artists will converge between performances at W Amsterdam to host a variety of panels filled with interactive artistic discourse that provides an insider perspective on the music industry's path forward.
The four-day programming will include:
CLARITY IN CHAOS: MENTAL HEALTH IN THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC ECOSYSTEM - Join techno DJ and producer Louisahhh , Circulate Founder David de Valera and Annie Norman for a conversation about mental health and mindfulness in the electronic music space.
Join techno DJ and producer , Circulate Founder and for a conversation about mental health and mindfulness in the electronic music space. FROM CARNAGE TO GORDO - Learn how and why, after a 14-year career, Gordo retired Carnage - his previous alias - to become the artist we know today. This discussion will be hosted by Frank McWeeny and Sarah Story .
- Learn how and why, after a 14-year career, retired Carnage - his previous alias - to become the artist we know today. This discussion will be hosted by and . BEYOND SOUND, VISION Hosted by Portrait XO, Ana Ofak , Dixon and Melanie Courtinat will speak about the Transmoderna project, a concept that explores boundaries between different spheres of music, art, fashion, tech and club culture through events that sit at the intersection of electronic music and digital arts.
Hosted by Portrait XO, , will speak about the Transmoderna project, a concept that explores boundaries between different spheres of music, art, fashion, tech and club culture through events that sit at the intersection of electronic music and digital arts. THE ART OF EXPONENTIAL GROWTH: CAPTURING AN AUDIENCE - Mochakk and Indira Paganotto will share how they have used social media to become some of the most recognizable DJs in the world. The discussion will be moderated by Frank McWeeny and Sarah Story .
and will share how they have used social media to become some of the most recognizable DJs in the world. The discussion will be moderated by and . KITCHN CLUB - Participate in an intimate workshop with Chef Paul Delrez and DJ Calao ( Charlotte Collard ) for a lesson pairing cuisine and with electronic music. Drawing upon the inspiration for a specific set designed especially for ADE - which will be played during the class - Paul and Calao collaborated to create a menu mixing genres and tastes.
- Participate in an intimate workshop with Chef and DJ Calao ( ) for a lesson pairing cuisine and with electronic music. Drawing upon the inspiration for a specific set designed especially for ADE - which will be played during the class - Paul and Calao collaborated to create a menu mixing genres and tastes. HOW TO? DESIGN A CLOTHING COLLECTION - Cercle and Creative Agency 282US invite fashion and electronic music enthusiasts to collaborate in the creation of a unique Cercle-inspired T-shirt.
- Cercle and Creative Agency 282US invite fashion and electronic music enthusiasts to collaborate in the creation of a unique Cercle-inspired T-shirt. HOW TO FLY AN FPV DRONE - Cercle and W Hotels , along with Filip Petronijevic and Arthur Maneint , will teach a lucky few how to fly FPV droves in the property's lounge
- and , along with and , will teach a lucky few how to fly FPV droves in the property's lounge WHEN MUSIC PLAYS BY ITSELF - Discover a new way of playing music with this installation that combines music and AI through an autonomous piano. With music by Parra for Cuva, reinterpreted and played by AI, this project is made possible with support by Musico-Soundive, an AI-driven software engine that generates music by reacting to gesture, movement, code and other sounds.
- Discover a new way of playing music with this installation that combines music and AI through an autonomous piano. With music by Parra for Cuva, reinterpreted and played by AI, this project is made possible with support by Musico-Soundive, an AI-driven software engine that generates music by reacting to gesture, movement, code and other sounds. NXT MUSEUM DIGITAL ART SHOWCASE NXT, the home of new media art, will install a specially commissioned art installation to take ADE goers to new digital realms.
"From its inception, our partnership with Cercle has been rooted in a shared passion for inspiring people to explore the world together through the power of music," said George Fleck, Vice President and Global Brand Leader, W Hotels. "Together, we have been able to bring to life new and innovative ways to show up around the world for travelers and music enthusiasts alike, redefining what it means to have an extraordinary travel experience. To bring these moments to an industry-defining event such as ADE only further demonstrates the direction in which the future of both music and tourism are trending and we are honored to be at its helm."
In 2022 W Hotels and Cercle, a French media company who promotes artists and cultural landmarks through the power of music, forged a global music partnership. The collaboration includes celebrating W destinations and, at each stop, Cercle stages one of their iconic live streams at a cultural landmark, with an in-person sunset or night session at a nearby W Hotel. The 2022 lineup of programming included performances by Coyln at Jatayu's Earth Center in Kerala, India (W Goa); an ethereal Bedouin set in Petra, Jordan (W Amman); and a performance by Turkish-born DJ and producer Carlita at Cincecitta Studios in Rome, Italy (W Rome). As a result of the post-pandemic boom in music tourism, Cercle is now activating their Cercle Moments series, a new program that curates one-of-a-kind concert experiences while allowing individuals to discover local arts and culture through carefully crafted itineraries. With help from W Hotels, they have been able to bring Cercle Moments to iconic destinations most recently in Verbier, Switzerland.
For media inquiries, please contact:
SEQUEL
[email protected]
About W Hotels
Born from the bold, 24/7 culture of New York City, W Hotels has redefined hospitality for over two decades, breaking the norms of traditional luxury wherever the iconic W sign lands. With more than 60 hotels around the globe, the detail-driven design, iconic Whatever/Whenever service and buzzing, signature Living Rooms create an experience that is often imitated but never matched. Dynamic and invigorating, the brand celebrates each travelers' desire to uncover the destination through a lens that is distinctly W. For more information on W Hotels, visit whotels.com/theangle or follow us on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook . W Hotels is proud to participate in Marriott Bonvoy, the global travel program from Marriott International. The program offers members an extraordinary portfolio of global brands, exclusive experiences on Marriott Bonvoy Moments and unparalleled benefits including complimentary nights and Elite status recognition. To enroll for free or for more information about the program, visit MarriottBonvoy.marriott.com .
About Cercle
Cercle is an ecosystem: a producer of experiences, events, and festivals, as well as a label and a creator of exceptional immersive journeys. Its singularity lies in its ability to link music, aesthetics, art, heritage, and discovery.
Through concerts and festivals around the world that bring together electronic and neo-classical music, Cercle highlights and democratizes cultural and natural heritage by making it accessible to its audience physically as well as through free online broadcasts. Cercle has produced over 240 events around the world to this day, including about thirty in UNESCO World Heritage sites.
Among the iconic shows: Ben Bohmer in Cappadocia (Turkey), Adriatique at the Temple of Hatshepsut (Egypt), Nina Kraviz on the Eiffel Tower (France), Sofiane Pamart under the Northern Lights (Finland), and RY X in Lencois National Park (Brazil).
SOURCE W Hotels
The "Global Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market Report and Forecast 2023-2031" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
DUBLIN, Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market is poised to witness robust growth with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.9% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031. This growth is primarily attributed to the increasing prevalence of Wegener's Granulomatosis and heightened awareness of this rare autoimmune disease.
Understanding the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market:
Wegener's Granulomatosis, also known as Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA), is a rare autoimmune ailment characterized by inflammation of blood vessels and the formation of granulomas, leading to organ damage, particularly affecting the respiratory tract and kidneys.
The rising prevalence of Wegener's Granulomatosis, coupled with advancements in diagnostic techniques and treatment options, is driving the demand for treatment. Additionally, factors such as growing awareness of rare diseases, government initiatives, and the demand for innovative treatment options are expected to contribute to market growth.
Key Market Insights:
Wegener's Granulomatosis Epidemiology: This rare disease has an estimated prevalence of 3 per 100,000 people, impacting both men and women, with a slightly higher prevalence in men. It can occur at any age but is typically diagnosed in individuals aged 40-65 years. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to manage the disease and prevent complications.
Market Segmentations: The Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market can be segmented based on various factors, including diagnosis method, drug class, route of administration, therapeutic channel, distribution channel, and region.
Diagnosis Method: Includes lab tests such as blood and urine tests, as well as imaging tests like chest X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and biopsies. Drug Class: Encompasses medications such as steroids, immunosuppressants, and plasma exchange, among others. Route of Administration: Involves oral, intravenous, and other methods. Therapeutic Channel: Can be categorized as public or private. Distribution Channel: Includes hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, and online pharmacies. Region: Covers North America , Europe , Asia Pacific , Latin America , and the Middle East and Africa .
Market Scenario:
The Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market has witnessed significant growth in recent years, driven by factors such as the increasing prevalence of the disease, growing awareness of rare diseases, and the demand for innovative treatment options. Notably, the rise in the prevalence of Wegener's Granulomatosis is a key driver of market growth.
North America currently holds the largest market share in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market, driven by factors such as a higher prevalence of the disease, a well-established healthcare infrastructure, and substantial investments in research and development. The region's adoption of advanced diagnostic techniques and treatment options further propels market growth.
currently holds the largest market share in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market, driven by factors such as a higher prevalence of the disease, a well-established healthcare infrastructure, and substantial investments in research and development. The region's adoption of advanced diagnostic techniques and treatment options further propels market growth. Europe also plays a significant role in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market, with countries like the UK, Germany , and France leading the way. Factors such as a large population base, increasing awareness of rare diseases, government initiatives, and a well-established healthcare system contribute to the market's growth.
also plays a significant role in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market, with countries like the UK, , and leading the way. Factors such as a large population base, increasing awareness of rare diseases, government initiatives, and a well-established healthcare system contribute to the market's growth. Asia Pacific is another region experiencing substantial growth in this market, propelled by a large population base, growing awareness of rare diseases, and the adoption of advanced diagnostic techniques and treatment options. Government initiatives to address rare diseases further boost market expansion in the region.
Key Players in the Global Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market:
The report offers a comprehensive analysis of major players in the Wegener's Granulomatosis Treatment Market, including Sonoma Pharmaceuticals, Inc., GSK plc, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Aprogen, Inc., Amgen, Inc., Epirus Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Novartis AG. It provides insights into their business overview, product portfolio, recent developments, and financial analysis.
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6m9o7u
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.
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SOURCE Research and Markets
Haitian American actress and humanitarian Garcelle Beauvais is partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of the Pockets of Hope campaign, which aims to generate $90 million for education, health and economic development initiatives in Haiti over the next three years.
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 Meeting, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced a $30 million, three-year Commitment to Action to invest in local efforts to advance opportunities for Haitian children, families and communities. Several other funders including the Digicel Foundation, Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, and Porticus also made commitments totaling another $20 million collectively. The commitments are part of Pockets of Hope, a new $90 million campaign created by the Kellogg Foundation and partners to catalyze philanthropic support for community-led education, health, economic security and other game-changing initiatives in Haiti.
Haitian American actress and humanitarian Garcelle Beauvais is partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of the Pockets of Hope campaign
There has been a significant decline in philanthropic support for Haiti in recent years at a time when the need has dramatically increased. Pockets of Hope encourages partners across the philanthropic sector and beyond to make a collective commitment to support local communities and organizations working to chart a new course for the future of their country. The Kellogg Foundation will help to convene funders, non-profit organizations, members of Haiti's diaspora, and other supporters of Haiti who are united by the goal of increasing investments for Haitian-designed and Haitian-led work that has the potential to transform entire communities.
"After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, we saw incredible resources flow to the country," said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "The needs were great, and there was a tremendous outpouring of generosity, but we knew that much of the response was short-term. A true catalyst for change would be a much deeper commitment to Haiti. In 2011, we decided to be a dedicated partner in Haiti for at least a generation. After working alongside Haitian organizations and leaders for more than a decade, we are asking other funders to strategically collaborate and support scaling the work of these local organizations. It is the bold, visionary work of local leaders and communities that brings hope for the future of Haiti."
Today's announcement reflects the need for long-term partnership, solidarity and investments for populations impacted by devastating natural and man-made disasters, as well as to ongoing systemic barriers to equitable progress. This is especially relevant as children and families in Morocco, Maui, Libya and other regions of the world continue to suffer the effects of natural disasters and begin to assess what it will take to rebuild their communities and create sustainable, resident-driven solutions to ongoing systemic challenges.
"Porticus is excited to join the Pocket of Hope campaign that builds on years of partnership and collaboration with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Haiti," said Christina Kirby, program manager for education, Porticus North America. "We jointly share a commitment to Haiti and Haitian-led organizations, who together with community members, are strengthening education systems and outcomes for children across the country. Our investments through 2027 will leverage the successes and momentum of current initiatives, be co-designed with Haitian thought leadership, and expand best practice through partnerships and coalitions."
Garcelle Beauvais Joins Pockets of Hope
Haitian American actress and humanitarian Garcelle Beauvais is teaming up with Pockets of Hope to raise awareness of the need for greater investments in Haiti, and to help highlight where ongoing Haitian-led organizations have the potential for significant, sustainable impact through additional support. Learn the latest on this partnership at HaitiPocketsOfHope.com.
"I'm thrilled to be partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on the Pockets of Hope campaign because it's not about somebody coming in and giving a handout and being the hero," Beauvais said. "It's about making the Haitians their own heroes. We know what we lack, and we know how to improve our own lives. We just need support. This campaign is reminding people that Haiti still needs help and also that there is hope for Haiti. And that hope lies in the Haitian people."
To learn more about this new philanthropic campaign, visit HaitiPocketsofHope.com
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.
SOURCE W.K. Kellogg Foundation
John Scaggs joins Subsentio as President and Chief Operating Officer
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Subsentio, the world leader in end-to-end lawful intercept solution services, subpoena compliance and records production services, digital forensic cellular analysis training for law enforcement agencies, and technical analysis investigative support services and records, announces it has hired John Scaggs as President and Chief Operating Officer.
"The decision to bring John in to hold a leadership position is in furtherance of the Company's business continuity planning. With Subsentio growing and expanding John's extensive background in executive leadership, management and sales, coupled with his work ethic, intellect, and application of prudent business practices with a vision toward expansive growth is perfectly suited for Subsentio," said Steve Bock, Founder and CEO.
Bock further adds, "John will be responsible for all business operations. As a U.S. military veteran and with over 30 years of experience in technology and executive leadership positions, Subsentio is better positioned to continue our growth as a global market leader in lawful intercept, records production, and helping LEAs supporting the Subsentio mission of "Together We're Saving Lives."
"It is an honor to support the greater mission of saving lives and join such a prestigious company that holds a unique space in the industry working with an amazing group of dedicated individuals," Scaggs said. "I look forward to not only growing our current business lines, but embark on some new services that help save lives."
About Subsentio
Subsentio provides total solution services for compliance with subpoena compliance, records production, and surveillance laws, including the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). Subsentio's Compliance Service bureau model is unique in the industry, providing all components essential to compliance with the law, including outstanding technology, expertise, and direct experience in law enforcement requirements. Subsentio Academy provides cellular analysis training to the law enforcement community and the Subsentio Technical Assistance Team provides digital records analysis services for delivering actionable intelligence to law enforcement agencies. The company is based in Greenwood Village, Colorado and Chantilly, Virginia, and serves 28 nations in the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pac region. www.subsentio.com
Media Contact:
Tom Gudsnuk, General Manager
720-213-5578
[email protected]
SOURCE Subsentio
ZHENGZHOU, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the profound culture of the Yellow River, promote international cultural exchanges, and expand the influence of Chinese civilization, the 2023 China (Zhengzhou) Yellow River Cultural Month officially kicked off on September 14 in central China's Zhengzhou city, with the "Henan, Cradle of China" Yellow River tour for international and local media launched at the Zhengzhou Site Museum of the Shang Capital.
International media journalists are visiting Shaolin Temple on September 15th (PRNewsfoto/2023 World Great Rivers Civilizations Forum ( ZhengzhouChina) News Center)
Media from the U.S., Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Azerbaijan, and more are joining leading Chinese media on a journey of discovery to understand Zhengzhou, Henan, and China through the lens of history. Following the launching ceremony, the media group took a tour of "The Might Capital of Bo: A Paragon of Royal Capitals and Roaring Currents - Exhibition of Stone Inscriptions and Rubbings in the Lu Xun Museum's Collection" at the museum.
"Zhengzhou is a landmark city of the Yellow River culture. In recent years, Zhengzhou is dedicated to building the brand of "Henan, Cradle of China" by hosting various activities in the Yellow River Culture Month for three years, which helps promote the cultural icon of Zhengzhou, 'the Center of Heaven and Earth, the Source of Chinese Civilization, and the City of Kungfu', in an all-around way," said Lv Tinglin, deputy secretary of the CPC Zhengzhou Committee.
The Yellow River, also known as China's "Mother River," is the second largest river in China and one of the longest river systems in the world. The three-day "Henan, Cradle of China" media tour includes visiting Zhengzhou Shang Dynasty National Archaeological Site Park, Zhengzhou Yellow River Cultural Park, the Imperial Mausoleum of the Northern Song Dynasty, Grotto Temple, Du Fu's Hometown Cultural Park, the Yellow River Museum, Shaolin Temple, and more for a comprehensive experience of learning about the Yellow River civilization, Chinese history, and Chinese culture from ancient times to the present.
Henan Province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization; its development and growth are strongly linked to and evolved with the Yellow River culture. Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province with a long history and rich culture, is developing rapidly with vigor and full strength, boasting tremendous potential and opportunities.
SOURCE 2023 World Great Rivers Civilizations Forum ( ZhengzhouChina) News Center
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Hyderabad, Sep 19 : Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Monday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Union Cabinet's reported nod to the Women's Reservation Bill.
Calling it a "historic decision", she said it would motivate more women to enter public life, which will benefit the society.
Meanwhile, Greater Hyderabad Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi has also hailed the Union Cabinetas reported nod for the Bill, which is aimed at providing 33 per cent reservation to women in the Parliament and state Assemblies.
"The long-pending Women's Reservation Bill has finally approved in the cabinet today," she posted on X. Calling this a "historic moment", she extended her heartfelt appreciation to BRS MLA K. Kavitha for her "tireless efforts".
"Her (Kavitha's) dedication to women's empowerment is truly commendable. Let's thank her for her incredible dedication and leadership," wrote the Mayor.
Toronto, Sep 19 : India's relations with Canada nosedived on Tuesday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia's Surrey in June.
Canada also expelled "a senior Indian diplomat" for India's alleged involvement in the killing.
Nijjar, who was spearheading the Khalistani referendum in Canada, was gunned down by two persons on June 18 in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Trudeau told the House of Commons that the "agents of the Indian government" carried out Nijjar's killing.
The Canadian Prime Minister, who was snubbed in India during his recent visit, said: "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
Trudeau said: "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
Trudeau said that he brought the issue to the notice of the Indian Prime Minister during his visit. "Canada declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government last week at the G20. I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi."
He said because of Nijjar's killing, Canadians are now "angry" and "perhaps frightened right now". "Canada is a rule of law country. The protection of our citizens and defence of our sovereignty are fundamental."
Expelling the senior Indian diplomat, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said: "My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this."
She said Canada has informed US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about its decision.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc, under whom the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating the killing, said: "We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice."
Prayagraj, Sep 19 : Nearly 27 students of an intermediate school in Meja area of Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district fell ill reportedly after drinking water supplied from a tank at their school on Monday.
The students were admitted to the Meja CHC from where four of them were referred to the SRN Hospital.
A probe is underway to find out if the students fell ill due to consumption of contaminated water, officials said.
As per reports, some students of Classes 6, 7 and 8 at Gulab Shankar Intermediate College at Gadurahi Pahadi in Meja drank water during their interval at the school. These students soon started complaining of stomach ache and some even fell unconscious.
School authorities immediately called an ambulance and sent 27 students to CHC Meja.
CHC superintendent Om Prakash said symptoms in all the children were the same. Some complained of pain in their stomach, head, hands and legs while others were vomiting.
Four students were referred to SRN hospital by the doctors.
San Francisco, Sep 19 : Panos Panay, Microsoft's former Windows and Surface chief, is reportedly joining Amazon to oversee its hardware business.
Panay is taking over from Dave Limp, Amazon's outgoing head of Amazon devices and services who has been with the company for nearly 14 years, reports said on Tuesday.
Last month, Limp confirmed he is stepping down. Under his leadership, Amazon became one of the world's leading innovators in building devices and underlying services that customers love.
His departure came amid reports that Amazon's costly bet on smart home devices has not paid off well.
"From Kindle readers to Fire TV to Alexa and Echo, over the past decade and a half we've been able to invent and keep improving experiences that help make our customers' lives better every day," according to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
Panay is likely to run Amazon's division for its Alexa and Echo speakers.
He joined Microsoft in 2004 as a group programme manager and became the company's chief product officer in 2018, where he led the development of Windows 11.
In 2021, Panay was promoted to executive vice president as part of the top leadership team under Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella.
Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's corporate vice president of modern life, search, and devices, will take his place as the head of the Windows and Surface businesses.
Toronto, Sep 19 : Calling for a 'shutdown' of Indian consulates in Canada, a pro-Khalistani outfit has said it will hold peaceful protests beginning next week after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, who was spearheading the Khalistani referendum in Canada, was gunned down in the parking lot of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey city of British Columbia after evening prayers on June 18 this year.
The Sikhs for Justice, which is outlawed in India, said protests are slated to take place outside Indian consulates in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver on September 25, the Vancouver-based Global News reported.
"We will not allow the Indian consulates to function and we're going to push the Canadian government to name the individuals who are responsible for assassinating and giving the orders to hit Nijjar," Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, SFJ's legal counsel, told Global News.
"He has been assassinated outside the gurdwara -- that was being done to give a very strong message to pro-Khalistan Sikhs that they will be hunted, even in the Western world," Pannun said.
The SFJ told the news channel that it will also be calling for the expulsion of Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Verma.
Canada on Monday expelled senior Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai after Trudeau's claims of "credible allegations of a potential link" between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar.
While foreign minister Melanie Joly didn't name the diplomat, her office subsequently identified him as the RAW station chief in Canada.
Calling Trudeau's revelation "unprecedented", Jaskaran Sandhu, a board member with the World Sikh Organisation of Canada, was quoted as saying in Global News that he won't be surprised if protests take place outside consulates before September 25 as well,
"People are livid right now. This is a news story that obviously has shaken the whole country. It's also a news story that has shaken the community to a certain extent," he said in an interview.
Trudeau, who was snubbed in India during his recent visit, said any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty".
Despite New Delhi registering strong protests, an anti-India campaign has continued in Canada with pro-Khalistani graffiti and posters targeting Indian diplomats and temples across the country.
Incidents of Khalistani elements protesting outside the Indian consulate in Toronto displaying "Kill India" posters, had led to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar saying that Canada was apparently allowing these protests driven by votebank politics.
Meanwhile, the second referendum to weigh support for Khalistan will be held in Canada on October 29.
It will also be asking voters now whether the Indian high commissioner was responsible for Nijjar's death.
Lucknow, Sep 19 : A 50-year-old contractor jumped into the Gomti River here alleging harassment by his fellow contractors.
The contractor, Arun Mishra, was missing from his Chinhat residence since Sunday.
Local residents informed the police about the incident after finding an abandoned scooter at the spot. A team of divers was pressed into service but could not trace him.
The search operation was halted after sunset and will resume on Tuesday.
Senior police officers reached the spot to supervise the operations.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Vibhuti Khand, Anindya Vikram Singh, said that Mishra's identity was ascertained from the registration number of his scooter.
A police team reached Mishra's home, where his son Saurabh Mishra alleged that his father was being harassed by a group of contractors. "They were blackmailing him and threatening to upload his morphed pictures on social media," Saurabh alleged.
"My father left home on Sunday evening, telling my mother that he was going to settle a dispute with his harassers, but did not return home," Saurabh said.
The ACP said that an FIR had been lodged at the BBD police station and further investigations were on.
Prayagraj, Sep 19 : The Allahabad High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the preliminary report regarding the investigation into the incident involving police cane charging lawyers at the Hapur district court.
The court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the case until October 12.
While hearing the PIL, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Mahesh Chandra Tripathi showed their dissatisfaction with the preliminary report submitted by state authorities, stating that the statements of the concerned lawyers under section 161 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) had not been recorded.
Appearing on behalf of the lawyers, senior advocate Anil Tiwari submitted before the court that the investigation into the cane charging incident is not being conducted fairly, and even the statements of the lawyers are not being recorded.
He also stated that the FIR of woman lawyer Priyanka Tyagi was received by the police, but it has not been registered.
In response, the court assured that it would consider all aspects of the matter and ensure that no injustice would be done to anyone.
Subsequently, the court fixed October 12 for further hearing in the matter, and by that time, a further report must be submitted by the concerned authorities.
Earlier, on August 29, police had lathi-charged lawyers at Hapur court when they were protesting the registration of a case against a woman advocate and her father around a week ago.
In the aftermath of this incident, lawyers across the state refrained from judicial work. The work boycott was staged in response to a call made by the Uttar Pradesh Bar Council.
Previously, this court had taken suo motu notice of this incident on September 9 and had directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit an interim report before it on the next date of the hearing.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Three unidentified individuals fired as many rounds at a shop in northeast Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.
However, no injuries were reported in the incident, he added.
According to police, on Monday at 9:53 p.m, a police control room call was received at New Usmanpur police station regarding firing at a shop on the main road in Brahmpuri, New Usmanpur.
"On reaching the spot, they learnt that at about 09:45 p.m, three youths came on a motorcycle. Two boys got down and one of them fired three rounds.
"Two shots were fired at the shop and one was fired in the air. The shop was open but no one was injured. The shots were aimed at the glass outside the shop," said the Deputy Commissioner of Police (northeast) Joy Tirkey.
"The shop owner and employees are being examined. The CCTV footage of the area are being scanned to identify the culprits and reason behind the incident is being ascertained," said the DCP.
"A case under sections 336 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 25/27 Arms Act has been registered and further probe is going on," the DCP added.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : India on Tuesday rejected claims by the Canadian government that it had an involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Terming them as "absurd and motivated" the external affairs ministry in a statement said,"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated."
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," the statement said further.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the ministry said further.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the strongly worded statement added.
It went on to add, "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern".
India's reaction came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an emergency statement made in Parliament,said on Monday thatCanadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
The startling accusation was followed by the Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly, who informed that they had expelled a top Indian diplomat over the incident.
She even said that she has conveyed her concerns to foreign Minister S. Jaishankar over the development.
The Indian external affairs ministry further said, "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indiaas sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The external affairs ministry statement further said, "That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments".
During his meeting with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit earlier this month, PM Modi had conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities by extremist elements in Canada.
PM Modi had told his Canadian counterpart that these elements are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and damaging diplomatic premises as well as threatening the Indian community there and also their places of worship.
--IANSans/dpb
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A 40-year-old man shot himself dead at his residence in south Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Rajesh Tomer, a resident of B-Block, Sangam Vihar and a native of Bhind in Madhya Pradesh.
According to police, on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, at 01:23 a.m, a police control room call was received that a man had shot himself. In response, a police team promptly rushed to the scene.
Upon reaching, they discovered Tomer's body with a gunshot wound on his head.
"A forensic team was summoned, which recovered an empty cartridge along with a homemade pistol containing three live cartridges," said a senior police official.
Upon further inquiry, it was revealed that the now-deceased had been cohabiting with his partner and her three children at this address for the past six years.
"Inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) are currently underway, and a case under sections 25/54/59 of the Arms Act is being registered at Tigri police station. Post-mortem procedures will also be conducted," the official said, adding that the reason behind this extreme step is yet to be ascertained.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : India on Tuesday rejected claims by the Canada government that it had an involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Terming them as "absurd and motivated" the external affairs ministry in a statement said,"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated."
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," the statement said further.
"We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law," the ministry said further.
"We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the strongly worded statement added.
It went on to add, "The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern".
India's reaction came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an emergency statement made in Parliament,said on Monday thatCanadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
The startling accusation was followed by the Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly, who informed that they had expelled a top Indian diplomat over the incident.
She even said that she has conveyed her concerns to foreign Minister S. Jaishankar over the development.
The Indian external affairs ministry further said, "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indiaas sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The external affairs ministry statement further said, "That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments".
During his meeting with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit earlier this month, PM Modi had conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities by extremist elements in Canada.
PM Modi had told his Canadian counterpart that these elements are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and damaging diplomatic premises as well as threatening the Indian community there and also their places of worship.
--IANSans/dpb
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Hours after India on Tuesday rejected "absurd" accusations by the Canadian government on the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Congress said it believed that the country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, and the country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times.
The sharp reaction from the Congress came after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia's Surrey in June, a charge denied by the Indian government.
In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity and integrity."
"Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times," he said.
His remarks came after India on Tuesday rejected the "absurd" accusations by the Canadian government that Indian agents were involved in the killing of Nijjar.
India's relations with Canada nosedived on Tuesday when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the killing of Nijjar in British Columbia's Surrey in June.
Canada also expelled "a senior Indian diplomat" for India's alleged involvement in the killing.
Nijjar, who was spearheading the Khalistani referendum in Canada, was gunned down by two persons on June 18 in the parking lot of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Trudeau told the House of Commons that the "agents of the Indian government" carried out Nijjar's killing.
Trudeau said: "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter."
Trudeau said that he brought the issue to the notice of the Indian Prime Minister during his visit. "Canada declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government last week at the G20. I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi."
The Ministry of External Affairs reacted sharply to the Canadian Prime Minister's remarks and in a statement said, "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated...We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
In the statement, the MEA said, "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indiaas sovereignty and territorial integrity".
"The inaction of the Canadian government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern. That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," the MEA added.
Bengaluru, Sep 19 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said on Tuesday that the state is in a fix following the order to release the water to Tamil Nadu, and urged the Centre to intervene.
Speaking to reporters at his residence, Shivakumar stated, "We are in a catch-22 situation. We do not have water and still we have to respect the decision of the authorities. But, we are appealing before the Supreme Court and I am leaving for New Delhi."
"I will meet the Parliament members, we will also take a delegation to the Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat and we are also seeking time to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Shivakumar stated.
"We will plead with them to help us out and bail us out. There is no inflow to the dams, we are finding it very difficult and the central government has to help us out. The BJP should join us to save Karnataka," he urged.
Shivakumar stated, "We will consider the suggestion by former CM Basavaraj Bommai regarding the Cauvery dispute. He had suggested to stop the water and pursue the legal battle. We are going to court the day after tomorrow. We do not want to release the water, at the same time we need to keep the order of the court in mind."
"I am leaving for Delhi and meeting all MPs. We will pressurize the central government to intervene. When the court had given an order to release the water, what was the option before me or Bommai? To safeguard the interest of the state, we need to cooperate. The existing situation would be brought to the notice of the Supreme Court," Shivakumar explained.
"Let Bommai demand Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene by sidelining the politics. We will consider Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda's proposal to go for the out of the court settlement," he stated.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt visited the headquarters of Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and held briefing there, said the ministry on Tuesday.
Bhatt paid homage to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at Sankalp Smarak at INS Utkrosh. It was followed by a meeting with Lt. Governor Admiral D.K. Joshi (Retd) at Raj Niwas.
The minister is on a two-day visit to the island.
The MoS Defence's visit to the headquarters included a comprehensive briefing and Operation discussions with Commander-in-Chief, ANC Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan, the defence ministry official added.
The Ministry of Defence said that during the visit, Ajay Bhatt held a number of interactions, which highlighted the strategic importance of the picturesque archipelago.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Megastar Amitabh Bachchan shared a personal anecdote, talking about his surname, and revealed what he had filled in the section of 'caste' during the last census.
In the episode 26 of the quiz-based reality show 'Kaun Banega Crorepati' season 15, host Amitabh welcomed Madhurima to the hot seat.
Talking about the contestant, the actor said: "Madhurima from Ranchi, Jharkhand is here with us. She's a section officer in the forest, environment, and climate change department. Madhurima, I do not know your full name."
Replying to Big B, she said: "Sir, my name is Madhurima. I have stuck to the name Madhurima only. Sir, generally, we see that the father's name is the surname. After marriage, your surname is changed to your husband's last name."
"Or a woman's name has the suffix 'devi'. You don't get the respect a 'devi (goddess) deserves. It is very rare. I wasn't in favour of the suffix 'devi'. I thought I'd add a surname directly after I got married. When I got married, my husband asked me if I wanted to adopt his surname. I told him that my name was enough! I do not need it, you see," she shared.
The 'Piku' fame actor lauded Madhurima, saying, "That's wonderful. You have such lovely views, Madhurima. They exude such strength. You told us about the tradition you just started. I wish to congratulate you on it."
The 80-year-old actor then went on to say: "I have done that with my name many times too. My father (Harivansh Rai Bachchan) was not a man who favoured caste system."
"In India, a person's surname represents his caste. My father hailed from a Kayasth family. He adopted his pen name as a poet, which was Bachchan, as his surname. That became his name," said Big B.
He said: "After I grew up, I had to be enrolled in school. At the school, my parents were asked my surname. As written in my father's autobiography. I have mentioned this on many occasions as well. My father and mother looked at each other and wondered what to do. My mother said, 'He should take on your surname.' That's how I came to be Amitabh Bachchan".
The 'Mard' actor said: "Your views are commendable. Questions are raised over one's surname and caste."
To this, Madhurima replied: "I agree, sir. People form groups. They make separate groups even at workplaces."
The actor said: "I'm sure you're aware of the census. It's a long list of people's names, ages, height and weight There's another section for caste. I did not fill that up. and I was asked what my caste was. I said I was Indian."
"I was told they knew that. 'No, sir. You need to mention your caste.' I replied, 'I will not. I don't have a caste.' 'I am Indian.' My response for the next time will be, 'I am an Indian, and our Chandrayaan landed on the moon'," he added.
'Kaun Banega Crorepati 15' airs on Sony.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada, New Delhi on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat based here, who has been asked to leave within the next five days.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India (Cameron Mackay) received summons on Tuesday during which the Government of India conveyed its decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat currently stationed in the country. The concerned diplomat has been officially instructed to depart from India within the next five days, a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said.
"The decision reflects Government of Indiaas growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement said.
The decision came after Canada had earlier expelled a high ranking Indian diplomat.
These developments have occurred after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in an emergency statement in Parliament accused the Government of India of involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau had said that the Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
India has rejected claims by the Canadian government that it had an involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Terming them as "absurd and motivated", the external affairs ministry in a statement said, "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated."
--IANSans/dpb
Chamarajanagar : , Sep 19 (IANS) A schoolteacher has lodged a complaint with the Karnataka Police against her former lover and his associate for blackmailing here over some private videos.
The accused had demanded that she leave her husband and give him Rs 10 lakh for not making the private videos viral, police said on Tuesday.
The victim teacher had lodged a complaint with police in this regard. The police launched a hunt for the accused who had disappeared following the lodging of the complaint.
The complaint was lodged against one Abdul Aseem and his associate Mayur.
Adbul Aseem and the victim were known for seven years. The woman got married to another person two years ago. The accused was pressuring the victim to leave her husband and join him.
He had threatened that if she did not leave her husband, he would make her private videos viral. The accused, Abdul Aseem along with his associate Mayur had sent her private videos to her husband and family members.
They had threatened that if she didn't leave her husband, they would orchestrate Hindu-Muslim conflict. They had also demanded Rs 10 lakh from her for not making the private videos viral on social media.
The accused had threatened that if she did not give money, they would get her banners of private video footage erected in the area. The victim had approached the Cyber Economic and Narcotics Crime Police Station (CEN) and lodged the complaint. The police have taken up the investigation.
IANS
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The Delhi High Court (HC) has refused bail to Mohd. Amir Javed accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, for his alleged involvement in planning terrorist activities in India.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anish Dayal refused the bail citing a reasonable possibility that Javed might have played a crucial role within a network of individuals with knowledge of a plot to initiate terrorist activities involving explosives and potential loss of life.
The court said that the determination of whether Javed was the weakest link or a substantial part of this network would be established during the trial. Therefore, at this stage, the court believed that releasing him on bail would not be appropriate.
Javed was apprehended in connection with this case on September 14, 2021, and he had spent approximately 20 months in custody when his appeal for bail was filed earlier this year. His argument was that he had not been released during this period.
The court upheld the trial court's order from May 18, which had denied Javed regular bail, and it dismissed his appeal challenging that decision.
The case stemmed from an FIR registered by the Delhi Police's Special Cell in 2021, alleging a deep-rooted conspiracy within a terror module operating in India to carry out multiple explosive attacks.
The prosecution contended that Javed was involved in a conspiracy to orchestrate IED bomb blasts as part of larger terror activities.
The court said that a preliminary analysis of the evidence presented by the prosecution indicated that Javed faced serious charges related to conspiracy and possession of IEDs, as well as other arms and ammunition, including grenades and pistols, for alleged terror activities.
The Bench said that the investigation revealed a vast conspiracy involving multiple individuals working for terror modules with the intention of executing bomb blasts in India.
Javed was deemed an integral part of the recovery of arms and explosives, which, prima facie, did not warrant his release on bail at this stage.
IANS
spr/rad
After Ukraine war, Egypt, world's largest wheat importer wants to buy grain from India(IN). Image Source: IANS News
Kiev, Sep 19 : Kiev will file a lawsuit to the World Trade Organisation against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over their decisions to extend a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, a senior official said.
"It is important to prove that these actions are legally wrong. And that's why we will start legal proceedings," said Taras Kachka, Ukraine's trade representative and deputy minister of economy, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
The unilateral bans by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on Ukrainian grain after the decision of the European Commission to lift the restrictions have caused a major "systemic concern," Xinhua news agency reported quoting Kachka.
The European Commission said that it has decided not to extend the embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products to five European Union member states, which expired on September 15.
Despite the Commission's decision, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia refused to drop the ban, according to media reports.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The Delhi High Court (HC) has refused bail to Mohd. Amir Javed accused under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967, for his alleged involvement in planning terrorist activities in India.
A Division Bench comprising Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anish Dayal refused the bail citing a reasonable possibility that Javed might have played a crucial role within a network of individuals with knowledge of a plot to initiate terrorist activities involving explosives and potential loss of life.
The court said that the determination of whether Javed was the weakest link or a substantial part of this network would be established during the trial. Therefore, at this stage, the court believed that releasing him on bail would not be appropriate.
Javed was apprehended in connection with this case on September 14, 2021, and he had spent approximately 20 months in custody when his appeal for bail was filed earlier this year. His argument was that he had not been released during this period.
The court upheld the trial court's order from May 18, which had denied Javed regular bail, and it dismissed his appeal challenging that decision.
The case stemmed from an FIR registered by the Delhi Police's Special Cell in 2021, alleging a deep-rooted conspiracy within a terror module operating in India to carry out multiple explosive attacks.
The prosecution contended that Javed was involved in a conspiracy to orchestrate IED bomb blasts as part of larger terror activities.
The court said that a preliminary analysis of the evidence presented by the prosecution indicated that Javed faced serious charges related to conspiracy and possession of IEDs, as well as other arms and ammunition, including grenades and pistols, for alleged terror activities.
The Bench said that the investigation revealed a vast conspiracy involving multiple individuals working for terror modules with the intention of executing bomb blasts in India.
Javed was deemed an integral part of the recovery of arms and explosives, which, prima facie, did not warrant his release on bail at this stage.
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Actress Saiee Manjrekar, who is known for 'Major' and 'Dabangg 3', is celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi on Tuesday and shared her memories of childhood of celebrating the festival with her cousins.
Sharing this year's plan, the actress told IANS: "We will have family members and extended family members coming in at our place as they do at only this time of the year for the Pooja. We will revisit all our old memories of Ganpati celebrations, attending the Grand aartis and eating the prasad way beyond the limit that we are allowed to."
The actress also shared that while growing up, she and all her cousins used to fight over who would get the limited number of zanzas (a musical instrument used in Maharashtrian culture).
When asked to name one delicacy that she will feast on, the actress excitedly said, "Ukadiche modak, obviously!"
Meanwhile, on the work front, the actress has a string of releases in the pipeline. She will be next seen in the Telugu movie 'Skanda'. She also has 'Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay' in which she will share the screen with Guru Randhawa, and 'Auron Mein Kaha Dum Tha' which is currently under production.
-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
Kolkata, Sep 19 : Multiple mentions of unsecured loans in the accounts of several corporate entities hold the keys of the modus-operandi in the diversion of proceeds of the multi-crore cash-for-school-job case in West Bengal, say the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials probing the money-trail and money-laundering angle in the matter.
The corporate entities identified by ED sleuths on this count mainly are linked to the two prime accused in the school job case, Sujay Krishna Bhadra and Arpita Mukherjee -- both are currently in judicial custody over their alleged involvement in the case.
ED sleuths are currently checking the background and credentials of those individuals or entities to whom unsecured loans were given by these corporate entities and if necessary might summon some of them to get further details in the matter.
Experts of income tax laws in the area explained, while there is a limit for granting unsecured loan in cash either by an individual or corporate entity, there is no limit for giving such loans through cheques, demand drafts or electronic transfers. However, experts added, in such cases the onus is on the individual or corporate entity to justify the source of the money they gave as unsecured loans.
The ED sleuths found a semblance in fund diversion under the camouflage of unsecured loans with that in case of the multi-crore cattle smuggling scam. In that case, the central agency sleuths traced huge amounts of unsecured loans by two companies with Sukanya Mondal, daughter of Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal, as the director.
These two companies gave huge amounts of unsecured loans amounting to around Rs 7 crore. ANM Agrochemas unsecured loan amount was much higher at around Rs 4.5 crore, while remaining sum amounting to Rs 2.4 crore was to the debit of Neer Developer Private Limited. Sukanya Mondal was a director in both the companies.
Ahmedabad, Sep 19 : The Ahmedabad Crime Branch arrested five people for the duplication and sale of cosmetics from Hindustan Unilever's popular personal care brands LakmA and Elle 18.
The seized counterfeit items, valued at over Rs 9 lakh, encompassed a wide array of cosmetic products, including kajal sticks, mascaras, lipsticks, eyeliners, and more, underscoring the magnitude of the operation.
The culprits were nabbed on September 17 and this operation sheds light on a thriving underground market for counterfeit beauty products in India.
Authorities have revealed that these duplicate products are usually bought wholesale from Delhi and China. They are then dumped in states like Gujarat to be sold to the masses.
Among the counterfeit products seized from the accused were some cosmetics that had been discontinued by the company, adding a layer of complexity to the operation.
One key challenge in combating this illicit trade is the difficulty faced by consumers in distinguishing between genuine and counterfeit cosmetics, particularly if they haven't used the brand for an extended period.
Some consumers who purchased these counterfeit products reached out to the company's customer care division, triggering a chain reaction.
The five individuals at the centre of this operation have been identified as Suresh Rana, Sohail Ali, Ilyas Mansuri, Ashfaq Shaikh, and Sohail Shaikh.
The suspects are currently under interrogation, as law enforcement authorities seek to uncover the origin of these counterfeit products and delve into the network supporting their distribution.
With secret visit to Israel, is Pakistan set to betray the Muslim Ummah?. Image Source: IANS News
Islamabad, Sep 19 : Pakistan has rejected a report claiming that it entered into a secret arms deal with Ukraine in order to secure the IMF bailout programme, and termed it as "baseless and fabricated".
A statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign office said the country stands by its policy of strict neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine dispute.
"The IMF Standby Arrangement for Pakistan was successfully negotiated between Pakistan and the IMF to implement difficult but essential economic reforms. Giving any other colour to these negotiations is disingenuous," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said.
"Pakistan maintains a policy of strict neutrality in the dispute between Ukraine and Russia and in that context, does not provide any arms and ammunition to them. Pakistan's defence exports are always accompanied with strict and user requirements," she added.
The report by US-based online publication 'Intercept' claimed that Pakistan supplied weapons to Ukraine through the US in return to approval and dispersal of the $3bn IMF Standby Arrangement for a period of nine months.
Intercept claims were banked on its sources with knowledge of the arrangement and leaks secret documents signed by both Pakistan and the US.
"These arms sales were intended to supply the Ukrainian military, hence, forcing Pakistan to take a side in the Russia-Ukraine conflict," the Intercept report claimed.
Pakistan secured the standby agreement with the IMF during July 2023, which came as a much-needed bailout for the country and avoid economic meltdown.
Reports about arm sale to Ukraine had surfaced before July, 2023. However, Pakistan and Ukraine both had rejected them back then as well.
"I can confirm there are no intergovernmental arrangements between Pakistan and Ukraine in this area," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has stated during a joint-press conference with then Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto in Islamabad, during his two day visit in July, 2023.
While the Intercept story is being rejected by official quarters; a debate has stated between the supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and anti-PTI chief voices on the social media.
"Pro-Imran Khan" voices say that the Intercept report confirms why Khan was ousted from power through a US-led regime change conspiracy. They claim that Khan said "Absolutely Not" to the US when it tried to force Pakistan into supporting Ukraine against Russia.
"Intercept is a conspiracy peddler & variant arm of USa OBL, CIA, Johnathan bank, Raymond Davis albeit, US never left change to defame Pak Army. US sells arms to India/Pak, Russia sells arms to India/Pak, But Pak canat sell arms to Ukraine? We can sell to anyone, regardless of IMF," stated one social media user.
On the other hand, Khan's supporters relate the Intercept story to the ouster of his government and its corresponding events in reference to arrests of PTI workers, alleged human rights violations and delay in elections, which they say, is being led by the military establishment.
"This has got to stop. There's only one way forward for Pakistan to realise its true potential and eventually thrive, it is an interference free and fair election guaranteed by the constitution where its 240 million people can choose their own destiny and a leader who they trust can pull them out of this rut of US' creation, fortunately, that means the return of Khan. And the US needs to respect that," said a PTI supporter on social media platform 'X'.
The latest claim by the Intercept has opened up a debate whether Pakistan had accommodated the US quietly, while taking a different stance publicly.
PM Modi walks to new Parliament building with cabinet colleagues, MPs. Image Source: IANS News
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday walked to the new Parliament building along with his cabinet colleagues, soon after the culmination of a special function in the Central Hall of old Parliament building.
PM Modi along with Home Minister Amit Shah, road transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and other cabinet colleagues walked from Central Hall to the new Parliament building amid slogan shouting by BJP MPs chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
The Lok Sabha met in the new Parliament building at 1:15 p.m. and the Rajya Sabha meets at 2:15 p.m.
A special five-day session of Parliament began on Monday with a discussion on the Parliament's journey of 75 years.
Eight bills are listed for this current ongoing session.
--IANSans/dpb
Amaravati, Sep 19 : The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday resumed hearing on a petition by former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for quashing of his judicial remand in alleged Skill Development Corporation scam.
The hearing in the hybrid model began before noon. Appearing on behalf of Naidu, Harish Salve was virtually presenting his arguments.
He argued that the case against Naidu is politically motivated with an eye on the upcoming elections. Salve was making arguments on Section 17A of Prevention of Corruption Act.
During the previous hearing, Siddharth Luthra had appeared on behalf of Naidu. He had called Naiduas arrest illegal.
While the CID sought time to file counter to the quash petition, the High Court had allowed the time and adjourned the hearing to September 19.
The court had also stayed the hearing of the Crime Investigation Department (CID) petition in Vijayawada ACB court seeking custody of Naidu, who is currently lodged in Rajahmundry Central Jail.
Alleging that he was being targeted by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government out of political vendetta, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo has sought orders to set aside his judicial custody and also quash the FIR registered by the CID.
Naidu was arrested in the case by the CID in Nandyal on September 9. The next day, ACB Court in Vijayawada sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. The former chief minister was subsequently shifted to Rajahmundry Central Jail.
The Vijayawada Court had also rejected Naiduas plea for house custody instead of judicial custody.
The case relates to the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crore when Naidu was the chief minister.
The CID claimed that the alleged fraud has caused a huge loss of Rs 371 crore to the state government. The agency claimed that an advance of Rs 371 crore, representing the entire 10 per cent commitment by the government for the project, was released before any expenditure by the private entities.
According to the CID, most of the money released by the government as advance was diverted to shell companies through fake invoices, with no actual delivery or sale of the items mentioned in the invoices, CID officials said.
The CID mentioned in its remand report that the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the state government and the Andhra Pradesh Skill Development Centre, totalling Rs 371 crore.
The Vijayawada ACB Court is likely to take up for hearing Naiduas bail petition later Tuesday. It is also likely to hear CIDas petition for Naiduas custody.
Meanwhile, the High Court adjourned hearing on Naiduas anticipatory bail petition in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case to September 21.
During the previous hearing, the court directed the CID to file its counter.
The CID had filed a Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant petition in Vijayawada ACB Court on September 11 in the Amaravati Inner Ring Road case.
In May 2022, the CID had registered an FIR against Chandrababu Naidu, former municipal administration minister Dr P. Narayana, Heritage Foods Ltd, and 12 others, for alleged irregularities in the construction of an internal ring road in Amaravati.
TheFIR was filed based on a complaint from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Mangalgiri MLA A. Rama Krishna Reddy. It was alleged that certain illegal and corrupt activities were committed by highly placed government officials between 2014 and 2019 with regard to the design of master plan for the Andhra Pradesh capital and alignment of the ring road to cause wrongful gain to certain individuals.
Heritage Foods is a company owned by Chandrababu Naiduas family.
The ruling party has accused Naidu of large-scale irregularities in land acquisition and other aspects in development of the state capital Amavati.
Melbourne, Sep 19 : An Indian-origin man tried to sue a hospital in Australia for $643 million (over Rs 5,000 crore) after watching his wife deliver a baby via cesarean-section birth in 2018, which was dismissed by a court.
Anil Koppula said the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne "encouraged" or "permitted" him to observe the delivery, which caused him "psychotic illness" after he watched his wife's organs and blood, Australia's 7News channel reported.
Years after the wife delivered a healthy baby, Koppula lodged a claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October last year, alleging the hospital breached its duty of care it owed to him and was liable to pay him damages.
Representing himself during proceedings, he assessed his damages for psychological injury at $643 million, and submitted to the court the illness had led to the "breakdown of his marriage".
In a judgement handed down on Monday, Justice James Gorton dismissed the claim, labelling it an "abuse of process".
The judgement stated that the law does not allow a person to recover damages for non-economic loss unless their injury is a "significant injury".
A panel that medically examined Koppula said that "the degree of psychiatric impairment resulting from the injury to the claimant alleged in the claim does not satisfy the threshold level".
Koppula disagreed with the findings, but did not apply for a review of the determination, the news channel reported.
The Royal Women's Hospital admitted it owed Koppula a duty of care but denied that it breached it.
Rejecting claims that he suffered any injury, the hospital then applied for the proceedings to be dismissed.
A cesarean-section (C-section) is the surgical delivery of a baby through an incision made in the motheras abdomen and uterus, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
An abnormal fetal position or heart rate, labour problems, infections are some of the several medical reasons for performing the surgical procedure.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The RBI is considering a proposal to bring the manufacturing of solar panels under priority sector lending by banks as part of the country's big push to green energy in the fight against climate change.
A senior official confirmed that the proposal discussed with bankers has the backing of the Finance Ministry as the government is keen to make more funds available to boost indigenous production of solar panels and cut imports.
Several discussions have taken place on the issue and a final decision is expected to come through soon.
The Ministry of Renewable Energy has also been pursuing a proposal to make the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for setting up solar PV module manufacturing capacities more liberal.
Besides, the government has restricted cheap imports of solar panels from China to encourage domestic production. However, there are complaints that some Chinese imports are still flowing in from third countries.
The total domestic capacity for manufacturing solar modules is about 20 GW, of which about 13.3 GW has been enlisted in the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers. The capacity for manufacturing solar cells is around 4 GW.
Lucknow, Sep 19 : Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati on Tuesday demanded 50 per cent reservation for women , apart from separate quota for women belonging to SC/ST and OBC categories.
aAlong with BSP, most of the parties will give their vote in the favour of Women's Reservation Bill. We expect that after the discussion this bill will get passed this time as it was pending for a long.
aI said earlier on behalf of my party in the Parliament that women get 50 per cent reservation instead of the proposed 33 per cent in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, keeping in mind the population of women.
aI hope the Government think about it. Also, a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections should be ensured in the reservation for women," Mayawati said.
She said that she hoped that the womenas reservation bill would finally get passed this time.
Hong Kong, Sep 19 : Chinese conglomerate Huawei is likely to enter the mid-range 5G market with launching a new smartphone soon, the media reported on Tuesday, as the company shrugs off US sanctions and moves forward.
According to IT Times, Huawei is expected to launch a 5G version of its mid-ranged Nova smartphone in the next 1-2 months.
Huawei did not comment on the report. Its 4G Nova model sells for 2,400 yuan (about $329).
The news about a 5G mid-ranger from Huawei comes as the company is geared up for an official launch event for the Mate 60 series on September 25, as the high-end phone set has generated buzz among Chinese consumers for weeks following the handset's unexpected debut on August 29.
On August 29, Huawei announced that the Mate 60 smartphone series was available for pre-order, allowing consumers to experience the "most powerful" high-end Mate series ever made, reports Global Times.
It is reported that Huawei is using a homemade advanced 7nm chipset, identified as Kirin 9000s, in its Mate 60 Pro smartphone.
The company started selling its Mate 60 Pro smartphone, without much information about the chipset inside.
Chinese smartphone brand Huawei's new smartphones will fully adopt the new self-developed Kirin processors starting in 2024, a move that will hurt chip-maker Qualcomm the most, according to leading analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Meanwhile, Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu Zhijun said at the 2023 World Computing Conference last week that China should unswervingly construct a sustainable computing industry ecosystem "with no illusions about the future".
Xu called for a large-scale use of homegrown products and technologies to further boost industrial development and narrow the gap with foreign competitors, according to Chinese media reports.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Actor Shreyas Talpade is celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with full devotion in Mumbai, as he was seen participating among a full crowd of Ganapati bhakts, offering his own prayers with tilak on his forehead and bowing his head in reverence to the deity.
Taking a break from his work, the actor has made no secret of his own sense of spirituality and religious devotion, being a staunch devotee of both Lord Shiva and his son, Lord Ganesha.
As part of the Ganapati festival in Mumbai, the 'Om Shanti Om' actor stepped out of his car wearing very simple white attire, and brought forth his own offerings which he gave proudly at the Ganapati mandapa, offering his own prayers and saying 'Ganapati Bappa Morya'.
While celebrating, the actor had come up with both his wife Deepti Talpade and daughter Aadya.
While he got out of his car, the actor was surrounded by fans and while he spoke to them, he avoided talk of any new projects and was single mindedly focused on the celebrations.
His own offerings included a full statue of Lord Ganesha, and some prasadam which he offered at the mandapa while a priest was chanting Sanskrit mantras.
After that, while amidst normal people Shreyas was seen smiling and going to the stalls featuring several Ganapati idols, offering his prayers.
Though usually he talks to the paparazzi the actor remained somewhat silent and instead was simply spending time with his family, with his wife who herself was wearing a tilak, carrying their little daughter.
Smiling throughout the video he posted on his Instagram stories, the actor also wrote, with a picture Lord Ganesha: "Ganapati Bappa Morya"
Before this, the actor was also seen in the track 'Om Namah Shivay' from his new film 'Luv You Shankar' which was sung by Vardaan Singh, with the actor celebrating his love and devotion to Mahadev.
Apart from 'Luv You Shankar', Shreyas is also gearing up to star in the Kangana Ranaut directorial 'Emergency', which will feature Kangana as the former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during the 'Emergency' era from 1975-1977.
Bhopal, Sep 19 : Ahead of the Assembly polls, the Congress on Tuesday launched its 'Jan Aakrosh Yatra' from seven parts of the state that will cover 230 Assembly seats in the next two weeks.
The rally will cover a total 11,400 kilometers across all.
Leader of Opposition (LoP)in the state Assembly Govind Singh led the campaign (yatra) from Sheopur district in Gwalior a"Chambal region with a large number of party workers.
Former LoP Ajay Singh (Rahul) launched the yatra from Rewa district of Vindhya region, while former Minister Arun
Yadav led it from Damoh in Sagar division.
The Congress said the aJan Akrosh Yatraa has been launched to express the pain and suffering of the oppressed people in the last 18 years of the BJP rule led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
"On the holy festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, the Congress is starting its Jan Aakrosh Yatras. The purpose of these yatras is to express the pain and suffering of the oppressed people due to the misrule of Shivraj government for 18 years," state Congress president Kamal Nath said on Tuesday.
Earlier at a press Conference, Kamal Nath and AICC in-charge for the state Randeep Singh Surjewala alleged rampant corruption under the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government, saying they had failed to tackle unemployment
and crime against women and Dalits.
The Congress leader has also alleged that Madhya Pradesh is witnessing "severe anarchy, crime, fear, atrocities, and looting".
"All sections, including tribals, farmers, Dalits, daughters, sons, backward classes and youths, want to remove this government to save the state," Surjewala has said.
The ruling BJP has already rolled out aJan Ashirwad Yatraa for seeking support of the people in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. The Yatras are being taken out from various places, and will culminate in Bhopal on September 25.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the 'mahakumbh' or mega gathering of BJP workers on the occasion
in Bhopal.
Imphal, Sep 19 : Normal life was badly affected in the valley areas of Manipur on Tuesday as various civil society organisations called a 48-hour shut down across the state demanding unconditional release of five 'village protection volunteers'.
Officials earlier said that Manipur Police arrested five persons on Saturday with sophisticated weapons in camouflage uniform.
Protesting this arrest, a large number of men and women came out to protest on Sunday and tried to storm Porompat police station in Imphal East district demanding release of the arrested persons.
Joint security forces repelled the police station attack by firing tear gas shells. In the melee several men and women including a Rapid Action Force personnel received minor injuries.
In view of the shutdown in five valley districts, all types of vehicles, including those of security forces were off the roads, inter-district, inter-state buses and trucks did not operate.
Markets, shops, business establishments, banks, government offices, educational institutions were closed in the five valley districts -- Bishnupur, Kakching, Thoubal, Imphal West, and Imphal East.
Examinations of various institutions scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday were postponed.Movement of Central and state security forces were obstructed in many places as the agitators blockaded many roads.
The civil society organisations earlier set a deadline to release the five detainees, but police rejected the demand.
The agitating organisations threatened to intensify their agitations if the 'volunteers' were not released after the 48-hour shut down, which was started from the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Security has been tightened further and additional security forces deployed in various vulnerable, sensitive and mixed populated areas of the state.
M. Memcha, a spokesperson of the agitating organisations, claimed that the village protection volunteers were "protecting Meitei villagers from the attacks of the Kuki tribals and armed militants".
Bengaluru, Sep 19 : Karnataka former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday said that the state government is committing mistakes repeatedly and putting the people of the state in a difficult situation.
He said that if the state government is releasing water as per the orders of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) then there is nothing to argue before the Supreme Court.
He said that the state has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court that it won't release the water after September 12.
"They should be committed to it. The affidavit by the government carries a lot of weight and now it is like the state government is lying before the Apex court," he told reporters at his residence in Bengaluru.
"The move by the government has put the farmers of the state and people in Cauvery basin into a difficult situation. I have given my advice in the interest of the state. Those in power are responsibility."
He said that the government is not ready to take our advice. "The advocates always suggest releasing the water. We had changed it and we did not release the water during the night. Once you are following the orders of CWMA, what is there to argue before the Supreme Court?" he asked.
"There is no meaning now in going before the Prime Minister. The dispute matter had come before the PM before 1990 and now there is no need for it. The state government is claiming that it is taking the delegation to the PM to mislead the people of state."
He said that our advocates have to explain the existing situation of our dams and the proportion of utilisation of water by Tamil Nadu. "Unless it is done, the state won't get relief. The advocates representing the state have been there for a long time. They have worked during our time as well. We are ready to give advice but if the state government is not ready to take suggestions, what can be done," he said.
Reacting to the suggestion of out of court settlement given by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Bommai said that Tamil Nadu won't agree to it. Since the beginning Tamil Nadu state has been non-cooperative, he said.
Patna, Sep 19 : A local trader was shot dead while his brother-in-law was seriously injured after they were attacked by unidentified assailants in Bihar's Siwan district.
The incident occurred at Ramnagar Dala flyover, which comes under town police station in the district, at 9 p.m. on Monday. The deceased, Shivaji Tiwari, a resident of Ramnagar Renua in Siwan and a local BJP leader, had a grocery shop near the Dala flyover.
After closing the shop on Monday night, he along with his brother in-law were walking towards their home in Ramnagar Renua when two bike-borne assailants intercepted them just 200 meters away from the house and shot them. Shivaji sustained three gunshot injuries on the back and died on the spot while his brother in-law Pradeep Tiwari also sustained gunshot injury. He is admitted in a private hospital.
The accused, after committing the crime, fled the spot.
"We have learnt about the murder. The investigation is underway. We are making efforts to identify them," said Sudarshan Ram, SHO of the town police station Siwan.
According to a relative of Shivaji Tiwari, there were four deaths in his family in the last two months. The other three persons had died natural deaths while he was killed by unknown assailants.
In another incident, a Registered Medical Practitioner (RMP) doctor was killed in Bihar's Nalanda district on Monday night.
The deceased has been identified as Niranjan Kumar (30), a native of Kauwakol village under Vena police station in the district.
According to the statement of his father Mithilesh Pal, a nurse named Versha Kumari, a native of Pendapur village under Hilsa police station, works in his clinic.
On Monday, Niranjan went to Pendapur village on the invitation of Versha where he was gunned down. Mithilesh Pal alleged that Versha's father was involved in the murder of his son.
The local police are investigating the incident.
Dubai, Sep 19 : A big fat Indian wedding always attracts attention, especially when it is going to be in the air with 300 guests including Bollywood, and Hollywood A-listers.
Popleys, a renowned name established in 1927 in the jewelry business in UAE (1993) and INDIA (1927) is gearing up for a momentous celebration of his daughter's wedding with the support of Govt. of Dubai which makes this event truly extraordinary.
On October 18, 1994, a similar event occurred, when Dilip Popley, the bride's father's marriage was conducted in the air in an Air India plane and created a world record, now Sequel 2 is celebrated on 24th Nov 2023.
Talking to the media Dilip Popley said, they plan to transform the azure Dubai skies into a celestial backdrop for this momentous occasion, as the world's largest private jet will depart from the flagship Jetex Dubai private terminal.
Called the queen of skies, the Boeing 747, which has a capacity of 450 passengers, has been modified to make space to perform the wedding rites inside the aircraft. Aircraft with around 300 guests will take off from Dubai and fly to Oman for the three-hour 'in the sky' ceremony.
During the wedding, the groom, Hridesh, and bride, Vidhi, will exchange their vows inside the plane in the presence of 300 guests including family members, Bollywood and Hollywood celebrities, dignitaries, and friends. Marriage will be conducted according to Sikh traditions.
Dilip Popley said that "my marriage in the air was my dad's idea, which started from a lighter note. It was my dad's dream, who wanted to get his son married in the air. We met the chairman of Air India and had a wedding in the sky in 1994. Now I am carrying his dream to another level."
"I am hoping, for my son's marriage, technology will allow us to do something bigger, such as marriage in the space," Dilip added
The wedding will be attended by 1000 guests. It will be a long function of many weeks including 'sangeet', 'mehndi', and 'pheras'. As 'agni-phera' is not possible on board, that will be performed on the ground on marriage day.
Wedding planner Chimoo Acharaya, who is taking care of this occasion informed that it took 12 months to complete all the permissions and formalities. More than 1,000 guests will participate in this marriage including close family, friends, and dignitaries, who will share in this breathtaking experience with Habtoor Palace Dubai, LXR Hotels & Resorts, Dubai. This wedding promises to be a remarkable blend of tradition, luxury, and innovation.
"Sky is the limit to spending for weddings in Dubai. It all depends on the number of people and the budget of the family. Weddings such as Popley's cost around Dh6-7 million," Chimoo added
This wedding will be sent as an entry to be in the Guinness World Record as it is the first of its kind wedding taking place in the sky in this region. The event will feature Indian traditions and values with elegance.
In the past, Dubai hosted many big fat South Asian weddings with high-profile businessmen, Bollywood, and TV stars.
Kolkata, Sep 19 : In a shocking case, a housewife in West Bengal's Malda district was forcefully fed pesticides by husband for giving birth to the third consecutive girl child.
After feeding thewife, thehusbandalso tried to feed the youngest daughter withpesticide. The other two daughters, said local police sources, somehow managed to escape and inform their maternal grandparents who also stay in the locality. The incident happened late Monday night
The maternal grandfather, with the help of the local people, rescued the womanand her youngest daughter and took them to a local health center. As their conditions were turning critical, the mother and her daughter were transferred to the Malda Medical College & Hospital.
Later the maternal grandfather filed a complaint at the local police station againsthisson-in-law accusing him of attempting to murderhisdaughter and grandfather.
"My daughter was often beaten up by my son-in-law forgivingbirthtoconsecutivegirlchildren. Now he tried to assassinate them. Fortunately we were informed in time by my other two granddaughters, who managed to escape. Otherwise we would have lost them," he said.
The police have started an investigation and detained thehusbandfor questioning. The accused, however, have denied allegations. He alleged thathiswife was having extra-marital affairs with one of the local civic volunteers, following which there were frequent feuds between them, andhiswife attempted suicide by consuming pesticide.
Hyderabad, Sep 19 : Congress leader Madhu Goud Yaskhi has alleged that Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were behind the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
He claimed that he has full information that under a conspiracy of KCR and Modi, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh arrested Naidu. He alleged that even the efforts to secure Naiduas release on bail were being stalled.
Yaskhi, who is chairman of Telangana Campaign committee, told reporters that KCR had spent hundreds of crores for the victory of Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2019 elections. He said Naidu and Modi had a kind enmity since the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) quit the BJP-led NDA.
Naidu was arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID) in alleged Skill Development Corporation scam on September 9. He is currently in the judicial custody.
The former MP said Congress partyas national spokesman and general secretary Jairam Ramesh has already made the partyas stand clear on the issue. He had said that in case of any crime, due process of law should follow.
Telangana Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka has already condemned Naiduas arrest.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee working president N. Tulasi Reddy also found fault with the TDP leader's arrest. He said if there was really a case, he should have been served prior notice.
Tulasi Reddy also said that Congress has decided to extend solidarity with Naidu.
Seoul, Sep 19 : South Korea, China and Japan are planning to hold a high-level meeting in Seoul next week to discuss three-way cooperation, including setting up a trilateral summit of their leaders.
The meeting, set for September 26, will bring together South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung-won, Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's senior deputy foreign minister, and Nong Rong, China's assistant minister of foreign affairs, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Lim Soo-suk, spokesperson for the ministry, said the three sides will discuss various matters related to their trilateral consultative body, and review the current state and future direction of cooperation between the three countries, Yonhap news agency reported.
A ministry official told reporters the meeting will also discuss matters related to a possible trilateral summit that has been suspended since 2019.
"The trilateral summit is currently under discussion with the aim of holding it within the year," the official said, adding the three sides could hold a foreign ministerial meeting to coordinate a date for the summit.
Three-way summits among the regional neighbors, first held in December 2008, were suspended after the eighth gathering in December 2019 following a dispute between South Korea and Japan over forced labor compensation rulings and the pandemic.
Talks on the need to revive tripartite summit diplomacy have surfaced following a thawing of the frozen ties between Seoul and Japan since the launch of the current South Korean administration under President Yoon Suk Yeol in May of last year.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has announced that it has established 6467 standard clubs in schools and colleges across the country.
"Recognising the significance of practical learning, BIS has further extended its financial support. High and higher secondary eligible government schools with standards clubs are entitled to receive a one-time laboratory grant to a maximum of Rs. 50,000 in the form of state of the art lab equipment for upgrading their Science Labs," Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution said.
"Furthermore, to ensure that the learning environment is both pleasant and engaging, BIS is providing financial assistance of upto Rs. 1,00,000 to establish 'Manak Kaksha' in government institutions where standards clubs have been formed. Under this initiative one room in the school shall be renovated by providing basic amenities like smart TVs, audio video systems, proper illumination, decorating the walls etc. These spaces are to be designed to inspire curiosity and innovation, fostering the growth of future leaders" the BIS said in a statement.
As per BIS the standard clubs are being established with an objective to sensitise young members of society about the importance of standards in improving quality of life.
"The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is lighting up the future of India with a visionary initiative - the creation of standards clubs in schools and colleges across the nation. This innovative endeavour aims to instil in young minds the paramount importance of quality, standards, and generating scientific temperament.
"Quality consciousness, steeped in the principles of standardisation, is a key pillar of accelerated economic development. By nurturing an appreciation for quality, standards, and standardization in our students, we ignite a spark that has the power to transform our society," BIS said.
BIS said that the standards clubs initiative started in 2021 has already made a significant impact, having been established in 6,467 schools and colleges across the country.
"These clubs boast a membership of over 1.7 lakh enthusiastic students from science background, guided by dedicated science teachers from their respective schools as mentors who are provided with specialised trainings by BIS. Among them, 5,562 Standards Clubs have been created in schools, while 905 clubs in different colleges, which include 384 clubs in engineering colleges."
BIS said that the student members of these standards clubs engage in a variety of activities, like standards writing competitions, quiz competitions, debates, essay writing and poster making.
"These activities are designed to provide young talents with insights into the world of quality and standardisation. Under these clubs a wide range of activities have been conducted and the financial assistance to organise these activities is provided by BIS to these educational institutions.
"Apart from the above, training programmes for mentors of standard clubs and exposure visits to labs and industry units for student members are organised regularly by BIS," reads the statement.
Tokyo, Sep 19 : Two workers died and three others were injured after steel beams fell at a construction site in the Nihonbashi area in Tokyo in Chuo district on Tuesday, according to local authorities.
The fire and rescue authorities received an emergency call reporting that several workers had fallen from a building under construction in the Nihonbashi area, Xinhua news agency reported.
The fallen steel beams, estimated to weigh 15 tonnes, caused four workers to plummet from the seventh floor to the third, while another person was on the third floor when the accident happened, according to the Chuo police station.
Among the five male workers, two in their 30s and 40s died, and one worker was unconscious and in critical condition, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
Two other male workers in their 20s were also injured but are reported to be conscious, it added.
"I heard a tremendously loud noise, unlike anything I've ever heard before. It sounded like something heavy and metallic had fallen," a shocked restaurant employee near the scene was quoted as saying by national broadcaster NHK.
A total of 27 emergency response vehicles, including fire trucks, have been mobilized to the scene to conduct rescue operations, according to local media reports.
Seven arrested in Kolkata with narcotics worth Rs 35L. Image Source: IANS News
Guwahati, Sep 19 : Assam Police seized illegally smuggled Burmese betel nuts in Hailakandi district on Tuesday, officials said.
A senior police officer said that at least 180 sacks of Burmese betel nuts were seized in an operation carried out against the illegal smuggling.
According to the police, the market value of seized betel nuts must be around Rs 50 lakhs.
The police have arrested the driver of the vehicle which was carrying the consignment of Burmese betel nuts.
The arrested person has been identified as Habibur Laskar. The police have been interrogating him.
Further investigation in the matter is underway.
The Barak valley region of Assam is used a transit route for the smuggling of Burmese betel nuts which were transported from Indo-Myanmar border through Mizoram and Manipur.
Earlier, on September 10, police in Hailakandi district seized at least 39 sacks of illegal Burmese betel nuts.
Elnur Enveroglu
Provocations continued by Armenian separatist forces for months have greatly aggravated the situation in the region. On the eve of the steps taken in the process of peace negotiations, Armenia has again ignited the threat of war. For more than a month, the terrorist groups, which have been continuously firing at the positions of the Azerbaijan Armed Forces from the areas where the peacekeeping units are temporarily located in Azerbaijans Garabagh territory, have more gone astray this time and tried to violate the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by preparing a provocative attack plan.
In addition, terrorist military units belonging to the separatist regime in Garabagh and engaged in secret mining caused the death of 7 Azerbaijani police officers and 2 employees of AAYDA (an Azerbaijani agency of road construction) working in the area as a result of a mine explosion.
It should be noted that since the signing of the capitulation document on November 10, 2020, Armenian terrorist groups have been engaged in aggressively mining in Garabagh. As a result of these provocations, a total of 314 Azerbaijanis have become victims of landmines. The unfortunate fact is that almost half of the victims were civilians.
Another problem is that Armenian separatist groups are wreaking havoc in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan, in front of the peacekeepers. Armenia, trying to avoid peace talks under various pretexts, did not hesitate to resort to all dangerous means. And finally, at the last moment, it made Azerbaijan to start anti-terrorist activities.
The military situation that arouse today in the morning showed that the Armenian side is once again engaged in provocations in the region and that despite the so-called recognition of Azerbaijani territories, it is always prone to armed terrorism in the region. Not content with its destructive policy, Armenia also opened fire on civilian areas in Garabagh, and as a result, civilians lost their lives from the mortars fired in the direction of Azerbaijans Shusha.
Separatists were retaliated
The tense and dangerous situation in Garabagh forced the Azerbaijani Army to strengthen its anti-terrorist activities. Attack attempts of the other side were successfully silented, and as a result, a number of illegal military facilities secretly built by Armenian terrorists were destroyed by the Azerbaijani Army. The Azerbaijani side also warned the population living in Garabagh during military interventions. It should be noted that during the Armenian provocations, non-military units armed themselves and tried to fire against the Azerbaijani army.
In general, the attacks of the separatist regime and attempts to claim territory against Azerbaijan in the last few months, as well as the artificial hunger games created in Garabagh constitute the core of all this tension. This was actually a scenario created by both Armenia and some external governing forces, which once again was destroyed by the victorious Azerbaijani Army.
Turkiye's objectivity and Wests ambiguity
As always, the first reaction to the processes in the region came from brother Turkiye. President Erdo?an's 4-way negotiation proposal was actually aimed at ensuring peace and stability of the interested parties in the region. However, it is a pity that the European Union, which openly expressed its opinion in favour of the invader Armenia, tried to use more means of pressure instead of supporting Turkiye in this direction. However, Turkiye insists on the security of the region and supports the coming together of the parties regarding the peace talks.
As for the headlines in the Western media, the situation is not as encouraging as usual. Unfortunately, Europe, which does not take a single step back from its biased position, tries to show events in a way that suits them, not as they are. Such an inadequate step also shows once again that in the future, the participation of Europe and the West in general in the processes is useless.
Thus, the events that took place today showed that Azerbaijan is not only honest in words, but also in deeds. The retaliatory measures of the Azerbaijani Army proved once again that terrorism and arbitrariness are unacceptable on the territory of Azerbaijan.
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Actress Sharvari, who is currently busy shooting for Nikkhil Advani's 'Veda', on Tuesday, took to her social media to share pictures from her visit to her ancestral home in Morgaon.
She also visited the temple in Morgaon which is the starting and ending point of a pilgrimage of eight revered Ganesha temples called Ashtavinayaka.
The actress looked ethereal as she donned a traditional attire. She makes it a point to go to her ancestral home during the Ganpati festival, with her family.
This year, she along with her family experienced a remarkable blessing in the form of a small Ganpati that naturally formed on a 15-year-old Mandar tree in her house. The bark of the Mandar tree had features of Ganpati intricately shaped, and the family was surprised to discover this.
Sharvari wrote in the caption: "Ganapati Bappa Moryaaaaa! Happy Ganesh Chaturthi - Our Bappa this year is a Mandar Ganesha. This rare idol naturally took the shape of Lord Ganesha on our Mandar tree that is at least more than 15 years old. May Bappa bless us all with love and happiness all year long".
They adorned the Ganpati with sindoor, and will do a puja to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi.
Meanwhile, on the work front, Sharvari, who made her Bollywood debut with 'Bunty Aur Babli 2', will be seen doing some high octane action scenes in 'Veda'.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Delhi Police's Crime Branch has arrested an inter-state drug trafficker and recovered 1.5 kg of heroin worth over Rs 1.5 crore in the international market.
The drug trafficker was identified as Juned Khan alias Juber, (31), a resident of Bilaspur in Uttar Pradesh, a police officer said on Tuesday.
According to police, a tip-off was received that a drug supplier Juned Khan would arrive at the Ghazipur Shamshan Ghat, Delhi, in his vehicle with a huge consignment of heroin to deliver to someone.
"A trap was set at the location and Juned Khan was apprehended. Over 1.5 kg of heroin was recovered from his possession," said Special Commissioner of Police (Crime), Ravindra Singh Yadav.
During interrogation, Juned Khan disclosed that in 2016 he came in contact with a person named Ishrat, who resides in Aliganj, Uttar Pradesh. Ishrat told him about the illegal heroin business.
"Finding it to be a lucrative venture, both Juned Khan and Ishrat got involved in the drug trade. They began supplying heroin in various areas of Bareilly.
"Meanwhile, Juned Khan got in touch with two other individuals, both residents of Manipur, who were also involved in heroin distribution in Bareilly after sourcing it from Manipur," said the Special CP.
"Under Ishrat's instructions, Juned Khan travelled to Delhi to deliver the seized contraband in his vehicle but was arrested by us in a quick operation," he added.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) has launched a nationwide campaign aimed at reduction in the number of under trial prisoners across all the districts of India.
Supreme Court judge and NALSA Executive Chairman Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, launched the campaign to be undertaken from September 18 to November 20 to expedite the identification and review of prisoners who are eligible to be considered for release.
The campaign aims to accelerate the existing functioning of the Under Trial Review Committees (UTRCs) which were constituted in 1,382 prisons in 2015 in compliance of the directions given by the Supreme Court.
UTRCs are district level bodies headed by the respective District & Sessions Judges with the District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Secretaries, District Legal Services Authorities and Officers-in-Charge of Prisons as its members.
Earlier, NALSA's campaign 'Release_UTRC@75' undertaken in July and August of 2022 had led to the release of 37,220 prisoners across the country.
In his address on the launch, Justice Kaul emphasised that the issues of undertrial prisoners languishing in prisons despite being eligible to be reviewed for release have continued to come up before the Supreme Court as well as the High Courts.
"Our responsibility as judges is to ensure that the law is followed in letter and spirit, and that it does not discriminate between anyone on the basis of the quality of legal representation they can afford among other man-made qualifiers," he added.
The launch of the campaign was attended by the Executive Chairpersons and Member Secretaries and other functionaries of all State Legal Services Authorities, Executive Chairpersons and Secretaries of the DLSAs, and members of the UTRCs.
The nationwide campaign represents a significant step towards ensuring the fair and efficient administration of justice, emphasizing the principle that justice should be accessible to all, regardless of their circumstances.
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Actress Ashley Park, who is gearing up for the OTT debut of her drama-comedy or dramedy film 'Joy Ride', has called her character in the film-Audrey Sullivan,' an honour to play' and one of those roles which come, the moment you need them.
Detailing how she felt playing the role, Ashley Park said: "Audrey Sullivan has been an honour to play. I feel like there are certain roles that find you in your life exactly when you need them. It was my first time playing the protagonist in the story."
Describing the character, she added: "She's a character that feels like she has it all together and understands how to navigate this world, this community, this industry that has been built for and people who don't look like her.
"She doesn't understand that there's something missing in her own identity until she goes on to this 'joyride'. It's been a true honour to play this character who has such nuance and depth and hilarity. I think she ends up finding a part of herself that she didn't even know she needed to look for", she added.
Packed with comedy, drama and some NSFW instances, the film follows Audrey Sullivan on a path to self discovery. When Audrey's business trip to Asia goes wrong, she calls on her childhood bestie, Lolo, her college friend Kat and Lolo's eccentric cousin Deadeye for help.
Stranded in a strange country, with nowhere to go and no one whom she knows, she becomes a stranger in a strange land and embarks on a wild journey of utter chaos and debauchery, before going through a tough round of introspection, coming to terms with and what she is and accepting it.
Starring Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu in titular roles, 'Joy Ride' is directed by Adele Lim with a script written by Cherry Chevapravatdumrong was released theatrically on July 7.
The film will have its OTT premiere on Lionsgate Play in India on October 6.
London, Sep 19 : As Pirola, the new mutation of Omicron strain of Covid-19, worries health experts, the UK's National Health Service (NHS) has asked senior citizens above age 65 to immediately get their top-up booster jabs.
People aged 65 and over in England are being urged to get a top-up booster vaccine against Covid at a time when more people are coming into hospitals with the highly-mutated BA.2.86 virus, reports the BBC.
The vaccines will soon be provided for free to more vulnerable groups. "Hundreds of thousands of adults who are eligible for winter vaccines -- including all aged 65 and over, pregnant women and those with an underlying health condition -- will also begin receiving invitations from the NHS to encourage them to get their Covid and flu jabs from this week," NHS said in a statement late on Monday.
According to the report, Covid hospital admissions are now at the highest rate since the end of April, at 4.6 per 100,000 people. That is still below the level reached last winter. The hospital admission rates remain highest among people aged 85 and over, followed by 75 to 84-year-olds.
"Vaccines are our best protection against flu and Covid-19, and I strongly encourage all eligible people to come forward for their life-saving winter vaccines as soon as they can," Steve Russell, NHS director for vaccinations and screening, was quoted as saying. The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) last week reported 34 cases of BA.2.86, 28 of which were reported from a single elderly care home in Norfolk -- an early indicator that the variant may be sufficiently transmissible to have impact in close contact settings.
Patna, Sep 19 : A team of forest department have arrested two smugglers on charge of killing and transporting the remains of black buck in Bihar's Rohtas district, an official said on Tuesday.
Manish Kumar Verma, the Divisional Forest Officer of Rohtas range said that the incident occurred on September 17 and the role of SHO of Chenari police station Shambhu Kumar is also being investigated.
"We have learnt that a black buck was hunted the remains were kept in a Scorpio SUV. The SUV was parked inside the premises of Chenari police station. We raided the place and seized the vehicle.
"During the investigation, it appeared that six persons were involved in the case and we have managed to arrest two of them -- Sabad Anwar and Sirazudhaula while four others are absconding," Kumar said.
"We are investigating the suspicious role of Chenari SHO and other police personnel. The arrested persons belong to Langhi and Pewandi village," he said.
Rohtas SP Vineet Kumar said that they have learnt about the hunting of a black buck. "The meat and remains of black buck has been handed over to the forest department. We are investigating the incident and if any police officer is found guilty in the incident, action will be taken against them," he said.
The hunting of black buck is banned in the country. One such case appeared in Rajasthan in mid 1990 when a black buck was allegedly hunted by prominent actor Salman Khan and the case is currently underway in Jodhpur court.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A survey conducted by CVoter for IANS has found that a majority of the respondents feels that during debates and discussions, journalists give preference to communal and divisive issues instead of real ones.
The survey had a sample size of 2,433.
Almost 60 per cent of the respondents said that journalists give preference to communal and divisive issues instead of real ones.
More than two-third of the respondents or 67.8 per cent said some journalists speak in favour of the government instead, of questioning the government on issues of public concern. As many as 54.8 per cent of NDA supporters echoed this view, while 76.4 per cent of the Opposition supporters backed this view.
A total of 45.5 per cent respondents said boycotting some journalists would benefit or harm the opposition INDIA bloc, while 30.8 per cent said it would benefit it.
A majority of 67.5 per cent said it is right to question the impartiality and credibility of journalists in present times.
As per the survey, 33.7 per cent said newspapers are more impartial, while 32.8 per cent said TV channels are more impartial.
A majority -- 51.4 per cent -- respondents feel that the opposition INDIA bloc should withdraw its decision to boycott some journalists.
A majority of 50.8 per cent feels that the INDIA bloc has taken the decision to boycott some journalists because elections are drawing near.
To a question on among the government, journalists and the public, whose responsibility is it to ensure that journalism remains impartial, a majority of 58.7 per cent respondents said it is the responsibility of the journalists, 24.6 per cent said it is the responsibility of the government, while 12.5 per cent said it is the responsibility of the public.
Chennai, Sep 19 : Tamil superstar Silambarasan has told the Madras High Court that he was "entitled" to not return the Rs 1 crore advance that he had taken from Vels Film International for acting in movie "Corona Kumar".
He said that the movie was not shot one year within July 16, 2021 when he had signed the artist agreement.
Silambarasan has filed a counter-affidavit to a case filed against him by the production company before the high court.
The actor also prayed before the court to vacate an ex-parte interim order passed by it on August 29, directing him to furnish security for the amount of Rs 1 crore or have to end up suffering further orders.
As the case came up before hearing in the bench of Justice Abdul Quddhose, counsel for Silambarasan, Vijayan Subramanian said that the actor has been paid an amount of Rs 1 crore as advance money and not as Rs 4.5 crore as claimed by the producer, and adding that his total remuneration for the movie was Rs 9.5 crore.
The actor in his affidavit said that he had agreed to allot 50 days of his call sheet within one year from the date the advance agreement was signed upon. He said that even pre production works of the movie did not commence before July 15, 2022.
Silambarasan's counsel told the court that the actor need not return the advance money taken if the shooting of the movie does not commence one year within the payment of advance.
His advocate also prayed before the court that Silambarasan has now committed to act in an untitled movie, STR#48 under the banner of Rajkumar film International.
However, the advocate of Vels Film International, M. Santhanaraman contended that the actor must not be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong by posturing that he would not return the advance money as he had not acted in "Corona Kumar."
The lawyer also informed the court that the film producers council has issued a red card against the actor on the basis of a complaint lodged by another producer also.
The court adjourned the case for further hearing to October 6.
--IANS
aal/vd
New Delhi, Sep 19 : In a world facing unprecedented environmental challenges, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution, the role of education becomes paramount. Environmental education is a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to learning about the environment and the interconnectedness of ecological, social, and economic systems. It helps in empowering the youth with knowledge, and a sense of responsibility toward the environment and motivates them to lead an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle.
As India stands at a crossroads of development and ecological responsibility, integrating robust environmental education into the curriculum is not just a choice but a necessity.
Mukesh Kwatra, the founder of Smiling Tree pins some reasons why incorporating environmental education into the education system is vital:
Integration Across Subjects
Environmental education should be integrated into various subjects like science, geography, social studies, and even literature and art. This helps students understand the multidisciplinary nature of environmental issues.
Hands-On Learning
Practical experiences such as nature walks, field trips, outdoor activities, and experiments can provide students with real-world exposure to environmental concepts.
Inclusive Curriculum
Ensure that the curriculum reflects diverse perspectives, cultures, and global environmental challenges to foster a sense of global citizenship.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Encourage students to analyze complex environmental problems, think critically, and develop solutions. This can include projects and discussions on topics like climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
Community Engagement
Involve students in community-based projects that address local environmental issues. This connects classroom learning to real-life situations and encourages active citizenship.
Promote Sustainable Practices
Schools should model sustainable practices by reducing waste, conserving energy, and using eco-friendly materials. This sets an example for students.
Teacher Training
Provide professional help for teachers to equip themselves with the knowledge and skills needed to effectively teach environmental education.
Assessment and Evaluation
Develop methods to assess students' understanding and commitment to environmental stewardship.
Continuous Learning
Encourage lifelong learning about environmental issues beyond formal education through workshops, seminars, and online resources.
Policy Support
Education systems should receive support from policies and government initiatives that prioritize and fund environmental education.
Incorporating environmental education into the curriculum helps students become environmentally responsible citizens who are aware of the challenges facing our planet and are equipped to make informed decisions to protect and sustain the environment.
Impact of Environmental Education
Environmental education has several important impacts on individuals, communities, and the environment.
Increased Awareness
Environmental education helps people become more aware of the natural world, the environmental issues it faces, and the interconnectedness of all living things.
Behaviour Change
It can lead to positive changes in attitudes and behaviours towards the environment, such as reducing waste, conserving resources, and adopting more sustainable lifestyles.
Conservation
Environmental education plays a crucial role in promoting conservation efforts, whether it's protecting endangered species, preserving ecosystems, or managing natural resources more responsibly.
Empowerment
It empowers individuals and communities to take action and participate in decision-making processes related to environmental issues, from local initiatives to global policies.
Health Benefits
Learning about the environment can lead to healthier lifestyles, such as consuming organic foods, spending more time outdoors, and reducing exposure to harmful pollutants.
Economic Benefits
Understanding the environment can lead to innovations in green technologies and sustainable business practices, potentially creating new job opportunities and economic growth.
Global Awareness
Environmental education fosters a sense of global citizenship, helping individuals understand their role in the global ecosystem and the importance of international cooperation on environmental issues.
Mitigation of Climate Change
By educating people about climate change, its causes, and potential solutions, environmental education can contribute to efforts to mitigate its effects.
Biodiversity Conservation
It promotes the protection of biodiversity by raising awareness about the importance of diverse ecosystems and the threats they face.
Resilience
Communities that are well-educated about the environment are often more resilient in the face of natural disasters and climate-related challenges.
Policy Advocacy
Informed individuals and organisations can advocate for stronger environmental policies and regulations at local, national, and international levels.
Interdisciplinary Learning
Environmental education often involves a multidisciplinary approach, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a holistic understanding of complex environmental issues.
Environmental education in India, in the wake of its G20 presidency for the current year, could be a significant opportunity for the country to showcase its commitment to inclusive and resilient growth and progress on sustainable development goals. It is a powerful and effective tool for fostering a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the environment, which is crucial in addressing the challenges
(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
--IANS
Lh/
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Congress President and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday urged to adhering and preserving the Constitutional values and parliamentary traditions as the country moves ahead in effectively performing parliamentary duties.
Speaking at a function held in the Central Hall of Parliament to commemorate the rich legacy of the Parliament of India, Kharge recalled that the meetings of the Constituent Assembly were held in the chamber.
He said the Constitution of India is the bedrock of Indian democratic polity. "It is in this very Central Hall that the Constituent Assembly held its sittings from 1946 to 1949 spanning a period of 2 years, 11 months, and 17 days. And today, we humbly recall the phenomenal contributions made by Dr Rajendra Prasad, the First President of India, first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the architect of Indian Constitution Dr. B. R. Ambedkar," he said.
It is also an occasion to recall with gratitude the contributions of G. V. Mavalankar, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, and also acknowledge the collective contribution by Members of the Constituent Assembly, provisional Parliament, and first and all subsequent Lok Sabhas.
Kharge also said the collective efforts of parliamentarians have formed a sound foundation for India's growth as a nation.
"The success of the institutions lies in upholding constitutional values and ideals. The idea that institutions are sacrosanct and essential for success is a fundamental principle in governance and development," the LoP said.
He said that we should commit ourselves to adhering to and preserving the Constitutional values and parliamentary traditions as the country moves ahead in effectively performing parliamentary duties and in our endeavours for the growth of our nation.
He also emphasised that at this juncture, "this is all due to the collective and dedicated effort by Parliamentarians cutting across the party lines over the past seven and half decades."
"This rich legacy has formed a strong foundation for India's growth as a powerful democratic nation," he said.
He said that every nook and corner of the Parliament House has witnessed the evolution of our Parliamentary democracy over the past 75 years.
"As we bid adieu to the Parliament House and move to the New Parliament Building today, I am overwhelmed with emotions and tinge of pathos. We would, of course, be continuing our Parliamentary duties in the New Parliament Building, but will miss the Parliament House," he said.
He said that the Central Hall was witness to Pandit Nehru's 'Tryst with Destiny' speech on the eve of India's independence. And yesterday the Prime Minister also mentioned in his speech and I am thankful to you for remembering this on this historic occasion.
Kharge said that during his speech, Pandit Nehru stated, which I quote, "Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance."
Kharge said that as the clock struck twelve, all the members of the Constituent Assembly took the following pledge: "At this solemn moment when the people of India, through suffering and sacrifice, have secured freedom, I, a member of the Constituent Assembly, do dedicate myself in all humility to the service of India and her people to the end that this ancient land attain her rightful and honoured place in the world and make her full and willing contribution to the promotion of world peace and the welfare of mankind."
Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Tuesday gathered at the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building for the function.
New Delhi: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu coming out from the office of the Election Commission of India. Image Source: IANS News
New Delhi, Sep 19 : In an exclusive survey conducted by CVoter for IANS in Andhra Pradesh, a majority of the respondents are of the opinion that the arrest of former Chief Minister and TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu in an alleged skill development scam will generate sympathy for him among the voters.
The survey had a sample size of 1,809 respondents.
Overall, more than 53 per cent of the residents of Andhra Pradesh say that the arrest will generate sympathy for Naidu.
Currently, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh is Y.S.R. Jagan Mohan Reddy who is head of the YSR Congress.
Opinion seems divided across the political spectrum as per the Cvoter survey. Close to three fourth of the respondents, who identify as supporters of the TDP, claim the arrest will generate sympathy for Naidu. Similarly, a shade less than two thirds of respondents who identify as BJP supporters share the same view. Significantly, about four out of every ten respondents, who are supporters of the ruling party YSR Congress, think the arrest will generate sympathy for Naidu.
Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the CID of Andhra Pradesh in a case that has come to be known as the 'skill development scam'.
According to the allegations, after Naidu became the chief minister in 2014, his government launched a skill development programme in collaboration with some private sector players, including Siemens.
The allegations are that the scheme was a scam as no concrete steps were taken to help the youth of Andhra Pradesh in terms of skill development. Instead, the allegations are that shell companies were formed at the behest of the then Chief Minister Naidu and about Rs 200 crore were siphoned off.
The TDP has vehemently denied the allegations and has called it an act of political vendetta. The matter is becoming even more controversial as the state is due for both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections next year.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The women's reservation bill has proposed that the reservation would continue for a period of 15 years and there will be quota for SC and STs within the reserved seats for women.
The legislation however is unlikely to be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
It will be rolled out only after the delimitation process is over, most probably in 2029, they added.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was introduced in Lok Sabha in the supplementary list of business.
The reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise, according to the bill.
The government said women participate substantively in panchayats and at municipal bodies, but their representation in State Assemblies, Parliament is still limited.
Women bring different perspectives and enrich quality of legislative debates and decision-making, it added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first speech in the new parliament building said that there had been several efforts to introduce women's reservation bill in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies since 1996.
In 1998 and 1999, Atal Bihari Vajpayee had brought the bill, but his dream could not be fulfilled.
The last such attempt was made in 2010, when the Rajya Sabha had passed a bill for women's reservation, but the same could not be passed in the Lok Sabha and it got lapsed.
Modi further said that Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam will further strengthen Indian democracy.
He said that the union cabinet had decided to give a go-ahead to the reservation of women in Parliament bill.
"This historic day of 19th September 2023 is going to be immortalised in the history of India," Modi said.
"Taking forward the resolution of women-led development, our government is today presenting a major Constitutional Amendment Bill. The purpose of this Bill is to expand the participation of women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas."
He said that the Cabinet had decided to give a go-ahead to the Reservation of Women in Parliament Bill. This historic day of 19th September 2023 is going to be immortal in the history of India.
"Taking forward the resolution of women-led development, our government is today presenting a major Constitutional Amendment Bill. The purpose of this Bill is to expand the participation of women in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas"
"I assure all the mothers, sisters and daughters of the nation that we are committed to making this bill into law."
Bhawan (building) has changed, Bhav (feelings) should also change," he said while hinting at the conduct of members in Parliament.
"All of us should follow the Lakshaman Rekha of parliamentary traditions," he said, adding that though elections are far away, the conduct of members in the House will decide whether they will sit in the opposition or in the treasury benches.
"At the dawn of the Amrit Kaal, India is moving forward with a resolve for the future by heading into the new Parliament building," he said in Lok Sabha.
"It is the time to accomplish the resolves and begin the new journey with renewed enthusiasm and energy," Modi said.
Referring to the Sengol, which is stalled near the Speaker's chair in the new Parliament building, Modi said that it "links us with a very important part of our past."
He said that the sacred Sengol was touched by the first prime minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru.
Later while speaking for the first time in the new Parliament, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that the Sengol was only handed to Nehru at his residence by the priest of a Madras temple.
He added that former Lok Sabha Speakers like Meira Kumar and Sumitra Mahakan had also argued for a new Parliament building.
He read the Preamble of the Constitution and said that it clearly says that India is one and that the best should not be any discrimination on caste or religious lines.
"We should not spread confusion in the name of the country, whether it is India or Bharat," Chowdhury said.
He also sought to know from the government why no deputy speaker had been appointed for the first time in the history of Independent India.
Indian-origin doc in US fined for removing cyst instead of kidney. Image Source: IANS News
Lucknow, Sep 19 : The UP health department has recruited 749 more doctors through walk-in interviews, apart from its regular recruitment process, to fill the shortage of general physicians and specialists in various state-run hospitals.
A total of 393 MBBS and 356 specialists were selected for contractual jobs in the week-long interviews. These doctors will be working at different government hospitals as per the need and vacancies, said a senior health department official.
According to the official spokesman, the state has over 6,000 vacant posts of doctors at hospitals and health facilities in different districts.
A total of 4,322 MBBS and 767 specialist doctors took the interview. Those selected were asked to join duties at the health facilities concerned within a week.
Partha Sarthi Sen Sharma, principal secretary (medical health), said, "The postings of these doctors were planned on the basis of patient load at health facilities. Priority in posting was given to hospitals with lesser number of doctors."
Among the selected doctors, 84 were orthopaedic surgeons who will also help run trauma centres being set up across the state.
There were 55 general surgeons, 59 gynaecologists, 32 paediatricians, 26 pathologists, 17 ophthalmologists, 22 ENT specialists, 16 physicians, four dermatologists, one neuro-surgeon, two plastic surgeons, seven anaesthetists, one skin specialist and one radiotherapy specialist.
Based on the interviews, MBBS doctors and specialists in Grade A districts will be paid around Rs 50,000 and Rs 80,000, respectively.
MBBS doctors posted in Grade B cities will get Rs 55,000 while MBBS doctors taking up posting in Grade C cities will get Rs 60,000. Similarly, specialists will also get more payment depending on the city they choose.
Specialists in Grade B cities will get Rs 90,000 and those taking up posting in Grade C cities will get Rs 1,20,000. Grades of the cities had been decided by the departments based on various infrastructure and other parameters.
Delhi court denies anticipatory bail to man accused of defrauding people under the guise of PM-KUSUM scheme. Image Source: IANS News
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The prosecution has characterised applications filed by some of the accused individuals in the case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots as frivolous, speculative, and presumptive.
Some accused including Devangana Kalita, Natasha Narwal, and Asif Iqbal Tanha, had sought clarification from the Delhi Police regarding the status of their investigation.
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued before Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat of Karkardooma court that these applications do not cite any legal provision that would allow the requested actions.
Prasad remarked: "... these prayers go on the assumption that framing of charges attains finality."
He also stated that the judgements referenced by the accused do not grant the authority to entertain the applications in this manner, nor do they provide any power to go beyond the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
The SPP further said that these applications appear to be attempts to derail the ongoing trial.
The accused had filed applications seeking a direction from the court to direct the police to clarify when the investigation will be completed before arguments begin on whether to frame charges.
Tanha specifically requested a timeline for when the investigation is likely to be completed. Other co-accused, including Safoora Zargar, Sharjeel Imam, and Meeran Haider, also considered similar requests.
On Tuesday, the court listed the matter for hearing next on Friday.
On August 5, the court had said that it will start hearing on a day-to-day basis from September 11.
However, on September 11, advocate Adit Pujari, appearing for Kalita, took objection to proceeding on charges saying that the prosecution is beating around the bush and is still not saying that the investigation is complete in the case.
Advocate Sowjhanya Shankaran, representing Tanha, had said that before proceeding the trial, the prosecution must assure that their investigation is complete and no further supplementary charge sheet will be filed in the case.
However, the contentions were opposed by Prasad, who claimed that this is just a tactic being played by the accused, who are on bail, for the benefit of accused who are in custody as they claim delay in trial before higher courts.
He further said that it should be taken on record because tomorrow it should not reflect that they didnat start the arguments, and contended that they could have opposed the day-to-day hearing before hand and could have filed a proper application.
The court then ordered: "Put a detailed submission, with advance copy to the prosecution."
The proceedings in the case commenced in September 2020 with the filing of the first charge sheet, and since then, the Delhi Police has filed a total of four charge sheets in the case. The charge sheets were submitted on September 16, 2020, followed by supplementary charge sheets on November 22, 2020, February 24, 2021, and March 2, 2022.
The accused in this case include Tahir Hussain, Umar Khalid, Khalid Saifi, Isharat Jahan, Haider, Gulfisha Fatima, Shifa-ur-Rehman, Tanha, Shadab Ahmed, Tasleem Ahmed, Saleem Malik, Mohd. Saleem Khan, Athar Khan, Zargar, Imam, Faizan Khan, and Narwal.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Two brothers were allegedly sexually abused by their stepfather in Delhi, an official said on Tuesday.
Police said that they have also arrested the 46-year-old accused.
The matter came to light on September 17, when a case under section POCSO Act was registered after the mother of two children, aged 13 and 14 approached Jagatpuri police station.
In her complaint, the woman disclosed that she was in her second marriage, and the two children were from her previous husband. She said that her current husband had engaged in inappropriate behaviour with her children, involving undressing them and repeatedly committing indecent acts.
"Notably, in 2022, the same woman had lodged a similar complaint against her husband at the Jagatpuri police station, accusing him of inappropriate behaviour with a child. Subsequently, the accused was arrested but later released on bail," said a senior police official.
The new accusation is that he has now subjected both children to his predatory actions.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut on Tuesday lauded the BJP-led government at the Centre after the Women's Reservation Bill was tabled by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given priority to women empowerment .
"BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have discussed anything, but they took the matter of women empowerment by giving priority to women. This is fantastic", elated Kangana told reporters referring to the Women's Reservation Bill.
The 'Manikarnika' actor who visited the new Parliament building, while lauding the Prime Minister further said, "Our Prime Minister ji is a source of inspiration for all the countrymen."
Notably, Kangana's visit to the Parliament comes on a day when the Prime Minister walked to the new Parliament building along with his cabinet colleagues, soon after the culmination of a special function in the Central Hall of old Parliament on the second day of five day Special Session.
Kangana looked ethereal in an off white saree with a golden thin border. She completed the look with a thin pearl chain and sunglasses. She kept her curly hair loosely tied, and opted for a nude makeup look with a small bindi.
Yesterday, Kangana wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "We are all witnessing beginning of a new age. Our time has come. This is the time of the girl child (no more female foeticide) this is the time of the young women (no more clinging to men for safety and security), this is the time of the Middle aged women (no you are not unwanted and won't be devalued anymore) this is the time of the elderly women (the world needs your wisdom and experience as well, your time has come) Welcome to the new world. Welcome to the Bharat of our dreams #WomenReservationBill."
Earlier, in the viral video, we can see Kangana talking to the paps at the Mumbai airport, and saying "Ganpati Bappa Morya". One paparazzi is heard saying "aaj aapko daraya nahi ham logo ne", to which Kangana replied: "aap kehte ho ki aap mujhse darte hain".
Meanwhile, on the work front, Kangana will be next seen in 'Chandramukhi 2', which also stars Raghava Lawrence and is the sequel to blockbuster Tamil film 'Chandramukhi' starring Rajinikanth and Jyothika. She has Sarvesh Mewaraas 'Tejas' in the pipeline which is expected to release on October 20. The actress also has 'Emergency'.
The movie also stars Anupam Kher, Satish Kaushik, and Milind Soman in key roles and is scheduled to release on November 24.
New Delhi: Former Punjab CM and Congress senior leader Capt. Amarinder Singh arrives to join BJP, in New Delhi on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022. (Photo: IANS/Anupam Gautam). Image Source: IANS News
Chandigarh, Sep 19 : Senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed the claims of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Capt Amarinder said the murder was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in Canada.
The former Chief Minister said Trudeau had unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote-bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.
Capt Amarinder said it was highly irresponsible for the Prime Minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote-bank gallery.
He pointed out that it was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration had given a free hand to anti-India forces in that country. He said Indian missions there were attacked and diplomats intimidated but there was no corrective action by the Canadian government.
"Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there?" he asked, while adding Trudeau by levelling such allegations was only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in that country.
Capt Amarinder said he had brought it to Trudeau's notice as to how Canadian land was being used against India.
He said in a statement that when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018 in an Amritsar hotel he had shared all information with him.
Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country.
He said the reason he had refused to meet the then Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan during his India visit was because he (Sajjan) was associated with the World Sikh Organisation which had a record of working against India.
The former Chief Minister appreciated the central government's decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.
Chennai, Sep 19 : Wildlife conservationists and activists have demanded a detailed probe into the death of 9 tigers in the forest ranges of the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. These deaths have occurred since August 16.
Satheesh Ram, wildlife conservationist and researcher based out of Theni in Tamil Nadu, told IANS that "Nine tigers including 5 cubs and 4 adults dying in a span of a month is serious and grave. The Tamil Nadu forest department must conduct a detailed probe into it and should not rest with mere superficial findings. Project Tiger which was launched in the country in 1973 has led to the big cats still roaming and roaring in Indian forests and such a position should not be changed. We demand stringent action if any lapses are found."
On August 16 and 17, the carcasses of 4 tigers were found in different forest ranges of the Nilgiris district. On August 16 the workers at a tea estate in Mudimandhupirivu near the Naduvattam forest range detected the carcass of an adult tiger. A postmortem was conducted which revealed that it was a seven year old female tiger that died due to a territorial fight with another big cat.
On August 17, the carcasses to two tiger cubs and that of another adult tiger were detected in the nearby forest areas.
On September 9, the carcasses of two adult tigers were found near the Avalanche dam in the Nilgiris. This took the number of tiger deaths to 6.
Forest department officials had during routine patrolling found a dead tiger floating in the river channel beside the Emerald dam. Ten metres from where this tiger was found, the carcass of another tiger was detected in the slush near a river channel.
The District Forest Officer of the Nilgiris forest division, S. Gowthaman while speaking to media persons said that there was circumstantial evidence that the tigers were poisoned. This was after the field staff of the forest division located a dead cow near the carcasses of the tigers.
The forest department conducted a detailed postmortem and found that one of the tigers had died due to a territorial fight maybe with the other tiger but the other one had insecticide poison in its viscera. A detailed probe found a local farmer living near the forest border to be the culprit.
He confessed that his cow was found dead a few days ago and on inspection it was found that the cow was killed by a predator. He laced the body of the cow with an insecticide as revenge to kill the predator. One of the tigers had eaten a portion of the carcass and had died after consuming the insecticide as well.
On September 17, the forest department found a dead tiger cub in the Nilgiris forest area. The department immediately launched a search and found three tiger cubs out of which two had died and one was alive. The cub was rescued and put in the safe custody of the forest department.
The department has conducted a detailed postmortem but the reports are yet to come. The department officials clarified that a tigress would have abandoned its cubs if they were not feeding properly.
Conservationist Kumaraswamy told IANS that there has to be a detailed probe and the statements of the forest department officials must be cross checked and verified.
He demanded that the forest department search for the mother tigress to clear the doubts about whether the tigress was killed by poachers.
The recent data of the tiger census revealed a healthy figure of 306 tigers in the state in 2023 as against a meagre 76 tigers in 2006. However conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts say that the Tamil Nadu government must order a detailed probe into the 9 tiger deaths in about one month.
Chandigarh, Sep 19 : Taking a dig at the Union government, the Leader of the Opposition in Punjab, Partap Singh Bajwa, on Tuesday said the BJP "wants to take credit for the proposed Women's Reservation Bill despite the fact it was the Congress that first dreamt of it".
Bajwa said the BJP must know that "the Women's Reservation Bill is the brainchild of the Congress". It was former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who in May 1989 introduced the Constitution Amendment Bill to provide one-third reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies.
The Bill couldn't get passed in the Rajya Sabha in September 1989.
"Again the minority government led by PM P.V. Narasimha Rao reintroduced the Constitution Amendment Bills 72 and 73, which reserved 33 per cent of all seats and chairperson posts for women in rural and urban local bodies. This time the bills got cleared by both Houses and became the law," Bajwa said.
The Opposition leader said that the Women's Reservation Bill, ensuring 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, under the Manmohan Singh government during UPA 1.
Referring to a news report, Bajwa said the proposed Bill which will provide 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies, will only come into effect after the next delimitation exercise which is expected to be conducted after 2026.
"For the Congress, it's like a dream come true. We have been yearning for the same for a long time now. It's a victory for not only the Congress but also the UPA allies. The Congress welcomes the move though the BJP-led Union government seems to have become hungry for credit," Bajwa added.
Srinagar, Sep 19 : In a significant move to combat the menace of drug trafficking and to eradicate the menace of drugs from the society, Jammu and Kashmir Police have attached a three-storey residential house and a vehicle belonging to notorious drug peddlers in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said on Tuesday.
"The three-storey residential house on land measuring 2.1 Marlas valued at approximately 18.17 lacs located in village Naina Batapora, Pulwama belonging to notorious drug peddlers namely Bashir Ahmad Tramboo son of Ali Mohd Tramboo and his wife Shahzada Bano resident of Naina Batapora, Pulwama has been attached," police said.
"The investigation proved that the said immovable property was raised/used for Illicit Trafficking by the drug peddler."
In a separate FIR of Police Station Pulwama, Police attached a vehicle (Private swift Dzire) belonging to drug peddler Mohd Yousuf Bhat, resident of Gusoo Pulwama.
Police said that the investigation proved that the said movable property was raised from Illicit Trafficking by the drug smuggler.
Police said that by targeting and freezing the illegal assets of drug peddlers/smugglers involved in the organised illegal narco trade, we have dealt a severe blow to their criminal activities.
"Depriving these criminals of the proceeds derived from drug trafficking is an essential step in curbing their influence and crippling the drug trade in the valley," Police said.
Kolkata, Sep 19 : The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday cautioned the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of sending reports to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) against some of its officials engaged in the investigation into the multi-crore cash for school jobs case in West Bengal.
As the CBI counsel submitted a report on the optical marks recognition (OMR) sheets to the single-judge bench of Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, the court expressed doubts over a section of the central agency officials diluting the investigation.
"It seems that there is an attempt to cover up the culprits. Will I have to send a report to the PMO that CBI is unable to do anything? The CBI officers are not kids. They know how to proceed," Justice Gangopadhyay observed.
He was also heard telling deputy solicitor general Billwadal Bhattacharyya, representing the CBI, that in the past the central agency officials had been cautioned, and time has come to report the matter to the PMO.
"Not all in the CBI, but some within the agency are trying to shield the culprits," Justice Gangopadhyay noted.
He also observed that during the course of questioning, CBI officials skipped a number of important questions, adding that he might question the CBI director as to why such questions were excluded.
He also asked whether the statement of Trinamool Congress MLA Manik Bhattacharya, the former President of West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), has been recorded.
The CBI counsel said that already the agency has made substantiating progress in the case and it needs some more time to wind up the probe.
Ahmedabad, Sep 19 : In wake of incessant rainfall in Gujarat over last several days, approximately 13,000 cusecs of water have been discharged from the Vasna barrage into the Sabarmati River in the last two days to regulate the increasing water level.
Several areas of Ahmedabad have witnessed waterlogging amid the ongoing rainfall.
On Tuesday, a steady discharge of 8,040 cusecs of water is flowing from the Narmada main canal into the Sabarmati River. An additional 20,012 cusecs of water is being released from the Sant Sarovar Dam, further contributing to the heightened water flow in the Sabarmati.
Vasna barrage will release approximately 30,000 cusecs of water into the Sabarmati River by Tuesday evening, as part of ongoing efforts to regulate water levels.
The local administration has asked the residents living in villages along the Sabarmati River downstream of the Vasna barrage to exercise caution and remain vigilant about the changing water conditions.
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Actor Manoj Bajpayee, on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi, has announced the beginning of his new film 'Bhaiyya Ji', which according to him marks his first time as both an actor and producer simultaneously.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the 'Gangs of Wasseypur' actor, shared a side by side picture of Lord Ganesha with one of his own crew with the actor donning tilak, and marking the start of his film.
He wrote: "Today marks the first day of my film "BHAIYYAJI" as both an actor and producer at Aurega Studios ( @AuregaStudios). I'm working alongside @apoorvkarki88, @VikramKhakhar, #ShabanaRazaBajpayee."
Announcing the production houses and financers, who will be helping him out on his venture, he added: "I will also be getting super strong support from @vinodbhanu& #KamleshBhanushali at @BSL_Films , as well as @iamsameksha and @OswalShaelat #SSOProductions."
The '1971' actor concluded by declaring the start of his shooting and beseeching the audiences for their support and blessings: "Filming begins for #BhaiyyaJi. Your blessings mean everything as we embark on this journey. Ganpati Bappa Morya."
Manoj Bajpayee is geared up for a plethora of projects like 'Despatch' which is currently going through the post-production phase.
The actor is also currently shooting for his classic action-spy-thriller series 'The Family Man' Season 3, which will release at an unknown date and the soon to come series 'Soup' which has finished filming and is going through post-production.
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Popular TV actress Kanisha Malhotra, who is known for featuring in shows like 'Yeh Hai Mohabbatein', 'P.O.W. - Bandi Yuddh Ke' among others, has marked a decade of success on Ganesh Chaturthi, crediting her success in great part to the blessings of Lord Ganesha.
The Delhi born actress, who also calls Ganapati as 'Gannu' fondly and considers him a brother in life, said: "This is my 10th year of bringing Gannu home. I am delighted as it also marks my 10 year in Mumbai and these years have made me learn and grow."
Recalling celebrating the festival for the first time she revealed: "My first year of bringing Bappa will remain memorable as we celebrated the festivities without any plans. Just a day before the festival, when people were taking idols home."
"The vibe touched my heart while I was having coffee with one of my friends at a cafe, in a moment I shared the idea about celebrating the festivities. It was 2 am, when we went to buy an idol and since then every year I'm following the ritual without any miss," she added.
She further mentioned: "Last year I was in Delhi during the festival, I celebrated there at my home too with my family. But I was missing Mumbai, though nothing beats the celebration here."
Sharing her plans for the year, both what she has in mind currently as well as in the near future, she detailed: "We brought the idol yesterday and today we started our holy ritual and in the evening we will perform Havan. And then will bid adieu to him.
"For visarjan I also booked musicians (Dhol Wale) from Nashik. I am fortunate that I'm cooking all the meals today for him all by myself. I wish with his blessings that by next year, I will be able to bring him into my own house," she added.
Kanisha had won the Zee TV reality show 'Bzinga' back in 2022, which was hosted by actors Kavvin Dave and Sunita Rajwar, and before that has also taken some daring steps to experiment in her serials, such as 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya', which detailed challenges of love faced by couples from different angles, such as love triangles, social status and even homosexuality.
Chennai, Sep 19 : A Sri Lankan national and an AI Airport Services Limited staffer were held at the Chennai Airport by CISF officers for allegedly smuggling 3.9 kg gold in paste form worth Rs 2 crore, an official said on Tuesday.
A CISF official said that on Tuesday at around 3 p.m they noticed the suspicious activities of an AAISL staffer later identified as Sanjay D who was moving towards International Boarding Gate No. 9A from the washroom located in the boarding gate area.
"On strong suspicion, CISF personnel intercepted the AAISL staffer and he was brought to the Security Hold Area for checking. On physical checking four oval shaped, four rectangular shaped and three plastic packets containing 3.9 kg gold in paste form were detected, concealed in his undergarment," said the official.
The official said that on questioning, the staffer confessed that he received the gold in paste form from an international transit passenger who handed over the gold to him in the washroom.
On checking the CCTV footage the passenger was identified as Mohamed Nisthar Aboosaly, a Sri Lankan national. He had arrived at the airport from Dubai on an Indigo flight.
He was due to travel to Colombo on Wednesday on an Indigo flight. He too was intercepted by the CISF personnel. The matter was reported to the customs and senior officers.
Later, the passenger and the AAISL staffer along with the recovered gold were handed over to customs officials
Mumbai, Sep 19 : Actor Aayush Sharma, who is busy with the shoot of his upcoming film 'Ruslaan', celebrated the Ganpati festival in Mumbai as he brought home the Ganpati idol, decorating the house to usher in the auspicious festival and celebrating it with his wife and two children.
Talking about the festivities in the house this year, Aayush said that Ganpati is an integral festival for Maharashtra but he feels happy knowing that how the festival over the years has stretched to outside of Maharashtra.
He said: "I love celebrating the festival, bringing home the idol and offering prayers along with my wife and kids. My wife and children look forward to this annual puja and participate with devotion and enthusiasm.
"I love the modaks and all the yummy delicacies which are prepared for the puja. I invite my friends and family home. I enjoy the fact that everyone comes home and there is a sense of togetherness."
He further mentioned: "Though many of our friends and family live in Mumbai, it's an occasion where family travels from different cities to join us during the festivities. During the festival, the city wears a colourful look and people throng the Ganpati pandals in hordes to offer their prayers. This festival is close to my heart and I love everything about it."
With their home adorned with intricate decorations, aromatic flowers, and a beautifully bedecked idol of Lord Ganesha, Aayush, his wife and his children actively participate in the rituals and the prayers, creating an atmosphere that's both spiritually enriching and joyous for all of them.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to discharge Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in a criminal defamation complaint by Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, saying that his request held no merit.
The case pertains to alleged "misleading statements" made by Gehlot in connection with the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in Rajasthan.
On Gehlot's application seeking a discharge, citing Shekhawat's absence twice before court without a justifiable cause, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal of Rouse Avenue Court said that on the days in question, the matter was fixed for supply of documents and scrutiny.
"The presence of the complainant on those days was quite unnecessary, especially considering that the counsel for the complainant was very much present before the court," he said.
He further said that he finds no merit in the said arguments put forth by counsel for the accused.
"Ergo, in the light of the aforesaid discussion, the application at hand stands dismissed," he added.
Shekhawat had filed the defamation case against Gehlot in March this year, stating that an investigation was initiated into the Sanjivani case but his name was not mentioned anywhere, and demanded the prosecution of Gehlot for criminal defamation under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He also demanded appropriate financial compensation for the loss of his reputation.
Gehlot had said after a budget review meeting at the state secretariat on February 21 that the entire Shekhawat family, including his parents and wife, were involved in the Sanjeevani scam.
He had also welcomed the filing of the defamation case, saying: "At least the case will move forward on this pretext."
--IANS
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Hyderabad, Sep 19 : The Congress on Tuesday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must apologise for "insulting" Telangana once again.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi posted in Telugu on aXa that Modias comments mocking the martyrs of Telangana and their sacrifices are an insult to Telangana's existence and self-respect.
He posted his reaction with the hashtag PM should apologise to Telangana.
After Rahul Gandhi, the party's Telangana unit too demanded an apology from Modi.
"The manner in which PM Narendra Modi has been insulting Telangana state creation for the last ten years is clearly evident once again in his latest comments about the state formation in front of the entire country, yesterday in the Parliament," it said.
It said that then party chief Sonia Gandhi by putting aside political interests "and by considering the children of Telangana as her own children", overcame all hurdles to create the state. It said even after a decade, Modias dislike for Telangana continues to grow.
The party alleged that Telagana CM KCR also continued to insult martyrs and the fighters.
State Congress president Revanth Reddy stated that Modias comments belittling the sacrifices of Telangana and spirit of struggle are unacceptable. He said as a leader of the party which formed Telangana, Rahul Gandhi knows the heartbeat of Telangana and hence, he gave a strong counter to Modias remarks.
Speaking in the Parliament on Monday, the Prime Minister had claimed that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana had led to bitterness and bloodshed. Referring to Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh which were carved out of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, respectively, during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime in the most planned manner, he alleged that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was done in an unscientific manner.
"There were celebrations on both sides when those three states were formed but the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh led to only bitterness and bloodshed in both the states. There were no celebrations on either side," he had said.
--IANS
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Imphal, Sep 19 : An organisation in Manipur has banned famed actor Soma Laishram from acting in films and attending social functions for 3 years for taking appearing as a show stopper in a "beauty pageant" in Delhi despite a general appeal made by it to her to desist from partaking in such programmes when Manipur is "still burning".
The decree by civil society group, Kangleipak Kanba Lup (KKL), sent shockwaves to the film fraternity of the strife-torn state.
The Film Forum Manipur (FFM), the umbrella body of all film bodies of the state, expressed dissatisfaction over the KKL's move and said it would act to bring a solution to it.
Soma, who has acted in over 150 Manipuri films and bagged numerous awards, clarified that there were certain misjudgments over her participation at the New Delhi event on Saturday.
She had participated as a show stopper in a concluding programme of the North East Students' Festival held at Talkatora Stadium where she passionately spoke on the unprecedented current turmoil in Manipur and used the platform to appeal for support from all for peace and normalcy in the state.
"As a professional actor and a social influencer, it is my responsibility to communicate and speak up about the crisis in Manipur and I chose this platform," the celebrity actor told the media on Tuesday.
"The event I participated in is a northeast festival hosted by My Home India, a non-profit organisation and the program I took part in was a cultural programme celebrating the cultural heritage of northeast."
A resident of the Kongeng Hajari Leikai in Imphal West district, she clarified that Saturday's event was not a beauty or fashion show organised for fun.
"It was a cultural event where each state of the northeast like Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, Arunachal etc was represented by their own chosen personalities. So from Manipur, it happened to be me. They invited me. I didn't want to miss the opportunity," Soma said.
KKL, in a statement on Monday said that it had approached the FFM and the Film Actors Guild Manipur who then requested Soma not to take part in the Delhi beauty pageant.
However, Soma "in full defiance of all such requests and in total disrespect to the Meitis who have died so far", and thousands of people rendered homeless as many houses were burnt, participated in the event, the statement said.
The existence of Manipur as a nation state with over 2000 years of history stands at its most crucial hour and "as such the Cardinal Crime of Soma Laishram participating in such festivities which compounds to exhibiting Manipur as a normal state cannot be pardoned".
However, contrary to the KKL's statement that Soma chose to ignore the "advice" of the FFM and Cine Actors' Guild Manipur (CAGM) to which she belongs, the heads of the film bodies said that when they were individually approached to discourage Soma from participating in the fashion parade considering the unprecedented human crisis confronting Manipur, it was too late to intervene as it was on the day of the show.
FFM Chairman, Laimayum Surjakanta Sharma admitted that he did speak to Soma on the issue. However he asserted that he didn't ask her to abstain from the programme after the actor informed how she had planned to use the prestigious platform to campaign for peace in Manipur as the show-stopper.
"Generally we've a bad impression of the veracities of such beauty and fashion shows. But Soma explained that it was a cultural programme of the northeast. Soma said she was going to use this big platform to sensitise the unprecedented human crisis in Manipur to appeal for support for peace and normalcy to return to Manipur," he stated.
"FFM stands by Soma Laishram and will reason with KKL to withdraw its unilateral decree against the actor," he added.
Echoing Sharma, the Guild's President, Lokendra Takhellambam said "the ban passed against Soma Laishram is not justified. Cine Actors' Guild appeals to the concerned to withdraw the decree".
Using her celebrity status and fan following, the Manipuri film star had been on the forefront in voicing the concerns of Manipur since the violence broke out.
Los Angeles, Sep 19 : Pop icon Britney Spears was offered several big money opportunities to talk about her staggering life, including an offer from Oprah Winfrey, to promote her memoir 'The Woman In Me'.
US TV networks and even streamers all tabled huge bids to get time with the pop superstar either for specials or one off in depth profile shows surrounding her upcoming memoir, reports 'Mirror.co.uk'. Publishers Simon & Schuster were keen to see Spears make media appearances to promote the release, which cost them over $ 14 million.
But Spears "is just not up to that kind of interaction with a professional interviewer or journalist" a Los Angeles business associate exclusively told 'Mirror.co.uk'. A business associate of Spears claimed: "Britney is just not in the right space to sit down for a full scale interview to address many areas of her memoir. Firstly she doesn't like to be face to face with a TV camera anymore dealing with questions. On top of that the questions will be about the revelations in her book."
"In theory she signed off on the content being released next month. Doing the book with her ghost writer was terrifically tough and left her feeling traumatised and needing therapy. Just how much she is able to go into aspects of those darker moments on camera could be problematic. There is a real concern that she is not able to deal with more trauma on camera with a stranger. The last thing anyone needs is Britney having a meltdown and suffering from this kind of interview."
Insiders say "significant financial sums" have been tabled to the star and publishers to have Spears speak on camera about her life journey. The source says that media executives feel Spears' comments and on-camera stories would have promised to be one of the "biggest scoops of the century" given her rollercoaster life and career.
Toronto, Sep 19 : With India hitting back by expelling a Canadian diplomat from its High Commission in New Delhi after Ottawa ordered an Indian diplomat to leave moments after Justin Trudeau blamed India for the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Canadian Prime Minister said on Tuesday that he is not aiming to provoke India.
"The government of India needs to take this matter with utmost seriousness. We are doing just that... We are not looking to provoke or escalate," Trudeau said in the morning briefing before the House of Commons started.
Meanwhile, security has been tightened around the High Commission of Canada in the New Delhi as a precautionary measure, sources said on Tuesday.
This move followed the escalating tension in diplomatic relations between the two nations.
On Monday, Trudeau in an emergency statement made in the Parliament had accused the Government of India of being involved in the killing of pro-Khalistan terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its soil.
Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.
Trudeau had said that Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between the Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Nijjar.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the opening of the high-level meeting on Tuyesday, September 20, 2022. (Photo: UN).. Image Source: IANS News
United Nations, Sep 19 : UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for reforming the Security Council as one of the urgent measures required to prevent the "great fracture" threatening the polarised world.
"Our world is becoming unhinged," he warned as he urged far-reaching reform of the global institutions, from the political to the economic, highlighting what he said were inequalities spanning all areas.
At the same time, he acknowledged the difficulties in bringing about the changes.
"I have no illusions. Reforms are a question of power. I know there are many competing interests and agendas.
The world has moved from the Cold War divide to 'unipolarity', and "now we are moving towards a multipolar world", he said addressing world leaders gathered for the General Assemblyas annual high-level meeting.
"A multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions. Yet global governance is stuck in time," he said.
The Security Council and the major multilateral international financial "reflect the political and economic realities of 1945, when many countries in this Assembly Hall were still under colonial domination", he said.
To make them reflect 21st century realities "rooted in equity, solidarity and universality", he said, "means reforming the Security Council in line with the world of today".
"It means redesigning the international financial architecture so that it becomes truly universal and serves as a global safety net for developing countries in trouble," he added.
While the world is polarised, he said: "Divides are widening within countries. Democracy is under threat. Authoritarianism is on the march. Inequalities are growing. And hate speech is on the rise."
aIn the face of all these challenges and more, 'compromise' has become a dirty word," he said, adding that the world "needs statesmanship, not gamesmanship and gridlock".
Calling for compromise, he said: "Leaders have a special responsibility to achieve compromise in building a common future of peace and prosperity for our common good.
"As I told the G20 (chaired by India in New Delhi this month), it is time for a global compromise. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise," he said.
Reflecting the growing voice of the Global South, Guterres made a strong pitch for the reform of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to make them more democratic and responsive to the needs of developing countries.
He raised Russiaas invasion of Ukraine, calling it "Exhibit A" for the consequences of countries breaking their UN Charter pledges and putting the world at risk.
"The war, in violation of the United Nations Charter and international law, has unleashed a nexus of horror: lives destroyed; human rights abused; families torn apart; children traumatised; hopes and dreams shattered."
Its consequences go beyond Ukraine, he said.
"Nuclear threats put us all at risk. Ignoring global treaties and conventions makes us all less safe. And the poisoning of global diplomacy obstructs progress across the board."
But, "we must not relent in working for peace a" a just peace in line with the UN Charter and international law", he said, "and even while fighting rages, we must pursue every avenue to ease the suffering of civilians in Ukraine and beyond".
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
Guwahati, Sep 19 : Congress' Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Tuesday said that instead of India vs Bharat row, the issues of unemployment, and poverty must find place in the political discussion.
Talking to media persons after appearing before a court in Assamas Barpeta town in connection with a complaint lodged against him at the Barpeta Road Police Station, Mevani, asked what he thought of the India vs. Bharat controversy, opined that it shouldn't matter what the country is called as long as its growth is prioritised.
"No matter what you want to name it -- India, Bharat, Hindustan, the fact remains that four crore people in the nation lack access to power. There are between 35 and 40 crore unemployed persons in the nation. These are the important topics that need to be discussed," he said.
"About 18 to 20 crore individuals lack a permanent home. Out of every 100 youngsters, 40 to 45 are underweight. Out of every 100 women, 50 to 55 have anaemia. Suicides are being committed by farmers, unorganised workers, students, and young people without jobs. So, whatever name you choose for the nation, these issues must come first," he added.
Mevani claimed that the court had absolved him of the charges he had been facing under sections 294 and 353 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertain to using violence against a public servant in order to prevent them from carrying out their duties. Two further sections filed against him in the lawsuit are still being considered, though.
"Today was a hearing on my release application and two portions, Section 294 and 353, were removed from my case by the court. There are now only two more sections left for which the lawsuit will proceed. The next month is when the next hearing will take place, and I shall return then.
"On the specified date, I shall come before the honourable court and complete the procedure. I have respect for the law and the court. I'll deal with whatever comes my way," he said.
On the aINDIAa bloc, Mevani said: "I have not yet attended any aINDIAa meetings; however, the coalition will work well. Assam, Gujarat, and the rest of the country will benefit from it."
He criticised the BJP-led government for its leaders' protracted silence on the injustices women have to endure across the nation.
"I want to ask the BJP what it was doing when naked women were paraded through the streets of Manipur. Why is the BJP quiet when Dalit women are sexually assaulted in Madhya Pradesh? When such crimes are reported, they ought to speak up. Women must be respected, whether they live in India or somewhere else in the globe."
In April 2022, Mevani was freed from prison after completing all necessary legal procedures in Assam's Kokrajhar. He was accused of attacking a policewoman while being driven by a police posse from Guwahati to Kokrajhar, and the court sent him to five days police custody.
Mevani had allegedly tweeted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "considered Godse as God" and had been apprehended by an Assam Police posse in connection with that social media post.
--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 19 : 'Transparent Tribe', a suspected Pakistan-linked hacker known for targeting military and diplomatic personnel in both India and Pakistan, is using malicious Android apps mimicking YouTube to spread the CapraRAT mobile remote access trojan (RAT), a new report has shown.
According to the cybersecurity company SentinelOne, the CapraRAT toolset has been used for surveillance against spear-phishing targets privy to affairs involving the disputed region of Kashmir, as well as human rights activists working on matters related to Pakistan.
The hacker most recently targeted the Indian education sector.
"CapraRAT is a highly invasive tool that gives the attacker control over much of the data on the Android devices that it infects," said security researcher Alex Delamotte.
CapraRAT is an Android framework that hides RAT features inside of another application.
According to the report, Transparent Tribe spreads Android apps outside of the Google Play Store, relying on self-run websites and social engineering to lure users to install a weaponised application.
Earlier this year, the group distributed CapraRAT Android apps disguised as a 'dating service' that conducted spyware activity.
Moreover, the report found that one of the newly identified APKs reached out to a YouTube channel belonging to Piya Sharma, which has several short clips of a woman in various locales.
This APK also borrowed the individualas name and likeness, suggesting that the hacker "continues to use romance-based social engineering techniques to convince targets to install the applications, and that Piya Sharma is a related persona".
Upon installation, the apps request intrusive permissions that allow the malware to harvest and exfiltrate sensitive information to a hacker-controlled server with notable features such as -- recording with the microphone, front & rear cameras, collecting SMS and multimedia message contents, call logs, sending SMS messages, blocking incoming SMS, initiating phone calls, and more, the report said.
"Transparent Tribe is a perennial actor with reliable habits. The relatively low operational security bar enables swift identification of their tools," Delamotte said.
"Individuals and organisations connected to diplomatic, military, or activist matters in the India and Pakistan regions should evaluate defence against this actor and threat," he added.
London, Sep 19 : As diplomatic relations between India and Canada nosedived over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Britain said on Tuesday that the development won't have a bearing on its ongoing trade pact talks with India.
According to reports, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson confirmed that UK's negotiations on the free trade agreement (FTA) with India will continue.
The spokesperson was responding to queries on Canada's allegations that India had a role in the killing of Nijjar, who was killed in June in British Columbia.
India has dismissed these allegations as absurd and motivated.
Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sunak had met during the G20 summit in Delhi, and discussed the FTA negotiations.
"Work on the trade negotiations will continue as before. The Canadian authorities will now conduct their work and I'm not going to preempt them. When we have concerns about countries we are negotiating trade deals with, we will raise them directly with the government concerned. But with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal, and we're not looking to conflate them with other issues," the spokesperson said as per reports.
Both India and UK recently held the 12th round of talks over the FTA. During their talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Modi and Sunak had discussed innovation and science along with ways to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries.
Will not align with India or China, says Sri Lankan President. Image Source: IANS News
Colombo, Sep 19 : Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said that his government will not align itself with either India or China but will firmly stands for Sri Lanka's interests.
Wickremesinghe participated in the 'Ocean Nations: The 3rd Annual Indo-Pacific Islands Dialogue,' on Tuesday which was moderated by Dan Baer, Senior Vice President for Policy Research at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The event was hosted by the Carnegie Endowment and Sasakawa Foundation.
Responding to a question raised on the Hambantota port, the President expressed concerns over the labelling of the Hambantota commercial port as a Chinese military base.
"The country is developing the Trincomalee harbour in cooperation with India and intends to raise the matter at international forums," he said.
The President said that the island nations in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific have distinct priorities, unrelated to the Quad comprising the US, India, Japan, and Australia or China's objectives.
"Sri Lanka is open to collaboration with any partners willing to respect its autonomy," the President said.
He said that the Quad has shifted from a focus on security and dialogue to applying coordinated pressure in the region. While surface warfare threats are minimal in the Indian Ocean, the issue of submarine warfare needs to be addressed within Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
He highlighted the reluctance of island nations in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific to become embroiled in the rivalry between major world powers and emphasized that these nations are focused on their own priorities, including social, economic, and ecological development and seek to maintain their sovereignty and independence.
"The island nations of the Indian Ocean and South Pacific are resolute in their pursuit of independence, non-interference and the protection of their unique priorities amidst the evolving dynamics of great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region," the President said.
In terms of regional frameworks President Wickremesinghe noted that China's rise occurred within existing regional frameworks such as APEC and ASEAN, which many nations prefer to maintain. The recent expansion of great power rivalry beyond these frameworks has raised concerns among member nations.
The Indo-Pacific concept has gained recognition, primarily due to mounting challenges from China, the President Wickremesinghesaid, adding that it has prompted a re-evaluation of regional dynamics and cooperation, such as the Jakarta Concord within the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
"The G7's attempt to involve European powers and NATO in the Indo-Pacific was met with opposition, with only France expressing interest. This move was seen as violating IORA's rules-based order," the President said.
He also emphasised the need for IORA to accommodate the Indo-Pacific concept, recognising the interconnectedness of the Indian and Pacific Oceans and enabling cooperation among small island states in both regions.
"The island nations of the Indian Ocean and South Pacific are resolute in their pursuit of independence, non-interference and the protection of their unique priorities amidst the evolving dynamics of great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region," Sri Lanka President stated.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Film actors Kangana Ranaut and Esha Gupta on Tuesday extended support to the women's reservation bill that was introduced in the Parliament on Tuesday.
Both the actors, who were present in the new Parliament building, said that proposed legislation was revolutionary and progressive.
"It is a historic day for the nation and the women of the nation... We also see women in more active roles like army and the Air Force. In fact in my upcoming film, Tejas, I am playing an Air Force pilot as well. So I think this is a new age that we are getting into," Ranaut said.
Esha Gupta said, "It's a very progressive thought. This Reservation Bill will give equal powers to women and it is a big step for our country. PM Modi promised it and delivered it."
Some of the women achievers were among the special invitees on the occasion of introduction of the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', as the bill is officially called, in the new Parliament building.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A man in east Delhi has been arrested for allegedly killing his wife over suspicion of an illicit relationship, a police official said on Tuesday.
The accused was identified as Sunil Kumar, 28, a native of Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi.
Police said that on Sunday evening, a call was received regarding the murder of a woman at her house in the Khajuri Khas area. A team was sent to the spot and discovered a body, lying face down, beneath the bed and bloodstains in the room.
"The deceased's daughter mentioned that her stepfather, Sunil, had been missing since September 16, after locking the door to their room. A local inquiry revealed that Sunil and Draupadi engaged in frequent altercations," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northeast, Joy Tirkey said.
Draupadi was last seen alive at around 12:30 noon on September 16 by her daughter.
"The locked room was subsequently opened in the presence of the landlord, revealing the lifeless body.
"The deceased had an injury on her forehead, and a scarf was wrapped around her neck," said the DCP.
During the initial probe, it was discovered that Draupadi's initial marriage was to Jyotish Yadav, with whom she had four children. The other three children reside with Yadav in Bihar's Madhepura.
"Draupadi retained custody of one daughter and had been living with her second husband, Sunil, for the past seven years. They did not have any children together," the DCP said.
The post mortem examination revealed that death was due to strangulation. Sunil was apprehended and on interrogation, it was revealed that he suspected that his wife was having an illicit relationship with another man.
"The couple had frequent arguments over the issue. On the fateful day, in a fit of rage, Sunil hit her on the forehead with a hammer and then strangled her. He then pushed her dead body under the bed, locked the house and ran away," said the DCP.
--IANS
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Russia finds itself isolated over Ukraine war as ally Armenia flips to US. Image Source: IANS News
Washington, Sept 19 : Armenia, a former state of Soviet Union, has turned against Russia over waging war on Ukraine with its Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan saying his country's alliance with Moscow was a "strategic mistake", while launching military exercises with the US.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin finds himself increasingly isolated from the world over his invasion of Ukraine, launched in February last year, even countries that separated from the USSR and still remained an ally are reconsidering their relationship, thus isolating the Russian President.
Putin finds himself increasingly isolated on the global stage. Last year's invasion of Ukraine has left him with few friends, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un being one of them.
Armenia has recently reconsidered its alliance with Russia as a " strategic mistake" and feels betrayed by its actions, reports said.
Armenia has been relying on Russia for its security. Its PM Pashinyan now considers this reliance a "strategic mistake", as reported by CNN. He felt Russia itself is in need of weapons and can no longer meet Armenia's security needs.
Not just Ukraine. Armenia is particularly concerned about escalating conflicts and tensions with Azerbaijan. The country feels betrayed by Russia's inability or unwillingness to intervene in the on-going disputes between the two nations. Armenia has turned to the United States for joint military exercises, annoying Russia to a great deal.
Some analysts say that Russia is too preoccupied with its invasion of Ukraine. Hence, Russia's unwillingness to choose between Armenia and Azerbaijan has effectively made it choose Azerbaijan over Armenia much to the chagrin of Pashinyan.
This passive stance is seen as a pro-Azerbaijani position, Armenian diplomats observed.
Armenia's hope on a key ally has been shattered by Russia. Armenia had invested years, even centuries, believing Russia would fulfil its strategic commitments and defend them against foreign aggression.
"This belief has been shattered, as Russia has failed to act in 2020, 2021, and now in 2022," media reports said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that no agreements were signed between Putin and Kim Jong Un during their recent meeting at Vladivostok. The five -hour meeting that took place on September 13 in Russia's eastern Amur Oblast was initially believed to be an arms deal agreement.
Peskov clarified the meeting did not conclude with signed agreements and it did not cover any arms sales or any other matters. Putin also told reporters that the discussions were centred around cooperation in missile and space technology.
Peskov reiterated that an arms sale was not the objective of Kim's visit to Russia, stating, "There were no such plans."
The United States had warned that it would impose new sanctions on both Russia and North Korea if they entered into an arms deal. South Korea also indicated on September 15 that it would consider further sanctions against the two nations.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that Putin would need to be cautious in his statements about the Russia-North Korea relationship to avoid triggering additional sanctions, reports said.
In the meantime, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasised that the financial aid from the United States to Ukraine serves a greater purpose going beyond funding Ukraine in its war against Russia.
In an interview with CBS News, Zelensky warned that if Ukraine falls, Putin would go aggressive beyond Ukraine, thus unleashing a global conflict.
Zelensky pointed out that the US has already contributed tens of billions of dollars to Ukraine's war effort. What more does Ukraine need to do to prove its gratitude, except saying, "We are dying in this war."
Zelensky also warned that if Ukraine falls, it could lead to a Third World War.
The Ukrainian President is expected to visit the White House this week as the Biden administration pushes for increased funding for Ukraine to the tune of $24 billion, including both military and humanitarian aid in the Congress but opposed by most Republicans who are in majority.
The US administration sent a request to Congress for an additional $24 billion in military and financial aid for Ukraine. The request faces opposition from an increasing number of House Republicans.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that they have attached immovable properties, including non-agricultural lands and residential properties, worth Rs 71.48 crore, situated in Mysore, Bengaluru, and Ananthpura (Andhra Pradesh), of Hindustan Infracon (India) Pvt Ltd in a fraud case.
The ED initiated PMLA investigation based on FIRs registered by Karnataka Police in various districts of the state against Hindustan Infracon India Pvt Ltd and its Directors under various sections of the IPC.
The ED investigation revealed that the accused persons, with a fraudulent intent of cheating the common public, illegally collected funds/deposits of Rs 389 crore from 7,18,817 investors, with a promise of exorbitant rate of returns on the investments.
However, the accused persons failed to return the amount of Rs 199 crore to the investors and thus, cheated the common public.
The ED investigation further revealed that Hindustan Infracon India Ltd, diverted the funds received from the investors and made payments to Bharath Builders, Hindustan Mega Shoppe India Ltd. (sister concern), K. Lalitha, and Vajra Properties.
These funds were utilised for purchase of immovable properties, withdrawal in cash and thereby utilised for personal gains. Further investigations into the matter is ongoing.
Guwahati, September 19 : Ranee Narah, a former Congress MP and ex-Union Minister of State from Assam, was questioned by the Chief Minister's vigilance cell for nearly six hours in connection with the alleged Rs 1 crore rupee tube-well scandal.
Accompanied by her husband Bharat Narah, an MLA and former state minister, Narah reached the Special Vigilance Cell of the CM's Office at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
After coming out of the vigilance office at 4:47 p.m.,the Congress leader told mediapersons, "I responded to all the queries of the investigating officers. I am satisfied with my answers, and I think they were satisfied as well."
When Narah was the Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs in the UPA government from 2012 to 2014, it was alleged that misappropriation of funds took place for the installation of hand pumps in Jorhat district in 2013-14.
Following a CAG report on the irregularities, a report to the state Assembly's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) led to the filing of a complaint in 2017, accusing Narah's MPLAD scheme of widespread financial mismanagement.
Meanwhile, allegations of land grabbing against the former Lakhimpur MP and her husband Bharat Narah also surfaced.
The Narah couple is charged with trespassing on public property when they started a tea estate under the name 'Ranee Narah'.
Manab Deka, a BJP MLA from Lakhimpur, claimed that in addition to encroaching on government property, the Narah couple also forcibly evicted other flood-affected families who had relocated there after losing their homes and other possessions in a series of floods.
"After trespassing on government property and forcibly evicting several landless farmers who were camped there, Bharat Narah and his wife Ranee Narah established a tea estate," Deka claimed.
The BJP MLA alleged that the Narah couple had sought for possession of 128 bighas of land through the Mission Vasundhara portal when Bharat Narah was a minister in the previous Congress government.
Deka further alleged that one bigha and four kathas of Bharat Narah's residential property in Boginadi are part of government land that he and his wife illegally appropriated.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Ministry of Defence (MoD) said that the 12th meeting of Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM) was held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
MoD said that the two chairs articulated steps in the direction of emerging areas of cooperation like cyber security and issues pertaining to global commons.
It said that they identified means to enhance existing areas of collaboration, especially in the field of defence industry, maritime security and multilateral cooperation.
The Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane shared an 8-point proposal with the Malaysian side to expand cooperation between India and Malaysia on a wide range of areas such as Government to government-level engagement, Tri-Service cooperation, Training, UN Peacekeeping, Bilateral Services Engagement, Defence Industrial Cooperation, Research and Development and Regional/ Sub-Regional Engagements.
The Defence Secretary highlighted the potential of the domestic defence industry with capacity and capability to cooperate with the Malaysian Armed Forces in its shipbuilding and maintenance plans.
MoD said that Malaysia has expressed confidence in the capability of the Indian defence industry and discussed possibilities for co-design, co-production and co-development in the field of defence industry.
"Both countries reaffirmed their commitment to implement fully the Enhanced Strategic Partnership based on mutual trust and understanding, common interests and shared values of democracy and rule of law," MoD said.
It said that as part of the visit, the Malaysian delegation also interacted with DRDO officials and identified areas of mutual interest. The delegation is scheduled to visit Mumbai on September 20 for interactions at Mazagaon Dockyard Limited and Headquarters, Western Naval Command.
MoD said that the meeting was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and Deputy Secretary General (Policy), Malaysia Mohd Yani bin Daud.
"During the meeting, both sides reviewed the outcomes of the two sub-committee meetings namely Sub Committee on Military Cooperation held on July 27, 2023 and Joint Sub Committee on Defence Science Technology and Industry Cooperation held on September 18," MoD said.
It said that both sides assessed the existing defence cooperation between the two countries and held wide-ranging discussions on issues of mutual interest including regional issues.
It said that they explored effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and agreed to establish a Strategic Affairs working Group (SAWG) to formulate a consultative mechanism intermediate between the MIDCOM and the two Sub-committees to handle all aspects of the defence cooperation between the two countries.
Islamabad, Sep 19 : The much-anticipated visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman to Pakistan is likely to take place in the first week of October, media reports said on Tuesday.
Pakistan has been pushing for a visit from the Saudi de facto ruler for months, The Express Tribune reported.
The Saudi crown prince visited India recently to attend the G20 Summit followed by a state visit. There were reports that the Saudi leader might make a brief stopover in Islamabad but later the plan was shelved.
Sources said the foreign office suggested that instead of Saudi crown prince making a stopover for a few hours, it was better that he would be invited for a state visit on separate dates, The Express Tribune reported.
Both sides were in contact with each other to finalise the dates for the visit. It is expected that the Saudi ruler may visit in the first week of October. Because of the likely visit of the Saudi crown prince, Pakistan's caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia.
He was earlier supposed to travel to Saudi Arabia before leaving for the UN General Assembly Session in New York, The Express Tribune reported.
Mother, daughter among five electrocuted to death in Ghaziabad. Image Source: IANS News
Bhubaneswar, Sep 19 : A student died while four others sustained serious burn injuries due to electrocution after a steel pole accidentally came into contact with 11Kv live electric wire inside the campus of a private university at Naraj in Cuttack district of Odisha.
The deceased student has been identified as Soham Bhagawan Sawale. He was a native of Aurangabad district of Maharashtra.
"While some students were carrying the Ganesh idol on a tractor to their institute in a procession, one of them waving the steel flagpole accidentally touched the live wire on university premises. The injured students were immediately rushed to a nearby private hospital where the doctors declared Sawale brought dead," a police official said.
The students suffered burn injuries are reported to be out of danger.
Meanwhile, the fire services officials are yet to trace a youth who had gone missing during immersion of Viswakarma idol in Kuakhai River on the outskirts of the city Monday afternoon.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that it recently conducted search operations in Ahmedabad in a case of illegal forex trading by TP Global FX, and seized cash totalling Rs 1.36 crore, 1.2 kg of gold, two luxury vehicles, including a Mercedes GLS 350D, worth Rs 89 lakh and various incriminating documents.
It said that a further Rs 14.72 lakh in a bank account was frozen.
The ED initiated a PMLA investigation based on an FIR registered under various sections of IPC by Kolkata Police against TM Traders and KK Traders.
"As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), TP Global FX is neither registered with RBI nor does it have any authorisation from the RBI for forex trading. The RBI also issued an Alert List including the name of TP Global FX , which was published to caution general public against unauthorised trading platforms," the ED said.
The ED investigation revealed that Prasenjit Das, Shailesh Kumar Pandey, Tushar Patel and other persons, through various dummy companies, defrauded the public under the guise of making investments in forex trading. These funds were subsequently used in purchase of movable/immovable properties for personal gains/benefits of accused persons.
Earlier, the ED had arrested Pandey and Das, who are presently in judicial custody. It said that Rs 121.02 crore lying in bank accounts was frozen and properties worth Rs 118.27 crore, comprising flats, hotels and resorts, and vehicles were also attached.
Prosecution Complaints has been filed against Pandey and Das and trial is under progress.
Hyderabad, Sep 19 : Mocking Congress party's six guarantees for Telangana, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) on Tuesday claimed that if Congress is voted to power change of a chief minister every year, political instability and various problems will be guaranteed.
The state minister also stated that the cost of the Congress guarantees is more than the total budget of Telangana.
Addressing a meeting at Telangana Bhavan, KTR said if people vote for Congress party, power cuts will be a guarantee. "There will be drinking water crisis guarantee, fertilisers and seed shortage guarantee," he said
The BRS leader said there will also be a guarantee that schemes like Rythu Bandhu and Dalit Bandhu will be scrapped.
KTR appealed to people not to believe false promises of the Congress party. Alleging that Congress is trying to distribute money among voters, the BRS leaders since Congress leaders earned huge money through scams, people should take it but cast their votes only to BRS.
Meanwhile, at another programme state finance minister Harish Rao said that if Congress comes to power, it will not implement the six guarantees given but will guarantee change of a minister after every six month. "There will be curfew for 6 months in Hyderabad and electricity supply for agriculture will be only for 6 hours. Every year there will be 30 free flight tickets to Congress MLAs and there will be weekly two power holidays for industry"
Harish Rao also predicted that if Congress comes to power in Telangana, Bengaluru will become second high command. They will go to Delhi via Bengaluru, he remarked.
The Congress party announced six guarantees for Telangana at a huge public meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Assembly elections in the state are slated to be held in November-December.
Silchar : , Sep 19 (IANS) Following the unnatural death of a third-year electrical engineering student, more than 2,000 students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Silchar, have been on a hunger strike for more than 36 hours now, demanding the resignation of the Dean (Academics) of the institute.
The students are protesting against B.K. Roy, the Dean, for allegedly abetting the suspected suicide of Koj Buker, a student from Arunachal Pradesh student, who was found dead in his hostel room on September 15.
The students began their hunger strike on the campus on Monday. On Tuesday, they wrote to President Droupodi Murmu, outlining their demands and the current state of NIT Silchar.
The students wrote, "Dean Academics has been harassing students since the beginning of his tenure. Koj Bukar committed suicide due to the constant pressure from Roy. If this continues to be the state of the college, we don't know how many more such cases of suicide will surface."
They have also written to the Prime Minister, Assam Governor and Chief Minister demanding their intervention in the matter.
The students have urged the institute administrators to lodge an FIR over the inexplicable death of Koj Buker so that the police can conduct an investigation. Additionally, they have claimed monetary reparations for Koj Buker's family.
The students declared that they would keep protesting until Roy admits his guilt for Koj Buker's alleged suicide and steps down from his position.
After the students went on hunger strike, the Silchar NIT administration has temporarily dismissed Roy from the position of Dean (Academics).
"Roy will not serve as Dean during this time," said Registrar K.L. Baishnab, adding that an internal committee is looking into the circumstances surrounding the inexplicable death of Koj Buker.
According to Baishnab, they went to speak with the students and begged them to end their hunger strike because the authorities have already taken action against Roy.
"They want all of their demands to be met simultaneously, which is not conceivable," he said.
Guwahati, Sep 19 : Bhupen Kumar Borah, the president of the Assam Congress, on Tuesday Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to withdraw Chief Minister Himanta Sarma's fellowship since the BJP leader "stands for all that is wrong in Indian politics." In an open letter to the institution's dean, Borah expressed his shock that Sarma had been given the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship, which is named for Singapore's first prime minister.
In his open letter, Borah emphasised that Singapore's first prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, was a model statesman who consistently displayed honesty, diligence, and decorum.
"On the other hand, Himanta Biswa Sarma exemplifies the opposite of everything that Lee Kuan Yew stood for. In fact, he stands for all that is wrong in Indian politics," the Congress leader alleged in the letter.
He claimed that Sarma is accused of several financial scams and often makes highly communalised statements against minorities, citing various news reports.
Borah urged the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to revoke the fellowship awarded to Sarma, claiming that the Chief Minister had failed to provide citizens with essential services while the state had gone deeper and deeper into debt.
Meanwhile, Rupam Goswami, a BJP spokesperson, responded to Borah's letter by saying the Congressman should have been pleased that his state's Chief Minister was being honored.
"Although Himanta Biswa Sarma is a member of the BJP, he is the only Assam Chief Minister eligible for this fellowship. Bhupen Borah is a pessimistic individual who seeks out the negative aspects of even good developments," Goswami said.
This fellowship has previously been awarded to Indian figures such as former union minister Arun Shourie, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and former Vice-Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Ottawa, Sep 19 : On a day when diplomatic relations between India and Canada nosedived over the killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada updated its travel advisory urging citizens to exercise "high degree of caution" while travelling to India citing terrorism threat.
Canada while updating its travel advisory asked its citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in India due to the threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country.
"Avoid non-essential travel to the following states due to the risk of terrorism and insurgency in Assam Manipur," it said.
It also warned its citizen to avoid travel to Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation.
"There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping," it said, adding, "This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh."
It also warned its citizens to avoid travel to border areas with Pakistan. "Avoid all travel to areas within 10 km of the border with Pakistan in the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat due to the unpredictable security situation and presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance."
"This advisory excludes the Wagah border crossing," it said.
Earlier in the day, amid deteriorating diplomatic relations between India and Canada, New Delhi on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat based here in a tit for tat move giving similar reply to Canand.
The High Commissioner of Canada to India (Cameron Mackay) received summons on Tuesday during which the Government of India conveyed its decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat currently stationed in the country.
The concerned diplomat has been officially instructed to depart from India within the next five days, a statement issued by the external affairs ministry said.
"The decision reflects Government of India's growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement said.
The decision came after Canada had earlier expelled a high ranking Indian diplomat.
These developments have occurred after Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday in an emergency statement in Parliament accused the Government of India of involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau had said that the Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
India has rejected claims by the Canadian government that it had an involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Terming them as "absurd and motivated", the external affairs ministry in a statement said: "We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated."
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Two men, evading arrest for last 22 years in a kidnapping and rape case registered in south Delhi, have been arrested from Uttar Pradesh, a Delhi Police official said on Tuesday.
The accused were identified as Mohd. Ameen (51) and Mohd. Mobin a.k.a Cheddu (39), both residents of UP's Fatehpur district.
Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, Chandan Chowdhary said that a specific information was received that two declared aProclaimed Offendersa were residing at district Fatehpur.
"Hence, the information was further developed and local enquiry of the area was conducted. More details about the proclaimed offenders were collected and as per input, the team laid a trap at village Sangaon near Fatehpur and duo accused was nabbed," she said.
The DCP further said that both the accused were absconding and declared proclaimed offenders in a order by the Saket court on September 18, 2002 by Saket Court in connection with a kidnapping and rape case registered at Hauz Khas police station.
--IANS
ssh/vd
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A Delhi court on Tuesday granted bail to the husband of a pilot with a private airline for allegedly assaulting their 10-year-old domestic help.
Additional Sessions Judge Shama Gupta, while granting bail to the accused Kaushik Talapatra, 36, noted that the general rule is bail and not jail.
She said that serious allegations alone should not be the sole criterion for denying bail, and that custodial interrogation of the accused was unnecessary, and there was no risk of the accused fleeing from justice.
The court considered the accused's submissions, which pointed out that his wife, Poornima, had already been granted bail on August 17.
The judge acknowledged that the allegations against the accused were serious but reiterated that bail should be the general rule, particularly when the purpose of bail is to secure the accused's attendance at trial and allow for the completion of the investigation.
The court also noted that police custody had not been requested for Talpatra after his arrest on July 19, indicating that custodial interrogation was not required for the ongoing investigation.
Regarding the victim's statement, the court noted that the allegations were that both the accused and his wife had assaulted her, but it also noted that the injuries near her eye and the burn were caused by Talpatra's wife.
The court said that it was challenging at this stage to determine the specific acts committed by the accused persons. The judge said that in considering the bail plea, the court has to evaluate whether pre-trial detention would aid the investigation or if there were concerns about the accused fleeing or tampering with evidence.
In this case, the pending investigation was mainly related to obtaining a final medical opinion and recording the statement of the child victim's father, so custodial interrogation of the accused did not seem necessary.
The court also considered that the accused had been working as an aircraft maintenance engineer before his arrest, making it less likely for him to flee from justice.
The judge granted bail to the accused on the condition of furnishing a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh with one surety of the same amount. Other conditions of bail included not contacting the victim, except for settling her dues, informing about any change of address, attending trial as required, providing mobile phone numbers to the Investigating Officer, and not leaving the country.
The 10-year old girl was employed by the couple, who allegedly beat her. This was noticed by a relative of the girl, which led to a crowd gathering at the residence of the couple and confronting and manhandling the couple.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : A 79-year-old woman was found dead in her house at southwest Delhi, an official said on Tuesday, adding that police teams are investigating the incident.
Sharing the details, the police reported that on the night between Sunday and Monday, at 11:00 p.m, a police control room call was received at Kishangarh police station regarding an unconscious woman with blood in Gali no 1, Jia Sarai.
Upon arriving at the scene, police discovered the body of an elderly lady identified as Krishna Devi, lying in a pool of blood.
"Upon examination of the deceased, a deep wound was found on the front side of her neck. The deceased had been living alone for the past 10-12 years," said a senior police official.
"A woman named Mamta, who operates a small kitchen for students, used to provide her with meals. However, last night around 9:30 p.m, when Mamta came to deliver food, she found the lights switched off. She called a young man from the second floor, and together they discovered the deceased lying in her room," said the official.
However, no signs of robbery or burglary have been observed thus far.
"The body has been transported to Safdarjung Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The crime scene has been inspected by the Crime team and forensic experts," said the official.
"Consequently, a case under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at Kishangarh police station, and the investigation is currently underway," said the official.
ED conducting searches in premises of people linked to Senthil Balaji in Karur. Image Source: IANS News
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday said that it has attached immovable properties amounting to Rs 3.89 Crore in the case of notorious criminal Suresh Jagubhai Patel and others under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
ED said that they attached twenty-three immovable properties belong to Pritiben Suresh Patel, wife of Suresh Jagubhai Patel which are derived by indulging in the criminal activities such as murder, extortion, corruption etc. relating to scheduled offence.
The ED initiated PMLA investigation based on FIRS registered by Daman Police, Gujarat Police and Mumbai Police against Suresh Jagubhai Patel alias Sukha and his accomplices under various offences of corruption, possession of illegal firearms, murder, extortion etc.
Earlier, ED had conducted search operation at the residential premises of Suresh and his accomplices resulting in seizure of cash of Rs 1.34 crore, jewellery and assets valued at Rs 1.07 crore and freezing of balance amounting to Rs 20.90 lakh lying in bank accounts.
Furthermore, cash amounting to Rs 22.68 lakhs was seized at the residential premises of one of the accomplice of Suresh Patel.
The total value of the movable, immovable properties seized, attached in this case till date is Rs. 6.73 Crore
Further investigation into the matter is ongoing.
Shillong, Sep 19 : the National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked Meghalaya Chief Secretary Donald Phillips Wahlang to submit a report after a woman lost her newborn baby in a tourist taxi last week due to a traffic jam caused by a fishing competition at Pamphyrnai lake along an vital highway.
On September 16, Daphiralin Jyrwa had to deliver a male baby inside a tourist taxi in West Khasi Hills district as the vehicle expectant mother was travelling got stucked for several hours due to huge traffic jam due to unsystematic parking of hundreds of vehicles on both sides of the Shillong-Nongstoin National Highway and thousands of people both anglers and viewers witnessing the angling competition.
Officials on Tuesday said that NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma has asked the Meghalaya Chief Secretary to submit a detailed report on the incident within a week to the commission.
She asked the state government to extend all possible support to the woman of the deceased baby.
The issue was also raised on Tuesday in the Meghalaya assembly session.
Opposition Voice of the People Party (VPP) MLA Adelbert Nongrum moved a motion in the house seeking a report from the government about what action has been taken against the Deputy Commissioner of West Khasi Hills district for allowing the fishing competition at Pamphymai Lake without ensuring the law and order issues.
The legislator also wanted whether the district Superintendent of Police posted police personnel to help the organisers to conduct the competition, prize distribution ceremony and managing the traffic and crowd control.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : Following the killing/death of three dreaded pro-Khalistani terrorists in the past few months, the name of designated Khalistani terrorist and chief of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, is on the top of the security agencies' radar now.
Facing 22 criminal cases in Punjab, including three of sedition, Pannun is known to be operating from Khalistani terrorists' safe heaven Canada.
On May 6, Khalistani leader Paramjit Singh Panjwar, the head of the Khalistan Commando Force (KCF), was shot dead in Lahore.On June 15, Avtar Singh Khanda, a leading exponent of Khalistan and handler of separatist Amritpal Singh, died of cancer at a hospital in the UK.
Three days later on June 18, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and chief of the banned outfit Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF), was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia.
Be it the rocket-propelled grenade attack on Punjab Police's Intelligence headquarters in Mohali last year, an audio message asking Kashmiri Muslims residing in Srinagar to go to Delhi and disrupt the G20 Summit, or assassination threats to multiple Chief Ministers and other who's who via telephonic audio messages -- they all have been linked to the proscribed terrorist organisation Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) founded by Pannun.
Just last week, Pannun declared to hold "Shaheed Nijjar kill India referendum" on the question: Is Indian High Commissioner Verma responsible for the 'assassination' of Hardeep Singh Nijjar?
He also announced to hold Khalistan Referendum-II on October 29 in Surrey, British Columbia.
Pro-Khalistan leader Nijjar, who was declared a 'wanted terrorist' by the Indian government, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen on the premises of Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, of which he was the head, in the Punjabi-dominated Surrey city on June 18.
Since Nijjar's killing, many radical activists have been questioning as three killings of Sikh separatists took place within one month. They say: Is there a pattern in the sudden killings of three Khalistani terrorists?
On Monday, Canada, in a surprise move, expelled a top Indian diplomat amid probe into the killing of Nijjar on its soil.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed 'credible allegations of a potential link' between agents of the Indian government and the killing of the Khalistani terrorist.
Now the question is over the role being played by Pannun of instigating a momentum on the foreign soil against the Indian government.
Who is Pannun?
The police in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have registered separate FIRs against Pannun, a law graduate from Panjab University in Chandigarh, over threats and attempting to disturb peace, stability and communal harmony.
Despite SFJ being a banned organisation in India since 2019 on grounds of secessionism and Pannun being declared a terrorist, countries like Canada, the UK and the US, with a sizable Sikh diaspora, have allowed the organisation to conduct anti-India activities, including holding illegal referendums to building a campaign for secession of Punjab.
Member of Indian diaspora admit that people like Pannun are raising charity in the name of referendums by abusing and accusing Indian authorities for atrocities against minorities, particularly the Sikh.
"In fact, most of the second or third generation of a particular community born and brought up in foreign shores, who have never witnessed the true face of militancy in Punjab (from 1981-1992), have been raising a bogey against India just at the instance of freedom," remarked a Sikh scholar.
He told IANS that they are the one who have never witnessed the dark days of militancy.
"In the name of referendums, a handful of separatists like Pannun get the opportunity to establish their base overseas by raising funds from Pakistan's ISI and similar agencies in China," said a police official.
The Western countries don't see crime to prosecute Pannun and other hardliners as they think it will be a violation of freedom of expression, he added.
Reacting to Trudeau's allegations of "potential link between Indian government agents and murder of Nijjar", senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the murder was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey.
He said Trudeau had unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote-bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada.
In Punjab, 1,792 police personnel had sacrificed their lives while fighting terrorism between September 1981 and August 1992.
Back to the separatist activities of Pannun, he has been booked in 22 cases since 2017, including on terrorism and sedition charges. Recently, he was booked by the Punjab Police for sedition after SFJ activists wrote a pro-Khalistan slogan on a glass box covering the statue of slain Chief Minister Beant Singh in Jalandhar.
Himachal Pradesh Police in May had booked Pannun under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for hoisting of Khalistani flags outside the state Assembly complex in Shimla.
A law graduate from Panjab University, Pannun is currently residing in Oakville on the outskirts Canada's Toronto.
Originally from Khankot village on the outskirts of Amritsar, Pannun's father, Mahinder Singh, was an employee with the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board.
His family had migrated from Pakistan to Khankot during Partition in 1947. Pannun is little known in his village, where he owns property worth crores, including agricultural land. In fact, he rarely visited the village.
Pannun, an attorney at law in the US and Canada who has been offering employment abroad, besides cash incentives for hoisting the Khalistani flag on public buildings, is one of the founders of SFJ, which claims to be "an international advocacy and human rights group".
Pannun, who asks the youth in Punjab to hoist the Khalistani flag on Independence Day, has been actively propagating and funding the secessionist Khalistan agenda abroad.
Bengaluru, Sep 19 : An important meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday in Delhi to discuss the Cauvery water sharing row, projects in Karnataka which are waiting for the Union government's approval, and drought relief matters for the southern state.
Union ministers, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs hailing from the state will participate in this crucial meeting. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will also to attend the meeting.
T.B. Jayachandra, Special Representative of the Karnataka government in Delhi, has been engaging in preliminary meetings which are being held at the Karnataka Bhavan.
The meeting on Wednesday, to be chaired by Siddaramaiah, has been convened as the Prime Minister and all the union Uinisters will be present in the national capital given the ongoing special session of the Parliament.
New Delhi, Sep 19 : The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill, mandating 33 per cent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies, including Delhi, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, but a legal expert says that the provisions are very unlikely to be implemented in the upcoming Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram.
Senior Supreme Court advocate and Uttar Pradesh's Additional Advocate General Ravindra Raizada says that the Bill being a Constitutional Amendment will not only require the special 2/3rd majority in both houses of the Parliament but will also be carried forward to the state Assemblies for ratification by at least half of them.
"It is a time-consuming process as state Assemblies are called for passing a resolution and nothing can be done on an emergent basis. Implementation of a constitutional amendment takes time," he said.
Raizada emphasised that in the process of implementation, the role of the Election Commission will increase multi-fold as there will have to be a delimitation of constituencies.
"Because once you reserve a seat out of existing seats, delimitation would be the main issue that would arise. In simple terms, delimitation means which constituency will be exclusively reserved for women," he said.
The quota for women is likely to be completely rolled out nation-wide in 2029 post completion of delimitation exercise and will continue for a term of 15 years.
Giving an example, Raizada said that if the Uttar Pradesh Assembly dissolves in 2027 on completion of its five-year term, the reservation will come into effect from polls for 2027, adding that the provisions are very unlikely to be implemented in the upcoming state polls to five states.
He clarified that the Constitutional Amendment, once qualified for implementation, will be applicable throughout all the states across the country even if any state had passed a resolution against the Bill providing for 1/3rd women quota.
On the question of permissibility under the Constitution, Raizada said that there is absolutely no prohibition in the Constitution for taking such affirmative action in favour of women and in fact, Article 15(3) of the Constitution allows creation of special provisions for women and children.
He believes that representation of women in the legislature will certainly expand beyond the specified percentage as that women, in addition to quota seats, will certainly secure other non-quota seats as the Bill does not prohibit women to continue contesting elections in other constituencies.
According to the Bill, seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise to be carried out in accordance with the law made by the Parliament.
Notably, the Bill does not intend to alter the composition of the present Lok Sabha or existing Legislative Assemblies but will apply once they are freshly constituted on completion of their respective tenure or on being dissolved for any other cause.
In August, the Supreme Court had questioned the Centre over delay in filing its reply on a PIL seeking re-introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill, 2008. "You have not filed a reply. Why are you shying away?" it had asked Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj, representing the Centre.
The top court had said that the issue is "too important" and queried the ASG if the Centre intends to implement the one-third women quota.
--IANS
puneet/vd
Patna, Sep 20 : A man and his wife drowned in a well in a village on Patna's outskirts on Monday, police said on Tuesday.
The incident was reported from Sihi Pansuhi village under Dulhin Bazar police station on the day of Hartalika Teej, when married women observe a day long fast, abstaining from even drinking water.
Sita Devi went to a well to bring water for the ritual but fell into it after her foot slipped. Local villagers immediately raised the alarm and her husband Ujjwal Kumar ran to save her, and jumped into the well in a bid to save her but failed.
The well was very deep and they drowned inside. The local villagers did not dare to jump into it to rescue them. They called for local swimmers, but by the time, they came, the couple had drowned. Sita was on fast for the long life of her husband on Hartalika Teej.
"Two persons, who were husband and wife, drowned in Panshuhi village. We have extricated the dead bodies and sent them for the autopsy at Paliganj sub-divisional hospital. They are survived by two children. The other family members were living in different states. They were informed about the incident," said Dharmendra Kumar, the SHO of Dulhin Bazar police station.
Students in Bihar's Bettiah protest over transfer of principal. Image Source: IANS News
Patna, Sep 20 : Angry over the transfer of the principal, students of a government school in Bihar's Bettiah city went on a rampage and set a bike on fire on Tuesday.
The incident occurred at the government middle school, Pakhnaha, under Baria police station in West Champaran district.
Principal Jitendra Kumar was posted at the school two months ago. At that time, he had given an application for a transfer to the department.
"The call came from the Education Department on Monday that my transfer has happened. It is extremely unfortunate that two students were injured in this incident," he said.
When the news of transfer spread in the school, the students went on agitation, objecting to the transfer as they wanted Jitendra Kumar to stay in this school.
They blocked the road connecting Pakhnaha with Bettiah.
When senior officers of the Education Department including DPO Kunal Gaurav reached the spot along with police officers of Baria, he allegedly beat two of the agitating students.
This has led to further provocation and angry students set a teacher's bike on fire.
As the students refused to withdraw their protest, the Education Department eventually sent Jitendra Kumar in the school and calmed them down.
The injured students were admitted to a private hospital and their condition is stable.
Ramanagara : , Sep 20 (IANS) Former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior JD-U leader H.D. Kumaraswamy said on Tuesday that the people of Karnataka are dejected with Tamil Nadu over the Cauvery water dispute.
"Tamil Nadu is damaging the federal structure in India," he underlined.
Speaking to the media, Kumarasway said, "We have built a dam here and we have built it with the money of our people. The Central government did not give any funds for it. This thing must be understood. The dam is located in our state, we have built it. We are made to tolerate the domination of Tamil Nadu for 200 years in the Cauvery dispute. Is this federalism?"
"We have got to make a strong decision. For how many years this domination should be tolerated? If the order is not complied with, will they jail us? Let them send us to prison. What kind of federal structure is this," Kumaraswamy asked.
"All the political parties in the state must unite undermining differences. In Tamil Nadu, all the political parties unite. Likewise, all the parties should join hands in Karnataka as well. Yet, we are fighting with each other for politics," he said.
The state government should have filed an emergency petition before the Supreme Court immediately after the concerned authority asked the state to release water. Instead, the state government rushed to release water to Tamil Nadu, he said.
"I will raise the issue when I go to Delhi. I will not hesitate to discuss the matter for the sake of alliance with the BJP in Karnataka. Likewise, the BJP leaders should talk to PM Narendra Modi to safeguard the interest of the state," he said.
United Nations, Sep 20 : Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again raised the Kashmir issue saying that resolving it through dialogue by India and Pakistan will lead to regional stability.
"Developments that will pave the way for regional peace, stability and prosperity in South Asia will be the establishment of a just and lasting peace in Kashmir through dialogue and cooperation between India and Pakistan," he said on Tuesday at the high-level UN General Assembly meeting.
"Turkiye will continue to support the steps to be taken in this direction," he added.
His latest comment was mild as it had been the last two years and by avoiding references to UN resolutions or a direct mediation offer, it was closer to India's position that the Kashmir dispute was a bilateral matter.
In 2020, Erdogan called the Kashmir situation a "burning issue" and criticised the abolition of the special status for Kashmir.
The previous year, he had asserted that "despite the resolutions (UN) adopted, Kashmir is still besieged and eight million people are stuck in Kashmir".
Last year, only Erdogan and then-Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan were the only two leaders to refer to the Kashmir issue while the 191 others ignored it despite Islamabad's lobbying, showing its isolation in the UN.
Erdogan signalled to the Taliban regime, which has barred women and girls from education in the name of Islam that and most work, that it would be accepted internationally if it gave up the restrictions.
"The transformation of the interim (Afghanistan) government into an inclusive administration in which all segments of society are fairly represented will pave the way for Afghanistan to be positively received in the international arena," he said.
He criticised China for its treatment of the Uyghur minority, who are mostly Muslim.
"We will continue to express our sensitivity regarding the protection of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Uyghur Turks, with whom we have strong historical and humanitarian ties," he said.
Erdogan said that the Security Council "has ceased to be the guarantor of world security and has become a battleground for the political strategies of only five countries".
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
Washington, Sep 20 : US President Joe Biden was reportedly "highly concerned" over the diplomatic row between India and Canada amid Ottawa's claim that its citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on Canadian soil by agents linked to the Indian government.
The US has expressed concerns over the incident and deteriorating relations between India and Canada on the issue, US media reports said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had a rough time in Delhi during the G20 summit hearing accusations of harbouring pro-Khalistan terrorists on its soil, alleged that agents linked with the Indian government had assassinated a Canadian citizen Nijjar -- designated as a terrorist in India -- on its soil and expelled an Indian diplomat.
In fact, both countries expelled one diplomat each from their high commissions.
Nijjar is described by Indian officials as a Sikh separatist leader in Canada touting pro-Khalistan slogans and demanding separation from India in a disturbing secessionist movement.
India was deeply upset recently when pro-Khalistani elements took out a tableau through the streets of Canada glorifying the assassination of the then-Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards in 1984.
She was assassinated for her operation "Blue Star" sending the army into the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out terrorists which a section of the Sikhs community viewed as a sacrilege on their holy shrine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was upfront in telling his counterpart Trudeau to curb the activities of pro-Khalistani elements that were harbouring on its soil even as Trudeau said Canada "did not restrict of freedom of speech of any of its citizens".
Tensions escalated between Canada and India as Ottawa alleged that New Delhi may have been behind the killing of a Sikh activist on Canadian soil, with both sides expelling senior diplomats even as India rejected the allegation as "absurd".
Trudeau said on Monday that his government was investigating "credible allegations" that Indian government agents had been involved in the death of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar, 45, was shot and killed in June outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia, a suburb of Vancouver. "Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Trudeau told Parliament on Monday.
"In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter."
Ottawa on Monday announced the expulsion of a top Indian diplomat from Canada. To which, New Delhi responded on Tuesday by saying a senior Canadian diplomat had been asked to leave India within the next five days.
The Indian Foreign Ministry said that the expulsion reflected the government's "growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities", US media reports claimed.
India has been accusing Canada of supporting pro-Khalistan elements as they constituted a chunk of the voter base.
About 2 per cent of the Canadian population is Sikh, championing the movement to establish an independent Sikh nation they call Khalistan, derived from the word Khalsa, a holy word for them in their religion.
The state they want carved out lies in the northern Indian state of Punjab, where most of India's Sikhs live.
The Khalistan secessionist move is outlawed in India but has found a large number of supporters among the Sikh diaspora in countries such as Canada and the UK.
The Indian Foreign Ministry had earlier dismissed the Canadian allegations regarding Nijjar's killing as "absurd and motivated".
"Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it said in a statement earlier Tuesday.
MALAKAL, Oct. 17, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on Oct. 16, 2016 shows South Sudan's government troops patrolling in Malakal town, South Sudan. Fresh clashes between government and opposition forces near the northern town of Malakal have killed at lea. Image Source: IANS News
Juba, Sep 20 : At least ten civilians and security officers have been killed following two days of clashes in Pochalla town of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) in eastern South Sudan, the army has said.
Lul Ruai Koang, spokesperson for the South Sudanese army, told Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that the clashes that broke out on Sunday started after the army pursued an officer who had escaped detention.
He said the escapee had gone into hiding at the home of his former commander, Okony Okwom Othow, who had himself absconded from duty in May after refusing orders to deploy him to another station.
"Whenever a soldier commits a crime or disobeys lawful orders, he would go and report to Okwom. So on Sunday, there was a soldier that sold ammunition and guns and was arrested; that soldier escaped from prison and reported to his (Okwom) area," Koang said in an interview on Tuesday in the South Sudanese capital of Juba.
He disclosed that clashes erupted on Sunday evening till Monday when soldiers were dispatched to re-arrest their colleague who had escaped detention.
"They were attacked by armed Anyuak youth supporting the former commander who was later killed; that angered the armed youth who on Monday came in large numbers and attacked our position, but they were repelled," Koang said.
In June, the same armed Anyuak youth killed Samuel Ojulu Ochalla, the former commissioner of Pochalla County, after they rejected his appointment.
The GPAA, which borders Ethiopia, is prone to inter-communal violence, particularly between the pastoral tribe of Murle and the Dinka and Nuer tribes in neighbouring Jonglei State.
The violence is often characterized by looting of cattle, revenge killings, and women and child abduction.
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After nearly three weeks of waiting, federal judge Alan D. Albright delivered a major victory for freedom to read advocates, issuing a substantive 59-page written opinion and order officially blocking Texass controversial book rating law, HB 900, from taking effect. The decision comes after Albright orally enjoined the law at an August 31 hearing and signaled his intent to block the law in its entirety.
Signed by Texas governor Greg Abbott on June 12, HB 900 would have required book vendors to review and rate books for sexual content under a vaguely articulated standard as a condition of doing business with Texas public schools. Under the law, books rated sexually explicit (if the book includes material deemed patently offensive by unspecified community standards) would be banned from Texas schools. Books rated sexually relevant (books with any representation of sexual conduct) would have required written parental permission for students to access them. Furthermore, the law would have given the state the ultimate power to change the rating on any book, and would have forced vendors to accept the state's designated rating as their own, or be barred from selling to Texas public schools.
In suing to block the law, the plaintiffs (two Texas bookstoresAustins BookPeople and Houstons Blue Willow Bookshoptogether with the American Booksellers Association, the Association of American Publishers, the Authors Guild, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund) argued that the law is blatantly unconstitutional, and would impose an untenable burden on vendors and publishers. After two hearings held in August, Albright agreed in an opinion handed down September 18.
The Court does not dispute that the state has a strong interest in what children are able to learn and access in schools. And the Court surely agrees that children should be protected from obscene content in the school setting, Albright concluded. That said, [the law] misses the mark on obscenity with a web of unconstitutionally vague requirements. And the state, in abdicating its responsibility to protect children, forces private individuals and corporations into compliance with an unconstitutional law that violates the First Amendment.
In defending the law, Texas attorneys had moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the law, and that the state has the right to regulate vendors who wish to do business with Texas public schoolsessentially asserting that rating books would simply be part of the cost of doing business in Texas. Albright demolished those arguments in his opinion, and harshly criticized the ill-conceived law in denying the motion to dismiss.
At one point, Albright observed that the burden placed on vendors by the law are so numerous and onerous as to call into question whether the legislature believed any third party could possibly comply. And he called out state attorneys for their inability to answer basic questions over the course of two hearings. Generally, the government was confused and unaware of how the law would actually function in practice, Albright observed, citing approximately 40 instances during the August 18th hearing ('Hearing 1') where the government either did not know how the law would function or did not have an answer as to what the effects of certain provisions were.
The state, in abdicating its responsibility to protect children, forces private individuals and corporations into compliance with an unconstitutional law that violates the First Amendment.
Like many critics of the law, Albright was highly critical of the states attempt to outsource book ratings to private vendors (under impermissibly vague standards, and at a considerable, non-recoupable cost) while retaining the unchecked power to change a book's rating and force vendors to adopt it as their owneffectively imposing a state standard. Albright called this a textbook example of compelled speech.
Here, the government has failed to articulate any legitimate reason for requiring the vendors speak at all, Albright concluded. The government has the power to do the contextual ratings for the books itself. The government has the power to restrict the ability of its school district as to which books it may purchase. The exercise of these powers must, of course, comply with the requirements of the constitution, but these are powers that should be exercised by the state directly. Not by compelling third parties to perform it or risk losing any opportunity to engage in commerce with the school districts.
Meanwhile, despite initially saying he would enjoin the law in its entirety, at press time it remains unclear whether the judge will allow a part of the law to take effectspecifically, a provision that requires state agencies to develop voluntary standards for school library services by January 1, 2024.
In a September 1 motion, the state argued that the provision should be allowed to take effect because it does not directly impact the plaintiffs. But at a September 11 conference (and in a filing last week), the plaintiffs insisted the judge should follow through and block the law in its entirety, arguing that allowing the state to develop new standards within the scope of this law would result in unconstitutional definitions and unconstitutional procedures. A status conference is set for this afternoon, September 19.
The ruling in Texasdelivered by a Trump-appointed judgeis the most high-profile victory yet in a slew of lawsuits pushing back on new state laws that take aim at the freedom to read under the guise of "parental rights."
On July 29, a federal judge in Arkansas blocked two key provisions of a recently passed Arkansas law, known as Act 372, that would have exposed librarians and booksellers to criminal liability for making allegedly inappropriate or harmful books accessible to minors in the state.
Suits are also pending in Missouri, challenging Senate Bill 775, a school library obscenity law that opponents say forces librarians to censor their collections under the "threat of arbitrary enforcement of imprisonment or fines." And in May, PEN America and Penguin Random House joined forces with a group of authors and parents to sue school administrators in Escambia County, Fla, over the removal of allegedly inappropriate books from school libraries.
State officials in Texas have already filed notice that they will appeal.
In a joint statement, the plaintiffs praised the decision. "We thank the court for its clear and decisive ruling and applaud its finding that this law violates the First Amendment, imposes impossibly onerous conditions on booksellers, and ignores the vastly different community standards across local communities," the statement reads. "Today is a great day for Texas booksellers, publishers, readers, and communities."
Approximately one week after Peter Ruis resigned as CEO of Indigo Books & Music after being in that role for little more than a year, Canada's dominant bookstore chain turned to a familiar face to head the company-- company founder and onetime CEO Heather Reisman is back as CEO. This summer, Reisman had officially retired as Indigo executive chair and director.
In addition to Reisman's return, Indigo announced that Craig Loudon is adding the title of COO to his position of CFO; the previous COO, Gil Dennis, who had been with Indigo for 8 years, resigned yesterday. Furthermore, Markus Dohle, former global CEO of Penguin Random House who joined the board this summer, was appointed board chair. Reisman rejoins the board as well, which also added Eileen Naughton, most recently Chief People Officer at Google Inc. and former president of Time magazine, to the board. This summer the saw several members of its board resign and replaced, in a move that brought Dohle and others to Indigo.
The ongoing management shifts have worried many in Canadian publishing and comes as Indigo continues to deal with sales declines and the fallout from a website hack earlier this year which crippled the company's sales and online ordering systems for nearly two months. For the first quarter ended July 1, 2023, Indigo reported a 12% drop in revenue, with sales falling to C$179.2 million compared to C$204.6 million in the prior year period. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was a loss of $21.4 million, compared to a loss of $19.2 million in the prior year. The company blamed the hack, as well as a dearth of hot titles, for the poor performance.
Can Reisman's return help? Perhaps. Certainly as the company moves into the holiday sales period, Reismana familiar face to Canadian publishers and book buyersshould be reassuring. A selection of Reisman's favorite books, dubbed "Heather's Picks," have long been prominent bestselling books for the company and those picks, a spokesperson assured PW, will return.
There is a clear path for Indigo to regain its momentum, Reisman said in a press release announcing her return. I love this company and its mission. Even more, I care deeply about our people, who have given so much to build this incredible company over more than two and a half decades. I know that together we will return Indigo to growth and profitability. Im thrilled for both Indigo and for Craig Loudon about his promotion to COO. Craig has not only the institutional knowledge and experience to support me and our entire team in his new role, he has also been a trusted partner for our employees, our suppliers and our shareholders for a long time.
Dohle added: We are incredibly grateful that Heather has agreed to return to the helm of Indigo and as a member of the board, and that Craig has agreed to take on the key role of COO. More than ever, Heathers unique experience is needed as we work to bring Indigo back to profitable growth." In his board role, Dohle will oversee the human resources, compensation, and governance committees.
Book buyers will get a preview of the possible future direction of the company when it opens a new 16,000 sq.-ft. "urban concept store" at The Well, a new retail and housing development in the King West neighborhood of Toronto, this fall. Plans for the store include "immersive shoppable product vignettes," a vinyl record shop featuring a jukebox and curated selection of books, a gourmet coffee truck, and a plant shop with live plants and pots, as well as a robust live event and book club program.
Neal Sofman, the co-owner of San Francisco's Bookshop West Portal and founder of onetime Bay Area bookselling staple A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, died on September 6. He was 75.
Sofman began his career in bookselling as a clerk at Upstart Crow bookstore in San Francisco's cannery district before opening the first A Clean Well-Lighted Place in 1975, in Cupertino, with two business partners. In 1982, the store's third location was opened in the city's then-new Opera Plaza condo towers. Sofman closed that shop in 2006 and the location is now a Books Inc. As he was closing the last A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books, Sofman opened a new store, Bookshop West Portal, in the city's West Portal district, which is still in operation.
Sofman was an participant in an early TED conference, had a radio show about books, and at various times served on the board of the Northern California Booksellers Association and the American Booksellers Association.
Neal was like an old master, Wendy Sheanin, v-p of independent retail sales at Simon & Schuster, told the San Francisco Chronicle; Sheanin had previously worked, for six years, as events scheduler at A Clean Well-Lighted Place. When you think of the generation of people, nationwide, who have these great independent bookstores, Neal was right there with them.
Sofman is survived by his wife, Annawhom he first met in 1987, when she was sales director at University of Chicago Pressand a son, Samuel.
Today (Tuesday 19 September), all 106 trains in the new Berlin S-Bahn fleet are in service for the first time.
The trains are equipped with air conditioning, passenger information systems and security cameras, facilities which manufacturer Siemens claim offer passengers a new level of comfort and convenience. The new fleet increases the capacity of parts of Berlin's S-Bahn network.
The trains have more cars than those they replaced, and between them have around eighteen thousand seats. The longer trains operate on the Ring lines S41/S42 as well as the S8 line, and the S8 line now runs to Wildau during peak hours.
The new trains have been steadily brought into service since the start of 2021..
The delivery of the final train was marked with a ceremony attended by politicians, business representatives, and officials from the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB) and the Berlin S-Bahn. The ceremony took place at Charlottenburg S-Bahn station.
Berlin and Brandenburg states have financed the purchase of the trains, which were built by a consortium of Stadler and Siemens.
The 483/484 series trains are part of the transport contract for the Ring subnetwork. At the same time, S-Bahn Berlin is continuing to implement its BR 481 longevity program. More than three hundred of the five hundred trains in the 481 series (built between 1996 and 2004) have already been rebuilt.
The Berlin S-Bahn carries around 1.4 million every day, on sixteen lines in the capital and the state of Brandenburg. The name S-Bahn' is an abbreviation of the German word Stadtschnellbahn (city rapid railway') and came into use in December 1930 in Berlin.
Manja Schreiner, Berlin Senator for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection, and the Environment, said,Completion of the new fleet of trains on the Ring line marks a significant step forward for the S-Bahn service and the entire Berlin public transport system. This progress can be directly experienced by passengers every day: the longer trains offer more seats; air conditioning and the state-of-the-art passenger information system enhance comfort and convenience. The expanded and improved service can make switching to rail an interesting option for many. We will continue to pursue this course of offering attractive services to win over more and more people.
Guido Beermann, Minister for Infrastructure and State Planning of the State of Brandenburg, added, The S-Bahn is a vital link between Brandenburg and Berlin, especially for the many commuters. I am therefore delighted that the new fleet of trains is now complete. By providing significantly more space on board and many technical innovations, we are making climate-friendly public transport even more attractive. This is how the transport transition works.
S-Bahn CEO Peter Buchner, said, We have received very positive responses to the new air-conditioned, quiet and comfortable trains from our passengers as well as our employees. The new trains have already covered around 17 million kilometers in service.
Ute Bonde, Managing Director of Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, said, We are especially pleased that the new trains have been delivered on time despite the difficult conditions and are now all in service. For passengers, this means benefiting from more space and greater comfort and convenience on the Ring line and on the S46, S47, and S8 lines. Looking to the tasks ahead, we welcome the fact that S-Bahn Berlin GmbH is strongly committed to continuing its longevity program for the older 481 series trains. It is important to keep this main part of the S-Bahn fleet fully upgraded for operations until it is replaced by further new trains.
Jure Mikolcic, CEO Stadler Germany, commented, Our employees worked on the project in various phases for nearly ten years. The collaboration with our consortium partner Siemens and S-Bahn Berlin was very good throughout the entire project. We are especially proud that we were able to manufacture the new S-Bahn trains for Berlin at our location here in Berlin.
Elmar Zeiler, Head of Commuter and Regional Trains, Siemens Mobility, added, As a company with Berlin roots, we are particularly proud to be contributing to a sustainable improvement in passenger experience and comfort on the Berlin S-Bahn. The trains of the new 483/484 series not only stand out with their reliability, greater seating capacity and air conditioning, but also with their modern, energy-efficient drive technology.
In 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced a task force to explore reparations for chattel slavery. Recent polling suggests, however, that even most Californians are opposed to cash payments to descendants of enslaved people. Reparations just arent a very American idea they clash with our commitments to individual responsibility and equal opportunity rather than equal outcomes.
In 1865, the anti-slavery leader Frederick Douglass gave a speech denouncing what we might now call reparations. And if the negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall. he said. All I ask is give him a fair chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!
Douglass continued with a forceful charge: We may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! He believed that the American dream could be achieved by anyone even the victims of slavery if they put their minds to it and worked hard.
General William T. Shermans Forty acres and a mule directive on January 6, 1865 is a good example of the kind of reparations we owed freed slaves: a leg up and the ability to pursue the American dream. The order allowed for the confiscation of hundreds of thousands of square miles of plantation land, to be redistributed to newly-freed people. The federal government wasnt going to farm the land for them, but it was going to give them an opportunity to succeed through their own initiative and resourcefulness.
We need to find similar ways of reinvigorating the American work ethic today.
The best way to do that, in my mind, is to give every American a quality education and the skills they need to succeed in life. We need to take a hard look at our education system, top to bottom, including trade schools and other alternatives, and ask ourselves if we are providing this opportunity for everyone. The answer seems to be No.
In a country as rich and accomplished as America, our education system is a disgrace. Test after test shows that our young people are failing in many areas. From reading and math to civics and history, our school system is underperforming dreadfully. Our schools are doing a particularly poor job serving African American students recent test scores for math among this demographic have declined by 13 percent. This is an unacceptable situation.
So, what to do? Since most young people never go to college, the best place to start is reforming the K-12 education system. School districts should get back to the basics and get rid of all the rest. All students need to have a solid education in reading, math, grammar, and the hard sciences, as well as our countrys founding principles and history. Our young people need to understand the freedoms our country gives them and the rights and responsibilities they have as citizens.
Teachers unions should refocus their efforts on what is best for the children and the teachers. Let bad teachers be fired. Work, as they should, for better wages and benefits that attract top talent. If they have excess funds, use them to help the children, not the politicians.
Schools of education should focus their efforts on providing teachers with quality content rather than just pedagogy. Programs such as the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University and the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University are combining innovative ways to immerse teachers in a traditional liberal arts curricula, who will then root their students in Western civilization and the American heritage.
That being said, the vast majority of high school graduates dont go to college. That does not mean that their education should end after graduation. A great array of trade schools, junior colleges, and other training facilities should be available to them. The advisors in high schools should be trained to help each graduate find the best fit for them, not just point out which college would be best.
With this kind of additional training, many can go onto very successful careers, with good incomes, often better than some college graduates, have little to no debt, and do something they enjoy. And its a great result for the country, creating a large, well-trained labor pool. This is something well worth working on.
We owe every American whatever it takes to give them a fair chance. That begins, and is based on, a great education and job training, giving them a good place at the starting line.
Its true that African Americans have faced centuries of discrimination and injustice. From chattel slavery to Jim Crow laws, this country denied them their rights as Americans for far too long. The answer, though, isnt reparations in the form of cash payments. Instead, General Sherman had the right idea: give everyone the opportunity to plow their field, plant seed, and harvest crops through their own hard work and individual initiative.
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Paramount+ has released the first full trailer for its "Frasier" revival.
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The series premieres Oct. 12.
The trailer shows how Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) returns to Boston to surprise his son, Freddie (Jack Cutmore-Scott).
Frasier himself is surprised Freddie brushes him off, and that he has a girlfriend (Jess Salgueiro) he never mentioned.
So Frasier decides to take a job in Boston and set up a new apartment, of which he is already overly protective of the furniture.
The trailer begins with Frasier sitting in a bar, though not Cheers, with characters played by Nicholas Lyndhurst and Toks Olagundoye.
"What is it about the city of Boston that leads me to forego the more sophisticated temptation of the fermented grape," Frasier says.
"Sitting here with a cold brew in my hand, I feel amalgamated with the hoipoloi."
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Lyndhurst calls out Frasier's pretentiousness and also ribs him about Freddie's attitude towards him.
Grammar began developing the revival in 2018 and went into production in February of this year.
Belarus' gross external debt decreased by nearly $3 billion, or 7.4%, in the first half of 2023, according to the statistical report from the National Bank of Belarus (NBB), Azernews reports, citing Interfax.
According to the NBB, gross external debt declined from nearly $39.795 billion as at January 1, 2023, to nearly $36.844 billion as at July 1, or 48.9% of GDP.
Government administration accounted for nearly $17.21 billion, depository organizations for $5.479 billion, intercompany lending for nearly $2.11 billion, and other sectors for around $12.045 billion.
Net external debt, less debt assets placed outside the country, was nearly $10.608 billion as at July 1 this year.
As reported, the country's gross external debt decreased 5.3% to $37.61 billion in the first quarter, or 50.5% of GDP as at April 1 this year.
"Unlike external public debt, which includes only the government's obligations to non-residents, gross external debt covers financial obligations to non-residents of all residents of the republic," the regulator explains.
Belarus' gross external debt declined 5.3% to $39.75 billion, or 54.3% of GDP, in 2022 after decreasing 0.2% in 2021, and rising 3.5% in 2020 and 3.7% in 2019.
In a town like Athens, working out may be the last thing anyone wants to do. With so much to do, and new, fun things popping up all the time,
Two of Xi Jinping's chosen officials have disappeared from view, an indication of turmoil in Xi's government, months after he installed a collection of loyalist leaders in his cabinet, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
IMAGE: Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photograph: Florence Lo/Reuters
Not everything seems to be well in Xi Jinping's government in China.
There have been reports, unsubstantiated may be, about the intense economic inequality in Chinese society.
Information control by the system has prevented the actual situation to be known to the outside world.
The backlash from the outside world as a response to Xi 's aggressive foreign policy has spillover effects on the country's economy, thereby accentuating the social divide as the economic rent has not been evenly distributed among citizens.
Now cracks have surfaced in the political realm, signalling that Xi may be losing control of power.
Purges, elimination and even execution of adversaries are common in any authoritarian system.
Kim Jong Un's governance model in North Korea to perpetuate the dynastic rule is a clear example of this phenomenon.
The sudden change of the country's foreign minister recently and now the defence minister are indicators that not all are well in Xi's governance system.
Defence Minister General Li Shangfu, a veteran of China's military modernisation drive, who rose through the ranks to become defence minister, suddenly went missing on since August 29, within six months of his appointment, and is reportedly being investigated by the Chinese Communist party and stripped of his responsibilities.
Li is the second senior Chinese official to go missing after dismissed foreign minister Qin Gang's disappearance in June.
If Li has been relieved of his command, it would be the latest sign of turmoil in Xi's government, months after he installed a collection of loyalist leaders in his cabinet.
Li's removal from public view follows Xi's abrupt purge in August of two generals leading the country's Rocket Force, which oversees the country's nuclear and land-based missile arsenal, and Qin Gang's still unexplained disappearance.
The Xi government reportedly sought information on alleged graft charges during the military's procurement process dating back to October 2017.
Since Li headed the equipment procurement department from September 2017 to October 2022, it was suspected that Li was involved in some wrong doing.
This is being cited as the reason for his presumed removal as defence minister. Li served as one of China's five state councillors, a cabinet post that ranked higher than a regular minister.
As defence minister, he was less visible than top diplomats who frequently interacted with foreign officials.
If Li is removed, he would be the second state counsellor after Qin to be fired from a ministerial position in three months.
Like in Qin's case ahead of his removal, health was given as the reason for Li's absence when he didn't turn up to meet Vietnamese officials last week.
The fact that Xi talked called for 'a high level of integrity and unity' during a military inspection gives credence that suspected graft charges were behind Li's disappearance.
If one reads three developments in quick succession and joins the dots, it might emerge that the allegations against Li could be serious.
First, Li was not heard for three weeks. Second, he was a no-show for his trip to Vietnam.
Third, he was absent from his scheduled meeting with the naval chief of Singapore.
All these point that Li could even be under house arrest.
Are all these developments pointers that Xi is losing his grip on the military?
Though it may be premature to draw such a conclusion, these expose inadequacies in the People's Liberation Army's personnel promotion and vetting apparatus.
IMAGE: China's Defence Minister Li Shangfu at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, June 2, 2023. Photograph: Caroline Chia/Reuters
There is another twist to this development. Li's removal has a direct bearing on US-China relations.
Both the US and China maintain open lines of military-to-military communication across multiple levels, including senior-most levels.
Washington had reservation over Li's promotion as defence minister since he has been subject to US sanctions since 2018 in connection with China's purchase of Russian weapons.
China had refused any meeting between Li and his American counterpart as long as US sanctions remained in place.
Beijing believed that the US would drop sanctions against Li if it wanted to resume high-level military communications.
This was a risky dynamic as Washington and Beijing continue to spar over issues ranging from trade to Taiwan.
The US sanctions had prevented a restart in high-level military-to-military contacts, which were halted after then-House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
That visit was followed by a number of massive Chinese military exercises around the island.
This week Taiwan stated that 103 Chinese warplanes flew around Taiwan with a view to intimidate the island.
The Chinese military also holds large-scale military drills around Taiwan, including heavy bombers, infiltrating the island's air defense identification zone and across the so-called median line that separates both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
In June 2023, Beijing had declined a US request for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's meeting with Li at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
Li and Austin's encounter ended with a handshake.
At the forum, Li had warned that conflict with the US would be an 'unbearable disaster', and China sought dialogue over confrontation.
In mid-August, Li met officials in Russia and Belarus in a show of support for countries diplomatically isolated by the West in the wake of Moscow's military operation in Ukraine.
After Li delivered a keynote address at a security forum with African nations on August 29, he disappeared from public view.
Dr Rajaram Panda is a former senior fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
India on Tuesday described as 'absurd' and 'motivated' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegation that New Delhi was involved in any act of violence in Canada.
IMAGE: Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rises to make a statement in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, on September 18, 2023. Photograph: Blair Gable/Reuters
India's reaction came after Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleging that the Indian government may have had links to the assassination of a Sikh leader in that country.
'Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,' the Ministry of External Affairs said.
'Similar allegations were made by the Canadian prime minister to our prime minister, and were completely rejected,' it said.
'We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,' the MEA said.
It said such 'unsubstantiated' allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided 'shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity'.
'The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern,' it said.
The MEA said Canadian political figures have 'openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern'.
'The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new,' the MEA said.
'We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments,' it said.
'We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,' it added.
Canada has expelled an Indian diplomat as it was investigating what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called 'credible allegations' of the involvement of 'agents of the Indian government' in the killing of a Sikh extremist leader in Surrey in June, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as 'absurd' and 'motivated'.
IMAGE: Designated terrorist and Khalistani supporter Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Photograph: Twitter
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
After Trudeau's remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of 'a senior Indian diplomat'.
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Joly's remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeau's claims, calling them 'absurd and motivated'.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
'Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,' the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.
'Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected,' it said.
'We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law,' the MEA said.
'Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity,' it said.
'The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern,' the ministry said.
The MEA said Canadian political figures have 'openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern'.
'The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new,' the MEA said.
'We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments,' it said.
'We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,' it added.
Hours later, Trudeau said he was not looking to 'provoke' India or 'escalate' tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the 'utmost seriousness'.
He said the Indian government needs to 'take this matter with the utmost seriousness'.
"We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters. "We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes."
In his speech in Parliament on Monday, Trudeau told the lawmakers that any involvement of a foreign government in killing a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty.
"It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves," he said.
"As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he added.
He also said that he had raised with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the issue during their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi earlier this month. Trudeau urged the Indian government to 'cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter'.
During the bilateral meeting with Trudeau on September 10, Prime Minister Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism, inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
The Canadian foreign minister's office identified the expelled Indian diplomat as Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of India's foreign intelligence agency in Canada, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
"My expectations are clear. I expect India to fully collaborate with us and get to the bottom of this," Joly said.
Citing a senior government source, CBC News reported that Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including United States President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron.
In Washington, DC, the White House said it was "deeply concerned" about the allegations raised by Trudeau.
'We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice,' National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Reacting to the incident, a State Department spokesperson said, "We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We urge the Indian government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and ensure that those responsible are held to account."
In London, a United Kingdom government spokesperson said that Britain was in 'close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations'.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesperson at 10 Downing Street was asked about the impact the issue may have on India-UK relations.
"We are in close touch with our Canadian partners about these serious allegations," the spokesperson said. "It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities."
Later, when Sunak's spokesperson was pressed on the matter, he said work on the trade negotiations with India 'continue as before'.
A spokesperson for Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Canberra was 'deeply concerned' by the allegations made by Canada.
"We have conveyed our concerns at senior levels to India," the spokesperson said.
"The Indian diaspora are valued and important contributors to our vibrant and resilient multicultural society, where all Australians can peacefully and safely express their views," the spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is leading the murder investigation.
"We'll hold the perpetrators accountable and bring them to justice," he said.
Canadian police have not arrested anyone in connection with Nijjar's killing. Last month, police released a statement saying they were investigating three suspects.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.
Last week, a senior official said in New Delhi that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India and Canada will resume after the resolution of political issues between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the son of Nijjar, Balraj Nijjar, on Monday said the loss of his father is still fresh, especially given the circumstances of his death.
"It's been hard, obviously. You generally don't expect something like this to happen even in terms of age, because he's only 45," Balraj was quoted as saying by Vancouver-based Global News.
It also reported that Sikh community members vowed Monday to protest in front of the Indian consulates across Canada following Trudeau's statement.
Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000 (about 2 per cent of its total population).
Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A S Dulat Tuesday said Canada expelling an Indian diplomat after claiming that New Delhi was potentially linked to the killing of a Khalistani extremist will have a bearing on bilateral relations.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau. Photograph: Courtesy @PMOIndia on X
"This kind of expulsion or terming a diplomat persona non grata keeps happening. It is strange that the Canadian Prime Minister announced this in the Parliament..." Dulat told PTI video.
"We don't do these things. We do not go around assassinating people let me make this very clear," said Dulat, a seasoned intelligence officer who spent his career in the Intelligence Bureau and later became the head of the RAW.
He expressed concern over Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making a statement in their Parliament that 'Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar'.
Immediately after Trudeau made the statement, his Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced a senior Indian diplomat in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. Hours later, New Delhi expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat action.
Dulat said India also expels diplomats but 'we have never announced it in Parliament'.
"Normally, the concerned person is sent back home quietly. If there was a problem our officer could have been sent home," he said and added that this move will affect bilateral relations with Canada.
Dulat said the Canadian prime minister visited India twice but neither of his visits has been successful.
"The impression is that he does not listen to us. Our concern is that Khalistani are there. There are people who support Khalistan in Canada, North America and the United Kingdom," he said.
The former RAW chief said if Canadians wanted one of the diplomats out, it could have been done very quietly and at best the same could have been conveyed by Trudeau 'to our prime minister' that the activities of a diplomat were not compatible.
"I don't know what provoked this announcement in Parliament. Immediately, it will have an impact on mutual relationship but I am sure better sense will prevail and Canadians will understand," he said.
Dulat did not agree that this move was going to affect immigration of people for employment.
"In next few months, if Canada does not welcome Indian immigrants they will go to America. There are lots of places to go. Sikhs are now going to Australia and New Zealand," he said.
Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural center in Surrey in British Columbia, Canada.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be holding a meeting with all members of Parliament and Union Ministers from Karnataka in the national capital on Wednesday, to discuss a host of issues concerning the state, especially the release of Cauvery river water to neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
IMAGE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah with State Deputy Chief D K Shivakumar. Photograph: ANI Photo
Several stalled developmental projects and those waiting Centre's clearances are likely to come up for discussion at the meeting, during which the chief minister is likely to urge the Union ministers and MPs from the state to use their good offices for intervention of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Government of India on the Cauvery issue.
The meeting has gained significance, with the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) on Monday asking Karnataka to continue releasing 5,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu for another 15 days.
According to the chief minister's tour plan released to the media on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah will be holding a breakfast meeting with all MPs from Karnataka including Union Ministers on Wednesday.
He is later scheduled to meet several other Union ministers during the visit, and his return journey has been kept 'open'.
According to official sources, Siddaramaiah is also likely to meet the legal team, representing the state in the Supreme Court, ahead of the Cauvery water release issue coming up before the top court, probably later this week.
The chief minister recently has been critical of Prime Minister Modi, for not responding to his letter seeking time to meet an all-party delegation, and to discuss with him on issues concerning the state including Cauvery water release.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar will also be traveling to Delhi, and is expected to accompany the CM at meetings with MPs from the state and Union ministers.
Shivakumar earlier on Tuesday said the state is in a 'catch 22 situation', following the CWMA direction to release water to Tamil Nadu, and sought the Centre's intervention to resolve the issue.
Also, Water Resources Minister Shivakumar urged the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, its leaders and members of Parliament to prevail upon the prime minister to bail out Karnataka, while noting that he will be travelling to Delhi to meet MPs and the Union ministers during the ongoing Parliament session.
He also defended the state's decision to release water to Tamil Nadu, citing advice of the legal team in view of the case coming up in the Supreme Court for hearing later this week, where non-compliance of CWMA orders may be viewed seriously.
The opposition on Tuesday termed as an 'election jumla' the women's reservation bill brought by the government with many leaders raising questions over the proposed legislation, contending it doesn't account for reservation for OBC communities and that it will be effective at the earliest by the 2029 Lok Sabha polls.
IMAGE: Congress MPs attend the proceedings of the House during the Special Session at the new Parliament building, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: SansadTV/ANI Photo
Meeting a long-pending demand, the government on Tuesday introduced the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
However, it is unlikely to be in force for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024 as the reservation will come into effect only after a census and delimitation exercise are completed.
Calling the bill an 'election jumla' and 'huge betrayal of hopes of women', the Congress said that according to the Centre, the reservation will be effective only after census and delimitation exercise are conducted post-enactment of the bill.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party has always supported the women's reservation bill.
'In 2010, the Congress-UPA government got the women's reservation bill passed in the Rajya Sabha. Just as SC-ST class has got a constitutional opportunity in politics, similarly everyone including women of OBC class should get equal opportunity through this bill,' Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.
"There is a need to look carefully at the bill that the Modi government has brought today. In the current draft of the bill, it is written that it will be implemented only after decadal census and delimitation. This means, Modi government has probably closed the doors of women's reservation till 2029. BJP should clarify on this," he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah slammed the opposition, particularly the Congress, for showing only 'tokenism' on the bill and said the party has never been serious about women's reservation in legislative bodies.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wondered whether the Census and delimitation will be done before the 2024 elections, pointing out that the Narendra Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 decadal Census.
In a post on X, Congress general secretary Ramesh said, 'In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls.'
Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said unlike the UPA's women's reservation bill that immediately gave women 33 per cent reservation, the National Democratic Alliance's women's reservation will kick-in only after a census and delimitation process.
"At the earliest, this will kick in for the 2029 elections. If it isn't applicable immediately, this is just another headline management stunt by the Modi government. Further, the Bill doesn't account for reservation for women from OBC communities. Without that, it is incomplete in its social justice agenda," Venugopal said on X.
"The government should ensure that along with women's reservation, representation of India's backward communities is also guaranteed," he said.
Former law minister and senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily slammed the government, saying bringing the bill at the last minute, the BJP thinks they can get some political advantage.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bill introduced by the government is a 'betrayal of the women's movement'.
"The clause 334A says the reservation will come into effect post the first census that is conducted after the constitution amendment is passed and then the delimitation exercise which would follow that. So essentially it means that before 2029 there is going to be no women's reservation," he said.
Another ex-law minister Kapil Sibal alleged that the bill was 'yet another dream' being sold by Prime Minister Modi for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and claimed that its benefits would accrue to women only in 2029.
Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesperson and MP Manoj Jha noted that party president president Lalu Prasad Yadav has long sought 'quota within quota' for the SCs, STs and OBCs in reserved seats for women. Without this, this serves no purpose, he said.
He said it is not clear if the women quota under the Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam will come into force from 2029 or 2034 Lok Sabha polls, wondering if the government is serious or committing a 'fraud'. It's a 'post-dated commitment' by a government which has lost its credibility, Jha alleged.
While welcoming the bill, Janata Dal-United leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said it should provide for reservation for women from backward classes and called for early completion of the census exercise.
The JD-U sought to take credit for the bill with party spokesperson Rajib Ranjan, saying Kumar has always supported the idea of 33 per cent reservation for women.
In Bihar, RJD leader and former chief minister Rabri Devi slammed the bill. She asserted that 'quota within quota' was essential for the weaker sections of society 'since it is only their first generation of women which is becoming educated and aware'.
She also alleged that the bill was 'a gimmick, aimed just at making some noise' since the implementation was proposed only after a fresh round of delimitation.
Reacting to the development, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said reservation for women should be a balance of gender justice and social justice and demanded a clarity on share of backward, Dalit, minority, and tribals in the seats set aside.
In a post on X in Hindi, Yadav said, 'Women's reservation should be a balance of gender justice and social justice. In this, reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, tribal women should be clear in definite percentage form.'
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati said her party will support any bill that allows reservation for women in Parliament and other legislatures, even if the party's demand for a quota for the SC, ST and OBC within that quota is not met.
BSP MP Danish Ali, however, slammed the government calling the bill another jumla.
"The country was hopeful that the Women's reservation would be implemented, but it was again postponed in the name of census and delimitation. Half of the country's population will no longer forgive this crude joke of the Modi government," he said.
Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi alleged that the women's reservation bill is a bill to befool women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a press conference, Atishi alleged that the BJP is not interested in the wellbeing and welfare of women.
"A closer reading of the provisions of the bill shows that it is 'Mahila Bewakoof Banao' bill," she said.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi said the government should have also provided for reservation of Muslim and OBC.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien said, "Why is Mr Modi so eager to do these things so secretively? Why is he so desperate to steal credit."
The Congress on Tuesday said the country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount and its fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, amid a row between India and Canada over the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader in that country.
IMAGE: Congress general secretary in-charge (communications) Jairam Ramesh. Photograph: Mohd Zakir/ANI Photo
India announced the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat on Thursday hours after Canada asked an Indian official to leave that country, citing a 'potential' Indian link to the killing of the separatist leader in June.
'The Indian National Congress has always believed that our country's fight against terrorism has to be uncompromising, especially when terrorism threatens India's sovereignty, unity and integrity,' Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.
'Our country's interests and concerns must be kept paramount at all times,' he added.
India has outrightly rejected as 'baseless' and 'motivated' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's claim of a 'potential link' between Indian government agents and the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader and sought prompt legal action against anti-India elements operating from Canada.
After Trudeau made the comments in the Canadian Parliament, his Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced that a top Indian diplomat had been expelled from Canada.
Joly's office said the diplomat is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
Looking at the history of women representation in Lok Sabha, the percentage remained about 5 till the 1970s and it was only in 2009 that it could reach a double-digit figure.
IMAGE: BJP Mahila Morcha workers celebrate the introduction of Women's Reservation Bill in the Special Session of the Parliament, in Lucknow on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
Women's representation in Rajya Sabha has been slightly lower than in Lok Sabha, not yet crossing 13 per cent of the total membership of the house since 1951.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was listed for introduction in the Lower House through a supplementary list of business. The bill will be the first to be introduced in the new Parliament building during the ongoing special Parliament session.
The government said the women's reservation bill is aimed at enabling greater participation of women in policy-making at state and national levels.
The statement of purpose of the bill said the role of women is extremely important for achieving the goal of India becoming a developed country by 2047.
The highest proportion of women representatives elected to Lok Sabha so far was in the 2019 elections, but it was nearly 15 per cent of total membership while the highest proportion of women representatives to Rajya Sabha stood at 12.7 per cent in 2014.
In Lok Sabha in 1951, the representation of women stood at 5 per cent which remained same in 1957.
The percentage increased to 6 per cent in 1962, 1967 and it was recorded at 5 per cent in 1971, 4 per cent in 1977, 5 per cent in 1980, 8 per cent in 1984, 6 per cent in 1989, 7 per cent in 1991, 7 per cent in 1996, 8 per cent in 1998, 9 per cent in 1999, 8 per cent in 2004, 11 per cent in 2009 and 12 per cent in 2014.
While in Rajya Sabha, women representation stood at 6.9 per cent in 1952, 7.8 per cent in 1954, 8.6 per cent in 1956, 9.5 per cent in 1958, 10.2 per cent in 1960, 7.2 per cent in 1962, 8.9 per cent in 1964, 9.8 per cent in 1966, 9.6 per cent in 1968, 5.8 per cent in 1970, 7.4 per cent in 1972, 7.5 per cent in 1974, 10.1 per cent in 1976, 10.2 per cent in 1978.
Women's representation stood at 12 per cent in 1980, 10.1 per cent in 1982, 10.3 per cent in 1984, 11.5 per cent in 1986, 10.6 per cent in 1988, 10.3 per cent in 1990, 7.2 per cent in 1992, 8.3 per cent in 1994, 7.8 per cent in 1996, 7.7 per cent in 1998, 9 per cent in 2000, 10.2 per cent in 2002, 11.4 per cent in 2004, 10.2 per cent in 2006, 9.8 per cent in 2008, 11 per cent in 2010, 10.6 per cent in 2012, 12.7 per cent in 2014, 11 per cent in 2016, 11.4 per cent in 2018 and 10.2 per cent in 2020.
In state legislative assemblies or Vidhan Sabhas, meanwhile, average representation is even lower, mostly below 10 per cent.
The number of women candidates and MPs varies greatly across states and parties.
In the present 17th Lok Sabha, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal have the highest numbers of women MPs, according to an analysis by think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) of December, 2022.
The Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said the women's reservation bill "is ours", amid speculation that the bill may be tabled in Parliament.
IMAGE: Congress' parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi arrives at Parliament, in New Delhi, September 19, 2023. Photograph: ANI on X
The Congress on Monday said it welcomed the reported move as the party has been raising the demand for long.
Asked about the bill when she was entering Parliament on Tuesday, Gandhi said, "It is ours, apna hai."
In a post on 'X' a day back, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "We welcome the reported decision of the Union Cabinet and await the details of the Bill."
"This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy," he said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said if the government introduces the women's reservation bill on Tuesday, it will be a "victory for the Congress and its allies in the UPA government".
It was during the UPA government that the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010. But it was not taken up in the Lok Sabha.
In the wake of arrest of five persons for extortion in Manipur including a suspected member of a banned terror group, the Manipur police has again warned of stern action against all those who were misusing the uniform for their ulterior motives.
IMAGE: Meiteis stage a sit-in protest against the 'Chin-Kuki Narco Terrorists' and the violence in Manipur, at Ajmer, Rajasthan. Photograph: ANI Photo
The five persons were allegedly indulging in extortion from the general public and were carrying deadly weapons including AK and Insas rifles, which were looted from the police armoury, officials said.
Among those arrested on Sunday included 45-year-old M Anand Singh, alleged to be a trained cadre of Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) Nyon group, which is banned under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The police had in July issued stern warning asking people to stop misusing police uniform following reports that armed rioters were wearing the outfit to create mistrust.
Some minority groups have been trying to exert pressure on police to release the five men and indulged in vandalism. A 48-hour bandh has been called by some of these groups but senior police officials made it clear that law will take its own course.
Singh is alleged to be a habitual offender and has been jailed six times in the past which included under the National Security Act (NSA), the officials said.
The Manipur police has circulated throughout all formations to ensure that its uniform is not misused and instructed them to intensify vigil and take strict action against the offenders, they said.
The action also comes a week after three tribals were gunned down by armed men, dressed in police uniform, in Kangpokpi district on September 12. The incident had taken place between Ireng and Karam Vaiphei villages in the tribal-dominated Kanggui area, located at the bordering districts of West Imphal and Kangpopki.
The three persons had started their journey from Ponlen in Kangpopki district and were proceeding towards Lemakong using the hill road when they were stopped by the armed assailants at Ireng near Singhda dam and gunned down.
Later it was known that the armed men, approximately over 20, were wearing police uniform, a disguise created to avoid stopping by central forces who have been manning the buffer zone in the strife torn state.
More than 180 people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, when a 'tribal solidarity march' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal valley, while tribals, including Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.
The police have been asked even to check any vehicle carrying security personnel, especially the India Reserve Battalion and Manipur police, and their identity cards, the officials said.
The 45,000-strong Manipur police was vertically split after the ethnic clashes, with Meitei personnel in the force moving to Imphal valley for safety and the Kuki personnel escaping to the hills.
India on Tuesday rejected as 'absurd' and 'motivated' Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations of a 'potential' involvement of Indian agents in the killing of a Khalistani separatist leader and kicked out a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa's expulsion of an Indian official over the case, marking fresh strain to the already frayed ties between the two nations.
IMAGE: Canadian High Commissioner Cameron MacKay arrives at South Block, New Delhi, September 19, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo
Canadian High Commissioner to India Cameron MacKay was summoned and was informed about the decision to expel the senior diplomat with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) saying the action reflected New Delhi's growing concern at the 'interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities'.
The chain reactions followed after Trudeau, speaking at the House of Commons on Monday, said Canada was looking at 'credible allegations potentially linking' Indian agents to the June killing of Canadian Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
He was shot dead by two gunmen in Surrey on June 18.
In a strongly-worded statement, the MEA also trashed comments by Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, asserting that 'such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity'.
Though New Delhi did not divulge the name of the Canadian diplomat who has been asked to leave India within five days, people familiar with the matter said it is Canadian intelligence agency's station chief in New Delhi Olivier Sylvestere.
The Indian action to expel the Canadian diplomat came hours after Joly announced that a "top Indian diplomat" has been expelled from Canada.
Joly's office said the diplomat ordered to leave Canada is Pavan Kumar Rai, the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to Canadian broadcaster CBC News.
Canada's public announcement of expulsion of the Indian intelligence operative is seen as 'rare' as such issues are generally handled in a discreet manner.
Nijjar, 45, was one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
'The high commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days,' the MEA said in a statement.
The ties between India and Canada have been reeling under strain in view of New Delhi's rising concerns over increasing activities of pro-Khalistani elements in that country.
Last week, the talks on a bilateral free trade agreement were frozen apparently in view of the deteriorating ties.
India also described as 'absurd and motivated' Trudeau's claim of a 'potential link' between Indian government agents and the killing of Nijjar.
'We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian prime minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their foreign minister. Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated,' the MEA said before announcing the expulsion of the Canadian diplomat.
The MEA said the 'inaction' of the Canadian Government on this matter has been 'long-standing' and of continuing concern.
'That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new,' it said.
'We reject any attempts to connect Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil,' it added.
The MEA said similar allegations were made by Trudeau to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and were 'completely rejected'.
Modi and Trudeau had a bilateral meeting on September 10 on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Delhi.
'We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,' it said.
In his statement in the House of Commons, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been 'actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar'.
The Canadian PM also said that he raised the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting last week. Trudeau and Modi held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental roles by which free, open and democratic societies conduct themselves." he said.
"As one would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter. In the strongest possible terms I continue to urge the Government of India to co-operate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter," he said.
The CBC News, quoting an unnamed Canadian government source, said Trudeau has briefed the leaders of some of Canada's closest allies about the case, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.
On Tuesday, Trudeau said he was not looking to 'provoke' India or 'escalate' tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of the Sikh separatist leader with the 'utmost seriousness'.
In his talks with Trudeau on September 10, Modi conveyed India's strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada as they are promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats and threatening the Indian community there.
In July, India summoned the Canadian envoy and issued a demarche over the increasing activities by pro-Khalistani elements in Canada, days after posters featuring names of India's senior diplomats serving in Canada surfaced in certain areas in that country.
In June, a video emerged on social media that showed a float depicting the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It was reportedly part of a parade that was organised by some Khalistani elements in Brampton.
In a historic transition, the Parliament moved into a swanky new complex on Tuesday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging MPs to forget all past bitterness and start a new chapter and the introduction of the women's reservation bill taking centre stage.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives with BJP president J P Nadda and Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal at the new Parliament building for the Special Session, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
Bidding goodbye to the adjacent colonial era Parliament building, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha met for the first time in the new home on the second day of the five-day special session during which Modi made an impassioned plea to both houses to unanimously approve the women's reservation bill Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
IMAGE: Members of Parliament attend the Special Session in Lok Sabha at the new building of Parliament in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: SansadTV/ANI Photo
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which envisages reserving one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, was the first legislative measure to be introduced by the government in the new building, a day after it secured Union Cabinet's approval.
IMAGE: MPs move towards the new building of the Parliament during the Special Session. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo
Shortly before the introduction of the bill in the Lok Sabha, Modi told the lower house that the government wants more and more women to join the development process of the country.
"For that work of giving power to women and for many such noble works, God has chosen me....This date of September 19 is going to be etched in history."
IMAGE: Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha are underway during the Special Session at the new Parliament building. Photograph: SansadTV/ANI Photo
The old Parliament building, which has stood for over 96 years as a sentinel of time and a repository of India's democratic journey and where its first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru delivered his iconic 'tryst with destiny speech' to mark India's independence from colonial rule, will now be called the 'Samvidhan Sadan'.
The new four-storey triangular shaped complex has been named 'Parliament House of India', according to an official notification.
IMAGE: Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury holds the Constitution of India in his hand as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and other MPs move towards the new building of the Parliament during the Special Session. Photograph: Rahul Singh/ANI Photo
Modi called on MPs to forget all past bitterness and start a new chapter, asserting that whatever they are going to do in the new complex, should be an inspiration for every citizen of the country.
"When we are starting a new chapter, we should forget all past bitterness," he said, adding the new Parliament building reflects the aspirations of 140 crore Indians.
Parliament, Modi said, is a supreme place to serve the nation. Parliament is not a place to work for growth of a party but for development of the nation, he added.
IMAGE: NCP MP Supriya Sule and Shiv Sena-UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi outside the new building. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo
The prime minister also remembered 'shramjeevis' (labourers) who were part of the construction of the new building.
Speaking at the first sitting of the Rajya Sabha, Modi said the women's reservation bill will be taken up for debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Modi expressed confidence that the bill will finally become law and ensure Narishakti' can work towards nation-building with the new energy of the new building.
IMAGE: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Special Session at the new Parliament building. Photograph: SansadTV/ANI Photo
Noting that the Rajya Sabha is considered the Upper House of Parliament, he underlined the intentions of the makers of the Constitution that the House become a centre for serious intellectual discussions rising above the ebb and flow of political discourse while giving a direction to the nation.
He described Tuesday's occasion as historic and memorable.
The House also witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge remarked that all political parties only give tickets to those women from backward classes who cannot assert themselves.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Modi, BJP president Nadda, Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Pralhad Joshi, Bhupender Yadav, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Hardeep Singh Puri attend the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha during the Special Session at the new Parliament building. Photograph: SansadTV/ANI Photo
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hit back to say the 'sweeping statement' of Kharge that all parties do not choose effective women candidates is 'absolutely unacceptable'.
Addressing a function in the Central Hall of the old Parliament building earlier in the day, Modi called for expanding the canvas to build a stronger India, and said all reforms and new laws going forward must have rising aspirations of the country as their priority.
'Is it possible to draw a big picture on a small canvas? No! In the same way, we cannot mark out the picture of 'Bhavya Bharat' if we have a small canvas of thinking.'
IMAGE: MPs outside the new building of the Parliament. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo
Modi urged the members to reaffirm the commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047 and described the move into the new Parliament building as a new beginning towards a new future.
Dressed in colourful attire, members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha got their group photograph clicked in the old Parliament building with its circular design and an impressive colonnade of 144 creamy sandstone on the first floor, hours before the legislative proceedings shifted to the new Parliament House.
The old building was opened on January 18, 1927 by Lord Irwin -- the then British viceroy -- amid fanfare.
IMAGE: JD-S MP H D Deve Gowda at the new building. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo
Women members turned up in colourful sarees, while most of their male counterparts preferred white kurta-pyjamas with vibrant waist-coats for the photo-session.
Led by Prime Minister Modi, several MPs walked from the old to the new Parliament building after the Central Hall event. Modi was flanked by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda.
National Democratic Alliance MPs also raised slogans like 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Matram'.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla also walked to the new Parliament separately.
IMAGE: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the new building. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo
Holding a copy of the Constitution, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, along with Rahul Gandhi and several other Congress and opposition leaders, entered the new complex.
The National Emblem made of bronze has been cast at the top of the Central foyer of the new Parliament building which boasts of a palette of colours and architecture that takes its cue from everything Indian, from ancient to medieval.
The new structure, inaugurated by Prime Minister Modi on May 28, has artwork narrating India's democratic traditions from the Vedic period to the present day.
IMAGE: Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar conducts the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha during the Special Session at the new Parliament Building. Photograph: Sansad TV/ANI Photo
The tender to construct the new Parliament building was awarded to Tata Projects in September 2020 at an estimated cost of Rs 861 crore. Later, the cost rose marginally due to certain changes.
The new Parliament House has a built up area of 65,000 square metres and has two chambers -- an 888-seater Lok Sabha, which can accommodate 1,272 members for the joint sitting of both the Houses, and a 384-seater Rajya Sabha chamber.
At the Central Hall event, Speaker Birla urged parliamentarians to engage in meaningful and positive debates while making laws and fulfil the dreams and aspirations of the people of the country to make India a developed nation.
IMAGE: Women employees adorn a new uniform saree while on duty at the new Parliament building. Photograph: Shrikant Singh/ANI Photo
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar called for burying the strategy of 'weaponising' disturbances and disruptions in parliamentary functioning, saying these are antithetical to democratic values.
"As we march into the new Parliament building, we must enhance cooperation and consensual approach. Time for us to bid farewell to confrontational stance and resolve to ever keep national interest uppermost."
Kharge said parliamentarians should commit to preserving constitutional values and ideals.
The women's reservation bill, introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, will have to cross several hurdles before it becomes a reality, including support cutting across political lines and early census and delimitation exercise.
IMAGE: BJP Mahila Morcha workers celebrate the introduction of Women's Reservation Bill in the Special Session of the Parliament, in Lucknow on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
The provisions in the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill make it clear that the women's reservation will come into effect only after the delimitation exercise or the redrawing of constituencies taking into account the data of the census conducted once the bill becomes a law.
Constitutional experts said after the passage of the Bill by both Houses of Parliament, it will also have to be approved by at least 50 per cent of state assemblies to become a law.
The nod by state assemblies is necessary as it affects the rights of the states.
The Bill '...shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census taken after the commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment), Bill 2023 have been published, and shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of 15 years from the date of such commencement', reads new Article 334A the draft legislation seeks to introduce in the Constitution.
According to Article 82 of the Constitution, as amended in 2002, the delimitation process can be carried out based on the first Census taken after 2026.
The first Census after 2026 was to be carried out in 2031, which would be followed by delimitation or redrawing of constituencies.
The 2021 census exercise was postponed by the government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will have to be put on a fast track by the government for the Women's reservation to be turned into reality before the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2011, the census was carried out in February-March and the provisional figures were released on March 31 that year.
Another concern voiced by experts is that women may become figureheads with their husbands wielding the real power, as has been witnessed at the panchayat levels.
The purpose of the legislation to uplift women would be defeated if the elected representatives under the quota were from the same families where male members are in politics, said Shilpi Jain, a prominent lawyer.
"There could be a provision to encourage women who are not from political backgrounds to contest, otherwise the purpose would be defeated by reservation," she said.
Shabnam Hashmi, women's rights activist and founding trustee of Left-leaning NGO Anhad, said a large number of women were asserting themselves.
"At the MLA and MP levels, there would be a difference. She would need to establish herself at the constituency level, she will need to be more assertive and more dependent on herself rather than the family," she said.
Populism gains momentum during election periods, and this trend is evident in at least four states: Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Prime Minister Narendra D Modi has once again sparked a debate on state-provided freebies, emphasising that the long-term consequences of such policies not only harm the economy, but also society, with the poor bearing the brunt.
Populism gains momentum during election periods, and this trend is evident in at least four states: Telangana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Along with Mizoram, these states are scheduled to hold Assembly elections in late November and early December.
Debates on political freebies are always contentious, as those offering them often see them as a form of social welfare.
A more constructive approach is to assess whether a state has the financial capacity to provide such benefits.
Among these four states, Telangana and Chhattisgarh have the financial means to offer freebies, while Rajasthan faces significant fiscal stress.
Madhya Pradesh, despite having high debt, has been running a revenue surplus in recent years, suggesting it has room to provide freebies.
Rajasthan allocates half of its revenue to committed expenditures, such as salaries, pensions, and interest payments.
Even during the tenure of the Vasundhara Raje-led Bharatiya Janata Party government from 2013 to 2018, committed expenditures remained high at 55 per cent of revenue expenditure.
This figure is expected to decrease to 49 per cent in 2022-2023 and 50.2 per cent in 2023-2024, partly due to the state's switch to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
However, pension liabilities under OPS will increase after 2034 when employees who joined the state government on January 1, 2004, start retiring.
Rajasthan has reduced its allocation to NPS from approximately Rs 1,926 crore (Rs 19.26 billion) in 2021-2022 (Actuals) to about Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) in 2023-2024 (Budget Estimates, or BE).
Chhattisgarh, another state that adopted OPS on April 1, 2022, has slightly lower committed expenditures, ranging from 49 per cent to 43 per cent during the five years of the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government.
This was still higher than the 41 per cent left by the Dr Raman Singh-led BJP government (2013-2018) in its final year (2018-2019).
Committed expenditures as a proportion of revenue expenditure are expected to decrease slightly to just over 43 per cent in both 2022-2023 (Revised Estimates) and 2023-2024 (BE) after the state transitioned back to OPS.
The state will also experience increased pressure on pension liabilities as NPS participants start retiring.
Some include subsidies, social security, and other pensions, as well as grants-in-aid for salaries and wages, in the list of committed expenditures.
If these are added, the expanded committed expenditure would further increase in these states.
For example, it was 70.5 per cent in Rajasthan and 59 per cent in Chhattisgarh in 2021-2022.
Increased subsidies would put pressure on revenue expenditure, leaving limited room for capital investments.
Capital outlays constituted 10 to 13 per cent in Rajasthan in recent years, compared to slightly less than 8 per cent in the first two years of the Ashok Gehlot government.
In Chhattisgarh, capital outlays were around 15 per cent, compared to 10 to 11 per cent in the initial two years of the Baghel government.
This may result from long-term loans for capital expenditure (capex) provided to states by the Centre in recent years.
Although Chhattisgarh's own tax revenues contribute only 34 to 36 per cent of revenue receipts, less than Rajasthan's, which could reach around 49 per cent in the current financial year (BE), the former has managed its resources efficiently.
Chhattisgarh had a revenue surplus of approximately 1 per cent of gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2021-2022 and is projected to maintain a surplus in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, albeit a smaller one.
Moreover, its debt never exceeded 26.3 per cent of GSDP during the Baghel government, although it was much lower at 17.4 per cent in the final year of Raman Singh's BJP government.
On the other hand, Rajasthan has not achieved a revenue surplus in the past five years, and its debt-to-GSDP ratio has consistently exceeded 35 per cent.
The Vasundhara Raje government left behind debt amounting to 33 per cent of GSDP in its last year.
Salaries, pensions, and interest payments constituted 37 to 48 per cent of revenue expenditure in Madhya Pradesh over the past five years, including the period when the Congress ruled for the first year and nearly three months under Kamal Nath.
When subsidies, wages, and other expenses are factored in, the committed expenditure rises further, reaching 52.9 per cent in 2021-2022.
This situation allowed for capex in Madhya Pradesh, with capital outlays representing 18 to 19 per cent of total expenditure in recent years, compared to 16 per cent during the first two years of the government, including the initial 15 months led by the Congress.
The state also maintained a revenue surplus, albeit a modest one, amounting to 0.4 per cent of GSDP in 2021-2022.
It projected a slight revenue surplus in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
In fact, in the first four months of the current financial year, the state reported a revenue surplus of approximately Rs 7,038 crore (Rs 70.38 billion), surpassing the Rs 413 crore (Rs 4.13 billion) projected for the entire year in the Budget, according to data from the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
This occurred despite the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government's announcement of new schemes.
However, the state's debt position is not as robust, with debt projected to approach 30 per cent in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
A study by the Reserve Bank of India last year categorised Madhya Pradesh as one of five high-debt states. In contrast, Rajasthan was included among the five highly stressed states.
It can be argued that if a state like Madhya Pradesh, despite having high debt, maintains a revenue surplus, this should not pose a problem, as part of it can be allocated for capital investments to build assets.
Telangana is a relatively well-managed state financially.
Despite its reputation for freebie politics, the state's debt never exceeded 26 per cent during any of the five years of K Chandrashekar Rao's government.
Debt was as low as 20.3 per cent of GSDP in the final year of the previous KCR government.
However, the state's committed expenditure remained at 44 to 47 per cent of revenue expenditure until 2021-2022.
When subsidies are included, the committed expenditure rises to 54 per cent of revenue expenditure in 2021-2022.
Telangana also projected a revenue surplus of less than 0.5 per cent of GSDP in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
However, in the first four months of the current financial year, a revenue deficit of approximately Rs 3,458 crore (Rs 34.58 billion) was reported, contrasting with the projection of a Rs 4,882 crore (Rs 48.82 billion) surplus for the entire year, according to CAG data.
The state's capital outlay saw an increase in 2021-2022, accounting for 17 per cent of total expenditure.
Nevertheless, it is expected to decrease to 12 per cent and 13.5 per cent in the following two years.
'Populism may yield political results in the short term,' Modi recently told PTI, 'but it will exact a great social and economic price in the long term. Those who suffer the most consequences are often the poorest and most vulnerable.'
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
The women's Reservation Bill is likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday during the ongoing special session of the Parliament and in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources said.
IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others gather for the joint photo session ahead of the Parliament Special Session, at Parliament House, in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photograph: ANI Photo
This comes as the Cabinet on Monday approved the Women's Reservation Bill, sources said.
The meeting of the Union Cabinet was held at Parliament House Annexe in Delhi
The sources further informed that the Bill will be introduced by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.
"Women's Reservation Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha today, by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up tomorrow, 20th September. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on 21st September," informed the government sources.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter and Bharat Rashtra Samiti MLC, K Kavitha on Tuesday said that the Union government should reach out to all parties and 'build a consensus' on the Women's Reservation Bill.
"Happy, we are hearing from the sources that Cabinet has cleared the introduction of Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament. And I hope the bill will be introduced very soon," she said.
Congress MP Ranjeet Ranjan said, "This is Congress's Bill. This was brought by Congress. In March 2010, it was passed by the Rajya Sabha. It has been 9 and half years since BJP came to power. Why did they think of Women's Reservation Bill right before the election? You want to have power but we will welcome the Bill if it comes before the House..."
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "This Bill should have been brought long ago. It was in the BJP's manifesto in 2014, but this is taking place after 9.5 years of the Modi government. I hope that this will empower women in the right way."
"I expect that the Bill will be passed as early as possible. I hope this Bill to be implemented in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 33 per cent of women get elected and take part in the development of the country."
Earlier, on Sunday, an all-party meeting was held in the national capital with various political parties demanding the passage of a Women's Reservation Bill in the five-day special session of Parliament.
The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.
Meanwhile, the parliament session is underway at the new parliament building on Tuesday, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier this year.
Both Houses were adjourned on Monday after a discussion on Parliamentary democracy in the last 75 years with the presiding officers stating that the proceedings will commence on Tuesday afternoon in the new Parliament building.
Speaking about the old Parliament building, Prime Minister Modi on Monday mentioned that it served as the Imperial Legislative Council before India's independence and was recognised as the Parliament of India post-independence.
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The German government on Tuesday banned the neo-Nazi group Hammerskins Germany and raided homes of dozens of its members. The group is an offshoot of an American ring-wing extremist group and plays a prominent role across Europe.
The Hammerskins Germany is an offshoot of the Hammerskins Nation founded in the United States in 1988, according to the interior ministry.
It plays a prominent role in the right-wing extremist scene in Europe. Worldwide, members of this association refer to themselves as brothers and see themselves as an elite brotherhood practicing their subcultural way of life. The group also sees itself as the elite of the right-wing extremist skinhead scene, according to the ministry.
The ban of the Hammerskins Germany is a hard blow against organized right-wing extremism, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, adding that the ban included the association's regional chapters and its sub-organization Crew 38.
"With this ban, we are putting an end to the inhumane activities of an internationally active neo-Nazi association in Germany," she added. This sends a clear signal against racism and antisemitism.
In Germany, the grouping comprises around 130 members. During the early morning raids in 10 states, police searched homes of 28 group members. It was not immediately clear if any members were detained.
Ahead of the ban, the German federal and state governments cooperated intensively for more than a year, Faeser said, adding that we also worked closely with our American partners.
The core element of the groups ideology is the propagation of a racial doctrine based on Nazi ideology. The purpose of the association Hammerskins Germany is to consolidate its right-wing extremist worldview, particularly through concerts where it tries to appeal to non-members to radicalize them, the ministry said.
The right-wing extremist orientation of the internationally networking group manifests itself in particular through the distribution of recordings of right-wing extremist and antisemitic music, the organization of right-wing extremist concerts, and the sale of right-wing extremist merchandise, it said.
The ban of the Hammerskins Germany is the 20th ban of a right-wing extremist association by the German interior ministry.
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A Chinese government official claimed that China has provided substantial aid to Afghanistan since 2021, while a certain country is exacerbating the nations ongoing humanitarian crisis by imposing sanctions and severing aid a clear reference to the United States.
But the claim is misleading. It is true that the U.S. has sanctioned Afghanistan and stopped all aid to its government, but it still continues to provide significant amounts of humanitarian aid to Afghans through international organizations.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference on Aug. 15 that while China has provided large amounts of material assistance to Afghanistan in the two years since American troops withdrew, a certain country has exacerbated the nations ongoing humanitarian crisis by sanctioning it, freezing its assets and cutting off aid to it.
Wang urged the relevant country to fulfill their aid commitments and unfreeze the Afghan governments assets as soon as possible in order to alleviate the suffering of Afghans. Such statements were in line with previous demands made by Wang towards the United States.
The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 marked the end of a two-decade-long military engagement that began soon after the 9/11 attacks. Initially focused at demobilizing al-Qaeda and overthrowing the Taliban, the American mission evolved over time to include nation-building initiatives and efforts to construct a stable Afghan government.
Despite significant investment in lives and money, a resurgent Taliban combined with complex geopolitical considerations forced the United States to reconsider its stay and finally decide on a complete military withdrawal.
But Wangs claim is misleading. While it is true that the U.S. has sanctioned Afghanistan and stopped all aid to its government, it still continues to provide significant amounts of humanitarian aid to Afghans through international organizations. Below is what AFCL found.
Has the U.S. cut off aid to Afghanistans government?
Yes. The U.S. has ceased all reconstruction aid since the Taliban seized control of the country in 2021, as the State Department notes in a briefing on Afghan relations. Reconstruction is an umbrella term for the assistance given to the allied Afghan administration during the time that American forces were stationed in the country.
In addition to including money spent on providing essential goods, promoting education, and constructing critical infrastructure, reconstruction also includes money spent on building Afghan national security forces, counternarcotics efforts, and the operational costs of U.S. agencies in the country.
These costs have collectively accounted for a majority of U.S. expenditures in Afghanistan, according to budgets provided by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, the government department tasked with overseeing all funds related to Afghanistan.
Has the U.S. cut off all aid to Afghans?
No. The U.S. still provides humanitarian aid such as critical foodstuffs to Afghanistan, but only through third party international organizations such as the United Nations.
Our largest humanitarian partner, the UN World Food Program, procures food assistance locally, regionally, and internationally and distributes a package of food commodities which is designed to provide 2,100 kilocalories per person per day, said a spokesperson for United States Agency for International Development, or USAID.
Where markets are accessible, WFP also provides cash and vouchers for food assistance, thus helping to ensure sustainability of the assistance and increase targeted communities self-reliance in meeting their food and nutrition needs, the spokesperson told AFCL.
None of USAIDs assistance is provided to or through Taliban authorities. All USAID humanitarian and development assistance supports the work of UN agencies and experienced, carefully chosen international NGOs, other international partners, and local Afghan partners.
Since withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2021, the U.S. continues to provide humanitarian aid to the country through international organizations. (Photo/AP)
However, the U.S. insistence that such aid be accompanied by guarantees of fundamental human rights such as gender equality has met with resistance from the Taliban.
We work with our partners to mitigate and resolve instances of attempted aid interference by the Taliban, and press for full and unhindered participation of women in aid work, the spokesperson said.
International aid operations in parts of Afghanistan have been severely hamstrung due to lack of appropriate personnel following further restrictions by the Taliban on womens ability to work in non-governmental organizations and UN agencies. Such restrictions can potentially affect aid distribution in a given area.
The United States and other countries have bashed the Taliban for their record of human right abuses, particularly as regards their treatment of women in the country, and neither recognize nor cooperate with them on aid distribution to locals. The State Department emphatically stressed this point when announcing a specific fund established by the U.S. to assist Afghans in September 2022.
Women play a critical role in humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. Without female staff, aid organizations cannot reach the most at-risk populations, including many women and girls, said the spokesperson.
Our partners continue to provide aid in places where women are involved throughout the aid delivery cycle, and where women can continue to participate meaningfully. Where this cannot be done, we are prepared to reassess our funding through award modifications or in extreme cases suspension and/or termination.
Geopolitical and human rights concerns - particularly regarding oppressive policies against women - have caused the Taliban government to remain unrecognized by any other national government as of August 2023. (Photo/AP)
Has China provided more aid to Afghans than the U.S. since August 2021?
No. Beijings total public contributions provided to Afghanistan in 2022 amounted approximately 300 million yuan, or about US$44.9 million, distributed in two batches: The first was a fulfillment of a pledge made after the Taliban gained control of the country, and the second was a humanitarian response following an earthquake that struck Afghanistan, according to a report from the South China Morning Post.
China provided aid to Afghanistan to help with relief efforts following a local earthquake in 2022 that killed more than a thousand people. (Photo/AP)
In comparison, SIGARs latest report tallies U.S. aid to Afghanistan in 2022 at over $1.5 billion, making it one of the largest recipients of U.S. aid that year.
These figures broadly match the figure of $1.3 billion published on Foreign Assistance.gov, a congressional mandated website that tracks and transparently records total U.S. financial assistance to foreign countries. Due to ongoing department reporting of expenditures for the 2022 fiscal year, the specific aid figures for these years are slightly different from SIGAR.
Data from the site shows that Afghanistan was still one of the top recipients of U.S. aid in 2022.
In the two years since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the U.S. Government has significantly increased humanitarian assistance funding and has provided over $1.9 billion to support the Afghan people amid the countrys ongoing humanitarian crisis, including more than $1.4 billion from USAID, the USAID spokesperson said.
The United States is the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, and we will continue our support for at-risk populations in the country.
Edited by Taejun Kang and Malcolm Foster
Asia Fact Check Lab (AFCL) is a new branch of RFA established to counter disinformation in todays complex media environment. Our journalists publish both daily and special reports that aim to sharpen and deepen our readers understanding of public issues.
CamboJAs article said the assault of an agricultural expert followed online criticism of the Agriculture Minister.
Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association news report about attack on agricultural expert Ny Nak, which was edited to remove the name of a government minister after the Ministry of Agriculture threatened it with legal action, the outlets executive director told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
Independent online news outlet CamboJA removed the name of a government minister from an article about a public beating of a government critic after the Ministry of Agriculture threatened it with legal action, the outlets executive director told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
CamboJA short for Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association reported on Thursday that agricultural expert Ny Nak criticized Minister of Agriculture Dith Tina on Facebook over the ministers handling of a report on rice prices.
The Facebook post doesnt mention the ministers name. It went live the day before the Sept. 12 assault, which left Ny Nak initially unconscious and bleeding from the head after several unidentified men beat him with metal batons.
The ministry responded to the article in a letter to CamboJA on Friday that said their reporting speculates that the attack on Ny Nak was politically motivated based on his recent baseless posts criticizing government officials and institutions.
The article also includes the ministers name even though the minister has never been mentioned by name in any of Ny Naks recent Facebook posts, the letter said.
The ministry urged CamboJA to rectify these serious breaches of journalistic ethics by removing unsubstantiated claims and speculations that hurt the reputations of ministry officials.
It also demanded that the publication remove the ministers name from the article and that it ensure that such malicious intentions and defamatory speculations do not recur in the future which would result in legal actions that could lead to the same outcome of Voice of Democracy, an independent media outlet that was closed by the government in February.
Agricultural expert Ny Nak recovering in Phnom Penh in undated photo. Ny Nak was the latest victim of attacks on government critics that have gone unpunished. Credit: Facebook/lifeandinvironment
Posting under a pseudonym
CamboJA, a network formed by former reporters of The Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post, deleted the ministers name from the article and added an editors note on Monday.
It also added the name of Associate Editor Jack Brook as a contributor to the article and corrected the spelling of the name of an investigator for human rights group Adhoc who was quoted in the article.
We think the Ministry of Agricultures request is acceptable and weve removed [ the ministers] name because Ny Nak's Facebook posting didnt mention the minister by name, only his picture, CamboJA Executive Director Nop Vy told RFA.
Ny Nak was recently released from an 18-month jail term for criticizing Cambodias COVID-19 restrictions. Since his release, he has posted comments critical of the government on Facebook under the pseudonym IMAN-KH.
His post last week about the minister came a day after he said he was approached by two members of the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party asking him to join the party. He said he had refused the invitation, saying he is neither a member of the ruling party or the opposition.
He was traveling with his wife Sok Sinet in Phnom Penh on Sept. 12 when a motorbike crashed into them and unidentified men began beating them.
Ny Nak was taken to a local hospital and pledged on Friday to join the CPP but only if Prime Minister Hun Manet can arrest his attackers.
On Monday, Minister of Interior Touch Sokhak told Voice of America that the suspects were probably using the accident as a pretext to rob Ny Nak and his wife.
Until we arrest them we will see what they will answer about their intentions. We will know what this case is all about, he told VOA. But for the preliminary [assessment] this is a violent action and intended to rob the victims motorbike.
Ny Nak wont run away
Sok Sinet denied that her husbands attack was a robbery.
To me, I observed their actions. They intended to kill my husband, she said. It was an assassination attempt. I didnt lose any handbag, money, phones or a motorbike.
RFA was unable to reach Touch Sokhak for comment on Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday that the attack shares similarities with assaults reported earlier in 2023 against members of the opposition Candlelight Party, which were never seriously investigated.
Ny Nak said on Facebook on Monday that he will be released from the hospital soon, and he promised not to run away from Cambodia.
This is my part as a Cambodian. I will continue to help the country until I die, he wrote. Ny Nak wont run away, doesnt hide, sell out or seek asylum in a third country but will continue to stay with Cambodian farmers forever.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
The trial comes as a close friend of Sophia Huang says she has been tortured through repeated sleep deprivation.
Chinese journalist and women's rights activist Huang Xueqin holds up a #METOO sign for a photo in Singapore in 2017. A pretrial hearing was held Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, for the Chinese journalist active in the MeToo movement and the labor rights activist Wang Jianbing who had been detained with her, their supporters said. The hearing comes two years to the day after they disappeared into China's legal system.
Concerns are growing for the health of detained feminist labor activist Sophia Huang, whose trial date has been set for later this week, amid allegations she has been tortured in detention.
Lawyers acting for Huang and fellow labor activist Wang Jianbing, who was detained at the same time as Huang two years ago, met on Tuesday with officials from the Guangzhou Intermediate Peoples Court, who told them the pair will stand trial on Friday for "incitement to subvert state power," the Free Xueqin and Jianbing Facebook page posted on Tuesday.
"The trial will be held this Friday, Sept. 22 at 9:30am in Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court," the group said. "These two people have been arbitrarily detained by the police for two years."
"We strongly urge the court to hold an #open trial and to #exclude illegal evidence," it said, adding that there had already been several breaches of due legal process in the case.
Huang and fellow labor activist Wang Jianbing were detained on Sept. 19, 2021 and later charged with "incitement to subvert state power," a charge frequently used to target peaceful critics of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.
Huang had planned to leave China via Hong Kong on Sept. 20, 2021 for the U.K., where she planned to take a master's degree in development with a prestigious Chevening Scholarship, while Wang, who is a labor and healthcare rights activist, had planned to see her off on her journey.
Concerns over health and treatment
Friday's trial date comes amid ongoing concerns about Huangs health and her treatment at the hands of the authorities. She is currently being held in the Guangzhou No. 1 Detention Center.
A close friend of Huangs who gave only the nickname Wanxia said she had been subject to torture in the form of sleep deprivation and malnutrition while in detention.
She has been continually tortured, frequently interrogated suddenly in the middle of the night, and had her schedule disrupted, Wanxia said. She lost weight in a short space of time and stopped menstruating for more than five months, while she has suffered from calcium deficiency, low blood pressure and blood sugar in the past two years.
These details may just be the tip of the iceberg, Wanxia said. We are very sad and worried about this.
She said Huang and Wang could face lengthy jail terms for their peaceful activism.
They both really care about this country and want to do something practical [to help], but they just wound up being accused of trying to incite subversion of state power, Wanxia said.
Another friend of Huangs who gave only the nickname Mark for fear of reprisals said the two had been kidnapped by the authorities, and the case against them fabricated.
[Huang] is a journalist who loves to speak out for disadvantaged and minority groups, he said. She has not done anything to incite the so-called subversion of state power.
The incident should be a wake-up call to young people today, Mark said.
Chinese journalist and women's rights activist Huang Xueqin, left labor and human rights defender Wang Jianbing. Credit: twitter/FreeXueBing
U.S.-based rights activist Zhou Fengsuo, who serves as executive director at the New York-based group Human Rights in China, said the years-long delay without a trial is another form of mistreatment that is typically used in political cases in China.
He said it is likely that Huang and Wang have refused to offer up a confession or to plead guilty.
If victims of political persecution dont plead guilty, they just get held forever, Zhou said. They treat you as if you had a lifetime sentence.
Its getting very common now and the kinds of things they subject people to in detention are getting worse and worse.
Outspoken activists
Before being targeted by the authorities in 2019, Huang had been an outspoken member of the country's #MeToo movement, and had carried out a survey of sexual harassment and assault cases among Chinese women working in journalism.
Huang was present at a million-strong protest in Hong Kong on June 9, 2019 against plans to allow extradition to mainland China, and was detained for "picking quarrels and stirring up trouble" in October 2019, before being released on bail in January 2020, a status that often involves ongoing surveillance and restrictions on a person's activities.
Her travel documents were confiscated after her return from that trip, preventing her from beginning a law degree in Hong Kong the fall of 2019.
Huang had previously assisted in the investigation and reporting of a number of high-profile sexual harassment allegations against professors at Peking University, Wuhan University of Technology, Henan University and Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
Wang started to work in rural development after graduating in 2005, before joining the Guangzhou Gongmin NGO in 2014 as director and coordinator for youth work.
In 2018, he started advocacy and legal support work on behalf of workers with occupational diseases, and was also a vocal supporter of China's #MeToo movement.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie.
New Taipei mayor wants more dialogue and exchanges with China -- and better military preparation.
Taiwan's Nationalist Party presidential candidate Hou Youyi poses for a photo with experts on Taiwan issues at Brookings Institution in Washington, Sept. 18, 2023.
While visiting the United States, Hou Yu-ih, the opposition Kuomintang candidate in Taiwans upcoming presidential race, has called for a de-escalation of military tensions with China through dialogue alongside ongoing preparations for the possible threat of an invasion.
Hou, who is mayor of New Taipei City, told journalists in Washington D.C. that his main goal in seeking the presidency is to bring peace to Taiwan under his "Three Ds" policy of deterrence, dialogue and de-escalation after several years of military threats and deteriorating relations with Beijing.
"The deterrence part means that we must continue to improve our country's ability to defend itself, strengthen national defenses and deter [China] from using force," Hou said.
"The dialogue part means that we hope to restart dialogue and start to rebuild mutual trust, in addition to ongoing exchanges and visits across the Taiwan Strait," he said, adding that talks could start with unofficial representatives drawn from among cross-straits relations experts.
Hou is the first opposition party candidate to set out a platform for managing ties with China since incumbent Democratic Progressive Party President Tsai Ing-wen swept to a landslide victory in 2020 on a platform of defending the island's freedoms and democratic way of life.
Hous eight-day trip to the United States this week, which includes stops in New York and San Francisco, also appears aimed at sending a clear signal to Washington that his plan could also continue to rely on strong bilateral ties and ongoing arms sales to shore up Taiwan's military defenses.
It comes after similar visits by Taiwan People's Party candidate Ko Wen-je and incumbent Vice President Lai Ching-te earlier in the year, trips that are widely seen as a mark of candidates' ability to handle international relations.
Blueprint for peaceful unification
Hou's trip comes as China this week unveiled a "blueprint" for "peaceful unification" including economic incentives and sweeteners for residents of Taiwan, which has never been ruled by Beijing, to move to Chinas Fujian province to live and work.
Last month, current front-runner Lai transited the United States, framing Taiwan's attempts to resist the military threat from China as part of a global struggle to defend democracy.
Taiwan's Nationalist Party presidential candidate Hou Youyi poses with honey and Pennsylvania apple jam he received from chairman of American Institute in Taiwan Laura Rosenberger during their meeting in Washington, Sept. 18, 2023. Credit: Hou Youyis office
By contrast, Hou is looking for ways to reduce conflict with China, which many have warned will make it easier for the Chinese Communist Party to target the island's 23 million residents with propaganda and influence voters.
"The best way to reduce conflict is to continue to communicate and enhance mutual understanding," Hou told journalists in Washington, calling for enhanced trade and economic ties with China.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said on Monday it had detected 103 Chinese military aircraft flying near the island in what China's Global Times newspaper said was a major military exercise.
Hou said he opposed such "harassment" and called on Beijing to stop the sorties.
"This will only increase resentment among the Taiwanese people and is unhelpful for cross-straits relations," he said.
Excellent conversation
Former American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Richard C. Bush said he had also held discussions with Hou and other experts in cross-straits relations behind closed doors at the Brookings Institution on Monday.
"It was substantive, very engaging, and both sides learned a lot," Bush said, confirming that possible military conscription and further arms sales were on the agenda, adding: "It's all of that."
"We understand that Taiwan faces great challenges, both domestically and externally, but Taiwan's leaders understand that as well," he said. "This kind of discussion allows us to go over those issues."
German Marshall Fund expert Bonnie Glaser, who attended the session, said it was "an excellent conversation."
"This was my first time meeting Mayor Hou," Glaser said, adding that all the experts in the room now had a better understanding of his views.
"We all had the opportunity to ask questions ... and Mayor Hou answered those questions very directly, so I personally came away with a much better understanding of what Mayor Hou's vision is for Taiwan, the policies that he would pursue if he is elected," she said.
Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, front right, greets Taiwan's Nationalist Party presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, second left, during a ceremony commemorating the 65th anniversary of deadly attack by China on Kinmen Island, in Kinmen, Taiwan, Aug. 23, 2023. Credit: Chiang Ying-ying/AP
"He was very well prepared. He spoke very comprehensively about issues," Glaser said. "He really conveyed a full understanding of the challenges ... and of the work that has to be done not only by Taiwan but also the United States and Taiwan together."
"My impression is that he has thought through some of these issues and challenges that he would face," she said.
Dinner party
Hou's visit also took in the American Institute in Taiwan and Congress, as well as a dinner party hosted by overseas Chinese from Taiwan.
"I am here in the United States to brief you all on how I, as a future leader, will guide Taiwan out of [the current] crisis," Hou told guests in Washington, prescribing more exchanges between Taiwan and China alongside robust military defenses.
"For years, the U.S. has been Taiwan's sincerest ally and friend," Hou told a dinner party hosted by the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. "I look forward to deepening our bilateral friendship in the years to come."
Laura Rosenberger, who heads the American Institute in Taiwan, which acts as a U.S. embassy in the absence of official bilateral diplomatic ties, said Taiwan is a "crucial partner" for the United States in its efforts to maintain peace and stability in the region.
"The United States has long been committed to enabling Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability," Rosenberger said in comments quoted by Taiwan's Central News Agency. "Let me assure you that our commitment to that remains rock solid."
Hou told the Central News Agency that his platform draws on "successful experiences" with dialogue during previous Kuomintang administrations.
"I will continue cross-strait communication while avoiding military miscalculations," he said.
Translated by Luisetta Mudie and Malcolm Foster.
After six hours in the fields, the students are searched to prevent theft.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a corn field in South Hwanghae Province in an undated photo released in 2020. Authorities in North Korea are using students as free labor to harvest corn this fall, but because of food shortages, they search the students daily to make sure they dont steal any corn, residents in the country told Radio Free Asia.
North Korea is tapping its students to serve as free labor during the corn harvest this fall and searching them after each shift to make sure they arent stealing from the fields, residents of the country told Radio Free Asia.
The daily searches are an indignity for the students, but the government considers them a necessity to prevent theft. The country has been suffering from chronic food shortages for decades and every kernel is precious.
The search involves patting the students down to see if they have corn kernels in their pockets or hidden in their belts, a resident of South Pyongan province, north of the capital Pyongyang, told RFA Korean on condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Some students get angry and slap the hands of the patrol men lifting their clothes, saying things like Why are you treating me like Im a thief? the resident said.
Ears of field corn lay in piles along a roadside during the autumn corn harvest on a farm on the edge of Kaesong, North Korea in 2012. Credit: David Guttenfelder/AP
North Korean students are put to work on farms multiple times per year. The government uses militaristic terminology to describe this policy, so instead of being forced to provide free labor for the corn harvest, they are mobilized to fight the fall corn battle.
In the course of the year, people made to work on farms will fight the battles of planting, fertilizing, weeding, and harvesting.
The current corn battle began at the beginning of last week, with all middle and high school students being mobilized to work from 1-7 p.m., after finishing morning classes, the South Pyongan resident said.
Boys mainly carry the ears of corn harvested from the field to the threshing yard on their backs, she said. Girls peel the outer skin of corn carried by the boys and store the peeled corn back in the warehouse.
Corn and peppers are put to dry in a courtyard in Pyongyang in 2017. Credit: Ed Jones/AFP
At the end of the day, they must all submit themselves to the corn patrol farmers deputized by the police for search. In most years the corn patrol roams the streets checking adults for contraband corn, but this year their priority is to stop kids from stealing food from the farms, the South Pyongan resident said.
The searches are necessary because the North Korean government is trying to respond to shortages by ordering every farm to increase output this year and warning farming officials that they will be held responsible if they fall short, she said.
Many of the female students are uncomfortable with the daily searches at farms in Ryongchon county, in the northwestern province of North Pyongan, a farmer there told RFA on condition of anonymity to speak freely.
A female junior high school student protested by showing her empty pockets to a patrol officer who was trying to search her body, said the farmer. She said, Im not a corn thief, so youll never hear the end of it if you touch my body. The female students standing behind her also raised their voices, causing the patrol to stop the body search.
Translated by Claire Shinyoung Oh Lee. Edited by Eugene Whong.
South Koreas President Yoon Suk-yeol shakes hands with former President Moon Jae-in upon his arrival to his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, May 10, 2022.
Five years ago, when leaders of the two Koreas exchanged a historic handshake in Pyongyang, the Korean people looked on with hope, wishing that this masterpiece of diplomacy may finally put an official end to the seven-decade-long war on the peninsula.
But as time surges forward, the once-celebrated inter-Korean agreement stands vulnerable, overshadowed by North Koreas escalating nuclear threats, and its leader, Kim Jong Un reinforcing ties with his fellow authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin of Russia. Now, South Korea grapples with a growing divide on whether to uphold that deal.
The debate is set to intensify on the back of former South Korean President Moon Jae-ins attendance of the commemorative event of the fifth anniversary of the September 19 Pyongyang Joint Declaration in Seoul on Tuesday.
The [current] government and the ruling party have expressed their intentions to reconsider or possibly scrap the military agreement, Moon said at the event. However, its crucial to note that the inter-Korean military agreement has been instrumental in preventing military confrontations between the two Koreas.
Moons comments are largely seen as a warning against the administration of President Yoon Suk Yeol for its hardline policy on North Korea.
It would be irresponsible to remove the last safety pin in place, Moon added. As relations between the two Koreas deteriorate and military tensions escalate, its imperative for both sides to uphold the agreement.
His remarks may potentially improve public opinion of South Koreas progressives before the general election in April. Should that happen, it would conversely work against Yoons hardline policy on Pyongyang.
Under the 2018 inter-Korean military deal, the two Koreas agreed to end hostility and to take substantial steps to make the Korean Peninsula a permanent peace zone.
Military accords should be honored and respected to the fullest extent to ensure dialogue continues and to prevent dire consequences, Moon said.
The former president was supported by key officials from his administration his foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha and unification minister Kim Yeon-chul at the event.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with South Korean President Moon Jae-in inside the Peace House at the border village of Panmunjom in Demilitarized Zone, South Korea on April 27, 2018. (Credit: AP)
South Koreas progressives see consistent engagement with North Korea as a potential catalyst for altering Pyongyangs hostile behavior and its actions of violating human rights. They believe that integrating North Korea into the international stage would foster transparency, open avenues for dialogue, and gradually shift the Norths stance towards global norms and values.
Conservatives, on the other hand, have long protested against what it defined as far-fetched engagement, saying that excessive aid to North Korea despite its continued provocations would only foster its nuclear ambitions. The conversative Yoon administration is thus adopting a hawkish policy on North Korea, aimed at pressing Pyongyang to forfeit its nuclear weapons.
The ongoing debate is set to gain its momentum, as Yoons Defense Minister nominee Shin Won-sik has opined about his inclination to scrap the inter-Korean military deal last week.
Some analysts consider the deal invalid, with North Korea returning to its brinkmanship diplomacy after its high-stakes summit with the United States collapsed in Hanoi February 2019. For instance, in November 2019, North Korea fired coastal artillery near the maritime buffer around the border island of Changlin-do.
In May 2020, North Korea fired gunshots towards a South Korean guard post at the inter-Korean border, and in September 2020, a South Korean civilian was shot dead at the maritime border by the North and subsequently incinerated.
Further complicating matters is North Koreas amplified nuclear and missile threats. The threats are expected to further intensify with Putin vowing to aid North Korea in developing its satellite technology.
Rocket technology can be used for both launching satellites and missiles. For that reason, the UN bans North Korea from launching a ballistic rocket, even if it claims to be a satellite launch.
South Koreas internal disagreement surrounding its North North Korea policy could potentially undermine that of the allies. The lack of a unified stance be it hardline or dovish policy risks disabling Seoul and Washington to form a coherent strategy that could be implemented in the long-term.
Experts, however, noted that the main reason for this policy inconsistency is due to Kim Jong Uns altered stance on his diplomacy after the fallout in Hanoi in 2019.
North Korean inconsistency is what leads to South Korea having to change its policy. If Pyongyang had continued to engage post-Hanoi summit, I think that both, Moon first, and Yoon now would have probably sought to try to accommodate this. Alas, this hasnt been the case, said Ramon Pacheco Pardo, Professor of International Relations at Kings College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Likewise, I think that it was domestic instability in North Korea in the late 2000s, due to Kim Jong Ils health condition, and then the transition process to Kim Jong Un, [being] the main reason behind the end of the inter-Korean engagement. So liberals and conservatives may not fully agree on how to approach North Korea, but I actually think that Pyongyang is the main reason why Seoul changes its policy.
Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang.
Smoke rises over Toke Gyi village of Katha township, Sagaing region, on Sept. 17, 2023 after Myanmar junta troops opened fire and raided the village.
Junta troops have killed at least seven civilians in Myanmars northern Sagaing region in what residents and rebel fighters say was retaliation for an attack on their gunboats by members of the armed resistance.
The killings are the latest example of deadly attacks on civilians by junta troops that rights groups say amount to crimes against humanity since the military seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021 coup detat. Thailand-based NGO Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) says authorities have killed at least 4,092 civilians in the 31 months since the takeover.
The seven victims were killed Sunday after six junta gunboats carrying more than 100 soldiers, weapons, ammunition and food from Mandalay to Bhamo in Kachin state along the Irrawaddy River came under heavy artillery fire from the anti-junta Peoples Defense Force, or PDF, paramilitary group, residents told RFA Burmese.
A few hours after the attack near Katha townships Toke Gyi village a settlement of around 200 houses located some 360 kilometers (225 miles) north of Mandalay and 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the Kachin border the gunboats docked and unloaded the soldiers, who opened fire and raided the area, the residents said.
When they reached Toke Gyi village, they entered and set fire to the houses, said one of the residents who, like others RFA interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of reprisal. They killed seven villagers who remained in the village.
The resident said that troops shot and killed some of the villagers at first sight, and captured, tortured and killed others. He said all seven were killed on the same day and that four of the bodies have since been recovered.
We also found traces of the other three being killed in some places, he said. [Of the four bodies recovered] two were shot to death. One had a bullet wound on the right side of his chest and another was shot in the head. The other two were found to have been burned alive."
The victims whose bodies were recovered are Aung Lin, 41, and Khin Maung Htay, 43, from Toke Gyi village; and Ye Maung, 30, and Nyang Tun, 38, from nearby Than Pa Yar Kone village. The bodies of Aung Than, 23, Ko Chal, 22, and Bo Bo Tun, 21 all from Toke Gyi remain missing.
Yae Le and Moe Sit raids
Residents said that the gunboats left Kathar township the following morning and anchored just across the border in Kachins Shwe Gu township, where soldiers raided Yae Le village and arrested 50 people.
The junta troops arrested several men and women in Yae Le yesterday, a resident of the village told RFA on Tuesday. The women were later released, but the men were forced to work as porters, carrying equipment to [nearby] Moe Sit village.
The resident said that the troops raided Moe Sit village on Tuesday.
More than 1,000 residents of Yae Le and Moe Sit were forced to flee their homes during the raids, he said.
Smoke rises over Yae Le village of Shwegu township, Kachin state, on Sept. 18, 2023 after Myanmar junta troops raided the village. Credit: Citizen journalist
The scale of military arson and total number of people who remain in the custody of junta troops from the two villages was not immediately clear.
RFA contacted Tin Than Win, the juntas minister of natural resources and spokesman for Sagaing region, for more information about the attacks, but he declined to answer, saying that he has no knowledge of security and military issues. Calls to Win Ye Tun, the juntas social affairs minister and spokesman for Kachin state went unanswered Friday.
Pro-junta channels on the social media platform Telegram reported that six bodies of PDF members were recovered during what they termed a clearance operation in Katha township, but RFA was unable to independently verify the claim.
Campaign of intimidation
An official with the Katha Township PDF told RFA that the junta troops killed the seven villagers as retribution for the attack his group led on their gunboats.
"One of their ships was hit quite a lot, so they approached the old village of Than Pa Yar Kone and then went up to Toke Gyi village, shot people, arrested them, and burned their houses," the PDF official said.
At least 45 houses were razed in the military raid, he said.
According to data compiled by RFA, at least 32 civilians from Katha township were killed in junta airstrikes, artillery fire and while being held in military custody in the nine months from January to September.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently said that more than 26,000 people have been displaced by conflict in Kachin state since the coup.
Win Naing, a representative of the Peoples Hluttaw of Moe Kaung township, said the military kills innocent civilians as part of a campaign of intimidation that it hopes will erode public support for the armed resistance.
If [soldiers] are hurt in fighting, they raid villages and attack innocent civilians who can't fight back, he said. That's how they terrify the people, hoping that theyd stop supporting the revolution. They use this strategy as a weapon.
Translated by Myo Min Aung. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
The arrests come amid fierce fighting between junta troops and a local defense force.
The remains of homes burned by junta troops in Let Ku village, Palaw township, Tanintharyi region on Sept. 17, 2023.
Junta troops killed four civilians who were arrested with scores of others in a raid on Tanintharyi regions Palaw township, residents told Radio Free Asia on Tuesday.
Soldiers raided Let Ku village on Friday, seizing around 130 civilians, according to one local who didnt want to be named for safety reasons.
Locals from Let Ku villages and nearby villages were arrested and held in Du Yin Pin Shaung village and military Infantry-285 camp near Let Ku village, he said.
The arrested have not been released to this day.
Troops killed four villagers while another man died in a heavy artillery attack, residents told RFA Burmese.
They identified the four family members from Let Ku as Ba Kyin, his son Ngwe Soe, his daughter Thandar Nwe and his niece Yi Win.
RFA called Tanintharyi region junta spokesperson Thant Zin to seek comment on the killings but nobody answered.
Junta troops are fighting with a local Peoples Defense Force, prompting residents to flee six villages in Palaw township.
More than 75,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes in Tanintharyi region since the Feb. 2021 military coup, according to the United Nations.
Edited by Mike Firn and Elaine Chan.
Australian economist Sean Turnell was an economic policy advisor to Myanmars State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021 when the countrys military ousted the democratically elected government in a coup and installed the State Administration Council or SAC, led by Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.
Five days later he was arrested on charges of espionage and he spent the next 650 days or about one year and nine months in detention, mostly in horrible conditions in Yangons Insein Prison.
In his soon-to-be released book An Unlikely Prisoner: How an eternal optimist found hope in Myanmar's most notorious jail, Turnell tells the story of his time behind bars.
He told RFA Burmese that although it is a story of great sadness, it is also one of courage for other prisoners jailed by the junta, especially Aung San Suu Kyi, who he calls Daw Suu, a term of respect for women. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
RFA: What was your motivation for writing this book?
Turnell: Well, it was something that I always intended to do. In fact, I wrote most of the book in my head during the time I was in prison.
On many days, of course, I didn't really have much to do, so part of my pacing up and down the cells, I'd be trying to think of things to think about. And part of it was writing this book.
So probably about one third of it was written inside my head before I even got out. As soon as I got back, it was a relatively easy process of then converting all the thoughts up here [in my head] onto paper.
RFA: Can you discuss how much of the book deals with your time in prison, and before and after the coup?
Turnell: About two thirds of the book is all about the experience post-coup. So I detailed my experiences on the day of the coup itself and then my subsequent arrest five days later, and then the next 650 days in Yangons Insein Prison, and then up in Napyitaw and then back to Insein and the court and meeting Daw Suu in the court and all of that.
So that's the bulk of the book. But I have a section there on background Why was I there? And how was I involved at all in the NLD government? The basic background to the reforms, things like that, how those reforms increasingly ran up against the military and the difficulties, things like that.
But most of it is a memoir about post-coup, but I've got a section there about Myanmar before the coup and some of the reforms that we were trying to do.
RFA: Is there any subject that you avoid in the book? Was there at any time that you had to pledge to the junta not to write about as a condition of your release? Was there anything like that in your release agreement?
Turnell: Oh, no. I made no pledge at all. None at all. I wondered whether they would ask me to do something like that. But they never, ever did. I never signed anything. In fact, I was very, very careful about that. On the very last day, as I was being released, we were wondering about exactly that. So, yeah. So I made no pledges, no promises to them whatsoever and wouldn't have done so. I hasten to add, I would not have signed anything if it was put in front of me.
But since coming out, you know, I exercised my right as an Australian citizen, of course, back in Australia, which has complete freedom of speech. I was very vocal in talking about my situation and all that.
I don't think I mean, obviously I'm subjective in this issue but I don't think I've been at all unfair or unreasonable in my comments about the regime or the conditions under which they held me and the nature of the trial and all the rest of it.
I think any sort of objective account on any of those things would be identical to mine, would be my view. But obviously Myanmar now under the SAC regime is not a place where freedom of speech is welcome. So Im to some extent not surprised that they've had a negative reaction to it. But it certainly didn't involve any pledge or anything like that.
RFA: What are some of the most powerful memories from your time in prison that you talk about in this book?
Turnell: Many memorable times. I think some really bad stuff. I think, hearing about the death of my friend Khin Maung Shwe or Yacob, as he was always to me, a wonderful man who protected me, was just a dear friend. I met him in the first six months when I was in Insein Prison, where again, he sort of held me and looked after me. I then went up to Naypyitaw Prison for a whole year as the trial went on, and I never found out about him at all until I was sent back to Insein after the trial. And I heard that he'd been murdered in the prison and that that was a real low moment. But certainly, you know, as I say, it's one that is very much in my head.
Other than that, you know, I remember all the horrible stuff, the terrible cell, the terrible food, the awfulness of prison transfers. And I noticed reading some of the reporting on Myanmar, the internal media, that people like your organization have taken up the issue of transporting prisoners. And just to add my voice to that, it really is terrible. Some of the worst moments I experienced were being transported between the prison and the court and between different prisons, et. cetera. So I certainly remember all that.
But I remember again, some of the good things, the incredible conversations that I had with some wonderful Burmese colleagues and so on. I remember the compassion that they showed me. I remember, you know, some funny issues. And yes, Its a real mixed bag and a mixture of horror, but a mixture of really good things that not only gladdened my heart whenever I think about Myanmar and its people, but even about human nature.
One of the things that struck me is that while some people behave badly under pressure, a great many more people and certainly many Myanmar people behave superbly under pressure. And I was the beneficiary of that.
RFA: Is there any person or individual that you would like to dedicate this book to?
Turnell: I'm dedicating it to my wife, who just championed me from the get go. You know, she knew what was happening on the first day, she was there the last day. And she just ran a massive campaign from here in Sydney. And she reached out to everyone to not only all the political leadership here in Australia, but even to people like Hun Sen in Cambodia. She wrote letters to Min Aung Hlaings wife. She tried to rope in the U.S. president. She got the king of England, Charles III, involved. She got everyone involved. It was the most incredible thing.
So it was a no-brainer as to who I dedicate it to. But beyond her were my father, Peter, my sister Lisa, my nephews, my daughter, all of them were just, you know, just superb and then, you know, to the Myanmar people as well as other development friends and people from Australian foreign affairs and so on. But my Myanmar friends were very much in my thoughts beyond my sort of immediate family.
Australian Sean Turnell, center, seated during a ceremony inside the Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar on Nov. 2022. Credit: MRTV via AP
In terms of the structure of the book, I begin with the sort of drama of the arrest, the early interrogation, a terrible two months I experienced in something that I just called the box, which was just a room that I was locked into for two months in complete isolation. And the worst treatment that I had was at that period.
Then I have another chapter on being released into Insein Prison and spent a lot of time just talking about that, the conditions, describing it, because it's a most extraordinary place, particularly, I think, for people outside Myanmar. It would be very hard, I think, to visualize just just what inside is like. And a lot there obviously, again, about some great Myanmar friends.
Then, a big section once we go up to Naypyitaw, the awful conditions there in the Naypyitaw detention center was in many ways even worse than Insein.
Then the trial, the absurdity of the trial and the absurdity of the charges against me and against my friends.
Notes about Daw Suu, of course, who it was a great honor to work alongside before the coup. It was a great honor just to see how fantastic she was in the court in the prison. She remains as far as I know, but certainly to my experience, which was only a year ago, undaunted, full of courage, compassion, again, just raw intelligence, the way that it just shows out, the very courteous way that she treated the people who were persecuting her. She was just an inspiration. And so I spend a lot of time talking about that, just how she kept the spirits of myself up, and everyone else up. I never saw her waver or weaken anyway. So, you know, I certainly deal with that.
And then, the absurdity of the trial, the darkest moments immediately after that, transporting back to Insein is then the final thing where I was put amongst the death row prisoners, which was terribly depressing and inspiring as well, because again, even those people in a desperate, desperate situation, they were also incredibly generous and great friends to me. So that's sort of the second last section. And then I have finally the day in which I was told I was going home and the drama of going home and the incredible feeling and lift of going home.
And then finally, just some of the events that I detail a little bit, how the regime became upset when I had the temerity just to say that I wasn't treated that well by them and a little bit on that as well. But overall, it's an uplifting story in many ways, even though along the way, unfortunately, I have to tell the terribly sad story for so many people in Myanmar.
RFA: What kind of impact do you expect to make with this book?
Turnell: Above all, I would like the world to pay attention to what's going on in Myanmar. As we who are interested in Myanmar know, the situation is desperate, and it doesn't give it enough attention. The world's eyes, very rightly, are on Ukraine, but Myanmar deserves attention as well. It's a terrible situation. The people need help. They deserve help. And so if the book can do anything at all, it would be to help draw attention to that.
RFA: Do you have any messages for Aung San Suu Kyi and your other friends in Myanmar?
Turnell: My message to both Daw Suu and my specific friends in Myanmar, but also people just generally is a big thank you. I love the place and still do.
I was asked and I spoke to the media about this when I got released. A leading immigration official told me just as I was getting on the plane, he said, Sean, please don't hate Myanmar.
And it was an odd moment because he just spent minutes beforehand giving me a lecture about how I would never be allowed back, et cetera. But then he sort of changed his whole demeanor and again just said, Please don't hate Myanmar.
And I said back to him, I could never hate Myanmar.
And again, for all the reasons that I've described here about just the love and compassion, the courage that I witnessed all around me. So, yes, I have a very soft spot for Myanmar. I desperately hope to get back there one day, but that's not going to happen until we get dramatic political change.
That, of course, is a very minor thing compared to the overall story of what the people in Myanmar are going through. Just to get that message and a big thank you across to them and to say to them that even though Myanmar is not getting the attention it deserves, and that's part of the book, but nonetheless, there are millions of people around the world who do follow events in Myanmar and who do care about what's happening.
RFA: What about the regime? Do you have anything to say to Min Aung Hlaing and other regime leaders?
Well, I would say to them to put their country first. To put the people of Myanmar first. Stop being so defensive, selfish. I mean, I could go on and I won't bother doing that, but I mean that very clearly. These are people who don't have the country's interests at heart.
Perhaps some of them might have second thoughts. I like to think that probably not at the very top, but that there must be people, smart people, and for whatever reason, might be caught up in that regime who might just think, This is terrible, we've got to stop this. This is enough.
I'm hopeful that that's the case. It's obviously very hard to know, but you just can't help but feel there must be people who look at the economy, look at the dreadful state of the country and just think, We can't do this. We've got to stop.
And so to those people, I would encourage them to do so.
Edited by Eugene Whong.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. President Joe Biden used their speeches on the opening morning of the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York on Tuesday to call for reforms of the global bodys central institutions amid multiple global crises.
The assembly is meeting for general debate from this Tuesday to next, and opened with a fiery speech from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who pledged to use next years G-20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro to put the worlds inequitable development on the agenda.
The 10 richest billionaires have more wealth than the poorest 40% of humanity, Lula said, noting the U.N.s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, a focus of this years assembly, were the world over far from being reached and could turn into the global bodys biggest failure.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 19, 2023 at United Nations headquarters. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
The destiny of every child born on this planet seems to be decided while they're still in their mother's womb, he said. The part of the world where their parents live and the social class their family belongs to will determine whether or not that child will have opportunities.
Lost ground
Biden, speaking after Lula, also acknowledged the failure of the world to make enough progress on the SDGs, which are now halfway due.
These goals were adopted at the United Nations in 2015 as a roadmap for improving lives around the world, Biden said. The hard truth is, after decades of progress, the world has lost ground these past years, in the wake of COVID-19, conflict and other crises.
He called for fundamental reforms to the United Nations, and said his administration will support expanding the Security Council, increasing the number of permanent and non-permanent members. But he said the body, despite its flaws, was still key to world security and peace.
The institutions we built together at the end of the Second World War are an enduring bedrock of our progress, Biden said.
U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 19, 2023. (Richard Drew/AP)
Speaking in opening remarks before debate opened, Guterres also raised the U.N. Security Councils decades-old membership structure, which has resisted change even as it has been criticized by the Global South and emerging powers as antiquated.
The U.N. Security Councils five permanent members have since 1945 been the victors of World War II: China, France, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia, which took the Soviet Unions seat in 1991. Each has the power to unilaterally veto the councils binding resolutions.
Guterres told the assembly that the world has changed since then, but our institutions have not, deepening the United Nations' struggle to effectively deal with crises of poverty, climate change and conflict.
A multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions. Yet global governance is stuck in time. Look no further than the United Nations Security Council and the Bretton Woods system, he said. They reflect the political and economic realities of 1945, when many countries in this assembly hall were still under colonial domination.
If institutions do not reflect the world as it is, [then] instead of solving problems, they risk becoming a part of the problem, he added.
Great fragmentation
Guterres also noted that the world was again dividing into multiple competing power blocs amid tensions between the United States, Russia and China, and was inching ever closer to a great fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations.
When that threatens a single open Internet, with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence, and potentially clashing security frameworks, it is high time to renew multilateral institutions based on 21st Century economic and political realities, he said.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the start of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, Sept. 19, 2023. (Seth Wenig/AP)
To that end, he proposed a new U.N. body on artificial intelligence to guide governance of the technology, to prevent countries like China and the United States from inadvertently developing technology dangerous for the whole world in a race to outdo each other. He said the body would be like the International Atomic Energy Agency, an intergovernmental agency that does not have binding powers.
During his speech, Biden referenced the growing great power rivalry, too, noting that U.S. policy was not about containing any country and that he wanted to responsibly manage the competition with China to avoid conflict, but that international law had to be defended.
He also said the world cannot turn away from abuses whether in Xinjiang, Tehran, Darfur, or anywhere else, and argued that Russias invasion of Ukraine was testing the waters of a new world order where core tenets of the U.N. Charter no longer have any relevance.
U.S. President Joe Biden is seen on a translator's video monitor as he addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Sept. 19, 2023 at United Nations headquarters. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
Certain principles are an international system, are sacrosanct: sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights, Biden said.
If we abandon the core principles of the United Nations to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? he said. If you allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? I'd respectfully suggest the answer's no. We have to stand up to this naked aggression.
The remarks spoke to the issues faced by the global body as the General Assembly sits for the 78th time since its creation in 1945, amid renewed war in Europe and the emergence of China as a power.
Guterres, during his speech, said he was under no illusions about the ease of reforming the United Nations when three of its most powerful members Russia, China and the United States were at odds.
Reforms are a question of power, he said. I know there are many competing interests and agendas, but the alternative to reform is not the status quo. The alternative to reform is further fragmentation.
Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Indonesian Navy personnel prepare the hospital ship Dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat, which will be used in the first joint drill by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations member-states in Batam, Indonesia, Sept. 18, 2023.
All 10 ASEAN states will begin a joint military exercise Tuesday in Indonesia, the first time such an event will involve only the blocs members even as Beijing asserts its sweeping claims in the disputed South China Sea.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has held joint drills with other countries, including the United States and China, but this ASEAN-only exercise is a sign of growing cooperation and unity on maritime security, analysts told BenarNews, an online news agency affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
The 10 ASEAN members will be joined by prospective 11th member, Timor Leste, during the five-day non-combat exercise. Officially called ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, it will take place around Batam and Natuna Islands near the South China Sea, Lt. Col. Abidin Tobba, media coordinator for the event, told BenarNews on Monday.
Eleven countries and hundreds of personnel will take part in the exercise, including Myanmar, Abidin said without specifying why it was participating.
Myanmars military junta has been persona non grata at ASEAN meetings because of its failure to implement a regional peace plan agreed two months after the army seized power from an elected government in February 2021.
The drills will include joint maritime patrols, medical evacuation, search and rescue and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in simulated affected areas, the Indonesian military said.
Enhancing regional stability
They are expected to enhance regional stability and boost our countries economy, according to Indonesias military commander, Adm. Yudo Margono, who proposed the ASEAN exercise during a meeting of the blocs defense forces chiefs in Bali in June.
Indonesia is this years holder of the rotating ASEAN chairmanship.
The exercise comes three weeks after Beijing released a new map including Taiwan and practically the entire South China Sea. But Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan rejected the map.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including waters within the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, which are ASEAN members, and Taiwan. Indonesia is not a claimant in the dispute, but has repeatedly protested against Chinese fishing boats and coast guard vessels entering its waters near the Natuna Islands.
A U.N. arbitration court in 2016 ruled that Chinas nine-dash line, a boundary used by Beijing on Chinese maps to illustrate its claim, was invalid. But Beijing has rejected the ruling and insisted it has jurisdiction over all areas within the dashed line.
In the latest incident, Chinese ships sailed uncomfortably close to and hemmed in a Philippine Coast Guard ship as it escorted civilian supply boats to Manilas military outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
A BenarNews correspondent and other reporters, who were given special permission to travel aboard two Philippine Coast guard Ships for a resupply mission, witnessed the tense moments at sea.
An Indonesian naval cadet uses binoculars as he monitors the signal from the KRI Diponegoro-365 during a joint exercise on guarding Indonesias borders in the North Natuna Sea, Oct. 1, 2021. [Muhammad Adimaja/Antara Foto/via Reuters]
ASEAN members Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Singapore have no connection to the dispute but are participating in the exercise because it is valuable and sends a message to the superpowers, said Vinsensio Dugis, head of the ASEAN Studies Center at Airlangga University in Surabaya.
Not all are involved in the South China Sea dispute, but this [exercise] shows that even those who do not have direct claims are also concerned about this issue, he told BenarNews.
He said the exercise also signals that ASEAN does not want to be seen as siding with either China or the United States, which have been engaged in a strategic rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region.
Internal conflict
However, the South China Sea issue has caused conflict within ASEAN before, including, media reports said, on the location of the joint exercise.
Cambodia and Myanmar, which have strong ties to China, had initially not confirmed participation in the exercise when it was announced in June.
Some media reports said Cambodia had opposed the earlier planned location in the North Natuna Sea, which lies within Indonesias exclusive economic zone (EEZ) but parts of which China claims.
Later in June, Indonesia changed the ASEAN exercise location to Batam near Singapore and the waters of South Natuna, citing their suitability for non-combat drills such as joint maritime patrols, medical evacuation and disaster relief.
Indonesia renamed the southern reaches of the South China Sea the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to emphasize its sovereignty over those waters, which encompass natural gas fields. Indonesia, as well as Malaysia and Vietnam have accused China of disrupting their oil and gas exploration activities with frequent incursions by China Coast Guard and maritime militia ships.
The U.S., which is not a South China Sea claimant but is in a defense treaty with ASEAN member Philippines, has challenged Chinas claims by conducting freedom of navigation operations in the waterway.
And with Beijing renewing its warning about invading U.S. ally Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, the strife between the two superpowers has made Southeast Asia a geopolitical tinderbox, analysts have said.
ASEANs decision to hold this members-only exercise is an effort to maintain regional stability amid this superpower rivalry, analysts said.
The intention of the exercise is to show joint agency, regardless of the contention and rivalry between great powers, Muhammad Waffaa Kharisma, a researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, told BenarNews.
It still has high value because it practically addresses actual needs such as disaster response, search and rescue, etc. that have been overshadowed by the U.S.-China relations and high politics issues, he said.
BenarNews is an online news outlet affiliated with Radio Free Asia.
A China Coast Guard ship shadows the Philippine Coast Guards BRP Malabrigo during its patrol at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, April 23, 2023.
The Philippine Coast Guard on Monday blamed Chinese maritime militia ships for destroying coral reefs in Manila-claimed waters in the South China Sea.
The coast guards announcement came after the Philippine military accused the Chinese militia of massive destruction, particularly in the seabed of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal, features within the countrys internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Divers had carried out underwater surveys of the seabed, said Commodore Jay Tarriela, the coast guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Manilas name for parts of the South China Sea within its jurisdiction.
The results of these surveys showed that the marine ecosystem in the subject WPS features appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life, Tarriela said in a statement.
He said there wasvisible discoloration of the seabed that indicated deliberate activities meant to modify the natural topography of the terrain.
The presence of crushed corals strongly suggests a potential act of dumping, possibly involving the same dead corals that were previously processed and cleaned before being returned to the seabed, Tarriela said.
Both reefs are near the island of Palawan, the Philippines southwestern island fronting the disputed sea.
Monitoring between Aug. 9 and Sept. 11 showed an average presence of about 33 Chinese maritime militia ships near the two features, Tarriela said.
The swarming activities of the Chinese militia fleet and their alleged destructive fishing practices may have directly caused the degradation and destruction of the marine environment in the WPS features, he said.
The South China Sea is home to about 177,000 square miles of biodiverse coral reefs, environmentalists said. There are an estimated 571 different species of coral and 3,794 different species of fish in its waters.
By comparison, there are roughly 600 known types of coral and 1,500 different species of fish in the Great Barrier Reef off of the East Coast of Australia.
China, which has the worlds largest fishing fleet, claims most of the South China Sea. Six other Asian governments Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have territorial claims or maritime boundaries that overlap with Chinas claims.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to requests for comment from BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated news outlet. The foreign ministry spokeswoman in Beijing did not discuss the issue on Monday, according to a transcript of her news conference.
On Saturday, Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, the Philippine militarys western command chief, told reporters that coral reefs in Rozul Reef have been thoroughly harvested by Chinese militia ships.
We noticed coral harvesting in their swarming areas. After they departed, we pinpointed the location and dispatched divers for an underwater survey. They observed that no corals remained everything was damaged, with debris scattered, Carlos said.
Theres nothing left in the area, he said, adding divers claimed the coral harvest occurred recently, although the Philippine Coast Guard did not release pictures of the undamaged seabed.
He said Philippine authorities had successfully driven away the Chinese militia in early July, but the militia returned the following month because it was nearly impossible to patrol the coastal area regularly.
Wed like to maintain [patrol] 100%, 365 days a year. But because of the weather, limited resources our troops have to go back to port to refuel, to take some rest, he said.
DFA, senators speak out
On Monday, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the Philippines consistently raised the alarm over ecologically harmful activities in the EEZ.
We, therefore, call on everyone concerned to act responsibly and cease all activities that can damage our precious marine environment. The well-being of millions of people who depend on the South China Sea for their livelihood is at stake, it said in a statement.
Two senators, Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada and Francis Tolentino, an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., issued statements speaking out against the damage.
Preserving the marine environment and coral reefs in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal is not only a responsibility but a moral duty that we owe to future generations, Estrada said.
Tolentino, meanwhile, said he is crafting the Philippine Maritime Zone Law that he envisions would be the countrys legal basis for territorial disputes.
If we file a claim, damages, it should be in a tribunal recognized by UNCLOS, United Nations, he said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which governs uses of oceans and their resources.
A screengrab from an undated video claims to show coral destruction in the seabeds of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal in the South China Sea. Credit: Courtesy Philippine Coast Guard
Bobby Roldan, who represents the fishermens group Pamalakaya, urged Marcos to order a wider damage assessment of the area.
There is a need to identify if the swarmed area was subjected to coral harvesting, clam hunting, or any military activities that destroyed its vast coral reefs, Roldan said.
We urge the Marcos administration to take this matter urgently by tapping marine scientists and other experts to extensively assess the damage and its possible long-term implications to the local fishery production.
Jeoffrey Maitem, Jojo Rinoza and Gerard Carreon in Manila contributed to this report.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news outlet.
A police officer gestures in front of a propaganda billboard urging "the maintenance of rule of law in Xinjiang" in both Chinese and Uyghur languages on a road in Kashgar in China's northwestern Xinjiang region in July 2023.
Authorities in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region have completely walled off a village of 13,500 people in a bid to control their movement, subjecting them to 24-hour surveillance and restricting their access to a single gate each for residents and vehicles, according to security personnel.
The enclosure of Chuluqai village in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefectures Ghulja (in Chinese, Yining) county roughly 650 kilometers (400 miles) west of Urumqi, the regional capital is the latest attempt by authorities since the 2000s to surveil Uyghurs under the pretext of maintaining peace and security in the region, despite claims of widespread state-sponsored rights violations against the minority group.
In a recent visit to the area, a reporter with Agence France Presse documented the restricted freedom of rural residents within their communities, particularly in Kashgar (Kashi) prefectures Yarkand (Shache) county. While investigating the situation in Arslanbagh village, the reporter discovered that local authorities had been instructing residents to stay indoors and locking up homes in order to monitor and control their movements.
RFA Uyghur received a tip from an anonymous source who said that similar restrictions had been put in place in Ghulja and contacted county police for comment on the claims.
An officer who answered the phone said that she was newly hired and unclear about the policy of enclosed communities in the county referred to officially as the one village, one gate campaign but indicated that it was underway.
I don't know how many more villages are left to be enclosed, said the officer who, like others RFA contacted for this report, declined to be named because she had been instructed not to speak with the media.
The officer referred additional questions to the county government.
A further investigation revealed that authorities in Ghuljas Chuluqai village had implemented similar measures there since 2017, walling off the area and requiring residents to enter and exit through a single checkpoint.
Electrified gate, barbed wire fence
RFA spoke with a security guard who said that he is one of two people on duty at the village gate during the day and one of five on duty throughout the night.
The gate is an electrified iron gate and it's surrounded by two-meter (6.5-foot) walls with barbed wires, he said. It encloses every part of Chuluqai, and you can only enter and exit through this single gate.
A Chinese flag next to a sign read as 'Use history as an example to build the future' displayed on an alleged detention facility in Kashgar prefecture in China's northwestern Xinjiang region on July 15, 2023. Credit: Pedro Pardo/AFP
The guard said that there is a separate, larger gate for vehicles to enter the village.
We check and record where the car is from, whether it belongs to an individual or an organization, or if it's from a different city, he said. Pedestrians walk through a separate door, and we record their names.
According to the guard, the checkpoint allows authorities to determine where individuals are coming from and whether any of their family members have been arrested.
The police officers will conduct the checks and decide whether they can enter or not," he said.
In every county
The one village, one gate campaign is being implemented in every county, he added, citing official communications he was privy to on his radio.
The guard said he had personally observed a similar situation in the Ghulja villages of Ewlia, Uchon, and Mollatoxtiyuzi.
The construction of walls around communities in the Xinjiang region commonly referred to by officials as building new villages or transforming neighborhood appearances is designed to limit the freedom of movement of residents, rights groups say.
China has come under harsh international criticism for its severe rights abuses against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs. The U.S. government and several Western parliaments have declared that the abuses amount to genocide or crimes against humanity.
An entrance to an alleged former detention center, known as Yengisheher-2, in Shule County in Kashgar in China's northwestern Xinjiang region on July 15, 2023. Credit: Pedro Pardo/AFP
Alleged atrocities against the Uyghurs have included detention in re-education camps and prisons, torture, sexual assaults and forced labor.
Ilshat Hasan, a U.S.-based political commentator who spent his childhood in Chuluqai, said that people could freely enter and exit the village during his time there.
The Uyghurs where I grew up never experienced such oppression, where they are required to provide their names and show their IDs just to enter the village, he said.
Hasan said that enclosing an entire community and restricting its members to using a single gate implies that the population has been reduced and called for an independent investigation.
Keeping foreigners out
China has regularly responded to criticism of its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang by inviting foreign journalists to visit the region and observe the situation for themselves.
However, the security guard RFA spoke with in Chuluqai said that foreigners are not allowed to enter the village and that no foreign reporter had been able to access the area in the past six years.
If a foreigner inquires about a specific person [in the village] or says there is an issue, we tell them not to interfere with the law, as our government and legal system are fair," he said.
The guards comments appeared to imply that the walling-off of villages in Ghulja is as much about keeping the international community in the dark about the situation there as it is about restricting the movement of residents.
Allegations of abuses have led to high profile visits to Xinjiang by U.N. observers in recent months, including former U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in May 2022 and a delegation from the U.N.s International Labor Organization in August this year.
When Bachelet visited Xinjiang last year, Chinese officials did not permit her to visit labor camps or hold open discussions with Uyghurs facing discrimination and threats, prompting criticism from the international rights community.
In August 2022, Bachelets office released a damning report on Xinjiang, concluding that serious human rights violations had been committed in the context of Chinese counter-terrorism and counter-extremism strategies, and that Chinas detention of Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the region may constitute crimes against humanity.
Last months low-profile visit by the ILO delegation was slammed by rights groups who said it should have consulted with them beforehand and expressed concern it would help China conceal its crimes in Xinjiang.
Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers a statement during the opening of the Sustainable Development Goals Summit 2023, at UN headquarters in New York, Sept.18, 2023.
China has warned fellow United Nations member states not to attend a panel on human rights abuses in Xinjiang sponsored by a think tank and two rights groups on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, the National Review reported.
The event organized by the Atlantic Council, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International aims to put more pressure on China to stop its repression and violence against mostly Muslim Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities in the restive, far-western region of China.
Chinas permanent mission to the U.N. expressed its resolute opposition to the event and strongly recommended that other missions not attend in a letter dated Sept. 14, a copy of which was obtained by the conservative news outlet the National Review.
China referred to the three cosponsors as notorious anti-China organizations and said it opposed interference in its internal affairs.
They are obsessed with fabricating lies and spreading malicious disinformation about Xinjiang with no respect for truth, and are plotting to use human rights issues as a political tool to undermine Xinjiangs stability and disrupt Chinas peaceful development, the letter said.
Radio Free Asia contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., which said questions should be directed to Chinas permanent mission to the United Nations. But Chinese diplomats at the U.N. mission could not be reached by phone and did not respond to an emailed request for comments.
A major pillar of the U.N.s mandate is the protection of human rights, so for a U.N. member state to intimidate other member states to not discuss or attend even a meeting on the U.N.'s mandate is incredibly shocking behavior or shocking bad behavior from the Chinese government said Maya Wang, associate director of the Asia division at HRW.
Criticism of UN
Human rights and Uyghur rights advocacy groups have criticized the U.N. for failing to take concrete action to hold China to account for its abuses, saying the international body has done little since releasing a report a year ago stating that Chinese may have committed crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and others.
When speaking about human rights during his address to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, U.S. President Biden said: We cannot turn away from abuses whether in Xinjiang, Tehran, Darfur or anywhere else.
Part of the problem of holding Beijing to account is that the Chinese government now expects impunity for grave international crimes because of its economic and political might, Wang said.
The inability of the U.N. system to hold the Chinese government accountable or even just discussing human rights issues that are human rights abuses of the Chinese government at the U.N. system is putting their own credibility at peril, she told RFA.
Wangs colleague, Sophie Richardson, China director at Human Rights Watch, tweeted on Sept. 18, Amazing to what lows CN govt will stoop to prevent even a discussion. Imagine what its like to be a #Uyghur, arbitrarily detained, no access to family/lawyer.
Rayhan Asat, a Uyghur human rights lawyer and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, urged global leaders, including U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to listen to the analysis of the human rights situation in Xinjiang and take decisive action to end the atrocities against the Uyghurs.
By intimidating participation from various U.N. missions as a form of reprisal tactic, China seeks to silence the voices of former U.N. mandate holders and top experts from foremost human rights organizations who bear witness to China's relentless atrocities, she told RFA.
Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
The World Mission Society of Church of God is considered a cult by traditional Christian churches.
Followers of the World Mission Society of Church of God in Vietnam attend a service at an undisclosed location in an undated photo.
Vietnams government has ordered Peoples Committees nationwide to root out a church group already outlawed in the country, seeking to eliminate the controversial group which has increasingly been organizing recruitment activities.
The World Mission Society of Church of God, also known as Church of God the Mother, whose doctrine departs significantly from that of mainstream Christian theology, has been expanding rapidly in Vietnam.
Its adherents believe that its deceased leader Ahn Sahng-hong was the second coming of Jesus Christ and deifies evangelist Jang Gil-ja by calling her God the Mother. Traditional Christian churches regard it as a cult.
Vietnams Ministry of Home Affairs issued an official dispatch to the Peoples Committees in all cities and provinces nationwide, telling them to take resolute measures to eliminate the organization, Vietnamese state media said on Sept. 17.
People's Committees are administrative agencies that operate under the management of provincial People's Councils and carry out government policies and directives at the local level.
The committees now must dissolve and revoke the permits of groups practicing the religion and prevent them from creating new groups, Vietnamese media said. They are not allowed to approve church requests to register nonprofit organizations, companies, representative offices, shops, clubs or extracurricular programs.
RFA called the churchs headquarters in Seoul for comment but got no response.
The World Mission Society Church of God originated in South Koreas Kyunggi province and was founded by Ahn Sahng-hong in 1964. It has more than 3.3 million registered members in 175 countries, according to its website.
Vietnams constitution technically enshrines freedom of religion, but it also allows authorities to override rights, including religious freedom, for purposes of national security, social order, social morality and community well-being.
The church has made a comeback with 16 service locations, mostly in Thanh Hoa city, and around 500 followers, Radio Free Asia reported in May, citing information from the Thanh Hoa provincial police website.
In late May, Vietnams Ministry of Public Security said that church adherents had resumed their recruitment activities, targeting college students in the capital city of Hanoi. Also that month, authorities said the church had returned to several other localities, including the city of Hue and Vinh Phuc province.
The Ministry of Public Security believes the church penetrated Vietnam with the entry of Korean people and later via blood donation events held by the WeLoveU Foundation, an international NGO started in South Korea in the 1990s.
RFA reported in March that police in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam ordered church members to stop following the group.
The groups members typically range in age from 18 to 50 years old, and most are students and housewives, authorities said. They often promote their religion by approaching people at coffee shops, parks and business workshops, especially events about multilevel marketing models.
In April 2018, the Vietnamese governments Committee for Religious Affairs requested responsible agencies from central to local levels to pay attention to the churchs activities in the country.
Translated by Anna Vu for RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
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Protests broke out in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, after Azerbaijan launched a military assault on ethnic-Armenian inhabited areas of Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19. Angry crowds gathered outside government buildings, calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign, and clashed with police.
After weeks of bloody clashes, Azerbaijan on September 19 said it had launched an anti-terrorist operation in Nagorno-Karabakh, a major escalation in hostilities with Armenia as the breakaway region already teeters on the brink of a humanitarian crisis after being blockaded for more than eight months.
The shelling -- which triggered an immediate international outcry -- started shortly after Baku accused what it called "Armenian sabotage groups" for the two separate explosions that killed four military personnel and two civilians in areas of Nagorno-Karabakh that are under the control of Russian peacekeepers.
Ethnic Armenians inside Nagorno-Karabakh quickly took to social media with posts of video and accounts saying the de facto capital, Stepanakert, was under bombardment. There were no immediate details on damage or casualties.
WATCH: Azerbaijan on September 19 said it had launched an "anti-terrorist operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh following recent bloody clashes and a monthslong blockade of the breakaway territory.
Azerbaijans Defense Ministry said in a statement that "only legitimate military targets are being destroyed," while the Foreign Ministry said the only way for peace in the region was the complete withdrawal of Armenian forces in the region.
Armenia's Defense Ministry, however, disputed Baku's statement, saying the country had no forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and that Baku's offensive "violated the cease-fire along the entire line of contact with missile-artillery strikes."
Later in the day, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said in a statement that Azerbaijani forces had so far seized more than 60 military posts and destroyed up to 20 military vehicles with other hardware.
The de facto human rights ombudsman in the ethnic Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani region said that two civilians had been killed and 23 wounded -- including at least eight children -- in the attacks.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian immediately convened a meeting of the country's Security Council and said he was looking toward Moscow, which leads a military security alliance Armenia is a part of, and the international community, to help put a stop to Baku's attacks.
"First of all, Russia must take steps and, secondly, we expect the UN Security Council to also take steps," Pashinian said in televised comments.
In the evening, angry crowds gathered outside government buildings in Yerevan, calling for Pashinian to resign, and clashed with police, RFE/RL's Armenian Service reported.
Protesters angry by what they saw as Moscow's failure to stop Azerbaijan also gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan, chanting anti-Russian slogans, TASS reported.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Azerbaijan to halt its operation immediately, saying it was worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Karabakh.
"The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijan's military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately," Blinken said in a statement.
Earlier, Armenia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh will take "clear and unequivocal steps to stop Azerbaijan's aggression," referring to the cease-fire agreement Moscow brokered between Yerevan and Baku after the two sides fought a six-week war in late 2020 over the region, leaving some 7,000 people dead.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists in Moscow that Russia was worried by the escalation but that its peacekeepers in the region would continue their mission. She added that Moscow had only "several minutes" notice before Baku launched its offensive.
"The most important thing is to convince both Yerevan and Baku to reject using force and sit down at the negotiating table," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, condemned the operation and called on Azerbaijan to stop military activities in Nagorno-Karabakh, while saying Brussels remained committed to facilitating dialogue to bring a lasting peace to the region.
Armenia's government said in a statement that French President Emmanuel Macron told Pashinian in a phone call that he will call for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the situation. Reuters quoted U.S. officials as saying Washington had already started a diplomatic outreach over the situation.
Nagorno-Karabakh-based independent journalist Marut Vanian confirmed to RFE/RL that Azerbaijan had "intensively" shelled the region.
"From my balcony I could see smoke rising from the direction of Shushi [known as Susa in Azerbaijani]. From my balcony I could hear sounds of explosions coming from different directions.... Several explosions were very close," Vanian said, adding that the shelling had sent many families scrambling for cellars and shelters.
Metakse Hakobian, the secretary of the opposition "Justice" faction of Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto parliament, told RFE/RL that Stepanakert was "being bombarded from all sides."
Artak Beglarian, former minister and and ex-ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh, called the attacks "the bloody stage of the genocide" of Nagorno-Karabakh people and called on Russia, the United States, and the European Union to stick to their guarantees for peace and security in the breakaway region.
The situation escalated in the region just one day after humanitarian aid delivery for ethnic Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh resumed after Nagorno-Karabakh's de facto authorities agreed to allow Russian-provided aid to be delivered directly from Baku-controlled territory via the Agdam road.
In return, Azerbaijani authorities agreed to allow simultaneous aid deliveries to the breakaway region through the Lachin Corridor.
U.S. and European leaders have called for Azerbaijan to ease the transit of humanitarian aid to the beleaguered region, which is experiencing shortages of food, energy, and medicine.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated mountainous enclave that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.
The cease-fire signed at the end of the 2020 conflict was hailed as a triumph in Azerbaijan, but Armenian losses sparked months of massive protests in Yerevan demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's resignation.
Nagorno-Karabakh and seven nearby regions had been controlled by ethnic Armenians since a bitter war began as the Soviet Union crumbled in the late 1980s and then gave way to a three-decade "frozen conflict."
Azerbaijan on September 19 said it had launched an "anti-terrorist operation" in Nagorno-Karabakh following recent bloody clashes and a monthslong blockade of the breakaway territory. The de facto human rights ombudsman in the ethnic Armenian-controlled Azerbaijani region said that two civilians had been killed and 23 wounded -- including at least eight children -- in the attacks.
U.S. President Joe Biden has warned world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly that allowing Ukraine "to be carved up" will mean no nation is secure.
"Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence," Biden said in his speech to UNGA. "If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?"
Biden said the United States and its allies would stand with Ukraine as it fights for its freedom.
"Russia alone bears responsibility for this war," Biden said. "Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately."
Bidens speech to the annual gathering was billed as the highlight of his three-day visit to New York, which will also include meetings with the leaders of five Central Asian nations.
Bidens address comes as Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding to Ukraine.
Biden has sought a package of $13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.
In his speech, Biden said Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and occupation of territory violated the founding UN Charter, a main principle of which is respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Earlier in his opening speech, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Russia's invasion "has unleashed a nexus of horror."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who attended and applauded Biden's remarks ahead of his own speech at UNGA later on September 19, was expected to visit Biden at the White House on September 21 and to meet some congressional leaders as well.
In other remarks, Biden said the United States does not seek conflict with China.
When it comes to China, I want to be clear and consistent," Biden said. "We seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict."
Biden also emphasized that Washington does not want to separate the U.S. economy from China: "I've said we are for de-risking, not de-coupling with China."
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa
Yury Harauski, a former member of Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenkas special security forces, has confessed in court to taking part in the kidnapping of three opposition figures who ended up dead.
Harauski offered his apologies to the relatives of former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka, former Deputy Prime Minister Viktar Hanchar, and businessman Anatol Krasouski, who had gone missing in 1999, as his trial started on September 19 in a Swiss court.
Harauski confessed to taking part in the abduction of the three men but added that he was not aware of why they were kidnapped and said he did not take part in their killings.
During his testimony, Harauski said Zakharanka was kidnapped in Minsk on May 7, 1999, driven to a military base outside the Belarusian capital, and then shot by his superior, Dzmitry Paulichenka, a lieutenant colonel who had headed the special unit.
He added that Hanchar and Krasouski were abducted in September 1999 while they were leaving a sauna in Minsk and later shot execution style by Paulichenka.
According to Harauski, the two men's bodies were buried sometime later and their clothes and belongings were burned.
Harauski first declared in 2019 his involvement in the unit that orchestrated the disappearances of opposition politicians. Paulichenka has rejected Harauski's comments on what happened, saying his comments were nonsense and alleging that Harauski was thrown out of the unit for criminal activity.
Lukashenka, in power since 1996, has denied any official role in the disappearances.
Harauski in 2018 applied for asylum in Switzerland, settling in the northern city of St. Gallen, where the trial is being held.
The Associated Press said earlier that an extract of the court filing, obtained by its reporters, indicated that prosecutors planned to seek a three-year prison sentence -- of which two would be suspended -- for Harauski.
With reporting by Novy Chas, AP, and dpa
Five Americans who were swapped for $6 billion in unfrozen assets and five detained Iranians have arrived home in the United States, hailing "freedom" and the end of a "nightmare" after their plane landed outside Washington early on September 19.
They hugged relatives to cheers as they left the Gulfstream 5 jet following their predawn arrival at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The five U.S. nationals had first been flown to Doha, where some embraced the U.S. ambassador to Qatar and walked seemingly in high spirits to a building at the airport in anticipation of the flight to the United States.
"Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home," U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement as they made their way to the United States.
In New York, hard-line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi called the deal to swap a total of 10 individuals along with the assets "a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America" that could "definitely help in building trust."
The agreement took months to clinch and has sparked criticism from some hawkish elements in the United States who think it extends a lifeline to an Iranian regime laboring under tough U.S. sanctions.
The five were expected to land in the United States as soon as late on September 18.
"I would not be free today, if it wasn't for all of you who didn't allow the world to forget me," one of three of the U.S. citizens who have been identified, Siamak Namazi, said in a statement on his behalf.
After their U.S. arrival with Namazi the first off the plane, his brother Babak said, with his arms around Siamak and their father, Baquer, who was released separately from Iranian custody last October, "The nightmare is finally over."
The freshly released prisoners posed for a group photo with family members saying, "Freedom!"
A Qatari plane had taken off from Tehran carrying the five with two of their relatives, news agencies reported, hours after a Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said the prisoner exchange would occur shortly.
Some $6 billion of Iranian assets once frozen in South Korea is now in Qatar, a key element for the prisoner exchange, added Nasser Kanaani in comments during a news conference aired on state television.
The exchange comes amid a major U.S. military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
According to the deal, the funds will be kept in accounts in Qatar, a U.S. ally on the Arabian Peninsula and home to a major U.S. military installation. Those funds would be allowed for so-called humanitarian spending, like on food and medicine, already allowed under the sanctions, Washington has said.
Iranian officials had identified five individuals in U.S. custody whom Tehran would like handed over as part the deal.
They include three Iranians -- Mehrdad Ansari, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, and Kambiz Attar Kashani -- charged with illegally obtaining advanced or potentially dual-use technology thought to be bound for Iran that has been under tightly reimposed U.S. sanctions since 2018.
Two others -- Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi and Amin Hasanzadeh -- were jailed for failing to register as a foreign agent and stealing engineering plans on behalf of Iran, respectively.
"Out of the five Iranian citizens in America, two will return to Iran, two will stay in America at their own request, and one person will go to a third country at their request," Kanaani said. He did not identify which prisoners would return to Iran and which would not.
The freed Americans include Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on internationally criticized spying charges; Emad Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Morad Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence. The fourth and fifth prisoners were not identified.
Iran has been accused of taking foreign nationals hostage under the guise of breaking the law to use as bargaining chips. Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during a current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges.
Iran has been isolated and hit with tightened economic and diplomatic sanctions since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a three-year-old deal between world powers and Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from previous measures aimed at stopping the country from developing its atomic capabilities.
Aside from the diplomatic and economic fallout, observers since then have attributed a series of ship seizures and attacks in the crucial Strait of Hormuz region to Tehran.
Tehran has also cooperated with Russia in the Middle East in addition to supplying Moscow with crucial attack drones to further the Kremlin's war plans in Ukraine.
With reporting by AP
Provocative irredentist statements about Tajikistan by a top Kyrgyz official on the first anniversary of deadly border clashes between the two countries has caused alarm in Dushanbe and soured relations.
When asked by journalists on September 15 about the ongoing Kyrgyz-Tajik border talks aimed at ending decades of dispute over their common border, Kyrgyz National Security Committee head Kamchybek Tashiev said Kyrgyz officials had uncovered "historical" documents that suggest parts of Tajikistan used to be Kyrgyz territory.
"If the neighboring country [Tajikistan] does not withdraw its territorial demands [on Kyrgyzstan], we will push [our findings] forward, said Tashiev, who is also the chairman of the Kyrgyz Commission on the Demarcation and Delimitation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border.
We have the capacity and the opportunities to do so," he said ominously, without providing any details.
Following Tashiev's statement, the Tajik Foreign Ministry summoned Kyrgyz Ambassador to Tajikistan Erlan Abdyldaev for talks and also warned of their concerns over Tashievs controversial comments.
"Such comments can seriously damage the current negotiation process on delimitation and demarcation of the Tajik-Kyrgyz border," the Tajik Foreign Ministry said.
The timing of Tashiev's statement, which coincided with the anniversary of last years deadly border violence, has raised many questions.
The comments also came as Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov attended the fifth annual meeting of Central Asian leaders held in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on September 14-15. Discussions there mainly focused on regional security and water-related issues.
Notably, the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Tajik border were not on the official agenda, and the topic was not mentioned once in any of the official discussions.
Meanwhile, Japarov's spokesman said that the president had left the Dushanbe summit far earlier than the other Central Asian leaders "due to his tight working agenda." The quick exit was seen as a snub to Tajikistan by many observers.
Japarov has not yet publicly commented on Tashiev's provocative statement, which has sparked controversial reactions within the two countries.
Kyrgyz political analyst Emil Joroev said the border negotiations between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have become contentious lately, with little progress being made.
According to Joroev, after early agreements in marking their shared border, the two countries have reached one of the most-disputed locations and have been unable to find a compromise.
"Tashiev's recent words, tone, manner, and selective arguments [about the border] seem to lack diplomacy, Joroev said. But I believe there was a motive behind his action. It didn't come out of nowhere. I think that the day after President Japarov visited Dushanbe and spoke with [Emomali] Rahmon, such a statement emerged due to an undisclosed acute matter [between the two countries]. Unfortunately, such a statement could lead to provocative actions. Given the conflicts of 2021-2022, we are aware of the possibility of a worst-case scenario. In such provocations, attacks, and shootings, the party initiating the attack must bear responsibility," Joroev said.
Tajik political scientist Abdullo Rahnamo noted the unexpected nature of Tashiev's statement and raised concern that it could indicate divisions within the Kyrgyz leadership or major problems in the border-negotiation process.
"Considering the timing, location, content, position, and tone of the statement, there is no doubt that it does not convey a positive message for resolving the border issue, improving relations between the two countries or Central Asia as a whole. It has once again disrupted the atmosphere of trust that had previously existed in bilateral and multilateral relations," Rahnamo said.
Rahnamo also pointed to the need for a thorough examination of Tashiev's statement from both a legal and political perspective, particularly focusing on his assertion about the discovery of "new historical documents."
"Allegedly based on [something] centuries ago when many parts of the territory of Kyrgyzstan were transferred to Tajikistan and [are now being used] to make territorial claims on Tajikistan, Rahnamo said. And if such a statement on this issue comes to the table of official bilateral negotiations, it will not only completely change the essence and prospect of resolving border issues between the two countries, but will also lead to a final deadlock in resolving the issue and create a threat to the entire Central Asian region."
Disputed Border Areas
The disputed areas between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are mainly the land surrounding Vorukh, an enclave of Tajik territory within Kyrgyzstan. While Bishkek has declared that the road leading to the enclave, Tort-Kocho, is strictly part of Kyrgyzstan -- as it is internationally recognized -- Dushanbe considers it as its own.
Some experts from Kyrgyzstan have mentioned that Tashiev's statement may be referring to Vorukh on the one hand, and the Jerge-Tal and Murgab districts of Tajikistan on the other.
Historian and archivist Kyias Moldokasymov told RFE/RL that, after the deadly Tajik-Kyrgyz border clashes last year, Moscow announced the existence of historical maps within Kremlin archives that address the disputed border areas and suggested that Russia mediate the dispute using the unseen historical maps.
I think Tajikistan is demanding that [Kyrgyzstan] hand over all the areas surrounding the Ak-Sai village [on the border in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan], including Vorukh and the road leading to it, Moldokasymov said.
During last year's clashes the Tajiks made the same demands, stating that we had rented 275 hectares of land from them [for the road] and it was time to return it. If Tajikistan continues to make similar demands, then we can request Jerge-Tal and Murgab, [which were] added to Tajikistan's territory in 1929 when it joined the Soviet Union," Moldokasymov said.
The border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan is approximately 975 kilometers long. The delimitation and demarcation process began in 2002 and, as of 2020, some 519 kilometers had reportedly been defined.
To show the progress made since then, at a meeting last year between Japarov and his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rahmon, the sides said some 664 kilometers of the border had been defined. Special commissions from each country continue to negotiate the disputed areas.
But that total was contradicted by Rahmon in January when he said that 63 percent of the border roughly 614 kilometers -- had been demarcated as work on the remaining border was ongoing.
There have been numerous parts of the often byzantine border lines in Central Asia -- many of them drawn during the Soviet era -- that have been in dispute since the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991.
The situation is particularly complicated near several enclaves and exclaves that exist in the volatile Ferghana Valley, where the borders of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan meet and where tensions have led to clashes between the various residents and border guards.
Written by Baktygul Chynybaeva based on reporting by RFE/RLs Tajik and Kyrgyz services
Air defense systems were activated late on October 31 in Ukraines central region of Cherkasy, the region's governor said as the Ukrainian military said its forces repelled Russian assaults on the heavily contested area around Avdiyivka in eastern Ukraine.
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.
Governor Ihor Taburets warned on October 31 about the threat of the use of attack drones by Russian troops as air defense systems were activated in the Cherkasy region and as an air alert sounded in Kyiv and other regions. The Ukrainian Air Force also warned about the threat of incoming ballistic weapons.
The Ukrainian military said two Shahed drones were destroyed before 8 p.m. local time in the Dnipro and Kryvorizka districts of the Dnipropetrovsk region, one of Ukraine's steelmaking hubs. Russian troops regularly bombard the region with various types of weapons. Moscow denies it attacks civilians in Ukraine.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in its evening summary on October 31 that Russian troops supported by aircraft conducted unsuccessful assaults in the areas of Avdiyivka, Pervomaiske, and other towns nearby.
Ukrainian forces repelled 15 Russian attacks in this area, the General Staff said.
According to the summary, in the area near Bakhmut, Russian troops tried unsuccessfully to restore lost positions near Klishchiyivka and Andriyivka.
The General Staff also reported on unsuccessful assaults by the enemy in Maryinka and Novomykhailivka. In the Zaporizhzhya region, Russian troops unsuccessfully tried to restore positions they lost near Robotyne, the headquarters of the General Staff reported.
The Ukrainian forces continue offensive operations in the Melitopol area and assault operations in the Bakhmut direction, the summary said.
Russian-installed officials in Donetsk said Ukrainian troops fired multiple launch rocket and artillery systems at Donetsk on the evening of October 31, killing two civilians and wounding seven, TASS reported. The city came under shelling five times in the evening, the Russian-installed officials said, adding that cluster munitions were used.
Three journalists with Russias Izvestia media company were hospitalized following the shelling of Donetsk, Izvestia said on Telegram.
It was not possible for RFE/RL to verify reports from the battlefield.
CHILIA VECHE, Romania -- Some 60 percent of the water of the Danube River flows along the Chilia Branch as the river splits into narrow fingers through the Danube Delta before running into the Black Sea. But while barges and cargo ships line up to enter the busy Ukrainian ports of Reni or Izmayil, on the Romanian side of the Chilia Branch maritime activity is nearly zero. Only pleasure craft, fishing boats, and the occasional passenger ship dock here.
This quiet corner of Romania has seen activity diminish further recently due to repeated Russian kamikaze drone strikes targeting Ukrainian ports across the river, and apparently sometimes slamming into Romanian territory, and the nearly constant thrum of Ukraine-bound shipping, which locals say has affected fishing here. Although Romania's Danube Delta as a whole is popular with tourists, most holidaymakers head for other, more picturesque river branches through the delta. Along all 111 kilometers of the Chilia Branch, the number of guesthouses numbers around a dozen. Most of those are in Chilia Veche.
"It's really a fishing destination," Alexandru Ceaus Timur, the mayor of Chilia Veche, said. "Fishermen will head out regardless of rain, storms, even war for their hobby." But many fishermen have in fact been scared off by the recent drone strikes on the Ukrainian ports across the river. According to the mayor, tourism numbers in Chilia Veche are down in 2023 by around one-third compared to previous years. The drop in tourism numbers is confirmed by staff of the Talianu Pension in Pardina. In the middle of the fishing season this summer, they say, many reservations were canceled following the first strikes on Izmayil port, just 5 kilometers away, in early August.
After a deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported through the Black Sea fell apart in July, Russia vowed to treat any ship in the Black Sea transiting Ukraine's deep-water ports as a military target. Since then, millions of tons of grain and other supplies have been shipped from Ukraine's Danube River to ports in neighboring Romania, and from there to the rest of the world. As a result of the massive increase in river traffic shuttling to and from the Ukrainian river ports, Romanian fishermen say fish in the water have been spooked. "Since they started loading more in the Danube ports, you can't throw the net out in the river because the ships are coming through," said Marius Tanase, a fisherman and farmer from Plauru. "Even when you do cast it's not the same anymore, because the ships are passing all the time and scare the fish."
The prices however, are good. Fishermen can get 20-25 lei ($5.40) per kilogram for carp, catfish or sole -- around double what the fish sold for in recent years. But the only fishery factory in the area is in Tulcea. If Tanase wants to sell his catch, he has to make an almost 100-kilometer round trip by boat. Before the war and the subsequent increase in shipping, Tanase claims around 50 kilograms of catch was common. Now less than 20 kilograms are being hauled out each day.
The infrastructure in this area is limited. Tulcea and Chilia are connected by a 70-kilometer road that takes about three hours to traverse. On the water, the only connection between the two towns is a passenger ferry that departs just three times a week and makes the trip from Tulcea to Chilia in 4 1/2 hours. There is, however, one spiritual initiative that has taken shape recently that has a small impact on the economy here.
On the edge of Ceatalchioi, a monastery is slowly taking shape. Everything is done with the labor of three nuns and a few monks directly involved in its construction. In 2010, when the monastics first arrived, there was only a church here. In 2011, they began work on the 13-room building, which is already liveable. "I was driven by the thought that a congregation would gather at the monastery. For now, people rarely come here because we are not officially recognized yet, but we definitely believe people will come," said Mother Paisia, the abbess of the monastery. On land alongside the monastery there is a miniature zoo with ostriches, pheasants, peacocks, and dozens of beehives. Among the sources of income for the monastery are candles, honey, and ostrich eggs.
Ioan Macra, a teacher at the school in Ceatalchioi, told RFE/RL that "the population here is mostly retirees. Most of the young people have left the country, many are truck drivers." Even if they returned, he said, "they wouldn't have much to do apart from raising animals, but even here they would encounter many difficulties."
In Plauru, some of the only activity to happen in recent days is the construction of bomb shelters built after several apparent drones strayed into Romanian territory during Russian strikes on nearby Ukrainian ports.
KAZAN, Russia -- The Supreme Court of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan has denied the appeal filed by RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva against her pretrial detention on charges of failing to register as a foreign agent, which she rejects.
The hearing on October 31 was held behind closed doors with Kurmasheva participating via video link from a detention center in Tatarstan's capital, Kazan. Kurmahseva's lawyer requested pretrial restrictions for his client other than placement in pretrial detention. A week earlier, Kazan's Soviet district court had placed Kurmasheva in pretrial detention until at least December 5.
Kurmasheva, a Prague-based journalist with RFE/RL's Tatar-Bashkir Service who holds dual U.S. and Russian citizenship, traveled to Russia for a family emergency in May.
She was temporarily detained while waiting for her return flight on June 2 at Kazan airport, where both of her passports were confiscated. She has not been able to leave Russia since as she awaited the return of her travel documents.
Authorities on October 11 fined Kurmasheva 10,000 rubles ($103) for failing to register her U.S. passport with Russian authorities, according to local media reports based on court documents they've seen.
Kurmasheva was detained again on October 18 and this time charged with failing to register as a foreign agent, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
The Investigative Committee announced that Kurmasheva has been charged under a section of the Criminal Code that refers to the registration of foreign agents who carry out the purposeful collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activities of Russia, which, if received by foreign sources, can be used against the security of the country."
It gave no further details.
The Investigative Committee said its investigation found that, while the Russian Justice Ministry did not add her to the list of foreign agents, she failed to provide documents to be included on the registry.
Kurmasheva denies the charge.
RFE/RL acting President Jeffrey Gedmin has rejected the charges against Kurmasheva saying she is being persecuted for her professional work.
Journalism is not a crime. She must be released to her family immediately, he said.
Russia's detention of Kurmasheva, the second U.S. journalist to be held by Moscow this year, triggered a wave of criticism from rights groups and politicians, saying the move signals a new level of wartime censorship.
Russia has been accused of detaining Americans to use as bargaining chips to exchange for Russians jailed in the United States. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was arrested for allegedly spying -- a charge he and the newspaper vehemently deny -- in March.
Since 2012, Russia has used its so-called foreign agent laws to label and punish critics of government policies. It also has been increasingly used to shut down civil society and media groups in Russia since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Amnesty International, the UN Human Rights Office, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the chairman of the U.S. House of Representative's Foreign Affairs Committee have called for the immediate release of Kurmasheva.
The foreign agent law allows authorities to label nonprofit organizations as foreign agents if they receive funding from abroad and are engaged in political activities.
RFE/RL says the law amounts to political censorship meant to prevent journalists from performing their professional duties and is challenging the authorities' moves in Russian courts and at the European Court of Human Rights.
More than 30 RFE/RL employees have been listed as "foreign agents" by the Russian Justice Ministry in their personal capacity.
In March, a Moscow court declared the bankruptcy of RFE/RL's operations in Russia following the company's refusal to pay multiple fines totaling more than 1 billion rubles ($14 million) for noncompliance with the law.
Turkish media reports say a Turkish citizen who had resided in Tajikistan for 28 years was abducted by unknown individuals in Dushanbe on September 16 and forcibly taken to Turkey, where he is wanted for alleged links with the Gulen movement that is banned in Turkey.
For many years, Vural worked as a teacher in Tajikistan after studying English at Tajik State University in the Tajik capital. He later opened a restaurant, called Ozyurt, in Dushanbe. It was near the eatery that he was kidnapped by several people over the weekend, his relatives say.
Vural's daughters, Sumeyra Nur and Yasemin Nur Vural, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, expressing concern for their father and asking for help to find him.
Earlier in July, another Turkish national, teacher Emsal Koc, who had been living in Tajikistan for 29 years, was abducted and brought to Turkey, where he is also accused of alleged ties with Gulen.
In another Central Asian country, Kyrgyzstan, a Turkish-Kyrgyz educator Orhan Inandi was abducted by Turkish agents in 2021 and brought to Turkey against his will in 2021.
In June this year, Inandi, who is a Kyrgyz-Turkish dual citizen, was handed 21 years in prison on charge of "establishing of an armed terrorist group."
Turkish officials have called Inandi a top Central Asian leader of the Gulen movement, which is led by U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, a former close friend of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan before falling out of favor and becoming a rival.
Turkey considers the movement, known as Hizmet in Turkish, to be a terrorist organization, though it is mainly involved in educational activities and promoting civil society.
Turkey blames Gulen supporters for an attempted coup in 2016 that killed some 250 people. Turkey arrested tens of thousands of people while purging the civil service and military of people suspected of being loyal to Gulen. It has also had many so-called Gulenists living abroad extradited to face charges in Turkey.
Tajik authorities have yet to comment on the reports about Vural's abduction.
An 8-year-old Ukraine boy who suffered burns to 80 percent of his body following an air strike has returned home after undergoing over 30 operations in Germany. Roman Oleksiv was injured and his mother was killed in a July 2022 Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsya. (WARNING: Some viewers may find the content of this video disturbing)
NEAR VELYKA NOVOSILKA, Ukraine -- "We planned the offensive, went in, crushed two Russian brigades, and battered them until they pulled in all the reserves," Anatoliy, a battalion commander from the 37th Marine Infantry Brigade, said of a breakthrough on the front south of Velyka Novosilka, in Ukraines Donetsk region, in early June.
The advance 10 kilometers deep into what had been Russian defenses along the Mokri Yaly River and the liberation of seven settlements along the way was so far one of the most spectacular episodes during Ukraine's counteroffensive. The NATO-trained, Western-equipped brigades that took part in it -- 35th, 36th, 37th, and 38th -- are among the country's most potent offensive forces.
During the assault, Anatoliys battalion used fast Western transporters such as French AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles and mine-resistant American Oshkosh M-ATVs. They shot on the move to stun Russian forces until marines on foot could be deployed, he said. Guided by drones observing the battlefield the marines stormed the enemy trenches and engaged in a risky close combat.
"You go toward the enemy line with mines under your feet and fire coming from three directions -- it's not a nice feeling, Anatoliy told RFE/RL, his hands resting on a Kalashnikov rifle he took as a trophy as he recalled the battle.
His last name, and those of the other soldiers cited in this story, have been withheld in conformance with Ukrainian military rules.
After spending several years at war and all his adult life in the army, the 34-year-old commander said he had lost youthful romanticism and gotten used to the mundane business of killing the enemy.
"If someone is waiting to see something like a Budyonny-style cavalry charge or a Soviet-type tank battle, they'd better go to a cinema," he said.
At The Headquarters And In The Trenches As he spoke, Anatoliy entered the unit's headquarters, dug deep in the black soil of the Donbas steppe. The orderly, spacious, chilly dugout hosts a small group of people who determine the actions of Ukrainian soldiers on this section of the front line.
On a recent visit, dozens of monitors displayed battlefield maps scaled to the level showing every tree, bush, and field border, with Ukrainian troops marked in green and Russian troops in red. The wood-clad walls were covered with printouts of drone-shot aerial photos and data charts. Soldiers sitting by their laptops took notes in rarely interrupted silence.
We will push forward until I light a cigarette lying in a hammock on the shore of the Sea of Azov.
"All of the fighting is happening in real-time," Anatoliy said, putting his finger on a small red square marking a Russian position on the map. "I will eliminate them tomorrow."
The closest green point on the map is a Ukrainian position located 194 meters away from the Russians. The trench, retaken earlier and freshly deepened, was occupied by a handful of soldiers including Yuriy, 23, Viktor, 36, and Serhiy, 42, all recently called up and trained.
There wasn't a single day without shelling from artillery, mortars, and rocket launchers, Serhiy, who had been at the position for more than three weeks, told RFE/RL. He hung his T-shirt on a branch a day before to dry in the sun -- and now it's as holey as Swiss cheese.
According to Viktor, who operates an anti-drone rifle, an enemy drone flies overhead every half-hour, spotting targets for artillery or trying to drop an explosive. Sometimes, the men are forced to listen to the Russian national anthem played by the soldiers on the other side of the front line. They laugh about it and crack their own jokes, despite fatigue and nervous agitation.
Viktor smokes up to two packs of cigarettes per day. Serhiy thinks the war will last for an "indefinite period." Yuriy believes it will "soon end with our victory."
For now, they put wooden doors in their dugout and installed a wood stove there. "We're quietly settling in, Mr. Commander," Serhiy told Anatoliy during his visit to the position. "I promise you'll get the leave when I find a replacement for you," his superior replied. Steadily Pushing Forward This may take some time: The Ukrainian counteroffensive, already in its fourth month and moving ahead slowly, is not expected to end soon -- whatever its result. The strategic drive toward the Sea of Azov, aimed at severing the land-bridge -- the swath of occupied territory stretching from the Russian border to the Crimean Peninsula -- seems to be far on the horizon.
So far, Ukrainian forces deployed on the southern front -- more dynamic than the eastern front -- have struggled to break through the formidable Russian defenses known as Surovikin Lines, after the Russian general who developed them last winter and spring and was dismissed as commander of operation in Ukraine after Wagner mercenary groups mutiny in late June.
Anatoliy told RFE/RL that the Russians have learned from the mistakes that helped enable Ukraine to take back substantial amounts of occupied territory in the months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Now, he said, they have built solid and smart defenses, and copied some of the Ukrainian tactics.
"There is a lot of subtlety in how both sides conduct this war, and ultimately the winner is the wiliest," he said.
Since June, Ukrainian forces have made considerable progress at two points: near Velyka Novosilka, a Donetsk region town close to the administrative border with the Zaporizhzhya region, and near recently liberated Robotyne in the western part of the Zaporizhzhya region.
In both cases, the progress from village to village has come in fast-moving skirmishes carried out from one tree line to another. In between those lie wide, densely mined fields that expose any moving object to enemy fire in addition to the risk of a deadly blast underfoot.
As a result, assault operations are preceded by demining work, often carried out at night, and by prolonged phases of artillery shelling and missile strikes aimed to clear the way for closer engagement.
This strategy, adopted after initial attempts to quickly break through the defense lines with mechanized and armored forces, has helped limit losses of men and equipment. But it means progress is also limited: Taking a kilometer of territory can take a week of fighting.
According to Anatoliy, the marine infantry brigades are sufficiently staffed and equipped for the tasks assigned by their commanders and will press ahead with the offensive operations in the future.
"We will push forward until I light a cigarette lying in a hammock on the shore of the Sea of Azov," he said.
The 37th Marine Infantry Brigade consists almost solely of conscripts who underwent training not only in Ukraine but also in at least one of several NATO nations: Poland, Norway, Britain, France, and Spain. The unit commanders are in touch with colleagues from NATO, and the brigade uses Western-supplied armored equipment, light tanks, artillery, and other weapons.
Ukraine formed separate marine infantry brigades in May on the orders of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "They are a powerful force that destroys the enemy, liberates Ukrainian lands, and performs the most difficult tasks in the most difficult conditions, and we need more of this force," he said at the time. 'The Fighting Will Continue' Exactly what lies ahead for these elite units in unclear, but it almost certainly involves more fighting, at least for several weeks.
U.S. General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the BBC on September 10 that there was probably about 30 to 45 days worth of fighting weather left, so the Ukrainians arent done. And then the rains will come in; it will become very muddy, and it will be very difficult to maneuver at that point and then you will get the deep winter.
But Ukraines military intelligence chief, Major General Kyrylo Budanov, said that Ukrainian forces would adjust to the weather and that the fighting will continue one way or another."
According to Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy, who commands Ukraine's Tavria grouping, which operates in the south, the offensive near Velyka Novosilka, which could potentially lead to a move towards the occupied port city of Mariupol, was just a distraction. Military experts say that battles in the vicinity of Tokmak, in the Zaporizhzhya region further west, will play a decisive role soon, as Ukrainian advances there would open the way to Melitopol, another occupied southern city that is crucial to the land-bridge. Advances in both areas bring Ukrainian artillery closer to Russian supply lines giving them opportunity to disrupt the enemys logistics.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said ahead of a meeting of Ukrainian and allied defense ministers in western Germany on September 19 that Ukraine was making "steady" progress in its three-month-old counteroffensive against invading Russian forces, as Kyiv looked to leverage reports of recent gains into renewed international commitments of weapons, ammunitions, and support.
The meeting in Ramstein, Germany, of military and defense leaders from more than 50 countries is the 15th gathering of the so-called Ramstein format.
But it's the first for Ukraine's new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, who was appointed as part of a reshuffle in which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was seeking "new directions" in the 18-month-old full-scale war.
Reuters quoted a senior U.S. defense official as saying the Ramstein setting was an opportunity "to hear from minister Umerov himself what his vision is, what his priority is."
"Democracies like Ukraine have...turnover in leadership all the time," the unnamed official said. "We do expect continuity [from Kyiv]."
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.
Lloyd said that the "counteroffensive continues to make steady forward progress" and added at the opening of a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, "And brave Ukrainian troops are breaking through the heavily fortified lines of Russia's army of aggression."
He added that Ukraine would "soon" receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States that were promised earlier this year as part of a $43 billion pledge of U.S. security assistance.
"I'm...pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that the United States had previously committed to will be entering Ukraine soon," Austin said, according to AFP.
Austin also cited a "long road ahead" and asked allied defense leaders to "dig deep" to provide greater air defenses to Ukraine.
"Air defense is saving lives," Austin said, according to AP. "So I urge this group to continue to dig deep on ground-based air defense for Ukraine. We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defense systems and interceptors."
Soon after Austin spoke, Reuters cited Danish news agency Ritzau as reportinging that Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced that Copenhagen would donate 45 more tanks to Ukraine: 30 Leopard 1 tanks and 15 T-72s.
Western militaries have already pledged around 100 advanced Leopard 2 tanks, along with 14 Challenger 2 tanks supplied by Britain and 31 M1 Abrams tanks from the United States.
Zelenskiy is expected to use his speech before the 78th UN General Assembly to urge the United States and other allies to step up military and other contributions to the fight against Russia's unprovoked 18-month-old invasion.
Pressure from the United States and other allies has reportedly mounted on Ukraine to demonstrate success amid criticisms about the pace of the Ukrainian military's push to retake Russian-occupied areas of southern and eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this month, Zelenskiy explained a defense reshuffle that included replacement of his defense minister and six deputies by saying "new approaches" were needed in the war. He plans to meet with senior U.S. lawmakers and other officials in Washington later this week.
After his arrival in New York, Zelenskiy visited a hospital where seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers are treated, presenting some with medals for courage.
With reporting by AP, AFP and Reuters
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of weaponizing everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine in an address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 19.
Zelenskiy said while there are various agreements that restrict arms themselves, There are no real restrictions on weaponization.
"It's clear: Russia's attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market in exchange for recognition for some, if not all, of the captured territories," Zelenskiy said. "Russia is launching the food prices as weapons. Their impact spans from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the southeast Asia. And this is a threat scale."
Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's full-scale invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war in Ukraine, click here.
Zelenskiy was making his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. His trip to UN headquarters in New York comes three months into Ukrainian counteroffensive that has not advanced as fast or as well as hoped for at first.
In his speech, Zelenskiy also accused Russia of exploiting European countries that were dependent on its oil and gas.
The "Kremlin weaponized oil and gas to weaken the leaders of other countries," he said, adding that "now, this threat is even greater."
"It is also turning other country's power plants into real dirty bombs. Look, please, what Russia did to our Zaporizhzhya [nuclear] power plant -- shelled it, occupied it and then blackmails others with radiation leaks," Zelenskiy added, referring to the Ukrainian power station that Russian invading forces took control of in March 2022.
Zelenskiy also noted that Ukraine was not the only victim of Russian aggression.
When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there. Each decade Russia starts a new war. Parts of Moldova and Georgia remain occupied. Russia turned Syria into ruins," he said. "Russia has almost swallowed Belarus. It's obviously threatening Kazakhstan and Baltic states."
Zelenskiy condemned Russia's wartime practice of forcibly taking Ukrainian children to Russia, calling it "genocide."
"We know the names of tens of thousands of children, and have evidence on hundreds of thousands of others kidnapped by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine and later deported," the Ukrainian president said.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of being responsible for the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine, which constitutes a war crime.
In his address, Zelenskiy also said Kyiv was working on preparing a global peace summit.
"Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after the Russian aggression, no one in the world would dare to attack any nation," Zelenskiy said. "The occupier must return to his own land."
Zelenskiy spoke hours after U.S. President Joe Biden urged the leaders gathered at the UNGA to stand by Ukraine against invading Russia.
"Russia alone bears responsibility for this war," Biden said. "Russia alone has the power to end this war immediately."
Bidens address comes as Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding to Ukraine.
Biden has sought a package of $13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and $8.5 billion for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.
Russia gets its chance to address the UNGA on September 23 when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected on the rostrum.
Hours before Zelenskiy spoke at the UN, allied defense leaders convened at a U.S. military base in Germany to discuss next steps.
Some nations pledged further money and weapons. But a key sticking point is whether to supply longer-range missiles that Kyiv insists it needs in order to hit Russian troops and facilities from a safe distance -- as far as about 300 kilometers away. Washington is wary of the request, worried that Ukraine could use such weapons to strike deep into Russian territory and provoke Moscow.
Zelenskiy also is due to speak on September 20 at a UN Security Council meeting about Ukraine. Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the council, and Lavrov is expected to make remarks.
Asked whether he would stay in the room to listen, Zelenskiy was quoted by AP as saying, I don't know how it will be, really.
With reporting by Reuters and AP
India-Canada Relations
Experts Assert Economic Interests Will Prevail, Insulating Trade Relations from Diplomatic Friction
NEW-DELHI: Amid recent strains in diplomatic relations between India and Canada, experts believe that trade and investment ties between the two nations are likely to remain resilient, primarily driven by economic interests that transcend diplomatic fluctuations. Both countries engage in trade involving different products, reducing direct competition and potentially preserving trade growth.
Ajay Srivastava, co-founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), emphasized that the nature of their trade relations, with distinct product offerings, mitigates the impact of day-to-day political events. He stated, "Hence, trade relations will continue to grow and will not be affected by day-to-day events."
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Political incidents have led to a stall in negotiations regarding a free trade agreement between India and Canada. Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed India's concerns to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau regarding anti-India activities and promotion of separatism by extremist elements in Canada. This exchange of views took place on September 10.
Srivastava highlighted that relations between the people of both countries, as well as their trade and economic relations, are unlikely to suffer due to recent events. He pointed out that Canada and India trade in distinct categories of goods, minimizing direct competition.
Notably, Bilateral trade between the two countries has witnessed significant growth in recent years, reaching US$ 8.16 billion in the fiscal year 2022-23. India's exports to Canada, amounting to US$ 4.1 billion, include medicines, gems, jewelry, textiles, and machinery. Conversely, Canada's exports to India, totaling US$ 4.06 billion, consist of pulses, timber, lumber, paper, and mining products.
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In terms of investment, experts anticipate that Canadian pension funds will continue to invest in India, considering India's sizable market and favorable returns on investment.
Sharad Kumar Saraf, Chairman of Technocraft Industries, a Mumbai-based exporter, acknowledged the current state of India-Canada relations as a cause for concern. However, he emphasized that bilateral trade operates on commercial considerations and isn't likely to be significantly impacted by temporary diplomatic turmoil. Saraf drew a parallel to India's strained relations with China, wherein trade relations have continued to flourish.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Allegations Surrounding Activist's Murder Strain Bilateral Relations
NEW-DELHI: In a sudden escalation of diplomatic tensions, India and Canada have expelled each other's ambassadors, heightening the discourse over allegations of India's possible involvement in the June murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
On Tuesday, India swiftly responded to Canada's expulsion of an Indian official by expelling the Canadian ambassador. The High Commissioner of Canada in India was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs to convey this decision, underlining India's growing concerns regarding alleged interference by Canadian ambassadors in India's internal matters and their alleged engagement in anti-India activities.
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The Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement justifying the expulsion, citing the need to address the intrusion into internal affairs and expressing worry over activities detrimental to India's interests. The expelled Canadian ambassador has been directed to depart from India within the next five days.
The diplomatic rift stems from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's earlier allegations of a potential link between an Indian government agent and the murder of Garmkhayali leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. India swiftly dismissed these allegations as 'absurd' and 'baseless.'
Notably, The Murder in question took place on June 18, when Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar was fatally shot by two unidentified assailants outside a Gurdwara in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Addressing the Canadian Parliament, Trudeau emphasized that Canada's security agencies are actively investigating substantial allegations of a possible connection between Nijjar's killing and an agent of the Indian government.
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In response to the allegations leveled against India, the Ministry of External Affairs reiterated that any claims of India's involvement in acts of violence in Canada were baseless and unfounded. These recent developments cast a shadow over bilateral relations, prompting concerns about the potential ramifications on diplomatic ties and underscoring the urgency for transparent investigations.
Fraud
Directors of I Abroad Education Immigration Company Accused of Scam Involving Canadian Study Visa Application
CHANDIGARH: In a distressing incident, the directors of I Abroad Education Immigration Company, based in Chandigarh's Sector-42, are facing allegations of defrauding an applicant, Baljit Singh, of Rs 19.5 lakhs under the pretense of assisting in securing a Canadian study visa for his daughter, Manjot Kaur.
Baljit Singh, a Ludhiana resident, approached the I Abroad Education Immigration Company seeking assistance in applying for a Canadian study visa for his daughter. The company's directors, namely Lavish Mahajan, Vivek Saini, Gauri Mehra, and Pooja Mahajan, reportedly misled Singh into depositing a substantial sum of Rs 19,29,000 for the purported visa application.
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Despite the substantial payment, Manjot Kaur's visa was not processed for several months, prompting Singh to seek an explanation from the company's directors. In response, the directors of the company, instead of addressing the issue, allegedly attempted to further delay the visa processing while making excuses to expedite the procedure. Frustrated and left with no viable options, Baljit Singh decided to report the matter to the police. Following a thorough investigation, the Sector-36 police station registered a formal case against I Abroad Education Immigration Company and its implicated directors.
CM Bhagwant Mann
Punjab govt persistently seeks the release of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) totaling Rs 4,000 crores from the centre
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has been diligently urging the central government to release the long-pending Rural Development Fund (RDF) amounting to Rs 4,000 crores for the last six months. Despite multiple requests and written appeals, the central government has yet to address this critical concern, leaving Punjab grappling with a deepening financial crisis.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, representing the state, has sternly warned of resorting to legal action if the funds are not released promptly. This pressing issue has been communicated to the central government six times through official letters from the Chief Minister's office, emphasizing the urgency of the matter.
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Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian has announced his intent to personally meet the Union Agriculture Minister and Union Finance Minister to advocate for the release of RDF. Prior to this, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann personally presented the case for RDF to various Union Ministers, seeking their support to expedite the allocation.
In a recent all-party meeting, Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh underscored Punjab's dire need for financial aid by announcing the RDF allocation of Rs 4,000 crores. Given Punjab's status as a border state, an appeal for a special package has also been made. However, despite these collective efforts, the central government has remained unresponsive, exacerbating Punjab's financial shortfall.
Notably, The state of Punjab is grappling with a financial crisis, further exacerbated by an outstanding debt of about Rs 5,800 crores owed by the center. The outstanding Rural Development Fund (RDF) from the last four procurement sessions has accumulated to Rs 3,600 crore, now standing at approximately Rs 4,000 crore. Additionally, Rs 600 crore under the National Health Mission (NHM) and Rs 1,600 crore of special capital assistance remain unreleased, further contributing to the state's financial strain. The urgency to release these funds is critical to address pressing developmental and health needs within the state.
Photo
Crime Sheds light on a grudge over a relationship that led to this heinous act
LUDHIANA: In a Horrifying Incident, two close friends, Rahul and Gulshan, were brutally killed by a gang of four assailants in the jurisdiction of Daba police station in Ludhiana. The bodies of the victims were discovered submerged in a filthy drain in Bhamian. The Ludhiana police have swiftly taken action, arresting three individuals while one accused remains at large.
Police Commissioner Mandeep Singh Sidhu provided insights into the motives behind this tragic event. The main instigator behind the murder, Amar, had been involved with a girl, later engaged to Rahul. Amar, harboring resentment, confronted Rahul and urged him to distance himself from the girl. However, Rahul, revealing his own engagement to the same girl, insisted that Amar let go. This fueled animosity, prompting Amar to meticulously plan the double murder.
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Amar orchestrated a meeting at the Royal Guest House, luring Rahul and his friend, Gulshan, into a trap. A heated argument ensued, culminating in a violent attack by four individuals on Rahul and Gulshan, resulting in their untimely demise.
Post the gruesome act, the assailants disposed of the bodies in a nearby drain with the help of their accomplices. The police swiftly apprehended Amar Yadav, Abhishek, and Aniket, recovering crucial evidence including an Activa scooter, an iron rod, and two mobile phones from the accused. Disturbingly, one of the victims had suffered eye injuries, the exact cause to be determined through a thorough post-mortem examination. Notably, The Ludhiana district police acted swiftly, solving this horrific murder case within 16 hours.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch
Controversial Report Claims Pakistan's Secret Arms Deal Facilitated Critical IMF Assistance
ISLAMABAD: In a Controversial Revelation, Pakistan has been accused of selling arms to the United States for use in Ukraine, purportedly playing a pivotal role in securing a crucial bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The startling claims are based on internal documents from both Pakistan and the US government, as reported by the online investigative platform Intercept.
The Alleged arms sales were purportedly intended to supply the Ukrainian military, suggesting Pakistan's involvement in a conflict where it faces pressure from the US to take sides. Pakistan's Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch swiftly dismissed the report by the American non-profit newspaper organization as 'baseless and fabricated.' Baloch stated that Pakistan, grappling with financial strain, had indeed provided arms to the US, aligning with a successful IMF negotiation for a three-billion-US-dollar deal by the end of June, thus averting lapses in payment.
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While facing the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, Pakistan has grappled with a delicate balancing act in its relations with the US and Russia. Baloch emphasized that Pakistan's collaboration with the IMF aimed to implement necessary economic reforms, strongly asserting the country's stance of 'strict neutrality' in the Russia-Ukraine dispute, denying any arms or ammunition provision.
During his visit to Pakistan in July, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denied reports suggesting Islamabad's arms supply to Ukraine. Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari echoed this sentiment, affirming that Pakistan had not entered into any military supply agreements with Ukraine since the onset of the conflict.
Earlier reports also hinted at Pakistan establishing a covert trading company in Warsaw to streamline arms supply to Ukraine. In April, a Ukrainian commander mentioned receiving rockets from various countries, including Pakistan, although Pakistani officials vehemently refuted these claims.
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Notably, The IMF provided Pakistan with 1.2 billion US dollars in July, forming part of a larger program to extend three billion US dollars over nine months, aimed at stabilizing Pakistan's beleaguered economy. The allegations of arms sales, if substantiated, may have significant repercussions on Pakistan's diplomatic standing and its relationship with key international players.
Deceased Gurpinder Singh Sidhu
Gurpinder Singh Sidhu, originally from Sagra village in Patiala, had ventured abroad in 2017
CANADA: In a Heart-Wrenching Incident, Gurpinder Singh Sidhu, a Punjabi truck driver striving for a better future in foreign lands, tragically lost his life on his birthday in Canada. The news of this unfortunate incident has left the community in shock and mourning.
The tragedy unfolded when Gurpinder Singh Sidhu was driving his trolley, and a sudden collision occurred with an oil-filled tanker. The impact of the collision resulted in both vehicles catching fire, leading to a painful and untimely demise for Gurpinder Singh Sidhu.
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Notably, Gurpinder Singh Sidhu, originally from Sagara village in the Patiala district, had ventured abroad in 2017 as an international student. Over the years, he transitioned to a work permit in pursuit of a promising future. However, fate had a different plan, and this tragic incident occurred on what should have been a day of celebration for Gurpinder Singh Sidhu. The community and his loved ones mourn the untimely passing of Gurpinder Singh Sidhu.
Deceased Gagandeep Singh Sandhu
Gagandeep Singh Sandhu, a 29-year-old Punjabi resident, found dead in a parked vehicle in Burnaby, British Columbia
BURNABY: In a tragic incident that has sent shockwaves through the community, 29-year-old Gagandeep Singh Sandhu, a Punjabi youth residing in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, was fatally shot. The Unfortunate event transpired on September 16, 5:07 p.m. local time, in the 3,400 block of North Road. The Burnaby Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) responded promptly to the shooting report and discovered the lifeless body of the young man inside a vehicle parked in an underground lot.
Authorities have classified this heart-wrenching incident as a targeted shooting based on the evidence gathered during the preliminary investigation. Approximately 15 minutes following the tragic event, the Burnaby RCMP received further distressing news, a vehicle was ablaze at Greenwood Street and Bainbridge Avenue, about 5 kilometers west of the murder scene.
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As per the information, the vehicle was completely consumed by fire, adding another layer of complexity to the ongoing investigation. The police are diligently working to unravel the circumstances surrounding this senseless act, aiming to bring justice to the victim.
Canadian stocks turned in a weak performance on Monday, with investors largely staying cautious ahead the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement due later in the week.
While the Fed is scheduled to announce its policy on Wednesday, the Bank of England and Bank of Japan will make their policy announcements on Thursday.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 129.51 points or 0.63% at 20,492.83. The index, which was down in negative territory right through the day's session, touched a low of 20,449.11.
In the healthcare section, Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) plunged 14.2%, and Bausch Health Companies (BHC.TO) ended nearly 2% down.
Among stocks, Shopify Inc (SHOP.TO) ended nearly 5.5% down. BlackBerry (BB.TO), Tecsys Inc (TCS.TO), Lightspeed Commerce (LSPD.TO) and Coveo Solutions (CVO.TO) lost 2.5 to 3.4%.
Energy stocks Africa Oil Corp (AOI.TO), International Petroleum Corporation (IPCO.TO), Vermilion Energy (VET.TO), Peyto Exploration and Development (PEY.TO), Paramount Resources (POU.TO), Crescent Poine Energy (CPG.TO) and Whitecap Resources (WCP.TO) ended lower by 1 to 4.6%.
Nutrien (NTR.TO), Teck Resources (TECK.A.TO), Magna International (MG.TO), goeasy (GSY.TO), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO), Constellation Software (CSU.TO) and BRP Inc (DOO.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.
Seabridge Gold Inc (SEA.TO) and Softchoice Corporation (SFTC.TO) climbed 6.5% and 6.3%, respectively. Russel Metals (RUS.TO), Wajax Corporation (WJX.TO), FirstService Corporation (FSV.TO), ATS Corporation (ATS.TO), Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO), Docebo Inc (DCBO.TO), Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) and Descartes Systems (DSG.TO) gained 1 to 2.5%.
On the economic front, data from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation showed housing starts in Canada fell by 1% over a month earlier to 252,787 units in August.
Data from Statistics Canada showed raw materials prices in Canada declined by 4.3% year-on-year in August, following a revised 11% fall in the previous month. Raw materials prices rose by 3% month-over-month in August, slowing from a 3.5% increase in July.
Producer prices in Canada fell 0.5% in August over the same month in the previous year. Prices jumped by 1.3% over the previous month in August, the first rise since October 2022.
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Medical company Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) announced Tuesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Relievant Medsystems, Inc., a privately-held peer. The transaction includes an upfront cash payment of $850 million and undisclosed additional contingent payments based on sales performance over the next three years.
Relievant Medsystems has developed and commercialized the Intracept Intraosseous Nerve Ablation System to treat vertebrogenic pain, a form of chronic low back pain.
As the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared system for vertebrogenic pain, the Intracept system is a minimally invasive, implant-free outpatient procedure. The therapy uses targeted radiofrequency energy to stop the basivertebral nerve from transmitting pain signals to the brain and is designed to improve function and provide long-term relief.
Boston Scientific expects to close the transaction in the first half of 2024, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions.
Relievant is expected to generate sales in excess of $70 million in 2023 and to deliver year-over-year growth in excess of 50% in 2024. On an adjusted basis, the transaction is expected to be immaterial to adjusted earnings per share (EPS) in 2024, slightly accretive in 2025, and increasingly accretive thereafter.
On a GAAP basis, the transaction is expected to be more dilutive due to amortization expense and acquisition-related charges.
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Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and his Peruvian counterpart Ana Cecilia Gervasi Diaz on Monday signed an agreement for visa-free travel between the two countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Azernews reports, citing Agenda.
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the officials discussed current issues of the bilateral and multilateral agenda and future prospects.
They also emphasised the importance of conducting high-level visits and deepening cooperation in politics, trade, economy, culture and education.
Darchiashvili highlighted the importance of his Governments cooperation with Latin American countries, while the parties also agreed to actively work for the development of bilateral cooperation in various fields, including by sharing Georgias experience of successful reforms in state services.
"Everything changed with the pandemic," said Ban Ho-young, the co-founder of Neofect, which develops remote rehabilitation services for stroke patients. "Telemedicine services have become common -- not only from progressive providers, but from many providers."
But amid the recent explosion of cases due to the Omicron variant, COVID patients with mild symptoms are now getting home treatment by phone consultations with medical workers.
Most telemedical services were banned until February 2020, when the government provisionally permitted them as the pandemic started. The change followed two decades of controversy with heavy opposition from some medical experts.
Demand for online and remote medical services has skyrocketed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and industry watchers believe it is here to stay.
The benefits of telemedicine are especially relevant for Korea. Even before the pandemic, non-contact services were becoming increasingly common.
Korea is also a global leader in the development of information technology. Because that is critical to remote patient care, Korea has a unique advantage in the evolution of telemedicine.
In addition, it has one of the fastest-aging populations in the world, and the proportion of the population with chronic and age-related diseases will continue to grow. "In response to this heavy societal burden, more care needs to be handled at the community level," said Paik Nam-jong, the president of Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. "Telemedicine will be the key."
In the U.S., more than 76 percent of hospitals connect with patients through video appointments.
Ban said this partly because the U.S.' health insurance system. There are many different insurance providers, which allows some insurance companies to provide telemedical care even if others do not. "In Korea, we only have state insurance, so we're very dependent on government policy and telemedicine regulations," Ban said.
Japan is more similar to Korea. Nangaku Masaomi, the vice dean of the Graduate School of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, said healthcare providers in Japan are hesitant to provide telemedical care because it was illegal in the past.
Like Korea, Japan also has a rapidly aging population. Masaomi noted that the elderly may struggle more with using the required technology. "I think Korea and Japan are facing common problems, both around legal restrictions and reimbursements," Masaomi said. "In Japan, we are currently analyzing the barriers to expanding telemedicine."
Koreans' response to the spread of remote care has been generally positive. According to a survey by the Federation of Korean Industries last year, around 62.1 percent of respondents said they were in favor of telemedicine.
Despite the benefits, there remain barriers. Healthcare professionals are paid less by insurance companies for telemedical care than face-to-face care, according to Paik. The reimbursement process for remote care is also more time-consuming.
Experts also say that further technological developments are necessary. "In case of an ENT hospital, equipment like nasal or ear endoscopes have been distributed, but they have not reached a stage where they can show the inside of the ear or nose perfectly," said Lee Sang-deok, the president of Hana ENT hospital. "It's also necessary to develop a platform where data from such devices can be sent effectively to hospitals."
Proponents in Korea have been encouraging the government to approve remote healthcare services permanently, but an amendment to the current law failed to cross the threshold of the National Assembly.
"It's time for the medical professionals, academics, and the government to start discussing telemedicine more seriously," Lee said. "Telemedicine is not only a key medical service for the present moment but also for the future."
President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday.
Biden has a busy schedule throughout the day at the UN Headquarters in New York, according to the White House. At 10 AM ET, he is scheduled to speak at General Debate of the 78th Session, which will run through September 26.
He will be delivering his third speech to the U.N. General Assembly of his presidency.
"In that speech, he will lay out for the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to work with others to solve the world's most serious challenges," a senior administration official said at a brieifng to preview the President's engagements at UN General Assembly.
"He will outline his vision for how countries, working within reformed and modernized international institutions, can harness their efforts to end conflict, defend human rights and the rule of law, and help countries develop their economies".
The U.S. President will also meet with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The meeting is scheduled for 11.30 AM ET. They will discuss how they can strengthen their partnership to tackle global issues, including mobilizing resources for development, combating climate change, ending conflicts, and working together to uphold the U.N.'s foundational principles.
Later in the day, Biden will host the first-ever so-called C5+1 presidential summit at the United States Permanent Mission to the United Nations.
He will meet with the presidents of five Central Asian nations: Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
The leaders will discuss a range of issues related to regional security, trade and connectivity, climate, and reforms to improve governance and the rule of law.
Tuesday evening, Biden will host the traditional reception with world leaders where he will have the chance to engage with dozens of heads of state and government from around the world.
Wednesday, the President will hold a bilateral meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as well as join in an event with labor leaders from Brazil and the United States.
Also on Wednesday, President Biden will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss a range of bilateral and regional issues. The leaders will compare notes on effectively countering and deterring Iran, the White House said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is among a number of leaders who will speak at the General Debate Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are not attending the annual world leaders' gathering at the top U.N. platform.
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The European Commission on Tuesday proposed to further extend the temporary protection that the European bloc has been providing for Ukrainian people fleeing Russia's attacks for another year.
The European Union activated the Temporary Protection Directive on March 4, 2022 within few days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It was extended by one year with a unanimous decision by Member States. The temporary protection expires on March 3, 2024.
The proposal, if adopted by the European Council, will extend the temporary protection to March 3, 2025. This will provide certainty and support for more than 4 million Ukrainian people who are already living in various countries across the EU.
"The Commission considers that the reasons for temporary protection persist and that the temporary protection should therefore be prolonged as a necessary and appropriate response to the current, volatile situation, which is not yet conducive to the safe and durable return of those enjoying temporary protection in the EU," the European Commission said in a statement.
The temporary protection directive provides immediate protection and access to rights in the EU, including residency rights, access to the labor market, housing, social welfare assistance, medical and other assistance. It also helps to prevent overwhelming pressure on national asylum systems and allows Member States to manage arrivals in an orderly and effective way.
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Dr Nomakwezi Mzilikazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships at Rhodes University [PIC: Uyanda Ntloko]
By Otsile Mabote
Rhodes University recently hosted a 5-day workshop as part of a project called 'BAQONDE' (Boosting the use of African languages in education: A Qualified Organised National DEvelopment strategy for South Africa). This was the final workshop for the project, with other partners having hosted similar workshops in which about twenty Rhodes academics participated since 2022. The project ends at the end of the year.
Academics from various departments and guest speakers gathered at the Amazwi South African Museum of Literature to share expertise and experiences on multilingual pedagogies and development of multilingual pedagogical resources. These shared experiences are geared to contribute towards the development and implementation of institutional language policies and practices in alignment with the Language Policy Framework for Public Higher Education Institutions. NRF SARChI Chair for Intellectualisation of African Languages, Multilingualism, and Education at Rhodes University, Prof. Dion Nkomo, coordinated the workshop as the Rhodes University institutional lead for BAQONDE.
The innovative BAQONDE initiative, which translates to "understand" or "comprehend" in English, intends to transform higher education in South Africa by fostering multilingualism. In line with national legal mandates to end English monolingual practices, this programme aims to infuse and strengthen multilingualism in South African higher education. It is based on the idea that all South African students ought to have equal access to high-quality education in the language of their choosing.
Four South African universities (Rhodes University, North West University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and University of the Western Cape) and three European universities (Salamanca University, Trinity College Dublin, and University of Groningen) make up the Baqonde partnership, which is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme for three years since 2021.
Dr Nomakwezi Mzilikazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships emphasised how well this initiative fits in with the future ambitions of Rhodes University.
This workshop is more than just a gathering. It is a testament to our commitment to change. It comes at a time when Rhodes University is embarking on a new strategic trajectory which is outlined in a beautifully packaged Institutional Development Plan. It is our compass as we move towards the year 2030, said Dr Mzilikazi.
A representative from the University of Salamanca and overall project coordinator, Prof Pedro Mosquera said that this programme initiates unity and highlights the spirit of collaboration. He went on to say, As we begin this journey together in Makhanda, I want to remind us about this beautiful journey that lies ahead. Unlike other forums, BAQONDE is never about I or Me. It is about Us, it is about We. It is about applying the whole logic of Ubuntu to the world of multilingualism in higher education. We have gathered here to share ideas, learn from each other as well as strengthen our collaborations.
According to Prof Juniours Marire, who is a member of the Economics Faculty at Rhodes University, they have been attempting to use language as a tool for comprehending Economics topics. He emphasised the social inequalities of previous and present practices where English-language learners would pay costly tutors to interpret their notes. The department began exploring how to teach and learn economics using multilingual methodologies. We were attempting to, in a modest way, ameliorate some of the language-related inequalities in the learning process, he said, by experimenting with various interventions. Translanguaging and multilingual orientations, according to Prof Marire, have the potential to create a more inclusive and improved learning environment at Rhodes University for all staff and students.
The BAQONDE initiative is a crucial step in advancing multilingualism in South African higher education and overcoming language obstacles that have long prevented many students from achieving academic achievement and finding jobs. South Africa should anticipate a time when language variety is valued and used as a strength in higher education as beyond the BAQONDE project.
UN agencies warned Monday that Libya's flood-stricken city of Derna, where thousands were killed a week ago, faces the threat of disease outbreaks that could bring "a second devastating crisis."
The massive flash flood that has killed over 3,000 people and left thousands more missing came as the war-scarred North African country was lashed by the hurricane-strength Storm Daniel on Sept.10.
Traumatized residents, 30,000 of whom are now homeless, badly need clean water, food and basic supplies amid a growing risk of cholera, diarrhea, dehydration and malnutrition, UN agencies warn.
"Teams from nine UN agencies have been on the ground delivering aid and support to those affected by Storm Daniel and the flash flooding for the last few days," said the UN Support Mission in Libya.
But it warned that local officials, aid agencies and the UN World Health Organization "are concerned about the risk of disease outbreak, particularly from contaminated water and the lack of sanitation."
"The team continues to work to prevent diseases from taking hold and causing a second devastating crisis in the area," UNSMIL said in a statement.
Kristin Kellum makes a Peanut Butter Paradise doughnut at Duck Donuts opened its first San Diego County store on Saturday in Encinitas.
Duck Donuts, one of the East Coasts most beloved doughnut chains, opened its first San Diego County store on Saturday in Encinitas.
Named for the North Carolina town where the first shop opened in 2007, Duck Donuts is famed for its unique style of service. Every doughnut is cooked to order, served warm and custom-topped to customers specifications with more than 40 choices of coatings, toppings and drizzle sauces. Each sugary orb costs $2.25.
Lines out the door are not uncommon at new stores as customers learn how to navigate and order at Duck Donuts.
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Online pre-ordering is available with at least 30 minutes notice, but company spokeswoman Kristin Kellum said most customers dont seem to mind the wait because they enjoy the freshness and custom nature of the product.
We live in a world now where customization is key, she said.
Due to the cooking time and degree of customers topping requests, store official say it takes about five to seven minutes from payment to doughnut delivery. But with a trained staff of 30, the Encinitas store is capable of turning out as many as 52 dozen doughnuts every hour, Kellum said.
Duck Donuts was started by Russ DiGilio, a health care executive who became frustrated when he couldnt find a decent doughnut shop during his family vacations in Duck, a small town in North Carolinas Outer Banks.
In 2013, the company opened franchise sales and there are now 72 stores in 15 states, with 140 more planned in the U.S. and Chile.
The 1,150-square-foot Encinitas franchise is owned by Brad and Laura Aughinbaugh of San Marcos. Its managed by Dave Manley, also of San Marcos.
Manley said he knew he wanted to be involved in Duck Donuts after his family bought a couple dozen during a vacation last year in Duck, N.C.
We bought two dozen and they were gone in 10 minutes, Manley said.
In June, Money Magazine ranked Duck Donuts No. 7 on its list of the 10 best doughnut shops in America. And last year, The Washington Post also named Duck Donuts the best doughnut shop in the capital city.
Unlike most doughnut stores, Duck Donuts doesnt have glass display cases of pre-cooked pastries. Instead, customers fill out an order form and pay upfront.
Once the order is received, an automated doughnut machine drops rings of yellow cake doughnut batter into a bath of heated soy shortening where they cook for 90 to 120 seconds and are then dropped from a conveyor belt into a cooling basket.
After a minute to cool, the doughnuts are dressed to order as customers watch. Customers can choose from classic combinations, like the smores variety, with chocolate coating, graham cracker crumbs and marshmallow drizzle. Or they can build their own.
There are 11 heated coatings including cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, blueberry, maple and chocolate. There are 16 toppings including chopped bacon, Oreo crumbles, peanuts, coconut and sprinkles. And there are 16 drizzles, including salted caramel, blackberry and hot fudge.
The chains two top-sellers are the Cinnamon Sugar and Maple Bacon varieties. DiGilios current favorite is lemon coating with coconut topping and Manleys favorite is peanut butter coating with chocolate drizzle.
Kellum said that some doughnut shops specialize in unique and savory flavors but Duck Donuts is focused on serving the classics.
The traditional doughnut has never gone out of style. Were here to give people what they want, she said.
Besides doughnuts, the store sells doughnut ice cream sundaes and three varieties of brewed coffee.
The Aughinbaughs are planning to open two or possibly three more stores in San Diego County. Manley said theyre now scouting locations in North County, downtown San Diego and the Eastlake area of Chula Vista.
The first California location opened in July in Huntington Beach. A third California location will open this week in Irvine.
Duck Donuts
Hours: 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sundays-Tuesdays. 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays.
Where: Village Square, 1452 Encinitas Blvd., Encinitas
Online: duckdonuts.com/location/encinitas-ca/
A selection of just-decorated Duck Donuts during an employee training session last week at the Encinitas store, which opened Oct. 20. (Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune)
A robotic cake doughnut-making machine prepares cooked-to-order doughnuts at Duck Donuts, which opened Oct. 20 in Encinitas. (Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune)
Kristin Kellum drizzles marshmallow cream on a Smores doughnut at Duck Donuts, which opened Oct. 20 in Encinitas. At left are the chains two top-selling varieties, cinnamon sugar and maple bacon. (Pam Kragen/San Diego Union-Tribune)
pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Recent instances of Escondido students taking the anti-anxiety drug Xanax apparently are not isolated and could indicate a growing problem within the community, if not the county.
And where the teens are getting the drug and whether it is actually a prescription drug or a more dangerous counterfeit remain a concern.
Drug enforcement experts suggested the sudden availability of the drug may be fueled by surging sales of illegal sedatives, or even counterfeit street drugs marketed as prescription medications.
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We have seized counterfeit prescription pills that were made to look like Xanax, that did not contain any alprazolam, the generic name for the medication, said Amy Roderick, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in San Diego. Some of these pills that drug traffickers are selling, they have no idea whats in them. They dont know if its Xanax, nor do they care.
In September, five students at San Pasqual High School in Escondido became ill after taking pills that authorities believe to be Xanax. A month later, two other groups of Escondido students from Rincon Middle School and Del Lago Academy were also sickened after apparently taking the prescription drug.
There has been an uptick that Ive noticed in Xanax (use) in our community, but weve seen this uptick in prescription pills across the country, said Tara Anderson, the district counselor for Escondido Union High School District, who runs the prevention and diversion program. Xanax just seems to be kind of the creeper. I dont think kids are being prescribed the pills. Theyre getting them off the street.
As national attention focuses on the devastation wrought by prescription opioids such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and others, some experts say that dealers and the people they sell to are replacing those with other drugs, including anti-anxiety medications such as Xanax.
Its a highly addictive substance, said Scott Silverman, CEO of Confidential Recovery, an outpatient substance abuse treatment center in San Diego. Its easier to get because there isnt as much attention to it. People are substituting with Xanax, because they cant get Oxycontin; even though it might not be as powerful, its not as scrutinized yet.
The problem came to light in Escondido on Sept. 19 when five students from San Pasqual High School, all boys ages 14 or 15, became nauseous, dizzy and lethargic, and were treated at Palomar Medical Center for possible overdose. Based on their statements and symptoms, police concluded they had taken Xanax, but werent able to recover any of the substance, Escondido Police Lt. Justin Murphy said.
All five students were suspended for five days and ordered to undergo drug treatment, Escondido Union High School District Spokeswoman Karyl OBrien said, and on Sept. 28, police arrested two other 15-year-old male students for allegedly selling the drugs to classmates, and referred the cases to juvenile court for review.
On Sept. 24, a Del Lago Academy student on a 10th-grade field trip to an Orange County science museum was hospitalized for what school officials said was a possible Xanax overdose. Although officials said only one student was treated, a parent whose child was on the trip said several students may have taken the substance.
And the following day, a half-dozen Rincon Middle School students became ill after apparently consuming Xanax provided by another student at lunchtime. The students a mix of boys and girls between the ages of 11 and 13 later became sick in class.
One student was taken to Palomar Medical Center for treatment. Murphy said the 13-year-old male student who supplied the pills was arrested on a drug sales charge and released to the custody of his parents.
In a separate case in Carmel Valley in October, 48-year-old Kimberly Quach, the mother of a Cathedral Catholic High School student ,was charged with supplying students with marijuana and prescription pills, including Xanax.
The surge in Xanax use on San Diego campuses surprised some educators.
(Escondido Union School District) has never had something like this happen that we can recall, said Susy Villegas, a spokeswoman for the elementary district,
However, administrators with Escondido Union High School District said that while the students hospitalized in September and October were the only known cases of Xanax use on campus, there have been other suspected incidents.
Our concern is that kids are involving themselves in some of these activities, and its logical to assume that there is more out there than were aware of, said Rich Watkins, director of pupil services and intervention.
The problem appeared over a year ago, said Yesenia Martinez, community organizer for the Escondido Drug-free Community Coalition, which receives police referrals for first-time drug offenders through its juvenile diversion program.
Between 2013 and 2016, there were no referrals for prescription drugs, she said. But during the 2016-17 school year, the program handled 11 cases related to Xanax use by Escondido teens, she said.
Thats when that started coming on our radar that Xanax might be a possible issue, Martinez said. Right now, were trying to pinpoint the exact source of where its coming from. This doesnt seem to be coming from a pharmacy.
A decade ago, drugs sold on the street or at parties as pharmaceuticals were probably just that, Roderick said. Now, however, awareness of opioid addiction has led to tighter rules on narcotic prescriptions.
Thats opened the door to imitations made cheaply from miscellaneous ingredients including Fentanyl, a pain-killer and anesthetic thats up to 100 times more powerful than Morphine. The counterfeit pills are smuggled from Mexico and sold as prescription drugs including Oxycontin or Xanax.
Were talking about not overprescribing, and doctors and pharmacists are listening, Roderick said. So theres fewer pills on the street, and the cartels fill that void. And they dont care how many Americans die from overdoses.
Police and school officials share frustration that the students arrested in the recent incidents wont disclose where they got the drugs, thwarting efforts to stem the supply.
Every kid Ive dealt with when I ask where it came from, I get the shoulder shrug, Watkins said. Part of our reasons for building relationships with these kids is so we can go backwards and find out where it came from.
As they seek the source of the drugs, the schools are working harder on prevention. Seventh- and eighth-graders in Escondido middle schools are participating in a program called Project Alert, which warns of the dangers of substances including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and inhalants, Villegas said.
And the high schools will host parent nights on each campus to educate families about teen drug abuse, starting with a presentation at Del Lago Academy on Nov. 13.
Our goal is to make sure that we provide an opportunity to go beyond their mistakes, so they can get back into school, get an education and be successful in life, Watkins said.
deborah.brennan@sduniontribune.com Twitter@deborahsbrennan
The UN secretary-general Monday renewed his demand for Afghanistan's Taliban to allow teenage girls to attend high school.
"This is an unjustifiable violation of human rights that inflicts long-lasting damage on the entire country," Antonio Guterres said on X (formerly Twitter). "Girls belong in school. Let them back in," he added. His statement marks two years since the de facto rulers imposed an education ban.
The Taliban seized power from an internationally backed government in August 2021 and have since imposed sweeping restrictions on Afghan women's access to education and work. They have banned girls from school beyond sixth grade, making Afghanistan the only country in the world with restrictions on education for females.
Guterres told reporters last week that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan "is absolutely central to all concerns" and would be on the agenda of the UN General Assembly session starting Monday in New York.
Education Cannot Wait, the UN global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, denounced the ban as a violation of universal human rights.
"In all, 80 percent of school-aged Afghan girls are currently out of school -- that's 2.5 million girls denied their right to the safety, protection, opportunity of education -- their inherent human right," the agency said.
China has flown 103 warplanes towards Taiwan between 6a.m. Sunday and 6a.m. Monday, a "recent high," according to Taiwan's defense ministry.
The ministry urged China Monday to stop its "destructive, unilateral action."
"The continuous military harassment by the Communist military can easily lead to a sharp increase in tensions and worsen regional security," the ministry said.
SINGAPORE Scania Singapore handed over 10 Scania Super trucks to SNL Logistics, the first to purchase the industry-leading Scania Super trucks in Singapore. The company will receive another six Scania Super Trucks over the next few months.
SNL Logistics is the first in Singapore to put their trust in the Scania Super by investing in a fleet of 16 new trucks that are recognised as the most advanced and efficient combustion-engine powertrain in the industry, said Oscar Wyckman, Country Manager of Scania Singapore. The Scania Super is a superb choice, delivering greater power and greater fuel savings to support SNL Logistics business expansion while lowering carbon emissions for the good of the environment.
The Scania Super is a major update on the New Truck Generation launched in Singapore in 2018. It features a new powertrain, which together with its improved components, offers up to 8% fuel savings for long-haul operations. Each engine runs on the new Scania Twin Selective Catalytic Reduction System, with dual injection of AdBlue in the exhaust after-treatment and brake thermal efficiency of up to 50%.
When fully delivered, the new fleet for SNL Logistics comprises two G560 A6x4NZ and 14 P460 A4x2NZ trucks, each powered by the 13-litre Scania Super engine that reduces drag and delivers a maximum torque of up to 2,800 Nm from 900 rpm on a six-cylinder inline platform. The trucks will be used to support the companys expanding general cargo operations.
SNL Logistics has made this significant investment in the Scania Super trucks because of their excellent fuel-saving capability and efficiency, said Lim Hong Liang, Managing Director of SNL Logistics. We believe they are reliable, powerful and robust trucks that will contribute to the profitability and sustainability of our business.
Established in 1994, SNL Logistics is a fully integrated logistics solution provider to the logistics and transportation sectors in Singapore.
Mass extinctions during the past 500 million years rapidly removed branches from the tree of life and required millions of years for evolution to generate functional replacements for the extinct organisms. We are in the sixth mass extinction event. Unlike the previous five, this one is caused by a single species, Homo sapiens. Beyond any doubt, it is more severe than previously assessed and is rapidly accelerating. A duo of scientists from Stanford University and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico now shows by examining 5,400 vertebrate genera (excluding fishes) comprising 34,600 species that 73 genera became since 1500 CE in what they call a mutilation of the tree of life.
Over the last century the pace of many human activities has so accelerated, and human overpopulation grown so severe, to have created a dramatic global environmental transformation.
Most natural ecosystems have been highly modified or have disappeared altogether, and the abundance of wildlife has been greatly reduced.
In well-studied major taxonomic groups, thousands of species and myriad populations have vanished.
The precise number of recent extinctions is impossible to know, but current animal species extinction rates are estimated to be hundreds or thousands of times higher than the background rates that prevailed for millions of years prior to the agricultural revolution.
Information on species conservation statuses from the IUCN, Birdlife International, and other databases has improved in recent years, which allowed Dr. Gerardo Ceballos from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and Stanford Universitys Professor Paul Ehrlich to assess extinction at the genus level.
Drawing from those sources, the researchers examined 5,400 genera of land-dwelling vertebrate animals, encompassing 34,600 species.
Seventy-three genera of land-dwelling vertebrates, the authors found, have gone extinct since 1500 CE.
Birds suffered the heaviest losses with 44 genus extinctions, followed in order by mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.
As scientists, we have to be careful not to be alarmists, but the gravity of the findings in this case called for more powerful language than usual, Dr. Ceballos said.
We would be unethical not to explain the magnitude of the problem, since we and other scientists are alarmed.
Pictured in terms of the tree of life, if a single twig (a species) falls off, nearby twigs can branch out relatively quickly, filling the gap much as the original twig would have. In this case, the diversity of species on the planet remains more or less stable.
But when entire branches (genera) fall off, it leaves a huge hole in the canopy a loss of biodiversity that can take tens of millions of years to regrow through the evolutionary process of speciation.
Humanity cannot wait that long for its life-support systems to recover, given how much the stability of our civilization hinges on the services Earths biodiversity provides.
Take the increasing prevalence of Lyme disease: white-footed mice, the primary carriers of the disease, used to compete with passenger pigeons for foods, like acorns.
With the pigeons gone and predators like wolves and cougars on the decline, mouse populations have boomed and with them, human cases of Lyme disease.
This example involves the disappearance of just one genus. A mass extinction of genera could mean a proportional explosion of disasters for humanity.
It also means a loss of knowledge. The scientists point to the gastric brooding frog, also the final member of an extinct genus.
Females would swallow their own fertilized eggs and raise tadpoles in their stomachs, while turning off their stomach acid.
These frogs might have provided a model for studying human diseases like acid reflux, which can raise the risk of esophageal cancer but now theyre gone.
Loss of genera could also exacerbate the worsening climate crisis.
Climate disruption is accelerating extinction, and extinction is interacting with the climate, because the nature of the plants, animals, and microbes on the planet is one of the big determinants of what kind of climate we have, Professor Ehrlich said.
To prevent further extinctions and resulting societal crises, Dr. Ceballos and Professor Ehrlich are calling for immediate political, economic, and social action on unprecedented scales.
Increased conservation efforts should prioritize the tropics, since tropical regions have the highest concentration of both genus extinctions and genera with only one remaining species, they said.
They also called for increased public awareness of the extinction crisis, especially given how deeply it intersects with the more-publicized climate crisis.
The size and growth of the human population, the increasing scale of its consumption, and the fact that the consumption is very inequitable are all major parts of the problem, they said.
The idea that you can continue those things and save biodiversity is insane. Its like sitting on a limb and sawing it off at the same time.
Their paper was published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
_____
Gerardo Ceballos & Paul R. Ehrlich. 2023. Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera. PNAS 120 (39): e2306987120; doi: 10.1073/pnas.2306987120
Korea has gained a foothold in postwar reconstruction of war-torn Ukraine with Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong signing a memorandum of understanding for reconstruction projects with the governor of the southern city of Mykolaiv, Vitaliy Kim.
"One of the big successes we've achieved in our visit to Ukraine is that we've gained a foothold in Mykolaiv Oblast to participate in Ukraine's postwar reconstruction," Won told the Chosun Ilbo on Monday. "Governor Kim is of Korean origin and very close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."
"Zelenskyy and future Ukrainian political leaders are hoping for Korea's active participation in Ukraine's reconstruction," he added.
Won led a large Korean delegation of officials and executives from 18 public organizations and private companies on a recent visit to Ukraine.
The government has revised its forecast for tax revenues this year down by another W59.1 trillion this year due to sluggish exports and private consumption (US$1=W1,324).
The Ministry of Economy and Finance now estimates tax revenues this year at W341.4 trillion, much less than the initial forecast of W400.5 trillion.
That is a significant drop from last year's W395.9 trillion and even the W344.1 trillion of pandemic year 2021.
Choi Jin-gyu at the ministry said, "This is the first year on record that the government's tax revenues will decline by more than W50 trillion."
The biggest shortfall will be in corporate tax. The government expected to collect W105 trillion in corporate tax but has now revised that to only W79.6 trillion as companies' earnings shrink in the global economic slump.
Veteran actor Byun Hee-bong, who became a late-blooming star in the fold of Bong Jon-ho, died on Monday at the age of 81. He had been battling pancreatic cancer for several years.
Born in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province in 1942, Byun began his career as a voice actor at broadcaster MBC in 1965 and found late fame in Bong Joon-ho's hits "Memories of Murder" (2003) and "The Host" (2006).
He played various parts on TV over the decades but did not leave a lasting footprint in cinema until he was discovered by Bong. The academy-award-winning director recalled that he was deeply impressed as a child by Byun's performance as the head of a religious cult in a TV police drama.
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It is an enigma of mammoth proportions, which is why its discovery was kept under wraps for four years, until more information could be gathered. During an emergency excavation in Cordoba in 2019, archaeologists found a carpal (hand bone) of an elephant of large proportions killed between the end of the 4th century and the middle of the 1st century B.C. Its location, the hill of Los Quemados and its surroundings, in the heart of the southern Spanish city of Cordoba, was possibly the main theatre of a large-scale battle involving African elephants. In addition, 17 projectiles (fired by catapults) and other weapons have been located. The Roman Gaius Lucius Marcus took the city, which until then had been in Carthaginian hands, in 206 B.C., and in 45 B.C. Julius Caesar, who was protected by the elephants of the Mauretanian king Bogud, expelled the Pompeians during the Roman Republics second civil war. Therefore, the questions are: does the bone come from one of Hannibals war elephants or one of Julius Caesars? Or could it even be one of the pachyderms sent by the kings of North Africa to the siege of Numancia? Did the animal die in battle or due to another reason? The experts are not sure.
Rafael Martinez, the zoologist and assistant professor of prehistory at the University of Cordoba, has examined the bone and explains to EL PAIS that it is a carpal belonging to the right hand, a bone also known as capitatum, of an African or Indian elephant. It is very difficult to determine the species, whether Asian (Elephas maximus) or African (Loxodonta Africana). This discovery is of enormous interest given the practical absence of remains of elephants from a pre-Roman context in Europe, excluding ivory objects, of course.
In any case, he continues, this discreet bone can be interpreted as proof of the presence of these animals in the area of present-day Cordoba between the 4th and 2nd centuries B.C. The reason why it is so interesting is that it is not a tusk, which was raw material for making crafts, but a hand bone. It could belong to the period of the Punic Wars [between Carthaginians and Romans]. It could be the first of Hannibals elephants to be discovered. We cant know for sure, but it was certainly a sizeable beast.
Experts have not been able to perform a carbon-14 analysis to determine the date of the pachyderms death, because the bone fragment, measuring 15 by 8 centimeters, is not fossilized, but remains porous. Specialists, however, have saved a small sample for a possible protein analysis to obtain more information.
The story of the discovery begins in 2019, when the Amancio Ortega Foundation donated 40 million ($42.8 million) to provide Spanish hospitals with high-tech equipment. Three of the devices were destined for the Reina Sofia university hospital in Cordoba. But a problem arose. Since radiation is used in the treatments, a concrete bunker needed to be constructed to keep the effects of the equipment away from the other patients in the health center. The regional authorities approved the Spanish businessmans donation and so, given the historical nature of the hill where the hospital stands, it approved emergency excavations.
Carpal bone from the hand of the elephant found in Cordoba. Rafael Martinez
Agustin Lopez Jimenez, an expert from Arqueobetica (the consultancy that carried out the archaeological research) explains that the place where the bone was found was an important economic center of the Tartessian and later Turdetan culture. And he explains how the discovery was made: At the beginning of the intervention [dig] we documented structures from the Andalusian Emirate and Caliphate period [8th to 10th centuries]. Beneath them, remains emerged of collapsed adobe walls from the high Iberian period, around the 3rd century B.C. Under the one of these collapsed walls is where the carpal was located. In addition, we found 17 catapult bullets (small artillery projectiles) and a spear tip (a spike that was used to stick the weapon into the ground). But we have no evidence that a battle or siege took place at the site, so the discovery of these war items was a surprise. In addition, an oven made with adobe bricks, some coins, an Iberian millstone, Hispanic annular brooches and La Tene type brooches (4th century B.C.) were also found.
Fernando Quesada, a world-renowned expert on pre-Roman weapons, who also collaborated on the research, is not inclined toward either of the two options (Roman or Carthaginian elephant). The contexts have not been made, and I have not seen the materials. It may be an elephant belonging to Hannibal or to Julius Caesar when he requested that King Bogud of Mauretania come to his aid at Montemayor [Cordoba] and possibly bring elephants. We do not know if the projectiles are associated with the animal, so I do not have a formed opinion. At this time it is impossible to determine.
One of the catapult projectiles from the find in Cordoba. Arqueobetica
Quesada also cautions that the elephant could be an animal from the 1st or 3rd centuries A.D. It could be a pachyderm from North Africa that joined the Carthaginian armies, but it could also be from 50 B.C., so the context would correspond to the Roman civil wars in Andalusia, when Julius Caesar came to Hispania. In that case, we would get into some confusing military campaigns that we are studying at the Montemayor site, just a days walk from Cordoba. That is, it could be an elephant brought by King Bogud, who came to help one of the sides in the battle. Caesar is directly involved in some of the campaigns, but in others he is not. We also know that in other battles, such as Numancia [133 B.C.], the kings of North Africa sent elephants to help, and they would have had to pass through Andalusia. It is too early to say.
Cordoba is not the only place where the Carthaginians were able to use pachyderms. On the banks of the Tagus at Driebes (Spain), it was proven that Hannibal fought with 40 elephants to defeat the troops of the Carpetani, Vettones and Olcades tribes, who were much superior in number. But the Indigenous people did not take into account the genius of the invader, who placed his troops at the fords of the river the only places where it could be crossed on foot so the Carpetani had to concentrate their warriors at those places, and therefore lost their numerical advantage: a lot of troops, but too little space to fight.
Iberian annular brooch found at the Los Quemados archaeological site. Agustin Lopez
To force them to cross, Hannibal built a palisade parallel to the riverbed. He placed the cavalry at the fords and the infantry and most of the elephants behind the palisade. When the Carpetani tried to cross the river, they died: swept away by the waters or killed by the Carthaginian horsemen, who were better supported by the river bed. Of the fifty African pachyderms that Hannibal had, 20 were donated to his brother Hasdrubal to maintain the war against the Romans in the Iberian Peninsula while he directed the rest of the animals toward the Pyrenees. For years, Emilio Gamo, director of Driebes research, has been conducting surveys in the Tagus in search of skeletal remains of the animals that entered battle. At the moment, we have not been successful, because we have to cover a length of more than 10 kilometers of river. It is very difficult, he says.
The trench where the elephant's bone was found. Arqueobetica
Between 48 and 45 B.C., Caesars troops fought around the city of Ulia (present-day Montemayor) against the legions of Pompey the Great and his sons Gnaeus and Sextus, in a period that is known as the Roman Republican Civil Wars. Caesars army was commanded by General Quintus Cassius Longinus. After multiple changes in fortune both sides were Romans and had the same weapons and tactics Cassius asked King Bogud for help, who had time to arrive with reinforcements, possibly with African elephants, says Quesada.
Whose army does the elephants hand found in the heart of the city of Cordoba belong to? For the moment, it is unknown. But at last there is proof that an ancient war elephant stood on the banks of the Guadalquivir, and it is kept discreetly in the warehouses of the Archaeological Museum of Cordoba.
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C&C Group said in a trading update on Tuesday that it expected its first-half operating profit to fall between 29m to 31m.
The FTSE 250 drinks maker said it anticipated net revenue of 870m for the six months ended 31 August, marking a decrease of around 1% compared to last year.
That expected operating profit encompassed most of the singular profit impacts from the disruption caused by implementing its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in the Great Britain distribution division - a matter that C&C had disclosed in May.
Nevertheless, C&C announced that considerable strides had been made in rectifying the ERP system's implementation issues.
Its On Time in Full (OTIF) delivery metrics were now back to their levels before the ERP system was implemented.
While the company experienced encouraging sales from its brands in Ireland and Scotland, with a 6% increase in net sales revenue for its branded business during the period, it did face some challenges.
The first half of trading began strongly, buoyed by favourable weather in June.
However, the later months experienced setbacks due to inclement weather in July and August and the economic pressures related to the cost of living, especially in Britain.
On the financial front, C&C's leverage at the close of the first half was predicted to be 2.1x post-IFRS 16 and 1.6x pre-IFRS 16.
Although that leverage would be slightly higher than its target, mainly attributed to the ERP system challenges, C&C said it was confident in bringing it within its aimed range of 1.5x to 2x by the end of the financial year in February.
In addition to resuming dividend payouts earlier in the year, C&C's board said it was also considering other avenues for capital returns.
Finally, C&C said it was recruiting a new group chief financial officer, partnering with an independent executive search agency.
Updates regarding the recruitment will be made in the coming days.
Set against a difficult market backdrop, we are pleased with the strength of the performance of our branded businesses in Ireland and Scotland in the period, said group chief executive officer Patrick McMahon.
We are particularly pleased with the progress we have made in restoring customer service levels following the ERP system implementation issues in our GB distribution business within our planned time frame.
Delivering outstanding service, winning back customers, continued business simplification, and improved operating efficiency remain our top priorities and focus for the second half.
C&C said it would announce its first-half results on 26 October.
At 0910 BST, shares in C&C Group were up 3.79% at 137p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
Travel giant Tui on Tuesday held annual guidance on the back of a strong summer and solid bookings for this winter, underpinned by higher prices and despite extreme weather such as wildfires and floods in Europe.
Summer bookings rose 5% to 13.7 million, the company said in a trading statement, with the positive momentum continuing into winter with an expanded programme and overall bookings up 15% year on year and prices increasing by 4%.
"Had it not been for the various events during the last few months which were outside of our control, not least the wildfires on Rhodes, we would have performed ahead of expectations," said chief executive Sebastian Ebel.
We are seeing a strong close to the summer season and we are on course to achieve results in line with expectations. This is particularly evident in our main markets Germany where bookings year-on-year are 10% higher and UK where bookings are in line with an already strong prior year Summer season and 4% ahead of pre-pandemic levels."
Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com
Hopes for the mainstream adoption of electric cars have been punctured by figures revealing a fall of more than 11 per cent in the sale of zero-emission vehicles to private buyers. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has said that motorists are holding back from the switch because of continued uncertainty about whether a government ban on petrol and diesel cars will be enforced, the cost of electric vehicles, the cutting of financial incentives, and fears about the lack of a public recharging network. - The Times
Farmers are being forced to leave food rotting in the field because they cant get a fair deal from supermarkets, a group of celebrity chefs including Rick Stein and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has warned. In an open letter, farmers, food producers and celebrities accuse Britains biggest supermarkets of imbalanced, short term and wasteful practices that have left British farmers scrambling to stay afloat. - Telegraph
Northern leaders have called on Downing Street to honour promises to build the HS2 high-speed rail line, as ministers repeatedly refused to confirm to MPs whether it would run to Manchester. Doubts over the future of the multibillion-pound HS2 project are growing after the junior transport minister Richard Holden dodged multiple questions in the Commons. - Guardian
Oil prices could soon top $100 a barrel, analysts have warned, as a steep rally continues on the back of Saudi Arabian and Russian production curbs. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose by almost 1 per cent to close in on $95 per barrel yesterday, its highest since November. - The Times
A GB News programme hosted by two married Conservative MPs broke impartiality rules by failing to represent an appropriately wide range, Ofcom has ruled. The TV channel was found to be in breach of the broadcasting code for the third time this year over a show featuring an interview with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. Ofcom said Esther McVey and Philip Davies, two sitting Conservatives who present a Saturday morning show, failed to properly scrutinise the Chancellor when he was interviewed ahead of the Budget in March. - Telegraph
One day after the largest climate march since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of climate activists blockaded the Federal Reserve Bank in New York to call for an end to funding for coal, oil and gas, with police making scores of arrests. Fossil fuel companies wouldnt be able to operate without money, and that money is coming primarily from Wall Street, Alice Nascimento, environmental campaigns director at New York Communities for Change, said hours before she was arrested. - Guardian
C&C Group said in a trading update on Tuesday that it expected its first-half operating profit to fall between 29m to 31m.
The FTSE 250 drinks maker said it anticipated net revenue of 870m for the six months ended 31 August, marking a decrease of around 1% compared to last year.
That expected operating profit encompassed most of the singular profit impacts from the disruption caused by implementing its new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in the Great Britain distribution division - a matter that C&C had disclosed in May.
Nevertheless, C&C announced that considerable strides had been made in rectifying the ERP system's implementation issues.
Its On Time in Full (OTIF) delivery metrics were now back to their levels before the ERP system was implemented.
While the company experienced encouraging sales from its brands in Ireland and Scotland, with a 6% increase in net sales revenue for its branded business during the period, it did face some challenges.
The first half of trading began strongly, buoyed by favourable weather in June.
However, the later months experienced setbacks due to inclement weather in July and August and the economic pressures related to the cost of living, especially in Britain.
On the financial front, C&C's leverage at the close of the first half was predicted to be 2.1x post-IFRS 16 and 1.6x pre-IFRS 16.
Although that leverage would be slightly higher than its target, mainly attributed to the ERP system challenges, C&C said it was confident in bringing it within its aimed range of 1.5x to 2x by the end of the financial year in February.
In addition to resuming dividend payouts earlier in the year, C&C's board said it was also considering other avenues for capital returns.
Finally, C&C said it was recruiting a new group chief financial officer, partnering with an independent executive search agency.
Updates regarding the recruitment will be made in the coming days.
Set against a difficult market backdrop, we are pleased with the strength of the performance of our branded businesses in Ireland and Scotland in the period, said group chief executive officer Patrick McMahon.
We are particularly pleased with the progress we have made in restoring customer service levels following the ERP system implementation issues in our GB distribution business within our planned time frame.
Delivering outstanding service, winning back customers, continued business simplification, and improved operating efficiency remain our top priorities and focus for the second half.
C&C said it would announce its first-half results on 26 October.
STEM-focused recruitment firm SThree said it remains on track for the full year but reported a continued decline in net fees in its third quarter as the placing of permanent jobs continued to decline.
The company, whose biggest markets are the Netherlands, Germany and the US, said net fees for the third quarter were down 7% year-on-year at 103m, due to a strong comparative period in 2022 and "ongoing global macro-economic weakness". Fees were down 7% in the second quarter too.
SThree is transitioning more of its business to cover Contract work placings, which now represent 84% of the group's total net fees compared with 77% the same time last year. Contract net fees were flat year-on-year, a slight improvement from the 1% decline in the second quarter.
However, the decline in Permanent net fees worsened to -31%, from -25%, which SThree said "reflect[s] global market conditions and the strategic transition from Permanent to Contract in several markets, with average Permanent headcount for the quarter down 21% YoY."
"We continue to deliver a resilient performance, underpinned by the group's strategic focus on Contract," said chief executive Timo Lehne.
"While the wider environment remains uncertain, we are encouraged by our sequentially improving new placement performance and strong Contract extensions, demonstrating our clients' sustained demand for critical STEM skills."
Market Movers
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,469.10 0.11%
FTSE 250 - Risers
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 139.80p 5.91%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 358.40p 5.35%
SThree (STEM) 375.00p 4.46%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 195.40p 3.55%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 480.60p 2.91%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 125.20p 2.62%
Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited NPV (SONG) 84.00p 2.44%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 147.80p 2.07%
Future (FUTR) 751.00p 1.97%
SSP Group (SSPG) 243.00p 1.84%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Marshalls (MSLH) 261.20p -3.26%
888 Holdings (DI) (888) 116.60p -2.83%
Essentra (ESNT) 145.20p -2.55%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 81.40p -2.10%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 652.00p -2.10%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 476.00p -2.06%
IWG (IWG) 157.60p -1.93%
International Distributions Services (IDS) 257.40p -1.87%
easyJet (EZJ) 426.00p -1.87%
Elementis (ELM) 111.60p -1.76%
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has signed an agreement for the development of a Multi-Modal Logistics Park in Bengaluru under the the public-private partnership (PPP) model with an investment of Rs 1,770 crore, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways announced. The Multi-Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) is being developed in an area spanning 400 acres at Muddelinganahalli, 58 km from Bengaluru Airport and 48 km from Bengaluru city railway station.
The NHAI is participating in the project through its 100 percent subsidiary National Highways Logistics Management Ltd. The agreement has been signed between Government SPV, Bengaluru Multi Modal Logistics Park (MMLP) Pvt. Ltd. & Concessionaire SPV M/s. PATH Bengaluru Logistics Park Pvt. Ltd. The project is poised to become the first and largest MMLP ever implemented in the country under the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, according to an official statement.
The site is strategically located adjacent to the upcoming KIADB industrial area on the east side, abutting NH 648, Dabbaspet to Hosur as well as Satellite Town Ring Road on the north side and Bengaluru-Hubli-Mumbai rail line on the south. The MMLP will be developed in three phases. The first phase is expected to be completed in two years. MMLP will cater to about 30 million metric tonnes (MMT) cargo by the end of the concession period of 45 years and is expected to give a huge boost to the industrial zones in Bengaluru and Tumkur.
A Government SPV has been incorporated between National Highways Logistics Management Ltd., Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board. The development of MMLP is a key initiative of the Government of India to improve the country's freight logistics sector by enabling efficient inter-modal freight movement to lower overall freight costs and time, provide efficient warehousing, improve tracking and traceability of consignments thereby enhancing the efficiency of the Indian logistics sector.
Pink Flamingos, one of the most tasteless films in American cinema, was born in a clean, neat notebook. The story of drag queen Divine (Harris Glen Milstead), who claims to be the most unpleasant person in the world, is told in blue ink with impeccable calligraphy. The handwritten letters are perfectly laid between the lines of the notebook, respecting the margins and with hardly any crossings-out. This first script for a cult film is a perfect reflection of its author, John Waters, one of cinemas greatest provocateurs, a sharp dressed gentleman with a neatly trimmed mustache. This week, at the opening of the largest retrospective of his work, Waters greeted the press with the words: Welcome to the trashcan of my memories.
The galleries of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, in Los Angeles, filled with laughter shortly after Pope of Trash officially opened its doors to the public. The exhibition opened last Sunday and will continue until August 4, 2024, the latest bet of an institution that is still seeking to make a name for itself within the local cultural ecosystem. The museum opened almost two years ago with a major exhibition of Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animation genius, which was followed by one about the film noir made between 1898 and 1971. Now it is the turn of the director (and sometimes writer) that has outraged people in the thousands.
The costumes from A Dirty Shame, John Waters most recent film, are part of the exhibition. Charles White (Charles White, JWPictures/Acad)
A room that recreates a church serves as an entrance to the world of Waters, born in Baltimore in 1946. On the black walls of the gallery, a series of stained-glass windows show images of the muses that have inspired the filmmakers work, characters who seek fame even if it comes in the newspapers crime section. This mural includes Cinderella, the first film Waters saw in the cinema and which had a great influence on him. This introduction is a nod from the curators, Jenny He and Dara Jaffe, to the early days of his career, which started in 1964 with his first steps as a great provocateur, showing his early short films in a local Episcopal church.
Before the streaming explosion, Hollywood was obsessed with those creators whose vision was powerful enough to bring audiences to movie theaters, and Pope of Trash shows that any trick goes. With the premiere of Pink Flamingos, Waters asked that paper bags be distributed among the audience, in case someone had to vomit. This stunt caused many to flock to the Elgin the only theater showing it in New York at midnight looking to put their stomachs to the test.
Thanks to the high demand of the thrill-seeking public, that movie was shown for a year. Its trailer also part of the exhibition did not include a single scene; only comments from viewers who had just seen it, such as: The most disgusting thing Ive ever seen in my whole life, Marvelous, Better than Cries and Whispers [the 1972 Ingmar Bergman film].
This exhibition proves that there is a sense of humor that knows that we never make our enemies feel stupid. We make them feel smart even when they are not, and get them to laugh, and then we can get them to listen, Waters said last Thursday in a conversation with the curators. The exhibition also makes you dance, thanks to the creators musical obsessions, which are put on display on two films: Hairspray (1988), in which Debbie Harry from Blondie appears, and Cry-Baby (1990), where the filmmaker gave a television star named Johnny Depp one of his first leading roles.
In 1980, the director would use another tactic to satisfy his niche. For Polyester, his first studio film, Waters revived a technology from 20 years earlier. In 1960, the thriller Scent of Mystery, starring Peter Lorre and Elizabeth Taylor, had used something called Smell-O-Vision, a scent spray that accompanied the footage with the promise of a unique sensory experience for the viewer.
The exhibition recreates the trailer in which Divine lives in Pink Flamingos, the 1972 John Waters film. Charles White (Charles White, JWPictures/Acad)
Waters adopted that idea to make Odorama. However, instead of delighting the audience with the scent of Elizabeth Taylors perfume, as Jack Cardiffs film did, Waters delivers the smell of disgust by means of a scratch-and-sniff card that the viewers had to bring close to their nostrils in eight scenes. Under the slogan Smelling is believing, the filmmaker offered the aroma of farts, gasoline, a skunk, glue and stinky shoes.
Any Simpsons fan worth their salt will not have trouble remembering the episode where Waters lends his voice to John, a gay man who shows the family the value of living the life you want regardless of the opinions of others, to Homers discontent. The director refers to these brief appearances or supporting characters a form of fame maintenance. And he is not picky: he has appeared in all kinds of diverse contents, from Alvin and the Chipmunks and CSI to horror classics like Seed of Chucky. Appropriately, the exhibition also devotes some space to Waters impact on American popular culture.
The Hollywood establishment long resisted the charms of the pontiff of filth. Waters did not enter the directors union until the 1990s, when he was endorsed by David Lynch and Claudia Weill, director of the indie classic Girlfriends (1978). That was a pat on the back for the great rebel of American cinema; a gesture that the author does not stop searching for. Now, John Waters hopes this exhibit helps pave the way for a future star on the Walk of Fame. That would be the ultimate symbol for the king of trash.
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The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha, has announced the forthcoming notification of a new startup policy aimed at nurturing innovation, generating employment, and driving economic growth in the region. Speaking during the concluding session of the J&K Startup Conclave 2023 in Srinagar, Sinha revealed that the Union Territory (UT) administration has drafted the Startup Policy 2023 for Jammu and Kashmir, which is set to be officially notified next month.
This new policy is envisioned to provide a comprehensive roadmap to foster innovation, job creation, and economic progress while ensuring market access, adequate infrastructure, and full support for entrepreneurs on their journey. The J&K startup policy will also facilitate the growth of untapped cutting-edge sectors in the UT. Startups recognized by the J&K government will receive one-time seed funding assistance of up to Rs 20 lakh disbursed in four equal installments.
Additionally, the government will grant capital assistance to establish or scale up incubator and accelerator infrastructure in the UT, providing up to Rs 50 lakh per incubator. The primary objective is to ensure the presence of at least one incubator in every district, according to Sinha. The Lieutenant Governor emphasized that a comprehensive startup assistance program would be launched to offer support and mentorship to young and aspiring entrepreneurs. He also outlined plans for collaboration with Startup India, angel investor networks, financial institutions, and leading institutes.
Sinha highlighted the allocation of a carpet area of 11,200 sq. ft. At competitive prices in Rangreth for IT, ITES, and tech startup sectors, in addition to making surplus spaces at JKEDI available for startups. He underscored the importance of standardized interactions among business leaders, experts, policymakers, and academia to expedite the transformation of Jammu and Kashmirs startup ecosystem. Sinha concluded by describing Jammu and Kashmir as an ideal location for high-impact entrepreneurship, abundant opportunities to serve the global market, and the potential for groundbreaking initiatives. He reassured that the administration would provide every possible assistance and support to budding entrepreneurs and potential startups.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play Doubt: A Parable, a production that kicks off Ghostlight Players 2023-2024 season, will run for the next two weekends Sept. 21 to Sept. 30 at Hemsley Hall, the Parish House at the Church of St. Andrew.
Directed by Mimi McCann (Crimes of the Heart), Doubt is a powerful and thought-provoking play written by American playwright/screenwriter John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck).
Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2004, Doubt went on to win numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play.
Set in the fictional St. Nicholas Church School in the Bronx in 1964, the production revolves around the moral and ethical dilemmas faced by Sister Aloysius, the schools strict and traditional principal, when she becomes suspicious of Father Flynn, a charismatic and progressive priest.
Although Doubt was written almost 20 years ago, it is just as prescient today, said McCann. Indeed, the award winning 2015 movie Spotlight and a New York Times article written as recently as yesterday address the same issue of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church as does this play. However, even though this upsetting subject is an underlying topic, it is not the main theme. How self righteous certainty and intolerance can destroy lives is the real issue here. As the author, John Patrick Shanley points out so eloquently, doubt is a good thing. We should embrace it and I hope our audiences leave with doubt.
Ghostlights cast features Diane Fisher-Flores as Sister Aloysius, John Griffin as Father Flynn, B. Kiko Charles as Mrs. Muller and Carrie Ellman-Larsen as Sister James. Doubt is designed by Jeff Westby (set), Scaramouche (costumes) and Nick Diaz (lighting). Will Simancas is the production stage manager.
Performance times are Thursday, Sept. 21 and 28, Friday, Sept. 22 and 29, Saturday, Sept. 23 and 30 at 8 p.m. and matinee Sunday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $27 and $23 for seniors and students.
The Church of St. Andrew is located at 4 Arthur Kill Rd.
Tickets are available by visiting https://our.show/ghostlight/doubt.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. The anti-rat mayor announced the citys latest battle in his crusade against rodents Tuesday.
All businesses in the five boroughs will need to containerize their trash starting March 1, Mayor Eric Adams and Sanitation Commissioner Jessica Tisch announced at a Manhattan press conference.
The mayor said the new rules would equate to 20 million pounds of garbage off of city streets every single day.
Weve declared that rats are Public Enemy Number One but were not stopping there; were also going after the black trash bags that litter our streets, aiding and abetting rodents. Thats why, starting next spring, were requiring every New York City business to put out their trash in containers, Adams said. Our streets will look cleaner and smell cleaner across all five boroughs, and New Yorkers wont have to dodge trash mountains or scurrying rats as theyre walking.
Adams ongoing war on rats dates back to his time as Brooklyn Borough President when on the mayoral campaign trail he demonstrated a rat-killing device that involved him scooping dead rodents out of a chemical vat.
Since taking the citys highest office, the mayor has announced a variety of new policies and programs aimed at reducing the rat population in the five boroughs.
They include adjusted trash takeout times, containerization rules for food businesses around the city, an expanded composting program, and the creation of the citys rat czar position.
The latest announcement will require businesses to secure their trash in rat-proof containers, but they will be afforded flexibility on what type of containers and where those containers are stored.
The notion that the greatest city in the world could not move its trash into wheelie bins was always patently absurd. But thats the type of thinking that allowed the rats to thrive and our streets to reek for over 50 years, Tisch said. In less than one year since the effort began, the Adams administration will have moved half of all of New York Citys trash nearly 20 million pounds a day from black bags into bins.
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - There has never been a shortage of great nightlife hotspots on Staten Island.
Which great nightclubs, lounges and cocktail bars you remember depends on when you grew up.
And it doesnt matter where you lived on Staten Island. There were places to get a drink, hear a DJ or a live band, dance or just chill out in a dimly lit and, back in the day, smokey, lounge on the North Shore, in the Mid-Island and on the South Shore.
Many of the spots you may remember from your clubbing days in the 1990s and the 2000s are long gone, often replaced by other clubs or lounges at the same address.
So lets take a trip back through time and check out some of Staten Islands fondly remembered nightclubs and lounges from the not-too-distant past. I hope the photos bring back some good memories.
Aqua Lounge at 2066 Hylan Boulevard in Grant City hosted a No ID Night for teens ages 13 to 18 every Friday from 7:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. back in 2005. (Michael McWeeney/Staten Island Advance)
Women wait to get inside Club Society on Midland Avenue on Aug. 5, 1998. (Hilton Flores/Staten Island Advance)
From left, Toni Yayo, 50 Cent and Lloyd Banks perform at Illusions, 3995 Amboy Rd., Great Kills, as part of 50 Cents five-borough tour and record release event on Sept. 14, 2007. (Joshua Carp/Staten Island Advance)
Heres shot of the Posh nightclub on Arthur Kill Road in Richmond Valley in 2001. (Irving Silverstein/Staten Island Advance)
The sound system is cranked as Brazilian blown-glass sconces illuminate tin ceilings, 50-inch plasma TV screens and glass mosaic wall tiles at the Miami-inspired TwentyOne 10 lounge at 2110 Richmond Rd. in Grant City in 2005. (Joel Wintermantle/Staten Island Advance)
Patrons gather around the bar at Latin-themed El Gran Palenque nightclub at 492 Bay Street in Stapleton in 2004. (Joel Wintermantle/Staten Island Advance)
The Cylo club, shown here in 2000, was located at 4849 Arthur Kill Rd. in Richmond Valley. Posh was later on this same spot. (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance)
Revelers crowd the dance floor at Club Blu at 292 Bay St. in Stapleton in 2006. (Advance file photo)
Patrons head toward a club on Bay Street on July 22, 1998. Anybody recognize the place? (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance)
Michele Alice of New Brighton gets a drink from Danny La Mantia, owner and bartender at the Mardi Gras Lounge, a groundbreaking gay bar that was on Bay Street in Stapleton. This photo is from 2000. (Michael McWeeney/Staten Island Advance)
The Ocean 3 bar and lounge at 2481 Richmond Rd. in New Dorp is shown during its grand opening in 2007. (Hilton Flores/Staten Island Advance)
Ladies feel the beats supplied by Head Tripp at Mystic Lounge at 2354 Arthur Kill Road in Rossville in 2006. (Jodi Lee Reifer/Staten Island Advance)
The distinctive front of Nezzerman Lounge, at 40 Bay St. in St. George, is shown in 2000. (Wayne Peacock/Staten Island Advance)
Heres a shot of Nezzermans funky interior. The lounge was owned by Dave and Gary Rabin, who owned the nearby Cargo Cafe. (Wayne Peacock/Staten Island Advance)
Lucy Lukyanenko servers up cocktails and bottles at Alor Cafe in Grant City during "Bottles and Models Night" in 2008. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)
The New Dorp Lane club EleMent is shown here in 2000. The old Lane Theater used to be on this spot. (Rob Sollett/Staten Island Advance)
Saturday night crowd makes the scene at the Hush nightclub at 20 Ellis St. in Tottenville in 2006. (Nicholas Fevelo/Staten Island Advance)
Bartender Linda Casso mixes a cocktail at the DugOut Pub and Grill in 2005. The bar was at 1614 Forest Ave. in Port Richmond. (Michael McWeeney/Staten Island Advance)
The eye-catching front of Gecko Lounge at 589 Lincoln Ave. in Midland Beach is seen here in 2009. (Anthony DePrimo/Staten Island Advance)
Rock bands, top DJs and hip-hop music could be found at Ice Lounge at 252 Port Richmond Ave. in Port Richmond. (Joshua Carp/Staten Island Advance)
Co-owner Steve Cunningham, left, and manager Robyn Marie Turner behind the spruced-up bar at Trends North in Elm Park in 2008. (Jan Somma-Hammel/Staten Island Advance)
Revelers enjoy the cool blue interior of Pure Lounge, 2110 Richmond Rd., Grant City, in 2006. (Joshua Carp/Staten Island Advance)
Owner Bobby Digi, left, and Pia Enheden relax in a beach scene set up for summer on the patio at Notes Lounge at 33 Water St. in Stapleton in 2008. (Hilton Flores/Staten Island Advance)
The swanky lounge area at Grotto Steakhouse in Grant City attracted a robust night crowd back in the day. (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance).
Martini Red, a dark and divey magnet for local talent, was voted best live music bar in the Advance AWE arts section's 2008 readers' poll. (Jin Lee/Staten Island Advance)
Salute Cafe & Lounge, an upscale dessert cafe and bar, was a new tenant in the Showplace Center in Travis in 2002. (Irving Silverstein/Staten Island Advance)
The crowd at Roxas Blvd. listens to Dead Men Dreaming on March 10, 2006. The warehouse-like club was located at 2912 Arthur Kill Rd. in Charleston, and prided itself on being the Islands true-grit home for live metalcore and hip-hop bands. (Chad Rachman/Staten Island Advance)
Bartender Kelly Huang, right, mixes a drink at Buddha Lounge in Charleston in 2010. (Bill Lyons/Staten Island Advance)
Heres the bar area at Indiglo Restaurant and Lounge on Forest Avenue in West Brighton in 2013. (Anthony DePrimo/Staten Island Advance)
Remember Indiglo's distinctive martini glass logo? (Anthony DePrimo/Staten Island Advance)
Ryan McKenna of Midland Beach smokes pineapple-flavored hookah at Cleopatra Queen Lounge in Great Kills in 2012. (Mark Stein/Staten Island Advance)
Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom! I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
If I forgot to include your favorite nightlife hotspot, please reach out to me at wrobleski@siadvance.com. If we have a photo in our archives, Ill be sure to include it.
MORE STATEN ISLAND NIGHTLIFE NOSTALGIA FROM TOM WROBLESKI
Remember these great Forest Avenue and West Brighton bars from back in the day?
Bay Street and beyond: Remember these cool North Shore bars and clubs from the 1980s and 1990s?
The Silver Fox? Alibi Inn? Schaffers? Which of these South Shore or Mid-Island watering holes was your go-to back in the day?
STATEN ISLAND, NY -- La Colmena recently hosted a parade in Port Richmond celebrating Mexicos independence -- as participants marched northward along Port Richmond Avenue toward Veterans Park.
Vibrant green, red and white Mexican flags adorned numerous blocks on Saturday, while Staten Islanders enthusiastically waved both small and large flags from sidewalks and windows. Performers in colorful traditional Mexican garments danced to music that uplifted the spirits of the community, as street vendors sold traditional Mexican dishes and handmade crafts.
September 16, 1810 -- now celebrated as Mexican Independence Day -- marks the day Catholic priest Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla delivered the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores), urging people to rise up in armed resistance against the Spanish rulers.
Mexicans are one of the largest Latino groups on Staten Island and have contributed so much to this borough, not just with taxes, but also in culture and leadership, said Yesenia Mata, executive director of La Colmena. (Courtesy of La Colmena)Courtesy of La Colmena
Mexicans are one of the largest Latino groups on Staten Island and have contributed so much to this borough, not just with taxes, but also in culture and leadership, said Yesenia Mata, executive director of La Colmena.
Together we made history by holding the fourth annual Mexican Independence Day Parade on Staten Island, which is a sign of this growing population, that has been in the front lines supporting the City of New York many times. We are excited to continue this tradition and cant wait to see the growth of this parade in the upcoming years.
La Colmena is a non-profit, community-based organization that works to empower day laborers, domestic workers and other low-wage immigrant workers on Staten Island.
Assemblymember Charles Fall (D-North Shore), Councilmember Kamillah Hanks (D-North Shore), Assemblymember Marcela Mitaynes (D-Brooklyn), State Sen. Jessica Spanton, Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, and the Office of District Attorney Michael McMahon, joined the parade and marched proudly to support the Mexican Community of Staten Island.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. What happens in Ukraine is critical to democracy and the western way of life, Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the leaders recent visit to Staten Island University Hospital.
Zelenskyy visited the Ocean Breeze hospital Monday evening to thank staff for its ongoing support and care for 18 wounded Ukrainian soldiers. Zelenskyy also presented Dowling with the Ukrainian Order of Merit, a special distinction awarded to individuals for outstanding achievements, to honor his exceptional leadership in providing vital medical care to Ukraine.
SIUH team members Dr. Eugene Holuka, vice president of physician development and outreach, and Rebecca Gonzalez and Peter Leone, both senior physical therapists, also received the order for their efforts in helping wounded Ukrainian soldiers.
Zelenskyy was escorted by a large motorcade of law enforcement vehicles that closed streets in the neighborhood around the medical facility.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces have targeted Ukrainian hospitals, clinics, maternity wards and other health-care facilities. Since the beginning of the conflict, approximately 200 medical facilities in Ukraine have been attacked, leaving the country struggling to care for wounded soldiers, as well as civilians, and impacting the heath needs of the nation.
Its our privilege to help in any way we possibly can, Dowling told the Ukrainian leader, who was in the United States for the 78th session of the United National General Assembly. What youre doing, Mr. President, is absolutely extraordinary. What happens in Ukraine is important to all of us.
Zelenskyy presents Michael Dowling, president and CEO of Northwell Health, with the Ukrainian Order of Merit to honor his exceptional leadership in providing vital medical care to Ukraine. (Courtesy of Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital)
Zelenskyy also met with wounded Ukrainian soldiers who received advanced prosthetics and critical rehabilitation after sustaining devastating injuries in the Russian invasion.
In addition to engaging with his troops, the Ukrainian leader spoke with hospital officials, who showed him the facility and explained the prosthetics program.
He bestowed awards to the soldiers as well as hospital staff.
Thank you very much to everybody, to our soldiers and their relatives. I see some of them sitting here with their wives, sisters and mothers, said Zelenskyy, according to a SIUH press announcement. Thank you to the staff and doctors who gave them the possibility for one dream: to live and to come back to us -- home. Thank you very much for your support.
In March 2023, Kind Deeds, a non-profit that facilitates treatment for wounded Ukrainian soldiers, put out a request on Staten Island looking for assistance with injured Ukrainian soldiers who were brought to America seeking medical attention. And SIUH stepped up.
A Ukrainian soldier demonstrates rehabilitation equipment Monday during Zelenskyy's visit to Staten Island University Hospital. (Courtesy of Northwell Health/Staten Island University Hospital)
After being fitted with state-of-the-art prosthetics, each soldier was determined to return to the battlefront. The rehab team took this into consideration and designed a program that would train them to navigate through rough terrains while carrying heavy weights to signify machinery.
Northwell Health immediately set up the Ukraine Relief Fund to enable contributions to support Ukrainian relief efforts.
It is important for us to do something, and to do the most we possibly can, said Dowling. There are families in Ukraine suffering terribly at the moment, and they need all the help that we can provide.
At the start of the war, working with its Center for Global Health (CGH), Northwell prepared more than 28 pallets, holding 18,000 pounds of life-saving medical supplies, including thoracic tubes, blood-clotting agents and pediatric provisions. The resources were received by the Ukrainian frontline in just three days, the hospital announced.
Two months later, Northwell launched a telemedicine platform to assist Ukraines frontline medical providers. The platform began as virtual consults in refugee camps in Poland, and expanded into a countrywide telemedicine support system offering critical care in the combat zone.
In late April 2022, Northwell deployed a 24/7 telemedicine consultation and support service, and more than 50 clinicians offered their services in more than 50 subspecialties.
Zelenskyy waves to supporters as he makes a surprise visit to Staten Island University Hospital on Monday. (Staten Island Advance/Jason Paderon)
Over the course of the war, theres been an outpouring of support and relief from Northwell providers with a desire to help, said Dr. Eric Cioe-Pena, founding director of the Northwells Center for Global Health. The Northwell Transfer Center allowed physicians in Ukraine to access the same world-renowned specialists that we offer to patients in the New York region.
From supplies and equipment to funds and charitable care, Northwell Health has donated more than $1.5 million to the fight in Ukraine, according to a Northwell Health announcement.
In collaboration with the Ukraine Cross-Border Medical Operations Consortium (UCMOC) and The Institute for Emergency Medicine (IEM), Northwell has procured more than $96,000 worth of medical equipment, including items such as a $17,500 X-ray machine, $25,000 worth of surgical tools, hospital supplies and ultrasound devices, and an ambulance.
With a major contribution from the Mack Family Foundation, Sondra and David Mack, long-time supporters of the hospitals Center for Emergency Medical Services, Northwells CGH is currently arranging for the donation of up to 12 ambulances with the non-profit Ukraine Focus.
IN CLASS: This feature is part of an ongoing education column highlighting the various activities that engage school communities.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A Staten Island school marked its celebration of 120 years of educating the boroughs students during a street sign co-naming ceremony this month.
Notre Dame Academy hosted the ceremony to unveil Notre Dame Academy Way on the corner of Howard Avenue and Louis Street on Grymes Hill. It began with a schoolwide liturgy at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, before students processed back to the corner for the co-naming.
The event took place in front of the location where Notre Dame Academy first opened its doors to just 20 students in 1903, according to the schools president, Kathryn Jaenicke. At the time, the pastor of the church, Fr. Nicholas Murphy, blessed the first school year at Notre Dame.
The event took place in front of the location where Notre Dame Academy first opened its doors to just 20 students in 1903, according to the schools president, Kathryn Jaenicke. (Courtesy/Notre Dame Academy)
Notre Dame Academy has always been a community rooted in faith, inclusive and welcoming to all, providing liberating education, stated the school in a post on Instagram about the co-naming. We celebrate our commitment to liberating education today at mass and at a street co-naming on the corner of Louis Street and Howard Avenue, where Notre Dame Academy was founded. Our long history is a testament to the commitment of the Sisters and the NDA students, alumnae and families who consider their school to be like a second home.
Students across all grades cheered with joy at the unveiling of the street sign.
Notre Dame Academy has always been a community rooted in faith, inclusive and welcoming to all, providing liberating education, stated the school in a post on Instagram about the co-naming. (Courtesy/Notre Dame Academy)
Some elected officials attended the event, including: Borough President Vito Fossella; Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks; former Assemblyman Michael Cusick, who is the president and CEO of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, and Tuesday Muller-Mondi, chief of the Special Victims Division for the Richmond County District Attorneys Office.
Fossella officially named Sept. 13 to be Notre Dame Academy Day, explaining that his grandmother, mother, wife, daughter and future daughter-in-law all received an education at Notre Dame Academy.
-- Reporter Kayla Simas contributed to this report.
CSI GRADUATES HEAD TO LAW SCHOOL
Five graduates from the College of Staten Island (CSI), Willowbrook, have begun their next chapter at New York Law School.
The graduates David Checchi, Nicole Dos Santos, Rimshah Gul, Siham Hammoudi-Patout and Andrew Tawadrous all received either full or partial scholarships to attend New York Law School.
As CSIs Class of 2023 valedictorian, some may think that Checchis path into law school was expected. But the 26-year-old Army veteran said he initially had no intention of going to college while he was in high school. After enlisting and serving in the U.S. Army, he decided to pursue his education further and attend CSI.
He will attend New York Law with a full tuition scholarship.
It took years for Dos Santo to find her way to law. Dos Santos, 40, attended CSI after she graduated high school in 2002, but had to stop and start school several times for personal reasons.
I never once thought to actually pursue law, because I just didnt think it was something Id ever be able to afford, and I had so much personal baggage going on that I wasnt putting all my focus into my studies, so I didnt think I could achieve the grades needed either, she said.
But a serious car accident gave her a change of heart. She said she had to work hard to prove the accident wasnt her fault, and it made her realize she would make a great lawyer. A push from friends helped her pursue a degree at CSI and eventually attend law school.
Dos Santos returned to the classroom during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 and has since earned a scholarship from New York Law School that will cover almost 85% of her tuition.
It honestly doesnt even seem real to me, she said. I have no lawyers in my circle of family or friends. I never imagined Id get this opportunity. As for the scholarship, it would be impossible for me to attend without it so Im incredibly grateful.
The pair intersected with students like Gul, Hammoudi-Patout, and Tawadrous, who made use of the CSI Legal Studies Institute and made the further pursuit of law a reality. They said the classes at CSI helped them learn important aspects of law to prepare for law school while also receiving guidance and mentorship from faculty.
And while it took time for Checchi and Dos Santos to find their way to CSI, they have advice for future students, especially those who show an interest in law.
Getting good grades is very important to being admitted to law school and is essential for qualifying for scholarships, but what is more important is exploring a wide range of subjects and choosing a major that interests you, said Checchi. Pursuing your interests stimulates a passion for learning, and further motivates and inspires you to pursue academic excellence in whatever you decide to pursue.
Dos Santos said its important for students to make a schedule and stick to it, as there is much to learn and it can feel overwhelming.
... If youre going to do it, you must put your all into it. Invest in and believe in yourself, and youll be proud of the results, she added.
SEND US YOUR STORIES
Do you have a story idea for the In Class education column? Email education reporter Annalise Knudson at aknudson@siadvance.com.
ADDITIONAL IN-CLASS COLUMNS
Staten Island teens make an impact in their community this summer | In Class column
Staten Island student earns top division spot in NYC youth tennis tournament | In Class column
Staten Island 5th-graders become published authors | In Class column
Staten Island youth dance team performs in citywide competition focused on social action | In Class column
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A disturbance may develop off the southeastern United States coast this week, hurricane forecasters warn, possibly bringing a spate of heavy rain and gusty wind toward New York.
The National Hurricane Center said the system, which may form northeast of Florida because of a stalled weather pattern, has a 30% chance for formation over the next seven days.
Unlike storms that typically generate power within tropical areas, forecasters said conditions could allow for this system to form right off the East Coast.
Stalled fronts along the southeastern coast of the United States are one way a homebrew tropical system can form, AccuWeather Chief On-Air Meteorologist Bernie Rayno said in a release.
Warm waters spurred by an existing El Nino climate pattern have allowed for storms to become supercharged this year, and AccuWeather said ocean temperatures remain warm enough for the area of low pressure to become a tropical development later this week.
However, strong breezes could weaken the systems ability to develop, AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said, and the presence of wind shear upper-level atmospheric wind that shreds storms apart makes it highly unlikely the storm will reach hurricane strength.
There will be stiff southerly breezes [wind shear] a few thousand miles above the surface in this zone, Douty said. Not only might the wind shear inhibit full tropical development, it may also push the system onshore swiftly and essentially end the development process.
Forecasters suggest heavy rain will be a factor for the East Coast beginning late this week. (AccuWeather)
Regardless of its potential development into a named tropical storm, forecasters said strong rain and thunderstorms could be produced by the system along a wide swath of the East Coast later this week.
It is possible that even if the center of the storm manages to linger right along the coast, heavy rain and thunderstorms associated with the system will be forced northward along the Carolina and mid-Atlantic coast from Friday to Saturday, Douty said.
That precipitation could linger into the latter portions of the weekend, according to AccuWeather. Additionally, the system could pull in a storm from the Midwest, bolstering rainfall totals.
Rain could affect New York City over the weekend, according to AccuWeather. (AccuWeather)
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, hurricane forecasters are monitoring another area for possible development.
The National Hurricane Center said a tropical wave expected to move off the west coast of Africa on Wednesday has about a 70% chance of development over the next week.
After a tropical disturbance [tropical wave] moves away from Africa and into the central Atlantic, there is the likelihood for a tropical system to form, Rayno said. However, that system is likely to stay away from the U.S.
Hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30. The next storm to reach named status will be called Ophelia.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed
If you visit the Spanish National Cancer Research Center, you will be received by a sculpture by the artist Marina Vargas. Sculpted in Carrara marble, the figure is a life-size representation of the artist. Marina Vargas shows off her mastectomy and raises a triumphant fist. Marina triumphs over the fear of her cancer diagnosis.
Marina has spoken to me often of Anne Boyers book The Undying, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction in 2020. Boyer recalls her experience with her own breast cancer, aggressive chemotherapy, her tiredness, her fears. Inevitably, Boyer invokes Susan Sontag, specifically her planned essay about the causes of death in women, which the philosopher hoped to write about cases like Virginia Woolf and other famous women.
Sontag herself suffered from breast cancer and was cured, but decades later another cancer ended her life. She did have time to publish, in 1978, what may be the best philosophical text on cancer: Illness and Metaphor.
My point is that illness is not a metaphor, and that the most truthful way of regarding illness and the healthiest way of being ill is one most purified of, most resistant to, metaphoric thinking, she writes. Metaphors are the result of stereotypes, of lack of knowledge and the lack of scientific understanding of the diseases origin and cure.
Metaphors are harmful for cancer patients they condition, blame and hide the real problems. They use a language of war: cancer is the enemy, the murderer; its patients are victims, but also guilty. Cancer is defeated with a struggle, a crusade, bombing with chemotherapy. As in war, aggressive solutions and collateral damage are expected. With the 1971 National Cancer Act, President Richard Nixon famously declared the war on cancer.
Cancer invades, colonizes, grows and destroys. It is a voracious predator, like Saturn eating his children. The term emphasizes deregulation, the anomalous, the incoherent: cancer of society, cancer of the economy
These unhelpful metaphors have as an antidote, says Sontag, research and progress in knowledge about what cancer is. Sontag pointed out that there exists not just one type of cancer, but hundreds. Today we can say that cancer encompasses thousands of diseases, as many as there are cancer patients. Maybe the word cancer shouldnt be used for all these diseases?
Research has managed to strip many types of cancer of their lethal power. The term cancer, in more and more cases, is no longer synonymous with death, or even with serious illness. Not everything we call cancer should be called cancer, oncologists Laura Esserman and Scott Eggener recently wrote in The New York Times. Despite amazing advances in our understanding of the disease, we have neglected to update how we define what has been called the emperor of all maladies. Some cancers have extraordinarily low risks of altering the quality or length of life but get lumped in with those that do. The World Health Organization describes cancer as a group of diseases that can originate in almost any organ or tissue in the body when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, exceed their normal limits and invade adjacent parts of the body and/or spread to other organs. The term is attributed to Hippocrates, which implies that its meaning has had more than 2,500 years to evolve and, above all, to accumulate power.
But now, thanks to research, many people who receive a diagnosis of cancer will hardly see the length and quality of their life altered, either because they will be treated promptly and effectively or because we know, due to the characteristics of that particular tumor, that the prognosis is good.
That is the way to deactivate the threat of the word cancer: move increasingly towards much more personalized and precise diagnoses and treatments and away from fear. Lets not use metaphors in cancer. Lets look at it head-on, with research and science.
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Daikin Industries will exhibit its high-efficiency inverter air-conditioner, which contributes to 50 per cent energy savings at the COP28 Japan Pavilion.
The 28th Conference on Climate Change in Dubai, UAE, from November 30 to December 12, 2023, will mark Daikins debut at a COP event.
This strategic involvement not only solidifies Daikin's dedication and efforts to sustainability but also underscores the companys celebration of local citizenship and aligns with the UAE Year of Sustainability, demonstrating Daikins strong commitment to both the government and the citizens in the regions where it operates, the company said.
Innovations
COP is an international conference that brings together leaders from international organisations, national and local governments, NGOs, and leading companies to discuss international trends and the necessary rules for mitigating global warming. The conference has been held since 1995, and this year marks its 28th meeting.
"We are committed to realising carbon neutrality worldwide by creating highly energy-efficient air-conditioning innovations. At COP28 we look forward to connecting with government officials and other stakeholders from around the world and present our inverter technology, which holds a variety of environmental benefits," said Masatsugu Minaka, Senior Executive Officer of Daikin Industries and Chairman of Daikin Europe.
Business rooted in the Middle East region
Japans Environment Ministry hosts the Japan pavilion at COP28 and uses the exhibition and side events to globally showcase excellent products, services, and initiatives from Japan for combating climate change.
"Daikin Middle East and Africa has worked to promote inverter-equipped, energy-efficient air conditioning systems. As a company with business rooted in the region, we are pleased and honoured to participate in COP28 in Dubai," said Hasan Onder, President of Daikin Middle East and Africa FZE.
High-efficiency inverter air conditioners use 50% less energy
With a high-efficiency inverter, also known as variable speed technology, the air conditioner precisely controls the rotation speed of the air conditioner compressor in line with ambient conditions to reduce electric power consumption by more than 50% compared to non-inverter air conditioners. Today, air conditioners account for about 10% of the worlds total electricity demand, while recent developments in emerging countries have led to an increasing energy demand for air conditioners by an average of 4% per year.
The G7 Summit in May 2023 and G20 Energy Transitions Ministers Meeting in July 2023 highlighted the importance of enhanced energy efficiency and savings as the first fuel to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 at the latest, as well as energy transitions. Energy efficiency is also becoming more pressing topic internationally, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) indicating the need to double energy efficiency.
While the ratio of air conditioners equipped with energy-saving inverter technology has reached nearly 100% of the market in both Japan and Europe, it is still low around the world including in the US, Middle East and Africa, as well as Asia. To increase its use even further, it is necessary to raise awareness in each country that high-efficiency inverter air conditioners can be introduced immediately, and an important benefit is that the technology has immediate effects.
Daikin will use the opportunity to appeal to COP participants such as governments, world leaders and observers about the many advantages of switching to high-efficiency inverter technology, said a statement. - TradeArabia News Service
There are those who receive gifts for their wedding. Kaia Nathalie Klaumann decided to give herself a present for her divorce. At 38 years old, with her life collapsing, she thought it was time to freeze her eggs and her life project. But buying time costs money. Doing it in Texas, where she lives, costs exactly $20,000. So after a Google search and a call to a friend, she decided that her gift to herself would be double: egg freezing and a vacation in Spain, where the same procedure costs around 4,000 ($4,274).
Kaia asked for two weeks off from work and caught a plane. Its something thats quite common, he explains in a telephone conversation. Many American women travel to Spain to freeze their eggs. And there are more and more of them. According to the market research company Grand View Search, the global fertility tourism market is expected to grow at a rate of 30% in the next seven years, to reach $6.2 billion by 2030. And on the world map of this booming business, Spain is marked in red letters.
First of all, it is because of the price, says Klaumann. It is also true that I am eight hours by car from Mexico. But of course, Spain has a good reputation, and it is one of the countries where there is the most research on the subject. Furthermore, Klaumann had lived in the coastal city of Alicante for several years, so she was already familiar with the country. She did not need to resort to the numerous intermediary companies that organize these trips for American women.
One of these companies is Milvia. Spain is a wonderful tourist destination, explains its director, Abhi Ghavalkar, by email. The warm climate, the option of being next to the beach and the possibility of exploring a new destination (sometimes while on vacation) are attractive to American women, he points out, while also emphasizing that the country has some of the best fertility providers in the world and that treatments are offered at a very competitive price. Spending a couple of weeks full of hormones seems less unpleasant if you spice up the plan with a walk along Las Ramblas, a visit to the Prado Museum or a day lounging in the sun on a Mediterranean beach.
According to the latest data from the Spanish Ministry of Health, of the 127,420 cycles carried out during 2020, 12,171 were for foreign patients. This is something confirmed by Erin Moore, who worked for seven years as a translator at a fertility clinic in Alicante. Many women came from England, the Netherlands, Italy and the United States, she explains on the phone. The treatments last several weeks, so patients have to stay in the city for a while. And there I was. I helped them find good hotels and restaurants to improve their vacation. The average health tourism traveler spends 1,082 ($1,156) per week, according to a 2022 analysis by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In the case of vitrification, the expense can be even higher, as the procedure is relatively simple and not particularly painful, and therefore easier to integrate into a vacation.
The warm climate, the option of being by the beach, and the chance to explore a new destination are attractive to American women. Additionally, treatments are offered at very competitive prices Abhi Ghavalkar, director of Milvia
Oocyte vitrification is an ultra-rapid freezing of eggs in their earliest phase, explains Sara Lopez, a gynecologist and author of books on the subject. The process begins when the patient is injected with hormones that order the ovaries to release all possible eggs. So, instead of one growing, the 13 or 15 eggs of the menstrual cycle grow, she says. Next, there is a small surgical procedure to remove the eggs and put them in liquid nitrogen to preserve them for future use. The once-experimental process became commonplace in 2012. Since then, it has not stopped growing.
In the last decade, the number of women who froze their eggs increased by 142% in Spain, going from 129 cases in 2010 to 5,480 in 2020, according to the most recent data from the Spanish Fertility Society (SEF). The number is now believed to be much higher, as there is some delay in data collection. Having such a high volume of treatments allows you to carry out more advanced studies, adds Lopez. That is why Spain is a leader in Europe, and I dare say that also worldwide, in matters of assisted reproduction.
Spain has become an international beacon for reproductive tourism. EQUIPO JUANA CRESPO (Europa Press)
Spain was placed on the international map thanks to egg donation. It continues to be the most important sector within this market, explains Anna Molas, a postdoctoral researcher in Health Anthropology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Many women go to the clinic when it is too late to freeze their own eggs and this is the only alternative. The expert points out that there is an age and class bias in this practice, which she sees as problematic.
Another factor that has helped put Spain on the map is its legislation, which is more lax than in surrounding countries. Here in the private sector there is no age limitation like there is in other countries. Nor are there hurdles for being a single woman, or a woman married to another woman. And also because of the anonymity [in the case of egg donation] which is no longer the case in most countries.
Freezing eggs means pushing forward the biological clock, putting the decision to have kids on standby until you have enough economic, work or relationship stability. Thats what happened to Klaumann, who couldnt find a stable partner or a job she liked. Also, my desire to be a mother did not awaken until I was at least 35 years old. I was too busy living and enjoying my freedom, she admits. Hers was an individual decision, but like all decisions, it was conditioned by her social background.
A womans eggs begin to lose quality at age 35, explains Antonio Urries, a biologist specializing in assisted reproduction and president of the ASEBIR association. Initially, patients eggs were only frozen if the women were undergoing radiotherapy, chemotherapy or removal of the uterus. But its use has changed, it has progressed. In recent years, there has been a very significant increase due to age issues. In this sense, the expert emphasizes the importance of educational work. When a woman is considering her life project, just as she thinks about where she is going to live, and what job she would like to have, she should also consider her reproductive project. Urries also underscores that this technique is not a guarantee, it is an opportunity, as it is not 100% effective. It is very variable, and we cannot talk about a specific percentage. In 2020 there was one pregnancy for every 12 or 13 vitrified eggs, but it depends a lot on each case. Klaumanns personal experience, for example, does not fit into this statistic.
A medical response to a social problem
In 2014, major Silicon Valley companies began offering their female employees the possibility of financing egg freezing. Some critics said that this work incentive concealed a clear message to women: prioritize your professional career, postpone motherhood. However, the model has spread; today 20% of large American companies offer it as a benefit to their employees.
The delay in motherhood hides a productivist impulse, says Sara Lafuente Funes, an anthropologist specialized in oocyte vitrification. It is the result of a society that places capitalist productivity at the center of society and leaves care and reproduction on the fringes. In this context, she adds, egg freezing becomes a medical patch for a social problem, an individual solution to a collective situation. In addition, it does so by creating another consumer product, turning reproduction into a market.
Currently, Lafuente is investigating the social impact of this practice in the Cryosociety Project at the University of Frankfurt. It is not a question of opposing those treatments. They represent progress, I know. But we should question the fact that they are not solving the problem, and that they are also generating inequalities, since not everyone can access them.
In 2020, Kaia Nathalie Klaumann remarried and decided to start a family. It was time to use her frozen eggs. But the limitations on international travel due to the Covid crisis made her reject the idea of coming to Spain to be inseminated, so she asked for them to be sent to Texas. It was not a good idea.
The shipment was held up for a year due to bureaucratic and legal obstacles, and when she finally managed to have her eggs shipped, the logistics company lost them. I used a code to follow where the package was, and I saw it until I stopped seeing it. Suddenly it disappeared, Klaumann recalls with anguish. I called and they didnt know what to tell me, they even hung up on me. After several days of searching, the package reappeared, but none of the 10 eggs it contained were viable. No one can tell me the reason for sure, its something I can only suspect, she laments.
Klaumanns story has a happy ending. His name is Calvin and he is two years old. While fighting to get her frozen eggs, she had also started an in vitro fertilization process at a clinic in Texas, and this procedure was successful. Despite her unpleasant experience, she is a staunch advocate of egg freezing, and even of doing it abroad. Her only regret is that Covid, incompetence and a series of unfortunate events came together to ruin her plan. Like she says, echoing the experts: this is not a guarantee, it is an opportunity.
Co-working and hybrid workspace operators are seeing signs of recovery as local and offshore operators grow their footprint and occupiers target higher flexible space usage.
Having been the darling of the office market before the pandemic, then hit hard when no one wanted to work near other people, the flexible office market footprint has increased by 2.1 per cent in the major east coast markets in the 12 months to June.
CBREs latest Australian Flex Space in the Age of Hybrid Work report shows there is a more positive outlook for the sector after a slower-than-expected post-pandemic return to the office and a degree of consolidation in the market.
Hub Australias new flagship site at 44 Martin Place, Sydney.
The report reveals the penetration of flex operators in these markets represents 2.7 per cent of office stock, down from 3.1 per cent at the sectors peak in early 2020.
Elon Musk said that a small monthly service fee for using X could help fight off bot operations on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
A subscription for all users would make the effective cost of bots very high and would require operators to use a new payment method for each account, the billionaire said in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Musks Tesla offices in Fremont, California.
Musk said charging a fee may be the only way to remove a vast army of bots from the social network. Credit: Reuters
Netanyahu, who questioned Musk about antisemitism and hate speech on the platform, had asked how he could prevent vast armies of bots from amplifying hate speech. X currently has a free tier and subscriptions for individual subscribers and brands, and Musk said bots are the single most important reason to shift to monthly payments.
This is a super tough problem, Musk responded, saying that its the single most important reason hes considering shifting to a monthly payment system. A bot costs a fraction of a penny to operate, he said, under Xs current system, which offers both free and paid tiers. Making someone pay a few dollars to use the service, he said, makes the effective cost of bots very high, and would require bot operators to use a new payment method every time they wanted to create a new one.
ESR Australia and Lendlease have expanded their footprints into the booming industrial property market with a focus on Sydneys western zones, where demand is rising in preparation for the new second airport.
The deals come as supply is near zero in some areas and rents are booming.
In the latest transaction, ESR Australia has paid $70 million for a 17 hectare parcel of developable land in tightly held Badgerys Creek, marking its first foothold in the Western Sydney Aerotropolis.
The 82,000-square-metre site is in the Liverpool City Council area and is zoned within Priority 1 Zone for enterprise / light industrial development. Located less than 3 kilometres from the entrance to the new Western Sydney Airport, the site fronts the main arterial of Martin Road.
When is being accused of operational incompetence a compliment? When its a better excuse than deliberately breaking the law.
So former Qantas boss Alan Joyce should be thanking Flight Centre founder Graham Turner, who declared to a Senate inquiry he thought Qantas alleged selling of ghost flights was more likely a monumental stuff up than an attempt to mislead and deceive its customers.
Australias competition watchdog will take Qantas to court for allegedly selling tickets for cancelled flights. Credit: Supplied
Neither option is particularly flattering to team Qantas, its board that oversaw this alleged customer mistreatment nor Joyce, who has ridden into the sunset with a $20 million bag of loot the majority of which was tied to his performance.
Qantas is fighting fires on so many fronts, that it takes little to fan the flames. It was always going to get hit by stray (and not so stray) bullets during the Senate inquiry into the governments decision to block Qatar from getting additional flights into the country.
Transurban chief Scott Charlton will replace Geoff Culbert as Sydney Airport boss from December.
Culbert announced he would retire after six years at the helm of Australias biggest airport in May. Sydney Airports board announced Charltons appointment on Wednesday morning.
Soon-to-be minted Sydney Airport boss Scott Charlton. Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Sydney Airport chair David Gonski said Charltons 11-year tenure at ASX-listed Transurban, and former role as chief operating officer of Lendlease put him in good stead to lead the airport business.
Charlton brings strong commercial, operational and project delivery experience, along with a deep understanding of government and the Australian regulatory environment, Gonski said.
The sight of Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton on the runway or a near-naked Bella Hadid in a spray-painted dress was enough to get attention at last years spring ready-to-wear collections. These were simpler times.
With New York and London Fashion Weeks both over, and Milan and Paris about to begin, stunts are becoming more obvious than Sienna Millers baby bump, framed by a Schiaparelli two-piece at Londons Vogue World show.
Sienna Miller in Schiaparelli at Vogue World, London; Irina Shayk in Mowalola at London Fashion Week; a model in Burberry; a robot rabbit takes to the Runway at Puppets and Puppets in New York. Credit: Getty; illustration, Jamie Brown.
The mosh pit of brands vigorously competing for attention started at underground label Puppets and Puppets New York show, starring creepy robot rabbits carrying handbags.
The nightmare continues.
A bid to have X count as a no vote in the upcoming Indigenous voice referendum has been dismissed by a judge, but ticks will still be considered yes.
United Australia Party senator Ralph Babet and the partys chairman, mining magnate Clive Palmer, went to the Federal Court seeking to have ballot papers marked with a cross or X counted as a vote against the proposed alteration to the constitution.
Examples of referendum ballots marked Yes and No. Credit: AEC
The Australian Electoral Commission has distributed advice telling people to make their vote count by writing in English either yes or no in the box on the ballot paper.
The commission stated a tick in the box will count as yes, backed by decades of legal precedent across six referendums.
The legal advice provides that for a single referendum question, a clear tick should be counted as formal and a cross should not, the commission said in August.
Ballot papers marked with an X would be considered informal and not be counted due to ambiguity about what that can mean. The case came before the court urgently with the vote less than four weeks away.
In dismissing the application, Justice Rares said a cross could indicate agreement, disapproval or an unwillingness to answer the question at all, while a tick was not similarly ambiguous, either indicating approval or an affirmative response.
It does not convey a negative response, he said.
AAP
Im still not familiar with what the laws are, Roberts replied. Asked if she had been told it was a grave offence for an unlicensed physician to provide medical services in the United States, Roberts said she was not told that. Surgeon Munjed Al Muderis, his partner Claudia Roberts and his legal team outside the Federal Court in Sydney on September 4. Credit: Steven Siewert Roberts was shown an email from Dr Solon Rosenblatt, one of Al Muderis representatives in the US, in which Rosenblatt told Roberts, Al Muderis and others on May 14, 2018: Please do NOT call the gathering in New York a clinic. Munjed will get into trouble for holding a medical clinic without a medical license. That is a grave offence and could mean serious fines and also revoking of his visa. Collins put it to Roberts that she understood ... by no later than the 14th of May, 2018, that it would have been a grave offence for Dr Al Muderis to conduct a medical clinic without a medical licence.
I understand thats what Dr Rosenblatt said, but ... I still dont know what the laws are myself, Roberts said. You understood ... that it was a very serious matter for Dr Al Muderis to provide medical services in the United States without a licence? Collins said. Yes, Roberts replied. Roberts would later describe the New York event in an internal email on May 17, 2018, as a catch-up/gathering rather than a clinic. In an email on May 15, 2018, a US associate, Fred Hernandez, wrote: So now theres no presentation, only Munjed seeing patients? If so, there is no need to blast social media on this. As he has no credentials to see patients in the US and a posting will only bring it to the attention of the wrong people.
In another internal email, on May 14, 2018, Roberts said patients could be brought up to a hotel room for a consultation, and emailed potential patients on June 6, 2018, that we are very much looking forward to catching up with you. If you do have any recent x-rays please bring them with you, she said. But Roberts told the court that Al Muderis did not give advice, and she did not believe he would have said osseointegration would be a good thing for particular people. She told the court it was an error to use the word consultation in her email, and there was another instance where I called it a clinic, and I have said that it was an error. You called it a clinic repeatedly in multiple emails over many days, Collins said.
The reason youve questioned my use of the word consultation is you know very well that it would be unethical and illegal, a grave offence, for Dr Al Muderis to conduct a consultation with a patient in the United States. I dont know, Roberts replied. I want to suggest to you, Ms Roberts, that thats a dishonest answer and you know its a dishonest answer, Collins said. No, Roberts replied. Collins told the court that Nine would ultimately submit that this conduct in the United States was not only unethical, it was illegal. But Sue Chrysanthou, SC, acting for Al Muderis, said Nine had never alleged in court pleadings that it was illegal or unethical to conduct clinics.
The court heard that one of Al Muderis American patients, Billy Wynne, was scheduled for surgery on June 6, 2018, before he left the US. Payment will need to be cleared before you arrive in Australia please allow 7-10 working days for the transfer to be complete, Al Muderis account manager Renee Zamani wrote in an email to Wynne on May 2 that year. Al Muderis lawsuit names The Age reporter Charlotte Grieve as among the respondents. Grieve wrote in October last year that her investigation came from a conversation with my father, Don Grieve, KC. He is an amputee who had a consultation with Al Muderis years ago and was told if he did not immediately have osseointegration surgery, he would soon be in a wheelchair, Grieve wrote. Roberts said on Tuesday that she was present at the meeting with Grieve snr in 2018 and recalled he was told that the risk for the surgery would outweigh the benefits at that time, and he should avoid having osseointegration surgery for the time being.
Dating apps are displayed on a computer and a phone in Sydney, Monday, Sept. 18, 2023.
Australias government said Monday the online dating industry must improve safety standards or be forced to make changes through legislation, responding to research that says three-in-four Australian users suffer some form of sexual violence through the platforms.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said popular dating companies such as Tinder, Bumble and Hinge have until June 30 to develop a voluntary code of conduct that addresses user safety concerns.
The code could include improving engagement with law enforcement, supporting at-risk users, improving safety policies and practices, and providing greater transparency about harms, she said.
But, Rowland added, if the safety standards are not sufficiently improved, the government will use regulation and legislation to force change.
What we want to do in this sector is not stifle innovation, but balance the harms, she told reporters.
The government is responding to Australian Institute of Criminology research published last year that found three-in-four users of dating apps or websites had experienced some form of sexual violence through these platforms in the five years through 2021.
Online dating is actually the most popular way for Australians to meet new people and to form new relationships, Rowland said.
The government is concerned about rates of sexual harassment, abusive and threatening language, unsolicited sexual images and violence facilitated by these platforms, she added.
The Australian Information Industry Association, which represents the information and communications technology industry in Australia but not the online dating sector, welcomed the governments approach as very measured.
Thats the way the government should regulate technology, the associations chief executive, Simon Bush, said. Point out where theres an issue, get the industry together and get the industry to look to see if they can resolve these issues first before pulling the regulatory trigger.
Match Group, which owns and operates popular dating services including Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish and OK Cupid, said it would continue to work with regulators and partners including Australias Queensland Police Service and Australian umbrella group Womens Services Network to combat gender-based violence and strengthen safety across platforms.
Safety guides everything we do at Match Group and we share the Australian governments commitment to strengthen Australians safety, Match Group said Tuesday in a statement.
This is an important conversation that should not be limited to a single industry but extend to address these systemic issues that occur everywhere, from public streets to workplaces and to social media platforms ensuring a holistic approach to cracking down on abusers and bad actors, the statement added.
Bumble declined to comment.
Kath Albury, an online dating researcher at Melbournes Swinburne University of Technology, said safety improvements could include a clearer sense of how quickly a user could expect feedback after reporting an unwanted or threatening contact.
One of the things that dating app users are concerned about is the sense that complaints go into the void or theres a response that feels automated or not personal responsive in a time when theyre feeling quite unsafe or distressed, Albury said.
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New apartments near key transport hubs will need to be bigger and have more natural light and developers will be enticed to build in priority precincts with faster approvals and taller height limits as part of the Victorian governments plan to fix the states housing crisis.
The Andrews government will on Wednesday use new projections for Victorias population growing an average 125,000 people a year over the next decade to justify its major reforms of the housing and planning sectors.
Premier Daniel Andrews and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Carlton on Tuesday. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Cabinet met late on Tuesday to finalise the first stage of its housing statement, which will seek to boost supply and help the government meet demand for one million extra homes in developed areas by 2050.
The Age has spoken to a dozen sources familiar with the plans, including government MPs and stakeholders briefed before the plans release.
A group of teens wielding machetes targeted vulnerable students leaving school the day they abducted a 14-year-old boy and left him with life-altering injuries in Melbournes south-east, police say.
The boy remains in hospital and has come out of a six-day induced coma, after three teenagers allegedly assaulted him and put him in a stolen car on September 4 in Glen Huntly, a court was told on Tuesday.
Three teenagers are accused of assaulting a schoolboy in Glen Huntly. Credit: Nine News
He was dragged along the road at high speed while hanging from a car door for about 150 metres, and suffered bleeding on his brain and swelling around his spinal cord after being thrown from the vehicle and then ran over.
A detective told a childrens court these injuries were potentially permanent and life-altering and included issues with his speaking, sight and memory.
Friends and family have gathered to mourn a 16-year-old boy killed after the ute he was travelling in left the road and crashed into a tree in Yanchep on Tuesday night.
The tragedy occurred around 9.40pm at the roundabout intersection of Yanchep Beach Road and Parkland Drive.
WA Police have since alleged the 16-year-old male driver of the Holden Crewman ute, who sustained minor injuries, did not possess a drivers licence and that speed may have been a factor.
A 15-year-old male passenger received minor injuries and was taken to hospital by paramedics while 16-year-old Ryan Berry did not survive the crash.
The Vatican is considering the findings of a church investigation into very serious and deeply distressing child sexual abuse allegations against a former Australian bishop, a church leader said on Tuesday.
Christopher Saunders, now 73, resigned in 2021 as bishop of Broome, an outback diocese of north-west Australia larger than France but with a population of only 50,000, after police announced they had dropped a sex crime investigation. He had stood down a year earlier after media reported the allegations.
Former Broome Bishop Christopher Saunders. Credit: Supplied
The church investigation into Saunders began last year after the police investigation ended, said Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, the churchs most senior national leadership group.
A report of the investigation, overseen by Brisbane Archbishop Mark Coleridge, had been sent to the Vatican where the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was continuing to investigate, Costelloe said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is not surprising that states are considering taxing short-stay rentals on platforms such as Airbnb, noting that it was an issue in his own inner-west Sydney electorate of Grayndler.
Unveiling a new housing development that will be partly funded by the federal governments $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator alongside Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, Albanese was asked if he supported a tax on short-stay rental properties.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. Credit: Paul Jeffers
Airbnb is an issue. In my electorate, its an issue because you have problems of accessing rentals for people ... so Im very conscious of the pressure that is placed on communities, he told reporters on Tuesday.
So its not surprising that governments are having a look at this and I know that that is something that has been considered by anyone who actually looks at the housing issue with regard to housing supply.
The budget has delivered a blow to thousands of flood victims in northern NSW, after a program to buy back flood-prone houses and make others safer only received a fraction of the money needed to complete the scheme.
The Resilient Homes and Land program was set up with $800 million of state and federal funding last October but in June, the agency delivering it said the money would only cover about a quarter of flood-affected properties.
Survivors reach dry land after floods inundated homes in Lismore on February 28, 2022. Credit: Elise Derwin
It was revealed the scheme had originally been costed at $1.5 billion, but the Perrottet government had deferred half the funding.
Premier Chris Minns had been under pressure to deliver the remaining $700 million so the program could help more people but his government has only allocated $150 million in the budget to address natural disasters in the Northern Rivers and Central West, which also suffered flooding in 2022.
Labor member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said that money would go into a new Community Restoration Flood Fund and would be partly directed towards the Resilient Homes program. She said more funding would be delivered once the NSW Reconstruction Authority had determined a list of priorities.
Ive been given a commitment there will be more, Saffin said.
But Greens member for neighbouring Ballina Tamara Smith said she was deeply disappointed and devastated that the government had not funded the remainder of the Resilient Homes program in the budget this morning, given some of her constituents were still sleeping in their cars because their homes were uninhabitable.
Thousands of flood-ravaged people, who were promised support for the government, have been left with no certainty of when any help is on its way. This is a completely unacceptable outcome 18 months on from the floods.
Budgets are about choices, and Labors budget has chosen to leave thousands of people waiting for desperately needed support.
The Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation, which is delivering the buyback scheme, said in February that about 2000 homes would qualify for a buyback, with another 4000 qualifying for raising or retrofitting, but that number was revised down in June to 1100 buybacks and 340 retrofits and raises.
Mapping released by the NRRC in June flagged that more houses would be suitable for assistance if more funding was made available.
The governments new flood fund will also help communities prepare for disasters, rebuild and improve assets including bridges and roads, and assist with housing, the government said in a statement.
It has also budgeted $3.3 million over three years for natural disaster detection systems, and $5 million for a community-led Two Rooms project, carried out by Resilient Lismore, which is partly repairing the homes of flood victims to make them liveable.
Tweed Shire Council also received $2 million over two years to fund urban flood resilience and mitigation projects.
Families and cost of living Roughly 720,000 motorists will be able to claim back spending above $60 on the states toll roads, at an estimated cost of $551 million over two years.
Spending on the Active and Creative Kids vouchers will be slashed from $190 million to $28 million, and vouchers reduced from $100 to $50. It will only be available for families who are on the Family Tax Benefit Part A.
The government will lift the Low Income Household Rebate and Medical Energy Rebate from $285 to $350; the full rate Family Energy Rebate from $180 to $250; and the Seniors Energy Rebate from $200 to $250. What you should know: While the government will give motorists a break and charge Opal commuters weekend prices on Fridays, Opal fares will be increased across the network. Meanwhile, parents of three-year-olds in long daycare preschool programs will receive $500 per child, per year, in fee relief. Transport and infrastructure The Transport Asset Holding Entity (TAHE), a state corporation with billions of dollars worth of the states rail assets, will have its for-profit status removed at a cost of $384 million across four years.
The government will spend an average of $29.1 billion each year on infrastructure over the next four years, a similar level to the previous government.
$2.4 billion will be spent over four years for western Sydney roads and $302 million set aside for a Western Sydney Rapid Bus Network.
What you should know: The fast-tracked transition of TAHE to a non-commercial corporation comes after the Minns government was told it would have to inject more than $600 million to prop up the scandal-ridden entity if it remained a state-owned corporation. While the government has made efforts to tighten its belt, it has maintained its focus on connecting western Sydney to more transport options including $7.9 billion to deliver the Sydney Metro-Western Sydney Airport. Environment and energy Coal royalties will increase over the next financial year for the first time in 15 years, which is expected to raise $2.7 billion.
The government will invest $4 billion in natural disaster support including restoring damaged infrastructure, and $121 million to prepare communities for natural disasters.
$1.8 billion will be invested in critical transmission and energy storage solutions including $1 billion in a new Energy Security Corporation for investment in long-duration energy storage. The state will scrap a $300 subsidy for new electric vehicles, with some savings to be invested in more charging stations. What you should know: NSW faces the challenge of ensuring electricity supply remains reliable as it transitions away from coal generation. The budget will inject an additional $804 million into a Transmission Acceleration Facility aimed at connecting the states renewable energy zones to the grid sooner. Health
About $3 billion will be invested across four years in western Sydney hospitals, of which $1.3 billion will be spent on building the Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital.
There will be an additional 1200 nurses at a cost of $419 million; healthcare students will be offered 12,000 scholarships worth $4000 a year if they make a five-year commitment to staying in public health; and $572 million will be set aside to fund permanent positions for more than 1100 nurses and midwives hired during the pandemic.
Regional and remote NSW will receive 500 extra paramedics at a cost of $438.6 million. What you should know: In an effort to stem the exodus of nurses, doctors and paramedics from the public system, the NSW government has invested in staff retention measures including a $3500 flat pay rise for health workers. It has also aimed to improve access to healthcare through investments in western and regional NSW, as well spending $100 million on womens health. Overall, the government expects to spend $13.8 billion for hospitals and health facilities over four years. Education Western Sydney will get 24 new and 51 upgraded primary and high schools for $3.5 billion over four years.
The government aims to save $1.4 billion across four years through measures including reduced spending on communications contractors and management consultants, with the same amount being spent on 19 new and 35 upgraded schools in regional NSW.
There will be an additional 100 preschools and $278 million for permanent literacy and numeracy tutoring programs in primary and secondary schools. What you should know: A new $3.6 billion essential services fund will aim to improve services in education and health, partly through delivering higher wages for essential workers. It has also focused on increasing available early childhood education places, with another $1.6 billion set aside for expanded preschool fee relief. Overall, it expects to increase spending on schools and education facilities to $9.8 billion over four years.
Singapore: The Indian government has expelled a Canadian diplomat after rejecting allegations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that it was involved in the assassination of an Indian separatist on Canadian soil.
The tit-for-tat follows weeks of tension between India and Canada as one of the Indian movements leaders claims separatists in Australia are also in danger.
In a series of assertions that have escalated the dispute between two of Australias closest economic and diplomatic partners, Trudeau said Canadian intelligence services had credible allegations that the Indian government may have had links to the shooting of Canadian-Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Nijjar was a key figure in the Khalistan separatist movement, which is campaigning to establish an independent state for Sikhs in the northern Indian region of Punjab, before he was gunned down outside a cultural centre in British Columbia on June 18.
New York: Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the Albanese government is deeply concerned by allegations that India was behind the murder of a Sikh man in Canada, but she refused to be drawn on claims that separatists in Australia could be next.
Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Wong said the government had raised the issue with its Indian counterparts and would continue to monitor the situation closely.
Australian Foreign Minster Penny Wong speaks in New York. Credit: AP
Investigations are still under way but obviously these are concerning reports, she said.
Australias principal position is that we believe the sovereignty of a country should be respected. We believe the rule of law should be respected.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kicked off a U.S. trip in California to talk to billionaire businessman Elon Musk about antisemitism on his social media platform X while Musk asked him to address his judicial overhaul in Israel. The two also discussed artificial intelligence in a sparsely-attended livestream event Monday.
Netanyahus high-profile visit to the San Francisco Bay Area comes at a time when Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform, while Netanyahu is confronting political opposition at home and abroad. Protesters gathered early Monday outside the Fremont, California factory where Tesla makes its cars.
The video livestream kicked off shortly before 9:30 a.m. with Netanyahu and the Tesla CEO. Netanyahus official X account posted that he is holding a one on one conversation with Musk. The number of viewers hovered around 700-800 people.
The two kicked off with a joke about deepfakes and quickly launched into a discussion of artificial intelligence as both a blessing and a curse for humanity.
Netanyahu said an important question about more advanced AI is: How do you get the international regime to control this thing?
He said it starts by getting like-minded states to agree to a code of ethics and code of conduct to foster the benefits and curb the curses but said there will still be a need to police the planet against rogue actors.
The freestyle conversation, which included jokes from both men, soon turned to free speech and antisemitism, with Netanyahu telling Musk he hopes that within the confines of the First Amendment he can find a way to clamp down on antisemitism and other forms of hatred on his social media platform.
I encourage you and urge you to find the balance. Its a tough one, Netanyahu said.
Musk said that with 100 million to 200 million posts on X in a day, some of those are gonna be bad. He then reiterated the platforms policy to not promote or amplify hate speech. Under Musk, the former Twitter changed its rules so that objectionable posts are not usually removed, but instead their visibility is limited so people have to seek it out if they want to see it. Musk calls this freedom of speech, not freedom of reach.
Musk is facing accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on his social media platform. The Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil-rights organization, has accused Musk of allowing antisemitism and hate speech to spread on X. Its director, Jonathan Greenblatt, said Musk had amplified the messages of neo-Nazis and white supremacists who want to ban the league by engaging with them recently on X.
In a Sept. 4 post, Musk claimed that the league was trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic. In other posts, he said the league was responsible for a 60% drop in revenue at X. The ADL was among a coalition or groups that urged companies last year to pause their advertising on Twitter after Musk bought the platform. But analysts who track Twitter have argued that Musks chaotic changes to the platform including jettisoning its well-known brand name have led to a decline in interest from advertisers.
The group met this month with Xs chief executive, Linda Yaccarino. Both Musk and Yaccarino have recently posted messages saying they oppose antisemitism.
On Sunday, though Musk posted that George Soros organization appears to want nothing less than the destruction of western civilization. Soros, 93, has donated billions of dollars of his personal wealth to liberal and anti-authoritarian causes around the world, making him a favored target among many on the right. The Hungarian-American, who is Jewish, has also been the subject of anti-Semitic attacks and conspiracy theories for decades.
Netanyahus visit was unusually Musk-centric for a world leader. Silicon Valley itineraries for visiting political dignitaries typically also include major tech companies such as Apple, Google or Meta.
From California, Netanyahu heads to New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly and meet with President Joe Biden and other world leaders, his office said. They include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in nine months of demonstrations against Netanyahus plan to overhaul Israels judicial system. Those protests have spread overseas, with groups of Israeli expats staging demonstrations during visits by Netanyahu and other members of his Cabinet.
Netanyahu says the judicial overhaul plan is needed to curb the powers of unelected judges, whom he and his allies say are liberal and overly interventionist. Critics say his plan is a power grab that will destroy the countrys system of checks and balances and push it toward autocratic rule.
Leading figures in Israels influential high-tech community have played a prominent role in the protests. They say weakening the judiciary will hurt the countrys business climate and drive away foreign investment. Israels currency, the shekel, has plunged in value this year in a sign of weakening foreign investment.
Netanyahu played down his overhaul as a needed, minor correction to curb what he described as excessive powers of his countrys judiciary. Critics say the plan, which includes a proposal for controlling the appointment of the nations judges, would concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies. Netanyahu also made no mention of his corruption trial. Netanyahu describes himself as a victim of a witch hunt and his critics say the overhaul is motivated by his anger at the legal system.
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New York: The owner of a New York City daycare centre where a one-year-old died after being exposed to fentanyl took steps to cover up her involvement in a sprawling drug operation, even as medics rushed to treat several children in her care who were poisoned by the opioid, federal prosecutors said.
The daycare owner, Grei Mendez, and a man who rented a room from her, Carlisto Acevedo Brito, were hit with new federal narcotics conspiracy charges on Tuesday. They were previously charged in state court with murder of depraved indifference in the death of one-year-old Nicholas Dominici.
Police investigate the scene at a childcare centre after a one-year-old boy died and three other young children were hospitalised. Credit: NYT
Officials say they discovered a kilogram of fentanyl stored on top of play mats used by children who attended the Bronx day care center, as well as devices for packing and mixing narcotics.
The fentanyl is believed to have sickened four children, including Dominici, who died last Friday afternoon. Three others ranging in age from eight months to two years old were hospitalised.
Who is coming to New York this year? Heads of state and government from at least 145 countries are expected to take the dais at the rivers edge. Among them will be Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky all expected on the first day. This will be Zelenskys first in-person appearance at the United Nations since the Russian invasion of his country. In 2022, the general assembly voted to grant him special dispensation to submit a prerecorded speech. Zelensky suggested on Monday that the world body needs to answer for allowing his countrys invader a seat at the tables of power. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits wounded Ukrainian soldiers at Staten Island University Hospital in New York on Monday. Credit: AP For us, its very important that all our words, all our messages, will be heard by our partners. And if in the United Nations still its a pity, but still there is a place for Russian terrorists, the question is not to me. I think its a question to all the members of the United Nations, Zelensky said after visiting wounded Ukrainian military members at a New York hospital.
He will also speak on Wednesday at a UN Security Council meeting about Ukraine. Russia is a permanent, veto-wielding member of the council, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to make remarks. But the parade of speakers at the general assembly will be marked by some key absences. While theyre all sending representatives, the leaders of the rest of the permanent UN Security Council members France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia will not make the trip. Global movement Avaaz filled the Manhattan skyline with 1000 drones near the UN headquarters displaying Amazon rainforest images and messages calling on governments to save the rainforest. Climate will feature prominently in the general assembly discussions again this year. Credit: AP The presence of Vladimir Putin would certainly have been surprising, but Emmanuel Macron is a regular attendee and this would have been British Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks first opportunity to address the general assembly. Macron cited King Charles IIIs imminent visit; Sunak, a busy schedule. Prince William is also in town to promote his Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit and met with Guterres on Monday. Top leaders from other major countries, including India who just played host to the G20 summit in New Delhi this month and Mexico, are also slated to send ministers in their steads.
Is Australia participating? Yes. Foreign Minister Penny Wong will deliver Australias national statement at the 78th session where she is expected to emphasise the governments commitment to climate change policies and to preventing conflict in the Pacific. Along with Assistant Climate Change Minister Jenny McAllister, Wong leads the Australian delegation in New York from September 18 to 23. Wong said Australia had a large stake in the success of the UN as it works with other countries to prevent military might from stripping smaller nations of their sovereignty. Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in 2022. Credit: Bloomberg Australia is committed to reforms that benefit people everywhere and ensure no one is left behind, she said.
McAllister said global collaboration was key to ensuring a net-zero emissions future and provided economic opportunities for Australia. Loading I look forward to promoting Australias constructive role on climate change at home, in the Pacific and beyond, she said. What does the General Debate look like? We might be in the midst of US presidential primary debate season, but the structure of the general debate at the United Nations bears little resemblance. It doesnt lend itself to obvious fireworks booing or interruptions or immediate rebuttals are not permitted but that doesnt mean intrigue and drama are absent.
Each speech alone offers a rich text and the delivery adds subtext. Speeches can be fonts of evocative language, barbs and gauzily veiled messages. Theyre supposed to run for 15 minutes, but many miss that mark. Last year, speeches averaged around 19 minutes, drawing a wry chiding from Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova clocking in under 12 minutes, her speech ended with: And since obeying even the smallest of rules matters, let me finish here to respect the agreed time limit. The longest speech in history ran to 269 minutes, and was delivered by Cubas Fidel Castro in 1960. Security is beefed up outside UN headquarters in New York. Credit: Bloomberg Member states are also allowed to exercise the right of reply, in which they can rebut criticism voiced during the General Debate. These are often fiery exchanges at days end, but arent typically delivered by heads of state or heads of government rather, lower-level members of a countrys delegation. Last year, there were 21 exercises of the right of reply.
How long does this years general debate run? Its still six days, as usual, but this years general debate ends a day later on Tuesday, September 26. While past debates usually ran from Tuesday through to Monday, with a break only on Sunday, this year theres a two-day break. A UN spokesperson confirmed that there will be no speeches on the usually final Monday in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. World leaders have begun to gather for the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly with speeches beginning on Tuesday, US time, during the general debate. Credit: Bloomberg Why does Brazil speak first at the UN General Assembly? Its tradition. Early on, Brazil ventured forward when no other country would volunteer to speak first. Decades later, the South American country retains the pole position. As the host country, the United States typically speaks second (though last year, President Joe Biden had to delay his speech by a day because he was attending Queen Elizabeth IIs funeral).
For the scores of speeches that follow, the order is determined by multiple variables, including whom a country is sending to deliver the speech (heads of state precede heads of government, who precede mere ministers and other representatives), countries own preferences and geographic balance. Are non-UN members allowed to attend? Some. While all member states are invited to speak, not all necessarily take the opportunity. But the United Nations also has permanent observers, which have access to most meetings and relevant documentation, per the UN website. The European Union, Palestine and the Holy See (the Vatican) are permanent observers again on the docket this year. Last year, Palestine had the longest speech, with President Mahmoud Abbas clocking in at more than 47 minutes. While the general assembly is not open to the public, the United Nations streams proceedings live.
PHILIPSBURG (DCOMM):--- The Ministry of Public Housing, Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure (Ministry of VROMI), Department of Infrastructure hereby would like to notify the general public of the temporary road closure of Quilletor Drive, in the residential district of Dutch Quarter.
The entrance of Quilletor Drive is in dire repair and reconstruction will take place, starting on September 19, 2023, between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.
This temporary inconvenience is expected to be completed by 25 September 2023.
In order to carry out this work, this requires the temporary closure of the entrance of Quilletor Drive. A detour will be via Caines Drive.
The work will be carried out by Washington Construction Company N.V.
The Ministry of VROMI thanks the residents in the particular area and impacted motorists for their patience and cooperation during the road construction.
The Ministry of VROMI apologizes for any inconvenience caused.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The National Institute of Arts (NIA) started the new school year on the 14th of August with the fourth annual collaboration between the Bronxville Ballet NOT FOR SALE, director Ana Dimas, and Arts Saves Lives director Nicole de Weever.
NIA Director, Arlene Halley, is pleased to begin the 4th edition of the Princesses Program. The response is always overwhelming. The program is offered free of monthly costs for first-time dance students from 3 to 9 years old. They receive a Princess dance dress for their class uniform which Miss Ana Dimas personally ships to St. Maarten. The dresses are her design and manufactured according to her instructions. This school year Ms. Ana has donated 32 dresses to NIA, this years participating princesses have already received their lilac-colored dresses which they joyfully sport every class.
In the last 3 years, NIA has introduced 70 first-time ballerinas, between the ages of 3 and 9 years old, to the joy of ballet class once a week. Ms. Arlene maintains that this initiative has cemented a student base for the school; and that NIA has been able to entice students as well as parents to continue with classes after the free introductory year. This philanthropic gesture is without doubt an investment in the Arts on St. Maarten for which we are so grateful. Through its continuity during these 4 years, it has secured a level-based structured program for the ballerinas.
The vision and motivation of Ms. Ana are best encapsulated as follows: The Bronxville Ballet NOT FOR SALE is Ana Dimas nonprofit foundation that takes its name from the notion that the best things in life are indeed, NOT FOR SALE. The best things in life should be given away. In Anas desire to give back to the community, she is collaborating with studios around the world offering the joy of Ballet to those in need or with special needs, the hope of Anas program is to have the girls learn new skills, gain a positive self-image and have a chance to be a princess.
Ms. Nicole de Weever is no stranger to our community! Every year she conducts a one-week summer program with her foundation Art Saves Lives free of charge on the island. She clearly remembers her Princess days at the Motiance Dance School and thinks that every young child deserves a helping hand to the performing arts.
It is with heartfelt gratitude that NIA thanks the Bronx Ballet NOT FOR SALE and Art Saves Lives organizations for once again contributing to this wonderful initiative for our St. Maarten children and for promoting the Art and benefits of Ballet.
NIA encourages local benefactors to contribute to the cause, to invest in our own children. As of January, NIA absorbs the cost of running this one-year program, not in the business of disappointing our ballerina Ms. Arlene voluntarily continues with the classes until the end of the school year.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Police Force of Sint Maarten wishes to inform the public about the correct procedure for obtaining a Declaration of Conduct, also known as a Police Record, in response to the numerous requests received for this document.
A Declaration of Conduct is an essential document often required for various purposes such as employment, immigration, or visa applications. To ensure a streamlined and efficient process, the Police Force of Sint Maarten wants to clarify that this document can be obtained through the official website of the Government of Sint Maarten.
Individuals seeking to obtain a Declaration of Conduct should visit the Government of Sint Maarten's website at https://www.sintmaartengov.org/services/Pages/Declaration-of-Conduct.aspx
On the website, you will find a dedicated page for requesting the Declaration of Conduct at Please note that the Police Force of Sint Maarten does not engage in the issuance of these documents. All requests and processing are handled through the government's online portal.
The Police Force of Sint Maarten does not have a process that involves providing approvals or denials for these documents. Therefore, we kindly ask the public to follow the prescribed procedure on the government's website for obtaining the Declaration of Conduct. The online process is designed to be user-friendly and efficient, ensuring that you receive the necessary documents in a timely manner.
We encourage all individuals who require a Declaration of Conduct to visit the official government website and follow the guidelines provided. This will help expedite your application and ensure that you receive the document you need for your specific purpose.
KPSM Press Release.
PHILIPSBURG:--- The political landscape in St. Maarten is buzzing with excitement as a fresh face enters the arena with a bold vision for the future. Juanly Abel-Ramirez, a dynamic and forward-thinking candidate, has officially announced her candidacy on the United People's Party (UP) slate, and she's bringing a message of proactivity, innovation, and change.
"I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the Parliamentary Election in 2024 with the United People's Party," said Abel-Ramirez on Tuesday.
With a passion for politics that ignited during her eye-opening experience working with a former politician in 2014, Abel-Ramirez knows the direct impact of political decisions on our communities. She firmly believes that the time for change is now and says her candidacy is driven by a commitment to shaping a better tomorrow for St. Maarten. Abel-Ramirez was born in St. Maarten and is a longtime resident of Cole Bay to parents of Haitian descent. She understands the plight of people who struggle daily to make ends meet and has worked for several years in the hospitality industry while raising three children. Candidate Abel-Ramirez believes these working-class people have been underrepresented for too long.
Ramirez's platform centers on three key priorities: economic growth, support for local businesses, and revitalizing the tourism industry. She recognizes that these issues are deeply interconnected, and addressing them can lead to a brighter future for the working man and woman in St. Maarten.
"Local community businesses are a crucial aspect of the tourism industry," Abel-Ramirez said. "When managed effectively, tourism can significantly benefit the local population, creating increased job opportunities and development."
Her vision is to foster an environment that encourages local businesses to thrive, ultimately boosting the island's economy. Abel-Ramirez understands that this requires forward-thinking policies and a commitment to innovation.
Abel-Ramirez said joining the United People's Party was a natural step in her political journey. She conducted extensive research on the various political parties in St. Maarten and found that the UP Party's values and dedication aligned closely with her views.
"I want to be a part of that positive change," explained Abel-Ramirez in her press release. "Joining the UP party allows me to actively engage in the political process and contribute to the betterment of our beloved St. Maarten."
Abel-Ramirez draws inspiration from the outstanding work of two prominent United People's Party figures. She said Member of Parliament MP Rolando Brison, known for his remarkable accomplishments as the hardest working legislator in Parliament and implementing 21 laws, finding solutions for some of the island's most complex challenges. Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labour, the Honourable Omar Ottley, who has been a vocal advocate against the abuse of short-term labor contracts, has left a lasting impression on her.
She also commends MP Omar Ottley's impressive role as acting minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transportation, and telecommunication TEATT while serving as VSA minister. Their commitment to bringing positive change to St. Maarten fuels Abel-Ramirez's determination to be a driving force for progress.
Abel-Ramirez says the electorate and the general public should view her entry into the political stage as a "call to action." "The future is not something we should passively wait for. We must actively create it through action and creativity in the present moment. Innovation and change are not distant goals but immediate opportunities," Abel-Ramirez stated.
She encourages residents "born here or born to be here to work together as a united community, to embrace opportunities, and to help shape a brighter tomorrow for St. Maarten."
With her proactive spirit and innovative vision, Juanly Abel Ramirez is poised to impact the future of St. Maarten significantly. Her candidacy represents a fresh, invigorating perspective that promises positive change and a better future.
PAID ADVERTISEMENT.
Calibre Delineates Another New Open Pit Gold Deposit Located 5 km from The Libertad Mill
Calibre Mining Corp. (TSX: CXB; OTCQX: CXBMF) (the \Company\ or \Calibre\) https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/calibre-mining-corp/ is pleased to announce an initial open pit Mineral Resource Estimate for its 100% owned Cerro Volcan Gold Deposit (aVolcana) located five kilometres from the Libertad processing facility. The Resource, which was not included in the Companya?s 2022 Mineral Resource statement, includes 508,000 tonnes of Indicated Mineral Resource averaging 1.83 g/t, yielding 30,000 ounces of gold and 1,788,000 tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resource averaging 2.28 g/t, yielding 131,000 ounces of gold. Combined, this average 2.0 g/t gold open pit deposit represents another opportunity given its proximity to the Libertad processing facility with in-excess of one million tonnes of surplus capacity. Requisite environmental permitting initiatives are underway with production anticipated in 2025.
Darren Hall, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Calibre stated: aSince 2020, we have demonstrated the value of our operating strategy by responsibly permitting and developing satellite deposits to increase production utilizing existing processing infrastructure. We have self funded production growth of approximately 20% year over year, and grown reserves over 270% since acquiring the assets. With our installed infrastructure and surplus processing capacity and the economic value of our exploration successes, as demonstrated by Volcan, we expect to yield substantial returns while contributing to a promising future.a
Tom Gallo, Senior Vice President, Growth stated: aOur exploration team has had tremendous success in identifying economic deposits including the high-grade Panteon North deposit employing modern geoscience initiatives, absent of surface artisanal miners. Volcan is an excellent example of how the team used this concept to make a novel discovery without any meaningful past artisanal production. I am encouraged by additional geoscience indicators that appear similar to Volcan, situated across the Libertad property and we look forward to results from these exciting new targets that surround our under-utilized Libertad mill. Two target areas, Calvario and Salvadorita contain high-grade surface samples including 21.2g/t Au, 14.2g/t Au, 9.9g/t Au, 34.2 and 15.0g/t Au as seen in the accompanying figures.a
About Cerro Volcan Gold Deposit
Volcan is a vein trend located approximately five kilometres south of the Libertad mill. It is one of several sub-parallel vein structures that extend across the highly prospective Cosmatillo area, a zone of widespread epithermal style hydrothermal alteration. The vein trends north-east to south-west, consistent with past producing vein trends in the Libertad district, most notably, Mahon. Todaya?s announcement follows the successful 2021 and 2022 exploration and drill campaigns at the Companya?s Libertad concessions (see news releases dated November 16, 2021 and June 8, 2021). The Libertad district has produced approximately two million ounces of gold.A A
Link 1 a Figures
Quality Assurance/Quality Control
Calibre maintains a Quality Assurance/Quality Control (\QA/QC\) program for all its exploration projects using industry best practices. Key elements of the QA/QC program include verifiable chain of custody for samples, regular insertion of certified reference standards and blanks, and duplicate check assays. Drill core is halved and shipped in sealed bags to Bureau Veritas in Managua, Nicaragua, an independent analytical services provider with global certifications for Quality Management Systems ISO 9001:2008, Environmental Management: ISO14001 and Safety Management OH SAS 18001 and AS4801. Prior to analysis, samples are prepared at Veritas\- Managua facility and then shipped to its analytical facility in Vancouver, Canada. Gold analyses are routinely performed via fire assay/AA finish methods. For greater precision of high-grade material, samples assaying 10A g/t Au or higher are re-assayed by fire assay with gravimetric finish. Analyses for silver and other elements of interest are performed via Induction Coupled Plasma (ICP).
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release was approved by David Schonfeldt P.Geo, Calibre Mininga?s Corporate Chief Geologist and a \Qualified Person\ under National Instrument 43-101.
About Calibre Mining Corp.
Calibre Mining is a Canadian-listed, Americas focused, growing mid-tier gold producer with a strong pipeline of development and exploration opportunities across Nevada and Washington in the USA, and Nicaragua. Calibre is focused on delivering sustainable value for shareholders, local communities and all stakeholders through responsible operations and a disciplined approach to growth. With a strong balance sheet, a proven management team, strong operating cash flow, accretive development projects and district-scale exploration opportunities Calibre will unlock significant value.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Information
This news release includes certain \forward-looking information\ and \forward-looking statements\ (collectively \forward-looking statements\) within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation.A All statements in this news release that address events or developments that we expect to occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are identified by words such as \expect\, \plan\, \anticipate\, \project\, \target\, \potential\, \schedule\, \forecast\, \budget\, \estimate\, \intend\ or \believe\ and similar expressions or their negative connotations, or that events or conditions \will\, \would\, \may\, \could\, \should\ or \might\ occur. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to: the Companya?s expectations toward higher grades mined and processed going forward; statements relating to the Companya?s 2023 priority resource expansion opportunities; the Companya?s metal price and cut-off grade assumptions. Forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Calibre\-s control.A For a listing of risk factors applicable to the Company, please refer to Calibre\-s annual information form (aAIFa) for the year ended December 31, 2022, and its management discussion and analysis (aMD&Aa) for the year ended December 31, 2022, all available on the Companya?s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect Calibre\-s forward-looking statements such as potential sanctions implemented as a result of the United States Executive Order 13851 dated October 24, 2022.
Calibre\-s forward-looking statements are based on the applicable assumptions and factors management considers reasonable as of the date hereof, based on the information available to management at such time. Such assumptions include but are not limited to: the Company being able to mine and process higher grades and keep production costs relatively flat going forward; there not being an increase in production costs as a result of any supply chain issues or ongoing COVID-19 restrictions; there being no adverse drop in metal price or cut-off grade at the Companya?s Nevada properties. Calibre does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management\-s beliefs, expectations or opinions should change other than as required by applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.A
Gold Terra Resumes Drilling Program on Con Mine Option Property after Lifting of Yellowknife Wildfire Evacuation Order
Gold Terra Resource Corp. (TSX-V: YGT; Frankfurt: TX0; OTCQX: YGTFF) (aGold Terraa or the aCompanya) https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/gold-terra-resource-corp/ is pleased to announce that the deep drilling program to test for gold mineralization on the Con Mine Option Property has resumed. Hole GTCM23-055 was stopped at 1,900 metres on the Yellowknife wildfire evacuation order. The hole is targeted to intersect the down plunge extension of the prolific Campbell Shear zone at depth below the Con Mine deposit (1938-2003), where 5.1 million ounces of gold was produced at an average grade of 16 g/t. The Con Mine Option (CMO) Property is under option from subsidiaries of Newmont Corporation and is acquirable by the Company upon fulfillment of certain conditions set out in the CMO Property agreement, as reported in the Company\-s news release datedA November 22, 2021 .A
Chairman and CEO, Gerald Panneton, commented, \We are very pleased for the safe return of everyone in Yellowknife, as well as our geological team and drilling contractor.A It has been a very difficult time for all residents of Yellowknife.A We thank everyone that stayed behind to safeguard Yellowknife. A As the deep drill hole has resumed, we expect the Campbell Shear to be intersected in the next 2 to 3 weeks with assays to follow.a
Watch the Latest Interview
BTV is featuring Gold Terra on the BNN Bloomberg Channel.A Watch the latest interview with Chairman and CEO, Gerald PannetonA at Gold Terra Resource Corp. on the strategy to discover gold on the Companya?s vast landing holdings covering approximately 900 square kilometers in the Yellowknife gold belt. A
The focus of the 2023 drilling program is to expand the September 2022 initial Mineral Resource Estimate (aMREa) (see September 7, 2022, press release) of 109,000 Indicated ounces of contained gold and 432,000 Inferred ounces of contained gold between surface and to a depth of 400 metres below surface along a 2-kilometre corridor of the Campbell Shear. Refer to the A October 21, 2022 technical report, titled \Initial Mineral Resource Estimate for the CMO Property, Yellowknife City Gold Project, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada\ with an effective date of September 2, 2022, by Qualified Person, Allan Armitage, Ph. D., P. Geo., SGS Geological Services, which can be found on the Company\-s website atA https://www.goldterracorp.comA and on SEDAR atA www.sedar.com.
Qualified Persons
Joe Campbell, P. Geo., Senior Technical Advisor for Gold Terra is a Qualified Person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
A About Gold Terra
The Yellowknife Project (YP) encompasses 918 sq. km of contiguous land immediately north, south and east of the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Through a series of acquisitions, Gold Terra controls one of the six major high-grade gold camps in Canada. Being within 10 kilometres of the City of Yellowknife, the YP is close to vital infrastructure, including all-season roads, air transportation, service providers, hydro-electric power, and skilled tradespeople. Gold Terra is currently focusing its drilling on the prolific Campbell Shear, where 14 Moz of gold has been produced, and most recently on the Con Mine Option (CMO) property claims immediately south of the past producing Con Mine which produced 6.1 Moz between the Con, Rycon, and Campbell shear structures (1938-2003).
The YP and CMO properties lie on the prolific Yellowknife greenstone belt, covering nearly 70 kilometres of strike length along the main mineralized shear system that hosts the former-producing high-grade Con and Giant gold mines. The Company\-s exploration programs have successfully identified significant zones of gold mineralization and multiple targets that remain to be tested which reinforces the Company\-s objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.
Visit our website at www.goldterracorp.com.
For more information, please contact:
Gerald Panneton, Chairman & CEO
gpanneton@goldterracorp.com
Mara Strazdins, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-778-897-1590 | 604-689-1749 ext 102
strazdins@goldterracorp.com
In Europe:
Swiss Resource Capital AG
Jochen Staiger & Marc Ollinger
info@resource-capital.ch
www.resource-capital.ch
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Therefore, investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource could ever be mined economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of aMeasured Mineral Resources,a aIndicated Mineral Resources,a or aInferred Mineral Resourcesa will ever be upgraded to a higher category. The Mineral Resource estimates contained herein may be subject to legal, political, environmental or other risks that could materially affect the potential development of such mineral resources. Refer to the Technical Report, once filed, for more information with respect to the key assumptions, parameters, methods and risks of determination associated with the foregoing.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors
The Company prepares its disclosure in accordance with the requirements of securities laws in effect in Canada, which differ from the requirements of U.S. securities laws. Terms relating to Mineral Resources in this news release are defined in accordance with NI 43-101 under the guidelines set out in CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Council on May 19, 2014, as amended (\CIM Standards\). The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the \SEC\) has adopted amendments effective February 25, 2019 (the \SEC Modernization Rules\) to its disclosure rules to modernize the mineral property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC will now recognize estimates of \Measured Mineral Resources\, \Indicated Mineral Resources\ and \Inferred Mineral Resources\, which are defined in substantially similar terms to the corresponding CIM Standards. In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of \Proven Mineral Reserves\ and \Probable Mineral Reserves\ to be substantially similar to the corresponding CIM Standards.
U.S. investors are cautioned that while the foregoing terms are \substantially similar\ to corresponding definitions under the CIM Standards, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any Mineral Resources that the Company may report as \Measured Mineral Resources\, \Indicated Mineral Resources\ and \Inferred Mineral Resources\ under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the Mineral Resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules. In accordance with Canadian securities laws, estimates of \Inferred Mineral Resources\ cannot form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies, except in limited circumstances where permitted under NI 43-101.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements made and information contained in this news release constitute \forward-looking information\ within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (\forward-looking information\). Generally, this forward-looking information can, but not always, be identified by use of forward-looking terminology such as \plans\, \expects\ or \does not expect\, \is expected\, \budget\, \scheduled\, \estimates\, \forecasts\, \intends\, \anticipates\ or \does not anticipate\, or \believes\, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events, conditions or results \will\, \may\, \could\, \would\, \might\ or \will be taken\, \occur\ or \be achieved\ or the negative connotations thereof.
All statements other than statements of historical fact may be forward-looking information. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information regarding the current drilling on the Campbell Shear, potentially adding ounces to the Companya?s current YCG mineral resource, and the Company\-s objective of re-establishing Yellowknife as one of the premier gold mining districts in Canada.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company\-s actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of the factors discussed in the \Risk Factors\ section in the Company\-s most recent MD&A and annual information form available under the Company\-s profile at www.sedar.com.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that would cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The forward-looking information contained in this news release is based on information available to the Company as of the date of this news release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. All of the forward-looking information contained in this news release is qualified by these cautionary statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Except as required under applicable securities legislation and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information.
A man cries near a body covered on the ground, in Duran, Ecuador, on July 20, 2023. Dolores Ochoa (AP)
A five-year-old boy was doing his homework when bullets ripped through the window of his house and hit him; 90 shots were fired at the premises of a pharmaceutical company; a baby died in her mothers arms when she was shot in the head; a school student was found with signs of torture in a ditch; a member of the municipal council, Bolivar Vera, was kidnapped and murdered. All of this occurred in just one week in Duran, a city on the Ecuadorian coast that is only separated from the countrys second-largest city and economic capital, Guayaquil, by a bridge and where criminal gangs have taken over from the rule of law.
The mayor of Duran, Luis Chonillo, has only been able to enter the citys municipal building twice, and on neither occasion was he able to reach his office: he was evacuated due to threats from people on motorcycles surrounding the premises. On May 15, while the 220 mayors of Ecuador were celebrating their inaugurations and installing the first sessions of their municipal councils, Chonillo was fleeing a scene of an assassination attempt. The politician escaped unharmed, but two of his police security detail and a street vendor were killed in the attack. All our officials have been threatened, they file complaints, but nothing gets done; they have not even been given security and many others have resigned, says Chonillo, from a place of hiding. He has rarely appeared in public and when he does, it is with a bulletproof vest, a helmet and a group of policemen, which is not enough for the level of risk I face, he adds.
A child watches from behind the grating of a store as a soldier stands guard at a security post in Duran, August 14, 2023. Martin Mejia (AP)
For security reasons, Chonillo does not stay in the same place for more than one night. He has had to leave the country; he constantly changes telephone numbers and to reach him it is necessary to go through several officials. He rarely gives interviews to the press because anything he says could put his life even more at risk. In four months of administration, the councilors of the municipality have not been able to meet in person. They hold debates by video conference, where they make decisions such as decreeing a state of emergency in Duran and demanding the national government intervene in a meaningful way, beyond the increased presence of police and military personnel as was the case when President Guillermo Lasso signed the most recent emergency decree on July 24.
Violence in Duran, a city of 315,000 inhabitants, began to spill over three years ago when a war broke out between criminal gangs for control of the territory, which is used as a staging point for drugs arriving from Colombia for distribution to Ecuadors ports. Duran is surrounded by rivers through which large vessels sail in and out of the port of Guayaquil, Ecuadors largest and where more than 50% of drugs destined for subsequent export are seized.
Monopoly of drug trafficking, extortion and kidnapping is disputed between two criminal organizations the Chone Killers and Latin Kings and in some sectors there are others such as Las Aguilas, which operates in an area known as Cerro Las Cabras. Some children cannot even go to school there because of the dangers of being attacked by the opposing gangs. The criminals have created strongholds by delimiting the borders of the neighborhoods: they kill anyone who dares to enter. Via videos on social networks, the gangs boast of the control they exert over the streets, of the weapons they possess, and of training children and adolescents to turn them into hitmen.
Soldiers search motorcyclists in Duran, August 14, 2023. Martin Mejia (AP)
Duran has asked for concrete actions from the Lasso government, but there have been few results. He has not made a real intervention; it is not only the public forces, the social axis also has to play a part, says Chonillo, who has requested a greater presence from government departments in the neighborhoods. He admits that projects in the city become stalled due to bureaucracy and violence. Works come to a standstill because contractors face extortion and demands for unpayable protection money. Criminal groups control everything, even the most precious resource, water, which is scarce in Duran. Less than 40% of the population receives piped drinking water, and the operators of the distribution valves are often kidnapped. They steal from them, they beat them, sometimes they keep them tied up so that they have control of the valves, says the mayor. The municipal government is the primary authority within the city and should have the guarantees of [the systems] proper functioning, and it does not have them.
Duran was born as a city 37 years when it was declared a canton by presidential decree, but it features in the countrys history books because the final section of the national railroad was built there in 1892, linking the highlands with the Ecuadorian coast. However, the El Nino phenomenon destroyed several sections of track and with it ended Durans dream of being a city where commerce and tourism would converge. Even so, it managed to become a center of industrial development due to its proximity to Guayaquil. But the administrations were unable to tap that potential and, like most of the countrys towns and cities, Duran grew in a disorderly manner, with irregular settlements and lacking basic services: 67% of its population lives below the poverty line. That disorder and chaos has provided a breeding ground for criminal organizations, says Chonillo, who has asked the government to return to online classes as during the pandemic because no one can safeguard the lives of schoolchildren in Duran. Lassos administration has not yet responded to the request.
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'Oumuamua is a relatively flat, cigar-shaped interstellar object. Astonomers aren't exactly sure where it came from, or really even what it is.
1I/'Oumuamua was a small object that came from interstellar space and passed close to the sun as it traveled through the inner solar system in the autumn of 2017. It was notable because it was the first confirmed object to have come from a planetary system beyond our own.
Astronomers designated it 1I/'Oumaumua, with the "1I" referring to it being the first interstellar object discovered in our solar system, though the name is now commonly shortened to 'Oumuamua.
Astronomers had been waiting a long time for an interstellar object like 'Oumuamua to come along. "For decades, we've theorized that such interstellar objects are out there, and now for the first time we have direct evidence they exist," Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science when 'Oumaumua was discovered, said in 2017 .
In August 2019, a second interstellar object, named 2I/Borisov , was found in the solar system. However, Borisov looked like a normal comet , with a coma (the gaseous "head' around a comet's icy nucleus) and a tail. In comparison, 'Oumuamua was very unusual because it lacked a coma or a tail.
Related: 15 stunning places on Earth that look like they're from another planet
'Oumuamua FAQs
What is the mystery of 'Oumuamua? Interstellar objects were predicted to exist long before 'Oumuamua was discovered. However, 'Oumuamua wasn't what astronomers were expecting. Small and unusually shaped, it didn't look like a comet, yet it moved as though it were outgassing. The leading theories involve the sublimation of either nitrogen or hydrogen ice. There is no evidence that 'Oumuamua was a spaceship.
What made 'Oumuamua so interesting? Interstellar objects come from other planetary systems and are thrown into interstellar space either by giant collisions that smash protoplanets apart or by the gravitational tides of marauding gas giant planets. As the first interstellar visitor to have been identified, 'Oumuamua gives us insight into what other extrasolar planetary systems might be like.
Why is it named 'Oumuamua? Its name is the Hawaiian word for "a messenger from afar arriving first" very fitting for the first interstellar object to be discovered in our solar system. A Hawaiian name was chosen because the telescope that discovered it PanSTARRS-1 is based in Hawaii.
What was 'Oumuamua's size and shape?
'Oumuamua's shape was also notable. Initial measurements suggested that the object was shaped like a long cylinder with a size ratio of 10:1, meaning it was 10 times as long as it was wide. However, astronomers later revised these dimensions to approximately 6:6:1 , which instead describes a pancake shape . Astronomers have seen similarly shaped objects in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune specifically, a minor planet called Arrokoth , which NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past on New Year's Day 2019. The measurements of 'Oumuamua's shape and dimensions were based on its "light curve," a graph that tracks how the object's brightness changed over time as it tumbled through space. 'Oumuamua appeared brighter when we saw its broader side.
'Oumuamua was also very small, estimated to be 377 feet (115 meters) long, 364 feet (111 m) wide and 62 feet (19 m) thick, based on it having an albedo of 0.1 (meaning it reflected 10% of sunlight falling on it, which is fairly standard for a cometary nucleus).
Where did 'Oumuamua come from?
Nobody knows which star system 'Oumuamua originated from. However, in 2018, astronomers tracked 'Oumuamua back along the path from which it first approached the sun and found that the object passed near four stars, coming closest to the red dwarf star HIP 3757 a million years ago . Perhaps 'Oumuamua came from there, or maybe it has been wandering space for much longer.
Planets, asteroids and comets in our solar system orbit the sun in closed loops. 'Oumuamua's trajectory was different: A NASA animation describes how the object's path was hyperbolic, meaning it came hurtling toward the sun fast enough that the sun's gravity could bend 'Oumuamua's path only slightly, rather than capturing it in a looping orbit. This meant that 'Oumuamua, which was traveling at 16.36 miles per second ( 26.33 kilometers per second) relative to the sun's motion, could just keep on going, heading toward the solar system's exit door.
Where is 'Oumuamua now?
Astronomers didn't spot 'Oumuamua until after it had made significant inroads into our solar system. It reached perihelion its closest point to the sun on Sept. 9, 2017, when it got as close as 23 million miles (37 million kilometers) to our star. It wasn't until over a month later, on Oct. 19, 2017, that University of Hawaii astronomer Rob Weryk discovered 'Oumuamua in observations made by the asteroid-hunting Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). At that time, 'Oumuamua was 21 million miles (33 million km) from Earth , and its trajectory eventually brought it as close as 15 million miles (24 million km).
Ever since then, the interstellar visitor has been heading out of the solar system, with NASA describing how 'Oumuamua was accelerated by a gravity assist from the sun to a velocity of 54.2 miles per second (87.3 km/s). Given how small 'Oumuamua is and how fast it was moving away from us, the window for observing it was just a few weeks, with the Hubble Space Telescope able to track it the longest. The best images of 'Oumuamua such as this one made by combining data from the Very Large Telescope and the Gemini South telescope, both of which are in Chile and are among the largest optical telescopes in the world could show 'Oumuamua as only a speck of light.
'Oumuamua is heading toward the constellation Pegasus and is now far beyond the orbit of Neptune . It is passing through the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy bodies near the edge of the solar system, and is now beyond the reach of our telescopes. It will never come back toward Earth.
What was 'Oumuamua?
We still don't know for sure what 'Oumuamua was. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, Joseph Olmsted (STScI), Frank Summers (STScI))
There are several hypotheses as to what 'Oumuamua was. We know that it was an object ejected from an extrasolar planetary system when the gravitational tides of marauding gas giants shook 'Oumuamua free from its orbit.
Before 'Oumuamua was discovered, astronomers expected interstellar objects to be comet-like, which ended up being the case for 2I/Borisov. At first, when 'Oumuamua didn't sprout a cometary tail, astronomers thought the interstellar interloper must be a dead comet whose volatiles gases with low boiling points, such as water sublimated away over billions of years, perhaps when it was still in its system of origin or when it passed close to other stars .
However, the Hubble Space Telescope measured that 'Oumuamua's outward trajectory from the sun displayed some nongravitational acceleration. This is typical behavior for comets , as the ejection of dust and water vapor from a comet in a tail gives the comet an extra push. But no outgassing of water or other volatile gases expected on comets was detected coming from 'Oumuamua.
There are two leading explanations for what 'Oumuamua could be. One, from Alan Jackson and Steve Desch of Arizona State University, proposes that 'Oumuamua is a chunk of nitrogen ice . When New Horizons flew past Pluto in 2015, it observed areas, such as Sputnik Planitia, that were essentially frozen nitrogen lakes; Jackson and Desch suggested that 'Oumuamua could be a fragment of nitrogen ice that a giant impact blasted off of a Pluto-like body. Outgassing nitrogen, sublimated by the heat of the sun, would have given 'Oumuamua the necessary extra push. Nitrogen also would have given 'Oumuamua an albedo of 0.64, which is more reflective than a typical comet, so 'Oumuamua would have had to be smaller than thought to have appeared so faint. Jackson and Desch calculated that if 'Oumuamua was made from nitrogen ice, the object's dimensions would be just 148 by 144 by 25 feet (45 by 44 by 7.5 m).
Another possible explanation , proposed by Darryl Seligman of Cornell University and Jennifer Bergner of the University of California, Berkeley, is that while 'Oumuamua was traveling through interstellar space , cosmic rays might have interacted with ice on the surface, liberating the hydrogen from some of the water molecules and creating a supply of hydrogen gas locked up in amorphous water-ice. Per Seligman and Bergner's hypothesis , when 'Oumuamua passed by the sun, the interstellar object was heated, though not enough to cause the water ice to evaporate. Instead, the heating changed the structure of the ice crystals, thus allowing the hydrogen to escape at a rate of 0.4 to 28 ounces per second (10 to 800 grams per second) and giving 'Oumuamua the observed push. This would also explain why 'Oumuamua had no visible dust tail, because the dust would have still been trapped in the water ice.
Was 'Oumuamua a spaceship?
A hypothesis put forward by Harvard astronomers Avi Loeb and Shmuel Bialy proposes that the nongravitational acceleration is evidence that 'Oumuamua was a spaceship with a solar sail . However, most astronomers do not support this theory. Desch, Jason Wright of Penn State University and Sean Raymond of the University of Bordeaux in France criticized this proposal in an article for Medium and concluded that there is no evidence that 'Oumuamua was a spaceship.
'Oumuamua Q&A with an expert
We interviewed David Trilling, a professor in the Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science at Northern Arizona University, about how many other objects like 1I/'Oumuamua might be out there.
David Trilling Social Links Navigation Professor David Trilling is an observational astronomer who studies the formation and evolution of planetary systems and of our own solar system.
You previously predicted that we would find an average of one interstellar object in our solar system every five years. We've found two so far. Would you agree that this is consistent with your prediction? Yes, I would, especially because after 'Oumuamua and Borisov, it's been pretty quiet on the interstellar-object-discovery front. So that's two objects since 2017 two in six years. We argued that "current capabilities" started in perhaps 2015 that's the current (pre-Rubin Observatory) set of discovery telescopes. So, two objects in eight years is, for astronomers, very close to one every five years.
You based that prediction on the assumption that 20 Earth masses of material gets kicked out of each planetary system as it forms. That's a huge amount is it all in the form of 'Oumuamua-size objects? Well, maybe. In that paper, we made a lot of assumptions and extrapolations to attempt to use a single object to understand something universal about planetary system formation and evolution. So, the numbers and conclusions we drew are very uncertain perhaps as good as an order of magnitude, and perhaps not even that good! Back to the question: Various evolutionary models of our solar system, which are based on several lines of evidence, suggest that our solar system ejected many Earth masses of material in its early stages. If young systems near us ejected 20 Earth masses of material on average, that may not be too different from what happened in our solar system. It actually would be more interesting if the typical number for other systems near us was a lot more, or a lot less, than what our solar system experienced, because that might imply that there is something strange about us. Instead, we might be typical, which is really the kind of result you'd expect. Also, remember that Jupiter has a mass of 318 Earths. In this context, 20 Earth masses is maybe not that much compared to the planets of our solar system it's just a tiny fraction of the overall mass of our solar system. Would it all be in 'Oumuamua-sized bodies? Well, who knows. Most things in the universe obey some kind of power law distribution, where there are a small number of large members of the group and a lot of small members. Maybe 'Oumuamua is somewhere in the middle. We really have no idea.
How many interstellar objects could be passing through the solar system at any one time? There are some estimates that there are between 1,000 and 10,000 interstellar objects in the solar system at any one time wow! Of course, almost all of these are in the distant solar system, and we'd never be able to see them. You might roughly guess that these objects more or less appear to be coming from the direction in which our solar system is moving through space , in the same way that when you are driving in the rain, all the raindrops look like they are coming straight toward your windshield.
Additional resources
'Oumuamua was discovered by the Pan-STARRS observatory , which hunts for asteroids and comets, some of which may be potentially hazardous to Earth. Later this decade, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will come online and is expected to detect an average of one interstellar object per year. Read more about how the observatory will do this with this informative NOIRLab article . 'Ourmuamua isn't the only interstellar visitor. You can read more about the naming of 2I/Borisov in this International Astronomical Union press release .
Bibliography
NASA Solar System Exploration: 'Oumuamua, https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/asteroids-comets-and-meteors/comets/oumuamua/in-depth/
Jonathan O'Callaghan, Mystery if our First Interstellar Visitor May be Solved, Science, 2023, https://www.science.org/content/article/mystery-our-first-interstellar-visitor-may-be-solved
Sergey Mashchenko, Modelling the Light Curve of 'Oumuamua: Evidence For Torque and Disc-Like Shape, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2019, https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/489/3/3003/5556541
Coryn A. L. Bailer-Jones et al, The Astronomical Journal, 18 October 2018, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/aae3eb
Karen J. Meech at al, A Brief Visit From a Red and Extremely Elongated Interstellar Asteroid, Nature, 2017, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature25020
NASA, Small Asteroid or Comet 'Visits' from Beyond the Solar System, 2017, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/small-asteroid-or-comet-visits-from-beyond-the-solar-system
European Southern Observatory, ESO Observations Show First Interstellar Asteroid is Like Nothing Seen Before, 2017, https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1737/
European Space Agency, Hubble Sees 'Oumuamua Getting a Boost, 2018, https://esahubble.org/news/heic1813/
Alan P. Jackson and Steven J. Desch, 1I/'Oumuamua as an N2 Ice Fragment of an Exo-Pluto Surface: I. Size and Compositional Constraints, JGR Planets, 2021, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006706
S. J. Desch and A. P. Jackson, 1I/'Oumuamua as an N2 Ice Fragment of an Exo-Pluto Surface: II. Generation of N2 Ice Fragments and the Origin of 'Oumuamua, 2021, https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2020JE006807
Jennifer B. Bergner and Darryl Seligman, Acceleration of 1I/'Oumuamua From Radiolytically Produced H2 in H20 Ice, Nature, 2023,
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05687-w
Shmuel Bialy and Abraham Loeb, Could Solar Radiation Pressure Explain 'Oumuamua's Peculiar Acceleration? The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2018, https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/aaeda8
Jason T. Wright, Steven Desch, Sean Raymond, 'Oumuamua: Natural or Artificial?, Medium, 2013, https://medium.com/@astrowright/oumuamua-natural-or-artificial-f744b70f40d5
Brutal punishments, executions, and a country flooded with fentanyl: the U.S. indictments offer a small window into the atrocities committed over the years by the Sinaloa Cartel. One of its leaders, Ovidio Guzman, now faces several charges carrying life sentences. The son of Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, who was extradited last Friday, pleaded not guilty to all charges on Monday in a Chicago court. The case also involves his three brothers, who formed the branch of the criminal organization known as Los Chapitos: Ivan Archivaldo, Jesus Alfredo and Joaquin. The Mouse, Ovidio Guzman is also known, faces five charges in Illinois relating to drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons possession and belonging to a criminal enterprise. He also has six charges pending in New York including fentanyl importation conspiracy, fentanyl distribution conspiracy, and the possession of machineguns and destructive devices, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The New York indictment, which includes 28 defendants, from hitmen to Chinese fentanyl precursor chemical distributors, is perhaps the most detailed. The document recounts over multiple pages how Ovidio Guzman produced fentanyl addicts by mixing the drug with prescription drugs. He was even aware, prosecutors say, that the wrong combination could kill the user. The DOJ also lays out how El Chapos sons imposed their authority by means of homicides, threats, kidnappings, and torture. The indictment notes that they allegedly threw their victims alive into the cages of the tigers they kept. To maintain their power, Los Chapitos acquired military-grade weapons and sowed the Sinaloa highlands with a network of clandestine laboratories capable of producing around 100,000 fentanyl pills a day.
Alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel place methamphetamine in capsules, in Culiacan, pn April 4, 2022. ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI (REUTERS)
Drug-trafficking by land, air and sea
The Chicago indictment points to the Sinaloa Cartel as a transnational drug trafficking organization run by El Chapo and Ismael El Mayo Zambada. The formers sons took their fathers place after he was captured in 2016 and extradited to the U.S. the following year. According to the Attorney Generals Office, the Sinaloa Cartel coordinated the movement of large shipments of drugs from Central and South America into Mexico, and then across the U.S. border. They did this generally in shipments of hundreds or thousands of kilograms at a time for later distribution in the United States. Among the substances the indictment mentions are cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine.
To move the drugs to Mexico, the Sinaloa Cartel used cargo planes, private planes, submarines, semi-submersible vessels, shipping containers, cargo ships, boats, buses, trains, trucks, automobiles, and international transportation systems. The substances were then stored in safe houses located along the border, specifically in Tijuana and Mexicali, in the State of Baja California. The next step was to smuggle the drugs into the United States, in vehicles or tunnels, through which they were taken to the southern region of California. From there, they were distributed throughout the country.
At many points, the drug traffickers would deliver the drugs without asking for payment at the time, according to the indictment. They would ask for it later so they could move the money more easily. They used various mechanisms to launder the incoming money, including cryptocurrencies, cash trafficking, bank deposits, wire transfers, currency exchange, and alternative systems, such as the acquisition of objects like cars, planes, or helicopters that were bought in one place and moved to another. To avoid attracting the attention of the authorities, the criminals used satellite phones and coded languages, the document adds.
Los Chapitos, according to the indictment, gained control of the Sinaloa Cartel by intimidating and meting violence out against a faction led by another capo, Damaso Lopez Nunez, who is currently in prison in the United States on drug trafficking convictions. In order to expand their power and evade the authorities, El Chapos sons bought weapons, bribed public officials and incited violence, including killing, kidnapping and assaulting other rival drug traffickers and members of their own organization, the U.S. Attorneys Office says.
The second charge the four brothers face is that of being part of a criminal enterprise. In this case, the U.S. Attorneys Office says the four brothers held leadership and supervisory positions, as well as earning substantial income from their activities: the U.S. authorities were able to trace around $10 million over a 12-month period. The indictment also details exactly the volume of drugs they moved and on what dates.
The indictment also states that Los Chapitos participated with their father and El Mayo Zambada in the October 2010 murder of Israel Rincon Martinez, also known as El Guacho, a hitman who had tried and failed to kill Ivan Archivaldo Guzman. In revenge, the Sinaloa Cartel tortured him to death. That murder was also discussed in the trial against El Chapo in New York. Prosecutors also say they participated in the death of Jesus Antonio Munoz Parra, the father of one of Damaso Lopez Nunezs underbosses; Mario Nungaray Bobadilla, who allegedly was Lopez Nunezs nephew; and a man named Geovanni Hurtado Vicente.
Dozens of kilograms of fentanyl seized near Ensenada (Baja California), in October 2022. The Washington Post (The Washington Post via Getty Im)
Trafficking in fentanyl
The fentanyl trafficking charges are also part of the New York indictment, according to which Ovidio Guzman, along with Ivan Archivaldo and Jesus Alfredo, led the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl trafficking operation in the world. Fentanyl is manufactured in Mexico, but the necessary precursor chemicals were procured principally from China and transported through Mexico City International Airport. The official estimate is that Los Chapitos operate in 45 countries around the world, including in major cities such as Buenos Aires and New York.
Authorities state that this branch of the Sinaloa Cartel has been developing fentanyl production since 2014. They took over, and they made the cartel deadlier, more ruthless. They pioneered the manufacturing of fentanyl and the transportation distribution of it that we see today, Anne Milgram, head of the DEA, said last April. Milgram described fentanyl as the most urgent crisis that we face today as a country and the greatest threat to our national security. The indictment notes that: Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 49 [] Between 2019 and 2021, fatal overdoses increased by approximately 94%, with an estimated 196 Americans dying each day from fentanyl.
The boss of the sicarios
A further indictment unsealed in the District of Columbia names Nestor Isidro Perez Salas, alias Nini, who allegedly heads up Los Ninis, a group of young men and teenagers who work as hitmen for the Sinaloa Cartel and provide security for Los Chapitos.
From at least 2012 until February 2021, Perez Salas allegedly conspired to distribute and manufacture cocaine and methamphetamine for unlawful importation into the United States, used a firearm in furtherance of the alleged drug-trafficking offense, and killed, attempted to kill, threatened, and caused bodily injury to another to intimidate a government witness and informant, a Justice Department release states. Perez Salas allegedly operated under orders from Los Chapitos.
The Ninis were responsible for cleaning up in other Mexican states, such as Coahuila, Sonora, Michoacan, Tamaulipas and Chihuahua, the indictment states. They even operate the payment of taxes on other products that are not related to drug trafficking, such as beer, toilet paper and electronics, the document states. The indictment in New York points to the torture and murder in 2017 of three members of the Los Zetas criminal organization, under orders from El Chapos two eldest sons, in addition to the murder that same year of two agents from the Federal Attorney Generals Office. One of them, according to Reuters, was tortured with a corkscrew and then had hot chillis applied to his wounds. Both were shot in the head.
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Delegates gather at the start of a high-level summit on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals on the sidelines of this week's General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly.
10,000 men of military age have entered the Italian island [of Lampedusa] in a span of three days, outnumbering its population of 6,000. But my servants are telling you that they are women and children fleeing in terror. This message published this past Monday on Twitter by a parody account calling itself Agenda 2030 refers to a supposed elite (protected by the United Nations) that is intent on destroying a white and Christian society with the excuse of eradicating poverty and protecting the planet. So, when the UN mentions quality education (goal 4), gender equality (goal 5), or reduction of inequalities (goal #10), the extreme-right prefers to see indoctrination, destruction of the family or migratory invasion.
World leaders who gathered at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday agreed to 17 UN Sustainable Development back in 2015. Looking towards 2030, these objectives are aimed at promoting equality, the well-being of the global population and the protection of the environment. Since then, these goals have been subject to an incessant trickle of conspiracies, both from anonymous (and popular) parody accounts and from official voices of the extreme-right, such as Donald Trump in the United States or Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil. They have called on their followers to boycott what they deem to be a progressive agenda.
These are some of the most widespread conspiracies about the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):
Patriotism versus globalism
Hoax: The UN intends to usurp countries sovereignty
Former U.S. president Donald Trump has been one of the main architects of this conspiracy theory, which claims that the UN and other international organizations want countries to cede sovereignty to them. The 2030 Agenda is, according to this narrative, an instrument to achieving this. America is governed by Americans, Donald Trump said, at the opening of the 2018-2019 session of the United Nations General Assembly. He added: We reject the ideology of globalism, and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism. Around the world, responsible nations must defend threats to their sovereignty, not just from global governance, but from other new forms of coercion and domination.
The Spanish ultranationalist party, Vox, is one of the blocs that has adopted this argument. In a speech given in Spains Congress in 2021, Vox legislator Magdalena Nevada del Campo highlighted this lie: Globalism or the 2030 Agenda not only fails to respond to patriotic interests, but its intent on destroying the sovereignty of nations. Its an agenda that wants to destroy everything that gives man an identity and a destiny: the family, the nation, and transcendence. To this end, according to the legislator from the Spanish far-right party, the 2030 Agenda is based on a series of alleged threats that the planet is suffering from, such as the climate apocalypse, overpopulation, or a limited amount of resources.
Fact: The 2030 Agenda is the result of the consensus reached by world leaders in 2015. None of the 17 SDGs imply the transfer of sovereignty to any international institution. Rather, they represent voluntary commitments made by individual states. As a result of said consensus, this past Monday a declaration was approved by the leaders participating in the UN General Assembly, warning that compliance with the SDGs is in danger.
The migratory invasion
Hoax: Agenda 2030 promotes the entry of immigrants to replace Europes majority-white population
The post that was made yesterday by the Agenda 2030 parody account on Twitter refers to 10,000 men implying that, among the refugees in Lampedusa, there are supposedly no women or children who are of military age. This is a subtle form of disinformation that suggests without outright lying that migrants may be prepared to take up arms in the country that receives them, despite the fact that theres no indication that they have received any type of training or have any such intention. Its a tactic used to instill fear.
This narrative, which is one of the most-utilized by the extreme-right, contributes to spreading the Great Replacement Theory, coined a little over a decade ago by Renaud Camus, a French white nationalist writer. According to him, the UN and the globalists are pushing for the migrants to come to Europe. He affirms that their higher birth rates will end up replacing the majority-white population.
Fact: The 2030 Agenda notes that migration is a powerful driving agent of sustainable development that benefits both migrants and the societies that receive them. It can impact the achievement of several objectives, such as reducing poverty, improving education, or reducing inequalities. Regarding migration, the International Organization for Migration emphasizes that conflicts and poverty are the main causes that force people to flee their homes in search of dignity and safety.
The destruction of the family
Hoax: Gender ideology seeks the destruction of the family
SDG five on gender equality is another goal thats a key target of far-right misinformation. From the point of view of extremists, what they call gender ideology seeks the destruction of the family. The former president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, summed it up with this phrase in 2022: We have a position: we are against abortion, we are against gender ideology, and we are against the [decriminalization] of drugs.
Fact: This goal aims to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. And the road to achieving this is long. According to a recent report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), prejudice against women persists and at least 25% of the worlds population believes that its justifiable for a man to beat his wife. Other statistics confirm that achieving equality between men and women still requires effort: women occupy only 25% of parliamentary seats and 28% of management positions in companies around the world. And, in the 59 countries where women attain higher educational levels than men, they still continue to have a lower salary, with an average income gap of up to 39%.
The climate religion
Hoax: The UN wants to ban the consumption of meat and milk
Despite the indisputable scientific evidence that demonstrates that human action is responsible for global warming, the extreme-right has used SDG 13 on climate action as an opening to attack the 2030 Agenda. Lies abound about a supposed prohibition of meat and dairy products, the imposition of eating insects, or policies aimed at undermining farmers way of life.
Fact: No recommendation made by the SDGs suggests these types of measures. These are misrepresentations of other recommendations, such as limiting industrial livestock farming one of the main causes of climate change, due to the emission of toxic gases or supporting sustainable agriculture to safeguard natural spaces. Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is crucial to prevent rising temperatures from being devastating to the planet, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The way to achieve this is via the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Hoax: You will only be able to move within your neighborhood
The extreme right accused the 2030 Agenda of wanting to impose the 15-minute city model, which would imply, according to their narrative, that citizens would only be able to move within their own neighborhoods and that cars would be prohibited for the ultimate purpose: to control citizens.
Fact: Goal 11 of the 2030 agenda on sustainable cities and communities advocates that all people have access to adequate, safe and affordable housing with basic services and that shantytowns be upgraded. The concept of the 15-minute city was coined by Carlos Moreno, the urban planning advisor to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo. It is meant to promote the idea that all citizens should have all the basic services that they need on a daily basis such as medical centers, shops, schools, parks, or places for leisure very close to their homes, whether they travel by foot or by bicycle.
The indoctrination of children
Hoax: Quality education aims to indoctrinate children
You, Manuel, from now on, will be called Veronica. With this phrase, the far-right party Vox criticized the SDG that deals with quality education (number 4). According to Vox, these objectives have the hidden intention of imposing all the hoaxes mentioned above on children: from the notion of gender ideology, which seeks to destroy the heteronormative family consisting of a father, a mother, and children to secularism and a biased vision of history.
Fact: The main educational objective of the 2030 Agenda aims at ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education [and that] all girls and boys complete free primary and secondary schooling by 2030. According to this goal, to achieve a more just and equal world, its necessary for students to acquire the necessary knowledge to promote sustainable development, human rights, gender equality, peace and cultural diversity.
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With the floodwaters progressive retreat, Derna has a new worst enemy: mud. In much of this city of 120,000 inhabitants in eastern Libya, the thick sludge remains knee-deep. Meanwhile, volunteers from all over the country, international firefighters, and soldiers from Field Marshal Khalifa Haftars army (which controls the eastern half of the country) are working to clear the rubble and recover the dead. In recent days, the search at sea has focused on the port, the place where the flood dragged thousands of people after torrential rain from Storm Daniel caused two nearby dams to collapse. The figures released by the rescuers at this point are devastating: 800 bodies recovered, and only nine people found alive. There is no official toll, but estimates are around 20,000 victims, including dead and missing throughout the area.
An excavator tries to drag one of the four cars that have formed a column blocking a downtown street. Four men strive to make the task easier, moving earth aside with the help of shovels and their own hands. They put their arm up to the shoulder through the window to check that no one was trapped inside. The car emerges from the mountain of debris and is transported to an area of open ground that has been converted into a temporary scrapyard. Rida, who does not want to give her last name, covers her face with an FFP2 mask, which the army has begun to distribute at the catastrophes ground zero. I am from Misrata. I came to help as soon as I found out what happened. We stop clearing debris only to sleep. There is no rest. Then, we look around and see everything we have left to do, she explains while still looking inside the car.
Derna has gone from being a ghost city, in which there were only groups of volunteers, military, and international firefighters, to a kind of battlefield full of people trying to help in the reconstruction. That includes those who have lost everything. Covered in mud up to his eyebrows, Abdelhamid stands barefoot in the doorway of his house. He can barely make it to the living room, where a construction cart blocks the way to the bedrooms. The water reached the ceiling. My wife, my daughters, and I were saved because we went up to the third floor and the building held up. But most of our neighbors are dead, he explains before joining the group that, in a single day, has cleared 10 cars from the road.
A general view shows destroyed buildings and houses in the aftermath of a deadly storm and flooding, in Derna, Libya, on September 18, 2023. AYMAN AL-SAHILI (REUTERS)
A few meters away and with the aid of a crutch, Amrajeh Gadur walks with difficulty. When the flood started we ran to the roof. Then we realized that my little sister was not there. We had to wait for the waters to subside, and then we found her body in the kitchen. The boy asks a group of men what he can do to help. There is more of a need than the means to be useful.
We have recovered 800 bodies and only nine people alive in the port, explains Commander Mohaned Alshahiebi, responsible for coordinating the search at sea, one of the main scenes of this humanitarian tragedy. Some of the soldiers who have participated in collecting the deceased from along the coast admit that their work is becoming more and more difficult. Thanks to the tracking carried out by helicopters and army drones, bodies are located in the most inaccessible places on the coast, but their state of decomposition makes the task difficult.
It is the military who are directing debris removal work in order to begin on reconstructing the nine bridges that connected the eastern and western parts of the city and that were washed away by the flood. It is still not known when electricity, running water, and sanitation (already poor before the catastrophe) will be restored, but they will be essential to avoid possible epidemics in the coming weeks.
Recover and rebury
There is so much to do that it is difficult to know where to start, explains Yousef Jalal Alfietori, a nursing assistant based in Benghazi, as he looks around. As the week has progressed, traffic has become more intense in Derna. Ambulances, humanitarian aid trucks, United Nations SUVs, and cars full of civilians continue to arrive. However, much of the volunteers efforts continue to be concentrated on the need to remove the rubble, earth, and mud under which an untold number of people remains buried. Recovering the dead from the debris and reburying them safely that remains the main mission.
A few meters away, in the citys port, soldiers from Khalifa Haftars navy prepare to receive his son, Saddam. A week after unprecedented rains and the collapse of the two dams that caused this tragedy, the man known as Brigadier has toured the worst hit areas in a military convoy and has listened to the assessments of those in charge of the response to the humanitarian crisis at a meeting organized in the port of Derna.
The rulers son met a group of Spanish firefighters who, after days of trying, managed to travel to Libya on Thursday to take part in the rescue. Four days later they will return to Spain due to the fading hope that there will be any survivors still trapped. Saddam Haftar has also listened to the Italian soldiers deployed to the area. The Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, maintains close collaboration on immigration matters with the two opposing Libyan governments: Haftars and Albdelhamid Dabeibas, which controls the western part of the country.
We knew that Derna was built on a natural channel with two dams holding back millions of gallons of water. And that was something dangerous. But something so horrible cannot just be the product of a natural disaster, laments Taofek Rafah, an elderly man who observes what is happening around him and needs to express his pain. It has to be Gods will.
A group of soldiers prepares supplies of water for the people of Derna (Libya). RICARDO GARCIA VILANOVA
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David Bickerton, a director general at the Department for Business and Trade, told MPs: Ofcom has announced it is looking at the future changes to the USO and will produce options for views at the end of the year.
Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic, said: British Agriculture is on its knees, and thats why most small family farms think that theyre not going to be in business the next generation. Is that what we want from our countryside? Is that what we want from our food system? Is that what we want from farmers? Farmers need to be treated fairly; they need some commitment from supermarkets.
As weve seen the regulators opening up, youre probably going to see some mergers and acquisitions over time, Wagner said. Even larger players are looking at merges. So its not just the digital banks that are likely to be merged together but also some of the traditional banks.
As we undertake that work, the time is also right for a debate on how we balance access to bank accounts with the threat of financial crime, as well as firms reasonable risk and commercial appetites. An important question for policy makers is whether all individuals, businesses and organisations should have the right to an account, as is the case in some other countries.
While most of the areas targeted for new food halls are outside of London, Lewis-Pratt said Market Halls had a new London site under offer. He could not yet reveal the location, but said it would be next to one of the capitals major rail stations.
A mural features the image of late Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was slain on the grounds of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in June 2023, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat on Tuesday and accused Canada of interfering in its internal affairs, ramping up a confrontation between the two countries over accusations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh activist. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later said that Canada wasnt looking to escalate tensions, but asked India to take the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar seriously after India called accusations that the Indian government may have been involved absurd.
India and the government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness, Trudeau said. We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them, and we want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes.
Trudeau said Monday that his government was investigating allegations that India was connected to the assassination of Niijar, 45, who was gunned down in British Columbia in June
Its a sigh of relief for the family and the Sikh community here because from day one we kind of had this idea and knowledge that if anything would happen to him the Indian government would be involved, said Niijars son, Baraj Singh Nijjar. It was just a matter of time for when the truth would come out. Its finally coming to the public eyes that the Indian government is involved in this. Its a really serious foreign interference case.
The dueling expulsions escalate tensions between Canada and India. Trudeau had frosty encounters with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi, and a few days later Canada canceled a trade mission to India that was planned for the fall.
The movement to establish an independent Sikh homeland, known as Khalistan, has been a target of the Indian government since the 1980s, when a Sikh insurgency emerged that lasted more than a decade. It was suppressed by a crackdown in which thousands of people were killed, including prominent Sikh leaders.
Nijjar was wanted by Indian authorities, who had accused him of ties to terrorism for years and offered a cash reward for information leading to his arrest. Nijjar denied any ties to terrorism, and was working with an organization known as Sikhs For Justice to organize an unofficial Sikh diaspora referendum on independence from India at the time of his killing.
Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer and spokesperson for Sikhs For Justice, has said Nijjar was warned by Canadian intelligence officials about being targeted for assassination by mercenaries before he was gunned down.
Trudeau told Parliament on Monday that Canadian security agencies were investigating credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen. Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty, he said.
Indias foreign ministry dismissed the allegation as absurd and motivated, and accused Canada of harboring terrorists and extremists. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity, it wrote in a statement issued earlier Tuesday.
India has long demanded that Canada take action against the Sikh independence movement, which is banned in India but has support in countries like Canada and the U.K. with sizable Sikh diaspora populations. Canada has a Sikh population of more than 770,000, about 2% of its total population.
In March, Modis government summoned the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi, the top diplomat in the country, to complain about Sikh independence protests in Canada. In 2020, Indias foreign ministry also summoned the top diplomat over comments made by Trudeau about an agricultural protest movement associated with the state of Punjab, where many Sikhs live.
Critics accuse Modis Hindu nationalist government of seeking to suppress dissenters and activists using sedition laws and other legal weapons. Some critics of his administration, including intellectuals, activists, filmmakers, students, and journalists, have been arrested, creating what Modis opponents say is a culture of intimidation.
Under Modis rule, religious minorities, particularly Muslims, have faced increasing attacks by Hindu nationalists, and assaults on the press and free speech have grown, with his administration using internet shutdowns to quell protests.
Trudeau told Parliament that he brought up Nijjars slaying with Modi at the G20 meeting in New Delhi last week. He said he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for cooperation in the investigation.
At the G20 meeting, Modi expressed strong concerns over Canadas handling of the Sikh independence movement during a meeting with Trudeau at the G20, Indias statement said.
The statement called on Canada to work with India on what New Delhi said is a threat to the Canadian Indian diaspora, and described the Sikh movement as promoting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats.
Earlier this year, Sikh protesters pulled down the Indian flag at the countrys high commission in London and smashed the buildings window after India arrested a popular Sikh preacher. Protesters also smashed windows at the Indian Consulate In San Francisco and skirmished with embassy workers.
While in New Delhi for the G20, Trudeau skipped a dinner hosted by the Indian president, and local media reports said that he was snubbed by Modi when he got a quick pull aside meeting instead of a bilateral meeting.
To make things worse, Trudeau was stuck in India for 36 hours after the summit ended because his flight was grounded because of a mechanical snag.
Trudeaus turbulent India trip refuses to end, read the headline on the India Today website last week.
Its unclear when exactly Trudeau brought up Nijjars case with Modi during the G20.
Some analysts in India questioned whether Canada had proof of Indian links to the killing, and whether Trudeau was trying to drum up support among the Sikh diaspora.
Such a charge against India by a G7 nation is unprecedented. The Canadian government has deliberately made a spectacle of it to please its domestic constituency amongst the Sikh diaspora, said K.C. Singh, a former diplomat and strategic affairs expert. He added that Canada didnt present hard evidence and that Trudeaus statement unnecessarily upped the ante.
India shouldve seen it coming. Trudeau needed to be engaged, not snubbed, during his India visit. Now it has reached a point of difficult return, Singh, the former diplomat, also remarked on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The British government said Tuesday that there are no plans to reinvestigate the death of a U.K-based Sikh activist in the wake of Canadas claim India might have been behind the slaying of Nijjer.
Avtar Singh Khanda, who had played a prominent role in protests for an independent Sikh homeland, died in June in the central England city of Birmingham after falling ill. Supporters alleged be might have been poisoned, but Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks spokesman, Max Blain, said that police found no suspicious circumstances.
The Trudeau governments allegations are awkward for the U.K., which is a close ally of Canada in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, but is also seeking a free trade deal with India.
These are serious allegations. It is right that the Canadian authorities should be looking into them, Blain said, adding that it would be inappropriate to comment further while the investigation is underway.
In 1984, Indian forces stormed the Golden Temple in the states Amritsar city to flush out Sikh separatists, who had taken refuge there. The controversial operation killed around 400, according to official figures, although Sikh groups estimate the toll to be higher.
The prime minister who ordered the raid, Indira Gandhi, was killed afterward by two of her bodyguards, who were Sikh. Her death triggered a series of anti-Sikh riots, in which Hindu mobs went from house to house across northern India, pulling Sikhs from their homes, hacking many to death and burning others alive.
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The easing in Euro Area inflation in October provides a source for comfort, notably the sharp drop in the headline number, which is now below 3% for the first time in over two years. This should alleviate the squeeze on household purchasing power, and may elicit a dovish response from the European Central Bank, retrospectively supporting the banks call to effectively end its hiking cycle. We see it as very likely that the next move in ECB rates will be lower, with a first cut appearing probable before the end of Q2 next year. This is a bearish development for the euro, particularly given that US rates are likely to remain on hold until at least the second half of 2024.
That never meant German car manufacturers or Italian prosecco producers were going to intervene to ensure unfair access to the single market. But it is a reminder that if the UK shows willing, gives Brussels a reason to negotiate, rebuilds trust and rids the notion that everything between us is a zero-sum game, then we can begin to file the last seven years as an unfortunate episode and move forward, together, in the pursuit of peace and mutual prosperity. I mean, whats the alternative?
But there are also moments when there is nothing any incumbent leader or party can do, when there is a sea change in politics. Jim Callaghan could sense it. In 1979, the then prime minister reflected that, at a certain point, it then does not matter what you say or what you do. There is a shift in what the public wants and what it approves of.
The fallout was painful for Baillie, as she thinks Brand treated her badly afterwards. The stand-up turned the episode into a routine in his next comedy special, while she was vilified by the media. I had to put up with that s**t for years and he was making money out of it on tour, so I didnt like that, she says. But Baillie also credits Brand with saving her life some years later. In 2018, the comic paid for her to go to rehab, which ended up with her finally getting sober from alcohol and drugs issues that had plagued her life. I might have been dead if he hadnt done that, because I was doing dangerous things to get drugs, she says. The comic then came to meet her during her recovery to apologise for his behaviour towards her. Now Brand is in the news again. This time its far more serious. Hes been accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse between 2006 to 2013. One of the women claims that he would ferry her to his home from her school in a taxi when she was 16 and he was 31, while another claims he raped her in his Los Angeles home in 2012.
But in paragraph nine of her first witness statement for the court, Ms Rose had said: The inspection revealed that the safe was left open, the safe keys were left in the safe door and it was not secured, that cash and stock were not secured during lunchtime if the subpostmaster was not on the premises.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said the victim lived on the street. He said: He had a good job and was a nice bloke. We just cant believe it. We have no idea what can have sparked it.
In the process, Benchoula knocked the baby - a few days away from his first birthday - out of the pram and on to the ground, before fleeing on foot away from the scene with the stolen watch, heading in the direction of Waterloo Place and Pall Mall.
At the court hearing on Tuesday, Sharif, 41, Batool, 29, and Malik, 28, appeared at the Old Bailey by video-link from Belmarsh high-security jail in south London and Bronzefield womens prison in Surrey.
Ms ONeill said: Again, the representative of Education Scotland who will give evidence would wish to expand upon that acknowledgement and to apologise in person for the inadequacies in inspection regimes and insofar as those may have contributed to an environment that allowed abuse to take place.
Ukraines existence depends to a large extent on Elon Musk. The satellite connection provided by his company SpaceX is the backbone of Ukraines military communications, as the billionaire himself said at a conference in Paris this month. Thousands of antennas connected to Musks Starlink satellite data transmission service are used by every Ukrainian unit on the front lines. If these were to stop working, Kyivs defenses would collapse.
The countrys security therefore depends on Musks own agenda he has on occasion been conciliatory toward Russia but also on his power to unilaterally cut Starlink coverage on the battlefield. Kyiv is seeking alternatives for its military communications, and has proven that it has them, but Volodymyr Zelenskiys government acknowledges that it is impossible to disengage entirely from Musk. Ukraines primary hope is that the U.S. government will guarantee SpaceX will not leave them in the lurch.
There are around 42,000 Starlink data transmission terminals in Ukraine. Nine months ago, there were 23,000, according to Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraines Minister of Digital Transformation. Most are used by the military. Starlink is indeed the blood of our entire communications infrastructure now Fedorov told The New York Times in July. The terminals are mostly purchased by private donors, but also by governments allied with Kyiv. There are forums on social networks that provide tutorials on how to use them and advice on where they can be acquired at the best price. If a terminal is purchased in Spain, for example, the owner can transfer the address to Ukraine.
Starlink antennas are used in multiple ways at the front: a platoon can use them to communicate with their families and gain access to mobile applications, but above all they are used for military purposes. The network allows orders to be disseminated and provides the location of enemy coordinates in applications used by the Armed Forces; the antennas are also embedded in assault vehicles to communicate with command posts and, above all, receivers are installed in attack drones to maintain connection with the aircraft over long distances.
Starlink has been a phenomenal asset for Ukraine. It is easy to transport, in a backpack; vehicles with large antennas are no longer necessary, British Air Marshal John Stringer explained in an August 31 paper published by RUSI, the UKs leading defense and security think tank. Ukraine has shown that when it comes to military assets from space, from imagery to communications, what was only available to a few [countries] a few years ago can now be available to all, the senior U.K. Air Force officer added.
A study carried out this month by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) made the same point: The rapid deployment of Starlink terminals in Ukraine demonstrates the advantages of commercial systems compared to military ones. They are inexpensive compared to military and government satellites, and are faster to produce and install. In Ukraine, the cost of the equipment is 560 ($600), plus 70 ($75) per month for the service.
A Ukrainian soldier prepares a drone on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, Saturday, July 1, 2023. LIBKOS (AP)
Cutting the signal
However, over the last year, alarm bells have been ringing about the risks of Musk providing the backbone of the Ukrainian militarys communications. Since the November 2022 counteroffensive that liberated half of Kherson province, there have been warnings from senior commanders that Starlinks satellite connection could suddenly disappear in offensive operations, putting the lives of military personnel at risk. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell confirmed last February that the company had mechanisms in place to cut Starlinks signal.
Shotwell stressed that Starlink was never meant to be weaponized. Responding to reports that the Ukrainian military was using Starlink to control drones, Shotwell said: There are things that we can do to limit their ability to do that; there are things that we can do, and have done. Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, did not mince his words during a September 9 conference in Kyiv: Starlink has played an essential role, and will continue to play an essential role, particularly in drone communication.
Budanov said he doubted that it is Musk alone who will make the decision to push a button and pull the plug on Starlink. But the billionaire himself confirmed on September 8 that on at least one occasion he has intervened directly. The Ukrainian government asked Musk to activate the connection of satellites over Crimea in order to be able to carry out a drone strike against the Russian Black Sea fleet, but he refused: If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation, he said.
SpaceX began marketing the Starlink internet service in 2021, progressively expanding the countries in which it could be used. In February 2022, when the invasion of Ukraine began and Russia implemented a strategy of cutting off telephony in the occupied territories and on the front lines, Kyiv asked Musk to activate Starlink in Ukraine, which he agreed to. Musk and Shotwell have reiterated that the service was activated for civilian use, although over time, as they have publicly admitted, they assumed that it could also be used for military communications, but not for offensive actions.
The line of what is and is not allowed is fickle. In the Starlink Facebook group for Ukraine there are multiple examples. In a recent comment, a soldier from a battalion of the Territorial Defense Forces explained that he had obtained a terminal in Spain but that, when transferring the new address to Ukraine, he had indicated that it was for a military unit and the supplier had refused to send it, claiming that the contract with Starlink specified that it could only be used for civilian use. Other forum members criticized the soldier for providing too much information.
SpaceX geofencing
Musks confirmation that he had refused to sanction the use of Starlink in Crimea for an offensive action sparked debate on the Ukraine Facebook group. It is impossible to win this war with other peoples weapons, said an officer serving in the Armed Forces, who also detailed one of the measures that SpaceX has to deactivate the service geofencing which consists of disabling the use of terminals in a given territory. There is nothing to be done about this, explained the officer, S. D. Each terminal has its IP address and it is linked to its location. If the device crosses the boundary, it disconnects from the network.
Alternatives to Starlink are scarce, but they do exist, as confirmed to EL PAIS by Ukrainian Armed Forces Captain Victor Tregubov. The proof of this is that periodically there are Ukrainian attacks with drone bombs on Russian territory and in Crimea, areas where SpaceX does not operate. The technology Kyiv uses in these cases is a state secret. Of course there are alternatives, there are projects underway in the United States and Ukraine, and we may be helped by governments of allied countries, Tregubov says, but without Starlink, everything would be much more difficult.
There are 10 major commercial companies offering satellite internet, but none can compare to SpaceXs quality of service, price, and widespread usage. The Swedish company Satcube donated 100 terminals this year, which are also easy to transport and set up, but the size of the company makes it unfeasible for it to replace Starlink.
The main hope is that the U.S. government will rein in Musk, a supporter of ending the war by conceding part of Ukraine to Russia. The founder of SpaceX himself has admitted suffering from the burden of having to be an actor in the war; that is why he created a new service in 2022, Starshield, which allows the U.S. Armed Forces and theoretically, those of other governments to control certain Starlink satellites and terminals. Following that initiative, the Pentagon this year contributed 500 Starlink terminals that cannot be tapped by SpaceX, The New York Times reported.
Tregubov and other military personnel interviewed for this article have their doubts about this. Both Tregubov and a senior officer of an artillery brigade in Donetsk province claim that multiple Starlink terminals across the frontline stopped working for two hours in the early hours of last Wednesday morning, just as the Ukrainian Air Force was carrying out an attack on the Russian fleet in Crimea. Both the press office of the Ukrainian General Staff and the High Command for the Southern Front have denied to this newspaper that they detected any issues, but Ukrainian media such as Pravda reported that there was a large-scale failure in the connection, which according to SpaceX occurred in multiple international markets.
Alexander Rose is a member of the Tora special forces group, on duty on the front line in Zaporizhzhia. Starlink is an essential tool for the unit, which they use to control their drones and even in operations to assault Russian positions. I am convinced that the U.S. government has arguments to convince Elon [Musk], Rose told this newspaper last Thursday, a few days after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed in an interview with CNN that his administration would hope and expect that that technology will remain fully available to the Ukrainians. It is vital to what theyre doing.
Rose points out that the Ukrainian military will always be able to fall back on more rudimentary, but secure, communication systems, such as radio transmitters or cell phones that work without data internet, as smart phones are easy for the enemy to pinpoint. We have fought against Russia for eight years without Starlink [in the conflict against the Kremlin-backed Donbas separatists], Tregubov states. And we can do it again.
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Jas Kerr, 18 from South Woodford, starts her medical degree this week at Aston University in Birmingham after scoring three As in her A-levels. She is the first in her family to go into medicine. She wants to be a dermatologist or plastic surgeon, adding: I looked at apprenticeships and other degrees but they just werent as interesting so it had to be medicine.
Raac is a lightweight material that was used mostly in flat roofing, but also in floors and walls, between the 1950s and 1990s. It is a cheaper alternative to standard concrete and has a lifespan of about 30 years.
The investment in the Health4Life fund is expected to be announced at an event at the UN General Assembly in New York this week. The fund is co-ordinated by the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef).
Mr Barclay told LBC radio: Because of the militancy of the national BMA committee, they refused to agree what had been agreed locally. So that makes it very difficult for NHS leaders to plan. It makes it very uncertain for patients. So what were putting in place through the consultation is getting the safety net between recognising peoples fair right to strike, but also for time-critical services in hospital, things like chemotherapy, things like dialysis, ensuring that those are protected as minimum service levels.
We are walking across New York wherever we can. That is one of the great things about cities like New York and London and Paris, we are trying to encourage people to get out of their cars, to walk or cycle or use public transport.
According to a 22-page petition published by the Scottish Government in April, officials have challenged the UK Governments order on four counts that Mr Jack made a material error of law, that his concerns about the safeguards in the Bill were irrelevant to the orders making and that his reasons were inadequate, which would make the order unlawful.
The official said Britain raises concerns directly during trade talks, but added that with regards to the current negotiations with India, these are negotiations about a trade deal and we are not looking to conflate with other issues.
Not all of (Boris Johnson's) misdemeanours were unprecedented; but his premiership shone a light on existing problems within the UKs governing arrangements
Institute for Government and Bennett Institute for Public Policy report
The main thing he wants to do in Paris is seek a new security agreement with Europe because in Government, if we do win the next election, he wants to talk aut how do we tackle people smuggling, how do we bring gang leaders to justice, its something that, we lost in the Brexit deal, that they are trying to negotiate at the moment, the Government is trying to negotiate.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos UK, said: There is little sign that the challenges facing the Conservatives have got any easier over the summer: unhappiness with the Governments performance remains high, Rishi Sunaks ratings are slipping as more see him as out of touch, and the partys image as a whole is a long way down from when they were winning elections over the last decade.
Jordan Firstman wears Maustein glasses and wears Louis Gabriel Nouchi coat, Emeerreee Studio shorts, Kara Lynda necklace and Sendra boots.
In 2020, 32-year-old actor and screenwriter Jordan Firstman shared on Instagram a series of sketches. In these short videos, he adopted the point of view of different human beings as well as non-human entities, from a straight man having a barbecue to an apartment. One video in which he pretended to be a banana cake publicist and told his client that he had been named Time person of the year (posted during the baking rage of lockdown) became a viral phenomenon. Firstman, who had some experience in the film and TV industry as a scriptwriter in the series Search Party and as director and producer of several award-winning short films knew how to take advantage of the attention. He landed his first major leading role in Rotting in the Sun, a dark comedy directed by Sebastian Silva, which is now streaming on MUBI. Its a perverse and crazy plot that takes a scalpel (and plenty of frontal nudity) to the contradictions and privileges of the creative class.
Question. You have just landed your first leading role in a movie. And you are playing himself. Is that an added challenge?
Answer. The film is much more meta than people realize. In 2021, I was tired of Los Angeles and thought about escaping to Mexico City for a few days. One night I played a Sebastian Silva movie for a guy I was hooking up with, and the next day I meet Sebastian Silva. We ended up having dinner with friends. And it wasnt like we connected in this crazy way. He thought I was kind of annoying, and I thought he was pretentious. And two months later, he calls me out of the blue, and says, Hey, man, so I want to make this movie and I want you to play yourself. And I want to use like the worst parts of your personality. I looked at your Instagram, I think its super embarrassing and bad. Would you be willing to do it? And I was like, Yes, lets go. It sounds fun.
Jordan Firstman wears Maustein glasses and wears Louis Gabriel Nouchi coat, Emeerreee Studio shorts, Kara Lynda necklace and Sendra boots.
Q. In fact, Silva said in an interview that, at first, he found you hilarious and exhausting. And that he asked for permission to fully humiliate you and make fun of what you do, without irony. Did you like the idea?
A. Im an exhibitionist in many ways. Ive always been a polarizing character, and Im always trying to learn more about why. In my early twenties, if someone didnt like me, Id corner them and force them to tell me exactly what they didnt like about me. And, of course, I would get really hurt when I heard the answer. I imagine its the masochistic part of my personality. In the movie, it was very crazy to have yourself be portrayed by someone who, at the time while they were writing it, really didnt like me that much. So, I was able to make one of my biggest fantasies come true: seeing the worst things people think about you. Its an interesting exercise: going through the pain instead of going around it.
Jordan Firstman poses in Madrid in Musmin T-shirt, AMI Paris pants and NDA Belts belt. Yago Castromil
Q. Rotting in the Sun is a film with a lot of explicit sex. On your own Instagram account, you posted a video where the public referred to the film as the penis movie.
A. Honestly, I thought the sex was going to be way easier than it was. Its no secret that Im a bit of a slut, Ive sucked a lot of cocks and vice versa. So, I thought it would just be like every day. But the problem was not the cameras, but the chaos of any production, where you have to stop and start because the lighting is wrong or to get the blocking right. The first sex scene we shot was the orgy that happens in Mexico City. Theres a lot of plot happening in that scene, so getting all the stuff right while trying to stay relatively hard was very complicated. A lot of the guys had done porn before, and even they were struggling because they werent used to being on a traditional movie set. Since then, I respect porn stars a lot more. Its not an easy job, but I knew this movie was going to be special, and I hoped it was going to be good. I was a huge fan of Sebastians work, and it was my first time playing a lead, so I just really wanted to deliver. I put a lot of pressure on myself. I had to trust the process and trust Sebastian and pray that it would be worth it, honestly. If the movie sucked, I would probably hate Sebastian right now for making me suck cock and make fun of my Instagram for nothing. But I love the movie, so it was worth it.
Jordan Firstman wears a Loewe jacket.
Q. In the film, you play as the Instagram star, which you actually are. Did the success of your videos surprise you?
A. Yes. I never really had time to process it because it happened so fast. I made my first videos and, a few days later, Ariana Grande found them and started republishing them. All this happened during the pandemic, when I was completely by myself and had just gone through a breakup. I was like getting famous (you could put air quotes there) and I had no one to celebrate it with.
Q. What are you planning to do next?
A. I think Im really spoiled with this movie because its the kind of movie Ive wanted to do my entire career. I love movies that are like really dense with ideas. I met Baz Luhrmann at a party once, and he told me: Jordan, all you need to do is smash it, smash it, just get there and smash it. I know I have the capability of getting there and smashing it. Id like to expand my dramatic acting, but always from a cool and subversive point of view.
Jordan Firstman wears Jean Paul Gaultier collar and shirt and Louis Gabriel Nouchi pants.
Q. The fashion industry loves you. We have seen you in fashion shows for Versace and JW Anderson, and in June, you walked in Paris for Louis Gabriel Nouchi.
A. I have always liked clothes. I like to keep pushing the boundaries and being silly and being playful. Even the fact that I was modeling is subversive in itself. When the video of the show was posted online, many of the comments were: What is this fat hairy beast doing on the runway? And that was a big wake-up call, because in the places I hang out, people and being hairy and not having a six-pack is seen as sexy.
Q. You mention subversion a lot. Why are you so interested in it?
A. Ive always been really inspired by hypocrisy. I would get in so much trouble at schools for calling teachers out for like the way they were treating the other students. Ive always had that in me. I see many things in the real world that arent being represented in media. I think many people are living in this version of the world thats super sanitized and boring. And they keep themselves in these bubbles. Most of the people I meet are not living these cookie cutter lives. So it all depends. In certain circles, Im not subversive at all, Im super basic. But if you ask straight people that have two kids and a dog, theyre like, Who is this crazy, like, slutty bitch? So it depends on who youre asking.
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The PM admits she could have done more to prepare the ground for Mr Kwarteng's financial statement, and she faces accusations of throwing her Chancellor "under the bus" by saying the abolition of the 45p top rate of tax was made by him, and not discussed with the Cabinet.
The UK should be leading from the front in supporting countries in need, both because its the right thing to do and also because its in our interests. Thats why a Labour government will reconnect the UK with our partners around the world, to boost prosperity and security at home and abroad.
Now that the legislation has become law, the UK Government will do all it can to support the ICRIR, consistent with its operational independence, as it establishes itself and seeks to deliver effectively for victims and families.
Mr Way admitted funding in the sector was scarce but remained bullish about its outlook, adding: When you get an organisation like us that was founded with 10 and two chairs to 22 years later Her Royal Highness recognising our work, the skys the limit now its game on.
The 15 finalists, three in each category, will be named at the summit and their innovative ideas will be showcased, following on from 30 other initiatives that have been promoted during the two previous Earthshot awards.
It has now been one year since the Queens funeral, the first lying-in-state tribute to take place in the UK since the death of Winston Churchill in 1965.
The autumnal equinox happens when any of the two locations in the sky when the ecliptic (the Sun's annual trajectory) and the celestial equator connect. These two times of the year when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length.
It looks like it could be, unfortunately, terrible - war number three, something that people have been fearing but hoping to avoid with diplomacy in the last few weeks and months, said Thomas de Waal, a regional specialist at the Carnegie Europe foundation.
He said a fee would make it more difficult for bots to create accounts as each bot would need a new credit card to register, and while each charge would be relatively small, the cumulative cost would add up.
The mishap is currently under investigation, and we are unable to provide additional details to preserve the integrity of the investigative process," the Marine Corps said in a statement.
The COP28 President-Designate Dr Sultan Al Jaber has advanced the meetings Action Agenda and consulted with world leaders on how to deliver progress at COP28 in the UAE.
Dr Al Jaber used his first public intervention of the visit to raise the importance of putting health at the centre of climate diplomacy and the need to mobilise investment for equitable, climate-resilient health systems.
He held further consultations and discussions with world leaders in New York designed to build momentum and agreement around the Presidencys Action Agenda. The four key pillars of the Action Agenda include fast tracking a just and orderly energy transition, fixing climate finance, focusing on people, lives and livelihoods, and underpinning everything with full inclusivity.
World leaders
Dr Al Jaber consulted with world global leaders including Kenyas President William Ruto, and Larry Fink, amongst others to discuss delivering solutions at COP28. He also addressed members of the Council on Foreign Relations along with Shamma and Razan Al Mubarak, where they presented and discussed the COP28 Action Agenda.
Dr Al Jaber was accompanied by the wider COP28 Presidency team, including UN Youth Climate Champion Shamma Al Mazrui, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion Razan Al Mubarak COP28 Director-General, Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi and COP28 CEO Adnan Amin.
COP28 Director-General, Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, spoke at the MIT Solve Challenges finals on how to fund and scale up climate technologies. The event brought together global investors, philanthropists, and other leaders to reveal the most promising tech-based solutions to the climate crisis.
Global CEOs
Ambassador Al Suwaidi also addressed global CEOs as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative on how the private sector can play a role in addressing climate change. The Initiative was launched by His Majesty King Charles III in 2020 and convenes global leaders to drive a sustainable energy transition. In both events Al Suwaidi raised the importance of private sector innovation, investment, and involvement at COP28 to deliver solutions across all climate pillars.
Al Mubarak also attended events to raise the importance of nature-positive solutions. Speaking at the Nature Positive Hub, Al Mubarak launched a High-Level Champion-led paper on mobilising private capital for nature to meet climate and nature goals which contains case studies and recommendations on delivery of private sector capital to deliver nature-based solutions.
The visit to New York coincides with New York Climate Week and the UN General Assembly where world leaders are convening to progress collective action on humanitys greatest shared challenges, such as the climate crisis.-- TradeArabia News Service
In a book about the future of artificial intelligence, MIT professor Max Tegmark raises an absurd and terrifying scenario: if we were unable to accurately transmit our goals to machines, they could adopt their own goals far removed from our interests, such as transforming all the atoms in the universe, including those in our own bodies, into metal paper clips. If criticized for the outlandishness of its pursuit, the mechanical mind could be forgiven on the grounds that it was trained by observing its creators. In recent decades, human intelligence has achieved an unprecedented expansion of the species by using terrifyingly efficient ingenuity to convert other living beings into food for sustaining more humans and to turn them into products to make our lives more pleasant. This species, whose ancestors experienced a critical moment in which there were little more than a thousand individuals remaining, already represents 36% of all mammals in existence. Another 60% are animals like cows, which are bred to feed people. Only 4% are wild animals.
Despite humanitys impact on terrestrial ecosystems, we account for only 0.01% of the planets biomass. However, humans continue to progress, reducing space for other animals and becoming increasingly alone. This sixth mass extinction is the first one to be caused by a single animal; the previous ones resulted from meteorites like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs and extreme geological processes. And the impact is not limited to isolated species. According to an article published in the journal PNAS, entire branches of the evolutionary tree are being destroyed. Animals such as the Tasmanian tiger and the Yangtze dolphin were the last of their genus, the category that groups together several related species.
Led by Gerardo Ceballos, a researcher at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the study examined 34,600 species of 5,400 vertebrate genera over the past 500 years using databases such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature database. In those five centuries, 73 genera went extinct at a rate 35 times faster than if it had kept pace with the rate of the previous 65 million years. In the absence of human influence, it would have taken 18,000 years to see so many genera disappear. According to the authors of the article, at least one-third of the known vertebrates are declining in population and being squeezed into ever-smaller ecosystems. For example, at the beginning of the 20th century, there were 10 million elephants. Today there are fewer than half a million, and they have disappeared from many of the countries they had inhabited until recently.
The loss of an entire genus can impact the functioning of a whole ecosystem. The human-imposed homogenization of their environment is also causing the equilibrium beneficial to our existence to disappear and changing the course of evolution. In the eastern United States, large predators bears, cougars, wolves have disappeared, and white-tailed deer and mice have massively increased in population. Deer and mice are hosts for ticks that transmit Lyme disease, a very serious illness. This has led to millions of cases per year in the U.S., Ceballos explains. Less pragmatically, Paul Ehrlich, a professor at Stanford University and a co-author of the study, notes that we are losing the only living companions we know of in the entire universe.
In addition to increasing the spread of diseases between animals and humans, as happened with Covid-19, the loss of biodiversity and overexploitation of wild space are facilitating the destruction of resources that could be used to improve human health. Gastric brooding frogs (Rheobatrachus) were one of the genera that has disappeared. Native to the tropical forests of Queensland, Australia, these animals had a peculiar reproductive system. The females swallowed the fertilized eggs and turned their stomachs into wombs where the tadpoles grew. Since the frogs had to shut down acid secretion in their stomachs to protect their young, they were an interesting research model for diseases such as gastric reflux and associated cancers, but now there are none left on Earth. Despite their small numbers, animals like these may also play an important role in maintaining ecological balance.
Ceballos states that this data is a call to action. If we do not act to the extent necessary, there will be a civilizational collapse. Human beings will not become extinct, but there will be [scenarios like] those apocalyptic movie situations in which only the strongest survive, he adds. In the past, after each major extinction which sometimes wiped out more than 70% of life on Earth the tree of life was rebuilt as new species slowly appeared. But that took 15 to 20 million years and humanity cannot wait that long, warns Ceballos.
To avoid or mitigate a collapse, the authors call for unprecedented investment that pays special attention to conserving tropical forests, where the greatest biodiversity is found. Perhaps this would cost $400 billion, which is a significant amount, but if we continue as we are now there will be a far more widespread collapse than we are seeing, says Ceballos. Despite the knowledge that studies like the one published in PNAS offer about the extent of the ecological problem humans face, the universes only known intelligent species is getting increasingly close to being smothered by its own efficiency to survive and reproduce.
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Madeleine vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, after they left her and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends.
In its statement announcing the expulsion, Indias Ministry of External Affairs said: The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
Despite concerted efforts by the government to encourage the elderly to return to work, not enough is being done, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warning in January that Japan is on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison," he said.
Biden has faced criticism from some Republicans who want the United States to spend less money on the war effort with former President Donald Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election, vowing to seek a quick end to the war if returned to power.
The number of forces involved are relatively small compared to other fronts; however, both sides see the area as strategically important. It also provides the opportunity to draw their adversarys units away from the intense combat in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk oblasts (provinces).
Creating this fundraiser with some of the UKs top comedy talent is my way of saying thank you to them and ensuring they have the resources to continue their incredible support for others."
Jackson Boxer of Brunswick House and Orasay chose Casa Fofo as the restaurant he wants to try next. He said: The one place Ive always looked at and thought looks interesting but never been able to make it to is Casa Fofo in Hackney. Everyone I know thats ever eaten there has said its genuinely really great and incredibly delicious. Its very high on my list of places that I want to go.
Red shirts were an unmissable feature of the fashion week festivities. Yes, the exact design championed by Britpop bands who brought the bold colourway to the masses. The piece harks back to the late Nineties when Oasis and Blur were swept up in an epic chart battle and the guitar band movement began to infiltrate fashion.
I would say it depends on what you want to get out of it. If you want to smell the entire bouquet of aromas, get a tulip. If you want to see the clarity or colour then get a long tall Peroni-style glass. If you want to aggressively cheers with your mates, best to get a stein.
This frame grab from video, provided by the Mexican government, shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez being detained in Culiacan, Mexico, Oct. 17, 2019.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, pleaded not guilty in Chicago on Monday to U.S. drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges during his first court appearance since being extradited to the U.S. from Mexico.
Guzman Lopez was extradited on Friday, five months after U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against him and his brothers, known collectively as the Chapitos. The indictments allege that following their fathers extradition and eventual life sentence in the U.S. in 2019, the brothers steered the cartel increasingly into synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and the powerful opioid fentanyl.
During Mondays 15-minute arraignment with a larger-than-usual contingent of security inside the courtroom, Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty through a translator. He stood before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in an orange jumpsuit and matching orange slippers, with his legs shacked at the ankles.
The short, slight 33-year-old, whose nickname is the Mouse, hunched forward, answering questions from the judge softly and politely, presenting a picture that sharply contrasted with the reputation for extreme violence of the cartel he allegedly helps lead.
His arrest by Mexican security forces in January in Culiacan the capital of Sinaloa state, the cartels namesake set off violence that left 30 people dead, including 10 military personnel. Mexicos army used Black Hawk helicopter gunships against the cartels truck-mounted .50-caliber machine guns. Cartel gunmen hit two military aircraft, forcing them to land, and sent gunmen to the citys airport, where military and civilian aircraft were hit by gunfire.
Three years earlier, the government tried to capture him, but aborted the operation after similar violence.
The U.S. indictments against the brothers that were unsealed in April said their goal was to produce huge quantities of fentanyl and sell it at the lowest price. The brothers denied the allegations in a letter.
We have never produced, manufactured or commercialized fentanyl nor any of its derivatives, the letter said. We are victims of persecution and have been made into scapegoats.
When Coleman asked Guzman Lopez on Monday if he was on medication, he said he was for depression, anxiety and a stomach ailment but that it didnt impede his ability to understand the proceedings.
Some of the five charges against Guzman Lopez carry maximum life sentences, including conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to distribute them. A conviction on one of the counts, engaging in an illegal enterprise as a leader, carries a mandatory life sentence. Money laundering has a maximum 20-year sentence.
Coleman set Nov. 17 as the next court date for Guzman Lopez.
Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said in statement Friday that the extradition of Guzman Lopez is testament to the significance of the ongoing cooperation between the American and Mexican governments on countering narcotics and other vital challenges. Sherwood-Randall made multiple visits to Mexico this year to meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador, most recently last month.
Lopez Obrador has described his country as a transit point for fentanyl precursors coming from China and bound for the U.S., despite assertions by the U.S. government and his own military about production in Mexico.
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A negotiations update that was sent to WGA members added: You might not hear from us in the coming days while we are negotiating, but know that our focus is getting a fair deal for writers as soon as possible.
I just look at that stuff and I say there is no way I will listen to that, theres no way I accept it. We have to be clear about that together, that we will not accept that.
It made me so infuriated, she continued. You dont know that I was going to jump in my car and roll up there [to the 2022 Oscars]. I was so f**king mad on so many levels. For a long-ass time I was just mad. Chris Rock did a f**king joke.
She told the media outlet: I actually didnt realise how much I wanted it until I had to audition with Noel, I had to do a screen test with Noel, and I also had to go and do some interviews with some random general public. And then they took absolutely ages to tell me that Id got the job.
Shirley said: Afterwards I just felt like a diamond, everything was just where it needed to be, its really, really helped me. When I look at the photographs from the first day and compare with what I look like now, I can see my skin has improved dramatically, and since January the improvement has continued to get better.
Ahead of his trip, Mr Hunt said: The UK is ideally placed to attract fast-growing companies; we have all the right ingredients to become the next Silicon Valley, and Im going to be shouting about our strengths up and down the west coast of the United States.
President Joe Biden made his case before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday that the world must remain united in defending Ukraine against Russian aggression, warning that no nation can be secure if we allow Ukraine to be carved up as he tries to rally support for Kyivs effort to repel a nearly 19-month-old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.
The U.S. president called on world leaders to not let support for Ukraine diminish, arguing that Russia is counting on countries to grow tired of prolonged conflict in Kyiv, which will allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence. Russia alone is standing in the way of a resolution, Biden argued, saying that Moscows price for peace was Ukraines capitulation, Ukraines territory and Ukraines children.
I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? Biden said in his address. If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure? He continued: Id respectfully suggest the answer is no.
The presidents forceful rhetoric on Ukraine appeared aimed not just for a global audience but for Washington, where an increasingly isolationist strain of the Republican Party is jeopardizing the prospects of the U.S. successfully replenishing the steady flow of aid that has gone to Kyiv since the war began in February 2022.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to greenlight an additional $24 billion in security and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, but Republicans who control the House have all but ignored that request as lawmakers scramble to ensure government funding remains flowing beyond the end of September. Animated by the views of former President Donald Trump, a vocal faction of House Republicans remain steadfastly opposed to more Ukraine aid, even as other GOP lawmakers, primarily in the Senate, continue to advocate support for Kyiv to dissuade Russia from spreading its attacks beyond Ukraines borders.
We have to stand up to this naked aggression today and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow, Biden said in his U.N. address. Thats why the United States together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.
Other senior members of the Biden administration were making their case on Tuesday, as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pushed allied defense leaders in remarks at Ramstein Air Base in Germany to dig deep and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine to help the country wage its counteroffensive.
Indeed, the broader message is intended to resonate beyond Moscow and even Capitol Hill. Washington remains on guard against Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, where competing territorial claims have caused tension in the region. Beijing also wants to reunite the mainland with the self-governing island of Taiwan, a goal that raises the prospect of another war.
During his address, Biden described the partnerships that the U.S. government was fostering around the globe from Africa to the Indo-Pacific that he said were creating economic, security and other advancements, even as he stressed that those relationships were not about containing any country a clear reference to Beijing.
When it comes to China, let me be clear and consistent, Biden said. We seek to responsibly manage competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict. Ive said we are for de-risking not decoupling with China.
Biden emphasized that Beijing and Washington need to cooperate on climate, and referenced recent natural disasters devastating heat waves, droughts, and floods around the globe as part of a snapshot that tells the urgent story of what awaits us if we fail to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and begin to climate-proof the world.
Despite his own emphasis on climate as a priority, Biden does not plan to attend a special summit on climate that U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres will host on Wednesday, where countries are encouraged to bring new ideas and proposals on how to further cut emissions and combat climate change. Officials played down Bidens absence at the climate summit, and said John Kerry, the U.S. climate envoy, will attend in Bidens place.
In his 30-minute address, Biden also repeatedly emphasized the value of institutions such as the United Nations and international coalitions that has helped the world confront significant challenges such as poverty and disease, as well as echoing his defense of democracy, a common theme of his presidency.
We will not retreat from the values that make us strong, Biden said. We will defend democracy our best tool to meet the challenges that we face around the world. And were working to show how democracy can deliver in ways that matter to peoples lives.
The annual forum was a chance for Biden to showcase to other world leaders and the 2024 U.S. electorate that hes reestablished U.S. leadership on the world stage that he says was diminished under Trump.
There were some notable absences as Biden addressed the General Assembly: British Prime Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin the leaders of the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are all skipping the gathering. U.S. officials downplayed that fact and instead emphasized the importance that Biden attaches to showing up at the annual diplomatic forum.
For Biden, the more important audience for Tuesdays speech could be closer to home, as he looks to make the case to voters that hes skillfully handled a complicated foreign policy agenda and that the experience that comes with age has proved to be an asset. Its an argument that the 80-year-old Biden is likely to continue to make to counter skepticism even in his own Democratic Party among voters who are concerned about his age.
After the speech, Biden sat down with Guterres, and was scheduled to meet later Tuesday with leaders from the so-called C5 group of Central Asian nations, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The meeting was expected to focus on regional security, trade, climate change, ongoing reforms to improve governance and other issues.
Xi has stepped up his own courting of those countries. During his own summit in May with the Central Asian leaders, Xi promised to build more railway and other trade links with the region and proposed jointly developing oil and gas sources.
Echoing a message from Bidens U.N. address Tuesday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters last week that Bidens meeting with those leaders should not be seen as an effort to counterbalance Chinese influence in the region.
Look, this summit is not against any country, Sullivan said. It is for a positive agenda that we want to work through with these countries.
Biden is scheduled to host talks Thursday at the White House with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
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Matt Dowell, the executive director of the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, speaks to the Starkville Rotarians on the expansion plans of the GTRA.
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It is not often that the United States government becomes involved in a family lawsuit. But the dispute over the adoption of a young Afghan girl by a U.S. military family is no ordinary case. Relatives of the four-year-old who is identified as R. in Afghanistan and as L. in the United States claim she was kidnapped, not adopted. The Biden administration supports her return to her family, arguing that the case could further damage Americas reputation in Afghanistan, which was hit hard after the U.S. decided to withdraw troops in 2021. In Afghanistan, the prevailing story is that a U.S. servicemember stole a Muslim child.
It all started on September 5, 2019. That night, a group of U.S. Marines surrounded a house in an Afghan village where they suspected foreign fighters were operating. A shootout ensued. A man and a woman with a baby emerged. The man was wearing a bomb vest and detonated it. The woman, who was wounded, began to move but was shot down by soldiers, who feared another attack. The only survivor was the baby, a two-month-old girl, with a fractured skull, a broken leg and second-degree burns to her head and neck. The military took her back to their base in Bagram, on the outskirts of Kabul, for treatment. Questions quickly arose about what to do with her.
Marine Corps Major Joshua Mast, who was briefly stationed in Afghanistan, had not taken part in the raid, but he like the rest of the base soon heard about the case. Mast was a father of four and a fervent Christian, who was educated at the very conservative Liberty University of preacher Jerry Falwell. After hearing about the case, Mast immediately called his wife, Stephanie. They both agreed: they should adopt the little girl.
Mast, who had contacts in the Donald Trump administration, began to pull strings in the United States. In Virginia, the state where he lived, he asked his brother Richard, a lawyer for a conservative Christian organization also linked to Liberty University, to formally request the girls adoption. According to the Masts, the baby was the stateless daughter of foreign fighters and had no living relatives. The family claims she needed medical care that was not available in Afghanistan, and the Afghan government intended to waive jurisdiction over her case. A court in rural Fluvanna County, over 4,300 miles away, determined that she was stateless and granted the Masts custody of her. In 2021, the same judge formalized the couple as the childs permanent legal guardians.
Afghan girls cover their faces while playing on swings in Kabul in 2019. Mohammad Ismail (REUTERS)
But according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the situation was not as the Masts had made it seem. In a series of confidential documents, accessed by the AP news agency, the DOJ alleged that the baby was not stateless, but Afghan by birth and family. The Afghan government did not relinquish its claim over her, and the orders were obtained fraudulently by the Masts, who knowingly made false representations before the Virginia courts, the Justice Department wrote. In a diplomatic cable included in the court case, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo described the officers custody order as flawed in a number of respects.
While the baby was recovering from her injuries, Afghan officials located her relatives. Upon leaving the hospital, the girl was left in the custody of one of her cousins and his wife, who warmly welcomed the child. For 18 months they were a family.
But the major and his wife did not give up their fight for the child. Through a lawyer in Kabul, they contacted the guardians of the girl, who had almost completely recovered from her injuries, and asked them to send her to the United States, arguing that they wanted to offer her specialized medical treatment. At no point, say the girls relatives identified as John and Jane Doe in the court documents did the Masts reveal that they had a custody order in Virginia.
With the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the Afghan family left the country on one of the military flights authorized by the United States from the capitals airport. They were able to flee partly thanks to the major, who described John Doe as a man who had put his life and that of his family at risk to help the United States. Mast helped arrange a Defense Department evacuation of the Afghan family by falsely telling other military personnel that he was clear to bring the child, the Justice Department wrote.
When the Afghan family arrived at a refugee resettlement camp in Virginia, Mast went to visit them, accompanied by his brother, the lawyer. With the custody order in hand, he took the girl, who was two years old at that point. The federal officials present were unaware that the State Department had already deemed that order to be flawed. Since then, the girls Afghan family have only seen her in photographs. Jane fell into a depression after the little girl was taken.
When the Afghan couple settled in Texas, they filed a lawsuit accusing the Masts of abduction and demand that the little girl be returned to them. In court filings, the American familys lawyers argued that the soldier and his wife acted in good faith and worked at great personal expense and sacrifice to protect the baby and provide her a loving home.
In March, Judge Claude Worrell declared the adoption void, but left the child in the Masts care, citing a custody order. The American family has appealed the judges decision.
Meanwhile, the investigation continues at Camp Lejeune, where Mast is currently stationed. According to AP, it is focusing on the alleged unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents or material. In the meantime, the Biden administration argued in the filings that ongoing delays and a narrative that a U.S. servicemember stole a Muslim child are harming Americas standing on the world stage, particularly in Afghanistan
The perception that the United States is a place where Afghan children can be taken from their families, over their families objection, without effective recourse, increases those perceived risks, a State Department official wrote in a declaration cited by AP, to the detriment of U.S. foreign policy interests.
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Budget of campaign promoting Romania as tourist destination in France amounts to 111,000 euros (ministry)
The budget of the campaign to promote Romania as a tourist destination in France is worth 563,569.20 RON (111,000 euros), with 0% VAT, the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (MEAT) announced on Tuesday, told Agerpres.
The action falls under the provisions of Government Decision no. 20/2012 regarding the approval of the multi-annual program for marketing and tourism promotion and the multi-annual program for the development of tourist destinations and forms and products, the institution states.
The outdoor campaign to promote Romania as a tourist destination in France takes place between September 6 and 26, on the streets of Paris, the main objective being to draw the attention of the French public to Romania as a tourist destination and to convey an impactful message, with an emphasis on the cultural and natural heritage of our country.
The action takes place in two stages: the first consisted in the display, between September 6 and 12, of two representative images for our country on 103 large billboards (8 square meters), in key points in the center of Paris, and the second the stage, which takes place between September 13 and 26, concerned the sealing of the 17 tourist buses used to visit key points in the French capital.
According to MEAT, the organizing company is JC Decaux, which has exclusivity on the network of 8 sqm panels, as well as on tourist buses, for the purpose of advertising.
"Taking into account the results of the study carried out by the American company Horvath, for the promotion of the Romanian tourism brand on the French market, two important forms of tourism were highlighted, namely nature and culture", the ministry states.
Thus, the selected tourist attractions were Transfagarasan and Sucevita Monastery for the 103 billboards and Peles Castle for the 17 tourist buses.
According to initial estimates, the campaign will benefit from significant exposure. All the panels are located in positions with increased visibility in the city, one of them being right on the famous Champs-Elysees boulevard.
It is estimated, at the same time, that this stage of the campaign will reach over 15 million people, of which approximately 2.5 million are French people with higher education and a large budget for vacations and travel.
As to the second stage, the 17 tourist buses will travel on the most popular tourist route in Paris, passing by the main objectives and attractions of the city. According to initial research, the tourist bus network offers the highest visibility on the Parisian market, with approximately 27 million views on this route during the two weeks of the campaign.
The French market represents a priority market for Romania, according to official statistics, France ranks in the top 10 countries whose citizens visit our country. At the same time, the National Tourist Brand Council places France among the seven countries declared as priority for external tourism promotion, along with countries such as Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Israel, Spain or Poland.
Catalin Drula says USR to submit motion of censure against package of fiscal measures
Save Romania Union (USR) parliamentarians will submit a motion of censure on the package of fiscal measures, stated the leader of the Union, deputy Catalin Drula, who says that he also has the support of some liberal parliamentarians, told Agerpres.
"I took note, this morning, of the tax increase package proposed by Marcel Ciolacu, with the support of the PNL [National Liberal Party], I emphasize. If from the PSD [Social Democratic Party], from Marcel Ciolacu, a socialist party, we would have expected this type of behavior in which he puts his hand in Romanians' pockets to feed the party clientele, these things would not have been possible without the complicity of the PNL, without the complicity of the Minister of Finance, who is from the PNL, Mr. Bolos, a party that forgot to be liberal, a party that is not rightist. Obviously, we will oppose with all our forces this profoundly unjust act that hits the Romanian economy, hits entrepreneurs, the liberal professions, anyone who can, in their minds, contribute money to the success of the PSD political clientele and PNL, for the payment of special pensions, for the payment of sinecures, for the financing of party clientele. This also means a motion of censure, for which we are discussing with all the democratic forces in the Parliament," Drula told a press conference held at the Parliament.
He mentioned that the USR is discussing with all the democratic forces in the Parliament, less with the "extremists from the AUR."
Asked if he has signals that PNL MPs will sign the no-confidence motion, he confirmed: "Yes. Unfortunately, not enough that I have the option to pass, but we have a signal in this sense."
The minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, on Monday night gave assurances to Romanian farmers that for 30 days no grain of wheat or corn from Ukraine will enter Romania, and the only ones who will benefit from licensing in the cereal area will be Romanian farmers and processors.
At the end of the meeting with the Romanian farmers' associations, minister Barbu said he will convey to his Ukrainian counterpart the point of view of the ministry and the Romanian Government regarding the licensing of Romanian companies, adding that the only ones who can benefit from these licenses are Romanian farmers and processors only, agerpress.
Also, the Agriculture minister emphasized that in 30 days these licenses must be obtained, both on the territory of Ukraine and on the territory of Romania, and in the event that "they will force and try to bring 1 kg of wheat or corn in Romania", the prohibition order is prepared and it will be given and published in the Official Gazette.
For his part, the president of Pro Agro, Ionel Arion, conveyed that the farmers are willing to wait 30 days for the implementation of this mechanism, and if these decisions are not respected, the farmers will react accordingly.
Minister Florin Barbu added that any government decision by which this licensing will be applied will be assumed and will be discussed together with the agricultural associations.
The farmers' representatives added that throughout this 30-day period they will monitor the customs
Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) from Cluj-Napoca announces the initiation of a master's program in English in Cyber Security, intended to prepare future specialists in this field of vital importance in the context of the transition to the information society.
"Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, through the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, has initiated from the academic year 2023-2024 a master's program in English in Cyber Security, aimed at preparing future specialists in this field of a vital importance in the context of the transition to the information society. The courses of the new program start in October this year, together with the academic year 2023-2024, the admission bringing a competition beyond expectations. More than 40 students, including from abroad, admitted to the program will become specialists in the field of Cyber Security, the admitted candidates can even choose to study an academic year at other renowned universities in Europe," a press release sent on Tuesday by UBB reads.
According to the source, the program is the first and currently the only master's program in Romania accredited by EIT Digital, thus being recognized internationally, UBB being supported in its development and implementation by Computacenter, a renowned technological partner.
"Through this program, UBB meets the needs of society and the 'hot topic' themes in the field. And it comes in the characteristic style, that is, with an academic program organized according to the best international standards, organized in a language of international circulation, with prestigious professional partners accredited in the reputed network of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Digital). And this can already be seen by the large number of MAs, from the country and abroad, who are already part of the UBB community," said UBB rector, university professor Daniel David, quoted in the press release.
Justice Minister: Fight against trafficking psychoactive substances must be waged with all our forces
Justice Minister Alina Gorghiu said on Tuesday, after Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) prosecutors raided a criminal group that allegedly produced "VAPE" devices containing substances likely to have psychoactive effects, that the fight against trafficking in such products "must be waged with all our forces."
"The DIICOT investigation in Iasi raises the veil and lets us see the real situation when we talk about psychoactive substances. Between October 2022 and September 2023, an organised criminal group produced over 100,000 'VAPE' devices for sale! All of them contained substances that produce psychoactive effects that endanger the lives of those who consume them. Jellies, cakes and dragees containing such substances were also produced and marketed. Vape devices are usually sold online. But they can also be found in shops in shopping centres. Jellies could be sold to anyone. Regardless of age," Alina Gorghiu wrote on her Facebook page.
According to the minister, a number of 28 companies have been identified that sell such products nationwide.
"The intervention of the authorities in such situations was crucial. I congratulate DIICOT for this investigation and thank the police officers who worked on this complex case! An investigation, in which we are talking about 120 searches in 23 counties and in Bucharest, is not easy! But the fight against the trafficking of psychoactive products must be waged with all our forces. It is unbelievable how some people are able to endanger the lives and health of children and young people in Romania. In such cases, tolerance must be zero. In order to protect our young people and children," says Alina Gorghiu.
Investigators from Iasi carried out, on Tuesday, 121 house searches in 23 counties and in Bucharest, in a case concerning the offences of setting up an organised criminal group and carrying out operations with products knowing that they are likely to have psychoactive effects, without having an authorisation issued under the law.
According to DIICOT, the raids took place in Iasi, Alba, Hunedoara, Sibiu, Neamt, Bacau, Brasov, Constanta, Cluj, Maramures, Dolj, Braila, Galati, Vrancea, Arges, Buzau, Botosani, Suceava, Timis, Arad, Mures, Harghita, Vaslui counties and in Bucharest municipality.
"It has been found that, since the end of 2022, several persons who are employed by or control two commercial companies in Iasi county have formed an organised criminal group with the purpose of importing, exporting, producing, manufacturing and other operations with substances likely to have psychoactive effects. In this context, they produce and market electronic vaping devices and edibles (jellies, cakes, dragees, etc.), knowing that they contain substances likely to have psychoactive effects, identifying during the investigations the substances HHC, HHC-P, HHC-O, H4CBD, THC-P and in some cases including THC. It was also established that, between October 2022 and September 2023, the members of the criminal group produced for sale more than 100,000 Vape-type devices containing substances that produce psychoactive effects (HHC, HHC-P, HHC-O, H4CBD, THC-P) of such a nature as to endanger the lives of the persons consuming them," the source said.
UBB and Romanian United Fund conclude partnership to consolidate Romanian diaspora
Babes-Bolyai University (UBB) from Cluj-Napoca informs that it has concluded a strategic partnership with the Romanian United Fund, for the consolidation of the Romanian diaspora, told Agerpres.
"The Babes-Bolyai University from Cluj-Napoca (UBB) and the Romanian United Fund from Chicago (USA) have concluded a strategic partnership that seeks to increase the impact that the Romanian diaspora can exert throughout the world, the collaboration bringing together the academic excellence of UBB and the firm commitment towards the social change of the Romanian United Fund, with a joint mission of the two bodies to capitalize on the potential of the Romanian diaspora at the global level. According to the partnership, UBB and the Romanian United Fund are committed to constantly collaborate, provide support and promote involvement, with their objective being to increase the professional capacity of the Romanian diaspora communities," reads a press release sent on Tuesday to AGERPRES by UBB.
The main initiatives agreed upon by the two institutions refer to the development of new networks and professional partnerships: both organizations will establish platforms and host events that will facilitate collaboration among members of the diaspora, academic researchers and professionals.
These efforts aim to stimulate innovation and create partnerships; collaborative research: encouraging joint research projects between the professors from the university and the researchers from the diaspora, projects that can produce innovative results and strengthen academic links; stimulation of new community initiatives: collaboration with the diaspora organizations and leaders for common information initiatives, such as community service projects, public health campaigns or educational programmes; cultural exchanges and awareness of other cultures: organizing cultural events, seminars and workshops to celebrate the vast diversity of diaspora cultures, thus promoting understanding and appreciation among a larger audience.
"This partnership illustrates Babes-Bolyai University's commitment to modern academic excellence, which also involves social responsibility. The Romanian diaspora should be considered a valuable asset for our country! Therefore, we are pleased to collaborate with the Romanian United Fund to promote research and educational opportunities for the diaspora communities, in a bidirectional 'win-win' relationship between Romania and the Romanian diaspora," says the UBB rector, university professor Daniel David.
According to the same source, UBB and the Romanian United Fund share the vision of a world in which the voice of the Romanian diaspora communities is heard, in which they have the ability to build a better future and are actively involved in achieving this goal. This partnership underlines the commitment to capitalize on the energy and talents of the Romanian diaspora around the world for a positive global change.
Donald Trump considers himself above the competition. His lead in the Republican Party primary polls for the 2024 presidential election is so great that he believes it would below him to take part in the primary debates. Whats more, he is counterprogramming. When the first debate was held on August 23, the presidents interview with controversial host Tucker Carlson was broadcast at the same time. And when the second primary debate is held on September 27, Trump plans to travel to Detroit, Michigan, to take part in a rally in support of the United Auto Workers (UAW), who are striking against three major automakers. Thats according to several U.S. media outlets, which reported the news Monday, citing close sources to Trump.
The second Republican primary debate is scheduled for next Wednesday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The list of participants has yet to be confirmed, but of the eight presidential hopefuls who participated in the first debate in Milwaukee, at least two Asa Hutchinson and Doug Burgum are at serious risk of falling short of the threshold to take part due to their low voter intention figures.
According to FiveThirtyEights average of the major polls, Trump has widened his lead since the first debate. He now has 55.5% support among Republican primary voters, more than 40 points above Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has sunk to just 14.2%. Third in the running is Vivek Ramaswamy, a millennial Trump advocate and biotechnology investor. While he was considered the surprise success of the first primary debate, he has failed to capitalize on his performance, and is polling at 7.6%. Nikki Haley has seen the biggest rise in support since the first debate, with her voter intention figure rising to 6.1%. Former vice president Mike Pence is polling at 4.7%; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is at 3.1%, and Senator Tim Scott is at a paltry 2.6%.
Despite the indictments against him (or in part because of them), support for Trump remains strong and has reached its highest level since the primary race began. He has never had such a wide lead, and is now looking toward a likely showdown against U.S. President Joe Biden at the 2024 presidential elections on November 5.
Biden, who boasts of being a pro-union pr has expressed his support for the UAW workers striking against the three Detroit giants: GM, Ford and Stellantis. Although Trump approved tax cuts for companies and high-income earners, he is aware that to be elected president he needs to win over workers in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Wisconsin, who are disenchanted with globalization and angry at their loss of purchasing power. Thats why he is planning on appearing in Detroit to support workers.
Trumps trip to Detroit will include a prime-time speech to current and former members of the UAW, which brings together workers in the automobile sector, and other unions. This speech will be held at the same time as the Republican debate. According to The New York Times, which first reported the news, Trump is scheduled to speak before more than 500 workers. His campaign is planning to fill the room with plumbers, pipe fitters, electricians and autoworkers.
In other words, the campaign will hand-pick the audience; it will not be a spontaneous appearance before striking workers. In fact, Trump has attacked UAW leaders, and it is unclear how he will be received by them. The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump, the former president told NBC News, when asked about the strike, last week.
In fact, after learning of Trumps plans, UAW president Shawn Fein issued a statement hostile to the former president. Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers, he stated. We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.
In the state of Michigan, Trump won the 2016 election, but lost the 2020 election to Biden. Michigan, along with Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada and Arizona, is a swing state where the results of the 2024 presidential elections will be decided.
Ammar Moussa, a Biden campaign spokesperson, was also critical of the former presidents plan. Donald Trump is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn, he said Monday. Instead of standing with workers, Trump cut taxes for the super-wealthy while auto companies shuttered their doors and shipped American jobs overseas.
The third Republican debate will be held in early November in Miami, Florida. Trump is unlikely to take part in that one either. It remains to be seen what alternative he will come up with to skip the event.
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ST. LOUIS Barry Goldwater, tenacious underdog for president, stood before a cheering capacity crowd in Kiel Opera House. The big curtain behind him opened to reveal more loud Republicans in the adjoining auditorium.
Welcome to the crowd, folks, said the Republican presidential nominee as he turned to the happy supporters in the overflow seats.
The two wings of the Kiel convention hall downtown were built to share one stage as needed. It was warranted on Sept. 19, 1964, during Goldwaters only swing through Missouri as the candidate. He returned to the area for a quick speech in Belleville one week before election day.
Goldwater spoke in Springfield, Mo., on Sept. 17 after a warmly received series of rallies across the deep South, where he plugged a careful salute to states rights calling for local control of federal grants while avoiding race. But he had voted against the Civil Rights Act two months before. Many in his crowds cheered with rebel yells and battle flags.
Then he headed to the border state of Missouri. He needed conservative Democrats to change their yellow-dog habits.
Goldwater, a senator from Arizona, was running far behind Texas-born President Lyndon B. Johnson. Goldwater inspired fierce devotion from the GOPs conservative wing, but flip comments such as his joke about lobbing a nuke into the Kremlin mens room gave the Democrats plenty of powder.
Goldwater billed his stop at Kiel as a major foreign-policy speech to calm the electorates jitters. He said there was no greater political lie than the drumbeat that he was too dangerous for the presidency.
I have never suggested, nor would I as president, move recklessly with our great power, he said. But I would take every step to make sure that the communists did not move recklessly with theirs.
Goldwater also covered the domestic essentials, accusing Johnson of lavishly wasting money on politically motivated handouts through the Great Society. Goldwater called for lower taxes, fewer regulations and smaller government.
After the speech, a few police officers escorted Goldwater to a waiting Cadillac. Even after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 11 months before, campaign security was evolving.
That was obvious on Oct. 21, when Johnson spoke from a car outside Orr Weathers Homes, a public-housing complex in East St. Louis, and to an audience outside the Old Post Office, at Eighth and Locust streets downtown. There, he called the nuclear age no time for bluster, bluff and belligerence. Secret Service agents stood nearby, but the events were open to any pedestrian.
One week later, Goldwater spoke outside the St. Clair County Courthouse in Belleville, where he called local education the responsibility of parents, not the federal government.
He lost in a landslide on Nov. 3 to Johnson, who took 61 percent of the popular vote and all but six states. Missouri and Illinois were strong for Johnson. Goldwater won his own Arizona and five Deep Dixie states, foreshadowing his partys future Southern strategy.
Look back: Goldwater and Johnson campaigned in St. Louis Barry Goldwater in St. Louis Barry Goldwater in St. Louis Lyndon Johnson in St. Louis Barry Goldwater in St. Louis Lyndon Johnson supporters Barry Goldwater in the Metro East Lyndon Johnson supporters - and a few opponents Lyndon Johnson in St. Louis Barry Goldwater in St. Louis NO headline in galleries
ST. LOUIS Residents of the downtown Ely Walker Building are accusing the landlords that control it of allowing insurance coverage to lapse on the troubled 174-unit structure.
Ely Walker condominium owners, in a long-running lawsuit against the buildings condo board and the company that owns a majority of the buildings units, have asked a judge to order the condo board to immediately get insurance for the building as required by state law.
The condo boards ongoing repudiation of its obligation to maintain insurance coverage constitutes a grave and ongoing threat to Plaintiffs welfare, several condominium owners said in a motion for a temporary restraining order filed Sept. 7.
Kristin Denbow, a condo owner and plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in an affidavit filed with the court that she contacted the boards former insurance agency and was told that the policy lapsed July 12.
The board knew for nearly two months the policy was ending. The insurance agency informed the Ely Walker condo board on April 24 that it would not renew the policy, according to an email from the agency shared with the Post-Dispatch.
Its the latest allegation of mismanagement against controversial landlords Vic Alston and Sid Chakraverty, the brothers behind Asprient Properties, Lux Living and STL CityWide. They and their businesses have faced years of criticism from tenants in their properties across the city.
On Tuesday, Ira Berkowitz, a lawyer for the brothers, said the condo association bought a new insurance policy last week. Obtaining insurance for condominium associations is very difficult right now, he said.
Either insurance is not available or it is incredibly expensive, Berkowitz said.
Elia Ellis, a lawyer for the condo board, said coverage lapsed after its previous insurer declined to renew the policy. He echoed that many of the regular insurers exited the market for condo insurance.
This caused the market to shrink, making it difficult and much more expensive for condominiums locally and across the country to obtain replacement coverage, Ellis said in an email. As a result, the process of obtaining coverage took much longer than anyone would like.
Ely Walker tenants and condo owners say mismanagement and cost cutting since an Alston company bought a majority of Ely Walker units, giving the brothers control of the condo board, has devastated the building at 1520 Washington Avenue. When the historic building opened after an extensive rehab 15 years ago, lofts there sold for around $300,000. Now, many are listed at less than half that.
Residents have complained about broken fire alarms, leaky pipes and unauthorized short-term rentals. A short-term rental party in an Alston-owned unit led to a 2022 shooting in the lobby, though Alstons attorney later said that the unit was listed as a short-term rental without his knowledge.
The city tagged the building as a nuisance and threatened legal action to force the condo board to beef up security, but tenants say conditions havent improved.
The insurance coverage lapse threatened to make condo units impossible to sell, even if the owners were willing to take a significant haircut.
Erika Knolmayer, lead plaintiff in the years-old suit against the condo board, discovered the building insurance lapse when she was under contract last month to sell her Ely Walker unit.
She, her real estate agent and the lender for the buyer spent weeks trying to obtain proof of insurance on the building, required for condo sales. Members of the condo board, made up of Chakraverty and Alston associates, never produced it.
The whole deal got killed by not having building insurance, Knolmayer said.
While individual condo owners have their own insurance, the association needs insurance to cover common areas and the building as a whole, including major systems such as plumbing, and liability from claims from any injuries in building common areas, or even pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Late last month, Alston and Chakraverty put their downtown holdings about 200 units in four buildings, including Ely Walker on the market.
ST. LOUIS A St. Louis judge has barred the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from reporting on a mental health evaluation for a man accused of killing a St. Louis police officer until after the mans trial.
The move was decried by several free speech advocates on Tuesday. Greg Magarian, a constitutional law professor at Washington University School of Law, said that judges barring members of the press from publication a maneuver known as prior restraint is historically the most disfavored possible restriction on speech in U.S. courts.
This is a First Amendment issue of the greatest seriousness, he said. This order treats the First Amendment like a minor inconvenience you can brush off when it disrupts a court proceeding.
The citys presiding judge, Elizabeth Hogan, first issued a temporary restraining order May 21 forbidding the Post-Dispatch and reporter Katie Kull from publishing information related to the mental health evaluation of Thomas J. Kinworthy, accused of killing a St. Louis police officer in 2020. On Friday, Hogan extended the restraining order until the close of evidence in Kinworthys trial, over which Hogan will preside.
Kinworthy, 46, is accused of shooting two St. Louis police officers in Tower Grove South on Aug. 29, 2020, injuring one and killing another, Officer Tamarris Bohannon. He is set to face trial in January on seven felonies, including first-degree murder.
Mental health evaluations for defendants are normally filed under seal, but a court clerk inadvertently made Kinworthys public for a short time through Missouris court document system, Case.net. Kull read the document and alerted Kinworthys lawyer that she planned to write a story, but Hogan granted the lawyer an order barring the paper from reporting on the contents of the evaluation.
Hogans six-page order extending the ban argues it was necessary to protect interests of the highest order: the confidentiality of mental health records, and the criminal defendants right to a fair trial.
Magarian, the Washington University professor, argued that Hogan could have considered alternatives to ensure a fair trial, such as carefully vetting potential jurors.
This is an overreach, and we strongly disagree with the arguments made to justify the decision, said Alan Achkar, executive editor of the Post-Dispatch. We believe in and fight for First Amendment rights. This was a loss not just for us, but for press freedom and those First Amendment rights. We will review our options with our attorneys.
Jean Maneke, an attorney for the Missouri Press Association, said prior restraint needs to show that someone will face grave, irreparable harm of the highest order.
It comes with First Amendment baggage, she said. I do recognize that judges have wide discretion to protect a jury, but I very seldom see a case where broad orders about silence are upheld.
Kinworthys public defender argued in court last month that publishing information from the document would make it extremely difficult for his client to get an impartial jury.
Joseph Martineau, an attorney for the Post-Dispatch, argued in court hearings that the ban failed to meet the legal burden of prior restraint. He argued that many high-profile cases that attract national news are able to impanel a jury.
Kinworthys attorney intends to present a defense of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect and/or diminished capacity, according to court records.
He is being held in custody without bail until his Jan. 16 trial date.
WEBSTER GROVES Around 150 Webster University students protested on Tuesday what they called a lack of accountability and transparency in college leaders.
Students, some who walked out of class, aired grievances for about an hour on the university quad.
They questioned pay boosts for Chancellor Beth Stroble and President Julian Schuster even as, they said, the university has cut student services and underpaid professors, who often work multiple jobs to make ends meet, they said.
Things need to change, said student Max Florida. We have to hold them accountable.
Webster University has lost $128 million over the past decade as student enrollment has halved.
Its board of trustees, who are fiduciaries of the college, continue to award annual raises to Stroble and Schuster, who are among the highest paid university leaders in the region.
Stroble earns about $1 million a year; Schuster, $850,000.
University leaders have said that their plan to focus more on international students and science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs is already working to improve enrollment.
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This week, chair Sumit Verma said the board was working with Stroble on finding her successor, though he did not disclose a timeline.
On Tuesday, the Webster Student Coalition, which organized the protest, issued a list of demands.
It included a quarterly report on university spending; higher pay for faculty and staff; the restoration of student amenities like computer software and bus passes; public succession planning; and improved access to all buildings for students with disabilities.
Savannah Richey said she moved from across the country to attend Webster, where she studies costume construction. She has a disability and said she has had trouble accessing some buildings. On one occasion the elevators were broken, she said. She said she feels that the university doesnt support her.
Another Webster student, Jenn Harry, said she was charged $4,000 for a student apartment despite filing paperwork indicating she took a gap year. She said it took about six months before the university refunded her the money.
After the protest ended, John Buck, Websters dean of students, came over to the students to congratulate them on the turnout. He said he planned to look into all of the issues students raised.
We want transparency, Harry told Buck.
Patrick Giblin, university spokesman, said in a statement that Webster welcomes students thoughts.
It is also the role of our leadership team to make decisions that are in the best, long-term interests of delivering value to all the students we serve, according to the statement. That is why we have implemented a five-year plan that is working to increase enrollment and revenue, while it better positions us to meet the evolving needs of students.
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CLAYTON St. Louis County is expected Tuesday to pass a historic package of tax breaks for one of the worlds biggest aerospace corporations, paving the way for a nearly $2 billion investment in the region.
A majority of County Council members want to help make the Boeing Co.s planned expansion as competitive as possible by offsetting the cost of building and leasing a million square feet of space at two sites adjacent to St. Louis Lambert International Airport over the next 10 years.
This will be a big win for working families, our economy and our region, said Lisa Clancy, a Democrat from Maplewood.
The tax breaks on real and personal property, worth an estimated $155 million, would give Boeing half off real and personal property taxes during that time period in exchange for 500 new jobs and investment.
Not everyone on the council is on board. Democratic Councilwoman Kelli Dunaway, of Chesterfield, said she will vote no because she wants Boeing to make more commitments in exchange for the tax breaks.
These companies dont need this, not as much as other people suffering in the community, said Dunaway, who is also opposed to tax breaks for other businesses. Unless the company also invests in a park or community center or uses these tax breaks to invest back, Im going to be a no.
Only four of the seven council members need to support the bill for it to pass. It has the support of at least three who will be at the meeting: Clancy, Democratic Councilwoman Rita Heard Days of Bel-Nor, and Republican Councilman Ernie Trakas of unincorporated South County.
Councilman Mark Harder, a Republican from Ballwin, didnt respond to a request for comment Monday, but he has indicated support for the plan.
Republican Councilman Dennis Hancock, of Fenton, supports the plan but said he will be absent from the meeting. Council Chair Shalonda Webb, a Democrat from unincorporated North County, said she will abstain because she works as an engineer for Boeing.
Trakas said he doesnt support corporate welfare, but he believes the St. Louis region has lost enough business.
St. Louis is not in a position to be able to gamble with corporate facilities, Trakas said. Its just the reality that we have to deal with. If we dont do it, some other location will.
Even if the council passes the tax incentives at its meeting Tuesday night, its far from certain the $1.8 billion project will happen at all:
Boeing has been secretive about its plans for the Lambert land. But in order to need to expand, the company has to land a major federal defense contract such as U.S. Department of Defenses competition to build the next generation of American fighter jets.
And Boeing wont need the space at Lambert if it doesnt win such a contract.
Still, some of Boeings plans have come out publicly: It wants to lease about 158 acres from Lambert for its expansion. An aldermanic committee on Monday endorsed the lease, sending it to the full Board of Aldermen. Under the proposal, Boeing would pay at least $2.63 million a year for the lease. Nearly 110 acres in the lease are on the eastern end of the airport in Berkeley, and most of the remainder is on Lamberts northern end. The agreement also gives Boeing the option of leasing an additional 28 acres for about $369,000 a year.
If Boeing builds the expansion, the Ferguson-Florissant School District would get roughly $79 million over the decade, though it would get double if Boeing went forward with the plan without a tax break. The city of Berkeley would collect an estimated $18 million over the life of the agreement.
Boeings St. Louis operations employ the companys second-largest workforce after Washington state. It largely builds defense products in the St. Louis region, including the F-15, F/A-18 fighter jets, the T-7A trainer, and the MQ-25 refueling drone at sites in St. Louis County, St. Charles and Mascoutah.
But the Pentagon has been phasing out purchases of Boeings legacy fighters to focus on the next generation. Boeing is winding down the F/A-18 program, with new production ending in 2025 unless it receives more orders from the Indian navy.
The countys tax incentive plan includes a claw-back measure if Boeing doesnt keep the 500 new jobs and also at least 12,100 total jobs in the region over the plans lifespan.
Boeing has 16,000 employees here currently which could give the company room to lay off roughly 4,000 people and still qualify for the tax incentives.
Dunaway called that provision a slap in the face.
Theyre saying, Well bring 500 jobs but lose 4,000 others? That doesnt really feel like a perk, Dunaway said.
Boeing says it has committed $13 million in charitable giving to the region in the past year.
ST. LOUIS Officials are working to bring red-light cameras back to the city following a rough few years of reckless driving, red-light-running and high-profile deaths on St. Louis roads.
Mayor Tishaura O. Jones announced the plan alongside other officials at a press conference Monday morning.
Were looking forward to enhancing our traffic enforcement beyond traffic stops, she said.
The announcement marks officials latest push to reverse a troubling rise in traffic fatalities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Seventy-eight people were killed on city streets last year, the second-highest total in two decades.
These types of tragedies are preventable, said Aldermanic President Megan Green.
Officials have already ramped up some police patrols and budgeted tens of millions of dollars for road improvements. But they say they need more. The plan pitched Monday calls for red-light cameras at intersections and speed-tracking cameras on roadways.
A recent study of Chicagos program linked the cameras to significant reductions in dangerous T-bone crashes where a vehicle hits anothers side enough to outweigh a corresponding increase in rear-end collisions, which are generally less severe. The study also found that safety improved at intersections without cameras, suggesting a broader impact on driver behavior.
In New York, officials say speed cameras in school zones have reduced speeding by more than 63%, and injuries by 14%.
St. Louis, too, got safer a decade ago when it had red-light cameras installed, aides to Jones said: From 2007 to 2013, violations at certain intersections dropped by 63%.
Not everyone was in love with the plan. Attorney Bevis Schock, who led efforts to kill a previous iteration of red light cameras in the city, predicted their return would make little difference.
I dont think the people running all these red lights and causing all these problems are going to respond to finger-wagging letters telling them to pay $100, he said. This is ready, fire, aim.
Alderman Shane Cohn, of Dutchtown, is expected to introduce the bill at the Board of Aldermen this week, a little more than eight years after Missouri Supreme Court rulings severely restricted the use of red-light cameras here and across the state.
Under those decisions, the cameras have to take photos of drivers, not just their vehicles, as the city used to do. In one case, the court ruled that the old St. Louis ordinance improperly required defendants to prove they werent operating a vehicle at the time of the violation.
A draft of the upcoming bill outlines city officials solution: The cameras would no longer be an all-in-one enforcer snapping photos of license plates and sending fine letters to the addresses on file. Instead, they would function as a kind of alert system for police.
They would take pictures of potential violations as well as the drivers face and license plate numbers, then send them to officers. They would then evaluate the photos to determine whether a violation was actually committed and work to identify the driver through government records.
If the driver in the photos isnt the owner of the car, an officer might go through photos of relatives to find a match. If they cant find a match, then they cant issue a fine.
The bill also aims to blunt concerns that the camera system will unfairly burden minority and low-income drivers and that the fines will be used as revenue generators for the city.
Programs in Chicago and Washington, D.C., have come under scrutiny for those very reasons in recent years. And in St. Louis, a number of the streets with high crash totals are in majority-Black neighborhoods.
The bill here requires officials to consider equity and environmental factors in addition to crash and traffic violations data when deciding where to install cameras. It calls on the police department to produce annual assessments of the program, to include demographic data on who is being cited.
It also says that the money received from fines will not go to the citys general-use fund. Instead, it will be earmarked for covering the cost of administering the program for city police and courts and improving neighborhood streets and sidewalks.
Jones acknowledged concerns about potential inequity.
But we have to start somewhere, she said. And right now, we have a lot of people speeding and injuring people on our streets and driving recklessly. So we have to use this, as one tool in our tool belt, to address our traffic violations within our current law.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 13:16 | Japan, World, All
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida left for New York on Tuesday to deliver an address at the U.N. General Assembly, against the backdrop of a shaken global order amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's growing military assertiveness.
Kishida told reporters before departing from Tokyo that he is planning to hold a summit with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during his visit to New York, but also said he is not considering a bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"I will convey Japan's unique concepts, such as human security and human-centered international cooperation" to other countries, Kishida said, adding that he will seek to carry through the achievements of the Group of Seven summit in May in Hiroshima, which he hosted.
The latest gatherings come amid a growing perception that the United Nations has become increasingly dysfunctional in tackling international disputes, especially over the Ukraine war launched in February 2022 by Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the world body's Security Council.
In his address, Kishida is expected to demonstrate a vision for a world focused on collaboration rather than division and conflict, while emphasizing the importance of nuclear disarmament, Japanese government officials said.
During his stay in New York through Friday, Kishida is scheduled to participate in events focused on global issues, including achieving sustainable development goals and Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the officials said.
From Japan, Yoko Kamikawa, who last week became the country's first female foreign minister in around 20 years, is also visiting New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly, marking her debut as a top diplomat at a key international forum.
Kamikawa succeeded Yoshimasa Hayashi, a lawmaker some consider as having a pro-China stance, in a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday.
Related coverage:
Japan urges Iran not to provide Russia with weapons for Ukraine war
Iran will slow uranium program if int'l deal revived: nuclear chief
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court's decision siding with Black voters in an Alabama redistricting case gave Democrats and voting rights activists a surprising opportunity before the 2024 elections.
New congressional maps would have to include more districts in Alabama and potentially other states where Black voters would have a better chance of electing someone of their choice, a decision widely seen as benefiting Democrats.
It's been more than three months since the justice's 5-4 ruling, and maps that could produce more districts represented by Black lawmakers still do not exist.
Alabama Republicans are hoping to get a fresh hearing on the issue before the Supreme Court. Republican lawmakers in Louisiana never even bothered to draw a new map.
Khadidah Stone, a plaintiff in the Alabama case, said the continuing opposition was "appalling" but "not surprising." She noted that Alabama is where then-Gov. George Wallace blocked Black students from integrating the University of Alabama in 1963.
"There is a long history there of disobeying court orders to deny Black people our rights," she said.
A similar dynamic is playing out in Florida, where Republicans appealed a ruling favorable to Black voters to the Republican-majority state Supreme Court.
Lawsuits over racially gerrymandered congressional maps in several other states, including Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, quickly followed the Supreme Court's landmark Voting Rights Act decision in June. But the continued pushback from Republican legislatures in control of redistricting means there is great uncertainty about whether or how soon new maps offering equal representation for Black voters will be drawn.
Whether the Republican strategy proves to be a defiance of court orders that the Supreme Court will shoot down or a deft political move will be become clearer over the next month.
Shawn Donahue of the State University of New York at Buffalo, an expert on voting rights and redistricting, said the Supreme Court could put a quick end to the delays and "summarily affirm" the decision of a lower court panel that rejected the latest Alabama congressional map. That map continued to provide just one majority Black district out of seven in a state where Black residents comprise 27% of the population.
"You could have some of (the justices) just kind of say 'You know what, I didn't agree, but that's what the ruling was,'" Donahue said.
The Supreme Court also could agree to hear Alabama's challenge, bringing the state's redistricting plans back to the court less than a year after it rendered its opinion in the previous case.
Republicans want to keep their map in place as the state continues to fight the lower court ruling ordering them to create a second district where Black voters constitute a majority or close to it.
The state contends the Supreme Court set no such remedy and that the new map complies with the court's decision by fixing the problems it identified such as how the state's Black Belt region was split into multiple districts.
"A stay is warranted before voters are sorted into racially gerrymandered districts that are by their very nature odious," the state attorney general's office wrote in the stay request.
The stakes are high. With Republicans holding a slim majority in the U.S. House, the redistricting cases have the potential to switch control of the chamber next year.
Shortly after its decision in the Alabama case, the Supreme Court lifted its hold on a similar case from Louisiana, raising hopes among Democrats that the state would be forced to draw another Black majority congressional district.
But even if the court rejects Alabama's latest plan, it would not necessarily bring an instant end to the case in Louisiana, where U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick ruled that a second majority-Black district must be drawn.
Dick has three days of hearings scheduled to begin Oct. 3. But her initial order blocking the 2022 congressional map drawn by Louisiana's GOP-controlled Legislature which maintains white majorities in five of six districts in a state where about one-third of voters are Black remains on appeal. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is to hear arguments Oct. 6.
Louisiana's lawyers argue that the Black communities the plaintiffs and the district court seek to include in a second majority Black district are too far-flung, even under the Alabama precedent.
The high court's decision in the Alabama case "did not present a free pass to future plaintiffs to establish (Voting Rights Act) liability without proving that the relevant minority population is itself compact," Louisiana said in its argument.
The voting rights advocates suing the state argue that the plans they have suggested so far are "on average more compact" than the plan the state is trying to preserve.
Stuart Naifeh, a lawyer for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund who represents the plaintiffs, said in Louisiana that the court is considering the maps drawn by only the plaintiffs because the Legislature chose not to draw any. Louisiana state Rep. Sam Jenkins Jr., a Democrat, said he is optimistic now that the matter is in the courts.
"We had the opportunity to do the right thing, which would have been fair for all the people of Louisiana," he said. "I am disappointed that the court still has to come in and make our state do what is right."
Hunter Biden is indicted because he lied to the federal government in order to purchase a gun. If his father wasn't a rather prominent Democrat, he'd be a MAGA hero, a regular on Sean Hannity, and a keynote speaker at the Republican convention next summer.
Saudi Arabia, the EU (European Union) and the World Bank are all urging Israel to accept a peace deal with the Palestinians that includes an independent Palestinian state. None of these proposals address the Palestinian demands that Israel must be destroyed before there can be peace. Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza are the two Palestinian governments and disagree on many issues but both agree that Israel must be destroyed and Jews expelled from the region before there can be peace. In the meantime, Hamas and Fatah both encourage violence against Israelis and a growing number of Palestinians comply. Outsiders like the Saudis, EU and World Bank dismiss or trivialize the realities that Israel faces from Palestinian violence. They also assume that Hamas and Fatah can prevent their radical factions from violently disrupting any outside peace efforts. Some foreign donor nations, especially Moslem nations, are aware of the reality of the situation but keep silent. Contradicting the Saudis, EU and World Bank by pointing out the reality of the situation is ignored. What cannot be ignored by Israel is the growing Palestinian violence.
During the last six months there has been more violence in the West Bank that required Israel forces to deal with. At first it was armed Palestinian groups fighting each other for dominance while organizing attacks on Israelis or in Israel itself. This led to a degree of fighting in the West Bank not seen since 2021 may be the start of a new Palestinian offensive or intifada. This would be the third one. The first lasted from 1987 to 1993 while the second one was from 2000 to 2005.
Israel defeated the 2000 Intifada terror campaign by 2005. But as long as Palestinians had free access to Israel, Palestinian government (Fatah) urged and encouraged Palestinians to attempt attacks inside Israel. The Israelis responded with tighter border controls which kept the terrorist threat low in Israel. Fatah insisted they had a right to keep trying to kill Israelis and, for over a decade, Arab and Western nations kept providing aid to the West Bank and Gaza despite the fact that more and more of it was used to support and encourage more terrorism against Israel. Some Palestinian leaders tried to describe the violence as an effort to defend Islam. The Palestinians were not very religious and their violence against Israelis was justified by their belief that Israel must be destroyed and Israelis driven from the region.
There were other problems, mainly involving corruption. This has led more donor states, Moslem and non-Moslem, to openly complain of Fatah misuse of aid money. Fatah denied it and continued their corrupt ways. The donors cut their aid, often to nothing. It was not just the Fatah support of terrorism but the growing Fatah corruption which meant a lot of the aid was stolen to enrich Fatah leaders. Palestinians also opposed the Fatah policy and Fatah was forced to tolerate more and more Palestinians renouncing terror to pass the background check and work in Israel. West Bank Palestinian jobs in Israel have become a crucial part of the West Bank economy even more so than they were back in 2000.
The post-2000 ban on Palestinian workers was unpopular with many Israeli employers, but the threat was so great that Israeli employers had to pay more to import and hire non-Moslem foreigners for as long as there was a threat that Palestinian workers were likely to try and kill Israelis. Both Israel and the former or potential Palestinian workers knew that a growing number of those Palestinian workers could be trusted to work in Israel. Those who violated that trust faced prison or worse if they played any part in an attack. Anyone associated with these untrustworthy Palestinians had a more difficult time getting permits to work in Israel. The growth in the number of trustworthy Palestinian workers was something neither Israel nor Fatah wanted to publicize lest the Islamic radicals declare war on Palestinians working or seeking to work in Israel. This might trigger a civil war in the West Bank, something Fatah did not want but the radicals were less opposed to. There are Palestinian factions that believe chaos in the West Bank would spread to Israel and weaken Israeli power. This is a minority belief that ignores the Israeli ability to organize effective responses to Palestinian violence. Life inside Israel is peaceful, most Palestinians wish they had a similar situation, and they would be correct if not for the endless supply of radical factions insisting violence is the solution.
For example, Hamas does not care about any form of collateral damage from forcing Palestinians working in Israel to cooperate with terrorists. Most Palestinians recognize that Hamas is hard-core about attacking Israel, which is why Hamas has had a hard time gaining political traction in the West Bank. Palestinians know that Hamas policies produce more poverty and casualties for Palestinians. The only thing that got Hamas control of Gaza during the last Palestinian elections in 2007 was the belief that Hamas would be less corrupt than Fatah. That was true in 2007 but became less so ever since. Hamas forbids working in Israel and punishes anyone who protests about Hamas corruption.
West Bank violence between Palestinians and Israelis living in the many Jewish settlements has been on the increase for over a decade. The upsurge in violence is the result of the Palestinian leadership calling for another intifada (uprising) in 2013. This was a side-effect of the rebellion in Syria and the Arab Spring in general. While some Palestinian leaders call for another uprising (intifada), most Palestinians, especially the older ones (over 30), fear the economic consequences of that and warn the pro-intifada radicals that there is not a lot of popular support for another round of violence. Israel has shown they know how to handle this at little cost to themselves and great cost to the Palestinians.
All this is complicated by persistent American efforts to achieve a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinian peace talks never made much progress. The talks were held at the insistence of the U.S., which threatened to cut aid if the talks did not happen. American leaders are aware of Palestinian attitudes on peace with Israel but the U.S. still assumes that a peace deal is possible if you keep trying. Thats one definition of insanity, continuing to make the same policies work and failing. For years Palestinian leaders have agreed with give peace talks a chance approach when speaking to Western leaders and reporters but they then turn around and tell their followers that, of course, Israel must be destroyed and that there is no other solution.
For most Western leaders the disunity, corruption and general chaos within the Palestinian community is seen as a larger problem than a peace deal. That may be true, but without a positive attitude towards a peace deal, there wont be any peace. Despite all this, for over a decade many Palestinians have been talking about a Third Intifada as if more civil disorder will change anything. Peace is not on the agenda. Most Israelis and Americans agree. Even without a new intifada, casual violence in the West Bank kept increasing. This usually takes the form of young men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers or civilians. Israeli women and children are the preferred targets because they are the least likely to shoot back if the rocks begin to inflict injuries. Palestinian propaganda praises those who kill children just as much as those who killed soldiers or police. All are heroes of the Palestinian struggle to destroy Israel. This is becoming embarrassing for some Western nations when it was pointed out that their aid money was being used directly for some of this propaganda.
The recent West Bank violence was the result of Israeli security forces shutting down a major Palestinian effort to recruit, train and arm hundreds of Palestinians to carry out attacks against Israelis living in the West Bank as well as in Jerusalem and Israel in general. The Palestinian terrorism operation was real as Israeli troops encountered armed resistance as they approached locations where weapons and munitions were stored, and newly recruited Palestinians were trained and armed. These operations were shut down, but only after fighting between Israeli troops and armed Palestinians. Once the fighting is over the weapons and munitions are disposed of and the Israeli troops withdraw, taking Palestinian suspects with them. Israeli troops are wounded and at least one has been killed in these operations. This sort of thing had not been seen in the West Bank since 2002. Until recently Palestinian security forces kept the peace in the West Bank. The current growth of terrorist activity in the West Bank can be attributed to Gaza-based and Iran-supported terror group Hamas. There have been increasing Hamas efforts to establish operations in the West Bank. Most West Bank Palestinians want no part of this because similar activity in Gaza has brought nothing but poverty and trouble to the Palestinians living there.
The disruptive impact of small groups of radicals is a long tradition in the Middle East, especially after Islam was introduced over a thousand years ago. Islam is the only major religion whose scripture mandates continuous violence against infidels (non-believers). The Islamic scriptures make it clear that the mere existence of infidels is a threat to Islam and these infidels must be attacked, no matter what the cost. Most Moslems ignore this aspect of their religion, at the risk of being declared a heretic if conservative Moslems near them decide to get violent and go jihad (war on) against any Infidels within reach. Many Moslems, including Gulf oil state Arab governments are openly seeking a way to reform Islam and eliminate this flaw which has been crippling Islam and killing Moslems for over a thousand years. This is a serious effort and one reason for making peace with Israel. The Islamic militants in Gaza and the West Bank oppose efforts to give peace a chance.
September 16, 2023: There 15.7 million Jews worldwide, with 7.2 million in Israel. This is nearly half the worldwide population. Most, j.2 million, of the 8.5 million Jews outside of Israel are in the United States. In the Middle East Israel has established peaceful relationships with a growing number of Moslem nations. Israel has long possessed the most dynamic and prosperous economy in the region. Israel also maintains the most powerful military in the region. Israel is the only nation in the region with nuclear weapons and the ability to deliver them via ballistic missiles or submarine launched cruise missiles. Most Arab states see Israel as a useful ally against the growing Iranian threat. The primary exception to this trend is the Palestinians, who believe that peace with Israel is no longer an option and that Israel had to be destroyed. But, to keep the foreign aid coming, mostly from the West, non-Arab media are told that peace negotiations with Israel will continue. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators go through the motions of agreeing to seek a peace treaty. It is official, and well publicized, Palestinian policy to use such negotiations to weaken and ultimately destroy Israel, not to achieve any real peace. The U.S. insists that talks take place periodically anyway and threatens to withhold substantial foreign aid from both Israel and Palestinians if negotiations do not happen every few years. In 2017 the U.S. said they were out of patience and told the Palestinians they either make a peace deal or see most of their foreign aid disappear. The aid had already been shrinking. That plus the Americans moved their Israel embassy to Jerusalem. Only four other nations have their embassies in Jerusalem while, while most nations will not defy Arab opposition to foreign embassies to Israel moving to Jerusalem and keep them in Tel Aviv, the Israeli capital since the 1960s. In 1980 Israel passed a law that confirmed Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Palestinians also claim Jerusalem as the capital of their non-existent state. Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and was founded over 4,000 years ago by the common ancestors of Arabs and Jews. Palestinians ignore that common origin and insist Jews are alien invaders. Foreign empires, mainly Persian (Iranian) or Egyptian (Arab), tried to deport the Jews from Israel to what is now Iraq or Egypt. Most of these exiles maintained their Jewish identity and returned to Jerusalem and Israel.
Palestinians deny this history of Jews in the area and were by decades of support from other Arab countries. While the Arabs have never been able to defeat Israel militarily they have achieved more success spending billions to turn Western public opinion against Jews in general and Israel in particular. Recent opinion surveys indicate that Palestinian propaganda has convinced hundreds of millions people worldwide that Israelis are the new Nazis because they refuse to give in to the demands of the Palestinians for a separate Palestinian state in the region. What Palestinian leaders and Palestinian media tell Palestinians is that Israel must be destroyed. Palestinians are more moderate in non-Arabic media where they settle for coexistence. Most foreigners ignore the Palestinian Israel must be destroyed attitude and turn to their traditional anti-Semitism. This is a problem because that anti-Semitism is violently practiced by the rapidly growing Moslem population in Europe against a rapidly shrinking Jewish population. But back in the Middle East the attitude shifts have gone against the Palestinians.
As a result of all this more and more Israelis are calling for everyone to agree that efforts to implement a two-state solution did not work. This disappoints many because in the early 1990s there was a lot more optimism. Back then the humiliation suffered by Yasser Arafat and his PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) at the hands of Israelis in Lebanon during Operation "Peace for Galilee" in 1982 effectively ejected Arafat's armed group from the country and went a long way towards paving the way for negotiations and the Oslo Accords in 1993. This ended the PLO's armed campaign and began years of futile peace talks. Instead of a separate Palestinian state many Israelis wanted Jordan to take back the West Bank and Egypt to take back Gaza. Neither Jordan nor Egypt wanted the Palestinians, who have, since 1993, demonstrated an inability to govern themselves and alienated a growing number of their Arab supporters.
The Palestinian efforts to destroy Israel have backfired in a big way and now the two organizations that control the Palestinians (Fatah in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza) are losing the financial and diplomatic support they have enjoyed for over half a century. The cause of this calamity is the inability of the Palestinians to form a united and effective government. Instead, they have suffered under decades of corrupt and ineffective leaders that led, in 2005, to a split with Islamic radicals (Hamas) taking control of Gaza while Fatah continued to rule the West Bank. Both factions agree on a few things; Israel must be destroyed and violence is justified to get it done. Fatah was more willing to pretend it would negotiate a peace deal with Israel but has proved to be as intransigent as Hamas about actually doing so. Fatah now openly admits it shares the Hamas attitude that peace is not possible with Israel and the only solution is the destruction of Israel. Despite many opportunities to negotiate a peaceful solution, the radical Arab factions intervene. The Palestinian policy seems to be; never miss and opportunity to miss an opportunity. All societies have a radical faction that demands unworkable solutions. The radicals must be controlled before solutions can be achieved. Israel has radicals that want to expel Arabs in Israel and annex most of the West Bank. Israel ignores their radicals while Palestinians submit to the demands of their radicals.
The Palestinian problem was invented by Arab countries when Israel declared independence in 1948. Arab nations refused to accept that and absorb the many Moslems who fled from the newly created Israel on the promise of the Arab nations soon mobilizing sufficient military strength to destroy Israel, drive the Jews out and allow the refugees to return home. That never happened and it was quickly recognized that there was a serious refugee problem. The UN established a program to take care of these refugees but in a very unusual move the 750,000 original and later called Palestinian. refugees were allowed to pass on their refugee status to their children. No other refugee group was allowed to do that by the UN and now there are calls from major donor nations, especially the U.S., which has paid for most of that special treatment from the beginning, to rescind that rule. About the same number of Jews were driven out of Moslem countries after 1948 and they were all accepted and absorbed by other nations, mainly Israel and the U.S. Since 1947 the number of Palestinian refugees has grown to five million and Arab states continue to refuse to absorb them. Many Palestinians have managed to find acceptance and citizenship in other nations, especially those that are not Moslem majority ones. Despite that, few Palestinians have renounced their right to be hereditary refugees. This situation was all about Arabs believing they had the right to decide who can live in Moslem territories and for them Israel was a major offense. This is nothing new. Moslems had been driving infidels out of Islamic nations for a long time. This has not worked with Israel and the Moslem world in general takes this as a great offense. That was the attitude for many decades but nothing changed. In the 1960s those Arab refugees rebranded themselves as Palestinians and began seeking what their Arab sponsors had promised them, a home of their own.
Since 2005 the Arab donors have become increasingly disenchanted with the Palestinians. Even by Middle Eastern standards the corruption, ineffective government, ingratitude and double dealing of the Palestinians had become intolerable. The Palestinians ignored years of warnings from their Arab backers after they failed to maintain a united Palestinian government. This wasted a lot of the Arab aid money and the corruption among Palestinian politicians became too obvious, excessive and embarrassing even for Arab backers, who had their own problems with corruption. This was compounded by the Palestinian inability to make peace with the Israelis, who had made lasting deals with Jordan and Egypt and unofficial ones with a growing number of other Arab states. Worse, the Palestinians were saying to their own people, and the Arab world, that they had no intention of making peace and were dedicated to destroying Israel. This was only said in Arabic and it was only a matter of time before these print, radio and TV pronouncements were translated and became known to the rest of the world. During the last decade it has become common knowledge in non-Moslem states. The result is that now the Palestinians have few friends in the West except for anti-Semites and some leftist groups. Worse, there is less foreign aid, which is all that kept the Palestinian scams going. At this point the Palestinians have run out of affluent donors who are willing to give. The Palestinian leaders who ran this scam for decades have no easy or safe, for themselves, way to change tactics without admitting responsibility for the mess. It used to be said that the Palestinian situation could not get worse but Palestinian leaders regularly defied that prediction and found a way to make things worse in ways no one expected.
September 13, 2023: In Gaza six Palestinians were killed while trying to place a bomb next to the Gaza side of the border fence. The explosion wounded 25 Gaza civilians. Apparently the bomb detonated prematurely. Gazans have been once more holding demonstrations along the fence, this time to mark the 19th year since Israel withdrew all its troops from Gaza. Radical group Hamas soon took control of Gaza and called for actions to attack and destroy Israel. The fence then went up and was guarded by Israeli forces.
In Syria, Israeli air strikes hit air defense systems in the north (Tartus) that killed two Syrian soldiers. Later in the day another attack hit military targets in the north (Hama.)
September 12, 2023: An August 7 Israeli air strike near Damascus apparently killed a Syrian army officer who was working on a project that would enable Hezbollah in Lebanon to launch another missile attack into Israel using some new Iranian technology. Israel is generally successful in detecting and launching airstrikes on Iranian weapons shipments into Syria or moving through Syria to Lebanon. Iranian technology transfers to Syria or Hezbollah are more difficult to detect, which is why Israel launches air strikes in Syria against any sight where new Iranian tech is being installed. Syria has several military bases where such work is carried out and Israel attacks these bases whenever they suspect something is going on.
September 11, 2023: In the West Bank several Israeli raids to arrest terrorism suspects ran into resistance, the arrests were made but there was some armed resistance and two locals were killed and several wounded.
September 9, 2023: In the West Bank a Palestinian threw a fire bomb at some Israel soldiers, who fired back and killed the attacker. None of the soldiers were hurt.
September 5, 2023: In the West Bank, an Israeli raid to arrest Palestinians suspected to terrorist activity ran into some armed opposition and one Palestinian was killed while 17 were arrested.
September 1, 2023: In Lebanon (Beirut) Iranian officials met with Lebanese and Hezbollah leaders about supplying these groups with more weapons and UAVs to be used against Israel as well as opponents in Lebanon and Syria. Israel regularly locates and uses air strikes to attack Iranian weapons moved into Syria and Lebanon. Iran also wants to arm Palestinian militias in the West Bank so they can take on Israeli forces.
August 31, 2023: In the West Bank, an Israeli raid to seize weapons and locally made bombs ran into some resistance. One Palestinian opened fire and was killed. At least seven Palestinians were arrested and numerous weapons and munitions seized.
August 30, 2023: In the West Bank, a Palestinian driver ran his car into some Israeli soldiers. The Israelis fired on the car, wounding the driver before arresting him. One Israeli soldier was killed.
August 28, 2023: In northern Syria (Aleppo) an Israeli airstrike damaged airport facilities and halted flight activities for at least two days as repairs were made. Attacks on commercial airports are seen as a way to halt or slow down Iranian use of commercial air transports to deliver high-tech weapons to Syria. These airstrikes are delivered by Israeli warplanes operating off the coast and firing high-speed air-to-ground missiles at the airports.
August 20, 2023: Israel, South Korea and the United States were all actively seeking a suitable replacement for the thousands of M113 APCs (armored personnel carriers) each used. All three nations still use lots of M113s. About 10,000 M113s are still in use worldwide and the U.S., South Korea and Israel account for more than half of them. Everyone wanted a more effective but still affordable replacement. The U.S. settled on a support version of the M2 IFV. South Korea developed the K21 to replace the M113 in combat and the 16-ton 6x6 K806 to replace the M113 for non-IFV functions. A larger version of this vehicle, the 8x8 K808 is similar to the American Stryker. The U.S. considered a Stryker variant as a M-113 replacement but found that this vehicle could not keep up with M1 tanks and M2 IFV while traveling cross-country in a combat situation. Since AMPVs will comprise about 30 percent of the armored vehicles in an armored brigade that became the deciding factor for the AMPV.
In 2016 Israel selected the Eitan, an 8x8 wheeled APC. Eitan relies on new technologies to keep its weight under 35 tons and eliminate the cost to build and maintain tracked vehicle technology. Eitan also provides an affordable, well protected and more reliable APC than heavier and more expensive proposals. The Eitan used new types of lightweight armor and the Trophy APS (Active Protection System) for defense against RPGs (an unguided rocket propelled grenade fired from a metal tube balanced on the shoulder) and ATGMs (Anti-Tank Guided Missile). New mechanical and electronic technologies enable the Eitan to handle off-road movement as well as a tracked vehicle. That concept had to be field tested extensively, which is why Israel first built Eitan prototypes to test mobility, protection and general usefulness. Eitan passed those tests. The new lightweight armor designs and Trophy have already been tested in combat. Trophy was first used in combat during 2011 and several times since. It has worked consistently. APS consists of a radar to detect incoming missiles and small rockets to rush out and deal with the incoming threat. A complete system weighs about a ton. Eitan will have a remotely (from inside the vehicle) controlled 30mm or 40mm autocannon and carry a crew of two and twelve passengers. The Eitan will mainly replace Israeli M113s by the end of the 2020s and cost about 20 percent less than the AMPV.
AVIA's newest AI-focused initiative aims to share practical application of AI to better inform - and transform - the healthcare industry
CHICAGO, IL / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / AVIA , the nation's leading market intelligence and advisory services firm advancing digital transformation in healthcare, announced the launch of AVIA AI Labs , an ambitious initiative aimed at harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide practical examples of its transformative capabilities to the broader healthcare industry. This pioneering endeavor builds on AVIA's commitment to innovation and collaboration, as seen in its recently launched national Generative AI Collaborative .
AVIA AI Labs will focus on developing and testing AI-driven experiments - aimed at accelerating learning and providing valuable insights to health system leaders and the solution companies partnering with them - and releasing those that show promise into the market.
AVIA AI Labs' trailblazing efforts have already resulted in the development of three distinct AI tools, with the first being an AI co-pilot for healthcare leaders at smaller systems to quickly leverage the wealth of AVIA's extensive knowledge base. The co-pilot - using AI - combines more than a decade of learnings from AVIA's experts, its network, and AVIA Marketplace to provide health system leaders important, targeted insights they can use to bolster the development and execution of digital transformation strategies. The co-pilot is presently in beta testing and will be available later this year.
"AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare, and at AVIA, we're committed to being at the forefront of this transformation," said Linda Finkel, CEO of AVIA. "With AVIA AI Labs, we're not only leveraging AI to help healthcare leaders make more informed decisions, improve efficiency, and ultimately provide better care, but also to enhance our own operations in the ways we recommend to our network."
Alongside its AI co-pilot, the lab is launching two additional market-facing experiments: an AI-powered Tools Library and an AI-driven Email Report Card . Both tools are designed to optimize digital strategy by generating compelling content and providing insights to boost engagement and effectiveness.
Aaron Diestelkamp, Head of Engineering and Chief of Technology for AVIA AI Labs, recognized the vital role of the AVIA team in this process. "Through AI Labs we foster a space where our team can approach AI advancements with curiosity and creativity, transforming these tools into empowering solutions."
In a unique move for the industry, AVIA also plans to provide AI training to all of its employees. This commitment to internal capability development is matched by a focus on sharing insights and experience with the wider industry.
"With AVIA AI Labs, our goal is to make AI more accessible to healthcare leaders," said Zak Randall, Vice President of the AVIA Marketplace and Head of AVIA AI Labs. "We're dedicated to not just developing AI solutions, but also to sharing our journey-our learnings, tools, and strategies-in order to help the healthcare industry navigate the complex landscape of AI integration."
AVIA has a long-standing commitment to digital transformation in healthcare. Their AVIA Marketplace is the industry's leading platform for healthcare leaders to research, evaluate, and select digital health solutions. AVIA AI Labs underscores this commitment and positions the company as a thought leader in the application of AI in healthcare.
The launch of AVIA AI Labs follows the successful inauguration of AVIA's Generative AI Collaborative , which brings together over 219 hospitals and health systems, key industry associations, and government leaders to address healthcare's biggest strategic challenges through the use of AI.
Sign up for updates on AVIA's AI-driven projects and their impact on the healthcare industry.
For more information, please visit ai.aviahealth.com or contact [email protected] .
About AVIA
AVIA advances digital transformation in healthcare through leading market intelligence, performance analytics, and advisory services that accelerate time-to-value on operational, clinical, and consumer strategies deployed at health systems. With a national network of 60 health systems, relationships with thousands of digital health companies, and more than a decade of digital health experience, AVIA ensures greater speed, fewer risks, and lower costs of digital transformation. Learn more about AVIA and AVIA Marketplace, the industry's premier marketplace for healthcare leaders to research, evaluate, and select digital health solutions, at aviahealthinnovation.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Media Contact
Ashley Richardson
Aria Marketing for AVIA
[email protected]
850-346-4145
SOURCE: AVIA
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Covia
On September 6th, Covia held our annual Safety Day at all our locations, which is designed to raise awareness among our Team Members about critical safety and health issues. This year's theme is "Emergency Preparedness." This is an area we must continue to focus on to ensure that Covia Team Members are exceptionally well prepared to respond to an emergency, whether it's work-related or not. In addition to hands-on activities, Andy O'Brien, Covia's Vice President of Safety & Health, hosted a virtual session that focused on our key Safety and Health metrics and goals. He reviewed Covia's safety performance on Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR). In addition, Andy shared information on how we continue to implement programs that promote S&H awareness and education. These include regional S&H workshops and boot camps, as well as predictive decision-making tools.
The following are just a few examples of how Covia's plants raised awareness during Safety Day 2023.
Roff, Oklahoma Plant
Roff, Oklahoma is located in Pontotoc County along State Highway 1. The area is mostly flat plains and sits right in the middle of Tornado Alley! As such, the topic of emergency preparedness is particularly relevant to the facility. Therefore, the team focused on staging areas, tornado shelter locations, verification of who is on site once at the staging area, and communication. This is especially important because the Roff plant operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama Plant
Covia's Tuscaloosa plant is conveniently located close to a rail line. However, it also poses a challenge because the railroad crosses the plant's entrance and exit. As a result, Team Members focused on evacuation in the event that a train were to block their way out. They practiced several different scenarios. These scenarios required Team Members to find different ways to exit the facility. Team Members also walked the entire site, looking for potential hazards and ensuring they were addressed. To ensure the highest level of safety, the team made notes or comments when maintenance or upgrades were needed.
Lugoff, South Carolina
Team Members at Covia's Lugoff facility hosted a safety simulation. The scenario was a Team Member being electrocuted by contact with a live wire. The Team Members were tasked with assessing the situation and determining the immediate next steps to get the injured person to safety. In addition, the team conducted a tornado drill to ensure that Team Members would be able to get to the group assembly area in a safe and timely manner.
Fostering a safe work environment is paramount to everything we do. From our plants to our office locations, safety is critical for the well-being of not just our Team Members, but our customers, communities, and the environment. For more information about Covia's Safety and Health commitments, visit our 2022 ESG Report.
Live wire simulation at Covia's Camden Plant
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Covia on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Covia
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/covia
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE: Covia
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The Food Processing Industry Distributor Shares EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment Results
MARSHFIELD, WI / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Nelson-Jameson, a leading distributor in the food processing industry, announces additional investment in its corporate sustainability practices. The organization has set targets for its Environmental, Sustainability, and Governance (ESG) framework, and measures progress on a comprehensive, cross-category internal scorecard. Additionally, the company has completed the third-party EcoVadis sustainability assessment for the past two years and announced a 34% increase in its total year-over-year sustainability score.
Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson
Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson
For decades, Nelson-Jameson has operated as a golden-rule company, defined as a focus on maintaining a culture of honesty, integrity, and kindness, and a commitment to operating in an ethical manner with respect for people, the community, and the environment. Its further investment in ESG goals is an extension of its long-standing cultural ethos.
"Nelson-Jameson has a long history of industry leadership in stewardship and community best practices," says Mat Bartkowiak, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Development at Nelson-Jameson. "ESG goals are embedded in every aspect of our operations, and we're proud to see our progress in year-over-year results from the EcoVadis Business Sustainability Index."
EcoVadis, known as the world's largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings globally, has established a network of more than 100,000 rated companies of all sizes. Companies proactively choose to participate in its Business Sustainability Index, and receive a total score as measured against all rated organizations, and individual sub-scores that measure ratings as compared to peers and competitors. Nelson-Jameson received a total score of 47 this year, which is on par with the global average rating of all measured companies at 50.3. In sub-categories, Nelson-Jameson ranked higher than average in both Ethics and Labor and Human Rights (a score of 60 for each).
Internally, Nelson-Jameson has outlined measurable, tangible goals in categories such as greenhouse gas reduction, sustainable supplier sourcing, and community investment. The company plans to participate in the EcoVadis Business Sustainability Index assessment on an annual basis.
Nelson-Jameson plans to release its ESG annual report in January. By sharing the company's progress annually, NJ highlights its commitment to furthering its ESG goals which encompass everything from food safety and quality to sustainable supplier practices.
More information on the company can be found at https://nelsonjameson.com.
About Nelson-Jameson
Nelson-Jameson is a fourth-generation, family-owned distributor to the food and beverage industry. From the company's roots in dairy production supplies, it grew to offer a broad range of food processing equipment and services that provide customers with everything they need to manufacture safe, high-quality products. Representing over 850 vendors and distributing over 60,000 products, Nelson-Jameson offers everything from standard equipment to custom production solutions and equipment repair. The company employs more than 260 people in five distribution centers across the United States and at its headquarters in the heart of dairy country in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The dairy industry leader also operates NEXT Logistics, offering delivery services from Wisconsin, California, Idaho, Pennsylvania, and Texas distribution centers.
For more than 75 years, Nelson-Jameson has supported food and dairy processors with products and solutions that keep pace with changing consumer tastes, manufacturing processes, and distribution channels. The company continues to be the supplier of choice for customers in all 50 states and international markets.
Contact Information
Karolyn Raphael
PR for Nelson-Jameson
[email protected]
312-494-0422
SOURCE: Nelson-Jameson, Inc.
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NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO THE U.S. NEWSWIRE OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
REGINA, SK / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / ROK Resources Inc. ("ROK" or the "Company") (TSXV:ROK)(TSXV.ROK.WT)(OTCQB: ROKRF) is pleased to provide an operations update for phase one of its Southeast Saskatchewan drilling program, consisting of 5 gross (4.9 net) operated wells. The Company will initiate the second phase of its drilling program in early October, which will include 5 gross (4.42 net) operated wells in Southeast Saskatchewan and 1 gross (0.3 net) non-operated well in Kaybob Alberta.
The Company remains focused on increasing free cash flow through organic growth and the development of its vast light oil resources in Saskatchewan and Alberta. The Company will report the results of the second phase of its drilling program as it becomes available in Q4 2023.
Operational Highlights
Phase One Drilling Program Complete : Successfully drilled 5 gross (4.9 net) operated wells in Southeast Saskatchewan, targeting Mississippian light oil with 100% success rate.
: Successfully drilled 5 gross (4.9 net) operated wells in Southeast Saskatchewan, targeting Mississippian light oil with 100% success rate. Production of 3,900 boepd: Current estimated field production of 3,900 boepd (65% Oil and NGLs), which represents an increase of 18% compared to Q2 2023 average of 3,297 boepd. This does not include 200 boepd (80% natural gas) at Kaybob Alberta, which is currently down on gas plant turnaround and expected to be on-stream in early October. Nor does this figure include 2 wells, as described below, that are awaiting tie-in. The Company continues to target a 2023 exit production rate of 4,500 boepd.
Current estimated field production of 3,900 boepd (65% Oil and NGLs), which represents an increase of 18% compared to Q2 2023 average of 3,297 boepd. This does not include 200 boepd (80% natural gas) at Kaybob Alberta, which is currently down on gas plant turnaround and expected to be on-stream in early October. Nor does this figure include 2 wells, as described below, that are awaiting tie-in. The Company continues to target a 2023 exit production rate of 4,500 boepd. Two Wells Awaiting Complete and Tie-In: Of the 5 gross wells drilled, only 3 gross wells are currently on-stream, with the remaining 2 gross wells expected to be on production within the next couple of weeks.
Of the 5 gross wells drilled, only 3 gross wells are currently on-stream, with the remaining 2 gross wells expected to be on production within the next couple of weeks. Type Curve Economics: On average, the 3 new gross wells are on trend to exceed IP30 type curves by approximately 30%.
On average, the 3 new gross wells are on trend to exceed IP30 type curves by approximately 30%. Capital Expenditures : Estimated capital expenditures of $13 million, which puts the Company in-line with 2023 budget guidance of $30 million.
: Estimated capital expenditures of $13 million, which puts the Company in-line with 2023 budget guidance of $30 million. Net Debt: The Company remains in-line with estimated 2023 exit net debt of $16 - $17 million, before inclusion of any mark-to market fair value of any existing Company hedge positions.
New production volumes from the phase one drilling program remain unhedged and will receive market commodity pricing through the balance of 2023.
Appointment of President
The Company is pleased to announce that Bryden Wright, currently the Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed to the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Wright, a senior executive with the Company since inception, will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Company and report to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cameron Taylor.
"With 16 years of industry experience Mr. Wright has established himself as a leader in the Western Canadian Basin. ROK will continue to rely upon Mr. Wright and his team to guide responsible economic growth and deliver on our long-term strategy to bring value to all stakeholders" said Cameron Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ROK.
Lithium Update
The Company, as a twenty-five (25%) percent shareholder and manager of technical operations of Hub City Lithium Corp. ("Hub City Lithium"), anticipates the release of the Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") in mid-Q4 2023. The Company, along with its partners at EMP Metals Inc., are continuing to work with targeted direct lithium extraction and downstream refining providers to position Hub City Lithium as an industry leader in the emerging lithium brine industry.
Securities Marketing Agreement
The Company announces that it has entered into a securities marketing agreement with Phil Heinrich for a three-month term. The Company will pay Mr. Heinrich a total of $5,000 per month during the term of the agreement.
Mr. Heinrich will provide securities marketing services with the objective of increasing the Company's reach within the investment community. There are no performance factors contained within the agreement. Mr. Heinrich and the Company are unrelated and unaffiliated. However, Mr. Heinrich and/or his clients may have an interest, directly or indirectly, in the securities of the Company.
About ROK
ROK is primarily engaged in exploring for petroleum and natural gas development activities within the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. It has offices located in both Regina, Saskatchewan, and Calgary, Alberta. ROK's common shares are traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol "ROK".
For further information, please contact:
Cameron Taylor, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Bryden Wright, President and Chief Operating Officer
Jared Lukomski, Senior Vice President, Land & Business Development
Lynn Chapman, Chief Financial Officer
Phone: (306) 522-0011
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.rokresources.ca
Non-IFRS Measures
The non-IFRS measures referred to above do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and, therefore, may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Management uses this non-IFRS measurement to provide its shareholders and investors with a measurement of the Company's financial performance and are not intended to represent operating profits nor should they be viewed as an alternative to cash provided by operating activities, net income or other measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with IFRS. The reader is cautioned that these amounts may not be directly comparable to measures for other companies where similar terminology is used. "Net Debt" includes all indebtedness of the Company, such as the Term Loan, Credit Facility, and Senior Loan Facility (as defined within the Company's interim condensed and annual financial statements), net of Adjusted Working Capital. "Adjusted Working Capital" is calculated as current assets less current liabilities, excluding current portion of debt as presented on the Company's statement of financial position within the Company's interim condensed and annual financial statements.
Conversion Measures
Production volumes and reserves are commonly expressed on a barrel of oil equivalent ("boe") basis whereby natural gas volumes are converted at the ratio of 6 thousand cubic feet ("Mcf") to 1 barrel of oil ("bbl"). Although the intention is to sum oil and natural gas measurement units into one basis for improved analysis of results and comparisons with other industry participants, boe's may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf to 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. In recent years, the value ratio based on the price of crude oil as compared to natural gas has been significantly higher than the energy equivalency of 6:1 and utilizing a conversion of natural gas volumes on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value.
Abbreviations
bbls/d barrels per day boe barrels of oil equivalent boepd barrels oil equivalent per day IP Initial Production NGLs Natural Gas Liquids Mboe Mg/l Thousands of barrels of oil equivalent Milligrams per Litre MMboe Millions of barrels of oil equivalent PDP Proved Developed Producing TP Total Proved Reserves TPP Total Proved and Probable Reserves IFRS International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board WTI West Texas Intermediate, the reference price paid in U.S. dollars at Cushing, Oklahoma for the crude oil standard grade
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the Company's objectives, goals, or future plans and the expected results thereof. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include but are not limited to general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental, and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; delay or failure to receive board, shareholder or regulatory approvals; those additional risks set out in ROK's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca; and other matters discussed in this news release. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether because of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility of the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE: ROK Resources Inc.
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RALEIGH, NC / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Newswire, an industry leader in press release distribution services, including content production, strategy, planning, and media technology, has been helping small businesses around the globe share their news for nearly 20 years.
Through its press release distribution services, small businesses are partnering with Newswire to build brand awareness, attract website traffic, expand reach, generate leads, and increase sales.
"For small businesses, getting attention can feel like an uphill battle. That's why we've developed press release distribution services that help these companies amplify their messaging and secure market share," said Jennifer Hammers, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Issuer Direct.
Newswire offers several brand-building services including:
Press Release Distribution - Newswire offers the most expansive distribution options with 10 channels to choose from including Digital, Digital Plus, State, National, Financial, Canada, United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Global.
Newswire offers the most expansive distribution options with 10 channels to choose from including Digital, Digital Plus, State, National, Financial, Canada, United Kingdom, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Global. Press Release Optimizer (PRO) - This program helps companies develop newsworthy content and connect with the media to create the visibility brands need to gain an edge over their competition. There are three tiers of the PRO plan: Content PRO provides support in planning and crafting messaging. Media PRO is like having a veteran media strategist on your team who helps you get more visibility through media outreach. Total PRO provides both content and media support.
- This program helps companies develop newsworthy content and connect with the media to create the visibility brands need to gain an edge over their competition. There are three tiers of the PRO plan: Media Database - A subscription to Newswire's Media Database gives companies instant access to its comprehensive repository of media contacts that's updated in real-time through a blend of technology and human-centered review.
- A subscription to Newswire's Media Database gives companies instant access to its comprehensive repository of media contacts that's updated in real-time through a blend of technology and human-centered review. Media Monitoring - Track important news, measure author sentiment, and stay on top of industry trends with Newswire's Media Monitoring technology.
- Track important news, measure author sentiment, and stay on top of industry trends with Newswire's Media Monitoring technology. Analytics - Report campaign metrics, analyze key channels, and easily calculate media value with Newswire's Analytics software.
- Report campaign metrics, analyze key channels, and easily calculate media value with Newswire's Analytics software. Newsrooms - Brands can showcase their press releases, news, and social media content in a secure and customizable newsroom.
"Small businesses have stories to tell and press releases are an effective way to share them," added Hammers. "Our innovative approach to press release distribution is reinventing the way companies build brand awareness and grow their businesses."
To learn more about how Newswire's integrated solutions are helping small businesses grow their audience, expand their reach, and implement an effective go-to-market strategy, visit Newswire.com today.
About Newswire
Newswire is a media technology company that provides its clients with the Press Release Optimizer, which consists of press release distribution, media databases, media monitoring, and online media rooms that power the Media Advantage: greater brand awareness through earned media, increased online visibility through content strategy and planning as well as greater SEO recognition.
Through its disruptive Press Release Optimizer, relentless commitment to customer satisfaction, and passion for customer performance, Newswire is automating media and marketing communications for large and small businesses seeking to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time for the right purpose.
To learn more about Newswire and its Press Release Optimizer, visit Newswire.com and discover why our customers have named us #1 for Customer Satisfaction and Ease of Use for four years in a row. For more information, visit https://www.newswire.com.
Newswire is a wholly owned subsidiary of Issuer Direct, a leading communications and compliance company, providing solutions for both Public Relations and Investor Relations Professionals. For more information, please visit www.issuerdirect.com.
Contact Information
Jennifer Hammers
Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing
[email protected]
919.481.4000
SOURCE: Newswire
View source version on accesswire.com:
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Cintas
Cintas embraces and supports its Hispanic and Latin communities in part through TODOS, the company's award-winning and innovative Partner Business Resource Group (PBRG) that works to foster an environment of inclusivity throughout the company while removing barriers and building the future.
TODOS, an acronym for Together Offering Diverse Opportunities & Solutions, was founded at Cintas more than a decade ago and was one of the company's original employee resource groups.
"It started with really just seven of us at the corporate office. We were self-identified Hispanic or Latino partners and leaders who worked in the Cincinnati market or at the corporate office," said Omar Ramos, TODOS President and General Manager at Location 51K in Tampa, Fla. "It was an opportunity for us to talk about the importance of diverse hiring and creating an inclusive environment for Hispanic or Latino partners as they were coming on board."
TODOS has grown exponentially since then. About three years into the group's existence, Scott Garula, currently the President & COO of the Rental Division, became its executive sponsor and pushed the organization to the national stage. Garula organized a three-day event that united Cintas' Hispanic and Latino leaders from across the country at the company's Cincinnati-area headquarters.
"It was a fantastic opportunity where we got to meet some of the top leaders within the organization that self-identified as Hispanic and Latino. We knew that there were more of us out there. We just weren't tapped into our collective knowledge and experience yet. That's when it really kind of came together for TODOS," Ramos said.
Today, TODOS provides innovative programming, community service opportunities, a commitment to aid members' career advancement, and cultural awareness.
It's a two-time finalist in the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Annual Conference's Employee Resource Group (ERG) Challenge, earning the designation among the country's top ERGs in both 2020 and 2021.
The PBRG's mission is to engage, inspire, develop and retain Hispanic and Latin partners of Cintas to drive total business performance and establish an esteemed reputation as the best place to work for the Hispanic and Latin community.
The TODOS vision is to be the top-of-mind "must join" community for connections, growth and development of all Cintas partners - not just those who identify as Hispanic or Latin - and to be considered Cintas' most engaging PBRG with a dedicated member base across North America.
As a member of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), TODOS members speak to potential Management Trainees, recruits and interns at HACU's annual conference. TODOS is also a member of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
TODOS' annual meeting highlights the group's activities for its membership and creates opportunities for members to connect directly with company and group leadership. It also hosts a monthly development speaker series to help members with both career and personal growth.
In addition to generating awareness during National Hispanic Heritage Month every Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, TODOS publishes a quarterly in which they feature group members to help members form a deeper community. Other content includes visibility from high-level TODOS leaders, short essays from employee-partners about their Cintas careers called "Por Que Cintas?" and career news including promotions.
TODOS Vice President Jose Hernandez, a Corporate Key Account Manager based out of the Boston area, said the group is a very important resource for Cintas' Hispanic and Latino community.
"(TODOS) creates opportunity for our community to get involved. It allows them to feel heard. It allows them also to know that there are folks who look like them and are similar to them in the field and throughout Cintas," Hernandez said. "We have the support of many employee-partners, and seeing some of those employee-partners become executives is also very rewarding."
TODOS is also a resource for employee-partners who want to connect with other Hispanic and Latino employee-partners and their communities. To help the group expand its impact with programming and outreach, the PBRG also has three standing committees: Partner Development, Communications and External Relations. Each committee focuses on creating programming to help advance its members, the PBRG and Cintas, and to help further entrench the company as an employer of choice for Hispanic and Latin employee-partners.
Ramos and the TODOS board continue their work to help increase the organization's visibility, both throughout the company and in the community.
TODOS' leadership team also hopes to increase its membership, especially with employee-partners throughout North America who are both passionate about creating a diverse work environment and who appreciate the business and cultural importance of supporting diverse employee-partners and the communities Cintas serves.
TODOS Mission Statement
Our mission is to engage, inspire, develop and retain Hispanic and Latin partners of Cintas to drive total business performance and establish an esteemed reputation as the best place to work for the Hispanic and Latin community.
TODOS Vision
To be the top-of-mind, "must join" community for connections, growth and development of all Cintas partners; to transcend into the most engaging PBRG through our dedicated member base around the country.
View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Cintas on 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Cintas
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/cintas
Email: [email protected]
SOURCE: Cintas
View source version on accesswire.com:
Investing.com -- The next wave of potential labor actions by the United Auto Workers union could impact key large truck plants of Ford (NYSE: F), General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Jeep-maker Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), analysts at Barclays predicted on Tuesday.
The UAW warned earlier this week that more U.S. factories would go on strike if no progress is made in talks with the automaking giants. In a video message on Monday, UAW president Shawn Fain flagged that recent negotiations had proved fruitless, adding that the union was not going to allow the so-called Detroit Three car companies to "drag this out." The union and the firms are at odds over pay and employee benefits.
More work stoppages could be announced on Friday, Fain said. Walkouts at plants in Michigan, Ohio and Missouri have already halted production of popular models like the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Colorado.
In a note to clients, the Barclays analysts argued that these strikes have so far targeted output of the carmakers' midsize pickup and sport utility vehicles, and left the firms' more profitable large truck sites as leverage should the talks not make any "serious" headway.
The analysts added that they assume the next possible round of strikes could begin to affect some of these truck plants.
However, they said that the auto companies appear to be prepared for this situation "given robust ingoing inventory." At the end of August, the Detroit Three all held more than 65 days of inventory, which the Barclays analysts highlighted as "quite elevated" compared to the companies' post-COVID objective of 50 to 60 days.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 16:24 | Japan, World, All
Japan's new Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Monday agreed on the necessity of stability across the Taiwan Strait with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken during their first in-person talks, the government said.
On the sidelines of an annual session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Kamikawa and Blinken also reaffirmed the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance during a time when China's military assertiveness is intensifying in the Asia-Pacific region.
At the meeting, Kamikawa, who last week became Japan's first female foreign minister in around two decades, told Blinken that she would like to have candid discussions about the challenges facing Tokyo and Washington.
In response, Blinken said, "We do have a tremendous amount of work to do together," adding that the "partnership between Japan and the United States has never been stronger" and has "never been more consequential."
Kamikawa and Blinken agreed that Japan and the United States will deepen bilateral and trilateral cooperation with South Korea to tackle missile and nuclear threats from the North. Pyongyang has recently carried out a spate of ballistic missile launches.
The two top diplomats also confirmed that Tokyo and Washington will continue to work together in supporting Ukraine, which has been under invasion by Russia since February 2022, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Kamikawa, meanwhile, thanked Blinken for the U.S.' understanding over Japan's decision to begin releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which was crippled by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the ministry said.
Ahead of her talks with Blinken, Kamikawa, who succeeded Yoshimasa Hayashi in a Cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, met in New York with her British counterpart James Cleverly and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
In their first phone talks on Thursday following the Cabinet shakeup, Kamikawa told Blinken that Japan, which holds this year's Group of Seven presidency, will "fulfill its role" in upholding and strengthening a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
Related coverage:
G-7 top diplomats vow support to Ukraine, plan talks in Tokyo in Nov.
Japan PM heads to N.Y. for speech at U.N. amid shaken global order
China, Russia top diplomats discuss Ukraine war ahead of Putin visit
LUXEMBOURG--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Europes leading patent pool operator has unveiled a new mission statement to accompany the presentation of a redesigned corporate image and website today. Sisvels message, We power innovation, replaces the previous We protect ideas slogan, as the firm places itself at the heart of the innovative activity that will drive the global economy for the remainder of the 21st century.
We are proud to have built strong relationships with companies and research institutions that are dedicated to delivering world class technological solutions in areas such as connectivity, broadcasting and coding, says Sisvel President Mattia Fogliacco. Our commitment to them and to those who deploy their technologies is that we will do all we can to facilitate fair returns on R&D investments while speeding new products to market.
Sisvel has dozens of partners, including the BBC, Dolby, GE, Huawei, Microsoft, Philips, RAI, Samsung and Sony. They hold pivotal patents that underpin key technologies in 5G, C-IoT, DVB-T2, VP9, AV1 and Wi-Fi 6. The firm has a reputation for building flexible, market-focused licensing programmes that benefit pool members who invest substantial sums in R&D, as well as the entities that implement the results of this work.
Founded by Roberto Dini in Italy in 1982, Sisvel now has offices across Europe, as well as in North America and Asia. It has created programmes that have returned billions of dollars to partners whose inventions underpin industries that enhance tens of millions of lives around the world.
It is so gratifying to reflect on the success that Sisvel has enjoyed over the last four decades. I cannot wait to see what the coming years will bring, says Mr Dini. One thing is certain: we will be at the centre of whatever happens, offering solutions that are tailored to the markets we serve.
The new website is the result of six months of development work. Its modern, dynamic visual language has been designed to encapsulate both the firms heritage and its future ambitions, says Giulia Dini, Sisvels Head of Communications.
The updated brand messaging underscores Sisvel's 40 years of unwavering commitment to supporting innovation across diverse industries that drive the 21st-century economy, while highlighting the company's own spirit of creativity, flexibility and fairness, Ms Dini adds.
The Sisvel website can be found at www.sisvel.com
About Sisvel
Sisvel is driven by a belief in the importance of collaboration, ingenuity and efficiency to bridge the needs of patent owners and those who wish to access their technologies. In a complex and constantly evolving marketplace, our guiding principle is to create a level playing field with the development and implementation of flexible, accessible, commercialisation solutions.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919780984/en/
Sisvel Media Contact
Federica Brotto
PR & Media Department
Tel: +39 011 990 41 14
[email protected]
Source: Sisvel International S.A.
Leveraging Decades of Executive Leadership in Privately Held Businesses, as well as Private-Equity-Backed Firms, Mr. Swift Will Focus on the Hardware, Lock/Security & Building Material Sectors, Principally Working for Companies Seeking Acquisition
EVERGREEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- 1stWEST Mergers and Acquisitions, the leading investment bank and M&A advisory in the building material sector, announced it has named Dan Swift to serve as a new Managing Director.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919084289/en/
1stWEST Mergers and Acquisitions Names Dan Swift as a New Managing Director. Leveraging Decades of Executive Leadership in Privately Held Businesses, as well as Private-Equity-Backed Firms, Mr. Swift Will Focus on the Hardware, Lock/Security & Building Material Sectors, Principally Working for Companies Seeking Acquisition. (Photo: Business Wire)
Before joining 1stWEST M&A, Mr. Swift has been a widely admired business executive, with unrivaled experience in the building materials, hardware, and security sectors. Mr. Swifts career has spanned three+ decades marked by significant achievements and successful ventures, including Mr. Swifts 25-year ownership of Strauss Security Solutions and Strauss Lock Distributors, the leading national distributor of Schlage residential door hardware. (LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-swift-/)
In 2017, Mr. Swift sold one of his companies, Strauss Lock Distributors, to High Road Capital Partners, a private equity firm. He became a shareholder in the new entity, branded as Banner Solutions, a private-equity-backed firm. While at Banner, Mr. Swifts strategic vision and leadership was central in Banner Solutions successful efforts to acquire additional companies. Banner Solutions was successfully sold to Tailwind Capital in 2019. During Mr. Swifts tenure, he served as President of the Residential Division, Chief Sales Officer, and Chief Business Development Officer, helping Banner Solutions quickly scale to over $260 million in annual revenues.
As a Managing Director at 1stWEST M&A, Mr. Swift will continue to leverage his vast industry experience and strategic acumen, assisting clients in achieving their business and valuation objectives, while helping them navigate complex transactions.
Dan Swifts reputation is widely known and admired on a national scale. He is one of those rare talents who is a triple threat, with operations expertise, business development acumen, and a deep understanding of private equity. We can hardly believe our luck that Dan has joined our team, said Ted Rieple, 1stWEST M&As Managing Partner.
About 1stWEST M&A
1stWEST Mergers & Acquisitions is a full service, international investment banking and advisory firm that is focused on the lower middle-market of companies, where it has transacted more than $1.3 billion in deal values. The firm has built a unique business solutions platform of assisting owners and shareholders in selling their companies, acquiring other businesses, and raising growth capital. With Managing Directors in the US, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile, 1stWEST M&A is uniquely positioned to serve its clients around the globe. Learn more: www.1stwestma.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919084289/en/
Media:
John D. Wagner
[email protected]
Source: 1stWEST Mergers and Acquisitions
Weedmaps to produce educational content series based on Abstraxs game-changing discoveries and products
TUSTIN, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Abstrax, the leader in botanical flavor technology, and Weedmaps, the leading marketplace and technology solutions provider to the cannabis industry, have joined forces to unveil revolutionary cannabis research and science to the wider industry. Since its founding, Abstrax has delved into the analysis of the mysteries of cannabis. Its award-winning team of PhD scientists continue to make groundbreaking discoveries that fuel education and product development.
Recognizing the importance and potential impact of Abstraxs findings, Weedmaps is partnering with Abstrax to launch an educational content series. The content will focus on the scientific revelations derived from Abstraxs research.
"We know the terpene profile in each cannabis cultivar holds the key to a richer experience with the plant, said Boris Shcharansky, Vice President, Cannabis Advisory at Weedmaps. Our purpose in partnering with the team at Abstrax is to bring their important research and findings directly to our consumers, deepening their understanding of and appreciation for the plant.
The journey will start with the introduction of previously undiscovered exotic compounds in cannabis. Next, Weedmaps and Abstrax will collaborate to share key insights from four Abstrax-published white papers on the Science of Exotic Cannabis as it relates to:
Exploring Exotic Flavor Compounds
Tangies Unique Tropical Volatile Sulfur Compounds
A Deep Dive Unveiling Garlic Mushroom Onion
Exploring the Sugar and Sweet Compounds in Cannabis
This is just the beginning of a partnership focused on empowering cannabis businesses and consumers through education and experiential products, says Max Koby, Co-Founder and CEO of Abstrax. Abstrax continues to lead with innovations that uplift the sector and enhance the user journey. Each new insight brings us nearer to comprehending the immense capabilities and enigmas of cannabis."
Those interested in learning more about this research can visit AbstraxTech.com and Weedmaps.com.
About Abstrax: Where Innovation and Science Meets Flavor Mastery
As the pioneering leader in the world of botanical flavor technology, Abstrax excels in crafting innovative terpene-driven, functional flavor solutions. Serving the cannabis, hops, flavor and fragrance industries, Abstrax is the trusted product development partner that forward-thinking CPG brands turn to when looking for a competitive edge. Founded in California by a team of award-winning PhD scientists, flavor chemists, and visionary product developers, Abstrax harnesses its three divisions to craft transformative CPG applications via innovative technology and more sustainable, all natural, and cost effective ingredients. Abstrax Tech produces groundbreaking peer reviewed research publications, discovers new flavor compounds, and produces terpene blends and flavors for tobacco, cannabis, and food applications including botanically derived cannabis flavor experiences, live all-natural hemp derived terpenes, and mood-enhancing terpene-flavor systems. Abstrax Labs offers cutting-edge R&D, extraction and analytical technologies through its proprietary Terplytics system. Its technology delivers the most advanced botanical testing for exploratory research, sensory quantification, strain validation, product development, and consumer insights. Abstrax Hops provides the most advanced research, products, and services that push the limits of brewing innovation. Its wide range of solutions encapsulates the authentic varietal specific Hop Flavors, Dank Flavors, and next generation of advanced hop products including natural hop aroma extracts. Abstrax offers the utmost in safety, quality and regulatory adherence, ensuring seamless integration into product lines. Delve deeper with Abstrax at AbstraxTech.com, AbstraxHops.com and AbstraxLabs.com.
About Weedmaps:
Founded in 2008, WM Technology operates the leading online cannabis marketplace for consumers together with a comprehensive set of eCommerce and compliance software solutions for cannabis businesses, which are sold to retailers and brands in the U.S. state-legal and Canadian cannabis markets. The Company is driven by a passion for the plant, and is on a mission to champion the truth and stand with all who believe in open access to cannabis.
The Companys technology addresses the challenges facing both consumers seeking to understand cannabis products and businesses who serve cannabis users in a legally compliant fashion. Over the past 14 years, the Weedmaps marketplace has become the premier destination for cannabis consumers to discover and browse information regarding cannabis and cannabis products, permitting product discovery and order-ahead for pickup or delivery by participating retailers. Weedmaps for Business is a set of eCommerce-enablement tools designed to help retailers and brands get the best out of the Weedmaps consumer experience, create labor efficiencies and manage compliance needs.
WM Technology holds a strong belief in the power of cannabis and the importance of enabling safe, legal access to consumers worldwide. Since inception, WM Technology has worked tirelessly, not only to become the most comprehensive platform for consumers, but to build the software solutions that power businesses compliantly in the space, to advocate for legalization, social equity, and licensing in many jurisdictions, and to facilitate further learning through partnering with subject matter experts on providing detailed, accurate information about the plant.
Headquartered in Irvine, California, WM Technology supports remote work for all eligible employees. Visit us at www.weedmaps.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919080698/en/
Stacey Kaszton Jones
Abstrax Press Team / La Voz Marketing
[email protected]
Laura-may Keohane
Weedmaps Press Team
[email protected]
Source: Abstrax
The community-driven enterprise Linux distribution will be certified to meet the Federal Information Processing Standards for cryptographic modules.
FORT MYERS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The AlmaLinux OS Foundation, the nonprofit that stewards the community owned and governed open source enterprise Linux distribution AlmaLinux OS, today announced that its community will be able to take advantage of FIPS 140-3 certification for AlmaLinux 9.2, thanks to one of its Platinum sponsors, CloudLinux.
FIPS compliance is a critical certification for users of AlmaLinux OS across industries. The validation of security and consistency that comes along with FIPS certification for AlmaLinux provides proof for the entire AlmaLinux community that free doesnt preclude enterprise-ready, said Benny Vasquez, chair of the AlmaLinux OS Foundation. FIPS certification means that AlmaLinux stands as a uniquely robust Linux option with a powerful mix of compliance, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility.
The adoption of FIPS is not confined to the United States, said Yasutoshi Magara, Chairman & Chief Business Transformation Officer of Cybertrust Japan Co., Ltd., a recently announced platinum sponsor of the foundation that will be adopting AlmaLinux OS as the new base for the renowned MIRACLE LINUX distribution. It will inevitably have a significant impact across the industrial sector in Japan, especially its critical infrastructure. Not only does this FIPS certification announcement from the AlmaLinux OS Foundation provide a further boost of confidence for the entire existing community, but it also positions AlmaLinux as a dependable, enduring and highly appealing option for prospective users and thats a powerful posture that Cybertrust Japan welcomes and supports.
The FIPS certification for 9.2 comes as the AlmaLinux OS Foundation announced on July 13, 2023 that it has dropped the aim to be 1:1 with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) and will instead aim to be a powerful enterprise Linux distribution that remains Application Binary Interface (ABI) compatible with RHEL. CloudLinux and sister company TuxCare serve as sponsors of the foundations 9.2 FIPS certification and will provide support for FIPS certification to their customers for 5 years.
The AlmaLinux OS Foundation also plans to host its second board election in December of this year. Nominations are open now, and any member in good standing may nominate another member to run for election. Read about that and more on the AlmaLinux blog at http://almalinux.org/blog.
About AlmaLinux OS
AlmaLinux OS is an open source, community-governed and forever-free enterprise Linux distribution focused on long-term stability and delivering a robust production-grade platform. With millions of downloads from a network of over 300 mirrors, AlmaLinux is an enterprise Linux distribution compatible with RHEL(r) and pre-Steam CentOS, and powers projects for governments, the defense sector and scientific research institutions as well as numerous global business sectors and the web hosting industry. Adopted by some of todays foremost open source ecosystem projects such as VMware, GitLab and Tenable, its available on all major public cloud platforms including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle OCI. The AlmaLinux OS Foundation is a 501(c)(6) non-profit created for the benefit of the AlmaLinux OS community. Visit https://almalinux.org.
About Cybertrust Japan Co., Ltd.
As Japan's first commercial certificate authority, Cybertrust Japan, with more than 200 employees, provides authentication and security services as well as Linux/OSS services for on-premise, cloud and embedded domains by applying MIRACLE LINUX kernel technology and open source software (OSS) knowledge. Combining these technologies and deep security expertise, the company also promotes services that support the reliability of customer services by proving the correctness of people, tangible things and intangible things for IoT and other cutting-edge fields. Cybertrust Japan is committed to realizing a safe and secure society with highly specialized and neutral technologies for IT infrastructure. Major Cybertrust Japan shareholders include Softbank Technologies, NTT Data, NEC, Hitachi and Secom. Visit www.cybertrust.co.jp.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919422654/en/
Matthew Zintel
Zintel Public Relations
[email protected]
Source: The AlmaLinux OS Foundation
Decision upholds years of rigorous environmental review
MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- On September 9th, 2023 the Sixth Appellate District of Californias Court of Appeals upheld the County of Montereys decision to authorize permits for construction of California American Waters Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project desalination facility. In 2019, the California Public Utilities Commission, the lead agency under the California Environmental Quality Act, completed six years of environmental review, certified a Final Environmental Impact Report, and issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the project.
The County subsequently relied on the CPUCs certified EIR in issuing its permit. Marina Coast Water District (MCWD) filed suit in Monterey Superior Court against the County and California American Water, alleging that additional environmental review was required. On April 29th, 2021 the trial court dismissed some of the claims made by MCWD but ruled in favor of MCWD on one limited challenge. The trial courts decision was appealed by the County and California American Water. The Appellate Courts September 9th, 2023 ruling reverses the judgement of the lower court and requires a new judgement rejecting all of MCWDs claims in their entirety. It also requires MCWD to pay the legal costs incurred by the County and California American Water.
In its decision, the Court of Appeal stated that: On the County and Cal-Ams appeal, we conclude that the Countys statement of overriding considerations was supported by substantial evidence and any remaining deficiency in the statement as an informational document was not prejudicial. On MCWDs cross-appeal, we are not persuaded that the trial court erred in rejecting MCWDs other contentions. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment.
This ruling is a victory for a sustainable water future for our region, said Josh Stratton, California American Water External Affairs Manager. We are diligently advancing our efforts to protect the Carmel River by working with our partners on new supplies for the Monterey Peninsula and desalination is key part of our future water resources.
The desalination plant is one of three major components that California American Water the Peninsulas water provider has supported to diversify the areas water supply and relieve the over-drafted Carmel River aquifer. The other two components of the Monterey Peninsula Water Supply Project are aquifer storage and recovery and a groundwater replenishment and recycled water project that together with other smaller projects will bring drought-proof and environmentally sustainable water supplies to the Monterey Peninsula.
About California American Water:
California American Water, a subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), provides high-quality and reliable water and wastewater services to more than 725,000 people. Information regarding California American Waters service areas can be found on the companys website www.californiaamwater.com.
About American Water:
With a history dating back to 1886, American Water is the largest and most geographically diverse U.S. publicly traded water and wastewater utility company. The company employs more than 6,500 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and regulated-like drinking water and wastewater services to more than 14 million people in 24 states. American Water provides safe, clean, affordable, and reliable water services to our customers to help keep their lives flowing. For more information, visit amwater.com and diversityataw.com. Follow American Water on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918474689/en/
Josh Stratton
Manager of External Affairs
California American Water
831-435-6015
[email protected]
Source: California American Water
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ChoiceSpine LLC, a privately held spinal device company held by Altus Capital Partners in Knoxville, TN, is pleased to announce today that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Blackhawk Ti 3D Printed Cervical Spacer System with standalone clearance. Blackhawk Ti utilizes preassembled integrated anchor technology with a proven cam-locking mechanism. Featuring BioBond 3D Printed Titanium porous structure, Blackhawk Ti is available in two anatomical footprints with significant room for graft material and large lateral windows for enhanced visual confirmation.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919400768/en/
Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System (Photo: Business Wire)
The expanded indication of the Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System to a preexisting lineup of world-class ChoiceSpine solutions comes with great industry enthusiasm. Recognized for providing excellent products to improve people's lives through a positive customer experience, the company promotes product features unique to the industry. ChoiceSpine is eager to release the Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System with expanded indications into the market.
The Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System provides excellent intra and post-operative results for my patients requiring the anterior cervical approach, said Dr. Anders Cohen, DO, Lead Design Surgeon. The wide variety of implant footprints and profiles allows for restoration of disc height and optimal sagittal balancing. Furthermore, what sets the Blackhawk Ti apart from others is the simplicity of the implant design with its integrated bone anchors and instrumentation that help reduce surgery time by decreasing the number of steps in the procedure.
The expanded indication of the Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System is the natural progression for the product platform, states Steve Ainsworth, PhD, ChoiceSpines Executive Vice President of Strategy and Technology. Blackhawk Ti is the first to market a 3D printed system that utilizes preassembled integrated anchor technology. Blackhawk Ti is just one of ChoiceSpines numerous 3D printed titanium fusion solutions. This standalone clearance is an excellent example of how ChoiceSpine brings technically superior spinal devices to the market and does Spine the Right Way.
The Blackhawk Ti Standalone Cervical Spacer System includes:
ChoiceSpines proprietary 3D printed BioBond technology
Preassembled integrated anchor technology
Large open space for bone graft containment & maximum visualization
6 lordotic and convex profile configurations available
Simultaneous, single-step anchor deployment
External locking indication for easy confirmation
ChoiceSpine offers a variety of surgeon-focused product lines designed to be safe, efficient, and easy to use. By focusing on a collaborative team approach with physicians and industry partners, ChoiceSpine continues to deliver upon product commitments, maintain cutting-edge research and development, and bring technically superior products to the forefront of the spinal implant industry. For more information, please visit www.choicespine.com.
Altus Capital Partners is a private equity firm that controls investments in middle-market manufacturing businesses. Our exclusive focus on manufacturing gives us a unique understanding of the opportunities and challenges companies face in the sector. We utilize a patient, thoughtful investment approach and seek to partner with the management teams of our operating companies to achieve growth. For more information, please visit www.altuscapitalpartners.com.
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Ron Moore
Sr. Director of Marketing
865-246-3333
[email protected]
choicespine.com
Source: ChoiceSpine LLC
An innovative biotools company puts an experienced bioentrepreneur at the helm
LOWER GWYNEDD, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- ChromaTanTM announced today that Dr. Rajiv Datar has been appointed the new President & CEO of the company. A bioentrepreneur with over 25 years C-level experience in bioprocessing and drug development, Dr. Datar succeeds Oleg Shinkazh, the Founder of ChromaTan, who will continue as its Chief Technology Officer to focus on advancing the field of integrated continuous bioprocessing.
Recently, Dr. Datar was the Co-Founder & CEO of a biotech startup that developed an early-stage asset, which was acquired by a Global Top-5 Biopharma Company.
It was immediately clear that Dr. Datar was the right fit, said Steve Carpenter, Chair of the Board of Directors compensation committee. The board of ChromaTan is so pleased to have Dr. Datar join the company in this role. Weve been aware of his work and experience. Several of Dr. Datars projects in which he either participated or headed, are currently in the market either as bioprocessing equipment or as life-saving drugs and we know he will lead us into a new era.
ChromaTan has reached an inflection point in its journey, said Oleg Shinkazh, Founder & CTO. We doubled our headcount in 2023 in preparation of the official launch of our bench-top, continuous countercurrent tangential chromatography platform, KascadeTM, at the 2023 Bioprocess international Conference and Exhibition in Boston, MA. Were excited to embrace the leadership and the dual experiences of biopharmaceutical development and bioprocessing that Dr. Datar brings to ChromaTan.
Dr. Datar completed his post-Doctoral studies in Biochemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, and his Doctoral studies in Bioprocess Technology from KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. His work experience spans Fortune 100 and 500 companies, and four biotech and bioprocessing startups.
ChromaTans vision is to revolutionize bioprocessing productivity through transformational next generation biomanufacturing solutions, said Dr. Datar. Our aim is to empower biopharmaceutical manufacturers with the first-ever, columnless, single-use continuous chromatography platform for the cost-effective production of life-savings therapies, and this is about as exciting an opportunity as they come to achieving this goal.
About ChromaTanTM
ChromaTanTM, a privately held bioprocessing and biotools company, has created a novel purification system called Continuous Countercurrent Tangential Chromatography (CCTC). It has been shown to cut in half the cost of biologics purification while offering significantly higher yields for gene therapies. ChromaTans customer list includes pharmaceutical giants Merck, Roche, and Takeda, in addition to several startups at the cutting edge of biopharmaceutical innovation. The company is working to enable the next generation of gene therapies, antibodies, and nanomedicines. For more information, visit www.chromatan.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919299353/en/
Ann Revell-Pechar
[email protected]
Source: ChromaTan
With only two living females left, the partnership will contribute to the genetic recovery of the northern white rhino from complete extinction. Colossal developed a pioneering toolkit for the challenging task to restore genetic diversity from museum specimens for a living population of critically endangered species.
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Colossal Biosciences (Colossal), the worlds first de-extinction company, and BioRescue, a consortium initiating and leading the scientific rescue mission of the northern white rhino employing advanced assisted reproduction technologies and stem cell associated techniques, have teamed up to save the northern white rhino from extinction. The partnership will also develop a roadmap for future rescue missions of endangered species using the world leading expertise of both organizations. Together they will work to improve, develop, and implement strategies in the fields of wildlife conservation research and wildlife veterinary medicine, providing approaches to reduce the sixth mass extinction.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919136056/en/
Fatu in front and Najin in back are the last two known northern white rhinos alive on the planet. They live at Ol Pejeta conservancy in Kenya. (Photo by Ami Vitale)
The northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) is considered to be functionally extinct in the wild as a direct result of poaching. Its natural habitats include parts of Uganda, Chad, Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo. All these areas were completely emptied out of this charismatic megavertebrate more than a decade ago. The only two living females were born in the Czech ZOO Dvur Kralove and are being cared for at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya since 2009.
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hildebrandt, Project Head at BioRescue, Head of the Department of Reproduction Management of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, and Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Colossal, has spent over 25 years on a mission to save the northern white rhino species. He has led the efforts with BioRescue to convey how synthetic biology can be used in addition to the genetic rescue techniques that are already in place. The northern white rhino is the worlds rarest large mammal and thousands of species are interlinked to its existence, says Hildebrandt. With Colossals advanced genetic technology, we will be able to piece together the missing links of the species genetic history. Following decades of assisted reproduction and stem cell innovations made by scientists and conservationists, Im thrilled that the partnership between Colossal and BioRescue will help to establish a sustainable and genetically robust northern white rhino population.
The new partnership will assess the genetic diversity of the northern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum cottoni) in historic samples as the basis for ethically evaluated decisions on possibly enhancing the genetic variability of a future northern white rhino population. This groundbreaking conservation strategy is accompanied by exemplary transparency of the projects undertakings to the general public.
The Science Behind the Conservation
Colossal will assist the rescue mission by leveraging genome sequencing and gene editing methods to save the endangered species. The focus on the edits will be to improve genetic diversity in living cells and mitigate impacts of disease or lost adaptability to the changing climate.
Sequencing: The partnership will generate a global catalog of museum samples of northern white rhino specimens from the past, including bones, dry skin, and preserved organs and fetuses, which can be used to extract ancient DNA. The partners will then obtain preserved samples in order to sequence all suitable samples and study the genetic diversity of the species.
The partnership will generate a global catalog of museum samples of northern white rhino specimens from the past, including bones, dry skin, and preserved organs and fetuses, which can be used to extract ancient DNA. The partners will then obtain preserved samples in order to sequence all suitable samples and study the genetic diversity of the species. Genetic Editing: Once loss to gene pools has been identified in preserved specimens, Colossal will use the identified sequences as targets to restore the lost diversity into cell lines that will be used to produce northern white rhino embryos.
Once loss to gene pools has been identified in preserved specimens, Colossal will use the identified sequences as targets to restore the lost diversity into cell lines that will be used to produce northern white rhino embryos. Population Study: The team will conduct a population study of genetic diversity of the southern white rhino (Ceratotherium simum simum) which is the sister taxon of the northern white rhino to identify key aspects of a healthy population. Colossal will leverage FormBio, its technology spinoff, to complete this study. FormBios comparative genomic tool allows scientists to compare the DNA and genome of the specimens to the northern white rhino population we have today and identify genetic diversity that existed before the massive decline of the species.
Were very honored to be BioRescues genetic rescue partner and thus have the opportunity to help save the northern white rhino, as well as other iconic keystone species from the brink of extinction, says Ben Lamm, CEO and Co-Founder of Colossal. At Colossal were passionate about species preservation and as part of our larger de-extinction work, we want to leverage our techniques and toolkit for conservation. We are creating tools that will allow us to heal what has been lost and restore ecosystems that will be sustainable for future generations.
The Conservation Paradox
The rate at which species loss is occurring is significantly faster than the restoration efforts of the classical conservation approaches. Between now and 2050, humanity will lose up to 50% of all biodiversity if nothing changes. The vast majority of conservation efforts are focused on preserving landscapes and ending poaching. But, with only two remaining northern white rhinos, the need to add more advanced technologies to preserve the taxon becomes apparent. In order to stop the loss, there is a need for new tools and technologies. The partnership is developing these tools to improve the capacity of the conservation ecosystem.
We're really thankful to Prof Dr. Hildebrandt and BioRescue for trusting us as a partner to provide de-extinction technologies for the rescue of the northern white rhino, says Matt James, Head of Conservation and Colossals Chief Animal Officer. De-extinction is an engine of innovation that leads to tools that are directly applicable to conservation. Together, with some of the leading people in their fields, we will successfully be able to address and remedy specific conservation problems - starting with the northern white rhino.
Colossal and BioRescues partnership is the starting point for future modern conservation networks which will help improve international conservation and conservation research organizations.
The BioRescue Consortium is a unique model of extensive international cooperation that involves top scientists from Germany, Japan and Italy, conservationists in the field in Africa as well as zoo experts from Europe. This new partnership with Colossal transforms existing conservation approaches to a new level and can serve as a blueprint for other international efforts to save endangered species, says Jan Stejskal, Director of International Projects at Dvur Kralove and coordinator of efforts to save the northern white rhinos.
Colossals Conservation Toolkit
Colossals conservation toolkit is a set of resources the company employs to help partner organizations preserve and save species at-risk. The company utilizes its expertise to preserve lost genetic diversity and create the hardware necessary for species rebirth and restoration to improve todays conservation efforts. Now, Colossal will also provide these services as the
genomic arm of BioRescue.
ABOUT COLOSSAL BIOSCIENCES
Colossal was founded by emerging technology and software entrepreneur Ben Lamm and world-renowned geneticist and serial biotech entrepreneur George Church, Ph.D. Colossal creates disruptive technologies for extinct species restoration, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems that support the continuation of life on Earth. Colossal is accepting humanitys duty to restore Earth to a healthier state, while also solving for the future economies and biological necessities of the human condition through cutting-edge science and technologies. To follow along, please visit: www.colossal.com
ABOUT BIORESCUE
The BioRescue Consortium combines assisted reproduction technologies (ART) and stem cell associated techniques (SCAT) to save the northern white rhino from extinction. With the support of international partners the consortium aims to develop new scientific conservation approaches to preserve keystone and umbrella species. This will lead to blueprints which can be used in by conservation initiatives worldwide to halt the loss of biodiversity and preserve ecosystem services for future generations. The Consortium is led by German the Leibniz Institute for Zoo (Leibniz-IZW). Consortium members: Leibniz-IZW, the ZOO DVuR KRALOVE (Czech Republic), Avantea (Italy), Max Delbruck Centre for Molecular Medicine (Germany), Osaka University (Japan), and Padua University (Italy). www.BioRescue.org
ABOUT LEIBNIZ INSTITUTE FOR ZOO AND WILDLIFE RESEARCH
The Leibniz-IZW is an internationally renowned German research institute of the Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. and a member of the Leibniz Association. Our mission is to examine evolutionary adaptations of wildlife to global change and develop new concepts and measures for the conservation of biodiversity. To achieve this, our scientists use their broad interdisciplinary expertise from biology and veterinary medicine to conduct fundamental and applied research from molecular to landscape level in close dialogue with the public and stakeholders. Additionally, we are committed to unique and high-quality services for the scientific community. www.izw-berlin.de
ABOUT ZOO DVuR KRALOVE
ZOO Dvur Kralove is a safari park in the Czech Republic. Its one of the best rhino breeders outside of Africa and the only place where the northern white rhino bred in human care - both remaining females, Najin and Fatu, were born here. ZOO Dvur Kralove coordinates efforts to save the northern white rhinos. https://safaripark.cz
WEBSITE & SOCIALS
Websites: www.colossal.com, www.vertebrategenomesproject.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ItIsColossal, https://twitter.com/genomeark
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itiscolossal/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/itiscolossal/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ItIsColossal
Hashtag: #ItIsColossal
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919136056/en/
Colossal BioSciences
[email protected]
[email protected]
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW)
Steven Seet
Head of Science Communication
Phone: +491778572673
E-mail: [email protected]
ZOO Dvur Kralove
Jan Stejskal
Director of Communication and International Projects
Phone: +420608009072
E-mail: [email protected]
Source: Colossal Biosciences
As latency-sensitive content becomes dominant, Deep Edge looks to push interconnect further to expand the capabilities of the network edge with new colocation space.
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Deep Edge (www.deepedgerealty.com) today announced the completion of the first phase of a multi-phase expansion planned in its facility in Charlotte, North Carolina. This carrier neutral facility is purpose-built to serve the needs of industries reliant on fast, reliable interconnection to fuel business continuity and growth. Ideally located at 701 East Trade Street, the Deep Edge interconnect space is sited with access to multiple diverse network points, multiple fiber and IP peering points, and access to abundant power.
The market needs for interconnect are evolving in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets and traditional data center designs are not built to accommodate the growing, specific requirements for latency and power, as well as the flexibility needed by todays applications and the companies that leverage them to drive business forward, said Bill Cook, Chairman, Deep Edge.
701 East Trade was intentionally designed and built to facilitate the interconnection process. It is a Tier III data center interconnect facility with fully redundant 2N power and N+1 cooling infrastructure. The facility includes managed data center suites, secure Meet-Me-Room (MMR), access to multiple unique long-haul and regional fiber networks including AT&T, Charter Communications, Lumen, Zayo Communications and Verizon, onsite connections to redundant utility grids, in a stable, secure, scalable, and resilient environment, ideal for latency-sensitive, mission critical content access. It also serves as the home location for the leading North Carolina Internet Exchange Point NC-IX.
This expansion broadens Deep Edges presence in Charlotte and adds value as it looks to grow its customer base more broadly in the US. This evolution of Deep Edges capabilities in the Charlotte facility is the roadmap on which the company looks to model all its markets over time, including the existing facilities in Portland, Maine; Reno, Nevada; and Columbus, Ohio. All facilities will deliver cabinet-based space, power, and cooling infrastructure that offers customer-centric reliability and redundancy for critical equipment. With Deep Edge, customers gain access to a managed architecture that provides ease of access, predictable costs, and risk reduction. All colocation services include direct access to the MMR, as well as the associated networks and ecosystems present at the site.
For more information, please visit: Deep Edge Locations: 701 East Trade, Charlotte, NC
About Deep Edge
Deep Edge builds powerful interconnection facilities enabling the transformation of the digital edge in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. With a focused and strategic approach, Deep Edge designs neutral facilities that optimize digital capabilities, overcome legacy challenges and support rapidly evolving demands. By enabling access to fiber and interconnection opportunities in key markets, Deep Edge is building distributed ecosystems that suit the digital needs of today and tomorrow.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919625944/en/
Richard M. Williams
Connect2 Communications for Deep Edge
[email protected]
Source: Deep Edge
The Earned Wage Access (EWA) pioneer abolished medical debt as part of a national relief effort in partnership with RIP Medical Debt, first targeting $13.9 million for Bexar County Residents
PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- EarnIn, a pioneer in Earned Wage Access (EWA), announced today that they have abolished $22 million in medical debt, first supporting $13.9 million for people living in Bexar County, Texas, home to San Antonio, which holds the third largest amount of medical debt in the country. Healthcare costs in the United States have been rising for the last several decades, and paying off medical bills has become increasingly difficult for many Americans. Medical expenses are the biggest driver of bankruptcy in the US with two-thirds of bankruptcies citing medical debt as the leading cause. As EarnIn remains steadfast in their mission of making financial momentum accessible to everyone, this partnership was a natural next step for these efforts.
This is one of many efforts that EarnIn is making to address the challenges of financial inequality, said EarnIn CEO and Founder, Ram Palaniappan. We need new innovative solution to improve financial access and inclusion. EarnIns mission is to make financial momentum accessible to everyone, ensuring they have the financial mobility they deserve. We see this work to abolish medical debt as one of many novel ways by which we are making an impact on the pressing financial challenges of today.
EarnIns pledge includes plans to abolish additional medical debt in Maricopa County, Arizona and Clark County, Nevada later this year. These three southwestern states - Texas, Arizona, and Nevada - are ranked amongst those who have poor medical debt consumer protection policies, which include having inadequate levels of health insurance, financial assistance policies, and Medicaid.
Todays medical debt relief was provided in partnership with RIP Medical Debt, a national nonprofit making a difference in the lives of those struggling with medical debt. The organization erases debts for households that earn four times, or below, the federal poverty level, and/or whose debt is 5% or more of their annual income. This ensures RIP Medical Debt is helping those most financially burdened by the medical debt crisis. Importantly, relief recipients will receive a letter in the mail informing them their debt has been abolished, and they should hold onto this letter for record keeping. Medical debt relief is source-based, meaning the nonprofit can only acquire qualifying debts from amenable providers like hospitals, physician groups or collection agencies and medical debt relief cannot be requested.
Too many Bexar County residents are suffering from medical debt, which forces them to make difficult tradeoffs that prevent them from pursuing their goals and achieving financial stability, said RIP Medical Debts President and CEO, Allison Sesso. We are grateful for the work that EarnIn is doing to abolish this debt and enable people to advance their lives.
Bexar County residents benefiting from this debt relief program will be notified with letters starting to arrive Saturday, September 23, 2023. Per the Urban Institute, almost one in five Bexar County residents have medical debt (18%) and that jumps to 20% for communities of color.
To learn more about EarnIns medical debt initiative, please visit earnin.com/medicaldebt.
About EarnIn
EarnIn lets you access your money as you earn it not days or weeks later.
We're on a mission to reimagine the way money moves to empower every persons potential. That starts with payday every day and builds with tools like Tip Yourself accounts1, Credit Monitoring, and Balance Shield2, a low-balance alert feature. All with no interest, no credit checks, and no mandatory fees3. So our customers have as many opportunities as possible to spend and save on their terms.
EarnIns pioneering Earned Wage Access app is backed by world-class partners like A16Z, Matrix Partners, and DST. Since our founding in 2013, 3.8 million customers have given it over 380,000 5-star reviews for helping them access over $15 billion in earnings.
Learn more at EarnIn.com.
_______________________
1 Tip Yourself Account funds are held with Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC and FDIC insured up to $250,000. Tip Yourself is a 0% Annual Percentage Yield and $0 monthly fee service. Your Tip Yourself Account and any Tip Jars are not Savings Accounts. For more information/details visit earnin.com/tos
2 Balance Shield cash out is subject to your available earnings, Daily Max and Pay Period Max. Other restrictions and/or third-party fees may apply. For more information visit earnin.com/TOS.
3 EarnIn does not charge hidden fees for use of its services. EarnIn does not charge interest on Cash Outs. Restrictions and/or third party fees may apply, see EarnIn.com/TOS for details.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919905906/en/
Media
[email protected]
Source: EarnIn
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 09:57 | All, World, Japan
The governor of Japan's Okinawa sought international backing at a U.N. session Monday for his opposition to a plan to relocate a U.S. military base within the southern prefecture.
But Gov. Denny Tamaki's stance was immediately questioned by a Japanese government official at the venue in Geneva, a split highlighting the contention over the project based on an agreement first reached by Tokyo and Washington in the 1990s.
"I am here today to ask the world to witness the situation in Okinawa," Tamaki told a session of the world body's Human Rights Council, arguing that the concentration of the military bases there threatens peace.
Tamaki, the first Okinawa governor in eight years to address the council, said, "The reclamation work proceeds despite the fact that it was clearly opposed by Okinawan voters in a democratically held referendum."
He spoke during a part of the session that was allocated for a Japanese nongovernmental organization.
Under the bilateral agreement, the Japanese government is proceeding with work to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a densely populated area in Ginowan to a new facility being built in a coastal area in Nago, both on Okinawa Island, despite staunch local opposition.
Tamaki has sought to drum up international support as he struggles to prevent the relocation plan, saying the island prefecture hosts 70 percent of all the U.S. military bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 percent of the country's total land area.
Earlier this month, however, Japan's Supreme Court turned down his government's appeal against the central government's order related to carrying out necessary landfill work.
After Tamaki's address at Monday's event, a representative of the Japanese government mission in Geneva defended the ongoing work to build an airfield in the Henoko area of Nago.
"Steadily advancing the construction work based on the policy that the Henoko relocation is the only solution will enable the complete return of Futenma Air Station as swiftly as possible" and lead to the elimination of dangers to the local population, the official said.
Tamaki's predecessor Takeshi Onaga expressed his opposition to the Futenma base relocation plan at the council in 2015.
Related coverage:
Okinawa loses legal battle with central government over U.S. base landfill
Japan eyes setting more missile depots under new security strategy
U.S. Marines shifting focus to China, threat is "real": top general
Expert presentations will also highlight how to inspire organizational purpose and innovation to succeed in an increasingly modern, digital market
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- eClinical Solutions, a global provider of digital clinical software and services, today announced that the company will present at a variety of global industry conferences in fall 2023. The companys thought leaders will share strategic approaches to enable scientific innovation and deliver faster time to value and decreased cycle times for life science organizations. eClinical Solutions will also host several product demonstrations at these events to showcase how the elluminate Clinical Data Cloud and eClinical biometrics services provide accurate and timely data insights for better decision-making to support tomorrows breakthroughs.
Biopharma researchers face intense pressure to manage trial complexity with fewer resources, while also delivering on inclusive, innovative, patient-centric trials faster than ever. Its critical to optimize cumbersome processes and modernize data management approaches to drive efficiencies, and we will see automation and human-in-the-loop AI play an increasingly bigger role in doing so heading into 2024, said Raj Indupuri, CEO and co-founder of eClinical Solutions. As life science organizations prepare for next year, our experts look forward to sharing tangible strategies and use cases at these events to help researchers achieve enhanced productivity and ROI.
This week at DPHARM 2023 in Boston, MA (September 20-22), eClinical will offer elluminate demonstrations in booth #18 and Indupuri will present a session on September 21st at 12:35pm titled, A Scalable Blueprint to Solve the Industrys Need for a Clinical Data Lakehouse. The talk will address the key components of a lakehouse and how this ideal architecture enables scientific innovation and use of AI/ML techniques.
Indupuri will then co-present at Halloran Consulting Groups CORE East Conference (October 4-6) in Chatham, MA, alongside Manny Lazaro, principal consultant at First Tracks Life Sciences Consulting. The two will lead a session on the afternoon of October 5th titled, Tomorrows Breakthroughs, Today: Enabling the Future State with Data Oversight, Automation and AI, which will examine the infrastructure that enables advanced applications and share change management best practices for leaders adopting a future-ready data model.
The following week, the eClinical Solutions team will exhibit at booth #213 and present several sessions at the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM) Annual Conference 2023 in San Diego, CA (October 8-11):
Level-Up Your Clinical Data Management with AI-enabled Data Review (October 9th 2:15pm) In this product showcase, Jason Konn, solution consultant, will illustrate the AI-enabled data review capabilities within elluminate IQ (eIQ) Review and highlight use cases that support data management objectives for improved data quality and productivity, and reduced cycle times.
In this product showcase, Jason Konn, solution consultant, will illustrate the AI-enabled data review capabilities within elluminate IQ (eIQ) Review and highlight use cases that support data management objectives for improved data quality and productivity, and reduced cycle times. Modern Medical Coding: The Digital Future of Tech-Driven Coding (October 9th 5:15pm) Kanika Harnal, senior medical coder, will chair this session highlighting how life sciences organizations are leveraging automation and AI/ML to elevate the human element of coding and modernize medical coding and data review.
Kanika Harnal, senior medical coder, will chair this session highlighting how life sciences organizations are leveraging automation and AI/ML to elevate the human element of coding and modernize medical coding and data review. Inspiring a New Clinical Data Vision: Harnessing the Power of Storytelling in Leadership (October 10th 11:00am) In this session, Katrina Rice, chief delivery officer, data services, will explore storytellings instrumental role in enabling clinical data management transformation and share practical strategies for incorporating storytelling into a leaders toolkit.
In this session, Katrina Rice, chief delivery officer, data services, will explore storytellings instrumental role in enabling clinical data management transformation and share practical strategies for incorporating storytelling into a leaders toolkit. A Hard Days Night: RBQM, Regulatory Submissions and What Comes Next (October 10th 11:00am) Dawn Kaminski, VP of business development operations, will join this session addressing open questions, received guidances and current recommendations around regulatory authorities expectations for RBQM approaches.
Dawn Kaminski, VP of business development operations, will join this session addressing open questions, received guidances and current recommendations around regulatory authorities expectations for RBQM approaches. PI Signatures: What Should Investigators Sign and How Often? (October 10th 2:15pm) Kaminski will also join a panel that examines the challenges and best practices of obtaining PI signatures, including handling of different data types, industry trends, and regulatory guidance.
The company will also head to the 2023 Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) US Interchange (October 18-19) in Washington, DC. In addition to exhibiting in booth #15, Nathan Johnson, VP of digital innovation, will present a session on October 18th at 1:30pm titled, The Digital Blueprint: Automating End-to-End Workflows Using Standards. He will outline use cases and strategies for end-to-end automation leveraging standards.
In November, eClinical will also attend PHUSE EU Connect 2023 (November 5-8) in Birmingham, UK, where the team will exhibit and present two sessions: Harnessing Leadership Storytelling to Inspire Clinical Data Transformation (November 6th at 5:00pm) and The Human in the Loop: Accelerating AI/ML Efficiencies for Clinical Data (November 7th at 5:00pm). In the former session, Katrina Rice will offer ways data leaders can inspire change. The latter presentation from Diane Lacroix, VP of clinical data management, will explore how the human in the loop informs, adopts and utilizes AI applications for clinical data management.
For more information on these events, as well as others eClinical will be attending this fall, visit: https://www.eclinicalsol.com/events.
About eClinical Solutions
eClinical Solutions helps life sciences organizations around the world accelerate clinical development initiatives with expert biometrics services and the elluminate Clinical Data Cloud the foundation of digital trials. Together, the elluminate platform and eClinical Biometrics Services give clients self-service access to all their data from one centralized location plus advanced analytics that help them make smarter, faster business decisions. Find out more at eclinicalsol.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919174539/en/
Alex Connelly
[email protected]
(401) 486-7437
Source: eClinical Solutions
WINNIPEG, Manitoba--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As Canadas National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaches, Exchange Income Corporation (TSX: EIF) (EIC or the Corporation), a diversified, acquisition-oriented company focused on opportunities in the aerospace, aviation and manufacturing sectors, celebrates the successful completion of the Atik Mason Indigenous Pilot Pathway (Pathway) second season, provides offers of employment to the 2024 graduates and expands the Pathway to Rankin Inlet next year.
This season, with the support and guidance of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakank Inc. (MKO), the Pathway saw six students from the first year return to further their training and 12 new Indigenous students commence their journey, an increase of over 60% from last year. Students included First Nations members from communities in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario, as well as Red River Metis and Inuit participants from as far north as Arviat, Nunavut. All of these students made great progress this season and intend to continue their training. In fact, six have elected to expedite completing their advanced flight ratings by continuing their training this fall and upcoming winter at MFCs primary base in Moncton, New Brunswick. These six students will be offered a job to fly for one of EICs airlines, including Perimeter Aviation, Calm Air, or Keewatin Air following the completion of their flight training. Last year the Pathway began the process of economic reconciliation with professional training, but offering employment opportunities is when it becomes real, says EIC Chief Executive Officer, Mike Pyle. EIC has long standing, strong relationships with the communities that we serve, and were excited to provide the chance to support long-term economic stability for Indigenous program members, their families, and their communities. We are creating role models which will have an everlasting effect on the communities.
Pathway member and commercial flight training student, Amber Michell, agrees. Im ecstatic! Im grateful to know exactly what Im working toward and for the smooth transition from training to a career as a pilot. EIC has supported me through the highs and lows from the very beginning, and this type of security feels great. Amber adds, I was born and raised in Thompson and Im looking forward to being able to work from here and serve communities close to home.
Next season, EIC plans to further build upon the Atik Mason Indigenous Pilot Pathways success through continued expansion of the pilot licensing offerings available to students in Thompson and by the establishment of a second seasonal training base in Rankin Inlet, NU. The Rankin Inlet base will enable easier access for the Inuit community members to pursue careers as pilots.
About EICs Atik Mason Indigenous Pilot Pathway
Atik Mason Indigenous Pilot Pathway was launched in 2022 as a fully-funded opportunity for Indigenous community members to learn to fly and build careers as professional pilots as a response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canadas Calls to Action. The Pathway removes significant barriers to flight training faced by Indigenous candidates, including cost and location, and honoring the importance of retaining a deep connection to Indigenous culture while training. Thompsons regional airport is the hub of northern expansion for Atlantic Canada-based EIC subsidiary and world class pilot training school, MFC Training (MFC), allowing this inspiring opportunity to be offered locally.
About Exchange Income Corporation
Exchange Income Corporation is a diversified acquisition-oriented company, focused in two sectors: aerospace & aviation services and equipment, and manufacturing. The Corporation uses a disciplined acquisition strategy to identify already profitable, well-established companies that have strong management teams, generate steady cash flow, operate in niche markets and have opportunities for organic growth. For more information on the Corporation, please visit www.ExchangeIncomeCorp.ca. Additional information relating to the Corporation, including all public filings, is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com).
Caution concerning forward-looking statements
The statements contained in this news release that are forward-looking are based on current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. These uncertainties and risks include, but are not limited to, COVID-19 and pandemic related risks, the dependence of Exchange Income Corporation on the operations and assets currently owned by it, the degree to which its subsidiaries are leveraged, the fact that cash distributions are not guaranteed and will fluctuate with the Corporations financial performance, dilution, restrictions on potential future growth, the risk of shareholder liability, competitive pressures (including price competition), changes in market activity, the cyclicality of the industries, seasonality of the businesses, poor weather conditions, and foreign currency fluctuations, legal proceedings, commodity prices and raw material exposure, dependence on key personnel, and environmental, health and safety and other regulatory requirements. Except as required by Canadian Securities Law, Exchange does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements; such statements speak only as of the date made. Further information about these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the disclosure documents filed by Exchange Income Corporation with the securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919968928/en/
Mike Pyle
Chief Executive Officer
Exchange Income Corporation
(204) 982-1850
[email protected]
Pam Plaster
Vice President, Investor Development
Exchange Income Corporation
(204) 953-1314
[email protected]
Source: Exchange Income Corporation
Friends of San Quentin News, the non-profit fundraising organization of award-winning prison newspaper, unveils a new brand identity as it expands its mission
The Pollen Initiative will advance a strategic vision of personal transformation through journalism and community impact, and address the stigma of incarceration
SAN QUENTIN, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Friends of San Quentin News the umbrella organization supporting the San Quentin News and dedicated to cultivating rehabilitative programs inside prisons across the U.S., with a special focus on media centers inside prisons and jails today announced its national expansion efforts under a new name: Pollen Initiative. The new name reflects the Pollen Initiatives national expansion and broader vision to sow the seeds of rehabilitation, journalism and filmmaking through projects across the country, including the historic and award-winning publication San Quentin News.
The Pollen Initiative will continue the Friends of San Quentin News mission to equip incarcerated people nationwide with rehabilitative experience, including written, audio and visual journalism skills to share stories that change lives, inform policy and build communities. The organization will also continue to serve as the affiliated non-profit fundraising organization of San Quentin News, the incarcerated-run newspaper of San Quentin State Prison.
The Pollen Initiative will also continue several projects born out of the Friends of San Quentin News organization, including providing support for ForwardThis Productions, which teaches filmmaking and content creation skills to help the incarcerated share their stories through film and digital video. ForwardThis Productions is the only program in the country which offers incarcerated film crews their own platform. The Pollen Initiative will also continue to support the development and refinement of its prison media center playbook, which offers guidance to cultivate media centers inside prisons. The program uses hands-on journalism, audiovisual training and leadership programs to facilitate personal growth and transferable skills. As a result, incarcerated writers, editors and producers publish more accurate narratives for audiences both inside and outside the prison.
The team behind the Pollen Initiative has helped launch and expand three media projects across the United States, including San Quentin News, ForwardThis Productions and Prison Media Center-in-a-Box. These programs have positively affected the lives of 250 journalism guild writers, 90 staff writers, 24 film crew participants, 300,000-plus readers across 36 California prisons and thousands of subscribers across the country and world. Since its founding, the program has generated award-winning results, including the James Madison Freedom of Information Award, Society of Professional Journalists Silver Heart Award, John W. Gardner Legacy of Leadership Award, James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism Award and California News Publisher Association Journalism Awards. The San Quentin News program proudly maintains a remarkable zero recidivism rate.
Todays launch begins a new chapter in our legacy of changing lives through journalism, said Jesse Vasquez, Pollen Initiative Executive Director and former Editor-in-Chief of the San Quentin News. We look forward to building on our incredible work from the past decade under a new brand that represents our broad, national mission. Our program that started and continues at San Quentin will continue to grow to include more facilities. We look forward to spreading the benefits of journalism nationally to inform policy and equip those who are incarcerated with valuable professional skills.
The Pollen Initiatives new brand reflects the organizations expanded mission to multiply its success in establishing San Quentin News, said Steve Brooks, San Quentin News Editor-in-Chief. I am excited for the next phase of growth for this organization. The Pollen Initiative is largely responsible for supporting the development and growth of San Quentin News, which has now reached circulation of nearly 40,000 print copies and on tablets issued inside facilities across the state of California. The refreshed brand with broader reach will bring new supporters to the table for prison journalism projects like ours that report on meaningful stories that matter.
When former San Quentin Warden Robert Ayers reopened the doors of the San Quentin newspaper in June of 2008, we hoped it would be relevant of the voice of San Quentins incarcerated people, but it has been so much more than that, in and beyond the walls of the facility, commented former San Quentin Public Information Officer Sam Robinson. I envision even greater impact with the Pollen Initiative, which will empower more to find their voice and be important contributors to the rehabilitative and social justice conversations across the country.
The Pollen Initiative will continue to be led by Executive Director Jesse Vasquez. The Initiative is proud to be supported by AppLovin and a collection of committed philanthropic organizations, including the Reva and David Logan Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation and Foundation 4 Systemic Change. The Pollen Initiative will also continue to be supported by a team of skilled strategic advisors, including original Friends of San Quentin News Founder Jon Spurlock, who serves as a Senior Consultant at Slalom, AppLovin Chief Marketing Officer Katie Jansen and UC Berkeley School of Journalism Professors Bill Drummond and Lisa Armstrong.
It is wonderful to see the Pollen Initiative expand, and we are honored to be able to support this crucial moment in the organizations history. The extraordinary and positive results for all participants of the San Quentin News tell a powerful story of transformation and hope, and we are confident that the program can reproduce similar experiences for the next generation of reporters, commented Richard Logan, the Executive Director of the Reva and David Logan Foundation. Pollen Initiative has the leadership, resources and vision to deliver a new sightline for restoration to the incarcerated, their families and the community.
About Pollen Initiative
The Pollen Initiative - formerly known as the Friends of San Quentin News - is an organization dedicated to cultivating rehabilitative programs inside prisons across the U.S., with a special focus on media centers inside prisons and jails. We aim to turn the stigma of incarceration into a catalyst for growth, community impact and transformation. Through hands-on journalism and audiovisual training, as well as leadership programs that facilitate personal growth and transferable skills, the projects led by incarcerated writers and media producers contribute to more balanced and grounded narratives both inside and outside the facilities we support. We support a collection of hand-picked existing prison newsrooms, like the historic San Quentin News, as well as emerging newsrooms, media projects and other rehabilitative programs across the country.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919928245/en/
For Pollen Initiative: Jesse Vasquez, Executive Director, [email protected]
For FGS Global: Jeremy Pelofsky, Partner, [email protected]
Source: The Pollen Initiative
Winner will be decided at Urban Tech Forward in Warsaw
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Hayden AI, a leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning, was named an Urban Tech Challengers finalist. The winner will be announced in October following a pitch competition at Urban Tech Forward, Europes premier event for urban technology innovators.
Hayden AI is one of 15 finalists in the Optimizing Urban Operations category. The companys technology solutions for public transportation have been demonstrated to increase bus speeds, improve on-time performance, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce vehicle collisions.
Urban Tech Challengers is a global competition for technology startups with products designed to make cities sustainable, resilient and equitable. The competition is hosted by Urban Tech Forward, an annual conference occurring this year on October 25th and 26th in Warsaw, Poland.
Making cities safer, smarter, and more sustainable is the center of what we do at Hayden AI, said Chris Carson, Hayden AI founder and CEO. Were thrilled to be an Urban Tech Challengers finalist and look forward to competing for and winning the top spot in October.
Hayden AI is the United States market leader in mobile automated bus lane enforcement and bus stop enforcement, with over 650 camera systems installed on transit buses across the country. The company provides this technology to New York Citys Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) in Washington, DC, and has completed successful pilots with transit agencies in Philadelphia and Santa Monica, California.
Hayden AIs mobile perception platform is packed with patented, industry-leading technologies in categories such as computer vision, machine learning, edge processing and hardware. Most recently, the company was awarded patents for its blockchain-powered data management system for traffic enforcement applications designed to keep data secure and private and its behind-the-windshield camera system that can successfully detect objects and license plates in low light and all weather conditions.
About Hayden AI: At Hayden AI, were pioneering real world problem solving powered by AI and machine learning. From bus lane and bus stop enforcement to digital twin modeling and more, our clients use our mobile perception system to speed up transit, make streets safer, and create a more sustainable future. Learn more at www.hayden.ai.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919552234/en/
Jenna Fortunati
[email protected]
Source: Hayden AI
The Technology Intelligence Leaders Growth is Validated by the Worlds Largest Software Reviewer
SANTA BARBARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- HG Insights, the provider of go-to-market Technology Intelligence to 90% of tech companies in the Fortune 100, today announced its position in the top 25% of all Sales Intelligence providers on G2s Fall 2023 Momentum Grid. HGs position is a testament to the companys promising year-over-year growth, the momentum it brings into the market, and the trust customers place in HGs data-driven insights.
The Momentum Grid identifies products that are on a high-growth trajectory based on user satisfaction scores, employee growth, and digital presence and provides benchmarks for product comparison and market trend analysis. Reserved for companies making consistent positive movement, HGs inclusion on the Momentum Grid, in addition to regional, market size, and solution-specific grids, illustrates the companys commitment to being a product-led organization.
"Over the past year, we have made substantial progress and have consistently delivered tangible value to our customers, impacting their bottom line, said Elizabeth Cholawsky, CEO of HG Insights. "Our solutions are crucial to the success of our customers, giving them a competitive advantage. We are continually innovating the differentiated value that Technology Intelligence provides, and we are doing it again with Generative AI. HG Insights has been leveraging AI for the past thirteen years, with six patents pending. Building on this long history, we are developing solutions to help our customers capitalize on this wave of AI innovation.
Year-Over-Year Growth Momentum
The reception of three new G2 badges adds to the existing four badges from G2 that HG Insights has already been awarded in 2023.
HG was also named on the Inc. 5000 Americas Fastest-Growing Private Companies list for the second year running. These badges are a result of the companys strategic focus on new product innovations, market expansion, and ecosystem growth. HG has seen remarkable customer success with the launch of several market-leading products.
Building upon the momentum of product launches that provide value to our customers with the release of Platform V2, HG Salesforce Connector, Functional Area Intelligence, and the HG LinkedIn Connector HG continues to expand on the insights available to go-to-market teams to unlock even greater opportunities. As we continue to innovate with Technology Intelligence, we look forward to empowering businesses with actionable insights, said Robert Fox, CTO of HG Insights.
HG Award is Customer Validation
G2 scores products and vendors every quarter based on feedback from their user community as well as data gathered from online sources and social networks. Some examples of customer feedback include:
The depth of knowledge provided by HG Insights is truly impressive. The platform offers comprehensive data and analysis, giving me a clear picture of technology adoption trends, market shifts, and even competitor activity. Armed with this information, I have been able to make well-informed business decisions, stay ahead of the curve, and remain competitive in a fast-paced industry.
As well as earning two G2 badges, HG Insights position as a market leader in Technology Intelligence has been lauded across the industry. Some of the notable accolades received by the organization include:
Two years running on the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America, and lauded as the Best in Business, and Best SaaS Solution by Inc.
Recognized for Happiest Employees, Best Company Compensation, and Best Company Perks & Benefits by Comparably
Named one of the Best Places to Work by tech industry recruiting leader Built In
Learn More
Learn more about HG Insights here, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About HG Insights
HG Insights, the provider of data-driven insights to 90% of tech companies in the Fortune 100, is your go-to-market Technology Intelligence partner.
We use advanced insights into Technology Intelligence on IT spend, technographics, cloud usage, intent signals, Functional Area Intelligence, and contract details to provide global B2B companies with a better way to analyze markets and target prospects. Our customers achieve unprecedented results in their marketing and sales programs thanks to the indexing of billions of unstructured documents each day with insights into product adoption, usage, spend data, and more to build high-resolution maps of activity across an organizations entire digital infrastructure to power business decisions with precision and confidence.
About G2
G2 is the world's largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 60 million people annually including employees at all of the FORTUNE 500 use G2 to make smarter software decisions based on authentic peer reviews.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919545759/en/
Taylor Viens
Senior Marketing & Communications Manager
HG Insights
[email protected]
Source: HG Insights
The Carter Center Unveils the Jimmy Carter 99 Celebration Encouraging People Around the World to Send Birthday Messages to Thank President Carter for the Millions of Lives He has Touched.
ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Global humanitarian and former President Jimmy Carter is turning 99 on October 1. As part of this significant milestone, The Carter Center is asking the public to share birthday messages, memories, and tributes for him. Messages and well wishes will be featured in a digital mosaic for President Carter, his family, and communities around the world to enjoy.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918574672/en/
"My grandfathers legacy is all the personal stories and memories from the people he has impacted all over the world, said Jason Carter, chair of the Carter Centers Board of Trustees. The mosaic serves as a gift from this community, and we are excited to share it on his birthday.
To participate, well-wishers can visit www.cartercenter.org/JimmyCarter99 to submit a photo and offer a birthday wish, share a personal memory, or name a favorite trait of President Carter. The images will be combined to create a digital and physical mosaic of the former president that will be highlighted across the country. People are also encouraged to post well wishes to President Carter on their social channels using #JimmyCarter99. More than 6,000 people from dozens of countries have sent in tributes so far.
Leading up to October 1, the mosaic image will also be displayed in Atlanta at various public venues -- including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and Corey Tower -- to commemorate the occasion and showcase the citys love and appreciation for Americas 39th president.
President Carter is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the longest-living president in U.S. history. For decades, he has worked tirelessly to wage peace, fight disease, build hope, and stand up for the worlds most vulnerable people. Through more than 40 years at The Carter Center, he has helped reduce or eliminate terrible diseases, foster democracy around the world, and promote physical and mental health as a human right.
When President Carter began working on Guinea worm disease in 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases per year. Since then, The Carter Center has led a global campaign to eradicate the disease, reducing incidence to just 13 human cases in 2022.
All of us want to wish President Carter a very happy 99th birthday and to thank him for a lifetime of service, said Paige Alexander, chief executive officer at The Carter Center. President Carter has made it his mission in life to build a healthier, more peaceful world. Now we all have the chance to tell him what his vision, honesty, and compassion have meant to us.
For more information visit www.cartercenter.org/JimmyCarter99.
The Carter Center
Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.
A not-for-profit, nongovernmental organization, The Carter Center has helped to improve life for people in over 80 countries by resolving conflicts; advancing democracy, human rights, and economic opportunity; preventing diseases; and improving mental health care. The Carter Center was founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, in partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
Visit our website CarterCenter.org | Follow us on X @CarterCenter | Follow us on Instagram @thecartercenter | Like us on Facebook Facebook.com/CarterCenter | Watch us on YouTube YouTube.com/CarterCenter
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918574672/en/
Rennie Sloan, The Carter Center, [email protected]
Jen Jones, BCW, [email protected]
Source: The Carter Center
STELLARTON, Nova Scotia & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- After the successful introduction of the Scene+ loyalty program at Sobeys Inc., the company has extended its offerings to include a distinctive loyalty rewards campaign, exclusively tailored for Scene+ members at its Quebec IGA stores.
For a limited time, Scene+ members shopping in IGA stores in Quebec will earn incremental value with each purchase in the form of digital stamps. When shopping with their Scene+ card, shoppers earn one digital stamp for each ten dollars spent. The stamps are redeemable for Comptoir de Famille branded dinnerware at up to a 97% discount. Customers can earn digital stamps through December 13 and can redeem them through December 27. Eight different dinnerware items are offered, and customers are encouraged to collect the full range.
We are very pleased to offer this unique and exclusive benefit to our Scene+ members. In addition to all the great reasons to use your Scene+ card at IGA, now you can also collect an entire dinnerware set at tremendous savings just in time for holiday entertaining, commented Mathieu Hebert-Thompson, Director of Loyalty, CRM and Digital Marketing for Sobeys banners in Quebec. The initial member sign-ups, active members and awareness of our new Scene+ loyalty program exceeded our expectations, and with the addition of this special dinnerware rewards offering we are seeing registrations and engagement grow even further. Our loyal customers are showing us that they love the benefits of the Scene+ program.
Managed by tcc Global, the Comptoir de Famille campaign provides customers with an app and web interface to manage their points and rewards. During the first week, shoppers earned 15 bonus points just for downloading the IGA app, which they can use to check digital stamp balances, get information on the rewards selection, earn special manufacturer sponsored bonus points and see their earning and redemption history. Future releases will include the ability to gift or transfer digital stamps to other users.
We are very excited about expanding our Canadian business through this partnership with Sobeys Inc., said Dan Dmochowski, President of North America for tcc Global. Countless times around the world weve seen fixed-length rewards programs supercharge the value of a digital always-on points program. We are seeing that here with Scene+. The ability to earn points for dinnerware while also earning Scene+ points creates the energy and urgency to shop, collect and redeem. That drives sales while building customer loyalty.
About IGA
IGA is the largest group of independent grocers in Canada and its origins in Quebec date back to 1953. Nearly 300 IGA dealers in Quebec and New Brunswick are continually looking for new ways to better serve their customers. The IGA banner includes IGA, IGA extra and IGA express stores. IGA has recently introduced the Scene + loyalty program, presenting customers with personalized offers and an array of benefits.
About tcc Global
tcc Global is an international marketing company specializing in creating loyalty platforms and campaigns that change the way shoppers think, act and feel. In a fast-paced retail environment which continues to be disrupted by increasing consumer choice, technology and innovation, customer loyalty remains a significant driver as the link between emotional resonance and transactional reward.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919502486/en/
Anne-Helene Lavoie
Sobeys/IGA
[email protected]
Ronald Margulis
RAM Communications
908-337-0020
[email protected]
Source: tcc Global
First European Member Meeting Explores Phase 3 Work Items
MUNICH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Innovative Optical and Wireless Network Global Forum (IOWN Global Forum) which seeks to create a smarter, more sustainable and connected world, recently hosted its first member meeting in Europe, welcoming nearly 200 registrants from nearly 50 different organizations. Additionally, key sessions were live-streamed with well over 400 members participating online from around the world across 16 different countries.
Collaborating for Progress
As a contribution-led organization, the direction of the IOWN Global Forum is based on a highly collaborative process. Earlier this year, the Forum issued a Call for Proposals to guide Phase 3 work items, resulting in the receipt of 34 innovative and forward-looking submissions. A key objective of the Munich Member Meeting was to evaluate, categorize, and finalize the submissions that warrant future exploration and inclusion as deliverables in the next phase of the Forum's work. The target start date for Phase 3 is January 2024.
While at the meeting, the IOWN Global Forum Board of Directors received and accepted its first Recognized Proof of Concept (PoC) Report An Implementation of Heterogeneous and Disaggregated Computing for DCI as a Service. This is the first of a longer list of ongoing work items and proof of concepts that demonstrate the viability, value, and performance of IOWN based technologies in building a connected and sustainable world.
To further guide the work of the IOWN Global Forum, the Technical Steering Committee has publicly released the "IOWN Global Forum: Key Values and Technology Evolution Roadmap" reference document. The key values, among others, include a holistic approach, an emphasis on implementation-driven solutions, a focus on system and architectural advancements, collaboration across industries, use cases, and technology, as well as a commitment to tangible deliverables.
Furthermore, the document sheds light on the anticipated evolution of networking and computing within the Forum's roadmap horizon. In terms of networking, significant innovations are expected to greatly enhance end-point connectivity while achieving deterministic Quality of Service with high energy efficiency. For computing, the focus lies on innovations that effectively facilitate the movement and processing of data, meeting extreme performance requirements while maintaining high energy efficiency.
Industry Leaders Share Perspectives on IOWN Technologies' Future
In his welcome, Dr. Katsuhiko Kawazoe, President and Chairperson of IOWN Global Forum, shared his observations on the combination of Generative AI and IOWN technologies. He highlighted the significance of the AI Community, which involves connecting small generative AI models to establish a larger collective intelligence. This collaborative approach, along with IOWN technologies, will drastically enhance AI efficiency, enabling real-time problem-solving and autonomous governance.
Dr. Masayuki Hattori, Special Appointed Chief Engineer, Sony Group Corporation opened the three day meeting, sharing his gratitude with membership on the accomplishments thus far of the Forum, along with emphasizing the potential for groundbreaking advancements and productive collaborations.
Dr. Tomohiro Otani, general manager of technology strategy division at KDDI Corporation, made his plenary talk, entitled KDDIs view on all photonic networks. While he referred to KDDI Vision 2030 and its enabler, KDDI digital twin for all, he also introduced the benefit of an all photonic network (APN) and shared recent R&D results for highly reliable and low power consumption communication infrastructure with high capacity. He concluded his speech by encouraging the IOWN Global Forum to accelerate open innovation of APNs and leading the establishment of global standards along with other Standards Development Organizations and Forums.
Dr. Clara Li, IOWN Global Forum Technology Steering Committee (TSC) Chair, Sr. Principal Engineer for Wireless Standards at Intel, introduced the TSC deliverable on "IOWN Global Forum: Key Values and Technology Evolution Roadmap. The talk elaborated on the Forums unique innovative structure and collaborative approach, and introduced the Forums two main technology values to deliver distinct benefits to the market and society: IOWN Networking and IOWN Computing. A technology evolution roadmap was laid out to realize the IOWN Networking and IOWN Computing design goals.
Continuing the theme of innovation and how IOWN technologies will fit into network and computing infrastructures, Giovanni Manto, Vice President from Nokia, presented Developing the Connections of the Future while Gert Grammel, Chief Technology Officer from Juniper Networks shared The Open Optical Network Observer. Other sessions featured Takki Yu, Vice President, Head of Infra Tech sharing SK Telecoms Views on 6G & IOWN, Kevin Drury of Nokia Canada on Addressing the Need for Quantum Safe Networking, NTTs Yoshihiko Kainuma summarizing the Forums Open APN exhibition at the Interop Tokyo 2023, and, Yoshinori Tsuzuki of NTT Comware presenting Implementation Journey of XR Ping Pong on APN.
The last day of the meeting included a closing message from IOWN Global Forum Director Jefferson Wang, Senior Managing Director, Global Network Practice Lead, Accenture. Mr. Wang expressed his gratitude to the attendees and their participation and shared his excitement for the Forums progress towards a better future.
Dramatic Growth Continues
Membership in the forum has risen steadily to 129 organizations and academic institutes globally, focused on the development of next-generation networking equipment, device technologies, network-enabled services, next-generation computing, and research in areas such as silicon photonics and distributed computing. Notable new member organizations since April 2023 include Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., APRESIA Systems, Ltd., drivenets, KEL Corporation, KYOCERA Corporation, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Nagoya University, NIPPON STEEL Chemical & Material Co., Ltd., Shiga University, Sompo Holdings, Inc., Taisei Corporation, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., and VIAVI Solutions.
About IOWN Global Forum
The objective of the IOWN Global Forum is to accelerate innovation and adoption of a new communication infrastructure to meet our future data and computing requirements through the development of new technologies, frameworks, specifications, and reference designs in areas such as photonics R&D, distributed computing, use cases, and best practices.
Details on IOWN Global Forum and membership information can be found at https://iowngf.org.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919338313/en/
Mike McCamon
IOWN Global Forum
[email protected]
Source: Innovative Optical and Wireless Network Global Forum
IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Irvine City Council unanimously approved a Letter of Intent at its Tuesday, Sept. 12, meeting to work with Sunstone Management, Inc. in creation of an Irvine Accelerator for early-stage, high-tech entrepreneurs.
The proposal came from Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan after a year of discussions with the Irvine Innovation Council and Sunstone Management principals. John Shen, founder of Sunstone, is an original member of the Innovation Council.
I am thrilled that the city is partnering with Sunstone on the Irvine Accelerator, Mayor Kahn said. This public-private partnership which formed as a product of my Innovation Council, of which John Shen is a founding member, will provide opportunities benefitting our local startup ecosystem.
Sunstone is a diversified private capital management firm headquartered in Irvine that focuses on early-stage venture capital. It was one of the founding partners of the Long Beach Accelerator, established in 2019.
In September 2022, the City Council directed me and Vice Mayor (Tammy) Kim to work with staff on developing an economic development program that would identify Irvine as the premier location in the region for individuals seeking to found and establish high-tech and future focused business ventures, Mayor Khan said introducing the motion. The City Council direction specifically identified that development of this particular program should be coordinated in partnership where feasible with my Innovation Council.
Eric Romero, Sunstones Director of Economic Development, led the early talks and appeared before the Irvine Council on Sept. 12.
Our company is excited by the opportunity to work with the City of Irvine, local organizations, and community leaders to establish the Irvine Accelerator and fill an important gap in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, he told the council. The Irvine Accelerator will accelerate the growth of early-stage technology companies in Irvine by delivering a cohort-based program that will provide workshops, mentorship, subject-matter expertise, and funding. We believe the Irvine Accelerator will be an economic driver for the city and the region by further strengthening Irvines brand as a vibrant startup hub, growing local businesses, attracting new businesses, and creating high-quality jobs.
Irvine is a city of more than 300,000 people with a median household income of $114,000. It is considered the fastest growing city in California and was the 13th largest city in the state in 2022. It is home to the University of California, Irvine, which boasts the UCI Beall Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship as part of the Paul Merage School of Business.
Our philosophy is Founder-focused, and we are strong believers in partnerships between government and private industry, said John Keisler, CEO and managing partner at Sunstone Management. This opportunity to work with Irvine to create new resources for entrepreneurs in Southern California is an exciting opportunity and an honor.
Next steps include creation of a formal working group, develop and approve a formal Memorandum of Understanding, establish the nonprofit organization and start fundraising to support operations.
For more information about Sunstone Management, go to www.sunstoneinvestment.com. For more about Irvine economic development, go to www.cityofirvine.org/economic-development.
About Sunstone Management
Sunstone Management is a diversified private capital management firm with headquarters in Southern California that provides a range of early-stage venture capital, real estate, and fixed income funds to qualified and accredited investors. The firm delivers new and exciting options for economic growth through innovative public-private partnerships, making use of its unique experience across government, education, and private sectors. Identified by Financial Times as one of Americas Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row. Ranked 18th in the United States on the list of most active venture capital firms by PitchBook.
Connect with Sunstone Management at:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Crunchbase | Pitchbook
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919887203/en/
Jennifer Huang
Sunstone Management
(562) 732-0617
[email protected]
Source: Sunstone Management, Inc.
TAMPA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Masonite International Corporation (NYSE: DOOR) will host a virtual Investor Day today, September 19, 2023, starting at 9:00 a.m. (ET). The event will feature presentations by members of the executive leadership team on the companys operations, strategic priorities, and long-term growth objectives, including 2027 financial goals.
The theme of this years event is Invisible to Invaluable, said Howard Heckes, President and CEO of Masonite. Consumers consistently tell us that they expect doors to play an increasingly important role throughout the home, and we are developing innovative door solutions with the power to fundamentally improve the homeowner experience.
We are transforming Masonite and the entire industry with our Doors That Do MoreTM growth strategy, which has three pillars focused on creating value through product leadership, strong customer engagement and a superior service proposition, continued Heckes. While each pillar drives improvements in our business, it is the integrated nature of the strategy that we believe allows us to excel at creating and capturing demand to outperform the market. Our entire team is focused on unlocking this opportunity for shareholders, as we drive towards our 2027 financial goals of delivering over $1 billion in cumulative free cash flow and expanding our Adjusted EBITDA margin to nearly 20%.
A link to the live webcast is available on the Investor Relations section of the Masonite website at investor.masonite.com. A replay of the webcast and copies of the presentations will also be made available on the Masonite website following the event.
ABOUT MASONITE
Masonite International Corporation is a leading global designer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of interior and exterior doors, door system components and door systems for the new construction and repair, renovation and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction markets. Since 1925, Masonite has provided its customers with innovative products and superior service at compelling values. Masonite currently serves approximately 7,000 customers globally. Additional information about Masonite can be found at www.masonite.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking information and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and/or U.S. securities laws, including our discussion of our strategic and restructuring initiatives, statements relating to our business and growth strategy and our 2027 financial goals. When used in this press release, such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as "may," "might," "could," "will," "would," "should," "expect," "believes," "outlook," "predict," "forecast," "objective," "remain," "anticipate," "estimate," "progressing," "potential," "continue," "plan," "project," "showing," "yielding," "targeting," or the negative of these terms or other similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Masonite, or industry results, to be materially different from any future plans, goals, targets, objectives, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. As a result, such forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, should not be unduly relied upon, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such results will be achieved. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those set forth in Masonites reports on Forms 10-K (including the Risk Factors section thereof), 10-Q and 8-K filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Masonite undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES AND RELATED INFORMATION
Quantitative reconciliations of free cash flow and Adjusted EBITDA Margin to the corresponding GAAP information are not provided for the 2027 goals because it is difficult to predict, without unreasonable effort, the GAAP measures that are excluded from (a) Adjusted EBITDA Margin such as restructuring costs, asset impairments, share based compensation expense and gains/losses on sales of subsidiaries and PP&E and (b) the cash and non-cash components of Net Income including the impact of taxes, accruals, and other changes in assets and liabilities that impact net cash flow provided by operating activities, as well as the timing of cash outlays related to additions of property plant and equipment.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919750072/en/
Investor Contacts:
Richard Leland
VP, FINANCE AND TREASURER
813.739.1808 | [email protected]
Marcus Devlin
DIRECTOR, INVESTOR RELATIONS
813.371.5839 | [email protected]
Source: Masonite International Corporation
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 21:13 | World, All, Japan
The Japanese government said on Tuesday that it has lodged a protest with China for installing a buoy inside Japan's exclusive economic zone near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and is demanding the immediate removal of the object.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference that the Chinese act is inconsistent with international law. The buoy was found in July near the uninhabited, Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed islets.
China has been intensifying its military activities and maritime assertiveness in the East and South China seas, with Japan protesting against repeated intrusions by Chinese ships into Japanese waters around the Senkakus.
"Installing structures in our nation's EEZ without our consent violates regulations related to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea," Matsuno, the top government spokesman, said, referring to an international agreement whose signatories include Japan and China.
He added that the Japan Coast Guard has issued a navigation warning since July 15 to ensure the safety of ships sailing in nearby waters.
According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry and other sources, a yellow buoy was spotted in the waters about 80 kilometers northwest of Uotsuri, the Senkakus' largest island, with a light and Chinese characters suggesting that its purpose is for marine research.
Japan last confirmed a buoy set up by China around the Senkakus in 2018.
Related coverage:
New foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa says Japan must engage with China
China military officers shelve Japan visit amid Fukushima water row
Publix Charities donates $10M in 2023 to help alleviate hunger
LAKELAND, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As Publix Super Markets launches its annual Publix Serves Week focused on alleviating hunger, a number of the 22 mobile food pantries Publix Super Markets Charities (PSMC) funded in 2022 are hitting the road, bringing Publix-provided produce and other nutritious food to communities facing food insecurity throughout the Southeast. The Feeding America partner food banks received $175,000 each from PSMC to purchase and equip their mobile units. The mobile pantries allow customers to select what they need.
To further its commitment to alleviating hunger, PSMC is donating $6 million to 36 Feeding America partner food banks and more than 300 other nonprofit organizations this year. These funds will help support organizations providing services like weekend backpack programs, food pantries and meal delivery programs. Earlier this year, PSMC also announced a special $4 million grant opportunity available to select food banks in the companys operating area to fund nonrecurring, capacity-building projects. This brings the foundations total investment in helping alleviate hunger to over $52 million since 2015.
Helping provide food to our neighbors in need is at the heart of our philanthropic efforts at Publix, said Publix CEO Todd Jones. Were thankful to Publix Super Markets Charities for their continued support of hunger alleviation efforts in the areas we serve. Their support and our work with food banks throughout the Southeast provide nourishment and better the lives of families and individuals in our communities. Were proud to do good, together.
One in ten people in America experience food insecurity, so improving access to fresh, nutritious food is as important as ever, said Feeding America CEO Claire Babineaux-Fontenot. We know we can end hunger in America when we work together with communities, with people facing hunger and with generous partners like Publix and Publix Super Markets Charities. We are incredibly appreciative of their long-standing support.
In addition to the funding from PSMC, Publix associates are volunteering at more than 150 nonprofit organizations this week as part of Publix Serves. Over 7,500 associates will engage in community service activities with a focus on supporting hunger alleviation efforts in the communities where they live and work.
Publixs hunger alleviation efforts
Throughout the year, Publix works to alleviate hunger through several initiatives volunteerism, register campaigns and food donations.
Feeding More Together combines the generosity of customers, associates and Publix to provide shelf-stable items to local food banks, food pantries and other hunger alleviation organizations, and fresh produce to Feeding America partner food banks.
Through the food donation program, Publix associates gather wholesome but unsalable perishable items every day and donate them to organizations that help people facing food insecurity.
You can learn more about the events happening during Publix Serves Week in the companys operating area.
About PSMC
George Jenkins, founder of Publix Super Markets and affectionately known as Mr. George, believed in giving. From the day he opened his first Publix, he made sure his associates, customers and community were taken care of. In 1966, Mr. George established the foundation with the vision it would continue giving long after he was gone. Publix Super Markets Charities remains committed to serving the communities in which Publix operates.
About Publix
Publix, the largest employee-owned company in the U.S. with more than 250,000 associates, currently operates 1,351 stores in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. For 26 consecutive years, the company has been recognized by Fortune as a great place to work. In addition, Publixs dedication to superior quality and customer service is recognized among the top in the grocery business. For more information, visit the companys newsroom at corporate.publix.com/newsroom.
About Feeding America
Feeding America is committed to an America where no one is hungry. The organization supports tens of millions of people who experience food insecurity to get the food and resources they say they need to thrive as part of a nationwide network of food banks, statewide food bank associations, food pantries and meal programs. Visit FeedingAmerica.org to learn more.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919024677/en/
Maria Brous
(863) 680-5339
Source: Publix
Created by dentsu, in partnership with REVOLT and G|FACTOR FILMS, the series expands upon successful podcast by the same name
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Building on the success of three radio show seasons that resulted in $12M invested into Black-owned media, More Than That with Gia Peppers expands to video with a four-part limited broadcast series on REVOLT, the leading Black-owned multimedia company. The program elevates conversations impacting Black America, exploring a wide range of topics that inspire and engage diverse communities. The episodes are funded and sponsored by dentsu US media clients, and some of todays top marketers, including Kroger, a founding sponsor that has supported all previous radio seasons of More Than That with Gia Peppers.
Read full press release here.
About Dentsu
Dentsu is the network designed for whats next, helping clients predict and plan for disruptive future opportunities in the sustainable economy. Taking a people-centered approach to business transformation, dentsu combines Japanese innovation with a diverse, global perspective to drive client growth and to shape society.
https://www.dentsu.com/
https://www.group.dentsu.com/en/
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919624158/en/
Paul Buranosky: [email protected]
Kate Kelley: [email protected]
Source: Dentsu
NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Revance Therapeutics, Inc. (RVNC) announced that the company is hosting its Investor Day today, September 19, 2023, from 9:30 am ET to 12:00 pm ET.
The Investor Day will include management presentations on Revances vision and strategy, Revance Aesthetics overview and launch progress, DAXXIFY KOL panel, Revance Therapeutics commercial launch plans, future growth opportunities, and financial review and outlook. The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.
Key Corporate Updates
Real-world feedback reinforces DAXXIFYs differentiated performance profile and continued opportunity for long-term, broad-based adoption.
New pricing program for DAXXIFY, which became effective September 1, 2023, positions the product to be priced competitively to Botox Cosmetic for the provider, to further accelerate market share expansion.
Expects long-term supply chain strategy to support U.S. DAXXIFY adjusted gross margin of over 80%.
Continued confidence in blockbuster potential in U.S. aesthetics product portfolio.
Provides update on DAXXIFY cervical dystonia PrevU program and commercial launch plans, early feedback from payers and market access dynamics.
Exiting OPUL payments business by the end of Q1 2024 to prioritize capital allocation and streamline operations. Expects to free up approximately $20 million a year for reinvestment in DAXXIFY aesthetics and therapeutic commercial launches.
The company provides additional updates to its 2023 financial guidance: With current cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments of $319.7 million as of June 30, 2023, and the additional $50 million in notes funded through Athyrium Capital in August 2023, the company is funded to breakeven and expects to be Adjusted EBITDA positive in 2025. Expects to provide product revenue guidance in first half 2024. Q3 2023 product revenue has the potential to be around Q2 2023 levels based on the recent roll out of the new pricing program and traditional seasonality in facial injectables. Revised 2023 GAAP and Non-GAAP operating expense guidance to reflect the companys exit of the OPUL payments business: GAAP operating expenses updated from $460 million $480 million to $545 million $585 million. Non-GAAP operating expenses updated from $320 million $340 million to $315 million $335 million. Non-GAAP research and development expenses updated from $80 million $90 million to $75 million $85 million.
Interested parties can access the live webcast for this event from the Events and Presentations section of the companys Investor Relations webpage.
A webcast replay will be available beginning September 19, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. ET. To access the replay, please register via the webcast link on the events page.
About Revance
Revance is a biotechnology company setting the new standard in healthcare with innovative aesthetic and therapeutic offerings that enhance patient outcomes and physician experiences. Revances portfolio includes DAXXIFY (DaxibotulinumtoxinA-lanm) for injection and the RHA Collection of dermal fillers in the U.S. Revance has also partnered with Viatris Inc. to develop a biosimilar to onabotulinumtoxinA for injection and Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical to commercialize DAXXIFY in China.
Revance is headquartered in Nashville, Tenn., with additional office locations in Newark and Irvine, Calif. Learn more at www.Revance.com, www.RevanceAesthetics.com, www.DAXXIFY.com, www.hcp.DAXXIFYTherapy.com, or connect with us on LinkedIn.
Revance and the Revance logo, and DAXXIFY are registered trademarks of Revance Therapeutics, Inc. Resilient Hyaluronic Acid and RHA are trademarks of TEOXANE SA. BOTOX is a registered trademark of Allergan, Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact, including statements related to our adjusted gross margins; 2023 product revenue, operating expenses and research and development expense guidance and our guidance plans; our funding to cash flow breakeven; our capital requirements; the timing for reaching positive adjusted EBITDA; projected loss from the services segment; the plans for the OPUL business and the anticipated cash to be freed up from the exit of the OPUL payments business; our ability to successfully commercialize DAXXIFY, drive adoption, take market share and grow; our blockbuster potential; the competitive pricing of DAXXIFY; the potential benefits and performance of our products; the efficacy, duration and safety of DAXXIFY; our ability to set a new standard of care; potential benefits of our products to physicians and patients; development of a biosimilar to onabotulinumtoxinA for injection with Viatris; and our business and marketing strategy, timeline and other goals, and plans and prospects, including our commercialization plans; constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance, events, circumstances or achievements reflected in the forward-looking statements will ever be achieved or occur.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and the timing of events to differ materially from our expectations. These risks and uncertainties relate to, but are not limited to: our ability to obtain funding for our operations; the timing of capital expenditures; the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, revenues, capital requirements, our financial performance and the economics of DAXXIFY and the RHA Collection of dermal fillers; the extent of future impairment charges; our ability to comply with our debt obligations; the impact of macroeconomic factors on our manufacturing operations, supply chain, end user demand for our products, commercialization efforts, business operations, regulatory meetings, inspections and approvals, clinical trials and other aspects of our business and on the market; our ability to maintain approval of our products; our ability and the ability of our partners to manufacture supplies for DAXXIFY and our drug product candidates; our ability to acquire supplies of the RHA Collection of dermal fillers; the uncertain clinical development process; our ability to obtain, and the timing relating to, regulatory submissions and approvals with respect to our drug product candidates and third-party manufacturers; the risk that clinical trials may not have an effective design or generate positive results or that positive results would assure regulatory approval or commercial success; the applicability of clinical study results to actual outcomes; the rate and degree of economic benefit, safety, efficacy, commercial acceptance, market, competition and/or size and growth potential of DAXXIFY, the RHA Collection of dermal fillers, and our drug product candidates, if approved; our ability to successfully commercialize DAXXIFY and to continue to successfully commercialize the RHA Collection of dermal fillers; the timing and cost of commercialization activities; securing or maintaining adequate coverage or reimbursement by third-party payors for DAXXIFY;the proper training and administration of our products by physicians and medical staff; our ability to gain acceptance from physicians in the use of DAXXIFY for therapeutic indications; our ability to expand sales and marketing capabilities; the status of commercial collaborations; changes in and failures to comply with laws and regulations; our ability to continue obtaining and maintaining intellectual property protection for our products; the cost and our ability to defend ourselves in product liability, intellectual property, class action or other lawsuits; our ability to limit or mitigate cybersecurity incidents; the volatility of our stock price; and other risks. Detailed information regarding factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied by statements in this press release may be found in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K filed with the SEC on February 28, 2023, and including, without limitation, our Form 10-Qs for the quarters ended March 31, 2023 and June 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on May 9, 2023 and August 8, 2023, respectively. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The Company has presented certain preliminary and unaudited non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, including non-GAAP R&D expense, non-GAAP operating expense, adjusted gross margin and adjusted EBITDA. Non-GAAP R&D expense excludes depreciation, amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation and restructuring charges. Non-GAAP operating expense excludes costs of revenue, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation, and restructuring and impairment charges. Adjusted gross margin is defined as gross margin, excluding stock-based compensation, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation and extraordinary items such as restructuring and impairment charges. Actual non-GAAP R&D expense, non-GAAP operating expense and adjusted EBITDA may exclude extraordinary items not indicative of our ongoing operating performance such as restructuring and impairment charges. The Company excludes costs of revenue, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation and extraordinary items like restructuring and impairment charges because management believes the exclusion of these items is helpful to investors to evaluate the Companys recurring operational performance. Company management uses these non-GAAP financial measures to monitor and evaluate its operating results and trends on an ongoing basis, and internally for operating, budgeting and financial planning purposes. The non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results.
Certain non-GAAP measures included in this press release were not reconciled to the comparable GAAP financial measures because the GAAP measures are not accessible on a forward-looking basis. The Company is unable to reconcile these forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures without unreasonable effort because the Company is currently unable to predict with a reasonable degree of certainty the type and extent of certain items that would be expected to impact GAAP measures for these periods but would not impact the non-GAAP measures. Such items include costs of revenue, depreciation, amortization, stock-based compensation as well as extraordinary items like restructuring and impairment charges. The unavailable information could have a significant impact on the Companys GAAP financial results.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919664980/en/
Investors
Revance Therapeutics, Inc.:
Jessica Serra, 510-279-6886
[email protected]
or
Gilmartin Group, LLC.:
Laurence Watts, 619-916-7620
[email protected]
Media
Revance Therapeutics, Inc.:
Sara Fahy, 949-887-4476
[email protected]
Source: Revance Therapeutics, Inc.
Working together to reduce the environmental footprint of events
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sustain.Life is proud to announce its partnership with the UN Global Compact Network USA, the U.S. chapter of the UN Global Compact. The distinctive initiative championed by the United Nations Secretary-General invites businesses globally to realign their strategies and operations with its Ten Principles that span human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919598698/en/
As part of this collaboration, Sustain.Life will support and measure Network USAs event-related emissions and is set to kick off at the 2023 SDG Summit USA, which takes place on September 20, 2023, with commitments for additional events in 2024.
"We are thrilled to align with the UN Global Compact Network USA. As an emissions-tracking platform, we recognize the pressing need to measure, manage, and report the environmental impact of events, stated Annalee Bloomfield, CEO at Sustain.Life. Influential leaders like the UN Global Compact play an important role in setting expectations for global sustainability standards. Their commitment inspires and drives businesses, big and small, to reflect on their operations. In partnering with such a respected institution, we aim to amplify the message that tracking carbon emissions is not just good practice, but imperative as we move forward.
"At Network USA, we aim to strengthen our role as a facilitator for sustainability collaboration while reducing our own environmental impact," said Adam Roy Gordon, Executive Director at UN Global Compact Network USA. "We look forward to using the data and insights provided to improve our strategies for reducing carbon emissions at our events."
This partnership between the two parties marks a significant step toward enhanced sustainability practices. By adding simple datalike location, venue size, and number of attendeesevent organizers can now calculate carbon emissions associated with lodging, travel, waste, energy, food, and more. Tracking these emissions grants deeper insights into energy consumption and more, and also offers a competitive edge by enabling companies to produce carbon-neutral events.
To learn more, please visit: https://www.sustain.life
About Sustain.Life
Sustain.Life is the SaaS platformand Certified B Corporationthat helps future-proof companies by decarbonizing and taking climate action. Launched in 2021, Sustain.Life provides ESG and carbon accounting tools that empower organizations to embrace sustainability, manage and mitigate carbon emissions, reduce costs, and stand out to customers, investors, and other stakeholders. Sustain.Life is also proud to be a UN Global Compact signatory.
About UN Global Compact Network USA
Global Compact Network USA is the US Chapter of the United Nations Global Compact, the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world. We are a powerful network of companies and stakeholders dedicated to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. By connecting our partners with the resources of the greater UN, we support companies that are committed to fully integrating our principles of human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption into their business strategies and operations.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919598698/en/
Kate Holman
Communications Manager
[email protected]
Source: Sustain.Life
Opening of the new centre marks the organisations triumphant 10-year establishment in Finland, and a strategic step in its expansion into the Nordic region
ESPOO, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services & solutions, today inaugurated a local innovation centre in Espoo, Finland. This expansion comes after a sustained period of growth in the region and signifies Tech Mahindras commitment to further its journey in Finland, and the Nordic region. The new centre will accommodate a diverse workforce increasing the in-country headcount ranging from experienced business leaders to fresh talent, in collaboration with the local ecosystem.
Located in Espoo, a part of the greater Helsinki metropolitan area, the new centre situates Tech Mahindra at the heart of one of the major business hotspots and innovation hubs in the Nordics. From this strategic location, Tech Mahindra will continue to provide digital business transformation services and solutions to customers.
Mohit Joshi, Managing Director and CEO Designate of Tech Mahindra, said, Given its focus on innovation, sustainability, and a unique approach to entrepreneurship; today Finland ranks amongst the topmost countries in the world that leverage emerging technologies to shape the future business landscape. This is also reflected in Tech Mahindras commitment to the ongoing expansion in the Nordics region, and the establishment of our new centre in Espoo. It is our endeavor to widen the talent pool, fuel innovation, improve agility to deliver robust solutions, and be closer to our customers businesses to drive sustainable growth.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by dignitaries such as Raveesh Kumar, Ambassador of India to Finland; Jusa Susia, Senior Director & Head of Region East Asia & India at Business Finland; and Janne Kari, Head of Industry, ICT and Digitalisation at Invest in Finland. Tech Mahindra representatives include CP Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO; Mohit Joshi, Managing Director and CEO Designate; Mukul Dhyani, Senior Vice President & Business Head Continental Europe; Rajesh Barwal, VP & Country Manager for Sweden and Finland; C-H Hallstrom, Vice President, Strategic Programs, Nordics.
Further to the commitment in 2022 to set up a Makers Lab, Tech Mahindras research and development arm in Finland, the newly opened centre will also facilitate innovation in collaboration with new and existing customers in the region. The team will work on new and emerging technologies such as Quantum computing, Generative AI and Metaverse. The Makers Lab will also plug into the local startup ecosystem and universities to provide new opportunities in R&D across industries.
In the ten years since Tech Mahindra entered the Finnish market, the organisation has firmly established itself as a leading business transformation expert in the region. By leveraging deep industry expertise and long-term experience in tailoring and deploying best-in-class solutions, Tech Mahindra continues to help businesses to navigate the complex challenges present in the modern business landscape.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919543874/en/
Media contact:
Abhilasha Gupta, Global Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
[email protected]; [email protected]
Source: Tech Mahindra
Built in 1825, Hampstead is one of the Commonwealths most ambitious Greek Revival Residences
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit foundation dedicated to historical preservation and land conservation, today announced it has begun the restoration of the historic Hampstead estate in New Kent County, Virginia. Built in 1825, Hampstead is one of the Virginia Commonwealths most noteworthy Greek Revival residences.
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The Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation Announces Restoration of Historic Hampstead in New Kent County, Virginia. Built in 1825, Hampstead is one of the Commonwealths most ambitious Greek Revival Residences. (Photo: Business Wire)
Hampstead holds a special place in Virginia history, and it is our duty to ensure its legacy is preserved for generations to come," said Founder of the Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation, John B. Poindexter. Were committed to historical reverence and preserving these architectural treasures.
Hampstead's distinguished status was affirmed when it was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Acquired by the Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation in December 2021, the property's restoration journey commenced in mid-2022, with the dedicated partnership of architectural and historical experts. Notably, Joseph F. Yates Architects and the James River Institute for Archaeology, and Pitts & Associates contracting have all lent their expertise to the cause.
The Foundation is set to embark on archeological work to unearth lost dependent buildings and gain deeper insights into the cultural landscape that shaped Hampstead. Efforts are focused on identifying and interpreting structures while uncovering how Hampstead functioned as an integrated whole. Outbuildings at Hampstead are a testament to its historical significance, comprising structures like an early 19th-century office, agricultural buildings, an icehouse, a brick granary in ruins, and a kitchen chimney repurposed as a landscape folly. The estate's expansive grounds exhibit remarkable terraforming and terracing, reflecting the strategic design that characterized its era.
We conducted an extensive amount of research and physical investigation in the estate and outbuildings before beginning the restorations. We want to ensure we have an understanding of how Hampstead worked as a whole so we can restore the structures to tell the story, said historian Bryan Clark Green, Ph.D. So far, weve been able to replicate some of the original pieces of the residence that had been previously removed, while also repurposing original materials in the process.
The Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation is devoted to restoring Hampstead in a way that pays homage to and enriches Virginia's historical tapestry. This meticulous restoration journey is set to conclude in 2024, creating an enduring legacy that will stand as a testament to preserving and commemorating the cultural heritage of Virginia.
To learn more about the Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation, visit https://tidewaterandbigbend.org/.
About the Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation
The Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation is a Texas 501(c)3 nonprofit, founded and endowed by John Poindexter in late 2020. The Foundation acquires, restores, reconstructs and preserves significant historical structures and expansive rural landscapes in the Big Bend region of West Texas and Tidewater, Virginia.
Complementary to building and land restoration, the Foundation acquires and exhibits historical art and artifacts and reconstructs lost structures on its properties. Through the combination of these elements, the Foundation intends to create an educational tableau of rural life in former times. Craftsmen, historians, archeologists, and academics are employed to enhance the understanding of historical structures and lands and their origins. The Foundation engages biologists and botanists in the furtherance of its mission to conserve the flora and fauna inhabiting its rural lands. To date the Foundation has acquired, or will acquire by gift, nine historical properties and 5,200 acres of rural land.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919563622/en/
Julia Covini
Pierpont Communications, Inc.
[email protected]
713-388-6994
Source: Tidewater and Big Bend Foundation
Theres No Room for Tobacco in a Net Zero World
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tobacco Free Portfolios is delighted to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge at a high-level side event at UN Headquarters on September 19, 2023, on the sidelines of the 2023 UN General Assembly. The event is proudly co-sponsored by the governments of France, The Netherlands, and Jamaica, and supported by the United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, and the UN Principles for Responsible Banking.
The theme for the side event is Theres No Room for Tobacco in a Net Zero World on account of Big Tobaccos outsized negative impact on both people and planet. Global health, finance, and diplomatic leaders will celebrate the progress of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. There are now 200+ leading financial institutions, from more than 20 countries, with >US$16 trillion combined assets under management that are Signatories to the Pledge. Recent notable Pledge Signatories include major French banks Societe Generale and Credit Mutuel, two of Australias largest banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ, and AIMCo, one of Canadas largest pension plans.
Given worldwide focus on Net Zero ambitions combined with tobaccos alarming environmental impacts, Tobacco Free Portfolios encourages investors to embed tobacco-free into Net Zero strategies. To illustrate the rationale, cigarette filters, made from cellulose acetate, are the most littered item on the planet and a top contributor to ocean plastic waste. Its also estimated that the production of tobacco leads to ~5% of global deforestation and results in vast carbon emissions.
Quotes:
Prof Bronwyn King, CEO Tobacco Free Portfolios
The past five years has seen the rapid mainstreaming and acceleration of sustainability efforts, along with a rise in greenwashing allegations. The Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge speaks to authentic sustainability commitments, that recognize the crucial role of finance in the global transition to a Net Zero future.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
Every dollar invested in a tobacco company is an investment in death and disease. We must fight tobacco on every front in kiosks, on billboards, in the courts and on the financial markets.
Minister Aurelien Rousseau, Minister of Health and Prevention, France
It is my conviction that the environmental dimension constitutes one of the key pillars in the fight against smoking. This is clearly the case with disposable electronic cigarettes, which we plan to ban from sale in France. Highly popular with young people, they are a rapid route to nicotine addiction. Besides, their components, particularly the lithium batteries, are totally at odds with our objectives in the fight against pollution.
Mrs. Marjolijn Sonnema, Director General for Public Health, The Netherlands
The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is more critical than ever, especially in light of the rising vaping epidemic among youth. The Netherlands stands ready as an important partner, to work towards a sustainable healthy future.
Dr The Hon Minister Christopher Tufton MP, Minister of Health and Wellness, Jamaica
Jamaica remains committed to investing in tobacco control, for the protection of human health as well as the health of the environment. The 15-year period return on investment for tobacco interventions show that for every dollar invested in tobacco control in Jamaica, one can expect to see 5.37 Jamaican dollars return. We are keen to solidify those gains. Jamaica also encourages the continued engagement and partnership of players from the finance sector in supporting the transition to a net zero world in which tobacco has no place.
Mr Jean-Yves Fillion, Vice-Chair BNP Paribas USA
BNP Paribas is proud to be a Founding Signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, which is now successfully celebrating its fifth year. Beyond the health implications, a tobacco-free world is instrumental to abate healthcare costs and global environmental harm.
Mr Nicolas Thery, CEO Credit Mutuel
We formalize today our refusal of the tobacco industry, with the conviction that we must act for the common good, in particular for the preservation of the environment and human health.
Mr Stephane About, CEO Societe Generale USA
The concepts of responsibility and sustainability are at the core of our strategy, said Stephane About, CEO, Societe Generale Americas. Being a signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and supporting this event are symbolic of our commitment to improving the health of the people on this planet, as well as the health of the planet itself.
Mr Shayne Elliot, CEO ANZ
ANZ acknowledges the important role that financial institutions can play in addressing global health priorities, including the harmful impacts of tobacco products. For this reason, ANZ is proud to sign the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and pleased to offer our continued support to this important initiative.
Attorney General Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California
"The dangers of smoking to both people and our environment are undeniable. Thanks to initiatives like the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, we're helping to mitigate those dangers around the world by better deploying the power of investments. There's still progress we need to make, and as Attorney General of the state with the fifth largest economy in the world, I look forward to continuing to help in any way that I can."
Mr David Atkin, CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment
At PRI were proud to support the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and to see the strong progress the initiative has made over the past five years, with more than 200 financial institutions becoming signatories. As an issue that spans both the social and environmental spectrum, the role investors can play is clear as is the realisation that a net-zero future must also be one that is tobacco-free.
Dr Diana Sarfati, Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health, New Zealand
Aotearoa New Zealands goal to be a smokefree nation by 2025 will be realised through our bold Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan. The multi-faceted and world-leading measures we are taking represent our unwavering commitment to our people and our planet.
Tungia te ururua, kia tipu whakaritorito, te tipu o te harakeke
When you clear away the scrub (things that are negative) you enable new growth
Dr. Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Director General for the United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico
"Tobacco consumption and exposure to its smoke is a serious public health problem; it is even considered the first cause of death in the world that is completely preventable and avoidable. Let's put all our energy into a tobacco-free world."
El consumo de tabaco y la exposicion a su humo es un serio problema de salud publica, incluso se considera como la primera causa de muerte en el mundo que es totalmente prevenible y evitable. Pongamos toda nuestra energia en un mundo libre de tabaco!"
Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, Qatar
Qatar warmly congratulates Tobacco Free Portfolios for the success of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. We collectively need to keep the fight against tobacco at the center of our action to protect population health and the environment. Besides implementing well known strategies to reduce tobacco consumption, this initiative underlines the need to go beyond the boundaries of the health and environment sectors towards actions which tackle the financial mechanisms allowing the tobacco industry to operate and prosper.
Ms. Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
The tobacco industry has caused immeasurable damage to the health and well-being of millions of people around the world, as well as the environment. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is proud to work with Tobacco Free Portfolios and other partners to hold the industry accountable and end the enormous harm it causes.
Rev Horace L. Sheffield III, Executive Director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations & Pastor at New Destiny Christian Fellowship Church
"With 8 million tobacco-related deaths per year, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that tobacco companies have been causing devastating harm to people and the environment for far too long. It is time for the community to recognize the grave consequences of tobacco and take action toward divesting from this industry. We need to unequivocally say that there is no room for tobacco in this vision of a net-zero world.
Ms. Katja Iversen, CEO, UN Live - Museum for the United Nations
Popular culture like film and music can shape behaviors positively and negatively. Research shows that exposure to tobacco imagery in movies and television is a key factor in young people picking up smoking. This is also an example of how our decisions are often more based on identity and culture, than on knowledge, even when it concerns our own health. Lets double down on prevention - and make sure that popular culture also plays its part.
Ms. Agamroop Kaur, Youth Health Advocate and Documentary Maker
It is clear that investing in and enabling the tobacco industry creates a future that undermines our collective health and the health of our planet. The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is incredibly important in supporting the vision of young people for a sustainable future for generations to come.
Relevant links
Link to 2023 UN event footage
The Pledge website
LinkedIn
TEDx talk
About Tobacco Free Portfolios
Tobacco Free Portfolios is a not-for-profit organization that encourages financial institutions to reflect on and reconsider commercial relationships with the tobacco industry in light of the alarming impact of tobacco on people and the planet. The organizations flagship initiative, the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, launched in 2018 at United Nations Headquarters and currently has 200+ signatories, representing >US$16 Trillion in AUM committed to tobacco-free finance. Our aim is to create a tobacco-free future.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919872484/en/
Media
Alaine Gee, CMP - [email protected] - +1 (503) 927 3859
Source: Tobacco Free Portfolios
SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Veda Living, a trailblazer in senior living solutions, is thrilled to announce its recent acquisition of Colonial Court, a 48-unit assisted living and memory care community nestled in the heart of Spokane Valley, Washington. This strategic acquisition, masterfully negotiated by Blake Bozett from "The Zett Group," represents a pivotal moment in Veda Living's mission to revolutionize senior living through innovation, cutting-edge technology, and unwavering dedication to resident well-being.
Charting New Territories in Senior Care
Built in the mid-90s and meticulously renovated, Colonial Court is not just a property acquisition; it's a canvas for pioneering innovation. Veda Living will deploy this community as a "test community" to explore uncharted territories, setting the stage for transformative advancements. The community's size and layout make it an ideal playground to redefine the future of senior livingan ambitious vision championed by CEO Amber Williams.
"As we stand at the crossroads of the evolving senior care landscape, Veda Living is committed to leading the way through innovation and forward-thinking solutions," stated Amber Williams, CEO of Veda Living. "Colonial Court is our launchpad to explore groundbreaking concepts that will shape the senior living experience for the next decade and beyond."
Proximity Breeds Creativity
Strategically located near Veda Living's Idaho office, Colonial Court offers a unique advantagea flagship community in close proximity that fosters creativity, flexibility, and dynamic experimentation. Here, Veda Living will investigate the role of technology in enhancing the lives of residents, ensuring they experience the highest quality of life.
A Record of Success
Veda Living's remarkable track record is underscored by a company-wide occupancy rate of 97%, a testament to its unwavering commitment to excellence. The company's history of successfully turning around senior living communities further solidifies its position as an industry leader.
"We have every reason to believe that our transformation of Colonial Court will be no different," Williams affirmed. "With dedication, innovative strategies, and our seasoned team, we are poised to unlock this community's full potential within a mere 18 months."
Join Us on This Exciting Journey
Veda Living extends an invitation to investors and stakeholders in the senior living industry to join them in this exciting journey of innovation, transformation, and growth. Colonial Court embodies Veda Living's vision for the future of senior living, and the company seeks strategic partners who share their commitment to redefining the senior care landscape.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919134351/en/
For inquiries and further information about investment opportunities, please contact:
Amber Williams, CEO Veda Living
Email: [email protected]
Source: Veda Living
On September 18, 2023 , AerCap Ireland Capital Designated Activity Company ("AICDAC") and AerCap Global Aviation Trust (together, the "Issuers"), each a wholly-owned subsidiary of AerCap Holdings N.V. (NYSE: AER), priced an offering of senior notes, consisting of $900 million aggregate principal amount of the Issuers' 6.100% Senior Notes due 2027 (the "2027 Notes") issued at a price to the public of 99.540% and $850 million aggregate principal amount of the Issuers' 6.150% Senior Notes due 2030 (the "2030 Notes" and, together with the 2027 Notes, the "Notes") issued at a price to the public of 99.371%. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Company and certain other subsidiaries of the Company. The Issuers intend to use the net proceeds from the Notes for general corporate purposes, including to acquire, invest in, finance or refinance aircraft assets and to repay indebtedness.
BNP PARIBAS, BofA Securities, Inc, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Mizuho Securities USA LLC and Santander US Capital Markets LLC are serving as joint book-running managers for the underwritten public offering.
The Company has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) on Form F-3 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for the underwritten offering to which this communication relates. The registration statement automatically became effective upon filing on October 19, 2021 . Investors should read the accompanying prospectus dated October 19, 2021 , the preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the offering dated September 18, 2023 , and other documents the Company has filed with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and this offering.
These documents may be obtained for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. The prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus relating to this offering may also be obtained from: BNP Paribas Securities Corp. 787 Seventh Avenue , 3rd Floor New York, New York 10019 Attention: Debt Syndicate Email: [email protected] Toll Free: 800-854-5674; BofA Securities Attention: Prospectus Department, NC1-022-02-25, 201 North Tryon Street , Charlotte, NC 28255-0001, or by email at [email protected]; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue , Edgewood, NY 11717, by telephone at 1-866-803-9204, or by email at [email protected]; Mizuho Securities USA LLC 1271 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Attn: Debt Capital Markets Toll-free: 1-866-271-7403; Santander US Capital Markets LLC, 437 Madison Avenue , 10th floor, New York, NY 10022, Telephone: 1-855-403-3636, Email: [email protected].
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or purchase or the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase the Notes or any other securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation, purchase or sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
Fortis Inc. (NYSE: FTS) announced today that it has established an at-the-market equity program (the "ATM Program") that allows the Corporation to issue up to C$500,000,000 (or its U.S. dollar equivalent) of common shares (the "Common Shares") from treasury to the public from time to time, at the Corporation's discretion. Any Common Shares sold in the ATM Program will be sold through the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX"), the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") or any other marketplace on which the Common Shares are listed, quoted or otherwise traded at the prevailing market price at the time of sale.
The ATM Program provides Fortis with additional financing flexibility to fund its capital program. The volume and timing of distributions under the ATM Program, if any, will be determined at the Corporation's sole discretion. The ATM Program will be effective until December 22, 2024 unless terminated prior to such date by the Corporation. Fortis intends to use the net proceeds from the ATM Program, if any, for general corporate purposes. As Common Shares sold in the ATM Program will be distributed at the prevailing market price at the time of the sale, prices may vary among purchasers during the period of the distribution.
Distributions of the Common Shares through the ATM Program will be made pursuant to the terms of an equity distribution agreement dated September 19, 2023 entered into with CIBC World Markets Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc. and TD Securities Inc., as Canadian agents, and CIBC World Markets Corp., RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. and TD Securities (USA) LLC, as U.S. agents (the "Equity Distribution Agreement").
The ATM Program is being established pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated September 19, 2023 (the "Prospectus Supplement") to the Corporation's Canadian short form base shelf prospectus (the "Shelf Prospectus") dated November 21, 2022 and pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated September 19, 2023 (the "U.S. Prospectus Supplement") to the Corporation's U.S. base prospectus (the "U.S. Base Prospectus") included in its U.S. registration statement on Form F-10 (the "Registration Statement") filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 21, 2022. The Prospectus Supplement, the Shelf Prospectus and the Equity Distribution Agreement are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and the U.S. Prospectus Supplement, the U.S. Base Prospectus and the Registration Statement are available on EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Alternatively, the agents will send copies of the Prospectus Supplement and the Shelf Prospectus or the U.S. Prospectus Supplement and the U.S. Base Prospectus, as applicable, upon request by contacting in Canada:
CIBC World Markets Inc., attn: Equity Capital Markets, 161 Bay Street, 5th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 2S8, by email at [email protected]
RBC Dominion Securities Inc., attn: Distribution Centre, RBC Wellington Square, 8th Floor, 180 Wellington Street West, Toronto, Ontario, M5J OC2, by email at [email protected]
Scotia Capital Inc., attn: Equity Capital Markets, 40 Temperance Street, 6th Floor, Toronto, Ontario, M5H 0B4, by email at [email protected]
TD Securities Inc., attn: Symcor, NPM, 1625 Tech Avenue, Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 5P5, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 289-360-2009
or in the U.S.:
CIBC World Markets Corp., attn: David Williams, 300 Madison Avenue, Sixth Floor, New York, New York 10017, by email at [email protected]
RBC Capital Markets, LLC, attn: Equity Syndicate, 200 Vesey Street, 8th Floor, New York, New York 10281-8098, by email at [email protected] or by phone at 877-822-4089
Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., attn: Equity Capital Markets, 250 Vesey Street, 24th Floor, New York, New York 10281, by email at [email protected]
TD Securities (USA) LLC, attn: Equity Capital Markets, 1 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, New York 10017, by email at [email protected]
This media release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Common Shares, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 18:10 | All, Japan
Former Japanese lawmaker and YouTuber GaaSyy admitted to online intimidation against celebrities during his first trial hearing on Tuesday, while his defense team denied he was a "chronic" offender.
In the first public statement since his arrest in June, the 51-year-old defendant, whose real name is Yoshikazu Higashitani, apologized at the Tokyo District Court, saying, "I am sorry that my acts have caused huge psychological pain and economic damage (to the victims)."
GaaSyy became a popular YouTuber, posting videos about celebrity scandals on his channel. He was stripped of his status as a lawmaker in March by the House of Councillors for not attending any sessions since being elected in July last year.
According to the written indictment, GaaSyy allegedly intimidated Japanese actor Go Ayano, 41, and three other individuals on YouTube between February and September last year.
In February this year, he allegedly threatened Ayano and another individual to make them drop their criminal complaints filed against him, saying through social media, "Think how critically damaging it would be for a celebrity to show up in a trial."
The defendant has been charged with five counts, including violating a law on the punishment of physical violence by chronic threatening.
GaaSyy's defense lawyer, however, denied that his client's actions amounted to habitual threats.
Prosecutors read Ayano's statement, which described GaaSyy as "terrifying," and said the defendant made the actor feel "on the verge of a mental breakdown."
GaaSyy was placed on an international wanted list at one point, as he was staying in the United Arab Emirates. Japanese police arrested him upon his return in June.
Related coverage:
Ex-lawmaker, YouTuber GaaSyy faces new intimidation charge
Ex-lawmaker YouTuber GaaSyy indicted over online threats
Ex-lawmaker, internet personality GaaSyy arrested
The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) announced today a commitment to make more local products available to its customers following its proposed merger with Albertsons Companies. Post-close, the combined company will increase the number of local products in its stores by 10%, which equates to at least of 30 new local products in each store.
"Local farmers, bakers and producers are important parts of our Fresh for Everyone brand promise," said Rodney McMullen , chairman & CEO, The Kroger Co. "Every local product we stock has a unique producer with their own story standing behind it. Since the beginning, this merger has been about growth and we look forward to inviting our local suppliers to grow alongside us. We are dedicated to supporting the innovation that only a small business owner can create."
Today, Kroger offers a number of ways local suppliers can sell their products in stores:
Stores sell a variety of produce items from local farmers. By reducing the distance between the farm and the store, customers have more days of product freshness in their homes.
Many stores have shelf space dedicated just to local products, with special signage highlighting the regional connection.
Farmers and local producers work directly with Kroger to understand the best techniques to ensure customers are aware of their products.
"From Stemilt cherries in Washington and Sun Pacific citrus in California to Talbott Farms Palisade Peaches in Colorado and Southern Press blueberries in Georgia , we know just how important local products are to our customers," said Stuart Aitken , senior vice president and chief merchant and marketing officer, The Kroger Co. "Our customers know we offer the freshest local products, and they will ask our teams when their favorite seasonal items will be on shelves. We are excited to provide more opportunities for local producers to grow their businesses."
To learn more about the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons Cos visit here.
Tutor Perini Corporation (NYSE: TPC), a leading civil, building and specialty construction company, announced today that its subsidiary, Perini Management Services, Inc., has been awarded a fixed-price project valued at approximately $47 million by the National Park Service for the construction of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Visitor Center in Everglades National Park, Florida. This design-bid-build contract includes construction of the new two-story visitor center, a one-story remote concessions and storage building, underground utilities and major site improvements. The project also includes demolishing portions of the existing bulkhead and providing a new bulkhead at the marina and along the waterfront. Dredging of the Chokoloskee Bay and replacing existing floating docks with a new floating dock system with accessible ramps is also part of the scope of the project. The substantial sitework associated with the new visitor center will ensure that the roads and parking areas are elevated above the king tide levels.
Preconstruction activities are underway and site mobilization is expected in early October. Substantial completion is anticipated in August 2025. The contract value will be included in the Companys third-quarter 2023 backlog.
Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) announced today plans to expand its investment in its Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products segment.
The decision is made to nearly double consolidated capital expenditures for this segment over a roughly 10-year period, committing to approximately $60 billion in investment.
Disney shares fell 1.3% on the announcement.
The plans will see Disney investing in expanding and enhancing domestic and international parks and cruise line capacity, prioritizing projects anticipated to generate strong returns, consistent with the Companys continuing approach to allocate capital in a disciplined and balanced manner.
The decision has been made due to the companys strong financial conditions. Cash resources, as well as Disneys access to capital markets and borrowing capacity, create adequate resources to fund ongoing operating requirements, contractual obligations, upcoming debt maturities as well as future capital expenditures related to the expansion of existing businesses and development of new projects.
By Senad Karaahmetovic
FN Media Group Presents USA News Group News Commentary
Vancouver, BC - September 19, 2023 USA News Group During a panel led by leaders from the lithium and battery space at the Battery Show North America expressed optimism that North America's domestic lithium supply gap can be eliminated. Acknowledging that just a decade ago, 75% of the world's lithium came from China, Chile, and Australia, moderator James Frith of Volta Energy Technologies predicted that "By 2030" those countries' share of all supply will be less than 50%--thanks to a rapidly advancing EV market, and geopolitical and supply-efficiency pushes for more North American-based lithium supply. Among the ongoing lithium projects on the continent that are making significant advances are those from Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV:USHA) (OTCQB:USHAF), E3 Lithium Limited (TSXV:ETL) (OTCQX:EEMMF), Allkem Limited (TSX:AKE) (OTCPK:OROCF), Livent Corporation (NYSE:LTHM), and Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) (TSX:LAC).
Based in Vancouver, Usha Resources Ltd. (TSXV:USHA) (OTCQB:USHAF), which has holdings in both Nevada and Ontario, recently provided a significant update on its White Willow Lithium Pegmatite Project. Situated 170km west of Thunder Bay, Ontario, the project has revealed ten principal drill targets across a 25km stretch, based on 837 collected samples. With 219 assays still pending, initial results have shown up to 0.5% Li 2 O, 1,730 ppm cesium, 120,000 ppm tantalum, and 3,540 ppm rubidium.
We are thrilled with the findings from the initial programs at White Willow, said Deepak Varshney, CEO of Usha Resources. As seen at Patriot Battery Metals Corvette Project, which has over 20 kilometres of trend, lithium pegmatite swarms occur in clusters, each of which has the potential to become a deposit. The findings thus far strongly validate our belief that Willow is a flagship asset where Ontarios next major lithium discovery will occur.
After acquiring the White Willow project in March 2023, USHA hit the ground running. Completing five weeks of fieldwork and gathering data on 618 samples, the company is set to begin drilling at each of the 10 target pegmatites in its inaugural drill program, slated for Q1 2024.
White Willow has quickly risen in prominence within USHAs esteemed North American portfolio, becoming the companys primary hard rock lithium asset. This addition has strengthened USHAs dual-focused strategy to become a major lithium producer in the future. The other cornerstone in this strategy is the Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Project in Nevada, where drilling commenced and preparations for a new 43-101 resource estimate began as of June 2023.
"The work to-date has demonstrated that Jackpot contains the right system for a major lithium discovery and by exploring to a depth of 2,000 feet, we aim to gather a more comprehensive understanding of the mineral potential within our project area, further enhancing the overall resource estimation and project feasibility of Jackpot Lake," said Varshney.
Since USHAs revelation in early August 2023, White Willow has been capturing significant attention. The discovery of a second lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite cluster effectively tripled the original strike length to over 25km, making headlines in the process.
"We are thrilled with the findings from the initial programs at White Willow," said Deepak Varshney. "As seen at Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette Project, which has over 20 kilometres of trend, lithium pegmatite swarms occur in clusters, each of which has the potential to become a deposit."
Another Canadian asset that's being developed is that of E3 Lithium Limited (TSXV:ETL) (OTC:EEMMF), which followed up its announcement of commencing operations at Alberta's first direct lithium extraction (DLE) field pilot plant by providing an overview of its strategic assets over the provincial border in Saskatchewan.
While there is still plenty of attention going towards the ambitious Alberta DLE plant (the first of its kind in the province), now the company is building up even more anticipation on its neighbouring assets comprised of approximately 258 sections or 66,800 hectares of fully-owned mineral permits in southeast Saskatchewan. While E3 Lithium continues to prioritize the development of its Clearwater Project in Alberta, their Saskatchewan land position gives the company another strategic asset to unlock and maximize value from.
Securing mineral permits in Saskatchewan has enabled E3 Lithium to hold a central land position in a new and developing lithium region, said Chris Doornbos, President and CEO of E3 Lithium. Our focus will remain on our world-class core assets in Alberta as we actively pursue value for our Saskatchewan asset.
Across the country in Quebec, Allkem Limited (TSX:AKE) (OTC:OROCF) recently boasted an updated resource at its James Bay Lithium Project to 110.2 Mt at 1.30% Li 2 O, representing a whopping increase of 173% in the process. Now as the Canadian winter approaches, Allkem is setting forth on a significant campaign of infill and extensional drilling to test for along-strike and down-dip extensions of the pegmatite dykes beyond the area.
"James Bay is now one of the largest spodumene lithium assets and clearly has the potential to grow even further as the boundaries of mineralisation are tested through an additional drilling program commencing later in the year, said Martin Perez de Solay, Managing Director and CEO of Allkem. "The size and grade of this resource is amongst the best in the world and will underpin Allkem plans for future production and processing of lithium in Quebec."
The update on James Bay came just 9 days after lithium-giant partners Livent Corporation (NYSE:LTHM) shared in an update on who will be in charge of the proposed merger company post-completion of the deal.
Todays announcement is a significant milestone as Livent and Allkem seek to combine our teams and collective strengths to create a leading lithium company, said Livent President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Graves.
Ahead of the deal, Livent has its own Quebec-based lithium project in development, the Whabouchi spodumene mine aka Nemaska Lithium, of which the company is a 50% shareholder and operating partner. The company is working to deliver upon an order of up0 to 13,000 metric tons of lithium hydroxide per year over 11 years to Ford.
Meanwhile in the USA in the same state as USHA's Jackpot Lake property, Lithium Americas Corp. (NYSE:LAC) (TSX:LAC) is swiftly advancing its Thacker Pass project towards production to becoming the country's next producing mine in Nevada.
Now that a new lithium discovery resulting from a US volcano nearby is being touted as potentially the biggest lithium deposit ever found, Nevada has re-captured the attention of the market. Composed of the unusual claystone mineral illite, new in situ analysis reveals that there could be 1.3-2.4% lithium in the volcanic crater-that's almost double the lithium present in the main lithium-bearing clay mineral, magnesium smectite, which is more common than illite.
"Previous research assumed that the illite was everywhere at depth in the caldera," said Thomas Benson, a geologist at Lithium Americas, whose team that proposed that a layer of illite around 40m thick was formed in the lake sediments by a hot brine.
As per Benson's team's assertions, the fluid moved upwards along fractures formed as volcanic activity restarted, transforming smectite into illite in the southern part of the crater, Thacker Pass, resulting in a claystone rich in lithium. Now Benson and his team are viewing the lithium-rich claystone at Thacker Pass as 'unique' amongst volcanic sedimentary deposits.
Lithium Americas expects to begin mining in 2026, which will be after the completion of a split between its North and South American assets into two leading lithium companies.
Article Source: https://energymetalnews.com/2023/02/28/charging-along-the-highway-towards-domestic-lithium-dominance/
Article Source:
USA News Group
http://USAnewsgroup.com
[email protected]
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The post Closing the Gap: How North America Could Lead in Domestic Lithium Supply by 2030 appeared first on Financial News Media.
COMTEX_440524877/2692/2023-09-19T12:44:08
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) is pleased to announce its two Media Fellowship recipients for 2023.
Each year, the APF Canada Media Fellowship Program offers Canadian journalists the opportunity to spend time in Asia researching and preparing stories for Canadian audiences. The goal of the program is to help Canadian journalists become better informed about this dynamic part of the world to write and broadcast insightfully on Asia and the Canada-Asia relationship.
The program, suspended for three years during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the global health crisis and international travel restrictions, has supported 96 Canadian journalists since its inception in 1986.
APF Canadas $10,000 2023 Media Fellowships are awarded to Yvonne Lau and Robert Williams.
Yvonne Lau is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based news and features journalist. She covers stories at the intersection of business and society with an eye on China and Russia. She is currently working on long-form features, photo essays, and special projects for Forbes, Macleans, The Walrus, and Broadview, among others. Most recently, Yvonne was a writer for Fortunes Asia bureau, where she covered China's tech crackdown and Russia's war on Ukraine. She is a participant in Room Up Front's 2023-2024 BIPOC photojournalism mentorship program. Yvonnes APF Canada Media Fellowship will take her to Indonesia, Southeast Asias largest economy, to explore that countrys role in the global green economy transition, with a focus on the impacts of the race to secure electric vehicle-related materials on Indonesias ecosystems.
is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based news and features journalist. She covers stories at the intersection of business and society with an eye on China and Russia. She is currently working on long-form features, photo essays, and special projects for Forbes, Macleans, The Walrus, and Broadview, among others. Most recently, Yvonne was a writer for Fortunes Asia bureau, where she covered China's tech crackdown and Russia's war on Ukraine. She is a participant in Room Up Front's 2023-2024 BIPOC photojournalism mentorship program. Yvonnes APF Canada Media Fellowship will take her to Indonesia, Southeast Asias largest economy, to explore that countrys role in the global green economy transition, with a focus on the impacts of the race to secure electric vehicle-related materials on Indonesias ecosystems. Robert Williams is a Kitchener, Ontario-based journalist and feature writer for the Waterloo Region Record. As part of The Records investigations unit, he has worked on long-term projects on black market cannabis, public education achievement outcomes, and the Government of Ontarios pandemic response. Robert is a winner of the Goff Penny Award and Atlantic Journalism Award for feature writing, and his work has appeared in publications across Canada, including the Toronto Star, iPolitics, and the Telegraph-Journal. Roberts Media Fellowship will take him to New Delhi and the Indian state of Punjab to meet with prospective and returning Indian international students to document the dreams, sacrifices, and realities of moving to Canada in pursuit of a post-secondary education.
For more details on the APF Canada Media Fellowship Program and how to apply, please follow this link: www.asiapacific.ca/grants/media-fellowships
About the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada is dedicated to strengthening ties between Canada and Asia with a focus on expanding economic relations through trade, investment and innovation; promoting Canadas expertise in offering solutions to Asias climate change, energy, food security and natural resource management challenges; building Asia skills and competencies among Canadians, including young Canadians; and, improving Canadians general understanding of Asia and its growing global influence.
Visit APF Canada at www.asiapacific.ca
Follow us on X @AsiaPacificFdn and LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/company/apfcanada
Media:Michael Roberts, Communications Director,Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada[email protected]
Source: Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Arlington, VA, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The AAMI Foundation has awarded more than $45,000 in Kilmer Fund Committee grants to researchers at Michigan State University, Emory University and Emory University Hospital, BD Global Sterility Assurance, and PAXXUS., Inc., for various projects on improving sterilization practices and patient safety. The AAMI Foundations Kilmer Fund Committee awarded these grants to projects that seek to advance the science of microbiological quality and sterility assurance. They include:
$11,542 to Emory University and Emory University Hospital researchers to investigate autoclave steam effluent as a route to pathogen escape.
$10,000 to Michigan State University researchers to assess how healthcare workers respond to packing design features in sterility barrier packaging.
$13,767 to researchers at BD Medicals Global Sterility Assurance to evaluate the effect of culture media selection and incubation conditions to recover radiation resistant microorganisms.
$10,000 to researchers at PAXXUS, Inc. to conduct proof of concept studies to evaluate a methodology for objectively assessing successful occurrence of aseptic presentation.
Contacted for comment, researchers from Emory University and Emory Hospital wrote, We know this is quite a niche issue, yet it has real significance for staff and facility safety and for public health We want to make sure that not only is the packaged waste safe, but also that the condensed steam that cools and leaves through the autoclave drain is free from any pathogens.
Dr. Laura Bix, professor at Michigan States School Packaging, said, We not only objectively evaluate how varying design cues impact healthcare providers ability to identify the opening feature on packages intended for sterile medical devices, but also propose and test a method that could be used to evaluate the ability of differing package design features to garner attention We are thrilled that the AAMI Foundation saw value and potential in what we proposed and supported our research.
Edmarie Mendez-Laguna, Regional Manager for the U.S. and Latin America at BD Global Sterility Assurance, stated, We hope that the results of this research can be the first step in the evolution of improving the current practices for growth/cultivation and identifying radiation resistant microorganisms for products that are sterilized by the means of ionizing radiation.
Per Seema Momin, Global Account Manager at PAXXUS, Existing research in this area is relatively limited and currently lacks scientific consensus. Therefore, adding even a droplet of new information to the growing body of knowledge has the potential to be impactful We are incredibly grateful to the AAMI Foundation for enabling the pursuit of this research.
Were pleased to support these projects and anxious to see and share the results with the healthcare community, said Steve Campbell, Executive Director of the AAMI Foundation. With patient safety as AAMI and the AAMI Foundations north star, we could not be happier to support this research.
The Kilmer Fund, which is now in its third year, is a central part of the AAMI Foundations mission to support deserving healthcare technology professionals through scholarships, grants, and professional development recognition programs. You can find more information about the grant recipients and their projects here.
Dan Visnovsky Media Relations Manager Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation [email protected]
Source: AAMI
Tarrytown, New York, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA), the nations largest ENT, Allergy, and Audiology specialty practice, is continuing to focus on expanding patient access to high-quality ENT care in the New York City region through its recruitment of otolaryngologists trained at best-in-class programs from across the country. To further that goal, ENTA proudly announces that otolaryngologist Lisa Tian, M.D. will be joining the practices Upper East Side clinical site in Manhattan, as of August 2024.
Dr. Tian graduated with her B.A. in Economics from Yale University. She earned her medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Tian is currently completing her otolaryngology residency at Mount Sinai HospitalNew York Eye and Ear Institute. She has co-authored publications on a wide range of topics including laryngeal nerve reinnervation and factors associated with post-tracheotomy adverse events. Her honors and awards include Columbia Universitys Macy Scholar Award. Dr. Tian is fluent in Mandarin and looks forward to providing care to a diverse population.
Dr. Tian will be practicing at ENTA's new state-of-the-art Upper East Side facility located at 150 East 58th Street. This modern clinical site is equipped with 12 ENT Exam Rooms, two Audio Booths, two Hearing Consultation rooms, and an Allergy Injection room, in addition to Allergy Testing Rooms. Spanning the entire 34th floor, the facility boasts an expansive space of 12,119 square feet, providing ample room for future growth and development.
Dr. Tian will practice alongside otolaryngologists Peter Ashman, M.D.; Won-Taek Choe, M.D.; Alyssa Hackett, M.D., Chandra Ivey, M.D., F.A.C.S.; Guy Lin, M.D.; Scott B. Markowitz, M.D., and allergist/immunologist, Lynelle Granady, M.D.
"We are thrilled to have Dr. Tian join our team," expressed Steven Gold, M.D., Vice President, and Chair of the ENTA Recruitment Committee. "At ENTA, our mission revolves around delivering the highest level of otolaryngologic care to our patients. Given Dr. Tians experience and broad depth of knowledge, we are confident that she will provide the utmost expertise and compassionate care to all our patients."
To learn more about ENTA, find a local office or book an appointment, visit www.entandallergy.com or call 1-855-ENTA-DOC.
About ENT and Allergy Associates LLP:
ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP (ENTA) is the largest ENT, Allergy, and Audiology practice in the country, with over 300 clinicians practicing in over 50 clinical locations throughout New York and New Jersey. Each ENTA clinical office is comprised of world-class physicians who are specialists and sub-specialists in their respective fields, providing the highest level of expertise and care. With a wide range of services including Adult and Pediatric ENT and Allergy, Voice and Swallowing, Advanced Sinus and Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery, Treatment of Disorders of the Inner Ear and Dizziness, Asthma-related services, Diagnostic Audiology, Hearing Aid Dispensing, Sleep and CT Services, ENTA Is able to meet the needs of patients of all ages. ENTA is also affiliated with some of the most prestigious medical institutions in the world, including The Mount Sinai Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center, Northwell Health, and Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center. Each year ENTA physicians are voted Top Doctor by Castle Connolly, a true testament to the exceptional care and service they provide to their patients.
Jason Campbell ENT and Allergy Associates, LLP 9149842531 [email protected]
Source: ENT & Allergy Associates
DANBURY, CT, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (Ethan Allen or the Company) (NYSE: ETD) today issued the following statement regarding an update on the flooding that has recently impacted its Orleans, Vermont, manufacturing facility:
In July 2023, Ethan Allens wood furniture manufacturing operations located in Orleans, Vermont, sustained damage from heavy flooding of the nearby Barton River. In addition to losses related to wood furniture inventory parts and state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, the flooding also resulted in a temporary work stoppage for many Vermont associates and a disruption and delay of shipments for approximately seven weeks.
Ethan Allen has deep roots in Vermont, first established in 1936 when the Companys founders purchased a sawmill in Beecher Falls. The Orleans workshop employs approximately 250 dedicated local associates and serves as an important economic engine, not only in the Orleans and Barton areas, but also for businesses and workers throughout the Northeast Kingdom. Ethan Allens sawmill and wood machining operation, located about an hour away in Beecher Falls, provides wood parts to Orleans.
We are proud of our roots in the Northeast Kingdom, said Ethan Allens Chairman, President and CEO, Farooq Kathwari. We are fortunate to have maintained our manufacturing facilities in North America, which enables us to be in a better position to serve our clients. I recently had the opportunity to visit both Orleans and Beecher Falls and meet with our dedicated associates. While the July flooding has caused substantial damage to our Vermont wood furniture manufacturing plant, we are pleased to see our business resume operations and actively work down existing backlog.
Ethan Allen is currently working through insurance to recover a portion of incurred losses, which will be included in the Companys fiscal 2024 first quarter financial results. Losses incurred from the disposal of damaged inventory, inoperable machinery equipment from water damage, facility cleanup, and restoration, are currently estimated to be approximately $2.5 million, net of insurance recoveries and grant proceeds. In addition, the flooding has resulted in a delay in the production of custom orders, which is expected to reduce the Companys consolidated net sales by approximately $15 million during the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
Thanks to the hard work of Ethan Allens associates as well as external specialized teams, the Company is making good progress towards equipment repair and cleanup of the plant. Mr. Kathwari credits Governor Phil Scott, members of the Vermont state legislature, and the states Department of Economic Development, which awarded Ethan Allen a $500,000 grant through its Business Emergency Gap Assistance Program. These funds will be used toward cleanup and restoration efforts as well as for local capital projects to further enhance the Orleans workshop. We appreciate the State of Vermonts ongoing partnership and its commitment to our business and to our local associates, Mr. Kathwari stated.
Our wood furniture manufacturing in Orleans resumed limited operations during August 2023, and at this time, approximately 75% of our associates are back to work. We have set aside significant capital to enhance and improve our production workflows as we move forward. Although we continue to assess the costs of cleanup and repair, as our work is ongoing, we are pleased to say that we remain open for business in Vermont, Mr. Kathwari concluded.
ABOUT ETHAN ALLEN
Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETD) is a leading interior design company, manufacturer and retailer in the home furnishings marketplace. The Company is a global luxury home fashion brand that is vertically integrated from product design through home delivery, which offers its customers stylish product offerings, artisanal quality, and personalized service. The Company provides complimentary interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of home furnishings through a retail network of design centers located throughout the United States and abroad as well as online at ethanallen.com. Ethan Allen owns and operates ten manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Mexico and Honduras, including one sawmill, one rough mill and a lumberyard. Approximately 75% of its products are manufactured or assembled in these North American facilities.
For more information on Ethan Allen's products and services, visit www.ethanallen.com .
Investor / Media Contact:
Matt McNulty
Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
[email protected]
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act). Generally, forward-looking statements represent managements beliefs and assumptions concerning current expectations, projections or trends relating to results of operations, financial results, financial condition, strategic objectives and plans, expenses, dividends, share repurchases, liquidity, use of cash and cash requirements and investments. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These forward-looking statements may include words such as anticipate, estimate, expect, project, plan, intend, believe, continue, may, will, short-term, target, outlook, forecast, future, strategy, opportunity, would, guidance, non-recurring, one-time, unusual, should, likely, and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. The Company derives many of its forward-looking statements from operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon many detailed assumptions. While the Company believes that its assumptions are reasonable, it cautions that it is very difficult to predict the impact of known factors and it is impossible for the Company to anticipate all factors that could affect actual results and matters that are identified as short term, non-recurring, unusual, one-time, or other words and terms of similar meaning may in fact recur in one or more future financial reporting periods.
Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that are expected. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties disclosed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors, in the Companys 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other factors identified in its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements, as well as other cautionary statements. A reader should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this press release in the context of these risks and uncertainties. Given the risks and uncertainties surrounding forward-looking statements, you should not place undue reliance on these statements. Many of these factors are beyond the Companys ability to control or predict. The Company is including this cautionary note to make applicable and take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.
CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Helium Evolution Incorporated (TSXV: HEVI) ("HEVI" or the "Company"), a Canadian-based helium exploration company focused on developing assets in southern Saskatchewan, is pleased to announce that its farm-in partner, North American Helium Inc. (NAH), has spud the previously announced well located at 11-13-13-29W3 (Test Well #4) on farmout lands within Block 3 at Fox in Saskatchewan, pursuant to the farm-out agreement announced on October 21, 2022. Test Well #4 was originally scheduled to be spud before March 31, 2024 and todays spud date represents an acceleration of six months.
NAH is responsible for 100% of the drilling costs for Test Well #4, while HEVI retains a 20% working interest in that well, supporting the Companys continued financial flexibility and capital conservation.
Stay Connected to Helium Evolution
Shareholders and other parties interested in learning more about the Helium Evolution opportunity are encouraged to visit the Companys website, which includes an updated corporate presentation, and are invited to follow the Company on LinkedIn and Twitter for ongoing corporate updates and helium industry information. Helium Evolution also provides an extensive, commissioned deep-dive research report prepared by a third party whose background includes serving as a research analyst for several bank-owned and independent investment dealers. In addition to recent media articles, HEVI maintains a profile on the Investing News Network platform, where further information, editorial pieces and industry reviews are available.
About Helium Evolution Incorporated
Helium Evolution is a Canadian-based helium exploration company holding the largest helium land rights position in North America among publicly-traded companies, focused on developing assets in southern Saskatchewan. The Company has over five million acres of land under permit near proven discoveries of economic helium concentrations which will support scaling the exploration and development efforts across its land base. HEVIs management and board are executing a differentiated strategy to become a leading supplier of sustainably-produced helium for the growing global helium market.
For further information, please contact:
Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in the industry to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "projects," "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will," "would," "may," "could" or "should" occur.
Forward-looking statements in this document include statements regarding the Companys expectations regarding the Company becoming a leading supplier of sustainably-produced helium, the Companys working capital position and financial flexibility, the Company's beliefs regarding growth of the global helium market and other statements that are not historical facts. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, among others: NAH may be unsuccessful in drilling commercially productive wells; new laws or regulations and/or unforeseen events could adversely affect the Companys business and results of operations; stock markets have experienced volatility that often has been unrelated to the performance of companies and such volatility may adversely affect the price of the Company's securities regardless of its operating performance; risks generally associated with the exploration for and production of resources; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to expenses and the Companys working capital position; constraint in the availability of services; commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations; adverse weather or break-up conditions; and uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures.
When relying on forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and risks other uncertainties and potential events. The Company has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraphs will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Source: Helium Evolution Incorporated
Purcellville, VA, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Purcellville, VAHome School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the largest homeschool advocacy group in the United States, continues to defend Uwe and Hannelore Romeike and their seven children as they seek the freedom to homeschool their children in the United Statesa freedom that is severely curtailed in their native land of Germany.
On Sept. 6, 2023, the Romeikes were told during a routine check-in at their local Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office that they had four weeks to secure passports and return to Germany. The news came without warning, and with no apparent cause or explanation.
The Romeike family should be able to stay in the United States and home educate their children, said HSLDA president Jim Mason. America is a land of freedom and opportunity, and there are few freedoms or opportunities more important than the ability of parents to safely direct the education of their own children, without fear of punishment or persecution.
The Romeike family decided in 2006 to home educate their children in Germany based on two core beliefs: a deep conviction that they were responsible to God for their childrens education, and a growing concern that the content of the German public schools curriculumparticularly anti-Christian and sexual elementsthreatened to harm their children. After enduring years of harassment, fines that exceeded their family income, and the forced removal of their children from their home, the family fled Germany.
In August of 2008, HSLDA assisted the Romeikes in securing visas to enter the United States, where they applied for asylum. The Department of Homeland Security granted the Romeikes asylum, but immigration officials overturned the decision. After five years of legal battles, the Obama administration granted the Romeikes indefinite deferred action status in 2013.
Over the last 10 years, the Romeikes have had to regularly report to their local ICE office in Tennessee, but have otherwise been allowed to live, work, and homeschool their children in peace. We are stunned to hear that the Romeikes have been ordered to return to Germany, and are actively working to secure their continued, lawful future here in the United States.
You can sign a petition in support of the Romeike family here: hslda.org/HelptheRomeikes2023See our website for more details: https://hslda.org/post/romeike
About HSLDA
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is Americas largest and oldest homeschool advocacy organization. Founded in 1983 with the mission to make homeschooling possible for all families, the organization has helped empower millions of homeschooling parents and students. As a membership organization for families homeschooling their children, HSLDA provides a myriad of resources, from legal advice to educational consultants, to support member families through every step of their homeschool journey. Learn more about HSLDA at https://hslda.org/
Attachment
Sandra Kim HSLDA 540-338-8864 [email protected]
Source: HSLDA
Villeroy & Boch AG has announced that it has signed binding agreements to acquire operating companies in the Ideal Standard Group.
The two companies are a strong strategic fit given their regional presence, sales strategies and product and brand portfolios, laying the foundations for a stronger market position and additional growth, said a statement.
In an industry with global growth potential, the integrated company will, after completion of the transaction, join the ranks of Europes biggest manufacturers of bathroom products, it said.
The Ideal Standard shares are being sold by corporations under the management of Anchorage Capital Group and CVC Credit. The acquisition price is based on a company valuation of approximately 600 million, it said.
The revenue of the Villeroy & Boch Bathroom & Wellness Division will double to 1.4 billion as a result of the merger. Including the Dining & Lifestyle business, this represents an increase to over 1.7 billion euros (around 995 million in the 2022 financial year) for the group as a whole.
This merger means that we will now catch up with the largest players on the European market in the bathroom sector in terms of turnover, explains Frank Goring, CEO of Villeroy & Boch. "Our complementary strengths also make us more competitive and significantly improve our starting position for achieving additional growth.
Regional strengths
The merger will create a powerful combination of complementary established brand and sales strategies. Villeroy & Boch has a strong geographical basis in Central and Northern Europe as well as Asia, while Ideal Standard enjoys an excellent reputation with its brand portfolio in the UK, Italy and the Middle East / North Africa region in particular.
While Villeroy & Bochs sales strategy focuses primarily on a high-end private customer base, Ideal Standard possesses particular expertise in the project business, including for the public sector, the healthcare sector and for developers of large residential, hotel and commercial properties. In addition, alongside a broad range of ceramic bathroom ware and other products, Ideal Standard comes with an established fittings business, which generated more than a third of its revenue last financial year, said the statement.
Jan Peter Tewes, Ideal Standard CEO, says: Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard complement each other, in terms of products but also in terms of brands, and will gain mutual benefit from their different sales channels. Both companies will play a key role in charting the future course of the industry. We look forward to this development.
In addition to the strategic fit, Frank Goring points to the cultural similarities between Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard: We are characterised by strong brands steeped in tradition and share similar values. These include a pronounced service orientation, a flair for good design and a constant striving for innovation. We are delighted that the employees of Ideal Standard will become part of our global organisation after the closing of the transaction. Our clients will benefit from this combined expertise and an expanded offering.
New expertise opens up prospects for growth
With this merger, Villeroy & Boch is not only elevating its bathrooms business to a new level in terms of volume, but is also gaining access to significant additional growth potential. Ideal Standards manufacturing base in the fittings business, expertise in the project business and strong market positions in the UK, MENA and Italy will grant Villeroy & Boch improved market penetration and coverage of specific regions and product segments. These long-standing brands are now combining their strengths, th company said.
The bathrooms sector remains a fast-moving global growth market, but it is a market in which scale effects will be increasingly important to remaining competitive and attracting future investment. For this reason alone, the acquisition represents the right strategic step for Villeroy & Boch. In addition, Ideal Standard is an excellent extension to our own business model. This heralds a new era for the Bathroom & Wellness Division and for Villeroy & Boch as a whole, states Andreas Schmid, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Villeroy & Boch.
A prudent financial transaction
Villeroy & Boch will finance the transaction from existing cash and cash equivalents as well as with debt in the amount of approximately 250 million. The transaction is subject to the usual regulatory reviews and approvals as well as the successful redemption of the 325 million bond issued by Ideal Standard International S.A. In contrast to the usual pension and other obligations from the operating business, the bond and various financial liabilities are not part of the transaction, it said.
The merger is taking place on the basis of a solid financing structure. The existing loans at seller level are also not part of the transaction scope and will not be taken over by Villeroy & Boch at closing, explained Villeroy & Boch CFO Dr Markus Warncke. The transaction is expected to be completed in early 2024.
Deutsche Bank AG has served as financial advisor and White & Case legal advisor to Ideal Standard. - TradeArabia News Service
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 21:04 | All, World
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Tuesday began the bloc's first joint military exercises in Indonesian waters amid increasing tensions over China's assertiveness in the nearby South China Sea.
The five-day drills around Indonesia's Natuna Islands are focusing on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief rather than combat operations, said Indonesia, this year's ASEAN chair. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand have sent military personnel.
Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono put aside views that the drills are being held in response to tensions over a new map recently released by Beijing laying claim to contested waters of the South China Sea.
He told reporters, however, that the 10-member ASEAN will remain "united" and that is needed to ensure regional stability.
In the South China Sea, some ASEAN members have become increasingly wary of China's expanding military activities, especially those with territorial claims that overlap those of Beijing.
ASEAN and China have long been negotiating the maritime code of conduct in the South China Sea to help avert confrontation between the disputants.
In an apparent effort to avoid irritating China, the just-started exercises, which were initially planned to take place in more northerly waters, were moved south.
ASEAN members have conducted joint military exercises with the United States and China, respectively, but there have not been joint drills involving only the bloc until now.
Indonesia has also recently hosted a military drill -- Super Garuda Shield -- with thousands of troops from the United States, Japan, Australia, France, Singapore and Britain taking part.
ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Related coverage:
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Japan, China spar over import ban after Fukushima water release
Japan, ASEAN upgrade ties to boost maritime security amid China clout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Intech is pleased to announce the appointment of Katherine Hardenbergh as Senior Vice President and Director of Research, effective September 5, 2023. In her new role, Hardenbergh will spearhead efforts to develop novel alpha signals, focusing on a broad application across global markets and strategies. She will report to Dr. Ryan Stever, Deputy CIO, and a former colleague at Acadian Asset Management.
CEO Dr. Jose Marques stated, "Katherine embodies our innovative approach at Intech, bringing a wealth of experience that positions her as an invaluable asset. Her appointment marks a significant milestone in Intech's journey, showcasing our commitment to fostering top-tier talent and ushering in a bright, transformative future.
Dr. Ryan Stever, Deputy CIO, commented, Katherine's unique blend of academic rigor and practical investment expertise perfectly syncs with our strategic vision, making her an exceptional addition to our team. Our history together reinforces the continuity and innovation we strive for at Intech.
Hardenbergh's appointment is Intechs most recent addition to its investment team since the company's MBO last year, further bolstering its commitment to investment excellence.
Hardenbergh expressed enthusiasm for her new role, saying, "Im thrilled to join Intech at such a pivotal time post-MBO and look forward to the companys promising future. This is an exciting step in my career that aligns well with my experience and interests."
About Katherine Hardenbergh
Hardenbergh brings over a decade of experience in the investment field, holding instrumental roles at Acadian Asset Management and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Her tenure includes positions in responsible investing, global equity research, and equities electronic trading.
Her academic pursuits are also noteworthy, as she serves as an Adjunct Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology, teaching a graduate-level Investment Management course, where she imparts her hands-on investment insights to the next generation of financial professionals.
Hardenbergh holds a Masters Degree in Mathematics in Finance from New York University and two degrees from Lehigh University: a BS in Integrated Business and Engineering and a BS in Information and Systems Engineering.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Media ContactAndre PrawotoChief Marketing OfficerPhone: 1-561-776-2226Email: [email protected]
About IntechIntech is a private, employee-owned quantitative asset manager investing on behalf of pension funds, governments, endowments, foundations, and other institutional investors worldwide. Having pioneered the application of Stochastic Portfolio Theory in 1987, Intech continues to seek distinctive alpha sources for clients in alternative equity, defensive equity, sustainable equity, and traditional long-only strategies.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0c0a213b-a927-4439-b4d5-44439070cb29
Katherine Hardenbergh Katherine Hardenbergh Joins Intech as Senior Vice President, Director of Research
Source: Intech
New facility will increase capacity and efficiency for Lactalis Canadas supply chain network and enhance service to customers
Facility will become largest distribution centre for Lactalis Group globally
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lactalis Canada Inc. (Lactalis Canada) the Canadian dairy leader behind iconic brands such as Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, Balderson, Astro and Lactantia and a subsidiary of France-based Lactalis Group today announced that it is entering into a long-term lease for a new distribution centre located in Oshawa, Ontario, principally for its cheese and tablespreads supply chain network. Set to open in Q4 2024, the agreement was facilitated by CBRE Limited and the distribution centre will be developed, built, and leased by Broccolini with construction beginning immediately. The design of the facility was supported by GKC Architecture and Design.
The 379,000 square foot centre will consolidate multiple shipping locations used to service the cheese and tablespreads category including the internally-operated Belleville, Ontario distribution centre into a central, modern facility to enable the companys long-term growth, increase capacity and efficiency while enhancing service to the companys customers.
Lactalis Canadas new facility in Oshawa will become the largest distribution centre, from a capacity standpoint, for Lactalis Group globally, said Mark Taylor, President & CEO, Lactalis Canada. This bold step exemplifies Lactalis Canadas growth ambitions in Canada as a dairy leader and more importantly, reinforces our continued commitment and investment in the country and communities in which we operate.
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is the optimal hub for this part of our supply chain network across Canada, said Eric Seguin, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain, Lactalis Canada. The Oshawa distribution centre is poised to meet the current needs and future demands of our business and customers, while its sustainable design will transform our network effectiveness and contribute to Lactalis Canadas ESG agenda in reducing its carbon footprint.
Broccolini is proud to partner with Lactalis Canada on this significant new facility. For nearly 75 years, we have been building relationships with some of the worlds most recognizable brands and this partnership is yet another example of how we can work together to achieve great things. We are honoured to be chosen by Lactalis Canada as developer, builder, and property manager, and look forward to handing over the keys to this zero-carbon ready facility next year, said Michael Broccolini, Chief Investment Officer, Broccolini.
The facility will create approximately 80 jobs in Oshawa and the surrounding region and will join Lactalis Canadas workforce of more than 4,200 employees across 30 operating sites in Canada.
Key Facility Features
Located at 1680 Thornton Road North in Oshawa, Ontario in the growing Northwood Business Park.
A 379,000 square feet facility with the ability to store up to 60,000 pallets in both cooler and freezer environments.
The building will be zero-carbon ready with the potential to be Zero Carbon Building (ZCB) certified.
Source of energy will be fully on the Ontario power grid with no additional reliance on non-renewable energy sources.
Use of energy efficient lighting controls, equipment and high insulation values will reduce the power load imposed on the refrigeration system.
Heat generated from the refrigeration system will be fully reclaimed and used to heat the facilitys offices and the truck apron to melt snow for safety reasons.
White roof will reduce heat island effect.
Solar panels on the roof in a future phase will provide renewable power to partially or completely offset reliance on the power grid under certain conditions.
About Lactalis CanadaWith 140 years of brand heritage, Lactalis Canada is committed to enriching and nurturing the lives of Canadians by producing nutritious and great tasting dairy products. Named on Forbes 2022 list of Canadas Best Employers, Lactalis Canada directly employs more than 4,000 Canadians, supports hundreds of farming families and contributes to the livelihoods of thousands of Canadians who provide essential services to Lactalis Canada's more than 30 operating sites including 20 manufacturing facilities. The companys iconic brands include Cracker Barrel, Black Diamond, P'tit Quebec, Balderson, Cheestrings Ficello, aMOOza!, Astro, Khaas, siggis, IOGO, IOGO nano, Olympic, Lactantia, Beatrice, Marie Morin Canada, Galbani and President. Lactalis Canada is part of Lactalis Group, the worlds leading dairy company, headquartered in Laval, France. For more information, visit www.lactalis.ca.
Media Contact:
Lactalis CanadaRoopa ShahDirector, Corporate Communications [email protected]c: (437) 215-6317
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3f10bfe3-6535-4176-9a03-92985497b172
Lactalis Canada New Distribution Centre Oshawa, Ontario (Rendering) Lactalis Canada New Distribution Centre Oshawa, Ontario (Rendering)
Source: Lactalis Canada
BATON ROUGE, La., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- There are currently more than 4,500 orphan oil wells in Louisiana, meaning oil companies have abandoned them for one reason or another, namely for not making money. Nearly 450 of these wells were tagged orphan in 1994, which means they have been dormant and possibly leaking methane gas for nearly 30 years.
Thanks to a $3 million grant from the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, LSU Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering Professor Ipsita Gupta is working with a team of LSU researchers to find out which wells are leaking and measure their emissions before and after they are plugged.
What were doing with this project is helping the Department of Natural Resources, who received funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior, to find out which wells are leaking and need to be prioritized for plugging, Gupta said. The U.S. Department of the Interior wants states to plug orphan and idle wells because they emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas that causes temperature increase and global warming.
While other states can use drones and planes to measure methane and other gas emissions, it is trickier in Louisiana, since the wetlands also emit methane. One of the ways to accurately measure methane emissions in the state is to measure individual wells, which is being done by LSU Department of Oceanography & Coastal Sciences Chair and Professor Kanchan Maiti. Though Maiti normally measures methane and other gases at the bottom of the ocean, he says the principles of measuring methane from an in-ground well are the same, with one major difference.
When were in the ocean, we target a general area to collect samples, and we generally dont need permission, Maiti said. Wells in Louisiana can be on private land, and its not easy to access them.
Maiti and his field team, with help from DNR inspectors, have braved the oppressive heat this summer, sometimes walking as much as a mile while carrying loads of equipment to find an orphan well. Some wells are sticking up six feet, while others are hiding in shrubs or nearly buried in the ground. How many wells are checked each day depends on the location and conditions.
To measure the methane concentration coming out of a well, Maitis team positions flux chambers over the wellheads and watches the reader to see if methane is being emitted and at what rate. They usually measure emission for 10-50 minutes, but some wells can only be measured for a very short period of time due to the risk of methane levels inside the chamber going over the lower explosive limit of 5%.
Those wells are definitely big leakers, Maiti said. Weve already measured quite a few where we had to stop quickly.
Gupta said of the 800 wells that have already been measured, more than 180 had leaks.
That is a significant percentage, she said.
We want to know how methane impacts our global temperature rise, Maiti said. That translates to lost hours of productivity because its too hot for people to work outside or they need more breaks. This is a social cost.
LSU Center for Energy Studies Interim Executive Director and Associate Professor of Research Greg Upton, who is a principal investigator alongside Maiti on this project, is studying the socioeconomic impact of plugging these leaking orphan wells.
What the Department of the Interior wants the states to do is quantify how much methane is coming from these wells in order to say how much methane was reduced with these federal funds, Upton said. Were working with the Department of Natural Resources in order to not only estimate the cost of plugging all of these wells as the cost data comes in, but also how much methane is coming out of those wells.
Working alongside Gupta, Maiti, and Upton are LSU Department of Environmental Sciences Associate Professor Brian Snyder and University of California-Davis Assistant Professor Mark Agerton.
Methane is a greenhouse gas that we can have the biggest impact on, Snyder said. It has a short lifetime in the atmosphere, so if we dont emit it, it will fall out of the atmosphere in 25-50 years.
Plugging these leaking orphan wells will positively impact peoples health and the environment. According to the United Nations Environment Programmes Climate and Clean Air Coalition of 2021, reducing methane emissions by 45% means the prevention of 255,000 deaths from respiratory and cardiovascular diseases each year; 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits; 73 billion lost work hours to heat exposure; and 26 million tons of staple crop losses. This project will be impactful for the people of Louisiana, Gupta said. It will not only have an immediate impact on reducing methane emissions from orphan wells, which is an important health, safety, and environmental concern; plugging orphan wells will also be impactful for ongoing and future efforts on carbon dioxide storage as the CO2 will be safely sequestered underground if there are no leaking wells around. It is a win-win for Louisianas environment and energy economy.
Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lsuengineering).
###
Libby Haydel LSU College of Engineering 225-578-4840 [email protected]
Source: LSU College of Engineering
Eindhoven, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- THIS PRESS RELEASE CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE EUROPEAN MARKET ABUSE REGULATION (596/2014)
US commercialization of ARC-EX expected 2H 2024 with USD 30,000 anticipated price
Clinical study initiated pairing ARC Therapy with a brain-computer interface to restore use of legs and upper extremities
ONWARD Medical N.V. (Euronext: ONWD), the medical technology company creating innovative therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI), today announced its first 2023 half results and provided a Business Update.
During the first half of 2023 we delivered several significant milestones, including revealing additional positive data from our Up-LIFT pivotal study and initiating a groundbreaking clinical feasibility study that includes first-in-human use of an investigational implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) in combination with our ARC-IM Therapy to restore thought-driven movement after SCI, said Dave Marver, CEO of ONWARD. We have also taken the difficult but correct decision to update the ARC-EX system circuit board assembly. While we share the disappointment of the SCI community that this decision will impact launch timing, now expected in 2H 2024, our cash guidance remains unchanged. We are also increasingly well prepared for launch after recent agreements with a third-party logistics partner that provides rapid access to US government procurement vehicles.
1H Operating and Financial Results
Clinical and Development
In April 2023, at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting, Dr. James Guest, Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of Miami and the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, shared additional results from the Up-LIFT pivotal study that investigated ARC-EX Therapy for improving upper extremity strength and function after SCI. In addition to meeting all primary safety and effectiveness endpoints, the study demonstrated that 72% of participants responded to ARC-EX Therapy 1 , showing improvement in both strength and function.
, showing improvement in both strength function. In May, the Company announced its ARC Therapy was paired with an investigational implanted wireless BCI, resulting in an individual gaining thought-driven augmented control over when and how he moved his paralyzed legs. This breakthrough was published in the journal Nature and highlighted in major media outlets around the globe.
Also in May, the Company announced the successful first-in-human use of its investigational ARC-IM Lead to deliver targeted electrical pulses to the spinal cord. The ARC-IM Lead is a key component of the ONWARD ARC-IM system, engineered to address multiple indications by precisely delivering ARC Therapy. The ARC-IM Lead is designed to be used with the ARC-IM Neurostimulator (IPG) and is purpose-built for placement along the spinal cord to restore movement and function in people with SCI.
The Company announced four new Breakthrough Device Designations (BDD) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the first half of 2023. These include BDDs for the use of its ARC-EX platform for bladder control (awarded late 2022), alleviation of spasticity, and blood pressure regulation in people with SCI. In addition, the Company received an additional BDD for its ARC-IM platform for spasticity in people with SCI. The Company now has a total of nine BDDs, which affords it priority FDA review and the opportunity to interact with FDA experts throughout the pre-market review phase as the technology moves toward commercialization.
Science and Intellectual Property
The Company was issued 39 new patents in H1, bringing its total number of pending or issued patents to more than 360. Of these, more than 200 are issued patents, further reinforcing the Companys first-mover advantage.
Corporate
In January, the Company strengthened its leadership team, appointing Erika Ross Ellison as Vice President, Global Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality and Sarah Moore as Vice President, Global Marketing. Erika came to ONWARD from Abbott Neuromodulation, where she was Director, Global Clinical & Applied Research. Previously, Erika was Neuroscience Director at Cala Health, a non-invasive neuromodulation company. She also served as Deputy Director, Medical Device Innovation Accelerator, Department of Surgery and Assistant Professor, Department of Neurologic Surgery at the Mayo Clinic. Sarah came to ONWARD from Nevro, an implantable neuromodulation company, and has more than 20 years of experience in new product development and commercial marketing in the medical device industry, including at Johnson & Johnson.
In May, Bryan, Garnier & Co, a leading investment bank focused on growth companies, reinitiated research coverage on the Company with a Buy rating. The Company is also covered by equity research at Degroof Petercam and Kepler Cheuvreux.
Financial
ONWARD reported an operating loss of EUR 18.8 million for the first six months of 2023 compared to EUR 15.1 million in the same period of 2022.
The Company ended the six-month period with a positive cash balance of EUR 43.8 million (31 December 2022: EUR 61.8 million). The decrease in cash of EUR 18 million compared to 31 December 2021 is due to cash outflows for operating activities.
First Half 2023 Financial Summary
In EUR millions
For the six-month period ended June 30 2023 2022 Total Revenues & Other Income 0.9 1.0 Total Operating Expenses (19.7) (16.1) Operating Loss for the Period (18.8) (15.1) Net Finance Expenses (0.4) (0.9) Income Tax Expenses (0.0) (0.0) Net Loss for the Period (19.2) (16.0) at 30 June 2023 31 December 2022 Cash position at the end of the period 43.8 61.8 Interest Bearing Loans (14.3) (12.7) Equity 34.3 52.6
Business Update: 2H Outlook and Upcoming Milestones
ONWARD expects to continue strong execution of its strategy in the second half of 2023 and beyond.
Clinical and Development
In August, ONWARD marked the successful first-in-human use of an investigational implanted wireless BCI to help a person with SCI recover use of paralyzed arms and hands with thought-driven movement. The implant was part of a clinical feasibility study with partners at CEA-Clinatec, CHUV, and EPFL that is supported by a grant from the European Innovation Council. BCI-augmented ARC-IM implants will continue throughout 2024 as part of this study.
ONWARD now expects to launch ARC-EX in the US in the second half of 2024. The new date is driven by our decision to redesign the devices printed circuit board assembly (PCBA). Once the PCBA redesign and associated testing are completed, the Company plans to submit a de novo application for FDA clearance for the ARC-EX system, which would be the Companys first commercial offering. The Company does not expect the postponement to negatively impact its cash runway.
The Company also continues to prepare for its pivotal clinical study, called Empower BP, to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its implantable ARC-IM system to address blood pressure instability after SCI.
Commercial Update
ONWARD continues to make robust progress in preparing for launch. In September, it forged an agreement with a US third-party logistics (3PL) provider to manage fulfillment to civilian customers and an agreement with a US Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) to manage fulfillment to the US Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Administration. The latter agreement will provide ONWARD with rapid access to US government purchasing vehicles after FDA clearance.
Based on positive feedback from potential customers on the value of the ARC-EX system, expected to be the first-ever external spinal cord stimulation therapy to restore hand and arm function after SCI, the Company is anticipating a list price of USD 30,000. In addition, the Company expects to offer tiered service packages.
Corporate
CFO Lara Smith Weber will step down as Chief Financial Officer at the end of September to pursue a new opportunity in the Boston area. Khaled Bahi will join ONWARD as Interim CFO. Prior to joining ONWARD, Khaled served as CFO of Lausanne-based Symetis, acquired by Boston Scientific in 2017 for USD 435 million, and Paris-based Stilla Technologies. He was also a finance leader with Fresenius Medical Care in Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Africa. Khaled brings more than 20 years of finance experience in the medtech industry. Early in his career, he was a corporate and investment banker with Credit Lyonnais and the Industrial Bank of Japan.
The Company continues to expect its current cash position to fuel operations through the end of 2024. ONWARD plans to explore opportunities to further strengthen its cash position to support future investments in product development, clinical trials, and operational and commercial capabilities.
Conference Call & Webcast
ONWARD will host a conference call with a live webcast today, September 19, 2023, at 2:00 pm CET / 8:00 am ET. The webcast may be accessed on the Financial Information page of the Companys website. A replay of the webcast also will be available on the ONWARD website. The Half Year Report 2023 is available on the Companys website in the Investors section. To join the webcast via Zoom, please register using this link .
All ONWARD devices and therapies referenced here, including but not limited to ARC-IM, ARC-EX, and ARC Therapy, are investigational and not available for commercial use.
1Responder was defined as a participant who met or exceeded the minimally important difference criteria for at least one outcome of the strength domain and at least one outcome of the functional performance domain.
About ONWARD Medical
ONWARD is a medical technology company creating therapies to restore movement, function, and independence in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) and movement disabilities. Building on more than a decade of science and preclinical research conducted at leading neuroscience laboratories, the Company has received nine Breakthrough Device Designations from the US Food and Drug Administration for its ARC Therapy platform.
ONWARD ARC Therapy, which can be delivered by external ARC-EX or implantable ARC-IM systems, is designed to deliver targeted, programmed spinal cord stimulation. Positive results were presented in 2023 from the Companys pivotal study, called Up-LIFT, evaluating the ability for transcutaneous ARC Therapy to improve upper extremity strength and function. The Company is now preparing regulatory approval submissions for ARC-EX for the US and Europe. In parallel, the Company is conducting studies with its implantable ARC-IM platform, which demonstrated positive interim clinical outcomes for improved blood pressure regulation following SCI. Other ongoing studies include combination use of ARC-IM with a brain-computer interface (BCI).
Headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, ONWARD has a Science and Engineering Center in Lausanne, Switzerland and a US office in Boston, Massachusetts. The Company also has an academic partnership with. NeuroRestore, a collaboration between the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) and Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).
For more information, visit ONWD.com , and connect with us on LinkedIn and YouTube .
For Media Enquiries:
Aditi Roy, VP Communications
[email protected]
For Investor Enquiries:
Lara Smith Weber, CFO
Khaled Bahi, CFO (as of October 1st, 2023)
[email protected]
Disclaimer
Certain statements, beliefs, and opinions in this press release are forward-looking, which reflect the Companys or, as appropriate, the Company directors current expectations and projections about future events. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and assumptions could adversely affect the outcome and financial effects of the plans and events described herein. A multitude of factors including, but not limited to, changes in demand, competition, and technology, can cause actual events, performance, or results to differ significantly from any anticipated development. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as a representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. As a result, the Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this press release as a result of any change in expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions, or circumstances on which these forward-looking statements are based. Neither the Company nor its advisers or representatives nor any of its subsidiary undertakings or any such persons officers or employees guarantees that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does either accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All ONWARD devices and therapies referenced here, including but not limited to ARC-IM, ARC-EX, and ARC Therapy, are investigational and not available for commercial use.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Friday, Sept. 15, U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman joined Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month by visiting local Latino-owned small businesses throughout Washington, D.C.
The day started at Cuts by Hugo, a barbershop owned by Hugo Gonzalez, before having lunch at El Tamarindo, an El Salvadorian and Mexican restaurant owned by Ana Reyes. Administrator Guzman and the Second Gentleman spoke with the entrepreneurs about their small business journeys, discussed the significant impact of Latino-owned small businesses on our economy, and highlighted how Bidenomics continues to deliver for Latino communities.
Latino entrepreneurs help power America by contributing to our economy and bringing new life to our local Main Streets, said Administrator Guzman. As we celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month at the SBA, we will continue celebrating Hispanic-owned small businesses while working to deliver on the Biden-Harris Administration priority of ensuring equitable access to SBA resources in order to address the funding and revenue gaps that limit our economys true potential.
More than 5 million Latino-owned small businesses contribute $800 billion every year to our economy. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, weve seen the lowest Latino unemployment rate on record and the fastest creation rate of Hispanic-owned businesses in more than a decade. For follow-up interview requests for Administrator Guzman, please contact Rebecca Galanti at [email protected].
### About the U.S. Small Business Administration The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, or expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
Attachments
Christine Saah Nazer U.S. Small Business Administration 202-756-0304 [email protected]
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration
SOILS, ROCK CHIPS ASSAYED RECORDING CONTIGUOUS ANOMALOUS AREAS OF SILVER, ZINC, COPPER, LEAD, and TIN
Vancouver, British Columbia, Sept. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spey Resources Corp. (CSE: SPEY) (OTC: SPEYF) (FRA: 2JS) ("Spey or the "Company") announces that it has received the results from its June 23 soil sampling, rock chip and reconnaissance work on its 42 claims west of the town of Kaslo, BC Canada.
Figure 1 Kaslo property overview with 2023 sampling and mapping locations, showing historical mines
The area is of interest owing to the historical mining activity and its structural-geological setting. The main target areas of the 2023 field program were the Bismark-Gold Cure-Wintrop Cork-Province-Black Fox trends. Additional work was completed on the Silver Bell Silver Bear trend and the Cat occurrence.
A total of 207 soil samples were collected along predetermined soil lines (green on above map) at a 25 m spacing. Field duplicates and blanks were inserted at a rate of 2 QC samples per 50 soil samples. A total of 62 rock grab samples were collected. Rocks were collected into poly ore bags and secured with a zip tie for transport back to camp.
The Bismark-Gold Cure-Wintrop* trend is defined as a 2.4 km long SW-NE trending set of mineral occurrences in the central-south portion of the Property. Each of these occurrences contain historic producing mines with a total combined production of 1499 tonnes recovering 2914 kg Ag and 156093 kg Pb note, gold, zinc, and copper values were largely not reported despite copper and zinc mineralization being observed in material from the mine dumps during the 2023 field season.
The Cork-Province Black Fox* trend is defined as a > 1 km long SW-NE trending set of mineral occurrences in the central-north portion of the Property. Each of these occurrences contain historic producing mines with a total combined production of 192,296 tonnes recovering 16,053 kg Ag, 5,851,180 kg Pb, 9,107,400 kg Zn, 69,041 kg Cd, and 2.08 kg Au.
The Silver Bear Silver Bell* trend is defined as a > 1 km long SW-NE trending set of mineral occurrences in the south-west portion of the Property. Each of these occurrences contain historic producing mines with a total combined production of 1,115 tonnes recovering 3,364 kg Ag and 121,868 kg Pb, 20,960 kg Zn, 66 kg Cd, and 93 g Au.
The Cat* trend and mineral occurrence is located up the east slope of Deer Creek at the eastern extent of the Property and only has the Cat mine.
* Important Disclaimer: The reader should note that none of the above estimates are NI 43-101 compliant and are taken from historical records where no information is available on QA/QC procedures for measurement.
Figure 2 Gold Cure to Bismark looking north along the trend with the mineralised trend highlighted as a red dash line
Soils
Table 1 Shows F926870-926874 with elevated As, Cd, which are pathfinders to Copper, lead, zinc and silver mineral assemblages
Table 2 F926870-F926874 shows elevated Cu, Lithium at ES46761-65 and Pb (495ppm->10,000)
Figure 3 Silver Bell Occurrence. Left E546784: Polymetallic quartz carbonate veining from Silver Bell workings. Galena, sulphosalts, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and pyrite visible. Right E546788: Massive galena with clay alteration and secondary copper minerals malachite and probable tetrahedrite.
Further Work
The Kaslo Property provides multiple high interest targets for future work.
Progress was made during the 2023 field season towards determining structural constraints on mineralization and areas of mineralization, but the Property anomalies all justify further detailed work. The company is assessing the resources required to complete a comprehensive data compilation of the thousands of historical soil, rock, silt, channel, and trench samples, as well as digitization of surface and underground geological mapping: diamond drilling is also being considered.
Based on the findings of the 2023 field work, including the arsenic vector and base metal results in chips and soils, clear drill targets on the Black Fox occurrence are readily defined. Geophysics will also be considered as a preliminary step, and would refine targeting at Black Fox and also assist with second priority targeting at the Bismark and Gold Cure trend. This latter area would require helicopter placement of a drill due to the narrow ATV access roads and inclination of the slopes. Any of these mineralised trends could also be explored by mechanical trenching.
Amendment to Option Agreement
The Company has amended the option agreement pertaining to the Kaslo Property whereby, in lieu of a $100,000 cash payment that was due by August 31, 2023, the Company shall pay $50,000 and issue common shares in the capital of the Company (the Shares) having a value of $50,000 on December 15, 2023. The deemed price of the Shares shall be calculated based on the market price of the Shares at the time of Issuance. The Shares shall be subject to a statutory hold period of four months and one day from issuance.
Approved for release by the Board of Directors
Phillip Thomas
Phillip Thomas
Chief Executive Officer
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Phillip Thomas, BSc. Geol, MBM, FAusIMM, MAIG, MAIMVA(CMV), who is a "qualified person" for the purposes of NI 43-101.
About Spey Resources Corp.
Spey Resources is a Canadian lithium focused mineral exploration company which has an 80% interest in the Candela II lithium brine project located in the Incahuasi Salar, Salta Province, Argentina. Spey also holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Kaslo Silver project, west of Kaslo, British Columbia.
For more information, please contact:
Phillip Thomas Nader Vatanchi CEO, President VP, Corporate Finance, Director [email protected] [email protected] +61433747380 +1778-881-4631
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including with respect to Kaslo claims. The Company provides forward-looking statements for the purpose of conveying information about current expectations and plans relating to the future and readers are cautioned that such statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections, or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct, and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited those identified and reported in the Companys public filings under the Companys SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events, or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
The Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed, approved, or disapproved the contents of this press release. We seek safe harbour.
Images and B-Roll can be downloaded here
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday, the State of Poland Foundation, Tree Time Foundation and the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland held a ceremony and reception at The Carlyle Hotel to commemorate the nations unity with the United States, represented through a Jabonki project of planting over 300 flowering apple trees throughout New York City. During the vibrant ceremony, 17 of these trees were named, honoring the many Polish and American figures who have historically impacted the nations relationship.
Wodzimierz Dola, President of the State of Poland Foundation, kicked-off the event, welcoming over 100 guests with an introduction to the organization and the tree-planting project in New York. Beata Daszynska-Muzyczka, President of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) stepped in to introduce Jabonki, the art of celebrating apples. She shared how the tree planting project symbolizes the mutual heritage and friendship between Poland and the United States and a background on the BGKs role in CSR activities.
Adrian Kubicki, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York, greeted the guests by sharing a few words about the honored figures important to Polish-American history and why Jabonki is essential to recognizing these individuals and bringing our two nations closer together. Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum and son of Richard Pipes, also paid homage to his parents by sharing a story of when his father served as a member of the National Security Council and led Eastern European and Soviet Affairs under Ronald Reagan.
Danuta Nierada, Creative & Strategic Director at the State of Poland Foundation, concluded the event presenting the plaques to the honorees, prior to their display on the trees.
Were honored to be able to fulfill this project in one of the most diverse cities in the world, said Dola. This touch of Poland throughout the city represents our gratitude for the friendship between our two nations and expresses an utmost thank you to our ongoing historical ties.
Among those honored with trees planted in their name include Revolutionary War hero Tadeusz Kosciuszko; celebrated veteran turned filmmaker Merian C. Cooper; Polish nobleman, soldier and military commander Kazimierz Puaski; American documentarian Julien Bryan; soldier and Silver Star recipient Michael H. Ollis; and the famous Polish transatlantic liner nicknamed Lucky Ship. Notable guests included actors Patrick Wilson, Scott Foley and Marika Dominczyk.
The ceremony was followed by a celebratory party, where attendees were served apple-infused Polish beverages and snacks while surrounded by the soft music of Polish Jazz Trio, The Rotker-Lynn.
The event embodied a traditional Jabonki celebration, an annual festival dedicated to honoring the magnificent apple trees that stretch across Polands landscape. Often referred to as the Orchard of Europe, Polands orchards account for approximately 30% of the total orchard area in the entire European Union, despite the country itself comprising only 7% of it. The expanse of Polish orchards saw a remarkable 11% growth, its fastest rate, between 2012 and 2017. In Poland, the Jabonki festivities extend from May through late autumn, beginning when the apple trees begin to blossom and concluding with the harvest season.
ABOUT THE STATE OF POLAND FOUNDATION
The State of Poland Foundation was established at the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (Polish development bank) initiative in 2019. The main objective is to promote a positive image of Poland as a modern, innovative, and hospitable country rich in tradition, culture, and universal values.
The Foundation aims to showcase Poland as a friendly and attractive place to live while highlighting its achievements in unique products, innovations, technologies, social thought, culture, art, history, and tradition nationally and internationally. Additionally, the Foundation strives to build a solid support base for Polish commercial, developmental, manufacturing, and tourism units through modern and traditional methods of image communication.
ABOUT TREE TIMETree Time, a program of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the City Parks Foundation, was established in 1994 to protect, preserve, and enhance New York City's street, park and forest trees. The goals of Tree Time are to foster public-private partnerships in urban forestry, raise public awareness of the importance of urban forestry conservation and stewardship, promote new technologies to enhance tree survival and advance innovative management tools, and revitalize historically and arboreally significant municipal trees.
Media Contact:MMGY NJF[email protected]
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e13c9c5-6873-4ba4-b2e9-771b7467b005https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c50e74b0-bac2-4ec2-a32d-17e7925ac49e
State of Poland Foundation Tree Naming Ceremony (Left to Right) Adrian Kubicki, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York; Beata Daszynska-Muzyczka, President of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK); Danuta Nierada, Creative and Strategic Director of the State of Poland Foundation; Marta Kazmierczak, State of Poland Foundation; and Wodzimierz Dola, President of the State of Poland Foundation. These people gifted and planted over 300 flowering apple trees to the New York City community. Image taken on Monday, September 18, 2023 in New York. (Bennett Raglin/AP Images for State of Poland Foundation) State of Poland Foundation Tree Naming Ceremony Actors Scott Foley and Patrick Wilson with Adrian Kubicki, Consul General of the Republic of Poland in New York enjoying the Jabonki celebration hosted by the State of Poland Foundation at The Carlyle Hotel in New York City. Image taken on Monday, September 18, 2023 in New York. (Bennett Raglin/AP Images for State of Poland Foundation)
Source: State of Poland Foundation
Toronto, ON, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TORONTO, ON - Popular online fashion brand, SHEIN, is excited to announce its collaboration with SPC Student Price Card, Canada's leading student loyalty program. Together, SHEIN and SPC are bringing an incredible opportunity for students at select universities to share their back-to-school style while enjoying an exclusive activation and unique giveaways.
As part of the SPC x SHEIN partnership, two universities across Canada will host exciting activations featuring a live DJ, where students can find SHEIN & SPC on campus and, experience their Glam Cam photo opportunity and try their luck at the SPC x SHEIN Spin Wheel to win exclusive giveaways. We are pleased to confirm the following dates and locations for our upcoming events:
University of Calgary: Wednesday, September 20, 2023 - Thursday, September 21, 2023 from 11 am - 5 pm, Green Space Number 2
Toronto Metropolitan University: Wednesday, September 27, 2023 - Thursday, September 28, 2023 from 11 am - 6 pm, Gould Street
Students unable to join SPC x SHEIN at the on-campus events can participate in celebrating the back-to-school season online by joining the SHEIN Dorm Decor Challenge. From September 11 to October 6, students are invited to share a photo of their dorm room on Instagram, using the tag #SHEINdormchallenge and tagging @shein_ca for the chance to win 1 of 5 $100.00 SHEIN Gift Cards. To increase your chances of winning, don't forget to comment on the @shein_ca Dorm Decor Instagram post, sharing your dorm decoration wish list and must-haves. For more information, visit the #SHEINcampus minisite. Dont miss out on this opportunity to express your personal style with SHEIN and have your dorm room dreams come true!
About SHEIN
SHEIN is a global, integrated marketplace offering extended fashion and lifestyle shopping categories, from SHEIN branded apparel to products from a global network of sellers, all at affordable prices. Headquartered in Singapore, SHEIN remains committed to making the beauty of fashion accessible to all, leveraging its industry-leading on-demand production methodology since 2012 for a smarter, future-ready industry.
ABOUT SPC
Student Price Card provides Canadian students discounts up to 25% off on over 450+ brands including Adidas, Taco Bell, American Eagle, H&M, Samsung, Shein, Burger King, Pizza Pizza and many more. Their mission is to teach students how to be more financially responsible while also saving them money at the same time! SPC is a membership made for all student types including high school, college and university, trade skills colleges, international students, and more. https://www.spccard.ca/
Join SHEIN and SPC in making this back-to-school season unforgettable. Follow @shein_ca on social media and stay tuned for more updates, surprises, and exclusive offers.
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Attachments
Milka Mili SHEIN [email protected]
Source: SHEIN
DALLAS, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UPAY Inc. (UPAY or the Corporation or the Company) (OTCQB: UPYY)
UPAY Inc., a leading player in the fintech industry, is pleased to announce the successful conclusion of negotiations to repurchase all the remaining shares from former Director and CEO, Wouter A Fouche. This strategic move reflects UPAY's commitment to optimizing shareholder value and strengthening its corporate structure.
Over the last few months, UPAY has been engaged in negotiations with Wouter A Fouche to repurchase all the shares he still held in the Company. The buyback involved over 2 million shares at an amount that both parties deemed fair and mutually beneficial.
UPAY Inc. has consistently been committed to optimizing shareholder value, and this share buyback is a testament to that commitment.
"We appreciate the contributions of Mr. Fouche during his tenure as Director and CEO and we respect his decision to sell back his shares. This strategic move allows UPAY to streamline its ownership structure to align with our vision for the future," stated Jacob C Folscher, CEO of UPAY Inc.
This transaction marks a significant milestone in UPAY's journey as it continues to innovate and grow within the fintech landscape. The Company remains committed to delivering innovative financial solutions to its clients and creating value for its shareholders.
This strategic initiative has resulted in the reduction of outstanding UPAY shares to just 15,508,544, out of the 100,000,000 authorized shares with a public float of only 1,606,878 shares.
This milestone highlights UPAY's prudent financial management and its unwavering commitment to delivering value to its shareholders. It serves as a testament to the Company's long-term vision and its strategic efforts to strengthen its position in the market.
About UPAY Inc.:
UPAY Inc. is a forward-thinking US public company with fintech and other industry related holdings, dedicated to providing cutting-edge financial solutions to its clients. With a focus on innovation and user-centric design, UPAY remains on the bleeding edge of innovation.
For media inquiries, please contact:
CONTACT INFORMATION
UPAY INC.
[email protected]
CAUTIONARY DISCLOSURE ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information contained in this publication does not constitute an offer to sell or solicit an offer to buy securities of UPAY, Inc. (the Company). This publication contains forward-looking statements, which are not guarantees of future performance and may involve subjective judgment and analysis. The information provided herein is believed to be accurate and reliable, however the Company makes no representations or warranties, expressed or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. The Company has no obligation to provide the recipient with additional updated information. No information in this publication should be interpreted as any indication whatsoever of the Companys future revenues, results of operations, or stock price.
San Francisco, California, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veyond Metaverse, a startup harnessing extended reality (XR) technology for healthcare, has achieved an unprecedented medical breakthrough: facilitating a real-time digital surgery. A proctor surgeon in Paris, France collaborated with a counterpart and patient in Yangon, Myanmar a staggering distance of 8,800 km apart. Central to this monumental feat was the company's Veyond Connect platform.
On September 13, at 8 AM Paris time and 12:30 PM Yangon time, Prof. Dr. Thierry Flam, a renowned urology expert from Saint Jean de Dieu-Clinique Oudinot in Paris, proctored a surgery. Collaborating with him was Dr. Su Myat Maw from Shwe La Min Hospital in Yangon. Despite being thousands of kilometers apart, the Veyond ConnectTM platform enabled them to operate as if they were side-by-side in the same room, culminating in a successful procedure.
Dr. Su Myat Maw, Shwe La Min Hospital, Yangon, in a middle of digital surgery
According to Veyond Metaverse, this accomplishment has far-reaching implications in the fields of surgery and medicine. With a report by The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery revealing that nearly five billion individuals lack access to essential surgical care, there is huge demand for surgical expertise all over the world. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Veyond Metaverse is reimagining and democratizing global healthcare delivery.
This groundbreaking procedure is just the beginning, as Premier Link, a significant player in Myanmar's healthcare industry, has partnered with Veyond Metaverse to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered in remote areas. The two companies are partnering to establish digital clinics across Myanmar to bring expert healthcare to the country's farthest corners. This will help elevate Myanmars healthcare to match global standards, increasing accessibility and significantly improving healthcare quality for millions.
Adam Choe, Joon Chung, and Prof. Dr. Flam, the founders of Veyond Metaverse, highlight the global impact of Veyond Connect. The technology will allow expert surgeons to lead and instruct their colleagues in undertaking complex and intricate surgeries, bringing their expertise even to far-flung regions. The companys innovations have received international recognition, including a recent nomination for "VR Healthcare Solution of the Year" at the 7th International VR Awards and Digital Health Awards 2023.
We're not just pushing tech boundaries or building a sophisticated simulation, says Choe. We're creating a platform for real, impactful work and collaboration. Our primary goal? To democratize access and transform the way healthcare is delivered worldwide.
Shwe La Min Hospital is steadfast in its commitment to bring the finest healthcare solutions to Myanmar. With an eye on the future, the hospital is actively seeking to expand its collaborations with other leading medical centers overseas.
"This partnership is about far more than just surgical precision. We're laying down the foundations for broader healthcare access, aiming to serve millions in Myanmar. say Dr. Aye Su Maw and Dr. Pyi Thein Kyaw from Shwe La Min Hospital. In a time marked by rapid technological advancements, this surgical collaboration stands out, not just as a testament to human capability but as a symbol of progress. Veyond Metaverse and Shwe La Min Hospital's joint effort represents a proactive step toward a world where quality healthcare is not bound by borders but is universally accessible.
Media Contact:
Contact: Adam Choe
Email: [email protected]
Source: Veyond Metaverse
A coalition of 19 Caribbean and Latin American nations has jointly released a statement, underscoring the imperative need for a reevaluation of global drug policies. In a conference held over the weekend, these countries expressed their dissatisfaction with the current punitive strategy for combating the global drug issue, noting that it has failed to yield the desired results and has often exacerbated underlying problems while exploiting the vulnerabilities of their societies and territories.
The statement received support from representatives of numerous nations, including Brazil, Uruguay, Nicaragua, Colombia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, Venezuela, Chile, Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Paraguay and
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - ArcWest Exploration Inc. (TSXV: AWX) ("ArcWest") is pleased to announce that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent with Interra Copper Corp. ("Interra") to negotiate an earn-in and joint venture agreement on ArcWest's Rip porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) project ("the Project") in central British Columbia. A technical presentation for Rip is available for download here.
Rip Project Earn-In Agreement with Interra
Under the terms of the letter of intent, Interra has a two-stage option to earn up to an 80% ownership interest in the Rip project over up to an 8-year period.
To earn an initial 60% interest (the "First Tier Earn-in"), Interra is required to fund $2 million of work expenditures over a 4-year period and make staged cash and share payments to ArcWest totaling $100,000 and 1,050,000 shares, respectively. ArcWest will be the operator during the initial earn-in period.
Upon Interra earning such 60% interest, it can elect, at its sole discretion, to earn an additional 20% ownership interest in the Todd Creek project (for a total 80% interest; the "Second Tier Earn-in") by over a four year period, completing and delivering to ArcWest a Feasibility Study for the Property, in addition to making staged cash payments to ArcWest totaling $1,000,000 ($250,000 per year).
The Second Tier Earn-In period may be extended beyond its initial four year term by up to three years under the following conditions:
Interra sole funding work expenditures of at least CAD $2,000,000 per extension year, and;
Interra paying ArcWest CAD $100,000 per extension year in addition to the $250,000 required to be paid.
Interra does acquire the Second Tier Earn-In, Interra and AWX will fund a joint venture company ("JVCo") in proportion to their interests held in JVCo (that is, 80% and 20% respectively), or dilute.
In the event a production decision is made by the JVCo to place the Property into production, Interra shall arrange project financing for the JVCo, the repayment of which shall be made out of cash flows from the property.
If a Party dilutes to less than a 10% equity interest in JVCo, then that Party will forfeit its interest in JVCo in return for a 2.0% Net Smelter Returns Royalty interest, one percent of which may be purchased by the other Party for CAD $5,000,000 at any time. Any transfer of the royalty holder's interest to another person will be subject to a right of first offer in favor of the royalty payor.
Rip Project
ArcWest's 100%-owned Rip Project (2309 Hectares) is located 63 kilometers south of Houston and 79 kilometers southwest of Burns Lake in central B.C. The Rip Project is situated in Stikine Terrane in a prolific belt of Late Cretaceous (Bulkley Plutonic Suite) porphyry copper-molybdenum (Cu-Mo) deposits, which includes Imperial Metals' Huckleberry Mine, 33 kilometers to the southwest, presently on care and maintenance. In addition to the Huckleberry Mine, the Bulkley porphyry belt includes the Whiting Creek, Poplar, Seel and Ox Cu-Mo (gold-silver) deposits. The fully permitted Rip Project is road accessible from either Houston or Burns Lake.
The Rip Project covers the central axis of a 15 by 6 kilometer window of Early Jurassic Hazelton Group volcano-sedimentary rocks intruded by several small stocks of Late Cretaceous Bulkley Plutonic Suite porphyritic granodiorite. Faults bounding this block trend northwesterly and separate the Hazelton Group from surrounding blocks of younger (Late Cretaceous to Eocene) volcanics.
The Rip target was initially advanced by Kennco Explorations between 1975 and 1981. Kennco completed an Induced Polarization survey in 1975 which delineated a significant chargeability high. Although Kennco stated "in the final analysis this area will require an extensive drilling program to determine whether a zone of economic mineralization exists within the sulfide system" (Dorval and Stevenson, 1976), it was tested only by a single, 294 meter-long diamond drill hole (at -45 degree inclination) in 1975. The drill hole intersected intensely quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP) altered andesite and quartz diorite to a depth of 115 meters where the zone was cut off by a fault. The QSP altered zone above the fault averaged 0.07% Cu and 0.005% Mo over 70.3 meters (35.3-105.6m). The IP survey was extended in 1980, outlining the 0.8-1.5 by 2.2 kilometer chargeability high, and 36 shallow percussion drill holes totaling 1763 meters were completed (11 of the drill holes failed to reach bedrock). Logging of drill cuttings from these percussion holes delineated a zone of QSP alteration approximately corresponding to the chargeability high. A multi-element analysis of the core cuttings from 26 of the percussion holes in 1981 outlined a central 0.5 by 1.5 kilometer Cu-Mo anomaly coring a broad peripheral lead-zinc-arsenic-manganese anomaly, a geochemical zonation typical of porphyry copper systems. Although most of the Rip property is covered by glacial deposits, near the core of the Kennco chargeability anomaly a small (50 by 100 meter) area of outcrop and shallow trenches exposes strong multistage porphyry-style stockwork veining within altered Hazelton volcanics and feldspar-quartz porphyry. Early magnetite-chalcopyrite-pyrite 'A' veins with white K-feldspar (or albite) halos are cut by later quartz-chalcopyite-pyrite-molybdenite 'B' veins. Veining accompanies pervasive magnetite-biotite (potassic) alteration which is variably overprinted by quartz-sericite-pyrite (QSP). Multistage porphyry-style veining locally reaches strong stockwork density. Limited rock sampling of these outcrops in 2017-2018 (8 samples), returned 258-1490 parts per million (ppm) copper, 3-238 ppm molybdenum, 7-69 parts per billion gold, and 0.2-1.5 ppm silver. Deleterious elements occur at very low levels (e.g., zinc
Tyler Ruks, President and CEO of ArcWest commented, "ArcWest views the Rip Project as containing a highly underexplored porphyry copper system and is looking forward to working with Interra to advance the project."
The Proposed Transaction is subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals including approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Change of CFO
Effective September 30, 2023, Rebecca Moriarity, CPA, will be replacing John Meekison as CFO of the Company, who has resigned to pursue other interests. We thank Mr. Meekison for his time and dedication to ArcWest and wish him well in his future endeavours.
ArcWest's corporate and project specific technical presentations are available for download from www.arcwestexploration.com.
References
Dorval, D.P., Stevenson, R.W. (1976): Report on Induced Polarization-Resistivity and Magnetometer Survey, RIP NOS. 1 and 2 Mineral Claims, January 30, 1976. B.C. Assessment Report 5818.
QA/QC Statement
Assays from historical exploration programs on the Rip Property have not been verified by ArcWest but have been cited from sources believed to be reliable. Rock samples cited in the text were collected from variably mineralized and altered rock in order to help characterize the tenor of different styles of mineralization. The samples comprise representative grabs from outcrops and locally derived subcrop. Samples were collected in plastic sample bags and sealed with plastic zip ties. Sample locations were recorded by GPS. Samples were bundled in security sealed rice bags and trucked to ALS Minerals laboratory in North Vancouver.
At the laboratory, the samples were dried, crushed and pulverized using standard rock preparation procedures. The pulps were then analyzed for Au using a 30 gram fire assay with ICP-AES finish and for 35 elements by ICP-AES. Aqua regia digestion was utilized for the ICP analyses. Aqua Regia is not a whole rock digestion and may underestimate molybdenum values in particular. Quality control at the laboratory is maintained by submitting blanks, standards and re-assaying duplicate samples from each analytical batch.
About ArcWest Exploration Inc.
ArcWest Exploration is a project generator focused on porphyry copper-gold exploration opportunities throughout western North America. The company is in possession of seven 100% owned copper-gold projects throughout BC's premier porphyry copper-gold districts. These include ArcWest's Todd Creek and Oweegee Dome projects, which are two of the largest and most prospective land positions for copper-gold exploration in BC's prolific Golden Triangle. Oweegee Dome neighbours Seabridge Gold's supergiant KSM-Iron Cap-Snowfield porphyry copper-gold deposit and Todd Creek adjoins Pretium's Brucejack mine property. In March of 2022, Newcrest Mining completed the acquisition of Pretium and its high grade Brucejack gold-silver mine in a transaction valued at $3.5 billion. Three ArcWest projects are currently being advanced by partners through earn-in and joint venture agreements; this includes an agreement with mining giant Freeport-McMoRan to advance ArcWest's 100% owned Todd Creek copper-gold project. By conducting partner funded exploration on multiple exploration projects simultaneously, ArcWest's chances of discovery are enhanced while exposing shareholders to minimal dilution. The company is managed by an experienced technical team with a track record of discovery and a reputation for attracting well-funded senior partners, including Freeport McMoRan, Robert Friedland group companies, ITOCHU, Antofagasta and Teck.
For further information please contact: Tyler Ruks, President and CEO at +1 (604) 638 3695.
Qualified Person
ArcWest's disclosure of a technical or scientific nature in this news release has been reviewed and approved by John Bradford, Msc PGeo, Technical Advisor, who serves as a Qualified Person under the definition of National Instrument 43-101.
Investors are cautioned that ArcWest Exploration Inc. has not verified the data from the Huckleberry, Whiting Creek, Poplar, Seel and Ox deposits. Further, the presence and style of mineralization on these properties is not necessarily indicative of similar mineralization on the ArcWest Exploration Inc. property. Historical assays from exploration programs on its properties have not been verified by ArcWest but have been cited from sources believed to be reliable.
This news release contains statements about ArcWest's expectations and are forward-looking in nature. As a result, they are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. Although ArcWest believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them as actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof, and ArcWest undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, except as required by law.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181083
Dubai, United Arab Emirates--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Bracewell LLP announced today that Kasia Lebiecki has joined the firm's corporate and securities practice as a partner in the Dubai office. Lebiecki most recently was at Shearman & Sterling LLP, where she advised clients on a range of M&A and private equity transactions.
"We are excited to welcome Kasia to the firm," said Bracewell Managing Partner Gregory M. Bopp. "Her broad transactional experience brings additional strength to our ability to represent client needs in the UAE and larger Middle East region."
Lebiecki has extensive experience representing sovereign-owned, corporate and private equity clients on global M&A transactions, predominately in the energy sector. She has advised Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), NEOM Company and Investcorp on various M&A, capital markets and general corporate advisory matters. During her tenure with Shearman & Sterling, Lebiecki was seconded to ADNOC, where she helped establish and launch two oil trading units: ADNOC Trading and ADNOC Global Trading. In addition, Lebiecki was seconded with the strategic M&A team of HSBC, Hong Kong.
"Kasia is an outstanding practitioner whose wealth of experience deepens our general commercial offering and will help grow our M&A transactional practice in the Middle East," said Christopher R. Williams, managing partner of Bracewell's Dubai office.
Since its founding in 2007, Bracewell's Dubai office has served as a hub of regional excellence for clients with business interests in the Middle East and Africa. Bracewell has been an "Infrastructure and Energy Projects Team of the Year" finalist five times at the annual Middle East Legal Awards, winning the award twice in 2017 and 2018. In addition, the corporate and general commercial team in Dubai has built a distinguished reputation for advising on complex commercial contracts, joint ventures, M&A and corporate structuring matters in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as throughout Africa.
"I am exciting to join Bracewell's thriving team in the Middle East and work with my new partners in continuing to serve the legal needs of clients in the region," said Lebiecki.
Lebiecki received her LLB, with honors, in 2008 from the University of Manchester, where she won the RG Lawson Prize for Environmental Law. She completed the Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the University of Law, Chester in 2009.
About Bracewell LLP
Bracewell is a leading law and government relations firm primarily serving the energy, infrastructure, finance and technology industries throughout the world. Our industry focus results in comprehensive state-of-the-art knowledge of the commercial, legal and governmental challenges faced by our clients and enables us to provide innovative solutions to facilitate transactions and resolve disputes.
###
Contact:
Jay Plum
T:+1.212.508.6197
E:[email protected]
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181116
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Champion Electric Metals Inc. (CSE: LTHM) (OTCQB: CHELF) (FSE: 1QB0) ("Champion Electric" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the completion of a Light Detection and Ranging ("LiDAR" or the "Survey") and high-resolution aerial imagery survey over its James Bay lithium properties. The new data will be merged with the information collected in 2022 to provide a seamless and complete coverage of the Champion Electric Lithium Project after the Company's newest property acquisition (Figure 1).
Final data from the Survey will be received over the coming weeks, and it is anticipated that ground truthing of the newly interpreted outcrops of interest will be undertaken towards the end of this field season.
Jonathan Buick, President & CEO, comments:
"The high-resolution digital topographic model and aerial imagery enable us to remotely identify small outcrops masked by the thick vegetation and discern them from boulders and other glacial deposits. This ensures that the time spent by the field team is maximised by the field program efficiencies. The Champion Electric Lithium Project has more than tripled in size since we commissioned the first LiDAR survey, and it was one of our priorities to capture this invaluable dataset over the remainder of the property as soon as the wildfire situation eased in the region."
About the LiDAR Survey
The Survey was designed to produce a sub-metric scale topographic model of the ground surface and high-resolution imagery with less than 20 cm pixel resolution. Pegmatites are often relatively more resistive to erosion than their surroundings and can form subtle elongated hills. These discrete topographic highs and other geological features of interest can be identified through analysis of the high-resolution datasets even in areas of thick vegetation (Figure 2).
Figure 1: LiDAR survey coverage
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_001full.jpg
Figure 2. Examples of previously unknown outcrops interpreted from the 2022 LiDAR survey
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_002full.jpg
About the Project
The Company's lithium properties cover the northern extension of the Lac Guyer Greenstone Belt which hosts neighboring Patriot Battery Metals' Corvette and Winsome Resources' Cancet advanced projects in the prolific James Bay region of Quebec (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Champion Electric Lithium Project location map
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8681/181058_db5d28fce4a64942_003full.jpg
Qualified Person
Dr. Eric Hebert, P.Geo., Senior Geological consultant, is a member (#0842) of the Ordre des Gologues du Quebec (OGQ) and a qualified person within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this press release.
About Champion Electric Metals Inc.
Champion Electric is a discovery-focused exploration company that is committed to advancing its highly prospective lithium properties in Quebec, Canada and cobalt properties in Idaho, United States. In addition, the Company owns the Baner gold project in Idaho County and the Champagne polymetallic project in Butte County near Arco.
The Company's shares trade on the CSE under the trading symbol "LTHM", on the OTCQB under the trading symbol "CHELF", and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol "1QB0". Champion Electric strives to be a responsible environmental steward, stakeholder and contributing citizen to the local communities where it operates, taking its social license seriously, employing local community members and service providers at its operations whenever possible.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF CHAMPION ELECTRIC
"Jonathan Buick"
Jonathan Buick, President and CEO
To learn more, please visit the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedarplus.ca or the Company's corporate website at www.champem.com.
For further information, please contact:
Investor Relations and Communications
Phone: (416) 567-9087
Email: [email protected]
THIS PRESS RELEASE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY ANY SECURITIES IN ANY JURISDICTION, NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION OF SECURITIES IN ANY STATE IN THE UNITED STATES IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SALE, OR SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL.
Cautionary Statements
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its regulation services provider has reviewed or accepted responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of the Company. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by management of the Company, including closing of the Transactions and the prospectivity of the Projects for lithium. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based on are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.
The Projects are at an early stage of exploration, and the Company cautions that the qualified persons who have reviewed and approved this news release have not verified scientific or technical information produced by third parties.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181058
Summary: The Bali Dream Workshop program has emerged as a beacon of hope for those seeking to elevate their business ventures in an exciting development for entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts.
Bali, Indonesia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - To address the latest approach, Ideal Life Events launches Bali Dream Workshop, a business transformation retreat on the Island of Gods. The immersive three-day experience promises to impart invaluable knowledge and skills, equipping participants to enhance their branding, marketing, sales strategies, and real estate investment acumen. Nestled in the picturesque Island of Gods, Bali, this program is set to transform the way businesses operate and thrive.
Bali Dream Workshop
Bali, the Island of Gods, provides an idyllic backdrop for the Bali Dream Workshop. Participants will find themselves immersed in an environment that inspires productivity, creativity, and relaxation.
Bali Dream Workshop is committed to providing a transformative learning experience. Over the course of three days, participants will delve into a comprehensive curriculum designed to refine branding efforts, elevate marketing and sales techniques, and strategically invest in real estate, even without an initial capital outlay. The workshop will also delve into the art of expanding one's social media presence, a vital tool for taking any business to the next level.
In addition, The Bali Dream Workshop emerges as a unique opportunity to gain practical skills and insights while being surrounded by the beauty and inspiration of Bali. The natural beauty, cultural richness, and serene environment create a perfect atmosphere for focused work, relaxation, and rejuvenation.
Moreover, the participants in the Bali Dream Workshop will engage in dynamic and interactive activities and will also benefit from the Island's tranquil ambiance, which allows for clear thinking and creative brainstorming. Additionally, Bali Dream Workshop combines business growth with personal rejuvenation. The participants can disconnect from the usual hustle and bustle, clear their minds, and craft innovative business strategies.
Including more, the Bali Dream Workshop program is meticulously structured to maximize its impact. It offers a blend of practical knowledge, hands-on exercises, and networking opportunities. The workshop will enable the participants to craft visual boards, engage in interactive activities, and immerse themselves in exercises designed to spark creativity and enhance efficiency.
Furthermore, the program recognizes the importance of relaxation and adventure to recharge the mind and body. The workshops' extra activities are woven into the schedule to provide participants with moments of leisure and inspiration. Attendees will find ample opportunities to rejuvenate while exploring Bali's natural wonders, indulging in its culinary delights, or simply unwinding on pristine beaches.
Consequently, the Bali Dream Workshop program is poised to make waves in the business world, offering participants an unparalleled opportunity to transform their enterprises and gain fresh insights while immersed in the enchanting surroundings of Bali. With seasoned experts guiding the way, a comprehensive curriculum, and an idyllic setting, this workshop promises to be a life-changing experience for all who attend.
About the Company - Ideal Life Events:
Ideal Life Events is a top-notch event planning and management company known for its commitment to creating extraordinary moments. With a focus on innovation, creativity, and sustainability, Ideal Life Events designed a program with dynamic and interactive activities and powerful exercises that stimulate creativity, efficiency, and productivity. The company is committed to empowering individuals with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the ever-evolving world of business. Through carefully curated programs, the company aims to foster growth, creativity, and innovation among aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals.
Media Details:
Company Name: Ideal Life Events
Contact Person: Christopher White
Contact Email:[email protected]
Content Number: +351 918 055 119
City: Bali
State: Sumberkima hill
Website: http://dreamworkshopbali.com/
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/180971
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - Men's Daily Class LLC has launched its latest innovation: transformative networking retreats for discerning gentlemen, a bold move towards redefining modern male solidarity. These are networking retreats, a brainchild of this enterprising luxury lifestyle club that promises an exquisite blend of opulence and personal growth through vibrant connections and impactful programming.
Men's Daily Class LLC, a community of like-minded men who appreciate luxury lifestyles, has consistently been at the forefront, offering exclusive experiences to the modern man. With the launch of these Networking Retreats, the club has further demonstrated its commitment to revolutionizing the way men interact with other like-minded men in today's world. More than just networking retreats, these are a masterful blend of leisure and learning, where gentlemen can explore unparalleled opportunities to bond with influential leaders and industry experts.
Each retreat features a diverse range of sessions such as keynote speeches from industry luminaries, and interactive and recreational activities that encourage bonding through sharing of experiences. Members of each retreat will get exclusive access to perks like scenic getaways at luxurious resorts, intimate gatherings at iconic venues, and more to engage and foster meaningful connections.
Kasam Cazir, the founder of Men's Daily Class LLC is optimistic about this launch. Expecting these retreats to be a transformative move for the company, he says, "Our Networking Retreats epitomize the essence of Men's Daily Class a commitment to excellence, refinement, and community. We believe that by bringing together accomplished individuals in such immersive settings, we are not only facilitating valuable connections but also enabling personal development and success on a grand scale."
Stepping into one of these retreats, one enters a realm where luxury meets purpose. From the picturesque settings of luxurious resorts to the intimate ambiance of iconic venues, each retreat is carefully orchestrated to ensure both professional and personal conversations flourish. The carefully curated mix of activities promises to stimulate minds, nurture friendships, and encourage shared experiences. Attendees can anticipate captivating keynote speeches from industry stalwarts, immersive workshops on leadership and entrepreneurship, as well as engaging recreational activities designed to foster a sense of unity.
With these Networking Retreats, Men's Daily Class LLC is setting a new precedent in the realm of luxury lifestyle experiences. It is a premiere platform that reflects the organization's commitment to empowering men to achieve their full potential, both in their personal lives and professional pursuits leveraging the power of valuable networking. In an era where the network of an individual is synonymous with their net worth, Men's Daily Class LLC is offering a unique and invaluable space for gentlemen to unwind, connect, learn, and grow in a seamlessly curated environment.
About the company:
Founded in 2009 by Kasam Cazir, Men's Daily Class LLC is a platform empowering modern gentlemen in their pursuit of excellence. Through exclusive networking events, skill development programs, and a supportive community, the organization is assisting discerning men to chase their passion and excel in all facets of their lives. Based in the bustling city of New York, Men's Daily Class LLC is an example of elegance and innovation intersecting in one platform. The company's newly launched Networking Retreats serve as a living embodiment of its values.
Contact: Kasam Cazir, [email protected]
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181181
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - VID Media Incorporated ("VID") is pleased to announce that it will host a Town Hall Forum for Radisson Mining Resources (TSXV: RDS) (OTCQB: RMRDF) ("Radisson" or the "Company") on September 20, at 11:00 am ET/8 am PT.
Join Chairman, Denis Lachance and CFO, Hubert Parent-Bouchard for a discussion and update on Radisson's 100% owned O'Brien project located in Qubec's Abitibi region. Topics will include Radisson's recently announced start of a 10,000m drill program at the Project which hosts the former O'Brien Mine, considered to be Quebec's highest-grade gold producer during its historic production.
REGISTER for the Radisson Town Hall Forum here: https://www.bigmarker.com/vid-conferences/Radisson-Sept2023-TownHall.
About Radisson Mining Resources. Radisson is a gold exploration company focused on its 100% owned O'Brien project, located in the Bousquet-Cadillac mining camp along the world-renowned Larder-Lake-Cadillac Break in Abitibi, Quebec. The Bousquet-Cadillac mining camp has produced over 25,000,000 ounces of gold over the last decades. The project hosts the former O'Brien Mine, considered to have been Quebec's highest-grade gold producer during its production, which totaled 1,197,147 metric tons at 15.25 g/t Au for 587,121 ounces of gold between 1926 to 1957 (InnovExplo, May 2018). Radisson generates value for its shareholder through the exploration and development of the O'Brien project in a sustainable manner. Radisson is pursuing the advanced exploration of the O'Brien project. For further information on the Company please visit: www.radissonmining.com.
VID Media Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of IR.INC, provides investors with the opportunity to have informative conversations and gain fresh perspectives with company executives via our trademark, VID Town Hall Forums. Information on VID Media and other products may be found here: https://vidconferences.com/.
IR.INC founded THE Mining Investment Event of the North - Canada's Only Tier I Global Mining Investment Conference in 2021. THE Event, held annually in Quebec City, Canada is invitation only and hosts over 100 global mining companies who present, network and take scheduled 1x1 meetings with the investment community over three days. Information on THE EVENT, including registration applications for issuers and investors may be found here: https://www.themininginvestmentevent.com/.
Joanne Jobin
Principal & Founder
IR.INC & VID Media Incorporated
[email protected]
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181129
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Richmond, California resident Tilila Walker Sumchai with raising approximately $11.8 million from more than 1,000 investors through a fraudulent securities offering targeting members of the Tongan American community across the United States.
According to the SECs complaint, from approximately January 2021 through October 2021, Sumchai convinced retail investors to acquire shares of an investment she created called Tongi Tupe by falsely claiming that she would use a secret algorithm to generate guaranteed high returns. The complaint alleges that Sumchai first targeted respected Tongan American leaders, who were paid substantial returns on their investments, which convinced many of the leaders to believe that Tongi Tupe was legitimate. Sumchai then organized meetings hosted by these leaders at which Sumchai promoted Tongi Tupe to other members of the Tongan American community. As alleged, Sumchai promised exceedingly high returns, including a $146,000 return in 16 weeks on a $3,000 investment. In reality, the complaint alleges, Tongi Tupe did not generate any returns; instead, Sumchai operated a Ponzi scheme that relied on new investor money to pay earlier investors. Additionally, as alleged in the complaint, Sumchai used investor money for unauthorized and undisclosed purposes, including to pay for casino trips, travel, and shopping.
As we allege in our complaint, Sumchai sought to enrich herself by exploiting retail investors within the Tongan American community, said Monique C. Winkler, Director of the SECs San Francisco Regional Office. The SEC will continue to aggressively pursue affinity frauds, which prey on the trust that members of a close-knit community have in each other.
The SECs complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, charges Sumchai with violating the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including a conduct-based injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, a civil penalty, and an officer and director bar.
The SECs Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has issued an Investor Alert with tips on how investors can avoid becoming a victim of an affinity fraud.
The SECs investigation was conducted by Kashya Shei and Ellen Chen and supervised by Jason H. Lee and David Zhou of the San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Sheila OCallaghan and Ms. Shei.
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced settled charges against CBRE, Inc. (CBRE), a Dallas-based commercial real estate services and investment firm and subsidiary of publicly traded CBRE Group, Inc., for using an employee release that violated the SECs whistleblower protection rule.
According to the SECs order, between 2011 and 2022, as a condition of receiving separation pay, CBRE required its employees to sign a release in which employees attested that they had not filed a complaint against CBRE with any federal agency. The SECs order finds that by conditioning separation pay on employees signing the release, CBRE took action to impede potential whistleblowers from reporting complaints to the Commission.
Once the SEC informed CBRE that it had launched an investigation, the company cooperated with Commission staff and began taking extensive remedial action, including revising all versions of its domestic releases and similar agreements for compliance with the whistleblower protection rule. CBRE also communicated with more than 800 of its employees who had signed the release, clarifying the protections afforded to them by the rule, including their right to communicate directly with SEC staff regarding any potential violation of federal securities laws.
It is critical that employees are able to communicate with SEC staff about potential violations of the federal securities laws without compromising their financial interests or the confidentiality protections of the SECs whistleblower program, said Eric Werner, Regional Director of the SECs Fort Worth Office. We commend CBRE for its swift and far-reaching remediation and for its high level of cooperation with our staff, which is reflected in the terms of the resolution.
Without admitting or denying the SECs findings, CBRE consented to cease and desist from committing or causing any violations of the same whistleblower protection rule. CBRE also agreed to pay a civil penalty of $375,000. In determining to accept CBREs offer of settlement, the SEC considered CBREs cooperation and remedial actions.
The SECs investigation was conducted by Jeffrey Cohen and supervised by Sarah S. Mallett and Mr. Werner of the Fort Worth Regional Office.
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - The Securities and Exchange CommissionsInvestor Advisory Committee will hold a public, in-person, meeting on September 21 at 10 a.m. ET at the SEC Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The meeting will also be webcast on the SEC website.
The committee will host two panels to discuss:
Exempt Offerings under Regulation D Rule 506
Accredited Investors
The committee will also discuss potential recommendations on Human Capital Management Disclosure and Open-End Fund Liquidity Risk Management Programs and Swing Pricing.
The full agenda is availablehere.
The Investor Advisory Committee, which focuses on investor-related interests, advises the Commission on regulatory priorities and various initiatives to help protect investors and promote the integrity of the U.S. securities markets. Established by the Dodd-Frank Act, the Committee is authorized by Congress to submit findings and recommendations to the Commission.
Learn more about the Investor Advisory Committee here.
By Natsumi Tsuruhara, KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 15:06 | Feature, All, Japan
In a world first, a Japanese research institute has developed a process for making sake from trees, with at least one startup aiming to commercialize its cedar-based product by 2025.
The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute devised the manufacturing process, which is similar to that for producing shochu, to create unique flavors using cutting-edge fermentation technology, considered to be the first of its kind in the world.
Although the high cost of installing equipment for the production process presents a challenge for companies wishing to enter the market, the research institute is focusing on lending its support for commercial production to increase demand for domestic timber.
In late July, Kyodo News was given access to the facility, located northeast of Tokyo, to taste Japanese white birch, cedar, Lindera umbellata (used in high-grade toothpicks) and Mongolian oak samples. The clear liquid had a fresh wood aroma, with the alcohol content adjusted for tasting at 25 percent.
The birch sample had an aged taste, much like whiskey, while the Lindera had a fruity, sweet aroma.
The sake contains ingredients typically found in a variety of beverages and foods, such as wine and loquat orange. Even when freshly made, the sake has complex flavors and deep aromas, as though it has been aged for a long time in a cask.
Ethical Spirits, a venture company based in Tokyo that makes sake from discarded sake lees, or leftover sake residue, is aiming to commercialize its product. The company has received training from the research institute and has mastered the fermentation technique.
According to Yuichiro Otsuka, 46, a senior researcher at the institute, until now, the sugar contained in the trees used to initiate the alcohol fermentation process could not be extracted without the use of strong chemicals, which made it impossible to produce alcohol safe for drinking.
But in the wake of the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, a non-chemical fermentation method during the process of attempting to produce methane gas from biomass, including wood that contains radioactive substances, was found.
The institute then discovered that the method could be used to produce alcohol safe for human consumption and set about exploring its potential for commercialization.
Through the newly discovered "wet-milling" production method, the sake is made by pulverizing wood to less than a thousandth of a millimeter, which releases natural sugars.
The wood is mixed with water to break it down into mash using industrial equipment refitted for the purpose, and sugar created by adding enzymes to the microparticles is fermented with yeast and distilled. Developed in 2018, the technology was patented by the institute in 2021.
A machine specially designed to produce the sake can make about 750 milliliters of distilled liquor, equivalent to a bottle of whiskey, from cedar weighing about 2 kilograms. By installing a larger machine, firms will likely be able to produce at least 50 bottles per week.
"We can also utilize unused timber left over from forest thinning (chopping down trees in dense forest areas)," said Kazuya Tatsumi, 26, who is in charge of the project at Ethical Spirits, adding that the company aims to market its wood spirit brand made from cedar in Saitama Prefecture, outside Tokyo, by 2025.
The research institute says that if domestic businesses with brewing licenses use domestic timber, they will be allowed to use the patented technology, and new market entrants will be offered training in a dedicated research building.
But so far, only four companies and organizations, including Ethical Spirits, have signed contracts, with the cost of the equipment, estimated at 200 to 300 million yen ($1.3 to $2 million) being a key issue.
Given there are about 1,200 species of tree in Japan, however, a variety of tree-based sake flavors are possible, according to Otsuka.
"If we can take advantage of subsidies from the national and local governments, we can open the way to the realization of this project...We would like to create new value for timber with people who are interested in this project," Otsuka said.
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Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - T2 Metals Corp.(TSXV: TWO) (OTCQB: AGLAF) (WKN: A2DR6E)("T2" or the "Company")is pleased to announce that the Company has received permission to drill at the Sherridon copper-zinc project from the Manitoba Department of Economic Development, Investment and Trade. The permit allows for execution of the proposed 2023 drill program, and future drill programs until May 2026, subject to notification of future proposals.
Sherridon is a well known VHMS camp in the Flin Flon Snow Lake district of west-central Manitoba. The Sherridon camp has both a significant mining history and substantial copper-rich historical resources calculated on behalf of Halo Resources Ltd in 2010.
The 2023 drilling program by T2 Metals will target the Lost and Cold historical resource areas where high grade copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) rich mineralization has previously been discovered from surface to more than 250 metres vertical depth. These two prospects comprise a continuously mineralized horizon over a strike length of approximately 1.8km. Despite many high-grade Cu-Zn-Ag results, the project has seen no exploration drilling for more than 10 years.
The Lost and Cold prospects were the subject of investment by HudBay Minerals Inc from 2009 2012 that included metallurgical drilling with a view to open pit mining and subsequent processing in Flin Flon. The prospects have existing road/surface access, lie with 1km of an operational rail line, and are only 2km from the Sherridon village which facilitates lower cost exploration and is highly favourable for a potential future mining operation.
A drilling contract has been signed with Quesnel Bros. Diamond Drilling Ltd ("QB Drilling") for at least 1,600 metres of core drilling in approximately 10 holes. The drilling program will be undertaken in close collaboration with the Kiciwapa Cree and Mathias Colomb Cree Nations, with whom an Exploration Agreement was recently signed (see press released dated 13th June 2023). A drill start is imminent, at which point a detailed drill program will be shared.
Mark Saxon, CEO of T2 Metals Corp. said, "We appreciate the support of the Manitoba Government permitting authorities in granting the first permit to drill at Sherridon for more than ten years. This is an exciting project to re-launch, and fits extremely well with the recently announced Manitoba Critical Minerals Strategy. Despite substantial past production and multiple resource prospects that were progressing toward mining, the area has not received any recent exploration. We see a bright future in partnership with the Kiciwapa Cree as we progress through and new phase of discovery."
The recent launch of "The Manitoba Critical Minerals Strategy: Driving Sustainable Growth" by the Government of Manitoba highlights the importance of exploration for copper and other critical metals and minerals in Manitoba. The Honorable Heather Stefanson, Premier of Manitoba, noted that the "clean and low-cost energy sources, competitive business costs, a young and skilled workforce, and world-class education and research institutions" alongside high geological potential places Manitoba in an excellent position to continue to supply low-carbon metals to the world.
Sherridon is a large volcanic hosted massive sulphide (VHMS) camp with an extensive mining history and multiple copper-zinc-silver-gold historical resources and occurrences. The project is well-served by all weather roads, rail and the Sherridon/Cold Lake village.
T2 Metals is focused on copper, nickel and lithium acquisition, exploration and development within the major mining belts of western North America. The Company continues to target under-explored areas, including the Sherridon, Lida and Cora projects where post-mineralization cover masks areas of high geological prospectivity in the vicinity of major mines.
Any references to the terms "ore minerals", "mineralization" or "mineralized zones" are purely for descriptive purposes and are not intended to be interpreted as or relied upon for any resource or economic evaluation of the project at this time. Although historic exploration data was generated by reputable companies applying practice of the day, T2 Metals Corp cannot verify the data or determine the quality assurance and quality control measures applied in generating the data. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that the exploration history is fully captured. Additional drilling may have been undertaken, however the Company has not been made aware of or obtained additional data. Accordingly, the Company cautions that the exploration data reported in this news release may not be reliable. Readers are cautioned that a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 has not completed sufficient work to be able to verify the historical information, and therefore the information should not be relied upon.
The qualified person for the Company's projects, Mr. Mark Saxon, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About T2 Metals Corp (TSXV: TWO) (OTCQB: AGLAF) (WKN: A2DR6E)
T2 Metals Corp is an emerging copper and precious metal company enhancing shareholder value through exploration and discovery. T2 is focused on the Sherridon Project in Manitoba, the Lida Project in Nevada, and the Cora Project in Arizona.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD,
"Mark Saxon"
Mark Saxon
President & CEO
For further information, please contact:
t2metals.com
1305 - 1090 West Georgia St., Vancouver, BC, V6E 3V7
[email protected]
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information set out in this news release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "intend", "could", "might", "should", "believe" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions and expectations of management of the Company as at the effective date of such statements and, in certain cases, information provided or disseminated by third parties. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, and that information obtained from third party sources is reliable, they can give no assurance that those expectations will prove to have been correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such risks include uncertainties relating to exploration activities. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181045
New York, New York--(Newsfile Corp. - September 19, 2023) - The Healing Company Inc. (OTCQB: HLCO) ("The Healing Company" or the "Company") today announced that Simon Belsham, CEO and Co-Founder of The Healing Company, will be participating in the LD Micro Main Event XVI Conference, being held October 3-5, 2023, at the Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Presentation details are as follows:
Event: LD Micro Main Event XVI Date: Wednesday, October 4, 2023 Time: 10:30 AM PT / 1:30 PM ET
Register to watch the virtual presentation here.
A replay of the presentation will be available following the event on The Healing Company's Investor Relations page at https://investors.healingcompany.com/.
Mr. Belsham will also be hosting one-on-one meetings with investors on October 4, 2023. Investors interested in arranging a meeting should contact their conference representative.
About LD Micro
LD Micro aims to be the most essential resource in the micro-cap world. Whether it is the Index, comprehensive data, or hosting the most significant events annually, LD's sole mission is to serve as an invaluable asset for all those interested in finding the next generation of great companies. To learn more about LD Micro, visit www.ldmicro.com.
About The Healing Company:
The Healing Company Inc. was founded with a bold aim: Bring integrated healing to the world. Compelled by the global healthcare crisis and a deep belief in a different way-one which draws on conventional medicine and ancient wisdom, science and nature-the company looks to democratize access to integrated healing methods, while helping the world evolve how it thinks about health and healthcare. To do so, the company is building a community of powerful healing brands, identifying, acquiring, and helping scale the reach and impact of the world's highest potential healing practices & products.
The Healing Company's common stock is quoted for trading on the OTCQB under the symbol HLCO, and its investors and advisors include global wellbeing icon Dr. Deepak Chopra, MD, renowned investor and psychedelics entrepreneur Christian Angermayer, and Social Chain & Thirdweb founder and Dragons Den member Steven Bartlett. For more information, visit http://www.healingcompany.com.
Communications:
Jacalyn Lee
The Healing Company
Email: [email protected]
Investor Relations:
Crescendo Communications, LLC
Tel: (212) 671-1020
Email: [email protected]
# # #
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/181114
AANA President-Elect Testifies to Congressional Subcommittee on the Need for Veterans to Receive the Same Level of Care as Private Sector
WASHINGTON , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- During Congressional testimony today, the American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) urged the Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system to provide the same anesthesia care and services to our veterans as is in place in healthcare systems in 49 states. AANA President-Elect Jan Setnor , MSN, CRNA, Col. (Ret) , USAFR, NC, in testimony before the House VA Committee Subcommittee on Health, defended Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists' (CRNAs') ability to deliver high-quality anesthesia care to all populations, including the complex needs of our nation's veterans, as a result of their specialized and detailed anesthesia training.
During delivery of her strong statement before the subcommittee, Setnor pointed out that CRNAs are trained for and have consistently demonstrated their competence in providing anesthesia services without supervision, even in challenging environments such as battlefield. Currently, all CRNAs graduating from a nurse anesthesia program are doctorally prepared. In addition, CRNAs are prepared at the bachelor's level as a registered nurse and are required to practice for a minimum of one year as an intensive care nurse before they can attend a nurse anesthesia program. Setnor stressed the need to allow CRNAs to apply this extensive training in delivering healthcare to our nation's veterans.
"Removing barriers to care, including removal of burdensome supervision requirements, is not controversial and is supported by many organizations that do not have a vested and self-serving financial interest in maintaining the antiquated status quo," Setnor said. "These include two past Administrations, the Bipartisan Policy Center, the AARP, the National Rural Health Association, the Brookings Institute, and Americans for Prosperity, among others. The men and women who have selflessly served our nation deserve the highest quality of care and all scientific evidence and multiple independent groups have concluded that that is CRNA care."
Currently, only seven states have rules in their Nurse Practice Acts or the State Boards of Nursing that require physician supervision of CRNA services. Twenty-four states have opted out of Medicare's supervision requirement for CRNAs. Only one state requires the supervision by a physician anesthesiologist when a CRNA is providing care, and even then, only at ambulatory surgical centers.
In some states, CRNAs are the sole anesthesia providers in nearly 100 percent of rural hospitals, affording these medical facilities obstetrical, surgical, trauma stabilization, and pain management capabilities. Setnor highlighted Iowa as an example.
"At both Iowa City and Des Moines facilities all CRNAs practice independently to the full extent of their education and training, thus, enabling physician anesthesiologists to do their own cases. This decreases wait times, increases access to quality care and improves patient safety and satisfaction. All anesthesia providers do high acuity/complex cases and take call independent of each other. Both facilities consistently rank among the most highly rated of VA facilities."
Despite erroneous testimony from the American Medical Association and American Society of Anesthesiology, Setnor pointed out that supervision has no proven benefits to patients but has proven costs and detriments. An autonomous CRNA collaborating with a surgeon is the most cost-effective model for anesthesia delivery and used by healthcare facilities throughout the nation. Reimbursement and payment trends have shown a steady increase in the utilization of this practice model, implying an increase in CRNA autonomous practice. Providing the VA healthcare system with the same option will reduce costs without negatively impacting delivery of care.
"The VA in its 2016 final rule stated that CRNAs provide high-quality care. Additionally, 90 percent of veteran households in a survey stated they support allowing direct access to CRNAs within the VA," Setnor said. "The physician anesthesiologists' false narrative that the VA is planning to replace all anesthesiologists with CRNAs is an outright falsehood. AANA maintains that both anesthesiologists and CRNAs must be available to provide direct patient services, and that VA facilities should be afforded the ability to choose the best anesthesia delivery model that meets their needs."
View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/americas-veterans-deserve-high-quality-anesthesia-care-301932687.html
SOURCE American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology
GREEN BAY, Wis., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) today announced it will release third quarter 2023 financial results on Thursday, October 19, 2023 , after market close. The Company will host a conference call for investors and analysts at 4:00 p.m. Central Time (CT) on the same day.
Interested parties can access the live webcast of the call through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website, http://investor.associatedbank.com. Parties may also dial into the call at 877-407-8037 (domestic) or 201-689-8037 (international) and request the Associated Banc-Corp third quarter 2023 earnings call. The financial tables and an accompanying slide presentation will be available on the Company's website just prior to the call. An audio archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website approximately fifteen minutes after the call is over.
ABOUT ASSOCIATED BANC-CORP
Associated Banc-Corp (NYSE: ASB) has total assets of $41 billion and is the largest bank holding company based in Wisconsin. Headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin , Associated is a leading Midwest banking franchise, offering a full range of financial products and services from more than 200 banking locations serving more than 100 communities throughout Wisconsin , Illinois and Minnesota , and loan production offices in Indiana , Michigan , Missouri , New York, Ohio and Texas. Associated Bank, N.A. is an Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Lender and Member FDIC. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.associatedbank.com.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements made in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This includes any statements regarding management's plans, objectives, or goals for future operations, products or services, and forecasts of its revenues, earnings, or other measures of performance. Such forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," "should," "will," "intend," "target," "outlook," "project," "guidance," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations and, by their nature, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in such forward-looking statements include those identified in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and subsequent SEC filings. Such factors are incorporated herein by reference.
Investor Contact: Ben McCarville
Vice President | Director of Investor Relations
920-491-7059 | [email protected]
Media Contact: Jennifer Kaminski
Vice President | Public Relations Senior Manager
920-491-7576 | [email protected]
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/associated-banc-corp-to-announce-third-quarter-2023-earnings-and-hold-conference-call-on-october-19-2023-301932702.html
SOURCE Associated Banc-Corp
ISTANBUL , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerebrum Tech's latest endeavor, Cere Insight, is set to redefine the landscape of artificial intelligence tools, promising to simplify and enhance the modern work environment. This cutting-edge tool boasts a suite of capabilities, including the ability to succinctly summarize extensive documents and website content, offering seamless support for multiple file formats. Moreover, Cere Insight's remarkable ability to extract valuable insights from vast datasets sets it apart.
One of its standout features is the effortless creation of customizable chatbots, leveraging advanced LLM technology, all achieved without the need for coding expertise. This groundbreaking innovation opens doors for businesses across various sectors, from corporate giants to academia, researchers, legal professionals, small enterprises, and content creators.
In a world where efficiency and innovation are paramount, Cere Insight emerges as a powerful solution, ushering in a new era of accessible artificial intelligence.
The artificial intelligence revolution, which burst onto the world stage with the November launch of ChatGPT, shows no signs of slowing down. Applications harnessing the power of deep learning-based large language models (LLM) continue to revolutionize industries, delivering substantial benefits by reducing workloads and enhancing efficiency.
Leading this relentless pursuit of innovation, Cerebrum Tech is an entrepreneurial powerhouse specializing in cutting-edge technologies including AI, IoT, and game development. Their latest product, Cere Insight, represents a significant leap forward in meeting the needs of both businesses and their workforce in the dynamic world of commerce.
Cere Insight distinguishes itself with its remarkable capabilities, offering intelligent document summarization and insightful data generation, while also empowering users with the ability to craft chatbots. In an era where staying ahead of the curve is paramount, Cere Insight stands as a testament to the unyielding march of progress in artificial intelligence.
Cere Insight: Empowering Every Profession with AI Support for Research and Analysis
Dr. R. Erdem Erkul , Founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cerebrum Tech:
"Cere Insight, our versatile artificial intelligence tool, addresses a pressing need across professions the efficient handling of data for research and analysis. In today's data-rich world, extracting insights from complex information can be a time-consuming challenge. With Cere Insight, these processes are completed within minutes, allowing professionals to make the most of their valuable time. Customizable chatbots serve as versatile tools in fields ranging from e-commerce and marketing to healthcare, human resources, academic research, and even in-house training. With seamless integration into websites, Cere Insight delivers unprecedented convenience and efficiency. It's not just a game-changer for corporate companies and their teams; it's a transformative tool that empowers anyone engaged in research and analysis."
Harnessing its Smart Document Summarization capability, Cere Insight efficiently condenses lengthy documents across multiple file-formats, delivering valuable insights in record time. Furthermore, this AI tool demonstrates remarkable linguistic proficiency by comprehending diverse languages, making it a valuable asset for professionals in various domains, including academia, students, lawyers, and journalists.
One standout feature is its trainable nature, allowing users to fine-tune Cere Insight's operations to match their preferred style and objectives by providing their own documents and print content. This adaptability extends its utility to both corporate and individual sectors, encompassing areas such as marketing, public relations, human resources, and copywriting. Cere Insight, thus, proves to be an indispensable resource for enhancing productivity and efficiency across a wide spectrum of applications."
No more coding knowledge is needed to create a custom chatbot
Cere Insight also enables the creation of chatbots that can be trained and customized specifically for the brand with its simple-to-use interface without the need for coding knowledge. Chatbots trained in accordance with the company's brand voice can be integrated into mobile applications and websites. Not only providing customer support, these chatbots can also play an active role in supporting sales by providing detailed information about products.
Upload to your library and ask your chatbot
Chatbots also have different usage possibilities for small businesses and individual users. A user who uploads a pdf library to the chatbot created with Cere Insight, for example, a student or a lawyer, can access the information they need at any time by asking the chatbot.
Cerebrum Tech is a pioneering next-generation technology company and venture studio where culture and values form the foundation of a sustainable and robust brand. At Cerebrum Tech, the focus is on innovation, driving its team to constantly explore uncharted territories, unlock new opportunities, and push the boundaries of what's possible. Established in 2021, Turkiye, Cerebrum Tech harnesses the transformative power of AI, IoT, and Web3 to maximize productivity through accessible, user-friendly, and secure products. Its unwavering commitment to innovation propels it forward, ensuring it remains at the forefront of technological advancements. In addition to its pioneering work in technology, Cerebrum Tech maintains a strong focus on game development, where it crafts immersive and engaging experiences that captivate enthusiasts worldwide.
https://cerebrumtechnologies.com
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SOURCE Cerebrum Tech
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As government and corporate leaders gather for New York Climate Week, founding members of the Peoples Forests Partnership have launched the Equitable Earth Coalition. In partnership with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Global South countries, the Coalition is committed to developing a new voluntary carbon market standard and platform to help end deforestation and biodiversity loss by driving finance directly to communities.
Coalition to develop new carbon market standard for community-centered forest conservation
Michael Jenkins , CEO of Forest Trends, said: "As a longtime champion of trustworthy and accessible carbon markets, we are excited about a process that centers Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We believe this fills a major gap in the carbon ecosystem. Forest Trends is glad to support the Equitable Earth approach, and we look forward to seeing it deliver on its goal of rapidly scaling direct climate finance to communities on the front lines of efforts to safeguard forests."
The goal of the Equitable Earth Coalition is to develop that solution through a new voluntary carbon market (VCM) standard and platform that is:
Developed in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, with an aim of delivering transformative finance directly to communities to fund their own development ambitions.
with an aim of delivering transformative finance directly to communities to fund their own development ambitions. Founded on transparency, robust science and rigorous due diligence, a standardised approach to measuring carbon, societal and biodiversity impacts, and best practices for IPLC ownership and inclusion .
. Holistic by driving investment both to stop deforestation, and to restore and steward forest ecosystems.
by driving investment both to stop deforestation, and to restore and steward forest ecosystems. Designed to nest into national forest carbon programs that contribute to global climate commitments.
The founding members of the Coalition include Forest Trends, Wildlife Works and Everland.
Beto Borges , Director of the Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative, will be Chair of the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group.
"The voluntary carbon market can help address forest loss at its root, by providing essential finance to Indigenous Peoples and local communities to make conservation a viable development path. But the market has not been designed to meet the needs of the communities on the ground, who hold the key to reducing emissions from deforestation," Beto Borges said. "A fit-for-purpose solution is needed now. Forests are being destroyed and we have run out of time."
Also joining the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group will be:
Francisca Arara , Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil , and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force
, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the , and President of the and Gustavo Sanchez Valle , President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF)
, President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF) Mary Allegretti , Anthropologist, President of the Institute of Amazonian Studies
, Anthropologist, President of the Julio Barbosa de Aquino , President, National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS)
The Coalition is growing rapidly and currently undertaking stakeholder consultations with IPLC leaders; Global South governments; project developers; carbon market participants; scientific and policy experts; and others, with further announcements planned for later this year.
For further information, visit www.eq-earth.com
Quotes from members of Equitable Earth's IPLC Advisory Group
Francisca Arara, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil , and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force: "From Kyoto onwards, we hope to see a carbon standard for forest and biodiversity conservation that respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples and ensures equitable participation and direct financing, recognizes our land and carbon rights, and free, prior, informed consent (FPIC), and which also adheres to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and recognizes our traditional knowledge."
Gustavo Sanchez Valle, President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF) which promotes community forestry and supports Indigenous and farmers organisations that own lands in Mexico : "We welcome the construction of Equitable Earth, we believe that a standard for community carbon projects and other ecosystem benefits is required that is built from the beginning with the participation of representatives of Indigenous Peoples' organisations, local communities, tribal peoples and Afro-descendants."
Mary Allegretti , Anthropologist, President of the Institute of Amazonian Studies : "The Equitable Earth initiative is strategic to bring security and reduce pressure on communities, fills a gap and defines necessary rules to value the contribution of communities in controlling deforestation in the Amazon."
Julio Barbosa de Aquino , extractivist, cousin of Chico Mendes and President of the National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS): "This initiative will allow us to get closer to the reality of the traditional peoples and communities of the Amazon."
Notes to editors
Media contact: Will Richard - [email protected]
About Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative
Forest Trends works to conserve forests and other ecosystems through the creation and wide adoption of a broad range of environmental finance, markets, and other payment and incentive mechanisms. Our Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative partners with indigenous and other forest communities on innovations to secure their rights, livelihoods, and cultures through a strategy built on advocacy, economic self-determination, and cultural integrity.
About Wildlife Works
Founded in 1997, Wildlife Works is a community-centered wildlife conservation company that implements market-based solutions to protect the planet's threatened wilderness and endangered wildlife. The company was founded on the premise that if we want wildlife in our world, it has to work for local communities who share their environment. Wildlife Works' conservation projects drive direct financing to forest communities to fund their own economic development while preventing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere annually.
www.wildlifeworks.com
About Everland
Everland helps people prosper from conserving their forests and wildlife, resulting in climate change mitigation for the benefit of all. We mobilize transformative investments into forest communities who are on the frontlines of stopping deforestation, halting climate change, and safeguarding biodiversity, to deliver conservation outcomes at scale. Through deep due diligence and impact reporting, we ensure that clients invest in meaningful impact, and realize the full value of their support for REDD+ projects.
everland.earth
About the Peoples Forests Partnership
Forest communities hold the solutions to protecting the world's most biodiverse ecosystems yet only 1% of global climate finance is reaching Indigenous Peoples, traditional owners and local communities. The Peoples Forests Partnership - a partnership of Indigenous Peoples Organizations community groups, corporations and NGOs exists to support forest communities' call for their right to participate equitably in climate and conservation finance.
peoplesforestspartnership.org
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SOURCE Equitable Earth Coalition
Vision Care Industry Veteran Jim McGrann Appointed Chief Executive Officer
Former INNOVA Medical CEO David Spear Appointed President and Chief Strategy Officer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Advancing Eyecare (the "Company"), North America's leading provider of ophthalmic instruments, today announced the appointments of Jim McGrann as Chief Executive Officer and David Spear as President and Chief Strategy Officer, both effective immediately, as the Company positions itself for its next phase of growth.
McGrann has 25 years of experience in vision care, including President and CEO of VSP Vision, and Chairman and CEO of the Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA), which VSP acquired in October 2022 . Most recently, he served as President and COO of Percept, where he will remain on the Advisory Board. McGrann succeeds Brad Staley , who is stepping down to pursue other opportunities. Pete Lothes , Chief Operating Officer, has accepted a position with another global eye care company.
Tim Mayhew , Lead Director at Advancing Eyecare and CEO at Keplr Vision, commented, "We are excited to welcome Jim to the Advancing Eyecare family and to expand David's role within the Company. In today's rapidly evolving marketplace, Jim possesses the ideal mix of vision and leadership experience to drive the Company through this next phase of growth. David brings decades of experience building the largest industry player in Canada and wonderful relationships with our OEM partners. He will help expand the Company into new markets and geographies. We are confident that with their extensive industry involvement and track record of driving profitable growth, Jim and David are well-positioned to accelerate Advancing Eyecare's leading position in the marketplace through innovation, bringing new solutions to eye care practitioners around the world and elevating the standard of care for their patients."
"I'm thrilled to join Advancing Eyecare and partner with our team to provide customers a true one-stop solution for ophthalmic equipment and services," McGrann said. "As top-tier technology becomes increasingly critical in serving patients, Advancing Eyecare has a strong reputation and offers the highest level of customer-centric solutions for vision improvement. The company is poised to provide the best eyecare instrumentation on a global scale, and I'm eager to get started."
"We're at an inflection point for our industry when providing the best products and service solutions is more important than ever," Spear said. "I look forward to continuing my long history with the Company and working with Advancing Eyecare's talented leadership and employees to expand our broad product portfolio and reliable service offerings in both new and existing markets. Advancing Eyecare has a bright future of continuing to make a meaningful impact on the lives of countless vision care providers and patients."
Mayhew added, "We thank Brad and Pete for their contributions to Advancing Eyecare that positioned the company for future growth. Under their leadership, they efficiently integrated multiple parts of the business, expanding Advancing Eyecare's footprint and strengthening our offerings to vision care providers. Today, Advancing Eyecare has the largest and most experienced technical sales force and equipment service team in the industry. We look forward to continuing to build on our strong base in this next chapter and wish Brad and Pete well in their future endeavors."
About Jim McGrann
Jim McGrann has 25 years of experience in the vision industry. He most recently served as President and COO of Percept Corporation and will continue to serve on the Advisory Board. Before that, he was Chairman and CEO of Professional Eye Care Associates of America (PECAA). Earlier in his career, McGrann held multiple leadership roles at VSP Vision including President & CEO, and his first executive position was with Marchon Eyewear. McGrann began his career in business and consulting at Andersen Consulting, PwC, IBM Global Services and Ernst & Young. He currently serves on multiple boards pertaining to vision care, including Keplr Vision, Ocuco and he is the current Chairman of the Prevent Blindness board. McGrann has a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Columbia University.
About David Spear
David Spear has more than 30 years of experience in the vision industry, most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at INNOVA Medical. Spear has a Bachelor of Science in biology from Western University and a Bachelor of Commerce in business from the University of Windsor.
About Advancing Eyecare
Advancing Eyecare is the leading provider in the eyecare instrumentation marketplace established to offer the best products and service solutions in the ophthalmic equipment industry. Currently comprised of Lombart Instrument, Marco Ophthalmic, INNOVA Medical, S4Optik, Santinelli International, and other leading brands, the combined scope of the organization has the broadest product portfolio, the most knowledgeable people, and the most reliable service in the industry. Advancing Eyecare is a portfolio company of Cornell Capital. For more information, visit www.advancingeyecare.com.
About Cornell Capital
Cornell Capital LLC is a U.S. -based private investment firm with ~$6 billion of AUM and offices in New York and Hong Kong. Leveraging decades of global investment experience, the firm takes a disciplined approach to investing across the consumer, financial services, and industrials/business services sectors, often in companies that can benefit from the firm's Asia presence and cross-border expertise. Founded in 2013 by Senior Partner Henry Cornell , the former Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, the firm is led by a highly seasoned team with significant shared investment experience. For more information, visit www.cornellcapllc.com.
Media Inquiries:
Advancing Eyecare
Kristen Tischler Vice President, Global Marketing
[email protected]
757-853-8888
Cornell Capital
Jon Keehner / Kate Thompson / Erik Carlson
Joele Frank , Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
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SOURCE Advancing Eyecare
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Global fashion brand, DeFacto, based in Turkiye, has been extended an invitation to join the United Nations General Assembly Private Sector Forum. This prestigious event, by exclusive invitation only, provided DeFacto with a unique opportunity to share its initiatives aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The audience included notable individuals from the private sector, government officials, and representatives of civil society organizations.
This recognition not only placed DeFacto as the first Turkish retail brand to be part of this esteemed event but also underlines the global relevance of its sustainability efforts. The forum, organized during the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York , aims to foster discussions on pressing global challenges such as climate change, sustainable development, and human rights.
Onder Senol, DeFacto's online CEO, who represented the company at the event, expressed, "Our inclusion in this select forum, with only 90 participants globally, is a great honor and significant acknowledgment of DeFacto's commitment to a sustainable future."
Senol continued, "We were among the first two Turkish fashion brands to pledge our support to the United Nations Global Compact in 2014. This commitment reflects not only our role in addressing global challenges like climate change and human rights but also our focused efforts locally and globally to achieve the SDGs by 2030."
DeFacto has set ambitious, measurable goals in its sustainability journey. By 2030, the brand is targeting 90% of its ready-to-wear collections to meet sustainability standards and is striving for a 55% reduction in its carbon footprint. In the long term, the brand is looking forward to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, reflecting its commitment to being a climate-positive player in the fashion industry.
Beyond environmental commitments, DeFacto places strong emphasis on social initiatives, particularly in championing women's rights. Through endeavors like the "Happy Women Movement" and the "Dreams from Fabric" projects, DeFacto seeks to empower women in the corporate landscape and foster a more balanced societal structure.
The invitation to participate in the UN Private Sector Forum is a significant milestone for DeFacto, emphasizing the brand's dedication to sustainable and socially responsible practices. As the brand moves forward, it seeks to not only achieve its set targets but also inspire and catalyze positive change across the fashion industry.
About DeFacto
DeFacto, established in 2005, is a global fashion brand with over 500 stores in 93 countries. Operating under DeFacto Technology, the brand emphasizes omni-channel solutions. DeFacto prioritizes sustainability and women's empowerment initiatives as evidenced by their 9th Sustainability Report in 2022.
For more about DeFacto https://corporate.defacto.com.tr/about-us.html
Contact:
Gulsah Tezol
modus factum GmbH
presse@modusfactum.com
+4940 333 988 78
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SOURCE MODUS FACTUM GMBH FOR DE FACTO
PRINCETON, N.J. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- WCG, the global leader in providing solutions that measurably improve and accelerate clinical research, will share how to safely use artificial intelligence to advance clinical trials, as presented by Paul Mancinellli, PhD, WCG's Chief Technology Officer, at the 13th annual DPHARM conference taking place in Boston, MA , September 20 22, 2023.
Dr. Mancinelli's presentation, titled "Deploying AI Across the Clinical Trial Life Cycle to Deliver Efficient, Safe and Impactful Clinical Research," will cover case examples that highlight the impact of machine learning and large language models while exploring an interoperable platform that drives efficiency and safety in clinical trial operations. He will educate on the use of machine learning to mitigate trial risks, reduce costs, and detect anomalies systematically, and how AI tools may be able to assist with legal and regulatory compliance.
"The plug and play nature of today's AI ecosystem provides immediate opportunities to improve safety and efficacy in clinical trials," remarked Dr. Mancinelli . "I am thrilled to share my expertise with the DPHARM community, separating AI fact from fiction and digging into how all of us can make a measurable impact across the industry with the use of AI."
"Our mission of accelerating clinical research, together, transcends our WCG clients," added Chief Executive Officer Sam Srivastava . "When we can share our knowledge with the DPHARM community, we help everyone improve the state of our industry for patients around the world. Together, we can be the innovative disruptors we're striving to be and make a difference in improving global health."
For more information, visit the WCG team at booth #53 at DPHARM, September 20 - 22 , in Boston, MA.
About WCG
WCG is a global leader of solutions that measurably improve and accelerate clinical research. Biopharmaceutical and medical device companies, contract research organizations (CROs), research institutions, and sites partner with us for our unmatched expertise, data intelligence, and purpose-built technology to make informed decisions and optimize study outcomes, while maintaining the highest standards of human participant protection. WCG raises the bar by pioneering new concepts, reimagining processes, fostering compliance and safety, and empowering those who perform clinical trials to accelerate the delivery of medical therapies and devices that improve lives. For more information, please visit wcgclinical.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter @WCGClinical .
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SOURCE WCG
LONDON and SWINDON, England , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimizon, one of the UK's fastest-growing eBay and Amazon agencies, with offices in London and Swindon , has announced the acquisition of Nozzle, an e-commerce and advertising optimisation platform for Amazon, headquartered in London ; and Cambridge -based FMCG e-commerce agency Marketplace AMP.
James Pitts-Drake , Optimizon's Founder and CEO said: "Optimizon is on a mission to establish itself as Europe's largest data-led e-commerce consultancy, enabling consumers to find, love and buy a brand's products, wherever they shop online."
"We are delighted to welcome Nozzle and Marketplace AMP into the Optimizon family. Both companies have a proven track record and deep understanding of Amazon and other major online marketplaces."
He continued: "As consumer behaviour shifts and technology advances, our systems and data can accurately profile a consumers' buying behaviour to increase revenue and retention, therefore optimising profit. Together, we are well-positioned to become Europe's leading e-commerce agency."
Marketplace AMP, a specialist fmcg amazon agency focusing on food and drink, health and hygiene, pet care and home, was founded in 2004. As an agency it has experienced exceptional growth under the leadership of Managing Director Matt Anderson and Operations Director Liz Tyler-James . Its global client portfolio includes Dettol, Durex, Mars Petcare, Spillers, Eat Natural, part of The Ferrero Group, and Polaroid.
Matt Anderson said: "We've been approached by a number of larger agencies over the past couple of years, who've been looking to expand their Amazon and eCommerce portfolio. But, it was the reputation and market knowledge of the team at Optimizon which resonated most with amp's values, ambition to scale and to become Europe's leading marketplace agency. This coupled with Nozzle's data-driven insights, made this a hugely appealing acquisition and one we know our clients, and prospective clients will really benefit from too."
Nozzle, founded in 2020, uses technology and data science to analyse customer buying patterns on Amazon to uncover metrics such as customer repeat order rate, customer lifetime value, customer acquisition cost, cross sells and more!
Rael Cline, Co-founder and CEO of Nozzle, said: "This is an exciting time for the team here at Nozzle. We're at the cutting edge of e-commerce and ad technology, developing market leading products and working with some of the world's biggest brands. Our team of developers will continue to provide our unique dashboards to everyone in the Amazon Seller market whilst also giving Optimizon a competitive advantage in terms of automation as well as data-led decision making across the entire customer journey."
Speaking about both acquisitions, James Pitts-Drake continued: "Backed by a proven track record of marketplace expertise and fuelled by a passion for innovation and data-led decisions, Optimizon is poised to redefine what comprehensive e-commerce support truly means for brands, to target the increasingly fragmented shopper journey.
"Optimizon can be flexible with your business model to acquire products - opening up a retail model where we can buy the brand's products in a turnkey solution. It's simple and effortless and you can be absolutely sure your brand will be represented in the way that you want. Our aim - wherever your consumers shop on Amazon, Ocado, Walmart, eBay or Tiktok - we are 'on it'!"
As part of this acquisition, Optimizon will integrate both Nozzle's and Marketplace AMP's team into its existing workforce, ensuring a seamless transition and continuity of world-class customer service for its clients.
Optimizon's acquisition of Nozzle and Marketplace AMP marks a significant step towards its goal of becoming Europe's leading e-commerce agency with further European acquisitions set for announcement this Autumn.
With a now expanded portfolio of services and an unwavering commitment to client success, Optimizon is poised to revolutionize the e-commerce landscape across the continent.
Notes to editors:
To arrange an interview, please contact Shannon Mann on tel: +44 (0) 20 8895 6162 or email: [email protected].uk
www.optimizon.co.uk
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SOURCE Optimizon
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 16:19 | All, World
Japan's new foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said the Group of Seven nations affirmed their support for Ukraine in its war against Russia during a meeting of top diplomats she chaired on Monday in New York, while arranging further talks in Tokyo in November.
Making her diplomatic debut at an annual session of the U.N. General Assembly, Kamikawa, who replaced Yoshimasa Hayashi in a Cabinet reshuffle last week to become the first woman appointed to the role in about two decades, was chairing her first G-7 gathering.
In the chair's statement issued after the meeting, Kamikawa said the G-7 members "once again reaffirmed their commitment to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes and unequivocally condemned in the strongest possible terms Russia's war of aggression."
"Russia must withdraw its troops and military equipment from the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine immediately, completely, and unconditionally," the statement said, criticizing Moscow's threat to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus, its neighbor.
Kamikawa, meanwhile, said the G-7 foreign ministers are scheduled to get together in the Japanese capital for two days from Nov. 7. Japan holds the rotating presidency of the grouping of developed economies this year.
"We were able to have candid and in-depth discussions. I was warmly welcomed by the other foreign ministers," Kamikawa told reporters.
At the gathering, Japan explained its work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the safe release of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, Kamikawa said.
She said she expressed gratitude to the G-7 countries for their understanding of the water discharge.
Earlier in the day, Kamikawa and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi signed a cooperation document between Japan and the U.N. nuclear watchdog on the water release from the Fukushima plant, which was damaged by a devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami in 2011.
The G-7 foreign ministers also exchanged views on China's increasing military and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region, with the statement calling for the "peaceful resolution" of issues surrounding the Taiwan Strait.
The ruling Chinese Communist Party regards self-ruled democratic Taiwan as a renegade province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing and Taipei split in 1949 as a result of a civil war.
On Russia's war against Ukraine, which it launched in February 2022, the statement urged China to "press Russia to stop its military aggression" and support a "just and lasting peace, including through its direct dialogue with Ukraine."
On the regional front, the G-7 members "strongly condemned" North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile development programs in defiance of Security Council resolutions, putting pressure on Pyongyang to denuclearize.
With President Vladimir Putin's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Russia last week apparently in mind, the statement said the G-7 ministers "shared concerns" that the two leaders' cooperation could "undermine the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond."
Putin and Kim met as the two nations aim to expand their military collaboration to aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The gathering of the representatives of Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union, came after face-to-face talks in Germany in February, in the Japanese resort town of Karuizawa in April, and in Britain in June.
Related coverage:
Top Japan, U.S. diplomats affirm need for peace across Taiwan Strait
Japan PM heads to N.Y. for speech at U.N. amid shaken global order
LONDON , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading online Travel Agent eDreams' latest poll of 10,000 respondents* - 2,000 from the US - reveals the motivations behind a growing appetite for Detox vacations:
42% of US respondents report that they might plan a detox vacation to escape from work (colleagues, boss, company culture)
(colleagues, boss, company culture) 40% of US respondents also report that their priority is to find distance from digital 'noise' - including mobile phones, social media and the internet
- including mobile phones, social media and the internet 35% report seeking inspiration for lifestyle changes including healthier eating habits & relaxation techniques. Roughly a third (28%) of US travelers say that they would book a detox break to 'reduce stress, improve mood & energy levels' and 18% record a desire 'to find a sense of balance'
including healthier eating habits & relaxation techniques. Roughly a third (28%) of US travelers say that they would book a detox break to and 18% record a desire 'to find a sense of balance' The largest US group (37%) report that a big city location is the ideal setting for such breaks, with 26% prioritizing 'nature' and 22% choosing sun and beach breaks.
How does all this compare to our global cousins? You might be surprised!
Just 23% of French respondents report needing to detox from work - the lowest percentage globally, and compared to 50% of Spanish
respondents report needing to detox from work - the lowest percentage globally, and compared to 50% of Spanish 30% of Germans and 29% of French, Swedish and American respondents report wanting to detox from fast food and too much sugar
respondents report wanting to detox from fast food and too much sugar Americans are the most likely (36%) to detox travel to avoid dependence on cigarettes and alcohol (compared to just 7% of Portuguese, 9 % of British and 8% of Italians)
to detox travel to avoid dependence on cigarettes and alcohol (compared to just 7% of Portuguese, 9 % of British and 8% of Italians) 53% of Germans would plan to head to the beach (with their towels!) compared to just 22% of Americans
(with their towels!) compared to just 22% of Americans Interestingly, heading to a big city for detox holidays is American travelers' preference - they lead the pack 37% compared to all the other nations, where under 10% report this preference
*Poll:
Conducted by One Poll for eDreams ODIGEO of 10,000 respondents in international markets including US, France , Spain , Italy , Germany , Portugal and Sweden . 2,000 respondents were from the US. The Poll was conducted between 14th - 15th March 2023 .
About eDreams
eDreams is part of the eDreams ODIGEO Group, one of the world's largest online travel companies serving 20 million customers globally. The business conceptualized Prime, the first subscription product in the travel sector which has attracted more than 5 million members since launching in 2017.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edreams-latest-poll-reveals-our-motivations-for-planning-detox-breaks-301931637.html
SOURCE eDreams
Mark Lanier again ranked among state's Top Three attorneys
HOUSTON , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Eleven attorneys from The Lanier Law Firm have earned spots on the 2023 Texas Super Lawyers list, the largest number of firm attorneys ever recognized on the annual list of the top practitioners in the state.
Firm founder W. Mark Lanier was named one of the Top 10 attorneys in the state for the 16th consecutive year based on his work in class actions and mass torts. Mr. Lanier is considered one of the nation's top trial attorneys, with almost $20 billion in jury verdicts during his storied career. The publisher of Texas Super Lawyers has confirmed that Mr. Lanier was among the top three recipients of votes by his fellow attorneys.
Dara Hegar , the Managing Attorney for the firm, is recognized for the sixth consecutive year on the Super Lawyers list for her general litigation expertise. Ms. Hegar represents clients in each of the firm's practice areas with a focus on trial coordination.
Appellate lawyer Kevin P. Parker earned a spot on the list for the 12th time. He leads the firm's Issues and Appeals practice group, where his team analyzes and briefs legal issues at the trial and appellate court levels.
Also in the firm's appellate practice, Harvey G. Brown Jr . is named for the seventh time. Judge Brown is a former state appeals court judge and former state district court judge in Harris County and has secured a number of favorable judgments before appellate panels across the nation on behalf of the firm.
C. Alfred Mackenzie , who recently joined the firm in the Issues and Appeals section, has been named to the list of Texas Super Lawyers each year since 2009. He has represented clients in appellate matters in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Courts of Appeals.
Richard D. Meadow is named to the Super Lawyers list for the 12th time. Mr. Meadow has more than 30 years of experience representing individuals who have been injured by dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, medical devices and defective products.
Alex Brown , Managing Attorney of the firm's Business Litigation section, is honored in that practice area for the sixth year. Mr. Brown has successfully represented multinational corporations in complex business disputes in both state and federal courts.
Four firm attorneys are named to the Texas Super Lawyers list for their representation of clients in the area of Personal Injury.
Judson A. Waltman is named to the prestigious list for the fifth consecutive year. The firm's Managing Attorney in Houston over Personal Injury, Product Liability and Maritime Litigation, he has tried numerous cases to verdict, and has produced two of the firm's largest settlements on behalf of clients who were catastrophically injured by trucking companies.
For the 15th year, Sam E. Taylor II is recognized for his accomplishments in the courtroom. As lead counsel, he has tried more than 40 personal injury jury cases, including those involving wrongful death and other incidents that resulted in serious personal injuries.
Lawrence P. Wilson earned his 12th consecutive selection based on his years of experience in cases involving industrial plant explosions, products liability, sexual assault, age discrimination, premises liability, automobile negligence, FELA/railroad claims, and other transportation-related claims.
Patrice McKinney was honored on the Texas Super Lawyers list for the seventh time. Active in several Houston -area philanthropic and educational organizations, she has secured numerous jury awards and substantial settlements on behalf of individuals injured in the workplace.
To develop the list of Texas' top attorneys, researchers with Thomson Reuters conducted a statewide survey asking attorneys to nominate their top legal peers. A blue-ribbon panel of lawyers then assisted Texas Super Lawyers staff with final selections. No more than 5% of Texas attorneys are named to the list each year.
The complete list is available online at http://www.superlawyers.com .
Media Contact:
J.D. Cargill
713-659-5200
[email protected]
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SOURCE The Lanier Law Firm
BURIN PENINSULA, NL, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - EverWind Fuels ("EverWind"), Canada 's leading large-scale green hydrogen developer, has completed the installation of meteorological and wind data collection equipment on the first of its six MET towers planned for 2023. Upon completion, EverWind will have the largest number of MET towers of any green energy project in Newfoundland and Labrador.
EverWind's inaugural MET tower on the Burin Peninsula is located at the 27MW St. Lawrence Wind Farm, outside the Town of St. Lawrence . EverWind has partnered with Elemental Energy, owner of the St. Lawrence Wind Farm, to secure access to the project's historical wind resource and site performance data dating back to 2007. This data demonstrates the world-class potential of the wind resource on the peninsula. Together, with ongoing data from the newly installed meteorological data collection equipment, EverWind will have the most robust wind resource data in the Province.
Trent Vichie , CEO and founder of EverWind, expressed excitement regarding this latest development. "I am thrilled that we continue making significant progress in the development of our green fuels project on the Burin Peninsula," said Vichie. "At every stage we have worked with the communities on the Peninsula, sharing our thinking, seeking their feedback and delivering as promised. Our MET tower program is yet another example of how we engage."
Peter Clibbon , VP of Development with RES, one of the largest renewable energy developers in the world, who is supporting EverWind on its wind farm developments, echoed Vichie's comments. "The commencement of wind resource data collection is a critical milestone in the development of a project and is a big step for EverWind on the Burin Peninsula," explained Clibbon. "It is a long-lead item that drives site layout, engineering, procurement and financing. With support from our experienced team of local Newfoundland and Labrador partners and contractors, we are on track to deliver the remaining five towers on time and on budget."
Communities on the Burin Peninsula have expressed support for EverWind's proposed project and this latest development. "We are encouraged that EverWind continues to advance this project," said Kevin Pittman , Mayor of St. Lawrence and member of the Burin Peninsula Energy Board. "We are also proud that some of the critical data that will be used to bring this project to life is being collected here in St. Lawrence . This is good news for St. Lawrence and the entire Burin Peninsula."
About Green Hydrogen & Green Ammonia
EverWind will convert renewable power first into green hydrogen and then into green ammonia, which can be transported safely around the world and used as a clean source of energy as well as green fertilizer. EverWind works with some of the largest European energy companies, global industrial companies, and leading hydrogen & ammonia equipment suppliers.
About EverWind Fuels
EverWind is North America 's leading independent green hydrogen developer. EverWind received the first environmental assessment approval ( Nova Scotia ) in North America for a large-scale green hydrogen project, and is well progressed in design, engineering, and development for the first phase of both its green energy generation projects and the production facility which will convert this energy into green hydrogen. EverWind owns and operates the deepest ice-free berth on the East Coast of North America, with world class access to rail, roads, and pipelines. Our safety-first culture reflects a highly skilled and extensively certified workforce, with a stellar safety record.
EverWind is led by Trent Vichie , a co-founder of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners, and a former Blackstone Partner . EverWind's development team consists of over 20 members who have previously held senior positions at various infrastructure, private equity, renewable power, engineering, and utility companies. EverWind is supported by a world-class advisory team including Black & Veatch, ILF, RES, Strum Environmental, McInnes Cooper, King & Spalding, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, CIBC, and Citi. EverWind is also support by a local team of Newfoundland & Labrador based partners including ICI Innovations, Angler Solutions, Eunoia Consulting and Edwards & Associates.
EverWind's Newfoundland & Labrador Project
Leveraging our Nova Scotia platform and development experience, EverWind is pursuing a sister project on the Burin Peninsula in Newfoundland & Labrador. This project will consist of a 2+ GW wind farm to produce green hydrogen and ammonia. Located in a region with a proud industrial heritage, EverWind will continue to work closely with the Burin Peninsula Energy Board and communities throughout the region to advance the project.
EverWind acknowledges the island of Ktaqmkuk ( Newfoundland ) as traditional territory of the Beothuk and the Mi'kmaq of Miawpukek Mi'kamawey, the Qalipu Mi'kmaq and the Mawi'omi and acknowledges Labrador as the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Innu of Nitassinan, the Inuit of Nunatsiavut, and the Inuit of NunatuKavut. EverWind is committed to working in a spirit of truth and reconciliation to make a better future for all.
EverWind's Nova Scotia Project
The first phase has received an environmental assessment approval and is on-target to produce approximately 240,000 tonnes per annum of green ammonia starting in 2025, then achieve 1.5 million tonnes per annum production by 2026 through a second phase. The next phase of our Nova Scotia project will generate green energy through an additional 2+ GW wind farm currently under development, which is expected to be the largest in North America .
EverWind acknowledges the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi'kmaq people, and we acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land, Mi'kma'ki. From the beginning our work has shared a core principle of environmental stewardship. We are committed to working with Mi'kmaq and delivering a comprehensive partnership on all aspects of the project.
EverWind's Nova Scotia Project includes three Mi'kmaq equity partners and is a champion for meaningful engagement with Rightsholders and the advancement of social and economic reconciliation.
At a local level, the EverWind works closely with multiple municipalities and stakeholder organizations.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by EverWind, including statements concerning projected wind farm capacity, projected green ammonia production volumes, construction and production timelines, sources and transmission of power, and benefits of the project. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, such as general economic and regulatory conditions, could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of EverWind and those projected in the forward-looking statements contained in this release. EverWind does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to align them to future events or developments, except as may be required by law.
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SOURCE EverWind Fuels Company
Making its Las Vegas debut, the prominent New York restaurant will offer a full-service menu and bar, as well as its iconic cheesecakes when it opens later this Fall
LAS VEGAS and BROOKLYN, N.Y. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Resorts World Las Vegas and Junior's Restaurant and Bakery announced today that Junior's, the renowned New York restaurant widely recognized as home to the world's most fabulous cheesecake, will open its first West Coast location inside the hotel and casino later this Fall. Marking the brand's sixth location in the U.S. , the new 300-seat venue will offer a full-service breakfast, lunch, dinner, late-night menu and bar along with its legendary cheesecake offerings.
"Our goal is to continue to bring exciting dining experiences for our guests and expand our portfolio with unique concepts that can't be found anywhere else in the city," said Bartholomew Mahoney , Vice President of Food & Beverage of Resorts World Las Vegas. "We are thrilled to be welcoming the first West Coast location of Junior's and bring this beloved New York institution to our guests and visitors."
"I feel like I just won the jackpot," said Alan Rosen , the third generation of his family to own Junior's. "I'm so lucky to have been selected by Resorts World to open our first West Coast location inside its property. I hope that both residents and visitors to the city will also feel lucky that they will be able to enjoy the World's Most Famous Cheesecake, as well as all the delicious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, drinks and our other skyscraper desserts."
With a wide array of delectable dishes, Junior's will provide breakfast classics, including its award-winning french toast, giant omelets, and lox and eggs. The iconic restaurant will serve lunch and dinner options including its acclaimed steak-burgers, deli sandwiches and chef specialties. Additionally, Junior's will offer a curated cocktail program at its full-service bar.
The new location will also offer Junior's famous homemade cheesecakes, which come in some two dozen flavors, from the original New York plain to the ever-popular Strawberry, Chocolate Mousse and Red Velvet to new favorites such as Pumpkin, Key Lime and Oreo.
Rosen noted that his grandfather Harry Rosen , who opened the original Junior's in Brooklyn on Election Day in 1950, "absolutely enjoyed coming to Vegas whenever he could. So I know he'd be thrilled that we are opening a location in the city he loved almost as much as New York ."
Junior's will be located across from Randy's Donuts. For more information, please click HERE.
About Junior 's Restaurant & Bakery
Since the 1950s, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery in Brooklyn, New York has been famous for great food, great fun, great service, and, of course, the World's Most Famous Cheesecake. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, Junior's Restaurant and Bakery's menu features New York and Brooklyn comfort food dishes ranging from classic New York deli sandwiches piled high, famous 10 oz. steak burgers, salads, jumbo half pound hot dogs, fresh seafood and a full-service bar. For more information, visit juniorscheesecake.com.
Instagram: @JuniorsCheesecake, Facebook: @JuniorsCheesecake
About Resorts World Las Vegas
Since opening in 2021, Resorts World Las Vegas has become the premier destination on the Las Vegas Strip. Developed by Genting Berhad, a publicly traded Malaysian corporation registered with the Nevada Gaming Commission, the $4.3 billion resort is dedicated to providing guests with a one-of-a-kind luxury experience, complete with exceptional service, exquisite design and unparalleled amenities. In a partnership with Hilton Hotels & Resorts , Resorts World Las Vegas integrates three of Hilton's premium brands into its resort campus. With over 3,500 guest rooms and suites, featuring modern design and luxurious touches, the property consists of Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World, the resort's full-service brand; Conrad Las Vegas at Resorts World, Hilton's lifestyle luxury brand; and LXR, Hilton's network of independent luxury properties, which operates as Crockfords Las Vegas, Genting's internationally renowned ultra-luxury brand. The fully integrated resort boasts a wide range of world-class amenities and services including a 117,000 square foot state-of-the-art fully cashless casino floor, a 5,000 capacity theatre featuring the industry's top headlining talent, distinct day and nightlife venues, a curated retail collection featuring designer and boutique shops, a stunning 27,000-square-foot spa and wellness center, over 50 food and beverage offerings from across the globe and more. Resorts World Las Vegas has ushered in a new world for luxury resorts, and invites guests to indulge with friends. Resorts World Las Vegas is Sharecare Health Security VERIFIED with Forbes Travel Guide while all three hotel brands are LEED Gold Certified. For more information, please visitrwlasvegas.com or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
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SOURCE Junior's
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Belvedere Terminals announced the company is planning to invest approximately $750 million in Florida to develop multiple fuel terminals for storage and supply. Belvedere Terminals is a new company working to support state leaders who are focused on improving Florida's fuel supply chain and ensure gasoline is accessible during hurricane season, when Florida has faced gas supply shortages in the past due to port closures.
Belvedere leaders said their first three initial sites in Florida are planned for Jacksonville , Ormond Beach and Ft. Pierce, and then another seven locations will be developed in the state over the next five years. The sites in Jacksonville , Ormond Beach and Ft. Pierce are currently in the early stages of planning and development. Belvedere officials are working with community leaders in those areas.
Because Florida has no in-state production of oil and gas or its own gas pipeline, the state is largely dependent on the long-distance trucking of fuel that is first delivered to Florida ports by ships that travel over environmentally sensitive estuaries and waterways. Belvedere Terminals will meet the growing need for fuel in the state by providing refined petroleum products to multi-location retailers. These products will move from refineries in the gulf region, up interstate pipelines to Belvedere's hub facility in Collins, Mississippi . From there, fuel products will be delivered by trains with state-of-the-art safety standards, over existing railways to the various Belvedere Terminals storage locations throughout Florida . This will improve Florida's fuel supply chain by making the state less reliant on port deliveries of fuel which are subject to significant disruption during times of severe weather, including hurricanes.
Belvedere Terminals President Edwin Cothron said, "As a sixth generation Floridians myself, we are beyond excited to begin working to develop Belvedere Terminal's locations in Florida and bring more than $750 million in capital investment with more than 200 jobs to the state. Our Belvedere Terminals system will use state-of-the-art railcars and sites that will set new industry standards for operational safety. This new system for fuel delivery will help lower gas prices for consumers and offer a safer and more dependable method for getting fuel into the state that is not subject to port shutdowns when a hurricane forms. We are in communication with Florida state leaders and we are hopeful that our company's mission will benefit Floridians by taking some fuel deliveries off of Florida's unique and fragile waterways while strengthening the supply chain for fuel."
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SOURCE Belvedere Terminals
RICHMOND, Va. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hilb Group announced today that it has acquired an Illinois -based Property and Casualty business, building on the company's growing presence in the Midwest region and broadening its offerings to include specialized services for fast food franchises and student housing industries. The acquisition took effect September 1, 2023 , and adds Illinois as a new state to the company's growing portfolio.
About Hilb Group: The Hilb Group is a leading property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and advisory firm headquartered in Richmond, Virginia . Hilb Group is a portfolio company of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm. Hilb Group seeks to grow through strategic acquisitions and by leveraging its resources and expertise to drive organic growth in its acquired agencies. The company has completed more than 150 acquisitions with over 125 offices in 29 states. Hilb Group is rated as one of the Fastest Growing Brokers by Business Insurance, a Top P/C Agency by Insurance Journal, and one of America's Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Inc. 5000. For more information on Hilb Group's growth as well as career opportunities, please visit our website at http://hilbgroup.com.
Media Contact:
Peter Lobred
804.548.4629
[email protected]
M&A Contact:
Ryan Havermann
804.414.6508
[email protected]
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SOURCE The Hilb Group, LLC
BELLEAIR BLUFFS, Fla. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE, the celebrity-obsessed clean beauty brand, is thrilled to announce the outstanding success in its partnership with two distinguished day spas, Murrieta Day Spa in CA, and Earthsavers throughout New Orleans . These collaborations have yielded exceptional customer results and sales, showcasing the brand's commitment to delivering luxurious, healthy, and results-driven skincare solutions.
**A Month of Radiance at Murrieta Day Spa**
Throughout the month of August, Murrieta Day Spa , in the picturesque town of Temecula, California , hosted an exclusive promotion featuring IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE facials.
The promotion garnered an overwhelmingly positive response, with patrons raving about the transformative effects of IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE products. Customers indulged in tailored facials, highlighting the brand's mission to help them feel more alive and confident in their skin.
**Earthsavers: A Hub of IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE Excellence**
IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE's partnership with Earthsavers, a renowned wellness destination with three locations across New Orleans , has been nothing short of extraordinary.
Committed to providing cruelty-free, gluten-free, and naturally derived skincare, IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE aligns perfectly with Earthsavers' ethos of offering holistic and health-conscious beauty products. The success of this partnership showcases the brand's appeal to customers seeking premium skincare products that are both effective and environmentally responsible.
**Customer Testimonials and Celebrity Endorsements**
IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE's commitment to customer satisfaction is evident through its numerous customer testimonials, including written reviews and compelling before-and-after photos. Furthermore, the brand has received non-paid endorsements from celebrities such as Chloe Fineman , Jenna Elfman , Marisol Nichols , and Rebecca Minkoff .
**Future Expansion and Continued Success**
With 821% growth in the last 3 years, IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE has set ambitious goals for the upcoming year, with a focus on expansion into Day Spas. The success with Murrieta Day Spa and Earthsavers serves as a testament to the brand's efficacy and appeal within the premium spa industry.
About IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE:
IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE is a clean beauty brand founded by Denice Duff , offering luxurious, results-driven skincare products that harness the power of nature to address skincare concerns, primarily focused on aging. The brand is committed to providing concentrated, active formulas which are cruelty-free and environmentally responsible.
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SOURCE IN YOUR FACE SKINCARE LLC
Sign up for full day training course on ICG run by surgeons SPACES LIMITED
Multiple other sessions on use of ICG across multiple specialties
FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DIAGNOSTIC GREEN, the leading provider of Indocyanine Green (ICG) worldwide, is pleased to announce a day long training session on ICG as well as multiple other talks on ICG at the upcoming AMERICAN COLLEGE OF SURGEONS (ACS) Clinical Congress in Boston, MA , from October 2225.
On Tuesday October 24 th, a full day training course dedicated to fluorescence and ICG will be co-chaired by Dr Raul Rosenthal and Dr Sonia L. Ramamoorthy . The training session is for surgeons and staff across all specialties interested in learning how to use near-infrared fluorescence modalities when conducting surgical procedures of the gastrointestinal tract and endocrine organs.
The training course, "New Frontiers in Fluorescent Image Guided Surgery", will welcome talks and hands-on training from world renowned surgeons in fluorescence guided surgery including Marylise Boutros , Michael Bouvet , Miguel A. Burch , Fernando Dip, Takeaki Ishizawa , Philip S. Low , Corrigan McBride , Omobolanle O. Oyefule , Dana A. Telem , Matthew Walsh and Steven D. Wexner .
The training course will help the participant; Learn basic skills related to fluorescence guided surgery (FGS), including equipment and operating room setup; Learn the correct ICG dosage and timing; Compare near infra-red (NIR) light with white light during the procedure; Understand and interpret the NIR imaging on anatomical structures and; Understand how to troubleshoot. Register now to secure your space on this truly enlightening training session.
Also at the meeting, there are many other talks dedicated to FGS and the use of ICG across multiple surgical specialties.
About Diagnostic Green
Diagnostic Green is the leading provider of Indocyanine Green for Injection, USP in North America , which is known as Verdye across the EMEA. Our vision is to ensure that fluorescence imaging becomes the standard in tissue visualization worldwide, to help improve clinician outcomes, minimize procedure complications and reduce overall healthcare costs. For more information visit Diagnostic Green at booth #560 at the ACS or go to https://diagnosticgreen.com.
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2213774/Diagnostic_Green_Logo.jpg
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SOURCE Diagnostic Green
Early access program now available to US-based companies looking to connect the complete employee record with Lattice's award-winning talent management suite
SAN FRANCISCO , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Lattice, the leader in people management software, today announced Lattice HRIS, a human resources information system that will manage the employee record and integrate directly with Lattice's existing talent suite of products allowing customers to report on metrics, uncover critical insights about their employees and teams, prove the success of their HR programs, and automate change management processes across their workforce.
Lattice HRIS was built from the ground up to help scaling businesses connect critical performance, engagement, compensation, and employee development programs with the data, policies, and procedures required for them to succeed. Companies can join the waitlist for an exclusive early access program today, giving them the ability to experience Lattice HRIS and provide feedback on the product before it is publicly available next year.
"Lattice has spent eight years building products that help HR leaders create stronger employee experiences and employees to build more meaningful careers, from performance management to employee engagement surveys to career development to compensation management all based on the idea that people are the central asset for any company," said Jack Altman , CEO and co-founder at Lattice. "With Lattice HRIS, we saw an opportunity to build on the success of our talent suite and connect high-impact talent programs to the policies, documents, and reporting HR leaders need to gain a comprehensive understanding of their employees and clean up their HR tech stack in the process."
A recent survey shows that 90% of CEOs say they want HR to have a central role in the business ; however, only 45% believe they're creating conditions for HR to thrive. HR leaders are increasingly looking to find the best HR tools to help position their teams for success driving performance and business results at every turn while supporting the growth and engagement of their employees, managers, and teams.
As the first HRIS on the market that operates alongside a top-rated, flexible talent management suite, Lattice is uniquely positioned to offer customers an HR platform that meets the needs of today's strategic HR leaders. With Lattice HRIS, HR teams can drive efficiency, effectiveness, and excellence across their organization with functionality that allows them to:
Implement seamless onboarding experiences that not only make sure the right employee information is captured but help employees hit the ground running on the right projects;
Allow teams to track and review attendance with time off, holiday calendar, and leave management while proactively preventing burnout with easy visualizations of time off balances;
Analyze people metrics with accurate data, allowing HR leaders and executives to save, schedule, and share critical people reports;
Build workflows that don't just automate employee communications but help to address potential change fatigue by ensuring they receive the right information at the right time;
Visualize, compare, and uncover people insights that drive strategic decision-making to improve employee engagement, turnover, and diversity initiatives;
Integrate with some of the world's most respected payroll, hiring, benefits, and identity management companies to ensure Lattice HRIS provides a seamless experience across HR team needs.
"The HR function has continued to evolve, and over the last few years, that's meant HR teams and companies are looking for ways to shift away from the more administrative side of HR into being that true strategic business partner," said Sarah Walker , head of people at LTSE and a Lattice HRIS beta user. "The integration of strategy and performance is the most critical piece that HR can play within a company, and we need to build more efficiencies for our people leaders to support that. Lattice HRIS creates a one-stop shop for our people leaders to solve these needs and allow HR to get further integrated into the business."
Mid-sized US-based organizations can join the early access program now. Learn more about Lattice HRIS at Lattice.com/HRIS.
About Lattice
Lattice's people management platform provides interconnected and intuitive HR tools designed to drive high performance and build people-first cultures. Combining an HRIS with continuous performance management, employee engagement surveys, compensation management, and career development tools, Lattice's platform drives excellence and efficiency for HR teams by enabling them to invest in their people and accelerate business results. With offices across North America , the UK , and Europe , Lattice serves more than 5,000 customers worldwide, including Slack, Gusto, Intercom, Ramp, Calm, NPR, Tide, and more. The company has ranked on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies four years in a row and is rated as a Great Place to Work by 99% of its employees. Learn more by visiting www.lattice.com.
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SOURCE Lattice
The New York nonprofit has a chance at winning a Land Rover Defender to help transport lifesaving organs across the nation
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- LiveOnNY, the federally designated organ procurement organization in the NY Metro region was named a finalist in the community service organizations category in the third annual "Defender Service Awards" presented by CHASE, which embraces the Defender inner spirit of heroism and recognizes those who embody this. Public voting is open from September 15 , through October 4 , and will ultimately determine the winning organizations. To vote daily for LiveOnNY, visit the Land Rover website.
LiveOnNY has been selected as a finalist in the esteemed Land Rover "Defender Service Awards" for its outstanding contributions to raising awareness about organ donation, facilitating lifesaving organ donations across the nation, and providing support to donor hero families. The six winning organizations will each receive a fully customized Defender 130 and be awarded $25,000 by their category sponsor, empowering them to further their respective missions. LiveOnNY would utilize the vehicle to help facilitate the transportation of lifesaving gifted organs across the nation.
"We are honored to be named as a finalist alongside four other deserving organizations in the community services award category. This recognition is not just a win for LiveOnNY, it's a victory for all organ donor heroes and healthcare organizations across the nation and the paramount importance of organ donation and transplantation. It reaffirms our belief that when we unite as a community to save lives through organ donation, we are not just defenders of a noble mission; we are champions of compassion, hope, and the transformative power of giving. Together, we continue to prove that the gift of life is the greatest gift of all," said LiveOnNY President and CEO Leonard Achan, RN, MA, ANP.
Charlotte Blank , US Chief Marketing Officer, Jaguar Land Rover North America said, "Through their compassionate acts of service and integrity, it is with great honor that we recognize these organizations that embody the heroism of Defender. The Defender ethos is centered around achieving the impossible with a focus on giving back, and these organizations are nothing short of that. We are proud to celebrate their extraordinary achievements and dedication to their missions."
Corporate partners have joined this initiative to provide further support for the respective organizations across the different categories. CHASE, as presenting sponsor, will donate $5,000 to each of the five finalists per category, for a total of $150,000 . As a Premier Sponsor, Warner Bros. Discovery will contribute $75,000 , awarding $2,500 to each of the category finalists. Category sponsors include OUTSIDE Interactive Inc., ei3, PELICAN, Hearts & Sciences and ANIMAL PLANET and will donate $25,000 to the ultimate winners.
To support or learn more about LiveOnNY, visit https://liveonny.org. Follow LiveOnNY on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for updates.
About LiveOnNY
LiveOnNY is a nonprofit, federally designated organ procurement organization (OPO) dedicated to saving lives, providing comfort, and strengthening legacies through organ, eye, and tissue donation. The OPO, which was established in 1978, serves a culturally and ethnically diverse population of 13 million residents in New York City , Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley . Working closely with transplant centers and hospitals, LiveOnNY coordinates organ, eye, and tissue donation for transplant, educates the public and healthcare professionals about donation and transplantation, and promotes the importance of signing up on the New York State Donate Life Registry. LiveOnNY works closely with 11 transplant centers, nearly 100 hospitals, and several tissue and eye banks. LiveOnNY is a member of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), which oversees the organ transplant waiting list in the U.S. For more information, please visit LiveOnNY.org.
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SOURCE LiveOnNY
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 17:48 | World, All, Japan
Japan, China and South Korea are set to hold a meeting of senior officials next week in Seoul, the Japanese and South Korean governments said Tuesday, in a move that could lead to a first trilateral summit between the nations in four years.
Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong and South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung Won will attend the talks on Sept. 26, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The officials are expected to hold discussions aimed at "revitalization" of the trilateral process, the ministry said.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi proposed the three-way vice-foreign ministerial-level talks when he met with former Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Jakarta in mid-July, according to diplomatic sources.
Tokyo sees the proposal as a reflection of Beijing's enthusiasm for holding a joint summit with its two neighbors by the end of this year, the sources said earlier. The last trilateral summit was held in December 2019.
Usually, a summit between the three countries follows working-level discussions and foreign ministerial-level talks. South Korea will take the rotating chair of the next trilateral summit.
While the coronavirus pandemic contributed to the failure to hold the summit in recent years, the Tokyo-Seoul relationship, soured over wartime issues, was also a factor. But bilateral ties have been improving rapidly since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol took office in May last year.
Relations between Tokyo and Beijing, however, have become further strained since Japan started releasing treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear complex into the sea in late August. Beijing has strongly opposed the water discharge.
Related coverage:
Top Japan, U.S. diplomats affirm need for peace across Taiwan Strait
Japan PM heads to N.Y. for speech at U.N. amid shaken global order
China checks seawater loaded on Japan ships amid row over Fukushima
SAN FRANCISCO , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Mapbox, the location platform powering navigation for Toyota, General Motors, and BMW, today announced the completion of a $280 million Series E funding round, led by SoftBank Group Corp. and its affiliate (together, "SoftBank"), to fuel investments into AI location services and further broaden its footprint in the automotive industry. The company has long been the go-to location platform for powering mobile apps and logistics, from rendering animated radar maps for The Weather Company to helping Instacart deliver groceries on-time. Now, Mapbox has firmly established itself in the automotive industry, working with brands known for leading the market in innovation.
This new funding accelerates Mapbox efforts to bring AI into the car, with new ADAS features for automated driving and safety that work across a wider range of roads and more geographic locations. The unique Mapbox map allows vehicles and devices to share 28 billion global daily map detections. With an increasingly sophisticated set of sensors inside vehicles, automakers need embedded AI processing to enable fast decision making.
"It's this combination of data and AI processing that is unique to Mapbox," said Mapbox CEO Peter Sirota . "It's what allows us to satisfy our customers' needs across automotive, logistics, business intelligence, and mobile apps. This investment will allow Mapbox to bring its AI technology closer to the sophisticated camera and LiDAR sensors inside the vehicle, so split-second decisions can be made with the best data possible."
Mapbox will leverage its real-time map to give automakers the required data and AI to comply with new safety standards such as Europe's GSR and NCAP. The AI map also plays a role in automotive electrification by integrating with in-vehicle battery systems to monitor energy consumption, intelligently forecasting range, suggesting charging stations based on real-time availability, and facilitating secure payment processing.
Beyond automotive, delivery companies will gain access to local details that efficiently guide drivers to destinations. App developers gain richer 3D map content to create engaging virtual environments in travel, fitness, and weather. And companies of all kinds can leverage the live map to analyze how their business performs through the lens of location intelligence.
"We believe Mapbox is unlocking entirely new applications for AI in the car," said Vikas Parekh , Managing Partner for SoftBank Investment Advisors. "As AI-driven location features become increasingly sophisticated and computationally demanding, I'm thrilled to see SoftBank's broad portfolio of companies help Mapbox bring those to market faster."
Mapbox will be providing new product announcements at SoftBank World 2023 in Tokyo on October 4th 5th.
About Mapbox
Mapbox is the technology underpinning location-aware businesses and applications. Mapbox equips organizations with AI-enhanced tools and data to power navigation for people, packages, and vehicles everywhere. More than 4 million registered developers and nearly 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies have chosen Mapbox because of the platform's flexibility, security, and privacy compliance. Organizations use Mapbox applications, data, SDKs, and APIs to create customized and immersive experiences that delight their customers.
For more information, visit www.mapbox.com.
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SOURCE Mapbox
When We All Vote released a video featuring celebrity talent on National Voter Registration Day,
encouraging Americans to register and make their voices heard at the ballot box
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, on National Voter Registration Day, When We All Vote released a video message from When We All Vote Co-Chairs Michelle Obama , Chris Paul , Liza Koshy and Bretman Rock calling on Americans to get registered and ready to vote ahead of local and state elections happening this year and the 2024 presidential election. In the video, When We All Vote's Co-Chairs ask viewers to celebrate National Voter Registration Day by checking their voter registration status at weall.vote/check and ensuring their communities do the same.
This week, When We All Vote volunteers and partners are joining in to register voters in their communities. Volunteers across the country are hosting voter registration events as a part of the organization's National Voter Registration Week of Action. Partners supporting voter registration efforts this week include: Change.org, Tumblr, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., NExT Philadelphia, League of Women Voters of Philadelphia, Top Ladies of Distinction Baltimore, North Alabama Votes and more.
In celebration of National Voter Registration Day, When We All Vote is calling on people to:
Register to vote or check their voter registration status at weall.vote/check (it only takes a few minutes).
at (it only takes a few minutes). Build their #VotingSquad by texting or DMing three friends and family members and asking them to check their voter registration status too.
by texting or DMing three friends and family members and asking them to check their voter registration status too. Volunteer in their community by signing up here .
In 2023, voters in Mississippi , Kentucky , and Louisiana are all electing governors; voters in Columbus , Savannah, Durham and more are electing mayors; and in Virginia , all 40 seats in the Senate and all 100 seats in the House are up for election. Despite the important local elections happening across the country, in years like this one, turnout can be extremely low. This National Voter Registration Day, and throughout the Week of Action, When We All Vote is committed to reaching eligible voters and ensuring they are ready to make their voices heard in each and every election.
Watch When We All Vote's full video message here . A full transcript of the video is included below.
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Liza Koshy : Happy National Voter Registration Day everybody!
Bretman Rock: If we're going to celebrate this day right, I need you to do these three things:
Chris Paul : First, head over to WhenWeAllVote.org to check your voter registration status.
Mrs. Obama : Second, text three friends or family members and ask them to check their registration status too.
Chris Paul : And third, get involved and volunteer with When We All Vote to help get your community registered and ready to vote.
Liza Koshy : I'm gonna go check my voter registration status right now. Bye!
ABOUT When We All Vote:
When We All Vote is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Created by Michelle Obama , When We All Vote brings together individuals, institutions, brands, and organizations to register new voters across the country and advance civic education for the entire family and voters of every age to build an informed and engaged electorate for today and generations to come. We empower our supporters and volunteers to take action through voting, advocating for their rights, and holding their elected officials accountable.
In 2020, When We All Vote ran a robust, multifaceted campaign and reached more than 100 million people to educate them about the voting process and get them registered and ready to vote. The initiative also led in voter education, registration, and volunteer engagement and as a result, 512,000 people started or completed the voter registration process, and nearly 500 media, corporate, and nonprofit partners joined its efforts.
Michelle Obama launched When We All Vote in 2018 and is joined by fellow Co-Chairs Stephen Curry , Becky G, Selena Gomez , Tom Hanks , H.E.R., Liza Koshy , Jennifer Lopez , Lin-Manuel Miranda , Janelle Monae , Chris Paul , Megan Rapinoe , Shonda Rhimes , Bretman Rock, Kerry Washington , and Rita Wilson . When We All Vote is an initiative of Civic Nation, a 501(c)(3) organization, and works with Civic Nation Action, a 501(c)(4). Learn more here.
ABOUT Civic Nation:
Civic Nation is a nonprofit ecosystem for high-impact organizing and education initiatives working to build a more inclusive and equitable America. Civic Nation shifts culture, systems, and policy by bringing together individuals, grassroots organizers, industry leaders and influencers to tackle some of our nation's most pressing social challenges. Civic Nation is home to seven national initiatives and campaigns: ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, Change Collective, It's On Us, Online for All, SAVE On Student Debt, We The Action, and When We All Vote. Learn more here .
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SOURCE When We All Vote
This inaugural event will gather enterprise technology leaders to discuss the evolution to, and benefits of composable web architecture
SAN FRANCISCO , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Netlify , the platform for modern web development, today announced a lineup of speakers for Netlify Compose 2023 , an event for technology leaders, web architects, engineers, digital agencies and enterprises that are looking to unlock the full potential of their web experiences. The next evolution of what was previously Netlify's annual Jamstack Conf, the Compose conference will take place on October 18-19, 2023 virtually and in person at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco .
Enterprises everywhere are turning to composable web architecture as the demand for agility, speed and efficiency continues to accelerate. Compose will gather a diverse ecosystem of technology decision-makers, developers, engineers and more to shape the path towards a modern, composable future of the web.
"Whether your team adopted composable from the jump or is just beginning to migrate your tech stack, Compose will meet attendees wherever they are in their journey and lay out the path forward to embracing modern web architecture," said Matt Biilmann , co-founder and CEO of Netlify.
Compose's agenda consists of expert sessions, hands-on workshops and informative panels that will cover a broad array of timely topics in the enterprise development space. Highlights include:
A keynote fireside chat with Jeff Lawson , Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Twilio on the adoption of composable web architecture and the future of digital experiences
, Co-founder, CEO and Chairman of Twilio on the adoption of composable web architecture and the future of digital experiences Engaging speakers from top-tier enterprise and developer companies including Forrester, Andreessen Horowitz , Riot Games, RVO Health and more
, Riot Games, and more The reveal of new Netlify products and platform enhancements
Panels on how to unlock the full potential of the modern web, exploring composable benefits such as shipping campaigns faster, driving higher conversions and revenue, reducing complexity, and increasing developer productivity
Hands-on technical workshops and demos featuring Netlify products
A networking happy hour at the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel , where attendees can connect over drinks
Register for Compose here .
Compose is sponsored by Storyblok, Commerce Layer, Sitecore, Turso, Crownpeak, Okta, Hygraph, Agility, Strapi, Xata, and more.
Additional Resources
Connect with Netlify
About Netlify
Netlify is the platform for enterprises to build highly-performant and dynamic websites, e-commerce stores, and web apps. By uniting an extensive ecosystem of technologies, services and APIs into one workflow, Netlify unlocks new levels of team productivity, while saving time and money.
With more than 4M developers and over 475 Enterprise customers, Netlify is the creator of the Jamstack movement, bringing together all modern web frameworks, serverless functions and edge computing into one platform to deliver unmatched user experiences, serving the needs of developers, architects, and marketers. Learn more at netlify.com .
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SOURCE Netlify
20 ADIPEC Global Youth Council members come from top universities and companies around the world
Members to engage in cross-generational dialogue with energy leaders and lend their voices to discussions on the biggest climate and energy issues
Council advances ADIPEC goal of inspiring young people to lead a responsible energy industry
ABU DHABI , UAE , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ADIPEC, the world's largest energy conference and exhibition, has launched its first-ever Global Youth Council to amplify the diverse voices of young people from around the globe in the energy transition, as part of its commitment to inspiring the next generation to shape the energy system of the future and become future leaders of a responsible energy industry.
Made up of 20 extraordinary university students and young professionals all under the age of 30, the ADIPEC Global Youth Council will play an active role in influencing discussions at ADIPEC 2023 and aligns with the event's larger goal of ensuring the inclusion of young people in the energy sector and its ongoing sustainable transformation.
ADIPEC 2023 is taking place under the theme of 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.' to convene stakeholders from across the energy value chain and ecosystem to accelerate collective, responsible action and secure a sustainable energy future. In recognition of the central role of young people in the energy transition, as they will be the ones pioneering solutions that will help fast-track the energy transition and benefit from its impact, ADIPEC has integrated youth into its conference programme and included them in high-level conversations with energy leaders.
During ADIPEC 2023, the Global Youth Council members will have the opportunity to engage with senior energy leaders in a cross-generational dialogue on the energy transition, connect with energy transition leaders and policymakers, and even take the stage as moderators in the ADIPEC Future Leaders Programme. Select Global Youth Council members will also feature in a session of ADIPEC's Energy Talks, a series of hard-hitting interviews with global industry CEOs, government leaders and industry experts and the youth.
Members will also participate in an ADIPEC Leadership Roundtable, an invitation-only gathering, where ministers, C-level industry executives and policymakers explore new ideas and transformative thinking, shaping the energy sector. The Global Youth Council roundtable will be held on the topic of 'Energising the future: incorporating the vision of the next generation of energy sector talent in the transition blueprint', where Global Youth Council members and energy leaders will discuss the best way to engage young people in the energy transition.
Christopher Hudson , President of dmg events, organisers of ADIPEC 2023, said: "We recognise how critical creative and ambitious young talent are to propel the energy sector forward in the right direction, which is why we have developed the Global Youth Council as a platform to engage youth across our rich conference programme and give them an opportunity to be part of the critical discussions taking place at ADIPEC. The theme 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together. is not just about connecting companies, innovators and industries, but also engaging generations in the need to accelerate the energy transition.
"Through our Global Youth Council, the expanded Future Leaders Programme, and the enduring Young ADIPEC initiative, we are bridging the generational divide and equipping young people with the tools and knowledge they need to help shape an inclusive and sustainable energy future."
ADIPEC aims to be a platform that brings together the world's future energy leaders, equipping a new generation with the knowledge to pioneer the next phase of energy solutions, while empowering them to work together, break out of their silos and unify around a common cause.
The Global Youth Council members come from the UAE, USA, UK , Tanzania , and Nigeria , from universities including Columbia University, Oxford University, New York University, New York University-Abu Dhabi, Khalifa University of Science and Technology, University of Dar A Salaam, and Zayed University while a smaller number are young energy professionals.
Global Youth Council member Yiwei (Evy) Gao , who is a student at New York University, said: "I am so honoured to be part of the ADIPEC Global Youth Council and look forward to attending sessions and having discussions with international energy leaders at ADIPEC. Energy and sustainability are critical issues for our generation, and it is important to achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible. We as the youth can be a major accelerator and contributor in this process."
The launch of the ADIPEC Global Youth Council strengthens ADIPEC's commitment to empowering and engaging youth in the energy transition. It provides them with the tools, knowledge, and connections needed to influence policymakers, bridge the generational divide and carry forward a clean energy legacy, capable of meeting net-zero commitments.
The ADIPEC Global Youth Council will work in tandem with ADIPEC's Future Leaders Programme, which was introduced last year to empower young energy leaders to drive clean energy transition by equipping them with relevant insights and skills. It also complements the 11-year-old Young ADIPEC programme, which connects with younger students to introduce them to the exciting potential of the energy industry.
ADIPEC 2023, taking place in Abu Dhabi from 2-5 October, is expected to attract over 160,000 attendees for its comprehensive conference and exhibition programme that will feature over 1,600 conference speakers across more than 350 sessions. More than 2,220 companies from across the energy ecosystem will be featured in ADIPEC's exhibition programme, showcasing their ideas, innovations and solutions that are shaping the future of energy.
About ADIPEC
Held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan , President of the United Arab Emirates , and hosted by ADNOC, ADIPEC will take place in Abu Dhabi on October 2-5, 2023 , under the theme of 'Decarbonising. Faster. Together.'
Built on a nearly 40-year legacy of innovation and evolution, ADIPEC brings together the ideas, ambition, technology and capital needed to decarbonise and create the energy system of the future, faster. It unites key stakeholders from across the energy value chain to accelerate urgent, collective and responsible action, produce credible, game-changing solutions, and foster the transformational progress needed to create an inclusive, future-proof energy system.
Across 350 unique sessions comprising strategic and technical conferences, ADIPEC 2023 will welcome more than 1,600 speakers including government ministers, CEOs, policymakers, energy experts and innovators to rally industries, sectors and individuals around a common cause, encouraging collaboration and the action required to advance the world's decarbonisation goals.
As the UAE prepares to welcome global leaders to COP28 in November 2023 , ADIPEC will help frame diverse conversations that complement the nation's goal of delivering a COP of collaborative action, while driving investment into the clean energies of the future.
For more information visit: www.adipec.com
Media contact
ADIPEC Media Team
[email protected]
[email protected]
+971 () 565 8855 78
Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2214708/ADIPEC.jpg
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SOURCE ADIPEC
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, September 20 , Nia Tero will host a conversation at Climate Week about the vital role that Indigenous Peoples' guardianship of their territories plays in mitigating climate change.
Climate Week Event: Why Indigenous Guardians are Essential for Meeting Climate Targets
Indigenous territories sustain much of the world's healthiest ecosystems and remaining biodiversity, which are essential to our global climate, fresh water, and food security. The unique forms of Indigenous governance, collective wisdom, and cultural vitality directly contribute to the health of the ecosystems Indigenous Peoples inhabit..
Nia Tero invites you in-person and virtually to listen to Indigenous representatives about how the ancestral knowledge and wisdom of Indigenous Peoples in managing their territories across the world can help tackle the climate crisis and learn ways Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Peoples can work together to promote changes.
Wisdom of the Ages: Why Indigenous Guardians are Essential for Meeting Climate Targets
Date & Time: September 20, 2023 , from 3:30 5:00 pm ET
Location: Nature Positive Hub - Madison Hub, Convene 101 Park Avenue , New York City , NY
The health and habitability of the Earth pivots on whether Indigenous Peoples can continue to sustain the natural ecosystems in their ancestral territories. This conversation between Indigenous activists, human rights lawyers, and funders invites guests to think about the ways in which climate change can be addressed through Indigenous solutions. We will also reflect on our collective sense of what is possible and how to prepare post-Climate Week and, in the lead-up, for COP28 from 30 November until 12 December 2023 .
Featuring:
Nara Bare, Indigenous Leader and Brazil Representative, Nia Tero ( Bare People , Brazil )
Representative, ( , ) Vicky Tauli Corpuz , Former UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( Kankanaey Igorot, Philippines )
, Former UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ( ) Nemonte Nenquimo, Founder, Amazon Frontlines and Ceibo Alliance ( Waorani, Ecuador )
( ) Paul Roughan , Pasifika Strategic Lead, Nia Tero ( Are'are , Solomon Islands )
, Pasifika Strategic Lead, ( , ) Peter Seligmann , CEO & Founder, Nia Tero ( USA )
, CEO & Founder, ( ) Kynan Tegar, Filmmaker and Activist (Dayak Iban, Sungai Utik, Indonesia )
Watch online: https://tnc.zoom.us/j/97718246008
More about this event: https://crm.nature4climate.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=46
More about Nia Tero's Climate Week events: https://www.niatero.org/climateweek
For Press Inquiries: [email protected]
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Valeos announces collaboration with technology powerhouse, Oracle, to unite stakeholders in the organ transplant ecosystem through data, technology, and collaboration to drive better patient outcomes.
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valeos, a leading nonprofit organization designed to radically improve organ transplant outcomes, is working with Oracle Health, a global leader in healthcare technology solutions, to address the challenges of the current organ transplant system through data and technology. With more than 100,000 Americans awaiting transplant, and many others who never get listed, the U.S. organ transplant system is in desperate need of modernization and Valeos is accelerating that transformation through connected data.
"During my emergency heart transplant journey in 2021, our family experienced firsthand that the transplant system needs vast improvements to better serve patients and donors," said Tristan Mace , Executive Chairman and Co-Founder at Valeos, a serial tech entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. "Today, transplant data is siloed at hospitals, transplant centers, organ procurement organizations, logistic companies, and vendors, making collaboration difficult to provide patients with greater access to high-quality transplants, shorter waitlist times, longer life expectancy, and higher quality of life. Valeos is going to solve this problem."
Oracle has been a design partner for Valeos, volunteering its deep expertise in healthcare and data management as the company looks to disrupt the transplant industry.
To celebrate this collaboration and progress towards healthcare modernization, Tristan and his wife Jordan Mace , Co-Chair and Co-Founder at Valeos, will be keynote speakers at the Oracle Health Conference in Las Vegas today. At the conference, Tristan and Jordan will share their personal journey with transplant to highlight the need for connected data in healthcare and the transplant community.
Valeos' collaboration with Oracle Health marks a significant milestone to uniting transplant stakeholders through aggregated and longitudinal patient data. Oracle is providing Valeos access to industry-leading expertise in electronic health records (EHRs), complex integrations, cloud infrastructure, security, and compliance.
During the keynote address, Oracle will present a powerful video highlighting Tristan's and his family's journey as a transplant recipient and the work Valeos is doing to solve transplant's hardest problems.
"The drive Tristan and Jordan have to build Valeos and reimagine the transplant patient experience is extraordinary," said Stephanie Trunzo , senior vice president of Oracle Health. "Oracle is proud to volunteer our expertise as a design partner to Valeos to help bring their vision to life and hopefully make an impact on the outcomes of patients in need of transplants."
For more information, visit https://valeos.org/.
Visit https://www.oracle.com/oracle-health-conference/ to learn more and register.
About Valeos
Valeos Transplant Society is a patient-founded, patient-centric 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. designed to improve transplant outcomes through data, technology, and collaboration.
With more than 100,000 Americans awaiting transplant, the U.S. organ transplant system is in desperate need of modernization. Valeos connects the transplant ecosystem through longitudinal data to unlock new learnings and innovation for greater access to high-quality transplants, shorter waitlist times, and improved post-transplant life expectancy and quality of life.
About Oracle
Oracle offers integrated suites of applications plus secure, autonomous infrastructure in the Oracle Cloud. For more information about Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), please visit us at www.oracle.com.
Trademarks
Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company--ushering in the new era of cloud computing.
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SOURCE Valeos
SEATTLE , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Seattle -based fashion retailer Nordstrom, Inc . (NYSE: JWN) announced plans to open a new Nordstrom Rack in Mason, Ohio .
"We look forward to opening this new Nordstrom Rack location in Mason, strengthening our network of stores and introducing new customers to Nordstrom Rack's unique product offering," said Carl Jenkins, Senior Vice President of Nordstrom Rack Stores. "In addition to shopping great brands at great prices, our customers in Mason can take full advantage of this convenient new location to pick-up online orders and make returns."
The 30,000 square foot Nordstrom Rack will be located at Deerfield Towne Center. Strategically positioned a few miles north of the I-71 / I-275 interchange, Deerfield Towne Center is home to a carefully curated collection of specialty retail, upscale grocery and restaurants, including Whole Foods, Dick's Sporting Goods, Ulta Beauty, White House Black Market and Panera Bread. The shopping center is owned and managed by RPT Realty. With the addition of this new location and a location opening in Macedonia, Ohio in spring 2024, Nordstrom will operate eight Nordstrom Rack stores and three Nordstrom stores in Ohio. The store is scheduled to open in fall 2024.
"We could not be more pleased to welcome Nordstrom Rack to Deerfield Towne Center. The addition of Nordstrom Rack greatly enhances the overall merchandising mix by adding a strong traffic generator and impactful fashion user to the center," said Rich Bevis , Vice President of Leasing for RPT.
Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, Inc. and plays a critical role in the company's Closer to You strategy, which focuses on delivering customers a more convenient and interconnected experience across its stores and digital platforms. Nordstrom Rack offers customers up to 70 percent off on-trend apparel, accessories, beauty, home and shoes from many of the top brands sold at Nordstrom stores as well as core services like online order pickup for Nordstrom.com and NordstromRack.com, easy returns and alterations at select stores. Nordstrom Rack is the largest source of new customers to Nordstrom.
Nordstrom is committed to giving back to the diverse communities where it operates. Since 2019 along with its customers, Nordstrom has donated more than $1.7 million in support of its long-term partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the United States . These proceeds support the recruitment, training and engagement of adult mentors and mentorship moments between Bigs and Littles, including preparing for an interview, learning to tie a tie and helping with homework.
About RPT Realty
RPT Realty owns and operates a national portfolio of open-air shopping destinations principally located in top U.S. markets. The Company's locally curated consumer experiences reflect the lifestyles of its diverse neighborhoods and match the modern expectations of its retail partners.
About Nordstrom
At Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), we exist to help our customers feel good and look their best. Since starting as a shoe store in 1901, how to best serve customers has been at the center of every decision we make. This heritage of service is the foundation we're building on as we provide convenience and true connection for our customers. Our digital-first platform enables us to serve customers when, where and how they want to shop whether that's in-store at more than 350 Nordstrom, Nordstrom Local and Nordstrom Rack locations or digitally through our Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack apps and websites. Through it all, we remain committed to leaving the world better than we found it .
MEDIA CONTACT:
Lauren Herrin
Nordstrom, Inc.
[email protected]
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SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.
ZHENGZHOU, China , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 16, 2023 , the 2023 Songshan Forum Annual Conference, which was promoted overseas by chimeculture Co., Ltd., opened in Dengfeng, where guests from home and abroad gathered together. Conduct full exchanges and collisions of ideas in the core area where Chinese civilization originated.
As an important part of the 2023 World River Civilization Forum ( Zhengzhou, China ), the theme of the Songshan Forum Annual Conference is "Continuous Self-improvement and Morality - Looking forward to world civilization." It has become an important platform for cultural exchanges in the river basin and creates a platform to promote world civilization. It is an important bond of mutual learning among civilizations and plays an important role in continuing to fulfill its cultural mission.
Dengfeng, located at the foot of Mount Songshan , is the core area of the origin of Chinese civilization. Mount Songshan is known as the ancestor of thousands of mountains. The earliest cosmic view of "heaven and earth" was conceived here, and the earliest thoughts of neutralization were generated here. Songshan's unique coexistence and integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism makes people have infinite imagination. Its richness, grandeur, magnificence and integrity are gathering more scholars and scholars from all over the world to open up dialogue among civilizations, gather wisdom and expend consensus here.
Since 2012, "Songshan Forum" has been held for 12 consecutive sessions, and has gradually developed into an international high-end cultural forum for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and world civilization. We have invited more than 100 academicians of the Academy of Philosophy, Nobel laureates, political leaders from various countries and regions, as well as more than 800 academic leaders, representatives of diverse cultures and government think tanks from more than 40 countries and regions, including the United States , the United Kingdom , Russia , Israel , India , Japan , South Korea and Singapore , to build a good platform for dialogue among civilizations. It opens the door to multi-level and multi-dimensional dialogue between tradition and modernity, East and West, science and religion, and even between different genders, classes, regions and countries.
Media Contact:
Tao Cai
08613592533899
[email protected]
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SOURCE chimeculture Co., Ltd
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the midst of a national mental health crisisone that includes more than a third of young adults with mental illness and nearly a third of Minnesota students struggling with long-term mental health issuesaccess to care has never been more urgent. Yet there are currently less than 200 psychiatric hospital beds for youth and 590 adult beds in Minnesota (not including state-run facilities), a state with 5.7 million residents. PrairieCare, one of the nation's most innovative, fastest-growing psychiatric health systems, is responding to this desperate situation by adding 30 inpatient psychiatric beds, the largest expansion of mental health beds for adolescents and young adults in Minnesota in decades, with a grand opening celebration scheduled for this week.
PrairieCare currently serves over 20,000 patients annually across its continuum of services and is now poised to serve another 1,000 teens and young adults each year who have mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, trauma, and mood disorders. The 30,000-foot expansion is part of PrairieCare's Brooklyn Park inpatient hospital.
A celebratory event is planned for Wednesday, September 20th that includes state and local dignitaries, mental health professionals, hospital leaders, NAMI Minnesota, and other health care organizations and providers.
"As mental health care leaders in this region, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to address this crisis and help more families find hope and healing," said Todd Archbold , PrairieCare CEO. "Too many young people are stuck boarding in emergency departments for days or even weeks, waiting for a mental health treatment option that isn't there. Our expansion will help alleviate this frustration for families and get them the immediate care they deserve."
The lack of psychiatric inpatient beds for Minnesota youth is due to a myriad of issues including a lack of funding, a workforce shortage, and a statewide moratorium on the construction or expansion of hospital beds. Fortunately, the Minnesota Legislature authorized PrairieCare's expansion as part of the Omnibus Health and Human Services Finance Bill in 2021, and then in 2022 passed sweeping legislation that temporarily waived the hospital bed moratorium process for hospitals to add both mental health and substance use disorder beds. Still, PrairieCare and Children's Minnesota are the only two systems that are adding youth hospital capacity at this time.
The new expansion is part of PrairieCare's comprehensive plan to address the mental health crisis, including other innovative efforts like the AID Team that conducts free mental health screenings and assessments, the Psychiatric Assistance Line (PAL) for healthcare providers to get free consultations and referrals for their patients, and the Mental Health Collaboration Hub that helps connect youth boarding in hospitals and emergency departments to mental health treatment.
The expansion was built by Ryan Companies and took less than 12 months to complete. In addition to the grand opening celebration, PrairieCare is hosting a community showcase with other providers, an open house, and a hiring event for qualified health care professionals and those looking to start their purpose-driven career. Click here for more information about joining the PrairieCare team or visit prairie-care.com.
About PrairieCare
PrairieCare, a division of Newport Healthcare, is one of the nation's most innovative, fastest-growing psychiatric health systems, offering psychiatric services for all ages, including free mental health screenings, clinic services, intensive outpatient programs (IOP), partial hospital programs (PHP), residential services, and an inpatient psychiatric hospital. PrairieCare is based in Minnesota , with nine locations across the Twin Cities metro area, Mankato and Rochester . For more information about services offered, visit prairie-care.com.
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SOURCE PrairieCare
DALLAS , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ranger Investment Management, L.P. (Ranger Investments), an employee-owned boutique investment manager specializing in small- and micro-cap U.S. growth strategies, has been named to the PSN Top Guns List of high-performing separate accounts, managed portfolios or managed ETF strategies over multiple time periods through June 30, 2023 . The PSN Top Guns List ranks investment strategies in six proprietary categories in more than 75 asset class universes based on continued performance over time and is a widely used resource by investors, financial advisors, and asset managers.
Dallas -based Ranger Investments' micro cap strategy earned Top Guns status across all six ratings for periods ranging from the second quarter of 2023 to one, three and five years through June 30, 2023 .
Top Gun 1 star: earned by strategies with one of the top 10 returns for the quarter.
Top Gun 2 stars: earned by strategies with one of the top 10 returns for the one-year period.
Top Gun 3 stars: earned by strategies with one of the top 10 returns for the three-year period.
Top Gun 4 stars: earned by strategies that had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the recent five-year period. Moreover, the strategy's returns exceeded the style benchmark for the three latest three-year rolling periods. The top 10 performers for the latest three-year period then become the 4 Star Top Guns.
Top Gun 5 stars: earned by strategies that had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the recent five-year period. Moreover, the strategy's returns exceeded the style benchmark for the three latest three-year rolling periods. Strategies are then selected that have a standard deviation for the five-year period equal or less than the median standard deviation for the peer group. The top 10 returns for the latest three-year period then become the 5 Star Top Guns.
Top Gun 6 stars: earned by strategies that had an r-squared of 0.80 or greater relative to the style benchmark for the recent five-year period. They must have returns greater than the style benchmark for the three latest three-year rolling periods. Strategies are then selected that have a standard deviation for the five-year period equal or less than the median standard deviation for the peer group. The top 10 information ratios for the latest five-year period then are awarded Top Guns status.
Ranger Investments' U.S. micro cap growth strategy is team managed by portfolio managers Conrad Doenges, Andrew Hill , Joseph LaBate , and Brown McCullough and includes senior analysts Devin Holland and Kevin Zhu , and Jeff Dalton , Ranger's manager of sustainable investing and risk analysis.
"It's gratifying to achieve Top Guns status for generating superior performance for investors over multiple time periods," said Doenges, who also serves as Ranger Investments' chief investment officer. "Our focus remains on the team's disciplined investment process, rigorous stock selection, and long-term view. This recognition demonstrates that investing in the underfollowed micro cap universe can garner results in a market largely dominated by mega cap companies."
Ranger Investments launched the strategy for institutional investors in August 2014 and now offers the strategy as a separate account model portfolio, and as a mutual fundthe Ranger Micro Cap Institutional Fund (RFIMX). In June 2023 the mutual fund marked its five-year anniversary, achieving top decile returns over one, three and five years, according to data from Morningstar Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research. RFIMX also has an overall Morningstar Rating for funds of 5 stars, given to the top 10% of funds in its category based on risk-adjusted returns.
The micro cap strategy goal is to capture and compound returns while managing risk to preserve shareholder capital. Ranger's investment team seeks to invest in U.S. micro cap growth companies with distinctive advantages, including durable business models, sustainable growth, expanding markets, and exceptional management. The concentrated portfolio currently has 38 positions.
ABOUT RANGER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT
Ranger Investment Management, L.P. is a boutique equity investment manager that specializes in U.S. small- and micro-cap growth strategies. Formed in 2003, Ranger Investments is owned and controlled by employees and is registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm's strategies aim to preserve and increase capital by using a bottom-up, fundamental research process to identify growing, high-quality companies that can be purchased at attractive valuations. Ranger Investments manages and advises more than $2.1 billion in assets, including model accounts, as of June 30, 2023 . Ranger Investments is signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI). For more information, visit https://www.rangerinvestments.com
ABOUT PSN
For nearly four decades, PSN has been a top resource for investment professionals. Asset managers rely on Zephyr's PSN to effectively reach institutional and retail investors. Over 2,800 firms, 285 universes, and more than 21,000 products comprise the PSN SMA database showing asset breakdowns, compliance, key personnel, ownership diversity, ESG, business objectives and strategy, style, fees, GIC sectors, fixed income ranges and full holdings. Unique to PSN is its robust historical database of nearly 40 years of data including net and gross-of-fee returns. Visit PSN online to learn more.
Past performance is not indicative of future returns. The PSN awards and Morningstar rankings should not be construed as a guarantee that a client will experience a certain level of results or satisfaction if they invest with us, nor should it be construed as a current or past testimonial by any of our current clients or an endorsement by any third-party. Ranger Investments did not pay a fee to participate in these awards and rankings.
Media Contacts for Ranger Investments:
Newton Park PR, LLC
Margaret Kirch Cohen / Richard Chimberg
[email protected]
(+1) 847 507 2229
[email protected]
(+1) 617 312 4281
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating" is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Additional information can be found at www.morningstar.com.
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SOURCE Ranger Investments
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 23:05 | All, World, Japan
The following is the latest list of selected news summaries by Kyodo News.
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Residential land prices in regional Japan up for 1st time in 31 years
TOKYO - The average price of residential land in regional parts of Japan as of July 1 rose 0.1 percent from a year earlier, marking the first increase in 31 years, as low interest rates continue to spur housing demand outside urban areas, government data showed Tuesday.
The average price of commercial land in regional areas also climbed 0.5 percent amid a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, rebounding for the first time in four years. Regional commercial land prices, excluding Japan's four major regional cities -- Sapporo, Sendai, Hiroshima and Fukuoka -- rose for the first time in 32 years.
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G-7 top diplomats vow support to Ukraine, plan talks in Tokyo in Nov.
NEW YORK - Japan's new foreign minister, Yoko Kamikawa, said the Group of Seven nations affirmed their support for Ukraine in its war against Russia during a meeting of top diplomats she chaired on Monday in New York, while arranging further talks in Tokyo in November.
Making her diplomatic debut at an annual session of the U.N. General Assembly, Kamikawa, who replaced Yoshimasa Hayashi in a Cabinet reshuffle last week to become the first woman appointed to the role in about two decades, was chairing her first G-7 gathering.
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Financial watchdog searches Bigmotor, Sompo Japan over fraud case
TOKYO - Japan's financial watchdog on Tuesday began searches at offices of major used car dealer network Bigmotor Co. and casualty insurer Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. as part of a high-profile insurance fraud investigation.
The Financial Services Agency aims to scrutinize ties between the companies after Bigmotor was found to have charged excessive repair fees by intentionally damaging cars and making fraudulent insurance claims.
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2 dead, 3 injured after steel beams fall at Tokyo construction site
TOKYO - Two workers died and three others were injured Tuesday while installing steel beams on the seventh floor of a building being constructed near JR Tokyo Station, police and other sources said.
The five male workers, believed to have been working on a 15-ton beam being carried by crane, fell about 20 meters to the structure's third floor after the beam came loose as they were installing it, the police said. The 33- and 43-year-old workers died under the beam.
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OECD expects slower global growth in 2024 amid China slowdown
TOKYO - The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development on Tuesday cut its global growth outlook by 0.2 percentage point to 2.7 percent in 2024, reflecting a slowdown in China amid real estate woes.
The downward revision comes as the OECD expects global growth to be "subpar" and "moderate" in 2023 and 2024, citing uncertainty over the negative impacts of aggressive interest rate hikes in major economies like the United States, among other factors.
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Ex-lawmaker, YouTuber GaaSyy admits to threatening celebrities
TOKYO - Former Japanese lawmaker and YouTuber GaaSyy admitted to online intimidation against celebrities during his first trial hearing on Tuesday, while his defense team denied he was a "chronic" offender.
In the first public statement since his arrest in June, the 51-year-old defendant, whose real name is Yoshikazu Higashitani, apologized at the Tokyo District Court, saying, "I am sorry that my acts have caused huge psychological pain and economic damage (to the victims)."
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Japan, China, South Korea to hold high-level talks in Seoul on Sept. 26
TOKYO - Japan, China and South Korea are set to hold a meeting of senior officials next week in Seoul, the Japanese and South Korean governments said Tuesday, in a move that could lead to a first trilateral summit between the nations in four years.
Japanese Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Nong Rong and South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Chung Byung Won will attend the talks on Sept. 26, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
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SoftBank Group to gain $5.12 billion proceeds from blockbuster Arm IPO
TOKYO - SoftBank Group Corp. said Tuesday that it will receive $5.12 billion in proceeds from the initial public offering of Arm Holdings Plc., a British chip designer under the Japanese conglomerate, by the end of September.
Arm, whose chips power most of the world's smartphones, debuted on the U.S. Nasdaq stock exchange last Thursday in the largest U.S. IPO this year, shooting its market capitalization to over $65 billion.
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Football: Urawa banned from next Emperor's Cup over fan violence
TOKYO - The Japan Football Association on Tuesday banned Urawa Reds from next season's Emperor's Cup and admonished the J-League club for violent fan conduct following a round-of-16 match of the tournament last month.
A number of Urawa supporters rioted after their team's 3-0 loss away to Nagoya Grampus at CS Asset Minato Soccer Stadium on Aug. 2.
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Video: Shibuya parade calls for 100% renewable energy
The Resilience Evidence Forum (REF) 2023 Synthesis Report released, serving as a comprehensive guide to resilience-building methodologies and evidence.
(REF) 2023 Synthesis Report released, serving as a comprehensive guide to resilience-building methodologies and evidence. The report underscores the pivotal role of high-quality evidence both in mobilising the large-scale financing needed and informing and catalysing the policy changes essential for building resilience.
The Report summarises key discussions held at the June 2023 Resilience Evidence Forum , co-hosted by USAID and the Global Resilience Partnership , which brought together more than 1,000 global stakeholders to evaluate the state of resilience evidence.
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In a world grappling with escalating crisesfrom conflict and pandemics to the dire impacts of climate changenever has resilience been more critical. Released today, the REF 2023 Synthesis Report sets a new benchmark as an unmatched guide to resilience-building methodologies and evidence. The report recognises resilience as the ability to recover from and adapt to shocks and stresses, while enabling longer-term, systemic transformations, and offers actionable insights to inform investment, policy, and decision-making.
Through summarising the key discussions held at the REF in Cape Town , the report underscores the imperative to build on progress, address gaps, recognise various forms of evidence, and prioritise resilience as a collective goal.
Evidence of successful resilience implementation spans different sectors, stakeholders, and geographies from the strengthening of small-holder farmers and grower communities' resilience through radical cross-sector collaboration to the role of climate smart agriculture that combines seed technologies, soil fertility, and innovative financial tools for farmers. Taken together, the evidence detailed in the report showcases the increasing magnitude of resilience building initiatives globally.
However, scaling these evidence-based solutions requires a significant increase in finance. Annual spending on climate resilience alone is less than $50 billion , a mere fraction of the estimated $160 billion to $340 billion required. The private sector contributes just 2% to this insufficient pool, making resilience gains fragile and susceptible to setbacks like those witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To unlock further funding for resilience programming at the scale needed, the report concludes, evidence needs to be relevant and actionable. This also stands true for policy and decision-making; evidence must not only be rigorous and reliable, but also apply to the policies and decisions it seeks to influence. This will require collaborative action from donors, the private sector, policy makers, governments, community-based organisations and leaders, and research organisations to satisfy evidence needs, avoid duplication of efforts, and focus resources and investments.
In parallel, the report demonstrates the importance of diverse evidence including that which is grounded in local experience and knowledge to fortify global resilience efforts in the face of increasing threats and to connect local realities with global goals.
"Without equitable, radical collaboration and commitment to evidence that informs decision-making, policy, and investment,, we will continue to face barriers in protecting and supporting environments and communities that can flourish even in the face of change and uncertainty. The Resilience Evidence Forum was a significant moment for taking stock of where we are and where we need to go in strengthening resilience." Dr Nathanial Matthews , Chief Executive Officer, Global Resilience Partnership
Co-hosted by USAID and the Global Resilience Partnership, REF was the first such occasion in five years, convening more than 1,000 individuals from the private sector to universities to NGOs and local community groups. As well as a focus on how to further resilience programming, REF and the Synthesis Report highlights case studies and resilience success stories. These offer insight into the interventions that have worked and serve to guide future interventions. Examples of these success stories can be found in Appendix 1.
"With climate and other shocks becoming more frequent, severe and overlapping, there is an urgency to getting smarter, faster in terms of knowing what works when it comes to building resilience. At USAID we will continue to promote convenings like the Forum, to learn more about what others are doing and learning, and promote collaboration and partnership needed to drive equitable growth and well-being in an increasingly unpredictable world." Dina Esposito , Feed the Future Deputy Coordinator for Development and USAID Global Food Crisis Coordinator
"It is very important that the stories of resilience get told in the language of those impacted the most and that we learn to work with those stories, pull out what we need from that and don't take a top-down approach to resilience evidence." Dr Shehnaaz Moosa , Director, SouthSouthNorth
Appendix 1
Slum Dwellers International (SDI)'s Know Your City long-standing profiling programme has helped debunk assumptions about informal settlements through community organising and the collection of household-level slum enumeration. For example, since 2017, residents of Mukuru one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya undertook an ambitious, groundbreaking participatory upgrading process, the Mukuru Special Planning Area (SPA) . Led by the Kenya Slum Dwellers Federation, this process organised over 1,000 groups in 21 cities and towns to take part in a community-led enumeration process. This was then used to inform the development of the area-based upgrading plan.
SERVIR, a collaborative initiative between NASA, USAID, and leading technical organisations, leverages satellite data to address pressing challenges in food security, water resources, weather and climate, land use, and natural disasters in Asia , Africa , and the Americas . This partnership correlates satellite observations with ground data in regions like Ethiopia , Niger , and Zimbabwe , effectively measuring resilience from space by assessing the efficacy of development interventions (e.g., halfmoon constructions for rain retention and soil improvement). The transparent and objective nature of satellite data supports evidence-based decision-making, thereby bolstering sustainability efforts in vulnerable regions.
Under the Grown for Good Framework , world-leading spice and flavour producers McCormick & Company aim to increase the resilience of over 35,000 farmers by 2025 This is measured by increasing skills and capacity, income, access to financial services, education, and nutrition and health,. This is achieved through multiple interventions from purchasing higher-value cured vanilla beans from the growing communities, rather than raw, that give farmers a higher purchase price, to investing in infrastructure for remote communities such as the vanilla-growing communities in Madagascar , and building or rehabilitating local schools and libraries , giving children from farming families improved access to education.
Notes to Editors
The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) is made up of 70+ organisations that work together to advance resilience through identifying and scaling on the ground innovation, generating and sharing knowledge, and shaping policy. GRP envisages an inclusive world in harmony with nature, that is better prepared to cope with shocks, adapt to change, and transform all within planetary boundaries. The Partnership is registered as a non-profit organisation in South Africa and co-hosted by the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.
For media enquiries, please contact Isobel Turnill at Browning Environmental Communications - [email protected], +44 (0) 7585151035
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SOURCE The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP)
MIAMI , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sourceability, a global distributor of electronic components and supply chain service provider, today announced the launch of its Sourcengine Browser Extension. Using the Browser Extension, users can see Sourcengine's electronic component global marketplace accessing 3,500+ suppliers while visiting any electronics websites to compare prices, providing them with a comprehensive view of the market.
The browser extension helps to reduce the time that procurement professionals spend finding electronic components to build their latest product. With the browser extension, customers are able to consolidate prices and available inventories across websites into one place without disrupting their workflow patterns.
Additionally, unlike aggregator sites, which only show price and inventory data, the browser extension provides additional supply chain data that is not readily available elsewhere. The browser extension combines the analytical power of Sourceability's Datalynq tool with insights from Sourcengine's extensive global inventory. It generates metrics such as Market Availability Scores, MultiSource Availability Scores, and Design Risk Scores, enabling users to make informed decisions when selecting competitively-priced components online.
"We are always looking for new ways to streamline processes for our customers," said Jens Gamperl , CEO and Founder of Sourceability. "Sourcengine's Browser Extension provides a 360-degree view of the current marketplace for a given part, saving users time from scouring the web to find the best deal for their company."
To access the browser extension, users can log into the Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge plugin stores and install the plugin into their browser bar for free. The Browser Extension will read the data from a webpage, capture the Manufacturer Part Number, and provide the corresponding data back from Sourcengine. Once ready to purchase, users will be forwarded to the Sourcengine Part product detail page for check out.
For more information, please visit https://www.sourceability.com/.
About Sourceability:
Sourceability a global distributor of electronic components and supply chain service provider offering digital tools, services, and data to meet customers' evolving demands. Sourceability combines the expertise of global distribution with the leading e-commerce marketplace in the industry, and works with the largest catalog of suppliers to provide the transparency, robust data and speed that customers need to create a seamless procurement process. The company's global distribution centers in Singapore , Hong Kong , Hungary , and Miami are supported by regional offices to maintain a holistic understanding of customer supply chain needs. Sourceability continues to invest in new capabilities, building upon its initial success since the company was founded in 2015 by harnessing innovation, customer empowerment, and integrity.
Media Contact
Rachel Winship
[email protected]
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SOURCE Sourceability
ARLINGTON, Va. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit challenging the use of race and ethnicity as admissions factors at the United States Military Academy ( West Point ).
SFFA alleges that West Point is violating the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Fifth Amendment contains an equal-protection principle that binds the entire federal government and is no less strict and demanding than the Equal Protection Clause that binds the States and all public entities.
SFFA petitioned the Court to enter judgment in its favor and to provide the following relief:
A declaratory judgment that West Point's use of race in admissions is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment.
use of race in admissions is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment. A preliminary injunction prohibiting West Point from considering or knowing an applicant's race when making admissions decisions.
A permanent injunction prohibiting West Point from considering an applicant's race when making admissions decisions.
The complaint is attached.
Edward Blum , president of SFFA, said, "Over the years, courts have been mindful of the military's unique role in our nation's life and the distinctive considerations that come with it. However, no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies."
Blum added, "Because the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in the SFFA cases expressly forbids all institutions of higher education from using race in admissions decisions, it must follow that the U. S. military higher education institutions must end their race-based policies as well."
Students for Fair Admissions
2200 Wilson Blvd. #102-13
Arlington, VA 22201
StudentsForFairAdmissions.org
[email protected]
703-505-1922
Contact:
Edward Blum
[email protected]
703-505-1922
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SOURCE Students for Fair Admissions
5,000 Anheuser-Busch Teamsters Begin Talks for Better Wages, Benefits
WASHINGTON , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Anheuser-Busch Teamsters and the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference kicked off negotiations on Monday for a new contract protecting 5,000 brewery workers nationwide.
"The Teamsters drew a blueprint to win the most historic contract for our members at UPS and we will build on that momentum to ensure another billion-dollar company pays our members their worth," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien . "Anheuser-Busch will reward rank-and-file Teamsters for their sacrifices during the pandemic, right the wrongs of previous worker concessions, and improve the wages, health care, and retirement benefits for the thousands of American families that make this company so successful the world over."
The Teamsters represent production workers at 12 U.S. breweries for Anheuser-Busch InBev, the largest beer maker in the world. Negotiations for a new agreement began Sept. 18 in St. Petersburg, Florida . The current contract expires Feb. 29, 2024 .
"Anheuser-Busch loves to use hardworking Teamsters when advertising its 'Made in America' brand, so it's only fitting the company put its money where its mouth is," said Jeff Padellaro , Director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference. "Teamsters having been picking up the tab for this company for too long. To Anheuser-Busch we say, 'The next round is on you.'"
Anheuser-Busch Teamsters are demanding the strongest possible contract that eliminates a two-tier health care system, improves wages, and establishes more robust job security across its brewery infrastructure.
The Teamsters negotiating committee includes rank-and-file Anheuser-Busch workers from around the country.
"We saw how our fellow Teamsters won big at UPS and we want a similar outcome for a strong new contract, especially in light of the challenges workers overcame during the pandemic," said Ryan Smith , a Teamsters shop steward at the Merrimack, New Hampshire brewery and negotiating committee member. "The hard work we put in every day has earned us our fair share of Anheuser-Busch's enormous success."
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S. , Canada , and Puerto Rico . Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Kara Deniz, (202) 497-6610
[email protected]
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
O'Brien: "As Yellow's Biggest Creditor, Workers Need to Be Put First"
WASHINGTON , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters Union is calling for the Senate to investigate the unfolding bankruptcy at Yellow Corp., following today's special Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on corporate manipulation of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
At the hearing, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) called out Yellow, pointing to the company's attempts to expedite liquidation of its assets to evade responsibility for its mismanagement at the expense of workers.
"After a company files for Chapter 11, employees risk losing their livelihoods, health benefits, and pensions through no fault of their own. These are things that workers have worked hard for and have earned," Sen. Klobuchar said during the hearing. "This issue has become relevant to my state because just last month, Yellow Corp., one of the largest LTL carriers in the country, filed for bankruptcy. This bankruptcy jeopardizes the livelihood and health benefits of many hardworking Minnesotans, including 480 Minnesota Teamsters."
The Teamsters demand a comprehensive investigation, calling on Senators Dick Durbin and Bernie Sanders to exclusively hold hearings before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee to look into Yellow's bankruptcy.
"More disturbing details of corruption, greed, and graft continue to emerge at Yellow. We call upon Senator Sanders and Senator Durbin to begin hearings," said Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien . "Yellow approved millions in executive bonuses in June at the same exact time that they were voluntarily choosing not to pay millions in worker health care and pension benefits. Workers in this country need real protections against corporations who game the system. We need real reform now that puts workers first in this process."
The timing of Yellow's bankruptcy filing and the unusual steps it has taken while controlling the bankruptcy as a debtor-in-possession warrant scrutiny. An expedited liquidation would preclude a potential purchase of Yellow's assets from any party that may want to re-establish operations, which would benefit the economy, thousands of workers and their communities, and American taxpayers.
"Yellow is trying to fast track liquidation. Meanwhile, more than 22,000 union workers are out of work after sacrificing more than $5 billion over the past 14 years through wage and benefit concessions, a fact the company would prefer to conceal from the American public and the bankruptcy courts," said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman . "We haven't had bankruptcy reform in this country for nearly two decades. We need to take this opportunity to right the wrongs at Yellow and prevent them from happening again."
Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.2 million hardworking people in the U.S. , Canada , and Puerto Rico . Visit Teamster.org to learn more and follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and on Facebook at Facebook.com/teamsters.
Contact:
Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971
[email protected]
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SOURCE International Brotherhood of Teamsters
NEWARK, N.J. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Newark Public Schools is thrilled to announce Technology High School's recognition as a 2023 National Blue Ribbon School, a highly esteemed honor awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. This prestigious designation celebrates Technology High School's commitment to academic excellence, innovative teaching practices, and exceptional student performance.
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, established in 1982, recognizes schools that demonstrate exemplary academic achievements and provide outstanding educational experiences to students.
Superintendent Leon expressed great pride in this accomplishment stating, "Technology High School's dedication to creating a nurturing and intellectually stimulating environment has earned the school this esteemed accolade". He added, "I am extremely proud of Principal Edwin Reyes , the school's administration, teachers, and staff for their commitment, unwavering dedication, and tireless efforts in supporting and inspiring our students. The students at Technology High School and their families are an example of the greatness of Newark ."
In order to qualify for this prestigious recognition, schools must demonstrate significant academic progress and achievement. Additionally, they must exhibit excellence in teaching and leadership, and show a strong commitment to improving education outcomes for all students.
Principal Reyes, excitingly shared, "Receiving the Blue Ribbon School Award is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of our students, staff, parents, and the entire school community. We are committed to providing a world-class education that prepares our students for a bright future in an ever-evolving technological landscape."
Technology High School proudly joins the Newark Public Schools list of Blue Ribbon Schools Recipients (Ann Street School, Harriet Tubman School, Branch Brook School, and Science Park High School.)
For more information about Technology High School and its commitment to academic excellence and innovation, please visit https://www.nps.k12.nj.us/tec/.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Nancy J. Deering , Acting Communications Director
[email protected]
About Newark Public Schools
The Newark Public Schools is the largest school district in New Jersey and dates back to 1676. The District currently enrolls over 39,000 students in 63 schools. After more than two decades of state operation and upon return to local control in 2018, the District has opened 9 new schools under Superintendent Leon's leadership with an additional portfolio of new options to be announced in the coming months and years. The Newark Board of Education serves as a beacon of educational excellence, dedicated to nurturing the potential of every student. With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and fostering a love for learning, the District continues to shape future generations and make a positive impact within the community.
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SOURCE Newark Board of Education
Leveraging AI to Drive $1 Billion in New Income for Low Income Individuals Globally
NEW YORK , Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The GitLab Foundation a non-profit launched in 2022 to improve people's lifetime earnings through access to opportunities today announced a three-year, $10 million Commitment to Action to accelerate how emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), can create economic opportunity globally.
THE GITLAB FOUNDATION MAKES $10 MILLION COMMITMENT AT CGI - LEVERAGING AI TO DRIVE NEW INCOME FOR LOW INCOME INDIVIDUALS
Announced on stage on the first day of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2023 meeting, the commitment will look to drive $1 billion in new income for people earning below a living wage through the responsible use of technology such as AI, advanced data science, and cloud computing.
Almost one in five of the world's employed population ( over 630 million working people ) do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. In fact, half of the global population lives on less than US$6.85 per person per day.
Ellie Bertani , President and CEO of the GitLab Foundation, said:
"People everywhere aspire to improve their lives, support their families, and contribute to their communities. But often, achieving this can seem impossible. Through our investments at the GitLab Foundation we're helping people to afford a better life through education, training, access to employment, and systems change on a global scale."
"Emerging technology is at the forefront of our investments, and we're excited to be able to announce our $10 million Global Commitment to Action at CGI. Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming how people learn and work; we want to make sure that we seize this moment and create opportunities that build incomes and improve lives."
A combination of emerging technologies, the global transition to remote-friendly work, and increased connectivity is transforming global access to education and employment, particularly for rural and low-income communities historically disconnected from economic opportunity.
Imagine, for example, if every student in the world had access to a personalized tutor who knew how to speak their language and exactly how to support their learning. Khan Academy is using AI to build just that kind of tutor, named Khanmigo, with the goal of providing best-in-class personalized teaching and support to every student in the world.
The GitLab Foundation is seeking to support the development of many more of these kinds of creative applications that increase people's access to opportunity, education and gainful employment.
The GitLab Foundation's $10 million commitment will advance the use of technology across its global grant making geographies including the USA , East Africa , and Latin America .
The full commitment details can be found here: www.gitlabfoundation.org/futureofwork
About the GitLab Foundation
The GitLab Foundation is supporting people to grow their lifetime earnings through education, training, access to employment, and systems change on a global scale. Through our investments, we hope to support people who are living below a living wage to significantly grow their income. We have an ambitious North Star goal of driving over $100 in lifetime earnings increases per dollar we spend as a foundation. The GitLab Foundation is an independent private foundation, associated with GitLab, Inc.
gitlabfoundation.org
About the Clinton Global Initiative
Founded by President Bill Clinton in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative is a community of doers representing a broad cross section of society and dedicated to the idea that we can accomplish more together than we can apart. Through CGI's unique model, more than 9,000 organizations have launched more than 3,900 Commitments to Action new, specific, and measurable projects and programs.
CONTACT: [email protected]
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SOURCE GitLab Foundation
In partnership with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Taking Care of Business officially launches during the Chamber's annual trip to D.C.
LAS VEGAS , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Vegas Chamber and the Las Vegas Review-Journal launched an innovative partnership that retooled and rebranded the Chamber's Business Voice magazine with the first issue of Taking Care of Business. This collaboration will expand the audience reach of the award-winning magazine and significantly increase its visibility across the entire region.
The timing of the inaugural issue, which features the Washington D.C. Fly-in, coincides with Vegas Chamber's annual trip to the nation's capital. Nevada's business leaders go to D.C. every year to advocate and meet with policymakers on federal issues that directly impact employers. It is the largest Fly-in of business leaders from Nevada to Washington, D.C. This year's trip will be comprised of meetings with Congressional members, think tanks, national trade organizations, and policy groups.
Through this unprecedented partnership, the digital magazine will now be published and distributed via the Review-Journal's distribution channels, including to its Business Press subscribers. The Taking Care of Business magazine is also promoted through the Review-Journal to broaden its readership and expose a larger community audience to its content, including business information and small business features, with programs and benefits to help local businesses grow. The magazine will also be distributed through social media channels and digital reading platforms.
"This innovative partnership between the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Vegas Chamber builds on the strengths of both organizations and provides tremendous opportunities for Chamber members to increase the exposure of their brands," said Vegas Chamber President and CEO Mary Beth Sewald . "Together, our two powerhouse organizations can accomplish more by offering additional access to vital news and information to help businesses grow and thrive."
Taking Care of Business is fully interactive, featuring relevant topics and profiles of influential newsmakers and linking ads directly to advertisers' websites. Each mobile-friendly issue is emailed to every business member in the Chamber's database, prominently displayed on the Vegas Chamber homepage for members and nonmembers, and now available at reviewjournal.com.
As the official publisher of Vegas Chamber's Taking Care of Business and a trusted brand in the market, the Review-Journal is a dedicated and experienced sales partner joining forces with the Chamber's staff in a combined effort to showcase businesses like never before.
"Timing could not have been better for a partnership between our two organizations. The business community and Nevadans look to both the RJ and the Vegas Chamber for their business insights, news and connections," said Chase Rankin , senior vice president of advertising sales for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "We're excited to broaden the reach of 'Taking Care of Business' through our print and digital platforms, which is why this partnership is a win-win for both organizations and all our business partners in the community."
The next Taking Care of Business issue will be published on October 22, 2023 . To reserve ad space at Vegas Chamber member and nonmember rates, contact Christy Cuthbert, director of retail advertising for the Review-Journal, at (702) 787-6293 or email [email protected].
About the Vegas Chamber
The Vegas Chamber is the broadest-based business association in Nevada , representing small businesses and employers throughout the state. Founded in 1911, its purpose is to cultivate growth and prosperity. In addition to a wide range of benefits to help employers and entrepreneurs thrive and create jobs, the Vegas Chamber is the leading advocate for small businesses in Nevada and is deeply engaged in policy at the local, state, and federal levels. For more information, visit VegasChamber.com .
Taking Care of Business
Named 2018 Best Magazine and 2019 Honorable Mention by the Western Association of Chamber Executives (WACE), Taking Care of Business (formerly Business Voice) is the Vegas Chamber's magazine. In partnership with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the digital magazine is distributed monthly via email, social media platforms, websites, digital reading platforms and published 12 times a year.
About the Las Vegas Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has been Nevada's news leader since 1909. A state, regional, and national award-winning multi-platform news organization, the Review-Journal operates www.reviewjournal.com , a network of niche publications and community newspapers, e-newsletters, custom printing, a video production studio and more to meet the specific needs of readers and advertisers alike.
Media Contacts:
Cara Clarke /702-743-9362
Vegas Chamber
[email protected]
Wanda Blair /702-383-0223
Las Vegas Review-Journal
wblair@reviewjournal.com
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SOURCE Las Vegas Review-Journal
PARIS , Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 12 to 16 , the cultural exchange activity "Encounter of Civilization: Jiangsu Week of Chinese Kunqu Opera" was held in Paris, France . Featuring classic performances, interactive dynamic displays, thematic exhibitions, academic discussions, and more, it presented a rich cultural feast of Kunqu Opera for the people of France .
For two consecutive days, the South Kunqu Opera version of " The Peony Pavilion " by Jiangsu Kun Opera Theater played to a full house at the Theatre Libre in Paris . This production faithfully showcased the masterpiece as presented by Master Zhang Jiqing from the Jiangsu Kun Opera Theater, who had astounded Paris with this same version 37 years ago, according to Jiangsu International Culture Association. The brilliant performance, lasting over two hours, received seven curtain calls with lead actors Kong Aiping and Shi Xiaming. Many French audience members expressed that despite their first encounter with Kunqu Opera, they could feel the beauty within it, which they found to be not only Eastern but also a part of humanity's intangible cultural heritage.
In addition to the performances, this event included a rich array of exhibitions, seminars, and outreach activities such as Kunqu Opera in schools. The actors also organized flash mobs at iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe, engaging with the local people on the streets.
The "Emotions Unveiled, Affections Explored: A Special Exhibition on Chinese Kunqu Opera Culture" held at the Guimet Museum, also known as the National Museum of Asian Arts, comprehensively showcased the history, texts, props, costumes, musical instruments, and international exchanges related to Kunqu Opera. It presented a panorama of the inheritance and development of Chinese culture, as well as the modernization of Jiangsu Province in the Chinese context.
During the international symposium held at the China Cultural Center in Paris , cultural scholars from countries including France , the United Kingdom , Italy , and the Netherlands focused on the theme of "Kunqu Opera in Our Era: Cross-Cultural Dialogue and Civilization Exchange" for discussions and exchanges. Maria Shevtsova , a fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and a professor of Drama at the University of London, stated that Kunqu Opera has continuously explored various aspects of human artistic expression. It combines singing, dancing, and theatrical costumes into a harmonious whole, showcasing the dignity of human creativity.
Kunqu Opera, often referred to as the ancestor of a hundred operas, originated between the 14th and 17th centuries in the Kunshan region of Suzhou , near today's Shanghai . Over the following 600 years, it merged with regional cultures across China , giving rise to various distinctive schools and styles. The delegation performing in France hails from Jiangsu , the birthplace of Kunqu Opera, and is acclaimed by Kunqu enthusiasts for its "Southern Kun Style". The eight major Kunqu Opera troupes active across China possess their own regional characteristics and unique beauty. With support and enthusiasm for culture from all segments of Chinese society, Chinese traditional theater arts have entered a more confident stage today.
Art knows no borders, and culture finds common ground. Nowadays, through online channels, audiences from all over the world can experience innovative expressions of Chinese traditional culture, even if they are thousands of miles away. Follow the "China Culture & Art" media cluster on Facebook and YouTube, and join the #Echoesofkunqu hashtag to share stories of Chinese opera from your own experiences. Feel the enduring charm of China's outstanding traditional culture.
Image Attachments Links:
Link: https://iop.asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=442276
Caption: Poster of Chinese Kunqu Opera
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SOURCE Jiangsu International Culture Association
SAN DIEGO, Calif. and BARCELONA, Spain , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Juan Torres Master Distillers and Infinium Spirits jointly announced the Torres Brandy Zero Challenge, a Program of the USBG that will be coming to the United States . In this challenge, Torres Brandy calls on Bar Managers and Bartenders around the world to submit their sustainable bar initiatives to promote a new mindset in mixology that prioritizes the environment.
The Torres Brandy Zero Challenges is the first international competition to present an award to the world's most sustainable cocktail bar project.
In its inaugural year, Giacomo Gianotti of Paradiso, #1 World's Best Bar, took the top spot for its sustainable concept and their Paradiso Waste Lab.
Applications are now open for you to present your project demonstrating how you would set up and manage a sustainable bar.
To apply: Torres Brandy Zero Challenge Application Open (usbg.org)
The form remains open from now until October 31 st, 2023. If selected, 4 competitors would present their project sometime in late January/Early February 2024 in NYC where 1 US representative will be chosen to attend the Global Finals in Barcelona on March 21, 2024 to compete with the finalists from other countries or a chance to make their concept a reality. As the co-sponsor, the USBG manages the logistics and submissions and picks the 4 national finalists. The national finalists will be judged by a celebrity bartender, USBG judge, and Torres Brandy judge on the panel.
About Torres Brandy
The Torres winery was founded in 1870, but it was not until 1928 that Juan Torres Casals first began to distill and age brandy at the family winery. The distillery is family owned and run to this day by the 5th generation of the Torres family. All Torres brandies and liqueurs are handcrafted by Master Distillers in this same family winery in Penedes. They are unique in the world of brandy because of the grape varietals and distillation method used. For more information, visit https://www.torresbrandy.com/en or on social @torresbrandyofficial
About USBG
The USBG is where bars & restaurants come together to build a hub of community. Through national & local charity initiatives, we connect with the neighborhoods that welcome our establishments and the people who we entertain each night. To us, a key part of growing professionally is supporting the communities where we serve through our core values: Service, Integrity, Sharing Knowledge, Tradition, and Camaraderie. For more information, visit https://www.usbg.org/home or on social @usbg.
About Infinium Spirits
Established in 2005 and based out of San Diego, California , Infinium Spirits is a family-owned global premium spirits supplier. Infinium specializes in building a diverse and distinctive portfolio of award-winning spirit brands including Templeton Rye ; Seagram's Vodka; Corralejo Tequila; Crystal Head Vodka; Zaya Rum ; Highway Vodka; Torres Brandy ; Tears of Llorona Tequila; Los Arango Tequila; Magdala Orange Liqueur; Rives Gin ; Perro San Juan Mezcal and El Gobernador Pisco. For more information, visit www.infiniumspirits.com .
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SOURCE Infinium Spirits and Juan Torres Master Distillers
KYODO NEWS - Sep 19, 2023 - 13:08 | World, All
The Chinese and Russian top diplomats discussed Monday in Moscow issues including Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine, the two countries said, with their meeting believed to have laid the groundwork for President Vladimir Putin's expected visit to Beijing next month.
China's Wang Yi and Russia's Sergei Lavrov agreed it would be futile to attempt to end the now 19-month-long war in Ukraine without taking into account "Russia's interests," the Russian foreign ministry said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wang expressed Beijing's willingness to "play a constructive role" in a political settlement of the crisis, while Lavrov said Moscow will "continue to be open to negotiation and dialogue."
They also noted "the closeness of the positions" of the two countries regarding U.S. activities in the international arena, including those of "an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese nature," the Russian ministry said.
Wang said Beijing-Moscow cooperation is not aimed at a third party and the two countries will promote the development of global governance "in a fairer and reasonable direction" in the face of "the rise of unilateral acts, hegemonism and bloc confrontation," the Chinese ministry said, in reference to the U.S.-led international order.
As permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, China and Russia bear "important responsibilities for maintaining global strategic stability," Wang added.
Putin is expected to attend an international conference to mark the 10th anniversary of China's signature Belt and Road global infrastructure initiative to be held in Beijing in October.
Larov briefed Wang on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's recent visit to Russia, while the Chinese top diplomat detailed to his counterpart the substance of talks he had with U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in Malta over the weekend, the Russian ministry said.
The Chinese ministry said Monday that Wang will make a four-day visit to Moscow at the invitation of Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev and hold bilateral strategic security discussions.
Related coverage:
G-7 blasts Russia elections in "illegally occupied" Ukraine regions
U.S., China agree on senior-level talks in "coming weeks"
North Korea's Kim, Russian defense chief discuss deeper defense ties
CALDAS, Colombia , Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- TrinaTracker, the leading smart solar tracking solutions provider which is part of Trina Solar Co Ltd (SHA: 688599), has signed a solar tracker supply agreement with Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), to supply the Tepuy Solar PV Park in Colombia with 108MW of smart tracking systems, including TrinaTracker's pioneering Vanguard 1P trackers, smart algorithms and Trina Smart Cloud platforms.
The Tepuy Solar PV Park is in the province of Antioquia province, northwestern Colombia . It is developed by Medellin Electric Power Company, the largest power generation company in the country. POWERCHINA undertakes EPC that includes the design, supply, construction, installation and commissioning of the PV power station. TrinaTracker is the exclusive supplier for the project.
TrinaTracker's Vanguard 1P trackers are designed for large solar power plants on flat terrain. The design requires fewer driving systems and controllers per megawatt, thus reducing material costs and saving on labor hours during project installation. Fewer pile foundations make the product a better match for cleaning robots, and bi-damper systems reduce the chance of trackers being damaged in high winds.
TrinaTracker's smart tracking system is integrated with the tracker structure + algorithm + platform, and it includes tracker control unit, SuperTrack, and Trina Smart Cloud monitoring platform. The system can increase power generation up to 8% compared with that of conventional solar tracking systems. It also provides better monitoring functions of trackers during system operation, thus reducing client operational and maintenance costs, and decreasing losses of power generation.
Latin America is one of the most important markets for solar trackers, and Colombia , one of the largest economies in the region, has huge potential for the development of photovoltaic power generation. The international consulting company S&P Global says more than 80% of ground photovoltaic sites in Latin America use solar trackers, with market penetration significantly higher than the 45% global average.
TrinaTracker's collaboration in the Tepuy project augurs well for more growth in the Latin American market. By introducing the most advanced smart solar tracking technology to the region and providing comprehensive system design, delivery and after-sales service, TrinaTracker will continue to drive the development of photovoltaic projects in Latin America , adding more much-needed green energy to the region.
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trinatracker-secures-order-for-108mw-smart-solar-tracking-system-in-colombia-301931235.html
SOURCE TrinaTracker
QLab offers researchers, students, professionals direct access to cutting-edge quantum computers
COLLEGE PARK, Md. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Maryland (UMD) today announced the grand opening of the National Quantum Laboratory (QLab), a groundbreaking quantum research center developed in partnership with IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a leader in the quantum computing industry. The QLab enables people from across the nation and around the world to develop and design quantum technologies on one of the world's most powerful quantum computers while working alongside leading experts in the field, in an effort to address the most complex challenges of our time.
Located inside UMD's Discovery District , this unique, cutting-edge workspace aims to build the next generation of quantum talent and innovations and further establish the region as the Capital of Quantum. Thanks to the nearly $20 million investment that fueled this facility's opening, researchers, students, industry leaders, entrepreneurs and others are already taking advantage of this collaboration to explore how quantum computers can help improve machine learning and AI, materials discovery, supply chain logistics, climate modeling, cybersecurity and more.
As a node in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Quantum Internet (MARQI), the QLab is also accelerating the development of quantum networking capabilities critical for realizing the full potential of quantum computers, sensors and communications systems. QLab actively supports the growth of a skilled quantum workforce and has hosted more than 300 participants in virtual and in-person workshops and bootcamps.
"We cannot fully imagine where quantum computing will take us in the future, but we do know the collaborations made possible through QLab will be essential to moving the field forward and reaching the life-altering discoveries we seek," said University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines. "QLab spikes our competitiveness factor for the state and our region as we attract innovators from all over the world to work with us and share resources."
UMD is one of the world's leading institutions of quantum science and engineering, working in close partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology as well as other federal agencies and labs. The university boasts more than 200 quantum researchers, eight quantum-focused centers and a comprehensive suite of quantum education offerings.
This first-of-its-kind QLab builds upon the university's $300 million investment in quantum science and more than 30-year track record of driving advances in quantum physics and technology. It additionally marks the latest extension of the university's partnership with IonQ, a company partially founded on research conducted at UMD.
"At IonQ, we firmly believe that the future of quantum relies on a strong partnership between industry and academia. QLab is a testament of our commitment to nurturing this collaboration, paving the way for students to be at the forefront of quantum research and development," said Peter Chapman , CEO and president, IonQ. "Through our own journey from a research-oriented approach to our current focus on engineering and manufacturing, we aim to achieve an advanced quantum system in the near future that will deliver significant advantages over classical computing for certain use cases."
The QLab builds on and reinforces the strong, impact-focused regional collaborations enabled by the Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance (MQA) and its 38 members from academia, industry, and government.
IonQ will also be sharing new developments in quantum computing at the Quantum World Congress, which takes place September 27-28 . To watch the livestream event, please RSVP here .
About the University of Maryland
The University of Maryland (UMD) is the state's flagship university and a leading public research institution, propelled by a $1.3 billion joint research enterprise. Located four miles from Washington, D.C. , the university is dedicated to addressing the grand challenges of our time and is the nation's first Do Good campus. It is driven by a diverse and proudly inclusive community of more than 50,000 fearless Terrapins. UMD is a top producer of Fulbright scholars and offers an unparalleled student experience with more than 300 academic programs, 25 living-learning programs and 400 study abroad programs. Spurred by a culture of innovation and creativity, UMD faculty are global leaders in their field and include Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners and members of the national academies. For more information about the University of Maryland, visit umd.edu .
IonQ Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Some of the forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward- looking words, including the words "believe," "will," "aims," "seek," and other similar expressions. These statements include those related to the impact of the partnership between UMD and IonQ and of QLab; the future benefits of quantum computing and discoveries in quantum technologies; and the potential for a quantum system to deliver significant advantages over classical computing in the near future. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release, including but not limited to: the risks and uncertainties described in the "Risk Factors" section of IonQ's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 , and other documents filed by IonQ from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and IonQ assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. IonQ does not give any assurance that it will achieve its expectations.
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SOURCE University of Maryland
Haitian American actress and humanitarian Garcelle Beauvais is partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation as part of the Pockets of Hope campaign, which aims to generate $90 million for education, health and economic development initiatives in Haiti over the next three years.
NEW YORK , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, at the Clinton Global Initiative 2023 Meeting, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced a $30 million , three-year Commitment to Action to invest in local efforts to advance opportunities for Haitian children, families and communities. Several other funders including the Digicel Foundation, Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, and Porticus also made commitments totaling another $20 million collectively. The commitments are part of Pockets of Hope, a new $90 million campaign created by the Kellogg Foundation and partners to catalyze philanthropic support for community-led education, health, economic security and other game-changing initiatives in Haiti .
There has been a significant decline in philanthropic support for Haiti in recent years at a time when the need has dramatically increased. Pockets of Hope encourages partners across the philanthropic sector and beyond to make a collective commitment to support local communities and organizations working to chart a new course for the future of their country. The Kellogg Foundation will help to convene funders, non-profit organizations, members of Haiti's diaspora, and other supporters of Haiti who are united by the goal of increasing investments for Haitian-designed and Haitian-led work that has the potential to transform entire communities.
"After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti , we saw incredible resources flow to the country," said La June Montgomery Tabron , president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. "The needs were great, and there was a tremendous outpouring of generosity, but we knew that much of the response was short-term. A true catalyst for change would be a much deeper commitment to Haiti . In 2011, we decided to be a dedicated partner in Haiti for at least a generation. After working alongside Haitian organizations and leaders for more than a decade, we are asking other funders to strategically collaborate and support scaling the work of these local organizations. It is the bold, visionary work of local leaders and communities that brings hope for the future of Haiti ."
Today's announcement reflects the need for long-term partnership, solidarity and investments for populations impacted by devastating natural and man-made disasters, as well as to ongoing systemic barriers to equitable progress. This is especially relevant as children and families in Morocco , Maui , Libya and other regions of the world continue to suffer the effects of natural disasters and begin to assess what it will take to rebuild their communities and create sustainable, resident-driven solutions to ongoing systemic challenges.
"Porticus is excited to join the Pocket of Hope campaign that builds on years of partnership and collaboration with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Haiti ," said Christina Kirby , program manager for education, Porticus North America. "We jointly share a commitment to Haiti and Haitian-led organizations, who together with community members, are strengthening education systems and outcomes for children across the country. Our investments through 2027 will leverage the successes and momentum of current initiatives, be co-designed with Haitian thought leadership, and expand best practice through partnerships and coalitions."
Garcelle Beauvais Joins Pockets of Hope
Haitian American actress and humanitarian Garcelle Beauvais is teaming up with Pockets of Hope to raise awareness of the need for greater investments in Haiti , and to help highlight where ongoing Haitian-led organizations have the potential for significant, sustainable impact through additional support. Learn the latest on this partnership at HaitiPocketsOfHope.com.
"I'm thrilled to be partnering with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on the Pockets of Hope campaign because it's not about somebody coming in and giving a handout and being the hero," Beauvais said. "It's about making the Haitians their own heroes. We know what we lack, and we know how to improve our own lives. We just need support. This campaign is reminding people that Haiti still needs help and also that there is hope for Haiti . And that hope lies in the Haitian people."
To learn more about this new philanthropic campaign, visit HaitiPocketsofHope.com
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg , is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States . Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan , and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan , Mississippi , New Mexico and New Orleans ; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.
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SOURCE W.K. Kellogg Foundation
BEIJING , Sept. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The China-Europe Railway Express Cooperation Forum was held Friday in Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province , with some 500 representatives from 29 countries and regions gathering at the coastal city, sharing insights on further advancing the high-quality development of the China-Europe Railway Express while expanding cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, cultural exchanges, and land-sea connectivity.
As one of the events marking the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the forum has witnessed the launch of the China Railway Express (CR Express) website, a portal that will not only serve as an important window for getting China-Europe Railway Express information but also provide extra support for enterprises that use China-Europe Railway Express services.
As a flagship project and a landmark brand of the BRI, the China-Europe Railway Express has injected new impetus to regional economic development and ensured the stability of international industrial and supply chains, experts noted.
Themed "Deepening Interconnectivity and Promoting Win-Win Cooperation," the forum was hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Transport, the General Administration of Customs, China State Railway Group and a number of local governments.
It is noted that Jiangsu is one of the earliest provinces in China to launch China-Europe Railway Express. Data shows that 1,504 trips were made in the first eight months of this year, in which a record high of 214 trips were made in August alone.
Located in central coastal area of China , Lianyungang is the eastern terminal of the 10,900-km-long New Eurasian Land Bridge , an international passageway linking the Pacific and the Atlantic. As a strong fulcrum of the Belt and Road cooperation, Lianyungang undertakes important projects such as the China-Kazakhstan Logistics Cooperation Base and SCO (Lianyungang) International Logistics Park .
See the original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/336128.html
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ZHENGZHOU, China , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the profound culture of the Yellow River , promote international cultural exchanges, and expand the influence of Chinese civilization, the 2023 China ( Zhengzhou ) Yellow River Cultural Month officially kicked off on September 14 in central China's Zhengzhou city, with the " Henan , Cradle of China" Yellow River tour for international and local media launched at the Zhengzhou Site Museum of the Shang Capital.
Media from the U.S. , Italy , New Zealand , Russia , Argentina , Hungary , Spain , Azerbaijan , and more are joining leading Chinese media on a journey of discovery to understand Zhengzhou , Henan , and China through the lens of history. Following the launching ceremony, the media group took a tour of "The Might Capital of Bo: A Paragon of Royal Capitals and Roaring Currents - Exhibition of Stone Inscriptions and Rubbings in the Lu Xun Museum's Collection" at the museum.
" Zhengzhou is a landmark city of the Yellow River culture. In recent years, Zhengzhou is dedicated to building the brand of " Henan , Cradle of China " by hosting various activities in the Yellow River Culture Month for three years, which helps promote the cultural icon of Zhengzhou , 'the Center of Heaven and Earth, the Source of Chinese Civilization, and the City of Kungfu', in an all-around way," said Lv Tinglin, deputy secretary of the CPC Zhengzhou Committee.
The Yellow River , also known as China's " Mother River ," is the second largest river in China and one of the longest river systems in the world. The three-day " Henan , Cradle of China " media tour includes visiting Zhengzhou Shang Dynasty National Archaeological Site Park , Zhengzhou Yellow River Cultural Park , the Imperial Mausoleum of the Northern Song Dynasty, Grotto Temple, Du Fu's Hometown Cultural Park , the Yellow River Museum, Shaolin Temple , and more for a comprehensive experience of learning about the Yellow River civilization, Chinese history, and Chinese culture from ancient times to the present.
Henan Province is the birthplace of Chinese civilization; its development and growth are strongly linked to and evolved with the Yellow River culture. Zhengzhou , the capital city of Henan Province with a long history and rich culture, is developing rapidly with vigor and full strength, boasting tremendous potential and opportunities.
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SOURCE 2023 World Great Rivers Civilizations Forum ( ZhengzhouChina) News Center
Florida's top water brand found inspiration for its new 'This Is How We Flow' campaign from some of the area's best dancers and artists
STAMFORD, Conn. , Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- With a helping hand from some of Florida's coolest artists and a local food entrepreneur, Zephyrhills 100% Natural Spring Water launched its dynamic new campaign, called "This Is How We Flow" to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month.
Zephyrhills Spring Water Features Top Florida Artists in New Campaign
"This is a beautiful campaign that illustrates the parallels between natural Florida springs and the Floridians who share their FLowthe gift that originates from deep within them and pours out into the communities they enrich," said Grant Cowherd , Senior Brand Manager for Zephyrhills Brand. "To bring this campaign to life, Zephyrhills is celebrating the vibrance of the Florida Hispanic community and culture. Through their food, dance, music, and art, these local artists and businesses are showcasing the communities they come from and the things they do that make them Floridian, just like our spring water."
Zephyrhills Brand chose four well-known talents to show off their FLow in the new ads.
Marisol Blanco : One of Miami's most celebrated salsa dancers and teachers, Marisol is a Master Class instructor at the prestigious Miami Salsa Congress, and is well-known for both performing and teaching Afro-Cuban Folkloric and Popular Dance. She is also the owner and director of Sikan Afrocuban Dance Project.
Disem 305: Fans can see this Miami artist's work everywhere, as his muralsof the Estefans, the 1972 Dolphins, and graffiti piecescan be seen all over the city. His work is inspired by his love for his hometown, Miami .
Josiah Candelaria : This owner of the very popular Purple Ocean Super Food Bar organic, vegan outposts wanted to create a healthy, flavorful menu influenced by his native Puerto Rico for Central Floridians. Purple Ocean is famous for its specialty Acai and Pitaya bowls.
Emily Del Valle : Emily is on every music artist's radar, having already worked with Maluma, Marc Anthony and Pitbull. A social media star, Emily's work is being featured across all channels in the campaign.
This Is How We Flow can be seen now on billboards around the state, as well as across social media and select print outlets.
About Zephyrhills 100% Natural Spring Water
After operating in Florida for close to 60 years, Zephyrhills Brand Natural Spring Water remains a flagship brand and one of Florida's favorite waters. In addition to being the #1 selling branded water in the state, Zephyrhills is proud of its local employees and their work supporting local communities and fostering a healthy, sustainable environment. Zephyrhills Spring Water comes from five spring sources in Florida : Crystal Springs , Cypress Spring, Blue Spring in Madison , Ginnie Springs , and White Springs in Liberty .
About BlueTriton Brands
BlueTriton Brands offers an extensive portfolio of highly recognizable, responsibly sourced, and sustainably packaged spring water, purified water and water beverage brands including Poland Spring Brand, Deer Park Brand, Ozarka Brand, Ice Mountain Brand, Zephyrhills Brand, Arrowhead Brand, Origin Natural Spring Water, Saratoga Spring Water, AC+ION Alkaline Water, Pure Life Purified Water, B'EAU Marine Collagen Water Beverage, Splash Blast Flavored Water Beverage and Splash Fizz Fruit Flavored Sparkling Water Beverage. BlueTriton Brands also owns and operates ReadyRefresh, a customizable water and beverage delivery service that has been certified as a CarbonNeutral business.
Based in Stamford, Connecticut , BlueTriton Brands and its affiliates in the United States and Canada employ approximately 6,600 associates. BlueTriton Brands manages resources for long-term sustainability and helps to conserve more than 20,000 acres of watershed area. The Company has 28 production facilities across the United States , 13 of which are Alliance for Water Stewardship ("AWS") certified across 12 sites, with eight of the certified facilities being AWS Platinum, the highest-level certification.
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SOURCE BlueTriton Brands
FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki shake hands during a joint news briefing on a day of the first anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine February 24, 2023. REUTERS/Viaches
By Alan Charlish and Marek Strzelecki
WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's move last week to ban Ukraine grain imports illustrates a wider dilemma the ruling nationalists face ahead of a tight election in October: how to counter pressure from the far-right over Warsaw's approach to helping Kyiv in its war with Russia.
With the likely outcome of the Oct. 15 ballot far from clear, Ukraine has emerged as a topic on which the far-right Confederation can steal votes from the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, lowering its chances of winning a functioning majority by splitting right-of-centre Poles.
Confederation has sought to capitalise on a growing weariness with Ukrainian refugees among some Poles who feel the government has gone too far in extending social benefits and other aid to those fleeing the war as well as on anger among farmers who say Ukrainian grain imports hurt their prices.
When Ukraine hit back at bans on Ukrainian grain imports in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia by saying it would sue, Slawomir Mentzen, one of Confederation's leaders, sarcastically suggested that Warsaw would now "probably hike Ukrainians' 800+ (child benefits) and offer free loans for buying apartments in Poland".
He also said Ukraine had "taken advantage of the gullibility of the Polish government".
Government spokesman Piotr Muller has said that much of the support offered to Ukrainians is only temporary.
While Poles' overall attitudes to Ukrainian refugees remain positive and support for Kyiv's war effort is almost unanimous, research shows that critical views are becoming more widespread.
SHIFTING VIEWS
A survey last month showed that the number of Poles who support allowing refugees from Ukraine in has fallen to 69% from 91% just after the war started. A quarter are against, compared to just 4% in early 2022.
Other research has shown a higher level of aversion to Ukrainian refugees among young women than in other demographics.
One recent report from CBOS said competition from refugees, who are in many cases themselves young women, for everything from jobs to romantic partners could lie behind this.
Whatever the cause, Confederation has openly voiced the concerns of Poles who feel their interests are being compromised by the influx of Ukrainians.
"I have no doubt that helping Ukraine, also militarily in some sphere which does not lower Poland's own military capabilities, is necessary," Confederation spokesperson Anna Brylka told Reuters.
"However the PiS government is stretching the help too far."
Latest opinion polls show the Confederation, whose voters broadly share the same patriotic, Catholic values as the PiS electorate, could command between 7 and 11.4% of votes. It won 6.8% in the last national election in 2019.
Polls show that PiS, which in 2019 won 43.6% of the vote, is likely to remain the largest party in parliament after the election - in which a pro-EU, liberal bloc is its main opponent - but it may struggle to secure a majority. A coalition with Confederation might also then become an option.
POLISH PUSHBACK
It is against this political backdrop that PiS decided to extend a ban on Ukrainian grain imports in response to rising anger in the party's rural heartlands.
"When it was necessary, we opened our hearts, we opened our homes for refugees from Ukraine," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. "But when it is necessary to protect Polish farmers, the PiS government will do it, because for us the interests of Polish farmers are the most important."
Some analysts say low grain prices have been caused more by global factors than Ukrainian imports.
Morawiecki's comments on farmers was just the latest in a series of statements from officials taking a more robust approach towards Kyiv.
The two countries summoned their respective ambassadors in August after an adviser to the Polish president said Kyiv should "start appreciating what role Poland has played for Ukraine over past months and years".
The shift in rhetoric has not gone unnoticed among Poland's Western allies.
"They are doing things to claw back people who have gone to Confederation," said one Western diplomat based in Warsaw. "We think it will get dialled down after the election."
For one government official, the task PiS faces is to balance the pride that Poles feel in the key role their country has played in helping Ukraine with an acknowledgement of the frustrations some voters feel.
"There's a change in tone of communication in the ruling camp, but the main message remains unchanged: we are supporting Ukraine," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"As strange as it may sound the change of tone aims to maintain support for Ukraine and is necessary because of some fatigue and certain costs being felt by society and a one-sided message would support that shift in the sentiment, so balance is needed to let off some steam."
(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Marek Strzelecki, Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska, Justyna Pawlak; Editing by Gareth Jones)
LONDON (Reuters) - Azerbaijani forces have broken through a line of contact with Armenian forces in Nagorno-Karabakh in several places and are determined to fulfil their strategic goals, Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy adviser to President Ilham Aliyev, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Hajiyev was speaking after his country launched military action in Karabakh, a mountainous region internationally recognised as Azerbaijani, part of which is run by breakaway ethnic Armenians who say it is their ancestral homeland.
Armenia on Tuesday denied having any forces in the area. However, many Armenians have in the past volunteered to fight for Nagorno-Karabakh.
Hajiyev, said Baku would only be ready to talk to the Karabakh Armenians once they had raised the white flag and disarmed. He said Azerbaijan had no military objectives in neighbouring Armenia.
"The intention of Azerbaijan is to close a chapter of animosity and confrontation," he said. "Enough is enough. We cannot tolerate any longer having such armed forces on our territory and also a structure which, on a daily basis, challenges the security and sovereignty of Azerbaijan."
He said Baku believed that what he called its anti-terrorism action would achieve its strategic goal of ensuring full sovereignty over its territory.
(Reporting by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
FILE PHOTO: The Banco do Brasil logo is seen outside a bank office in Sao Paulo, Brazil August 9, 2018. REUTERS/Paulo Whitaker/File Photo
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian state-run Banco do Brasil and the World Bank signed a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday on a $400 million credit line for sustainable agriculture and the restoration of degraded areas in the Amazon region.
The agreement follows a joint announcement last year of a $500 million project to expand sustainable finance and enhance the private sector's ability to access carbon credit markets.
"This $400 million agreement is Banco do Brasil's second collaboration with the World Bank and will provide resources for sustainable agriculture, the restoration of degraded areas and the bioeconomy," said Francisco Lassalvia, Chief Wholesale Officer at Banco do Brasil.
The World Bank, in a separate statement that did not mention the value of the proposed credit line, said both institutions have agreed to cooperate in identifying sustainable solutions for Brazil's bioeconomy, forest and land restoration.
They would also examine sustainable, low-carbon agriculture, especially in the Amazon and Cerrado biomes, it said.
"These efforts aim to support, among others, Brazil's national plan to combat deforestation in the Amazon," said the World Bank.
Under the leadership of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil aims to position itself as a leader in green development, attracting investments with a broad ecological transformation plan including a regulated carbon credit market and the issuance of its first sustainable sovereign bonds.
Brazil is also expected to announce revised climate targets this week, building on Lula's efforts to restore the country's environmental stewardship after soaring deforestation of the Amazon rainforest under former President Jair Bolsonaro.
(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Jan Harvey)
MOSCOW, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia has made the decision to withdraw from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC), the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
The BEAC "has been a useful and effective format for cross-border interaction" throughout 30 years, and has contributed to the maintenance of peace and stability in the North, the statement said.
Activities of the council have been paralyzed since March 2022, due to the council's Western members, and Finland has not confirmed its readiness to transfer the chairmanship of the BEAC on to Russia in October 2023, the statement said.
"Under the current conditions, we are forced to announce the withdrawal of Russia from the BEAC," the Foreign Ministry said.
"Russia will continue to implement its national goals in the North. We remain open for interaction with everyone, who is committed to a constructive approach, and is ready for equal dialogue and mutually beneficial teamwork," it said.
The BEAC was established in 1993, and its objective is to promote stability and sustainable development in the Barents region.
FILE PHOTO: Bottles of prescription painkillers Oxycodone Hydrochloride, 30mg pills, made by Mallinckrodt sit on a counter at a local pharmacy, in Provo, Utah, U.S., April 25, 2017. REUTERS/George Frey/File Photo
(Reuters) - Bankrupt drugmaker Mallinckrodt is in talks with major investors about selling some or all of its business units, which could lead to its exit from the opioid business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Some investors, poised to take control through the company's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, are suggesting Mallinckrodt break up its business units, the report said.
Mallinckrodt did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The Ireland-based company filed for its second bankruptcy in the United States last month, with a restructuring plan that would cut $1 billion from what it owes to victims of the U.S. opioid crisis.
Mallinckrodt, which makes both branded and generic drugs, had first filed for bankruptcy in 2020 to address its high debt load, litigation over its marketing of highly addictive generic opioids and disputes over its drug pricing.
As part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy in June 2022, the company, which denied wrongdoing, agreed to pay $1.7 billion to settle about 3,000 lawsuits alleging it used deceptive marketing tactics to boost opioid sales.
Mallinckrodt also disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month that it recently received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia, seeking information about its reporting of suspicious opioid orders to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
LONDON (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch InBev has elevated its low calorie lager Michelob Ultra to the status of "global brand", according to an investor presentation held on Tuesday, positioning it to better compete with Dutch rival Heineken.
The world's largest brewer previously bestowed that title on just three of its biggest-hitting labels, Budweiser, Corona and Stella Artois, as recently as Aug. 3. But presentation slides on Tuesday included Michelob Ultra, already a big hit in the U.S., in the group.
Chief Marketing Officer Marcel Marcondes added during the presentation that the company now sees Corona as its "leading horse" globally. Alcohol-free version, Corona Cero, meanwhile, will be its number one focus in the no-alcohol category.
The moves see AB InBev squaring up with rival Heineken, whose new light beer Heineken Silver is looking to win share in in the critical U.S. market, and whose Heineken 0.0% is the global market share leader in the no-alcohol category.
Light beers, which contain fewer calories and carbohydrates, are gaining traction as consumers become increasingly health conscious. AB InBev's Bud Light previously dominated the category in the U.S., but lost its top spot following a backlash from conservatives over a social media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
"Michelob Ultra is obviously a top priority for us. This brand has a unique positioning in consumers' minds, we have a proven success case and clear headroom for growth in the U.S. and beyond," Kyle Norrington, U.S. Chief Commercial Officer said, with other speakers flagging the brand's potential in markets like China.
Corona, meanwhile, has led growth and still has a "long runway" to go, Marcondes continued. Brian Perkins, the company's West Europe President, added that the company would focus on Corona Cero as its number one global no alcohol beer proposition.
It also offers opportunities in markets without big drinking populations, such as Saudi Arabia, where Perkins said the brand will soon be launched.
(Reporting by Emma Rumney in London and Philip Blenkinsop in Brussels; Writing by Emma Rumney and Nick Zieminski)
By William James
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has invited China to its global artificial intelligence (AI) summit in November, with foreign minister James Cleverly saying the risks of the technology could not be contained if one of its leading players was absent.
"We cannot keep the UK public safe from the risks of AI if we exclude one of the leading nations in AI tech," Cleverly said in a statement on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants Britain to become a global leader in AI regulation and the summit on Nov. 1-2 will bring together governments, tech companies and academics to discuss the risks posed by the powerful new technology.
Britain said the event would touch on topics such as how AI could undermine biosecurity as well as how the technology could be used for public good, for example in safer transport.
Cleverly, who last month became the most senior minister to visit China in five years, has argued for deeper engagement with Beijing, saying it would be a mistake to try to isolate the world's second largest economy and Chinese help was needed in areas such as climate change and economic instability.
"The UK's approach to China is to protect our institutions and infrastructure, align with partners and engage where it is in the UK's national interest," Cleverly said on Tuesday.
London is trying to improve ties with Beijing but there has been growing anxiety about Chinese activity in Britain in recent weeks after it was revealed that a parliamentary researcher was arrested in March on suspicion of spying for China.
The Chinese embassy in London was not immediately able to say if China would attend the AI summit.
Britain has appointed tech expert Matt Clifford and former senior diplomat Jonathan Black to lead preparations for the summit.
The Financial Times reported that government officials want a less "draconian" approach to regulating the technology, compared with the European Union's wide-sweeping AI Act.
Under the incoming EU legislation, organisations using AI systems deemed "high risk" will be expected to complete rigorous risk assessments, log their activities, and make sensitive internal data available to authorities upon request.
Clifford told Reuters last month that he hoped the UK summit would set the tone for future international debates on AI regulation.
(Reporting by William James and Andrew MacAskill, writing by Sarah Young and Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate Holton and Christina Fincher)
FILE PHOTO: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a presentation of a Haval F7 SUV produced at the Haval car plant located in Russian Tula region, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019. Maxim Shipenkov/Pool via
BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Tuesday urged increased cross-border connectivity with Russia and deeper mutual trade and investment cooperation, as both allies vowed ever closer economic ties despite disapproval from the West after Russian forces invaded Ukraine last year.
The Russian minister of economic development held "in-depth" discussions on economic cooperation with the Chinese commerce minister in Beijing on Tuesday, coinciding with a trip by China's top diplomat, Wang Yi, to Moscow for strategic talks that led to the confirmation of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing next month.
Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said in the Beijing discussions that Sino-Russian economic and trade cooperation had continued to deepen and become more "solid" under the "strategic guidance" of the two heads of state, according to a statement from his ministry.
With the war in Ukraine well in its second year and Russia under Western sanctions, Moscow has leaned on its ally Beijing for economic support, feeding on Chinese demand for oil and gas as well as grain.
In August, Chinese imports of Russian goods rose 3% from a year earlier to $11.5 billion, reversing a decline of 8% in July, the latest Chinese customs data show.
Beijing has rejected Western criticism of its growing partnership with Moscow in light of Russia's war on Ukraine. It insists the ties do not flout international norms, and China has the prerogative to collaborate with whichever country it chooses.
On Tuesday, Group of Seven ministers reiterated its call, without naming any countries, on third parties to "cease any and all assistance to Russia's war of aggression or face severe costs."
The Russian Far East bordering China as well as North Korea has gained new strategic significance as a zone of cross-border trade and commerce.
Last week, Russia's United Oil- and Gas-Chemical Co. and China's Xuan Yuan Industrial Development agreed to build a transshipment oil complex near a railway bridge linking the Russian town of Nizhneleninskoye to China's Tongjiang as Moscow diversifies its exports of commodities away from Europe, which it now deems politically "unfriendly".
The Russian Far East, where about 70% of the country's seafood is caught, also hopes to boost exports of its marine products to China after Beijing banned seafood from Japan due to the release of radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima plant into the ocean.
Chinese state media also says there is a growing "necessity" for China and Russia to step up their grain trading amid continued tight global supplies. The construction of a grain corridor linking Russia to Heilongjiang, China's northeastern bread basket, will help bolster China's food security.
Earlier in September, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that Heilongjiang should become a "pivotal" gateway for China's opening up in the north, saying the province ought to play an active role in safeguarding national defence, food, and energy security.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Alex Richardson, Timothy Gardner and Michael Perry)
FILE PHOTO: A representation of the cryptocurrency is seen in front of Coinbase logo in this illustration taken, March 4, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
By Hannah Lang
(Reuters) - Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is stepping up its grassroots advocacy campaign in a bid to advance legislation that will provide regulatory clarity for the industry, the company said.
A congressional committee in July advanced a crypto bill that would define when a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity. The industry wants that bill to go to a full vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Coinbase on Tuesday is launching a comprehensive paid media campaign which will include advertisements in Washington, DC and calls-to-action on its own platform urging crypto users to contact their members of Congress to ask them to pass crypto legislation.
Coinbase is also organizing a so-called "fly-in" on Sept. 27 when it will bring executives and developers from about 35 crypto companies to meet staff and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Crypto is just so much bigger than Coinbase, and that I think is what's going to be really powerful about the fly-in," said Kara Calvert, head of U.S. policy at Coinbase.
Coinbase estimates there are 52 million crypto owners in the U.S.
The effort underscores how hard the crypto industry is pushing in Washington as it sees an opportunity to advance legislation that would help rein in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which has been cracking down on the industry. The regulator is suing Coinbase for allegedly selling unregistered securities, which the company denies.
Coinbase has led industry advocacy efforts in recent years, spending $3.39 million on lobbying in the 2022 election cycle, the most of any crypto company by wide margin, according to OpenSecrets.
Coinbase last month started a non-profit, Stand With Crypto, to advance pro-crypto policy. That group has recently held events in Ohio, Nevada, Georgia and Montana that have "tested the capacity to organize crypto advocates, Coinbase said in a blog.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington; editing by Michelle Price and Timothy Gardner)
FILE PHOTO: Protesters rally to demand that the United Kingdom make reparations for slavery, ahead of a visit to Jamaica by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as part of their tour of the Caribbean, outside the British High Commission, in Kingston, Jamaica
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Tuesday countries could consider financial reparations among the measures to compensate for the enslavement of people of African descent, though legal claims are complicated by the time passed and the difficulty in identifying perpetrators and victims.
A report of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said no country had comprehensively accounted for the past and addressed the contemporary legacy of the violent uprooting of an estimated 25 million to 30 million people from Africa over more than 400 years.
"Under international human rights law, compensation for any economically assessable damage, as appropriate and proportional to the gravity of the violation and the circumstances of each case, may also constitute a form of reparations," the report said.
"In the context of historical wrongs and harms suffered as a result of colonialism and enslavement, the assessment of the economic damage can be extremely difficult owing to the length of time passed and the difficulty of identifying the perpetrators and victims."
The report stressed, however, that the difficulty in making a legal claim to compensation "cannot be the basis for nullifying the existence of underlying legal obligations".
The notion of paying reparations or making other amends for slavery has a long history but the movement has recently gained momentum worldwide amid growing demands from African and Caribbean countries.
The EU said in July that Europe's slave-trading past inflicted "untold suffering" on millions of people and hinted at the need for reparations for what it described as a "crime against humanity".
The report concluded that states should consider a "plurality of measures" to address the legacies of enslavement and colonialism, including pursuing justice and reparations, and contributing to reconciliation.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Editing by Richard Chang)
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows destroyed buildings and houses in the aftermath of a deadly storm and flooding, in Derna, Libya September 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ayman Al-Sahili
(Reuters) -Communications went down, some journalists were pushed out and a U.N. aid team was blocked from the flood-hit city of Derna on Tuesday, as the authorities sought to contain public anger over the failure to prevent Libya's worst ever natural disaster.
A week after a flood wiped out much of the centre of the city, furious Derna residents demonstrated on the streets and torched the home of the mayor overnight. They accuse the authorities of failing to maintain the dams that protected the city, and failing to evacuate residents before the storm.
By Tuesday morning, the situation was again calm, but internet and phone links were down. The regional administration said it had suspended the mayor and fired the entire city council.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said search and rescue teams, emergency workers and U.N. staff already inside Derna were still operating, but a team due to head there from Benghazi had been halted.
Some journalists for media, including Arabic-language channels that have been broadcasting from the city for days, reported on Tuesday that they had been ordered out.
The overnight protests, the first sign of unrest on the ground since the flood, showed the degree to which the disaster poses a challenge to the authorities in Libya's east, now under control of regional strongman Khalifa Haftar.
"Haftar's forces are under pressure to show they have control of the situation, and that they can handle the fallout. All eyes will be on them to see if they go for repression," said Tim Eaton of Britain's Chatham House think tank, who added that harsh measures would be a "miscalculation".
"This will remain a seed of anger and contention for a long time to come."
Officials offered benign explanations for the communications cut-off and the apparent orders to some journalists to move out of the Mediterranean coastal city of 120,000 people. There was no immediate explanation for blocking the U.N. mission.
A spokesperson for the state-owned Libyan Telecommunications Holding Company, Mohamed Albdairi, told Libya Alahrar television that the communications had gone down in the area because some fiber optic cables had been severed. Engineers were investigating whether this was due to excavation work or sabotage, and looking to repair it, he said.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation in the administration that runs eastern Libya, told Reuters by phone that some reporters had been told to stay away from rescue operations, but denied this was linked to security or politics.
"It is an attempt to create better conditions for the rescue teams to carry out the work more smoothly and effectively," he said. "The large number of journalists has become an impediment to the work of rescue teams."
Officials have given widely varying death tolls since dams above Derna burst in a storm on Sept. 10, unleashing a torrent that swept away the heart of the city. The World Health Organization has confirmed 3,922 deaths. Thousands more are missing, with countless bodies washed into the sea.
VICTIMS MANY TIMES OVER
In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the General Assembly that Derna's residents were "victims many times over", of war, climate change and "leaders near and far who failed to find a way to peace".
"The people of Derna lived and died in the epicentre of that indifference - as the skies unleashed 100 times the monthly rainfall in 24 hours ..., as dams broke after years of war and neglect ..., as everything they knew was wiped off the map," he said.
"Even now, as we speak, bodies are washing ashore from the same Mediterranean Sea where billionaires sunbathe on their superyachts."
On Monday evening, demonstrators crowded into the square in front of Derna's landmark gold-domed Sahaba mosque chanting slogans. Some waved flags from atop the mosque's roof. Later in the evening, they torched the house of Mayor Abdulmenam al-Ghaithi, his office manager told Reuters.
A week after the disaster, swathes of Derna remain a muddy ruin, roamed by stray dogs, with families still searching for missing bodies in the rubble.
Angry residents say the disaster could have been prevented. Officials acknowledge that a contract to repair the dams after 2007 was never completed, blaming insecurity in the area.
Libya has been a failed state for more than a decade, with no government exercising nationwide authority since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011. Derna has been controlled since 2019 by the Libyan National Army which holds sway in the east. For several years before that it was in the hands of militant groups, including local branches of Islamic State and al Qaeda.
Mansour, a student taking part in Monday's protest, said he wanted an urgent investigation into the collapse of the dams, which "made us lose thousands of our beloved people".
(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Peter GraffEditing by Tom Perry, Alexandra Hudson, William Maclean and Mark Heinrich)
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The EU condemned on Tuesday the military escalation in Karabakh and called on Azerbaijan to stop its current military activities, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.
"There is an urgent need to return to dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians. This military escalation should not be used as a pretext to force the exodus of the local population", he said.
He added that the EU remained fully engaged in facilitating the dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched "anti-terrorist activities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying its aim was to restore constitutional order and drive out what it called Armenian military formations there.
(Reporting by Bart Meijer, Charlotte Van Campenhout; Editing by Alex Richardson)
FILE PHOTO: Internally displaced Somali children gather outside their makeshift shelters at the Ladan camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Dollow, Somalia May 1, 2023. REUTERS/Ayenat Mersie//File Photo
By Gabriela Baczynska
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The European Union's executive said on Tuesday that disbursements of humanitarian aid in Somalia were "temporarily suspended" after a U.N. probe found widespread theft and misuse of support meant to avert famine.
Quoting senior EU officials, Reuters reported exclusively on Monday that the European Commission had temporarily suspended funding for the World Food Programme (WFP) in Somalia because of the U.N. findings.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the European Commission, Balazs Ujvari, confirmed the temporary suspension.
"The Commission has not asked for the suspension of humanitarian operations in Somalia: as per standard procedures, the ongoing operations have received a pre-financing of 80% and can still be implemented through this initial funding," he said.
"Nevertheless, in view of the issues communicated by the report concerned, the Commission had to take some precautionary measures to safeguard the EU funds and therefore further disbursements are temporarily suspended until clarifications and reassurance are provided as regards the resolution of the identified issues."
The U.N. investigation concluded that landowners, local authorities, members of the security forces and humanitarian workers were all involved in stealing aid intended for vulnerable people.
Two Somalis who reached the Muri camp in the capital Mogadishu after fleeing hunger and conflict in the countryside told Reuters local officials stripped them of the aid.
Donors boosted funding to Somalia last year as humanitarian officials warned of a looming famine due to the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades. As many as 43,000 people died last year as a result of the drought, researchers estimate.
The U.N. humanitarian aid budget for Somalia is envisaged at 72 million euros ($77 million), of which 10 million euros ($10.68 million) are earmarked for the WFP.
The United States is by far Somalia's biggest humanitarian donor. Last year, it contributed more than half of the $2.2 billion of funding that went to the humanitarian response there.
Three months ago the WFP and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) suspended food aid to neighboring Ethiopia in response to a widespread diversion of donations.
A USAID official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Monday the situations in Ethiopia and Somalia were different and the agency was not planning to pause food assistance in the latter.
($1 = 0.9363 euros)
($1 = 0.9364 euros)
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Howard Goller)
By Huw Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - Most leading euro zone banks have met a January 2024 target for issuing special debt to replenish capital in a crisis, but some need to do more to ensure they can, if necessary, be wound up quickly, a European Union regulator said on Wednesday.
Recent banking crises in the United States, where Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, and in Switzerland where UBS was forced to acquire Credit Suisse, show that banks and regulators need to increase preparedness for rapidly unfolding crises, the Single Resolution Board (SRB) said.
Forcing banks in the EU's banking union to have minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) was a lesson from the 2008 global financial crisis where taxpayers had to bail out banks.
MREL debt is written down in a crisis to "bail in" the bank and help stop it from being "too big to fail".
The SRB, which sets MREL targets, said that by the end of 2022, two-thirds of banks met their final target.
The shortfall is 0.3% of total risk exposures or 20.5 billion euros ($21.87 billion). Some 2.7 trillion euros has been issued so far, and 24 banks have an MREL shortfall, though 14 of them have been given an extension until the end of 2024 or 2025 to meet their targets.
"While holding sufficient loss-absorbing resources at all times is key, it is equally important for banks to be able to use these funds in a crisis," the SRB said in a report.
Its focus is shifting to ensuring banks can credibly demonstrate by the end of this year that they can be smoothly "resolved" or wound down, restructured, or sold without disruption to customers.
"The SRB will review whether material shortcomings remain and take remedial action where needed," it said, though there is no sign so far that it will need to intervene.
Evaporating liquidity was a hallmark of recent banking turmoil and is being scrutinised in resolution plans of banks.
"In order to foster consistency across banks scenarios to be considered while integrating lessons learnt from recent crisis cases, the SRB will develop further guidance on the assumptions to be used," the watchdog said.
($1 = 0.9373 euros)
(Reporting by Huw Jones; Editing by Mark Potter)
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China Society for Human Rights Studies and Xinhua Institute, Xinhua News Agency's namesake think tank, released a report on China's practice of and contribution to global human rights governance on Tuesday.
The report, titled "For the Common Value and Dignity of All Humanity -- China's Practice of and Contribution to Global Human Rights Governance," was released globally through relevant websites, periodicals, and social media.
It comprises four parts, namely, "China's Practice of Participating In Global Human Rights Governance," "China's Contribution to Promoting the Development of World Human Rights," "Chinese Wisdom that Enriches the Form of Human Rights Civilization," and "China's Plan to Improve Global Human Rights Governance."
The report comprehensively and systematically reviewed and presented China's practice of and contribution to global human rights governance since the founding of the People's Republic of China, notably since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
China has been playing a responsible role in human rights affairs at the United Nations, engaging actively in global human rights governance, striving to promote the healthy development of the international human rights cause, thus becoming an in-depth participant in international mechanisms, a co-constructor of governance rules, an active advocate of exchanges and cooperation, and an essential promoter of governance change, said the report.
In the development process of the world human rights cause, China is not an outsider, but a constant practitioner, it said.
With concrete actions, it said, China has laid a solid foundation for advancing global human rights protection, protected a safe environment for global human rights protection, safeguarded fairness and justice in global human rights governance, and promoted exchanges and mutual learning between different human rights civilizations, thereby contributing significantly to promoting the development of world human rights cause.
In light of the great historic achievements of China's human rights practice, the report characterized China's human rights development path as having four distinctive features, namely, the people-centered nature of human rights endeavors, autonomy in human rights practice, comprehensiveness in human rights promotion, and sustainability in human rights development.
It said that while making a consistent endeavor to push forward its own human rights cause, China also takes concrete actions to push for greater fairness, justice, reason and inclusivity in global governance on human rights.
Guided by such concepts as solidarity and cooperation, development promotion, multilateral governance, inclusiveness and mutual learning, China has continuously contributed Chinese wisdom and plan to improving global human rights governance, the report added.
FILE PHOTO: Former U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer arrives for his insider trading trial at the United States Courthouse in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., March 8, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
(Reuters) - Former U.S. Congressman Stephen Buyer was sentenced to 22 months in prison on Tuesday for trading on inside information he learned in 2018 as a consultant to T-Mobile US Inc ahead of its $23 billion merger with Sprint.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in New York sentenced Buyer, who was found guilty on four counts of securities fraud at a trial in March. Buyer was a Republican from Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives between 1993 and 2011 before working as a corporate consultant.
Prosecutors said at trial that Buyer bought Sprint stock after learning from a T-Mobile executive that the telecommunications companies were in merger talks in 2018 and made illegal trades again the following year.
According to prosecutors, Buyer made more than $100,000 from the Sprint trades and more than $200,000 from buying stock in Navigant Consulting Inc. before it was acquired by Guidehouse in 2019.
Buyer took the stand at trial and denied trading on inside information. He has said he plans to file an appeal.
Prosecutors sought three years in prison for Buyer in court filings, saying that he had abused his clients' trust and lied on the stand.
Buyer asked to be sentenced to home confinement, citing his service in Congress and the U.S. military.
The case is U.S. v. Buyer, No. 22-00397, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.
(Reporting by Jody Godoy in New York, editing by Deepa Babington)
By Felix Light
TBILISI (Reuters) - Ethnic Armenian separatist authorities on Tuesday reported a major escalation of hostilities in Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh region, as Azerbaijan launched an offensive. Here are some facts about the fighting:
WHAT DOES AZERBAIJAN SAY?
Azerbaijan said it was launching "anti-terrorist measures of a local nature" in Nagorno-Karabakh, and began shelling parts of the mountain enclave, which is controlled by ethnic Armenian authorities backed by Armenia.
It said it was attacking Armenian military units in response to what it called "terrorist provocations", and that it would provide "humanitarian corridors" for civilians.
Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said peace in the breakaway region could only be achieved once Armenian troops left and the separatist local authority was dissolved.
The defence ministry said it wanted to "disarm and secure the withdrawal of formations of Armenias armed forces from our territories, (and) neutralise their military infrastructure".
It said it was using "high-precision weapons" to attack only legitimate military targets, not civilians, in an attempt to "restore constitutional order".
Azerbaijan's defence minister briefed his Turkish counterpart on Baku's operation, his ministry said.
WHAT DO THE ARMENIANS SAY?
The separatist authority said Azerbaijan was attacking its positions with artillery and drones along the length of the front line, trying to advance deep into the territory.
Armenia said it had no troops in Karabakh, which Armenians call "Artsakh".
Its foreign ministry urged Russian peacekeeping troops to stop Azerbaijan's "full-scale aggression".
RUSSIA'S ROLE
Russia brokered a ceasefire after the last war in the region in 2020, in which Azerbaijan regained control of swathes of territory in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions. It agreed to deploy almost 2,000 peacekeepers to guard a lifeline road connecting the territory to Armenia.
But in recent months Armenia has accused it of looking away and failing to fulfil what Moscow itself says is its role as guarantor of security in the region.
Moscow said its peacekeepers would continue fulfilling their mission.
"We are deeply concerned about the sharp escalation of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. "The Russian side urges the conflict parties to stop the bloodshed, immediately stop the hostilities and return to the path of political and diplomatic settlement."
She said Azerbaijan had warned Russian peacekeepers about the military action only minutes before it began.
(Reporting by Felix Light)
FILE PHOTO: Members of the press and the general public check out the Atto 3 electric SUV made by Chinese carmaker BYD, at the Fully Charged Live electric vehicle trade show in Farnborough, Britain, April 28, 2023. REUTERS/Nick Carey/File Photo
(Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle frontrunner BYD has taken an early lead in Southeast Asia's small but fast-growing EV market, partly on the back of distribution partnerships with large, local conglomerates.
Here are details about some of its regional partners: MALAYSIA & SINGAPORE
BYD cars are sold by Sime Darby Motors, the automotive arm of Malaysian trading and logistics giant Sime Darby, in two of the region's wealthiest countries.
The partnership started in 2019 when Sime Darby Motors began distributing BYD EVs in Singapore, where it now has a dealership network of seven outlets.
Sime Darby Motors took on the distributorship for Malaysia in 2022 and currently has nine dealerships nationwide, with another 12 in the pipeline, the company said.
THAILAND
Rever Automotive is the distribution and after-sales partner of BYD in Thailand, the Chinese EV giant's largest overseas market where it is investing nearly $500 million to build a new production facility.
Rever, whose CEO and vice CEO come from the family that controls local conglomerate Siam Motors Group, said last year it would invest more than 3 billion baht ($83.89 million) to push BYD into the top tier of Thailand's auto market.
The company currently has 62 dealer locations across Thailand that sell BYD cars, according to its website.
THE PHILIPPINES
AC Motors, part of Filipino conglomerate Ayala Corp, which has interests spanning from real estate to renewable energy, announced a distribution partnership with BYD last month.
The company, which also sells Japanese and European brands, will set up a dozen BYD dealerships across the Philippines in the next 12 months as it seeks to build an EV market in the country, backed by a reduction in tariffs.
INDONESIA
Indonesia's Bakrie & Brothers, which is focused on the manufacturing and infrastructure sector, is a distributor for BYD's EV buses in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
The partnership between the Chinese automaker and VKTR, a unit of the conglomerate, began in 2018 and has so far delivered 52 EV buses to the local government of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
VKTR is currently in discussions with multiple Indonesian firms for commercial orders for BYD buses and does not plan to immediately enter the passenger car segment, an official said.
($1 = 35.7600 baht)
(Compiled by Devjyot Ghoshal in Bangkok; Editing by Jamie Freed)
The Tesla factory is seen in Fremont, California, U.S. June 22, 2018. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo
(Reuters) - Tesla's plan to expand its global manufacturing footprint has sparked a race among some countries to woo CEO Elon Musk and secure billions in investment dollars.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday asked Musk to build a manufacturing plant in his country. Hours later, the Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia was in early talks with Tesla to set up factories in the Kingdom.
Musk said in May that Tesla would probably pick a location for a new factory by the end of 2023.
IN THE RUNNING
Saudi Arabia: Saudi has been luring Tesla with the right to purchase certain raw materials from countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Journal reported. Musk denied the report.
Turkey: Turkey's communications directorate cited Musk as saying that the country was among the most important candidates for its next factory.
India: Tesla has expressed interest in building a factory in the country, to produce low-cost electric vehicles (EVs) for the local market and for export.
UPCOMING FACTORIES
Mexico: Tesla is building a factory in Mexico's northern border state of Nuevo Leon. A Mexican state governor said Tesla and its suppliers would invest $15 billion over the next two years in the facility, triple the previously announced amount.
EXISTING FACTORIES
LOCATION PRODUCTS MADE AT THE FACTORY
Fremont, California Model S, Model X, Model 3 and
Model Y
Sparks, Nevada Tesla Semi, electric motors,
batteries and powertrains
Buffalo, New York Builds solar roof, solar panels
and electrical components for
superchargers
Austin, Texas Model Y and Cybertruck
Shanghai, China Model 3 and Model Y
Grunheide, Germany Model Y, battery cells
Lathrop, California Capable of producing 10,000
Megapack units every year
(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh and Arsheeya Bajwa in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)
FILE PHOTO: Shoppers wait in line at Target on the Thanksgiving Day holiday in Burbank, California, November 22, 2012. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn/File Photo
(Reuters) -U.S. companies plan to hire thousands to boost staffing in their warehouses and distribution centers as they prepare for the crucial holiday shopping season.
Hiring of seasonal workers by U.S. retailers is set to drop to levels last seen in 2008, according to a report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, while holiday sales are estimated to grow at their slowest pace in five years.
Here is a list of companies that have announced hiring plans for this holiday season:
Retailers Hiring plans - Hiring plans -
2023 2022
JCPenney nearly 10,000 nearly 22,000
Dick's 9,000
Sporting 8,600
Goods
United 100,000 100,000
Parcel
Service
Amazon.com 150,000
250,000
Target 100,000
100,000
Macy's 41,000
38,000
Bath & Body 32,500 (US and N/A
Works Canada)
1-800-Flowe 8,000 8,000
rs.com
Kroger "Seeking to hire "Seeking to
thousands of hire thousands
associates" of associates"
(Reporting by Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
FILE PHOTO: A vendor prepares wedding dresses at a show room during the China International Wedding Expo in Shanghai February 25, 2011. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
By Casey Hall and Farah Master
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) - COVID wasn't kind to wedding planners in China, where marriages are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs, but the industry estimated at almost $500 billion is now facing a bigger threat: a plunge in the number of couples willing to tie the knot.
The trend, which has become more obvious as the economy weakens and consumer confidence wanes, is also worrying officials trying to revive marriage, and birth, rates which dropped to record lows last year, leading to the first decline in population numbers in 60 years.
"The number of marriages is falling and few are willing to spend a lot on weddings," said Yuan Jialiang, who ran a full-scale wedding planning business for almost a decade in Shanghai before switching to focus on wedding photography before the pandemic.
"The future of this industry doesn't look promising."
There were 6.8 million marriages across China last year, 800,000 fewer than in 2021 and the lowest since the government began publishing the data in 1986.
This drop in marriage registrations will exacerbate the decline in births in China, now one of the world's fastest-ageing societies. Many cities deny unmarried mothers child-raising or healthcare subsidies and having children out of wedlock is often frowned upon.
"You have a lot of consumers that are just saying 'well, you know, marriage isn't the right thing for me' and a lot of younger adults in China feel that raising kids is just too expensive," said Ben Cavender, managing director and head of strategy at China Market Research Group.
"The traditional Chinese wedding industry is probably in for tough times."
BUDGET, BACKLOG
Before the pandemic hit, weddings were big business in China, with Daxue Consulting estimating the industry to be worth 3.6 trillion yuan ($487 billion) in 2020.
Couples traditionally splash out on gold jewellery, elaborate decor and luxury venues but Frank Chen, from Chen Feng Wedding Planning in Shanghai, says few weddings this year had a budget of over 100,000 yuan ($13,736).
"People are more inclined to go for a simple and niche wedding," said Chen, adding that a decade ago, it was common for couples to spend millions of yuan.
Many weddings planned for 2022 were postponed by COVID-19 lockdowns, resulting in a busier 2023 for some firms.
Jewellery companies Chow Tai Fook and TSL said they expect demand for wedding jewellery this year to return to pre-pandemic levels.
TSL, however, said the long-term future of the industry would depend on the strength of the economy.
"It's just the COVID backlog," said wedding planner Xueyi, whose business in Xi'an and Shanghai has also seen a spike this year. "Some of my clients who had bookings rescheduled have actually separated."
'NICHE, NICHE, NICHE'
The economic downturn has hit the middle class, and the youth, the hardest, resulting in high jobless rates and low household spending.
Wealthier consumers appear to be better insulated against the macroeconomic headwinds and Jewel Wang, owner of a network of stores selling wedding dresses by U.S. designer Vera Wang, expects companies specialising in high-end or bespoke services to fare better than those in the low-to-mid-ranges.
Wang, who is also founder of Nora's bridal boutique in Shanghai which stocks luxury gowns from designers including Oscar de la Renta and Carolina Herrera, said June was the best month in a decade due to pent-up demand.
"For us it makes more sense to find the next bride who can afford our products versus capturing a greater part of the market," she added.
Still, she was cautious about the future.
"As a market we see an absolute downturn in spending. Our strategy has been to stay niche, niche, niche," said Wang.
"We don't want to flow with the broader market because we don't think that it's a good place to go."
($1 = 7.2802 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Casey Hall and Xihao Jiang in Shanghai and Farah Master in Hong Kong; editing by Marius Zaharia and Miral Fahmy)
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks during the session of the Finnish Parliament in Helsinki, Finland on Wednesday, 6th Sep., 2023. Finnish parliament debated of government's anti-racism policy. Lehtikuva/via REUTERS/File photo
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland's ruling centre-right coalition has agreed on a 2024 budget bill that will see the government deficit widen 35% to 11.5 billion euros ($12.28 billion) next year, Finance Minister Riikka Purra said on Tuesday.
The coalition bill set out total spending of 87.9 billion euros next year, compared to the 80.5 billion euros originally estimated for 2023 in the previous Social Democrat-led government's last full budget.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who took office in June vowing that his government would cut deficits, said the economic outlook had become increasingly gloomy.
"With the latest forecasts the economic situation has further worsened which will result in lower tax income in the future," Orpo told a news conference, adding that his government had taken decisions without which spending would have run even higher.
Weaker exports and a struggling construction sector will prolong Finland's economic downturn, the Bank of Finland estimated last week as lowered its 2024 growth forecast to 0.2% from the previously estimated 0.9% expansion.
($1 = 0.9366 euros)
(Reporting by Essi Lehto; editing by Niklas Pollard)
PARIS (Reuters) - France said on Tuesday it was working with its partners to respond strongly after what it said was an unjustified military operation launched by Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh.
"France calls on Azerbaijan to immediately cease its offensive and return to respect for international law," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"It will hold Azerbaijan solely responsible for the fate of the civilian populations of Nagorno-Karabakh."
It called for the United Nations Security Council to convene urgently to discuss the issue.
France, along with the United States and Russia are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group that mediates over Nagorno-Karabakh.
"It (France) is working closely with its European and American partners so that a strong response is provided to this unacceptable offensive, commensurate with the risks it poses to the security of the region," the ministry said.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday launched "anti-terrorist activities" in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, saying its aim was to restore constitutional order and drive out what it called Armenian military formations there.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
By Andreas Rinke
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany summoned the Polish ambassador on Tuesday, and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke to her Polish counterpart to discuss allegations about a cash-for-visas deal for migrants that has roiled Polish politics, government sources told Reuters.
The Polish government is facing accusations by opposition that it was complicit in a system in which migrants received visas at an accelerated pace without proper checks after paying intermediaries. The German interior ministry's action is the first known international repercussion of an affair that has so far been dominated by local debate.
Germany is seeking urgent clarification as to how many visas might have been issued and the nationalities of the recipients, people familiar with the matter said, and also wanted to know what countermeasures the Polish government was taking.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government is seeking a "quick and complete clarification of the serious allegations of possible visa fraud," one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Asked to comment on Berlin's steps, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk told Polish state-run news agency PAP: "It's about clarifying the accusations that some Polish and German media are making against Poland - in a completely unjustified way - in the context of the migration crisis.
"The ambassador explained that these are unjustified accusations. I think he reassured our German partners and I think this meeting had that purpose," Mularczyk said.
In a letter to Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson demanded full clarification of the scandal of up to 350,000 purchased work visas for the EU-Schengen area, BILD reported on Wednesday.
The EU Commissioner has set Oct. 3 as the deadline for answering the questions. Elections will be held in Poland 12 days later.
In the letter made available to BILD, the commissioner points out that the behaviour of the Polish authorities could mean "a violation of EU law and in particular of the EU Visa Code."
Germany has already publicly expressed its concern about the issue and deployed hundreds of additional border police to the German-Polish border.
The scandal erupted just as the ruling nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party is seeking to secure a third term in power in parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, with a tougher stance on illegal immigration an important theme of its campaign.
Poland's foreign ministry said on Friday it had fired the head of its legal service and canceled all its contracts for outsourcing visa applications.
A day earlier, seven people were charged over the alleged irregularities in granting work visas and two weeks after anticorruption officers looking in to the scandal searched the foreign ministry and a deputy foreign minister was also dismissed.
PiS has accused the opposition of exaggerating the extent of the issue and suggested some of the problems date back to the opposition's time in power.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Berlin, additional reporting by Alan Charlish, Karol Badohal and Maria MartinezWriting by Matthias WilliamsEditing by Friederike Heine, Tomasz Janowski and Matthew Lewis)
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) - At least five policemen were killed in an attack by armed men in Nigeria's southeastern Imo state, a police spokesman said on Tuesday, the latest incident in a state rife with gang and separatist violence.
Armed groups have attacked police stations and government buildings in states in Nigeria's southeast, which authorities often blame on the proscribed separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group. IPOB denies the charges.
Imo police spokesman Henry Okoye confirmed the attack occurred at Ehime Mbano local government area of the state, but did not immediately provide details because investigations are ongoing.
Local media reported at least eight fatalities including soldiers and men of Nigeria's Civil Defence Corps, a paramilitary agency.
Widespread insecurity has rocked Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, with armed attacks and kidnappings in the northwest, a festering Islamist insurgency in the northeast and violent sectarian and herder-farmer clashes in the central region.
IPOB has been campaigning for southeastern Nigeria, the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group, to be an independent country.
More than a million people died, mostly of starvation, during a three-year civil that began in 1967 when the region attempted to secede under the name Republic of Biafra.
(Reporting by Camilus Eboh; Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Steel beams fell at a construction site in downtown Tokyo on Tuesday, injuring at least five people, with four in cardiac arrest, according to local authorities.
At around 9:30 a.m. local time, it was reported that steel beams plummeted from the 10th floor to the 4th floor at a construction site near Nihongbashi in Tokyo's Chuo district.
According to the Chuo police station, at least five workers were injured, and some of the victims might have been trapped beneath the fallen steel beams.
Four injured, who appeared to be male construction workers on-site, are now in cardiac arrest. One person sustained injuries but remained conscious.
A total of 27 emergency response vehicles, including fire trucks, have been mobilized to the scene to conduct rescue operations, according to local media reports.
The accident took place in close proximity to the bustling JR Tokyo Station Yaesu Exit near a cluster of office buildings.
The precise cause of the steel beam collapse is still under investigation.
Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid speaks during a news conference as an ancient artifact brought back from Italy is exhibited, following his visit to Rome, in Baghdad, Iraq, June 18, 2023. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad/File photo
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid will summon Turkey's ambassador to Iraq to protest a drone strike on a small airport in the Kurdistan region on Monday that left several members of the Iraqi security forces dead, a presidency statement said.
Three members of the Iraqi counterterrorism service were killed and three others wounded on Monday in the strike on the small military airport of Arbid, the Iraqi military said.
Bafel Talabani, president of the PUK, one of the dominant Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, said a total of six dead and several wounded were members of the Iraqi Kurdish counter-terrorism force.
The drone entered Iraqi airspace through Turkey's border, Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement early on Tuesday, adding: "Iraq reserves the right to put an end to these violations."
Turkey regularly carries out air strikes that it says target Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq, and has dozens of outposts in Iraqi territory.
The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984.
A Turkish foreign ministry statement, while not outright claiming the strike, said "the latest incident has once again confirmed the accuracy of Turkeys measures."
It said that "at the time of the explosion," counterterrorism forces affiliated with the Iraqi Kurdish PUK party were training together with PKK "terrorists."
The statement reiterated Turkey's call for Iraq to designate the PKK as a terrorist organisation.
The United States and United Nations missions in Iraq both condemned the strike, without naming who had done it.
"Attacks repeatedly violating Iraqi sovereignty must stop. Security concerns must be addressed through dialogue and diplomacy - not strikes," the U.N. mission in Iraq said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Arbid is a small airport used for helicopters located 50 km (30 miles) to the east of the city of Sulaimaniya in the northeast of the country.
One security source said initial information suggested a Turkish drone was used in the attack against a suspected PKK target.
(Reporting by Timour Azhari in Baghdad and Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Tuesday called for calm in Azerbaijan's breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region after Azerbaijan launched a military operation there, saying that both Baku and Yerevan should sit down to talks to resolve the conflict.
Azerbaijan said it needed to restore constitutional order and drive Armenian military units out of Nagorno-Karabakh, which is largely controlled by ethnic Armenians with Yerevan's support. Armenia, Russia's formal ally, denied having forces in the area.
"We are concerned about the sharp escalation of tension and the beginning of hostilities," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"The first thing for us, against the background of the military operation carried out by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, is to ensure the safety of the civilian population of Karabakh."
Peskov said the Russian military had been in contact with both Baku and Azerbaijan and that Moscow was urging talks.
"Our military is working to return the settlement process to the political and diplomatic path," Peskov said, adding that the basis for talks was the ceasefire agreement brokered by Russia that ended a 2020 war in which Azerbaijan made significant gains.
"We urge everyone to follow the provisions of these documents, naturally, taking into account those new realities, meaning the fact that the Armenian side recognised the territory of Azerbaijan as at 1991."
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey)
FILE PHOTO: A truck with corn is seen at a grain storage facility in the village of Bilohiria, Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo
By Pavel Polityuk and Yuliia Dysa
KYIV (Reuters) -Ukraine appealed to three neighbouring countries in the European Union on Tuesday to embark on "constructive dialogue" to end a dispute over agricultural trade, and approved what it called a "compromise scenario."
Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into Ukraine's five EU neighbours, which also include Romania and Bulgaria.
The Polish, Slovak and Hungarian governments said their actions sought to protect farmers from a surge of grain and food imports from Ukraine since its invasion by Russia last year.
A World Trade Organization spokesperson confirmed that Ukraine had taken the first step in a trade dispute by filing a complaint to the global trade body.
"We can confirm that a request for consultations was received Monday evening. Further information will be provided once the request has been circulated to our members," the spokesperson said in an email addressed to Reuters.
He did not name the countries although Kyiv had previously said the complaint targeted Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal later spelled out Kyiv's position in comments on the Telegram messaging app.
He confirmed that Kyiv would impose retaliatory import restrictions on certain categories of goods from Poland and Hungary if they did not lift their unilateral bans. Ukraine, meanwhile, is conducting an investigation to show that the unilateral bans are discriminatory, he said.
Shmyhal said Kyiv had proposed to the European Commission, the EU executive, and neighboring countries an export control plan on four groups of farm products to prevent market distortions -- a plan he described as a compromise scenario.
"We once again call on our neighbours to abandon harmful and illegal restrictions, political populism and embark on the path of constructive dialogue, from which everyone will actually benefit," he said.
HELPING THE WORLD
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is attending U.N. meetings in New York, said he told the Sustainable Development Goals summit that Ukraine's exports were "helping the world be more stable and stronger".
Polish President Andrzej Duda, also in New York, told reporters: "It would be good for Ukraine to remember that it receives help from us and to remember that we are also a transit country to Ukraine."
Ukraine's Trade Representative, Taras Kachka, told national television that Kyiv strictly sought the removal of the bans.
"We want to see Polish farmers develop, we want to see Ukrainian farmers develop...Each has their own situation and a great many problems," Kachka said.
"Poland banned imports. So you have to understand our actions are a reaction. We have been in talks with them for half a year in different situations."
Signalling its intention to move forward with the compromise proposal on Tuesday, the Ukrainian government approved the introduction of export licences for a number of agricultural products for export to Ukraine's five EU neighbours.
"The government of Ukraine approved a new procedure for exporting certain types of products to certain EU member states," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.
"It stipulates that four crops -- corn, rapeseed, sunflower seed, wheat, which are exported to 5 countries -- must be licensed by the economy ministry in agreement with agriculture ministry."
The ministry said Kyiv would agree on the list and volume of products with importing countries, which would determine whether they are ready to accept these goods.
"Only then do we issue permits to our companies to export certain products. Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with the receiving countries," it added.
Russia's war on Ukraine has disrupted Kyiv's ability to export farm products through its ports, leading to a surge in shipments via road, rail and barge through its five neighbours.
(Additional tporting by Emma Farge and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva, and by Anna Pruchnicka, Editing by Timothy Heritage, William Maclean, Ron Popeski and David Gregorio)
Latvian prime minister candidate Evika Silina addresses the parliament before its vote for a new government in Riga, Latvia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
RIGA (Reuters) -Latvia's government decided on Tuesday to close one of its two border crossing points with Belarus as the prime minister accused Minsk of again using illegal migrants as a "hybrid threat" to undermine the Baltic state's security.
In 2021, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania faced an immigration crisis when thousands of people, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, began crossing from Belarus.
The three countries, all members of NATO and the European Union, eventually resorted to pushing the migrants back, a policy that remains in place.
Fifty officers now working at the Silene border station will be redeployed to guard the actual border, in what Latvia's border guard chief has described as "the most tense situation since 2021" due to an influx of migrants from Belarus.
Guards have turned back 894 people attempting to cross the border in the last six days, taking September's total to 1,773, Latvian news wire LETA reported.
"Border tensions are increasing, and Belarus is engaging more and more in such a hybrid threat, that we have an increasing number of illegal travellers", Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina told reporters.
The border crossing point has been closed to "send signals internationally", she added.
However, Belarus Border Guard said on its website on Tuesday that the Silene crossing point remained open and that Latvia had not informed it of any changes.
Poland and Lithuania have fenced their borders with Belarus and the new Latvian government has pledged to finish its own fence by the end of the year.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia. It allowed Russian armed forces to use its territory as a staging post to invade Ukraine, Belarus' southern neighbour, in early 2022. In May this year, Russia deployed tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Janis LaizansEditing by Terje Solsvik and Gareth Jones)
By John Revill
ZURICH (Reuters) - A former member of a Belarusian special unit accused of making opposition members disappear without trace went on trial in Switzerland on Tuesday, in the first case of its kind to be heard in the country.
The man, who has sought asylum in Switzerland, is accused of involvement in the enforced disappearance of three opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994.
The defendant, who has not been named according to Swiss reporting restrictions, was tracked down in Switzerland by human rights groups.
The Belarus embassy in Bern declined to comment on the case.
In a weekend interview with the newspaper Schweiz am Wochenende, the accused said that although he was involved in arresting the men he "neither ordered nor carried out the murders."
"I was merely a witness to them. I followed orders. I am ready to answer for this act," he said.
The Swiss law on enforced disappearance took effect in 2017 but it has not been used in a criminal case before.
The case is being heard under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction that allows states to prosecute individuals suspected of having committed international crimes, regardless of nationality or where the offences were committed.
The case relates to the 1999 disappearance of former interior minister Yuri Zakharenka, Viktar Hanchar, a former deputy prime minister, and businessman Anatoly Krasouski, with authorities in Belarus refusing to help their families find them.
The defendant had sought asylum in Switzerland arguing that his life was at risk in Belarus due to his willingness to speak out about his involvement with the specialist unit charged with making opponents to President Lukashenko disappear.
The case follows criminal claims by relatives of two of the victims, and is supported by Geneva-based group Trial International, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Viasna Human Rights Center in Belarus.
The defendant was arrested in 2021, and after being questioned he was formally charged in May 2022. The prosecution are seeking a sentence of three years, with two years suspended.
The case is being heard by Rorshach District Court in North Eastern Switzerland, with a verdict expected on Wednesday.
"This is the first time a Belarus official has gone on trial for such grave infringements of human rights," Clemence Bectarte, a lawyer for FIDH told Reuters.
"Forced disappearance is a very specific crime that has been used in Belarus to spread terror among opponents, activists and their families. The people responsible must be exposed and brought to justice."
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
FILE PHOTO: Migrants travel on a train, with the intention of reaching the United States, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico August 29, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez/File Photo
By Laura Gottesdiener
MONTERREY, Mexico/MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Mexican railroad operator Ferromex has temporarily suspended operations of 60 trains on northbound routes, the company said on Tuesday, after nearly half a dozen deaths or injuries of migrants using the cargo trains to travel.
Ferromex, owned by conglomerate Grupo Mexico, said in a statement the presence of migrants in its railcars and rail yards had grown "significantly" in recent days, growing to more than 4,000 in several cities throughout the country.
"Due to this, Ferromex will temporarily suspend its operations on the affected routes to protect the physical integrity of the migrants and will be monitoring whatever measures authorities implement," the rail operator said.
Despite the risks, migrants frequently hitch rides atop cargo trains to travel hundreds of miles across Mexico towards the U.S. border.
The suspension of some Ferromex trains comes as large groups of migrants are arriving in various Mexican border cities, including Ciudad Juarez, Piedras Negras and Tijuana.
A Venezuelan migrant named Heyder, who asked to be identified only by his first name as he planned to cross illegally, said he decided to hop aboard a cargo train en route to Ciudad Juarez after waiting more than three months in northern Mexico hoping to land an appointment on a U.S. government smartphone app to present himself at a port of entry.
"We are risking everything aboard the train, our lives, everything," he told Reuters by telephone as he rode a train across the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua on Tuesday. "Because in our countries there is no hope."
(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey, Mexico and Kylie Madry in Mexico City; Editing by Valentine Hilaire, Timothy Gardner and Lincoln Feast.)
FILE PHOTO: Chris Hipkins speaks to members of the media, after being confirmed as the only nomination to replace Jacinda Ardern as leader of the Labour Party, outside New Zealand's parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Lucy Cra
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand should use its diplomatic clout to try and avert a situation of armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday during a first debate with his main challenger ahead of a general election.
He was responding to a hypothetical question in the 1News debate on what he would do if China invaded democratically-ruled Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, at a time when China is stepping up military activities near the island.
"Armed conflict in the Taiwan Strait is not going to be good for the world and New Zealand should use all of its diplomatic might whatever that might be to try and avoid that situation," Hipkins said.
Wellington has historically taken a more conciliatory approach towards China than Australia or its other Five Eyes security partners, Britain, Canada and the United States.
In recent months, however, Hipkins' Labour government has become more vocal, raising concerns about the impact Chinas assertiveness is having on the Pacific region.
His comments came in a debate that saw prime ministerial hopefuls clash on most issues, although opposition leader Christopher Luxon was clear that the two main parties are on the same page when it comes to foreign policy.
"Our relationships with key partners have actually been very consistent between governments," Luxon said, adding that successive governments, and parties, had taken a bipartisan approach to foreign affairs.
Recent opinion polls give Luxons centre-right National Party a significant lead over the ruling Labour Party, putting it on course to win the Oct. 14 election, although it would probably need to form a coalition with at least one minor party.
Luxon agreed with Hipkins that talk of hypothetical scenarios such as China and Taiwan was not helpful, however.
"I dont think we should talk about hypotheticals like that," Hipkins said.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party, the main opposition candidate in Nigeria's presidential election, stands at a voting booth before casting a ballot at a polling station in Yola, Nigeria, February 25, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) -Nigeria's two main opposition leaders on Tuesday filed separate appeals at the Supreme Court challenging a tribunal ruling that earlier this month upheld President Bola Tinubu's victory in a disputed February election.
No legal challenge to the outcome of a presidential election has succeeded in Nigeria, which returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost uninterrupted military rule and has a history of electoral fraud.
Atiku, from the People's Democratic Party who came second in the election, said in a court filing that the tribunal erred in law "when it failed to nullify the presidential election ... on the ground of non compliance" with the electoral law.
Labour Party's Peter Obi, who polled third in the presidential race, also filed his appeal, a spokesperson for his campaign told Reuters.
The two had up to Wednesday to challenge the Sept. 6 tribunal ruling. The Supreme Court, the highest in Nigeria, has 60 days to rule on the appeals.
A five-member tribunal had rejected the challenge by Atiku, and Obi, who asked the tribunal to cancel the election, alleging irregularities.
Tinubu, who is attending the United Nations meeting in New York, has defended his victory, saying he won fairly.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh, writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by William Maclean, Alexandra Hudson)
FILE PHOTO: A screen displays the logo and trading information for Oracle Corporation on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 30, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
By Nivedita Balu
TORONTO (Reuters) -Oracle is ready to cater to Canadian banks for their open banking needs and provide tools as needed when the country make its available, a financial services executive with the cloud computing giant said.
"We are open banking ready," Sonny Singh, executive vice president of Oracle Financial Services said in an interview.
"It just depends whether the policies that Canada decides to deploy will require banks to go down that path."
Singh was speaking at SIBOS in Toronto where fintech, financial firms and tech companies gathered to discuss sustainable finance, risk management in an unpredictable landscape, among other key topics.
Open banking allows consumers and small businesses to securely and efficiently transfer their financial data among financial institutions and third party service providers.
It is not yet available in Canada, and is available in other countries, like Australia and Britain.
"From a technology perspective, this is about having banking applications that are exposed through API and have a robust mechanism of monetization," Singh said.
Oracle's suite of financial products - used in 140 countries, billing and managing $500 billion in revenue - includes purpose-built products for financial services from financial crime, compliance applications and risk management.
Canadian banks are partnering with fintech firms as they look to address the banking needs of thousands of newcomers in the country and facilitate easy banking access.
Oracle already counts some Canadian banks as clients for one or many of its services, that includes cloud to enterprise applications.
The American company lost billions in market value earlier this month after its weak forecast suggested that strong competition in the cloud-computing industry and a digital spending pullback were weighing on its revenue growth.
Oracle, known for its database software, has been playing catch-up with cloud majors such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft's Azure and Alphabet's Google Cloud at a time businesses are dialing back tech spending over concerns about the economy.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in TorontoEditing by Marguerita Choy)
Paraguay's president Santiago Pena addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
(Reuters) - Paraguay supports Taiwan joining the United Nations system, the South American country's president, Santiago Pena, said on Tuesday, speaking at the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA).
Due to a 1971 U.N. resolution, Taiwan has been excluded from the international body, which recognizes the People's Republic of China as the legitimate representative of China to the U.N.
"The government of Paraguay expresses its support for the Republic of China - Taiwan to be an integral part of the United Nations system," Pena said.
Paraguay is the last South American country with formal relations with Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory.
When asked about Taiwan last week, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said exclusion of anyone can harm global goals.
"Every person matters, whether it's Taiwan or otherwise. And I think it's really important for member states to find a solution," she said.
However, Taiwan has conceded it would be "very hard" to achieve membership.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland)
Dubai Chambers is preparing to welcome heads of state, government officials, senior business leaders, and global investors to shape the future of business at the inaugural edition of the Dubai Business Forum. The event will take place at the citys Madinat Jumeirah from November 1 to 2 under the theme Shifting Economic Power: Dubai and the Future of Global Trade.
Hosted under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the forum will bring together key stakeholders from the government and private sectors across the globe to explore strategic economic partnerships, develop international networks, and open new horizons for business, trade, and investments.
Previously known as the Global Business Forum, the Dubai Business Forum is set to play an instrumental role in achieving the objectives of the Dubai Economic Agenda (D33).
Concerted efforts
Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, commented: Shaping the future of the business landscape requires concerted efforts from all stakeholders as we strive to enhance the emirates competitiveness in line with the vision of the wise leadership. The Dubai Business Forum comes as part of our efforts to drive business and investment opportunities in the emirate and paves the way for companies to unlock the exciting opportunities created by Dubais ambitious economic agenda.
Lootah added: This landmark event is set to further strengthen Dubais reputation as a leading economic capital and empower the global business community to shape a more prosperous future. We look forward to hosting inspiring interactive discussions that will open new horizons for growth in business, trade, and investments.
Insightful discussions
Underlining Dubais growing position as a leading capital of the global economy, the forum will bring together key stakeholders in sectors including technology, retail, finance, travel, hospitality, real estate and healthcare. The landmark event will feature insightful discussions and interactive sessions aimed at shaping the future of business.
The Dubai Business Forum creates a dynamic platform for collaboration between key stakeholders that will accelerate the growth of trade and investments. The event is closely aligned with Dubai Chambers strategic priorities, which include attracting international companies and investments to the emirate, supporting the expansion of local companies in targeted global markets, and enhancing Dubais favourable business environment.--TradeArabia News Service
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Some Western officials and media outlets have recently signaled doom and gloom for China's economy with biased reports that paint it as on the verge of "collapse."
The intent is to mislead the world, shake confidence in China's economy and undermine China's cooperative relations with other countries.
Here's a sense of some of the many downbeat headlines: "Peak China?" printed The Economist in bold letters on its May 13 cover; "China's economic collapse carries a warning about our own future," read the headline of an article of The Hill; "China's unprecedented economic crisis worries the rest of the world," Le Monde reported.
Throughout China's rise over the past four decades, there has never been a lack of doomsayers uttering dire warnings about the country's economic outlook. Yet their pessimistic forecasts have never accorded with reality.
Take American writer Gordon Chang's infamous "China collapse" theory. In his 2001 book The Coming Collapse of China, he predicted that the Chinese economy would collapse by 2011, which was proven wrong. He changed the timing of his prediction multiple times and was proven wrong every time, becoming a laughingstock.
"All sorts of comments predicting the collapse of China's economy keep resurfacing every now and then. But China's economy has outlived them all. What has collapsed is such rhetoric, not China's economy," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press conference last week.
Despite a sluggish economic recovery globally, the Chinese economy has shown strong resilience and great potential, remaining a major driving force for global growth.
In the first half of the year, China's GDP expanded by 5.5 percent, the fastest among major economies. The International Monetary Fund in July estimated China's 2023 growth rate at 5.2 percent, while global growth is projected to be 3.0 percent, with the United States at 1.8 percent.
Yet some Western observers remain "selectively blind" to serve their ulterior motives.
"Today's doom-mongering about China says more about the Western elite's sense of confusion, inertia and impotence than about anything really happening in China," said British online magazine Spiked in a recent article titled "The fall of China? Don't bet on it."
"A Western elite that has lost its sense of purpose and confidence might take some solace from the imminent collapse of its biggest geopolitical adversary," it added.
Smearing China's economy won't solve their own problems. As evidenced by Fitch Ratings' recent downgrading of the U.S. debt rating from AAA to AA+, the country's economic trajectory is far from stellar.
A "ticking time bomb" is how U.S. President Joe Biden recently described the Chinese economy. "Yet, should the notion of a 'ticking time bomb' indeed resonate as a motive, it finds its ironic resonance more aptly in the realm of U.S. economic affairs," The Jakarta Post said.
Such a "Chicken Little" tactic, which aims to instill fear in the audience and sway public opinion, has become "a staple in the playbook of electioneering" when U.S. politicians try to attract public attention by vilifying China, the newspaper said.
Besides fearmongering, some Western politicians tried to drive a wedge between China and its neighbors by floating the idea that such economic "collapse" may have a spillover effect.
In the face of decoupling, unilateral sanctions and disruptions of industrial and supply chains, China has navigated economic headwinds with an effective policy mix so far this year and remains committed to high-level opening-up, strengthening cooperation with countries worldwide and sharing the dividends of development.
Hyping up China's "collapse" won't disrupt China's economic development. In the era of globalization, all countries should work together and learn to coexist for a better future.
FILE PHOTO: Saudi's new Defence Minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman chairs his first meeting with military officials in the Ministry of Defence in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 28, 2022. Saudi Press Agency/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
CAIRO (Reuters) -Saudi Arabia welcomed positive results from discussions to reach a road map supporting the peace process in Yemen, the kingdom's foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday, after Houthi negotiators' talks with the Saudis in Riyadh.
Houthi enovys left Riyadh on Tuesday after a five-day round of talks with Saudi officials on ending the eight-year-old conflict in Yemen, sources familiar with the meeting and Houthi media said.
The kingdom reaffirmed its commitment to promoting dialogue among all warring parties in Yemen, the Saudi defence minister said on Wednesday after meeting with the Houthi delegation.
"I emphasized the Kingdom's support for Yemen and reaffirmed our commitment to promoting dialogue among all parties to reach a comprehensive political solution under UN supervision," Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a post on messaging platform X.
Houthi envoys left Riyadh on Tuesday after a five-day round of talks with Saudi officials on a potential agreement paving the way to an end to the eight-year-old conflict in Yemen, sources familiar with the meeting and Houthi media said.
Some progress has been made on the main sticking points, including a timeline for foreign troops exiting Yemen and a mechanism for paying public wages, two sources said, adding the sides would meet for more talks after consultations "soon."
The Houthi delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia last week. It was the first such official visit to the kingdom since the war broke out in Yemen in 2014 after the Iran-aligned group ousted a Saudi-backed government there.
The talks are focused on a full reopening of Houthi-controlled ports and Sanaa airport, payment of wages for public servants, rebuilding efforts, and a timeline for foreign forces to quit Yemen. An agreement would allow the United Nations to restart a broader political peace process.
The Houthis have been fighting against a Saudi-led military alliance since 2015 in a conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands and left 80% of Yemen's population dependent on humanitarian aid.
The United States has put pressure on its ally Saudi Arabia to end the war and linked some U.S. military support to the kingdom to ending its involvement in Yemen.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray; Editing by Chris Reese)
By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) - SiTime on Tuesday said it has shrunk a new chip for use in 5G networks and military electronics to about nine times smaller than existing products on the market.
SiTime makes what are known as timing devices, one of the oldest and most ubiquitous parts of all computing systems. Timing devices work a bit like a drummer in a band, providing a steady beat that keeps all the other elements of the system, such as networking and memory chips, working in sync.
For decades, timing devices have worked the straightforward principle of pumping electricity through a quartz crystal, causing it to vibrate at predictable frequency that provides a steady beat, similar to a quartz wristwatch.
SiTime takes a different approach, using a technology called a micro-electromechanical system that is manufactured more like a computer chip. That has helped it shrink the size of timing devices, prompting customers such as to use SiTime chips in its Dojo supercomputer system.
SiTime's new chips, which it calls its Epoch Platform, are made to be faster and more resistant to big swings in temperature up to 95 degrees Celsius (203 degrees Fahrenheit) and vibrations than quartz devices, which the company believes will make them useful for 5G equipment that sits outdoors or in defense electronics that have to pass ruggedness tests.
"The environmental conditions are everything" in such markets, Rajesh Vashist, chief executive of SiTime, told Reuters in an interview.
SiTime said the chips will enter mass production next year.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler)
By Michael Martina
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. must fully implement sanctions on China for its Xinjiang policies, a U.S. congressional committee told the State Department, demanding reasons why Washington had yet to put restrictions on some officials linked to abuses in the Chinese region.
Congress in recent years has passed laws to pressure China over what the State Department says is an ongoing genocide of Uyghurs and other largely Muslim minority groups from Xinjiang.
But the House of Representatives select committee on China said in a letter that the Biden administration has not issued sanctions under one of those laws the Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act (UHRPA) passed in 2020 which requires the U.S. president, absent a waiver, to identify and sanction Chinese officials responsible for abuses.
Beijing denies any abuses in Xinjiang.
The U.S. has sanctioned a handful of Chinese officials and entities linked to Xinjiang under various channels, including the Global Magnitsky Act and by executive order, actions that activists say are inadequate to the scale of atrocities committed.
"The United States must take action to hold PRC (People's Republic of China) perpetrators accountable and thus disincentivize further human rights abuses against the Uyghurs and other groups," Mike Gallagher, the committee's chair, said in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Some Xinjiang experts say that alleged mass internment of Uyghurs peaked in 2018, but that abuses have continued with forced labor and labor transfers becoming more prominent.
The letter, dated Sept. 19, asked Blinken and Mayorkas to explain why certain Chinese officials, including Xinjiang Communist Party secretary Ma Xingrui, had not been sanctioned given their role in formulating and executing China's crackdown.
It also asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to explain why dozens of Xinjiang-linked companies had not been added to an entity list under the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act that would bar their imports.
The State Department has long been mulling sanctions under UHRPA, but Reuters reported in May that related measures were among policies delayed in the wake of a diplomatic crisis spurred by the U.S. downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over U.S. soil earlier this year.
The Biden administration has argued it never pulls punches on China, but senior officials have recognized the importance of properly "sequencing" policies.
"This administration has utilized, and will continue to utilize, a variety of tools and diplomatic tactics to promote accountability for the PRC's ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang," a State Department spokesperson said.
DHS did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited Xinjiang in August and said maintaining social stability was a top priority, comments activists viewed as him doubling down on his approach.
"(Xi) feels no pressure to pretend that they are doing anything other than continuing down this path," said Julie Millsap of the Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project.
(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar
By Michelle Nichols and Gabriela Baczynska
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy implored world leaders gathered at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday to stand united against Russia's invasion and said Moscow had to be pushed back so the world could turn to solving pressing global challenges.
Zelenskiy drew applause as he took his place at the United Nations General Assembly lectern in New York for his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia invaded his country in 2022.
"Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation," he said. "Weaponization must be restrained, war crimes must be punished, deported people must come back home and the occupier must return to their own land."
"We must be united to make it - and we'll do it."
He accused Russia of manipulating global food markets to seek international recognition of ownership of land it seized from Kyiv.
In a nod to the Global South, whose support he is seeking in his standoff with Russia, Zelenskiy spoke about the worsening climate crisis and natural disasters, mentioning the recent earthquake in Morocco and floods in Libya.
"We have to stop it. We must act united to defeat the aggressor and focus all our capabilities and energy on addressing these challenges," he told the General Assembly.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said nine people were killed in Russian attacks, including a drone strike that set ablaze industrial warehouses.
Zelenskiy accused Russia of kidnapping Ukrainian children.
In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of illegally deporting children from Ukraine. The Kremlin rejects the accusations and the court's jurisdiction.
"Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine and all ties with their families are broken. And this is clearly a genocide when hatred is weaponized against one nation," Zelenskiy said.
Last year, Zelenskiy presented a 10-point plan that included restoring Ukraine's territorial integrity, the withdrawal of Russian troops and cessation of hostilities, and the restoration of Ukraine's state borders.
He said he was now working towards a peace summit based on that: "Tomorrow I will present the details at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council."
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska and Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly speaks during an interview with Reuters, during the 78th United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Bing Guan
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Tuesday to push Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and stress to Moscow the importance of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
THE TAKE
Cleverly spoke to Reuters in an interview on the same day that Wang met Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia's Security Council and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin. Russia announced that Putin would meet Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks in Beijing in October.
CONTEXT
China and Russia announced a "no limits" partnership shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
But China has largely abstained on U.N. General Assembly votes - adopted with overwhelming support among the 193-member body - that demanded Russia stop fighting and immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its troops from Ukraine.
It appears to reflect a bid by China to stay on the diplomatic fence over the war in Ukraine. Beijing says the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries must be respected, but - in a nod to Russia's unease about NATO - believes all security concerns should be addressed.
KEY QUOTES
"We know that President Xi has significant influence on the world stage, including with Vladimir Putin. I know that Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be traveling to Moscow and I hope that he will impress upon Russia the complete inappropriateness of their action. And I hope that China will call for Russia to withdraw."
"China has made, I think, important messages about the respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, about the non-use of nuclear weapons.
"We support those messages and we hope that those messages will be repeated when Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Moscow."
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Howard Goller)
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro addresses the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 19, 2023. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
(Reuters) - Colombian President Gustavo Petro used his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to call for peace summits to resolve conflicts in Ukraine and between Israel and the Palestinians, so humankind can focus instead on addressing climate change.
Petro, Colombia's first leftist leader, is seeking peace and surrender deals in his own country with rebel groups and crime gangs to end a six-decade conflict which has killed at least 450,000 people.
"I propose ending war so we have the time to save ourselves. I propose the United Nations sponsor as soon as possible two peace conferences. One on Ukraine, the other on Palestine, not because there are not other wars in the world, like in my country, but because it would show how to make peace in all the regions of the world," Petro, 63, said.
Petro called climate change "the mother of all crises" and said the world should work toward a de-carbonized economy.
(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; editing by Grant McCool)
Cadets attend the 2023 graduation ceremony at the United States Military Academy (USMA), at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York, U.S., May 27, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
By Nate Raymond and Phil Stewart
(Reuters) -The group that successfully challenged race-conscious collegiate student admissions policies at the U.S. Supreme Court sued the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday, saying the Army school's affirmative action practices unconstitutionally discriminate against white applicants.
The Virginia-based Students for Fair Admissions, founded by affirmative action opponent Edward Blum, seeks in the lawsuit to erase an exemption tucked inside the Supreme Court's June ruling that allowed the prestigious U.S. military academies to continue using race as one of the factors weighed in student admissions.
That ruling, powered by the court's conservative majority, rejected policies long used by American colleges and universities to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other minority students on American campuses.
The Supreme Court's invalidation of admissions policies used by Harvard University of the University of North Carolina did not address the consideration of race in admissions at West Point in New York, as well as the Naval Academy in Maryland and the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Chief Justice John Roberts, who authored the ruling, wrote in a footnote that the military academies had "potentially distinct interests."
The Biden administration had argued in a brief in that case that "the effectiveness of our military depends on a diverse officer corps that is ready to lead an increasingly diverse fighting force."
Many institutions of higher education, corporations and military leaders long have backed affirmative action on campuses to ensure a talent pool that can bring a range of perspectives to the workplace and the U.S. armed forces.
Blum's group filed the lawsuit in federal court in White Plains, New York. It accused West Point of violating the principle of equal protection enshrined in the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment and sought an order barring the academy from considering an applicant's race during admissions.
It said that two of its members - white male high school students who were not identified - were ready and able to apply to West Point but that their race would prevent them "from competing for admission on an equal footing."
The lawsuit said that West Point engaged in "racial balancing" when deciding who will be a future cadet and set benchmarks for the percentage of each class that should be filled by "African Americans," "Hispanics," and "Asians."
Minorities made up 39% of the 1,255 cadets admitted into West Point for its 2027 class, according to its website.
Blum, who is white, said in a statement on Tuesday that "no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies."
A West Point spokesperson had no immediate comment.
Established in 1802, West Point boasts graduates including former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, one of the first humans to walk on the moon. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the first Black person to hold that job, also is a West Point graduate.
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Blum's group in June despite upholding affirmative action in student admissions as recently as 2016. Students for Fair Admissions had argued that the policies it challenged discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston and Phil Stewart in Washington; Editing by Will Dunham)
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) -The United States urges Guatemalan authorities to end their "intimidation efforts" targeting election officials and members of the party voted to power in last month's presidential elections, the U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States said on Monday.
Speaking to the OAS permanent council, Ambassador Francisco Mora said the U.S. was concerned about efforts to undermine democracy in Guatemala, including the prosecutor's office recently raiding electoral storage facilities and opening sealed ballots.
"In a healthy democracy, institutions don't tamper with ballot boxes after election results have been officially certified by the appropriate authority," Mora said, adding the act represented "an assault on the rule of law."
Last week, the top prosecutor's office in the Central American country raided facilities run by Guatemala's main electoral tribunal as part of an investigation into the lead-up to the elections which saw anti-graft candidate Bernardo Arevalo and his Semilla Party overwhelmingly come out on top.
Arevalo suspended his participation in the transition of power last week until "necessary institutional (and) political conditions are reestablished."
He said on Monday he would analyze the possibility of restarting the transition process, speaking to press as he presented a legal challenge against the investigation to Guatemala's Supreme Court.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the court to accompany Arevalo, waving flags and holding signs that read "out with the coup-mongers."
More protests are expected to continue on Tuesday, with roadblocks planned throughout the country in support of Arevalo and to demand the resignation of the prosecutor investigating him.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu and Diego Ore; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sarah Morland)
FILE PHOTO: U.S Representative Andy Barr (R-KY), Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), and Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) attend a House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party hearing entitled "The Chinese Communist Partys Threat to America," in Washing
By Stephen Nellis
(Reuters) -The chair of the U.S. House of Representatives' committee on China is planning to meet with a semiconductor industry group to express concerns over U.S. investments in China's chip industry, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source said the meeting was originally planned for Tuesday but was subsequently postponed, due to scheduling conflicts. It has yet to be rescheduled.
Representative Mike Gallagher, an influential Republican lawmaker whose select committee has pressed the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on sending U.S. technology to China, wants to meet with the Semiconductor Industry Association, the source said.
The group represents major chip firms such as Nvidia and Intel, whose sales to China have been affected by recent changes in U.S. export rules.
Gallagher plans to tell the group he believes that U.S. rules enacted last October that cut off the sale of advanced artificial intelligence chips to China should be tightened to cover less advanced chips, the source said. The source added that Gallagher also aims to talk with the group about reducing the number of semiconductor manufacturing machines that could be sent to China.
Also among the planned discussion topics is U.S. investment in Chinese chip firms, according to the source. Intel, Qualcomm and other firms have venture capital arms that have invested in Chinese technology companies.
Gallagher also will express his concerns that a massive Chinese effort to build up capacity to build less advanced chips used in automobiles, washing machines and other everyday products could one day result in China dumping those chips on the U.S. market and drive U.S. makers of such chips out of business, the source said.
A representative for the Semiconductor Industry Association declined to comment.
(Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San FranciscoEditing by Nick Zieminski and Rosalba O'Brien)
FILE PHOTO: The headquarters of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are seen in Washington, July 6, 2009. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday charged Concord Management and its owner with failing to register with regulators while operating as an investment adviser to an unidentified billionaire former Russian official.
Concord Management LLC of Tarrytown, New York, and owner Michael Matlin were operating as unregistered investment advisers to a single client, a former Russian official with apparent connections to the Russian Federation, the SEC said in a statement.
A spokesperson for Concord and Matlin said in an emailed statement that "a full and fair review of the applicable law and relevant facts will underscore that Concord Management and Michael Matlin complied with all regulatory and legal requirements."
Previously, the New York Times reported that Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich was the firm's client, but Reuters could not immediately verify that information. A lawyer for Abramovich did not respond to requests for confirmation or comment.
Matlin founded Concord in 1999 to provide investment advice and supervise investments in U.S. private funds, the SEC said. The firm monitored investments for the Russian individual until March 2022, when the United Kingdom and European Union sanctioned the unidentified client, it said.
Over $7 billion of assets belonging to a single foreign individual was "actively managed" in U.S. markets by a single firm without regulatory oversight, the SEC said in its charges.
The SEC's lawsuit was filed in the southern district of New York.
(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Rami Ayyub and Katharine Jackson in Washington; Editing by Josie Kao, Mark Potter and David Gregorio)
KABUL, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Police have smashed hashish farms in the eastern Afghanistan's Panjshir province and asked farmers to avoid cultivation of illegal crops including poppy and hashish, provincial police said in a statement on Tuesday.
The counter-narcotics police launched operations against illegal crops and destroyed six acres of hashish farm in Parian district of the province on Monday, according to the statement.
In a similar operation against illegal crops, police smashed a hashish farm in the northern Samangan province on Sunday.
In a recent crackdown on illicit drugs, police arrested a drug smuggler in Gazara district of the western Herat province and discovered objects used in manufacturing heroin.
The Afghan caretaker government has vowed to fight against illegal drugs until the country gets rid of the drug menace.
FILE PHOTO: Priscilla Chan (R) and her husband Mark Zuckerberg announce the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to "cure, prevent or manage all disease" by the end of the century during a news conference at UCSF Mission Bay in San Francisco, California, U.S. Septe
(Reuters) - Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's philanthropy venture plans to build a computing system powered by artificial intelligence for life sciences research to study human cells and diseases.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, created by Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, will use the computing system to run openly available AI models, the philanthropy venture said on Tuesday.
AI has been used in the life sciences domain for some years. Among the popular platforms, Google DeepMind's AlphaFold can predict protein structures, while Nvidia's RadImageGAN, an AI model for radiology, can catch a broad range of medical conditions, including stroke, heart attack, and cancer.
"Bringing the power of generative AI to biology at scale will allow researchers to incorporate these technological advances into their work, which will accelerate efforts to cure, prevent, or manage all disease," Chan said.
The system will be trained on datasets from software tool CZ Cell x Gene, as well as resources from Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network and Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging, and publicly available data.
The move comes as Meta aggressively rolls out large language models, or LLMs, for businesses. The company released its latest Llama 2 model in July, and offered it for free to businesses of a certain size. Its predecessor Llama was launched in February, with both the models initially pitched to researchers.
Zuckerberg told investors in April that Meta could gain more from crowdsourcing to reduce infrastructure costs and maximize creation of new consumer-facing tools that might draw people to its ad-supported services than by charging for access to its models.
(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
____________________
FORM 6-K
____________________
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 27a-16 or 15d-16
under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For the month of September, 2023
Commission File Number: 001-38376
____________________
Central Puerto S.A. (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Port Central S.A.
(Translation of registrants name into English)
____________________
Avenida Thomas Edison 2701
C1104BAB Buenos Aires
Republic of Argentina
+54 (11) 4317-5000
(Address of principal executive offices)
____________________
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):
Yes No
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):
Yes No
CENTRAL PUERTO S.A
Buenos Aires, September 18, 2023
Notice: CPSA-GG-N-0384/23-AL
COMISION NACIONAL DE VALORES (CNV)
Deputy Management of Issuing Companies
25 de Mayo 175
City of Buenos Aires
To Issuance Companies
BOLSAS Y MERCADOS ARGENTINOS S.A. (BYMA)
Sarmiento 299
City of Buenos Aires
MERCADO ABIERTO ELECTRONICO (MAE)
San Martin 344
City of Buenos Aires
Subject: Summary of Shareholders
Meeting dated September 15, 2023.
Dear Mr./Mrs.,
It is a pleasure to contact you in my capacity as Head of Market Relations of Central Puerto S.A. (the Company) so as to inform the summary of the Shareholders Meeting held on September 15, 2023 (the Meeting).
Shareholders representing 68.64% of share capital and votes attended the Meeting. In addition, Mr. Marcos Palomba, on behalf of Comision Nacional de Valores (CNV), and Mr. Eduardo Kupfer, on behalf of Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires, were also present.
It is put on record that the Meeting was held remotely in compliance with Section 14 of the Companys Bylaws and the regulations in force.
The decisions taken were as follows:
1. APPOINTMENT OF TWO SHAREHOLDERS TO SIGN THE MINUTES: It was approved by the majority of eligible votes possible to be cast in this decision to appoint proxies of shareholders BONCAMPO S.A. and CINCO VIENTOS URUGUAY S.A. to sign the minutes.
Avda. Tomas A. Edison 2701 C1104BAB City of Buenos Aires Argentina
Telephone (54 11) 4317 5000 Fax (54 11) 4317 5099
2. CONSIDERATION OF THE DESTINATION OF THE OPTIONAL RESERVE. The following were approved by the majority of eligible votes possible to be cast in this decision: to reverse $91,000,000,000 from the Optional Reserve and destine such amount to increase the Optional Reserve for Dividend Payment based on the evolution of the financial situation of the Company and the Dividends Payment Policy, delegating on the Board of Directors its partial or total reversal for the payment of dividends and the determination of the opportunity, currency, terms and other terms and conditions for payment, in accordance with the delegation agreed at the Shareholders Meeting.
3. GRANTING OF AUTHORIZATIONS. It was approved by the majority of eligible votes possible to be cast in this decision to authorize Mr. Vice-Chairman and/or whom he may appoint, and/or Jose Manuel Pazos, and/or Leonardo Marinaro and/or Osvaldo Pollice, and/or Esteban Perez Monti, and/or Bruno Guerrero Carrillo, and/or Paola Ibarra, and/or Christian Rodriguez Montes, and/or Mariano Luchetti, and/or Maria Lucila Winschel, and/or Jose Maria Bazan, and/or Santiago Youssef Rameh El Chaer, and/or Milagros Marini, and/or Ezequiel Castello and/or Carolina de Felipe, so that any of them, individually and indistinctly, follow all the necessary procedures to file the decisions taken at the Meeting with the regulatory agencies, including but not limited to CNV, BYMA, Mercado de Valores de Buenos Aires, Caja de Valores, Inspeccion General de Justicia (IGJ, Business Entities Registry for the City of Buenos Aires) (as per Section 37 of General Resolution IGJ No. 7/2015), and any other competent supervision entity, being able to sign any submission and/or form, notice, notices required by law, affidavits, access files and answer in proceedings, advance the proceedings and perform all necessary to obtain the recordings and respective approvals.
With no further business at present, I remain sincerely yours.
Avda. Tomas A. Edison 2701 C1104BAB City of Buenos Aires Argentina
Telephone (54 11) 4317 5000 Fax (54 11) 4317 5099
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Central Puerto S.A. Date: September 19, 2023 By: /S/ LEONARDO MARINARO Name: Leonardo Marinaro Title: Attorney-in-Fact
Avda. Tomas A. Edison 2701 C1104BAB City of Buenos Aires Argentina
Telephone (54 11) 4317 5000 Fax (54 11) 4317 5099
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
September, 2023
Commission File Number 1-15182
DR. REDDYS LABORATORIES LIMITED
(Translation of registrants name into English)
8-2-337, Road No. 3, Banjara Hills
Hyderabad, Telangana 500 034, India
+91-40-49002900
(Address of principal executive office)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F Form 40-F
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ______
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security holders.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ______
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7) only permits the submission in paper of a Form 6-K if submitted to furnish a report or other document that the registrant foreign private issuer must furnish and make public under the laws of the jurisdiction in which the registrant is incorporated, domiciled or legally organized (the registrants home country), or under the rules of the home country exchange on which the registrants securities are traded, as long as the report or other document is not a press release, is not required to be and has not been distributed to the registrants security holders, and, if discussing a material event, has already been the subject of a Form 6-K submission or other Commission filing on EDGAR.
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Yes No
If Yes is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-________.
EXHIBITS
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
DR. REDDYS LABORATORIES LIMITED (Registrant) Date: September 19, 2023 By: /s/ K Randhir Singh Name: K Randhir Singh Title: Company Secretary
ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT 99.1
0001329842 false 0001329842 2023-09-13 2023-09-13 iso4217:USD xbrli:shares iso4217:USD xbrli:shares
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Federally Chartered Corporation 000-51397 13-6400946 (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation) (Commission File Number) (IRS Employer Identification No.)
101 Park Avenue , New York , New York 10178-0599 (Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code: ( 212 ) 441-6616
Not Applicable
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instructions A.2. below):
Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class Trading Symbol(s) Name of each exchange on which registered None N/A N/A
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 ( 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ( 240.12b-2 of this chapter).
Emerging growth company
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.
Item 2.03 Creation of a Direct Financial Obligation or an Obligation under an Off-Balance Sheet Arrangement of a Registrant.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (the Bank) obtains most of its funds from the sale of debt securities, known as consolidated obligations, in the capital markets. Consolidated obligations, which consist of bonds and discount notes, are by regulation the joint and several obligations of the eleven Federal Home Loan Banks. The Federal Home Loan Banks are regulated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the Finance Agency) and Finance Agencys regulations authorize the Finance Agency to require any Federal Home Loan Bank to repay all or a portion of the principal of or interest on consolidated obligations for which another Federal Home Loan Bank is the primary obligor. Consolidated obligations are sold to the public through the Office of Finance using authorized securities dealers. Consolidated obligations are backed only by the financial resources of the eleven Federal Home Loan Banks and are not guaranteed by the United States government.
Schedule A sets forth all consolidated obligation bonds and discount notes committed to be issued by the Federal Home Loan Banks, for which the Bank is the primary obligor, on the trade dates indicated, other than discount notes with a maturity of one year or less that are issued in the ordinary course of business. Schedule A also includes any consolidated obligations with a remaining maturity in excess of one year, if any, for which we have assumed the primary repayment obligation from another Federal Home Loan Bank.
We may elect to change our method of reporting information on the issuance or assumption of consolidated obligations at any time. In reviewing the information in this Current Report on Form 8-K, please note:
although consolidated obligations issuance is material to the Bank, we have not made a judgment as to the materiality of any particular consolidated obligation or obligations; Schedule A does not address any interest-rate exchange agreements (or other derivative instruments) which we may enter into as a result of our asset and liability management strategies and that may be associated, directly or indirectly, with one or more of the reported consolidated obligations; Schedule A will not enable a reader to track changes in the total consolidated obligations outstanding for which we are the primary obligor because Schedule A generally excludes consolidated obligation discount notes with a maturity of one year or less and does not reflect whether the proceeds from the issuance of the reported consolidated obligations will be used to, among other things, satisfy called or maturing consolidated obligations. We will report the total consolidated obligations outstanding for which we are the primary obligor in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission; and the principal amounts reported on Schedule A represent the principal amount of the reported consolidated obligations at par, which may not correspond to the amounts reported in our financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles contained in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, because the par amount does not account for, among other things, any discounts, premiums or concessions.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit Number Description 99.1 Schedule A, containing information pertaining to consolidated obligations. 104 Cover Page Interactive Data File (embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
2
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
Federal Home Loan Bank of New York Date: September 19, 2023 By: /s/ Benjamin Tan Name: Benjamin Tan Title: Assistant Treasurer
3
ATTACHMENTS / EXHIBITS
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE 13G
Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
GROWN ROUGE INTERNATIONAL INC.
(Name of Issuer)
Common Stock
(Title of Class of Securities)
39986R106
(CUSIP Number)
September 1, 2023
(Date of Event which Requires Filing of this Statement)
Check the appropriate box to designate the rule pursuant to which this Schedule is filed:
Rule 13d-1(b) x Rule 13d-1(c) Rule 13d-1(d)
*The remainder of this cover page shall be filled out for a reporting person's initial filing on this form with respect to the subject class of securities, and for any subsequent amendment containing information which would alter the disclosures provided in a prior cover page.
The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be "filed" for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Act") or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act (however, see the Notes).
Continued on following pages
Page 1 of 10 Pages
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 2 of 10 Pages
CUSIP No. 39986R106 (1) Names of reporting persons Mindset Value Fund LP (2) Check the appropriate box if a member of a group (a) (see instructions) (b) (3) SEC use only (4) Citizenship or place of organization DE Number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with: (5) Sole voting power 0 (6) Shared voting power 7,759,000 (7) Sole dispositive power 0 (8) Shared dispositive power 7,759,000 (9) Aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person 7,759,000 (10) Check if the aggregate amount in Row (9) excludes certain shares (see instructions) (11) Percent of class represented by amount in Row (9) 4.55% (12) Type of reporting person (see instructions) PN
Based on a total of 170,632,611 shares outstanding of the Issuer as of October 31, 2022, as set forth in the Issuers most recent Form 20-F, filed March 26, 2023.
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 3 of 10 Pages
CUSIP No. 39986R106 (1) Names of reporting persons Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP (2) Check the appropriate box if a member of a group (a) (see instructions) (b) (3) SEC use only (4) Citizenship or place of organization DE Number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with: (5) Sole voting power 0 (6) Shared voting power 7,051,750 (7) Sole dispositive power 0 (8) Shared dispositive power 7,051,750 (9) Aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person 7,051,750 (10) Check if the aggregate amount in Row (9) excludes certain shares (see instructions) (11) Percent of class represented by amount in Row (9) 4.13% (12) Type of reporting person (see instructions) PN
Based on a total of 170,632,611 shares outstanding of the Issuer as of October 31, 2022, as set forth in the Issuers most recent Form 20-F, filed March 26, 2023.
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 4 of 10 Pages
CUSIP No. 39986R106 (1) Names of reporting persons Mindset Capital LLC (2) Check the appropriate box if a member of a group (a) (see instructions) (b) (3) SEC use only (4) Citizenship or place of organization DE Number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with: (5) Sole voting power 14,810,750* (6) Shared voting power 0 (7) Sole dispositive power 14,810,750* (8) Shared dispositive power 0 (9) Aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person 14,810,750 (10) Check if the aggregate amount in Row (9) excludes certain shares (see instructions) (11) Percent of class represented by amount in Row (9) 8.68% (12) Type of reporting person (see instructions) IA
* Mindset Capital LLC is the Investment Manager of Mindset Value Fund LP and Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP (the Funds) in which such shares referred to above are held. As a result, Mindset Capital LLC possesses the power to vote and dispose or direct the disposition of all the shares owned by the Funds. Mindset Capital LLC disclaims beneficial ownership of any of the shares held by the Fund.
Based on a total of 170,632,611 shares outstanding of the Issuer as of October 31, 2022, as set forth in the Issuers most recent Form 20-F, filed March 26, 2023.
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 5 of 10 Pages
CUSIP No. 39986R106 (1) Names of reporting persons Aaron Edelheit (2) Check the appropriate box if a member of a group (a) (see instructions) (b) (3) SEC use only (4) Citizenship or place of organization United States of America Number of shares beneficially owned by each reporting person with: (5) Sole voting power 14,810,750* (6) Shared voting power 0 (7) Sole dispositive power 14,810,750* (8) Shared dispositive power 0 (9) Aggregate amount beneficially owned by each reporting person 14,810,750 (10) Check if the aggregate amount in Row (9) excludes certain shares (see instructions) (11) Percent of class represented by amount in Row (9) 8.68% (12) Type of reporting person (see instructions) IN
* Mr. Edelheit is the Managing Member of Mindset Capital LLC, the General Partner of Mindset Value Fund LP and Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP. As a result, Mr. Edelheit possesses the power to vote and dispose or direct the disposition of all the shares beneficially owned by Mindset Value Fund LP and Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP as investment manager to the Fund. Mr. Edelheit disclaims beneficial ownership of any of the shares held by the Fund.
Based on a total of 170,632,611 shares outstanding of the Issuer as of October 31, 2022, as set forth in the Issuers most recent Form 20-F, filed March 26, 2023.
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 6 of 10 Pages
Item 1(a). Name of Issuer: Grown Rouge International Inc. (the Issuer). Item 1(b). Address of the Issuer's Principal Executive Offices: 550 Airport Road, Medford, OR 97504 Item 2(a). Name of Person Filing The names of the person filing this statement on Schedule 13G (collectively, the Reporting Persons) are: Mindset Value Fund LP Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP Mindset Capital LLC Aaron Edelheit Item 2(b). Address of Principal Business Office or, if None, Residence: 30 West Mission Street, Suite 8, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Item 2(c). Citizenship: Mindset Value Fund LP is a Delaware Limited Partnership. Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP is a Delaware Limited Partnership. Mindset Capital LLC is a Delaware Limited Liability Company. Aaron Edelheit is a citizen of the United States. Item 2(d). Title of Class of Securities: Common Stock (the Shares). Item 2(e). CUSIP Number: 39986R106
Item 3. If this statement is filed pursuant to Rule 13d-1(b), or 13d-2(b) or (c), check whether the person filing is a: (a) Broker or dealer registered under section 15 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78o). (b) Bank as defined in section 3(a)(6) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c). (c) Insurance company as defined in section 3(a)(19) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78c).
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 7 of 10 Pages
(d) Investment company registered under section 8 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C 80a-8). (e) An investment adviser in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(E); (f) An employee benefit plan or endowment fund in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(F); (g) A parent holding company or control person in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(G); (h) A savings associations as defined in Section 3(b) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); (i) A church plan that is excluded from the definition of an investment company under section 3(c)(14) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-3);Page 5 of 6 pages (j) Group, in accordance with 240.13d-1(b)(1)(ii)(J) Item 4. Ownership: Item 4(a). Amount Beneficially Owned: Aggregate of all Reporting Persons: 14,810,750 Mindset Value Fund LP 7,759,000 Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 7,051,750 Mindset Capital LLC 14,810,750* Aaron Edelheit 14,810,750* Item 4(b). Percent of Class: Aggregate of all Reporting Persons: 8.68% Mindset Value Fund LP 4.55% Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 4.13% Mindset Capital LLC 8.68%* Aaron Edelheit 8.68%* Item 4(c). Number of shares as to which such person has: (i) Sole power to vote or direct the vote: Mindset Value Fund LP 0 Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 0 Mindset Capital LLC 14,810,750 Aaron Edelheit 14,810,750
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 8 of 10 Pages
(ii) Shared power to vote or to direct the vote: Mindset Value Fund LP 7,759,000 Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 7,051,750 Mindset Capital LLC 0 Aaron Edelheit 0 (iii) Sole power to dispose or to direct the disposition of: Mindset Value Fund LP 0 Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 0 Mindset Capital LLC 14,810,750 Aaron Edelheit 14,810,750 (iv) Shared power to dispose or to direct the disposition of: Mindset Value Fund LP 7,759,000 Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP 7,051,750 Mindset Capital LLC 0 Aaron Edelheit 0
*Mr. Edelheit is the Managing Member of Mindset Capital LLC, the General Partner of Mindset Value Fund LP and Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP. As a result, Mindset Capital LLC and, in turn, Mr. Edelheit possess the power to vote and dispose or direct the disposition of all the shares beneficially owned by Mindset Value Fund LP and Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP as investment manager to the Fund.
Mindset Capital and Mr. Edelheit disclaims beneficial ownership of any of the shares held by the Fund.
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 9 of 10 Pages
Item 5. Ownership of Five Percent or Less of a Class: This Item 5 is not applicable. Item 6. Ownership of More than Five Percent on Behalf of Another Person: This Item 6 is not applicable. Item 7. Identification and Classification of the Subsidiary Which Acquired the Security Being Reported on by the Parent Holding Company: This Item 7 is not applicable. Item 8. Identification and Classification of Members of the Group: See Exhibit A. Item 9. Notice of Dissolution of Group: This Item 9 is not applicable. Item 10. Certification:
By signing below the Reporting Person certifies that, to the best of such person's knowledge and belief, the securities referred to above were not acquired and are not held for the purpose of or with the effect of changing or influencing the control of the issuer of the securities and were not acquired and are not held in connection with or as a participant in any transaction having such purpose or effect.
SIGNATURES
After reasonable inquiry and to the best of my knowledge and belief, the undersigned certifies that the information set forth in this statement is true, complete, and correct.
Date: September 15, 2023 Mindset Value Fund LP By: /s/ Aaron Edelheit Aaron Edelheit, Managing Member of Mindset Capital LLC, General Partner of Mindset Value Fund LP Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP By: /s/ Aaron Edelheit Aaron Edelheit, Managing Member of Mindset Capital LLC, General Partner of Mindset Value Wellness Fund LP /s/ Aaron Edelheit Aaron Edelheit
CUSIP NO. 39986R106 Page 10 of 10 Pages
EXHIBIT A
Joint Filing Agreement
The Undersigned agree that the statements on Schedule 13G with respect to the common stock of Grown Rogue International Inc. dated as of September 15, 2023, is, and any amendment thereto signed by each of the undersigned shall be, filed on behalf of each of them pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of Rule 13d-1(k) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin greets Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's new defense secretary, during opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany The M1 Abrams tanks provided by the United States soon will enter Ukraine and join the counteroffensive the country is mounting against Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told world military leaders gathered at this U.S. air base Tuesday.
Tanks arrived in May at the Armys Grafenwoehr Training Area in Bavaria, where Ukrainian crews began an accelerated training course soon afterward. Ukraine is receiving 31 similar Abrams tanks that were refurbished in the United States.
Partner nations must continue to dig deep to arm Ukraine, Austin told representatives of about 50 countries at the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defense systems and interceptors, Austin said. And right now, in the heat of the battle, we must also keep pushing to get Ukraine the ammunition that it needs to keep up the fight, including 155 mm ammunition.
The group will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, Austin said.
(Russian President Vladimir) Putin is betting he can bide his time and wait it out, he said. He is wrong.
During Tuesdays sessions, Denmark, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands agreed to increase their aid to Ukraine, beginning with 15 T-72EA main battle tanks in the coming months. Air defense systems and ammunition will follow and be delivered with speed, the three nations said in a joint statement.
Germany announced plans to send $427 million worth of weapons, equipment and winter clothing. The aid includes explosives, mortars, rockets, mines, reconnaissance drones, replacement parts, generators and clothing.
German lawmaker Siemtje Moeller speaks to members of the press during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Moeller is attending the talks in place of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who announced he is ill with the coronavirus. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, left, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listen to opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, left, and his Ukrainian counterpart, Rustem Umerov, deliver opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. To date, U.S. and international partners have committed more than $76 billion in direct security assistance to Ukraine. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) Defense officials attend talks on military cooperation during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov listens to opening remarks during the 15th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Umerov took office about two weeks earlier. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)
The coming months will be tough, said Siemtje Moeller, the parliamentary state secretary for Germanys Defense Ministry. It will be cold, muddy and wet.
Since the last contact group meeting in July, the United States has pledged more than $2 billion in additional security aid to Ukraine, including ammunition, air defense systems and mine-clearing equipment, Austin said.
The meeting Tuesday came ahead of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyys visit to Washington, where he will meet with President Joe Biden and members of Congress.
Zelenskyy has asked for longer-range weapons, but the U.S. has balked, largely because of concerns that Ukrainian missile strikes deep into Russian territory could escalate the war.
However, the U.S. and its allies once were hesitant to send tanks and other advanced weaponry, only to relent as the war continued.
Ukraine is about 90 days into its counteroffensive and has regained about 54% of Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, said Gen. Mark Milley, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The counteroffensive is taking longer than Ukrainian military planners anticipated, but thats the nature of war, which has raged for 572 days, Milley said.
Ukraines gainswould not have been possible without support from the West and other countries in the defense contact group, he said.
He cited real-time battlefield intelligence, several million rounds of artillery and several thousand armored mechanized vehicles.
Protection of front-line units from Russian attack helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles as well as training of Ukrainian units in various countries have also helped Ukraine make inroads, Milley said.
German lawmaker Siemtje Moeller, left, greets Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Moeller is attending the talks in place of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who announced he is ill with the coronavirus. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) German lawmaker Siemtje Moeller, left, sits with U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Moeller is attending the talks in place of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is ill with the coronavirus. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes) U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, center, gives opening remarks during the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting Sept. 19, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. The talks marked the 15th meeting of the group, which consists of dozens of countries and is facilitating military aid shipments to Ukraine. (Alexander Riedel/Stars and Stripes)
Austin also confirmed Tuesday that Ukrainian pilots will train on the F-16 fighter jet in the United States.
The Ukrainian pilots are expected to arrive at Morris Air National Guard Base in Tucson, Ariz., by October, The Associated Press reported last week.
Ukrainian pilots with combat experience began training on American-built F-16s in Denmark in June. Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have also pledged to donate F-16s to train Ukrainian pilots, Austin said.
Depending on the pilots English language proficiency and experience, the stateside training could be complete by the end of the year, though it will be longer than that before they fly combat missions, said Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, director of the U.S. Air National Guard. Loh spoke last week at the annual Air Force Association convention in Maryland.
Ukraines new defense minister, Rustem Umerov, has called on allies to provide more ammunition and heavy weapons. Umerov met in person with Austin and outgoing Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley for the first time Tuesday.
Umerov replaced Oleksii Reznikov, who resigned this month amid a corruption scandal surrounding the ministrys purchase of military jackets at nearly three times their cost. Then on Monday, Ukraine announced it had fired six deputy defense ministers.
Austin, without mentioning the defense leadership shakeup, thanked Reznikov for his hard work and dedication and welcomed Umerov.
Stars and Stripes reporter Alexander W. Riedel contributed to this report.
An undated photo of an entrance sign to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. (Abner Guzman/U.S. Air Air Force)
Two patients of an Army doctor charged with sexual assault at Joint Base Lewis-McChord have started the process to file federal civil lawsuits against the Army and Defense Department, according to the patients attorneys.
The law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp LLP announced last week that it filed two separate administrative complaints under the Federal Torts Claims Act on behalf of John Doe 1 and John Doe 2, two former patients of Maj. Michael Stockin.
The complaints were filed by one active-duty service member and one retired service member, said Jaime Baum, a spokesperson for the law firm.
The Army has received both complaints and is reviewing them for legal sufficiency before investigating their factual allegations, said Bryce Dubee, a spokesman for the Army. No decision on how to respond will be made until the Armys review is complete, and the claims have been investigated.
Stockin, 37, is an anesthesiologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at the Army-Air Force installation in southwest Washington state.
The Army formally charged Stockin on Aug. 30 with 23 incidents of sexual assault and indecent conduct.
The general nature of the charges includes abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Lt. Col. Jennifer Bocanegra, a JBLM spokeswoman, said at the time.
The charges are under review by an independent officer who will announce the findings at a future pretrial hearing, she said.
Robert Capovilla, a former Army lawyer representing Stockin, said at this point the case remains early in the court-martial process.
As far as we are aware, no victim advocate or the defense team has seen the entirety of discovery. The defense is looking forward to trying this case in the courtroom where it belongs, not in the court of public opinion, Capovilla said in a statement. Up to this point, the Army seems dedicated to preserving a fair trial, and we certainly hope that will remain the case.
Charges against Stockin came 18 months after he was ordered to cease contact with patients in February 2022.
Sanford Heisler Sharps statement last week said the Federal Tort Claim Act process must occur prior to any lawsuit. The act is a federal statute that permits individuals to bring legal claims against federal agencies for a wrongful act committed by their employees.
Prior to filing an FTCA complaint in court, the individual must first file an administrative complaint with the agency at fault. The agency is then afforded six months to investigate the claim. After that, the individual can file a lawsuit against the agency in federal court.
The complaints filed by the law firm were not released publicly. In a statement, the law firms alleged Stockin inappropriately touched John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 after requesting each disrobe during their respective appointments, with no other staff present.
My clients went to this doctor because they were in pain. They were in a vulnerable position, and they trusted this doctor. Dr. Stockin abused that trust, said Christine Dunn, one of the attorneys representing the John Does. The Army had a duty to take reasonable measures to protect patients in its care.
The administrative complaint also alleges the Army is liable under the Federal Tort Claim Act because it was negligent in hiring, supervising and retaining Stockin, and the service lacked adequate protocols to keep patients safe from sexual abuse.
Stockin has served in the Army since May 2013, according to the service.
He deployed to Iraq from October 2020 to February 2021. Other assignments include Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu from June 2013 to July 2014 and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., from July 2014 to July 2019.
He has been assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center at Lewis-McChord since July 2019.
Spc. Benjamin Wickham adjusts a saddle on Bloch, a 3-year-old Percheron horse dedicated to the Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2023. Bloch is named in honor of World War II Medal of Honor recipient Col. Orville Bloch. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)
FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas Two new horses were dedicated Tuesday to the funeral honors platoon for the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery and bestowed with the names of two soldiers who earned the Medal of Honor during World War II.
Bloch and McCall, both sleek, black-haired Percheron horses, stood mostly at attention during a dedication ceremony held in their honor near the stables at the Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston. Afterward in the stables, they accepted carrots from the dozens of attendees from the local south Texas community.
The 3-year-old brothers are now part of a 12-horse platoon that conducts roughly one funeral service a week for veterans ranked sergeant major or higher, who were killed in action, were prisoners of war or Medal of Honor recipients, said Sgt. 1st Class John Ford, the senior noncommissioned officer for the Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon.
Sgt. Jacob Sanlin pets McCall following a ceremony to dedicate the 3-year-old horse to the Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2023. Sanlin, a member of the platoon, has helped train McCall to participate in funerals at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes ) McCall, a 3-year-old Percheron horse, is seen in his stall following a ceremony to dedicate the horse to the Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, on Sept. 19, 2023. Named to honor World War II Medal of Honor recipient Master Sgt. Thomas McCall, the horse will now participate in funerals at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes )
Purchased from Kentuckys Amish region where Bloch and McCall pulled a carriage, the horses spent the past six months learning to be part of the four-horse team that pulls a 1908-model artillery caisson that carries the casket of the deceased.
During pauses in the fighting, the caissons were often the only available carriages and were used to remove the dead and the wounded from the field. This led to the use of caissons as an honor in military funerals, Ford said during the dedication ceremony.
The Army established the Texas-based caisson platoon shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and it is one of two operating within the Army. The second is located at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Since arriving, McCall has shown himself to be the friendlier of the horses, though hes more stubborn under the saddle, said Sgt. Jacob Sanlin, a platoon member who rode McCall during the ceremony.
Bloch is like a 10-year-old horse in a 3-year-olds body. He can tune out everything and focus, Sanlin said. Hes more easy-going and less onery.
Each of the horses in the platoon are named to honor soldiers who served as the sergeant major of the Army or other notable veterans. Bloch and McCall are named in honor of Col. Orville Bloch and Master Sgt. Thomas McCall, who were awarded Medals of Honor for their actions in Italy during World War II.
Col. Orville Bloch received the Medal of Honor as a first lieutenant in the 85th Infantry Division for his actions near Firenzuola, Italy in September 1944. The Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, dedicated a horse named in Blochs honor during a ceremony Sept. 19, 2023. (Photo provided by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society) Master Sgt. Thomas McCall received the Medal of Honor for actions near San Angelo, Italy in January 1944 while assigned to the 36th Infantry Division. The Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, dedicated a horse named in McCalls honor during a ceremony Sept. 19, 2023. (Photo provided by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society)
Bloch earned the Medal of Honor as a first lieutenant in the 85th Infantry Division for his actions near Firenzuola, Italy, in September 1944. His heroics allowed troops to advance beyond enemy machine-gun nests. Bloch singlehandedly captured 19 prisoners, wounding six of them and eliminating five enemy machine-gun nests. He also served in the Korean War and retired in 1970. He died 13 years later.
McCall, then a staff sergeant, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his valor near San Angelo, Italy, in January 1944 while assigned to the 36th Infantry Division. During a machine gun battle, McCall guided his own machine-gun section through difficult combat to advance on the enemy. Eventually, McCall was the only remaining member of his unit. He rendered first aid to the wounded and then ran toward the enemy, firing his weapon.
McCall went on to serve in the Korean War. In 1965, while assigned to Washington, D.C., McCall drowned at age 49 while rescuing his 8-year-old son. The boy survived.
The horses named in their honor can serve at Fort Sam Houston for 10 years before they are transferred to another federal agency, Ford said. Both were purchased through a donation from the Uniformed Veterinary Medical Association, a nonprofit that celebrates the accomplishments of veterinarians and veterinary personnel serving in the Army Veterinary Corps, Air Force, and Public Health Service.
This gray Daihatsu Move, seen here at the police station in Ginowan, Okinawa, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, was damaged in a hit-and-run crash with a vehicle believed to have ties to the U.S. military community. (Mari Higa/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa Japanese police on Okinawa are looking for the driver of a car with license plates assigned to U.S. forces who collided with another car, injuring five people, and then fled the scene.
A red sedan with a Y plate, which identify the private vehicles of U.S. service members and Defense Department civilians in Japan, collided with a gray Daihatsu Move at 3:40 a.m. Saturday on Route 58 in south central Okinawa, a spokesman for the Ginowan police said by phone Tuesday. He declined to provide the cars make or model, citing the ongoing investigation.
Police found the sedan a short distance from the crash site and watched its driver flee on foot, leaving two Marine passengers behind, the spokesman said.
In the Daihatsu, a backseat passenger an Okinawa man in his 30s suffered a broken hip; two women up front received minor injuries, the spokesman said.
The sedans passengers belong to Marine Air Support Squadron 2 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, the spokesman said. No details were immediately available about the driver.
Some government officials in Japan speak to the media on condition of anonymity as a requirement of their employment.
Police followed the speeding sedan southbound on Route 58 but lost sight of it until coming on the crash scene, the spokesman said. The sedan had apparently rear-ended the Daihatsu, he said.
The three people injured in the Daihatsu were treated at a local hospital and released, the spokesman said. The Marines were treated for minor injuries at U.S. Naval Hospital Okinawa on Camp Foster.
A spokesman for the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Maj. Rob Martins, acknowledged an emailed inquiry from Stars and Stripes seeking comment Tuesday but did not immediately respond.
SYDNEY, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Sydney on Tuesday faced its first total fire ban in almost three years since November 2020, with the day-time maximum temperature expected to hit 34 degrees Celsius.
New South Wales Rural Fire Services (NSW RFS) declared on Tuesday morning that a total fire ban is in place for the Greater Sydney Region and Far South Coast area, while high fire danger ratings are also forecast for several other areas during the day.
"High temperatures and strong winds are the perfect conditions for a bushfire. On those days, the RFS can declare a total fire ban which means no fires out in the open, including wood or charcoal barbecues," said the fire authority, urging residents to stay ready to act.
NSW RFS also noted that as of 9:00 a.m. local time, there are 61 fires burning around the state, with 13 not yet contained, and over 500 personnel are working to battle these flames.
On the state's Far South Coast, the NSW Department of Education decided to temporarily shut down 20 public schools on Tuesday after consulting with fire authorities.
According to the forecast by NSW RFS, the Greater Sydney and Greater Hunter regions would see "extreme" fire danger on Wednesday, while the rating for the Far South Coast would drop from "extreme" to "high."
Rina Cameron plays the violin during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Sept. 15, 2023. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan Hispanic Americans value faith and family and enjoy a distinctive cuisine, but military service ranks high as a calling among the U.S.s fastest growing ethnic group.
Hispanic members of the Yokota community gathered Friday at the airlift hub to kick off Hispanic Heritage Month.
As a child, Capt. Sophia Guiney, a pilot with the 49th Airlift Squadron, lived in Lima, Peru, her mothers native home.
Were celebrating the history, culture, language of the Hispanic people, she said during the celebration at the Yokota Community Center. Its a wonderful time to look back, reflect on how far weve come, what we can accomplish and where were going.
Rina Cameron plays violin alongside other musicians during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Sept. 15, 2023. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Hispanic Heritage Month in the U.S. begins on the anniversary of independence for Latin American countries Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and concludes Oct. 15. Saturday marked Mexican Independence Day.
Latinos accounted for 19% of the U.S. population in 2021, up from 13% in 2000. They have accounted for 54% of U.S. population growth, the largest of any ethnic group, according to the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.
Members of the Yokota community with Hispanic lineage or personal origins, like Guiney, shared their stories ahead of the celebration.
We should pause for a second and acknowledge the contributions the Hispanic community and service members have made, are currently making, and will make in the defense of our great nation, Lt. Col. Jose Luis Montalvan, assistant chief of staff for logistics for Marine Corps Forces Japan, told Stars and Stripes on Sept. 12.
Montalvan at age 11 escaped Managua, Nicaragua, during the Nicaraguan revolution and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, he said. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1995 and was commissioned seven years later through the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program.
Hispanic culture esteems military service, he said.
Hispanic culture encourages hard work, perseverance, resiliency, and so does the Marine Corps, Montalvan said. Once a Marine, always a Marine has always resonated with me. And we, as Hispanics, believe that once you become part of our family, you will forever be family.
Hispanics, who accounted for 19% of the U.S. population, also comprised 17.9% of its service members nearly 81,300 people in October 2022, according to the Defense Department. Thats a significant increase from 2000, when Hispanics, 16.5% of the population, comprised 7.9% of the military, according to Syracuse University.
Tech. Sgt. Zochitl Diaz, the 374th Maintenance Groups unit training manager, is a first-generation Mexican American. Her mother, Rosa Aparicio, who came to the U.S. at age 15, is her biggest influence, she said Sept. 11.
She grew up with one dress, no shoes and shes the reason I stay humble, Diaz said.
Diaz, a member of the Yokota Latin American Association, described her community as loving, strong and accepting.
And family is number one, she said.
Community members at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo pose during a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration at the base community center, Sept. 15, 2023. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
While celebrating his heritage, Montalvan said the military is a place for people of all cultures and backgrounds.
We come to the United States seeking better opportunities, he said. One of the reasons I serve is because there is a kid, maybe even right now, crossing the border seeking the same opportunities that I have been offered. And I feel that its my responsibility to make sure that the United States remains the country where people seek a better life.
A Michigan man will spend a year and a day in prison for assaulting his spouse at their home outside Camp Zama, the headquarters of U.S. Army Japan in Sagamihara, according to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department. (Pixabay)
TOKYO A Michigan man will spend a year and a day in prison for assaulting his spouse at their home outside Camp Zama, the headquarters of U.S. Army Japan in Sagamihara, according to a news release Friday from the U.S. Justice Department.
Robert Hammock, 39, a former Zama cook from Detroit, pleaded guilty May 4 in U.S. District Court in Detroit to one count of assault of a spouse by strangling or attempting to strangle, according to court records.
On July 19, 2021, an argument between Hammock and his spouse, identified in court records as Victim 1, escalated until Hammock punched the woman in the eye twice, hit her on the head and body, pushed her to the ground and then attempted to strangle her, according to the release.
He was intoxicated, angry, and placed his hands around his wifes throat, squeezing tightly to the point where she nearly lost consciousness, said a sentencing memorandum filed Sept. 7 by assistant U.S. attorney Michael Taylor. This instance was merely the latest in a long history of prior violence against his wife, all of which occurred in the presence of her son.
The U.S. Armys Criminal Investigation Division investigated the case, according to the statement.
She was able to escape only when Hammock stopped assaulting her as he attempted to take her cell phone, which she had dropped due to the force of the strangulation, the release said.
The womans eye and cheek were bruised and her neck lacerated, according to the release.
Hammock was indicted March 3, 2022, on one count of assault of a spouse by strangulation committed by a person employed by the armed forces outside the U.S., according to the sentencing report. He pleaded guilty prior to sentencing in accord with a plea agreement, the report states. He originally faced up to 30 months in prison.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
(Tribune News Service) Chinas top diplomat pledged to strengthen his countrys strategic coordination with Russia, as the two nations lay the groundwork for a meeting of their leaders in Beijing next month.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi is making a three-day trip to Moscow for security and foreign policy talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, as the two sides continue to deepen ties.
China and Russia should demonstrate their responsibilities as major powers, fulfill their due international obligations, and continue to strengthen strategic coordination, Wang said on Monday, according to a statement from Chinas Foreign Ministry. He added that neither side should be influenced by third parties, in a veiled reference to the U.S.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit China next month for the Belt and Road Initiative forum and meet with President Xi Jinping, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev confirmed Tuesday, according to state-run Tass news service. That will be the Russian leaders first foreign trip since the warrant for his arrest on alleged war crimes was issued by the International Criminal Court.
Russias Foreign Minister said both nations should strengthen coordination and collaboration within multilateral frameworks, such as the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, according to the statement.
Their meeting takes place at the same time as the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York. China has sent Vice President Han Zheng a largely ceremonial figure to that huddle this year. In previous years, Xi or Wang have attended.
China has been Russias biggest supporter since Putin last year ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing offering both economic and diplomatic shelter.
At the same time, China has tried to cast itself as a peacemaker in the war, unveiling a vague 12-point peace blueprint in February. That plan has been rejected by Kyiv and the U.S., as it calls for a cease-fire would freeze Russian forces in place in Ukraine.
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President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol make a toast during at the White House, April 26, 2023. (Adam Schultz/The White House)
INCHEON, South Korea The United States connection to South Korea is the best that its ever been and has led to a strengthened relationship between Seoul and Tokyo, according to a Georgetown University professor.
Following President Joe Bidens two summits this year with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, the alliance between Washington and Seoul is humming on all cylinders, government professor Victor Cha said Monday at the Incheon Security Conference hosted by Kyonggi Universitys Graduate School of Political Studies.
The two leaders meetings in April and August resulted in several military and trade agreements, including regular visits of U.S. militarys strategic assets to South Korea such as the ballistic missile submarine USS Kentuckys visit to Busan in July and new, favorable U.S. guidance on tax credits for South Korean electric vehicles.
But the agreements have left open several questions, such as whether South Korea should obtain nuclear weapons to deter the North and allegations from South Korean lawmakers that the trade agreements unfairly benefit Washington.
Cha, who in 2004 served as the National Security Councils director for Asian affairs, argued that despite those concerns, the most important thing is the mindset of the two leaders and the overall direction its really quite excellent right now.
The U.S. and South Korea this year initiated a higher tempo of military exercises, including Ulchi Freedom Shield in August, a twice-yearly, large-scale series of field exercises that test the allies military capabilities against the North.
One of the most important developments of the U.S.-South Korea alliance within the past year is the vast improvement of the three-way relationship with Japan, Cha said.
Georgetown University professor Victor Cha discusses the U.S.-Japan alliance during the Incheon Security Conference in Icheon, South Korea, Sept. 18, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
Relations between South Korea and Japan have long been frayed by historical disagreements and trade disputes, which culminated in Seoul warning it may end its military intelligence-sharing agreement with Tokyo in 2020.
South Koreas stance toward Japan changed after Yoon took office in 2022. He pledged to thaw relations with his countrys eastern neighbor and met Aug. 18 with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at a summit hosted by Biden at Camp David in Maryland.
The three leaders agreed to inaugurate a new era of trilateral partnership to counter military threats from North Korea and aggressive behavior from China in the South China Sea, according to a joint statement at the time.
As we embark together in this new era, our shared values will be our guide and a free and open Indo-Pacific, in which our half-billion people are safe and prosperous, will be our collective purpose, the statement said.
Japans Maritime Self-Defense Force joined warships from the U.S. and South Korea in several military drills this year, including a ballistic missile defense exercise on Aug. 29 near Jeju Island, south of the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S., South Korea and Japans institutionalization in the broader scope of cooperation really is unprecedented, Cha said.
It is transforming the U.S.-[South Korea] and U.S.-Japan alliances from being more than just private goods that provide exclusive benefits to allied partners, to also publicly benefit the world, Cha added.
This photo taken on Sept. 16, 2023 shows visitors shop at the intangible cultural heritage exhibition held in Scroll Town in Suxian District of Chenzhou City, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)
CHANGSHA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Jiang Qiugui, 62, was left in awe after walking on the mossy stone roads and appreciating the delicate architecture at a scenic spot in Suxian District of Chenzhou City, central China's Hunan Province.
The Changjuan culture and tourism town, or "Scroll Town," is a place with replicas of iconic antique buildings from 11 districts and counties of Chenzhou. It also gathers the intangible cultural heritage features of many sites nationwide.
In mid-September, an intangible cultural heritage exhibition was held in the town. As a representative inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of the Linglong tea-making technique in Hunan Province, Jiang and a 10-year-old apprentice showed their tea-making skills to the visitors during the exhibition.
However, not long ago, the town's land was heavily polluted and lay in waste.
"In the past, Chenzhou was famous for its minerals. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Yangxi River basin, where Scroll Town is located, bustled with mining activity," said Zhu Qianjin, commander of the coordination headquarters of the Scroll Town project.
In those years, some enterprises had poor environmental protection awareness, causing pollution in rivers and soil, Zhu added.
To turn "environmental debt" into development wealth, the Suxian District started to promote the control of heavy metal pollution and ecological restoration in the Yangxi River basin.
Today, the traces of mining and mineral processing have been replaced by lakes, grasslands, and historical and cultural blocks. After treatment, the once-polluted area has become a popular tourist attraction.
"By paying off the 'environmental debt' through ecological restoration, we can achieve multiple goals by showing intangible cultural heritage and presenting a new image," said Jiang.
As a city rich in mineral resources, the mining economy once accounted for 60 percent of Chenzhou's GDP. Chenzhou hopes to show the modernization picture of harmony between humanity and nature through the transformation of development concept, governance mode, industrial development, and ecological value, said Wu Jupei, secretary of the Chenzhou municipal committee of the Communist Party of China.
Thanks to the change in development concept, more residents in Chenzhou also benefit from the city's ecological restoration efforts. In Kuandong Village, Beihu District of Chenzhou, villagers who worked away from home returned to their hometown. They started homestay businesses as the number of tourists increased.
At present, there are about 30 homestays in the village. "The change is closely related to ecological restoration," said He Guojun, an official with the Kuandong Village.
This photo taken on Aug. 24, 2023 shows a homestay in Kuandong Village, Beihu District of Chenzhou City in central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers team lead Andrew Stanford and Roger Vogler, chief of engineering, discuss progress on construction at Air Base 71 near Campia Turzii, Romania, on Sept. 18, 2023. The project is part of a more than $100 million construction program at the base. (Chris Gardner/U.S. Army)
U.S. military officials on Tuesday marked completion of a $34 million upgrade to a strategic base in central Romania where more than $100 million is being spent on initiatives aimed at extending the U.S. Air Forces reach in southeastern Europe.
The work at Air Base 71, also known as Campia Turzii, includes a new squadron operations facility, aircraft hangar and parking apron, according to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers statement Tuesday.
The operations facility will be used as a nerve center for planning and directing missions operating from the base, the Corps said.
Meanwhile, a new 14,000-square-foot aircraft hangar was designed to accommodate more NATO warplanes.
These projects help ensure the base can support operations of U.S. and NATO aircraft and crews, the statement said.
Romania has been a focal point for the Pentagon as it seeks to step up operations in the Black Sea region.
The initiatives at Campia Turzii are part of a larger construction program at the base that entails nine other projects and exceeds $100 million in all.
A further $220 million in construction is taking place at other installations across Romania, including a training ground in Cincu and Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, which serves as the U.S. militarys main hub in Romania.
The Romanian projects contribute to the readiness and responsiveness of U.S. forces in Europe and reinforce the collective defense and security of NATO allies, Roger Vogler, chief of engineering and construction for the Corps Europe district, said Tuesday.
The efforts are funded through U.S. European Commands European deterrence initiative, which is focused on boosting military capabilities to fortify NATO territory against potential Russian aggression.
In recent years, Air Force fighter planes have made rotations to Campia Turzii, but improvements were needed for the U.S and allies to expand operations.
Without the improvements, the Air Force would be limited in what it could send to the base, the service said in 2020, when it was seeking funding for the projects.
In addition to fighter jets, the Air Force also routinely flies MQ-9 Reaper drones out of Campia Turzii, giving allies an added surveillance capability not far from Romanias border with Ukraine.
Romanian air force Brig. Gen. Miclos Catalin-Eugen, the commander at Turzii, said the improvements are a sign of growth at the base, where everything is becoming better and better.
The USS Antietam, a Ticonderoga-class, guided-missile cruiser, transits the East China Sea in August 2022 during routine operations. (Justin Stack/U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON A government shutdown and limiting military aid to Ukraine could compromise security for Taiwan and persuade China to attempt a takeover of the island, defense officials told House lawmakers on Tuesday.
Military aggression across the [Taiwan] Strait, whether in the form of an outright invasion, a blockade or other means, would risk human life and global prosperity unimaginable in this century, said Ely Ratner, the Pentagons assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs.
Ratner, Mira Resnick, a deputy assistant secretary of state for regional security, and Army Maj. Gen. Joseph McGee, the vice director for strategy, plans and policy for the Joint Staff, testified during a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee about U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan.
They told lawmakers that a strong U.S. combat deterrence is necessary to keep China from attempting to forcefully unify with Taiwan, as Beijing has threatened to do. But also important, they said, is the U.S. military being fully funded and demonstrating in Ukraine that it lives up to its international commitments.
We are developing and deploying breakthrough technologies required to prevent conflict in the decades ahead, and our budget seeks an unprecedented level of funding for research and development and for procurement, Ratner said. The [Defense] Department believes that existing authorities from Congress for security assistance to Taiwan should be met by full appropriations.
Several committee members voiced concern about the impact of a government shutdown on efforts in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as calls by some House Republicans to restrict aid to Ukraine. The U.S. has so far given more than $40 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in early 2022. Ratner said a full-year, on-time appropriation should be one of the top U.S. priorities in keeping up an effective deterrence against Chinese aggression.
We need that budget passed in full to be able to implement the [National Defense] Strategy, he said. A continuing resolution or a shutdown would inhibit our ability to do that.
A continuing resolution is a stopgap measure Congress sometimes uses to avert a shutdown. It only extends funding levels temporarily to give lawmakers more time to pass funding bills.
The Pentagons National Defense Strategy last year identified China as the No. 1 pacing challenge for the U.S. and prioritized an effective deterrence to keep Beijing from expanding its influence in the Indo-Pacific region, which includes about three dozen countries in the Pacific and Indian oceans, such as Japan, South Korea and Australia.
To avoid a shutdown, Congress must pass the necessary appropriations bills before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The Freedom Caucus, a bloc of hardline Republicans in the House, has threatened to hold up the process unless it gets concessions on various issues, such as money for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, removal of certain progressive reforms at the Pentagon, and restrictions in aid to Ukraine.
When Congress is talking about cutting aid to Ukraine, abandoning commitments we have to Ukraine if [partners] see that kind of discussion here in Congress, what effect will that have? Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., asked at the hearing.
Demonstrating our resolve with respect to Ukraine is the best way to deter [China], Resnick answered. Abandoning our partners encourages [China] to conclude that we will fail to provide for Taiwans sufficient self-defense. That is exactly the wrong message to be sending.
Resnick also said Congress failing to agree on funding for fiscal 2024 also is a discouraging message for the defense industry.
In the context of a shutdown, which we all would like to avoid, the Bureau of Political Military Affairs [at the State Department] in the past has been unable to process new foreign military sales for any partner, including Taiwan. This is something we would like to avoid, she said.
Last week, Army Gen. Charles Flynn, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, cautioned Chinese President Xi Jinping might consider acting against Taiwan sometime in the late 2020s.
In my view, there are decisions he is likely going to have to make [around 2027], Flynn said of the 70-year-old Xi. His tenure in his current role would likely require him to be thinking about what his legacy is going to be, [and] he has stated publicly and unequivocally that he intends to unify [with Taiwan].
Flynn emphasized land forces in the Indo-Pacific not just air and maritime power are going to be instrumental in maintaining a strategic deterrence against China and protecting U.S. interests and allies in the region, including Taiwan.
President Joe Bidens administration has been alarmed by various Chinese actions recently, such as Beijing signing a new security agreement in early 2022 with the Solomon Islands, a small nation about 1,100 miles northeast of Australia. Defense experts on Tuesday expanded on that concern by emphasizing Chinas interests go beyond Taiwan.
In the last two years, we have seen a marked increase in [Chinas] maritime and air activity as the [country] continues its pressure campaign against Taiwan and strives to increase its regional influence, McGee said. We are working to strengthen peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by delivering a forward leaning, cutting edge joint force, integrating with regional allies and partners and supporting our commitments.
The United States has authorized new aid to Taiwan in recent weeks, including the first-ever transfer of military equipment to the island under the governments foreign military funding program, which is usually reserved for sovereign nations. Washington does not formally recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country. The Biden administration also said last week that it would redirect millions in military aid from Egypt to Taiwan over human rights concerns in the African nation, according to news reports.
ROME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese academy and an Italian non-profit organization inked a new agreement on Monday on enhancing cooperation in research and education.
The agreement was signed between the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (IES-CASS) and the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI) at the forum "Italy and China in a changing world" held in Rome.
The deal aims to enhance cooperation in academic discussions, joint research, education and training projects, and scholar visits.
"China and Italy should make joint efforts to prop up scientific and cultural communication and dialogue and find a way to make contributions to global growth while respecting the diversity of civilizations," said Riccardo Sessa, president of the SIOI.
"Today's forum marks an important measure to promote exchanges and mutual learning between the two ancient civilizations and stabilize bilateral relations," said Gao Xiang, president of the CASS.
"The economies of China and Italy are highly complementary," said IES-CASS director Feng Zhongping, adding there is potential for long-term cooperation in energy transformation between the two sides.
The forum, jointly organized by the SIOI, the CASS and the Institute for Political, Economic and Social Studies EURISPES, aims to create a communication platform for experts from both countries and provide insights to address global challenges.
A group opposed to racial preferences filed a lawsuit Tuesday that seeks to end race-conscious admissions at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., a few months after the Supreme Court struck down similar programs in other sectors of higher education.
The suit from Students for Fair Admissions alleges that the admissions program at the academy which takes race into account, among other factors, in the selection of a class of future Army officers is unconstitutional and unneeded for a military service that relies on soldiers following orders regardless of the skin color of the superiors who issue them.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiff is the same group that challenged race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Supreme Court struck down those programs in June in a landmark decision that severely limited the role of race in college admissions.
But the courts majority opinion, in a footnote, left open the question of race in admissions to the military service academies. The footnote stated that no military academies were a party to those lawsuits and that courts had not addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context.
Academy officials did not immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to a request for comment.
Three other military academies also consider race in admissions, government officials say. They are the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
The Pentagon is seen on Oct. 21, 2021. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON The U.S. military will keep active-duty troops and a limited number of civilian defense employees at their posts during a federal government shutdown, Pentagon officials have said. But they might have to go without pay until lawmakers reach a budget agreement.
The Defense Department has yet to elaborate on how its preparing for a possible shutdown, but officials have released an outline of what the situation could look like if Congress lets the fiscal year end on Sept. 30 without approving at least temporary funding for the government.
The department will continue to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations, the Pentagon wrote in a guidance document on preparing for a possible shutdown. [The military] will continue activities funded with any available budgetary resources that have not lapsed, as well as excepted activities such as those necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of property.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the top Pentagon spokesman, said it is difficult for the military to plan without reliable funds.
We are, of course, hopeful that Congress can reach a funding agreement before the end of the [fiscal] year, he said. We do need predictable, adequate and sustained and timely funding.
The threat of a shutdown is being instigated by the Freedom Caucus, a group of a few dozen Republican lawmakers in the House who have threatened to withhold funding unless certain demands are met. One is the closure of the Pentagons Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Another demand calls for resuming construction of a wall along the U.S. and Mexico border. Other complaints include the Justice Departments actions against former President Donald Trump and restricting military aid to Ukraine.
The shutdown also could affect pay for troops. However, a Pentagon official who spoke on condition of anonymity said troops and civilian defense workers who are deemed essential would receive back pay once a shutdown ends and new funding is approved.
Members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Space Force are not guaranteed to be paid during a funding lapse, said Brian Kelly, president of Military Officers Association of America, a nonprofit group that supports troops and a strong national defense. Lapses in compensation to essential services stymie the ability to grow, equip and maintain the force necessary to meet national security needs and jeopardize retention, recruitment and the readiness of our all-volunteer uniformed services.
Rep. Adam Smith of Washington state, the top Democrat of the House Armed Services Committee, underscored the impact a shutdown would have on the armed forces, especially because some congressional Republicans are upset with the Pentagon over an abortion policy and claims of other types of wokeism a catch-all term that refers to progressive initiatives.
Troops literally dont know when theyre going to get paid again, Smith said last week about the impact of a shutdown on military pay. No one is going to be happy not knowing if and when theyre going to get paid again. It would be unbelievably disruptive to the ability of our servicemen and women to do their jobs and protect our country.
There are about 804,000 civilian defense employees, according to the Pentagons planning document. Roughly 166,000 of them dont rely on congressional funding and would continue to work during a shutdown. Almost 200,000 of them would have to keep working without pay because theyre considered necessary to protect life and property. The document also lays out additional effects of a shutdown, including restrictions on permanent changes of duty stations and emergency furloughs for hundreds of thousands of nonessential civilian workers.
Civilian personnel who are not necessary to carry out or support excepted activities, are to be furloughed, the 14-page document states. Only the minimum number of civilian employees necessary to carry out excepted activities will be [exempted] from furlough.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said: If there is a shutdown, we will take the proper measures to ensure we can keep operating.
Some troops and civilian workers might be able to withstand a gap in pay, but some might not, said Mark Cancian, senior international security adviser of the Center For Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
It would be hard for those living paycheck to paycheck, he said. For those at the GS-15 [pay] level, that might not be a problem.
The last lengthy shutdown that affected the Defense Department stretched about two weeks in 2013, and troops pay was not affected because Congress passed a law beforehand that ensured paychecks would not be disrupted. It remains to be seen whether lawmakers will pass a similar statute this time to protect pay for troops.
The importance of uninterrupted pay was also demonstrated during the most recent shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019, when Coast Guard members went more than a month without seeing any money. That congressional stalemate did not impact the Defense Department, but the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Homeland Security, which was affected. Some Coast Guard members were forced to borrow money to pay bills, and some even resorted to food banks to feed their families.
Congress cant get their act together, the wife of a Coast Guardsman in California told NBC News at the time. Ive had several moms of my kids friends call and say, Were here for you. What can we do, anything that you guys need well do it,
Last week, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a law that would prevent the Coast Guard from being left out again. If passed, it will guarantee uninterrupted pay for the Coast Guard if the Pentagon again receives an exception for troops pay during a shutdown.
The men and women who tirelessly protect our shores and risk their lives for all of us should never go without a paycheck, said Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, a sponsor of the bill.
It is our duty to make sure they always get their paychecks and can put food on the table, regardless of any political fights in Washington, said Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., another sponsor.
House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said he is aiming for a vote Wednesday on a Defense Department spending bill and a government-wide stopgap funding measure on Thursday, The Associated Press reported Monday. If the defense spending bill passed Congress, troops would receive normal pay during a shutdown.
A government shutdown could also affect other areas of the military. Cancian, who was chief of the Force Structure and Investment Division at the Office of Management and Budget during the last shutdown in 2019, said one example would be the internal disruption to armed forces stationed around the world. Instead of guarding against outside threats, he said troops would be forced to look inward at the problems that come with a shutdown, such as restrictions on personnel movements and postponements of new programs.
The Pentagons planning document also states training and military exercises that are required to achieve and maintain operational readiness would be exempt from a shutdown. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has the authority to determine which exercises meet that definition, such as operations and training related to Ukraine. The Pentagon, for example, is about to start training Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 jets at military bases in Texas and Arizona. If Austin declares that training to be necessary, it would continue in the event of a shutdown.
Congress could sidestep a shutdown with a stopgap measure known as a continuing resolution, or CR. A continuing resolution would, for a short time, keep funding the government at 2023 levels while Congress works to pass fiscal 2024 funding bills. But Pentagon officials said that could also present problems for the military.
The CRs are essentially Band-Aid solutions, Singh said. They dont allow us to start up any new programs.
All CRs have a very negative impact, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said this month during a television interview. Theyre very inefficient, they delay modernization, they delay increases in programs that are in production, and they make it very difficult for us to plan and move forward.
The concerns about a shutdown come at a time when the Pentagon is already dealing with another politically driven problem getting officers promoted and moved into new leadership roles. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has been blocking military promotions since February as a protest of a Pentagon policy that gives service members time off and travel reimbursement for reproductive health services, including abortions. Many military leaders, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have said Tubervilles hold is compromising global military readiness and national security.
Several top military leaders, including Air Force Gen. Charles Brown, the nominee to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are being affected by Tubervilles hold. The list of stalled nominations has grown to include the chief of staff for the Army, the chief of naval operations, the commandant of the Marine Corps and about 300 additional positions.
Yet another issue already plaguing the military is recruiting trouble. The leaders of the Army, Air Force and Navy have all said they will miss their enlistment goals for 2023 by several thousand recruits each. When the Coast Guard went without pay during the last shutdown in 2019, it hindered recruiting efforts.
I dont know what the breaking point is but if you cant put fuel in an aircraft and you cant put food on the ships its hard to maintain recruitment, retired Vice Adm. Peter Neffenger, former vice commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, said at the time. There is a point at which you have to take care of yourself.
A display outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, shows placards with information on military officers whose promotions have been held up as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., demands the Pentagon change a policy on abortion before the officer promotions are approved. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON The names and faces of hundreds of senior military nominees blocked from promotion by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama dotted a lawn outside the Senate on Tuesday as Democrats stepped up their pressure campaign for him to end his hold.
The visual installation by the progressive veterans group Vote Vets served as a backdrop for senators hoping to shame Tuberville into ending his seven-month refusal to proceed with unanimous votes on more than 300 military officers slated for promotions and appointments.
I literally cannot believe that Tommy Tuberville is still doing this, said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. I hope that he comes out of that building and sees these 300 signs because every single picture, every single name, every single title represents someone who has decided to put their life on the line for our country.
Tuberville said he will not drop his blockade until the Pentagon rescinds a reproductive health care policy giving service members and their dependents time off and travel reimbursement to access abortion care and other services. The policy was enacted after the Supreme Court last year ended a nearly 50-year constitutional right to an abortion.
Tubervilles spokesman, Steve Stafford, did not say whether the senator saw the display but insisted Tubervilles actions are endorsed by many veterans and Republicans.
[Tuberville] is encouraged by the huge support he is receiving from conservatives across America and from more than 5,000 veterans who are concerned about the direction of our military right now, Stafford said.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., speaks during a rally Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, outside the U.S. Capitol along with five other senators who condemned Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tubervilles hold on military promotions over objections to a Pentagon abortion policy. The other senators are from left: Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and, not shown, Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Six Democratic senators on Tuesday said they were concerned about the injection of partisanship and politics into a routine process in which senators vote for large batches of military nominees in unanimous voice votes. The length of Tubervilles blockade has produced a logjam of about 319 nominations that would take 103 days to confirm individually, Klobuchar said.
The senators spoke in front of the photos of four top nominees awaiting promotion: Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. David Allvin for Air Force chief of staff, Gen. Randy George for Army chief of staff and Gen. Eric Smith as commandant of the Marine Corps.
Navy Adm. Lisa Franchetti, set to become the first female chief of naval operations and first woman on the Joint Chiefs, is also caught in the hold.
The Navy estimates it will take six to seven years to recover from the damage inflicted by Tubervilles block, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Tuesday. Franchetti testified in the Senate last week that it would take three to four months to move all the people around at the 3-star officer level alone.
Our enemies are watching, Warren said. As Defense Secretary [Lloyd] Austin has pointed out, the longer these holds continue, the greater the risk. The U.S. military runs in every theater, every domain and every service. It is hard to imagine a bigger propaganda win for our enemies.
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., took aim at Tubervilles lack of military service and failure to take various off-ramps offered by Democrats to compromise with him. The Democratic staff of the Senate Armed Services Committee said last week that the panel twice voted on legislation to rescind the Pentagon policy, but it failed every time.
A display outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, shows placards with information on military officers whose promotions have been held up as Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., demands the Pentagon change a policy on abortion before the promotions are approved. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)
Tuberville also was offered a vote on the policy on the Senate floor, but he turned it down, said Duckworth, a retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel who lost both her legs in the Iraq War.
Why is Tommy Tuberville doing this? she asked. Hes not doing this for the good of the nation. A man who has never worn the uniform of this great nation, who could have at any time joined the military, did not. Now he is holding it hostage for his own personal political gain. It is not acceptable.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., issued an appeal to Republicans, urging them to convince Tuberville to drop his hold. Some Republicans have placed the blame for the holds growing impact on Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., accusing him of refusing to hold individual roll call votes on nominees.
Schumer and other Democrats have rejected that argument and said it is the responsibility of the Republican party to solve an issue instigated by a Republican senator.
While we will continue to raise this issue in any form possible, we need our Republican colleagues to do more than politely whisper to Sen. Tuberville, do more than say polite things to the press, Murphy said. They need to start pressing him to put the security of this nation first.
Aleema Khan, sister of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan, told a court on Tuesday that she was nominated in the case of the attack on the Corps Commander House despite not even being there.
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore took up a case regarding vandalism on May 9 which includes charges against multiple PTI leaders incuding Asad Umar.
Aleema Khan also appeared in court in-person and said that she wanted justice to be done. She stated in the court that she had not participated in the May 9 protest in Lahore but had been nominated in the case anyway.
Police extended the bails of Aleema Khan and others in the case till October 4 and asked the police to submit the record of investigation at the next hearing.
Hundreds of PTI workers and others are facing charges for participating in the May 9 protests that turned violent. The Corps Commander House in Lahore, also known as Jinnah House, was attacked and burnt in the protest.
Azerbaijan launched "local anti-terrorist activities" in Karabakh to restore constitutional order by disarming and forcing the withdrawal of Armenian military formations after six Azerbaijani citizens were killed in separate mine blasts in the breakaway region.
Baku blamed Armenian separatists for the death of the four Azerbaijani police officers and two civilians.
"Anti-terrorist operations in the region of a local character have begun," Baku's defence ministry said, adding it was using "high-precision weapons on the front line and in depth" as part of the operations.
The ex-Soviet neighbours have been locked in a decades-long dispute over the mountainous region, going to war twice in the 1990s and in 2020.
It said it was only targeting legitimate military targets using what it called high-precision weapons and not civilians or civilian infrastructure as part of what it called a drive to "restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan".
It said it had informed a Russian peacekeeping force in the area along with a Turkish-Russian monitoring centre which is meant to help ensure a 2020 ceasefire is upheld.
Earlier in the day, Baku said four interior ministry staff had been killed when their truck was blown up by a mine near a tunnel construction site on Tuesday. Another mine had killed two civilians, also in a truck, it said.
The blast happened "in the zone of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent," deployed by Moscow in 2020 as part of a ceasefire deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Baku on Monday demanded Armenia to immediately withdraw its armed forces from the Azerbaijani territory of Karabakh, and abolish the military and administrative structure of the so-called regime in the region.
Karabakh, internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, broke from Baku's control in the early 1990s after a war. Azerbaijan recaptured swathes of land in and around it in a 2020 war.
47-year-old Darren James McCann pleaded not guilty to each of the three charges against him
An alleged thief appeared in court today accused of stealing a quantity of lead from a health and social care trust.
Standing in the dock of Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, 47-year-old Darren James McCann pleaded not guilty to each of the three charges against him, all alleged to have been committed on 10 August this year.
McCann, from Altmore Close in Antrim, is accused of causing criminal damage to tiles belonging to Health Trust, stealing lead to an unknown value belonging to Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and going equipped for theft or burglary with a hammer and spanners.
None of the alleged facts giving rise to the charges were opened in court and freeing McCann, District Judge Nigel Broderick said he would fix a date for the trial on 2 October.
Sean Owens had left his keys in his car but was confused when he banged on the glass and told gardai repeatedly to f**k off
Sean Owens of Windtown Road, Navan, Co Meath, charged with breach of the peace
A drink driver who was charged and released from a garda station was still intoxicated when he returned, shouting abuse because he wrongly thought his keys had been seized.
Sean Owens (38) had actually left his keys in his car but was confused when he banged on the glass in the stations public office and told gardai repeatedly to f**k off.
Mr Owens, a security guard of Windtown Road, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.
Judge Treasa Kelly told him she would apply the Probation Act if he made a 200 charity donation.
Garda Shane Monaghan said he was on duty at Kevin Street station at 8.25am on May 26 this year when the accused came into the public office and began banging on the window.
He was verbally abusive to Gda Monaghan, telling him to f**k off on a number of occasions.
The garda told him to stop and that he would be arrested but Mr Owens continued banging the glass, telling him to f**k off.
Mr Owens had still been intoxicated from the earlier drink-driving incident, and was confused and frustrated because he thought the gardai had held onto his keys for no reason, his defence said.
It was just one of those things, he said.
Mr Owens had since been banned from driving for the drink driving offence.
It had been a learning curve for the accused, Judge Kelly said, telling Mr Owens he had to have respect for the gardai.
Piotr Gierasik (54) and his 20-year-old daughter Paulina Gierasik have been charged with several counts of murder and incest
The house where the shocking discovery was made and (inset) Paulina Gierasik. Shutterstock
A father and daughter who were involved in an incestuous relationship are facing a lifetime in prison after police discovered the bodies of three babies rotting in the basement of their house in northern Poland.
Piotr Gierasik (54) and his 20-year-old daughter Paulina Gierasik have been charged with several counts of murder and incest after the bodies of three newborns were found in shallow graves and wrapped in plastic bags at what has been dubbed a house of horror in the village of Czerniki.
According to reports, neighbours claim they heard the daughter moaning and screaming as she had sex with her swearing and cursing father.
The father and daughter, who were said to have lived like a couple and walked around hand-in-hand are believed to have been in a relationship for four years.
The shocking discovery only came to light when the daughters colleagues found out she was pregnant after she started wearing loose clothes in a bid to hide her belly.
Colleagues of Paulina at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa had noticed her covering her nipples with tissues because breast milk was leaking.
Paulina Gierasik
One worker told the Super Express newspaper: We all guessed she was pregnant, I think she had tied belts around herself like a sort of corset.
When she returned early from her holiday the change was visible. She was much thinner, weaker, and constantly tired.
When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it.'
Another local told Fakt newspaper: 'They lived like a couple. She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand.
Shocking testimony has revealed how her father shaved her head so that other boys wouldn't look at her' and that she looked up to him 'as if he were God.
The father and daughter have now been charged with multiple counts of murder and each of incest after the first two babies were found on Friday.
However, a third body was found in an advanced state of decomposition on Saturday.
Two of the infants belonged to Paulina, investigators said, and the mother of the third is her sister.
Mariusz Duszynski from the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdansk said the woman has been charged with two counts of murder and a charge of having an incestuous relationship with her father.
The man was charged with three counts of murder, a charge of incest with his 20-year-old daughter, and a charge of having incestuous relations with another daughter, the prosecutor said.
Prosecutors claim at least two of the murdered children discovered in the house were the result of Mr Gierasiks incestuous relationship with Paulina.
The third is thought to have been conceived after he forced another of his daughters into having sex with him.
The prosecutors added that they suspected him of killing the third baby.
The grim discoveries came after police received a tip-off from social services who then carried out a search of the property
There they found the three infant bodies in the basement of the house, each in various states of decomposition. The ground was covered in dirt and there was no solid floor where they were buries.
The small town of Czerniki - with a population of less than 180, located 50km from Gdansk - has been accused of holding a conspiracy of silence as the relationship between the father and daughter was well-known
It has been reported that Piotr had moved to the village around 15 years ago after he was left to bring up his children when his wife died.
One local told the Super Express newspaper: The father was left alone with the children.
There are a lot of them, ten or twelve, the oldest ones have already left.
Piotr made a good impression. The yard is neglected, but he installed new windows in the house.
Just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home.
But other locals said they suspected something was wrong with the family.
We often heard him shouting at the children, one said. His verbal abuse was shocking. Sometimes we'd hear one of girls screaming.
What people say now is that he used to go for walks with them. Maybe he did, but the whole village knew that something like this was happening.
It's a tiny village, so everyone knew about these things.
Prosecutors are now waiting for an autopsy to determine how the three babies died. Meanwhile, police are continuing to search the property to see if any more bodies are hidden in the house.
Both the father and daughter are currently in detention as the investigation continues.
COLOMBO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- SriLankan Airlines and Emirates have signed a reciprocal interline agreement to boost connectivity for passengers, local media reported here on Tuesday.
The partnership will enable access to new points on each other's networks via Colombo and Dubai, utilizing a single ticket and enjoying the convenience of baggage transfers, said the local media.
It is reported that the interline partnership gives Emirates passengers access to 15 regional destinations operated by SriLankan Airlines via Colombo, while SriLankan Airlines' passengers can connect to 15 cities operated by Emirates including destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Russia and the United States.
"The partnership provides more options to connect to and from Sri Lanka, assisting both Sri Lankan passengers at home and abroad, and supports tourism growth to the Pearl of the Indian Ocean," Richard Nuttall, chief executive officer of SriLankan Airlines was quoted as saying.
Robert OConnor was placed on a ventilator in the hospitals intensive care unit but was pronounced dead three days later.
An inquest into the violent death of a prisoner in his cell in Mountjoy Prison last year has been adjourned due to criminal proceedings in the case.
Robert OConnor (34) from Snowdrop Walk, Darndale, Dublin suffered fatal injuries during an incident at the prison on July 29, 2022.
Mr OConnor was rushed by ambulance to the nearby Mater Misericordiae University Hospital after being discovered lying in a pool of blood on the floor of his cell by prison officers.
He was placed on a ventilator in the hospitals intensive care unit but was pronounced dead three days later.
Inspector Mary T McCormack told a brief sitting of Dublin District Coroners Court on Tuesday that someone had been charged in relation to Mr OConnors death.
Insp McCormack applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25.2 of the Coroners Act as criminal proceedings have already been initiated in the case.
She told the coroner, Crona Gallagher, that Mr OConnors family were aware of the application but had not wanted to attend the hearing.
Dr Gallagher granted the application and adjourned the inquest to a date to be determined after the conclusion of related criminal proceedings.
Earlier this month, another prisoner, David Dunne (34) of Boroimhe Birches, Swords, Co Dublin was charged with Mr OConnors murder at a sitting of Dublin District Court.
Judge Bryan Smyth heard from a garda witness that the accused made no reply to the charge after being cautioned.
Dunne, who had not indicated how he would plea to the charge, was remanded in custody,
At a previous sitting of the coroner's court in June, the deceaseds father, Leo OConnor, gave evidence of formally identifying his sons body to gardai in the Maters ICU on the day after his death.
Members of the victims family were also informed by Dr Gallagher that post-mortem results showed Mr OConnor had died from blunt force trauma to his head.
Mr OConnor, who had previous convictions for drugs, stealing cars, criminal damage, theft and road traffic offences, had only just begun a six and a half year jail sentence in Mountjoy Prison for possession of a firearm.
He was also the victim of a separate assault within the prison just two days before the fatal attack when he was struck on the head with a kettle.
The prisoner was subsequently moved to the prisons C wing for his own safety.
At Mr OConnors funeral last year, his father issued a plea for no further retaliation over his sons death.
Violent murderer will be extradited on expiration of his Irish life sentence
A violent double killer serving life for the murder of a Chinese student in Dublin will be extradited to Portugal after his sentence is completed to serve a separate jail term for theft and burglary there.
Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo granted the request by Portuguese authorities seeking the extradition of Derek Wade for aggravated theft and petty theft arising from his trial in absentia in June of 2009.
A written judgement detailing the request by Portuguese authorities for the extradition of Wade who served a separate sentence for kicking a man to death was made public earlier this month.
Wade, who is serving life for stabbing Chinese student Zhi Song to death with a chefs carving knife in 2005, is expecting to be granted release on licence at some stage later this decade.
Zhi Songs mother is helped from Kilkmainham Court in 2005
The 43-year-old was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in March 2007 of stabbing Mr Song with a chefs carving knife after breaking into his house in Dublin in June 2005.
He also received a five-year sentence for trying to rob another resident of a house on Reuben Avenue, Xiau Wen Zhou, of her purse on the same occasion.
Reacting to the sentence at the time, Zhi Songs distraught mother and father Chun Xiang Zhang and Ji Dong Song said the law in Ireland is very different to their native China where murderers face death as punishment for murder.
A murderer would be sentenced to death in China, they said through an interpreter.
On the night of the murder, Zhi Song had held a barbecue for some friends with his new girlfriend Xiau Wen Zhou, also known as Tracy.
The two had been sharing the house just off the South Circular Road for nine months, but had only recently started going out.
Their guests left at around 9pm and the pair watched a film together before going to bed in their separate rooms.
Ms Zhou fell asleep quickly but was woken at around 5am to find someone in her room.
Wade had entered the house through a window.
The first room he came to was occupied so he went through to the kitchen at the back of the house and armed himself with a chefs carving knife and a meat cleaver.
He went into Xiau Wen Zhous room and at first she thought it was her boyfriend. Wade told her he wasnt going to hurt her and that he only wanted her purse.
Then a noise outside the room made Wade run out, leaving Ms Zhou sitting on the bed. She heard a grunt like someone pushing or lifting something with full force.
Seconds later, Mr Song staggered into her room bleeding from an open stab wound. He collapsed on the floor beside her bed.
Wade had stabbed him as he ran out of the house with the knife blade going through his heart and into his lung.
Wade also served a separate seven year sentence for killing William Cahill (28) in a flats complex off Jamess Street in 1997.
Mr Cahill received horrific head injuries after he was kicked to death by Wade following a row after a drinking party.
The victims siblings later described Wade as an animal.
The double killer, according to the written judgement released earlier this month, was arrested in prison on August 24 last year and brought before the High Court in connection with a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by Portuguese authorities.
The warrant detailed how Wade was trialled in his absence in Portugal in April 2009 and sentenced to two years and four months in prison for the offences of aggravated theft and petty theft in that jurisdiction.
The equivalent offences under Irish law are theft and burglary.
Wade, the judgement said, objected to his surrender on the basis notification of his trial was served on him at a time when he was already a prisoner serving a sentence in Ireland.
Judge Naidoo rejected this argument on the basis that Wade was informed by the Portuguese authorities in advance that a trial in absentia would take place. He said Wade had essentially ignored the notification served on him.
Wade also objected to his surrender on the basis of delay in serving the European Arrest Warrant.
I cannot be moved to an open prison at the moment because I am in custody on the European Arrest Warrant matter, he complained.
The longer this case goes on, the longer it will take my plan to progress and for me to move to an open prison. It is my understanding that if the European Arrest Warrant had not cropped up I would now be in an open prison such as Shelton Abbey.
Judge Naidoo also rejected this argument.
Gardai posted a picture of an array of implements that were discovered hidden in a park in Ballymun
Gardai have warned that it is a criminal offence to be found in possession of a knife in a public place following the discovery of a cache of weapons in North Dublin.
Gardai posted a picture of an array of implements that were discovered hidden in a park in Ballymun.
The photo shows what appears to be a kitchen knife, a steel bicycle saddle post, a screwdriver and a Stanley blade that were found stashed in weeds in the park.
Gardai in Ballymun were on patrol at lunchtime yesterday when they discovered these weapons hidden in park overgrowth, the force said on X.
They've been seized and our investigations are ongoing.
It's a criminal offence to be found in possession of a knife in a public place.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that gardai had recovered more than 13,000 knives in the last previous seven years.
Seizures had risen by a 78 per cent over the period, the figures provided to Fine Gael TD Alan Farrell showed.
With 2,146 knives confiscated by the force in 2022 alone, this equated to nearly six every day.
That year, some 905 knives were seized in the Dublin region, up from 812 in 2021. A total of 128 knives were seized in Cork city in 2022, while there were 164 seizures in Louth as well as 105 in Galway.
Mr Farrell said 13,138 knives have been seized by gardai in the years between 2016-2022.
This is a staggering number and we must continue to support gardai in their efforts to tackle these offences, he said in April.
There has been a steady increase in the amount of knives being seized annually by gardai. In 2016, 1,203 knives were seized and this number rose to 2,146 last year, a staggering 78 per cent increase over the seven-year period.
Clearly, any stabbing has the potential to cause irreparable harm and has had tragic consequences for families and individuals up and down the country.
Any person found to be in possession of a knife can be jailed for a maximum of five years, one of the most severe penalties in Europe.
There is no set minimum age at which a person can own a knife. However, it is an offence to have a knife in a public place without a good reason, such as for work.
Any person found to be in possession of a knife can be jailed for a maximum of five years.
The achievement was recognised in a ceremony held at the Irish Prison Service Headquarters in Longford on Thursday last
The Irish Prison Service has become the first public or private employer to be awarded an amber flag by Pieta House
The Irish Prison Service has become the first public or private employer to be awarded an amber flag by Pieta House
The Irish Prison Service has become the first public or private employer to be awarded an amber flag by Pieta House in recognition of its efforts to foster mental well-being within the organisation.
The achievement was recognised in a ceremony held at the Irish Prison Service Headquarters in Longford on Thursday last.
The Irish Prison Service has become the first public or private employer to be awarded an amber flag by Pieta House
Representatives from the Department of Justice alongside prison governors and members of their respective local amber flag committees were in attendance.
The amber flag initiative was originally designed for educational institutions but has now expanded to honour organisations that prioritise mental health.
Speaking at the event, Caron McCaffrey, Director General of the Irish Prison Service said, We are immensely proud to be recognized by Pieta House and awarded the prestigious amber flag.
Our staff understand the profound impact mental health has on individuals and those in our custody.
Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to provide support and create an environment that promotes well-being.
The Irish Prison Service has become the first public or private employer to be awarded an amber flag by Pieta House
As part of its focus on mental health within the organisation, the IPS held a series of events including Darkness into Light Walks held at several prison locations, guest speaker sessions, exercise classes, information campaigns, and improved access to formal support services.
Additionally, Irish Prison Service staff actively participated in fundraising efforts raising an impressive 22,569 for Pieta House.
Speaking at the event, Stephanie Manahan, Chief Executive Officer of Pieta said, "Pieta are delighted to be partners with the Irish Prison Service as the first state body obtain an Amber Flag.
We recognise the essential roll the Irish Prison Service plays and the extraordinary responsibility and stress that can accompany their role."
ENDS
Dutch prosecutors are seeking the extradition of 22-year-old Faissal Taghi to the Netherlands
The extradition of the eldest son of Kinahan cartel ally Ridouan Taghi has run into complications following his arrest in Dubai, it has been reported.
Dutch prosecutors are seeking the extradition of 22-year-old Faissal Taghi to the Netherlands where he is wanted on suspicion of being part of a criminal drug smuggling gang.
He is also suspected to be involved in money laundering and in preparing to commit violent crimes, prosecutors allege.
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service considers Faissal Taghi the second man in what remains of his father Ridouan's remaining criminal organisation.
However, according to the Amsterdam-based daily newspaper, Het Parool, despite a new treaty between the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates, his extradition has not yet gone smoothly.
In December 2019, Taghi senior was arrested in Dubai and as he entered the country with a false passport, was deported as an unwanted alien.
While the Netherlands still has to make an official extradition request, according to Taghi's lawyers, Taghi was put on a plane to the Netherlands just three days later.
Daniel Kinahan
He was then transferred to the Extra Secure Institution (EBI) in Vught, where he is still behind bars.
Following the arrest and deportation of the Amsterdam criminal Khalid 'Papkind' J just one a month later, Het Parool wrote about how the perception was that Dubai is no longer a luxurious den where Dutch criminals can hide.
Dubai's days as a safe haven for criminals again appeared to be numbered when, in August 2021, the Italian mafia boss Raffaele Imperiale, another Kinahan ally and supposed business partner of Taghi, was arrested in the emirate at the request of Italy.
However, Italy's extradition request was initially rejected and it was only after the Italian Minister of Justice flew to Dubai to personally hand over a new extradition request to the Minister of Justice of the United Arab Emirates did things move forward.
Faissal Taghi is the oldest son of Moroccan-born Ridouan Taghi (45) who is currently facing various charges, including murder, in an alleged campaign of assassinations that prosecutors called a "well-oiled killing machine".
Taghi is regarded as the head of a Dutch-Moroccan drug gang, known as the Mocro Maffia, who control a large section of Europes cocaine trade.
He is a close associate of Daniel Kinahan and they are believed to have worked together to source cocaine shipments from South America.
Taghi, who is believed to be the mastermind of an Amsterdam-based group which became one of the country's largest cocaine distributors, had been a fugitive from Dutch authorities for years until his arrest in late 2019 in Dubai.
While on the run he had previously been a guest at Daniel Kinahan's wedding in the seven-star Burj al Arab hotel in 2017.
Once the Netherlands' most-wanted man, Ridouan Taghi went on trial in March 2021 at a heavily fortified courthouse often referred to as "The Bunker on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
Prosecutors say that Taghi and his accomplices were involved in at least six assassinations, four attempted murders and in plotting six other killings.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has also just returned from the desert kingdom, where he engaged in high-level meetings with local police commanders.
Ridouan Taghi
Although he didnt mention them by name in the video clip posted on X by the Dubai Police, it is understood that top of the agenda for the Harris visit was the Kinahan Cartel.
Hailing his counterparts, Commissioner Harris said he wanted to develop a very positive relationship with the police here in Dubai, he tells the camera.
What we touched upon was many of the areas of organised crime, transnational organised crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and) cybercrime, so these are all the areas that we can share experience.
He said that both police forces could build on their new relationship, to work together in terms of transnational organised crime threats.
Also, I'm very optimistic from meetings that I've had over the last number of days, he adds.
We also revealed recently how an investigation team from the Dubai police service is set to travel to Ireland to help bring down the leaders of the Kinahan crime gang.
The Sunday World has learned that the formal offer was made by the Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai police force following a high-level meeting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this month.
The unprecedented level of cooperation between the security agencies has been seen as a further significant development as part of international efforts to take down the murderous crime group.
Need a holiday that takes R&R to a new level? This is the holiday for you
ARRIVING at Solar Alvura, Im feeling a little lost. Not so much in a geographical sense, Im well aware that Ive come to warm, balmy Portugal; Im talking more spiritually. Self-care hasnt exactly been at the top of my priority list lately. Between one thing and another, Im feeling every tired, sluggish moment of the past few months.
Its close to 10pm as I walk through the doors of Dr Eva Orsmonds Health Hotel. She greets me in the foyer wearing a long, flowy white dress, looking my polar opposite relaxed and bronzed, like a woman living the dream here in the Algarve.
Hello, Rachael, she says confidently, You must be hungry. Our chef has something ready for you if you want to head out to the terrace. I dont have the heart to tell her I consumed something resembling lasagne not so long ago on the flight, so I wander outside and find a seat.
Inside the yoga yurt
My candlelit table, with its crisp white cloth and gleaming glassware, looks out on an orange grove, and theres a strong scent from the lavender growing nearby. Within moments, a plate of fresh grilled fish and steamed vegetables appear, and as I tuck in, savouring each bite, I think to myself maybe Ill be alright here.
My alarm wrenches me into reality the following morning at 6.45am. Sunrise meditation begins in 15 minutes on the roof, and its going to take every fibre of my being to get out of this warm, luxurious bed. But Ive heard meditation is good for you, and its not every day you get to do it on a rooftop, so what the heck?
Upstairs, Sylvia Ferguson, our softly spoken yogi and retreat host, is waiting for the early risers. She invites us to sit in silence and breathe, which seems like an easy task. However, as most novice meditators can testify, the head has a tendency to race, and currently, mine is flooded with distractions, to-do lists, memories, and people.
But then I hear Sylvia say calmly, As sure as the heart beats, the mind will wander. Come back to this moment. And just like that, something clicks. I focus on my breath as she instructs and begin to meditate, albeit for a moment.
Dr Eva and her team host regular yoga retreats here at Solar Alvura, consisting of daily sunrise meditation, two yoga sessions per day, and guided activities in the local area such as beach days, trips to nearby towns such as Tavira, hikes, visits to a local olive farm and sea kayaking.
There is also plenty of downtime and opportunities to book treatments at the onsite spa or chill by the pool. If you were to ask me to sum it up in a nutshell, I would say that these retreats are perfect for anyone looking to rest, rejuvenate, reset and possibly even do a little soul-searching.
After my inaugural meditation, I head outside to the gorgeous, purpose-built yoga yurt. A large, beige canvas ceiling drapes above us, and the warm rust-coloured tiles feel soft beneath my bare feet.
The sunny terrace
Surrounding me is a group of women spanning all ages and abilities, and I note that Im not the only one who has travelled alone. For some, its their first time trying yoga and for others, they are very well acquainted with the mat. I fall somewhere in between.
Over the next hour, we stretch and flow our way in and out of poses. Sylvia guides and adapts each motion to suit everyone, and her encouragement goes a long way.
As morning yoga ends, I realise that I feel truly relaxed for the first time in a long time. We gather our belongings, empty coffee cups and newly found zen and head to the terrace. I walk past my table from last night, this time joining the rest of the group or, dare I say, new friends for breakfast.
Theres plenty on the menu, from delicious veggie omelettes to sweet stacks of pancakes. Some of my fellow guests are taking part in the hotels bespoke weight loss programme, which includes private daily weigh-ins and a custom meal plan. However, I have chosen to stick with the regular option, which still involves a healthy, wholefoods-based menu.
At Solar Alvura, guests also have the opportunity to partake in Dr Evas Diabetes Recovery Programme, which aims to help participants take control of T2 Diabetes. The programme begins with an assessment, followed by an in-house program based on initial weight loss and the reduction of carbohydrates. Then, once guests leave the hotel, a follow-up program is recommended.
Food is a big part of the guest experience, naturally. And throughout my stay, I feel I am being nourished back to life, one perfectly portioned meal at a time.
I try everything, from creamy monkfish stew to juicy beef and courgette burgers. Each meal is expertly prepared using local ingredients and the flavour oh, the flavour is nothing short of inspiring.
I cant help but think about how to take some of these ideas home. And while the wine on offer is beautiful, let me tell you that when youre up for meditation at 6.45am each day, early nights are a luxury we all appreciate.
Dr Eva
I spend just shy of a week at Solar Alvura, throwing myself into the yoga practices each morning and evening, and joining the others on the daily excursions. I eat and rest, meditate and reflect.
I laugh, I cry, and I share time and stories with a bunch of extraordinary women. Solar Alvura is the tonic I didnt know I needed.
Fast forward to today; it has been a month since I visited Portugal. And while my alarm clock may not be going off quite so early (I havent changed that much!), Ive made space for the beautiful practices I found at Solar Alvura.
The pool at Solar Alvura
My time in the Algarve with Eva, Sylvia, and the rest of our unique little group has profoundly and unexpectedly impacted my day-to-day life in the way that travel and spiritual pursuits often do.
Meditation has become a daily practice, and each time I find myself distracted, a tiny part of me returns to that rooftop in Portugal, and I hear Sylvias words, As sure as the heart beats, the mind will wander. Come back to this moment.
TRAVEL FACTFILE
SOLAR ALVURA, PORTUGAL
See solaralvura.com
Rachael was a guest of Solar Alvura, just 25 minutes from Faro Airport. A transfer service is available to and from the hotel. A five-night yoga retreat at Solar Alvura starts at 1,062 per person sharing, not including flights. Upcoming dates include November 11-16, 2023, and February 10-15, 2024.
Up to 25 people are understood to have been affected, some who were Irish rugby fans, after dining at Tchin Tchin Bar from September 4 to September 10.
The lawyer of a wine bar owner at the centre of the Bordeaux botulism outbreak said his client is feeling defeated by the tragic events of recent days.
The Departmental Directorate for Population Protection (DDPP) has opened an investigation as up to 25 people are understood to have been affected, some who were Irish rugby fans, after dining at Tchin Tchin Bar from September 4 to September 10.
Mr Stephane Guitard described the distress of his client, who has been working with the French authorities to find any remaining customers who had consumed the canned sardines.
Mr Guitard told the citys local newspaper, Sud Ouest, that his client is feeling defeated.
He is feeling defeated. He heard about the opening of an investigation. I explained to him how it worked. He is not thinking of himself, I explained to him that there are a lot of issues here but thats not his priority.
His priority is to ensure that there are not others who are sick, that those who are hospitalised return to their previous lives, and he is of course thinking of the family who lost a 32-year-old loved one. Thats his only thing that interests him (sic), he said.
Botulism victim Maria Grypioti
A 32-year-old Greek-born woman, who lost her life a week ago after falling ill from the rare foodborne illness, was married to a Mayo man. Maria Grypioti who wed her husband just last May died after returning from Bordeaux to Paris. Her husband was also hospitalised.
A preliminary manslaughter investigation has been opened by the Bordeaux public prosecutors office.
Meanwhile, Ms Grypiotis husband remains in a serious condition due to complications of botulism.
Mr Guitard said his client has been collaborating with the authorities to find people who ate at the restaurant.
He is physically exhausted. But he will take responsibility and remain available to investigators, the lawyer said.
When asked if the owner of the restaurant has a theory of what might have happened, the lawyer said they are waiting on the conclusions (of the investigation) from the experts.
He added that the owner has been asking himself questions: the jar, the rubbers which, according to him, were new. Should he have cooked [the sardines] longer at a high temperature?...everything was clean. Was it enough?
The defence lawyer said it is too early at this stage to talk about a scientific proof of non-compliance with hygiene rules.
Something happened, it's obvious. But there is still a lack of analysis and expert results to say exactly how this drama unfolded.
Should he have thrown away all the jars he had sterilised at the same time? This is obviously one of the questions that haunts him. But he was not aware of the risk at that time.
The results of analysis carried out by Pasteur Institute to determine which toxin was involved was released on Friday evening confirming the presence of type B botulism in the dish of sardine tapas and in the blood of several victims.
Between 2008 and 2018, a recent study published in the Frontiers Public Health found there have been 82 foodborne botulism outbreaks in France, with 159 people affected.
Last week, the owner of the restaurant was quoted saying he was aware he had a batch of sterilised sardines when he opened it and had to throw away some that had a strong smell.
Others appeared healthy and were served to customers, the restaurateur said to Sud Ouest.
The restaurant was closed until further notice.
The Irish Independent has contacted Mr Stephane Guitards office to seek further comment.
The cheques were made out to businesses and private individuals in in the city
Declan OCallaghan who found cheques that had been lodged at the AIB Branch in Newry Pic Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker
The streets of Newry were paved with money last month as 2 million rained down on the city centre.
Pedestrians couldn't believe their eyes as hundreds of cheques fluttered down the street on the breeze.
Cheques made out to businesses and private individuals littered The Mall in the centre of Newry.
Pedestrian Declan O'Callaghan couldn't believe his eyes.
"It was unbelievable, I was walking through the town when all these bits of paper came floating down the street," he said.
"There was hundreds of them, I caught a few and realised they were cheques."
So he set about gathering them up - by the time he had finished he had a bundle of more than 400 separate cheques with a face value totalling in excess of 2 million.
"The amounts ranged from 50 to 125,000 - people's names, company names, it was all there lying on the street."
He said people's personal data had been compromised.
The Sunday World has spoken to an expert in data protection who has told us the incident represents a "massive breach of personal data".
Some of the cheques recovered
"This is on a scale I haven't seen before, it's amazing the amount of information you can glean from a cheque and there is the potential for fraud and also individuals being left open to blackmail. It's very serious."
We also contacted the Information Commissioner. There has been no formal response but they said they were unaware of the incident but should have been informed within 72 hours of it happening.
Banks have a duty of care to customers to protect their private information.
A data protection expert said customers and clients would be well within their rights to consider legal action if they suspect personal information had been compromised.
"In effect there is a contract between the customer/client and the bank, we entrust them with our information.
"I can't say who was responsible for these cheques ending up on the street, but it's down to someone."
Companies found to have been in breach of data protection are liable to huge fines and according to our expert this incident is "at the top of the scale".
"On the face of it we have hundreds of people whose personal information has been compromised."
The Sunday World is now in possession of the cheques and they include everything from commercial transactions to personal business.
There were a number of cheques which were clearly written to cover membership of the Masonic Order, a largely secret organisation that protects the identity of their members.
Payments to and from solicitors' offices are also included. We have seen cheques made payable to a hospice, Newry, Mourne and Down Council, the Education Board and a host of other public bodies.
Included in the bundle are cheques made payable to the courts, as well as many personal payments.
There is no monetary value as the cheques have been processed but it represents a serious breach of personal data.
The cheques are drawn from accounts from every High Street bank - Danske, Ulster, Allied Irish, Santander.
Declan O'Callaghan said he believed the cheques were blown down the street from the rear of a branch of the Allied Irish.
"I took the cheques into them and said they had compromised people's private information," he said.
"They said the cheques had nothing to do with them."
When contacted by the Sunday World, a spokesperson for the bank confirmed an incident had taken place close to their branch.
"AIB is aware of an incident in the vicinity of its Newry branch relating to materials that were in a security van," he said.
"We have investigated with the security company in question who have assured us that no AIB material or customer data was compromised."
The Sunday World has contacted the security company but at the time of going to print there has been no response.
Once processed, cheques are routinely collected by a security company and shredded to protect the payee from potential fraud and to protect personal information.
Declan O'Callaghan said many questions remained.
"I wouldn't be too happy to think that cheques carrying my name are floating about the town.
"There's a lot of private information there I saw mobility payments, there are cheques that obviously relate to the settlement of a will, there's legal disputes, planning issues, you name it."
The Sunday World tried to contact a number of High Street banks. A spokesperson for the Bank of Ireland said they were unaware of the incident but would initiate an investigation.
richard.sullivan@sundayworld.com
It is thought his new teeth could have cost in the region of 10,000 with his hair transplant setting him back a similar amount.
Street brawler David Matthews has splashed a fortuned on a hair transplant, Turkey teeth and face implants, a source has claimed.
He was snapped on holiday in Ibiza this week showing off his new look with a tanned and tattooed pal, days after he squared up to Andy Tyrie in a broad daylight street fight in Belfast.
He was also wearing a cast, courtesy of injury he suffered in his confrontation with Tyrie.
The Sunday World understands he has been undergoing treatment to thicken his thinning barnet and has had fillers inserted in his jawline to compliment his gleaming 10,000 teeth.
Prominent loyalist Matthews and Tyrie were filmed in Belfast city centre last Saturday morning exchanging punches.
But it is his new look that has stunned observers.
David Matthews
It is thought his new teeth could have cost in the region of 10,000 with his hair transplant setting him back a similar amount.
Its not clear how much the implants costs but, according to sources, what is certain he has splashed in excess of 20,000 on his looks.
He has recently moved into a big house in the Hightown Road area of Newtownabbey the opposite side of town from his old east Belfast stomping ground.
He has been seen at the wheel of a Mercedes SUV and its understood he has bought over a number of small shops, at least one of which is in the east of the city.
Matthews got married in the summer in a lavish three-day bash at the upmarket Galgorm Spa resort in Co Antrim with some insiders estimating that the bill was somewhere north of 50,000. David claims he was the victim in last weeks altercation with Tyrie, grandson of former UDA chief Andy Snr. It is understood he has made a statement to the PSNI.
Last night a spokesperson for Matthews said he was shopping with his mother and three children when he was confronted.
He said Tyrie was in the company of three other men and female.
This individual initially issued threats to Mr Matthews in front of his young children and shortly thereafter aggressively entered Mr Matthews personal space, the spokesperson alleged.
The spokesperson said Matthews used reasonable force to defend himself.
On three occasions, keen not to use excessive force, he sought to move away.
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Gong Jianhua, formerly a senior legislator in east China's Jiangxi Province, was on Tuesday sentenced to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes.
The verdict was issued by the Intermediate People's Court of Zhangzhou City in east China's Fujian Province.
From 2004 to 2020, Gong took advantage of his positions in Jiangxi Province to assist individuals in project contracting and career promotions, accepting money and valuables totaling over 83.61 million yuan (about 11.66 million U.S. dollars) in return.
Per the verdict, the defendant was also fined 5.5 million yuan, and has been deprived of his political rights for life. His illicit gains have been confiscated and will be turned over to the national treasury.
Considering facts including Gong's confession of his crimes after surrendering himself, and that he showed remorse and was cooperative in returning his illegal gains, he was granted a lenient sentence, according to the court.
The former Ireland rugby international has suggested that his children may have been responsible for his X account liking the posts
Representatives for Simon Zebo said he 'does not endorse' any of the conspiracy theories connected with the posts. Photo: Sportsfile
Simon Zebo has apologised after his social media account liked a slew of posts promoting anti-vax and 9/11 conspiracy theories.
The former Ireland rugby international has suggested that his children may have been responsible for his X account liking the posts, some of which suggested that sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand were part of a conspiracy.
In a statement through his representatives, Zebo said he has now changed his social media passwords and removed any posts that were not liked by him.
Representatives for the Munster star also said he does not endorse any of the conspiracy theories connected with the posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Over the last week, Zebos X account liked two posts which suggest that allegations of rape and serious sexual assault against Russell Brand are part of a conspiracy against the former comedian.
In one, it is suggested that Brand was targeted for claiming that the pandemic had been a profit opportunity for pharmaceutical companies. Another suggested rape allegations against Brand and controversial influencer Andrew Tate were a distraction from evil elite pedos (sic).
Comedian Russell Brand, who was the subject of a 'Dispatches' documentary on Channel 4. Brand has denied the allegations made against him. Photo: WireImage
A number of posts also liked by Zebos account promoted conspiracy theories against Bill Gates and Pfizer.
Another post, also liked by his account, suggests the war in Ukraine is a scam while another featured an antisemitic conspiracy theory inferring that Jewish people were responsible for 9/11.
All of the posts were liked by Zebos account over the last week.
All of them were removed from his page after his representatives were contacted by the Irish Independent yesterday, but similar anti-vax and conspiracy theory posts were also liked from the same account in the past months.
A representative for Zebo said: For clarity, we can confirm that Simon does not endorse any of the theories you have put forward below and did not engage with the posts attached.
We have spoken to Simon today; he was very surprised and concerned to see the screenshots and passes on his apologies of how this may be perceived.
He did mention that his children do have access to his phone and are frequently playing with it, including being on social media.
He acknowledges that he needs to restrict access to relevant apps, has since reset passwords, added improved security measures on the phone and within the app specifically. He will also remove any likes from any posts that was not him.
Details of Rotoruas newly announced community hub have been shared as the districts council works to improve safety after two bashings near bus stops and amid concerns about crime in the CBD.
Rotorua Lakes Council has been working with the police on a Community Safety Plan, which included a goal to halve violent crime and antisocial behaviour in the CBD by 2026.
Community and district development group manager Jean-Paul Gaston updated elected members on the plans progress at a meeting on Wednesday, including details about the inner-city hub announced last month after two attacks on teens in the CBD.
Gaston told the meeting the key to the hub was that it would be under constant review.
Economic development manager Julie-May Ellingson said a two-year lease had been signed for the hub at 1161 Hinemoa St, near the Tutanekai St intersection.
The space was previously used for retail and is near where a building with a similar purpose was knocked down in 2015 as part of the City Focus redevelopment.
Aims for the hub included building confidence in inner-city safety; improving safety; decreasing anti-social behaviour and crime; and improving the visibility of police, the councils Safe City Guardians and Maori wardens.
They would work in the hub alongside an inner-city operations manager, community support officer and Neighbourhood Support volunteers. It would open six days a week.
She said the space chosen was the best option in terms of cost, visibility and availability.
In a response to Local Democracy Reporting, Gaston said fit-out of the space would begin in October, and the hub was expected to be operational by mid-November.
He said it had negotiated a fixed rental of $26,500 per annum, including rates and insurance.
Rentals of the other premises considered were higher and ranged from $30,000-35,000 per annum.
Other proposals under the plan were to refresh the councils Safe City Guardians uniform and increase their numbers, ensure guardians were warranted to uphold council bylaws, increase CCTV operators for the councils 300 cameras and recruit a team leader to manage safety on buses and around bus stops.
The Inner-City Community Hub is expected to be open by mid-November. Photo / Laura Smith.
Bus stop safety was in the spotlight recently after the two teen bashings near a central city bus stop within a week of each other.
At the time, mayor Tania Tapsell said she was urging the Government to give Rotorua more police resources, while police said they were working with partners to curb youth offending in the Rotorua CBD.
Gaston said at last weeks meeting Tapsell was speaking monthly with Rotorua area commander Herby Ngawhika and talking directly with police minister Ginny Andersen about police resourcing levels.
Mihikore Owen, director of community safety, told the meeting the council had secured $86,000 per year for the next 10 years in funding for safety at bus stops and on bus routes from the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, which operates the bus network.
Other Community Safety Plan actions were to define the role, training, selection, supervision, and brand for the Safe City Guardians; to review and determine a future complementary deployment model (guardians and private security); to define a deployment and information-sharing model between police and council staff; and to review community safety camera monitoring, technology and coverage.
It would also engage with inner-city businesses on the 2023-24 plan and engage an all-Government group to undertake initiatives to reduce offending.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
Corvettes and cake stalls, toffee apples and mustangs. Once again village life in Greerton is humming with spring in the air, following what some are saying was the best Cherry Blossom Festival yet!
And, that was without the famous Greerton Village cherry blossoms which are still due to flower over this coming week.
The weather was perfect, says Greerton Village Mainstreet Manager Mahia Martelli during the height of Saturdays festival.
It is so amazing. There are so many people here. Its a shame the cherry blossoms didnt bloom but the weather has made up for it.
Stilt walkers from Free Lunch Theatre Company Ltd from Hamilton. Photo: Supplied.
Not only was Chadwick Road packed with people and cars on display, but there was a gala at the Greerton Village School, and a large vintage clothing fair at the Greerton Hall on Cameron Road.
Usually held a week later, this year the event would have coincided with the first weekend of the school holidays, so the decision was made to go a week earlier so the school could hold their gala at the same time.
Mahia says the Thrifted Finds vintage fair inside the Greerton Hall was busy all day, with food trucks serving up coffee, won tons, smoothies, dumplings, lasagne and dosas.
The Thrifted Finds market inside the Greerton Hall. Photo: Mahia Martelli.
Ive never seen so much vibrancy in Greerton Hall. It was jam-packed full of people with a DJ inside with amazing music.
And exciting street food outside.
Food stall outside Greerton Hall. Photo: Supplied.
Food stall outside Greerton Hall. Photo: Supplied.
Stalls outside Greerton Hall. Photo: Supplied.
Mahia says the foot traffic was flowing from Greerton Hall along Cameron Road through the Greerton shopping centre down along Chadwick Road, effectively increasing the festivals footprint and bringing more people past the Cameron Road shops.
That was my goal - to have something to move people through the village. I think that goal has worked out pretty well.
She says the charity shops and op shops looked super busy and some of the retailers decorated their windows. Blomquist Bakery, MDs Leatherworks and Visique Greerton all had stunning cherry blossom-themed window displays.
Cars were on display on Chadwick Road. Photo: Supplied.
Cars were on display on Chadwick Road. Photo: Che-Amanda Crawford.
With parking available at the nearby Tauranga Racecourse, it meant thousands of people were able to descend on the village for the annual Greerton Village Cherry Blossom Festival which ran from 9am 2pm.
Mahia says the cars were looking delicious on Chadwick Road. The Street Machines & Customs Tauranga Inc. members had their cars shining, polished and on show for the public to enthuse over. The top part of Chadwick Road was closed to traffic and the place was humming with music floating across the street, with people enjoying a meal while others checked out the cars.
Such vibrant colours, it seems there are more cars here than we had last year, says Mahia.
Dancing and live music in the village square. Photo: Supplied.
In the village square, the car club ran their annual fundraiser - an auction, with prize packs, tyres, car batteries and plenty of different raffles on offer.
Across the road on the curved path outside the Greerton School, Fuse Drumming put on a display.
We had the Hittmen under the big oak tree. We had five to seven year olds and then teenagers doing the Hittmen. It was crowd pleaser. They were booked for two hours and they played off and on and the crowd loved it.
Hittmen from Fuse Drumming. Photo: Supplied.
Deciding to mix it up a bit this year Mahia says entertainers were brought in from outside the Bay of Plenty.
We had butterfly stilt walkers from the Free Lunch Theatre Company Ltd from Hamilton, and cartoon characters from Enchanted Entertainers NZ.
The human monument was my favourite!
The 'Human Monument'. Photo: Supplied.
In the Greerton Village School grounds, there were jeeps, a chair-o-plane, bouncy castles, stall holders, candy floss, sausage sizzle, seafood chowder, white elephant, face painting and an icecream extravaganza, along with live music.
Reuben Ginns the principal from Greerton Village School said he expected over 5000 people to attend today and I think hes correct, says Mahia.
Stalls at the Greerton Village School gala. Photo: Supplied.
Dottie Crawford-Saunders, 4, and Moss Crawford-Saunders, 5, with their balloon animals at the Greerton Village School gala. Photo: Che-Amanda Crawford.
Bouncy castles at the Greerton Village School gala. Photo: Che-Amanda Crawford.
Characters from Enchanted Entertainers NZ with Amara-Ann Martelli, 5, a pupil from St Mary's School, who dressed up as a cherry blossom for the festival. Photo: Mahia Martelli.
Mahia says the racecourse parking was full, as people took advantage of the short walk into the village from the racecourse.
I think it made a good impact on the day having the racecourse open for parking.
Comments made across social media included It was an awesome day. We loved it! And the weather was perfect. A good variety of stalls, fun, music, something for everyone while another wrote It was fantastic. You all did very well. I always look forward to the Blossom Festival every year.
With, or without cherry blossoms, its been a truly successful festival as the village has welcomed spring and the summer ahead.
Chadwick Road on Saturday. Photo: Supplied.
A Bay of Plenty lakeside community is waging a battle against pollution this week, turning their two lakes into shining examples of conservation and collective action, as part of Keep New Zealand Beautiful Week.
Divers from Rotorua and Tauranga are joining the volunteers and residents who have been engaging in three clean-ups at Lake Rotoma and Lake Rotoehu.
The clean-ups, which started on Sunday, September 17, followed a Frock Swap at Lake Rotoma School on Saturday another reminder of the amount of textiles that can end up in landfill.
Dive Aotearoa from Rotorua did a lakebed clean-up at Lake Rotoma on Sunday, with Dive Zone Tauranga set to dive into a clean-up during the week.
Dive Zone Tauranga will be lake bed cleaning today [Tuesday, September 19], says local resident Jonette Meads.
Divers from Aotearoa Dive at Lake Rotoma on Sunday. Photo: Supplied.
Every year the two dive teams from Aotearoa Dive and Dive Zone Tauranga regularly come out with their dive students, and give back.
They take bags, dive into the water, and pull out any rubbish they find on the lake bed," says Jonette.
They will feel the fear/cold and do it anyway.
Dive Zone Tauranga will be cleaning the lake bed at Matahi submerged boat ramp and playground areas from around 10am, Tuesday, September 19, and possible the same at Otangiwao Point [also known as Letterbox Point].
Well be squeaky clean by the end of the week."
John Glasse and his daughter Samantha cleaning at the Lake Rotoma lakeside. Photo:Supplied.
On Sunday, 45 volunteers turned up for the Lake Rotoma clean-up, including the Aotearoa Dive Team.
We collected 160kgs of rubbish from Lake Rotoma. That was from 30 land volunteers, and 15 divers in the lake," says Jonette.
"Aotearoa Dive from Rotorua hauled up 25kg of rubbish when they cleaned the lake bed at Otangiwao Point, Lake Rotoma."
Lake Rotoma clean-up coordinator Joanne Rees says 30 land volunteers is about 10 per cent of the residents population.
So, given many homes at Rotoma are holiday dwellings, that's about right for volunteer numbers, says Joanne.
Rubbish collected at Lake Rotoma. Photo: Supplied.
Jonette says it was a slightly smaller haul than last years clean-up effort.
All the usual culprits like old tyres and even half a dinghy that was broken up by rain storms.
It was dreadful to find a vacuum cleaner in Lake Rotoma.
Jonette says the edge of Lake Rotoma is now very close to the road following the rising lake levels this past year.
So the dinghy was forced up onto the lake edge that's rocky in parts.
Some of the haul of rubbish from Lake Rotoehu on Sunday. Photo: Julie Riggir.
At Lake Rotoehu, another clean-up was also held on Sunday afternoon, run by Julie Riggir, up the Pongakawa Valley Road.
The local Lake Rotoma Rotoehu Community Association provided spot prizes during the two clean-ups.
Lake Rotoehu are going to continue with a clean-up through the week, says Jonette.
Some of the clean up volunteers at Lake Rotoehu. Photo: Julie Riggir.
Some of the clean up volunteers at Lake Rotoehu. Photo: Julie Riggir.
Jonette says the two lakes are cut off from each other at the moment due to the road connecting them being flooded from the rising lake levels. Students from Rotuehu attending Rotoma School are no longer able to drive through with their parents.
We have students from Kawerau, Rotoiti and Rotuehu, but Rotuehu cant get through, so five kids have their parents drop them off at a closed road barrier and they walk knee deep about 120 metres through the flooded road water the rest of the way to Lake Rotoma School.
They are resilient kids, and someone sponsored them gumboots to get to school.
She says one family moved to Rotoma.
One of the staff members navigates through the water to get to school each day. They live in Rotoehu, and walks through lakeswater as well to get to work.
Some of the clean up volunteers at Lake Rotoehu. Photo: Julie Riggir.
Pam Lang from the Lake Rotoma-Rotoehu Community Committee is pleased with the turn out, effort and participation on Sunday.
"We're always happy to see our accompanied children on these clean ups so we keep their families close to safe clean up locations around the lake, says Pam.
It was a beautiful day for beautiful Lake Rotoma to help Keep New Zealand Beautiful, says Pam.
Pam Lang and Joanne Rees enjoying their cleaner lake environment on Sunday. Photo: Supplied.
Artwork of all sizes, colours and forms created by Bethlehem School students will be on display this week, for staff, whanau and the wider community to enjoy.
The schools art exhibition, being held on September 20 and 21, is based on the theme Nga Taonga or Our Treasures.
This theme has been interpreted by each of the schools 450 students, from Year 0 through to Year 6, and turned into over 1,000 individual and collaborative pieces of art.
Bethlehem School Principal Catherine Neidhardt says that the students have been hard at work for the last two terms, creating pieces of art inspired by local artists and their own surroundings.
As part of our preparation for the art exhibition, we were fortunate to have local artists visit our kura and take workshops with the children so that they could learn some great artistic techniques and really let their imaginations run wild about how the theme Nga Taonga could be translated into visual art pieces, says Catherine.
It has been wonderful to witness the artistic journey all of our students have been on and what theyve created both on their own and collectively.
The children are very excited and proud to be sharing their creations with the community this week. From pottery, paintings and photography to digital installations, sculptures, clay work and floristry. The range of creativity and talent shown by these young tamariki really is impressive.
Local florist Lizelle van Blerk helps Year 1 student Elise Barrie with a floral creation. Photo: Supplied.
Catherine says the school usually holds an art exhibition every three years, yet due to Covid, it meant that there was a delay in hosting the event.
This is a well-loved community event by people of all generations, so we are very much looking forward to welcoming people into our school to celebrate our children and the visual arts.
Catherine says, as in previous years, each exhibition brings an opportunity for the whole school to get together to create something as a collective.
Our installations reflect our motto, Taku rourou Tau rourou. Ka ora ai tatou; With your contribution and mine we will flourish.
The Nga Taonga Art Exhibition is being held at Bethlehem Schools Hall, 66 Carmichael Road, Bethlehem, and will be open to the community on Wednesday September 20 from 8.30am-4pm and Thursday September 21 from 8.30am-6pm.
Entry is by gold coin donation, and children must please be accompanied by an adult.
Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon are facing off for the 1News party leaders' debate tonight
The pair spent the day downplaying their debating abilities.
Hipkins has admitted he doesn't have a photographic memory for facts and figures.
"One weakness, and I'll confess it now, I don't have a photographic memory when it comes to facts and figures. I have been caught out on this before, so I will spend a bit of time trying to refresh my memory on those things, but I again hope that we will focus on the substance rather than the gotcha moments which these debates can sometimes come down to."
Luxon has done a few mock debates with someone posing as his rival ahead the debate.
"It'll be a fun part of it [the campaign], but as I said last week, no disrespect, this country doesn't need a great debater, what they need is a great manager."
Again today he talked up Hipkins' 20-year experience as a debater in Parliament and says he will be doing his best to present his case to the New Zealand people.
Follow the latest updates with RNZ's liveblog:
- RNZ.
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A local man has been fined 1,000 after being caught riding an electric scooter while over the drink drive limit in Gibraltar.
William Parker, 37, was sentenced at the Magistrates Court on Friday and is the first person on the Rock to be sentenced for a drink driving offence on an electric scooter.
He pleaded guilty to driving a PLET (Personal Light Electric Transporter) with an alcohol level above the allowed limit (600), carrying a pillion passenger (300) and not wearing protective headgear (100) resulting in a total of 1,000 in fines.
The court heard that at around 5am on Saturday 9 September, officers were patrolling Rosia Road, when they spotted Parker on the e-scooter. He was not wearing a helmet and was carrying a passenger at the time. Response team officers stopped him and then noticed that his eyes were glazed and that he smelt of alcohol. After admitting that he had been drinking, he then blew 56ug on a roadside breath test the legal limit is 35ug. Parker was arrested and taken to New Mole House, where he later blew the same result on the evidential breath test machine.
The individual had hired the electric scooter from Hoppy, according to Royal Gibraltar Police.
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A British investment fund has acquired a well-known international college on the Costa del Sol following months of complex negotiations.
British company Affinitas Education, owned by investment fund Oakley Capital, acquired the Torrequebrada International College (CIT) in Benalmadena, in a deal that was finalised in August.
Victor Lundsten, CEO and founder of Affinitas, said: "from the moment I walked into CIT and met the team, I knew it was a school where I would be happy to send my daughter. There is no better proof: we are delighted to establish this long-lasting partnership with such a promising school".
He said Affinitas Education's mission is to "empower schools to be the best version of themselves: to be extraordinary". "We are excited to partner with CIT, already known for its international curriculum, commitment to environmental sustainability and emphasis on personal responsibility. CIT's high standards and profile are closely aligned with our mission and values. We will empower the team, forge connections with other schools and enhance what the school already does well," Lundsten added. He also pointed out that the Costa del Sol and wider Malaga are fast-growing areas with a demand in high quality international education.
Continuity in management
On whether there would be any changes to management or the school's education model, Lundsten said that his goal "is never to make changes without understanding what is already working well."
"We are delighted to be working with Iciar Garcia and her team, who work with passion and commitment to the success of CIT. We will work with Iciar and her team to continue to provide the tools and resources necessary to achieve the best quality education," he added.
Affinitas Education already acquired a majority stake in Xabia International College in the Alicante town at the end of last year, and Lundsten did not rule out future acquisitions in Spain. "Affinitas is always looking for growth opportunities with quality schools both in Spain and internationally". The group owns ten schools, two in Spain and eight in Mexico.
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National Police officers on the Costa del Sol have identified the young woman whose body was found abandoned in a street in Torremolinos with signs of asphyxiation. She is a 21-year-old girl of Norwegian nationality.
Investigators have verified the identity after performing an autopsy on the body and providing details to the authorities in Norway, who this week sent a reply with the official confirmation.
Homicide agents were already considering this identity as the most likely and, in fact, had combed the Playamar area to show images on social media networks to local residents in order to try and reconstruct her movements.
According to sources close to the case, the victim moved to Spain a year ago and lived in Malaga. At the moment, it is not known how her body ended up at the entrance to a housing estate in Playamar.
The body was found at around half past one in the morning of 13 September. It was some young people who, on their way home, came across the body on the pavement.
Specifically, the young woman's body was found next to a pedestrian crossing at the entrance to the Benyamina Norte residential development which is made up of two blocks and located in the upper part of Playamar. Next to the victim was a cloth bag which was almost empty.
The first call about the incident was received by Local Police in Torremolinos, who sent a patrol to the scene and alerted the health services to try to revive the young woman. The paramedics who went to the scene were unable to do anything to save her life and it appeared that she could have been dead for hours.
Because it was a death on a public road, and given the possibility of violence being involved, the Local Police officers alerted the Torremolinos National Police station, which mobilised a specialised and violent crime unit (UDEV), responsible for investigating homicides, among other cases.
The judicial commission - composed of the judge on duty, a lawyer for the Administration of Justice (LAJ) and forensic doctor - was also activated to proceed with the removal of the body, which went until well into the early hours of the morning.
The victim's body was first taken to the Hospital Clinico Universitario de Malaga for X-rays to detect internal fractures or other signs of violence. After that, the funeral service took the the corpse to the Institute of Legal Medicine (IML), where the autopsy was carried out on Wednesday morning.
The forensic examination was carried out by two professionals from the Pathology Service, as per protocol in the case of violent deaths where, in addition, there is suspicion of a criminal aetiology.
The final report of the autopsy is pending chemical, toxicological and histopathological tests, which is a microscopic study of the samples collected during the autopsy.
Police investigations suggest that the woman died of asphyxia, although the type of asphyxia has not yet been determined. Although one of the theories is that she may have died a violent death, it has not been ruled out that she may have drowned as a result of an adverse reaction to a substance.
What is clear to investigators is that someone had to have moved her body there, as the pavement where it was found is a pedestrian area and the girl could have been dead for 10 hours when the body was found.
URUMQI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- After a full day of riding horseback, Ahli Tudahen finally found a spot on the pasture with cell phone reception. Not wasting a single second, he hurried to post his latest works of art online -- a couple of photos.
Ahli lives in the vast pastoral area of Solbastao in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China. According to the local herdsman, the grazing grasslands are so secluded that even after reaching the end of the roads accessible by vehicles, one still needs to ride on horseback for two days. This quiet life, however, offers endless inspiration for Ahli and his some 70 fellow herdsmen in the "Wumot" photography team.
This aerial photo taken on Aug. 16, 2023 shows a view of the pastoral area of Solbastao in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
The word "Wumot" means "hope" in Kazakh. Since its establishment in 2018, the team has amassed a collection of over 10,000 photographs showcasing the exquisite pastoral landscapes and nomadic lifestyle. These images, which encapsulate the charm of cattle, sheep, and day-to-day life on the pasture, have mostly been captured with cell phones.
The passion for photography in Solbastao was ignited by a romantic event. In 2018, Tan Chengjun, a member of the Photojournalist Society of China, was invited to shoot wedding photos for Ahelitay, the son of a herdsman he was well acquainted with.
"Mr. Tan is a photographer!" The news spread quickly. As more and more herdsmen asked Tan to teach them how to shoot photos, the experienced photographer decided to form the "Wumot" team and took on the role of team supervisor.
This photo taken on Aug. 13, 2023 with a mobile phone shows Tan Chengjun (C), a member of the Photojournalist Society of China, explaining photos to herdsmen in the pastoral area of Solbastao in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
"For the herdsman and me, photography adds happiness to our life," said Tan. "Life in the pastoral areas can sometimes be monotonous, but teaching herdsman to capture the beauty of their surroundings with their mobile phones can enhance their spiritual experiences."
Photographic terminology is difficult for these pastoral students to understand, so Tan tries to explain things in a more accessible manner -- "A well-composed photo is like a weighing scale. To keep the balance, you can't put heavy things on one side and light things on the other;" or, "try to add more colors in your photo. Just like wearing some make-up before you go out."
This photo taken on Aug. 11, 2023 with a mobile phone shows Tan Chengjun (L), a member of the Photojournalist Society of China, teaching herdsmen to take photos with a mobile phone in the pastoral area of Solbastao in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
Instead of overwhelming pastoral students by pumping too many skills into their heads, Tan aims to foster a natural path of development. Although Huan Husayin has bought a camera and some other team members plan to buy a drone, most herdsman photographers shoot with their cell phones. The equipment they use might be simple, but the outcomes "have really blown my mind," said Tan.
Tan's favorite picture is Aray's "Horseback People," which was taken from behind the head of a horse facing the lush mountains in the distance.
"The horseback people are not seen in the picture, but it conveys Kazakh people's strong feelings towards the pastures, the horses and their nomad lifestyle," Tan commented.
Tan has also been impressed by the herdsmen's unique observations of their daily life -- a cow worriedly watching its calf crossing a river, a little girl enjoying her summer vacation sitting in a manger, and a lamb that has just been born, still shrouded with the placenta.
"Pressing the shutter is just as simple as shepherding," said a herdsman.
"These photos have a special pleasing quality about them, with a rich range of subjects. This is something that not even professional photographers can achieve," said Tan. "The magnificent mountains, the migration, and the bond between humans and animals... They are all very good subjects."
Tan hopes, with his guidance, herdsmen can better record their lives, cultivate a perception of beauty, and fully experience the great changes of their hometown. He is happy to see new subjects showing up in their pictures -- beekeeping becoming a new occupation for the Kazakh, the first college graduate joining the local women's federation, and a new recruit saluting his veteran father before he leaves home for the army.
Tan Chengjun (C), a member of the Photojournalist Society of China, talks with herdsmen in the pastoral area of Solbastao in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Aug. 12, 2023. (Xinhua/Hu Huhu)
With the support of the local government, the team has held three photography exhibitions. A group of four photos titled "Journey to the Alpine Pasture" granted Ahli the first prize in the first exhibition, and he was awarded an electric cooker. In the third exhibition held last year, Ahli displayed 200 photos and grabbed the first prize once again. This time, the reward was 1,000 yuan (138 U.S. dollars).
Tan paid a visit to Solbastao last month, but he did not see Ahli around. "Maybe he is grazing his sheep in the mountains," Ahli's neighbor told him. "Or maybe he is searching for signal somewhere. Who knows?"
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Tomorrow, Wednesday 20 September, nature and adventure lovers in Malaga province and further afield will have an opportunity to start planning their visit to the iconic El Caminito del Rey, as tickets will go on sale for the winter period between 7 November 2023 and 31 March 2024. This iconic path, which winds through the majestic Desfiladero de los Gaitanes Natural Park, in the municipalities of Alora, Ardales and Antequera, is known for its impressive suspended walkway and its scenic beauty.
From November, visitors will be able to enjoy this natural site from Tuesday to Sunday, with opening hours from 8am to 5pm, except on public holidays such as Christmas, Semana Blanca, Easter Week and Mondays 26 February and 25 March 2024.
Visitor tickets for the winter period at one of the most popular tourist attractions in Malaga province can be purchased online from 9am on Wednesday, 20 September, with prices from just 10 euros Karl Smallman
One of the novelties for this season is that tickets will be available to both individual members of the public and tourist agencies, allowing the planning of guided tours that allow for a more enriching experience. Ticket prices remain unchanged at 10 euros for general admission and 18 euros for guided tours.
Weather station
The Caminito del Rey has been working hard to improve the safety of its visitors and staff. In fact, it recently announced the installation of a weather station that will provide crucial data to Spain's state weather agency (Aemet). This will ensure a more accurate forecast and contribute to the collection of meteorological data in the province.
Transport
Visitors wishing to explore El Caminito del Rey have convenient transport options, as the site can be reached via the Cercanias local train service from the Maria Zambrano and Malaga Centro railway stations. In addition, El Caminito del Rey has a visitor reception centre in the municipality of Ardales, which has a car park with capacity for 240 vehicles, at a cost of two euros per day, and it is advisable to arrive at least one hour in advance.
To facilitate access to the path from the car park, shuttle bus services are offered (managed independently of the Caminito del Rey) which operate return journeys. Tickets for these buses can be purchased either in advance when buying tickets or on site in person, paying in cash. The bus service operates from 7.40am to 8pm, with an estimated journey time of 15-20 minutes to the stop near El Kiosko restaurant.
El Caminito del Rey, managed by the joint venture Sando Salzillo Servicios Integrales and Mundo Management, has become a tourist must-see in the province after its reopening to the public in March 2015. Its three-kilometre route and its suspended walkway, which rises 105 metres above the gorge floor, attracts nature lovers and adventurers from all over the world. The reconstruction of this trail, once considered the most dangerous pathway in the world, has transformed the area and made it a safe and exciting destination for all visitors.
Their paddleboard was located by a sailboat 15 nautical miles off the coast the day after they headed out to sea on 27 August to watch the sunrise.
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Two young paddleboarders who disappeared off the Costa del Sol on 27 August may have tried swimming back to shore after strong winds swept them out to sea, Spain's Salvamento Maritimo maritime search and rescue service has suggested.
Clues have been scarce since Maxi Ludvik (29 years) and Emmanuel Soria (34) vanished after they paddled out to sea to watch the sunrise at about 7.20am off Misericordia beach in Huelin, Malaga. Just their paddleboard was found some 15 nautical miles off the coast the next day.
Salvamento Maritimo called off the sea search on Monday 18 September - 21 days after the two Argentinian friends were last seen. Authorities explained the decision to the heartbroken families on Monday during a meeting with national government representatives in Malaga.
The head of national coordination for Salvamento Maritimo Manuel Barroso travelled to Malaga for the meeting. "I came just to meet with the parents and explain the operation, although in a situation like this we have to understand them more than they understand us," he said. "There is an international procedure that serves as a guide, but in this operation the search has gone far beyond a reasonable expectation of finding them alive."
Barroso said the turning point of the search came early on, a day after they went missing, when authorities found their paddleboard. "When the board turns up and not the boys ... time is moving against us and the probability, which is already very low, is decreasing. Every minute in the water is vital because of the fatigue and the cold," he said.
The theory, "which we have no way of proving," Barroso added, is that the two young men tried to swim to shore. "We can't determine what could have happened, only that there was an onshore wind that blew them away from the beach and that they most likely tried to swim to the mainland. Let's hope we are wrong."
When this happens, and the wind or current drags an inflatable object out to sea, the most common reaction is to jump into the water and swim. "We always recommend that it is better to stay on the object or the board, the chances of being rescued are much higher," Barroso pointed out.
Although the active search has officially been called off, "Salvamento Maritimo is not going to look the other way, we are still at sea, and in the air. It can take as long as it takes, we will never forget," Barroso said.
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The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), part of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has warned those intolerant or allergic to milk about the absence of precautionary labelling for traces of milk in seven batches of Dulcesol cocoa-filled rolls from Spain.
As a precautionary measure, AESAN recommends that people with a milk allergy or intolerance who may have the above-mentioned product in their homes should refrain from eating it. However, the consumption of this product does not pose any risk to the rest of the population.
AESAN has become aware of this absence of labelling via the Coordinated System for the Rapid Exchange of Information (SCIRI), of an alert notification sent by the health authorities of the Valencian region.
The discovery came about as a result of the company's own self-monitoring process, which reported the incident to the authorities, in compliance with the legislation and in order not to make unsafe food available to the public.
Image of the product affected by the food alert. SUR
The details of the product involved are: cocoa-filled sticks of the brand name Dulcesol with three units packed inside a plastic bag. The batch numbers are 04G, 11G, 21G, 01H, 12H, 25H, 31H, with various expiry dates. Unit weight: 141 g.
According to the information available, the initial distribution of the product was made to the Spanish regions of Andalucia, Canary Islands, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Extremadura, Galicia and Murcia, although it has not been not ruled out that there may be some redistribution to other areas.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, meets with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) Central Committee, in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 16, 2023. At the invitation of the Communist Party of Cuba, Li paid an official friendly visit to Cuba from Saturday to Monday. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
HAVANA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China is willing to work with Cuba to implement the important consensus reached by top leaders of the two parties and countries, and continue to support each other on issues concerning each other's core interests, said a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) during his visit to Cuba.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Li paid an official friendly visit to Cuba from Saturday to Monday.
China stands ready to promote the development of the respective party building and socialist cause, said Li, also secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
China is also willing to work with Cuba to promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, as well as the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, he added.
Conveying cordial greetings of Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, to Diaz-Canel, Li extended congratulations on Cuba's success in hosting the Summit of the Group of 77 and China in Havana.
Li said that the two meetings between Xi and Diaz-Canel after the 20th CPC National Congress pointed out the direction for the development of relations between the two parties and countries.
For his part, Diaz-Canel asked Li to convey his sincere greetings to General Secretary Xi, and expressed a warm welcome to Li for his visit as the special representative of President Xi.
China has firmly stood with the Global South nations and effectively safeguarded the common interests of developing countries, said Diaz-Canel, noting that the Cuban side thanks China for its assistance to Cuba's economic and social development and is ready to maintain close friendly exchanges with the CPC and promote practical cooperation.
Diaz-Canel also expressed gratitude for China's firm support for the Cuban people's just struggle against unilateral blockade and sanctions, saying that Cuba firmly supports the major global initiatives proposed by Xi. He also wished the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation a complete success.
During the meeting with Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of organization of the PCC Central Committee, the two sides agreed to strengthen political mutual trust and strategic coordination, deepen practical cooperation in various fields, and strengthen exchanges and mutual learning on governance and experience sharing and cooperation in party management and anti-corruption.
The two sides also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between China's National Commission of Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller General of Cuba.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, visits Raul Castro, the leader of Cuba's socialist revolution, in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 16, 2023. At the invitation of the Communist Party of Cuba, Li paid an official friendly visit to Cuba from Saturday to Monday. (Xinhua)
When visiting Raul Castro, the leader of Cuba's socialist revolution, Li conveyed Xi's greetings to Raul and said that the traditional friendship between China and Cuba was forged and carefully cultivated by the older generation of leaders of the two countries. Raul is a close friend of the CPC and the Chinese people and has made historic contributions to the development of relations between the two parties and the two countries. Facing the complex and ever-changing international situation, China is willing to work with Cuba to jointy build a China-Cuba community with a shared future.
Raul Castro asked Li to convey his greetings to Xi. He recalled his exchanges with Chinese comrades, saying that Cuba is happy and encouraged by the great achievements made in the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics and is willing to learn from China's development experience. He also visited the Fidel Castro Ruz Center with Li.
During Li's visit to Cuba, he introduced the full and rigorous self-governance and anti-corruption work of the CPC under the strong leadership of General Secretary Xi and the CPC Central Committee.
Li told the Cuban side that China has successfully embarked on a path of anti-corruption that relies on institutional strengths and the rule of law, while the CPC has become stronger and more powerful and won the heartfelt support of the people.
The Cuban side spoke highly of the remarkable achievements made by the CPC in party building and anti-corruption and expressed willingness to deepen exchanges with the Chinese side on party governance, discipline inspection and supervision.
Li Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, lays a wreath to the monument of Jose Marti in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 16, 2023. At the invitation of the Communist Party of Cuba, Li paid an official friendly visit to Cuba from Saturday to Monday. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
Syracuse, N.Y. An Oswego County mother who admitted she caused the death of her 17-year-old son who had cerebral palsy has now been sentenced to federal prison for stealing the teens disability benefits.
Lisa Waldron, 44, pleaded guilty in April to receiving 11 Social Security benefit checks meant for her son, Jordan Brooks, long after he died on May 9, 2021, federal prosecutors said.
Syracuse, N.Y. A man with a gunshot wound was dropped off at a Syracuse gas station after he was shot on the North Side early Tuesday morning, police said.
Around 1:25 a.m., officers responded to the 300 block of Lodi Street for a shots fired call, Syracuse police spokesperson Lt. Matthew Malinowski said in a news release. Officers arrived and found evidence of a shooting.
Just moments later, a man injured in a shooting was dropped off in the 1100 block of Erie Boulevard East, near Valero at 1135 Erie Blvd E, according to Onondaga County 911 dispatch reports.
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BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone has seen steady development and progress over the years, according to data from China Nonferrous Metal Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC).
Since its establishment in 2007, the economic cooperation zone has attracted nearly 100 businesses, with its total investment surpassing 2.5 billion U.S. dollars, according to the CNMC, a centrally-administered state-owned enterprise (SOE) that built the zone.
As Zambia's first multi-functional economic zone, it has also created over 10,000 local jobs, the CNMC said.
The company added that it would continue to scale up investment in Zambia and bring more Chinese investors to Zambia with the help of the cooperation zone.
So far, over 10 centrally-administered SOEs from China have worked with Zambia across various sectors, including mining, transportation, electricity, manufacturing and agriculture, yielding successful projects such as the Tazara Railway and Kafue Gorge Lower Hydropower Station.
The Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB) has explored ways to identify innovative solutions in the realm of artificial intelligence so that they can be applied to the financial services.
For this BAB recently arranged a site visit to Shaikh Nasser Centre for Research and Development in Artificial Intelligence, aiming to foster collaboration between the banking and tech sectors.
This initiative stems from BAB's dedication to realising its vision of harnessing AI practices to propel growth in the banking sector, thereby establishing a more resilient framework for the future of banking and financial services.
Leveraging cutting-edge expertise
This strategic move reflects BAB's strategy to strengthen ties with specialised research and development institutions in the advanced technology sphere. The goal is to leverage cutting-edge expertise and knowledge in the field of artificial intelligence to spur innovation and advance financial services in Bahrain.
Additionally, it seeks to instill a culture of artificial intelligence within financial institutions by synergising efforts to deploy these modern technologies, recognising their positive impact on project performance, ultimately driving productivity and contributing to comprehensive economic development.
During the visit, a specialised team from the Nasser Centre conducted a thorough review of a series of AI-based projects for the delegation from the Bahrain Association of Banks. These projects had been executed in collaboration with both the public and private sectors across various service and productive industries, resulting in tangible and noteworthy enhancements in performance.
Collaborative journey
This visit marks the initiation of a collaborative journey with the Centre, aiming to integrate and leverage artificial intelligence technologies within the operations of Bahraini banks. Our goal is to harness the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionise banking operations in Bahrain, enhance the banking sector's customer experiences, and maintain a leadership position in technological innovation. Our commitment lies in driving the sector towards the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, pushing the boundaries of innovation, and achieving new levels of efficiency and productivity, said Dr Waheed Al Qassim, CEO of BAB.
"Through this collaboration, our goal is to expand the scope of cooperation and coordination with the Centre, recognising its crucial and pivotal role in advancing future sciences and fostering research and innovations in this domain. This aligns seamlessly with the association's objectives and the goals outlined in the Financial Services Development Strategy 2022-2026. The aim is to incentivise Bahraini banks to invest in cutting-edge technologies and explore the opportunities they offer, ultimately enhancing the sector's competitiveness on both regional and international fronts."
New possibilities
Dr Jassim Haji, Executive Advisor at Shaikh Nasser Centre for Research and Development in Artificial Intelligence, said this collaboration would usher in new possibilities by equipping the delegation with cutting-edge technical expertise in the realm of artificial intelligence, thereby positioning the association as a pivotal partner in achieving remarkable milestones and successes in the realm of artificial intelligence applications while bolstering its capabilities.
Dr Haji underscored the significance of artificial intelligence in propelling progress and advancement within the banking industry, particularly in the enhancement of security systems. He also highlighted the pivotal role of smart systems in the analysis of financial data and the formulation of banking decisions grounded in precise knowledge.
He pointed out that investments in artificial intelligence applications within the banking sector offer numerous opportunities to enhance the industry's landscape, unlock fresh avenues for innovation and development, and fortify banks' capacity to adapt to swift market changes.-- TradeArabia News Service
YAOUNDE, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon's army said on Tuesday that its troops have killed five separatist fighters in the country's English-speaking region of Southwest, where a prolonged armed separatist conflict is in progress.
The Rapid Intervention Battalion, the country's elite force, raided a hideout of the fighters in the Mofako Butu locality of the region late Monday.
Among those killed was a "dreaded" separatist commander who called himself "General Bitter Cola," said Chamberlin Ntou'ou Ndong, senior divisional officer for Meme division where the hideout is located.
"He terrorized civilians, killing some. We are calling on all other fighters still in the bush to drop their weapons and embrace peace," Ndong said.
Separatists have been fighting to create an independent nation in Cameroon's Anglophone regions of Northwest and Southwest since 2017.
What just happened? If you were ever curious about what our Sun may have looked like in its early years of formation, NASA may finally have the answer. Using the James Webb Space Telescope, the agency was able to discover a distant star in its infantile stage, and believes it will grow up to be just like our own Sun.
Launched in 2021 and operating since July 2022, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has already taken countless amazing photos and discovered incredible information. From new detailed looks at nearby planets like Jupiter, to viewing an asteroid redirection test and even taking a selfie. The vast amount of technology included within the JWST also allows it to recognize what resources are present on moons and planets hundreds of light years away.
One of the latest discoveries by the JWST, however, hits a little closer to home than you may expect. Using the telescope, NASA discovered an infant star, commonly known as a protostar, within the Perseus constellation located approximately 1,000 light years away from Earth. The star is currently in its Class 0 protostar phase, meaning it is less than 100,000 years old.
A star does not appear how you'd typically expect a star to look when it is in its infant stages. Rather than being a glowing and flaming orb of gases like what we see with our Sun, protostars are usually seen as dark voids accompanied by what is called a Herbig-Haro (HH) object. HH objects are collections of gases outflowing from an infant star, which collide with other gases and dust within the vacuum of space to produce vivid colors.
This HH object is classified as HH 211 and can be seen with its wild shades of blue and pink as the gases are being released by the young star. These gases will likely continue to be exhausted from the star until shortly before it reaches its next protostar phase, Class I, in the distant future. At that point, the star will begin to glow and fuse like our Sun has for billions of years.
NASA is describing the star and its HH object as an "infantile analog of our Sun when it was no more than a few tens of thousands of years old." Currently, it has a mass of only 8% of what our Sun has, but as time goes on, it will grow into a full-sized star just like the Sun.
In just over a year of operation, NASA seems to have gotten more than its money's worth with the JWST. Findings such as what was seen here would've been much more difficult, if not impossible, with its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope. With so many outstanding images and discoveries in such a short period of time, it's exciting to wonder what the JWST may find in the near future.
Image credit: NASA GSFC/CIL/Adriana Manrique Gutierrez
In different industries, AI has proven itself to be a massive factor to consider so the technology would be improved, and now GE Health is looking to deliver AI-assisted ultrasounds to ensure future deliveries of babies. This project saw a massive backer to its cause, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledging to the cause.
While ultrasounds are seeing significant advancements in the present, there are still many that it cannot see, with AI hoping to help this soon.
GE Health is Developing AI-Assisted Ultrasounds
(Photo : falco from Pixabay)
A press release from GE (General Electric) Health has detailed its plans to develop a new take on a birthing requirement, centering on AI-assisted ultrasounds soon to help in the doctors' monitoring. Its main goal is to improve the outcomes for births, centering on low and middle-income countries (LMIC) with the help of machine-trained systems.
The AI-assisted ultrasounds would center its development on the user-friendly applications and tools that healthcare professionals will use for their patients.
"Ultrasound is an essential tool for screening and diagnosis of various medical conditions, including the health of expectant mothers and managing respiratory diseases," said Roland Rott, President and CEO, Ultrasound, GE HealthCare.
"However, a key limitation is the guidance of lesser-skilled users to effectively apply affordable point-of-care ultrasound in their care environment," Rott added.
Read Also: New MIT Study Reveals Ultrasound Kills Coronavirus-- Its Vibrations Cause COVID-19 Spikes to Collapse
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Backs GE
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation backed this project from GE HealthCare, with the company receiving a massive $44 million grant for the development of the tool.
GE HealthCare stresses the critical healthcare issue in the world that centers on maternal and child mortality amidst and during birth, with the tool looking to soon help assist doctors and professionals, particularly the less-experienced ones, for their check-ups.
Ultrasounds and Tech for Birthing
Ultrasounds have long been the method used by doctors and researchers to look into the womb and other health problems of a person, helping give images and perception from inside the body. Massive developments were applied to ultrasounds, with significant improvements in fetus and infant imaging, with new technology centering on prenatal MRI and 3D images.
While the main goal of ultrasounds is to determine the health of a baby from inside their parents, it can also be used to help determine what kind of birthing these expectant mothers should take. According to a study, late ultrasounds to a person can help prevent C-Section births, with the study claiming that it could help thousands of deliveries per year to avoid the knife.
Prenatal care and maternal mortality rates are massive considerations whenever having a child, and while doctors are experts and knowledgeable in the area, the use of AI may still help improve this monitoring. GE Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are now working together to develop AI-assisted ultrasounds, perceived to be a game changer in the field.
Related Article: AI-Driven Program Aims to Help Combat Infectious Diseases in the Global South
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Netflix and SK Broadband have ended their legal dispute over network usage costs, shifting towards collaboration. The dispute arose from SK Broadband's request for Netflix to share the expense of increased network demands due to the success of "Squid Game."
(Photo : ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP via Getty Images)
In this photo taken on October 7, 2021, a large digital screen on a building displays the logo of Netflix, producers of the South Korean hit series "Squid Game", beyond a South Korean flag hoisted above a pavement in Seoul. - A dystopian vision of a polarised society, Netflix smash hit Squid Game blends a tight plot, social allegory and uncompromising violence to create the latest South Korean cultural phenomenon to go global.
Resolving Legal Battle
In a surprising turn of events, streaming giant Netflix and South Korean Internet Service Provider (ISP) SK Broadband have officially put an end to their long-standing legal dispute. The Verge reported that this signifies a significant transformation in their relationship.
This legal feud, initiated back in 2020 when Netflix filed a lawsuit against SK Broadband, and the latter responded with a countersuit, has now come to a close, with both companies choosing to shift their focus towards collaboration rather than litigation.
The dispute originally stemmed from SK Broadband's request for Netflix to share the burden of network usage cost increases, largely attributed to the overwhelming success of the series "Squid Game," which led to a substantial surge in streaming traffic within South Korea.
Ruling in Favor of SK Broadband
A South Korean court ruled in favor of SK Broadband, obligating Netflix to contribute to the additional network expenses. According to SK's estimates, the hit show resulted in an extra cost of 27.2 billion Korean won, roughly equivalent to $23 million at that time.
As a result, Reuters reported that Netflix and SK Broadband have decided to set aside their differences, opting for a more cooperative approach moving forward.
This development underscores the impact of "Squid Game" on the streaming landscape and marks a notable shift in the dynamics of streaming service providers and internet service providers in South Korea.
SK's as its Second-Largest Data Traffic Source
Netflix's commitment to prioritizing its global members is further exemplified by this announcement.
In South Korea, a nation renowned for its influence on the cultural landscape and its nurturing of a world-class creative community, Netflix is strengthening its ties with a broader audience encompassing SK Telecom and SK Broadband subscribers.
This partnership will empower Netflix to offer an extensive array of compelling shows and movies, meticulously curated to cater to diverse preferences, including highly anticipated titles like D.P. 2, Mask Girl, Kill Boksoon, and Physical: 100.
Also Read: Netflix New Titles September 2023: 8 Mile, One Piece Movie Collection, Superbad, and More
The immense popularity of "Squid Game" and various Netflix content highlights its role as South Korea's second-largest data traffic source, closely trailing Google's YouTube.
Interestingly, both Netflix and YouTube have been exempt from paying network usage fees, a practice followed by other content providers like Amazon, Apple, and Facebook, according to SK Broadband.
Related Article: Netflix Doubles Down on South Korean Market with $2.5 Billion Content Production Investment
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Employees are now raising their concerns against TikTok's MyRTO app, and this is a tracker for the workers' attendance on the required days that they report to the office. Much like the Big Tech that requires workers to return to the office, ByteDance has launched this app to monitor their attendance as the pandemic's work-from-home setup is slowly diminishing.
Many companies are now requiring employees to report physically to their offices to do work, with some revolting against this as work can be done from home and others live far away.
TikTok MyRTO App Monitors Employee Attendance at RTO
(Photo : Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The New York Times received several testimonies from TikTok employees regarding the new app called "MyRTO" which tracks their attendance, as the company has recently mandated a return-to-office setup. The employees claimed that ByteDance circulated notices that explained what the app is for, and it monitors the badge swipes when they are onsite.
During the pandemic, TikTok adopted the work-from-home or remote setup among its employees, but like other Big Tech companies, they are slowly rolling out a hybrid work schedule.
According to the Times, MyRTO is built into TikTok's internal software, and this attendance tracker would compile all the information from their badge swipes, with its data available for the workers and HR staff.
Read Also: Google Offers Discounted Hotel Stays to Get Employees Back to the Office, But There's a Catch
Return to Office Tracker from ByteDance Faces Heat
Gizmodo claimed that TikTok's return to office and MyRTO tracker app faced massive heat among its employees, especially as ByteDance was claimed to allegedly question employees about their absence or refusal to report onsite.
It was also reported that there would be disciplinary action for those who are deliberately disregarding their employment setup. Some TikTok employees are asked to report for three days a week, and some are required for as much as five days weekly.
Big Tech's Return to Office Mandates
The pandemic has taught the world many things, and one of them is how work can be done remotely and the traditional office can be abolished in today's age and technology. However, that is not yet stopping Big Tech from mandating a return to office setups, with Meta among the renowned ones to ask employees to report in a hybrid setup for as much as thrice a week.
Amazon also joined this mandate, as it asked employees to report to their respective offices three times a week, and it was a significant debate between the company and its workers. Some employees have stood their ground against this mandate, with Amazon already warning about the repercussions of their resistance to the mandate.
Google and Apple are also bringing this setup to its workforce.
Now, ByteDance and TikTok are asking employees to return to their offices in a hybrid work setup, and this comes with a dedicated app that is looking to track their attendance. MyRTO is an employee badge tracker that determines their swipes if report to the workplace, and ByteDance takes it up a notch by asking them whenever they refuse to do so, now facing complaints.
Related Article: Zoom Asks Employees to Return to Office for Hybrid Work, Defends User Data Access for Generative AI
2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Microsoft has just released a new firmware update that covers all its different Surface devices. This includes even certain units that are no longer supported like the Surface Book 2, which is also getting the important patch.
Microsoft Surface Comes with New Update that is Available for All Surface Units
According to the story by Tech Spot, Surface devices will be getting the updates automatically through the Windows Update. It was noted that every product would follow its own schedule, which involves a mid-September update that is supposed to cover all Surface units.
It was noted that Microsoft has just come out with the latest update which is expected to be available for a lot of different Surface devices. It was noted that the devices would be getting the updates simultaneously.
The September 2023 Update Focuses on Addressing Different Scrutiny Vulnerability While Enhancing System Stability
The article also noted that the patches would be rolled out in certain stages but so far, they are expected to reach the whole Surface ecosystem. The brand new September 2023 update mainly focuses on addressing different scrutiny vulnerable while also enhancing the system stability and improving performance.
The Microsoft update will also include the latest UEFI firmware as well as device drivers that are expected to support all types of Surface machines. These updates are expected to be distributed through the Windows Update service.
Users can Manually Download the Update through the Microsoft Download Center Resolving Potential Scrutiny Issues
However, users can also manually get the update by downloading the comprehensive package directly from the Microsoft Download Center. The update would resolve potential security issues that are dubbed "serious."
It was noted that Microsoft released these patches even for the Surface Book 2, which is now deemed unsupported. It was noted that the PC is an Intel-based 2-in-1 computer which reached its support end on June 30, 2023.
The Update is Available for Windows 21H2 Operating Systems and Later Versions
The latest update is reportedly available for devices that run on the Windows 21H2 operating system or later versions. When downloading MSI manually, it would require users 1.5GB in size.
The article noted that driver and UEFI firmware updates would also come for newer devices like the later Surface Pro 7+ and Pro 7 LTE. It also includes the Surface Book 3, which in May 2020, replaced the previously unsupported Surface Book 2.
Read Also: Acer Aspire 5 Spotted on Amazon Selling for a $35 Discount for the i7 Gen Intel Core, 16GB DDR4 RAM Included
The September 2023 Update Comes with the UEFI Firmware Version Supporting All Device Types
An article by Neowin reports that the new September 2023 update includes the UEFI firmware version that is capable of supporting all types of Surface devices. It was noted that the update also includes Intel-based Surface Laptop Studio as well as the Laptop 4 systems.
Even the Surface Pro 7+, which is a 2-in-1 detachable tablet computer, needs GPS sensors as well as components for Dolby software. Microsoft also notes that they haven't been able to spot any known issues with the new patch, the September 2023 update.
Related Article: Lenovo Unveils New Technologies for Gaming, Software, and Accessories for the Holidays
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Google Voice is expanding its spam protection measures to SMS messages on Android and iOS devices. This comes as more people are falling victim to scams or as scams continue to be quite a nuisance.
New Google Voice Feature Helps Identify Suspected Spams by Giving Users Labels
According to the story by Phone Arena, a lot of people have run into forms of spam at different points since they are often available everywhere. The spam messages can not only be annoying, but they can also be dangerous for certain individuals who fall victim to spam.
Being able to reduce the frequency of these spam messages can be quite an advantage and as described by the article, would be a welcome change. Google is reportedly introducing enhanced spam protection through automatic suspicion in Google Voice.
Google Extends the Feature to Cover SMS Messages for Android and iOS Users
It was also reported by 9to5Google that the spam caller warning of Google will be extended to also cover SMS messages. The feature will reportedly be available not just for Android users, but also for iOS devices.
Whenever a message is labeled as spam, users will see the labels showing its status. An easily noticeable red exclamation mark will show up on the user's private avatar area. The message preview will then start with "Suspected spam."
Users are Given Two Options When They Spot the Suspected Spam Label
Whenever users spot the label on new messages, they can then do one of two things, either confirm that it's spam and send it straight to the spam folder, or mark a labeled message as spam, to ensure users won't see the suspected spam label for those numbers or messages.
The feature is reportedly available for all types of users including customers under the Voice Starter, Standard, and Premium paid. These include users in the US that have free personal accounts as well.
Google Voice Tags Suspected Spam Caller Feature Makes Use of Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tech
The feature is already rolling out and is expected to be officially available for all people in the upcoming weeks. So far, the goal of Google when it comes to spam protection is to help ensure that users are safe when it comes to fighting against unwanted calls or even potentially harmful scams.
It was noted that for Google Voice, any calls that it thinks are spam actually issue a tag "suspected spam caller." In order to run the feature, Google makes use of advanced artificial intelligence.
Read Also: Anonymous Hackers Disrupt MGM Resorts in Latest Cyberattack
Google AI Tech Identifies Billions of Spam Calls Monthly Across the Whole Google Network
This is the same tech responsible for identifying billions of spam calls monthly across the whole Google network. Other previous updates include how Google has decided to roll out three additional updates and whenever users go over a person's card to see birthday decorations in Google Contacts or other products under Google Workspace.
As explained by Android Police, it was also noted that should people add their birthday to their Google Account profile and make it visible, others would receive the decorations come the date.
Related Article: TikTok Hit with Landmark $368 Million Fine by European Regulators for Child Privacy Violation
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will bring independent advisors together to assess clinical trials involving artificial womb technology. The primary goal is to explore how this innovation can improve the survival and well-being of extremely premature infants.
(Photo : DIDIER PALLAGES/AFP via Getty Images)
TOPSHOT - un nouveau-ne est couche sur une table a langer, le 05 juin 2001 juste apres sa naissance, au service maternite de l'hopital franco-britannique de Levallois-Perret.
Incorporating Artificial Womb Technology
The FDA has scheduled a pivotal two-day meeting of independent advisors from September 19 to 20. According to Interesting Engineering, a panel of independent advisors will convene to delve into the viability of conducting clinical trials incorporating artificial womb technology.
The central focus is to examine how this innovative technology could positively impact extremely premature infants' survival rates and overall well-being.
During this gathering, regulators and experts are poised to explore ethical considerations in depth, all while conducting a thorough assessment of critical elements. With the swift progress in medical research and technology, artificial womb technology is poised as the next groundbreaking frontier.
This emerging medical innovation seeks to create a controlled environment outside the natural womb for the development and nurturing of extremely premature newborns.
The focus of artificial womb technology is primarily on infants born at gestational ages below 28 weeks, a group that faces elevated risks of mortality and health complications.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has been actively pursuing FDA approval to initiate the inaugural human clinical trials for a groundbreaking artificial womb system known as the Extra-uterine Environment for Newborn Development or EXTEND.
Japan Times reported that CHOP's research team achieved a significant milestone in 2017 by demonstrating the viability of an artificial womb, referred to as the "Biobag," in supporting the development of premature lambs.
The Biobag replicated the natural amniotic fluid environment surrounding a fetus in the womb, and essential elements such as a continuous oxygen supply were delivered directly into the fetal bloodstream through a specialized device connected to the umbilical cord.
The study's results revealed that the lamb continued to develop and thrive inside the Biobag for up to four weeks after being transferred from its natural womb. This developmental stage was similar to the human equivalent of 23-24 weeks into a pregnancy.
Read Also: Scientists Create Human Embryo Model Without Sperm or Eggs-What Is It Made of?
Addressing Concerns
Nature reported that this encompassing examination will address ethical concerns and delve into potential procedural approaches and the overall framework for executing human trials involving this groundbreaking technology.
Typically, a fertilized egg takes around nine months to develop into an approximately seven-pound infant. Nonetheless, complications can arise during this journey into new life, posing potential risks to the mother's and developing fetus' health and welfare.
Infections, hormonal imbalances, hypertension, and diabetes can create an unfavorable environment within the womb for the developing fetus. As a consequence, premature births can occur significantly earlier than the usual 40-week term associated with a healthy pregnancy.
The current standard of care involves the utilization of incubators, which provide a controlled environment for premature infants until their bodies mature sufficiently to thrive outside the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) within the hospital premises.
Related Article: Scientists Develop Human Embryo-Like Model, Mimicking Aspects of 2nd Week Human Development
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NEW YORK, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's development is an opportunity rather than a challenge, a gain rather than a risk to the United States, and the two sides have every reason to achieve mutual success and common prosperity, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng said here on Monday.
Han made the remarks while meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Spain has recently achieved a significant milestone for the renewable energy transition by connecting its first-ever floating offshore wind turbine to the grid, marking a momentous step toward harnessing wind power from the sea.
(Photo : Saitec Offshore Technologies)
The DemoSATH project has reached a significant milestone - the commissioning of its turbine, which is now fully operational and generating clean energy.
Spain's First-Ever Floating Offshore Wind Turbine to the Grid
Saitec Offshore Technologies, an engineering firm in Spain, spearheaded the DemoSATH project. The company collaborated with RWE Offshore Wind, a German energy company, and Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO), a Japanese company.
Electrek reported that this groundbreaking initiative was deployed in August off the coast of the Basque Country, precisely at the BiMEP testing zone located in Armintza.
This groundbreaking endeavor, known as the DemoSATH floating offshore wind project, features a formidable 2-megawatt (MW) turbine. Notably, the power generated by this turbine is equivalent to fulfilling the annual electricity needs of approximately 2,000 Spanish households.
The term "SATH" stands for the project's unique floating platform design, while "Demo" conveys its experimental nature. The turbine boasts an impressive rotor diameter measuring 96 meters or 315 feet.
Custom-designed tools for the precise identification of bird and bat species have been incorporated into the infrastructure, alongside advanced systems for monitoring the biodiversity of the marine ecosystem in the immediate vicinity.
These ongoing monitoring initiatives are poised to yield valuable data regarding the behaviors of various groups and species in the proximity of the floating offshore turbine.
Furthermore, the project will encompass the assessment of eco-friendly solutions specifically tailored to the SATH platform, aiming to promote marine biodiversity and enrich fishing resources within floating offshore wind farm environments.
Read Also: Seagreen Installs Deepest Offshore Wind Turbine Foundation in the World
Previous Steps
In August, the Renewable Energy Magazine reported that Spanish engineering firm Saitec Offshore Technologies successfully deployed the DemoSATH project in collaboration with Germany's RWE Offshore Wind and Japan's Kansai Electric Power.
This achievement marks the fifth installation of a floating technology with a turbine exceeding 1 MW in the open sea in Europe. Additionally, it is the third concrete-based technology to attain this advanced stage of development.
Over the next two years, data from this pilot initiative will be meticulously collected and analyzed. Davis Carrascosa, Chief Operating Officer at Saitec Offshore Technologies, expressed pride in their pioneering efforts.
He emphasized that this project serves as a practical testing ground to acquire firsthand knowledge and experience, which will be instrumental in shaping future large-scale projects.
Sven Utermohlen, CEO of RWE Offshore Wind, expressed his satisfaction with the successful commissioning of DemoSATH, highlighting its significance in RWE's broader mission to tap into the vast potential of floating wind technology on a global scale.
He emphasized RWE's commitment to becoming a leading player in the floating wind sector, focusing on countries with deeper coastal waters, such as the United States, France, United Kingdom, and Norway, aside from Spain.
Utermohlen emphasized the importance of gaining early experience through projects like DemoSATH, which serve as valuable stepping stones for future commercial-scale floating wind endeavors.
According to Offshore Wind, the unique concrete-based platform and single-point mooring design of DemoSATH contribute to expanding RWE's expertise in innovative floating wind concepts.
Related Article: Hollandse Kust Noord Hybrid Offshore Wind Farm Installs Its First Turbine
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Australia's government has called for the online dating industry to enhance safety standards to protect users from sexual violence or face regulation.
Australia Asks Online Dating Platforms to Establish Voluntary Code of Conduct
According to the Associated Press, Australian Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has set a deadline of June 30 for popular dating platforms like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge to establish a voluntary code of conduct addressing user safety.
This code may encompass closer collaboration with law enforcement, support for vulnerable users, improved safety policies, and greater transparency about potential risks. However, Rowland warned on Monday that the government is prepared to enforce change through legislation if safety standards do not see significant improvement.
The move is in response to research from the Australian Institute of Criminology, which revealed that three out of four users of dating apps or websites in Australia experienced some form of sexual violence through these platforms between 2016 and 2021.
"Online dating is actually the most popular way for Australians to meet new people and to form new relationships," Rowland acknowledged. Yet, she emphasized the government's concern about high rates of sexual harassment, abusive language, unsolicited explicit content, and violence facilitated by these platforms.
The Australian Information Industry Association, representing the tech sector in Australia, excluding online dating, commended the government's approach as "measured."
The association's CEO, Simon Bush, stated that this is how technology should be regulated: by identifying issues, engaging the industry, and attempting to find resolutions before resorting to regulation.
Read Also: Facebook 'Sparked' Test: New Video Speed Dating Feature Promotes Face-to-Face Engagement As Opposed to Tinder's Swipe
Dating App Companies' Response
Match Group, the company behind popular dating services, including Tinder, Hinge, Plenty of Fish, and OK Cupid, expressed its commitment to collaborating with regulators and partners to combat gender-based violence and bolster safety on their platforms.
Bumble also echoed support for the Australian government's initiative to eradicate gender-based violence. The company noted that creating a secure online environment is integral to its mission.
Kath Albury, a researcher at Melbourne's Swinburne University of Technology specializing in online dating, told AP about the importance of improvements in safety protocols.
She emphasized the need for clearer feedback mechanisms when users report unwanted or threatening contact, ensuring that responses feel personalized and timely, especially in unsafe or distressing situations.
The Australian government's call for improved safety standards in the online dating industry reflects a growing awareness of the need to protect users from potential harm or exploitation, particularly in digital interactions. This initiative aims to strike a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring the well-being of users.
Related Article: No 'Swipe Night' Yet? Tinder Cancels International Release of Apocalyptic Original Series Due to Coronavirus
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Writer, a generative AI platform for enterprises, has disclosed securing $100 million in its Series B funding round. This substantial investment is spearheaded by ICONIQ Growth, accompanied by participation from WndrCo, Balderton Capital, and Insight Partners, who led the prior Series A round.
Moreover, Aspect Ventures, who headed the Seed round, also contributed. Notably, clients of Writer, such as Accenture and Vanguard, have also participated in this funding round. This influx of capital brings ICONIQ Growth's Doug Pepper onto the Writer's board.
This fresh funding is earmarked for enhancing the company's proprietary large language models (LLMs) tailored for specific industries. Additionally, investments will be directed toward incorporating agent and multimodal capabilities into these LLMs.
All About the Writer AI Platform
May Habib, the CEO and co-founder of Writer, emphasized that their "foundation models are best-in-class, and they're auditable, inspectable, and hostable - but it's not just about the models."
"Any CIO who's tried to build an internal generative AI application will tell you that the last mile of quality is the hardest. And we help them nail that, at scale, dozens and dozens of times as they build AI applications and assistants that enable their entire organization. And our customer's desire to invest in the company is a true testament to the value we're providing," Habib added.
In contrast to alternative generative AI solutions, Writer's platform is engineered to seamlessly integrate generative AI into business workflows.
The platform encompasses Writer-developed LLMs, a Knowledge Graph for seamless integration with corporate data sources, and an application layer featuring chat interfaces, prebuilt templates, and adaptable UI options.
Writer's models have achieved top scores on critical benchmarks such as Stanford HELM. They also offer the flexibility of self-hosting, combining the security advantages of in-house model development with the rapid implementation advantages of an end-to-end solution.
Rana Yared, general partner at Balderton Capital, underscored Writer's distinguishing features in the competitive AI landscape. She praised the company for having a transparent business model, substantial traction with global enterprise clients, and robust revenue growth.
Vanguard's Chief Information Officer, Nitin Tandon, lauded Writer's full-stack platform for enabling their teams to blend their expertise with cutting-edge generative AI technology, ultimately enhancing productivity.
Read Also:Generative AI to Affect 2.4M US Jobs by 2030 says Forecast, Prompt Engineering Jobs Soon?
Tenfold Increase in Revenues
Over the past two years, Writer has seen a tenfold increase in revenues and an impressive net revenue retention rate exceeding 150%.
With its track record and years of market presence, Writer is poised to assist enterprises worldwide in harnessing the potential of AI in an era of democratized access to advanced tools.
A comprehensive study encompassing over 50 enterprise clients revealed that Writer yielded an average productivity gain of 7.5 hours per employee per week.
It illustrates the Writer's holistic approach, enabling diverse applications across the entire organizational spectrum, rather than being confined to foundational models or one-size-fits-all applications.
In 2021, Writer secured $21 million in its Series A round, following an initial seed funding round of $5 million in 2020.
Related Article: Fox Sports to Incorporate Generative AI for Content Creation of Its Archived Games Footage with Google Cloud Collaboration
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BAE Systems and L3Harris Technologies has delivered the first of 10 EC-37B Compass Call aircraft to the US Air Force for combined developmental and operational testing. It is a significant step in advancing the Air Force's four-decade mission of employing electromagnetic attack (EA) capabilities.
All About the EC-37B Compass Call Aircraft
This system aids US and coalition forces by disrupting enemy communications, radars, and navigation systems while suppressing enemy air defenses. Mission system prime BAE Systems produces the Compass Call Airborne Electromagnetic Attack system.
This essential technology hampers the transmission of crucial information among adversaries, weapon systems, and command-and-control networks.
L3Harris, the platform integration prime, has integrated the EC-130H Compass Call mission system into a modern Gulfstream G550 business jet, enhancing speed, endurance, and high-altitude operation for increased survivability and range, thereby delivering superior EA effects.
Dave Harrold, Vice President and General Manager at BAE Systems, emphasized the significance of this delivery, saying, "The delivery of the first EC-37B Compass Call is a major milestone for our customer's electromagnetic attack capabilities. We take pride in delivering this critical EW capability to keep the US at the vanguard for defense and deterrence."
Jason Lambert, President of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance at L3Harris, highlighted the achievement of migrating the Compass Call mission equipment from the larger EC-130H and seamlessly integrating it into the Gulfstream G550 platform.
This transition marks a pivotal moment as the Air Force phases out its 40-year-old EC-130H fleet, ushering in the advanced EC-37B to perpetuate its crucial electromagnetic warfare mission.
Read Also: US Air Force Invests $235 Million for Startup to Develop New Jet with Blended-Wing Body
Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force Reveal New Images of B-21 Raider Nuclear Stealth Bomber
In related news, Northrop Grumman and the US Air Force have provided the public a glimpse of the progress of the B-21 Raider by releasing new images of the latest nuclear stealth bomber as it starts ground engine runs at Northrop Grumman's Palmdale, California, facility.
This development is a substantial leap toward the aircraft's flight testing phase, solidifying the B-21 Raider's status as a trailblazing sixth-generation aircraft, heralding a new era in aeronautics. Engine testing is a pivotal stage in the program, showcasing the B-21 Raider's preparedness for the challenges ahead.
This cutting-edge aircraft is engineered to operate at the forefront of modern warfare, equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology, advanced networking capabilities, and a versatile open systems architecture.
The B-21 Raider is set to redefine the capabilities of the US bomber fleet. Its unveiling on December 2 marked a momentous occasion for Northrop Grumman and the Air Force.
Scheduled to replace the B-1B, B-2, and B-52 aircraft by 2050, the B-21 Raider will solidify its position as the cornerstone of the Air Force bomber fleet, bolstering the nation's capacity to tackle the most demanding military objectives.
The aircraft's name, paying homage to the historic Dolittle Raiders of World War II, is a testament to the enduring legacy of their audacious raids.
Related Article: US Air Force Awards $950 Million Advanced Battle Management System Contract to ARC
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NASA introduced a novel do-it-yourself educational gadget, STELLA (Science and Technology Education for Land/Life Assessment), for students, educators, and citizen scientists. Resembling a smartphone in size, STELLA is designed to scan, record, and analyze environmental features, particularly plant health.
With the press of a button, it provides a comprehensive set of measurements, including temperature, humidity, and light intensity. This data aids in evaluating the overall health of plants, similar to vital signs during a checkup.
STELLA's Role in a Plant's Health
The project's chief engineer, Paul Mirel, explained how STELLA's readings of leaf and air temperature disparities offer insights into a plant's hydration levels. Furthermore, the gadget's light intensity assessment is a useful indicator of a plant's photosynthetic activity.
Healthy plants primarily absorb visible light and reflect near-infrared light, while unhealthy or sparse vegetation exhibits a different pattern. This ratio is termed NDVI, or normalized difference vegetation index.
Though STELLA's measurements are more basic compared to those of the Landsat satellites, its true value lies in the hands-on experience it provides. By allowing users to directly make these measurements, it offers a tangible understanding of satellite data and its role in comprehending Earth.
Manuel Lerdau, an ecologist at the University of Virginia, highlighted the significance of STELLA in merging education and research, saying, "STELLA presents a great opportunity to integrate scholarship and education with an instrument that can give us publication-quality data on plant physiology and health at prices affordable to public schools and private individuals."
Read Also: Ring Nebula Comes Into Focus: NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Unveils Remains of a Dying Star in Stunning Detail
STELLA Assembled by NASA High School Interns
The device, conceived in 2019, was recently assembled by two high school interns at NASA Goddard, marking a pivotal step in making this technology accessible to educational institutions.
STELLA comes in three models, with the simplest requiring minimal assembly, making it a versatile tool for educational purposes. Its affordability and user-friendly design aim to democratize access to instrumentation, as stated by Paul Mirel, the project's chief engineer.
A STELLA GitHub forum also offers resources such as lesson plans and best practices, further enhancing its educational value.
"Students can use STELLA to understand the world around them, to study the living and the built environment, and to take the steps toward changing the way we treat our planet," Lerdau said.
Karen Karker from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry praised STELLA as an excellent visual aid for classrooms, particularly in lessons related to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Overall, this new gadget has the potential to empower students and citizens alike in their pursuit of understanding and caring for our planet.
Related Article: NASA Ingenuity Helicopter Takes 54th Flight; Video From Perseverance Mars Rover Shared on National Aviation Day
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Realtek sound drivers have been around for decades. You will find them virtually on every Windows PC.
They often went bad and then there was no sound on your computer. That made it incredibly hard to fix it.
The company decided to work on it and brought a companion app along with the regular audio drivers.
Now you can download Realtek HD Audio Manager to manage all your audio devices.
Along with that, you can calibrate equalizers, manage driver updates, jack assignments, and more.
But despite being one of the most commonly used audio drivers, there are instances when it might malfunction.
We have instances where the Realtek HD Audio Manager icon disappears or is missing from the taskbar, system tray, and notification area.
This problem may arise following a Windows update or changes to the native audio driver or sound card.
You dont have to worry because we have provided the Realtek HD Audio Manager download links for Windows 10/11.
What Is Realtek HD Audio Manager?
Realtek HD Audio Manager is a software utility that comes bundled with Realteks High Definition (HD) Audio Driver on most Windows operating systems.
Realtek is one of the major audio chip manufacturers, with many computers being equipped with its audio chips.
The primary function of this software is to manage and customize how the computers audio operates.
This includes settings for speakers, microphones, sound effects, and other related audio functionalities.
How to Download Realtek HD Audio Manager on Windows 10/11?
Let us take a closer at ways to download Realtek HD Audio Manager and fix all the audio issues.
Here are the direct links to download Realtek HD Audio Manager. Install them like any other app and then restart when prompted to do so.
That will make sure that all the settings are applied and Realtek HD Audio Manager is launched with Windows startup.
File name Realtek HD Audio Manager Download Direct Download Link Alternate Download Source Backup Download Link
Common Reasons for Downloading Realtek HD Audio Manager
Realtek HD Audio Manager icon missing
Realtek HD Audio Manager missing
Realtek HD Audio Manager not opening
Mic not working in Discord
Download Realtek HD Audio Manager from Manufacturer
Your laptop or desktop may be newer and support a different version of the audio manager. So the above version is not working for you.
Fortunately, you can download Realtek HD Audio Manager directly from the manufacturers site.
Here the manufacturer refers to your laptop or motherboards company. So you can install Realtek audio manager in the following manner.
First, we will find out the motherboard or the laptop model. So if you are familiar with it then skip to step #3.
1. Head to System Information from the Start Menu search.
2. Scroll down to BaseBoard Product to find your motherboard model, for desktop users.
To find the laptop model, refer to the System Model, which is given a few rows above the BaseBoard Product.
3. Then head to Google and type B550M PRO VDH WIFI Drivers and head to the manufacturers website from the result.
Note Replace the bold text with your model number to get accurate results.
4. Then head to the utility section and find the Realtek HD Audio Manager download option.
Windows Update focuses on delivering operating system updates, security patches, and important drivers or applications for the hardware.
You can download Realtek HD Audio Manager, if it is available in the update. Here is how you can check for it.
1. Head to Windows updates through the Start Menu Search
2. If it says Youre up to date then go to Option Updates.
3. Realtek HD Audio will appear here if it is available through the Windows update. Otherwise, you can move to the next section to download the Realtek console.
Realtek Audio Driver Download
You have downloaded Realtek HD Audio Manager and installed it. But your sound is still a little out of place or nothing is audible at all.
The corrupted or missing drivers are the reason behind it. So you can download Realtek Audio Driver in the following way.
1. Go to the Realtek Audio Codecs download section.
2. Select the 32-bit or 64-bit according to your operating system.
3. And then tick I accept to the above box, followed by a click on the download this file button to download the codec drive.
4. Install the Realtek audio driver and then restart the computer to apply the changes.
After that, you can install it on your PC to fix the audio issue with Realtek.
Realtek Audio drivers often act up and you may not have audio at all on Windows. You can solve it by updating drivers.
All you need is the device manager on Windows and follow these steps.
1. Press Windows + X on the keyboard and head to Device Manager.
2. Find Realtek High Definition Audio under the Sound, video and game controllers.
3. Right-click on Realtek High Definition Audio and select Update Driver from the options.
4. Now select Search automatically for drivers.
5. And if you get the message that the best drivers for your device are already installed then go to the last option through the back button.
6. Then select browser my computer for drivers.
7. Select let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
8. Now select Realtek High Definition Audio and click next to proceed.
9. You will get a success message that Windwops has updated your audio drivers. Close the window to finish the process.
9. Click Yes to restart the computer and make final changes to fix the Realtek audio issue on your computer.
You can choose to restart later as well by selecting no.
Realtek HD Audio Manager Not Appearing After Startup
You have installed Realtek HD Audio Manager but it is still not appearing when you log in.
Chances are that it is getting blocked from starting up with Windows. Here is how you can fix it.
1. Open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and then head to Startup.
2. Right-click on Realtek HD Audio Manager/service and then select enable if it is disabled.
Why cant I find Realtek HD Audio Manager?
If you cant locate the Realtek HD Audio Manager, then you can search for it in File Explorer.
Press Alt + E to open the File Explorer and then paste the address in the address bar C:\Program Files\Realtek\Audio\HDA
And then double-click on RtkNGUI64.exe once inside the HDA folder.
This will launch the Realtek HD Audio Manager. If the problem persists, then consider updating your Realtek HD audio driver, which should reinstall the audio manager for you.
Download Realtek HD Audio Manager to Manage PC Audio
Now we are pretty confident that you can now download Realtek HD Audio Manager without a problem.
If you have recently installed Windows then let the updates do their thing before downloading the audio manager.
URUMQI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Scholars and officials from China, Central Asia and other parts of the world have called for more Belt and Road cooperation to promote regional and global green development.
They made the remarks during the International Forum on Sustainable Development of Ecology and Environment in the Silk Road Economic Belt which kicked off here on Monday, with over 300 participants from 17 countries and international organizations attending the event.
David Cooper, acting executive secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, said via video that incorporating biodiversity considerations into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) "is not only a good idea, it is the only sustainable option."
Cooper said the initiative could revolutionize global trade, enhance cultural exchange and even decrease poverty. He added that the initiative should be evaluated not only "by increased trade and economic development, but also by its impact on our environment and the conservation of the planet's ecological diversity."
The BRI has been a platform of cooperation for a decade, said Ibrahim Thiaw, executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. "Joint research ventures, laboratories and a thriving Silk Road of innovation represent significant milestones."
"Through regional cooperation, we aspire to translate research into actionable solutions, transforming our vision of a more sustainable, innovative, and resilient Silk Road into reality," he said.
Komiljon Tojibaev, director of the Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, told Xinhua that the BRI has become a substantial international platform for economic, science and biodiversity conservation cooperation.
Stressing that China and Uzbekistan are both active in biodiversity research, Tojibaev noted that when the two sides combine their efforts, "We can be successful in saving biodiversity and our green planet, and even foster closer relations in tackling climate change and deforestation."
Strengthening cooperation in ecological and environmental research between China and Kyrgyzstan holds excellent prospects, said Kanatbek Abdrakhmatov, president of the National Academy of Sciences of Kyrgyzstan, in an interview with Xinhua.
He elaborated that in recent years, China and Central Asian countries like Kyrgyzstan have increasingly collaborated in ecological protection and earthquake monitoring.
Due to human activities, many species have disappeared from the Earth, and all parties need to enhance cooperation in ecological and environmental protection to "leave a green and sustainable environment for future generations," Abdrakhmatov added.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the BRI. The forum aims to share research achievements and explore new cooperation possibilities, regionally and globally, in biodiversity conservation, green agriculture, sustainable use of water resources and ecological governance.
BEIRUT, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati appealed on Tuesday to the international community for assistance in addressing the Syrian refugee issue in Lebanon, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The prime minister made the remarks at the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"I will ask the international community to support us in facing the displacement crisis, as Lebanon hosts a big number of displaced Syrians," said Mikati.
He added that hundreds of additional displaced people arrived in Lebanon every day and caused "an imbalance in Lebanon's economy."
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 stoked widespread discontent among its citizens.
Rogelio Enriquez: "It seems that all famous chefs are men, but in the kitchens of Madrid there are a lot of women who do not appear in the photos and we want to bring them to light"
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jie)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Han Zheng met here Monday with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, respectively, on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly.
Han told Guterres that the world today is confronted with accelerated changes unseen in a century with various unstable and uncertain factors intertwined.
The more complex and grim the international situation is, the more necessary it is to uphold genuine multilateralism and the more the world needs a strong United Nations, he said.
The vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative -- proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping -- are highly aligned with the ideals and goals of the United Nations, and have been widely recognized and actively supported by the international community, said Han.
China will, as always, be a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development and a defender of the international order, and support the United Nations in playing a central role in international affairs, he said.
For his part, Guterres thanked China for its firm support for the UN cause, and spoke highly of the important initiatives proposed by the Chinese president.
During his meeting with Blinken, Han said that a healthy and stable China-U.S. relationship is good for the two countries and the world.
Describing China's development as an opportunity rather than a challenge, a gain rather than a risk to the United States, Han said that the two sides may well contribute to each other's progress and achieve common prosperity.
China, he said, maintains consistency and stability in its policy toward the United States, all following the three principles put forward by President Xi Jinping, namely mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation in viewing and handling China-U.S. relations.
Han expressed the hope that the United States will work with China to follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali, Indonesia.
The two sides, he said, need to take practical actions, create favorable conditions and do more to enhance understanding, mutual trust and mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to bring China-U.S. relations back on a healthy and stable track and deliver benefits to both countries and the rest of the world.
Blinken, for his part, said the United States looks forward to strengthening communications with China, managing the differences and advancing cooperation.
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the margins of the General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the margins of the General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the United States, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
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A former member of Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenkos special security forces was going on trial Tuesday in Switzerland over the enforced disappearances of political opponents in the late 1990s seen as a landmark case of international justice.
Yuri Harauski, a former member of a military unit known as SOBR, exited a tinted-window van wearing a hood as he entered the courthouse in the northern city of St. Gallen.
Activists have said the two-day trial marks a pivotal moment in international justice that could trigger prosecutions abroad of other Belarusian officials including Lukashenko. The court case was brought under a rarely applied legal principle known as universal jurisdiction, under which foreign courts can prosecute severe crimes that happened in other countries.
Harauski will be tried over the enforced disappearances of Yuri Zakharenko, a former interior minister who was fired by Lukashenko in 1996; opposition leader Viktor Gonchar; and publisher Anatoly Krasovsky, said Trial International, an advocacy group that has spearheaded the case.
The defendant lives in Switzerland, where he applied for asylum in 2018. He has made high-profile confessions about his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Lukashenkos political opponents in 1999. The motives behind the confessions were not entirely clear.
An extract of the court filing, obtained by The Associated Press, indicated that prosecutors planned to seek a three-year prison sentence of which two would be suspended against Harauski for his alleged role in the disappearances.
Lukashenkos regime has come under criticism for years, most recently over a crackdown against opposition leaders that began in August 2020 and support for Russias military invasion of Ukraine last year, among other things.
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Rudy Giulianis former lawyers have sued him for about $1.3m in unpaid legal fees for representing him during investigations pertaining to his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Robert Costello and his law firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP filed the lawsuit in Manhattan state court on Monday, seeking full payment of Mr Giulianis unpaid bills as well as costs and fees for their efforts to get him to pay up.
The lawsuit alleged Mr Giuliani agreed to pay over $1.5m under a retainer agreement, but only paid $214,000 and owes $1.36 million to the firm.
Mr Costello and the firm said Mr Giuliani, once celebrated as Americas mayor for his leadership after the 11 September 2001 attacks, breached the agreement with the company to pay invoices in full.
Mr Giuliani said he was hurt by the actions of Mr Costello, a longtime friend and his former lawyer, and said the bill is way in excess.
I cant express how personally hurt I am by what Bob Costello has done, Mr Giuliani said in a statement provided by his spokesperson on Monday. Its a real shame when lawyers do things like this, and all I will say is that their bill is way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees.
Mr Costello represented Mr Giuliani from 2019 until July this year and represented him on special counsel Jack Smiths investigation into the Jan 6 Capitol riots, the lawsuit said.
He also advised him in a criminal probe by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis of plotting to subvert Joe Bidens election win, a Congressional inquiry and investigations into business dealings in Ukraine, which led to an FBI raid at his home and office in 2021.
In their lawsuit, Mr Costello and his firm claimed they provided legal assistance to Mr Giuliani in multiple civil lawsuits filed against him as well as in disciplinary proceedings that resulted in the suspension of his law licenses in both Washington, DC, and New York.
The latest lawsuit against Mr Trumps ally exacerbates the former New York City mayors mounting financial problems, which have been amplified by expensive investigations, legal battles, fines, sanctions and damages arising from his efforts to assist Donald Trump in attempting to overturn the 2020 election.
He was indicted last month in Georgia along with Mr Trump and 17 others by attorney Willis for attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state.
He has pleaded not guilty to charges that alleged he acted as Mr Trumps chief co-conspirator as his lawyer at that time.
Mr Giuliani is expected to face a substantial financial penalty following a recent judgment where a judge found him responsible in a defamation lawsuit brought by two Georgia election workers, who alleged he made false accusations of fraud against them.
The judge already mandated Mr Giuliani and his enterprises to cover legal fees exceeding $130,000 for the women.
In his efforts to dole out money, he put his Manhattan apartment up for sale for $6.5m in July. He also directed his social media followers to the website of his legal defence fund following his indictment.
Meanwhile, his son Andrew organised a fundraiser in Bedminster which was expected to raise more than $1m for his fathers mounting legal bills and said Mr Trump had committed to host a second event at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, later in the fall or early winter.
Alena Maschke writes for The Acadiana Advocate as part of a health collaborative with The Current, supported by the Schumacher Family Foundation, Pugh Family Foundation, Pinhook Foundation and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana. Email her at alena.maschke@theadvocate.com. You can read her work at thecurrentla.com and theacadianaadvocate.com.
Defining Moorish Bidan or White Moors and Haratin or Black Moors Identity and Diversity.
The term Moor originated from the Greek word Mauros or Maouris, which referred to dark-skinned people or inhabitants of North Africa. Over centuries, it became a broad and somewhat imprecise label for the various peoples living in North Africa, including Berbers and Arabs.
In the Republic of Mauritania, most people are called Moors. They come from a mix of Arab and Berber backgrounds. But something important to know is that they, like most of the world, make distinctions based on the color of their skin while looking at things like family and where they come from to categorize themselves.
Because of this, two main groups have formed over time: the Bidan, who are sometimes called the White Moors, and the Haratin, who are known as the Black Moors. These groups have different histories and cultures, as well as the color of their skin.
Social descent and skin color have historically shaped the Moorish population. Bidan, White Moors, and Haratin, or Black Moors are the two main groups.
The Republic of Mauritania, a vast country in North West Africa comparable in size to France and Spain combined, boasts a diverse population of approximately 4.5 million people, with 66% being of Morrish descent. Most of its inhabitants are Moors, a diverse group of Arab-Berber descent who speak Hassaniya dialects.
Social descent and skin color have historically shaped distinctions within the Moorish population. This division has given rise to two significant groups: the Bidan, often referred to as the White Moors, and the Haratin, known as the Black Moors.
The terms Bidan and Haratin are historically significant when discussing the social and ethnic dynamics in Mauritania and parts of North West Africa. These terms are often associated with the Moors, a group of North African people. Both Bidan and Haratin Moors have distinct cultural practices, languages, and traditions.
Bidan or White Moors
The Bidan, also known as the White Moors or Arab-Berber Moors, are traditionally the lighter-skinned, Arabized Berber populations of Mauritania and other North West African regions.
The Bidan Moors are heavily influenced by Arab and Berber cultures due to their historical ties to Arab and Berber migrants who settled in the region.
Arabic is the primary language the Bidan Moors speak, and Islamic traditions play a significant role in their culture.
Bidan Moors have historically held positions of power and influence in Mauritania, including in politics, business, and social structures.
Music and dance are important cultural expressions for the Bidan Moors. Traditional instruments like the stringed tidinit and the wind instrument called mizmar are commonly used in their music.
Islam plays a central role in the lives of the Bidan people, shaping their religious practices, culture, and way of life.
Haratin or Black Moors
The Haratin, often referred to as the Black Moors, are a group primarily composed of darker-skinned individuals who are descendants of African ethnic groups.
They have a long history of living in the same regions as the Bidan Moors, including Mauritania and other parts of North West Africa.
The Haratin Moors have deeper African roots and are often descended from ethnic groups native to the region, such as the Soninke, Wolof, and Fulani.
As a result, they exhibit a blend of African and Arab-Berber cultural elements. Haratin communities speak many languages, including Arabic and native African languages.
Unlike the nomadic lifestyle of some Bidan Moors, many Haratin communities have historically engaged in agriculture, cultivating crops like millet, sorghum, and rice.
Farming practices and agricultural festivals are integral to their cultural identity. Historically, the Haratin have often occupied lower social and economic positions; some have been engaged in agricultural or labor-intensive work.
Islam plays a central role in the lives of Haratin Moors, as it does for Bidan Moors. They observe Islamic traditions, including prayer and fasting during Ramadan.
When weve got big business behaving badly, what can we do about it? Most of the answers obvious: strengthen the laws against misbehaviour, greatly increase the penalties and then, most obvious of all, police them vigorously until the fat cats get the message.
As the banking royal commission showed, much of the misbehaviour uncovered involved breaking the existing law. And the casinos in Sydney and Melbourne seem to have been breaking the law.
Illustration: Simon Letch. Credit:
If PwCs decision to pass on to other clients the information it had been given by the Treasury after promising to keep it confidential wasnt illegal, it should have been. And obviously, the many big businesses found to have been paying their workers less than they were legally entitled to were breaking the law.
The High Court has just confirmed that Qantas dismissal of 1700 workers was illegal, just as the Federal Court had originally found it to be many months ago. Qantas had appealed against the Federal Court decision but failed, so it took its appeal to the High Court and was again rebuffed.
Charmian Clift was born on August 30, 1923 in Kiama, a seaside town once described as the Sleepy Hollow of New South Wales. Her childhood was difficult, her stormy petrel nature chafing against the constraints of the times. She tried many times to write a novel inspired by her life. First in a fragmentary manuscript entitled Greener Grows the Grass, in which her alter ego, Christine Morley, wanted to fling off the dragging years of dependence and get on with the big adventure. Later, Charmian adopted the name Cressida in The End of the Morning, also unfinished. She dreamt of wider horizons, of being a writer. The outbreak of World War II opened up opportunities for her. She edited an army magazine, wrote short stories and, in 1946, joined The Argus newspaper in Melbourne. It was there that she met George Johnston, a famous war correspondent. He was 35 and married with a child. She was 23. Their affair caused a scandal. Charmian was fired, and George resigned in protest, divorced his wife and moved back to Sydney. He and Charmian were married in Manly in 1947, and worked together on the book now known as High Valley, based on Georges wartime adventures in the mountains of Tibet. [They] drank more than other people, they wrote more ... they cursed more, they blessed more they were an inspiration. Leonard Cohen George and Charmian would be sitting at the old deal table each with a typewriter, going for their lives, Charmians sister Margaret recalled. George would be typing away, typing away, typing away, almost singing as hes going Charmian would do a little bit, think, tear it up, chuck it in the wastepaper basket, get up and walk around, stalk around but when she put it down, it was right. They would then read each others work, commenting and criticising, until they had a finished product they agreed on. In May 1948, High Valley won The Sydney Morning Herald literary prize. Newspaper headlines declared Journalist, wife win novel prize. Later Charmian observed, Most people didnt think Id had much to do with it.
Over the next few years, she co-authored another two books with her husband, the last on the small Greek island of Kalymnos. Her first memoir, Mermaid Singing, was also written there. In 1954, they decided to move to Greece and try to make their living from their writing. It was a risky move. Charmian was then pregnant with her third child, who was to be the first foreign child ever to be born on the island. It was a hard life. There was no bathroom, no electricity, no heating except a three-legged tin filled with embers. Despite all this, Charmian is filled with exultation: I think that no beauty has ever been as true for me as this rocks and sea and mountains that rush up between the blue and the blue, skirted only with austere white terraces of houses simplified to the purest geometry of planes and angles. It seems to me that weve become simplified too, living here. Yet tensions were boiling away in their seemingly perfect life. Their poverty, the need to write books that would sell, the constant difficulty with the drains, all made every day a struggle. Even worse, Charmian could not find a publisher for Peel Me a Lotus, which was rejected more than 10 times. This was partly because of her unflinching candour, the fact she wrote about drains as well as dancing villagers. She was trying to write a novel, but as she peeled beans, fanned the charcoal fire, rinsed diapers and sifted the lentils for pebbles, the house reverberated with the dull thudding of Georges typewriter up in the studio. Charmian Clift, on her return to Sydney in 1964. Credit: Nine Their marriage was in trouble. Both were drinking heavily, and George was always sick (he was soon to be diagnosed with tuberculosis). There were endless financial worries, infidelities, arguments, jealous rages, and the constant struggle to find time to write. Leonard Cohen wrote: [They] drank more than other people, they wrote more, they got sick more, they got well more, they cursed more, they blessed more they were an inspiration.
In the bitterly cold winter of 1962, Charmian put aside her own autofiction to help George write his, the autobiographical novel My Brother Jack. Charmian sat on a stone step on a cushion and we talked and talked and remembered and remembered and I wrote, George explained. His notebook for the novel had many pages written in Charmians distinctive bold handwriting. Most startlingly, the character of Cressida Morley the name Charmian had chosen for her alter-ego stepped out of her pages and into his: a girl with a laughing mouth and luminous green eyes, more dangerous than a bomb. Later, Charmian applied for a literary fund fellowship, writing that her project was about a girl called Cressida Morley, who has appeared already in My Brother Jack, but I invented her first. Loading Georges novel was published in March 1964 to universal acclaim, and went on to win the Miles Franklin award. Charmians extensive contribution was never publicly recognised. He flew back to Australia for the books launch, and Charmian was left to pack up and sell her dream house on her dream island. Ahead lay a very different life. She would compose no more novels, no more enchanting memoirs. Instead, she would accept a role writing a weekly column for The Sydney Morning Herald, and work on the script for the television series of My Brother Jack that aired on the ABC in 1965. Her husband, meanwhile, wrote Clean Straw for Nothing, its sequel. Lines were lifted almost word for word from Charmians journal, without attribution. And her alter-ego Cressida Morleys only role is that of a treacherous, promiscuous wife. Her writing scrubbed out. Rendered meaningless. On the back of one of the notebook pages, Charmian wrote: she also has a life in a vertical position.
In July 1969, a month before the publication of Clean Straw for Nothing, she took a fatal overdose of her husbands barbiturates, writing in her note to George: I am sure you will have a most successful and distinguished career. Soon afterwards, he won the Miles Franklin award for the second time. This year I went to Hydra at last, that dream island. The soaring mountains are ablaze with spring colour, and a sweet-faced donkey carries panniers of white flowers for a wedding. The landmarks of a place I have never been before are achingly familiar. The small stone cafe on the waterfront where Charmian and friends used to gather to drink and gossip and wait for the mail in hope of a royalty cheque. The statue of the surly lion that crouched pale and simpering in the square. The gnarled olive tree at Douskos Tavern where Leonard Cohen first took up a guitar, borrowed from the proprietor. I walk the crooked, narrow laneways, looking for the house by the well. When I find it, I lay a sprig of jasmine upon the doorstep. You are remembered, I tell Charmian. Your words are read. The harbour in Hydra in the present day. Credit: Getty Images Then I sit and drink a glass of wine by the harbour, in the same place she drank so many, and read Peel Me a Lotus one more time. I want to remember her as she was on Hydra, when it was summer-time, play-time, easy-living time, lotus-eating time. I want to remember her and George, tiptoeing out of the dark house through the lanes until we come to the fig tree. Silently we descend to the dark water, silently leave our pale, crumpled heap of clothes, silently slip into the wet black silk where the briny stars wake at a movement and catch and cling and stream slow trails from our nakedness, from breast and foot and fingertip that move again with wonder and delight, made marvellous by the night and the sea.
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 Once exotic terms used by farmers, meteorologists and weather nuts, El Nino and La Nina have crept into the lexicon as the worlds weather has become more extreme. Theyre climate patterns that determine, broadly, whether well have a hot or a wet summer and whether were more likely to have a risk of bushfires, floods and droughts. The world is, on balance, hotter during El Nino years. Its more volatile too: studies have shown civil conflicts triggered by drought have happened mostly in El Nino years. Now, with climate change destabilising the atmosphere and ocean temperatures, El Ninos are entering uncharted waters. How scientists predict an El Nino is a delicate dance of observations, including from some 3000 satellite-tracked buoys, moorings and underwater ocean gliders in the Pacific Ocean. The Bureau of Meteorology has now declared an El Nino event, the first called in Australia along with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (more on that later) since 2015-16. Its quite a change after the wet weather that has inundated us during La Nina events over the past three years. So, how do you define an El Nino? And what difference does it make to us? Credit: Artwork: Aresna Villanueva Whats an El Nino?
An El Nino is an oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon that temporarily disrupts the status quo of the Pacific Ocean. The normally cold waters off South America warm up, causing more rain off its coast. The waters off Australia get colder, so theres less moisture in the air, less average rainfall and a greater chance of hot temperatures and, potentially, fires.
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El Ninos are part of a bigger climate pattern called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which fluctuates between a neutral phase (when there is average rainfall in Australia), a La Nina phase and El Nino. El Ninos can last from six months to two years. Critical to the phases are the trade winds, which blow from east to west and which form the lower part of a huge loop of air that circulates over the Pacific called the Walker Circulation its the black rectangle shown in the graphics below. Heres how the phases work. During the neutral phase of ENSO, above, tropical warm air rises over the seas north of Australia and travels east, high in the atmosphere towards South America. The air sinks over colder east Pacific waters and skates back towards Australia along the surface of the ocean as trade winds, completing the Pacific Walker Circulation. When these trade winds strengthen, more warm water piles up near Australia. Air is more likely to rise and create clouds and rain, which can translate into above-average rain in winter and spring for eastern Australia and a more-active-than-normal tropical cyclone season.
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During El Nino, the winds weaken or reverse and warm water collects off the coast of South America and throughout the central Pacific instead. The ocean waters are colder off Australia and less moisture rises into the atmosphere, leading to lower-than-average rainfall and possible drought. The weather patterns were named in Peru by fishermen in the 1600s. Warmer currents off the coast of South America meant fish became scarce, off chasing nutrition-packed cold water; El Nino means little boy, named for el nino Jesus because the weather phenomenon peaked at Christmas. A La Nina (little girl) meant cooler water and fuller nets. Indigenous farmers of the Andes mountains traditionally practised a particular method for predicting El Nino. In June, before dawn, they squinted at the 11-star Pleiades constellation just above the horizon. If the stars were crisp and bright, they could expect normal rainfall and planted their thirsty potato crops. If the stars were dim and fuzzy, they held off: high-altitude clouds in the atmosphere indicated an El Nino, dumping rain on the South American coast but not on them, at their higher altitude. How do you predict an El Nino? Official measures of El Nino events vary. The World Meteorological Organisation relies mainly on water temperature in the central-eastern equatorial Pacific to determine whether an El Nino is under way, while Australias Bureau of Meteorology relies more on atmospheric pressure and trade wind speed as well as marine temperatures. Scientists divide the Pacific into sections. To predict an El Nino, they focus on a rectangular strip of waters straddling the International Date Line dubbed Nino 3.4 (see image above). They have four main criteria.
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First, if water temperatures exceed a certain cool threshold in this strip of ocean for at least three months, a La Nina is declared; if the temperatures are warmer than usual, its El Nino time. It can also be neither or neutral. Second, meteorologists also directly check the speed and direction of trade winds to see if theyre weakening. Third is the Southern Oscillation Index, which puts the SO in ENSO and indicates the difference in pressure between Darwin and Tahiti. If the number is high, typical of La Nina years, pressure is lower in Darwin and higher in Tahiti, ushering rain and cyclones towards Australia. If the index number is negative, as it is in El Nino years, higher pressure in Darwin expels those rain-summoning clouds away from our shores. Finally, the Bureau of Meteorology keeps track of seven climate models, which predict how much cooler or warmer ocean temperatures may be over the next six months. What difference does it make to us on the ground? El Nino has a profound influence on Australias climate, depleting rainfall and ramping up daytime heat, hence boosting the chance of risky bushfire seasons. This one is expected to last until late summer or early autumn.
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At a press conference to announce the El Nino, the bureaus Dr Karl Braganza said it would be up to individuals and communities, particularly in the nations south-east, to prepare for a summer of fire and heat hazards, but he added that the landscape was not as dry as it had been leading into the catastrophic fires of 2019 and 2020. Nine of south-east Australias 10 driest winter-spring periods were during El Nino events. And most of the major droughts, including in 1982, 1994, 2002, 2006 and 2015, coincided with El Ninos, according to the Australian Research Councils Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. Even in the weak-to-moderate El Nino of 2002 and 2003, a drought halved Australian wheat production. The winter crop yield fell by 40 per cent. Days are hotter on average during El Nino years, especially in southern Australia, due to decreased cloud. In Australias north, there is a greater chance of multi-day heatwaves too. (In the south, high-pressure systems move around more during an El Nino, which actually reduces the chances of prolonged warm periods in cities such as Melbourne and Adelaide, even though overall average temperatures remain high.) And the decrease in insulating cloud cover during El Ninos can mean colder nights, increasing the risk of frost, which can damage crops already weakened by less rainfall. The double-whammy of drought and frost reduces GDP from farms by 13 per cent on average during El Nino years, notes the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. If the effects seem complicated, they are also unpredictable. El Nino events can vary in intensity. As CSIRO climate science centre research director Dr Jaci Brown puts it, El Nino is Spanish for boy child and I think a good analogy is that although we know were getting a boy, every child can be different. Brown says Australia and the Pacific Islands feel the effects more than other countries because of our exposure to the Pacific Ocean, where the warming trends occur.
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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 In his 40-year career as a journalist, Western Australias Gary Adshead has pursued the truth no matter how ugly, how dangerous or how ridiculous. Whether on crooks, crimes, state secrets or heroic rescues, we take you behind the headlines of the biggest stories of his career. See all 18 stories . It wasnt just the supposed service medals of then-Labor MP Barry Urban that prompted scepticism about his back-story. Tony Simpson, the former Liberal MP who was unseated by Urban in 2017, held serious doubts about his rivals academic qualifications. Even before the election came around, Simpson had office staff email the University of Leeds, where Urban claimed he earned a Bachelor of Arts with honours in physical education and applied social science. Despite being advised by the university there was no record of anyone named Barry Urban attending or graduating, Simpson wasnt confident enough to raise questions during an election campaign. A mutual contact, a former journalist, suggested I talk to him and his staff member, but for the time being my key focus, after returning from covering then-premier Mark McGowans trip to China in November 2017, remained the validity of Urbans medals. Within a few days of being back in Perth, Urban telephoned me out of the blue with a different story about the origin of his overseas police medal. It was both an unexpected twist, and another calculated attempt at saving his career and reputation.
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I will be honest with you, he began. The medal I have is totally different to the one I should have. I agree with you. I have been wearing the wrong one. This was sent to me in 2000, and I have been wearing it ever since. I have written to the UK police to find out what has gone on. Suddenly, I was supposed to believe that British police authorities had somehow managed to send Urban an Australian medal by mistake and that the politician had unwittingly worn the incorrect medal to reflect his overseas service in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Barry Urban unseated longtime MP Tony Simpson in 2017. Credit: Facebook / Barry Urban As soon as I hung up the phone I darted into the office of The West Australian newspaper editor, Brett McCarthy, to tell him we now had a strong story about Urban courtesy of his own admission. At the very least, the MP accepted he had been displaying a specific medal he was not entitled to wear. Although, he still maintained he had been a medal recipient. On November 18, the front page headline MPs fake medal sat above the first story I would write across five years of reporting on Urbans downfall.
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The government and Urbans Labor Party protectors swung into action by immediately releasing a statement under the MPs name, which offered a completely new explanation for Urbans medal. It was no longer a mistake that UK police sent him the incorrect award. It was Urbans mistake for ordering the wrong one. In the early 2000s, I ordered a Commemorative International Police Service medal from a military store in WA, the statement read. Clockwise from left: The statement almost a year after the first revelations (seven of the 14 charges were later dropped after it was deemed not in the public interest to pursue them); photos of medals Urban provided to the parliamentary inquiry, supposedly for his service in Cyprus; a close-up of a Police Overseas Service Medal. What I received instead was an Australian overseas service medal. The purchase of this medal was incorrect and wrong. I apologise to anyone that has been offended by the mistake. At no time did I ever intend to mislead anyone on my service. Urban had tried to deceive me twice with different accounts of how he came to have the medal, and now he was playing the mental health card by claiming his peacekeeping mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina had taken a toll on him. But if I could prove he never even went to the war zone, then his sudden post-traumatic stress disorder would also be a fabrication.
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Two things soon happened, which ensured the next front page article I wrote about the slippery MP, was headlined Urban myth. Firstly, the United Nations and Overseas Policing Association had responded to my inquiries and Urbans attempts to defend his right to wear a service medal. We note a number of inconsistencies in the information provided, a statement read. Barry Urban leaves Perth Magistrates Court on November 14, 2018. Credit: AAP Image/Rebecca Le May We call on Mr Urban to review his stated position as our fallen, their families and our members deserve transparency. The people of Darling Range and the State of Western Australia deserve transparency. Secondly, the following paragraphs from Urbans Facebook biography had vanished within 24 hours of his claim about ordering the incorrect medal from a WA military store: He has obtained a number of qualifications and spent a large portion of his career on exercises and military operations in Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Namibia, attaining military medals and a citation.
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During his career in the police force Barry obtained Bachelor Degree and a Post Graduate Degree in police studies. After returning from duties in Bosnia carrying out war crime investigations, he retired from the UK Police Force and was awarded a police medal and other citation. The editing had either been done by Urban, who knew his work of fiction had caught up with him, his staff, or by the Labor Party, which was beginning to accept that their man in Darling Range posed a clear and present danger to the governments reputation. On November 21, then-premier McGowan told parliament Urban had also misled him after my initial call to the MP about the police medal. He assured me there was nothing in it, McGowan said. Therefore, I am disappointed in him, and Im disappointed in what he advised the media.
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Fan Weidong (L) talks with his father Fan Chuanxi at home in Jiyang District of Jinan City, east China's Shandong Province, May 5, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Tian)
JINAN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Fan Weidong's life was turned upside down after his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease some six years ago.
"My father began asking the same questions repeatedly. He became timid, short-tempered and stubborn," said Fan, recalling the changes in his father prior to the diagnosis. "His memory was failing so he couldn't remember our names, and he got lost several times."
Fan, a policeman from the Jiyang District in the city of Jinan, east China's Shandong Province, sought treatment for his father, but it was to no avail. He also witnessed other families going through similar difficulties, including the helplessness of losing track of the whereabouts of elderly relatives.
"I wanted to do something to make them feel more secure and at ease," said Fan, 53.
Thus, a campaign was born. Fan has since designed various types of clothes that help to find people when they get lost. These garments include down jackets as well as T-shirts, with more than 2,000 items distributed free of charge to vulnerable people, including Alzheimer's patients, across the country.
"The clothes have a QR code containing their owners' basic information and their emergency contact details," he said. "Moreover, the clothes have reflective strips on the back, resembling those on traffic-police uniforms, to ensure the safety of elderly people traveling at night."
"The logo --'AD 9-21' -- is also imprinted on the back of the clothes, with AD standing for Alzheimer's disease and 9-21 referring to Sept. 21, which coincides with World Alzheimer's Day," he added.
Alzheimer's is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that slowly destroys the memory, cognitive capability and the ability to carry out simple tasks. Medical experts say that there is currently no effective drug that can cure Alzheimer's.
This year, World Alzheimer's Day falls on Thursday. In China, statistics show about 10 million people aged 60 and above have Alzheimer's. Earlier this year, health authorities in China launched a nationwide campaign to run from 2023 to 2025 to promote the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer's.
Life was not easy for Fan. In 2015, three years before the Alzheimer's diagnosis was made, his father was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer.
To help his father combat the Alzheimer's, Fan sought medicines for him, hoping to delay the progress of his disease. But the effect was limited.
On New Year's Day, 2019, his father failed to return home after taking a walk. Fan searched for his father, together with his family and friends, and their hearts filled with anxiety. After more than an hour, there was still no news of his father.
At around 3 p.m. that day, Fan received a call from a police station, informing him that his father had been found. Hanging up the phone, Fan rushed over, only to find his father had sustained bruises and bleeding on his face after falling down due to tiredness and trouble with walking. Fan's face was wet with tears.
That experience prompted Fan to design and manufacture "anti-lost clothes" for his father and many other people with Alzheimer's.
However, manufacturing such clothes was no easy task.
To master the real needs of the Alzheimer's patients and collect first-hand information, he examined cases of local elderly people getting lost, and visited more than 100 families with members diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
A newbie in clothes design, he had no idea how to achieve his goal. "When I began designing such clothes, I found that it was not as simple as I had imagined, and I encountered many difficulties: from the style of clothes to the texture of the fabric; from the use function to the feeling of wearing them; from contacting the factory to the tailoring," he said.
Determined to overcome these difficulties, he searched the internet and read books during his spare time.
Inspired by the traffic-police uniforms, he placed similar reflective strips on his anti-lost clothes and installed locators from electric tricycles in the garments. He later replaced these with small personal location-tracking devices, allowing people to use their mobile phones to track the locations of family members diagnosed with Alzheimer's.
To raise the comfort level of the clothing and the accuracy of the locator function, Fan sought the help of multiple companies from outside Shandong specializing in clothes design and the manufacture of tracking chips.
As more people learned that Fan was making anti-lost clothes, some reached out and expressed their need for items of this sort, and he offered them free of charge.
During his spare time, he kept in touch with the relatives of the recipients on WeChat, a popular messaging app in China. Some of them gave him feedback, allowing him to improve the clothes. Others gave him words of encouragement.
Ninety-year-old Zhang Shizhen, a Jinan resident who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, is among the recipients of the clothes. Every time before she goes out, her children repeatedly urge her to wear the clothes.
Zhang's son Huo Quansheng recalls an episode on New Year's Day, 2021, when his mother lost her way home while taking a walk. "Fortunately, some passers-by scanned the QR code on the clothes and called me, so we rushed over there immediately," said Huo. "Although my mother's memory is failing, she cheers up every time she sees Fan."
Fan has designed four generations of anti-lost clothes and dispensed more than 2,000 free garments to people from over 20 provinces and cities in China, including Shanxi and Henan, with a total investment of over 400,000 yuan (about 55,762 U.S. dollars).
Moreover, through the years, his personal endeavor has mushroomed into a public campaign with over 30 volunteers. Together with the volunteers, Fan has established a public service center and has performed a range of tasks, from producing clothes to applying for a patent.
On hearing of their deeds, the public security bureau of Jinan and the civil affairs bureau of Jiyang offered them some financial support.
Fan plans to coordinate with at least seven communities to dispense about 1,000 items of anti-lost clothes this year. "I hope more people in need will get the clothes and more people will take care of the disadvantaged groups together," he said.
This photo taken on April of 2023 shows Fan Weidong (L) distributing "anti-lost clothes" for free to a man in need in Jinan, east China's Shandong Province. (Xinhua)
As a first-generation migrant, I believe it is time that migrant communities noticed whats happening in their backyards, especially during this Indigenous Voice to parliament referendum.
While we may worry about politics and related conundrums in our countries of origin, for first-generation migrants the referendum offers us the opportunity to impact Australia directly and play a constructive role in the political discourse within our adopted home. Its a chance for us to address the injustices caused by colonisation and support an Indigenous advisory body that will advise the federal government on laws and policies affecting Indigenous communities.
Voting Yes for the Voice offers first-generation migrants a unique opportunity to support our Indigenous community. Credit: Chris Hopkins/The Age
Migrant communities, even the ones who have come here as skilled migrants and professionals, sometimes live here in isolation from the historic roots of Australia. While the referendum and debate on the Yes and No campaigns is gaining momentum throughout Australia, many first-generation migrant communities seem to have taken little notice. It is not on their radar yet.
For many Australians, the referendum is not a priority compared to the challenges of the rising cost of living, lack of housing, unemployment, and other day-to-day issues. For first-generation migrants, theres another reason for low interest and disengagement in the referendum: they dont feel they are required to make a contribution, or dont believe their contributions are new or of value, and therefore dont contribute. They may also fear saying something wrong or facing backlash from the community.
The Cook government will close political donations loopholes and cap election spending in a beefed-up version of its long-awaited political donation reforms.
But at the same time, the premier has given political parties a massive pay bump to be covered by taxpayers.
The new laws will close political donation loopholes. Credit: WAtoday
The bill will be introduced to parliament this week, complete with significant improvements to transparency including daily disclosures of donations of more than $1000 during election campaigns and weekly at all other times.
This is a much tighter turnaround than the three-monthly disclosures flagged in a 2020 donations bill that the government failed to pass before the 2021 election.
The states first law officer has unloaded on some of Western Australias most notorious bikies, voicing concerns about his own personal safety but gloating that the governments suite of anti-bikie laws had gotten into their targets heads.
In the colourful tirade in parliament during an opposition matter of public interest about violent offenders, Attorney-General John Quigley said his government had no better third-party endorsement for its tough stance on bikies than from patched Mongols member Troy Mercanti.
Troy Mercanti sporting a message for Attorney General John Quigley on his way to a previous court appearance. Credit: Ezra Holt
He referenced Mercantis decision to wear a homemade shirt to an August court appearance with a picture depicting Quigley as childrens TV character Mr Squiggle with the message: Mr Squigley Fcuk Your Laws.
Mercanti was the first person in Western Australia slapped with an order under the laws, which banned him from socialising with 31 named people.
The most recent property boom caused one of the steepest falls in first home buyer activity in 20 years, indicating a sharp decrease in affordability as prices spiked.
The amount of new loans granted to first home buyers declined sharply during the October 2020 to April 2022 property boom, CoreLogic analysis of ABS data showed, from a peak of more than 16,000 a month to below 10,000.
The sharp drop was comparable to the post-GFC boom between February 2008 and June 2010, but was a contrast to the extended 2012 to 2017 bull run when first home buyer activity was steadier at low levels, often below 8000 loans a month.
A common theme between both price explosions and subsequent first home buyer retreats was the removal of incentives designed to help first-home buyers get a leg-up into the market, CoreLogic head of Australian research Eliza Owen said, of the ANZ/CoreLogic Housing Affordability report, released this week.
London: YouTube said on Tuesday it had blocked Russell Brand from making money from his online channel after the British actor and comedian was accused of a string of sexual assaults.
The BBC removed some of Brands material from its streaming archive, joining a growing list of organisations distancing themselves from the performer, who denies sexual assault and has not been charged with any criminal offences.
YouTube said monetisation of Brands account, which has 6.6 million subscribers, has been suspended following serious allegations against the creator.
Brand, once one of Britains most high-profile comedians and broadcasters, said on Saturday he had never had non-consensual sex.
New York: US President Joe Biden has urged world leaders to continue backing Ukraine against Russias aggression, warning that allowing the sovereign nation to be carved up by Moscow would place the independence of other countries at risk.
In a marquee speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Biden also branded climate change as an existential threat to humanity, urged advanced nations to do more for developing countries and warned it would take a global effort to tackle the opportunities and dangers of artificial intelligence.
US President Joe Biden addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Credit: AP
He also told leaders that while the US would push back on Chinas aggression, it did not seek to contain Beijing.
When it comes to China, I want to be clear and consistent: we seek to responsibly manage the competition between our countries so it does not tip into conflict, Biden said.
MIT Explains: How did China come to dominate the world of electric cars?
China is called the future Silicon Valley of the electric vehicle world
Milton Snide's Brooklyn Street Kid China EV Take: Because most elected politicians are just too ignorant about alt fuels or are in Big Oil's pocket to make make an independent alt fuel decision, they delegate "their alt fuel position" decision to just as ignorant "expert" aides to determine which 'alt' to support, and because it's in vogue and they think safe, they support Electric vehicles. So these know nothings hurt America and help China...just look at the support and money being spent on Electric vs Ethanol a real gasoline alternative.
Think we are paranoid? Well wake the f--k up! It's in Silicon Valley's and China's best interest to emasculate automobiles and create a ground swell for a "Transportation Appliances" industry that replaces traditional automobile design and manufacturing. In a new electric and autonomous transportation world they can both dominate, just how many Chinese citizens(2018) with advanced degrees earned at American universities are employed at digital transportation companies in Silicon Valley? Just Sayin'.
More Snide's China EV Insights:
Chinese Government Has Long Term View Of Major Initiatives
Chinese Acquiring All Elements To Take Over World's Auto Industry; Lithium, Batteries, Raw Material, EV Factories (So what if it takes 50 years?)
California EV-only Mandates To Ooze to other Blue States
By 2035 Chinese Car Makers will have 15 plus years learning to perfect their mass production and profitable shortcuts of Electric car making, selling and battery disposal processes.
Traditional car makers will be scrambling to obtain batteries and learn how to dispose of depleted batteries
China can take depleted batteries back to China for rebuild or disposal
Chinese EV will cost 50% of US and European built cars
Hyundai and Kia will become the entry luxury EV brands, GM will be out of business, Ford will be selling just trucks, Exotics like BMW will be black-marketed to California
China will supply controllable (On Off Via Net) EV charging stations throughout California, Oregon, Washington State, New Jersey, DC, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.
Ignorant Traitorous Politicians, Traitorous Bureaucrats, Wall Street Sharks, and Traitorous Green New Dealers Are Found integral in Chinese takeover of USA - face firing squad.
SEE ALSO: Benefits Of California's Partnership With China (Nov 2013} SEE ALSO: Electric vehicles Solution or Diversion? (2009) SEE ALSO: China Given A Path To Worldwide EV Domination - Updated (2018) SEE ALSO: China's World Automotive Domination Library (1995-2023)
MIT Tech Review Explains
By Zeyi Yang(2023)
From generous government subsidies to support for lithium batteries, here are the keys to understanding how China managed to build a world-leading industry in electric vehicles.
Before most people could realize the extent of what was happening, China became a world leader in making and buying EVs. And the momentum hasnt slowed: In just the past two years, the number of EVs sold annually in the country grew from 1.3 million to a whopping 6.8 million, making 2022 the eighth consecutive year in which China was the worlds largest market for EVs. For comparison, the US only sold about 800,000 EVs in 2022.
The industry is growing at a speed that has surprised even the most experienced observers: The forecasts are always too low, says Tu Le, managing director of Sino Auto Insights, a business consulting firm that specializes in transportation. This dominance in the EV sector has not only given Chinas auto industry sustained growth during the pandemic but boosted China in its quest to become one of the worlds leaders in climate policy.
How exactly did China manage to pull this off? Several experts tell MIT Technology Review that the government has long played an important rolepropping up both the supply of EVs and the demand for them. As a result of generous government subsidies, tax breaks, procurement contracts, and other policy incentives, a slew of homegrown EV brands have emerged and continued to optimize new technologies so they can meet the real-life needs of Chinese consumers. This in turn has cultivated a large group of young car buyers.
But the story of how the sector got here is about more than just Chinese state policy; it also includes Tesla, Chinese battery tech researchers, and consumers across the rest of Asia.
When did China start investing in EVs and why?
In the early 2000s, before it fully ventured into the field of EVs, Chinas car industry was in an awkward position. It was a powerhouse in manufacturing traditional internal-combustion cars, but there were no domestic brands that could one day rival the foreign makers dominating this market.
They realized that they would never overtake the US, German, and Japanese legacy automakers on internal-combustion engine innovation, says Tu. And research on hybrid vehicles, whose batteries in the early years served a secondary role relative to the gas engine, was already being led by countries like Japan, meaning China also couldnt really compete there either.
This pushed the Chinese government to break away from the established technology and invest in completely new territory: cars powered entirely by batteries.
The risks were extremely high; at this point, EVs were only niche experiments made by brands like General Motors or Toyota, which usually discontinued them after just a few years. But the potential reward was a big one: an edge for China in what could be a significant slice of the auto industry.
SEE COMPLETE ARTICLE: HERE
SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's first domestically-built large cruise ship, the "Adora Magic City," is scheduled to start its maiden voyage on Jan. 1 of 2024 from Shanghai, marking the beginning of its commercial operation, the operator Adora Cruises Limited said Tuesday.
The cruise ship, measuring 323.6 meters in length with a gross tonnage of 135,500 tonnes, has a total of 2,125 guest rooms and 22 distinctive restaurants and bars. It can accommodate up to 5,246 passengers.
The cruise ship, scheduled to depart from the Shanghai Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal, will provide a unique cruise experience with gourmet food, entertaining shows, and world-class shopping at sea.
A series of specially-designed activities for children will also be available on the cruise.
On Tuesday, the company revealed the Northeast Asia route of the cruise from Shanghai. It will also launch routes to countries in Southeast Asia in the future.
Tickets for the cruise ship's itineraries will be available for booking from Wednesday.
TRIPOLI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement on Tuesday that 276 migrants were intercepted off the coast of Libya in the past week.
"From Sept. 10 to 16, 276 migrants were intercepted and returned to Libya," the statement read.
The rescued migrants include 17 women and 11 children, it added.
So far this year, a total of 10,992 migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, IOM revealed, adding that 923 died and 1,155 went missing on the central Mediterranean route off the Libyan coast.
In 2022, 32,425 undocumented migrants were rescued and returned to Libya, while 662 died and 891 went missing off the Libyan coast.
Due to the instability and turmoil in the country following the downfall of the late leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime in 2011, many African migrants opted to travel from Libya across the Mediterranean Sea to reach European shores.
by Xinhua writers Cheng Yunjie and Zheng Jingxia
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission's anti-subsidy investigation into China's electric vehicles (EV) has cast a dark cloud over an emerging EV sector considered essential to the global fight against climate change, as the expectations of additional duties could result in immediate buyer hesitation among European importers, while also distorting prices and disrupting supplies in the long run.
When speaking at her annual State of the Union address at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated her "de-risk approach" to dealing with ties between the European Union (EU) and China, claiming the prices of EVs from China have been "kept artificially low by huge state subsidies."
She insisted that the inflow of Chinese products is "distorting" the EU market, labeling what is ahead as "a race to the bottom."
As soon as this news came out, the Chinese government, business organizations and auto and law specialists voiced their objections to the EU's move, and also expressed deep concern about the future of the global EV industry.
A spokesperson with China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said that the investigation proposed by the EU is a practice of pure "protectionism" that is intended, in essence, to protect the EU's own industry in the name of "fair competition."
The probe will seriously disrupt and distort global automotive industrial and supply chains, including those in the EU, and it will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations, the spokesperson said.
China Chamber of Commerce to the EU (CCCEU), an industrial association comprising nearly 1,000 Chinese firms in the EU, has urged the EU to approach the progress of China's EV industry with objectivity, rather than resorting to unilateral economic and trade measures that could obstruct the development and elevate operational expenses of Chinese EV products within the European market.
TRADE PROTECTION
A trade remedy team of the Beijing-based Dentons Law Firm noted that back in mid-June, European Commission officials had revealed the intention of launching trade remedy investigations into China's EVs, but EU members were at loggerheads over taking trade measures against China's high-end mechanical and electrical products.
Sun Lei, senior partner with Dentons, said there were multiple reasons for the EU's bypassing of anti-dumping and conducting only a countervailing probe.
One factor could be the fact that the preliminary ruling and investigations for an anti-subsidy probe takes significantly shorter time than that for anti-dumping, which may be conducive to the EU's rapid implementation of trade protection measures, Sun noted.
"The commission can initiate an investigation on its own. But such an ex officio initiation without having received a complaint is more likely to be politically inclined," Sun said.
"It is noteworthy that the electric vehicle industry in China enjoys a robust cooperative partnership with the European and global automotive industry networks, and the creation of each electric vehicle involves the collaborative efforts of tens of thousands of suppliers from around the world," said the CCCEU.
"Duties are at the core of countervailing measures. The levels of the duties will not affect market demand, but will change the structure of supplies. The repercussions for the EU's own industry will depend on the extent to which it has been integrated with Chinese EV industrial chains," Sun said.
China's new energy vehicle (NEV) exports surged 90 percent year on year in 2022, with orders from Europe accounting for 48 percent of the total. In the first eight months of this year, the country exported 727,000 NEVs, an increase of 110 percent from a year ago.
Mei Xinyu, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the MOC, attributed the rapid expansion of China's new energy vehicle industry to its world-leading technological innovation, and the virtuous circle between large-scale production and mass sales.
The so-called "de-risk" approach will do nothing but deliver self-inflicted disruptions to the EU's auto supply and will drive up prices, which will end up hurting the competitiveness of its local automakers, Mei said.
The EU's commitment to market openness must be translated into tangible measures, ensuring a fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory business environment for foreign companies, the CCCEU said, cautioning that efforts to restrict products solely based on their country of origin would run counter to the EU's WTO commitments.
INDUSTRIAL OPPOSITION
China has established the world's largest NEV sales market and production center within a very short space of time, and this would not have been possible without its non-discriminatory stimulus policies, Mei said.
Mei highlighted the building of a big sales market as key to developing local EV industry, saying that it will attract investors to make bigger investments in setting up factories, scaling up production and sharpening international competitiveness.
From that perspective, adopting non-discriminatory stimulus policies in a certain development stage is a right path to fostering the domestic EV market, Mei said.
Cui Dongshu, secretary general of the China Passenger Car Association, also expressed opposition to the EU's comments on China-made NEVs.
The strong export of China's NEVs is well underpinned by its industrial chain, which has built up its strength under full market competition, not state subsidies, Cui said.
"Chinese EV manufacturers, along with their upstream and downstream industry partners, have persistently pushed the boundaries of innovation. This concerted effort has resulted in a substantial industrial edge within both the fiercely competitive domestic Chinese market and the global arena," the CCCEU said.
It's crucial to emphasize that this advantage is not a product of 'huge state subsidies' as claimed by the commission, the chamber added.
According to Cui, the key to evaluating anti-dumping or anti-subsidy investigations is finding evidence of material injury caused by low-priced goods to local industries, but the prices of China-made cars exported to Europe are now nearly double that found in China.
Such anti-subsidy probes are inevitable as China's NEV industry becomes stronger, the secretary general said. "When you're strong, people will notice and some might feel uncomfortable with that."
THE WAY OUT
Experts said that the EU's attitude towards China's electric vehicles also exposed its concern over the unbalanced trade between China and the EU.
China's trade surplus with the EU is a natural result under the combined influence of different industrial structures, industrial specialization, ways of trade and external factors, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said previously.
According to the spokesperson, EU restrictions on the export of high-tech products to China in recent years directly limited the EU's ability to tap the potential of exports to China and led to unbalanced trade between the two sides.
In a world of rising protectionism and trade fragmentation, leveraging unilateral economic and trade measures at will is not a good strategy for helping to solve the bottlenecks of a country's industry development.
To solve the problem fundamentally, China and the EU need to find common interests, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and jointly promote institutional openness and alignment of rules while opening up trade, Sun said.
China always maintains an open and cooperative attitude, and welcomes EU automotive companies to expand their investment in the country, including investment in electric vehicles, said the spokesperson with the MOC.
China urged the EU to conduct dialogue and consultation with China, taking into consideration the bigger picture of maintaining the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and the stability of global industrial and supply chains, the spokesperson said.
The two sides should work together to create a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable market environment for the common development of the China-EU electric vehicle industry, oppose trade protectionism, and commit to global efforts to address climate change and achieve carbon neutrality, the spokesperson said.
China will pay close attention to the EU's protectionist inclinations and follow-up actions, and firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson added.
MG Motor has appointed Jiad Modern Motors, a Mohamed Yousuf Naghi company, as the brands new and official distributor in Saudi Arabia.
Effective immediately, the appointment is in line with the British-born brands regional retail network expansion strategy, as it seeks to make its range of highly popular cars accessible to as many customers as possible, a statement said.
The announcement was marked by an official agreement signing ceremony at Mohamed Yousuf Naghi HQ attended by MG Motor's Managing Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Tom Lee and Mohamed Yousuf Naghi the chairman and senior executives.
This new partnership comes ahead of the brands upcoming centenary, and as the brand is already established as a leading player in Saudi Arabia and across the Middle East.
More customers than ever before purchased MGs stylish, well-equipped, high-tech, high value cars in 2022, helping the brand to break into the GCCs top six of car manufacturers for the first time in 2022.
Jiad Modern Motors will launch showrooms in Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam soon, with further facilities planned by the end of 2023 totalling six facilities.
At the heart of this partnership lies an unwavering commitment to enhance the MG ownership journey through network expansion plans and by providing a comprehensive suite of high-quality aftersales services, ensuring that every MG owner's experience is a positive one, said a statement.
This commitment underscores the shared values of MG Motor and Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Company in prioritising customer satisfaction, by exemplifying an impressive parts supply in the kingdom, the statement added. TradeArabia News Service
This screenshot shows a name-list of military doctors from Unit 731, a Japanese germ-warfare army during World War II, displayed at the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Tiefu)
"Discovering more historical materials brings us closer to the true and complete history," said Japanese scholar Seiya Matsuno. "In the future, I will continue to explore more historical truths and share them with as many people as possible. We must not allow such human tragedies to happen again, and this is the important responsibility of historians like us."
TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- "Although history is in the past, if it cannot be faced up to or be known, then the facts will hardly transform into profound lessons to avoid repeating the same mistakes," said Seiya Matsuno, a researcher at Meiji Gakuin University's International Peace Research Institute in Japan.
Matsuno, who as a scholar of Japanese modern and contemporary history has dedicated himself to studying the activities of the Japanese Imperial Army's Unit 731 in China at his own expense, reiterated the importance of Japanese society acknowledging its wartime history and spreading the truth in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Tokyo.
To cover up the heinous crimes committed by Unit 731 in China, the Japanese military burned and destroyed relevant documents. "Even now, we can find the original copies of orders issued by the Japanese Imperial Army General Staff Office before their defeat, instructing Unit 731 to urgently and thoroughly destroy all documents," Matsuno revealed.
"As of now, most of the information about Unit 731, its composition, and activities comes from testimonies of former members and confessions of Japanese war criminals during the 1949 Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials in the Russian Far Eastern city," said the researcher. "There are very few first-hand materials left."
This screenshot shows a name-list of military doctors from Unit 731, a Japanese germ-warfare army during World War II, displayed at the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 15, 2023. (Xinhua/Tang Tiefu)
However, while many Unit 731 documents in China were destroyed, some were retained in Japan or brought back from China during the war, according to Matsuno.
Among these records, Matsuno recently discovered documents including the "Staff List of Top Officials in the Epidemic Prevention and Water Purification Department of the Kwantung Army," listing the names and ranks of members of the notorious germ warfare army Unit 731 that killed thousands of Chinese civilians and Russian prisoners of war at its sprawling complex in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin during World War II (WWII).
These documents fill gaps in research regarding the initial organization and size of Unit 731, enhancing the evidential chain related to the unit's war crimes. However, finding these historical materials was no easy task for the Japanese researcher.
According to Matsuno, Japan's WWII-related records have been transferred to the National Archives of Japan (NAJ) by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, while some diplomatic and military-related documents are kept by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.
Every once in a while, the NAJ would release batches of newly processed historical materials, among which Matsuno spotted the recently discovered documents.
The researcher pointed out that even when new materials are made available, they can remain obscure without substantial expertise and research skills, as searching for information using keywords like "Unit 731" or "epidemic prevention unit" yields little results.
Additionally, accessing sensitive content at the NAJ comes with various restrictions, such as "no lending, no copying, no photography," making it difficult for researchers to share evidence with the public, said Matsuno.
Teenagers visit the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)
When it comes to the personal information of Japanese military personnel, Japan often cites "protecting individual privacy" as a reason to impede researchers. Unless one is a direct relative, access to such information is typically denied. "Currently, nobody knows how many unprocessed historical materials remain at the NAJ," Matsuno noted.
"This list clearly shows that there were at least 1,129 vacant positions in Unit 731 due to reorganization and expansion. Despite the severe shortage of personnel, the general staff office still ordered the unit to carry out bacteriological warfare in places like Ningbo and Quzhou in China's Zhejiang Province," he said.
This document also exposed a lie told by a key war criminal named Naeo Ikeda. In the 1980s, Keio University professor Takao Matsumura and several other scholars discovered a first-hand report authored by "Major Ikeda" as the person in charge, which documented skin injuries and deaths of prisoners resulting from the use of poison gas by Unit 731 in Heilongjiang.
When confronted with this report, Ikeda, who was alive at the time, denied involvement, claiming that he "was not serving at Unit 731 in 1940 and could not have participated in such experiments." However, his name now appears on the staff list as the only individual surnamed Ikeda. This revelation confirmed that Ikeda was responsible for poison gas experiments conducted by Unit 731.
People visit the Exhibition Hall of Evidence of Crime Committed by Unit 731 of the Japanese Imperial Army in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Sept. 18, 2023. (Xinhua/Wang Jianwei)
Matsuno explained that newly-discovered documents that listed names and ranks of senior officers and staff at another Imperial Japanese Army facility called the Kwantung Army Warhorse Disease Prevention Factory, pertained to the activities of Japan's Unit 100, another germ warfare army often referred to as the "Evil Brothers" alongside Unit 731.
Historical materials related to Unit 100 have been scarce, making these documents vital for further understanding the war crimes committed by the Japanese Imperial Army in China.
"Discovering more historical materials brings us closer to the true and complete history," Matsuno remarked. "In the future, I will continue to explore more historical truths and share them with as many people as possible. We must not allow such human tragedies to happen again, and this is the important responsibility of historians like us."
XI'AN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Over 1,500 exhibitors from a total of 39 countries and regions are attending an agricultural hi-tech fair in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, according to the organizer.
Under the theme of "soil health and food security," the 30th China Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Fair kicked off on Tuesday in the Yangling agricultural hi-tech industrial demonstration zone.
With Uzbekistan as the guest country of honor at this year's fair, the five-day event will feature innovations in agricultural high-tech achievements, exchange activities, and hold 11 conferences and forums as well as eight exhibitions, among others.
Established in 1994, the fair is one of the largest and most influential events dealing with agricultural science in China.
Imagine all the different flavours you could make with this! Im thinking sweet, Im thinking salty. But please, for the g-damn love of God, do NOT go and make the blue V infused mince and cheese concoction that was trending earlier this year.
BJP accuses Cong of stealing theme song of ex-Pak PMs party for its poll campaign
BHOPAL,
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday alleged the Congress has stolen the theme song of Imran Khan-founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for its Jan Aakrosh Yatra campaign, inviting a sharp attack from the opposition party. The yatra is scheduled to set out from September 19 from seven places in the State, where Assembly elections are due in November this year. The row erupted after MP BJP unit secretary Rahul Kothari alleged the Congress has copied Chalo, Chalo Imran Ke Sath, which he said is the theme song of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, in its recently-released song Chalo, Chalo Congress Ke Sang Chalo Chalo for the Jan Aakrosh Yatra. The state BJP shared the video of the theme song of the Pakistan-based party along with the Congress' poll campaign song on its official X account. Till now, the Congress used to accept those who raised slogans in favour of Pakistan and against Hindustan. Now, Madhya Pradesh Congress is also borrowing songs from Pakistan, Kothari alleged. He claimed Congress Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh was missing from the poster of Jan Ashirwad Yatra, but he is giving the background music.
This is the height of appeasement. It wont be a big deal if Congress flag soon turns completely green, Kothari said.
Congress' love for Pakistan came to the fore again. @INCMP stole the theme song of Imran Khan's party of Pakistan for its campaign song in the Madhya Pradesh elections. Congress habit of stealing is old but why so much love for Pakistan? Congress should answer, the BJP posted on X. State Congress Media Department Chairman K K Mishra said, Unfortunately, those who are friends of Pakistan are raising objections over the campaign song of Congress. Those who got Army personnel martyred to take electoral advantage objected to a song.
Mishra said that the BJP might have forgotten who went to Pakistan without invitation and who had invited the neighbouring country's prime minister for his oath ceremony. The Congress launched the Chalo, Chalo...song on September 17. The yatra is expected to cover 11,400 kilometres across all 230 assembly segments in Madhya Pradesh in 15 days to highlight various issues like corruption, unemployment, and crime against Dalits and women, among others. The BJP has already rolled out Jan Ashirward Yatra' to seek the blessings of the people. The yatra, being taken out from various places, will culminate in Bhopal on September 25.
CM announces grand memorial of Rani Durgavati worth Rs 100 cr
Staff Reporter
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that immortal freedom fighters, Raja Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah refused to accept the slavery of British rule and planned a revolution. Unfortunately, the father-son duo was sentenced to death on September 18, 1857. The fire of revolution spread rapidly following the sacrifice of Raja Shankar Shah and Raghunath Shah. Chief Minister Chouhan was addressing a huge gathering assembled at Veterinary Ground on the occasion of Martyrdom Day of both the Heroes of 1857 freedom struggle, on Monday. Attired with Veera and Safa, the symbol of Tribal culture, he announced to observe Martyrdom Day of both the Tribal Heroes on September 18 every year in the State.
He said that all the 14 announcements made by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah for the welfare of tribal community during Martyrdom Day previous year, have been fulfilled. With these announcements which paved way for their social and economic empowerment, now the tribal people are getting mainstreamed in the society. Mentioning about the bravery and gallant acts of Gond ruler, Rani Durgavati, he said that with her ruling efficiency and courageous approach, the Gondwana Queen had established a huge empire which included Madan Mahal, Garha Mandla and Singrampur. She proudly preferred to give her life rather than accepting the slavery of Mughal ruler, Akbar. Hence, State Government has decided to perform bhoomipujan of a grand memorial to be constructed worth Rs 100 crore at Madan Mahal on the occasion of 500th birth anniversary of Rani Durgavati on October 5, 2023. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Shahdol, shared to issue a postal ticket and a coin dedicated to the Gondwana Queen. He said that the State Government has implemented many schemes including PESA (Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area) Act, to the tribal community on water, forest and land at 89 tribal blocks in the State.
The State Government has initiated Engineering and Medical education in Hindi medium so that the wards of tribal families may pursue specialised higher education. Simultaneously, 05 percent seats in medical course are reserved for Government school students and to inspire the students, laptop for the students who score more than 75 percent and scooty for those who topped in class XII in their schools. The Chief Minister added that by initiating Mukhya Mantri Ladali Bahna Yojana, the State Government has ensured their due respect to the women. Now Ladali Bahnas who are residing in Kaccha house, will get fund to construct Pakka one through Mukhya Mantri Ladali Bahna Awas Yojana. The beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana and Ladali Bahnas would get LPG in subsidised rate of Rs. 450 only, while the poor families pending electricity bills upto 1 Kv will be deposited by the Government.
CM counters BJPs accusations over Khursipars tragic incident
Staff Reporter
RAIPUR,
CHIEF Minister Bhupesh Baghel strongly countered the BJPs statements regarding the tragic incident in Khursipar. The Chief Minister expressed his concern over attempts to give the incident a religious colour, describing it as unfortunate that a young man lost his life in the incident. Baghel emphasised that all the accused involved in the incident have been apprehended. Chief Minister criticised the BJP for allegedly trying to politicise such a sensitive issue and accused them of attempting to communalise the matter. Baghel highlighted that despite the apprehension of all the accused, the BJP continues to engage in political rhetoric. He was speaking to mediapersons at the helipad before embarking on his tour of Bijapur.
Speaking about his agenda in Bijapur, the Chief Minister revealed several programmes scheduled for the day. These include the inauguration of a garment factory, the opening of a central library, and various other activities in which he will be participating.Regarding the commencement of a special session of Parliament, CM Baghel clarified that there is no mention of initiatives such as One Nation One Election or other unspecified items in the agenda. Addressing the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya as part of the Parivartan Yatra, Baghel commented on the frequent visits of BJP leaders to the State. He noted that numerous leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party have been converging for various events and gatherings, emphasising their selfinterest, but also remarking that they may not share a strong camaraderie.
Responding to Mallikarjun Kharges reported anger during an AICC meeting, Chief Minister Baghel explained that he learned of the incident through the media. He cited his absence from the entire programme due to a prior commitment at a conference of the Brahmin community, where two acres of land were allotted and a significant event was held. CM Baghel informed about the visits of Congress leaders. Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to visit on the September 21 and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge is set to visit on September 28. Rahul Gandhis has been rescheduled and advanced
Colliery workers threaten to stage 72-hrs nation-wide strike from October 5 to 7
Staff Reporter
Some of the officers in Coal India Limited (CIL) are trying to hamper the industrial peace through a conspiracy of provoking the colliery workers. All India Khadaan Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) are registering their strong presence to fight for the rights of workers. All the colliery workers should be united for pressing their demand before CIL authorities for providing Minimum Guarantee Benefit (MGB) of 19 per cent to colliery workers. If their demand will not be fulfilled on priority basis, colliery workers will stage 72-hours nationwide strike from October 5 to 7, said Ashok Kumar Mishra, National Organisation Secretary, All India Khadaan Mazdoor Sangh while addressing a press conference, on Monday.
Addressing the press conference, BMS State Secretary, Rajesh Kumar Patel and District Secretary, Surjeet Singh informed Coal India Officers, according to their wage agreement dated January 1, 2017, were fulfilled by the CIL but Mazdoor Sangh never opposed the same. On the other hand, Colliery Workers were given benefit of 19 percent MGB which was pending since January 1, 2021 but the colliery officers have challenged the availability of benefit to workers before the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Emotional adieu to Old ParliamentNew era in New Parliament to begin today
NEW DELHI :
It is a very emotional moment to bid farewell to this building. As we leave this building our mind is filled with many emotions and memories, PM Modi said in Lok Sabha
AS THE old Parliament building hosted a session one last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday bid a poignant farewell recalling the countrys first PM Jawaharlal Nehrus iconic tryst with destiny speech for continuing to inspire everyone and another predecessor Atal Behari Vajpayees Governments may come and go remark. Reminiscing the countrys Parliamentary journey of 75 years, Modi at the same time reminded the Lok Sabha about Emergency as well as the 2008 cash-for-vote scam during the first term of the Manmohan Singh Government. As he sang paeans to previous Prime Ministers including Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao, Modi remembered the journey of Indias democracy and said the last day in the heritage building should be dedicated to the over 7,500 parliamentarians who served there since Independence in 1947. It is a very emotional moment to bid farewell to this building. As we leave this building our mind is filled with many emotions and memories, Modi said, initiating the discussion on Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha -- Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings. Modi paid tributes to every brick of the old Parliament building and said MPs will enter the new complex with new hope and confidence. The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha will meet again on Tuesday afternoon in the new l y -co n s t r ucted Parliamentbuildingafterthey were adjourned following a discussion on the countrys parliamentary journey onthe first day of the five-day session.Parliament will be shifting to the swanky complex on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi. In his 52- minute speech, Modi said it was in this Parliament that Pandit Nehru delivered his tryst with destiny speech at the stroke of midnight hour to mark Indias independence from colonial rule and his words continue to inspire everyone.
In the same House, Ataljis words aboutsarkare in aayegi, jayegi; partiyan banegi, bigdegi;lekin yeh desh rehna chahiye (governments may come and go; parties may be formedordisbanded;butthis nation has to live on) continue to echo even today. IntheRajya Sabha,Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallik arjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take a swipe at the Government, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names. He also recalled how Jawaharlal Nehrusinclusiveapproach of involving Opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution. Kharge began his speech with a poem in Hindi. Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Dena hein to yuva ko rozgar do, sab ko berozgar karke kya hota hai? Dil ko thoda bada karke dekho,logon ko marnese kya hota hai? Kuch kar nahi sakteho,kursi chordo,baatbaat mein darane se kya hota hai? Apni hukumrani par guroor hai, logon ko darane se dhamkane se kya hota hai?
Badalna hai to halat badlo, aise naam badalne se kya hota hai? Yahan se wahan jane mein kya aur honewala hai? he said. PM MENTIONS OLDEST, YOUNGEST, LONGEST SERVING MPS: As the functioningofParliamentshiftsto the new building, Prime Minister Modi mentioned the oldest member of Lok Sabha - 93 yearsoldSPMPShafiqur Rahman Barq and the youngest - 30 years old Chandrani Murmu of BJD who became an MP at the age of 25. He also remembered Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Indrajit Gupta, who served as a Lok Sabha MP for almost 36 years from 1960to2001,exceptforashort period from 1977 to 1980.
Unparalleled contribution
NEW DELHI,
LOK Sabha Speaker Om Birla on M o n d a y said the old Parliament b u i l d i n g has an unparalleled contribution to I n d i a s democratic journey as collective decisions were taken for the welfare of the nation.This House has been a vibrant symbol of the culture of dialogue, he saidsoon after the Lok Sabha proceedings went underway. Our Parliament building hasbeena witness tothehistoric moment of Indias Independenceandtheentire process of drafting the Constitution.Ithasalsobeen awitnesstothegloriousdemocratic journey of our modern nation, Birla said. Over the past 75 years, it took collective decisions for thewelfareofthenationamid agreements and disagreements among various parties, passing laws through parliamentary deliberations that brought about socioeconomicchangesinthelives of the people, Birla said. Even during the times of crisis and adversity, this House faced them with unity and commitment,the Lok Sabha Speaker said.
Seven-decade journey
NEW DELHI,
Sept 18 (PTI)
R A J Y A S a b h a Chairman J a g d e e p Dhankhar in his o p e n i n g r e m a r k s , s a i d , Tr a v e r - sing the seven-decade journey, from Samvidhan Sabha to the present day in Amrit Kaal,thesehallowedprecincts have witnessed many milestones. Honble members, this journey had historical moments -- from Tryst with Destiny on the midnight of August15,1947,totheunfoldingoftheinnovativeforwardlooking GST regime on midnight of June 30, 2017, and nowthisday,theRajyaSabha chairman said. The five-day 261st session oftheRajyaSabhastartedon Mondaywithadiscussionon Parliament Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha -- Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings. Thechairmansaidthatthe deliberations in the ConstituentAssemblyinvarious sessions spread over threeyearsexemplifieddecorum and healthy debate. Contentious and highly divisive issues were negotiated in a spirit of consensus, he added. Thereisenoughtakeaway from this for us all. Healthy debate is the hallmark of a blossoming democracy. We musteschewconfrontational posturing. Weaponising disruption and disturbance as a strategy would never secure the sanction of the people, Dhankhar said.
Oppn to raise peoples issues
NEW DELHI,
Sept 18 (PTI)
LEADERS of I.N.D.I.A. bloc met here on Monday ahead of the start of special session of Parliament and decided to participate in the discussions and raise peoples issues, sources said. The leaders during the meeting of I.N.D.I.A. alliance in the morning decided to continue with thefloorcoordinationamong the parties during the fiveday session and corner the Government on issues of price rise, unemployment, Manipur violence and Chinese transgressions on the border. They also decided to press the Government toallowdiscussionsonissues related to Adani firms, farmers distress, economic situation in the country, and the caste census. Sources said the alliance decided to oppose the CEC and other ECs appointment bill which has already been introduced in the Rajya Sabha. Leaders of the Congress, TMC, RJD, NCP, Leftparties,JMM,Samajwadi Party, DM and VCK were among those who attended the meeting at the office of Leader Of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge at around 10 AM. Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the absence of agenda forthe special Parliament session, and proposing a list of issues she wanted a discussion on. Gandhi listed nine issues for discussion in her letter whichincludedpriceriseand violenceinManipur,CentreState relations, rise in cases of communal tension, bordertransgressions byChina, and the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to investigate the transactions of the Adani businessgroupinlightofseveral revelations.
Festive demand firms-up flower prices
Business Reporter
With the arrival of Ganesh festival the demand for natural flowers and especially the pooja flowers are witnessing heavy demand resulting in prices shooting up. With the phenomenal rise in demand for flowers prices are swelling and in some cases they have doubled as compared to a few days ago. The prices of flowers like marigold (Zendu) which are generally used in pooja has increased remarkably, said Jaywant Rannaware, President of Mahatma Fule Pushpa Utpadak Sangh while speaking to The Hitavada. Rannaware further said that on account of the festive season the Netaji wholesale flower market situated at Sitabuldi has suddenly come alive and is swarming with people especially during morning hours.
This is the usual trend and happens every year during the festive season and this year is no exception, he said. Flower vendors are optimistic that this years festive season will be better than the previous one. The flower prices in the wholesale market: Marigold (Zendu) is being quoted at Rs 50 per kg to Rs 70 per kg, as compared to a few days ago at Rs 40 to Rs 50 kg and Marigold small is being quoted at Rs 40 per kg to Rs 70 per kg, as compared to a few days ago at Rs 30 to Rs 50 kg. Similarly, Shevanti is being quoted at Rs 120 kg, as compared to a few days ago at Rs 40 kg. The Tuberose (Nishigandha) is being quoted at Rs 700 kg to Rs 800 kg, as compared to Rs 200 kg to Rs 250 kg a few days ago.
Also, Desi Rose and Divine (Shirdi) Rose are being quoted at Rs 150 per kg, as compared to a few days ago at Rs 50 kg and Dutch Rose at Rs Rs 100 to Rs 200 per bundle (20 pieces), as compared to Rs 60 to Rs 100 per bundle. In the cut flower category, Gerbera is being quoted at Rs 50 bundle (10 pieces), Carnation at Rs 200 per bundle (20 pieces), Orchid at Rs 300 per bundle to Rs 400 bundle (20 pieces), Chrysanthemums at Rs 200 per bundle (10 pieces) and Lillium at Rs 400 per bundle (10 pieces) at the wholesale market. Farmers residing in a radius of 150 km to 200 km bring flowers to sell in the Netaji wholesale market. To meet the heavy demand, traders are sourcing flowers from far off places like Washim, Marathwada, Akola, Nashik, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune.
BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday issued orange and yellow alerts for potential geological disasters triggered by heavy rains in multiple parts of the country.
From 8 p.m. Tuesday to 8 p.m. Wednesday, some regions in northeastern Sichuan, northern Chongqing and southern Shaanxi are likely to experience geological disasters, according to an orange alert issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the China Meteorological Administration.
The two government departments also warned of risks of rain-induced geological disasters in parts of Shandong, Hubei, Sichuan, Chongqing and Shaanxi in a yellow alert.
Residents of affected areas have been advised to take precautions, particularly in areas with hidden dangers.
China has a four-tier, color-coded warning system for geological disasters, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
J&K LG visits family of slain Dy SP Humayun Bhat, assures all help
SRINAGAR,
JAMMU and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday visited the residence of Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Bhat who was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Anantnag district last week and assured the family members of all assistance. Besides Bhat, Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak, and a soldier were killed by the terrorists last Wednesday. The operation to flush out terrorists holed up in the Gadole forest area of Jammu and Kashmirs Anantnag district entered the sixth day on Monday with security forces using drones to pinpoint the hideouts for carrying out attacks on the militants.
Visited Humhama, Budgam, today to meet the family of braveheart martyr Dy SP Humayun Bhat and expressed my condolences. Assured the family of all assistance and support from the UT administration. The entire nation stands in solidarity with the bereaved family, Sinha posted in his official handle on X. The LG spent some time with the bereaved family, including the slain officers father Ghulam Hassan Bhat, retired IGP.
Narmada bridge closed, NDRF rescues 105 in Gujarats Bharuch
BHARUCH,
AS HEAVY rainfall continued to batter Gujarat, the situation in Bharuch district has become challenging, leading to several road closures, including the Narmada bridge, and rescue operations that have helped save 105 people by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The district administration declared the closure of the Narmada bridge over the river Narmada due to severe waterlogging on Monday. Commuters have been advised by the district collectors office to use National Highway 48 for travel between Bharuch and Ankleshwar. In Ankleshwar, additional road closures have been announced, affecting local travel: Closure of the Amratpura approach road, Closure of the Juna Chhapra - Juna Kasiya NH road, Closure of the Ankleshwar Dudhiya mandir to Old NH road.
The NDRF has been actively involved in rescue efforts, saving 105 people stranded in low-lying areas of Bharuch district, specifically in Nikora Village. The collaborative operation between NDRF and civil administration relocated the stranded individuals to safety. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department has warned of torrential rainfall in Gujarat till September 20. In its latest forecast the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a Red Alert for Gujarat and predicted a torrential downpour potentially surpassing 8 inches (204 mm) in the region.
Staff Reporter
A lawyer from Nagpur was found indulging in pressurising the complainant to withdraw his complaint in the Rs 58 crore on-line gaming fraud case. The police have seized the mobile phone of the lawyer and discovered objectionable chatting with notorious on-line gaming fraudster Ananth, also known as Sontu Navratan Jain, and the lawyer. A top rank police official said that the lawyer approached the complainant last week reportedly on the instructions of Sontu Jain. He pressured the complainant to settle the case. Before contacting the complainant, the lawyer was in constant touch wth Sontu Jain on his UK-based mobile number, the official said. The phone has been sent for cyber forensic examination to retrieve the deleted messages and data.
The police are likely to file an FIR against the lawyer on the basis of the complaint received from the victim, he said. In yet another development, an official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) from Delhi Unit also tried to intervene in the fraud case and contacted officials of the Crime Branch. The official was staying at a five-star hotel on Wardha road. He reportedly met the Crime Branch officials and urged them to settle the case. The Narcotics Control Bureau official retired from Border Security Force (BSF) before joining the NCB on contractual basis, said the police official. The multi-crore fraud came to fore when the police had raided Sontus Gondia house on July 22, and seized Rs 17 crore in cash, 14 kg of gold, and 294 kg of silver with a combined worth of Rs 27 crore.
On August 2, Rs 85 lakh cash and gold worth over Rs 4.5 crore were found in the bank lockers of Sontu and his family members. The official said that the huge wealth was amassed by Sontu Jain by duping several persons through the on-line gaming fraud. The investigation into this on-line gaming fraud case started when a Nagpur-based businessman approached the police, claiming to have been duped of Rs 58 crore by Sontus gaming platform. He alleged that the results were manipulated, leading to substantial financial losses.
Spl session is of historic decisions: PM to media
NEW DELHI,
PRIME Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that this Parliament session may be short in duration but is big on occasion, and is of historic decisions. In his remarks to the media ahead of the five-day session, Modi noted that Parliament will move to the new building on Tuesday as he asked MPs to join proceedings with new enthusiasm while shedding old shortcomings, an apparent reference to frequent protests by Opposition members during previous sessions, causing disruptions. He highlighted Indias Chandrayaan-3 mission, the unprecedented success of its G20 presidency, the launch of PM Vishwakarma Mission, and inauguration of international convention centre Yashobhoomi, asserting that many developments which have inspired country and filled it with pride have taken place.
There is an atmosphere of festivity and enthusiasm, and the country has been filled with renewed self-confidence, he said, asking parliamentarians to give maximum time to the short session.
There will be a lot of time left for rona dhona (whining), he said in a jibe at the Opposition which has been criticising the Government over the session, which is unusual for its timing. The journey of 75 years will now continue from a new destination, the Prime Minister said, urging members to pitch in with a new resolve, energy and confidence. The country has to become developed by 2047, and all new decisions for this will now be taken in the new building, he noted. It will be a valuable session, he said, adding that the shift to the new building will happen on Ganesh Chaturthi and that Lord Ganesha is revered as the God which removes all obstacles.
There will be no obstacle in Indias development journey and the country will fulfil all its resolves and dreams, the prime minister said. Citing success of Indias moon mission, he said it will bring innumerable possibilities and opportunities to the countrys doorstep. It is a source of inspiration and pride, he added. Referring to the success of the G20, he said it reflected Indias true federal spirit as events were held in over 60 cities. It became a celebration of Indias diversity, he said. It will also give pride to India that it became the voice of Global South, with the African Union being admitted as a member. The Summit Declaration was adopted unanimously.
Unite to fight against cyber crime: DCP Archit Chandak
Business Reporter
To foster cyber awareness and protect communities from evolving cyber threats, an event Cyber-e-Vision- Decode the art of digital deception: Stay one step ahead of scammers was organised recently at Shri Ramdeobaba College of Engineering and Management, Nagpur (RCOEM). Chief guest of the function Archit Chandak, DCP of EOW and Cyber Crime, Nagpur, urged the people to unite to fight against the cyber crime. He stressed the prevalent issue of cyber crimes, highlighting that a staggering 99.99% of such crimes occur due to the victims inadvertence.
Chandak informed the gathering the concerning number of daily cyber complaints, ranging from 25-30 regular cases in the Nagpur zone alone, resulting in frauds worth Rs 15-20 lakh per day. The session concluded with an engaging Q&A, addressing the audiences concerns about cyber crime. The event also witnessed the presence of Dr Manoj Chandak, Dean Academics, Isha Mujumdar Founder & CEO of VCF Cyber Solutions Pvt. Ltd. and others.
Unveiling programme of Statue of Oneness should be organised with full dignity, grandeur and divinity: CM
Staff Reporter
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the unveiling programme of Statue of Oneness in Omkareshwar on September 21, should be organised with full dignity, grandeur and divinity. All the prominent sages and saints of the country participating in the programme should be accorded traditional welcome. In view of the rainy season, the district administration should be especially sensitive and alert regarding the venue and traffic arrangements and do point-wise planning. Chief Minister Chouhan was reviewing the preparations for the unveiling programme of the Statue of Oneness at Ekatm Dham located at Omkareshwar in the office building Samatva in Bhopal. Culture Minister Usha Thakur, Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains attended the meeting virtually. Additional Chief Secretary (Agriculture) Ashok Varnwal, Principal Secretary (Culture) Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary (Energy) Sanjay Dubey and other officers were present in Samatva Bhawan. Indore Divisional Commissioner and Khandwa Collector joined the meeting virtually.
Sadhus and saints will be welcomed according to the religious traditions of Kerala: Chief Minister Chouhan will welcome the Sadhus and saints as per the religious traditions of Kerala on September 21 at 11 am. After this, offerings will be made in the Vedic Yagya ritual by the Chief Minister and revered saints. On this occasion, along with the performances of dances of Shaiva tradition by artists from across the country, there will be presentation of Panchayatan puja tradition promoted by Acharya by artists of Indian performing styles. CM Chouhan and revered saints will unveil the Statue of Oneness and perform bhoomi and shila puja of Advaita Lok. Chouhan and the revered saints will offer floral tributes at the feet of the Statue of Oneness amidst chanting of Vedas and blowing of conch shells by a total of 101 batukas. After this, Chief Minister Chouhan along with saints and dignitaries will leave for Brahmotsav.
VIENNA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- One person was killed and around 20 others were injured after a bus deviated from the road and overturned in southern Austria early Tuesday morning, local police said.
According to the police, the accident happened around 4:45 a.m. (0245 GMT) near the town of Micheldorf in the state of Carinthia. A 19-year-old Austrian woman was killed. The injured have been rushed to hospital for treatment.
The double-decker bus was en route from Berlin to the Italian port city of Trieste. The 40 passengers and two drivers on board were from Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Germany and Ukraine, Austrian news agency APA quoted a police spokesperson as saying.
Investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the four research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $42.38.
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AB. TheStreet downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Friday, July 28th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 5th.
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Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein
In other AllianceBernstein news, CFO Kate C. Burke sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.56, for a total transaction of $147,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 110,205 shares of the companys stock, valued at $3,257,659.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cowa LLC purchased a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter worth $27,000. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 224.0% during the 1st quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 865 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 945 shares of the asset managers stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 14.27% of the companys stock.
AllianceBernstein Stock Down 1.8 %
Shares of NYSE AB opened at $32.35 on Thursday. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $29.05 and a 52 week high of $42.38. The firms fifty day moving average is $31.83 and its 200 day moving average is $33.53. The company has a market cap of $3.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.28.
AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $843.41 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 6.19%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that AllianceBernstein will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.
AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 7th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.54%. AllianceBernsteins dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 107.49%.
AllianceBernstein Company Profile
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AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.
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Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) has received an average rating of Hold from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.50.
MO has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Altria Group in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a buy rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Altria Group from $56.00 to $55.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd.
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Altria Group Stock Performance
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MO. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Berkeley Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,535 shares of the companys stock valued at $961,000 after purchasing an additional 1,941 shares during the period. MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 440.5% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,789 shares of the companys stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 3,903 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Altria Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,156,000. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,136 shares of the companys stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Altria Group by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 12,906 shares of the companys stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. 58.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Shares of Altria Group stock opened at $43.35 on Friday. Altria Group has a 52 week low of $40.35 and a 52 week high of $51.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $44.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.59.
Altria Group (NYSE:MO Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.31. The company had revenue of $5.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.43 billion. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 225.61% and a net margin of 27.40%. Altria Groups quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Altria Group will post 5 EPS for the current year.
Altria Group Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This is a positive change from Altria Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.04%. Altria Groups payout ratio is presently 102.89%.
Altria Group Company Profile
(Get Free Report
Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; cigars and pipe tobacco principally under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco products and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and on! oral nicotine pouches.
Further Reading
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BTC Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS Free Report) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,113 shares of the companys stock after selling 143 shares during the period. BTC Capital Management Inc.s holdings in Novartis were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Argent Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Novartis by 3.1% during the first quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 3,303 shares of the companys stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 0.7% in the first quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 14,826 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,364,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Novartis by 2.7% in the first quarter. Twin Lakes Capital Management LLC now owns 3,892 shares of the companys stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. S.A. Mason LLC increased its position in Novartis by 2.5% during the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the companys stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Place Capital Corp increased its position in Novartis by 2.7% during the first quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 4,055 shares of the companys stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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Novartis Stock Down 0.5 %
Shares of NYSE:NVS opened at $102.09 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $216.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $74.09 and a twelve month high of $105.61. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.14.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Novartis ( NYSE:NVS Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 19th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $13.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $6.32 million. Novartis had a net margin of 14.76% and a return on equity of 25.12%. The companys quarterly revenue was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Novartis AG will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.
NVS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Novartis in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Novartis in a research note on Friday, July 14th. They issued a buy rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $80.00.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on NVS
About Novartis
(Free Report)
Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Innovative Medicines and Sandoz. The Innovative Medicines segment offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It also provides cardiovascular, ophthalmology, neuroscience, immunology, hematology, and solid tumor products.
Further Reading
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS Free Report).
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Dassault Aviation societe anonyme (OTCMKTS:DUAVF Get Free Report) is one of 92 public companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare Dassault Aviation societe anonyme to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, earnings, risk and dividends.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Dassault Aviation societe anonyme and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
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Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Dassault Aviation societe anonyme N/A N/A 3.61 Dassault Aviation societe anonyme Competitors $5.07 billion $9.73 million 905.16
Dassault Aviation societe anonymes competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Dassault Aviation societe anonyme. Dassault Aviation societe anonyme is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Dividends
Insider and Institutional Ownership
Dassault Aviation societe anonyme pays an annual dividend of $8.90 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.6%. Dassault Aviation societe anonyme pays out 16.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Aerospace & Defense companies pay a dividend yield of 2.8% and pay out 121.4% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Dassault Aviation societe anonyme is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
0.7% of Dassault Aviation societe anonyme shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.8% of shares of all Aerospace & Defense companies are held by institutional investors. 23.7% of shares of all Aerospace & Defense companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Profitability
This table compares Dassault Aviation societe anonyme and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Dassault Aviation societe anonyme N/A N/A N/A Dassault Aviation societe anonyme Competitors 0.29% -2.46% 0.43%
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of recent recommendations for Dassault Aviation societe anonyme and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Dassault Aviation societe anonyme 0 2 2 0 2.50 Dassault Aviation societe anonyme Competitors 488 2202 2920 31 2.44
As a group, Aerospace & Defense companies have a potential upside of 21.48%. Given Dassault Aviation societe anonymes competitors higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Dassault Aviation societe anonyme has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.
Summary
Dassault Aviation societe anonyme competitors beat Dassault Aviation societe anonyme on 9 of the 13 factors compared.
About Dassault Aviation societe anonyme
(Get Free Report)
Dassault Aviation Societe anonyme designs and builds military aircraft, business jets, and space systems in France, the Americas, and internationally. It offers Rafale, a multirole fighter aircraft; nEUROn, an unmanned combat air vehicle; and Falcon aircraft for maritime surveillance, intelligence, and medical evacuation missions. The company operates a fleet of 2,100 Falcon jets and 1,000 military aircraft. In addition, it provides aviation maintenance and training services; repairs and maintains landing gears and flight controls; overhauls and repairs civil aviation equipment; leases and manages Falcon aircraft as part of public passenger transport activity; and designs, produces, and distributes simulation tools. The company was founded in 1916 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Dassault Aviation Societe anonyme operates as a subsidiary of Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault S.A.
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Extendicare (OTCMKTS:EXETF Get Free Report) is one of 61 public companies in the Medical Care Facilities industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Extendicare to similar companies based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk, profitability and dividends.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Extendicare and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Extendicare 0 0 0 0 N/A Extendicare Competitors 128 903 1171 2 2.48
Extendicare presently has a consensus price target of $7.00, suggesting a potential upside of 50.54%. As a group, Medical Care Facilities companies have a potential upside of 15.18%. Given Extendicares higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe Extendicare is more favorable than its competitors.
Profitability
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Extendicare N/A N/A N/A Extendicare Competitors 5.42% -14.60% 1.83%
Dividends
This table compares Extendicare and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Extendicare pays an annual dividend of $0.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 10.3%. Extendicare pays out -185.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Medical Care Facilities companies pay a dividend yield of 2.8% and pay out 58.0% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Extendicare is clearly a better dividend stock than its competitors, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Extendicare and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Extendicare N/A N/A -17.92 Extendicare Competitors $2.77 billion $54.15 million 629.26
Extendicares competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Extendicare. Extendicare is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Institutional and Insider Ownership
9.4% of Extendicare shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 30.9% of shares of all Medical Care Facilities companies are held by institutional investors. 22.2% of shares of all Medical Care Facilities companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Summary
Extendicare competitors beat Extendicare on 6 of the 10 factors compared.
Extendicare Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
Extendicare Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides care and services for seniors in Canada. The company offers long term care (LTC) services; and home health care services, such as nursing care, occupational, physical and speech therapy, and assistance with daily activities, as well as contract and consulting services to third parties. It operates LTC homes and retirement communities, as well as home health care operations under the Extendicare, ParaMed, Extendicare Assist, and SGP Partner Network brands. The company was incorporated in 1968 and is based in Markham, Canada.
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Dominos Pizza Enterprises (OTCMKTS:DPZUF Get Free Report) is one of 85 publicly-traded companies in the Restaurants industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare Dominos Pizza Enterprises to related businesses based on the strength of its valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations and earnings.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares Dominos Pizza Enterprises and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
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Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Dominos Pizza Enterprises N/A N/A 67.99 Dominos Pizza Enterprises Competitors $1.51 billion $59.98 million 708.24
Dominos Pizza Enterprises rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Dominos Pizza Enterprises. Dominos Pizza Enterprises is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.
Dividends
Analyst Ratings
Dominos Pizza Enterprises pays an annual dividend of $0.33 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Dominos Pizza Enterprises pays out 66.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, Restaurants companies pay a dividend yield of 1.9% and pay out 134.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.
This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for Dominos Pizza Enterprises and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Dominos Pizza Enterprises 0 0 0 0 N/A Dominos Pizza Enterprises Competitors 503 2130 2795 25 2.43
As a group, Restaurants companies have a potential upside of 11.64%. Given Dominos Pizza Enterprises rivals higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Dominos Pizza Enterprises has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.
Profitability
This table compares Dominos Pizza Enterprises and its rivals net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Dominos Pizza Enterprises N/A N/A N/A Dominos Pizza Enterprises Competitors 8.12% -14.93% 2.65%
Institutional & Insider Ownership
27.0% of Dominos Pizza Enterprises shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 41.5% of shares of all Restaurants companies are owned by institutional investors. 30.2% of shares of all Restaurants companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Summary
Dominos Pizza Enterprises rivals beat Dominos Pizza Enterprises on 8 of the 10 factors compared.
Dominos Pizza Enterprises Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited operates retail food outlets. The company holds franchise rights for the Domino's brand in Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan, Cambodia, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore. It operates various stores. Domino's Pizza Enterprises Limited was founded in 1983 and is based in Brisbane, Australia.
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Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. (NYSE:ASR Get Free Report) and Airports of Thailand Public (OTCMKTS:AIPUY Get Free Report) are both transportation companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation and earnings.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
13.1% of Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
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Profitability
This table compares Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. and Airports of Thailand Publics net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. 38.49% 20.94% 14.50% Airports of Thailand Public N/A N/A N/A
Analyst Recommendations
Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. 3 0 2 0 1.80 Airports of Thailand Public 0 1 0 0 2.00
This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. and Airports of Thailand Public, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. currently has a consensus target price of $255.00, indicating a potential downside of 0.07%. Given Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V.s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. is more favorable than Airports of Thailand Public.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. and Airports of Thailand Publics gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. $1.26 billion 6.08 $496.33 million $17.96 14.21 Airports of Thailand Public N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. has higher revenue and earnings than Airports of Thailand Public.
Summary
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. beats Airports of Thailand Public on 7 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V.
(Get Free Report)
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. holds concessions to operate, maintain, and develop airports in the southeast region of Mexico. The company operates airports that are located in the cities of Cancun, Cozumel, Merida, Huatulco, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Tapachula, and Minatitlan. It provides aeronautical services, which include passenger, aircraft landing and parking, passenger walkway, and airport security services. The company also offers non-aeronautical services, such as leasing of space at its airports to retailers, restaurants, airlines, and other commercial tenants; catering, handling, and ground transportation services, as well as engages in the various commercial operations. In addition, it holds concessions to operate the Luis Munoz Marin International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico; and various airports in Colombia, including the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport in Medellin, the Jose Maria Cordova International Airport in Rionegro, the Los Garzones Airport in Monteria, the Antonio Roldan Betancourt Airport in Carepa, the El Carano Airport in Quibdo, and the Las Brujas Airport in Corozal. Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, S. A. B. de C. V. was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico.
About Airports of Thailand Public
(Get Free Report)
Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the airport business in Thailand. The company operates through Airport Management Business, Hotel Business, Ground Aviation Services, Security Business, and Project on Perishable Goods Business segments. It operates 6 international airports, including Suvarnabhumi Airport, Don Mueang International Airport, Chiang Mai International Airport, Hat Yai International Airport, Phuket International Airport and Mae Fah Luang Chiang Rai International Airport. The company is also involved in the hotel and restaurant business; and operation and management of the project on perishable goods at Suvarnabhumi Airport. In addition, it apron services, ground equipment, ground passenger services, security services at airports, and other airport related services; aircraft maintenance, repair, and overhaul services; catering services for airlines; hydrant dispenser and aircraft refueling services; aviation depot; electronics information exchange services; and cargo depot services. Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand.
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Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Emerson Electric Co. (NYSE:EMR Free Report) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,247 shares of the industrial products companys stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLCs holdings in Emerson Electric were worth $745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allied Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 95,399 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $8,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,461 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 0.5% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 67,654 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $6,115,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Emerson Electric by 48.5% during the second quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,610 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the period. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Emerson Electric by 11.9% in the second quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 22,672 shares of the industrial products companys stock valued at $2,049,000 after buying an additional 2,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thomasville National Bank lifted its stake in Emerson Electric by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 50,031 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $4,522,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. 72.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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Insider Activity at Emerson Electric
In other Emerson Electric news, CMO Vidya Ramnath sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.86, for a total value of $244,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 11,870 shares in the company, valued at $1,161,598.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Lisa Flavin sold 48,718 shares of Emerson Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.65, for a total transaction of $4,367,568.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 51,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,639,208.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Vidya Ramnath sold 2,500 shares of Emerson Electric stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.86, for a total value of $244,650.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 11,870 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,161,598.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.33% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Emerson Electric Stock Performance
NYSE EMR opened at $99.63 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Emerson Electric Co. has a 1 year low of $72.40 and a 1 year high of $100.62. The company has a market capitalization of $57.18 billion, a PE ratio of 4.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.39.
Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The industrial products company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $1.09 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.89 billion. Emerson Electric had a return on equity of 14.27% and a net margin of 80.41%. As a group, analysts expect that Emerson Electric Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.
Emerson Electric Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.52 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Emerson Electrics payout ratio is currently 9.09%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
EMR has been the topic of several research reports. Vertical Research raised shares of Emerson Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Emerson Electric from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and increased their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on Emerson Electric in a report on Monday, August 28th. They issued an equal weight rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded Emerson Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $110.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $105.67.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Emerson Electric
Emerson Electric Profile
(Free Report)
Emerson Electric Co, a technology and engineering company, provides various solutions for customers in industrial, commercial, and consumer markets in the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. The company operates through Automation Solutions, AspenTech, and Commercial & Residential Solutions segments.
Further Reading
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TOKYO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki told a United Nations session on Monday in Switzerland that the concentration of U.S. military bases in the southern prefecture threatens peace.
He also expressed his opposition to the Japanese government's plan to build a new U.S. military base despite public concerns, according to local media reports.
Tamaki made the remarks while delivering a speech at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, addressing the worrying trend of increasing military power and building up tensions in Japan's surrounding areas, which runs counter to the wishes of the people of Okinawa who long for peace.
Commenting on the U.S. base relocation project in the Henoko coastal area of Nago, he said that the Japanese government is forcibly filling in precious sea areas to build a new U.S. military base, regardless of the opinions of residents in Okinawa.
Before his speech, Tamaki also met with the UN special rapporteur and reported issues, including excessive levels of toxic per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances being detected in water around U.S. military bases in Japan.
In 2015, former Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga at the council accused the U.S. and Japanese governments of ignoring and violating the rights of Okinawa residents, calling on the international community to take measures to support the Okinawa people's efforts to fight for self-determination.
The island prefecture of Okinawa hosts 70 percent of all the U.S. military bases in Japan while accounting for only 0.6 percent of the country's total land area. More than 70 percent of local residents opposed the base construction on the Henoko landfill, according to the 2019 Okinawa Prefecture voting results.
Earlier this month, Japan's Supreme Court turned down the Okinawa prefectural government's appeal against the central government's order related to landfill work, according to Kyodo news agency.
Quad Cities Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Devon Energy Co. (NYSE:DVN Free Report) by 16.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,648 shares of the energy companys stock after buying an additional 672 shares during the quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLCs holdings in Devon Energy were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Devon Energy by 32.0% during the 2nd quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 11,300 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Devon Energy by 1,597.3% in the second quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,140 shares of the energy companys stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,955 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Devon Energy by 6.0% during the second quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,543 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Devon Energy by 16.1% during the 2nd quarter. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,583 shares of the energy companys stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Devon Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $303,000. 68.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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Devon Energy Stock Performance
DVN stock opened at $49.50 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $31.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Devon Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $44.03 and a 1 year high of $78.82. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $51.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.43.
Devon Energy Cuts Dividend
Devon Energy ( NYSE:DVN Get Free Report ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The energy company reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of $1.18. Devon Energy had a return on equity of 37.89% and a net margin of 28.10%. The business had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 38.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Devon Energy Co. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a $0.49 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Devon Energys payout ratio is presently 10.94%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts recently commented on DVN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Devon Energy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho upped their price target on Devon Energy from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Devon Energy from $52.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Monday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Devon Energy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Devon Energy from $77.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $63.83.
Check Out Our Latest Report on DVN
Insider Transactions at Devon Energy
In other news, EVP Dennis C. Cameron sold 7,870 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $402,393.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 210,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,765,319.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.63% of the companys stock.
Devon Energy Company Profile
(Free Report)
Devon Energy Corporation, an independent energy company, explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids in the United States. It operates in Delaware, Anadarko, Williston, Eagle Ford, and Powder River Basin. The company was incorporated in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (TSE:CP Free Report) (NYSE:CP) Equities research analysts at Raymond James cut their FY2023 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Canadian Pacific Kansas City in a report released on Thursday, September 14th. Raymond James analyst S. Hansen now forecasts that the company will post earnings of $3.76 per share for the year, down from their prior forecast of $3.95. The consensus estimate for Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys current full-year earnings is $4.77 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys Q4 2023 earnings at $1.11 EPS.
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Canadian Pacific Kansas City (TSE:CP Get Free Report) (NYSE:CP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported C$0.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.92 by C($0.09). The firm had revenue of C$3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$3.29 billion. Canadian Pacific Kansas City had a net margin of 41.96% and a return on equity of 11.22%.
Several other research firms have also recently commented on CP. CIBC dropped their target price on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$125.00 to C$123.00 in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$125.00 to C$124.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 28th. National Bank Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$107.00 to C$110.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City from C$120.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, ATB Capital set a C$120.00 price objective on shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian Pacific Kansas City presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of C$113.47.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Canadian Pacific Kansas City
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Stock Down 1.6 %
Shares of CP opened at C$106.81 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$99.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.22, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.83. Canadian Pacific Kansas City has a 52 week low of C$90.84 and a 52 week high of C$112.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$107.18 and a 200-day moving average of C$106.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 57.68, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.67.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. Canadian Pacific Kansas Citys payout ratio is currently 16.52%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 14,475 shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$107.53, for a total value of C$1,556,427.27. In related news, Senior Officer James Dominic Luther Clements sold 14,475 shares of Canadian Pacific Kansas City stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$107.53, for a total value of C$1,556,427.27. Also, Senior Officer Keith E. Creel sold 3,608 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$77.58, for a total transaction of C$279,893.13. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Company Profile
(Get Free Report)
Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates a transcontinental freight railway in Canada and the United States. The company transports bulk commodities, including grain, coal, potash, fertilizers, and sulphur; and merchandise freight, such as energy, chemicals and plastics, metals, minerals and consumer, automotive, and forest products.
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BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping recently replied to a letter from Chairman of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation Jeffrey Greene and Flying Tigers veterans Harry Moyer and Mel McMullen.
In his reply dated Sept. 12, Xi said he hopes that the spirit of Flying Tigers will be carried on from generation to generation among Chinese and American peoples.
"I was heartened by the great enthusiasm of the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation and the veterans of Flying Tigers in letting more Chinese and Americans know about the stories of the Flying Tigers over the years. Inspired by this, more and more young Americans have joined the Flying Tigers Friendship Schools and Youth Leadership Program, and nearly 500 Flying Tigers veterans and several hundred of their family members have visited China. I wish to pay tribute to you for all this," Xi said.
"In the past, our two peoples fought the Japanese fascists together, and forged a deep friendship that withstood the test of blood and fire," Xi said. "In the future, the two major countries shoulder even more important responsibility for world peace, stability and development."
"We therefore should, and we must, respect each other, coexist in peace and pursue win-win cooperation," he said.
Noting that "in growing China-U.S. relations, the hope lies in the people, the foundation lies among the people, and the future lies with the youth," Xi said that "a sound and steady development of the relationship in the new era requires the input and support of a new generation of Flying Tigers."
Founded in 1998, the Sino-American Aviation Heritage Foundation is an American civil friendship group aimed at promoting the study and commemoration of China-U.S. historical aviation events.
Recently, Greene, Moyer and McMullen jointly wrote a letter to Xi, in which they introduced the efforts of the foundation and Flying Tigers veterans in helping promote China-U.S. friendly exchanges, and expressed their willingness to inherit and carry forward the precious spirit of China-U.S. cooperation.
Bangla bar owner found dead in Patong hotel bathroom
PHUKET: Police have yet to release details of the death of an Estonian man who owns a bar in Patong found dead in his hotel room bathroom early this morning (Sept 19).
patongdeathpolice
By Eakkapop Thongtub
Tuesday 19 September 2023 05:59 PM
Photo: Patong Police
Pol Lt Col Phacharathorn Chan-iad of the Patong Police was called to the small hotel, on Phra Baramee Rd at the northern end of the town, at about 2:26am.
Officers arrived to find the body of the 45-year-old Estonian man* where he had collapsed on the bathroom floor.
Police noted that the Estonian man was staying at the hotel with his partner, Wanlaya Nilkaew Amstad, originally from Surin province.
Ms Amstad explained that the Estonian man was overseeing renovations of a bar on Bangla Rd that were scheduled to be complete by the end of this month.
The couple had returned to the room as usual last night. Ms Amstad woke at around 1:39am and noticed that her partner had been in the bathroom for an unusually long time.
She opened the bathroom to find her partner unconscious and unresponsive on the floor. Unable to rouse him, she called for help.
Dr Athit Surawisankul, a forensic doctor on duty at Vachira Phuket Hospital, arrived to inspect the scene, and the Estonian mans body was taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket Town for post-mortem examination.
The details of the medical teams findings have yet to be revealed.
* The Phuket News is withholding the mans name until it has been confirmed that his family and next of kin have been notified of his death.
Government donates B1.5mn to Libyan flood relief effort
BANGKOK: The government donated B1.5 million to relief efforts for the Libyan flood disaster yesterday (Sept 18).
disasterscharityweather
By AFP
Tuesday 19 September 2023 08:50 AM
Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara (left) is seen at the donation ceremony with Libyan charge daffaires in Bangkok Ashoor Salem Ashoor Omran at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday (Sept 18). Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul
The donation was presented to Ashoor Salem Ashoor Omran, the Charge daffaires at the Libyan embassy at a ceremony at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports the Bangkok Post.
Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said the government would like to express its sincere condolences for the tragic loss that the Libyan government and people suffered from the deadly flood in northeastern Libya.
This small token represents sincerity and goodwill, as well as the cordial ties between both countries, he said.
I believe that the strong will and resilience of Libyans would allow the country to overcome all challenges during this time. Please reassure that Thailand will continue to be a true friend Libya can rely on, Mr Parnpree added.
He later said the Thai government was saddened by the flooding disaster and its effects on Libyans and that he told the Libyan charge daffaires that Thailand would provide more assistance if it was wanted.
For us we are ready to assist and support in every way. Todays donation is not that much and may partially relieve the suffering but if there is any other way they want us to help, they are more than welcome, he added.
When asked about the charge daffaires response, he said the envoy thanked the Thai government and people for standing by them.
The disaster struck on Sept 10 when rising waters from Storm Daniel burst two upstream dams near Derna in the northeast of the country, sending a wall of water crashing into the city.
According to the latest UN death toll, at least 3,958 people died, more than 9,000 were missing and at least 40,000 people were displaced.
Rights in Russia significantly deteriorated since Ukraine war: UN expert
GENEVA: The rights situation in Russia has substantially worsened since Moscows invasion of Ukraine last year, a top UN expert said yesterday (Sept 18), decrying the persistent use of torture and sexual violence.
RussianUkraineviolencesexpolitics
By AFP
Tuesday 19 September 2023 09:14 AM
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia said Moscow had launched a systematic crackdown on critics. Photo: AFP
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights situation in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, said Moscow had launched a systematic crackdown on critics since launching the war in February 2022.
The situation of human rights in the Russian Federation has significantly deteriorated since its invasion of Ukraine, she said in her first report.
The dramatic degradation came after the situation had already been on a steady decline over the past two decades, she said.
Katzarova was last April appointed as the first UN-backed monitor of the rights situation in Russia, or in any of the five permanent Security Council member states.
She said Russian authorities had severely curtailed the freedoms of association, peaceful assembly and expression, and had undermined the independence of the judiciary and the guarantees of fair trial.
Katzarova warned that administrative sanctions were being applied arbitrarily against dissenters and force used against peaceful protesters.
Both the harshness of recent criminal sentences and the number of people sentenced on politically motivated charges has increased, the report said.
Systematic crackdown
Katzarova said she had been granted no access to Russia, adding that Moscow tried to obstruct her work.
Her findings were based on consultations with more than 60 Russian and international rights groups and individuals, in person, by phone or online, and nearly 100 written submissions.
Katzarova, who is due to present her report to the Human Rights Council later this week, said she had documented how recent legislative restrictions were being used to muzzle civil society.
The often-violent enforcement of these laws and regulations has resulted in a systematic crackdown on civil society organisations, she wrote.
It has led to mass arbitrary arrests, detentions and harassment of human rights defenders, peaceful anti-war activists, journalists, cultural figures, minorities and anyone speaking out against the war.
She urged Russia to repeal problematic articles of its criminal code, and to immediately release those detained under the provisions, quash their convictions and expunge their criminal records.
Torture, sexual violence
She also demanded the release of all arbitrarily detained political opposition activists, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny and dissidents Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin.
Katzarova said women, especially rights defenders, activists or journalists, had suffered specific gender-based violence, humiliations and intimidation.
The persistent use of torture and ill-treatment, including of sexual and gender-based violence, puts at risk the life of people in detention, she said.
Katzarova said the environment of impunity, the unpredictability of changes to the law, in addition to their ambiguity, had forced many Russians into exile.
She called for an effective, impartial and independent investigation into all instances of use of force, arbitrary detention and other forms of pressure.
Russia should also ensure prompt, transparent and effective investigation... of all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in custody, she said, demanding that all perpetrators be held to account.
Katzarovas mandate is due to expire next month unless the UN rights council votes to extend it - something Moscow vehemently opposes.
The Russian foreign ministry has described efforts to extend her illegitimate mandate as politicised and extremely confrontational.
OTTAWA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat for his alleged involvement in the assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the Canadian province of British Columbia in June, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Monday.
The allegations against the Indian diplomat, she said, are very serious and, if these allegations were proven it would be a great violation of Canada's sovereignty.
"If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly told journalists. "As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
Joly said she "expects India to fully collaborate with us and ultimately to get to the bottom of this."
The foreign minister also said she plans to take up the matter during an evening meeting with G7 foreign ministers in New York on Monday.
Meanwhile, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that national security agencies are presently investigating "credible allegations" that the "agents of the government of India" could be involved in the killing of prominent Canadian Sikh leader.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said while addressing the Canadian House of Commons on Monday.
Nijjar had been a prominent advocate of the Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish an independent homeland for the Sikh community in India's northwestern Punjab region. Nijjar was killed outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa has not immediately reacted to the Canadian government's move.
"Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed 10 years ago, China has become one of the countries that have helped Egypt's development the most." An Egyptian ex-diplomat is optimistic about cooperation between the two countries under BRI.
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
NANJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 20 Chinese cities and districts have been listed as the happiest places for entrepreneurs in 2023.
The list was unveiled during a forum held in the city of Taicang in east China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday.
The happiest cities at the prefectural level or above are Ningbo, Chengdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Qingdao, Hefei, Changsha, Ordos, Wenzhou and Taizhou. Ten county-level cities and urban districts were also selected as the happiest places for entrepreneurs.
The list was compiled by Oriental Outlook magazine, run by Xinhua News Agency, based on a survey and a process that involved big data collection, online questionnaires, field research and panel discussions.
"Entrepreneurs' happiness cannot be separated from the city's pursuit of improving the business environment," said Ren Weidong, deputy editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, at the forum.
Trinamul Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee has said all like- minded parties are welcome to join the committee set up by INDIA to put up a strong fight against the BJP.
Mr Banerjee left for Delhi to attend the special session of the Parliament. He is sup- posed to take part in the debate.
Trinamul Congress leadership tweeted: Recognising the importance of solidarity in safeguarding democratic values, Shri@abhishekaitc affirmed that our doors are always open to all like-minded parties. In this fight against the BJP, we shall stand tall and united.
Asked to comment on the CPMs refusal to join the committee following the decision of the Politburo, Mr Banerjee said: We have invited all the like-minded parties to join the committee to put up a united fight against the BJP.
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The opposition parties have so far held three meetings. The first meeting was held in Patna followed by Bengaluru and Mumbai.
A committee has been set up to coordinate among the parties. The CPM has decid- ed not to join the committee following a decision of the Politburo.
In Bengal, CPMs posi- tion is precarious as it has formed an electoral alliance with Congress.
In the recently-held Dhupguri by-election Congress and CPM fought together and the deposit of the candidate was forfeited
The Delhi High Court has contested the Military Nursing Service Ordinance, 1943, and the Military Nursing Service (India) Rules, 1944, which has raised concerns about the ban on men working as nurses in the Indian Army.
A petition filed by the Indian Professional Nurses Association challenging the Military Nursing Service Ordinance and the Military Nursing Service (India) Rules, which says that only women can be appointed in the Indian Military Nursing Service, was being heard by a division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Narula. The bench questioned the justification for this prohibition based on gender.
The court said that there doesnt seem to be any logical reason why men cant be posted to Siachen, one of the worlds highest battlefields, if women can.
The Central governments Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati stated that Army procedures are strongly ingrained in tradition.
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The judges argued that, notwithstanding the governments efforts to empower women, it is contradictory to forbid men from serving as Army nurses.
The bench remarked, in Parliament, you talk about empowering women, but youre saying men cannot join (Army) as nurses.
The bench further emphasised the need to eradicate gender bias by pointing out that the Supreme Court had permitted women to enroll in the National Defence Academy.
The petitioners attorney, Amit George, contended that the ban on men working as military nurses is out of date and is based on Florence Nightingales historical view of nursing as a women-only profession.
He pointed out that there are many qualified male nurses at various hospitals now.
The court also acknowledged the significance of this issue and scheduled the matter for further consideration for November. The Indian Professional Nurses Association had filed this case in 2018, saying that the gender-based discrimination in the Ordinance and Rules contradicts the constitutional principle of gender equality and should be deemed unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary.
A widely circulated video on various social media platforms captures a group of individuals forcefully shattering the windows of a Fortuner car. This vehicle belonged to National Students Union of India (NSUI).
Gulia took to his social media accounts to share the video, asserting that members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) were responsible for this destructive act. The footage vividly portrays men wielding sticks to inflict damage upon the car, while all occupants remain trapped inside.
Gulia contends that the opposition is resorting to acts of violence due to their apprehension over the impending loss. He squarely places the blame on ABVP for orchestrating the incident. Conversely, ABVP refutes these allegations, asserting that the opposition is fabricating the entire episode.
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A spokesperson for ABVP argues, The ABVP is merely being targeted for gaining sympathy, and our organization had no involvement in this event. They themselves might have done that. They further allege that NSUI workers were witnessed assaulting students in the North campus just yesterday.
Various parties are making conflicting assertions, accusing one another of employing unethical propaganda tactics. As the DUSU elections draw nearer, campaigning has picked up considerable steam. Candidates are energetically mobilizing support across various colleges, leading to an uptick in reported cases of violence.
On Tuesday India denied all claims of the Canadian government of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
The external affairs ministry, terming them as absurd and motivated in a statement said, We have seen and rejected the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected, the statement said further.
We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law, the ministry said further.
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We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the firmly articulated statement added.
It went on to add, The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern.
Indias reaction came after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an emergency statement made in Parliament,
said on Monday that Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between Indian government agents and the murder of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June.
The startling indictment was followed by the Canadian foreign minister Melanie Joly, who informed that they had expelled a top Indian diplomat over the incident.
She even said that she has communicated her worries to foreign Minister S. Jaishankar over the development.
The Indian external affairs ministry further said, Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The external affairs ministry statement further said, That Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements remains a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new. We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann on Tuesday expressed grief and sorrow over the martyrdom of another jawan of Indian Army from the state during the recent terror attack in Jammu and Kashmirs Kokernag area of Anantnag district.
In a statement on Tuesday, the CM said the jawan from the Indian Army identified as Pardeep Singh was missing since the terrorist attack in Anantnag. He said that unfortunately Pardeep Singh, who hails from Samana, has attained martyrdom while discharging duty to safeguard the unity, integrity and sovereignty of the country.
Mann said that it is an irreparable loss for the country in general and for the distressed family in particular. He extended his sympathies with the bereaved family of the brave martyr and said that the Punjab government is with the family in this hour of grave crisis.
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The CM said the martyr displayed utmost dedication to perform his duty valiantly for defending the countrys unity thereby upholding the glorious legacy of state. Mann said the supreme sacrifice of this martyr will inspire their fellow soldiers and youngsters to perform their duties with far more devotion and commitment.
Himachal Pradesh BJP MLAs on Tuesday donated their one months salary to the Apada Rahat Kosh by handing over a cheque of Rs 13.80 lakh to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur handed over the cheque on behalf of all the BJP MLAs.
While talking to media persons outside the House, Jai Ram Thakur said: We had committed to donate one months salary to the disaster relief fund.
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He said that 25 BJP MLAs have donated their one months salary.
In the 68-seat assembly of Himachal Pradesh, there are 40 Congress, 25 BJP and three independent MLAs, he added.
We had earlier stated that keeping in mind the disaster that the state witnessed, we are with the state government and will provide all possible help, he retreated.
The BJP MLAs have made all out efforts to help the affected people in their respective Assembly constituencies, he added.
The Chief Minister on Monday said in the House that the Congress MLAs have donated one months salary to the disaster relief fund.
Employees have also donated one days salary. Many state governments and individuals, students have also donated. Even children have come forward to help by donating their all pocket money savings, however the BJP MLAs have not come forward to help. They should also come forward to donate their one month salary, stated Sukhu.
Himachal Pradesh faced the wrath of monsoon fury thrice from July 7 up to August 26 leading to losses exceeding Rs 12,000 crore. As many as 441 precious lives were lost.
The leader of the Congress, Mallikarjun Kharge, complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday for bringing up Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus address, A Tryst with Destiny, when discussing the historical importance of the former Parliament building. Kharge stated to the Prime Minister, I am thankful to you because you remembered this historic speech on yesterdays occasion.
Prior to Tuesdays move to the new facility, he was giving a speech at a gathering in Parliaments Central Hall. The Tryst with Destiny speech by Pandit Nehru on Indias Independence was heard in this Central Hall. This was mentioned by the prime minister in his speech yesterday, according to Kharge.
He also referred to the Constituent Assembly, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first deputy prime minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and BR Ambedkar, the father of the Indian Constitution, who made history in the House of Representatives.
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Nehrus famous speech and the parliamentary remark made by the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee were both mentioned by Prime Minister Modi on Monday. Pandit Nehrusstroke of the midnight hour (speech) and Atal Bihari Vajpayees statement Sarkaare aayengi jayengi, partiyan banegi, bigdegi, magar ye desh rehna chahiye will reverberate here forever, Prime Minister Modi said in his opening remarks at the special session of Parliament.
All parliamentary activities will begin on Tuesday in the brand-new structure that Prime Minister Modi inaugurated on May 28 of this year. The change happened during the special session of Parliament that was held in honor of Ganesh Chaturthi.
On Monday, the five-day extraordinary session got underway with the central governments provisional list of eight measures for consideration.
In his final speech delivered from the old building today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the former parliament building will now be known as Samvidhan Sadan (Constitution House). He walked to the new parliament building, which will henceforth serve as the official Indian parliament, alongwith all MPs on foot.
VIENTIANE, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Several roads across Laos have been affected by landslides and subsidence after many weeks of rainfall, with extensive damage caused in some places.
The mountainous road between Sanakham district in Vientiane province and Paklai district in Xayaboury province is one of the worst affected, and authorities have warned motorists to avoid this route, according to Socio-Economic News report on Monday.
Landslides and subsidence have occurred in many places on steep mountainous roads, especially in the north of the country.
Drivers are advised to be on the alert for blocked or damaged roads and to drive slowly in areas where conditions are hazardous.
Many sections of the road have been damaged with large potholes, making travel particularly difficult for trucks.
Local authorities are arranging for repairs to be carried out as soon as possible to keep the road clear.
Meanwhile, people traveling in the north are advised to keep their eyes open and remain alert as many sections of the road are in poor condition following recent heavy rains.
In August, landslides stranded National Highway No. 8 between Khoun district in Khammuan province and Bolikhamxay province, killed a Vietnamese driver, crushed many vehicles, and pushed a number of cars into a ravine.
Recently, road crews have cleared most of the earth blocking Road No. 8, following an extensive landslide, but motorists should be prepared for further landslips.
The weather bureau of Laos on Monday warned that everyone should keep track of forecasts closely. In addition, local authorities have advised people living in mountainous areas and along rivers to be prepared for more flooding and landslides.
From the end of July to August, the central and northwestern provinces of Laos suffered from heavy rainfall as rivers overflowed their banks. More than 6,000 households and over 11,300 hectares of land in 123 villages were affected in Khammuan province.
Relations between India and Canada nosedived as New Delhi on Tuesday firmly rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus charge that his countrys security agencies had credible intelligence that the Indian government was behind the June 2023 murder of a pro-Khalistan leader in British Columbia Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of the Government of Indias involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), and were completely rejected, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a strongly-worded statement.
In a tit-for-tat action, India also expelled a senior Canadian diplomat after Canadian Foreign Minister Melania Jolys office announced the expulsion of Indian diplomat Pavan Kumar Rai, who, the Canadian authorities claimed, was the head of RAW in Canada.
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The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days, the MEA said. The decision, it said, reflected New Delhis growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in Indias internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities.
In a sensational claim, the Canadian PM told his countrys Parliament that over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He said he raised the issue with PM Modi in no uncertain terms during his recent visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit.
He said, Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. So far, the Canadian government has not made public any evidence it has for its claim of the Indian governments hand in Nijjars killing.
Trudeaus charge was followed by an official announcement from his Foreign Minister Joly that Canada had expelled a senior Indian diplomat. A 1997 batch Indian Police Service officer, Rai was posted to Ottawa as minister (eco, coordination, community affairs) in the Indian High Commission.
In its statement hours after Trudeaus charge, New Delhi said India was a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law. Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the MEA added.
It noted that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements which was a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime was not new.
We reject any attempts to connect the Government of India to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA added.
According to a renowned foreign policy analyst, the relationship between India and Canada is currently highly fraught.
Michael Kugelman reports that Justin Trudeaus concerns about the alleged involvement of Indian government agents in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist based in Canada, dominated their face-to-face conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the G20 Summit.
Trudeau used the chance to address his concerns with PM Modi personally, according to the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.
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As far as I can tell, PM Modi also expressed to Trudeau his concerns on what has been happening to Sikh leaders in Canada. I believe Trudeau may have been motivated by the opportunity to speak with Modi face-to-face and inform him of his worries, Kugelman added.
Participation in the G20 Summit was just one aspect of Trudeaus visit to India from Canada. The American expert noted that the Canadian prime minister had the chance to discuss matters of pressing concern during a face-to-face meeting with his Indian counterpart.
But, we saw that he really did not have a very good tour to India. There were tensions in his meeting with Modi, he experienced aircraft problems, and he was left stranded there for a few days. It turned into a bit of a disaster. But bear in mind that his visit wasnt made just to meet with PM Modi. He travelled there to take part in the G20 Summit, according to Kugelman, who was quoted by ANI.
In a previous tweet, Kugelman stated, The Canadians didnt approach this quietly. In a speech to the House of Commons, Trudeau leveled the specific charge, and his government publicly identified an Indian diplomat it expelled as the head of Indian intel in Canada. A reflection of a highly fraught relationship.
According to Trudeau, his administration is actively pursuing credible allegations that Indian government officials were involved in Nijjars murder . While subsequently using more circumspect language, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the accusations would be unacceptable if proven true.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati backed the governments move to table the Womens Reservation Bill, but with a rider. While she supported the bill, which is to be tabled in the Parliament on Wednesday, she said the quota for women should be raised to 50 per cent from the currently proposed 33 per cent.
Talking to reporters in Lucknow, on Tuesday, the BSP chief said, We hope that this time the bill will be passed by Parliament, which has been postponed for a long time. However, she stressed that her party would support the bill if the quota for women is increased to 50 per cent from 33 per cent.
Mayawati also demanded separate quota for OBCs and SCs and STs in womens reservation.
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As the casteist parties do not want to see the Womens Reservation Bill being passed, so separate reservation arrangements should be made for women of these categories. If this does not happen, then we will assume that they want to marginalize them, like the Congress did, she said.
The BSP chief also said if there is a proposal to increase the number of seats in Parliament, then too, there should not be any kind of politics. We will give full support and help in passing the bill, she said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that though the Nipah outbreak in the state has been brought under control, it is too early to say the state is completely out of danger.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who met the media after a gap of seven months, said the Nipah outbreak reported from Kozhikode district is under control but we should not be complacent. The threat of the infectious disease is not over yet.
Though we were able to bring under control the spread of the virus, it is not possible to rule out the chance of a second wave of the Nipah outbreak, he said.
As regards to the monthly pay-off controversy, the Chief Minister did not give a clear answer to the questions of media persons, whether Cochin Minerals and Rutile Ltd (CMRL) paid money to his daughter Veenas organization without providing any service.
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He said the abbreviation PV mentioned in the controversial diary of CMRL has nothing to do with him. PV referred to in the diary is not related to me, he said.
It has been reported that Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited (CMRL), the company which has come under scrutiny for paying Rs 1.72 crore to Veena Vijayan and her company, Exalogic Solutions, despite not rendering any services, has also allegedly paid Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other United Democratic Front (UDF) politicians.
Terming the incident of caste discrimination faced by state Devaswom Minister Radhkrishnan at a temple in the state as shocking, CM Vijayan said that follow-up action on the matter will be taken after discussing the matter with the minister.
What happened at the temple was something which we could not believe would take place in our state, he said.
Addressing members of Parliament in the Central Hall of the old Parliament building before the two Houses formally moved to the newbuilding, Modi, on Tuesday, said, India whose aspirations were chained for a thousand years is not ready to wait now. It wants to move with new aspirations and create new goals. The PM then added, We are heading to the new Parliament building with the resolve and determination to transform India into a developed nation.
Highlighting the contributions of the public representatives in repealing Article 370, he underlined with immense pride that the Constitution provided to the country was now being implemented in Jammu & Kashmir. Today, Jammu & Kashmir is progressing on the path of peace and development and its people do not wish to let opportunities slip out of their hands anymore, he remarked.
Recalling his address from Red Fort during this years Independence Day, Modi emphasized that the correct time was now, and it highlighted the re-emergence of India with a renewed consciousness. Bharat is brimming with energy, Modi emphasized as he noted that this renewed consciousness would enable all citizens to realize their dreams with dedication and hard work.
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Referring to Indias ascent into the top five economies, the PM said India was confident to break into the top three world economies. He underlined that it was the expectation of every citizen and the belief of every parliamentarian that all passed laws, discussions and messages relayed from Parliament should encourage Indian aspirations. Highest priority should be accorded to the roots of Indian aspirations for every reform that is introduced in Parliament, he said.
The PM then wondered whether a big painting could be painted on a small canvas. He said: Without expanding the canvas of thinking, we cannot create the grand India of our dreams. Referring to the grand heritage of India, he said, If our thinking gets linked with this grand heritage, we can paint the painting of that grand India. India will have to work on a big canvas. Time has gone to get entangled in small stuff.
He underlined the primacy of creating Aatmnirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). Defying the initial apprehension, the world was talking about Indias atmanirbhar (self-reliant) model. In this quest, party politics should not be an obstacle.
Emphasizing the need for India to scale new heights in the manufacturing sector, the PM stressed on the model of Zero Defect, Zero Effect, where Indian products should be free from any defects and the manufacturing process must have zero effect on the environment.
Underlining the need to take correct decisions at the correct time, Modi said, Decision-making cannot be delayed, and stressed that public representatives could not be bound by political benefits or losses.
The entire world is looking towards India, the PM remarked as he noted that India was considered a neutral country during the Cold War, but today it was known as Vishwa Mitra (global friend) where it was reaching out to other nations for friendly relations. He mentioned that India was reaping the benefits of its foreign policy as the nation has emerged as a stable supply chain for the world.
In a significant move during the ongoing special session of Parliament, the Womens Reservation Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. This legislation aims to allocate 33 percent of seats in both the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to women. However, this development has not gone unnoticed by several prominent political leaders, including Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav, Chandra Shekhar Aazad, and Prakash Ambedkar, who have all raised their voices in favor of a more intersectional approach to implementing the bill.
Chandra Shekhar Aazad, the leader of the Aazad Samaj Party, expressed his viewpoint on Twitter, emphasizing the importance of empowering women from diverse categories. He suggested that to truly empower women from Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), the government should extend the reservation of seats to these groups in all legislative bodies, including Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, Legislative Assemblies, and Legislative Councils. He emphasized that without this comprehensive implementation, democracy may fall short of its goal of representing and empowering women from these marginalized categories.
Similarly, Akhilesh Yadav, the president of the Samajwadi Party, stressed the need for a balanced approach to womens reservation, one that considers both gender justice and social justice. He called for clear and specific percentages of reservation for backward, Dalit, minority, and tribal women within the 33 percent reserved seats.
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Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, echoed this sentiment during a recent press address. She emphasized the importance of ensuring that women from OBC backgrounds hold a significant percentage of the reserved seats within the proposed 33 percent quota.
Dimple Yadav, another advocate for OBC womens representation, also supported this cause. She advocated for a substantial allocation of seats within the 33 percent quota for women to women from OBC communities.
More voices in support of intersectional approach:
Prakash Ambedkar welcomed the existence of a reservation bill for women but raised several critical questions in a recent statement. He pointed out that the bill does not address the political inclusion of OBC women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies. He also highlighted the absence of clarity regarding the status of women from Legislative Assemblies in Union Territories concerning reservations. Furthermore, Ambedkar inquired about the applicability of the bill to Jammu and Kashmir. He questioned whether it was considered a part of India under this legislation.
As the Womens Reservation Bill takes center stage in Parliament, these voices from various political quarters underscore the importance of considering a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to empower women across different sections of society. The debates surrounding this bill are sure to continue as lawmakers seek to strike a balance between gender equality and social justice.
The second day of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly witnessed uproar between the ruling and opposition members during the discussion on the rain related disaster the state witnessed this monsoon season.
The motion for discussion on the issue was moved by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu yesterday in the House under Rule 102 stressing on the need to declare the natural calamity as a national disaster.
The members of the ruling and opposition raised slogans against each other, when Congress MLA Sunder Singh Thakur presented the figures of the monetary relief package the then previous UPA government had released in the Kedarnath and Bhuj tragedies.
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Thakur taking a dig said that the incumbent Central Government has not provided any relief package.
He appealed to the BJP members to cooperate with the state government during the hour of crisis instead of politicizing the issue.
BJP MLA Randhir Sharma taking part in the deliberations raised questions on the resolution to declare the natural calamity as a National disaster.
Expressing doubts on the seriousness of the state government in the management of the crisis when disaster struck, he said that the Chief Minister should have called an all-party meeting so as to jointly handle the crisis.
Now the state government is seeking the support of the opposition to pass the resolution to declare the catastrophe as a National disaster.
Leave aside the all-party meeting, even the cabinet was called 10 days after the disaster struck the state, he alleged.
The ministers in the Sukhu led government even lacked coordination, instead some of them were even seen competing with each other to meet the union ministers at the centre, and such a competition is not good in such an hour of crisis.
The opposition created a ruckus which was equally responded to by the ruling members.
Following intervention of the Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania the situation calmed down.
Leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur taking part in the discussion accused the Congress government of coming to power by misleading the public.
Independent MLA Hoshiyar Singh blamed man-made reasons for the destruction caused in the state due to rain fury including unscientific mining of river beds, and vertical cutting of hills to pave way for roads.
He said that 21 MLAs of the ruling and opposition owned stone crushers and they too have a role to play in the disaster and there is need to contemplate on it, he charged.
Hoshiyar Singh further said that keeping in view of Shimlas vulnerability to earthquakes there is a need for a policy to shift the offices from Shimla, so as to ease the burden of the load on the carrying capacity of Shimla town.
Congress MLA Mohan Lal Brakta participating in the discussion said that all the roads have been restored for small vehicles in his Rohru Assembly constituency.
Despite the previous government having left behind a debt burden of Rs 75,000 crore, earnest efforts have been made by the state government to provide relief to the affected families.
Other members Anil Sharma, Kishori Lal, Nand Lal, Vinod Kumar, Harish Janartha also participated in the discussion.
The recently concluded G20 summit was Indias day all the way. Its success buoyed Indias global reputation and show-cased its diplomatic prowess by having the final outcome document approved by all members, a rarity in the G20, where differences between blocs ends in a chair summary. India also displayed its levels of proximity with participating nations.
One of the reasons why President Xi Jinping did not attend was because he knew that there would neither be a bilateral nor a pull aside with PM Modi. The indifference towards his representative Li Qiang was evident. There was, apart from the mandatory handshake with the Chinese PM, nothing of significance.
The other leader who overestimated his standing was Canadas Justin Trudeau. Prior to arriving in India, Trudeau had stated at Singapore, It is incredibly important that we continue to protect Canadians from any and all types of interference, accusing India of interfering in Canadian elections. He hoped to raise this subject with PM Modi, despite no bilateral being announced.
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Trudeau seemed to have forgot- ten his disastrous eight-day visit in 2018 where he was ignored till almost the end. The PM only tweeted a welcome to Trudeau at the last moment. Trudeau was received by a MoS, who was not a member of the cabinet, a message of snub. The then Punjab CM, Amarinder Singh, met him only after the Canadian embassy assured him that Ottawa would act against Sikh extremist groups. Things went downhill when Jaspal Atwal, a Sikh extremist was invited by the Canadian embassy to a dinner honouring Trudeau.
Trudeau himself had to resort to firefighting to salvage the visit by cancelling the invite to Atwal. But the damage had been done. While the government did adopt laid down protocols including a formal reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and a meeting with the PM, there were no major outcomes. The entire visit was a waste of taxpayers funds as the Trudeau family visited tourist hotspots and posed for photographs rather than engage in worthwhile diplomacy.
This time too frostiness was evi- dent. He was the second head of state not to be welcomed by a tweet, the other being Li Qiang, nor was a bilateral accepted. Even photographs of the two PMs displayed coldness. The MEA summary of the pull aside meeting (as compared to a bilateral with others) indicated a slap on the wrist. It mentioned, He (PM Modi) conveyed our strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist
elements in Canada. They are pro- moting secessionism and inciting violence against Indian diplomats, dam- aging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada and their places of worship.
Trudeau was left to defend him- self at a press conference where he mentioned that Canada will always defend freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and peaceful protest. He added, at the same time we are always there to push back against hatred. While he did state that he raised possible Indian interference in Canadian politics with PM Modi, there was no mention of it in the Indian handout.
Trudeaus statements lose their sincerity when comparing his crackdown on the truckers peaceful protests in February last year. He termed them illegal and dangerous activities, adding, they are a threat to our economy and relationship with trading partners. They are a threat to public safety.
The truckers peaceful and silent protests were considered illegal, but publicly threatening diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises as also Hindu places of worship are considered freedom of expression and peaceful. How does Trudeau justify employing strong arm tactics against Canadas indigenous Wetsuweten population, peacefully protesting the construction of a gas pipeline or against those protesting against his policies?
Another aspect which must be taken up by the Indian government is the Canadian embassy seeking confidential details of service locations, alongside visa applications, for ex- members of security forces. In case of service in J and K, on occasions, visas are denied. These are discriminatory and against global norms.
Ironically, while the two PMs were talking in Delhi, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), a banned organization, was conducting a referendum on Khalistan in Surrey, Ontario, with their leader, a designated terrorist, Gurpat- want Pannun, spewing venom against the Indian government. While the ref- erendum was a failure, like others before it, the fact that it was permitted damaged Indo-Canadian ties. Canadas legitimizing Khalistanis has blocked stalled Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.
The SFJ has demanded the clo- sure of the Indian embassy in Ottawa as retaliation for the sidelining of Trudeau in Delhi. In July, in a deplorable incident, the Canadian government permitted a tableau depicting the assassination of former PM Indira Gandhi as part of a parade marking the launch of Operation Bluestar, claiming it did not constitute a hate crime.
The ignoring of Trudeau in Delhi was so visible that Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Canadian Opposition, tweeted, Putting partisanship aside, no one likes to see a Canadian prime minister repeatedly humiliated and trampled upon by the rest of the world. When asked by a reporter at his Delhi press conference on what was Canadas contribution to the G20, Trudeau fumbled for words. As per Canadian media, he was not present for the formal dinner hosted by the President, for which no reason was assigned.
Delhi is aware that Trudeau is in power with support from the New Democratic Party (NDP), headed by known Khalistani backer, Jagmeet Singh. Trudeaus comments support- ing the farmers agitation and the arrest of Amritpal Singh, is a fallout of his internal political dependency.
In a G20 designed for diplomacy and in India, whose stature and econoomy are rising rapidly, Trudeau was rudely snubbed. His ruling NDP partner Jagmeet Singh and pro-Khalistani members of his cabinet can never set foot in India. This is the state of the current Canadian leadership. With Canada heading for recession, it needs India more than Delhi needs Ottawa.
Fate intervened adding to Trudeaus discomfiture. His aircraft developed a snag at the time of departure, extending his stay in India by another two days. Trudeau is single handedly responsible for the deteriorating ties between India and Canada. At the end of the day, Indo-Canadian ties and the FTA will be determined by how Ottawa handles Khalistanis.
(The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.)
Pakistan finds itself at a critical juncture as it nav- igates the path towards its next parliamentary election. The dissolution of the National Assembly on August 9, initiated by President Arif Alvi, has set the stage for a series of contentious developments. One of the significant points of contention revolves around the timing of the elections. The 1973 Consti- tution dictates that elections should be held within 90 days of the governments dissolution. President Alvis call for elections on November 6, a date compliant with the constitutional timeline, has stirred debate and raised questions. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has found itself in the midst of this storm. The ECPs role in ensuring a fair and impartial electoral process is paramount. However, concerns have been raised recently about the neutrality of the caretaker government, which is responsible for over- seeing the elections.
The perception that the caretaker government might be aligned with the opponents of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan has led to doubts about its ability to ensure fairness. Furthermore, the issue of constituency delimitation based on the latest census data adds another layer of complexity. The decision to proceed with elections using existing con- stituencies, albeit outdated, or to delay elections for constituency redrawing in the interest of fairness, presents a significant dilemma. Both options have advantages and drawbacks, making it a challenging decision for political stakeholders. Amid this evolving political drama, outgoing Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, questioned why the Constitutions command, which clearly states that elections should be held within 90 days after the dissolution of the assemblies, was being contested. His remarks strike at the heart of the matter, emphasising the importance of upholding the constitutional timeline. He astutely noted that the superior courts would not be bur- dened with litigation if institutions functioned fol- lowing the Constitution and the law, underscoring the significance of resolving issues within the frame- work of the countrys governance.
However, as the nation navigates its path towards elections, the complexities and controversies are far from one-dimensional. Evidence of this has already emerged. The Pakistan Supreme Court registrar, still supposedly under outgoing Chief Justice Bandials watch, sent back a petition filed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf party. It is important to note that Chief Justice Bandial spoke, not from the bench, but at a farewell the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association accorded him. Clearly, his poignant words will not be treated as a guiding light.
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Internationally, Pakistans political developments are being closely watched. While releasing a political leader such as Imran Khan, to ensure fairness, is often seen as an internal matter, the broader international perception can influence diplomatic relations. The extent to which external pressures shape domestic decisions remains uncertain. As Pakistan grapples with these controversies and legal intricacies, the country stands at a crossroads. The decisions made in the coming weeks will shape not only the immediate political future but also the trajectory of Pakistans democracy.
Indonesia hosted the 43rd Asean summit and related summits at the capital city of Jakarta. Two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to welcome world leaders for the G-20 Summit that India was hosting on 9-10 September 2023, Prime Minister Modi travelled to Jakarta to participate in several key summits, including the 20th Asean-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit on 6-7 September.
Like the Indian capital city of Delhi, decorated for the G-20 summit, Jakarta too was all decked up for the summits. The Asean-India Summit was the first summit since the elevation of ties between India and the Association of South East Asian Nations bloc of countries to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022.
The summit reviewed the progress of India-Asean relations and charted the future direction of cooperation. The East Asia Summit provided an opportunity for leaders of Asean countries and its eight dialogue partners, including India, to exchange views on issues of regio- nal and global significance. For the past few years, India-Asean ties have seen a significant up-swing. The focus has been on boosting cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, besides security and defence.
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The theme for this years summit was Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth, indicating that Asean as an organisation shall be the catalyst for regional economic growth.
Started in 2002 in Cambodia, Indias summit with the 10-member grouping consisting of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia held on an annual basis has witnessed ties grow significantly with trade and in- vestment flows making perceptible progress. Simultaneously, backed by civilizational links and the size of the Indian diaspora, the people-to-people contacts have too seen growth.
Prior to his departure for Jakarta, the Prime Minister sho-wed optimism about his plan to discuss with Asean leaders the future contours of Indias partnership with the bloc. He remarked that Indias engagement with Asean was an important pillar of its Act East policy. Since the elevationof the strategic partnership into a comprehensive one, there is a new dynamism in ties between the two sides. It was a good opportunity for Mr. Modi to deliberateb on issues of importance to the region including food and energy security, environment, health, and digital transformation.
Hoping that India and Asean would collectively address these global challenges, the Prime Minister presented a 12 point proposal to expand cooperation with the bloc in a range of areas such as connectivity, trade and digital transformation and called for building a rules-based post-Covid world order.
His proposal included est- ablishment of multi-modal connectivity and economic corri- dors linking South East Asia, India, West Asia and Europe and offered to share Indias digital public infrastructure with Asean partners.
Other points of his proposal included a call for a collective fight against terrorism, terror financing and cyber-disinformation, all of which are faced by the Global South and needed to be raised in multilateral fora. Two joint statements were adopted: one on maritime cooperation, the other on food security. The Prime Minister underlined the importance of securing a free and open Indo-Pacific and elevating the voice of the Global South. It is almost unanimously recognised by the full spectrum of the Indian establishment that the countrys ties with the 10-member bloc are rooted in civilizational links going back cen- turies. Over the years, the bloc has emerged as one of the most influential groupings in the region. No wonder this fact is recognised from the fact that India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are important dialogue part- ners of the bloc. The Prime Min ister asserted that the 21st cen- tury is Asias century and there- fore it is necessary to build a rules-based post-Covid world order, which underpins the importance of human welfare.
Reaffirming that Asean is the central pillar of Indias Act East policy, Mr. Modi assured the members that India fully supports the centrality of the bloc and its outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Backed by history and the geographical connect between India and Asean, the two sides share common values, regional unity, peace and prosperity and a shared belief in a multipolar world as the pulling factor.
The Prime Ministers remarks were in consonance with Indias cherished dream of realising its belief in Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam One Earth, One Family, One Future.
Mr. Modis 12-point road-map also included an Asean India fund for the digital future focusing on cooperation in digital transformation and financial connectivity.
He also renewed support to the Economic and Research Institute of Asean and East Asia (ERIA). The Prime Minister also offered to share Indias experience in providing affordable and quality medicines to people through Jan-Aushadhi Kendras and invited the bloc members to join the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure.
In August 2023, the eco- nomic ministers of India and the bloc countries met in Indonesia. During the latest summit, both sides reviewed the India-Asean Trade in Goods Agreement (AIT- IGA), which was signed in 2009. A joint committee agreed to a regular, quarterly schedule of negotiations. It was agreed to review the Asean-India FTA in 2025. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Modi had visited Jakarta in 2018 at the invitation of Indonesian President Widodo.
In 2022, India and Asean celebrated the 30th anniversary of their ties during which leaders of both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation and elevate rela- tions to the level of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. At the bilateral level, India and Indonesia resolved to take the bilateral relationship into a new era.
Another significant announcement made by the Prime Minister in Jakarta was the deci- sion to open an Indian embassy in Dili, Timor Leste, reflecting the importance India attaches to this island nation.
Located on the southern-most edge of the Indonesian archipelago, northwest of Australia, Timor Leste joined Asean as an observer in 2022, before becoming a full member.
Thus it transpires that the 20th Asean-India Summit proved yet another significant milestone in Indias relations with the Asean bloc. India and Asean are thus well positioned to deal with contemporary challenges.
(The writer is former Senior Fellow at the PMML and MP-IDSA, both in New Delhi)
Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), part of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, to provide Amazon.com company renewable energy from five solar projects in Spain, as part of Amazon commitment to 100 per cent renewable energy for all operations.
With one plant already operational and the remaining four projects due for completion in 2024, the solar farms are expected to generate more than 1.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of clean energy each year, which is enough to power the equivalent of more than 400,000 European homes.
FRV aims to drive innovation and develop solutions that can make renewable energy accessible to everyone, said Fernando Salinas, managing director of FRV Iberia. This strategic collaboration with Amazon will enable us to continue contributing to the decarbonisation of the electricity sector and its independence from fossil fuels to drive economic, social, and environmental advancements for future generations. --OGN/TradeArabia News Service
Soldiers stand at attention during a welcoming ceremony as the Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrives at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 19, 2023. The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrived at a port in Zhoushan on Tuesday morning after completing friendly visits and humanitarian medical services to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor.(Photo by Han Lin/Xinhua)
HANGZHOU, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrived at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, on Tuesday morning after completing friendly visits and humanitarian medical services to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor.
Since its departure on July 3, the ship had traversed a distance exceeding 12,000 nautical miles over 79 days.
Throughout its mission, the ship has welcomed visiting heads of state, military and political dignitaries, along with representatives from international organizations, foreign delegations, overseas Chinese communities, and local military, police, and civilians.
The ship hosted five deck receptions, organized 23 academic exchanges and 10 cultural events, and participated in its first-ever joint exercise with the Tongan Navy.
The vessel provided medical care to 41,358 individuals from various countries, conducted physical examinations for 491 people, and performed 192 surgeries for residents.
It also dispatched 47 medical teams to offer medical services in local communities, schools, and hospitals. Additionally, its medical personnel also helped deliver three babies on the ship.
The "Peace Ark," the first standard ocean-going maritime hospital independently designed and built by China, has undertaken humanitarian medical missions abroad since being commissioned in 2008.
The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrives at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 19, 2023. The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrived at a port in Zhoushan on Tuesday morning after completing friendly visits and humanitarian medical services to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor.(Photo by Gui Jiangbo/Xinhua)
Soldiers stand at attention during a welcoming ceremony as the Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrives at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 19, 2023. The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrived at a port in Zhoushan on Tuesday morning after completing friendly visits and humanitarian medical services to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor.(Photo by Han Lin/Xinhua)
The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrives at a port in Zhoushan, east China's Zhejiang Province, Sept. 19, 2023. The Chinese naval hospital ship "Peace Ark" arrived at a port in Zhoushan on Tuesday morning after completing friendly visits and humanitarian medical services to Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and East Timor.(Photo by Gui Jiangbo/Xinhua)
Amjad Amini, the father of Mahsa Jina Amini, the Kurdish Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, has been arrested on the first anniversary of his daughters tragic passing. Lets delve into some key details about him.
Amjad Amini has been residing in Saqez, along with his family. Aside from Mahsa, he has a son named Ashkan Amini. His wifes name is Mojgan Eftekhari.
Amjads arrest took place as he was en route to pay his respects at his daughter Mahsas gravesite, marking the anniversary of her untimely death. He was apprehended by the countrys religious morality police, known as the Guidance Patrol, allegedly for not adhering to the governments hijab regulations.
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According to the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahsa suffered a heart attack while in police custody. She collapsed and fell into a coma before being transported to a hospital. However, eyewitness accounts, including those of women detained alongside Amini, tell a different story. They claim she had undergone severe beatings, leading to her demise as a result of police brutality.
Amjad Amini, upon viewing his daughters body wrapped for her funeral, noted bruises on her feet. Unfortunately, due to the wrapping, he couldnt assess the rest of her body. Iranian authorities, however, vehemently denied any head or internal injuries.
Its worth noting that Amjad previously held a position within a government organization, while his wife has been a homemaker.
Amjad Aminis arrest serves as a reminder. It reminds us of the ongoing unrest that envelops the circumstances of his daughters death. It also reminds us of the larger anti-regime protests that erupted in the aftermath of this tragic event. The tragic events of the past year continue to fuel the demand for justice and accountability within Irans political landscape.
At a non-descript roadside stall in Ranchi Deepak Kumar Uprariya, a technician for HEC (Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited) who worked on the construction of ISROs Chandrayaan-3 launchpad, he is selling idlis. According to the BBC, Uprariya owns a store in Ranchis Dhurwa neighbourhood directly across from the Old Legislative Assembly. After HEC, a Government of India Company (CPSU) that produced the folding platform and sliding door for Chandrayaan-3, failed to pay his wages for 18 months, he launched his roadside kiosk.
India became the first nation to accomplish this accomplishment when Chandrayaan-3 achieved a soft landing on the Moons South Pole in August. Then-Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his congratulations to the ISRO researchers and even spoke to the Chandryaan missions launchpad employees. Employees of the HEC in Ranchi were, however, protesting their 18-month salary arrears in the background.
Deepak Kumar Uprariya explained that he started selling idlis for the past few days in order to ensure his family does not starve. He has been coordinating the work of his shop and office. The technician works in the office in the afternoon after selling idlis in the morning. He sells idlis once more in the evening before returning home.
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Mr. Uprariya explained his predicament by saying, At first, I used a credit card to manage my home. I received a 2 lakh rupee loan. Then I received a defaulters notice and then began running the home by stealing money from family members.
I have so far borrowed four lakh rupees. People are no longer lending to me because I havent paid anyone back. Then I operated from my house for a few days while mortgaging my wifes jewellery, he continued.
The technician also said that he began selling idlis after feeling as though his time of starvation had arrived. My wife is a skilled idli maker. I sell them for 300 to 400 rupees each day. I gain between 50 and 100 rupees. Im using this money to manage my residence, he informed the publication.
Mr. Upraria is a native of Madhya Pradeshs Harda district, as per the BBC report. He left his position with a private company in 2012 and began working for HEC at a $8,000 salary. He had anticipated a bright future, but things did not work out as he had thought.
I have two daughters. Both attend school. I still havent been able to cover their tuition for this year. The school sends notices every day. Teachers even ask students who have parents who work for HEC to stand up, he claimed.
A Mumbai teenager, Maleesha Kharwa, hailing from an underprivileged community, has captured the spotlight virtually overnight as the new face of a high-end skincare brand. At just 15 years old, Maleeshas remarkable journey has seen her rise from the slums of Mumbai to gracing the covers of renowned fashion magazines, including Vogue and Cosmopolitan. Most recently, Forest Essentials, an Indian skincare company, appointed her as their brand ambassador.
Her extraordinary journey began when Hollywood actor Robert Hoffman discovered her during a music video shoot in Mumbai. Moved by her potential, he took it upon himself to create an Instagram account for Maleesha and initiated a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to support her education and dreams. This endeavor helped turn her aspirations of becoming a model into a reality.
In April 2023, Maleesha became the face of Forest Essentials Yuvati collection, a social initiative aimed at empowering young souls. With a substantial following on social media, she uses her platform to share glimpses of her personal and professional life while striving to inspire others.
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Reflecting on her journey, Maleesha Kharwa shared, I always wanted to become a model. I started dreaming of it when I was just five years old. I am overjoyed and hold aspirations of becoming a supermodel one day.
More about Maleesha Kharwa:
Born to Gujarati parents in Mumbai, her father works as a clown at childrens events to support their family. Thanks to her modeling earnings, Maleesha has managed to purchase a one-room flat in a city tenement.
Her aspirations extend beyond the realm of modeling. Maleesha aims to encourage young girls like herself to embrace their natural beauty. In addition to her modeling commitments, she is working on launching a platform called Maleesha People. There she intends to interact with similar children and inspire them to dream big.
Maleesha Kharwas journey serves as an inspiring testament to the power of dreams and determination.
At least 24 people were killed when a passenger bus plunged into a ravine in Perus Huancavelica region, local media reported.
The incident occurred on Monday around 1:30 a.m. local time (0630 GMT) in the mountainous area in Churcampa province, Xinhua news agency reported.
There victims included minors, News broadcaster Radio Programas del Peru reported, citing the Churcampa Integrated Health Network.
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The injured were rushed to hospitals in the towns of Huancayo, Pampas and Ayacucho.
The district mayor of Anco, Manuel Zevallos, told the radio station that the road has been in poor condition for at least a month as a result of an avalanche in the area.
On Monday Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat, this discussion was made soon after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged a possible link between the Indian government and the killing of a Khalistani terrorist, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in June.
Justin Trudeau said that the countrys security agencies were investigating a link between the Indian government and the killing of the Khalistani terrorist.
As an impact of this, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled. If proven true, this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other, Joly said. As a consequence we have expelled a top Indian diplomat, Joly said, as quoted by AP.
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She also said that the Justin Trudeau had raised the matter with US President Joe Biden.
Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence security officials of the Indian government. Last week, at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms, the Canadian Prime Minister said.
In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter, he said.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Canadas national security advisor and the head of Canadas spy service have travelled to India to meet their counterparts and to confront the Indian espionage agencies with the allegations. He called it an active killing investigation.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was wanted by the Indian government, but was shot dead on June 18 this year. Nijjar was shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey.
In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) declared a Rs 10 lakh reward on Nijjar after he was accused of conspiring to kill a Hindu priest in Punjabs Jalandhar.
The conspiracy to kill the priest was came by the Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). Nijjar, who was based in Canada, was the chief of the KTF.
At the G20 Summit in Delhi on September 10, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a press conference, said that he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about Khalistani extremism and foreign interference during their meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
The United States military has announced the discovery of debris from a missing F-35 fighter jet, a day after seeking the publics assistance in locating wreckage from the elusive aircraft. The incident occurred after the pilot ejected from the aircraft under undisclosed circumstances.
The debris field, belonging to the F-35B Lightning II jet that vanished on Sunday, was located on Monday in the rural Williamsburg County of South Carolina. Authorities had concentrated their search efforts around Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion, north of Charleston. That was the jets last known location. The found debris has been positively identified as the wreckage of the missing plane.
These F-35 jets, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, come with a hefty price tag of approximately $80 million each.
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The disappearance of the fighter F-35 jet occurred over South Carolina when the pilot ejected for reasons yet unknown, leading the base to reach out on social media, appealing to the public for any relevant information. Fortunately, the pilot safely parachuted into a North Charleston neighborhood, while the F-35 continued to fly, described by some as being in a zombie state.
Authorities are now actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the pilots ejection. The aircraft and the pilots both belonged to the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501. This squadron stations in Beaufort, in close proximity to the Atlantic coast of South Carolina.
In a statement, Joint Base Charleston revealed its collaboration with units and leaders from the Marines and Navy. They also worked closely with the FAA, Civil Air Patrol, and local law enforcement agencies throughout South Carolina. The base confirmed the utilization of both ground and air assets in the ongoing search and recovery efforts.
An Indian-origin man tried to sue a hospital in Australia for $643 million (over Rs 5,000 crore) after watching his wife deliver a baby via cesarean-section birth in 2018, which was dismissed by a court.
Anil Koppula said the Royal Womens Hospital in Melbourne encouraged or permitted him to observe the delivery, which caused him psychotic illness after he watched his wifes organs and blood, Australias 7News channel reported.
Years after the wife delivered a healthy baby, Koppula lodged a claim in the Supreme Court of Victoria in October last year, alleging the hospital breached its duty of care it owed to him and was liable to pay him damages.
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Representing himself during proceedings, he assessed his damages for psychological injury at $643 million, and submitted to the court the illness had led to the breakdown of his marriage.
In a judgement handed down on Monday, Justice James Gorton dismissed the claim, labelling it an abuse of process.
The judgement stated that the law does not allow a person to recover damages for non-economic loss unless their injury is a significant injury.
A panel that medically examined Koppula said that the degree of psychiatric impairment resulting from the injury to the claimant alleged in the claim does not satisfy the threshold level.
Koppula disagreed with the findings, but did not apply for a review of the determination, the news channel reported.
The Royal Womens Hospital admitted it owed Koppula a duty of care but denied that it breached it.
Rejecting claims that he suffered any injury, the hospital then applied for the proceedings to be dismissed.
A cesarean-section (C-section) is the surgical delivery of a baby through an incision made in the mothers abdomen and uterus, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
An abnormal fetal position or heart rate, labour problems, infections are some of the several medical reasons for performing the surgical procedure.
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)
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Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Low around 30F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.
Story on need for new police/fire station was perfect
Human rights experts and scholars attend a symposium with the theme of "Joint Building of the Belt & Road and Progress of Global Human Rights Cause" in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sept. 19, 2023. A symposium focusing on the progress of the human rights cause in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation was held here Tuesday. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)
GENEVA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A symposium focusing on the progress of the human rights cause in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) cooperation was held here Tuesday.
At the symposium, human rights experts and scholars from China and other countries exchanged their views on the contributions of the BRI cooperation to global development and human rights progress.
The symposium, with the theme of "Joint Building of the Belt & Road and Progress of Global Human Rights Cause," was organized by the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, a Chinese non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting the development of human rights cause.
Zuo Feng, vice chairman and secretary-general of the foundation, said that since the BRI was proposed by China in 2013, more than 150 countries and 30 international organizations have signed cooperation documents. In a decade, the BRI cooperation has played a constructive role in improving the global economic landscape, promoting common development and prosperity, and bettering the global governance system. It is widely recognized that the BRI cooperation has made positive contributions to global development and human rights progress.
Hu Biliang, executive dean of the Belt and Road School at Beijing Normal University, said that the BRI cooperation has played an important role in the progress of human rights in partner countries, as it has improved infrastructure, brought job opportunities, facilitated trade, increased people's incomes and reduced poverty.
Zhang Aining, director of the Human Rights Studies Center in China Foreign Affairs University, said the BRI is a Chinese solution to the problems facing the world and to the UN 2030 sustainable development goals. It provides a good example of "Cooperation improves development and development improves human rights" for the progress of the global human rights cause.
The symposium was part of meetings on global human rights during the 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council going on here from Sept. 11 to Oct. 13.
We must act now in fight against climate change
URUMQI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- For Wang Haiying, a 55-year-old farmer with over three decades of experience in goji berry cultivation, the post-harvest experience of the reddish-orange nutritious fruit has been increasingly reassuring in recent years.
Wang hails from the goji berry cultivation hub of Jinghe County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The harvested goji berries are usually processed into dried berries and in the past, their sales were a source of concern for Wang due to limited market reach.
However, those worries are now a thing of the past. The local government has stepped up the industrial development of goji berries by working with farming cooperatives and processing firms to expand the goji berry market, ensuring a more substantial slice of the pie.
To expand and strengthen the industrial chain, Jinghe has partnered with JD Cloud, a cloud service provider of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com. This latest move aims to leverage the platform's e-commerce expertise, industry operation know-how and resource network to boost both the reputation and sales of the local goji berries.
Thanks to these initiatives, Wang's goji berries can now be transformed into high-value-added products such as juice, primary pulp and various other goji derivatives, available for sale in popular online and offline stores.
JD Cloud has helped the local government create a regional brand of goji berry, and introduced a popular NFC goji berry juice earlier this month, with half of its stock sold out on the very first day of its release.
"The biggest asset that we can share with the local government and farmers is the big data collected across the entire industrial chain and the insights derived from the data," said JD Cloud's Sun Nailong, who handles the Jinghe goji berry project.
"The information collected across the supply chain can offer precise insight into consumer preferences, thus offering timely clues to farmers and processing firms to make targeted investment and adjustments," said Dong Youdan, associate professor at the School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China.
Digital tools, such as e-commerce platforms, have emerged as powerful engines for boosting the income of Chinese farmers. In the first half of 2023, China's online retail sales of agricultural products reached 270 billion yuan (about 37 billion U.S. dollars), up 13.1 percent year on year, with the country's western region posting the fastest growth, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.
China has called for expanding agricultural product sales through digital means, promoting direct procurement of produce via e-commerce platforms, customized production, and the development of rural e-commerce by setting up livestreaming sales stations and cultivating local livestreamers.
Local governments in many regions have worked with the country's influential livestreaming e-commerce platforms to train rural talents.
Last week, northeast China's agricultural powerhouse, Heilongjiang Province, joined forces with Xinxuan Group, a leading player in China's rapidly evolving livestreaming e-commerce industry. This partnership aims to provide local farmers with practical lessons in areas such as livestreaming account management, internet traffic management, short-video production, and sales pitch techniques.
Since 2022, the company has organized livestreaming training sessions for over 3,000 farmers in Xinjiang, Shandong, Hainan and several other provincial-level regions.
"The trainees were all keen to acquire new skills, and some of them are even in their 60s. In the digital era, you have to keep learning and it's never too late to learn," said Feng Yunlong, an instructor from Xinxuan Group.
Chief Minister Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami launched the logo and website of Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit. While Launching the logo and website of the summit in a program organized in Dehradun on Saturday, the Chief Minister said that this time an investment target of Rs 2 lakh 50 thousand crore has been set in the Investors Summit. Reforms have also been made and new policies have also been implemented. 27 policies have been promulgated for different sectors. A land bank of 6 thousand acres has also been prepared in the state. It may be noted that the Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit is going to be held in Dehradun in the month of December. The state government has intensifed its preparations.
Government is continuously communicating with the industry
In the unveiling program of the logo and website of Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit, the Chief Minister said that the state government is in constant touch with the industry and major industrial organizations. In this regard , talks were held with prominent industrialists in Dehradun on 17th August and in Delhi on 21st August. The suggestions received from the industry have been taken very prominently into consideration. On the same basis, reforms have been made in MSME policy, service sector policy, logistics policy, solar policy, etc.
Uttarakhand became investment destination along with peace destination
The Chief Minister said that there is a lot of enthusiasm among the industrialists due to the favorable environment for industries and investment in the state. People have been coming to Devbhoomi Uttarakhand for centuries for peace. A large number of tourists come every year, now investors are also excited to come here. Along with being a destination of peace and tourism, Uttarakhand has also become a major investment destination. People from abroad want to join here. Due to its natural environment, effective single window system, investment friendly policies, proximity to the national capital, infrastructure, Uttarakhand is becoming a major center for investment. Uttarakhand is in the Achievers category in Ease of Doing Business. In the Export Preparedness Index released by NITI Aayog, Uttarakhand ranks first among the Himalayan states while it ranks 9th in the country as a whole.
Investment Summit of entire Uttarakhand
The Chief Minister said that the industries which are already established in Uttarakhand have also talked about their expansion. Investors Summit is not only a program of the Industries Department, but all the departments are associated with it. In fact, this summit belongs to all the citizens of Uttarakhand. Employment will be created by investment in the state, peoples income will increase and Uttarakhand will play an e ective role in the development of the country. The Chief Minister said that learning from the experiences of the previous years, many reforms have been done. We are working in a concrete way for maximum investment to come in the state. The Prime Minister had told from the land of Baba Kedar that the third decade of the 21st century would be the decade of Uttarakhand. Investors Summit is a big effort in this direction.
Chief Secretary Dr. S.S. Sandhu said that the specialties of Uttarakhand have been displayed in the logo of Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit. Earlier people used to come here for peace, now they are coming for tourism and investment. The state government is focusing on tourism, yoga, wellness, service sector, agriculture and horticulture. Investment is important to remove unemployment and poverty in the state. The state government is trying to improve the quality of life of the citizens of the state. Agriculture and horticulture are being given importance. A new policy has also been made for the service sector which contributes 40 percent to the states GDP.
Additional Chief Secretary Smt. Radha Raturi gave the welcome address and Secretary Shri Vinay Shankar Pandey gave the vote of thanks. On this occasion, MLA Shri Durgeshwar Lal, Secretary Shri Shailesh Bagoli, Director General Industries Shri Rohit Meena, Director General Information Shri Banshidhar Tiwari and other o cers were present.
The logo of Destination Uttarakhand- Global Summit 2023 is a re ection of the sentiments of the state. The two mountain ranges in the logo create an arrow representing progress with continuity, which not only symbolizes unlimited progress, but also signifes continuity of development and sustainable development. Both the mountain ranges reflect two important aspects the abundance of natural resources of Uttarakhand and the continuous availability of skilled labor force. The green color in the logo symbolizes the states natural beauty and harmony with nature. Blue represents the limitless sky for opportunities, aspirations and new ideas. The tag line of the summit is Peace to Prosperity.
An online single window clearance portal www. investuttarakhand.uk.gov.in has been created in the state to provide required approval/permission/ approval to investors for setting up industries. Uttarakhand Global Investors Summit 2023 to be held in December
Billionaire, Tesla founder Elon Musk has said that social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter could soon be introducing a paywall for all users. "The single most important reason that we are moving to have a small monthly payment for the use of the X system is it is the only way I could think of to combat vast armies of bots," Musk said during a live stream on X with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He also said that AI Bots were getting better at passing CAPTCHA tests.
Musk said that having a payment system and prioritizing posts of users posts would help minimize the influence of bots. "Because a bot costs a fraction of a penny, call it a tenth of a penny, but even if it has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost of bots is very high," he said, Al Jazeera reported.
Last year, Musk had discussed the possibility with one of his advisers, venture capitalist David Sacks. He made several changes to the social media platform after he bought it in October 2022, including laying off 50 per cent of the staff.
He also made the blue tick, the indicator that accounts are verified to a paid feature. The company also made the TweetDeck service, a paid feature-- the TweetDeck allows users to view the number of feeds displaying things like users and lists. In July, Musk said the company was facing, a 50 per cent drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load."
A study published in 'The Lancet Planetary Health' has unveiled the staggering toll of lead exposure on the health and economy of India. The research, conducted by World Bank researchers, sheds new light on the devastating consequences of lead contamination, calling for immediate attention to this pervasive health threat.
In a shocking revelation, the study found that lead exposure was responsible for a substantial number of adult deaths from cardiovascular disease in India. In 2019, a staggering 1 million adult deaths, representing 19 percent of the global total, were attributed to lead exposure. These findings highlight the urgent need for measures to mitigate lead contamination and protect the cardiovascular health of the Indian population.
The research identifies everyday products commonly contaminated with lead in India, including aluminum cooking pots, toys, paint, spices, and kohl eyeliner. These findings serve as a critical warning to consumers and authorities about the importance of product safety and stringent quality control measures.
This research is not limited to India alone. Globally, lead exposure caused 5.5 million adult deaths from cardiovascular disease in 2019 and resulted in the loss of 765 million IQ points in children under five. Up to 95 percent of these effects occurred in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), underscoring the global nature of this health crisis.
Childhood IQ loss
Lead exposure doesn't discriminate by age, as the research indicates. The study estimates that children under the age of five in India collectively lost a staggering 154 million IQ points due to lead exposure in 2019. This alarming loss of cognitive potential threatens the future of India's youth and underscores the necessity of safeguarding children from lead contamination.
Economic impact
The financial cost of lead exposure in India is equally concerning. The study reveals that lead exposure cost the nation a staggering US$259 billion in 2019 alone, equivalent to a significant 9% of India's GDP for that year. This economic burden not only hampers national development but also places a heavy strain on healthcare systems.
Calls for action
Prominent figures in the study, such as Dr. Thuppil Venkatesh and Lavanya Nambiar, emphasize the need for immediate action. Dr. Venkatesh, who chairman of the Indian Society for Lead Awareness and Research, stated that that "lead exposure not only causes economic damage and reduction in IQ but also pushes the poor into deep poverty." Nambiar, acting director of Pure Earth India, added, "To solve lead pollution and save lives, we need to monitor and stop lead contamination in our cookware, toys, paints, foods, spices, and other products.
The Lancet Planetary Health study unveils a distressing portrayal of the detrimental impact of lead exposure in India and across the globe, both on health and the economy. With urgency, the study emphasises the need for immediate action to combat this pervasive health hazard. The proposed measures include implementing stricter regulations, enhancing product safety protocols, and allocating more resources towards lead mitigation solutions.
Academic challenges and difficulties are inevitable parts of school this is how students learn. So researchers have long been interested in the ways students navigate these challenges and how to help them cope better.
Recent research has focused on the concept of academic buoyancy or everyday resilience at school. This is about students' capacity to handle everyday setbacks and challenges. This could include negative feedback on an assessment or facing competing study deadlines and schoolwork demands.
Research has found resilient students tend to have more positive academic outcomes. These include making greater effort with their work, having better study skills and enjoying school more than students who are less resilient.
Research has also shown resilience is underpinned by personal attributes such as confidence. But we need more understanding about what school-related factors are involved in students' resilience and what schools can do to build their students' resilience.
Our study surveyed high school students in schools around New South Wales to look at what other factors impact students' resilience.
Our research
The study was based on responses from 71,861 high school students in 292 NSW government schools who completed the annual Tell Them From Me student survey organised by the state's Department of Education.
Students' responses were collected at two points one year apart: once at the beginning of the 2018 school year when students were in Years 7 to 11 and then a year later in 2019 when they were in Years 8 to 12. Schools were in metropolitan, rural and regional areas.
One of our main aims was to find out if students' perceptions of different types of support in their school would influence their resilience one year later.
This included academic and emotional support from teachers, students' sense of school belonging and behavioural expectations in the classroom.
We looked at the role of support factors in two ways. First, we looked at how support for individual students was associated with students' resilience. For example, does a student who perceives greater academic support from their teacher, regardless of the school they are in, report greater resilience one year later?
Second, we investigated the relationship between support at the whole-school level and whole-school resilience.
Our findings
In our study, students' sense of school belonging stood out as the most notable factor of resilience. In fact, the role of school belonging was important at the individual student level and also at the whole-school level.
That is, when individual students felt a greater sense of belonging to their school, they tended to also report greater resilience one year later.
When a school had a higher proportion of students reporting a sense of belonging, it demonstrated higher school-average resilience one year later.
There was also evidence of a reciprocal relationship between students' sense of belonging and their resilience that is, increases in school belonging were associated with greater resilience one year later and vice versa.
Notably, these findings were largely similar across contexts, including schools of different sizes, in different locations, with different gender compositions, with varying levels of academic selectivity, with a range of socioeconomic status and with varying levels of students' academic ability.
The similarity in the findings across contexts suggests targeting these areas of support could benefit students' resilience in a wide range of academic settings.
Why is this so?
When faced with everyday academic setbacks and challenge, having a strong sense of school belonging helps to protect students from stress and negativity.
This is because students feel less isolated at times of adversity and have options and opportunities for support from their peers and teachers.
Evidence of the reciprocal relationship among these factors also suggests facilitating a greater sense of belonging could have long-lasting effects on students' resilience as they positively feed into each other over time.
How can we boost belonging?
Helping students to feel safe and included in their school is one way to promote a greater sense of belonging for students. This could include:
1. offering a range of extracurricular activities that help students to get involved and feel part of their school community
2. anti-bullying or wellbeing programs to help students to feel safer and more comfortable in their schools
3. helping students build and feel confident in their personal identities at school.
Teaching students to be aware of their emotions
There are also strategies for targeting students' resilience directly. For example, providing students with specific reasoning behind a poor assessment mark and then time (in class or one-on-one) to help them understand and constructively respond to the challenging feedback.
Students might also be taught to be aware of the thoughts, behaviours and emotions they have when they receive a disappointing result and how they can respond constructively. For example, re-framing the event as a learning opportunity or a time to seek out further information from a teacher is one way to focus on self-improvement rather than the disappointing result.
Amid ongoing concerns about young people's mental health and wellbeing, academic resilience is an important attribute that helps students to navigate their school careers.
(The Conversation: By Keiko CP Bostwick, Andrew J Martin and Rebecca J Collie, UNSW Sydney, and Emma Burns, Macquarie University)
In a tit-for-tat move, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has asked a senior Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days, hours after Ottawa expelled a top Indian diplomat.
Canada on Monday cited a possible Indian link in the murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader who was gunned down on June 18 in British Columbia, for the expulsion of intelligence chief Pavan Kumar Rai.
After this, the MEA summoned the High Commissioner of Canada to India and informed him about the decision to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India. "The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," the statement added.
Earlier on Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed Canada's accusations of India's role in the murder of Nijjar. A statement issued by the MEA called the allegations "absurd and motivated."
"We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister. Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the statement shared by Arindam Bagchi, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, read.
The statement added that India was a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law. "Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern," said a foreign ministry statement.
India also expressed concern at the way Canadian political figures are "openly expressing sympathy for such elements." It urged the Canadian government to take strong and effective action against the anti-India elements operating from their soil.
This comes as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that the country was investigating credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjar's death. He added that he raised the murder directly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi last week and urged the government of India to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter"."
As the Anantnag encounter enters day seven, the body of an army personnel, who had been missing since September 13 since the gunfight erupted in the Gadole area of Anantnag district was recovered.
Sepoy Pradeep Singh (27) was found dead at approximately 5 pm on Monday evening. He was part of Kokernag operation. Reportedly, two bodies were recovered from the forest and the identity of the other deceased is yet to be ascertained.
Search operations to neutralise the remaining terrorists in the forest hideout resumed in the area on Tuesday morning. Security forces are closing in on the hideouts and is likely to wind up the operation today.
The security forces are using drones and helicopters for surveillance of the dense forest area with several cave-like hideouts where the terrorists are believed.
According to police, there are two to three terrorists trapped in the forest area.
On day six of the Anantnag encounter, a charred body was recovered from Gadole forest. The discovery has prompted the officials to collect DNA samples from the family of Uzair Khan, Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants allegedly involved in the attack.
Additional troops were deployed by the Army and police around the police and sealed off all escape routes. Aerial assets including helicopters, quadcopters, and Unmanned Ariel Vehicles (UAVs), such as the Israeli Heron Mark-2, are used by the forces to locate the militants' locations.
Since the Anantnag encounter, Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer, 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Dhonchak and Deputy Superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police Humayun Bhat were killed by the terrorists on Wednesday.
Additional Director General of Police (Kashmir), Vijay Kumar, on Tuesday announced that the top Lashkar-e-Toiba Commander Uzair Khan has been killed in the operation against militants at Gadole forest, Kokernag in Anantnag.
The ADGP informed reporters, "Uzair Khan has been killed, and his body has been recovered." Another body was also found near the site of the gunfight, he added.
Kumar stated that they had information about two to three militants in the area and the search operation would continue for some time.
Due to potential threat of unexploded grenades or shells, residents in the area have been advised to stay away from the encounter site.
Regarding casualties on the security forces' side, he confirmed that three officers, two from the army and one from the police, in addition to a soldier, lost their lives during the encounter.
Khan, an A-category militant, was trapped in the Gadole forest in Kokernag along with another suspected foreign militant. They were involved in the killing of Colonel Manpreet Singh, Major Asheesh Dhanchok of Armys 19 Rashtriya Rifles, and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Himayun Muzamil Bhat on September 13 during an anti-militancy operation in Anantnag.
The operation was initiated at night upon receiving intelligence about the presence of militants in the area. The officers came under heavy fire as they approached the suspected hideout.
Due to the intense firefight and difficult circumstances, they couldn't be promptly rescued, resulting in their demise. During the initial shootout, another soldier was also injured and his body was found on the third day of the operation.
After losing the three officers, the Army and Police cordoned off the forest, employing heavy weaponry and drones to target their hideouts.
Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh, ADGP Kumar, Army 15 Corps commander Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, Chief of Armys Northern Command Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, and senior CRPF officers visited Kokernag to assess the situation and oversee the operation.
A substantial number of troops from the Police, Army, and CRPF secured the area and blocked all potential escape routes. Various aerial assets and tools including, UAVs, the Israeli Heron Mark 2, Barrel Grenade Launchers (UBGL), and Rocket Propelled Grenades (PPG), were used by the security forces to flush out the militants.
On the fifth day of the operation, a charred body was discovered in the Gadole forest. The police announced it would collect DNA samples from Khan's family to confirm the identity of the body. While another body of the missing soldier was recovered on Monday evening.
Earlier, the DGP had said that due to the challenging terrain and significant risks involved, the security forces were following a meticulously planned strategy to track down the terrorists.
The Kokernag operation has turned out to be the longest in Kashmir in a decade, lasting seven days.
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed on Tuesday resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries from Turkiye into northwest Syria through the Bab al-Hawa crossing, a UN spokesman said.
"Though our humanitarian operations have continued to assist millions of people in need in northwest Syria, the Bab al-Hawa crossing has long been central to the UN's efforts to deliver aid in the northwest," said Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for Guterres.
"With more people than ever requiring humanitarian aid in Syria, the secretary-general underscores the need for ever greater efforts to be made to ensure we reach all those who need it," he added.
A 17-truck convoy carrying 50 tons of assistance from the UN Children's Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization and the World Food Programme was the first to traverse the Bab Al-Hawa crossing since it was closed in early July, Dujarric said.
He said the cargo arriving in Idlib on Tuesday included hygiene kits and educational items for 46,000 people, nutrition support for 10,000 babies, tents and non-food items for 5,000 people and enough supplies for 260,000 medical procedures.
The spokesman said UN staff on Monday carried out three preliminary cross-border missions to northwest Syria, including two to Idlib via Bab al-Hawa, but without relief supplies.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said it made a routine monitoring visit to hospitals supported by the Syria Cross-border Humanitarian Fund.
"Additional truck movements and missions by UN personnel are planned in the coming days, as we work with our partners to provide life-saving assistance in line with core humanitarian principles," Dujarric said. "Each month, the UN and our partners reach an average of 2.6 million people with critical assistance and protection services."
Bab al-Hawa was closed to aid convoys after the UN Security Council failed to reach an accord on a resolution in July to re-authorize the Syria cross-border humanitarian aid delivery mechanism through the crossing.
The world body and Syria worked out an agreement last month allowing for Tuesday's resumption of relief convoys through Bab al-Hawa.
Former Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday termed as baseless Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations against India in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Singh said in 2018 when Trudeau visited Amritsar, he had brought to the notice of the prime minister as to how the Canadian land was used by Khalistani elements against India.
"The claims by the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjer are completely baseless... During his visit to Amritsar in 2018, I had brought to the notice of Justin Trudeau as to how the Canadian land was being used against India, still the Canadian govt failed to take any remedial measures so far, Singh wrote on X.
Nijjar was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
Trudeau's allegations of "potential" Indian links to the killing of Nijjar has worsened the relationship between New Delhi and Ottawa, with both both countries expelling each others top diplomats on Tuesday.
The Ministry of External Affairs said Trudeaus "unsubstantiated" allegations seek to "shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten India's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
The ties between India and Canada have come under strain in view of New Delhi's concerns over increasing activities of pro-Khalistani elements in that country. Last week, the talks on a bilateral free trade agreement were frozen apparently in view of the deteriorating ties.
In his last address from the historic Central Hall of the old Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi heralded "new beginnings for a new future" as he urged the MPs to reaffirm the commitment to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Commemorating the rich legacy of the Parliament of India, Modi said 41 heads of state from across the world have addressed our MPs in the Central Hall since 1952. Over 4,000 laws have been passed by Parliament in the last seven decades," the prime minister said.
"Today, together in the new Parliament building, we are all going to inaugurate a new future. Today, we are moving towards the new building here with the intention of reiterating the resolve of a developed India, being determined and working whole-heartedly to fulfil it," he said.
Recounting the laws passed in the old Parliament building, he said Muslim mothers and sisters got justice as the law against 'triple talaq' was unitedly passed from here. "In the last few years, Parliament has also passed laws giving justice to the transgenders. We have unitedly passed laws that will guarantee a bright future for the specially-abled people. It is our privilege that we got the opportunity to abrogate Article 370," he said.
"The Constitution made in this House was implemented in Jammu and Kashmir," he said, adding that J-K has embarked on the path of peace and development and with a new zeal, enthusiasm and determination, the people there do not want to miss any opportunity to move forward.
The Prime Minister also called for expanding the canvas to build a stronger India and said all reforms and new laws going forward must have rising aspirations of the country as their priority.
Modi said a big picture cannot be painted on a small canvas and the idea of a grand India cannot be envisioned if the members do not think big. "Is it possible to draw a big picture on a small canvas? No! In the same way, we cannot mark out the picture of 'Bhavya Bharat' if we have a small canvas of thinking," Modi said.
"We have a rich heritage! If this rich heritage is joined in by our dreams, and our resolutions, and if our canvas of thinking expands, we will certainly be able to paint a picture of 'Bhavya Bharat', we will certainly be able to fill colours in this picture, and offer this beautiful, colourful and grand picture of 'Maa Bharti' to our future generations," he said.
Led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several MPs walked from the old to the new Parliament building on Tuesday to attend the sitting in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha chambers in the new complex.
Members join for
group photograph
All members of Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha got together for a group photograph on Tuesday at the inner courtyard of the old buildingjust before the House proceedings shifted to the new building on Tuesday.
Those on the first row included Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha member 93-year-old Shafiq-ur-Rahman Barq, veteran leaders Sharad Pawar (NCP), Farooq Abdullah (NC) and BJP president J P Nadda.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was in the second last row with Manish Tewari.
The members turned up in their best clothes, women in sarees and most men in white kurta-pyjamas with vibrant waistcoats.
However, there were tense moments after BJP Rajya Sabha member Narhari Amin fainted. Amit Shah, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and some leaders were seen rushing to his rescue. Officials were seen offering water to the 68-year-old Amin, who soon joined the group photo.
This photo was followed by a group photograph of Rajya Sabha members and later, a group photograph of Lok Sabha members.
'Parliament House of India'
A Lok Sabha Secretariat notification said the new Parliament building has been designated as the Parliament House of India. "The Speaker, Lok Sabha is pleased to notify the new building of Parliament situated in the precincts of the Parliament House on Plot Number 118, New Delhi, east of the existing Parliament House with Raisina road to the south and Red Cross road to the north, to be, hereon, designated as the Parliament House of India," said the notification issued on Monday.
(With PTI inputs)
As the Congress sought to take credit for the Womens Reservation Bill which was tabled in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit back at the opposition party, questioning their double standards over the issue. The government introduced the constitutional amendment bill in the lower house to reserve one-third of seats for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
Shah noted that the bill brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. The Congress either let legislations lapse or friendly parties prevented tabling of bill. Their double standards will never be hidden, he said.
The bill, named as Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam, shows the unwavering commitment of the Narendra Modi government to empower women, the home minister said. People across India are rejoicing introduction of Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam in Parliament, he said.
Sadly, the opposition is unable to digest the bill. What is more shameful is that except tokenism, the Congress has never been serious about women's reservation, he further said.
Later, in a post on X, the home minister lauded Modi for introducing the bill and said the PM has shown that 'women's empowerment' is not a slogan but a resolution of the Central government.
"Today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has shown the realization of Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devata in the democracy of the country in accordance with the eternal culture of India. The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' introduced in the Lok Sabha today is a decision that will give our women power and their rights in the true sense," he said.
Earlier, speaking in the first session of the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the women's reservation bill was first brought in 1989 by the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to ensure one-third reservation in local body elections.
"Since then, the Congress has been trying to bring law to ensure one-third reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies," Chowdhury said.
"The bill that came during Manmohan Singh's tenure was passed by the Rajya Sabha and hence is still alive. The CWC (Congress Working Committee) resolution has spoken about this... Even Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister (Narendra Modi). We reiterate our demand for women reservation bill," Chowdhury said.
Refuting his claims, Shah said the old bill has lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.
"What Adhir Ji said is factually incorrect. The old bill has lapsed. If he has any supporting document to prove what he said he should table it in the Lok Sabha or withdraw his statement," he said.
Shah also asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to remove the statement from record if Chowdhury is unable to provide supporting documents.
The current Lok Sabha has the highest number of elected women members 82. With PM Narendra Modi's government bringing the Women's Reservation Bill to Lok Sabha, marking the beginning of the new parliament building, the number will jump over to a minimum of 181 seats when it comes into force. With this, the Modi government has taken the lead to fulfil one of its election promises.
It will be one rare occasion' where, most of the political parties, including those from the Opposition, had called for bringing the bill.
This bill to be called the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023, was introduced by the Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal-- it calls for reserving one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, all state assemblies and Delhi legislative assembly.
The reservation will be in force for 15 years from the day of its commencement, and there will be a rotation of reserved seats. The reservation to Lok Sabha and state assemblies shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken based on the census to be conducted after the passing of the bill. This pushes the actual implementation of the reservation to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
According to the bill, after a new section Article 330A of the Constitution is introduced, one-third of seats shall be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha.
As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (2) of article 330 shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes. As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of the People shall be reserved for women, the bill reads.
Taking the women's reservation to the state assemblies, the bill proposes that after Article 332 of the Constitution, a new article, 332A may be inserted to reserve seats for women in the Legislative Assembly of every State.
The bill also makes provision for reserving seats in the Delhi assembly as the jurisdiction of making laws falls with the parliament.
Addressing the parliament during the first sitting in the new building, Modi said, in the past, there have been attempts to bring women legislation in the past, including during Atal Bihari Vajyapees regime, but they could not gather numbers. I have been chosen for this auspicious work, Modi said.
Modi said it was important that women participated in the policy-making.
The last attempt to pass the women's reservation bill was made in 2010 when the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill, but the same could not be passed in the Lok Sabha. Thus, the bill had lapsed with the tenure of the house getting over.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, the government said that India has begun its journey towards becoming Vikasit Bharat (developed Bharat) by 2047. Realisation of this goal will require contribution of all sections of society in the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas'. The role of women, constituting half of the population, is extremely important in the realisation of this goal.
The government talked about its various initiatives for women including Ujawala Yojana, access to toilets under the Swacch Bharat Mission, and financial inclusion through the Mudra Yojana. However, true empowerment of women will require greater participation of women in the decision-making process as they bring different perspectives and enrich the quality of legislative debates and decision-making.
Come October 2023 and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is expected to conduct a key test as part of its ambitious crewed space mission, Gaganyaan, project director R. Hutton told new agency Reuters. The different tests hold utmost significance as ISRO has time and again emphasized human safety as the top priority for this mission. The Gaganyaan mission is expected to be launched before the end of 2024 from Sriharikota, the countrys main spaceport.
The Gaganyaan mission is Indias first human spaceflight programme which aims to send 2-3 astronauts into an orbit of 400 kilometres (250 miles) for a 3-day mission before safely splashing down in the Indian Ocean. The ISRO is currently training four astronauts. In the October test, the agency plans to check the crew-escape system (CES) which can be used to quickly get astronauts out in emergencies. They will carry out other tests, too, before the final launch.
The orbital module (OM), which will orbit the Earth, consists of both the crew module and the service module (SM). The OM is equipped with advanced avionics systems, offering redundancy to ensure the safety of the crew. The crew module (CM) serves as a habitable space in space, simulating Earth-like conditions for the astronauts, explained space expert Girish Linganna.
According to publicly available information, the ISRO is scheduled to conduct two abort test missions this year. The first test vehicle to achieve this end was launched in September 2021. The second test vehicle mission and the first uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan are planned for the first quarter of 2024. The second series of test vehicle missions and the second uncrewed mission of Gaganyaan with a humanoid robot are planned after the first uncrewed mission.
The mission includes various tests to ensure the safety of the crew and the spacecraft such as the Integrated Air Drop Test (IADT) which demonstrates the recovery of the crew module after landing in the sea. The test involves dropping a scaled-down version of the crew module from an aircraft and deploying parachutes to slow down its descent. The test also verifies the performance of the flotation system, which keeps the module afloat until it is retrieved by a ship. This was conducted by ISROs Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at the Babina Field Fire Range in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh on November 19, 2022. This test was the first in a series of integrated parachute airdrop tests planned to simulate different failure conditions of the parachute system before it is deemed fit for use on the maiden human spaceflight. The test involved dropping a 5-ton dummy mass, equivalent to the crew module mass, from an altitude of 2.5 kilometres and deploying parachutes to slow down its descent. The test also verified the performance of the flotation system, which will keep the module afloat until it is retrieved by a ship.
Then there is the Pad Abort Test (PAT) which validates the crew escape system, which can be used to eject the astronauts from the launch pad in case of an emergency. The test simulates a launch abort scenario and evaluates the functioning of the solid rocket motors, the separation mechanisms and the recovery system. This test was also conducted by ISROs Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre at the Babina Field Fire Range in Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh on July 5, 2018. The test was the first in a series of integrated parachute airdrop tests planned to simulate different failure conditions of the parachute system before it is deemed fit for use on the first human spaceflight.
This test, too, involved dropping a 5-ton dummy mass, equivalent to the crew module mass, from an altitude of 2.5 kilometres and deploying parachutes to slow down its descent. The test also validated the crew escape system, which can be used to eject the astronauts from the launch pad in case of an emergency.
There would also be abort missions test and these missions will test the crew escape system (CES) in different phases of flightsuch as ascent, orbit and re-entryin case of a failure. The abort missions will use a modified version of the crew module, which will carry a humanoid robot instead of human astronauts. The abort missions will assess the reliability and robustness of the escape system under various conditions. These tests are significant for ensuring that the Gaganyaan mission meets the international standards of human spaceflight and fulfills Indias aspirations of becoming a space-faring nation. ISRO has developed test vehicles to send the Gaganyaans systems up to a certain height, and then simulate a failure to check the escape system as it falls back into the Bay of Bengal, remarked Linganna.
There would also be Test Vehicle (TV) Flights which will test the orbital and re-entry capabilities of the crew module. The test vehicles will be launched using a human-rated LVM-III (HLVM-3) rocket and will carry various sensors and instruments to measure the aerodynamic, thermal and structural parameters of the module. ISROs LVM3 rocket, known as the launch vehicle for the Gaganyaan mission, has undergone significant modifications to align with human safety standards and is now referred to as the human-rated LVM3 (HLVM3).
The test vehicles will also demonstrate the guidance, navigation and control systems, as well as the communication and telemetry systems. The Indian Navys specialized marine commando unit, Marcos, will play a role in recovering Indias first human spaceflight mission when it returns from space and lands in the sea. ISRO has already provided the Navy with the crew module recovery model to train the crew. The sequence begins with the first test vehicle mission, known as Test Vehicle TV-D1. It will be followed by the second test vehicle mission, TV-D2, and the first uncrewed Gaganyaan mission labelled LVM3-G1. Subsequently, ISRO will carry out the second set of test vehicle missions, TV-D3 and D4, along with the LVM3-G2 mission, which will include a humanoid robot named Vyommitra. HLVM3 incorporates a crew escape system (CES) powered by a set of high-performance solid motors designed for quick response. This system ensures that, in case of an emergency either on the launchpad or during the ascent, the crew module (CM) and its occupants can quickly move to a safe distance, Linganna told THE WEEK.
ISRO has also recently carried out a series of Drogue Parachute Deployment Tests at the Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratorys Rail Track Rocket Sled (RTRS) facility in Chandigarh. A critical component of the Gaganyaan mission is the deployment of drogue parachutes, which play a crucial role in stabilizing the crew module (CM) and reducing its velocity to a safe level during re-entry. In the first abort test of the special test vehicle (TV), the space agency will raise the vehicle to a near-supersonic condition before executing the abort command, taking the CM and the CES through simulated conditions that could arise during the mission.
A recent study has revealed that human activities are exerting an increasingly significant impact on our planet, heightening the risk of causing drastic changes to Earth's overall conditions. This study, which updates the framework known as "planetary boundaries," emphasizes the importance of these nine boundaries in maintaining the stability and livability of our planet for all its inhabitants.
The researchers highlight that the breach of safe boundary levels is primarily a result of human-driven activities that directly affect these crucial components of our global environment. By considering the latest scientific knowledge about Earth's functioning, the planetary boundaries framework aims to establish a "safe operating space" for humanity. It sets forth limits on the extent to which human activities can impinge upon critical processes without risking irreversible alterations to the Earth's conditions, which are indispensable to our survival and well-being.
The researchers emphasised that they have presented metrics for all boundaries for the first time. They found that six of the boundaries have been exceeded, and the transgression is increasing for all boundaries except the degradation of the Earth's ozone layer. The researchers highlighted the need for a global focus on climate and the development of Earth system models that accurately depict the interactions between boundaries, particularly Climate and Biosphere Integrity. They expressed the urgency of this priority. The study, which involved 29 scientists from eight different countries, represents the third update of the framework. Katherine Richardson, the study's leader and a professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, explained that the trend of increasing transgression of the boundaries is concerning. The study was published in the journal Science Advances.
"Crossing six boundaries in itself does not necessarily imply a disaster will ensue but it is a clear warning signal. We can regard it as we do our own blood pressure," Richardson said.
"A BP over 120/80 is not a guarantee of a heart attack but it increases the risk of one. Therefore, we try to bring it down. For our ownand our children'ssakes we need to reduce the pressure on these six planetary boundaries," the researcher added. A An important conclusion of the study is that more focus is needed on interactions between the boundaries.
"Focus on human-caused climate change is not enough if we want to protect the Earth system from irreversible harm," said Johan Rockstrom, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and original proposer of the framework in 2009.
"Next to climate change, integrity of the biosphere is the second pillar of stability of our planet. Our research shows that mitigating global warming and saving a functional biosphere for the future have to go hand in hand," said co-author Wolfgang Lucht, Head of PIK's department of Earth System Analysis.
(With inputs from PTI)
Canada expelled a top Indian diplomat on Monday after it alleged a "potential link" between the agents of India and the death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was gunned down on June 18 in British Columbia.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an emergency statement to the House of Commons that any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen was "an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty".
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the government of India and Nijjar's death," Trudeau said. The Prime Minister said he raised the murder directly with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi last week and urged the government of India to "cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter".
"Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government. Last week at the G20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms," he said.
Trudeau said some members of the Indo-Canadian community were feeling angry and threatened.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the head of Indian intelligence in Canada has been expelled as a consequence. "If proven true this would be a great violation of our sovereignty and of the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other," Joly said. "As a consequence, we have expelled a top Indian diplomat."
An active homicide investigation in this regard is being led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Trudeau has also raised the matter with US President Joe Biden.
Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said several senior Canadian government officials had visited India recently to express Ottawa's concerns.
The Indian Embassy in Ottawa has not responded to the developments.
The development will come as a further blow to the worsening bilateral ties as India as Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed strong concerns about Khalistani protests in Canada against India to Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20.
The recent developments also saw the trade deal between Canada and India stalling, with Canada citing "certain political developments." Canada's bilateral trade in 2022 amounted to just C$13.7 billion out of a total of C$1.52 trillion.
Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia. Canada is home to an influential Sikh community amounting to 1.4 million out of an overall Canadian population of 40 million. About 770,000 people reported Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census.
India and Canadas relationship just plummeted to Nunavut-lowthe coldest Canadian state where the average temperature is minus 19 degrees Celsius for the year. India has come out all guns blazing against Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that India may have had links to the killing of extremist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated, a statement by the ministry of external affairs said. In a matter of hours, Canada and India expelled each others diplomats in a tit-for-tat move. India also summoned Canadian High Commissioner Cameron Mackay to the ministry of external affairs on Tuesday.
In the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said that the country's intelligence agencies have been investigating the allegations after Nijjar was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey. I told PM Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and asked for cooperation in the investigation, he said.
It was publicand it was deliberateand has ensured that there is very little wiggle room. The Canadians didnt go about this quietly. Trudeau made the direct accusation while speaking before the House of Commons, and his government publicly identified an Indian diplomat it expelled as the head of Indian intel in Canada. A reflection of a highly fraught relationship, posted Michael Kugelman, South Asia Institute Director at the Wilson Centre.
It also comes at a time when India has come out strongly against Canada for anti-India activities, repeatedly. Last month the trade talks for a Free Trade Agreement between the two countries was put on hold soon after the G20 summit. The trade delegation due to come in October chose to postpone the trip. While there was no reason cited then, India claims it was over political developments in Canada.
The strain between the two countries was visible when Trudeau and Prime Minister Narendra Modi came face to face at the G20 summit in Delhi. There was no bilateral meeting, but in the pull-aside meeting, Modi raised concerns over anti-India activities in Canadian soil. Extremist elements in the country, the press release said, were inciting violence against Indian diplomats, damaging diplomatic premises, and threatening the Indian community in Canada.
The divide between India and Canada has been deepening. Especially, over support for Khalistan in Canada. In June, there was a parade float in Brampton, Ontario, depicting assassination of Indira Gandhi, that India took strong objection to. This was not the only time India has brought up the growing Khalistan sentiment in Canada.
But the expelling of diplomats is a new low between the countries and is likely to cast a long shadow over other bilateral relationships. We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister Trudeau, said White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson, according to news reports. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. For United States, this tension between India and Canada will prove to be a tightrope walk.
Trudeau is believed to have raised the issue with the UK and France. Australia too, is watching the situation closely. "Australia is deeply concerned by these allegations and notes ongoing investigations into this matter," the spokesperson for foreign minister Penny Wong said.
Modi has in no uncertain terms raised concerns with Australia on Khalistan elements and attacks on temples when Prime Minister Anthony Albanese came to India. The UK, which has witnessed violent protests by Khalistani supporters, will be watching the situation closely, concerned about the impact at home as well as on diplomatic relations.
House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden over his family's business dealings.
The hearing scheduled for September 28 is expected to focus on constitutional and legal questions that surround allegations of Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's overseas businesses, according to a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee.
Republicans, led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have contended in recent weeks that Biden's actions from his time as vice president show a culture of corruption.
The committee also plans to file subpoenas for the personal and business bank records of Hunter Biden and the president's brother James Biden as early as this week. The White House has called the effort by House Republicans in the midst of the presidential campaign extreme politics at its worst.
House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they've turned up no evidence of wrongdoing, Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said in a recent statement.
McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry last week after facing mounting pressure from his right flank to take action against Biden or risk being ousted from his leadership job. This is happening while he also is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown at the end of the month.
The California lawmaker launched the inquiry without a House vote, and it's unclear if he would even have enough support to approve it from his slim GOP majority. Some lawmakers have criticised the evidence so far as not reaching the Constitution's bar of high crimes and misdemeanours.
By expelling the Indian diplomat amid ongoing investigation into the murder of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada has taken significant step escalating tensions with India. Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said that there are "credible allegations of a potential link" of Indian government and the assassination of Nijjar.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed on June 18 outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia. Inter-gang rivalries was cited as the reason paving way for Nijjar's death.
Nijjar had affiliations with the banned Indian separatist group Sikhs of Justice (SFJ). He was known to be the second in command of the group after Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Nijjar is a native of Harsinghpur in Jalandhar, Punjab. He moved to Canada in 1996, where he initially worked as a plumber. In 2013-14 he had visited Pakistan, where he met Jagtar Singh Tara of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). His pro-khalistan activities from then had improved his financial standing as well.
In 2015, Pakistan's ISI allegedly roped him in to organise secrets training camps for Khalistani militants in Missigen Hills in British Colombia. According to intelligence reports, small arms training was also imparted in the camps.
He was also accused of working with the Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), Khalistan terrorist group, led by Tara.
Nijjar was included in a list released by the Indian government, naming 40 other designated terrorist. He was also booked in several cases in India between 2010-2016. He was booked in several cases including explosion in Patiala in 2010, plotting killings of religious leaders in 2016 and organising terror training camps on Canadian soil.
He was also detained once by the Canadian authorities after a Look out Circular (LOC) and a Red Corner Notice (RCN) were issued but he was later released.
What is known about Nijjar's death
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) received a report of a shooting at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey on June 18. Being rushed to the scene, Nijjar (45) was identified and had suffered multiple gunshot wounds inside a vehicle. According to police, Nijjar succumbed to his injuries on scene.
Later during the investigation conducted by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT), it was found that two suspects fled the murder scene in a vehicle. Investigators described the suspects as heavier set males, wearing face coverings.
Authorities later said that there was a third suspect as well. However, no arrests were made.
In July, investigators released information to the public of the believed route taken by the two suspects after the murder. Authorities later identified the vehicle which was waiting for the suspects as a Silver 2008 Toyota Camry.
Suspicions were raised by local community members that there may have been foreign interference in the murder of the Sikh separatist leader, reported Reuters.
GENEVA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The environmental rights enjoyed by human beings is a collective human right, and the management and disposal of hazardous substances is by no means a matter of a country, a Chinese expert told the ongoing 54th session of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on Tuesday.
Referring to the act of disposing hazardous substances, Li Shouping, an expert from the China Society for Human Rights Studies and a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said, "It should consider environmental, health and safety and other factors."
During a dialogue with the UN special rapporteur on human rights implications of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, Li said that the international community should take such issues seriously.
On Aug. 24, ignoring the strong doubts and opposition of the international community, the Japanese government discharged contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea.
"What Japan has done is to transfer risks to the world, to extend the pain to future generations of humanity, to make itself a destroyer of the ecological environment and a global polluter of the marine environment," he said.
Ahmedabad, Sep 19 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the premises of a foreign exchange trader in Ahmedabad and seized cash and other assets worth Rs 3.10 crore in a case of illegal forex trading, said the central agency on Tuesday.
The searches at locations linked to TP Global FX were carried out under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, (PMLA), said an ED release.
The operation led to the seizure of Rs 1.36 crore in cash, 1.2 kg of gold worth Rs 71 lakh, two luxury cars worth Rs 89 lakh and Rs 14.72 lakh in a bank account, said the release.
The financial probe agency said incriminating documents were seized during the search operation at locations associated with the firm, which had no authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for forex trading.
"The ED initiated an investigation on the basis of an FIR registered under various sections of the IPC by the Kolkata Police against M/s TM Traders and M/s KK Traders. As per the RBI, TP Global FX is neither registered with it nor does it have any authorisation from the RBI for forex trading," said the release.
The central bank had also issued an "Alert List" having the name of TP Global FX a year ago to caution people against such unauthorised trading platforms, said the release.
The ED investigation revealed that some persons linked to the company, Prasenjit Das, Shailesh Kumar Pandey, Tushar Patel and others, through various dummy firms had defrauded people under the guise of making investments in forex trading. These funds were subsequently used in purchase of movable or immovable properties for personal benefits of accused persons, the release said.
Earlier, the central agency had arrested Pandey and Das, who are currently in jail under judicial custody, and frozen Rs 121.02 crore lying in the bank accounts of the accused persons, said the release.
Properties worth Rs 118.27 crore in form of flats, vehicles, hotels and resorts have been attached and prosecution complaints filed against Pandey and Das and their trial was under progress, it said.
Further investigation was underway, said the release.
Kolkata, Sep 19 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the next edition of the business summit, scheduled in November, will focus on the MSME sector.
Banerjee, who is on a tour to Spain to attract investments in Bengal, said that there are hundreds of MSME units in the state which employ many people.
Speaking at a business event in Barcelona, the chief minister said, "The seventh edition of the Bengal Global Business Summit will focus on the MSME sector. Of course, big industries will also be there. There are hundreds of MSME units in the state which employ millions of people. Many from outside West Bengal also come to the state to work."
She said the state government wants Spain to be a partner for this year's business summit which will be held in Kolkata on November 21 and 22.
Notably, the European country had been a partner for the international book fair in Kolkata.
The chief minister also urged Spanish investors to invest in the food processing industry in the state.
"Spain is a global leader in food processing. West Bengal has great human capital with a huge talent pool. Cost of operations is low, as the state is endowed with cheap labour, uninterrupted power supply and excellent last mile connectivity," Banerjee said.
The state has a huge locational advantage as well, the CM said at the event.
West Bengal is home to top international and national companies, and a leading state in the fields of cement, iron and steel, tea, jute, FMCG, logistics and IT among others, she said.
The government wants industries to come to West Bengal as the state is one the fastest growing economies of India, Banerjee said, adding that it serves as a gateway to parts of South East Asia and the North Eastern region of the country.
"With an abundance of industrial excellence and skilled workforce, a zero-tolerance policy for strikes, a low cost of doing business, world-class infrastructure, a thriving consumer base, abundant agricultural resources, immense tourism potential and strategic geographic location, Bengal stands ready and eager to welcome investment," she wrote on Facebook.
"We believe in humanism. We believe in unity in diversity. The poorest of the poor people have to be taken care of and we provide social security to 99 per cent of the people," she said.
The CM also mentioned that the empowerment of women is very strong in West Bengal.
"We empower women of all castes and communities. Bengal is for all.
"We respect every religion. Religion is for all. Some people may believe in a particular religion, but festivals are for all", the chief minister added.
Kolkata, Sep 19 (PTI) The jute industry is concerned over a threat of a 30-50 per cent production cut in three months till November, compared to the same period last year, because of a low demand for packaging material for foodgrains from various states, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The Indian Jute Mills Association (IJMA) has appealed to the Centre for a revision in the sixth (revised) supply plan issued by the Food & Public Distribution department.
Foodgrain producers have to use jute as a packaging material to a certain extent.
"In the current jute season from September to November 2023, the actual demand indent placement is lower by 30-40 per cent. In September alone, demand indents are expected to be lower than 2.5 lakh bales against planned 3.21 lakh bales due to slow order placing by Maharashtra," IJMA Chairman Raghav Gupta told PTI.
For the months of October and November, the indents are likely to be about 1.48 lakh bales against over 2 lakh bales as per the August plans, he stated.
"But, in terms of capacity utilisation, our production cut will be to the tune of 30-50 per cent, unless indents are not revised upwards" Gupta said.
Furthermore, the sudden cancellation of indents by the Chhattisgarh government for October and November has dealt a severe blow to the industry, IJMA claimed in its presentation to the government.
As a consequence of the underutilised capacity in jute mills, manufacturers have initiated production cutbacks, a move that could significantly impact the pricing of raw jute, which is currently hovering below Minimum Support Price (MSP) levels, former IJMA chairman Sanjay Kajaria said.
The instability in raw jute prices poses a threat to farmers, who may not receive adequate compensation for their produce, especially during the upcoming new jute crop harvest, he said.
In light of these challenges, the IJMA has sought restoration of the cancelled indents by the Chhattisgarh government.
The association has also urged the advancement of orders for 2 lakh bales for the upcoming RMS 2024-25 season to November 2023.
These measures are seen as critical to ensuring the uninterrupted operation of jute mills across West Bengal during the festive season of Durga Puja.
About 2.5 lakh workers are engaged in mills that produce about Rs 7000 crore worth of jute products and the lion's share goes into food grain packaging.
New Delhi (India), September 19: Looking for a way for social media engagement to get a boost? but puzzled by how to reign in them? Then the Marketerum's SMM Panel appears to be the central hub for any social media activity.
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(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR
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New Delhi (India), September 19: oraimo, a smart accessories brand that is dedicated to and is synonymous with enhancing everyday life with a blend of practicality and style, announces their association with actress Mrunal Thakur. This move comes in a stride to broaden horizons, and oraimo is proud to associate with the national star, Mrunal Thakur. Since her debut in 2017 in films, her journey has been marked by unwavering success and iconic characters that she has breathed life into, from Sonia in Love Sonia to Sira Mahalakshmi in Sita Ramam.
oraimo is also making waves in the world of audio accessories. Their range of audio products, including headphones, earbuds, and speakers, is designed to deliver unmatched sound quality and give everyone a new world to unleash unstoppable sound. oraimo's commitment to innovation and cutting-edge technology ensures that every detail is finely tuned, from crystal-clear audio to ergonomic designs for maximum comfort.
Mrunal Thakur's collaboration with oraimo heralds a new era for the brand. This partnership underscores that smart accessories transcend mere technology; they enrich our lives in meaningful ways.
oraimo's Brand Head, Mr. Sachin Kapoor, expressed, "Our journey has always revolved around innovation, reinvigorating tech experiences. Joining forces with Mrunal Thakur showcases our belief in tech that complements personal style. This partnership reaffirms our dedication to tailoring tech to suit our lives."
oraimo has solidified its position as a trailblazer in the space of inventive, smart accessories, and this alliance seeks to resonate with national audiences through collaboration.
Sharing her thoughts, Mrunal Thakur eagerly stated, "Teaming up with oraimo, a brand that is taking immense leaps in the space of personal technology and smart accessories, is thrilling for me to be in such a space. Theyre all about unleashing unstoppable sound and spirit, delivering exceptional experiences to people. I'm excited to join the oraimo family and introduce their offerings to the world. Its an exciting world of matching smart technology with style, and I can't wait to present to the world the great product offerings that oraimo has to offer.
With this association and beyond, with their impressive array of accessories, oraimo isn't just redefining tech; they're transforming it into an extension of everyone's personality.
(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR
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New Delhi (India), September 19: You may notice many people who have patchy hair loss trying to conceal their problems in numerous ways. This is Alopecia areata, which can deeply impact the quality of life and often attract negative emotions as well. The psychological burden that a person faces when suffering from such patchy hair loss may be tremendous for a few people to handle as hair defines beauty and aesthetic standards for many seeking public or ones own approval. Therefore, several people try to find various solutions for the same, and treatment options like homeopathy are welcomed with open arms by people who have long lost hope for a physical as well as emotional recovery from alopecia.
Understanding Alopecia Areata
Alopecia areata is a kind of nonscarring hair loss that is autoimmune in nature affecting the scalp, face, and sometimes body hair resulting in small patchy hair loss. There are times when complete hair is lost from the scalp, which is termed as alopecia totalis, moreover, a complete loss of hair from the scalp, face (eyelashes, beard, eyebrows), and even entire body hair may lead to alopecia universalis. The bodys immune system destroys hair follicles as a misdirected response that may cause one or multiple bald patches. The patches may be roundish in shape and smooth when touched. In a few people, the affected part may be itchy or painful, but not in every case. Alopecia areata has a worldwide incidence of about 100-200 per 1, 00,000 people. It can affect people of all ages ranging from infancy to 80 years. The average age for occurrence of alopecia areata is around 32 years in males and 36 years in females as per a study conducted from 1990 to 2009.
The Limitations of Conventional Treatments
The use of corticosteroids, other immune-suppressants that are widely indicated may act well for a short time. But in the long run, they result in drastic side effects like depressing immune response, and adverse systemic effects. The Plasma rich protein (PRP) injections are gaining momentum these days but they are not for the needle-phobic. It is an invasive therapy and may not be suitable for all people suffering from past history of bleeding disorders, auto-immune disease, active infections, or in patients taking an anticoagulant. So, people often get hopeless from short-term relief of conventional treatment, and for some, the inherent fear of injections has limited therapies at their disposal thus, many people opt for homeopathy as it is very good for long-term betterment.
Homeopathy as a Natural Solution
Homeopathy is an incredibly safe, natural, and effective system of medicine that is based on the principle of like cures like which means that a substance causing hair loss in a healthy person may be used in a diluted form to treat the hair loss in a person with an alopecia patient. It deals with the root cause of the condition targeting the altered immune function of the individual and restoring the harmony in the body for long-standing well-being. Unlike conventional treatments that cause side effects, drug dependency, and relapses of the disease, Homeopathic treatment boosts the immune functions and can prevent relapses of hair loss and it is non-habit forming and free from any kind of side effects.
The Promise of Alopecia Areata Homeopathy Treatment
Homeopathy shows long-lasting effects as it does not treat alopecia on the surface or outside but it aims to treat the root cause of the problem. According to a 2021 study, the use of homeopathic medicine syphilinum with consistent follow-ups has given a good treatment outcome for the patient affected by alopecia areata. Various different medicines like Syphilinum, Fluoric acid, Silicea, Phosphorus, Kali carbonicum, Natrum muriaticum, etc. can be effective for patients given through a holistic approach considering the mind, body, and soul, all together.
The individual symptoms of the patient including his unique nature, characteristics, temperament, and personality are all taken into account rather than just superficial physical symptoms of the patient.
With the homeopathic alopecia treatment, there is not only physical relief from the symptoms but also the mind is at ease with the return of hair as it significantly boosts self-esteem and self-worth. There is a visible improvement in hair growth, regulation of a healthy hair cycle, and reduction of patches, along with timely and consistent follow-ups. The earlier the professional homeopathic treatment is taken, the advantages are amplified to get better healthcare outcomes. Long-standing alopecia with multiple patchy hair loss may show relatively slow improvement than alopecia treated with homeopathy of recent origin with minimal hair loss.
Success Stories
The below mentioned Testimonials illustrate the efficacy of homeopathic treatment for Alopecia Areata:
I had been suffering from alopecia areata (hair loss in patches) for more than 8-10 years. I first tried conventional medicine which involved having injections all over my head which used to cause enormous pain and heavy bleeding. I was also given tablets that were so strong they used to leave me feeling weak and tired. Then two years ago, I was introduced to Dr Batras clinic where I was put under the charge of Dr. Satish. He studied my case in great detail and then started treatment. Today, my problem has been 80% solved and there has been no recurrence. Homeopathic medicine is easy and painless to take with no side effects. I really thank Dr Batras clinic for treating me so effectively. After my experience, I have recommended Dr Batras to four more of my friends who have hair problems.
- 35 years male patient, Hyderabad clinic.
I have been a patient of alopecia areata since 1999 and had gone through many treatments for the last 10-12 years, but found no permanent solution to my problem. For the last 10 months, I have been under treatment at Dr. Batras Goa clinic. I am glad to say that I have found a good change in my problem. My alopecia patch got covered with hair and there was no side effect of the treatment, which I faced during my previous treatments. The approach and hospitality of the doctor there is very good and much appreciated. The overall cooperation of Dr Batras Goa team is very satisfactory.
- 42 year old female patient, Goa clinic.
Two years ago, I visited Dr Batras clinic for the treatment of alopecia areata with many doubts in mind and little hope because all the previous treatments had failed. Today, after two years of treatment at Dr Batras, I can vouch that the treatment is extremely effective and satisfactory. I am heartily thankful to all the doctors at the clinic. God bless you. Thanks and keep up the good work.
- 56 years old male, Ludhiana clinic.
These testimonials show that the homeopathic treatment for the disease alopecia is remarkable and very effective without any relapses and continued recovery.
Finding a Qualified Homeopath
A qualified homeopath and the hair doctor at Dr Batras examines a patients medical history meticulously to understand the underlying reasons for the hair loss problems. A detailed video-microscopy test is performed to evaluate the hair and scalp by magnifying it up to 200 times and a suitable personalized homeopathic treatment is prescribed. Different causes of hair loss require a unique approach, as every persons homeopathic treatment is individualized as per the patients personal history and symptom similarity.
Conclusion:
Dr Batras Healthcare is a trustworthy name for natural, non-invasive, non-surgical hair loss treatments. Homeopathic hair loss treatment here is natural, safe, cost-effective, and aimed toward a long-term solution. Dr Batras has successfully treated around 15 lakh hair patients with a 96.6 % success rate seen across those patients. You all can avail our treatment for alopecia even through online appointments through our website: www.drbatras.com/hair-conditions/alopecia-areata.
(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PNN and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR
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New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) After the Chandni Chowk shopping festival, a section of traders in Delhi are planning to hold such festivals for products like furniture, toys, automobiles and textiles to boost local business.
Local traders body Chamber of Trade and Industry and Chandni Chowk traders organised a shopping festival at Rangpuri on Sunday. Over 3,000 buyers from Delhi-NCR attended the day-long festival.
The Chamber of Trade and Industry in a statement said that traders from local markets like Lajpat Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, and Sadar Bazaar have requested the chamber to hold more such festivals in their respective markets.
The chamber said that it will make a proposal over the same and meet Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for holding such events.
"The CM has advised that festivals based on other markets and sectors, on the lines of Chandni Chowk shopping festival, can also be organised where buyers and sellers come together. For this, the city government will provide all possible help," CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal said in a statement.
Goyal and CTI president Subhash Khandelwal said after the traders request, it has decided to organise shopping festivals related to products like footwear, furniture, textile, automobile, and ready-made garments.
Attending the Chandni Chowk Shopping Festival, Kejriwal had said that his government will give an international identity to markets of the city through initiatives like 'Delhi Shopping Festival' and a virtual marketplace 'Delhi Bazar'.
"We will also host a grand shopping festival, similar to the Dubai Shopping Festival, which will leave its mark on the world," he said.
He said both the initiatives -- the shopping festival and Delhi Bazar -- are in the pipeline and it's taking time in planning and execution as deadlines could not be met.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is taking at least a couple of months to issue licences to trained pilots as the regulator is grappling with the shortage of staff at key positions, according to sources.
After training, individuals need to obtain a Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) to be eligible to fly commercial flights.
Sources in the civil aviation ministry said that at present, a pilot has to wait for a couple of months to get his or her licence and the pendency time is likely to go up in the coming months.
"The Directorate of Training and Licensing (DTL), under the Operations Department which deals with licensing, has a total of 129 sanctioned posts of assistant directors. Of those, 92 posts or almost 72 per cent of the total strength are lying vacant," one of the sources said.
Till July 2022, the DGCA had only 72 sanctioned posts of assistant directors. In August 2022, the ministry created 57 new posts and the sanctioned strength rose to 129 positions.
"However, DGCA has failed to initiate any process to fill the 57 newly created posts. As many as 35 old posts out of the 72 that fell vacant due to retirement or promotions of the employees are also lying vacant, the source said.
When contacted, DGCA Director General Vikram Dev Dutt did not offer any comment on the issues.
However, a senior official on the condition of anonymity said that the hiring process is tedious and time-consuming, and that is the reason for the delay in filling crucial posts.
As per the DGCA's own 'Standard of Service', after due process, a CPL has to be issued within three days.
Further, the source said the regulator published an advertisement through the Union Public Service Commission (PSC) for filling entry-level posts in airworthiness, legal and air safety areas. However, no advertisement for filling the posts in the operations cadre at the entry level for assistant directors that deal with the licensing process has been issued, the source added.
The sources at the ministry said that institutes which provide training for drone flying have to get a licence from the DGCA. Over a dozen such institutes have applied for licences but their applications are lying for approval for a considerable amount of time, they added.
"Companies that sell drones to trained pilots have to obtain a UIN (Unique Identification Number) from the DGCA for each drone. Similarly, trained drone pilots also have to get a licence from the DGCA to fly drones.
Aviation experts, who are aware of the issue, said that the pendency time in issuing licences to pilots might go up as the operations department under DTL is under the restructuring process due to which the files are moving among DGCA, the ministry and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
"So far as I know, even the higher positions such as the post of Deputy Director Generals (DDGs) are also facing severe shortage as the DGCA initiated new recruitment rules last year for these posts. Out of total 18 DDGs posts at DGCA, 9 are vacant. As many as 7 out of these 9 posts were created in August 2022," Captain SS Panesar, Ex-Director of Flight Safety and Training at Indian Airlines, said.
According to him, in the absence of recruitment rules, the feeder cadre, -- directors from legal, airworthiness, operations, flying training aircraft and engineering, among other departments, could not be promoted.
"This has also resulted in a roadblock in the career progression of all group A officers in DGCA and in future, will severely impact the aviation industry. The ministry immediately needs to fill all these technical positions with competent and highly skilled professionals," he said.
The operations department, which deals with drone licensing too, has crucial positions such as Deputy Director General (DDG), Director Operations and Deputy Director Operations remaining vacant for more than a year.
"There is pendency in all these services due to lack of officials," one of the sources said.
The sources also claimed that even Air Traffic Controllers Licensing and Aerodrome Licensing processes are also moving at a snail's pace.
* Canada expels Indian diplomat as it probes Indian govt agents' possible link to Sikh separatist leader's murder
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Pakistan rejects report claiming it sold arms to Ukraine to secure crucial IMF funding
Stories related to political developments in Pakistan.*
New York, Sep 19 (AP) President Joe Biden will use his annual address before the UN General Assembly on Tuesday to make the case to world leaders and the 2024 US electorate that he's reestablished US leadership on the world stage that he says was diminished under former President Donald Trump.
White House officials said Biden would make a robust case to members of the world body to continue to back Ukraine's effort to repel a nearly 19-month old Russian invasion that has no end in sight.
Biden previewed his thinking in a pair of fundraisers on Monday evening, telling supporters that he stood up to Vladimir Putin's invasion, and questioning whether Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner, would have even attempted to help Ukraine stop the Russian land grab if he were in power.
I will not side with dictators like Putin. Maybe Trump and his MAGA friends can bow down but I won't, Biden told supporters at a Broadway fundraiser.
There will be notable absences as the president makes his case before the General Assembly: British Prime Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin are all skipping the gathering.
For Biden, the more important audience for Tuesday's speech could be closer to home as he looks to make the case to voters that he's skilfully handled a complicated foreign policy agenda and that the experience that comes with age has proved to be an asset. It's an argument that the 80-year-old president is likely to continue to make to try to counter scepticism even in his own Democratic Party among voters who are concerned about his age.
We rallied the world to support Ukraine and united NATO because I was convinced from the beginning that Putin's counting on NATO not being able to stick together, Biden said at another Monday fundraiser. He's still trying. And our allies know once again, the United States can be counted on.
Biden's message of unwavering support for Ukraine will play out as Congress is increasingly divided over providing additional funding for Kyiv.
Biden has sought a package of USD 13.1 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine and USD 8.5 billion for humanitarian support. But conservative Republican lawmakers have been pushing for broad federal spending cuts and some of those allied with Trump are specifically looking to stop money to Ukraine.
In addition to underscoring continued US support for Ukraine, Biden is expected to touch on mobilising global resources to combat climate change and bolstering multilateral organisations to help poor and middle-income countries, according to senior administration officials.
Biden aims to send a message that Russia's invasion of Ukraine is in violation of the UN charter and to emphasise that every country has a stake in defending a nation's sovereignty, especially when it is under attack, said the officials, who previewed Biden's activities in New York this week on condition of anonymity.
After his speech, Biden will meet with Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, as well as leaders from the so-called C5 group of Central Asian nations, which include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The meeting is expected to focus on regional security, trade, climate change, ongoing reforms to improve governance and other issues.
Xi has stepped up his own courting of those countries. During his own summit in May with the Central Asian leaders, Xi promised to build more railway and other trade links with the region and proposed jointly developing oil and gas sources.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters last week that Biden's meeting with those leaders should not be seen as an effort to counterbalance Chinese influence in the region.
Look, this summit is not against any country, Sullivan said in previewing the meeting. It is for a positive agenda that we want to work through with these countries.
The officials played down the fact that the leaders of the other permanent members of the UN Security Council - the UK, France, Russia and China won't be in New York this week and instead emphasised the importance that Biden attaches to showing up at the annual diplomatic forum.
However, Biden does not plan to attend a special summit on climate that Guterres will host on Wednesday, where countries are encouraged to bring new ideas and proposals on how to further cut emissions and combat climate change.
Officials played down Biden's absence at the climate summit, saying the issue will be interspersed through the president's remarks and events throughout the week. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, is to attend in Biden's place.
Biden plans to meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Senior administration officials said the two leaders will discuss issues including Iran but declined to elaborate further.
Biden is scheduled to host talks Thursday at the White House with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. (AP)
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Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, co-chairs the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation with Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
MOSCOW, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China and Russia will work closely on strategic security cooperation, defend true multilateralism, and promote the development of global governance system in a more fair and reasonable direction, Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, said in Moscow on Tuesday.
Wang Yi and Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, on Tuesday co-chaired the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation. The two sides exchanged in-depth views on a wide range of issues related to deepening strategic cooperation between the two countries, strengthened coordination and enhanced mutual trust.
"China-Russia relations have withstood the test of the vicissitudes of the international situation and continued to develop healthily and steadily," said Wang. "The connotation of the strategic cooperation between the two countries has been continuously enriched, and the quality of pragmatic cooperation has been continuously improved."
Wang noted that as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and responsible major countries, China and Russia work closely together on the international stage to jointly defend true multilateralism, oppose various practices of power bullying, and promote the development of the global governance system in a more fair and reasonable direction.
Wang stressed that the China-Russia strategic security consultation mechanism, as an important part of the comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between the two countries in the new era, reflects the depth of political mutual trust and the breadth of strategic coordination between China and Russia.
"Since the establishment of the mechanism, the two sides have maintained close communication and positive interaction, effectively safeguarded common interests, and contributed wisdom to global strategic stability and the resolution of regional hot issues," Wang said. "The two sides firmly support each other on issues involving each other's core interests, demonstrating the due meaning of a comprehensive strategic partnership."
"We are willing to work with Russia to fundamentally follow the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, further release the effectiveness of the mechanism, and make greater contribution to safeguarding the national security of the two countries and promoting world peace and stability," he added.
Patrushev said that since the beginning of this year, under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, Russia-China relations have developed steadily and practical cooperation has been advanced in an orderly manner.
"Both sides always respect and support each other. Faced with the challenges of rapid changes in the international security situation and frequent conflicts, Russia and China are not subject to external influence and interference, adhere to independence, and strengthen strategic coordination, demonstrating the unique value of comprehensive strategic partnership," said Patrushev.
Russia firmly supports China's legitimate stance on Taiwan and on issues related to Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong, and opposes Western interference in China's internal affairs, Patrushev said, adding that Russia highly appreciates and supports the three major global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping and is willing to jointly promote stability and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world.
The two sides agreed to hold China-Russia strategic stability consultation at an appropriate time and strengthen cooperation in law enforcement security, non-proliferation, and global governance of emerging technologies.
The two sides will also continue to strengthen collaboration under multilateral frameworks such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS mechanism.
Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, co-chairs the 18th round of China-Russia strategic security consultation with Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, in Moscow, Russia, Sept. 19, 2023. (Xinhua/Cao Yang)
Derna (Libya), Sep 19 (AP) The prime minister of Libyan's eastern administration said on Tuesday that authorities have divided the flood-stricken city of Derna into four sections to create buffers in case of disease outbreaks, a day after thousands of angry protesters demanded the city's rapid reconstruction.
Last week, two dams collapsed during Mediterranean storm Daniel, sending a wall of water gushing through Derna. Government officials and aid agencies have given death tolls ranging from about 4,000 to 11,000.
"Now the affected areas are completely isolated, the armed forces and the government have begun creating a buffer out of fear of the spread of diseases or epidemics," Prime Minister Ossama Hamad said in a telephone interview with Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV. No further details were given.
On Monday, the United Nations warned that a disease outbreak could create a second devastating crisis.
Libyan protesters gathered in central Derna on Monday in the first mass demonstration since the flood. Outside the city's al-Shabana mosque thousands called for a rapid investigation into the disaster, the urgent reconstruction of the city and other demands.
On Monday evening, the former mayor of the city, Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, said his home was set on fire by protesters. Public prosecutors opened an investigation on Saturday into the collapse of the two dams, built in the 1970s, as well as the allocation of maintenance funds for them. That same day al-Gaithi was suspended pending the investigation.
Many of the city's residents see politicians as the architects of the crisis. The country has been divided between rival administrations since 2014. Both are backed by international patrons and armed militias whose influence in the country has ballooned since a NATO-backed Arab Spring uprising toppled autocratic ruler Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
Both authorities have deployed humanitarian teams to the city but have struggled to respond to the large-scale disaster. The recovery operation, with help from international teams, has been poorly coordinated, and residents say aid distribution has been uneven.
Conflicting death tolls and statistics have been released by various official bodies.
Libya's Red Crescent has said at least 11,300 people have been killed and an additional 10,000 are missing. After earlier reporting the same death toll, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is now citing far lower numbers, about 4,000 people killed and 9,000 missing. (AP) PY
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Ramstein Air Base (Germany), Sep 19 (AP) Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allied leaders on Tuesday to dig deep" and provide more air defence systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles.
But while the allies said they will discuss how they can best help Ukraine's counteroffensive, they appeared no closer to commitments on the longer-range missiles that Kyiv's leaders insist they need.
Air defence is saving lives, Austin said as he opened the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at Ramstein air base in Germany.
So I urge this group to continue to dig deep on ground-based air defence for Ukraine. We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defence systems and interceptors.
The group is made up of the defense and military leaders from more than 50 nations and is the main forum for raising contributions of weapons, other equipment and training for Kyiv's war effort. It meets about once a month, in person and virtually, and this is the 15th gathering.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly pushed for the longer-distance weapons. Proponents have argued that Ukrainian forces need to be able to strike Russian troops and facilities while still staying out of range.
But the US has continued to balk, expressing longstanding worries that Kyiv could use the weapons to hit deep into Russian territory and enrage Moscow. The Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, could give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets from as far away as about 180 miles (300 kilometers), but the US also has other variants of the missile that have a shorter range.
Speaking before the meeting began, Bill Blair, the Canadian defence minister, told reporters that the allies are listening to Ukrainian leaders' descriptions of their military needs and are discussing new and important ways to help bolster the ongoing counteroffensive.
Austin said the 31 M1 Abrams tanks promised months ago will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as has been expected. A defence official said they have arrived in Europe and will begin crossing the border into Ukraine within the coming days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the precise location of the tanks is sensitive.
Ukrainian troops began training on similar tanks in June, while the ones arriving soon were being refurbished in the US.
Defence leaders are working to continue what they say is unbowed support of Ukraine, despite growing worries that public and international government backing for the war, which is well into its second year, may be starting to wane.
Zelenskyy will be in Washington, DC, later this week to meet with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in a move to shore up support for continued American funding and weapons. The visit comes as there is a growing partisan divide in Congress over continued Ukraine funding.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he wants more aid for Ukraine to be debated on its own merits as a standalone bill, rather than attaching it to other priorities like government funding. But Senate leaders want to combine the aid with other priorities, such as a short-term spending bill that will likely be needed to avoid a shutdown at the end of September.
Nations have been pouring millions of rounds of artillery and other weapons into Ukraine, but worry that their stockpiles are shrinking and the defence industry is struggling to boost production lines. At the same time, Ukrainian forces have been making slow progress breaking through Russian battle lines in a counteroffensive that has not moved as quickly or as well as initially hoped.
Ukraine's recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group," Austin said at the Ramstein opening. "And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battles and for the long road ahead.
Military leaders, including Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have pushed back on the criticism that the offensive has moved too slowly, arguing that Ukraine troops are making steady progress in a difficult fight.
This, Milley has said, is real war and Ukrainian forces are carefully pushing their way through large and deadly Russian minefields.
At the close of a meeting of NATO military chiefs on Saturday, Adm. Rob Bauer of the Netherlands, who chairs the alliance's Military Committee, acknowledged that nations have to weigh the risks of providing Ukraine more weapons without risking their own security needs.
The Ramstein meeting also marks Milley's final session as US joint chiefs chairman. He will retire at the end of the month, at the close of four years on the job. (AP) PY
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Toronto, Sep 19 (PTI) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he was not looking to "provoke" India or "escalate" tensions, but urged New Delhi to take the killing of a Sikh separatist leader with the "utmost seriousness".
Trudeau's comments came hours after Canada and India expelled a senior diplomat each following his allegations about the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
He said the Indian government needs to "take this matter with the utmost seriousness".
"We are doing that. We are not looking to provoke or escalate," he told reporters. "We want to work with the government of India to lay everything clear and to ensure there are proper processes."
Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
In a speech to the House of Commons on Monday, Trudeau said Canadian security agencies have been "actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar."
After Trudeaus remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat."
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Jolys remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeaus claims, calling them "absurd and motivated". The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
"Allegations of the Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated," the MEA said in a statement on Tuesday in New Delhi.
"Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected," it said.
Canada-based Nijjar was designated a 'terrorist' by India under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020 and his property in the country was attached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in September 2020.
Interpol Red Corner Notice was also issued against him in 2016. The local police of Surrey had also put Nijjar under house arrest temporarily in 2018 on suspicion of his terror involvement but he was released later.
Bilateral ties between India and Canada have been tense in recent months. Trade talks have been derailed and Canada just cancelled trade talks.
Washington, Sept 19 (PTI) The US on Tuesday said it is "deeply concerned" about the allegations made by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on India's involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in Surrey, and urged New Delhi to "cooperate" with Canberra in the investigation of the incident.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India's most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau on Monday alleged the involvement of "agents of the Indian government" in the killing, claims outrightly rejected by New Delhi as "absurd" and "motivated".
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by PM Trudeau yesterday. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners, a State Department spokesperson told PTI.
It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We urge the Indian government to cooperate in the Canadian investigation and ensure that those responsible are held to account," the spokesperson said in response to a question.
"Over the past number of weeks, Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said Monday in a speech to the House of Commons.
After Trudeaus remarks in Parliament, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly confirmed that she has ordered the expulsion of "a senior Indian diplomat".
Reacting sharply to the allegations and Jolys remarks, India on Tuesday rejected Trudeaus claims, calling them "absurd and motivated".
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has also asked a Canadian diplomat to leave India within the next five days.
The decision (to expel a Canadian diplomat) reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities, the MEA said in New Delhi.
Jaipur, Sep 19 (PTI) Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, and senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje on Tuesday expressed grief over the demise of veteran journalist Manoj Mathur.
Mishra termed the journalist's death "heartbreaking" and prayed to God to give peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear the "great loss".
In a post on X, Gehlot said, "I pay tribute to senior journalist Manoj Mathur. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and courage to the family."
Raje, the former chief minister of Rajasthan, said Mathur's demise is a big loss for the world of journalism.
"The news of the demise of senior journalist Manoj Mathur was very hurtful. Apart from being a good journalist, he was also a good-hearted and honest person," Raje posted on X.
She prayed to God to give peace to the departed soul and provide strength to the family.
New Delhi, Sep 19 (PTI) The Delhi BJP welcomed the introduction of the women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha on Ganesha Chaturthi on Tuesday, terming it a Raksha Bandhan "return gift" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the women of the country.
Meeting a long-pending demand, the government on Tuesday introduced the bill to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
"By bringing the women's reservation bill on Ganesh Chaturthi, the Prime Minister has given a return gift of Raksha Bandhan to the women of India," Delhi BJP women office-bearers said in a statement after their meeting.
The party leaders, including general secretary Kamaljeet Sehrawat, secretary Bansuri Swaraj and Mahila Morcha president Richa Pandey Mishra among others, thanked the prime minister.
A resolution was passed in the meeting lauding the prime minister's decision to make the women's reservation bill the first to be introduced in the new Parliament building.
"This Bill will bring a significant change in the lives of women of India," said the statement.
Delhi BJP media cell head Praveen Shankar Kapoor slammed AAP leader Atishi, saying she and other leaders of her party were in a state of "political shock" after the introduction of the bill.
Atishi had alleged that the women's reservation bill was the BJP's attempt to befool women ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a press conference, she alleged that the BJP is not interested in the wellbeing and welfare of women. "A closer reading of the provisions of the bill shows that it is 'Mahila Bewakoof Banao' bill," she charged.
Kapoor hit back at Atishi, saying, "The AAP is in a state of political shock by the introduction of Women Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha, and its leaders like Atishi are trying to raise the bogey over timing of its implementation."
Such leaders know they cannot stop the prime minister from getting the Bill passed, and are therefore trying to "mislead" the people, he charged.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Virender Babbar said the bill will ensure that women of the country finally attain their full rights.
Westerly, RI (02891)
Today
Cloudy in the morning, then off and on rain showers during the afternoon hours. High 48F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Tonight
Clear skies. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Chinas military sent 103 warplanes toward Taiwan in a 24-hour period in what the islands defense ministry called a recent new high.
The planes were detected between 6 a.m. on Sunday and 6 a.m. on Monday, the ministry said. As is customary, they turned back before reaching Taiwan. Chinese warplanes fly toward the self-governing island on a near-daily basis but typically in smaller numbers. The Taiwan ministry didnt explain what time period it meant by a recent high.
China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has conducted increasingly large military drills in the air and waters around Taiwan as tensions have grown between the two and with the United States. The U.S. is Taiwans main supplier of arms and opposes any attempt to change Taiwans status by force.
The Chinese government would prefer that Taiwan come under its control voluntarily and last week unveiled a plan for an integrated development demonstration zone in Fujian province, trying to entice Taiwanese even as it threatens the island militarily in what experts say is Chinas long-running carrot and stick approach.
The recent actions may be an attempt to sway Taiwans presidential election in January. The governing Democratic Progressive Party, which leans toward formal independence for the island, is anathema to the Chinese leadership. China favors opposition candidates who advocate working with the mainland.
The presidential candidates had no immediate comment Monday on the latest Chinese military activity.
Taiwans Defense Ministry said 40 of the planes crossed the symbolic median line between mainland China and the island. They included more than 30 fighter jets as well as midair refueling tanker planes. Taiwan also reported nine Chinese naval vessels in area waters in the previous 24 hours.
The ministry called the Chinese military action harassment that it warned could escalate in the current tense atmosphere. We urge the Beijing authorities to bear responsibility and immediately stop such kind of destructive military activities, it said in a statement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, asked about the reported military activity, said there is no such thing as a median line because Taiwan is part of Chinese territory.
China last week sent a flotilla of ships including the aircraft carrier Shandong into waters near Taiwan. The drills came shortly after the U.S. and Canada sailed warships through the Taiwan Strait, the waters that separate the island from the mainland.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the Communists took control of China during a civil war. The losing Nationalists fled to Taiwan and set up their own government on the island.
Only a few foreign nations give the island official diplomatic recognition. The U.S. among others has formal ties with China while maintaining a representative office in Taiwan.
(AP)
People mourn Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on Sept. 19, 2023. At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military confirmed in a statement that the military carried out an operation in the Jenin refugee camp, a militant stronghold located in the northern West Bank, adding that "an IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Maoz drone struck the area."
The forces arrested two Palestinians suspected of involvement in attacks against Israelis. No casualties were reported among the Israeli troops, said the spokesperson.
In a press statement sent to Xinhua, Palestine's Ramallah-based Health Ministry also confirmed that "three bodies of young men and 30 injured people were transferred to the local hospital in Jenin," without revealing the identity of the killed.
Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that the Israeli army stormed the Jenin refugee camp and surrounded the house of Mohammed Abu al-Bahaa, a militant of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed organization affiliated with the Fatah party.
They added that Israeli drones carried out airstrikes in the area.
The Jenin-based Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and Jenin Brigades, an armed unit comprised of fighters from different militant groups, said in separate statements that their militants were involved in heavy military clashes with the Israeli army, without providing further details.
Israel's Army Radio reported that "riots" began as the troops entered the refugee camp, with Israeli troops trading gunfire with armed Palestinians.
Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that army troops and agents with the Shin Bet internal security agency got involved in the raid that aims to "thwart terrorist activities."
Earlier in the day, a 25-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli gunfire near the fence in the Gaza Strip in a protest that began after Israel shut down the Erez Crossing, the only pedestrian crossing between Israel and the besieged Palestinian enclave.
It was the latest violence amid a year and a half of escalating tensions mainly caused by frequent Israeli raids in the West Bank.
People gather around bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on Sept. 19, 2023. At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
People mourn Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on Sept. 19, 2023. At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
People gather around bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli raid, at a hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, on Sept. 19, 2023. At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua)
A man inspects the damages after an Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin, Sept. 20, 2023. At least three Palestinians were killed and 30 others injured in an Israeli raid involving a drone attack in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday night, according to media reports and sources of Israel and Palestine. (Photo by Nidal Eshtayeh/Xinhua)
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, a son of former Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, pleaded not guilty in Chicago on Monday to U.S. drug trafficking, money laundering and other charges during his first court appearance since being extradited to the U.S. from Mexico.
Guzman Lopez was extradited on Friday, five months after U.S. prosecutors unsealed sprawling indictments against him and his brothers, known collectively as the Chapitos. The indictments allege that following their fathers extradition and eventual life sentence in the U.S. in 2019, the brothers steered the cartel increasingly into synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and the powerful opioid fentanyl.
During Mondays 15-minute arraignment with a larger-than-usual contingent of security inside the courtroom, Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty through a translator. He stood before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in an orange jumpsuit and matching orange slippers, with his legs shacked at the ankles.
The short, slight 33-year-old, whose nickname is the Mouse, hunched forward, answering questions from the judge softly and politely, presenting a picture that sharply contrasted with the reputation for extreme violence of the cartel he allegedly helps lead.
His arrest by Mexican security forces in January in Culiacan the capital of Sinaloa state, the cartels namesake set off violence that left 30 people dead, including 10 military personnel. Mexicos army used Black Hawk helicopter gunships against the cartels truck-mounted .50-caliber machine guns. Cartel gunmen hit two military aircraft, forcing them to land, and sent gunmen to the citys airport, where military and civilian aircraft were hit by gunfire.
Three years earlier, the government tried to capture him, but aborted the operation after similar violence.
The U.S. indictments against the brothers that were unsealed in April said their goal was to produce huge quantities of fentanyl and sell it at the lowest price. The brothers denied the allegations in a letter.
We have never produced, manufactured or commercialized fentanyl nor any of its derivatives, the letter said. We are victims of persecution and have been made into scapegoats.
When Coleman asked Guzman Lopez on Monday if he was on medication, he said he was for depression, anxiety and a stomach ailment but that it didnt impede his ability to understand the proceedings.
Some of the five charges against Guzman Lopez carry maximum life sentences, including conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to distribute them. A conviction on one of the counts, engaging in an illegal enterprise as a leader, carries a mandatory life sentence. Money laundering has a maximum 20-year sentence.
Coleman set Nov. 17 as the next court date for Guzman Lopez.
Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall said in statement Friday that the extradition of Guzman Lopez is testament to the significance of the ongoing cooperation between the American and Mexican governments on countering narcotics and other vital challenges. Sherwood-Randall made multiple visits to Mexico this year to meet with President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador, most recently last month.
Lopez Obrador has described his country as a transit point for fentanyl precursors coming from China and bound for the U.S., despite assertions by the U.S. government and his own military about production in Mexico.
(AP)
Authorities in Hawaii have adjusted the number of deaths from the deadly Maui wildfire down to at least 97 people.
Officials previously said they believed at least 115 people had died in the fire, but further testing showed they had multiple DNA samples from some of the victims. The number of those who are missing also fell from 41 to 31, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.
John Byrd, laboratory director with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said during a news conference Friday afternoon that the current number of dead should be considered a minimum, because its possible that toll could rise.
Determining the death toll from the Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina has been especially complicated because of the damage caused by the fire and the chaos as people tried to escape, officials said. In some cases, animal remains were inadvertently collected along with human remains.
So far, 74 of the deceased have been positively identified, Pelletier said.
The Lahaina fire is the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. Caught in a hellscape, some residents died in their cars, while others jumped into the ocean or tried to run for safety. The blaze reduced much of the historic town to ash.
When the fire broke out, people ran together, they huddled together, said Dr. Jeremy Stuelpnagel, Maui County physicians coroner. Theyre holding each other in those moments. Some of them were even holding pets. Because of this, some remains arrived commingled.
Byrd said the initial death tally was too high for several reasons, adding that the lower tally now was the normal and natural progression of the long-term forensics investigation.
We look at body bags that come in and we do an initial inventory and we assess how many people are represented there, he said. When you do the first tally of all those that have come in, the number tends to be too high because as you begin to do more analysis and examination you realize that actually youve got two bags that were the same person or you have two bags that were the same two people but you didnt realize that.
The numbers start a little too high on the morgue side and eventually settles until at some point its going to be a final accurate number. I would say were not quite there yet, Byrd said.
Only people who have had a missing person report filed for them with the Maui Police Department are on the verified missing list, Pelletier said. If a missing person report hasnt been filed for someone more than five weeks after the fire, then that person probably isnt actually missing, the chief said.
Stuelpnagel wasnt supposed to start in his new role until October. But he sped up his start date and arrived on Maui from New York City soon after the fire. Until he arrived, Mauis medical examiner duties were shared with other counties.
When this happened it was time to drop everything and come here, he said.
Stuelpnagel said people working on the identification process are trying to reunify people to have them as whole as theyre able to be, before the remains are returned to their loved ones.
The work to reunite fire victims with families involves more than just DNA tests, officials said. Anthropologists are assisting, and officials are gathering clues from dental work and medical devices like pacemakers when possible.
Authorities expressed relief at having a better grasp on the number of dead and those still unaccounted for in the wildfire.
For the very first time we legitimately have a chance to identify every single person we lost and to reunite them with their family, Pelletier said. And so in the midst of all this tragedy, theres a little ray of hope right there and so that really is incredible.
(AP)
Americans detained for years in Iran arrived home Tuesday, tearfully hugged their loved ones and declared Freedom! after being let go as part of a politically risky deal that saw President Joe Biden agree to the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets.
The prisoners landed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with clapping and cheers heard in the predawn hours. Siamak Namazi, the first off the jet, paused for a moment, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leaving the plane. Loved ones, some holding small American flags, enveloped them in hugs and exchanged greetings in English and Farsi, the main language of Iran.
The nightmare is finally over, Namazis brother, Babak, said at the airport.
We havent had this moment is over eight years, he added, his arm around his brother and his formerly detained father, Baquer, who had been earlier released by Iran. Its unbelievable.
The former prisoners later posed for a group photograph with their families, calling out: Freedom!
The successful negotiations for the Americans freedom brought Biden profuse thanks from their families but heat from Republican presidential rivals and other opponents for the monetary arrangement with one of Americas top adversaries.
Today, five innocent Americans who were imprisoned in Iran are finally coming home, the Democratic president said in a statement released as the plane carrying the group from Tehran landed in Doha, Qatar, on Monday.
Irans hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, on hand for the United Nations General Assembly in New York, suggested the exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
It can definitely help in building trust, Raisi told journalists.
However, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the U.S. and Iran, which are locked in disputes over Tehrans nuclear program and other matters. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
The prisoner release unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf, with the possibility of U.S. troops boarding and guarding commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of all oil shipments pass.
After the plane slowed to a stop in Doha, three of the prisoners Siamak Namazi, Emad Sharghi and Morad Tahbaz emerged.
They hugged the U.S. ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and others. The three then threw their arms over one anothers shoulders and walked off toward the airport.
In a statement issued on his behalf, Namazi said: I would not be free today, if it wasnt for all of you who didnt allow the world to forget me.
Thank you for being my voice when I could not speak for myself and for making sure I was heard when I mustered the strength to scream from behind the impenetrable walls of Evin Prison, he said.
The United States did not immediately identify the other two freed Americans. All were released in exchange for five Iranians in U.S. custody and for the deal over the frozen Iranian assets owed by South Korea. The Biden administration said the five freed Iranians pose no threat to U.S. national security.
Two of the imprisoned Americans family members, Effie Namazi and Vida Tahbaz, who had been under travel bans in Iran, also were on the plane.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said two of the Iranian prisoners will stay in the U.S. Meanwhile, Nour News, a website believed to be close to Irans security apparatus, said two of the Iranian prisoners were in Doha for the swap.
Nour News identified the two in Doha as: Mehrdad Ansari, an Iranian sentenced by the U.S. to 63 months in prison in 2021 for obtaining equipment that could be used in missiles, electronic warfare, nuclear weapons and other military gear, and Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, an Iranian charged in 2021 over allegedly unlawfully exporting laboratory equipment to Iran.
The $5.9 billion in cash released to Iran represents money South Korea owed Iran but had not yet paid for oil purchased before the U.S. imposed sanctions on such transactions in 2019.
The U.S. maintains that, once in Qatar, the money will be held in restricted accounts to be used only for humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food. Those transactions are currently allowed under American sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic over its advancing nuclear program.
Iranian government officials have largely concurred, though some hard-liners have insisted, without evidence, that there would be no restrictions on how Tehran spends the money.
The deal has already opened Biden to fresh criticism from Republicans and others who say the administration is helping boost the Iranian economy at a time when Iran poses a growing threat to American troops and Mideast allies. That could have implications in his re-election campaign.
Former President Donald Trump, currently the lead Republican challenger in that race, called it an absolutely ridiculous deal on the Truth Social social media site. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell accused Biden of rewarding and incentivizing Tehrans bad behavior.
Biden held what the White House described as an emotional phone call with the families of the freed Americans after their release.
In his statement, Biden demanded more information on what happened to Bob Levinson, an American who went missing years ago. The Biden administration also announced fresh sanctions on former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence.
The U.S. government, the prisoners families and activists have denounced the charges against the five Americans as baseless.
The Americans included Namazi, who was detained in 2015 and later sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges; Sharghi, a venture capitalist sentenced to 10 years; and Tahbaz, a British-American conservationist of Iranian descent who was arrested in 2018 and also received a 10-year sentence.
In a statement, Sharghis sister, Neda, said she cant wait to hug my brother and never let him go.
This is my brother, not an abstract policy, she added. We are talking about human lives. There is nothing partisan about saving the lives of innocent Americans and today should be a moment of American unity as we welcome them home.
Iran and the U.S. have a history of prisoner swaps dating back to the 1979 U.S. Embassy takeover and hostage crisis following the Islamic Revolution.
(AP)
Hunter Biden has gone on the offensive against his Republican critics, arguing in a new lawsuit that although he is the son of the president of the United States, he shouldnt be treated differently than any other American.
The lawsuit against the IRS is only the latest in a series of counterpunches by the presidents son. But while Hunter Bidens lawyers might think that an aggressive approach is the best legal strategy for Biden the son, that might not be whats best for Biden the father as he seeks reelection and tries to keep the public focused on his policy achievements.
The president has had little to say about his sons legal woes which now include a felony indictment beyond that Hunter did nothing wrong and he loves his son. The White House strategy has been to keep the elder Biden head-down and focused on governing, reasoning that thats what voters will prioritize, while working to keep Hunters troubles at arms distance.
Theres one hopeful school of thought among the presidents allies that even if all the headlines about Hunter Biden arent a plus for the presidents reelection campaign, the legal process could ultimately clear the air in a positive way.
Obviously, the White House and Hunters teams are looking at it from different perspectives, said Democratic political strategist David Brock. Its important for the facts to reach the public, and when that happens, I think ultimately thats beneficial to the president.
But privately, some Democrats are concerned that Hunter Bidens legal problems could harm Biden heading into 2024 and pose difficulties for Democrats in tight House races, according to people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The lawsuit that Hunter Biden filed Monday against the IRS maintains that two agents who testified as whistleblowers violated his privacy by publicly disclosing his tax data as part of a probe by House Republicans into his business dealings.
Hunter Bidens team last week sued a former Donald Trump aide over his alleged role in publishing emails and embarrassing images of the younger Biden. And his team also has asked state and federal agencies to open a criminal probe into Trump allies for accessing and spreading his personal data.
Hunter Biden agreed in June to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and avert prosecution on a gun charge by enrolling in a diversion program. But the agreement unraveled following a July 26 court hearing that was meant to end the case, and the younger Biden was then indicted for a felony weapons charge.
His legal woes have increasingly complicated matters for the president, who also faces an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans seeking to link the president to the business dealings of his son. While Hunter Biden did broker on his family name in business dealings, Republicans have so far unearthed no significant evidence of wrongdoing by the elder Biden, who spoke often to his son as vice president and did stop by a business dinner with his sons associates.
Biden hasnt had much to say about the impeachment drive. And he also has kept his distance from the Justice Department prosecutions of both his son and Donald Trump.
Now, Hunter Biden could be heading to trial in the midst of his fathers reelection effort. That suits Republicans, who are eager to distract from the multiple criminal indictments of Trump, the early GOP primary front-runner, whose trials could be unfolding at the same time.
Hunter Bidens allies have argued the plea deal fell through in part because Justice Department officials bowed to pressure from Republicans who claimed he was getting a sweetheart deal to end a five-year investigation into his tax and business dealings.
This is just the beginning and far from the end of Hunter and his team going on offense and fighting back, said Michael LaRosa, a former special assistant to the president.
Their previous strategy of being unresponsive has only led to Republicans filling a void with disinformation, smears, lies, and conspiracy theories that have severely damaged the presidents image and reputation, as you can see in poll after poll. Somebody has to be out there correcting the record and fighting back, LaRosa said.
Polling reflects the impact on the president of the drumbeat of negative headlines.
Roughly 1 in 3 Americans are highly concerned about whether Joe Biden may have committed wrongdoing related to his sons business dealings, according to a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About half of Americans say they have little or no confidence that the Justice Department is handling its investigation into Hunter Biden in a fair and nonpartisan way.
The political divide on these points is stark: 66% of Republicans and just 7% of Democrats are very or extremely concerned about whether Joe Biden committed wrongdoing when it comes to his sons business dealings.
The headlines are likely to continue given the impeachment inquiry thats just ramping up and the special counsels decision to file federal gun charges against Hunter Biden.
He is accused of lying on the forms he completed to buy a gun when he stated that he wasnt a drug user at the time of the purchase. Hunter Biden, according to his memoir, tumbled into drug addiction after the death of his older brother, Beau, in 2015.
Earlier this year Hunter Biden hired high-profile attorney Abbe Lowell, a legal heavyweight known for also representing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump.
Shortly after, the criminal referral was requested. In March, Hunter Biden sued a Delaware-based computer repairman who was said to have a laptop that belonged to the presidents son and who disseminated data from it. Five days ago, he sued the Trump aide over the publishing of the data. And on Monday, he sued the IRS.
Mr. Biden has no fewer or lesser rights than any other American citizen, and no government agency or government agent has free rein to violate his rights simply because of who he is, the lawsuit against the IRS states.
Prosecutions for lying on a federal gun application are uncommon, particularly when theres no allegation that the gun was bought to carry out a crime, experts said. There are also questions about the constitutionality of the federal ban on gun possession by people who use drugs in light of a Supreme Court ruling that expanded gun rights.
Hunter Bidens lawyers have signaled they will try to argue that an agreement sparing him prosecution on a felony gun charge should remain in place even though the plea deal on misdemeanor tax offenses largely unraveled.
If the case goes to trial, it could be a tough sell to a jury.
Addiction is something that touches a lot of Americans and the notion that this person who was in trouble with drug use and for 11 days owned a firearm that was never used for anything whatsoever, thats not going to sit well at a federal felony criminal trial with a lot of jurors, said Jennifer Rodgers, a former federal prosecutor.
And it is not even touching on the issue of whether people think that he is being prosecuted because hes Hunter Biden, she said.
(AP)
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin urged allied defense leaders Tuesday to dig deep and provide more air defense systems for Ukraine, to help the country block increasing barrages of Russian missiles.
But while the allies said they will discuss how they can best help Ukraines counteroffensive, they appeared no closer to commitments on the longer-range missiles that Kyivs leaders insist they need.
Air defense is saving lives, Austin said as he opened the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein air base in Germany. So I urge this group to continue to dig deep on ground-based air defense for Ukraine. We must continue to push hard to provide Ukraine with air-defense systems and interceptors.
The group is made up of the defense and military leaders from more than 50 nations and is the main forum for raising contributions of weapons, other equipment and training for Kyivs war effort. It meets about once a month, in person and virtually, and this is the 15th gathering.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly pushed for the longer-distance weapons. Proponents have argued that Ukrainian forces need to be able to strike Russian troops and facilities while still staying out of range.
But the U.S. has continued to balk, expressing longstanding worries that Kyiv could use the weapons to hit deep into Russian territory and enrage Moscow. The Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS, could give Ukraine the ability to strike Russian targets from as far away as about 180 miles (300 kilometers), but the U.S. also has other variants of the missile that have a shorter range.
Speaking before the meeting began, Bill Blair, the Canadian defense minister, told reporters that the allies are listening to Ukrainian leaders descriptions of their military needs and are discussing new and important ways to help bolster the ongoing counteroffensive.
Austin said the 31 M1 Abrams tanks promised months ago will soon begin arriving in Ukraine, as has been expected. A defense official said they have arrived in Europe and will begin crossing the border into Ukraine within the coming days. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the precise location of the tanks is sensitive.
Ukrainian troops began training on similar tanks in June, while the ones arriving soon were being refurbished in the U.S.
Defense leaders are working to continue what they say is unbowed support of Ukraine, despite growing worries that public and international government backing for the war, which is well into its second year, may be starting to wane.
Zelenskyy will be in Washington, D.C., later this week to meet with President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in a move to shore up support for continued American funding and weapons. The visit comes as there is a growing partisan divide in Congress over continued Ukraine funding.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has told reporters that he wants more aid for Ukraine to be debated on its own merits as a standalone bill, rather than attaching it to other priorities like government funding. But Senate leaders want to combine the aid with other priorities, such as a short-term spending bill that will likely be needed to avoid a shutdown at the end of September.
Nations have been pouring millions of rounds of artillery and other weapons into Ukraine, but worry that their stockpiles are shrinking and the defense industry is struggling to boost production lines. At the same time, Ukrainian forces have been making slow progress breaking through Russian battle lines in a counteroffensive that has not moved as quickly or as well as initially hoped.
Ukraines recent gains also hinge on the crucial capabilities provided by the members of this Contact Group, Austin said at the Ramstein opening. And our shared commitment will be vital during the current battles and for the long road ahead.
Military leaders, including Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have pushed back on the criticism that the offensive has moved too slowly, arguing that Ukraine troops are making steady progress in a difficult fight. This, Milley has said, is real war and Ukrainian forces are carefully pushing their way through large and deadly Russian minefields.
At the close of a meeting of NATO military chiefs on Saturday, Adm. Rob Bauer of the Netherlands, who chairs the alliances Military Committee, acknowledged that nations have to weigh the risks of providing Ukraine more weapons without risking their own security needs.
The Ramstein meeting also marks Milleys final session as U.S. joint chiefs chairman. He will retire at the end of the month, at the close of four years on the job.
(AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he trusts Russia as much he trusts the West.
Explaining his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdogan said he had failed to get him to resume the Black Sea grain deal the Kremlin withdrew from in July but had elicited a pledge for Russia to supply 1 million tons of grain to Africa.
I have no reason not to trust them, Erdogan said during an interview late Monday with U.S. broadcaster PBS in New York, where he is attending the U.N. General Assembly.
To the extent the West is reliable, Russia is equally reliable. For the last 50 years, we have been waiting at the doorstep of the EU and, at this moment in time, I trust Russia just as much as I trust the West.
Ankara has maintained close ties with both Russia and Ukraine during the 19-month war. In July last year, Turkey and the U.N. engineered a deal to allow Ukrainian grain to be safely shipped from its Black Sea ports, helping alleviate a global food crisis.
Moscow pulled out of the agreement two months ago, claiming a parallel deal to allow its exports of foodstuffs and fertilizer had not been honored.
Erdogan is visiting New York four months after winning elections that extended his 20-year rule for another five years. His fresh mandate has seen signs of an improvement in Ankaras often fractious relationship with the West.
Speaking at an event on Monday, the Turkish leader appeared to roll back comments he made immediately prior to his departure for New York, in which he suggested Turkey could end its 24-year bid for European Union membership.
We see that a window of opportunity has opened for the revitalization of Turkey-European Union relations in a critical period, Erdogan said, according to a text of the meeting published by his office.
We continue to emphasize the importance of revitalizing Turkeys EU accession process.
Erdogan also indicated improving ties with Washington, which have recently focused on Ankaras approval of Swedens NATO membership application and a possible deal to supply Turkey with F-16 fighter jets.
We are pleased with the development of our cooperation with the U.S., Erdogan said. We have resolved most of the deadlocks during the talks with Mr. Biden and we have decided to hold more talks in line with the positive agenda.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members not to have approved Swedens bid to join the defense alliance, which Stockholm made following Russias invasion of Ukraine. The issue is due to be debated by the Turkish parliament when it returns from recess next month.
Some members of the U.S. Congress have indicated the provision of F-16s to update Turkeys fighter fleet is dependent on Ankara agreeing to Swedens NATO membership.
But Erdogan reiterated that these two topics shouldnt be related although he said the decision on Sweden lies with the Turkish parliament, where his party and its allies hold a majority.
If the parliament doesnt make a positive decision about this bid, then theres nothing to do, he told PBS.
Erdogan also drew a line between Swedens NATO bid and Turkeys EU accession. In July, however, he called on EU member states to open the way for Turkey in return for Swedens path to NATO to be cleared.
He told PBS on Monday that Swedens position and our current position within the EU accession negotiations are two separate things.
Turning to the war in Ukraine and his contacts with Putin, Erdogan said it was quite obvious that this war is going to last a long time but that the Russian leader was on the side of ending this war as soon as possible.
Thats what he said. And I believe his remarks, Erdogan said.
(AP)
Leaders of a world fractured by war, climate change and persisting inequality gather under one roof Tuesday to hear the U.N. chief summon them to take united action on humanitys huge challenges and to start delivering their own assessments on the most global of stages.
People are looking to their leaders for a way out of this mess, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said ahead of the annual gathering of presidents and premiers, ministers and monarchs at the General Assembly.
He said the world needs action now not merely more words to deal with the worsening climate emergency, escalating conflicts, dramatic technological disruptions and a global cost-of-living crisis that is increasing hunger and poverty.
Yet in the face of all this and more, Guterres said, geopolitical divisions are undermining our capacity to respond.
This years week-long session, the first full-on meeting of world leaders since the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted travel, has 145 leaders scheduled to speak. Its a large number that reflects the multitude of crises and conflicts.
But for the first time in years, U.S. President Joe Biden, who will speak soon after the U.N. chief, will be the only leader from the five powerful veto-wielding nations on the U.N. Security Council to address the 193-member assembly.
Chinas Xi Jinping, Russias Vladimir Putin, Frances Emmanuel Macron and Britains Rishi Sunak are all skipping the U.N. this year. That should put the spotlight on Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will be making his first appearance at the assemblys podium later Tuesday, and on Biden, who will be watched especially for his views on China, Russia and Ukraine.
The absence of leaders from the four Security Council powers has sparked grumbling from developing countries who want major global players to listen to their demands including for money to start closing the growing gap between the worlds haves and have-nots.
The G77, the major U.N. group of developing countries that now has 134 members including China, lobbied hard to make this years global gathering focus on the 17 U.N. goals adopted by world leaders in 2015. Those are badly lagging at the halfway point to their 2030 due date.
At a two-day summit to kick-start action to achieve the goals, Guterres pointed to grim findings in a U.N. report in July. He said 15% of some 140 specific targets to achieve the 17 goals are on track. Many are going in the wrong direction, and not a single one is expected to be achieved in the next seven years.
The wide-ranging goals include end extreme poverty and hunger, ensure every child gets a quality secondary education, achieve gender equality and make significant inroads in tackling climate change all by 2030.
At the current rate, the report said, 575 million people will still be living in extreme poverty and 84 million children wont even be going to elementary school in 2030 and it will take 286 years to reach equality between men and women.
Guterres told leaders at Mondays opening of the summit he called to rescue the 17 sustainable development goals, or SDGs, that they promised in 2015 to build a world of health, progress and opportunity for all people and to pay for it.
Soon after he spoke, leaders from the 193 U.N. member nations adopted a 10-page political declaration by consensus which recognizes that the goals are in peril. But it reaffirms more than a dozen times, in different ways, leaders commitment to achieve the SDGs, reiterating their individual importance.
The declaration is short on specifics, but Guterres said he was deeply encouraged especially by its commitment to improving developing countries access to the fuel required for SDG progress: finance. He pointed to its support for an SDG stimulus of at least $500 billion a year, aimed at offsetting challenging market conditions faced by developing countries.
At the summit, leaders were then supposed to make pledges to meet the SDGs.
As an example, Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who chairs the U.N. group of least developed countries, said they need massive scaling up of affordable finance including through the SDG stimulus. He said foreign investment to the least developed countries fell about 30% in 2022 compared to 2021, and he urged developed countries to be more generous in helping the worlds poorest countries.
There are also hundreds of side events during high-level week.
The European Unions top diplomat Josep Borrell told reporters after a closed meeting to try to revive the decades-old peace process between Israel and the Palestinians that there was a strong commitment to the two-state solution.
He said there were 60 participants at the meeting organized by the EU, the Arab League and several other countries, and called it a good starting point.
There was an injection of new political will, Borrell said, and three senior-level working groups were established to examine what Israeli-Palestinian peace would look like. He said they will start work in a month in Brussels.
(AP)
The classified documents indictment of Donald Trump would seem, on paper at least, to be the most straightforward of the four criminal cases the former president is facing.
Reams of classified files were stashed in Trumps office and storage room and he boastfully showed off to guests one such document he acknowledged was secret, federal prosecutors have alleged. His own lawyer is quoted in the indictment as saying Trump encouraged him to mislead investigators who demanded the documents back, and prosecutors have since secured the cooperation of a Mar-a-Lago staffer who says the ex-president asked about deleting surveillance footage at the Palm Beach property.
But that doesnt make the path to conviction easy, particularly with the case set for trial in a Florida courthouse expected to draw its jury pool from a conservative-leaning region of the state that supported Trump in the 2020 election. Those built-in demographics may be a challenge for prosecutors despite the evidence at their disposal, underscoring the impossibility of untangling the law from politics in an election-year trial involving a former president who is seeking to return to the White House.
The more conservative the counties, the highest chance he has to find jurors that would be sympathetic with him, said Richard Kibbey, a criminal defense attorney in Stuart, Florida, part of the Fort Pierce district where the jury pool is expected to be taken from.
When it comes to finding truly impartial jurors, he added, Its going to be very difficult given the political climate across the country. Jurors will bring their own biases into the court room.
Unless the trial location is moved or its date pushed back, it will take place starting next May in Fort Pierce before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who drew scrutiny last year for granting a Trump team request to appoint an independent arbiter to review the classified documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. That decision was reversed by a unanimous three-judge appeals panel.
For months, a grand jury in Washington had been hearing testimony in the case, leading to expectations that any charges against Trump would be brought there. Instead, the indictment wound up being filed in the Southern District of Florida, enabling special counsel Jack Smiths team to avoid any protracted fights with Trumps lawyers over the appropriate venue for the case but creating the potential for a less desirable jury pool, at least politically.
The jury selection process is meant to weed out personal or partisan bias that could taint the case, with jurors instructed to make decisions solely on the basis of the evidence they hear. But in a federal court system where convictions overwhelmingly outnumber acquittals, defense lawyers and prosecutors, for that matter could nonetheless look to jury selection as a way to elicit an edge.
Picking a jury is an art. Its not a science. And whether youre a prosecutor or a defense attorney, you use everything in your arsenal to seat the best jury you can get for your case, said Michael Sherwin, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who served during the Trump administration as acting U.S. Attorney in Washington.
You want to ensure that you have the best people in that jury box that are going to be receptive to your message. So from that perspective, if Im DOJ, Id much rather have a Miami jury pool than a Fort Pierce jury pool, he added.
Given its sprawling geographic size, the district has five courthouses in Key West, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce. The indictment itself was filed in West Palm, the city with the closest courthouse to Mar-a-Lago.
It was then randomly assigned to Cannon, who despite sitting in Fort Pierce also hears cases in West Palm, the clerks office said in an email to The Associated Press.
But such a blockbuster trial, with a deluge of media, could test the resources of a courthouse and region far less accustomed to headline-generating events than is, for instance, Miami.
The bigger issue is going to become, can the Fort Pierce courtroom handle this case? And if it cant, where are they going to send it? said David Weinstein, a Florida lawyer and former federal prosecutor. And if they send it to Miami, how are they going to get the jurors there because technically its not a Miami case.
Jurors for Fort Pierce trials are drawn from five counties, according to the written jury plan for the Southern District of Florida: St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River, Okeechobee and Highlands.
Trump won each of those counties. His victory margin was particularly wide in Okeechobee, where he won with 71.8% of the votes. In St. Lucie, home to Fort Pierce, he won by only 50.4%, but Republicans have continued to gain ground there, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was reelected last year with more than 59% of the vote there.
That dynamic stands apart from the more heavily Democratic cities New York, Washington and Atlanta where Trump also faces charges. Trump lawyers tried unsuccessfully to force the recusal of the judge in the New York case and have turned to the same tactic in Washington, saying that judge, Tanya Chutkan, has made public comments that cast doubt on her ability to be fair. The request is pending.
Lawyers in the Washington case have attacked the indictment as novel and laden with complicated constitutional questions, suggesting theyll invoke arguments involving the First Amendment and presidential immunity. The Florida defense team, which was reorganized after the indictment, has not publicly detailed its defenses yet.
But despite the importance of jury selection and the fact that both sides will look to jury selection to pick the best possible panel for their respective cases, the outcome may still come down to which team has the best evidence and arguments.
Its a high-profile defendant, but I suspect that when push comes to shove, most people dont make all of their important decisions based on politics, said Richard Serafini, a Florida defense lawyer and former Justice Department official.
(AP)
The U.N. nuclear chief said Monday he asked to meet Irans president on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to try to reverse Tehrans uncalled for ban on a very sizable chunk of the agencys inspectors.
Rafael Grossi stressed that the Iranian governments removal of many agency cameras and electronic monitoring systems installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency also make it impossible to give assurances about the countrys nuclear program.
Grossi said he wrote to President Ebrahim Raisi telling him it is very important to meet about Tehrans targeting of inspectors, including some of the best and most experienced.
Im waiting for an answer, Grossi said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday.
He also warned that escalating fighting is increasing the danger of a nuclear accident at Europes largest nuclear plant in Ukraine. Grossi said he is seeking to re-establish a dialogue with North Korea, which expelled U.N. nuclear weapons inspectors in 2009.
And he invited China to see how the IAEA tests treated water released from Japans Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, which led Beijing to ban Japanese seafood.
QUESTIONING WHY IRAN IS PUTTING UP ROADBLOCKS TO INSPECTION
The IAEA chief said Iran has the right to determine who enters the country, but he said he didnt understand why Tehran was withdrawing authorization for a good number of inspectors, which is making my job much more difficult. He called it a step in the wrong direction.
Its very difficult to get the expertise to go to very sophisticated uranium enrichment facilities with thousands of (centrifuge) cascades, lots of tubing and piping, and it requires a lot of experience, he explained. So, when you start limiting that I have to say, this is not good. Stop it!
Iran has denied impeding the work of IAEA inspectors though it has also been years since its experts have been able to examine surveillance footage.
The Vienna-based IAEA reported earlier this month that Iran had slowed the pace of enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels. That was seen as a sign that Tehran was trying to ease tensions after years of strain with the United States, and one that took place as the rivals were negotiating a prisoner swap and the release of billions in frozen Iranian assets which all took place Monday.
Since Iran started limiting the actions of IAEA inspectors a little over a year ago, Grossi said, the agency hasnt been able to see how many centrifuges and parts needed to assemble them are being produced.
So when the IAEA has to draw a baseline of where Irans nuclear program is, he said, How do I do it?
AN UPDATE ON OTHER NUCLEAR HOT SPOTS
Grossi said military operations are increasing near Ukraines Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is on the front line of the Ukrainian counteroffensive. The June 6 destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in Russian-controlled territory led to deadly flooding, ruined crops in one of the worlds breadbaskets and lowered the level of water used to cool Zaporizhzhias reactors.
Complications are adding up, Grossi said, and making the safety of the plant very, very fragile.
Initially he said he urged both sides to adopt a no-fire zone outside the plant. That became impossible. So he has been urging the Ukrainians and Russians not to attack any nuclear plant.
Zaporizhzhia is in a Russian-controlled area but is staffed mainly by Ukrainians. There are also some Russian experts and IAEA inspectors who from time to time have acted as a buffer and defused some tense situations, Grossi said.
The IAEA chief called North Koreas growing nuclear program one of the most difficult issues we have in front of us. Since the expulsion of IAEA inspectors in 2009, Grossi said, the agency has followed what Pyongyang has done from afar. North Korea has become a de facto nuclear weapon possessor state, he said, and that is not a good development.
Grossi said North Koreas program, including enrichment and construction of new reactors, has been growing without international monitoring or assessment of its safety. He wouldnt say who the IAEA is engaging with to try to turn the page with North Korea but did say: I am optimistic.
As for Chinas concerns about the water being discharged from Japans Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, Grossi said IAEA daily monitoring shows the level of tritium, a radionucleide that could be problematic, is extremely low.
The IAEA chief said South Korea also had concerns about the water being discharged from Fukushima, which was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011. He said he spoke to the president and foreign minister, and South Korea sent experts to see how the monitoring of the discharged water is being carried out.
Grossi said he wrote to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi a few days ago making a similar offer to explain the IAEAs activities. He expressed hope that he could meet Wang in New York to dispel doubts. Said Grossi: Im eager and available.
(AP)
A stunning new report says that former President Donald Trumps longtime personal assistant Molly Michael informed the FBI that Trump had ordered her to feign ignorance about the investigation.
According to a report from ABC, Molly Michael disclosed that Trump had instructed her with the words, You dont know anything about the boxes, upon discovering that federal investigators were interviewing individuals regarding his refusal to surrender boxes of classified documents. This statement, legal experts argue, could serve as significant evidence of obstruction of justice, as it is illegal to instruct someone to deceive federal investigators.
Notably, Michael also shared with investigators that Trump would occasionally jot down to-do notes on the back of documents bearing classified markings. After a search of Mar-a-Lago in August 2022 failed to turn up these documents, she provided several examples to the FBI.
Molly Michael had been in the employ of the Trump White House since 2018 and followed Trump to Mar-a-Lago after he left office. Despite her loyalty, Michael reportedly grew increasingly concerned in 2022 as federal officials demanded the return of the boxes containing classified documents.
She revealed to investigators that Trump displayed a deep personal interest in these documents and frequently instructed her and valet Walt Nauta to retrieve the boxes so he could examine their contents.
As the investigation intensified, prosecutors issued a subpoena demanding the return of all the classified documents. However, Trump complied by handing over only a small portion of them, with more than 100 being discovered during the subsequent search at Mar-a-Lago.
Consequently, Trump now faces charges of mishandling classified documents and obstructing justice. Walt Nauta and another former Trump employee, Carlos DOliveira, have also been charged with assisting in the alleged effort to conceal the documents from investigators. All three have entered pleas of not guilty and are currently awaiting trial, scheduled for May 2024 in a South Florida federal court.
(YWN World Headquarters NYC)
TEHRAN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi voiced his country's readiness to help the United Nations (UN) promote peace and security across the globe and prevent oppression against nations.
Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York on Monday ahead of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, according to a statement published on the website of the Iranian president's office on Tuesday.
He said cooperation with the UN is a principle of Iran, noting that "preventing excessive demands by the hegemonic powers is among the world peoples' expectations for the UN."
Raisi appreciated Guterres' efforts, listing some of the UN's main missions and duties as meeting nations' demands for promoting justice, eradicating discrimination and poverty, and ensuring lasting security.
For his part, Guterres expressed interest in expanding cooperation with Tehran and welcomed the positive developments in relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as the two countries have great influence on regional stability.
The UN chief also praised Iran's constructive role in addressing the Yemen issue, highlighting the UN's support for Iran's initiatives to end the crisis in the Arab state.
Radio broadcaster Ron Koffman on Tuesday morning engaged in shameless incitement against the Chareidi sector, calling them a cancer of the Israeli public.
Koffman said during a live broadcast on Radio 103FM: The place needs to be cleaned out from the inside the Eichlers 13% of the public is a cancer to Israeli society.
Koffmans words created an immediate uproar. Kol Chai journalist Avi Mimran tweeted: We need to clean 13% of the society? Ron, how gas chambers? Extermination? Transfer?
Shas MK Uriel Busso responded: Well continue to take care of your grandson who is studying in a Chabad gan so hell receive the best. Busso was referring to the fact that last month, Koffman made a surprising announcement on the radio that his grandson is enrolled in the best gan in Tel Aviv the Chabad gan, adding that the gan has a waiting list of 460 children.
The right-wing BTzalmo human rights organization wrote a letter to the Public Inquiries Commissioner of the Second Authority for Television and Radio, David Regev, with a demand to immediately begin the process of suspending Koffman.
The head of the organization, Shay Glick, stated: I have no words to even express the shock that a broadcaster in the State of Israel, the Jewish State, dares to call his brothers the worst word in the arsenal of words, cancer.
The word cancer means a foreign plant that enters the body and consumes it. Honorable Chareidi citizens of Israel are an inseparable part of Israeli society. Its unfathomable for a broadcaster to stand up and open his mouth against Israeli citizens just because theyre Chareidi.
But Ill say more than that. Mr. Ron Koffman is invited to come and visit the cancer wards throughout the country where he will certainly discover crowds of the Chareidi public not as cancer patients but as members of organizations that help Jewish and Arab cancer patients religious and secular.
This man must be suspended immediately, the Authority should initiate a disciplinary process against him, and I hope that during his suspension, hell spend some time in the cancer wards in hospitals. He will see how many Chareidi volunteers there are and realize for himself how wrong he was. He should apologize and start volunteering in these organizations.
Following Glicks request, Public Commissioner Regev stated that the Public Inquiries Commission opened an inquiry into the complaint and contacted the station to receive its response.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
Former President Donald Trump will travel to the battleground state of Michigan next week to meet with striking autoworkers instead of participating in the second Republican presidential debate, a person familiar with his plans said Monday.
Trump, who also skipped the first debate last month, has signaled that he is already focused on the 2024 election against President Joe Biden as he maintains a wide lead against his GOP rivals in primary polls. In recent days, he has been leaning hard into the strike, painting himself as sympathetic to the workers and accusing Biden of trying to destroy the car industry by expanding electric cars and other green energy policies.
The Sept. 27 trip, first reported by The New York Times, will also include a primetime speech, according to the person familiar with the plans who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity before they were made public.
Thats the date others in the GOP field will gather at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, for the cycles second primary debate.
When his fellow GOP contenders gathered in Milwaukee last month, Trump instead took part in a pretaped interview with Tucker Carlson, which aired on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter during the debates first hour.
Trump has long sought to paint himself as a fighter for the forgotten men and women of the working class and spent much of his 2016 campaign campaigning in Rust Belt towns suffering from the shift away from mining and manufacturing. Earlier this year, he visited East Palestine, Ohio, after a train derailment, a visit aides have considered a key moment in his campaign as he worked to recover from midterm losses, and as they tried to move his focus away from his 2020 loss.
Ammar Moussa, a Biden campaign spokesperson, said Monday: Donald Trump is going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers and pretend he didnt spend his entire failed presidency selling them out at every turn. Instead of standing with workers, Trump cut taxes for the super-wealthy while auto companies shuttered their doors and shipped American jobs overseas. Moussa argued that Trump would have let auto companies go bankrupt during the financial crisis rather than bail them out, as President Barack Obama did in 2009.
On Monday, the United Auto Workers and Detroits Big Three carmakers resumed talks aimed at ending a strike now in its fourth day. Stellantis described the discussion as constructive. A spokesperson for General Motors said representatives of the company and the United Auto Workers were continuing to negotiate.
Dave Green, a UAW regional director in Ohio and Indiana, said the former presidents actions during his time in office give him zero credibility with organized labor now, adding that he doesnt see a way the UAW would ever endorse Trump.
His only intention here is to try and get votes for himself. And also divide our members against each other using political rhetoric, Green told The AP on Monday.
Trump earlier this summer traveled to Michigan, where the Oakland County GOP honored him as its Man of the Decade. Asked about the strike in an interview that aired Sunday, he told NBC News that auto workers will not have any jobs because electric cars, automatically, are going to be made in China.
The auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump, he added.
(AP)
The Palestinian Authority has doubled the monthly salary it pays to the murderer of Ari Fuld, Hyd, according to the familys attorney.
Khalil Jabarin fatally murdered Fuld, zl, an Israeli-American father of four and resident of Efrat, in a stabbing attack in 2018, during which he attempted to murder three others. Fuld, zl, died a heros death as despite his grave injuries, he pulled out his gun and pursued and shot Jabarin, preventing him from continuing his stabbing spree. Fuld was then rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Yesterday, the Palestinian Authority doubled the monthly salary it pays the terrorist murderer of Ari Fuld, [of blessed memory], from $522 to $1,044, Israeli attorney Maurice Hirsch stated on Monday.
The P.A.s pay for slay policy incentivizes terror and rewards terrorists, Hirsch continued.
The PA has already paid the murderer $25,726. When he murdered Ari, the terrorist was a 16-year-old student. The money the PA pays him is not welfare, but simply a reward for murdering a proud Israeli-American Jew. Why are the US and the European Union helping the PA to reward terrorists and Jew-murderers?
Jabarin is serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison while his family receives a monthly stipend from the PA. The salary increases in accordance with the length of the prison sentence.
(YWN Israel Desk Jerusalem)
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S&P 500 4,193.80 DOW 33,052.87 QQQ 350.87 Tesla Skids 4.79% As ON Semiconductor Hits The Brakes New CBOE special perk helps traders target income every weekend (Ad) Oil swings have led analysts to recommend these 2 stocks J&J stock down as business unit mulls talc-related bankruptcy Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Exxon Mobil or Chevron? Which is the better buy? 5 good reasons Intel is a buy-and-hold stock for 2024 Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Europe's inflation eased to 2.9% in October thanks to lower fuel prices. But growth has vanished Caterpillar crawls into a new buying opportunity
S&P 500 4,193.80 DOW 33,052.87 QQQ 350.87 Tesla Skids 4.79% As ON Semiconductor Hits The Brakes New CBOE special perk helps traders target income every weekend (Ad) Oil swings have led analysts to recommend these 2 stocks J&J stock down as business unit mulls talc-related bankruptcy Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Exxon Mobil or Chevron? Which is the better buy? 5 good reasons Intel is a buy-and-hold stock for 2024 Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Europe's inflation eased to 2.9% in October thanks to lower fuel prices. But growth has vanished Caterpillar crawls into a new buying opportunity
S&P 500 4,193.80 DOW 33,052.87 QQQ 350.87 Tesla Skids 4.79% As ON Semiconductor Hits The Brakes New CBOE special perk helps traders target income every weekend (Ad) Oil swings have led analysts to recommend these 2 stocks J&J stock down as business unit mulls talc-related bankruptcy Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Exxon Mobil or Chevron? Which is the better buy? 5 good reasons Intel is a buy-and-hold stock for 2024 Trading Experts Call It The Perfect Tesla Trade (Ad) Europe's inflation eased to 2.9% in October thanks to lower fuel prices. But growth has vanished Caterpillar crawls into a new buying opportunity
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Still thinking about buying 3M for its dividend? Consider this
Wall Street analysts typically go into hiding every three months when the long-awaited earnings season kicks off, making them earn their paychecks through long hours of due diligence and financial modeling. This time, you bet they had to dig into 3M Company (NYSE: MMM) and its unusually high potential. With financial titans like BlackRock Inc. (NYSE: BLK) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) advising their clients and also their own funds to move into undervalued stocks and seek quality
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Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunication services in Taiwan and internationally. It operates through Consumer Business, Enterprise Business, International Business, and Others segments. The company offers local long distance services comprising of local calls, cloud switchboard, and value-added local calls. It also offers 5G services consisting of enterprise private network, AR enterprise application, smart mobile SNG application, and smart air inspection services. In addition, the company provides mobile fixed IP internet service, worklink mobile business application, mobile intercom service, and action management solutions, as well as mobile internet of things, 4G mobile internet solution, multiparty call, plugin, and voicemail services. Further, it offers hi cloud, IDC, and cloud related services, as well as provides internet circuit security, information security, professional, and digital identification services. Additionally, the company offers business application services, such as big data and network value added services. Furthermore, it provides smart networking services. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Taipei City, Taiwan.
Apollo Global Management, Inc. is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity and real estate markets. The firm's private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions. The firm provides its services to endowment and sovereign wealth funds, as well as other institutional and individual investors. It manages client focused portfolios. The firm launches and manages hedge funds for its clients. It also manages real estate funds and private equity funds for its clients. The firm invests in the fixed income and alternative investment markets across the globe. Its fixed income investments include income-oriented senior loans, bonds, collateralized loan obligations, structured credit, opportunistic credit, non-performing loans, distressed debt, mezzanine debt, and value oriented fixed income securities. The firm seeks to invest in chemicals, commodities, consumer and retail, oil and gas, metals, mining, agriculture, commodities, distribution and transportation, financial and business services, manufacturing and industrial, media distribution, cable, entertainment and leisure, telecom, technology, natural resources, energy, packaging and materials, and satellite and wireless industries. It also focuses on clean energy, sustainable industry, climate solutions, energy transition, industrial decarbonization, sustainable mobility, sustainable resource use, and sustainable real estate. It seeks to invest in companies based in across Africa, North America with a focus on United States, and Europe. The firm also makes investments outside North America, primarily in Western Europe and Asia. It employs a combination of contrarian, value, and distressed strategies to make its investments. The firm seeks to make investments in the range of $10 million and $1500 million. The firm seeks to invest in companies with Enterprise value between $750 million to $2500 million. The firm conducts an in-house research to create its investment portfolio. It seeks to acquire minority and majority positions in its portfolio companies. Apollo Global Management, Inc. was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in New York, New York with additional offices in North America, Asia, India and Europe.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time.
Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, presided over the opening of the debate, which is themed "Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all."
In his opening speech, Francis stressed the importance of uniting nations to tackle global challenges.
"This year, our imperative is clear: to unite the nations, to be united in conviction of common purpose and in solidarity of joint action," he said.
He said the world has the capacity to effect change if there is the will to act.
"Despite the many and complex challenges we face, we do have the capacity to effect change, consequential change ... What we lack is the will to act," said Francis. "By putting aside our differences and bridging divides, we can deliver, we must deliver peace, progress, prosperity, and sustainability to everyone, everywhere. So let us step up and take action now."
A common coordinated approach is needed now, as much as at any point in history. War, climate change, debt, energy and food crises, poverty and famine. These crises are directly impacting the lives and well-being of billions of people around the world. They are rolling back decades of hard-won development gains, and thus condemning millions to lifelong inter-generational poverty and hardship, he said.
"It is at times like these that we must search deep within to find our better selves and our common humanity that impels us to meet the moment. I therefore implore you, let us use this forum for that which it was intended," he told world leaders.
Francis called for efforts to bring peace in Ukraine and other parts of the globe, from Africa to the Middle East.
"I urge you, member states, to use this high-level week not to fan the flames of conflict and hostility, but instead, to opt for dialogue and diplomacy. We must remember that peace is an investment in our collective prosperity," he said.
While some progress had been made on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the SDG Summit is being convened on the sidelines of the General Debate in a context where there have been unacceptable delays and rollbacks, he noted.
"Let me be clear: we do not have the luxury of excuses, nor are we absolved of our responsibilities. The onus is on us - collectively - to make up for the lost momentum and work much harder in the remaining seven years to accelerate progress on that which we have promised to deliver."
Francis also called for climate action, the advancement of human rights and gender equality.
The General Assembly Hall and the rostrum in it stand as a living testament to multilateralism and to the extraordinary role and compelling influence of the United Nations over the 75 years of its existence. It is a unique and truly global platform for debate, dialogue, and problem-solving through multilateral diplomacy, he said. "Let us re-energize the UN General Assembly and demonstrate our capacity and our will to deliver for all."
In his "state-of-the-world" report right before the opening of this year's General Debate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for effective multilateral institutions to tackle global challenges.
"The world has changed. Our institutions have not. We cannot effectively address problems as they are if institutions do not reflect the world as it is. Instead of solving problems, they risk becoming part of the problem," he said.
Guterres warned that the world is becoming unhinged.
"Geopolitical tensions are rising. Global challenges are mounting. And we seem incapable of coming together to respond," he said.
The world confronts a host of existential threats, from the climate crisis to disruptive technologies, and the world is undergoing a chaotic transition, he noted.
For much of the Cold War, international relations were largely seen through the prism of two superpowers. Then came a short period of unipolarity. Now the world is rapidly moving towards a multipolar world. This is, in many ways, positive. It brings new opportunities for justice and balance in international relations. But multipolarity alone cannot guarantee peace, he said.
A multipolar world needs strong and effective multilateral institutions. Yet global governance is stuck in time, he warned.
"We are inching ever closer to a Great Fracture in economic and financial systems and trade relations; one that threatens a single, open internet; with diverging strategies on technology and artificial intelligence; and potentially clashing security frameworks," he said. "It is high time to renew multilateral institutions based on 21st century economic and political realities, rooted in equity, solidarity and universality and anchored in the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law."
Guterres called for compromise.
"Our world needs statesmanship, not gamesmanship and gridlock. As I told the G20 (Group of 20), it is time for a global compromise. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise. Leaders have a special responsibility to achieve compromise in building a common future of peace and prosperity for our common good," he said.
Multilateral action has produced results over the past year, with important new agreements on safeguarding biodiversity, on protecting the high seas, on climate loss and damage, and on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, he noted. "We have all the tools and resources to solve our shared challenges. What we need is determination."
He called for determination to uphold the UN Charter's pledge for peace.
The world is witnessing a surge of conflicts, coups and chaos. If every country fulfilled its obligations under the UN Charter, the right to peace would be guaranteed. When countries break those pledges, they create a world of insecurity for everyone, he said.
Guterres called for reform of the international financial institutions.
The international financial architecture is dysfunctional, outdated and unjust. The deep reforms that are needed will not happen overnight, he said. "But we can take determined steps now to help countries weather crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically impacted."
He called for determination to tackle the most immediate threat to humanity: global warming.
Actions are falling abysmally short. The G20 countries, which are responsible for 80 percent of greenhouse emissions, must lead. Developed countries must reach net zero as close as possible to 2040, and emerging economies as close as possible to 2050. Developed countries must finally deliver the 100 billion U.S. dollars every year for developing country climate action, as promised; double adaptation finance by 2025, as promised; and replenish the Green Climate Fund, as promised, he said.
All countries must work to operationalize the loss and damage fund this year and ensure universal early warning coverage by 2027, he said. "Climate chaos is breaking new records. But we cannot afford the same old broken record of scapegoating and waiting for others to move first."
Guterres also called for determination to honor the UN Charter's commitment to fundamental human rights, including women's rights.
He stressed the need to tackle the threats posed by new technologies.
New technologies require new and innovative forms of governance. There is an urgent need for a Global Digital Compact between governments, regional organizations, the private sector and civil society to mitigate the risks of digital technologies, and identify ways to harness their benefits for the good of humanity, he said.
The United Nations was created precisely for moments of maximum danger and minimum agreement, said Guterres. "Despite our long list of global challenges, that same spirit of determination can guide us forward. Let us be determined to heal divisions and forge peace, determined to uphold the dignity and worth of every person, determined to realize the Sustainable Development Goals and leave no one behind, determined to reform multilateralism for the 21st century and come together for the common good."
Dennis Francis (at the podium), president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Dennis Francis, president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Dennis Francis (C), president of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, strikes his gavel to signal the start of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. Guterres on Tuesday called for effective multilateral institutions to tackle global challenges. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (at the podium and on the screens) speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the opening of the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. Guterres on Tuesday called for effective multilateral institutions to tackle global challenges. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
King Abdullah II (at the podium and on the screens) of Jordan delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. King Abdullah II of Jordan said Tuesday that his country's capacity to deliver necessary services to refugees has surpassed its limits as a result of shortfalls in international aid funds. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
King Abdullah II of Jordan delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. King Abdullah II of Jordan said Tuesday that his country's capacity to deliver necessary services to refugees has surpassed its limits as a result of shortfalls in international aid funds. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday deplored investment in war instead of livelihoods. (Cia Pak/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
U.S. President Joe Biden (at the podium) delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
U.S. President Joe Biden (Front) delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. Amidst the growing challenges of hunger and poverty, developing nations remain steadfast in their enduring struggle for a more just and equitable world, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez said at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez (at the podium and on the screens) delivers a speech at the General Debate of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023. The General Debate of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday, focusing on restoring global trust and solidarity in current challenging time. Amidst the growing challenges of hunger and poverty, developing nations remain steadfast in their enduring struggle for a more just and equitable world, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez said at the General Debate of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. (Xinhua/Li Rui)
DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. provides a software platform for digital media measurement, and analytics in the United States and internationally. The company provides solutions to advertisers unbiased data analytics that enable advertisers to increase the effectiveness, quality and return on their digital advertising investments. It also offers solutions include DV Authentic Ad, a metric of digital media quality, which evaluates the existence of fraud-free, brand-suitable, viewability, and geography for each digital ad; DV Authentic Attention solution that provides exposure and engagement predictive analytics to drive campaign performance; and Custom Contextual solution, which allows advertisers to match their ads to relevant content to maximize user engagement and drive campaign performance. In addition, it offers DV Publisher suite, a solution for digital publishers to manage revenue and increase inventory yield by improving video delivery, identifying lost or unfilled sales, and aggregate data across all inventory sources; and DV Pinnacle, a service and analytics platform user interface that allows its customers to adjust and deploy controls for their media plan and track campaign performance metrics across channels, formats, and devices. Further, the company software solutions are integrated in the digital advertising ecosystem, including programmatic platforms, social media channels, and digital publishers. It serves brands, publishers, and other supply-side customers covering various industry verticals, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, telecommunications, technology, automotive, and healthcare. DoubleVerify Holdings, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, insurance products, and financial services for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face. The company also focuses on worksite and group sales for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed index annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. CNO Financial Group, Inc. markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
Shares of Carlisle Companies Incorporated (NYSE:CSL Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $307.14.
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CSL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Carlisle Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Zelman & Associates cut Carlisle Companies from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Friday, August 18th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Carlisle Companies in a report on Monday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Carlisle Companies from $310.00 to $320.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Carlisle Companies from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the company from $325.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 26th.
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Institutional Trading of Carlisle Companies
In other Carlisle Companies news, insider Lori A. Snyder sold 300 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.37, for a total transaction of $83,211.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 548 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $151,998.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website . Company insiders own 1.30% of the companys stock.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSL. V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Carlisle Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Carlisle Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Carlisle Companies by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 133 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Carlisle Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Carlisle Companies by 507.9% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 231 shares of the conglomerates stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. 90.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Carlisle Companies Stock Down 0.7 %
Shares of NYSE:CSL opened at $256.22 on Friday. Carlisle Companies has a 52 week low of $203.65 and a 52 week high of $301.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.58. The companys fifty day moving average is $265.95 and its 200-day moving average is $245.11. The company has a market capitalization of $12.79 billion, a PE ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.95.
Carlisle Companies (NYSE:CSL Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 26th. The conglomerate reported $5.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.73 by $0.45. Carlisle Companies had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 29.71%. The company had revenue of $1.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.15 EPS. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 14.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Carlisle Companies will post 17.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Carlisle Companies Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 17th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Carlisle Companiess previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 16th. Carlisle Companiess payout ratio is currently 24.44%.
Carlisle Companies Company Profile
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Carlisle Companies Incorporated operates as a manufacturer of engineered products in the United States, Europe, Asia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Carlisle Construction Materials, Carlisle Weatherproofing Technologies, Carlisle Interconnect Technologies, and Carlisle Fluid Technologies.
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Pfizer Inc. is a US-based multinational biotech company. The company operates as a research-based pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, production and marketing of medicines and vaccines. It is the 2nd largest drugmaker globally by revenue and is ranked 64th on the Fortune 500 list. The companys avenues of research include Immunology, Oncology, Cardiology, Endocrinology and Neurology.
Regarding its product line, the company has at least ten blockbuster drugs producing more than $1 billion in avenue revenue each. The company brought in over $81 billion in total revenue in 2021. The US is its main market and represents roughly 50% of all revenue. China and Japan make up roughly 12% of the business, while the rest come from the rest of the world. It employs roughly 79,000 people and is headquartered in New York state.
Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer Sr. and his cousin Charles Earhart. The two were German immigrants and chemists that set up shops outside New York City to make medicinal compounds. The first major success was an antiparasitic called santonin, and the commercialization of citric acid-making technologies quickly followed that up. Their success with citric acid led to the companys expansion and other major discoveries.
World War I caused a shortage of materials for making citric acid and forced the company to seek alternatives. The one they latched on to was the fermentation of certain fungi known to produce citric acid naturally. This led to the advancement of fermentation technology that was later used in the commercial production of penicillin and then the advancement of antibiotics in general.
Pfizer Inc was incorporated on June 2nd, 1942 in Delaware, and another period of expansion began. The postwar drop in demand for penicillin led to the discovery of newer, more marketable antibiotics and cemented the companys role in modern medicine. By the time he 80s rolled around, the company was trading on the New York Stock Exchange and on the path to developing todays blockbuster lineup.
The companys top seller in 2021 was Comirnaty, a COVID-19 vaccine. It generated nearly $37 billion in 2021 and was followed by Prevnar, Ibrance and Eliquis with just over $5 billion in sales each. Other blockbuster names on Pfizers list include Xeljanz and Enbrel, each bringing in $3.5 billion. Pfizer operates 39 research and production facilities worldwide and sells its products in 125 countries.
As of 2022, the company had a robust pipeline of potential treatments, with more than 220 in some stage of clinical trials. Among its leading candidates is a vaccine for RSV, a life-threatening respiratory disease affecting children. 2021 highlights include 8 FDA approvals, four new regulatory submissions and 13 new trial startups. Pfizer is also a well-known dividend payer and has returned more than $8.7 billion to shareholders since going public.
Genpact Limited provides business process outsourcing and information technology (IT) services in India, rest of Asia, North and Latin America, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Financial services; Consumer and Healthcare; and High Tech and Manufacturing. The company offers CFO advisory services; and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) services, such as data management, carbon accounting, human rights assessment, sustainability diligence, and ESG reporting. It also provides finance and accounting services, which include accounts payable, such as document management, invoice processing, approval and resolution management, and travel and expense processing; invoice-to-cash services, including customer master data management, credit and contract management, fulfillment, billing, collections, and dispute management services; record to report services comprising accounting, treasury, tax, product cost accounting, and closing and reporting services; financial planning and analysis consisting of budgeting, forecasting, and business performance reporting; and enterprise risk and compliance services, including operational risks and controls. In addition, the company provides supply chain advisory services, and after-sales services; sourcing and procurement services comprising direct and indirect strategic sourcing, category management, spend analytics, procurement operation, and master data management; and sales and commercial services, including campaign, order, and dispute management, lead generation, pricing, and promotion optimization. Further, it offers IT services, which comprise end-user computing support, infrastructure management; and transformation services that include digital solutions, consulting services, and analytics services and solutions. The company was founded in 1997 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The Boeing Company is the worlds largest manufacturer of airplanes and commands more than 50% of the market in some channels and categories. The company and its family of subsidiaries design, develops, manufacture, sell, service, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and related services worldwide. The company operates through four segments including Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital providing products and services to end-users in 150 countries.
Boeing got its start in 1910 when William E. Boeing developed a love for aircraft. Soon after he takes his first plane ride which leads him to build a hangar and begin construction of his first plane. The onset of WWI helped spur the companys growth but business was cut drastically in its wake. The start of WWII was another milestone for the company and one that led to its current position of dominance. The company was incorporated in 1916 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. Boeing employs over 140,000 people in 65 countries making it one of the most diverse employers on the planet.
The Commercial Airplanes segment is built around the iconic 7-series which includes the 737, 747, and 787. The segment provides commercial jet aircraft for passenger and cargo requirements, as well as fleet support services for regional, national, and international air carriers and logistics and freight companies. In terms of global volume, the company estimates about 90% of all air freight is carried aboard one of its jets. This segment also includes the Dreamliner family of planes. The Dreamliner is a game-changing airplane for many carriers as it opens up the potential for new one-stop destinations because of its capacity and range.
The Defense, Space & Security segment develops and manufactures a range of systems including manned and unmanned aircraft, missiles, missile defense systems, satellites, communications equipment, and intelligence systems for governments. Among the many iconic brands within this segment are the AH-64 Apache, Air Force One, B-52, C-17 Globemaster, Chinook, F/A-18, and the V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft used by the Marines.
The Global Services segment offers a range of products and services that include supply chain and logistics management, engineering, maintenance, upgrades, conversions, spare parts, pilot and maintenance training, technical and maintenance documents, and data analytics to its commercial and defense customers.
Boeing is also a leader in innovation, leveraging its many decades and avenues of experience to further aerospace and defense technology. Among the many innovations is the MQ-25 Stingray which will be the worlds first autonomous aircraft. The Stingray is only one of many areas of research that also include drones and undersea vehicles.
CAIRO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Egypt is hosting a regional dialogue to boost women's political participation in the Arab world, bringing delegations from 11 Arab countries.
The three-day event, which kicked off on Monday in Egypt's capital Cairo, is organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Arab Women Organization (AWO), an intergovernmental organization affiliated with the Arab League.
"This dialogue aims to draw a roadmap to enhance women's political participation in the Arab region by involving all concerned parties at the national, regional, and international levels," said AWO Director General Fadia Kiwan.
Participants discussed strategies to overcome obstacles that prevent women's effective involvement in political affairs, exchanged experiences and discussed opportunities for advancing Arab women's role.
Maya Morsy, president of Egypt's National Council for Women, said that pursuing women's rights is not a luxury, but a necessity, as women are disproportionately affected by wars and disasters.
She noted that women's representation in the Egyptian parliament, cabinet, and governors' posts has increased in recent years, thanks to the government's prioritization of women's empowerment.
She also called for more efforts to address the urgent global challenges of cyber violence and technology-triggered violence against women's leadership and participation in decision-making processes.
Alessandro Fracassetti, the resident representative of the UNDP in Egypt, said that the political empowerment of women is crucial because Arab women are faced with many obstacles, such as poor access to education.
Representatives from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Sudan, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Jordan attended the dialogue, according to the event's organizer.
Deere & Company, a global leader in manufacturing and distributing agricultural, construction, forestry and turf care equipment, is headquartered in Moline, Illinois. With over 185 years of experience, the company has established a strong reputation for quality and innovation.
Deere & Company operates through four segments: small agriculture and turf, production and precision agriculture, construction and forestry and financial services.
The small agriculture and turf segment offers a variety of equipment, including utility tractors, riding lawn equipment, commercial mowing equipment and implements for various outdoor power applications. This segment also resells products from other manufacturers.
The production and precision agriculture segment provides equipment for grain growers, including mid-size tractors, combines, cotton pickers and strippers, sugarcane harvesters and harvesting front-end equipment. It also offers application equipment, such as sprayers, nutrient management systems and soil preparation machinery.
The construction and forestry segment provides various machines and service parts used in earth moving, construction, material handling, road building and timber harvesting. Its products include crawler dozers, backhoe loaders, motor graders, four-wheel-drive loaders, excavators, articulated dump trucks and milling machines, to name a few.
The financial services segment finances sales and leases of agriculture and turf, construction and forestry equipment. It also offers wholesale financing to dealers, extended equipment warranties and retail revolving charge accounts.
Deere & Company is known for its innovative products, including the John Deere Autonomous 8R Tractor, See & Spray and E-Power Backhoe. These technology-enabled products help farmers, construction workers and forestry professionals operate more efficiently and sustainably.
Its logo and slogan reflect the company's commitment to innovation and sustainability. The leaping deer logo has been used for over 155 years and has become synonymous with the company's commitment to quality and reliability. The slogan "Nothing Runs Like a Deere" reflects the company's commitment to building long-lasting and reliable equipment that helps its customers achieve their goals.
Deere & Company has a solid financial position with a global presence. Deere & Company has a vast distribution network and operates in over 160 countries. Its commitment to quality and innovation has earned it a loyal customer base, and it continues to be a leader in the industry.
Deere & Company is a global leader in the manufacturing and distributing of agricultural, construction, forestry and turf care equipment. With a commitment to innovation and sustainability, the company offers customers a wide range of products and services worldwide.
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.
The Southern Company is a leading gas and electric utility holding company based in the southern United States. With its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, and executive offices in Birmingham, Alabama, the company has established itself as one of the largest energy providers in the country. Serving approximately 9 million gas and electric utility customers across six states, The Southern Company's subsidiaries operate in various segments of the energy industry.
The mission of The Southern Company is to deliver clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy to its customers while fostering innovation and sustainability. The company aims to meet the energy needs of the present and future generations by embracing new technologies, investing in renewable energy sources, and promoting environmental stewardship.
The Southern Company offers products and services to meet the diverse energy requirements of its customers. Its subsidiaries include regulated regional electric utilities such as Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power, which serve specific territories in their respective states. Additionally, Southern Power focuses on wholesale power generation, while Southern Company Gas serves gas utility customers and operates natural gas pipelines.
The key customers of The Southern Company comprise residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. The company caters to the energy needs of households, businesses, and various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, and more. The Southern Company has established long-standing customer relationships by providing reliable and affordable energy solutions.
The Southern Company has made significant strides in renewable energy development. The company operates or develops renewable facilities across the United States, including solar, wind, and biomass projects. It has also embarked on a notable milestone by constructing the country's first nuclear power units in 30 years at Plant Vogtle near Augusta, Georgia. These initiatives showcase The Southern Company's commitment to a diverse energy portfolio and its dedication to meeting the evolving energy demands of the market.
The leadership team at The Southern Company is composed of experienced professionals who bring a wealth of expertise to their respective roles. Led by Executive Chairman Thomas A. Fanning, the management team drives the company's strategic direction and oversees its operations. Thomas A. Fanning plays a crucial role in the success of The Southern Company. With extensive experience in the energy industry, he has held various leadership positions within the company before assuming the role of Executive Chairman. Fanning's visionary approach and strategic acumen have been instrumental in shaping The Southern Company's growth and expansion. Other key management team members include Christopher C. Womack, the Chief Executive Officer and President. Womack brings a deep understanding of the energy industry and has significantly contributed to the company's operations and customer-focused initiatives.
The Southern Company has exhibited healthy financial performance in recent years, reflecting its ability to meet customer demand and drive profitability. The company's revenue has demonstrated a positive long-term trend, indicating consistent growth and a robust customer base. This steady revenue growth showcases The Southern Company's market presence and ability to provide essential energy services to millions of customers.
Earnings metrics have also shown a positive trajectory, underscoring the company's profitability and efficiency in managing its operations. The Southern Company's consistent earnings growth is a testament to its strong market position and effective cost management strategies.
The net profit margin, a key financial indicator, has remained healthy. This metric highlights The Southern Company's ability to generate profits relative to its revenue. The company's ability to maintain a favorable net profit margin reflects its commitment to operational excellence and efficient utilization of its resources.
The Southern Company's valuation metrics should be compared to its industry peers to gain insights into its market position and investor sentiment. The company's growth potential, financial performance, and market perception drive its valuation. Various factors, including industry trends, regulatory developments, and market conditions, can influence investor sentiment. Monitoring changes in investor sentiment provides valuable information for understanding the market's perception of The Southern Company and its prospects for future growth.
The Southern Company operates within the broader electric services industry. As a leading utility holding company, it faces competition from other players in the industry who provide similar gas and electric services. However, The Southern Company has established a strong competitive position due to its extensive infrastructure, reliable service, and customer-focused approach.
One of the advantages The Southern Company possesses is its diversified energy portfolio. The company operates in both the gas and electric sectors, allowing it to cater to a wide range of customer needs. This diversification reduces dependence on a single energy source and provides flexibility in meeting changing market demands.
Additionally, The Southern Company has significantly invested in renewable energy projects, positioning itself as a leader in clean energy generation. By embracing renewable sources such as solar and wind power, the company contributes to environmental sustainability while capitalizing on the growing demand for clean energy solutions.
The Southern Company also benefits from its strong regional presence. Operating in states like Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, the company has established a deep understanding of the local market dynamics and regulatory frameworks. This localized knowledge enables The Southern Company to effectively adapt its services and strategies to meet each region's unique requirements.
However, the industry presents challenges and disadvantages that The Southern Company must navigate. The regulatory environment can be complex and subject to change, requiring the company to stay abreast of evolving regulations and compliance requirements. Furthermore, technological advancements and shifts in consumer preferences pose challenges as the industry transitions to a more decentralized and sustainable energy landscape.
The Southern Company has several growth opportunities in the evolving energy market. The increasing focus on renewable energy presents a significant avenue for expansion. By continuing to invest in renewable energy projects and exploring new technologies, The Southern Company can capitalize on the growing demand for clean energy solutions and reduce its carbon footprint.
The transition to electric transportation also provides growth potential for The Southern Company. As the adoption of electric vehicles increases, the company can play a pivotal role in supporting the infrastructure needed for widespread charging stations and grid integration.
Moreover, The Southern Company can leverage its expertise in nuclear energy to contribute to expanding the clean energy sector. The company's ongoing nuclear projects demonstrate its commitment to nuclear power as a reliable and sustainable energy source.
While The Southern Company has positioned itself for growth, it faces certain risks and challenges. One of the primary risks is the potential impact of regulatory changes. Changes in regulations and policies can affect the company's operations, costs, and profitability. Adapting to evolving regulatory frameworks and maintaining compliance is crucial for The Southern Company to mitigate regulatory risks.
The energy industry also faces uncertainties related to environmental concerns and climate change. Increased emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy sources may require significant investments and operational changes for The Southern Company. Adapting to these changes while ensuring the affordability and reliability of energy services poses a challenge.
Another risk is the volatility of commodity prices, including natural gas and fuel costs. Fluctuations in these prices can impact The Southern Company's profitability and cost structure. Effective risk management strategies, including hedging and fuel cost recovery mechanisms, are essential for mitigating these risks.
The Southern Company must also navigate technological disruptions and maintain its competitive edge in an increasingly digitized energy landscape. Embracing technological advancements, such as smart grid solutions and digital customer engagement, can enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Airports Council International (ACI) World has opened a global summit that aims at enhancing customer and employee experience, and customer-centric initiatives.
The annual ACI Customer Experience Global Summit in Incheon, Republic of Korea, has welcomed more than 500 international delegates including government officials, airport and aviation executives, and customer experience experts.
The four-day premier event dedicated to customer and employee experience, and hosted by Incheon International Airport, the largest airport in the Republic of Korea, will conclude on September 7.
With total global passenger traffic surpassing 6.6 billion in 2022 and set to reach 19.3 billion passengers by 2041, the global summit marks an unprecedented relevancy for airports and the wider travel and tourism industry.
The event highlights include:
Latest trends from the world's leading customer-centric airport hubs including Incheon, Istanbul, Atlanta, Changi, and Munich airport.
Unique insights from Luc Mayrand, VP Creative Portfolio Executive at Walt Disney Imagineering and Chul-Bae Lee, Vice President, Customer eXperience Center of LG Electronics.
Future-facing technology and innovations from Amazon Web Services, Amadeus, and Moment Factory.
Gala Dinner celebrating the prestigious and world-renowned Airport Service Quality (ASQ) Awards winners and recipients of Customer Experience Accreditation. The ASQ program is the worlds leading airport passenger satisfaction program with over 400 participating airports in 95 countries.
Targeted exhibition showcasing innovative solutions to enhance the passenger experience and deliver memorable experiences.
Luis Felipe de Oliveira, Director General, ACI World said: The success of an airport depends on the satisfaction of its customers. From check-in to boarding, and everything in between, airports are focused on creating positive, memorable, and meaningful experiences for their passengers as their needs continue to evolve.
However, it takes a village an entire airport community to excel in an increasingly competitive market as passenger traffic doubles in the next two decades. Strong leadership centred on fostering a customer-centric culture across the airport community is key to creating valuable human experiences for its customers, employees, and stakeholders. We are gathered in Incheon to gain insights from the very best airport CEOs and industry leaders that are heading the way forward and raising the standards of air travel for our guests.
Hag Jae LEE, President & CEO, Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) said: We stand at a crucial moment where the airport no longer serves as just a transportation facility. Airports play an important part of a customer's journey and those memories stick with them long after they have returned home.
The importance of the customer experience has never been more evident. I recognise the opportunity of this summit to collaborate and share valuable insights. It will be a fruitful platform to discuss innovative approaches and share ideas that will help improve global standards and benefit the millions of travellers worldwide. TradeArabia News Service
MOGADISHU, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The global charity Save the Children has called upon the international community to avert the impending acute malnutrition crisis in Somalia.
The charity said that, despite initial hopes that rainfall would provide relief, approximately two out of every five children under the age of five in Somalia are likely to suffer from acute malnutrition by July 2024.
Francesca Sangiorgi, the agency's humanitarian director for Somalia, emphasized that while the international community successfully prevented a famine in Somalia at the end of last year, much work remains. "We are only at the beginning of our efforts to eradicate all forms of malnutrition by 2030 and save lives in Somalia," she said in a statement released in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Monday evening.
The most recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) figures for Somalia indicate that 4.3 million people are expected to experience crisis-level hunger by December, compared to the current 3.7 million. While there has been some improvement in acute malnutrition compared to last year, the report cautions that the situation remains extremely worrisome, with approximately 1.5 million children, equivalent to 43 percent of children under the age of five in Somalia, projected to suffer from acute malnutrition by July 2024.
"Hundreds, if not thousands, of children are likely to die from starvation and other hunger-related illnesses. But behind each statistic is a child, a life teetering on the edge of hunger," Sangiorgi noted.
According to the charity, the prolonged drought has depleted the soil's ability to absorb rain for crop growth, and heavy rains have led to devastating flash floods, further damaging homes and livestock.
Save the Children has also warned that El Nino events are expected to intensify drying in the second half of 2023, potentially increasing the occurrence of floods. This raises concerns about heightened disease risks, including acute watery diarrhea, cholera, malaria, and acute respiratory tract infections, particularly among vulnerable children.
The organization has called on donors to increase their response to the crisis and ensure that life-saving food, water, health and nutrition services are immediately available to families in Somalia who are in desperate need. Additionally, it has urged the international community to take action to eliminate hunger in Somalia and the Horn of Africa by addressing root causes, including finding sustainable solutions to the global climate crisis and supporting the communities most affected to adapt and prepare for climate shocks.
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ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Health Minister Lia Tadesse has warned that the malaria epidemic continues to be the leading cause of death in Africa, with a particular impact on children.
Tadesse made the remarks during the ongoing 9th Pan-African Mosquito Control Association Annual Conference and Exhibition, held in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.
The spread of malaria and related diseases in Africa poses significant public health challenges for the continent, Tadese was quoted as saying by the state-run Ethiopian News Agency during the opening event on Monday.
She emphasized the need to maximize efforts to control the disease by utilizing available resources and technologies effectively.
Tadesse noted that Ethiopia has achieved encouraging progress in the prevention and control of malaria due to government efforts in collaboration with various stakeholders over the past two decades.
She mentioned that Ethiopia has been implementing a national malaria strategic plan, which was initiated in 2021 with the objective of eliminating malaria from the country.
However, the Ethiopian health minister said that despite significant progress in controlling malaria and associated diseases in Africa, conflicts, displacement, floods and droughts have caused a resurgence of the disease.
The five-day conference, running until Friday, has brought together more than 1,000 participants from Africa and beyond to discuss ways to combat malaria on the continent.
Official figures indicate that in Ethiopia, the number of individuals contracting and succumbing to malaria has seen a significant decline of 90 percent over the past decade. However, the spread of malaria has been on the rise in the past two years, primarily due to natural and man-made issues such as climate change and security challenges.
September 19, 2023
Youve heard it time and time again.
Protecting IoT technology is challenging.
IoT devices are known for their notoriously poor protection.
IoT technology wasnt designed with security in mind.
By the end of 2023, there will be 15.14 billion connected IoT devices in the world. In 2030, this number is expected to double.
Were surrounded by IoT components. Every year, hackers have more and more opportunities to exploit them for complex cyber-attacks.
What can you, as a manufacturer, do to build devices with a smarter approach to cybersecurity? What can you, as a consumer, do to choose more secure devices?
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC (News - Alert)) has created a program that will address these difficulties.
Here we discover how Cyber Trust Mark sets a new security standard for IoT devices.
Purchasing Safer IoT Devices
For consumers, the U.S. Cyber Trust Mark is an easy way to tell the product is secure. When you see the shield logo on the products on the shelves, you'll be able to actively choose devices that adhere to stricter safety standards.
Why is IoT security important to consumers?
Smart thermostats, watches, TVs, locks, speakers, glasses, or even refrigerators need IoT components to be functional.
When theyre poorly protected, bad actors can use them to gain access to other devices that communicate with them (such as your smartphone) or get access to devices such as security cameras.
In 2024, when the Cyber Trust Mark will go into full effect, users can rely on the shield mark to buy the products that are:
Equipped with stronger, unique default passwords
Continually updated with security patches
Regularly tested against new vulnerabilities
Feature better technology that identifies possible hacking incidents
Safe against cyber attacks that frequently target smart devices
There will now be a straightforward way to choose more secure devices.
Releasing Safer IoT Devices to the U.S. Market
The protection of IoT device components begins with manufacturers. Consumers will be encouraged to purchase shield-labeled products when this label appears in stores, and retailers will put them at the forefront.
This new labeling program will help companies face security issues that protect IoT devices against cyber exploits.
The Cyber Trust Mark will offer universal guidelines that manufacturers can follow to design and create more secure IoT technology in every development stage.
The exact criteria manufacturers will have to meet to earn the Cyber Trust Mark is not yet available, but will likely cover all the common remarks that are discussed in the context of IoT device protection, such as better data encryption, strict access control, and continual cyber security improvement of available IoT technology.
Most manufacturers already follow some of the recommended practices to secure IoT devices such as applying basic cyber hygiene to protect their most valuable assets.
The Cyber Trust Marl new program will provide a more comprehensive list of essential principles that every IoT maker has to follow to protect user data, improve security, and promptly detect as well as respond to cyber incidents.
Registering for the Cyber Trust Mark
Manufacturers can voluntarily choose to be part of the Cyber Trust Mark Program. However, this label is issued for the U.S. market only, and the program is currently limited to consumer smart devices.
The program is ideal for IoT makers who manufacture IoT devices in the US who already follow security principles going beyond basic cyber hygiene, and who want to increase customer trust.
Companies that enroll in the program and whose devices follow the security guidelines will be certified and listed in the national registry of devices.
Consumers will be able to access the complete registry using the assigned QR code. In addition to the shield logo, there is another way to check if the company follows the best IoT security practices.
The Cyber Trust Mark label expires after three years, and companies will have to go through a yearly security audit to prove that they are adhering to the set security standards.
Some of the companies that already promised to support the initiative are Google, Amazon, and Logitech (News - Alert).
Securing IoT Components Beyond the Cyber Trust Mark
Cyber Trust Mark leaves the door ajar to the world that connects us and makes our lives more convenient with IoT devices without compromising security.
Its a step in the right direction but not a final solution that will end all the security challenges posed by poorly protected IoT technology.
Companies with many IoT components within their infrastructure still need extensive and robust security.
They must map all the smart devices within the infrastructure to increase their visibility.
Then, they must protect them at all times to catch cyber threats before granting unauthorized access or resulting in a data breach.
Improving Cybersecurity For Smart Devices
As mentioned, IoT technology is notorious for its lax cybersecurity practices. Weak default passwords and the wide range of versatility of IoT devices make it hard to set a standardized guide for protecting such components against cyber breaches.
With the Cyber Trust Mark, the security standards for consumer IoT devices are increased. The program offers an important step toward the security of smart devices.
The shield logo will offer consumers a visual they can refer to and separate companies that prioritize user security and privacy.
For manufacturers, the Cyber Trust Mark will provide a major push to continually improve IoT security and set a higher standard for their devices compared to their competitors.
Consumers shopping within the U.S. market can expect the program to be applied in 2024.
September 19, 2023
Infographics have become an indispensable tool for effectively communicating complex information in a visually appealing manner. A well-designed infographic can capture and hold your audience's attention, simplify complicated data, and even provide a memorable visual storytelling experience. This article will explore essential tips and strategies for designing engaging and visually stunning infographics that effectively convey complex information to your audience.
Use Hierarchy to Guide the Viewer's Eye
Establishing a clear hierarchy in your design can help guide the viewer's eye through your infographic. Start with the most important or compelling graphic or piece of information, then build your layout around it. Use size, color, contrast, and whitespace to emphasize important elements and create a visual flow that directs the viewer's eye from one section to another.
Incorporate Modular Content
Another effective way to optimize your infographic is by using modular content. This approach allows you to create flexible and easily adaptable content that can be repurposed for various platforms, contexts, or user needs. By designing your infographics with modularity in mind, it becomes easier to update and reuse them in the future, ensuring your content remains relevant and valuable to your audience.
Simplify and Humanize Data
One of the main objectives of infographics is to make complex data easily comprehensible. Simplify the data by breaking it down into smaller chunks, using visuals to represent numbers or relationships, and removing unnecessary details. Additionally, humanize the data by using metaphors, analogies, or examples that allow your audience to relate the information to their own experiences.
Refine and Iterate
Creating the perfect infographic often involves refining and iterating your design. Gather feedback from your target audience, colleagues, or design experts to identify potential improvements. This iterative process will help you polish your design and ensure that it effectively communicates your message. Don't be afraid to make changes or experiment with different approaches to achieve the best results.
Strike the Right Balance Between Text and Visuals
Infographics are all about striking the perfect balance between text and visuals. Too much text can render your infographic cluttered and difficult to understand, while an overabundance of visuals can make it look chaotic. To find the right balance, ensure that the text provides context, while the visuals do the heavy lifting of breaking down complex data into digestible pieces.
Use a Consistent and Cohesive Visual Style
Maintaining a consistent and cohesive visual style throughout your infographic is crucial for creating a polished and professional look. This includes choosing a color palette, typography, and illustration style that work well together and effectively represents your brand or topic. Do not overwhelm your audience with too many colors or font variations, and ensure that the overall design ties everything together seamlessly.
Choose the Right Type of Infographic
There are several types of infographics, each serving a different purpose. Some of the most common types include statistical, timeline, process, comparison, and geographic. Choosing the right type of infographic for your data is essential for effective communication. Determine the purpose of your infographic and then pick the most suitable type to structure and present your data accordingly.
Optimize for Different Devices and Platforms
With more people accessing content on various devices and platforms, optimizing your infographic for different viewing experiences is essential. This includes designing your infographic in a responsive format that automatically adapts to different screen sizes and resolutions. Additionally, provide a high-quality version for printing or sharing directly in presentations where users may need to zoom in for details.
Fact-Check and Cite Your Sources
Ensure the information in your infographic is accurate and trustworthy by fact-checking all data points and citing your sources. Providing sources not only lends credibility to your infographic but also allows your audience to further explore the subject if they're interested. By diligently fact-checking and citing your sources, you establish an authoritative and reliable reputation for your content.
Think About Accessibility
Consider the accessibility of your infographic, ensuring that it can be easily understood by a diverse audience. This includes using clear and legible typography, meaningful color contrasts, and alternative text descriptions for visual elements, which can aid visually impaired users. By making your infographic more accessible, you can reach a wider audience and make your information more inclusive.
Promote and Share Your Infographic
After creating your visually compelling infographic, it's time to promote and share it with the world. Utilize various platforms such as social media, blog posts, and email distribution to increase the reach and visibility of your infographic. Engage with your audience as they share their opinions and feedback, and use this opportunity to collect more insights and ideas for your future creations.
Conclusion
By following the tips and strategies outlined in this article, you can create engaging and visually compelling infographics that effectively communicate complex information to your audience. Always remember that the key to infographic success lies in striking a balance between text and visuals, choosing the right type, and designing for impact, accessibility, and consistency. Embrace the art of visual storytelling and watch your content captivate and inform your audience like never before.
WINDHOEK, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Namibia on Tuesday launched an initiative aimed at rewarding, recognizing and supporting individuals and entities that play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety, hospitality, kindness, care and preservation of the country's tourism.
The campaign, dubbed "Tourism Heroes," was launched by the Gondwana Collection, a hub for travel and safaris in Namibia, in response to a concerning surge in criminal activities targeting international tourists.
Speaking at the launch, Namibian Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta said this reward system will assist and support the government efforts in ensuring that culprits and criminals that target tourists and tourist establishments are quickly identified, apprehended, and brought to book to face the full wrath of the law.
Gondwana Collection Namibia showed its commitment to this cause by contributing 1 million Namibian dollars (about 67,000 U.S. dollars) through the Gondwana Care Trust.
"This great initiative is forward-looking, and we hope that it will be used to bring crime incidents against tourists to zero in Namibia," Shifeta said, welcoming the establishment of the Tourism Protection Unit by the Namibian Police.
Meanwhile, Peter Katjavivi, speaker of the National Assembly who also attended the launch, highlighted the importance of the hospitality industry as well as tourists visiting the country, noting that there is a need to make the southern African country welcoming to all tourists and make it the preferred destination for tourists to experience true hospitality in Africa.
Last week, Namibia experienced a spate of violent attacks on international tourists, which Shifeta condemned as a serious concern for the industry which contributes significantly to the country's gross domestic product.
[September 19, 2023] Echodyne CTO and Co-Founder to Present at the 20th Annual European Radar Conference Tweet
Echodyne, the radar platform company, announced today that Echodyne CTO, Dr. Tom Driscoll, will be addressing the 20th Annual European Radar Conference (EuRAD 2023) in Berlin, Germany. Driscoll will address the opening session of EuRAD 2023 with a talk titled, "Phased Array Radar for an Era of Autonomy: Progress, Challenges and Outlook," which will be held on Wednesday, September 20th at 9:10 am CEST. EuRAD 2023 is a sub-conference of the 26th Edition of the European Microwave Week (EuMW), Europe's premier microwave, radio frequency (RF), wireless, and radar event, which takes place over September 17-22nd in Berlin. EuRAD will feature discussions over Setember 20-22nd from international experts, engineers, and scientists on trends and new developments in all aspects of radar systems for a large variety of civil, security, automotive, defense, and medical applications.
During Driscoll's talk, he will discuss how the rapid increase in capability and prevalence of autonomous systems is driving demand for new and better sensors. He will also dive into how phased array radars - including multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) phased arrays - are capable of the high-performance required to meet modern day needs. While these radars have been historically out of reach due to cost and complexity, they are now available at commercial prices. "At Echodyne, we are pioneering a next-generation radar architecture that provides the kind of high performance necessary to meet the growing presence of autonomous systems," said Tom Driscoll, CTO and Co-Founder of Echodyne. "I'm excited to address the opening session of EuRAD 2023 to share Echodyne's experiences with novel radar designs and to discuss how new approaches to radars can benefit autonomous machines."
Echodyne's proprietary metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) is a rare technology breakthrough in radar design and manufacturing. A MESA radar uses common materials arranged in a special way to precisely steer radar energy from a much denser array without phase shifters, moving parts, or maintenance of any kind. With radically reduced size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), Echodyne's MESA radar design unlocks advanced radar solutions for more markets, more applications, and more users and reinvents what commercial radar can achieve. Attendees of EuRAD 2023 can join the event in-person at Messe Berlin Hub27. For additional details on EuRAD 2023, visit here. About Echodyne Echodyne, the radar platform company, is a U.S. designer and manufacturer of advanced radar solutions for defense, government, and commercial market applications. The company's proprietary metamaterials electronically scanned array (MESA) architecture is a rare breakthrough in advanced radar engineering, leveraging an innovative physics-design approach, Echodyne's MESA radars use standard materials and manufacturing processes to shatter unit cost barriers for high performance radar. The result is a solid-state, low-SWaP, exportable, commercial radar with advanced software capabilities that delivers superior performance, unparalleled data integrity, and exceptional situational awareness. Privately held, the company is backed by Bill Gates, NEA, Madrona Venture Group, Baillie Gifford, Northrop Grumman, and Supernal among others. For more information, please visit: Echodyne.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919636184/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Nicole Kunz Joins Alliant's Employee Benefits Group in Portland, Oregon Tweet
Nicole Kunz has joined Alliant Insurance Services as Vice President within its Employee Benefits Group. Based in Portland, Oregon, Kunz brings strategic resources, industry insights, and intellectual capital to Alliant's team in the Pacific Northwest and will focus on helping clients rapidly adapt to change and ensure every dollar spent is driving the outcomes that matter. Kunz comes to Alliant with more than a decade of combined sales and benefits experience. In her new role, Kunz will leverage broad, specialized benefits expertise with a personalized consulting approach to find creativ solutions that meet the unique needs of her customers and help them become more resilient and agile organizations.
"Nicole has a range of experience and the insights to help clients succeed. She has a passion for connecting with people, and that allows her to forge the strong and lasting client relationships that are needed to drive business and support long- and short-term goals," said Kevin Overbey, President, Alliant Employee Benefits. "As we continue to grow our presence in the Pacific Northwest and focus on the unique challenges that region faces, Nicole's expertise will strengthen our approach and results." Prior to joining Alliant, Kunz was a Principal at a large consulting firm. She earned her bachelor's degree from Portland State University.
Kunz can be reached at (971) 278-8504 or [email protected]. About Alliant Insurance Services Alliant Insurance Services is one of the nation's leading distributors of diversified insurance products and services. We operate through a network of specialized national platforms and local offices to offer our clients a comprehensive portfolio of solutions built on innovative thinking and personal service. The business of managing risk is getting more complex, and Alliant is meeting this complexity head-on, not with more layers of management, but with more creativity and agility. Alliant is changing the way our clients approach risk management and benefits, so they can capitalize on new opportunities to grow and protect their organizations. Visit us at alliant.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919212346/en/
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[September 19, 2023]
Quantzig Revolutionizes Data Management for Leading US Retail Company
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantzig, a renowned data analytics and advisory firm, has successfully addressed the data management challenges faced by a prominent retail company in the USA. Leveraging its innovative no-code data pipeline solution, Quantzig revolutionized the client's data landscape, leading to improved data integration, enhanced data quality, and heightened data security.
Challenges: Prior to partnering with Quantzig, the retail client encountered a multitude of challenges that impeded its operational efficiency and decision-making capabilities. Among the primary challenges were data silos that hindered cross-functional collaboration and led to redundant data. These silos stemmed from the fragmented storage of data in systems that couldn't communicate with each other, exacerbating inefficiencies.
Data quality was another significant concern for the client. Inaccuracies and inconsistencies plagued their datasets, compromising their ability to make reliable decisions. Futhermore, the lack of robust protection measures for sensitive data posed security vulnerabilities, raising concerns about data breaches and compliance violations. The client's complex data landscape, characterized by diverse data types and sources, overwhelmed their existing infrastructure, making data integration and analysis a daunting task.
Solutions: Quantzig's no-code data pipeline solution emerged as a game-changer for the retail client. This innovative solution automated various data management tasks, including management, governance, and monetization, and delivered several transformative benefits.
Firstly, the no-code approach simplified data integration. By seamlessly consolidating data from disparate sources, it eliminated data silos and enabled a unified view of operations. This unified data hub facilitated faster decision-making and provided more accurate insights to drive strategic choices.
Secondly, the solution significantly enhanced data quality. Through automated data pipeline processes, inaccuracies were detected and rectified in real time, ensuring that decision-makers had access to reliable and consistent data. This boost in data quality bolstered the client's confidence in their strategic decisions.
Furthermore, the no-code data pipeline solution prioritized data security by implementing robust access controls and encryption measures. This minimized the risk of data breaches and compliance violations, effectively safeguarding sensitive information.
To read the full resource and learn more about how Quantzig transformed data management for the leading US retail company, click here!
About Quantzig:
Quantzig is a leading data analytics and advisory firm that specializes in providing data-driven solutions to businesses worldwide. With a strong focus on delivering real-time insights, Quantzig empowers companies to make informed decisions and drive cost-saving initiatives. Their expertise spans various industries, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and more.
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SOURCE Quantzig
[September 19, 2023] EIFO and Novo Holdings lead 14M round in Power-to-Peroxide pioneer HPNow Tweet
COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HPNow, the pioneer in electrification of the hydrogen peroxide industry, announced the successful closing of a 14M round. The equity round is led by The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) together with Novo Holdings. Other investors in the round include MatiTech a sustainable water treatment solution provider in Sub Sahara, and existing investors Evonik Venture Capital and AP Ventures. HPNow's breakthrough electrochemical technology enables the safe and sustainable generation of a powerful green oxidant directly on site, using only water and electricity as inputs. The output solution breaks down to pure water and oxygen following use. HPNow is bringing to market a greener alternative to the conventional fossil-fuel based centralized production, transportation and handling of bulk hydrogen peroxide, offsetting as much as three tons of CO2eq per ton of hydrogen peroxide generated on site, compared to standard production techniques. With applications across agriculture, process water, and the food and beverage sectors, HPNow's solutions provide not only a sustainable alternative but an economically viable one, with strong payback as compared to traditional chemical-based water treatment. The company's solutions can further be utilized towards the breakdown of hazardous micro-pollutants in drinking water originating from pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and O&G industries. Proceeds from this round of financing will primarily be used towards the scaling up of HPNow's marketing, sales, technical support and production capacity, in order to address growing market demand. "Danish Power-to-X pioneers like HPNow are leading the way to a more sustainable future. From agriculture to industry, their technology, originally developed at the Technical University of Denmark, represents a multi-billion euro market opportunity for safe, sustainable and affordable water treatment," said Investment Director at EIFO, Jonas Bjaaland. "For EIFO it is important to ensure that green capex intensive pioneers like HPNow can scale up and make their technology available for the world market. We do that by closing the funding gap with equity for now but will also at a later stage be able to provide debt and export credit in corporation with commercial banks. With this group of investors HPNow can take big steps towards achieving not only the world market goal but also the UN Sustainable Development Goals," he added. "Water is a vital resource for our planet and the people that inhabit it. With our investment we are striving to benefit people and the planet, so this endeavour into sustainable water treatment is a logical step for us. HPNow's hydrogen peroxide generation technology contributes to the responsible use of one of the most precious resources we have, and we are very pleased to join the company on this journey," Marcus Remmers, Partner at Bioindustrial Investments, Novo Holdings, dded.
"This new investment round, led by top-tier investors EIFO and Novo Holdings, represents a strong endorsement of our technology and market offerings, and will enable us to take a major leap forward in our company's development. With the strong backing of new and existing partners, our company is ready to take sustainable on-site peroxide generation to the next level," said Ziv Gottesfeld, CEO at HPNow. About HPNow
HPNow addresses growing global challenges in clean water and sanitation through its range of on-site, autonomous, safe, and sustainable ultra-pure hydrogen peroxide generation solutions. HPNow was spun out of the Danish Technical University (DTU) in 2015, and is now headquartered in Copenhagen, with sales representation across Europe, the Americas and Asia. HPNow's solutions address water treatment professionals' needs in market segments ranging from agriculture to industrial and drinking water treatment. HPNow is a technology and market leader in on-site generation of hydrogen peroxide and is continuously striving to further advance its technology and products in order to meet growing market needs and rising global demand. www.hpnow.eu About EIFO The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark (EIFO) is the national promotional bank and export credit agency of Denmark combined in one new financial institution. EIFO provides a single point of access for Danish companies as well as for their foreign and domestic business partners who need risk-tolerant government capital. EIFOs main objective is to support Danish companies which can green the globe. www.eifo.dk About Novo Holdings Novo Holdings is a holding and investment company that is responsible for managing the assets and the wealth of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The purpose of Novo Holdings is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet by generating attractive long-term returns on the assets of the Novo Nordisk Foundation. Wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Novo Holdings is the controlling shareholder of Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S and manages an investment portfolio with a long-term return perspective. In addition to managing a broad portfolio of equities, bonds, real estate, infrastructure and private equity assets, Novo Holdings is a world-leading life sciences investor. Through its Seeds, Venture, Growth, and Principal Investments teams, Novo Holdings invests in life science companies at all stages of development. As of year-end 2022, Novo Holdings had total assets of EUR 108 billion. www.novoholdings.dk About MatiTech MatiTech Solutions specializes in transforming water from diverse sources into usable assets for various applications. MatiTech prides itself on offering cutting-edge technologies and expertise in the field of water treatment. MatiTech stands by its commitment to provide sustainable water treatment solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. www.matitechafrica.com About Evonik Venture Capital Evonik Venture Capital generates strategic value and growth opportunities through investing and partnering with innovative start-up companies. With a fund size of 400 million, Evonik Venture Capital has made about 50 investments since 2012, both direct and fund investments. The investment scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with an investment volume of up to 15 million per portfolio company. From its office in Germany, the USA and China, EVC invests in innovative technologies in the areas of Nutrition & Care, Smart Materials, Specialty Additives and Digitalization, as well as in technologies to support Evonik's Sustainability Strategy. About AP Ventures AP Ventures is headquartered in London and manages venture capital funds with a global mandate to invest in pioneering new technologies and businesses which aim to solve global challenges such as renewable energy integration and resource scarcity. AP Ventures has been investing in the hydrogen industry since 2013 and is recognised as a leading venture capital fund across this value chain. AP Ventures manages USD 395m of assets on behalf of 12 LPs and has invested in more than 20 technology companies across the hydrogen value chain. Stay in the loop by following HPNow on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. www.hpnow.eu View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/eifo-and-novo-holdings-lead-14m-round-in-power-to-peroxide-pioneer-hpnow-301930970.html
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[September 19, 2023] Axel Springer Partners with Connatix to Drive Video Engagement Tweet
Global agreement will enhance digital news brands' digital monetization and user experience BERLIN and NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Axel Springer SE, a media and technology company active in more than 40 countries, today announced a long-term partnership with Connatix, the leading video technology company for premium publishers and advertisers, to power online video engagement. The partnership will fuel Axel Springer's continued efforts to drive revenue for its publishers, enabling the media brands to further engage readers with their video content by leveraging Connatix's technology. The partnership underscores both companies' commitment to building an innovative, yet sustainable business model for digital quality journalism. "Connatix shares our dedication to ensuring publishers remain financially viable and competitive in the digital age," said Mathias Sanchez, SVP Global Strategic Partnerships at Axel Springer. "Their cutting-edge technology enables us to unlock new revenue opportunities for our media brands. We look forward to leveraging Connatix's solutions in new ways as the industry continues to transform itself with the adoption of advancements like generative contextual AI." The partnership will, in a first step, comprise Axel Springer's German media brands WELT and BILD, including the BOOK Family, B.Z., SPORT BILD, AUTO BILD and COMPUTER BILD. With Connatix's integrated player, ad server and exchange, the media brands will be able to grow and optimize video strategies. Additionally, they will be able to generate additional revenue by leveraging Connatix's video solutions to allo advertisers to precisely target their video campaigns against contextually relevant content. Connatix will provide Axel Springer with several benefits, including access to the leading Demand-Side Platforms (DSP), cookieless contextual targeting, and transparent reporting. With its technology, Connatix enhances the regular digital video monetization for Axel Springer's media brands via Media Impact and Ad Alliance.
"We are thrilled to join forces and partner with Axel Springer, one of the world's leading digital publishers and a company that shares our strong commitment to innovation and excellence in publishing," said Bill Swanson, SVP, EMEA. "Our best-in-class video technology will empower Axel Springer to tap into the power of online video and innovate to help drive the future of digital publishing." The news also bolsters Connatix's overseas expansion as global demand for Connatix's video solutions continues to grow. Following the opening of its UK office and the appointment of Bill Swanson as SVP of EMEA in 2022, Connatix's investments in video innovation and cookieless targeting has enabled the company to build relationships with the leading publishers and advertisers in the U.K. and across Continental Europe.
About Axel Springer
Axel Springer is a media and technology company and active in more than 40 countries. By providing information across its diverse media brands (among others BILD, WELT, INSIDER, POLITICO) and classifieds portals (StepStone Group and AVIV Group) Axel Springer SE empowers people to make free decisions for their lives. Today, the transformation from a traditional print media company to Europe's leading digital publisher has been successfully accomplished. The next goal has been identified: Axel Springer wants to become global market leader in digital content and digital classifieds through accelerated growth. The company is headquartered in Berlin and employs more than 18,000 people worldwide. About Connatix
Connatix is a video technology company that powers the world's stories with effortless, empowering, and inspiring solutions. Through a proprietary full-stack platform, Connatix helps publishers deliver, monetize, analyze and create video, while providing advertisers with premium video inventory and precise Deep Contextual targeting. Sitting at the forefront of innovation, Connatix leverages the power of AI to optimize revenue and ensure relevancy, efficiency and scale across campaigns. Connatix currently works with 350+ publisher groups across thousands of sites and leading brands and agencies. The private equity-backed business has been named an AdExchanger Programmatic Power Player for two consecutive years and included on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing companies for three consecutive years. Founded in 2014, Connatix is headquartered in New York City and continues to expand its global footprint with offices in London, Cluj-Napoca, and Tel Aviv. Press Contact
Sandra Goetz
E-Mail: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1092304/Connatix_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/axel-springer-partners-with-connatix-to-drive-video-engagement-301931259.html
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[September 19, 2023] HONEYWELL INTRODUCES SOFTWARE TO HELP OPTIMIZE WAREHOUSE OPERATIONS Tweet
Scalable, affordable and configurable MesonX Warehouse Management System can be installed nearly 10 times faster than conventional systems to help businesses with inventory management, order fulfilment and more KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell today introduced its latest software technology designed to address the expanding demands of warehousing, order fulfilment and distribution needs in Southeast Asia and other global markets. The company introduced its MesonX Warehouse Management System (WMS), a software solution designed to improve and streamline warehouse and distribution center (DC) operations. From handling inbound receipt and put-away to managing replenishment, picking, order fulfilment and shipping, the software provides businesses with the flexible end-to-end control necessary to simplify their operations and excel in this demanding marketplace. MesonX WMS provides easy-to-use tools and pre-configured functions for swift and cost-effective onboarding. Companies can expect up to 80% lower implementation costs with this software, which can be fully operational in just two weeks with only 250 hours of onboarding services, a significant improvement compared to the usual 2,000-hour implementation time. "The rapid expansion of warehouses and the rising complexities of omnichannel fulfilment have brought about fresh challenges in managing inventory within DC operations. These challenges can manifest as inventory inaccuracies, which, in turn, lead to workflow bottlenecks, disruptions in labor producivity, and diminished customer service quality, all of which can substantially reduce profit margins," said Jonathan Kwok, General Manager of Honeywell Logistics Solutions. "MesonX WMS goes beyond the basics of a typical WMS. It offers standard features like inbound/outbound processing, inventory, and resource management. But what sets it apart is its ability to deliver strong performance including seamless integration, quick installation, deep configurability for warehouse operations and easy adaptability to future business changes."
Logistics companies often face high costs coupled with a long lead time in designing, developing, configuring, and testing a WMS for their operations. These challenges can hamper companies with tight budgets and an even tighter project time frame. Some end up investing too much in systems that offer more features than they need, while others create their own 'homegrown' WMS, only to quickly outgrow it and drain internal resources. MesonX WMS solves these issues by tailoring itself precisely to specific workflows, eliminating the need for costly custom coding. As businesses evolve, users can leverage the highly configurable characteristics to upscale MesonX WMS. The software solution seamlessly integrates with numerous devices, including mobile computers, voice automation technology, printers, barcode scanners, robotics, and more.
Honeywell Logistics Solutions along with their certified partners, have a track record of successfully assisting businesses across various industries such as retail, 3PL, apparel, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, and cold chain sectors. They operate in 24 countries, managing over 2,600 warehouses, including one with a remarkable capacity of handling up to 1.6 million orders per day. Visit Honeywell Logistics Solutions. Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS) provides products, software and connected solutions that improve productivity, workplace safety and asset performance for our customers across the globe. We deliver on this promise through industry-leading mobile devices, software, cloud technology and automation solutions, the broadest range of personal protective equipment and gas detection technology, and custom-engineered sensors, switches and controls. For more information, please visit: sps.honeywell.com. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/honeywell-introduces-software-to-help-optimize-warehouse-operations-301931563.html SOURCE Honeywell
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[September 19, 2023] Rentschler Biopharma appoints Benedikt von Braunmuehl as Chief Executive Officer Tweet
Benedikt von Braunmuehl, a transformational leader with a 30-year track record in the global healthcare industry, is named CEO Rentschler Biopharma SE
Company also announces appointment of Tom Roberts, an entrepreneurial trailblazer with over 20 years of experience, as President of Rentschler Biopharma Inc. and General Manager U.S. LAUPHEIM, Germany and STEVENAGE, United Kingdom and MILFORD, Mass., Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rentschler Biopharma SE, a leading global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biopharmaceuticals, today announced that the company has hired Benedikt von Braunmuehl as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He brings nearly 30 years of experience in the global healthcare industry and has a strong track record of successfully implementing effective business strategies to achieve corporate growth goals. He joined the company on September 19, 2023. Prior to joining Rentschler Biopharma, Mr. von Braunmuehl served as CEO of HMNC Brain Health in Munich, Germany, where he transformed a research-focused organization to a clinical-stage biopharma company. Before this, he was Chief Operating Officer Diagnostic Services at Medicover, where he streamlined processes, grew business lines and significantly increased revenue. He previously worked at Qiagen, last serving as Senior VP, Head of Global Commercial Operations and Member of the Executive Committee. In this position, he implemented several transformational projects and drove global commercial growth and efficiency initiatives. He previously was Vice President Latin America & Member of the Americas Management Council at Qiagen. While at Chiron Vaccines (predecessor to Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics), he established the companys Latin American regional office to drive commercial growth in that region. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Pathoquest and supported the refocusing from a diagnostic company towards a service organization in the biopharma industry. Mr. von Braunmuehl holds a bachelors degree in business administration from Lorange Institute of Business (formerly GSBA), Zurich. Prof. Dr. Nikolaus F. Rentschler, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rentschler Biopharma SE, said: I would like to warmly welcome Benedikt von Braunmuehl to Rentschler Biopharma. He has an impressive track record of effectively leading companies through rapidly changing market environments and transforming businesses to support sustainable growth. He has achieved this not only by improving efficiency, but also by focusing on client needs. He also brings a deep understanding of effectively scaling an international network of locations. Mr. von Braunmuehl is the perfect fit for leading Rentschler Biopharma, to continue transforming innovative ideas into life-saving biopharmaceuticals in the future. I very much look forward to working with Benedikt von Braunmuehl to continue to create value sustainably, for our clients and patients. Benedikt von Braunmuehl, CEO, Rentschler Biopharma SE, commented: I am excited to have the opportunity to lead Renschler Biopharma. The biopharmaceuticals market is slated to grow significantly in the coming years, and related companies are expected to increasingly focus on their core competencies. With these industry dynamics, the need for an experienced and reliable partner like Rentschler Biopharma, which can cover highly specialized industry demands in bioprocess development through to commercial manufacturing, is only going to grow. I am impressed with our dedicated team and very much look forward to working together, to sustainably grow our role in advancing medicine to save lives.
Company appoints Tom Roberts as President of Rentschler Biopharma Inc. and General Manager of U.S. Operations Rentschler Biopharma also reported today that Tom Roberts has been appointed as President of Rentschler Biopharma Inc. and General Manager U.S., effective September 12, 2023. In this newly created role, Mr. Roberts will be responsible for leading the companys U.S. business, including the site and operations in Milford, MA in Greater Boston. He also will join the companys Extended Executive Team.
Mr. Roberts has over 20 years experience in leading businesses, driving operational excellence and profitability. He was previously at Vitanova Biomedical, where he provided executive leadership, facilitated funding, and oversaw business and product development, regulatory compliance, manufacturing, and technology acquisition of a groundbreaking nanoparticle-based combination cancer therapeutic. Prior to this, he held leadership positions at Invictus Medical, 3M KCI (Formerly Acelity) and Roche Diagnostics. Mr. Roberts has an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University and a BS in biology from Denison University in Ohio. I am delighted today to welcome another strong addition to our executive team, said Prof. Dr. Nikolaus F. Rentschler. Tom Roberts brings a wealth of experience in successfully growing businesses and building strong teams. He has important expertise in many facets of the life sciences industry, bringing a deep understanding of the needs in the field. This is a critical time for our U.S. operations as we ramp up our state-of-the-art Rentschler Biopharma Manufacturing Center facility, the largest expansion in our companys 150-year history. Under Tom Roberts leadership, we look forward to broadening our U.S. business and continuing to effectively serve our global clients and patients out of Milford. Tom Roberts, President of Rentschler Biopharma Inc. and General Manager U.S., added: I am excited to join the Rentschler Biopharma team as the company looks to expand its U.S. business. Rentschler Biopharma is highly regarded for its expert international team, long-term experience and client-focused approach. I look forward to working closely with the entire team as we continue to build, always keeping in mind what our clients need to successfully bring life-saving treatments to patients. About Rentschler Biopharma SE Rentschler Biopharma is a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused exclusively on client projects. The company offers process development and manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals, including adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapies, as well as related consulting activities, project management and regulatory support. Rentschler Biopharma's high quality is proven by its long-standing experience and excellence as a solution partner for its clients. A high-level quality management system, a well-established operational excellence philosophy and advanced technologies ensure product quality and productivity at each development and manufacturing step. Rentschler Biopharma is a family-owned company with about 1,300 employees, headquartered in Laupheim, Germany, with a second site in Milford, MA, USA. Rentschler ATMP Ltd., located in Stevenage, UK, is dedicated to cell and gene therapies. For further information, please visit www.rentschler-biopharma.com . Follow Rentschler Biopharma on LinkedIn and Facebook . Contact: Rentschler Biopharma SE
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[September 19, 2023] ZHONGGUO REMITTANCE BRIDGES COMMUNITIES AND CONNECTS HEARTS ACROSS BORDERS Tweet
From Humble Beginnings To A Global Provider Zhongguo Remittance Provides Personalised Service, Speed, Safety and Security in Money Transfers
From Its Inception By Mr Ng Chun Lin To Its Current Leadership Under Jed Huang Guanhua, ZGR's Journey Is A Testament To Dedication, Trust-Building, And Technological Advancement In The Realm Of Remittances. SINGAPORE, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is the story of Zhongguo Remittance (ZGR), a venture initiated by Mr. Ng Chun Lin, a visionary who understood the power of compassion in a world defined by transactions. Today, second-generation owner Jed Huang Guanhua recounts the events leading to his family's entry into the money transfer trade, and how their journey began. At the end of the Qing Dynasty (??), Mr. Ng's grandfather embarked on a voyage to Singapore in pursuit of a better life. Stranded in a foreign land at the tender age of 14 and separated from his family in China, he grappled with the challenges of remitting money back home. His recourse lay in informal channels, reliant on ships ferrying goods to China, with no knowledge of when his family would receive the money. This practice, used by migrant workers from China, continued well into the 1980s, when shops along Bras Basah Road started to provide money transfer services between Singapore and China. Despite these efforts, Chinese workers faced unpredictable transfer durations and exchange rates, creating uncertainty for their families. The late 1990s saw the Asian Financial Crisis impacting various sectors. Amidst this, remittances remained crucial, yet there was an evident problem - the lack of licensed channels for remitting money to China in Singapore. Migrant workers had to visit a local Bank of China branch, where they often had to spend an entire day to complete their remittance transactions. Mr. Ng, who was in the construction industry, witnessed his workers' struggles and saw an opportunity to reshape lives. He sought to find an avenue to ensure that his workers' earnings would safely and swiftly reach their families. Determined to provide a solution, he then embarked on a journey that would redefine remittances. Mr. Ng applied for a license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), laying the foundation for the birth of ZGR. Overcoming scepticisms, he secured the license, with ZGR becoming a lifeline rooted in empathy. This understanding saw a commitment to extending business hours to suit workers' schedules, ensuring their needs were met without compromise. As the company's reach expanded, its mission remained unchanged to offer a personalised service that spoke to the hearts of those entrusting their hard-earned money for the betterment of their families. ZGR faced trust issues initially, prevalent in non-bank remittance companies. Working with the guidelines provided by the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) of the Singapore Police Force, ZGR helped educate the public on how to identify scams and thus reinforced its integrity, gained recognition, and thus slowly solidified its reputation. ZGR then became the first remittance company in Singapore to provide money transfer services from Singapore to China[1]. Over the years, ZGR expanded its reach - establishing remittance corridors in over 200 countries. Their expertise in money transfers now extends to Malaysia, Hong Kong S.A.R., the Taiwan region, Indonesia, the US, and other parts of the world. The company's professional and efficient remittance consultancy team ensure secure and seamless transactions, earning them a reputation as a top player in the industry. For the past two decades, Jed's father worked tirelessly to enhance ZGR's services, forging partnerships with overseas centres and integrating cutting-edge technologies. As wireless money transfers became the norm, he ensured the company stayed ahead of the curve, providing customers with the latest information and the most cost-effective ways to send money internationally. As he approached retirement, he entrusted the future of ZGR to his son, Jed. At just 30 years old, Jed took the reins with determination and a vision to continue his family's legacy. With his father's guidance and an innovative mindset, Jed sought to embrace new technologies and find even more efficient ways to serve their customers. ZGR sets itself apart from other similar businesses by offering comprehensive support throughout the remittance process. From providing application and exchange rate information to offering progress tracking and forex market trend insights, the company's commitment to personalised service is deeply rooted in its values, embodied by the characters ? (chang), symbolising growth and longevity, and ? (cheng), representing integrity and sincerity. Zhongguo Remittance is also a member of the Official Cooperation Institution of UnionPay International in Singapore[2]. ZGR received this distinction after the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corporation (HSBC), further solidifying its position as a trusted and reliable partner for individuals and businesses. "We are proud to have served the Singapore community for over 20 years, building strong relationships and trust among our customers," says Jed Huang Guanhua, CEO of Zhongguo Remittance. "Our mission goes beyond just providing remittance services; we strive to make a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and contribute to the well-being of the community. Our commitment to personalised service and customer satisfaction remains unwavering." As part of their focus on making remittance easy and hassle-free for all, registering an account with ZGR is a quick and straightforward process, allowing customers to begin transferring funds swiftly and efficiently. ZGR provides the convenience of instant money transfers, allowing funds to reach intended recipients promptly. Adapting to the evolving landscape of the international money transfer market, ZGR also offers online and mobile payment solutions. The company provides efficient and cost-effective services anytime, anywhere - emphasising speed, safety, and security in every transaction. Today, Zhongguo Remittance stands as a testament to the unwavering commitment of the Huang family. Their journey from humble beginnings to a global powerhouse is a story of perseverance, trust-building, and dedication to helping others. As ZGR continues to thrive, it remains a beacon of hope for workers and families, ensuring that their hard-earned money reaches its rightful destination with speed and peace of mind. For more information on Zhongguo Remittance, visit www.zhongguoremittance.com/en/home/
[1] Source: (Registration No.: 200612239R) Development Zhongguo Remittance Pte Ltd is the first remittance company in Singapore which provides remittance service from Singapore to China. [2] Source: Union Pay International Cross Border Remittance
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/zhongguo-remittance-bridges-communities-and-connects-hearts-across-borders-301931644.html SOURCE Zhongguo Remittance
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[September 19, 2023] "We power innovation" - Sisvel Reveals a New Mission Statement for a New Era Tweet
Europe's leading patent pool operator has unveiled a new mission statement to accompany the presentation of a redesigned corporate image and website today. Sisvel's message, "We power innovation," replaces the previous "We protect ideas" slogan, as the firm places itself at the heart of the innovative activity that will drive the global economy for the remainder of the 21st century. "We are proud to have built strong relationships with companies and research institutions that are dedicated to delivering world class technological solutions in areas such as connectivity, broadcasting and coding," says Sisvel President Mattia Fogliacco. "Our commitment to them and to those who deploy their technologies is that we will do all we can to facilitate fair returns on R&D investments while speeding new products to market." Sisvel has dozens of partners, including the BBC, Dolby, GE, Huawei, Microsoft, Philips, RAI, Samsung and Sony. They hold pivotal patents that underpin key technologies in 5G, C-IoT, DVB-T2, VP9, AV1 and Wi-Fi 6. The firm has a reputation for building flexible, market-focused licensing programmes that benefit pool members who invest substantial sums in R&D as well as the entities that implement the results of this work.
Founded by Roberto Dini in Italy in 1982, Sisvel now has offices across Europe, as well as in North America and Asia. It has created programmes that have returned billions of dollars to partners whose inventions underpin industries that enhance tens of millions of lives around the world. "It is so gratifying to reflect on the success that Sisvel has enjoyed over the last four decades. I cannot wait to see what the coming years will bring," says Mr Dini. "One thing is certain: we will be at the centre of whatever happens, offering solutions that are tailored to the markets we serve."
The new website is the result of six months of development work. Its modern, dynamic visual language has been designed to encapsulate both the firm's heritage and its future ambitions, says Giulia Dini, Sisvel's Head of Communications. "The updated brand messaging underscores Sisvel's 40 years of unwavering commitment to supporting innovation across diverse industries that drive the 21st-century economy, while highlighting the company's own spirit of creativity, flexibility and fairness," Ms Dini adds. The Sisvel website can be found at www.sisvel.com About Sisvel Sisvel is driven by a belief in the importance of collaboration, ingenuity and efficiency to bridge the needs of patent owners and those who wish to access their technologies. In a complex and constantly evolving marketplace, our guiding principle is to create a level playing field with the development and implementation of flexible, accessible, commercialisation solutions. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919780984/en/
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CAIRO, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police arrested on Tuesday two suspects over murdering a foreign ex-diplomat, said the Egyptian Interior Ministry in a statement.
The victim was stabbed to death at his apartment in the Mohandiseen district in Giza by his Egyptian maid, who plotted the murder with her male partner, a driver, who gave her a ride to the place.
According to media reports, the victim was identified as Hood bin Saif Al-Alawi, who had previously served as a media advisor at the Omani embassy in Cairo, which has expressed its regret for Al-Alawi's death.
The crime was motivated by a robbery as the detained perpetrators confessed, according to the Egyptian police.
The police also seized the objects stolen during the crime, including a metal safe, 14 cell phones, seven watches, a camera, and amounts of money in local and foreign currency.
[September 19, 2023] The Eclipse Foundation Releases 2023 Jakarta EE Developer Survey Report Tweet
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Eclipse Foundation , one of the worlds largest open source software foundations, today announced the availability of the 2023 Jakarta EE Developer Survey Report, the industrys most prominent survey for technical insights into enterprise Java. The results showcase a significantly increased growth in the use of Jakarta EE and a growing interest in cloud native Java overall. The 2023 Jakarta EE Developer Survey Report can be downloaded in its entirety here .
2023 has seen the continued growth of cloud native Java, with open source leading the way, said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. The release of Jakarta EE 10 truly opened the doors for this shift, and as we set our sights on Jakarta EE 11 our community is looking to drive innovation for enterprise developers by providing new and enhanced APIs and embracing new features in the Java language and platform. Now in its sixth year, the Jakarta EE Developer Survey plays a crucial role in providing insight into the needs, preferences, and perspectives of developers within the Java ecosystem. Additionally, it also serves as a valuable resource to help the Java ecosystem better understand the evolving landscape of cloud-native enterprise Java and what that means for their respective strategies and businesses. Spanning from March 14 to May 23, 2025, this years survey engaged a total of 2,203 participants. Here are some of the key findings from this years survey: Spring/Spring Boot, which incorporates elements of Jakarta EE, continues to dominate as the leading Java framework for cloud native applications at 66%. (up from 57% in 2022). Jakarta EE usage remains steady at 53%, while MicroProfile usage experienced a slight decline, dropping from 30% in 2022 to 26% in 2023. Its important to note that Spring/SpringBoot is reliant on Jakarta EE developments for its operation and is not necessarily competitive with Jakarta EE. Both are critical ingredients to the healthy enterprise Java ecosystem.
28% of the respondents will develop cloud native applications to replace some or all existing services (up from 25% in 2022) while 24% will modify existing Java applications for migration in the cloud (vs 28% in 2022). 22% of the respondents are currently running their Java applications in the cloud (vs 18% in 2022)
Despite only shipping in September 2022, Jakarta EE 10 usage has grown to 17%.
Over 60% of respondents (59% in 2022) have already migrated to Jakarta EE, or plan to do so within the next 6-24 months.
17% of respondents run Jakarta EE 9/9.1 in production (up from 14% in 2022) and 28% currently run Jakarta EE 8 in production (vs 24% in 2022)
The Jakarta EE Community is deeply interested in adopting the innovations implemented in Java SE into Jakarta EE (30%). This is a good indicator that Jakarta EE 11 release plan is on the right direction by adopting new Java SE 21 features.
The Top fivecommunity priorities for Jakarta EE are: Better support for Kubernetes 50% (51% in 2022) Better support for microservices (48%) Adapt Java SE innovations (such as Records and Virtual Threads) (30%) Improve support for serverless (25%) Faster support from existing Java EE / Jakarta EE or cloud vendors, improve support for testing & faster pace of innovation (23%)
The Jakarta EE community welcomes contributions and participation from all interested individuals and organizations. As the Jakarta EE Working Group diligently works towards the Jakarta EE 11 release, which includes innovative cloud native features, theres no better time to become part of this vibrant community and make your voice heard. To get involved and connect with the global community, visit us here .
For organizations that value enterprise Java and would like to help shape its future, the Jakarta EE Working Group offers a unique opportunity. Membership in the working group not only supports the sustainability of the community, but also provides avenues for participating in marketing initiatives and direct engagement with the community. Discover the numerous benefits and advantages of membership here . Your involvement can help drive the future of enterprise Java. Quotes from Jakarta EE Working Group Member Organizations IBM It is great to see the progress made with developers around Jakarta EE adoption, said Ian Robinson, CTO, IBM Application Runtimes. We continue to innovate and deliver complete Jakarta EE compatibility and production support, along with MicroProfile and Spring Boot, with our Liberty runtime making it the ideal runtime for cloud-native applications. Oracle The 50%+ growth in survey responses indicates a vibrant Jakarta EE community that is looking for improved Kubernetes support, microservices support, and adoption of new Java SE features such as virtual threads. Oracles investments in WebLogic Server, Helidon, Coherence, and Verrazzano are aligned with these trends, and the survey results provide valuable insights into these and other trends in the enterprise Java community. - Tom Snyder, VP of Engineering, Oracle Enterprise Cloud Native Java Payara It is fantastic to see such an increase in participation in this year's comprehensive Jakarta EE Developer Survey. Especially encouraging is the growth in use of Jakarta EE 10, despite it only shipping in December, said Steve Millidge, CEO and Founder, Payara. We help developers enjoy its new features, with our Payara Platform 6 Enterprise and Community Edition. Respondents continue to ask for greater support for Kubernetes and Docker in Jakarta EE. We hope to provide an alternate solution for this, with our fully managed cloud native runtime, Payara Cloud, taking away the hassle of Kubernetes for Jakarta EE developers altogether. Overall, the future looks bright for Jakarta EE and Payara, as we note with pride that the percentage of respondents using Payara has also increased! About the Eclipse Foundation
The Eclipse Foundation provides our global community of individuals and organizations with a mature, scalable, and business-friendly environment for open source software collaboration and innovation. The Foundation is home to the Eclipse IDE, Jakarta EE, and over 400 open source projects, including runtimes, tools, and frameworks for cloud and edge applications, IoT, AI, automotive, systems engineering, distributed ledger technologies, open processor designs, and many others. The Eclipse Foundation is an international non-profit association supported by over 330 members, including industry leaders who value open source as a key enabler for their business strategies. To learn more, follow us on social media @EclipseFdn , LinkedIn , or visit eclipse.org . Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. Media contacts:
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[September 19, 2023] Valmet ranked as the most attractive employer in Finland among engineering professionals Tweet
Valmet Oyj's press release on September 19, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. EEST ESPOO, Finland, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Valmet has been ranked as the most attractive employer among engineering professionals in Finland according to a new study by Universum. The ranking was published in Universum's annual survey, which is the biggest employer attractiveness survey in Finland. Earlier this year, Valmet was ranked as the second most attractive employer among engineering students in Finland. "This recognition means a lot to us, and it is another great example of Valmet's incredible journey. Over the years we have made significant investments into developing Valmet's high performance culture recognizing individuals and teams for their achievements as well as creating growth and development opportunities for technology professionals and aspiring professionals around the world. This work combined with our consistent company brand building efforts has resulted in a strong employer brand that Valmeteers feel proud about and carry forward as brand ambassadors attracting new talent to the field," says Julia Macharey, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Operational Development, Valmet. Being recognized as the most attractive employer among engineering professionals is a great achievement for Valmet in Finland, but according to Macharey, the work done in other 40 operating countries carries equal weight. "Teamwork is one of the superpowers in the Valmet community, and has a significant role in our success, and we are always on the lookout for professionals who want to succeed together with us. My heartfelt thanks go to all the professionals who contributed to Universum's survey - we promise to continue to strive for excellence." About Universum Universum is a global leader in employer branding. Its services include actionable research, strategic consulting, and data-driven communications and social media solutions for talent branding, sourcing, and analytics. On an annual basis, Universum surveys over 1,000,000 students and professionals world-wide. VALMET
Corporate Communications For further information, please contact:
Julia Macharey, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Operational Development, Valmet, tel. +358 50 486 8056 Valmet is a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. With our automation systems and flow control solutions we serve an even wider base of process industries. Our 17,500 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance foward - every day.
The company has over 220 years of industrial history and a strong track record in continuous improvement and renewal. In 2022, a major milestone was achieved when the flow control company Neles was merged into Valmet. Valmet's net sales in 2022 were approximately EUR 5.1 billion. Valmet's shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki and the head office is in Espoo, Finland.
Follow us on valmet.com | Twitter | Twitter (IR) | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Processing of personal data View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/valmet-ranked-as-the-most-attractive-employer-in-finland-among-engineering-professionals-301931762.html
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[September 19, 2023] Endava Releases 2023 Sustainability Report Tweet
(NYSE "DAVA") Endava, a leading next-generation technology services provider, today launched its annual We Care Sustainability Report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. Endava constantly seeks to make a positive impact on its people, customers and the communities in which it operates. Organised around five key areas of focus, the We Care approach articulates Endava's priorities in relation to its people, social impact, environmental impact and operating responsibly, as well as innovation and data integrity. The report provides a comprehensive view of the company's achievements and continued efforts on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters most relevant to its business. This report is also Endava's Communication on Progress as a UN Global Compact signatory, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. John Cotterell, Endava's CEO, said, "Whilst sustainability has long been central to our business philosophy, we started sharing our approach to sustainability three years ago through our We Care reports. We believe our We Care programmes are an important investment for the future of Endava, benefiting all of our stakeholders. We Care is in our DNA and I'm delighted to see Endavans embracing our sustainability approach. As we continue on our sustainability journey, I am proud to share our progress and our stories through our 2023 Sustainability Report." Endava has been recently awarded the Silver medal by EcoVadis, one of the world's most trusted providers of business sustainability ratings. Reflecting improvement on the Bronze medal received in 2022, this rating places Endava in the top 25% in its industry for integrating positive ESG practices. In the fiscal year 2023, Endava took further important steps in its ESG journey. As a growing global organisation, the careers and wellbeing of Endavans are one of the company's key priorities along with continued support through diversity programmes an focus on growing future leaders. Endava is committed to contributing to local communities through relevant partnerships with local NGOs, having a particular focus on technology education projects through its Endava Tech Campus. Endava also contributed to tree planting initiatives through its Endava Thank You Forest, which resulted already in 100,000 trees planted in five countries, across two continents. Endava's Green Software Community is focussed on producing value for clients with energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission in mind. In addition, the company has been advancing its own environmental agenda, aiming to develop emissions reduction targets following the guidance of the Science Based Targets initiative in 2024.
John continued, "We develop smart solutions that reimagine the relationship between people and technology. To support our clients in driving their businesses forward, we are growing our Innovation Community. This year, we launched several new initiatives in this respect, and we are particularly excited about our Green Software Community. In our latest We Care Sustainability Report, we share insights on our accelerated innovation approach and how we leverage the power of data and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with examples of our work to help clients build sustainable business models." Endava's 2023 We Care Sustainability Report can be downloaded here.
About ENDAVA PLC Endava is reimagining the relationship between people and technology. By leveraging next-generation technologies, our agile, multi-disciplinary teams provide a combination of product & technology strategies, intelligent experiences, and world class engineering to help clients become digital, experience-driven businesses by assisting them in their journey from idea generation to development and deployment of products, platforms, and solutions. Endava collaborates with its clients, seamlessly integrating with their teams, catalysing ideation, and delivering robust solutions. Endava services clients in Payments and Financial Services, TMT, Consumer Products, Retail, Mobility and Healthcare. As of June 30, 2023, 12,063 Endavans provided services from our locations in European Union countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden), non-European Union countries (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova, North Macedonia, Serbia, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay), Asia-Pacific (Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam), North America (Canada and the United States), and the Middle East (United Arab Emirates). For more information, visit www.endava.com Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of terms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "outlook," "may," "will", and other similar terms and phrases. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the statements regarding Endava's ability to be and remain a sustainable and resilient business, to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and its goal of making a positive impact on its people, customers and the communities in which it operates. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by these forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the risk that Endava may not be able to achieve its We Care and other sustainability goals, the risk that standards for tracking and reporting ESG metrics may change over time resulting in significant revisions to our current goals and risks related to Endava's ability to attract and retain highly-skilled IT professionals at cost-effective rates, as well as other risks and uncertainties discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of Endava's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on September 19th, 2023 and in future filings Endava makes with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Endava's views and expectations as of the date hereof and are based on information currently available to Endava. Endava anticipates that subsequent events and developments may cause its views to change. Endava specifically disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in this press release except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Endava's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918896613/en/
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[September 19, 2023] nbkc Bank Selects Spiral to Launch an Innovative Digital Giving Center, Revolutionizing Customer Engagement with Community Impact Tweet
Spiral, the award-winning Impact-as-a-Service platform for financial institutions, today announced a partnership with nbkc bank, an acclaimed innovative banking leader known for its exceptional customer experiences and commitment to reshaping the banking landscape. This partnership marks a significant step in elevating customer engagement and fostering positive change by introducing a cutting-edge online Giving Center. By integrating Spiral's capabilities, nbkc bank empowers its customers to effortlessly donate to their preferred charities, organizations, and educational institutions directly from their nbkc personal online bank accounts. This innovative feature allows customers to create a personalized portfolio of causes that closely aligns with their values and conveniently tracks their charitable impact, and get an annual donation report for tax purposes. Incorporating Spiral into its banking ecosystem also enables nbkc to create a lasting social impact within local communities and expand its community impact initiatives with local nonprofits through fundraising campaigns, donation matching, and community-wide events. "We are excited to introduce this innovative customer engagement solution within our personal online banking platform. Intercepting our customers during their banking journey and providing them the opportunity to make a bigger impact on their communities is a win-win," said Melissa Eggleston, Chief Deposit Officer, EVP at nbkc bank. "This solution creates a deeply meaningful and engaging experienc for our customers, enabling them to easily contribute to the betterment of our communities all through the convenience of nbkc's digital banking."
Spiral also enables financial Institutions to drive community impact through everyday purchases, round-up card transactions, and tax-deductible donor-advised funds. "We are thrilled to collaborate with nbkc bank, who are known for their tremendous positive impact and involvement in their community. They are now expanding their mission to empower customers to drive positive change and donate while enjoying the digital banking experience," said Shawn Melamed, CEO and Co-founder of Spiral. "We are excited to help community-oriented financial institutions grow their community impact, drive digital engagement, and attract socially conscious customers - particularly the younger generations who look for easy ways to give back through everyday banking."
To learn more about Spiral's Giving Center, please click here. About Spiral Headquartered in NYC, Spiral is the award-winning Impact-as-a-Service platform that enables banks, credit unions, and financial institutions to grow deposits and increase engagement through community and environmental impact. With Spiral, financial institutions can easily embed community impact and sustainability into any bank account, debit card, or credit card to amplify their community impact and increase engagement and revenue. Spiral makes it simple for financial institutions to drive positive change, strengthen their bond with the communities they serve, and empower millions of customers and businesses to contribute to a better world. Spiral is spearheaded by fintech visionary entrepreneur Shawn Melamed, a former Managing Director of Morgan Stanley's Technology Business Development and Innovation Offices. Their mission-driven team has deep banking, nonprofit, and fintech expertise, including Jim Rosenthal, the former COO of Morgan Stanley, who is part of Spiral's board. Spiral is backed by Team8, Euclidean Capital, Intuition Fund, Communitas Capital, Phoenix, Nidoco AB, MTVO, and more. To learn more, please contact Spiral here. About nbkc bank Named the strongest large bank in the Kansas City area1, nbkc is a diversified banking company known for combining intuitive technology and personal support to create exceptional client experiences. We offer online mortgage and consumer banking nationally; community and commercial banking throughout our home region of Kansas City; and banking as a service to fintech companies across the U.S. Formed in 1999, nbkc continues to pursue its mission of leading the industry to simpler and more transparent banking. Member FDIC. Equal Housing Lender. 1 From an analysis published on April 17, 2023, by the Kansas City Business Journal, comparing all banks with a presence in Kansas City and assets of $1 billion or more. The study used 2022 year-end data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to evaluate banks on eight metrics which, together, reflect banks' financial wherewithal. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919562484/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Ex-Signature CIO Joins Abelian Partners to Lead Technology Vertical Tweet
John Trainor , former Chief Information Officer at Signature Bank, has joined Abelian Partners to lead the firm's technology consulting practice and head up a New York office.
Mr. Trainor also brings several of his former technology colleagues to the practice, expanding Abelian's "hands-on-keyboard" abilities for bank technology initiatives.
These additions enrich Abelian's practitioner-led bank consulting and its nCino change management practice. ATLANTA and NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Abelian Partners (www.abelianpartners.com) welcomes John Trainor as a new Managing Director on the firm's practitioner consulting team. Mr. Trainor will lead Abelian's technology consulting practice and will head up a New York office for the firm. Mr. Trainor will be joined by several of his former technology colleagues to expand Abelian's "hands-on-keyboard" capabilities for bank technology initiatives. Mr. Trainor was in the CIO role at Signature Bank for over 7 years, where he led the digital transformation of the bank's commercial lending architecture, including the implementation of a commercial loan system (ACBS), a cloud-based banking platform (nCino), a data warehouse with Tableau data analytics, and a blockchain-based payments platform. He sponored the implementation of the nCino Commercial Client Onboarding and loan origination solutions and still sits on the nCino CIO Advisory Board. Prior to Signature, Mr. Trainor was in IT financial institutions consulting with Virtusa in the U.K. and ALaS (acquired by Virtusa in 2011) in the U.S. He began his career at Bankers Trust as a product manager working both in New York and London. Mr. Trainor holds a BA in Economics from the University of Albany, SUNY and an MBA from the London Business School.
"I've worked with Abelian's practitioner consultants as a banker and now look forward to helping the firm's clients with technology enablement," said Mr. Trainor. "Specifically, a firm like Abelian that drives its technology recommendations from practical business advice was of utmost importance to me," he added. "As a banking leader, John was a tremendous nCino champion for change," said Davis Brannan, EVP Ecosystems & Strategic Growth at nCino. "We are excited to continue our partnership in his new role at Abelian as he advises banks on how to leverage technology to adapt and transform their businesses. We wish him well in his new role."
"John is the right mix of practitioner banker and problem-solving consultant," said Charles Rierson, Managing Principal at Abelian Partners. "His leadership brings scale to Abelian and expertise to our clients. We are very excited to have him join the Abelian family," he added. About Abelian Partners
Abelian Partners (www.abelianpartners.com) was created by former bank executives to provide practitioner consulting solutions to financial institutions. Abelian's principals embrace both the experience gained from over 30 years in the industry as well as the changing business models of today's professional economy, delivering a new face to consulting. Abelian leverages its lean partnership method by adding specialized contract consultants alongside the partners' expertise when advising on projects at banks and insurance companies. Contact:
Peter Kobliska, Manager, Abelian Partners
404-480-9932
[email protected] Related Links: www.abelianpartners.com View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ex-signature-cio-joins-abelian-partners-to-lead-technology-vertical-301931855.html SOURCE Abelian Partners
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[September 19, 2023] Energy Toolbase Launches Sunstone Credit on Sales Platform for Direct Commercial Loan Quotes for Solar + Storage Projects Tweet
STUART, Fla., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Sunstone Credit , a technology-enabled clean energy financing platform that helps businesses go solar, is now live within Energy Toolbase's ETB Developer sales and modeling platform. The integration allows instant access to commercial solar and energy storage financing quotes. With Sunstone, users can leverage financing solutions designed specifically for small and medium-sized commercial borrowers, allowing businesses to finance solar systems and utilize electricity generation strategies at a lower cost. The Sunstone Credit integration, housed directly within the platform, offers users a variety of financing options for their commercial projects, including solar loans with borrower-friendly terms and an efficient loan application process. Sunstone pairs financing solutions with its proprietary technology platform, supporting commercial property owners in deploying various solar projects such as new roofs, energy storage, EV charging, and other sustainability upgrades. Users can select the loan product, initiate the financing process, and monitor customer progress using this offering. Within days, users can receive approval decisions and execution-ready loan documents. By eliminating conventional hurdles to renewable energy financing, Sunstone enables its network of solar developer partners across the country to provide business borrowers access to simple, affordable, and easy-to-understand solar loan products. "Sunstone has a robust track record of financing commercial solar and energy storage projects, and we're excited to provide our users with the opportunity to work with them directly," said Scott D'Ambrosio, Vice President of Sales at Energy Toolbase. "Their flexible financing solutions combned with our intuitive platform will allow commercial developers to get more projects deployed."
Energy Toolbase's ETB Developer platform provides solar and storage developers a seamless solution to model the avoided cost of projects and configure any transaction that fits the customer and project needs. This direct financier option allows project developers to streamline their workflow of generating an indicative quote by eliminating the need to go between multiple applications and expediting the process of modeling, finding a financing solution, and selling projects. "Our goal is to provide businesses of all sizes with the financial tools needed to easily make the transition to solar," said Duncan Hinkle, co-founder and SVP of Business Development at Sunstone. "By partnering with Energy Toolbase and being a part of their industry-leading software platform, we're excited to help bring more commercial solar projects to life."
To start using the Sunstone Credit integration, sign up for a 14-day free trial of the ETB Developer platform. About Energy Toolbase Energy Toolbase is an industry-leading software platform that provides a cohesive suite of project estimating, storage control, and asset monitoring products that enable solar and storage developers to deploy projects more efficiently. Energy Toolbase's SaaS products are used by over 1,000 distributed energy organizations worldwide. To learn more or request a free trial, visit https://www.energytoolbase.com . Energy Toolbase is backed by its parent company, Pason Systems, a leading global provider of data management systems and controls automation software for the energy industry. With a global footprint and 40-year track record, Pason enjoys one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry and trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol PSI. About Sunstone Credit Sunstone Credit is on a mission to democratize access to solar for businesses of all sizes. Sitting at the intersection of climate, finance and technology, Sunstone has built a best-in-class technology platform and partnered with leading financial institutions and a national network of solar developers to provide business borrowers access to simple, affordable and easy-to-understand solar loan products with flexible terms and a streamlined application process. When commercial customers go solar using Sunstone's products, they save money and reduce their carbon footprint, driving a clean, green future for all. Learn more at sunstonecredit.com. Media Contact: Tracy Fosterling 505.803.2678 [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/energy-toolbase-launches-sunstone-credit-on-sales-platform-for-direct-commercial-loan-quotes-for-solar--storage-projects-301931380.html SOURCE Energy Toolbase
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[September 19, 2023] Mount Nittany Medical Center Increases Accuracy and Efficiency of Vancomycin Dosing Using InsightRX Model-Informed Precision Dosing Platform Tweet
Pennsylvania acute-care facility helps improve clinical outcomes and operational efficiency while reducing costs related to acute kidney injury SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- InsightRX which provides cloud-based precision medicine software to optimize treatment decisions today announced results of a data analysis by Mount Nittany Medical Center showing how deploying InsightRX's Bayesian software integrated with PINC AI Clinical Surveillance powered by TheraDoc for monitoring vancomycin dosing helped increase efficiency and optimized pharmacist workflow compared to industry benchmarks. Results of the analysis which visualized the increase in the percentage of patients whose area under the curve (AUC) was in target range were presented at the recent Premier Breakthroughs Conference and Exposition in Nashville. Based in State College, Pa., Mount Nittany Health operates Mount Nittany Medical Center, a 260-bed acute care facility with a 24-bed intensive care unit and a 61-bed emergency department (ED). Mount Nittany Medical Center has roughly 55,000 ED visits each year. While there are several ways to calculate AUC, Mount Nittany Medical Center chose to implement Bayesian modeling using InsightRX's model-informed precision dosing (MIPD) software platform. Vancomycin is widely used in hosptals to treat infection. Vancomycin levels outside the target range for individual patients can cause acute nephrotoxicity and acute kidney injury (AKI), leading to worsening patient conditions, longer hospital stays, and higher costs of care. Nearly a half-million patients are impacted by AKIs in the U.S. each year, costing the nation's healthcare system $4.7 billion to $24.0 billion annually, research shows.
Mount Nittany Medical Center went live with InsightRX's Nova precision-dosing platform integrated with TheraDoc in Q3 2021 and increased the percentage of patients whose AUC was within target range by 12 percentage points in a six-quarter period. Mount Nittany Medical Center also performed above InsightRX's all-organization target attainment averages during this time period. In Q4 2022, only 1 percent of patients experienced an AKI 48 hours after initiation of vancomycin therapy well below the industry range of 8 percent to 16 percent.
"We're thrilled with how our data compares against industry benchmarks," said Amanda Holyk, PharmD, clinical pharmacy supervisor and critical care pharmacist at Mount Nittany Medical Center, who presented results of the comparative analysis at Breakthroughs. "And we've been able to successfully utilize world-class precision dosing solutions for the benefit of our staff and ultimately our patient population, who can receive award-winning care close to home, similar to large academic medical centers and tertiary facilities." Along with Holyk, Hayden Hayward, PharmD, and Jessica McDonald, PharmD, Pharmacy Department, Mount Nittany Medical Center, were inducted into the 2022 CHART Institute Patient Safety Hall of Fame in recognition of their efforts in implementing Bayesian dosing software, InsightRX, to assist with vancomycin dosing. In addition to helping Mount Nittany Medical Center to save money by reducing AKIs, the MIPD approach enabled by the InsightRX platform has helped streamline the workflow for hospital pharmacists, allowing for a more efficient weekend staffing model. InsightRX's cloud-based Nova MIPD platform uses patient-specific data, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) models, and Bayesian forecasting to understand a patient's unique pharmacological profile and guide treatment decisions. "Mount Nittany Medical Center's success increasing the accuracy of vancomycin dosing demonstrates how MIPD can help improve clinical outcomes and operational efficiency while reducing costs associated with AKIs," said Sirj Goswami, PhD, CEO and co-founder of InsightRX. "We are excited by the results of Mount Nittany Medical Center's comparative analysis and look forward to continuing our partnership." About InsightRX
InsightRX is a healthcare technology company that has developed cloud-based applications for precision medicine and clinical analytics designed to individualize treatment at the point of care. The platform leverages patient-specific data, pharmacology models, and machine learning to understand each patient's unique pharmacological profile and can be integrated seamlessly within a clinical workflow. About Mount Nittany Health
Mount Nittany Health is a comprehensive healthcare system headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania, with 19 clinical locations that serve six counties. Comprised of Mount Nittany Medical Center, Mount Nittany Physician Group, The Mount Nittany Health Foundation, and the Mount Nittany Health Children's Advocacy Center, the system provides primary and specialty care and offers more than thirty medical specialties, including Cardiology, Orthopedics, Oncology, Urology, and Neurology. Mount Nittany Medical Center was named a "World's Best Hospital" and "America's Best Maternity Hospital" by Newsweek in 2023. The Medical Center earned The Joint Commission's Gold Seal of Approval for quality care and patient safety and earned a 5-Star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Visit mountnittany.org to learn more. Media Contact
Megan Moriarty
Amendola Communications for InsightRX
[email protected] View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mount-nittany-medical-center-increases-accuracy-and-efficiency-of-vancomycin-dosing-using-insightrx-model-informed-precision-dosing-platform-301931471.html SOURCE InsightRX
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[September 19, 2023] Apis & Heritage Releases First Annual Impact Report Highlighting Use of Employee Ownership Model to Close the Racial Wealth Gap Tweet
Apis & Heritage Capital Partners ("A&H"), a mission-driven, lower middle market mezzanine debt firm that buys profitable, privately-held companies from exiting owners and transitions them into employee-owned businesses, today released its first annual impact report. The report details the social impact of Legacy Fund I during 2022, with an emphasis on the welfare of workers at the firm's portfolio companies. It also outlines key progress toward the firm's mission of utilizing employee ownership as an investment tool to close the racial wealth gap, increase the economic mobility of frontline workers, and improve business returns. The report is available to view on the A&H website. "In 2021, we set out to empower workforces of color and unlock local economic growth through employee ownership, and we are thrilled, humbled, and energized by our progress thus far," said Todd Leverette, A&H Founding Partner. "We remain committed to helping workers benefit from the value they add to their employers, communities, and economy, while empowering successful enterprises to remain rooted in their local communities. We are immensely grateful to our investors, advisors, supporters, and our operating partner, the Democracy at Work Institute - the impact of their support and involvement cannot be overstated, and we look forward to broadening our reach and impact in the years to come." Highlights of the report include: Legacy Fund I - A&H announced the oversubscribed final close of its flagship Legacy Fund I at $58.1 million, surpassing its initial cap of $50 million.
- A&H announced the oversubscribed final close of its flagship Legacy Fund I at $58.1 million, surpassing its initial cap of $50 million. Portfolio Company Snapshots - In 2022, A&H transitioned two family-owned businesses that comprised over 80% workers of color and 85% low- and moderate-income workers into 100% employee-owned enterprises. Company spotlights for Arvada, Colorado-based Apex Plumbing and El Paso, Texas-based Accent Landscaping include key outcomes at close and at year end.
- In 2022, A&H transitioned two family-owned businesses that comprised over 80% workers of color and 85% low- and moderate-income workers into 100% employee-owned enterprises. Company spotlights for Arvada, Colorado-based Apex Plumbing and El Paso, Texas-based Accent Landscaping include key outcomes at close and at year end. Ownership Culture Methodology - In collaboration with its workforce development partner, the Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), A&H has introduced a three-year Ownership Culture Roadmap and Toolkit at each portfolio company. These roadmaps will guide each company's employee engagement and education work and establish frameworks for assessing employee ownership practices, job quality, and employee health/well-being.
Phil Reeves, A&H Founding Partner. "Our employee ownership model helps business owners secure their legacy and offers employees a no-cost personal and financial stake in the value that they are already creating. Having transitioned two family-owned businesses into 100% employee-owned enterprises in 2022, we're motivated to sustain this great momentum." A&H strives to make selling a company to one's employees as easy as selling to traditional private equity. The firm focuses on companies with large workforces of color and an owner that is ready to sell the business and/or retire. A&H negotiates a fair price for the business, provides the financing and technical expertise needed to convert the companies into 100% employee-owned businesses, and then works closely with the company's executive team to sustainably and profitably grow the firm. A&H's novel "employee-led buyout" (ELBO) model helps workers build wealth through ownership, especially Black and Brown workers who have historically been left out of such opportunities.
A&H's Legacy Fund I investor base includes the Rockefeller Foundation's Zero Gap Fund, The Ford Foundation, The W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Skoll Foundation, Gary Community Ventures, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The McKnight Foundation, Fresh Pond Capital and Reynders, McVeigh Capital Management, Spring Point Partners, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Candide Group, Ascension Investment Management, Veris Wealth Partners, Social Capital Partners (Toronto), Tiedemann Advisors, Kachuwa Impact Fund, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Kendeda Fund, World Education Services, The Libra Foundation, Realize Impact, Opus Foundation, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, the Cooperative Assistance Fund, and numerous individual investors who care about the future of our country. About Apis & Heritage Capital Apis & Heritage Capital uses a novel "employee-led buyout" (ELBO) structure to provide workers in essential industries with the most powerful wealth building tool in the nation: equity in a thriving business. A&H finances the acquisition of great companies from retiring owners/founders and converts them into 100% employee-owned enterprises. Because A&H is dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap, it searches for companies that have large workforces of color and low so that the benefits of ownership will be broadly realized. A&H's ELBO structure utilizes an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) model for employee ownership, which has over 50 years of bipartisan political and regulatory support. A&H works with some of America's most forward-thinking lending institutions to provide senior loans as part of each ELBO transaction. A&H and its workforce training partner, the nonprofit Democracy at Work Institute (DAWI), build an ownership culture in each company that ensures all employee-owners, from management to the shop floor, are engaged in a common endeavor to create healthy, growing, profitable, and satisfying places to work over the long term. A&H's founding team members are Todd Leverette, Philip Reeves, Michael Brownrigg, Natalie Edwards, Jason Ollison and Kyle Chin-How. A&H, which is minority-owned, was incubated at DAWI with seed funding provided by the Kendeda Fund, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and support from Citi Community Development. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919073197/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Mirador Sets Its Sights on Institutional Portfolio Reporting Tweet
Mirador, Inc., a leading managed services partner that provides best-of-breed financial reporting services, technology solutions, and products to the U/HNW wealth management industry, today unveiled its road map. The initiative is intended to broaden Mirador's reach into the institutional portfolio sector to better serve endowments, foundations, and pensions. Mirador's investment reporting services empower institutional investment committees to orchestrate multiple investment mandates more easily across managers. Consolidated reporting allows them to maximize investment performance without introducing undue risk while unlocking deeper insights and enhancing decision-making. Mirador's road map to accelerate penetration into this market includes a key sales leadership hire, new concierge service offerings, and an array of new marketing efforts. "Mirador's reporting services have always been a perfect solution for institutional portfolio reporting - endowments, foundations, and pensions. As we've grown, our business has been largely split between family offices and wealth managers, with only 10% of our clients being institutions," said Joseph Larizza, CEO & President of Mirador. "Given the duty of care requirements for investment committees and volunteer boards, we provide a single source of decision-making information critical to their mission. We're doubling down to meet this need." The key components of the road map are as follows: The addition of veteran Michael Anthony to oversee this initiative. Anthony's 30+ years of experience spans roles serving the needs of both family officeand institutional clients, with key roles at Bank of New York Mellon, Citizens Bank, Santander, and Boston Family Office Consultants. He will be based in Boston.
The rollout of two new services designed to meet the unique needs of endowments and foundations - a Board Meeting Concierge (meeting planning, summary reporting, and meeting minutes), and a Private Investment Desk (investment document prep, closings, capital call management, reporting, and K-1 document management).
The allocation of marketing resources dedicated to driving institutional awareness, engagement, and leads. Mirador has developed an integrated approach that includes new collateral, direct content campaigns, organic and paid social media, and institutional conference attendance.
"Having admired what Mirador has been able to do for family offices and advisors, I'm very excited to join the firm and bring its solutions to the institutional space where there's a ton of demand," said Michael Anthony. "Further, as alternative/offline investments have become a much greater percentage of these portfolios, Mirador has the expertise and the team to successfully deliver this service." Comprehensive investment reporting and these new associated services are available immediately to existing and new clients. For more information about Mirador, please visit www.mirador.com or email [email protected].
About Mirador, Inc Mirador, Inc. was founded in 2015 in Darien, CT with one employee, one client, and one idea-to serve those who serve significant wealth. Mirador's leadership and employee roster is comprised of wealth management and technology experts drawn from family offices and wealth management firms and is focused on delivering an array of services specifically developed for advisors to U/HNW investors. Services include consolidated financial reporting, private investment support, alternative investment data management, K-1 document management, and compensation management for wealth management firms. The company also has a technology consulting team offering bespoke wealth technology solutions in an ever-evolving landscape. In addition to its headquarters in Stamford, CT, Mirador, has offices in Chicago, Jacksonville, Salt Lake City, and internationally in London, Edinburgh, and Dublin and currently employs more than 160 people. The firm supports the requirements of clients throughout the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919184820/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Tobacco Free Portfolios Celebrates 5-Year Anniversary of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge at United Nations Headquarters Tweet
Tobacco Free Portfolios is delighted to celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge at a high-level side event at UN Headquarters on September 19, 2023, on the sidelines of the 2023 UN General Assembly. The event is proudly co-sponsored by the governments of France, The Netherlands, and Jamaica, and supported by the United Nations' Environment Program Finance Initiative, the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment, and the UN Principles for Responsible Banking. The theme for the side event is 'There's No Room for Tobacco in a Net Zero World' on account of Big Tobacco's outsized negative impact on both people and planet. Global health, finance, and diplomatic leaders will celebrate the progress of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. There are now 200+ leading financial institutions, from more than 20 countries, with >US$16 trillion combined assets under management that are Signatories to the Pledge. Recent notable Pledge Signatories include major French banks Societe Generale and Credit Mutuel, two of Australia's largest banks - Commonwealth Bank of Australia and ANZ, and AIMCo, one of Canada's largest pension plans. Given worldwide focus on Net Zero ambitions combined with tobacco's alarming environmental impacts, Tobacco Free Portfolios encourages investors to embed 'tobacco-free' into Net Zero strategies. To illustrate the rationale, cigarette filters, made from cellulose acetate, are the most littered item on the planet and a top contributor to ocean plastic waste. It's also estimated that the production of tobacco leads to ~5% of global deforestation and results in vast carbon emissions. Quotes: Prof Bronwyn King, CEO Tobacco Free Portfolios
"The past five years has seen the rapid mainstreaming and acceleration of sustainability efforts, along with a rise in greenwashing allegations. The Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge speaks to authentic sustainability commitments, that recognize the crucial role of finance in the global transition to a Net Zero future." Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
"Every dollar invested in a tobacco company is an investment in death and disease. We must fight tobacco on every front - in kiosks, on billboards, in the courts - and on the financial markets." Minister Aurelien Rousseau, Minister of Health and Prevention, France
"It is my conviction that the environmental dimension constitutes one of the key pillars in the fight against smoking. This is clearly the case with disposable electronic cigarettes, which we plan to ban from sale in France. Highly popular with young people, they are a rapid route to nicotine addiction. Besides, their components, particularly the lithium batteries, are totally at odds with our objectives in the fight against pollution." Mrs. Marjolijn Sonnema, Director General for Public Health, The Netherlands
"The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is more critical than ever, especially in light of the rising vaping epidemic among youth. The Netherlands stands ready as an important partner, to work towards a sustainable healthy future." Dr The Hon Minister Christopher Tufton MP, Minister of Health and Wellness, Jamaica
"Jamaica remains committed to investing in tobacco control, for the protection of human health as well as the health of the environment. The 15-year period return on investment for tobacco interventions show that for every dollar invested in tobacco control in Jamaica, one can expect to see 5.37 Jamaican dollars return. We are keen to solidify those gains. Jamaica also encourages the continued engagement and partnership of players from the finance sector in supporting the transition to a net zero world in which tobacco has no place." Mr Jean-Yves Fillion, Vice-Chair BNP Paribas USA
"BNP Paribas is proud to be a Founding Signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, which is now successfully celebrating its fifth year. Beyond the health implications, a tobacco-free world is instrumental to abate healthcare costs and global environmental harm." Mr Nicolas Thery, CEO Credit Mutuel
"We formalize today our refusal of the tobacco industry, with the conviction that we must act for the common good, in particular for the preservation of the environment and human health." Mr Stephane About, CEO Societe Generale USA
The concepts of responsibility and sustainability are at the core of our strategy," said Stephane About, CEO, Societe Generale Americas. "Being a signatory of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and supporting this event are symbolic of our commitment to improving the health of the people on this planet, as well as the health of the planet itself."
Mr Shayne Elliot, CEO ANZ
"ANZ acknowledges the important role that financial institutions can play in addressing global health priorities, including the harmful impacts of tobacco products. For this reason, ANZ is proud to sign the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and pleased to offer our continued support to this important initiative." Attorney General Rob Bonta, Attorney General of the State of California
"The dangers of smoking to both people and our environment are undeniable. Thanks to initiatives like the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, we're helping to mitigate those dangers around the world by better deploying the power of investments. There's still progress we need to make, and as Attorney General of the state with the fifth largest economy in the world, I look forward to continuing to help in any way that I can."
Mr David Atkin, CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment
"At PRI we're proud to support the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge and to see the strong progress the initiative has made over the past five years, with more than 200 financial institutions becoming signatories. As an issue that spans both the social and environmental spectrum, the role investors can play is clear as is the realisation that a net-zero future must also be one that is tobacco-free." Dr Diana Sarfati, Director-General of Health, Ministry of Health, New Zealand
"Aotearoa New Zealand's goal to be a smokefree nation by 2025 will be realised through our bold Smokefree Aotearoa 2025 Action Plan. The multi-faceted and world-leading measures we are taking represent our unwavering commitment to our people and our planet.
Tungia te ururua, kia tipu whakaritorito, te tipu o te harakeke
When you clear away the scrub (things that are negative) you enable new growth" Dr. Eduardo Jaramillo Navarrete, Director General for the United Nations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico
"Tobacco consumption and exposure to its smoke is a serious public health problem; it is even considered the first cause of death in the world that is completely preventable and avoidable. Let's put all our energy into a tobacco-free world."
"El consumo de tabaco y la exposicion a su humo es un serio problema de salud publica, incluso se considera como la primera causa de muerte en el mundo que es totalmente prevenible y evitable. Pongamos toda nuestra energia en un mundo libre de tabaco!" Her Excellency Dr Hanan Mohamed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, Qatar
"Qatar warmly congratulates Tobacco Free Portfolios for the success of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge. We collectively need to keep the fight against tobacco at the center of our action to protect population health and the environment. Besides implementing well known strategies to reduce tobacco consumption, this initiative underlines the need to go beyond the boundaries of the health and environment sectors towards actions which tackle the financial mechanisms allowing the tobacco industry to operate and prosper". Ms. Yolonda C. Richardson, President and CEO Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
"The tobacco industry has caused immeasurable damage to the health and well-being of millions of people around the world, as well as the environment. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is proud to work with Tobacco Free Portfolios and other partners to hold the industry accountable and end the enormous harm it causes." Rev Horace L. Sheffield III, Executive Director of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations & Pastor at New Destiny Christian Fellowship Church
"With 8 million tobacco-related deaths per year, we cannot turn a blind eye to the fact that tobacco companies have been causing devastating harm to people and the environment for far too long. It is time for the community to recognize the grave consequences of tobacco and take action toward divesting from this industry. We need to unequivocally say that there is no room for tobacco in this vision of a net-zero world." Ms. Katja Iversen, CEO, UN Live - Museum for the United Nations
"Popular culture like film and music can shape behaviors - positively and negatively. Research shows that exposure to tobacco imagery in movies and television is a key factor in young people picking up smoking. This is also an example of how our decisions are often more based on identity and culture, than on knowledge, even when it concerns our own health. Let's double down on prevention - and make sure that popular culture also plays its part." Ms. Agamroop Kaur, Youth Health Advocate and Documentary Maker
"It is clear that investing in and enabling the tobacco industry creates a future that undermines our collective health and the health of our planet. The mission of the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge is incredibly important in supporting the vision of young people for a sustainable future for generations to come." Relevant links Link to 2023 UN event footage
The Pledge website
LinkedIn
TEDx talk About Tobacco Free Portfolios Tobacco Free Portfolios is a not-for-profit organization that encourages financial institutions to reflect on and reconsider commercial relationships with the tobacco industry in light of the alarming impact of tobacco on people and the planet. The organization's flagship initiative, the Tobacco-Free Finance Pledge, launched in 2018 at United Nations' Headquarters and currently has 200+ signatories, representing >US$16 Trillion in AUM committed to tobacco-free finance. Our aim is to create a tobacco-free future. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919872484/en/
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NEW DELHI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least seven leopard cubs were killed due to a virus outbreak at Bengaluru Bannerghatta Biological Park in India's southwestern state of Karnataka, officials said on Tuesday.
The first death was reported on Aug. 22 and the death toll had risen to seven by Sept. 5.
According to officials, the cubs aged between three and 10 months died due to the feline panleukopenia virus, which is commonly found in cats, and this is the first time the cat family species in the park has been infected with this virus.
Most of the leopard cubs at the park were captured in different parts of the state. They were shifted to the park for rehabilitation.
"All the cubs were vaccinated and were infected before they were given a second dose," A. V. Surya Sen, the park's executive director, told media.
Following the deaths, authorities have taken precautions like sanitization and vaccination to contain the spread of infection.
Reports said there are 80 leopards undergoing rehabilitation at the park.
[September 19, 2023] A Night Like No Other! Ontario Science Centre's RBC Innovators Ball Celebrates STEM Learning on November 2 Tweet
RBC's Graeme Hepworth joins as event Chair, and science communicator Anthony Morgan and space scientist Marianne Mader will host Science Centre's signature fundraising event TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Let's celebrate and support a world of wonder, curiosity and innovation! Enjoy a spectacular night of science at the Ontario Science Centre's RBC Innovators Ball on Thursday, November 2, 2023. RBC's Chief Risk Officer, Graeme Hepworth, joins as the new Chair of this longstanding event which will be co-emceed this year by CBC's Nature of Things host Anthony Morgan, a former Science Centre Host, and Marianne Mader, space scientist and CEO of the Canadian Association of Science Centres. This event brings together community leaders to raise funds to enrich the Science Centre's programs and provide barrier-free STEM learning experiences for children and youth across the province. The RBC Innovators Ball is a night like no other one celebrating the extraordinary and the innovative. The event is filled with incredible live auction prizes, gourmet cuisine, fascinating science experiments, awesome activations, photo ops and inspiring speakers. This year, guests will hear insightful presentations by distinguished Ontario Science Centre Science School alumni. Presenters include Ena Kenny, a healthcare interiors leader who has played an integral role in the development and advancement of complex healthcare projects, and Wilson J. Tang, Star Wars film art director, video game entrepreneur and CEO of Yumebau Inc., an innovation design lab for spatial computing (VR/AR) and gaming with clients across tech, consumer products and healthcare. Since 2007, the Innovators Ball has raised more than $6.7 million to help the Science Centre create engaging and accessible progrmming and the need for these learning experiences increases each year. Funds raised through the RBC Innovators Ball also make programs like Access Science possible, which provides hands-on STEM learning experiences for students at no cost to their schools or families. Supporting the Science Centre has an immediate and lasting effect ensuring that more young people have the opportunity to learn, connect with science, and unlock their full potential.
Visit our website for additional information including tickets, photos, videos, how to become a donor and more. QUOTES:
"As we look ahead to an exciting future for the Ontario Science Centre and championing STEM learning, we're delighted to welcome Graeme Hepworth as new Chair of the RBC Innovators Ball," says Paul Kortenaar, CEO, Ontario Science Centre. "With the support of organizations like RBC and our incredible partners, we can continue to drive our mission forward and give more kids the opportunity to experience the wonders of science." "RBC has a proud history of supporting the Ontario Science Centre and as a parent who regularly visited science centres to encourage my own children's STEM learning, I'm personally thrilled to join as Chair of this event that helps young people develop a curiosity and passion for the world of science," said Graeme Hepworth, Chief Risk Officer, RBC and new Chair of the RBC Innovators Ball. "Providing youth with opportunities to explore and engage with science is critical for the development of new technologies, fresh perspectives and groundbreaking discoveries." "For decades, the Ontario Science Centre has delivered highly engaging and entertaining science programming that sparks curiosity in visitors of all ages," said Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. "By supporting the RBC Innovators Ball, guests are supporting the development of world-class STEM content that ignites a passion for learning and inspires the next generation of innovative thinkers." About the RBC Innovators Ball RBC Innovators Ball is the Ontario Science Centre's signature fundraising gala. Now in its 16th year, the event has raised more than $6.7 million in support of the Science Centre's accessible programs and learning experiences, helping to spark a passion for science and discovery among the next generation of innovators and leaders. Title Sponsor: RBC Pacesetter Sponsors: IBM, McKinsey and Company, Optimus SBR, TELUS Media Partners: The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star Platinum Tables: Adgar Canada, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Deloitte, EY, HATCH, KPMG, Mintz, Nucleo Digital About the Ontario Science Centre Guided by our mission to inspire passion for the human adventure of discovery, the Ontario Science Centre strives to be a global leader in lifelong learning, a vital link in Ontario's education and innovation ecosystems and a convener of public dialogue about technology, science and society. The Science Centre has welcomed more than 54 million visitors since opening as a Centennial project in 1969, pioneering an interactive approach now adopted by science centres around the world. An agency of the Government of Ontario, the Science Centre relies on funding from the province, as well as donations from generous individuals, corporations and foundations that share the Science Centre's vision to contribute to a more curious, creative and resilient world. Learn more at OntarioScienceCentre.ca. About RBC Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 97,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada's biggest bank and one of the largest in the world, based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our more than 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com. We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact. SOURCE Ontario Science Centre
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[September 19, 2023] Investor.com Welcomes StockTrader.com Into Its Domain Tweet
Today personal finance website investor.com debuted a new hub dedicated to helping active investors navigate the twists and turns of online trading. How-to guides, best-of roundups, stock trading tips and educational resources formerly housed on the highly regarded site StockTrader.com now live on investor.com. The addition of content written for and by self-directed investors further enhances investor.com's mission to provide clarity around financial products and services for all Americans. Blain Reinkensmeyer, co-founder of both StockTrader.com and investor.com and head of product at parent company Reink Media Group, said he is delighted to share unbiased advice and insights with all who are interested in investing. "While offers to sell the site have come about, I knew that, ultimately, I'd want Reink Media to be the owner," Reinkensmeyer said. "Knowing the site will become a part of investor.com, serving as the foundation for its new stock trading vertical, is incredibly exciting. No question, investor.com is the best 'forever' home for my original editorial roots." Reinkensmeyer launched StockTrader.com in 2006 as a blog to share market news, analysis and education. It grew into a respected resource for traders of all levels. In 2021, he sold ownership of the site to Reink Media Group, which he and his brother founded. Today, StockTrader's content is produced by a team of experts in trading, investing, educating and digital publishing.
Investor.com was launched in 2018 as a consumer advocacy project to help Americans research and compare financial advisors. That original mission has expanded to include offering robust tools and personal-finance content to help Americans live their best financial lives, with topics including how to work with financial advisors, plan for retirement, invest, manage credit, choose a credit card and more. About Reink Media Group
Reink Media Group, LLC (RMG) is a privately held Michigan-based company founded in February 2009, with a mission to provide financial education and advice that puts people first before profits. RMG properties include investor.com, StockBrokers.com and ForexBrokers.com, among others. RMG and each of its domains are B Corp certified. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230911428831/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Fortune Media and Great Place To Work Name Coro to 2023 Best Workplaces in Technology List, Ranking No. 35 Tweet
Coro, the modern cybersecurity platform for mid-market organizations, today announced that Great Place To Work and Fortune magazine have named Coro to the 2023 Fortune Best Workplaces in Technology List for Small and Medium Businesses. Coming in at No. 35, this is Coro's second year in a row being named to this prestigious list. Earning a spot means that Coro is one of the best companies to work for in the country. The Best Workplaces in Technology list is highly competitive. Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, determines its lists using its proprietary For All Methodology to evaluate and certify thousands of organizations in America's largest ongoing annual workforce study, based on over 1.3 million survey responses and data from companies representing more than 7.5 million employees this year alone. "We are immensely proud to be recognized by Fortune and Great Place to Work for two years in a row," said Guy Moskowitz, CEO, Coro. "The key to our company's phenomenal growth lies squarely with the creativity, commitment and enthusiasm of our employees. Our goal has always been to build a fun, inclusive, and enriching company culture that inspires innovation. At the end of the day, we believe the employee experience is just as important as the customer experience." Today's award is the latest recognition of Coro's employee-first workplace culture. Earlier this month, Fortune Media and Great Place To Work recognized Coro for the second year in a row as a Best Medium Workplaces 2023, listing Coro at No. 62. Coro was also named a Fortune Best Workplaces in Technology and Fortune Best Medium Workplaces in 2022. These awards continue a landmark twelve months for Coro, in which Coro raised $155 million in funding, acquired network security startup Privatise, and is projected to achievea 300% year-over-year growth for the 5th year in a row.
"Fortune congratulates the Best Workplaces in Technology," says Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell. "Creating a vibrant workplace culture that draws the best talent in technology is vital for the success of the leaders in this highly competitive industry. It is also what's needed to ignite innovation and deliver best-in-class performance." About Great Place To Work
As the global authority on workplace culture, Great Place To Work brings 30 years of groundbreaking research and data to help every place become a great place to work for all. Its proprietary platform and For All Model helps companies evaluate the experience of every employee, with exemplary workplaces becoming Great Place To Work Certified or receiving recognition on a coveted Best Workplaces List. Follow Great Place To Work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram or visit greatplacetowork.com and sign up for the newsletter to learn more. About Fortune The Fortune mission is to change the world by making business better. We achieve that by providing trusted information, telling great stories, and building world-class communities. We measure performance by rigorous benchmarks. And we hold companies accountable. Our goal is to make Fortune a force for good through its second century and beyond. For more information, visit www.fortune.com. About Coro Coro provides modern cybersecurity that unifies comprehensive protection into a single platform. Coro empowers organizations to defend against malware, ransomware, phishing, data leakage, insider threats and email threats across devices, users, and cloud applications. More than 5,000 businesses depend on Coro for protection, unrivaled ease of use, and unmatched affordability. Coro's cybersecurity platform automatically detects and remediates the many security threats that today's distributed businesses face, without IT teams having to worry, investigate, or fix issues themselves. Investors in Coro include Balderton Capital, Energy Impact Partners, JVP, and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures. For more information, please visit Coro at coro.net, or via LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919759752/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Betacom and UScellular Introduce Industry's First Private/Public Hybrid 5G Networks Tweet
Private wireless network provider Betacom today announced a partnership with UScellular to deliver the industry's first private/public hybrid 5G networks, advancing Industry 4.0 initiatives across the United States. The service provides security and control over business data, both on-premises and while roaming among company facilities. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919654696/en/ Private wireless network provider Betacom and UScellular are delivering the industry's first private/public hybrid 5G networks, advancing Industry 4.0 initiatives across the United States. (Photo: Business Wire) The private/public hybrid 5G network service allows organizations with multiple sites across numerous locations to maintain connectivity between locations. Enterprises working to modernize their operations across dispersed locations now have a cohesive mobility strategy with trusted partners for Industry 4.0. Uptime and performance are assured for improved operational efficiency and productivity with Betacom-backed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). "This relationshipwith Betacom helps to establish a new bar for how the entire wireless industry thinks about, builds, delivers and utilizes wireless networks," said Kim Kerr, senior vice president, enterprise sales and operations for UScellular. "These new capabilities significantly accelerate the return on investment for digital transformation and modernization initiatives for organizations of all types, from enterprise to retail to government, and move the industry as a whole forward, faster."
Nationwide Mobility UScellular's network and extensive access agreements give customers connectivity across the United States. UScellular also provides data backhaul between sites. Enabling devices to use a single SIM with profiles for both Betacom private CBRS networks and the UScellular network ensures mobility, while integrated communication and coordination between the two companies' 5G network cores enables seamless roaming across the country.
"Betacom and UScellular are breaking new ground for their customers and setting new precedents for the industry," said Joe Madden, Founder and President, Mobile Experts Inc. "Enabling device mobility from facility to facility with a transition from CBRS to cellular in both directions has never been solved. This makes private/public hybrid 5G networks extremely valuable for a wide range of industries." Unmatched Security and Control The solution establishes and maintains end-to-end security, utilizing virtual private networks (VPNs) to ensure that all data effectively remains on the customer premises while devices and sensors are in transit between locations. It also provides unmatched resiliency by using the cellular network for failover in cases where the CBRS network or local internet service providers (ISPs) suffer an outage. The new network architecture utilized for this service facilitates mission-critical Command, Control, Communication, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) services and solutions which require the highest degrees of data and device security. Reducing dependency on public clouds for data transfer by creating a private network through the carrier network results in fewer vulnerabilities and fewer attacks. "The service we are announcing today recognizes that the wireless world is changing, and that connectivity, in all of its forms, must change with it," said Betacom CEO Johan Bjorklund. "Organizations today need seamless mobility with incredibly high densities of sensors and devices to accelerate their Industry 4.0 initiatives. This new service acknowledges and uniquely meets that need." About Betacom Betacom offers the first fully-managed private 5G network, building on its long history as a wireless infrastructure provider to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, the company has regional offices throughout the country. Having completed more than 800 large-scale design and deployment projects, Betacom inspires confidence among their customers who have worked closely with them to meet their pressing high-performance connectivity needs. Its secure private 5G wireless service is the first managed service of its kind in the United States. For more information, visit http://www.betacom.com. Follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919654696/en/
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[September 19, 2023] FLO Announces Sale of First FLO Ultra Fast Chargers to Vermont Utility Tweet
New fast charger charges most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes * AUBURN HILLS, Mich, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - FLO, a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging company and smart charging solutions provider, announced its first sale of the all-new, FLO Ultra fast charger to Green Mountain Power (GMP) in Vermont. Manufactured with a revolutionary flexible design, FLO Ultra provides drivers with a convenient, intuitive, and lightning-fast charging experience. These first chargers, which are Buy America compliant, will be produced at FLO's Auburn Hills facility. FLO's distribution partner, Rexel Energy Solutions, supported the sale to GMP. "The first sale of FLO Ultra marks a new era in EV charging, delivering the ultimate fast charging experience for every EV driver," said Louis Tremblay, FLO president and CEO. "As new EV drivers hit the road, they need fast charging that is safe, accessible, convenient, intuitive, and reliableand FLO Ultra does all that. By combining a brilliantly simple design with innovative new technology, FLO Ultra will meet the needs of current and future EV drivers." FLO's newest EV charging station is designed with innovative features throughout including: EV charging designed to meet all drivers' needs: Designed to accommodate charging from all angles, including parallel, pull-in, or on both sides, allowing for flexible parking options. The charger also features a never-before-seen, patent-pending motorized cable management system, promoting accessibility and reucing strain on users.
Designed to accommodate charging from all angles, including parallel, pull-in, or on both sides, allowing for flexible parking options. The charger also features a never-before-seen, patent-pending motorized cable management system, promoting accessibility and reucing strain on users. Rapid EV charging in a smart, flexible package: With a simple but revolutionary design, FLO Ultra features up to 320kW across dual-ports in one rugged aluminum enclosure. It will charge most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes.*
With a simple but revolutionary design, FLO Ultra features up to 320kW across dual-ports in one rugged aluminum enclosure. It will charge most EVs to 80% in 15 minutes.* Rugged design: The enclosure is made of durable, recyclable aluminum designed to withstand extreme weather conditions. The EV fast charger is easily serviceable with large front and back doors and modular components for quick replacement. Finally, FLO Ultra is connected to the FLO network, which enables remote monitoring to assure swift diagnostic and proactive action to avoid potential issues.
Vermont each year until 2030," said Tiana Smith , GMP's Leader of Electrification and Sustainability. "As a long-standing customer of FLO, we are looking forward to the delivery of four FLO Ultra chargers starting this spring, to continue to expand fast charging access." Available starting in 2024, FLO Ultra meets the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program's (NEVI) minimum standards, including Buy America requirements. The NEVI program provides states with $5 billion to deploy EV fast chargers along major highway corridors, paving the way for widespread EV adoption across North America.
"FLO Ultra's fast charging capabilities are critical to the transition of an all-electric future," added Tremblay. "We are excited to expand our reliable charging network nationwide and help bring reliable fast charging to drivers across the U.S." FLO Ultra production will start at the Auburn Hills facility in the first half of 2024 supplementing FLO's Level 2 chargers currently coming off the line. FLO Ultra chargers produced in Auburn Hills will contribute to the 250,000 chargers FLO plans to bring to the U.S. market by 2028. To learn more about FLO's products and mission, visit flo.com. * Dependent on the vehicle, configuration, and number of cars charging. FLO and FLO UltraTM are registered or unregistered trademarks of Services FLO Inc. FLO Ultra development was funded in conjunction with the government of Quebec. About FLO
FLO is a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging network operator and a smart charging solutions provider. We help to overcome climate change and accelerate EV adoption through a vertically integrated business model and delivering EV drivers the most dependable charging experience from curbside to countryside. Every month, we enable more than 1,000,000 charging events thanks to over 95,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations deployed at public, private and residential locations. FLO operates across North America and our high-quality charging stations are assembled with care in Michigan and Quebec. To learn more about what "EV charging done right" means to us, visit flo.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/flo-announces-sale-of-first-flo-ultra-fast-chargers-to-vermont-utility-301932125.html SOURCE FLO
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[September 19, 2023] Heffernan Insurance Brokers Partners with Comulate, the Revenue Automation Platform for Brokers Tweet
WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heffernan Insurance Brokers, one of the largest full-service, independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States announced a multi-year partnership with Comulate, the revenue automation and intelligence platform, purpose-built for large insurance brokers. Comulate reduces operating costs by automating tedious direct bill workflows, including automatically reconciling transactions from PDFs and spreadsheets to policies in a broker's AMS. Comulate also helps increase revenue by flagging missing and underpaid commissions. Heffernan has also deployed Comulate's proprietary Revenue Graph, powered by statement transactional data, to unlock unprecedented visibility and instant answers to decades-old business-critical questions, like the number of lives placed with a carrier and PEPM benchmarks. "Comulate as the easiest technical set-up I have ever seen," said Katherine Grasman, Chief Information Officer at Heffernan Insurance Brokers. "Our team was able to get the system up and ready for the business to do their work in under four hours."
Philip Mortimer, Chief Financial Officer at Heffernan Insurance Brokers, added, "Comulate delivered exactly what they advertised, and the integration was seamless. Our team experienced process efficiencies from day one. By our second month, manual work had already decreased 90%+, and the team was uncovering new revenue insights." "Heffernan is widely recognized as an industry-leading brokerage, but they're also at the forefront of transforming the manual back office financial workflows to drive deeper insights and unlock talent to focus on delivering for clients," says Jordan Katz, CEO of Comulate. "We're delighted that Heffernan's forward-thinking leadership in Kate, Philip, and Mike share our vision as we continue to innovate together."
About Heffernan Insurance Brokers Heffernan Insurance Brokers, founded in 1988, is one of the largest independent insurance brokerage firms in the United States providing comprehensive business insurance, personal insurance, employee benefits and financial services solutions to a wide range of businesses and individuals. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, Calif., Heffernan has a nationwide presence specializing in customized solutions to serve its clients' different needs in virtually every industry. Heffernan has been named on the insurance industry's 'Best Agency to Work For' list, and consistently named a 'Top Corporate Philanthropist'. For more information, visit www.heffins.com. License #0564249 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/heffernan-insurance-brokers-partners-with-comulate-the-revenue-automation-platform-for-brokers-301928944.html SOURCE Heffernan Insurance Brokers
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[September 19, 2023] OSC relaunches best-in-class investor education website GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca Tweet
TORONTO, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today relaunched its award-winning investor education website GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca with new artificial intelligence tools, the latest accessibility features, and significant design innovations. The new GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca also introduces design elements informed by behavioural insights to help people make better decisions along their investing journey. "GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca is one of Canada's most popular financial education websites used by millions of people each year," said OSC CEO Grant Vingoe. "The renewed site uses the latest technology and further advances the OSC objective to be recognized as a leader, and an influential, trusted, go-to source of information for the investing community for both investors and the advisors who serve them." GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca provides free, unbiased articles, interesting videos, and interactive tools to help people make more informed investment decisions. "By introducing innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence and through behavioural science tools and insights, the new GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca will help the public turn their newfound investing knowledge and intentions into action," said Tyler Fleming, Director of the Investor Office at the OSC. New features on GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca include: Advanced technology AI recommendations engine provides content for users based on their onsite reading history and curated learning paths a first of its kind for a Canadian securities regulator. Text-to-voice article reader makes content easier to consume for users across platforms and abilities. On-site voice search helps visitrs easily search the site to find what they need.
Enhanced accessibility Designed to be an accessibility leader. The internal development team planned ahead to meet or exceed the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WGAC 2.2) before they took effect in summer 2023. Areas of focus in the redevelopment, beyond text-to-voice and voice search include: Ease of navigation. Having the same information available in a variety of multimedia formats. Graphic designs, animations, and colour palettes. Screen-reader accessibility.
Innovative design A recognizably unique new look-and-feel incorporating design best practices. Streamlined menus, clearer navigation, and new learning pathways. Custom animations woven through the site that help guide the reader through topics.
Behavioural science Ground-breaking research studies led by the OSC that shed light on retail investor behaviours, attitudes, and experiences. New resources on the psychology of investing and how behavioural biases may influence financial decision making. Behavioural science-informed web design to ensure educational materials are human centred, actionable, and high impact.
Investor News, the OSC's popular e-newsletter, helps investors stay informed with articles and helpful links to educational resources featured on the new GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca. Investor resources are also available on the OSC's investor social media channels and through outreach events online and across the province. The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.ca.
Follow us on Twitter
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[September 19, 2023] 130 Leading Corporations, Startups, Universities, Non-profits, and Research Stakeholders Unite in Support of a $750 Million Investment for the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research Tweet
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Breakthrough Institute, along with a group of 130 corporations, startups, universities, non-profits, and other research stakeholders, sent a letter to Congress urging an allocation of $750 million to the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) in the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill.
FFAR, established in the Agriculture Act of 2014, has demonstrated its indispensable role in addressing vital food and agriculture research needs. By leveraging public and private investments, FFAR ensures maximum societal impact. From 2002 to 2019, U.S. public investment in agricultural research declined 30%, and international competitors like China, Brazil, and India have surpassed the U.S in research funding. FFAR is a vital source of funding for climate-smart research and development in food and agriculture, says Daniel Blaustein-Rejto, Director of Food and Agricultureof The Breakthrough Institute. By matching every federal dollar with about $1.40 in private and non-federal funds, FFAR has an outsized impact on a wide range of issues from cutting methane emissions from cows to breeding the next generation of crops. We hope that Congress will recognize the value of FFAR and provide it with robust and stable funding.
With unpredictable global challenges, from erratic weather patterns to global supply chain disruptions, the importance of robust public investment in agricultural research is clear. The proposed $750 million would ensure the food supply chain remains sustainable, innovative, and robust enough to support an ever-growing global population. The united voices in this letter make a compelling case for the essential role FFAR plays in the realm of food and agriculture, urging Congress to recognize and support the foundation's indispensable role in shaping a sustainable and secure agricultural future.
To read the full letter and see the list of signatories, click here . For media inquiries please contact: Daniel Blaustein-Rejto
Director of Food and Agriculture, The Breakthrough Institute
(845) 594-4603
[email protected]
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[September 19, 2023] CureScience Institute Fall-Spring Scholars Bioinformatics and Machine Learning Program Tweet
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- CureScience Institute, a San Diego, California based non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to accelerating cures based on a combination of diagnostic, immunological, and regenerative approaches, proudly announce that Professor Igor Tsigelny and Professor Valentina Kouznetsova, both of UC San Diego, will again offer an educational program in bioinformatics and machine learning for undergraduate and high school students interested in STEM careers. The Fall-Spring Scholars Bioinformatics and Machine Learning Program invites students with a strong interest in science to fill out the online application on the CureScience Institute website. The application deadline is October 6, 2023! Apply online at www.curescience.org .
Students will have the opportunity to interact with CureScience scientists to conduct original, innovative research projects in areas such as: cancer biology, drug design, computational biology, infectious disease, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and more. In addition to the original research, students will get the chance to explore scientific careers.
Artificial Intelligence and Computational Biology training for high school and undergraduate students Students must meet the following criteria: 1) be at least a high school or undergraduate student, 2) have earned an A in a science or math class, and 3) demonstrate a strong interest in STEM! The program includes lectures and individual mentoring. Igor F. Tsigelny is a Research Professor at the Department of Neurosciences of UCSD, having long-time collaboration with the San Diego Supercomputer Center and Moores Cancer Center. He is a world-known expert in structural biology, molecular modeling, bioinformatics, and using AI for drug design and treatment. He has a Ph.D. from the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Dr. Tsigelny is the author of over 200 scientific research papers and has mentored the UCSD programs for undergraduate and high school students for several years. Valentina Kouznetsova is a Research Professor at UCSD (San Diego Supercomputer Center). She studies the molecular mechanisms of various diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and neurological disorders. An expert in computational drug design, she developed drugs for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and glioblastoma that were licensed from UCSD and are in development in industry. She has authored over 50 scientific papers, three books and eight book chapters, and 13 patents. Media contact:
Lawrence D. Jones, Ph.D.
CureScience Institute
(858) 800 CURE (2873) View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/curescience-institute-fall-spring-scholars-bioinformatics-and-machine-learning-program-301932005.html SOURCE CureScience Institute
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[September 19, 2023] Webb Fontaine Group Awarded 5-Year Project with Libyan Customs Authority for Advanced Cargo Information System for Exports to the State of Libya Tweet
DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ -- Webb Fontaine Group is thrilled to announce the acquisition of a prestigious 5-year investment project in collaboration with the Libyan Customs Authority, marking a significant milestone in the realm of foreign trade and customs in Libya. The project's primary objective is the development, implementation, and operation of the Advance Cargo Information (ACI) System in the State of Libya. Initially focusing on non-hydrocarbon exports via sea transport to Libyan ports, the system will progressively extend to encompass exports to Libya by air and land. Webb Fontaine Group, renowned for its cutting-edge technological solutions, will spearhead the creation of this state-of-the-art system. An operational centre, managed by a highly qualified team, will be established in Tripoli, Libya, to manage and oversee the system's operations. Alioune Ciss, CEO of Webb Fontaine Group, expressed his enthusiasm, stating, "We are honoured to be entrusted with this strategic project by the Libyan Customs Authority. This project aligns with our mission to usher in an era of advanced efficiency, transparency, and enhanced controls and tax revenue collection in Libya." In addition to the ACI system, Web Fontaine will introduce a comprehensive foreign Trade Information Portal (TIP) to streamline exports to Libya. The TIP will provide up-to-date information, relevant executive regulations, trade import and export forms, and processes flows for all modes of transport. Tutorials, tax simulators, and smart cargo classification will ensure accuracy and compliance with relevant laws. The ACI system will also incorporate a robust risk management system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to mitigate fraud and illicit trade.
The implementation of the ACI System in Libya heralds the country's first digital transformation project for trade and customs. The project's overarching goals are to simplify trade processes, enhance control and governance, and boost revenue for the Libyan public treasury. Major General Suleiman Ali Salem, Director General of Libyan Customs Authority stated that "This pivotal project will be a game-changer and fight illicit and fraudulent trade, furnishing the Libyan Government and trade community with valuable insights, statistics, and various reports on their trade exchanges with other countries and regions around the world." The ACI system promises a comprehensive transformation in Libya's foreign trade and customs operations. It ensures robust validation, transparency, and efficiency in import procedures, while combating illegal and fraudulent activities and reducing congestion at Libyan ports. This project signifies a leap forward in trade efficiency and trade security, underlining the commitment of Webb Fontaine Group and the Libyan Customs Authority to elevate Libya's trade ecosystem standards.
As the project unfolds, both partners are committed to delivering the highest standards of service and technological innovation to the Libyan trade community and economy in line with best international standards. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2215188/Webb_Fontaine.jpg
Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2147638/4150314/Webb_Fontaine_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/webb-fontaine-group-awarded-5-year-project-with-libyan-customs-authority-for-advanced-cargo-information-system-for-exports-to-the-state-of-libya-301932237.html SOURCE Webb Fontaine
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HANOI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Three people in Vietnam's northern provinces have died from diphtheria, as the country has reported dozens of suspected diphtheria cases as of Tuesday, according to its health ministry.
The ministry's Department of Medical Services Administration has urged local healthcare authorities and medical centers nationwide to take action to prevent bigger outbreaks.
The authorities have been asked to strengthen public health monitoring to early diagnose, quarantine diphtheria cases and give timely treatment to minimize deaths.
According to the health department of Ha Giang province where two deaths were reported, local hospitals are offering treatment to 46 suspected cases of diphtheria.
A total of 37 other patients have recovered and are having their health monitored in 14 days at home.
Nearly 11,000 local people in Meo Vac and Yen Minh districts of Ha Giang province have taken prophylactic antibiotics, local media reported.
Since May this year, Dien Bien province reported six cases including one death.
The origin of all infection cases is unknown, the health ministry said.
Healthcare facilities have been requested to review drug and medical equipment stock to get ready for patient admission.
Antibiotics and early testing are recommended for suspected cases.
The health ministry has advised people to take children for scheduled vaccination, wash their hands with soap and keep hygiene of body, nose and throat.
[September 19, 2023] Coalition launched to develop new carbon market standard and platform for community-centered forest conservation that meets the needs of Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Global South countries Tweet
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As government and corporate leaders gather for New York Climate Week, founding members of the Peoples Forests Partnership have launched the Equitable Earth Coalition. In partnership with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Global South countries, the Coalition is committed to developing a new voluntary carbon market standard and platform to help end deforestation and biodiversity loss by driving finance directly to communities. Coalition to develop new carbon market standard for community-centered forest conservation Michael Jenkins, CEO of Forest Trends, said: "As a longtime champion of trustworthy and accessible carbon markets, we are excited about a process that centers Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We believe this fills a major gap in the carbon ecosystem. Forest Trends is glad to support the Equitable Earth approach, and we look forward to seeing it deliver on its goal of rapidly scaling direct climate finance to communities on the front lines of efforts to safeguard forests." The goal of the Equitable Earth Coalition is to develop that solution through a new voluntary carbon market (VCM) standard and platform that is: Developed in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, with an aim of delivering transformative finance directly to communities to fund their own development ambitions.
with an aim of delivering transformative finance directly to communities to fund their own development ambitions. Founded on transparency, robust science and rigorous due diligence, a standardised approach to measuring carbon, societal and biodiversity impacts, and best practices for IPLC ownership and inclusion .
. Holistic by driving investment both to stop deforestation, and to restore and steward forest ecosystems.
by driving investment both to stop deforestation, and to restore and steward forest ecosystems. Designed to nest into national forest carbon programs that contribute to global climate commitments. The founding members of the Coalition include Forest Trends, Wildlife Works and Everland. Beto Borges, Director of the Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative, will be Chair of the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group. "The voluntary carbon market can help address forest loss at its root, by providing essential finance to Indigenous Peoples and local communities to make conservation a viable development path. But the market has not been designed to meet the needs of the communities on the ground, who hold the key to reducing emissions from deforestation," Beto Borges said. "A fit-for-purpose solution is needed now. Forests are being destroyed and we have run out of time." Also joining the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group will be: Francisca Arara , Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil , and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force
, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, , and President of the Regional Committee for of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force Gustavo Sanchez Valle , President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF)
, President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF) Mary Allegretti , Anthropologist, President of he Institute of Amazonian Studies
, Anthropologist, President of he Institute of Amazonian Studies Julio Barbosa de Aquino , President, National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS)
For further information, visit www.eq-earth.com
Quotes from members of Equitable Earth's IPLC Advisory Group Francisca Arara, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil, and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force: "From Kyoto onwards, we hope to see a carbon standard for forest and biodiversity conservation that respects the rights of Indigenous Peoples and ensures equitable participation and direct financing, recognizes our land and carbon rights, and free, prior, informed consent (FPIC), and which also adheres to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and recognizes our traditional knowledge." Gustavo Sanchez Valle, President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF) which promotes community forestry and supports Indigenous and farmers organisations that own lands in Mexico: "We welcome the construction of Equitable Earth, we believe that a standard for community carbon projects and other ecosystem benefits is required that is built from the beginning with the participation of representatives of Indigenous Peoples' organisations, local communities, tribal peoples and Afro-descendants." Mary Allegretti, Anthropologist, President of the Institute of Amazonian Studies : "The Equitable Earth initiative is strategic to bring security and reduce pressure on communities, fills a gap and defines necessary rules to value the contribution of communities in controlling deforestation in the Amazon." Julio Barbosa de Aquino, extractivist, cousin of Chico Mendes and President of the National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS): "This initiative will allow us to get closer to the reality of the traditional peoples and communities of the Amazon." Notes to editors Media contact: Will Richard - [email protected] About Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative
Forest Trends works to conserve forests and other ecosystems through the creation and wide adoption of a broad range of environmental finance, markets, and other payment and incentive mechanisms. Our Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative partners with indigenous and other forest communities on innovations to secure their rights, livelihoods, and cultures through a strategy built on advocacy, economic self-determination, and cultural integrity. About Wildlife Works
Founded in 1997, Wildlife Works is a community-centered wildlife conservation company that implements market-based solutions to protect the planet's threatened wilderness and endangered wildlife. The company was founded on the premise that if we want wildlife in our world, it has to work for local communities who share their environment. Wildlife Works' conservation projects drive direct financing to forest communities to fund their own economic development while preventing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere annually.
www.wildlifeworks.com About Everland
Everland helps people prosper from conserving their forests and wildlife, resulting in climate change mitigation for the benefit of all. We mobilize transformative investments into forest communities who are on the frontlines of stopping deforestation, halting climate change, and safeguarding biodiversity, to deliver conservation outcomes at scale. Through deep due diligence and impact reporting, we ensure that clients invest in meaningful impact, and realize the full value of their support for REDD+ projects.
everland.earth About the Peoples Forests Partnership
Forest communities hold the solutions to protecting the world's most biodiverse ecosystems yet only 1% of global climate finance is reaching Indigenous Peoples, traditional owners and local communities. The Peoples Forests Partnership - a partnership of Indigenous Peoples Organizations community groups, corporations and NGOs exists to support forest communities' call for their right to participate equitably in climate and conservation finance.
peoplesforestspartnership.org View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/coalition-launched-to-develop-new-carbon-market-standard-and-platform-for-community-centered-forest-conservation-that-meets-the-needs-of-indigenous-peoples-local-communities-and-global-south-countries-301932250.html SOURCE Equitable Earth Coalition
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[September 19, 2023] $3 Billion in Federal Export Finance to Support Canadian Businesses While Providing Clean Energy Security for Romania Tweet
OTTAWA, ON, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada's long-standing relationship with Romania extends to fighting climate change, enhancing energy security and supporting economic development in both countries. Through Canadian technologies, financing and bilateral cooperation, Canada is committed to supporting Romania to advance all these shared priorities. That is why today, the Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, alongside Sebastian Burduja, Minister of Energy of Romania; Cosmin Ghita, CEO, Societatea Nationala Nuclearelectrica; and Rare? Burlacu, President, Romanian Agency for Trade and Investment, announced Canada's decision to support Romanian energy security and climate action through $3 billion in available export financing to Nuclearelectrica S.A. (SNN), the national operator of the Cernavoda Nuclear Generating Station. This investment will support further Canadian jobs and business activity in Romania's nuclear sector. For decades, nuclear cooperation has been a pillar of Canada's relationship with Romania. Romania plans to build two new Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) nuclear reactors at Cernavoda (units 3 and 4). The construction of these two CANDU-6 reactors will: support economic activity across Canada's nuclear sector and broader power sector;
nuclear sector and broader power sector; drive down emissions while helping Romania phase out coal power by 2032;
phase out coal power by 2032; add 1,400 megawatts of clean, non-emitting electricity production capacity to Romania's grid; and
grid; and unlock Romania's potential to become a regional hub for secure energy in the face of Russian energy intimidation while enabling support for Moldova and Ukraine . Russia's brutal and unjustified invasion of Ukraine has underscored the need for Romania and other European countries to reduce continental reliance on Russian energy while maximizing their energy security. In this regard, Canada is stepping up to support Europe's energy future in the face of supply shortages, while advancing shared priorities. Both Romania and Canada are taking active and ambitious steps to combat climate change while delivering affordable, reliable and clean power to communities. For decades, nuclear energy contributed to Canada's clean energy supply and will continue to play an important role for many regions in a net-zero world. Today's investment will deliver sustainable jobs and investment for Canadian workers and industries hile advancing Canada's commitment to our partners and allies in the global fight against climate change.
Quotes "The export financing announced today to support our Romanian partners will support the creation of new good jobs and economic activity in Canada. The new Cernavoda reactors will leverage Canadian CANDU technology to deliver clean and reliable power to communities while contributing to Canada's efforts to support European energy security. Canadian nuclear expertise will continue to play an important role in helping the world accelerate to a clean and secure energy future."
The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson
Minister of Energy and Natural Resources "Canada's participation in this clean energy project will strengthen our reputation as a priority energy partner in Europe and beyond. This project will create good jobs for Canadians and Romanians alike. This will further support Canada's economic growth by encouraging greater partnerships between Canadian and Romanian nuclear industries, especially partnerships between our small businesses and entrepreneurs." The Honourable Mary Ng
Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development "Our countries' bilateral relations go way back. In the 70s, Romania took the historical decision to be the only country behind the Iron Curtain to develop a nuclear program based on Western technology and the only European country to choose CANDU technology (Canadian deuterium uranium) for its nuclear program. As the current geopolitical context has shown, this was the best decision that Romania could have taken at that time. "From that point onward, the cooperation between our countries has only grown stronger. I am proud to reaffirm today our unwavering commitment to a long-term and prosperous cooperation between our countries in the nuclear field. I also underline Romania's full support for the development of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, with two new units using CANDU technology and our commitment to treat this strategic national security project with the highest priority." Sebastian Burduja
Minister of Energy of Romania Quick Facts As an EU member state and committed NATO ally on the eastern flank, Canada has strategic and mutually beneficial bilateral relations with Romania , including in areas of trade, investment, security and defence. Canada and Romania have a long-standing nuclear energy relationship dating back to the signing of the CanadaRomania Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) in 1977.
has strategic and mutually beneficial bilateral relations with , including in areas of trade, investment, security and defence. and have a long-standing nuclear energy relationship dating back to the signing of the CanadaRomania Nuclear Cooperation Agreement (NCA) in 1977. Expansion of its nuclear energy capacity will enable Romania to achieve its objective of phasing out coal from electricity generation by 2032, with CANDU-6 reactors supplying 36 percent of Romania's total electricity needs, up from the current 21 percent.
to achieve its objective of phasing out coal from electricity generation by 2032, with CANDU-6 reactors supplying 36 percent of total electricity needs, up from the current 21 percent. Canada provided export financing support to construct and operate two CANDU-6 reactors at Cernavoda, known as the C1 and C2 reactors. These reactors, designed by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL), were completed in 1996 and 2007 respectively and have remained operational ever since.
provided export financing support to construct and operate two CANDU-6 reactors at Cernavoda, known as the C1 and C2 reactors. These reactors, designed by Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL), were completed in 1996 and 2007 respectively and have remained operational ever since. Since the start of operations of the C2 reactor in 2007, the two-unit site has an exemplary operating and safety record and is a source of pride in Romania . A total of over 170 million tonnes of CO 2 have been avoided since C1 and C2 have gone into service.
. A total of over 170 million tonnes of CO have been avoided since C1 and C2 have gone into service. The CANDU reactor remains one of the single largest research and development investments ever made by the Canadian government. Canada has exported CANDU technology to Argentina , China , India , Pakistan , Romania and South Korea .
has exported CANDU technology to , , , , and . Nuclear cooperation was highlighted in the 2023 Joint Statement by Prime Minister Trudeau and President Biden. Related Information
Canadian Nuclear Energy Technology Follow us on Twitter: @CanadaTrade
Like us on Facebook: Canada's international trade - Global Affairs Canada Follow us on LinkedIn SOURCE Natural Resources Canada
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[September 19, 2023] Inszone Insurance Services Strengthens Presence in Southern California with Acquisition of Titan Global Insurance Brokerage Inc. Tweet
Inszone Insurance Services, a rapidly growing national provider of benefits, personal, and commercial lines insurance, has announced the acquisition of Titan Global Insurance Brokerage Inc., a well-established independent brokerage with nearly two decades of experience. This strategic move strengthens Inszone Insurance's position in the market and enhances its ability to deliver unparalleled service and value to clients throughout Southern California, and in the San Diego area. Founded in October 2007 by Brent Albright, Titan Global Insurance Brokerage has been instrumental in serving businesses with unique insurance needs. Starting with a focus on workers' compensation, Albright expanded his expertise to encompass general commercial insurance, catering to companies that were traditionally challenging to insure. Recognizing the significance of building strong relationships with clients, Albright prioritized providing every client, regardless of their business size, with the same level of care and service. "We are thrilled to announce the successful acquisition of Titan Global Insurance Brokerage," said Chris Walters, CEO of Inszone Insurance Services. "Brent Albright has built an outstanding reputation for his expertise and dedication to client satisfaction. This acquisition not only expands our footprint in Southern California but also strengthens our ability to serve businesses with unique insurance requirements. We ook forward to integrating Titan's client base so they can benefit from the full support of our company's resources."
With this acquisition, Inszone Insurance Services gains access to a wealth of industry knowledge and expertise, particularly in workers' compensation and general commercial insurance. The shared commitment to exceptional service and personalized attention ensures a seamless transition for Titan's clients, who will continue to receive the same level of care they have come to expect. "One of the main reasons I decided to sell my agency to Inszone was because I wanted to provide more support and expanded lines of coverage for my customers," said Brent Albright, founder of Titan Global Insurance Brokerage. "Many of my clients have been with me for a significant amount of time, and I wanted to ensure that they would continue to receive the outstanding service and resources they have come to expect. I chose Inszone because I believe they have the capability to meet and exceed my clients' expectations."
As Inszone Insurance Services celebrates this strategic acquisition, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering innovative insurance solutions and exceptional customer service. With a growing presence across multiple states and an unwavering dedication to client satisfaction, Inszone Insurance Services continues to solidify its position as a trusted partner for businesses seeking comprehensive insurance coverage. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Sacramento, California, Inszone is a full-service insurance brokerage firm that provides a broad array of property & casualty insurance, along with employee benefits solutions. With a strong, experienced management team, Inszone continues to grow organically, as well as through acquisitions. With 39 locations across California, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Utah, the company is looking to further expand throughout the United States. For more information about Inszone, please visit www.inszoneinsurance.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230914566056/en/
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[September 19, 2023] Canadian workers to benefit from new green economy investments in Calgary Tweet
CALGARY, AB, Sept. 19, 2023 /CNW/ - Canada's green economy is growing, offering vast opportunities for workers. As Canada progresses toward a net-zero emissions economy, we must support workers by providing them with essential training and expertise so they can seize new opportunities and lead Canada to a more sustainable future. Today, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault, announced $32.4 million in funding to two Calgary-based organizations that are helping to create more training and career opportunities in the green economy. This funding is provided through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program (SWSP) and is expected to support 2,025 Canadians and benefit approximately 1,150 employers across the country. The Minister made the announcement while visiting Energy Safety Canada. Energy Safety Canada is receiving $14.8 million to deliver its Building a Workforce for Canada's Energy Future project. This project will offer micro-credential programs and training focused on greenhouse gas emissions, corporate governance and best practices for engaging Indigenous peoples in the energy sector. Through targeted training, tools, upskilling programs and career resources, participants will learn how to apply leading sustainability practices, safely and efficiently. The project will also offer targeted wraparound supports to strengthen diversity and inclusion in Canada's energy industry. Environmental Careers Organization Canada (ECO Canada) is receiving $17.6 million through the SWSP to help implement its Unlocking Canada's Green Potential: Diverse Talent to Accelerate Clean Economic Growth project. This innovative project will help develop national occupational standards for the environmental sector through leading labour market research. It will also deliver a series of online tools, training and leadership courses, micro-credentials, certification, mentorship opportunities, and wage subsidies to facilitate the upward mobility of workers across Canada. The project will offer wraparound supports to help participants overcome barriers to building their careers in the green economy. Today's announcement is part of the larger national Green Economy Stream under the SWSP. With these additional projects, the total investment in SWSP green economy projects reaches $143.8 million, across nine organizations. Overall, these nine projects are expected to support over 24,000 Canadians and benefit approximately 2,100 employers across Canada. This announcement supports the Government's ongoing actions to grow Canada's economy, create good jobs and invest in Canada's green economy as announced in Budget 2023. It also aligns with Canada's recently introduced interim Sustainable Jobs Plan for 20232025 to guide efforts to support the move to a net-zero emissions economy. Quotes
"The work to build a net-zero economy needs well-trained Canadian workers. This funding not only helps address the existing labour shortage but it also ensures equal opportunity for Indigenous peoples and underrepresented groups. We are delivering for Canadians and delivering for workers." Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault
"Canada's energy industry is undergoing significant change. It is transforming and diversifying at a pace never seen before, and the workforce is evolving with it. Building a Workforce for Canada's Energy Future, a project led by Careers in Energy, a division of Energy Safety Canada, will address targeted skills gaps and be the roadmap to identify and develop the skills and talent required to support a robust energy sector for decades to come." Murray Elliott, President and Chief Executive Officer, Energy Safety Canada "As Canada's environmental workforce continues to grow and evolve, it is extremely important to ensure that organizations and individuals have the right tools, training and mentorship opportunities needed to succeed. Companies need highly competent workers to help them grow and become competitive internationally. Individuals, whether entering or transitioning into the green workforce, need a clear pathway to meet and exceed employer expectations. This project funding will greatly benefit the Canadian economy by supporting sectoral workforce solutions that meet the unique needs of stakeholders."
Kevin Nilsen, President and Chief Executive Officer, ECO Canada Quick Facts According to labour market data from December 2022 , an estimated 314,257 jobs were attributable to the environmental and clean technology products sector in 2021, up 6.5% from 2020 and accounting for 1.6% of all jobs in Canada in 2021. The utilities industry was the largest industry group in terms of employment, accounting for more than one fifth (65,656) of environmental and clean technology jobs in 2021.
, an estimated 314,257 jobs were attributable to the environmental and clean technology products sector in 2021, up 6.5% from 2020 and accounting for 1.6% of all jobs in in 2021. The utilities industry was the largest industry group in terms of employment, accounting for more than one fifth (65,656) of environmental and clean technology jobs in 2021. It is anticipated that about 1.1 million workers across all sectors will retire over the next three years. The Royal Bank of Canada estimates the net-zero transition could create up to 400,000 new jobs in Canada by the end of this decade alone.
estimates the net-zero transition could create up to 400,000 new jobs in by the end of this decade alone. Through a series of national climate plans since 2016including the 2030 Emissions Reduction Plan, which is the first plan to be issued under the Canadian Net-Zero Emissions Accountability Actthe Government of Canada has committed more than $120 billion to climate action and low-carbon economic development. Related Products Backgrounder: More Canadian workers to benefit from the green economy
News release: More Canadian workers to benefit from the green economy Associated Links Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program
2030 Emissions Reduction Plan: Clean Air, Strong Economy
Sustainable Jobs Plan Follow us on Twitter ESDC on Facebook SOURCE Employment and Social Development Canada
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[September 19, 2023] Bosch eBike Systems Maintains Exemplary Safety Standards Following New York City's Enforcement of the Lithium-ion Legislation Package Tweet
Bosch eBike Systems remains dedicated to its long-standing history of advanced battery safety measures to prioritize rider safety in the wake of New York City's new Battery Safety enforcement legislation. Bosch eBike Systems upholds stringent eBike electrical system and battery standards, certifying to UL 2849 and UL 2271, to ensure rider safety and confidence
With a storied history of reliability, Bosch remains as a leader in eBike technology
Advanced battery management systems and thorough safety protocols enhance Bosch eBike batteries' dependability
Sold by thousands of eBike shops and trusted by over 100 leading eBike brands around the world, Bosch's commitment to quality and rider assurance sets it apart in the industry FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif., Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Bosch eBike Systems , a global leader in eBike technology, reaffirms its unwavering commitment to battery safety following the recent enforcement of New York City's Battery Safety Legislation Package. Proudly already certified to the UL 2849 and UL 2271 safety standards, riders who own a Bosch-powered eBike as well as retailers can have peace of mind as the new legislation is enforced. Bosch eBike Systems views applying safety standards to the eBike electrical system as being essential, as the criteria set forth in the standards reduce risk of fire, electric shock and mechanical hazards. The new legislation represents a significant step forward in enhancing the safety of eBike batteries within the city. The New York City law, enacted on March 20, 2023, and in effect beginning September 16, 2023, requires all lithium-ion batteries to adhere to the UL 2271 standard, which covers the safety requirements for the design, manufacture, and testing of lithium-ion batteries used in light electric vehicles. The UL 2849 standard tests and certifies the complete system including the drive unit, display unit, interconnecting cables, charger and battery for electrical, fire, and mechanical hazards, in addition to evaluating the software monitoring and maintaining safety functions. "Bosch eBike Systems goes above and beyond the strict legal requirements, with certain tests, and pays special attention to battery safety throughout the entire value chain," said Kunal Kapoor, Bosch eBike Systems Senior Manager of Quality & Compliance. "For peace of mind, the entire Bosch eBike system is certified to UL 2849 since 2021, which is a standard covering the electrical system of eBikes powered by a lithium-based, rechargeable battery. Bosch eBike batteries are also certified to UL 2271 as required by New York City law. UL 2849 and UL 2271 have strict requirements for electrical shock, mechanical and fire hazards. Furthermore, the high-quality lithium-ion batteries have a Battery Management System (BMS) that detects significant potential sources of error and effectively protects cells against overheating." Bosch embodies a heritage synonymous with innovation, quality, and, above all, safety. The eBike Systems division perpetuates this tradition by delivering dependable products riders can rely on. Additionally, thousands of bike shops and over 100 bike brands around the world trust in Bosch eBike systems to power their products. Safety is theheart of Bosch's innovations, reinforcing Bosch eBike Systems as the rider's trusted choice globally.
"I firmly believe that the New York legislation is a significant stride in the right direction for the safety of all New Yorkers, and the standards of the entire nation" said Chris Nolte, Founder of Propel, NY. "It's a source of immense gratitude for us, having navigated the eBike industry for years in collaboration with Bosch. Early on, we recognized the absence of standardized practices and Bosch stood out as a pioneer in shaping these crucial benchmarks. While many companies are only now beginning to embrace these standards, we are deeply thankful and proud to have been working hand in hand with Bosch, who has been at the forefront setting the bar high for the industry." Bosch eBike Systems encourages the public to explore eBike battery safety awareness. Interested individuals can visit The eBike Battery Guide to access comprehensive insights into Bosch eBike Systems safety protocols, battery technology, and alignment with industry standards. Additionally, consumers can visit authorized Bosch eBike dealers across New York City for hands-on experiences with its safety-focused products.
Dedicated to ensuring the highest level of safety and quality for riders, Bosch eBike Systems remains steadfast in its commitment to providing reliability for riders in New York City and beyond - giving them the peace of mind they deserve while enjoying the benefits of eBiking. To learn more, please visit www.bosch-ebike.com . About Bosch eBike Systems
Bosch eBike Systems is shaping the future of eBike mobility with innovative products and digital services ranging from highly efficient drive systems to the first production-ready ABS for eBikes and Connected Biking solutions. On daily routes through the city, on leisurely rides through the countryside or for sporting adventures in the mountains: Bosch eBike Systems offers eBike riders the right drive system (drive unit, battery, display, and app) for every requirement and every area of use, ensuring a unique riding sensation. Today, more than 100 of the world's leading bicycle brands trust the perfectly coordinated, modular product portfolio. As an independent division within the Bosch Group, Bosch eBike Systems also makes use of the Group's technology and manufacturing expertise. For healthy, safe and sustainable mobility that is fun. For more information please visit www.bosch-ebike.com/us About Bosch
About Bosch Having established a presence in North America in 1906, today the Bosch Group employs 37,000 associates in more than 100 locations in the region (as of Dec. 31, 2022). Bosch generated consolidated sales of $15.1 billion in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in 2022. For more information visit www.bosch.us, www.bosch.ca and www.bosch.mx. The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 421,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2022). The company generated sales of $93.1 billion in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology. As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group's strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is "Invented for life." The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 470 subsidiary and regional companies in over 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. With its more than 400 locations worldwide, the Bosch Group has been carbon neutral since the first quarter of 2020. The basis for the company's future growth is its innovative strength. At 136 locations across the globe, Bosch employs some 85,500 associates in research and development, of which nearly 44,000 are software engineers. The company was set up in Stuttgart in 1886 by Robert Bosch (18611942) as "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering." The special ownership structure of Robert Bosch GmbH guarantees the entrepreneurial freedom of the Bosch Group, making it possible for the company to plan over the long term and to undertake significant upfront investments in the safeguarding of its future. Ninety-four percent of the share capital of Robert Bosch GmbH is held by Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH, a charitable foundation. The remaining shares are held by Robert Bosch GmbH and by a corporation owned by the Bosch family. The majority of voting rights are held by Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, an industrial trust. The entrepreneurial ownership functions are carried out by the trust. Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com , www.iot.bosch.com , www.bosch-press.com , www.twitter.com/BoschPress View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bosch-ebike-systems-maintains-exemplary-safety-standards-following-new-york-citys-enforcement-of-the-lithium-ion-legislation-package-301932430.html SOURCE Bosch eBike Systems
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[September 19, 2023] TAMADIC Participates in the Design and Production of Joby Aviation's "eVTOL" Production Equipment Tweet
TAMADIC Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo and Nagoya, Japan) received an order in June 2021 from Joby Aviation (Headquarters: Santa Cruise, California, USA), the developer of an all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. TAMADIC designs and manufactures final assembly tools, and designs drilling tools, milling tools, as well as inspection tools. These tools, delivered in September 2022, are currently used in the production line to manufacture JOBY production prototype aircraft, including the first aircraft with Special Aircraft Certificate that rolled out in June 2023. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918705911/en/ "The final assembly tool" designed and manufactured by TAMADIC (left) and a site where the jig is used (right) (Photo: Busines Wire)
The final assembly tool delivered by TAMADIC is used to lower the main wing during the process of assembling by screwing the main wing to the fuselage. As for any aircraft, not only the eVTOL airframe but all the tools used to manufacture an airframe, must be developed according to standardized quality management system for the aerospace industry (AS9100). Also, eVTOL aircraft extensively uses Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) for its structure, as it is known for its light weight, high specific strength, and high specific rigidity. Tool design is handled by the Aircraft & Space Business Unit of TAMADIC, which is certified with the Aerospace Quality Management System, and has extensive capability in CFRP parts production engineering, including production process and tool design. The tools are manufactured in Japan and delivered to the Joby Aviation facility in Marina, California.
The eVTOL aircraft being developed by Joby Aviation can fly with one pilot and up to four passengers. It is electrical, thus features low noise and zero carbon emissions. On a single charge it can fly up to 100 miles with a maximum velocity of up to 200 miles/h. The company aims to start commercial services in the United States in 2025, and then expand internationally, including Japan. It is expected to solve various traffic problems such as reducing traffic congestion in urban areas and reducing environmental impact. TAMADIC entered the aviation industry with the YS-11, the first indigenously developed passenger aircraft in post-war Japan, and has contributed to the development of the Japanese aviation industry through design development, production technology, and analysis services. In addition, it is one of the few companies in the Japanese engineering industry that has a local subsidiary in the United States*1, which in this project, it already handles the business aspect of the order including specifications clarification, schedules, and price negotiations. The company will continue to support the development of next-generation air mobility, aiming for smooth business progress between Japan and the United States. *1 US Subsidiary: Tama Technical Core Co., Ltd. Located in Everett Washington USA, Founded in July 2017. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918705911/en/
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[September 19, 2023] GLOBAL CRYPTO ATM LEADER OLLIV BRINGS CASH-TO-CRYPTO SERVICES TO NEW ZEALAND FURTHERING GLOBAL ACCESS TO THE DIGITAL ECONOMY Tweet
With More than 4,500 ATM Kiosks Across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Panama, and Brazil the Award-Winning Company Launches the First Crypto ATM in New Zealand. AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Sept. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Olliv, a leading fintech company powered by cryptocurrency, today announced its official expansion into New Zealand becoming the first bitcoin ATM operator in the country. The company, most known for its network of 4,500 bitcoin ATMs, plans to expand its footprint within Aotearoa throughout 2023, furthering its mission to lift people up to achieve their full potential by connecting them to the global digital economy. Olliv encourages the use of self-custodial wallets when using its kiosks, removing the uncertainty of unknown third-party custodians, and ensuring customers always have control of their own assets. "We are excited to bring our bitcoin kiosks to New Zealand," said Ben Weiss, CEO and Co-Founder of Olliv. "Since the inception of Olliv, we've prioritized a self-custody model and accessibility. We believe in never holding customer funds because consumers deserve to always have control over their own assets. We look forward to connecting consumers in New Zealand with our award-winning customer service to make bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies easy to obtain. We can't wait to expand our offerings within the area and become a trusted crypto service for the community." This expansion comes off the heels of significant company growth and innovation, including the US launch of a safe, inclusive, and easy-to-use next-generation crypto platform in April 2023 and expansions in multiple countries since 2022. "With the success of our ATM network in Australia, the launch of New Zealand's first cryptocurrency ATM is a thrilling milestone," said Matthew Pook, Vice President of Olliv Australia and New Zealand. "New Zealand's growing interest in cryptocurrency makes it a strategic choice for the company. We are excited to bring our kiosks to all major population centres inthe future and continue to boost adoption on a global scale. Our goal is to make crypto easily accessible to everyone and we hope this expansion will encourage more people to be a part of the digital economy and embrace the world of digital assets."
Olliv remains a trusted resource for customers showcasing dedication to industry compliance and transparency. The company has put an emphasis on customer support and education, doubling down on its human-to-human customer service and Order Desk support team. In doing so, Olliv's 2022 revenue exceeded $130 million, and its team is projected to grow by 23% by the end of 2023. Since inception, Olliv has expanded across 49 U.S. states and eight new markets including Australia, Puerto Rico, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Panama, and Brazil, with plans to expand to more countries by 2024. This impressive growth puts Olliv on the frontline of a financial revolution where cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can empower investors around the world. Customers can learn more at www.olliv.com/en-NZ or visit the kiosk locator to find new locations in New Zealand as they become available. For more information about Olliv, please visit Olliv.com and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
About Olliv
Olliv is a leading fintech company powered by cryptocurrency. The company operates the world's largest network of cryptocurrency ATMs by transaction volume with over 4,500 kiosks across 49 US states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Panama, and Brazil supporting the buying and selling of major cryptocurrencies with cash. Olliv was founded as CoinFlip in 2015 by Daniel Polotsky, Kris Dayrit, Alan Gurevich, and Ben Weiss. Headquartered in Chicago, the company placed in the top 500 on the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Inc. 5000 list, and on the 2022 Deloitte Technology Fast 500, was named the 2021 and 2022 #1 fastest-growing company in Chicago by Crain's and was awarded the 2021 and 2022 Stevie Awards for Customer Service. For more information about Olliv, please visit Olliv.com. Contacts:
Media contact: [email protected] Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2063064/Olliv_by_CoinFlip_Logo_v1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/global-crypto-atm-leader-olliv-brings-cash-to-crypto-services-to-new-zealand-furthering-global-access-to-the-digital-economy-301932581.html SOURCE Olliv
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[September 19, 2023] Irvine City Council Approves Letter Of Intent With Sunstone Management For Early-Stage Business Accelerator Tweet
The Irvine City Council unanimously approved a Letter of Intent at its Tuesday, Sept. 12, meeting to work with Sunstone Management, Inc. in creation of an Irvine Accelerator for early-stage, high-tech entrepreneurs. The proposal came from Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan after a year of discussions with the Irvine Innovation Council and Sunstone Management principals. John Shen, founder of Sunstone, is an original member of the Innovation Council. "I am thrilled that the city is partnering with Sunstone on the Irvine Accelerator," Mayor Kahn said. "This public-private partnership which formed as a product of my Innovation Council, of which John Shen is a founding member, will provide opportunities benefitting our local startup ecosystem." Sunstone is a diversified private capital management firm headquartered in Irvine that focuses on early-stage venture capital. It was one of the founding partners of the Long Beach Accelerator, established in 2019. "In September 2022, the City Council directed me and Vice Mayor (Tammy) Kim to work with staff on developing an economic development program that would identify Irvine as the premier location in the region for individuals seeking to found and establish high-tech and future focused business ventures," Mayor Khan said introducing the motion. "The City Council direction specifically identified that development of this particular program should be coordinated in partnership where feasible with my Innovation Council." Eric Romero, Sunstone's Director of Economic Development, led the early talks and appeared before the Irvine Council on Sept. 12. "Our company is excited by the opportunity to work with the City of Irvine, local organizations, and community leaders to establish the Irvine Accelerator and fill an important gap in the entrepreneurial ecosystem," he told the council. "The Irvine Accelerator will accelerate the growth of early-stage technology companies in Irvine by delivering a cohort-based program that will provide workshops, mentorship, subject-matter expertise, and funding. We believe the Irvine Accelerator will be an economic driver for the city and the region by further strengthening Irvine's brand as a vibrant startup hub, growing local businesses, attracting new businesses, and creating high-quality jobs." Irvine is a city of more than 300,000 people with a median household income of $114,000. It is considered the fastest growing city in California and was the 13th largest city in the state in 2022. It is home to the University of California, Irvine, which boasts the UCI Beall Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship as part of the Paul Merage School of Buiness.
"Our philosophy is Founder-focused, and we are strong believers in partnerships between government and private industry," said John Keisler, CEO and managing partner at Sunstone Management. "This opportunity to work with Irvine to create new resources for entrepreneurs in Southern California is an exciting opportunity and an honor." Next steps include creation of a formal working group, develop and approve a formal Memorandum of Understanding, establish the nonprofit organization and start fundraising to support operations.
For more information about Sunstone Management, go to www.sunstoneinvestment.com. For more about Irvine economic development, go to www.cityofirvine.org/economic-development. About Sunstone Management Sunstone Management is a diversified private capital management firm with headquarters in Southern California that provides a range of early-stage venture capital, real estate, and fixed income funds to qualified and accredited investors. The firm delivers new and exciting options for economic growth through innovative public-private partnerships, making use of its unique experience across government, education, and private sectors. Identified by Financial Times as one of America's Fastest Growing Companies three years in a row. Ranked 18th in the United States on the list of most active venture capital firms by PitchBook.
Connect with Sunstone Management at:
LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Crunchbase | Pitchbook View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230919887203/en/
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[September 19, 2023] City Beach Partners with NewStore to Launch Mobile Consumer App Tweet
Australia's leading lifestyle and youth fashion brand will leverage the NewStore Consumer App to extend its digital footprint and enhance customer loyalty BOSTON and BRISBANE, Australia, Sept. 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NewStore , a modular, mobile-first omnichannel cloud platform for retail brands worldwide, today announced a new partnership with City Beach , one of Australia's premier youth fashion destinations. The retailer will leverage the NewStore Consumer App to design and launch the City Beach App, which will debut on iOS and Android in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States in the coming months. Since its inception in 1985, City Beach has championed a legacy of youth fashion. With over 65 stores throughout Australia, the retailer boasts a curated selection of 300+ brands and is supported by a team of more than 3,000. City Beach's digital footprint is equally as impressive, with its ecommerce operations accounting for a significant percentage of the company's revenue. By rolling out the City Beach App, the business will extend its ecommerce presence beyond desktop and mobile web, strengthening its digital prowess while also enriching customer relationships and driving sales. "After a comprehensive evaluation, it became evident that the NewStore platform was the perfect match from a feature-functionality standpoint," said Chris Lockwood, Head of Ecommerce, City Beach. "This journey marks a turning point for City Beach, and we are confident that the end product will benefit our business and furher our commitment to offering a superior customer experience."
With NewStore, City Beach will have access to all the essential capabilities it needs to run a modern and engaging app, as well as real-time omnichannel inventory visibility, custom push notifications, and interactive product lookbooks. NewStore Consumer Apps also offer the following differentiating features: Brand Stories: Provide an unmatched, on-brand in-app experience with interactive storytelling.
Immersive Videos: Seamlessly integrate videos to unlock captivating brand visuals that drive engagement.
Digital Loyalty: Offer a unique, members-only experience with out-of-the-box capabilities designed to create "superfans."
App Extensions: Easily add external features for endless customization possibilities. City Beach will benefit from the fact that NewStore Consumer Apps are proven to increase both engagement and brand loyalty. Compared to typical mobile website metrics, NewStore customers have seen 3x more visits from their app users and in-app conversion rates as high as 7x. At the same time, brands using NewStore Consumer Apps have significantly reduced customer acquisition costs, with 90% of users accessing the app directly versus through paid search advertisements.
"Youth fashion retail has its own set of challenges, and businesses must have a vision and strive to continue to adapt. NewStore not only gets this, but the team also brings a much-needed spirit of partnership and collaboration to the table," added Troy Elliott, Head of Operations, City Beach. "In a rapidly evolving retail landscape, their innovative app development approach and commitment to our brand's success truly set them apart." "The NewStore Consumer App is a vital component of our larger omnichannel platform," said Stephan Schambach, Founder and CEO, NewStore. "Our modularity is a key differentiator, and brands like City Beach can choose how to leverage our offerings. Their decision to launch a NewStore Consumer App speaks not just to meeting today's consumer demands but also to their forward-looking vision for retail's future." NewStore runs apps for 25 brands in 40+ countries. To learn more about the NewStore Consumer App and request a demo, visit: https://www.newstore.com/mobile-retail-experience/ About City Beach
For more than three decades, City Beach has been a beacon of Aussie lifestyle, fashion and culture, growing from a small surf and skate shop established in 1985, to an international brand with over 65+ stores Australia wide. Over the years, it has evolved into Australia's leading lifestyle brand, recognised and adored for its trendsetting apparel, footwear, and accessories. With an unwavering commitment to an immersive shopping experience, City Beach continues to innovate and expand its global presence via their epic international online offering. City Beach stocks over 300 of the world's biggest brands, with new arrivals landing every day. About NewStore
NewStore provides Omnichannel-as-a-Service for retail brands worldwide that want to accelerate their digital transformation. Built with MACH principles, NewStore allows brands to easily deliver amazing shopping experiences that store associates and consumers love. Its mobile-first, modular cloud platform includes POS, order management, clienteling, inventory, and consumer apps. NewStore customers such as Burton, Faherty Brand, G-Star RAW, Marine Layer, Roots Canada, UNTUCKit, and Vince benefit from the most complete, global omnichannel retail solution available now supercharged with Tap to Pay on iPhone. The company is backed by General Catalyst, Activant Capital, and Salesforce Ventures. Learn more at www.newstore.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1215306/NewStore_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/city-beach-partners-with-newstore-to-launch-mobile-consumer-app-301932097.html SOURCE NewStore, Inc.
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MANDALGOVI, Mongolia, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese tea culture event was held in Mandalgovi, capital of Dundgovi Province, on Tuesday.
The event featured a traditional tea ceremony, tea tasting, a photo exhibition of Chinese tea culture and tourism, and other related activities.
China and Mongolia should use the tea culture event as a bridge to carry forward the tea road spirit featuring unity, collaboration and pioneering progress and to enhance the friendship between the two peoples, said Li Yanjun, Chinese Consul General in Dornogovi's Zamiin-Uud soum.
"Mongolia, especially our province, is an important node on the 'Tea Road,' so I am thrilled to hold this event in the province," said Munkhbat Tsagaankhuu, governor of Dundgovi province.
The event is part of a series of events entitled "Tea for Harmony: Yaji Cultural Salon," launched in Mongolia in May this year.
[September 19, 2023] Surgical Instrument Tracking System Market to grow by USD 157.17 million from 2022 to 2027, North America to account for 41% of market growth- Technavio Tweet
NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The surgical instrument tracking system market is expected to grow by USD 157.17 million from 2022 to 2027. In addition, the momentum of the market will progress at a CAGR of 9.34% during the forecast period, according to Technavio Research. The market is segmented by Component (Hardware, Software, and Services), Technology (Barcodes and RFID), and Geography (North America, Asia, Europe, and the Rest of the World (ROW)). The increasing elderly population with chronic diseases, as well as an increase in surgical volume, is a major factor contributing to the growth of the regional market. The growth of the North American Surgical Instrument Monitoring Market is expected to be driven by an increasing incidence of Colorectal cancer, ulcerative colitis, and orthopedic and gynecological surgery. Moreover, as they design and develop high-precision disposable and reusable surgical scalpels, the presence of established regional players meets the specific needs of end users. Favorable reimbursement policies in the US controlled by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS), which have structured systems and frameworks for such devices, are also driving the market growth in this region. This report offers an up-to-date analysis of the current market scenario, the latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment. Read FREE PDF Sample Report Company Profile: ASANUS Medizintechnik GmbH, B.Braun SE, Becton Dickinson and Co., Case Medical, Fortive Corp., Getinge AB, Healthtech Pivot LLP, Integra Lifesciences Corp., Koch Industries Inc., Mobile Aspects, Paragon ID SA, Promedical Inc., RapID Surgical, RMS Omega Technologies, Skincare Pty Ltd., Scanlan International, Securitas AB, SpaTrack Medical Ltd., STERIS plc, and Xerafy Singapore Pte Ltd. ASANUS Medizintechnik GmbH: The company offers surgical instrument tracking systems such as splintTag. To gain access to more vendor profiles available with Technavio, buy the report! Surgical Instrument Tracking System Maret: Segmentation Analysis
The market share growth by the hardware segment will be significant during the forecast period. Hardware used in surgical instrument tracking systems includes scanners, readers, and tags. In addition, the mandatory adoption of Unique Device Identification (UDI) regulations in surgical instrument tracking is mainly expected to drive the growth of the hardware segment in the surgical instrument tracking system market. Learn about the contribution of each segment summarized in concise infographics and thorough descriptions. View a FREE PDF Sample Report
"Besides analyzing the current market scenario, our report examines historic data from 2017 to 2021"- Technavio Surgical Instrument Tracking System Market: Market Dynamics Key Driver Increase in the volume of surgeries coupled with chronic diseases in the older population.
Rising demand for security and automation in surgical theaters
Mandatory regulation by the FDA for UDI An increase in the volume of surgeries coupled with chronic diseases in the older population is a key factor driving market growth. Surgical care is essential to manage various conditions such as orthopedic, ENT, thoracic, and many other chronic conditions. The increase in the number of surgical procedures to treat these chronic diseases is driving the demand for surgical instruments. Complex surgeries involving the spine, nerves, and skull require sophisticated and advanced surgical instruments with high precision and reliability. In addition, surgical instruments are used for heart surgery, cesarean section, and weight loss surgery. Therefore, the increasing number of target groups with chronic diseases requiring surgery as the best treatment option will increase the demand for surgical instruments. Hence, these factors are expected to drive market growth during the forecast period. Adopting automation in the healthcare sector is a major trend in the market. Identify key trends, drivers, and challenges in the market. Download a FREE sample to gain access to this information. FAQS How do the major trends impact the market?
How big is the North America market?
market? How do the key drivers and challenges impact the market? Related Reports: The smart healthcare market size is estimated to grow by USD 115.39 billion at a CAGR of 9.26% between 2022 and 2027. This smart healthcare market report extensively covers market segmentation by distribution channel (offline and online), solution (telemedicine, mHealth, EHR, smart pills, and others), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). Increasing focus on patient engagement is notably driving the market growth. The eClinical solutions market size is estimated to grow by USD 9,654.33 million at a CAGR of 13.47% between 2022 and 2027. ThiseClinical solutions market report extensively covers market segmentation by end-user (pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, consulting service companies, medical device manufacturers, and others), deployment (cloud-based and on-premises), and geography (APAC, North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa). Rise in clinical trials for drugs driving the growth of the market. ToC: Executive Summary Market Landscape Market Sizing Historic Market Sizes Five Forces Analysis Market Segmentation by Component Market Segmentation by Technology Customer Landscape Geographic Landscape Drivers, Challenges, & Trends Company Landscape Company Analysis 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 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 View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/surgical-instrument-tracking-system-market-to-grow-by-usd-157-17-million-from-2022-to-2027--north-america-to-account-for-41-of-market-growth--technavio-301932174.html SOURCE Technavio
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Right now we share more than a few items worth sharing as we quickly check crime reporting, trial updates, ALLEGED misdeeds and police action.
Check TKC news gathering . . .
Two Kansas City street gang leaders sentenced to three decades in prison for drive-by shooting, drug-trafficking Ladele D. Smith, known as "Dellio", and Roy Franklin, Jr., received were sentenced in federal court on Monday.
Owner of KC pawn shop sentenced for selling stolen goods on eBay - Kansas City Business Journal As part of the scheme, individuals stole goods at area retail stores and sold them to the KC pawn shop. It then resold them online.
Kansas police say Zaiylah Bronson was killed while pregnant. Those deaths are rising Homicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality, and experts say the problem is getting worse.
16-year-old Missouri boy found shot and killed, 70-year-old man arrested Thomas Ribby was arrested after police said a 16-year-old Missouri boy was found shot and killed Sunday night, authorities said.
'A time bomb': In Kansas, cities allowed to hire police officers with little vetting Marion police chief's hiring before newspaper raid highlights how Kansas doesn't require cities to perform deep background checks on police officer applicants.
Whistleblower reveals script used for fundraising for Overland Park Police Foundation Nicholas Woodall is a former telemarketer for Outreach Marketing LLC of Tempe, Arizona.
Kansas City family still seeking justice 3 years after shooting 3 years after 16-year-old Anthony Strassle was shot and killed in Kansas City, his family says they're desperate for answers absent arrests
Developing . . .
Most of us talked about this yesterday . . .
The takeaway from smarter people who don't just want to rely on invoking Goodwin's law . . .
POLITICOS PLAYING WITH WEAPONS INSTEAD OF DEBATING POLICY SHOULD FAIL TO IMPRESS MOST VOTERS!!!
TKC isn't even trying to be centrist inasmuch as we'll also readily admit that constant racially charged progressive advocacy has also lost its spark and cultural relevance after "mostly peaceful" protesters tried to burn down the country in 2020.
But that's just our opinion . . .
Here's the local activist quote and a link to their perspective . . .
"In a move that reeks of the most horrific chapters of history, including the KKKs racist bonfires and the Nazis mass burning of Jewish texts, Missouri State Senator (who is running for Governor), Bill Eigel promises to engage in public book burnings if elected governor."
Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Burning Books: Missouri GOP Candidate Channels the KKK and Nazi Tactics Missouri State Sen. Bill Eigel channels the darkest echoes of the KKK and Nazi Germany with his public promise to burn books.
In fairness, here's the response . . . I am now the first candidate in this race to successfully trigger every single leftist on earth with a single video. - @BillEigel to @PeteMundo #MOGov
You decide . . .
A recent defiant social media post offers perspective on courtroom setbacks and council incumbents.
Here's the word for those who haven't seen it already . . .
Public Statement from PV United:
With a barrage of costly, taxpayer-funded lawsuits and legal maneuvers, the Prairie Village City Council appears to be succeeding in delaying a vote of the people on the citizen petition issues that mean so much to thousands in our community.
While its often said you cant fight city hall, at least they cant deny our right to weigh in on City Council members actions in the November election. We remain deeply committed to preserving what makes our community unique and desirable, despite the citys aggressive attempts to run out the clock and silence us.
Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Judge issues final ruling on three Prairie Village petitions A Kansas judge has issued her final ruling on three Prairie Village petitions aiming to shake up City Hall, rejecting two of them.
Developing . . .
Q My parents divorced a few years ago, and my dad is in a new relationship. With a man. To be honest, I didnt see it coming. But Im only 18 and my parents kept their disagreements and fighting very private over the years. My sister and I could feel the tension and cold air between them, but we didnt really understand what was going on. Shes three years younger than me, so we were both very young when their marriage turned sour.
Since the divorce, I see my dad half the week. My sister and I would spend a few days together with him, a few days together with mom, then a few days each alone with one or the other. They didnt spend any time together, but were very amicable when it came to anything to do with us.
This summer, both my sister and I were away with relatives on both sides, across the country. I guess it was a chance for my parents to each have their own break. Mom worked, did some landscaping and DIY renos and went on vacation with her best friend and her sister. I thought Dad was doing much of the same.
Turns out he was in Greece for three weeks with his new boyfriend. My sister and I found out through the boyfriends Instagram posts. Hes friends with one of my sisters friends moms.
Now Ive left for university, so have to deal with this on my own, and my sister is alone with both our parents, trying to figure out how to feel, act, live, be, etc. We need help!
Confused kids
A Wow! Thats a lot! For anyone, especially teenagers. Most importantly, you and your sister need to stay close, which it sounds like you are. You both need the comfort and support of each other. But the fact that youre away isnt so bad. It actually gives you both the chance to deal with this as individuals, since, though youre having the same life experience, youre not the same. Tween/teen girls and teen boys are different, and different aspects will upset you that wont upset her, and vice versa.
You are lucky because at most universities across the continent, there are on-site counsellors, advisers and other people from whom you should seek guidance. Your sister is going to need help accessing someone like that. I strongly suggest you speak to your mom and ask her to help your sister, even if she pushes back.
Hopefully, you and your dad can sit down and have a mature conversation about everything. You undoubtedly will have many questions, but youre old enough to understand that whatever choices your dad is making now doesnt mean the choices he made prior were disingenuous. From my limited experience, the adults I know who were once in heterosexual relationships, had children, and then later in life became involved in homosexual relationships, dont regret anything and would do it all over again. Obviously, thats a tiny slice of the population, but it bodes well for your situation.
Give your dad the benefit of the doubt, dont be too hard on him and dont judge him. Love him for who he is.
FEEDBACK: Regarding the boy caught scratching a neighbours car (Aug. 16):
Reader: Rather than calling the police, I think she should talk to the boys parents first. There may be something going on in his home causing him to act out.
Lisi: I thought about that, but was advised by the police not to do so. Unless shes friends with the parents, it may come across as nosy and intrusive.
FEEDBACK Regarding the man contemplating divorcing his pot-addicted wife (Aug. 14):
Reader: She is a career woman who got deflected into motherhood and the housewife role. Can he be the house-husband allowing her to return to the corporate world and bring home the big bucks? That might be the best answer all around.
Lisi: Though I dont disagree with what youve said, I think theres more to the story. Hes asking her to get back into the world of employment and shes choosing to attend yoga and Pilates classes instead. I think shes gone past the point of being able to go back to her career without some form of intervention and counselling. I think shes addicted and depressed.
Reader #2: His wife may be suffering from postpartum depression, but she is also parenting young children while under the influence. The needs of the children need to come first. Living with someone with an addiction is terrible.
Ellie Tesher and Lisi Tesher are advice columnists for the Star and based in Toronto. Send your relationship questions via email: ellie@thestar.ca or lisi@thestar.ca.
A discussion in downtown North York this month could help Chinese international students better understand artificial intelligence (AI), but it will also connect students to peers who care about them as human beings.
Youth Help Youth is a project of the Mental Health Mutual-aid Hub Canada (MHMH), started by a group of concerned mental-health professionals after the suicides of three international students in 2019.
The professionals say they want to combat the cultural stigma and lack of mental health awareness among the tens of thousands of Chinese students in the Greater Toronto Area, many of whom often dont know where to turn for support.
MHMH runs a Mandarin support hotline for students at 289-800-8188 staffed by volunteers who are students or former students themselves.
Youth Help Youth, launched in August, has its second free roundtable, The Future Choices of International Students in AI era, on Sept. 30 at 5140 Yonge St., near North York Centre Station in Willowdale.
Speaking will be three guests with shining resumes, former international students with advice to offer on how student choices on AI can open doors to career opportunities.
No matter what major you choose, you will have the opportunity to combine it with AI technology to create new opportunities, organizers said in a release.
MHMH promised more meetings on different topics this year, adding anyone who has suggestions or wants to participate can contact the group by emailing info@mhmh.ca or calling 226-499-8666.
The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has kicked off a year-long series of programs, exhibits and installations designed to engage Torontonians in some of the most critical conversations of our time.
According to a news release, the new programming, which the TPL said in is in response to the surge of intellectual freedom challenges across North America, explores whats at stake when voices are silenced, civil discourse erodes and access to information is narrowed.
Programming includes a Book Sanctuary Collection, which the TPL says represents books that have been challenged, censored or removed from a public library or school in North America.
The 50 adult, teen and childrens books in the collection are available for browsing and borrowing in TPL branches and online.
For its forums, the library said it has assembled a roster of thought-provoking guests who are confronting pressing intellectual freedom challenges and their impact.
The lineup is part of TPLs On Civil Society series, programs that encourage audiences to take part in conversations where they can expect to challenge their own perspectives and learn from one another through civil discourse.
The upcoming lineup includes:
Opposition Denied, Monday, Oct. 2, 7 to 8 p.m. at Toronto Reference Library: Ajamu Baraka, Pan-African human rights activist, geopolitical analyst and national organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace, joins Zubairu Wai, associate professor of political science and global development studies, in a conversation about the role of Black radical and peace movements in opposing the Western liberal democratic tradition and militarism.
A Prisoner's Right to Information, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 7 to 8 p.m. at Toronto Reference Library: Kirsten Wurmann, chair of the Manitoba Library Association's Prison Libraries Committee, joins Garrett Felber, an organizer with Study and Struggle and the Martin Sostre Institute, and Kyon Ferril, a former immigration detainee and founding member of Migrant Detainee Support Coalition, to discuss the impacts of censorship in Canadian and American prisons.
The Warrior Librarians of Ukraine, Monday, Nov. 6, noon to 1 p.m. Online: What's at stake when a country's cultural heritage and structures are threatened with destruction? In this discussion, Valentyna Pashkovam, Ukrainian Library Association (ULA) founder, Oksana Brui, ULA president, and Yaroslava Soshynska, ULA executive director, discuss the staggering task of protecting Ukrainian libraries.
Generation of Lost Causes, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 7 to 8 p.m. at Toronto Reference Library. What's at stake when polarized generations allow media outlets to frame their understanding of the world? Cory Doctorow, journalist, activist and author, and Vass Bednar, executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy program, discuss generational divides, opposing viewpoints and the risk of media-induced polarization.
All are free but some require advance registration (click on the above links for more information for each forum).
To meaningfully participate in the life of our city, Torontonians need access to a broad range of information and ideas, as well as opportunities for open, uncensored discourse to hear, debate and learn from each others perspectives, stated Toronto's chief librarian Vickery Bowles, in the news release. This access and opportunity are critical to the health and vibrancy of our democratic society. And it is libraries, through initiatives like this, that defend, protect and preserve these core democratic and library principles.
CANBERRA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Almost half of Australia's koala habitats will be under high bushfire threat by 2070 as a result of climate change, a study has warned.
In a research published on Monday, a team led by researchers from Flinders University in South Australia generated fire susceptibility maps for the current day and for the year 2070.
They found that the proportion of the habitat of Australia's iconic koalas that is highly susceptible to fires will rise from 39.5 percent currently to 44.6 percent by 2070 as the frequency and severity of bushfires rise due to climate change.
"Wildfires will increasingly impact koala populations in the future. If this iconic and vulnerable marsupial is to be protected, conservation strategies need to be adapted to deal with this threat," Farzin Shabani, who led the research at Flinders University before moving to Qatar University, said in a media release.
"It is crucial to strike a balance between ensuring that koala habitats and populations are not completely destroyed by fire while also allowing for forest rejuvenation and regeneration through periodic burns."
On a state-by-state basis, the research projected that 89.1 percent of the total koala habitat in South Australia and 65.2 percent in Queensland in northeast Australia will have high or very high fire susceptibility by 2070.
Koalas, also known as koala bears, was declared an endangered species under national environmental law in February 2022 after population decline due to land-clearing, drought and disease was exacerbated by the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires.
A report published by the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia in December 2020 estimated that more than 61,000 koalas perished in the fires, which burned more than 240,000 square kilometers of land across the country.
John Llewelyn, co-author of the study from the Global Ecology Lab at Flinders University, said in Monday's media release that the increasing severity of bushfires, which has been attributed to climate change, is making recovery from those events more difficult.
"Koalas may still be able to survive in areas highly susceptible to bushfires if their food sources can also withstand the fire-prone conditions, and if koalas can re-populate previously burnt-out areas from neighboring habitat, but this task is becoming more difficult due to habitat fragmentation and the increasingly large areas being burnt," he said.
Experts have warned that most of Australia is facing a severe 2023/2024 summer bushfire threat.
In its spring outlook published earlier in September, the Bureau of Meteorology forecast that hot, dry conditions would continue across most of the country following a dry winter.
National Carnival Commission chairman-Winston Gypsy Peters.. is hoping that the NCC could be more involved in Tobago's October Carnival in the future.
South Korea does not supply and does not plan to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Jeon Ha-kyou has said.
That's according to KBS World, Ukrinform reports.
On Monday, when asked to comment on media reports regarding Seoul's plans to supply Ukraine with K600 Rhino combat engineering vehicles, Jeon said that South Korea has not and will not engage in such supplies.
He recalled that South Korea provides humanitarian support to Ukraine. As for engineering vehicles, Jeon said that they relate to mine clearance equipment and special equipment.
Earlier on Monday, the Bulgarian Military news outlet, citing unnamed sources, reported that South Korea would provide Ukraine with two K600 Korean Combat Engineering Vehicles (KCEVs) to breach the so-called "Surovikin Line" in the Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.
The K600 KCEV is one of the latest South Korean developments in the field of battlefield demining. The vehicles are designed to work during combat operations, including to destroy road obstacles in minefields and overcome enemy obstacles.
U.S. Senator, Navy veteran and former astronaut Mark Kelly noted the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which is developing under very difficult circumstances.
He said this at a briefing in Kyiv, Ukrinform reports.
I flew 39 combat missions in the first Gulf War. And none of them go exactly how you want them to go. This stuff is hard. The Ukrainian military, I believe, is doing a fantastic job under incredibly challenging circumstances, the senator noted.
Kelly focused on the fact that the Ukrainian military is fighting against one of the worlds largest armies.
The progress that's been made on this counter-offensive, in my judgment, and the folks that I talk to, I think is good. Do we want it to be faster? And do we want more? Of course we do. I mean, we all want that. But we're making progress and I believe that's going to continue, Senator Kelly stressed.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Senator Mark Kelly is visiting Ukraine for the second time this year.
In April 2023, a group of senators, including Kelly, called on President Joe Biden to send Ukraine long-range ATACMS missiles and F-16 fighter jets.
Mark Kellys twin brother, astronaut Scott Kelly, also supports Ukraine and serves as an ambassador of the United24 fundraising initiative.
CANBERRA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian researchers have for the first time defined the 145 genetic disorders that cause childhood dementia.
In a collaborative study published on Monday, experts from across Australia led by the University of Adelaide analyzed published data from around the world to assess the global impact of childhood dementia.
"This study provides a clearer picture of who is affected by these devastating and under-recognized conditions," Nicholas Smith, co-author of the research and head of the Paediatric Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Group at the University of Adelaide, said in a media release.
"The 145 disorders we have classified as childhood dementia are complex and varied. Tragically, what they share in common is the heartbreaking, progressive neurocognitive decline and a severely shortened life expectancy."
According to the Sydney-based Childhood Dementia Initiative, which contributed to the study, 48,300 people die from childhood dementia globally every year.
The new research estimated that over 100 babies born in Australia each year will develop childhood dementia, and 91 Australians will die from it annually.
The average life expectancy for patients is nine years, with 70 percent dying before turning 18, Monday's study said.
It found that symptoms typically start when a patient is 2.5 years old and the average age at diagnosis is four years.
Childhood dementia results from progressive brain damage caused by a collection of genetic disorders. Symptoms of childhood dementia can include those of adult dementia such as memory loss, confusion and trouble concentrating as well as seizures and vision and hearing loss.
"Currently treatment options are severely limited, hard to access and research to develop effective treatments and cures is poorly funded. Improvements to care and support for affected families are also desperately needed and we hope this new research will lead to better outcomes for these children," Kristina Elvidge, head of research at the Childhood Dementia Initiative, said in the media release.
Germany will provide a new military aid package for Ukraine, totaling EUR 400 million.
The relevant statement was made by German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius in an interview with Bild on the eve of the upcoming meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
We are supplying additional ammunition: high explosive rounds, mortar munitions, mine and rocket ammunition. Ammunition is what Ukraine needs the most in its defense against the brutal war of aggression. In addition, we will help with armored vehicles and demining systems. In view of the upcoming winter, we will send clothing, as well as power and heat generators. The total cost of the package will be EUR 400 million, Pistorius told.
The German minister has been tested positive to Covid-19 today and, thus, will be unable to attend Tuesdays meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in person.
A reminder that last week Germany sent another military aid package to Ukraine, including Marder infantry fighting vehicles, mine clearing tanks, and artillery rounds.
During the past 24 hours, the Air Force carried out nine strikes on enemy manpower and equipment clusters.
Thats according to a morning update by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
Missile and artillery forces hit two enemy manpower and weapons clusters, three anti-aircraft missile systems, 19 artillery systems, and a control point.
Meanwhile, Russian occupiers continue to ignore international humanitarian law, shelling not only the positions of Ukrainian troops, but also the civilian infrastructure of populated areas, terrorizing civilians, the report reads.
Yesterday Russia truck another blow at Ukraine with air-based cruise missiles and Shahed-136/131-type UAVs. Air defense forces destroyed all 17 cruise missiles and 18 out of 24 Shaheds launched by Russia. Unfortunately, civilian casualties and destruction to residential buildings and civil infrastructure were reported.
Ukraines forces continue to run defensive operations in the east and south of the country, as well as offensive operations in the Melitopol direction and offensive actions on the Bakhmut axis, step by step liberating the temporarily occupied territories and gaining a foothold.
During the past day, 35 combat clashes took place. The enemy launched 22 missile attacks and 57 airstrikes, as well as 55 strikes involving MLR systems.
Berestove, Kopanky, and Shyykivka of Kharkiv region were hit by airstrikes, as were Bilohorivka, Luhansk region; Novosadove, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, Krasnohorivka, Vugledar, Staromayorske of the Donetsk region; Mala Tokmachka and Robotyne of Zaporizhia region; Vesele, Odradokamyanka, and Mykolaivka, Kherson region.
More than 70 settlements in Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions came under artillery fire.
In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the operational situation saw no significant changes.
In the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna directions, the enemy retains groups of troops to cover the state border and conduct subversive acts in order to prevent Ukraine from redeploying forces from these areas to the hot war zones.
In the Bakhmut direction, the Defense Forces successfully repelled enemy attacks near Klishchiivka. The enemy attempted to regain the lost position in the Andriivka area seeing no success. The Ukrainian forces continue their assault in the area south of Bakhmut of Donetsk region, inflicting significant losses on enemy manpower and equipment, and gaining a foothold.
In the Marinka direction, the enemy attempted offensive actions, with no gains. There, during the past day, the enemy made more than 10 unsuccessful attempts to dislodge Ukrainian units from their positions. At the same time, in the Avdiivka and Shakhtarske areas, the Ukrainian forces retain the initiative, putting pressure on the enemy, and step by step reclaiming territory.
In the direction of Melitopol, the Russians ran out unsuccessful offensive stunts in the Robotyne area in Zaporizhzhia region, trying to recover lost positions. The Ukrainian forces continue to hold their defense, inflicting losses on the enemy, depleting the Russian units.
In the Kherson direction, the defense forces are engaged in counterbattery combat, destroying supply depots and inflicting successful damage on the enemy's rear.
The Kremlin continues to deploy servicemen from various parts of Russia to the temporarily occupied parts of Ukraine. On September 15, about 100 conscripts from the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic of the Russian Federation arrived at the military airfield in the temporarily occupied city of Dzhankoy, Autonomous Republic of Crimea, to strengthen the protection and defense of the said facility.
There are no signs of the creation of strike groups on the territory of Belarus, but there are still Russian military facilities there, which are serviced by the Russian contingent.
Yuriy Povkh, a spokesman for the joint press center of the Northern Defense Forces, said this on the air of the 'United News' telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reported.
"Russian military facilities remain on the territory of Belarus, and a certain number of troops remain there to serve these facilities. As for the overall situation, there are no prerequisites or signs of the creation of strike groups of troops on the territory of Belarus that would threaten to invade Ukraine right now," Povkh said.
According to him, the Wagner Group militants are involved as instructors to train the Belarusian Armed Forces, but their number is 'small'. Ukrainian intelligence agencies are monitoring the situation, the spokesman said.
He also noted that provocations on the border by the Belarusian side are constant. On the section of the common border, Belarus maintains troops that provide cover for the state border.
At the same time, Povkh reminded that the Defense Forces continue to further equip the border area.
As reported, according to the National Resistance Center, less than a thousand terrorists from the Wagner Group remain in Belarus.
Russia has already destroyed the amount of Ukrainian grain that would be enough to feed more than 10 million people for a year.
According to Ukrinform, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said this in his opening remarks at the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on September 19.
In recent months, Russia has continued to target Ukraine's ports and its grain infrastructure, Austin said.
"These attacks have so far destroyed at least 280,000 tonnes of grain. That's enough to feed as many as 10.5 million people for a year," he said.
He added that Russia's attacks continue to threaten global food security - and to risk needless humanitarian crises around the planet.
Read also: German defense minister announces new military aid package for Ukraine
Austin said that Ukraine's partners - nearly 50 nations in the Ramstein format would continue to provide the country with the assistance it needs to fend off Russian aggression.
Austin also congratulated Rustem Umerov as Ukraine's new minister of defense and thanked Oleksii Reznikov who headed Ukraine's Ministry of Defense before.
Photo: AA
The Czech Republic agreed with Denmark and the Netherlands that, with their financial support, it would supply Czech weapons to Ukraine.
The corresponding agreement was signed on Tuesday at the U.S. Air Forces Ramstein base in Germany during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, Ukrinform reported with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Czech Republic.
"Specifically, it will be about the supply of additional tanks, howitzers, small arms, infantry fighting vehicles, anti-aircraft defense equipment, and electronic warfare equipment or ammunition from companies in our defense industry," said Deputy Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic, Daniel Blazkovec, who signed the letter of intent together with the heads of the defense departments of Denmark and the Netherlands.
According to the Ministry, the agreement provides an excellent opportunity for Czech companies. Kyiv will receive both modern Czech weapons and upgraded equipment that is already in service with the countrys armed forces.
The pilot project will involve the transfer of 15 modernized T-72EA tanks set to be delivered in the coming months.
For the Czech Republic, this is not the first project to supply weaponry paid for by another government. In a tripartite project involving the U.S. and the Netherlands, 45 (of a total of 90) modernized T-72 tanks have already been sent to Ukraine. In addition, projects for the supply of the MR-2 (Viktor) anti-aircraft systems and passive surveillance devices have been completed or are underway.
Further negotiations on military equipment donations continue depending on the requests from the Ukrainian side.
"We will receive information from Ukraine about the current need for technologies, Czech companies will present their proposals to us, and then we will lay out everything before our foreign partners who will finance the project," reports the Agency for Intergovernmental Defense Cooperation, which is part of the Ministry of Defense.
Since the outset of the war, the Czech Republic has been one of the most active supporters of Ukraine in the matter of arms supplies.
On September 19, the Ramstein base hosted 15 meetings of about 50 state delegations, which provide military support to Ukraine to help the nation fight off Russian aggression.
Ukraine, Estonia and Luxembourg have launched the newly-established IT Coalition.
The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
The kick-off meeting of the new coalition was held within the framework of the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in the Ramstein format.
The goal of the IT Coalition is to deliver a secure and resilient IT infrastructure for the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and Defense Forces, which enables Ukraine to be more efficient and effective on the battlefield. We are grateful to Estonia and Luxembourg for their leadership in driving this initiative forward. I would also like to thank Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia for joining us in this endeavour and to Luxembourg for already announcing the first pledge to the IT Coalition, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said.
A total of 20 countries participated in the kick-off event. Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania and Latvia have already joined the initiative by signing a Declaration of Intent together with Ukraine, Estonia and Luxembourg, according to the ministry.
A reminder that the intent to establish this initiative was first announced during a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) on June 15, 2023. The IT Coalition is a dedicated group of Donor Nations, led by Estonia and Luxembourg under the UDCG framework and focused on delivering support to Ukraines Defense Forces in the area of IT, communications, and cyber security.
The key objective of the IT Coalition is to establish a single combat control and defense resources management digital ecosystem for the Defense Forces that will ensure better coordination and more effective engagement of the Defense Forces, as well as the use of capabilities provided by international partners.
Agriculture ministers meeting formally in Brussels will hear the European Commission's (EC) position on the decision of certain EU member states to restrict imports of Ukrainian grain to their markets. The Spanish EU Presidency believes that such unilateral actions by these states are illegal.
Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Luis Planas Puchades stated this in Brussels today before the EU Council of Ministers, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
If any EU member state takes unilateral actions and restricts access to the single market, it is illegal. But it is the EC that should draw conclusions, the Spanish minister said.
He noted that the EU countries should be guided by at least four key principles when considering this situation. The first of which is support and solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. It is not only about revenues to the Ukrainian budget but also about global food security.
The second principle is condemnation of Russia's actions, which withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Agreement and continues military attacks against Odesa and other Ukrainian ports to interrupt Ukrainian grain exports. According to the minister, Russia's actions are the root cause of the problems faced by Europe and the entire world.
The third principle is to support the efforts of the EC, which is doing a good job to find alternative ways to transport Ukrainian grain to the world market through solidarity lanes, he emphasized.
The official noted that the fourth principle is to maintain the unity of the EU and to ensure transparency and coordination of efforts of the member states in the single market.
During the meeting of the Coordination Platform with the participation of Ukraine and the five countries concerned, it was agreed not to continue blocking exports to the five member states. The parties agreed to maintain the transportation of Ukrainian grain, given Ukraine's intention to take measures, if necessary, to prevent a repeat effect on these five countries, the minister recalled.
He pointed out that unilateral actions by certain EU countries are a serious problem.
The EU should not lose focus. This focus is Ukraine, its support, and an attempt to deter Russia's criminal and unjustified aggression against Ukraine. The EU also needs to be very clear about food security and exports from Ukraine. Ukraine needs help delivering its products. This is necessary not only for the EU but also for the rest of the world, Luis Planas Puchades added.
As reported, in May 2023, the EC banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.
On September 15, the EC announced that the EU would not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports to five neighboring countries.
Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their intention to further block imports of Ukrainian agri-products.
Poland proposes to ban the import of diamonds and liquefied natural gas from the Russian Federation within the next 12th package of EU sanctions on Russia.
PAP reports this with reference to the European Union.
As noted, Warsaw's proposal includes a ban on the import of diamonds from Russia, further restrictions in the service sector, in particular, a ban on the provision of information and communication technologies to entities from Russia, as well as the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Poland is also demanding further sanctions against entities working in the defense sector, media outlets that spread Kremlin disinformation about the war, oligarchs who support the war effort, and entities linked to Russia's Rosatom. Poland's proposals also include sanctions against synthetic rubber and steel.
As of September 19, 2023, a total of 14.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas was pumped into Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities.
The relevant statement was made by the Ukrainian Energy Ministry, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
On September 19, 2023, the total volume of natural gas in underground storage facilities reached 14.7 billion cubic meters. Hence, the plan of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to reach the forecast balance of natural gas in storage facilities, required for the heating season, has been fulfilled ahead of schedule, the report states.
According to Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, this result is a significant contribution to Ukraines energy security.
14.7 billion cubic meters is the gas volume in Ukrainian underground gas storage facilities.
We have achieved the highest drilling pace in recent years and, ahead of schedule, met the plan for gas accumulation before the heating season.
In 2023, we have so far launched 54 new Oleksiy Chernyshov (@UAChernyshov) September 19, 2023
A reminder that foreign traders are keeping more than 1.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Ukraines underground gas storage facilities. The Ukrainian Energy Ministry expects to raise this volume to 3 billion cubic meters.
Photo: Ukrainian Energy Ministry
Ukraine is filing a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia over unilateral restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, and at the same time offers a compromise scenario.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal stated this, Ukrinform reports.
"Ukraine will file a lawsuit with the WTO against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia for unilateral restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products. At the same time, our government is offering a compromise scenario to the EU and neighboring countries. We have already submitted to the European Commission an action plan to control the export of four groups of agricultural products from Ukraine," the Prime Minister said.
According to him, the control will help prevent any market distortions in neighboring EU member states. It is planned to adopt a resolution stipulating that goods exported to five neighboring countries will be subject to verification and approval by the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine has already submitted a formal request to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia on violations of the WTO rules. An anti-discrimination investigation is also being launched against the unfriendly actions of these countries in the trade sector based on 2023 statistics.
"If Poland and Hungary do not agree to the measures agreed with the European Commission and do not lift their unilateral bans on our goods, we will decide to ban imports of certain categories of goods from these countries to Ukraine," he emphasized.
Shmyhal stressed, "Russia attacks Ukrainian ports every day, destroys infrastructure, elevators, attacks agricultural enterprises, and mines fields. Further blocking of agricultural exports by neighboring countries will hit the Ukrainian economy, finances, tax revenues and jobs. Such a blockade would also play into the hands of Russia's plan to create another global food crisis.
"We once again call on our neighbors to abandon harmful and unlawful restrictions, political populism, and embark on a constructive dialogue that will actually benefit everyone," the head of the Ukrainian government said.
As Ukrinform reported, in May 2023, the European Commission (EC) banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.
On September 15, the EC announced that the EU would not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain. Following this, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to block imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and stopped participating in the Coordination Platform established under the auspices of the EC to resolve this issue.
On September 18, First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko said that in accordance with the WTO's dispute settlement mechanism, Ukraine had requested consultations with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary within the WTO.
NEW DELHI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 students of a government residential school fell ill and were admitted to hospitals after having dinner at their hostel mess in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, officials said on Tuesday.
The incident took place at a hostel in Jabalpur, about 313 km east of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh.
The students were rushed to hospitals on Monday night after they complained of nausea and stomachache and began to vomit.
"The students are undergoing treatment at the hospital. All of them are stable but still under observation," said Sanjay Mishra, a senior health official in Jabalpur.
Police have registered a case and initiated investigations into the incident.
The government approved a new procedure for the export of corn, rapeseed, sunflower, and wheat, according to which it a license is required from the Ministry of Economy with the approval of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy in order to supply these crops to five EU member states bordering Ukraine.
This was stated by the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi, who spoke via videoconference at the meeting of the European Parliament's Agrarian Committee, Ukrinform reforms with reference to the ministry's press service.
"We believe that this action scheme will satisfy all parties. And that even those three countries that are currently opposing Ukrainian agricultural exports will also join the plan. Because we all have one goal, which is victory in this terrible war. And to this end, there must be mutual understanding and mutual support between us," said Solskyi.
Solskyi praised as constructive the long-awaited decision of the European Commission to lift restrictions on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products with the introduction of additional control measures, adding that Ukraine is grateful for such a position.
The head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy noted that within 72 hours, Ukraine presented to the European Commission an action plan for export control. According to Solskyi, the Ukrainian proposal should defuse tensions.
"According to our action plan, Ukraine will monitor and regulate exports as follows. We agree with the European Commission and the importing countries on the necessary list and volume of agricultural products within the four crops, and they, in turn, determine whether they are ready to accept these crops, when and in what quantities. Only after that do we issue permits to our enterprises to export certain products. That is, Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with the receiving countries," the minister emphasized.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, in May 2023 the European Commission banned the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of the said countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.
The European Commission announced on September 15 that the European Union will not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain. After that, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to unilaterally block the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
On September 18, Ukraine submitted requirements for holding consultations with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary within the framework of the WTO in accordance with the Agreement on Rules and Procedures for the Settlement of Disputes of the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, later said that Ukraine may ban the import of certain categories of goods from countries that fail to lift the embargo.
Photo: Ministry of Agrarian Policy
The Government of Ukraine will provide the EU and neighboring countries with customs data on the export of certain goods and collect data on the destination of shipments in the e-queue system.
Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced this at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Ukrinform reports.
"Ukraine will implement effective control and verification measures for the export of four groups of goods. We will provide the EU and our neighbors with customs data on exports of certain goods and collect data on the destination of shipments in the e-queue system. Our key position is to introduce a verification system for the export of certain agricultural products to five EU member states (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania - ed.)," he said.
Shmyhal noted that the Ukrainian side is discussing this plan with the European Commission (EC). The Prime Minister reminded that last week the EU canceled its decision to ban imports of Ukrainian food. At the same time, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary resorted to a unilateral blockade.
"This is a blow to our economy, to the principles of the EU, to global and food security," he said.
According to the Prime Minister, Ukraine has already filed a formal request to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia about violations of the WTO rules.
As Ukrinform reported, Shmyhal stated that Ukraine would limit imports from Poland and Hungary if these countries do not lift the grain embargo.
In May 2023, the EC banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.
On September 15, the EC announced that the EU would not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain. Following this, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to block imports of Ukrainian agricultural products and stopped participating in the Coordination Platform established under the auspices of the EC to resolve this issue.
On September 18, First Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko said that in accordance with the WTO's disputes settlement procedure, Ukraine has requested consultations with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary within the WTO.
Russian propaganda created a photo fake
The Kremlin media and z-Telegram channels of military reporters are distributing a photo showing former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson together with representatives of the Ukrainian professorship who allegedly gave a Nazi salute as the politician was awarded the title of honorary doctor of the Ivan Franko National University.
This is a fake. Russian propagandists fabricated the photo using Photoshop. In the original photo, Ukrainian scientists placed their hands over their hearts, while Boris Johnson's hands are down.
It is also worth noting that the Nazi salute is prohibited by the Criminal Code of Ukraine (Article 436, Chapter XX) as public use of the symbols of the totalitarian Nazi regime.
On September 9, 2023, Boris Johnson visited Ukraine, in particular the city of Lviv. In the course of his visit, he honored the memory of the fallen defenders and heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, visited a military hospital and a rehabilitation center for wounded soldiers, met with rectors and students of universities in Lviv region, and received the title of honorary doctor of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
Earlier, Russian propaganda shared a fake video of a "Ukrainian" setting fire to a California DNA center over Nazism.
Andriy Olenin
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed strengthening military cooperation and exchanges between the two countries.
This is reported by Yonhap with reference to the North Korean state news agency KCNA, Ukrinform saw.
According to KCNA, during Saturday's meeting in Vladivostok, Kim and Shoigu "exchanged their constructive opinions on the practical issues arising in further strengthening the strategic and tactical coordination, cooperation and mutual exchange between the armed forces of the two countries and in the fields of their national defence and security".
The details of the talks and the specific issues of cooperation between the militaries of the two countries, on which Kim and Shoigu agreed, have not been disclosed.
Read also: Seoul has proof Russia is using against Ukranie weapons supplied by North Korea
As reported by Ukrinform, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, is visiting Russia, where he has already held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, visited aircraft factories in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, where Russian fighter jets are built, and saw Russian nuclear bombers and hypersonic missiles at the Knevichi airfield near Vladivostok.
Earlier, The New York Times, citing sources, wrote that Putin seeks to get artillery rounds and anti-tank missiles from North Korea, while Kim Jong-un seeks from Russia some advanced technology for satellites and nuclear submarines. In addition, Kim wants Russia to provide food aid to his country. The White House said Putin and Kim had recently exchanged letters, and Russian Defense Minister Shoigu's visit to Pyongyang in July included discussions of the arms deal.
The U.S., the European Union, and a number of other powers are urging North Korea to refrain from providing political or military support to Russia in its neo-imperialist war against Ukraine.
During the UN General Assembly, the European Union will try to attract as many partners as possible to support the Ukrainian Peace Formula.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell said this in New York during a press conference following the meeting of EU foreign ministers, reports an Ukrinform correspondent.
Peace is an immediate priority, Borrell stressed, noting that this must be a just peace.
Recognizing the UNGA as the most important platform to advance peace efforts, the high representative reaffirmed support for Ukraine in the face of Russias military aggression. The EU will pursue intensive dialogue with partners to ensure support for Ukraines Peace Formula, Borrell said.
Another extremely important problem Borrell has highlighted is food security. The EU has already discussed the topic with the UN Secretary General, and it will now be in the focus of the General Assembly as Russia continues to attack the agricultural and export infrastructure of Ukraine, which causes a disaster around the world.
By blocking Ukrainian grain exports, bombing seaports, and destroying grain silos, Vladimir Putin is causing hunger around the world as prices are rising, Borrell stressed.
He recalled that Russia decided to destroy the Black Sea Grain Initiative and by attacking ports on the Danube and the Black Sea ports, it generates instability in global markets. People in vulnerable countries will be affected the most, Borrell underlined.
As reported, a high-level UN General Assembly week will be held in New York on September 19-25.
Photo: DPA
U.S. President Joe Biden is looking forward to meeting with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House to hear from him personally about the developments in Ukraine, in particular, about the progress in the ongoing counteroffensive.
This was reported by the White House National Security Coordinator, John Kirby, who spoke at a briefing in New York, Ukrinform's own correspondent reports.
"The Presidents looking forward to hearing from President Zelensky about their counteroffensive and about the progress theyre making, sort of his assessment of what the battlefield looks like," Kirby said.
Also, Biden wants to assure Zelensky that when the U.S. says that it will stay with Ukraine for as long as it takes, the Ukrainians should understand that the support will continue, the spokesperson added.
Read also: President Zelensky arrives in United States
Kirby emphasized that the meeting at the White House will take place at a "critical time." He recalled that the Armed Forces continue to achieve success in their counteroffensive while Russia appeals to rogue regimes like North Korea as the international community continues to gather in support of Ukraine, in particular in the Ramstein format.
The White House official confirmed that the president of Ukraine plans to visit the U.S. Congress during his visit to Washington. "Its important for members of Congress to hear directly from President Zelenskyy about all the same things that President Biden will hear from him," said Kirby.
He also emphasized that the Ukrainian leader has always both publicly and privately expressed his gratitude for everything the United States does to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Volodymyr Zelensky kicked off his U.S. visit on Monday. In particular, he will take part in the work of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, speak at the Security Council and hold meetings with foreign leaders. On September 21, Zelensky will pay a visit to Washington.
Photo: Presidents Office
It is the United Nations that determines the format of its events, not Ukraine, said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, who commented on the upcoming UNSC meeting regarding Ukraine, which will be attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Zelensky spoke on Monday in New York, answering journalists' questions during his visit to Staten Island University Hospital, Ukrinforms own correspondent reports.
"We didn't choose this format," he said. "If the UN believes that a terrorist state should be there, then this is a question to them."
Read also: Zelensky to address UN General Assembly in New York
As Ukrinform reported, on September 20, the UN Security Council will hold an open debate on Ukraine, which will be attended by heads of delegations who arrived in New York for the high-level week of the UN General Assembly.
On Monday, Zelenskyi spoke with wounded Ukrainian soldiers undergoing treatment at Staten Island University Hospital.
Belarus has suspended the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) regarding Poland and the Czech Republic.
This was reported by BelTA, Ukrinform saw.
The relevant draft law was developed at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and submitted to the House of Representatives by the Council of Ministers on September 6. As noted, "the draft law was developed to ensure the national interests of the Republic of Belarus." It suspends the fulfillment by the Belarusian side of its obligations under the CFE, signed in Paris on November 19, 1990, with respect to Poland and the Czech Republic.
From now on, Minsk will not share information about its conventional weapons and equipment with Warsaw and Prague, and will not accept inspections from Poland and the Czech Republic that could monitor compliance with the limits on the number of these weapons established by the provisions of the CSTO.
Read also: Latvia closes one of two checkpoints on border with Belarus
As for other countries, Belarus will continue to fulfill the CFE terms.
It is noted that Prague in 2022 and Warsaw in 2023 informed Minsk that they were suspending the implementation of the Treaty in respect of Belarus.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin in May signed a law on the denunciation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
On the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky met with President of the Republic of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa.
The relevant statement was made by the Office of the President of Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
The two leaders discussed the urgent issues of cooperation between Ukraine and South Africa in continuation of their dialogue, which started during Ramaphosas visit to Kyiv.
Zelensky noted the importance of South Africas participation in the working groups on the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The parties paid attention to preparations for the next meeting at the level of advisors on the implementation of the Peace Formula.
We are extremely grateful that the platform of our Peace Formula has actually started working. The Embassy of your country in Ukraine and Mr. Ambassador personally take part in the meetings on this issue, the President of Ukraine said.
Zelensky and Ramaphosa discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the level of leaders.
The two leaders noted the need to restore the functioning of the grain corridor in the Black Sea in order to ensure global food security, as well as to create grain hubs in Africa.
We are not waiting, we are continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative and trying alternative routes. Several ships with grain have already successfully passed through these routes despite the difficult situation, President Zelensky stressed.
Additionally, Zelensky and Ramaphosa discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Separately, the Head of State noted the importance of speeding up the process of returning Ukrainian children illegally deported to Russia to their homeland, as well as the exchange of detainees.
Photo, video: Office of the President of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
That's according to the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports.
Zelensky thanked Kenya for supporting Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"Thank you for supporting our people and our country. I would like to invite you and your team to visit Ukraine at your convenience. We have many topics to discuss. Support in such a difficult time of war is important to us. We need to be strong and hear your voices of support," he said.
Video: Office of the President / Telegram
The two countries' leaders discussed preparations for the next meeting on the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula at the level of advisors.
Read also: President Zelensky arrives in United States
Both parties also discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit at the level of state leaders.
Specific steps were discussed to establish grain hubs in Kenya. The presidents emphasized the importance of stable supply of Ukrainian agricultural products to the region.
Zelensky informed Ruto about the functioning of an alternative route for the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, as well as the work on creating other export routes.
The two leaders also discussed security cooperation between Ukraine and Kenya.
Photos: Office of the President
More than 7,000 tourism professionals and 400 international experts will explore how innovation and technology can provide viable solutions to balance economic growth, environmental sustainability and positive impact at the TIS - Tourism Innovation Summit 2023 next month.
Taking place in Seville, Spain, from October 18 to 20, the summit will bring together leading international voices who are already making sustainability relevant.
In a world where tourism is a major economic driver (contributing nearly $7.4 trillion to global GDP in 2022), the significant environmental challenges posed by the tourism model developed to date mean that sustainability has emerged as an inescapable goal for the sector.
By 2030, the UNWTO estimates that 1.8 billion tourists will be traveling around the world, up from 900 million in 2022, highlighting the importance of further integrating sustainability criteria into all tourism operations.
Travellers themselves are already aware of the need to choose more sustainable travel options, and according to a recent Booking report, 61% of tourists are already looking for this type of alternative.
This year, TIS - Tourism Innovation Summit 2023 will be the epicenter of this crucial debate.
World-renowned speakers such as Celine Cousteau and Alfonso Vegara will be among the speakers discussing how to promote responsible tourism at TIS2023.
Cousteau, documentary filmmaker, socio-environmental advocate, explorer, and founder of the production company CauseCentric Productions which focuses on the dissemination of documentaries to raise awareness of environmental issues and advocate for the conservation of our planet's oceans and natural resources, will address the adoption of sustainable practices in the tourism sector.
Vegara, PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and graduate in Architecture, Economics and Sociology, will share success stories and analyse how urban solutions can be integrated into the tourism sector for a positive impact.
The tourism sector is fully in line with environmental commitments and the introduction of sustainability criteria in its operations. Dominique Maulin, Director for Spain and Portugal of Atout France; Leila Tekaia, Director for Spain and Portugal of the Tunisian National Tourist Office; Maria de Lurdes Vale, Director of Turismo de Portugal; and Ana Munoz Llabres, Deputy Director General for Tourism Development and Sustainability of the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, will analyse the future of sustainability in tourist destinations such as Spain, France, Portugal and Tunisia. They will also discuss how tourism businesses can adopt sustainable practices to achieve positive environmental and social impacts while satisfying the changing expectations of travellers.
On the other hand, Maria Zarraluqui, Vice President of Global Development at Melia Hotels International; and Guy Bigwood, CEO of the Global Destination Sustainability Movement (GDS) and an expert in regenerative tourism, will analyse the impact of the 2030 Agenda on sustainable practices and how tourism companies can align their strategies with the SDGs to increase positive social and environmental impact.
Meanwhile, Oscar Perelli, Director of Studies at Exceltur; and Sandra Torre, Director of Tourism at the Municipality of Genova, will share what opportunities and collaborative initiatives can be leveraged between tourism stakeholders and municipal authorities to create an integrated and sustainable urban tourism experience.
In this context, Josep Rodriguez, Head of European Projects of the Tourism Department of the Provincial Council of Barcelona; Ana Moniche, Head of European Projects and International Networks of the Tourism and Sport Department of Andalusia; and Petra Stusek, Director General of Tourism of Ljubljana and President of the Board of Directors of City Destinations Alliance (CityDNA), will present strategies and initiatives that can be implemented to improve resilience, foster a common approach to overcoming challenges and promote mutual growth in tourist destinations.
This year TIS2023 will host A World for Travel, that will focus on how the tourism sector is addressing climate change, with speakers including Kulli Kraner, Head of Tourism at the Estonian Ministry of Tourism; Roberto Martinoli, CEO and President of the Royal Caribbean Group; Linden Coppell, Head of Sustainability at MSC; Spiros Almpertis, Vice President of Crystal Cruises; Will Bateman, CEO of Ccell Renewables; and Isobel Gibson, sustainability consultant for the aviation industry, will also analyse the impact of maritime and cruise tourism on the oceans. - TradeArabia News Service
KIEV, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Kiev will file a lawsuit to the World Trade Organization against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over their decisions to extend a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported Monday, citing a senior official.
"It is important to prove that these actions are legally wrong. And that's why we will start legal proceedings," said Taras Kachka, Ukraine's trade representative and deputy minister of economy.
The unilateral bans by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia on Ukrainian grain after the decision of the European Commission to lift the restrictions have caused a major "systemic concern," Kachka said.
The European Commission said last week it has decided not to extend the embargo on Ukrainian agricultural products to five European Union member states, which expired on Sept. 15.
Despite the Commission's decision, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia refused to drop the ban, according to media reports.
Today humanity must act in solidarity to save lives
Ukrinform offers the full text of the speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the general debate of the UN General Assembly.
Video: Office of the President of Ukraine
I welcome all who stand for common efforts! And I promise being really united we can guarantee fair peace for all nations.
Whats more, unity can prevent wars.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Secretary General! Fellow leaders!
This hall saw many wars but not as active defender against the aggressions.
In many cases, the fear of war, the final war, was the loudest here the war after which no one would gather in the General Assembly Hall again.
The Third World War was seen as a nuclear war. A conflict between states on the highway to nukes.
Other wars seemed less scary compared to a threat of the so-called great powers firing their nuclear stockpiles.
So, the 20th century taught the world to restrain from the use of the weapons of mass destruction not to deploy, not to proliferate, not to threaten with, and not to test, but to promote a complete nuclear disarmament.
Frankly, this is a good strategy.
But it should not be the only strategy to protect the world from this final war.
Ukraine gave up its third largest nuclear arsenal. The world then decided Russia should become a keeper of such power. Yet, history shows it was Russia who deserved nuclear disarmament the most, back in 1990s. And Russia deserves it now terrorists have no right to hold nuclear weapons.
But truly not the nukes are the scariest now.
While nukes remain in place, the mass destruction is gaining its momentum. The aggressor is weaponizing many other things and those things are used not only against our country but against all of yours as well.
Fellow leaders!
There are many conventions that restrict weapons but there are no real restrictions on weaponization.
First, let me give you an example the food.
Since the start of the full-scale war, the Ukrainian ports in the Black and Azov Seas have been blocked by Russia. Until now, our ports on the
Danube River remain the target for missiles and drones. And it is a clear Russias attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market in exchange for recognition for some, if not all, of the captured territories.
Russia is launching the food prices as weapons. The impact spans from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the Southeast Asia. This is the threat scale.
I would like to thank those leaders who supported our Black Sea Grain Initiative, and program Grain from Ukraine. United, we made weapons turn back into food again. More than 45 nations saw how important it is to make Ukrainian food products available on the market from Algeria and Spain to Indonesia and China.
Even now when Russia has undermined the Black Sea Grain Initiative, we are working to ensure food stability. And I hope that many of you will join us in these efforts. We launched a temporary sea export corridor from our ports. And we are working hard to preserve the land routes for grain exports. And it is alarming to see how some in Europe play out solidarity in a political theatre making thriller from the grain. They may seem to play their own role but in fact they are helping set the stage to a Moscow actor.
Second, weaponization of energy.
Many times, the world has witnessed Russia using energy as a weapon. Kremlin weaponized oil and gas to weaken the leaders of other countries.
Now the threat is even greater.
Russia is weaponizing nuclear energy. Not only it is spreading its unreliable nuclear-power-plant-construction-technologies, but it is also turning other countries power plants into real dirty bombs.
Look what Russia did to our Zaporizhzhia power plant shelled it, occupied it and now blackmails others with radiation leaks.
Is there any sense to reduce nUclear weapons when Russia is weaponizing nuclear power plants? Scary question.
The global security architecture offers no response or protection against such a treacherous radiation threat And there is no accountability for radiation blackmailers so far.
The third example is children.
Unfortunately, various terrorist groups abduct children to put pressure on their families and societies. But never before the mass kidnapping and deportation would become a part of the government policy. Not until now.
We know the names of tens of thousands of children and have evidence on hundreds of thousands of others kidnapped by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine and later deported. The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrant for Putin for this crime.
We are trying to get children back home but time goes by. What will happen to them?
Those children in Russia are taught to hate Ukraine, and all ties with their families are broken This is clearly a genocide.
When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there. Each decade Russia starts a new war. Parts of Moldova and Georgia remain occupied. Russia turned Syria into ruins. And if not Russia, the chemical weapons would have never been used there in Syria. Russia has almost swallowed Belarus. It is obviously threatening Kazakhstan and the Baltic states And the goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our land, our people, our resources into a weapon against you against the international rules-based order. Many seats in the General Assembly Hall may become empty if Russia succeeds with its
treachery and aggression.
Ladies and gentlemen!
The aggressor scatters death and brings ruins even without nukes but the outcomes are alike.
We see towns and villages in Ukraine wiped out by Russian artillery. Levelled to the ground completely! We see the war of drones. We know the possible effects of spreading the war into the cyberspace. The artificial intelligence could be trained to combat well before it would learn to help the humanity. Thank God, people have not yet learned to use climate as a weapon. Even though humanity is failing on its climate policy objectives this means that extreme weather will still impact the normal global life and some evil state will also weaponize its outcomes. And when people in the streets of New York and other cities of the world went out on climate protest we all have seen them And when people in Morocco and Libya and other countries die as a result of natural disasters And when islands and countries disappear under water And when tornados and deserts are spreading into new territories And when all of this is happening one unnatural disaster in Moscow decided to launch a big war and kill tens of thousands of people.
We must act united to defeat the aggressor and focus all our capabilities and energy on addressing these challenges.
As nukes are restrained, likewise the aggressor must be restrained and all its tools and methods of war. Each war now can become final, but it takes our unity to make sure that aggression will not break in again.
And it is not a dialog between the so-called great powers somewhere behind the closed doors that can guarantee us all the new no-wars-era, but open work of all nations for peace.
Last year, I presented the outlines of the Ukrainian peace formula at the UN General Assembly. Later in Indonesia, I presented the full Formula. And over the past year the Peace Formula became the basis to update the existing security architecture now we can
bring back to life the UN Charter and guarantee the full power of the rules-based world order.
Tomorrow I will present the details at a special meeting of the UN Security Council.
The main thing is that it is not only about Ukraine.
More than 140 states and international organizations have supported the Ukrainian Peace Formula fully or in part. The Ukrainian Peace Formula is becoming global. Its points offer solutions and steps that will stop all forms of weaponization that Russia used against Ukraine and other countries and may be used by other aggressors. Look for the first time in modern history, we have the chance to end the aggression on the terms of the nation which was attacked. This is a real chance for every nation to ensure that aggression against your state, if it happens, God forbid, will end not because your land will be divided and you will be forced to submit to military or political pressure, but because your territory and sovereignty will be fully restored.
We launched the format of meetings between national security advisors and diplomatic representatives. Important talks and consultations were held in Hiroshima, in Copenhagen, and in Jeddah on the implementation of the Peace Formula. And we are preparing a Global Peace Summit. I invite all of you all of you who do not tolerate any aggression to jointly prepare the Summit.
I am aware of the attempts to make some
shady dealings behind the scenes. Evil cannot be trusted ask Prigozhin if one bets on Putins promises. Please, hear me. Let unity decide everything openly.
While Russia is pushing the world to the final war, Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression no one in the world will dare to attack any nation. Weaponization must be restrained. War crimes must be punished. Deported people must come back home. And the occupier must return to their own land. We must be united to make it.
Slava Ukraini!
Photo credit: Office of the President of Ukraine
SHANGHAI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 60 Italian companies are showcasing their products at the 23rd China International Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai, demonstrating their ambition to explore the Chinese market further.
The "Italian National Pavilion" at the last edition of the fair three years ago received great feedback from exhibitors, said Bi Peiwen, president of DLG Exhibitions & Events Co., Ltd, the expo's organizer.
This time, the Pavilion has an exhibition area of some 1,300 square meters for 65 exhibitors, an increase of 30 percent compared to the previous 50, added Bi.
"This is our largest exhibition ever at the CIIF, representing the confidence of Italian companies in deepening their development and industrial chain cooperation in China, "said Cinzia Sarli, deputy trade commissioner of the Shanghai office of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).
"Unknown to many, up to 40 percent of Italy's exports to China relate to industrial machinery," Sarli said, adding that the Chinese public is familiar with Italy's cuisine and fashion but knows little about Italy's "invisible industrial champions."
Sarli said Italy has much to offer in industrial machinery, especially referencing textiles, automobiles, baking, and shipbuilding. By attending the event, these enterprises hope to deepen cooperation and development in the Chinese market.
"Fifty percent of Italian companies investing in China are in the Yangtze River Delta region, which has a complete industrial chain and has become a key area for Italian companies to focus on," said Paolo Bazzoni, president of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce.
Unlike general consumer goods, industrial enterprises should be "local for local." Bazzoni said all the Italian companies participating in this exhibition have been deeply rooted in China for many years and have become a part of the Chinese industrial chain.
"'Made in Italy' means high quality, innovation, and customized services for the local market. The huge booth represents the great confidence of Italian companies in the Chinese market," said Bazzoni.
After three years of disruption from the pandemic, the China International Industry Fair has again returned offline, with 30 percent of the exhibitors being international companies from Germany, Japan, and Italy, and Belt and Road countries, including Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Enditem
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The State Bank of Pakistan is backing this initiative, ensuring that the Pakistani digital currency carries the government's guarantee, much like traditional currency notes.
KARACHI: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-Sept 19th, 2023) In a recent development, the government has announced plans to introduce a digital currency as part of its cost-saving measures.
This digital currency will be pegged to the Pakistani rupee, similar to the way one unit of Chinese digital currency corresponds to one Chinese Yuan.
The implementation of this digital currency is expected to yield multiple benefits, including reducing the expenses associated with printing and distributing physical currency. It is anticipated to contribute to the strengthening of the rupee, bolstering the national economy, and facilitating more extensive financial transactions.
The State Bank of Pakistan is backing this initiative, ensuring that the Pakistani digital currency carries the government's guarantee, much like traditional currency notes.
The State Bank of Pakistan has initiated the process and is enlisting the expertise of professionals in this endeavor.
A specialized department, known as the Central Bank Digital Currency, is currently conducting a thorough cost-benefit analysis and feasibility assessment for the smooth operation of the digital currency once it is launched.
Besides it, the introduction of digital currency holds promise for fostering cross-border trade and investment and providing financial services access to unbanked individuals.
The World Bank has also highlighted its potential to significantly enhance the efficiency, resilience, and reliability of the financial industry, with blockchain technology being a notable example of a distributed ledger system.
While the government envisions a gradual transition from physical currency to digital currency, it also intends to maintain a parallel system, with an 80:20 ratio, ensuring that traditional currency notes remain available as a backup in unforeseen circumstances.
Beyond the cost savings associated with eliminating the need for physical currency production and distribution, the digital currency will offer the advantage of comprehensive transaction documentation, enhancing the effectiveness of monetary policy enforcement.
DUBAI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News / WAM - 19th Sep, 2023) flydubai, the Dubai-based carrier, records another exceptional summer carrying more than four million passengers between June and mid-September 2023; an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
The carrier operated more than 32,000 flights across a growing network of 120 destinations in 52 countries. Corfu in Greece and Olbia in Sardinia were the latest two additions to flydubais seasonal summer routes, offering passengers more options for travel to popular holiday destinations this year.
Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said, We continue to create free trade and tourism flows by offering the right product at the right time, making travel accessible to new and previously underserved markets. By doing so, we have enabled more than four million passengers to travel this summer via Dubais aviation hub.
We are very pleased to see year-on-year growth in demand on our seasonal destinations. We have recorded a 70 percent increase in passenger numbers to Trabzon and more than 40 percent to Bodrum this summer. We believe these figures could have potentially been even higher if the aircraft we ordered had been delivered on schedule. This would have enabled us to add more capacity on some of these popular routes, added Al Ghaith.
flydubai operates a fleet of 78 Boeing 737s serving its expanding network. The carrier is expecting further delays to its scheduled aircraft deliveries this year. The carrier has signed an agreement to lease four Next-Generation Boeing 737-800 aircraft between 17th October 2023 and 16th April 2024. This agreement will enable the carrier to add more capacity across the flydubai network during the upcoming busy travel periods.
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Paris, Sept 19 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Sep, 2023 ) :France will not welcome any migrants coming from Italy's Lampedusa, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday after the Mediterranean island saw record numbers of arrivals.
Some 8,500 people arrived on Lampedusa on 199 boats between Monday and Wednesday last week, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration -- prompting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to travel there Sunday to announce an emergency action plan.
According to Darmanin, Paris told Italy it was "ready to help them return people to countries with which we have good diplomatic relations", giving the example of Ivory Coast and Senegal.
But France "will not welcome migrants" from the island, he said, speaking on French television Tuesday evening.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has called on Italy's EU partners to share more of the responsibility.
The recent arrivals on Lampedusa equal more than the whole population of the tiny Italian island.
The mass movement has stoked the immigration debate in France, where political parties in the country's hung parliament are wrangling over a draft law governing new arrivals.
France is expected to face a call from Pope Francis for greater tolerance towards migrants later this week during a high-profile visit to the Mediterranean city Marseille, where the pontiff will meet President Emmanuel Macron and celebrate mass before tens of thousands in a stadium.
By Tina Meketa, University Communications and Marketing
USF has become the first university in Florida and one of just a handful of universities in the nation to join a new network that connects research institutions with historically black colleges or universities (HBCUs).
The new agreement, facilitated by the Tougaloo College Research and Development Foundation (TCRDF), allows the USF Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE) to partner with HBCUs in their efforts to secure research funding and contracts with the federal government, especially the U.S. Department of Defense.
Since its formation in 2018, the IAE has secured more than $95 million in contract opportunities from the federal government to conduct a range of research, such as the creation of new technologies and processes for U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command, the U.S. Air Force and NASA.
We are incredibly excited to begin this partnership as it brings intellectual capital from across the United States together in the same room to solve the problems of tomorrow, said Darren Schumacher, president and CEO of the IAE.
More than 30 HBCUs are members of the TCRDF network, which includes Florida A&M University. It was established to help HBCUs navigate the often-complex research and contracting processes and broaden the nations expertise in STEM fields. The TCRDF also has an active partnership with the National Sponsored Programs Administrators Alliance, which includes more than 100 HBCU member institutions.
TCRDF is fortunate to enter into this agreement with USF and looks forward to working with this exceptionally talent-rich university to expand TCRDF and HBCU capacity in areas where we are unfamiliar and before this agreement did not fully appreciate, said John Rosenthall, president and CEO of TCRDF. We look forward to reaching and helping other HBCUs reach new heights in research and contracts that previously appeared beyond our grasp.
In addition to faculty, USF will assist undergraduate students at HBCUs with securing internships and mentoring opportunities. USF joins Brown University, Purdue University, Mississippi State University, Georgia Tech Research Institute and the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies in signing similar partnership agreements.
LONDON, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 officers of the Metropolitan Police (Met) have been dismissed, suspended, or placed on restricted duties amid what the force referred to as "the strongest doubling down on standards in 50 years."
According to the Met, 100 police officers have been dismissed for gross misconduct in the last 12 months.
The Met released an update of its review of the reform of its culture and standards on Tuesday, which was launched after a series of scandals, including the rape and murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard in London by a serving officer in 2021.
"This is going to take one, two or more years to root out those who are corrupt," Stuart Cundy, the Met's deputy assistant commissioner, said.
He added that the number of affected officers was "nearly the size of a small police force in other places in the country."
In the next few years, about 60 officers could face dismissal each month due to misconduct or following incompetence hearings, he said.
"We know there is more work to do, but we hope that the progress set out today reassures Londoners that we are doing all we can to deliver an organization you deserve," the Met said on social media.
Last month, the British government said that it will make it easier to sack rogue police officers by measures such as automatic dismissal for those found guilty of gross misconduct.
Earlier this year, an independent review found that fundamental problems, institutional discrimination, and a lack of accountability and transparency have been found in the Met.
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.
BERLIN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Germany has banned the right-wing extremist group Hammerskins, the Ministry of the Interior (BMI) announced on Tuesday. The ban includes the group's regional chapters and the sub-organization Crew 38.
"With this ban, we are putting an end to the inhuman activities of an internationally active neo-Nazi group in Germany," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement, calling the measure a "hard blow against organized right-wing extremism."
Early on Tuesday morning, German task forces began searching the houses of 28 members of the group in 10 states, including the capital Berlin.
The ministry said that the group's purpose and activities were "violating criminal law," and it was "opposing the constitutional order and the idea of international understanding."
The banned group is an offshoot of Hammerskins Nation, which was founded in 1988 in the United States. In Germany, the group has around 130 members, officials say.
With the U.S. authorities' support, Germany's federal and state governments have been working on the ban for more than a year. It is the 20th right-wing extremist group to be banned by the German government.
According to the latest official constitution protection report, the number of extremist crimes in Germany reached an all-time high in 2022. More than 35,400 crimes with an extremist motivation were reported last year.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations began its first joint naval exercise on Tuesday at a time when several member countries are responding more strongly to increasing Chinese assertiveness in the area.
The non-combat drills, named ASEAN Solidarity Exercise, include joint maritime patrol operations, search and rescue operations, and humanitarian and disaster relief, Indonesian military chief Adm. Yudo Margono said.
He said the five-day exercise in Indonesia's Natuna waters aims to boost military ties among the ASEAN nations and enhance interoperability. The drills also involve civilian groups involved in humanitarian relief and disaster prevention.
ASEAN nations have taken part in naval exercises before with other countries including both the United States and China but this weeks drills are the first involving just the bloc and are being read by many as a signal to China.
Chinas nine-dash line, which it uses to demarcate its claim to most of the South China Sea, has brought it into tense standoffs with rival claimants Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, with Chinese fishing boats and military vessels becoming more aggressive in the disputed waters.
The line also overlaps with a section of Indonesias exclusive economic zone extending from the Natuna Islands. Margono initially said the exercises would take place in the North Natuna Sea at the edge of the South China Sea, a fault line in the rivalry between the U.S. and China, following meetings of ASEAN defense officials in Bali in June.
However, Indonesia, which holds the rotating chair of ASEAN this year, decided to move the drills to the South Natuna Islands, away from the disputed area, apparently to avoid any reaction from Beijing.
China and ASEAN signed a nonbinding 2002 accord that called on rival claimant nations to avoid aggressive actions that could spark armed conflicts, including the occupation of barren islets and reefs, but violations have persisted.
China has come under intense criticism for its militarization of the strategic South China Sea but says it has the right to build on its territories and defend them at all costs.
Those who carry out any exploration or activities in that area must not violate state territory, Margono said after an opening ceremony for the exercise attended by ASEAN military leaders on Batam island next to Singapore. That has been clearly regulated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Asked whether ASEAN was sending a stronger message against Chinas competing territorial claims in the South China Sea, Margono replied, "We have had a firm stance.
He told reporters that ASEAN has agreed to hold military exercises annually. In the future, they will be expanded to full war drills involving the army, navy and air force, he said.
Indonesia and China enjoy generally positive ties, but Jakarta has expressed concern about what it sees as Chinese encroachment in its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. Increased activities by Chinese coast guard vessels and fishing boats in the area have unnerved Jakarta, prompting its navy to conduct a large drill in July 2020 in waters around Natuna.
Despite its official position as a non-claimant state in the South China Sea, Indonesia renamed part of it the North Natuna Sea in 2017 to underscore its claim that the area, which includes natural gas fields, is part of its exclusive economic zone. Similarly, the Philippines has named part of what it considers its territorial waters the West Philippine Sea.
Vietnam, one of the four ASEAN claimant states, has been vocal in expressing concerns over Chinas transformation of seven disputed reefs into man-made islands, including three with runways, which now resemble small cities armed with weapons systems.
Two ASEAN members, Cambodia and Laos, both Chinese allies, have opposed the use of strong language against Beijing in the disputes.
The African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia has begun gradually withdrawing from the country in anticipation of Somali forces taking over security duties by the end of 2024. AU forces have been deployed since 2007 to help the Somali government fight the al-Shabab militant group, but the fight is far from over, as Mohamed Sheikh Nor reports from Mogadishu.
To mark the 10-year anniversary of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing will host an international forum in Beijing next month. Ahead of that event, Hong Kong held a Belt and Road Summit. Reporter Cindy Sui asked participants what they think of a new competing infrastructure initiative to connect India, the Middle East and Europe.
VALLETTA, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Americans do not have faith in their institutions, which endangers the country's democracy, according to the author of a new book.
"In the last 30 years, we have witnessed something unprecedented and perilous to the very survival of American democracy -- a collapse in public trust in the nation's leaders and institutions," said Gerard Baker, a British writer and columnist, in a recent article in the New York Post on his book "American Breakdown: How Americans Lost Trust in their Leaders and Institutions and How to Rebuild Confidence."
The article quoted the latest survey conducted by the Gallup Organization in July, which found that across nine key institutions, the average proportion of Americans who said they had "a great deal or quite a lot of confidence" in them was 26 percent. That was the lowest number ever recorded, it said.
Over the last decade or so, people have realized that they have been misled, lied to, and sold a bill of goods -- and in the process, its leaders have failed America, the article said.
The author said that the Pew Research Center, which has conducted similar surveys for 30 years, found that the public's trust in most cornerstone American institutions has dropped sharply.
Baker said that what was even more troubling was the fact that Americans had also lost trust in each other. "This plummeting social trust is doing irreparable damage to the bonds that tie Americans together."
"America finds itself today, then, a country fundamentally ill at ease with itself -- a nation where large numbers of its citizens profoundly mistrust the leaders and institutions that govern them, the businesses that supply them with their needs, the people who educate and inform them and, increasingly, each other," he wrote.
"Other factors have contributed to the collapse in trust -- our institutions have not only been mendacious and deceptive but over the last few decades their performance has been abysmal: governments that have gotten us into disastrous foreign wars and presided over open borders, addiction epidemics, financial crises, corporate scandals, a dramatic widening of economic and social inequality, technological innovations that have exposed us to privacy risks and mental health crises," the article said.
Australia's environment minister is facing court action over claims she ignored the impact of fossil fuel projects on the Great Barrier Reef and other natural treasures.
Activists allege Tanya Plibersek has refused to consider the risk of climate change associated with new coal mine applications.
Australias Federal Court began hearing the case against Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek in Melbourne this week. The legal action is brought by the Environmental Council of Central Queensland.
The non-profit group insists the federal minister has a legal responsibility to prevent new coal and gas projects from damaging Australia's ecological gems, including the Great Barrier Reef. It is facing many threats, such as warmer ocean temperatures that have led to widespread coral bleaching.
Activists want all mining projects in Australia to be properly assessed for their potential impact on climate change. Their legal challenge relates specifically to applications by resources companies to expand two mining operations in the eastern state of New South Wales.
Christine Carlisle, president of the Environmental Council of Central Queensland, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that the risks associated with resources projects need to be fully scrutinized.
The effects of the emissions from these mines will have a long-lasting impact on the fate and the future of all our living wonders," she said. "We are arguing that the minister needs to be considering those climate impacts when she makes these decisions and to not do so we are arguing is irrational and illogical, and we are asking the court to consider whether it is also unlawful.
The court case follows a decision by the United Nations last week not to place the Great Barrier Reef in a list of world heritage sites "in danger," which the Canberra government has credited to Australias environmental policies.
Plibersek said in a video posted online after the U.N. decision that her government has ambitious environmental policies and recently refused to approve a new coal mine to protect the Barrier Reef.
Our Australian government has been working really closely with the Queensland government," she said. "We are investing more money - more than $1.2 billion (Australian). We are working to improve water quality. I canceled a coal mine because it could have affected the reef and we have really substantially invested in science to better protect the reef as well.
Analysts say the federal court case highlights the mounting pressure on Australias center-left government, which promised more ambitious action on global warming during last years election campaign.
From space, theres only one living thing that can be seen. Its the Great Barrier Reef - arguably Australias greatest natural wonder. It is made up of 3,000 individual coral reefs off the northeast coast. Its home to a spectacular array of jellyfish, worms, fish, whales and dolphins.
The Great Barrier Reef was included on the U.N.s World Heritage List in 1981.
The world's largest coral system covers an area about the size of Japan.
Azerbaijan took the offensive Tuesday against Armenian positions in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region and opened fire, including in areas inhabited by civilians.
Local officials reported that the military action killed or injured dozens of civilians in the enclave, which is populated mainly by ethnic Armenians but entirely surrounded by Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan called the effort an anti-terrorist operation. Its defense ministry said action was taken in response to landmine explosions that killed four soldiers and two civilians in the region.
Armenia called the action ethnic cleansing.
France strongly condemned Azerbaijan for what it called unjustified military action and called on Azerbaijan, which has for months been blockading the region, to end the attack and respect international law.
The European Union also condemned the action. The EUs foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, called for Azerbaijan to stop its military activities, saying, There is an urgent need to return to dialogue between Baku and Karabakh Armenians.
Azerbaijan alleged that Armenia had been illegally smuggling in weapons, which caused them to set up the blockade, leading to civilians losing access to necessities such as food and medicine. Last year, Azerbaijanis began a blockade of the Lachin Corridor, the last road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, triggering the shortages.
France asked that Azerbaijan be held accountable for the civilian lives that have been taken or put in danger and requested an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council, which will take place on Thursday.
France said it will be working closely with European and American allies to ensure a response is taken to the action by Azerbaijan.
Russia also has called for peace in the region and been in talks with both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Russia has had close ties to both countries and has a military base in Armenia. But its ties with that country have come under strain recently with Armenia holding military exercises with the United States.
Russia contacted Azerbaijan regarding its military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Tuesday.
Baku is providing Moscow information on the operation, Zakharova said.
A U.S. State Department official told the Reuters news agency that Secretary of State Antony Blinken is likely to become involved in the diplomatic engagement already underway on the issue. Blinken met with officials from the two countries in June.
The United States is deeply concerned by Azerbaijans military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh and calls on Azerbaijan to cease these actions immediately, Blinken said in a statement Tuesday. These actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and undermine prospects for peace.
War broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan for six weeks in 2020, and there is growing concern the conflict could resume.
Nagorno-Karabakh had been under ethnic Armenian control since 1994, but parts of it were reclaimed by Azerbaijan after the war in 2020. Russian peacekeepers were placed in the region.
Armenia has complained that the Russian peacekeeping contingent has neglected to keep the road from Armenia open. Tensions grew further between the two nations as Armenia promoted ratifying the Rome Convention (Statute), which established the International Criminal Court that issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin in March.
Ambassador James Warlick is a former U.S co-chair of the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europes Minsk Group. The group heads efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs.
In an interview with VOAs Armenian service, Warlick spoke of Armenias complaint about the actions of Russian peacekeepers during the escalation, noting, Russians are clearly preoccupied elsewhere, an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine.
Their peacekeepers have done little if anything to maintain peace. In fact, there is a need for peacekeepers in the region and they need to do their jobs to ensure that the facts of the agreement move forward and peace is maintained, he said.
Russia denied claims Azerbaijan informed it of plans to take action before the attack occurred.
Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters. VOAs Armenian service contributed to this report.
Azerbaijan on Tuesday began what it called an "anti-terrorist operation" targeting Armenian military positions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region and officials in the area reported heavy artillery firing around its capital.
The Azerbaijani defense ministry announced the start of the operation hours after four soldiers and two civilians died in landmine explosions in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The reports raised concerns that a full-scale war over the region could resume between Azerbaijan and Armenia, which fought heavily for six weeks in 2020.
The ministry did not immediately give details, but said "positions on the front line and in-depth, long-term firing points of the formations of Armenia's armed forces, as well as combat assets and military facilities are incapacitated using high-precision weapons."
The Azerbaijani statement said, "Only legitimate military targets are being incapacitated."
But ethnic Armenian officials in Nagorno-Karabakh said in a statement that the region's capital Stepanakert and other villages were "under intense shelling."
Earlier Tuesday, Azerbaijan said six people were killed in two separate explosions in the region that is partly under the control of ethnic Armenian forces.
A statement from Azerbaijan's interior ministry, state security service and prosecutor-general said two employees of the highway department died before dawn when their vehicle was blown up by a mine and that a truckload of soldiers responding to the incident hit another mine, killing four.
Nagorno-Karabakh and sizable surrounding territories were under ethnic Armenian control since the 1994 end of a separatist war, but Azerbaijan regained the territories and parts of Nagorno-Karabakh itself in a six-week war in 2020. That war ended with an armistice that placed a Russian peacekeeper contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, Azerbaijan alleges that Armenia has smuggled in weapons since then. The claims led to a blockade of the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, causing severe food and medicine shortages in the region.
Red Cross shipments of flour and medical supplies reached Nagorno-Karabakh on Monday, but local officials said road connections to the region were not fully open.
The hostilities come amid high tensions between Armenia and its longtime ally Russia. Armenia has repeatedly complained that the 3,000-strong Russian peacekeeping force was unable or unwilling to keep the road to Armenia open even though that duty was stipulated in the agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Armenia also angered Russia, which maintains a military base in the country, by holding military exercises with the United States this month and by moving toward ratifying the Rome Convention that created the International Criminal Court, which has indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Tuesday denied claims that Russia was informed in advance of Azerbaijan's intention to mount the operation, saying the peacekeepers were notified only "a few minutes" before it began.
In a sign that the United States is listening to the Global South, President Joe Biden addressed a myriad of their concerns even as he rallied support for Ukraine in his address before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
Biden spent the majority of his speech highlighting progress made in global poverty reduction, education and health care, while acknowledging the need for continued progress and reform. He underscored the importance of multilateral institutions like the U.N. and called for expanded leadership and capability to address the complex challenges of the 21st century.
Biden addressed the climate crisis, global development needs, the conflict in Haiti, peace prospects between Israelis and Palestinians, and struck a sober but conciliatory note on U.S. strategic competition with China, before denouncing Russias invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the core tenets of the U.N. Charter the clear prohibition against taking another nations territory by force.
Shift in tone
The beginning of Bidens speech signaled a shift in tone as the president spoke of his recent visit to Hanoi where he said he witnessed a culmination of 50 years of hard work on both sides to address the painful legacies of war and work towards peace.
Its a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future, he said. With concerted leadership and careful effort, adversaries can become partners.
Avoiding the phrase as long as it takes, often used by Western officials to emphasize lasting support for Kyivs war efforts, Biden, who has galvanized a broad international coalition and marshaled billions of dollars for Ukraine, emphasized his support for Kyivs efforts to bring about diplomatic resolution that delivers a just and lasting peace.
He tempered that with a warning that, right now, the price for peace demanded by Russia is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children.
This is the second time Biden has condemned Russias war on Ukraine in front of the world body. In September of last year, in his first UNGA address since the invasion, Biden accused Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, of attempting to erase a sovereign state from the map.
Leaders from at least 145 countries are attending the annual UNGA meeting this week in New York, with a few notable exceptions China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom will be represented by senior officials.
This means that the United States is the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council whose top leader will be present.
Global South concerns
More than 140 U.N. member countries last year supported a General Assembly resolution that condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine.
But with the protracted conflict continuing to inflict a toll on global energy and food prices, there are growing calls from lower- and middle-income nations, often grouped as the Global South, to fast-track peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, incoming chair of the 20 largest economies known as the G20 and a politician who has cast himself as a leader of the Global South, underscored that there is no sustainability or prosperity without peace.
We do not underestimate the difficulties in achieving peace, but no solution will be lasting If it is not based on dialogue, he said through an interpreter. I have reiterated that work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his case later Tuesday, speaking directly to the General Assembly in his first in-person appearance in front of the world body since Russias invasion. Last year he was exempted from U.N. rules and delivered a videotaped speech to the Assembly.
Targeting countries many of them in the Global South that have refrained from condemning the Russian invasion Zelenskyy underscored that the outcome of the war would affect the entire international community. The Kremlins goal was to turn Ukraine into a weapon against you, against the rules based international order, he said, as he warned against shady deals to negotiate the ending of the war on unjust terms.
Evil cannot be trusted, just ask Prigozhin, Zelensky said, referring to the former head of a private military group who mounted a mutiny against Putin and died in an airplane crash two months later.
On Wednesday at the Security Council meeting on Ukraine, Zelenskyy is scheduled to discuss his 10-point peace plan, endorsed fully or partially by more than 140 countries. Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is also expected to attend the Council meeting, potentially bringing Ukraines leader to the same table with a senior Russian official for the first time since the war began.
As part of Ukraines diplomatic outreach to the Global South, Kyiv has also supported the broadest peace initiative to date from Saudi Arabia. In August, the Saudis hosted senior officials from some 40 countries including the U.S., China, and India, but not Russia, to work toward a broad agreement on key principles for a peaceful end to the war.
Anita Powell contributed to this report.
Canada on Monday accused India's government of involvement in the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader near Vancouver last June, prompting tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions after New Delhi rejected the charge as "absurd."
The accusations sent already sour relations between Ottawa and New Delhi to a dramatic new low.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told an emergency parliamentary session that his government had "credible allegations" linking Indian agents to the June slaying of exiled Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
"The involvement of any foreign government in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," Trudeau said.
He called "in the strongest possible terms" on the Indian government to cooperate in clearing up the matter.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said the Trudeau government had taken immediate action.
"Today we have expelled a senior Indian diplomat from Canada," she said, without naming the official.
Joly said the expelled Indian is the head of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's foreign intelligence agency, in Canada.
India's foreign ministry on Tuesday rejected claims of involvement in Nijjar's death and said it had ordered an unnamed senior Canadian diplomat to leave the country within five days.
"Allegations of Government of India's involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd," the ministry said in a statement, adding: "We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
It said Trudeau -- who visited New Delhi this month for the G20 summit -- had already made similar allegations to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, and that they had been "completely rejected."
The ministry's decision to expel a Canadian diplomat reflected its "growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it added.
Nijjar, whom India had declared a wanted terrorist, was gunned down on June 18 in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver that is home to a large Sikh community.
Canada has the largest population of Sikhs globally outside of India.
Nijjar advocated for the creation of an independent Sikh state to be carved out of parts of northern India and perhaps part of Pakistan.
New Delhi had accused Nijjar of carrying out terrorist attacks in India, a charge he denied.
Tense G20 meeting
Tensions between India and Canada have been simmering over the unsolved slaying, and Indian unhappiness over how Ottawa has handled right-wing Sikh separatists.
A former adviser to Trudeau, Jocelyn Coulon, asserted that Canada's accusation would have "the effect of a bomb around the world."
India will join "the group of nations that assassinate political opponents" abroad, much as Saudi Arabia orchestrated the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in 2018, said Coulon, who is now an independent researcher.
Tensions between the two nations flared during the G20 summit.
Modi expressed "strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities of extremist elements in Canada" during a meeting with Trudeau, according to an Indian government statement.
India has often complained about activities of the Sikh diaspora abroad, particularly in Canada, which New Delhi believes could revive a Sikh separatist movement.
The Indian state of Punjab, which is 58% Sikh and 39% Hindu, was rocked by a violent separatist movement in the 1980s and early 1990s, in which thousands died.
Canada also recently suspended negotiations for a free-trade agreement with India.
Trudeau later told media that Canada would always defend "freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom of peaceful protest" while acting against hatred.
China and the European Union held talks on topics including artificial intelligence and cross-border data flows on Monday in Beijing, amid disputes over an EU probe into China's electric vehicle subsidies.
The talks were part of an EU-China High-level Digital Dialogue co-chaired by China's Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and the European Commission Vice-President for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova, the first of such dialog in three years, the European Commission said in a statement.
The meeting comes as tensions between China and the EU are heightened after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced an investigation into whether to impose punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles to protect EU producers.
Beijing criticized the probe as a "protectionist act" and warned it would damage economic relations.
The talks on Monday covered key issues including platforms and data regulation, AI, and cross-border flow of industrial data, China and the EU said.
The European Commission conveyed concerns about "difficulties faced by EU companies in China to make use of their industrial data, as a result of the application of recent legislation."
The statement did not elaborate on which legislation it was referring to. China expanded its counter-espionage law in July, with wide-ranging updates including banning the transfer of any information related to national security and broadening the definition of spying.
Zhang told the meeting that China welcomes companies from all over the world, including Europe, to share the development opportunities of its digital economy and achieve win-win results, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Both sides agreed to promote an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for the development of the digital economy, Xinhua said.
The two parties also discussed other topics including research and innovation, information and communication technology, and safety of products sold online.
The future of a milestone agreement between South Korea and North Korea, signed five years ago to reduce military tensions, is now uncertain following what Seoul considers a series of violations and military provocations by Pyongyang.
Signed by the two Koreas on September 19, 2018, the Comprehensive Military Agreement outlined steps to ease military tensions and prevent unintended accidents.
The signing took place during a period of reconciliation between Seoul and Pyongyang, but relations have soured in recent years.
North Korea has intensified its weapons programs, conducting numerous ballistic missile tests, including the launches of the Hwasong-18 solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in April and July. Pyongyang has also pledged to launch a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit this year.
Tuesday, South Korean officials restated their reservations about continuing the implementation of the inter-Korean agreement.
An agreement that is only kept unilaterally by us and not followed by North Korea is not desirable, said officials from the Unification Ministry during a background briefing.
Last Friday, South Korea's defense minister nominee, Shin Won-sik, told reporters that he thought "it would be desirable to abolish the September 19 military agreement" because it would expose South Korea's "military vulnerability amid North Koreas repeated military provocations.
Seoul has been conducting a legal review on the suspension of the deal after North Korea launched five drones that crossed into South Korea on December 26, 2022. One of them flew over no-fly zones designated around the presidential office in Seoul, and the others flew near the west coast of the peninsula.
In January, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol threatened to suspend the deal if North Korea continues its provocations and invades South Koreas territory again.
North Korea violated the pact 17 times from its signing in 2018 up to the end of 2022, according to South Koreas defense white paper.
Former South Korean officials opposed the ending of the tension-reduction deal.
Abolishing the inter-Korean military agreement would be irresponsible, akin to removing the last safety pin, said former South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday during a public event that marked the fifth anniversary of its signing and the September 19th Pyongyang Declaration.
Both documents were signed when Moon traveled to Pyongyang in 2018 for direct talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The two Koreas agreed to end hostilities at fortified regions, including the Demilitarized Zone, as well as resolve family separation issues and further cultural exchanges.
As relations deteriorate and military tensions increase, the military agreement must be kept to the end by the two Koreas to prevent the worst-case scenario and pave the way for dialogue, Moon said.
Others maintained that the pact has reduced risks of a military conflict between the Koreas.
Military tensions in the border area have eased, said Choi Jong-kun, who was South Koreas former first vice foreign minister.
He said the inter-Korean military agreement has epoch-making measures to lower the threats of conventional war on the Korean Peninsula, including the sky, land and sea. And it has actually been implemented by two Koreas.
Lee Juhyun contributed to this report.
Just as many in the United States are starting to explore how to use artificial intelligence to make their lives easier, U.S. adversaries and criminal gangs are moving forward with plans to exploit the technology at Americans expense.
FBI Director Christopher Wray issued the warning Monday, telling a cybersecurity conference in Washington that artificial intelligence, or AI, is ripe for potential abuses.
Criminals and hostile foreign governments are already exploiting that technology, Wray said, without sharing specifics.
While generative AI can certainly save law-abiding citizens time by automating tasks, it can also make it easier for bad guys to do things like generate deepfakes and malicious code and can provide a tool for threat actors to develop increasingly powerful, sophisticated, customizable and scalable capabilities, he said.
Wray said the FBI is working to identify and track those using AI to harm U.S. citizens but added that the bureau is being cautious about employing AI itself.
To stay ahead of the threat at the FBI, we're determining how we can ethically and legally leverage AI to do our jobs, he said.
When contacted by VOA, the FBI declined to elaborate on its concerns about employing AI. Nor did the bureau say when or if it has used AI, even on a limited basis.
Other U.S. national security agencies, however, are currently making use of AI.
The Department of Homeland Security is using AI to combat fentanyl trafficking, counter child sexual exploitation and protect critical infrastructure, according to department officials, even as they roll out guidelines governing its use.
"Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool," Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement last Thursday. Our department must continue to keep pace with this rapidly evolving technology, and do so in a way that is transparent and respectful of the privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties of everyone we serve.
DHS has also issued directives aimed at preventing its use of AI from being skewed by biased learning models and databases, and to give U.S. citizens a choice of opting out of systems using facial recognition technology.
But across multiple U.S. departments and agencies, the fear of the potential damage AI could cause is growing.
FBI officials, for example, warned in July that violent extremists and terrorists have been experimenting with AI to more easily build explosives.
And they said a growing number of criminals appear to be gravitating to the technology to carry out everything from petty crimes to financial heists.
It is China, though, that is driving the bulk of the concern.
National Security Agency officials have warned that Beijing started using AI to disseminate propaganda via what they described as a fake news channel last year.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, David Frederick, the NSAs assistant deputy director for China, told a cybersecurity summit earlier this month.
[Artificial intelligence] will enable more effective malign influence operations," he added.
Such concerns have been bolstered by private cybersecurity companies.
Microsoft, for example, warned earlier this month that Chinese-linked cyber actors have started using AI to produce eye-catching content for disinformation efforts that has been gaining traction with U.S. voters.
We can expect China to continue to hone this technology over time, though it remains to be seen how and when it will deploy it at scale, Microsoft said.
For its part, China has repeatedly denied allegations it is using AI improperly.
In recent years, some western media and think tanks have accused China of using artificial intelligence to create fake social media accounts to spread so-called pro-China information, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told VOA in an email, following the publication of the Microsoft report.
Such remarks are full of prejudice and malicious speculation against China, which China firmly opposes, Liu added.
House Republicans plan to hold their first hearing next week in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
The hearing scheduled for Sept. 28 is expected to focus on "constitutional and legal questions" that surround the allegations of Biden's involvement in his son Hunter's overseas businesses, according to a spokesperson for the House Oversight Committee.
Republicans led by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have contended in recent weeks that Biden's actions from his time as vice president show a "culture of corruption" and that his son used the "Biden brand" to advance his business with foreign clients.
The spokesperson also said Republican Representative James Comer of Kentucky, chairman of Oversight, plans to issue subpoenas for the personal and business bank records of Hunter Biden and the president's brother James Biden "as early as this week." McCarthy appointed Comer to lead the inquiry in coordination with Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith.
The White House has called the effort by House Republicans in the midst of the presidential campaign "extreme politics at its worst."
"Staging a political stunt hearing in the waning days before they may shut down the government reveals their true priorities: To them, baseless personal attacks on President Biden are more important than preventing a government shutdown and the pain it would inflict on American families," Ian Sams, a White House spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday.
McCarthy announced the impeachment inquiry last week after facing mounting pressure from the far-right House members to take action against Biden or risk being ousted from his leadership job. At the same time, the speaker is struggling to pass legislation needed to avoid a federal government shutdown at the end of the month.
The California lawmaker launched the inquiry without a House vote, and it's unclear if he would have enough support to approve it from his slim GOP majority. Some lawmakers have criticized the evidence so far as not reaching the Constitution's bar of "high crimes and misdemeanors."
An inquiry is a step closer to an impeachment of the president, a constitutional tool which until recently was rare in Congress.
But McCarthy and other Republicans have been facing months of direct challenges from Trump who is now the Republican front-runner to challenge Biden in next year's election to move forward with proceedings against his opponent. The action also is seen as an effort to distract attention from the indicted former president's legal challenges and turn a negative spotlight on Biden.
The impeachment inquiry is expected to build upon the work that Comer and others have done since gaining the House majority in January. There are several investigative lanes but Comer has been tasked with following the money that went through Biden's son's and brother's various businesses accounts.
The chairman has claimed repeatedly that the Biden family engaged in an influence-peddling scheme but has yet to directly tie any of that to the president.
Republicans have focused much attention on an unverified tip to the FBI that alleged a bribery scheme involving Biden when he was vice president.
The bribery claim, which emerged in 2019 and was part of Trump's first impeachment, relates to the allegation that Biden pressured Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor in order to stop an investigation into Burisma, the oil and gas company where Hunter Biden was on the board.
Democrats have countered that the Justice Department investigated the Burisma claim when Trump was president and closed the matter after eight months, finding insufficient evidence to pursue it further. Other countries were also pushing for the firing of the Ukrainian official, viewing him as corrupt. And a former business partner of Hunter Biden's has testified to Congress that the bribery allegation is untrue.
The same Ohio river valley where the Wright brothers pioneered human flight will soon be manufacturing cutting-edge electric planes that take off and land vertically, under an agreement announced Monday between the state and Joby Aviation Inc.
When youre talking about air taxis, thats the future, Republican Governor Mike DeWine told The Associated Press. We find this very, very exciting not only for the direct jobs and indirect jobs its going to create, but like Intel, its a signal to people that Ohio is looking to the future. This is a big deal for us.
Around the world, electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft are entering the mainstream, though questions remain about noise levels and charging demands. Still, developers say the planes are nearing the day when they will provide a wide-scale alternative to shuttle individual people or small groups from rooftops and parking garages to their destinations, while avoiding the congested thoroughfares below.
Joby's decision to locate its first scaled manufacturing facility at a 56-hectare site at Dayton International Airport delivers on two decades of groundwork laid by the states leaders, Republican Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted said. Importantly, the site is near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and the headquarters of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories.
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, lived and worked in Dayton. In 1910, they opened the first U.S. airplane factory there. To connect the historical dots, Joby's formal announcement Monday took place at Orville Wright's home, Hawthorn Hill, and concluded with a ceremonial flypast of a replica of the Wright Model B Flyer.
Jobys production aircraft is designed to transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 321 kilometers per hour, with a maximum range of 160 kilometers. Its quiet noise profile is barely audible against the backdrop of most cities, the company said. The plan is to place them in aerial ride-sharing networks beginning in 2025.
The efforts of the Santa Cruz, California-based company are supported by partnerships with Toyota, Delta Air Lines, Intel and Uber. Joby is a 14-year-old company that went public in 2021 and became the first eVTOL firm to receive U.S. Air Force airworthiness certification.
The $500 million project is supported by up to $325 million in incentives from the state of Ohio, its JobsOhio economic development office and local government. With the funds, Joby plans to build an Ohio facility capable of delivering up to 500 aircraft a year and creating 2,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of Energy has invited Joby to apply for a loan to support development of the facility as a clean energy project.
Joby CEO JoeBen Bevirt told The Associated Press that the company chose Ohio after an extensive and competitive search. Its financial package wasn't the largest, but the chance to bring the operation to the birthplace of aviation with a workforce experienced in the field sealed the deal, he said.
Ohio is the No. 1 state when it comes to supplying parts for Boeing and Airbus," Bevirt said. "Ohio is No. 3 in the nation on manufacturing jobs and that depth of manufacturing prowess, that workforce, is critical to us as we look to build this manufacturing facility.
Bevirt said operations and hiring will begin immediately from existing buildings near the development site, contingent upon clearing the standard legal and regulatory hurdles. The site is large enough to eventually accommodate 18.58 hectares of manufacturing space.
Construction on the manufacturing facility is expected to begin in 2024, with production to begin in 2025.
The announcement comes as a bipartisan group of Ohio's congressional representatives has recently stepped up efforts to lure the U.S. Air Forces new U.S. Space Command headquarters, or Space Force, units to Ohio. There, too, state leaders cite the aerospace legacy of the Wrights, as well as Ohio-born astronauts John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.
India has rejected allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that the Indian government has links to the killing of a Canadian Sikh leader as "absurd and motivated" and expelled a Canadian diplomat amid spiraling tensions between the two countries.
Indias action came hours after Canada expelled an Indian diplomat.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had campaigned for an independent Sikh homeland, was gunned down on June 18 outside a Sikh temple in British Columbia. He had been designated as a "terrorist" by India.
Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau said in parliament on Monday that Canadian security agencies have been pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between the agents of the government of India and the killing of Nijjar.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty," he said.
Trudeau said he had raised the issue of the murder and the allegations of Indian government involvement in it with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in New Delhi and had asked for India to cooperate in the investigation.
Responding to his comments, the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement that Modi had dismissed these accusations when they were raised by Trudeau. "Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister, and were completely rejected."
The statement said, "we are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law."
The Indian foreign ministry underlined Indias concerns that Canada provides a safe haven to Sikh "extremists."
According to the statement, "such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Urging the Canadian government "to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil," New Delhi said it remains a matter of concern that "Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements.
India's expulsion of a Canadian diplomat came a day after Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said Ottawa had expelled India's intelligence chief in Canada in apparent concerns over Nijjar's killing.
Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader in British Columbia, had publicly campaigned for the creation of Khalistan, the name given by activists to an independent homeland for Sikhs that they want carved out of Indias northern state of Punjab.
Demands for Khalistan led to a bloody insurgency in India in the 1980s and early 1990s and the death of thousands of people, including many top officials. But the movement has lost steam and has little support in Punjab now.
The cause of Khalistan remains a rallying cry, though, among some sections of the Sikh diaspora in countries like Britain and Canada, which have sizable Sikh populations Canada has the largest Sikh population outside Indias Punjab state.
Groups that support the creation of an independent Sikh homeland in these countries have angered the Indian government and New Delhi has been urging their governments to rein in what it calls Sikh extremists."
Nijjar was designated by India as a "terrorist" in July 2020. Promoting the cause of Khalistan has been outlawed in India.
According to reports, Nijjar was organizing an unofficial referendum in India for an independent Sikh nation at the time of this death. Indian authorities had also announced a cash reward last year for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of involvement in an alleged attack on a Hindu priest in India.
The United States has expressed concern over the allegations made by Trudeau. "We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadian investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice, White House National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Britain and Australia have also expressed concern over the accusations.
Meanwhile, the intensifying diplomatic row between India and Canada has also cast tensions over trade negotiations between the two countries, which have been put on hold.
After Canada postponed a trade mission that was due to arrive in India next month, Indias Commerce Minister, Piyush Goyal, told news website Firstpost, We have given the trade dialogue with Canada a pause. We need to make sure that geopolitically and economically we are on the same page.
A group of Americans freed after years of detention in Iran arrived Tuesday in Washington as part of a deal that included the release of five Iranians charged or convicted of crimes in the United States.
The Americans were greeted by loved ones who cheered and rushed to embrace them as they walked off the plane in the pre-dawn hours.
Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz, along with two other American detainees whose identities remained private at the request of their families, departed Qatar on Monday after an initial stop in Doha.
Namazis mother and Tahbazs wife, who had been under travel bans in Iran, were also allowed to leave with the group.
Iranian state media said two of the freed Iranians also traveled through Doha before arriving in Tehran.
Irans foreign ministry said two others would remain in the United States, while the other freed Iranian would go to another country.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement the freed Americans would be reunited with loved ones after enduring years of agony, uncertainty, and suffering. He thanked the governments of Qatar, Oman, South Korea and Switzerland for their tireless efforts to help us achieve this outcome.
Biden also warned Americans not to travel to Iran, highlighting State Department warnings about the risk of kidnapping and arbitrary arrest.
All Americans should heed those words and have no expectation that their release can be secured if they do not, Biden said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said Monday's exchange could be a step in the direction of a humanitarian action between us and America.
Speaking to journalists at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, he said, It can definitely help in building trust.
The agreement included the United States allowing $6 billion in Iranian funds frozen under U.S. sanctions to be transferred from accounts in South Korea to accounts in Qatar. The funds are designated for use only for Iranian humanitarian purposes, such as food, medicine and agricultural products.
The Biden administration officials told reporters the system is set up in a way that they are very confident the threat of the money being diverted for other purposes is very low, and if there is a diversion, the accounts will be locked up.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and some U.S. conservative lawmakers criticized Biden for agreeing to the deal, contending the release of the $6 billion amounted to a ransom for the hostages and that the money would allow Iran to help develop its nuclear weapons system and not be used for humanitarian purposes.
Trump lashed out at Biden last week on Trumps Truth Social media site, saying the deal sets a "TERRIBLE precedent."
Senator John Thune said on Facebook that "the U.S. should be unrelenting in its efforts to bring detained Americans home, but Iran will now count pallets of ransom money, putting its leaders in a better position to develop a nuclear weapon and fund terrorists. And the price to release U.S. hostages will only go up."
The White House, however, said the U.S. is not giving Iran any money.
"This isnt a payment of any kind. These arent U.S. dollars. They arent taxpayer dollars, they are Iranian dollars the [Trump] administration allowed them to make" in oil sales to other countries, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
The five Iranians who were part of the exchange were charged or convicted of nonviolent crimes in the United States and received U.S. clemency. They were identified as Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi, Mehrdad Ansari, Amin Hasanzadeh, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani and Kambiz Attar Kashani.
The Biden administration officials said the Iranians who lacked legal status in the United States would return to Iran.
Ansari and Kafrani have no legal U.S. status. Afrasiabi and Hasanzadeh are permanent U.S. residents, while Kashani is an Iranian-American dual national.
In addition to the prisoner swap, the United States imposed new sanctions as it called on Iran to give a full account of what happened to Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran under mysterious circumstances in 2007 and is presumed dead.
The Levinson family deserves answers, Biden said. Today, we are sanctioning former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence under the Levinson Act for their involvement in wrongful detentions. And we will continue to impose costs on Iran for their provocative actions in the region.
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Libyan authorities have split the city of Derna into four sections creating buffers amid growing concerns from the United Nations of disease spreading through the city, creating a second devastating crisis.
The eastern Libyan city was hit with a destructive flood last week, as heavy rainfall from Mediterranean storm Daniel caused two dams, built in the 1970s, to burst, letting water rush into the city, destroying entire neighborhoods.
Death tolls from the flood have ranged from 4,000 to more than 11,000, and survivors have shown concern over disorganized rescue efforts and uneven aid distribution.
The destructive nature of the flood has left some survivors without homes, or access to food or clean drinking water, which has raised great concern of disease raging through the city, leading to an even greater death toll.
Authorities' decision to divide the city into four regions come one day after hundreds of outraged protesters demonstrated outside of Derna's Sahaba Mosque, demanding accountability be taken by Libyan officials for the result of the flood.
The burst dams had been visibly cracked since 1998, and angered flood survivors have called into question Libyan leaders' negligence towards protecting their infrastructure.
Administration within the region fired the entire city council, along with the mayor of Derna.
Although tensions in Derna cooled on Tuesday, phone lines and the internet had been lost, leading to difficult communication throughout the region, which some journalists were ordered to leave.
Hichem Abu Chkiouat, minister of civil aviation, told Reuters that journalist expulsions were carried out in an effort to help rescue teams.
It is an attempt to create better conditions for the rescue teams to carry out the work more smoothly and effectively," Chkiouat said.
The U.N. has sent search and rescue teams into the city which are still operating, yet an additional team from Benghazi was blocked. Officials gave no explanation as to why this mission was apparently stopped.
Outrage toward authorities in the Libyan government prompted hundreds of people to protest Monday in the disaster-stricken city of Derna in eastern Libya.
The protests come in the aftermath of a devastating flood that took thousands of lives and destroyed Libyan neighborhoods in the coastal Mediterranean community.
Protesters demanded government officials to take accountability for the destruction caused by the flood.
"A speedy investigation and legal action against those responsible for the disaster," was part of a statement read on behalf of the protesters.
Demonstrators are demanding that a United Nations office be placed in Derna, as well as a full investigation into the citys previous budgets, and "the city's reconstruction, plus compensation for affected residents," the statement said.
Monday evening, Hichem Abu Chkiouat, a minister in the eastern Libyan government, said Abdel-Moneim al-Gaithi, the Derna mayor at the time of the flooding, had been suspended from his post and was facing an investigation. Reuters could not immediately reach Ghaithi for comment.
Also, the parallel government in eastern Libya said Prime Minister Usama Hamad had dismissed all the members of Derna's municipal council and referred them to investigation.
Some protesters gathered outside the Sahaba Mosque, while others sat on the roof of the Derna landmark. Chants were directed at Aguila Saleh, head of the Libyan Parliament, as protesters were heard yelling, "Aguila, we don't want you! All Libyans are brothers!"
This is the first protest since last weeks massive flood, triggered by heavy rainfalls that burst two dams, leveled buildings and washed thousands of the citys 100,000 residents into the sea. The catastrophe has left some 3,300 people dead and thousands more missing. The collapsed dams had reports of cracks in them for nearly 25 years.
On Saturday, Libyas general prosecutor, al-Sediq al-Sour, opened an investigation into the collapse of the two dams, built in the 1970s.
Political unrest in Libya has caused the maintenance of vital infrastructure to be neglected, according to politicians and analysts.
The flood has led to further crisis in the eastern Libyan city, as tens of thousands of residents are now without homes or access to food and clean water. And there is growing concern from the United Nations about a disease outbreak.
Several countries have sent aid and set up field hospitals and rescue teams in Libya. The U.N. launched an emergency appeal for $71.4 million, while the European Union has so far sent around $6 million.
Some information in this report is from Reuters and Agence-France Presse.
A Moscow court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal by The Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich against a ruling that extended his pretrial detention by three months, according to Russian state media.
Gershkovich has been in detention since his arrest in March on espionage charges that he, his employer and the U.S. government vehemently deny. The U.S. government has said the journalist is wrongfully detained.
The court decision marks the latest setback in the legal fight for the reporter, whose pretrial detention has been extended twice the first being in May.
That pre-trial detention was supposed to expire May 29 but it was extended to August and then again to November.
With his appeal rejected, his pretrial detention will now last until at least November 30.
No date has been set for his trial.
Gershkovich failed in two previous appeals against his pretrial detention.
Press freedom groups have condemned the court's latest decision.
The latest denial of Evan Gershkovich's appeal is disappointing but unsurprising. Gershkovich is a Kremlin hostage, so we can't expect any remedy to come from the Russian legal system," Clayton Weimers, the head of Reporters Without Borders U.S. bureau, said in a statement.
Gershkovich appeared in public Tuesday for the first time in months at the court hearing. In photos from the courtroom, he appeared in a glass box surrounded by Russian security officials with covered faces.
Gershkovichs lawyers tried to challenge the extension of his pretrial detention, but the judge declined to consider their appeal, citing unspecified procedural violations.
Wearing a yellow sweatshirt and jeans, he smiled occasionally to members of the media who were briefly allowed inside the courtroom.
Russias embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a VOA email requesting comment.
The U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, was present at the hearing on Tuesday.
The U.S. position remains unwavering. The charges against Evan are baseless. The Russian government locked Evan up for simply doing his job. Journalism is not a crime, Tracy told reporters outside the courthouse.
Evan is fully aware of the gravity of his situation, yet he remains remarkably strong, Tracy added.
The ambassador last visited Gershkovich in jail on Friday. After her visit, the U.S. Embassy in Russia said, He remains strong and is keeping up with the news.
The leaders of Nigeria and South Africa held talks Monday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, with the goal of increasing cooperation, especially in mining and telecommunications.
Experts say more cooperation between Africa's two largest economies in line with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement would boost growth and development across the continent.
A spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu said Tinubus discussion with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was the first meeting the Nigerian leader is expected to hold with counterparts from around the world this week at the 78th U.N. General Assembly. His intent is to attract investments that will strengthen Nigerias economy.
On Monday, Tinubu and Ramaphosa discussed cooperation in the mining and telecom sectors specifically about easing stringent business policies that discourage investment.
Tinubu said improving economic ties would create more jobs and benefit both countries.
Nigerian economist Isaac Botti agreed, saying, It's expected that having a strong alliance with South Africa will also enhance our economic growth, particularly recognizing that South Africa is the second-largest economy in Africa.
Botti also said that an agreement between the two nations would enhance, within the U.N. system, opportunities for expanding investments, opportunities for improving sources of revenue.
For example, he said, if they could get into a concrete agreement on mining, it means that as a nation we will be able to diversify our economy."
Political affairs analyst Rotimi Olawale said African nations need to work together if they are to improve health and living standards for the millions stuck in poverty.
"It's high time to begin to see deeper collaborations between players on the continent, Olawale said. When push comes to shove, like we saw during Covid, every continent looked inward. European Union began to negotiate as a bloc for the purchase of vaccines. So it's much more important for especially the big countries to lead the way in seeking closer ties and collaborations."
During his campaign this year, Tinubu promised to boost Nigeria's economy if elected president. Since assuming office in May, the president has embarked on the country's boldest economic reforms in decades, including scrapping a popular but highly expensive fuel subsidy.
This week, Tinubu is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden and executives from Microsoft, Meta and Exxon Mobil.
Olawale said the president is likely to hold other such meetings designed to pave the way for foreign investment.
"I expect that we'd see many more of such meetings, Olawale said. Nigeria is in dire need of investments in many sectors construction, telecoms, innovation, science and technology. I expect that many of these things will be at the top of the president's agenda as he begins to discuss with many of these countries."
Last week, Tinubu visited the United Arab Emirates and met with the countrys president. The visit led to the UAE lifting a visa ban on Nigerian travelers. Tinubus office said the UAE also promised to invest several billion dollars in the Nigerian economy across multiple sectors, including defense and agriculture.
Martha Mulally, a biotechnology professor in Canada, urges each of her students to make a friend in the course. She noticed that students seemed disengaged and lonely, not knowing how to interact with each other after years of virtual instruction during the pandemic.
So, she insists they work together outside of class in groups of their choice: not just because its good for them, but also because its good for their learning.
"The reality is that science is a team sport," Mulally says.
Beckie Supiano profiles some of the unlikely, and heartwarming, friendships students have made in her report for the Chronicle of Higher Education. (August 2023)
The announcement last week that the United Auto Workers (UAW) union would go on strike against the countrys three largest car manufacturers put an exclamation point on what has been one of the most active years for the labor movement in recent U.S. history.
The UAW strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis began on Friday with targeted walkouts in just a handful of plants. But the strike could grow to include most or all of the unions 146,000 members. They would join tens of thousands of members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), whose combined strike has caused most movie and television production to grind to a halt.
While the strikes by the UAW and the actors and writers guilds have attracted the most media attention, they are far from alone in deciding to use labor actions to demand higher pay or better working conditions this year. SEE ALSO: US Autoworkers Threaten to Expand Strike if No Progress Is Made
Over the summer, drivers for shipping giant United Parcel Service (UPS) used threats of a Teamsters Union strike to negotiate a more favorable contract. Throughout the year, Starbucks has endured a series of targeted job actions at many of its ubiquitous coffee shops, while a movement to organize workers at warehouses run by delivery behemoth Amazon has gained traction.
Turning point
Strikes and other job actions by labor unions in the United States are far less frequent than they were a generation ago, largely as the result of a decadeslong campaign to pass laws that limited unions ability to organize and strengthened the hand of management in negotiations. But in 2023, unions have been enjoying a resurgence.
Theres a lot more going on in the past year than we've seen in a very long time, in terms of both union organizing successes, as well as either strikes or threatened strikes, said Susan J. Schurman, distinguished professor of labor studies and employment relations at Rutgers University.
The labor market remains relatively tight, and when that's true, workers gain leverage in relation to the employer, she told VOA. This is the first time in decades that we've had this circumstance, and unions are taking advantage of it both to organize as well as to try to make gains in collective bargaining.
They have also found a receptive audience among U.S. workers.
According to Schurman, American workers have been angry for a long time, because average wages have been stagnant for decades. She said a combination of small but significant organizing successes at companies long resistant to unionization, as well as the high visibility of strikers in Hollywood, have combined to raise the labor movements profile, particularly among younger workers.
Hollywood strike
The WGA went on strike in May and was joined by SAG-AFTRA in July. Both unions are demanding that the movie and television studios that employ them update contracts to reflect the changing dynamics of the business, including the new dominance of streaming video, and the multiple threats that generative artificial intelligence poses to those in the creative professions.
Progress in negotiations has been glacial. Negotiations between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and the WGA broke down over the summer but were scheduled to resume this week.
Negotiations in the SAG-AFTRA strike, though, have been discontinued, with no resumption in sight. Meanwhile, the unions strike activity looks likely to expand. Union president Fran Drescher has signaled that the union may soon target the video gaming industry, which relies on SAG-AFTRA members for voice-overs and motion capture work.
Trench warfare
They're progressing very, very slowly, if at all, Jonathan Handel, a media attorney and journalist, told VOA. The Writers Guild negotiations have been trench warfare, frankly. Every inch of movement by either side is gained at enormous cost and time, and enormous cost in suffering for those who are out of work.
Handel, author of Hollywood on Strike!: An Industry at War in the Internet Age, which tells the history of the 2007 actors strike, said the latest strikes may well continue into next year.
I think a window is very definitely closing to get deals done this year, he said. If you don't see deals with both unions done in the next four or five weeks, then we hit the holiday period, and you won't see deals until sometime next year.
Should that happen, he said, the pressure on the studios will mount, because the industrys contracts with the Teamsters and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents much of the industrys behind-the-scenes workforce, come up for renegotiation.
UAW strike
The UAW strike began Friday with walkouts at three factories, one each owned by Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. So far, only about 13,000 of the unions 146,000 members have walked off the job. However, UAW president Shawn Fain has made it clear that the possibility of a broader work stoppage is clearly on the table.
Officials at the company have said that because the components made at the striking factories are essential for operations at other facilities, they may soon begin laying off workers who are not actively striking.
The union is actively talking with the automakers, but the negotiations have a different feel than they did in the past, when much of the discussion happened in private. A corruption scandal at UAW in 2020 led to a shake-up not just in the unions leadership, but in how that leadership is chosen.
In 2020, an investigation by the Department of Justice led to the conviction of 12 UAW officials and three executives of Fiat Chrysler (a predecessor of Stellantis) on a collection of charges including racketeering, tax evasion and embezzlement. The case involved more than $15 million in improper charges to UAW-funded worker training programs.
"What's unprecedented is the way negotiations are unfolding, said Jeff Gilbert, Detroit automotive reporter for WWJ Newsradio. They used to be behind closed doors. You wouldn't learn anything. Now, the union president lays out what they want, the car companies lay out some of their offers, the union president gets mad and throws those offers in the trash, and there is a little bit of theater there.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Tuesday that M1 Abrams tanks pledged by the Pentagon will soon arrive in Ukraine, and that efforts to train Ukrainian pilots on F16 jets are expanding to include U.S.-based training.
Speaking at the start of a meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany, Austin urged allies to provide Ukraine with the air defense systems it needs as Russia targets infrastructure sites such as ports and grain facilities.
Austin said the Russian attacks beyond the battlefield have inflicted untold human suffering and threaten global food security.
The contact group, which includes about 50 nations, was due to focus Tuesday not only on short-term needs for the Ukrainian military, but also on helping Ukraine build a credible, capable combat force for the long term, Austin said.
The Pentagon chief also welcomed the participation of new Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who replaced Oleksii Reznikov earlier this month.
We will stay united, we will stay resolute, we will stay firm in our determination to defend Ukraine and to uphold a world where aggression does not pay, Austin said.
Ukrainian officials said Tuesday that Russian aerial attacks hit the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, killing one person.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram the attack struck three warehouses, which stored windows, household chemicals and humanitarian aid.
U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine Denise Brown condemned the Russian strike, saying one of the warehouses belonged to Caritas, the Vaticans main charitable organization.
The vital humanitarian facility, which contained approximately 300 tons of relief supplies, was burned to the ground, Brown said in a statement. Attacks impacting humanitarian assets have escalated throughout the year and ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences of the war.
Lviv, located near Ukraines border with Poland, is a key hub for western aid entering Ukraine and has been the target of prior Russian attacks.
Ukraines military said air defenses destroyed 27 of 30 drones that Russia used in its attacks, with intercepts happening in southern, central and western Ukraine.
The military also said it downed a Russian reconnaissance drone in the eastern part of the country.
Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
Eleven Somali government soldiers were killed and three others injured in a roadside explosion Monday in the southwestern Gedo region, officials said, as the African Union peacekeeping force began a second round of troop withdrawals.
The explosion targeted a convoy of military vehicles between the towns of Luuq and Doolow, deputy governor of security and policy for the region, Osman Nuh Haji, told VOA Somali.
"The technical vehicle they were riding in has been hit by an explosion," Haji said.
He said the vehicle was burnt and destroyed.
The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the roadside explosion.
Haji initially insisted only two soldiers were killed and two others were injured. But VOA Somali spoke to multiple sources including a senior regional official who said 11 soldiers were killed in the attack, and three others injured.
Among the wounded is a commander with the 10th brigade of the 43rd Division of the Somali National Army, Rashid Bohol. "He was injured but his injury is light, he is walking and working," Haji said.
Meanwhile, Somali government officials and parliamentarians arrived in the town of Amaara in the central Galmudug state on Tuesday, hours after federal troops supported by local fighters seized it from al-Shabab.
Before Amaara, troops captured a series of nearby towns and villages, including Ba'adweyne, Qay'ad, Shabelow and Qodqod.
Government troops and local forces recently resumed seizing territories from al-Shabab, after a pause triggered by an August 26 attack in the village of Cowsweyne that killed dozens of government troops.
The ongoing military offensive comes as the African Union Transmission Mission, or ATMIS, in Somalia announced the start of the second round of a planned troop withdrawal.
WATCH: AU Transition Mission Begins Gradual Withdrawal from Somalia
Burundian troops this week handed over their base in the town of Biyo Adde in the Middle Shabelle region to government forces, the first of 10 forward operating bases to be transferred.
The new drawdown will see the reduction of the AU peacekeeping force to 13,586 soldiers by the end of September. The first round of the drawdown was concluded in June, and 2,000 troops left the country.
Conditions should be attached to the continuation of the drawdown, said Brigadier General Abdirahman Mohamed Turyare, the former director of the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency, or NISA.
He said resources such as the military equipment and funds allocated for the AU troops should be made available to the Somali army to strengthen military operations against al-Shabab.
"If they cannot transfer all, at least some of it," Turyare said.
Turyare said the impact of the drawdown on Somalia's security will depend on the success of the ongoing military operations.
"If the government makes good progress [on] the liberation campaign in the next months it can cope with the reduction of AU troops," he said.
"If it doesn't succeed, it will impact because the [AU] troops are holding areas; people living in those areas and [Somali] troops have them as a company. It will impact if the operation prolongs."
An unprecedented allegation by one leading democracy essentially accusing another of carrying out a political assassination on its soil is causing significant concern among key allies of both nations.
Officials in Washington and London are assessing the ramifications after Canada publicly tied Indias government to the killing of a Sikh leader three months ago. Canada on Monday announced that in response, it had expelled the top Indian intelligence official in Canada. India on Tuesday retaliated by ordering a senior Canadian diplomat to depart the country.
We are deeply concerned about the allegations referenced by Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau, said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council. We remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners. It is critical that Canadas investigation proceed, and the perpetrators be brought to justice.
The United States is urging India to cooperate with the Canadian investigation, according to a senior State Department official.
Indias government says any allegations of involvement by its officials in acts of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated.
"The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that, we are not looking to provoke or escalate," Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday.
The allegations, however, have the potential to cloud out other strategic challenges Canada faces, such as foreign interference by China and Russia. The timing comes less than one year after Canada's release of an Indo-Pacific strategy which highlighted the aspirations for greater partnership with India, noted Jonathan Berkshire Miller, director of foreign affairs, national security and defense at Canadas Macdonald-Laurier Institute.
Canadian officials have not revealed what evidence they have linking India to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
I fear that this incident, regardless of the veracity of Ottawa's accusation, will have a generational impact on Canada's relations with India. The damage has been done with the very public loss of face for Delhi, Miller told VOA. On the other hand, if this is credible and definitive evidence points to Delhi's direct involvement, it is an egregious act that needs to be called out and reprimanded. There are still many questions about how closely India is linked to this.
A Canadian source is quoted by Reuters saying, "we've been working with the U.S. very closely, including on the public disclosure yesterday, adding that Canadian evidence implicating India would be revealed "in due course.
When contacted by VOA, the Federal Bureau of Investigation declined comment.
British officials say they are in touch with their Canadian counterparts about the matter.
It would be inappropriate to comment further during the ongoing investigation by the Canadian authorities, said a government official in London.
India has repeatedly accused Canada of harboring Khalistani terrorists and extremists who are considered a threat to Indian national security.
Canadian officials have now canceled an economic mission to Mumbai next month. Officials in Ottawa and New Delhi acknowledged on Tuesday that Canadian-Indian trade talks are on hold.
Nijjar was shot dead by two masked gunmen on June 18 in a Vancouver suburb outside a Sikh temple, of which he was the president. Police said it was a targeted killing and have sought a third suspect who they say helped the assassins flee.
The 45-year-old native of Punjab state in India ran a plumbing business in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Indian officials had branded him a terrorist and charged him in connection with targeted killings in his native state.
Canadian officials say Nijjar had never been accused of any crimes in Canada and had peacefully advocated for a referendum in Punjab to establish an independent state of Khalistan.
Sikh separatist groups, for decades, pursued such autonomy. The Indian government labeled such activities as terrorism. It has been an especially sensitive matter for years in Canadian-Indian relations, as Canada is home to the largest number of Sikhs outside India's Punjab region.
In 1985, Air India Flight 182 exploded off the coast of Ireland after departing Canada for India via London. All 329 passengers and crew members on board died. Authorities concluded it was a terrorist act carried out by a pro-Khalistan group. One suspect was convicted in 2003.
The targeting of the civilian aircraft followed a period of violence in India. Khalistani militants violently took over the Sikh religions holiest site in 1984. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered military commandos to respond, which left hundreds of militants and pilgrims dead. The prime minister was subsequently assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards. That sparked widespread violence in which thousands of Sikhs were killed. Indias ruling Congress Party was seen as complicit in the killings.
There are 55 interlinked Kashmiri and Khalistani groups currently operating within the United States, according to a 2021 report by the Hudson Institute.
Sikhs always feel hurt because of that history, Jesse Singh, the founder and chairman of Sikhs of America, said on Tuesday during a Hudson panel discussion on terrorism and other regional security challenges.
Singh added that the Khalistan movement is not a significant among Sikhs in North America these days, but the issue does retain more resonance among the diaspora compared to those in India who have moved on.
Sikhs compose the worlds fifth-largest religion and nearly 2% of the population of Hindu-majority India with most of Indias Sikhs living in Punjab where their religion is the dominant faith.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to do more to win the Sikh psyche back, according to Singh.
Sikhs have long had an outsized role in Indias military and as athletes and entrepreneurs. They were also prominent in Indias independence struggle against the British.
Chief National Correspondent Steve Herman was VOAs South Asia bureau chief, based in New Delhi, in 2007-2010. VOAs National Security Correspondent Jeff Seldin contributed to this report.
Measles, diarrhea and malnutrition, among other preventable diseases, kill about 100 children every month in Sudan where armed conflicts have uprooted more than five million people from their homes, according to the United Nations.
Between May 15 and September 14, at least 1,200 children under the age of five died from a deadly combination of a suspected measles outbreak and high malnutrition in nine camps for internally displaced people in Sudan's White Nile state.
There have also been reports of cholera, dengue, and malaria cases emerging in various parts of the country, sparking concerns about the looming threat of epidemics.
"Children younger than five are worst impacted, accounting for nearly 70% of all cases and 76% of all deaths," the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
The U.N. warning comes as Sudan's health sector is teetering on the brink of collapse, crippled by a severe lack of funding and essential resources.
"Health facilities are at breaking point, due to shortages of staff, life-saving medicine and critical equipment, exacerbating current outbreaks and causing unnecessary deaths," the WHO said.
Ongoing-armed hostilities between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which started in April, have generated and exacerbated humanitarian crises in the African country.
The conflict has taken an immense toll on Sudan's civilian population, with the Health Ministry acknowledging over 1,500 civilian deaths since the conflict started.
However, aid agencies contend that the actual death toll far exceeds the officially reported figures.
Both warring factions, the SAF and RSF, have faced accusations of committing egregious acts of violence against civilians, including arbitrary detentions and killings.
"The conflict has paralyzed the economy, pushing millions to the brink of poverty," Volker Turk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said last week.
"More than 7.4 million children are without safe drinking water and at least 700,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition," he said.
Humanitarian appeal
In May, the U.N. appealed for $2.57 billion in humanitarian assistance for 18 million people in Sudan.
However, the situation remains dire, with aid agencies estimating that more than 24 million Sudanese are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.
As of September 19, the appeal has garnered $788 million, approximately 30% of the required funds, with the United States leading the list of donors with a contribution of $472.5 million.
"The world has the means and the money to prevent every one of these deaths from measles or malnutrition," Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"And yet dozens of children are dying every day a result of this devastating conflict and a lack of global attention. We can prevent more deaths, but need money for the response, access to those in need, and above all, an end to the fighting," he said, according to the statement.
China's former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who was ousted from his position in July, had an extramarital affair while he was ambassador to the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with a briefing.
The report said Qin was cooperating with the investigation, which was now focused on whether the affair or Qin's conduct had compromised China's national security.
Senior Chinese officials were told that an internal Communist Party investigation found Qin engaged in the affair throughout his tenure as China's ambassador to the United States, the report said. Two sources told the newspaper the affair had resulted in the birth of a child in the U.S.
During a regular press briefing on Tuesday, China foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning was asked about the article and said: "on the appointment and removal of the Chinese foreign minister, the Chinese side has released information before and I am not aware of the other information you mentioned."
Qin was replaced by veteran diplomat Wang Yi in July as the foreign minister after a mysterious one-month absence from duties barely half a year into the job.
He was China's top envoy in Washington from July 2021 until January this year.
Patsy Widakuswara
NEW YORK In a sign that the United States is listening to the Global South, President Joe Biden addressed a myriad of their concerns even as he rallied support for Ukraine in his address before the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday.
Russia believes that the world will grow weary and allow it to brutalize Ukraine without consequence, Biden said. But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the U.N. Charter to appease an aggressor, can any member state in this body feel confident that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?
Biden spent the majority of his speech highlighting progress made in global poverty reduction, education and health care, while acknowledging the need for continued progress and reform. He underscored the importance of multilateral institutions like the U.N. and called for expanded leadership and capability to address the complex challenges of the 21st century.
Biden addressed the climate crisis, global development needs, the conflict in Haiti, peace prospects between Israelis and Palestinians, and struck a sober but conciliatory note on U.S. strategic competition with China, before denouncing Russias invasion of Ukraine as a violation of the core tenets of the U.N. Charter the clear prohibition against taking another nations territory by force.
Shift in tone
The beginning of Bidens speech signaled a shift in tone as the president spoke of his recent visit to Hanoi where he said he witnessed a culmination of 50 years of hard work on both sides to address the painful legacies of war and work towards peace.
Its a powerful reminder that our history need not dictate our future, he said. With concerted leadership and careful effort, adversaries can become partners.
Avoiding the phrase as long as it takes, often used by Western officials to emphasize lasting support for Kyivs war efforts, Biden, who has galvanized a broad international coalition and marshaled billions of dollars for Ukraine, emphasized his support for Kyivs efforts to bring about diplomatic resolution that delivers a just and lasting peace.
He tempered that with a warning that, right now, the price for peace demanded by Russia is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children.
This is the second time Biden has condemned Russias war on Ukraine in front of the world body. In September of last year, in his first UNGA address since the invasion, Biden accused Russia, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, of attempting to erase a sovereign state from the map.
Leaders from at least 145 countries are attending the annual UNGA meeting this week in New York, with a few notable exceptions China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom will be represented by senior officials.
This means that the United States is the only permanent member of the U.N. Security Council whose top leader will be present.
Global South concerns
More than 140 U.N. member countries last year supported a General Assembly resolution that condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine.
But with the protracted conflict continuing to inflict a toll on global energy and food prices, there are growing calls from lower- and middle-income nations, often grouped as the Global South, to fast-track peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, incoming chair of the 20 largest economies known as the G20 and a politician who has cast himself as a leader of the Global South, underscored that there is no sustainability or prosperity without peace.
We do not underestimate the difficulties in achieving peace, but no solution will be lasting If it is not based on dialogue, he said through an interpreter. I have reiterated that work needs to be done to create space for negotiations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made his case later Tuesday, speaking directly to the General Assembly in his first in-person appearance in front of the world body since Russias invasion. Last year he was exempted from U.N. rules and delivered a videotaped speech to the Assembly.
Targeting countries many of them in the Global South that have refrained from condemning the Russian invasion Zelenskyy underscored that the outcome of the war would affect the entire international community. The Kremlins goal was to turn Ukraine into a weapon against you, against the rules based international order, he said, as he warned against shady deals to negotiate the ending of the war on unjust terms.
Evil cannot be trusted, just ask Prigozhin, Zelensky said, referring to the former head of a private military group who mounted a mutiny against Putin and died in an airplane crash two months later.
On Wednesday at the Security Council meeting on Ukraine, Zelenskyy is scheduled to discuss his 10-point peace plan, endorsed fully or partially by more than 140 countries. Russias foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, is also expected to attend the Council meeting, potentially bringing Ukraines leader to the same table with a senior Russian official for the first time since the war began.
As part of Ukraines diplomatic outreach to the Global South, Kyiv has also supported the broadest peace initiative to date from Saudi Arabia. In August, the Saudis hosted senior officials from some 40 countries including the U.S., China, and India, but not Russia, to work toward a broad agreement on key principles for a peaceful end to the war.
Anita Powell contributed to this report.
Sydney Lemmon and Peter Friedman in Job. Photo: Emilio Madrid
In a 1926 essay called How Should One Read a Book? Virginia Woolf describes the difference between what she calls actual reading and after reading. While we are actively, actually engrossed in a book, says Woolf, we are alert, sympathetic, and easily distracted: Ones judgment is suspended, for one does not know what is coming next. Surprise, admiration, boredom, interest, succeed each other The friction of reading and the emotion of reading beat up too much dust to let us find clear answers. But then, there is the after reading. Suddenly, says Woolf, as one is going about ones day, tying a shoe, perhaps the whole book floats to the top of the mind complete The book takes on a definite shape; it becomes a castle, a cowshed, a gothic ruin, as the case may be. Now one can think of the book as a whole, and the book as a whole is different.
A play like Max Wolf Friedlichs Job is specifically, methodically crafted to beat up emotional dust during the actual reading (or watching). It starts and ends with a gun in the white-knuckled grip of one of its characters, and in between are 80 minutes of pretty much pure tension anxiety that gradually thickens, along with the plot, into dread and revulsion. In his playwrights notes at the front of the script, Friedlich insists, This is a period piece. I mean, sure; the play takes place in January 2020, and considering that his characters are howling on the heath during an already brutal political-sociological-psychological shitstorm, it seems fair not to saddle them with constantly discussing COVID, too. But the play is not really an exercise in period but in genre. Job is a horror piece a Black Mirror episode with the sci-fi dialed down (because the horrors are real) and the punchy, cynical, HBO-ready dialogue dialed up. Its a slick, cleverly crafted drop-tower ride, and while youre trapped inside, it succeeds at turning your stomach.
Trapped isnt a dig: Friedlich wants you to feel that way. In the intimate Soho Playhouse, Scott Penners neutral-chic psychiatrists-office set sits slightly elevated and slightly cramped inside the hard lines of a Crate & Barrelesque area rug below and a floating rectangle of crown molding above. Around this beige island, a moat of darkness. On either side of the space, vertical banks of lights in garish, sickly colors flare up intermittently in Mextly Couzins sinister lighting design, then click out again, rendering the innocuous office now nightmarish, now normal. Those clicks are audible, too. Sound designers Jessie Char and Maxwell Neely-Cohen snap us in and out of rapid, gruesome audio sequences that feel like the doomiest kind of scrolling: Click. An engine revving like a buzz saw. Click. Pornographic moaning. Click. Something, someone, howling in pain.
And then theres that gun. Jane (Sydney Lemmon, as rigid and electrified as a third rail) is holding it, and shes pointing it at Lloyd, played by the excellent, absolutely at ease Peter Friedman. (You may know him as Frank Vernon on Succession.) Please realize what is happening here, says Lloyd. You are holding me hostage. Jane, in her 20s, works in user care at Faceb sorry, at an unnamed tech behemoth in Northern California, and she has been put on leave after a video of her having a truly scary breakdown at work has gone viral. (Despite evidence that it may in fact be her very real and horrifying job thats destroying her, she is maniacally desperate to get back to it.) Lloyd, in his 60s, is a therapist, and Jane has arrived at his office for a company-mandated session. His assessment will determine whether she can return to work.
Let the intergenerational power games begin! In a way, Job is a kind of Gen-Z entry in the tradition of tense, breathless, power-struggle-between-an-older-man-and-a-younger-woman plays, like David Mamets Oleanna and David Harrowers Blackbird. But given the tectonic shifts in, well, everything, between the then of those plays and the now of Job, Friedlich is, almost inevitably, both participating in a convention and violently flipping it off. Think you know whos crazy? Think you know where your sympathies lie? Try again! And again. And gasp! again! Behind the gun and the ever-increasing ghoulishness, Job is, in essence, a parable of generational disempowerment and rage. Lloyd, the boomer, is well-meaning, kind, liberal, and blinkered. And he has total power over the future or lack thereof of the Gen-Zer, Jane, whos hyperarticulate, jaded, ready with a Twitter-feud answer for everything, and hovering between fanaticism and crushing despair.
Its the hippies who wrote the strict housing laws to make it so nobody can build low-income apartments next to their cutesy rowhouses, Jane rattles off at Ritalin speed (though, as she says, shes more of Xanax girlie.) You villainize us because tech bros and hippies are at war. And we are winning Hippies were white kids from the suburbs who came out here to take drugs and fuck with impunity and now theyre pissed something productive is replacing their 50-year-long drum circle The legacy of the 60s is an obsession with aesthetics. To be antiwar, you had to wear a tie-dye shirt and grow your hair out, and so now, today, Im not allowed to have good politics and wear Lululemon.
Like almost everything that gallops out of Janes mouth, its zingy, caustic, and not necessarily inaccurate (if not necessarily as nuanced as she thinks). Its also pronounced with a dizzyingly contradictory combo of aggressive self-assurance and on-the-edge-of-a-panic-attack anxiety. Her nervy combativeness overwhelms the room. Lloyd is on the back foot almost continuously, and its a credit to the shared zippiness of text and direction (by Michael Herwitz) and to the alert, flexible performances of the plays two actors that this dynamic doesnt start to wear. Friedlichs text itself can, every so often, slip into a talky cul-de-sac on its way to the eventual stomach-turning climax that is its ultimate goal, but Lemmon and Friedman never let the pressure out of the room. They keep the string of the play taut throughout. Friedman is especially delightful to watch because he just seems so damn effortless. As in his role in Succession (which Lemmon also whisked through as one of Kendalls unfortunate girlfriends), Friedman has a natural ease and appeal, a sense that hes never pushing too hard: It makes him inherently likable, which is money in the bank for an actor in a role thats at best deeply ambiguous and at worst maybe a monster.
But on that front, no more. Job isnt the kind of play in which spoilers dont really matter. Its built for the big drop, and to find out exactly what hellish depths it plummets to, you have to see it. Theres no doubt that in the Woolfian actual reading, the play is affecting and effective. Like a good TV crime drama, its manipulative in a value-neutral sense: It knows the position it wants to put you in, and it puts you there. Whether you, like me, may find the play shrinking somewhat in the after reading, who can say? But at a little distance from Job, I find myself increasingly disheartened by its definite shape, which feels like a very neatly constructed black hole. There is no alternative, no future, reads a stage direction near the plays end. Clever nihilism may be the form assumed by beaten, starved idealism, but in the end, it still only feeds itself.
Job is at the SoHo Playhouse through October 8.
Photo: Paramount Network
Yellowstone has become so much bigger than just the shows. It represents real America, and is often viewed as the only show that caters to the red states. Starring Kevin Costner (seemingly against his will), the show focuses on the Dutton family, Montana landowners who aim to keep their piece, no matter what developers, Indigenous people, or environmentalists say. The only episode I have ever seen of the show (season fives The Dream Is Not Me, which screened before the infamous Paley Fest panel that the feuding Costner and Taylor Sheridan failed to show up for) had three different montages about the Duttonss vanishing way of life and all the bucolic splendor it affords. Yellowstone isnt just a show, its lifestyle porn. (The Paley Fest attendees in cowboy hats and boots attest to that.)
The Yellowstone brand (pardon the cattle ranching pun) has now extended to a cookbook. Chef Gabriel Gator Guilbeau who went from heading up craft services on set to playing a minor, eponymous part on the show released Yellowstone: The Official Dutton Ranch Family Cookbook earlier this month. Its what every dad is getting for Christmas this year, whether they like it or not. The recipes are for food thats appeared on screen, behind the scenes as food for the cast, and pre-dating the series from his Cajun heritage. Theres certainly no hiding it, he told Vulture of his Louisiana roots. So I absolutely embraced it. He favors foods that can be cooked over a campfire, as well as meals that can be scaled up to feed a whole cattle drive/TV crew.
To fully immerse myself in the cowboy lifestyle, I let Chef Gators flavors take over my life for a weekend to learn how to eat like a Dutton. Unlike its prequels, Yellowstone is about only doing the rustic thing optionally. But I wanted to understand what it is about this vibe that is so appealing to 12 million people, starting with the food most associated with the show. Would the recipe for John, Kayce, and Tates glazed venison meatballs help sway this land-back-avowing coastal elite to the Dutton way of life?
A Meal Starts With the Eyes (and the Hands)
The immersion started almost immediately and tactically when I handled the books cover, which has a fake-leather finish and the big Yellowstone Y branded into it. It was kind of yucky to touch. Already, there is a level of visceral sensory information that is off-putting to my lily-livered greenhorn ass.
Chef Gator favors foods that can be cooked over a campfire, as well as meals that can be scaled up to feed a whole cattle drive/TV crew. The pictures in the book are so appealing, bathed in golden-hour sunlight and smothered in butter.
Beef: Its Whats for Dinner (and Lunch, and Breakfast)
Would you be shocked to learn that the official cookbook for a show about cattle ranchers has a lot of beef in it? Theres beef chili, rib-eye steak, beef stew, flank steak, pot roast, hamburger mac casserole, and even homemade jerky.
Chef Gator picked recipes that work well over an open flame say, on a campfire in the middle of Big Sky Country. Something like a steak needs that incredible amount of heat that you get from a live fire, he said. Very few peoples stoves get as hot as Id like them. Finishing your steak in an oven just isnt cowboyish. Its practically French.
Photo: Bethy Squires
Cast Iron Is King
Speaking of finishing food in an oven, many of the recipes in the Yellowstone cookbook are done in a cast-iron pan. Dishes like the Butter Roasted Shrimp are even served in the pan in which they were cooked. Cast iron pans rule because (1) they look cool, and (2) their versatility. You can sautee in them, shallow fry, or even bake something like cornbread in there. Cast irons can also be used as a weapon, which could come in handy if your life is as conflict-filled as John Duttons.
Food Is an Allegory for the Vanishing West
I made two recipes: Rips Fry Bread and Rodeo Cowboy Caviar. According to the book, Rip (Cole Hauser) made fry bread for Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) after their first night together. Its a staple in many Native American households. Meanwhile, the roots of cowboy caviar are hotly debated, with some seeing it as Texan heritage, and others calling it gentrified pico de gallo. (The fact that I used store-bought pico as a substitute for Gators hand-chopped tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, and cilantro does not help the Texan heritage case.) These two dishes went well together but also spoke to the thorny place Yellowstone has in American culture. It gives roles to Indigenous actors, though some find those roles Delusional! Deplorable! It entertains thousands of people but plays on tropes that plague our society and sow division. The cowboy caviar bangs, though. Its as if a three-bean salad wasnt gross. Truly groundbreaking.
Really, the Key Is Drinking Like a Dutton
Gator says the most Dutton of dishes is just a big swig of whiskey: Thats why there are cocktails in the back. Lets face it, who has time for elaborate meals (even if you have a personal chef to make them) if youre busy running for governor, or scheming to steal a baby, or doing whatever it is Jamie does in a day? Next time I make cowboy caviar, Ill serve it with Beths Two Scoops of Ice Cream, Three Shots of Vodka smoothie. Its what Taylor Sheridan would have wanted.
Below Deck Down Under Shes Just Not That Into You Season 2 Episode 18 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Photo: Bravo
And just like that its all over. Its been a whirlwind of a season, and Im thrilled to see the crew make it through this incredibly emotional ride. Overall, this season was a banger, due in no small part to one of the most tight-knit and entertaining casts (excluding Luke and Laura, of course) weve ever had. But a lot of shit goes down before everyone disembarks Northern Sun, so lets dive in.
We pick up with the Teppanyaki dinner situation, as Captain Jason tries talking Tzarina down from her anxious state with some words of encouragement. He even offers to do a test run of the flaming onion volcano shes worried about. Find you a captain like Jason. Ultimately, Tzarina has no reason to worry because the dinner ends up going off without a hitch. The guests enjoy the meal and have a good time interacting with Tzarina, who manages to successfully flip a shrimp into Jasons mouth.
Meanwhile, in the crew mess, the guys talk about their post-season plans, which naturally leads to the topic of Culvers Med job thats still up in the air. Culver says he hasnt heard back from Captain Olaf but that he isnt reading too much into it. As evidenced by past behavior, Culver just isnt someone who cares about following through with plans. Joao claims its unheard of for captains to allow couples to join a boat together, which is hilarious coming from the guy who previously worked under Captain Sandy, who has hired couples in the past.
While the guests are saying their good-byes the next morning, Captain Jason slips Melissa a check to cover the costs of her damaged dress. This is when I learn that damage to guest property isnt covered by the boat or production or whatever, which is sort of stupid, and that Jason reimbursed her out of the goodness of his heart. King!
At the final tip meeting, Jason reveals that the guests left a $17,000 tip, bringing their total for the whole season to a whopping $164,000, or $13,700 each, which is a lot for six weeks. Jaimee obviously gets crowned with the disco helmet because she ruined a dress that, according to Melissas husband, fed a bunch of villages in India. Jaimees relatable reaction: I ruined the primarys outfit and captains about to ruin mine.
Then theyre off to a celebratory dinner with Jason, who treats the crew to a special evening at Flames of the Forest which, according to a quick Google search, is held in one of the worlds oldest rainforests to give them an opportunity to connect with the local culture. Everyones stunned by the gorgeous location to the point where it brings Aesha to tears. A man plays the didgeridoo for them, and then they dig into dishes that include kangaroo. This leads to the first drama of the night. When Jaimee mentions previously telling Culver to try kangaroo since its healthy, Joao uses it as an opportunity to take a shot at Culver, implying that Jaimee is too intelligent for him. He later continues by bringing up Culvers initiative (or lack thereof) and how he should step it up when it comes to deck duties. I mean, I detect no lies!
Joaos snarky comments continue in the van ride to the club, telling Culver he shouldnt make promises to people in yachting since Jaimees now stuck waiting around for him to sort out the boat job. Facts, even though Joaos only taking out his frustrations on Culver since hes upset over the dissolution of his and Tzarinas situationship. Culver argues that he should mind his own business and focus on his relationship with Tzarina, which she counters is nonexistent. She adds that Joao is back to being his old self after acting like an angel all season, which Joao doesnt think is fair. Agreed, because although hes definitely behaving poorly, it doesnt seem like Tzarina was ever interested in giving him the chance to show hes changed. Aesha claims his alter ego is back, and soon enough Joao gets hammered and decides to kiss Margot to piss Tzarina off, which is uncomfortable. Theyre toxic for each other, and I hate that he involved Margot.
Elsewhere at the club, Jaimee continues heavily flirting with Luka while Culver is off doing his own thing. They step away from the group and head to the bar, where Jaimee repeatedly tells Luka how hot he is. Meanwhile, Culver explains to Tzarina that he and Jaimee are on great terms because he knows their relationship well. Cut to Luka and Jaimee kissing. Im not one to condone cheating, but I cant help but be a little happy that Culver is getting a taste of his own medicine. Karma is a bitch!
The next morning, everyone is feeling the fallout of their actions from the eventful night. After chatting on the dock, Joao and Tzarina come to the conclusion that its best if they end things. Joao breaks down in tears on the boat, telling Tzarina that he worked hard to stay away from being the super-drunk person he was last night. Leave it to Down Under to make me feel bad for Joao. Honestly, reality TV seems to bring out the worst in him, so it might be best if he steers clear of it from now on.
Then, the crew finds out about Luka and Jaimees smooch, and soon enough everyone except Culver is gathered in Aesha and Tzarinas cabin gossiping about it. Jaimee pretends she doesnt remember the kiss but admits in a confessional that she just wanted to keep the truth from Culver. Sis, you do know itll be on television regardless, right? After realizing that it wont stay a secret for much longer, Jaimee confesses to Culver, adding that she was too drunk to remember the kiss until the crew refreshed her memory (this is a lie). Hes speechless and hurt but forgives her shortly after because he believes they have a real connection. How oblivious could one person be?
And then were saying our good-byes. Margot departs first, feeling proud of herself for ending on a high note. Captain Jason even offers her a gig working as a third stew on a boat in Thailand, which she declines in favor of giving herself time to heal, which is the right decision. Harrys the next to go, and of every newbie this season, I think hes the one Id most like to see back. Hes a sweetheart whos good at his job in a way that reminds me of Colin from Below Deck Mediterranean, so Bravo would be stupid not to have him back.
Im not sure Id be interested in seeing Tzarina return because, despite being a great chef who knows how to make guests happy, she might be too annoying to be tolerated for multiple seasons. Someone we will be seeing again soon is Luka, whos off to Europe for whats probably his gig on the upcoming season of BDM. His time here was short but sweet, so Im excited to see what he has in store for us there. Joao tells us that his biggest takeaway was realizing that he isnt ready for a girlfriend, but based on his Instagram hes been in a relationship for over a year, so heres hoping he actually learned from this experience.
Culver and Jaimee leave the boat together because Jaimee is spineless and feels guilty for making him sad. Girl, is he 12 years old? You guys have been dating for like, four days, just break up with him! Id bet all my earnings from these recaps on Jaimee ending things with him immediately upon arriving at the airport after finding out that the Med job isnt happening.
Finally, the only people left on the boat are Aesha and Jason, the power duo of all power duos. Aesha shares that the highlight of her season was Jason being there for her (he says the feeling is mutual), which makes me emotional. Theyre the shows beating heart, and the genuine care they have for one another and the crew is heartwarming. The episode fittingly ends with one last confessional, in which Jason fails to put in his contacts alone until Aesha helps him out. I love them so much, its unreal!
Cheers to another great season in the books! Ill catch you all in the Italian Riviera for what will likely be another exhausting yet entertaining season of Mediterranean with Captain Sandy.
Photo: Lester Cohen/Getty Images
Under pressure after bombshell allegations of sexual assault, companies are distancing themselves from comedian and creator Russell Brand. In a story published September 16 from the Times U.K., the Sunday Times, and Channel 4 Dispatches, four women accused Brand of sexual assault, including one when she was 16. The allegations came on top of other claims of Brands harassment throughout the report. Brand has denied the reporting, saying he was very, very promiscuous but only had consensual relationships. Still, it did not take long for companies to begin dropping the comedian. Deadline even since reported that Brand was dropped from the Comedy Central series Roast Battle after just one season, in 2018, because fellow judge Katherine Ryan had called him a sexual predator multiple times on the show. (Her comments were not included in the series, and she has said she was not assaulted by Brand.) Here is every company and charity that has responded to Brands allegations.
His agency
Tavistock Wood Management Agency said it terminated all professional ties to Brand the day after the investigation. In a statement, the company admitted it had been aware of a previous allegation against Brand, after one woman told the Times she had brought an allegation to his literary agent there but only heard back from Brands lawyer. Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him, the company told Vulture.
His book publisher
Bluebird, an imprint of U.K. publisher Pan MacMillan, said it would pause all future publishing with Russell Brand after the allegations, per the Bookseller. Brand had been set to publish Recovery: The Workbook with Bluebird in December, a follow-up to his 2017 Recovery: Freedom From Our Addictions. These are very serious allegations, the publisher said.
BBC
The British broadcaster has pulled some content involving Brand from its TV and radio streaming services. Per Variety, these included an episode of the quiz show QI and a podcast with the fitness personality Joe Wicks. A spokesperson said it was a considered decision to remove the content, since it now falls below public expectations. The spokesperson explained, The BBC does not ban or remove content when it is a matter of public record, unless we have justification for doing so.
YouTube
While Brands YouTube channel has not been removed, the site has demonetized his channel for violating our Creator Responsibility policy, NBC reported. If a creators off-platform behaviour harms our users, employees or ecosystem, we take action to protect our community, YouTube said in a statement. Brand had published conspiracy-theory videos about the COVID pandemic and commented on right-wing causes on his channel.
Trevi
A year after Brand began working with the womens charity in 2022, Trevi announced it had cut ties with the comedian and his own Stay Free Foundation. As a charity whose values put womens voices at the heart of what we do, we always prioritise supporting women affected by violence and abuse and empower them to live without violence and fear, Trevi, which helps women recovering from substance abuse, said on Instagram. The charity said it was deeply saddened and upset by the allegations. Brand had been set to fundraise for Trevi at a show in Plymouth in the U.K. on September 22, but his tour has also been postponed.
Flexible and managed office operators Bhive Workspace has leased 1.2 lakh sq ft of office space in the central business district of Bangalore as it looks to expand its presence across major cities. The Church Street, Bangalore property is BHIVEs largest property across the central business district in Bengaluru and the fourth largest in its portfolio after HSR, BTM, and Whitefield campus.The co-working industry in India is at an inflection point with the rapid proliferation of such facilities across the industry and occupiers across sectors actively taking up spaces. The co-working space will offer nearly 3,500 seats and many offerings like food and beverages, Shesh Paplikar, Founder and CEO of BHIVE Workspace, said. The launch of this facility assumes significance as the demand for premium co-working spaces within the CBDs is increasing across the city to benefit from the prime location, good connectivity, and social infrastructure.The Church Street facility has already generated a lot of buzz among clients across edtech, fitness, and influencer marketing, with more than 40% of seats already occupied, said Paplikar. Bhive Workspace has been aggressively expanding its footprint in Bengaluru and eyeing new opportunities in other top commercial markets. The addition of the new space takes the total footprint to over 1.5 million square feet with 45,000 seats across the city. The company aims to add another 8,000-10,000 seats over the course of the next 3-5 months in Bangalore.The Co-working firm is currently in the process of raising a Rs 400 crore alternative investment fund (AIF) to scale up its domestic operations. The proposed new Category-II co-working-focused fund will acquire fully completed commercial real estate properties. Indias flexible office segment is expected to witness further growth, with occupiers quick to adopt flex spaces, attracted by their flexibility, agility, and cost-effectiveness.Flex is now firmly entrenched in the second spot with strong growth currents driven by managed operators and sizeable enterprise demand that remains intact for the flex segment. We will see demand further strengthening in the coming quarters, said Arpit Mehrotra, Managing Director, Office Services - South India & Head of Flex-India, Colliers. The flexible office segment has seen 3x growth as of March 2023. The segment saw 4.5 mn sq ft of office space leased in the first half of 2023 across top cities, a 25% growth over the same period last year, said Colliers.
Recurring 'miracle' of San Gennaro occurs in Napoli
The blood of Naples' patron saint Gennaro liquefied at the city's cathedral on Tuesday morning, leading to relief among some superstitious Neapolitans who see it as a good omen.
The 'miracle' was announced at exactly 10.03 by Archbishop Mimmo Battaglia, to lengthy applause from the faithful, reports Italian state broadcaster RAI News.
The event traditionally occurs on three dates: 19 September (the saint's feast day), 16 December and the first Saturday in May.
On each occasion the faithful gather in the southern Italian city to witness the liquefaction of what is claimed to be a sample of S. Gennaro's blood, kept in a sealed glass ampoule.
Three times a year this vial of dried blood is exposed for public veneration, with the "relatives" of S. Gennaro - a group of elderly faithful - chanting litanies and prayers in a tradition dating back to the 19th century.
Who was S. Gennaro?
S. Gennaro, or St Januarius, was a bishop of Benevento in the third century, whose bones and blood are preserved as relics at the cathedral in Naples.
He is believed to have been martyred during the Christian persecution, under Emperor Diocletian, circa 305.
According to local lore, if the blood of S. Gennaro fails to liquefy it signals imminent disaster including war, famine or disease.
The blood failed to liquefy on 16 December 2020, in what was seen by some as an omen of bad things to come.
Superstitious Neapolitans believe it is a worse omen however if the miracle does not occur on the saint's feast day.
Two months after the blood failed to liquefy on 19 September 1980, Irpinia - located 50 km east of Naples - was hit with a devastating earthquake that killed almost 3,000 people.
On previous - but not all - occasions when the blood failed to liquefy on the saint's feast day, it signalled bad news for Naples.
The miracle also did not occur in 1939 and 1940, coinciding with the beginning of world war two and Italy's entry into the conflict, and again in September 1943: the date of the Nazi occupation.
Neapolitans have traditionally turned to their patron to protect them from natural disasters - according to the Italian bishops' newspaper Avvenire - with crowds of people in the early centuries seeking refuge in the catacombs of Capodimonte.
So it happened in 472, 512 and 685, with the Neapolitan bishops of the time leading the prayers of the people.
It then became customary to invoke S. Gennaro to ask for an end to volcanic eruptions: in 1631, on 16 December, it was decided to exhibit the relics and the eruption of Vesuvius stopped.
The Catholic Church has always supported the celebrations but has never formulated an official statement on the 'miracle'.
However it does not permit the sealed vial to be opened which has hampered scientific research into the phenomenon.
The blood did not melt during the visits of Pope John Paul II in 1990 or Pope Benedict XVI in October 2007 - reports Avvenire - however it did liquefy when Pope Francis visited in March 2015.
Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome hosts Favoloso Calvino from 13 October to 4 February 2024.
On the centenary of the birth of Italo Calvino, a major exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome celebrates the acclaimed Italian writer and his relationship with the arts.
The Favoloso Calvino exhibition highlights the creative path of the writer, who died in 1985, by displaying art that inspired his writings, imagination and theories.
The show comprises more than 200 works including paintings, sculptures and drawings by artists from the Renaissance to today, mediaeval illuminated manuscripts and tapestries.
Tullio Pericoli, Italo Calvino, 2012. Collezione dellartista / Tullio Pericoli.
On display are masterpieces by artists including Carpaccio, de Chirico, Gnoli, Melotti, Escher and Paul Klee alongside photographic portraits of the writer by Carla Cerati and Sebastiao Salgado.
The exhibition also includes original volumes and first editions of Calvino's books, displayed with some of the author's most famous quotations.
Vittore Carpaccio, San Giorgio che uccide il drago e quattro scene del suo martirio, 1516. Venezia, Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore, Benedicti Claustra Onlus.
Ogranisers say the exhibition illustrates Calvino's journey through life including "choices, political and civil commitment, places and above all his literary production and working methods".
Calvino is known internationally for his Cosmicomics collection of short stories (1965) and the novels Invisible Cities (1972) and If on a winter's night a traveler (1979).
Pedro Cano, Fedora, da Le citta invisibili, acquerello su carta, Blanca, Fundacion Pedro Cano.
For full exhibition details and visiting times see Scuderie del Quirinale website.
Cover image: Calvino nello specchio, s.d., Roma, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Fondo Calvino.
The relationships between Donald Trump and his three eldest children are likely to be on display as they are all scheduled to take the witness stand in the civil fraud trial in New York over the Trump Organizations business practices.
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No matter how long you have been in, the military lifestyle can be fun, exciting and adventurous, as well as difficult, challenging and even scary at times. Some things get easier over time, and some things are always tough; deployments are rarely on the top of anyones must experience list.
Stars and Stripes Europe reached out to military spouses to get their thoughts about several topics impacting military life. We received 100 responses from the spouses of six military branches, active duty and reserve, who have been dependents from just a few months to more than 20 years.
These spouses are currently stationed at locations all over the world, with 40 percent being OCONUS (outside the continental U.S.). This month we are talking about a hot topic in the military spouse community: employment.
According to the 2022 Blue Star Families Annual Survey, military spouse employment was the number one issue for active duty families, with 48 percent of their respondents making this claim. Our own survey agreed with this statement; 28 percent of spouses responded that military spouse employment and underemployment was the number one issue for military families. The Blue Star survey found that 21 percent of military spouses were unemployed, with 2/5 spouses claiming that childcare expenses were the reason they were not working.
In our Stripes survey, when asked if military life had an impact on decisions and circumstances related to work, Air Force spouse Shelby M. talked solely about childcare: Childcare is so hard to come by here let alone to afford. I would work if I could find care for my children. With such numbers, we wanted to ask spouses about their own experiences with employment, unemployment and underemployment.
I currently work part-time where I am overqualified and underpaid based on my work experience, claimed Air Force Spouse Kristen T. This quote seems like it could be the unofficial motto of military spouses. 28 percent of spouses who responded claimed that they did not work. Of the spouses who wanted to work, 15 percent stated that they have submitted over 31 job applications at their current duty location.
Chart featuring Job Applications Submitted at Current Duty Station by military spouses ()
Navy spouse Shana C. shared how the thing that scared her the most about military life was career and education opportunities: Military life has definitely affected my career. I am a teacher. Getting credentialed in each place we move is expensive and time-consuming. There were no jobs for me when we were first stationed in San Diego and childcare was so expensive that being a stay-at-home mom with my boys for 4 years was the best option. I was a tenured teacher in NYS and having to get certified in California was extremely frustrating, fueled by misinformation.Now that we're stationed in Japan, to work, I have to go through a whole different set of credentialing and application loopholes in order to work. This not only creates gaps in my work history but also gaps in the income my family can rely on. We must plan for deficits. My personal retirement is also not secured. I have not worked in NYS for many years therefore the state "cashed me out." And after eight years in California, depending on how long we're away or if we ever go back, I may lose future retirement there as well. She was not alone in this way of thinking; 10 percent of spouses responded to our survey indicating that career and employment opportunities were the thing that scared them most.
Job Satisfaction
When asking about their working options and decisions, we also talked to spouses about job satisfaction.
Many spouses can find satisfaction in the work that they do. Marine Spouse Kristina B. loves the satisfaction she gets from finding a job. I am loving being a whole person again. Its great to be contributing to my household financially and having a focus on something outside of my home.
However, many spouses find themselves underemployed, overeducated or out-of-field for positions they end up in because of the military life. Army Spouse Amanda F. touched on this topic: [Military life] has impacted my work tremendously. I have a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and I am consistently underemployed due to moving every few years with the military. It is exhausting to start over in a new city every two to three years and have no contacts in that area. Also, I am the go-to parent because my spouse has a practically nonexistent work/life balance, so I have to look for a position that provides the ability to drop off and pick our children up from school and be able to be with them when they are sick.
Air Force spouse Romain G. noted how some spouses need to work and do what they have to do. I work as a contractor, not by choice but by necessity. I have also been on the lookout for career opportunities constantly in the past year/year and a half. But nothing has worked out, in large part because of where we are currently stationed.
Military spouse employment is such a complicated and in-depth issue that weve had to break this article into two parts. Come back next week when we talk about military spouses working OCONUS and how military life can impact ones circumstances and decisions related to working.
The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of the employees of Stars and Stripes.
Sydney faces extreme bushfire danger on Wednesday as hot winds fan dozens of fires around the state.
A catastrophic fire warning was issued on Tuesday for the states Bega Valley and Eurobodalla shires the highest level of risk assigned by the NSW Rural Fire Service.
A helicopter drops water on the Wallacia fire in Sydneys south-west on Tuesday. Credit: Wolter Peeters
On Tuesday, firefighters battled a bushfire near Silverdale Road in Wallacia using water-bombing aircraft. Crews were also watching the aftermath of major hazard reduction burns near Galston in the citys north-west and the Royal National Park near Sutherland.
Watch and Act warnings were also issued for two fires in NSW at Little Pelican Road on Lake Macquarie, and Taskers on the South Coast near the Victorian border.
Former child abuse royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald and top domestic violence campaigners have accused the federal government of putting vested interests ahead of child safety by ignoring advice to trial an Australian porn passport.
In an open letter to be sent to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Michelle Rowland on Tuesday, more than three dozen child and womens safety experts said early exposure to pornography was leading to the normalisation of violence against women and a rise in child-on-child sexual abuse.
Consent advocate Chanel Contos. Credit: Jamila Toderas
Signatories include consent campaigner Chanel Contos, the first NSW Commissioner for Children and Young People Gillian Calvert, parenting experts Maggie Dent, Michael Carr-Gregg and Steve Biddulph, the head of the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children Anna Bowden, and ethicists Tim Costello and Professor Clive Hamilton.
It is our strong view that the government has allowed itself to be swayed by industry resistance to an age verification system, the letter read. Vested interests should not have been put before the wellbeing of children.
A bride and groom have told family theyre considering legal action after a gastro outbreak hit more than 30 guests who attended their wedding reception at an Albert Park venue at the weekend.
More than 30 people who ate at the venue, The Park, on Saturday were struck by gastro-like symptoms this week, the Health Department said, including at least two who spent Monday night in hospital.
The Park reception centre in Albert Park.
A Health Department-led investigation was still to determine the outbreaks cause on Tuesday. It is not expected to be linked to a cluster of listeria cases under investigation in Victoria.
One attendee, who spoke to this masthead on the condition of anonymity, said guests had the choice of chicken or pork for their main meal.
Chinas lust for travel is back and around 50 per cent of respondents aim to travel abroad over the next 12 months, and if possible more often than in the past, says IPKs latest travel survey.
The World Travel Monitor survey on travel plans in Chinas outbound travel market said a further 44 per cent want to take as many foreign trips as they used to, while only single-digit percentages of respondents intend to take fewer outbound trips or none at all.
Compared with previous surveys, IPKs findings from its latest surveys shows a significant trend towards more outbound trips and reflects an increasing desire to travel in Chinas outbound travel market. The survey was published by ITB Berlin,
Chinas growing desire for more international trips over the next 12 months is laying a solid foundation for a strong recovery in 2024, it said.
That was also the message that emerged from ITB China which recently concluded in Shanghai. Following the break due to the pandemic, the event had gathered 10,000 attendees from the Chinese and global travel industry live in Shanghai.
Compared with 2019, Chinese outbound travel still lags massively behind globally. Whereas in 2019 China was the worlds fourth largest source market with around 70 million outbound trips, in 2022 it was overtaken by numerous markets with much better recovery rates. Sustained and tight travel restrictions have resulted in significantly slowing the recovery.
Europe tops the list of favourite destinations
With regard to their travel plans over the next 12 months, Chinese travellers preferred destinations are likely to be in Europe, followed by trips within Asia. Over the same period travel to America will remain a less frequent choice, due to a lack of flight options on the one hand and geopolitical reasons on the other. For six per cent of the interviewees trips within China are the only realistic choice.
Compared with previous surveys there is a positive trend towards European destinations, whereas at the beginning of the year neighbouring countries topped the list. The main reasons for this are a longing for faraway destinations and the market catching up again after Europe was all but inaccessible over the past three years.
Big demand for cultural travel
Over 80 per cent of the Chinese interviewees intend to holiday abroad over the next 12 months. Compared with a survey at the beginning of the year this represents an increase in holiday plans. Within the holiday segment, the focus among Chinese travellers over the next 12 months is clearly on cultural trips. Thus, 60 per cent are planning a round trip abroad. A further 44 per cent intend to take city breaks. Together with the manifest high interest in trips to Europe, this means the chances for Europes cultural destinations making a comprehensive recovery are very good. However, compared with the last survey, Chinas growing desire for sun and beach holidays over the next 12 months must also be taken into account, it said.
Above-average interest in business travel
As before the pandemic, foreign business trips are an important market. Thus, around 30 per cent of the Chinese respondents are planning a business trip abroad over the next 12 months. Compared with previous surveys the figures here are stable, while also far higher than the global average. Within the business trip segment there is also a clear trend towards MICE travel. As in the past, VFR travel and other private trips will not significantly impact the Chinese outbound travel market over the next 12 months.
Changes in travel behaviour mainly due to financial reasons
Looking at the bigger picture, the question naturally also arises as to how pandemic-related restrictions and the significant decline in travel over the last three years will impact Chinese travel behaviour.
In the IPK surveys the interviewees say that in future they intend to save on travel expenses by travelling in off-peak periods and shortening their stay. That way they intend to offset the significant increases in airfares that have resulted due to the lack of flights.
A further 25 per cent of the respondents would like to save money on accommodation in future. Nevertheless, over 80 per cent are planning to stay in hotels on foreign trips over the next 12 months. Other overnight options such as holiday homes and apartments also report increased demand. Overall, Chinese travellers expenses are still very high and substantially above the global average.
Overall positive outlook for 2024
Chinas lust for travel, due among other things to the market catching up, the current and successive lifting of many travel restrictions, and the fact that visas are being issued again for important destinations, is setting the tone for a gradual recovery of Chinas outbound travel market.
According to IPK surveys, the positive trend in this outbound travel market will continue over the next 12 months, so that in the medium term there is a good chance of the market returning to 2019 levels in the foreseeable future. However, this process will take longer than in the large source markets of Europe and North America. The geopolitical impact on the issuing of visas and the slow growth of flight availability, coupled with high prices due to the closure of Russian air space, will to some extent dampen Chinas lust for travel, the survey said. -TradeArabia News Service
In this article, we take a look at the 25 best dog breeds for children and families. If you would like to skip our detailed analysis of the US pet industry and emerging trends, you can directly go to the 5 Best Dog Breeds for Children and Families.
Dogs are the most commonly owned pet in the US, with more than 65.1 million homes having at least one. As of 2022, this makes up almost 44.5% of all US households, which is a significant chunk when it comes to other kinds of pets. As the number of homes with pets increases, so does the pet ownership cost.
According to a Forbes survey, dog owners spend an average of $730 on their dogs, almost half of which goes to veterinary care. If a dog develops sudden illnesses, the veterinary bills can be racked up to $1,000 and even more in some cases. Such unexpected costs lead to people demanding dog breeds that are not highly prone to developing medical issues, which is one of the critical factors that go into determining the best dog breeds for children and families.
However, the advancing trend of having household pets has also led to the creation of multiple jobs in the pet industry, many of which can be acquired by the younger generation, such as dog-sitting.
Grand View Research estimated the global pet-sitting market to be at $1.94 billion in 2021 and and forecasted it to grow with a CAGR of almost 11% until 2030. These numbers showcase significant potential for employment in this market, which does not require specialized studies or degrees, making it much more accessible to everyone.
Moreover, as per Bureau of Labor Statistics, overall employment in the animal care industry is expected to grow 16% from 2022 to 2032, with 79,900 job openings being projected for every year in the decade. According to Bloomberg, the overall pet industry is expected to grow to $500 billion by 2030, significantly boosted by higher spending on pet-related healthcare and premium pet food.
Considering a market so conducive to growth, many pet-related corporations in the US have witnessed significant milestones in the previous years. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) is a Fortune 500 company that develops healthcare technologies for pets and other livestock animals. The company generated a revenue of $8.1 billion in 2022, showcasing the considerable revenue margin of pet healthcare.
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The pet pharmaceutical market, as a whole, has the potential to reach $25 billion by 2030 as demands for pet healthcare improvements increase. Even for Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS), top company executives have confirmed their faith in the financial health of the company. The corporation generated a 6% revenue increase in the second quarter of 2023, as compared to the second quarter of 2022. Companies like Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) are singlehandedly making significant contributions to the pet market in the US, making the lives of companion animals like dogs and, by proxy, their owners a lot easier.
Another pet-related market that is showcasing significant growth is the pet food industry. As people continue to invest in high-quality, specialized food for their pets, the pet food market is expected to grow to $135 billion by the end of the current decade. This is where corporations like Chewy Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) are making a massive name for themselves by establishing a diverse pet-related product portfolio, which includes everything from food to pet grooming supplies.
The company generated net sales of $10.1 billion in the year 2022. Chewy Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) has made pet healthcare the main focus of its product sales, hoping to generate most of its revenue from this segment of its product line. Companies like Chewy Inc. (NYSE:CHWY) and Petsmart, Inc. are also performing well as the younger generation continues to show a high consumer trend for investing in pet goods.
Other market trends include a growth in the number of individuals acquiring pet insurance for their dogs. Part of this is due to the fear of rising veterinary costs and the increasing responsibility that individuals now feel towards their pets.
According to Forbes, the average monthly cost of pet insurance for dogs is $56, with higher premiums for bigger breeds like golden retrievers compared to smaller mixed breeds like chihuahuas. From 2020 to 2022, annual veterinary costs for dog households increased by a whopping 60%, leading to a need for companies like Trupanion Inc. (NASDAQ:TRUP), which sells insurance policies for cats and dogs.
The company had a total of 1,537,573 enrolled pets by the end of 2022, a 31% increase from 2021. Trupanion Inc. (NASDAQ:TRUP) is keeping up with the emerging trends in the market, having integrated AI into its insurance invoice system. This has enabled Trupanion Inc. (NASDAQ:TRUP) to become the pet insurance company with the highest degree of veterinary invoice automation in North America.
Owing to these changing trends in the pet market of the US, people are now wondering more than ever what would be the best dog breeds for children and families. With a ton of options now available in the market, its productive to consider which breeds would result in the least possible liabilities for the family, along with being suitable for little children.
25 Best Dog Breeds for Children and Families
Photo by Cristian Castillo on Unsplash
Our Methodology
In order to create a list of the best dog breeds for children and families, we resorted to acquiring consumer consensus. We considered peoples opinions on the American site Reddit, where upvotes and the number of mentions were used to rank this list. Based on information from users on the website, here is a list of the 25 best dog breeds for children and families:
25. Portuguese Water Dog
Score: 01
Portuguese water dogs are excellent around children and other pets in the family. They dont shed as much as certain other breeds, so theyre often considered hypoallergenic, which makes them a great option for a home with kids. Theyre also highly trainable and showcase great intelligence and empathy. If purchased from a reputable breeder, a Portuguese water dog may cost somewhere around the range of $3,000 to $3,700.
24. English Cocker Spaniel
Score: 02
The general nature of the English cocker spaniel is described as easy-going, gentle, and lively. They tend to portray non-aggressive temperaments, making them suitable family pets. The only point of caution would be to note that the massive popularity of the breed has often led to overbreeding, which may result in high-strung puppies or dogs with multiple health issues. In terms of obedience training and housebreaking, cocker spaniels generally rank average.
23. English Springer Spaniel
Score: 03
Springer spaniels generally have a fun-loving nature, which makes them excellent playmates for the whole family. This breed needs a fair amount of training and daily exercise to stay out of mischief, but if properly managed, they make extremely friendly pets. These dogs cannot be left alone for more extended periods as they thrive best in company, which is a point to note for working individuals who may need to leave their apartment empty for long hours of the day.
22. Chihuahua
Score: 04
Chihuahuas are one of the smaller dog breeds on this list, which works great with families. This dog needs to be well-socialized as they can quickly become quite protective of their owners. The training for this breed should begin as early as four months, and owners should be aware that certain things might take a little time for them to get around to as they do many things at their own pace. Chihuahuas might not be the best option for families with younger kids, but older kids can really appreciate them.
21. Rat Terriers
Score: 05
The rat terrier was originally bred to be a hunting dog, which may lead to many thinking that they may not be suitable as family pets; however, thats not true. Rat terriers are exceptionally great with children and older people, making wonderful companion animals. Their hunting nature and origin do require a good amount of focus on training them, but this breed performs great as part of a human family. Traits like these make the rat terriers one of the best dog breeds for children and families.
20. Australian Shepherd
Score: 06
Australian shepherds are medium-sized dogs that work great with families but are most suitable for experienced dog owners. This breed also works well in other roles, such as herding dogs or police animals. This showcases the diversity and intelligence of the breed, along with the reliance that can be expected from them. The American Kennel Club recognized the Australian Shepherd as an official breed in 1991.
19. Cairn Terrier
Score: 07
Cairn terriers are among the top smal dog breeds for kids and families on this list. Puppies can range from $1,200 to $2,000 in price. Fully grown dogs in this breed should not weigh more than 13-14 pounds, which are measures to look out for in order to prevent costly health issues. Cairn terriers showcase a lot of loyalty for their owners and also exhibit elements of independent thinking. The breed is sturdy, with a wiry coat that requires care.
18. Boston Terrier
Score: 08
Boston terriers exhibit high amounts of energy. These dogs will want to participate in everything the family does, making them great pets for those looking for active companions. This breed bodes particularly well in urban settings. While the Boston terrier requires regular exercise in order to manage its energy effectively, their airways are structured in a way that excessive exercise may lead to breathing issues. Hence, these pets are only suitable for individuals who have the time to look out for issues like these.
17. Mongrels
Score: 09
Mongrels, also known as mutts or mixed-breed dogs, are particularly well-known for their exceptional health. This breed has a relatively stronger immunity than some of the other best dog breeds for children and families, making them less prone to common health issues. Mongrels might not be suitable for individuals looking for their dogs to accomplish a specific purpose because that factor can only be achieved with purebred dogs.
16. Bernese Mountain Dog
Score: 10
Bernese mountain dogs can get along well with other pets in the home if theyre socialized early on. The breed is a quick learner, enabling them to pick up on training quite quickly. These dogs have also been used as watchdogs and livestock guardians owing to their large sizes, but they can be pretty affectionate in family settings. This pets loyalty makes it one of the best dog breeds for children and families.
15. Poodle
Score: 11
The poodle comes in three sizes, two of which make it to this list, showing the breed's popularity in the US. The breed is regarded as one of the most intelligent in the dog family, making poodles highly trainable. They are also exceptionally known for their appearance in dog shows nationwide, which also comes from the ease and convenience of training this breed.
14. Whippet
Score: 12
Whippets are considered by many to be natural family pets due to their affectionate nature with children and other dog breeds. A pertinent thing to know about this breed is that they require moments of peace, so an all-time noisy household will not turn out to be the best environment for a whippet. The breed is generally healthy, easy to train, and intelligent.
13. Newfoundland
Score: 13
Newfoundland is among the best big dog breeds for children and families, but due to its moderate energy levels, the dog does not require extensive exercise. They generally possess sweet tempers, with a particular affiliation towards younger children. Due to their webbed feet and natural instincts, Newfies make incredible swimmers, especially good at rescuing people from the water if need be. While the breed possesses a high tolerance for children, their large fur can often knock off toddlers, so its best to keep an eye around.
12. Beagles
Score: 14
Beagles are one of the best dog breeds for children and families, but there are both pros and cons to be considered. The breed tends to be relatively low-maintenance, especially in terms of associated costs, but these dogs can also be stubborn. Raising a puppy in this breed requires a generous amount of attention and training, so getting one at the same time as having toddlers might not be the best idea. However, young adults tend to be an excellent option for children.
11. Mini Schnauzer
Score: 15
The best factor about the mini schnauzer is that it is petite enough to be well-accommodated within an apartment and active enough to become a watchdog for large areas. This makes them a great pet option for a versatile range of owners having significantly different life choices from each other. The breed can be tough and fearless without the added temperament of being aggressive.
10. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
Score: 16
Multiple spaniel breeds can be considered in the list of the best dog breeds for children and families, which is a testimony to their suitability as family pets. The King Charles Spaniel, in particular, is known for its great appreciation of the outdoors, where it loves spending time with its human family.
9. Rough Collie
Score: 17
Rough collies are considered a wonderful pet option for families and individuals who live by themselves. The breed showcases very high levels of affection and loyalty, along with being quite intelligent. Rough collies also have a wonderfully adaptive personality, enabling them to adjust to various environments. However, some individuals hesitate from this breed due to its fur; for them, the smooth collie is a much more suitable option that offers similar personality traits.
8. Basset Hound
Score: 18
Basset hounds are one of the more low-maintenance pets on this list of the best dog breeds for children and families. The dog is quite energetic and comes with a good amount of stamina, but requires only moderate exercise to manage it all. Basset hounds are also highly tolerant of noise and chaotic activity, making them good additions to families with highly active kids.
7. Mini Poodle
Score: 19
Mini poodles require much less space and outdoor exposure as compared to their standard counterparts, making them more popular with individuals who value these elements. They can generate strong bonds with their human families, making them wonderful as companion animals. This breed is especially excellent in training and tends to pick up quickly.
6. Bichon
Score: 20
The bichon frise was initially bred as a performance dog for circuses, but over the years, they have garnered a reputation as one of the best dog breeds for children and families. They enjoy playing with children and being a part of their games, which has led to them being known for their liveliness and cheerfulness. This breed can also adjust to diverse environments, making them quite versatile.
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Disclosure: None. 25 Best Dog Breeds for Children and Families is originally published on Insider Monkey.
Bonuses and pay rises could be withheld from employees and managers behaving poorly as part of an armoury of tactics bosses can use to prevent workplace sexual harassment and discrimination under landmark new workplace laws.
From December, employers must act on a positive duty to stamp out sexual assault, harassment and similar discriminatory behaviour or risk being named and shamed as part of changes recommended by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins landmark Respect@Work report.
Former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, on whose recommendations the new laws are based. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The laws were introduced by the Albanese government against a heightened focus on workplace sexual harassment, fuelled by numerous high-profile scandals in federal politics.
The changes were resisted by the former Coalition government, which questioned whether legislating a positive duty would add further complexity to workplace laws, given vicarious liability provisions already meant employers needed to prevent unlawful discrimination, while other laws required employers to ensure the health and safety of their workers.
Australian National University will ramp up security after a young man who was known to police faced court on attempted murder charges for allegedly stabbing two female students with a knife and attacking two other men, including with a frying pan.
The ACTs police union is demanding answers from the territory government over the incident, as detectives probe how accused man Alex Ophel came to be at the Canberra campus on Monday afternoon when he allegedly attacked the international and domestic students .
Alex Ophel is accused of attempted murder after two women were stabbed at ANU on Monday afternoon.
ANU deputy vice chancellor Sally Wheeler said the university wasnt aware of any threat to its community before the alleged stabbings, and that the institution was now boosting security patrols around the campus as a result of the incident.
The university has a wide range of measures in place to ensure our communitys safety, Wheeler said. We have comprehensive security infrastructure and processes in place, including cameras, [safety] officers, patrols, lighting, emergency phones and contact points. Today, we are ramping this up in the light of yesterdays events.
In this article, we will look at the 25 most profitable food business ideas. You can skip our detailed analysis of the food industry and head over directly to the 7 Most Profitable Food Business Ideas.
The United States food service industry is segmented by service type, outlet, and location. The service type segmentation includes cafes, cloud kitchens, quick service restaurants, and full service restaurants. Outlet segmentation divides restaurants into chained and independent outlets. Location segmentation divides restaurants by leisure, lodging, retail, standalone, and travel.
Furthermore, according to Mordor Intelligence, recent market trends in the industry revolve around new product offerings and accessibility.
For example, there is an influx of international cuisines such as Korean barbecue. New offerings also take the form of reintroducing old classics. In addition, accessibility trends in the industry are revolving around simplifying the purchase experience through digitization. McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD), for example, is building a strong digital platform to simplify access and decrease service time. It's strategy revolves around amplifying contactless channels such as drive-through, and delivery through mobile phone applications.
The food service market in the United States is projected to grow at a cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 10.03% during the forecast period 2023-2028, as noted by Fortune Business Insights. The market was valued at $834.61 Billion in 2022 and projected to grow to $1.7 trillion by 2028. According to Fortune Business Insights, one of the driving factors of this upward trend in the fast food market growth is the shortage of time to cook meals at home and the growth of fast food chains. The organization also notes that the young population is the major consumer of fast food in the United States, as it is spending more on food outside the home.
However, despite a healthy projected growth rate, the quick-service food industry is still grappling with the economic challenges posed by inflation, and macroeconomic uncertainties. This is corroborated by the fact that in the last quarter of 2022, traffic in quick-service restaurants, in general, was comparatively low. The Q4, 2022 traffic was down by 4.2% compared to the same period in 2021.
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Meanwhile, the average price was up by 16.2% in Q4, 2022, compared to Q4, 2021. However, the net sales of quick-service restaurants in quarter 4 of 2022 increased by 6.1% compared to the previous years last quarter. Since there is a decrease in traffic, the positive growth rate of sales is fueled by an increase in average check size because of increasing prices. If the traffic continues to fall, the revenue growth rate could decrease.
Major players in the industry, such as McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), are also adversely affected by the current economic landscape.
McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) recently reported that people are cutting back on its fries, one of the world's most-sold fast food, and one of the greatest contributors to McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD)s revenues. The increase in prices of McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) products and the general rising inflation have made people more conscious of their spending. Customers are responding to economic challenges by ordering more and more value meals and cutting back on fries.
The uncertainty of macroeconomic conditions is also affecting the public sentiments on major stocks in the market. One such is Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX), which is one of the largest coffee house companies in the United States. The London Company, an investment management company, made the following comments about Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) in their Q2, 2023 investor letter:
Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) Sentiment on SBUX turned more negative in this uncertain macro environment with the impending return of student loan payments in the U.S. SBUX reported very strong results for the Jan-March quarter, but exercised caution by not raising guidance. SBUX is beginning to realize tailwinds from the re-opening of the Chinese economy, adding a buffer to growth and margins for the remainder of the year.
Our list of the 25 profitable food business ideas does not contain a fine dining restaurant. This is because while a good fine dining restaurant generates substantial revenue, it has low profit margins, which vary from 2% to 6%. We believe that a profitable business should at least have a 9% profit margin, which is what we used as a filter in our list. This article focuses on profitable food business ideas that are either innovative or less capital-intensive to start.
25 Most Profitable Food Business Ideas
Photo by Laust Kehlet on Unsplash
Methodology
We defined profitable businesses with a net margin of at least 9%. Then we looked for profitable food business ideas on public forums such as Quora and Reddit, four (1,2,3,4) authority sources, and one of our own sources: 20 Most Profitable Food Businesses in the World. Then, we used trusted sites like Step by Step Business and Fin Model Lab, among others, to determine the average net margin of each business. We also updated the net margins of our previous list of the most profitable food businesses according to our recent research. As tie-breakers, we used their ranking on our sources.
25 - Food Truck
Profit Margin - 9%
A food truck business gives a higher return on your investment, compared to a brick-and-mortar restaurant. The cost of starting a food truck depends on several factors, including whether you decide to buy or rent a truck. The initial startup cost ranges from $28000 to $115,000. A food truck business naturally also gives you greater mobility in terms of location and events you want to cover.
24 - Donut Shop
Profit Margin - 10%
Donuts are one of the most popular baked goods in the United States. You can choose to franchise some of the popular donut shops, such as Dunkin Donuts, or set up your own. The Dunikin Donut franchise fee ranges from $40,000 to $90,000, and you must have at least $125,000 in liquid capital. If you do not have the budget to set up a physical restaurant, you can sell your donuts online by establishing a delivery-only restaurant.
23 - Bar
Profit Margin - 10%
While not amongst the most innovative ideas for food business, setting up a Bar is less capital-intensive than setting up a fine dining restaurant. The startup costs vary from $110,000 to $850,000, depending on whether you rent or buy your location. You can also set up themed bars and later expand into dining services. However, setting up a pub or bar will require obtaining an alcohol license.
22 - Juice Bars
Profit Margin - 10%
Like a Donut shop, you have the choice to either set up your juice bar or buy a franchise of some of the well-known brands. The good news here is that franchise fees of most popular juice bar brands are comparatively lower. Booster Juice, for example, charges a franchise fee of 30,000 dollars.
21 - Gourmet Candy
Profit Margin - 10%
You can run an online gourmet candy shop and sell from your home, which will result in a greater margin. Alternatively, you can set up a candy shop that delivers an average profit margin of 10%. You can expect to spend anywhere between $6,500 to $21,000 to start a candy business. The cost would include candy-making equipment and ingredients. You can also search for local vendors and rebrand their products with your brand name.
20 - Baby Food
Profit Margin - 14%
The Baby food market is growing, and you can tap into it without setting up a physical store. However, you might need to rent a professional kitchen and purchase supplies. Baby foods are easy to make, but you need to be careful with the ingredients. You might also require certain state permits and licenses before you start selling baby food.
19 - Ready Made Meals
Profit Margin - 15%
The US meal prep industry has been growing by an impressive 19% annually since 2017. A meal prep business is one of the most profitable food business ideas from home, in which case you can get started for as low as $1000. However, if you decide to go a more large-scale route, you can expect to spend anywhere between $13,000 to $22,000. The startup cost includes the price of kitchen equipment and kitchen supplies.
18 - Food Gift Basket
Profit Margin - 20%
The costs of starting a food gift basket business can vary dramatically, depending on whether you are opening a brick-and-mortar storefront or selling online only. If you go the latter route, you can expect to start with a few thousand dollars. This business caters to the global personalized gifts market, which is worth $30.3 billion and is projected to reach $47.6 Billion by 2030, achieving a CAGR of 5.8%. You have the choice of outsourcing food items to vendors and focusing on the gifting aspect or making the food in-house. The 20% profit margin is for a brick-and-mortar store, and if you sell only online, you can command a greater profit margin.
17 - Pet Food Business
Profit Margin - 20%
The US pet food market was valued at $42.3 Billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.9% till 2028, achieving a valuation of $53.8 Billion. On average, you can expect to spend $13,000 to start this business. The pet food business requires obtaining licenses depending on where you start and conduct your operations. In addition, you would need to submit your registration, licensing, and notification information to the FDA.
16 - Home Made Jam And Jellies
Profit Margin - 20%
Jams and jellies are some of the best homemade food business ideas. On average, a Jam production business costs $33,000 to start, per Starter Story. However, a home-based jam and jellies business can get started with only a few hundred dollars in investment. The advantage of this business is that you have the option to sell directly to the customer, or the local grocery store.
15 - Ice Cream Shop
Profit Margin - 25%
It is one of the most profitable food business ideas in 2023. The global ice cream market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecast period of 2022 to 2029. It was valued at $71.52 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $104.96 billion by 2029, as noted by Fortune Business Insights. The startup cost of an ice cream shop can range from $25,500 to $192,000 depending on the property and equipment. The startup cost includes rent, security deposit, freezers, marketing expenses, equipment, and marketing costs.
14 - Cookie Business
Profit Margin - 30%
The cookie market is expected to increase by $22.4 billion by 2027, achieving a projected CAGR of 5.81% according to Technavio. If you want to get into the baked goods business, it can provide an easy foot in the door. According to the Step-by-Step Business, you can get started with as low as $4,550, making it one of the best food business ideas with small capital. The distribution channels you can use to sell your product are hypermarkets, convenience stores, and online retailers. Alternatively, you can sell your cookies directly to the customer through a website.
13 - Restaraunt Consultation Business
Profit Margin - 30%
If you have worked in a restaurant in a managerial capacity, you are a good fit for a restaurant consultation business. Alternatively, you can look for restaurant consultation courses, get certified, and start your business. Your greatest challenge at the start of the business would be to find clients and create credibility.
12 - Selling Speciality Cheese
Profit Margin - 30%
Consumers of specialty cheese are willing to pay a premium for special types of cheese that are not available easily in the market. The market was valued at $140.5 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow with a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period of 2023-2030, according to Market Research Future. As a specialty cheese shop, your greatest challenge would be to locate vendors that provide high-quality specialty cheese.
11 - Personal Chef Business
Profit Margin - 30%
The personal chef services market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 4.2% til 2033. It is expected to be worth $13 billion this year and reach a market valuation of $19.65 billion by 2033. If you want to start small and run a home-based personal chef business, you can start with as low as $2,000, where the majority of the investment will be utilized in building a website and marketing your services. For a home-based business, the profit margin will be much higher than 30%. If, however, you plan on renting a commercial kitchen, you can expect to spend around $5000.
10 - Gourmet Popcorn
Profit Margin - 30%
Gourment popcorn is one of the most profitable business ideas. Like the cookies and jam business, you can opt to sell your gourmet popcorn directly to the customer by selling online or setting up your store, or you can utilize retail channels such as convenience stores and supermarkets. On average, you can spend around $19,000 to start a popcorn business, based on data from Starter Story.
9 - Selling Hot Sauces
Profit Margin - 30%
The sauces market is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 5.41% during the forecast period of 2023 to 2027, increasing by $28.7 billion. On average, you can expect to spend around $7000 on your hot sauce business, but you can get started with as low as $3600.
8 - Cake Business
Profit Margin - 40%
Our 8th most profitable food business idea is the cake business. The global cake market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.59% from 2023 to 2030, reaching a market valuation of $61.27 billion by the end of this period, per Verified Market Research. This business has a steady revenue potential since cakes are bought all year round and have become a staple for celebrations. You can start a cake business from as low as $2000, which includes the cost of building a website, buying equipment, and running marketing campaigns.
Click to continue reading and see the 7 Most Profitable Food Business Ideas.
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Disclosure: none. 25 Most Profitable Food Business Ideas is originally published on Insider Monkey.
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If youre a boomer also known as someone who was born between 1946 and 1964 youre either fast approaching your retirement years, or youve already arrived. Either way, the financial choices youve already made and are making right now can significantly impact your quality of life for years to come. Unfortunately, things that might not seem like a big deal, such as not planning for unexpected expenses or investing too conservatively, could end up putting a considerable squeeze on your retirement goals.
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Here are five boomer money traps that can hurt your retirement savings.
Failing To Account for Unexpected Expenses
Jeff Rose, certified financial planner and founder of Good Financial Cents, said that boomers do sometimes stumble into a few common money traps. First, they might not account for unexpected expenses, like sudden medical bills or going a bit overboard on family vacations, he said. I once had a retired couple that paid for their entire family of 14 for an all-inclusive trip to Disney World.
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What To Do Instead
Its super important to have a rainy day fund, Rose advised. Try to set aside a bit of your income regularly to cover those unexpected costs that life throws at you. This way, a sudden expense wont derail your financial train.
Not Having a Concrete Financial Plan
Believe it or not, said Rose, some [boomers] just dont have a concrete financial plan in place, which can really throw a wrench in reaching their financial goals.
What To Do Instead
This is a big no-no, said Rose. Its never too late to start planning. Sit down, possibly with a financial planner, and map out your financial journey with clear goals and strategies. Having a roadmap can really help in steering clear of financial pitfalls and keeping you on track to achieving your financial dreams.
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Being Too Conservative or Aggressive With Investments
Kendall Meade, financial planner at SoFi, said, Retirees might be struggling with the idea of transitioning from collecting a paycheck every other week to living off their savings, all while trying to avoid making any mistakes with their investments and Social Security. This makes the market swings especially daunting!
What To Do Instead
Meade said that its important to plan ahead for all scenarios by defining a plan that accounts for unexpected events and healthcare costs in retirement. She recommends making sure that you have an appropriate allocation for your time frame or risk level.
In retirement, you may prefer to hold a greater portion of less-risky assets, like bonds, cash and cash equivalents, she said. If the market drops, they are less likely to drop with it, as they are less volatile.
This doesnt mean that you should not hold any stocks, though. Keep in mind that your savings may need to last you another 20-30 years in retirement, and while stocks are more volatile, they also tend to have the highest return over time. By being too conservative, you may run the risk of running out of money sooner.
Investing in a Timeshare
There are many boomers who purchase something and forget that the strings attached could last the rest of their lives, said Dawn-Marie Joseph, founder and president of Estate Planning & Preservation. One of the major money traps for boomers is a timeshare. Timeshares come with annual dues each year that youll be required to pay. They are also very difficult to sell.
What To Do Instead
A simple way to avoid a timeshare is to not buy one, said Joseph. Consider purchasing a vacation annually when you have enough money saved up to afford it.
Habitually Providing Financial Support to Adult Children
Another money trap for boomers could be financially assisting adult children, Joseph said. Often, parents want to help their children financially, and it can become a bad habit.
What To Do Instead
Its important boomers ensure their finances are in order and taken care of each and every month before handing out any money to their children, Joseph said. This includes paying off monthly debt and putting money towards savings. If a boomer must financially assist their child, they should consider putting a payback plan in place to ensure the money is eventually recouped.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 5 Boomer Money Traps That Can Hurt Your Retirement Savings
A fact sheet for the new $45-million Sinclair Apartment Homes in the Northland area touts the affordable complex as being close to a Central Ohio Transit Authority line, linking it to restaurants and stores such as Target, Kroger and Saraga International Grocery several miles away.
"The Sinclair connects residents to work, shopping and local Columbus attractions," it says. Indeed, the complex includes three- and four-bedroom units and a playground, and was "designed for families," said Scott Skinner, vice president of development for the Cleveland-based NRP Group, which co-developed the project with the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.
But today there are no sidewalks along Sinclair Road that will lead bus riders to stops just north of the complex, or families to a nearby restaurant, or drivers who need to pick up their cars from auto repair shops up the street.
The city does plan to install sidewalks along both sides of Sinclair Road from Morse Road north to Strimple Avenue beginning in the spring of 2024, with the goal of finishing them by fall 2024, depending on Columbus City Council funding and weather. That's part of a $3.45-million project to improve Sinclair Road in that section, according to the city's Department of Public Service, which told The Dispatch about that work late Tuesday afternoon.
The new Sinclair Apartment Homes, 5075 Sinclair Rd. in the Northland area, were built to be affordable housing, but have no sidewalks along Sinclair to lead people to nearby bus stops or workplace, or other nearby restaurants or auto repair shops.
On Tuesday morning, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, who spoke at a ceremony to open the apartments, was asked about the lack of sidewalks now. He didn't seem aware of the planned work.
"We'll check into that. I don't know," Ginther said.
Skinner said NRP Group will build a sidewalk along the front property line.
The developers broke ground on the project at the site of the former Alrosa Villa almost two years ago, in November 2021. Sidewalks or no sidewalks, tenants will begin occupying apartments over the next few weeks.
Sinclair Apartment Homes at 5075 Sinclair Rd. consists of 180 units in three, four-story buildings.
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One-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments will be available for residents at 30% to 80% of the area median income. That would range from $20,850 to $55,550 for a one-person household and $30,000 to $79,350 for a four-person household.
The apartments also have a fitness center and private clubhouse. The housing authority issued $27.7 million in tax-exempt and taxable bonds to help finance the project.
The new Sinclair Apartment Homes, 5075 SInclair Rd. in the Northland area, were built as affordable housing by the Cleveland-based NRP Group and Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority.
Ginther told the assembled crowd in front of the apartments that tenants will include people have have lived in shelters as well as seniors.
"It's incumbent upon us that residents have access to affordable housing right now," Ginther said.
Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Rob Dorans said affordable housing has a place in every neighborhood in Columbus.
"Change can be scary," Dorans said.
"How do we channel that change to make Columbus a more equitable place?" he said.
A week ago, Columbus City Council approved 17 zoning changes for 878 housing units spread across the city, with half designated affordable.
The Alrosa Villa closed for good in 2020. It was a Columbus music magnet for more than four decades, hosting acts such as David Byrne, Slipknot, Korn, Quiet Riot, Foghat, Buckcherry, Matthew Sweet, Dokken, Guided by Voices and local favorites The Godz.
But it became known worldwide on Dec. 8, 2004, when Nathan Gale of Marysville, entered the club and walked onstage when the band Damageplan was playing and opened fire. "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, Damageplan's guitarist and former Pantera guitarist, was killed, along with audience member Nathan Bray, club employee Erin Halk, and Jeff "Mayhem" Thompson, a member of the band's security entourage.
Three others were injured. Columbus police officer James Niggemeyer shot and killed Gale.
Skinner said a large rock that used to sit near Sinclair Road where someone had painted "R.I.P." has been moved to the back of the property. Skinner said the NRP Group asked the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland if they wanted it. "They couldn't get anyone down here," he said.
Skinner also said a couple of Pantera fans in Texas also called about it. The rock remains.
mferench@dispatch.com
@MarkFerenchik
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: New affordable apartments on Sinclair Road have no sidewalks yet
UAW President Shawn Fain on Tuesday morning said workers should reject former President Donald Trump's overtures to them ahead of next year's election as Trump plans a visit to Detroit next week amid the union's strike against Ford, General Motors and Stellantis for better wages and benefits and more job protection.
"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain said in a statement. "We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.
Fain's statement came after a source close to the Trump campaign confirmed to the Free Press on Monday that Trump will visit Detroit next Wednesday, Sept. 27, and speak to some 500 workers, including current and former union members, instead of participating in that night's second Republican debate in California. Additional details of the event have not been released.
Trump, who leads in the polls for the GOP nomination, skipped the first debate last month as well. He has been critical of UAW leaders in the strike, arguing that rank-and-file members should reject any deal that allows for continued transition in the industry toward making more electric vehicles, or EVs.
EVs typically require fewer workers and Trump has argued repeatedly that they won't be made in the U.S., but in China. Those claims, however, fail to account for more than two dozen plants that have been opened or are set to open, partly with financing backed by the Biden administration. Detroit's automakers have all been planning a transition to making more EVs for some years.
Trump has also not addressed the UAW's demands in what is now a five-day limited strike, namely that automakers increase wages by as much as 40% over several years; get rid of a tiered salary system that sees new workers receive only a fraction of that senior ones do for years; and provide more benefits and job security.
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Also, Michigan could be key to Trump's chances if he wins the GOP nomination next year: He won the state in 2016, eking out a narrow 10,704-vote victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton with some support from autoworkers. Biden beat Trump in the state in 2020 by more than 154,000 votes.
As Trump has attempted to interject himself more in the strike, Fain has also noted that in the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump talked about the need to have auto jobs moved to states where they would be paid less as a way to force wage concessions elsewhere. "That's not a person I want as my president," Fain has said.
.@UAW President Shawn Fain on former President Trump:
That's not a person I want as my presidentThat's not someone that represents working-class people...And that's what our members need to think about when they go to vote.
Video via @Morning_Joe pic.twitter.com/rM8QMeFASd MSNBC Public Relations (@MSNBCPR) September 7, 2023
But the UAW has also declined, unlike most major unions in the country, to endorse President Joe Biden for reelection next year, saying he needs to earn it. Biden has spoken in support of the union but is also a proponent of the transition to EVs. While he has said those vehicles should be built by union labor, Biden's administration can't mandate that and joint ventures between the car companies and battery makers for EVs would have to be organized by the UAW, a long and uncertain project, especially outside the Midwest.
Biden, meanwhile, has not gone beyond saying he supports the strike and believes automakers should go further toward providing better pay and benefits. He has a senior adviser, Gene Sperling, and acting Labor Secretary Julie Su set to come to Detroit to offer any help they can to the parties without becoming directly involved in negotiations.
Biden's campaign spokesperson, Ammar Moussa, on Monday night blasted Trump's plans, saying he was "going to Michigan next week to lie to Michigan workers" and arguing that tax cuts Trump signed helped wealthier Americans more than workers and that auto companies continued to send jobs out of the country.
While it's true that Trump didn't revitalize the industry and wildly exaggerated the number of plants he brought into the U.S., he did, however, renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement in a way that was expected to help create more American jobs and put in place tariffs intended to help protect manufacturing, though there were competing claims that those tariffs actually cost customers and businesses in Michigan more money.
Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: UAW's Fain before Trump visit: 'We cant keep electing billionaires'
By: Allentown City Council member Ce-Ce Gerlach
Who do you call when you see someone sleeping in the hallway of your building? What number do you dial to get a counselor to intervene in a mental health crisis?
Currently, there is not anyone to call for help instead of handcuffs.
The City of Allentown had an opportunity to start a Mobile Community Response Team (MCRT) consisting of mental health experts to handle non-violent calls, such as mental health, homelessness and addiction.
However, the Lehigh County Board of Elections killed the proposal before our community had a chance to vote.
After neighbors delivered nearly 4,000 signatures to establish a MCRT via ballot referendum this fall, our County Board of Elections unilaterally and without reason failed to put the question up for a vote. Their decision and ability to eliminate an opportunity to increase mental health services in Allentown through a ballot referendum is anti-democratic.
This 3-person unelected board (none of whom live in Allentown) delivered a huge slap in the face to Allentown voters.
After the murder of George Floyd in 2020, residents, activists and organizers looked nationwide for ways to better serve our vulnerable neighbors. Eighty-six U.S. municipalities have versions of MCRTs.
Allentown neighbors came together and met with the current and previous Police Chiefs, held a county-wide stakeholders meeting, and brought experts to City Council meetings to share knowledge.
Three years later nothing happened.
Progress has always been met with resistance, delay, fear, and anger. This isnt the way we do things" was said about Black and white kids learning together. As women fought for equal rights, naysayers shouted, Now is not the time! The residents of Allentown waited long enough, so like any group of people without structural powerthey organized.
When the politicians refuse to listen to the people, the ballot referendum process allows for ordinary residents to take back their power. The City Charter states that residents can have a question placed on the ballot by collecting at least 2,000 petition signatures from Allentown voters.
The petitioners committee for the MCRT proposal submitted over 3,800 signatures, more than any city council candidate received in votes this spring. Those signers are voters - citizens and members of our community - and they deserve to be heard.
As I circulated a petition, I spoke with Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, former correctional officers, teachers and medical professionals. Almost everyone shared a personal story of how mental health, addiction or housing instability has affected their lives.
Mental health struggles cross all divides. A plethora of voters would have turned out in November if this question was on the ballot.
The City accepted and verified the signatures. Per City Charter, Council then had an opportunity to approve the proposed ordinance to establish the MCRT program, but everyone on Council voted no except for myself and Natalie Santos. Per Section 1007, the question should be placed on the ballot of the next election. However, the County Board of Elections prevented that.
The petitioners committee followed the systems process, but it didnt matter. The Citys administration voiced opposition to starting MCRTs publicly and hired an outside attorney to circumvent the democratic process. Decisions like this make many people disillusioned with the system and our right to vote.
What hurts me most is that the same people that undemocratically obstructed our efforts to establish an MCRT dont have anything better to offer our most vulnerable neighbors.
Our system isnt working.
If this system was working then why were there an average of 107 seriously mentally ill people in jail each day last year (Lehigh County CJAB 2022)?
Why were 45.5% of the population in Lehigh County Jail prescribed psychotropic medications in 2022 (Lehigh County CJAB 2022)?
Why was there such resistance to allowing the voters of Allentown to vote on the issue?
Why were people within the system so fearful of progress?
Being unsheltered, having a mental health challenge or struggling with substance use are not crimes. People need helpnot handcuffs.
Organizers and residents met with police chiefs across the country and locally who support a non-law enforcement response for non-violent situations that are helping police across the nation.
We talked with executive directors in places like Dayton, Denver, and Durham. In Durham, despite initial hesitancy, police and decision makers are now thankful for more time to respond to violent crime and engage with the community.
Those in positions of power in the City and County continue to claim that addressing mental health is important to them. My question to them is, if mental health, homelessness, and addiction are so important to you, what are you willing to do about it?
Now is the time for people in positions of power to work with those in the community who brought forth the referendum.
The ball is in your court.
Editors note: For more on the Lehigh County Board of Elections decision, see here.
A global first, the "Alipay+-in-China" (A+China) Program makes it possible for users of 10 leading mobile wallets in Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, to use home e-wallets in the Chinese mainland, covering a total population of over 175 million. It also represents the expansion of Alipay+ cross-border mobile payment ecosystem to tap into the mass merchant network of China.
A+China Program is Ant Groups initiative to help introduce international mobile payment services in China in collaboration with e-wallet partners and international card organizations ahead of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
Under the Program, travelers may also choose to bind their international bank cards to an updated international version of Alipay to enjoy mobile payment and digital life services while in China.
HANGZHOU, China, September 19, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ant Group officially welcomes seven new leading e-wallets and payment apps from Asia to the "Alipay+-in-China" Program (A+China Program). Users of mPay (Macao SAR, China), Hipay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea) and TrueMoney (Thailand) will be able to use their familiar home e-wallet on their own phone to enjoy seamless mobile payment experience in the Chinese mainland across Alipays vast merchant network.
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The new additions bring the total number of overseas e-wallets accepted in the Chinese mainland to 10. AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), Touch n Go eWallet (Malaysia) and Kakao Pay (South Korea) piloted the Program in late 2022. In total, these payment methods reach a population of over 175 million in Southeast and East Asia.
Users of these e-wallets may use their own payment app wherever Alipay works, to enjoy secure, smooth and cashless payment, and transparent and competitive exchange rates. They can also enjoy additional promotional deals via Alipay+ Rewards, a digital cross-border marketing hub integrated into select wallet apps. The wallets teams are also providing familiar customer support to their roaming users, backed by Alipay+s smart payment tech capabilities.
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With the A+China Program, Alipay+ also officially welcomes five new mobile payment partners, including Hipay, Changi Pay, OCBC, Naver Pay and Toss Pay to its global merchant network.
A suite of cross-border mobile payment, marketing and digitalization solutions developed by the International Business Group of Ant Group, Alipay+ enables payment partners to connect global and local merchants to cross-border digital consumers.
Outside of China, Alipay+ covers 5 million merchants in 56 markets, and works with over 20 mobile payment partners across Asia which together serve over 1.4 billion consumer accounts. The A+China Program now extends Alipay+ service to tap into the massive merchant network of China with tens of millions of points of sales (POS).
The A+China Program is made possible by the guidance of the Peoples Bank of China and support from NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, e-wallet partners, international card organizations as well as other partner financial institutions in China. Travelers may also choose to bind their international bank cards to an updated international version of Alipay to enjoy mobile payment and digital life services while in China.
Ant Group is rolling out extensive merchants education and marketing campaigns across the Chinese mainland, especially in the top tourist cities, to welcome Asian athletes, fans and travelers.
Douglas Feagin, Senior Vice President of Ant Group and Head of Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Services, said expanding partners and merchant network, and enhancing digital operational capabilities of SMEs are key to Alipay+s future strategy.
"A growing variety of mobile payment providers are joining this ecosystem of cross-border digital commerce, from mobile wallets, to banking apps, independent merchant apps and super-apps. We will invest faster and deeper in payment and digital marketing technologies to help our partners and merchants achieve robust, omni-channel growth," said Feagin.
"As the chartered clearing institution of the People's Bank of China, NetsUnion Clearing Corporation provides secure and efficient transaction information interchange and fund clearing services for cross-border mobile payments of Ant Group and overseas digital wallets. We are committed to providing robust support for important cross-border mobile payment scenarios and events such as the Hangzhou Asian Games, to help nurture an open and inclusive cross-border consumption environment in China, and promote high-quality dual circulation of domestic and global economic cycles," said the NetsUnion Clearing Corporation of China.
"We are deeply grateful for the guidance of the Peoples Bank of China, the support of the NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, and the assistance from financial institutions and major international card organizations, for helping bring the worlds mobile wallet users and overseas bank card users to China as the Official Payment Partner of the Asian Games," said Eric Jing, Chairman and CEO of Ant Group. "It is incredibly inspiring to see such regional multi-party partnership help travelers enjoy greater choice and convenience, and small businesses thrive in cross-border commerce with unprecedented innovations. We look forward to building wider and deeper collaboration to fulfill our shared mission to make the world a better place with the power of digital technologies."
The total number of payments made in China through the pilot A+China wallets Kakao Pay, Touch n Go eWallet and AlipayHK grew 47 times in six months between March and August 2023. Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the favorite cities for travelers from South Korea, Malaysia and Hong Kong SAR. Food and beverage, retail and transportation are the three most common scenarios for these transactions.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers1, by 2030 the number of cashless transactions will be about double to triple. While China leads the region in digital wallet usage, the rest of Asia, especially Southeast Asia, has become the world's fastest growing mobile payment market. FIS research2 shows that between 2018 and 2023 digital wallets in the region (excluding China) more than doubled their share of e-commerce transaction value and share of payment transaction value at point-of-sales grow six folds.
About Ant Group
Ant Group aims to build the infrastructure and platforms to support the digital transformation of the service industry. Through continuous innovation, we strive to provide all consumers and small and micro businesses equal access to digital financial and other daily life services that are convenient, sustainable and inclusive.
For more information, please visit our website at www.antgroup.com or follow us on Twitter @AntGroup.
About Alipay+
Alipay+ is a suite of cross-border digital payment, marketing and digitalization solutions that help connect global merchants to consumers. Consumers enjoy seamless payment and a broad choice of deals using their preferred payment methods while travelling abroad. Small and medium-sized businesses may use Alipay+ digital tools to enhance efficiency and achieve omni-channel growth.
1 https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/financial-services/publications/financial-services-in-2025/payments-in-2025.html
2 https://www.fisglobal.com/en/global-payments-report
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230918947937/en/
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The vice president traveled to Reading Area Community College as part of her "Fight for Our Freedoms" college tour.
Lawmakers from Pennsylvania reacted to Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to Berks County Tuesday.
Harris spoke with students and took to the stage at Miller Center for the Arts at Reading Area Community College as part of her "Fight for Our Freedoms" college tour.
She encouraged young people to make their voices heard through voting. She also spoke about a number of hot button issues, including concerns about women's rights, climate change and gun control.
After spending about a half hour speaking at RACC, Harris visited with local union workers and had a roundtable discussion with apprenticeship students at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 743.
"While I'm pleased the vice president visited Reading Area Community College, I hoped her visit would focus on the issues specifically impacting students like the rising cost of education, lack of pro-growth initiatives that create good-paying jobs, and the many other economic difficulties facing soon-to-be graduates," said Republican Congressman Dan Meuser.
"Instead, the vice president chose to focus her nationwide college tour on divisive, political issues that don't address the long-term success of our students' futures," he said. "It is apparent to me that she is using her official office as an extension of the Biden-Harris reelection campaign, especially considering her first topic of conversation today was about the 2020 election and voting."
SPRING TWP., Pa. Drivers in parts of Berks County should expect some travel disruptions Tuesday as Vice President Kamala Harris makes her way to Reading Area Community College.
Harris will visit RACC as part of her "Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour."
The Spring Township Police Department said there will be minor traffic disruptions as the vice president's motorcade moves locations within the county.
Police caution that there may also be a high degree of law enforcement presence, causing delays.
2:23 Vice President Kamala Harris to visit Reading on Tuesday Outside the Miller Center at Reading Area Community College, there is a digital sign about Vice President Kamala Harris' visit on Tuesday.
READING, Pa. Vice President Kamala Harris made a visit to Berks County on Tuesday.
69 News was at Reading Regional Airport as Air Force Two touched down around noon.
The vice president traveled to Reading Area Community College as part of her "Fight for Our Freedoms" college tour.
Harris is visiting 12 schools across the country.
Her schedule also included a visit with local union workers and a roundtable discussion with apprenticeship students.
Harris discussed topics such as reproductive rights, gun safety laws, voting rights, and the importance of teaching America's full history.
+13 PHOTOS: VP Kamala Harris visits Berks County The vice president traveled to Reading Area Community College as part of her "Fight for Our Freedoms" college tour.
Police in Reading and other parts of Berks County said to expect traffic delays, detours and a heavy police presence as the vice president's motorcade made its way through the area.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. The Bethlehem Township Board of Commissioners on Monday heard testimony during a conditional use hearing for the helipad located on St. Luke's University Health Network's Anderson Campus.
The hearing specifically addressed temporarily relocating the helipad during the hospital's construction of a new wing and the helipad's final placement atop the new wing's five-story tower.
The final placement, officials said, will not affect the character of the surrounding neighborhood and will allow for a better and more efficient way to transport patients in critical need.
"It's a more controlled environment and a safe environment," said Ray Midlam, vice president of strategy and business development, who is also the executive administrator in charge of the project.
He added that healthcare professionals could quickly get patients where they need to go.
"[They] have accessalmost immediately when the helicopter arrives, and can transport patients [via] elevator to wherever they need to be," Midlam said.
Not everyone was happy with the helicopters. Planner Barry Roth objected to the heliport's location in general during the public comment portion of Monday's meeting.
He said helicopters passing overhead are disruptive to him and his family, who live in Prospect Park.
"It shakes the whole house," Roth explained.
Officials said the new flight path will not deviate significantly from its current path.
At an Aug. 28 planning meeting, Roth asked that the hospital move the heliport to a different location. He alleged then that the flight paths were flying over neighborhoods and creating disturbances by flying low.
St. Luke's Anderson expansion gets green light from Bethlehem Twp. planners The Bethlehem Township Planning Commission recommended preliminary/final plan and conditional use approval for a major new expansion of St. Luke's.
Then, St. Luke's officials disagreed with Roth's assessments, citing records, but acknowledged and agreed to look at their flight paths.
Hospital officials said that the helicopter operates less than once a week.
The township's planning commission recommended a preliminary/final plan and conditional use approval on Aug. 28 for the major new expansion of St. Luke's University Health Network's Anderson Campus.
The proposal, entitled Campus Wing 3, outlines a five-floor, 307,979-square-foot hospital expansion. It features 146 beds, a 32,417-square-foot sterile processing facility and additional parking. Planners also approved eight waivers associated with the project. Officials said each wing will have its own lobbies and entrances.
The board did not make a decision Monday but said it will be voting at its next board meeting, on Oct. 2, where St. Luke's will be back with its land development plan.
Board members said there might be conditions they would attach to any approval.
Residential development
In other news, the board tabled voting on preliminary/final plan approval for an eight-home development at 1932 Farmersville Road. The plan was recommended for approval by the planning commission, which also approved various waivers for the project.
The plan calls for four twin homes constructed on 2.7 acres on the south side of Vintage Drive, just east of Farmersville. The proposed development is about 200 yards south of the two-part intersection of Farmersville Road and Freemansburg Avenue.
The owner of 1932 Farmersville Road is Monocacy General Contracting, and Keystone Consulting Engineers prepared the plans for the Vintage Drive location.
Planners expressed concerns about stormwater management and project density.
Other business
In other news, the board voted to approve a purchase order for $13,633 to Ecco Communications for new radios for the township's volunteer fire company.
It also approved a resolution authorizing applications to the Local Share Account grant programs of the Commonwealth Financing Authority, including Lehigh and Northampton counties and Monroe County.
Officials said theyve applied for grants totaling more than $380,000 for equipment for the township, including supplies for police and emergency responders. The board said this amount was more than it usually requests, and it will be interesting to see what they are awarded.
HANOVER TWP., Pa. Route 512, or Bath Pike, may soon be a front in the convenience-store wars, the site of a skirmish between Sheetz and Wawa.
A Wawa is already in the works at the intersection of Highland Avenue and 512.
Sheetz might be moving in right up the road, less than one mile to the north.
A Hanover Township (Northampton County) Planning Commission agenda lists a "Preliminary presentation for a Sheetz Store at Southland and 512" for an Oct. 3 meeting. No specific address was provided. 69 News has called the township for details.
Competition in close quarters is nothing new for the Pennsylvania-based convenience chains.
The nearest Sheetz is at 3201 Schoenersville Road on the Lehigh County side of Bethlehem, just a couple blocks and across the street from a Wawa.
There is a long review and site-plan approval period before a new convenience store with gas pumps goes in.
Jaindl Land Development Co.'s Wawa at 90 Highland Ave. was approved by the township last year and is not operating yet. That store will be open 24 hours daily and have 16 fueling stations.
Sheetz was founded in 1952 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In 1963, a second store was opened, but growth picked up and by 1983, there were 100 Sheetz locations.
The chain is family owned and has more than 500 stores across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina.
Wawa is based in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and started in 1803 as an iron foundry, later a dairy business. The first Wawa Food Market opened in 1964, and now, 59 years later, there are more than 1,000 across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C.
+3 Hanover Twp. planners hear from developer, residents about proposed warehouse near Route 512 The developer is proposing a warehouse at the Route 22-Route 512 intersection, on land now occupied by a Best Western hotel.
The Hanover Township Planning Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 3 at the township community center, 3630 Jacksonville Road.
The meeting could go long: In addition to Sheetz, the agenda includes the proposal for manufacturing and warehousing at 4000-4300 Airport Road, and Arcadia Industrial Development's proposal for a warehouse at the site of the Best Western hotel on 300 Gateway Drive, just off Route 512.
Agendas are subject to change.
Pat Green is nervous. He has spent the past two years trying to hire talented people to fill the two plants in Grand Rapids operated by Cascade Die Casting Group, which makes aluminum and zinc diecasting for the automotive and appliance industries.
"Weve got a good team now and I dont want to lose people because it was hard to find good people," Green, who is CEO of the company, told the Detroit Free Press on Monday.
Pat Green, CEO of Cascade Die Casting Group in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
That's why on the fourth day of a historic United Auto Workers strike against the Detroit Three automakers, Green was intensely planning for ways to ride it out without having to lay off workers if the strike grows and stretches into weeks. He has good reason for planning. On Monday night UAW President Shawn Fain announced a new strike deadline of this Friday at noon. If Ford Motor Co., General Motors or Stellantis have not made substantial progress toward an agreement with the UAW by that time, Fain will expand the Stand Up Strike to more plants.
For Green's part, if that happens, he'll start by ending overtime at the company and then he'll ask for volunteers to take some time off with a reduced pay plan. It's something he started contemplating late last week.
The UAW's strike started at 11:59 p.m. Thursday when nearly 13,000 UAW workers across the three Detroit automakers walked out of three plants as part of the first wave of shutdowns until a new labor agreement is reached. Those plants are Ford Michigan Assembly Plant (Final Assembly and Paint only) in Wayne, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio and GM's Wentzville Assembly in Missouri.
UAW Strikers slow a truck from entering the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023.
If the union and the automakers can't reach a tentative agreement, at some point the UAW has said it plans to strike more plants across the three companies. A broader and prolonged strike would mean parts suppliers couldn't keep production going if the vehicle assembly plants that use their parts are idled. No one is sure of just how long suppliers could hold out.
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"Were in better shape than most, but if others in the supply chain go down, weve got another crisis on our hands just like the chips crisis," Green said, referring to a recent shortage of semiconductor chips that crippled the industry. "If this stretches out to five or six weeks, theres going to be real problems in the supply chain. And I could be wrong; it could be shorter than that.
The first fallout
The Biden administration has been preparing to offer emergency economic aid to auto suppliers to mitigate any long-term damage caused by a prolonged strike, according to published reports.
But the strike has already had some impact. A component maker in Michigan, CIE Newcor, warned it may have to lay off 293 people.
German-based supplier ZF said that it has already had to lay off some workers at various sites, including in Michigan, said Tony Sapienza, ZF North America, Inc.s head of communications. ZF supplies components for all the vehicles made at the three plants targeted so far in the strike, including the hybrid transmission to the Jeep Wrangler 4xe hybrid made at the Toledo facility.
Sapienza declined to say which of ZF's facilities have been affected or how many people ZF has laid off. ZF, which has North American offices in Northville, employs 11,000 people at five manufacturing sites and four technology centers in Michigan.
"The impact was immediate; weve had to slow production in a couple of areas," Sapienza told the Free Press. "If the strike were to broaden or last anything longer than one or two weeks, that would be a crisis for the supply chain. Id be really concerned with tier 2 and tier 3 and their ability to stay solvent.
Sapienza said a bigger and prolonged strike "would hurt" his company, but because of its size, it would be OK.
But every plant that goes offline creates additional stress in the supply chain, and we really hope our customers and the UAW are taking this into consideration," Sapienza said.
U.S. Steel said Monday it is temporarily idling furnace B at the Granite City steel plant in Illinois as a "risk mitigation" in response to the UAW strike. The company said it is evaluating how many of its 1,450 employees there will be affected.
Keeping an eye on Unifor, too
All of this news comes as the UAW's counterpart in Canada, Unifor, is negotiating a new contract with Detroit automakers as well. Its current contract was slated to expire at 11:59 p.m. Monday. But in the early hours Tuesday morning, Unifor said it would keep talking with Ford, after the automaker made a substantive offer on a new labor contract as the former deal expired. Unifor is extending negotiations for a 24-hour period.
Unlike the UAW, Unifor is following tradition and has selected a target company Ford to negotiate a deal with first. It would use that agreement as a template for contracts with the other two. In the U.S., the UAW is negotiating with all three automakers separately, but simultaneously.
Around 4 p.m. Monday, Unifor National President Lana Payne said there was still no tentative agreement with Ford.
"While we remain at the table the likelihood of a strike increases with each passing hour," Payne said, adding that the union has advised more than 5,600 members at Ford facilities in Canada to prepare for all scenarios, including a strike.
After Ford's eleventh hour "substantive offer," Unifor said it will negotiate through the night, but members should continue to maintain strike readiness.
If Unifor does not get a tentative agreement and strikes in solidarity with the UAW, that will be a double whammy for parts suppliers.
These are not normal times," Sapienza said. "Were coming off of three years of stress on the supply chain and so were already in a fragile state. Were keeping an eye on Unifor, for sure. Theres only so much more stress the system can take.
Layoffs could go into the thousands
The state of the supply chain is delicate. That's because it has had to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down the industry for eight weeks, then suppliers faced a massive shortage of semiconductor chips used in a variety of car parts. Since early last year many suppliers have struggled to hire and retain workers.
Joe Petrillo, director of business development and advanced engineering at Meridian Lightweight Technologies in Plymouth, said the company is a global supplier of lightweight cast metal parts to many automakers including the Detroit Three. So the strike is a concern because of the interconnection of the supply chain from the tier 1 suppliers those that supply parts directly to the carmakers down to the smaller tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers, those who supply components to the tier 1 group.
"We are monitoring the events and checking in with our suppliers and customers," Petrillo said. "In our view, an escalation of events that leads to a prolonged strike that possibly idles all the Detroit Three (manufacturing) plants, may prove to be the last Jenga block on a supply base that has been stressed to the max, having to overcome COVID shutdowns, 'stop-and-go production' due to chip and part shortages, while still trying to work its way through a constrained manufacturing labor market."
Alicia Carter of Westland strikers outside of the Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023.
Glenn Stevens, executive director of MICHauto, the group that advocates for the statewide automotive industry, said he has been talking to suppliers for a couple months and they have all been preparing for a strike scenario for some time.
Some much more proactively than others, but nobody was flying blind anticipating that there might not be a work stoppage, Stevens said.
There are about 1,000 supplier facilities in Michigan, he said, noting that 96 of the top 100 suppliers to the North American auto market either have their headquarters or a facility in Michigan. So if the strike expands to other automaker plants and lasts into weeks, the job layoffs could reach into tens of thousands.
"You have the direct employment and you have the multiplier affect of each of the automotive jobs and that is between six to 10 people for every one automaker job, so its substantial," Stevens said. "This is the largest industry in our economy. It has an economic contribution of over $300 billion annually to the state of Michigan.
The potential impact
The larger suppliers are likely more protected than the smaller ones from strike fallout, said Laurie Harbour, CEO of Harbour Results, Inc. That's because they often have other customers from other industries to keep business going. They can move people around and change up schedules to avoid massive layoffs.
Laurie Harbour, CEO of Harbour Results, Inc.
"I talked to several companies last Friday and most said little to no impact yet," Harbour said. "Any one program, which is what youre looking at with the (automakers), is not going to create massive layoffs but come tomorrow or the next day if (UAW's Fain) closes more plants and we get to a significant product like the (Ford) F-150 pickup, then youre going to see more layoffs."
Because the sales volume of the F-150 is so important, if the union were to strike the plants that build Ford's big seller, "youll see thousands of layoffs because you have so many supplier plants and sub-suppliers," Harbour said.
"The fact that its happening in this spotty fashion is actually better for the supplier community," Harbour said. "But every day or week that goes by you could see more and more layoffs."
Big auto suppliers react
At giant tier 1 auto supplier Magna International, leaders are closely monitoring the situation, said Dave Niemiec, Magna spokesman. The company has about 12,450 employees in Michigan. Niemiec said it is premature to comment on any specific impact the strike may have on its operations.
"However, we have focused considerable attention on contingency planning to proactively address any temporary business disruptions to our operations," Niemiec said. "If that time comes, we are prepared in terms of temporarily scaling back production on affected programs as efficiently as possible, while being equally prepared to ramp up quickly when ready. In the meantime, we remain hopeful that the parties will be able to reach amicable agreements and the disruption and potential impact will be minimal."
When asked of any impact from the strike on Lear, spokesman Brian Corbett said, "At this time, were not commenting on the UAW strike."
Auto supplier ZF's North American headquarters in Northville, Michigan.
'We have to take action'
Harbour said most suppliers she's talked to are prepared or at least forming plans if the strike grows that include considering how to effectively keep producing, make scheduling changes to their shifts and have layoff strategies in place, even offering supplemental pay up to 70% of workers' salaries if they are laid off.
"Those are the ones who are financially strong and dont want to lose their people," Harbour said. Its a daily challenge and youll evaluate everything every day: What is my forecast? What can I deliver to my customer? And run a little bit of inventory so that when the spigot comes back on, I have parts and ready to go.
At Cascade Die Casting Group, Green said the company makes parts for the Detroit Three's SUVs and pickups. For example, it makes parts for the Jeep Grand Cherokee that Stellantis builds at the Mack Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit. If the UAW strikes that plant or any of the plants that make the Detroit Three's heavy duty pickups, Green has to be ready.
"We know we can build some inventory for a period of time, but thats a week or less so were going to have to start making plans to ask our employees to take time off almost immediately," Green said. "Were waiting until one of the plants we supply parts to shuts down and we expect the union will shut down additional plants when they turn up the heat. When that happens, thats when we have to take action.
More: Canada's Unifor nears deadline in contract talks with Detroit 3: What to know
More: UAW's Fain: Biden, White House team not involved in negotiations with automakers
Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Auto suppliers warn closures if UAW strikes more plants
Kate Thomson, who has been at the company for 19 years, becomes interim chief financial officer - BP plc
BP has appointed Kate Thomson as its first female finance chief, as the oil giant reshuffles its executive team following the abrupt departure of boss Bernard Looney.
Ms Thomson, who has been at the company for 19 years, is taking over as interim chief financial officer, a statement published on Tuesday morning said.
She is filling the role vacated last week by Murray Auchincloss, who stepped up to temporarily become chief executive after Mr Looney resigned over revelations he misled the board over relationships with colleagues.
Until now, Thomson had served as senior vice-president of finance for production and operations.
She is a chartered accountant and joined BP in 2004, having previously worked for accounting giant Ernst & Young and Charter, the engineering giant.
Her appointment is the latest in a wider reshuffle taking place after Mr Looneys sudden exit, with the search for a permanent replacement chief executive under way already.
All of BPs previous chief executives have been insiders. But Helge Lund, the companys chairman, said last week that the board will consider external candidates in its latest search.
In BPs statement on Tuesday, Mr Auchincloss said: Kates experience and skills make her ideally suited to take on the role of interim chief financial officer.
She brings deep technical knowledge together with a detailed understanding of BP, and has a first-class track record of leadership across our finance function.
New allegations about Bernard Looneys workplace relationships prompted his resignation last week - Daniel Leal/AFP
Mr Looney was the driving force behind BPs recent strategy shift to go green.
But he was forced out last Tuesday when he was found to have hidden workplace romances from the board, despite having previously said he revealed everything in a separate review last year.
The relationships declared by Looney all took place before he became chief executive in 2020, BP said.
They were first raised by a whistleblower last summer, triggering a review and admissions by Mr Looney that he had conducted a number of relationships with colleagues.
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However, a new set of allegations prompted Mr Looneys resignation last week. A review of the fresh allegations is now ongoing.
The former chief executive has not made any public remarks since resigning and has so far declined requests to comment through a spokesman.
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Smiles all round at launch of Zola Wits Dental Clinic
The Zola Wits Dental Clinic is a refurbished and re-equipped 15-chair, state-of the-art facility for community-based training and clinical services in Zola.
Officially launched by the Gauteng Department of Health with Wits University and the Zola community on 15 September 2023, the dental clinic is now operational.
The clinic has a staff complement of at least two dentists, as well as oral hygienists, dental assistants, and specialist dentists on a rotational basis, supervising around 12 students per rotation.
Community-based learning
Speaking at the launch, Professor Joy Shackleton, Acting Head of the School of Oral Health Sciences at Wits University said:
This partnership between Zola, and Gauteng Health with Wits, happened as a result of the University realising that its not an ivory tower and that it needs to be part of the people and part of the community.
And so, as we need to get more dentists, oral hygienists, and oral therapists, we need to have more space to train the students, but it doesnt make sense to keep making a bigger university, which is still far away for everybody to get to.
So, the philosophy changed towards community-based learning, where the students will come to the community they will serve the community and, at the same time, the staff who are coming with them will be able to give education to the other members of the team here at Zola.
Plans for the clinic were formalised in 2019 but stymied by the pandemic and the need to repair the building. As weve been hearing from the community, the buildings were not in a good state, so the building was almost rebuilt before it was equipped, and that happened at the end of 2022, says Shackleton. Weve been preparing until recently for our students to come for the first time, and the first group came [last] week to be of assistance and also to learn.
Dental demands
Oral healthcare is a national priority with September designated as National Oral Health Month. This acknowledges that two of the worlds most common health problems affect the mouth; these being cavities and gum disease. Gum disease ranks second only to the common cold in terms of prevalence, with an estimated 90% of South Africans experiencing this problem at some point (www.gov.za).
Furthermore, there is a need in this community for oral healthcare, since the now-refurbished facility, originally constructed from toxic asbestos, proved a health-hazard, and had to be closed.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch, Ms Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, Gauteng MEC Health and Wellness, said, This important occasion specifies a new chapter in our commitment to provide top-notch oral health services to our communities.
State-of-the-art facility and expanded services
The MEC said that she is happy to unveil the remarkable transformation that has taken place what once stood as a prefabricated asbestos structure has now emerged as a solid, state-of-art building and added that the physical transformation is just the beginning and that the heart of this clinic lies in the important services it offers.
We are committed to provide comprehensive oral healthcare, ranging from thorough oral health examinations to the most delicate procedures, she said.
The Zola community and surrounding communities in Soweto now have access to an expanded range of services akin to the Wits Oral Health Centres, said the MEC.
The facility boasts seven consulting rooms, an additional eight supervision consulting areas, an expanded waiting area, a classroom, a sterile equipment storeroom, a laboratory, ablution facilities for patients and staff (as well as for the disabled), a secure backup water supply, and sophisticated Xray and radiology equipment to enhance patient diagnostics.
In line with our commitment to excellence, we have expanded our team of dedicated staff members from Wits. Their perspectives and their experience will not only strengthen the services we offer but also enrich the learning environment of students [as] this facility will serve as an extended training platform for Wits students, providing them with hands-on experience in clinical settings, said the MEC.
Transcending philanthropy
The Zola Wits Dental Clinic was made possible by a multi-year, multi-million-rand gift donation from the Stanley, Marion, Paul and Edward Bergman Family Foundation to Wits Universitys Centenary campaign.
The donation follows extensive and in-depth consultations between the Bergman family and Wits University on how best to support the work of the School of Oral Health Sciences, especially in expanding its footprint of service to high-density, low-service areas.
This donor, who is our partner, whose identity we hold with high esteem, has shown extraordinary dedication to our communitys oral health, said the MEC. Their vision and support have transcended mere philanthropy. It has been an investment in the health and wellbeing of our community.
The MEC said, This refurbishment represents a substantial stride forward providing comprehensive, high-quality oral healthcare to our community. The clinic now stands as proof of an accessible top-tier healthcare for all. With the enhanced capabilities of this clinic, we are poised to make a lasting impact on the oral health of our community. She appealed to the community to protect the clinic.
Shackleton envisages that eventually doctors who are studying to be specialists will be trained at the Zola Wits Dental Clinic. Its my hope that we wont just be healing dental disease, were also going to be helping prevent oral disease so that children no longer have to have tooth ache, and parents dont have to see the agony that their children go through.
Key Insights
The projected fair value for Dril-Quip is US$28.06 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
Current share price of US$28.80 suggests Dril-Quip is potentially trading close to its fair value
Our fair value estimate is 12% lower than Dril-Quip's analyst price target of US$32.00
Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Dril-Quip, Inc. (NYSE:DRQ) by estimating the company's future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. Our analysis will employ the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.
We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.
View our latest analysis for Dril-Quip
Crunching The Numbers
We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To begin with, we have to get estimates of the next ten years of cash flows. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:
10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$39.4m US$37.0m US$48.0m US$62.0m US$69.7m US$76.3m US$81.8m US$86.4m US$90.4m US$93.9m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Analyst x1 Est @ 12.47% Est @ 9.38% Est @ 7.21% Est @ 5.69% Est @ 4.63% Est @ 3.88% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 9.3% US$36.1 US$31.0 US$36.8 US$43.5 US$44.8 US$44.8 US$44.0 US$42.5 US$40.7 US$38.7
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$403m
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After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. 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 9.3%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$94m (1 + 2.2%) (9.3% 2.2%) = US$1.3b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$1.3b ( 1 + 9.3%)10= US$556m
The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$959m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of US$28.8, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.
dcf
Important Assumptions
The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. 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 Dril-Quip 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 9.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.423. 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 Dril-Quip
Strength
Currently debt free.
Weakness
Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.
Opportunity
Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.
Threat
Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Next Steps:
Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. 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 Dril-Quip, we've put together three essential factors you should consider:
Risks: Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 1 warning sign with Dril-Quip , and understanding it should be part of your investment process. Future Earnings: How does DRQ'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 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.
The Coca-Cola Company is one of the worlds most recognized brands. Founded in 1886, the company today is vastly different from its creator's original intent. The original formula was invented by John Stith Pemberton as a health drink, energy boost, and patent medicine following his time in the Civil War. The name is derived from two of the original ingredients coca leaves and kola nuts, although those ingredients are not used today, and was intended to be sold in pharmacies.
Pemberton sold his formula and brand in 1889 to Asa Griggs Candler who then embarked on a nationwide advertising campaign. By 1895 Coca-Cola was being sold in every state in the union and it wouldnt be long before the beverage was being enjoyed worldwide. By 1889 the company was operating under a franchised distribution system that is still in effect today.
Today, the Coca-Cola Company primarily makes syrups that are shipped to bottler/distributors who command exclusive territories. The Coca-Cola Company retains ownership of the largest US bottler, Coca-Cola Refreshments but there are many others around the world. Coca-Cola Femsa, of which The Coca-Cola Company owns 28%, is located in Mexico and is the worlds largest bottler of Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and operates as a beverage company worldwide with sales in over 200 countries. The company manufactures, markets, and sells various nonalcoholic beverages and has expanded well beyond soda and pop. After years of expansion and acquisitions, The Coca-Cola Company is represented in verticals from sparkling soft drinks to flavored water, enhanced water, sports beverages, juice, dairy, tea, and coffee. Brands under the Coca-Cola umbrella include Fanta, Fresca, Schweppes, Sprite, Dasani, Gold Peak, Minute Maid, Simply, BODYARMOR, FUZE TEA, and Powerade brands.
The Coca-Cola Company first went public in 1919 and it began paying a dividend in 1920. The company has raised its dividend every year since 1962 making it a Dividend King. To put the companys growth and scale into perspective, one share of KO purchased at the IPO price of $40 was worth nearly $10 million in 2012 and the stock price has nearly doubled since then. Underwriters of the original IPO received $100,000 worth of shares in compensation for the deal and were able to sell it for $2 billion at that time. The Coca-Cola Company is also a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average holding its position from 1932 to 1935 and from 1987 to the present.
Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. underwrites specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty markets. The company operates in two segments, U.S. Operations and International Operations. It offers primary and excess specialty casualty, general liability, commercial multi-peril, and workers compensation, as well as product, environmental, and auto liability insurance products; management liability, transaction liability, and errors and omissions liability insurance; primary and excess property, inland marine, and auto physical damage insurance; and surety, animal mortality, and ocean marine insurance products. The company also provides directors and officers liability, errors and omissions liability, and employment practices liability insurance; international casualty and motor treaties insurance; professional indemnity and medical malpractice insurance; direct and facultative excess insurance, North American and international binders, and residential collateral protection for lending institutions; and personal accident, aviation, cargo, yachts, and onshore and offshore marine insurance products. It markets its products through wholesale and retail agents, managing general agents, brokers, and third-party intermediaries. The company was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Pembroke, Bermuda.
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.
Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund is a limited purpose open-ended mutual fund trust. The Trust indirectly, through the Boston Pizza Royalties Limited Partnership (Royalties LP), acquires the trademarks and trade names owned by Boston Pizza International Inc. (BPI), including Boston Pizza and other related items, logos and designs used in connection with the operation of Boston Pizza restaurants in Canada. The Trust's sources of revenue include royalty income, distribution income and interest income. The Trust invests in Boston Pizza Canada Limited Partnership (BP Canada LP) to increase the Trust's interest in franchise sales of Boston Pizza Restaurants in the Royalty Pool. The Trust distributes all available cash from operations to the Trust unitholders after provisions for cash required for working capital and other reserves considered advisable by the Trust's Trustees. Boston Pizza GP Inc. is the managing general partner of the Trust.
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.
Value-focused investors are always on the hunt for stocks that are priced below their intrinsic value. One such stock that merits attention is Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT). The stock, which is currently priced at $47.19, recorded a loss of 4.01% in a day and a 3-month increase of 7.07%. The stock's fair valuation is $98.58, 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: historical multiples (PE Ratio, PS Ratio, PB Ratio and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow) that the stock has traded at, GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth, and future estimates of the business performance.
Is Catalent (CTLT) 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 Catalent should not be ignored. These risks are primarily reflected through its low Altman Z-score of 1.36. These indicators suggest that Catalent, despite its apparent undervaluation, might be a potential value trap. This complexity underlines the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making.
Understanding the Altman Z-Score
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.
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A Snapshot of Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT)
Catalent is a contract development and manufacturing organization, or CDMO. It operates under four segments: biologics, softgel and oral technologies, oral and specialty delivery, and clinical supply services. Catalent derives its revenues primarily from long-term supply agreements with pharmaceutical customers. The company provides a range of development and manufacturing solutions for drugs, protein-based biologics, cell and gene therapies, and consumer health products throughout the entire life cycle of a product from the drug development process to commercial supply. Catalent has over 50 facilities across four continents.
Is Catalent (CTLT) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap
Unpacking Catalent's Low Altman Z-Score
A dissection of Catalent's Altman Z-score reveals Catalent'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 Catalent's historical data, 2021: 0.00; 2022: 0.05; 2023: 0, we observe a recent decline following an initial increase in this ratio. This downward movement indicates Catalent'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 Catalent's EBIT to Total Assets ratio from historical data (2021: 0.09; 2022: 0.07; 2023: -0.01) indicates a descending trend. This reduction suggests that Catalent 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 Catalent is its asset turnover. The data: 2021: 0.48; 2022: 0.48; 2023: 0.40 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 Catalent's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales.
Conclusion
Given the financial indicators and underlying risks, it seems that Catalent Inc (NYSE:CTLT) could be a potential value trap. Despite its seemingly attractive valuation, the company's low Altman Z-score and declining operational efficiency metrics suggest possible financial distress. 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.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, and investment services; and auto, education, and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. This segment serves government banking, not-for-profit, healthcare, technology, professionals, oil and gas, asset finance, franchise finance, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, private equity, and sponsor finance industries. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.
Equinox Gold Corp. engages in the operation, acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral properties in the Americas. The company primarily explores for gold and silver deposits. It holds 100% interest in the Mesquite Gold Mine and Castle Mountain Gold Mine located in California, the United States; Los Filos Mine Complex located in Guerrero State, Mexico; Aurizona Gold Mine located in Maranhao State, Brazil; Fazenda Gold Mine and Santa Luz Gold Mine located in Bahia State, Brazil; and RDM Gold Mine located in Mina Gerais State, Brazil. The company was formerly known as Trek Mining Inc. and changed its name to Equinox Gold Corp. in December 2017. Equinox Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is based in Vancouver, Canada.
Haemonetics Corporation, a healthcare company, provides suite of medical products and solutions in the United States and internationally. The company offers automated plasma collection systems, donor management software, and supporting software solutions including NexSys PCS and PCS2 plasmapheresis equipment and related disposables and intravenous solutions, as well as integrated information technology platforms for plasma customers to manage their donors, operations, and supply chain; and NexLynk DMS donor management system, and Donor360. It also provides automated blood component and manual whole blood collection systems, such as MCS brand apheresis equipment to collect specific blood components from the donor; disposable whole blood collection and component storage sets; SafeTrace Tx blood bank information system; and BloodTrack blood management software, a suite of blood management and bedside transfusion solutions that combines software with hardware components, as well as an extension of the hospital's blood bank information system. In addition, the company offers hospital products comprising TEG, ClotPro, and HAS hemostasis analyzer systems that provide a comprehensive assessment of a patient's overall hemostasis; and TEG Manager software, which connects various TEG analyzers throughout the hospital, providing clinicians remote access to active and historical test results that inform treatment decisions. Further, it provides Cell Saver Elite +, an autologous blood recovery system for cardiovascular, orthopedic, trauma, transplant, vascular, obstetrical, and gynecological surgeries; and VASCADE products comprising VASCADE and VASCADE MVP, a technology platform which offers catheter-based delivery system and leverages the natural clot including collagen. The company sells its products through direct sales force, independent distributors, and sales representatives. Haemonetics Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
Altria Group, Inc. is a US-based tobacco company and one of the Big-3 tobacco companies internationally. The company was formerly known as Phillip Morris International but emerged with its new name in 2003. The rebranding was intended to help the company improve its image while it shifted away from the smokeable tobacco segments of the business. It is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500. The company was a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average for many years but fell from that position due to declining tobacco sales and the divestiture of businesses.
The company operates through a network of subsidiaries that include Phillip Morris USA. Phillip Morris USA is the core segment of business and includes the Marlboro line of cigarette brands. German immigrant Phillip Morris originally founded Phillip Morris in London in 1822. In 1844 the company began making its first line of machine-rolled cigarettes called English Ovals. The English Ovals remained in production in limited quantities until 2017.
By 1902 the company had moved to New York City, where it was incorporated. Operations continued uninterrupted until 1919, when it changed ownership, and then, in 1929, manufacturing operations were moved to Richmond, Virginia and closer to the tobacco fields.
Philip Morris made headlines again in 1933 when it integrated its manufacturing operations. This was done more than 30 years ahead of federal regulations and a ground-breaking move for the industry and America. After another multi-decade run of uninterrupted operations, the company began a series of acquisitions that included Miller Brewing, Kraft Foods and General Mills. Those acquisitions led to eventual mergers and spin-offs that resulted in SABMiller and Kraft General Mills.
Altria Group operates through a network of subsidiaries manufacturing and selling smokeable, smokeless and oral tobacco products. Subsidiaries include but not are limited to Philip Morris USA, John Middleton Inc. and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company. Brands include Marlboro, Marlboro Lights, Black & Mild, Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Sky and Husky. The company's principal customers are wholesalers and large retailers.
The company maintains a number of strategic partnerships as part of its efforts to shift away from smokeable tobacco. These include a 35% stake in JUUL smokeless tobacco products, a 45% stake in Canadian integrated cannabis company Cronos Group and a near-10% stake in ABInbev. These partnerships are intended to capitalize on smokeless tobacco and the legalization of cannabis at the US federal level.
Altria brought in more than $21 billion in 2021. The company employs more than 6,000 people and has paid more than $6.5 billion in cumulative dividends. The companys operations help support more than 1,200 US farmers and are sold in over 300,000 US retail establishments. Altria continues to be a leader in workforce quality and has received numerous awards, including a spot on the National Business Consortiums Best of the Best List for 2022.
Redwood Trust, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Mortgage Banking, Business Purpose Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio. This segment also offers derivative financial instruments to manage risks associated with residential loans. The Business Purpose Mortgage Banking segment operates a platform that originates and acquires business purpose loans, such as single-family rental and bridge loans for subsequent securitization, sale, or transfer into its investment portfolio. The Investment Portfolio segment invests in securities retained from residential and business purpose securitization activities, and residential and small-balance multifamily bridge loans, as well as residential mortgage-backed securities issued by third parties, Freddie Mac K-Series multifamily loan securitizations and reperforming loan securitizations, servicer advance investments, home equity investments, and other housing-related investments. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust (REIT) for federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, it intends to distribute at least 90% of its taxable income as dividends to shareholders. Redwood Trust, Inc. was incorporated in 1994 and is headquartered in Mill Valley, California.
Portland General Electric (NYSE:POR) pays an annual dividend of $1.90 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.66%. POR 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 17 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio is 85.97%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, POR will have a dividend payout ratio of 61.29% next year. This indicates that the company will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.
Read our dividend analysis for POR.
Premium Brands Holdings Corporation, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes food products primarily in Canada and the United States. It operates in two segments, Specialty Foods and Premium Food Distribution. The company provides processed meat, deli products, meat snacks, beef jerky and halal, sandwiches, pastries, specialty and gourmet products, entrees, panini, wraps, subs, hamburgers, burgers, salads and kettle products, muffins, breads, pastas, and baking and sushi products. It is also involved in the distribution of food products, including meat and seafood products; operation of retail/convenience store and concessionary; and provision of food and seafood processing, and cold storage and logistics services. The company operates under the brand names Harvest Meats, Hempler's, Piller's, Grimm's Fine Foods, Freybe, Isernio's, Expresco, SJ Fine Foods, McSweeney's, Made Rite, Direct Plus, Oberto, Deli Chef, Belmont Meats, Conte Foods, SK Food Group, Oven Pride, Hygaard, Quality Fast Foods, HQ Fine Foods, Creekside Custom Foods, Stuyver's, Bread Garden Express, Audrey's Patisserie, and Duso's, as well as Gourmet Chef, Island City Baking, Skilcor, Leadbetter's, Concord Meats, Mclean Meats, Buddy's Kitchen, Raybern's, Partner's Crackers, Shaw Crackers, Country Prime Meats, Lou's Kitchen, Yorkshire Valley Farms, Golden Valley Farms, Maid-Rite, etc. The company was founded in 1917 and is based in Richmond, Canada.
Primo Water Corporation provides pure-play water solutions for residential and commercial customers. It offers bottled water, water dispensers, purified bottled water, self-service refill drinking water, premium spring, mineral water, sparkling and flavored water, filtration equipment, and coffee. The company offers its products under the Primo, Alhambra, Crystal Rock, Mountain Valley, Deep Rock, Hinckley Springs, Crystal Springs, Kentwood Springs, Mount Olympus, Pureflo, Sierra Springs, Sparkletts, and Renu brands in the United States; Canadian Springs, Labrador Source, and Amazon Springs brands in Canada; and Decantae, Eden, Eden Springs, Chateaud'eau, and Mey Eden brands in Europe and Israel. It sells its products through retailers and online at various price points. The company was formerly known as Cott Corporation and changed its name to Primo Water Corporation in March 2020. Primo Water Corporation was incorporated in 1955 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida.
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 Century 21 Signature Real Estate team gathers for its annual office Olympics.
NO. 1 MID-SIZE WORKPLACE
For an inside peek into the workplace culture at Century 21 Signature Real Estate, the curious can tune into the agency's weekly More Than More podcast, hosted on the Apple Podcasts platform.
A lot of our podcast content is actually geared toward our agents, discussing building good businesses, good client relationships and our core values, which apply to everybody that works here, said content marketing strategist Abbie Dorwart.
Launched in 2005, the fast-growing firm blankets Iowa and is starting to push into Illinois, Dorwart said. Franchise co-owners Dylan de Bruin and Joe Schafbuch have built their own employee culture in addition to maintaining the corporate standards set by parent company Century 21.
I've worked at a lot of places, and this is a workplace that's very unique, Dorwart said. You hear something from leadership and it's 100% true. They're very honest. They're very open. everybody's working together to do good things.
Victoria Stefansen, director of human resources, care and connection, explained the companys mission statement is to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary client experiences throughout Iowa, while also maintaining rapid growth.
Buyers and sellers deserve to have agents that are experts in their field and will give them an extraordinary experience in one of the largest purchases of their life, she said. That's a big financial commitment. So everything is to do better for the end consumers.
Stefansen added, We think of real estate in a relational sense instead of transactional. So, putting people first, instead of numbers first, which is probably interesting for a sales organization.
The company has opened four more offices this year and has been careful to hire individuals familiar with each new community.
We usually find someone that knows their local market. We find local leadership that we can then build around. In times of uncertainty, one strategy is to grow and the other is to do the opposite, Stefansen said.
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During the pandemic, the real estate industry earned a reputation as a potential secondary career path for participants to earn money on the side. But Dorwart said she witnessed disappointment among those who were unable to fully dedicate the necessary hours to the profession.
We are not a company of hobbyists. The people who are here run full-time businesses. So, we don't have part-time people, really, because that's just not how we think about real estate and that's not how we train our agents to build businesses, she said.
So I would say there are quite a lot of people who have gotten into it over the last few years and realized that you don't really get that far by being part time, she said.
Employees in an anonymous Top Workplaces survey praised the companys ongoing willingness to encourage flexibility, provide a work and life balance and maintain a work environment where every day is different.
But employees are expected to be mindful of a series of non-negotiable actions, including showing up on time, finishing what they start, saying please and thank you and telling the truth in all things, company leaders emphasize.
Both Stefansen and Dorwart said they subscribe to another of Century 21s workplace maxims: We are obsessed with better and give 121%.
I love working. I love coming to work every day. I am in my sweet spot, Stefansen said. I've been here almost seven years and it's just been really cool to be under leadership that I feel truly cares, she said.
Dorwart agreed and added, Just maintaining the status quo, just showing up, clocking in and doing whatever needs to be done at the bare minimum is just not how we go. We are all A-plus team players. We want to go further, just at the work level. How can we innovate? How can we move fast? How can be ahead of the market?
Q & A with Director of Human Resources, Care and Connection Victoria Stefansen
Q: What should individuals consider before approaching Century 21 as a new employee?
A: We want people working here that think like us and we believe that buyers and sellers deserve better. They deserve full-time, well-educated agents that know their stuff and are not just doing it as a side-job business. We keep a really close eye on you for the first two years of your real estate business, with meetings and classes. If you're plugged into our company, our culture and what we do, you'll have everything you need and we believe youll do amazing.
Q: How is communication and teamwork encouraged among staff and agents?
A: We're a very flat organization where everyone has access to everyone. Every day, we always talk about having that one mission. And everyone knowing where we're going and what we're doing. Our agents, independent contractors, could all be running out there individually doing their thing, but instead we're creating spaces where they show up weekly and they collaborate, and they share ideas. And instead of keeping it all to themselves, they know that we're better together.
Century 21 Signature Real Estate
Iowa locations: Headquartered in Ankeny with offices in Ames, Huxley, Urbandale, Cedar Falls, Waverly, Story City, Pella, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Quad Cities, Oelwein, and Dubuque and Fort Dodge
Founded: 2005
Ownership: Private
Iowa employees: 210
Top executives: Dylan de Bruin and Joe Schafbuch, co-owners
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Employee engagement is Century 21 Signature Real Estate touchstone
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KG, Shell Erdoel und Erdgas Exploration GmbH, Shell Espana S.A., Shell Expatriate Employment US Inc., Shell Exploracion y Extraccion de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Shell Exploration & Production Company, Shell Exploration B.V., Shell Exploration Company (RF) B.V., Shell Exploration Company (West) B.V., Shell Exploration Company B.V., Shell Exploration Company Inc., Shell Exploration New Ventures One GmbH, Shell Exploration Venture Services B.V., Shell Exploration and Development Libya GmbH I, Shell Exploration and Production (100) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (101) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (102) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (103) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (105) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (106) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (107) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (82) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (84) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (89) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (90) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (91) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (92) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (93) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (94) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (96) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (99) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LI) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LVIII) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXI) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXII) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXV) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXVI) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXXI) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (LXXV) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production (XL) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Africa Limited, Shell Exploration and Production Brunei B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Colombia GmbH, Shell Exploration and Production Holdings B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Investments B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Libya GmbH, Shell Exploration and Production Mauritania (C10) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Mauritania (C19) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Services (RF) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production South Africa B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, Shell Exploration and Production Ukraine I B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Ukraine Investments (I) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production Ukraine Investments (II) B.V., Shell Exploration and Production West-Siberia B.V., Shell Exploration et Production du Maroc GmbH, Shell Exploration und Produktion Deutschland GmbH, Shell Finance (Netherlands) B.V., Shell Finance GB Limited, Shell Finance Luxembourg Sarl, Shell Finance Switzerland AG, Shell Fleet Solutions Consorzio, Shell Frontier Oil & Gas Inc., Shell GNL Peru S.A.C., Shell GOM Pipeline Company LLC, Shell Gas & Power Developments B.V., Shell Gas (LPG) Holdings B.V., Shell Gas B.V., Shell Gas Gathering Corp. #2, Shell Gas Holdings (Malaysia) Limited, Shell Gas Iraq B.V., Shell Gas Marketing Pte. Ltd., Shell Gas Marketing U.K Limited, Shell Gas Nigeria B.V., Shell Gas Supply Trinidad Limited, Shell Gas Trading (Asia Pacific) Inc., Shell Gas Venezuela B.V., Shell Gas and Energy Philippines Corporation, Shell Generating (Holding) B.V., Shell Geothermal B.V., Shell Global LNG Limited, Shell Global Solutions (Deutschland) GmbH, Shell Global Solutions (Eastern Europe) B.V., Shell Global Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Shell Global Solutions (Thailand) Limited, Shell Global Solutions (US) Inc., Shell Global Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Shell Global Solutions Canada Inc., Shell Global Solutions Holdings (Thailand) Limited, Shell Global Solutions International B.V., Shell Global Solutions Service (Thailand) Company Limited, Shell Global Solutions Services B.V., Shell Greenland A/S, Shell Guam Inc., Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc., Shell Hasdrubal Limited, Shell Holdings (Bermuda) Limited, Shell Holdings (U.K.) Limited, Shell Holdings Switzerland AG, Shell Hong Kong Limited, Shell Hungary Trading close Company Limited by shares, Shell Hydrogen Deutschland GmbH, Shell Hydrogen Operations & Production BV, Shell India Markets Private Limited, Shell Information Technology International B.V., Shell Information Technology International Inc., Shell Information Technology International Limited, Shell Integrated Gas Oman B.V., Shell Integrated Gas Thailand Pte.Limited, Shell International B.V., Shell International Exploration and Development Italia S.p.A., Shell International Exploration and Production B.V., Shell International Exploration and Production Inc., Shell International Finance B.V., Shell International Gas Limited, Shell International Limited, Shell International Petroleum Company Limited, Shell International Trading Middle East Limited, Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited, Shell Internationale Research Maatschappij B.V., Shell Internet Ventures B.V., Shell Investments NZ Limited, Shell Iraq Petroleum Development B.V., Shell Iraq Services B.V., Shell Italia E&P S.p.A., Shell Italia Holding S.p.A., Shell Italia Oil Products S.R.L., Shell Japan Limited, Shell Kazakhstan B.V., Shell Kazakhstan Development B.V., Shell Korea Limited, Shell Kuwait Exploration and Production B.V., Shell LNG Bunkering B.V., Shell LNG Gibraltar Limited, Shell LNG Port Spain B.V., Shell LNG T&T Ltd, Shell Lake Charles Operations LLC, Shell Leasing Company, Shell Lubricants Egypt, Shell Lubricants Japan K.K., Shell Lubricants Supply Company B.V., Shell Lubricants Switzerland AG, Shell Luxembourgeoise Sarl, Shell MDS (Malaysia) Sendirian Berhad, Shell MRPL Aviation Fuels and Services Limited, Shell MSPO 2 Holding B.V., Shell Macau Limited, Shell Macau Petroleum Company Limited, Shell Malaysia Limited, Shell Malaysia Trading Sendirian Berhad, Shell Management and Consulting Company Limited, Shell Manatee Limited, Shell Manufacturing Services B.V., Shell Marine Personnel (I.O.M.) Limited, Shell Marine Products (US) Company, Shell Marine Products Limited, Shell Markets (Middle East) Limited, Shell Midstream LP Holdings LLC, Shell Midstream Operating LLC, Shell Midstream Partners GP LLC, Shell Midstream Partners L.P., Shell Mobility Polska Sp. z o.o., Shell Mozambique B.V., Shell Myanmar Energy Pte. Ltd., Shell Mexico Gas Natural S. de R.L. de C.V., Shell Mexico S.A. de C.V., Shell NA Gas & Power Holding Company, Shell NA LNG LLC, Shell Namibia Upstream B.V., Shell Nanhai B.V., Shell Nederland B.V., Shell Nederland Chemie B.V., Shell Nederland Raffinaderij B.V., Shell Nederland Verkoopmaatschappij B.V., Shell Netherlands Canada Financing B.V., Shell New Energies Australia Pty Ltd, Shell New Energies Holding Europe B.V., Shell New Energies NL B.V., Shell New Energies Norway AS, Shell New Energies UK Ltd, Shell New Energies US LLC, Shell New Ventures Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Shell New Zealand Pensions Limited, Shell Nigeria Business Operations Limited, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator Ltd, Shell Nigeria Exploration Properties Alpha Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration Properties Beta Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration Properties Charlie Limited, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Echo Limited, Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd (SNG), Shell Nigeria Infrastructure Development Limited, Shell Nigeria Offshore Prospecting Limited, Shell Nigeria Ultra Deep Limited, Shell Nigeria Upstream Ventures Limited, Shell North America Gas & Power Services Company, Shell North Sea Holdings Limited, Shell OKLNG Holdings B.V., Shell Offshore (Personnel) Services B.V., Shell Offshore Inc., Shell Offshore Response Company LLC, Shell Offshore Services B.V., Shell Offshore Upstream South Africa B.V., Shell Offshore and Chemical Investments Inc., Shell Oil & Gas (Malaysia) LLC, Shell Oil Company, Shell Oil Company Investments Inc., Shell Oil Products Company LLC, Shell Olie OG Gas Holding B.V., Shell Oman Exploration and Production B.V., Shell Oman Trading Limited, Shell Onshore Ventures Inc., Shell Operaciones Peru S.A.C., Shell Overseas Holdings (Oman) B.V., Shell Overseas Holdings Limited, Shell Overseas Investments B.V., Shell Overseas Services Limited, Shell Pakistan Limited, Shell Pensioenbureau Nederland B.V., Shell Pension Reserve Company (SIPF) Limited, Shell Pension Reserve Company (SOCPF) Limited, Shell Pension Reserve Company (UK) Limited, Shell Pensions Trust Limited, Shell People Services Asia Sdn. Bhd., Shell Petrol A.S., Shell Petroleum (Malaysia) Ltd, Shell Petroleum Inc., Shell Petroleum N.V., Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Shell Pipeline Company LP, Shell Pipeline GP LLC, Shell Polska Sp. z o.o., Shell Project Development (VIII) B.V., Shell Property Company Limited, Shell Pulau Moa Pte Ltd, Shell QGC Holdings Limited, Shell QGC Midstream 1 Limited, Shell QGC Midstream 2 Limited, Shell QGC Pty Ltd, Shell QGC Upstream 1 Limited, Shell QGC Upstream 2 Limited, Shell Quebec Limitee, Shell RDS Holding B.V., Shell RSC Company, Shell Rail Operations Company, Shell Research Limited, Shell Response Limited, Shell Retail and Convenience Operations LLC, Shell Retraites SAS, Shell Road Solutions (Zhenjiang) Co. Ltd, Shell Road Solutions Xinyue (Foshan) Co. Ltd., Shell Sabah Selatan Sendirian Berhad, Shell Sakhalin Holdings B.V., Shell Sakhalin Services B.V., Shell Salym Development B.V., Shell Sao Tome and Principe B.V., Shell Saudi Arabia (Refining) Limited, Shell Seraya Pioneer (Pte) Ltd, Shell Service Station Properties Limited, Shell Services Oman B.V., Shell Servicios Mexico S.A. de C.V., Shell Shared Services (Asia) B.V., Shell Ship Management Limited, Shell Solar Philippines Corporation, Shell Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., Shell South Africa Energy (Pty) Ltd, Shell South Africa Exploration (Pty) Limited, Shell South Africa Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Shell South Asia LNG Limited, Shell South Syria Exploration B.V., Shell Spain LNG S.A.U., Shell Supplementary Pension Plan Trustees Limited, Shell Taiwan Limited, Shell Tankers (Singapore) Private Limited, Shell Tankers (U.K.) Limited, Shell Tankers Australia Pty Ltd, Shell TapUp B.V., Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1 B.V., Shell Thailand E&P Inc., Shell Thrift & Loan Fund Trustees Nig Ltd, Shell Timur Sdn. Bhd., Shell Trademark Management B.V., Shell Trademark Management Inc., Shell Trading (M.E.) Private Limited, Shell Trading (US), Shell Trading Canada, Shell Trading International Limited, Shell Trading Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Shell Trading North America Company, Shell Trading Risk Management LLC, Shell Trading Rotterdam B.V., Shell Trading Russia B.V., Shell Trading Services Company, Shell Trading Switzerland AG, Shell Transportation Holdings LLC, Shell Treasury Center (West) Inc., Shell Treasury Centre East (Pte) Ltd, Shell Treasury Centre Limited, Shell Treasury Company Switzerland AG, Shell Treasury Dollar Company Limited, Shell Treasury Euro Company Limited, Shell Treasury Luxembourg Sarl, Shell Treasury Malaysia (L) Limited, Shell Treasury UK Limited, Shell Trinidad 5(A) Limited, Shell Trinidad Block E Limited, Shell Trinidad Central Block Limited, Shell Trinidad Ltd, Shell Trinidad North Coast Limited, Shell Trinidad and Tobago Limited, Shell Trinidad and Tobago Resources SRL, Shell Trust (Bermuda) Limited, Shell Trustee Solutions Limited, Shell Tunisia LPG S.A., Shell Tunisia Offshore GmbH, Shell Tunisia Upstream Limited, Shell U.K. Limited, Shell U.K. North Atlantic Limited, Shell U.K. Oil Products Limited, Shell US E&P Investments LLC, Shell US Gas & Power LLC, Shell US Hosting Company, Shell Ukraine Exploration and Production I LLC, Shell Upstream Albania B.V., Shell Upstream Development B.V., Shell Upstream Indonesia Services B.V., Shell Upstream Overseas Services (I) Limited, Shell Upstream Turkey B.V., Shell Venezuela Productos C.A., Shell Venezuela S.A., Shell Ventures B.V., Shell Ventures Company Limited, Shell Ventures Investments B.V., Shell Ventures LLC, Shell Ventures New Zealand Limited, Shell Ventures U.K. Limited, Shell Verwaltungsgesellschaft fur Erdgasbeteiligungen mbH, Shell Vietnam Ltd, Shell Western LNG B.V., Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited, Shell WindEnergy Inc., Shell WindEnergy Services Inc., Shell Windenergy NZW I B.V., Shell Windenergy Netherlands B.V., Shell and Topaz Aviation Ireland Limited, Shell and Vivo Lubricants B.V., Shell-Mex and B.P. Limited, Sirius Well Manufacturing Services Pte. Ltd., Sitra Petroleum Company, Snijders Olie B.V., Societe de Gestion Mobiliere et Immobiliere SAS, Societe des Petroles Shell SAS, Sohar Solar Qabas (FZC) LLC, Solar-EW II B.V., Solen Life Insurance Limited, Solen Versicherungen AG, Sonnen, Sonnen Australia Pty Limited, Sonnen GmbH, Sonnen Holding GmbH, Sonnen Inc., Sonnen Japan Kabushiki Kaisha, Sonnen S.R.L., Sonnen eServices Deutschland GmbH, Sonnen eServices GmbH, Sonnen eServices Italia S.R.L., Southern Petroleum No Liability, Sprng Energy, Starzap Pty Ltd, Station Managers of Puerto Rico Inc., Stazioni Autostradali Bellinzona SA, Studio X LLC, Sunshine 685 Pty Limited, Suzhou Liyuan Retail Site Management Co. Ltd., Synthetic Chemicals (Northern) Limited, Syria Shell Petroleum Development B.V., Syriaga Neftegaz Development LLC, TBG Tanklager Betriebsgesellschaft m.b.H., TMR Company LLC, TRINLING Limited, Tamba B.V., Tankstation Exploitatie Maatschappij Holding B.V., Tanzania LNG Limited, Tejas Coral GP LLC, Tejas Coral Holding LLC, Tejas Power Generation LLC, Telegraph Service Stations Limited, TetraSpar Demonstrator ApS, Texas Petroleum Group LLC, Texas-New Mexico Pipe Line Company, Thai Energy Company Limited, The Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company Limited, The Asiatic Petroleum Company Limited, The Consolidated Petroleum Company Limited, The Green Near Future 5 B.V., The Mexican Eagle Oil Company Limited, The New Motion B.V., The New Motion Belgium BV, The New Motion Deutschland GmbH, The New Motion EVSE Limited, The New Motion France SAS, The Shell Company (W.I.) Limited, The Shell Company of Hong Kong Limited, The Shell Company of India Limited, The Shell Company of Nigeria Limited, The Shell Company of Thailand Limited, The Shell Company of The Philippines Limited, The Shell Company of Turkey Limited, The Shell Marketing Company of Borneo Limited, The Shell Petroleum Company Limited, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, The Shell Transport and Trading Company Limited, The Valley Camp Coal Company, Thermocomfort Limited, Three Wind Holdings LLC, Tiki Tar and Shell India Private Limited, Trident LNG Shipping Services Pty Ltd, Triton Diagnostics Inc., Triton Terminaling LLC, Triton West LLC, True North Energy LLC, Tunisian Processing S.A., UK Shell Pension Plan Trust Limited, Waalbrug Exploitatie Maatschappij B.V., Walloons Coal Seam Gas Company Pty Limited, Walton-Gatwick Pipeline Company Limited, West Sitra Petroleum Company, Wonderbill Limited, Zeco Holdings Inc., Zeco Systems (Canada) Inc., Zeco Systems Inc., Zeco Systems Pte. Ltd., Zeolyst C.V., Zeolyst International, Zhejiang Shell Oil and Petrochemical Company Limited, Zydeco Pipeline Company LLC, euroShell Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, and euroShell Deutschland Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH.
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American Express Company is a multinational financial services company based in New York City. The company provides credit cards, charge cards, traveler's cheques and other financial services to individuals and businesses worldwide.
Founded in 1850, American Express has been a pioneer in the credit card industry and has developed a reputation for offering premium products and services that cater to high-income consumers. The company operates in over 130 countries and employs over 75,000 people globally.
Stephen J. Squeri has served as American Express Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2018, succeeding Kenneth I. Chenault. Squeri joined the company in 1985 and has held various leadership positions.
He is credited with leading the company's digital transformation and developing new partnerships with technology companies such as Apple, Google and Amazon. Other key management team members include Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey C. Campbell and Vice Chairman Douglas E. Buckminster.
American Express has consistently generated strong financial results, with revenue increasing consistently over the past few years. The company's net income has also grown during this same time frame. The company's profit margin has remained relatively stable at around 14%.
American Express has maintained a strong balance sheet, with a debt-to-equity ratio and a price-to-book ratio consistent with industry averages. Over the past couple of years, American Express' stock has performed well, leading its industry peers.
The credit card industry is highly competitive, with a few prominent players dominating the market. American Express competes with other major credit card companies, such as Visa and Mastercard and banks that issue private-label credit cards.
The industry has been growing steadily, with global credit card transactions expected to reach $8.8 trillion by 2025. However, the industry faces several challenges, including increasing regulatory scrutiny and the threat of disruption from fintech startups.
American Express has several growth opportunities, including expanding its presence in international markets and developing new partnerships with technology companies. The company has made significant progress in these areas, with global revenue growth from 2016 to 2022.
American Express has also partnered with companies such as Uber, Marriott and Delta Airlines to offer unique benefits to its cardholders. Additionally, the company has been investing in its digital capabilities by launching its digital wallet and mobile app.
Despite its stable financial performance and growth opportunities, American Express faces several risks and challenges. The company's high-end products and services may be vulnerable to changes in consumer preferences, and the company may need help to appeal to younger generations who prefer debit cards and mobile payments.
Additionally, American Express is subject to increasing regulatory scrutiny, with regulators monitoring the company's anti-money laundering practices and compliance with consumer protection laws. The company's debt levels and dependence on the global economy also pose risks, as a recession or economic downturn could impact its profitability.
Another major challenge for American Express is the increasing competition from fintech startups, disrupting the traditional credit card industry by offering innovative products and services. These startups are often more agile and adaptable than established companies like American Express and may be able to offer more attractive rewards and lower fees to customers.
To stay competitive, American Express must continue to innovate and develop new products and services that cater to changing customer preferences.
Check Call the Show. News and Analysis for 3PLs and Freight Brokers.
Welcome to Check Call, our corner of the internet for all things 3PL, freight broker and supply chain. Check Call the podcast comes out every Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. EDT. Catch up on previous episodes here. If this was forwarded to you, sign up for Check Call the newsletter here.
In this edition: The United Auto Workers has its strike moment; Mexico maintains its top spot; and the FreightTech 100 list is back.
(Image: ImgFlip)
But wait, theres more! No, its not an as-seen-on-TV ad, its another potential union strike. This time its the United Auto Workers turn at bat. According to a Reuters article, besides higher wages, the UAW is also demanding shorter work weeks, restoration of defined benefit pensions and stronger job security as automakers make the shift to electric vehicles.
The Big Three automobile manufacturers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis have until noon Friday, to make significant progress with the union, before the expansion of the strike is greenlit. Should the expanded strike happen, it could cripple manufacturing and potentially cause some smaller parts dealers to go out of business, depending on how long it lasts.
The one thing that UAW is doing that is a little different from the strikes, or threats of strikes, from earlier in the year is this is a Stand Up Strike. According to a CNBC article, The Stand Up Strike is a new approach to striking. Instead of striking all plants all at once, select locals have been called on to Stand Up and walk out on strike. If the automakers fail to make progress in negotiations and bargain in good faith going forward, more locals will be called on to Stand Up and join the strike.
Currently on strike are workers from GMs midsize truck and full-size van plant in Wentzville, Missouri; Fords Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV plant in Wayne, Michigan; and Stellantis Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator plant in Toledo, Ohio.
While everyone watches to see what will happen at the end of the week, now is the time to make plans. Customers that deliver raw goods to manufacturing facilities should expect business to come to a halt at the end of the week, meaning any load that cant get where it needs to be by 10 a.m. Friday should be rolled to the following week or longer depending on how the strike prognosis looks. The same goes for carriers that are hauling completed vehicles from assembly plants. Their business will come to a screeching halt come Friday afternoon if the strike isnt stopped.
Story continues
Its a watch and wait kind of week, but have those backup plans ready. At this point the only thing stopping the strike from expanding is serious progress, as perceived by the UAW.
(Gif: Tenor)
Mexico is nothing if not consistent. This is the seventh time in the past eight months that Mexico has come in the top spot with the U.S. in international trade. What started out as a close race for Canada and Mexico to be top trading partners with the U.S. has led to Mexico giving a strong lead. The U.S. Census Bureau said Mexicos year-to-date trade with the U.S. totaled $462 billion. Canadas was $450.3 billion, with China rounding out the top three at $322.3 billion.
FreightWaves Noi Mahoneys article says, If Mexico holds on for the rest of 2023 as the top U.S. trading partner, it would only be the second time in history the country has done so. The first time was 2019, when U.S.-Mexico trade totaled $612.8 billion, compared to Canadas $611.4 billion and Chinas $555.6 billion.
Mexico seems like its on its way to obliterating its previous record, especially given the dramatic rise in reshoring happening throughout Mexico. At this point I would honestly be shocked if Mexico didnt claim the top spot for the year.
SONAR TRAC Market Dashboard
TRAC Tuesday. This weeks TRAC lane of the week is from Nashville, Tennessee, to Philadelphia. The 800-mile trip over the Appalachian Mountains has an average rate per mile of $2.63, which averages about 30 cents per mile higher than the National Truckload Index. An all-in rate of $2,104 plus margin should get the load covered pretty easily. Capacity is tightening in the City of Brotherly Love as outbound tender rejections barely drop to just under 4%. Outbound tender volumes rates though have increased to mid-August levels.
(GIF: Tenor)
Whos with whom? Its that time of year again. The FreightWaves FreightTech Top 100 has been announced. The top 25 will be announced at the Future of Freight Festival. If you want to be part of the action, you can sign up for the event. Its a lot more fun than just the FreightTech top 25 awards.
The FreightTech 100 list is produced by a panel of journalists, analysts and experts chosen by FreightWaves. The voting form included more than 250 companies with information condensed from nearly 900 nominations.
The full list of the top 100 can be found here as well as previous winners.
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The post Check Call: Another day, another possible strike appeared first on FreightWaves.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to journalists in the House of Commons foyer on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Sept. 18.
US citizens Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz were freed from Iranian detention on September 18.
Highland Park, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Highland Park, Illinois -
Celebrity chef Joey Morelli is using his culinary skills to help unfortunate children across the world get the help they need to overcome their challenging circumstances.
Chef Joey, the owner of Maxs Deli in Highland Park, IL, started cooking for children on his first visit in July 2022 to the Hope For Silent Voices Hope House orphanage in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. During his visit, he taught the kids at the orphanage to shop for fresh produce and cook nutritious meals within a budget. He also helped set up the kitchen with modern amenities such as a three-compartment sink and appliances like a stove, oven, grill, and refrigerator.
Joey
Subsequently, Joey made another visit to Hope House Orphanage several months later where he helped the kids with numerous projects such as building them a play area. Throughout his visit, he recorded plenty of vlogs documenting his journey, capturing the ecstatic reactions of the children he was cooking for. He also participated in a charity drive in Stung Meanchey in Cambodia where he helped distribute 25 kilos of rice each to over 150 families.
Chef Joey also uploaded several other videos of his time in Cambodia such as discussing the emotional reaction to visiting the countrys killing fields, visiting Phnom Penhs central market, cooking a healthy breakfast for the kids, teaching the kids to grill hamburgers, cooking them a hearty Mexican dinner, taking the kids to have bubble tea, and many more. Before heading back to America, Chef Joey also made a stop in Thailand and shared videos of him enjoying activities such as scuba diving, climbing Big Buddha, and having a scrumptious dinner by the beach.
All his video content has been uploaded to his YouTube channel where he regularly shares his experiences cooking for children both abroad and at home in Chicago. His charitable venture, Joeys Food Fight, is currently accepting donations to fund trips to many other parts of the world where children and families are in desperate need of assistance due to issues such as poverty or local geopolitical conflicts. Readers interested in tracking Joeys journey are urged to visit his TikTok page at https://www.tiktok.com/@joeysfoodfight.
Story continues
During an interview on Day Time Chicago before his second trip, Chef Joey revealed the reason why he chose Joeys Food Fight as his charitable avenue. He says, Im 50 years old and I screwed up my marriage. No kids. My mission now is to take care of kids. So, I said to myself that Ill go around the world and cook for kids. I met a guy who has an orphanage in Cambodia and I said, Eric, Im coming to the orphanage, and he said OK. This was 6 months ago. Now Im going back to cook for the kids in the kitchen I built them the first time around.
A few months later, upon arriving back in America, Chef Joey cooked food for 300 displaced Ukrainian migrants and homeless people in Chicago. He partnered with Chef Clause to cook for them in a drive sponsored by Catholic Charities and Sysco Foods, the latter of which is the biggest donor for the former and also donated the food for the Chicago event.
Most recently, Chef Joey visited Central Ukraine to cook for families who have been affected by the ongoing war in Eastern Europe. He talked about the details of his latest mission during a promotional segment on WGN news where he also shared a recipe for Ukrainian crepes with viewers.
Ill be staying for one month, Chef Joey said, My goal over there is to cook for the wives, for the kids, and some of the injured soldiers. There are resorts in some areas of Ukraine that have been demolished or deserted. They are using these places to put people up. What they are missing is money for food and chefs to cook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fis4IsdQqCg
Readers can find out more about Joey Morelli and his mission to cook for kids globally by visiting https://www.joeysfoodfight.com.
###
For more information about Joey's Food Fight, contact the company here:
Joey's Food Fight
Joey Morelli
(847) 997-0407
joey@joeysfoodfight.com
Joeys Food Figh
191 Skokie Valley Road
Highland Park IL 60035
CONTACT: Joey Morelli
Former President Donald Trump, seen here on September 15, will skip the second Republican presidential primary debate in California next week.
Britains trade union bureaucracy overwhelmingly backed a motion at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) annual meeting last week declaring support for the imperialist war against Russia in Ukraine.
In its final form, the motion put forward by the ASLEF train drivers union and GMB union, titled Solidarity with Ukraine, committed the Congress to supporting Ukrainian unions calls for financial and practical aid from the UK to Ukraine, and The immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from all Ukrainian territories occupied since 2014including Crimea and the eastern Donbas regions.
Ukrainian servicemen of the 3rd Separate Tank Iron Brigade take part in an exercise in the Kharkiv area, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023, the day before the one year mark since the war began. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
This is a total endorsement of the war policies of the United States, Britain, and the other European powers. They have spent billions shipping weapons with which they expect Kiev to fight down to the last Ukrainian in a conflict designed to shatter the Russian government, force regime change, and open the entire region to imperialist carve-up and exploitation. The original version of the text explicitly backed sending arms.
NATO is not mentioned in the motion, let alone criticised, and the UK Government only once in reference to its delay and denial of sanctuary to Ukrainian refugees.
The vote builds on the decision taken at last years TUC Congress to support affiliates campaigns for immediate increases in defence spending in the UK since Congress recognises that defence manufacturing cuts have hindered the UKs ability to aid the Ukrainian people under brutal assault from Putins regime. Congress believes that the world is becoming less safe and the policy carried in 2017 in favour of diversifying away from defence manufacturing is no longer fit for purpose.
The 2022 motion, also put forward by the GMB, was narrowly passed. But the vote last week endorsing NATOs war policy was decisive. Only one delegate spoke against in the debate according to the Morning Stars reportthe Fire Brigades Union (FBU)s Jamie Newelland only the FBU and Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, both small, voted against. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), the University and College Union (UCU) and the National Education Union abstained.
All other unions plus the TUC general council led by General Secretary Paul Nowak backed the motion. President of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) Mark Serwotka used his final appearance at a TUC Congress before retiring to deliver the closing speech in favour.
PCSU leader Mark Serwotka speaking in favour of the pro-war motion [Photo: screenshot of video: TUC/YouTube]
By lining up behind British imperialism and militarism, the trade union bureaucracy made clear that all the talk at the TUC Congress about opposing anti-strike laws and staging powerful collective strike action to secure a new deal for workers was a fraud.
Pursuing the war against Russia in Ukrainewhich commentators and leading military figures predict will go on for years, which continues to escalate, and which is placing severe strains on the military production capacity of the US and European powerswill require massive increases in military spending. It also heralds fierce economic and military competition between a world dividing into rival blocks.
This is a recipe for deep cuts to social spending, wage restraint and the disciplining of the working class, which the trade union bureaucracy will not oppose because they support the war policy underlying these measures.
The TUCs war vote is also an indictment of the purported anti-war position of the British pseudo-left.
The Socialist Workers Party, the Socialist Party and Socialist Appeal all claim opposition to NATOs involvement in the war in Ukraine. At the same time, they falsely maintain that Russia is an imperialist powerdrawing an equivalence between its actions on the world stage and those of the United States and its European allies. Most critically, they base their opposition on the trade union bureaucracy, turning their formal position on the war into a giant zero in real terms.
Responding to events last week, the SWP concluded an article titled, TUC backs war and clears the way for more arms spending with the line, Trade unionists must keep up the arguments against imperialism East and West. Another article in Socialist Worker, TUC conference delegate says unions have shifted, but not nearly far enough, noted lamely of an individual the SWP has promoted for years, sadly it was left to Mark Serwotka of the PCS to make the most bellicose pro-imperialist speech.
The Socialist Party had nothing to say.
Socialist Appeal, in the article, Solidarity with Ukraine, or support for NATO imperialism?, counselled, The duty of the labour movement in Britain is not to tail end the British ruling class, but rather to offer principled working-class opposition.
The other half of what the pseudo-left misleadingly calls the labour movement is the Labour Party, whose left representatives are portrayed as a rallying point for opposition to its patently right-wing, pro-war leaders.
But much of what passes for the Labour left, the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), was busy endorsing the TUC vote. Jeremy Corbyns shadow chancellor John McDonnell, as a leading figure in the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign closely associated with Paul Mason, was practically a co-sponsor of the motion. Ian Lavery (Chair of the Labour Party under Corbyn) and Nadia Whittome MP sent videos in support.
The ferocity of their support for the war was ably demonstrated by Andrew Fisher, a longtime ally of McDonnells and former Labour director of policy under Corbyn, in an opinion piece for the i newspaper, Stop the War has exposed how hollow it now is. It should disband. The Stop the War Coalition had opposed the GMB motion, commenting, If Congress adopts this motion it will be taking a position supportive of the Tory govts war policy in Ukraine.
Fisher declares Natos role is a secondary one in the war in Ukraine and cites Dr. Yuliya Yurchenkos argument that Ukraine is fighting Russia, our historic imperial oppressor. Weve been politically, economically, culturally and linguistically dominated and colonised for a very long time. I think some people still get their vision clouded by a one-dimensional opposition to US imperialism alone. But the US is not the aggressor in this situation.
He writes of the STWCs warped minds and withered remnants, They should show some humility and disband.
Fishers screed is entirely of a piece with Labour leader Sir Keirs Starmers authoritarian attack on Stop the War early in the NATO Russia war, when he accused the organisation of giving succour to authoritarian leaders and providing a smokescreen so the Kremlin can go on beating up and jailing those brave individuals that dare to stand up to its despotism.
In the same article, Starmer paraphrased the criticism of kneejerk anti-imperialism put into circulation by pro-imperialist pseudo-left thinkers like Gilbert Achcar to denounce The kneejerk reflex, Britain, Canada, the United States, Francewrong. Now a section of Corbynite left is signalling its agreement. McDonnell posted Fishers article to his Twitter/X feed.
Although the most public target of the warmongers in the UK, Stop the War has no political answer to them, advocating the same orientation to the trade unions and the Labour left. Its comment on the TUC Congress limply appeals, Its vital the trade union movement sees sense, while a response to Fishers article says of the SCG: twelve members of the groupat least half its active membership signed a Stop the War letter on the conflict only to be forced to withdraw their signatures under threat of losing the whip.
The silence of Left MPs on the war is an enforced silence, imposed by the same tactics that Starmer has used to crush dissent throughout the Labour Party.
This is a pretty sorry defence: in fact, half of the two-dozen strong nominal left group backed us initially but are too cowardly to do so now. Corbyn remains silent without even the excuse of holding on to a seat as a Labour MP having been booted out of the parliamentary party by Starmer.
The Socialist Equality Party and International Youth and Students for Social Equality have insisted that opposition to the NATO-Russia war cannot be based on the trade unions or the Labour left. A struggle must be taken up to mobilise the international working class in a global anti-war movement against the imperialist ambitions of the NATO powers, the bankrupt nationalism of the Putin regime and their supporters in the union bureaucracy.
For over two weeks, the richest capitalist in the world, Elon Musk, in concert with neo-Nazis and Republican Party operatives, has affirmed and promoted century-old antisemitic tropes to millions of people on the social media platform he purchased last year for $44 billion.
In multiple tweets on Twitter/X, Musk has accused Jewish people of controlling the mass media and the financial markets. In a September 4 Twitter/X thread, Musk accused the Anti-Defamation League, which was founded in 1913 to combat antisemitism and racism, of trying to kill this platform by falsely accusing it & me of being anti-Semitic.
Fascist former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro (left) smiles with billionaire Elon Musk, May 2022. CC BY 2.0] [Photo by Ministerio Das Comunicacoes
Blaming Jewish people for the cratering of Twitter/Xs value, Musk wrote: Our US advertising revenue is still down 60%, primarily due to pressure on advertisers by @ADL (thats what advertisers tell us), so they almost succeeded in killing X/Twitter!
If this continues, Musk added, we will have no choice but to file a defamation suit against, ironically, the Anti-Defamation League.
In the same thread, Musk responded to a question posed by fascist provocateur and InfoWars correspondent Mike Cernovich. Musk took the opportunity to accuse the ADL of spreading antisemitic content on the platform since he purchased it, writing there is no way to tell if the organization complaining was somehow complicit in creating the very thing they complain about!
Prior to his September 4 outburst, Musk and others incited an online pogrom against Jewish people under the hashtag #BanTheADL. Thousands of posts have been made on Twitter/X under the hashtag promoting the genocide of Jews.
The #BanTheADL hashtag was created by neo-Nazis at the end of August. The hashtag originated with Irish fascist Keith Woods (real name Keith OBrien). Woods, neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, and retired mixed martial artist/UFC fighter Jake Shields started the #BanTheADL campaign on Twitter/X following an August 30 tweet from ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt.
It must be said that Greenblatt and ADLs distorted definition of antisemitismwhich treats as antisemitic all criticisms of the capitalist state of Israel, including comparisons of its decades-long persecution of the Palestinians with the Nazis treatment of Jewish people in the period before the Holocausthas allowed actual neo-Nazis to claim they are falsely being labelled as antisemitic by the organization for merely criticizing the state of Israel.
The #BanTheADL hashtag is not a legitimate response to the ADLs adoption of the false and viciously right-wing definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which is targeted against any left-wing or socialist critique of the oppression of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. The IHRA definition could also be used against the popular opposition to the fascistic Netanyahu government among the majority of Israeli Jews.
Rather, the #BanTheADL campaign seeks to use the anti-democratic role of the IHRA to discredit any reporting and exposure of actual antisemitic content on Twitter/X. Neo-Nazis, and Musk, attack the ADL for authoring reports pointing to the rise of fascist content on Twitter/X since Musk bought the company.
In his August 30 tweet, Greenblatt thanked Twitter/X CEO Linda Yaccarino for reaching out and Im hopeful the service will improve. @ADL will be vigilant and give her and @ElonMusk credit if the service gets better ... and reserve the right to call them out until it does.
The following day, August 31, Woods and Fuentes began promoting #BanTheADL on Twitter/X. Woods promoted it through his account that was reinstated following Musks purchase of the company, while Fuentes promoted it through accounts he set up to evade a similar ban, which has not been rescinded, and encouraged his neo-Nazi followers on Telegram to promote it. That same day, Shields tweeted a screenshot from the ADLs website and wrote, Despite what the ADL wants you to believe it is ok to be white #bantheADL. Shieldss post was retweeted by Woods and, according to Twitter/X, has been viewed nearly 200,000 times.
Musk and far-right elements propelled it to trend on Twitter/X beginning on September 1 and through the Labor Day weekend. On September 1, Musk liked a tweet Woods posted calling for the ADL to be banned from Twitter/X. In the tweet liked by Musk, Woods repeated antisemitic tropes that a Jewish cabal controls the media, writing that the ADL orchestrated an advertiser boycott of Tucker Carlson. Why should they have a platform on X to hold @elonmusk to ransom? Its time to #BanTheADL.
Musk continued to engage with the #BanTheADL topic and its promoters, including Woods, liking several subsequent tweets by the fascist. On September 1, Musk replied favorably to a Woods tweet attacking the ADL, writing that the ADL has tried very hard to strangle X/Twitter.
Woods has previously spoken at fascist political conferences and favorably interviewed Fuentes on his program. Woods regularly shares antisemitic, nationalist, fascistic, and racist content on all his social media platforms.
Neo-Nazis Nicholas Fuentes (left) and Keith Woods (right), livestream March 3, 2023. [Photo: America First Clip Archive]
As Musk continued to engage with Woods, other right-wing elements joined in the antisemitic campaign. On September 1, Charlie Kirk, co-founder of the fascistic Turning Point USA and co-conspirator in Trumps failed coup, wrote on Twitter/X, I believe in the First Amendment so I dont want to ban anyones speech, but if I was going to start somewhere it would be #BanTheADL.
Appealing to neo-Nazis and white supremacists, Kirk added, The ADL is a mass purveyor of anti-white hate. Kirk deleted his tweet, only to change the last sentence to read, The ADL itself is Americas number-one purveyor of hate speech (and the [Southern Poverty Law Center] is #2). #BanTheADL
That same day, several other right-wing commentators, including Michael Knowles, Michael Walsh and neo-Nazi Jack Posobiec, tweeted their support for #BanTheADL.
Continuing the campaign, the next day, September 2, Musk retweeted far-right Dutch political operative and recent speaker at CPAC Hungary, Eva Vlaardingerbroek, writing Perhaps we should run a poll on this? In her tweet, Vlaardingerbroek said that the fact #BanTheADL was trending showed how done people are with the were labeling everything we dont like as hateful/racist/dangerous/far-right BS.
On September 4, Woods posted a video clip from Alex Jones InfoWars program in which Jones claimed the ADL was the most pro-Hitler organization Ive ever seen. Musk replied to the video/Woods tweet, The ADL, because they are so aggressive in their demands to ban social media accounts for even minor infraction, are ironically the biggest generators of anti-Semitism on this platform!
Holocaust denier and Trump Thanksgiving guest Nick Fuentes has a specific purpose in the anti-ADL campaign. He noted in a recent livestream that while it was beneficial that the hashtag spread freely on Twitter/X, maybe the most important feature here is with Elon Musk.
Its not just that ... millions of people are seeing the conversation, the neo-Nazi said, but its specifically this audience of one, Elon Musk, is paying attention. And we have been watching it closely. It almost seems like he wakes up and checks Keith Woods timeline. For updates on this!
Its hard not to believe that based on when his engagement starts for the day. And he starts everyday by liking the tweets, and he replies to a few of them, even replying to some of the retweets on Keith Woods timeline. So thats maybe even a bigger deal ... we have a captive audience of one, who just happens to be the richest man in the world. The kingmaker on the platform, who is very ... in tuned ... to this conversation and specifically the conversation as it pertains to what we are saying about it.
He tweeted 28 times in just the last 24 hours about this campaign, Fuentes noted.
Musks vociferous promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories that Jews control the media and society at large is not a new development. This past spring, Musk attacked billionaire Democratic Party funder and Holocaust survivor George Soros. On May 15, 2023, Musk tweeted, Soros reminds me of Magneto. In the X-Men comic, the super-villain Magnetos willingness to use violence against humans to protect his mutant allies stems from his familys annihilation by Nazis at Auschwitz as a child during World War II.
In response to Musks tweet comparing Soros to a comic book villain who killed thousands of people, Twitter user Brian Krassenstein noted that the Magneto character frequently aided the heroic X-men and was also a Holocaust survivor. Musk replied that Soros wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.
Musk later added that his original tweet was unkind to Magneto. In a follow-up interview on CNBC, Musk doubled down on his attacks against Soros, a bogeyman for the international fascist right, telling the host that he thought it was true that Soros wanted to destroy humanity.
On September 17, Musk, using Soros as a bogeyman for international Jewry, responded to a fascist Twitter account blaming Soros for an invasion of immigrants in Italy, The Soros organization appears to want nothing less than the destruction of western civilization.
Musks tweet is a recapitulation of the Great Replacement fascist conspiracy theory which animated the Tree of Life Synagogue, Jacksonville, Florida, and Buffalo, New York mass shooters. The fascist lie, which is a pillar in the anti-immigrant propaganda espoused by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and a majority of the Republican Party, posits that a cabal of Jewish people and left-wing elements are seeking to replace white Christians in the US and Europe with lesser stock from Africa, Asia, and South America.
Under Musks stewardship, and by his own admissions, the value of the social media platform he invested heavily in, and was forced to purchase, has collapsed. Since his acquisition of Twitter last year, Musk, a self-declared free speech absolutist and racist imbecile, has fired thousands of workers, re-branded the platform and introduced a paid-subscription service.
Over the same period, Musk has overseen the unbanning of Trumps Twitter/X account while remaining silent on the execution of Saudi dissidents who tweeted their opposition to the dictatorship on Twitter/X. He regularly engages with far-right and openly antisemitic language. Musk regularly promotes his preferred right-wing presidential political candidates while banning left-wing, anarchist, and even bourgeois-liberal journalists.
Musk is one of several billionaire pandemic profiteers that saw their wealth explode during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, Musk illegally ordered the resumption of production in violation of public health orders at the Fremont, California Tesla assembly facility. Wall Street rewarded Musk for this criminal act that led to thousands of COVID-19 infections by shooting up Telsas stock price from under $60 a share in May 2020 to over $235 by the end of the year. As of this writing, Musk has an estimated net worth of around $250 billion, roughly 10 times the amount he had earned prior to the onset of COVID-19.
Musks temporary immense wealth does not inoculate him from historical retribution. Terrified of a growing strike wave in the working class, and increasing support for socialism among workers and youth, the richest person in the world has exposed himself as a Nazi sympathizer and a Jew-hater.
As the war in Ukraine continues to falter, capitalist reaction and fascism are oozing out of every pore of the ruling class. Seeking to blame an external enemy for the failures of capitalism, sections of the ruling class are whipping up the oldest and most genocidal lies in human history, in a last-ditch effort to divide the working class and protect their unearned wealth and parasitic existence.
Musks antisemitic rampage demonstrates that Trumps embrace of very fine people at Charlottesville in 2017, and the refusal of Governor Ron DeSantis to condemn neo-Nazis operating openly in Florida are not aberrations. The Republican Partys transformation into a fascist organization reflects the authoritarian transformation of large sections of the US ruling class.
The Democratic Party and the Biden administration, which have played an immense role in making the electric vehicle manufacturer Musk a very wealthy man, have proven incapable of fighting the fascist threat. While Trump and a few of his top co-conspirators have finally been charged with some of the crimes related to the failed coup, his co-conspirators in Congress, the Pentagon and the Supreme Court remain free.
The Democrats share Musks terror of an independent movement of the working class against capitalist exploitation. This was expressed in the coming together of the Democrats with their Republican colleagues last year to ban railroad workers from striking, while at the same time passing record military budgets and seemingly unlimited funding for war against Russia.
History has shown that fascism will never be defeated by voting for capitalist parties, or by relying on the capitalist state as the supposed bastion of democracy. It requires the mobilization of the working class on a revolutionary socialist basis. Workers and youth committed to eliminating the fascist threat and fighting the financial oligarchy should contact the World Socialist Web Site today.
On Saturday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was acquitted on 16 impeachment counts by the Texas State Senate. The remaining four counts were dismissed by a vote of the Senate.
Each article was voted on separately. All but two of the Republicans in the Senate, who control 19 of the 31 seats, voted nay on every vote. Two Democrats voted for every article. Twelve of the articles were voted down by margins of 16-14, with two Republicans joining the 12 Democrats. One article was voted down 28-2.
The trial had been expected to last two to three weeks. However, the prosecution and defense, which had each been given 24 cumulative hours in which to present their cases, ran out of their allotted time. The trial ended up lasting nine days.
Paxtons wife Angela, a state senator herself, had been barred from voting or participating in the deliberations, but was allowed on the floor of the Senate during the trial. Because she was present, the number of senators was 31, meaning that the two-thirds majority to convict was 21, rather than 20 if she had been absent. Her vote was considered an abstention. As it turned out, the extra vote required to convict was not a factor.
The charges against Paxton largely involved his relationship with Austin real estate developer Nate Paul. Paul allegedly paid for renovations to Paxtons home and hired Paxtons mistress, in exchange for which Paxton used the powers of his office to benefit Paul. This included opening investigations against Pauls enemies, delaying foreclosure sales of his properties, and obtaining confidential records for Paul. Paxton even hired a private attorney, at state expense, to investigate the FBI agents who were investigating Paul for various financial scams.
Paxtons subordinates at the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) warned Paxton to break off contact with Paul, advice which Paxton did not take. David Maxwell, the former head of investigations at the OAG, with 40 years of police experience, testified that he bluntly told Paxton that Paul was a criminal.
There should be little doubt of Paxtons corruption. He was indicted for securities fraud in 2015, but has managed to postpone the trial for eight years and through reelection campaigns in 2018 and 2022. The reasons for his acquittal last weekend have to do with politics.
The impeachment itself, which was overwhelmingly passed by the Republican-dominated state House of Representatives in May by a vote of 121-23, is indicative of a power struggle within the Republican Party. Paxton is a close ally of Donald Trump; he spoke at Trumps rally in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, shortly before fascist supporters of the former president attacked Congress.
Trump celebrated Paxtons acquittal on his social media site, Truth Social, calling it a great and historic Texas sized VICTORY. Previously he had denounced Paxtons Republican opponents as RINOs (Republicans in name only), writing, Who would replace Paxton, one of the TOUGHEST & BEST Attorney Generals in the Country? Could it be a Democrat, or even worse, a RINO?
Tony Buzbee, Paxtons lead attorney, hinted at the party struggle while questioning some witnesses and again in his closing arguments. He suggested that the Bush family was behind the impeachment. At one point, while cross-examining a prosecution witness, he accused the witness of planning a coup detat against Paxton. During his closing arguments, he implored the senators to send the Bushes back to Maine.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in Washington, at a rally in support of President Donald Trump, Jan 6, 2021. [AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin]
Paxtons main opponent in the 2022 Republican Party primary election was George P. Bush. The son of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the nephew of former president and Texas governor George W. Bush, he lost to Paxton by a margin of 68 percent to 32 percent.
Paxtons acquittal solidifies the control of the Republican Party by fascist elements. Paxton has played a major role nationally, where he has spearheaded legal challenges to Obama and Biden administation policies, as well as appealing for Supreme Court intervention into the 2020 election. He has also been at the forefront of enforcing state persecution of doctors and other health care workers involved in abortion services, and even against friends or relatives who might help women seeking an abortion. There should be little doubt that he will seek vengeance on those who sought to remove him from office.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a former state Attorney General himself, maintained a remarkable silence throughout the affair. Only after the Senate verdict did he then issue a statement congratulating the state attorney general and pledging to work with him in the future. Abbotts most public activities during the summer involved having state police place buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande, along the international border with Mexico, to block migrants from entering the US.
The Senate trial was presided over by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, an ally of Paxton. After the verdict, he said, Im going to call next week for a full audit of all taxpayer money spent by the House from the beginning of their investigation in March to their final bills they get from their lawyers. Patrick specifically attacked House Speaker Dade Phelan, saying, The speaker and his team ran through the first impeachment of a statewide elected official in Texas in over 100 years while paying no attention to the precedent that the House set and every other impeachment before in the past.
Shortly before the impeachment trial began, Patrick received a campaign contribution of $3 million from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, a pro-Paxton political action committee, including an outright donation of $1 million and a loan of $2 million. This is despite the fact that Patrick is already sitting on a campaign war chest of $22 million and wont be up for reelection for three years.
Following the verdict, Paxton, clearly contemptuous of Texas citizens, stated, The sham impeachment coordinated by the Biden Administration with liberal House Speaker Dade Phelan and his kangaroo court has cost taxpayers millions of dollars, disrupted the work of the Office of Attorney General and left a dark and permanent stain on the Texas House. The weaponization of the impeachment process to settle political differences is not only wrong, it is immoral and corrupt.
Paxton is still under indictment for securities fraud. He is also being investigated by the FBI because of the whistleblowers who testified during the trial. These former employees in the Office of Attorney General were fired by Paxton after they reported him to the FBI due to their belief that Paxton had committed crimes.
FILE - President Joe Biden, left, speaks at an event with G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the NATO Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, July 12, 2023. (Paul Ellis/Pool Photo via AP, File) [AP Photo]
On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly in New York City in an effort to mobilize support for the US-NATO war against Russia.
Their appearance follows the failure of Ukraines spring offensive, which has made no significant territorial gains despite the loss of tens of thousands of Ukrainian troops. On Monday, Zelenskys government announced that it had dismissed all of its deputy defense ministers, following the firing last month of the countrys defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov.
Adding to the context of crisis and desperation, just one day ahead of Zelenskys appearance at the UN, the New York Times published a report refuting claims that a September 6 missile attack on a Ukrainian market that killed at least 15 civilians was a deliberate massacre by Russian terrorists. Instead, the Times reported, the disaster was the result of an allegedly accidental Ukrainian missile strikesuspiciously timed to correspond with the arrival of Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ukraine the same day.
The mass dismissal of the entire leading ranks of the Ukrainian defense ministry is an all but open admission that the counter-offensive failed. Zelensky is being flown into Washington for emergency talks. It is evident that the Biden administration is responding to the military setback by escalating the war. It is demanding that Congress pass a further $21 billion in weapons and aid to Ukraine, adding to the more than $150 billion that has already been allocated. It is also moving to send long-range missiles capable of striking deep into Russian territory.
The US medias coverage is more and more directly using the language of open war against Russia. How to wage the financial war against Russias economy, read an editorial in the Washington Post.
The New York Times Thomas Friedman, one of Americas leading war propagandists, called in an op-ed Friday for the US to urgently lift any remaining restraints on the intervention. Ukraine needs to inflict as much damage on Putins army as fast as possible, Friedman wrote.
That means we need to massively and rapidly deliver the weaponry Ukraine needs to break Putins lines in the countrys southeast. Im talking the kitchen sink: F-16s ; MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, which could strike deep behind Russian lineswhatever the Ukrainians can use effectively and fast.
Friedman concluded that securing justice in war almost always requires the total defeat and occupation of the aggressor.
Openly expressing Washingtons aims, Friedman declared, Ukraine is a game-changing country for the West because its integration into the European Union and NATO someday would constitute a power shift that could rival the fall of the Berlin Wall and German unification.
Last week, Reuters reported that the Biden administration is making preparations to send to Ukraine the long-range ATACMS missile, which is capable of striking hundreds of miles behind Russian lines, putting the Russian capital of Moscow itself at risk of attack with NATO weapons.
On Friday, a group of Republican senators issued a statement calling for the Biden administration to send the ATACMS missile system to Ukraine.
We write to urge you to immediately send MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine, the senators wrote. Additional delay will only further undermine US national security interests and extend this conflict.
They continued, The recent Ukrainian strike on the Sevastopol naval port using the British Storm Shadow long-range weapon demonstrated the battlefield effectiveness of such weapons.
The letter referred to last weeks strike by Ukraine on two Russian warships in dry dock at the port of Sevastopol. While previously Ukrainian officials had not admitted to carrying out strikes inside Russia, they boasted about their responsibility for last weeks attack.
More importantly, they openly admitted to using the NATO-provided missiles to carry out the strike, with one official telling Sky News, It was Storm Shadow, referring to the long-range missile provided by the UK to Ukraine earlier this year.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken effectively endorsed Ukraine using NATO long-range missiles to strike inside Russia, declaring that it is up to them to make decisions about what can be most effective when it comes to restoring their territorial integrity.
There is a clear trajectory of these developments. Even as its Ukrainian proxy forces suffer one military catastrophe after another, the US is escalating its direct involvement in the war, increasingly abandoning the pretense that it is not waging a war against Moscow.
In an indication of what is actually being discussed behind the scenes, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto warned of the threat of a nuclear escalation of the war in an interview published Sunday in the New York Times.
Niinisto warned, Were in a very sensitive situation. Even small things can change matters a great deal and unfortunately for the worse. That is the risk of such large-scale warfare. He concluded, The risk that nuclear weapons could be used is tremendous.
In fact, what the United States seeks to present as self-assurance is in reality desperation. Facing a deepening economic and social crisis, US imperialism is seeking to preserve its global hegemony and the dominance of the US dollar in global economic life, which it perceives as being increasingly threatened by the rise of China.
The deepening military crisis creates pressure for the United States to intervene directly to stave off disaster. Now that NATO weapons are being used for strikes inside Russia, how much more room does the United States have to escalate? The next step is the deployment of US and NATO troops, and even the deploymentor useof nuclear weapons in the conflict.
This disaster can and must be averted. The sentiment for the development of a mass strike movement in the American and Canadian auto industries points to the social force that must be mobilized to stop the war drive of the imperialists. The war is, fundamentally, a war on two fronts, not only against the countries the United States seeks to dominate and subjugate, but against the working class at home, which the ruling class is seeking to discipline and suppress as part of Americas transition to wartime production.
The central task in the fight against war is to unify the social demands of workers with the fight against the predatory foreign policy of American imperialism.
We are republishing below an article from the World Socialist Web Site that exposed the nature of the last attempt to revamp the reactionary 1901 Australian Constitutionthe rejected 1999 proposal to change from a monarchy to a republic.
Direct parallels exist between the republican referendum and the Albanese Labor governments October 14 referendum to entrench a new institution, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elite advisory body called the Voice, in this thoroughly anti-democratic Constitution.
Like the Voice plan, as this 1999 article explains, the republican referendum was a big business-backed project. It too sought to strengthen the apparatus of capitalist rule while presenting a false progressive image for Australian capitalism.
The republic vote was defeated not because of popular support for the retention of the British monarchyopinion polls indicated less than 10 percent support for that form of rule. Rather, its failure reflected widespread disaffection and hostility, especially in working-class areas, towards the entire political establishment.
That entirely legitimate distrust was directed at both the questions put to the voters. The first was to place the potentially dictatorial powers of the monarchy, contained in the 1901 document, in the hands of an unelected president. The second was to insert a preamble to the Constitution, aiming to define a new basis for national unity that, among other things, paid lip service to honouring Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, the nations first people.
First, under the presidential model put to the referendum, the sweeping reserve powers of the English Crown, which were deliberately retained by the founding fathers in 1901 for use against the emerging working class, would have been explicitly mentioned in the Constitution for the first time. As the 1999 article explains, all the powers of the monarchy would have been transferred to a handpicked president, whose appointment would be ratified by a two-thirds vote in parliament.
A largely government-appointed constitutional convention in 1998 had rejected an alternative direct election presidential model. That model would also have involved the same bolstering of these powers, designed for use in political crises. Still at the core of the Australian Constitution today, these powers, currently held by an appointed governor-general, include to declare war, mobilise the armed forces, dismiss governments and dissolve parliaments.
The 1999 referendum campaign sought to bury these details and shore up support for a constitution that contains no bill of rights or any other guarantees of basic democratic rights, not even the right to vote. Above all, the Constitution is designed to protect the capitalist property rights established by British colonialism.
Second, flying in the face of this historical and constitutional reality, the preamble would have fraudulently depicted Australia as a democracy with a federal system of government to serve the common good. Attempting to instil a new patriotism, it would have declared that the Australian people were proud that our national unity has been forged by Australians from many ancestries, while never forgetting the sacrifices of all who defended our country and our liberty in time of war.
Alongside the tokenistic reference to the indigenous first people, the preamble would have just as falsely paid tribute to generations of immigrants and claimed that the nation was based on protecting the natural environment, equality of opportunity for all and independence.
The referendum defeat revealed a deep social and class divide. Virtually every newspaper in the country urged a Yes vote, as did leading figures from all the parliamentary parties, along with business leaders and a galaxy of stars and sporting personalities. But only 45 percent of voters supported the proposed switch to a republican form of rule.
Even worse, despite being approved unanimously by the members of parliament of all the establishment parties, including the Labor Party, the preamble received just 39 percent support. Neither question obtained a majority in any of the six states.
The result was overwhelmingly one of hostility directed toward the whole political establishment. The Yes vote was concentrated in the wealthiest enclaves of the major cities, largely inhabited by the most privileged layers who had benefitted from the economic restructuring driven by global markets over the previous two decades. The majority No vote stretched from the working-class suburbs into the remote heart of the continent.
The 1980s and 1990s had seen an unprecedented redistribution of wealth up the income scale, particularly under the 1983 to 1996 Labor governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, which worked hand-in-glove with the trade union leaders via a series of Accords. Outsourcing, privatisation, cost-cutting and corporate tax handouts accompanied mass retrenchments, the decimation of permanent employment, the lowering of real wages and the undercutting of social services.
Over the past 24 years, this social gulf has widened even further in Australia, as it has internationally, compounded by a cost-of-living and housing crisis. Albaneses Labor government is intensifying the inequality by imposing cuts to real wages and social spending, while allocating hundreds of billions of dollars for US-led war preparations and Stage Three income tax cuts for the wealthy.
Even more than in 1999, the ruling class and its political servants, in both the Yes and No camps, are anxious to conceal their reactionary agenda for war abroad and class war at home, while trying to weaken and divide the working class along racial lines. That is the essence of the Voice referendum.
Whatever the outcome, it would do nothing to alleviate the shocking conditions of most indigenous people after 235 years of capitalist rule, initially under British colonialism and then Australian capitalism. If successful, the result would entrench an elite indigenous advisory body in the same ruling apparatus responsible for the land-clearing violence and massacres.
That is why the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) is urging workers and youth to reject both the Yes and No cases presented by the ruling political establishment. We are calling for an active boycott campaign to oppose the referendum itself.
As we explain in our statement: The entire referendum is anti-democratic. Neither camp represents the interests of the working class. Far from providing the population with a say, as the government and the corporate media proclaim, the referendum seeks to box people into making a binary choice between the perspective of two rival camps of the ruling capitalist class, both of which are committed to the underlying program of war and austerity.
According to the media polls, a similar pattern of defeat is looming for the Voice as for the republic referendum. The widespread opposition to the Voice is not the result of widespread racism, any more than the rejection of the 1999 proposals represented support for the monarchy. There is deep working-class antipathy toward the historic oppression of indigenous people.
Instead, the deteriorating support for the Voice reflects heightening distrust and loathing toward the Labor government and the media as well as the opposition parties. That, by itself, however, is not enough. It must be transformed into a politically conscious movement against the capitalist order itself. That is what the SEP is fighting for in its active boycott campaign.
***
Australia to hold Republic referendum: But no public discussion about the details
By Mike Head
3 September 1999
Recent weeks have seen a considerable crisis in Australias political establishment over the question to be put to voters in the referendum being held on November 6 about replacing the monarchy with a republic. The exact wording was only finalised in a last-minute parliamentary deal on August 12, following five months of contortions and manoeuvres.
The dispute over the question reflected a series of rifts. Prime Minister John Howards government is badly split over scrapping Australias connection to the British royalty. While Howard himself is an avowed monarchist, together with a handful of establishment figures, many others in his cabinet are actively campaigning for a republic, including Howards deputy party leader, Treasurer Peter Costello.
The monarchists motto is: If its not broken, dont fix it. Their concern is with the destabilising consequences of disrupting a form of rule that has served the ruling elite well for almost a centurysince Australia was formed as a Federation in 1901.
Australian Republican Movement Chief Malcolm Turnbull shows off the yes vote balloons, Friday, Nov., 5, 1999 a day before the referendum vote. [AP Photo/Rob Griffith]
But prominent corporate figures, while sharing these reservations, regard the old British ties as a millstone around their necks as they pursue their business operations in Asia and globally. They wish to project an unequivocal Australian identity on world markets and, at the same time, to engender a renewed national sentiment at home, where the monarchy has lost much of its credibility. The semi-official Australian Republican Movement, a business-financed organisation led by millionaire investment banker Malcolm Turnbull, represents their interests.
Howards initial proposal for the referendum question on March 8 failed to mention the only aspect of the republic that has garnered any significant public supportthe replacement of the Queen and her representative, the governor-general, with a president. Instead, his question focussed on the most unpopular and distrusted featurethe appointment of the president by a two-thirds majority in parliament, rather than by a popular vote.
The republicans immediately objected. They accused Howard of seeking to ensure the referendums defeat by not mentioning the abolition of the monarchy and emphasising the parliamentary selection of the president. Media opinion polls have shown support for the republicnever overwhelmingfalling away as people have learned more of the details, with widespread opposition to the notion of an appointed president. A poll conducted by the Murdoch organisation in July indicated that support for a republic rose from 41 percent to 46 percent if Howards question were replaced by one referring to the Queen being replaced by a president nominated by members of the public and then selected by a two-thirds Parliamentary majority.
On August 10, the Australian Labor Party and Australian Democrats in the Senate rejected Howards proposition, and the impasse threatened to abort the referendum. In the end, a compromise formula was adopted on August 12, but only after reports of cabinet clashes between monarchists and republicans, followed by an eleventh-hour deal with the nine Australian Democrats senators.
The final concoction mentions both the axing of the monarchy and the parliamentary appointment of the president. All the parliamentary partiesLiberal, National, Labor, Australian Democrats and Greensendorsed it. One lone independent MP in the House of Representatives recorded a dissenting vote.
How to Vote Yes in 1999 Australian referendum. [Photo by State Library of Western Australia / CC BY 2.0
News outlets presented the outcome as a political milestone. Vote for historic choice, was the banner headline of the Australian, Rupert Murdochs national newspaper, one of the most fervent promoters of the republic. Yet public disinterest in the process was symbolised when the Senate rubberstamped the formula unanimously, 70 to 0. In the public gallery a solitary spectator moved through empty seats and departed before the vote was taken.
Reserve powers entrenched
What has not been mentioned is that by agreeing on the referendum question, the MPs also voted for an entire Act to amend the Constitutionthe Constitution Alteration (Establishment of Republic) Act 1999. It is this legislation that the voters will be asked to accept or reject on November 6, without any knowledge of its contents.
The Act enshrines the scheme adopted by the Howard governments February 1998 Constitutional Conventiona so-called minimalist plan to simply transfer the ancient, vague and unspecified powers of the English Crown to a handpicked president. The Act retains all the potentially dictatorial powers of the British monarchy that were embedded in the Constitution in 1901. The Queen and her representative, the governor-general, can dissolve or prorogue parliament (Section 5) and reject legislation passed by parliament (Section 58). The governor-general is the commander-in-chief of the military forces (Section 68).
The Establishment of Republic Act places these powers in the hands of the president. Moreover, the new Section 59 of the Constitution says the president holds the executive power of the Commonwealth. He shall act on the advice of the Federal Executive Council, the prime minister or another minister of state but: The President may exercise a power that was a reserve power of the Governor-General in accordance with the constitutional conventions relating to the exercise of that power.
This is the first time that the reserve powers have been mentioned in the Constitution. Until now, their existence has been based on obscure constitutional conventions that date back to the English civil war and Cromwellian republic of the mid-1600s and the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688, when parliament installed the House of Orange on the English throne. By explicitly referring to these powers, the Constitution will legally and politically strengthen the hand of the president to exercise them.
The Constitutional amendments avoid defining the reserve powers. Last years Constitutional Convention dismissed any attempt to fix the limits of, let alone abolish, the reserve powers for fear of opening up a public discussion on their existence and purpose. These powers identify the fundamental function of the stateto maintain the present economic and social order and suppress threatening unrest. Whoever holds the reserve powers, whether it be the Crown or a president, can dismiss governments, shut down parliaments, mobilise the military and take control of the country in periods of political crisis.
Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam speaking after the dissolution of parliament in November 1975. [Photo: National Museum of Australia]
Despite the claim that constitutional conventions prevent the reserve powers being used without the advice of the government of the day, the reserve powers have been used twice this century in Australia to sack an elected government. In 1931 the governor of the state of New South Wales dismissed the Labor Party government of Premier Jack Lang at the height of the Great Depression. More recently, in 1975, Governor-General Sir John Kerr ousted the Labor government of Gough Whitlam. Kerrs coup somewhat exposed and discredited the governor-generals ability to utilise the reserve powers. One aim of the republic is to shift those powers to a more credible figure.
The amended Constitution will bolster the reserve powers in another way. Tucked away in Schedule 3 of the Establishment of Republic Act is a clause 8 that states that the Act does not prevent the evolution of the constitutional conventions relating to the exercise of the reserve powers. This is an extraordinary and open-ended clause. It literally means that the constitutional conventions can be altered to meet the changing requirements of the ruling elite, particularly in times of political breakdown and emergency.
Other royal powers
The Establishment of Republic Act also retains the regal power to block legislation passed by parliament. The amended Section 58 of the Constitution specifies that the president can assent or withhold assent from a law at the Presidents discretion. This discretion is subject to this Constitution but, as we have seen, the Constitution provides for the president to override and dismiss the government. The official argument goes that the royal power to reject legislation has not been formally exercised in Australia this century, so it is unlikely to be utilised in the future. Yet, if the power is not intended for use, why keep it in the Constitution?
Other provisions in the Act raise similar questions. Section 64, as amended, says that ministers of state shall hold office during the pleasure of the President. The president can appoint deputy presidents, also to hold office during his pleasure. The prerogative powers of the Crown (which theoretically include declaring war, signing treaties, appointing judges, initiating prosecutions) shall be enjoyed by the President. The language, drafted a century ago, may sound quaint by todays standards, but there is a dangerous contenttaken together these powers provide the legal armoury for dictatorship.
At last years Constitutional Convention some tactical disagreements arose over allowing the prime minister to remove the president. The amended Section 62 of the Constitution will empower the prime minister to dismiss the president, with effect immediately, subject to ratification by the House of Representatives within 30 days. But far from providing an element of democratic control, this clause is designed to overcome concerns expressed by political and media commentators that the creation of a Presidency could lead to two competing centres of power during a political crisisone based on the prime minister and the other based on the president.
It is still not clear, however, which of the two would prevail constitutionally, because the president, if acting suddenly, could legally oust the government and shut down the parliament before being dismissed. This is what happened in 1975 when Kerr sacked Whitlam without warning, effectively preventing Whitlam from asking the Queen to dismiss Kerr. In any case, whichever way such a dispute would be resolved in the future, the end result would be either the prime minister or the president resorting to undemocratic means, without recourse to any election. In effect, whether the prime minister sacks the president or vice-versa, the legal mechanism is there to overturn the results of an earlier general election.
By strengthening the royal powers in the hands of an appointed president, todays parliamentary politicians are acting in the anti-democratic traditions of their forerunners. At the end of last century, at various Constitutional Conventions during the 1890s, the delegates deliberately retained the powers of the monarchy for use in political emergencies. The spectre of revolution was mentioned a number of times in the course of debate. The Conventions were held against the backdrop of the continent-wide sheep shearers and maritime strikes of the early 1890s. Indeed, one of the spurs to Federation was the need for a unified military capacity, partly to face the rising working class at home and partly to assert Australias colonial interests in New Guinea and the South Pacific.
Delegates to the Australasian Federation Conference, Melbourne, 1890.
While establishing their own national state, the Founding Fathers definitely did not want to encourage democratic notions, or prematurely break from the apron strings of Britain. A Peoples Federal Convention held at Bathurst in 1896, attended by the chambers of commerce and manufacturers, declared: By an almost unanimous vote a resolution taking the appointment of the Governor General out of the hands of the Queen and providing for his choice by popular ballot was negatived. In many other ways the delegates assembled took care to show their appreciation of the benefits which Australia receives through being under the protecting aegis of the greatest Empire of the world.
One hundred years on, Britains empire is a distant memory. Nor can todays business leaders rely on the protection of the US alliance as they did during the Cold War. Australian capitalism has been cast adrift by the disintegration of the post-World War II order. Increasingly in conflict with their former protectors, Australian corporate interests are seeking to assert their own independent claims for markets and spheres of influence, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. This is especially the case for those sections most dependent on international finance and trade. The relics of the British Crown are a hindrance in this quest.
And among the mass of ordinary people, the monarchy no longer commands support. In several speeches, Treasurer Costelloone of the leading parliamentary representatives of finance capitalhas repeated the theme he adopted at last years Convention, where he stated: The symbols which underlie the current system are running out of believability and this gnaws at legitimacy.
This is a crucial concern in ruling circles. For the better part of a decade, leading business and political figures have promoted the republic as a major national project, endeavouring to restore some kind of support for the present political structure. No matter how great the constitutional power at their disposal, they cannot impose their will against the population indefinitely unless their system retains legitimacy in the eyes of broad layers, or at least significant sections of the population.
Todays political leaders are no less aware than the Founding Fathers of Federation 100 years ago, that they face emerging social unrest. The declining opinion polls on the republic are only a pale reflection of the alienation and dissatisfaction that has built up over the past two decades with the entire political set-up. Over this period the living conditions of the vast majority of people have declined for the first time since the Great Depression of the 1930s, while a small privileged elite has accumulated immense wealth.
Ultimately, this increasingly glaring social inequality is incompatible with democratic forms of rule. More totalitarian methods will be required to suppress opposition. That is why such attention is being paid to restructuring the stateand to keeping the details hiddenwhile trying to manufacture a new national identity and enthusiasm for the current social and economic order.
***
Note: Under conditions of compulsory voting, which makes it a crime to urge a boycott of the vote itself, the SEP calls on workers and youth to register their opposition by casting informal ballots and join our active boycott campaign in the lead-up to October 14, that goes well beyond the individual act of voting.
Authorised by Cheryl Crisp for the Socialist Equality Party, Suite 906, 185 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, 2000
On the morning of Wednesday, September 13, a man in his 30s was crushed to death by steel beams at a factory in Jandakot, a southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia (WA). The tragedy occurred at a steel fabrication and refurbishment workshop owned by multinational mining and engineering conglomerate Schenck Process.
Workers involved in construction of paint booth at Schenck Processs facility at Jandakot, Western Australia, January 2021.
Several crews of ambulance and police were called to the scene, but the man could not be saved. Police have said the details of what happened and why remain unclear. Investigators stated that they will examine the circumstances of the incident, and whether the business complied with workplace safety regulations.
Steven McCartney, state secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), told the West Australian, My understanding is it was an equipment failure there were some beams that fell and crushed him.
McCartney said the company and union would work together to get to the bottom of how this incident happened.
This was the 15th workplace death in Western Australia since July 2022. The most recent fatality also involved a worker being crushed by a steel beam in a sandblasting facility. In June, 16-year-old Hamiora Sharland died from injuries sustained in an incident at TLC Surface Treatment, where he was a trainee.
Sharlands death was the fourth in a two-week horror run of workplace fatalities in the state:
Kieren McDowall, a 20-year-old father of two, died on June 14 at an iron ore mine in the Pilbara region in WAs north. He was working for AAA Asphalt Services as a contractor.
Michael Jurman, a rope access technician working as a contractor on Woodside Energys North Rankin offshore gas complex, about 135km northwest of Karratha, was killed in a working over the side activity on June 2.
A 62-year-old crane operator died in the south Perth suburb of Applecross on June 2, after falling while climbing the cranes ladder. Although he received CPR at the site, he could not be revived, despite the assistance of an ICU doctor who happened to be nearby.
In February, a BHP worker was struck and killed by a locomotive at the companys Boodarie railyard, near Port Hedland.
In October 2022, a contractor died working at the Hamlet underground gold mine in the states south. This gold mine is part of the St Ives gold operation owned by a South African company called Gold Fields.
The same month, another worker was killed at the Capricorn Metals Karlawinda gold mine in the northern part of the state, in a horrific accident that saw the man run over by a large dump truck.
As of September 14, a total of 110 workers across the country have been killed on the job this year alone, according to Safe Work Australia, a national policy body of the federal government.
This includes 57 workers in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industry, 53 in Transport, Postal and Warehousing, and 16 in Construction. By occupation, road and rail drivers are most at risk, followed by farmers and farm management. The highest fatality by mechanism of incident is vehicle incidents, followed by being hit by a moving object.
A report into work-related deaths between 2011 and 2021 by the Western Australian government also found that the most common cause of death at work was being struck by moving objects, which accounted for more than 50 percent of workplace deaths.
Following the Jandakot death, WA WorkSafe Commissioner Darren Kavanagh stated that any work-related death was a tragedy, expressing his condolences to the workers family and fellow workers.
In June, asked on Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio to explain the states high workplace fatality rate, Kavanagh blamed labour shortages, climate related risks, and a lot more complexity in terms of our supply chains. These vague and meaningless statements amount to nothing more than an attempt to conceal the agencys failure to ensure safe conditions for workers.
WorkSafe, like its safety regulator counterparts across the country, is a pro-business agency that serves to cover up the underlying cause of unsafe working conditionsthe subordination of the health and lives of workers to capitalist profit.
Investigations into workplace fatalities or serious injuries conducted by these agencies are invariably drawn out over many months or years and amount to nothing more than a slap on the wrist or minor fines that corporations consider a cost of doing business.
State secretary of the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) Mick Buchan declared that not enough is being done at the highest levels of management to ensure workplaces are safe from hazards, risks and fatalities.
Buchan declared, Weve seen increases in fines and penalties with WorkSafe, and weve seen criminal convictions earlier this year. These are deterrents, but what is it going to take for businesses to realise that there isnt a limit on what they can spend to improve the conditions for their workers on site?
Workers could well ask, what are the CFMEU and other unions doing to compel businesses to improve workplace safety? In the year to March 2023, just three strikes resulting in the equivalent of ten or more working days lost were carried out over health and safety issues across the country.
The reality is that the unions have presided for decades over unsafe working conditions and the death and serious injury of workers. The union apparatus has blocked any organised opposition by workers to the ongoing dangerous conditions they confront, just as it has shut down any fight for real wage growth.
The alarming number of deaths so far this year again shows that workers cannot place their trust and their lives in the hands of these organisations. Workers must establish their own rank-and-file committees in every workplace that are independent of the unions.
Under the democratic control of workers themselves, these committees can take up a fight against cost-cutting, workload increases, exhausting hours and speed-ups, forced upon workers by businesses and the union apparatusin the name of increased productivity, and for safe working conditions for all.
Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, many leading scientists in aerosol physics and infectious diseases quickly understood that the primary mode of transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease, was through airborne mechanisms. Despite these admonitions and decades of evidence supporting their concerns, the World Health Organization (WHO) and national health agencies disregarded these concerns. The failure to address the route of transmission and coordinate a global response has seen the pandemic extend into every corner of the planet infecting much of the global population. Although official COVID-19 deaths are approaching 7 million, global excess deaths are now at 25 million and the prospect of repeat infections with new variants of SARS-CoV-2 has created a pandemic within a pandemic, with Long COVID characterized appropriately as a mass disabling event.
Dr. Alexander van Assendelft, a retired pulmonologist from Finland, recently contacted the World Socialist Web Site to speak on his early efforts to bring attention to the world that SARS-CoV-2 was transmitted through aerosols, and it was necessary to take appropriate measures to address this mechanism to bring a swift end to the pandemic. He called for better source control, through the limitation of speech in indoor spaces, as part of a comprehensive response that included masking and ventilation.
However, despite his attempts to raise concerns with local, national and international officials, including the editors of high-impact medical journals like The Lancet, Dr. van Assendelft and his colleagues were repeatedly rebuffed. It took the WHO nearly two years to say that COVID-19 is airborne, by which time the Omicron variant had already emerged and the crisis posed by the pandemic had deepened. The following interview is part of the International Committee of the Fourth Internationals inquest into the COVID pandemic.
Benjamin Mateus (BM): What do you remember or when did you first hear about the pandemic? What was your first understanding of what was happening when COVID-19 began to appear?
Alexander van Assendelft (AA): I naturally heard about it already in January 2020 and got worried, even more worried because I was in Spain, and I heard about how it was developing in Finland and at that time also, especially in Italy, where it was awful.
I didnt understand more of it than anybody else at that time until the 28th of March 2020 when I received a link to an evening news piece from our son. There was Professor Ville Vuorinen [Professor of Energy Technology at Aalto University, Finland], who was speaking about the work he had been conducting for not more than about two weeks at that time.
Dr. Alexander van Assendelft [Photo by Dr. Alexander van Assendelft ]
He said he had preliminary results and concluded that people exhale aerosols when they speak. Being a pulmonary physician, I was struck by a bolt of lightning at that moment when I suddenly understood that the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus must be by aerosol, which explained its rapid transmission all over the world.
I was quite shocked also because I had never heard about such things relating to transmitting infections through talking and breathing. The only aerosol sources I knew were the ones we use to give medicines to asthmatics in aerosol devices.
BM: If I may pause for a moment, you are a retired pulmonologist, correct?
AA: Yes.
BM: Can you speak more about your profession and what you did after you retired? Maybe just so that people can understand who you are.
AA: I studied in Switzerland, in Basel, and became a physician in 1970. And then I went on to specialize and became a pulmonologist in 1976. Since then, I was working in two different hospitals until I was elected chief physician for the Central Hospital in North Karelia, Finland.
In 1986 I was elected medical director of the Central Hospital in Kotka in southern Finland. I was director there until 1992. From then on, I was assistant chief physician, until my retirement in 2015. After that I thought I would have a peaceful life.
But then the Corona came, and it didnt become at all peaceful because I happened to acquire a new specialty. I have tried to really catch up with the Corona in all the ways I have been able to.
BM: As a pulmonologist, Im assuming much of your work is done in the critical care setting. And does part of that also include respiratory infections?
AA: In my case, very little in critical care, but all sorts of infections naturally.
BM: At the time, one of the issues that a lot of the physicists raised is that theres a very strong divide between medicine, meaning you receive people who are already infected and you treat them, and the aerosol physicist, who is more interested in the mode of transmission. Medical schools and training dont really address the physics behind how infections are acquired.
AA: Yes, thats true. And thats probably also why I didnt know much about the ways they are transmitted. Naturally. I knew, for instance, that tuberculosis was very easily transmitted through the air, and measles too. But we were only concerned about the people who got ill, and the mechanism behind it was not such an important factor. We just tried to give medicines and make them better through the right treatment.
BM: And do you think theres a need to somewhat amalgamate the public health in relation to infectious diseases and physics? Also, in the facilities where people are treated, meaning that we cant be so specialized that we dont understand one persons role versus another persons role.
Its important for the specialties to exist, but we must be talking to the aerosol physicist. We must be speaking to the public health people who establish policy. We must be speaking to the hospital system and explaining the engineering behind filtration and the technology. These different areas seem to be very separated, and theres no communication between them.
AA: Yes, I agree, absolutely. That is probably the greatest problem and has been the reason why at the beginning and not even now, its realized how important the physics are, which the aerosol engineers already had been working on by the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s because of the SARS-CoV-1.
Thats one point also for me which has been very important. I have a great admiration for the engineers, who really from the beginning understood what it was about. They have been as frustrated as I, that the message just doesnt go through to those who should take care of what to do about it.
BM: Because of what you had told me about Professor Vuorinen, I looked up and found his article on modeling aerosol transport and SARS-CoV-2 virus exposure by indoor inhalation, which was finally published in October 2020. Did you happen to communicate or speak with him on these issues when you saw his report on the news?
AA: Well, I have become almost friends with Ville since then. At the beginning I was very annoyed with him because I tried to get him to be more active in Finland to inform the authorities from his point of view, as he is the foremost aerosol expert in Finland.
I think the engineers way of thinking about their duty is to inform us physicians and the authorities about what is happening and why its happening, but its not really their duty to inform the public in the way we would like to. The first time I called him we had almost a dispute, which I was quite unhappy about.
Since then, we have been in contact, and a very nice thing was that he recently received a prize from the Finnish Academy for applying computational flow dynamics to the study of the spread of COVID through aerosols. It is one of the most important prizes for researchers in Finland. He invited me to the celebration of this prize for his work with COVID-19.
Hes an aerosol researcher, for meteorology and other kinds of aerosols, but not for COVID or viral transmission. However, he changed his whole scientific approach when he realized that he understood more than anybody else in Finland about it.
BM: I want to also interject, that at the time in Sweden, Catalina Neeson had published in November 2020 their experiences with identifying SARS-CoV-2 genetic material in hospital ventilation systems a long distance from where the COVID patients were being kept.
They say in their conclusion that airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 must be taken into consideration for preventive measures. Their report is based on data from April and May of 2020. I think you also referenced in your letter from October 2022, Overcoming failures of imagination, rethinking of the US Covid-19 pandemic response. You wrote that there was a reference to an ABC News article in Chinese, from February of 2020, where it said that the Chinese authorities had recognized that transmission of COVID was happening through aerosol or airborne pathways.
They actually go a long way to say things like, if youre in a closed space, try not to talk, try not to be in close contact, open your windows and take basic airborne precautions and this is in February 2020
Placing these in context, on March 28, 2020, you get this link to a news piece where Vuorinen says the virus is transmitting through aerosol, which has significant implications. What did you try to do? This is a huge paradigm shift in recognizing that the pandemic is airborne. What were the implications of this in your mind, and what were you trying to do to let people know about it?
Censorship of the science on aerosol transmission
AA: I really acted, I would say very fast because already on March the 29th, I wrote a letter to be published in the big newspaper in the capital city, the Helsinki Helsingin Sanomat.
As I realized that it wouldnt be published, I wrote to the THL (the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare). At the same time, I wrote to our government and all the ministries in charge and warned them also and asked them to inform the public and to contact Professor Vuorinen to get some more information. There were still no reactions.
Then I tried to get this knowledge out internationally. On the 7th of April, I wrote a short article in the European Respiratory Societys new COVID-19 forum, where I recommended that we should speak as little as possible indoors, that the ventilation and air filtration all over in the buildings should be looked after, and that the people, at least in the shops, should have masks on.
And further, if we would like to talk with each other, we should go outside and keep a distance. Still, even that that didnt give any reaction.
Then I saw an article about COVID-19 in the Swiss Neue Zurcher Zeitung, and because I had studied in Switzerland, I wrote a comment to that article which also wasnt published. Because we should have had a meeting with our fellow students in Basel that year, I wrote to two of them wondering about what I should do. The nice thing was that both colleagues reacted to it in the same way, saying that my view about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was just the same as theirs. That was the start of our collaboration.
Then there was Professor Per-Henrik Groop, who is an internist professor at the Helsinki University Hospital. Hes a good friend, and I also told him about my problem to get anything out nationally and internationally about the aerosol transmission. He said, I think you should write an article about it.
I asked him if he would also be prepared to contribute to the article? He replied, Yes, I think the thing is so clear that I would do it. I was a bit astonished because I had already at that time understood that it was something that you couldnt speak about without getting negative comments.
Anyhow, we wrote the article together, and it was published on the 15th of May 2020, in the Finnish Medical Journal with the headline, Aerosol Mediated SARS-CoV-2 Infection: An Underestimated Danger. Still nothing happened, even if I had already sent the manuscript for the article to the Institute of Health and Welfare in the hope that, as it was written by four physicians, it would generate interest.
The same day I wrote an article, which I sent to all the Finnish newspapers for which I could find an email address, 190 in all, but none of them published the letter. So, I decided to take the matter to an even higher level.
I made a complaint to the Parliamentary Ombudsman against the Institute of Health and Welfare. All they said in their answer was that They couldnt do anything about it. Theres nothing criminal which has happened, and the THL institute has the right to interpret the science as they want. I had hoped that they would understand that there is a serious discrepancy between the official line, which came from the WHO to the Institute of Health and Welfare in Finland, and our very clear understanding of the aerosol mode of transmission, backed up already then by Professor Jose Luis Jimenez and Lidia Morawska, with whom I have become friends through email.
Dr. Jose Luis Jimenez [Photo: Aerosol Society]
I had hoped that they would put together an independent commission to decide what is really the truth and what is not. Then I wrote to the Chancellor of Finland, who is the one who has to control that the government does its job. My complaint was that the government in Finland didnt do its duty to save the populations health and save their lives. According to the Constitution, we have a right to live, and that should be one of the main things that the government should ensure for the population.
That didnt lead to anything either. It took half a year to get an answer, which was no answer. Then I made my last attempt in this respect by sending a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. They said the same thing: Nothing to do about it. Nobody realized that it would have been possible for the governments in the whole world to do something else other than what they were doing. It would have been possible to erase the whole pandemic.
I still went on trying. I sent this little article I had in the European Respiratory Society to all health authorities across the world for whom I found an email address, including the WHO and the European Unions own heads. The only response I received was from Austria and Norway, which said thank you, but no one took any actions on the implications noted in the article regarding COVID.
BM: I think you also told me that you sent it to Dr. Fauci and a personal note to Angela Merkel in December. No response?
AA: Absolutely no response from anyone.
BM: What did you make of this complete disregard of your concerns?
AA: I concluded that we were being censored. It was public censorship in Finland and all over the world.
I suppose that the newspapers use self-censoring routinely, so I wasnt surprised when I didnt hear from them. For instance, I tried with the New York Times, with English newspapers, with German newspapers, with Swiss newspapers without any result. The only courageous exception was a small newspaper in Lovisa, Finland. It even published the facts about the censoring.
We also submitted our article on the concerns over aerosolization of the virus to the Finnish Medical Journal and to international publications like The Lancet. But none of them accepted it. So far, we have managed to publish three responses to other articles in such medical journals. Two were in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) and one in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
The most astonishing thing was that the editor-in-chief of The Lancet, Richard Horton, wrote three days after rejecting our article that all governments and public health authorities will need to remain open to new ideas for controlling the pandemic. We had just given him a new idea to control the pandemic, and the article wasnt published despite that.
I also thought of getting out the information out on social media platforms, like Facebook. I contacted a journalist who really knew how that works. He said that it would be awfully expensive and would anyhow be impossible because Facebook had decided that any information about prevention and treatment of COVID-19 wouldnt be published. That is a clear form of censorship, and it would be very interesting to know who gave the order to censor such things.
I can understand the censoring of therapies and treatments because there were a lot of very strange concoctions various people were endorsing. But about something which could have prevented the whole pandemic really, I cant get my head around how its possible to censor such discussion to the point that new ideas arent allowed to be raised.
BM: In September of 2020, the BMJ had written a comment on this issue regarding the transmission of COVID where they noted that the CDC published information on aerosol transmission where they clearly identified that the risk of aerosol transmission of COVID is real. But soon after that they quickly removed the statement, which is in keeping with a lot of what the CDC has done, which is to censor data and minimize, evade or delay important public information. The WHO is implicated in such censorship as well.
Scientific truth and dogma
Taking the history of this sciencethe issue of germ theory and miasma, the controversy between Chapins droplet theory and Wells conception of airborne contagion, the CDCs studies on the airborne nature of influenza, Miltons important work on the aerosol of infectious agents in the last two decades, the SARS-1 global epidemic and numerous studies published since on the airborne nature of these transmissions, the critical work by aerosol physicists there was an understanding that this route of transmission was a valid concern. So, I dont think so much that the censorship was related to scientific dogma, as Jimenez conceives it. I think it was politically motivated.
Because what would be the harm in recognizing that aerosol transmission as a valid mechanism? Not accepting it or considering it poses a serious risk to the population and infection control. The response to a pandemic should a priori concede to the precautionary principle to accept the aerosol transmission and then act accordingly, until proven that such a route lacks objective evidence. Otherwise, how do we hope to eliminate the virus if indeed it is aerosolized?
There should have been a major shift in addressing this question, not only in its scientific, physical understanding but in creating a political response to it, which includes policy on travel, on indoor spaces, on infrastructure funding, on international collaboration, on forms of airborne defenses in indoor spaces, treatments in health systems, etc.
AA: I absolutely agree. And thats also one part of this story, which I have tried to somehow understand. Why we in the 2020s were stuck in the dogma of the 1910s?
The expertise in the WHO couldnt have been real expertise. I would say they were completely incompetent in these respects. But I think that maybe one thing was that already in March and April 2020, COVID-19 had been going on so long and the WHO had denied any possibilities about the transmission by aerosol that they just didnt have the courage to take a step back and say, Sorry, we were wrong. It is really transmitted by aerosol.
Another critical misstep was that although the engineers understood what its all about, the physicians didnt. They were stuck in the dogma and maybe also they didnt like that in this respect, the engineers knew so much more about SARS-CoV-2 than they did.
There was also the issue that the scientists always want to have proof about everything. Thats in most cases naturally something that we physicians also want to have. But in this particular case, we should have accepted that premise. ... To have absolute proof meant deliberately exposing people to a potentially lethal virus, and that is unconscionable.
Now the sad thing is that there has been published in June 2023 a study done in the UK at such a prominent institution as the Imperial College London by 13 colleagues. It was published in The Lancet Microbe. Their aim was to better understand viral transmission and disease. They studied 36 healthy volunteers in which SARS-CoV-2 was inoculated by nasal drops. Not only did they find viral genetic material in air samples, but viable virus samples were also collected in areas where the virus could only get to by being airborne. Two individuals released 86 percent of the airborne virus, which they said supported the idea of how superspreading events occur. Most of the virus that was released was detected over a three-day period.
All this we had already known and understood. In my opinion, the whole bunch at the Imperial College should be taken to trial for that study because it was unethical.
The initial stages of the pandemic
BM: I found your story interesting in that you were essentially stuck in Spain and trying desperately to get this very important message out to the rest of the world that the virus was airborne. In a real sense, the frustrations you were facing found concrete expression in the predicament you faced. Maybe you can speak to that briefly?
AA: Yes, it was quite an adventure because we were in Spain during the seven-week lockdown. The only time we were allowed to go out was to buy food. Otherwise, we had to stay at home. I recall at the time I was trying to write my letter to The Lancet, but I didnt have Wi-Fi nor my laptop.
Dr. Alexander van Assendelft [Photo by Dr. Alexander van Assendelft]
Just opposite our flat there was a bar that had open access Wi-Fi. So, I took our rental car and drove around the block and parked right in front of that bar and began formulating my letter on my smartphone. As I was sitting there a police car stopped next to me. They got out and asked me why I wasnt at my home. They were clearly very angry with me.
I explained that I agreed with them that I should be at home but that I didnt have Wi-Fi where I lived and urgently had to get a letter out to the Lancet about the COVID pandemic. They asked how long I would need for that, and I said at least 20 minutes. They said, Ok. In that case you can stay here but after 20 minutes you just have to go home! So, that was quite a humorous, but still not so humorous situation.
What I thought about I will shortly come back to what we were discussing about the dogma about the WHOs lack of response at that time. They might have been afraid that the population would panic if they learned about the virus being airborne. In my experience as a physician, and especially when I have been treating patients with very severe diseases, for instance, lung cancer, I had always the principle of remaining objective. I did a thorough clinical investigation and determined if the patient could benefit from surgery or needed oncologic treatment.
First after that I told the patients the diagnosis and explained their proposed treatment. All my patients left with a positive attitude and didnt fall into panic or depression. They very much appreciated being told the truth of their condition. I dont think this is any different with the pandemic. People want to know the facts and what needs to be done to protect themselves.
This reminds me of another point of what I had been explaining to others at that time. Because we knew that the virus was aerosolized, we had discussed one important factor to reduce the risk of transmission: to minimize the amount of talking indoors. Some people, however, misunderstood what we were saying. They blurted out, Its impossible to be without talking! What we were saying is that we should minimize speaking as much as possible.
If we minimized how much talking we didsay less than 75 percent of normal and relied more on using texting and non-verbal communications indoors with smartphones, like many especially younger people anyhow do daily with their friendsthe risk of facing a person who might have COVID and contracting the infection will be greatly reduced. Based on modeling data about the quantity of virus we emit breathing versus speaking, we could have driven the reproduction number to less than one and ended the pandemic in a matter of a few weeks without limiting our movements drastically.
People who I told this idea to, ordinary people, for instance, here on the island where I now am sitting in our summer house, there live about 300 people year-round. In the summer the figure grows to about 2,500. It was very interesting the first time I came out here in June 2020. Theres a little shop nearby, and I stopped there and saw a circle of six women talking with each other, standing outside with about one meter between them. I asked them what they were doing. And they replied, We are just doing as we have understood we should do because of the pandemic. We are not having any indoor meetings or discussions. Were meeting outside every time we want to get together.
Those women were wives of the local fishermen or normal working people for whom I have a lot of admiration because they have much common sense and a special philosophical attitude to life. They also understand such things. When I told them about talking less, they said, Okay, yes. We understand that very well. No problem. That we can manage. But the people who are more educated, they dont seem to understand it or dont want to understand it.
BM: Its an interesting point you raised about the idea of explaining to people. Very early on there was evidence of the airborne transmission of this disease. We knew that in February 2020 in Washington state at a choir rehearsal, a superspreader event took place where many were infected, and a few died. That incident was caused through aerosolization of the virus during singing. A tremendous number of viral particles are released during such activity compared to just normal breathing.
If we understood that the virus was aerosolized and that talking can emit more particles, we should take every effort, every precaution, to minimize the amount of talking we do indoors to avoid causing potential infections. I would add, the need for universal use of respirators and the use of HEPA filters and improvement to ventilation in indoor spaces and then only allowing the most essential workers to engage in such work in proximity while offering them daily on-site testing and medical attention as indicated. I think these are very basic public health demands.
What is insidious about COVID is the ability for infected people without symptoms or pre-symptoms to infect others. So, I dont think your warnings on this or recommendations to minimize speaking indoors are unfounded.
Now, on your question could the WHO have been worried that if they acknowledged the virus was airborne, it would have caused widespread panic is important to take up. The only time and only ones that always seem to panic when the truth is admitted are the politicians or policy makers. Then the real question becomes, Who will panic knowing that COVID is airborne: the public or Wall Street executives?
AA: Id imagine that maybe the executives would panic about what they should do in that case.
I wanted to return to the discussion on limiting speaking in indoor spaces. These are based on objective data. When people speak, they emit in the order of 5 to 200 times more viral particles than when they are breathing, with an average of about 10-fold higher. That means by minimizing discussion or not speaking, then the amount of virus transmitted is 10 times lower, which has profound implications.
Tragically, the WHOs guidance in the beginning of the pandemic to wash your hands to diminish transmission, which they borrowed from their recommendations for the flu, did little to diminish transmissions.
Social distancing has the result to mute the aerosols and allows the big droplets to drop down. It does help for the droplets, but it doesnt help at all for the aerosols which are flowing around. The first time I heard Vuorinen speak, he compared the viral aerosols to smoke from cigarettes flowing in the air. When one person smokes in the room, everybody can smell it, but when one person has COVID, nobody can smell it, and that person can infect everyone there.
Who gets COVID-19 depends on individual immunology, current vaccination status and various factors which we have referenced. But SARS-CoV-2 has no odor, and no one knows if anyone in the room is infected unless they are displaying symptoms of COVID.
BM: Recently I read that 90 percent of all human activity happens indoors. Had we accepted the possibility of aerosol transmission of the virus and acted accordingly to address this route of spread, we would have saved countless numbers of lives. Officially almost 7 million have died. Global excess deaths are over 25 million.
This means that the pandemic is a social disease although the official public health line is to treat it as an issue of personal choice to decide ones own risks. This goes against any basic public health principle where the pathogen threatens all communities and must be addressed socially. Thats why I raised the issue of panic on Wall Street because accepting the objective scientific conditions required to end the pandemic means a critical shift in our understanding that indoor air that is safe to breathe is a democratic and social right.
This entails investment in HVACs, CO monitors, virus detectors and an assortment of technologies that protect populations from infection while indoors. At the same time, we must design better and more comfortable masks and develop sterilizing nasal/mucosal vaccines. In short, every effort must be made to eliminate the virus and prevent the outbreak of the next pandemic.
The frustration that you have expressed in not finding anyone to listen to your concerns is not based on the lack of information or comprehension of these mechanisms on their part. The stated dogma of the droplet theory of germs, which we knew was wrong from the outset, was used intentionally to place doubt in the publics mind, so they didnt have to address the pandemic which had a significant impact on the global economy.
AA: Its possible. Yes. And its true that it would really have meant that the whole way of living for maybe two months would have been changed radically. My thinking was that with the help of digitalization and maybe also new inventions, or in the schools even by going back to the blackboard, people would have been able to manage at work almost without talking with each other and communicating in other ways. Going out would have been the right thing to do if it was necessary to talk face to face.
I am sure it wouldnt have been impossible to achieve. The time limitation of what we have estimated was so short that the investments made during that time wouldnt have been in any proportion to what was done during the lockdowns.
That really got the whole economy and the whole world on its knees. That was a much greater problem than informing people what situation we were facing everywhere and getting them to accept the temporary limitations in communications while attending work, school and cultural or other events.
Yesterday, the British Medical Journal had an article which was awful to read, about the estimation of how many were killed after China lifted their Zero-COVID policy. Their estimation is that since January this year, about 1.5 million Chinese have died. And more than 90 percent were infected in that short time.
The WHO has such an impact on the national health authorities that nobody dares to even think about doing anything other than what the WHO does. Clearly, no one heeded our warnings in May 2020, and even the physicians I spoke to then told me that they have to follow the recommendations of the Institute of Health and Welfare. The result was no response.
BM: Well, to a great extent, the WHO functions as an auxiliary to the state apparatus. It is a health authority but takes its marching orders from the US and European Union. I think your points are well taken and very critical. But the fundamental question here is the elimination strategy, which is not just a public health construct but one that assumes a political dimension on a global scale.
It requires more than trying to decrease transmissionand I agree that perpetual lockdowns are problematic in implementing. It requires eliminating the virus from every community across the planet. That means we have to rebuild our public health infrastructure from an international perspective. We have to have meaningful collaborations with scientists in every part of the world in conducting surveillance of dangerous pathogens that have pandemic potential. The technology exists to track every package, every truck, every ship and aircraft and every person on the planet. Why not utilize these to assist in conducting detailed tracking of viruses on a global scale?
This raises questions like how do we conduct flights into airports and assure the passengers and population they will be free from becoming infected? It acquires political dimensions because this investment in an international public health process requires dialogue with every social aspect in every part of the world. You cant just eliminate COVID in Australia or in China and expect that for three years you will keep it contained. A national strategy is not viable.
So, this shift to an international perspective and eliminating the virus also means shifting from a profit-driven capitalist society to a socialistic perspective where the well-being and welfare of all communities are a priority. And from this grows the issue of healthcare, infrastructure building and the various social sciences that can address social needs. What is preventing addressing these urgent tasks is not lack of scientific comprehension or the means to achieve these needs. It is capitalism that has made the pandemic possible in the first place and has allowed it to permeate every aspect of our lives today. If we want to stop this and the next pandemic, then it assumes a political and social character.
AA: I absolutely agree with you. And that is probably one of the reasons why nothing was done, because thats really a huge task. And that may be impossible in our world to get all the governments to agree with this strategy.
BM: Id like to end asking you if there is something youd like to say to people who will be reading this interview. Maybe youd like to make a concluding statement?
AA: I would like to say that even if its not possible anymore to get rid of this pandemic because of the extremely transmissible Omicron mutations, it would still make a great difference if people realized that the most dangerous part in encountering others is when they are talking. By minimizing discussions indoors, maintaining distance and wearing good masks, then it is possible to decrease your risks considerably from getting COVID. Everybody can do something to protect themselves and others.
BM: I agree with your remarks but would challenge you that COVID can be eliminated if we placed our efforts into doing just that, even now under the current conditions. Weve been able to do it with smallpox. We have gotten very close with measles. What is lacking is political will, which is why people say it is impossible.
AA: I think youre right, but it would now need much more time. Im no mathematician. But I can imagine that when we formerly thought that it would take four to eight weeks, we have maybe to multiply it with the transmissibility of the Omicron in mind. I think that it theoretically would be possible, but practically I dont really believe it.
BM: Alexander, its been a pleasure to speak with you.
AA: Thank you, with you too.
Sign up for text message updates on the Detroit Three contract fight by texting AUTO to (866) 847-1086.
Fain's social media announcement [Photo: UAW]
In a video statement posted Monday night, United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain said the UAW was setting a new deadline of Friday at noon for the auto companies to work with us to make progress in negotiations, or the UAW would call more union locals out on strike.
The announcement comes as rank-and-file opposition continues to mount against the UAW bureaucracys disastrous stand up strike policy. Even though workers voted by 97 percent to strike, the UAW has only called out 12,000 of its 146,000 members at GM, Ford and Stellantis, while ordering 90 percent of Big Three workers to remain on the job.
The UAW bureaucracy is deeply nervous about the mass pressure building up for an all-out strike. Fain and the UAW are seeking to placate workers in the US as long as possible with promises of expanding the struggle, while it prepares to spring a contract on them which will betray all of their demands.
The possibility that workers at Ford Motor Company in Canada will also walk out Tuesday and extend the struggle across the border is adding to sentiment among autoworkers across North America for expanding the fight. There are 18,000 Big Three workers in Canada.
However, the Unifor union in Canada is doing everything it can to sabotage a united struggle. Claiming they had received a substantive offer from the employer minutes before the deadline, the union announced they were extending negotiations with Ford for another 24 hours, instructing 5,600 workers to remain on the job. In a message earlier in the evening, they stated, Unifor Ford members should remain on shift UNLESS they receive explicit instructions from the union indicating otherwise.
The automakers and Wall Street have largely shrugged off the UAWs limited strikes in the US because they have accumulated large inventories before the contracts expired. At the same time, the companies have doubled down in their refusal to make any concessions to autoworkers.
The automakers are planning for massive job cuts as part of their transition to electric vehicles, plans which the UAW bureaucracy continues to conceal from workers. According to CNBC, the latest proposal from Stellantis includes proposals to close 18 Mopar parts and distribution facilities across the US, and repurpose the closed Belvidere, Illinois, assembly plant either to manufacture electric vehicle components or as a parts distribution hub. In either case, this would entail paying workers lower wages.
In his remarks Monday night, Fain presented his strike policy as a strategic master stroke. Thats why last week, our brave union family at Wentzville Assembly, Toledo Assembly and final assembly and paint departments at Michigan Assembly were called on to stand up and go out on strikeJust as importantly, all the rest of you stayed on the job. That is the only way this strategy works.
According to this absurd logic, autoworkers will have more leverage over the companies if the vast majority continue working without a contract, producing vehicles and profits for the automakers.
Fain continued, Were going to keep hitting the company where we need to, when we need to, and were not going to be waiting around forever while they drag this out.
Either the Big Three get down to business and work with us to make progress in negotiations, or more locals will be called on to stand up and go on strike. Between now and then more locals will be taking actions. Those on strike will remain on strike and those on the job will keep monitoring for unilateral changes by management, which are not allowed under an expired contract.
In ordering workers in the non-striking factories to continue working under expired contracts, the UAW has opened them up to punitive measures, with workers being suspended and threatened with termination based on petty charges. Last Friday, workers at the Stellantis Warren Truck Assembly Plant reported that 10 of their fellow workers were walked out of the suburban Detroit plant for using earbuds, not wearing safety glasses or other minor infractions.
The UAW welcomes these threats. Last week, it issued a letter to workers ordering them to follow managements instructions and warning that refusing forced overtime, slowing production or taking any other solidarity actions with striking workers could lead to termination.
What is taking place between the companies and the UAW are not negotiations over the contracts, which the union bureaucracy worked out with the companies long ago. In reality, the discussions between management, the UAW and the White House are centered on how to stave off a complete rebellion by workers.
The UAW bureaucracy is meeting regularly with Biden administrations officials, including Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and senior adviser Gene Sperling. Su and Sperling have come to Detroit to discuss how to break the militant resistance of rank-and-file workers to the corporations demands. The stand up strike policy is part of this effort, aimed at dividing workers, wearing them down and softening them up for a sellout contract that will be used to slash tens if not hundreds of thousands of auto industry jobs.
Expressing the anger of workers to this betrayal, a member of the Warren Truck Rank-and-File Committee told the WSWS, An all-out strike is the only way for the auto companies to know that were not playing. We, the working class, on the floor have to say enough is enough, and get out of every plant. We cant depend on the UAW bureaucracy. We have to depend on each other.
Stellantis Warren Truck workers on July 27, 2023
We were all ready to strike together last Friday. Not in a million years did I think that less than 10 percent of the members would be on strike. The company is using petty things to fire workers because theyre in control. The rest of us are working four to five hours a week, no matter how far we have to drive to get to work.
Who made up this stand up strike nonsense? Were just helping them stockpile their vehicles. All the UAW officials want is to keep our money and pay out as little as possible from the strike fund. We all need to go on strike, at every company in the US and around the world.
A BYD Seal is displayed next to dining area at a BYD By 1826 cafe and car dealership in Singapore
A BYD Seal is displayed next to dining area at a BYD By 1826 cafe and car dealership in Singapore
By Devjyot Ghoshal and Stefanno Sulaiman
BANGKOK/JAKARTA (Reuters) - China's electric vehicle giant BYD has been on a tear in Southeast Asia, shooting past rivals including Tesla to take more than a quarter of the share of EVs sold in the region.
Along with attractive prices, BYD's early success is based on a pattern of distribution partnerships with large, local conglomerates that have allowed the carmaker to expand reach, test consumer preferences and navigate complex government regulations in the region, officials from three partners and analysts said.
This partnership model, similar to that pursued by Japanese automakers in some Southeast Asian countries decades ago, is helping BYD to build market share rapidly and contrasts with Tesla's go-it-alone distribution - though it comes at a cost.
"At present, BYD's primary focus is on brand proliferation rather than optimising profit margins," said Soumen Mandal, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research.
"By providing local dealers with more lucrative profit margins, BYD can cultivate trust and loyalty, paving the way for broader expansion."
BYD did not respond to questions from Reuters.
The Chinese automaker sold more than 26% of all cars in Southeast Asia's small but fast-growing EV market in the second quarter of 2023 and its Atto 3 model, priced starting at $30,000 in Thailand, was the regional bestseller, according to Counterpoint. Tesla prices the most basic Model 3 from about $57,500 in Thailand.
EVs constituted 6.4% of all passenger vehicle sales in Southeast Asia in the second quarter, up from 3.8% in the preceding quarter, and the region could gain in importance for Chinese automakers after the European Commission last week announced an investigation into Beijing's EV subsidies.
'NOT AN EASY MARKET'
BYD's regional distributors include divisions of Sime Darby in Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia's Bakrie & Brothers, Ayala Corp in the Philippines and Thailand's Rever Automotive.
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BYD's partnerships are helping it in a region where Chinese car brands do not have an established track record, said Chee-Kiang Lim, managing director for China at auto sales consultancy Urban Science. "If buyers are unsure or have any concerns, partnering with established players like Sime Darby, Bakrie & Brothers, or Ayala Corp will give them the peace of mind, especially for aftersales support," he said.
The Shenzhen-based automaker is investing nearly $500 million in Thailand to build a new factory that will produce 150,000 EVs per year from 2024 for exports to Southeast Asia and European markets. For Ayala Corp's AC Motors, which plans to open a dozen BYD dealerships in the next 12 months in the Philippines, the focus for initial spending is on brand building and getting more consumers considering EVs, said the head of its automotive business, Antonio Zara. "It's about busting the myths on range," he said. "It's about busting the myth on price and communicating the total cost of ownership." In Thailand, an advertising spree is visible from small screens inside elevated trains in the capital Bangkok to massive billboards in provincial towns. BYD's Thai partner Rever did not respond to questions on its distribution and marketing strategy. In Indonesia, BYD has able to lean on Bakrie & Brothers' unit VKTR to secure a government contract for 52 EV buses for Jakarta, said its chief strategy officer Alex Kim. "Indonesia is not an easy market to do business on your own," said Kim, adding that, beyond government sales, VKTR was in talks with large domestic businesses to sell BYD EV buses.
TAKING ON TESLA
Thai EV buyers contributed 24% of BYD's overseas sales in the second quarter, making it the Chinese automaker's largest foreign market, according to Counterpoint, whereas fewer than 1% of Tesla's sales are in Southeast Asia.
Tesla's website currently lists only two stores in the region, both in the wealthy city-state of Singapore, though it is hiring for Thailand and Malaysia.BYD's Southeast Asia playbook and its embrace of dealerships contrasts with Tesla, whose direct-to-consumer approach is hard to replicate, since no other new EV brand has its buzz or the outsized media presence of its CEO Elon Musk.
BYD and its partner Sime Darby Motors are experimenting with a new approach to draw young, tech-savvy consumers towards the Chinese brand in Singapore. The partnership has launched five "BYD by 1826" showrooms that double as white-tablecloth restaurants where dishes are named after BYD EV models. "With BYD by 1826, we are able to reach out to more customers who want to know more about BYD or (are) new to the BYD brand," said Jeffrey Gan, managing director of retail and distribution for Sime Darby Motors in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Macau.
($1 = 35.6400 baht)
(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal and Stefanno Sulaiman; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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Compound Feed Market Size, Share, Growth, Opportunities & Trend Analysis By Ingredient (Feed Cereals, cakes & meals Animal By products & Others), By Form (solid, liquid), By Animal Type (cattle, swine, poultry, aquaculture & others)-Regional Stance, Competitive Tactics, and Forecast to 2031.
Brooklyn, New York, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Compound-Feed-Market Report Overview
The Compound Feed Market report provides comprehensive insights into driving factors, restraints, opportunities, and trends, with provision of in-depth supporting information, data, and statistics and actionable insights. Though covered and provided extensively across the report, the data and information format are simple, yet dynamic in order to ensure ease of reading and understanding, as well as presenting and maximizing leverage and use. According to Market Data Library analysis, the Compound Feed Market was US$ 540.1 Million in 2023. Furthermore, the Compound Feed market to register a CAGR of 4.4 % which is expected to result in a market forecast value for 2031 of US$ 795.75 Million. Comprehensive analysis and insights into the global Compound-Feed market provide valuable information for businesses in the industry. Clarity and understanding of market trends help companies tailor their products to meet customer demands more effectively.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Compound Feed Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14512
Compound feed market share and revenues are provided in detail for previous years in order to showcase the evidence upon which our estimations and forecasts are based. Compound Feed Market growth rates and differences, as well as comparisons and relatable data are provided to further support all findings. Data points are provided for each year from historical to end of forecast period and this format is followed for each segment region and respective countries, as well as sub-segments and others.
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Vital details of major companies in the market are provided in the company profile section of the report. Cover includes financials, recent developments, strategies, product launches, agreements, expansion, mergers & acquisitions, and others.
The Compound Feed Market report is segmented according to ingredient, form and Animal type and regions and countries. Regional segmentation includes North America (United States and Canada); Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, BENELUX, NORDIC, and Rest of Europe); Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand, & Rest of Asia Pacific); Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, & Rest of Latin America); Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel, and Rest of MEA)
Compound Feed Market Trends Analysis and Insights
Global compounds feed market demand for quality food such as meat in increased with plant-originated foods:Such as cereals in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, the regions increased in protein-rich food is in line with the rising global trend of meat consumption, particularly healthy and organic produce with a bold branded and most often halal provenance. These changes in protein rich food consumption have led to large increases in the total demand and production for meat in these large countries and this trend is likely to continues.
Increased demand for meat drives the market: Protein-rich food and meat products are growing rapidly, due to increasinghealth-related concerns and the growing excessively income in the developing country like Saudi Arabia. The increasing demand for excessively meat has made an opportunity for feed manufacturers to build-up animal productivity. as a result, the use of feed additives has increased, consequently promoting compound feed and the expansion of the animal feed business.
What Factors Are Restraining Growth of Compound Feed Market?
Despite numerous favourable industry trends and development opportunities, some limitations and reasons are negatively affecting revenue growth. Some key factors are:
Fluctuation Raw Material Prices: raw material prices like plant leaves and seeds have been experiencing fluctuations. The weather condition changes the major effect on the nutrient content, production plant based raw material prices such as soybean, corn and others. the animal by-product meals prices are also fluctuated with many changes in consumptions and productions of animal products and animals separately.
Stringent Government Regulations: As reported by Adisseos report how to cut down the cost of raw material the prices of raw material growing acutely in 2020.for cereals and instance prices growing by 10% thus protein food increased by 20% and soybean oil prices observed increased by 8 to 10 %.the most prevalent standard for animal feed involves feed composition, feed hygiene safety measurings, import and exports, Genetically modified crop derived ingredients and official associated controls. Thus, if any mistake by feed manufacturer fail to complete with the requirements, the feed has not been given marketing approval.
Trade Barriers: trade hurdles, which include tariffs, trade dispute and limitations on the import and export of feed ingredients, have come to be recognized as major roadblocks to the expansion of the compound feed business. These obstacles have a significant negative influence on the worldwide agriculture and animal factor upsetting supply chain and obstructing the free material of raw material required for the creation of compound feed.
Labour Shortage: The market for compound feed has a substantial obstacle in the form of labour shortage. The lack of component workers farming operations might results in inefficiencies in compound feed manufacturing and distribution. According to the chairman of the livestock and poultry crop over then 600,000chicken has been killed on one farm that was unable to get feed sources to feed.
What are the Opportunities for Leading Compound-Feed-Market Manufacturers?
Some of the Opportunities for Leading Compound-Feed-Market Manufacturers are:
Health And Wellness Trends: Manufacturer are developing feed with added functional ingredients that is further boosting animal health, reducingthe need of antibiotics and improving the nutritional profile of animal products in order to capitalize on the growing consumer demand for healthier meat and dairy products.
Diversity In To Alternative Proteins: Investigating potential markets for alternative proteins sources, such as insect based or single-cell protein feeds, can put manufacturers at the forefront of the developing protein market.
Global Expansion: Compound-feed market is propelling due to the rising demand for animal proteins among the consumers.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Compound Feed Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14512
Region-wise Analysis of Compound-Feed-Market
What are the Factors Driving the compound-feed market Demand in North America Region?
The expansion of the compound feed market in North America is primarily driven by factors such as the enhancement of meat quality and safety. Additionally, the surge in consumer awareness regarding the benefits of organic food and meat has further contributed to the growth. This heightened awareness has led to an increased demand for organic feed. While the utilization of antibiotics as growth promoters is prohibited by the North American government, innovative approaches have been adopted in the region to identify alternatives that can stimulate production and offer comparable benefits as antibiotics, all within a cost-effective framework.
What Fuels compound feed market Demand in Europe?
In Europe, strong demand for the compound feed market is evident in countries like the UK and Germany. This demand is primarily attributed to the growth in urbanization and a concurrent rise in meat consumption. The increasing awareness among consumers about the benefits of protein-rich food has also played a pivotal role in driving this trend. This heightened awareness has led to a larger population and subsequently, an increase in meat consumption.
What are the Factors Contributing to the Significant of Asia Pacific compound feed Market?
Within the Asia Pacific region, significant factors contribute to the prominence of the compound feed market. Notably, China and Japan are experiencing a rapid upswing in meat consumption, coupled with the ongoing trend of urbanization. The Asia Pacific region holds the distinction of hosting the most extensive market. Furthermore, it is projected that the role of Asia Pacific as the leading consumer of compound feed will continue in the coming years. Factors such as elevated incomes, amplified meat consumption, and enhanced meat production practices substantiate the region's dominance. The burgeoning population also factors into the burgeoning Asia Pacific compound feed market, as an increasing populace inherently translates to heightened meat consumption.
What are the Aspects that are Driving the compound feed Market in Latin America?
In the Latin American market, the escalating demand for meat plays a pivotal role in propelling the growth of the compound feed market. Additionally, the quality of meat and the push for industrialization are significant factors shaping the livestock industry. The burgeoning growth in the Latin American compound feed market is primarily driven by factors such as the rising consumption of meat. Recent outbreaks of livestock diseases have underscored the importance of ensuring safe and high-quality meat production, further contributing to the increased use of compound feed. C
What is the Stance on compound feed Market in Middle East and Africa?
In the Middle East and Africa, the compound feed market is witnessing expansion driven by the growing urban population. The increasing urbanization has led to a rise in demand for essential food items like eggs, meat, chicken, fish, and milk. To meet this demand, farms are required to rear a larger number of animals, such as fish, chicken, and cows. These animals require optimal nutrition to thrive, leading to the necessity for compound feed. As a result, the compound feed market in the Middle East and Africa is expanding, aligning with the region's focus on enhancing animal growth and farm productivity.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Compound Feed Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14512
Leading compound feed market Manufacturers & Competitive Landscape:
The compound feed market is highly competitive, with several key players vying for market share and actively engaging in strategic initiatives. These companies focus on product innovation, technological advancements, and expanding their product portfolios to gain a competitive edge. These companies are continuously investing in research and development activities to enhance their product offerings and cater to the evolving needs of customers in terms of efficiency, performance, and sustainability
Company List
CP Group
New Hope Liuhe
Cargill
Purina
Wens Food Group
Muyuan Foodstuff
BRF SA
ForFarmers N.V
Tyson Foods
Nutreco
Research Scope
Report Metric Report Details Market size available for the years 2021-2031 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2031 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 4.4% Segment covered Ingredient, Form, Animal Type and Regions. Regions Covered North America: The U.S. & Canada
Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, & Rest of Latin America
Asia Pacific: China, India, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, ASEAN, & Rest of Asia Pacific
Europe: Germany, The U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, BENELUX, NORDIC, & Rest of Europe
The Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, and Rest of MEA Fastest Growing Country in Europe Germany Largest Market North America Key Players SINOYQX, Zhengzhou FoamTech Nano Material Co., Ltd, MNM Composites, BASF SE, Ecotone Systems Pvt. Ltd., Rong Yulong Technolog, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Nissan Chemical Corporation, CMS Danskin, Cornerstone and Linyi Yingke Chemistry.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Compound Feed Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14512
Compound Feed Market Segmentation
By Type
Ingredient
Form
Animal
By Ingredient
Feed Cereals
Cakes & Meals Animal By products
Others
By Form
Solid
Liquid
By Animal Type
Cattle
Swine
Poultry
Aquaculture
By Region
North America
United States
Canada
Europe
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Russia
Poland
Benelux
Nordic
Rest of Europe
Asia Pacific
China
Japan
India
South Korea
ASEAN
Australia & New Zealand
Rest of Asia Pacific
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Argentina
Middle East & Africa
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Rest of MEA
Get this Report at a Special Discount: https://marketdatalibrary.com/buy-now/14512
Important Question Covered in this Report:
Q: What are some key factors driving revenue growth of the Compound Feed Market?
A: some key factors driving revenue growth of the Compound Feed Market are quality food such as meat in increased with plant-originated foods.
Q: What are some major challenges faced by companies in the Compound Feed Market?
A: some major challenges faced by companies in the Compound Feed Market are Fluctuation raw material prices and Stringent government regulations.
Q: How is the competitive landscape in the global Compound Feed market?
A: The market is competitive, with key players focusing on technological advancements, product innovation, and strategic partnerships. Factors such as product quality, reliability, after-sales services, and customization capabilities play a significant role in determining competitiveness
Q: What are the potential opportunities for companies in the Compound Feed Market?
A: Companies can leverage opportunities such as Health and wellness trends and Global Expansion.
Q: How is the Compound Feed Market segmented?
A: The market is segmented based on factors such as Ingredient, Form, Animal Type and Regions.
CONTACT: Market Data Library Tel: +1-(718)-312-8686 Email: sales@marketdatalibrary.com Website: marketdatalibrary.com/
Recent news about alleged non-human bodies inspired one baker to make an extraordinary cake.
Ben Cullen, also known as The Bake King, shared an Instagram video on last week of his replication. You wont believe this! The truth is out there, he captioned the clip, as he cut a slice out of the head of the alien cake. The video was also made into a fake news report, poking fun at the incident with the headline, Suspected Alien corpse turns out to be a cake.
In mid-September, a previously debunked ufologist, Jaime Maussan testified under oath in Mexicos Congress about purported alien bodies. At the time, he said that extraordinary conclusions had been drawn from the two bodies, which were reportedly discovered in Peru in 2017. It was also shared that the bodies are allegedly 700 to 1,800 years old and only have three fingers on each hand. Maussan also said the bodies are not part of our terrestrial evolution.
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Ryan Graves, an executive director of Americans for Safe Aerospace and former F-18 pilot for the U.S. Navy attended the Mexico hearing. He later shared his experience, saying he was invited after participating in Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena: Implications on National Security, Public Safety, and Government Transparency hearing in front of a House Oversight subcommittee in July.
Graves said that he thinks the Mexico hearing was an unsubstantiated stunt that discredits the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena issue.
Public broadcaster France Televisions has backed Dungeons & Kittens, a serialized animated fantasy from leading Gallic producer Watch Next. Following the development titles premiere showcase at Cartoon Forum, Variety can exclusively share this first look.
Inspired by both role playing games and tabletop pets, the family-skewing project follows a herd of meowing marauders, banished from their cat kingdom and searching for the treasure that will grant them safe passage back. Over the course of 13 episodes, the four-strong, feline fellowship will rescale high fantasy tropes down to more kid-friendly size, overcoming obstacles and surviving cliffhangers in a serialized narrative apt for binging.
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[We wanted] to develop an epic saga to accompany the rise of our broadcasting partners non-linear platforms, says Watch Next CEO Philippe Alessandri. And we wanted to allow our team to showcase its own talent within a new format and genre.
Alessandri, series head-writer Melanie Duval, and Watch Next head of development Sylvain Huchet pitched the project at a Tuesday Cartoon Movie showcase, where Huchet praised designer and project originator Clement De Ruyters lush graphic style, as translated and brought to life onscreen by director Jeremy Guiter. Huchet also emphasized the series interest in themes of friendship and critical thinking.
Beyond the gorgeous style, Huchet continued, What really appealed to us was this idea of putting these tiny characters that feel a bit helpless in a world that seems way too big for them. And thats really the main idea: Even if youre a tiny kitten or a small kid, you can still make an impact and change the world around you.
Alongside support from France Televisions, the title has already lined-up pre-sales with TV5 and Switzerlands RTS. Delivery is slated for 2025.
Launched as an animation house in 2015, the Watch Next group has since grown to include physical production facilities in Paris and Lille, a specialty distribution branch named Kids First, and a unit dedicated to feature film production, among other acquisitions. Popular in-house productions include the CG-animated Hello Kitty: Super Style and 2-D comedies Nate is Late, Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese, and I, Elvis Riboldi.
Per a June 2023 report from Frances national film and audiovisual board CNC, Watch Next delivered 68 hours of animated content over the past few years, making the 2015 upstart the countrys third largest animation producer.
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Good morning, Chicago.
For nearly 70 years, workers minted Frango chocolates on the 13th floor of the Marshall Field & Co. building on State Street.
Frango production moved out of state in 1999 to the dismay of civic leaders and local mint chocolate aficionados. More than two decades later, chocolate has made its return to the upper floors of the building now anchored by the Macys department store, where candy giant Ferrero is opening its first North American research and development lab and innovation center.
The Tribune visited Ferreros labs, located on the buildings ninth floor, prior to a grand opening planned for today. Here, research teams will develop new product recipes, though sweets will not be manufactured on-site.
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As revelers across the city this weekend waved flags and honked horns in honor of Mexican Independence Day, a chaotic undertone tarnished the celebration with the sudden downtown road closures that trapped drivers Friday and Saturday nights and bouts of mischief among the mostly peaceful street parties that sometimes escalated to violence.
A year after federal investigators outlined how Chicago funnels industrial polluters into Black and Latino neighborhoods, Mayor Brandon Johnson vowed Monday to overhaul zoning, planning and land-use ordinances that perpetuate the citys long history of racial segregation.
Johnson called his pledge the beginning of what promises to be a lengthy, contentious effort to undo the effects of decades of government redlining and other racist real estate practices, as well as more recent city policies that encouraged heavy industry to move out of predominantly white neighborhoods into other parts of Chicago disproportionately burdened by pollution, poverty and disease.
Story continues
State lawmakers, Cook County officials and advocates who worked to pass bond reform legislation marked the first day of implementation with a news conference on the steps of the Leighton Criminal Courts Building Monday morning where they lauded what they said was a historic moment meant to create more equity in the criminal justice system. Illinois is the first state to fully eliminate cash bail, making it a closely watched national bellwether.
The speaker is trying to convince his Republican conference that there will heavy political fallout from a shutdown as he plows toward a vote to pass a stopgap measure, called a continuing resolution, that would keep government offices open past the Sept. 30 deadline. GOP leadership is preparing for a vote by Thursday, but McCarthy is warning hell keep House lawmakers in Washington into the weekend. Regardless, many are already bracing for a weeks-long shutdown.
Questions about Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervins conduct in office came to light after a yearslong battle for records by the Tribune, which first reported in 2020 that Conyears-Ervin fired four top aides and said it was part of her decision to take the office in a new direction.
Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko reflected on the 18 months since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 during a trip to Chicagoland to speak on the history of the years of Soviet-occupied Ukraine.
A visit to face the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium is next. With the possibility of a winless September becoming more real, Tribune reporters Dan Wiederer and Colleen Kane attack four true-or-false questions to illuminate what weve learned about this team.
Whether the crushing 13-inning loss to the Diamondbacks affects the 23 Cubs in the playoff push remains to be seen, writes Paul Sullivan. But if they miss the playoffs by one game, it will be an easy one for fans to look back on in anger having watched Cubs relievers waste leads in the 10th, 11th and 13th innings in an excruciating loss.
For those of you who once traveled the city nights to local clubs, theaters and various performance spaces, the name Denise La Grassa should ring a pleasant bell and perhaps even transport you to some bygone stage and the echo of her music and poetry and an ebullient presence, writes Rick Kogan.
With vibrant bursts of color, flavor and freshness, the cuisines of the French Riviera and Levantine region help us keep summer going just a little bit longer.
Amber Roth's cheek was shattered a few weeks after her college graduation, but her surgeon was able to reconstruct it with a piece of her shoulder in a 12-hour surgery
Palm Beach Health Network/Amber Roth Amber Roth and her surgeon Dr. Anastasiya Quimby at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Amber Roth is learning to live again after a devastating car accident shattered her face weeks after graduating college.
The right side of my face was completely deflated, Roth, now 26, tells PEOPLE.
But thanks to a Florida surgeon who rebuilt her face using bones from her shoulder blade, Roth is rebuilding her life. And she wants to encourage others not to give up during hard times.
"If something bad happens, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, Roth says. I want to serve as an inspiration for people who have been through similar accidents, or who have been through a hardship. There's still many years ahead. You shouldn't give up.
Her positive attitude has been a few years in the making.
Palm Beach Health Network/Amber Roth Amber Roth before her 2021 accident.
Related: Brooklinn Khoury Shares Progression of Her Lip Reconstruction: 'My Face Gradually Starts Looking Better'
In 2021, three weeks after graduating from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Roth was meeting family for a weekend getaway in Helen, Georgia. They planned to visit vineyards and go tubing on the Chattahoochee River. On June 26, while waiting for other family members to join her from Orlando, Roth decided to drive to a waterfall.
She was at a stop sign about to merge onto the highway when two vehicles in front of her collided. A trucks tailgate crashed through the windshield of her car. It shattered her cheekbone, deflated her lungs and caused a traumatic brain injury and hearing loss.
The injuries that she suffered were devastating, says Dr. Anastasiya Quimby, a maxillofacial surgeon with subspecialty in head and neck oncology and microvascular reconstruction at Good Samaritan Medical Center part of the Palm Beach Health Network. Her bone was crushed up in tiny little pieces. Her bone was turned to dust.
Surgeons rebuilt her face using what remained of her bones, as well as titanium plates and screws.
After spending two months in a brain trauma unit in Atlanta, Roth moved in with her mother in Jupiter, Fla. She worked odd jobs to pay her bills. Then, something was wrong with her scar. One day, I woke up, and I saw puss coming from my scar, she says.
Palm Beach Health Network/Amber Roth Extensive damage was done to Amber's car when it was hit by a tailgate that flew off a truck.
Related: McKenzie Westmore Shares Facelift Transformation Photos Following Painful Journey with Fillers
The scar had become infected, leading doctors to remove the titanium plates and screws in October 2021. Quimby also removed random, unattached pieces of bones.
After we removed all of the bone that was crushed up, there was nothing left, the doctor says. It was essentially gone. She had zero structure left in her cheek. So you just had this pushed-in look, this cave where your cheekbone is supposed to be.
The surgeon didnt want to reconstruct her face with titanium plates, because she worried they would get infected again or need to be replaced. So Quimby came up with a new solution she hoped would last: using the tip of the scapula on Roths left shoulder blade. It almost has the perfect anatomy, Quimby says, to recreate the bone shape that forms the cheek.
Palm Beach Health Network/Amber Roth Amber Roth's shoulder was used to help reconstruct her face in 2023.
Because of extensive scarring, Roth needed new skin. But since it would be on her face, the surgeon didnt want to use skin from Roths arm or the back of her leg it wouldnt look right. "She's so young and I felt that she just deserved to look as close to what she used to see in the mirror before the accident.
They spent weeks growing new facial skin using tissue expanders. We had to rebuild everything in layers, Quimby says.
The 12-hour surgery was August 7, 2023. It went well, Dr. Quimby says. It went even better than I thought.
Palm Beach Health Network/Amber Roth Amber Roth and Dr. Anastasiya Quimby, the surgeon who reconstructed her face.
Now, more than a month after surgery, Amber feels good. Shes regaining her energy and her confidence. When she looks in the mirror, she sees herself again.
I've had several family members come visit me and they look at me and they say, 'Oh my gosh, Amber's back,'" she says. It's a wonderful feeling."
Roth still has a few outpatient surgical procedures in her future. She calls her doctor a perfectionist. And Quimby says that whenever Roth is satisfied, that's when she will stop working.
In the meantime, she is driving again. While she has spent the past two years having extensive surgeries, she aged out of her mothers health insurance. A GoFundMe has been established to help with expenses.
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In a dramatic expansion of its theme parks, products and cruise line business, The Walt Disney Co. says that it will spend $60 billion over the next 10 years to turbocharge growth in the lucrative division.
That is nearly double its investment compared to the prior 10-year period, the company says.
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In May, Disney CEO Bob Iger said that the company had plans to invest $17 billion in Walt Disney World over the next 10 years, an investment cited in response to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plan to dismantle the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not? Iger said at the time.
It is not immediately clear if the $17 billion Disney World investment is included in the larger $60 billion figure.
In a presentation to investors at Disney World on Tuesday, the company said that it had more than 1,000 acres of land available for development, including at Disneyland in California; Walt Disney World in Florida; its theme parks in France, China and Japan; and cruise ship ports in the U.S., Asia, and Australia.
The investor presentation was led by Iger and Disney Parks chief Josh DAmaro, who said that the companys focus will be on stories, scale and fans.
Today, as Disney considers future growth opportunities, there is a deep well of stories that have yet to be fully explored in its theme parks, the company said in an investor briefing, adding that it plans to explore even more characters and franchises, including some that havent been leveraged extensively to date, at its parks around the world.
On the scale front, the company cites its existing parks and the 1,000-plus acres available to it, as well as a further expansion of its cruise line business in Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand (markets that it will enter for the first time later this year).
As previously announced, over the next two years, Disney will nearly double the worldwide capacity of its cruise line, adding two ships in fiscal year 2025 and another in 2026, delivering even further growth potential and introducing new markets to Disney experiences, including a new homeport in Singapore beginning in 2025 to expand its reach further into the Asia-Pacific region. the company wrote.
Expanding Disneys characters and its scale are critical to the third piece of Disneys messaging: fans.
According to Disneys internal research, there is an addressable market of more than 700 million people with high Disney affinity it has yet to reach with its Parks, the company says. In fact, for every one guest who visits a Disney Park, there are more than 10 people with Disney affinity who do not visit the Parks.
It is betting that its massive investment, and expansion in both storytelling and reach, can help bridge that gap.
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A New Zealand couple is seeking a refund from Singapore Airlines after being stuck next to a rather messy and stinky oversized dog on a long-haul flight. They complained not just about the dog and its owner, but of the airline's response during and since the debacle.
Gill and Warren Press of Wellington, NZ were flying from Paris to Singapore in June according to Stuff . They had booked premium economy seats for the 13-hour flight but had to share their row with a traveler who had reportedly brought a "support" dog along to help with his anxiety. Singapore Airlines had reportedly banned untrained support animals on its flights on April 1, but honored requests made prior to the deadline, hence the dog's presence in the cabin.
Partway through the flight, the couple reported hearing strange noises that they initially thought was one of their phonesbut turned out to be the dog snoring. They complained to the flight attendant but were told the only available seats were at the very back of economy. It's unclear why the airline suggested the couple relocate, rather than the passenger who had brought his dog.
Singapore Airlines premium economy seating arrangement. Singapore Airlines
The couple initially stayed, but their experience worsened as the flight dragged on. The dog was reportedly farting, and drooling "goo" on one of their legs due to encroaching on their legroom. (Otherwise, the dog would've apparently been in the aisle, blocking the food cart.) Finally, the couple was relocated to seats at the front of economy that were initially reserved for the crew. They were told an incident report had been filed, and that the airline would follow up.
No such contact was reportedly made. They later called in and were offered $147 USD in vouchers for the airline's luxury goods shopping site. They protested, as this reportedly didn't match the difference in value between their seats. It reportedly took the airline three weeks to counter with an offer of $236 in travel vouchers. The couple now seeks a full refund.
Untrained "support" animals have been widely banned from airline cabins in recent years after travelers abused the privilege. However, most still accept documented service animals, with even unusual varieties such as miniature horses still being allowable on U.S. airlines .
Got a tip or question for the author? You can reach them here: james@thedrive.com
Bodycam footage showed a driver being pulled out of a partially submerged vehicle as Atlanta experienced about four inches of rain
A person was rescued from their car by a local police officer and firefighter as heavy rain flooded parts of Atlanta on Thursday.
The Atlanta Police Department shared bodycam footage of the dramatic incident on Facebook the following day, showing how Atlanta Police Officer Rayando Bryan and Atlanta Fire Captain Captain Terrance Simon took action during the storm.
The clip showed Bryan walking through waist-high standing water to a partially submerged sedan on Peachtree Street, near the citys Public Safety Headquarters. When he reached the car, Simon was already there, trying to free the driver.
The water was so deep the vehicle was being lifted from the ground and the doors would not open, police shared on Facebook.
Related: Hurricane Ian Flood Waters Leave Fla. Driver Stranded: See Rescue Workers Pull Woman from Her Car
As seen in the video, Simon shouted to the driver to turn their head, and Bryan took out his baton and smashed the driver's side window of the vehicle.
Simon was then able to pull the driver out through the window. Both Bryan and Simon escorted the driver slowly through the flooded waters until they were able to get the unidentified person safely into a nearby police vehicle.
We are extremely proud of the actions of Atlanta Fire Rescue Captain Terrance Simon and Atlanta Police Officer Rayando Bryan, police said. Their response to this critical incident is yet another example of the commitment our city has made to ensure competent, well-prepared, well-trained first responders are available when needed.
Related: Hawaii Fire Heroes (Including a Boat Captain and a Doctor) Detail 'Apocalyptic' Scenes: 'Im Still Numb'
An Atlanta Police spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement Tuesday that the driver of the submerged vehicle was assessed by EMS after the incident, and declined to be transported for further medical assistance.
Thursdays storm brought about four inches of rain to the city, causing flash floods throughout the area, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
In a statement about the storm, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said, Our Department of Watershed Management has reported that intense storm fronts and hail moved through several communities. Preliminary rain gauges have shown three hours worth of rain in just 15 minutes in some areas of downtown. While some are still struggling with flooding issues, most flooding areas are receding.
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Related: Family of 6, Including Trapped Baby, Saved from Indiana House Fire: 'Please Don't Drop Her'
Flooding not only impacted the city's streets, but also Clark Atlanta University, forcing 24 students to relocate to another dorm building, per NBC affiliate WXIA-TV.
Still kind of in disbelief that something like that could happen so quickly, Ejon Woods, a student whose car was submerged in the water and damaged, told the station.
An emergency fund was established to help the Clark Atlanta University students who were affected by the flooding.
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Throughout an entire junket day as well as a special screening tonight at the TCL Grauman Chinese Theatre, The Creator filmmaker Gareth Edwards showed his solidarity for the pics cast as the SAG-AFTRA strike continued into its 67th day.
Earlier today in a series of press video interviews at the London Hotel, Edwards donned rotating black T-shirts with the name of actors in his cast; a visual spirited shoutout to the actors that starred in the $80M New Regency/20th Century Studios/Disney sci-fi movie. The pics cast includes John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, Madeleine Yuna Voyles, Ken Watanabe, among several others.
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All of this culminated in Edwards having the Chinese Theatre audience tonight record a special message to the striking cast.
The Creator
Recording the video on his phone, Edwards told his cast Hi everyone, really miss you, wish you could all be here, but I made some new friends and they all want to send you a message of love and support, at which point the entire theatre gave a huge cheer. You can watch the video below.
Edwards was very prescient when it came to making The Creator in that the pic deals with a war between humans and A.I. robots. And you know if theres one thing on the minds of many in town, from studio execs to WGA and SAG-AFTRA members, its the impact of A.I. Washingtons spy mercenary, Joshua, in the film is searching for his wife whos been missing for five years and believed dead following an attack on the Asian village in which they became separated in the aftermath. She was pregnant at the time. Joshua is also protecting a robotic child during the pic, believed to be the lynchpin in the robots war on humans. Edwards co-wrote the movie with his Rogue One: A Star Wars Story scribe, Chris Weitz.
Added Edwards tonight about his latest movie, No one is really creating original sci-fi blockbusters anymore, its an endangered species.
At a recent trailer drop, Edwards said that when he pitched the film, executives wanted to know the backstory as to why there was a war between humans and A.I.; if artificial intelligence was a good idea. The setup of that movie is pretty much the last few months, Edwards said at the time.
A.I. was the fairy tale of this story. A.I. was like the other the people that were different to us, that we kind of want to get rid of, he explained back on Aug. 29. But the second you make an A.I., all kinds of fascinating things start to happen.
The Creator hits theaters on Sept. 29 and can also be seen then in Imax and PLF screens.
#TheCreator Director Gareth Edwards records a video message to send to the actors from the film since they werent at the screening tonight in accordance with strike guidelines pic.twitter.com/3Wz9PKAYoj Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) September 19, 2023
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom says hes feeling encouraged about the outcome of the Hollywood strike after speaking to representatives of the Writers Guild of America and Hollywood studios last week, and that another meeting has been set for later this week.
I was talking to the WGA and members of the studios over the last week. Were going to be meeting later this week, Newsom told CNNs Dana Bash in an interview that aired Monday night.
You can watch the whole interview at the top of the page. The conversation turns to the strike about four minutes in.
The topic came up after Bash asked Newsom for his opinions on the auto workers strike he expressed strong support for them. After explaining that hes trying to thread the needle of working with both sides of the Hollywood strike, Newsom told Bash, Im encouraged by the conversations over this last weekend, [but] Im not going to overstate that. And Im encouraged that theyre meeting later this week.
Newsome said he absolutely supports SAG-AFTRA and WGA, referring to their existential stress over the issues that ultimately led the two guilds to go on strike.
That anxiety stacked upon all the stress and anxiety that weve all been feeling around income and wealth disparities and all the challenges post-pandemic that weve gone through makes a perfect stew of stress thats leading to a lot of anxiety that were experiencing all across the country, he said.
I believe in collective bargaining, I believe working families and the working poor do better when they organize together, he added.
But for those wondering, Newsom didnt commit to signing SB799, the bill passed by both houses of the California legislature this month that if signed into law will give unemployment benefits to striking workers.
The governor argued that the bill wont impact the WGA strike because it goes into effect in January presumably he is of the belief the Hollywood strike will be over before then. Newsom also expressed concerns about unfunded liability, which is north of $18 million. Newsom did assert that hell take a look at that, before repeating that there is no direct correlation to the current strike.
For all of TheWraps WGA strike coverage, read here.
The post Gavin Newsom Says Hes Encouraged About Strike Outcome After Speaking to WGA and Studios (Video) appeared first on TheWrap.
Icon Film Distribution has picked up The Promised Land, the Danish period drama starring Mads Mikkelsen for the U.K.
The Nordic Western sees Mikkelsen reteam with Nikolaj Arcel , the director of 2012s A Royal Affair, a steamy period piece that scored an Oscar nomination for best international feature and launched the career of co-star Alicia Vikander.
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Mikkelsen stars as Captain Kahlen, an 18th-century soldier who struggled, against all odds, to cultivate the barren Jutland heath and start a settlement there. But a local landowner, Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) is determined to stop him, fearing the arrival of settlers will weaken his position as lord of the realm. The Promised Land is based on Ida Jessens Danish best-seller The Captain and Ann Barbara and was inspired by real events, though the book and film are fiction. Amanda Collin and Gustav Lindh co-star.
The Promised Land premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival.
TrustNordisk, which is handling international sales for the film, closed a U.S. deal for The Promised Land ahead of Venice with Magnolia Pictures. The title has sold widely, including to Mongrel Media for Canada, Plaion Pictures for Germany, The Jokers Film for France, Divisia Red for Spain and Best Film for Poland, among other territories.
The U.K. deal was negotiated between TrustNordisk managing director Susan Wendt and Josh Thomashow, head of acquisitions for Icon Film Distribution.
TrustNordisk has also just released the English-language character posters for the film, featuring Mikkelsen, Bennebjerg, Collin and others. See them below.
Mads Mikkelsen in 'The Promised Land'
in 'The Promised Land'
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Walter Isaacson s new Elon Musk biography reveals an alleged altercation between the Twitter/X owner and comedian Larry David that took place at Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel s wedding last year in Saint-Tropez, France. The event took place just a few days after the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed. David and Musk were seated at the same wedding table.
Isaacson writes that David seemed to be fuming and went up to Musk and asked him, Do you just want to murder kids in schools? (via Insider). Musk was allegedly baffled and annoyed and said, No, no. Im anti-kid murder.
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Then how could you vote Republican? David reportedly asked Musk.
David confirmed the incident to Isaacson, explaining in the book, [Musks] tweets about voting Republican because Democrats were the party of division and hate were sticking in my craw. Even if Uvalde never happened, I probably would have brought it up, because I was angry and offended.
Variety has reached out to Musks representative for comment.
Elsewhere in the book, Issacson reveals that Musk turned down Emmanuels $100 million offer for Twitter. Emanuel, in a three-paragraph text sent on the Signal encrypted messaging app, proposed that he and Endeavor would run Twitter (which is now called X). Musk rejected Emanuels offer out of hand. According to Isaacsons book, Jared Birchall, who serves as managing director of the entity housing Musks financial assets, called Emanuels text the most insulting, demeaning, insane message.
An Endeavor spokesperson declined to comment.
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In June, Marilyn Manson pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of simple assault after blowing his nose on a videographer at a 2019 concert in New Hampshire. Yesterday (Sept. 18), Manson was sentenced to 20 hours of community service and fined around $1,400 for the incident, according to the AP.
During the sentencing, the judge called Mansons actions egregious and allowed the shock rocker to perform community service in California, where he lives, and complete it by Feb. 4, 2024. Had he. been convicted, Manson faced up to a year in jail and a fine of $2,000. As part of the plea agreement, Manson is required to tell police if he is going to perform in New Hampshire in the next two years.
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In a statement, the videographer, Susan Fountain said, For me, Im a professional person and Ive been in this industry for 30 years. Ive worked for a lot of companies, and in all the years Ive worked with people, Ive never been humiliated or treated the way I was by this defendant. For him to spit on me and blow his nose on me was the most disgusting thing a human being has ever done.
Continuing, Fountain said, I understand this was not a big criminal charge to begin with, but I was hoping that the defendant would receive a sentence that would make him think twice before doing something like this again.
According to a police statement in 2021, the videographer had been subcontracted by a New Hampshire-based company to video the concert, and had been located in the stage pit area when the alleged assaults occurred.
At the time, Mansons attorney said that it is no secret to anyone who has attended a Marilyn Manson concert that he likes to be provocative on stage, especially in front of a camera.
To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.
The mother of Emmy Award-winning actor Billy Miller, who died Friday at 43, said the soap star surrendered his life after struggling with bipolar disorder.
While an official cause of death for the General Hospital and Young and the Restless star has yet to be made public, the actors mother, Patricia Miller, confirmed to Soap Opera Digest on Monday night that he died by suicide.
He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years, she told the outlet in a statement. He did everything he could to control the disease. He loved his family, his friends and his fans but in the end the disease won the fight and he surrendered his life.
The other causes of death being told are not true, Patricia Miller continued. I wish they were but they just arent. We all loved him so much and are desperately trying to deal with our loss. I will have nothing further to say. Thanks for the love and support.
A representative for the actor confirmed to multiplemediaoutlets on Sunday that Miller was struggling with manic depression when he died. According to the Mayo Clinic, bipolar disorder causes severe mood swings and hopelessness if left untreated with medication. (If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support.)
Miller died in Austin, Texas, ahead of what would have been his 44th birthday, after curating an impressive resume as a working television star.
Miller won three Daytime Emmy Awards in 2010, 2013 and 2014 for his role in Restless.
Miller won three Daytime Emmy Awards in 2010, 2013 and 2014 for his role in Restless.
The native Oklahoman began his career as a male model before nabbing a recurring role as Richie Novak on All My Children in 2007. He landed the part of Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless in 2008 and won three Daytime Emmys for his performance.
Heartbroken about #BillyMiller, his former General Hospital co-star Risa Dorken wrote Sunday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. My heart goes out to him, and everyone who loves him- he is loved by so many. Warm, kind, incredibly talented.
His former The Young and the Restless co-star Eileen Davidson and the show itself also paid tribute.
Miller, who left the soap opera in 2014 for a five-year stint on General Hospital, also appeared in numerous episodes of Suits a USA drama about the inner workings of a corporate New York City law firm and had a recurring role on Ray Donovan.
I want to personally thank the many fans & personal friends, his mother wrote in her statement, for the overwhelming amount of love, prayers & condolences sent to me and my family on the devastating death of my beautiful son BJ Billy Miller.
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
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An In-depth Analysis of the Trust's Dividend History, Yield, and Growth
Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust (NYSE:MHI) recently announced a dividend of $0.03 per share, payable on 2023-09-29, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-09-19. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's deep dive into Pioneer Municipal High Income Trusts dividend performance and assess its sustainability.
Understanding Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust
Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust is a diversified, closed-end management investment company. Its investment objective is to seek a high level of current income exempt from regular federal income tax and capital appreciation. The trust invests in various sectors such as health, education, tobacco, facilities, transportation, utilities, airport, water, and other sectors.
Deep Dive into Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend Performance
A Look at Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend History
Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2003. Dividends are currently distributed on a monthly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.
Deep Dive into Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend Performance
Dissecting Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend Yield and Growth
As of today, Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 6.18% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 5.92%. This suggests an expectation of decrease dividend payments over the next 12 months.
Over the past three years, Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's annual dividend growth rate was -3.10%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to -4.90% per year.
Based on Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust stock as of today is approximately 4.82%.
Story continues
Deep Dive into Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend Performance
Can Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's Dividend Be Sustained?
To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-04-30, Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's dividend payout ratio is 0.00.
Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's profitability 2 out of 10 as of 2023-04-30, suggesting the dividend may not be sustainable. The company has reported net profit in 4 years out of past 10 years.
Is There Growth Potential for Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust?
To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust's growth rank of 2 out of 10 suggests that the company has poor growth prospects and thus, the dividend may not be sustainable.
Conclusion
While Pioneer Municipal High Income Trust has a consistent dividend payment record, its negative growth rates, low profitability rank, and poor growth metrics raise concerns about the sustainability of its dividends. Investors should consider these factors before making investment decisions. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Netflix on Tuesday unveiled four new Italian originals two feature films and two series that confirm its continued investment in Italy as local subscribers grow. The new projects also bolster the fact that the bulk of the streamers Italian productions are not high end and have a primarily local focus.
During a Rome presentation Eleonora Andreatta affectionately known as Tinny who is Netflixs VP of Italian originals, said that Netflix remains committed to our investment in Italy and Italian stories with conviction, continuing our long-term commitment to the country and its creative community.
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Andreatta, who owing to having caught COVID-19 was speaking remotely to the packed room, described Netflixs lineup as being characterised by Authentic stories, able to speak to the present [and] about the present and [which can] emotionally touch the audience on issues closest to the lives they live.
According to data released last month by Italys media watchdog Agcom Netflix now has 8.9 million subscribers in Italy, which places it well ahead of Amazon Prime Video with 6.3 million subs and Disney+ with 3.7 million customers.
Below is a rundown of top titles in the Netflix Italy presentation.
New Netflix Italy Feature Films
Il Treno dei Bambini directed by Cristina Comencini whose Dont Tell was nominated for an Intl. Oscar in 2005. Set in 1946 its based on the true tale of a seven-year-old boy named Amerigo who in 1946 leaves his impoverished family in Naples and gets on a train to go live with a wealthier family in the north as part of a postwar initiative to rescue children from poverty. Produced by Palomar.
Fabbricante di lacrime (Maker of Tears) directed by Alessandro Genovesi (Seven Women and a Mustery) based on a bestselling teen fantasy novel that has sold over 550,000 copies in Italy. Produced by Colorado Films
New Series
Adorazione (Adoration) a young adult series directed by Stefano Mordini, based on a novel by Urciuolo who is a writer on teen series Skam Italia and Prisma about a group of teenage girls and boys in the city of Latina, just south of Rome, and its surrounding area during a summer that will change their lives forever. Produced by Picomedia
Storia della mia famiglia (Story of my Family) directed by Claudio Cupellini (Gomorrah the TV series). This show is described in promotional material as the tale of a man named Fausto on the last day of his life. But its also the story of an unlikely extended family that surfaces after his death. Of a beloved clan on which Fausto imposes unexpected responsibilities. Produced by Palomar.
Previously announced standout Netflix Italian originals in the pipeline
Supersex Seven-episode drama freely inspired by the real life of global porn star Rocco Siffredi , who has more than 1,500 hardcore films to his name. At the center of Supersex which is being produced by The Apartment, a Fremantle company and Groenlandia, which is part of the Banijay group are unknown aspects of the Italian porn star, who is being played by Italian A-lister Alessandro Borghi (The Eight Mountains). The series is created and written by prominent Italian screenwriter Francesca Manieri (We Are Who We Are, LImmensita) who is known to be a militant feminist. It is described as a profound story that runs through Siffredis life since childhood. See first look images above and below.
Supersex
Supersex
The Leopard a six-episode series based on the classic Sicily-set novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa that marks Netflixs most ambitious Italian original to date and has a budget of more than 40 million ($42 million). Produced by Indiana, this historical tapestry with elements comparable to Downton Abbey or The Crown, and potential to make a global mark, is a modern take on the sensual Sicilian saga famously adapted into a film by Luchino Visconti starring Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon and Burt Lancaster. The film, now an Italian cinema classic, won the 1963 Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival. The show stars top model Deva Cassell who is Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassels daughter as Angelica Sedara, the young stunning middle class woman who becomes a catalyst of social disruption and was played by Claudia Cardinale in the original. Its a big breakout role for Deva Cassel who recently made her acting debut in Laura Luchettis upcoming The Beautiful Summer. Italys Kim Rossi Stewart (Romanzo Criminale) will play Don Fabrizio Corbera, Prince of Salina, who in the masterpiece movie was played by Burt Lancaster.
The Leopard
Inganno Italian Canadian actor Giacomo Gianniotti, who played Dr. Andrew DeLuca on Greys Anatomy, stars in Inganno, Netflixs Italian adaptation of the U.K. TV series Gold Digger produced by ITV-owned Cattleya. The taboo-breaking show which was dubbed a toyboy thriller by the British press depicts the passionate and turbulent relationship between an older woman, played by stage and screen actress Monica Guerritore (My Big Gay Italian Wedding) and a man who is half her age. In this case the affair disrupts and subverts Italian social and family norms. A Gold Digger adaptation for Indian audiences is also reportedly in the works. Inganno, which means deceit in Italian, is being directed by Neapolitan auteur Pappi Corsicato whose The Seed of Discord competed at the Venice Film Festival in 2008. Corsicatos visual style is often compared to Pedro Almodovar, of whom he has been an assistant.
Non-scripted
Rythm + Flow Italy Following the launches of the hip hop music competition in the U.S. and France the groundbreaking talent show that follows and nurtures aspiring rappers is being produced in Italy by Fremantle. It features Italian rappers Fabri Fibra, Geolier and Rose Villain in search of local artists that will make their mark on the Italian rap scene.
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Police reports obtained by Insider reveal a history of police visits at Ruby Franke's Utah home.
But the initial police checkups were not tied to the former parenting YouTuber's arrest.
In 2020, Franke called the police twice to report stalking and harassment from viewers.
Police visits at the home of former YouTuber Ruby Franke changed gradually as the parenting vlogger's fame turned to infamy.
Utah police had at least five interactions connected to Franke in the years leading up to her August arrest on six felony counts of child abuse. The calls included two incidents in 2020 in which she reported harassment and a possible stalker stemming from her popular YouTube channel, 8 Passengers, according to police records obtained by Insider.
Franke called Springville, Utah, police twice in the spring of 2020 to report two instances of threatening messages from apparent viewers of her channel, the documents show.
The initial calls came at the height of Franke's success on the 8 Passengers YouTube channel, which began in 2015 and peaked at about 2.5 million subscribers. The channel was shut down in 2023.
In a police report filed in April 2020, Franke told an officer that she had been receiving text messages from someone threatening to "take her family down," asking her not to post on social media for a week.
Later, in June 2020, Franke told police that she had received an Instagram DM from an account that shared her address and said it was "going looting at the place that actually deserves it."
According to the June 2020 police report, Springville police set up a patrol car at Franke's house after the second incident.
However, by 2022, the police calls shifted from those made by Franke to those made by concerned neighbors and even Franke's eldest daughter.
Other Springville police documents obtained by Insider revealed that police conducted two welfare checks at Franke's home in 2022, leading up to her arrest.
During one of the welfare checks, in September 2022, multiple neighbors told Springville officers that Franke repeatedly left her children unattended and alone for days on end at the house, while she visited business partner Jodi Hildebrandt in a town several hours away. Hildebrant was arrested at the same time as Franke, and also charged with six counts of child abuse.
The children were left with "strict rules to not go anywhere or do anything," the neighbors told the police, per the documents.
The documents show it was Franke's eldest daughter, Shari Franke, who requested the wellness check on September 18, 2022, saying neighbors told her that her siblings were alone while their mom was in St. George, Utah, for five days.
Earlier in September of this year, Franke's 12-year-old son escaped from a window at Hildebrandt's home in Ivins, Utah. The boy was found with duct tape on his ankles, and had run to a neighbor's house to ask for food and water, authorities said at the time of Franke and Hildebrandt's arrests.
Franke's 10-year-old daughter was also found in Hildebrandt's home, and police said both children were malnourished.
Shari Franke, a student at Brigham Young University who has been estranged from her mother since the summer of 2022, also lauded her mother's arrest earlier this month.
Attorneys for Hildebrandt and Franke did not immediately return Insider's requests for comment.
Read the original article on Insider
Kevin Franke is hoping "to heal the past trauma and events" with his children, after their mother was arrested on child abuse charges, his lawyer tells TODAY.com
8 Passengers / YouTube Kevin Franke and Ruby Franke
Kevin Franke, the husband of disgraced vlogger Ruby Franke, did not choose to leave his wife, but won't "point fingers" at her either after she and her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt were charged with child abuse, Kevin's attorney tells TODAY.com.
Ruby, 41, and Hildebrandt, 54, were arrested late last month in Ivins, Utah, after the two youngest Franke children were found emaciated by police, according to a probable cause affidavit previously obtained by PEOPLE. Officers arrived at Hildebrandts home to check on the kids after a neighbor called 911 reporting that Rubys 12-year-old son had come to his house covered in wounds, asking for food and water.
Kevins attorney Randy Kester has portrayed the father as a very gentle person who had no role in his childrens alleged abuse. Kevin and Ruby share six children, who range from ages 10 to 20.
Four of the Frankes children were taken into child protective services following Rubys arrest last month. She continues to be held in jail without bail after a hearing for her and Hildebrandt was delayed on Monday until sometime in early October.
Kester told TODAY.com that Kevin and Ruby had been separated at Rubys directive for about 13 months.
"Kevin did not want to be separated," Kester claimed to the outlet. "He wanted to work through concerns as a family. There was never any formal, written decree of separate maintenance or separation agreement. The separation was under terms proscribed by Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt."
Related: Mom Influencer Ruby Franke and Business Partner Jodi Hildebrandt Formally Charged with 6 Counts of Child Abuse
Moms_of_truth/Instagram Ruby Franke
Kester also told the outlet that Kevin is currently working on mending his relationship with his children.
"(Kevin) is making an effort to rebuild and bridge these relationships rather than sling mud and point fingers," Kester told TODAY.com. "He is focused on doing what is best for his kids at this point, even if that means undergoing some introspection."
Neighbors have told PEOPLE that Ruby would often travel back and forth to Hildebrandts home in Ivins, Utah about four hours away from the Frankes house in Springville, Utah and would stay for weeks. She would often bring her two youngest children with her while leaving her two teenage girls home alone in Springville for weeks on end, one neighbor described.
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It's odd, the neighbor, who spoke with PEOPLE on the condition of anonymity, said earlier this month. Over the past year, the neighbor described the Franke childrens presence in the neighborhood as dwindling. She really started isolating her kids, the neighbor said.
Related: Prior to Arrest, Ruby Franke Told Estranged Husband Life with Kids Was 'Blissful'
KUTV2News/YouTube Randy Kester and Kevin Franke
Last week, Frankes sister Bonnie Hoellein spoke out about her nieces and nephews alleged abuse and laid blame on Kevin, saying he was the one person that could have done something to help the kids but that the family had zero contact with him.
It was Kevin's job to check in on the kids and he did not, Hoellein said in a YouTube video.
Kester addressed the comments in his interview with TODAY.com, saying "I think she admits that she, too, was out of the loop and had not had any contact with the children herself.
Kevin is more interested in reaching out to his children, family, and friends to heal the past trauma and events, Kester added.
Kevin and his attorney appeared in a Utah court on Monday for a second custody hearing for the kids. Ruby and Kevin's oldest daughter, 20-year-old Shari Franke, was also in attendance, The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
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Read the original article on People.
EXCLUSIVE: Shudder has snapped up rights for North America, the UK and Ireland to Youll Never Find Me, an Australian horror thriller marking the feature directorial debut of Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell, from international sales agent Blue Finch Films. The Shudder Original is next set to play Fantastic Fest, after world premiering at Tribeca in June, and will launch on the platform in 2024.
Brendan Rock stars as an isolated man living at the back of a desolate caravan park who is visited by a desperate young woman (Jordan Cowan) seeking shelter from a violent storm. As the savage storm worsens, these solitary souls begin to feel threatened but who should really be afraid? In addition to writing the script, Bell produced with Allen, Jordan Cowan, and Christine Williams.
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Josiah and Indianna bring a taught, tense, and twisted two-hander. Relenting and exciting, said Emily Gotto, who serves as VP, Global Acquisitions and & Co-Productions at Shudder. Youll Never Find Me creeps under your skin and stays there. Delighted to bring these talented new directorial voices to Shudder and beyond.
Added the filmmakers, We are absolutely thrilled to be joining the Shudder family. We know our film has found its perfect home amongst the strange, spooky and sinister films on the streaming service and cant wait to share Youll Never Find Me with American and UK audiences next year.
In addition to Youll Never Find Me, Shudder titles screening at Fantastic Fest which is taking place from September 21-28, in Austin, TX include Infested, The Sacrifice Game, V/H/S/85 and When Evil Lurks. The deal was negotiated by Mike Chapman of Blue Finch on behalf of the filmmakers and Gotto on behalf of Shudder.
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A South Carolina teacher was reported by her students for teaching Ta-Nehisi Coates Between the World and Me. According to the Washington Post, English teacher Mary Wood sought to teach her all-white class about what it means to be Black in America using Coates literature. However, she was reported by two of her students. They notified the school board that Wood was attempting to discuss race in the classroom.
The students wrote in emails that the book made them ashamed to be white, the outlet documented. [Her lesson] violated a South Carolina proviso that forbids teachers from making students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of their race.
Students also expressed that reading Coates book felt like reading hate propaganda towards white people. I understand in AP Lang we are learning to develop an argument and have evidence to support it, yet this topic is too heavy to discuss, another student wrote to the board. I actually felt ashamed to be Caucasian.
After receiving complaints, school administrators demanded Mary Wood to stop teaching the lesson. The administration sent her a formal letter of reprimand and also placed a copy in her file. It instructed her to keep teaching without discussing this issue with your students,' the outlet added.
Following the controversy, other teachers called for her to be fired for breaking the law. One of her colleagues expressed she was confused to see Wood still have a job. While the outlet doesnt state whether or not Marys job was threatened, the Post did include a statement regarding the school districts feelings regarding the teacher.
The district declined to answer questions about Woods employment, but board members have previously said the power to punish teachers rests with school-level administrators. Wood said she has received no discipline beyond the reprimand letter, it read.
Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates testifies during a hearing on slavery reparations held by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties on June 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. The subcommittee debated the H.R. 40 bill, which proposes a commission be formed to study and develop reparation proposals for African-Americans.
According to SCstatehouse.gov, South Carolina passed S246 in early 2023. The bill required teachers to implement policies respecting the intellectual freedom and dignity of each student, teacher, and staff member. However, much like Floridas infamous law, the bill demands that instruction and teaching materials on the topics enumerated in this section must be consistent with six principles related to race and gender.
These six principles include: no race is inherently superior to another race; no person is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously, solely by virtue of the individuals race or gender; no persons moral character is inherently determined by his race or gender; a person, by virtue of his race or gender, does not bear personal responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or gender; a person should not be instructed that he must feel guilt, anguish, or other forms of psychological distress for actions, in which he played no part, committed in the past by other members of the same race or gender; and an individual should not be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment due solely to his race or gender.
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In the past 16 years, Jean-Francois Flechet's Taste of Belgium has expanded from a fledgling waffle stand at Findlay Market to a local chain of eight Belgian bistros specializing in mussels, steaks, frites and other Belgian specialties. And yet we tend to forget one of the greatest contributions Flechet has given Greater Cincinnati: a spectacular selection of Belgian beers.
Taste of Belgium has dozens of them on tap, the broadest selection being at the Banks location, which has 54. There you can find Rodenbach red ale from Roeselare, Kwak golden strong ale from Buggenhout, and Kwaremont blond ale from Rijksweg. It's also the only place in the country that serves all four beers offered by Chimay, a beer that's been brewed by Trappist monks in Chimay, Belgium, since 1850.
Flechet's commitment to carrying the beers of his native Belgium is so strong that, this past Labor Day, he received one of the beer world's biggest honors: the honorary Knighthood of the Brewer's Paddle.
"The name sounds much better in French," Flechet said.
Jean-Francois Flechet received an honorary Knighthood of the Belgian Brewers Guild.
According to the Belgian Brewers Guild, "Honorary knights are individuals who have rendered loyal services to the brewing profession."
Flechet, who was born and raised in Belgium, came to the United States to work on his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pennsylvania. He moved to Cincinnati in 2000 to work for a market research company. He sold his first waffles in Cincinnati in 2007, and the rest is history.
He said traveling back to his native country to receive the honor was an unforgettable experience. "It was always something I wanted to get, personally, because it means the Brewers Association of Belgium is recognizing what I'm doing in the U.S.," Flechet told The Enquirer. "It was just really cool."
Flechet said the association has kept tabs on Taste of Belgium through both social media and his annual visits to Belgium, where he often takes staff members to visit the breweries.
Local restaurateur Jean-Francois Flechet celebrates being knighted by the Belgian Brewers Guild, in Brussels.
During the ceremony (the guild's 525th), Flechet and around 18 other honorees led a barrel of beer from the historic Brewers House, in Brussels, to a cathedral, where it was blessed.
Given his conscious commitment to honor the beers of his native land, Flechet said the knighthood wasn't too big of a surprise.
"I knew it would be coming," he said. "But it took a long time!"
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Taste of Belgium's Jean-Francois Flechet has been knighted
UPDATED with juror names and winner of 2023 Points North Pitch.
EARLIER: A first-time filmmaker has claimed the top prize at the 19th Annual Camden Film Festival in Maine, one of the countrys foremost all-documentary festivals.
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Director Yousef Srouji earned the Harrell Award for Three Promises, a film set in the Occupied Territories. At the start of the 2000s, the Israeli army retaliated against the second intifada in the West Bank, notes a description of the documentary. All the while, Suha, a mother of two young children, decides its time to start a film diary. Years later, her youngest son Yousef picks up the archive and discovers the difficult choices she faced then. The three promises, made and broken, evidence the strong love of a mother to her children, to her land, and to herself. The result is a reflexive act of love in a time capsule.
Three Promises
The Harrell Competition jury said in a statement, For the main prize, we decided to award a film in which the director manages to draw the audience in and share the feeling like they are trapped with the family on screen, not knowing what is to come. A film that is a testament to a mothers love for her family and her land, and the impossible decisions she has to make. A film about remembering.
Three Promises marks Sroujis directorial debut, but he is described in the Camden program as a longtime storyteller. His work centers around understanding the dynamics of occupation in Palestine, and community resilience in conflict zones.
The Harrell Competition jury was comprised of Opal H. Bennett (executive producer, POV Shorts, and senior producer American Documentary, Inc.); Wouter Jansen (founder, Square Eyes), and Ally Derks (founder, IDFA).
Or de Vie/A Golden Life
The Harrell jurors awarded a Special Mention to Or de Vie/A Golden Life, directed by Boubacar Sangare, a film the jury called a highly cinematic documentary which introduces us to a great character, whom we follow during his days and see him converse with his colleagues about life and dreams. The director manages to get close to the protagonists with a gaze that never feels voyeuristic.
The Audience Award went to Queendom, directed by Agniia Galdanova, the story of Gena, a drag performance artist in remote Siberia who bravely defies Russias increasingly hostile laws directed against the LGBTQ community. Back in March, Deadline shared the first clip of the documentary with you during the SXSW Film Festival, where Queendom premiered.
Queer performance artist Gena Marvin in Queendom
In the process of becoming who you are, its sometimes impossible to find the right language, Camden said in announcing the Audience Award winner. In this portrait of an artist coming of age, Gena uses her creativity to find the language verbal, visual, and emotional to fight for liberation. Through a seamless blend of observational and performative filmmaking techniques, director Agniia Galdanova shares a view into this process of self-articulation.
Taking home CIFFs Cinematic Vision Award was Knits Island, directed by Ekiem Barbier, Guilhem Causse, and Quentin Lhelgoualch.
Knits Island
Not only does Knits Island push the boundaries of what we understand as cinema, it also offers a profound meditation on the ethics of ethnography and bearing witness to violence, the Cinematic Vision jury said. While the film plays with form, it also keeps a sure eye on the story it sets out to tell, and tells a tale that is tight and comprehensive.
The Cinematic Vision Competition jury included Oscar-nominated filmmaker RaMell Ross; Devika Girish (co-deputy editor, Film Comment), and Bedatri D. Choudhury (arts and entertainment editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer).
The Cinematic Vision jury awarded a Special Mention to In the Shadow of Light, directed by Isabel Reyes and Ignacia Merino, for its visionary use of the basic elements of cinema and lifelight and soundto illuminate their unequal distribution in society.
Each year, CIFF hosts the Points North Pitch, an opportunity for a select group of filmmakers to present their works in progress and receive feedback from industry professionals (panelists offering analysis of pitches included Poh Si Teng of ABC News Studios, Dori Begley of Magnolia Pictures, and Chi-hui Yang of the Ford Foundation). The winning pitch went to Women of My Life, from Baghdad-based director Zahraa Ghandour, who pitched alongside consulting producer Assia Boundaoui.
The Camden International Film Festival is a program of the Points North Institute. The in-person portion of the festival ran from Sept. 14-18. The online portion continues for the next week.
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At the Open Source Summit Europe in Bilbao, Spain, the Linux Foundation today announced the launch of the Unified Acceleration (UXL) Foundation. The group's mission is to deliver "an open standard accelerator programming model that simplifies development of performant, cross-platform applications."
The foundation's founding members include the likes of Arm, Fujitsu, Google Cloud, Imagination Technologies, Intel, Qualcomm and Samsung. The company most conspicuously missing from this list is Nvidia, which offers its own CUDA programming model for working with its GPUs.
At its core, this new foundation is an evolution of the oneAPI initiative, which is also aimed to create a new programming model to make it easier for developers to support a wide range of accelerators, no matter whether they are GPUs, FPGAs or other specialized accelerators. Like with the oneAPI spec, the aim of the new foundation is to ensure that developers can make use of these technologies without having to delve deep into the specifics of the underlying accelerators and the infrastructure they run on.
OneAPI was backed by Intel and others and this new foundation now plans to take the oneAPI specification and help implement it across the industry. That's what the Linux Foundation does best, after all, with a focus on its open governance model that draws a line between the business and technical decision-making processes.
Linux and GNU transformed the CPU software stack through open source and standards, encompassing everything from embedded to cloud computing," said Robert Cohn, Intel Corporation, oneAPI specification editor. "As a founding member of the Unified Acceleration Foundation, I believe that open source and standards are essential for creating a cross-platform software stack for GPUs and other accelerators that will serve as the foundation for the next generation of computationally and data-intensive applications."
Presidents Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy took their case for supporting Ukraine to the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, with Biden claiming Moscow believes the world will grow weary of the war and allow Russian forces to "brutalize Ukraine without consequence."
Biden said that if Moscow is allowed to win in Ukraine, no country would be safe from "naked aggression."
"Russia alone bears responsibility for this war," Biden said. "Russia alone stands in the way of peace because Russia's price for peace is Ukraine's capitulation, Ukraine's territory and Ukraine's children."
Biden spoke hours before Zelenskyy made his case, accusing Russia and President Vladimir Putin of not only using the threat of nuclear war to get their way but also weaponizing food, energy and the forced deportation of children.
"While Russia is pushing the world to the final war, Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after Russian aggression, no one in the world will dare to attack any nation,'' Zelenskyy said in concluding his address of nearly 15 minutes. "Weaponization must be restrained. War crimes must be punished. Deported people must come back home. And the occupier must return to their own land.''
Earlier, Zelenskyy said he doesn't believe Russia should remain a member of the global body given its audacious and bloody invasion of his country.
Sean McFate, a professor at Syracuse University and senior fellow at the nonpartisan Atlantic Council think tank, said the U.N. mission of preventing and ending wars has "become a punchline." He cited struggles in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Zaire and Somalia and genocides in Rwanda, Darfur and Iraq.
"Bigger question," McFate said in an email to USA TODAY. "Will the UN be around in 2050? Only on letterhead."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits with wounded Ukrainian soldiers at Staten Island University Hospital in New York on Sept. 18, 2023.
Zelenskyy to meet Biden: Ukraine leader will address Congress and UN: Updates
Developments:
In his most memorable line, Zelenskyy said, "Evil cannot be trusted. Ask Prigozhin if one bets on Putin's promises.'' Two months after spearheading a failed insurrection, mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a suspicious plane crash.
A judge in Moscow declined to release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held pending trial on espionage charges since March. Gershkovich, 31, will remain jailed at least until Nov. 30.
A Russian guided aerial bomb slammed into the Kharkiv region city of Kupiansk, killing three civilians, Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram.
Denmark will send 45 tanks purchased in cooperation with other countries to Ukraine, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said Tuesday.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un returned home from a six-day trip to Russia, where he met with Putin. Foreign experts suggest the two countries were trying to reach arms transfer deals in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.
Almost 50 Ukrainian children transported to Belarus
Nearly 50 Ukrainian children from occupied territories have arrived in Belarus, Russia's closest ally, Belarusian media reported Tuesday.
The 48 children came from the Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia provinces, three of the four regions Russia illegally annexed last year. The minors were seen in photos posted on the Belarus state news agency Belta holding the country's red and green flag while being flanked by police.
Ukraine has accused Moscow of kidnapping thousands of its children and indoctrinating them in Russian culture. In March, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Putin and his commissioner for children's rights, Maria Lvova-Belovafor, charging them with war crimes for the forcible removal of Ukrainian children.
Belarusian authorities did not say whether the newly arrived children were orphans or were removed from their parents without their consent, a charge previously levied by opposition figures and denied by government officials.
Ukraine's Black Sea shipping corridor working for now
Ukraine's new shipping corridor in the Black Sea has so far allowed two cargo ships to arrive at the country and one of them to sail away with 3,000 tons of wheat toward Turkey. Whether this represents the new way for Ukraine to export its grain remains uncertain.
The Palau-flagged Resilient Africa, which along with fellow bulk carrier Aroyat docked in southern Ukraine's Chornomorsk port over the weekend, reached Romania's waters Tuesday evening, the New York Times reported. That makes it the first grain-carrying vessel to safely leave a Black Sea port in Ukraine since Russia withdrew in July from a nearly yearlong deal that allowed the exportation of Ukrainian agricultural products.
Since then, Russia has threatened hostile action against any ships in the Black Sea headed for Ukraine, contending they might be carrying military equipment. The temporary corridor seeks to establish safe passage on a route close to the coast before getting into the waters of Romania and Bulgaria, both of which are NATO members.
That doesn't guarantee the strategy will work.
The corridor is a good idea, but I think it is a test of what the Russians will allow, Sal Gilbertie, chief executive of the investment advisory firm Teucrium, told the Times.
Russia assault destroys 300 tons of humanitarian supplies
The warehouse of the nongovernmental organization Caritas-Spes was "burned to the ground" in the western Ukraine city of Lviv on Tuesday, destroying 300 tons of relief supplies, a U.N. agency said. Denise Brown, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said attacks targeting humanitarian assets have been escalating and "ultimately impact those who are suffering the horrific consequences" of a war that has dragged on for almost 19 months.
"Humanitarian workers, facilities and assets are protected under international humanitarian law," Brown said in a statement. "International humanitarian law is not an option, it is an obligation and must be upheld."
Ukraine denies NYT claim that deadly strike on city was friendly fire
Ukraine officials on Tuesday vehemently denied a New York Times report saying the Sept. 6 missile strike on Kostiantynivka in eastern Ukraine that killed at least 15 civilians apparently was by an errant Ukrainian missile. The Ukraine Security Service said its investigation determined a Russian S-300 missile was to blame. The agency cited rocket fragments seized at the scene.
Zelenskyy blamed Russian terrorists for the attack, which drew international outrage. But the New York Times says security camera footage indicates the "tragic mishap" was the result of a missile fired from Ukraine-held territory. Missile fragments, satellite imagery and witness accounts "strongly suggest" the missile was an errant Ukrainian air defense rocket fired by an old-school, Russian-made Buk launch system, the Times said.
Ukraine to get US Abrams tanks soon
The 31 high-tech, M1 Abrams tanks the United States committed to Ukraine will begin arriving in the embattled nation soon, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin said Tuesday. Austin, speaking at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany that drew representatives from more than 50 countries, said the U.S. and Ukraines other allies have committed more than $76 billion in aide for Ukraines defense. Kyiv's counteroffensive aimed at reclaiming territory seized by Russia "continues to make steady forward progress," Austin said.
"The more Russia prolongs its war, the more glaring its cruelty becomes," Austin said. "Russias assaults have increased far beyond the battlefield and inflicted untold human suffering."
Ukraine to get top tanks: How help from US, Germany will aid in war with Russia
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine war updates: Biden, Zelenskyy decry Russian aggression at UN
Sometimes, a good doughnut from Krispy Kreme can satisfy even the strongest sweet tooth craving. For a group of black bears in Alaska, an abandoned Krispy Kreme van presented the perfect opportunity for a five-star feast.
Candice Sargeant, a store manager at a Krispy Kreme in Anchorage, AK, got an unusual call from one of her delivery drivers. The driver left the van briefly unattended while making a delivery and reported to the store that bears infiltrated the vehicle and were chowing down on the precious cargo.
"For me, I didn't believe it. I was really astonished," Sargeant laughed. "There's no way that bears are in the back of the van, you would think. Doughnuts and bears? And then I was like, 'OK, well, how do we solve this?'"
Shelly Deano, an employee at the store receiving the doughnuts, helped figure out what was happening.
"I said, 'He's in the van!' and then the little cub followed and went inside the van and they just started eating the doughnuts," Deano told KTUU. She took some photos of the raid as the family started digging in.
"You could hear them breaking open the packages," Deano recounted. "We were trying to beat on the van but they just kept eating on the doughnuts. They ate 20 packages of the doughnut holes and I believe six packages of the three-pack chocolate doughnuts." Finally, the family skulked off after nearby security used sirens to scare them off.
Needless to say, the store's workers are coming up with new ways to prevent another situation like this in the future.
"We'll definitely be learning to slide up our ramp [and] close the doors to ensure that bears don't get back in there again," Sargeant said.
The bears, meanwhile, are likely continuing their pre-winter hibernation bulk.
Earlier this year, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis divested The Walt Disney Co. of its control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, an area covering the Walt Disney World Resort.
Now under state oversight, the district has been rebranded as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) and managed by a newly appointed board. Two major shifts in policy have arisen as a result significant budget adjustments and the elimination of diversity programs that have drawn attention and sparked debate both in Florida and across the nation.
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Fiscal Challenges And Litigation Costs
One of the boards first acts was to propose a reduction of $3 million from the 2024 budget for road maintenance and repairs in the park. The move comes at a time when the board is preparing for mounting legal costs, anticipating millions in fees for its ongoing legal standoff with Disney. The combination of reduced infrastructure investment and anticipated legal expenses indicates that the newly formed CFTOD is grappling with a complex financial landscape.
Trending: Are Wall Street's days numbered? This platform's game-changing solution could disrupt finance forever.
The Demise Of Diversity Programs And Legal Concerns
Another significant policy change is the boards decision to dismantle all existing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs. The board went so far as to label the initiatives discriminatory, un-American and an unnecessary financial burden, without specifying the alleged costs involved.
Further insight into this move came from a report by the Orlando Business Journal, which revealed that CFTODs legal team had expressed concerns about the legality of certain programs. Specifically, they questioned the Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) contracting programs, arguing that they could expose the district to legal liabilities. District Administrator Glen Gilzean formally announced the changes, contending that the programs discriminated based on gender and race.
Story continues
The Don't Say Gay Bill: The Spark That Ignited The Feud
The tension between DeSantis and Disney can be traced to the Parental Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), referred to as the dont say gay bill by opponents. The controversial legislation has had far-reaching consequences. In response, DeSantis has made several shocking proposals, including the construction of a state prison adjacent to the Walt Disney World Resort and the imposition of a tax on guests staying at Disney hotels.
Before the feud, the relationship between DeSantis and The Walt Disney Co. had been largely neutral to positive. Disneys role as a significant employer and contributor to Floridas economy generally facilitated a cooperative relationship with state lawmakers.
Rebranding the Reedy Creek Improvement District as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District has led to notable policy shifts, including curtailing infrastructure spending and eliminating diversity initiatives, both of which have generated widespread interest and debate.
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This article DeSantis's Relentless Retaliation Efforts To Destroy Disney Cuts Road Maintenance, Ends Minority Programs And Floats Building A State Prison Near Theme Parks originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" lied to us all: anchovies are delicious on pizza, or in any other context. Anyone who has ever eaten fresh anchovies can tell you they're absolutely wonderful as the star of restaurant appetizers like Spanish fried anchovies. But the packaged ones are still great -- as long as you know how to use anchovies. If you're dealing with tinned anchovies, a lot of people make the mistake of just trying to eat a whole one still dripping with oil, assuming that's the only way you can do it.
Make no mistake, anchovy flavor is potent, and eating it straight is a challenge even for people who love it. This goes double for the other anchovy-based ingredient that's the secret to so many great recipes, particularly Italian ones: anchovy paste. If you're dealing with a seafood pasta or noodle dish, there's really no other ingredient that can jazz your ocean flavors up like anchovy paste.
Read more: The Ultimate Ranking Of Canned Salmon Brands
What Is Anchovy Paste?
a lot of anchovies - Massimo Merlini/Getty Images
Since anchovies have been used as an edible food source for thousands of years, it's not surprising the history of anchovy paste dates back nearly as far. The oldest historical references are to something called allec, the paste left over from the preparation of fish sauces (made up of oily fish, including anchovies) during the Greek and Roman Empires. It's uncertain when it developed into modern anchovy paste from there, but the version we're talking about was eventually established in Italy.
Really, though, turning anchovies into some kind of paste isn't unique to one region -- which isn't surprising, since anchovies are eaten in hundreds of cultures around the world. There are products similar to the Italian version of anchovy paste in countries like Vietnam (where it's called "mam nem") and the Philippines (where it's "bagoong bala yan"), although the texture of those versions is somewhat different. They have a lot more liquid and are thus more of a dipping sauce in their own right.
How Is Anchovy Paste Made?
anchovy fillets in tin - Magone/Getty Images
The process of making anchovy paste is simpler than you might think. Simply put, anchovy paste is a mashed mixture of anchovies (typically fully cured brown anchovies, as uncured white anchovies are more commonly eaten whole), vinegar or oil, spices, and water. It's sometimes made from leftover anchovies, as you don't have to worry if the texture is a little weird. As such, you can theoretically make it yourself at home.
Which spices and oil/vinegar you use (or which ones the company you bought it from used) will give it a different flavor profile, though. Some brands will go for a mellower flavor with olive oil and/or sunflower oil, while other recipes are going to go for a sharper bite using vinegar. For spices, it can involve any number of them, including ginger, black pepper, or even cinnamon. Some recipes might even call for Dijon mustard. The one ingredient that's absolutely necessary is salt. You're not going to get that classic anchovy flavor without it.
What Does Anchovy Paste Taste Like?
tapenade with anchovy paste - etorres/Shutterstock
If you're wondering what anchovy paste tastes like when eaten by itself, the answer is not all that surprising considering what the whole filets taste like: salt. So much salt. Just the entire Pacific Ocean's worth of salt. This is the reason that, while you could eat it as a condiment (very similar products certainly are in places like the UK, Vietnam, and the Philippines), it may not be its ideal use-case for most Americans. If you're going to eat anchovy paste straight up on something, you probably want to do so in small quantities rather than large ones so as not to overwhelm whatever you're putting it on.
Even there, it's hard for anchovy paste not to take over -- and the texture isn't something you want completely by itself -- which is why the important thing is to make sure it's balanced. In small quantities, it's particularly good on things like egg dishes on toast, or anything else that provides a flavor and textural counterpoint. It also works very well in spreads like tapenades, since olive and anchovy flavors marry well together.
How To Cook With Anchovy Paste
squid ink pasta - Thecrimsonmonkey/Getty Images
There are actually a whole bunch of things you can do with anchovy paste. Its primary use in Italian cooking is in sauces, particularly seafood-based pasta, where it tends to supercharge ocean flavors. But it has a lot of other applications, too. It can be used in salad dressings, where it's often the source of that unique flavor present in Caesar dressing (although the original creator of the Caesar salad stubbornly disagreed). It's great as part of a marinade for meat, particularly if you're going to grill something like steak. It also works well with in dishes like empanadas and salsa, where the saltiness of the anchovy paste tends to be naturally balanced by the spice-forward flavors common to Latin American cuisines.
Ultimately, the best way to use anchovy paste, and anchovies in general, is very similar to how you use salt -- as an enhancer to other flavors. It marries well with a lot of different things as long as you don't overuse it, and you can use it pretty much anywhere you want to salt a dish while giving it a little bit of an umami boost at the same time. Its greatest strength is its versatility. Again, though: don't use too much, because a little bit goes a surprisingly long way.
Where To Buy Anchovy Paste
Italian grocery store - Johana Mlichova/Shutterstock
This part can be a little trickier. Most grocery stores will have anchovy paste, and you'll want to look in the same aisle as the canned fish. Unsurprisingly, it'll probably be right next to the anchovies. But most major chains will typically only have one brand, and a lot of times it'll be brands that are just okay. For that reason, the best place to find it is going to be any local Italian specialty store. Fortunately, anchovy paste does travel well (it needs to be refrigerated after opening, but not before), so you can generally order it online and it'll turn out okay as long as it was properly stored during transport. One very good brand to look for is Scalia Benedetto, a Sicilian variety known as some of the best commercially available anchovy paste in the world -- in part because it's made with extra virgin olive oil.
Wherever you get it from, though, you should be using anchovy paste to boost your sauces, your dips, pretty much whatever you want considering how versatile the stuff is. You'll be amazed at how much of a difference it can make.
Read the original article on Daily Meal.
Despite nearly all of Donald Trumps kids being constantly under the microscope and in the spotlight, not much is known about his and Melania Trump s son Barron Trump. While his height of 68 has made people speculate about a possible sporting career in the future, it turns out he may be following his fathers and half-siblings footsteps instead.
During the Sept 15 interview with the Settle for More author Megyn Kelly, Donald discussed a lot about Barron (which comes as a shock for many considering the alleged blowout he and Melania had over him using his sons photo in a meme).
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Along with divulging that he and Barron actually get along very well, he mainly talked about Barrons future. College is right around the corner for him, and many have wondered where hell jet off to get his life started. Turns out, his fathers alma mater is a very distinct possibility.
Barrons very tall about six-eight. And, hes a good kid. Hes a good-looking kid. Hes a great student, very good student, Donald said, adding that he and Melania are looking at the possibility of Barron attending the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Click here to read the full article.
For those that dont know, Donald, along with his kids Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Tiffany Trump have all graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. Donald Jr. and Ivanka graduated from the Wharton School, while Tiffany graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
(His son Eric Trump was the only one who went to Georgetown University instead.)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK JULY 20: Former U.S. President Donald Trump, former U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and Barron Trump are seen at the funeral of Ivana Trump on July 20, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)
Per AP News, Donalds relationship with the Wharton School is reportedly a bit more on the complicated side, with many parts of the school not proudly showing he went there like many of their other accomplished alumni. But since three of his kids went there still, theres still a major chance Barron would go (and potentially have a good time there).
For those who dont know, Donald has five children in total. He and his first wife, the late Ivana Trump, welcomed three children named Donald Jr., born in 1977, Ivanka, born in Oct 1981, and Eric, in 1984. Donald and his second wife Marla Maples welcomed a daughter named Tiffany, born in Oct 1993, and then he welcomed his fifth child named Barron, born in March 2006, with his current wife Melania Trump.
Before you go, click here to see presidential families over the years.
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One of the internet's bubbliest debates has resurfaced, and people are more confused than ever.
Last week, Reddit user @Opposite_Strategy_43 posted an image showing a glass of Fanta soda from Italy. They also included the caption, "Fanta in Italy has no dyes or artificial flavors."
Shockingly, the light color of the soda is almost reminiscent of a freshly squeezed glass of OJ, a far cry from the neon orange color Fanta has here in the U.S. Fellow Redditors quickly chimed in with their thoughts on why the Fanta colors are so drastically different.
"Because of the European Food Agency. A lot of the ingredients used in Fanta in the US [are] banned in the EU," said one Redditor.
Although the ingredients for both versions of the soda share some similarities, the ingredients in the U.S. version also include high fructose corn syrup, yellow 6, and red 40.
dannybluey / Reddit
One Reddit user was taken aback after seeing the color of Fanta in the U.S.
"The first time I saw a Fanta in the US I freaked out. I already didn't like soda in Italy, let alone now that it's fluorescent lol," they revealed.
Another person declared that the U.S. soda looks like it might actually be "radioactive."
"This is how it looks around Europe. When I saw American Fanta in a [YouTube] video it looked like a radioactive beverage," they wrote.
The latest Fanta controversy comes months after Reddit user @dannybluey posted a side-by-side image of a bottle of Fanta from Europe and a bottle from the United States. Similar to the newer Reddit post, users eagerly pointed out how shocked they were at the difference.
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Prior to February 13, 2017, what was known of the comings and goings in the small town of Delphi, Indiana was contained within the residents therein. Among them were two teenage girls Abigail "Abby" Williams and Liberty "Libby" German, and the man who would five years later be arrested for their murders, 50-year-old Richard Allen.
Now, the area with a population so minuscule that it doesn't even have a hotel to accommodate the jury that will be selected for Allen's trial in 2024, will forever be associated with the killings that took place there and the ominous phrase heard by the two young friends when they encountered him while exploring a nearby hiking trail on a day off from school, captured covertly by a brave and quick-thinking Libby, and later recovered from her cell phone as a key piece of evidence.
"Down the hill."
This is one of the last things Abby and Libby heard as they were led to their deaths in broad daylight. It's also the title of a new book, written by veteran CNN and HLN journalist Susan Hendricks, who has reported on this case since the beginning, spending time with the victims' families in Indiana and advocating for them amidst a sea of headlines that, more frequently than not, give a voice to the girls' killer rather than the other way around. For Hendricks, the decision to focus her first book on this case was not to recount the grisly details of what's been dubbed the Delphi murders, but to call to memory that Abby and Libby had lives in Delphi. Lives cut short in a way that law enforcement have yet to fully reveal, other than to call it "brutal." And throughout her writing, which follows the case from 2017 to just after Allen's arrest, she frequently mentions the girls' families waking up, day in and day out, telling themselves, "Today's the day." Meaning, today's the day justice will be had. After so many years, that day has come.
In an interview with Hendricks conducted over Zoom, she details her coverage of the Delphi case, the relationships she formed with the victims' families, gleaning insight from Golden State Killer investigator Paul Holes, and how her previous coverage of the Gabby Petito and BTK cases were at the back of her mind while covering this one.
The following transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
This book, "Down the Hill: My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi," is written very well and, for me, calls to mind Michelle McNamara's "I'll Be Gone in the Dark" in that the emotions of the case really come through. There are so many murder cases that don't make the headlines in the way that this one did. What do you think stands out about it?
That is a question I get often, and it's a good one because there are certain cases, as you mentioned, that the media pays more attention to than others. I really think this one struck a chord because of what Libby was able to do on her phone: capture this man's voice, take an image of him, video of him walking. So I feel that that really grabbed the attention because we were, as the media and as the public, able to hear the voice of a killer. And I also think that once we got to know who Abby and Libby were, and their family members, that also drew people in to say, "How could this happen?" And then, "How could I help?"
The fact that there have been advancements made in the form of Richard Allen being arrested likely prompted you to write on this case instead of any of the other numerous cases you've reported on like Gabby Petito or BTK, but I'm curious to hear how the idea came to you to write a book about this case specifically.
I wanted to write about this case because of how close I felt to the family members, and I wanted their voices to be heard. Often times, as you know, in the news media the headline is usually about who did it or allegedly did it. Scott Peterson, Casey Anthony, Jodi Arias and the list goes on. You rarely hear specifically about the family members and the effect this has on them. Not only when this happens, but in the following weeks, years, decades. It never goes away, that pain. And I knew this, as a journalist, but I really understood it when I got to meet the family members. And I started writing this several years ago. And it had been several years, and there was a lot of frustration about there not being an arrest here. So by the time Richard Allen was charged with the murders and, as you know, we have to say he's innocent until proven guilty, or course I was going to write this no matter what, because it was the journey that the family had been through and what they will continue to go through, even through the trial.
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There's been a difference in the way that murder cases are written about and discussed over the past few years. The emphasis used to be almost completely on the killers themselves, as you mentioned, but now the focus seems to be more on telling their victims' stories. We know their names now. They're people and not just bodies. When did you start to see that change?
I think for me as a journalist, the interest was there. I remember Yeardley Love, the lacrosse player who was murdered by her boyfriend and the mother, Sharon, creating the One Love Foundation in her daughter's name and running that with her other daughter, and that pain continues. That was 2010 when her daughter was murdered. So different cases stand out. Early on, when I was very young, too young, probably, to be watching "Fatal Vision" when it came on TV, my sister and I watched that special and then I read Joe McGinniss' book, and what stood out to me was the wife Colette and her stepfather reigniting the case, and I believe that was why Jeffrey MacDonald was convicted of the murder of his wife and two little girls. So, it's always been a perspective that I wanted to get across. And I do think that things have changed, hopefully. I remember, even back to Columbine, the faces of the shooters would be on the cover of a magazine. And working with Anderson Cooper years ago on his show, he would say that he didn't want to name the names of the shooters. And obviously when covering a case like Delphi, we have to name the person in custody, Richard Allen it's a bit different here but I don't want all the focus to be on that.
What was your first thought when the news broke that a suspect had been apprehended? And how soon after were you in contact with the girls' families?
You always thought and hoped that one day that would happen. Becky Patty, the grandmother of Libby, always posted on her Facebook page, "Today's the day," knowing that one day, that would be the day. But as the days and weeks and months went on, and there was still no arrest close to six years, to hear that someone is in custody because, as I mention in the book, there were names that were brought up. Not by law enforcement saying they're connected in any way, but if someone was arrested in that vicinity of course they would look into that in some specific way but for a name to just come out, and for an arrest, finally an arrest for the girls' murders, it was jarring. Exciting at the same time, for me and for the families. I was hoping that's what they felt. But I felt a mix. A feeling of nervousness. And it was simply jarring to see his face and know, wow, we've never heard this name and he did, in fact, live in Delphi. Everything that Superintendent Doug Carter said at that press conference was, in fact, true. If he is guilty, he was hiding in plain sight the whole time. So I spoke to Becky Patty when I heard that day about the arrest, and she was at a wedding and stepped out into the hall and said, "I can't believe it." She was in shock, I believe, at that time, until it set in, the reality of everything.
After so many years of hunting for this killer, now that an arrest has been made, I'd imagine that's when the full extent of the families' pain sinks in, with there being no hunt left to distract them. Will they be given the opportunity to address Allen during the trial?
You bring up a good point. I remember speaking to Mike [Libby German's grandfather], it was right after the press conference where law enforcement and the prosecutor announced that there had been an arrest, and he said, "Now we have to shift gear. Shift our focus." Because for so long it was finding this person. And Becky did, admittedly so, say, "I feel like I don't have a purpose anymore." Because someone is in custody. And Mike saying, "We just have to shift this and help the prosecutor in any way we can." And still, to this day, they're not saying if they believe that anyone else is involved. I remember during that press conference the prosecutor said there could be other actors and, therefore, they're not releasing certain documents. So I think they just kind of shifted their focus and their purpose, but of course it was still so hard, and considering what will happen next. Because right now it's unknown. There is a trial date set, that's for January, but it will be interesting to see what will happen from now until that point. Will it go on as scheduled? Will it be delayed? And, of course, I believe if they have the opportunity which I believe, in most court rooms, if found guilty the judge does allow that, the victim impact statements before the sentencing I do believe that they will address Richard Allen when the time comes.
It's chilling to know that Allen worked at an area CVS that was likely frequented by Libby, Abby and their families, and that he was a person who was spoken with early on. Was the hiding in plain sight aspect of this case a point of frustration throughout? Knowing now that the likely killer was so close and yet still just out of reach?
Absolutely. Family members of mine when they found that out were thinking, "Why wasn't he arrested sooner?" And, "How could this slip through the cracks?" We still don't have the absolute details on how that happened. But apparently, because it says this in the court documents, he approached an officer in a parking lot and said, "I was there. I didn't see Abby and Libby. This is what I was doing." Apparently he was on his phone or looking at fish or looking at a stock ticker. So I think that he put himself there. And if he is, in fact, guilty, we can only speculate that he was doing so to maybe get ahead of it, thinking other girls down near the bridge had maybe seen him. And we don't want to put all the blame on this one officer I believe the small town was overwhelmed at that particular point. And the video from Libby was not released yet. And the audio was not released. Maybe that officer looked at this person as a witness who didn't see much, therefore filed it away, so to speak. And Superintendent Doug Carter always did say, "If nothing happens, if we find nothing, we're gonna go back to the beginning." And that's exactly what they did. And maybe they came upon that file years later and said, "What about this guy?" But we still don't know what connected them to Richard Allen. From that particular point of, "Let's start from the beginning," to seeing that file . . . was it a tip that was called in? We don't know. As we did see, there was an unspent bullet near the bodies. They searched his home, apparently found the gun, connected that bullet to the gun, therefore, under arrest. But it's been redacted a bit, so there are a lot of elements we still don't know that we would see, if this does go to trial. There are a lot of holes, by design, the authorities would always say, that they're willing to tell, and why they can't say it, but they will when the time comes.
It's interesting, you bringing up the things that Allen said, "I didn't see the girls. I was watching fish." Which seems so random. That brings to mind your conversations with Paul Holes, which you mention in your book, where he says they'll always kind of show their "tell." That they'll say something a little too specific, or something that feels like a story that they kind of had at the ready.
Paul. What a brilliant mind, and a mind unlike any that I've spoken to in terms of what he sees and how he would go to a crime scene and see things very differently. What he said would stand out to him is, what was there that the killer didn't have to leave? What made this particular crime special to that person? What does that tell you? His eye is so sharp and so keen. So able to look at a crime scene and see it much differently than you or I would. He did say that when he went to the bridge and saw how high it was 63 feet. I'm scared of heights, and Paul shared with me that he is too. I couldn't even walk a step. Not a step Paul always has questions about why this killer would do it. Did he drag the bodies? Did he kill the girls there? And he said once he went down the hill, he understood. Because of how isolated it was. And that maybe no one could hear you or see you because of how dense the brush is. Because you think, how could someone kill two girls in the middle of the day and get away with it? Well, he [Allen] knew that bridge, and he knew that area. And Paul believes that he may have fantasized about this. For years even. He only lived a couple of miles from the bridge. He fantasized about this and decided, maybe, that that day was the day to do it. That that was his chance.
Have you spoken to Allen's wife and daughter at all? And what's your take on this phone call he made to her in which he reportedly confessed to the crimes? His attorneys are arguing that his admission isn't reliable because he's under duress.
The wife's Facebook page, I mean, as you would imagine, it was flooded with media and people wanting to see who this person is. And that's the resource we have today, social media. She took it down soon after and she had to move from her home because of the attention she was getting. I went through her Facebook early on and, to me, it showed that she was in love with her husband. She posted something about a restaurant they went to during an anniversary. Her daughter married, and there was a picture of her father walking her down the aisle, which brought me back to Kerri Rawson, BTK's daughter, who spoke to me saying, "I had no idea. He walked me down the aisle. He told me to make sure there was air in my tires. He made me scrambled eggs." So everything "normal" that you or I would perceive as that. The family didn't know. And there are people to this day who are mad at Kerri Rawson, and she didn't know. So I do feel for the wife and daughter. She was in court, Richard Allen's wife, during a few of the hearings, along with his mother, and that was shocking to hear that there was a confession, of sorts, several times. To me, of course, that's very telling. And apparently his wife hung up abruptly after that, and we heard in the hearing that happened after that that they haven't spoken since. We'll see how much that plays in.
I've read a few reports that seem to indicate that Allen is pleading feebleness and perhaps playing up his mental health issues in a play for leniency. And it seems like his representatives are saying he's not being treated fairly in prison. That must call for superhuman levels of patience after everything that you and the prosecutors know about this case.
Paul Holes did mention that. He said to me, "Susan, this is just the beginning of the process." There are so many tactics that can be taken to delay the trial and put it off. That being beneficial, I believe, to defense attorneys. Meaning, the longer the time goes on, the less it's on people's minds, is what I assume. But then I think back to Lori Vallow, and the judge ruling that she wasn't competent at one point, but then she finally was competent. Meaning, I wonder if the ruling is that he's not competent at this particular point because of where he is, but I believe there could be an analysis, wait a few months, and then he's analyzed again. So I don't believe this is a forever delay, if, in fact, it even is delayed because of what the defense attorneys are claiming.
A number of new details, even details alluding to the manner in which the girls were killed, were released in court documents this summer. What do you think about the judge's decision to unseal those documents? And I would hope that the families got that information first? I know there was a petition fighting to keep them sealed.
Yes. Becky posted, "Why?" on Facebook. She had this petition and her thoughts on it. And she had confidence in law enforcement and the prosecution, believing that if they want this sealed, there has to be a reason. Her fear was, what if the witnesses' names got out? Or what if there was harassment because of it? And considering everything both families have gone through, I don't blame her for wanting that sealed. And I think the judge, in my opinion thus far, is fair on what she is releasing and, by law, what she has to release due to the public's right to know. So I think that it was necessary but there were, of course, redacted documents as well. But a lot were released, you're right. About 120 pages.
Your book makes mention of there being more audio and video captured by Libby than what's been released. Have you heard it/seen it? And do you have any idea as to when it will be made public?
I personally haven't listened to it. And I do believe it has been released since I first met the families. Of course it is longer than, "Guys, down the hill." But I asked Sheriff Tobe Leazenby and he sat there and was quiet for a moment and said, "Susan, right now as you're sitting here, it's going through my mind and I'm hearing it over and over and over again." And I was thinking, "What is he thinking about right now? What did he hear?" And I think that no matter what was on that audio, it would be for me, having a 13-year-old now, just heart-wrenching to hear. Hearing their voices must just be excruciating for the families.
Covering so many cases of this nature, is there even such a thing as feeling a sense of completion, knowing that sooner rather than later, you'll likely be covering another one?
I think that's really the heart of the book, that there never really is completion. It never really is over. I know that Kelsi [Libby's sister] recently had a baby. A little girl. And I just feel like, forever, there will be that loss. I was in Libby's home. I saw her kitchen. I saw a video of her laughing in that kitchen. What I have found is that it's helpful for the families to feel like there's a purpose after the media goes away. And that purpose is often helping others. It's not about that day, February 13, 2017, and how the girls died. It's about the future. Sadly, there will be another case. There will be more families that suffer. It will happen again. But it never goes away for that family. Never.
After reading this book, your detailing of the initial search for the girls stands out to me. Local police really hopped to, roping in FBI, K9 units and everything they could. And the girls' bodies were discovered very quickly. It makes me wonder how this would have all played out if Abby and Libby had not been white.
That is a good question. In Gabby Petito's case, her father, Joe Petito, even said to me, "I don't know why it got as much attention as it did." I think, in her case, it came down to social media and the body cam footage and just how much we saw of her. But the Petitos' foundation is making a point of this in trying to make sure that everyone gets the same amount of attention, no matter what. But, absolutely, there is unfairness in the media in terms of what is chosen. And if I'm a family member in a case that no one talks about, I would be so hurt, beyond belief. I would be screaming from the rooftops, wanting the coverage to be equal. And Joe Petito is saying, "I'm trying to make this happen." There's no reason why it shouldn't be an equal playing field and everyone's son and everyone's daughter gets equal coverage. And I think it is possible now, with all the outlets we have, and social media where people are talking about a case and bringing attention to it. It's not just the mainstream media anymore.
With the trial coming up, do you have plans for a follow-up book?
I haven't thought too far in advance about a next book. I know I will be covering the trial, and it will be interesting to see exactly how it plays out because, at this point, anything is possible in this case, from what I've seen. I would be interested in maybe writing a book from the families' point of view.
Hendricks will moderate a panel at CrimeCon on Sept. 24 called A World Turned Upside Down: Tragedy, Triumph, and the Power of Healing, joined by Becky Patty, Tara German, Sharon Love, Kerri Rawson and Stacy Chapin.
For some of us, a steaming cup of joe makes the difference between a good day and a bad one, but when it comes to McDonald's coffee, it could mean a costly lawsuit. The restaurant has found itself in hot water again after an elderly woman alleged that she was served a scalding cup of coffee that led to her sustaining "severe" burns, per The San Francisco Standard. Mable Childress purchased some java from a San Francisco McDonald's location and later claimed that the lid wasn't safely secured in order to prevent spillage. She then filed a lawsuit against the employees, claiming that the restaurant failed to offer "duty of care" in preparing the coffee (via Today).
Childress, who is in her 80s, alleged that she suffered burns and scars after the coffee spilled on her groin, legs, and abdomen when she tried to take a sip out of the cup. Not only did the incident reportedly cause her physical pain, but it allegedly caused emotional distress, as well. According to the lawsuit -- as reported on by Business Insider -- Childress continues to experience pain.
Read more: What The McDonald's Of The Future May Be Like
The Restaurant Supposedly Offered Assistance
hand holding McDonald's coffee cup - Valerie Loiseleux/Getty Images
Mable Childress tried to talk to the restaurant staff about the incident, according to the court filing, but none of them listened to her and they allegedly denied help. "She's an elderly lady, and she was waiting for over an hour to speak to a manager, and a manager never spoke to her. They didn't give her the time of day ... Nobody helped her whatsoever. She had to get to the hospital herself," her lawyer -- Dylan Hackett -- told SFGate. Childress now seeks millions in damages.
The restaurant's owner, Peter Ou, maintains that his team did speak to Childress and tried to offer assistance. "My restaurants have strict food safety protocols in place, including training crew to ensure lids on hot beverages are secure," McDonald's shared on his behalf in a statement to Mashed. "We take every customer complaint seriously," Ou also mentioned.
This isn't the first time that McDonald's has been burned by its hot offerings. Recently, the company paid $800,000 in damages after a four-year-old girl suffered second-degree burns on her leg due to an extraordinarily hot chicken nugget. In 1992, a woman was awarded a hefty sum in damages after she suffered burns when she accidentally spilled McDonald's coffee on herself. Over the years, many people have sued the company over its excessively hot beverages. Currently, McDonald's coffee is served at a temperature of around 185 degrees Fahrenheit.
Read the original article on Mashed.
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From flirty dresses to statement earrings.
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
One of my absolute favorite things to do is to support women-owned small businesses. Most often, this happens when Im able to pop into a boutique in person while Im traveling. But now and then, I find incredible online shops that are owned by inspiring women and also have well-curated online selections. And thats exactly the case with Poppy and Pink.
Poppy and Pink is an online boutique that specializes in well-made, classic clothing and accessories that have a flirty twist. I first found the Raleigh, North Carolina-based shop thanks to its co-founder Kaylee Hobbs who I have happily followed for years on Instagram (shes a delight). Hobbs is always well-dressed and seems to find adorable pieces year-round, so when she announced she was launching an online boutique, I counted down the seconds until I could take a peek. Poppy and Pinks offerings have never disappointed, and the brands backstory is equally as original.
Brackish Dress
Poppy + Pink / Traci Huffman Photography
$144
Buy on poppyandpink.com
I co-founded Poppy and Pink, an online clothing brand, in 2022 to offer women a way to love what they wear again, Hobbs said. Growing up, I loved expressing myself through clothing, and while I've grown out of my middle school Limited Too phase, the desire to love what I'm wearing is very much a part of who I am. It can be challenging to know what will look good on your body type and how to source pieces that can work for multiple seasonsenter Poppy and Pink, where we curate statement pieces you'll love to reach for in your closet.
Since the brands launch, Ive noticed a few key things that set Poppy and Pink apart, making me feel excited to shop online. First, the clothes and accessories are fun, yet timeless, unlike anything I can find online (or in person) at the same price point. Plus, each piece is beautifully made and feels so specialIve made some of my favorite recent memories while wearing Poppy and Pinks pieces (the dresses are my favorite). So, it only makes sense that Hobbs keeps Southern shoppers in mind when sourcing pieces for the shop.
Navy Floral Monaco Dress
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
$138
Buy on poppyandpink.com
When curating collections to bring to Poppy and Pink, Im often thinking of our girl: shes wearing these pieces on her way to the office, in the carpool lane, or on a date night, Hobbs said. She has hopes and dreams and deserves to feel excited about what she puts on no matter where her day takes her. My hope is to provide her with options that are unique, inspiring, and made with high-quality materials.
Hobbs also noted that she looks to smocking, embroidery, or a button detail that gives a dress a bit of je ne sais quoi. Ultimately, she shared that Poppy and Pinks goal is to offer pieces that offer an opportunity to every body type to find something they love and feel great in.
In the future, Hobbs is excited about introducing a new in-house clothing and jewelry line where she plans to team up with female artisans from India, after a spring design trip she took to Jaipur. And shes exploring the idea of opening a flagship storein addition to the online boutiquethat will allow her to meet more of her customers in person.
Cypress Cotton Poplin Dress
Poppy + Pink / Elizabeth Cox
$125
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Its not often that I feel this devoted to a brand, but Poppy and Pink is different. The clothes and jewelry are unique, beautifully made, and memorable to wear for everything from everyday errands to special events. And its co-founder, Kaylee Hobbs, is equally as inspiring. So, I hope youll join me in shopping online at Poppy and Pinkand if you need more ideas about what to purchase for fall, there are plenty of additional finds below.
Pom-Pom Earrings
Poppy + Pink
$30
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Rainbow Square Drop Earrings
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
$42
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Floral Mother of Pearl Earrings
Poppy + Pink
$64
Buy on poppyandpink.com
The Valensole Scarf
Poppy + Pink / Swells
$68
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Magnolia Sweater
Poppy + Pink / Traci Huffman Photography
$88
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Kathryn Printed Poplin Shirt Dress
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
$125
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Poppy Smocked Midi Dress
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
$125
Buy on poppyandpink.com
Fall Marigold Copa Dress
Poppy + Pink / Danielle James Photography
$158
Buy on poppyandpink.com
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Read the original article on Southern Living.
An elderly woman in her 80s has sued a San Francisco McDonald's after she sustained "severe burns" from a hot cup of spilled coffee. Mable Childress filed her lawsuit to the San Francisco Superior Court on Sept. 14, per court documents obtained by NBC News. In it, Childress claimed the McDonald's employees failed to secure her coffee cup lid that she purchased from a drive-thru, thus breaching their "duty of care." Childress explained that the cup lid came off while she drank her coffee and that "scalding coffee poured out of the cup," causing severe burns and scars to her groin.
The incident took place earlier this year in San Francisco, the lawsuit specified. Childress said the spilled coffee caused her to suffer severe burns, scarring, emotional distress, along with hospital and medical expenses. She continued, saying she tried to report the incident to three employees at the McDonald's location, including managers. However, the employees "ignored" and "refused to help her" until she sought treatment on her own.
This isn't the first time McDonald's has been sued over spilled coffee. In 1992, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck sued a New Mexico-based McDonald's after suffering from third-degree burns in her pelvic region when she accidentally spilled hot coffee in her lap. The highly publicized case, called Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages.
As far as dinosaur skeletons go, Barry the Camptosaurus ranks among the oldest and most complete.
The fossilized plant eater, which will go under the hammer at Hotel Drouot in Paris next month, dates back some 150 million years and is composed of more than 80 percent original bone. As a result, the rarity is expected to fetch between $855,000 and $1.28 million (800,000 and 1.2 million) at auction on October 20.
More from Robb Report
Barry was first discovered in Wyoming in the 1990s before he was later restored in 2000 by paleontologist Barry James, as reported by Reuters. (This explains the dinosaurs name.) Italian laboratory Zoic carried out further restoration work on the skeleton after acquiring it last year to get it in line with current scientific standards.
Barrys skull is 90 percent complete.
It is an extremely well-preserved specimen, which is quite rare, said Alexandre Giquello of Hotel Drouot. To take the example of its skull, the skull is complete at 90 percent and the rest of the dinosaur (skeleton) is complete at 80 percent.
Measuring nearly 16 feet long and seven feet tall, Barry is part of the Iguanodontidae family, which was one of the earliest groups of dinosaurs to be discovered. The bones were unearthed in Wyomings fossil-rich Morrison Formation. It was quite an unusual discovery, as ornithopod dinosaurs represent about 14 percent of the specimens found in the area.
Despite some criticism from the scientific community, dinosaur bones have become coveted collectibles. In fact, six skeletons were auctioned off last year alone. The prized fossils attract eye-popping sums, too. Back in 2020, a T-Rex skeleton known as Stan hammered down for a record $31.8 million at a Christies sale before finding a permanent home in an Abu Dhabi museum. That makes $1.3 million seem like a steal.
If youre interested in acquiring Barry or another dinosaur, be sure to do your due diligence and look into the skeletons provenance. The last thing you want is to end up with a dud.
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Book bans. Trans athlete bans. "Critical race theory" bans. "Groomers." America's schools have become ground zero for some of the most contentious political battles in recent years.
And as those conflicts have deepened, school board meetings, once one of the most utilitarian and, frankly, dullest gatherings you could find in pretty much any town or city, have frequently become warzones between right-wing parents seeking drastic, often shocking changes, and left-wing parents fighting back.
Such is the case in one Pennsylvania school board, where divides between parents and administrators have recently taken a downright terrifying turn.
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A Pennsylvania mom says she was retaliated against after reporting a man for bringing a gun to a school board meeting.
The concerned parent took the podium during the Central Bucks School Board meeting's public comment period to relay what went down and take school board officials to task for what she and many others feel was their dangerous and nakedly political handling of a terrifying situation.
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"In our schools, kids have something called 'safe to say,'" the mom began, "and what that basically means is that if you see something unsafe, you can report it to the authorities and you can trust that they won't reveal you as the person who identified the perpetrator... It lets you give a warning while still feeling safe and not worrying that you'll be targeted."
But the school district does not seem to have taken the same approach when it comes to parents. The mom went on to recount how she witnessed a man attend a March school board meeting "that was absolutely packed with students" with a concealed weapon on his hip.
"This is a man I've seen at several meetings using fake names, being disruptive," she went on to say, noting that lying about his name is against local laws. The mom said she later sent an email to the school board alerting them of the gun-toting man after another parent had notified a security guard. She said she received no response, but plenty of blow back of another form.
RELATED: Texas Dad Strips Down In Front Of A School Board Meeting To Make A Point In A Viral Video
The mom says the school board sent her contact info to the man carrying the gun, who then began harassing her.
"I know we have major differences," the mom said, addressing the school board officials, "but you are still public servants with the responsibility to protect this community as much as possible, including the people you disagree with. You didn't protect me. You put me in danger."
She says that while she received no response to her missive, she did receive a cease and desist letter from the man carrying the weapon, who claimed the mom was spreading lies about him on social media about having had a gun at the meeting.
She then questioned how the man got her contact information if not from the school board itself, since she said she was too frightened to post online about it. "Please tell me, how did this man know that I reported him to you? How did he know?" she asked, as some parents behind her, said to be part of a local chapter of far-right activist group Moms for Liberty, laughed.
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The man's denial of having had a gun sparked controversy in the meeting according to the mom, but she went on to recount how a local police officer had confirmed the gun was present. "You didn't think a man with an unlawful concealed weapon in a room full of students was notice worthy," the mom scolded the school board. "You didn't think you needed to tell the community about this."
"I trusted you to put aside your partisanship and keep our community safe," she went on to say. "If we can't trust you to do this most basic part of your job, I respectfully ask that you step aside." The majority of the assembled attendees then erupted into applause.
RELATED: Woman Confronts Teacher After Her Son's Phone Is Confiscated At School & Tracked To The Educator's Home
The incident in Bucks County is just the latest in a trend of far-right takeovers of school boards across the country.
The problem has become so intense that the National Education Association, one of the country's largest teacher's unions, issued a guide in 2021 for what to do about far-right political groups and conspiracy theory movements like QAnon "radicalizing your school board."
The trend seems to have begun in response to issues pertaining to the pandemic like masking mandates in schools. But it has quickly metastasized as right-wing politicians and parents, swayed by Republican-led conspiracy movements and propaganda, have become convinced that schools are teaching children Critical Race Theory concepts that bash white people (even though they're not), and that LGBTQ+ people, and especially transgender people, are pedophile "groomers" indoctrinating children into queer lifestyles (which isn't happening.)
RELATED: Veteran Teacher Breaks Down Why Teachers Are Quitting & It's Not Because Of Low Pay
Radical far-right Republican politicians, like Florida Governor and 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, have urged right-wing parents and voters to infiltrate school boards and other civic appointments by running in local elections, and conservative PACs have flooded such races, especially school boards, with heaps of cash.
And voters have listened. Even states as liberal as California are having widespread issues with school board meetings devolving into ideological war zones, as did the Central Bucks School Board meeting shortly after the mom finished her comments.
Ideological disagreements are one thing, of course. But actively endangering a parent you don't agree with by essentially doxxing her to a person who thinks it's his duty to carry a gun to a school board meeting full of children is entirely another.
Somehow, right-wing parents and educators seem to have forgotten that they're supposedly doing all of this in the name of their children. As the Bucks County mom pointed out in her comments, how are children supposed to learn from adults if they only selectively enforce their rules?
What message does it send to kids to have a rule like "safe to say" if they use it as a weapon against parents they don't disagree with? If teaching children to hate people who disagree with them is their aim well, they're doing one heck of a job.
And sadly, if many of today's Republican politicians and leaders are to be believed, that's precisely the goal.
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John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.
This article originally appeared on YourTango
In 1998, former world champion Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew took over what was then known as the ASP and was handed a World Tour that was going into cardiac arrest.
The majority of surf contests were being held in urban surfing centers, often in sub-par waves. Six times world champ Kelly Slater had lost interest and left the building. Derek Hynd was fomenting revolt with the Rebel Tour and had a young upstart named Andy Irons on board, while the ASP had become the subject of derision by surfers worldwide.
Bartholomew performed CPR by introducing the Dream Tour, a formula that sounds deceptively simple and put the worlds best surfers in the worlds best waves.
By 2002, hed miraculously managed to right the ship and the tour went on a decades-long tear, with a pioneering webcast that opened the door to any location on earth with an internet connection. What followed was historic Tahiti, pumping J-Bay, Keramas, Cloudbreak, Mundaka, G-Land, Mexico and more.
Since then, streaming technology has evolved at breakneck speed and the webcast has become a well-oiled machine with A-grade production values. The WSL is backed by a billionaire with very deep pockets and surfing has exploded around the globe. Yet somehow, 25 years later, we seem to find ourselves back in 1998.
The schedule is peppered with lackluster locations that havent kept pace with the quantum leaps in performance. Finals Day is more focused on a bums-on-the-beach mentality than pitting surfers against each other in the absolute best waves possible. Arguably the best surfer in the world appears to be frustrated and losing interest, along with much of pro surfings core fan base.
Its easy to criticize from the sidelines. Putting on a WSL event is a $3 million dollar-plus juggernaut subject to the vagaries of tide, wind and sponsorship dollars. Then there are the endless logistics, insurance headaches and politics to navigate. But surely if its been done before, it can be done again?
With this in mind, lets imagine a schedule for a genuine Dream Tour. Gone are Sunset, Bells, Rio, Margaret River and Lemoore. Trestles is up in the air. There are no sacred cows here only the best surfers in the (actual) best waves. Feel free to chime in below.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY
Current event location: Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii /Billabong Pro Pipeline
Proposed event location: P-Pass, Pohnpei, Micronesia
Palikir or P-Pass used to be the poster child for gaping right-hand tubes early in the 2000s but has fallen off the radar in recent years. The waves, however, continue to pump.
January is a prime month for the big double-up roll-ins that have drawn comparisons to a tropical Shipsterns, but Palikir can be surfed at almost any size and is ultra-consistent. When its smaller (and by smaller we mean three-to-six-feet), perfectly tapered walls wail down the reef for a couple hundred yards, and the trades blow pretty much straight offshore.
Logistics arent your friend here: P-Pass is located offshore of Pohnpei island and is one of the most remote locations on Earth. But then again, its not like Cloudbreak or Teahupoo are just around the corner from the WSL HQ.
If P-Pass is too much of a stretch, Honolua Bay is beckoning. January into Feb is the most consistent window for Hawaiis premiere pointbreak and the wave is steeped in surf lore. The picture-perfect inside bowl is renowned for catapulting surfers out of the barrel and into the next section, making it ideal fodder for the worlds best surfers to go berserk.
FEBRUARY
Current event location: Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii/Hurley Pro Sunset Beach
Proposed event location: Safi, Morocco
Morocco is studded with right-hand pointbreaks, none more majestic than Safi, a few hours south of Casablanca. This combination of sand and rock has arguably created the best right-hand pointbreak in the world, with a strong local contingent that would make for some excellent wildcards.
January and February are traditionally the prime winter months, when the sand has been knocked into shape. The clifftop provides a spectacular amphitheater and the wave in full cry looks like a combination of J-Bay and Skeleton Bay in reverse, with bottomed-out tubes and big carving walls. Plus, surfing is booming in Morocco and even has the backing of the King.
On the downside, Safi only really gets going on huge swells, which would make even a 10-day waiting period a gamble. But the payoff would be huge.
MARCH
Current event location: Supertubos, Peniche, Portugal/MEO Pro Portugal
Proposed event location: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
Like it or not, Brazil has become the de facto home of professional surfing, with more mens world titles in the past decade (a staggering seven out of ten) than any other nation on Earth, along with ravenous public support. The country is probably deserving of more than one WSL event. That said, Saquarema (and more specifically Ipanema, the southern stretch of beach where the contest is usually held) has no business being on the schedule if the criteria is world-class waves.
Cacimba do Padre is also a beachbreak but unlike Saquarema, it has the potential to deliver truly exciting waves and has the perfect mix of ingredients: big wedges, ramps and tubes.
Located on Fernando de Noronha, a tiny island offshore mainland Brazil, this stretch of sand has a long history of hosting surf comps and the setting is spectacular: thick jungle dripping down to the shoreline and cliffs jutting into the sea make it look like something straight out of Jurassic Park.
Unlike most of Brazil that gets its swell from the southern hemisphere, Fernando works best from November to March, when North Atlantic swells regularly bombard the island. The trades blow straight offshore on the west and northwest facing coast and can hold surprising size. Its the kind of place you dream about visiting and surfing someday, which is exactly what a world tour location should be.
APRIL
Current event location: Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia/Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
Proposed event location: Cloudbreak, Fiji
The holy grail off offshore reef passes, Cloudbreak needs no validation as to why it should be on Tour. The South Pacific swell train kicks into gear as early as March and April is historically a stellar month for Fiji, with consistent swells and favorable lighter winds before the trades reach peak force.
Cloudbreak is one of those rare beasts that test a surfers ability on every level. The lineup is a wide-open playing field that requires an intimate understanding of the ocean, while the wave churns out powerful tubes and huge turn sections that require an equally committed approach.
Its not surprising that Cloudbreak has produced one of pro surfings most memorable events, and the tour is noticeably poorer off without it.
Current event location: Main Break, Margaret River, Western Australia/Western Australia Margaret River Pro
Proposed event location: North Point, Margaret River, Western Australia
The WSL is halfway there already with North Point having served as a backup venue in 2017 where we got a glimpse of what could be, and theres talk of attempts to get it back on the cards for 2024. But really, it should be the other way around with Margarets as the backup and North Point as the ultimate goal.
Besides the obvious drawcard of thundering barrels over multiple sections, no other wave in the world offers a better tube-to-air setup than North Point. The thick, wedgy ramp has hucked the worlds most progressive surfers into some of the biggest air combos ever documented over the past decade, making it the perfect canvas for the modern judging criteria.
MAY
Current event location: The Surf Ranch, Lemoore, California / Surf Ranch Pro
Proposed event location: Lakey Peak, Sumbawa, Indonesia
Located in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, Lakeys mechanical A-frame is about as close to a wavepool as youre going to get without pouring concrete. Both the left and right offer spitting tubes and shreddable sections on tap that have made it a favorite location over the past decade for hi-octane surf edits. Throwing the best surfers in the world together on the peak and having them push each other heat by heat would be a sight to behold.
Lakeys hoovers up any swell in the vicinity and May is a good month for lighter winds before the sideshore afternoon trade wind pattern kicks in with a vengeance. Even so, the trades blow directly into the right bowl, making it a top-tier air wave that would provide a spectacular show.
JUNE
Current event location: Punta Roca, El Salvador / Surf City El Salvador Pro
Proposed event location: Kanduis, Mentawais, Indonesia
If you had to draw up a blueprint for the perfect island setup, good chance youd end up with something that looks like Karangmajet, a small island off Siberut thats home to Kandui Left and Kandui Right (AKA NoKanduis and Rifles respectively), two of the best waves in Indonesia.
The left that bookends the northwestern tip of the island has become one of the most coveted tubes in Indonesia, ever since it was made famous during the OP Pro Boat Challenge back in 2000. Initially deemed too fast and treacherous to surf, NoKanduis typically fires in June and July when there is swell on tap and the wind consistently clocks offshore on the lefts.
In the same way that G-Land was the iconic Indo tube of the 90s, NoKanduis has become a focal point for the best surfers in the world visiting the archipelago nowadays. Its typically a heart-in-the-throat affair and the end section, where the wave jacks up onto a shallower coral slab, is guaranteed to keep things interesting.
Rifles or the plethora of other waves scattered around the Playgrounds area make for pretty decent backup locations.
JULY
Current event location: Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa / Corona Open J-Bay
Proposed event location: Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa
J-Bay has been a saving grace for the WSL for the past few years, consistently delivering some of the best waves on tour. In fact, Supertubes makes a compelling case why only waves of this caliber should be considered for the schedule.
Each year that Supertubes fires, there is a discernible leap in performance that drives surfing forwards.
Its simple, really: a peak wave produces peak performances that set the bar and live on in surfing lore.
AUGUST
Current event location: Teahupoo, Tahiti / SHISEIDO Tahiti Pro
Proposed event location: Teahupoo, Tahiti
Another top-tier location, Teahupoo in full-cry is a no-brainer. This is the pinnacle of modern surf performance for different reasons than J-Bay. When Teahupoo pushes beyond six feet, it comes down to pure grit and a willingness to commit. The 2014 event, and specifically the John John Florence vs Kelly Slaters semi-final matchup, lives on as one of the defining moments in pro-surfing history.
The WSL has been unlucky to come up short here the past couple of years but by packing the tour with stellar locations, youd narrow down the odds and have a far more forgiving audience when the forecast doesnt deliver.
SEPTEMBER
Current event location: Lower Trestles, California, USA/ Rip Curl Finals
Proposed event location: Lower Trestles, California (but not as a finals event)
Opinion remains divided on the final five and winner-takes-all format, but the question remains: is Trestles worthy of a spot on tour?
In short, yes: the event represents mainland USA and produces skatepark-like lefts and rights that are a great canvas to showcase high-performance surfing. As an event, Trestles is consistently entertaining and worthy of inclusion. But its an absolute travesty that this is the wave that decides the world champ.
As many pundits have pointed out, the final event in whatever iteration it occurs should be reserved for the holy grail of waves or, at the very least, a wave that barrels.
Having a wave of no consequence decide the world champ comes at a cost to the credibility of surfing as a sport, and the champ themselves.
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
Current event location: None
Proposed event location: Supertubos, Portugal
Supertubos ticks the box of having a European location on Tour and is a better call than tide-sensitive Hossegor, or the ephemeral Mundaka.
The wave picks up plenty of swell, can handle size and breaks mere meters from the shoreline, which makes for exciting viewing. The tourism department here has deep pockets and loves surfing, all of which makes it a sensible call.
Historically, the best time to score A-grade Supertubos has been Fall, when light offshores and regular swells conspire to deliver some of the best beachbreak peaks in the world.
DECEMBER
Current event location: None
Proposed event location: Pipeline, Oahu, Hawaii
The North Shore remains the Valhalla of surfing and no amount of manufactured hype can replace the drama and excitement of a season finale at the gladiator pit of Pipeline and Backdoor. Ironically, the final five format is ideally suited to Pipe: the one day needed to run would almost ensure epic conditions; the Pipe/Backdoor split favors both goofyfooters and naturals; and the spectacle of them dueling it out in booming waves would be perfect fodder for the mainstream masses, which the WSL is so desperately trying to reach.
Regardless of where you stand, we should at least all be able to agree that the best surfer in the world needs to be able to commit when the horizon turns dark and a set starts feathering on Third Reef. Bringing the final back to Pipe ensures there are no questions left unanswered when a world champ is crowned.
CorpGov hosted a fireside chat from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with Zach Swartz, Partner at Vinson & Elkins LLP. Mr. Swartz spoke to CorpGov Editor-in-Chief John Jannarone about the current distressed real estate market in the country, its relationship with debt and the economy, among other topics. Watch the full recording below:
About Vinson & Elkins LLP
At Vinson & Elkins, people are the strongest asset. Collaborating seamlessly across 11 offices worldwide, the companys lawyers are committed to excellence, offering clients experience in handling their transactions, investments, projects and disputes across the globe. Vinson & Elkins has recognized professionals in key industries that drive forward the global economy. The companys market approach comes from the experience gained from representing entrepreneurial innovators in their most important deals and disputes for over 100 years. Vinson & Elkins commitment to excellence, coupled with their commercial approach to solving problems, enables them to collaborate with clients to achieve results.
About Zach Swartz
Zachs principal areas of practice are capital markets and securities law, private equity, fund and joint venture formation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters. He has particular experience advising on corporate and securities transactions involving equity and mortgage real estate investment trusts (REITs) and special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs). Zach also regularly provides general corporate, reporting, disclosure, compliance, securities, and corporate governance advice to private and public company clients. Zach is recognized nationwide as Up and Coming in REITs by Chambers USA.
Contact:
CorpGov.com
Editor@CorpGov.com
The post Distressed Real Estate: Vinson & Elkins Partner Zach Swartz, Live from NYSE appeared first on CorpGov.
It's almost akin to getting hit by a jellyfish.
tzooka/Getty Images
Spiky, green caterpillars with painful stings have been popping up in the eastern United States.
With their distinct, saddle-like markings, saddleback caterpillars are quite the sight. But dont let your curiosity get the best of you, these little creatures are covered in hairs that secrete an irritating venom.
Bonnie Tillotson, an Extension Agent with Virginia Tech, spoke to WSET about these unique-looking insects after Lynchburg area residents reported an increase in sightings last week.
"You know it as soon as you get hit. It's almost akin to getting hit by a jellyfish," Tillotson told the local news outlet.
Saddleback caterpillars are the larva of a species of moth belonging to the family Limacodidae. Usually less than one inch in size, they are primarily green and brown at both ends. They can be easily identified by a large white-ringed brown dot that resembles a saddle. Saddleback caterpillars have poisonous spines on their four horn-like tubercles and many smaller ones protruding from the sides of its body
Tillotson told WSET that these spines are so fine that you need to remove them from your skin using tape.
According to the University of Georgia Extension, the irritation can last for a day or two and may initially be accompanied by nausea. The site of contact will likely redden and swell like a bee sting. More severe reactions are possible though unlikely.
If you're unfortunate enough to have a run in with a saddleback caterpillar, put Scotch tape over the affected area and strip it off repeatedly to remove spines. Next apply ice packs to reduce the stinging sensation and slather on a paste of baking soda and water.
Fortunately, saddleback caterpillars are most active in the summer months, so they should start disappearing soon.
Be careful out there, yall!
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Read the original article on Southern Living.
The most stylish Spanish royal kicked off the week with a fashionable outing in Barcelona.
Queen Letizia stepped out in the dreamiest little black dress Monday to attend the first edition of the La Vanguardia Awards at the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluna. The midi dress was covered in a subtle green leaf print and featured an elegant boatneck and a built-in belt. The monarch paired it with glossy black pumps and a quilted leather clutch in a golden hue. She added some more glamour with large gold rose-shaped earrings.
As for her beauty look, Letizia had her hair styled in a slick side-parted do and wore bronzy eye shadow and a glossy pink lip.
Carlos Alvarez - Getty Images
Carlos Alvarez - Getty Images
This is not the first time the Spanish royal has surprised us with her fashion. Back in March, she put her own spin on the LBD to attend the Tiempo de Luz concert at the Falla Theater in Cadiz, Spain, alongside her husband, King Felipe VI .
Queen Letizia wore a netted midi dress with fun fringe that fell from her shoulders to her waist. She paired the statement piece with matching black Aquazzura pumps with twisted cutout embellishments on the sides, and carried a long black clutch.
The royal accessorized the monochrome look sparingly, adding some subtle shimmer to her look with diamond drop earrings and a gold ring. Her makeup was equally glamorous: a dark brown smoky eye and glossy lip, and a neat bun with a side part.
[image] stripped
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This article originally appeared on Outside
Last week a 200-foot hand crack appeared overnight near Yosemite's Royal Arches cliff. The splitter was quickly climbed and named "Super Natural" before park officials closed the classic area.
The park's closure notice states: "Rock climbers recently reported a new crack in a cliff on the western side of Royal Arches, near the climbing route "Super Slide". Subsequent investigation revealed that this crack has partially detached a large pillar of rock, and that cracking was actively occurring. As a precautionary effort to reduce risk from rockfall, the National Park Service is implementing a temporary area and trail closure while the area is investigated further."
Closures include the eastern part of the Ahwahnee Hotel Parking area, extending to the east side of the Royal Arches Creek, the Serenity Crack and Super Slide areas, including Peruvian Flake to the Rhombus Wall, and the Ahwahnee Boulders east of and including the Ahwahnee Boulder.
(Photo: Courtesy Yosemite Park Rangers)
Jesse McGahey, a Supervisory Park Ranger at Yosemite National Park, told Climbing: "We learned about this [new crack] from a Yosemite Mountain School guide who had climbed up there on August 6th and did not see the crack. And then he climbed it on August 20th and the crack was there. And it was a finger-tips to one-inch sized crack 200 feet long or so."
Initially, park officials put a notice on Mountain Project but didn't issue a formal closure until the area could be further evaluated: "...the following week a climbing ranger and a geologist observed it firsthand and they could hear it cracking like a frozen lake that wasn't consolidated," McGahey said. "And there were pieces of rock rattling down the crack without touching it. The park geologist said they'd never seen anything like this. He's never been able to observe that in his 15 years in Yosemite."
Previous reports from park officials added, "Greg Stock, the park geologist, is currently working on a monitoring plan to see if any more shifting or movement happens with this newly formed crack. Greg and a seasonal climbing ranger recently climbed Super Slide to observe the new crack and heard continuous creaking noises and witnessed many rock chips falling out of the crack. Since its FA, it has expanded over an inch in the past week. It's hard to predict if this massive piece of stone will fall in the next week, this winter, or last many years. We will keep everyone updated through the climbing stewards Instagram account and other park media platforms with the most current information and results of the geological surveying."
As of this morning, the crack had grown in length by an additional 12 feet. "It also widened. In a lot of places where you had a tip finger crack, it had widened into baggy ring locks," said McGahey.
Rockfall is relatively common in the Yosemite Valley. The park's records show that more than 1,000 significant rockfall incidents have taken place over the past 150 years. It is partially due to this natural process that the park has its unique features. Factors like changing temperatures, moisture levels, and vegetation shifts can contribute to rockfall. Associated injuries and deaths are rare, but not impossible.
According to McGahey, there have been several rock-fall related incidents this year: "We've had a fatality, and at least three other accidents that required rescues involving rock failure -all human caused, induced either from people pulling a block off or someone leaning against a block."
In 2022, two visitors were struck by rockfall after debris came loose just below Union Point and tumbled to the valley floor. And a nearly 50,000 cubic feet slab of rock came loose on Middle Brother, accounting for the largest incident of the year.
Yosemite's scientists regularly study the threat of rockfall within the park boundaries, utilizing tools like high resolution photography, and laser mapping to assess risks.
McGahey reminds visitors that: "It's an evolving and ongoing situation and we will continue to monitor it. It'll remain closed due to the fact that it's an active crack, and we are observing further propagation or growth of the crack. And also keep in mind that climbers can encounter rockfall on any route in any area of Yosemite."
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If you're looking for a heartwarming story, @The Gentle Barn shared one on Instagram on Thursday, September 14th. Not only is it heartwarming, but it's adorable too!
The Gentle Barn is an animal sanctuary. The owner, Ellie Laks, rescues animals who are disabled, from slaughter, and other types of situations. They have a strict no breeding policy, but a new staff was overseeing the farm when Ellie and her husband went to rescue a horse. When they returned home, they found a surprise waiting for them!
The new staff knew they had to collect eggs daily, but didn't know to look under the turkey, Brave. By the time Ellie got home, it was too late to take the egg away and dispose of it humanely, so they decided to let her keep it. @The Gentle Barn only has enough room for rescues, but due to the surrounding circumstances, decided to make an exception. I'm so glad they did because that baby turkey is just too cute. My favorite part of the video is one the baby peeks out from underneath his mama.
Commenters adored the video as well. @thrudaluknglass shared, "You have a beautiful voice and heart Ms EllieI just know those animals love seeing and hearing from you." @kendra_pl_b said, "Congratulations!!! Ive never seen a baby turkey before, and I can honestly say my heart is much better for it! Thank you"!
I'm pretty sure @taradosborne speaks for all of us when she adds, "Im going to need daily baby turkey updates"! I'll definitely be watching for updates and can't wait to watch this little one grow and experience life on the farm.
Looking for more PetHelpful updates? Follow us on YouTube for more entertaining videos. Or, share your own adorable pet by submitting a video, and sign up for our newsletter for the latest pet updates and tips.
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Simone Rocha just announced her next big job on Instagram in the most Simone Rocha way: with a fit of white florals and tangled blue ribbon, photographed alongside a note signed by Jean Paul Gaultier that read "Congratulations on your show! And see you for the next one...in Paris!"That's right: Simone Rocha will be the next guest couturier for Jean Paul Gaultier. Gaultier launched the program after retiring in January 2020, and his enfant terrible legacy has been ably carried on by Sacias Chitose Abe, Balmains Olivier Rousteing, Glenn Martens of Y/Project and Diesels, Haider Ackermann , and Rabannes Julien Dossena. Rocha will be the sixth guest couturierand possibly the one with the most exuberant online fans.
On Rocha's photo, some commentators wrote that they were crying. Others screamed through the screen, writing in all caps: "OH MY GOD." Across platforms, there seems to be a general consensus that this collaboration was the result of divine intervention, something that fashion fans manifested. I've seen people on Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram tagging their friends about the news and saying something along the lines of: "Remember when we talked about this? We did this." Seeing how each of Jean Paul Gaultier's guest couturiers interpret the designer's half-century long career has become the delight of couture week, with hyper-online high fashion fans waiting with baited breath to mock up side-by-side comparisons of the new and the old. Rocha's show will follow the one by Dossena, which drew from Gaultier's '90s designsspecifically the "Adam & Eve" couples looks from 1991, which married the train of a woman's dress to the tail of a man's jacket. Dossena also demonstrated his mettle with metal, playing up a texture that has defined his work at Rabanne but that Gaultier used sparingly throughout his career. His collection included metal column dresses with grids reminiscent of Gaultier's signature sailor stripes and a replica of the iconic pointy-bra dress from the first Gaultier collection in 1984 rendered in silver chainmail.
Gabby Laurent
Rocha debuted her eponymous line in September 2010 at London Fashion Week, and her subversive, frothily feminine pieces, often adorned with bows, beaded florals, and tulle, have become a highlight season after season. Over the past couple of years, she has amassed a following of fangirls who are obsessed with her dreamy, hyper-youthful, fairytale femininity, a style that has been dubbed "coquette-core" on TikTok. When she collaborated with H&M in 2021, the website crashed (I would know, I was there). Last year, she told Bazaar that she has been increasingly looking to Lughnasadh, which is the autumn tradition in Ireland, and the rituals around it. The idea is this kind of teenage folklore, but set today, in this idea of realism.
As with Gaultier, Rocha's designs have been described as fantasies you can wear. But instead of looking to the opulent world of the one percent, Rocha and Gaultier have always looked more to the real young punks of the street. They've also both created worlds in which gender is muddled and femininity is power, where references to bondage are somehow both hot and sweet.
The idea of the two collaborating feels obvious, in a way, and some online commenters have been wondering why it hadn't happened sooner. Still, the announcement this morning felt like the best kind of Fashion Month bombshell. Perhaps one commenter on Rocha's Instagram said it best: I havent been this happy in forever. Looking forward to the show!
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While the notion of "Southern food" may automatically conjure up foods like grits, peach cobbler or pecan pie, there's a depth to what the term actually constitutes. In her new cookbook, "South of Somewhere: Recipes and Stories from My Life in South Africa, South Korea and the American South," author Dale Gray walks you through that journey.
Gray's incredibly inventive take on food as well as her fascinating life lead to such a uniquely researched and compiled cookbook which unites Southern food in all capacities, tracing an important line from South African to South Korea all the way to the American South.
Salon Food spoke with Gray about her upbringing, her career, her favorite foods and the importance of food, no matter where you're from or where you wind up.
South of Somewhere by Dale Gray
The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Hi Dale! I was immediately struck by the salmon ssam dish when first perusing the book and made it a few months back and it exceeded my expectations. What led to your developing a recipe like that?
The South Korean word "Ssam" means "wrapped" and refers to a dish in Korean cuisine in which, usually, leafy vegetables are used to wrap a piece of meat. During my years in South Korea, this was usually grilled pork or beef with pickled vegetable condiments or side dishes. I love those, but started serving my gochujang glazed version of a Ssam meal at dinner parties here in America because I find a beautifully prepared side of salmon to be such a showstopper! Salmon is popular and pairs well with robust flavors like gochujang, pickled cucumber and creamy sauces. Green apple seemed like it would add enough sweetness as a counterpoint to the spice of the glaze. Ssam dinners are a joyful group activity here at our house and I hope that readers will love the experience if they've never tried this style of eating before.
Your cookbook is deeply, incredibly unique. There's truly nothing else like it currently on bookshelves. It fuses such disparate cultural realms into something so cohesive and comprehensive. Can you tell me a bit more about that?
It took a lot of self-reflection and deep diving! Before the book, I was slightly unsure of how I would go about tying all of these wonderful places together, but once I started writing more about the memories that made each place special, cohesion followed. Each "south" is vastly different in terms of culture and location but I've always felt that the values in each place align. Sharing the story of my defacto Korean grandmother is no different than sharing the story of my maternal grandmother, Rose, in South Africa. I get the same feeling when I talk about the previous owner of our home, Miss Dixie, who glued a recipe for her tomato pie inside of my kitchen cabinet here in Mississippi.
Your book covers cuisine "from South African to South Korea to the American South. Beyond the "south" connector, what are the other similarities that bridge these cuisines and cultures?
I experienced a strong focus on family, group identity and really specific customs revolving around food in each south.
Tell me a bit about your professional and personal background. How does this book represent your life, your culture and your travels?
I consider myself to be a home cook and I'm self-taught because of a necessity to feed myself during college where I studied social work. I planned to work and live in South Africa at first, but the pull of faraway places and a recurring vision of a life somewhere else gave me the push that I needed to travel and see the world. In South Korea, I knew that I had made the right choice. I spent most of my twenties there, learning more about myself and discovering my favorite cuisine.
While I sometimes missed South Africa, celebrating my heritage by recalling stories of my life there made it easier. It was truly therapeutic to me and a very large reason why I started sharing those stories online. When my editor at Simon & Schuster, Justin Schwartz, first proposed the idea of writing a cookbook he said: "Your first book should be special. We want you to tell the stories that matter to you." This sealed the deal for me. South of Somewhere is an incredibly personal book and it is very special. It's a true reflection of my life as it has unfolded and the recipes serve to anchor the stories.
Dale in the kitchen
Did your food career start when you launched your blog?
It did not. My blog is and has always been just for fun. My food career started a few years after creating The Daley Plate on Instagram. At first, it was partnerships with brands who loved my food photography and then it became my go-to platform for sharing recipes. I started gaining traction as a recipe developer and this eventually led to "South of Somewhere."
What are your personal favorite recipe(s) in the book?
The Farmer's Sausage, Egg and Cheese Sandwich is up there as one of the most unique recipes in the book. It takes inspiration from a spiced South African coiled sausage, boerewors and brings that unique flavor to an American audience in a very accessible way. Secondly, the Pimento Cheese Tomato Pie Galette. It's a showstopper of a recipe and one of my favorite things to make for friends.
I also love the flavors and textures of the Cornmeal-Crusted Fish with Green Tomatoes with Mississippi Comeback Sauce and the comforting Korean flavors in Marry Me Chicken Soup.
How was the experience of putting together such a unique cookbook?
I enjoyed the creative process so much! I found great joy in coming up with recipes and feeding my neighbors during the two-year-long process. Everyone's valuable feedback made the final product so much better. I'd go to bed at night thinking about what I would cook the next morning and this thought process didn't stop until the manuscript was delivered.
As a first-time author, there were more questions than answers in the beginning but it came together beautifully thanks to my incredible team. My co-writer, Susan Cheong, took my words and polished them and it was a great relief to be able to trust her with that. My very good friend, Bella Karragianidis, is a professional photographer and came to Mississippi to photograph many of the images you see in the book today. Collaborating with and learning from others in the industry was an invaluable experience.
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How does developing recipes for a cookbook differ from developing recipes for your blog?
I consider myself to be a very easygoing home cook. The recipes that I share on Instagram are usually dreamed up on the fly and snapped quickly before my husband and I sit down for dinner. I usually don't make them more than a few times but I am very confident in my ability to throw something together. Other home cooks appreciate the inspiration and I don't fuss too much about smaller details.
A cookbook, however, is a whole other story! While my goal was to showcase approachable recipes as well, the recipes in the book had to be fine-tuned, tested and perfected many times. I had a professional recipe tester, Ann Volkwein, for a few of the ones I needed an extra opinion on and relied heavily on friends to taste-test as well. I am very familiar with the tastes and preferences of my Instagram audience, but had to think about what a larger group of cooks might want to see in the book.
Porch Party Shrimp
What are the main lessons you'd hope readers take away from your book?
I hope that they'll be inspired to try something new or maybe find a go-to recipe that they love. My goal was to tell the stories that matter to me, with an emphasis on family and human connection. We live in a time where people are spending less time eating around a dinner table and I hope that the book reminds readers of the importance of togetherness. Good food brings people together!
If you could only pick one, is there a cuisine that you'd say is closest to your heart? Or that you most like to cook?
I'll always be a South African girl at heart, but moving away and discovering South Korean flavors allowed me to expand my horizons and experience dishes that just spark joy. My husband and I eat Korean food about 90% of the time here at home in Mississippi and wake up craving the sweet, salty, umami, spicy dishes that remind us of where we met.
Click here to purchase "South of Somewhere." Salon Food writes about stuff we think you'll like. While our editorial team independently selected these products, Salon has affiliate partnerships, so making a purchase through our links may earn us a commission.
If youve made it here, you might be wondering the same thing a lot of us were: What the heck is a professional childproofer? Theyre a lesser-known but invaluable professional who goes into a familys home to assess the space for any hazards and teach caregivers about child safety. We spoke with professional childproofer Peter Kerin, who has been in the industry for more than 20 years, is the president of the International Association for Child Safety (IAFCS), and has a palpable passion for keeping kids as safe as possible.
The job of a professional childproofer is not just that of a specialized handyman, he says. When he starts working with a family, hell walk through the house with them, talking about different risks and how to address them. Theyll also discuss things like safe sleep practices and how to be safer during bath time.
More from SheKnows
When working, he tends to think of a familys home like the evolution of a car. A seatbelt doesnt make a car safe, he tells SheKnows. Airbags dont make a car safe. Better headlights, better brakes, and the crumple zone dont make it safe. But the sum total of it makes it safer, right?
As for the home, he says, Just because you put a cabinet latch doesnt mean that you can keep any chemicals you want behind that door. It doesnt mean you dont have to pay attention or watch your child Its the layers of protection that make it a safer environment.
Click here to read the full article.
Because even though all parents want to supervise their kids at all times, Kerin is empathetic and realistic about the fact that parents have to make dinner and go to the bathroom and multitask. It would be great if all we could do is just look at our child 24/7, he acknowledges, But thats not reality.
When it comes to child safety, he agrees with the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And so he provides as many of those ounces as possible. Caregivers can search for a professional childproofer in their area (Kerin is in Minnesota!) at the Find a Childproofer section of the IAFCSs site. Until then, here are 13 things he always tells parents.
Use The Right Gates
You probably wont be surprised to read that you should be using baby gates, but the key is to use the right kind in the right places. Theres a wide array of gates on the market, and, unfortunately, theres also a wide array of quality. Its good to talk to a professional about which gate is best for your space and to look for those that have a certification seal from the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA).
No matter which one you choose, Kerin says to never use a pressure-mounted gate at the top of a staircase.
Dont do it, he tells us matter-of-factly. There are some pressure gates that will claim you can use them at the top of the stairs, but anybody involved in safety would never recommend a pressure gate used at the top of stairs.
A pressure-mounted gate as opposed to a hardware-mounted gate, which is what you want at the top of stairs has a bar along the bottom. Its a tripping hazard, which is especially worrisome when carrying a baby. They also tend to have doors that swing in both directions, and you never want a door to swing toward the stairwell. Plus, if the pressure-mounted gate is pushing up against a wobbly railing, theres a significant chance the gate will loosen.
As for which gate you should use at the bottom? Dealers choice. But yes, you should have a gate at the top and bottom of the staircase. You get people who say, Well put a gate at the top of our stairs but we wont put one at the bottom.' Kerin says. Thats like saying, Were gonna lock the front door but were gonna leave the garage door wide open. Now that kid gets to climb up to the top of the stairs and has to turn around and come back down.
A note to parents of babies and fur babies: Pet gates are not child gates. There are ones that may say they are for both, but Kerin advises parents not to use pet gates for their kids.
Holes Can Be Patched
If the thought of mounting a baby gate has you cringing, its so important to remember that holes in walls and doorframes can be patched, and safety should always come before aesthetics.
Nobodys ever excited when you talk about putting a screw into their house, Kerin says. They always imagine the damage is going to be catastrophic and impossible to repair. The reality, he points out, is that its as easy to patch the hole for a gate as it is to patch a nail hole from hanging a picture.
You Can (And Should!) Set Your Hot Water Heater
Testing and setting your homes hot water heater is a wonderfully simple one-and-done safety measure that most families can do on their own in the average home.
Its a matter of taking that little digital meat thermometer that so many people have, putting it in a coffee cup, and letting the water run into the cup until that temperature stops climbing, Kerin says.
The target temperature is 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything higher is considered scalding. If the meat thermometer has surpassed that, its time to head to the water heater and turn the dial toward the cooler side. Wait three hours and try again until you meet that target.
Once you set it, forget it, Kerin says.
Anchor Your Furniture
Weve said it before, and well say it again: furniture needs to be anchored to the wall. It doesnt matter how much you paid, how sturdy you think the piece is, or how many times you told your kid not to climb on the bookcase (more on that later), its always best to secure furniture to the wall. Furniture and TV tip-overs can lead to serious and sometimes fatal injuries.
Kerin recommends furniture straps with nylon webbing. Zip ties probably wont cut it, and the straps can be nicer than those with metal cables since theyre easy to adjust if you drop something behind the furniture. If youre installing straps yourself, Kerin recommends watching tutorials at childproofingexperts.com and securing them into studs in the wall (not drywall anchors).
Most childproofing efforts really start to abate as kids approach four years of age, Kerin says. Furniture injuries continue through age 7. And its rightful and appropriate [because kids] play by themselves in a different room when theyre 4 years old. Thats understandable and normal.
The challenge, he tells us, is that [If] a 5-year-old sees something up on a higher shelf on a bookcase and tries to climb that bookcase that isnt secured, that becomes a very bad day.
Medication Safety Applies To Everyone
Weve all heard that medications should be kept out of reach of children, either in a locked cabinet and/or in bottles with child locks. Dont forget that the same rules apply to any guests. If grandparents come to visit, pill organizers which Kerin calls a candy tray since thats what it will look like to a little kid should not be left on a nightstand. And if a friend is coming over and they have meds in their purse, that should be out of reach too.
Dont forget that CBD or marijuana edibles like gummies, chocolate, and brownies also look like treats to kids! And youll want to keep all of this in mind when you visit loved ones houses too.
Nix Your Coffee Table
This is going to be a hard one for people to hear. But Kerins advice when it comes to coffee tables is to put them in storage.
It might seem extreme, but Kerin is adamant. He once worked for a pediatric dentist, and when he started to make that recommendation, the dentist was way ahead of him.
[The dentist said] You have no idea how many patients a week I see [that are] children who fell and knocked their mouth against the edge of the coffee table and knocked their teeth in,' Kerin shares. And now heres a child who has to wait for their adult teeth to grow in, which can be a number of years. So even as they age, there can be social and speech problems. There are all sorts of subtle things which are long-term.
Just because it wont necessarily cause a catastrophic injury, that doesnt mean you cant make adjustments. And, as Kerin says, Winter is coming. So you might as well put that coffee table away and give your kids more space to play indoors.
Be Aware Of Survivors Bias
When childproofing your home, its kind of inevitable that youll hear from loved ones that its not necessary. Grandparents are bound to weigh in, reminding you that you grew up without furniture anchors and you turned out fine. Its their survivors bias kicking in. Parents may even experience it if they have a second child, Kerin says, especially if the first kid wasnt that challenging.
You had more time to focus on one child. Now you have two kids.
Kerin is extremely cognizant of how quickly things can change between generations and how tricky conversations among family can be while not making anyone feel like the bad guy. But its just like with the car analogy. Now that we know we should wear seatbelts, we wear seatbelts.
And you cant put your seatbelt on after the accident, right? Thats the reality.
Dont Be Afraid to Switch Things Up
It feels like the norm has always been to keep cleaners and chemicals under the sink. But, as Kerin points out, paper towels also fit wonderfully well down there.
There are so many scenarios where you can just make a simple change and it doesnt affect your day-to-day functioning of the home, but its safer for the child, he tells us.
He constantly looks inside linen closets where he sees towels and sheets on the top, personal care items on the shelf below, medications below that, and cleaning products and chemicals on the bottom. What if we just spin that? he asks. Does it make it safe? No. Does it make it safer? Yeah. Because as soon as a child can open a door with a lever handle (way before they can grip and twist a knob), theyll have easy access to whatever is down there.
Always Make These Nursery Changes
Caregivers no doubt have the best intentions when keeping a babys nursery door cracked open, but Kerin always recommends it be fully closed. In the case of a fire, it slows the spread and buys the child more time with clean air.
And then theres one thing Kerin always fixes immediately during that first visit to a clients home. He tends to get the call when a baby is around 6 to 9 months old.
I apologize to the parents, he tells us, But I will not leave the house [if I see a baby monitor on a crib]. So many families put it on the edge of the crib so they can see the newborn. And it stays there. Well, when that newborn is no longer a newborn and now theyre starting to roll over or can sit up, that cord is danging right there within arms reach. So I take it off the crib or sit it on the floor or move it across the room.
Its Not a Play Kitchen
Kerin almost always starts his survey of a home in the kitchen. One of the simplest things parents can do, he says, is to view the kitchen as a work area for cooking and to see everything in there as a tool, not a toy. Youve probably seen a baby sitting on the floor playing with a wooden spoon or Tupperware. And even though a wooden spoon may not seem like a hazard on its own, it becomes a hazard when kids start to think of it as something to play with.
Its also [seen as] their toy when theyre tall enough to reach the boiling pasta, he says. [Theyll think], Im allowed to play with that. But its a tool, not a toy.
All of this doesnt mean kids should never be in the kitchen. Kerin is all for children learning how to cook. But it starts, he says, with kids on the other side of the counter or table. Theyll graduate from pouring in the flour, to stirring the batter, to the big day when they finally crack their first egg.
Im as much an advocate for peeling back these layers as its age- and personality-appropriate, he says. But you dont want kids playing in and around the oven while youre boiling that pasta or youre going from stovetop to the strainer. The kitchen area is a workspace. Theyre tools, not toys.
Theyre Kids
Kerin sees a lot of clients who tell him things like, Dont worry about the oven. Its OK. I taught her thats hot. Everyone has to remember, though, that these are kids.
Well, does the child really have [an understanding of that]? he asks. And this is no indictment on a child! Theyre doing wonderful things. They may be a wonderfully advanced little human. But they still live in their magical thinking. And thats a big part of childhood. You cover your eyes and they think you disappear. Theyll play hide and seek by standing in the corner facing the wall.
You cant expect a teenager to be more than a teenager, he says. You cant expect a 3-year-old to be more than a 3-year-old. We need to be realistic.
This Isnt Just A Matter of Your Home
Like we mentioned with medications, Kerin always reminds parents that these measures dont just apply to their home. A lot of this is transferable to any other environment where your child is going to spend time in [like an Airbnb and grandma and grandpas house].
There Are Many More Resources
To learn more about professional childproofers and child safety, you can visit the American Academy of Pediatrics site (healthychildren.org) and the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission website for information on recent recalls (cpsc.gov/recalls).
Its okay to deal with a moderate inconvenience like a gate or a latch, Kerin reminds us. The benefits so far exceed the cost, whether its installing it or the price to buy it [versus] the cost of something unfortunate happened to your child.
[Childhood is] such a short period of time, he continues. And this is not just about protecting the kids. My wife and I would get to come home to a happier house if I didnt have to chase my kids around all day, chastizing them for their innate curiosity.
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I feel that people need to make AT LEAST $30/hr to survive these days. and thats the minimum.
Twitter: @TheREalDrePapi
The United Auto Workers union launched a historic strike Friday against all three of Detroits biggest automakers after its contracts expired, with the first picket lines beginning at a Ford plant in Wayne, Mich., a General Motors plant in Wentzville, Mo., and a Stellantis plant pic.twitter.com/Sjv35IUDsz
Washington Post
On average, US Auto Workers make $28 per hour , according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics , while the salary for the CEOs of the three biggest automakers in the US ranges from $21$29 million yearly.
In the last four years, the price of cars went up 30%. CEO pay went up 40%... No one had any complaints about that, but God forbid the workers ask for their fair share," UAW President Shawn Fain told CNN
One striker named Lee Maybanks, a second-generation Ford employee, told the Washington Post: "Look at UPS. UPS makes how much now? No disrespect, they deliver boxes. You know what we do? Go get one of those Bronco Raptors and turn it on. We build America."
CNN / @UAW / @hasanthehun
Here's how President Biden responded during a recent news conference : "I understand the workers' frustration. Record corporate profits which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW (United Auto Workers)."
The CEO of General Motors just went on CNN and it went like this:"You've seen a 34 percent pay increase in your salary.You make almost 30 million. Why should your workers not get the same type of pay increases that you're getting leading the company?" pic.twitter.com/wFnCZD86RR
CNN /@MorePerfectUS
The clip has received over 7.6 million views.
You can watch her full response for yourself, but in short, she used a lot of corporate media jargon to argue that it's fair.
Barra listed what General Motors offers to its workers in the form of healthcare benefits and profit sharing, as a justification for the difference in pay percentage increase between her salary and the average worker.
Looks like Mary Barra went to the Bob Iger School of I Shouldnt Have Agreed to This Interview.There is nothing CEOs can say to justify massive multimillion dollar pay increases to their already bloated salaries while workers struggle to pay rent. #PayYourWorkers https://t.co/49GwbuiRr7
CNN / @MorePerfectUS / @slack2thefuture
Adding in the benefits and everything as a way to say its fair when you get those SAME benefits but a substantially larger wage.. profit sharing is cool but that does not change/improve the overall wage. https://t.co/BVIbATtVP8
CNN / @MorePerfectUS @IAmMrCarson
as a former PR girly i REALLY appreciate how hot strike summer has truly laid bare how much of corporate media strategy relies on an uninformed public https://t.co/ukWT8MhaFi
CNN / @MorePerfectUS / Twitter: @lesliezye
Sen. Scott on auto workers strike in comments at policy roundtable in South Carolina, ...Were seeing UAW fight for more benefits and less hours working. More pay, fewer days on the job. Its a disconnect from work and we have to find a way to encourage...ppl to go back to work" pic.twitter.com/yuQ5qKwgPz
The Majority Report With Sam Seder / @evamckend / Via youtube.com
Though the UAW strike is less than a week in, it's evident that this strike is yet another that may be in limbo for the foreseeable future. Let us know your thoughts about the latest strike in the comments below!
Prince William returned to New York City for the first time since 2014, but his wife Kate Middleton didnt join him this time. Per People, Kate stayed behind in the U.K. to take care of the couples three children, Prince George , Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis .
The outlet noted that although Kate and William have longtime nanny Maria Teresa Turrion Borrallos help, they regularly do their childrens school runs themselves and make sure at least one of them is there most evenings with their kids.
William is in New York City for two days. Notably, he has the Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit today. He already went to the United Nations General Assembly and shared photos from his visit on his shared Instagram with Kate.
Pool - Getty Images
XPX/Star Max - Getty Images
Great to speak with colleagues from across the world here at #UNGA in New York, including: @antonioguterres, @unitednations Secretary-General [and] @guillermolasso, President of Ecuador, his team wrote. Protecting and restoring our planet is vital and global collaboration on the solutions is key.
Kate, meanwhile, had her own outing in London today.
The Princess of Wales visited community development charity Streets of Growth. The couple shared more details from that event on their Instagram, too: A pleasure to visit @streets.of.growth in East London, a game-changing charity which supports young people to transform their lives in the face of adversity. Their work is inspired by the fantastic approach of @roca_inc in Boston It was great to meet some of the young people and communities, and those working with them, to see how they are flourishing under the charitys programmes.
Additionally, Kate made a solo visit to Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton in Somerset on Monday.
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Aunties, or tias, are having a moment, but in many Afro-Latinx families, they get the recognition they deserve every day.
Ridofranz/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Aunties are having a momentand rightfully so. From customized teeshirts and an Instagram hashtag with 3.8 million posts to an annual observance, the term auntie has become popular in recent years as Black women, like Congresswoman Maxine Waters, have been affectionately assigned the name by younger Black people. Alongside its rise in use within pop culture and the digital space, the Spanish translation of the term has been equally embraced by millennials and Gen Z-ers of Latin American and Caribbean descent. It is both representative of a chapter in their lives and a celebration of their long-standing relationship with elder maternal figures. Whether biological or chosen, near or far, many reflect on the tias, titis, aunts, or aunties, in their life with adoration.
Since childhood, the maternal figures in my life have all had a hand in molding me into the woman that I am today. While my mother has been a central part of my upbringing, my tias have also imparted valuable lessons, unconditional love, and pure joy into my life in their own special way.
My mothers younger sistersMaritza and Maximahave mothered me like one of their own. I have Auntie Maritza to thank for several style pointers that Ive gleaned over the years. The importance of a statement bag and a simple yet signature skincare and makeup routine, as well as a fresh manicure, are among the many lessons shes provided to me. Ill never forget my first-ever makeup kit, which she gave me, and how beautiful she made me feel when she did my makeup for my Sweet 16. Looking back, it meant the world to me that she would take the time to create a magical look for me on such a special occasion.
Similarly, Auntie Maxita is just as caring and committed to her role as a tia, watching me at times when school was out, taking me on outings with my cousins, or providing a wise word when necessary. Not one to mince her words, shes my reminder to stand firm in what I believe and, ultimately, my message. As I got older and pursued a writing career, my late madrina, who is also una tia, would always check in on my progress; Ill never forget her affirming words and just how proud she was of me to see the very first magazine my words appeared in. Tias have a special way of making you feel seen and acknowledged.
For creative strategist Jessica Matos, 36, her Tia Antonia and late Tia Luisa, among other tias and great aunts, have also left a lasting impact on her. I would honestly say my tias are some of my best friends because there's a bond and a relationship, and a trust that we have that is different from what I have with my mom, she says. I couldn't imagine my life without having my aunts. I couldn't imagine the type of woman that I would be today; so I'm just grateful for how they've shown up for me and the examples that theyve set for me throughout the years.
As a love letter to her tias, Matos launched The Tia Chroniclesa digital community and podcast that highlights new age tiadom and centers Tias, Titis, and Aunties everywhere. In the series "Tias You Should Know," as well as season one of The Tia Chronicles podcast, the self-proclaimed fav tia introduces her audience to a collective of tias from various walks of life. The Mexico City-based, Black Latina content creator will be releasing season two soon and has plans to further document tias across the globe, specifically Black tias. But when shes not creating, Matos is checking in on her nieces and nephews in New York City and the Dominican Republic.
Emily Mariscal says showing her nephews and niece love, as well as making them feel seen, is why she enjoys being a tia. I want my niece and nephews to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they more so even emotionally, than physically, are cared for, they're loved, they're supported, and that they can be themselves, Mariscal says. Its very important to create a space for them where they feel they can be authentically them.
The 34-year-old, who often plays Roblox on video chat, hits send on silly texts, and spends quality time with them, recalls special moments growing up with her own tias. Her Titi Mireya, for example, spent quality time with her and her siblings by introducing them to new experiences, including their first powwow which led to an annual tradition of attending the Indigenous gathering.
Just a lot of carino, the Puerto Rican and Cuban-American recalls how her titis made her feel. We knew we were loved.
Tias acts of love transcend distance and even time. A recent visit to my parents homeland of Honduras was a welcomed reminder as my tias and abuelita (great aunt) made sure I was well-fed and comfortable during my stay. Sometimes it's the subtle ways they show their affectiona timely conversation, a prayer, or a favorite dish they know youll likely never make if they dont prepare it that speak volumes. As Mariscal's, Matos, and my own family prove, tias are integral parts of our community.
They deserve this moment and more.
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Read the original article on Parents.
Cigarette smoking has seen a steep decline in the past few decades, as studies have proven their toxicity and programs to deter young people from the tobacco products have been successful. So when actor Timothee Chalamet was photographed with a cigarette in hand at a recent Beyonce concert while getting close with Kylie Jenner the revelation was met with plenty of criticism. For example:
However, Chalamet isnt the only young celebrity lighting up. As Kathleen Walsh writes in the Glamour piece, perhaps people may learn that far more of their favorite celebrities have a cigarette habit than they realize.
In fact, Florence Pugh and Anya Taylor-Joy, both 27, and Jenna Ortega and Lily-Rose Depp, both 20, have all been photographed smoking cigarettes this year. Chalamet's rumored girlfriend Jenner was also caught holding what looked to be a pack of cigarettes. And Dua Lipa, 28, has posted Instagram photos herself featuring cigarettes one which garnered a comment, The fact that you smoke occasionally is super sexy.
Public health experts say this is troubling.
Celebrities are influencers for good or bad. Those young people who think smoking is OK because of who they see smoking are getting a pull toward trying cigarettes, Lynn Kozlowski, dean emeritus for the school of public health at SUNY Buffalo, tells Yahoo Life. For each person so influenced to smoke, they risk becoming one of the three in five smokers who die prematurely.
Who is smoking?
Gallup surveys show that the percentage of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes has reached a new low as of 2022, with a particularly staggering decline among 18- to 29-year-olds. However, other data suggests that young adults beginning at 25 are still smoking in relatively high numbers. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12.6% of people ages 25 to 44 smoke cigarettes, making them the second-highest group of smokers after the 45 to 64 age category.
The New York Times reported in 2022 that smoking is back, as sources shared anecdotally that friends in their 20s who had never smoked cigarettes before had begun to. This aligns with findings reported by the National Cancer Institute that the age of initiation for smokers has moved up over the years. Today it is not only youth who are at risk for smoking initiation. We will need to carefully consider young adults as well, said Annette Kaufman of the NCIs Tobacco Control Research Branch.
Definitive evidence about the return of cigarettes is still lacking; however, the Federal Trade Commission reported an increase in cigarette sales in 2021 the first in 20 years. Most recently, the cigarette brand Hestia the first to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 15 years has even used the taboo surrounding cigarettes to market its product.
By making cigarettes taboo and ridiculously censored, they became cool for young people, a blogger who goes by Meg Superstar Princess told the New York Post.
Plus, as Salvatore Fallica, adjunct professor of media, culture and communication at New York University, tells Yahoo Life, Were seeing a kind of 80s resurgence in the culture, so its a throwback. Smoking has always been part of that rebellious image. Today, cigarettes really offer this kind of image of rebellion that [marijuana] maybe once did.
Why does this matter?
Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death in the United States, according to the CDC. And while smoking rates are still at an all-time low, images of celebrities and cigarettes may soon have an impact on those numbers.
The CDC lists the factors associated with youth tobacco use, which include the way that mass media depicts tobacco use as a normal activity and young people seeing others their age using these products. Young people are inordinately influenced by celebrities, adds Fallica, noting the images of stars like Chalamet and Lipa. And young people will inculcate that in their personal habits.
The Truth Initiative, the countrys largest nonprofit public health organization dedicated to ending nicotine and tobacco use, confirms this with research that draws connections between tobacco use among youth and its portrayal on screen and on social media. In 2018, the organization highlighted Instagram photos of Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid with cigarettes, noting that they may help tobacco companies recruit more young smokers by normalizing and even glamorizing the use of tobacco products.
In 2023, the organization finds, the existence of tobacco imagery in popular shows and movies including in seven of the 10 films nominated for Academy Awards in March is an ongoing concern. Smoking, often portrayed as glamorous and edgy, remains pervasive on screen even as research warns that exposure to it can influence young people to start smoking and vaping, the organization shared, referring to a conclusion that was reached over a decade ago in a 2012 surgeon general report.
And while there are fans denouncing the smoking behavior of their favorite celebs I fear I have entered my Timothee Chalamet ick era, one wrote on X Fallica says the prevalence of such cigarette-wielding alone might matter more than the reaction. If the cigarette and tobacco industry is making inroads into the culture, he says, thats what I'm worried about.
[Source]
Jury selection recently began in the trial of three Tacoma officers who were charged with the death of Manuel Manny Ellis in March 2020.
Key details: Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins and Asian American police officer Timothy Rankine were charged with the death of Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man who died of a lack of oxygen "due to physical restraint" two months before the widely reported murder of George Floyd.
Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree murder, while Rankine is facing first-degree manslaughter charges. In 2021, all three of them pleaded not guilty.
The officers' trial is expected to run four days per week until December. Jury selection, which began on Monday, is expected to take two weeks before the opening statements at Pierce County Superior Court in Tacoma, Washington, begin on Oct. 2.
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What happened: The incident occurred in Pierce County, Washington, on March 3, 2020, when Ellis exited a convenience store and encountered Burbank and Collins sitting in a patrol car.
According to the probable cause statement filed by the Washington Attorney Generals Office, the officers tackled and punched Ellis. They also used a stun gun on him, held him face down on the sidewalk and put a spit-hood over his head.
Several officers reportedly responded to the scene, including Rankine and his partner, Masiyh Ford. Rankine and other officers were accused of sitting on Ellis, but Rankine was reportedly the only officer who admitted to hearing the mans last words: I cant breathe.
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Rankine also reportedly ignored orders given by responding medics to get off Ellis, charging documents revealed.
How he died: Experts initially hired by the officers claimed methamphetamine and heart problems were the cause of Ellis' death, but the Pierce County Medical Examiner noted that the mans death was a homicide and was caused by hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen, due to physical restraint.
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Other officers: In addition to Ford, Armando Farinas and Gary Sanders, a detective sergeant with the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, were not dismissed from their jobs and have not been charged with the man's death. The three of them were all involved in restraining Ellis.
Other details: Burbank, Collins and Rankine are reportedly free on bail and still employed by the Tacoma Police Department on paid leave. They have reportedly collected over $1 million in salary since Ellis death.
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WASHINGTON President Joe Biden had just landed in Philadelphia, where he would later hail the virtues of unions in a speech on Labor Day, when he downplayed the possibility autoworkers could strike at the nation's three largest automobile manufacturers.
No, Im not worried about a strike until it happens," Biden told reporters this month. "I dont think its going to happen.
Two weeks later, the historic strike from United Auto Workers at Stellantis, Ford and General Motors plants did happen and Biden changed his tone dramatically: from being "not worried" about a potential walkout to standing firmly behind UAW's demands, making it unmistakable whose side he is on in the tense standoff.
It marked the most forceful public backing of a negotiating party that Biden who has said he wants to be known as "the most pro-union president" in U.S. history has taken in a private labor dispute since entering the White House.
And it comes as Biden is leaning into his pro-union credentials as he pushes a working-class message in the 2024 election in hopes of again winning the critical Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
"No one wants a strike. But I respect the workers' right to use their options under the collective bargaining system. And I understand the workers' frustration," Biden said in remarks from the White House on Friday, adding that workers deserve a "fair share" from the automakers.
"Record corporate profits, which they have, should be shared by record contracts for the UAW," Biden said.
President Joe Biden speaks about the auto workers strike from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023.
Biden needs union workers in Michigan, other Midwest states
The UAW strike has collided directly with the 2024 election.
A key factor in Biden repeating wins in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin is whether he can hold the line on support from rank-and-file union members who defected from the Democratic Party in the past two election cycles to vote for Donald Trump , the Republican frontrunner again in 2024.
Despite having the endorsements of UAW and other labor unions in the 2020 election, Biden won the support of about six in 10 union members, according to the Associated Press' Vote Cast, a sizeable but not overwhelming margin.
"It's politically smart for him to be 100% behind the UAW, but it's also what he truly believes," said David Cohen, a professor of political science at the University of Akron. "It's really the only position he can take, to be honest."
UAW members Dan Schlieman, with flag, and Brad Geer work the picket line during a strike Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex where Jeeps are made in Toledo, Ohio. (Jeremy Wadsworth/The Blade via AP) ORG XMIT: OHTOL207
Biden faced additional pressure to voice support for the UAW because his strong embrace of electric vehicles as part of his climate agenda has caused friction with union allies.
The manufacturing of electric vehicles typically requires fewer workers. Biden has made clear he wants the transition to electric vehicles to create "good-paying union jobs." But UAW's new leadership, led by President Shawn Fain, was furious after the Department of Energy in June awarded a $9.2 billion grant to Ford and a South Korean battery maker that lacked assurances for workers.
"We expect action, not words," Fain told CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday when asked about the UAWs decision to hold off endorsements in the 2024 election. He said the UAW's endorsement must be "earned."
Fain, in a statement after Biden's White House speech, said, "We agree with Joe Biden when he says 'record profits mean record contracts.' We dont agree when he says negotiations have broken down. Our national elected negotiators and UAW leadership are hard at work at the bargaining table."
He accused the auto companies and media of using "fear tactics" to suggest striking autoworkers will wreck the economy.
"Were not going to wreck the economy. The truth is we are going to wreck the billionaire economy.Working people are not afraid. You know whos afraid? The corporate media is afraid. The White House is afraid. The companies are afraid," Fain said.
Biden campaign fires back at Trump's plans to visit Detroit
The UAW's strike began at midnight Friday when nearly 13,000 workers walked out of Ford Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne, Michigan, Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio and GM's Wentzville Assembly in Missouri. If the union and the automakers can't reach a tentative agreement, at some point the UAW has said it plans to strike more plants across the three companies.
Workers are seeking a 40% pay raise, a four-day workweek, the elimination of a multi-tiered wage system and the restoration of a 1980s-style pension plan, among other demands.
Several Democratic lawmakers, including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies and Sen John Fetterman, D-Pa., as well as progressive independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have traveled to Michigan to join autoworkers at the picket lines.
Trump, who has argued Biden's support of electric vehicles has put autoworkers' career at risk, will visit the Detroit area on Sept. 27 rather than take part in the second GOP primary presidential debate.
"The United Autoworkers are being sold down the 'drain' with this all Electric Car SCAM," Trump said on the Truth Social media site.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Pray Vote Stand Summit, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023,, in Washington.
The Biden campaign is working aggressively to counter those punches.
The campaign and Democrat allies pointed to the Trump administration's "unfriendly policies" toward unions, 2017 tax cuts for corporations, and past comments questioning the federal government's 2008 bailout of the auto industry under President Barack Obama.
"While President Trump's going to come in and try to erase his history with Michigan workers next week, I think that Michiganders are going to know what the record was and will reject his anti-worker agenda," said U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan, a Biden ally.
Prior to the 2016 election, Dingell correctly predicted Trump could carry Michigan.
"I said it because I was in those union halls. And Donald Trump has one skill - a skill that Democrats have as well - which is to understand people's concerns and their anxieties," Dingell said, adding that Democrats did not do a good enough job counter Trump's focus on trade policy in 2016. "We will not make that mistake again."
Some Democrats have urged Biden to join strikers at the picket-line, but the White House has given no indication the president will take such an unprecedented step.
Meanwhile, Fain urged fellow UAW members to reject Trump's overtures.
"Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain said in a statement Tuesday. "We cant keep electing billionaires and millionaires that dont have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.
White House staying out of negotiations
For now, the White House is keeping negotiations between UAW and the autoworkers at an arms length. Acting Labor Department Secretary Julie Su and White House adviser Gene Sperling are heading to Detroit this week, but not to act as mediators but rather to offer support if requested by the parties.
That's in stark contrast to when Biden intervened directly while rail workers threatened a strike that would have crippled freight deliveries. Unlike the autoworkers' strike, the federal government plays a unique role to set contracts in rail disputes.
In April, Biden voiced support for Amazon workers' right to unionize. The White House has said all workers, including actors, should be paid fairly in response to the strike from the Writers Guild of America. But Biden's comments about UAW's strike went beyond either of those situations.
The White House contends that Biden's support for UAW strikers is in line with statements he made leading up to the strike.
Biden, in an Aug. 14 statement, said "UAW deserves a contract that sustains the middle class." Later, on Sept. 1, Biden lauded federal funding that "will help existing workers keep their jobs" after the federal government made $12 billion available to help companies ease the transition to electric vehicles. UAW also praised the funding.
"Just as were building an economy of the future, we need labor agreements for the future," Biden said Friday. "Its my hope that the parties can return to the negotiation table to forge a win-win agreement."
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joeygarrison.
UAW members including Scott Kralovic, wearing a mask, work the picket line during a strike Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at the Stellantis Toledo Assembly Complex where Jeeps are made in Toledo, Ohio.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why UAW strike support is a political no-brainer for Biden before 2024
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The military leaders of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger signed a mutual defense pact over the weekend, establishing the so-called Alliance of Sahel States.
All three of the West African nations, which neighbor one another, have military governments that seized control in a coup conducted since 2020, with Niger's civilian-led government being the most recent to fall in late July.
Col. Assimi Goita, Mali's junta leader, announced the signing of the Liptako-Gourma Charter on Saturday.
"I signed today with the heads of state of Burkina Faso and Niger the Liptako-Gourma Charter, establishing the Alliance of Sahel States with the objective of establishing an architecture of collective defense and assistance mutual for the benefit of our populations," Goita said in a statement published to X, the social media platform formerly know as Twitter.
J'ai signe ce jour avec les Chefs d'Etat du Burkina Faso et du Niger la Charte du Liptako-Gourma instituant l'Alliance des Etats du Sahel (AES) ayant pour objectif d'etablir une architecture de defense collective et d'assistance mutuelle au benefice de nos populations. pic.twitter.com/IjT43NHrKs Colonel Assimi GOITA (@GoitaAssimi) September 16, 2023
The Liptako-Gourma region is the tri-border area of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and home to a growing complex crisis of insecurity and islamic terrorism.
The charter states the three countries will defend one another and combat all forms of terrorism and organized crime in the alliance's common area.
"Any violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of one or more contracting parties shall be considered as an aggression against the other parties and shall give rise to a duty of assistance and relief by all the parities ... including the use of armed force, to restore and ensure security," the charter states, according to a copy published Sunday by Mali's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It also commits them to work to prevent and settle armed rebellion or other threats to territorial integrity and sovereignty, and not to engage in combat with one another or block each others ports, roads, coasts or strategic infrastructure.
The announcement comes as the Economic Community of West African States has threatened military intervention in Niger since its military deposed the civilian-led government of President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26.
Donald Trump spoke with journalist Kristen Welker for a televised interview. Credit - Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump, who is vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, appeared on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday. In an interview with Kristen Welker, Trump spoke about his criminal charges, the possibility of him selecting a female running mate, his stance on the Republicans' abortion policies, and more.
Trump, who has been indicted four times, currently faces 91 criminal charges related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia, illegal retention of classified documents, defrauding banks and insurers, and falsifying business records to hide hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, who claims she had a sexual encounter with Trump prior to the 2016 election race.
The former President has continuously claimed his innocence and has pleaded not guilty in court. Trump has also continued to allege that the 2020 election was rigged.
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Despite his legal troubles, Trump is hoping to be the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, where he is facing off against candidates like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his own former Vice President Mike Pence.
During his sit-down interview with Welker, the businessman covered a number of controversial topics. See the highlights, below.
Trump discusses the possibility of pardoning himself if he's elected
Trump says that he chose not to pardon himself before leaving the Oval Office, saying he had no interest in ever thinking about it.
The last thing Id ever do is give myself a pardon, Trump told Welker. The last day I could have had a pardon done that would have saved me all of these lawyers and all of these fake charges."
Trump added that it's "very unlikely" hell pardon himself in the future if he gets elected because he believes he has done nothing wrong.
Trump did not listen to lawyers who said he lost the election
Former President Trump admitted that he challenged the 2020 election, despite top administration officials and lawyers advising him that there was no evidence of fraud. Asked why he ignored them, he said: "I didn't respect them as lawyers." He added that he did not listen to campaign attorneys because those lawyers were RINOs, which stands for Republicans in Name Only.
Trump, however, did abide by the suggestions given to him from other outside attorneys. But the ultimate decision was his. I listened to myself. I saw what happened... my instincts are a big part of it, that's been the thing that's gotten me to where I am, he said.
WATCH: Kristen Welker asks former President Trump to clarify if he was listening to his lawyers advice or his own instincts after he lost the 2020 election.
Trump: It was my decision. pic.twitter.com/yXp3AQtqz4 Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 17, 2023
Trump denies involvement in Biden impeachment efforts
Trump denied any involvement in efforts to impeach President Joe Biden, which was announced on Sept.12 by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy said that Republicans had drawn evidence pointing to a culture of corruption in the Biden family, and were investigating whether President Biden benefitted from his son, Hunter Bidens business deals abroad.
Trump said that he had not spoken to McCarthy about the current impeachment inquiry, noting: "I dont talk to him like that." He added that McCarthy would not have taken that decision based on him.
Trump says he needed 22,000 more votes to win the election, but is still adamant the race was rigged
Trump said that he needed about 22,000 more votes in order to win the 2020 election, but he fell short of admitting that he lost. "I say I won the election," he told Welker, when she asked if he was acknowledging that he didn't win.
WATCH: Former President Trump says he needed 22,000 votes in each state to win in 2020, but falsely claims he still won
KRISTEN WELKER:
When you say you needed one-tenth of a point, you needed one-tenth of a point to win?
FMR. PRES. DONALD TRUMP:
I needed a very small I pic.twitter.com/zcLrTvS993 Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) September 17, 2023
Trump speaks out against abortion bans with no exceptions
The former President also spoke out against abortion bans that had no exceptions for the health of the mother, or in cases of sexual assault.
Other than certain parts of the country, you cant youre not going to win on this issue, Trump said, signaling that Republican legislators would not get popular support for passing broad abortion bans. But you will win on this issue when you come up with the right number of weeks.
Trump did not specify the exact scope of abortion regulations he would support but said he would work on a number that both sides would agree with.
Trump is open to picking a female running mate
Trump, who remains focused on winning the Republican presidential nomination, said he still has not picked a running mate. The former President revealed that he will pick the best person, but likes the idea of choosing a woman.
Welker pointed out South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who fully endorsed Trump during a September rally, as a potential candidate for Vice President. Trump called the governor fantastic.
Certainly shed be one of the people Id consider, or for something else maybe. But we have a lot of people. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party, Trump said. If picked, Noem seems likely to accept, according to an interview with Newsmax on Sept. 7.
Trump says he could resolve conflicts between Russia and Ukraine
The former President also said that he could resolve conflicts between Russia and Ukraine. I would get him [Putin] into a room. Id get Zelensky into a room. Then Id bring them together. And Id have a deal worked out... It would have been a lot easier before it started. Essentially for four years, I kept them from doing anything, he claimed. Trump did not share his exact strategy for getting the countries to make a fair deal."
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously spoke highly of Trumps claims that he could resolve issues between the countries rapidly, saying that he could not help but feel happy about it. When asked about what he made of Putins support, Trump said he like[s] that he said that.
Trumps actions on Jan. 6
Welker asked the former President about his actions on Jan. 6th, when thousands of rioters took over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. protesting against Trump's election loss. During the attack on the Capitol, Trump told demonstrators to go home, adding that they were special and loved.
Trump has faced staunch criticism for his remarks toward the rioters and is charged with conspiring to block the election certification process in Congress, among other election-related charges. Former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham previously claimed, in an interview with CNNs News Day, that the former President was "gleefully" watching the rioters via a television in the White House, rewinding the footage and watching their actions over and over again.
During his Meet the Press interview, Trump declined to comment on what he was doing during the early hours of Jan. 6, and did not say whether he called military or law enforcement. When asked whether he would pardon figures who were at the attack on the Capitol, like Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Trump said that he would look into it.
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Federal prosecutors filed a criminal charge Tuesday against a Utah man who protested at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and later became the focus of conspiracy theories some amplified by former President Donald Trump and his allies accusing him of being an FBI informant.
A former Oath Keepers member from Arizona, Ray Epps, was charged in U.S. District Court in Washington with one misdemeanor count of disruptive or disorderly conduct in a restricted area.
Epps is expected to offer a guilty plea to the charge Wednesday as part of a deal with prosecutors, according to an entry in the courts docket.
Epps can be seen in video from Jan. 5 egging on the crowd and calling on ralliers to go into the Capitol, although he quickly added it should be done peacefully. He appeared at the Capitol the next day and was at the front of the mob that first breached the barricades. He is seen on video briefly speaking with Ryan Samsel a rioter who was among the first who pushed through the police lines shortly before Samsel rushed forward. He has claimed to be seeking to calm Samsel.
Epps has claimed in interviews that he never entered the Capitol building, and no evidence has emerged to indicate he did. That puts Epps in a small group of Jan. 6 defendants to face criminal charges without allegations they entered the Capitol or joined in violence.
The charge against Epps carries a maximum punishment of a year in prison.
Epps was included in photos the FBI released soon after the Capitol riot of individuals they were seeking information about as part of the sprawling investigation.
However, the images of Epps were quickly removed from the FBIs website and he did not face any charges in the 32 months since the melee, leading other Jan. 6 defendants, conservative media outlets and even Trump to speculate publicly that Epps was an FBI plant intent on triggering a riot and part of a so-called false flag operation.
For his part, Epps vehemently denied that he acted that day on behalf of the FBI, and he testified to the Jan. 6 committee that he had no relationship with the FBI or federal agencies. Other videos show him standing alongside Proud Boys leader Zachary Rehl as Rehl appears to deploy a chemical spray at officers. Rehl was convicted by a jury earlier this year of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
In July 2023, Epps filed a libel suit against Fox News, complaining that he was being falsely pilloried in connection with the episode, even though he was a Trump supporter and loyal viewer of the network. He said in the suit he was likely to face a criminal charge, which he blamed in part on pressure generated by attention spurred by the conspiracy theories aired on Fox.
Fox has denied liability and moved to dismiss the lawsuit, which is pending in federal court in Delaware.
Some Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, publicly speculated about Epps ties to the FBI and fueled conspiracy theories about the riot.
Trump himself also fed the theories, using his Truth Social account to spread baseless claims about Epps wife.
Epps said he received harassing messages and death threats as a result of the publicity.
Prosecutors faced so many questions and demands for information about Epps from other Jan. 6 defendants that last year they prepared a disclosure about him to share with alleged rioters whose attorneys were pressing for such records.
More than 1,100 people have been charged in connection with the Capitol riot, with prosecutors continuing to file several cases each week.
Lawyers for Epps did not immediately respond to messages Tuesday seeking comment on the new charge.
The death toll from devastating floods in eastern Libya has surpassed 11,000, according to the Libyan Red Crescent, as rescuers work to understand the full scope of the disaster.
As of Saturday, the bodies of nearly 4,000 people have been recovered and identified, the World Health Organization said. More than 9,000 people are still missing, according to the WHO, which is working with the Libyan Ministry of Health to track the dead and missing.
"This is a disaster of epic proportions," Dr. Ahmed Zouiten, a WHO representative in Libya, said in a statement.
PHOTO: A handout picture provided by Tunisia's National Office of Civil Protection on Sept. 15, 2023, shows members of its emergency teams assisting in relief work in Libya's city of Derna in the aftermath of a devastating flood. (Tunisia's National Office of Civil Protection via AFP via Getty Images)
The Libyan Red Crescent said Friday that at least 11,300 people have died and another 10,100 were reported missing. A Red Crescent official told ABC News it was difficult to give an accurate tally of deaths.
"Bodies are washing up on the shore every minute, on beaches as far as 150 km away," Ahmed Al-Hadl, the head of aid in the port city of Derna for the Red Crescent, said.
Eastern Libya's health minister, Othman Abduljaleel, meanwhile said Friday the number of recorded deaths stood at 3,166.
MORE: Most casualties in Libya floods could have been avoided: World Meteorological Organization chief
Mediterranean storm Daniel is behind the widespread flooding in the North African nation, as it washed away entire neighborhoods over the weekend and swept bodies out to sea.
Derna was the worst affected following the collapse of two dams, which wiped out a quarter of the area. Libya's chief prosecutor announced late Friday he has ordered an investigation into the collapse of the dams -- and whether better maintenance could have avoided the disaster.
Derna has been declared a disaster zone, with electricity and communication having been cut off, according to local officials. The head of Libya's eastern parliament-backed government Osama Hamad told reporters Friday evening that authorities would take precautionary measures that might include sealing off the city of Derna for fear of the spread of diseases.
An assessment team visiting Derna on Thursday said people were returning to what was left of their homes in desperation.
"What I saw there is ... the situation is devastating ... a lot of destruction and ruins, around 25% of the city was basically destroyed as a result of the flooding," Talal Burnaz, the acting country director in Libya for the International Medical Corps, told ABC News.
PHOTO: People pray at the graves of the flash flood victims in Derna, Libya, Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. (Yousef Murad/AP)
"Whenever you see a search and rescue team you will see families standing there with tears in their eyes asking for support and hoping that they will basically find one of their family members alive," Burnaz said.
Burnaz said they were still pulling people out of the rubble Thursday. He saw one rescue and heard of four more when he visited the last remaining government-run hospital in Derna. The survivors had been trapped under rubble since the early hours of Monday morning.
Some help is getting through the one road that leads to the devastated areas. Burnaz saw international search and rescue teams -- from Egypt, Tunisia, Turkey and Spain -- and he drove past convoys of help coming from all over Libya.
"There were many local authorities there -- army, police, scouts, Libyan Red Cross -- trying to retrieve either bodies or trying to find survivors under the rubble," Burnaz said.
The WHO said Saturday that 29 metric tons of health supplies arrived in Benghazi, Libya, from the WHO Global Logistics Hub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The supplies include medicines, trauma and emergency surgery supplies, and medical equipment, as well as body bags.
MORE: Flood death toll in eastern Libya reaches 6,000 with thousands still missing: Official
Doctors Without Borders dispatched an emergency team from Misrata to Derna that arrived Thursday to assess the needs in the aftermath of storm Daniel, despite challenging conditions as the city was split in two between east and west by the flooding.
The group's medical coordinator for Libya said the situation is chaotic with volunteers coming from everywhere in Libya to help, leaving an enormous need for coordination.
"There are no dead bodies in the street anymore, no wounded that we can see in the hospital," Manoelle Carton, Doctors Without Borders' medical coordinator for Libya, said Friday. "It's more the day-to-day health needs that are coming up again -- chronic diseases. We can clearly identify a huge need in mental health support. Everybody is asking for it, from people in the streets, to the medical doctors that assisted people, from the people who saw the events, to the people who lost their entire families."
PHOTO: Volunteers walk past damaged homes after the Mediterranean storm 'Daniel' hit Libya's eastern city of Derna on September 15, 2023. (Abdullah Doma/AFP via Getty Images)
Carton said the emergency team, comprising a logistician and three medical staff, began assessing primary health centers in the city on Friday.
"We visited three health centers in the west -- one is not active because almost all of the medical staff died. The two other health centers are active with volunteer doctors from Tripoli, but they are asking for support -- mainly for mental health to support people coming to the center," Carton said.
Carton said the situation of internally displaced people is still unclear, saying the group identified a space in the west of Tripoli with about 3,000 displaced people, but there are more sheltering in the homes of friends and colleagues.
In Derna, those who have lost their homes are being housed in municipal buildings like schools and universities, according to Burnaz.
"If you see the amount of destruction and the area that's been destroyed -- it's big. You can see cars in the third and fourth floors of the building stuck there ... it was massive, like something never seen before," Burnaz said.
PHOTO: A flash flood-damaged area is pictured in Derna, eastern Libya, on Sept. 14, 2023. (Abdullah Doma/AFP via Getty Images)
A number of countries have vowed to send aid to Libya, but getting the supplies into the affected areas has proven difficult with many roads blocked and bridges destroyed. Rescue efforts have also been hampered by the current political situation in Libya, with the oil-rich country split between two warring governments -- one in the east and the other in the west.
Libya's National Center of Meteorology reported that more than 16 inches of rain fell in the northeastern city of Bayda within a 24-hour period to Sunday, according to the flood tracking website Floodlist.
The head of the United Nation's World Meteorological Organization, Petteri Taalas, said Thursday that most of Libya's flooding casualties could have been avoided if the divided country had a functioning meteorological service.
In a statement, Taalas said that Libya's National Meteorological Center did issue early warnings for heavy precipitation and floods, but they didn't address the "risk posed by the aging dams."
ABC News' Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
Libya flooding deaths top 11,000 as thousands reported missing originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Higher job satisfaction and security are just two reasons that getting hired at a company with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, or ESOP, could be a good career move.
Editors note: This is part one of a six-part series in which Peter Newman, CFA, of Peak Wealth Planning, explains the benefits of employee ownership for the U.S. workforce. There are more than 6,500 Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or ESOPs, in the U.S. covering almost 14 million employees. Part two of the series, about ESOP basics for employees, will arrive Oct. 11.
2021 was the year of the Great Resignation, a phenomenon where a significant number of employees voluntarily left their jobs in search of better work conditions and increased job satisfaction.
If you are dissatisfied with your job and want to explore other opportunities, consider looking into an employee-owned company.
Companies offering employee ownership grant their workforce a direct interest in the organization through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). About 6,500 ESOPs exist in the U.S., contributing to five key advantages.
1. ESOPs boost employee engagement through wealth distribution.
Employee engagement is crucial for a company because it fosters productivity, innovation and retention, ultimately driving better business performance and growth.
ESOPs make their employees partial owners of the company. They share the rewards and risks that come with that ownership. If the company stock increases, so does the net worth of every employee. As a result, employee owners are more invested in helping the business succeed and more likely to tackle problems they see within the organization.
2. ESOPs offer higher job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction is important for a company, as it boosts employee morale, enhances productivity and reduces turnover, leading to a more efficient and stable workforce.
Employee-owned companies tend to offer higher job satisfaction because employees feel a stronger sense of motivation when they have a voice in shaping company success. According to recent research by the National Center for Employee Ownership, employee-owners are more likely to have higher wages, receive larger retirement benefits and are less likely to lose their job during a downturn than their peers at non-ESOP companies.
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3. ESOPs have greater job security.
Job security is important because it fosters a sense of stability, confidence and enables employees to focus on their work, leading to increased productivity, well-being and overall satisfaction in personal and professional lives.
Employee-owned companies are more likely to prioritize long-term stability over short-term profits. This can result in greater job security for employees, as these companies are less likely to engage in mass layoffs or drastic cost-cutting measures that negatively impact employees. There is evidence that companies owned by employees grow faster due to the alignment of interests in wealth building for ESOP participants with employer goals. The companys growth increases its overall enterprise value as well as the shares of stock in each participants retirement account.
4. ESOPs keep jobs local.
Keeping jobs in the local community stimulates the economy, fosters community development and reduces unemployment. Many selling owners treat their employees like a family.
Through employee ownership, ESOPs invest in their communities and reduce the likelihood of outsourcing or relocation. This can bring long-term stability and strengthen the local community.
ESOPs allow private company owners to sell all, or a portion, of their company to the employees. This creates a market for the companys stock without having to look months or years to find the right buyer. ESOPs enable owners to retain and reward employees who helped make the company a success. These owners and employees often live and work in the communities where the company operates. Selling to employees offers the possibility of keeping jobs local instead of selling to a private equity buyer that may move the operations to another city for economies of scale. By selling to employees, a retiring owner can ensure that their customers and employees will continue to benefit one another.
5. ESOPs build personal wealth.
The objective for job seekers is to secure a role that aligns with their abilities and meets their desired financial compensation, ensuring a fulfilling and satisfactory employment experience.
Besides offering competitive salaries and comprehensive benefits, ESOP companies provide employees with unique wealth-building opportunities in the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
An ESOP is a company-funded retirement plan, which typically requires no out-of-pocket contributions from employees. These plans have been cited as a major contributor to narrowing the wealth inequality gap.
For many people, funding a contribution to a 401(k) each paycheck is a struggle. For employees like these, an ESOP might be the only retirement plan in which they can afford to participate. In fact, among a surveyed group of low- to moderate-income employee owners, those in the age bracket of 60 to 64 had 10 times greater wealth than the average American in the same age group. The average value held by employee owners in company ESOPs is over $129,000.
Planning your next career move
If you are intrigued by the prospect of working for an employee-owned company, consider the following resources to get you started on your next career move:
If you do consider an employee-owned company for your next position, remember to look at the total benefit package. This includes salary, bonus, health care, dental and vision benefits, 401(k), ESOP and other benefits, such as time off, education reimbursement and gym or wellness benefits. While the ESOP can be a wonderful benefit, it should not be your sole criteria.
If you already have the good fortune of working for an employee-owned company, future articles in this series will cover retirement planning and details ESOP participants should know about their benefits. Our next article will cover the mechanics of how an ESOP benefits its employees, including: vesting, stock valuation, getting paid with distributions and tax treatment.
Are you comfortable with your progress toward retirement? Are you confident youll know how to handle your ESOP diversification and distribution when the time comes? Do you need help forecasting how your ESOP and 401(k) can generate retirement income? A wealth manager from the Peak Wealth Planning team can assist.
A former Georgia resident was placed in the Madison County jail on Sunday charged with molesting a girl about five years ago.
Madison County sheriffs Capt. Jimmy Patton said 62-year-old Marty Fields is charged with molesting a girl under the age of 12 at a location in the Ila area.
Fields was known to the victims family and at the time of the alleged molestation in 2018 he had a Lavonia address, according to Patton.
There was a history of sexual conduct with the child at that time of about a year, Patton said.
The molestation allegations were reported to the sheriffs office in 2021 and was assigned to an investigator, Patton said.
Once the investigator had the case wrapped up and we were informed by the district attorney we had enough to prosecute, we got warrants, he said.
By this time, Fields was living in Grayson, Kentucky, a small city in the northeastern end of the state.
Patton said the U.S. Marshals Office arrested the suspect and Madison County deputies transported him back to Danielsville on Sunday.
He remained in jail Monday without bond.
Crime: Federal prisoner pleads guilty to murder in Barrow County woman's slaying
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: A Kentucky man is charged with child molestation in Madison County
A man who died at a New England Patriots home game last weekend was punched at least twice in the head during a fight in the stands with a rival fan, a witness said Tuesday.
Police and safety personnel responded to the upper deck at Gillette Stadium shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday and found Dale Mooney, 53, of Newmarket, New Hampshire, "in apparent need of medical attention.
Mooney was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The Massachusetts State Police are investigating what the district attorney termed an incident at the stadium.
Gillette Stadium is seen before an NFL game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins, Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, in Foxborough, Mass.
According to the district attorneys office, preliminary autopsy results did not suggest traumatic injury, but did identify a medical issue. The cause and manner of Mooney's death remain undetermined pending further testing.
"Our investigation remains open and ongoing," the Norfolk County district attorneys office said in a statement Thursday. "Any eyewitness who has not already been interviewed by police, or anyone in possession of original video of the incident, is asked to contact the State Police Detective Unit Norfolk DAs Office at 781-830-4990."
Witness Joey Kilmartin shot video of what he said was a brutal fight between Mooney and another man.
In interviews with several local media outlets, Kilmartin said he saw Mooney, a Patriots fan, confront a Miami Dolphins fan who he had been arguing with during most of the game, which the Dolphins won.
He basically engaged in mutual combat with another fan, Kilmatin told The Boston Globe. A lot of people started trying to pull them apart. ... It looked like somebody was in the middle of them, and then a man in the Dolphins jersey reached over and he connected with two punches to the victims head.
It wasnt something crazy or out of the ordinary until, 30 seconds later, the guy wasnt getting up.
Mooneys wife, Lisa Mooney, said she feels numb and wants answers about how her husband died.
I just cant even believe this is for real, she told WCVB-TV. I want to know what happened. What caused this?
Gillette Stadium officials said they were heartbroken by the death of Mooney, who they described as a lifelong Patriots fan and 30-year season ticket member.
We continue to work with local authorities to assist them with their ongoing investigation, according to the statement. We extend our sincerest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to Dales family and to all those who are mourning his loss.
According to David Traub, spokesman for Norfolk County district attorney's office, Massachusetts investigates all deaths not attended by medical personnel. Those investigations are conducted by members of the Massachusetts State Police, he said.
In their investigation, Traub said police will interview witnesses and review any and all (video) footage of the incident," whether recordings came from Gillettes surveillance cameras or private sources. Traub believes there are already postings of related videos taken by spectators that have appeared on social media.
Currently, no charges have been filed against anyone, Traub said.
Fan violence at sporting events, especially among rival supporters, is a long-running problem. Among the most infamous was the 2011 Dodger Stadium parking lot beating of Bryan Stow, a paramedic and San Francisco Giants fan.
Two Los Angeles Dodgers fans punched Stow, who fell to the pavement and suffered severe head injuries. He was awarded about $14 million when a jury found the team was negligent. The attackers received prison sentences.
Reporter Angeljean Chiaramida contributed to this report for Seacoastonline.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Witness: Newmarket NH man was punched before he died at Patriots game
WASHINGTON Ray Epps, a Jan. 6 participant whose removal from the FBI's Capitol Violence webpage sparked conspiracy theories that he was a federal informant, was charged in connection with the Capitol attack on Tuesday.
Epps is charged with one misdemeanor count, disorderly or disruptive conduct on restricted grounds. He was charged by information, suggesting that he plans to enter a plea deal. Not long after he was charged, a virtual plea agreement hearing was set for Wednesday, Sept. 20 before Chief Judge James Boasberg.
Ray Epps, center at U.S. Capitol (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images file)
The criminal information charges that Epps "did knowingly, and with intent to impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, engage in disorderly and disruptive conduct in and within such proximity to, a restricted building and groundsthat is, any posted, cordoned-off, and otherwise restricted area within the United States Capitol and its grounds, where the Vice President was and would be temporarily visitingwhen and so that such conduct did in fact impede and disrupt the orderly conduct of Government business and official functions, and attempted and conspired to do so."
Most of the thousands who unlawfully gathered on the restricted grounds of the U.S. Capitol have not been charged unless they engaged in some sort of aggravating conduct, like attacking police or destroying property. Video shows that Epps attempted to deescalate tensions between the police and rioters, though he's also shown with his hands on a giant Trump sign the rioters jammed into the police line. A federal judge acquitted another Jan. 6 participant who had his hand on that same sign, saying that his intent was unclear.
Epps is not charged with entering the Capitol; he is only known to have been on the grounds on Jan. 6. Reached for comment a lawyer for Epps, Edward J. Ungvarsky, said that the case "is filed with an anticipation of entry of a guilty plea tomorrow to the charge" and declined to comment further.
In an interview with the Jan. 6 committee last year, Epps said that he'd gone to Washington, D.C., in January 2021 as a supporter of former President Donald Trump, but that the conspiracy theories that followed had torn his life apart.
I never intended to break the law," Epps, a former Marine, told the committee. "Its not in my DNA. Ive never Im sure youve looked up my record. I dont break the law.
Epps filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and former host Tucker Carlson for spreading the conspiracy theories suggesting that Epps was some sort of agent of the federal government.
Representatives for Fox News and for Carlson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The unsupported notion that Epps was some sort of government agent who was inciting the mob to storm the Capitol has become widely accepted in right-wing circles, and even members of Congress have raised the Epps case during congressional hearings. Dominic Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 10 years for his actions on Jan. 6, even invoked Epps name at trial.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The estranged husband of Ruby Franke, the Utah YouTuber arrested for child abuse, refuses to sling mud and point fingers" following accusations that he could have saved his children, says his attorney.
Kevin Franke and Ruby Franke are the parents of six children, who were featured on their mom's former YouTube channel "8 Passengers" since 2015. The account, followed by millions, was controversial for Ruby's uncompromising punishments. It has since been taken down.
'8 Passengers' and Ruby Franke's parenting
The Utah mom shared on her channel that her punishments included denying her children food and personal space, forcing them to do pushups and skip school to clean the floor when they misbehaved. She once withheld Christmas presents from her two youngest children and took away her eldest son's bed for seven months, actions she freely shared on her own video channel.
In August, Ruby Franke was arrested and charged with six counts of of aggravated child abuse. Her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, a mental health counselor who recorded parenting videos alongside Ruby, was also arrested and charged.
Last week, Ruby's sisters Julie Griffiths Deru and Bonnie Hoellein posted YouTube videos stating they were unaware of their sister's behavior, because she had cut contact with her family.
Hoellein also claimed that Kevin was the responsible party for protecting his family.
It was Kevins job to check in on things and he did not," she said in her video.
Ruby and Kevin Franke separated, attorney says
Kevin's attorney Randy Kester tells TODAY.com that Kevin and Ruby have been separated "at Ruby's directive" for approximately 13 months.
"Kevin did not want to be separated," says Kester. "He wanted to work through concerns as a family. There was never any formal, written decree of separate maintenance or separation agreement. The separation was under terms proscribed by Ruby and Jodi Hildebrandt."
Kester addressed Hoellein's claims about Kevin.
"I think she admits that she, too, was out of the loop and had not had any contact with the children herself ... however, Kevin is more interested in reaching out to his children, family, and friends to heal the past trauma and events."
Kester tells TODAY.com, "(Kevin) is making an effort to rebuild and bridge these relationships rather than sling mud and point fingers. He is focused on doing what is best for his kids at this point, even if that means undergoing some introspection. None of that process, however, is going to be creating more distance between him and his family, including his extended family. He wishes Bonnie and her family well as we all travel down this path of healing."
In previous footage published by "8 Passengers," Kevin appears to support the decision to send their son, then 14, to the Anasazi Foundation Wilderness Therapy Program, an outdoor behavioral healthcare program for youth who struggle with defiance and other behavioral problems.
"(What) many of you are criticizing or calling abusive are actually things that mental health professionals have counseled us to," Kevin said in the video.
Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt's arrest
Last month, the Santa Clara-Ivins Public Safety Department announced in a press release that two minor children were found emaciated and malnourished, with open wounds and duct tape around the extremities. One child was asking for food and water and was hospitalized in severe condition, police said. Police said they found a second child in a similar physical condition of malnourishment in another home who was also hospitalized.
Four other children were taken in by the Department of Child and Family Services, according to the press release.
Ruby was arrested in connection with the childrens treatment, along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt, a mental health counselor who recorded parenting videos alongside Ruby for the former YouTube channel ConneXions.
Each woman was charged with six counts of aggravated child abuse.
Kester recently told Law & Crime, a multimedia network, that the dad was "absolutely shocked" by the child abuse allegations. He said that Kevin had not recently seen his children at all, as Ruby wanted to separate while they worked on their marriage.
Kester told the outlet that Ruby assured Kevin that their children were happy in his absence.
According to Kester, Kevin "never had any reason to believe that his children were being abused," he told the outlet.
Kester said in that interview: "If he had even one inkling that his kids were being abused, and that this separation wasn't for any other purpose than to figure out a way between he and Ruby to reunite their family, he would have been down there in two seconds."
"Physical abuse had never been a part of their family," Kester told Law & Crime.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A toddler injured in a Georgetown house fire has died, bringing the number of fatalities to three in two separate Sussex County house fires last week.
An 87-year-old woman was killed and an 18-month-old was rescued in critical condition in the fire in the 200 block of E. Market St. in Georgetown on Sept. 14, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office. The child has since died, Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael Chionchio said Monday.
And on Sept. 12 in Laurel, three people were injured in a fire in the 100 block of W. Second St. on Sept. 12, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office, but a 76-year-old woman has since died.
Child and grandmother die; family displaced
Jean Thaylor was dropping three of his children off at school while their mother was at work when the Georgetown fire started.
His parents and his youngest child were still at home, he said. Neighbors reported seeing his father attempting to re-enter the burning house.
Alinde Thaylor, 18 months old, died in a fire in Georgetown Sept. 14.
His mother, 87-year-old Zelime Pierre Louis, was killed in the fire but firefighters were able to free his badly injured 18-month-old child, Alinde Thaylor. Alinde later died.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Thaylor, his father, his wife and remaining three children are staying with a friend in Seaford, he said, and are being assisted by their church. The Good Ole Boy Foundation and other groups are raising money to help with their recovery.
Background: 87-year-old dies in Georgetown house fire; 18-month-old in critical condition
76-year-old woman dies; cat rescuer suffers burns
The identity of the woman who died in Laurel has not been released by officials. However, according to Georgia Ruggiero, daughter of the couple who lived in the downstairs apartment, the victim was one of two elderly sisters who lived upstairs. The other sister was also injured in the fire, but her condition is not known.
The fire marshal has ruled the blaze accidental, caused by cooking materials that ignited, according to the State Fire Marshal's Office.
"The house was built in 1901 so it was like a tinder box," Georgia Ruggiero said. "It just ignited."
Her father, 70-year-old Michael Ruggiero, was at work when the fire occurred, she said. Her mother, 68-year-old Robin Ruggiero, suffered third-degree burns on her arm and face and a "deep tissue burn" in her foot, she said.
Robin and Michael Ruggiero, pictured here with their granddaughter, lost their home in the Sept. 12 fire in Laurel. Robin is recovering from burns.
"She's going to be OK," Georgia Ruggiero said. "But she's hobbling."
Georgia Ruggiero lives in Washington, D.C., and said her parents are staying at the Hope House in Laurel, a transitional living facility, for now. They suffered great financial distress during the pandemic, she said, and were struggling to "get back on their feet." She's created a GoFundMe to help her parents.
Robin Ruggiero volunteers to help get stray cats spayed and neutered, her daughter said. Four of the cats were killed in the fire.
Background: Laurel blaze that injured 3 and displaced 4 Tuesday started accidentally in the kitchen
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 3 dead, others recovering after 2 Sussex County house fires last week
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One mini bite at a time, this food truck is serving Topeka.
Mama's Mini Doughnuts offers a variety of uniquely made mini doughnuts along with iced coffees. Owner Kelly Finstrom said her love for mini doughnuts comes from being a Minnesota native.
"Any event you went to had mini doughnuts at it," Finstrom said. "So, it was just something that I always looked forward to. I always got mini doughnuts. They were my favorite food growing up."
Finstrom moved to Topeka in 2015 with her husband, Brian, and three daughters Raina, Lucy and Ibby.
Mama's Mini Doughnuts owners Kelly and Brian Finstrom stand outside their food truck as, from left, daughters Ibby, 8, Raina, 12, and Lucy, 10, stand inside Saturday morning at the Great Overland Station during Fall Fest.
Mama's Mini Doughnuts comes from a mother's love
When arriving to Topeka, Finstrom realized there weren't any options for mini doughnuts. She said she and her husband decided it would be a great business opportunity to teach their daughters about money management and hard work.
"Our main goal is to teach our girls how to work, how to work with a good attitude when they don't feel like it, just to do their very best," she said. "Teaching them money management. When we first pitched this idea to them, we wanted them involved in a lot of the decisions for the business.
"And my oldest actually came up with the name for it, and the minis part of Mama's is referring to our three girls, not necessarily the mini doughnuts, but it goes hand in hand."
Mama's Mini Doughnuts made its first appearance in the capital city last year at the farmers market.
While 8-year-old Ibby Finstrom, right, makes sure the mini doughnuts flip correctly, Kelly Finstrom, middle, owner of Mama's Mini Doughnuts, helps 12-year-old Raina Finstrom finish a customer's order Saturday during Fall Fest at the Great Overland Station.
"Since it was small and growing, it wasn't really the most successful, productive use of our time," Finstrom said, "but it was a great opportunity to learn how to use our equipment and all that."
Now, with a year of experience under their belts, Mama's Mini Doughnuts can be seen at various events around town.
More: This business will come to wherever you feel most comfortable to relax through yoga
Topeka food truck community helpful in growth of business
While only being involved in the food truck industry for a short period of time, Finstrom said she's thankful for the Topeka food truck community.
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"Everybody is so friendly, and I have learned that food truck food is my preference now," she said. "There's a lot of trading that goes on at the event, so it gives us the opportunity to try different things."
Finstrom said her family hasn't met a food truck owner in the capital city who hasn't been willing to teach and give good advice on running a truck.
"I'm asking a lot of questions and getting their advice, and they're just so helpful," she said. "There's a lot of sharing of events. If one person gets approached about an event and they're not able to do it, they post it for other people to reach out."
More: This Topeka food truck has people lining up to buy its sweet and savory crepes
What can be found on the Mama's Mini Doughnut menu?
Mama's Mini menu includes such unique doughnut toppings as strawberries and cream, dirt dessert made with Oreo pieces and gummy worms, s'mores and more.
Mini bags, with a dozen doughnuts inside are priced at $6; mini trays with two dozen sell for $9 or $10.
Three varieties of mini doughnuts for sale at Mama's Mini Doughnuts are shown for customers at Fall Fest. From left are drizzle, dirt and worms, and s'mores.
Drizzle flavors include caramel apple pie, cream cheese and caramel.
To keep up with updates on Mama's Mini Doughnuts, follow its Facebook page online.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Mama's Mini Doughnuts food truck in Topeka features creative flavors
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Ludovic Bezy and Anita Wheeler-Bezy will open La Baguette in the Village of Five Points in Lewes.
Avez-vous faim? If you aren't hungry, you might be when La Baguette opens its second location in Lewes in November.
Chef Ludovic Bezy is 100% French, while his wife and co-owner, Anita Wheeler-Bezy, is a self-described "Air Force brat" who grew up in both France and America. The couple met and married in the Champagne region, and she now holds a dual French-American citizenship.
France, as Wheeler-Bezy put it, is in their blood.
A fruit tartlette from La Baguette Chef Ludovic Bezy.
Bezy graduated from a French culinary school in the 1980s. The couple moved to the States in the 1990s, where he served as Chef de Cuisine at the former Michele's in Dover Downs for about seven years.
They opened La Baguette, a longtime dream, in Dover in 2017. It's a busy spot, with great reviews across platforms. They serve Rise Up coffee and Wheeler-Bezy said their eclairs are popular, as are their beef bourguignon sandwiches.
La Baguette does, in fact, offer baguettes, as well as a wide variety of other fresh-baked breads.
The menu at La Baguette's 33323 E. Chesapeake St. location, within the Village of Five Points in Lewes, will be similar. (Not to worry, Kent Countians: The Dover location will remain open.)
In Lewes, the couple will also operate a commercial bakery. They'll make all the bread for the Touch of Italy restaurants, Wheeler-Bezy said, in addition to the bread they already make for Royal Prime (a steakhouse at Bally's Dover Casino & Resort).
Opening is planned for early November, depending on permits, with hours starting daily at 7 a.m.
Food: Barbecue, Greek, Dominican among new Delaware restaurants
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on Sussex County and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Dover's La Baguette to open second location in Lewes this November
FILE - Migrants queue to receive hot food at a logistics center at the checkpoint logistics center "Bruzgi" at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, on Dec. 22, 2021. Polands conservative governing party was hoping to make migration a key campaign theme ahead of the countrys national election. But not like this. The Law and Justice party is being rocked by reports that Polish consulates issued visas in Africa and Asia in exchange for bribes, opening the door for migrants to enter the European Union. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
BERLIN (AP) German government officials held talks Tuesday with their Polish counterparts asking them to clarify how many visas were issued in an illegal program in which some Polish consulates issued visas in Africa and Asia in exchange for bribes, an official said.
Poland has been shaken for weeks by reports that its consular sections issued about 250,000 visas to migrants from Asia and Africa since 2021 in return for bribes of several thousand dollars each. Poland is a member of the EUs visa-free zone known as Schengen, and once those migrants arrived in Poland they could cross Europes borders freely including into neighboring Germany.
Warsaw's conservative government confirms that some wrongdoing has occurred, and authorities have made some arrests and dismissals, but they insist that the scale isn't as great as what the Polish media have said.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke by phone with Polish counterpart Mariusz Kaminski on Tuesday afternoon, while Polish Ambassador Dariusz Pawlos was invited to speak to State Secretary Bernd Krosser at the interior ministry in Berlin, a governmental official told The Associated Press.
The German officials asked their Polish counterparts to provide information on the timing and number of visas issued as well as the nationalities of the visa recipients. The German government official said the Polish officials were told that the German government expects that the serious allegations of possible visa fraud be resolved. The German officials also asked what countermeasures the Warsaw government was putting in place.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, also noted that the German federal police have significantly increased border police measures at the German borders, particularly on the German-Polish border, because of the current migration situation. However, the latest increase of border patrol measures happened before the reports about the alleged visa scam became public and wasn't directly linked to it.
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Details about the corruption scandal have been coming to light in Poland a month before the countrys parliamentary election on Oct. 15, leaving the ruling party, Law and Justice, struggling to control the damage domestically.
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Vanessa Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland.
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Follow APs coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
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Testul Babes Papanicolau poate salva vieti! Teste gratuite la Merei, in weekend
La acest moment, Programul National de Screening pentru Cancerul de Col Uterin nu mai este functional in Buzau, dar medicii indeamna femeile sa efectueze anual Testul Babes Papanicolau, pentru a preveni cancerul de col uterin. Caravana [citeste mai departe]
The Hungarian government has just made a new offer of around 4 billion (1,500 billion Hungarian forints) to purchase Budapest Airport according to Bloomberg.
If the bid is successful, passengers will be in the dark as to whether the airport will become more expensive under state ownership, paid for through air fares, said aviation expert Andras Bognar of the London-based ICF consulting company, to Szabad Europa.
According to him, the airport is just infrastructure, and no one chooses their travel destination based on who owns the airport there, so it is not entirely clear what motivates the purchase beyond political goals. Elsewhere, previously privatised airports are rarely bought back.
Budapests is large enough for the private sector to run it successfully, so it's a question of why the government should want a part of it, just like any other economic activity run by the private sector.
The wave of airport privatisation in Europe started about 20 years ago, typically leaving smaller, less profitable airports in state ownership, noted Bognar. Most of Vienna Airport is privately owned, while Frankfurt and Heathrow are completely private. An airport is considered infrastructure, like a toll motorway, said Bognar.
Since the 2005 privatisation of Budapest Airport, the government has introduced price capping on costs. Passengers would be keen to discover whether this will continue to work in the future, whether the state will adhere to this monopoly regulation or lift it and change fees at its discretion.
Currently, there is no information about the government's intentions.
In the case of a government buyer, Bognar believes it's unclear what constitutes a return on investment. They mainly justify the purchase with tourism development, but in this case, he thinks that this money should not be invested in the airport but directly in tourism, for example, in hotel construction.
Previous statements by Marton Nagy, Minister of Economic Development, indicate that Budapest Airport is a strategic asset and should be in Hungarian hands.
"So, does this mean that Austrians, Germans, French, and English are squandering their strategic assets? What will change if it goes into state ownership? This is the big question that no one can see yet," he said.
In December 2005, the Hungarian government sold the right to operate the airport to the UKs BAA International for 464.5 billion forints for 75 years. in June 2007, the German Hochtief AirPort (from 2013 AviAlliance) bought BAAs stake, making the German company the majority owner.
Itself owned by a Canadian pension fund, Public Sector Pension Investment, AviAlliance holds 55.44% of Budapest Airport. Another Canadian pension fund, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, has 21.23% and a Singaporean sovereign wealth fund subsidiary, Malton, has a 23.33% stake.
The Orban government has been planning to buy the airport for years. They made an offer in 2021, but later halted the process. In February 2023, they revived the purchase of the airport, and Marton Nagy was tasked with negotiations.
According to the most recent information, Budapest Airport, after two loss-making years due to the pandemic, achieved a net profit of 76.6 million (29.7 billion (29.7 billion forints) in 2022, with a net revenue of 277.7 million (108 billion forints).
According to Bloomberg, the Hungarian state would acquire a 51% ownership stake, and the remaining 49% would go to a friendly co-investor, ideally an airport operator.
Words by Peterjon Cresswell for Xpatloop.com
Peterjon has been researching the byways of Budapest for 30 years, extending his expertise across Europe to produce guidebooks for Time Out and his own website liberoguide.com
(Bloomberg) -- Alphabet Inc.s Google has tweaked its advertising auctions to ensure it meets revenue targets, sometimes increasing ad prices by as much as 5%, an executive for the company testified Monday at a federal antitrust trial.
Most Read from Bloomberg
Jerry Dischler, vice president for Googles advertising products, said the company frequently makes changes to the auctions it uses to sell search ads the text and shopping promotions that appear at the top of a results page in response to user queries. Those changes can involve increasing the cost of ads or minimum spending on an ad, known as the reserve pricing, he said. Even when those tunings impact ad prices, Google typically doesnt tell advertisers, Dischler testified.
We tend not to tell advertisers about pricing changes, he said.
In one May 2019 email, Dischler and his team discussed how they were shaking the cushions to find potential changes to the ad auctions that would ensure Google met the revenue targets that Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat had conveyed to Wall Street for the quarter.
If we dont meet quota for the second quarter in a row and we miss the streets expectations again, which is not what Ruth signaled to the street, so we will get punished pretty bad in the market, Dischler wrote.
I care more about revenue than the average person but think we can all agree that for our teams trying to live in high cost areas another $100,000 in stock price loss will not be great for morale, not to mention the huge impact on our sales team, he said.
In court on Monday Dischler said his goal was to get creative so we could meet our quota.
The Justice Department alleges that Google has illegally maintained a monopoly over online search by paying billions of dollars to web browsers and smartphone manufacturers to ensure its the preselected option for users accessing the web. As part of those deals, Google pays Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. and others a share of the revenue it earns from search advertising.
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Honest Results
About two-thirds, more than 60%, of Googles total revenue comes from search ads, Dischler said, and in 2020 that amounted to more than $100 billion. Every year since 2012, the companys search ad revenue growth has been in the high teens, according to documents shown by the Justice Department. The exact numbers were redacted.
On cross-examination Tuesday by Googles lawyers, Dischler said the search giant has an honest results policy and the search team responsible for non-paid search results, known as organic results, can ignore suggestions by the ads team.
Financial compensation shouldnt impact the quality of the search results, he said, calling it a church and state separation between the two teams. Revenue is motivator, not a decider.
In response to questions by DOJ lawyer David Dahlquist, Dischler acknowledged that he said in a sworn 2020 interview that some of the auction changes led to 5% increases for the typical advertiser. He also said that it was possible that some changes led to price increases of as much as 10% for some queries.
But Dischler said Monday he believes most advertisers would move to rivals like Meta Platforms Inc. or ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok if Google tried to increase prices by 15%.
It would be a dangerous thing to do, he said.
Dischler acknowledged, however, that he didnt have any reason to believe that even with a 15% increase Google wouldnt keep enough advertisers so that the companys revenue still rose.
Dischler said Tuesday that Google has roughly 5 million advertisers, compared to roughly 10 million who advertise on Meta. Retail advertisements account for about 35% of Googles search ads, he said, its biggest category of advertising.
Better Data
I would not say Google search ads are a must-have for any advertiser, he said. We are losing share to other new entrants including TikTok and Amazon.com Inc.
In response to a question from Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing the case, Dischler said that some consumer goods makers have threatened to remove all of their advertising spending from Google and move it to Amazon. Today, Amazon is bigger than Google in retail advertising, he said, and is growing at twice the rate.
Amazon is able to get better data than we are on the effectiveness of their advertising, Dischler said. That has caused budgets to shift.
One change that increased Googles revenue, known as RGSP, switched the auction so the runner-up was given the top advertiser slot and the actual winner the second spot, according to Dischler. Oftentimes major advertisers like Amazon or Booking Holdings Inc. win any ad auctions where they bid and take the top slot, Dischler said.
With RGSP, we flip them, Dischler said. Otherwise, Amazon always shows up on top.
Dischler said he didnt know if the change led advertisers to place higher bids, but it increased Googles revenue.
A Google spokesman at the trial declined to comment on Dischlers testimony.
(Updates with additional testimony beginning in 10th paragraph)
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A head doctor in Nagykanizsa, south-west Hungary, and two associates in Budapest have been caught on suspicion of taking bribes, police reported.
According to the report, the head doctor of Nagykanizsa hospital provided discreet treatment in the VIP room of the psychiatric ward for his private patients who wanted to avoid the public. In return, he asked for considerable sums of money.
The patients gained access to the treatment with the mediation of two people in Budapest, and the cash had to be paid to them. The mediators transferred the cash to bank accounts belonging to the doctor or members of his family.
Budapest is hosting the meetings of two NATO innovation bodies from Sept 18 to 22 as part of a NATO Innovation Week, the defence ministry said.
Hungary, as a testament to its commitment to NATO, is a founding member of both the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF) and the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), which have chosen Budapest as the location of their meetings, the ministry cited Imre Porkolab, ministerial commissioner for defence innovation, as saying.
Porkolab, who is also deputy chair of DIANA, said the defence ministry is organising the NATO Innovation Week on the sidelines of the DIANA and NIF meetings together with the Defence Innovation Research Institute (VIKI), with Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky as the events chief patron.
NIF and DIANA are both aimed at adapting advanced technologies developed in the civilian sector by partnering with small and medium-sized businesses, the commissioner said.
As part of the Innovation Week, Hungary will present its innovation ecosystem to the other member states, the ministry said.
MTI Photo of Defence Minister Kristof Szalay-Bobrovniczky by Aniko Kovacs
Opposition MP Akos Hadhazy has reported Prime Minister Viktor Orban on suspicion of misuse of funds and fraud because of Orbans English-language website, primeminister.hu.
Hadhazy said on Facebook that the Cabinet Office signed a Ft 74 million contract on March 21, 2021 for the operation of the prime ministers English-language website from March 15, 2021 to December 31, 2022.
The website should have functioned until the end of December, 2022 but the last post was registered on April 22, 2022, after which nobody bothered with it, he said.
The website no longer exists, but redirects the reader to the prime ministers official website.
Hadhazy said such a website could have been produced for Ft 15-20 million, so the fee specified in the contract is many times overpriced.
Like other developing countries in Africa, Ghana faces multiple issues. Its contemporary society is highly influenced by rapid social and technological changes. These changes can no longer be solved using traditional approaches. It is time to think about new solutions to various social problems in Ghana.
The Ghanaian flag. Photo: @Getty Images
Source: Getty Images
A social problem is any condition or situation that adversely affects many people in a country. It disrupts the normal functioning of society. There are multiple social problems in Ghana. Some can be resolved easily, while others are more complex to solve.
Serious social problems in Ghana and their solutions
The social problems experienced by most Ghanaians today tend to form a chain. One challenge often leads to another.
Main social problems in Ghana in 2022
Below is a list of social problems in Ghana and their solutions.
1. Unemployment
Unemployment refers to the share of the labour force without work but are available for and seeking employment. The rate of unemployment in Ghana in 2020 was 4.70%, a 0.05% increase from 2020.
The Ghanaian Times reports that about 1.74 million people, which is equivalent to 13.4% of the total working population of 13 million aged 15 years and above.
The rate of unemployment can be attributed to numerous factors, including the prevailing economic recession, corruption, slow economic growth, and a sharply increasing population.
2. Corruption
A man holding a bundle of Ghanaian Cedi banknotes. Photo: @Cristina Aldehuela/Bloomberg
Source: Getty Images
One of the most pressing social problems in Ghana in 2022 is corruption. The same is being experienced in multiple African nations.
For a long time, Ghana has earned a significant amount of cash from its natural resources, including gold, manganese, bauxite, and diamonds. Unfortunately, a considerable portion of these resources goes down the cesspool created by corruption.
This means that despite the nation being naturally endowed, resources benefit a few and leave the rest in poverty. The country has many institutions and departments where one cannot receive service without bribing the officers.
3. Illiteracy and inaccessibility of quality education
Education is an important tool for development in any country. In Ghana, the quality of education is lagging behind. While there have been a few positive developments in the sector, much is desired.
The Ghanaian educational sector faces multiple challenges, especially in rural areas. The basic facilities in public schools are in deplorable states and inadequate. Besides, the human resources to fill the minimum criteria of a school are inadequate.
Many children, especially those from resource-poor settings, do not go to school or drop out early. As a result, the level of illiteracy is quite high.
4. Poverty
Huts and houses along the coastline of Cape Coast. Photo: Getty Images
Source: UGC
According to Oxfam, approximately 24.2% of the Ghanaian national population lives below the poverty line. Numerous people, especially on the northern side of the nation, earn less than one American dollar a day.
Although the country is blessed with the resources needed to end extreme poverty and bridge the disparities between the rich and poor, it is failing to do so because of corruption.
5. Forest encroachment and desertification
Ghana is among the tropical countries that have suffered the most from deforestation in recent years. Shocking results show the forest cover has shrunk up to five times in one century.
The increasing human population has also encroached on land that should otherwise be left for forests and wildlife. Forest encroachment and desertification have led to climate change, especially long episodes of drought.
6. Rural-urban migration
Many young Ghanaians move from their rural homes to urban areas looking for jobs. In the capital city of Accra, for instance, the population has doubled since the 90s.
Young people perceive urban areas to be the epicentre of economic opportunities and exciting modern lifestyles. Some of the challenges of rural-urban migration are poor housing conditions due to congestion in the cities, increased crime rates, and deterioration of the rural economy leading to chronic poverty.
7. Lack of well-defined child welfare practice systems
Portrait of smiling siblings sitting on a sofa in Accra. Photo: @Getty Images
Source: Getty Images
Child rights and gender-based violations are pretty common in the country. Many would expect that in 2022, children's welfare is prioritised. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
The nation has poorly defined child welfare practices. In fact, it lacks a clear definition of what child abuse is. This makes it hard for social workers to fully protect the rights and freedoms of children and women.
The existing social service agencies often fail to meet the needs of the populations they serve due to a lack of clear policies and guidelines. The problem is further aggravated by poverty and corruption.
Solutions to social problems in Ghana in 2022
How can Ghana solve the problems explored above? Below are feasible measures that can be enacted to resolve the challenges.
Solving unemployment in Ghana
The high rate of lack of jobs can be solved in the following ways.
The government should provide better financial support to technical institutions in the country. The demand for hands-on skills outdoes the supply, so the government should encourage young people to pursue technical courses.
A youth-programmed fund should also be initiated to fund start-up businesses for the youth.
The relevant authorities should also address the monster of corruption. If addressed, funds to expand the economy and create jobs will be availed.
Additionally, the government should facilitate the export of human capital to get qualified Ghanaians job opportunities overseas.
Solving corruption
Money exchanging hands. Photo: @Getty Images
Source: Getty Images
The government can implement the following anti-corruption measures.
Make reforms in public administration and finance management. This should be coupled with strengthening the mandate of auditing bodies and agencies.
Providing rewards and incentives to citizens who report corruption cases.
Creating pathways that empower citizens with relevant tools and knowledge to engage and participate in their government.
Promoting transparency and access to information.
Creating, funding, and strengthening agencies that prosecute corruption cases.
Solving illiteracy and inaccessibility of quality education
Illiteracy and inaccessibility of quality education can be resolved in the following ways.
Ensuring the education sector is well-funded.
Every child has the right to an education in a safe and healthy setting, so basic education should be made mandatory for all.
Setting up programs that ascertain students transition from different levels of study to the highest where they earn the right skills.
Solving poverty in Ghana
The country can resolve poverty in the following ways.
Ensuring all children access quality education.
Ensuring basic health care for all.
Prevent child marriages and promote proper child welfare practices.
Supporting environmental programmes.
Improving childhood nutrition.
Solutions to forest encroachment and desertification
Forest encroachment and desertification be solved in the following ways.
Sensitising all citizens about the dangers of forest encroachment and desertification to society.
Running tree planting programmes in communities.
Resettling people who have settled in forest zones and giving stringent punishments to those who encroach on these areas.
Rural-urban migration
Rural-urban migration can be solved in the following ways.
Creating employment opportunities in rural areas.
Promoting agriculture in rural areas.
Improving transport and communication network services.
Solving poor child welfare practice systems
Child welfare practice systems should be improved in the country. Policies on children's welfare should be updated, and terms should be defined clearly.
An abandoned garbage collection bicycle at a heavily polluted open sewer river. Photo: @Getty Images
Source: UGC
What is the meaning of a social problem?
A social problem is an issue that affects many people within a society. It arises from fundamental faults in the structure of a society.
What are the social problems in Ghana?
The social problems in Ghana include rural-urban migration, unemployment, forest encroachment and desertification, corruption, poverty, illiteracy, and inaccessibility of quality education.
What are 5 social problems?
The five pressing social problems in Ghana are unemployment, poverty, corruption, rural-urban migration, and the inaccessibility of quality education.
What are some of the social issues?
Some of the social problems in the world are unemployment, poverty, corruption, rural-urban migration, forest encroachment and desertification, and inaccessibility of quality education.
What are some of the economic problems facing Ghana?
Some of the economic challenges facing Ghana are unemployment, corruption, state-society gap, inconsistent economic policies, poor human capital development, poor health system, and crime and terrorism.
What is Ghana struggling with?
Ghana is struggling with unemployment, corruption, inaccessibility of quality education, poverty, forest encroachment and desertification, rural-urban migration, and poor child welfare practice systems.
What are examples of social problems?
Examples of social problems are corruption, unemployment, poverty, inaccessibility of quality education, forest encroachment and desertification, rural-urban migration, and poor child welfare practice systems.
There are several pressing social problems in Ghana. Most of them can be solved by implementing stringent government policies and measures.
READ ALSO: 25 profitable business ideas in Ghana in 2022 listed and explained
Yen.com.gh recently published a list of profitable business ideas in Ghana in 2022. The high unemployment rate among Ghanaian youths is worrying. One way of solving the menace is turning to self-employment.
People of all ages can start and run successful businesses in the country. Before starting any venture, do a feasibility study to ascertain whether it is profitable.
Source: YEN.com.gh
Poorly considered policy driven by ideological agendas can have devastating consequences for Americans, bringing the greatest harm to those with the least recourse when good intentions go awry. Theres always room for improvement in federal policy. However, damage is often avoidable if decision-makers simply take the time to consider the impact of their decisions upon Americans and the variety of their needs and lifestyles across our country.
This week the House considered legislation to address efforts by California and nine other states to ban the sale of gas-powered cars. In August 2022, Californias Air Resources Board adopted zero emission standards for all vehicles sold in the stateeffectively banning the sale or use of new vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035.
Under federal law, states are only permitted to enact their own emissions standards for new vehicles when granted a waiver by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do so. Without an EPA waiver, new vehicles are subject to already-stringent federal emissions standards. In March of 2023, the state of California received a Clean Air Act waiver from the EPA for emissions regulations stricter than federal mandates.
Overbroad government mandates rarely make for good policy, and removing an entire line of products from the market on which the vast majority of Americans depend daily has troubling potential to harm consumers, our supply chain, and our economy. In 2021, 93.8 percent of personal and commercial vehicle registrations in the U.S. were for cars powered by gasoline or ethanol.
The measure passed by the House with my support this week, the Preserving Choice in Vehicle Purchases Act, would halt these efforts to misuse the EPA waiver process to ban gas-powered cars, while continuing to allow states to work with EPA to manage air pollution issues.
From increased dependance on China for critical minerals used in electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing to the overwhelming burden it would levy on our electric grid, there is no shortage of drawbacks which demonstrate EVs are not the answer for everyone. Significantly, in Nebraska nearly half of our electricity, necessary to run EVs, is generated by coal, a consideration the detractors of fossil fuels seem slow to acknowledge.
For a winning energy strategy, we must embrace an all-of-the-above approach and let consumers weigh and make the best choices for themselves and their families. The development of alternative energy sources and products which are run by them needs to be driven by innovation and the success of the best outcomes for Americans, not big government mandates.
While a candidate for president in 2020, Joe Biden promised to ignite the economy and bring Americans together. Unfortunately, his administration has repeatedly failed to deliver, prioritizing a far-left agenda over pro-growth common sense, leaving American families and taxpayers with mounting expenses. However, as a candidate, time and time again President Biden also made it clear his goal was to declare war on the fossil fuels industryone promise he has kept. Since day one of his presidency, he has cracked down on oil and gas leases and maintained a stranglehold on American energy production. Predictably, this is reflected in the soaring prices at the pump which have marked his presidency including the current gasoline prices in Nebraska10 percent higher than this time last year.
President Ronald Reagan once quipped, The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: Im from the Government, and Im here to help. Rather than crushing the options of consumers, effective lawmaking confronts and puts a stop to bad ideas. Misguided mandates and prohibitions on everything from EVs down to gas stoves is a recipe for continued supply chain difficulties and obstacles to growth. House Republicans have worked to keep our Commitment to America for an economy thats strong with a plan to streamline permitting efficiencies, maximize production, and lower the cost of fuel and utilities. By staying true to commonsense principles, we can ensure American energy dominance, protect consumer choice, and secure better outcomes for the future.
A passenger on IndiGo's Jabalpur-New Delhi flight on Monday allegedly suffered cardiac arrest and died onboard, officials said. The incident occurred soon after the flight took off and it had to make an emergency landing back in Jabalpur. As per the information, the deceased passenger has been identified as Rajendra Franquelin.
He had suffered a heart attack as soon as the flight took off. After being informed about the incident, the flight returned to Jabalpur. A team of local area police reached the spot, took custody of the body, and sent it for post-mortem examination. Further investigation was underway, police said.
Also read: Lufthansa Aircraft Returns To Airport After Crew Shuts Engine Down
This is not the first time such an incident has occurred on a flight. Earlier, a passenger on an IndiGo flight from Mumbai to Ranchi perished when the aircraft made an emergency landing at Nagpur airport after the 62-year-old man began to vomit blood.
New Delhi: Makers of the upcoming spin-off series Berlin on Monday announced the series official release date.
Taking to Instagram, OTT platform Netflix dropped a new teaser of the series which they captioned, Berlin is a poet and this is going to be his masterpiece. Mark your calendars, Berlin arrives 29 December!
The spin-off of the super hit series Money Heist is all set to stream from December 29 on the OTT platform.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the new prequel series, which recounts the incredible heists carried out before the events of the original show, will star Pedro Alonso in the role he originated as the hedonistic, witty jewel thief Andres de Fonollosa, nicknamed Berlin, in the original series.
Along with him, his new crew will consist of Joel Sanchez as Bruce, a relentless man of action, Begoa Vargas as the unstable Cameron, Julio Pea Fernandez as the devoted Roi, and Michelle Jenner as Keila, an electronics specialist. Tristan Ulloa (Faria) will play Berlin's friend and charitable professor Damian.
Money Heist was initially created as a two-part, 15-episode limited series for the Spanish commercial network Antena 3 in 2017. It is an exceedingly intricate and twisted bank robbery drama. However, the show became an unexpected worldwide success when Netflix acquired the global rights, recut the two seasons into 22 shorter episodes, and released the show worldwide in December 2017. The third season of the show was ordered by the streaming service. The program's popularity is credited with helping to popularise non-English-language TV drama and paving the way for upcoming international hits like Squid Game. It was viewed by about 180 million households globally.
One of the first such agreements with a non-English-language creator was made when Netflix and Pina inked a global exclusive overall deal in 2018.
CHANDIGARH: Senior BJP leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday dismissed the claims of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that there was an Indian hand in the murder of Khalistani activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Capt Amarinder said the murder was the result of a factional feud within the management of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara in Surrey in Canada.
The former Chief Minister said Trudeau had unfortunately walked into a trap owing to vote-bank politics and put at stake the diplomatic relationship between India and Canada. Capt Amarinder said it was highly irresponsible for the Prime Minister of a country to make a statement without any evidence only because he was playing to the vote-bank gallery.
He pointed out that it was an irrefutable fact that the Trudeau administration had given a free hand to anti-India forces in that country. He said Indian missions there were attacked and diplomats intimidated but there was no corrective action by the Canadian government.
Has the Canadian government taken any action against the culprits who attacked Indian missions there? he asked, while adding Trudeau by levelling such allegations was only trying to deflect the attention from his own failures to curb anti-India activities in that country.
Capt Amarinder said he had brought it to Trudeaus notice as to how Canadian land was being used against India. He said in a statement that when he met Trudeau during his Indian visit in 2018 in an Amritsar hotel he had shared all information with him.
Instead of seeing the Canadian government taking any remedial measures, there was an increase in anti-India activities in that country. He said the reason he had refused to meet the then Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan during his India visit was because he (Sajjan) was associated with the World Sikh Organisation which had a record of working against India.
The former Chief Minister appreciated the central government's decision to expel a Canadian diplomat for his involvement in encouraging anti-India activities.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar is the fresh flashpoint between India and Canada. Though he was killed in June this year by unknown assasilants, Canada believes India was behind his murder. India, however, has rejected the allegations. Nijjar, who hails from Punjab, went to Canada to pursue a career as a plumber but went on to become one of the most wanted terrorists in India.
From Plumber To Khalistani Terrorist
According to Punjab Police, Nijjar hailed from Bharsingh Pura village in Jalandhar. Nijjar moved to Canada in 1996 and started working as a plumber. According to reports, the plumbing work did not have significant monetary income and Nijjar was on the lookout for additional source of income. He came in contacts with Babbar Khalsa International under the leadership of Jagtar Singh Tara in late 2000s. Sensing a huge funding from anti-India elements, Nijjar adopted the radical route and started working as pro-Khalistani activist. In 2011, he founded The Khalistan Tiger Force as an offshoot of the Babbar Khalsa International. Since then, his wealth grew manifolds with his active involvement in pro-Khalistan activities.
Nijjar also had affiliations with the banned Khalistani separatist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) headed by Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Nijjar reportedly held number 2 position in the SFJ. Nijjar had many FIRs registered against him in India. He was also on the most wanted list of the NIA. While India had made several request to Canada seeking action against Khalistani terrorists, Canadian government did not pay heed to New Delhi's request, thus leading to a bitter relations between both the nations.
India vs Canada Tussle
India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat. The move comes after India rejected as "absurd and motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge that India played a role in the June killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay was summoned today to the South Block, the headquarters of Ministry of External Affairs. "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said today.
"The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in Canada had been expelled, Joly said the Canadian government had expelled the Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader
We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today, Joly said at a news conference.
Meanwhile, India rejected allegations made by Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEA in an official statement. (With ANI inputs)
New Delhi, India September 14, 2023 The Highway Heroes+ program is a significant attempt to recognize and honor the unsung heroes of India's economy, and it has been launched by the All-India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA) in partnership with Lawyered. This innovative program will drastically alter the lives of truck drivers, who support the economy of our nation.
Key Figures Applaud Success of Highway Heroes+ Initiative
The successful launch of the Highway Heroes+ campaign was celebrated by prominent members of Lawyered and AITWA, marking a significant milestone. These executives presented their perspectives on the program and expressed thanks for its accomplishments, which are expected to revolutionize the lives of Indian truck drivers.
The CEO and Founder of Lawyered, Himanshu Gupta, stated his joy for this partnership and emphasized how it may benefit truck drivers all throughout the country.
The initiative's strategic value in changing people's perceptions of truck drivers and recognizing their critical contribution to the Indian economy was emphasized by Lawyered's Chief Strategy Partner, Gautam Saraf.
J.P. Singla, CEO of AITWA, emphasized the program's recognition and awards component while highlighting the need to recognize the significant contribution truck drivers make to Indian society and the economy.
AITWA General Secretary Abhishek Gupta emphasized the value of welfare and well-being for truck drivers and said that the program strives to give them access to necessary benefits and services that are sometimes absent in their mobile work.
All India Transporters Welfare Association Co-Chairman Mahender Arya commented on the program's emphasis on education and awareness, highlighting the necessity of increasing public understanding of the essential role that truck drivers play and the significance of appreciating their profession.
By promoting truck drivers as national heroes, the Highway Heroes+ Initiative seeks to change how society views them. The program has five main goals with a comprehensive approach:
Recognize and Reward: To recognize the significant impact truck drivers have on the Indian economy and society
Welfare and Well-being: To give truck drivers access to crucial benefits and services that they frequently lack due to the mobile nature of the job
Education and Awareness: To raise public awareness of the crucial role that truck drivers perform & the need to respect this profession
Policy Influence: To work with the government to put legislation into place that elevates truck drivers' working conditions and dignity
Sustainable Future: To address the declining number of truck drivers and guarantee that this field is still appealing to future generations
Salute to Jawan, Kisan, Saarthi, and Bharti! This revised tagline emphasizes the crucial role of truck drivers alongside our warriors and farmers, capturing the ethos of contemporary India.
The Highway Heroes+ card given at a nominal cost to truck drivers has the following main characteristics and advantages:
Offering personal accident insurance up to 5 lakhs, personal accident hospitalization up to 1.5 lakhs, and TTD of 1% of SI every week, up to a maximum of 100 weeks.
24/7 Helpline: Preventing official harassment, offering roadside legal aid, and enabling quick access to emergency services including ambulances, toll booths, and police stations.
Financial Assistance: By providing a credit limit of up to 25,000 with ZERO% interest and ZERO processing costs through the partner mobile app.
Access to AITWA-sponsored driver-specific camps, promotions, and events around the country.
On September 14, 2023, from 3 PM to 6 PM, AITWA in collaboration with Lawyered organized a celebration at the Indian Habitat Centre on Lodhi Road in New Delhi to commemorate the beginning of this revolutionary endeavor. Smt Sumita Dawra, IAS, Special Secretary (Logistics), DPIIT, Government of India, and Guest of Honour Shri Madhusudan Agrawal, Honorary Consul General of The Republic of Uganda, Vice Chairman, Ajanta Pharma Limited, Chairman - Mamta Madhusudan Foundation, attended the event. Shri Susheel Gupta, CA, General Secretary, Sewa Bharti, Delhi, was the keynote speaker.
The first woman truck driver in India, Yogita Raghuvanshi, was honored for her revolutionary accomplishments together with other truck drivers. She narrated the difficulties she faces on highways and very confidently shared how corruption brews at every corner of India's highways. Through the generous supporters of AITWA Highway Heroes+, an amount of 5 lacs was announced to support her future. AITWA also announced that all women truck drivers in India will receive the HH+ card & benefits free of cost.
IDFC First Bank joined hands with Highway Heroes+ to support the education of daughters of truck drivers from grades 9 to 12. AITWA announced that already 100 daughters have been registered on the launch date of this announcement.
AITWA and Lawyered's Highway Heroes+ Project is expected to have a significant influence on the lives of our hardworking truck drivers by transforming them from employees to national heroes. Please join us in honoring their selfless dedication, sacrifices, and dangers taken to advance our nation.
The government should learn from its mistakes in regulating social media companies (it hasn't) and get out in front of artificial intelligence before the tech becomes too powerful, argued Salesforce (CRM) co-founder, chairman, and CEO Marc Benioff.
"I think the government is going to have to really step it up and really offer another level of regulation," Benioff told Yahoo Finance Live (video above) at the company's Dreamforce conference. He acknowledged that AI technology is developing "much faster" than those in the industry thought.
Benioff has been a vocal critic of the business practices of social media companies, famously saying in 2020 that Facebook (META) is the "new cigarettes."
The government "obviously failed [on social media regulation]," Benioff added. "They get an F for social media and how they've handled them. We've seen that play out. I hope that in AI they really step up and do the right thing."
In this photo taken Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff speaks at a SPUR luncheon in San Francisco. (Eric Risberg/AP Photo)
As it stands, AI regulation has mostly been a dog and pony show between the government and tech leaders.
Just last week, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang, and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) CEO Sundar Pichai were among those summoned to Washington to discuss artificial intelligence.
Musk reportedly warned about civilizational risks posed by AI, while others in the room stressed the opportunities with the technology.
Despite the well-publicized gathering of the industry's elite, the timeline for AI regulation remains wildly unclear. What any regulation would look like is also murky meaning a wave of disruption is coming to businesses and society as large language models (LLMs) gain strength and widespread use.
"If AI is allowed to penetrate the global economy with only light regulation, the most likely outcome is higher growth but with a lot of disruption to existing industries," veteran Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid wrote in a new client note.
Story continues
Tech investor will.i.am is concerned about AI's power to alter public perception.
"2024 is going to be a pretty unique time because we will have so many different types of duping agents out there, where you're not going to decipher truth," the musician told Yahoo Finance Live at Dreamforce. "We are barely dealing with fake news."
While Big Tech awaits AI guidelines of any form from regulators, a company like Salesforce is full steam ahead in trying to supercharge its profits by unleashing new AI tools across its various lines of business.
A Williams-Sonoma (WSM) exhibition at Dreamforce gave a glimpse into how Salesforce's AI is powering furniture recommendations. And Slack a business Salesforce acquired in 2021 for $27.7 billion had a booth explaining how businesses could use new AI features on the platform to build improved marketing campaigns.
"The AI revolution is here," Benioff said. The regulators aren't.
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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The tensions between India and Canada reached a new height today over the allegations and counter-allegations linked to the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. In a retaliatory move, India today expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India after Canada expelled a senior Indian diplomat. The move comes after India rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge that New Delhi played a role in the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in Canada had been expelled, Joly said the Canadian government had expelled the Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader. Meanwhile, India rejected allegations made by Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament.
In the past few years, Canada has been the centre of anti-India demonstrations by Khalistanis and despite New Delhi raising concerns, Khalistani terrorists have even attacked Indian consulates. Many Hindu temples were also vandalised by the Khalistani terrorists in the last few years.
Sikh Population In Canada
Canada has the highest population of Sikhs outside their home state of Punjab. Canada is also home to one of the largest overseas communities of Indian origin, which number about 1.4 million out of an overall Canadian population of 40 million. About 7,70,000 people reported Sikhism as their religion in the 2021 census. As per the latest estimates, there are around 8 lakh Sikhs residing in Canada, majority of them have voting rights.
Sikhs And Canadian Politics
Canada's House Of Commons have a total of 338 MPs out of which 18 are Sikh MPs. According to reports, Punjabi has been the third-most spoken language in Canada, English being the first and French being the second. The Sikhs are a dominant ethnic group in Canada and hold majority influence in at least eight Parliamentary seats besides having a substantial presence in 15 other seats. Many times, these seats play a crucial role in tilting the balance in favour of any party. This is the reason that no political parties in Canada dare to upset Sikhs and don't take action against Khalistanis. (With agency inputs)
The Women's Reservation Bill has been long pending in the Parliament. With the ongoing special session, the reports of the initiative to increase space for women being cleared by the Union Cabinet have been welcomed by the Congress. Once passed the bill will provide reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. Amid these reports, the Congress party's communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh shared the history of the bill on X (formerly Twitter) along with a 2018 letter from Rahul Gandhi to the Prime Minister.
The old letter from Rahul Gandhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about "unconditional support" from Congress leaders to pass the bill ensuring reservation for women. The letter is now doing rounds on the internet.
Also read: New Parliament: Ganpati Bappa's Blessings, MPs' Photo Session, and Preparations for the New Parliament
"Our PM says he's a crusader for women's empowerment? Time for him to rise above party politics, walk-his-talk & have the Women's Reservation Bill passed by Parliament. The Congress offers him its unconditional support," the 2018 letter, reads.
In the letter, the Congress MP emphasized that the bill had received support from the BJP in the Upper House and had been dubbed "historic and momentous" by late Union minister Arun Jaitley, who was the Opposition leader at the time.
"On the issue of empowering women, let us stand together, rise above party politics, and send India a message that we believe the time for change has come," the letter added.
The bill was drafted by the UPA government in 2008, but after being approved by the Upper House two years later, it was placed on hold. The bill faced obstacles in the form of resistance from other parties and requests for a quota for backward classes within the women's quota, even though the BJP and the Congress have consistently backed it.
There was a lot of talk about the government supporting the bill and opposition leaders promoting women's reservations prior to the Parliament session. The subject came up again on Day One of the Special session's proceedings.
Speaking during the discussion on "Parliamentary Journey of 75 Years," Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge Starting with Samvidhan Sabha - Achievements, Experiences, Memories And Learnings" highlighted the uneven gender representation among elected officials, claiming that just 14 percent of parliament is made up of women, and only 10 percent of legislative assemblies are made up of women.
New Delhi: Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress President on Tuesday expressed her support for the Women Reservation Bill. She said that this bill is ours, implying that her party was committed to the long-awaited legislation. As she entered the Parliament for a momentous joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Sonia Gandhi said that the Womens Reservation Bill was her partys initiative and that she was happy that it was finally being introduced.
The historic bill, which aims to give 33 per cent quota to women in the lower house and the state assemblies, was approved by the Union Cabinet on Monday in a meeting led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but lapsed as it could not clear the Lok Sabha.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged the government to pass the bill as soon as possible. He said that the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had started the demand for the bill when the UPA was in power.
Jairam Ramesh, the Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, also welcomed the Cabinet decision and said that his party had been asking for the implementation of the bill for a long time. He posted on X that he was looking forward to the details of the bill. He also said that the bill could have been discussed in the all-party meeting before the special session and a consensus could have been reached instead of behind-the-scenes politics.
The bill proposes that one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies, including those reserved for SCs and STs, shall be reserved for women. The reservation will be done by an authority prescribed by Parliament. The reservation will expire after 15 years from the commencement of this Amendment Act.
New Delhi: The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has extended the due date for filing of Form 10B/10BB for FY 2022-23 to 31 October 2023. The due date for furnishing of ITR in Form ITR-7 for the AY 2023-24 has also been extended to 30 November 2023.
The CBDT circular said, On consideration of difficulties reported by the taxpayers and other stakeholders, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), in exercise of its powers under Section 119 of the Income-tax Act,1961 (Act), provides relaxation in respect of following compliances:
The due date of furnishing Audit report under clause(b) of the tenth proviso to clause(23C)of section 10 and sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 12A of the Income-tax Act,1961, in the case of a fund or trust or institution or any university or other educational institution or any hospital or other medical institution in Form 10B/Form 10BB for the Previous Year 2022-23, which is 30th September, 2023, is here by extended to 31st October, 2023.
CBDT further added, The due date of furnishing of Return of Income in Form ITR-7 for the Assessment Year2023- 24 in the case of assesses referred to in clause(a) of Explanation 2 to sub-section (1) of section 139 of the Act, which is 31st October, 2023, is here by extended to 30th November 2023.
The form ITR-7 can be used by any company/individual who is required to furnish return u/s 139(4A), 139(4B), 139(4C) or 139(4D) i.e. trusts, political parties, institutions and colleges.
SRINAGAR: Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday welcomed the Union cabinet's decision to approve the Women's Reservation Bill for discussion in parliament, calling it a great step. "Having navigated the rough terrain of a predominantly male political landscape myself, I am happy to see that finally, the Women Reservation Bill will become a reality. Despite constituting half of the population, we are grossly underrepresented. It's a great step," Mufti wrote on X. Minister of State Prahlad Singh Patel had on Monday posted on social media platform X that the Cabinet has approved the women's reservation bill but deleted the post within an hour.
Mufti said it was never too late to pass the bill in Parliament as women face a lot of challenges in the male-dominated political scene. "It is a good step. Though quite late, but never too late. I, being a woman myself, have gone through a lot and you have to face a lot of challenges in a male-dominated political scene," she was quoted as saying by PTI.
The former J&K chief minister said it was high time that women had a place on the decision table whether in state assembly or parliament. "Looking at the challenges, the atrocities women are facing across the country, I think, this is high time that the bill had been brought in," she added.
Mufti concurred with former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's remark "bill is ours" pointing out that it was her husband, late former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who had laid the foundation for an equitable proportion for women by giving them 33 per cent reservation in the panchayats.
She said there is a huge women's force which is ready to get into assemblies and parliament and called the panchayat the foundational ground where women can be groomed for a larger responsibility. "It (Bill) was passed by the Rajya Sabha during the UPA tenure, but it was not passed in the Lok Sabha after many regional parties opposed it because they wanted a quota within a quota for backward, downtrodden women classes, which is a different thing.
'But, I think Sonia ji is right it was brought by the Congress, and now the BJP is doing it, they have to do it together, it is a good thing," Mufti said.
'We welcome it': AAP On Women's Reservation Bill
AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi on Tuesday extended support to the Women's Reservation Bill, which was cleared by the union cabinet a day earlier. "We welcome it. We extend our full support to this bill. There is a very limited representative of women in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and Vidhan Sabha as well, so definitely we welcome the bill", Atishi said while speaking to ANI.
"But I would like to say that there is already reservation in the municipality or Panchayats. Despite this, no major change occurs in the life of a common woman. We would want the government to provide reservations in government jobs too. This also should be introduced in the parliament", she added.
Mayawati Demands Separate Quota For OBC, SC & ST Women
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has said that a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections in the reservation should be ensured in the bill. Mayawati said Along with BSP, most of the parties will give their vote in the favour of Women's Reservation Bill. We expect that after the discussion this bill will get passed this time as it has been pending for a long. I said earlier on behalf of my party in the Parliament that women get 50% reservation instead of the proposed 33% in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, keeping in mind the population of women. I hope the Government will think about it. Also, a separate quota for the women from OBC, SC and ST sections should be ensured in the reservation for women or it will be unfair to them.
The Women's Reservation Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that the government is bringing a new Bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies and that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment.
Making his first speech in the new building of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the government has decided to bring Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses," PM Modi said in Lok Sabha.
He said the Bill would strengthen democracy and appealed to members to pass it unanimously. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament.
The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.
NEW DELHI: In the midst of a controversy surrounding the alleged killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada has updated its travel advisory, urging its citizens to refrain from travelling to India, especially the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, due to an elevated risk of terrorism.
The Canadian government stated in its updated travel advisory for India: "Avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest, and kidnapping. This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh."
"Avoid all travel to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir due to the unpredictable security situation. There is a threat of terrorism, militancy, civil unrest and kidnapping. This advisory excludes travelling to or within the Union Territory of Ladakh," says Canada in its pic.twitter.com/AxV7aZ18q3 ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
This development coincides with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's call for India to treat Canada's allegations of potential involvement in Nijjar's killing with "utmost seriousness," a sentiment echoed by Washington.
Trudeau, speaking on Monday, accused the Indian government of being complicit in the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, emphasizing that Canada sought a proper response from New Delhi. According to CBC News, he clarified later that Canada did not aim to ''provoke'' or ''escalate tensions'' and stressed the need for a factual investigation into the matter.
The Canadian Prime Minister alleged that Canadian security agencies were actively pursuing credible links between individuals associated with the Indian government and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen and the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
Nijjar, who was wanted in India, was fatally shot outside a Gurdwara's parking area in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18.
India, however, categorically dismissed Trudeau's allegations regarding government involvement in Nijjar's shooting as "absurd" and "motivated," calling them a violation of sovereignty and rejecting interference in internal matters.
In response to the escalating diplomatic tension, India expelled a senior Canadian diplomat, the head of Canadian intelligence in India, and voiced concerns about Canadian diplomats' interference and alleged involvement in anti-India activities.
Trudeau's accusation is perceived to further strain bilateral relations, already strained by pro-Khalistan activities in Canada and related issues like the targeting of Indian diplomatic premises and incitement of violence against Indian officials.
New Delhi: The top LeT commander Uzair Khan was eliminated in the Anantnag encounter, and his weapon was recovered, said ADGP Police Vijay Kumar. He also said that another militants body was found at the site. The operation has ended, but the search is still on. ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar said that the anti-terror operation at Anantnag was not over yet and that many areas were still to be searched. He asked the public to stay away from the site. He said that they had information about two or three terrorists and that they had killed the LeT Commander and recovered his body. He said that they had also seen another body and that they were searching for the third one.
Talking to reporters, Kumar said that Uzair Khan, who was involved in the killing of an army Colonel, Major and a DySP on the first day of the gunfight. Uzair Khan has been killed and his body has been retrieved. There is another body of terrorists lying on the ground. We had information about the presence of two to three terrorists in the area, he said
Asked whether the operation has been called off, he said that search operation will remain on form some. I urge the locals not to go closer to the encounter site as unexploded grenades or shells may cause harm to them, he said. On total casualties from the security forces side, the ADGP said: Three officers, two from army and one from police besides a soldier were killed in the encounter.
Northern army commander Lt General Upendera Divwedi had also visited the spot and reviewed the operation. The army and police had pressed on the latest gadgets including Heron, Hexacopter , drones, quad copters, RPGs, grenades, and drone-fitted guns to eliminate the terrorists. The operation was biggest in the Kashmir as it took security forces seven days to eliminate the terrorists.
Meanwhile, a soldier who had been reported missing since Wednesday was found dead, the Indian Army officials said on Monday. According to the Army officials, Sepoy Pradeep Singh, aged 27 years, has been missing since September 13 and was found dead at around 5 pm on Monday. He was part of the Kokernag operations.
New Delhi: Congress president and Leader Of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that the women from the backward and ST categories don't get big opportunities despite the Narendra Modi government introducing the bill on women's reservation in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies and making big claims on empowering the women of India. Kharge, while speaking on the Women's Reservation Bill, accused the NDA government of discrediting the erstwhile Congress-led UPA government for introducing the bill for the first time.
"...They don't give us credit but I want to bring to their notice that the Womens Reservation Bill was already passed in 2010 but it was stopped..." Kharge said. The Congress veteran continued to add, "Literacy rate of women from scheduled caste is less and that's why political parties have a habit of choosing weak women and they won't choose those who're educated and can fight."
#WATCH | " Literacy rate of women from scheduled caste is less and that's why political parties have a habit of choosing weak women and they won't choose those who're educated and can fight", says Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge pic.twitter.com/QTD2Y4vftl ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
However, Kharge's remarks sparked controversy in Rajya Sabha, prompting Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to object. Sitharaman emphasized that such sweeping statements about the effectiveness of women candidates were unacceptable. "We respect the leader of the opposition but to make a sweeping statement that all parties choose women who are not effective is absolutely unacceptable. We all have been empowered by our party, President Draupadi Murmu is an empowered woman..." the FM said while objecting to his statement.
#WATCH | On Mallikarjun Kharge's statement, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says, "We respect the leader of the opposition but to make a sweeping statement that all parties choose women who are not effective is absolutely unacceptable. We all have been empowered by our pic.twitter.com/AFFibLyovo ANI (@ANI) September 19, 2023
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Arjun Ram Meghwal said that once the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is passed, the number of seats for women in Lok Sabha will increase to 181.
Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on Wednesday, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21 government sources said.
Earlier in his address in the Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building, PM Modi said that The 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will ensure more women become members of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies. "Discussion on Women's Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee's regime Women's Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses..." PM Modi said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech, said that God has given him the opportunity to take forward the task of women empowerment. Making his first speech in the new building of Parliament, the Prime Minister said the government has decided to bring Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
He said the Bill would strengthen democracy and appealed to members to pass it unanimously. The Women Reservation Bill that seeks to guarantee 33 per quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies was introduced as the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill by the Union law minister.
This was the first agenda of the day taken up by the Lower House in the new Parliament building. The five-day special session of the Parliament began on Monday. Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament.
New Delhi: India on Tuesday rejected the allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau regarding the Indian governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. In a statement the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated. We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEA in an official statement.
Allegations of the Indian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated the release added. Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected, said the official release. The release said India is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, it added.
The release states that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elementsand that remain a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new read the release. India has strongly rejected any attempts to connect the government to such developments.
We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA said. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, CBC News reported.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added.
He informed further that he was coordinating with Canadian allies on this issue. "As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he said.
New Delhi: India on Tuesday expelled a senior Canadian diplomat to India in a reciprocal move to Canada expelling a senior Indian diplomat. The move comes after India rejected as "absurd and motivated" Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's charge that India played a role in the June killing of a Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Canadian High Commissioner to India, Cameron MacKay was summoned today to the South Block, the headquarters of Ministry of External Affairs. "The High Commissioner of Canada to India was summoned today and informed about the decision of the Government of India to expel a senior Canadian diplomat based in India, a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said today.
"The concerned diplomat has been asked to leave India within the next five days. The decision reflects the Government of Indias growing concern at the interference of Canadian diplomats in our internal matters and their involvement in anti-India activities," it said.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly on Monday said an Indian diplomat in Canada had been expelled, Joly said the Canadian government had expelled the Indian diplomat over allegations of the country's involvement in the killing of the Khalistani leader
We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable, and so, that is also why were coming (out) with this information (of the expulsion of the Indian diplomat) today, Joly said at a news conference. Meanwhile, India rejected allegations made by Trudeau in the Canadian Parliament.
We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister said the MEA in an official statement. Allegations of the Indian governments involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated a statement said.
Similar allegations were made by the Canadian Prime Minister to our Prime Minister and were completely rejected, said the official release. The statement said India is a democratic polity with a strong commitment to the rule of law.
Such unsubstantiated allegations seek to shift the focus from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been provided shelter in Canada and continue to threaten Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity. The inaction of the Canadian Government on this matter has been a long-standing and continuing concern, the MEA statement said.
The release states that Canadian political figures have openly expressed sympathy for such elements and that remain a matter of deep concern. The space given in Canada to a range of illegal activities including murders, human trafficking and organised crime is not new read the release.
India has strongly rejected any attempts to connect the government to such developments. We urge the Government of Canada to take prompt and effective legal action against all anti-India elements operating from their soil, the MEA said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday accused the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Khalistan Tiger Force chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, CBC News reported.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Earlier on Monday, speaking in a debate in the Canadian Parliament, Canadian PM Trudeau claimed his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara.
"Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said. He stated that the involvement of a foreign hand or government in the killing of a Canadian citizen in Canada was unacceptable.
"Any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. It is contrary to the fundamental rules by which free, open, and democratic societies conduct themselves," Trudeau added.
He informed further that he was coordinating with Canadian allies on this issue. "As you would expect, we have been working closely and coordinating with our allies on this very serious matter," he said.
Key Insights
Air New Zealand will host its Annual General Meeting on 26th of September
CEO Greg Foran's total compensation includes salary of NZ$1.80m
Total compensation is similar to the industry average
Air New Zealand's EPS grew by 57% over the past three years while total shareholder return over the past three years was 0.9%
Under the guidance of CEO Greg Foran, Air New Zealand Limited (NZSE:AIR) has performed reasonably well recently. This is something shareholders will keep in mind as they cast their votes on company resolutions such as executive remuneration in the upcoming AGM on 26th of September. Based on our analysis of the data below, we think CEO compensation seems reasonable for now.
Check out our latest analysis for Air New Zealand
Comparing Air New Zealand Limited's CEO Compensation With The Industry
According to our data, Air New Zealand Limited has a market capitalization of NZ$2.5b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth NZ$4.0m over the year to June 2023. Notably, that's an increase of 9.8% over the year before. We think total compensation is more important but our data shows that the CEO salary is lower, at NZ$1.8m.
For comparison, other companies in the New Zealand Airlines industry with market capitalizations ranging between NZ$1.7b and NZ$5.4b had a median total CEO compensation of NZ$5.4m. From this we gather that Greg Foran is paid around the median for CEOs in the industry. Furthermore, Greg Foran directly owns NZ$3.1m worth of shares in the company.
Component 2023 2022 Proportion (2023) Salary NZ$1.8m NZ$1.7m 45% Other NZ$2.2m NZ$1.9m 55% Total Compensation NZ$4.0m NZ$3.6m 100%
On an industry level, around 32% of total compensation represents salary and 68% is other remuneration. According to our research, Air New Zealand has allocated a higher percentage of pay to salary in comparison to the wider industry. If total compensation is slanted towards non-salary benefits, it indicates that CEO pay is linked to company performance.
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A Look at Air New Zealand Limited's Growth Numbers
Air New Zealand Limited has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 57% a year over the past three years. Its revenue is up 132% over the last year.
Shareholders would be glad to know that the company has improved itself over the last few years. Most shareholders would be pleased to see strong revenue growth combined with EPS growth. This combo suggests a fast growing business. Historical performance can sometimes be a good indicator on what's coming up next but if you want to peer into the company's future you might be interested in this free visualization of analyst forecasts.
Has Air New Zealand Limited Been A Good Investment?
Air New Zealand Limited has generated a total shareholder return of 0.9% over three years, so most shareholders wouldn't be too disappointed. Although, there's always room to improve. Accordingly, a proposal to increase CEO remuneration without seeing an improvement in shareholder returns might not be met favorably by most shareholders.
To Conclude...
Seeing that the company has put up a decent performance, only a few shareholders, if any at all, might have questions about the CEO pay in the upcoming AGM. In saying that, any proposed increase to CEO compensation will still be assessed on how reasonable it is based on performance and industry benchmarks.
CEO compensation is a crucial aspect to keep your eyes on but investors also need to keep their eyes open for other issues related to business performance. That's why we did some digging and identified 1 warning sign for Air New Zealand that you should be aware of before investing.
Switching gears from Air New Zealand, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.
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.
Pre-wedding shoots have been for some time an integral part of marriage photo shoots. While it's not an uncommon thing anymore, a recent photoshoot of a Hyderabad police couple has gone viral on social media and has sparked debate on social media. The video is around two minutes and it shows the couple - two police officers - in their cop uniform and they are seen entering the station as in a movie. The rest of the video shows the couple singing and dancing in picturesque locations across the city, including the Charminar and the Laad Bazaar.
Check out the video here:
The video has evoked mixed reactions. While some said they understand their excitement, others have criticised the use of public money, public property and cops' uniforms for the purpose. One user wrote, "They are using public property for personal use, absolutely wrong." Another wrote, "This is not in good taste and should be discouraged for all government servants. There is a code but there should be a rule/law stating a no in uniform."
However, some have come out in support of the couple. "I don't see any harm in this. People show in the shoots what their job is and in this case, they are switching their personalities from hardcore police officers to romantic couples. Truly appreciate the creativity and thought. This is the same what is shown in movies," one user wrote.
Seeing the video, Senior IPS officer CV Anand reacted on X (formerly Twitter): "I have seen mixed reactions to this. Honestly, they seem to be a little overexcited about their marriage, and that's great news, though a little embarrassing. Policing is a very, very tough job, especially for ladies. And her finding a spouse in the department is an occasion for all of us to celebrate. The fact that it's two police officers, I find nothing wrong in them using the police department property and symbols. If they had informed us earlier, we would have definitely given consent for the shoot. He added a dash of humour, saying, "Some of us may feel outraged, but I feel like meeting them and blessing them, though they didnt invite me to their wedding. Of course, I advise others not to repeat this without proper permission."
New Delhi: Actress Kangana Ranaut, who was among the special women invitees at the Parliament, on Tuesday extended support to the Women's Reservation Bill, which was introduced today in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building. Talking to the media Kangana said, This is a wonderful idea, this is all because of our honourable PM Modi and this govt and his thoughtfulness towards the upliftment of women."
Kangana talked about how the first session of the new parliament was dedicated to women's empowerment. She credits the whole thing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Kangana Ranaut shared how since Modi's election she has seen changes where women have taken important roles. "The first session of the new Parliament has been dedicated to women empowerment and upliftment...PM Modi has kept women as the priority...This is fantastic...," she said.
The actress called the era a new age. When asked whether this change will inspire her to enter into the world of politics, she said it's very encouraging for women to make a career in politics which is very much male-dominated. Kangana also discussed the issues faced by women and young girls. The 'Emergency' actress says that the nation definitely needs a reservation for women in politics.
Kangana called it a historic day not just for the women of the country but the whole nation. The national-award winner also talked about her upcoming film 'Tejas'.
Esha Gupta hails PM Narendra Modi for his initiative
The 'Aashram' actress Esha Gupta was seen arriving at the new Parliament building in a saree on Tuesday. She was visibly gushing about the first session of the new parliament. The actress expressed her sentiments calling this move by PM Modi 'a beautiful thing'. Esha Gupta called it a progressive thought and further shared that since childhood, she thought of joining politics. The 'Raaz Reboot' actress also makes a shocking claim that if the bill is passed, people might get to see her in politics in 2026. "It's a beautiful thing that PM Modi has taken this step during the first session in the new Parliament. It's a very progressive thought...I had thought of joining politics since childhood...Let's see if this bill is passed, you will see me in 2026...," she wa quoted as saying.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Women's Reservation Bill, Actress Esha Gupta says, "It's a beautiful thing that PM Modi has taken this step during the first session in the new Parliament. It's a very progressive thought...I had thought of joining politics since childhood...Let's see if_ pic.twitter.com/RgKjQrN8wf September 19, 2023
Womens Reservation Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010 and it was not taken up in Lok Sabha and lapsed in the lower House of Parliament. Union Minister Anurag Thakur distributed sweets to special women invitees, at the Parliament on Tuesday.
The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the Bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long.
The Women's Reservation Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on Wednesday, September 20. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 21, government sources told ANI.
(With inputs from ANI)
OTTAWA: A day after Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau levelled 'allegations' on India being linked to the killing of Khalistan Tiger Force Chief Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Trudeau said on Tuesday that Ottawa wants New Delhi to address the issue properly, CBC news reported. Trudeau said that Canada is not trying to provoke India by any means.
"We are not looking to provoke or escalate. We are simply laying out the facts as we understand them," the Canadian Prime Minister told reporters, according to CBC news. "The government of India needs to take this matter with the utmost seriousness. We are doing that," he said.
"As for Canada, I said yesterday...we are going to remain calm, we are going to remain grounded in our democratic principles and values.... and we are going to follow the evidence and make sure the work is done...," he added. CBC News is a Canada-based media company, a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Najjar, who was wanted in India, was gunned down outside a Gurdwara, in a parking area in Canada's Surrey, British Columbia on June 18. Hailing from Bharsinghpur village in Punjab's Jalandhar, Nijjar was based in Surrey and had been declared "absconder" by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
Canadian PM Trudeau on Monday alleged the Indian government of being behind the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Trudeau on Monday (US local time) claimed that his country's national security officials had reasons to believe that "agents of the Indian government" carried out the killing of the Canadian citizen, who also served as the president of Surrey's Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara. "Canadian security agencies have been actively pursuing credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar," Trudeau said.
India has, however, rejected the allegations by Canadian PM Trudeau regarding the governments involvement in the fatal shooting of Nijjar. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) termed the allegations absurd and motivated.
We have seen and reject the statement of the Canadian Prime Minister in their Parliament, as also the statement by their Foreign Minister, said the MEA in an official statement.
Scottsdale-based nonprofit HonorHealth has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle a disability discrimination case.
The settlement, announced Monday, resolves a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2020. The original lawsuit names plaintiffs who said that when they worked for HonorHealth, the health system failed to provide reasonable accommodations for their disabilities, including failing to provide job reassignments when they had disabilities that prevented them from performing their current jobs.
The money will go to about 100 people, and a vast majority are former HonorHealth employees, though a few are current, said Mary Jo ONeill, regional attorney of the EEOCs Phoenix District Office. O'Neill said the employees held a wide range of jobs, including nursing and IT and their disabilities also varied, and included heart issues and cancer treatment.
"The main reason I brought this case is to clarify and to hopefully tell employers, if someone becomes unable to do their job, you have an obligation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide them with reassignment that is a word that is actually in the statute, reassignment," O'Neill said.
In addition to the settlement money, HonorHealth agreed to review and update as necessary their Equal Employment Opportunity and reasonable accommodation policies to ensure they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and EEOC guidance, EEOC officials said. HonorHealth has also agreed to provide training on the ADA and its revised reasonable accommodation policies to its employees.
Nonprofit HonorHealth's headquarters are in Scottsdale.
Individuals with disabilities are a vital part of the workforce, O'Neill said in a written statement. We are very pleased that HonorHealth has resolved this matter and that they have reaffirmed their commitment to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and EEOC guidance on the ADA. We encourage all employers to develop policies and practices that ensure their workplaces are free from disability discrimination.
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The original lawsuit recounts an instance where an employee who had worked for the health care system for a decade was injured in an HonorHealth parking lot and had surgery that limited her ability to lift anything. The woman notified HonorHealth and requested reasonable accommodation, court documents say, but ultimately she was fired after HonorHealth told her she'd need to find a new job within the system, and she was unable to get one.
Officials with HonorHealth on Monday said they are committed to complying with all employment laws, supporting employees and "providing a respectful and inclusive place to work" and that throughout the litigation process the company has contended that it complies with ADA policies and accommodates employees needs as required under the law.
"We are pleased we could resolve this case through a settlement agreement and without the EEOC requiring a consent decree," the statement says. "Our focus will continue to be providing a safe and supportive environment for our employees and patients to work and to heal."
Reach health care reporter Stephanie Innes at Stephanie.Innes@gannett.com or at 602-444-8369. Follow her on Twitter @stephanieinnes.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: HonorHealth to pay $1.75M to settle disability discrimination case
Singapore --News Direct-- HTX
Singapore / September 13, 2023 Huobi, the world's leading virtual assets exchange, today announced at TOKEN2049 that it will rebrand to HTX. As a platinum sponsor, HTX was invited to attend the event and launched an afterparty co-hosted with TRON, with other supporting partners like Enjin, SINOHOPE, Meta Era, Alibaba Cloud, DWF Labs, Fireblocks, and TokenInsight, at Singapore's premier venue Marquee. H.E. Justin Sun, Founder of TRON and Member of the HTX Global Advisory Board, unveiled the rebranding while celebrating the 10th anniversary of HTX.
Industry leaders and guests from Animoca Brands, Lido, Circle, CertiK, Pantera Capital, Polygon, among others, attended this event. Major media outlets such as Bloomberg, CoinDesk, WSJ, CNBC, Cointelegraph, and others were also part of this special moment for HTX.
HTX: A New Global Brand
The evening's most exciting moment came when Justin Sun revealed the exchange's new name HTX. Sun explained that "H" stands for Huobi, "T" represents TRON with a commitment to being all in TRON, and "X" stands for the exchange. Looking at HTX through the combination of HT and X, HT represents the native token of the platform while X symbolizes the exchange. Hence, HTX is an exchange with its native token of HT. On the other hand, X is the Roman numeral for 10, which pays tributes to HTXs 10th anniversary. It is a new era for the platform with synergy between HTX, TRON, and Poloniex. There is also a brand new slogan - "HTX, Just Trade It."
HTX's new mission is to build a metaverse free port with a vision to achieve financial freedom for 8 billion people on earth. HTX is embarking on a growth strategy of "global expansion, thriving ecosystem, wealth effect, and security and compliance."
HTX plans to expand its business globally by venturing into new markets with promising prospects across various countries and regions while maintaining a balanced growth. HTX aims to keep ahead of the latest developments in the crypto market. With a primary focus on growth and profitability, HTX is providing users worldwide with professional services and a diverse product lineup, including PrimeVote, Flexi Max, Shark Fin, and more. HTX will also strategically partner with public chains like TRON, cross-chain protocols like the BitTorrent Chain, as well as stablecoin projects such as TrueUSD. HTX will continue to expand its partnerships with different projects, public chains, stablecoins, and foster a multi-dimensional business ecosystem through collaborative efforts.
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HTX selects premium new assets worldwide by focusing on quality and timeliness. HTX wishes to empower the community to choose which assets they want to list. After the rebranding, HTX's listing strategy will start a new phase by expanding its ecosystem with new assets listings. The platform will select premium and popular assets from around the world by introducing all-star projects that come with volume, popularity, and new trends. Additionally, HTX will deepen collaborations with mainstream ecosystems, including but not limited to public chain, Layer 2, and memecoins. At the same time, it will continue to enhance core products such as PrimeVote and PrimePool and will do whatever it takes to empower the community to decide which assets to list.
The platform is also striving to promote the sustainable growth of decentralization by reducing the risk of centralized crypto trading for users and enhancing its efforts on asset security. HTX will globally distribute user assets through a decentralized custody system, with 24/7 customer service. This will ensure the platform stays operational in the event of policy changes in any single country or region. HTX will also provide regular updates of Merkle tree-based Proof of Reserves and establish risk reserve and liquidity funds.
X Prize: HTX's Special Prize for the 10th Anniversary Celebration
HTX has left an important mark as a centralized exchange. It has achieved significant milestones by overcoming a number of challenges. As of August 31, 2023, HTX has accumulated 44 million registered users, over 9 million trading users, a cumulative trading volume of over 31 trillion USDT, all-time high platform assets of more than 60 billion USDT, and the most monthly active users of over 3 million. It has maintained 100% functionality and no major security incidents for the past ten years.
On its 10th anniversary, HTX is surprising users with a special X Prize. Justin Sun announced the official launch of a special edition of the HTX Mars Program at the Huobi X TRON Afterparty at TOKEN2049. This is the third round of the campaign, which starts at 12:00 (UTC) on September 13. This exclusive X Prize package includes a chance to win a coveted $6 million space flight ticket, a round trip experience on a private jet, and the latest Tesla Model 3 (distributed in the form of 20,000 USDT and 20,000 USDT in futures trial bonuses). To be eligible for the "X Prize," participants need to complete the designated tasks before 15:59 (UTC) on October 3 and get their Space NFTs minted before 15:59 (UTC) on October 8. The lucky winner will be announced on a HTX livestream at 12:00 (UTC) on October 11.
In further rounds of the Mars Program, lucky winners could win a round trip experience on a private jet. And for each successful NFT minting, participating users will earn a chance to enter a lucky draw where they can win exciting rewards like futures trial bonuses, fee cashback vouchers, Prime trial membership, Prime level-up coupons, and APY booster coupons for HTX Earn products.
Adding to the excitement, HTX will have special celebrations across various businesses including spot, futures, and wealth management. Users can try their luck and claim their share of rewards.
With ongoing innovation of business models and the maturation of products, HTX is well positioned to benefit from the next significant wave of opportunities. HTX is ready to reaffirm its position in this evolving landscape. Its mission extends beyond blockchain and digital assets. Its goal is to build a Web3 metaverse free port, serving as a gateway for users to access the decentralized world and pave the path for a decentralized future.
About HTX
Founded in 2013, HTX has evolved from a crypto exchange into a comprehensive ecosystem of blockchain businesses that span digital asset trading, financial derivatives, wallets, research, investment, incubation and other areas. HTX serves millions of users worldwide, with a business presence covering over 160 countries and regions across five continents. Its three development strategies - "global development, technology drives development, and technology for good" underpin its commitment to providing comprehensive services and values to global cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Contact Details
Michael Wang
glo-media@htx-inc.com
Company Website
https://www.htx.com/
View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/huobi-rebrands-to-htx-at-token2049-665054392
Key Insights
The projected fair value for Abercrombie & Fitch is US$72.46 based on 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity
Abercrombie & Fitch's US$50.89 share price signals that it might be 30% undervalued
The US$58.50 analyst price target for ANF is 19% less than our estimate of fair value
Today we will run through one way of estimating the intrinsic value of Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. The Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model is the tool we will apply to do this. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.
We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.
Check out our latest analysis for Abercrombie & Fitch
Crunching The Numbers
We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:
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10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF ($, Millions) US$231.7m US$202.7m US$273.0m US$259.1m US$251.5m US$248.0m US$247.1m US$248.1m US$250.4m US$253.7m Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x3 Analyst x3 Analyst x1 Est @ -5.10% Est @ -2.93% Est @ -1.40% Est @ -0.34% Est @ 0.41% Est @ 0.93% Est @ 1.30% Present Value ($, Millions) Discounted @ 8.1% US$214 US$174 US$216 US$190 US$171 US$156 US$143 US$133 US$124 US$117
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$1.6b
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 2.2%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 8.1%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = US$254m (1 + 2.2%) (8.1% 2.2%) = US$4.4b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= US$4.4b ( 1 + 8.1%)10= US$2.0b
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$3.6b. 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$50.9, the company appears a touch undervalued at a 30% 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
The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Abercrombie & Fitch as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 8.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.185. 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 Abercrombie & Fitch
Strength
Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.
Debt is not viewed as a risk.
Weakness
No major weaknesses identified for ANF.
Opportunity
Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the American market.
Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.
Threat
Annual revenue is forecast to grow slower than the American market.
Looking Ahead:
Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. Can we work out why the company is trading at a discount to intrinsic value? For Abercrombie & Fitch, there are three further aspects you should look at:
Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Abercrombie & Fitch you should know about. Future Earnings: How does ANF'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
Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Scales fair value estimate is NZ$6.10
Scales is estimated to be 49% undervalued based on current share price of NZ$3.10
Industry average discount to fair value of 55% suggests Scales' peers are currently trading at a higher discount
In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Scales Corporation Limited (NZSE:SCL) by projecting its future cash flows and then discounting them to today's value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.
Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. For those who are keen learners of equity analysis, the Simply Wall St analysis model here may be something of interest to you.
View our latest analysis for Scales
The Method
We use what is known as a 2-stage model, which simply means we have two different periods of growth rates for the company's cash flows. Generally the first stage is higher growth, and the second stage is a lower growth phase. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. Seeing as no analyst estimates of free cash flow are available to us, we have extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the company's last reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.
A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, so we need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:
10-year free cash flow (FCF) estimate
2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (NZ$, Millions) NZ$32.8m NZ$34.3m NZ$35.6m NZ$36.9m NZ$38.0m NZ$39.1m NZ$40.1m NZ$41.1m NZ$42.2m NZ$43.2m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ 5.45% Est @ 4.51% Est @ 3.85% Est @ 3.39% Est @ 3.06% Est @ 2.84% Est @ 2.68% Est @ 2.57% Est @ 2.49% Est @ 2.44% Present Value (NZ$, Millions) Discounted @ 6.3% NZ$30.9 NZ$30.4 NZ$29.7 NZ$28.9 NZ$28.0 NZ$27.1 NZ$26.1 NZ$25.2 NZ$24.3 NZ$23.4
("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = NZ$274m
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We now need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all the future cash flows after this ten year period. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.3%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 6.3%.
Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033 (1 + g) (r g) = NZ$43m (1 + 2.3%) (6.3% 2.3%) = NZ$1.1b
Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= NZ$1.1b ( 1 + 6.3%)10= NZ$599m
The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is NZ$873m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of NZ$3.1, the company appears quite undervalued at a 49% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.
dcf
Important Assumptions
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 Scales as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.3%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.
SWOT Analysis for Scales
Strength
Debt is not viewed as a risk.
Weakness
Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Food market.
Opportunity
Expected to breakeven next year.
Has sufficient cash runway for more than 3 years based on current free cash flows.
Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.
Threat
No apparent threats visible for SCL.
Next Steps:
Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Instead the best use for a DCF model is to test certain assumptions and theories to see if they would lead to the company being undervalued or overvalued. For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Scales, we've compiled three pertinent factors you should assess:
Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Scales you should know about. Future Earnings: How does SCL'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 New Zealander 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.
The IRS wont target low-income Americans with tax investigations as much as it had in the past.
The agency this week said it plans to reduce audits for taxpayers who claim the earned income tax credit, or EITC, a tax benefit that largely helps lower-income households. Instead, it will focus its efforts on wealthier individuals and large corporations that are not footing their tax bill as well as bad actors who victimize taxpayers.
The move should free up tax refunds faster for the families who need them the most and go a long way toward addressing the racial disparity in tax audits.
"Over-reliance on audits to resolve basic errors can lead to fewer taxpayers receiving credits and deductions for which they are eligible and thus decrease accuracy in tax administration," Commissioner Daniel I. Werfel said in a letter Monday to the Senate Finance Committee. "We are making broad efforts to overhaul compliance efforts in a manner that robustly advances our commitment to fair, equitable, and effective tax administration."
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Almost half of the IRS audits in 2022 focused on families making less than $25,000 and claiming the EITC, according to Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. And the vast majority of those received the audit by mail.
That can drag out the audit process, hurting lower-income households that depend on tax refunds to pay bills and other necessities. Tax refunds can make up as much as 30% of a low-income familys annual income, Joanna Ain, associate director of policy for nonprofit Prosperity Now, previously told Yahoo Finance.
If these taxpayers need to amend a return during an audit, that process can take up to 16 additional weeks.
These households also have a harder time navigating the audit process, because unlike wealthier taxpayers, they dont typically have lawyers involved.
"Correspondence audit letters fail to provide a point of contact," Erin Collins, the National Taxpayer Advocate, wrote in her annual report to Congress. "Low-income taxpayers encounter communication barriers that hinder audit resolution, leading to increased burdens and downstream consequences for taxpayers."
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The agencys latest move may alleviate some of that burden.
Internal Revenue Service building in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24. (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The effort also comes after a study by Stanford in conjunction with the Treasury this year found that the Internal Revenue Service audits Black taxpayers 2.9 to 4.7 times the rate of non-Black taxpayers, with the "main source of the disparity" stemming from claiming the EITC.
A disparity in audit rates still existed among Black taxpayers who did not claim EITC benefits.
"The Commissioner's letter to the Senate was a great first start," Dorothy Brown, lawyer and tax professor at Georgetown Law, told Yahoo Finance. "Going forward, he needs to ensure that regardless of income level, Black taxpayers are not more likely to be audited than non-Black taxpayers."
The agencys new focus is on "unscrupulous return preparers and other bad actors" such as those who file tax returns for more vulnerable taxpayers like low-income earners, taxpayers of color, and filers whose first language is not English.
The agency believes targeting these bad actors will help reduce the number of taxpayers at risk of audit.
"The initiative outlined in this letter is an outcome of the incredible work of legal thinkers and tax law professors like Dorothy Brown and Steven Dean to bring this disparity to the attention of the media and policymakers," Ain told Yahoo Finance.
"The need to focus tax audits on the wealthy and corporations and high-end tax evasion rather than households with low-incomes and households of color is critical to putting forward a fair and equitable tax code."
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
Value-driven investors are constantly seeking stocks that are undervalued. Kenon Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KEN) is one such stock that warrants closer scrutiny. Currently priced at $24.58, the stock recorded a daily gain of 3.26% and a 3-month decrease of 5.91%. The stock's fair value, as indicated by its GF Value, is $48.77. However, investors should be aware of the potential risks associated with Kenon Holdings, as suggested by its low Altman Z-score of 0.8. This suggests that despite its apparent undervaluation, Kenon Holdings might be a potential value trap.
Understanding the GF Value
The GF Value represents the current intrinsic value of a stock, derived from our unique methodology. It is calculated based on historical multiples (PE Ratio, PS Ratio, PB Ratio and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow), GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth, and 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. Conversely, if it is significantly below the GF Value Line, its future return will likely be higher.
Kenon Holdings (KEN): A Smart Investment or a Value Trap? An In-Depth Exploration
Unpacking the Altman Z-score
Before delving into the details, it's essential 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. A score below 1.8 suggests a high likelihood of financial distress, while a score above 3 indicates a low risk.
Company Snapshot: Kenon Holdings
Kenon Holdings Ltd is a holding company that operates dynamic, growth-oriented businesses. It operates in the Israeli electricity generation sector, including the initiation, development, construction, and operation of power plants and the sale and supply of electricity. The company generates a majority of its revenue from Israel.
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Kenon Holdings (KEN): A Smart Investment or a Value Trap? An In-Depth Exploration
Kenon Holdings's Low Altman Z-Score: Key Drivers
A dissection of Kenon Holdings's Altman Z-score reveals that the company's financial health may be weak, suggesting possible financial distress.
Operational Efficiency: The Asset Turnover Ratio
When it comes to operational efficiency, a vital indicator for Kenon Holdings is its asset turnover. The data from the past three years (2021: 0.17; 2022: 0.13; 2023: 0.15) suggests a decreasing trend in this ratio. 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 Kenon Holdings's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales.
Is Kenon Holdings a Value Trap?
Despite its seemingly attractive valuation, the low Altman Z-Score and decreasing asset turnover ratio suggest that Kenon Holdings, might be a potential value trap. This emphasizes the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making. Investors should consider these risk factors and conduct a comprehensive analysis 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.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly tried to find an off-ramp to avoid a looming government shutdown. But he has been stymied again and again by the most conservative members of his caucus.
"I am frustrated with some people in the conference," he said recently.
The Speaker experienced another setback Tuesday as a bill to keep the government open for just one month badly stalled even among members of McCarthy's own party. McCarthy had championed the idea to propose spending cuts of more than 8% at many agencies and controversial border provisions in exchange for the temporary solution.
The compromise cleared one hurdle in the House's Rules Committee Monday night but was stopped in its tracks Tuesday following a new wave of statements that cast serious doubt on whether McCarthy will ever be able to unite his own members behind the proposal.
Many conservatives said it doesnt go far enough.
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy talks to reporters at the US Capitol on Sept. 18. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) estimated overnight that over 17 House Republicans currently oppose the deal. MISTAKE she wrote, calling for additional policy provisions that would also be surely rejected by the Senate. Another tally, from Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), put the number at 18.
Even some of McCarthys erstwhile allies have announced their opposition. Im a NO, wrote Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The influential Georgia congresswoman had been allied with McCarthy in previous fights, such as his quest for the speakership.
With Democrats certain to be unanimous in their opposition, House GOP leadership can only afford to lose four votes before the gambit goes down in defeat.
On Tuesday afternoon, a procedural vote on the deal was abruptly delayed just hours before it was set to take place as it became clear that McCarthy didn't have the votes for now to pass the deal.
The speaker now faces a key test of whether he can change enough minds to pass the bill as is, whether it will need to be amended to further appease the right wing, or whether the idea is simply dead.
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The economic costs
Many in the financial world are beginning to plan for a government shutdown that some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are calling inevitable.
"It's not inevitable, a shutdown is a choice," Neil Bradley, US Chamber of Commerce executive vice president, said in a recent Yahoo Finance Live interview.
This is becoming way too common of an occurrence and it's going to have lots of ripple effects through the economy, he added.
The growing question appears to be not if there is a shutdown, but how long it plays out. A protracted government shutdown that stretches into the winter could begin to extract noticeable economic effects not seen in other showdowns that were either shorter or didnt impact the entire government.
Economists are struggling to quantify the economic costs of a shutdown which could be one of the costliest ever especially as drama unfolds amid other events that could offer economic headwinds, from the ongoing UAW strike to the resumption of student loan payments.
Many businesses rely on the government for services and could be negatively impacted if the standoff drags out, added Bradley of the US Chamber of Commerce.
When you think about people who need visas and permits and government certifications to operate, those are the ones who are immediately impacted and and the longer a shutdown goes on, the more time is lost and the more negative consequences for all of those businesses, he said.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen added her voice Monday on the potential costs of a shutdown. She told Reuters that a shutdown would be "an unnecessary risk to the economy and to the normal functioning of government" pushing for bipartisan compromise but added that she didnt expect the risk to derail what she says is a fundamentally strong economy.
'I am frustrated'
McCarthy faced similar troubles with his caucus last week when he acceded to wishes for an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden largely to mollify his most conservative members.
But it was immediately evident that the move had done little to lessen any of the pressure for a shutdown.
McCarthy has told his members repeatedly in recent days that a shutdown would only benefit President Biden but appears to have failed so far to move his most rigid members. Some of his opponents are now openly calling for McCarthys ouster.
The back and forth has also gotten notably personal with figures like Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-Ind.) calling McCarthy a weak speaker and McCarthy himself using expletives during closed door meetings.
"I showed frustration in there," McCarthy acknowledged afterwards.
A closure sign is seen at the entrance of the Lincoln Memorial during a 2013 government shutodwn. (Basri Sahin/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
What makes things more complex for a budget fight is its happening in parallel to the questions about McCarthys job security.
A logical way to solve the budget problem would be for House Republicans to propose a more moderate option and seek votes from Democrats. But any move in that direction would almost surely spur efforts for McCarthys ouster.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has threatened to call for a vote to replace McCarthy every day Congress is in session, noting that the rules allow for a single member to call forth a "motion to vacate."
McCarthy for his part has long chided observers for underestimating him often dredging up past predictions that he couldnt be elected speaker or get a debt ceiling deal passed but his right flank has united in a new way in recent days saying that past compromises are lessons they dont want to repeat.
"Its gut check time for everyone," Gaetz recently wrote.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
Click here for politics news related to business and money
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Philip Verveer drafted the lawsuit that led to the breakup of AT&T when he was a young prosecutor for the Justice Department in the 1970s. He said the odds the DOJ can win its new antitrust case against online search giant Google (GOOG, GOOGL) are better than even.
"I think the government has a 50%-plus chance," he told Yahoo Finance.
Verveer, now 79 years old, sees some parallels in the two antitrust cases nearly 50 years apart. But he also acknowledged there are some new challenges that he and his colleagues didnt have to face, which will make the task of the current Justice Department more difficult.
American Telephone and Telegraph, known for decades as AT&T or "Ma Bell," was the telephone company for decades just as Google essentially is the choice for most Americans navigating the internet.
AT&T employed 1 million people and provided local and long-distance phone services for virtually the entire county; its ubiquitous TV ads urged you to "reach out and touch someone."
The last annual meeting of AT&T before it was broken up in 1984. (Bettmann Archive)
The Justice Department used a proposed lawsuit drafted by Verveer to sue AT&T in 1974, seeking a breakup of its phone service and phone equipment monopolies.
It got most of what it wanted in 1984 following a 1982 settlement that created a number of regional companies that eventually became the carriers that currently share the telecommunications market.
They include Verizon (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS) and the current version of AT&T (T).
John DeButts, left, and Charles L. Brown, right, led AT&T during efforts by the federal government to break up their empire in the 1970s and early 1980s. (Getty Images)
'That's the American way'
The implications of that case are still evident today, even if many Americans arent aware. It is the reason that the countrys 307 million smartphone users have essentially one choice to make when they get their phones up and running: designating a wireless provider.
The rest of smartphone services like the web browsing that Google dominates come pre-installed.
The AT&T and Google cases, Verveer said, are "quite similar" in that they are whats known in the legal world as "vertical foreclosure" cases. That means they seek to unravel business structures that allegedly abuse control of multiple markets to restrict the flow of competition.
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Verveer began investigating AT&T after a rival phone company called MCI began complaining to the Justice Department that AT&T was a monopoly that needed to be broken apart, according to Steve Coll's book about the case called "The Deal of the Century."
He concluded in April 1974 that the government had a strong argument and drew up a case for consideration by higher-ups. William Saxbe, a new attorney general working for new President Gerald Ford, gave the go-ahead in November of that year. Ford had become president following the resignation that summer of Richard Nixon.
The department handed the case to Verveer, who said he was 30 years old at the time and learned about the filing from a radio news report.
"Im not sure what Bill Saxbes personal motivation may have been, but the post-Nixon zeitgeist was distinctly good government," he said.
Former US Attorney General William Saxbe in his office at the Justice Department in 1974. (UPI/Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)
The judge in the AT&T case, Harold Greene, appeared to find favor with the government's arguments, which may have contributed to the company's willingness to settle. Greene said during the trial that the department had shown "the Bell System has violated the antitrust laws in a number of ways over a lengthy period of time."
He later said in an oral history that "I am perfectly content in my own view that the breakup was a good thing. It brought competition into a field where there hadn't been any competition, and that's the American way."
But Carl Hittinger, a partner with BakerHostetler who represented AT&T at the time, said in an interview with Yahoo Finance that the company should not have been punished for being innovative and figuring out how to link the entire country together.
Big monopolistic companies aren't always bad, he added, and a breakup shouldn't be the automatic remedy when anticompetitive conduct is found.
Hittinger cited some of the immediate problems that followed the breakup as a reason for caution. It was a period marked by higher residential telephone prices, a decline in the quality of service being provided to American consumers, and confusion about the role certain companies were playing, according to Coll's book.
"I think that that kind of thinking sometimes gets carried away," Hittinger said. "And as a result, you end up getting a bad result. That result, it's not good for the public and good for society."
Harold Greene, the federal judge who presided over the AT&T antitrust lawsuit. (Wally McNamee/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
A new legal landscape
Verveer and other antitrust experts said there is significant difference between now and when AT&T was in the government's sights that will make it more difficult for the DOJ to win the Google case. Namely, judges have taken a more limited view of what constitutes anti-competitive behavior.
Decades ago, price mattered less as a way to evaluate consumer harm. And violations could be construed by weighing the course of a defendants behavior, even if the isolated conduct was legal.
The major hurdle that prosecutors now face with Google is the presumption that lower, even free, prices are a consumer advantage and not necessarily anticompetitive. Consumers don't pay Google to search for information on the web, although advertisers do pay to be featured by the company in searches.
[S]earch engines are free, and consequently consumers dont pay. It is difficult to make an antitrust claim of harm to consumers for a service provided for free, former US Federal Trade Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth told Yahoo Finance.
Prosecutors are trying to get around that hurdle by arguing Google Search isn't truly free for consumers because they enter valuable personal data that Google keeps in exchange for search results.
One former FTC attorney, Michael Kades, told Congress in 2020 that "under current case law, it is arguable that the government could not have successfully pursued its claim that led to the breakup of [AT&T]."
Nevertheless, Verveer views the government's case against Google as winnable because he said nearly everyone, including the judge overseeing the trial, understands the significance of internet search and why it matters if Google, or any entity with an alleged 90% of the market, stifles competition.
The government's core argument is that Google abuses its power through contracts that secured its search engine as the default on computers and mobile devices, including Apples iPhones and computers. These contracts, Verveer said, damage the playing field for other search engines.
Google's lawyer, he said, failed to clearly answer a key question last week from Federal District Judge Amit Mehta, who asked if the company was going to show evidence of users who changed the default so they could switch from Google to another search engine.
"It was one of those ah ha moments," he said. "The answer is probably not good for Googles defense."
Department of Justice lawyers, including Kenneth Dintzer, center, and Megan Bellshaw, right, arrive at a federal courthouse in Washington last week for the start of the Google antitrust trial. (Nathan Howard/AP Photo)
Google "paid an awful lot of money to make themselves default and the inertial elements of consumer behavior are strong," he added, noting the alleged $10 billion that Google allegedly pays to device and software manufacturers.
"Make yourself the default and youve probably given yourself a terrific advantage."
Click here for the latest technology news that will impact the stock market.
Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
Alexis Keenan is a legal reporter for Yahoo Finance. Follow Alexis on Twitter @alexiskweed.
Key Insights
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Lockheed Martin's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
The top 17 shareholders own 50% of the company
Recent purchases by insiders
Every investor in Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) should be aware of the most powerful shareholder groups. We can see that institutions own the lion's share in the company with 75% 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.
Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Lockheed Martin, beginning with the chart below.
See our latest analysis for Lockheed Martin
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Lockheed Martin?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Lockheed Martin 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. It is not uncommon to see a big share price drop if two large institutional investors try to sell out of a stock at the same time. So it is worth checking the past earnings trajectory of Lockheed Martin, (below). Of course, keep in mind that there are other factors to consider, too.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Lockheed Martin is not owned by hedge funds. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is State Street Global Advisors, Inc. with 15% of shares outstanding. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is the second largest shareholder owning 8.7% of common stock, and BlackRock, Inc. holds about 6.6% of the company stock.
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After doing some more digging, we found that the top 17 have the combined ownership of 50% in the company, suggesting that no single shareholder has significant control over the company.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.
Insider Ownership Of Lockheed Martin
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.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Lockheed Martin Corporation in their own names. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own US$92m worth of shares. Arguably recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
General Public Ownership
With a 25% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over Lockheed Martin. While this group can't necessarily call the shots, it can certainly have a real influence on how the company is run.
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. Consider risks, for instance. Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Lockheed Martin you should know about.
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
Given the large stake in the stock by institutions, Bank of Montreal's stock price might be vulnerable to their trading decisions
The top 25 shareholders own 39% of the company
Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock
If you want to know who really controls Bank of Montreal (TSE:BMO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 52% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
Last week's CA$2.7b market cap gain would probably be appreciated by institutional investors, especially after a year of 2.1% losses.
In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of Bank of Montreal.
View our latest analysis for Bank of Montreal
What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Bank of Montreal?
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
Bank of Montreal 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. 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 Bank of Montreal's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.
Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Bank of Montreal. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is The Vanguard Group, Inc. with 3.7% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are BMO Asset Management Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada, Banking & Securities Investments, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 3.7%.
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Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.
Insider Ownership Of Bank of Montreal
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.
Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.
Our information suggests that Bank of Montreal insiders own under 1% of the company. As it is a large company, we'd only expect insiders to own a small percentage of it. But it's worth noting that they own CA$30m worth of shares. It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.
General Public Ownership
The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 48% stake in Bank of Montreal. 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:
While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important. Consider for instance, the ever-present spectre of investment risk. We've identified 2 warning signs with Bank of Montreal , and understanding them should be part of your investment process.
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.
Long-established in the Telecommunication Services industry, Lumen Technologies Inc (NYSE:LUMN) has enjoyed a stellar reputation. It has recently witnessed a daily gain of 5.92%, juxtaposed with a three-month change of -28.22%. However, 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 Lumen Technologies Inc.
Is Lumen Technologies Inc (LUMN) 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 Lumen Technologies Inc the GF Score of 52 out of 100, which signals poor future outperformance potential.
Company Snapshot: Lumen Technologies Inc
With a market cap of $1.62 billion and sales of $15.59 billion, Lumen Technologies Inc is one of the United States' largest telecommunications carriers serving global enterprises. The company has 450,000 route miles of fiber, including over 35,000 route miles of subsea fiber connecting Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Its merger with Level 3 in 2017 and divestiture of much of its incumbent local exchange carrier, or ILEC, business in 2022 has shifted the company's operations away from its legacy consumer business and toward enterprises (now nearly 80% of revenue). Lumen offers businesses a full menu of communications services, providing colocation and data center services, data transportation, and end-user phone and internet service. On the consumer side, Lumen provides broadband and phone service across 37 states, where it has 4.5 million broadband customers.
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Is Lumen Technologies Inc (LUMN) Set to Underperform? Analyzing the Factors Limiting Growth
Financial Strength Analysis
Lumen Technologies Inc's financial strength indicators present some concerning insights about the company's balance sheet health. The company's interest coverage ratio of 1.77 positions it worse than 78.22% of 303 companies in the Telecommunication Services 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-Scoreis just -0.95, 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 0.02 indicates a struggle in handling existing debt levels. The company's debt-to-equity ratio is 8.92, which is worse than 97.41% of 347 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. A high debt-to-equity ratio suggests over-reliance on borrowing and vulnerability to market fluctuations.
Growth Prospects
A lack of significant growth is another area where Lumen Technologies Inc seems to falter, as evidenced by the company's low Growth rank. The company's revenue has declined by -4.7 per year over the past three years, which underperforms worse than 78.1% of 379 companies in the Telecommunication Services industry. Stagnating revenues may pose concerns in a fast-evolving market. Lastly, Lumen Technologies Inc predictability rank is just one star out of five, adding to investor uncertainty regarding revenue and earnings consistency.
Is Lumen Technologies Inc (LUMN) 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 Lumen Technologies Inc has a rich history and a broad market presence, its financial indicators suggest that it may struggle to maintain its past performance. Investors should 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.
RE/MAX Concepts employees participating in a community volunteer project.
NO. 4 MID-SIZE WORKPLACE
Shane Torres, a broker and principal owner of RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts, follows a simple methodology in reviewing potential new agents for his company.
We are very selective as to who we bring in, he said. We have to know that they're wholeheartedly and 100% invested into being successful in real estate and just being good people. I mean, we can teach people how to do real estate, you can't teach people how to be a good person.
An international brand name in the commercial and residential industry, RE/MAX is unlike similar real estate companies in only charging agents a single, fair fee, allowing them to keep nearly all of the commission on transactions they handle. This simplified accounting increases the potential for employees to generate extra income as they close each deal.
In addition to working under a brand with very strong name recognition, Iowa agents gain access to workspaces around the state.
We offer key fobs to every agent and staff so that no matter where they're at, whether they're in the Des Moines area, or they're up in the Quad Cities, or Cedar Rapids or wherever, they're able to get into our office and utilize the space to work and get things done, 24/7, Torres said.
Torres and his team also encourage monthly educational sessions as an essential factor in their mutual success.
The staff leaders are constantly meeting with their teams and doing training and refreshing, Torres said. "So, from an agent's perspective, we have our own real estate school."
RE/MAX marketing strategist Madison Ward believes the ability for agents to set their own schedule has proven to be an important factor in attracting new and proven agents to the company.
"We want them to feel valued and be able to take off, to go to their kids softball game, or they have a doctor's appointment and not have to feel guilty about taking care of those important things. And I think that that really speaks to how we've been able to retain so many of our staff for such a long time, Ward said.
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RE/MAX Concepts
Locations: 12
Founded: 2000
Ownership: Private
Iowa employees: 400
Top executives: Owners Shane Torres, Matt Mauro and Ou Meksay
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Owner: Success for RE/MAX Concepts starts with hiring 'good people'
The 1 a.m. pay rise was discussed on the "Exchanges at Goldman Sachs" podcast. Getty
A hedge fund boss said he mainly hires people with no background in finance.
Peter Brown also said he once offered a worker a pay rise in the early morning hours.
Brown discussed his unusual hiring and retention strategies on a Goldman Sachs podcast.
The CEO of investment management firm Renaissance Technologies has said that when it came to hiring, he almost exclusively employed people with no background in finance.
Peter Brown was speaking on an episode of the podcast "Exchanges at Goldman Sachs."
He said he found it easier to teach "mathematicians about the markets than it is to teach mathematics and programming to people who know about the markets."
The New York-based company tended to avoid hiring people who had been at other finance firms, Brown added.
When it came to applicants, Brown said he looked for math and programming ability, as well as a strong work ethic and desire to work in a collegial environment.
The finance industry is still a huge draw for young graduates. This is particularly true for Gen Zers, who are more inclined to work in the finance industry than in previous years, research published by the CFA Institute in June found.
During the podcast discussion, Brown also said he gave an employee a pay rise so he could call him in the early morning hours.
Brown said he was working late at night with a colleague, whom he named only by his first name, and needed an answer from another employee.
He said: "It was around 1 o'clock in the morning and I picked up the phone to call him. And Jim says to me, 'Wait. You can't call this guy in the middle of the night. He doesn't make enough money.' So, I said, 'Fine. How about this? I'll call him. I'll tell him we're going to give him a raise. And then ask him our question.'"
"And so, that's what we did," he said.
Brown added that he often contacted employees late at night and sometimes slept in the office.
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"I'm just one of those types who can't sleep. Not by choice," he said. "I often am on the computer by around 2 a.m. And it's true, I tend to send a lot of emails out in the middle of the night."
The most recent Forbes data about Brown was compiled in 2019 and found that he had a net worth of $100 million.
Renaissance Technologies is one of the world's most successful hedge funds. Its founder, Jim Simons, has a net worth of $30.7 billion, Forbes data showed. Simons still plays a role at Renaissance although he retired in 2010, the outlet reported.
Representatives for Brown did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside normal working hours.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Market Data Library Logo
The Global Modular Isolation Switch Market is experiencing notable trends, including advancements in technology, with a focus on safety features, smart capabilities, and improved energy efficiency. The market is also expanding by tapping into emerging regions and markets that require these specialized switches, particularly in response to growing infrastructure development projects.
Brooklyn, New York, Sept. 19, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Modular Isolation Switch Market Report Overview:
The Modular Isolation Switch market report provides comprehensive insights into driving factors, restraints, opportunities, and trends, with provision of in-depth supporting information, data, and statistics and actionable insights. Though covered and provided extensively across the report, the data and information format are simple, yet dynamic in order to ensure ease of reading and understanding, as well as presenting and maximizing leverage and use. According to Market Data Library analysis, the Global Modular Isolation Switch Market is expected to register a CAGR of 7.3% during the forecast period of 2023 to 2031. Modular Isolation Switch Market is in demand as consumers are focussing on renewable energy sources to promote the sustainability factor. Other industries like mining, electrical also requires this kind of switches for better and safe and reliability.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Modular Isolation Switch Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14581
Modular Isolation Switch market share and revenues are provided in detail for previous years in order to showcase the evidence upon which our estimations and forecasts are based. Modular isolation switchmarket growth rates and differences, as well as comparisons and relatable data are provided to further support all findings. Data points are provided for each year from historical to end of forecast period and this format is followed for each segment region and respective countries, as well as sub-segments and others.
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Vital details of major companies in the market are provided in the company profile section of the report. Cover includes financials, recent developments, strategies, product launches, agreements, expansion, mergers & acquisitions, and others.
The Modular Isolation Switch market report is segmented according to type, applications and regions and countries. Regional segmentation includes North America (United States and Canada); Europe (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Poland, BENELUX, NORDIC, and Rest of Europe); Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand, & Rest of Asia Pacific); Latin America (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, & Rest of Latin America); Middle East & Africa (Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Israel, and Rest of MEA).
Modular Isolation Switch Market Trend Analysis and Insights:
Some of the key factors of the Global Modular Isolation Switch Market Trend Analysis and Insights:
Technological Advancements: The advancement in modular isolation switch technology includes safety features, smart capabilities, and enhanced energy efficiency contributes to the market trend.
Integration of Renewable Sources: Modular Isolation Switches play a crucial role in the integration of renewable sources such as wind and power into the electrical grid that requires specialized electrical components.
Emerging Markets: Modular Isolation Switch Market demand can be increased by merging with the region and markets that requires this kind of switch. This can lead to the market growth.
Growth in Infrastructure Development: The growth in the infrastructure projects including commercial, buildings can lead to the increase demand of modular isolation switch. These switches are required for the safe ad reliable factor in modern construction.
What Factors Are Restraining Growth of Modular Isolation Switch Market?
The factors that restrain the growth of Modular Isolation Switch Market are:
High Initial Costs: The initial investment for installing Modular Isolation Switch can be high. This cost factor may deter some customers from adopting these switches, especially in cost-sensitive markets.
Lack of Awareness: If contractors, builders and end-users are not fully aware of the benefits of Modular Isolation Switch, they may stick to the traditional switches only. This factor can restrain the growth of modular isolation switch market.
Competition from Alternatives: By convincing users to switch to modular isolation switch from traditional switches may be require to overcome and demonstrating the clear advantages. As traditional switches are well-established in the market.
Complex Installations: Modular isolation switches may be more complex to install as they are quite moderate in design as compared to the traditional switches. This can lead to installation time and costs high.
Economic Uncertainty: Economic downturn can lead to the reduction in construction and infrastructure projects that leads to the decrease in demand of modular isolation switch in the market.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Modular Isolation Switch Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14581
What are the Opportunities for Leading Modular Isolation Switch Manufacturers?
The Opportunities for Leading Modular Isolation Switch Market Manufacturers:
Technical Innovations: Manufacturers can innovate the design and feature of modular isolation switches such as remote monitoring, automation, and integration with smart building systems. This can lead to the growth of modular isolation switch market.
Global Expansion: Manufactures can expand the switch market by exploring new markets and regions where modular switches are in demand, this can lead the growth of modular isolation switch market.
Partnerships and Collaborations: Manufacturers can collaborate with the electrical and other construction industries for expanding the market. This can help in developing modern, sleek designs of switches, which can drive the growth of modular isolation switch.
Education Initiatives: Manufacturers can organize seminars, workshops and informative materials that can educate the customers about the benefits of modular isolation switch market that can drive the adoption of these kind of switch.
Sustainability Initiatives: As the consumers are more focussing on sustainable environment, manufacturers should start to take initiative toward the sustainability and eco-friendly materials that helps in driving the modular isolation switch market.
Region-wise Analysis of Modular Isolation Switch Market
What are the Factors Driving the Modular Isolation Switch Demand in North America Region?
North America is a hub for data centres that require high quality electrical components and reliable operation. The power distribution can manage through modular isolation switch. Additionally, the adoption of these switches can increase by the advancement in design and technology that offers improved functionality and safety features. All these factors can lead the growth of modular isolation switch market in this region.
What Fuels Modular Isolation Switch Demand in Europe?
In Europe, the rapid growth in the urbanization and industrialization sector boosts the demand of electrical components in new buildings and renovation. Manufacturers and industrial sector require safe and reliable electronic distribution systems. Moreover, these countries are focussed on energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption. And advancement in technology can lead the growth and demand of modular isolation switch market in this region.
What are the Factors Contributing to the Significant of Asia Pacific Modular Isolation Switch Market?
The Asia Pacific Region is experiencing a rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization sector that demands the advanced electrical components such as modular isolation switch. The advance technology in isolation switches in design, functionality leads to the demand of these switches in the market. Furthermore, the adoption of new and advanced technology is rising up that drives the isolation modular switch market.
What are the Aspects that are Driving the Modular Isolation Switch Market in Latin America?
Latin America is focussing on renewable energy sources like wind and solar power. To integrate these sources, isolation modular switch is required. The electrical safety regulations adoption is becoming more stringent in this region, this leads the high-quality electrical components such as modular isolation switch in demand. As the awareness of the benefits and features of the modular isolation switch increases, government also take the initiative to promote the safety regulation that leads the demand of modular isolation switch in the market.
What is the Stance on Modular Isolation Switch Market in Middle East and Africa?
In Middle East and Africa, industries like oil & gas, mining and manufacturing are focussing on safety standards and regulations. These sectors require reliable electrical systems like modular isolation switch. Additionally, the growth in urbanization drives the demand of these kind of switch to support safe and efficient power supply. The region is also investing in renewable energy sources that drives the modular isolation switch supply market demand.
Leading Modular Isolation Switch Manufacturers & Competitive Landscape:
The Modular Isolation Switch market is highly competitive, with several key players vying for market share and actively engaging in strategic initiatives. These companies focus on product innovation, technological advancements, and expanding their product portfolios to gain a competitive edge. These companies are continuously investing in research and development activities to enhance their product offerings and cater to the evolving needs of customers in terms of efficiency, performance, and sustainability.
Discover Valuable Insights into the Modular Isolation Switch Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14581
Company List:
SIEMENS AG
ABB
Schneider Electric
Eaton
Delixi Electric
Guangdong Meilan Rilan Electrical
Changshu Yikai Electric Manufacturing
Zhejiang Taixi Intelligent Technology
Shanghai Shilin Electric
People Electrical APPLIANCE Group
Yangzhou Xinling Switch Manufacturing
Research Scope
Report Metric Report Details Market size available for the years 2021-2031 Base Year 2022 Forecast Period 2023-2031 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) 7.3% Segment covered Type, Applications, and Regions Regions Covered North America: The U.S. & Canada
Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, & Rest of Latin America
Asia Pacific: China, India, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, ASEAN, & Rest of Asia Pacific
Europe: Germany, The U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Poland, BENELUX, NORDIC, & Rest of Europe
The Middle East & Africa: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, and Rest of MEA Fastest Growing Country in Europe Germany Largest Market North America Key Players SIEMENS AG, ABB, Schneider Electric, Eaton, Delixi Electric, Guangdong Meilan Rilan Electrical, Changshu Yikai Electric Manufacturing, Zhejiang Taixi Intelligent Technology, Shanghai Shilin Electric, People Electrical APPLIANCE Group, Yangzhou Xinling Switch Manufacturing
Discover Valuable Insights into the Modular Isolation Switch Industry With Our Free Sample Report - Download Now: https://marketdatalibrary.com/download-sample/14581
Modular Isolation Switch Market Segmentation:
By Type:
One Pole
Two Poles
Three Poles
Four Poles
By Applications:
Industrial
Commercial
Energy
Electrical
Others
By Region
North America
United States
Canada
Europe
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Russia
Poland
Benelux
Nordic
Rest of Europe
Asia Pacific
China
Japan
India
South Korea
ASEAN
Australia & New Zealand
Rest of Asia Pacific
Latin America
Brazil
Mexico
Argentina
Middle East & Africa
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Rest of MEA
Get this Report at a Special Discount: https://marketdatalibrary.com/buy-now/14581
Important Question Covered in this Report:
Q: What are some key factors driving revenue growth of the Modular Isolation Switch market?
A: Some key factors driving revenue growth of the Modular Isolation Switch market are Technological Advancements, Integration of Renewable Sources, Emerging Markets, Growth in infrastructure development and many more.
Q: What are some major challenges faced by companies in the Modular Isolation market?
A: Some major challenges faced by companies in the Modular Isolation market are High Initial Costs, Lack of Awareness, Competition from Alternatives, Complex Installations, Economic Uncertainty and many more.
Q: How is the competitive landscape in the Modular Isolation market?
A: The market is competitive, with key players focusing on technological advancements, product innovation, and strategic partnerships. Factors such as product quality, reliability, after-sales services, and customization capabilities play a significant role in determining competitiveness.
Q: What are the potential opportunities for companies in the Modular Isolation Market?
A: The potential opportunities for companies in the Modular Isolation Market are Technical Innovations, Global Expansion, Partnerships and Collaborations, Education initiatives and many more.
Q: How is the Modular Isolation Market segmented?
A: The market is segmented based on factors such as type, applications and regions.
CONTACT: Market Data Library Tel: +1-(718)-312-8686 Email: sales@marketdatalibrary.com Website: marketdatalibrary.com/
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High mortgage rates have been one of the factors crippling the housing industry. But now, high property insurance rates are also putting a damper on the sector, making it harder for consumers to find affordable housing.
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As Bloomberg reported, property developers in the country have been sounding the alarm. As property insurance rates continue to rise, the pipeline for much-needed housing construction especially new apartments with affordable units, will shut down.
Premiums and deductibles for policies required by mortgage lenders have shot up two- to three-fold over the last five years, frustrated developers say, according to Gothamist.
The reasons insurers cite to deny coverage are legion. Some of the increases have to do with natural disasters, but others appear to have little or no connection to risks related to wildfires, floodwaters or storm winds, according to Bloomberg.
For instance, a 2022 report by The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) found that between 2019 and 2021, insurance premiums increased by an average of 43% across 20,000 units of affordable and income-restricted housing.
Mortgages have requirements that nowadays cant be met with primary insurance providers, Barry Kahn, president and CEO of Houston-based developer Hettig/Kahn Companies told Bloomberg. Its going to result in a lot of affordable housing getting lost if something isnt done.
Housing Market 2023: These 15 Cities Are Poised for the Most Stable Growth and Are Likely To Keep Their Value
In turn, Gothamist reported that property owners are forced to find coverage on a separate market, known as the the excess and surplus market but its not subject to the same level of state oversight and, hence, has higher rates.
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This translates into them passing down the costs to tenants increasing their rents.
For instance, Brooklyn, N.Y. landlord Robert Lee, who rents to voucher recipients in his five Brooklyn buildings, told Gothamist that his insurance premium went up by 25% this year because he rents to subsidized tenants.
Landlords go for a 3% raise and [tenants ] want to shoot us. But this is one of the reasons why, Lee told Gothamist. There are companies that are declining and they are raising their rates because no one is paying any attention to them.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Mortgage and Insurance Rates Are Through the Roof Will Trend Continue in 2024?
New resource sets the record straight on top 10 myths driving largest healthcare expense for
American families and businesses
WASHINGTON, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hospital prices are the leading cause of high and rising healthcare costs for America's working families and the employers providing sponsored health benefits. To support employers and other healthcare purchasers in their efforts to demand fair hospital prices, the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) released a new resource, Setting the Record Straight: The Urgency of Achieving Hospital Fair Price.
For over 30 years, the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) has united business healthcare coalitions and their employer/purchaser members to achieve high-value care that improves patient experience, health equity, and outcomes. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and Taft-Hartley organizations that provide health benefits for more than 45 million Americans and spend over $400 billion on healthcare. (PRNewsfoto/National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions)
The report identifies and debunks 10 of the top hospital industry inaccuracies around high, rapidly rising, and indefensible hospital prices such as lack of correlation between hospital prices and actual cost of providing care; misplaced blame for rising costs on workforce staffing "crisis;" use of facility fees to systemically raise prices without raising value; negative impact of industry consolidation; and lack of market competition.
"We know there are hospitals out there doing the right things to ensure the overall health of the people and communities they serve," said Michael Thompson, National Alliance president and CEO. "We're looking to all hospitals to do right by their customers their patients by working in good faith to negotiate fair prices with employers and other plan sponsors who provide healthcare coverage to more than 70% of workers."
This resource was developed as part of the Hospital Fair Price initiative, a campaign of regional coalitions and their employer-purchaser members to leverage new and evolving transparency data. By working together, they are better able to exercise their market buying power to level the playing field of an increasingly consolidated hospital market. Members of this committed group are mobilizing to work with legislators, allies, and other healthcare influencers to demand action by federal and state policymakers with a results-oriented policy agenda focused on giving employers the tools they need to ensure fair prices for all Americans.
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Data indicates that for most hospitals a "fair price" for patients privately insured by employers is 140%-200% of what Medicare pays for the exact same products, procedures and services at the exact same facilities. Some hospitals charge 250% more for those services, with others even higher at 500% or more over Medicare. A fair price should allow for a reasonable markup from costs and a price that is competitive with peer hospitals.
The National Alliance gratefully acknowledges support from Arnold Ventures for its Hospital Fair Price initiative and industry partners National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), RAND Corporation, and Rice University for invaluable technical and subject-matter expertise.
The regional coalitions participating in the Hospital Fair Price initiative include: Connecticut Business Group on Health, Economic Alliance for Michigan, Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value, Greater Cincinnati Employers Group on Health, Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health, Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health, Midwest Business Group on Health, The PEACH Group, Nevada Business Group on Health, New Mexico Coalition for Healthcare Value, North Carolina Business Group on Health, Oklahoma Business Collective on Health, St. Louis Area Business Health Coalition, and Washington Health Alliance. Partner coalitions include: Employers' Forum of Indiana, Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine, Houston Business Coalition on Health, Purchaser Business Group on Health, and Rhode Island Business Group on Health.
About National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
The National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) is the only nonprofit, purchaser-led organization with a national and regional structure dedicated to driving health and healthcare value across the country. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and Taft-Hartley organizations, and more than 45 million Americans, spending over $400 billion annually on healthcare. To learn more, visit nationalalliancehealth.org .
Cision
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SOURCE National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
NANNING, China, Sept. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On September 17th, the 20th China-ASEAN Expo commenced in Guangxi, China. Nearly 1,700 companies from over 40 countries participated in the event, advancing China-ASEAN economic integration with new innovative and technological products. A standout presence at the expo was NETA Auto, which showcased its stellar lineup of vehicles. Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NETA Auto, attended major forums of this event.
Zhang Yong, co-founder and CEO of NETA Auto, attends China-ASEAN Expo
NETA Auto's exhibition booth attracted distinguished guests, including Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of Laos, Aung Zeya, Deputy Minister for Myanmar's Ministry of Science and Technology, and several other political dignitaries and company representatives from ASEAN countries. They highly recognized NETA Auto's global development.
NETA Auto will establish a strong presence throughout the entire ASEAN market within the next one to two years, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles (EVs) more accessible to the local population. Renowned for its exceptional intelligent features and top-tier product quality, NETA Auto has emerged as a popular Chinese smart EV brand in global markets. With a user base exceeding 330,000 worldwide, the company is actively pursuing its globalization strategy.
Welcome visitors with all-star product lineup
The potential for mutual success in the ASEAN market has been a key driver of NETA Auto's popularity as a new-energy auto brand in the region. The NETA V, positioned as a trendy intelligent vehicle born for the youth, frequently leading the rankings for pure electric vehicle registrations in Thailand. This model reflects NETA Auto's brand value, "Tech For All", with its feature-rich Level 2 intelligent driver support system, a spacious 14.6-inch intelligent central control screen, and a high-performance 8-core processor. The entire NETA Auto product lineup showcased at the expo garnered significant attention from participants from ASEAN nations and beyond.
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Target full coverage in ASEAN as part of the localization-based global strategy
In 2022, NETA Auto made its debut in Thailand, one of the largest car manufacturing nations in ASEAN, marking the beginning of its international expansion. Today, NETA Auto has emerged as a significant player in Thailand's automotive industry. From January to August this year, the NETA V held the second position in the registration charts for pure electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand, with a market share of nearly 20%. As of September, NETA Auto has achieved cumulative sales exceeding 10,000 units in Thailand.
NETA Auto has not only made significant strides in Thailand but has also accelerated its expansion efforts in other ASEAN markets. In Indonesia, the company has established a subsidiary and entered the Indonesian market. In Malaysia, NETA Auto has partnered with local collaborators to rapidly establish a presence. NETA Auto attaches great importance to the ASEAN market. It plans to deliver over 100,000 vehicles annually within approximately three years, solidifying its position as a driving force for the development of new energy in ASEAN and contributing to the creation of a better quality of life in the region.
At the 20th China-ASEAN Expo, NETA Auto continues to expand its global presence, forging multi-level, comprehensive strategic partnerships in the automotive industry with ASEAN and numerous countries worldwide. This move accelerates its transformation from being China's NETA to the world's NETA, making high-quality intelligent electric vehicles accessible on a global scale.
Cision
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SOURCE NETA Auto
(Bloomberg) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk are scheduled to spend an hour-long live broadcast discussing antisemitism and judicial reform when they meet in Silicon Valley later today.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The conversation will be streamed on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, according to an agenda released to reporters on Monday.
The broadcast provides an opportunity for Netanyahu and Musk to respond to months of intense public criticism. Musk has been in an escalating row with the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group he accuses of undermining Xs advertising revenue. The ADL has, together with other civil rights watchdogs, highlighted a rise in extremist content on the platform after Musk took it over last year and fired most of its staff. Musk has said on X hes pro free speech but against antisemitism of any kind.
Netanyahus efforts to weaken Israels judiciary have sparked months of protests, supported by many of the countrys tech entrepreneurs.
The ADL said in a statement that it hopes that Netanyahu and Musk will have a productive meeting and talk about ways to combat hate speech on the platform, Bloomberg reported last week.
Netanyahu will use the meeting to call on Musk to invest in Israels AI industry, he told reporters on the tarmac in Tel Aviv ahead of his flight to California. He will also take a tour of Teslas Fremont factory and ride in an autonomous vehicle, as well as participate in a round-table discussion on AI with other industry experts, according to the agenda.
The meeting takes place before the Israeli premier attends the United National General Assembly in New York, a spokesperson said.
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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Value-focused investors are always on the hunt for stocks that are priced below their intrinsic value. One such stock that merits attention is NIO Inc (NYSE:NIO). The stock, which is currently priced at 9.15, recorded a loss of 11.3% in a day and a 3-month increase of 1.15%. The stock's fair valuation is $29.67, 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: historical multiples (PE Ratio, PS Ratio, PB Ratio, and Price-to-Free-Cash-Flow) that the stock has traded at, GuruFocus adjustment factor based on the company's past returns and growth, and future estimates of the business performance.
Is NIO (NIO) 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 NIO should not be ignored. These risks are primarily reflected through its low Piotroski F-score of 2, and Altman Z-score of 0.93. These indicators suggest that NIO, despite its apparent undervaluation, might be a potential value trap. This complexity underlines the importance of thorough due diligence in investment decision-making.
Decoding 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. NIO's current Piotroski F-Score, however, falls in the lower end of this spectrum, indicating potential red flags for investors.
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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.
A Closer Look at NIO Inc (NYSE:NIO)
Founded in November 2014, NIO designs, develops, jointly manufactures, and sells premium smart electric vehicles. The company differentiates itself through continuous technological breakthroughs and innovations such as battery swapping and autonomous driving technologies. Nio launched the first model, its ES8 seven-seater electric SUV in December 2017, and began deliveries in June 2018. Its current model portfolio includes midsize to large sedans and SUVs. It sold over 122,000 EVs in 2022, accounting for about 2% of the China passenger new energy vehicle market.
Is NIO (NIO) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap
Analysis of NIO's Profitability
Firstly, let's address profitability. One significant component of the F-Score is a positive return on assets (ROA). A closer look at NIO's ROA reveals a worrying trend of negative returns. This indicates the company's inability to generate profit from its assets - a fundamental concern for any investor.
Leverage, Liquidity, and Source of Funds: A Worrying Trend
Is NIO (NIO) Too Good to Be True? A Comprehensive Analysis of a Potential Value Trap
Examining NIO's financial stability, there's a notable decrease in its current ratio over the past three years, as shown by the data 2021: 2.48; 2022: 1.87; 2023: 1, which is expressed as percentages. The current ratio is a key indicator of a company's short-term financial health, as it gauges the ability to cover short-term liabilities with short-term assets. A declining current ratio suggests that NIO's liquidity and capability to manage immediate financial obligations are deteriorating.
Operating Efficiency: A Darker Picture
Examining the data provided: 2021: 1,563.89; 2022: 1,632.80; 2023: 1,652.86, it becomes evident that NIO has seen an increase in its Diluted Average Shares Outstanding over the past three years. This trend signals that the company has issued more shares. While issuing additional shares can provide immediate capital for the business, it can also lead to the dilution of existing shares' value. This dilution occurs because the earnings of the company now have to be divided among a larger pool of shares, which could decrease Earnings Per Share (EPS). Consequently, if the company's earnings don't grow at a pace that matches or exceeds this share increase, it could lead to a reduction in the value perceived by existing shareholders, potentially impacting their investment returns. Hence, while additional share issuance may provide necessary capital, it is important to monitor its impact on shareholder value carefully.
In terms of operational efficiency, another key indicator, NIO has unfortunately reported a declining trend in asset turnover over the past three years, as evidenced by the data: 2021: 0.58; 2022: 0.50; 2023: 0.52 (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 NIO may need to revisit its operational strategies to improve the utilization of its assets and boost its sales volume.
NIO's Low Altman Z-Score: A Breakdown of Key Drivers
A dissection of NIO's Altman Z-score reveals NIO's financial health may be weak, suggesting possible financial distress. 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 NIO's EBIT to Total Assets ratio from historical data (2021: -0.04; 2022: -0.08; 2023: -0.24) indicates a recent dip following an initial rise. This reduction suggests that NIO 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 NIO is its asset turnover. The data: 2021: 0.58; 2022: 0.50; 2023: 0.52 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 NIO's asset turnover underlines the need for the company to reassess its operational strategies to optimize asset usage and boost sales.
Conclusion
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 NIO, its current score suggests potential troubles. These indicators, coupled with a low Altman Z-Score, suggest that NIO may be a potential value trap. Despite its seemingly attractive valuation, these risk factors should not be ignored. As always, thorough due diligence is crucial in investment decision-making.
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.
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If unpaid family care in the United States were an industry, it would be worth roughly $600 billion a year and involve about 38 million caregivers providing an average of 18 hours of care a week, according to a study from AARP. Thats not the case, of course, because the unpaid part means all of this work is being done free of charge.
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Most unpaid caregivers are women, according to research from Edward Jones and the impact on their lives is dramatic. In fact, a majority of women said becoming a caregiver was a life-destroying event, according to Lena Haas, head of wealth management advice and solutions at Edward Jones.
Social Security: No Matter Your Age, Do Not Claim Benefits Until You Reach This Milestone
Women are less prepared to begin with for retirement, Haas said told CNBC. They are hit with curveballs more frequently and theyre less equipped to make adjustments.
Retired women arent the only ones affected by unpaid caregiving, either.
Its hitting us during working years, too, Heather Ettinger, chairwoman of Fairport Wealth in Cleveland, Ohio, told CNBC.
One result is that women who are already behind on retirement savings are getting pushed even deeper into a financial hole through unpaid caregiving. Not only do they have to devote time and money to caring for others, in many cases they also either have to leave the workforce or reduce the hours they do work.
For women who find themselves in this position, its important that they take steps to protect themselves financially. Here are six ways they can do that.
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Stay in the Know: Read More From the Financially Savvy Female
Make a Financial Plan
Unpaid caregivers need to have a financial plan in place for how they will fund their retirement even if saving for it can be a struggle.
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Thats where you start working with someone or working with a digital [tool] to get a financial plan put together, and that starts with understanding how youre spending your money, Shelly-Ann Eweka, CFP, senior director of advice strategy at TIAA, told GOBankingRates last year.
Look For Ways To Spend Less and Earn More
Once you have a clear picture of how much you are spending, you can see how much you can put aside each month for retirement. If that amount is nothing or nominal, you may need to make some temporary adjustments to your spending.
Pay attention to what you are spending and see if there are ways to reduce that, Eweka said. With very limited income, because youre not really getting a full salary, this is the time to really pull back on your expenses as much as possible.
You should also look for ways to increase your earnings outside of your caregiving commitments.
Caregiving is such a huge responsibility, but if you can get part-time employment, or get a few more hours of employment, that will help you have extra cash flow to help you put money aside, Eweka said.
Important: The Womans Guide To Collecting Social Security
Consider Opening a Simplified Employee Pension Plan
If you are self-employed, you can make contributions to a simplified employee pension plan, or SEP IRA.
Its really an IRA for business owners, Eweka said. You can contribute $61,000 or 25% of your earned income, whichever number is lower.
This is significantly higher than the annual limits for a traditional or Roth IRA, which is $6,500 or $7,500 in 2023 if you are 50 or older. If youre able to save more than a traditional or Roth IRA would allow, a SEP IRA can be an invaluable retirement saving tool for a self-employed unpaid caregiver.
Open a Spousal IRA
If you are married and are not earning income because you are providing full-time care, consider opening a spousal IRA.
According to the IRS, If you file a joint return, you may be able to contribute to an IRA even if you didnt have taxable compensation as long as your spouse did. Each spouse can make a contribution up to the current limit; however, the total of your combined contributions cant be more than the taxable compensation reported on your joint return.
Make Contributions Automatic
When youre a full-time employee, its easy to keep up with retirement savings, as many companies offer the option to automatically contribute a percentage of your paycheck to an employer-sponsored plan. If you are working part time or not at all, youll have to make more of an effort to save for retirement but you can make it as easy as possible by automating contributions to whichever IRA you choose.
Try to do some automatic savings, even if its a little bit per month, Eweka said. When it comes out automatically, its the first thing that comes out each month, so thats one way you can do it.
Put Any Financial Windfalls Into Retirement Savings
While working as an unpaid caregiver, its vital to make sure youre still contributing as much as possible to retirement savings. Take advantage of any financial windfalls you may receive to stay on track with your retirement goals.
Were getting close to tax time, so if youre getting a refund, use a good portion of that refund to put aside into your account, Eweka said. Look for those types of opportunities.
GOBankingRates wants to empower women to take control of their finances. According to the latest stats, women hold $72 billion in private wealth but fewer women than men consider themselves to be in good or excellent financial shape. Women are less likely to be investing and are more likely to have debt, and women are still being paid less than men overall. Our Financially Savvy Female column will explore the reasons behind these inequities and provide solutions to change them. We believe financial equality begins with financial literacy, so were providing tools and tips for women, by women to take control of their money and help them live a richer life.
More From GOBankingRates
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Retirement Planning: 6 Ways Women Caregivers Can Protect Themselves Financially
Fortnite players who make unwanted purchases in the popular online video game can now do more than mash their controllers in anger.
The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday that it has started notifying 37 million people who may be entitled to a refund from Fortnite-maker Epic Games. The company in 2022 agreed to pay $520 million to settle government allegations that it used deceptive practices, including "dark patterns," to fool people into buying items such as costumes, dance moves and "loot crates."
Government regulators also said Epic made it easy for kids under age 13 who played Fortnite to rack up charges without their parents' consent, violating a federal law that seeks to protect children's privacy. When people disputed unauthorized charges with their credit card issuers, the company locked their Fortnite accounts, government regulators further alleged.
Now, $245 million of the 2022 settlement will go toward providing refunds to eligible consumers. According to the FTC, you may apply for a refund if:
You were charged in-game currency for unwanted purchases between January 2017 and September 2022Your child charged your credit card to for in-game purchases without your knowledge between January 2017 and November 2018Your account was locked between January 2017 and September 2022 after you complained to your credit card company about unwanted changes from playing FortniteHow to file a Fortnite claim
Consumers should go to the claim site here to begin filing their claim, while information on how to file a claim is available at www.ftc.gov/Fortnite,
To file a claim, you'll need a claim number or your Epic Account ID.
Your claim number is included in an email sent by the FTC, which said it began sending millions of emails to Fortnite gamers on September 19 and plans to continue sending the emails for one month.
Consumers have until January 17, 2024, to submit a claim. Anyone with questions can call the FTC at (888) 915-0880 or email at admin@fortniterefund.com.
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How much will you get?
The per-person refund amount isn't yet known as the FTC said that the claim amount will depend on several factors, including how many people file a claim.
After settling the case in December, Epic vowed to implement additional measures to prevent unintended purchases. In an updated statement Tuesday, it referred people to the FTC's page.
"The video game industry is a place of fast-moving innovation, where player expectations are high and new ideas are paramount," the company said last year. "Statutes written decades ago don't specify how gaming ecosystems should operate. The laws have not changed, but their application has evolved and long-standing industry practices are no longer enough."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Did you know there are some financial metrics that can provide clues of a potential multi-bagger? Firstly, we'll want to see a proven return on capital employed (ROCE) that is increasing, and secondly, an expanding base of capital employed. Ultimately, this demonstrates that it's a business that is reinvesting profits at increasing rates of return. So on that note, Sarawak Plantation Berhad (KLSE:SWKPLNT) looks quite promising in regards to its trends of return on capital.
Understanding Return On Capital Employed (ROCE)
For those that aren't sure what ROCE is, it measures the amount of pre-tax profits a company can generate from the capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Sarawak Plantation Berhad, this is the formula:
Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
0.091 = RM77m (RM926m - RM78m) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).
Therefore, Sarawak Plantation Berhad has an ROCE of 9.1%. In absolute terms, that's a low return, but it's much better than the Food industry average of 6.8%.
See our latest analysis for Sarawak Plantation Berhad
roce
Above you can see how the current ROCE for Sarawak Plantation Berhad compares to its prior returns on capital, but there's only so much you can tell from the past. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Sarawak Plantation Berhad here for free.
What Does the ROCE Trend For Sarawak Plantation Berhad Tell Us?
Sarawak Plantation Berhad has not disappointed with their ROCE growth. The figures show that over the last five years, ROCE has grown 367% whilst employing roughly the same amount of capital. So it's likely that the business is now reaping the full benefits of its past investments, since the capital employed hasn't changed considerably. The company is doing well in that sense, and it's worth investigating what the management team has planned for long term growth prospects.
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The Bottom Line
To sum it up, Sarawak Plantation Berhad is collecting higher returns from the same amount of capital, and that's impressive. Since the stock has returned a solid 53% to shareholders over the last five years, it's fair to say investors are beginning to recognize these changes. In light of that, we think it's worth looking further into this stock because if Sarawak Plantation Berhad can keep these trends up, it could have a bright future ahead.
On a final note, we've found 2 warning signs for Sarawak Plantation Berhad that we think you should be aware of.
For those who like to invest in solid companies, check out this free list of companies with solid balance sheets and high returns on equity.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / September 19, 2023 / Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing scored in the top six on a ranking of the world's top municipalities that have the best conditions to nurture innovative scientific and technological talent, according to a report released at the ongoing Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai.
Shenzhen came in second place, Shanghai fourth and Beijing sixth, according to the report which was carried out by the German-British academic publisher Springer Nature in conjunction with the Shanghai Institute for Science of Science.
Of the three, Beijing led in terms of educational and talent indicators, and Shenzhen was the favorite for innovation gauges but remains relatively weak in educational gauges. Shanghai had a relatively balanced performance in terms of education, innovation and talent indicators.
Salary, lifestyle and a career springboard are the three core factors for a city to be considered 'ideal' by scientists, Wang Xueying, an associate research fellow at the SISS' Research Department of Innovation Policy, told Yicai. Scientists under 35 years old care about a good income, an attractive and affordable lifestyle and an international, open and diverse cultural environment.
Singapore ranked first in the poll, which surveyed high-level front-line scientific researchers in 20 cities worldwide. Boston and New York were in third and fifth place, respectively, and Hong Kong came 13th.
Shanghai received rave reviews from the scientists polled on the city's efforts to educate more young scientific and technological talent, according to the report, which included for the first time an analysis of cities' development conditions for education, science, technology and talent. But the metropolis still trails Beijing and Shenzhen in terms of initiatives to attract top talent from other places.
Shanghai is also highly recognized for giving play to the role of the public in driving scientific and technological innovations, though it still falls behind Beijing and Shenzhen in integrating the industrial economy with science and technology.
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Around a third of the scientists polled who moved to Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen to work received their academic qualifications in major cities in developed countries, the report said. This showed that the three cities' attractiveness to scientific and technological talents is increasing.
In terms of science, technology, engineering and mathematics education, municipalities in developed economies placed ahead of those in China. Singapore, Boston and London were the top three, followed by Beijing in fourth place and Shanghai and New York in fifth. Shenzhen ranked ninth and Hong Kong 12th.
The next five to 10 years will be a key period for global cities to adjust and restructure their scientific and technological innovation landscape, the report said. Therefore, local governments need to play a more crucial and active role in developing scientific and technological hubs.
Over this period, the internationalization level of scientific researchers will improve, but the free migration, exchange and cooperation of scientists are likely to be somewhat disturbed due to changes in the world's geopolitical situation, the report said.
About Yicai Global
Launched in August 2016, Yicai Global is the English-language news service of Yicai Media Group, the financial news arm of Shanghai Media Group, which is one of China's largest state-owned media conglomerates. Focused primarily on China's business world, Yicai Global is dedicated to provide reliable and insightful information and analysis of the economy, finance, tech, startups, and entrepreneurs.
Media Contact:
Contact person: Zhu Liming
Email: yicaiglobal@yicaiglobal.com
SOURCE: Yicai Media Group
View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/785359/shenzhen-shanghai-beijing-rank-among-worlds-six-most-ideal-cities-for-scientists-survey-shows
Historically anchored as a pivotal node in the global financial network, Singapore is now at the forefront of the Web3 revolution.
Its legacy as one of the centers of global finance, combined with its proactive embrace of decentralized systems, not only accentuates Singapores strategic significance in the evolving digital era but also suggests that the city-state will be the linchpin in the global shift towards Web3 the next iteration of the internet powered by blockchain.
This isnt just about digital currencies; its a paradigm shift in value transfer and systemic architecture that Singapore is poised to champion. And Singapores regulatory strategies play a pivotal role in shaping the nations leadership in Web3.
Balancing innovation and stability
Singapores approach to supporting the crypto industry is a masterclass in strategic balance. While the nation actively promotes digital asset innovation, it remains eagle-eyed against unchecked crypto speculation. This dual strategy crafts an ecosystem thats both nurturing for crypto ventures and a bulwark for investor protection.
This balance is evident in how Singapore has become an attractive market for firms eager to expand and grow. Firms are making strides into Singapore, and its reputation as a dynamic digital market has solidified its unique position in global rankings as a top crypto hub. Singapore stands as a sterling example for countries navigating the intricate maze of digital assets. The allure isnt just theoretical or based on rankings alone; real-world examples abound.
The robust nature of Singapores regulatory framework has made it a prime destination for major crypto entities. Case in point: Geminis expansion into the region, underscoring the nations appeal as a crypto-friendly ecosystem, alongside market maker Wintermute who is relocating 4% of its staff to the nation to focus on Asia.
Gemini has identified the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region as the driving force behind the next wave of growth for crypto. In a bid to establish a stronger foothold outside the U.S., especially given the increased American regulatory actions against crypto exchanges, Gemini has chosen Singapore as its hub for APAC operations, with plans to bolster its headcount in Singapore to over 100 in the coming year. This move underscores Singapores appeal as a supportive ecosystem for crypto.
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Singapore sends a strong message for growth opportunities
Geminis move, amongst others heading East, is indicative of a broader trend: firms are increasingly recognizing Singapore as a jurisdiction that offers regulatory clarity and support, abundant partnership opportunities, and a rich talent pool, especially in the Web3, decentralized finance, blockchain and crypto space.
Singapores vision of crypto is expansive. Recognizing the transformative potential of stablecoins, the nation is spearheading initiatives to weave them into the mainstream financial fabric, aiming to slash transaction costs and craft a seamless conduit between traditional banking and the digital asset universe.
The F1 Singapore Grand Prix event, with its crypto backers, exemplifies Singapores ambition to mainstream digital assets. Such initiatives spotlight the nations forward-thinking approach, hinting at a future where digital assets and mainstream events dance in tandem.
Further bolstering this trend is the Monetary Authority of Singapores (MAS) funding commitment for fintech innovation. MAS pledged up to S$150 million (about US$110 million) over three years under the renewed Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme (FSTI 3.0), which includes a route to support innovative fintech solutions arising from emerging technologies such as Web 3.0. This sends a strong signal of their intent to partner with the industry and nurture innovative fintech solutions arising from emerging technologies such as Web 3.0.
MAS also recently partnered with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) to issue a framework for tokenization and institutional grade DeFi protocols. MAS released a report focusing on the viability of DeFi applications and ways to tokenize real-world assets without risking global financial stability and integrity.
Through open calls for innovative technologies and partnerships, as exemplified by BIS, MAS is further harnessing Singapores appeal as a magnet for the blockchain and crypto industry.
Redefining the crypto narrative
As the crypto landscape evolves, so do the threats. Safeguarding digital assets and transactions is paramount. The industry must remain vigilant against emerging cyber threats, and Singapores adaptability isnt just about tech prowess but also regulatory dexterity. Firms across Web3, DeFi, blockchain and crypto view Singapore as a growth-harnessing region, a platform to scale their technology and forge partnerships.
While Singapore has set a gold standard in crypto regulation, the dynamic nature of digital assets means that regulatory frameworks must continuously adapt. Striking a balance between fostering innovation and ensuring market stability will always be a tightrope walk.
This vision of a harmonized financial future, where old systems are integrated with new innovations, is what sets Singapore apart and positions it at the vanguard of global digital transformation. As major fintech entities like Gemini recognize Singapores crypto-friendly ecosystem and establish their presence, the nations forward-thinking stance becomes even more pronounced.
In contrast, the U.S., once a champion of technological advancement, is now grappling with regulatory challenges, particularly with crypto giants like Coinbase and Binance. Its approach to crypto regulation risks alienating a sector brimming with potential a sector that promises to revolutionize global finance.
As the U.S. treads cautiously, perhaps overly so, Singapores proactive and embracing attitude toward the blockchain and crypto industry promises a future thats not just about riding the Web3 wave. Its about ensuring every wave is surfed with precision, safety and vision.
jacoblund / Getty Images/iStockphoto
For many Americans, student loan debt has become a heavy financial burden that looms even into retirement. The prospect of Social Security benefits being garnished to repay student loans has raised concerns among retirees and those nearing retirement.
See: All of the States That Will Pay Off Your Student Loans
Find: New Student Loan Forgiveness Rule Simplifies Process Who Qualifies?
However, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has introduced the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act in the Senate to address this issue head-on.
What Is the Purpose of the Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act?
The Protection of Social Security Benefits Restoration Act introduced by Wyden seeks to address and prevent the practice of garnishing Social Security benefits to repay student loans. Under the proposed legislation, Social Security benefits would be safeguarded from being seized for student loan repayment purposes.
It is plain wrong to take away the Social Security benefits seniors earned through a lifetime of work because of the increasing burden of student loan debt, Wyden said, per KTVZ. Its past time Congress protects seniors and the Social Security benefits they have earned with every paycheck. Thats why Im proud to reintroduce legislation that shores up protections for Social Security benefits and allows seniors in Oregon and nationwide to retire with the dignity they deserve.
Its clear that the student loan crisis in the U.S. affects people of all age ranges, not just the younger generations.
Also: An Ancient Rule Allows Biden To Forgive Student Loan Debt No Matter What the Supreme Court Says
How Many Social Security Recipients Are Affected by Student Loan Debt?
A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report indicates that at least 114,000 Americans have had their Social Security benefits garnished because they could not make their student loan repayments. It was also found that the number of retirees and people with disabilities whose Social Security benefits were seized by the government to pay off student loans increased more than five-fold between 2002 and 2016, driving many into poverty.
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To add to this, New America reported that the number of borrowers aged 60 and over grew six-fold since 2004, while their outstanding debt increased 19-fold. Today, 3.5 million Americans 60 and older hold over $125 billion in student loan debt.
While the bill is currently in the legislative process, its passage could bring relief to many retirees and individuals nearing retirement, offering them greater financial security in their later years. It is, as yet, unclear whether the legislation will pass.
More From GOBankingRates
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security Benefits Could Receive Protection From Student Loan Debt Heres Where the Issue Currently Stands
The Space Florida board of directors voted Tuesday to approve retired Space Force Col. Robert Long as its next president and CEO with an annual salary of $350,000.
Thats a $25,000 bump over retiring Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello, who has been leading the states aerospace economic development entity since 2009.
As this meeting wraps up, Robert Long is ready to sign the contract, said board member Rodney Cruise, who was a member of the search committee and led contract negotiations after the board identified Long as their prime choice among three finalists.
The board led by chair Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nunez met for less than 10 minutes for an update on the negotiations and unanimously approved Longs hire.
As we start this new era in history, Im really excited to work closely with Col. Long to further promote growth in Floridas aerospace industry, Nunez said. We have a lot of exciting work to accomplish.
Long was the commander for Space Launch Delta 30 and the Western Launch and Test Range at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Its a similar role to the Space Launch Delta 45 group leader who oversees launches from the Space Coast.
The role had him overseeing $8.4 billion in assets and a $280 million annual budget and 11,000 military, civilian, and contractor personnel, according to the Space Force. He spent 23 years with the Air Force before transitioning to the Space Force and retired earlier this summer.
During his career, he was stationed in Brevard County, where he met his wife.
Part of his pitch to become the next Space Florida leader was to grow the states relationship with the burgeoning Space Force presence, which includes the addition of the military branchs training headquarters STARCOM and its warfighting and training group known as Delta 10 coming to Patrick Space Force Base.
Florida leads the nation in launches each year on pace to pass its record 57 set in 2022, but Space Florida is about expanding the economic benefit from companies presence in the state, even beyond launch service.
Earlier this year, DiBello reported Space Florida had brokered deals that added $2.7 billion worth of state infrastructure since 2011 and the agencys goal is to increase that number to $10 billion by the end of the decade, which would approach $1 billion every year.
That would come from a prospective 150 projects in the works from the likes of major aerospace entities such as those already realized like the Blue Origin rocket plant in Merritt Island and the Amazon satellite processing facility for its Project Kuiper constellation under construction at the former space shuttle landing facility at Kennedy Space Center.
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.
Starbucks says it has poured more than $200 million into a new campus in China, in a sign of how the Chinese consumer remains crucial to the global coffee chain despite a major economic slowdown.
The beverage giant opened the massive facility in eastern China on Tuesday that will serve as its main production and distribution center nationwide, supplying fresh coffee to thousands of Chinese stores, it said in a statement. The site is home to a large coffee roasting facility and an area that lets visitors see how drinks are made.
Starbucks (SBUX) says it has committed a whopping 1.5 billion yuan or about $220 million to the project, the largest investment it has ever made for a coffee manufacturing and distribution center outside the United States.
Thats nearly 50% more than the $150 million it had previously allocated in 2020, which was already higher than the $130 million announced earlier that year.
Asked why the amount was raised twice, a company spokesperson told CNN that additional capital investments were made to further elevate the advanced technologies and equipment used.
The opening of the 80,000 square-foot (7,400 square-meter) innovation park, located in the city of Kunshan, about an hour from Shanghai, comes after a year-long delay.
Starbucks' new campus in Kunshan, eastern China. - Starbucks/Handout
Starbucks had previously said the facility would be operational in summer 2022, though the timeline was given in November 2020, as China grappled with disruptive pandemic-related restrictions. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday on reasons for the delay.
China has long been one of the most important growth drivers for Starbucks, serving as its second-biggest market worldwide and top overseas market.
But CEO Laxman Narasimhan says the company is still in our early days in China, noting that coffee consumption in the historically tea-drinking nation remains relatively low.
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On an earnings call last month, he pointed to how revenue in China had rebounded earlier this year after the companys sales in the country were dented by Covid-19 restrictions, which were lifted late last year.
Chinas economic growth is set to slow this year as it continues to reel from the effects of a crisis-hit property sector and choppy consumer confidence. But new data on Friday suggested the downturn was stabilizing.
As one of the largest consumer markets in the world, China presents tremendous opportunities for Starbucks, Narasimhan said in the statement.
He said the new space would improve its supply chain and sustainability goals, particularly as the facility is set to become the companys most energy-efficient coffee manufacturing plant in the world.
I couldnt be prouder of the China teams visionary thinking, Narasimhan added. As Starbucks largest and fastest-growing international market, we will continue to deepen our investment and reinforce our unwavering long-term commitment to the China market.
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Unraveling the intricacies of the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc(NYSE:SWZ) recently announced a dividend of $0.12 per share, payable on 2023-09-29, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-09-19. As investors look forward to this upcoming payment, the spotlight also shines on the company's dividend history, yield, and growth rates. Using the data from GuruFocus, let's deep dive into Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.
Company Overview: Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc
High Yield Dividend Stocks in Gurus' Portfolio
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How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock?
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc is a non-diversified, closed-end investment company. Its investment objective is to seek long-term capital appreciation through investment in equity and equity-linked securities of Swiss companies. The group invests in various sectors such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, industrial goods and services, banks, personal and household goods, construction and materials, biotechnology, medical equipment, chemicals, technology, financial services, insurance, and retail.
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc (SWZ): A Closer Look at Its Dividend Performance and Sustainability
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's Dividend History: A Retrospective
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2008. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc (SWZ): A Closer Look at Its Dividend Performance and Sustainability
Breaking Down Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth
As of today, Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 6.81% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 6.25%. This suggests an expectation of decrease dividend payments over the next 12 months.
Over the past three years, Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 64.40%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to 42.30% per year.
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Based on Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc stock as of today is approximately 39.27%.
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc (SWZ): A Closer Look at Its Dividend Performance and Sustainability
Evaluating Dividend Sustainability: Payout Ratio and Profitability
To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-06-30, Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.35.
Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's profitability 2 out of 10 as of 2023-06-30, suggesting the dividend may not be sustainable. The company has reported net profit in 4 years out of past 10 years.
Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook
To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's growth rank of 2 out of 10 suggests that the company has poor growth prospects and thus, the dividend may not be sustainable.
Conclusion: Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's Dividend Outlook
Considering Swiss Helvetia Fund Inc's dividend payments, dividend growth rate, payout ratio, profitability, and growth metrics, it appears that the company's dividends may not be sustainable in the long term. It's essential for investors to keep an eye on these key metrics to make informed decisions. GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
The start of this weeks trading session was highlighted by WTI crude oil prices climbing another +1.53% today to $92.29 a barrel.
Investors may be wondering if it's time to buy stock in oil conglomerates Chevron CVX and Exxon Mobil(XOM with more and more analysts seeing the possibility of crude prices topping $100 a barrel.
Lets check the current outlook for Chevron and Exxon to see if now is indeed an opportune time to buy their stocks.
Yahoo Finance
Image Source: Yahoo Finance
Highly Anticipated Third Quarter
There will be much anticipation for the third-quarter results from oil and energy companies with crude prices spiking over the last few months. Still a ways out, Chevron and Exxon are expected to release their Q3 reports in late October.
Despite the recent surge in oil prices Chevron and Exxon are expecting dips on their Q3 top and bottom lines as they face tougher to compete against periods.
Chevrons Q3 earnings are forecasted to be down -41% to $3.26 a share compared to EPS of $5.56 in Q3 2022. Sales are projected to dip -21% to $52.56 billion versus $66.64 billion a year ago. However, at the moment the Zacks Expected Surprise Prediction (ESP) does indicate Chevron could beat earnings expectations with the Most Accurate Estimate having Q3 EPS at $3.46 and 6% above the Zacks Consensus.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
As for Exxon, its Q3 earnings are expected to drop -52% at $2.12 per share compared to EPS of $4.45 in the prior-year quarter. Exxons Q3 sales are prjoected at $85.60 billion, down -23% from $112.07 billion in Q3 2022.
With that being said, the Zacks ESP also indicates Exxon could top its third-quarter EPS estimates with the Most Accurate Estimate having Q3 earnings at $2.15 a share and 1% above the Zacks Consensus.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
EPS Outlook & Valuation
In regard to their annual outlook, Chevrons fiscal 2023 EPS is now expected to dip -30% but rebound and rise 10% in FY24 to $14.57 per share. Chevrons stock currently trades at 12.5X forward earnings which is not a stretched premium to the Zacks Oil and Gas-Integrated-International industry average of 9.3X and well below the S&P 500s 20.8X.
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Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Pivoting to Exxon, annual earnings are expected to drop -36% this year but stabilize and rise 5% in FY24 at $9.43 a share. Exxons stock trades at a 13X forward earnings multiple which is also above the Oil and Gas-Integrated-International average but a nice discount to the benchmark.
Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Performance Takeaway
Over the last three years, Exxon Mobils stock has skyrocketed +223% with Chevron shares up +119%. Both companies have rebounded well from the pandemic but Exxons stock is up a modest +6% this year and Chevron is down -6%.
For now, Chevron and Exxon's stock land a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). While their P/E valuations are reasonable and it may be enticing to buy stock in these oil giants with crude prices surging again, Chevron and Exxon's Q3 reports may be critical to more upside after such impressive performances over the last few years.
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This article covers the Top 20 Unfriendliest Cities in the US. For a quick overview of the top 5, read our article, Top 5 Unfriendliest Cities in the US.
One of the biggest factors behind any city turning unfriendly is tourism gone rouge. It's a negative feedback loop. A city begins to attract tourists in droves. That becomes a problem for the locals. Locals naturally become unfriendly and rude to tourists. Tourists label the locals as unfriendly and rude and the city becomes notorious for its unfriendliness. A study published in the European Journal of Tourism Research found that mass tourism can lead to "overtourism," which can have negative consequences for local residents. Overtourism can put a strain on the local community, as residents may feel irritated by the crowds and the noise. It can also lead to an unnecessary reliance on the tourism industry, which can disrupt local labor structures and community roles.
Tourism in the United States
International travel plays a critical role in supporting the economy of the US. In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, foreign travelers spent over $233.5 billion in the tourism industry. This injected $640 million into the country every day. In January 2023, travel spending in the US amounted to $14.75 billion, up 64% from January 2022. US travel spending is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by the end of 2023, up from $1.2 trillion in 2022. By 2026, spending is expected to reach $1.26 trillion. Consequently, the airline industry in the US is currently faring well. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), American airline traffic reached an all-time high in May 2023, with over 81.8 million passengers carried, both domestically and internationally. Major airlines like American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL) are currently dominant players in the US airline market. It is one of the 20 best airlines in the world, with a fleet of over 900 aircraft. Hotel accommodation establishments across the country have been busy this summer. Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) reported a 10% increase in revenue in the second quarter in the US, driven by higher occupancy and average daily rate (ADR). Marriott (NASDAQ:MAR) plans to open over 35 new luxury hotels in 2023, and expand their portfolio to over 500 properties worldwide.
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Companies Ensuring Sustainable Tourism in America
In 2023, Expedia Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE), an American travel technology conglomerate, partnered with the UnTours Foundation and TUI Care Foundation to launch a $10 million fund. Through this fund, Expedia Group (N